Philadelphia Trip

This past weekend Sweetie and I went to Philadelphia. A friend of his from the Peace Corps was getting married so we decided to make the trip, heading up on Friday so as to have some time to enjoy the city by ourselves. The wedding was not till Saturday night. It was in a beautiful building in Philadelphia, and Sweetie and I arrived at 5:30. The ceremony was supposed to be at 6, but the bridal party didn't get there till 6:30. The bride was beautiful and the ceremony was nice, and afterward there were cocktails & hors d'oeurvres for while and then up to the rooftop for dinner. It seemed as if everyone at the wedding knew everyone else except for me and Sweetie.

When we got to our assigned dinner table, everyone was seated except for me and Sweetie, but there was only one place left. We told the waitstaff, and they referred us to the friend of the bride who seemed to be serving as the wedding planner. She apologized, and we waited awhile, and eventually we were seated. It seemed someone had been sitting at the table who should have been at another. I don't know how the seating mishap happened, and it's not really a big deal, but it did make me feel less welcome in a situation where I was already feeling uncomfortable among so many people I didn't know who weren't talking to me.

In fact, I started feeling really bad about myself as time passed. The bride and groom are both doctors who have worked in third world countries, and we were surrounded by people who were saying things like, "I met (the groom) in Rwanda" or "I was working on such-and-such with him." Of course, it didn't help that after we finally got settled at our table someone asked Sweetie where he worked and when he answered, she said, "Oh. That's... different" and then didn't speak to us the rest of the time.

The dinner went on for hours and with its seemingly endless toasts, I kind of felt like I was watching a movie. I was reminded of the rehearsal dinner scene in the movie Rachel Getting Married (minus Anne Hathaway's cringe-inducing toast): all very heart warming and tear jerking if you are part of things, but rather over long and alienating if you are not. A few times I felt my eyes filling with tears because I just felt so lonely and inadequate. Finally, Sweetie and I decided to leave. It was after 11, and since I felt out of place, almost six hours seemed more than enough of a time investment even though they hadn't cut the cake yet.

We ended up walking back to our hotel because it wasn't that far away. We passed a few street people and only one of them acted really crazy, but he was clearly in his own world and not threatening to us. I was wearing wedge-heeled sandals which were a little uncomfortable for walking, but not too bad because they're not that high. After we got into the hotel room, I looked at myself in the mirror. I was wearing this great full-skirted black dress, and my hair and make-up looked nice, and I said aloud, "At least I looked good" and Sweetie asked me what I meant by that and I told him how everyone at the wedding seemed to have such fabulous careers that I felt inadequate. I didn't say this, but my feelings were more pronounced since I didn't really feel welcome and no one made an effort to talk to us.

I changed back into jeans and a T-shirt and told Sweetie I wanted to go our for a cigarette. I've been smoking only about 1-2 cigarettes a day lately, and I just felt like having one. It was around midnight, and the weather was really nice: there was a cool summer breeze blowing. Sweetie went with me to keep me company (although he never smokes). Once outside the hotel doors, I asked the doorman if we could smoke out there and he said yes and then offered to light mine for me, which I accepted. He was an older, black gentleman, and he said to me, "You're a nice lady." So the evening ended on a positive note.

That was the not so great part of the trip. There were other really good things about it that I will tell you about in my next post.

Labels: family, the blues, travel

posted by Miss Rachel 6/30/2009 09:03:00 PM

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On Friday night, I drove up to Rockport for a visit and on Saturday, my sister and I headed to the mall with two goals in mind: getting cell phones and pedicures. I am pleased to say we accomplished both goals.

First we got pedicures. The color I picked was called Mistletoe something. It must have been from one of OPI's holiday collections. I just looked online and I'm guessing it must be Rosie Mistletoe-sie. (It's a sparkly magenta. I usually gravitate to the magenta color family.) My sister said it was the best pedicure she ever had, and I think it was because she's only gotten "express" pedicures in the past, where they just kind of deal with your toes. Here we got the whole massaging and exfoliating treatment. Also, they were showing "He's Just Not That Into You" on a TV mounted on the wall, and now I totally want to see that movie even though it's not the kind of thing I'd usually go for.

After our pedicures, we dealt with the cell phone project. Now I know cell phones are SOOO last century to most people out there, but I got a cell phone this weekend, and I'm so excited about it. This is a "for real" cell phone people. A few years ago, my sister gave me a pay-as-you go phone which I just kept for emergencies, but lately the thing had come to see more like an encumbrance than a help. I never really figured out how to use the thing and since calls cost a lot, it was probably best that I didn't use it a lot, but you had to use it some and then buy more minutes before the deadline or you'd lose the ones you already bought. A coworker mentioned family plans to me and then I mentioned them to my sister (who was always telling me she wished I could text) and we decided to go in on a plan together.

So now I have officially entered the wonderful world of twenty first century technology. Calling, texting, tweeting, getting voice mail all with my cell phone: I have arrived.

Labels: family, pedicure, shopping, technology

posted by Miss Rachel 6/23/2009 06:34:00 AM

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Front Beach

I went to Rockport this weekend, and yesterday before leaving, I took this video of one of the beaches in town. Yesterday was the Summer Solstice, although for sure it did not (and still doesn't) feel like summer at all.

Labels: Rockport, summer

posted by Miss Rachel 6/22/2009 06:42:00 AM

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Friday Off with Two of My Best Friends

Labels: Blue, Woody

posted by Miss Rachel 6/19/2009 08:59:00 AM

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Workouts have been pretty good and regular for a while now, but the one problem I'm having with them is on the weekends. I want to use my elliptical trainer for my weekend workouts and I can't seem to get myself to do it - ! I don't know why I have this strong resistance to it. I don't think I've used it since the beginning of last month. Any suggestions are welcome. And just so you know, I don't have cable TV or TiVo or even a TV in the room with the trainer so don't suggest watching TV as a solution. I do have a video iPod Nano though.

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Sweetie is out of town on business this week and today is our wedding anniversary. We've been married eight years now. Wow, it certainly does not seem that long at all. He called me and we IM-d a bit. We were being all mushy and "shmoopy" with each other. My mom called me at work to wish us a happy anniversary which was nice of her.

Speaking of my mom, she continues to improve. She's still not feeling 100% but her spark is back. Today she told me she was worried about losing her teeth; some of them are getting kind of loose. I said, joking, hey mom, you could just go without them and she said, no way, that even if she was going to die next year, she would never go around without her teeth. Her mother, my Nana, had two plates in her mouth and sometimes we'd see her and she wouldn't have put them in yet, and my mom would always scold, "oh mother put your teeth in!"

Labels: family, physical fitness

posted by Miss Rachel 6/09/2009 10:15:00 PM

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Good Things

I try to avoid paying attention to the news, but unfortunately, some bad things have gotten through the shield I usually keep up: the murder of Dr. George Tiller and the missing Air France plane. To combat that negativity, I've made a list of some good things, small things, but still good things in my life right now.

Working four 10-hour days = Friday off!

I ran 11 minutes straight at the gym today (in addition to walking and recumbent biking).

The flower garden has been planted.

I ordered a new Planner Pad today (I'm on the "start in July" cycle).

Home-made vegan brownies.

Satellite Sisters podcasts.

A soft, furry dog and a soft, furry cat.

Emails from my sister during the work day.

A husband who makes me laugh.

Labels: lists, the blues, the world around us

posted by Miss Rachel 6/01/2009 09:09:00 PM

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Here are the Garden Plants

The next time I take pictures, they will be in the ground. I am planning to at least get the flowers into the ground this weekend, but I may need to clear more space for the herbs. If anyone knows whether one is supposed to capitalize plant names or not, let me know.


The asters, iris, cerastium and dianthus.


The hydrangea and peony.


The herbs: echinachea, thyme, mint and oregano.

Labels: gardening

posted by Miss Rachel 5/29/2009 07:21:00 AM

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