TESOL Conference 2012

I went to my first conference!  And I even presented in the Graduate Student Forum (Lena let me tag along with her :)  We went to Philadelphia, then to NYC for a few days after. It was wonderful! We saw all sorts of cool historical things, and ate at yummy places.

 Lena and I in front of our presentation room.  Woo hoo!

 "Smile like a dork!"  "I've got this."

 Aw, they're cute. Erin and Marisa

 The first courtroom

 The signing room.

 Some blue stairs ;)

 A draft of the declaration

 We have it in our power to begin the World over again.  And so they did.

 Marisa getting sworn in as President of the U.S. in the same spot where George Washington stood.

 One of these two is not like the other.

Peekaboo. Creepy much?  Thanks Lydia... :)

 Some bell with a crack in it. I tried to take a picture of me gluing it back together, but I look terrible; so you'll never see it. Plus, the cops were getting pretty close by the time we took the picture, and it's not flattering of them either....  They're weird about you trying to fix stuff.

 Go Lydia!

 These things were really yummy. I wasn't brave enough to try the Cheese Whiz that's supposedly the best, but I did get mine pizza style with mushrooms.... It was awesome.

 "On this spot stood Sylvester Stallone filming the great motion picture ROCKY.  Nov 21, 1976"

 The instructions for ordering. "Step 4" is repeatedly listed at many of the famous restaurants in Philly.

 Two dueling Philly Cheesesteak places just across the street from one another.

 Iiiiiiin West Philadelphia, born and raised; on the playground is where I spent most....

  So, one of the coolest parts of the city was Reading Market just outside the convention center. It was packed full of amazing little booths/shops with beautiful glorious food.  Yummy!

 State capitol building

 BEST CHURRASCARIA EVER.  So yummy.

 An original copy of the Book of Mormon. Second one I've held and seen in my life. Wonder how many I'll get to handle?

 "Pretend I'm holding a bow..."

 Best line of the trip: "He's got hunting and fishing covered. He must be the patron saint of rednecks" -Marisa

 The view from the Museum of Art

 Runnin' like Rocky...

 I am the thinking man.  And don't worry, there's the po-po.

 Here's where we went to make our phone calls, outside the hotel.

And then, NYC.

 I called up Paul Lambson and asked him to show us a hole in the wall restaurant that tourists didn't know about.  The Burger Joint in Le Parker Meridian is where he took us. You walk into this 6 star hotel, swerve behind what appears to be the wall covered in lush red curtains, and you appear at the end of a hallway leading to the picture (below) of a burger. Upon which you enter a tiny graffittied room (above)

 It was exactly what I was hoping for. We all loved it. Amazing. Thanks Paul!!!

 We went to see Mary Poppins in a really old theater with a ton of history. The little aisle guy told us all these wild stories about how it was abandoned so there was a tree growing out of the orchestra pit.  Then someone turned it into a movie theater and he was here one night when someone in the front stood up then people in the back started shooting at him.  All in all, it taught me I was glad I never came to NY in the 80s....

 Oh, and the restored version of the theater was beautiful.

 HI! MY NAME IS BRITTNEY AND I'M ON THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE!

 That's America for ya, being held together by duct tape.... :)

 Walk like an Egyptian..... (in the MET)

Summer Style

So I've been visiting my family this week so Mom and I have done a lot of shopping. While we're shopping, I usually just selfishly look for stuff for myself while Mom picks out cute things for me (and all her other children and grandchildren), herself and Pop.  After we got what we wanted (and a few things for Dad to try on) we headed home and I left for the afternoon. When I came home I asked my mom where a certain pair of shorts had gone that I thought I'd gotten. She said she didn't know and I should look around in her room or in her return pile in the car. I went out to the car and found them in the bag headed back to the store. I told her I'd found them and showed them to her and she just started laughing. 


Then she told me this great story:  I was having Dad try on all those shorts we bought him and he tried those on!  They were a little tough to get on, and he made some comment about how they didn't seem like the kind of shorts someone of his sexual orientation would wear... So they tossed them into the pile to be returned.  Mom swears they look better on me.....

When Daddy let me drive

Today I had my first lesson on driving a road bike all on my own. I've been begging, but everyone I ask just tells me our motorcycle is too heavy for me to drive, or even just lift by myself. Well, today I asked Dad again and so (being the good sport he is) he drug out the Kawasaki 750, figured out it wasn't workin, jumped it, took me for a ride, then encouraged me to try it out. I did it!  I can lift it, I can keep it upright, start, stop and turn!  I'm so proud of myself. I know I'd be a terrible motorcycle driver without a lot of practice, but just taking my first ride made me super happy with myself.  Thanks Daddy!  I can't decide which was more trusting of him; that he initially wanted me to drive it without him on the back, or that he was willing to stay on when I asked him to.  What a great Pop!