the scatterbox organized

Planetary motion and other Thanksgivingness

This is going to be a long one, but first things first:

GO OUTSIDE AND CHECK OUT THE MOON!!!

For realz - According to the good folks at space.com, tonight is a rare night for those geekily fascinated with astronomy, like yours truly.  The moon will be very slim, and to the right of it will be two super-bright "stars" that are really planets: Venus is the brightest one at the bottom, and Jupiter(!) is the next-brightest to the upper-right.  I've always known you could see Venus in the sky.  Or at least I've known it was something non-stellar.  I was poorly misinformed a while back that the brightest object in the sky besides the moon was the sun's reflection off the space station.  Not a bad theory, until I questioned it earlier this year while at NC State's planetarium show and the knowledgeable host corrected me.  Either way... HOW COOL.

I can't stop staring at it.  Like all of a sudden, they are going to start swirling around like a laser-pointer show or something.  Of course, I had to take a picture.  Couldn't get the tripod in the right spot on the balcony to get a non-flash shot, which would have also captured the shadow of the moon's full orb (also cool).  So I went with flash, and at least you can see a little bit of the craters when you zoom in.  Do you have binoculars at home?  You can totally see craters on the moon with them!  I have not done this before.  Hence my elementary giddiness. 

Here's my attempt at night sky photography without knowing any better how to get a more professional photo.  Exibit A is the moon on the left (just seeing if you're skimming...).  Exibit B is the bright spot at the bottom, Venus.  And exibit C to the upper-right is Jupiter.  Did I say cool?  COOL.

 

Now that I've uploaded it, it doesn't do justice to the largeness and brightness of the planets.  Boo.  Maybe you can click on it and see it in better quality.  Anyhoo, on with the show.

*****

SO!  Where were we...  Ah, Thanksgivingness.  Ours was actually celebrated (i.e. "face-stuffed") the weekend prior to said holiday.  I had to work on Turkey Day proper, so we went to my home-Land-of-Cleve to celebrate with my family.  We had gotten warnings of proper attire for our suitcases, which meant only one thing:

SNOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

Driving up, we didn't really hit the good stuff until about a half-hour from our destination, but it did not disappoint.  It was already dark, but in the tradition of my favorite winter-evening memories, it was very heavy on the branches, making them all look fluffy white, and the sky was just a bit lighter than normal.  When you stood outside, there was the familiar chilly, yet cozy, silence in the air of being cocooned in a snowy blanket.  The following morning was no exception, as my favorite huge chunky snow drifted slowly and peacefully from the sky.

 

Then it stopped, eventually started to melt a stitch, and like an idiot, I realized I didn't get outside to take more pictures in its prime.  *le sigh*

Saturday was our turkey day!  A day when I usually avoid what's going on in the kitchen (I'm a non-cooker, for all the new readers out there).  The mister (my resident chef) offered up his services to prepare not only our bird, but six casserole-dish-sized side items, as well.  Being the culinary geek that HE is, your usual fare was not good enough.  Consulting the pages of Bon Apetit and Food & Wine, the smells of this year's feast began to fill up the joint.  His chosen theme was to make dishes reminiscent of what would have been had back in the day when the pilgrims were kissing up to the native Americans.  (You know, prior to the whole robbing-them-of-their-way-of-life thing that followed.)  The turkey was a purdy sight, slathered with a sweet citrusy glaze on the outside.

 

I'm serious here, people.  That is the actual turkey he made.  Cookies aside, there should be no question why I'm keeping him around.  After dinner, we had a mini-birthday celebration for Mr. Chef.  Since he did not have time (or room) to also add on the task of making dessert (JEEZ!), we purchased a peach pie and the ever-nummy Breyer's vanilla bean ice cream.  One of his gifts was a pair of tickets to the following day's Cleveland Browns home game downtown, which really just made it like my birthday instead. :)

Sunday morning, we geared up.  Swiss-Miss hat?  Check.  Ski coat and gloves?  Check.  Butt-warming bean-filled chair cushion?  Check.  Super-thick Mexican-style wool blanket?  Check Check.  Time to head to town! 

Let it be known that I love me some Cleveland, Ohio.  Trash if you will, but I'm a dyed-in-the-wool fan.  Granted, I don't live there anymore and may not ever again, but I have very fond memories.  Not so much the ones driving in the aforementioned snow after the holidays (when I have not-quite-as-nice sentiments about it and its determination to linger for an additional 3-4 months), but good ones, nonetheless.  One of those memories was heading downtown to check out the lights and sights the day after Thanksgiving, for which we were just a bit early this time around.  It was still good to see the city continuing its quest to breathe life into the heart of itself once again, as it had done in the past.  New shops and restaurants, and lots and lots of renovated space in the buildings with their wonderful architecture.  On our walk to the stadium, an orange awning that I never-before recalled caught my eye.  Could it be a deli?  We hadn't eaten yet, so we decided to check it out.

JACKPOT.

How have I never seen this or been here before???  The Sportsman's Deli.  You couldn't have picked a more perfect place to gnosh before an early-winter football game in a steel-belt town.  I'd show you the website, but based on the un-renovated interior of the establishment, they might not know how to operate a computer yet, let alone get that fancy.  And I wouldn't want them to.

 

See inside the window, to the right of the neon football helmet?  That's one of those old-fashioned Tiffany-esque bar lamps.  Except surely no where else can you find ones emblazoned solely with the words "CORN BEEF" on one and "PASTRAMI" on the other.  In stained glass.  Awesome.  All in a lovely shade of 70s orange to match the awning outside and Browns uniforms nearby.  Inside was the warmth of grandma's sweet basement plywood paneling and tons of local sports memorabilia on the wall.  Fill it up with salt-of-the-earth blue-collar good folk clad in their Brownie best, shove down a plate of "world's-finest" corned beef (yes, it was pretty damn good), and you couldn't ask for anything more on such a fine Lake Erie morning.  I probably was the only chick in there besides the wait staff, but who cares.  I wanna go back.

 

I had not yet been inside the new Cleveland Browns stadium.  I have fond memories of going, very young, with my dad to watch games in the upper-deck of the old stadium, metal girders blocking half of your view, icy wind whipping around inside like a vortex, sucking down hot chocolate from our thermos, and sopping up the infamous Stadium Mustard (go order you some) on a dog or two.  They were good times.  The new digs were wonderful.  Completely open and in the same location, but somehow the wind wasn't as menacing.  You aren't allowed to bring in a thermos anymore and you go through security on your way in (compliments of 9/11), but the magic is still there.  A sea of brown and orange, awesomely sarcastic and cynical fans who will never stop being fans, even when the team chokes... yet again, and the intense hatred for the Steelers, even when they aren't the ones on today's lineup.  Cups of hot chocolate and gobs of stadium mustard later, we left, very satisfied.

On the way back, we stopped by Public Square and Tower City, which was once home to the wonderful Higbee's department store.  We always went into Higbee's on our Black Friday visits, and I'll never forget the high, white walls, huge chandeliers, and swags of red curtains and christmas lights.  I remember up on the tenth floor of the building was where kids could go in to a special store of their own and shop for their parents while they waited for them outside the doors.  Today, Higbee's is sadly gone.  In it's place is a less-exciting office, though they did smartly keep the white walls and chandeliers of the old days.  For those of you who are huge Christmas Story fans like my Mister, you'll know that Higbee's is the department store featured at the beginning of the movie.  You can see the curtains and chandeliers in the scenes where Ralphie and his brother visit Santa after the parade on Public Square.  In keeping with tradition, and especially given that this is the 25th anniversary of that classic flick, they decorate the infamous window where Ralphie and his friends drooled over the Red Rider BB gun.  This past weekend was the commemorative Christmas Story weekend, complete with cast reunion and visits to the old yellow house, recently bought, renovated, returned to its former color, and turned into a museum.

That night was relaxing as we headed over to Sarah's Vineyard, a winery and gallery inside an old 1846 farmhouse.  We brought along a bunch of appetizers to eat while sampling a few bottles of their reds and whites.  You totally feel like you're intruding, bringing in shopping bags with all your food, plates, and napkins, but that's exactly what they want you to do.  Just relax.  It was very nice surrounding yourself with the old wood, arts and crafts.  Stay till the end of the night like we did, and you can meet Stanley and Frontenac (like the grape), the resident brother doggies.

On Monday, we drove to Medina, a town that I'd never actually been to in all my years there.  It has a very cute downtown square area, and was all decorated with white twinkly lights in every shop window.  Lunch was at (highly-recommended) Dan's Dogs, a diner with something like 50 types of super-cheap and super-tasty hot dog topping combos on the menu, decorated in 50s era diner style.  We also stopped by Root Candle's amazing shop, which was full of fantastic home items that the decorator in me wanted to splurge on.  The company has a niftly little history, as well.

It was a good weekend.  Then, alas, it was Tuesday, which meant facing the 8-hour return drive home.  Just in time, however, the snow came back once more to say goodbye.

 

PDX-ing it

The City of Roses, Portland, Oregon.

I hear there's a nice-looking mountain there, but I wouldn't know.  The entire three days we spent in town was typical of what people east of the Mississippi think of when they think of the Pacific Northwest: cloudy, rainy.  The forecast was just that for the entire week and then some.  But to be there and explore the city, you almost don't notice that you haven't seen or felt the sun.  We'd never been to this part of the country, and we still have yet to visit Seattle, also on our to-do list.  (For the time being, I'm feeding off of my friend Abby's description, as she was there just prior to our arrival in the next state below.)  I've heard nothing but wonderful things about both cities, and it was time to find out why.

Prior to flying out, I happened to catch that the PDX airport was voted #1 in Conde Naste Traveler.  Very interesting, given it's size and location, but I'd have to agree.  Cute shops, lots of local flair, and honestly, the freaking nicest TSA people I've ever seen in my life.  Made you almost want to hide a screwdriver in your pocket just so you could spend more time chatting with them.  But I digress...  One of the top things on my list that every major city should have is a well-used and well-planned transit system, and I don't mean just buses.  Portland is no exception in this area.  It was nice to be there the entire time, see what needed to be seen, and not have to worry about renting a car because of their fabulous rail system.  Given a few more days, we'd have explored even further.

 

That's Mike with the black eye I gave him.  Just kidding!

Maybe.

The first day was pretty short.  We arrived in the afternoon and just decided to wander around the streets of the downtown and surrounding areas aimlessly, thanks to the trusty map purchased at the airport-edition of the infamous Powell's Books.  Since we were just getting familiar with things and hadn't even checked into our hotel yet, we only stayed out until dusk.  After a crantastic bowl of mac & cheese at a noodle joint (perfect on the drizzly cold day that it was), we headed back to our hotel on the north side of town.  We figured we'd slum around the room for the rest of the night, mainly to watch the election results.  We had gotten in line shortly after 6am that morning to vote before hopping over to the airport for our 8am flight. 

I still can't get over the ginormous sea of people in Chicago to greet Obama (YES!!!) when he made his winning speech.  Definitely a proud time in our history and one that, if only for a moment, put a shine on the turd that is our country's appeal right now.  Even with the speech over, we stayed tuned in waiting for our current home state of North Carolina to declare a winner.  Waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting, like watching for a color change on some political pregnancy test.  Eventually we passed out, seeing as how results had been posted for the entire west coast AND Hawaii, while NC was still sitting in the gray, all alone in the sea of red and blue.  I still don't know what the hold-up was.  Yes, it was close, but when you're posting 100% return and one number is bigger than the other...  Either way, the Tar Heel state eventually turned a nice shade of blue.  Even if it was close, I think it's nice to see that the state has become pleasantly mixed rather than predominently red, especially for a confederate state.  Times, they are a-changin'.

SO!  Back to Portland...

Day 2 got us up early since we were still a little messed up on the time change, but it gave us a chance to hop into the Columbia sporting goods store to get some coverage for our chilly heads and ears.  Right after our purchase, we jumped across the street to meet Brad, our tour guide from Portland Walking Tours.  We were signed up for the Best of Portland tour, which had apparently won some awards.  Brad was great, very patient with certain members of our group, and we definitely learned why so many are flocking to this area.  The city's focus on being green is phenomenal in every aspect.  Did you know that they voluntarily, and without government support, MOVED a highway across the river to reduce the number of cars in the downtown area?  Now you do.  One of the other tours the company offers is the Epicurean Excursion.  We would have been totally signed up for that on the same day, except it's only a Friday/Saturday thing.  I can't even imagine -- walking around town for four hours straight indulging and imbibing on the city's finest.  We have to go back for that tour alone.

Despite the temperature and the weather ("just like a Portland winter" we were told), it was still nice for fall.  We now understand why coffee boomed in this part of the country, as we drank a lot of it.  And judging by the sight of a Starbucks on every other corner, I can't even fathom what Seattle looks like.  Our first culinary stop was the downtown location of Old Town Pizza, the "it" spot for a quality piece of pie, and so it was.  We could have definitely taken care of a few more personal pizzas, but we had other stops to make.  The next one was Cacao, a most wondrous all-things-chocolate boutique, which is straight up my alley.  After being mesmerized by the different arrays of bars and beans and truffles from all over, I settled on balsamic vinegar ganache topped with pear jelly, covered in dark chocolate.  Uh... YUM.  To "wash" it down, I opted for a shot of what had to be their most hard-core drinking chocolate.  And by drinking chocolate, if you've never had one, we're not talking hot chocolate.  It's literally like someone just put a bar in the microwave and you drank the results.  I can't imagine what drinking a whole cup would be like, because even I was struggling towards the end.  Part of it was the chili and other spices added that actually gave the back of your throat a little burn.  But it was soooo gooood.

 

Our other culinary must-see that day was the infamous Voodoo Doughnut, often featured on Food Network.  Known for their crazy-awesome toppings (Tang, bubble gum, assorted breakfast cereals, etc.) and alternative style, it was sure to please.  This is me being a dorkus outside wearing my fabulous new hat that looks like I should be doing an advertisement for Swiss Miss cocoa.  Or at least speaking in a bad Swedish accent.  Oh wait, I did...

Though I do wish ours were a little closer to the fresh-from-the-oven timeframe, it was a good gnosh.  First we downed the No Name (Rice Krispies/PB/chocolate), then the Dirty Snowball, the Cap'n Crunch, and the grand finale, the Maple Bacon Bar.  Yes, we split them.

 

 

It was a good day of exploring.  We hit up the aforementioned landmark of Powell's Books, found the great shops of Buffalo Exchange and Billy Galaxy, and fell in love with the hella-priced Pearl District residential area.  At night we ate some locally-grown grub, went to a beer sampling (have you figured out yet that we like to eat and drink?), and snapped away at the numerous new and vintage neon signage.  We had an afternoon flight the next morning, but still found some time to cruise around the downtown a little bit more.  Despite the weather, you can't beat the offerings of this city (tax-free, WHAAAT!), and the region in general.  The people are all phenomenal, and we had more than one person offering us help when we seemed lost.  We decided it has the feel of a great mix of Asheville, Boston, and Baltimore.  Can't wait to see more.  And maybe that mountain, too, next time.

Ni hao!

Seriously - did you watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics?  Ridonkulous.

But not surprising.

We've had the wonderful fortune of visiting China three times in the last seven years, and their eagerness to show themselves to the world has always been present.  My in-laws have been there on work assignment, and it was very different on our first trip in 2002 compared to our most recent in 2006.  That first journey to the other side of the world felt very much like I'd imagined: extremely foreign.  We were basically the only western-bred folk on the plane there and back, and everywhere we went, we stood out like a sore thumb.  The height, my husband's light hair, and, of course, the fact that we spoke zero Chinese.  When we visited the Great Wall, I even had a woman run up and drag me over to her two children so she could take a picture with me.  Passers-by would stop to speak to you just so they could practice their English.  Not to mention that to even get permission to enter the country, we had to tread lightly.

By 2006, just a mere four years later, the changes were incredible.  The city of Beijing, and more specifically, Tianjin, Tanggu, and TEDA, the area my in-laws are in, seemed to explode overnight.  I went from losing weight on my first trip (somewhat of a picky eater, here...), to having numerous choices fit for an American.  Not to say that they should cater to me by any means, or that I shouldn't try the local grub, but it was nice to know that I might have a whole meal to eat from time to time. :)  There was a huge change in the amount of Americans on the plane (which unfortunately dashed hopes of a peaceful flight).  More and more non-Asian faces appeared on the streets.  More western-style shops were abound.  We had no problem applying for a visa.  The doors to tourism had opened.

Our first trip was also just around the time that Beijing was awarded the games for this summer.  In 2006, we saw the headquarters for the IOC and the early construction stages of the Bird Nest arena.  They were preparing for the world.  In 2006 and even now, I find myself with mixed emotion over all the progress.  While I in no way feel that the growth and modernization of China is a bad thing, I can already see the charms that made our first visit there so special beginning to fade away.  I just hope that while they are growing, they can do it in a conscientious way, especially when it comes to holding on to tradition.  One thing that surely won't fade, however, is the generosity and kindness of the Chinese as a whole.

I'm not sure if or when we'll ever make it back to China, but I'm so glad we had the chance.  Prior to 2002, I had sub-zero interest in visiting the country, to the point of even just walking by the Chinese pavilion at Epcot.  And I loves me some Epcot.  Now, we can go in and feel like we are back there once again, if only for a moment.  Seeing what is happening during the Olympics, and wondering how much they will impact things once the celebrations are over, it makes this non-Chinese person hopeful and proud.  I can't wait to see how they close the show.

Aside from the pics I have featured in the photobox shop, I've just listed a cute pair of earrings in the scatterbox shop from some great stamps we received on a package from overseas.  A nice, little way to celebrate the beauty of the culture.

The Great Outdoors

We got back yesterday from an overnight trip to the mountains, which is always a fabulous escape, especially when it's going to be in the mid-90s at home.  Instead of going to the wonderful city of Asheville like we tend to do when heading in that direction, we instead decided to make a go at camping in an area near the Blue Ridge Parkway and Linville Gorge, part of Pisgah National Forest.  The place we stayed was great; it was run by a really nice husband and wife whose house was right there at the front, so it was like staying with family.  But they had enough land that you felt like you were definitely at a campground, but with nice homey facilities.  The downside was that not long after we got there in the early evening and set everything up, it POURED.  I had a feeling it would, but that was certainly not going to prevent the indulgence of smores by campfire.  It just made it more strategic as you huddled in your collapsible chair, maneuvering the cracker-choco-marsh assembly in one hand while holding an umbrella in the other.

The next day was gorgeous, thankfully, so we set out for a little hiking and exploring.  The parkway makes for such an awesome drive, and everytime, makes me wish for a Jeep with the top off.  We had never been to the Linville Gorge area, but it's such a great spot to experience.  Not to mention that I'm pretty sure it's hard to take a bad photo there.

 

Afterwards, we stopped in an area known as Little Switzerland for lunch and such.  We went to one of those gem-sifting places and got some great little stones (future jewelry, perhaps...), some ice cream (goes without saying), and visited the cutest freaking bookstore ever: The Little Switzerland Book Exchange.  Did I mention it was cute?  SO CUTE.  It just goes on and on, and each room is... so cute.  The pictures don't even do the cuteness justice.  Seriously - check the link.

Adding to the awesomeness of the bookstore was this great little find right inside their front door (that of course came out blurry):

I'm a HUGE fan of the "Meg Ryan Trilogy", as I call it (When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail), and if any of you are familiar, you'll recognize these as "the shoe books" from You've Got Mail.  I had never seen these in person before (almost thought they made them up for the movie) and was equally surprised to learn how much older their publication was than I had imagined.  But I got so excited seeing them that I had to take a picture.  As I've been known to say before, It's the little things, people.

Alas, it's back home to the mid-90 temps, but that also means I'm back working on shop stuff, so I ain't complaining.  Though I do feel that a trip to the store for more smores ammo is highly in order.

Have a good weekend!