jace the face at the place setting the pace

Last night Jace and I went into the city to have dinner with my friend Erica and her husband Spencer at their amazing little apartment in Hell's Kitchen. Yesterday and the day before it snowed a crazy amount out here and in the city. NYU (where Spencer is attending law school) even closed their campus for the second time in 10 years (the first time was a few weeks ago when another crazy snow storm struck) because of the weather. I knew this, and yet somehow I thought that it wouldn't be all that bad. And, compared to the suburbs, it wasn't. Jace, my family and I have been shoveling snow twice a day for the last two days and I tell you what, my arms are sore. We have mountains of snow piled up on the sides of the sidewalks and roads that are almost as tall as I am. Or, at least, it feels that way. In the city the snow was not piled nearly as high. There were, however, hidden icy slush moats found on the corner of every block. While I'd worn my thrift store hiking boots that were fine for mountains of snow, they were no match for the slushy puddles of doom. By the time we'd walked the 12 blocks or so to the Rick's apartment both Jace and I had at least one very wet foot. 

 

We were able, however, to snap this photo of Jace terrorizing the Empire State Building. He really is a giant of epic proportions. (Also, please note his amazing Canada tuque that I got him at the Olympics. He WILL love Canada! He WILL!) The top of the Empire State Building is always lit up in colors for different occasions, like red/pink/white for Valentine's Day or red/green for Christmas which is fun. Right now it's lit up different colors depending on which side of the building you're on, which is pretty unusual. The north side is blue/black/blue, the east side is yellow/black/yellow, the south side is green/black/green and the west side is red/black/red. What? I looked it up and it's because of...dun dada dunnnnn...the Olympics! This weekend is the closing ceremonies so they've lit up the building in the colors of the Olympic rings. Fun fact! Now go impress your friends with your knowledge.

After an amazing bean soup and cheesy muffins dinner we hit the town! Erica and Spencer took Jace and I on a small tour of downtown Manhattan. I've been to the city countless times but it was fun to be there and not be one of the people in charge of showing people around. Erica and Spencer did a great job of hitting such hot spots as Times Square and Central Park. Jace finally gave in to his tourist side and was snapping pictures right and left. It had been years since I'd been to Times Square and I'd forgotten how bright it is at night! During the day it doesn't pop as much as it does at night when the only light is man-made. It was pretty fun.

Central Park was great too because it was dark and snowy and even though we still saw people it was more or less quiet and it was almost as if the city that never sleeps was asleep under all the snow. Apparently early that day someone had gotten killed walking through the park because a branch that was heavy with snow broke off its tree and fell on them. I never know what to make of stuff like that. It's so weird and so bazar that it could only happen in New York. Luckily, we were safe and did not encounter any killer trees while we were there.

We went back to the house, ate delicious chocolate fondue (made with chocolate orange chocolate which is amazing and clever) and watched the Olympics. Jace and I caught the 12:34 train home and didn't get back to Summit until 1:30 am, but it was one of the best nights we've had while he's been here. Hooray for friends, the city, and adventure!

t-t-t-treva and the kids

Being in Vancouver has been so much fun for so many reasons, but one of the biggest as of yet un-blogged about reasons is my cousin Treva and her cute kids Anna and Tate! The kids were really fun to just have running around the house the whole time I was there, and I even got to go out with them and Treva a couple times to the store (to buy copious amounts of Canadian candy) and down to the sea wall where the kids got nice and wet in the freezing cold water, but had a blast just throwing stones and shells into the surf. They are definitely a handful, but über lovable. I think one of my favorite things was that they loved me, too! It's always easier to love those who love you back, right? They learned my name pretty fast and then they would always say it like, "Where's Tassi?" and "'Scuse me, Tassi." Soooooo cute!

Here are some fun stories about the Anna and Tate monsters:

Story #1 :Pretty soon after we first met, and I was still trying to win their affection, I was Skype video chatting with my boyfriend Jace when Anna and Tate came into the room. The video and audio of the chat were all messed up so we were trying to figure out what was going wrong and the kids were just enthralled by the fact that they could see a little video of themselves in the corner of the screen where I was. They were also fascinated by the video of Jace, which Tate pointed to and said, "Dadda?" Treva corrected him saying, "No, that's not your daddy, but Daddy has glasses too, doesn't he?" Then she turned to me and said, "Well, that's a little embarrassing, isn't it?" I just thought it was funny. Then, as they were leaving the room, one of the kids asked Treva, "Is that Cassi's husband?" Nice.

Story #2: One morning Treva asked me to watch them for like 15 minutes while she showered and got ready for the day. I was chewing gum and blowing bubbles, not really thinking about it and Tate saw and was instantly hooked. He would ask for another bubble, then when I would pop it before he could touch it he would scream this delighted little whine, similar in structure to that of an ambulance as it drives by. You know, loud and then softer as it goes on. Soon enough Anna had to get in on the action and we made a game of it, with me video recording the whole thing on my computer so that then we could watch it back and the kids could see themselves on screen. The funniest part was that they would imitate the sounds they made on camera in real life. If they were screaming in the video, they would scream in real life. If they were saying "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" on screen they would say it while they were watching, too. Adorable. Tate also liked to ask, "Where'd it go?" When I told him the bubble was now in my mouth he would say, "Oh. I see." What? What 2 year old talks like that? So cute.

Story #3: This one isn't so much a story as it is a fact: Anna and Tate call my cousin Sarah, Treva's sister, Uncle Risa. We have no idea why, but they are really adamant about it. You cannot convince them, no matter how hard you try, that her name is actually Auntie Sarah. The last night we were all in town we had a big cousin dinner and Treva needed a babysitter and although Anna had some great suggestions: "You know, Mom, Cassi could babysit..." my Uncle Jon found Treva a babysitter from his ward. And guess what her name was? That's right, Risa. The kids could not have been more excited. Clearly it was meant to be.


I really admire my cousin Treva as a person and as a mom. She has seemingly endless patience with her kids, who can certainly be trying at times, and she totally understands that being a mom is something that is super important. She does fun stuff with her kids and I hope that I can be as fun and cool a mom as she is when it's my turn.

echoes in my brain

Today I woke up with this song in my brain. I have no idea how it happened. I can't even remember the last time I heard said song. Also I think it is dumb. And yet it seems that my brain disagrees. Or at least my unconscious brain does.

Dreaming is strange, isn't it? There are all sorts of theories as to why we dream and hundreds of books and websites claiming to be able to analyze our dreams. My friend Harold dreams all kinds of crazy dreams and for a time she would look up meanings about her dreams online. They pretty much never made sense. But sometimes they are funny. Like once she had a dream that had scissors in it and the interweb told her: 

Scissors
To dream that you are using scissors, denotes decisiveness and control in your waking life. Alternatively, it may suggests that you need to get rid of something in your life. It also represents your ability to cut things or people out of your life. Perhaps you are being snippy about some situation.

Note the clever play on scissors and the word snippy. You gotta love it!

Ok, so now let's analyze my dream, or rather, the simple fact that I was dreaming about that song I mentioned earlier. Some key words might be song, phone, kiss. And the analysts say....

Telephone
To see or hear a telephone in your dream, signifies a message from your unconscious or some sort of telepathic communication. You may be forced to confront issues which you have tried to avoid. Alternatively, the telephone represents your communication and relationship with others.

Wait. So a telephone signifies communication? That is so wacky and crazy! I would have never guessed that on my own. But wait, there's more:

Cell Phone
To see or use a cell phone in your dream, indicates that you are being receptive to new information. It also represents your mobility.

A cell phone represents mobility?! Where are they getting this stuff? Classic.

Kiss
To dream of a kiss, denotes love, affection, tranquility, harmony, and contentment. To see others kissing in your dream, suggests that you are too involved in their personal lives and relationship.You need to give them some space. If the dream ends just about you are about to kiss someone, indicates that you are unsure of how he or she really feels about you. You are looking for some sort of relationship with this person but you are not sure about how to go about achieving it. If you are heterosexual and you dream that you are kissing someone of the same sex, then it represents self-acceptance. You are acknowledging the feminine or masculine side. 

To dream that you are kissing someone's hand, signifies respect.

 

To dream that you are kissing someone else's boyfriend or girlfriend, indicates your wish to be a relationship and to experience the energy of love. You may be sexually acting out. You may also need to awaken your passion. Alternatively, it indicates a lack of integrity on your part. If you are kissing a close friend, then it represents your respect and adoration for your friend. It may or may not signify a romantic interest for him or her.

   

To dream of kissing an enemy, signifies betrayal, hostility, or reconciliation with an angry friend. Consider also the saying "this kiss of death". If you are kissed by a stranger, then your dream is one of self-discovery. You need to get more acquainted with some aspect of yourself.

They don't say anything about kissing a phone or through a phone... I think this site is a little behind the times.

Songs
To hear or write songs in your dream, indicates that you are looking at things from a spiritual viewpoint. Your future path is a happy one with good health and much wealth. Consider the words to the song that you are dreaming about for additional messages.

I'm not sure that I would associate Soulja Boy with spirituality, but I like the idea of good health and much wealth. Interesting that it says to point to the words of the song for additional messages, though. Let's see...

Baby you know that I miss you, I wanna get with you tonight
But I cannot baby girl and that's the issue
Girl you know I miss you, I just wanna kiss you
But I can't right now so baby kiss me thru the phone, I'll see you later on
Kiss me thru the phone, see you when I get home

Baby I know that you like me, you my future wifey
Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, yeah
You can be my Bonnie, I can be your Clyde
You could be my wife, text me, call me

I need you in my life, yeah all day everyday I need ya
And every time I see ya my feelings get deeper
I miss ya, I miss ya, I really wanna kiss you but I can't
Six, seven, eight, triple nine, eight, two, one, two

Baby you know that I miss you, I wanna get with you tonight
But I cannot baby girl and that's the issue
Girl you know I miss you, I just wanna kiss you
But I can't right now so baby kiss me thru the phone, I'll see you later on
Kiss me thru the phone, see you when I get home

Baby I been thinking lately so much about you
Everything about you, I like it, I love it
Kissing you in public, thinking nothing of it
Roses by the dozen, talking on the phone

Baby you so sexy, your voice is so lovely
I love your complexion, I miss ya, I miss ya, I miss ya
I really wanna kiss you but I can't
Six, seven, eight, triple nine, eight, two, one, two

Baby you know that I miss you, I wanna get with you tonight
But I cannot baby girl and that's the issue
Girl you know I miss you, I just wanna kiss you
But I can't right now so baby kiss me thru the phone, I'll see you later on
Kiss me thru the phone, see you when I get home

She call my phone like
Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da
We on the phone like
Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da

We taking pics like
Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da
She dial my number like
Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da
Six, seven, eight, triple, nine, eight, two, one, two

Baby you know that I miss you, I wanna get with you tonight
But I cannot baby girl and that's the issue
Girl you know I miss you, I just wanna kiss you
But I can't right now so baby kiss me thru the phone, I'll see you later on
Kiss me thru the phone, see you when I get home

Well despite the lyrical variety, there does seem to be a theme: I miss you. Huh. So, taking everything into account, my dream seems to be telling me that I am missing someone that I love. Oh, probably my boyfriend who lives in Michigan. Wow. Pretty deep: my dream self thinks exactly the same things as my awake self. If only my dream self could be a little more sophisticated...

love

a poem

scavenge your brains out

Jace set up the most fantastic treasure hunt ever for me to find my Christmas present! We went all over town following cryptic clues like, "Orange and blue will show you the next clue. Don't smudge the glass." Or, my personal favorite, "42.752872 N 84.479627 W. Look to the north for your fave." Jace would always give super helpful hints to help me decifer the clues like, "Huh, looks like co-ordinates..." or "I dunno" while rolling his eyes away from my gaze so he wouldn't give anything away. Adorable. The chase eventually lead me to the middle of a wooded area in a park where I found a hemp cord that I had to follow through the snow, around fallen tree trunks, branches and did I mention snow? My final gift was wrapped in a plastic grocery bag and packing tape to protect it from the elements. My boyfriend is so wise. Inside the long awaited package was an photo empty photo album with a card reading, "I  can't say that we'll fill this book, but let's try," and a matching journal with a to do list on the first page that said,

What shall we do today?

• build a fort 
• tip a cow 
• go skiing 
• make Henna art 
• get lost on a crazy adventure
  

There was also a henna art book and kit which I may or may not already own slash was also given for Christmas this year slash is the greatest henna kit ever. Just maybe.

After the grand adventure we went to AI Fusion, a sushi place, where we had a late lunch with his friends Kyle, Bruce, and Meesh (short for Michelle). Meesh enlightened Jace about the bump application and they proceeded to bump for a while while we waited for Bruce to show up and, yes, I know how that sounds. (One of the bump features is that it provides a map so you have a history of where you've bumped people. Really?) We had a great time just chatting, laughing, and eating delicious raw fish. It was probably my favorite Michigan day so far.

don't lose your snow sticks on the lift thing

Today Jace and I went skiing with his mom Lisa, brother Gage, and brother's friend Tucker. It was just a little ski place but it was so much fun! I felt super skilled because I tried the ski moguls and went through some trees—on purpose! Though I did take some fantastic spills on both of those adventures. My personal favorite was when I was trying to ski the moguls—which were totally weird, by the way, in that they were all clumped together in a grid basically instead of spread out along the run. It was probably my third time in that area attempting to conquer at least one or two of the powdery mounds and somehow I completely lost control and ended up belly down in the middle of the grid with my feet splayed out to either side, skis still on, feet pointing in completely opposite directions, unable to move, but able to feel my hip joints slowly being pulled from their sockets. After several failed attempts to get up or take my skis off, I finally managed to free myself and walk over to the side of the moguls, skis in hand, to start over and make my way down the rest of the run. Meanwhile the rest of the crew is at the bottom all looking up at me, helpless, just waiting for me to figure it out. It probably took just as long to get my skis back on as it did to free myself from the mess in the first place. A total wipe out in every respect.

But that is hardly the point. What is the point, you ask? To have fun! And I did. I got to chat with Jace's mom a bit and she is a first class lady. A real stand up gal. I like Jace's family a lot, tell you what. I also got to face some of my skiing fears, like wooded runs. It was quite possibly the most fun I've had skiing ever. Ever!

Jace and I took this picture on the ski lift at the beginning of the day. Note our fantastic headwear provided from the suitcase of Cassi. We are models of beauty and health in this picture, as always.

fort face

Jace and I built a fort in his dad's basement.

We left the ceiling partially open so that we could use the "natural" basement light to read with. Jace played with a wooden block puzzle I brought him that I'd gotten for Christmas but couldn't get back together (he figured it out no problem) and I read him Young Adult Novel by Daniel Pinkwater until my arms got too tired from holding it up and we had to take a break.

 During the day time the light from the side glass doors shone in through the quilt and trampoline to light up the place.

It was probably the biggest fort I've ever built. Also possibly the coldest. But we were, after all, in Michigan.

michiganders, michiginians, michi... people from michigan

I am in Michigan with Jace. He makes me happy. So does his mustachioed mode of transportation.

textually speaking

When people send me text messages that I think are funny I save them. Pretty soon my whole inbox gets filled up with locked messages and I have to go through and delete them. Here are some of my favorites of the moment, preserved in all their spelling and typo dignity:

• From: Brendan Hancock—Last night i had a dream where i needed to get some secret information from an intelligent talking globe. So i made a holographic program of princess leia and a silber android lying on a bed. The globe was in an elevator and when the door opened he saw princess leia and the silver android rubbing the sheets seductively and eyeing him. He stood looking at them for a second, then stepped off the elevator into the room. My cd-alarm started waking of up with the theme from "2001", and i said "this guy is seriously messed up."

• From: Dave Buck—You can't just start throwing apostrophes around saying they mean whatever you like

• From: Harold Miller—That is mysterious. Maybe you sleep ran naked through a swarm of them

• From: Erica Martin Ricks—You are the hippest adventurer i know. Thanks for coming to nyc. And im not jst saying that bc you left the wheat thins

• From: Harold Miller—Did i tell you that i successfully pregnated two cows yesterday? It was awesome! But I am very sore today. [...] It's a lot harder to get cows pregnant than i thought.

• From: Jace Wickman—.....can we try and fall and miss the ground

• From: Jace Wickman–Buahahaha Ahahahaha...well thats comeing along nicely
  

There are many more messages I have saved, but lots of them are from Jace Face and they are mushy and I'm not supposed to talk about them. True face. Also fact.

kansas city...there i was...

Went to Kansas City! Visited two of my most favorite people, Ashley and Rob Lugo, and met up with my loverly boyfriend Jace Face and had a fantastic week! It was finals for Ashley and Rob (who are at art school for photo and ceramics respectively) so we got to go to their end of the semester art show which was awesome! Rob sold one of his pieces (maybe two? I can't remember now...) and another of his pieces was accepted into the school's permanent collection. Yeah, some students spend their whole academic careers hoping for that and Rob achieved it his very first semester. No big deal.

We also went ice skating, ate delicious food, watched a plethora of movies, and best friended one of the cutest dogs ever, Calvin.

Fun facts about the trip:

• Not all couches are created equal in terms of sleeping comfort and levels of coziness.
  
• I want to go to art school so bad and major in everything.
• Jace always picks lame movies. Also Angelina Jolie is really good at hacking computers.
  
• The quilt with my quilt square was not done yet but is still in the works—all the squares were completed in June...
• Brookstone has a jewelry/eye glasses cleaning machine that makes really scary noises and you think it's going to break your glasses by putting them in there and although they are shiny afterwards it is unclear if that is because of the machine or the water in the machine that you set your glasses in to get them cleaned. You have been warned.
  
• I still am finding dog hair (not Calvin's) in my clothes.
• I only took two pictures the whole trip. The important thing is that we look really hot. In both of them.
  

completion

This completes me.

So does the following email from dear lover-boy Jace Face, sent last night but received today at lunch time:

so, all day I kept thinking of you, this might turn into a problem, your turning me into some sort of good boy friend. Therefore I am accusing you of witchcraft, its the only explanation, other than i like you.

Despite the spelling and grammar errors he is really quite a man. And PS I can say whatever I want since he doesn't read my blog. So, I suppose there are really only one or two improvements I could ask for, but no more than that...

memories...

Since I didn't blog at all while I was actually at camp, I feel the need to do a little story telling now. I hope you enjoy

Story #1:

Ashley and I are the same person. Ashley, for those of you who don't know (which I realize is pretty much all of you) was my co-counselor at summer camp. She is amazing. She's from Florida/Alabama, is 22, married to Rob—the pottery master and head of pottery at camp—and is hilarious. She was a counselor here at camp last year too and I was so lucky to have her to help me through the trying times that are summer camp. It got to the point where we could complete each others sentences, one of us could tell our girls what we needed them to do then the other would enforce it without even missing a beat. We worked together at T-Shirt Factory (tie dying t-shirts) and one of us could nap while the other helped kids and then we would switch and there was never animosity or frustrations and she is seriously one of my best friends now. She calls me her other-other-half. We even made up our own tie dye fold called The Cashley (or Hugs and Kisses because it makes x's and o's when it's done). In short, I love Ashley Lugo.

Story #2:

We are not supposed to talk to our campers about our personal lives (to avoid awkward questions about drinking, virginity, and the like) so to help deflect questions about me and Jace we just told our campers that we were siblings which usually sparked the comment, "Oh yeah. You do look alike." Well, one night Jace and I sneaked away from one of the evening socials to microwave tiny delicious pies we had bought at Walmart the night before and then forgotten about. As we were trying to eat them without burning either our hands or our mouths Alex walked into the kitchen. He was complaining about how his parents were late picking him up for his night and day off because they were helping his brother move into his new apartment when all of a sudden, mid-sentence he stopped and, looking from me to Jace, asked, "Hey, are you guys brother and sister?" Without missing a beat I go, "Yup." Then he asked if we were twins to which I replied, "No. Not twins." When he wanted to know who was older Jace told him to guess. He guessed Jace (probably because he is taller) and Jace goes, "Yep. Good guess." Haha. The whole thing was hilarious because we were so serious about it the whole time and Alex did all the work: all we had to say was yes or no.

A week or two later Alex came up to us at an evening activity and asked us if we were really brother and sister, which we assured him we were. "Yeah, that's what I said too but those girls over there seem to think you are dating." "What?" I responded. "That's ridiculous." "I know!" and then he walked off.

Meanwhile, camp goes on and we forget about the whole thing. Then, during minicamp, Jace and I were standing together at another evening activity and for some reason he gave me a hug (probably because he said something and then I told him we were through and he had to make it up to me). Alex, unbeknownst to us, was sitting on a bench behind us and commented to Stephanie, who was sitting next to him, how cute it was that Jace was hugging his sister. Stephanie, understandably confused, asked who Jace's sister was. Alex, surprised, said, "Cassi." To which Stephanie responded, "Ummm... They're dating." It is at this point that seemingly out of nowhere Jace and I hear yelled from behind us, "YOU!!!" We turn around to see Alex, open mouthed, pointing at us while Stephanie is sitting next to him beside herself with laughter. Jace looked at me all confused and that's when I realized that the lie we had told weeks ago had come back to haunt us. Well, mostly to haunt Alex. We laughed and then went over to taunt him further. It made our night.

NOTE: The last day of camp Alex asked me if Jace and I were going to get married. I responded, "Oh yeah. We're actually already engaged." To which he responded, "Oh really?! WAIT! I hate you."

Story #3:

I taught my girls The Sweater Song. My 10 year old girls. And it was their favorite. I wrote out the words for them (editing the first line for their and my benefit) and we would sing it together and then they would ask me to play it for them on the guitar like every night so they could sing it. It completed me.

My favorite though was when we had a new group of girls come and the old girls wanted to teach the new girls the song. We played it through for them once and asked them what they thought. One of the girls said, "Well, it's a little inappropriate, don't you think? I mean, NAKED?" It was all I could do not to laugh. The 13 year old girls I had cabin-sat the night before were listening to songs like Birthday Sex and when I tried to tell them that was inappropriate they didn't seem to understand. So to have a song deemed inappropriate just because it had the word naked in it was such a shock to me: in a good way. I smoothed it over by explaining that the "naked" being referred to in the song was metaphorical: he just feels naked without his sweater; he's not actually naked. (I think it went right over her head.)

boston boston, bo-boston, banana-fanna, fo-foston, mi-my-mo-moston...boston!

Today and yesterday we were in Boston! With Jen! What could be better?! I'll tell you what: nothing. Jen is one of my most favorite people in the whole world and I have now decided that Boston is one of my favorite places. The plan is to move up there at some point in the next year. That's right: Portland is out and Boston is in!

When Jace and I arrived Saturday night we met Jen at her new apartment (which I am in love with) then went out to eat at a phenomenal vegetarian restaurant called Veggie Planet. That's right, I ate at a vegetarian restaurant and not only did I not complain about it, I LOVED it. If I continue to hang out with the Jace Face and move up and live with Jen I think I will become vegetarian through the shear force of peer pressure. Also I have developed a new-found love for vegetables. And not just the normal ones like broccoli and carrots, but eggplant, zucchini, and water chestnuts. Yum! 

After dinner we went to J. P. Licks where Jen, Jace, and I ordered peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie hard yogurt, oreo cake batter ice cream, and pistachio ice cream respectively. We ate it at the window bar where we had a lovely view of a young couple sitting at a table outside the shop where the boy would not stop touching the girl: hugging, kissing, rubbing her back, playing with her hair... Really, man? She's trying to eat. And so are we. My favorite part of the whole thing was when her parents, whom they had apparently been waiting for, showed up. Very classy.

Today I went to church with the Jen and, in contrast to camp where I felt really old, I suddenly felt like a baby: the average age of the singles ward is 28 and Jen, at 22, is the youngest one in the ward. It was pretty good: you could tell that the members who were there were all pretty smart, and not just because they are doing things like getting Ph. D's at Harvard. (Though several of them are.) The last hour was a combined meeting where we talked about what else other than dating and marriage? Makes me sick. To quote Jen, "If we talked about it less it would happen more." Here here. I just went to my happy place and tried not to let the talk of how being single makes us feel like we are less complete human beings and all that nonsense bother me. It helped to have Jen there because we could help each other out. She's the best.

After church we met up with the Jace who had been exploring the city all morning and went on a parknic (translation: picnic in a park) at Boston Commons. We ate cucumber and sharp cheddar pita sandwiches and strawberries with Nutella. It was the best meal. Then we went wading in the Frog Pond where Jace tried several times (unsuccessfully) to flip me in, then we took a nap. Seriously, probably my favorite day of the whole trip. Also, walking back to the T (Bostonian for subway/metro) we found a cell phone on a bench that was ringing. So we answered it. It was John. I said, "Hello, John. We just found this cell phone on a bench in Boston Commons by the Tadpole Playground." He said it was his friend's and he'd probably be looking for it so we said we'd leave it on the bench where we found it so he could tell his friend where to find it. It was a disposable cell phone which, PS, I didn't even know existed, and it was slightly sketchy. I hope its owner found it. Unless he was a drug dealer. In which case I kinda hope he didn't.

For dinner Jace made us AMAZING stir fry that we ate on a rug since Jen does not yet have a table in her home (a rugnic, if you will). Also, I just realized that when I'm with Jen I talk about food a lot. It is because she knows a lot about it. Also, when I'm with her I always eat delicious food. She is good for my health in so many ways! Except for the cookies... After dinner we made chocolate chip/snickers cookies that were huge and tasty and then we went into sugar shock and fell asleep. Well, more or less.

Also, the vest was there.

over the falls in a barrel

Today we arrived in Buffalo! This time we had TWO hotel rooms with king sized beds (thanks, Dad!). The beds were so big that we could have fit about four people in one AND Jace could actually stretch all the way out. (PS He is 6'6".)I'm pretty sure that was his favorite part of the whole trip. Honestly we could have both slept in the same bed and not even been anywhere near close to touching, but, don't worry, Dad, we didn't.

After we checked into the hotel and brought in everything we thought we'd need for the night, we hopped back into the Yaris and drove up to Niagara Falls. We parked on the American side in a Duty Free shop parking lot (it was free) and walked over to the Canadian side because neither of us had ever done that before and I tell you what, I highly recommend it. All you need is your passport and you're good to go! As we were chatting with the Canadian border guard guy (and by chatting I mean he was looking at our passports and we were waiting to be allowed to go) there was a group of kids around our age that were being escorted back across the border by a police officer. It is one of Jace's goals in life to be asked to leave a country, so he was sufficiently jealous of their luck. We're still not sure what they did, but they seemed unaffected by the whole thing.

We wandered around the Canadian side for a while, mostly just strolling along the river/waterfalls and enjoying a nice walk after hours spent stuck in the car (the drive from the campsite to the hotel alone was about 6 hours). The most fun thing we did was the Journey Behind the Falls. It's where you get to go through these tunnels that have little look outs and you literally walk behind Horseshoe Falls (one of the smaller waterfalls in the Niagara vicinity). They gave us yellow plastic ponchos but Jace still got really wet. I, on the other hand, was prepared and brought my rain jacket. Sucka.
Also, remember how we were so clever and got free parking in the Duty Free shop lot? Well it was a good trick because the only exit out of said lot was to pay the $3.25 toll and cross the bridge over to the Canadian side. Lame sauce. So we crossed the border twice in one night. Good times. We had to explain to the border guard that we just wanted to turn around and he directed us to the customs building where for some reason they felt it necessary to search my car. Really? I think they might have mistaken the exhaustion in my voice and demeanor for something else (maybe, I don't know, drugs?) and wanted to make sure we weren't transporting any of the stuff back to the US. We weren't. Though with all the secret compartments in my car I bet we could have and not have gotten caught. But we didn't. But we could have. But we didn't.

road trip to everywhere

So, after camp ended I went on a four-day road trip with a fantastic boy I met at camp and whom I may or may not be but definitely am currently dating. His name is Jace. (It rhymes with face.) You may remember him from a previous entry—he has toe shoes that make him look like a ninja. Obviously my dad thought it was one of my more brilliant plans. I think his exact words were, "That is the worst possible idea you could ever have." I took that to mean that if I got a tattoo while I was drunk and then got pregnant on the trip than it couldn't be any worse than having gone on the trip in the first place, so I did just that. 

Except not at all. (Don't worry, Dad.)

After we got paid Wednesday Jace and I drove home to my house, did laundry, ate delicious food, and slept. Yesterday morning we did more laundry, ate more good food, then packed up the car around lunch time and headed off for our first grand adventure: Woodstock.

Woodstock was a fabulous hippie town where we thrift shopped, ate veggie pizza, and generally enjoyed ourselves. I highly recommend it. So do Jace's parents. But they don't want to talk about it. Oh! Also as we were leaving we found a castle park! It was exactly like the one that used to be in Chatham before they knocked it down and replaced it with yet another lame plastic playset. Of course we stopped and played. It completed me.

We had no plans to stay anywhere specific that night—we decided to just drive in the general direction of Niagra Falls until we were too tired to go any farther and figure it out from there. Sadly, since we've been camp counselors all summer and are used to getting up at 7:15 am on the dot, eating crappy food, and never getting enough sleep, we reached our exhaustion limit around 8:30 pm. Well done. However, there was no cheap sleeping arrangements to be found. So we drove and drove and drove and finally stumbled upon a KOA Kampsite around 10:30 pm that saved our lives. The office was closed when we got there but we filled out the correct forms, put the $30 cash in the proper envelope, found a tent site, pitched out tent, and fell dead asleep. We felt like real adults, all responsible and paying for things. You know.

We woke up in the morning to a babbling brook, neighboring RVers, and an old man with a trailer that had a Porche inside. No big deal. Also, last night as we were unpacking we discovered a dead mouse in one of our sleeping bags. Luckily Jace is quite a man and scooped it out of the stuffing and threw it outside the tent. We tried our best to not mention it while the sleeping bag was still in use because what? gross.