Yummy Ethiopian

Well, it has been a few days since I last wrote and the birthday approaches. I actually love my birthday...it is a great excuse to see the people I enjoy and a chance to do something I like to do. Some years I keep it more low key. Last year I went with a few friends for mussels and frites at my favorite Beligian bar, BXL. I always hesitate to tell people that I love it because I don't want it getting too crowded, but it has an odd location near Times Square so I don't think there is any cause for worry.

This year I will be celebrating with Ethiopian on the lower east side. I LOVE Ethiopian because I am somewhat of a vegetarian (clarification - I don't eat meat, but I won't freak out if anything I eat touches meat or I smell meat...It's really more of a health choice than a statement on society for me...I also eat fish and eggs so I don't really qualify for the veg label. I am something like an ova-pesca-lactotarian, but that sounds just as obnoxious as a double-decaf-soy-latte so let's just not go there) and Ethiopian food gives me tons of options. Plus they have a "meal." I appreciate any culture that will present me with a multidish option, and if I get courses, that is beyond great.

So I am supposed to be writing about the states I've already been to as well as the ones I am going to this year so I guess I will start with Pennsylvania where I grew up. I lived in a suburb of Philadelphia on the cusp of two towns, Lansdale and North Wales. My friend Rachel and I both had North Wales mailing addresses, but we were really in Lansdale. Not that we're North Wales haters or anything.

Anyway, I lived with my parents, older brother and three dogs. The story I will tell concerns my brother, Eric. We were buddies as kids, but he got way to cool for me by the time we hit middle school. He was also "bad," so since I was only one grade behind him in school, I always had the difficult task of getting teachers to realize that I wasn't going to be a repeat of the terror from the year before.

I was on the phone and he wanted to use it, but I wouldn't get off, so he tried to grab it from me, but I hit him in the head with it instead. He was so mad, and wanted to hit me back, but probably realized he would get in trouble if he did, so he grabbed a bagged loaf of sandwich bread and came running after me with it. Even though he was angry and his eyes were popping out of his head, the sight of him lunging at me with that bread was hysterical! The more I laughed the madder he got, and he eventually slammed down the hall to his room to make his call. I will never forget how funny he looked swinging that bread around!

The planning phase has begun

So I still have a few weeks until my 29th birthday, but I've already put together a few trips.

My mother and I will be driving from New Orleans, LA to Charleston, SC in late February. We'll stop along the way in Biloxi, MS, Montogomery, AL, Birmingham, AL, Atlanta, GA, Savannah, GA and Hilton Head, SC. It promises to be an interesting trip and I don't think the driving should be too bad since we are spacing it out over 9 days. The flights were fairly inexpensive and my mother was able to use her AMEX points to rent the car, so we just have to figure out hotels and what we want to see now.

I'm really glad we'll be going through Louisiana and Mississippi because I think it is really important for people to visit and contribute to the local economy.

I also booked flights and the hotel for Rachel's wedding in Hawaii in July. Boy did that hit the wallet hard! My boyfriend Nien will be coming along with me and we're making a vacation out of it as well, so I think it will be very worth it. Plus, Rachel is one of my oldest friends so there is no way I can miss her wedding. The picture above is Rachel and her fiance Terry on a previous trip to Hawaii.

So after all of those states, I'll only have 15 to go!

50 before 30

Hi there, welcome to my blog. About this time every year, the new year and my approaching birthday (January 26 for those of you playing along) get me thinking about what I am doing with my life and how I can improve myself. I usually start panicking and throw myself into something I think I should be doing - last year it was applying to business school...no comment on that for now.

This year is a little more intimidating because I am turning 29, and there is no more denying that 30 is right around the corner. Rather than fret about a 5 year plan or why I'm not married, don't have kids, own no property and any other number of really good things to stress about, I've decided to give myself a break and pursue a completely exciting yet, somewhat frivolous goal. So I've come up with a project that I think will be fun and give me a sense of accomplishment, but one that I can't really put on my resume - I am going travel to all 50 states by my 30th birthday!

What sparked this whole thing is my friend Rachel's wedding in Hawaii this coming summer. I've never been there, and was excited to tick another state off my list. Curious about how many states I had actually traveled to or through, I made a list and found that I have already been to 29 states, thanks largely to a few road trips over the years. That's a lot more than I thought I'd been to! After the Hawaii trip I'll only have 20 to go, so I figure I might as well try to see as many as possible this year, and if time and money hold out, why not all of them?

I'll list the states I need to go to below, so if anyone has suggestions or stories I would appreciate your thoughts. I will also do my best to present a story or anecdote from every state I've been to so far so there will be postings during the weeks in between trips this year.

Thanks for checking out my blog and I hope you'll follow along!

21 states to go:

Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming