i love lucy gifts

You may remember this special cake that Josh made me for my twenty-third birthday last year:

It is the state of Iowa, with the route that I rode on Ragbrai last summer. It may come as a shock, but it has been a year since he made me that cake. I'm another year older and, though I'm not riding Ragbrai, I am still living the "i love lucy" lifestyle. And many of the generous presents and goodies I received for my birthday are proof of that fact.

Hadley's cake of my future book and bookmark (even though it'll be so good you'll never stop reading)

Sarah's beautiful balloon pic of me biking in heels.

Running shirt from Josh so I can bleed even more blue and orange.

Running water bottle from Josh.

Athlete's Cookbook (and farmer's market veggies) from Nikki

And new copper and stainless steel cookware from Josh to make my super athlete meals!

Similar cake to last year's... but Iowa has become THE USA! Made specially by Nikki and Joshua!

I am so grateful for great friends and family who make such a big deal about celebrating my birth, even though it seems a sillier and sillier phenomenon the older I get. Even though these material things are very exciting, delicious, and useful, it is the quality time with loved ones that i appreciate the most and I'm very lucky to have gotten lots of it over the past four days. I will let you know how it feels to run with a  water bottle, to bike in heels (maybe...), and how delicious and energizing the athlete's omelet burrito and chocolate fig and almond bites are.

I am working on my list of 25 things to do before 25 and will post it this week!

Sunshine Day

Having worked all day Saturday, I was due a day off of work so I stayed home today. Actually, I didn't stay home, I took off work and spent as much time outside as possible. It was a true i love lucy day as I biked, I ran, I played, I loved and I explored. So here's a re-cap:

I woke up at 11 and explored the world of yogurt, peanut butter, honey, berries, and banana for breakfast, all in one bowl. A truly successful experiment, it is my new power breakfast. But, before waking up at 11, I woke up around 8 as Josh got ready for work, read my e-mails, and paid $2 for a $10 giftcard to sweetgreen and a $10 coupon to hello cupcake. Living Social is launching their "instant deals" program so, today only, offered $1 lunches to over 150 locations around the city. Then I rolled back over and fell asleep. After breakfast, I rode Lucy to sweetgreen in Logan Circle and got the avacado greens salad to go. I then rode to hello cupcake in dupont and got a carrot, peanut butter, chocolate, and coconut cupcake. For all of this food, I waited a combined 70 or 80 minutes but it didn't bother me. I was just happy to be standing outside in the wonderful sun. I stuffed the cupcake box in my backpack on top of the salad and biked home, happy to see so many people walking the streets of DC. For future reference, transporting cupcakes on a bike is not the best idea- this is what happened to mine.

 

I returned home and didn't waste a minute. I changed from biker's spandex to nike dry-fit shorts, from clip in bike shoes to running shoes, and from a long sleeve t-shirt to a tank top. That's right, my friends, a tank top. I was out the door ready to run in five minutes. I ran five and a half miles, one of which was spent on the mile-long mass ave hill between Dupont and Wisconsin, with which I have developed a true love/hate relationship. With the heat, I was much thirstier than I have been running in a while, but I was also reminded of my running days in Florida (even though this heat was nothing in comparison) and it made me even more excited about summer, if that's possible. My music mysteriously stopped for good about 1.2 miles in so that was challenging at first but I love a challenge so I got over it.

I arrived home and spent thirty minutes on the couch, savoring every bite of my delicious $1 salad. Then I played some music, opened all the curtains and windows, and cleaned the shit out of my apartment. I went to buy Vace's fresh pasta, veggies, and a mediocre baguette from firehook (the only mediocre thing about today). I am now sipping wine, reminiscing about the past 10 hours, and awaiting the arrival of my friends Julie and Kevin with whom Josh and I are going to make dinner, play board games, and eat some messy cupcakes.

On this truly lovable Friday, I couldn't help but think how sweet it would be to just be a housewife. To bike and run and eat and to finish each day with a clean home. I am embarrassed to say that because I want to be productive and I want to do meaningful things with my life but damn it was nice to sweat lots and to spend so many hours in the hot sun, rather than stare at it out a far-off window from my desk. And I'm not a wife, nor do I have a house. And ultimately, I want to work and be successful. But maybe I could just work four days a week. More days like today would be wonderful. Bring on the sunshine!!

Dear Nicole

Dear Nicole,

Here is a list of the many adventures we would have if you lived in DC this summer:

• Ride our bikes to Mount Vernon
• Kayak on the potomac
• Have a dance party to the new Madonna Celebration record I just bought
• Hike on the billy goat trail
• Jump in front of lots of cool things. Document the jumping.
• See Great Falls
• Go camping? If you wanna
• Drive out to Shenandoah and go tubing! 
• And set foot on the AT
• Ride bikes to this friend of ours. Then climb on him

• Go bowling
• Race up and down the exorcist steps
• Play on the beaches at Annapolis
• Be spontaneous
• Peppy Pesto Pizza with Pinenuts. Make and eat and serve to our friends.
• Count the number of steps to Lincoln. Unless you still remember?
• Dominate at taboo because of all the friends' references only we'll get.
• You dominate at catch phrase. And I'll try to be on your team and dominate also.
• Walk around Dupont and Georgetown and Cleveland Park (yeah, that's my hood) and Bethesda and everywhere in the world that there is to walk and see things.
• Climb to the top of Washington.
• Rum pong? No. Because we're classy now.
• Paddle boat to the Jefferson Memorial
• Play lots and lots of ultimate frisbee

• And make lots and lots of water balloons
• Run as if we're back in the old neighborhood. It will be just as hot
• Dance to other things besides Madonna
• Cook other things besides pizza
• Dress up, sneak out, and be incognito mojito
• Play tennis!!
• Picnic at gravelly point to watch planes take off
• Picnic on the mall to see fireworks. Cuz baby you're a firewoooooork.
• (We would also dance to that)
• Farmer's markets. Eastern Market.
• Buy things
• I know a field. We can frolic there.

• See Monet paintings. And C3PO. And other cool stuff for free.
• Drink sangria and listen to jazz in the National Gallery's sculpture garden
• Sweat while riding the metro with tourists (does this seal the deal?)
• Run, walk, or play at the zoo (.2 miles from my home)
• Meet People
• Eat Sandy Shaw vegan dinners
• Hold hands
• Live life as a smorgasboard
• Be best friends together again for two months

I love you and I can't help but get my hopes up but I'm not trying to give too much of my signature carrie peer pressure. Because it's a stretch and it's complicated and I know that. But you're always more than welcome in these parts and I'll keep dreaming. And here's just some stuff to think about. (And it's almost all free!)

Love,

Carrie

LOVE CITY BIKING

It's funny how I thought that moving so close to work would mean an end to bike commuting and would necessitate many more planned long rides. I was so wrong. I have opted for bike transportation at least half the weekend days that I've lived in this new apartment. Nearly everywhere I go, I consider biking first. I even planned on biking to stadium armory at 6am on a Saturday for the half marathon. I have since decided against this, as everyone I've told tells me how crazy I am and reminds me that the very last thing I'll want to do after running thirteen miles is get on a bike and ride another eight. Those people are right. But all other times, biking is the first thing I want to do. I've said it before but riding these city streets is just the best feeling. It is rejuvenating, it is efficient, it is healthy, and it gives me a powerful feeling of independence and control. It also makes the city feel so small. Like yesterday, biking to the Newseum, I rode right by Ingrid and her friend going for a run. And today, biking .7 miles south to rock creek park to meet so many friends who could walk and bike there themselves for our weekly frisbee game (which I had to watch from the sidelines in my crippled state).

When I lived in Paris for a summer, I walked nearly everywhere, no matter how far, in spite of the fact that I had a free unlimited metro pass. I just hated the feeling of going underground and popping up somewhere completely different with no sense of the direction I'd taken to get there. I walked to learn the city and to feel at home in it. Now, I don't need to get to know dc in the way that I did Paris but I bike around for the same reason. Because I don't want to disappear underground. I want to see things (like my best friend running) above ground and I want to feel healthy, efficient and empowered. And I really do feel at home here.



Side note: Josh and I walked to Adams Morgan last night for the first time and it took only 20 minutes! Just another pro for city living and support of the fact that this place can feel small and homey.

Merci Beaucoup

This afternoon, Josh and I made the mistake of riding our bikes around Bethesda with all the black friday shoppers and eaters. I take that back. Riding our bikes is never a mistake. We made the mistake of wearing too few layers and freezing our way through the afternoon. We stuck it out, though, and shopped some ourselves. As we perused the racks in moth ball-smelling Montgomery County Thrift store, I became thankful that thrifty vintage clothing is now so trendy and that the carolina blue ski pant overalls I found were only $4.24. As we played endlessly with the iPads at the apple store, I became a victim of consumerism and was convinced that I just had to have one. But as we looked through the creative and original goodies at Ten Thousand Villages, I thought about the people making those crafts and grew thankful for the technology I do have.

Most of my life, I enjoyed thanksgiving for the food and the time off of school but it didn't mean as much to me as most holidays. I loved Halloween and I loved Christmas, and Thanksgiving was a nice break between the two but always just a stepping stone from one to the next. It wasn't until my High School years that fall became my favorite season and, with it, Thanksgiving my favorite holiday. Coupled with the High School Soccer State Championship (in any good year), the week of thanksgiving was always one of the best all year. My senior year was especially memorable when us Maryland Shaws met the Vermonsters in New York City for an unconventional Thanksgiving weekend complete with the balloon inflation viewing, a broadway musical, live Macy's parade viewing, brunch at Serendipity, and a Thanksgiving feast at Jane on Houston Street which continues to be one of the best meals I've ever had.

In the following years, Thanksgiving became even more special because it was one of the few times I was sure to come home from college to see my family and friends. Until my Junior year, though, when I was too fed up with travel to fly home and was too excited about Florida football not to stay in the state and attend the annual Florida v. Floirda State rivalry game, which we've won every year since I began caring about it.

This year, Josh and Brendon and I decided to rebirth a tradition that was a symbol of Thanksgiving throughout my college years. It began my Sophomore year when my four roommates and I decided to host a potluck the Sunday before Thanksgiving for all of our friends. We probably had 20 or 25 people there but we constructed a table (with four different tables collected from all our friends' apartments) long enough for everyone to dine around. Given that we were young college kids who were much more into keg parties than dinner parties, we weren't sure how committed everyone would be to this event, especially the boys. But it ended up being a HUGE success. Two of our guy friends spent the whole day cooking a turkey. And everyone came with their favorite family dish in hand. We had so much food that all five of us had a leftover thanksgiving dinner for every subsequent meal before we left Gainesville for our respective homes. It kind of spoiled my Thanksgiving day dinner but it was well worth the tradition that was born and it was a lesson that I learned from for future years.

With the lesson learned, Turkey Day 2010 was not spoiled by our Sunday dinner. It was a wonderful day and night spent with many people whom I love and am thankful for. In the morning, I played touch football with Josh, Nathan, and five other friends. Being the only girl, I am often nervous that I won't be passed to as deserved. Even though I know these boys and that they know I'm athletic and aren't male shovenists, I can't help but question their trust in a female's ability to play football. But I ended up participating as much as anyone, scoring a touchdown, making an interception, and making the only safety of the game. It was only four on four but it was tons of fun and my team won! Cold, tired, and ready to eat, we all headed home. Josh and I went to my parents house where we ate lots of food with Betsy, Sandy, Nathan and Nathan's friend Kate. After dinner we played a very close boys v. girls game of trivial pursuit, ate dessert while watching multiple thanksgiving FRIENDS episodes, and played charades. Josh and I went home in a food comatose state, passed out, and slept for over ten hours. I'd like to say I went to sleep thinking about all the things I'm thankful for but that would be a scripted interlude to the story I'm about to tell. Had I truly thought of these things, here is what would have gone through my mind...


I am thankful for the weirdos that are Nathan, Betsy, and Sandy Shaw, who's quirkiness continues to surprise me after all these years. I am thankful for my parents twenty-five long, happy years of marriage and for the upcoming family trip to Colorado.

I am thankful for a bearded boyfriend who has made me laugh and smile every day for almost four years. I am thankful for his athleticism and excitement about being active outside, I am thankful that he moved north with me and that he loves the weather so much, and I'm thankful to have him in my bed every night to keep me warm.

As my dad said before dinner last night, I am thankful that we now have two Josh's in the family.

I am thankful for my betrothed, Joyce Huang. For her loudness, for her enthusiasm, for her many visits last winter spring and summer, and for the fact that she loved me from day one of our cohabitation despite the mess that I made of our room. That is a kind of unconditional love which only she, josh, and my parents have proved to possess.

I am thankful for Inna, who is so honest and genuine and cool, who tells me I'm pretty more than any of my other friends, who is my fashion mentor, and without whom this city does not feel the same (especially for Thanksgiving and New Years). I'm also thankful for Mike Denny, who has made them our best couple friend.

I am thankful for Ingrid, who I finally live near after many years apart. I am thankful for her excitement in anything, no matter how trivial, and for the contagion of this excitement. I am thankful to finally play soccer with her again and am excited for the many athletic adventures we have planned for the future.

I am thankful for Nicole, who was my rock throughout college, who keeps me grounded, who impresses me with her steadfast convictions, and who makes me laugh with her sarcasm. I am thankful for her willingness to leave facebook with me but am excited to get back on and see Nicole Jones took the Quiz "What Kind of Asian are you?" on my newsfeed again.

I am thankful for rekindling my love of biking and I am so thankful for the experience of Ragbrai 2010.

I am thankful for the Vermont Shaws, whose visit this fall brought back so many wonderful memories of my childhood.

I am thankful for Ben and David and Jeff and the other BCC '04 boys that I've become close with through many games of frisbee at Norwood. I'm also thankful for Brendon, who is Josh's favorite roommate and our great new friend.

I am thankful for my girl scout family, who give me a reason to be excited for work every day, who are so funny and ecclectic and exciting, who can make anything, from a work baby shower to a girlie throwback slumper party, fun.

 And I'm thankful for the work I do at GSCNC every day. I'm thankful to be employed and to have an opportunity to support such a great organization.

 I am thankful for a rekindled relationship with Marlee, who is my oldest friend and is the first person I'm not related to by blood to whom I said I love you.

 I am thankful for Raquel, Julie, Rachel, Erin, Euhbin, Mary, David, Mike, Chris and Stephen. I am thankful for many youthful memories with them and I'm thankful that we can go a while without talking but still get together and act as though no time has passed since we last hung out.

I'm thankful for Sam and Jessi and D4M4F. I'm thankful for Brian and Proemsey and Josh's other weirdo friends.

I am thankful for the florida gators and for the superb rarity of my college experience, made such by people like Tim Tebow, Al Horfod, Urban meyer, and Billy Donovan.

More importantly, I am thankful for The University of Florida and my college education, made possible by my grandparents, Betty and Don Shaw.

I'm thankful for this holiday which gives me a reason think of all that I'm thankful for. And I'm thankful for this blog which gives me the internet space to say thank you to all you readers whom I love and appreciate.

Twenty Five Years of Shaw Shaw

Speaking of biking, as I so often do, my parents went for a bike ride today. They went for a nineteen mile bike ride between wineries in Northern California, complimented by a picnic lunch. Today is their 25th wedding anniversary and, to celebrate, they are spending the week in San Francisco and Nappa Valley, where they honeymooned twenty five wonderful years ago. Tonight (right about now, actually) they are sitting down to dinner at a little French bistro somewhere in the Valley. They were on the waiting list at French Laundry, a five star restaurant in Yountville, California, but weren't able to get a table. On the phone this evening, my mom told me she is actually glad not to be spending upwards of $500 on dinner and, instead looking forward to a cozy, more authentically french meal.

My parents have a history of five star restaurant anniversary dining. Actually, they have a history of dining at one particular five star restaurant, the only one within a days drive of Washington, DC. It is called The Inn at Little Washington and it is located in Washington, VA. While there are some things that my parents will splurge on, like some good foodie food, they are frugal at heart which is why they always made reservations at The Inn on weeknights and stayed in moderately priced Bed and Breakfasts a few blocks away. In fact, on my parents anniversary last year, my mom was musing about how to celebrate their 25th and she proposed taking the whole family (maybe Josh too) to an intimate dinner there and putting us up in one of these nice little Bed and Breakfasts. At the time, I was without a job and living with my boyfriend in my parents basement. The four of us had a nice dinner together and then watched the tape of their wedding. They were old and mature when they tied the knot, in their 30s and 40s. So the event was very classy and involved a long sleeve off-white dress with no train, a simple bouquet of red roses, a band that played kind of jazzy and classic music, and, of course, a fancy meal. My parents are pretty low-key and I can't imagine their wedding being too stressful to plan but there is one story I have heard over and over again through the years. That story is that they got to go to the hotel ahead of time and try tons of food that could potentially be served at their reception. Their decided upon menu included this one salad that they loved because it had hearts of palm but, at the reception, my dad's salad plate didn't have any hearts of palm! It was a tragedy that they remember to this day. But, of course, it didn't bring down the mood of the night, or taint their memory of the food. It simply indicates that they truly both loved food then as much as they do now. But my dad had to go ruining that by becoming a silly vegan!

My parents love lots of things. But aside from each other and their family and friends, it's hard to think of many things they love more than food and wine and biking and travel. Yeah, it would have been cool to dine at The Inn at Little Washington but I know I can make this happen on my own if it is important enough to me. And I can't think of a better way for my parents to celebrate this landmark than by traveling, biking, and eating in the city where they consummated (not in the dirty way) their marriage. I think it is pretty sweet when you envy your nearly/already retired parents for the awesomeness of their life. I told my friends at work today about their trip and, not having spent more than a few minutes with my parents, they said "your parents are so cool". Because they really are so cool and they let me see that retirement doesn't have to mean scary old age but means a happy and adventurous life. Like them, I want to be something something (ages undisclosed) and bike and eat and drink all the food and wine this world has to offer. But, no dad, I am not wishing my life away.

So bike on Sandy and Betsy Shaw Shaw. Be vegan if you want, drink wine if you want, and continue knowing that an anniversary dinner can be just as special in a little no name french bistro as in a world renowned restaurant for which you need a reservation two months in advance. Thanks for being born with the same last name, thanks for meeting at a halloween party, thanks for falling in love on a sailboat, and thanks for getting married on November 9, 1985 and being great parents for the last 25 years! I know I've only been around for 23 or so but you were parents in the making all that time. Happy Anniversary!

Oh, and thanks for having Nathan too. Life wouldn't be the same without our little Nero.

Oh oh and I heard once you hit 25 years of marriage, the party IS over.........  (or not, it's up to you)

Our little family

Love and Stuff

My parents in France last fall

Never too old for a jumping picture

Party's Over? I don't think so

Inn at Little Washington Foods

One of the four times they biked across Iowa. No big deal

Nathan Shaw. Better known by some (one) as Nero.

Twenty five years of cheesy happy family

Yesterday: Shaw Shaws crossed the Golden Gate by bike