I got back from my New Orleans trip yesterday morning. All in all it was a great trip with a few high- and low- lights.

Lowlights:

- B got her purse stolen the second night we were there. Luckily she had scaled down her bag to go out so only her id, credit card, phone and about $40 in cash got stolen. It sucked but it could have been worse if her whole wallet got stolen.

- Because her id got stolen, we had to go through a lot with TSA to get her back home yesterday. She got to go through one of the infamous rub… er… pat downs. B told the agent that it was the most action she had gotten the entire trip (maybe this is actually a highlight).

- We came back to horridly cold weather in DC. The temperature in New Orleans was in the 80s everyday that we were there.

Highlights:

- We ate a ton of good food. We had beignets, chicory coffee, po boys, shrimp creole, fried chicken, gumbo, jambalaya, bread pudding and red beans and rice. It was wonderful!

- We did a lot of shopping. I bought some cool new jewelry for myself!

- We visited the Garden District. If I had to live New Orleans, I would live in that neighborhood. The houses were so grand and the gardens were gorgeous and so lush, a welcome sight for us as our home is still struggling through the end of winter.

- We got to ride streetcars! As I’ve said before, I love public transportation so I was very excited about the streetcars. They’re a little bumpy and kind of slow but it was very cool to actually ride on them.

- I discovered a lot of new music. Not only is there music everywhere in New Orleans, my sisters introduced me to a lot of new music, which is always fun.

- We took long naps every day we were there. I had missed naps!

- We had a lot of good nights out on the town.

- We made a lot of good memories!

I’m a public transportation junkie. I love it. I’m totally fascinated by the prospect of moving an entire city of people from one place to another without use of a car. When we were in Rome, I begged the Architect to let us go on the subway even though it really doesn’t go anywhere (he obliged because he luffs me, haha).

In my previous trips to NYC with my family, we’ve taken cabs everywhere. My parents were sort of freaked out by the subway and admittedly the subway can be a little confusing but it’s so convenient. One thing I noticed about the Subway as opposed to our Metro is that it’s quite a bit dirtier and for a germaphobe like me, that isn’t all that exciting. I washed my hands a lot on this trip and did a lot of touching with my sleeves rather than hands.

One of the things that I loved about the Subway is that the stations have way more character than the DC Metro stations. All Metro stations look similar. They have cavernous ceilings and the only decorations are the various signs. I love all the art in the Subway:

These are actually mosaics! Too cool!

Another thing that I love about all public transportation in general is just the sights you see. There’s always someone interesting no matter which system you’re riding. You never know who you’re going to see.

For instance, we saw a big purple house on the Subway.

I know it’s touristy but I still love Times Square. It truly is the crossroads of the world. There is so much to see and do there. There is always something going on.

This is the military recruiting station. The Architect is in love with this little building because of the curtain wall on the outside. It must be an architect thing, hah.

The infamous billboard.

This trip also marked the first time that I had been to NYC since part of Times Square was turned into a pedestrian mall. It’s way awesome!

Another view of the pedestrian mall.

Sheep in the middle of Times Square.

The Architect taking it all in.

Cool reflections!

The Architect being totally confused because I told him to do the Superman pose.

In the middle of Times Square.

The second place that we walked to when we we were in NYC was the World Trade Center and Freedom Tower site. I had been to NYC a few times since 9/11 but had never been down to the site. Being in the DC area during 9/11, I’m still pretty traumatized by even thinking about 9/11 and wasn’t all that anxious to go to the site. I drive by the side of the Pentagon that was hit on 9/11 quite often and that frankly still freaks me out.

The Architect’s company is doing some projects in that area so we decided to walk down to see some of the construction.

I found a cute little friend along the way.

There is so much symbolism going into the Freedom Tower. Where once lay destruction, rises something that will be a testament to the idea of the American spirit. Construction is going 24-7 at this point. The building is going to be finished fairly soon. Next will be the memorial, which will be even more stunning. The construction site is way busy. There’s tons of people and machinery. It’s a really amazing show of force.

This is the Freedom Tower. It’s only about halfway built now!

A closer view. They’re beginning to put curtain wall up.

Another view.

A picture of what the site looked like before construction. You can see the footprints of the WTC towers.

This is what the Freedom Tower is going to look like when it’s finished. It’ll truly be a stunning building.

A view of the building from the other side of the building.

The Architect approves!

Tomorrow I’m leaving for New Orleans. I’m going on a trip with my sisters. We don’t have anything really planned but I’m all for a relaxing trip. I was in New Orleans for a few days with the Architect last summer but this will be my sisters’ first time. We’re staying right in the heart of the French Quarter.

Sigh, unfortunately, I still need to pack. I better get on that…

When I was a little bit younger, I really had a hard time with spreading myself too thin. Ask me to do something and I would’ve done it with no question. I liked being that person that wasn’t afraid to take anything on. It absolutely exhausted me though and eventually I realized that I can’t do everything and that it was okay to not be able to do everything. I also realized that I could say no, a very hard won lesson that certainly did not come easily. There are only so many hours in a day and only so much that I could take on while ensuring that I did everything fully and well.

Even though I’ve gotten a lot better at saying no and keeping what I do to a manageable level, I still feel incredibly guilty when I have to use that word, no, because I know that really I could take that extra thing on if I really wanted to or needed to. I have to step back and remind myself that if I want to do things well, I need to have enough focus and attention for the task at hand. If I said yes to everything, I’d lose that focus and do things half-arsed, which I don’t want to do. It does not benefit me and it does not benefit anyone else.

What the country is doing now in Libya with the air strikes kind of reminds me of me back when I’d say yes to everything. Our military is stretched thin already between fighting two full fledged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We could be using the resources that have now been set aside for Libya in one of the two wars that we are already fighting. Sometimes we have to say no. This should have been one of those times, I think.

What do you think about the situation in Libya?

Edit: Let me be clear. I think that the UN resolution is fine. What I take issue with is that there does not seem to be an exit strategy for the US to hand over reign of this operation and that is what makes me nervous about our involvement.

As of yesterday, the Architect and I have been married for 6 months already. It’s hard to believe. It seems like we’ve been married for much longer sometimes and much shorter other times. It’s crazy

 We’ve spent the weekend doing a lot of fun things and just enjoying each others’ company. We did a little shopping. I got a few things

We went and saw the movie, The Adjustment Bureau. The movie is based off a short story by Philip K. Dick. The Architect wasn’t sure he was going to like it but he ended up really liking it as did I.

Afterward, we went to a restaurant called Teaism. It’s a teahouse and Asian inspired restaurant. I love it. It’s very peaceful and has a koi pond (I love koi). It’s also delicious. The Architect had chicken curry. I had spinach curry. We split naan with mango chutney.

Today we went to the National Zoo. It was a blast. We got to see a few of the baby lions! They were adorable! The Architect took a few pictures:

One of the babies gets a bath by Mom.

The gorgeous Dad.

One of the babies tacked Dad

How was your weekend?

I had my second book club meeting last night. We read a book called Methland by Nick Reding. It’s a pretty gripping picture of a small town in Iowa in the throws of a serious meth issue. I didn’t know much about meth and its effects before the book so it was pretty eye opening.

I’m still on the fence about the book club thing. It was pretty much a whole new group from last time. There were 2 people that had come to the book club meeting that I went to in January. I guess it goes to illustrate the transient-ness of this area. I could see how the book club would be a lot more fun with people that you know but I thought the conversation that we had last night was certainly more stimulating than the last time. I guess I’ll just keep trying to go. It’s still a good way for me to get a little more comfortable speaking to people I don’t know well (I get tongue tied when nervous and new people make me nervous).

Today is St. Patty’s Day of course. I do have Irish blood (could you tell from the hair color and freckles?). The Architect was kind enough to get the corned beef and cabbage started for me this morning so I didn’t have to get up any earlier than usual. He leaves a little later than I do so he just got up with me. He’s of German descent so this corned beef and cabbage (and carrots and potatoes) thing is a little new to him so he used my recipe (basically beer and more beer and beef broth and various spices). I can’t wait for dinner!

Here’s the first part of our NYC trip from last weekend.

The NYSE. Kind of underwhelming but still cool.

A trip to NYC is nothing without a bagel. Om nom nom!

Battery Park. This statue was outside of the WTC before 9-11 and has now been moved to the park as a memorial.

By the harbor.

Aww, he loves me!

The infamous Wall Street bull.

Seeing if a strong whiff of capitalism can’t perk him up.

I found a tiger friend

I was raised Catholic. I would call myself more of a spiritual now. As some of you may know, Lent has just begun. The Architect and I were having one of our talks as we do right before we go to sleep (we’re apparently at our most prolific when we are supposed to be going to sleep). Anyhow, I mentioned something about giving up cursing for Lent. I don’t often curse in my writing or in formal situations (like work, etc.) but if I’m comfortable around you, I curse a bit too much. The Architect asked me if I was giving something up for the right reasons or out of pure guilt (something I have in spades for sure). The fact is that I really don’t know anymore.

It feels good to be able to give up something as a sacrifice but in the scheme of things, what does you or I giving up cursing, chocolate, Facebook, [insert other common thing to give up for Lent] do for humanity? Nada much. I understand that Lent is supposed to be a period of sacrifice to emulate Jesus but it seems like just self-sacrifice isn’t particularly helpful.

I’ve always liked the idea of doing something for others for Lent, although I haven’t been able to come up with any great ideas for that this year. I like the idea of service for others even if that really doesn’t fall under the sacrifice category.

There is also the fact of guilt. I know that the next time that I talk to my mother and she asks me about what I gave up for Lent, I’m going to feel guilty if I don’t have something. Not having something hasn’t flown all that well in previous years and my family is definitely not super religious. Even discussions of me potentially seeking out a new religion haven’t gone so well. And so I haven’t pursued anything and that kind of makes me feel weak.

Religion is just sticky. Do I do this out of tradition or something more real and tangible? Is it wrong to do something simply out of tradition? I don’t know; that’s something I haven’t really come to terms with yet.

[Note: I have lots of pictures from NYC and lots of stories to tell. Unfortunately, this week has been a little more than crazy but maybe this weekend. Woot!]