Spring is Springing!

Daffodils, crocus, and magnolia blossoms are emerging all over Delaware. It was 85 yesterday and is in the 70's today. I love it! I got the best summer shoes ever yesterday; Crocs, my favorite company, now makes flats! Everyone should have a pair in every color; they are vastly superior to my Target ballet flats in structure, comfort, and probably scent (you know what I mean). You, too, can have some: http://www.crocs.com.

Skirt shopping has not been as effective; I am truly my grandmother's granddaughter: I can find ten million pairs of shoes I love, and exactly two brands of jeans (at least they're not designer) and two brands of skirts (Gap and J.Jill) fit me correctly. Maybe if I keep swimming, this will change. I am up to a 3:20 200 on short course! Which makes me chuckle, because as Matt showed me today's swimming story in the New York Times today about Michael Phelps breaking a freestyle record, with a picture of Phelps swimming BUTTERFLY, I realized I have become a real swimmer.

I'll be working on being a real ice skater tomorrow, as I ditch the sunshine for the icy temperatures of The Pond for an hour and a half. I only have a week to finish breaking in my beautiful new skates before synchro team practice starts up again!

In other fitness news, though yesterday's run was gorgeous, what with the birds chirping, the sun shining down (not too hot, either), and no students to clutter up the sidewalks (spring break), I can feel my body rebelling against running. My left knee, in particular, did not want to go on the run. Yoga, on the other hand, realigns everything and really does seem to be as good as a massage. Plus, I can take free daily classes on yogatoday.com!

Poppy is pleased that it's spring. She spends about ten hours a day staring at the birds from either the guestroom window or the dining room window. At night, we have to close our bedroom window, or she'll crawl behind the blinds to watch the critters and make a big racket when she decides it's time for a nap.

We'll be attending the members' reception/Orchid Show preview at Longwood Gardens Friday night and perhaps planting our vegetable garden. Last night was dinner al fresco at the Deer Park Tavern.

Happy Spring!

Supergirl in New York City

Superman had to do some work at Brookhaven National Lab on Long Island, so I hitched a ride and got dropped off at Canal and Broadway in Manhattan Friday afternoon. It was a "wintry mix," everyone's favorite weather. Superman refers to it as "hurty snow." My glasses may never be the same, but I did make it successfully to the Public Theater, where my Superfriend Laura works (lucky girl--I always tell her her friends love her job--fortunately for her, she does, too). I dropped the suitcase, checked in with her, and headed to the Yaffa Cafe in the East Village for lunch. It's the first place I ever went in New York City, and I was enthralled with its funky decor, festive back patio, and vegetarian food. It's been ten years since that time, and I must say, Yaffa has not evolved with age. Lunch was sub-par, but it was entertaining to be there again, and it was warm...my only criteria by the time I walked over there from the Public.

After lunch, I headed uptown to the MOMA with Laura's membership card (bless her heart). I'm not a lingerer, which most people would say means I don't truly understand or appreciate art. I don't think I understand it, no, but I definitely appreciate it. I got to see Jeff Wall's amazing photographs--what an exhibit! Yowza! I also wandered the entirety of the museum, marveling at the names in there, enjoying my favorite works, focusing on the artists I like most. From MOMA, I walked over to my haircut appointment with Alan at Salon Ziba. Alan is a very affordable genius. I think I might be his most far-flung client. Now I have stylists in Palo Alto, San Francisco, Delaware, and NYC! Philly is next. :)

Once I had good hair, I couldn't take the wintry mix anymore and returned to the Public to read while Laura finished work for the day. We then walked over to Om Yoga, my new favorite yoga studio, to take Margy the wonder teacher's class. Blissed out, we went to a Mexican place at 14th and Broadway (I think) for epic corn soup and a magnificent burrito. The evening's entertainment was Kodo, a taiko drumming group that performed at Joe's Pub, the small venue attached to the Public. The drumming was phenomenal, and the most interesting point in the evening came when the Resident Calligrapher at Princeton University (yes, it's true) did an art piece while the group was playing.

Saturday morning, I brunched at the famous Sarabeth's on the Upper West Side with my high school buddy Hillary. We had a great time catching up and wandering around the frozen tundra of the UWS. I headed downtown to another class at Om with Laura, and from there, we went to tea, then shopped a bit at the Young Designer's Showcase, before a magnificent Italian dinner. Joe's Pub hosted two bands that night, the Hunger Mountain Boys and Wyos, who were both amazing--bluegrass and...vaudeville? at their finest.

Sunday brunch was at Chiles y Chocolate, a Oaxacan restaurant in Brooklyn that's to die for. Their "Oaxacalatte" is delicious! Then, Laura and I saw "In the Heights," the best musical I've ever seen, after which we shopped a little in the West Village before she dropped me off at the Public Theater to see if I could get into Jack Goes Boating, the new LAByrinth Theater Company production starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. As I was sitting waiting for my name to be called, Mr. Big, a.k.a. Chris Noth, walked right past me! I froze. I wanted to call my friend Marta, but I realized how dorky that would be to do right then. He stayed in my vicinity for longer than was good for my blood pressure, and then Michelle Dessler from 24 walked in! Sam Rockwell and some actress I know I've seen in US Weekly but have no idea what her name is showed up next. What a kick. I got into the show, had a great seat, and thoroughly enjoyed the play. Laura and I attended the Opening Night afterparty and spied more stars...Martha Plimpton, "Phil" himself, Daphne Rubin-Vega, who was also in the show, and plenty of others whom I just couldn't put a name to. Also, the food and drinks were amazing.

Exhausted, we headed home. Now, I'm waiting for my exciting ride home to Delaware in the snazzy University of Delaware Dodge Stratus. No doubt Miss Kitty will be delighted to see her parents, though Superneighbor Mike, the best neighbor we've ever had, has been taking excellent care of her.

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day!

Supergirl in Philadelphia

We went to Philly on Sunday, to see the oft-discussed Philadelphia Flower Show. How could I miss it, when the theme was "Legends of Ireland?" The pictures here are of the show. Each display, of Rose Parade-like size and elaborateness, was made by a different floral designer in the area. They were beautiful, but I was a bit surprised at the $22 price tag for the event. I know it benefits the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, but still...The crowds were a bit of a challenge, too. And I wasn't really feeling the Irishnessness of it. However, we're glad we went, and we happened to go on a gorgeous day, so when we left the Convention Center, we wandered down to Old City to check out the sights and shops. The new Visitor Center is impressive, as is the Constitution Center--we'll have to return to spend more time there. We decided to see the Liberty Bell, because it's free, but the price we paid--a near strip-search--was frustrating. There we were, giving up some of our personal freedom before viewing an icon of liberty. That was surreal. Superman joked to the people behind us that "there's a flight to Florida on the other side" of the security line, but no, it was just the Liberty Bell, plus a ton of information about it. I remarked that I thought the build-up was a little excessive, but we were still glad we went. We also viewed the currently-being-excavated home of George Washington and John Adams, where Washington, that jerk, kept slaves. The language used "enslaved persons of African descent" struck me as a little too nicey-nicey--I mean, our nation's first president kept slaves. That's despicable. I think the writer should have called it out, instead of making it sound inocuous. Superman, in either a more charitable mood or a more cynical one, said, "Well, at least they acknowledged it."

We moved on into Old City (written as "Olde" city in many places, which I love), wandering past old churches and cemetaries, the U.S. Mint, and some lovely brick houses to Penn's Landing. On our way back to the car, we passed the Betsy Ross house, where she is actually buried. The house is adorable, and we enjoyed the tour. And, what do you know, on our way through the house, we ran into a young General Washington. I tell you, the man is everywhere. At that point, I was in a better mood, so I didn't chat with him about his rotten slave-owning habits, but trust me, next time, he'd better watch out. On our way out, we admired the fountain, with its ceramic (?) cats and the thirteen colonies' names around it. It's so nice to see my colony's name! It really made me feel like a Delawarean.

On the drive home, we thought about going down to South Street but skipped it due to a massive traffic jam. We discovered both an amazing glass sculpture *and* a great place to park, though, so I think we'll be spending a lot more time in Philly in the future. The SEPTA train also runs to the Market East station (in the center of town) from Newark on weekdays. The city's walkability is a huge draw--we didn't even make it to Rittenhouse Square, which I know I'll love. I look forward to my trip back!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Hi there, folks, my name is Stanley Snowman! I live in Delaware, where it's snowing mighty hard today. I suspect I may be going to snowman heaven pretty soon, though--it should be spring any day, now. In fact, snowdrops and crocuses are already blooming up at Winterthur. So far, in a week's time, we've had cold, gray weather, 50-degree sunshine, pouring rain, wind, and this snow. SuperMother-in-law got to experience all of it--fortunately, she and Supergirl went to Winterthur on the prettiest day. Superman and Supergirl are headed to the Philadelphia Flower Show Friday to experience a little bit of spring indoors (not to mention a little bit of Ireland in PA--that's this year's theme. Perfect!). Have a great day, everyone!

Supergirl on Ice

We got another huge snowstorm on Sunday, and for this one, I was home and cozy. When the snow let up, we ran outside to make a snowman and shovel the walk and driveway (we had heard there'd be a nice coating of ice on things after the snow died down). I made a cute snowman, but failed to take his picture before the overnight rain melted him down. He had a good life, though...

We pulled a California and skipped our organizing meeting for Obama's campaign to stay inside and cozy. We're not so political that we brave snow and ice for political organizing; plus, we figure maybe we should wait to get involved until they are already organized!

We're thinking about training Seeing Eye dogs, assuming that our knowledge that we'll be here at least another year and a half is enough certainty to take on the responsibility of socializing a puppy for about that long. I go to orientation Saturday to learn more.

I've already slipped on ice once this winter (I believe everyone should have the experience at least once, ideally without injury), on the campus green with no one around--it was more entertaining than anything else, but I had a less happy spill on Tuesday. I was on my morning run, and stopped to pet a darling dog, who looked like a cross between a Bloodhound and a Wiemeraner. I was so distracted by the dog and by the fact that I was blocking a car trying to turn onto the street I was in the middle of, that when I resumed running, I didn't see the sheet of ice on the sidewalk. When I spotted it, I was already on it, falling forward. I fell on my face (naturally, during the morning commute on a busy street), picked myself up, and skulked off to a side street to survey the damage. It was nowhere near as bad as one fall I took in Golden Gate Park, when I destroyed my walkman and scared a small child (I was bleeding), but it was embarrassing. The only casualty was my wedding ring, which now has some divots in it that I'm going to have to discuss with a jeweler. This would be one of the reasons I don't have bling on my wedding ring--I'm too accident-prone. I continued on my merry way, and discovered a lovely new neighborhood, so I deem the run a success, despite one minor setback along the way.

Yesterday's big news was the purchase of new ice skates. When I skated seriously, in elementary and junior high school, my parents invested in some high-quality figure skates that I continued to wear into high school. However, at that point, I had quit skating seriously, and as I outgrew the skates, I decided I wasn't going to be doing much beyond skating in circles for the rest of my life. I replaced my beauties with lower-end skates and discovered how much I missed jumping blades, arch support, and ankle padding. I've been skating on those skates for at least ten years now, and now that I live in the ice skating capital of the world (or something like that) and am skating regularly, I decided it was time to get grown-up skates. These will be the skates I'll wear for the rest of my life, so they'd better be what I really want.

I cleverly, yet unintentionally, chose to shop at the end of the season, so when I walked into The Pond Pro Shop, I was delighted to see that the skates were all half-price! I had to wait a bit for two men who'd driven all the way up from Baltimore to buy hockey skates to make their purchases, and consulted one of them on the best figure skates to buy for his wife. A very knowledgeable UD hockey player helped me with my purchase, heating the skates in the oven so they'd mold to my feet, punching out some padding that was pinching, and talking music with me. I walked out with brand-new, high-end figure skates that I can't wait to skate in! I'd better get on it, because the synchronized skating season starts up again soon! The only bummer of the trip was that I didn't spot Johnny Weir, who trains at The Pond, but I hope to get to see him skate soon.

In other exciting news, one of my former students mailed me a copy of an article by Eric Schmitt of the New York times, signed by the man himself. I think I'm going to frame it.

It's sunny, and spring is coming!