another nod to the 'vegas

There are usually two standard conversations I have when I meet someone and tell them I'm from Huntsville, AL.

Conversation #1:
Person X - "Where are you from?"
Me - "Huntsville, Alabama"
Person X - Just your regular polite response. Either just a nod, etc. or the latest trend of "but you don't have an accent?"

Conversation #2:
Person X - "Where are you from?"
Me - "Huntsville, Alabama"
Person X - "Huntsville, Alabama! I went there once. I went to Space Camp!"

The funny thing is I never went to Space Camp. I never really had a desire to. I do remember either my junior or senior year of high school going to the Space and Rocket Center as a United Way volunteer with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. It was the first time they let non-camp participants use the simulation equipment. I still feel like I got the most important part of Space Camp... getting to the 1/6 chair (simulates walking on the moon), the multi-access trainer (MAT -- where they strap you in and whirl you in all sort of crazy directions), and finishing the day off with the obligatory block of astronaut ice cream. Yum.

Ahhhhhh... sweet home Alabama. I decided to use my lunch hour to peruse the news on CNN.com. I felt the need to balance out my Express-only news for the week. There were not too many stories on there it seemed and I was surprised that one of the few listed featured none other than Huntsville! Apparently, there was a recent movie filmed there titled Constellation. I had to check IMDB for this one, and there it was. And my Netflix queue goes up by one...

It was a good article though, I thought. It provided info on the movie and even went on to highlight some of the things to do in Huntsville, down to the Jazz Factory (where I finally made it to over Thanksgiving after some high school friends took me on a tour of Huntsville in search of some dive pool halls - good times). It goes on to state "nightlife is anything but dull". Hmmmm. That might be a bit strong, but it's definitely not the back woods. Just the same, you won't see me hightailing it out of DC anytime soon.

Earlier in the year, the Yankee'd sent me another article on Huntsvegas, dubbing it the #1 hot spot of the Sunbelt (apparently defined as South of the 37th parallel). The article sings the praises of the educated level of the residents, a nice contrast to any stereotypes.


I miss Alabamy once again...
(Fashionista, karaoke again soon?? Hah)

where's the name from, you ask?

I had a lot of questions from friends on my selection of names for the blog back when I took my blog out of he MySpace bubble into the view of the general public. Why? Why District Belle, they asked. One of the first things I'll tell people I meet is that I'm a Bama girl. Period. I ended up in DC with layovers in the great states of Mississippi and Florida.

I've lost a bit of the Southern accent along the way, but I'm still a Southern girl at heart... I love grits. I blush during really racy parts in movies (I know, shocking that I am a Sex and the City fan, right?). I rarely curse. If I do, you know I'm really angry (and the accent's about to flare), or that I'm about to turn red of embarrassment. It's that mix though between all things Southern and city that brought on the substitution of district in lieu of Southern.

The below post I found on Urban Dictionary the other day was just great. I had to repost and share it here. Not all of it still applies, but a lot still does. It made me smile anyhow. Humor me. You don't want to be working on a Friday afternoon anyhow, do you?

Southern women appreciate their natural assets:

• Clean skin.
• A winning smile.
• That unforgettable Southern drawl.

Southern women know their manners:

• "Yes, ma'am."
• "Yes, sir."
• "Why, no, Billy!"

Southern women have a distinct way with fond expressions:

• "Y'all come back!"
• "Well, bless your heart."
• "Drop by when you can."
• "How's your Momma?"

Southern women know their summer weather report:

• Humidity
• Humidity
• Humidity

Southern women know their vacation spots:

• The beach
• The beach
• The beach

Southern women know the joys of June, July, and August:

• Summer tans
• Colorful hi-heel sandals
• Strapless sun dresses

Southern women know everybody's first name:

• Honey
• Darlin'
• Shugah

Southern women know the movies that speak to their hearts:

• Fried Green Tomatoes
• Driving Miss Daisy
• Steel Magnolias
• Gone With The Wind

Southern women know their religions:

• Baptist
• Methodist
• Football

Southern women know their country breakfasts:

• Red-eye gravy
• Grits
• Country ham
• Mouth-watering homemade biscuits with momma's homemade jelly

Southern women know their cities dripping with Southern charm:

• Charleston(Chawl'stn)
• Savannah (S'vanah)
• New Orleans (N'awlins)
• Atlanta (Addlanna)

Southern women know their elegant gentlemen:

• Men in uniform.
• Men in tuxedos.
• Rhett Butler, of course!

Southern women know their prime real estate:

• The Mall
• The Country Club
• The Beauty Salon

Southern women know the four deadly sins:

1. Having bad hair and nails
2. Having bad manners
3. Cooking bad food
4. Wearing too much makeup in the summer

when old collides with new

So we just got our presents here in the office ... they gave us this big massive fleece blanket that looks like a poncho kind of thing. Interesting. I've never heard of these, but apparently they're widely available? Basically, you stick your legs in the bottom part of the blanket (it's sewn at the bottom to hold your legs in) and there's a pouch in the front for your remote. Now this is one perfect present for some serious holiday couch time... a screening of some of those Netflix films I've been meaning to get around to or my holiday staples, consisting of Christmas Vacation, Elf, Rudolph, and of course How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Little Cindy Lou Who!). Much needed now with winter officially having arrived in the District. Nice of them to top the blanket off with a gift card for Barnes and Noble. Sweet deal. Gracias al hombre ;-)

The past couple of days I've been wild and crazy and escaped out of the office for lunch. Rio got me out of the office for a very interesting screening and discussion of a documentary titled "The Imam and the Pastor". It was very interesting to hear about the religious struggles in Nigeria. It's so hard to imagine being so staunch in your beliefs as to believe that someone else's is so off, to the point of resorting to violence and murder. I do love that DC is the type of place though where you have the option to attend something like this on your lunch hour. Very interesting event and definitely made me think a lot.

It was a very different use of my lunch hour than yesterday. LH, Ms. Bon Bon herself, got me out to grab a bite and then, why not, a quick round of shoe shopping. Very dangerous to learn that there is such a great place so close to my office. Pocket book beware...

Last night I had dinner with EH, who was in from MS. I love it when you meet up with people you know from somewhere else in your new location... it's like things haven't really changed, but mixed within the context of a whole new atmosphere. It was so good to catch up, and I learned she'll be back up here for a couple of months beginning in May. We were sorority sisters together at MSU, so love having her in town.

Another friend from the past (even further past... we're talking high school here) is in town tonight. The Titan was supposed to be here last week for an interview, but Old Man Winter had other plans since the airports said no can do. He'll be in tonight, so that'll be fun. He may be taking a job here... so many old friends coming or potentially coming to DC. I love it when the old and new worlds collide.

fan-d'oh-trypt

Hope everyone's surviving those post-turkey comas. As much as you hear about the infamous culprit, AKA tryptophan, how much is truly fact and how much is fiction? All I know is that at this point after all the eating of the day, I'm tired... and stuffed. I'm guessing I'd feel this way if the turkey were present or not (and in Jersey, haha, they were trying to not be present. Anyone see this?)

So my plan was to avoid the Black Friday insanity of tomorrow, but seems we got a jump start on the whole thing this PM with the madness of CompUSA. Yes, we waited in the long lines for something which, ironically, wasn't even one of their crazy pre-Christmas specials. Ms. Tamela, who's a big MAC fan, couldn't wait for her computer. It did mean we got a view from the road across the street of all the people who at 10:30 or so were already camped out for BestBuy for tomorrow (as well as a view from the road en route back home of the church with Jesus painted on the facade which looks like an eggbeater Jesus - awesome).

Tam and I caught up on the O.C. (the whole season thus far). That was a classssssy way to begin Turkey Day, but made for some fun sisterly bonding. My mom's feast was positively superb... I can't name off all the food. If I manage to get to being half the cook she is, I'll count myself blessed. Of course though, I already consider myself blessed.

Gobble gobble... I definitely said my share of "gracias" today. Hope you all had a special one with yours wherever you landed today.

when city meets the country

It was the strangest thing... I don't know that I've ever felt like it was Christmas Eve on Thanksgiving Eve. Is it possible we skipped Thanksgiving altogether? Was I misinformed? Let's hope not... I'll be sorely disappointed if tomorrow doesn't bring the normal Southern Thanksgiving feast, fabulous random balloon's courtesy of Macy's, and the special added bonus of an extended Grey's Anatomy. Can life get any better?

I'm loving being back in sweet home AL. It's such a change of pace from DC. I'm enjoying my hiatus (although I do enjoy the thought of returning... ah, how I do love the mix). The trip home was excitingly uneventful. So after hearing the horror stories of just how awful the lines were going to be at the airport, I made sure to high-tail it out of the office pronto on Tuesday. I was glad to not have to wait in long lines, but I was there for quite a long time. I made friends with a nice lady who was stranded there until a later flight (her company had originally booked her for a flight the following day - ooops). She was also in HR, so as you can imagine we had no problems yakking. She did tell me that I was the first Southern girl that she had met who did not cook avidly. I don't know what to think of that comment... I'll choose to let it slide!

Today we made a dent in the shopping fun, beating the insanity of black Friday. I'm just not a supporter of that initiative. I enjoy the breath of fresh air of everything being a bit spread out here vs. in DC, so the idea of throwing chaotic shopping into my AL mix is just not too appealing. I managed to find a great outfit for our upcoming Christmas party and also a cute pair of antlers (haha, why not?). I'm pleased. No more shopping needs here... I even successfully resisted a pair of Seven jeans today (I would have felt a smidge guilty, as I think they're the same pair as the Fashionista's. I'll let you hold that honor!).

I'm loving the 'rent's new pad. The concept of coming home to a new "home" was initially a bit odd, but now that I'm here, I really like the new place! It feels so roomy. My parents mentioned that it was about 400 sq feet larger, which seemed like not much -- until I remembered my Dupont pad was only a mere 615 sq feet! That gave me a bit of perspective - hah!

The area out here's amazing though... it was truly a country area, but as Huntsville's grown, it's become much more developed. Those areas which haven't been developed yet will be shortly. I think one of the most interesting things about leaving and coming back is to see the change. That's definitely been a big one! But it's still sweet home... home sweet home.

you can take the girl out of the south...

but sure can't take the South out of the girl...

(I know, I know... technically DC is still the South. However, for those of you who have been to my former residences, be it Alabama or Mississippi... it's a whooooole different kinda south. If every restaurant ain't serving sweet tea honey, you ain't in the South!)

So yeah, I digress... at long last, I'm ready to shed my MySpace wings and put this out there to the general public. The Fashionista I were discussing this over the weekend and I figured what the heck. Why not? I do realize that this is pretty public. But it's not (hopefully) likely to lend itself to anything more embarrassing than my foray into the online dating scene. Which, now, I can definitely look back upon and laugh (yes, random UA guy, I was at the movie theater in Chinatown. Contrary to popular belief, I am more than a smattering of pixels on your monitor...).

I'm sitting here at work, a bit brain-fried from a looooong night of number crunching. Now though, with all that behind me, there's nothing but vacation time straight ahead. I splurged for a cab this morning, and was fortunate enough to have I think one of the most friendly and sincere cab drivers I've yet to encounter. We ended up in this long discussion about being single. He praised my single-dom at my age, telling me all about how he'd married before he was 18 and never completed college. "Live your life", he said. "It'll always be there when you're ready and you'll have no regrets". Right on, cabbie. I surely don't feel like I've missed out on anything. In fact, I think sometimes it's my tendency to not want to turn down experiences that perhaps lead me to some difficult places, but I love being able to look back and say I tried. And there's always something to learn from taking those chances... even if it's how to be graceful in falling.

So yeah, I'm hoping that I have everything I need for the trip... I wasn't planning on cramming my suitcase at 1AM. I'm such a planner, so this last minute packing thing is definitely not my forte. The bad thing about our house (besides the ghosts that must be what keeps our iron gate from ever being anything but temperamental) is that it creaks and squeaks at every turn. It's definitely not your friend when you've had a late night out and want to hide it (not me though) and it surely wasn't last night when I was rummaging through my closet trying to find that perfect mix of clothes for the trip home. Sorry roommates... I didn't plan on moving in at the office yesterday.

I'm missing the big feast. The Domestic Goddess herself is cooking her finest this evening, complete with Cornish hen. Question of the day: does anyone know if there's multiple types of hen that are commonly used in cooking? Seems like you always hear about Cornish hen. If anyone cares to enlighten me, that would be superb.

Back to impending travels... I haven't been to the 'vegas since May, when I was en route to Italy. I'm looking forward to the trip... nothing but downtime ahead. It is so strange still to think I'm coming "home" to a different home for the first time in my life. Also NMC, who usually is the ringleader for all things reunion-esque is going to be with her in-laws. On one hand, it'll be nice to have no reason to head out. On the other hand, it means that much longer before I see my AL posse.

I'm signing off to wrap up those lose ends here, before I have to hop on the train and fight what has promised to be a massive horde of people at the airport. This time, though, I've left all my crazy liquids at home so I won't have to dump any of my precious goods (sniff sniff... I still miss that Duane Reede hand sanitizer... ). Miss TX Dem, if they go for my MAC, they're going down ;-)