Erin Shaw Street

Brits and Grits

After starting the new year by riding an a parade float and watching the giant moon pie drop in Mobile (video to come), we drove through the pouring rains to return to Birmingham and a house full of Christmas decorations needing to be put away. But instead of doing all that, we've spent the weekend with a delightful house guest from across the pond, Robert.

Robert has put up with my silly questions about his homeland of Wales, of which all I can remember is hurdling toward the countryside on a train watching a young girl shove her face full of Kit Kats. Turns out that Wales has much more to offer than that and Tom Jones. It also has lots of karaoke and The Porthcawl Elvis Festival in his hometown. Sweet.

We dug out our kettle for Robert, who brought his own tea from home (along with a nice bottle of whiskey and his guitar -- my kind of houseguest!)

Today we took him up to Vulcan, during which time a cup of tea would have been lovely because it was FREEZING.

Then for ribs at Jim N Nicks, the latter of which blew his mind. Yee, I love showing people Birmingham and indoctrinating them into the ways of Southern food.

He just asked, "What are grits?" So glad he's going to be in the South for an entire year.

Tomorrow he heads to Tuscaloosa to start his postdoc with Shane, but he'll be back. Tell us what you think he should do and we'll pass it along ...

 

Related Posts:

Moon Pie Madness

Back In L.A. 

Moon Pie Madness!

Writing from the beautiful Battle House in Mobile, Alabama, where I am transfixed by a 600-lb homage to a Moon Pie outside my hotel window. It's dropping in T-minus 14 hours, and I'm here to witness it for the magazine. (Here's an SL blog post about the Moon Pie madness sweeping the city.)

Just as exciting, we're riding in the New Year's Eve Parade. On a float.

Since I haven't been in a parade in about 28 years (during which I rode in Clearwater's Fun N Sun parade in Officer Friendly's Car for winning the safety slogan contest thank you very much) I'm not entirely sure what to wear.

But since this parade celebrates the beginning of Carnival season, I am thinking these will be our outfits:

Yes, that's Nate's Elvis cosutme. And what New Year's Eve would be complete without gold sequins?

Throw in some masks ...

And Moon Pies:

So long, 2010. May 2011 bring everyone their version of huge Moon Pies and gold shoes.

The upside of being sick: How I get through.

The best part about being sick right now? Being up at 1 a.m. gives me access to the best Cyber Monday deals. Ha. I'd take sweet sleep over cut-rate Blu-Rate discs so far (would be a different story if there were some Tory Burch flats up in here.)

I was sick throughout Thanksgiving break, but also in major denial since I was trying to make the holiday at Opryland special. And it was, despite me blowing my nose every two minutes (sorry for that, family).

I know the drill of being sick well, and for someone who spends part of life on the road, that means adapting, regardless where I get the sniffles (that's a nicer version of the full story).

Despite lots of hand-washing and antibacterial gel, combined with the other usual "stay healthy" practices, I'm predisposed to chronic sinus infections. The surgery I had last year helped, but I still get them, and they really don't care how busy I am.

Yes, I know that illness can be your way of your body saying, 'slow down.' And I do modify my activites. But there's a lot of living to do, and it isn't happening on my couch.

This time around, sickness hit while I was traveling with my family and working. (And kicking off the holidays, managing a major painting project at home, and planning for a huge kiddo Christmas party.)

How do I get through being sick slightly more than the average girl? One, by focusing on the positive in the present. Like watching Nate make snowballs at the "Snow" exhibit:

And jumping into the jacuzzi with Mom. (Ok, it might not have helped to go out in the 38 degree weather, but the warm water felt great and the steam helped.)

 
When I don't feel well, I try not to wallow in it. This is a fine line I often struggle with, realizing that I do need to take time for rest and let my body recover ...
 

 
But there's so much to do. So I focus on making the best of it. And bringing hand sanitizer.

 
Related Posts:

Namaste Nook: Savasana Suburban Style 

 Day Four on The Magic Mountain

 

Happy Thanksgiving! Leave your clogs at the door.

Writing from Gaylord Opryland, where I'm spending the Thanksgiving holiday with my family, writing dispatches for the magazine. We came here nine years ago when Ryan was performing with the Rockettes. That's him, the little dot in the center of all those sequins:

(I'll never forget the "after party" with the cast. Talk about being shown up on the dance floor.)

It's a little changed now, both at the hotel (sushi bar and wireless) and in the experience. The hotel has changed a bit since we remembered it, but we're glad to see how it's bounced back from the devastating floods.

The experience is differnet in that I have a four-year old in tow, and am writing about it with the eye of a slightly more seasoned traveler and writer ;

The hotel looks amazing, particularly since it was under 12 feet of water in the spring:

 

 

Nate is enjoying it. Here he is on the indoor boat ride, one of the hits so far:

Even some of the big kids are getting in on the action:

I have no idea who this crazy woman is going down the ice slide at ICE. Yes, it's carved from real ice:

So back to the clogs. Today, brother Ryan is lounging on South Beach. But he's here in spirit, especially each time we walk by the sign below. When we were little we used to copy the cloggers that appeared on public access:

Whether near or far, I'm thankful for my wacky family. Thankful for my friends, my work, and the continued chance to explore the world, share it with people I care about it, and the ability to string two words together. Happy Thanksgiving.

Wordless Wednesday: Election Edition

As seen while driving through somewhere, VA last week. He's got my vote. Extra espresso please.

I hiked. And survived. (What I don't do for a photo shoot.)

Today I hiked so deep into the woods of Virginia I really thought that I might not make it out.

We took some amazing photos for our shoot.

This was after I twisted my ankle last night and swore that I wasn't going back. I went back this morning. Huffing and puffing, reaching for branches to stabalize my city-slicker self, I wasn't sure I'd ever get out of the deep canyon where we climbed for our photo shoot.

Right when I thought I couldn't breathe any more, we hit this. I could breathe.

 Our subjects were delightful. (And patient in showing me how to climb steep hills and over slippery moss-covered rocks. I even learned what "bushwhacking" means. These ladies are fierce. And lovely.)

Here I am with our fantastic stylist Celine, who makes everything more beautiful. (She encouraged me to get up each time I slipped a little. Thanks Celine.)

So, back in Birmingham, I'm achey, and getting ready to ice my ankle. But I saw this:

Then drank this at a place called Devil's Backbone, with the most amazing view of the mountains and their fall colors.

Also wrote an essay with the finer details of this adventure (will post later). Putting finishing touches on that. Glad I did it -- all of it. Looking forward to sharing more of the story ...

Wordless Wednesday: Bears, Beware

Shooting at a Virginia resort outside Lynchburg. There is signage that says it is a bear-friendly community...

Wordless Wednesday: Have Puppet Theater, Will Travel

In today's edition of "what I am carrying home from the airport" I bring you a puppet theater found at a Ross on Jacksonville.

(A far better gift than my first ever bed bug bite last night. Yikes.)

Wordless Wednesday: The Japanese Chicken

I've had my eye on this Japanese chicken print by Richard Newton since I saw it at Artwalk 2010. Earlier this week the chicken became mine ...

Richard, a Birmingham artist and attorney, was nice enough to sign it: "To my favorite Glamazon, Erin."

He also brought along some of his other art, which I really like. It reminds me of my one and only trip to Japan in 2002.

My iPhone photos don't do his work justice -- to see more visit his website All Things Japan. He's also on Twitter @allthingsjapan.

Wordless Wednesday: Boots  

Wordless Wednesday: Hollywood Regency On A Budget

There's no place like home

I'm back at home in Birmingham, eating Indian food at Taj India (shrimp biryani).

No matter how much I travel, it's always weird to drink coffee near the Washington monument in the morning and eat naan in Birmingham the same night.

In between, I toted back this overstuffed bag, which contained the following :

Gold sequined dress
Trader Joes microwave brownies
4 stuffed dinosaur puppets

This is my life, the very full tote bag, the nonstop flights, and the very spicy biryani. Delicious.