pink, pink, PINK!

One of our favorite places to go for a quick hike is Mahlon Dickerson park in Morris County, N.J. On this Halloween Sunday, you would think we'd see tons of orange on the foilage - but the color that caught my eye the most today was actually a bright, lipsticky pink. We saw tons of these cute little trees decked in rosy cheer- such a pretty site! Most of the taller trees were already bare - a sign of the fast-approaching winter that will likely reap havoc on my Georgia bones. But we shall see.

Halloween memories on Robinson Drive

Well, it's Halloween weekend - time to pull out the facepaint, fake blood, colored hair spray and beer. But 15 years ago or so, my Halloweens were quite different.

I remember my dad used to take us Ammons' girls trick-or-treating every year when we were in elementary school. He would always wear a long, white lab coat - and with his crazy afro-like hair, he looked like a mad scientist with that coat on. Us girls would dress as classic kiddy stuff - throughout our childhood we all wore one of these costumes from time to time, as we handed them down the Ammons' line: little red riding hood, a bumble bee, a witch, a ghost, an Indian...I'm sure there was more but I can't recall them right now.

Anyway, we would go trick-or-treating down good old Robinson Drive, leaving just at dusk and not getting home until 10 p.m. or so. I remember we always watched Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video on VH1 while we were sorting through our acquired stashes of sweets at the end of the night. That music video used to scare me though! Now I just laugh at it.

For a few Halloween's, the Ammons gang merged with Stephanie and Patricia Thomas to create one big trick-or-treating posse. Along the years we had other neighboorhood kids join us - just a large crowd of loud, excited children being hyper and having a blast.

Along our Trick-or-Treating quest, our first stop was always Wayne and Lynn's house. One of the houses further up Robinson Drive used to decorate the yard like crazy - almost like a mini haunted house. They even had a casket with a man lying in it who would jump and scream at you when you approached the candy bowl in his hand.

One of the old ladies on North Robinson Drive would always give us a can of Coke. As children, we always found this odd.

We hated when people gave us those cheap, nasty peanut butter candies with the black and orange colored wrappers. They were nasty and impossible to chew. My favorite candy was the "candy cigarettes" with the monster pictures on the miniture boxes. But Mom always made us throw out the candy cigarettes, because she didn't want us running around the house pretending to smoke. Little did I know I would end up smoking all through college and for a couple years after that, until I finally realized how disgusting it is and quit only a few months ago.

I look back on my childhood memories of Halloween and I wonder if kids still enjoy those same things today. With the messed up crime stories we always see on the news, it's no wonder kids don't trick-or-treat door to door as much these days. I honestly can't say that I would be so willing to take my own child door to door on Halloween. It's crazy sometimes to think about how much things have changed just in the last 10 years. Already feeling nostalgic at age 24.

I'll carve your face off!

Can you tell which one I did and which one Kyle did? People say their jack-o-lanterns say a lot about their own personalities... (no, they really don't say that, or else my husband would be a serial-killing freak.)

We carved these yesterday on our back patio, but this morning, they are host to a multitude of bugs. Guess they couldn't resist the free food. We also wondered if having two freshly carved pumpkins on our patio would lure any bears out of the woods. Trust me, if this happens, you will definitely see pictures on my blog!

The joys of "Pie" in New Jersey

I still chuckle to myself when I drive by countless pizzerias and Italian restaurants up here that display signs or banners about "Pie." In Georgia, the only pie we ate was apple, cherry, pecan - you get the idea. But up here in the outskirts of NYC, "pie" is none other than the most delicious, satisfying and sinful piece of pizza you will ever sink your teeth into. But don't let me tell you - let the photo do the talking.

This bad boy is a large pepperoni and mushroom "pie" from the Blvd. Cafe in Mount Arlington. I pass this place on the way home from work everyday and can always smell the amazingness of oven baked pizza. A large banner read "Special: Large Pie $8.95." So when I got home Thursday, I asked Kyle - "Do you want to order a pie for dinner?" I laughed immediately. Did I just say pie? Well, no matter what you call it, all that matters is that it tastes spectacular!

I love my SISTERS!

Yes, I do! They make me jump for joy, as clearly is evidenced in this pic of me and Ton during their visit last weekend to NJ.

I love them all! My twin Stacy, my big sis Marcia, Marcia, Marcia and my little sis Tonya! Having three sisters and no brothers has been interesting. Growing up, we would fight about girly shit like sneaking into eachothers' closets and wearing eachothers' clothes without asking. I don't even remember some of the crap we fought about now but I can tell you it was probably something dumb. But man, now at age 24, I must say, my sisters are my BEST FRIENDS!

I don't know what my life would be like without them. We are the Ammons' girls and we always will be. We are all different in our own ways yet similar in many others. I thank God for them everyday. What a freaking BLESSING!

All in the family

Tracy, Loretta, Stacy and Tonya at Sunrise Mountain, Sussex County, NJ - Oct. 17, 2010

This past weekend, my mom and sisters Stacy and Tonya packed up their car and drove 15 hours from Bowdon, Ga., to visit me in New Jersey. They just left today, and I'm already feeling a little bummed out. It makes me realize how much I took for granted living in Carrollton for the first 23 years of my life. In Carrollton, my mom and sisters were only a short drive away. My friends were literally right down the hall at the Mandeville Mill Lofts. I knew where everything was, I knew who most people were, and I felt totally comfortable and settled in with my surroundings. The Corner Cafe and the Border became lunch time regulars. Oh, what I would give for a deluxe pot roast sandwich and zorba the greek salad at the Corner.

Now, hanging out with my mom, sisters or friends is a couple-times-a-year event, if that. I will be lucky to see them twice a year I think. In many ways, I'm glad that I've been able to move around these last couple years and see new places and experience new things. It definitely makes life exciting. But it also makes me realize that Carrollton will always be my home no matter what, and that my family and will always be important.

What the buck?!

You know you're in northern New Jersey when the wildlife is just as much a part of the neighborhood as you are. Case in point - the other morning Kyle and I were going about our normal routine when we saw movement outside our sliding glass door that leads to the backyard/woods. It's a freakin' 6-point buck just walking around behind the apartment buildings with the carelessness and ease of a homecoming queen. He was just chilling back there, and he didn't pay our gawking faces at the window (only five feet away from him) any attention.

We saw this same buck again yesterday afternoon, just hanging out outside our door flaunting his six points like it's nothing. The Georgia men would have gone crazy to shoot this thing! But apparantly you can't have hunting rifles in New Jersey, only shot guns, and you for sure can't go shooting in back of an apartment complex. (I question if one could get away with this in Georgia though...)

I got you babe...

I always knew there had to be a real, honest meaning behind me and Kyle's destiny of falling in love and getting married. This photo must be a testament to that, because only someone who is freaking perfect for me would rock it old school with me in a corny Footloose-mixed-with-Saved-by-the-Bell attitude, as is clearly pictured here.
Kickin' it old school...that's right. The dorky back-to-back pose, glasses lowered, and the fingers pointing like we're total bad asses. My friend Jackie took this pic of me and Kyle at Sunrise Mountain last weekend, and it makes me smile everytime I see it. Hope it brings a smile to you, too!

A tale of two friends...and the greatest song legend ever known to man

Thank goodness for friends. Thank goodness for John Lennon. And thank goodness for three-day weekends. I had the pleasure of enjoying all these things this past weekend with none other than my DINFOS buddy Jacqueline Leeker, who treked all the way from Fort Belvoir, Va., for her first real stay in New Jersey.

Saturday (Oct.9), Jackie and I went to New York City and spent the entire day being tourists. Our adventures included Ground Zero, Wall Street, Central Park (Strawberry Fields in particular), the famous Carnegie Deli, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, a couple cab rides and several confused moments on NJ transit.

My favorite part of our trip was Strawberry Fields, where we sang Beatles songs with a crowd of hippies to celebrate John Lennon's birthday. It was a truly unique experience unlike anything I've ever done - being surrounded by that many Beatles fans, everyone singing all the words, with a few acoustic guitars carrying us along tune. And people brought flowers, apples, wine - which were layered on top of the famous "Imagine" mosaic until you could barely see the tiles. Everyone had a smile on their face, everyone was singing, and the sense of peace and harmony seemed very real to me. I wish people could be like that everyday - no hate, no fighting, no selfishness - but I guess that would be asking for the impossible. But in those moments we spent at Strawberry Fields, I most definitely felt what John Lennon stood for.



Beatles fans adorn John Lennon's memorial at Strawberry Fields, Central Park, New York City,
with flowers and fruits while singing songs from "Abbey Road" on Lennon's birthday, Oct. 9, 2010.



Carnegie Deli was another story. My sense of inner peace was instantly transformed into a guilty, sinful indulgence, as I sank my teeth into a gi-normous Ruben sandwich (so large that Jackie and I had to share it!) and followed it up with the most heavenly-tasting dessert I've ever had in my life - chocolate mousse cheesecake. Oh yeah.

The rest of our weekend was spent enjoying some beautiful north Jersey landscapes (Sunrise Mountain and High Point), along with some antique shopping and lunch at Krogh's Microbrewery and Restaurant in Sparta, N.J. This place was a real find! Great microbrews and awesome food - and it's right on the beautiful Lake Mohawk.

All in all, Columbus Day weekend 2010 turned out to be pretty damn awesome.

Reflections on Garden State..."the idea of home is gone"

Garden State has to be one of my top 10 (or maybe even top 5) favorite movies. And no, I'm not just saying that because I live in New Jersey. I've liked the movie ever since I watched it several years ago when Kyle and I were living at the Mandeville Mill Lofts in good old Carrollton, Ga.

In a nutshell, the movie depicts the coming-of-age of 26-year-old Andrew Largeman, who lived a repressed childhood full of psychiatric drugs, and not to mention a pretty f-ed up family. After living in Los Angeles for the last few years, he returns home to the Garden State for his mom's funeral, and while there, he re-discovers himself and, for the first time in years, is able to show any sort of emotion - both laughter and tears. (And he falls in love with Natalie Portman = awesome).

I'd like to share a few quotes that Andrew said that really spoke to me, especially considering this new part in my life being far away from home, and considering some issues that have transpired in my own family.

"You know that point in your life when you realize the house you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of a sudden even though you have some place where you put your shit, that idea of home is gone... You'll see one day when you move out it just sort of happens one day and it's gone. You feel like you can never get it back. It's like you feel homesick for a place that doesn't even exist. Maybe it's like this rite of passage, you know. You won't ever have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it's like a cycle or something. I don't know, but I miss the idea of it, you know. Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people that miss the same imaginary place."

I hate my immune system

Of course, leave it to the Georgia girl to catch the damn flu at the very onset of cold and flu season in New Jersey. Not only a couple days after the first of October, I came down with the classic flu symptoms - muscle aches, fatigue, chills, fever, headache, congestion, and just overall feeling like complete crap. For the last three days I've been lying around the apartment like a worthless sack of dirt. The days have gone by so fast because I've spent them all in bed. I'm sick of drinking Gatorade and TheraFlu. I'm sick of wearing my yoga pants and sweatshirt. I'm sick of my bed. But the good news is, as I type this blog, I'm starting to feel better and better as the day goes by. Sure, I loaded up on five different medicines so I feel almost high right now, but hey, at least I don't feel as pathetic as I did the last two days. I can't wait to get back to the office tomorrow and go to work like a normal person! I miss news releases and articles and media queries and website updates and meetings and phonecalls and social media! (Ah, the life of a PAO)

Sunrise Mountain Adventure...

View from Sunrise Mountain
Sussex County, NJ
October 3, 2010

  I just love Sundays. And this past Sunday was a real treat for sure. Kyle and I took a spontaneous drive up to Sunrise Mountain in Sussex County. Not only was the drive amazing - seeing the array of fall colors as we drove up the mountain - but the view from the top was breath taking. The weather was chilly and windy, so much that I had to wear a hat most of the time, and it's only the first weekend in October. (!)

On our way back from the mountain, we stopped in a little town called Layfayette Township (yeah, it's wierd because all the towns up here are either "townships" or "boroughs"). We found a cluster of five antique shops and looked at a few of them. I love looking at antique stores - it's so cool to see the old retro stuff that reminds me of my grandparents. It's crazy to think just how much our world has changed over the years when I look at old items like washing bowl stands and turn-crank coffee grinders and oil lanterns. Speaking of lanterns, we saw several hanging lanterns from New York Co. dated from 1880 when they used to light the city. I wanted one so badly, but they were priced at $125 or more. Yikes.

Also, we found a chocolatier shop, which also housed one of New Jersey's top five Vera Bradley "Platinumlevel" retailers. (!!!) I enjoyed looking at the new Vera colors and styles - I swear, they get cuter every season! (For those of you who don't know, I'm totally obsessed with Vera!) 



Two of my favorite things: My husband and epic views



Just Tell it Like It Is

I remember when I first told my sister Tonya that I was moving to New Jersey. Her reaction was: "Jersey? But that's nothing but a bunch of assholes!"

And yes, that may be a common impression that most people have about Jersey folk. I must say, I've noticed it myself since I've been up here - people are a lot more straight and to-the-point, and yes, to a Southern girl, it can come across as kind of pushy and rude. The thing is, it's not that all people up here are mean-spirited. I think it's just the way the culture is up here around the New York City area.

People up here - if they don't like something, they tell you. Growing up in Georgia, it seemed like everyone tried to save face - if they didn't like you, they would either keep it to themselves or go talk about you behind your back. I'm sure people do that up here, too - but it seems like Jersey people are way more likely to be up front and confrontational with you.

In some ways, I like this, because it allows everyone to get straight to the point and get down to business (especially in the workplace). I don't think they mean it as a personal attack, they are just voicing their disagreement. I think Southerners are a lot less likely to confront others about conflicts and personal disagreements. I know I am. I prefer to vent about stuff to my close friends but avoid confrontation at all costs. But maybe that's because I think I've always had an inner desire to be liked by everyone I meet. I can't recall many people who just blatantly hate me. I don't think I have any real enemies. (Or maybe I do, but they are all from Georgia so maybe they just hide it from me and talk crap behind my back...lol)

So will living in Jersey give me thicker skin and make me more confrontational? I'm not sure on that one....I guess we'll see. But deep down I'm always going to be a sweet and reserved Southern girl at heart. ;-)