Wake Up, People!

To all of you who left Fenway early last night: Wake up, people! Don't you know your own team?

I loves them, I loves them, I loves them. I may be looking rather red- and puffy-eyed this morning due to a serious lack of sleep, but it is SO WORTH IT!

Leavin' the Laptop Behind

As promised, Korea pics! I left the laptop behind for the first time ever, but apparently I did not leave the guilt. I THOUGHT I had, since I made a conscious decision to make the Korea trip a total writing vacation. But then, as I was window shopping in Insadong, Seoul, I saw this:



I'm sure it says "Starbucks", but the instant I saw it, a little voice in my head translated it to, "Why are you shopping when you should be writing? In here? With a venti nonfat latte nearby and oodles of words flying onto the page?"

But since I refuse to write by hand (it's completely illegible, even to me), and the laptop was a few thousand miles away, I marched right down the street and plunked down some Korean Won for a funky green pot to put on my desk. Then the next day, I visited the DMZ, which I highly recommend doing if you're ever in South Korea. It is the ultimate way to NOT think about whatever writing/cleaning/other project you should be doing.

Other trip highlights: Visiting three different Buddhist temples (one at 4 am so I could be there when the monks rang the morning bells), three different palaces, and two local markets (mostly so I could check out the food, which is sold by friendly people like this):



The highlight of the trip, however, was completely unexpected. While walking in Namdaemun Market, I was approached by a group of teenage boys who begged me to take a picture with them. So I did!



Yep, I'm the blonde one. Also, the only one not wearing Converse. Go figure!

Unfortunately, I came home to Fenway Park and witnessed a nasty game three playoff loss to the Devil Rays. Fenway sure didn't feel like Fenway with the Sox struggling from the get-go (even with the smell of Dunkin' Donuts coffee and Fenway Franks in the air.)

Here's hoping they can rally in game five tonight!

Thirteen Dunkin' Donuts

Bathroom renovations continue at Casa Niki this week. It's ALMOST done! The toilet (very important) is going in as I type this, though there's still no countertop and no door (doors also being vital to a bathroom. Especially once the toilet's there.) Promise to post another pic soon.

In the meantime, I went to my last regular-season game at Fenway last night. Burned my tongue on too-hot Dunkin' Donuts coffee, but had a great time nonetheless as the Sox won. I'll miss some of the playoffs while I'm in Korea, so hopefully the Red Sox will still be in it when I get back. Of course, the end of the season means it's also the last week of the ESPN Baseball Challenge. It looks like I'll finish in sixth place in my group of 29 people. However, I'm in another group called Red Sox Nation (shocker, I know.) I'm currently in 309th place out of 4600 or so people. I'd like to finish in the top 300, but it may take a weekend miracle.

And...NOBODY tell me what happened on either Ugly Betty or Survivor last night, please! Had to tape 'em while I was at the game. I'll watch tomorrow (tonight is debate night, so watching tonight is out.) I am SO happy the new TV season has started. More Ugly Betty, more 30 Rock, more Dirty Sexy Money, more Amazing Race, and more Survivor! Once Design Star ended, I was stuck (gasp!) with nothing more to watch than re-runs of What Not To Wear. While I love Stacy and Clinton, watching them in re-runs just isn't as exciting.

Finally...in answer to the many caring questions I've received about the Jimmy Fund Walk: 1) Yes, you can still donate. Click right here to access my donation page. Any donations go directly to the Jimmy Fund to help fight cancer (the money does not come to me.) 2) Yes, I have completely recovered. I actually felt fine the next day (surprised me, too. I was expecting to be sore. Instead, I spent the next day cleaning out the garage!) 3) There are THIRTEEN Dunkin' Donuts locations along the Jimmy Fund Walk route (it's the 26.2 mile Boston Marathon route.) Crazy, but true. I counted. I did see a few walkers stop for Munchkins and coffee mid-walk, but I waited until I got home, as I cannot walk and drink coffee simultaneously. (Hey, I apparently can't even watch baseball and drink coffee without injury. I know my limitations!)

Have a great weekend, everyone! And Go Red Sox!

26.2

Last month, I blogged about the Jimmy Fund Walk. It's an annual event that raises millions of dollars to help support the research and care efforts of the Dana-Farber Cancer Center. I decided to tackle the 26.2 mile route, which follows the Boston Marathon course. Yesterday was the big event, and I'm thrilled to report that I made it! (I would do a happy dance, but I imagine it'd hurt.) It took me 6 hours and 13 minutes, including the porta-potty stop (ewww.) It sounds slow compared to Olympic runners, but was a decent showing for a walker. (Yay, me!)

The greatest news of all is that there were just over 8,000 walkers. That's a LOT of money to help fight all types of cancer. I hope that--no matter where you live--you consider participating in this event next year. If you're in the Northeastern U.S., you can walk any of four routes: 26.2 miles, 13.1 miles, 5 miles, or 3 miles. If you're not in the area, you can be a virtual walker (check out the official Jimmy Fund Walk website to learn more.)

In the meantime, I'm still collecting donations for this year. If you're interested, even $5 helps. It all goes to helping vital research so that we can see cancer conquered. Check out my personal Jimmy Fund donation page to make a contribution. You can do it to honor a loved one, in support of someone who's currently fighting cancer, or just because. Huge thanks in advance!

O Niki, Where Art Thou?

Check the date? Yep, it's been a solid month since I've posted. HORRORS.

So here's the scoop on where I've been since San Francisco:

1) Two weeks in Colorado, which included a Fish Episode (as in, I caught four trout plus a gigantic sucker, which is an ugly bottom feeder that slimed me when I pulled it out of the stream.) But I did take some great non-fish pictures. Like this one:



And my brother took this one of me, sitting at the one-mile mark at Coors Field for a Rockies/Reds game:



You know I couldn't manage to travel to Colorado without taking in a game, right?



2) Remodeling the bathroom. I'm not doing it myself--though the idea of knocking out the ugly old fiberglass tub enclosure with a large hammer held a certain appeal--but I still spent oodles of time picking out a new tub, faucets (who knew there were so many out there?), tile, and everything else. Construction got going in earnest last week as the contractor ripped everything out--the vanity, all the old tile, the cheap toilet, even the aforementioned ugly tub--and this week, stuff starts going in. A couple days ago was the new tub (hooray!) and today is floor day. Like the blue? The walls will be a pretty white tile, and a new white vanity goes in late next week. In the meantime, my garage has become a dumping ground of sinks, faucet parts, tile, and grout.

3) Getting ready to go to KOREA! My husband has to go for work next month, so of course I'm cashing in the frequent flyer miles so I can tag along. Though I'm pretty well-traveled (side effect of being an Army brat), I've never been anywhere close to Korea. I'm completely pumped--I'll have three and a half days to soak in as much of Seoul as possible. I've been immersing myself in guide books, online travel sites, and history books on Korea. I think I could easily find a month's worth of things to do, but I'll take the three days in Seoul. I plan to visit as many palaces and temples as possible, take a tour to the DMZ, shop, and eat all kinds of foods I've never tried before. (Thankfully, I've had kimchi and I like it...so I'll always be able to eat that!) If any of you have been to Korea (or live there!) send me your must-do-in-Seoul suggestions. I'm up for anything!

I promise to post pics when I get back, so stay tuned. And when Korea pops up in unusual ways in my next book, you'll know why!