Travel & Food Writer

All right you fine folks of America (and, if I’m lucky, the world):

 

I am ending my silence to blog again, hoorah! If you missed my recent update, you can check it out here. It briefly explains why I’ve been silent for the last couple months (and when I say briefly, I mean one sentence, though I ramble about other things). But I am about to embark on a new adventure, and I’d like to blog as I go, so here’s the introduction.

 

Tonight I fly to Europe.

 

Tada! Okay, more about that later. (One funny note. London Heathrow airport is one typo away from being an execution, as I discovered when I accidently wrote, “I arrive at Deathrow at 10am.”)

 

This blog is difficult for me to write because I’m just oozing with sentimentality and joy, and it’s hard to be funny when one is happy. Today, several of my friends crossed the stage at Dartmouth’s graduation, and I was filled with nostalgia and profound thinking. It really hit me—after I’d escaped the undergraduate names being called and went for a run—how amazing my time at Dartmouth was, and how much I miss it. But despite the bittersweet realization that my time as a student is gone, and that Dartmouth, even though I can return to visit, exists much more as a memory than as a place where I can stay, I have had the most wonderful trip. These past couple of weeks have been superbly amazing, not just at Dartmouth, but on the road as well. George Costanza, from Seinfeld, (not, like, a real person) goes through an episode where he has to leave the room on a high note. If he makes a joke and everyone laughs, he leaves. He figures, why ruin a good thing?

 

In a way, the last two weeks of my life have been a high note, and here comes the mushy-gushiness. From the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, when I got to enjoy Martin’s Capital Café red chili smothered breakfast burritos with my parents and watch the Life of Pi, to today, where I got to hug old friends and make new friends and enjoy a sunny day in one of my most favorite places on earth, I have had THE BEST time. But since no one likes to read about someone’s positive, “life is wonderful!” stories, I’ll keep this short. The take-home message is that it’s been wonderful getting to see and talk to so many people whom I love, to the degree that if I were to suddenly disappear into a hallow in the earth (because that’s what happens to people when they die), I would be okay with it. In fact, I’d be happy! I’ve gotten to spend quality with my favorite people, eat AMAZING food, enjoy nature, and have some serious heart-to-hearts, and if I got to choose my time, this would be like leaving on a high note. So, here’s a big thank you to everyone for granting me, by your skyping, phone, or physical presence (and did I mention great food?), a couple of the greatest weeks of my life. *showers of positivity and rainbows*

 

Okay, so now for the food.

 

Each time I go on a writing binge, I leech onto another facet of Liz Gilbert’s book, and this time it is the “Eat” of Eat, Pray, Love. I’m only mildly ashamed to admit I’ve been eating my way across America, and I highly doubt it’s going to stop once I get to Europe. Food, I’ve realized, is a great way to connect with people. The meal takes on a quality beyond just “tasty substance” and becomes an experience. Thus, I have been very fond of my meals lately. Here are some highlights: the food and the people.

Lauren Sue

 

Dr. Anna

Matty

Mora

Niusha

 

(Not pictured:

The “usual” [aka best ever] Sauv Blanc with Taryn and Barbara at the winery

Bow tie pasta, salad, and blackened chicken, my last Roswell home-cooked meal, with Ms. Mc.

Chicken fajita roll-up [my high school favorite] with triplet Ashley

Fro-yo, full-on dessert style, with the one and only Dane

Guinness stew in a bread bowl with HD

Uh-MAZ-ing lettuce wraps filled with quinoa, garbanzo beans, tomatoes, and a coconut-lemon-basil dressing with benevolent Mora

Half “Get Yur Goat” pizza and half salad at Molly’s with the lovely Danielle

Alaskan Halibut, salad, and maple sautéed carrots with Marcus, Victoria and Mora)

 

THEN on Thursday I was diagnosed with a thousand “food sensitivities,” which made me cry a lot, throw my head in an oven, and decide that eliminating wheat and gluten and milk (with the exception of ice cream) is a good start and I’ll ignore the rest.

 

Up next: Jenny suffers from gastro-intestinal problems in Europe!

 

(Just kidding)

 

However, the next time I write, it will be from across the pond.

 

I’m out!