My wicked life.

From Maine to Florida to Connecticut. Lifelong east coaster who runs on Dunkin, food, and sports. 

[halfsad-deactivated20180421]

what state are you from & what state do you think has the worst drivers

[onefootinthegrave]

I’m from Pennsylvania but I travel all over the eastern seaboard so I’m gonna get real specific here. The worst driver on the road at any given time is driving a crossover sport utility with Connecticut plates and a Penn State bumper sticker.

[goldkat-g0negrey-deactivated201]

I HATE CT DRIVERS. But also Camaros with NY plates driving southbound on the GSP on a Thursday/Friday in the summer.

[tami-taylors-hair]

I’m from Tennessee, and the worst drivers are anyone with University of Alabama merchandise on their car. 

[babywipesenthusiast2]

I’m from Florida and old ass Ohio Snowbird drivers can fuck right off

[bbcwhereareyou]

I’m from New York and live in PA, and let me tell you, Jersey drivers can get bent.

[new-boot-goofin-deactivated2018]

Illinois. It’s a KNOWN fact that people from Wisconsin cannot drive.

[party-wok]

Minnesota. I’ll second Wisco and add fucking IOWA.

[julierthanyou]

hi, an excellent CT driver checking in real quick to add yes, a lot of us are awful for SURE but hashtag not ALL CT drivers & also to say have none of you guys ever driven through massachusetts?! literally so consistently bad it inspired the term masshole.

[venusianhag]

I’m from NJ and the worst drivers are in Tennessee. They NEVER use their fucking blinkers and they are all texting all the time? Good lord they’re animals.

[pelicanhypeman]

New Hampshire and I would have said CT (then MA and then RI, it would have been a tough call) before I moved to CA and now the answer is hands down CA. Everyone either freaks out and forgets how to drive when it’s rainy, or they don’t change their habits at all and go 90 on the interstate with bald tires.

[tamalehousenumber4-deactivated2]

Oklahoma and Dallas traffic was where I gave my very first finger at age 10.

[acakewalkofcrocodiles]

I’ve lived in 4 states and Dallas is hands down the worst

[abloodymess]

That drive from Dallas to Austin caused me so much rage. 

[pleasedontsqueezetheshhh]

Indiana. I used to speed while steering a giant Dodge Coronet with my knees and eating a hamburger but everyone agreed Michigan drivers were worse.

[retrotrash-deactivated20180109]

After almost 5 years in Colorado, anyone with a Texas license plate is the god damned worst and I hope they all get their licenses revoked.

[lifeandeliza]

CONNECTICUT. This state makes even the best drivers develop bad habits and aggression because you are constantly driving around assholes. 

[lifeandeliza]

Friday five.

1. Fashion bloggers who use liketoknow.it should be kicked off the site if they purposely link to a different item of clothing that is not in the photo. This is a huge annoyance of mine. Do NOT wear really cute, brightly-colored, wide leg pants in your photo and then link to toothpicks. We aren’t stupid! (clearly I need a hobby :)) 

2. I am OVER all this rain, but am secretly enjoying it because I am not shorts and bathing suit ready. 

3. Debating whether to take the plunge to pay $50/month for Adobe CC since my .edu work email is linked to my work CC account. :(

4. My birthday is fast approaching and my boyfriend hasn’t asked me anything about what I want or for hints. I’m slightly concerned.

5. Anyone have experience with a friend/family member participating in a Phase 1 clinical trial? 

[nbcnightlynews]

Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent and Kid Rock were invited to the White House last night to visit with Pres. Trump.

Palin shared these photos on social media this morning, including a photo posing in front of the official portrait of Hillary Clinton.

[lifeandeliza]

I know if I were going to meet the president, my first choice of an outfit would most certainly include an off-the-shoulder white lace top. 

I recognize the person we’re talking about here, but JFC have some class. Who could get away with wearing that in their normal place of work let alone the Oval Office?

[lifeandeliza]

Four days in Nashville.

We stayed in an AirBNB on Fatherland in East Nashville, which to the contrary of many, was a great neighborhood and location. We were able to walk to some great spots - Local Taco (pictured above) whose queso I dream about now two weeks after the fact, Sky Blue Cafe for breakfast, Butcher and Bee, and Edley’s. We traveled around the state a lot, and it was convenient to also be right near the highway. Our house was also a 10 min drive to the Broadway area as well. 

Speaking of Broadway, we hit almost every spot we could find a place to sit or stand. Tin Roof, Acme Feed & Seed, Robert’s Western World, Legends, The Stage, Layla’s, Bootlegger’s... Exhausting, but it was fun for a night. Throughout the trip, we ate at Edley’s EN, Sky Blue, Local Taco, The Stillery, Butcher and Bee, Urban Grub, I Dream of Weenie, Burger Up, and Riverside Grill Shack. 

We had rented a car for two specific trips - Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg and to head up to Kentucky to the Bowling Green GM Corvette Assembly Plant. The latter was a belated birthday gift to Ed and was actually pretty fascinating. It was a beautiful 90 min drive to Lynchburg and they offer several tours throughout the site. We chose the Flight of Jack tour, which included a site tour and tasting of five types of Jack at the end. (last pic was in the tasting room) The GM Plant tour was something he has always wanted to do, and this trip was based around this actual tour. It was either stay in Louisville or Nashville, sooo Nashville it was! (though, I did consider Louisville for May) We had a VIP tour and walked the entire assembly line seeing Corvettes from just the frame to completion. It was pretty cool and there were a ton of women working along the line, too. Photos were prohibited, but if you’re interested, there are videos on youtube. After that tour, our guide took up through the Corvette Museum which was awful. The best part was seeing the section which caved in a few years ago and took out 10 cars. I would not recommend the museum though.

During the trip, we also went to the Johnny Cash Museum. It was a bit disappointing. I felt it could have been much larger and given more insight into his life and lengthy career. It mainly consisted of memorabilia and only skimmed the top of his life. We were there for less than an hour and probably would have hit an hour had we sat and watched each concert excerpt they had running. It is still worthwhile going, but it deserves to be more. The souvenir store was also underwhelming.

Of course, we went to the Grand Ole Opry. Unfortunately, the night we were able to go, they didn’t have a headliner so we saw 14 different acts. The ones that stood out were the O’Connor Band - Wow, SO good and the lead singer was AMAZING (Kate), Holly Williams, and songwriter Natalie Hemby. Everyone was really wonderful to watch and you just have to experience the Opry. I also had tickets to the Bluebird Cafe, but we didn’t make it there by 9:30 pm and they gave away our table. I knew that was their policy, so we didn’t even attempt to head down to try to make it. 

We had a great time, but we not there nearly long enough to do and see everything we had hoped. It was by no means a relaxing trip, and I unfortunately was sick and out of work for a week after we got home. I would definitely go back.

[lifeandeliza]

Thanks, Nashville.

- On the day we flew home, I started to feel “off.” - Chalked it up to four days of crappy sleep, super busy days, stress, and too much alcohol. - Nope. Got back to CT last Tues afternoon, and have been varying levels of sick ever since... GI issues. - I still can’t really think about my meal from last Monday night. I am 99% positive I did not have food poisoning, but as that was my last real meal, I am associating it with this.  - Though today when I was leaving a Yelp review about that restaurant, someone else has left a review for the same Monday night complaining about how one of their party had vomited in the bathroom twice and how the restaurant was rude about it. So I guess, maybe, thanks a lot fellow diner? - Either way, whatever I caught has been rough. I made it to work today, but still don’t feel 100% and I haven’t eaten a real meal yet. Chicken soup for lunch today, but man.  - Will share more details later.

[lifeandeliza]

March 1

Where did the time go? I can’t remember the last time I did a check in, but here goes! And below the cut b/c trigger warning: cancer.

- It’s so cliche, but it felt like Christmas was just yesterday. Time flies so fast as an adult, and I try so hard to appreciate being in the moment and then one day, you realize you are merely days away from spring. 

- I got a larger than expected tax refund this year, so I booked a trip to Nashville mid-March for the boyfriend and I as his bday gift. I’m excited and it’s been fun planning! Neither of us has been on a true vacation in too long.  

- As I may have written ages ago, the boyfriend has a son - he’s 20 now. He has been battling metastatic osteosarcoma since March 2015 and has been doing reasonably well. At his most recent check-up/scan, a spot was found on his liver so he goes for a PET tomorrow. One of his doctors at Dana Farber is hopeful they can just freeze it off, but it will depend on the official size and location determined from the scan. The date of the procedure or surgery/recovery may now overlap with our trip. It sucks I may have to reschedule, but it also sucks even more that this is even happening. Since the diagnosis, I have made it my job to stay positive and hopeful when Ed shares not-so-great news with me, because it’s not cancer until the doctors say it is, and it’s not severe until the doctors say it is, but I can’t imagine walking in his shoes right now. I just hope that we can still move forward with the trip either during the same time frame or a slight delay if for anything, so he can have a mental and physical distraction for a few days. 

- I could not watch more than 30 seconds of the address to Congress last night. From what I read, he was “more Presidential” and stuck to the prepared speech, but in the end, he is still an orange man-child who should not be in that role. Lipstick on a pig anyone?

- It is really disheartening that on a daily basis, you can read the horror on many Twitter accounts, news outlets, and from many respectable thought leaders how awful Trump is and all the things that need to be investigated. Russia, his taxes, his business ties, how he lies, etc. etc. yet who is doing anything about it? It seems from the far-removed perspective of someone like myself that not one thing is being done. Sure, I emailed and called my Congressmen and women in Connecticut and honestly, everyone I thought who might actually listen (even f’ing Mitt Romney *shudder*), and they are all talk. McCain is clearly horrified. Chris Murphy - CT, Susan Collins - ME, and many more. They all go in front of tv cameras making big statements about how this needs to stop and there needs to be an independent investigation or hearing... well, I’m still waiting. I used to believe that there was no way on Earth Trump would last a year or two as president because he would surely be impeached or removed for one thing or another. I still somewhat believe this, but I’m losing hope every day that passes. Every day that goes by without moving closer to a real hearing or a real investigation, his behavior becomes normalized. We become immune to it. We start to accept that it’s okay and is white noise. He deflects - he is the master of deflecting - and so, we, the public, move on. We move on from General Flynn and his ties to Russia, we move on from Conway promoting Ivanka’s clothing and the fake terrorist attacks, we move on from Russia influencing our election, we move on because Trump is allowed to lie and use doctored facts and statistics and make up events that never happened because the media is just manipulating what he says. It will never end, he will never change, and I am afraid for what our society will be like in four years or hopefully two or one year from now when he is finally gone. 

[micdotcom]

People are turning Mitch McConnell’s dig against Elizabeth Warren into a feminist rallying cry

[aimee-b-loved]

ht to the beautiful soul who edited the wikipedia page on invertebrates to include paul ryan

[lifeandeliza]

Marco Rubio also needs to be added.

[highreevecain-deactivated202502]

[lifeandeliza]

But, WhitehouseLeaks IS up and seemingly run by the same person.

[artuhmes]

these (and many more) are some of the Twitter accounts of federal science agencies that have gone “rogue”. I can not believe this is real and that we are living in this moment in time. https://twitter.com/ericholthaus/status/824389711170932736

[newsweekscience]

Trump White House senior staff have private RNC email accounts

The private server was implicated when the George W. Bush White House “lost” 22 million emails.

But her emails! 

[lifeandeliza]

Lovely.

[trumpgrets]

[image: tweet of wikileaks, a.k.a trump supporters’ most venerated source of real news, soliciting leads on trump’s tax returns]

(wikileaks has trumpgrets ☕️)

[tastefullyoffensive]

Smiling through the pain. (via chauncey_murphy)

[buzzfeed]

Vice President Joe Biden barely held it together as President Obama surprised him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom today. [captioned version]

[therealdjqualls]

:…………………………)

[fancy-trashblog-deactivated2024]

😭😭😭

[lifeandeliza]

This gets me teary every time.

[micdotcom]

here’s to a better 2017 (x)

[iloveyougildaradner]

Damn it.

[kyleehenke]

[lifeandeliza]

To accept edits or not to accept edits, that is the question

It is a delicate balance when you circulate a newsletter around the office to others who are supposed to be decent writers/editors, and the edits they provide make the article or story worse than your original version. (improper tenses, questionable design suggestions...) What’s worse is that one of these people has her Master’s degree. 

I can’t today.