Melissa, Oh?

Charlotte vs. Athens
As you may or may not know, I spend a lot of my free time visiting Athens, Ga. And who wouldn’t? It’s such an awesome place to be. Last night I was chatting with a guy at a bar in Athens and he was telling me about his favorite Charlotte places. He mentioned [...]

I woke up last night to an intruder.
Or at least, that’s what I thought I was waking up to. I’m visiting Chris in Athens, and I woke up to him screaming. I sat straight up and went instantly into fight mode. I think my arms were even in punch position. My heart was pounding.
Turns out, [...]

Okay, I can’t hold off on talking about running any longer. If you’re not into working out, feel free to skip this one. But it’s been a while since I’ve given an update, so here goes:
I’ve been lazy this winter. Not as lazy as I was before I started “really” running, but lazier than I [...]

I used to *love* snow. I mean, what kid doesn’t? A free pass from school and something fun and new to play with … can’t beat that …
Then I got a job at a newspaper. And they had a lovely rule in which we had to drive into work even in inclement weather. Understandable, I [...]

One night during my college days, I met this really great guy, Mike*. He was so sweet and cute and perfect, and we hit it off from the moment we met. There was a group of us hanging out that night, and I was on cloud 9. Until my sorority sister, Karen, pulled me aside [...]

First off, I want to say thank you for all the kind words and support last week. Having a heavy heart and no outlet is at times, lonely. But, things are not all bad. In the good-news department, I have some exciting things to report:
Good friend news #1
My friend Michael, an actor, has landed a commercial. [...]

Chris B. asked me last week to write a gear list regarding what I took, should have taken, and shouldn’t have taken on my recent trip to Mount Mitchell for winter camping. So, without further adieu, here it is:
Head to toe
Here’s what I wore on my trip:
Balaclava – I fought against one of these. I [...]

Things I learned on this camping trip:
- I burned more calories backpacking last weekend than I did running the marathon last month.
- Chris is terrified of clowns.
- Bears do come out in the winter, and when there is snow on the ground they leave the tracks to prove it.
- The guys all knew exactly what type of [...]

Gear I would not do this trip again without:
In addition to the usual stuff, of course …
- Yaktrax - attaches to your hiking boots to make them easy to walk in snow/ice
- Toe Warmers - I used to think they were a luxury. In this weather, they were a necessity. Next time, I will have enough for [...]

Quotes from the trip:
Me: We saw some tracks that looked like a cat. Would that be a bear? A mountain lion?
Andrew: No, that’d be a cat.
Chris: I’m gonna get one of those at some point (spoken every time someone showed him a piece of gear. Any gear.)
Chadd: I hate rabbits (spoken every time the smoke got in [...]