well, hello!

Boy oh boy, it's been quite awhile since I've checked in last.  But my absence was not without good reason - I landed a new job!  While very exciting, the last month has been a whirlwind of trying to orchestrate my exit from my current gig as well as schedule some summer fun.  (More on that to come.)  

In addition, we've had time for some exciting, action-packed weekends.

Watching my baby brother graduate summa cum laude (!!) from Williams:

so proud of Sam Richard Krieg

the family crew of Williams grads

Helping said baby brother move into his new apartment in NYC:

my sister Gretchen working her magic with IKEA

My 5-year college reunion:
(which coincided with my parents' 30th and included a whole lotta mud)

charlotte and me

A wedding up in Healdsburg:

we obviously had to do some wine tasting

(at kunde's mountain top)

and some beer tasting

(at the fermentation bar in downtown healdsburg)

and some hiking in the redwoods

And finally, doing some much-needed spring cleaning:

color-coded books - yay or nay?

 

More details on these fun weekends to come.

What have you been up to?

xoxo

KK

the walk

This past weekend, Stefan and I headed out East for my brother Sam's homecoming football game.  Given he's a senior and the last one in the family to go to Williams for awhile (the potential next-in-line is still in middle school), we got a big turn-out from the Williams alums in the family.

Alby Gallun ('89), Liz Krieg ('83), Al Mathews ('10), Gretchen Krieg ('10), Sam Krieg ('13), Me ('08), Stefan Fischer (honorary eph), Dickie Boy Gallun ('57), Todd Krieg ('83)

 

For those of you unfamiliar with this little liberal arts college tucked away in the Berkshires' purple mountains, it is a school full of rich tradition and with extremely proud and passionate former students.

So proud, in fact, that when Stefan travels with his Williams sweatshirt on (which is very, very often), he'll almost always be bombarded with fellow ephs yelling at him from across the terminal:

"What year were you?!"

"Which team did you play on?!"

"In which entry did you live?!"

 

One of Williams' most famous traditions is that of "The Walk."  In 1992, Sports Illustrated called it the BEST POST-GAME TRADITION IN AMERICA.  Kind of a big deal.  But this tradition doesn't occur just any old day.  It ONLY happens when Williams is victorious on Homecoming day. 

 

Lucky for us, after a tough nail-biter, Williams won.

 

lining up for some serious football!

the grandfathers and father approve!

an avid (and very well-dressed) fan

Note the scoreboard in the background - 19:7

Two proud sisters!

 

 

Post victory, the team - in full uniform - marches up Williamstown's main street - singing Williams' spirited fight song the whole way - to the St Pierre Barber Shop.

 

 

Once at the Barber Shop, ALL the players head inside (with some cigars and a thirty-pack), close all the curtains, and watch as the seniors shave the freshmans' hair in anyway they please.  Hair that has been left uncut since the first day of the season.

 

The fans wait eagerly outside.

Dad trying to sneak a peek

 

Once each seniors' masterpiece is complete, he presents it to the crew of onlookers waiting outside.

 

Sam's masterful creation

 

Which hairstyle would you prefer?

 

xoxo

KK

back

Boy oh boy, it's been awhile since I've said hello.  I bet a bunch of you have been sitting there thinking: she's done, she's lost it, she's run out of steam and I knew she would.  (Dickie Boy - I see you smirking at me through that screen of yours.)  

But alas, I am here.  Here to tell you that you haven't read the end of me yet.  This blog - albeit boring these past few weeks - isn't done.  I've just had a few other things on my mind.

Like learning German:

Stefan graciously labeled the apartment to augment 

my classes two nights a week.

Ich bin die Waschmachine.

And taking care of some pretty important shopping:

Isn't he adorable?

And getting our windows cleaned:

Honestly thought both those apartment

buildings were brown.  

Oh to see the light!

And enjoying San Francisco's unreal weather:

Come on you East-Coasters that are currently 

looking for an apartment.  (Yep - you two.)  

This could be your run 

every. single. morning.

And a friend's bachelorette party in the Hamptons:

A full 7 days ago and I'm still recovering.

Yep - it was THAT good.

But I've missed you - I really have.  So I'm coming back part-time.  I make no guarantees on my postage (did I mention we're getting married the first weekend in August, are not using a wedding planner, and are headed to Europe for half of July?), but I won't leave you hanging for quite so long.

xoxo

KK

Billsville, Part Two

So even though the weekend had already been deemed a total success by Friday night, the best was really yet to come.  We woke up bright and early Saturday morning (9:30am to be exact - come on now, I was on West Coast time!) and got dressed for the day.  I was planning on wearing an oversized, vintage Williams sweater my mother had graciously purchased for me three homecomings ago.  I had worn it every year and was most certainly not going to change my routine now.  If you know us, you'd know that us Kriegs are super superstitious - more on that momentarily.

My two best college friends my first homecoming with my sweater

(Jessie, Me, Char)

We then headed to brunch at the Orchards.  My grandparents (Nana and Pops), my aunt / godmother / Space-Camp-parental-guardian-extraordinaire (Jules), and her two adorable kids (Jack and Sam) were all there to kick off the day with some delicious morning goodness.  We were celebrating Jules' birthday so we opened presents, laughed over old memories and new, and enjoyed the Orchards' delicious omelettes, frittatas, and toast. 

My mom also took the time to inform us that while she was traveling from Milwaukee to Boston Friday morning, she had found a penny lying on the floor of a dirty bathroom stall.  Since she is uber superstitious and did not want to be the cause of Williams losing (because clearly her leaving that penny alone would have led to Williams' demise), she picked that little 1-center up bare-handed stuffing into her pocket to give Sam to put in his sock come game-time.  When Sam was offered the opportunity, however, he intelligently declined.  I don't blame you Sammers.  Who knows what kind of aim those people have after a long plane ride. 

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We then packed into the car and drove over to claim our seats in the Williams College bleachers.  My dad insists on getting to each game in time to see the FULL warm-up, so he had already been there for a full half hour deep in concentration.  As we watched the final twenty minutes of stretching, passing, and helmet bumping, we chatted the rest of the morning away with my aunt Stacey and her fabulous daughter Em, who had just joined in as well.

THEN the clock struck twelve and the game was on! 

Now let me just make one thing clear before I go on: I do not like football.  A bunch of oversized, burly men running around in tight spandex with those strange little cup things hitting each other and then rolling on the ground is not my idea of entertainment.  That and I don't understand any of the rules.  Too many pauses, too many positions, and too many flags. 

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BUT as soon as they kicked that first punt / kick-off / whatever you call it, I was memorized.  They ran this way and that and hit one guy and then another and the whole thing was fascinating. 

And best of all, Sammers was starting, so I got plenty of time to watch him in action.  (Let me just take this moment to note that Sam - while a football player in body and hair - is certainly no football player in brain.  We visited a former Econ professor of both mine and his on Friday afternoon who so aptly remarked: "You're a football player?  Given your astounding intellect, I always forget."  Way to make me proud, little bro.)

The whole game was electrifying but the pinnacle of excitement was Sam's catch in the first half: 

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The quarterback tossed the ball into the air seemingly to no one, but then suddenly - out of nowhere - Sam leapt out of the mound of bulky bodies to snap the ball out from the sky, tuck it tightly underneath his arm and begin his run towards the end zone.

I bounded out of my seat cheering as loud as I could as I watched Sam begin his power play.  First #20 leapt onto his back clutching at Sam's neck like a poor little child, but my Sammers kept on chugging.  Then #3 joined his teammate on top, but Sam was unphased - his legs kept churning towards touch down victory.  Next #50 jumped in on the fun, but still the threesome couldn't bring him to the ground.  It wasn't until #64 - weighing in at whooping 285 pounds - joined his teammates on top that Sam was FINALLY brought down.  HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT, AMHERST? 

Unfortunately, Williams didn't end up victorious in this particular match-up, but I could not have been prouder to have witnessed my brother in such glory that sunny, albeit chilly, Saturday afternoon. 

Post-game we all hit up the tailgate for some delicious burgers and pumpkin spice whoopie pies making time to snap some family pics.

Sadly, we then had to say our good-byes to Nana, Pops, Jules, Jack, Sam, Stacey, and Em and head back to our little cottage for some good beer, ribs, and guac.  I won't bore you with details on the rest of the night - they were all kinds of college-y goodness with just a tad bit older crowd.    

(Gretters, Me, Char, Gretters' friend Anne,

whose camera took this lovely pic)

Sunday morning (hours after Stefan had departed), I went for a lovely run on Blair with my fabulous friend Char, sipped a delicious tea at the coffee shop on Spring Street, and then joined the rest of the fam for homemade brunch at the cottage.  We had my dad's famous veggie omelettes, Sammer's crispy bacon from Cumberland Farms (that came with a free dozen eggs - what deals you can find these days!), my mom's luscious fruit salad, and Dunkin Donuts bagels courtesy of Gretters and her wonderful boyfriend Al.

All in all, a sensational weekend!  So long Williamstown!  Until next year!

xoxo
KK

Billsville, Part One

So as you all know (because most of the readers of this blog were with me), I was back in Williamstown for Homecoming this past weekend.  And what a weekend it was!  It was so fantastic in fact, that I'm going to have to divvy this story up into two parts.  You'll only get a taste of the first half to start.

I had been looking forward to the weekend for months.  I was already beyond pumped to see my little brother (whose not-so-little) start as tight-end on the Williams College Varsity team, catch up with my absolute best college friend and her lovely boyfriend, visit all my favorite little Williamstown watering holes, and spend time with my divine and loving family (my dad’s side of the family – his parents as well as his two sisters and their kids – all made the 3+ hour drive to watch the big game as well). 

The grandkids post-game

(from left to right: Gretters, cousin Em, cousin little Sam,

brother BIG Sam, cousin Jack, and me!)

But then – at the very last minute – my boyfriend rearranged his entire travel schedule so he could join in on the fun and see my absolutely magical college town for the very first time.  The weekend was bound to be an absolute ball.

Him and I took the red-eye from SF Thursday night arriving into Boston first of the group at 7:30am Friday morning.  Since he was making quite some sacrifice to attend the weekend (he'd need to wake up at 4am Sunday morning to catch a flight to Peru for a work trip), I agreed to be in charge of finding us the cheapest rental car possible. 

Like with any good travel search, I headed straight to www.kayak.com, searched for our times and dates, and reserved the cheapest option I could find: Dollar Thrifty at $12.99 a day.  The whole process took me less than 3 minutes.  Efficient - just how I like it.

When we arrived to pick up our car, however, they informed us there would be a few mandatory insurance charges each day - "no big deal" we were told.  But after the $13.99 per day protection for this and the $20.99 per day protection for that and the various other mandatory taxes and fees, our total per day came to a whooping $90.  Not exactly the cheapest option as I had intended.  I guess I'll spend a bit more time investigating options next time. 

After sorting out the rental car situation and making a quick stop at Starbucks for some much-needed caffeinated beverages, we were on our way through the beautiful New England mountains now peppered with orange, red, and yellow leaves crispy from the brisk fall air.  Because I have a massive obsession with anything farm-related (read about my love for the SF farmers' market here), I coerced Stefan into making a pit-stop at Hager's Farm Market for some fresh and cool Honey Crisp apples.  The store was adorably quaint, just a bit too little, and a tad on the dirty side – the perfect small town shop combination.

We crunched through our luscious apples as we finished off our final half hour of driving on the now snow-frosted, windy, mountain-top road.  (While Stefan wanted to bring his winter jacket, I had assured him he’d be fine in just his vest given the inevitable 55 degree weather and blazing sun I was sure we would see in Williamstown.  Unfortunately, my weather forecasting skills were a bit mistaken.  Apologies!) 

Once in wonderful Williamstown, we spent the afternoon with my brother Sammers – who helped me give Stefan a top-notch tour of the campus, much of which has been updated and renovated since my days there a mere 3 and a half years ago.  I didn’t recognize the faces, the buildings, nor the new drinking games he was describing to me.  I felt old.

 

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We also hit up Goff's Williams Shop for a new Williams College Ephs sweatshirt for Stefan.  Yep, that's right.  Our college mascot is a purple cow whom we fondly call the Eph, but don't be mistaken, we've got all the fight of a bull in front of a big, waving red flag.

=

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As soon as my parents and sister arrived, we headed over to the adorable little stone cottage they had rented for us to spend the weekend. 

 

Because my family absolutely hates to sit still, we wasted no time lacing up our running shoes and heading out for a rigorous 6+ mile power walk on Blair, a hilly dirt road that hasn’t changed one bit since my college years – it’s still got the most gorgeous views of the town and its surroundings you’ve ever seen. 

 

One artist's take on Blair's beauty

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As we came around the last turn of the route, we spontaneously decided to make a pit-stop at the Orchards Hotel - another favorite spot to stay while visiting.  While the original motive was a bathroom, we ended up staying for the beers and champagne, celebrating my sister’s newly announced RAISE!  You go girl! 

The Orchards Hotel

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After having our fill of good chatter and drink, we stumbled our way back to the cottage for some quick showers before dinner. 

The showering - while seemingly a simple act - turned out to be quite challenging for both Stefan and I.  Neither of us could figure out how to switch on this mysterious contraption.  We tried everything: switching all of the obvious levers and switches to the left and then the right, but nothing seemed to do the trick.

Finally (and surprisingly), it was I who figured this formidable puzzle out thanks to the above trusty little sticker available for all guests' showering assistance.  I bragged for hours about my superior shower hardware intelligence. 

(Never mind that the word "spout" was not yet in Stefan's English lexicon.  I am not ashamed - I take any leg up I can get.)

After conquering the shower, we headed over for dinner at the Purple Pub - one of Williamstown's TWO drinking establishments - with my absolute best friend from college and her fabulous boyfriend.  Over burgers, beers, and shots of Peppermint Schnapps, we caught up and pretended like we were college freshman using fake IDs.

Tune back in tomorrow for details from the ultra exciting homecoming football game Saturday.  It's a story not to be missed.

xoxo

KK