A Teacher on Vacation in September??

That's right. Because my school is now on a year-round calendar, I started teaching in July, but I had a three week break in September. Wohoo!

First I went to Alaska, to visit Jess and Nathan and their adorable children, Lily (3) and Jackson (9 months). Jackson is very squirmy and has a beautiful smile; Lily loves to laugh and is very chatty. She imitates everything people say, especially her mom. When Lily's playing with her dolls, she'll put them to bed and say "No more noises! I need my rest! This is unacceptable!" She is also rather "strong-willed," which of course can be trying for her sleep-deprived mother. Here she is, leading an expedition around the house.



Over the weekend, we headed out of town to Nancy Lake to stay in a state park cabin. This is sort of like camping (no water or electricity) but warmer, because there's a woodstove. We were joined by another couple who are friends of Jess and Nathan, along with their two year old girl. After a night of first one toddler crying, then the other refusing to sleep, then the baby refusing to sleep, then the dog puking, and the baby waking up 3 more times in the night, I had pretty much decided to swear off the idea of ever having children, but luckily they are so cute that I reconsidered. Here's Jess with sweet baby Jackson.



After a week in Alaska, it was off to Madison, Wisconsin, to visit Katharine, who has just begun a Master's/PhD program in Art History. Here she is, entertaining fellow grad students in her swanky apartment. (Dinner consisted of butternut squash soup, penne with roasted eggplant and tomato, and a dessert of roasted pear and apple with vanilla ice cream, all made from scratch in her tiny 1920s kitchen. Way to go Katharine.)



Finally, it was back to DC for a few days of visiting family, friends, and my boyfriend Mike. Here's Mom and Dad with Grandma Heidi, a few days before her 90th birthday. You're never too old to love chocolate!



I got back to North Carolina at midnight on the Saturday before school was due to start, and promptly came down with a cold. Unfortunately because of the testing schedule I still had to go to work, but at least I could use my cold as an excuse to skip the faculty meeting today and come home and play with pictures! Here are the rest of the photos from the trip. Enjoy! - Laura

Bloomingdale's opening in Chevy Chase and Heidi Sr's new home

Hello Wells Family (and all the related families),

Jack suggested I let you know I had a blast at the recent opening of the new Bloomingdale's in Chevy Chase, MD. There used to be a local department store there, Woodrow and Lothrop. It was bought out by another somewhat local chain (which also included Wanamakers in the Philadelphia area) and became a Hecht's. Then it was sold to Federated, which is about the last chain standing and has absorbed nearly everything else inlcuding Macy's, and we heard it was going to become a Macy's, after it was torn down and rebuilt. Now it is a Bloomingdales (also owned by Federated). This was a private opening two evenings before the store opened to the public. They literally had a red carpet out, many bands playing all kinds of music, great food and drink (I had something yellow made with vodka, pinapple juice, triple sec, and champagne--pretty potent). All the staff were wearing black (or black and white) as they do in the Manhattan store (and maybe all the branches for all I know). Our friend Trisha Hartge accompanied me as Jack felt he had better things to do (ha!). Naturally we shopped (10% went to the Kennedy Center) and we each got a $25 gift certificate for our trouble and to lure us back.

For those who know the Washingotn area, this site is on the corner of Wisconsin and Western Avenues catty-corner from three malls and the Friendship Heights station on Metro's red line, so it's accessible by subway and will surely attract a lot of shoppers that way. Previously the corner had a huge surface parking lot and basically just one department store so it was a good target for more intensive development. There will be a Whole Foods supermarket going in, maybe a Barnes and Noble, and quite a few other stores. The Bloomingdales parking is now mainly underground. There is still a large hole in front of the store, which I believe is destined for the Whole Foods.

Recently I read in the paper that when Federated took over a number of local chains (like Marshall Field and Hecht's and so on) and made them all Macy's (for the most part), it tried to get rid of those ubiquitous coupons that appear in our newspapers (like 10 and 20% off next 3 days) and shoppers and sales declined, so they say they're bringing those back. Apparently the Bloomingdales brand has fared better by going more upmarket, hence the black "uniforms." The new store is very elegant, the decor seemed to be mostly black and white and maybe silver, not too crowded, everything nicely displayed. they seem to have attracted a lot of personnel from other upscale stores, like Saks Fifth Avenue, and so on. A new member of IWPR's board is in charge of human resources for all Bloomingdales stores and he actually knew quite a few of the people there by name.

For those who would like my mom's new address. It's

Heidi Hertzson
403 Russell Avenue, Apt G2
Gaithersburg, MD 20877

tel: 303 216-5640

She moved in mid August and her house in NJ sold in mid-September, so it all worked out well. In early August, Jack and I helped her hold a yard sale, between that and Craig's list of Southern NJ, Ocean County free cycle, and her church rummage sale (and the new owners buying her patio set), we managed to get rid of everything she didn't want to take. The move went well. She seems to be settling into her new place pretty well, finding some activities she enjoys. Asbury Methodist Village is a continuing care community that is quite large (about 1500 people), but as such it has many services, such as good transportation, medical staff and a pharmacy, also a bank, etc., on site. It's about 20-25 minutes from our house out Interstate 270 in Montgomery County. Mom will be 90 on October 9th. We're planning to celebrate here on October 20 and anyone who would like to is invited to make a page for her scrapbook (with a photo, names of everyone in the photo, address, telephone, email etc, plus wahtever message you want to send) which we will present that day. You're also welcome to come. of course. Please send your scrapbook page (size is 8.5 by 11 or 9 x 12) by October 13 whether you come or not (you can send it electronically and we will print it out, heidi1677atmacdotcom).

Enjoy the fall everyone. Yesterday on my weekend row in a shell on the Potomac, my boat capsized when it and a canoe collided. I had to swim into the dock--fortunately it wasn't very far!

Love to all, Heidi

Home from Madison

Heidi and I have just returned from Madison, Wisconsin, where we've set up Katharine in her new apartment on Mansion Hill. Like her apartment in New York, this apartment is small in size but in a great neighborhood, right along Lake Mendota. As the name suggests, it is a neighborhood of old mansions built in the 1850's, and now mostly turned into student apartments and B&Bs, but still handsome on the outside and surrounded by well-tended lawns. Katharine's building is a more conventional 6-story apartment house, but it has a great location adjacent to the lake. She's on the 4th floor, looking out over the tops of the trees to the lake.

It's an efficiency apartment, but much bigger than the one she had in New York, with a full kitchen in an alcove on one side, a private bath, a walk-in clothes closet, a broom closet, and a coat closet. The 9-foot ceilings give a great sense of spaciousness. We spent three days in Madison, getting her moved in (many trips up the small elevator with the old-fashioned swinging door and sliding gate), unpacked, car registered, parking permit secured, bank account started, and University ID picked up. After Heidi flew in on Thursday (Katharine and I had driven out in convoy in two separate cars on Monday and Tuesday -- about a 16-hour drive from Washington), we had a classic trip to Target to buy housewares and furnishings, including three bookcases, a small stepladder to reach the high built-in cabinets in the kitchen, ironing board and iron, curtain rods, etc. We spent the next day assembling bookcases, hanging pictures, and getting the place decorated as best we could.

As any reader of Katharine's blog (http://linaslookbook.blogspot.com/) will attest, she has the decorating skills to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. She has much more to work with in this apartment than she had in New York, so I'm looking forward to seeing what she does with it when we next get to Madison. Her address there is Apartment 45, 522 N. Pinckney St., Madison, WI 53703. Phone and e-mail are the same (she only uses her cell phone): (917) 359-4934 and katharine.wells@gmail.com. She now commences her new life as the "Chipstone/James Watrous Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellow in American Material Culture" in the Art History Department at the University of Wisconsin. Classes start next week.

-- Jack

Weekend in Boston

Hello family! Here's a link to my pictures from my weekend in Boston with my boyfriend Mike. We stayed with Catherine Gunn and got to spend lots of quality time with Kari, Mary Helen, Matt, baby Sophie, Alex, and Rhonda. We even got to visit one of Mike's friends from college and have lunch with a former professor of mine. There are also some pictures of Kari's cousins, the Liptons, who were visiting for a week. It was a full house and a very full weekend, but a lot of fun. Enjoy! Click here. Love, Laura

Family Photo from Reunion 2007

Here's a great shot of everyone at Grandad's 90th birthday weekend on the Eastern Shore. Thanks to Robin for supplying the picture!

Gunn Reunion 2007 Photos

Catherine Gunn took these photos at the 2007 Gunn Reunion. The babies are growing up fast! Click here to view Catherine's album online. --Katharine W.

Jersey Girl

Our week's voyage to New Jersey has come to a close and I have now returned to DC, en route to North Carolina to begin work next week. The report on Mike's family is that they love me and I love them! Very convenient. Mike's mom is very sweet and keeps saying that I'm a "keeper." Mike's nephew is adorable, even though he cries a lot because he's teething, but "Hush My Dear" always helped calm him down. Mike's cousins Bianca and Gianna are 15 and 12 and remind me a lot of me and Katharine at that age. We talked about American Girl dolls :) Mike also has an Uncle Sal who is quite a character - pushing 90 and still loves to talk about his days bombing Germany in WWII. He says he'd marry me himself if he was younger!

Mike's friends are also a lot of fun. We had a really nice time hanging out by Lake Hopatcong. The night before July 4th the town sets off fireworks and we all sat on the shore at the state park, enjoying the fireworks and playing with Mike's friend's 2 year old (she likes to blow kisses and give hugs!).

Here are a few pics of me and Mike with his nephew, Sean. Mike says he had a great time at the reunion and hello to you all!