Coffee and a Conversation
As Told Over Brunch is a home for intelligent discourse from the twenty-something perspective - so the stuff you gossip about over mimosas on Sunday morning or over takeout on your friend's couch when happy hour ends too early. We love chatting about our lives, whether it be the relationships we’re building (or destroying), lessons we've learned at work, struggles at school, growing pains we've felt, or even the food we’re talking over.
In recent years, the placement of L and R on a sock pair is meant to imply there’s a proper alignment to your feet, much like a shoe or a glove. Now I’m not suggesting I’ve solely worn socks exclusively on the "proper foot", but I have noticed one thing — well more than half of the time — I adorn my feet with the correct alignment without actually looking.
Read MoreIf you caught our last blog post on concert etiquette, you might have noticed it’s by a new guest blogger named Grits Malone. My friend saw the blog post and asked, “Who is Grits?” so I thought it might benefit our entire community if I give you just a few words about him!
Read MoreOkay, here's the deal; I've been to many concerts and, as my disposable income has modestly increased, so too has my desire to become more comfortable at such events (ignoring how my modestly increased age MAY be contributing to the same). At any rate, at my last concert, my wife and I purchased seats to enjoy the sounds of Keith Urban. All was well and good as we settled into our seats, politely 'squenched' in to allow others to pass in our aisle and gained a mild buzz (pacing ourselves, I think is what folks from my generation call it).
Even with the warm up band, we remained comfy and could see the performers on stage; this was about to change. As soon as Keith appeared, as if some crowd dog whistle had been blown, everyone stood up — well almost everyone.
The Summer Olympics are coming up in a few weeks, and yes, I know, you’re just looking forward to watching Michael Phelps one final time in the pool, and maybe you also like watching the gymnasts. Personally, I was more of a Winter Olympics fan because of my 2nd grade teacher’s fascination with ice skating—that is, until I was awestruck by the Beijing Opening Ceremony in 2008, and later in 2012 I bonded over the Olympics at a family reunion. This year, I’m ready for the Olympics because I’ve just read Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat, and even though I have rowed, I’ve never wanted to watch rowboats race each other as eagerly as I want to this year.
The Boys in the Boat tells the history of the University of Washington’s rowing team that took gold in the 1936 Olympic Games. Those Olympic Games were held in Nazi Germany, and Brown expertly connects the happenings of the U of Washington shellhouse to the happenings of Nazi Germany so closely that it is hard to believe the one was not on the other's mind at that moment in history. We get a glimpse into Nazi propaganda and the toil Hitler took to mislead the entire world by hosting the games. The Ministry of Propaganda curated an image that would welcome those worldwide by removing anti-Semitic posters, moving Jews out of the city center, filling apartments temporarily with the homeless, putting flowerpots on the sills of every apartment—even the empty ones—and ensuring there were far more swastikas than blades of grass in Berlin that summer. And the only German team not handpicked by Hitler himself, or his regime, was the rowing team, although the team was likely heavily subsidized. The German rowers looked as though they were going to sweep gold that summer. But.
Read MoreBefore I dive into another swooning-brunch-review, I have to give a shoutout to my super-cool-super-great Mom.
My Mom is the baddest (Mom, that means “the best”- proof here at UrbanDictionary.com), and she was happy to let me use her Mother's Day as an opportunity to review another restaurant on the Richmond Brunch Weekend list. Thanks, Mom, you really are the best and I love youuuuu.
So, this past Sunday Mom, Dad, and I hit one of my old favorite nightspots to see what it looks like during daytime, which we've never done...unless you count Shamrock festivities (That's right; Mom, Dad, and I have Shamrocked together...), which I don't really because it's essentially a night party with the sun out.
I don't even know where to begin talking about Southern Railway Taphouse...
Read MoreHi there! Leanne here!*
I'm guest-blogging for Sara and Cazey in the name of Cancer Research and the upcoming Richmond Brunch Weekend, which I’m super, super (SUPER) excited about!
Brunch is my thanggg, as I'm one of those people who 100% ascribes to that whole "mimosas made me do it" thing as a kickoff for Sunday Funday (Saturdays too, really). I’m also one of those people who considers most of life’s everyday events to be a grand adventure: “Let’s go on adventure to the grocery store!," “Let’s go on adventure to clean my car!," “Let’s go on an adventure to check my mail!” ...I wonder how many of my friends have wanted to kill me at one point or another?
Today’s brunch-day was no exception and, in fact, ended up being more along the lines of what might more generally be considered adventurous.
Read MoreFlorida was sitting pretty around 80 degrees and I was in need of a change. So I packed my bags and flew up to the New England for the weekend. I wasn’t quite sure of what to expect upon my descent to Providence, Rhode Island. I was taken aback by the small airport and the autumn colors – both of which I’m certainly not used to.
I reveled in the foliage and the slight drop in temperature. It felt good to wear a sweater and feel a breeze that wouldn’t completely ruin my hair. The air was fresh, the nature was vibrant, the laughter was filtering our lungs, and we were at peace wandering through Providence’s streets (all of which close dramatically early).
Read MoreThe day after I graduated undergrad, I hopped on a plane bound for London Heathrow. Technically, I was there for 21 days to complete my Senior Thesis in Urban Planning and Sustainability. But really, I was there to live the London life.
I arrived with the usual stereotypes of London and all things British in my head: tea is to be drunk, the Queen is extremely important, and fish and chips is a hot commodity. I was excited for this adventure, but living in a different country comes with its setbacks.
Read MoreBy Kenzie Fisher* *Kenzie Fisher is pretending to live the dream in Los Angeles, CA, but she actually prefers the East Coast. If you are interested in guest blogging for us, contact AsToldOverBrunch@gmail.com.
Lemonade, right? But what if I don’t know what kind of lemonade to make?
Today, as a twenty-something person, we have so many opportunities to do whatever we want. To me, it’s overwhelming. I already have a tough time making decisions; it’s amazing I can get dressed in the morning. I feel like life is all these different directions you can take, and if you don’t try something now, you could regret it later.
But how? How do I avoid those regrets? How do I become the successful person that I want to be? You see your friends around you doing cool things, and you automatically think, “I could’ve done that!” or “Why didn’t I do that first?” You feel that knot in your stomach, and it does something to you. It’s like the flight or fight response. Everyone knows you should fight so you can accomplish something you can be proud of. But if it’s too overwhelming to figure out what to do, you choose flight and then find it difficult to make something happen for yourself.
Read MoreBy Sonya Matejko from Single Strides* *Guest post. Contact AsToldOverBrunch@gmail.com if you are interested in guest posting.
Imagine: It’s a Sunday morning; you crawl out from under the covers and curse at yourself for not lowering the blinds before you fell asleep. You search all over your bed for your phone (the one you swear you’re going to start putting elsewhere before bedtime). After a brief moment of thinking you lost it, you find it underneath the monopoly of pillows. You blink your eyes open to adjust to the screen and read the messages left for you. You either breathe a sigh of relief, or you quickly delete any proof of illegible texts (because somehow this means they never happened).
You stretch out and suddenly realize it’s like you’ve never been more dehydrated in your entire life. You look towards the door that is just footsteps away from the kitchen… and after 10 seconds of deliberation you decide it’s just too far. You glance at the clock again and debate how long you have until you have to rinse the smoke-smell out of your hair to make it to brunch. You think about making an excuse, but then you think about that smoked salmon benedict oozing with hollandaise sauce and the mimosa that is sure to cure your dehydration. The motivation makes you rise only 10 minutes later than you should have and on begins the process to your favorite occasion with the most likely of contexts:
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