Bunkycooks ? The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, NC and Herons ...

Just minutes from the noise and bustle of everyday life in the Research Triangle, there is a tranquil oasis situated on twelve acres in Cary, North Carolina, The Umstead Hotel and Spa.? What was described to me as ?The Umstead Experience? became evident the minute we walked into the lobby.

This luxury property, recently named one of the Top Hotels in the South by Cond? Naste Traveler, was also ranked #11 for Best Large City Hotels by Travel & Leisure in 2012.? Herons, the signature restaurant at The Umstead, has received numerous accolades and awards including Five Stars from Forbes Travel Guide and Five Diamonds from AAA.? It has also received recognition from Food & Wine and Southern Living.

We traveled to The Umstead to meet with Executive Chef Scott Crawford who has also been the executive chef at some of the finest properties in the Southeast including The Woodlands Resort & Inn in Summerville, South Carolina and The Cloister at Sea Island, Georgia.? He is committed to using the absolute finest ingredients and supporting local artisans and farms.

Herons Dining Room

Herons has received two very prestigious awards from AAA and Forbes

The striking blend of art, nature, and refinement is evident as you enter the hotel?s lobby.? Subtle earth tones and soft lighting combined with views of the surrounding lake, wooded property, and gardens have an immediate calming effect.? It is obvious that every effort has been made to ensure the ultimate in relaxation and the perfect stay for the guests, down to the impeccable service offered by the staff.

An impressive art collection is displayed throughout the hotel

The lake and wooded area in back of the property are perfect for a stroll or run in the morning

The rooms have a spa-like feeling with a neutral palette and views of the gardens and wooded areas

Since it was Mr. B?s birthday weekend, we decided to take Beamer, our Tibetan Terrier, along for the celebration.? The Umstead Hotel is pet friendly.? Beamer settled right in with the dog bed and bowls provided in the room.? Our room was located on the ground level with easy access to the gardens outside.? We took afternoon walks around the lake.? We enjoyed the beauty of nature and Beamer enjoyed the many plants, shrubs, and flowers that he closely inspected along the way.

The walk along the lake includes some great photo opportunities as well as time to relax

Throughout our stay, there was a true sense of relaxation.? A calm settled in.? Each venue is designed to soothe the senses.? The first afternoon we enjoyed a glass of wine on the upstairs patio outside the lounge and bar.? As the afternoon sun began to set, the summer temperatures moderated and we were comfortable outdoors, with a bit of a breeze coming in from the lake.? We took the time to enjoy the view from above where you could see all the grounds and the pool area.? As I was thinking ahead to fall, the large stone fireplace on the patio looked like an ideal place to gather and enjoy a cocktail in the cooler months.

Enjoying a glass of wine at the outside lounge and bar area

Our first evening?s dining experience was at Herons.? Highly recommended by a good friend in Charleston, Chef Crawford and his culinary team did not disappoint.? The dishes were refined, elegant, and artistically plated.? Chilled corn soup, at the height of the summer?s season, was elevated to a luscious, buttery consistency combined with pieces of lobster knuckle meat, potato croutons, and popcorn shoots.?? The Seared Tuna with Tempura Rock Shrimp with Coconut and Red Curry was one of the finest pieces of tuna I have ever had, affirming the chef?s commitment to sourcing the best ingredients available.

Entrance to Herons

One of the tables set for dinner

Beautiful orchids were part of the table settings

The perfect blend of technique and creativity was evident in every dish.? Paired with beautiful wines and outstanding, yet unobtrusive service, this was a truly memorable evening.? In the Southeast, there are few fine dining experiences that match the elegance of the food and service offered at Herons.

The wine list was excellent, including those wines offered by the glass

Every course was perfectly executed and the service impeccable

Wherever we travel, we like to explore the area and experience more of the culinary scene.? The following morning we ventured out to downtown Raleigh for brunch.? Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina and has been recognized for its efforts in historical preservation.

In some respects, the downtown area was a throwback to the 1960?s with sections of the city preserved in the quaint period of low-rise, brick buildings with wide sidewalks and signage from bygone days.? There is a revitalization in the city taking place, however, new local restaurants and unique shops intentionally preserve the older feel of the city.

After brunch we returned to the comfort of The Umstead.? Not wanting to miss a moment of our stay, we spent the afternoon wandering the grounds and sitting outdoors with Beamer.

We love when Beamer is able to travel with us

Spending so much time on the road and catching up when we are at home, I have learned to appreciate quiet times when you don?t feel it necessary to do anything other than to take in the moment.? That is what I experienced during our weekend at The Umstead.? While we did not have the opportunity to enjoy the spa at the property, I felt as though the entire property was a spa.? The ambiance and mood they have created invites you to savor your surroundings and relax.

The Bar and Lounge at The Umstead serves lighter fare for dinner

We decided to not leave the hotel that evening and ordered a few small plates in their elegant bar and lounge area.? Craving something light after a hefty brunch, a cocktail and a salad fit the bill.? Once again, the food did not disappoint with beautiful grilled vegetables and fresh lettuces in the salad topped with a sheep?s milk cheese; turning something simple into a special dish.

Cocktails and small bites for dinner

Farm Lettuces with Grilled Vegetables, Sheep?s Cheese, and Garlic Dressing

I was sorry to leave the next day as this was one of the most enjoyable and relaxing weekends we have experienced.? The Umstead is a stunning property with outstanding food and impeccable service.? From the moment you arrive until the moment you leave, everything else seems less important.? Ideal for a vacation close to home, a destination wedding, or a weekend away to relax and reconnect, The Umstead experience is one I can highly recommend.

I will have an interview with The Umstead Hotel?s Executive Chef Scott Crawford later this week along with one of his delightful recipes for fall.

* Disclosure ? The Umstead Hotel and Spa provided a media package for our visit.? I was not asked to write any articles about my stay and have in no way been compensated.? The opinions expressed regarding our experience are my own.

This content is protected under International Copyright Laws.? Bunkycooks provides this content to its readers for their personal use.? No part (text or images) may be copied or reproduced, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of bunkycooks.com.? All rights reserved.

Posted by Gwen on October 30, 2012

Source: http://www.bunkycooks.com/2012/10/the-umstead-hotel-and-spa-in-cary-nc-and-herons-restaurant/

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How-to: Picking a Window Manager in Linux

When using Linux, or just about any open source operating system out there for that matter, there's a proverbial Santa's knapsack of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) available. When you boil this topic down on the basic level, you've got two choices: Use a fully featured Desktop Environment (DE) with tons of bells and whistles, or alternatively you can use a slimmed-down and streamlined Window Manager (WM). We're going to get you up to speed on what each of these actually are, some reasons why you'd want to choose a WM over a DE, as well as some of the options you have among the Window Managers out there. Catch us after the break to join the age-old battle of choosing your GUI.

Continue reading How-to: Picking a Window Manager in Linux

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

How-to: Picking a Window Manager in Linux originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/30/how-to-picking-a-window-manager-linux/

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Our Pregnant Week | The Hairpin

Monday

I went in for Q-tips. But at the Walgreens, I was reminded of the persistent, recent... bigness of my boobs, and the little nuggets I?d found on my last self-exam. My insomnia had been out of control, and I'd been crying. A lot. I?d missed my period in September, but that wasn't strange. I always skip, with vague confirmations from gynecologists that my PCOS was culprit. I picked up the two-pack EPT anyway ?? ?plainly, I just felt eerie. I must have ?known, because when I was grappling with the immutable plastic wrapper over my bathroom sink, my hands were shaking.?

The digital stick blooped an hourglass while the other, a '90s standby, spread pink to indicate it was working. Minutes later, I was howling on my living room floor, faced with a faint blue + sign in one hand, and the digital's definitive, tiny text ? ?Pregnant? ? in the other. I left the detritus of receipts, plastic, boxes and the digital test on the floor and got on my bike, the + sign burning a decision in my jacket pocket. I rode, trembling, with no cell, ID or money on me, just a pregnancy test. I hoped I wouldn't get hit in my distraction ? what an awful?CSI:NY?opener. I marched into my friend's kitchen and laid the test on her counter, demanding she say the vertical line was too faint, that all the antibiotics I was on for chronic Lyme Disease (oh fuck, what about?that?)?created a false positive, that there was no way. Not a flincher by nature, she ignored that I?d basically laid a urine sample inches from her olive oil collection and we went through the facts. Jared and I had an accident the month before and I'd taken Plan B immediately, confident in its ability to perform?its only role. It was the one time we'd had sex in weeks. I tried to figure out how to tell Jared. He'd be thrilled, I knew. He wanted to be a dad more than anything, and we'd been talking more and more about the future and its hypotheticals. I had to get home before him. Finding a plastic stick with the word 'Pregnant? lying on the living room floor wasn?t an optimal way to tell him. I zoomed home, called some feminists, cried more.

Later, we were on the same couch, different planets. Jared was shocked, thrilled and confused as to why, at the other end of the sofa, I soaked my shirt with tears and snot and listed all the reasons this wouldn't work. I wasn't well yet. We had no money. We weren't ready.?I?wasn't ready. And now I had to make a choice, and for all the?Second Sex?parroting I?ve done throughout my post-undergrad life, I didn't want my freedom to choose. I wanted it just to go away, which isn't really the hallmark of pregnancy. ?

I stayed up all night, guilty for disappointing him, horrified by my prospects. I couldn't have a baby. The Lyme Disease ? I?m septic, inhospitable to a child. Worse, I?am?a child. You can't trust me. Selfish, stunted, I don't want anything that relies just on me. I had a terrible relationship with my?own?mother. I wasn't ready to eat carbs for the sake of another person. When the sun came up, I made an appointment with an OB/GYN to confirm the false positive. I made an appointment with my Lyme doctor, who?d say this wasn?t viable, as I?d just started a new, aggressive antibiotic protocol. My new insurance company wouldn?t cover this pre-existing condition. I?d call my father, who?d gently say this wasn't the right time. Tuesday would be?full?of outs! Someone would tell me what to do and none of it would be my fault.

Tuesday

No outs. I was pregnant, my blood said so. At one point, as I lay in the stirrups, the OB, Jared and I all had our iPhones out, calculating conception date based on a particular episode of?This American Life. At 4.5 weeks, there was nothing on the screen, but, abstractly yes, there was a scattering of cells hanging out in my groin. At the moment they wanted nothing from me, vice versa. I didn't have to make a choice for a few weeks, she said. She also told me, with her hand on my ankle, everything I felt was normal. That motherhood was never exactly The Right Time. No out from my compassionate, impartial Lyme doc, either ? plenty we could do, she said, if I wanted to keep it. Safe antibiotics, a 1% chance of passing the disease on to the baby. The insurance company? Totally fine, they said. "It?s a pre-existing condition plan," the polite but confused gentleman told me when I said he was probably wrong. "You could have 10 conditions besides Lyme and you'd be covered. Thank Obama." Jared and I sat over speakerphone as I lost another opportunity to avoid choosing.

Finally, my dad. He'd?tell me what a bad idea it was. "Congratulations!" he said. Oh. Two smart, silly, creative people making a baby is a beautiful thing. We need more of that. Money would come later. For now, "It's your choice, my daughter".

No outs. Jared and I had to talk about it ourselves. I was calmer. Points and counterpoints and hours. He supported me either way. He understood the fear, as much as a man can.?I asked if he'd stick by me, but we both knew he wasn't the one we needed to worry about.

Wednesday?

Began the brief period of Ambivalence with a Side of C-Cup. I told a few close friends, who had happy but restrained reactions. Jared told his parents. The concerns were equal ? my health was paramount, as I was the real person here, but if there was a likelihood this would work out, what a joy this might be. I began to be infected with peoples? love. With the sense that maybe my practical fears were a cover for insecurity. Maybe I could do it? With all the odds ? the Plan B, the PCOS pessimism, Lyme, the?One Time?thing ? maybe this little packet of cells, soon to resemble a Jordan almond, soon to resemble me and Jared, was snuggling in, sticking to my sides, sticking by me because it believed in me. I didn't have ideal health. I didn't have money. But I had love. Love is more than many mothers have. Mother? Girlfriend. Artist. Reluctant sick person. Self-centered fraud in therapy. Mother? I pored over?thebump.com, a site I had visited probably as often as?gunworld.com. I thought about names. I thought about how bad of a thing it would be to raise a tiny, brilliant boy to respect women, dress him in seersucker.

Thursday?

I rolled over and looked at Jared and told him we would go for it. I didn't feel good, or happy. But I knew what the right decision was. I wouldn't meet him in his cautious excitement, not yet, and asked him to be patient with me till I got there. I wasn't happy, but I was right.? He kissed me over and over. We discussed names and the benefits of baptism, which I had previously considered baby waterboarding for superstition's sake, but is apparently an effective way of preventing a baby going to limbo plus a significant dollar amount in gifts.

I dazedly filled the progesterone and prenatal vitamins prescription. I got a crash course in acronyms and hormones from a midwife standing at the pharmacy. I asked the guy at the health food store what he recommended for juicing. I looked at us from the outside ? to him, I wasn?t an immature, self-indicting, scared 31 year old who had been thrust a curve ball and was trying out new dialogue on a stranger, rehearsing. I wasn?t those things ? I was just a pregnant woman from the neighborhood. I rode to the park and sat by the lake, watching the dazzling reflections over the water. I called my dad and Monday's friend. She believes in miracles and said a baby is a miracle.

That night I started spotting. A rush of terror and protective love swept over me when I saw it.?

The palette I won't go into, but from what I gathered from the obsessives on the internet, this was common. Googling "spotting," I was overwhelmed by the size and inconsistencies of message boards. "It's totally normal, don't worry!," one board chirped reassuringly, the next page advising "Go to the ER?immediately."?I should get off my feet ASAP, plus go for a nice walk. Creeped out, I searched?"miscarriage." Biologically it just happens, I learned, and also, it's God's will.?Though the Internet?offered such consistent insight, I still went through a roll of toilet paper that night, obsessively checking texture, color and changes. I called the OB who said to stay calm. I went from ambivalent to afraid.?

Friday

More spotting, more toilet paper, more Googling. The irony of timing gnawed. I Facebooked Tamara, a midwife friend, who wished me well, ?whether this pregnancy is what brings you to motherhood or is the pregnancy that makes you realize you want to be a mother." But why would it show up at all if it wasn't going to stick around? Why would it leave me the?day?I told it I wanted it? Jared played bluegrass into my stomach.

Saturday

More spotting. Laid down. Jared prayed. I looked at the wall while he did it.?

Sunday

The blood became unmistakably red around 8 P.M.. I sat on the toilet and stared. I tried crying, because I figured that's what you do: that weepy trip to the toilet that 1 in 5 women take in early pregnancy. It was okay. We had gotten attached to an idea. We'd never seen a heartbeat. There was nobody even there. Still, I sat and stared. He came home around 11. His crying made me really cry. I cramped, bearably, and we watched TV. I figured we were done.?

2 A.M. it started. Blood. Pain. I couldn?t have imagined this pain. An hour later, I was too weak to get to the bathroom and could only lie on the couch, wiping myself pathetically, mounding the trashcan next to my head with red toilet paper and a little vomit. He sat next to my head, wiping blood from my hands while I pictured whirring blenders filled with shiny springs and razors inside me, of a pinball machine shooting a little ball made of fire. I saw a sickly yellow ocean. The waves would crumble into ochre parchment when a particularly bad contraction would happen. Hours. The on-call OB told a stammering, panicking Jared there was nothing we could do; the ER would give me ibuprofen. All we could do was wait it out. A natural miscarriage means endurance and certain suffering. It hurt to breathe or speak but I whispered apologies for whatever I?d done. The blood flowed black and red. Around 7 A.M., the cramps had slowed to about three minutes apiece. We got in a cab and returned to the same OB office where, not a week before, I?d sat confused and crying. But it felt like years ago.

Monday?

I sat on a cotton pad to keep from bleeding on the exam table. Her tone was the perfect physician's balance of frank and sad, and after conferring with my ultrasound, confirmed there was no longer any trace of anything. She was sorry, but reminded me that, on Tuesday, I wasn't even sure I wanted it. That we'd meet again when the time was right. Some bloodwork, to confirm my body didn?t think it was pregnant anymore ? sure enough, my once-blossoming hormone levels had shrunk to numbers I now imagined as pitiful, humiliating. A failure. We went home.

Today?

What I figured out, exactly a week later: that physical pain is very, very relative, as is the definition of health. I can see a reason to regain my health, outside wanting to get back into my former five mile runs/stay a size 8. I want to be healthy for a role bigger than myself. That Jared and I are in it, even if it?s blood and loss. That this is a loss, no matter when. That Tamara was right ? this one forced me to see I want it.

Here's what I?don?t?get ? why this happened? Why it has to be so excruciating, that knife twist of trauma plus physical pain and all that blood that?s still flowing as I write and will continue to for another 10 days or so, a reminder I'm a woman and that we gotta carry so much? I also don't understand why someone would ever try this again, knowing how terribly it might go. Today, I?m trying to let Sunday night become merely a haunting, while grasping at those few Thursday moments at the lake where I believed I was much more than myself. That I could, in fact, be grand.

Photo by?fritish.

Source: http://thehairpin.com/2012/10/our-pregnant-week

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Sandy upends final week of presidential race

KETTERING, Ohio (AP) ? Superstorm Sandy's mayhem is upending the final week of the presidential race, with President Barack Obama calling off another of the waning days left to campaign and Republican Mitt Romney struggling to strike the right tone.

The White House announced Tuesday that Obama will not go ahead with a Wednesday campaign swing through Ohio so he can remain at the White House to monitor recovery efforts for the storm that practically shut down New York City and spread damage across the East Coast.

Romney and running mate Paul Ryan initially announced they were canceling events out of sensitivity for the millions of Americans in Sandy's path. But with only a week left to try to toss Obama from office, the GOP campaign was back on Tuesday with events in the critical Midwestern swing states of Ohio and Iowa, albeit with changes to the program.

Romney was holding a "storm relief event" in Kettering, Ohio, at the same arena as his previously scheduled political rally and with the same celebrity line-up ? NASCAR driver Richard Petty and country music singer Randy Owen. The event was moved up by four hours and aides said the tone would be changed, with no attacks on the president back at the White House overseeing the response.

Effusive praise for Obama's leadership came in Tuesday from a surprising source ? New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican who has been campaigning for Romney across the country and a pointed Obama critic. He said in a series of morning television show interviews that Obama was in touch throughout the night as the storm struck New Jersey, including a call at midnight, and effectively expedited much-needed disaster relief.

"The president has been all over this and he deserves great credit," Christie told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." ''I've been on the phone with him, like I said, yesterday personally three times. He gave me his number at the White House, told me to call him if I need anything, and he absolutely means it. It's been very good working with the president."

The White House said Obama was speaking frequently to other governors and mayors in affected areas. The White House released a photo of the president receiving a videoconference update on the response from the Situation Room.

Millions were left without power as the deadly storm whipped its way through presidential battlegrounds like North Carolina, Virginia and New Hampshire and sprawled as far as the Great Lakes, where gales threatened Ohio's and Wisconsin's lakeside regions.

David Letterman, continuing his "Late Show" in storm-damaged New York without an audience, joked: "The storm has stopped the presidential campaign, so at least some good has come of it."

Some election centers in the affected states were shut down, but early voting continued in areas outside Sandy's path. After casting her ballot for Obama at the Franklin County early voting center Tuesday, Lydia Strauss, of Columbus, said she didn't anticipate the storm changing the outcome in Ohio.

"People feel strongly about this election and they're not going to be deterred," said the 42-year-old social worker.

Romney planned to hold three campaign events in Florida on Wednesday with former Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio. Ryan was returning to his regular schedule Wednesday, campaigning across his home state of Wisconsin before going trick or treating with his children.

Romney's campaign grappled with how he should respond to the storm, without the official duties that gave Obama a leadership role. When the president rushed out of battleground Florida on Monday morning before a scheduled rally to return to the White House to monitor the storm, Romney aides initially said he and Ryan would continue working for votes away from the storm's path. Then communications director Gail Gitcho announced a change in plans just as Romney was appearing at a rally in Ohio.

"Out of sensitivity for the millions of Americans in the path of Hurricane Sandy, we are canceling tonight's events with Gov. Romney in Wisconsin and Congressman Ryan in Melbourne and Lakeland, Florida," she wrote in an email to reporters. "We are also canceling all events currently scheduled for both Gov. Romney and Congressman Ryan on Tuesday."

But they apparently concluded that Romney couldn't afford to waste time out of the spotlight in such a closely fought race, with polling showing an Obama advantage in several swing states. Later Monday evening, the campaign announced the Kettering event, with local news reports saying supporters should bring food donations.

The event had all the trappings of a typical Romney campaign rally. A biographical video first aired at the Republican National Convention this summer was showing on large screens set up for several hundred supporters gathered inside a school basketball arena before Romney took the stage.

Outside, signs noted that the arena track would be closed to the public on Tuesday "for the Republican campaign rally." Credentials distributed to reporters described the event as a "victory rally."

Inside, campaign staff and volunteers collected donations in the back of the room. They stacked canned goods, boxes of diapers, chocolate bars, bottled water, fleece blankets and jars of peanuts.

Asked why she was there, 51-year-old Republican Jackie Seals, a school custodian from Kettering, said: "I'm here to support Mitt Romney." A button proclaiming, "No ObamaCare!" was pinned to her sweater. She had two cans of soup in her purse to donate, but said she wasn't sure who to give them to.

The Romney camp also announced that a political rally in Des Moines, Iowa, would go on at the same time as previously scheduled Tuesday night, with Ann Romney filling in for her husband as the headliner. Ryan was slated to visit campaign offices in his home state of Wisconsin to thank the volunteers helping to collect relief supplies for storm victims.

Romney campaign spokesman Kevin Madden said the campaign was in contact with local relief organizations and the Red Cross to make sure the supplies they were collecting Tuesday would be useful.

"We checked to make sure the supplies would be helpful and welcomed as part of our volunteer effort. And our own volunteers will be personally delivering the supplies to the relief center," Madden said.

___

Pickler reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Kasie Hunt in Dayton, Ohio, Philip Elliott in Janesville, Wis., Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, and Jim Kuhnhenn, Julie Pace and Ben Feller in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sandy-upends-final-week-presidential-race-160011327--election.html

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