Emily Rau: Journalist

Just wanted to say a quick Turkey Day weekend hello.

So much to be thankful for this year, the list goes on and on. My mom was in town for a visit, which was SUCH a great thing. We had a fun time exploring Norfolk restaurants, shopping (for deals and cute babies...scored on both), and just hanging out.

I even made Mom dye her eyebrows, which I've been 'dyeing'--so bad, I know--to do for months. I'm huge believer in the importance of eyebrows and since the Rau girls don't seem to have any, I spend an embarrassing amount of energy faking them. When my sister Meg came for a visit in August I took her for a little brow color and I still have the perfect mental picture of the horrified look she had on her face when she first saw her new and improved arches. I took this as more proof of how much they can change way your face looks by framing your eyes. Unfortunately she took it as a cruel joke and the next few hours were a little rough. Thankfully, she got over it. Though I don't think she ever grew to love the brows. Oops. :-D Love you, Meggy, you and your white blonde eyebrows are gorgeous.

Dining out-wise, it was great to share some of my favorite Norfolk spots with Mom, and try out new places I haven't been able to try (afford). :) We had great late-night tapas at Empire the night she flew in. Tasty soup and salad at Green Onion and an AWESOME dinner at Luna Maya. This one was a highlight. I had the Tamales, my bf tried and loved the Pastel de Choclo, a corn casserole dish that he is already craving more of. The margaritas were great too. For lunch one day we went to 3 Way Cafe, one of my absolute favorites! They only do lunch and the boyfriend and I get it almost every week--my mom loved it too. Again for the locals, I'm a diehard Figgy Piggy fan (no fat jokes, Adam and Matty), B loves the Corned Beef Special and my mom's salmon salad was really good too.

She also got a tour of the TV station! I will forever love the gradual realization of TV peoples' family and friends--as they see more and more newsrooms the dingy reality takes over whatever glamorous image they formerly had of the TV business. Although I can't complain about the catered Thanksgiving meal the station provided for us! Very tasty. I also had the pleasure of meeting a great Hampton Roads family--The Higgs family in Hampton open their home every year for soldiers who are far from home with no place to go. I so enjoyed doing this story and I hope I have the opportunity to do this someday. Here it is if you'd like to watch! http://www.wvec.com/home/USO--134466093.html

After work, Mom and I ventured down one flight of stairs from my apartment and joined my neighbors, John and Shelley, for a homemade turkey dinner. It was wonderful! Great conversation with great people. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday for lots of reasons (color scheme, cute cartoon turkeys, stuffing, I could go on and on...) but one of my favorites is the fact that it seems this holiday more than any other, brings out the best in people. It's Christmas without the stress, Fourth of July without the sweat, and the perfect time to give thanks for family and friends-- new and old.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday. Hopefully with more time away from work than me and as much or more joy thanks to really special people.

Thanks for reading!

P.s. How could I forget!!? One more story, I know this post is long already... This is just so typical of my dear mom that I have to share. We stopped by the wine store on the way home one night, and being the always friendly lady that she is, she started conversations with anyone (and almost everyone) who walked by the Cabernet section. Trading selections and stories, we were discussing which bottle to take with us to my neighbors. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a familiar face--to me, not her-- approaching and immediately knew what was coming next. As a I reached out to intervene/warn/desperately attempt to stop her, my mom turn to the suited man and asked what he would take to dinner. He tried to avoid and move on, Mom gleefully went to work drawing the shy stranger out of his shell. I tried to remember to breathe. Finally, I had to step in before she invited him to dinner with us. "Mom," I said, "this is the Mayor of Norfolk. Let's leave him alone!"

You are one-of-a kind and I adore you..thanks for the visit! :)

Fighting through a wannabe migraine right now, but the sunshine pouring through my living room windows is too pretty to give up for lying down in a dark room. Sometimes I get them after stressful days and looking back on yesterday, I'm thinking that could be part of it.

I had a hard time from the start getting elements together for the first story of the day--a woman who is accused of shoplifting pepper sprayed a uniformed police officer when he attempted to stop her. An off-duty cop who happened to be shopping with his wife saw it happened and was able to subdue the suspect who is now faced with felony charges, all for a couple t-shirts. We finally scored an interview with the off-duty officer, and as we were finishing up, found out about another pepper spray incident from earlier in the day. A 15-year-old high school freshman sprayed another girl in the face after gym class.

It  was about 2:40 by then (pretty late in the game to completely change stories) but we arranged for an interview with the accused "attacker" and her mother, so it was a clear winner over the story we'd already spent 4 hours, 3 interviews and a lot of phone calls on. But that's tv news right??

As I spoke to the mother of the teen involved, I realized this was not what I anticipated (which happens all the time in this job and sometimes the hard part is accepting that and still putting together a solid piece). The mother and her daughter's side of the story was about a subject that's been all over the news the last few years: bullying. I've never done a bullying story so I've managed to keep myself emotionally distant from the topic. But talking to this young lady and her mom quickly changed that.

It was one of those situations I really don't like -- a fascinating story about a much bigger issue that deserves to be talked about but there's just not enough time in the day. It was already after 3 and we had to 2 more places to go, interviews to log, a script to write and a story to edit  before our live hit at 5:01. Whew. With each question and answer I had 3 more I wanted to ask. This girl said she's been bullied for weeks. Hair pulled on the bus, someone grabbing her shoe off her foot in gym class, then pointing and laughing in the locker room as she changed. (Of course this is one side of the story.) And that's just the physical torment, not to mention the name-calling, other girls walking right up to her and saying "I don't like you." Ask yourself how many times you'd really, honestly be able to let that go without bothering you. One of the things that struck me was the mother explaining her attempts to teach her daughter to value herself, love her body, her mind--but how is a 15-year-old supposed to fight all those other voices that seem so much louder, especially in the tumultuous teen years?? I certainly don't have an answer. But shouldn't we be doing everything in our power to find one and teach our girls to love themselves and each other?

My hope for yesterday's story is that it sparked a few dinner conversations in Hampton Roads. Or maybe one young girl out there saw it and decided to be a little nicer, or reach out to someone at school. Even if it just made one person stop and think I hope the end result is that somebody's life is a little better because of it.

Here's a link to the story, if you'd like to watch.

http://www.wvec.com/home/15-year-old-girl-charged-with-felony-after-allegedly-pepper-spraying-another-girl-132479933.html

Blogging by the open window tonight, with the TV off. It's so wonderful to be without background noise sometimes. Also a great opportunity to slap down some of my recent thoughts about the profession I somehow found myself in.

I still smile when I walk by the newsroom bulletin board, full of thank you notes-- some formal, one scribbled on a postcard. The handwriting reveals a range of generations but most carry the same message-- 'Thanks for your Hurricane Irene coverage!' Of course we all love a little positive reinforcement, but each time I see them, it reminds of why television news is so important. Our wall-to-wall coverage that weekend really mattered to people.

Severe weather conditions are one of those non-discriminating, across the board concerns that touch all of us. It doesn't matter what corner of Hampton Roads or the country you live in--if a hurricane is coming, you and the people you love could be in danger. The seemingly endless coverage by TV news outlets is no doubt tiresome for many, but also a testament to that old saying, 'knowledge is power'. In my experience, it's the unknown of what 50 MPH winds can do, or how fast water can rise that is so scary and captivating. TV news takes you there. We show you what's not safe to check out on your own. How bad is it in your cousin's neighborhood? Is the downtown area drivable? We tell you. Despite all the jabs (my eye doctor recently asked, "You weren't one of the idiots standing out in the hurricane, were you??"), it's valuable. It means a lot to a lot of people.

As I approach my first anniversary at WVEC, I've come to believe more and more that my peers and I perform at our best in the most challenging times. Sleeping on hard cots next to snoring co-workers, being absolutely drenched to the bone and not completely sure you won't blow away, and finding sand in EVERY crevice of every news car for weeks to come is no deterrent. Our coverage was about sharing stories, keeping people safe and connecting our audience to the outside world in a time when mother nature was stirring up trouble. And the newsroom food isn't bad either. :)

How have I let it get this bad? Way too long between posts, but here we go again.

There's one thing I realllly can't believe I never wrote about. Meeting SG. As in Savannah Guthrie. As in my long-time journalism idol and current Today show anchor.

It was a birthday surprise, and though I'm now closer to my half birthday than the real thing, I still think about it often. Turns out my wonderful sister, Megan, is not only a compassionate, over-worked (but not out-worked) medical student, but a skilled detective as well. With some brainy logic and charming dedication, she tracked down the contact info for Savannah Guthrie and the Executive Producer for her MSNBC show, The Daily Rundown.

I think it was Meg's naive flattery -- my favorite part of the email was when she said something like, "we would be more than willing to purchase tickets to watch the show or wait in line to be part of the audience"-- that won them over. The tv people reading this know that shows with that kind of format rarely have an 'audience' and never charge to watch. But it's an easy conclusion for most to make. Of course I had no idea that any of this was happening at the time (or I would have put MUCH more thought into packing for my quick trip to DC) that we would get to meet Savannah, the producer Libby Leist, and Chuck Todd. AND watch their show from inside the studio. Afterwards, she showed us around the Washington bureau, including the main NBC newsroom and historic Meet the Press studio.

Our little tour was 10 or 15 minutes at the most. But the conversation (I realllly tried not to be starstruck) proved to stick around much longer. It was one of those rare experiences when you look up to someone for years but when you finally get the chance to meet them in real life, there's a bit of hesitation--what if she isn't what I thought? I can't count the number of times I have literally held my breath as the Nightly News begins, hoping to see Savannah on the White House lawn with a smart, accessible report delivered with genuine human quality she exudes so effortlessly. That's why my time with her was so special. She was just the same in person. Everything I'd imagined her to be and more. So thanks, Savannah, for letting four Missouri girls crash the DR set. And most of all, thanks for being so great.

That's the only word I can come up with today. It's not fancy or even descriptive--I'm actually not even sure it is a word. But it is exactly how I'm feeling. This week marks one month of me working at WVEC. What a month it has been. As I write this, I am sitting in my very own apartment, filled with my very own furniture and my very own hopes and dreams for the future. How strange that my home address now ends with Norfolk, VA.

There have been good days and bad days. Today was a good day. I got some great pizza with a new friend (yes, I'm making some). I went to work at a job I love and am still pinching myself for even having. And I was on ABC World News. With Diane Sawyer. Twice. (Eek!) As the newsroom lingered after our own show, then hushed when the story came on, I was almost bursting at the seams with excitement. I was also trying not to look like a gushing 13 year old school girl, but I doubt that was a success. The package began and we anxiously awaited for the clip that made my month. Finally, there I was--at the front door of Captain Owen Honors' home--again trying to conceal my feelings of shock and awe as I attempted to ask him about his story. It was no more than 5 seconds, and there was no trace of any recognizable feature other than the 13 News microphone and the back of my head (yes Mom, I know I should have brushed my hair). But it was awesome! It was an 'Eek!' moment that I will never forget.

The best part is, that wasn't the best part. The best feeling I've had in at least a month, but truthfully much longer than that, happened as my co-workers started clapping. Some even cheered. And they smiled at me with genuine pride and well wishes. How did I get this lucky? To have a room full of people I couldn't possibly respect and admire more, excited to have me as part of their team is beyond any expectation. They are the reason that I have had so many good days these last 4 weeks. They are the reason I know I'm going to be okay. ....Eek.

T-shirts, bumper stickers, and bathroom stalls...all covered with the same three little words: 'Keep Austin Weird'. And it couldn't be more appropriate. What a cool city! We had a lunch a great little place that was quintessential Austin (great margaritas included) and then drove around the UT campus and downtown area. The traffic was pretty bad but the city's cool factor compensated for it. Everyone was getting ready for the home game that weekend so it was really neat to see all the UT tents and the streets covered in that strange burnt orange color.

We survived the traffic and made it to one of the local high schools to watch TJ play football. He lived up to his role as star quarterback, throwing a perfect game (I think) and making the big win look easy. As usual, Christy and I managed to have a few awkward encounters at the game, one with a retainer--I'll spare you--and another with the female mascot for the other team...As we stood innocently by the concession stand, waiting for the game to start we watched as the Indian chieftess (complete with those weird stretchy band bracelets and a breast cancer awareness t-shirt) strode by. We briefly looked at her, just to figure out what was going on with the apparently low-budget costume, but she was already staring at us...and continued to do so for a solid 10 seconds. Awkward. For some reason that we have yet to figure out, this happens a lot to the two of us. And it's never a friendly 'those girls seem nice' stare. It's quite the opposite. Or from guys, an equally un-friendly, more alarming than flattering look that sometimes leads to unwanted conversation. We know you're jealous. :)

Luckily, there isn't much that a good fast food binge can't cure. We stopped by Whataburger and ate like we were the ones that had just burned thousands of calories. It was delicious! We made it back pretty late but Christy reminded me to check in for my flight before we went to bed...good thing. In true Thelma and Louise fashion, I realized that I mixed up the flight times. So no leisurely breakfast with Christy's family in the morning. Just a mad dash for the airport so I could catch my flight to Orlando and then the Cayman Islands to meet up with my mom and aunt. Once again, we had such a wonderful time.

As I've been trying to finish up my road trip posts, in honor of Christy's big move to Cape Girardeau, MO to begin work as a true multi-media TV journalist, it has been a treat to look back at all the fun we've had. I guess you could say it's hard not to have a good time when you're doing the things that we've been lucky enough to do, but there's no doubt that we make a great team. In my experience, it's not where you go but who you're with that really makes the difference. And whether it's chatting with George Lewis over lunch in the NBC cafeteria, or escaping backwoods Texas unscathed, we have had a ball doing it. Thelma and I have covered a lot of states, endured a lot of sleeping arrangements ("Yes, we can share a king size bed...trust us, we've shared a couch."), and survived more than our share of awkward social encounters. For me the most rewarding of it all has been the conversations I've had with Christy. She is as kind as they come and she's one of the most magnetic people I have ever known.

So thanks to you, Christy, for everything! I wouldn't trade the last 6 months for any amount of live shots or spared "Don't worry, it will happen soon" comments. And...I can't wait to see where we go next. :)

Alright, it's time to wrap up the last few days of the trip, if I can even remember at this point....

Where were we? Oh yes, sleeping soundly thanks to Michael's collection of Hairspray lullabies. Thanks, buddy. The next morning we awoke refreshed and ready to head West. We were off to Baton Rouge to check out the station where Michael works as a sports reporter. After the tour we said good-bye to our wonderful host and got on the road to our next stop: Shreveport. We didn't have a lot time because we planned to make it to Dallas that night, so we stocked up on more sour gummy worms and Swedish Fish to keep us going. Bad decision. The ensuing stomach aches and blood sugar roller coaster rides were enough to make that leg of the trip the hardest. But it was all worth it because we got to hang out with the cutest family ever once we made it to town! Some family friends of Christy's welcomed us for a short little visit, complete with a new baby to squeal over (Check out the precious pics of Christy with baby Caroline).

We left the world's cutest family for the final leg! It went by sooo much faster, in part due to a stop at Wendy's. We really had no other choice, considering our friend Lyndey needed the market research and more importantly, Christy had never had a fry dipped in a Frosty! What a shame! I also informed her that anyone who gets anything other than the classic chocolate Frosty is a total traitor to Dave the Wendy's guy. In the process of getting back on the highway, with Frostys in hand, we legitimately almost died in a Texas Chainsaw Massacre scenario. Our navigation system (we called her Emily), led us down a very shady road that was ten times scarier than any of the shadiest parts of New Orleans. She (Emily) also had a bad habit of scolding us anytime we waited to long to make a move...out of nowhere we would hear a stern, "We can go now" from the car system if we were wasting time with useless tasks like buckling our seat belts or checking the rear view mirror for small children. Emily sure was feisty.

Anyway...a few sketchy rest stops in the middle-of-nowhere-Texas later, we were back in Dallas! Mr. Millweard greeted us (I think he was there more for the car than for us) :), before we passed out for about 12 hours. We needed to re-charge because there would be another little trip in store for us before I left town...this time Christy and I got to relax in the backseat while her parents navigated our way to Austin.

After the 9th ward we were ready for a drink. And what better place to get one than the famous Bourbon Street?! On the way there, we drove through the Treme, a neighborhood in the 6th ward and namesake of the HBO television series. This was neat for us because we got to see more elements of the city that are not only key to its identity, but also important to Michael and his family...things like the St. Peter Claver Catholic church, where they often attend mass and a construction site for MINC (mixed-income) housing, a concept Mr. Kelly supports as a means for prosperity in New Orleans.

Okay, enough of me sounding like a teacher, and back to a topic more familiar to NOLA visitors: the French Quarter! We headed for Pat O'Briens for some of those notorious Hurricanes. Christy "the sipper" and I decided it was basically a glorified Jungle Juice (anyone who has been to a college frat party knows what we're talking about here), but we loved it anyway. It was a great atmosphere and the perfect way to get us pumped up for the next item on the agenda.

This time we were off to the 7th ward to a bar called Bullets, which sounded cool until we pulled up to the street and wondered exactly how it got its name...slightly sketch. We were a little behind schedule so Michael quickly parked and got out of the car to head inside. Christy and I weren't so eager.  We exchanged matching looks that seemed to say 'What are we doing?/This is a good idea, right?/I will if you will.' Luckily we are both always up for a new experiences, just like Thelma and Louise, so we hopped out and hoped for the best. We got it.

As Harpo's veterans, waiting in line to pay cover was not exactly a new experience so the familiarity calmed us down a bit. Any last trace of hesitation vanished as we stepped inside and into the world of Kermit Ruffins. It was an ordinary bar, with low ceilings and a makeshift stage at one end that wasn't even elevated. We soon learned that fans of Kermit don't need a fancy venue...only a dance floor and a Saints t-shirt, even for the 75+ year-old man that was the best dancer I've seen in quite a while. Kermit was awesome. I'm usually not a big fan of that word, but in this case nothing else will do. He played the trumpet and sang and danced and drank and entertained like only a true born-and-bred New Orleans musician can. Every few songs he'd announce,  "I'll be right back!" and leave the makeshift stage to catch up with an old friend or get a fresh drink. At one point he handed the mic over to one of the waitresses, who wasted no time before she busted into a full on rap that went on for at least 5 minutes and sounded like it was straight from the MTV music awards, NOT a tiny bar in the 7th ward. It was so fitting to see the sign above the bar that read "Believe Dat." Once again, it was a true New Orleans moment for us and our love for the city continued to grow.

Another one of my favorite moments---as we stood crammed together among a great New Orleans crowd, and in typical fashion, were some of the tallest ladies there, a short man wiggled through and as he approached Christy, tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me Shorty!" So funny.  Okay, one more thing...check out Kermit Ruffins!! He has made cameo appearances on the HBO show Treme (I'm sure you remember from the last post.) :) And more importantly, he's, well....awesome.

After our fill of Kermit, we were pretty much dizzy thanks to the loud music and an extreme lack of food. Of course Michael had another fabulous place in mind to grab something...and get a free cup, COMO style! Port of Call on Esplanade was great. When I walked in I felt like we'd been transported to the lower deck of a ship, complete with a musty-basement smell and nautical decor. The place had great burgers, and, thankfully, a refreshing 'windjammer' for manly Michael. Yes, that's another version of Jungle Juice. And if you were wondering, it's technically a small 'monsoon'. So maybe he's not that manly after all... :) 

We finished up our marathon day by checking out the St. Louis Cathedral/Jackson Square and the River Walk. The original plan was to hit another bar for more live music, but finally our stamina ran out. We settled for an equally stimulating game of 'categories'  on the drive home before Christy and I fell fast asleep to the sounds of Michael singing Broadway hits. This is not a joke.

Thanks for being patient as I continue to blog at my remedial pace. More fun stories to come!

-e

What a Tuesday! Christy and I had no idea what we were in for when the alarm went off bright and early. Luckily our first stop included coffee...we needed it.

It was even a special kind of coffee, unique to New Orleans. Chickory coffee is famous for its unique flavor and yummy taste...although Christy and I decided that it's hard to name anything that tastes bad when a main ingredient is whole milk. Christy actually asked for skim but we promptly got a strange look and a firm 'no'. The drink just happened to perfectly compliment the beignets we devoured in record time. They are delicious fried dough pastries coated with powdered sugar...yum.

After breakfast we went back to the Kelly house to pick up Steve, who is Michael's sister's boyfriend. He is working on his PhD at Oxford, but as part of his coursework he spends six months out of the year in New Orleans, studying neighborhoods and community dynamics. After so much time practically embedded in the most historic and influential parts of the city, he has a unique perspective that served as the perfect framework for our whirlwind tour. Our next task: conquer the longest bridge in the world!! The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is a sight to behold. It's supported by more than 9,000 concrete pilings that guide the way to the city of New Orleans.

It took about 30 minutes to span the bridge before we headed Uptown. Michael, Steve, Christy and I had lunch at Joey K's on Magazine. Christy's family friend (yes, another one...they've got the South on lockdown), is a sophomore at Loyola so it was great to have her join us too! We tried to help her with a little life advice (I'm still not convinced that the German Shepard puppy is a good idea) and then had so much fun browsing the racks of vintage clothes in the Funky Monkey.

We said good-bye to Rachael and set off to take care of the next only-in-New-Orleans task on our list. I was skeptical when Michael first told us about snowballs. He described them as being just like sno-cones, which I have always liked but never found to be earth-shattering. Luckily though, snowballs are muchhhh better than any sno-cone I've ever had. Plus they provided some needed relief from the relentless heat.

Steve had to catch a flight back to D.C. so we dropped him off at the airport and made our way to the Lower 9th Ward. The area was made famous after being decimated by Hurricane Katrina. So many of those heartbreaking pictures of people stranded on rooftops happened here.  And because of our Thelma & Louise connection, we were especially excited to see the area very much changed by Brad Pitt. To save time, here's a link to the project he started two years after Katrina, called 'Make It Right'. Once again, we had special context for our conversation--Michael's dad has actually been a resource for Pitt as he continues work on the project. He shared with us the alternate, not-so-positive opinion that spending $750,000 on a small number of homes may not actually be the best way to 'Make It Right'. This really hit home as we drove past the blocks filled with sparkling, state-of-the-art homes and back to the typical reality of neglected, barely livable structures...and watched as kids got off the school bus and walked right into them.

Part 2: We lighten things up with some Hurricanes and awesome jams....and a Windjammer for Michael, of course. :)

Above: Christy and I in front of one of the 'Make It Right' homes.

Left: A row of the more typical houses in the lower 9th.

Right: Album cover? Nahhhh...just enjoying some snowballs. Cute green and brown mouth, Michael!