Things I Learned This Weekend

Sometimes you just need a Friday to yourself.
I woke up Friday morning very late, with a headache, as it poured outside. So I made the executive decision to work from home. It cleared up as the day went on and I took a long lunch to just be out and run some errands. It was perfect.

Having a craft store accessible by metro is going to change my life.
A variety store re-opened in Bethesda about a block from where one of my close friends lives. I checked it out for us on Friday and OH MY WORD it's got a huge craft section. I didn't have my full list of ongoing craft needs but I did buy fabric, bobbins, embroidery floss, and other things. I'm probably going to be here once a week.

A clean home is a happy home. Unfortunately.
I hate cleaning. Hate hate hate it. But sometimes you just have to. So I picked up a bunch of things on Friday night, made a mess again on Saturday, and then re-cleaned with broom and vacuum and swiffer and spray all over again on Sunday. It sucks but it is nice to come home to.

My first writer's conference was awesome.
On Saturday I attended my first writer's conference. It was held at a Johns Hopkins building in Dupont Circle and was created by Barrelhouse literary magazine. It was an all-day conference with a keynote speaker and three breakout sessions. I learned so much and got a lot of inspiration for my own work. It was very reasonably priced and so close to home that I couldn't not go, and I'm glad that was the case.

Working out and crafting are great ways to end a busy Saturday.
I was very tired on Saturday after a 9-5 day of conferencing, but I still made myself exercise and do things. After a brief nap, of course.

There's just no good way to spray paint indoors.
In this week's installment of Bonnie Attempts Spray Painting In Her Apartment, this is what I tried:

I saw on Pinterest where someone created a sort of spray tent using a cheap hanging garment bag. I attempted the same thing only I didn't want to pay for a bigger one so I got this smaller one. Which, as you imagine, didn't quite work since there wasn't exactly a lot of room to spray. I also didn't take into account how I would hang it. Thank goodness for (UNC) duck tape and bungee cords. On the upside, I haven't been able to spray paint in awhile but I got to use my sprayer and tarp and mask. Yay!

D.C. is confusing, maps suck, and spray paint might hurt your brain.
I was meeting Brandie for brunch and a movie on Sunday and got so turned around and kept going in the wrong direction in roundabout ways. She blamed my spray painting from the previous night. I blamed maps and D.C. and the fact that I move so much faster than the little blue dot on my map app.

All restaurants should be housed in former fire stations.
Whilst hunting for brunch options, I came across Sixth Engine, a restaurant near Chinatown that is housed in a former fire station. 

It had such cool ambiance and decor, not to mention delicious mimosas and chocolate chip flapjacks. (And they were flapjacks, not pancakes, as the waitress corrected Brandie.)

Ryan Gosling is attractive even with tattoos, bad hair, and bad clothes.
But it can't make up for the depressing, heavy handed, and long winded "A Place Beyond the Pines." B and I had to see it, of course, as we do all Ryan's movies, but this was not a good one.

Don't get angry at Barnes and Noble when you can't find the book you're looking for. When it hasn't been released yet.
I have a B&N gift card that I keep forgetting about and thought on Sunday I'd use it to buy the new Audrey book written by her second son. Well, after fruitlessly searching the store for it and about to haughtily ask for it and mention that Amazon had it in stock, I realized it wasn't out yet. Oops. At least I realized it before huffing and puffing.

When you find yourself hand painting the horns on two ram figures Carolina blue, step away from the crafting.
They look adorable though and are going to make awesome bookends eventually. I have no regrets.  

Things I Learned This (Long) Weekend

Some days you just need new towels.
Ok, technically the new towels weren't a need. But I was feeling down on Friday and ended up at T.J. Maxx, which is a terrible idea, and a few leopard towels made their way home with me They're just so fancy!

French brunch with girlfriends is a good start to a holiday weekend.
I had a great brunch, including nutella crepe for desert, with the ladies at a place near mine and K's apartment. I just love brunch.

Football games are really boring when the score is 48-0.
After the brunch we went back to the apartment to watch the not-so-scintillating UNC v. Elon game. We changed it after about half a quarter because it was just a little sad to watch.

A 2.5 hour nap can lead to not falling asleep until 3 a.m.
To be honest, it may have been a 3 hour nap. I fell in and out of sleep to the sounds of "Bring it On" and "Sweet Home Alabama" in the background. I've seen both so many times, I'm not sure how much I actually watched and how much just played in my head from memory.

I have a soft spot for recent college grads new to D.C.
I sold my old living room to a few recent Maryland (ugh) grads. They got it for less than I wanted because they were new to town and on a budget. And because they didn't bring exact change, which is annoying, but at least the rug is gone.

Jan and Bonnie's Crafty Facetime is one of my new favorite things.
Since I got the new iPhone and Jan got an iPad, we've had several cross-country Facetime sessions. Neither of us are big phone talkers, but we're great at talking when we can see each other. Since we both love crafts, Jan had the brilliant idea that we combine Facetime with Craftime, which we did on Sunday. (Except we used our web cams on our laptops and Google Hangouts.) She worked on prettying an organization basket while I worked on a few jewelry pieces. I just love that though we're on opposite sides of the country, we can spend a Sunday afternoon hanging out.

There's something exhilarating about going out on a Sunday night when you don't have to work on Monday.
I met some friends for a drink and appetizers in Georgetown on Sunday night. It was relaxing and fun.

Georgetown at night is pretty.
I'm rarely in G'town at night, since I barely tolerate it during the day, but it is quite pretty.

Hot tea and the September issue of Vogue make for good holiday Monday reading.
I've had this massive issue for a week and am finally almost done with it. Whew.

Some times you just need a lazy Monday.
That includes a little Parks and Rec, a little Doctor Who, a little TLC, and a little Friday Night Lights. Maybe I'm just getting old, but it was nice.

Things I Learned This Weekend

Sangria really is my kryptonite.
Technically, I learned this many years ago. But I re-learn it in each time I have sangria. Usually it makes me Talky McTalkerson, but Friday it made me Sleepy McSleeperson and I took a long nap when I got home. But I just can't resist those alcohol-soaked fruit bits.
 
I should have started painting pottery years ago.  
Even though I'm terribly indecisive and not artistic, it was still a lot of fun -- and worth the 90 minute wait -- to paint some pottery with the roomie. She did a door tile for her new niece and I did a flower pot. (I'll post more pictures once we get the pieces back.) 




Ice T and Coco are the cutest couple ever. 
And she's surprisingly old-fashioned, leading me to believe I shouldn't stereotype.

A travel coffee mug can serve as a cocktail shaker in a pinch.  
The roomie came across some liquor of unknown origin and date when putting our kitchen back together. While she cleaned, I ran out and picked us up some fruit punch to mix with the pineapple rum. We are not liquor drinkers and had to do some serious improvising. This included making crushed ice using a plastic bag of ice and a rolling pin; a shot glass given to me by my brother and never previously used for liquor; and a travel coffee mug turned cocktail shaker and strainer. The result was a surprisingly good and drinkable liquored drink.

Midnite on a Saturday is a good time to do laundry.
I got a second wind around 11 and this included washing all the sheets we used to cover our kitchen stuff. I just hope the people in the apartments beside our laundry room don't hate me.

It is possible to sob at a Saturday Night Live sketch.
 Kristen Wiig’s farewell dance and song really got to me. And I wasn’t even a huge fan of hers on the show. I played the clip on Hulu in the background all day so I could hear Arcade Fire’s covers. So beautiful. 

Brunch with girlfriends is a great start to a Lazy Sunday (2).
I had a late brunch/early lunch with the ladies at Lauriol Plaza. We hadn’t been in a year, which is a shame as they have some of the best Mexican food and margaritas in the city. And it was even more appropriate given the Lazy Sunday 2 ode to brunch that aired the night before.



French toast and margaritas go surprisingly well together.
Yes, I ordered French toast at a Mexican restaurant. I couldn’t resist!



Drinking margaritas at 1 leads to a 2-hour nap at 4.
And being wide awake at 12.