Things That Have Happened

It's been awhile since I caught myself up on my life. And since technically I haven't left my apartment in a few days--but I did get a ton of stuff done around said apartment, except for putting away the laundry I did on Thursday--I'm writing about stuff that has happened in the past few weeks:

• I went home to North Carolina for a long weekend to see my parents and also Billy Joel in concert! It was wonderful.
• At dinner before said concert, the power button on my iPhone jammed, rendering it useless.
• I bought a new iPhone. It was time for a new one but I was hoping to wait a few more weeks.
• While at Apple store, I had a nice conversation with the "Genius" and learned that they don't get commission on what they sell.
• I took a friend out for their birthday and learned that one of the bartenders at a whiskey bar in DC likes to pretend he's Belle from Beauty and the Beast whilst climbing the big ladders in the bar. (Ladders are to get to all the whiskey on shelves on the wall.)
• Snow Storm #1 left about 10 inches of snow on this fair city and we were snowed in for several days.
• I didn't leave my apartment the entire President's Day weekend. It was lazy and sad but also glorious.
• Tyler Hansbrough came to DC with his NBA team to play the Wizards and the UNC DC alumni group went on the court for a fan tunnel. It was wonderful and amazing and I'll post about it later.
• I made my Grandma Bonnie's potato soup for a competition at work. It only took two Facetime calls and a death grip on my phone to prevent it from becoming part of the soup to make it happen.
• Snow Storm #2 hit today and we got about 8 more inches of snow.
• I've watched the first two seasons of "Veronica Mars" over the past week and it has consumed my life.

Life Lately

I know, I suck. But in my defense I had a crazy deadline last week that had me taking my computer home every night and working over the weekend. But it was all worth it because the client loved the work and had minimal changes. Which never happens. Ever.

So get ready for a whole bunch of "Ooh, I should blog about this!" stuff from the past two weeks.

March Madness
It's that time again! And even though my Heels have been up and down this year, lately they've been more up than down. This was the ladies and I watching the State rematch at B's.

Best. Trial. Ever.
I've become completely obsessed with the Jodi Arias trial. It's just riveting and disturbing and amazing. I can't wait for it to become a Lifetime movie. She's just so clearly guilty and crazy. And, also, a guilty crazy liar! She's changed her story so many times on the stand, in ways I thought only happened on courtroom TV shows. If she isn't convicted, I will go to Arizona and protest outside the courtroom.

Wedding Fever, part 1
Karey and I are just in love with "Parks and Recreation" and the main characters Leslie and Ben. When they got engaged earlier this season I said we were going to throw a party for their wedding. Well, the wedding was a lot sooner than I expected, so no party, but we did have Funfetti cake and ice cream. If you don't celebrate the wedding of two fictional characters with a bestie/roomie, I feel sorry for you.

Jennifer Lawrence is perfection
I'll join the throng of ladies who want to be her best friend. I have 3 best friends already, but I would really love her for a fourth. I think she'd work really well in our group.

"The Book of Mormon" better be good.
The play is coming to the Kennedy Center next year and I was in charge of getting tickets for me and two friends during their member presale. (I got a membership for my birthday, thanks parents!) A full 24 hours after they went on sale, after hours and hours of refreshing the site, and having the entire site crash, I finally procured three tickets for August. Whew.

Wedding Fever, part 2
On our first group trip to David's we settled on a bridesmaid dress. I don't know the rules about revealing wedding details on someone else's wedding, so I won't say which one, just that it's in one of the pictures and we love it.

Audrey, re-incarnated
The sons of my idol, Audrey Hepburn, authorized a digitized Audrey for use in a British chocolate company commercial. I must say, I don't hate it. I actually kind of love it. It makes me wish I could have been alive, even just for a day, when she was at her peak in the 50s or 60s, so I could see her do things new.

Forgetful Fran
I felt the need to name the forgetful side of me. Because when she shows up, she does it epically. Like the day last week I didn't have my wallet. The day that also happened to be "deadline" day. The day that also happened to be when I forgot my lunch. Oh, and also the day where I had no money on my metro card to get home. Thankfully, I have ample people in my life at work I knew I could lean on. One officemate gave me a $20 without hesitation, and another bought me a drink and dinner when I wanted to celebrate my deadline. (I gave him $20 the next day.) So Forgetful Fran became Grateful Gail.

Good and Bad Showers
This weekend I'm very excited to go home to North Carolina for the wedding shower I'm co-hosting with my sister for our future sister-in-law. I'm not excited, however, for the snowstorm (not really a shower) we'll be getting tonite. In fact, I'm quite pissed about it. Please send me all your good travel vibes, if you will.

The End
Hopefully only for a day. 

Things I Learned This Weekend

Even a Friday can't help me enjoy snow.
My love/hate affair with snow has been well-documented on this blog. And even though it's been three years since Snowmageddon I and II, I'm still not quite over my hatred of the white stuff. Even when all I have to do in it is make it to the metro, then the mall for a haircut, then back on the metro over the Potomac, then a bus home. Actually, yeah, even that stuff is annoying when there's white and wet stuff everywhere.

There is such a thing as a good haircut.
Another topic I've exhausted on this blog: my hair. But I think I finally found a good hairdresser up here, and it only took me five and a half years. She cleaned up my tragic split ends and then gave me some good face-framing layers. Pieces are still a bit scary short and don't quite stay up in my ponytail, but it's actually a good haircut, which really makes all the difference.

There's nothing like a bunch of pro-life high-schoolers to ruin the taste of Taco Bell.
One of the main reasons I'm able to handle the tourist madness that is Pentagon City Mall is because of the Taco Bell in the food court. On this particular visit there was a large group of Catholic high schoolers in town for the pro-life march held earlier in the day. One boy was quoting Revelations and there was a Father trying to round everyone up for the buses. As I fought the urge to instigate, they got up, leaving some of their trash beyond. Would it have been wrong of me to stand up and tell them what to do with their trash, since I so despise them telling women what to do with their bodies? Or would it have been a public service to remind them to work harder to protect this planet they're trying so hard to populate.

Taking down Christmas decorations makes a room seem very empty/clean.
Finally took down my decorations on Saturday, a week earlier than the end of January but I had the time and got to it. At first the room just felt very empty, now it just feels right.

There's nothing quite like watching a Carolina game with a room full of Tar Heels.
The ladies and I went to this year's new Carolina bar to watch the Carolina v. State game. There was lots of room, drink and food specials, and lots of fellow Tar Heel alums cheering on our (less than stellar) Heels.

Buffalo Billiards has an interesting interpretation of "side order of fries" .
Karey said side order of fries, and she got fries on the side of her chicken fingers. I said side order of fries, and got this massive basket for $6.99 that we ate off of all night, and still never saw the bottom.

If your team can't look good, at least you and your friends can look good.
Not that we looked good, that would be cocky. But compared to the team, we looked like super models. Except for my demon red eyes, which I can't get rid of.

The best way to mourn a bad basketball loss is with Krispy Kreme.
Carolina girls can't turn down the "hot now" sign. Thankfully, Krispy Kreme is always a win.

The coolest bumper sticker ever is in NW DC.
Doctor Who for the win!

Ikea thread is not very good.
Among other sewing problems I had on Sunday, the thread I bought from Ikea kept breaking. Apparently the Swedes don't sew as fast as I do? Or they buy their thread somewhere else, too.

The "Shawshank Redemption" is amazing.
This was the first time I saw this movie and oh my word was it amazing. Now I know why it was one of my Poppy's favorites.

Too much foreshadowing can ruin the moment.
This is in reference to this week's devastating "Downton Abbey" which didn't make me cry once. And I cry at everything. I'm going to blame it on all the dramatic moments that preceded it which made it not a shock to me. But I'm still a bit worried I'm broken.

Holiday Rewind Part 3: Who's dreaming of a white Christmas?

I've tried many times in the past year to break up with snow. Once a friend that came so rarely and so gently, he was welcomed with open arms. Then, as time went on, he just wouldn't go away. A sudden drop-in here, an extended trip there, but still kind of nice to see. Until his presence escalated. Suddenly, he was sticking around for days and days. He worked himself into a frenzy and shut down a city for nearly a week. He nearly drove me crazy. But then, slowly but surely, he went away. The sun came out again and it was good.

But then it happened. He returned a week before Christmas to DC/Alexandria:

And then, he followed me home to NC, and brought this the day after Christmas, in the front yard:

And in the backyard, too:

Then I was reminded of what snow looks like in the country, with no buildings to block the view:

And then our house was made beautiful and perfect. And I spent the day with my parents in the cozy comforts of our living room. The the dogs rolled around in the soft flakes of our almost-white Christmas. .

Damn that tricky, sneaky, beautiful snow.

Next time: Cupcakes!

Snow Fatigue

I'd love to be able to go more than a day without using the word "snow" in a post, a status message, a phone call, an email, or in casual conversation.

Today is not that day. We're expected to get 7-14 inches more tonite, down from the original projection of 10-20 inches. I've never been so happy about just a foot of snow. Except the happy only lasts for a second because I'm tired of the snow. Tired of being trapped in my apartment. Tired of not being able to go to my office. Tired of stressing about the fact that I have a trip planned for sunny Los Angeles and a plane ride on Thursday evening that might not happen.


Not to mention that I'm physically tired from little sleep due to congestion and mentally tired from having writer's block and struggling with my work. (And as the picture shows, I had to resort to a high school method of producing productivity: pigtails. It's a long story. Also, just to clarify, I wasn't taking a nap, I was banging my head on my personal computer. The computer on the right is my work computer.)

However, I'm trying to be happy, I'm really trying to appreciate the simple pleasures. So here are five:

1. We haven't lost power or hurt ourselves, we have food and water.
   
2. I have a job that allows me to work safely from home for what is about to be five days now.
3. I share a living space with a good friend and though we've had very little contact with others, we haven't killed each other.
4. There were new episodes of some of my favorite shows last night: "How I Met Your Mother," "Big Bang Theory," and "Life Unexpected." This last one is a new show that I simply love, everyone should watch.
5. Robert Gibbs mocking Sarah Palin's hand notes during the White House press briefing.
   

Ok that hurt, time to go back to being tired and angry.

Snow Crazy

For a slew of pictures, check my Flickr.


Well, I made it, I survived [insert annoyingly cutesy name for] D.C.'s first (and last?) blizzard of 2010. I know the picture suggests otherwise but, well, this is me after all.

We estimate about 20-25 inches at our apartment. Though really, after the first foot, I think the point has been made. It was a lot of snow, that's all that really matters. And the shear amount of it is still throwing me for a loop. I just don't know how it is all going to melt or where it will all go when it does.

I'm very lucky that (so far) we haven't lost power or sustained any injuries. All in all the experience wasn't too terrible. I have had entirely too much to eat, a little to drink, and been embarrassingly lazy, but I think it's excusable. A brief recap:

• Day 1: Roomie made chili, we played Trivial Pursuit and started our Tom Hanks film fest with "Apollo 13." Played in snow a bit.
• Day 2: I made potato soup and we watched "Forrest Gump." Took a walk down Pennsylvania to the Capitol. B posed on a bench and swung on a pole. I posed with an igloo, pulled my back trying to run and play in a snowy field, and ended the night with a snow angel.
• Day 3: No playing in snow today. I made a trek to the grocery store, which was mushy, slick, and no fun. Watched the Heels fall to the turtles. Made a dip in the Crock Pot to munch on during the Super Bowl.
  

As much as I love being busy and doing things, I can be a real homebody at times, so it has been kind of nice. I will be working from home again tomorrow, though, and think the stir craziness will hit. (It also just occurred to me that because I worked from home on Thursday and Friday, I haven't been out of Capitol Hill since last Wednesday.)

And that's about it. Check my Flickr for pictures and a few funny captions. Now I just really need it to melt fast and to NOT snow again Tuesday, because I am bound for Los Angeles on Thursday and NOTHING is going to stop me from getting the heck out of Dodge.

We're done, snow, we're done.

This is from Wednesday's snow. This is the last time I will post anything remotely nice or joyous in regards to the white stuff that is making me long for spring despite the assurance of allergies and bees that it brings.

These are from my neighborhood. When I walked out of my apartment it took my breath away. Every tree branch was perfectly coated in white and I felt like I was on a movie set. I think my eyes were the size of saucers until I got to the metro it was so beautiful. Columbia Heights and Old Town were just as lovely.

But now they are projecting 18 to 24 inches for this weekend so I'm done. Having grown up in the south where snow is rare and a treat, I never understood those people who got tired of it. Well, I am sad to say, I am now one of those people. And it's probably largely because I grew up in the south, where everything shuts down when the white stuff hits, that I'm growing to hate it. But up here, even though most everything still shuts down, I still have to do work, walk in it, go to the store in it, put on 14 layers to be out in it, etc. Maybe I just need a good, old-fashioned snow day to make me love it again? Probably not.

Daddy says that this is what I get for moving "above the Mason-Dixon line." However, according to Wikipedia, I'm still below it:


I told Daddy this and he decided D.C., and specifically my apartment, is in a de-militarized type zone on account of Virginia's Confederate status, Maryland's border stateness, and D.C. being surrounded by both. I assume this means I will be protected in a DMZ bubble and be unaffected by the snowfall, though this has not been the case thus far. (I could point out that only one of us was born/lived above the M-D line, but as he has chosen to stay safe in the south while I have ventured off to the Great White North, it would be a moot point.)

Semantics and geography aside, life in the DMZ will be pretty dull the next few days, I imagine. But I've got a stack of books, my dozens of DVDs, some wine, five pounds of potatoes to make soup, and the hope that the weather people are way off and we'll just get rain.

That's the southern girl in me talking: you just never can trust the Yankees.

Snow bunnies and ballerinas

Beginning around Tuesday or Wednesday I started seeing weather reports on this huge winter storm system headed for the south. And as of Thursday night, as that system was reaching its tentacles across the better part of this great nation, our worthy local weather people were calling for "a chance of 1 or 2 inches," but more than likely we'd just get "a light dusting."

Well, someone has some explaining to do.

Saturday, 12:30 p.m. "A light dusting" on my street.

Escalator at the metro, 12:32 p.m.

Kennedy Center, 4:30 p.m. Still snowing.

And why was I at the Kennedy Center on a snow day? To see the ballet, of course. Because when I bought tickets on Monday there was never a hint that come Saturday I'd have to trudge through 4 inches of snow to see American Ballet Theatre perform Romeo and Juliet. But I did and it was worth it.

I absolutely adore the ballet and this is just my second time to see a performance in person. I got a deal on great seats and it was my first show in the Opera House, which is magnificent. I didn't realize when I bought them that it was ABT performing, and if I had I might have picked a different show so I could have seen some of the dancers I am more familiar with. But it was still a very well-danced and produced performance and a great way to spend a "lightly dusted" Saturday.

December Recap

The past month has been hectic to say the least. All my bullet points in the last post came true, and then some. But it is the most wonderful time of the year and amidst all the long days and stress was a lot of good as well.

My mom and sister came up for a weekend for fun Christmas shopping and activities. We were lucky enough to score a White House tour and got to see it all decked out for the Obama's first Christmas. This is my second time seeing the WH at Christmas and it was even better than the last.

Outside the WH after the tour

We also stopped by the National Christmas tree, the Newseum, and just did some talking, shopping, and laughing.

Melissa and me at the National Christmas tree

The next week was my work Christmas party. I took the roommate as my date -- and then made her pose in front of our Christmas tree -- and we ate a ton, drank a little, and got lost in Maryland. Fun for all.

The next weekend I left for home, just as a crazy blizzard turned a good portion of the east coast into a not-quite winter wonderland. When I left Saturday there was already about 8 inches on the ground and it just kept falling as I made my way through Virginia and to my sweet Carolina. It took me eight hours on the train instead of four, but I made it.

Accumulating snow at Union Station

Statue on Capitol just barely visible through the snow

View from train in Alexandria

The next day we celebrated Christmas with the nieces, and spent the evening playing with their new gift: Rock Band. I've never played rock band before and I think that's for the best. I had fun but to say I'm awful would be an understatement. I possess the triple threat of anti-musical ability: lack of coordination, rhythm, and tune. Therefore, I should never be let near a musical instrument. Never ever.

Joe Cool

Actual Christmas came a few days later and we were all spoiled beyond what we deserve, as usual. To say I am blessed doesn't begin to cover it.

To cap off the week was a day I live for every year: the annual reunion of my best friends from college. It gets sweeter and sweeter every year, harder and harder to say goodbye, but I wouldn't change it for the world.
Tomorrow is CHAPEL HILL for Franklin Street dining and shopping, walking on campus, and of course, Tar Heel basketball!!

I found grace inside a sound/I found grace it's all I found (U2)

Whew...this week. Snow, work, U2, cold temps, work, slippery ice, some sleep, work, Doctor Who, work, and then Mexican food. But I finally finished my huge assignment and now it's smooth sailing, literally, on my cruise next week! (Before the work picks back up when we get back, but that doesn't matter now.)

Many things to write about when I get back, including:

• How much I love U2
• What is wrong with Jimmy Fallon (from a previously huge fan)
• Carolina's own Anoop the 13th Idol!
• The awesomeness that is Netflix's Instant Play
• 30 Rock basing an episode around the second most terrifying movie of my childhood: Harry and the Hendersons (Second only to Gremlins.)
• Love for Slumdog Millionaire
• How it's driving me crazy that these bullet points do not all begin with a verb or common construction and how I'm too tired to add punctuation. This is what my job has done to me. Made me even more obsessive than I thought possible.
  

That's it for now. I just want to get warm and fall asleep to Doctor Who. Before, though, here are some pictures around my neighborhood from the snow on Monday. Back in a little over a week with pictures of Key West and Grand Cayman!