Happy

Good things are happening this week.  Potentially Big things are happening, but nothing is certain yet.  We'll see in the coming days and weeks. 

One of the good things is that we have a long weekend coming right up that wil involve a fun adventure, great friends, and a wedding. I can't wait!

I had dinner with G-Unit tonight in Georgetown and as we walked down M, I saw a place I'd totally forgotten had opened up at the corner of M and Wisconsin. So excited to hit it up sometime with L this summer!  Hooray or fun surprises!

Tonight, Tonight

 

1.  The last thing I ate was a bite of Joy the Baker's Strawberry-Pineapple Crisp (leftovers from an at-home date night last night).  Delicious!

2.  The next thing I'd like to eat is something delicious!  It's probably going to be pizza or a sandwich from The Italian Store.  We're doing Movies in the Park tonight so we need something to take with us that doesn't require utensils.

3.  The best things are the little surprises that you aren't expecting.

4.  Something that makes me supremely and utterly happy is my dog (okay, my parents' dog), Boomer.  He's just hilarious and he loves to cuddle.  How do you not love that?

5.  Sports are fun to watch (especially in person if it's Aggie football, the Mavs, the Stars, or sometimes baseball) unless you have a sports nut with you who is over the top. Or a girl who tries too hard to impress boys with her too-extensive knowledge of whatever you're watching.  I promise you it's not having the effect you're looking for, unless you're trying to annoy people and make them roll their eyes.

6.  I miss Austin and all the people there that I love.  Such good people!  Also, Mexican food.  I miss having a million cheap-o options at my fingertips.

7.  Right now I am ready for the weekend!  Woo hoo!


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Rollercoaster of Love

This weekend was kind of awesome and totally packed with activity and kind of exhausting.  Here's a recap of our adventures.

FRIDAY:  We headed off to the movies to finally see Bridesmaids.  Totes hilarious!  Loved it.  KW and MR at the end singing together = flashbacks of me and KDC in high school.  (Side note: AMC Courthouse is like stepping back into the 90s.  Seriously.  But I kind of loved it.  If you grew up in Dallas in either LH or HP, it was almost exactly like the old Glen Lakes theater, except 3 stories.  Nostalgia.)  After the movie, we headed down the street to meet an old fraternity brother of L's in Clarendon who was in town with friends to go to the U.S. Open.  It's been a while since I've been out in Clarendon, and let me tell you, some of those bars are extra meat market-feeling.  I'd forgotten how bad it is.  Also, I officially feel old when hanging out at a bar that is 85% populated by 23-year-olds.  But it was still fun.  I love any bar that has Bell's Oberon on tap!

SATURDAY:  L scored free tickets at work to Six Flags so he, G-Unit (aka, "The Cousin"), and I headed to Maryland last Saturday morning to all the roller coaster action we could handle.  This was my first experience at a non-Texas amusement park (yeah, neglected and unindulged child that I was, I never got to go to a Disney theme park - my life is so hard.  My lack of Disney theme park attendance does not sit well with father-in-law; L grew up outside L.A. and apparently the whole family had season passes to Disneyland for years when they were growing up).

Anyway, we had a good time.  We got up early and made it to the park by 10:45 and we were able to walk right on to every ride.  That, dear readers, is the way to do it!  It was great weather (sunny with a few clouds in the afternoon) and the only time when we thought we were dying was right as we pulled away from the loading dock at the Batwing ride.  (Side note: every time I heard someone say the name of that ride, all I could think of was the movie Waiting, which is hilarious, if you haven't seen it.)  The key to the Batwing is that you go through the whole thing laying down on your back, head-first.  So when you leave the covered loading dock on a sunny day, prepare to be blinded.  It was a very cool way to do a roller coaster, though!  It totally feels like you're flying during the sections where you're inverted and facing the ground.  L's and G-Unit's favorite ride was the Joker's Jinx (one of those ones that goes from 0 to a million miles per hour in like 3 seconds).  Definitely fun, especially so because none of us realized that it was going to rocket us out that fast.  Also, it was the first one we rode.  We hit up Superman twice and I have quite the fat bruise on my right shin to show for it.  Apparently I have tendency to brace myself with my feet when heading down steep hills.  I don't advise doing that.  Bruises this big hurt!  This is my one picture from the weekend:

That would be the ubiquitous drop ride that every Six Flags theme park must have.  It's called the Tower of Terror at SF America (aka, the Cliffhanger at the original Six Flags in Arlington, Superman at Fiesta Texas, etc.).  I refuse to ride this ride at any park. Why?  I loathe the feeling of dropping suddenly AND that one of these broke a few years back and managed to amputate a rider's legs.  Yes, legS.  As in, that person had two feet when the boarded the ride and left with zero because a cable snapped and whipped outward.  Also, look closely in the picture above.  Aside from seeing L and G-Unit riding the ride, you may or may not notice that only one car is up top (at least that we can see.  There might have been another one on the far side working.)  I don't trust something that only has one working car. 


We left the park around 4:15 and headed home.  We cleaned up and met friends for dinner at a randomly selected restaurant (picked solely based on their last-minute availability to seat 7) called Cure.  Cure = COMPLETE WINNER.  Loved it.  I hope it really was THAT. GOOD.  There's a small chance we might be overly excited because we had no idea what to expect before we arrived.  If you go, get the macaroni and cheese.  Might be my favorite in DC so far.

After dinner, L, G-Unit, and I headed over to Againn to meet the same frat brother from Friday night and his three buddies for drinks.  Our evening also took us by Rocket Bar and Iron Horse Tap Room.  It was G-Unit's first time in the city since he arrived and he had a good time.  Highlight from Saturday night: the food (and a story about a young employee at my sorority great grand-big sis's firm who punched a cop in the neck while inebriated at a work conference and is now banned from all Marriott properties - don't do that).  Low point (at least for G-Unit): G-Unit accidentally got locked out of his house by his landlady.  But that was cause for a slumber party at our house, so that was fun!

SUNDAY: We took G-Unit to brunch at Whitlow's.  We hadn't been there in a while and it was so yummy.  I'm pretty sure that also may have been G-Unit's first brunch experience.  The boy has much to learn and experience in this world, but to be fair, I'm pretty sure I never went to brunch or even breakfast when I was in college, either.  That was largely due to the fact that no one woke up early enough but also because it was College Station.  Not exactly the brunch mecca of the world.

All in all, a great weekend, although thoroughly exhausting.  But that's what naps were invented for, right?

See the Art in Me

I've been a bad blogger this week. Sorry! I promise to be better. My computer was in the hospital due to heat exhaustion. But fear not, she's back and hopefully good as new. Just an FYI for anyone with a laptop out there that gets pretty hot: there are things called chill pads that help prevent overheating. Who knew??

On to more exciting things. Last Sunday, three of my high school friends (how weird is it that four of us all ended up here? Even weirder: I went to elementary school with two of them) and I decided to put our artistic skills to use and do a little painting. We headed over to Uncork'd and we were greeted with wine, desserts, and a station for everyone in the class that looked like this:

We found out we would be painting a still life that featured a large vase and two pieces of fruit. We were all enthusiastic.  We've all painted before and are pretty creatively minded.  I tried to take pictures of the paintings in progress but I'm not going to embarrass myself or anyone else by posting those.  My white canvas slowly but surely ended up becoming this:

My thoughts?  The apple in front is too squatty; the highlighting on the vase is horribly off color, and the background is just... bad.  I was NOT a fan a the end of the class.  Actually, none of us were fans of our own work.  But we had fun creating our "masterpieces", and that's really the main point of why we got together.  I will say, though, that after not looking at it for 3 days, I pulled it out last night and it wasn't nearly as bad as I remembered it being.  And if it's in a room with dim lighting, it looks even better.  That said, I'm not so sure this one's going on a wall anywhere in our house.  The other girls' paintings were fine, but I know we are all capable of producing better work.  The key is having more time (two hours does not a premier work of art make, at least for me... and KW, Mrs. FBI, and MA) and understanding the type of media you're working with.  We were using acrylics, which I've used in other paintings I've done (if you come to our house, the painting in the bathroom is the last one I did), and they dry incredibly quickly.  Good for being able to take the painting home the same day, bad for blending while trying to blindly follow step-by-step instruction and having to wait between steps.  But it was a good time!  The staff was AWESOME and so kind and encouraging.   

In other news, I think it's time for a giveaway.  Winner gets a painting of a vase and two pieces of fruit. 

Relax!

Yet another Fill in the Blank Friday.

1.  This weekend I'm probably hanging out with my cousins and trying to kick a stinky head cold.

2. My last vacation was in Charleston with L and my parents.  Love!

3. My next vacation will be in New Orleans with Nolly, Neredith, and the men in our lives.  Can't wait!

4.  My favorite way to relax is lately with a book.  I also enjoy doing just about anything with L. 

5.  When vacationing, one should always try something new.  And eat lots of yummy regional food.

 6. When vacationing, one should never eat at a restaurant you could eat at in your home town.  Bor to the ing.  In other news, apparently I love to fluff up when traveling.

7.  The best part about vacation is arriving at your destination and knowing all the fun things in store for you in the coming days!  Also great: the lack of responsibility.

Change Clothes

I realize this might have been more appropriate during colder weather months, but it's never INappropriate. 

via

Here comes Peter Cottontail...

We have lots of woodland creatures in our backyard.  Black squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, the occasional deer... we've got it all in terms of annoying animals that eat flowers.  The squirrels really aren't so bad, and actually, I rather like the black ones (thanks, Canada!).  The chipmunks are also cute and tiny, but I'm pretty sure they have a den that spans the entire upper half of our backyard.  I know there are entrances by the sun porch and also off by the steps that lead down into the lower half.  I'm sure some day it'll cave in as we grill, but for now, it's fine.

Then there are the rabbits.  There's a family of them residing in the backyard (remember last year when I saw tracks in the snow?).  L saw one adult and 3 babies laying out in the grass a couple of weeks ago.  Sadly, I missed that.  Instead, I continually see the adults, usually one at a time, grazing in the clover that we refer to as our front yard.

In my mind, they're a gay couple with kids.  Jack and Peter are the parents (hello, obviously) and the kids are Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail (also for reasons obvi).  I don't know how to tell Jack and Peter apart, but let me tell you, one of them is getting QUITE nervy in his willingness to approach our front door/porch and in how close he's willing to let me get to him while I work in our flower beds out front.  For all nervy rabbits know, I might just scoop one up and make it a pet if they get close enough.  While I would make a fabulous rabbit mom (I had 2 at various points in my childhood), those bunnies don't know that.  For all they know, I could decide to go all crazy Glenn Close on them and throw one in a pot for dinner.  Not smart, Rabbit family.  Not smart at all.  STAY WAY FROM THE PEOPLE!  But do feel free to keep eating the clover.  It needs to go.  But please don't eat my impatiens or begonias.  I know you've been eyeing them.  Thanks.

Drive

Subtitle: I love L.

You know what's awesome?  Being proactive about things.  For example, re-ordering your car registration tags as soon as the notice hits your mailbox and then immediately putting them on your license plates as soon as they come in the mail.  You know what's not awesome?  Doing both of those things and then losing the tags because the old ones didn't peel right off.  Allow me to explain.

My car registration and inspection were due to expire on May 31.  I got the notice in the mail about the registration in April and immediately sent in my check.  The stickers arrived a couple of weeks later and upon receipt, I marched RIGHT out to my car and attempted to peel off the old ones so that the new ones could go on and I'd be all legal and legit as I tooled around NoVa and DC.  Except, as stated above, the old ones didn't just come right off.  Nay, they were completely uncooperative.  Apparently my 2011 stickers developed quite the bond with my license plates (literally!  HA!  I'm just so funny).  So I decided to put a halt to my project and use a razor blade at a later date to peel off the old and apply the new.  I told myself OUT LOUD that the stickers were going in the console of my car, which they did.  But then I kept forgetting about the razor blade and eventually I forgot about the stickers altogether.

Then May 31st rolled around and I realized that, oh crap, I need to get my inspection completed, oh, you know, BEFORE JUNE 1.  It took 4 tries, but I finally found a place that would inspect my car on Tuesday afternoon.  I got home and was determined to find the license plate stickers and immediately dug through my entire car looking for them.  I came up empty handed.  I remembered I'd cleaned out my car since I'd gotten the stickers, so next I ransacked the living room, my nightstand, my vanity, the office... literally everywhere I thought those stickers might be, but all to no avail.  I was dreading calling L and bringing him into the situation.  I just knew he'd give me a lecture about being more organized at home and not losing stuff.  Instead of calling him, I looked up the instructions on how to replace missing license tags and posted the following status on FB:

Dear Self 3 Weeks Ago,

What did you do with the 2012 car registration stickers that day when you tried to put them on but discovered that the old ones wouldn't peel right off? I thought we agreed on the console in the car but I'm unamused by my inability to locate them today. Please advise.

Thanks,
Team LC

Then I went outside and compared my plates with the neighbors' cars up and down the street to see how conspicuous my car would be if I couldn't find the new tags.  The weird part was that my tags matched one neighbor's, so I was getting really confused because they just seem too responsible to lose license tags or to not apply theirs in a timely manner.  Anyway, apparently I'm not the only one out there that this happens to, as I got several replies from friends stating that they were in the same state.   Nice, but that doesn't stop a husband from smirking.  I took a break from searching and during that time, L apparently got on FB, saw the status update and ensuing messages, and this was his retort:

Dear Wife,

You left them on the mantle, so I put them on your license plates. About two weeks ago. 

Respectfully Submitted,
L

My heart sang with joy at the fact that I'm NOT crazy and that I didn't lose the stickers.  The rest of me laughed at my own stupidity, particularly the part where I stared at the right tags on my plates and couldn't figure out what was wrong.  For the record, the new tags say MAY 12.  Yeah, that had me stumped.  But at least I can laugh about it.   In other news, I AM AWESOME.  Also I love that L was kind enough to put the new stickers on my car for me.  Sweet husband.

'Round Here

I feel the need to share some of the random things I've seen lately.  Here they are, in no particular order.

First up: I recently went on a shopping trip to my newly relocated Bed Bath and Beyond.  With the move came a huge, new section of beauty products.  Being the shampoo addict I am, I was, of course, obligated to check out their offerings.  Among them:

NOT OKAY.  In fact, completely unnecessary.  This is not a third world country; it's Virginia.  Northern Virginia at that!  I mean, so many questions.  Is there really a market for this product?  Who buys it??  And as Champagne and Sprinkles so aptly pointed out, WHERE ARE THE MAKERS EVEN GETTING THE PLACENTA FROM??  At least we know it won't change hair color.  And in case you're wondering what it's made of:

Moving on.  L and I decided to watch an episode of The Office a few weeks back and this is what led into the opening credits:

Of course a milk thief was dressed as a cow.  Except, wait, what???  I kind of think that's awesome!  If you're so desperate for milk that you're robbing stores or trucks for it, please DO at least have a sense of humor about it and dress as a cow. 

And finally, apparently Georgia Tech supplies all graduates with a laminated, wallet-sized version of each graduate's diploma.  I found this out tonight while having drinks with one of my cousins.  Imagine my delight when he pulled it out of his wallet for Show and Tell.  (I realize that it looks like a regular sized diploma below., but I assure you that the diploma below is the size of a credit card and laminated!)

This struck me as hilarious, mostly because what in the world is anyone going to do with a wallet-sized version of their diploma??  He's currently pursuing another degree at the University of New Orleans and apparently upon graduating from there, he'll get an engineering cap.  Yes, like a train conductor.  Even though his degree will not be related in even the slightest of ways to train conducting/engineering.  But apparently that is a big thing and quite the deal for UNO engineering grads.  Lucky!!  All I got from A&M is an over-sized diploma. 

In other news, any ladies out there in their early 20s looking to meet a super cute, smart, FUNNY but sometimes a little bit shy, nice guy??  If so, I know someone who is quite the catch that I'd probably be happy to introduce you to.  Act fast - he's only here til August.