come downstairs and say hello

It's like West Wing except not at all West Wing

2012-02-09T22:30:00.000-05:00

Today at work, headed into a meeting with my boss - we head towards his office and he goes "oh! - no wait, walk with me, I have to show you something, we'll walk and talk...in fact, our whole meeting will just be laps around the office" (he was joking, we did in fact sit down with the other members of the meeting) and I say "How very Aaron Sorkin of you!" and...reference lost on him. But that's okay. He likes to see pictures of the Pepperton* and always asks about him, that totally makes up for it.

In other work news - sadly not Aaron Sorkin related - business trips I haz them:
-Ann Arbor, MI - March 23-24
-Cleveland, OH - April 5-6
-Penn State - April 12-13 (or 13-14, something like that)

Plus there may be a work trip or two to Austin in my future. Fancypants is my middle name.

In other travel news but NOT work related, I am going to California in August for two weeks! Hooray vacation! Two weeks without the air feeling like soup! Blech. (Yep, it's February and I'm already complaining about DC summer humidity.)

In other news that has nothing to do with anything, Ben, Jess, (and Puck!) Franklin and I spent Superbowl Sunday together - Franklin hosted, I made Nutella Cheesecake (same portion but did a whole pie as opposed to individuals) Buffalo Chicken Bites, and Potato Chip Cookies, and Ben/Jess brought potstickers, chips/pretzels and dip, homemade guac, and homemade pizza bagels. Serving roughly 30 people, oh wait, THERE WERE FOUR OF US. But it was awesomely delicious. And I was basically full until lunchtime of the following day :-P

*I may or may not also sometimes call him Pepper P. McSquirmyPants. Because I am a ridiculous, ridiculous individual.

beagles, beagles, and more beagles!

2012-01-22T20:03:00.000-05:00

i volunteered for BREW again today! - i transported two beagles - picking them up from a giant panel van filled with crated rescues in centreville to the main BREW vet office in purcellville.

this was miss piggy, a non-stop-on-the-go beagle (clearly, this was the most in-focus picture i got!) that gave my hand leash-burn from trying to keep her from running amok, but very loving and happy! :

this was jewels, a little one that was so sweet and quiet and a bit timid:

and this little troublemaker is all ours!!!!!!

Pepper Benson
10 weeks old

Likes: chewing things, snuggling, food, going up stairs

Dislikes: going down stairs, closed doors, empty food bowls

GET HYPED

2012-01-18T13:52:00.002-05:00

COUNTDOWN CLOCK

Foo Fighters. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Florence + the Machine. Eagles. Ani DiFranco. Glen Hansard. Esperanza Spalding. My Morning Jacket. Better Than Ezra. Zac Brown Band. Bonnie Raitt. Ne-Yo. Bonerama.

a perfectly acceptable form of currency

2011-12-21T11:53:00.001-05:00

me: move back down here, you can teach me [yoga] and i'll pay you in hugs :-)

Rosa: hahahah

hugs don't pay the bills!

me: they pay the bills in your heart

things i want to do in 2012

2011-12-19T19:02:00.000-05:00

*go to jazzfest
*go camping more than once
*read all of the song of ice and fire books in time for the second season of game of thrones to start
*save money
*do yoga more regularly
*get stronger. literally and figuratively.
*learn something new
*get as many people on board (pun absolutely intended) with the Guess Who Halloween costumes as possible
*give clothes away
*love

that's all i got for now, but i think it's a good list.

Halloween 2012

2011-12-17T23:26:00.002-05:00

Get ready for it.

this n' that

2011-09-25T18:12:00.003-04:00

*i finally watched Bridesmaids. my girl crush on kristin wiig is now off the charts.

*i went on a date that lasted 37 minutes. it effectively ended when he put his hand on my neck and i shouted "IT'S A FIRST DATE, CHIEF". (I told Frank Benson this and he gave me the thumbs up and then laughed for like half an hour)

*my friend listed this tumblr on her gchat status and changed my life: http://animalstalkinginallcaps.tumblr.com/

*i finally did some volunteer work with BREW (the beagle rescue outfit that we got Mr. P from) - I picked up two little angels from Centreville (that were coming from Charlottesville, in a panel van that was filled front to back, top to bottom with crated dogs) and took them to the main BREW vet office in Purcellville.

it was essentially the best two hours of my life.

*i made my first ebay bid ever. EVER. in the year 2011.

*i get to take business trips!

columbus, oh (oct 6-7, also seeing Vince and then popping up to see Mer, Geoff and Maddie in Shaker Heights for a few hours!)
cleveland, oh
boston, ma (oct 12-14)
long beach, ca
montclair, nj
happy valley,pa
ann arbor, mi

i feel like a real adult!

2011-09-01T15:35:00.000-04:00

i can't even handle how funny this is.

friendship.

2011-08-21T14:57:00.000-04:00

saturday afternoon i was taking kelley's sister julie out to lunch to celebrate her leaving for college (pause, go ahead and feel old....i'll wait....good? okay.) and we ran into missy and franklin! as we were leaving:

missy: "what are you up to for the rest of the day?"
laura: "just going home, i have a ton of laundry to do"

the next day (today) we had a birthday brunch for jean, and as franklin, missy and i are walking to our cars:

franklin: "what are you doing for the rest of the day? doing the laundry you didn't do yesterday?"

HE'S TOTALLY RIGHT. i'm so predictable.

my father, the [email] hero

2011-08-19T16:26:00.003-04:00

the hilarity started thursday afternoon with the following text from my mother: "dad has his own email now - got tired of him reading my stuff". i can only imagine the conversations surriounding this, but it means that good ol' FTB has joined the year 20- actually...i was going to say 2011, but probably 1997 is more accurate.

please note: don't tell him i told you, and no, you can't have his email. the man that has never had an email until the year 2011 isn't exactly mr.-social-let's email-everyone. the fact that i'm even putting this on the intertubes would be enough to make him go apoplectic. but of course i'm still his daughter, so that's my job.

after learning this news, i rushed to my gmail to send him an email. my sentences were simple and slightly "seven year old learns sentence structure"-ish, which is weird, because why i thought my father on email meant he couldn't read or english was his second language, i don't know.

since then, i have gotten the two best emails i have ever received in my life. i've always known my father is hilarious and creative (i'm lucky to have a fraction of that), they are all those things combined with an incredible dorkiness and a complete inability to use the computer properly.

for example, he doesn't use the delete key. ever. if he accidentally hits caps lock - he keeps it in, then retypes the word properly, and then parenthetically explains what happened. the following are very real quotes:

"I just had a bowl of multi-grain Cheerios and two pieces of toast which I foung to be raTHER rather (I think I accidentally hit the Caps lock button because we...for one thing all caps appeared all of a sudden and for another thing another orange light thingy went on on the top right portion of the keyboard) tasty."

"Don't feel compelled to answer this e-mail, but of course it's a free country so you can do as you please."

"I went to Costco today and unfortunately they did not have frozen Greek yogurt bars, but I will continue ollking at each visit (perhaps I meant looking instead of ollking)."

"Tonight I'm going to grill some of the super long Costco hot dogs (they call them dinner franks, but that sounds kind of doofus-ey if you ask me (which nobody did but I really don't care)."

"om just saw your text message from Wednesday about your tontacts...that is LIKE TOTALLY AWESOME AND JUNK...lAURA aNNE (like I need to totally pay attention when i hit Cabslog so can un-do it when I'm ready to continue with my thought-streaming)..Laura Anne. OK. The first word in the paragraph should be Mom, not om. I don't know who om is. I DO KNOW WHAT ooohhhhhhhmmmm is in the sense of a Gregorian chant or something."

i still laugh so hard i cry every time i read them. good ol' frank.

(benson family note - he actually did mean to write "tontacts" - it's what i called contacts when i was little. and yeah, i got contacts! i wore them this past wednesday for the first time and it took me 45 minutes to get them in. i wore them today and it only took me 20. PROGRESS I HAZ IT)

**i originally wrote "i wrote them today..." hence meghan k. housley's comment, she is awesome and very smart!**

2011-08-17T14:47:00.002-04:00

a very important* post

2011-07-22T20:04:00.000-04:00

there is a guy that i have seen on the bus now multiple times since i moved to alexandria. he looks and sounds EXACTLY like tom from lost (with stage beard and rag-clothes and the whole deal):

i want so badly to believe he's as cool as tom from lost. but then i remind myself that bus guy's getup isn't staged as part of an elaborate ruse. it's his real life look. so then i just keep to myself instead.

*in no way important.

it's like a favorite but not as much....not as much...favorite.

2011-06-10T18:28:00.000-04:00

london still holds my heart, but now, rome is right up there.

my nightmare, defined.

2011-05-20T11:05:00.000-04:00

Last night at my singing lesson, after I finished a song we have been working on, my teacher turned around with this happy and slightly surprised look on her face and said “You can really sing!”

I just giggled sheepishly (if one can even do that) and said thank you.

She then said “We need to work on your confidence” (in my head: “story of my life, sister”)

AND THEN SAID

“You need to go to karaoke. And next week I’m recording you”

things

2011-04-05T19:22:00.005-04:00

1. I got hit on today. By a 23 year old named Eugene. While on the bus. So...there's that. Other things related to this: when he first sat down next to me, he kept SHIFTING and kind of crowding my space. I'm generally used to men doing this - there's some weird social thing about men taking up space while women compact themselves (Meghan? Back me up on this?) but...it was annoying. So I was already displeased with him. But really, dude is either REALLY brave or REALLY socially inept. I had my headphones in and was messing around on my phone, what part of that says "I am open for conversation!" ? But dude just said excuse me and asked me "if i was a grad student" (Personally, I would have asked about my phone, since that's what I was actually focusing on, it would have been a better intro, if we're in the business of critiquing others' bravery) and then kept asking questions and answering the same about himself. I was polite and nice but didn't ask him very many questions. I mean, I don't care how hot a person is, if the following interaction happens, game OVER:

him: when did you graduate?
me: 2005
him: that's when i graduated high school!

no, just...no.

The final weird thing was that once he started talking to me, this older woman sitting in front of our row switched to a seat on the other side of our aisle, looked back at me and - though she was wearing sunglasses - I could tell she was giving me this "OOOOOH GIIIIIIIIIIIRRRLLLLLL" look. I just kind of stared at her and hoped I could convey my "Eh? He's sweet and I don't want to be a bitch?" face.

2. I got glasses. I am bespectacled. Old Four Eyes McGee. Missy helped me pick the glasses. I ended up choosing the same frames in different colors as part of a B1G1 promotion...and yeah, I went with one of the first pairs I tried on and "didn't really like" and then proceeded to try on about twelve hundred other pairs, only to come back to the ones I now own. Missy is a saint.

3. I started singing lessons about a month ago. I'm not very good but I've always liked singing, it makes me happy. And it's tough when your friends are in chorus and theatre and can sing the pants off anyone and then you're like "I like it too, secretly" but you're not confident and you just want a pleasant singing voice, not the pipes of your Christinas or your Whitneys or Mariahs or your Rebecca Blacks. (HA, I'M HILARIOUS). So it's fun. And no, I won't sing for you or sing vocals on Rock Band or Guitar Hero. But if we're driving somewhere and the radio is on I might be singing along and you can listen a little. BUT ONLY A LITTLE. Ugh.

UPDATE: one more thing!

4. I added something to the mystery gift hall-table! a box of mini-farfalle, sealed and unopened of course. Was that a good thing to give? I hope it's gone by the time I get home!

Friday

2011-02-22T09:17:00.000-05:00

GET READY TO ~~RUUMMMBBLLLLLLLLE~~ DROOL.

Avocado fries. Franklin, Ben, Jess and I made them and then Rosa joined us for the eating after her long trek from NYC. Franklin also busted out a lime sriracha sauce that was stellar. Also eaten that night: sushi, guacamole, and baklava. It was a fantastic night with food and friends.

(and Top Gear)

changing the zeitgeist, one emoticon at a time.

2011-02-11T11:22:00.000-05:00

Meghan: thanks L:)

the L means nothing

me: HA

i was like "?"

Meghan: no no no

it means combover!!

do you see it??

me: OOOOH

NEW EMOTICON

Meghan: i should get royalties

things i've done recently

2011-01-21T23:47:00.000-05:00

1. went to new york city.

      1a. and while i was in the neighborhood, produced a classical music recital at weill hall at carnegie hall.

2. bought plane tickets to prague and california.

3. decided to learn how to sew. (like, tailor clothing, make own clothing and purses sewing)

4. been at a loss as to how to learn how to sew (on the cheap, people. on the cheap!)

5. moved on to sending an email to BREW (beagle rescue, education, and welfare) about volunteering

       5a. spent 4 minutes looking at the "available beagles" section and almost cried
       5b. okay, maybe they have an OFFICE i can volunteer in.

6. decided to judge the "The Family With The Kid That Throws A Tantrum Unless He Can Watch His Dad’s iPad And I Silently Judge Their Parenting (Even Though I Have No Experience In This Area)" bus stop people a little less, because yesterday they let him watch despicable me on the iPad and i totally watched too.

silly amazon

2010-12-26T11:12:00.001-05:00

Please note product...and then product features. That is some impressive coffee.

(yes, this is how busy and thrilling my Sunday is so far.)

It's the little things

2010-12-08T09:06:00.000-05:00

1. There’s a little grocery-thing-place (yep, that’s what they’re called. I know things.) on my walk into work; I stop there all the time because they make a hell of a bagel sandwich, and I can’t resist a good bagel sandwich. They also sell other grocery-thing-place-type-foods (yep, that’s also the technical name for that. I know more than you thought.) including pre-made fruit salad. Normally it has grapes, kiwi, honeydew melon, and cantaloupe. I…do not care for cantaloupe. It’s not that I don’t like the taste, but it bothers me. Unless it’s wrapped in prosciutto, I don’t want it. Anyway, what? Oh – so, there are some magical days where, I don’t know, they run out of cantaloupe or something, and substitute MANGOES! This is the equivalent of me winning the lottery. So, this morning, I am a proud owner of a delicious bagel sandwich and a perfectly assembled fruit salad.

2. When you step off of the elevator on the 15th floor, where I reside, there is a small hall table in the “waiting for the elevator area” (wow, I am full of vocab today). When I first moved in, there were 3 cans of vegetables sitting there. And then they were gone. And then came a book*. And then a small vase. And then a loaf of bread. And then one package of pancake mix. I am beyond fascinated with this – I can’t wait to see what comes next!

3. People I wait with at the bus stop sometimes: The Family With The Kid That Throws A Tantrum Unless He Can Watch His Dad’s iPad And I Silently Judge Their Parenting (Even Though I Have No Experience In This Area), Lesbian Couple From The Other Building, Guy That I’m Pretty Sure Wore Those Sketcher Toner Shoes, And Even Though He Is Really Nice And Dresses Really Nicely I Can’t Get Those Shoes Out Of My Head. I wonder how they view me? Probably “The Girl Who Always Has Earphones In And Plays Angry Birds and Never Really Talks To Us Much”

What I’m saying is, I love the little things. Whether it’s a place, or people, or cans of vegetables on a hall table. The little things that, when they change, you suddenly realize are a part of your life, albeit weirdly so.

*I walk into the apartment like 4 days after seeing the book on the table, only to see that book on our dining room table. I ask Courtney, “Is that the book from the hall table!?” She says excitedly: “ YEAH! I have the other one in the series by that author, so I grabbed it!” So now that our apartment has benefitted from this crazy thing, at what point do I/we need to donate something? And what should I donate? The more random the better – I want to be a proponent of this Hall Table Gift Mystery!

ponder on, south lakes... title option two: it's funny because it's true.

2010-10-26T19:28:00.001-04:00

I wonder how many romantic relationships that otherwise would have been really successful fail because during that crucial time of “we’ve hung out a few times, but I’m not sure I want to continue to do so”, the girl suffers major PMS, goes batshit crazy (in every area of her life) and returns to human form only to find it’s too late for damage control.

(in other news, in the last hour and a half I have: hated myself, almost cried, decided it's inevitable I will get a brain tumor from stress, took deep breaths, actually cried, hated single men, eaten all carbs within a ten mile radius of my face, hated married men, felt extreme rage at a person for moving too slowly into a metro car, realized this too shall pass, eaten more ice cream than you can find at a midwestern state fair, and realized THIS WILL NEVER FUCKING PASS! And not necessarily in that order.)

It'd be funny if I didn't want to punch everything that moved, and then cry over it. BEING A WOMAN IS AWESOME.

**I wonder, part two: when will I regret posting this?**

this is a completely reasonable request

2010-09-06T11:38:00.000-04:00

GChat. Franklin and I talking about, what else? Game Day. Virginia Tech vs. Boise State. Fed Ex field. 8pm. My parents, Wendy Parnham, Franklin and I are going.

Laura: i can't focus i just keep watching the entrance video over and over againnnnnn

Franklin: haha

Laura: haha okay, ::backing away slowly from the computer::
i will see you in 3ish hours! i'll be over there by like 1 so feel free to come over anytime if you're bored

Franklin: you play it on your phone
until it dies

Laura: HAHAHA
Laura: it'll make driving on the beltway difficult, but i'll DO IT

this is me being a cool kid

2010-09-03T23:31:00.001-04:00

....and being home on a friday night. blogging. and i don't plan on capitalizing anything here, so, suck on that, nerds!

so here's me, now with faces:

today?

it was one big happy face:

it started with an everything bagel and a cup of coffee. my perfect breakfast, basically. work was good. work is good. work is...the following things: rewarding. fun. challenging. frustrating. interesting. terrifying. tiring. great.

then we got out of work early (2pm) because of the labor day holiday. i don't know who started the trend of getting out early the day before a holiday, but...i will kiss the person on the mouth if i ever meet them.

after work, two of my coworkers and i went and saw piranha 3d. it was...the worst movie ever. so awful that it circled back around to awesome. it was a cinematic masterpiece. and by cinematic masterpiece, i mean it will cost approximately 4.99 on dvd. for it's first week out, of course; after that they'll probably knock it down to 35 cents. but it had a fun cast- adam scott is in it, and i love him. so there's that.

after the movie i came home, made myself some dinner, watched a little hulu. downloaded the new weepies album. (so. good.) then one of my roommates, courtney, came home. we chatted for a while and then looked up (and danced to) s-club 7 songs - we did this because when i first moved in, emily (our other roommate), courtney and i were in the living room talking about old 90s stuff, and emily says "i don't know if you ever heard of this or watched it, i think we might have been too old for it at the time, but did you ever watch s-club 7?" and without even looking at each other or hesitating, both courtney and i go "YES" so emphatically and seriously, we both cracked up laughing and so now we recite this little conversation quite often.

so now i'm here. listening to the new weepies album (once again, so good) and reading other blogs and...getting ready for a great weekend. spending time with kelley and the boys tomorrow. might do a little fall wardrobe shopping on sunday (i really should clean and wash the clothes i already own..but i'm calling it now, i'm probably going to avoid it), and then monday is the virginia tech/boise state game at fed ex field! cannot wait. my parents, mrs. parnham, franklin and i will be tailgating and then sitting in seats that are basically back in sterling, but it's going to be awesome. enter sandman here we come. i've missed you, football.

recently?

sad face: bocce is now over. our first (and last) playoff game was wednesday. we lost. our season was not the best, but i had so much fun doing it. definitely one of my best decisions this year was joining bocce. i think we're having a team party in a few weeks. i can't wait. plus i can dress normally and not be all sweaty (well, maybe i will get sweaty, depending on how the party goes, OW OW! ...or not?)

crazy face: i spent a week in kensington maryland housesitting for a coworker. i drove into the city every day. while expensive, it was soooooo nice to be in my car. i had forgotten how much i enjoy having personal space. so this week, when i was back in my own place, i even drove in a couple of days. driving and parking in the city makes me feel like a fancy grown up. but it makes my wallet feel sad, so back to the bus and the metro it is!

soon?

happy face: tara and i will probably be making a couple of trips here: http://www.markermillerorchards.com/events.htm

happy face: i'm traveling somewhere else that is very special.

crazy face: lots of work things happening - if i get through this month and half of my projects go well, i'll be a happy camper. there's a huge risk of crashing and burning, but an equally enormous opportunity to show my awesomeness.

the bus is a treasure trove of hilarity

2010-08-04T22:17:00.000-04:00

Getting on the 29K from King Street Metro (one of my late night options, tonight, after coming home from bocce)

We make it about a mile down Duke Street and after a gentleman in a wheelchair got off the bus (having to utilize the electronic wheelchair thing in the front), the bus sort of…stopped working. The driver got off, and did…something? But the lights went out. After about 12 seconds of this, 5 people called it quits and started to hoof it up Duke Street.

Less than a minute later, the bus driver came back in and turned the key…engine roared – bus back on.

“Impatient! And I ain't gonna pick 'em back up! Y’all can kiss and hug with the lights off, I don’t care - you can't wait 20 seconds!?”

And then as we drove by the Impatients…she waved to each and every one.

I love the bus.

things

2010-08-02T23:01:00.001-04:00

*Adding to my list of neighbors, and these both live on my floor: The Totally Ridiculously Hot Guy, The Woman With The Yorkie.

*I moved all of my DVDs out into the living room on the shelves Missy and Franklin graciously gave to me…I then realized, I’m not entirely sure we have a DVD player in the living room.

*I finally put casters on my bed so I don’t wake up 5 inches from the wall every morning. I stay put. Well, my bed does. Apparently I’m basically doing Tae Bo routines when I sleep.

*Week Two Bocce game was a success, we won!

*A few new links on the side - Ro's blog, Meghan's blog, and another new and hilarious fave: Catalog Living. All so great. (KK, we should totes have a CC blog. I'm down)

*The last two movies I rented on Netflix were New Moon and Couples Retreat. That’s a combined 3.5-4 hours of my life I can’t get back. Awful, just awful. At least I got a little Jason Bateman fix. Luuurrrrve him.

*I am back to reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels (True Blood is based on them) ... they aren't really that good, but my desire to know what happens outweighs the fact that these books make Stephenie Meyer look like Shakespeare.

*I got new earrings the other week. And then I got new shoes. I am in no way sticking to a budget, but damn if I don’t look cute doing it.

Hi!

2010-07-26T20:34:00.000-04:00

Ohhai.

Um, I don't feel like elaborating on everything, not that there's really too much to go into. But I signed in to comment on Meghan's blog (LOVE THAT SHE HAS ONE!!) and I found myself here.

New place is great. I'm comfortably in a routine, but I still don't feel...grounded? It's bizarre, it still feels like a vacation and I'll go back to living at home at some point, where my disposable income is three times as much as it is now. *sigh, budgets*

Work is good. Just when I think I've got a good firm grasp on it, another avalanche of responsibilities come piling on top of me. I like a challenge, but I also like breathing...so I suppose it'll get easier, all in good time.

I joined a Bocce Ball League. Yes, those exist. Back when I was temping (from January-May) I made a friend, Patrick, and he and I kept in touch after I left. He's awesome. So I had casually mentioned wanting to join some sort of obscure sports league in the city (kickball, skee-ball, etc) and he excitedly told me that he and his friends did bocce every summer, and he started including me in his emails and so I registered with them, and here we are!

We had our first game this past Wednesday. It was a ridiculous amount of fun. The Pour House sponsors the whole thing, so bocce teams get a price break on pitchers and burgers/appetizers - so we went there beforehand, which was nice for me as I got to actually meet the rest of the team. We went to the field (Garfield Park) and...lost. But it was fun playing nonetheless. We play every Wednesday through the beginning of September, when Playoffs start. Yes, playoffs. For bocce ball. Love it.

So, work, bocce, and a handful of fun meetups with friends and old coworkers in between. And trying to learn my neighbors. Which so far include "That Guy on the 7th Floor That Thinks I'm Really Weird" and "That 40-Something That Has The Exact Same Commute As Me".

the weekend.

2010-06-13T17:39:00.000-04:00

1. Friday = drinks and dinner with grad school buddies. Went to Maggianos in Tysons II and openly judged the prom groups. Some were tasteful, some...were horrifyingly inappropes. When did we become the "kids these days!" people? But, seriously, kids these days.

2. Saturday morning/afternoon: Tara and I went to U street to window shop, and then to H Street NE/Atlas District for lunch/errands. Had lunch at Taylor Gourmet. Delish. Had my first Water Ice! It's like a slurpee but thicker. Then went to pick up pies Tara had ordered from a place called...wait for it...Dangerously Delicious Pies. Unfortunately named considering their location. (read: H Street NE..not quite revitalized yet...or at all) After DC adventures we went to Tara's place to catch the second half of the USA/England game.

3. Sunday = Brunch with Franklin, Ro, Missy, and Jess! Went to Community Canteen in Town Center. Cheap and delicious. The best part was the on-tap sparkling water and lemons. Fancy! I got a wedge of french toast, literally, a wedge. It was basically cake, therefore, amazing.

4. Sunday = I may or may not have bought Hanson's new album. I cannot believe I am admitting this.

5. Sunday = went into work for a couple of hours. Got some stuff done, also brought home more to do before tomorrow morning. Somehow despite all of this I still love it. I wonder when that will change.

6. Sunday = tonight - TRUEBLOODOMGSQUEEECANNOTWAIT.

H is for Holy Crap: I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer

2010-06-06T16:18:00.002-04:00

"Yeah, sure honey, I’ll help you move all your shit.

….

I mean, all of your things.”

-Frank Benson, 6/5/2010

So far in my 27 years on this planet, I’ve identified as my parents’ child. Not as myself, mind you, but as being completely and wholly tied to my parents. That's really a few years too many. While I am proud to have the parents I do, because they’re fantastic, it takes a toll emotionally if I’m being honest. Imagine being 27 but still be in the same exact living situation you were in when you were 16. It is le suck.

In less than a month, that all ends.

Moving!

Found a place in Alexandria via Craigslist. Two roommates – Courtney and Emily. They are awesome. Upon meeting them we mostly talked about Glee and True Blood. Could I ask for anything more?

My room isn’t anything fancy – it’s smaller than my room at home, but that’s okay. Big section of windows. Which, is nice, except for the fact that I generally like to sleep like vampire with as little light as possible. But that’s what curtains are for, so, easy fix. I’ll be sharing a bathroom with Emily. My closet is about the same size as mine now, which is good – no downsizing there.

The rest of the apartment is nice. All hardwood – er – fake hardwood. But whatever. Big open living room and dining room, completely lined with windows. Cute balcony. Small kitchen, but we’ve got a dishwasher. In-suite washer-dryer. Extra closets for storage. And the unit is at the end, on the corner – and on the other side of us is a storage closet, so…no real neighbors, other than above and below, of course. But we’re on the 15th floor, so it’s reallllly quiet.

Nothing about it screams luxury, but I don’t need luxury either. I want nice, and I want safe – and I’m getting both! And when I saw the place, I could see myself living there, and being happy. I had seen a couple other places over the last few weeks, and while they were also nice, I felt no connection to them. I guess I’m putting more than an average amount of stock in that intangible, indescribable gut feeling (for all I know, I could have been hungry at the time) but…it just seemed like the perfect situation for me.

The building is a high-rise right near the Duke/Van Dorn St. intersection. Which is also right by Landmark Mall. My initial reaction before seeing it was…”there?” (think Arrested Development’s “…her?”)

But it’s actually nice. And I did a little driving around the area today. There’s a CVS and a library half a mile from my building, and a little less than another half-mile from that is a shopping center with a Harris Teeter, Chipotle, ABC Store, and various other typical-shopping-center-stores. I’m about 10 minutes up Duke Street from the Masonic temple – I tell you that for geographical purposes only, not because it means anything to me. I just hope my dad doesn't start making various The Lost Symbol references.

The other thing that’s probably good for me is that there isn’t really a nearby Target. Let’s be honest, I need to spend a little *less* time in that store. Maybe we’ll get an out-of-sight-out-of-mind thing going, that would be helpful.

Work wise, it’s also a sweet deal. A bus line that goes to Pentagon metro runs every 15 or so right by our building – and Pentagon metro is about 15 minutes away from my office’s stop. So it’ll cut my commute almost in half – in time and expense. Those WMATA assholes can’t count on my $8,000 a day anymore!

I’m moving July 4th weekend, probably. The lease (which I will hopefully sign this week) starts July 1 so I’ll have the long weekend to get settled. I’m probably going to do a few runs after work that Thursday and Friday, just taking over clothes and pictures and stuff. As much as I can cram into my little Corolla and carry up myself. The weekend will be for bookshelves and dressers and whatever other furniture I actually have to contribute.

Pictures will come as soon as I’m settled.

Um…I don’t really know how to end this…other than:

HOLY SHIT I’M FINALLY MOVING.

H is for Holy Crap: The Squeakuel

2010-05-10T21:54:00.001-04:00

I don’t even know how to start this one. Here are some options:

1: 16 months. Sixteen. Months.

2: That far-off shouting you heard a couple of weeks ago was me.

3: I wasn’t crying, it was just raining on my face. I had something in both my eyes.

4: There’s a reason I got a Droid Incredible.

Pick your favorite, and proceed.

So, I don’t really know who reads this, other than, like 4 specific people. But I can guess that anyone other than those 4 people probably knows what I’ve been going through for the past 16 months: lots of frustration, tears, hope, disappointment, learning, building of character, and unequivocally the craziest and unbelievable-est amount of love and support from friends and family.

It all came to a head a few weeks ago, when I found out I had actually done it.

I finally got a job. In the arts.

I’m trying to not put too much stock in one job, but…this sort of validates everything I’ve been doing and going through for the past two and a half years. Yes, it was that long ago that I chose to quit my job and go back to school for something I truly cared about; two and a half years of trying to start a career.

It’s finally starting.

It feels so good to just say that. It feels better to tell you that today was my first day, and it went great. I can’t wait to go back tomorrow.

H is for Holy Crap

2010-05-01T21:16:00.011-04:00

Tara and I ventured to Annapolis today. I could make up a much more normal story about why we went, something like - exploring a new place - but, I'm going to tell you the ridiculous reason we went. Because I keep it real.

When Tara and I were in school (during which we were inseparable, did you know? If our classmates saw one of us without the other, they would instinctively ask where the other one was. This really happened...several times.) we spent many afternoons at Metro Diner, right in what I call Old Timey Fairfax, what I think normal people call Old Town Fairfax? Downtown Fairfax? Whatever, it's Old Timey to me. Metro Diner, I believe, is an off-shoot of Silver Diner. It had free wi-fi and cheap but decent food and Diet Coke and it was our little place. We spent an unusual amount of time there.

Several months ago, sometime in the fall, Tara and I made plans to go again - we were feeling nostalgic and wanted to relive the good days of Metro Diner. Well we show up and GUESS WHAT. It's not there anymore!

But! Posted on the door is "Come visit us in our other location!" - Well! An invitation so welcoming and friendly must also mean that they must be right down the street, right?

We were 0 for 2 at that point.

Yes, I know this story is about as transparent as an episode of CSI. Whatever.

Annapolis. That's the other location. We were so sad! But we vowed to go there and make a big deal of it.

Well friends, that day was today. We drove up there (took about an hour) and we found our little place, RIGHT NEXT TO A TARGET! I know, I know, it's not like I've never been to Target, but I always get excited about new ones. It's like traveling for me. It's a new and exotic Target! It's like a really cheap plane ticket to Europe without being stuck Coach, forced to sit through Big Mama's House 4 times in a row! And also, if one of our favorite places can be next to another one of our favorite places? Well, Annapolis, you are saving the day.

Uh, what? Anyway, Metro Diner was awesome. And don't even think we didn't tell the first employee we saw where we were from and why we were there. We expected free cupcakes and possibly the opportunity for us to sign a framed 8x10 of us to hang on the wall...but neither of those things happened. But the food was good and Diet Coke was cool and bubbly and we had a good time.

After going to Target we stopped by this cute little stationery store, and I got the CUTEST greeting cards. 5 of each of the designs below. They are by a person named Marc Johns, and he calls them "serious drawings". Marc, I think you and I might be soulmates.

The banana one is my favorite :-)

Part Two of H is for Holy Crap will be revealed in a few weeks. There even might be a part three!

I think Missy is on to something when she says Franklin and I share a brain...

2010-04-22T13:41:00.002-04:00

GChat. 1:41pm

me: do you think it's possible that during the draft (either tonight or following rounds) that instead of getting drafted, someone will just punch tim tebow in the face?

Franklin: right in his scripture eye black?

Hi there.

2010-03-15T22:57:00.002-04:00

I can't sleep, so, I thought I'd stop by.

-Still temping at that same place - Thursday will mark my two-month anniversary there. I thought about bringing this up to my coworkers and then leaving them with "I like funfetti cupcakes" to see if they'd actually do it. However 1: I gave up sweets for Lent* and 2: I would be horrified if they actually did it.

-Every Tuesday Franklin and I (and Missy, when WaPo isn't cracking the whip!) get together to watch Lost. 'Cause we're nerds. Totally awesome nerds.

*In addition to no sweets, I also added "Do something job-search-related every day" to my Lenten goals. I needed a little kick in the pants, to be honest with you. I got a little complacent in my temping, which may only last a week or two longer anyway. I'm hoping that I'll get a little Lenten Momentum. No new job opportunities yet, though. Still trying, every day.

-Went down to Richmond last weekend - I had lunch with Chris and Dana (Dana is my little from PSE and Chris is her husband, who was also in PSE) and then went to Allison's (one of my old roommates) for her birthday party! It was a lot of fun; got to see some familiar faces. Played beer pong. It was like college all over again! But with a much smaller hangover.

Talking to old friends, catching up and such, I had a realization: right now my life is a giant game of pretend. I have a pretend job - it's full time, and I work hard and get paid, but it's not permanent. it's not real. And I live in a nice house all by myself - and I don't pay for it, and my parents will be back in a month from now. My pretend job and my pretend house.

...I guess it really all comes down to wanting something of my own for once. Needing it, even.

-I'm going to Richmond again this Saturday - lunch with Vince, afternoon birthday party for another former roommate Shannon, and then a St. Patrick's Day party with Chris and Dana! I outsource my social life to Richmond, apparently. Basically seeing the exact same people I saw two weeks ago, but in a new rotation. I'm looking forward to it, especially seeing Vince. I literally cannot remember the last time I saw him.

*****

Okay, there aren't enough exclamation marks or emoticons in this post. I'm doing okay, I guess I'm just tired. I blame Daylight Savings. Wait...make that:

I blame Daylight Savings!!!!!!! :-) :-P :-* (yeah, that's right, that last one was a kiss. OW OW!)

2010-02-08T21:57:00.003-05:00

Dear Weather:

ENOUGH WITH THE SNOW. IT'S NOT CUTE.

Cordially,

Laura

Drama Llama

2010-01-17T22:52:00.003-05:00

When it rains it pours.

So you know how my parents are in Florida, right? Amongst many little chores and what not, one thing I have to do every so often is drive my mom's car. Just to keep it...healthy, I guess. It's a 17 year old Honda Civic and in great shape - it only has 120,000 miles on it. I know cars that are 10 years younger and have twice the miles. (I know some people like that too, HIYOOOOO!)

So I was driving it to run my errands today. I went to the post office in Reston, then drove out to Leesburg to their Wal-Mart (because the closest one to me in Fair Lakes sucks and I refuse to go there on principal) and then drove to the SUPERTARGET! (yes, I have to capitalize it and punctuate it at such. It's SUPER!) that's across the street from Wal-Mart.

I only went to get one thing at Wal-Mart - those individual drink-mix things, you know the ones you put into a water bottle? Wal-Mart brand's Cherry Limeade flavor is AMAZING. I try to avoid those things mostly because they do have aspartame, but...it tastes like a melted popsicle. And when you have that craving for candy or something sweet, they really do help. So I got those.

Then I went to the SUPERTARGET! I got a few things and then went back to my car.

And then it wouldn't start.

I tried and tried and...nothing. Oh also did I mention that it was cold and drizzling out?

A really nice man came along and tried to help; he looked under the hood and had me try a bunch of different tricks to get it to start. It wouldn't.

He left and I reluctantly picked up my phone to call a tow truck; at least we have AAA. Then I notice my phone. The battery is so low it's got that lovely "Danger Red" shade on. Basically I had time to make maybe one and a half calls, maybe. Of course.

It's obvious now that I'm home and calm, but I FREAKED OUT because I didn't know who to call first. AAA? If I call AAA and they put me on hold forever, I'm screwed. My parents?! A friend or someone to let them know I'm pretty much stranded?!

But I used something called logic - I'm not really familiar with it but I hear it works for people. I called Kelley. I was like a minute from her house and I figured she has a cell phone that I could use since I knew mine would inevitably go dead before the end of this insane evening. She rushed to my rescue, thankfully. Because she's amazing.

While she was on her way I called AAA. I called at 7pm. I told them I was in Leesburg and needed a tow back to Reston. The woman I spoke with told me a truck would be there within an hour. In tow-truck time, I know that means anywhere from 2-4 hours, so I asked them to call me when the driver was 5 minutes away. In the mean time I went back to Kel's house and had dinner, so that part was nice. Even though the whole situation sucked, at least I had a good friend close by!

At 8pm the driver of the tow truck calls me and tells me he's in the Target parking lot by my car. Imagine that, a towing company (much less going through AAA) comes on time!?

Kel and I go back over to the lot and drive up to my car. There is no tow truck. Not by my car, and nowhere in the lot at all. So I call the driver back (on Kel's phone because mine had died about 30 minutes prior) and tell him what we're seeing, and it isn't him.

He says to me: "...you're in Arlington, right?"

.................

So after I imploded from rage and frustration, I called AAA back and they said they had someone in the area (the correct area) that could be there in 20 minutes.

Luckily everyone held up their end of the bargain this time.

Oh I'm sorry, you think the story ends there?

Then once the tow truck came Kel got a call from Mike - Ryan was walking around and fell on his face right into the cup he was holding. They thought he had lost a tooth and there was blood and...you get the idea. It was panic-central in Leesburg, VA tonight.

Kel obviously had to go, but the tow-truck guy got me and my vehicle home safely and relatively cheaply. Surprisingly so, actually. And Ryan is fine - tooth intact, just a bit of a fat lip. He was apparently playing like five minutes later after the incident. He's such a trooper!

*SIGH* What a night.

It's getting better all the time...

2010-01-16T14:45:00.000-05:00

Okay, setting aside the melodrama of the previous post. I’m telling you now, I still don’t have a permanent, full-time job, but things are getting better.

I have been working with a couple of recruiters for a few months now; I’ve gotten a few temp gigs, usually only lasting a day or two. I had a phone interview yesterday with a nonprofit here in DC for a development/fundraising assistant position – the hours are full time but they only need someone for a few weeks. The recruiter thought of me and I interviewed yesterday morning.

I was “competing” against one other candidate. I thought the interview went well, but assumed that it would go the way the rest of them have.

Well, by the afternoon, I found out I got the job! I was actually chosen for a job.

That in itself is enough for me. Having a steady income for a few weeks doesn’t hurt either, don’t get me wrong – but it feels so good to know that I actually came out on top for once.

So that starts next Thursday, for who knows how long. And whether it turns into something more permanent, or opens new doors, or doesn’t do either of those things, I’m just so so happy I was able to pull out a W on this one. It’s been too long.

2009-12-18T13:38:00.002-05:00

Anyone want an update? I can't get a fucking job to save my fucking life.

don't let the virtual doorknob hit you on the way out

2009-09-02T18:57:00.003-04:00

I've decided to not post for a while. Nothing is going on, and even when it is, um, even I don't find it all that thrilling. Basically I want the next thing I put up here to be about the job that I get. But not too descriptive because blogging about work is a recipe for disaster. Even I'm not that dumb.

Here's what I've got coming up, so you can imagine all the fun I'm having while I sit here and refresh Idealist twenty times a day:

Recruiter interview tomorrow
Movie day with Kel and the boys on Friday
Going to Richmond on Saturday to watch the Hokies season opener with some old VT friends :-)

And at the end of the month, my godparents are visiting and I get to enjoy the guest room for two weeks.

Also:

My parents are going to Florida for a week in the beginning of November.

And Thanksgiving with the Parnhams is at our house this year.

My parents will be going down for their extended stay sometime in January.

(I'm telling you these last three things in the event that I am still unemployed and can stick to not spreading my embarrassment throughout the world wide interscape)

a shower for baby foster

2009-08-30T22:37:00.004-04:00

A long long time ago, Meredith was about ten years old, and I was nine. We were in a 4th/5th grade split class, and played on a Reston house league soccer team together - she was Goalie, I was wherever was least influential to the score. Yada Yada Yada, Kelley and Meghan threw her a baby shower this past weekend and I came too. That about catches us all up, yes?

I drove Kelley and myself to Ohio Friday afternoon, and we arrived at Meredith and Geoff’s house in the early evening. Meghan had already made it there, so many hugs and hellos were exchanged, and then we met the awesome twosome that is their dogs, Chloe and Delilah. Chloe apparently fell in love with me. They helped with my Parker separation anxiety.

Also, their house is awesome. It was built in 1924 and it has so much character and little details and things I always wanted as a kid. A huge, private backyard, lots of rooms, and my favorite, a fully finished attic room, almost like the one from Full House. We all agreed that it is perfect for a tween/teenage girl. But yeah, I loved their house and I threatened to move in several times.

Friday night we drove to this cute downtown area, but couldn’t decide where to eat so Geoff decided for us – we went to this southwestern/Mexican place called Lopez. It was…amazing. Someone from Top Chef Masters had something to do with it, apparently. Sorry Top Chef Watchers – ahem KK and Dan – I have no idea who or what or why or how…I don’t pay attention to things. Anyway we had a great dinner catching up – being wonderfully boisterous and fun to us, and probably obnoxious to the couple sitting two feet away from us. Oops? Oh well.

Saturday was the baby shower! Meghan and Kelley had done an excellent job planning and I pretended to be involved…good times. We got snacks and drinks and went to Mer’s mom’s house to set up. Kel made a diaper cake. That thing was amazing. To any and all boys that read this: it’s a gift of blankets and diapers and sometimes other baby accessories in the shape of a cake. You don’t eat it. We got a real cake for that.

The guests were the three of us, Mer obviously, her sister in law and her kids (Mer’s unbelievably adorable and smart niece and nephew), her coworkers and some of her friends from college. It was a good group! She got some sweet gifts, including stuff her mom and grandmother had made for Meredith when she was a baby. So sweet.

Saturday night we drove to another cute little downtown area (they were all over the place!) and had dinner at Mitchell’s Fish Market, again on Geoff’s recommendation, due to our split vote and apathy towards decision-making. He was two for two, because basically no one talked at dinner, that’s how good the food was.

On the way home, Geoff asked “So do you guys want to keep drinking, or are you all set?” - we had wine at dinner, and there wasn’t anything in their house because we finished their other wine Friday night. Heh, oops? – Meghan and I made noncommittal noises, and Kelley said “I could really go either way”. I added, “Yeah, me too”.

Geoff lost his mind. It was hilarious.

We had been listening to something on their iPod at the time, so Geoff made a noise that I can’t quite describe, stopped the iPod and said: “NO! NO! That’s it! No! I’m not deciding anymore!!! *whiny imitation of our voices* ‘oooh I can’t decide where to eat, ohh we don’t care, ohh ohhhh’ NO! That’s IT! You’re drinking more! Meredith, drive to the liquor store!!”

The three of us are in the backseat cracking up, and as we are driving our new route to said liquor store, we quiet down and Meghan says, “You know, Geoff, you just decided again for us.” HA!

So we got home, had some more to drink as we talked, laughed, shouted, the usual. It was a blast. There were points in the night when couldn’t breathe because I was laughing so hard. This always happens when we all get together, and I hope that never changes; both that we still get together, and that the laughs just keep on comin’.

"Alma, check your battery!"

2009-08-26T15:34:00.003-04:00

I have nothing of substance to discuss. I just feel like putting this out there:

1. You have no idea how often I listened to this soundtrack, on tape of course. I wanted to sing like the young nun (Sister Mary Robert, I believe?) so badly.

2. Meghan and I had a very serious discussion one afternoon about this number - and I was glad to see someone else shared my feelings, and maybe you do too. Don't you think that this performance is one thousand times better than the one they perform for the Pope?! They really should have switched songs. I'm in no way religious, but I think it's fair to say the man deserves some sort of, I dunno, hymn? They sing I Will Follow Him, which, I mean, I get it...but this one is just so. much. better.

3. Whoopi is many things, but she is NOT a conductor.

4. I would like to open it up to you to tell me if you think Sister Act I or II is better. I'm on Team I. But I do like Joyful Joyful and Oh Happy Day in the second one, those are good songs.

I am getting a little too used to the Florida lifestyle...

2009-08-22T20:42:00.002-04:00

The days are running together, as they do when one finds oneself unemployed. We spend each night eating dinner watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, shouting profanity-laced epithets at Pat Sajak and Alex Trebek and their "smug dickishness". Well, mostly my dad does this, I sort of participate. My mom either giggles or rolls her eyes depending on what is said. My father is particularly unpleasant towards Alex Trebek. One night, as Jeopardy went to a commercial break, Alex said “Okay, relax and we’ll be back in a minute”. My father’s response? “FUCK YOU ALEX! I’LL RELAX WHEN I WANT!”

Today rolls around, and since I don’t have much concrete evidence that it is in fact Saturday, I sit down to dinner and grow concerned as the television is not switched to ABC. “Laura, it’s Saturday” my parents tell me, with a tone that says “We just had the ‘what day is it’ discussion a few hours ago, dummy”.

I am disappointed. I am actually disappointed about not being able to eat my dinner and watch my game shows. But then, huzzah! A rerun of Jeopardy is miraculously on TV.

All is right with the world. And that's when I took a step back and realized, um, wow. I need to GET. OUT.

I’ll be leaving this state before I’m in too deep, don’t fret. We’re leaving on Tuesday to come back home. I’m not waiting around for news on the FloridaJob. I’ve already missed one life-event of a friend because I waited around for a job I didn’t get, and I still feel like shit for it. I’ve got Meredith’s baby shower to attend in Ohio next weekend and I’m not going to pull any more douche moves. Also the interview was quite possibly the most disastrous thing I have ever been a part of. It’s not something I want to put on the internet for a while, but…yikes.

Honest to blog, the more I am around my father, the more I am convinced I should start a separate web site about the things my father does that simultaneously astound me, entertain me and irritate the everloving crap out of me. As I write this, my dad has switched to some golf game and was shouting nonsensicals as the golfers were taking their swing, like he was psyching them out or startling them from their focus…on television. People have blogs about the silly things their kids say and do, why can’t I have one about the sometimes-man-child, irrational but hilarious man that is my father?

Part Three: Meanwhile...

2009-08-20T15:02:00.002-04:00

Alternate (and too long) title for this post: The one where cousins inexplicably have the hots for each other, short people with big feet do things and the movie should have ended seven different times, or Scott Foley isn’t dead, but IS Neve Campbell’s half brother.

Ha! Trilogy humor. I hope you get all three.

Remember when I had my interview on Thursday in NYC? That morning I got an email from an arts org for a job I had applied to months ago. I had that interview a week ago Monday, right before my lunch with my friend/coworker. I haven’t heard since and I should have, so I assume I didn’t get it. I’m not upset about it. I didn’t have some of the specific experience they were looking for. But it was still a good interview exercise, and she asked a couple of unusual questions and I am happy to report I can sort of think on my feet. All my answers were good but I just don’t have the right experience.

So not 15 minutes after I walk out of the interview, I get a phone call from another arts organization about a job I applied to in JUNE. This particular job is in Florida, about 45 minutes from the house my family has down there that used to be my grandmother’s. So I applied because I had a place to live, and my former (Masters) Program Director told me not to be afraid of the jobs that I think are out of my reach, because "You never know". I never thought they would actually call me. But they did!

(Dear Universe: Nothing for eight months, NUH-THING, and then all of a sudden I’m popular?! Not cool. I mean, yes, flattering, but…not cool.)

Thursday afternoon, when I knew what the results of NYCJob were going to be but didn’t want to fully admit it to myself, I called FloridaJob and made plans for an interview the following Friday. My family also used this as an excuse to be in Florida, so we all packed up and left Monday morning.

Spent a day and a half cramped in the backseat with no legroom and a dog wanting to do nothing but cuddle and rest right up against me even when the sun is beating down on us through the backseat windows. He’s panting like crazy but refuses to move over to his side, which happens to be shaded. Dumb dog. But it's all okay, these were the conditions I had to endure to secure a trip free of financial burdens. Also it's not like I didn’t love the fact that he actually wanted to hang out with me.

We got to the house Tuesday around 4pm. The last time I had been in my Grandmother’s house was four years ago but most of my memories of the place are from my childhood. Now, I roamed the house looking in drawers, opening cabinets, and took a nostalgic inventory of glasses, mugs, and furniture that reminded me of those summer visits as an elementary school kid. It was less cluttered and a lot cleaner. It still smelled like her house, though – in a good way. Not like my maternal grandmother’s house that reeked of wet dog and musk ten years after the actual dog passed away. So anyway, it’s been nice to be here. I have my interview tomorrow. Regardless of its outcome, it will have been nice to get down here and see the place in its new era.

if this is my past, i don't want to know my future

2009-08-19T09:22:00.001-04:00

Growing up, when I was being a pest – which I did quite well, and often – my mom would say to me “Laura, know when to quit”, because apparently I don’t have the natural ability to sense this on my own. Now I know why I never inherited such a trait.

No one has been in the house for three months, so there were 30 messages on the phone. 29 of them completely bogus.

…”Hi, this is Tom with CCS calling to remind you-“
Frank: Hi Tom, NO THANKS!” *deletes message*

…”..you don’t want to be driving without a warranty…”
Frank: “ Hey, I won’t!” *deletes message*

…”this is Steve with CCS calling to remind you-“
Frank: “You sound a lot like Tom, Steve!” *deletes message*

Funny the first three times, right? But then it went on. Twenty-six more times.

I think I can just leave it at that.

design on no dimes

2009-08-16T16:34:00.011-04:00

You’ll notice I changed the design a little bit. I hope it looks as nice on your computer/browser as it does on mine. It’s my effort to transition into fall. Or boredom at 1AM. It took me longer than it really should have to do that writing in Illustrator; it’s harder than I thought to make it look like your own handwriting. So I hope it does. College Crew, you will have to weigh in and tell me if it does. Or just humor me and tell me that anyway.

In the event that it doesn’t, at least it looks like it’s written in Sharpie. This pleases me to no end. I really, really love Sharpies.

I’ve been seeing a term thrown around a lot on Facebook and I do not like it. Funemployment. I resent it. Granted, for the eight months that I’ve now been unemployed, I’ve participated in fun activities that I probably wouldn’t have been able to, had I been a working individual. Yeah, the activities were fun, but were the sleepless nights and constant worrying about money, jobs, and life a ball of laughs? And not just worrying about myself, but my family too, who are supporting me when I can’t support myself? I don’t think I have to answer that. Wow I am bitter.

Switching gears, I’m working on a screenplay now. You didn’t know? The working title is "Shit Stirrer"

The scene: Our basement

The characters: Frank, Blue, Parker, Me.

Blue: (sheepishly) So um, when you, um, go down to Florida, can I come or am I supposed to stay here with the dog?

Parker: Is someone talking about me? Can I have some food?

Frank: (chuckles) No! I thought we were all going to go together, of course you’re coming!

Me: That’s not what you said to me a few hours ago!

Frank: (sighs)

Me: Mom, Dad said to me, ‘I don’t want her to come along’ and then told me not to tell you -

Frank: I’m sure she believes this

Me: - but I’m telling you because I love you and I want you to be there.

Frank: Jesus Christ…

Me: That’s what he told me. (shit-eating grin on face)

Parker: I believe I asked for some food, assholes.

I can't wait to move to LA and shop it around.

Today is the day that my two beautiful friends, Ben and Jess, get married! I'm sorry I can't be there, guys (do you even read this??) and I am missing all of you today.

(We had not yet mastered the art of stealing our bride and groom friends away for a group photo.)

intermission

2009-08-15T14:06:00.002-04:00

This is not Part Three. That will come later next week probably. But there are a few things I would like to share with you before then.

One. This:

I love this video. I think my favorite part is how cartoonishly the woman is brought out of her old-person stupor by the honking.

Two. As you have now read, there was about a week of time when I thought I would have to make a lightning-quick move up to NYC. I actually had living arrangements available – but for the first two weeks I would have had to live out of suitcases because my designated room would not have been vacated until September 1st. So, this would lead you all to believe I would just bring my clothes, toiletries, and/or ONLY the essential items I would need to exist, wouldn’t it?

I kid you not, when I was skimming over a mentally prepared packing list, I included my Arrested Development DVDs. Seriously. I wasn’t even going to bring my TV, but those DVDs? Yep. I don’t know what this says about me, but it can't be good.

Three. For dinner last night I made a roasted red pepper sauce to put over pasta. If you were wondering, it was delicious. So while I was in the grocery store browsing the produce section for the necessary items, and I look up and this woman…um, was full-on reaching into her pants to, I’m assuming, fix her underwear. Not on the outside of her pants, not trying to be discreet by backing up against her cart or a display of some kind, just…going for it. Really digging around in there. I mean, we’ve all been there with underwear problems in public places, and depending on how public and who I’m with, well, I wouldn’t care either. So I wasn’t sure if I was slightly grossed out or that I admired her self-confidence, if you want to call it that? Is it a lack of manners or bravado? I honestly can’t decide.

when it rains, it pours. and then you're waiting around for rainbows like some kind of jackass.*

2009-08-14T14:55:00.003-04:00

I slept in on Friday, just because I could finally let my body relax. I had seriously been a mess of nerves and tension and stress, and I hadn’t eaten or slept very much since Monday. You know it’s bad when I can’t eat or sleep. I love both of those things! They’re both favorites.

I packed up all my crap and hauled it to meet Ro at her office – we got lunch from Pret and ate it in Bryant Park. It was LOVELY. And then she walked me to the subway and directed me to the Megabus stop and I made my way home. And then we realized we both forgot that I still had her house keys. Oops. Never fear, her roommate was also visiting DC and they were returned to her and made their way safely back to NYC and to Rosa’s loving and responsible hands, and god willing, never mine ever again. Sorry Ro!

Oh, also, I checked my email on my phone randomly, and my NYC interviewer had requested references and a writing sample. I was BACK IN THE GAME!

Anyway, it’s here I’ll apologize AGAIN for not mentioning a trip to NYC, or even the initial good news/progress of the 2nd interview. Even though it went well, and I was excited and initially went back into my NEW YORK STATE OF MIND (oh my GOD, just stop reading. And stop being friends with me. I’m even disgusted with myself for making that joke. But I’m keeping it because I keep it real, you all need to know the real me) – ahem – I still knew better, and I knew I wasn’t out of the woods yet. Anything could happen and there was something bugging at me, telling me there were more unforeseen hurdles. I knew there were plenty of dream-crushing opportunities left in this situation.

So I did my best to enjoy the weekend, I met Lesley down at Potomac Mills to shop and have dinner; it’s the last time I will see her for a while because she is moving to Fort Collins, CO with a friend of hers. No job, just looking for a change of scenery, packing it up and moving out there. I’m so impressed by that. Even with the potential NYC thing, it’s only because I was in the process of getting a job. I don’t think I have the balls to just move somewhere on hope and determination. I admire people that do.

On Monday I had lunch with a friend/former coworker in DC, who was also one of my references. Still feeling optimistic.

On Tuesday, I went to Kelley’s parents house to hang out with her, her fam, and the boys. In the back of my head, I knew I should be finding out something, or hearing from at least one of my references. I chose to ignore this and decided that Wednesday, Wednesday was the Day. If I didn’t know then it would be over.

On Wednesday, I don’t think I did much other than start to panic and create scenarios in which I might still have the job. I wanted to grasp at denial with all my might just a little bit longer. Forget Wednesday! Friday, Friday is the Day.

On Thursday I had to pull the biggest douche move that this millennium will ever see. I made the craptastic decision that I couldn’t go to Ben and Jess’ wedding, due to finances and “just waiting one more day” and another reason that will come in Part Three. (a Trilogy! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry. You’ll stop reading halfway through because it’s boring)

Today I got The Email. The breakup email. I didn’t get the job. It confirmed what I already knew, and since I spent Thursday being sad, today I moved on to being angry. And then found a nice little cocoon in which I can bitch about how I didn’t really want that job anyway, so THERE, etc.

The crazy thing is, that last one might be less cocoon-induced (that sounds…gross) and more real. I was most excited about this job because:

1. Exciting, fast-paced move to New York
2. The company is really cool, and in the arts
3. It was A job.

It wasn’t THE job. And please note that THE job is not something I’m still holding out for, because, after eight months of job searching, my sense of entitlement is not that strong. It’s admittedly stronger than it should be, but I understand compromise and sacrifice and I acknowledge the necessity of both.

Foreshadowing! : Tuesday at the Thomas’ house, Kel and I were watching Meet the Robinsons, for which Kel’s mom jovially made fun of us. Hee. But it’s a good movie! Anyway, the notion of Keep Moving Forward is something I can use right about now. And I will be doing my best to keep it in mind. And yes, I am rolling my eyes at myself for trying to draw actual inspiration as a twenty six year old adult from a movie that is made for someone that is learning the intricacies of life via spelling bees and multiplication tables.

*Copyright Laura Benson 2009. All Rights Reserved.**

**What does All Rights Reserved mean?

when it rains, it pours.

2009-08-13T12:25:00.002-04:00

So, it all started on Thursday, July 30th. Earlier in the evening I applied to a few jobs, like I usually do. Didn’t think too much of it. Went to bed around 11, and, didn’t sleep. Thursday night was one of the worst nights I’ve had in a long time. I couldn’t sleep, and rolling around in my head were all the negative thoughts about myself, my life, and my current job situation that have been plaguing me for the past eight months. Normally they’re kind of just…around. But I let them in on full force Thursday night and it was unbearable. It was ugly, let’s leave it at that. So I’m in bed sobbing disgustingly, and finally I can’t take it and I get out of bed, turn on the lights and just let it all go in my written journal (yes, I have one. Even though I get REAL personal up in here, there are some things that should be left to a written journal or a conversation between friends after a couple of glasses of wine. – also, isn’t it sad that some kids these days realllllly don’t have the sense to know that? – also also, can you believe I just said “kids these days” ??) Um, what? Oh, ugly thoughts written in journal, right. So yeah, I got ‘em all on paper and felt a little better, I guess. Sometimes you don’t realize how overwhelmingly negative or irrational your thoughts are until you put them on paper. So since I was up, I went online to look at some of my more obscure job posting places and see if there was anything new. I applied to another job on a whim.

Dawn breaks, and I don’t see it because I don’t get up until 11. Seriously, you know whose blog you’re reading, right? The day went on as it normally does, except for that by the end of it, both jobs I had applied to on Thursday (the rational 8pm one and the hysterical last-ditch wtf 1:30am one) had contacted me for interviews on Monday. I was excited but also nervous and full of dread. The four interviews I had prior to these had not gone well, so why should these be any different?

I spent the weekend preparing, way more than I usually do. Going line by line on the job description, making sure I have responses for all the job functions, preparing questions, maybe an anecdote or two (seriously) and taking a few notes on the companies. I didn’t sleep at all Sunday night.

So I had my phone interview on Monday and ten minutes in I thought to myself, “Well there goes THAT, way to be awful, self”. Why ten minutes in? Because I had chosen to prepare myself and my notes at the dining room table, where apparently my phone doesn’t get reception. So the interviewer called, and I didn’t pick up. Luckily by the time I realized something was up, I think it was only 2 minutes after she had called, but STILL. So I called her back, apologized profusely and explained the situation, and on the interview went. Somehow, my sparkling personality and professional acumen earned me a 2nd interview on Thursday. I was excited, really excited. It was moving quickly, it gave me a confidence boost for the in-person interview I had later that day, and also, when was the last time I even got to this stage? Good times.

The other interview on Monday was a little weird, because it was actually with a recruiter on behalf of the position I had applied to. So I went in there and she ended up forwarding my resume to the job I had originally applied to, as well as another one. Freebie! Then I took a typing test. 63 WPM, 99% accuracy. The typing test was my favorite part, seriously. The recruiter told me to hopefully expect a phone call from her (or the actual job people? I can’t follow the web of confusion that is the recruiting process) in the next week or so.

So I went home feeling kind of weird about it, because it didn’t feel like I was any closer to the job, I didn’t have anything tangible to come away with, and if history teaches us anything, that hasn’t been a good sign for me.

The rest of Monday was good; I called my parents and told them the good news about my phone interview, and about the recruiting interview. Here’s where I need to pause and apologize to some of you, my dear readers. (AKA my regular friends?! Wtf, self. Don’t act like you’re awesome) I had talked to some of you in between Friday and Sunday, telling you about these job prospects and the, erm, locations of said jobs. And by the time Monday rolled around, and I updated those people, and had to tell new people for reference and other purposes, I felt like I was jinxing myself by telling too many people when I had nothing secured. So that’s why there were not more phone calls or texts or emails to those of you I would normally talk to in a heartbeat about my exciting news, I was so afraid of doing even the slightest thing to upset the Gods of Overconfidence Comeuppance or whatever. Plus, the more people I told before Thursday, the more depressing/humiliating phone calls I would have to make after it was over.

See, the phone interview was for a job in New York. Yeah. And the start date was August 17th, a mere two weeks from my initial interview. So in my excitement Monday, I let my imagination take the reigns and I contacted friends and a few people on Craigslist about apartments, to see what was out there in case I really had to make a quick move. This also added to the jinx. By Tuesday afternoon I was mentally moved into an apartment on the upper west side, hosting friends from home on my couch on the weekends and going for walks in Central Park. Partly because I’m completely delusional, but also because that’s where the office was where I was interviewing.

Wednesday afternoon I took Megabus up to NYC and met Rosa, my gracious guide, host, savior, and life coach. We went back to her apartment and had dinner and caught up. It was a nice evening with my dear friend in a fun city that I hoped I could also live in, in a matter of a week and a half.

I spent Thursday reviewing my materials and preparing my answers. Nervously and anxiously. I made my way down to their office and sat on a bench outside Central Park (also right outside their office) and waited – because I left insanely early in the event I became a total idiot and couldn’t ride a train properly, which didn’t happen. Go me.

So, the interview happened, and I made my way back to Ro’s apartment to decompress. It felt so great to be done. Later in the evening I went to meet this girl and see a potential apartment that is really close to the office, and that was fine. I’m reserving judgment at this point. I'll save it for another day.

You may be noticing I am dragging out the events leading up to Thursday and leaving you clueless about the interview. It’s because I want you to feel the way I felt. Anxious up until that moment (or paragraph, in your case?) and then, not sure what the results would be.

Part Two is coming. That’s right, I’m making you WAIT. Because I HAVE TO.

(at this exact moment, as I post this, I don’t know if I got it or not and I’m leaning towards “not got”)

my week in cooking

2009-07-29T01:34:00.002-04:00

This is the post in which I talk about some things I’ve cooked/made in the last week, and pretend they took even a modicum of effort or talent, all while feigning like I have something in common with the cooking/food blog I obsess over. Enjooooyyyy!

Pizza – I made the dough with flour, active yeast, lukewarm water, vegetable oil, some onion and garlic powder, salt and honey. Then I added onions, red peppers, Italian seasoning, mozzarella, a little bit of pesto and a sprinkling of parmesan. Into the oven it went and it came out all browned and bubbly and perfect-looking. I loved making the dough – doughs/breads intimidate me greatly and I was worried that it wouldn’t be edible. Or worse, I’d find out it wasn’t edible after I ate it. I am happy to report that this was not the case. It was tasty.

Chicken tacos with corn and mango salsa – Sad to say that the mango salsa was pre-made. But the chicken I made by throwing together some chicken (um, duh), chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper and garlic pepper. Then tossed in the corn to cook with the chicken for a bit and bedded on tortillas with chopped romaine lettuce, and salsa on top. I have to say, these tasted fine, but the best part was how they looked. They were just so pretty, with the colors and freshness and everything. I'll probably go back to my other version of this using tilapia and old bay instead of chicken/corn. It tastes much better, but still looks just as pretty.

Greek salad - feta cheese, red peppers, olives, romaine and baby spinach tossed in homemade dressing – some olive oil, red wine and balsamic vinegar, and various lovely spices. The best part was that I kind of adapted the recipe in an “I’m gonna wing it” kind of way, and it doesn’t always end well when I try this. It did this time! It was pretty delish. Not as good as the one I had at Niko Niko’s in Houston, but still good.

Garden veggie cream cheese – Two things: I have no idea how to make cream cheese, let me put that out there. Also, I will fight anyone that thinks that Philly or “tubbed” cream cheese is better than deli/freshly-made kind. Because it isn’t. But it’s also all I had that particular morning, so, I dealt with it. I took 1/3-fat regular cream cheese and added finely chopped carrots, celery, black olives, chives, and a little bit of onion powder, salt and pepper. It was pretty damn good, though the best garden veggie cream cheese is Wegmans deli version. I think they use crack. I don’t exactly know how to get a hold of some crack, NOR DO I WANT TO, so I will have to continue to pay Wegmans to make the cream cheese for me. Though my version did get the highly desired Frank Benson Seal of Approval.*

Pasta – Spinach, whole wheat penne, the rest of the feta from the Greek salad, a little parmesan, olive oil and Italian seasoning. Quite good. And nice that it all fit so well together using ingredients from earlier meals in the week.

Either I made these up (the tacos, pasta, and the cream cheese) or Google helped me find the recipes – usually cooks.com has simple and quick stuff, and allrecipes.com has steered me in the right direction a couple of times. The link on the right, Smitten Kitchen, is my faaaavorite cooking blog and I’ve made a number of her recipes. They’ve been good, but I’m nowhere near as good of a cook as her so my versions never come close to the way hers look or (I’m sure) taste.

Anyway, these were all fun and colorful meals and even if they weren’t the healthiest things all the time, they were at least somewhat fresh and all (sort of) had vegetables. Also, do you notice that I use red peppers in like everything I cook? Seriously, I love them. What’s weird is that I used to avoid them like the plague, I don’t know why. I also used to say I didn’t like mustard even though I had never really tried it. I mean, I’m not overly enthused about the condiment now, but it has its place in my sandwich repertoire. I still hate tomatoes despite many a tasting. Now that my dear departed Grandmother is no longer around, I don’t have anyone forcing me to try them. Every Christmas I would be lectured about my distaste for tomatoes, and I’d have to try them while being assured I would like them (“They’re *insert variety here*, they taste much more *positive food adjective* than regular tomatoes. Eat it!”) And every Christmas, they would still taste like butt.

Well that paragraph took a left turn at weird, didn’t it? You are now all witness to my train of thought, typed out. And it usually gets a LOT more random than that. So, uh, I’m gonna go ahead and quit while I’m…not…ahead.

What tasty delights have YOU made this week?

*I can tell when he really likes something because he uses the word “outrageous”.

What happens in Charlestown...

2009-07-25T16:39:00.002-04:00

I feel like I need to start a separate blog of all the ridiculous things my father says.

The other night, after his first G&T of the evening (which he calls his "malaria prevention measures") Frank comes upstairs singing the jingle from a locally run commercial for a particular West Virginia gambling establishment : "Charlestoooooown, Races and Sluts - I mean slots"

title fail, epic win

2009-07-20T10:40:00.002-04:00

I first want to point out that after getting home last night, capping off two weeks of insane traveling and partying and no sleep and other general craziness, I went to bed at 7PM and woke up at 8AM THIS MORNING. THIRTEEN HOURS and I didn't wake up once in between. Geez.

Anyway.

I have made several posts both here and in blogs past about how awesome the college crew is. Can you blame me, really? I’m in the damn group, so maybe you thought I was a little biased. But this weekend, we have REAL PROOF that we are. Brian’s wedding weekend brought us a handful of new friends, and an official new in-law (though Christy was already totally “in”, if you will) and it was epic.

I am a big believer in combining worlds – I love to see different groups of my friends hit it off. The More the Merrier! Consolidation! It’s all good in my book. So when we spent the entire weekend partying for hours on end with a few of Brian’s LSU friends, so much so that by the actual wedding we felt like old friends, well, weekend, you win.

Thursday had me get up at 5inthegodforsakenAM (EST) and pick up Missy and Franklin to head to Dulles. We all kind of bided our time with the mall, and room switching before the rest of the gang arrived throughout the day. After we had a lovely group dinner we saw Harry Potter (eee!) and then went back to the hotel while some of the guys joined the bachelor party. Later we all converged and laughed and drank and played games and were generally very silly. We went to bed at 5am Houston time, which means I had been up for 26 hours. Surprisingly I didn’t feel bad at all – probably because the day was so freaking awesome.

Um, I suppose I don’t really need to recap anything anyway b/c the people that read this were all there, no? So we’ll leave it with: Pool. Most Amazing Greek Dinner Ever. More Awesome Partying with New Friends. Beautiful Emotional Wedding. Dancing. Delicious Champagne. No Sleep. And then flying home in a shit-can plane.

Also, the week before included a marathon surprise trip down to Savannah for a pre-wedding weekend for Ben and Jess! Hooray surprises!!! Again, almost everyone who reads this was there or has already heard about it, so we’ll continue the same format: 3AM Arrival. Drinking and New Friends. Beach. Greg Kinnear. Batshit Craziness. Fun. Cookout. No Sleep. Sparklers. South of the Border.

In other news, we didn’t get to play fact-game this weekend, so didn’t really have the opportunity to tell everyone that I had a phone interview on Tuesday. I think it went okay, but I don’t think I am going to move any further in the process. I’d like to put it out there that I would like to, though! I just have the feeling.

Finally, I took zero pictures of either event so…everyone, get to posting them so I can steal them or link them or something! The end.

so many possibilities

2009-07-04T19:43:00.005-04:00

Page 25. "Teddy saw her again, her back to him as she walked down the apartment hallway, wearing one of his old uniform shirts, humming as she turned into the kitchen, and a familiar weariness invaded his bones. He would prefer to do just about anything – swim in that water even – rather than speak of Dolores, one of the facts of her being on this earth for thirty-one years and then ceasing to be. Just like that. There when he left for work that morning. Gone by the afternoon." Where are my crayons.

Page 155. "And then she turned away and started walking. The orderlies fell into step and they walked down the breezeway and through a side door into the hospital." I like to color.

---

You know how sometimes you just need to know more about a person?

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had checked out a large-print edition of a book from the library. That book was Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane. Same guy who wrote Mystic River. Anywho, a few weeks ago I saw the first 30 seconds or so of a trailer for the movie of Shutter Island, coming out in October – directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leo DiCaprio. The Departed is one of my favorite movies (YOU WANT HIM TO CHOP ME UP AND FEED ME TO THE POOAHHH?!) so I immediately had confidence in this movie. I also liked Mystic River (the movie, never read the book) so I also figured the man could write a story.

He can. He totally can. The book was great, even though I felt incredibly foolish reading the large print edition. But that’s not why I’m telling you all this. Though I will find any excuse to shout/obnoxiously type that Departed quote because it amuses me to no end.

See those bolded/italicized sentences? Namely about crayons and coloring?! They were, I shit you not, written in pen in the book. The book about crazy people. I love the person who wrote it. So many personality-possibilities. Actual crazy person? Vandalism-fetishist? Fan of irony? Something way out of left field?

I hope it was intentional and the irony of scribblings about crayons and colorings in a book about a mental institution was not lost on the unauthorized contributor. HA! So great. But does it end there? Why those two paragraphs? Is our writer perhaps not a crazy/weird individual but an English professor with a PhD writing an abridged version of his/her dissertation on modern literature?!

So, new anonymous friend of mine, no matter what your inspiration, I enjoyed your additions to Shutter Island. I can only hope that I will find more of your musings in other books I get from Reston Regional; perhaps tales of eating paste or uncooked macaroni in Julie & Julia or workout tips and anecdotes of ultimate fighting in Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment.

maybe this'll work

2009-06-30T20:56:00.000-04:00

You know how sometimes, you’re out and about, maybe wearing an outfit you especially like or just feeling inexplicably good about yourself, and you think to yourself, “I kinda feel like running into someone I know”.

And then you go into Target on a Tuesday night, and there you find Kevin Romano and his lovely bride Sarai?!

Well, do you, know that feeling?

I do.

This is obviously proof that I’m either clairvoyant (sadly this is not the first time I’ve claimed such powers) or…my thought have the power to come true.

Ya know what I was thinking would be great? Getting myself a job.

So I was thinking to myself the other day, wouldn’t it be awesome if I had gainful employment?

Get this: the other day, the idea of having an income randomly popped into my head.

Maybe that’ll do it.

yep.

2009-06-24T11:58:00.001-04:00

Fun fact to start this blizzerg off right. I draft all of my posts in Word before posting them online, just, because. Anyway, I got into the habit of not deleting this scrap/draft Word file, and now it’s 45 pages long. 24,400 words. 106,871 characters (no spaces). It spans over a year, and starts when I went off to London for two months. **remember that?!!? I was there this time last year. Sigh** Anyway, looking at all those numbers and word counts is like looking my twitter Updates count; I see it rise and think to myself “238 posts of nothingness”.

Moving on. So last Friday Tara and I spent all day being super hipster cultural girl, at Artomatic! It was pretty cool. 9 floors of art cover all mediums from painting to coffee creamer lids, and all feelings from creepy to cute. I picked up the business cards of Greg Knott, David Hagen, Andrea Sherfy Cybyk, Matthew Parker, Jessica Van Brakle, and Mishka Jaeger. All different kinds of art I thought were interesting or colorful or funny…they had the common thread of being more than I can ever afford. Hooray! And of course the Washington Post’s Peep Diorama Contest was there too, which might have been my favorite thing. And ignited my sweet tooth, which is kind of weird.

One of my favorite dioramas was “Peepster’s Kill Room” because just the other week I started watching Dexter on DVD/On Demand/Other ways we won’t mention aaaand I love it. Add it to the “Late to the Party 09” list along with Weeds and The Wire.

This doesn’t have anything to do with anything, but it involves video games so how can I not mention it? I was in Foggy Bottom/GW’s campus yesterday for volunteering, picking up lunch at this mini student union-ish looking place. I went downstairs to the Pita Pit (to 1: try and break my addiction to Potbelly and 2: to go somewhere that reminds me of 90210’s Peach Pit? Even though I wasn’t allowed to watch that show? THANKS MOM…what?) and do you know what you can do while you wait for your order to be made? You can play Super Mario Brothers 3. Also known as my FAVORITE VIDEO GAME. It was pretty fantastic. I only got through one level because they are quite speedy with their pita-assembling, but I hope everyone behind me was paying attention because I was basically putting on a clinic with my skills.

So there you have it: inane ramblings, a little bit of culture centered around candy, television and video games. That just about sums up my life right now.

busy bee, social butterfly, fake-geriatric elephant? or something?

2009-06-14T21:07:00.003-04:00

Before we get into this week’s tomfoolery, I would like to officially announce that I am apparently a few birthday cakes away from being 87. I went to the library on Friday to check out a book which I discovered was all checked out at Reston except for….you guessed it…the large print edition. I feel ridiculous reading it.

Moving on. To the week! Franklin and I hung out Tuesday night. We had dinner and then we went back to the apartment to hang out. I read magazines and goofed around on the internet while Franklin expertly put together an entertainment center. We know how to party.

Wednesday was a car-fixing appointment and then I spent the day with Kelley, Ryan and Jack! It was our third Wednesday in a row hanging out – we are on a (super awesome) roll.

Thursday. Richmond. Lunch with Lesley. Hang out time with Lesley, Allison and Sha. Surprised Dana for her birthday. PF Changs. Cake. Delicious. Awesome.

Friday was wonderfully slow. Drove home, made the aforementioned embarrassing library trip, maybe applied to a job or something, I don’t know. I’ll use this section to point out a new attitude I’m trying out. So, here’s the thing. I’m applying for jobs, right? Constantly adjusting resumes and volunteering and doing some networking and always looking and taking suggestions from people and trying to be open, and, I don’t think there’s a lot I’m doing wrong. It still sucks but I’m trying. So in the meantime between now and that sweet, sweet day when I’m offered employment, I’ve decided to embrace and enjoy it. How else would I have been able to spend the day with Kelley and the kids on a Wednesday afternoon? How else would I have been able to make the last minute decision to drive down to Richmond for 17 hours? I’m trying to embrace it and take advantage of those kinds of social options. So that's that.

Saturday was the mostest funnest. Missy, Franklin and I went over to Mike and Kelley’s for lunch with Mike and our visitors Meredith and Geoff!!!! They were in from Ohio for Kelley’s sister Melissa’s wedding. Huzzah! We played with the boys for a bit and then went out to lunch. I was carrying one of the boys in his car seat and totally clobbered a guy in his knee. After a mad dash back to the house and rushed getting-readying, we made it to the wedding in pretty good time. It was SO FUN! Seriously, the Thomas family knows how to throw a wedding. I know, I’ve been to two of them! Lots of dancing, laughing, excellent grub, and maybe some partying thrown in there. I’ll never tell.

Stayed the night at Mike and Kel’s and this morning we slowwwwly woke up. Mike went to get the kids from his parents house, and Meredith, Kel and I cooked breakfast and sat down and ate together just as Mike brought the boys back. It was pretty adorbs. I just think we do the “friends that turned into family” thing so well. ‘Cause I’ve never talked about that before or anything.

2009-06-09T10:56:00.005-04:00

Ye Olde Bits of Tid:

*http://tinyurl.com/qq62tn Oh my sweet jesus, nothing makes me happier than this, right now. Thank you for finding this Elyse! Amazing, especially with this summer’s cancellation of Screen on the Green, this makes up for it pretty well, I’d say!

*The Project Create (organization with whom I am volunteering) Showcase event was last night! A ton of kids came to see their artwork in MLK library downtown, and they performed African drumming and hip hop dancing. They were adorable and it was fun to put names to faces. Yesterday was the end of long days, my horrid dc driving, a dash of manual labor, and lots of fun overall. I still have a few things to do here and there in the coming weeks with PC, but things have certainly calmed down….now would be a great time to find a job (HINT HINT, UNIVERSE)

*You know what makes me happy and infuriates me at the same time? When things you know are true but don’t really want to acknowledge them….turn out really true. Like, I love to sleep in and, separately, love junk food. But I know that mornings really put me in a good mood, and eating well makes me feel leagues better than the alternative. Friday morning I woke up (before my mother, which is insane) and cooked myself a spinach and egg white concoction and drank a V8 while reading and waiting for a pot of Caribou coffee to brew. Even when it’s raining and gloomy, I just enjoyed the quiet morning and preparing good food for myself. I really don’t consider myself a morning person, even though I love them – I just hate getting up for them. Also I don’t really know if coffee counts towards the healthy morning, but I don’t care because I have a deep love affair with the stuff and that will never change. Anyway, my point is that morning was great and put me in an excellent mood.

*My birthday present from Missy was a New Kids on the Block concert! SQUEEE! They came to the Patriot Center on Sunday night. It was great. Here are my observations:

1. Jabawockees opened for them; they were pretty entertaining, except for that I think their masks are what nightmares are made of.
2. Our seats were awesome. See pictures. (note: my camera died halfway through, so check the flickr in a week or two for the second half...when I steal pictures from Missy)
3. I still got that rush every time one of them came to our side of the stage and waved or smiled or whatever.
4. They all look a MILLION times better as adults than they did as kids.
5. There were no less than four undergarment pieces thrown onto the stage. Really, ladies? (Our audience was apparently very horny…keep reading)
6. When they went to the center of the arena, they did this one bit where they took “requests” (or: just keep asking until someone mentions the right song) on what to sing next. From far away I shouted “SOMETHING FROM THE CHRISTMAS ALBUM” but they did not take my suggestion.
7. Joey still wears that hat with the top cut off and it makes me happy.
8. At the end of the show, one concertgoer held up a sign that said, I kid you not, “Give Me Sweet Cock”. I, um, I don’t…know what to say.

I just want to put this one up here, because it's my favorite one. Clearly they're still having a good time.

you always said how lucky you were that we were all friends. but it was us, baby, we were the lucky ones

2009-06-01T20:17:00.003-04:00

That quote is pretty much my favorite, and it brings a lump in my throat every time I hear it - yes, it is a quote from RENT…because Missy and I saw it yesterday afternoon! I hadn’t seen it on stage in about eight years, so it was basically all new to me because I forget things that happened more than like a week ago. (Conveniently, this post discusses just that amount of time) Um, anyway, RENT was great, I don’t think that’s too hard to believe. And when I got home I might have watched the movie….maybe. I might have done that. ….yeah.

Backing up a few days…last Wednesday was my birthday! I went over to Kel’s and we held and fed and played with babies and it was awesome. And Kel made a delicious lunch, and then we ate cake! Then more baby fun times, then Mike came home and we may or may not have eaten more cake. Later in the evening, after dinner, we played Guitar Hero* and watched silly YouTube videos. It was a perfect day.

Last Friday also ruled. Missy and Franklin treated me to a birthday dinner at Coastal Flats – the one in Fairfax Corner, so I basically had to park in Sterling. But the food was good and miraculously our wait wasn’t long at all. After dinner we went and saw Up, which was SO GOOD. Like, REALLY GOOD. CAPS-LOCK GOOD.

Our story continues on Saturday! Allison (college roomie!) was in town for her friend’s bachelorette party, so she came over for lunch – we hadn’t seen each other in a year so it was nice to catch up! After lunch I went to Tara’s for a dinner/jewelry-making party with some of her coworkers. It was pretty fun despite my inability to make jewelry that doesn’t look like crap.

So that was the weekend. This week is pretty busy, and today definitely kick-started it; I spent all day at MLK Library downtown hanging artwork for Project Create’s month-long exhibit. Loading, unloading, inventory-ing, hammering, measuring, hanging, cleaning, rehanging, blah blah blah. The good news is that we had a break for lunch and we went to Nando’s Peri-Peri (on my recommendation, of course) and it was GREAT. I love that place. Anyway, I’ll be back in Project Create’s office all week working on stuff for the showcase next Monday. It’s like a job or something!

So no real job yet but I’m busy with friends and volunteering so it’s okay, and as I mentioned before, distracting. Which is a good thing. Plus I’ve got some more fun things coming up too. It’s always nice to have things to look forward to.

*Speaking of GH, my parents got it for me for my birthday! So, that has taken MarioKart’s place for now. Though I don’t have as much time to play it because I’m actually getting out of the house. Imagine that.

****

UM, Remember how I said I forget things if they were over a week ago – yeah, I got through writing this whole post and I forgot to mention SEANA’S WEDDING! Which was on the 23rd, so of course I would forget about it. Yeesh. So. The wedding! It was great! It was downtown and I drove, and managed to navigate things okay with Sarah as my co-pilot. Seana looked amazing and the reception was a blast. A day full of love and dancing and fun. Good times.

crush

2009-05-19T18:12:00.002-04:00

Taking a break from the melodramatic personal stuff to give you some personal silly info. Conan O'Brien is my favorite late-night comedy guy. Craig Ferguson is 2nd and getting closer and closer to Conan all the time. This helps.

Not sure if that one or this one is better... He's just so good when he's in the front, like above, but also shines in the background with his dancing and facial expressions like in the one below:

Also, I'm an American woman so I'm hardwired to love the man's (or any man's for that matter) Scottish accent.

in need of a distraction

2009-05-18T01:15:00.005-04:00

You know how sometimes you're listening to a song, and all of a sudden it's like a line or two is almost audibly bolded? It's like your ears pick up on the way you've been feeling and they're like "PAY CLOSER ATTENTION, DUMMY" Was listening to Falling Slowly the other day, and this stuck out: "you have suffered enough, and warred with yourself, it's time that you won"....

Graduation was this weekend. I had an okay time. I think I was kinda weird all day Friday…I knew I was getting an award, and I also had to introduce an award. I can’t even be psyched about the award I got because literally 20 seconds of talking in a mic in front of a group and I get weird. I get really uneasy when I’m the focus of something; I really don’t handle it well when I know people are looking at me.

If I’m being honest, though, I actually am proud of everything I did while I was IN grad school. I did everything I wanted to do that I didn’t in undergrad. I achieved academically, I was involved in leadership in my program, my professors knew me, I studied abroad, I worked my ass off and made some phenomenal friends (I did this in undergrad, at least). The issue is that I hadn’t seen a lot of my fellow students in a while, some of them even since December before I really started eating my feelings and, when it was still sort of okay that I hadn’t found a job yet. But six months and an unmentionable amount of weight gain later, it was kind of hard to look people in the eye. Isn’t that sad? Yep.

I genuinely and thoroughly enjoy my fellow students and wish I could have found a way to enjoy it, but so much of it was about small talk. Small talk is the worst because you can’t be honest – which , for me, means updating everyone on how I’m upset with myself that I gained back ALL the weight I had lost (and maybe more, I don’t know) and look terrible, am completely broke, jobless with no prospects, and still living at home. So, honesty’s out of the picture, and I’ve got nothing else. It is REALLY deflating to have nothing in your life worth talking about, or to feel like you have nothing to talk about.

It just sucks that these times when I should be so proud of myself, are the times when I seem to hate myself the most. I can count on one hand (and have a few fingers left over) the things that make me happy right now; I need a few extra appendages to tally up of all the things and situations coming up that are going to make me feel awful, or more appropriately, that I’m going to let make me feel awful. This should be a really good month for me and I’ve never felt worse.

And not to go all meta on you, but to add to everything above, I know I’m being a complete baby about all this. I hate that all I can write about lately is whiny and self-involved and self-indulgent and all the self-hyphenated words that aren’t the good ones. I’m complaining about things that are in my direct control and an adult would just cowboy up and fix things. And everything I’m complaining about here is just the tip of the iceberg, of a mountain of shit. Mixed topographical metaphors included, I’m kind of disgusted with myself for it. So said disgust piles itself nicely onto the ever-increasing snowball of shame.

Maybe just getting all this out there is the first step in making it all better. I'm sick of dragging myself down, I'm sick of dragging everyone else down. I just need something to distract me. When I’m distracted from myself I’m happy. My friends distract me. A job would distract me. My dog distracts me. Sometimes my parents distract me. Diet coke distracts me (but I don’t think it distracts my tooth enamel, so, not good).

So, um, to give you some form of interaction on this one, what distracts you? The good kind of distractions, of course. Not, like, heroin.

…and so begins Operation BTPBSEFAI*

2009-05-04T22:28:00.002-04:00

(*Bury the Post Below So Everyone Forgets About It)

Nothing major to report, just a bunch of little tidbits.

+ Volunteering is going well. I’ve been into the office a few times but I’m mostly able to work from home, which is nice. I went on Tuesday of this past week and almost got locked in the enclave of the church in which the office is located, so, that was an interesting five minutes. Add that to the list of “Places Laura has almost gotten locked into” right after Department Store.

+ A sweet funny thing I overheard the other day:

A little girl and her equally young brother are racing to the front door of the library with their mom, who is walking and not really participating. The kids arrive to the door first…

Little girl: Mommy lost! Mommy lost! ...no, Mommy came in third place. Nobody lost.

Which reminds me…Tara and I walked around Town Center two Saturdays ago, and she was telling me how apparently the new trend in physical education is all about non-competitive activities, so everyone feels included and special and nobody is a “loser”. On one hand I’m all for it, but wouldn’t you also feel ridiculous if you spent class jump-roping WITHOUT a rope? Yeah. Not to go all Depression-Era Gramps on you, but in my day, we had hula hoop contests, dodgeball, kickball, races, that fucking Presidential Physical Fitness Test (at least the Shuttlerun was kind of entertaining) and I think we all turned out okay - if we're forgetting what I wrote last time, which, I am.

+ And speaking of Tara, this past Saturday we had a fun day in DC, at Passport DC! It was nice enough weather-wise and we wandered in and out of a handful of embassies including Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, Indonesia and a couple others. The were filled with food, music, dancing, culture, and lots of fun stuff. Fun times!

- SCARE of the CENTURY: So I recently applied to a job via USAJobs for this position with the National Gallery of Art. I was – I am – really really excited about it…and today (three days after the application closing date) I realized…I may not have sent them all the proper forms? I vageuly remember writing the requested information as part of the process, but now I’m second guessing it – did I really do it, or is my brain fabricating this memory to make myself feel better because I want this job so badly? The USAJobs application process is painful and kind of mindnumbing. I feel dumb. This is not good. I think I would be perfect for the job, and I really think it’s perfect for me…and now to not even be considered because of a stupid mistake, well, it stings.

...see how some of them are pluses and this last one is a minus?! See what I did there?! I'm sooooooooooo clever, I can't even handle it sometimes. So clever, that I fuck up great job opportunities. GAH I won't get a good night's sleep until this matter is cleared up. Erg.

live through this and you won't look back

2009-04-23T01:05:00.003-04:00

I have deleted this because, I do what I want.

You’ll always remember…

2009-04-16T01:08:00.006-04:00

…where you were (mentally or physically) in that moment, no matter what it was that changed for you – that maybe you didn’t know the world as well as you thought, the loss of innocence in a place or a person, the guilt of not being there, or maybe even if you’re lucky, a happy turn of events – whether it’s devastating or uplifting news, you’ll always remember.

Of course, we all have happy and sad moments that stay with us, but these particular events I’m talking about, these are different. It’s not just the event or the place, but that feeling. We all have them. I think a pretty common one is 9/11. I also have the following day I found out my childhood friend Tori had committed suicide, the night I found out Joe Gibbs was coming back as the Redskins head coach, and 4/16. I know the ‘Skins thing is a bit ridiculous, but I’m just grateful I have a good event in there.

On 9/11 I had been in college for all of two weeks. I remember waking up and like any other morning, reading friends’ AIM Away Messages...everybody knows what happens next. The day after I found out about Tori was the first time I dealt with the fact that the world keeps on moving even when you think it shouldn’t. Not everybody knew, but it was unfathomable to me that time wasn’t standing still. I honestly didn’t get it.

The night I found out Joe Gibbs was coming back as head coach, I was visiting Adam Temple and Bmo’s apartment (at the time) in Fairfax. Becky Porter, possibly Amy Rowland, and maybe a couple other girls were there, I can’t exactly remember. But I remember sitting in the living room, and Adam comes rushing in from his room with this look of unbelievable excitement. It still makes me smile thinking about it. He made the announcement, enunciating each word like he was even trying to convince himself, and we all jumped up and ran into his room to scour the Internet for more information. It was a good night.

Two years ago today, it was a regular Monday at work. I had come home the day before from a weekend trip to Blacksburg. That weekend was absolutely perfect and everything a weekend at Tech usually is. I was a little sad to be back at work, but still in that happy place that only VT can produce. Then my coworker Alpha (who is a VT alum as well) sent me an email with a link to a CNN web site detailing the events as they knew them at that time. The day went from there. Then came weeks, and now, years.

I debated mentioning something about today's anniversary, because I don’t know where to draw the line between showing I remember and care, and showing I remember and care by letting it go. If that makes sense. But I got an email the other day that my VT Filebox (the website VT gives you as a student to hold files, pictures, etc) is being deleted next month, and I don’t know. Going through those pictures makes me feel like this is a day worth remembering through recollection and celebration of a place that will always be home.

Remembering the time Lesley wouldn’t let me into her room until I said 23 nice things about her. I had to list the 23 to a seemingly uninterested door before I was let in. Or the utter ridiculousness that was everything about my participation in PSE, but that did give me the gift of some very special people that have a solid hold on my heart. Or the palpable energy of every single football game.

Anyway, this is all a long way of saying I love Virginia Tech. I am now and always a Hokie.

new link

2009-04-15T01:07:00.003-04:00

So as you can see I finally got around to adding the ol' links back, after what people on the streets are calling "LauraisadumbassinregardstochangingherblogGate" and/or "Don'tthinkyouknowanythingaboutHTMLcodingforblogtemplatesbecauseyoudont 09"**

I just added a new one, 1000 Awesome Things. It's, well, awesome. Also, bonus, their links are great. So, win-win-win.

**It's clear no one on the street is very good at catastrophe-naming. I don't think either of those will gain popularity, nor will they get any press if for no reason other than incredibly non-catchy names.

late to the party

2009-04-12T02:05:00.002-04:00

My latest topic o’uselessness on twitter was being late to parties. Not real parties, of course, but the proverbial ones. You know what I mean. As I was watching the last two episodes of Season 4 of The Wire today, I was thinking to myself how incredibly good this show is…and then I thought of how people were saying that seven years ago.

The more I thought about it, I realized I can’t think of a single TV show (with multiple seasons under its belt, still broadcasting or cancelled) that I love and have watched from day one. I think the closest I’ve come is 30 Rock, but even then I missed a good chunk of the first season. I was busy thinking Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was the good “behind the comedy sketch show scene” show*. Hm. But really, let’s examine this: Sports Night. LOST. How I Met Your Mother. Arrested Development. Family Guy. The Office. Flight of the Conchords. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. West Wing. Big Love. Some of these I jumped on a season or two in, some of them not even until they were over. For several years.

I make the specification of multiple seasons just because we don’t know how things will play out, and (*)clearly I have television judgement issues. Shows may start out great but then they start sucking: Desperate Housewives. Or shows that I loved only made it through one season, if that: Justice. Or a combination of both: The Nine. Six. Perhaps other numbered shows.

I don’t fare much better with music. I’m a huge fan of Ray Lamontagne, but didn’t discover him until right before his second album came out. I love Jimmy Eat World but I didn’t catch on to them until, geez, their fourth album, I think? Anyway I can think of very few bands that I have found without recommendation from others, or seeing them in a public forum considered to book successful artists. Though if Coconut Records (Jason Schwartzman) becomes more commercially successful, we can forget this whole paragraph. Or at least I’ll have one example to the contrary of the general theme I’m portraying here.

Though I guess it’s a little more difficult to say “you knew them when” for bands/musical acts. With TV shows, they are either made or they aren’t. You can’t have varying levels of “underground” with TV shows. I guess the closest you would come to such a thing is what they call a cult following? With music, you can argue you saw an act live before an album ever came out, or an independently produced album or record only had like 30 sales or some such craziness, or hell, you saw them on VH1’s “You Outta Know”. I don’t know.

I’ve only mentioned TV and music, but certainly there are books* and movies* too.

What I’m trying to find out is, am I the only one that is late to any and seemingly all pop culture parties? Or have you been the first and only guest to arrive at a party that sunk harder than the Titanic?

*Didn’t start reading Harry Potter until Book 4 had come out. *Didn’t see Shawshank Redemption until maybe three years ago.

shake it up

2009-04-09T17:16:00.002-04:00

The last two weeks have been pretty excellent. Friends from out of town, some new experiences, and a completely overhauled, shiny, new resume. Shakin' things up over here. Likin' it.

For one, the last couple weeks' fantasticness (it's a word. look it up. er, wait. don't) has been due to the appearance of a certain Kristin Delo and Dan Myers, on a whirlwind east coast tour. Luckily we were all able to spend a solid amount of time together, with babies and friends and wii and all the things you need to make a good night o’ friendship. I heart us.

Also, the fantastic Kelly Obenauer came to visit! She was in the city for a conference, being an adult and what not, so I went into the city to visit. It had been two years since we saw each other, which is alllll sorts of absurd. So we walked around and saw the cherry blossoms, and Bob Ryan getting his on-location forecast on. And yes, I did geek out a little bit. Local celebrity, eee! HOWEVER, let it be said, he is no Doug Hill. We also walked up to the Lincoln Memorial, and then up to the White House, then on to Chef Geoff’s for dinner! It was an excellent D.C. day. I’m always up for being a tourist in my own city. Except for when I get irritated by the real tourists. Mostly on the metro. Moving on.

In other news, I have started volunteering with a not-for-profit, called Project Create. They coordinate and provide professional arts instruction for at-risk youth in emergency or transitional housing in D.C. In June, they have their annual showcase of art (made by the kids) in MLK library so I’m helping them do stuff for that. Should be pretty cool. Good for the resume, good for the organization and it’ll give me some real event planning/prep experience.

I’m happy to be doing something work-related while still looking for a position. I really can’t take unemployment much longer. I’m hoping the things I’ve been doing in the last couple weeks will have shaken things up and reenergize my efforts. We’ll see!

I have a confession to make..

2009-04-06T18:08:00.004-04:00

I watch this video (still....it came out in October of 08) probably twice a week. And I can't hear the real version now without singing this version in my head.

My favorite parts are how high Will Forte's voice goes on the "vampire BUT with dogs" and then Amy giggling in the background at the end. Gets me every time. Still.

my day in noises

2009-03-30T20:34:00.002-04:00

blerggg (don't want to get up)

awwww (didn't end up getting to see babies or Thomas fam today)

AGH (playing mariokart)

SHHHHH (wishing our next door neighbor's dog would STFU)

*&#(@&! (playing super mario brothers 3)

meh (making final changes to new resume)

sighhhh (applying to job whose deadline is tomorrow)

eeeeeeeeeee! (making/finalizing plans to see kelly obenauer tomorrow in dc!)

EEP

2009-03-30T03:06:00.003-04:00

This is what happens when you try and fix something that wasn't broken. I lost the old layout in trying to Fancy-New-Beesley-ify things. WHY!?

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: I think it's back to normal. ARG. (sooo, how's everyone doin'?)

40 years

2009-03-24T13:06:00.001-04:00

Mom trying to show Dad how to add Favorites to the computer we set up in the basement for him...

Mom: “Now say, you have a web site that you just love…”

Me: “You’re obsessed with it”

Dad: “Like eHarmony”

Mom: *glares at Dad*

Dad: “Oh, okay, so, not eHarmony. Let’s say ‘I’mHappyInMyMarriage.com’”

Mom: “how about ‘eYou’reDead.com?’”

random thoughts.

2009-03-16T01:11:00.006-04:00

I watched three documentaries this weekend. I guess I’m watching so many because there are a ton of good ones available in the “Watch Instantly” section of Netflix, so…I pay for it, why not use it? Plus it was a rainy Saturday, perfect for curling up under a cozy down comforter and watching movies. You could say all three of these were educational in a non-educational sort of way. Which is to say, I was entertained more than I was educated. But that’s okay.

In addition to “Fuck” and “Jesus Camp”, as I indicated via twitter, I watched “Super High Me”. It was a sort-of spoof of Super Size Me, obviously. Doug Benson (comedian, usually on Best Week Ever slash all VH1 talking head shows) is apparently a big stoner, and he decides to stop smoking pot for 30 days, and then smokes pot all day every day for 30 days. He does all kinds of tests, gets a physical, etc etc before and after. It also goes into a lot of state/federal law issues that California faces. I was more excited by all the stand-up comedian cameos than I was the “message” of the movie, in all honesty. Arj Barker makes a brief appearance – I have a big crush on him. If you don’t know him, he plays Dave on Flight of the Conchords. I heart him. Paul F. Tompkins, Rob Riggle, and Zach Galifianakis also make appearances. I think I might be a stand-up comedy nerd.

---

I have this feeling that something is going to happen soon job-wise. I have no evidence of this. Something in the air, I don’t know, but I’m gonna embrace that feeling for a little while. My sudden optimism, I’m sure, will only be increased this week due to the following things:

*Frank, Blue and Parker return Wednesday night
*I got a haircut today.
*Because of FB&P’s return, I will spend the next three days cleaning the house from top to bottom. Not a fun process, but the end results always make me feel good.

---

Can I talk about OPI nail polish for a second? Can I talk about how much I love it, and it’s the only kind of nail polish I own now? I try to not be a snob about beauty products, but OPI is just so good compared to the other eighty billion brands I’ve tried. I used Revlon for a while because it’s what my grandmother used, but…it chips in three seconds. Sally Hansen streaks like a mofo. I won’t explain why I don’t use Wet n Wild. (hint: it’s because I’m not 13)

Nail polish has a weird effect on me; it’s such a mood-changer. A couple of weeks ago, after I picked my nails to death, I took a file to them and then put bright cherry red nail polish on them. I instantly felt kind of sassy, but a little 50s retro too, mixed in with a dash of gumption. ALL BECAUSE OF A NAIL POLISH. I don’t know if my mood is too easily influenced or what, but it works. Am I the only one?

Who needs enemies...

2009-03-11T14:28:00.003-04:00

Last night I watched a documentary called “Crazy Love”. Has anyone else seen it or heard of it? It’s a true story about a man named Burt Pugach and Linda Riss. It’s your classic “boy meets girl, boy and girl date for a year, girl finds out boy is already married, girl breaks off relationship, boy becomes obsessed, boy hires thugs to beat up and terrorize girl to coax her back into boy’s arms, police won’t do anything to help girl, girl finds other love and becomes engaged, boy then hires other thug to THROW ACID in girl’s face and blinds her, boy goes in and out of jail and psych wards, girl's fiance leaves girl because he sucks, boy still tries to contact girl and send her money, girl says no, boy is on parole and still tries to contact girl, girl’s friends set up a meeting between boy and girl because they are worried that girl is 35 and single and doomed, boy and girl start up relationship again and get married” story.

YEAH. Here’s the thing. So the documentary focuses on the obsession/craziness of the guy, and the general “what the fuck!?” of the girl….no one points out THAT THE FRIENDS HOOKED THEM BACK UP. The women, “friends” of the girls, tell the cameras that they did it, and schemed to do it, but never at all acknowledge how fucked up it is. And they still talk shit about the guy and wonder why she is back with him….WHY, IN GOD’S NAME, DID YOU BRING THEM BACK TOGETHER!? Jesus H., that’s almost more disturbing to me than the fact that they actually got back together.

It’s also funny that the friends’ motivation was that the girl was 35 and single…spinster city, here she comes. How times have changed, for the better.

Epilogue: This is just too good…”then boy gets arrested again for having an affair with a woman half his age, and making violent threats against her but gets acquitted, boy still married to girl after all this”

Even though I kind of just told you the whole story, I would suggest renting/watching it anyway. It's good.

Win, Lose, or Draw

2009-02-25T17:27:00.002-05:00

(This has nothing to do with that show. Remember it, though? Also, let's take a moment to remember one of the greatest game shows of all time, Supermarket Sweep. Seriously, how fanastic was it!? I hope they do a remake. As long as they keep the sherbert-colored sweatshirts, because, those were pretty much brilliant. )

Things that Win:

1. Playing Guess Who without asking about physical characteristics (ie you have to ask things like ‘Has your person been on ‘To Catch a Predator’, or ‘Does your person confide too much in their pets?’) (and hanging out with Meghan and her super sweet fam)

2. Having Jean, Lee, Missy, Franklin, and Kelley and the boys over Sunday night – playing host and watching the Oscars together. Put some much needed vibrancy into the house.

3. Seeing Kelley and her precious bundles of cute and love TWICE last week!

4. My parents and Parker will be home three weeks from today.

5. Tara got a job! …that means I’m next, right!? RIGHT!? :-)

Things that Lose:

1. Still not being good at feeding a baby and having a conversation at the same time. (Sorry Kel!)

2. Being done with Season 1 of the Wire and not being able to watch Season 2 fast enough.

3. Being sick of talking about unemployment, and the economy…and yet that’s all I am able to mention. I’m sick of sounding like a broken record!

4. Trying to get a normal sleep schedule again…forcing myself to get up early. SUCKS**

5. Paying for the cap, gown, and hood for my upcoming graduation. It’s expensive! I guess I’ll be a grad student for Halloween for all eternity.

Soooo, 5 things each, I guess it's a draw!

(LAME)

**Let’s remember who we are dealing with here – I’m talking about 9:30am. To most, that is sleeping in. To me it’s the ass-crack of dawn. How did I ever wake up at 6am every day? Ew.

This and That, Rock and Hard Place

2009-02-11T18:15:00.012-05:00

Wondering what I do to pass the time whilst I have no job? Here’s a quick list: Baking. Watching The Wire on OnDemand. Reading the Twilight series (Thanks Miss!). Cleaning every room in the house OTHER than my room.. Giving not-so-nice sideways glances to the tax form sitting on my desk. Using my Ped-Egg, but resisting the urge to do it every day because it’s essentially a cheese-grater for your foot (that is officially the most disgusting description ever, but the thing works, people). Watching “They Said What?” on People.com (seriously addicted). Netflix.

So obviously I’m still without employment. Still wavering between optimistic and gloomy. Here’s something that doesn’t help: My M.A. I know my degree has given me a lot of benefits, but it’s just incredibly frustrating that in this moment, it seems to be hurting more than helping. Yes, I said it. Let me explain, little ones. I am still very much considered entry level in the arts management world. Despite my internships and previous real-life-grown-up-job, I don’t have enough experience to be seriously considered for managerial positions. But I’m overqualified because of my M.A. I don’t have enough experience for Experienced-level jobs, and I’m too educated for entry-level. That leaves “coordinator” and “associate” level positions as my best option (and even then, the tasks associated with these vary on the perception of the organization)…so I have to either specifically wait for jobs with those titles, or potentially waste my time applying to jobs that either won’t take me seriously based on experience, or assume too much about me based on my M.A*. Awesome.

Okay, rant/pity party over. Things will work out, and the right thing will come along, but it’s hard to stay patient.

This happened a long time ago, but I keep forgetting to mention it. Schmapp (online/iPone application Map-Guide) contacted me a few months ago to tell me that a couple of my photographs from London/Paris are being used for their guides! Nothing really comes of it other than a credit under the photographs. No compensation, but it’s still a neat kinda thing.

Here is the one for Bath: http://www.schmap.com/bath/sights_museums/#p=115754&i=115754_22.jpg

and for Paris: http://www.schmap.com/paris/sights_montparnasse/#p=18707&i=18707_71.jpg

Thirdly, this guy:

Please indulge me with these photos. I miss my doggy terribly. Also, for anyone that is just joining us, he isn’t in doggie heaven or anything. He’s just in Florida with my parents. I’m just melodramatic.

Speaking of melodramatic, I loooooaaathe Tatiana delSTFU from American Idol. But I love Anoop. Also, have you heard of that Stage 46 book? I’m curious to read it but I don’t really want to buy it. I love AI, but it’s totally rigged. Like, voting is a sham, winner is chosen by the producers rigged. Or maybe not, but I love a good conspiracy theory.

lylas/kit/lol/ttfn,

LB

*Lest you think this is all in my head, this opinion/information is based upon a conversation I had with a friend of mine in our program, who went on an interview with a woman who essentially told her this. DOUBLE AWESOME.

awwwww

2009-01-30T15:29:00.002-05:00

My dad sent me this picture via text the other day. It made me squeal.

You can see our little guy is adjusting quite well in his new vacation home, complete with a porch in which to lounge and follow the sun on all of the furniture, and of course, a bone.

I miss him.

it posts it on the facebook, or else it gets the hose again

2009-01-30T00:58:00.002-05:00

I did it on facebook, so I'm cheating and putting it here to get something new up without having to go into anything I'm doing lately...because, I'm not doing a damn thing. Oops I guess I gave it away anyway!

the 25:

1. I really like the word “clever”.

2. I like to learn. I like being in school.

3. The following things give me immense pleasure even though I can’t do any of them well (and I wish that I could): singing, graphic design, cooking, writing, photography. So, like, everything.

4. Everyone knows I hate tomatoes…but I love ketchup and tomato soup.

5. I alternate between feeling excited and out-of-my-mind-terrified about the future.

6. I’m more excited by having a similar sense of humor/pop culture tastes with a guy versus values and such. Maybe that’s why I’m single?

7. Two things that can make me stop in my tracks and completely lose focus: dogs, a song I love.

8. I LOVE to make lists. I would make a list of lists I have to make.

9. Sometimes I am so much like my dad that it scares me.

10. I cannot stand when people crap all over other people’s taste in music**. Just because someone likes something you don’t doesn’t make it bad. It’s subjective. (**except for when people hate on Nickelback, then it’s kinda funny)

11. I love DC and everything related to it, even though I love it here…I suffer from wanderlust.

12. I love to make my friends laugh.

13. I’m not good with money. I like to spend it. Especially at Target.

14. I have a hard time designating my favorite/least favorite things. I like options!

15. Until about eleven months ago, I thought the phrase was “for all intensive purposes”, as opposed to “for all intents and purposes”. I’m a little ashamed of this.

16. I only really feel confident in myself when I’m around my friends.

17. I am annoyingly indecisive.

18. I strongly dislike the word “panties”. It simultaneously creeps me out and makes me want to punch things. Say it with me, UNDERWEAR.

19. I haven’t found that thing I’m really really good at. I’d like to.

20. I’m not meant to be leader, #1, or top dog at/of anything – I’m just not good at it and I don’t particularly like it. I don’t mind being top-tier, though.

21. I like wearing my grandmother’s jewelry.

22. I'm still really irritated over #18.

23. I think hugs and handshakes should always be strong, and I don’t like when people don’t execute them as such.

24. I like adverbs.

25. After I made this list, I rearranged things so it would have some sort of balance between the one-line facts and the multi-lined ones. Yeah.

A great day.

2009-01-21T12:15:00.002-05:00

Like many Americans, I can say I was there. Granted, I could see very little (even with the jumbo-trons) and part of my experience was more about listening than watching, but I can always go home and watch it over again. You can’t attend it over again, right? Right.

I wouldn’t even have considered going, but Mrs. Parnham’s father and his wife have a townhouse at 4th and G SW, and they were out of town. So myself, my mom, Taylor, Mrs. Parnham, and another family friend Julie drove in Monday night, slept there, got bundled up Tuesday morning and had a relatively hassle-free walk to the mall! Mobs and mob-mentalities can often times be annoying, but when you’re there for such an historic event, and everyone there loves and supports and probably voted for the guy, everyone is pretty civil and happy and considerate with each other.

We ended up standing right in front of the Smithsonian Castle, which is about halfway between the Washington Monument and the Capitol. Our position was pretty good, but being short makes it difficult to see the jumbo trons when the people really start packing in and everyone chose to wear giant fur hats.

We didn’t stay for the parade. Once the Inauguration was over (we started moving when the poet started…sorry) we walked up the mall to head home, stopping only when the guy speaking the benediction busted out the “black won’t be asked to get back, brown can stick around, yellow can be mellow...” lines – we all stopped and started laughing, along with everyone on the mall. So then we cut through the Air and Space Museum, got a few seconds of warmth before heading back to the townhouse and watching the parade while eating a hot lunch and warming up. It was pretty perfect.

Surprisingly there was NO traffic when we drove in and out of the city. Like, less traffic on 66 than there are on normal days. There weren’t any restrictions for out-bound travelers so I really expected traffic going home, but there wasn’t any. Oh well, I’m not complaining!

Plus there were a bunch of cool little extras. Seeing Luke Russert taking pictures with everyone (I was too shy to do it, so I just stood and stared. That’s much less weird) and walking by the MSNBC tower and seeing Keith Olbermann! Then, if you were watching C-Span around 1pm-ish, you would have seen all of us! I was last in line to walk by, and you can hear me, like a total weirdo, go “yay, Virginia Tech!”. It was because I didn’t even think the camera was live, and the camera-man had VT gloves on. For some reason I expected some sort of acknowledgement or response from him…now it makes more sense. Oops.

I only took a few pictures, but I’ll get more once I steal them from everyone else :-)

Keith! I heart you.

smiling

2009-01-13T22:52:00.003-05:00

(Sadly, not because of a job. Still no word, but I'm still trying and doing my best to stay positive even though that's not really happening)

If I haven't mentioned my obsession for Jason Schwartzman, well, then...now is the time to do it. Because he made me happy today.

First of all, I love him in the movie Shopgirl. Lurrrve that movie. Then my man goes and brings the world Nighttiming, one of my favorite albums of 2007, which, I still listen to all the time. Usually if I come across music I like, I'll listen to it non-stop for a couple of months then get sick of it. Still haven't gotten sick of Nighttiming, almost two years later.

Just in case I ever do, Jason has me covered. Today I discovered that he released Davy, his sophomore record! Hooray! I've got it on right now, I'm on track four. It has the same effect on me as Nighttiming. It makes me calm and sigh contentedly and smile and listen.

All three of those things are good to practice whether you're listening to music or not, so thanks to JS.

a mish-mash of things

2008-12-30T23:11:00.006-05:00

Um, I’ve got like 20 different posts started, and then I run out of things to write. So you’re going to get a sampler platter of the (estimated) 30 billion thoughts whirling around in my head.

First, I tried to do a Best/Worst of 2008, but honest to goodness, I couldn’t think of anything for the Worst part. Either there isn’t anything major, or I’m just blocking it out – regardless, I’m not going to think on it too much further because it ultimately means I had a pretty good 2008. The best of the best for 2008 are definitely:

*A summer in London and a month in California.

*Last Saturday night: Seven solid hours of eating really good food, laughing til I cried, holding precious baby boys in santa suits, playing Harry Potter Clue, Partini, Guitar Hero and MonkeyBall, and generally being boisterous with my best friends until the wee hours of the morning. You know you have the right group of friends when seven hours feels like one.

*This Christmas. It was a really great one.

*Getting my masters. I think back to a little over a year ago when I was still working, and it feels like a totally different life. And I like this one much better. So even if the very next job I get isn’t exactly what I want, it still means that grad school was the right decision, and that makes me very proud of/happy for myself.

Next up, some family shenanigans. I know I talk a lot about wanting to move out… and I do. But it should be known that I do laugh a lot with my parents. Here are a couple of stories:

*If you’ve spent any considerable amount of time with me, chances are you’ve heard me recall the occasion when my dad was trying to build a fire and something wasn’t going to his liking, so he grumbled to himself “Oh, balls”. And then I laughed for about half an hour. And I’m laughing right now as I’m typing this. I’m pretty sure this incident was about two years ago and I still laugh my ass off every time I think about it… Well, it turns out this little incident has a Benson family history. Apparently the phrase originated with my grandfather, who crafted it in an effort to stop cursing (because he thought it would be a bad influence on the boys). My dad said that the first time his dad used it, he had the exact same reaction I did. I’m glad to see the sense of humor runs in the family. I hope the guy I marry is willing to carry on this phrase. It might be a dealbreaker otherwise. Also, I joke that sometimes I have the sense of humor of a 14 year old boy and turns out, it’s actually true.

*My mother may be one of the sweetest women on the planet. She is so nice and polite and accomodating..and then you have my dad and I. Our favorite game is to tease her and joke around and try and get her to stoop to our mean, crass level...and then when she does, turn on her and act all sad and accuse her of being the mean one in the family. We pretend to comfort each other because we live in a house that is ruled by a tyrannical woman. I don’t know why she still talks to us.

*From the previous stories you can see that my dad and I are quite often in cahoots and guilty of ganging up on my mom, it’s true. She even gets the short end of the stick, even when we don’t mean to. The morning of Thanksgiving, I woke up and came downstairs, made myself a bagel and sat down on the couch in between Parker and my Mom…and then accidentally spilled my plate onto the floor. I’m a little bit ashamed to admit that I went by the five second rule – I inspected it for any major damage, which it had none, and then put it back down and started to watch the Macys Day Parade. After a few minutes I pick up the bagel, take a bite, and then, thinking I’m being a sweet, loving daughter, ask my mom if she wants any. She says yes thank you, and as I hand it to her she takes a comedically perfect pause and says, with just the right amount of sarcastic skepticism and timid emotion, “…is this the half that fell on the floor?”

Finally, I was bored out of my mind and was trying to continue the trend of Laura-izing pop-culture things you already know. So you’re going to suffer through my version of iTunes’ Celebrity Playlist. For the record, if I was a celebrity, I would be dating John Krasinski (or Seth Meyers, the guy from Chuck, or Demitri Martin).

Narcolepsy – Third Eye Blind: Yes, go ahead and laugh. This album just reminds me of the 90s and freshman year of high school, and I don’t know, I find it catchy. And the lead singer is hot. Also remember on Road Rules when they had to do a PSA for suicide and they used the song “Jumper”, and they showed it at a Third Eye Blind concert? How deliciously 90s. I miss those RR/RW days.

Love Soon – John Mayer: Old School JM, and it’s sweet and it reminds me of freshman year of college when I first started listening to him. I saw him twice that year, once at Roanoke College with KK and Matt, and again at WVU when Nikki and I got his autograph after the show…and we stayed wth Brian Haas. You gotta love it.

Say It To Me Now - Glen Hansard: (from the Once soundtrack) Moving away from the nostalgia trend, the way Hansard sings this is hearbreakingly wonderful. The whole soundtrack is great, but this one easily stands out as my favorite. I was watching the movie and upon hearing it, I immediately made a mental note to find it and download it, and couldn’t stop thinking about it the rest of the film.

Linus and Lucy – Vince Guaraldi: Do I have to explain this one? I don’t think I should have to. If this song doesn’t instantly make you happy, you have some issues my friend.

Good Lovin’ – The Rascals: If I didn’t have my own personal ban on karaoke, I think this would be my song of choice.

Just Watch The Fireworks – Jimmy Eat World: One of my favorite bands, this is off their Clarity album, which many would agree is their best. I’ve seen Jimmy Eat World once before, and it was amazing but it was right when they were promoting their Futures album so there wasn’t a lot of room for songs from Clarity. They are actually playing Clarity in its entirety at 930 Club next year sometime, and it’s already sold out. I want to go so very badly.

OK, It’s Alright With Me – Eric Hutchinson: A new favorite! Great voice with a little edge to it. The whole album (Sounds Like This) is great, but this is a standout. This one and Rock & Roll, I recommend highly!

And anything by Huey Lewis. I don't know why I love him so much. But I really, really do.

So there you have it, my thoughts. Long and generally lacking substance. That's what she said?

siskel and ebert who!?

2008-12-21T22:32:00.004-05:00

(Yeah, I took it super-old-school with the Siskel and Ebert. You like the throwback.)

So, I saw roughly three hundred movies this week. Or five. But still! Five! Three of them being new ones, and the other two being Michael Clayton and P.S. Bonus for me, almost all of them had cute boys: Paul Rudd, Daniel Craig (the body and the accent, not so much the face..sorry Daniel), George Clooney and Topher Grace!? Love it. Doubt...didn’t so much have the hotness factor, but that’s okay. My reviews other than the (shallow) latter? Of course, no need to ask!

1: Role Models. Hilarious. I have a gigantic crush on Paul Rudd, so I obviously enjoyed it. Plus he co-wrote it, so it increased said crush. Swooning over here. Um, anyway, putting aside my teeny bopper review, the movie was a great balance of heart and humor (regular and R-rated). I’d definitely see it again.

2: Quantom of Solace. It was…good. I dunno, I definitely liked Casino Royale better. But it wasn’t bad or anything. I just wasn’t ready to move to Britain and start kicking ass and taking names, like I was after Casino Royale.

3: Doubt. First of all, slightly annoyed that it apparently isn’t being released nationwide? So we (Tara and I) went to DC, specifically the E street theater in NW, to see it. But we made a whole day of it* so it was fun. Anyway, the movie. I liked it, but I wasn’t blown away. I was expecting to be emotionally bombarded with these heavy themes and tense scenes and it would be gripping and thrilling and all of that, and…I dunno, I didn’t feel all of that. There were actually funny moments. Didn’t expect that. I think it the movie could have been better…BUT the cast was really great. In that way, it was worth seeing.

Aaaand I’m not going to talk about Michael Clayton and P.S. because they both came out eight million years ago.

Finally, I am excited that Burn After Reading came out on DVD today. I wanted to see it in the theater but never did…thank goodness for Netflix, eh?

*Went to the Portrait Gallery/American Art Museum and ate at the new Busboys and Poets on 5th & K. Good times!

PS: This post has no point. Also, can't wait to see the out-of-town CC loves soon!!!!!

Imitation is the sincerest form of something

2008-12-13T22:35:00.003-05:00

What am I supposed to write about here now that I’m kind of in a holding patten until I get a job? Maybe I can mirror that of other ones I love, but…kind of my own version (um, obviously?). Like, for example:

Amalah = child-having shenanigans. Um, since I don’t have any to speak of, I can talk about the last time I was at Kelley’s. I was feeding Jack and was clearly not paying attention closely enough because all of a sudden Jack said “Auntie Laura, this formula that you think goes IN my mouth, actually goes all over my own face and your sweatshirt – let me show you!” and proceeded to regurgitate forumula in old-faithful-geyser-like proportions everywhere. My first baby-related stains, awwwww! Totally gonna tell him that story when he grows up, and he’ll be all like “Aunt Laura, you’ve told me this story like twenty seven times” (how funny that Jack will talk just like me) and I’ll say “I know but it’s just so cute and I remember when you were sooooooooooooo little” and then I’ll realize I’ve become my parents’ generation.

All cooking/food related blogs = I really like potato bread, but we don’t have the slices so I have to make these pathetic little sandwiches using our hot dog buns. My dad wonders why we run out of buns so much faster than we do hot dogs, and I laugh to myself. Also, I go through phases of food that I like. These days I’m either eating: pasta (vermacelli preferred) with butter, parmesean cheese (none of the real stuff, I prefer the sweet green Kraft bottle…that’s right) and garlic salt OR my potato bread sandwich with cheese, bread-and-butter-pickles and lettuce. You’d think I was pregnant, except for that I have the palette of a seven year-old.

Any fashion-related blog = Um, I came thisclose to buying like 4 different zip-up hooded sweatshirts from Target. And NY&Co is my fancy place to shop. My nail polish rule is: dark red for short nails, and when they’re grown out switch to light pinks and beiges. I’m breaking all the rules over here.

Gossip blogs/Go Fug Yourself = omg you guise, did you totally see what Parker was wearing the other day!? OMFG I KNOW.

This one works for Cute Overload, too.

Enough already

2008-12-11T00:46:00.005-05:00

CLEARRRRRLY I've been in a bad mood lately. Thanks for putting up with me, World Wide Web-friends. (And real life friends?)

I'd like to give positivity a try, and push those other entries further down the page, so here is a post filled with happy things that make me (and maybe then you?) happy:

+When you grow up (only a little bit, it's still me, after all) you realize the things that really shaped you and mattered...I definitely think Girl Scouts was one of them. Maybe I could help lead a troop or volunteer in some other capacity...in any case, I think it'd be really fun to get back into working with them.

+These crazy kids:

They very much make me happy. Get to see them in two weeks. To be honest, events from the past three years** have kind of put a dark cloud over Christmas for me and I have NOT been looking forward to any of it...but I'm slowly coming around to being more excited, and it's completely because of those kids in the picture and their parents (The Parnham family, if you didn't already know that). We've been celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas together for about 15 years now and they are always the highlight.

+Tomrrow, I am turning in my final assignment as a graduate student. As soon as grades are posted...I will have a Master of Arts in Arts Management.

+Tara's boyfriend Brian is making Tara and I fancy food tomorrow to celebrate our completion of our MA program...we will eat said fancy food while watching The Office and 30 Rock and it will be glorious.

+Watched Iron Man tonight. Hadn't seen it before...thoroughly enjoyed it.

+Am so excited for/proud of Rosa. She got a totally cool and kickass job in NYC. Did exactly what she set out to do. Way to be.

+I've been spending almost all day everyday out of the house, because I can't get work done at home. So whenever I finally roll in at night and greet Parker, he gets kind of emotional and vocal about it....and then runs and gets a toy and acts all tough to compensate. It's adorable.

That's all for now....hopefully my positivity will translate to the rest of the world and good things will come my way and then I can inform you of (brag about??) them.

**not to ruin this upbeat post, but....last year: my maternal grandmother died and we spent Christmas and almost new years in the hospital, and it was our first Christmas without my fraternal grandmother (who passed in August of 07). The year before that my uncle died. The year before that my fraternal grandmother was in rare form and made me cry on Christmas Eve. AWESOME CHRISTMAS MEMORIES.

oh, me.

2008-12-09T00:37:00.001-05:00

Seriously scary...four years + four days ago …

“Finding a job sucks! You know what I don't like? How everyone says, 'What you get your degree in really doesn't matter, it's the college education that counts.' Okay..but...that doesn't necessarily work when you're trying to find something right after graduation. You need EXPERIENCE in the field you're working in!! ... How can I get experience if I can't even get my foot in the door b/c my resume may not have all the qualifications they're looking for. I think I have them anyway! I'm a quick learner,and probably have one of the strongest work ethic's of people my age … Grrr! Oh well...we'll see what happens, I guess. But I don't think this is going to be an easy process for me.”

Same shit, different day.

Patience is a virtue or some such nonsense

2008-12-04T00:38:00.000-05:00

Hi. I'm still busy trying to get through the end of the semester (and my degree) with dignity....aka something more than just "as long as it's in English and not scribbled on loose leaf, turn it in". God willing, I'll have more to say in a few weeks.

In the meantime, check out this web site, We Feel Fine. You can pull up any country, city, state, town (you can look up Reston, even) and it pulls out things people are posting on the world wide web from that location, and gives you a reading of that location's "mood". Little snapshots of people's lives add up to a feeling (or two, or a million). I'm not sure I'm explaining it well...but it's a cool site to look around. Neat idea and a really nice design. http://www.wefeelfine.org/ Check it out.

lovesss youuuuuuuu.

PS I added more pictures to my Flickr! Pics from Thanksgiving (stolen from Taylor!) and Heather's wedding (stolen from a variety of places) can be enjoyed.

on this day...

2008-11-27T13:26:00.001-05:00

my parents. friends that feel like family. healthy baby boys. reston. london. california. beagles. education. voting. sunny november days. puppy cams.

happy thanksgiving.

The one in which later I will probably be embarrassed that I wrote it

2008-11-26T12:22:00.002-05:00

I’m scared shitless about growing older. I love being in my twenties, but some things change and I don’t always know how to deal. A lot of it is good change, but at the same time it’s unchartered territory and that can be intimidating and hard to handle. You’re not 21, but you aren’t 40, either. I think there’s a weird gray area and it’s hard to know where you should fall. You start to see your parents as real people and not just the indestructible Mom and Dad; they get older, and it feels like the safety net under you gets thinner and thinner. People move and start careers and families and lives outside of the ones we spent so many years safely enjoying, and you wonder if the dynamics will change and spin out too far of your comfort level or control.

I probably worry too much about this, but I get nervous when I think about how we’re all taking different paths and to be REAL honest for the six people that read this, I sometimes feel like I’m stuck in neutral and it’s going to take a toll on the friendships. (begin psych note: being the youngest is a theme in my life and it bothers me and gets to me sometimes. End psych note.)

But then you have a day like yesterday and breath a sigh of relief. Rosa, Josh and I went out to Mike and Kelley’s. We all held Ryan and Jack for a long time, and talked about them and then moved into the kitchen to watch and help Kelley bake a cake for Mike’s birthday. We were standing in the kitchen and I realized, nothing was different other than the fact that there were babies in our arms. That’s obviously a huge and wonderful difference, but what I mean is the laughter and the conversation and the ease of friendship were all still there. Just like always.

Numbers

2008-11-18T15:48:00.001-05:00

4: classes left

1: independent study to start-ahem-I mean, finish.

3: weeks until I HAVE A MASTERS. WHAT?!

0: leads on jobs. Wtf.

Remember when...

2008-11-14T00:06:00.000-05:00

I miss you.

hilarity

2008-11-10T22:10:00.003-05:00

I love this show. I've watched this clip over and over and it's still just as funny as the first time I watched it. For it to make more sense...Mac and Charlie are plotting to beat up this guy (the Dad from 7th Heaven) and get polaroid evidence of it, and this is their attempt.

<

I have returned.

2008-11-08T10:05:00.004-05:00

“So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.”

“This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope.”

I really liked those parts, plus the whole thing.

Moving on, Questions and Answers:

Where have you been!? I know, I know. In addition to classes, work, and GAMS shenanigans, I’ve been busy! Monday night was the Skins game with Franklin, and we met up with none other than Lesley Longest! Tuesday, Lesley and her friend Casie wanted to sightsee, and I never turn down an opportunity to spend time in the city so I went with them. We went to Spices for lunch then spent the rest of the afternoon at the zoo! Wednesday, Tara and I skipped class and had a lovely dinner/bitchfest. I met up with the NEWLYWEDS Kevin and Sarai after work on Thursday for a little dinner and Grey’s Anatomy. Friday, I got to visit Kelley, Ryan, and Jack and HOLD RYAN (eeeeeeeee so tiny and precious), and then later helped host a student forum for my masters program, and tonight I’m going to a fellow student’s play on opening night.

You know who can sing well? Ray Lamontagne. Loving his new album.

Remember when I had that job that sucked? WELL LOOKY HERE, all my “hard” work finally paid off. That’s right. I’m listed as a Major Contributor for a government publication on transportation that approximately 25 people will ever look at. Jealous?!

What am I obsessed with? Nando’s Peri-Peri. New restaurant in Gallery Place. DELICIOUS.

You know what I need to stop doing? 1. Spending money. I have none. 2. I need to stop not having a job. 3. Saving pictures and things I work on to my desktop. I’ve got the picture of the CC on the stairs from Jean’s vow renewal, and all my icons cover up the faces of Meghan, Josh, and Dan. It’s not right.

What did I do two Friday’s ago? Quite a specific question, but thanks for asking! I went on a DC Ghost Tour with Tara and Brian. Oooooh! A fun, out-of-the-box evening. Also we had dinner at Nando’s Peri-Peri. GO THERE. NOW. So effing delicious.

Checking in

2008-10-29T23:45:00.002-04:00

Hi loves. No time to write anything at length right now, but I thought I'd share this with you:

The photographer said "This is the fun one" - am I the only one that got the memo?!

Weekend to remember.

2008-10-19T21:32:00.001-04:00

Dear Ryan and Jack,

This weekend turned out to be a crazy one, no? Friday afternoon your Aunt Meredith calls me and I’m expecting to hear some news about the baby shower we were throwing for your mom…which, technically, I did get. It was cancelled because, we got YOU instead!! Even though you were nine weeks early, it turned out to be such a good thing for so many reasons. Call it fate, a higher power, luck, science, nature, whatever….whoever or whatever was in control of the events this weekend brought their A-game, is what I’m saying.

Since a few more of your fake aunts and uncles were in town, we got to have a little reunion yesterday, which was oh so fun. It was the usual tomfoolery, which is to say: talking loudly and laughing even louder. You guys will soon experience this for yourselves, though not for a while. We’re gonna be on our best behavior around you two for a little bit.

Today I got to meet you guys! I have to say, you are unbelievably tiny and adorable and precious and perfect. Jack, I introduced myself to you and told you that I was the one that was going to give you and your brother all of the noisy toys, for which your parents will not like me very much. Ryan, I wanted to eat your little feet, that’s how cute they were. Tiny little baby finger and toenails AGH! Your cuteness is enough to drive a person mad, I think. Also, with your Redskins and VT blankets, you were by far the coolest babies in the NICU.

Anyway guys, we’re so glad to have you here. You have no idea how loved you are already. Also, get ready for a lifetime of your mom and dad’s friends doting on you.

LOTS of love,

(fake) Aunt Laura

ha!

2008-10-17T22:12:00.002-04:00

Breaking news from Funkytown

2008-10-14T18:21:00.007-04:00

Fine by me, as long as they don't get rid of Molly.

I picked up this information from EW's Popwatch blog. First I would like to know from the ladies, did you have these dolls? I never really liked Samantha, because I thought she was spoiled, aka I was jealous. Of a fictional being. I had Molly and Felicity.

On a non-American girl related note, I (not so) secretly (anymore) want to be best friends with Michael Slezak and Annie Barrett. Is that okay with you? Anyway, EW also has their Must List, for which they are currently taking suggestions.

*

I can always tell when I'm getting in a bit of a funk because I will start wanting to consume. EVERYTHING. If I'm sad, my go-to-fix-it is consumption - namely, food and anything sold at Target. I'm at the point that I realize it and when I find myself itching and twitching for knick-knacks and candy, I do my best to dust myself off and pick myself up and other such sunshine-y cliches.

Rosa helped this past Saturday. After her peer pressuring/encouragement we resumed our butt-early-on-a-Saturday walks with Reston Runners. Firstly, can I say how ridiculous I feel everytime I mention that we do walks with Reston Runners? Obviously not ridiculous enough to start doing the running with them, but it always makes me feel a little bit lame even though it's still good for me. Anyhoodle. So we did our 3 mile walk in the bright sunshine that accompanied our 8am walk through North Reston, and it was lovely. The way my legs felt on Sunday was not so lovely, but ultimately it was still great and considerably picked up my spirits.

A few days later and any trace of motivation or confidence or lack-of-a-funk is gone. I can't seem to really throw myself out of whatever state it is I seem to have allowed myself to be in. What is so frustrating is that I KNOW I'm in one, I KNOW what it takes to get out of it, I KNOW how to do it....and yet, that's what I'm left with. What exactly is my problem that I can't get over whatever invisible hurdle is in front of me?

I believe it's this invisible hurdle I try to break down with manicure accessories, cheap sunglasses and gigantic fake leather bags. It doesn't work and here I am with an overflowing closet. Literally. If you could see my room right now it looks like Mt. Vesuvius erupted with Xhiliration.

*

What was I talking about? Oh, right. So anyway, I thought I should take a cue from fake best friends at EW and take a minute to ponder my own Must List (but less pop-culture-y than EW's). What I've always needed thus far and maybe what I need to keep moving forward.

1. Water.
2. A clean room. (Just because I know I need it doesn't mean I do it all the time...)
3. You know who you are.
4. Good music.
5. Fresh air.
6. Comedy.

What's on yours?

Down by 14 in the first quarter...

2008-10-05T18:33:00.003-04:00

…and the Skins come back to win it!! It started off rough but our boys just kept after it. Also my boyfriend Shaun Suisham did wonderfully. I heart him, ESPECIALLY knowing that the Cowgirls got rid of him mid season in 2006 and we picked him up after that. Thanks guys! Also, remember when we killed you last week? That was nice. I'm a happy girl right now.

So. Last week. Last Saturday was Arts by George, a fundraising event thrown by CVPA. A bunch of us volunteered and had a pretty good time! Apparently MAM did well on the fundraising side, which is good to hear. Anytime an arts organization successfully raises money…it makes me feel all fuzzy inside. Especially if its an organization I’m involved in? Yes.

Tara and I were supposed to go to Crafty Bastards in Adams Morgan on Sunday, but we bailed due to weather concerns. I think it ended up being really nice, but I got to sleep in for a few more hours so I’m not too upset about it. Tara and I ended up having dinner at Vapiano Monday night, which was delish. Plus they have pretty decent happy hour so maybe we’ll try and make that a semi-regular thing.

Thursday night was…NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK!!!! Missy and I met up and had some Five Guys for dinner then watched some kid as the pre-opening act, then Natasha Beddingfield as the opening act. NB was pretty good, I have to say. Great voice. Seems cool. Then came….NKOTB! Before the concert started I was sort of mocking the other girls who were already launching into the eardrum-shattering screams; but once the lights went out and the intro started…I became one of them. The whole thing was done so well. The guys were GREAT. They have definitely gotten better with age. They did all the classics, of course, and rocked their new stuff. Everybody in that arena was on their feet, dancing and singing along. And screaming. I went to bed with my ears ringing and a huge smile on my face.

Friday night I went to a networking event that GAMS set up with the arts management students at AU – held at the Jazz in the Sculpture Garden event. We had perfect weather and I was really happy with the turnout. The only bad part was there could have been more AU/MAM mingling, in my opinion. I understand though, and I’m a part of it too, because the girls that were there from our group hadn’t seen each other in a while so it was kinda nice to be able to catch up with each other. We’ll be establishing a good relationship with AU though, and so for our first event, I would absolutely consider it a success.

In other news, how the HELL is it already October?! Can someone tell me how that happened so quickly? I have been telling everyone that November is when I will start my serious job hunting…I can’t believe that that means NEXT MONTH. Especially since what I really want to find is an organization that promotes the usage of arts for development (cultural, global, social, economic, etc) and I haven’t really found too many of them. Development non-profits are easily found but I haven’t seen too many that use the arts. Except for CuDC. And they aren’t hiring right now. Maybe next month? Anybody have any ideas on this? As far as I can tell right now my options are 1) work for a different type of arts group or 2) work for a development nonprofit and forget about the arts part of it. I don’t want to choose between the two; I guess a third option would be to start something myself, but that’s a lot to consider for someone who has NO IDEA what they're doing. I wouldn't know where or how to start. YEESH.

HELP!

Home away from home

2008-09-25T11:44:00.002-04:00

Okay, okay! I will update. Peer pressure up in here. Pictures from the weddings and a few other random things from CA are up on the Flickr. Hopefully I’ll get more from Heather’s wedding at some point.

Wedding #1 (or should I say vow renewal) was for Jean, so I got to reunite with some of the College Crew loves. The ceremony was great, highlighted by a superfantastic speech from Jean’s mom. The reception was fun, got to sit with the Greenspans at dinner, and then had a great time dancing and hanging out with everyone. Spent the rest of our time in Napa with Rich and Patti, our super-old-school-family friends. They have literally known me since I was born. My parents drove them to the airport about five minutes after my mom went into labor with me. (They had already promised to give them a ride, who were they to go back on their word?)

Once we got to Palo Alto to stay with the Scouffas fam (my godparents and fam), the fun didn’t stop! Lots of joking and laughing; just like old times…except I’m not six years old. Which, coincidentally, many people discovered during Heather’s wedding weekend. It’s kind of a weird dynamic. Everyone that I saw was still an adult, just as I perceived when I was little. But it’s different for everyone looking at me – there’s a big difference between six and 25. I know I don’t feel like I’m six anymore, but I don’t think I have any life experience to speak of that would qualify me as an adult, either. It’s a strange grey area. Regardless, I had an excellent time. I was glad KK and Dan could spend some time with them too. I like bringing the really important people in my life together. It’s more fun that way!

The wedding itself was amazing. I have never ever cried at a wedding, and I teared up five different times. During Shawn’s vows, during Heather’s, during the MOH’s speech, and then again during the “Best Man’s” speech (in quotes seeing as the Best Man didn’t deliver it, the other groomsman did). I don’t know what my problem was! But it really was a beautiful ceremony and then a really fun reception! Sadly the tambourine was not brought out – Heather had thought about bringing it but changed her mind. But that didn’t stop the fun! We danced until midnight then went back to the hotel for an after party that my godbrother Rick had set up as a surprise for Heather. I didn’t go to bed until 2:45am.

It’s all about your chosen families, people. It was so great to see the College Crew, who are the friends that we’ve been growing and nurturing since high school, middle school, and in some cases, elementary school. The godparents and their extended family are essentially my parents’ college crew, though they all started their friendships IN college. I really hope we all stay close and make the effort to stay friends because it’s definitely worth it, judging from my experience with my parents and my godparents. My two sets of parents can just sit around and not really do a whole lot but fill the time with talking, and LOTS of laughing about ridiculous things. Sound like any other group of friends you know??

Extras:

*What 540 number called me at 4am last night?! Who are you?!

*Coming up: ARTS by George volunteering, Crafty Bastards with Tara, NKOTB! and more

California Bound

2008-09-03T23:41:00.002-04:00

In roughly 9 hours, Frank, Blue and I will be on a plane bound for San Francisco. I am packed, only 1 pound under the max weight limit (dear god please let the scales work in my favor tomorrow) and ready to party it up with the CC and god-fam. It’s gonna be a good trip. Nay – it’s gonna be a GREAT trip.

The last two weeks: Work? Great. I really love it. I like working in Arlington and I get to play with office supplies. Classes? Meh, they’re classes. I’m going through grad school senioritis. I hear three weeks in California is a remedy for this. Friends? Got ‘em. Dinner and a movie with Kelley, dinner and a play at Woolly Mammoth with Tara, movie with Kevin and Sarai, dinner and football and movies with Jess and Franklin. Parker? Still defines cute.

Back in three. Weeks.

Neuroses

2008-08-19T21:38:00.003-04:00

Go through this web site and see how many of these you do. It’s a little scary how many of these I identify with. Here is a sampling of things people do that I also do:

“I eat candy bars in sections. For example when I eat a Milky Way I first eat off the chocolate, then I eat the nougat and lastly I eat the caramel. My husband makes fun of me for this, but I think that it tastes better in sections.” (I have a weird way to eat most sweets. I try and stay away from them in general, but I do this with Twix, Kit Kat, or any of the various Little Debbie things. Of course I also eat Skittles and M&Ms in order of least to favorite colors. Skittles = Yellow, Orange, Purple, Green, Red. M&Ms = Brown, Red, Blue, Orange, Yellow, Green. I also have to eat cupcakes or muffins by eating the bottom stem part first, then the top section. )

“I can’t open Pillsbury Pop n Fresh crescent rolls without holding it at arms length and turning my head squinting my eyes. With all that preparation, I still jump when it pops.” (Additionally, I am terrified of champagne bottle corks hitting me. I will not open champagne bottles, and I shield my eyes/head when someone opens one. Luckily I don’t have champagne in my life that often.)

“I have to have the programs running on my computer open in a certain order. If a program has to shut down for some reason and restarting it will put it in the wrong spot, I’ll close down the other programs to put it in the right order. I also do this with the tabs in my internet browser, certain sites have to be open in a certain order. If they are out of order I rearrange them to be correct." (I didn’t realize I did this one – but my Outlook has to be on the far left, then iTunes if it’s open, then my internet browser. I don’t care about the tabbed part of this one, though.)

“When I pause something on tv and someone’s face is on the screen, I have to make sure that they are wearing an attractive facial expression. If their face is all scrunched up or their eyes or closed or something, I have to play, pause, play, pause until they look nice.” (Haha, this one made me laugh – I do this too, I feel bad for the actor that I would leave them looking goofy)

“I am completely freaked out by lots of small holes in things. Like for example a tree trunk full of small holes all grouped together, or say lots of small holes across a lawn. Makes my skin crawl, and I can’t stop itching for ages afterwards.”

AGH THAT LAST ONE IS THE WORST.

Anywho. I love learning about other people's little quirks so this web site is endless amounts of fun - the comments section is also pretty entertaining.

PS - I would love to be in the car with this person: "While driving I must scream at the top of my lungs when any driver passes me on the right. " aaahahahahahahahahhahahahahaha

List o' updates

2008-08-15T17:44:00.004-04:00

1. Get Back. By Demi Lovato. LOVE IT. Yes, apparently I'm 12. I don't even care.

2. Went to the Skins v. Bills preseason game last Saturday with Chris and Dana who were nice enough to offer me an extra ticket. Of course I'm happy we won, but I was happier to finally spend some post-wedding time with Chris and Dana - I hadn't seen them since April at their wedding! Yeesh!

3. Since Monday marked the beginning of DC Restaurant week, Tara and I went to La Tasca (in Old Town) on Tuesday, and took advantage of their RW-Unlimited Tapas. YES. We were there for 2 glorious hours, it was fantastic.

4. Today...I got a phone call from none other than ROSA LEE!! She is back in the US of A! HOORAY!!!!! And I will get to see her and all of the glorious CC in 3 weeks. Cannot wait.

5. I got a job! It all came about because yesterday I had a meeting with Lori, the University Life coordinator at Mason's Arlington Campus. I've been meeting with her a lot since last semester, working with GAMS and what not. So as it turns out, they had an opening in their office for a student to come in about 10 hours a week for help with administrative stuff, event planning, etc, that kind of student activity-ish stuff. I'm gonna do it! I start next week!

6. Just because:

Reintroduction

2008-08-05T20:23:00.005-04:00

The week since I have been back has covered so many things I love about here: Redskins, family, Payless, friends, grad school, free refills at restaurants, downtown DC, and more Redskins.

I got up on Thursday, had some coffee and read the sports section of the Post (full of Redskins info! LOVE IT!!!) then went to the gym for an hour. It actually felt really good to be back. I know, I can’t believe it either. We’ll see how long that feeling lasts. After the gym I came home and enjoyed a FANTASTIC shower in my own bathroom. It was nice to not have the water temp fluctuating about 20 degrees every 5 seconds (not really exaggerating here).

After a shower with one water temperature of my own choosing, I had some lunch and then snuggled into my bed to watch Anchorman. Since we spent the entire summer quoting it, it was great to finally be able to watch it again. After the majesty that is Ron Burgundy, I took a two hour nap. It was glorious.

Frank Benson made his incredible grilled salmon for dinner, and all was right with the world.

Friday I had every intention of going to the gym again – but lunch and a nap won out. Oh well. Friday night Meghan, Matt, Jess and I met up in Dupont for dinner and drinks. We went to La Tomate for dinner then headed down to Vapiano for a drink. Then we went back to Ben’s house (where Jess is staying for the summer) and met up with Franklin to watch Tivo’d SYTYCD episodes and have a few more drinks. An excellent evening all around.

Saturday I had a meeting with my GAMS officers, and was named President of GAMS! WOO! For those that don’t know, GAMS stands for Graduate Arts Management Society – it’s the official association of our degree program. So that was unexpected and exciting. It felt good to start making plans for the semester too, and talking about familiar things and people and all that.

That night my parents and I watched the Hall of Fame induction ceremony which, as a Redskins fan, was amazing. Not only for the honors that Darrell Green and Art Monk received, but also for the overwhelming boos that the crowd (mostly made up of Skins fans) gave Michael Irvin. HA! There’s no place or time or situation where we won’t show our hatred for that stupid team. I love it.

Sunday my parents and I went to Dulles Town Center to do a little shopping and I got 3 pairs of flats at Payless to replace the ones that got completely wrecked in London. I am in love with that city, but I wouldn’t call it clean. Anywho, spent the evening cheering on the Redskins as we watched the Hall of Fame game against the Colts. Honest to goodness, I really had that “first day of school” feeling watching the game; seeing all the familiar faces on the sidelines and on the field, and of course learning new names and numbers. And get this – WE WON THE GAME! HAIL!

Monday night I went to dinner with Tara and Mandy at the jazzy-fancy Panera in Fairfax and caught up with them. Today, my dad and I went to the Dominion Brew Pub for lunch, which is one of my favorite places to go. And tonight I had dinner with none other than our favorite mom-to-be, Kelley! It was lovely to see her, she looks amazing and I am so excited for those boys to come into the world.

Other little highlights of the week include: watching Arrested Development DVDs, not converting the time into 17 other time zones, not doubling the price of something to get the real price, and having Cherry Coke Zero back in my life. See, I said little.

I'm from 'MERICA!

2008-07-30T10:21:00.002-04:00

First post back home! I’m excited to be home. My day was pretty long yesterday. If you put it in terms of East Coast time, I was on the go from 3am to 10pm. It took all of my strength to not shout “EEEIHHAHAWOOOHOOOI’MINAMERICA!!!” when we touched down last night. I thought that might make me look a little crazy, and wouldn’t help me get through Immigration/Customs any faster. I managed to contain my excitement until I walked through the herding area known as International Arrivals at Dulles.

I’ve been home for all of 14 hours, and slept for 8 of them. I came home, played with Parker for a while, talked to Frank and Blue, then went to bed. Of course I’m still on London time, so I woke up at 6:40am today. Yeesh. Can’t wait til that gets out of my system.

Little pleasures so far: Sleeping in my own big bed. Being connected to the internet ALL THE TIME – No more Pogolink!!!!!!!!! Using my cell phone. American dial tones. AIR CONDITIONING.

Today, Frank, Blue and I are going to Costco – jeebus, how much more American can you get than that, on my first full day back!? I love it. Then tonight, the one and only Sarah Nicole Lussier is coming over for dinner. We’re grilling out and eating dinner out on the back deck (if it cools down enough) – I am so excited.

Going back a few days: Monday was a pretty low-key day. I spent the morning and afternoon packing and doing laundry. Then I had lunch and watched two weeks worth of Daily Show episodes online. Liz and Laura came back in the late afternoon, so we caught up on their Irish adventures. At 7 we went and got dinner from Wagamama (yes, the third time in a week) and then saw the Dark Knight! It was so good! All kinds of intense, it was. It wasn’t a crazy night but it was fun to spend it with the girls, one last night of it at least for a while. We had fun and didn’t go to bed until at least 1:30am or so.

I’ve had to stop myself from calling London “home” a couple of times already. I think that’s just out of habit though – I obviously know Reston is home. London was just so good to me! I do miss it already. I was just getting to the point where I was comfortable there. I have been entertaining the idea of going back for a few months after I finish at Mason…but that would take a lot of planning and a lot of luck. It’s just something fun to think about, but for right now…I’m going to enjoy buying massively-sized food and household items in a giant warehouse and then eating steak and corn on the cob on a summer night with my family and one of my very best friends.

The weekend, continued

2008-07-27T15:01:00.001-04:00

Warning: This post will make you hungry.

First, a couple other food related things I forgot to mention: We went back to Wagamama on Wednesday before we saw Wall-E (Apparently it was a W-theme night) and it was all kinds of delicious once again. I got chicken chili men and gyozo dumplings. On Thursday I got lunch from the little café that is right next door to our office, Café Pomodoro. Chicken pesto salad on toasted ciabatta. So good.

Friday:

Continuing on the food theme….Portobello Market, part 2! First let me just say how much I love this market. And going on Fridays is the way to go – it is not crowded at all, but all the stands and shops are open and fully stocked. You have time to leisurely stroll and talk to the vendors and take your time deciding between all the jewelry, fresh produce, breads, antiques, and every other wonderful option. The food is so good but it’s also just visually pleasing. All the colors of the produce and the way the breads are laid out, and….agh. This place makes me so happy.

My breakfast and lunch (or lunch 1 and 2, either way) on Friday were, in a word, amazing. Jenna and I went back to the crepe stand. I got ham and cheese, she got nutella, but then we cut them in half and switched. SO GOOD. We walked all the way down the market, making mental notes of the stuff we were going to buy on the walk back. And oh, did we. I bought marinated artichoke hearts and we both got this incredibly good looking (and tasting!) feta salad. Then, we went to a bread/pastry stand and I bought an olive focaccia loaf, and Jenna bought a rosemary, sea salt and olive oil focaccia loaf. We then went to a fruit and vegetable stand – Jenna bought nectarines and sweet corn, and I got more cherries.

After I got home I just kind of laid around for a while, ate my cherries and watched some Family Guy episodes on my computer. I had my focaccia and feta salad for dinner, then I met up with Jenna and her friend at the Arc for a drink.

Saturday:

Went to Borough Market with Jenna and Sharon. Silly little me thought Portobello was good. No, no, no. I mean, it is...but Borough is way better in terms of food selection. And they give samples. It’s like Costco but on crack. We had such an indulgent morning, it was insane. One of the stands was selling glasses of Prosecco, so we each bought a glass and sipped it as we walked around. We wandered around trying different kinds of cheeses, brownies, jams, caramel spreads, mustards, meat, oils, and balsamic syrups (one blended with forest fruits was so incredibly good) and finally we broke down and started buying stuff. I bought a brownie, a roasted garlic and honey focaccia loaf, and some brie. Then came lunch. They had a stand where they made Raclettes and toasted cheese sandwiches. I got a sandwich and Jenna and Sharon shared a Raclette (which I had a little bit of) and they were so rich and amazing and I choose to not think about how unhealthy they were.

Dinner was the roasted garlic and honey focaccia loaf topped with brie and raspberry jam, then toasted. I don’t think I have to tell you that it was delicious. Spent the rest of the evening drinking cider and watching more Family Guy with Sharon. All in all, a lazy but very pleasing day.

Today:

I had originally planned to go to a church service at Westminster Abbey this morning, but instead chose to sleep until 10am. I’m not feeling particularly guilty about it, either. After a relaxing morning of drinking tea (with milk and sugar!) and reading, I ventured out with Jenna and Sharon to Brick Lane. We wanted to get Indian food but each ended up getting something completely different but good nonetheless. We walked back home and stopped at the Offside and had a beer outside. It was the perfect combination of a cold drink and warm sunshine.

We bummed around the apartment for an hour and a half, then Jenna and I made our way to the Embankment tube stop in the hopes of doing a Harry Potter walking tour that started at 5…we got there at 5:10. Oops. Determined to enjoy the rest of the day and evening, we walked through the Embankment Gardens, stopped to listen to a Bluepeace concert performance, then walked across the bridge, and down towards the Tate/Globe/Milennium Bridge area. It was a beautiful walk with lots of cute little places to eat, sit, and people watch. We stopped at the Thameside Inn and got a Magners, then hopped on the tube back home. Aaaand that brings us to right now!

Tomorrow is my last full day in London…yeesh. And sadly, I’ll have to spend it packing and doing laundry. WAH WAHHHHHHH. But Billy, Liz, and Laura will return in the afternoon and then I’m sure we’ll get into some last and final shenanigans in the area :-P

Be real.

2008-07-25T05:07:00.002-04:00

haha, okay, "be real" is just a saying that I picked up from Billy and Liz, but we say it all the time now. It just kind of says that I need to BE REAL right now - I have to go home and leave the fantasy land of this week. It's just been too good.

The rest of Wednesday and yesterday were both stellar. We did, in fact, enjoy our final Orange Wednesday, and we saw WALL-E!!! It was SO cute…I may or may not have teared up at the end. I mean, no. I didn’t. It was just raining on my face. I had something in both my eyes. Shutup.

Yesterday was great, which was both a good and a bad thing. I finished up my work, I had a good time goofing around with Greg, Shelley and Neena, and I had a really nice little debriefing meeting with Shelley and Louise. They had some really nice things to say about me and my time here. Super emo. Then we had about a 30 minute break where we had some tea and cake and ended up talking about various pet stories (oddly enough, most of them deaths) that had me wanting to cry I was laughing so much. It was ridiculously funny.

Then around 6 Greg, Shelley, Neena, Valerie and I went down the street to have a couple of drinks. I had such a good time – enter the good/bad dilemma. It was a wonderful way to spend my last work day…and an awful way to spend my last day because I’m going to miss it/them so very much. I absolutely adore the people I work with. Everyone always seems to have an endless supply of stories that never fail to make me laugh, to say nothing of how much I love their accents. It was just kind of a bittersweet day – I had so much fun with everyone, which is a perfect way to go out but at the same time…it makes it really hard to leave. I feel like I just started getting to know everyone’s personalities and I wish I had more time with them.

Shelley is a theater/drama person, so she is always animated, and very clever. She is one of those people that can have a very serious conversation about the most absurd topic, which I love to do. For example, our little joke is about creating a web site featuring nothing but dogs in hats. Well, and with larger sections dealing with other accessories. Obviously.

Neena is so unique and has a wide variety of interests and hobbies that I find quite inspiring at times – and she is so generous and caring and intelligent. Sadly she was on holiday for two weeks during my time so I didn’t get to talk to her as much as I would have liked, both in and out of the office. She seems very passionate about what she does (not just at work), and I think she’ll make a pretty big impact in this world.

Valerie only worked Thursdays and Fridays, so I didn’t have a lot of time with her, unfortunately. But she and I got along quite well, when we did have time to talk. Actually, I think she is one of those people that can have a conversation with anyone – she has done so many interesting things in her life (for only being 25), she always has a story or an experience that can relate to everyone else. Plus she’s German so you all know I loved that. She was from Bayern though (Bavaria, for all you non German speaking people), not our home away from home, Bad Oldesloe :-)

Greg is…Greg. I just had the biggest crush on him because he is just adorable in every sense of the word. Also because he was the only guy in the office. But he seems to have that balance of being a kid at heart, but then a very professional, well spoken individual. He also received the majority of my American slang, and I don’t think he quite knew what to do with it. Not that anyone does in America, either. I think he and I had a lot of little, weird things in common (both live with our families about 30 mins outside of the city, we’re both nearsighted) and I would have liked more time to talk to him.

Filiz was the other NCA intern but she left mid-June, so I haven’t talked about her that much because it feels like she’s been gone forever. But she was the first person to befriend me, and tell me all the little things about the NCA. She is such a caring, genuine person and I just adore her. Plus I think she and I had a connection being that we’re both foreigners, and having someone else feeling like “the outside looking in” was kind of comforting. She really was just one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.

Louise, the director, is also just wonderful. She struck the balance of being fun and cool, but a great boss too. I think it’s rare that you have a boss where you can fully take direction from them, but then want to turn around and ask what they did over the weekend. She was obviously helpful to me and my work experience, but just in general too – as a person that I got to know a little bit. And…wait for it…I wish I could have had more time with her too.

I mean, we have facebook to keep in touch (with all but Greg), and I gave them my gmail address, and told them (in all seriousness) that they better get in touch with me if they ever visit the dc metro area but…I can stay in denial all I want, but I most likely won’t see them again. Which makes me really sad because I want to shrink them and put them in my pocket and take them to DC with me. So I had myself a mini-pity party at the end of the night…which leads us to: going to the Arc for 2-for-1 drinks! Haha. I’m glad I spent my final Thursday in London at our home away from home, the Arc. I maybe had too much fun, but remarkably, I don’t feel that bad right now. **KNOCK ON WOOD**

The only plan for today is Portobello Market – Jenna just got here and we are off! Definitely going to get a crepe (I’m thinking nutella this time….dream big) and maybe some fruit/veggies for dinner tonight. Gah I’m drooling over here.

And, I’ll leave you with that. A sad little girl, missing her dear coworkers already…drooling.