kinda grumpy.

Sick and tired of work and all that comes with it (stress, lack of sleep, bad eating habits, falling asleep of-the-ass). Only 12 more days till freedom, and freedom means this:

Oh Charleston. This is where my sis' reception will be. So fantastically Chaaaaaahhhhleston.

QT with the sibs (both original and new!).
Annnnd with mi casa. Last time I'll see the house :(

QT with the parentals!

Honestly, who doesn't love a wedding? Nothing is more fantastic.
btw, this photo is from Old Sheldon Church. Where yours truly WILL be getting married. Isn't it just fantastic? I hope my future fiance thinks so! ;)
Birthday!
(this was last year, obvi.)

So yes, all good things.
But to make it through the hard part, would someone like to buy me these?They're on saaaaale!

i'm noticing a trend....

I am busy. I think we've covered that in the last few months worth of posting, and I apologize for my blog being so neglected. My life is quickly turning from the "hooray! I have so many events to go to-- yay for socializing!" too "oh-my-god I just want to stay home and do laundry... just once!" I have full intentions of staying in on Friday night so hopefully that will provide me with some much needed rest and allow me to go back to wearing my pretty top-of-the-drawer underwear again.

A little recap of the last month? My trip to the ATL was fantastic (except for the tornadoes) and it was so crazy wonderful to spend time with the fam (including aunts, grandmothers and cousins!). I really do love Atlanta, especially in the spring. The pear trees were in bloom and everything was green-- fabulous! Plus the stores were much more stocked with spring merchandise. Yay! Annnnd shopping with my mom is always good. She bought me this:

How great is that going to look with something like these??
She also got me the most fabulous yellow wrap dress that you will see me in a bajillion times this spring/summer: to work, out to dinner, at Eastern Market, whatever. I heart it. A lot.

After I got back from the ATL I threw a quick little surprise birthday shindig for my lover, Miriam. Aren't we cute?This picture actually wasn't taken at her party. I didn't make people wear nametags, I promise. I do have some cute pics from the party, but unfortunately they can't be uploaded due to my lack of laptop. Anyone want to contribute to the cause? This blog would be *so* much better.

Anyway, after Miriam's birthday my week was filled with exciting things like meetings and boutique work up until late Wednesday night when I decided it would be a good idea to drive to Fripp Island, SC... my happy place... and 9 hours away from DC. In fact, it took me 10 and half on Thursday night. Awesome. It was still worth it: 75 degree days, eating on the back porch at Panini's, looking out on to the marsh all day, eating shrimp, and spending QT with the fam all over again. Perfection in my book.

Monday I had trivia night where Craig and I made a big announcement: we'll be hosting our own weekly trivia gig! Scary, exciting, crazy. It's a lot of work and we should be starting next Sunday, the 6th: trust me, I'll post details! Tuesday night was a big Yelp event (the pic of me and Miriam is from that fantastic night) which included lots of wine, mingling, laughing, drinking, Guitar Hero-ing, being dressed inappropriately, and a lonnnng sobering walk back home. Good times, as always. Last night was more boutique work and we FINALLY got new tenants for our basement! Hooray! They've signed the lease so it's official: no double rent payment. Thank the Jesus. Tonight I'm headed to Girls Gone Glam, which should be fun: I love a good fashion event, always!

So that's my recap, not very exciting I know, but at least it's an excuse for this blog being so incredibly lame lately. Ok, so it's always been lame, get over it.

busy busy.

Things have been crazy crazy lately, and they'll continue that way for the next week or so. I don't have much time to write, so I'll give you a picture recap.

Friday, March 14:
Hello, Atlanta! I missed you!
Toooooornados! Scary!
*I know, I know, I should put up a "real" pic of the horrible devastation, but that's just too depressing for el blog-o.

Saturday 3/15:
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Happy Bridal Shower, B!
I heart my house. But why oh why did you sell so quickly? :(

Sunday March 16:
Back to DC!

Monday, March 17:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
*Surprise!* Happy Birthday Eve, Miriam! Yay Sonoma, yay wine, yay giant cupcake!

Thursday, March 20:
Happy 1st day of Spring!
I think I'll drive 9 hours to the beach today. Sounds like a good plan.
Be back Sunday!

Happy Easter, everyone! Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

flaaaarida.

Just thought I'd also add a wee recap about the fantabulousness that was last weekend in the Palm Bizzy.

The highs (in no particular order):
1. Waking up to this every morning. Glorious, glorious.
2. I did not get sunburned. Don't know how it happened, but I left much more this than this, which is shocking.
3. One of the bridesmaids just finished culinary school in Italy. She's a nice person to have around.
4. Seeing Camille.
5. Spotting Drew Barrymore, Justin Long (the Mac commercial guy), and Peyton Manning all within 10 minutes of each other. Consensus: Drew is teeny-tiny and absolutely gorgeous even with no makeup, Justin is all kinds of greasy and also teeny-tiny, and Peyton is.... wow.
6. The pool. Dear sweet lord I loved that pool.
7. Gin and tonics made with Tangueray Rangpur. So tasty.
8. Fabulous girl time with my sister and her posse!

The not-so-highs:
1. The aforementioned Reggie story. Although it did provide for a lot of laughs.
2. Spinning sharks (I shit you not) led to the ocean being closed. Bummer.
3. The Other Boleyn Girl. Worst. movie. ever.
4. Seeing the aforementioned Valentino bags in person. Le sigh. They were SUCH a dissapointment-- all slouchy and not good. The shoes, however....

poll!

Ok, here's my situation:

I told the boss-man on Thursday that my last day would be Friday the 18th. I gave him 2 weeks and 1 day of notice. Now I'm trying to plan my trip to Palm Beach and tickets are OUTRAGEOUS. So expensive. I can find a decent one that leaves Friday morning.

Do I?
a) Tell the boss-man that my last day is now Thursday the 17th, head to Palm Bizzy on Friday, and have a bitching good time all weekend.
b) Suck it up, work on Friday, run risk of not being able to find a ticket to the beach.
c) Ask the boss-man if it's okay to move my last day to Thursday, proceed with choice A.
d) Spend money on ticket to Italy instead, because that's seriously how much these tickets cost. Ignore the fact that I'd have to sleep on a stranger's couch when I got there.

Thanks for your feedback. Oh, and if you know of any good cheap tickets sites beyond kayak, Expedia, and the actual airlines' websites, I'd appreciate that, too. :)

i recall, central park in fall...

Sorry I've been so MIA lately. No, I do not have a new fantastic job that's taking up all of my time, or even a spicy romance to keep me occupied. Nope, I just haven't gotten around to writing lately. I've been semi-filing all of these great blog ideas in my head and then they escape soon after. I need to start keeping a journal. That sounds crazy, though. A journal for my online "journal." Not gonna happen.

Anyway, I guess I can recap my fantabulous trip to NYC this past weekend. I decided to take the train up on Friday afternoon to meet the madre and padre in the city. They were there for a business thang and staying at my dad's BFF's crib in Midtown. Schmancy. This was my first time taking a train outside of Europe or the shuttle to BWI, so I was pretty excited. I just LOVE train stations. Union Station is one of my most favorite places in the city, I could spend hours there. Maybe it's because I went to my first black tie "big girl" party there when my sister graduated from college. It was incredible, they had the ENTIRE thing rented out with circus performers and the like. But I digress. I grabbed an aisle seat next to some chick, said a quick hello, fished a crossword and my iPod out, and settled in. Over the course of the trip, and I'll note this was AFTER I bought her a beer, I realized this chick could not have been older than 15. Oops. I should have known when she pulled out her obviously library-version of The Joy Luck Club, but hey, I re-read Catcher in the Rye last year, so I justified it. Towards the end of the trip, after I had apparently made the wee one a bit tipsy, she busted out a black and white splatter-covered notebook (y'all know the kind I'm talking about) and frantically started writing in it. Disclaimer: I am a snoop. A big one. I can't help it. Anyway, after a bit, I couldn't help myself and I peered over to see what she was writing about. Well folks, she was writing about ME. It was so bizarre. I couldn't read the whole thing without being super obvious, but I did read "older cool girl," "my first beer ever," and "I'm so excited to tell Stef!" So yay, go me. I corrupted a little girl before I even got to NYC. This trip was going to be a good one.

I arrived at Penn Station and immediately received an appropriate NYC welcome: about 9 of NYPD's Finest manhandling some guy who was screaming at them for being racist. I'll note here that all parties involved were white. It was a great night, brisk but not terribly cold, so I decided to walk to the apartment rather than hop in a cab. There's no better way to see the city and I immediately felt the rush of being there. I made it to the apartment around 10:30 and met up with my cousin to head down to the Village. We proceeded to get some tapas and caipirinhas and then went to the Pyramid, and fantasmical gay club that plays 80's music. After the price shock wore off, I had a great time. Also met up with one of my boys from college and partied, quite literally, all night long.

Saturday's hangover made shopping a bit more difficult, but I still had a great time walking along 5th Avenue and SoHo. Bergdorf's really is divine, especially that $800,000 necklace and bracelet set that I saw. No, I'm not kidding, that's not a typo. $800,000 for a blue calcydon bauble. Insanity. I wasn't able to find a single thing worth purchasing and was a bit upset to see so many chains around, but I guess that's just what's happening everywhere. I'm so sick of Banana Republic. Ugh.

happy turkey day!

Well friends, I'm off.

Headed down to South Carolina for a highly dysFUNctional family Thanksgiving. Think 19 adults, 3 babies, and a slew of dogs. It'll be fun, as long as we all practice the family Golden Rule, which means that you must be buzzed at all times at family gatherings. It usually works out pretty well.

I'd love to say that I'll come back 10 lbs. heavier and full of food, but unfortunately I'm not a big Thanksgiving food fan. I know, I know. I'm un-American. I also don't high-five.

rooooooaddddd tripppppp.

helllloooooo.

Ok, things are crazy busy around here so I don't have a whole lot of time to chat (yes, I feel like I'm chatting with you wonderful readers. At least the ones who post comments. 'Cause chatting is a two-way thing. But whatever.) but I just wanted to let y'all know that I had a splendid time in the Chi-town. Got to catch up with my boy Andy and see my sister, which is always good times. We feasted on deep dish pizza, shopped till we dropped, and watched an awesome Lifetime movie. A pretty sweet weekend in my opinion.

However, I returned to DC realizing that I had absolutely failed in one of my fall goals. I took 2 pictures. The entire trip. And one is a super dark and therefore unrecognizable shot of the Harpo sign. Here:

Perhaps my goal should be to work on my photography skills? Ooops.

But, in better news, I did manage to capture this one from the Safeway parking lot:

Oooooooooohh. Aaaaaaaahhhhhh. The Safeway parking lot is oh-so scenic.

long weekend.

In Chi-town for the weekend!!

happy september!

Now that the summer is "officially" over (although you wouldn't know it by the temperature outside) I can honestly say that it flew by. I'm not sure if that was due to the fact that I didn't ever leave DC or that there were none of the major changes that summer usually brings, but whatever it was, I'm shocked that we're already heading in to fall.

My first and last summer vacay in South Carolina this past weekend was definitely needed, and I must admit that I'm feeling pretty refreshed. Although it rained for three solid days, I still had a good time. It was a nice feeling to be bored and it was great to spend so much "QT" with the 'rents. By Sunday night I was admittedly going a little stir crazy. The island where I vacation is absolutely tiny and doesn't offer much in the way of non-outdoor entertainment. After finishing my book and watching epic movies (Gone with the Wind and Sound of Music in the same day), I was ready for some major beach action. Luckily, I woke up Monday morning and opened my shutters to see this:

Glorious. I quickly threw on a tank top and my running shorts, grabbed the parents and the dog, jumped in the golf cart, and headed to the beach. Even super early, the beach was pretty crowded (for Fripp Island standards) and Tabby was able to meet lots of other dogs... even if they didn't want to meet her. There really is nothing happier to see than a dog running at full tilt down the shoreline. I spent the rest of Monday in the sun: my pale-ass Irish skin is not too happy with me right now... but my mom kept telling me I looked like "the white meat of a chicken" so I was determined to take full advantage of those UV rays.

Despite the rain, the trip to god-awful Hilton Head, and the utterly dissapointing meal at Hominy Grill, it was still a great weekend. It's a little hard for me to not enjoy a weekend at Fripp: it's my home, but at the beach. It doesn't get much better than that.

Plus, the ultra-luxe-extra-soft pillowtop mattress that I made my parents get for my bedroom down there is just about the most incredible thing I've ever experienced.