N-O-W...fail.

New hair cut (no one get excited..nothing new...just trimmed) but went out. Drank some fabulous cheap beer annnnnndddd


played my best game of BBHP EVER. Ever ever ever. It was epic. I became a something special with my 5 PERFECT SITES. yes that is right. I am from Idaho and I like to shoot digital buck. A-mazing.

Also walking home I over hear this:

"no way man. N-O-W way"

(in my head...wait isn't that "now way"?)

"No dude, I am going to get my jammies (I kid you not blog readers he said jammies) on. so N-O-W way"

( in my head again. OMG...figure out no...is N-O)

"Seriously dude, I just want some jammies and my tv... N-O-W way am I going there for you. N-O-W. I said N-O-W"

(head: no you said now...so really he does't understand)



ahhh yes. Friday night. Fab-u-lous.

Future Husband Inspiration

I am on a new blog kick, where I am just trying to find more and more and more and more to read. Through a newish blog I have started following: I *heart* you, I found A Cup of Jo and while I was devouring her posts I came across this look for my future husband (whoever that straping gentleman may be):

image courtesy of: Style Me Pretty

I have never really given much thought to that aspect in my wedding dreams. Probably because when I see the groom in my wedding dreams it is just a big blurry spot (kind of like when I take my contacts out and can't find my glasses). But I do have to say I really like this grey suit and the tie is to die for! I like the light grey more than I think I would a dark charcol.

And I have to say I am really digging this cube of a cake. Not sure how this would work for cutting and serving, but I love the contemporary design of this:

Photo Courtesy of: Style Me Pretty

In other news my old lady neck/back is better, but I am still in some pain and am trying to lay low. Hopefully tomorrow I will be 100% and feel like normal!

I also bought and have recived my wonderbar...so far...so wonderful. I will write a full review once we have had some time to get to know each other.

Bridesmaid Inspiration

So I usually think about dresses, rings, decor, location etc for weddings but I came across this necklace today and I would love love love (Shout out to you cole!) to have my bridesmaids wear these. I am like 99% sure I am going to have a very neutral palate for my wedding colors (if and when that even occurs) but I don't want neutral to=boring. But rather me to really focus on lavish details and dramatic things like this necklace!

Necklace: Vera Wang found on: FashionFuss

A little bit more Vera for you all. But I am in love with this!

Vera Wang Dress as seen on Bravobride

I am a big fan of large sashes and big full skirts that are odd layers of fabric. What I really like is the back of this dress has all those layers and they look unfinished but completely polished at the same time. Stunning.

Parentopolis

So I never really wrote much about my parents coming to visit me. So here it goes. A readers digest version of the wonderful couple of days I got to see them here in DC.

I had to work a few days while they were here but we still snuck in some good sight seeing and

some great family dinners.

On Sunday after getting some decent sleep we got up and headed down to see if we could get tickets to go through Ford's Theater and see some Smithsonians. We managed to score some tickets to the Theater and while we were waiting we went to the National Archives which was cool since it was something I actually hadn't even done/seen here yet. We then did our Ford's Theater tour which has been on my to-do list forever and it did not disappoint! From there we headed to the Portrait gallery, at a bit of lunch and then headed back to my apartment to get my car to go see the Jefferson and then headed to Old Town to see my old 'hood and grab dinner at the Fish Market (Yum lobster pasta!) Dad had a scooner of beer which was pretty amazing.

Monday I had to work but met up with my parents in the evening for dinner at Potenza which was absolutely delish.
Tuesday the parents did some marathon sight seeing while I was at work and then we met up at the Brickskeller where I had the most amazing beer that I have ever put in contact with my lips. More of a desert but this beer was epic!

Wednesday I took the day off to spend some quality time with mom and dad and we fit in a ton! First we went out to the new air and space museum out by Dulles airport which was really fun.




After air and space we headed to Arlington National Cemetery.

We then trucked up to the National Cathedral which I had not seen since my adventures to DC way back in High School, so it was neat to see it again. I forgot what a stunning cathedral it is.

After the Cathedral we even made it over the White House- AND saw BO! Yes we got to see Bo Obama frolic around the south lawn. After the White House we had dinner at Founding Farmers (which I am sure you are all familiar with now as being one of my favorite places to eat in DC) and then took a night-time tour of my office before heading back to their hotel after a marathon of a day.

Sadly we had to say goodbye and the parents headed back to be parents to the poodle who I am sure was antsy without them! But we had a great trip and I am so glad they made it out here while I am living in DC!

Weekend Re-cap and I Am Getting Old

Today was awful! I managed to pull a muscle in my neck/back leaving for work this morning (gah-can we say old age setting in?) and was in more pain than I could really manage all day. I also just had zero desire to be at work today and just felt off- with little ability to really focus and get into anything I was working on. I managed to get things done between the pain and my wandering thoughts but my prayers tonight are to help heal my neck/back quickly and to give me a renewed sense of drive and motivation to really make some progress at work.

This weekend was the perfect blend of busy vs. relaxing. On Friday night I had a relaxing evening in and made some yummy chicken and rice followed by a dab of ice cream.

Saturday I got to go out to my bosses house and celebrate her daughter's first birthday. I have to say I was so impressed with this party. There was a moon-bounce, face painting, awesome kids food (we are talking home made mac n' cheese, mini sandwiches, peanut butter and celery, chicken nuggets, and capri sun, oh and some beer :) ). I had a ton of fun as my bosses family are some of the most amazing people and have really taken me under their wing since I started working with her. Later that night I made Erin's famous artichoke linguine and watched "An Education" which I have been waiting for on my netflix for awhile. Good movie, but not as great as I was hoping it to be.

Check out that cake!!
The birthday girl rocking her awesome new fuzzy pink cheetah print slippers. She was a hoot!

Sunday I met up with Brooke who had some peeps in town visiting and we went to a Nats game. I am seriously going to miss Brooke more than words can express, but am excited for her to be able to start the next chapter of her life in Seattle.

Sunday night I enjoyed a relaxing dinner out and then dealt with some life. Friends (especially Seattle people- thank you for helping me get through that moment- you are all amazing!)

Shopping List

So a few things I have on my "need to purchase/budget" for:

1) A bed. As it is right now my ridiculously comfortable bed just hangs out on my floor, thank goodness it came with a box spring! But after many months of contemplating...I think this is the final decision:

Photo: Ikea.com

2) New Laptop- My parents gave me some money for Christmas and I just have had a lack of commitment to purchase this guy:

Digging the white. Just need to have some commitment to press the "purchase" button.

Photo: HP.com

3) The Wonderbar

I am a little nervous to spend $40 on this, BUT due to some of my allergies to certain prescriptions I am about to break down and see if the Wonderbar is really a "wonder". All the reviews RAVE about it, so I believe this would be a solid $40 spent. I am sure I will write a review once I make the plunge!

Photo: Culturemap.com

Heard & Seen: UrbanGrace

4) This jacket from American Apparel

With a pair of black leggings and my new headband. Excellent

Letters to a Young Poet

I stumbled upon this today:

Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart.

Try to love the questions themselves,

like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language.

Do not now look for the answers.

They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them.

It is a question of experiencing everything.

At present you need to live the question.

Perhaps you will gradually,

without even noticing it,

find yourself experiencing the answer,

some distant day.

Letters to a Young Poet

-Rainer Maria Rilke

I don't want to say much more, since I feel like I might ruin it. But I read this and I just stopped and realized that I am clinging so desperately to making sure I have the "answers" and really I am leeching the enjoyment out of life be feeling like I have to be in control and know exactly what is going to happen. I love these beautiful words.

Unsettling

I woke up at 5:30am this morning, couldn't go back to sleep, feel totally nauseous/jittery/nervous/anxious/restless/blah. I finally said enough of laying there and feeling like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. So we are showered, attempting to enjoy a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice but so far I just feel sick to my stomach.

Could someone tell me what my problem is!??! (If any of you remember the epic baby flu of 2008 that I had- I oddly feel a bit like I did the morning that the terrible on-set of that hit me)

I know that this is emotionally manifested and I am in no way going to have baby flu relapse 2 years later, but I just feel icky this morning.

Some prayers/crossed fingers/good energy sent my way today would be greatly appreciated.

In other news, Carly and I have been having a great time together and I am sad to see her go today. It is strange when the old world and the new worlds of my life come together and they feel like such separate things but then in front of my own eyes I see them mix and mingle- and its just a little-- unexpected. But I will post some news later on our fun adventures- bus tours-eating-drinking-and anything else I missed.

5-6-7-8

I am sure I am just behind in the times, but someone pointed this out to me the other day on youtube and I seriously can not get enough. I listen to it for hours on end right now. I am dancing around my living room right now (ok well not right now since I am writing this) playing around with choreography and trying not to wake the neighbors or roommate by doing any crazy leaps in my itty bitty space of a living room. I miss dancing. I miss playing the violin and piano. I miss those outlets of emotion. Granted the violin was one of the most frustrating things I ever took on in my life. And dancing had its own set of challenges, but I can safely say when asked the question "what would you do with your life if money and obligation was not a factor?" I would say:


Own a dance studio.

This is where I danced back in Idaho. Dance Arts had the most amazing environment and my dance teacher there was one of the most inspiring people I have ever met. I will be totally honest, when I started ballet (and I started late compared to most people) I sucked. Bad. But I can not even begin to tell you about the time Lary invested in me. By the time I headed off to college I had gained so much technique and skill and I ended up becoming a dance minor in college. Unfortunately I did not really buy into the dance program in college so it wasn't the experience I was hoping for, but some of my teachers there were equally as inspiring and I learned some great things from them as well.

I feel a need to really be expressing myself through dance again. I think for awhile I really was just emotionally disconnected from things which dancing is all about emotion (and technique) but if you aren't ready, or emotionally available to be passionate about it, it will be a constant struggle. Because let's face it- there is nothing natural about pointe shoes or the form of ballet.

Now I feel like I am in a place where I am in tune with my passion and emotion for dance and I am hungry to brush off the shoes and really make it apart of my life again. Sadly I have been less than impressed with the DC dancing scene as far as finding a studio that is close by, affordable, and comfortable. Hopefully I can find one and get back into it.

Or my roommate is going to have to deal with me using our dining room chairs to do barre exercises in the evenings!

Pickle Bar

Alright it isn't realllly called pickle bar it is actually called the Quarry House Tavern in Silver Spring MD. To say this place is a gem of a bar is an understatement! This was my second voyage to this perfectly-crowded-so-you-know-it-is-a-good-time-but-not-to-the-point-where-you-want-to-leave bar where burgers, a stellar beer list, tater gems (yes Gems...I am from I-Da-Ho people), grilled cheese are delish and at great prices. But the true starlet of the Quarry is the spectacular (add this to the list of Iamanadultandieatwhatiwant list) fried pickles.

Let that soak in for a minute.


ahhh. yes.


You read right.

Fried.

Pickles.

Yes, fried.

Ah-Maz-ing.

This place is in Erin's hood so Brooke and I ventured up there, had some "classy" girls time sipping on some wine before we hoofed over to the bar. Upon arrival we promptly order our beers (if the strawberry one is on tap--get it! Don't even think twice!) and two--t-w-o, orders of fried pickles. Trust me for three people this is barely enough. Once you put on of those fried, battered, pickle spears in your mouth you will wish you would just have them coming with your beers!

We also devoured some amazing grilled cheese sandwiches where you might say "oh bar food" au contrare!

Brooke enlightened us to this fact: "When asked about the debate about buttering the bread or the grill when making grilled cheese sandwiches the chef of the quarry says "I butter both"'. Now that is what I am talking about. Screw the debate over what technique is better, the more butter the better (thank you Julia Childs)

Another great part of this adventure is my pictures were taken on a disposable camera! I can not tell you how much fun it was to run around with a wind and click camera (which we occasionally forgot to use the flash). Pretty sure I am going to start taking one out with me more often. Anyways, this also means I have yet to scan them into my computer. So you will have to wait in suspense to see the photos from this adventure. Probably better...once you set eyes on those pickles it is just downhill from there!

Photos to come!

This...

always smells good to me.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone!

I have had a glorious day eating brunch, dying Easter eggs and buying Easter candy to take over in an "Easter Bag" for Ben (since I felt like that is something my mom would do- it oddly felt needed). Ben cooked up a delish brunch of french toast, and quiche. I brought fresh fruit and champagne for some classy Easter mimosas. After we polished off brunch sitting on his rooftop deck we dyed some fabulous Easter eggs, which has always been a favorite holiday past time of mine growing up.

Ben and I have celebrated many a Easter's together ( a specific memory of Sun Valley, an Easter egg hunt and getting our picture taken with the Easter bunny when were much too old for such things jumps instantly into my head).

The eggs turned out fabulously. And I was especially excited to see two of the eggs turn out in a very Barbie-appropriate pink shade! The photos hardly do those ones justice because they were the color of Barbie's corvette and pink motorcycle...A-mazing. Tonight I am enjoying an Easter dinner complete with Stawberry Shortcake!

In the spirit of Easter I have to say a few words about my faith and what it has meant to me over the past year:

I had no idea that I could ever have gotten to this point in my life on my own. And by on my own I mean without my family, without my girlfriends/sisters being in the room next door to rub my back and watch Friends marathons with, and being unfamiliar with my surroundings. And I will be the first to admit that my faith and my conscious effort to explore that faith have been put on the back burner in comparison to other aspects of my life. But I do look back and see in all those dark times, where I was unsure if I would come out on the other side alive and functioning, I was there silently praying and relying on my faith to guide me and provide the support when I felt completely unsure of what I am doing. And I must say that my decisions have turned out well...and I have ended up in a fabulous point in my life where I know I am doing ok and learning and growing each day. Today was a prime example that the Lord provides, and even when you are not actively seeking Him, He doesn't forget you. I have been provided with such wonderful friends and I know that there are people watching out for me, which is one of the most comforting things in the world.

Another Introduction

I know I have been making some introductions lately, and not to overwhelm you, but dear readers I have another blog for you to take notice of. Miss Sara Marie in Seattle has started a great witty and heart-tugging blog about growing up and putting on some big girl pants. Misadventures of An Accidental Grown Up is sure to be a great blog (my first hand knowledge is that Miss Sara Marie is quite the witty and humorous individual- after all she is one of my sisters!). So check here out, give her some awesome comments and cut her some slack...she is a busy girl working some long hours!