30-year olds go to the beach

Yup, that's us. We're thirty and we were rockin' the beach. Well, we rocked it for the first two sunny days and then we rocked the beach house. We did, however, check out some go-karts, world's smallest skee-ball lanes and the sand dunes. Most activities ended in rain, but alas, we had fun anyways. Lots of pictures are up on my flickr. (My personal favorite was the mongolian wrestling match. Colleen arose victorious again.) Yay for beachy fun!
Now, I'm in PA rockin' the family time. More news and pics soon.

For cuteness sakes...

Three eons ago, I promised to upload some pictures from a weekend home. I finally got a chance to look at them and really only two of them are blog-worthy. So, here they are.
The incredible cuteness of Jan's son, Braden followed by the tree fashioned after a 5-year-old's artwork.

Today I kind of want to:

cry, but the tears don't want to come

clean, but I don't have the energy

either kiss my boyfriend or break up with him, but I can't reach him and breaking up would just be silly

run away, but it is too hot to run anywhere tonight

be alone, but it is so lonely alone

Long lost blogger found!

Sorry y'all! I hate it when people don't update their blogs forever (yes, Kent, I'm lookin' at you) so I'm sorry I've been incommunicado for a while. However, I started my new job this week! So far, so good. The people all seem really great and I think I'll really enjoy the work, too. Yay for employment! The commute is, indeed, very long, but we'll get that figured out, too.
Hmm... guess I don't have much to say. Sorry to dissapoint.
More soon, I'm sure.

Mediterranean yumminess!

After spending the weekend in Ebensburg (pics to come!), I raced back home and quickly assembled a dinner that started out billed as a Greek feast, but really ended up more as Mediterranean feast. It was my first try at Spanakopita (Greek spinach pie) which didn't turn out too badly even though I forgot to drain the excess moisture from the spinach. All of the other things were pretty tried and true or purchased. Since I wasn't home all weekend, I cheated on the hummus and baba ganoush and tzatziki and dolmas. I had intended to make them all from scratch, but there just wasn't time. Regardless, everyone seemed to like them and it went swimmingly!
Chris went to work as presentation stylist so everything looked gorgeous and then I put him in charge of the meat. There are two things I'm not good at cooking: meat and dessert. I love his creativity and meticulousness. I tease him about, but I actually love it. We should put together an intimate dinner party some time. I think we would create a beautiful meal and it would be an amazing experience... nothing would be overlooked. Perfect food, drinks, lighting, sights, sounds and smells would all be covered. Between the two of us, we could totally do that. hmmm....
But, I digress. The dinner was awesome and one of the highlights was that my friend Amanda (from back home) showed up. She is one of my favoritest people and she probably doesn't know it, but I kind of worship her. I would totally be her groupie if it was acceptable to be a groupie for any given individual. So, it was good to get to see her a little last night and let some of her awesomeness rub off on my home! Yay for Amanda living in the area!
Ok, enough effusiveness. Back to work! Pics from the weekend soon.

How to get from DC to Ebensburg

Find friend with car. Wait for friend's husband. Get in car with said friend and husband. Drive in the general northern direction. Then:

Get bored and take self-portrait.

Run into stand-still traffic.

Make faces as appropriate while stuck in traffic:
"I hate traffic!"

"I will move the cars with my powers of snark."
"What? An alternate route!?"


"Which way should we go?"

(Cars blocking our way to Ebensburg stand still.)

"I wish I had some grapes."

Celebrate traffic victory with world's worst self-portrait.

#300

This is post #300. I had intended to do some sort of blog highlights or something profound for post #300, but it just snuck up on me so I will post what I came here this morning to post. It is completely random and in reality, is probably the perfect #300 post because it is exactly representative of my blogging. Random, fun and a little inane. And so, with no further ado: Post #300.

12 ounces of difference
I've been attending a small group on Thursday mornings this summer. As you may recall from earlier posts, I do not love mornings. However, I really like this group so I've gotten myself out of bed ridiculously early every Thursday to make it to the meetings. Because I have completed this monumentous task so valiantly, I reward myself with a few little hashbrowns and a soda from the cafeteria before work. Now, ordinarily, when I get soda from the cafeteria, I get the 20oz cup... it's usually in the afternoon and 20 oz is plenty enough. But, this morning, I thought, "Well, that's silly! I should just get the 32 oz drink. It's only 20 cents more and it'll get me through more of the day. Good job, self! Brilliant!" And, then, I realized why I don't get the extra 12 ounces. I felt like such a glutton carrying it back to the office. I perceive the 20 oz size to be perfectly socially acceptable, but carrying that wide-mouthed 32 oz cup felt excessive. Never mind the fact that it's filled with the calorie-free nectar of the gods. In my world, that extra 12 ounces sent me from responsible soda partaker to fat girl with an addiction to Super-duper-biggiesize-quencher-big gulp drinks. From now on, I think I'll forgo the frugalness and have my socially acceptable 20oz beverage.

In Short

I know I haven't posted for a week and it's been a great, eventful week, too. So, I will present my news in brief.

Amy's Wedding in California
It was awesome. I hadn't seen Amy since she moved 6 months ago so I was SO excited to see her. I was prepared, though, to not spend that much time with her since she was the bride and brides are generally busy, busy. However, I got to be Keeper-of-the-Bride which meant that I was basically with her 24/7 for the 3 days I was there. I made sure she was fed and watered and relatively calm (on the Amy scale of calmness). And, as an extra bonus, this meant that I got to spend a lot of time with her! Priceless! It was awesome. With the exception of a flutist that could just barely hold it together during the processional, the wedding was great and the pictures are awesome. Congrats Amy Doolittle Bushatz! And, thanks for letting me be a part of your day.

Rent at Wolf Trap
Tara is hard to surprise. I don't even know for sure if she likes surprises or not. She says she does, but any time I've tried to surprise her, it hasn't worked. So, this year, to celebrate the passing of June (NOT a birthday, I assure you), Colleen and I put together a pseudo-surprise. We reserved her for a certain day and told her how to dress and then picked her up without her knowing where we were going. We packed a great little picnic and went to Wolf Trap to see Rent. The company, the food, the weather, the surroundings were all lovely. Rent? Well, I could take or leave that. I hadn't seen it before and though I suspect that this was a performance well below par, I doubt I will make an effort to see it again. I don't call art offensive. Ever. Hovering on the line of appropriate-ness? yeah, I think so. I think this is the first time I've ever said this about any sort of art. Does this make me a prude? Geesh, I hope not. I really do appreciate the social causes the work takes up... I really do. I think that is one of the great uses for art, which is kind of a theme in Rent anyways. I just could have had the lewd dialed down a notch. (Whoa! Is this me writing this?) Oh god, I hope I'm not turning into an old fuddy-duddy.

A Surprise Holiday
I get paid for Friday! Yippee! As a temp, I don't usually get paid for holidays, but I must have accumulated enough hours or something so I get the holiday paid! That was a GREAT surprise!

20 Reasons Why Jeni Lausch Is Awesome

1. She let Tara and I crash her apartment this weekend on our whirlwind trip to NY.
2. She adopts disabled dogs.
3. She moved to NY purely because she wanted to and made it work for her.
4. She has an amazing laugh.
5. She is super funny. (which is why #4 is so important)
6. She has overcome relationship "stuff" and allowed herself to fall in love with her boyfriend, Tim, who she's now successfully been with for 3 years.
7. She travels all over God's green earth... most recently to Cuba.
8. She grows flowers and plants and peppers and lettuce on her windowsills and fire escape.
9. She gets the most adorable sad-face when she realizes the squirrels have eaten her flowers and peppers from the fire escape.
10. Most of her art was done by her or her boyfriend.
11. She is generous.
12. She has fresh spices on her refrigerator that don't go bad because she cooks all the time.
13. She knits.
14. She crochets...
15. ... without a pattern.
16. She loves NY, but plans regular camping trips because she misses Montana and Washington and Lousiana.
17. She let her boyfriend put a British flag toilet lid in their bathroom.
18. She's one of those people that is easy to reconnect with even if we haven't talked for months. (or years!)
19. Her life motto is "everything is possible"
20. She is mad-creative. (She and her boyfriend made some sort of lego-people costumes for Halloween last year. impressive and borderline- crazy!)

Some quotes from Jeni: (paraphrase by me)

"If you don't have enough money to both eat and drink, order a drink that comes with a snack. You can get a whole little salad with a Bloody Mary!"

"Everywhere I go, I collect people. It's kind of like collecting bugs... just stick a little pin through them and put them in the collection."

I could go on and on, but I suppose this is sufficient. All this to say that it was so good to see her this weekend! She is one of my favorite people and I am so honored to have her in my "collection". She inspires me.

Whirlwind Weekend

I had a great, and very busy, weekend -- I thought I'd share a little of it here. I fear this post will get very, very long and so I will give some subdivisions rather than post 3 or 4 separate posts.

New York
I am one of those people that just isn't particularly fond of New York. And, honestly, that's a little weird because I've never had a particular dislike for any other big city. Philly, San Francisco, Toronto, London, Paris, Chicago... yup... like 'em all. Just not so crazy about New York. I think I just feel overstimulated there. I'm not sure. Regardless, my 24 hours in New York this weekend was just exactly enough. As soon as I heard that Sunday in the Park with George was being revived on Broadway, I knew I absolutely had to go. However, shortly after I found out about it, I decided to quit my job so I put it on hold for a while in the name of fiscal responsibility. Recently, though, I found out that the show is closing at the end of the month so I had to go this weekend or miss my chance for who-knows-how-many years. And so, my 24 hours in New York complete with cheap bus ride, air mattress in a friend's apartment and yummy Thai food for mere dollars. Ah - New York on the cheap! Thanks to Tara for putting up with my poverty-stricken mode of travel.

My obsession with Sunday in the Park with George
If you know me well, you know I'm not actually a huge fan of the musical genre in general. In fact, I'm quite the classical music snob and have been known to crack jokes on many-a-broadway-show. Sequins, chorus lines, unnecessary belting and jazz hands... just ain't my thing. But, I have been obsessed with Sunday for years. When I was still in high school, my friend Tara gave me a recording of Sunday in the Park with George. I'm not entirely sure why. My recollection is that I was first obsessed with Georges Seurat and his painting on which this musical is based. I fear, however, that it could have been the musical that inspired my obsession with the painting (how embarassing!). Either way, I listened to that CD over and over in my room at home, in my many college dorms and each of my apartments for the last 13 years or so. I had every word of the soundtrack memorized by the time I left for college. Today, it remains my #1 go-to CD for housecleaning.
In college, I visited the Seurat painting several times in Chicago and declared it my favorite painting. In fact, it was probably this painting that inspired my love of impressionist art in general (that has more recently faded, but I'm still fascinated by the techniques). I loved standing close to the huge canvas and staring and staring until my eyes lost focus and all the colors started to blur together. It really is a fascinating technique. If I ever decide to be a painter, I want to try to paint this way.
But, I digress. So, I love this musical. But! I had never seen the show. I wanted to see it live, but it's not performed all that often and I missed the few chances I had here and there. I never let myself watch the DVD because I wanted to see it live. And, so, this weekend, I got to do just that!

Sunday in the Park at Studio 54
This weekend, Tara and I schlepped up to NY to finally see this show. I loved it. I can't lie. I really did. I'm not saying that it was perfect. No show ever is, but it was really good. The male lead was really quite strong. I could take or leave the female lead, but she was pretty strong, too. I'm not the kind of girl that goes to NY and sees Phantom and says it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I'm just not like that. I err on the side of critical. However, this show held a little childlike fantasy for me. I had been looking forward to seeing this show for so long that there was no way that anything was going to ruin this for me.
Oh goodness, this post is getting really long and I have so much more to say. Perhaps, I will add another post later. For now, though, I will say this. I laughed... truly laughed... at scenes like the dog dialogue done by the lead and the scene with the "fake" soldier. I couldn't help but think of Jan when the line, "I don't want the other. I don't want the other either" came up. And, I cried. I cried exactly where I expected to... during We Should Have Belonged Together (I may have messed up that title). This has long been a tear-jerker for me. I feel so deeply the emotions written in this song. You really just have to listen to it, but basically she tells him he could tell her not to go, that he could tell her anything, any reason and she would stay because they belong together. But, he doesn't and she leaves. "We should have belonged together. But, we never belonged together." Aggg.... the agony. It kills me every time. I also cried somewhere I definitely did not expect to cry. I cried during Children and Art. An elderly grandmother of a character says, "There are really only two things worth leaving behind when you die. Children. and Art." For some reason, this totally killed me. Not entirely sure what that was all about. And, honestly, not something I want to think about. It's just too crushing.
So, yes... good stuff! Can't wait to debrief with Heather and watch the original!

Well, I also wanted to gush about my amazing friend Jeni, but I think that will have to wait because this is just entirely too long!

Big news!

I was hesitant to broadcast this out to the world, but I think it's solid enough to announce now. I also tried to tell a lot of people personally rather than having to find out via blog. I think I've done my due diligence, though, so I apologize if I missed you.

Without further ado, my news:
I got a new job! Yay! Oh, this is so big... I've been looking for a long time and putting a lot of time and energy and effort into the job search and it's finally paid off. Beginning July 16, I will be Publications Coordinator for the Center for the Arts at George Mason University. That basically means that I am the one that gets to organize and coordinate all of the people and companies that have to come together to get a piece of direct mail printed. Many factors seemed to come together to make me confident that this is the right position for me and that accepting the position was the right decision:
- I'll be making slightly more than I was at my last position plus better benefits.
- I'll have less responsibility!! (I know this sounds backwards, but I really had more responsibility and power at my last position than I was ready for.)
- I get to stay connected to the arts. I didn't really think that was going to happen so it's like a little bonus.
- The position will use my strengths and skills daily.
- I will get to be a part of a larger marketing team so that I can not only contribute, but also learn from people with more and different experience than me. Plus, I will be working directly with a very experienced arts marketer who is the head of the department.
- In addition to learning from my team, I will have the opportunity to do some more formal learning. I will be able to earn my MBA... wait for it... wait for it... FREEEEE! Going back to school kind of sounds awful to me right now, but I do love marketing and I want to do it well. Up to this point, a lot of my marketing experience has been "marketing by experiment" so I really do want to dig in and find out what all those scary business-types know that I don't. Corporate finance kind of makes me want to scoop my eyes out with spoons, but I can make it through if it will help my career.

So, that's that. A long job search is FINALLY over. I feel so relieved. I feel like I can finally start living my life again. I've felt VERY much in transition over the last six months or so, but now with a new job and a new place to live, I can see the dust starting to settle a little. That is uber-exciting! Yay God! Yay me!

Adventures from a government building

Oh! I wish I had thought of this two months ago! Why didn't I? Bummer. Well, I will just have to make up for it with this post. I will attempt to enlighten you about my brief stay in the world of the US Government with the few small vignettes remaining in my brain.

- Nothing is quite as endearing as the admin who thinks she shouldn't have to have updates run on her computer because she's "not lookin' at porno".

- Overheard in the office: ten minute conversation about tomato scare; debate about whether public official attending upcoming meeting is married, divorced or widowed and who was going to call him and ask; admin #2 narrating pictures of her new house for 14 different employees all day long.

- I'm pretty sure that I'm only here to fill this office so that they don't have to give it up to another department. seriously.

- There is a guy down the hall who keeps really good chocolates in a little box on his desk. I really want to stop and get one. I really don't want to have the compulsory conversation that would be necessary to procure one of said really good chocolates.
Update: I just walked by his office and he was out for lunch so I got the chocolate and avoided the conversation all in one! Yay!

Salad experiment #54

I frequently make a salad using the following method:
Open refrigerator. Grab food. Dump in bowl. Assess for completeness. If lacking, open cupboard, grab food and dump in bowl. Add dressing-like substance. Eat.

This is actually a surprisingly successful method. I have gotten rid of an awful lot of leftovers this way and it also proves to be pretty good at turning "I have nothing to eat" nights into "Darnit! Now I don't have an excuse to get takeout" nights.

Anyways, tonight's experiment:
spring mix
feta
raspberries
jalapeno stuffed olives
oil and white balsamic vinegar.

Turns out it's not bad! The raspberries are really a little too delicate to do them justice with the olives and jalapeno, but pretty tasty and filling nonetheless. Success, I say. Success.

Have you ever....

dreamed that you were up and getting ready for work? I did this morning and it ticked me off when I woke up and realized I had to get ready all over again!

Gee Willikers

It's been way too long... how can I possibly catch you up? We just got the internet thing worked out at the house tonight so it's time to jump back into the blogosphere. The last 10 days of my life, in my favorite form, of course:

• Moved into new house with lots of help from amazing friends!
• Interview at a nearby University for an arts marketing position
• Unpacked main living areas
• slept surrounded by boxes for one week before moving boxes to the other side of the room
  
• Started brand new small group co-led by my awesome boyfriend, Chris
• Joined an all-women's small group for the first time ever
• Met new roommate, Heather (who is pretty rad)
• Got called for another interview with a different company
• Started getting some actual projects at work (yay!)
• Got very very behind on job stuff and volunteer stuff
• Was reminded all over again of the many things I love about Chris
  

That's pretty much it. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming of vignettes and memoirs.

Thoughts upon a move

I have amazing friends. Last night, JoyAnna and I (and her mom) went to get some cabinets for in the dining room. The kitchen has pretty much zero counter space so we needed to nip that problem in the bud. Anyways, we were driving back into the District at 10 last night and realized that we needed help getting the heavy cabinets off the truck and into the house. So, I called two of my friends in the neighborhood and in 10 minutes there were three guys there to help us, one girl to offer moral support and an adorable doggy to take it all in. How awesome is that! Seriously... when I talk about living in community and having a family of friends I never expected, THIS is what I mean! Thank you guys so much! (And, um, feel free to drop over tomorrow morning for more fun!)

Things I will miss about my current apartment:
the HUGE windows -- I was soaking up the sunlight as I woke up this morning, knowing it was one of the last times I'd get to do that for a while.
the view -- I won't be able to see the top of the capitol dome from my basement cave nor will I be able to watch the fireworks from my bed!
living in an apt. building -- I know this is weird, but I feel more secure living in an apt. building. I like having lots of doors between me and the outside world.
my big pretty room -- It's so comforting and brown and wonderful.
the walk home -- I love our neighborhood and there is something wonderful about walking through it to get home each day. Plus, there's always the chance that I'll run into someone I know which is a super bonus.
my super-huge wonderful closet!
the crazy-cheap rent!

Things I will NOT miss about my current apartment:
bugs!
water damage! -- Seriously, I have this fear that I'm going to come home some day and all of my stuff is going to be submerged in ceiling pieces and water
inept building management
dragging the trash the whole way out to the back
the phantom that puts a sticky residue on all of our kitchen stuff --ok, I don't understand this one, but we get a weird, well, sticky residue, on anything that sits out in the kitchen. Very weird. Is it the gas?
crazy temperature changes beyond our control
psycho laundry room -- in the last month alone, we've dealt with broken machines, broken card system, a laundry caper, and an all-day full-house

Short thoughts

• Yesterday, it dawned on me that I hadn't been off the Hill in 7 days. For those of you not in DC, the Hill would be my neighborhood, Capitol Hill. It's amazing how happy I am here in my little neighborhood.... and how much of my life is within a 15-block radius of my house. However, 7 days is a little excessive. Chris (unknowingly) came to the rescue and dragged me to another quadrant last night. Ahh, the joy of the late-night coffee (or chai and tea as the case may be)!
• It is SO freaking cold in my office. My Diet Coke stays cold all day long... it thinks it's in a refrigerator. No, but seriously. I'm shivering. Is it not possible to turn the temperature up a few degrees? Seriously. It would even save some energy and money!
• I'm seriously missing some of my long-distance friends this week. Amy, Jeni, Jess, Jaime, Jan, Lisa, Gail --- I really miss you guys and hope to see you soon!

Closure

(Warning: Some of you will have no idea what this post is talking about and others will know exactly.)

The worst of all the catch-words: closure.

I resisted for seven years. More than seven years, actually. But, I had to do it. I had to take physical steps to move toward emotional wholeness in this area of my life. For seven years, I've carted around a box, marked with his initials, filled with the souvenirs of our relationship. Once I tried to burn the contents to no avail. But, tonight, I emptied it. I threw out the letters, the printed emails, the rose he brought me when we first met and the pictures. Well, most of the pictures. There's one still sitting on my desk. I'll throw it out before I go to bed tonight. I just needed a few minutes.

I just threw all the letters out. I didn't read them. It was SO tempting, but I didn't. He is (was?) a hugely important person in my life-story, but that chapter ended (several times!!) and so it's time to truly move on. Now that we've been out of communication for several months, I figured it was time. So, tonight, through some real, authentic tears, I got rid of every piece of him I was holding onto.

Sometimes, I wonder.... But, I can't. I have to just move on. And, claim closure.
(Also, to be clear- I have a great relationship with Chris and love him to death - this is a separate issue entirely.)

The Laundry Caper

So, earlier today, I posted about my laundry being snatched from my laundry room. Well, I thought I should update the situation. After a day of getting un-mad at the person that stole my laundry and figuring out exactly which items needed to be replaced this weekend and how I could purchase them the fastest, I got a surprise! I decided to stop by the laundry room on my way back in the building tonight and lo and behold, my laundry was all there in a big pile. I don't know what happened, but it was returned to me!
Yay! I don't have to buy new shirts and undies!!! yippee!!

Today's score

Getting up late: -1
Realizing someone stole 75% of my summer wardrobe from the laundry room: -10
Securing a roommate for the summer: +3
Not being able to reach Chris to vent about stolen laundry: -.5

10am subtotal: -8.5