thankful.

I'm thankful for my family.
I'm thankful for my grandma's strong and loving personality that taught me so much, and for her life. She passed this morning and I'm thankful she is in a better place, no longer suffering in an old, frail body.
I'm thankful for my health.
I'm thankful for TH.
I'm thankful for my wonderful friends.
I'm thankful for my job - it's interesting (and crazy sometimes!) but very fulfilling.
I'm thankful for good food. Cheese especially.
I'm thankful for an education.
I'm thankful I'm back in DC. This is my home and I feel safe here.
I'm thankful for how I've grown over the past year. I've learned a lot about myself.
I'm thankful it's thanksgiving. We are all truly blessed with many things.

having fun with lizzie while she sleeps. never fall asleep with jenny next to you.

cranberry crunch custard at the dairy godmother. yum!

Enjoy your holiday weekend with those you love.

xoxo

oh man, in love.

still in disbelief. we are totally in that "ain't love grand" stage, which is pretty great. last night we met up with all our close friends at good stuff eatery, ate burgers and shakes, and laughed about all the stories and funny events leading up to the engagement. telling the story to the people who have been in your life throughout the relationship makes it feel that much more real. it meant so much to have everyone there with us, and we can't wait until the actual wedding day!

and i know all these photos are kind of blurry and dark, but they mean a lot to me since they're all from that night! my friend josh - a super talented nyc based photographer will be our official photographer for the engagements and wedding (he's known this since i met him!)

we're thinking about a late winter wedding. knowing there is a chance of snow on the wedding date makes it that much more special and magical, you know?

so much to decide and lots of plans to make, but for now we are just enjoying being engaged and giggling about being husband and wife (still! so crazy!). thanks for all your congratulations - they mean so much to us!

on the spanish steps.

we like taking walks.

we like looking at all the cozy houses and classic architecture of the old rowhomes, and walking along the tree-lined streets is so quaint and comforting.

and we've always liked walking on embassy row and sitting on the spanish steps near embassy row, but now i think they mean a little more to us.

see that? TH popped the question! and when i say popped, i mean totally surprised me to the point that i couldn't even say a word. so i nodded and finally the word "yes" escaped out of my mouth somehow.

and to celebrate we walked to adams morgan and shared the world's biggest banana split at The Diner. and stayed up way too late walking around the streets of dc and talking about all kinds of exciting things to come.

we're both so so excited and couldn't be happier to share the news!

chicago: back.

well, it was everything i thought it would be and more. except not really because i was pretty much forced to stay in the hotel all day long, conferencing, and never seeing the light of day and only breathing fresh air after 9:00pm.
but! i did:
1. go to the 95th floor of the hancock tower
2. go to a jazz supper club
3. see the blues brothers perform twice
4. dance with blues brothers and booty bump some of my work-mates
5. take the El to bucktown and buy a bunch of records
6. went to vintage store and scored some excellent vintage things
7. eat a lot of deep dish pizza (ug, i'm STILL full)

and it seemed like i was gone forever.
then i came back and had a really pretty great memorable weekend. stay tuned for details...

chicago.

here i come.

so much to do. so many side plans. i hope i find a friend who wants to tour around the city with me! if not, this is why ipods are so nice to have around. download some podcasts and good new music and i'm set.

but seriously, no chicago recommendations from anyone? which record store do i go to? where do i go to see a good band? what's a good coffee shop? vintage shop? clothes shop? SHOES SHOP? so many worries, you'd think i didn't even have a conference to go to.

this morning.

it was pouring this morning. and so cold and windy. pretty much miserable. TH and I were walking to the metro and my dinky little red umbrella kept threatening to break from the strong winds. TH was all "well, julie, it's too bad you didn't invest in an awesome umbrella like mine. that's what you get for wanting a cute umbrella."

then this happened.
life is seriously funny.

ok so i'm feeling sentimental.

did you know that on my first date with TH, he took me for a bike ride? he loves bikes and i love him and now he loves me. and we both love bikes. i should draw a venn diagram of this, it might be easier to understand.

photos via papertissue.

the district: best veggie burger in dc.

i'm on the quest, people.

so far, i have to give bgr the prize (beans and legumes joined together with cheese and perfectly seasoned!)
close second goes to good stuff eatery (cheese stuffed mushroom caps, dipped in panko bread crumbs and deep fried, oh dear.)
and third i guess goes to rays hell burger, but its not really a veggie burger, its just a grilled cheese, but man its a tiny piece of greasy heaven!

i'll continue this quest as long as TH is on his best burger quest. we really make a good team - hitting two birds with one stone.

accepting tip-offs and suggestions.

love,
gnomie

time out for monday.

oh, i'm sorry weekend, it's mondays turn to come in and unrelax me. awesome.

work is going to be crazy this week, and i'll be out next week for a conference, then the week after that i'll be prepping all week until the week after that, which i'll be out again for a conference.

i hope i don't fall off the face of the earth in the next month. i just need to make it through.

this weekend was so fun. taylors deli and rock and roll hotel on friday (to see nicole atkins and the sea). saturday was shopping with annie and then a late night falafel at amsterdam (the best!) and saturday night live - the funniest i've seen in sooo long. sunday was church, a drive on rock creek parkway, afternoon nap, then delicious dinner with friends.

if all weekends could be so relaxing and perfect.

so...does anyone have recommendations for things to do in chicago?

comfort.

This was really comforting to read tonight.

Life is crazy and stressful and odd. It helps to have a source of comfort to help you get through times that you want to crawl in a ball in your bed or under your desk. I hope you have your source of comfort, too. We all need to feel a giant hug from time to time.

au revoir simone.

have you heard this song? i luff. and the sparkly jumper? i want! topshop has the cutest sparkly tops right now, if only i had an extra $125 laying around for a sequined bolero jacket.

the new transition team

the new virginia governor, bob mcdonnell, isn't making any pretenses.

he just named his transition team, and its chock full of all the usual repub suspects.

5 co-chairs of the team are:
1. Kay Cole James, president of the Gloucester Institute, and board member of ultra conservative Heritage Foundation
2. Bill Bolling, Lt Gov of VA
3. Bill Mims, Attorney General of VA
4. Bobbie Kilberg, president and CEO of Northern Virginia Technology Council, and former Bush appointee
5. and the nail in the coffin: Tom Ferrell, CEO of Dominion Resources - the evil king of coal in Virginia and mid-atlantic states.

Apparently him and Tom were super good friends in high school. So...how's that climate and energy legislation looking, gov-elect McDonnell? What's going to happen in this and other southern states who are completely controlled by utilities who want nothing to do with forward looking technologies? They're already being left in the dust as many, many other states are building their economies to be leaders in clean energy. This is something that Virginia is hardly able to do with the way utilities are allowed to function. If the southern states don't move on this, federal action will likely take place, and all other states who already have energy efficiency, renewable, and climate plans in place are going to benefit. And Virginia ratepayers will see their bills rise.

I need to move.

still traveling. i still love ny.

east village veselka late night dinner, meeting up with my sweetie in one of my favorite cities, vintage and thrifting in brooklyn and billyburg, brunch with friends at community food and juice, walk through central park, the guggenheim (finally!), shopping in soho, rainy night in the algonquin watching dumb movies on a big comfy bed, bagels and bialys at kossers, donuts at the doughnut plant, pickles from the pickle guy (best sour pickle of my life), marathon spectatoring, church and catching up with old friends, dinner at westville (aghh my favorite the food is SO good but be prepared to wait, there are only like 10 tables inside), and back to the algonquin to finish up the weekend.

i'm exhausted. and sooo fat.

in the airport for my big kansas trip. afterwhich i will surely be saying to myself, "there's no place like home, there's no place like home" click click.

love.

it feels this way sometimes. comfort.

TH is in nyc for a few days. I'll be heading up tomorrow to join him. Then after a weekend, I have to do some business tripping. A lot of business tripping in the next 40 days. They will be great and interesting trips, but I'm always so happy to come back and see him.

laughing.

today at nienie:

I was downstairs and overheard Mr. Nielson upstairs
attending to two screaming girls in the shower.
Then he said:
"Oh girls, guess what? The devil called and said you guys were doing awesome."

I laughed and was glad the day was over.

i love their family!

friends.

i caught up with an old friend today.

we met nearly 10 years ago when we worked together at a golf course. he is my "one soul". he came to visit me at utah state my freshman year, and i took him on a tour of utah, including temple square. he wasn't lds, in fact he grew up jewish.

two years later he was baptized. two years after that he met his wife and was married in the lds temple. now he has a beautiful little girl and another baby on the way.

i am so happy for my friends who have been incredible blessings in my life. he has always pushed me to be better, knowing i can achieve more than i think capable. friends like that are hard to come by, so i feel doubly blessed that we are still friends after all these years.

what type of friend is indispensable for you? do you have a friend like that in your life?

decision.

it's been a long time coming, but this month i really have to make an important decision. i can keep putting it off, but almost every day i think about it, and try to plan out a way to make it happen.

well, it's time to go one way or the other. and november is the month to decide.

do i get an iphone or save money for winter clothes? would i use it enough to make it worth it? will it really change my life? if i have an iphone, will i not care about how freezing and ugly i am because i couldn't afford new clothes since i spent it all on technology?

decisions are the worst.

blerg.

i just realized that one of my favorite skirts doesn't really fit me, which is why i hardly ever wear it. its too big. why do i continue to buy my clothes too big and why is the size of american clothes shrinking?

the district: brunch and einstein.

we really really liked le pain quotidien. perfect place for a rainy saturday bruch. i had a yogurt parfait (the granola was amazing!) and TH had eggs and soldiers.

oh and belgian hot chocolate. you get to stir in the chocolate yourself. fun!

then we visited mr. einstein at constitution and 24th. we really like this statue and want to visit the national academy of science museum soon.