happy new year!!

this year, we're headed southwest to sunny albuquerque, new mexico! i say sunny with fingers crossed because i know they've already had snow this year and it's been quite cold...but a girl can dream, right?

i'm looking forward to getting away for a while and hanging out with TH and his family.
we visited new mexico about 2 years ago after we'd only been dating for 3 months. we have some very good memories of this place - i can't wait for the spicy chocolate, the green chile, the wild oats, and...oh right his very fun brother and sister in law!

happy new year everyone! what are you doing to celebrate?

feel like this today.

i want to go back to bed, but instead i am getting my hair did and trying to write about renewable energy policy. shake it off, j, shake it off.

photo by annabel mehran

streaming thoughts.

so i've been really trying hard to figure out what it is exactly that our wedding reception should look like.
and here's what i just decided: parisian winter in a barn, with lots of sparkle.

GORGE!

uhm, problem is i am having a hell of a time translating that into something real. what colors? what textures? what is everyone doing? what does the food look like?
and how do i do parisian winter without everything being drab and washed out? i'm trolling design blogs, but i think i need to revisit our venue to really work out my ideas.

i'm glad TH is so patient. cause i really struggle with that virtue.

lovely lovely christmas.

wow, i blinked and christmas happened!

i had planned to do so much, but instead i got sick and laid around the house a bunch, and when he could TH pulled me off the couch to go do fun things.

christmas day: breakfast with dad and TH - biscuits and gravy made by dad and eggs and cinnamon rolls. lots of presents. early dinner with TH's family and extended family. lots more presents. visit with mi madre and more presents. and then? avatar in 3d. awesome.
the rest of the weekend was spent eating and trying to figure out wedding stuff (head ache!) it was so fun spending time with families all day. i feel lucky to have these people in my life!

but a few highlights of christmas...TH gave me hunter wellies that i've been wanting for like 2 years, his parents gave me a brand new kitchenaid (wow!!), papa mickey hooked it up $$, and i got to see lots of my cute little nieces, oh and play a killer game of jenga. we got it to 30 rows!i can't believe little abby is almost 5!

i have been really really bad at taking pictures lately. i will add "take more pictures" to my new years resolutions.
speaking of new years, TH and i are headed out of town for the holiday...details to come!

glee.

i love this show. we have all the episodes of glee ti-voed, and i watch them over and over. i know i'm a huge nerd and maybe you will lose respect for me, but this is like a million times better than admitting that i watch gossip girl. (right?)
i can't get over how amazing this first song is, and how well rachel performs it! it inspires me.

questions.

1. where's a good place to honeymoon?
2. do you want to see nine with me?
3. ready to start a book club?
4. where do i buy vermont smoked gouda?
5. what's a good side dish for christmas dinner?
6. can i buy reasonably priced boots that still are cute?
7. what should i wear for our engagement pictures?
8. why does my record player only work for like 1/6 of my record collection?

what's on your mind?

ooooo eeeee. what up with that?

since you are surely aware of all the snow that happened this weekend by now, i won't post my pictures of snow day 2009 on here. just know that i couldn't sleep in saturday morning because i had to get up and watch the snow pile up! we ended up with about 18 inches.

while it was still snowing on saturday, i went and threw snowballs at TH's window until he came outside to play. he happened to be showering when i went to his house so i stood outside his window and yelled at him till he opened the window...then...BAM! snowball in the face! perfect! a great way to start a saturday, really. we walked to the mall and to costco and the grocery store, both of which were closed. then we spent a cozy night with friends and a delicious dinner made by the very talented team: cristy and sierra!

anyway. then today i got off work since the feds called it off. i was pretty sick of being in the house all cooped up, so i put on my boots, went to the christmas market again, then came to visit TH at work, and here i sit, procrastinating my work and blogging. shocker.

but! i want to share this gem with you. this is pretty much the funniest skit on SNL right now. i like to imitate the red adidas sweatsuit guy. i just wish i had that gold chain to inspire the dancing. what! up! with! that!

winter wonderland.

i hope this blog has photos of mounds of winter snow tomorrow.

rumors of 10-20 inches of snow in the district starting tonight! i'm so excited. when we were kids, a big snowstorm in the forecast meant the night before we'd go to the store to stock up on essentials. crackers, cheeseballs, and cookies. you know - the things you can't survive without. so the things i can't live without now? bread, cheese, and something sweet. guess some things never change.

the last big snowstorm i remember in dc was the blizzard of 96. we had 2 feet of snow and school was out for a week, and delayed 1-2 hours for another week. it was the best. these are the reasons i really love winter so much.

have a happy weekend wherever you may be!!

running.

i have a new floor for my running times. i will not run under 2 miles anytime i go to the gym and i will not run at a pace less than an 8:45 mile. this is a really really big deal and i'm ready to make the commitment.

last night i ran two miles coming in at just around 17:30. for a girl who hates running and is really slow at it, i felt pretty good about that achievement. it feels great to get out and move my body and sweat and get my heart going! i need to get addicted to the working out, so i can be in the best shape of life for the wedding day. TH says let's build it up, so when we get married, we can really just let ourselves go. haha.

did i mention this is all going down march 6th? uhmm...shortest engagement ever?

jolly holiday.

last night i stopped by the dc holiday market.

it reminded me of the open air christmas markets in europe that i hear about. and then this morning, the express (fav morning paper) featured a story on german christmas markets! what luck! wish i could visit some of these markets - they look so cozy and delicious!



i picked up some lovely christmas gifts, listened to live jazz, and slapped my hand every time it tried to pay the donut man for some fresh donuts. i'm not allowed to have donuts every day, this is my rule. or at least one donut a day is my rule - that seems a little more realistic.

if you have some free time, stop by the holiday market - right next to chinatown. i think it's open through the 23rd. And be sure to check out mann's jewelry line - he uses recycled aluminum and fires his own glass to make beautiful jewelry!

peace out. i'm off to eat a donut. (what?!)

popcorn.

i love it. i need it. i want it.

somebody from vermont (who knows me too well, i think) sent a bag of Vermont Maple Kettle Corn to our office today. it was gone once i got my little paws on it. oh man, good STUFF. i actually sunk into a short depression once i realized i'd eaten it in like 10 minutes. but on the up side, i do have a little jug of maple syrup from vermont. hooray!

I've already ostracized myself from a few of my friends - TH hates popcorn because of how loud it is. My friend Annie won't go to a movie with me because i am one of those people that eats popcorn with their tongue (awesome!).

well, friends, i think we might have to have popcorn at the wedding reception. in little bags! how cute would that be?

christmas spirit.

i'm in it.

christmas cookies, christmas concerts, holiday lights, holiday parties, wishes of happy christmas!

ok...so its christmas time...so i should probably get started on that christmas shopping? such a procrastinator this year, ug.

and i'm unimpressed with my hair stylist. i'm giving him one more chance to wow me, then its quitsville. but i can't quit on him before christmas. its the season of giving!

snow.

last weekend we drove to pick up my ring from the jeweler. it had to be resized (down to a 4 3/4! i didn't know my finger was that small!) and i was without it for about a week.

it was snowing pretty heavily as we drove along the GW parkway, and across the river was georgetown. it was one of the prettiest sites i'd ever seen in dc, it looked just like a secret winter european city. TH and i pulled over to check it out and got snowed on a bit. i love winter. the cold is refreshing and clears the sky so stars are brilliant! and i'm also saying i love the winter as i'm sitting with my space heater in my warm office and its like 25 degrees and windy today.

this weekend: tonight staying out of the cold and going to bed early. i'm exhausted! then saturday its off to the nyc ballet and checking out a potential reception location. and a sunday night christmas concert with TH's family.

this just in.

TH's company has been purchased by a bigger fish, and as a result he will be moving to their offices, which are...located...TWO BLOCKS FROM MY OFFICE.

you know, it's a good thing we're getting married, because it would be pretty awkward running into him all the time on the street if we were all broken up. you know, since we live 3 blocks away from each other and will now be working two blocks from each other.

No wonder they say this is a small town.

Oh, and this means we'll be better equipped to move into the district - more convenience. so...if anyone hears of a cool apartment opening up feb/march with maybe a bay window for dining/reading nook on capitol hill or adams morgan, i'm all ears!

people get ready.

oh man, life won't slow down! something going on every night this week and already half of next week, then it's christmas, then leaving town for new years.

wait. christmas? that means i should start looking at presents for those i love. i have purchased one item for my love, and well pathetically that is all. online shopping may be my answer.

where do you go for good gifts online? etsy, yes. amazon, yes. blogs, yes. i'm loving all these gift guides everyone is doing, especially cup of joe.

have you finished your shopping? i have never been one of those last minute people when it comes to gifts, but geez, this year has snuck up on me!

tis the season

you guys!

i spent last week in grapevine, texas, aka christmas hell. i wish i had taken pictures because everything around me was decorated in high christmas fashion i.e. 50 foot tall white christmas tree, human sized gingerbread house, oil rig lined with christmas lights, and lots of The Grinch everywhere. to top it all off, the resort was actually a big climate-controlled dome, and you never even had to leave the building. so for 4 days i stayed in one building, never breathing real air. it was awesome - and now i can tell everyone i've lived in a christmas dome for a week before. face.

next topic: over the weekend, for the first time in life ever, i went to mt. vernon! they have candlelight christmas tours of the grounds and the house and holy moly it was increible. really got me in the christmas spirit, and plus TH and i did some old fashioned dancing, just like mr. darcy and elizabeth (not that i was imagining the one scene in pride and prejudice when we were dancing). you dance in groups of four, and my partner on the other side was a 16 year old boy who wouldn't look me in the eye or touch my hand when you were supposed to do the flat palm hand-touch dance move. it made me feel bad about myself at the time, but thinking back on it - maybe he was just trying to be a gentleman, or maybe he had swine flu. so thanks 16 year old boy. oh yeah and we went with TH's family and after the tour we went out for sunday desserts (i can get behind a family that goes out for sunday desserts!) and i picked the place, which happened to be a pub (read: bar), and that didn't go over so well with the parentals. you know, family sunday special night...in a bar? what was i thinking?! ahh well, you live and learn.

and closing story: TH is FAMOUS and you can find him on youtube talking about sciencey things (so cute so cute), and we were watching it the other day for the first time and here's how the story goes: we watch the video and afterwards TH turns to me and says "wow, is it me or do i look cooler on this video?" well, you be the judge. man, he is funny funny (and TH, you are just as cool in real life, especially when we do nothing but talk about energy policy for 2 hours at dinner.)

it's good to be back home!!