getting ready for the next challenge!

well, TH is out of town and i'm being lazy after a stressful day. i turned on grey's anatomy and i'm thinking "this show is so dumb, why would anyone watch it" and then 10 minutes later i'm HOOKED. hooked, i tell you. anyway, just procrastinating until i have to pack for our hike this weekend. because i have no idea what to pack for a hike! blargh.

i'm taking the train tomorrow afternoon to nyc, then we go upstate to hike the devil's path. as if, how did i get roped into this?! first a 10K, then the hardest hike on the east coast, what's next?!

i guess that i'm taking on a lot of challenges lately, and it feels good. i need to work on getting less nervous before something big happens. the hike will be fun, i'm sure, as long as i don't overpack or underpack.

and i might just get some manhattan in while i'm up there. like maybe a really good bagel and some shopping. and maybe this tomorrow night. who knows. bring on the jean seberg (my hair inspiration).

terrified.

i've spent the past 16 hours freaking out about work today.

lots to do, not a lot of prep time. i'm feeling the crunch, like being in grad school again. except no J2D2 to soften the blow! or rice krispie treats. boo hoo.

it's all over in 6 hours, then i get to go to new york tomorrow! if that's not a good prize, then i don't understand humans.

send good thoughts my way, friends!!

today's letters.

have you seen the blog, today's letters? it's really inspiring some romantical notions in me! i like how she finds the little things about her husband to love. it's so sweet, and i must admit i find the same little things to like about TH. like how he stretches out his arms when he wants a hug. or how he makes like 3 exclamations before ever actually saying anything. or how he wanted to film me making cookies for a new video project. sure do like him.

the wedding girls.

how darling are these little girls? i am so in love with my nieces.

lizzie's little face here is priceless. ooo i want to squeeze these little girls!!

they were so darling at our wedding, and because they live far away from each other (DC area, Richmond, VA, and Utah), they are always so excited to play with each other. it's always "(insert nieces name) is my best friend!"
i was glad to host the weekend giggle fest.

and next week i get to meet my newest little niece, evelyn! they're coming out in a week from utah. hooray!

short hair.

michelle williams, the beautiful and legendary jean seberg, and audrey tautou.
beautiful women who would look drop-dead gorgeous in any hairstyle.
could i pull off any of them?? short summer hair is on my wish list right now. just don't know if i have the guts to do this! though, in my defense, i did have the guts to walk into a salon in london and say chop it off, up to my ears, please, all 12 inches. so that has to give me some sort of leg up, no?

pretty things.

(i lost the link for this, i think it's from martha stewart)

today i'm in the mood for pretty things. shiny things that come in colorful velvet boxes? sure. or, i found some mini latte bowels from anthropologie (on SALE for $0.95 per bowl) and i'm in pretty-things heaven. we put applesauce in them last night and it was the most fun i've ever had eating applesauce. i'm wearing a pink and white striped shirt today that is pretty, and staring at my pretty engagement ring. i've only been wearing my wedding band lately because the engagement ring catches on things, but i think i need to wear it more often because i forgot how pretty it really is! so lovely.

i'm also searching like mad for an ottoman and thinking of finding an old one to recover. any of you have experience with this? would it be doable?

back at work today, feeling sooo much better. sometimes i think i just need to sleep for 12 hours straight to recalibrate my body, you know?

the house.

we finally made a dent in organizing the house this weekend. trips to IKEA, target, and other places and then we rearranged our bedroom and it FINALLY feels like a peaceful place (we moved the bed away from the windows and it's less loud now).

friday night we picked up milkshakes and fries at good stuff eatery, and i really think they make the best chocolate milkshakes i've had in DC. we walked around the neighborhood for about an hour with the new camera and had such a relaxing evening. then we headed home to build an IKEA wardrobe and stayed up till 1am nailing and drilling things into the wall - i'm sure our downstairs neighbors LOVED us.

saturday we finished building the wardrobe, got our car washed at the boy scout fundraiser, went on an IKEA run, ate bagels at georgetown bagelry. at night we had a private tour of the national building museum, thanks to alan and marci! it was one of the coolest museums i've ever been in. then we dined at burma in chinatown, and headed back to our apartment for a music night with friends. really, really fun.

sunday was church, then we spent all day working on the house. good thing today was trash today because i swear we threw away half of our house, and it feels SO much better to be here.

i'm at home sick today. my stomach has not been kind to me lately - it's getting a little old. i think i'm going to go for another walk around the neighborhood and try to get rid of this sourness.

sooo...how was YOUR weekend?

babies.

i forgot to mention that we saw babies last night and my uterus exploded. the end.

weekend prep.

a couple things to report.

1. the baby lion cub died. i can't even talk about it.
2. had a work thing this morning that went so well. i can talk about that.
3. last night got in a little spat with TH because he hates it when i eat lucky charms straight out of the box, but the temptation is too great, friends.
4. we had delicious banana french toast and spinach and tomato omelet for dinner, however, so the lucky charms were a distant memory. i love brinner.


5. i'm still really happy about this work thing, so i'm gonna just ride that out for a while.

this weekend is bizay! airplane tickets to buy, building wardrobe and rearranging our bedroom, finishing the pink bathroom, museum-ing, temple-ing, and then church. i know there are like a thousand other things to do, but i can't think of them right now. all i really want to do is grab a picnic blanket and get some cheese and bread and a book, go to park and LAY there all day long. man, i need a day like that. please, can i have it?

what are ya'll up ta this weekend?

ps if you drive by folger park, you will likely see me doing squats and lunges and weird breathing exercises to get ready for a big hike next weekend, that is getting me ready for a HUGE hike in a month! hooray for nature.

is everyone else watching lion cub cam 24-7?

new baby lion!! i can't wait for him to start moving and being totally cute.

check it out here.

dance.

the ballet was meh. i went by my lonesome and sat next to a surly teenager who i think affected my mood. there were 4 performances, all modern (which i thought i would like). my favorite ballet was twyla tharp's "push come to shove". it was really funny and felt more personal than the other performances. anyway, i went home after it was over and told TH of my disappointment. i told him maybe i'm just a swan lake kind of a girl, after all. although we did see some modern ballet last fall and Liturgy, the mystical ballet set to arvo part made me cry it was one of the most beautiful things i've ever seen. no video of the ballet, but here is the music. imagine a male and female dancer in a minimalist setting. shadows everywhere. still gives me shivers.


anyway, after getting home from the ballet i put the swan lake record on and pretended to be a ballerina. which is always hilarious to both of us. i can't point my toe worth anything and any attempts to be graceful end up looking like the Sally O'Malley I'm 50! Lady. oh well. it was an entertaining night either way.

ballet.

TH is at home sick today and we had tickets to the ballet tonight. I am sad sad sad he cannot go. Maybe in the next 4 hours he will magically heal??

boo. hoo.

ps sorry you are sicky today, beber.

marriage is boring and hilarious.

last night, TH and i had a big night out. we started at target, and ended on the couch eating Kashi cereal and lucky charms, extolling the virtues of colored marshmallows. ok, right this is not your idea of a big night. well, it was the first glimpse of the normal boring parts of marriage that still make me laugh.

like here are a few conversations we had while in target.

me: "what do you think of these blankets? hmm...i really like this one"
TH: "oh my gosh, i do not care."
me: "why don't you ever let me have any fun?"
(we laughed about this later, that my idea of fun is looking at target blankets. awesome.)

me: "did you get double sided tape?"
TH: "yeah, two rolls"
me: "hmm, do you think scotch brand is better than target brand?"
TH: "i'm sure it doesn't matter"

me: "hey should we get a waffle iron?"
TH: "uhh, sure. yeah i don't care"
me: "well, you should care. this means you could eat waffles at home."
TH: "ok, let's get it then."
me: "ahh, i think i'll probably just get one at williams sonoma."

me: "look at this cereal. it has tons of good stuff in it."
TH: ....
me: "fiber, omega 3, whole wheat, strawberries..."
TH: ....
me: "and wow, it's so good too! do you want to try some?"
TH: "this is the lamest conversation i've ever had."

are you bored yet? hahaha, i don't know why i think all these conversations are hilarious. just like when i told TH i ordered new checks from the bank and he looked at me like he would pass out from boredom.

i think i'm going to start talking in verse or rapping the boring stuff. that will make it even funnier for me and maybe a little funny for TH, too.

summer.

with the cold unrelenting rain outside, the last thing i'm thinking about is summer clothes, yet it is quickly approaching and my closet is in desperate need of an update. lots of prints, bright colors, and stripes. i'm also considering picking a base color, like navy or white, and picking up a lot of acessories to fill out the wardrobe, instead of dropping tons of cash on crazy clothes i might hate in a year? because here are the kinds of things i love right now.

blue china dress. be mine.

these pink ikat pants are incredible. i'd love to see them in dress or skirt form, but these would be great for a Mediterranean vacation!

and i'm sorry, but this is the cutest thing i've seen in a while. cardigan and some white jeans would take me straight to summer bliss.

where do you find your favorite summer clothes?

i like my hair! i like my haircuts!

i'm dying over this. i think i'm going to take some clues from jessica and pump myself up each morning with some words of affirmation. i started this morning, in between my yoga poses and swan lake ballet recital (i sometimes pretend i am a ballet dancer in the mornings - it helps wake me up and reminds TH of how talented i am...not).
i was like "i like my diet cokes! i like my pancake toe! i like my blazer!"

it's a start, people.

i am a runner.

i did it!

i ran 6.2 miles straight.

i finished at just around an hour. i never ever thought it was possible for this body to run for a long time, let alone for 6 miles, but it was great and slightly enjoyable at times! i would be running and just feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for my health and my body that is able to keep up with my brain and my brain that allows my body to keep going. it was perfect weather and being around people all running to challenge themselves was a new thing for me. i definitely got a high from the race. chills were running through me, my mind felt expanded, and i just kept getting flooded with this feeling of exhilaration.

and then mile 5 came. UG, mile 5 i hated you so much. you encompassed my feelings of self-doubt and my inner captain said "you can't do this, you have to stop". you had a hill that almost made me walk. but i conquered you after repeating, outloud, "keep going. don't stop. you can do this." and it worked.

after the race i collapsed at stanton park, went to church for an hour, then went home and slept for about 4 hours.

i am just marveling today at how cool my body is for cooperating with my goal. and how cool TH is for running by my side the entire race and giving me high fives. he is such a good partner and i'm so glad he was there to encourage me and be my friend during the race!

and now the question is, what next?

oh yeah, and the snickers bar wasn't even that good. i'd rather have the Mile 2 High than a snickers bar any day.

short week.

this week was interesting.

TH was gone the entire week, so i filled up my nights with all kinds of things, but mainly the gym. see, i'm running a 10K on sunday in a neighborhood race and i want to be ready. i have a goal time in mind, but i'm just more focused on mentally preparing myself to do the best i can because THIS IS MY FIRST RACE EVER (except for middle school when i was on the track team and i biffed it in the 400 race. awful.). i feel a little underprepared for the actual run, but hoping adrenaline will kick in to take over the weaker parts of my running capabilities.

in addition to the gym, i did some organization around the house, experimented with some recipes, and hung out with buddies. i feel better about my capacity to have fun and do things on my own, but i still have missed TH like crazy all week! time for the weekend, please.

also, i finished a big paper at work that i've been working on for far too long. hooray! super happy about that. i feel accomplished this week.

the weekend has much in store for us. ikea, picnics, engagement party, SNL party, 10K race!, relaxation. i'm pretty excited for my snickers bar, too.

if somebody ever asked me to give up bagels for their friendship, i don't know what i would do.

that includes you, TH.

i just wanted to get that out there. you know, just in case my loyalty to the Bagel is ever questioned. i would be seriously conflicted.

engaged friends.

friends in love.

mei and dave indulged me by letting me shoot some pictures of them yesterday in downtown dc with my new canon rebel t2i. it was so fun (but i still have a lot of work to figure out how exactly to use this camera of mine).

i love these people, and can't wait to be at their desert wedding in june!

expanding my reading horizons.

i'll be the first to admit that i am not a great reader. i love to read. i love the thought of "curling up with a good book", but i am not well-versed enough with the vast selection of literature to know what i will love or hate. and this is why everytime i go to sunflower, i always get the general tsao's, because i already know it's good and i'm afraid to try anything else for fear of wasting calories. same goes for books - i fear wasted book calories. if i'm going to read something, i want it to be good.

(though, side note, maybe i should take the same approach to movies as i do to books - i've seen some pretty crappy movies in my day just for entertainments sake.)

anyway.

in the spirit of summer vacation, i am going to make up a summer reading list. i want to fill it with a variety of books, including my favorite genres: biographies, historical non-fiction (especially early U.S. or eastern european wartime), dystopian sci-fi, and jane austen. yes ms. austen has her own genre. i'm also going to branch out and read some things i usually wouldn't, like good fiction or mysteries. why not.

so, now is the part of this post where i ask you what books are on YOUR summer reading list? or what could you recommend to me? i have a hard time starting with this stuff, but as i've found with running lately if you just stick to it and make a goal, wild things can happen.

p.s. i'm still reeling over my 4 mile run yesterday. yay!
p.p.s. did you know i tried to write a book about dystopian society a while ago? ahhh, i still laugh about it.

birthday. v2

so after the birthday day of fun, TH had a few tricks up his sleeve.

first, he arranged a dinner with my family at founding farmers! surprise to me! we met up with dad, jenny and lizzie and had a funny evening with a deliriously tired lizzie asking the funniest questions. and playing in the fountain outside the IMF.

we went to get birthday milkshakes at good stuff, then came back home to a crazy sight. bone malone singing jock jams and popping out of the alley next to our house. i was like "whaaaa?" then a bunch of my closest friends started walking out of the alley dancing to the acapella jock jams. TH arranged a surprise party for me!! i had no idea and was totally shocked and happy to see mah friends, many of whom i hadn't seen since the wedding.

ah, man, what a fun night! took a bunch of pictures with the old russian film camera, and got a couple on TH's powershot. oh my friends, thank you so much for making an old girl flustered and speechless. hearts hearts.






i feel pretty lucky. 28 feels really good on me so far.
i ran 4 miles straight today without feeling like passing out! yay body!

wagamama is my high school boyfriend.

and i'm D.C.

wagamama: hey, D.C., you are really good lookin. i think we should date.
D.C.: sure! sounds great. you are pretty tasty yourself.

...dating...

wagamama: um, D.C., i think you're super and all but wow i'm just not sure if i'm ready for this.
D.C.: oh, yeah, no i know what you mean. no big deal. i'll just wait and you can string me along until we (you) figure it out.

enough, Wags. commit or quit. stop messing with our minds already. (but please commit. i can't live without you.)

read more here.

birthday. v1

i am 28 years old now. it feels old. argh, i just don't like the end of a decade, it makes me feel like i'm still trying desperately to hold onto my 20's (which is partially true). i kind of can't wait to be 30. 30, flirty, and thriving.

anyway, last friday was what i'm now referring to as TMPDE. The Most Perfect Day Ever.
went to work till about 1pm, then took off with TH to do the following:

eat fojol bros indian food in the park.

buy a new camera.
walk around downtown.
see the allen ginsberg exhibit at the national gallery of art.
eat gelato in the basement of the NGOA.

the day was so perfect! sunny, warm day, playing with cameras and taking lots of silly pictures, eating treats and best indian food ever, and loving taking the day off with TH. i felt spoiled. but that was just the beginning...

then it was onto the surprise portion of the night...

running.

i can't believe i signed myself up for a 10K race! it's 6 days away and i still can't run three miles without feeling like i need someone to throw a barrel of gatorade on my head (so hot! and stomach sick). but, i'm going to try my best and i'm really glad that TH is running it with me. even though he would probably rather run fast to "race", he's going to run/walk with me the whole time. it's nice to have a built in support system.

he's in pittsburgh this week, so i'm trying to get some projects around the house. organizing the closet, the pink bathroom, and our media collection. and framing some posters we have.

i'll update on my birthday tomorrow. i had the best day, thanks to my family, my friends, and my sweet love, TH.

happy mothers day!!

happy mothers day to all you mamas out there. i don't know why, but i've been having dreams that a few people i know are pregnant (family and friend). i'm sure that i have some kind of future telling powers. let's give it 9 months to see.

we spent some time today with my mom and mom-in-law and what a nice sunday it was. i'm so lucky to have such strong, loving, inspirational women in my life.

birthday weekend.

when your birthday falls on a friday it can turn a normal weekend into something super special. with the gorge weather outside, it only makes it better.
i've got on my birthday dress and i'm ready to walk around DC with TH and do some camera work, some shopping, some eating, and lots of "i can't believe this is my life" statements.

although I've been dating TH (on and off) for 3 years, this will be the first birthday we've ever spent together. strange eh? we met three years ago just a few days after my birthday. he ended up being quite a good belated birthday present. lately he's made it a habit of making our bed and writing messages in the velvety blanket that sits at the bottom of our bed. today's was a lovely happy birthday wish. i told him i don't even want anything for my birthday because i seriously feel like i already have too much. family, friends, good job, stuff, and OH! to top it off, let me share with you the story of the craigslist chest of drawers.

The Craigslist bank:
i bought this cool dresser like 8 months ago from this girl who was asian and spent a lot of time over in southeast asia for work. so i'm cleaning out the dresser to move into our new apartment, and i find these two cool money bills - Kyats, from Myanmar. I figure they are junk, but I hold onto them because they look cool. so the other day, just for fun, i looked up what their exchange rate was on xe.com. Turns out a 1,000 kyat is worth about USD $160!! and we have two!! what a find, thank you craigslist. if i still had that girls information, i'd for sure give the money back to her, but she sold the dresser because she was moving out of the country. so we are trying to figure out what to do with the money. i said shoes, TH said a wardrobe. who is the practical one in our relationship, hmm??

pretty cool birthday present though. and i guess it teaches a valuable lesson: craigslist purchases can sometimes be worth it.

some days are harder than others.

i know, obviously, right? but some days i really let my environment get me down. today is definitely one of these days. i often struggle with what to say to people. i think i've always felt like more of a question ask-er than a talker or contributor. i don't know, i just find it hard sometimes. then my fear is that the other person will think i'm not smart or i'm snobbish or i'm aloof.

or maybe they get it, too. maybe everybody has days like this?

maybe i need to be more assertive around talkity talky people, but then i don't feel like myself. ahhhh life. you sure throw me curve balls from time to time.

at least tomorrow starts my birthday weekend, and one good piece of news (well, two really) - TH was supposed to be out of town on business, but his trip was cancelled, so he can celebrate with me! and second good thing is my work lets us take half-days on birthdays, so i'm leaving tomorrow around noon to go hang out in the city with TH! hurray. tell me, is there anything that feels more luxurious than hanging out with other people who are supposed to be working on a school day? it's like skipping school all over again (which i did plenty of, thank you very much steven parker and manassas mall).

ok, i feel a little better after thinking about how much fun tomorrow will be. lalala.

candy.

our wedding day. by joshua brown photography.

i have a snickers candy bar waiting in my freezer should i ever need one. i'm still trying to decide if it should be my reward.

i am thinking of saving it for until after a big race i'm still deciding if i want to run.

it is a 10K, next sunday. i feel like i need a new challenge, you know because marriage is so easy (haha, i kid, i kid). i mean marriage is quite lovely (it was a good choice to marry my best friend) but i am after a physical challenge. the longest i've ever run is 4.5 miles and i thought i would die. but a 10K? I think i can do it, even if i have to walk a little. i feel like i need to, in a way.

and then after that sweet bliss of running around my neighborhood with all my sweet neighbors, i can sit down on my brown couch, peel off the wrapper, and eat my well-deserved snickers bar.

reward candy.

**UPDATE: i registered for the race! i can't believe i did it.

Restaurant review: Sonoma

Last night TH and i checked out Sonoma, after buying a groupon a few weeks ago. It's just a 2 minute walk from our apartment, so we were really excited to try it.

The review in a word: salt.
We tried some excellent cheese (I recommend the Marisa Cave Aged), and my Bibb salad with strawberries and balsamic vinegar was really great. But everything else was just doused in salt. TH got the trout with red peas and shallots. It was good, but intensely herby and salty. I got the spaghetti with dill, mushrooms and farm fresh eggs, and again very salty and herby.

I mean, it was good. We just wanted to eat less salt. We'll probably go back to try other things. It was a lovely night out with TH, and at the end of dinner, he said "well, you win some you lose some. We eat out so much that at this point, I consider it sport." Haha. We decided we are only going to eat dinner out a few times a month, but when we do, it will be somewhere nice, instead of eating out like 2, 3 times a week at semi-crappy places.

I still can't believe I have to wait the whole summer for Wagamama. Waahhhh.

film.

via FOREVER IS TODAY

i am so excited to get my new camera. it's a digital slr, but i'm hoping it won't distract me from using film cameras, too. i wish i had a collection like this one!!

burned. ouch.

This weekend was so great. Friday night we fell asleep at like 10pm because we are awesome. Woke up saturday, and packed up the car to head out to Chincoteague Island! Lucky for me, TH has family out that way so they go visit quite a bit. It was gorgeous, beautiful weather. And the town his family lives in, Parksley, has to be the most adorable town I've ever visited. Every house looked like a dollhouse and there was a train museum in the middle of town. And old school shops on main street, including Jaxon's which sold everything from beach chairs to rifles to sunday 3-piece suits. Awesome.

We went for the weekend to celebrate this little guys first birthday: He's so darling! We love him. Happy first Alex.

We had a great 2 day getaway with TH's family. Except...sunday we laid out on the beach we all got BURNED to crisps. And I fell asleep on my side. Now my left side looks like a tomato, and my right side is still my pale self. Once again, I start off the summer with weird tan lines.

We loved taking the mini on its first road trip and planned out several more we want to take this summer. Can't wait!

And lastly, we stopped at Sonic every chance we got for Strawberry Limeades. I wish we had a Sonic close by. Those drinks are pure liquid gold.

How was your weekend? Any fun things going on this week?