so long.

clean.

TH left for NYC yesterday for a couple of days. Sometimes when he's gone for a quick trip, I indulge myself and just lay around the house eating loud crunchy foods and nutella straight from the jar. And watch netflix movies all night.
But this time - oh, this time I was productive gnomie!! I don't know what came over me, but I essentially cleaned the entire kitchen, bedroom, living room, and office area. We just got a new couch and now I feel like I can finally make the living room look liveable. I rearranged some furniture, organized books and magazines, artfully placed some blankets and tablecloths, and now it looks pretty! Just need to find some curtains and a new coffee table and voila. I feel a million times better about the house.
I also watched A Single Man while counting coins from an old jar we have, and man that movie was really engrossing and sad. Tom Ford, not surprisingly, has an amazing eye for set design and wardrobes (assuming he was the person who ok'd all of it). Colin Firth is still hot, as Mr. Darcy or as a 40-something miserable British professor.

And guess what else? I framed some of our wedding pictures. I like remembering that day, and can you believe that it has already been 6 months?! We are celebrating a bit in Montreal this weekend - yes we are totally annoyingly in love and want to celebrate 6 months. TH the other day was like - we should always celebrate our anniverseries out of the country. Umm...ok! As long as we keep flying everywhere for work and get mileage points, I'm totally cool with that one.

So anyway, house is clean, TH comes home tonight, then we get to start planning our road trip and long weekend in Montreal. I can't wait to try the poutine.

too many things in the air.

if you have too many things going on at once, you're bound to let one or two of them drop, right? it's like that weird hacky sack moment by freddie prinze jr. in she's all that. don't pretend you don't remember!!
anyway, i was tsk tsk'd this morning before 10am, and i must say that its not a good way to start a monday, being attacked for a stupid mistake i made. argghh my job is super frustrating these past few weeks.

i guess the good news is that i'm finally getting a little vacation - we're taking off to montreal this weekend! i've wanted to go for most of my adult life so i'm pretty pumped for this. have you been? what are the must see places in montreal?

the country.

last night we visited some friends in mclean. we like to refer to it as "the country". how sad that my idea of the country is a multimillion dollar neighborhood with a lot of trees? i guess its just nice to see nature other than ivy growing all over your gate and that huge weed attacking your front door and hydrangea bushes.

hopefully next weekend we're really going to get to the country. i'm thinking - rent a cabin by the lake, lay around in a hammock all day, drive into town to eat dinners, sleep as much as we please. oh man, i'm dying for a good relaxing vacation. i'm up to my eyeballs in work stress lately.

what are your plans for labor day weekend?

heck-ments

the other day TH sent me an email with the subject: heck-ments. and i was so confused for a few minutes until i saw all of the bike helmet links in the email (i'm looking for a new bike helmet). ohhh, heck-ments! not helmets. that's funny.
until later, we both figured out that its not a helment. and now all week i've been saying to myself, "i really need a new bike helment".

why did he put heckMENTS in? it's been killing me all week. these are the reasons i love TH. that and he always carries a pen. that's a handy man.

bought some shoes online.

and a skirt. that's what happens when you spend 8 hours in the airport with wi-fi. i'm just lucky i got out of there in time before blowing the big bucks on a couch from mitchell and gold that i've been swooning over. i mean look at her! what a gorgeous piece of work.

the louisa sofa from mitchell + gold.

airport malaise.

i swear i have the worst luck in the world when it comes to flying. in the past 2 months, i think i've had 3 cancelled flights, and at least 3-4 delays. only 3 flights that i can remember have been on time.

i've been in the dallas-fort worth airport for about 8 hours, and hopefully this flight will take off in 1.5 hours as scheduled. it's just so disappointing to spend all your trip in an airport. i fly back tomorrow at 5pm, so i'm already only going to be there for less than 20 hours. ew.

on a plus note, i had more weird dreams and i think i did really weird stuff while i was sleeping on the plane. like talking loudly and probably touching my face because i dreamed that my face froze into place and couldn't move. it was terrifying. so actually, that's probably not a plus, but at least its something besides being stuck in an airport.

ok, here's a plus note: DFW has this restaurant called cereality and they sell CEREAL and milk. hello, its all i ever want anyway!! so, i had some golden grahams and strawberries - the same breakfast i had on my wedding morning (thanks jess!!) and it always makes me happy.

see, i already feel a little better just talking about that.

xo

howdy.

i'm off to texas for a quick 2-day business trip. hoping i get to try some good tex-mex while i try my best to stay out the 100+ degree weather.

peck of peaches. and a couch.

my friends were sweet enough to pick some extra peaches for friends, and last night i was hand delivered a peck of the juiciest, ripest peaches known to man. i'm planning my weekend around peach pies, peach jam, peach salsa, and eating whole peaches while laying around in the lazy summer afternoons.

that is, of course, in between my frantic hunting for a new couch. i'm looking for a beautiful old settee, but craigslist and i are not getting along lately. i don't want to buy another new couch, unless i really like it. and i'm not finding anything in my price range! bah! if you know of any 55" loveseats or settees, i want to know about it. TH wants nothing to do with this effort since he liked the brown behemoth couch perfectly fine, so i'm an island on this issue. maybe, does anyone have suggestions for good antique stores to find a cool, smaller couch?

if you could live anywhere in the world, where would you pick?

bern, switzerland?

with the ponies in iceland?
cuenca, ecuador? st. johns, newfoundland? croatia?

i can't decide. will keep daydreaming until i figure it out. until then, i'm pretty happy in dc but i sure am feeling the need to hit the road a little.

what is your dream place to live?

homesick for iceland.

sept 2009 in iceland. funny, we both wore these rainjackets to work today.

yes, i know i was only there for one week, but i'm dying to go back. that place was so magical and i swear anytime it rains (especially like today when its a little chilly), i am totally transported back. i listened to sigur ros on the walk to work and my spirit totally soared. maybe this sounds so iceland cliche or weird, but can you really listen to this song without being completely inspired and changed?

on improvements.

i find it impossible to make good habits stick. it's just so hard to go to the gym and eat healthy and remember to pray and always be nice to my husband. i think most people have these tendencies, or maybe i just tell myself this to feel better? ug, i do try.

anyway, we started on some changes yesterday.
1. gym. felt awesome.
2. no work-related stress brought home. felt awesome.
3. delicious dinner with friends at our house - our first dinner party. again, awesome.

so after such a stellar day, it's hard to say that working a little harder isn't worth it. it totally is worth it. and i'm excited to try to keep it up and make good habits! stay away little trolls.

on a side note - we thought our apartment was too small for a good dinner party, but my friends always prove me wrong. all you really need are fun people, a little bit of good food, and good music. it was heaven. and we get to do it again on wednesday! plus with the brown behemoth couch out of the way, there is infinitely more space!

monday monday.

i am crazy tired after such a delightful weekend.

the almost fall-like weather put me in a trance all weekend and friends - i even wore boots on sunday!! they were just ankle boots, but still! boots! autumn is so close and my happiness level is fairly manic due to the shifts in the weather all the time. so just sayin.

friday we took a long walk around adams morgan, admiring all the old houses and feeling for just a few minutes like we were in notting hill (same curved road, same grand and lovely homes), until we walked back to 18th street and had to avoid all the little hipsters, lest they spot the outsiders! we had dinner at a place i've been wanting to check out for a while, himilayan heritage - nepalese indian food - and had a really nice late dinner.

saturday morning...i sold the brown couch! i finally did it and i feel like we both got a good deal. and more importantly the behemoth couch is gone and our living room seems so much bigger. i wouldn't be surprised if we don't get a new couch to replace it. instead, we gathered our two armchairs, put them next to each other with a small little table in the middle and a lamp, and we are calling it our Up chairs. i'm dying over how much I love sitting there and reading with TH on the other side.
saturday we shopped in georgetown and both found new glasses. hooray. and some new jeans. double hooray. nothing like trying on jeans to destroy any kind of good feelings towards the world and general population. needless to say, i was pretty happy to find a pair i liked. we made it an early night on saturday and spent some time cleaning up and taking care of the house. finished the night off with The Graduate.

sunday was church, relax and reading time, and then a really nice dinner with our newly engaged friends and some old grad school buddies. it was so nice to reminisce and to hear the proposal story and enjoy really good food with funny people. and of course, it made me miss nyc a little bit, but i am more and more content with living in DC. it's working for us right now.

and now its monday, back to sweltering 95 degrees, humidity, and work. silver lining - lots of fun things planned for the week. and, it's restaurant week in DC!!

to the weekend, and beyond!

so people, have a great weekend. the moral of this week is: make time for exercise or you will gain weight. especially if you're eating buttery foods by the truckload.

this weekend has so many things in store, the main thing being spontaneity and rest. we're just gonna do whatever we want to do, because i think both of us have been feeling boxed in and stressed out by work these past few weeks! maybe some saturday shopping, check out some flea markets, go for a bike ride or run, and i'm hoping to try to learn how to make cherry clafoutis. if the weather stays cool, i can finally turn on the oven.

hope you enjoy the last of the fleeting summer weekends!

all eyes on me.

photo taken in gettysburg, PA. awesome, right?

i feel really happy this week. i've been able to see lots of friends i love and eat good food, and not only that but we're planning a big trip for labor day and for TH's 30th birthday.
one thing that remains true is that everywhere i go somebody comments on my hair. probably not knowing i feel totally self-conscious about my hair every single minute of the day, they don't realize how nervous it makes me to have people looking. yikes. luckily, it's growing out a bit and i feel like in a few weeks i might actually start calling it a bob. yes!

and happy birthday kim gard! thanks for having such a fun birthday dinner. we love you!

dc boroughs

you know, much like new york where people do not often venture outside their boroughs (or if they do - its for a good reason), so is dc.

now that we are on capitol hill, getting us to go anywhere else besides downtown (where we both work), is a bit of a haul. i mean, why would we put so much effort into the bus/metro system or looking for parking and battling traffic just to eat dinner in another neighborhood?

this week, we've really stepped outside the hill. spent monday in adams morgan (tryst), tuesday in clarendon (eat bar), and last night in georgetown for a bit of post-work shopping then to U street for dinner at marvin.

marvin! wow! if you like seafood or soul food you are in for a treat here. we tried this amazing dish of shrimp and grits and had what could possibly be the best creme brulee of my dc life. and one of our dinner mates tempted me with bbq ribs after he discovered my love for pork and it was all over. and our waiter was so full of character and class - the whole experience was really quite memorable.

so i guess - even though it takes a little more effort, experiencing different parts of the city really does enrich ones life and bring a little more excitement. i love it. now if i could just figure out how to have fun in the city AND get to the gym. all this eating out is putting on the pudge.

we're not moving.

with the recent scare of getting a new apartment, i think we are committed to our current place. living in turrets has its benefits - none of which include furniture fitting in nicely, but we manage. i have really come to love our tiny apartment with all its glorious windows. the first thing i do when i wake up in the morning (after looking in the mirror at my troll hair) is look outside to see the morning workers scurrying off to work. its my barometer for how the day will go. if i see lots of people, time to get a move on. if its sparse, i'm probably late for work, which happens more often than not!!

we kind of put a hold on decorating the apartment when we thought we wanted to move out a few months ago, but now that we're in it - decorating is back on! hooray! i'll be sharing pictures over the next couple weeks of our apartment because i don't want to break my promise to you faithful readers (most of whom have already seen our place and laughed at our 2 foot wide kitchen. what's a girl to do.)

turns out, it is kind of hard to leave the first apartment you have with your husband. memories.

dating in the district: tryst in adams morgan

tryst is this lovely always overcrowded coffee house in adams morgan that i just love. i think the key is to go every once in a while - it really hits the spot. couches everywhere, free wi-fi, tin ceilings, and rotating local artist exhibits.

th and i ended up there last night for our monday night date, and were glad we made the trip to adams morgan (i know its only a few miles from capitol hill but parking can be a nightmare and we are impatient people). the washington carver (peanut butter and ghiradelli chocolate milkshake) is my favorite thing on the menu. they also have really good teas and sandwiches. we grabbed some drinks and food, listened to live jazz (with a fender rhodes. swoon), caught up on wedding thank-yous and had a great time out on the town. i think if we ever were to leave capitol hill, it would be for adams morgan. that part of town is so energizing and unique. i can stand it as long as its not a weekend night - it gets way too crazy for this homebody.

one of these friday nights i want to take TH to get a jumbo slice in adams morgan. he has never had one and they are an institution around here. so wrong, yet so right.

weekend wrap-up: mom time.

i know its tuesday, but i have to write about the weekend.
the arcade fire show on friday night was amazing and i fell in love with regine, player of accordian, singer, marcher, streamer waver, and wearing the most darling dress i've ever seen. yes i have a crush.
saturday is where i want to get with this post. mom came up saturday morning to check out capitol hill, see our apartment and go on some adventures with us. i thought - oh, it would be nice to spend a lazy day on capitol hill, taking mom to some gardens and brunch, and just walk around the neighborhoods. here is what it turned into.
when mom got to our apartment, we sat around for an hour or so talking, then realized it was getting late and we had to get on the road for our first destination: kenilworth aquatic gardens in anacostia. (we had to hurry because we had the open house to attend at the apartment with horrible land lady dot blogspot). we got lost on the way there and ended up driving around scarier parts of anacostia with my mom pretending to be cool with it and shouting encouraging words to me to help me not be stressed but TOO late! i was really stressed and everyone is yelling at each other and we are lost. we finally find our way there, and after walking around for a bit looking at the beautiful lotus flowers, i tell my mom to put her hand next to a big leaf so i can take a picture of how BIG the leaves are. sure, my mom says. she walks over and not realizing that the lotus flowers are growing out of a pond, starts sliding and SINKING into the mud bog!! she's screaming "help me!" and i'm throwing things up in the air to run over and pull her out of the bog. luckily, she only got her foot really muddy and part of her shorts, but oh my goodness i felt horrible!! she was a really good sport about it, so we moved onto the next activity: open house. that was fine, but my mom had to wait around while we filled out paperwork - not so fun.
after the open house - we made her wait for 40 minutes for brunch at Teds Bulletin! Yum, but a long wait. we killed the wait time with a poptart and watched the wizard of oz on their old school TV.
then i had promised to take mom on a tour of capitol hill and check out some open houses. i had printed off the open house listings and we started walking around to see some of the glamorous $1.3 million dollar homes on the hill. and wouldn't you know it, open houses are on SUNDAY, not saturday.

after that we pretty much gave up - got some free samples at eastern market, and then headed back to my apartment. i helped her create a resume and we did speed typing tests which was hilarious.

then mom left and she later told me she spent 1 1/2 hours getting 2 miles on 395, and it took her over 2 hours to get home.

ouch.

so we totally understand if mom never wants to visit again. we took her to the ghetto, made her fall into a swamp, made her wait 40 minutes to eat brunch, and then she had to sit in traffic for 90 minutes. mom - next time i swear we will go to georgetown and i will take you to only nice places and keep my adventures for myself. ha.

sorry for the long post, but i wanted to document this story for memories sake and also make sure my sisters read it. you guys win again.

ix-nay on the apartment-hay.

turns out we'd rather have a good landlord.

the search continues. should i take a hint that capitol hill has a horrible absence of good, affordable apartments? 20 other people attended the open house at this apartment. and when we put up our apartment on craigslist, i had 17 responses within 12 hours. umm...yeah.

so best of luck to those trying to find an apartment on the hill. le sigh. i'm pretty bummed about this whole thing.

upside: i've been listening to the new ray lamontagne album to heal my bruised heart. it's working a little bit.

we found an apartment. kind of...

my stomach is churning.

we found a place this weekend and put down a deposit and then late last night, TH found a blog called something like "horrible landlady.blogspot.com" and it was dedicated to the heinousity (?) of our new landlord!! arghh i feel so conflicted now and i don't know if we should scratch the whole thing or just take our chances.

the new apartment has almost all what we wanted, and i love the location, but geez, i am just sick about what to do now. is a good apartment ever worth a bad landlord?

new apartment?

i have a really good feeling about finding a new apartment this weekend. we saw one today and looking at 2 more this weekend - i think by monday we'll know for sure!

i know what you're thinking - didn't you just move into your place? yes, we did. we have grown to love it in all its quirkiness, but its a little too close to the capitol and i'm tired of paying so much for something we don't love.

but. i looooved the place we saw today! the minute we walked in, i was sold! but we're going to see two more just for insurance, and because i have the "grass is greener" syndrome like crazy.

wish us luck!!

bangs.

wow, i'm dying over the perfection of these bangs. makes me miss the ole hair. do i sound like a broken record?

week 1: success

the decision was made to start budgeting for food.

this week was our first real week of the experience. we planned out potential lunches and dinners, then hit the grocery store. and i'm happy to report i brought my lunch every single day and it was so yummy and instead of spending $10 on lunch, i spent more like $3. hoorah!
dinner was another story, but we're working on it. i'm finding out i'm not a great cook (especially after a disaster curry on tuesday night), but i guess practice makes perfect, right? but most dinners this week were really simple since we've been eating at like 10pm most nights. last night we ate at 11pm, and it was the best dinner of the week: scrambled eggs on toasted french bread with olive oil and tomatoes, and a little sausage on the side. delicious! brinner really is the answer to life's questions.

and i feel like i should apologize about the storm post from yesterday. i didn't realize it would knock out half of dc's power! i do love thunderstorms, but not when they wreak havoc. i got caught in the rain pretty bad yesterday on the way to see an apartment (no luck - still looking), and i was totally soaked for the rest of the day. kind of fun, kind of not.

so onto the weekend after a crazy busy work-week. tonight we are going with friends to the arcade fire show! yay for good concerts, boo for going to merriweather. barf. then saturday mom is coming up to check out capitol hill and see some gardens. hoping to grab a good brunch in eastern market. then a dinner with friends, maybe some pool time, then church and relaxation on sunday.

aren't summer thunderstorms the best?

we've been having so many lately! it makes me want to curl up next to our huge living room window with a cup of tea. so cool.

golden gate bridge.

thinking back on it, san francisco really is quite lovely. the bridge is one of the prettiest i've ever seen. i loved riding my bike over it, even though i was afraid the wind would blow me right off a few times!

panic.

the cooler weather this past weekend put a smile on my face. i was loving the cooler night air (we even slept with our windows open one night!), wearing a cardigan without "glistening", and no overbearing humidity to ruin being outside.

but then i hit the panic button. for a fleeting moment, i thought that summer might be over and all the heat was squeezed into june and july, most of which i was not even here to really complain about. i haven't enjoyed summer yet! i've been so busy avoiding the heat and humidity, i haven't had time to soak it in. so the lesson learned is that maybe i don't hate summer like i thought i did, and also that i should spend all free time riding my bike, laying around on the grass, and visiting the pool with friends. because, after all, isn't that was summers are for?

however, i am now in full boot-shopping mode. i will enjoy the summer, but i'm a fall girl at heart.

weekend of dreams, II.

wow, what a perfect weekend. they don't make them much better, i think.

friday: shopping in chinatown and caught the 10:30 Inception (we liked).
saturday: lazy morning, pancakes, walk to air and space museum to check out new exhibit, cokes at burrito brothers, first visit to our awesome community pool (views of the washington monument! classic!), then tried out some banh mi in falls church, and finally to darci's going away party. bye bye darci dear, i already miss your adorable face.
sunday: church, nap, planning meals for the week, dinner with TH's family, home to read and relax, early bedtime.

i feel unbelievably refreshed.

and in case you missed it, yes - we found a free pool just minutes from our house and its awesome! planes flying overhead, looking straight at the big pencil, and easy to get to on a bike. i know what i'm doing with the rest of my summer in dc. hip hip hooray.