red hair.

just yesterday i was sitting in my meeting, and my mind drifted off to a place it often does: my hair. i had a thought that i should dye it red. and then today i came across this picture:

how striking! long beautiful red hair with a lovely ribbon tied on! give me 2 years and my hair will be that long and beautiful (though not likely that lovely auburn).

image via cocokelley.

just some things.

1. i've been making a lot of good food lately (patting myself on back), but i'm too lazy to blog it on gnomie cooks.
forbidden rice stirfry
black beans and avocado with fried egg
butternut squash daal (yum!) with quinoa
what i'm trying to say, is that with a little sunday preparation, TH and i have had some really tasty dinners this week and have avoided spending money on frivolous meals, helping us save money towards our more important 2011 goal of TRAVELING.

2. we picked up a new-to-us dresser last night via craigslist. sometimes craig is such a tease, but he's been ok to us this week. hopefully will find a dining table and TV credenza this weekend.

3. work has been really depressing lately. the political winds are shifting to a standstill and it's frustrating to see the hard work that people have been dedicating towards their industry come to a pause. i work in energy and environment and if you read the news, you will know what i'm talking about. it's scary that groups have the power to shut down 30 years of environmental progress. it's mostly frustrating and makes me sad about humanity.

4. i think i need a pretend beach getaway this weekend. so i've got some tricks up my sleeve to make it feel like summer! bring on those umbrella drinks and summer movies!!

tell me - what do you do to get rid of the winter blahs?

marriage is hilarious, part 2.

last night it's like 1am and we're having trouble falling asleep because, well, i'm high on caffeine and TH is all hepped up on work (is hepped up a real thing?)
so i tell him about this dumb king of queens episode i watched earlier that day. i turned on the TV just for a minute, and ended up watching the whole episode, which made me late for my appointment.

but it was all pretty much worth it, because as i was recapping the episode (like WORD for WORD - how did i even remember it?!), we started laughing so hard. and we were both laughing so hard we pretty much couldn't talk for a couple minutes. it was pretty great. we fell asleep right after that, exhausted from the laughter and feeling the peace of knowing i picked a pretty great guy. totally mushy, yep, and i can't believe we have nearly been married for 1 year. we just booked a little getaway off the grid in western maryland next weekend and i can't wait to celebrate our anniversary and relax like newlyweds should (right?). how long does it take until you are not a newlywed? because geez, i do not feel like i'm experienced enough to be called anything but.

some stories about books.

some stories about books:

1. last week TH and I were discussing how our neighborhood really needs a good bookstore. he quickly pointed me to the bookstore by eastern market, but i'm sorry that one is too crowded for the bookstore i'm talking about. i'm talking about the cafe, and lots of reading chairs, and big spacious places to think and socialize with your community...GASP! i'm talking about cans of olive oil, big box bookstores that put the little man out of business! awkward. but the heart wants what it wants.

2. the borders at 19th and L is closing its doors and EVERYTHING is 20-40% off. i went in last night and browsed around for about an hour, picking up chick lit (sorry, can't do it), travel books, biographies, and finally settling on cookbooks. ahh yes, food, my true love. i picked up heidi swansons (of 101 cookbooks) "super natural cooking" and molly wizenbergs (of orangette) "a homemade life". i've already picked out a handful of recipes i can't wait to try from heidi's book, including barley risotto and pumpkin muffins. and molly's book seems like such a comfortable atmospheric cookbook, i'm sure i will get lost in it. can not wait.

moral of these stories: i want a big box store, but i don't want to put the little guy out of business. but the box stores go out of business, you get a discount. so, everyone wins! except i still don't have my neighborhood book cafe. womp womp.

(photo from 101 cookbooks)

missin papa mickey.

dad went to utah for the semester to be a utah papa. he gets to hang out with the mike and amber family and the koens with their cute little babies. but papa, we miss you here! come back and see us soon. or should we fly out and see you?

(here i am with lizzie, dressed pretty much exactly the same. cool? not sure.)

some facts for your tuesday.

FACTS:
it's a sad weekend when you're wearing short sleeves on friday and bundled up in all the sweaters you own by monday.

bananas taste better with a spoonful of peanut butter.

bodies feel great when they are regularly stretched.

eastern market after church is always a good idea.

outlet malls after church is probably not a good idea.

one week of meetings = 2 lbs. gained.

tea parties with sisters, lizzie, and mom are hilarious and i want to have a tea party with 4 year olds every day. come on, teaching etiquette to a princess-obsessed girl is the funniest thing i've ever witnessed.

day off!

i plan to enjoy every second of this day off. i'm all rested up, too, thanks to the 12 hours of sleep i had last night. my house was really cold, so i just went to get under the covers to get warm, and next thing i knew it was the middle of the night and i'm in my jeans. awkward.

a couple of weeks ago, i broke my iphone when we were moving. the glass shattered and i had to get it replaced. well, guess whose iphone shattered yesterday? TH! sad bomb, i couldn't believe it. we are definitely putting cases on the iphone today.

how are you celebrating the day off?

the tale of the neverending work day.

once upon a time there was a girl who felt "meh" about her job.
she worked hard, but after about a year she grew tired of the constant complaints from her co-workers, the mindless tasks she was forced to complete, and the persisting feeling that nothing was ever finished.

one day, she decided to go to a work event that would change her outlook not only on her job, but also on life (since let's be honest, life is pretty much focused on job right now). then started a week-long meeting and her attitude was so positive that things around her started to fall into place. projects she needed to complete grew closer to the end. people she needed to be "on board" were on board. and she felt like a new person. more confident, more aware, more plugged-in.

so for 6 long days, she woke with the sun, worked all day and evening, and took cat naps in between. and at the end of it, she felt happy.

how did this all start? oh, it started with ME. telling MYSELF i could do it.
i think one of the hardest things in life is to stay positive in any circumstance, especially when you've been in the "i-give-up" mode for so long. but it's never too late to turn it around. i still have a long way to climb, but i've started the change and i feel so different. it's all about happiness, and doing whatever you can do to get there.

have a happy long holiday weekend, friends.
xo

shake ya mmph.

update on my efforts to be healthy:
1. worked out every day this week
2. lowered food intake
3. cut out most carbs, replaced with whole grains and legumes
4. lowered sweets intake.

i couldn't quit everything cold turkey - that makes me too crazy to think of how to get food in my body that "plays by the rules", so i just limit stuff. it's working so far and i feel healthier. i can run further. i am not so hungry all the time. and just maybe my pants are feeling a bit looser? i'm also working on my flexibility and my body is feeling great. go body.

update on trip:
thank you for all your suggestions for a trip, but it turns out that this family prefers not to finance an exotic trip and a new couch in the same fiscal quarter. well, that's ok. we're planning a big trip for september to eastern europe, so i will just hold out until then. and if i shed a few tears over being cold this winter and not sitting beachside, so be it. at least i'll have a nice couch to sit on.

what's going on for you this weekend?
we've got: oscar short film viewing, dinner with friends, couch hunting, birthday party, and getting the new house in order. wahoo.

hello!

hello world, it's me, gnomie.

i am feeling so happy about nothing. just happy in general which is a good thing i suppose. i have a sneaking suspicion my happiness is owed to this blue can of energy drink i have on my desk. so unnatural, i know, but geez it sure does help me get things done around here!

valentines day is coming up and i have a really fun idea for TH. but since he sometimes reads this little bloggy, i'll save the thing until after V day.

i also want to say that i LOVE our new house. we've had friends over a few times now and it just feels so nice to have people inside our new home, especially the people we love. it brings in that much more warmth into the house, ya know? i also love sitting next to the fireplace with my tootsies curled up next to the fire (because i'm always so cold - thanks mom for my poor blood circulation, ha). and it's just nice to be able to breathe a little better and feel like we are truly home, you know?

oh and guess who has a "sitting" date this weekend? me and TH are going to test out some new sofas! wish me luck! i will desperately need it.

piggyback.

the other day we were on a hot saturday night date, me and TH. trolling the aisles of target for new wares for the new digs. we encountered some friends at the end of the visit (as you always do at the crystal city target, i swear that place is crawling with mormons), and had a laughy chat for a long time. laughy chats are really the best kind of chats, especially when liz quist is involved.

so we're standing there, chatting and laughing, and discussing the matters of the day when we are passed by yet ANOTHER mormon couple. a...younger couple. halfway down the store, we see the girl hop on her boyfriends back, piggyback style.

and my mouth drops, and we all kind of look at each other like "um, did that just really happen?" "do people that we associate with ride piggyback in the target?" "this is not to be born!"

days later, i'm still running that moment through my mind. i believe at some point in my dating life, i definitely pulled the piggyback in a public place, but it was probably in my college or high school years. where those sorts of things happen. not in DC, no, not here. but, who am i to judge? if people want to be silly and young and carefree, who cares where they are? which gets me thinking: am i getting too old for things like this? am i...old and judgemental (gasp!)?

just to prove to TH that i am still young at heart, i did a toe touch and a hurkie last night in our living room. i then collapsed on the floor, having strained my leg muscles.

today: courage

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. ~Ambrose Redmoon

moving and singing.

who knew you could get so much done in one weekend?
we spent most of the weekend cleaning and organizing, selling stuff on craigslist, and consigning clothes in old town alexandria. and guess what else? looking at couches. i have it narrowed down to about 5 now, and just need to do some more test sits. still looking on craigslist but finding nothing.

we also had a few people over and tested out the new space. i like to do that when moving into a new home to see where people congregate - where it makes the most sense to arrange furniture and hang out. you know?

one thing i'm really excited about is our new piano. i probably shouldn't admit this openly on the internet, but i love sing-a-longs. i adore them. we had what may have been the funniest sing-a-long (next to the garth and kat christmas party at cristy and sierras) of my life on saturday when josh and naomi visited for a little while. what started off as an innocent beatles sing-a-long ended up with 2 saxaphones and a carpenters song and so much laughing i couldn't even see straight to play the piano.

this weekend was so good for my soul. and guess what else, i really love TH. he saves me every day. i'm such a pill sometimes and he is so supportive when i just feel like giving up. thanks love.

so. what did you do this weekend? orrrr do you love sing-a-longs as much as me?

central america? caribbean?

you know how everyone has their own ideal way to travel? over the past 10 years, i've been mostly to south and central america and i think i've learned just how much it suits me. i love europe and have never been to asia or africa, but the beauty, the food, and the price cannot be beat in SA/CA.

peru

bolivia

ecuador

nicaragua

guatemala

so, where next? we're trying to find the perfect laidback, inexpensive beachside trip in march. looking at roatan, or somewhere in honduras, puerto rico, and costa rica.

any tips? i'm headed to the bookstore to peruse lonely planet. LP has never steered me wrong.

babies make the world go round.

i held a new baby at 4pm today and it was the best reason i've ever had for leaving work early. there is nothing so soothing and sweet as a newborn babe. congrats to the new mama and papa! they are the cutest with little baby. and little baby has the most tiny little toes and fingers. i know TH was really nervous about holding a newborn (his first time!), but he was a natural. we had baby glow for the rest of the afternoon. how lovely.

ps walking through the halls of the delivery and labor floor is strangely peaceful considering all the labor going on. it also made me really nervous to even think about the process of having a baby. i held on to husbands hand and he told me about his new product idea to distract my mind from the scariness of childbirth (not that we are anticipating this happening to us anytime soon, people):

earphones that play loud rap music on the outside, so people think you are listening to cool music, and they're actually playing smooth jazz or radiolab or something. haha. (it totally worked - i forgot all about the scary.)

what to do when you're having a rotten day.

1. drop whatever it is that you are doing.

2. walk down the street to the candy shop (ACKC Chocolates)

3. ask for 2 chocolates, please. and a caramel, too.4. take some pretty pictures.

5. breathe.

taking in the new view.

we live in a basement now. oh, i never wanted to live in a basement apartment. you know, they call them english basements on capitol hill, to make them sound oh-so-quaint. well, ok, i guess they are.

moving from a 2nd floor apartment with windows on every single wall into a dark basement it going to be an adjustment. one that will require lots of lamps and pops of COLOR for the beige palace.

i'm also still stuck on what to do about a sofa. i implore you, do you love your couch? where did you get it? or better question: what is your DREAM couch?

i want something low profile, deep cushions, and comfy with modern lines. something that looks sturdy with masculine lines and is a comfortable couch to lounge around on. i haven't really found it yet, at least not in person. where are you, couch of my dreams?