New York, New York

I went to New York Dec. 5-7 with my roomie Celeste. For further information, please see her blog. She wrote a very nice account of our trip, and I don't want to copyright infringe - or for that matter, write my own post.

Thanksgiving and other happenings

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Celeste and I dog/house sat. The dog, Bailey, is a chocolate lab that is super excitable. He jumped and ran a lot - and he was spoiled rotten. I was glad when we didn't have to watch him anymore. We also hosted Thanksgiving dinner at the house. Everything turned out fine, except we did have a minor turkey fiasco. Turns out their oven didn't really work, so Celeste had to take it back to our house to cook. We were planning on eating at 3:30, but didn't until 5:00. But all turned out in the end. There were 14 people there and it was a lot of fun with a lot of yummy food.

Kathryn moved in this weekend too. We're glad to have her here! But we had to move a lot of heavy boxes. She has so many books!

Saturday night Celeste and I went to the ballet. San Francisco Ballet Company performed Giselle at the Kennedy Center. It was very beautiful and sweet. I can't believe the things ballet dancers can do. Towards the end of the ballet the guy lead was picking up the girl lead like she weighed five pounds (she probably only weighed 90, but still). It was amazing and I'm glad we got to go. But I think I'll stick to salsa dancing.

Weekends are far too short

I love weekends - who doesn't? But they are far too short, especially when you have things to do all day long. Friday night I had a very pleasant girls' night out. I went out with five other girls to a Thai restaurant. The food was good - the funny part was afterward. Apparently we didn't leave a big enough tip and the waitress literally followed us out of the restaurant and asked us if her service wasn't good enough. I guess we didn't discuss well enough between the six of us to see how much tip we were leaving, and we had given her a 10% tip. We added some onto our bill, but it was so strange. I have NEVER had that happen before. And aren't tips conditional anyways. But whatever, I know it's how she makes her living. After dinner we saw the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. It had tons of action and I liked it - not as much as Casino Royale, but it was still good and Daniel Craig was still yummy.

Saturday I had play practice. All day. From 9 am until 5 pm. We got a lot done but it was tiring. Especially because I'm just getting over being sick and I had to prance around and sing. And the fire alarm in the church went of twice. We had to evacuate and the firefighters came, complete with gear and axes. Luckily the alarm just had faulty wiring, but it was annoying. And after the play we had a ward dinner - Thanksgiving style - so I didn't leave the church until 8 p.m. I was exhausted!

And then on Sunday I went to church, went visiting teaching, and to my friend Lael's birthday get together. So here I am again on a Monday, at work and I am totally not ready for it. Where did my weekend go?

Halloween Shenanigans

Halloween was a lot of fun. I dressed up, I hung out with friends, I party hopped, I danced. Joy abounded. Fun costumes - a toothbrush and toothpaste.




Having fun dancing. Go Lael, go.








Penelope, gypsies, and Nacho Libre.




And that's me. Yes, I know I'm hot.






Here I am with my lovely friends - Tina as a Renaissance woman, Heather as a swashbuckling pirate, and me as Little Dead Riding Hood.

Vote!

I voted today. Did you?

Birthday Bash, etc...

On Friday October 17, I had my birthday party. Friends came over to our house for food and chatting. I made salsa, my friend Ryan made a cheesecake, and my friend Heather made a beautifully decorated birthday cake. It was so pretty I almost didn't want to eat it. Almost. Quite a few people came over, and it was nice to see everyone and talk and be the center of attention.

After that six of us - me, Celeste, Kevin, Valerie, Jocelyn, and DC Kevin - went dancing at Cafe Citron in DuPont Circle. It was supposed to be salsa dancing, but it was so crowded and small, that it was more like moving in place to music. But it was still a lot of fun, minus the couple making out on the floor for half and hour and the creepy guy that kept dancing with me. But don't worry, I got away eventually. We stayed at the club until 2 a.m. and then we had to walk to Valerie's car, except she couldn't quite remember where she had parked it. We ended up walking in the wrong direction for a couple of blocks, but she realized and we did find it.

Saturday was my actual birthday, so I opened presents - movies and a cd from Celeste; a sweater, shirt, and boots from Alesha; a plaid coat and khaki pants from Mom; and forthcoming a workout dvd from Natasha. All very nice and I loved all of them. Saturday night there was a big singles activity at the Marriott in DC. It was a film festival, and some of the films were pretty funny - different singles' wards made and submitted them. Then there was a dance afterward, and I ran into my friend Kate Borg who I knew from Ricks and haven't seen here in, seriously, seven years. So that was great.

My birthday bash/weekend was a lot of fun. Unfortunately with the lack of sleep and weather change, I got sick. I'm going to blame it on my roommate because she was sick before I was, and hey, I like to blame things on other people ; )

Rock It Grill

Friday night I went out with my co-worker and friend, Jocelyn. The night started off interestingly with me running into the curb with my tire. Luckily nothing happened other than my hub cab being a little scraped. We went out to dinner, yummy Cuban food. Then we entered Rock It Grill.

Rock It Grill is a highly popular karaoke bar. We got there about 9:30 and it was already packed. We had to sit on stools by the pool table, which was amusing when people were trying to make a shot over by where we sitting. But no harm came to us via pool cue, thankfully. We signed up to sing, but the list was long. Some of the singers were really good, some just decent. We enjoyed listening and singing along. Unfortunately, they never called our names to sing. We stayed for about an hour and a half, and then they started dance floor music. It was really smokey, so we decided to leave.

It was so packed that it was hard getting out. I did a little "which way are you going dance" with this big, tall guy who was holding a pitcher of beer and half drunk. It resulted in him spilling beer directly on my crotch. It was a good thing that we were leaving at that point, because it totally looked like I had peed my pants. And it was wet, uncomfortable, and it smelled bad. Gross. We just drove back to my place after that and called it a night. I was sad I didn't get to sing though - I was going to do an Elvis song. : (

It's a tragedy - I swear it is

On my last post, two days ago, I complained that utter boredom is involved with my job. But the one thing that helped get me through the day was checking my facebook every now and then (or a lot really, but who's counting). I played WordTwist and Scramble, wrote on my friends wall, etc. These activities helped to keep me sane. But now, I'm afraid that I will go insane. Why? Because the lovely IT guys at my work blocked facebook! They have also blocked myspace and youtube. What is this world coming to? I thought America was all about freedom, but now I'm not even free to check my facebook. They're all communists, I tell you - red commies.

Ok, so I'm being a bit dramatic. But I find it really lame that they had to go and do that. I know that they want us to work, be efficient, and get things done but we need breaks every once in awhile. If we just sat at our desk for 8 straight hours with no reprieve, our productivity would go down the drain. And even though I checked facebook and even got on youtube sometimes, that doesn't mean I wasn't getting my job done. I'm a good employee dang it, but now I'm being punished. Geez oh pete!

Thankfully they haven't blocked email yet, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they don't. But just so you all know, if I seem a little off my rocker, you can blame it on the company I work for. I know I will.

Utter Boredom

So, I have this job that I'm really grateful for, because it, you know, pays the bills. And my coworkers are great, and I only have a 15 minute commute, and I have health insurance. All good things. The bad part - the mind numbing boredom. I do the same things day in and day out, five days a week, from 8:30 to 5:30. I try to come up with ways to entertain myself or to take breaks, but a girl can only look at her facebook page so many times before she realizes that even though she may have 335 friends, none of them are writing on her wall. And no one has written on her wall in the last 32 seconds. And WordTwist or Scramble only take 10 minutes out of the day. It's sad really.

So here I am writing on my blog about my utter boredom, and I'm probably boring anyone who reads this. I apologize. I'm trying not to count down the minutes until I can go home, but I think I'm failing. I think I need to go take a nap.

Oh, Michael!!!

Last night, Celeste and I journeyed up to Baltimore during rush hour traffic. Why? To go to a Michael Buble concert. It was so worth the drive (which wasn't even that bad, and we didn't even get lost, surprisingly enough). His opening act was an a capella group called Naturally 7. They were uh-mazing. No joke, they sounded exactly like drums, bass, lead guitar, trombone, you name it. It was truly incredible.

And then Michael came out. Big sigh! He is so sexy, with the voice, and the suit, and the everything. He not only is an amazing singer, but he's funny too. I'll share some stories. A little ways into the concert Michael spotted a little kid in the audience and asked his name and age, which was five. Then Michael says, "I'm glad you're here, because it's kids like you that keep me from turning into Amy Winehouse in a second. No joke." Then he went down into the audience to meet the little kid. He took pictures with a couple people (sadly, we had the cheap seats and did not have this experience). On the way back up to the stage he sees an old woman, so he plants a big kiss on her, and she in turn grabbed his butt! And we're not talking a little pat on the tush, no she full on grabbed it with both hands. It was hilarious. The whole arena was roaring. When Michael got back on stage he asked her how old she was - 77. Then he said, "I haven't had 19-year-old girls grab my ass the way you just did. I have things to learn from you." They were showing her on the jumbo screen, and she gave this sly grin and then a huge wink. I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt. I'm totally going to be like that when I'm old. Awesome.

A little later in the show Michael said, "Now I know that there are men and women that glad to be here, but then there are some guys that got dragged here." Then he pointed at this big, macho looking guy and said, "Like you, she dragged your ass here, didn't she." The guy nodded yes. Then Michael said, "Okay, just get through this concert, and I swear in like three and half hours, when your in your bed smoking a cigarette, you'll say 'Thank you Michael.' Hey, can you two do me a favor - tonight when your, you know, doing it, can one of you say my name. Just softly, like 'oh, Michael.' I'll really appreciate it." Again the whole arena was cracking up. Then he says, "I'm sorry, this is me. I wanted to be a hockey player, but somewhere my life went wrong, and now I'm up here sing jazz."

Once some girl screamed, "I love you, Michael!" And he yelled back, "I love you stranger in the dark! But I'm still going to see other audiences, on the side." He's such a goofball. He also did this funny skit with his band members. He was telling us all how they are like brothers and let them play for awhile. Then he left the stage and one of the trombone players gets up and says, "Michael acts all nice and says we're brothers but really he's a jerk. We're not allowed to look at him directly or talk to him. My one speaking encounter with him was when I was looking at him and he said, 'Hey band guy, stopping looking at me or I'll fire you.' He's not nice. And I think I could do this singing thing." So he starts singing and Michael comes back out, acting all mad. Then he picks up the trombone and starts "playing." Really it was one of the other band members. The whole thing was ridiculous and comic.

He sang a variety of songs from all three CDs - most of his good ones, and a couple of new songs from his upcoming CD. My favorites that he sang - "I'm Your Man," "Feeling Good," "Save the Last Dance," "Sway," "Home," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," and "Everything." He closed with "Song For You." All in all, it was an awesome concert, and if he comes back I would totally go again. Oh, Michael indeed.

Dance Halls and Diners

Dancing equals life - a least in my book. And it had been far too long since I had been dancing, but not anymore. Saturday night I went with some friends, namely Celeste, Kevin, Valerie, and DC Kevin (with two Kevins you must distinguish), out to the Clarendon Ballroom - in which, ironically, they don't ballroom dance. But it was a fun club. We showed our ID, we payed our cover, and then we danced. There was a live band playing called Kristen and the Noise and they were good. Played mostly punk and rock, one country song, and even a Prince song. Now how can you beat Purple Rain? I had lot of fun singing along, rocking out, attempting to head bang, and just being crazy.

The club closed at 1:3o, so we headed over to the Silver Diner across the street. It's a great 50's themed diner, complete with little jukeboxes on each table. Gotta love eating at two in the morning, and the vanilla malt I had was oh so yummy. By the time we ate, walked back to DC Kevin's apartment, tried to find our way out of the parking garage (hey, it was confusing), and drove home, it was 3:45 a.m. I haven't had such a late night, or should I say early morning, in I don't know how long. It just goes to show the lack of excitement in my life. I had to take a nap after church to recover. My 25-year-old body couldn't take it - I know, I'm pathetic.

But there are planned evenings of dance in the future. Gotta keep rockin'!

Baseball/Softball = America

I truly believe the phrase that baseball is America's favorite pastime. On Saturday night, I and some friends went to a Washington Nationals game - they played the Atlanta Braves and won! The new stadium is huge; I heard it holds 40,000. We of course got the nosebleed seats because they only cost $5, but they were pretty decent and we could see everything. First of all, I want to praise whoever mows the outfield, because not only do they make a very pretty checkerboard design in the grass, they also write a very elegant cursive W. Pretty darn cool in my opinion. Watching baseball games live is amazing; there is nothing like the roar of the crowd when a double or triple-play is made, and it's even louder when a home run is hit. The ability of the athletes amazes me. Maybe I need to meet some of the players - future husband material? Oh, I kill myself.

When we were in Boston, Celeste and I went to this museum that had a huge exhibit called Baseball as America. They had tons of old uniforms, stadium seats, pictures, etc. It was so awesome to see all of that history and read about it as well. They also had hands on stuff where you could see how to hold the baseball for different pitches, feel the difference between a wood and aluminum bat, and see on what kind of grass the ball rolls fastest. But the coolest/scariest thing was where you could put your face in the catcher's mask and see what it feels likes to have a baseball thrown at you at 95 mph. Yikes. All I can say is I have a lot more respect for the bravery of catchers. Go catchers!

Yesterday I got to play softball. Maybe not as amazing as baseball, but still lots of fun. I caught balls, I threw balls, I dropped a couple balls too. And I got some pretty good hits in. For me this is a great accomplishment, because in junior high I stunk at batting - but maybe that's because in junior high I played fast pitch and we were playing slow pitch yesterday. Whatever, I'm not going to think of it in that way. I'll just assume I improved immensely.

So, from all of this my love for America's favorite pastime has grown. Play ball!

Beautiful Boston

Last week I had the pleasure, with my lovely roommate and best friend Celeste, to visit Boston. We had an amazing time. Being out east gives you lots of opportunities to visit some very cool historical sights and learn more about the birth of America. The more I see, hear, and learn, the more I'm amazed and appreciative of the men and women who shaped our country. And the happier I am that I was born in a time with plumbing and electricity!

We got to do and see some pretty cool things in Boston. We walked the Freedom Trail, which is a three mile path marked throughout the city that stops at places like the State House, Quincey Market, the Old North Church, Paul Revere's house, Bunker Hill Monument, and the USS Constitution. At Bunker Hill we climbed up the 300 steps to the top of the monument to see the views of Boston. Let me tell you, we are out of shape! But the views were worth it, along with the park ranger we saw afterward that looked like James Franco.

We did a lot of walking through the city, parks, museums, and shopping streets. We even went to Harvard. We wanted to go into one of the libraries, but we were thwarted - you have to have a Harvard ID to get in. What, don't I look like a Harvard student? My favorite museum was the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. She was an heiress that collected all kinds of art, sculpture, and furniture. Then she decided she needed to build something to house her collection - and the museum was born. The courtyard in it is absolutely beautiful. But my favorite part is that they don't label anything. It's because they want the visitors to interpret the art for themselves, which I loved because it meant I didn't have to feel obligated to read everything about every piece or art. Priceless. We toured Fenway Park where we heard some interesting and funny stories about the Red Sox. I bought a Red Sox hat; I believe now I am a fan. We also saw the Blue Man Group. I don't know how to explain this show other than that it is hilarious and unique. If you have a chance to see it, you totally should.

We ate a lot of good food, including Boston cream pie and canollis. We also ate at the Union Oyster House, which is the oldest restaurant in America. And yes, we ate oysters - they're slimy but decent. You kind of cover up the taste with everything you put on them.

Boston is an awesome city. I highly recommend visiting if ever you have the chance.

Being Part of the Present

Okay, so I have finally created my own blog. I'm welcoming myself to the present and to the wonderful age of technology. Being someone who enjoys writing and rambling, you'd think I would have done this a lot sooner. But I also happen to be a lazy person, hence the long delay in acutally creating this blessed blog. But now that I have one, I hope to be on here giving my two cents, for what it's worth. So enjoy, my friends, enjoy.