Adventures with Little White Cat

Promptly after moving all my boxes from old house to new house, it was time to jet to Chicago for our annual spring board meeting. Thus far, I've survived the planning and coordination of two of these events, and to be perfectly honest, I don't understand what the big deal is.

I miss event planning. I want to do it all day long. For me, it's not a panicky stress but a fun progression of things... Building invitations, making logistical arrangements, building tent cards, choosing menus. Ugh, I love it. Chicago was such an awesome opportunity to jump back into these things, and after a whirlwind three days, I took Friday off and made the short jaunt from Chicago to Michigan on Thursday afternoon.

Thursday and Friday were pretty low key, we lounged around watching movies, playing games, and sleeping. On Friday night, GB's sister and her boyfriend drove in from Chicago so that might we closed down the bars before porch picking till nearly 5am. Her boyfriend is kind of an odd cookie, but they're cute together, and I adore her. Besides being funny and sweet, she and GB are close, and it's fun to see them together.

On Saturday, the four of us joined the rest of the family for his cousin's first communion. Now, when I say "the rest of my family" you can generally expect that it means my brother might emerge from a haze of Marlboro Reds to make an appearance at a family dinner.

The same is not true of GB... Maybe because his mom is one of ELEVEN! Classic giant Irish Catholic family: they're loud, they're slightly overwhelming, and they're hilarious. Anyway, so I've met a few of them several times,  but this was kind of the mass here's-my-girlfriend-please-don't-scare-her-away-with-all-your-crazy meeting. It was awesome. For the most part, GB and I kicked it outside with the kids, playing games and spinning them around until we nearly threw up (and by "we" I fully mean me). We spun and spun, and at one point I swung the party-girl right into a small tree. GB and a couple of his uncles and cousins (including her dad) were enjoying cigars on the porch and saw the whole thing happen - the laughter that ensued tells me that I must have looked absolutely terrified. Thank goodness she just laughed it off. Kids are tough like that.

But when they're not being tough they're usually being hilarious. Peering from the yard to the porch, you would have seen the younger sister of my tree-friend on her hands and knees meowing, nuzzling anyone she could find. Pausing before GB, she slowly drew our fingers into a paw shape and batted at his perfectly laced boat shoes. Ironically enough, he was already sassy with me because I had untied one the night before and "messed with the fit" so damned if he was about to let "little white cat" mess with the others. However, she persisted. Cue GB running backwards across the lawn and a three-year-old moving at the speed of light on her hands and knees across the lawn insisting that "other kitties can't tie shoes, but little white cat can tie them!" I nearly died laughing.

Post-party, GB, his sister, his parents, the boyfriend and I headed up to his parents house. They all keep trying to convince me that their hometown is "sooooooooo hick" and to illustrate this, we took GBs Kentucky Derby winnings (there was a $2 pool at the party and he won!) and went on downtown to the only bar still open. The name escapes me, but it wasn't hick, it was just a lil trashy. Whatever, we played a bunch of keno and laughed and drank. It was fabulous. But hick? Ha! They've never seen hick. Next time GB is in Colorado, I'll show him what's what. (Getcha boots ready, girls.)

Sunday was Mothers Day, which I was a little apprehensive about being around for, but per the usual, it was excellent. Their home is stunning, and in the same way that we grew up with mountains and droughts, he grew up with Canadian neighbors and the river. (It's so surreal to be in a place where water is not a big deal.) WE CAUGHT A FISH! A salmon. We didn't get to eat it because dinner was already practically on the table, but there will be more chances...say uhhh next weekend! :) Yay.

Handy Men

Currently typing on a delayed plane out of Chicago (en route to Detroit). They have us kicking on the ground because a guy accidentally broke a tray table and they're required to fix it before takeoff. 

As it turns out, fix is a pretty loose term here on American Airlines. Some guy in a neon vest and blue uniform just came aboard, evaluated the situation, slapped a sticker reading, "Inoperative. Please do not use." on the tray table and then duct-taped it in place. Two words, ladies: handy man. 

It's funny too that this flight is about 45 minutes, or the amount of time it takes me to go door-to-door, home-to-work in the morning. Let me tell you, I love the house, but the new commute is a monster. Three extra metro stops makes a heck of a difference and my walk home isn't as direct as it was and I don't like that. 

New house is the entire second floor of a townhouse built in the 1800s. (Flash forward, it's now Friday and I've been back in DC since Monday) Anyway, the house is great and all, but now that I've actually been living here - it's become clear that this place is not nearly as well maintained as I had hoped. 

For one, I arrived home (not just emotionally drained but also running on a grand total of three-hours sleep) to TWO ******* ROACHES KICKING IT IN MY LIVING ROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mind you, they were dead, but this definitely marks my first encounter with these things and let me tell you, I am not pleased. Landlord conveniently neglected to inform me that this was a known issue - pest control is under contract to visit once a month. They were off duty while the apartment was vacant, but came by today. I'm disgusted and mad, but so long as it's not an ongoing creepy crawly issue, I think I can handle this. Thank goodness my vacuum just sucks this effers up. Additionally, there's a few little things like cracks and seals that need to be fixed but I can probably handle those by myself. 

So now that you know about the ickies, let me tell you about all the good things! Like I said, Miss Molly and I have the entire top floor of an old town home. (She moves in next weekend.) Entering from the side, you walk up a narrow staircase; from the top, my bedroom is to your right. It's a large square shape with a faux fireplace (mantle?) and three windows that look out into the street below. Spacious closet has nothing in it yet, but I plan to finally unpack this weekend. Leave my room, walk down the hallway, and the next door on your left is Molly's room. Her lighting is kind of terrible, but her closet is bigger and she gets a whole sitting room off her bedroom!! It's very cute. Next door is the bathroom where there is a big tub. After that a living room with vaulted ceiling and finally a little bitty kitchen with a bunch of windows that overlook a shared back yard. 

The very best part is that were allowed to paint and decorate as we please. I've already re-tiled the kitchen and bathroom in my head, but that might never come to fruition. However, the next time GB is in town, you better believe that he and I will get at least one room in this place painted. Right now for the kitchen, I am thinking a navy blue sponge/swirl below a lighter blue chair rail and white top. Then a Moroccan scheme for my room: teal, gold, red, purple, etc. Lots of shiny. 

Speaking of GB, ummmmm well .... I love him. And this is quickly becoming one of those situations where when it's good, its awesome and when I have to leave, I cry. Hahaha, I so pity the two people I was smooshed between on my latest flight home, I was a mess. Our weekend was great, however; details on that are for another post. :)

Lafayette Has Better Hot Dogs & American Has Better Chili

Had the chat today! Long story short, it went well. Now, its time to have the same chat with my immediate boss - a woman. Yeah, that matters, (and not for the reasons you're thinking of!)

Unfortunately, one of the people I'll need to chat with aout this is the reason why every frat boy I've ever met makes jokes about my belonging in a kitchen. Dramatic, gossipy, and catty. Deep down, it's a total possibility that she's just unhappy, but the constant mood-spectrum is really just a little much.

Beyond that though, I found a house! Which, goodness, that was an adventure. You see, I have an aptitude for procrastination. My lease expires on May 4th, so i started perusing places last month but kept coming up short -- too expensive, too far away, creepy neighbors, blah, blah, blah. So last week, I find myself in a pickle. Let's review. Lease up May 4th. In Chicago for board meeting on May 2-4th. In Detroit from April 22-24 then again from May 6-8. This leaves my move in date for...THIS WEEKEND?!?

Luckily, I found a beautiful place just in the nick of time. It's a two (maybe three) bedroom townhouse near where many of my friends from college live. I get my own bedroom (amen) and we're just two blocks off of Old Town. Ahh, can't wait for visitors! I'll be living with my friend's girlfriend, who graduates from college this week and moves out here on May 20th. Time is flying! I cannot believe I have been here 10 months already. What a wonderful ride.

GB and I had a pretty great Easter. I jetted up to MI for the weekend on Saturday. The weather was awesome and we spent the first day moseying around the city. We stopped fist at the Heidelberg Project downtown which, if you're ever in the city during daylight, I totally recommend. It's such a heartbreaking statement on poverty, this modern art installment situated in the middle of burned out and decimated neighborhood. My pictures are still on the camera, but I'll probably throw them up on FB later. In the meantime, www.Heidelberg.org.

After that, GB dragged me downtown to these two coney places situated next to one another. Apparently it's some kind of right-of-passage to decide which one I like better, so two coney dogs later, GB rolled me out and towards our next stop, a bookstore! But this isn't your average bookstore, this is four-stories and a basement of an abandoned warehouse that is literally covered with books from wall to wall. They. Have. Everything. It's amazing, and we spent hours in there before they closed for the day. Next time, well conquer the two floors we missed this round.

After that, we came home and bummed around the kitchen making dinner... grilled pizza (legit, do it.) It was still nice out, so we ate outside and because GB lacks in the lighting department, a cinnamon candle had to do. It was so cheesy, but an accident! Haha, that seems to happen a lot. We get in these ridiculous romantic situations and we don't really want them, but it's fun, so we make faces and shadow puppets across the picnic table while eating pizza. People probably think we're five.

The next day we went up to his hometown at SIX AM to make it in time for mass. That day can eat up a whole post, but basically we ate 78625162740928364517284736253535555 calories and fished with the little ones. GB grew up in a house on the river; its beautiful, and across the way is Canada. They have their own dock, and the kids and us had a blast kicking it on the dock for the afternoon. His family is awesome, he is awesome, we are awesome, you are awesome. Etc. Anyway. Great weekend, so sleepy.

Not at all ready to move. Definitely ready to go back to MI next weekend. Missing you guys. Come visit. Xoxox.

Headhunting

While this was probably the graduation song for every class of 1999, not to mention the cheesiest video ever made, I like it. Theres a line inside that rings especially true ... "The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never cross your worried mind, the kind that blind sight you on an idle Tuesday."

But its not Tuesday and I didn't get blind sighted -- actually, today I got poached. 

This week has been a terrible mix of  "oh-my-goodness-I-have-to-find-a-house-and-move-before-May-1-and-everything-is-so-expensive" and "they-don't-pay-me-near-enough-to-work-this-hard." A nasty combination if I do say so myself. (Finding a house [hell, an apartment] around here is excruciating. Example? Standard studio apartment on the metro line measuring a grand 300-600 square feet? $1500/mo minimum. Its absolutely outrageous. As it turns out, however, a good friend's girlfriend is moving here at the end of May so she and I have been looking for an apartment together.) 

This late great apartment search was compounded by how out-of-control work has been lately. Right now, I'm juggling three major projects, a board meeting in Chicago, and a large-scale major donor event this November (Length: Four days. Estimated revenue: Eight million dollars. "Big deal" = Understatement.) Its overwhelming. I cannot remember the last times that I was home before nine o'clock or didn't end up at the office for at least a couple of hours on the weekend. And thought I'm not particularly worried about my own job, they've fired two people and a vendor in the last month because they weren't keeping up - its enough to light a fire under you, thats for sure.

So here I am composing one of what feels like 98503984530498530485 mailings that we've produced in the last few weeks when an email pops into my account that catches my eye. Another think-tank, one which employs several (four, off the top of my head) of my friends is looking for an Event Coordinator and I'm at the top of their list of considerations. No, I didn't apply to this job, they tell me I come highly recommended.

Its at an organization that I like but don't love and its a job that takes me the sideways route to get where I want to be, but the salary is more...enough that they have my attention. Now, I work in an office that has it all -- a young and passionate staff, a mission statement that I really believe in, the capacity to make big important changes, and lest we forget, a kegerator and goldfish snacks in the kitchen.

Needing advice, I approached Mr. Media -- who is now officially dating best friend, flying regularly back and forth to see her -- a guy who has become a trusted friend and work-ally. He immediately flies into "fix-it" mode, whipping me off my feet and to the nearest Starbucks for a chat about what this means, how to handle it, and the risk I'm now in the position to take.

So, tomorrow afternoon, I will pop into the President's office and lay it out. "I've been approached by another firm about a job and though I'm not particularly interested in leaving, their proposed salary has caught my eye. I've never really had a conversation like this, but since starting in August, my job title has changed and my responsibilities have grown significantly. We don't really have standard six-month or annual reviews, so I guess it is this that has me thinking about where I can grow within the organization. Can we talk about a salary adjustment?"

Ahhh. Short, sweet, and absolutely terrifying. I sincerely hopes this swings my way, because at the end of the day I don't have any interest in moving jobs. Prayers appreciated and fingers crossed! 

City Life

There are a few sounds and images that try as I may I've never been able to forget. Two stand out explicitly. The first is of a human body charred beyond recognition that they showed during an anti-drug and alcohol presentation in ninth grade health class. Seeing bodies and car accidents never kept me from making bad decisions, but nevertheless the image sticks. The other is a sound from a documentary on September 11th filmed by two Frenchmen in NYC to make a movie on the FDNY. Wrong place, wrong time for those folks -- but they were in the towers and there is a moment on film when they realize that the sporadic crashing sounds outside are not debris, but people. It is horrific. Unfortunately today I think that I've added to that list.

Went into the city to run a few errands and hit up mass this afternoon and on my way home decided to catch up on a few overdue phonecalls. For one, Best Friend just returned from a four-day jaunt to Scotland with Mr. Media. She had a brief layover here (where we proceeded to down $80 in margaritas before she returned westward) but I haven't been on the phone with her since Thursday, which believe it or not is a bit of a stretch for us.

So we're chatting and as I approach my apartment from the metro I mention to her that I can see lots of police cars in the street near my building. Its happened before that someone has called the fire department or something, but this much police activity anywhere near I live is unusual. As I cross the street onto my block, where cop cars have barred any vehicular comings/goings I notice a group of officers holding a tarp up and it hits me that the unthinkable is unfolding in front of me. Someone has jumped. A glance upwards offers a broken window and ripped awning, my heart sinks. I don't know anything about what happened beyond the fact that when people commit suicide, its mighty difficult to break a window -- and I don't want to know. All I do know is that I am extremely thankful to have been elsewhere when it happened and that I didn't see anything graphic afterwards. But I can't stop thinking about it. What happened? Was it an accident? Did they have a family? Will there be bloodstains on the sidewalk the next time I leave my apartment to run that route? What would I have done if it did happen in front of me?

The whole thing makes me feel not only nauseous but sad. And its so strange because everyone thats passed through here thus far expects exactly this, because things like this happen in places that share title space with Law and Order or CSI. But these things don't happen where I'm from. They've never happened in a place where I live before, and I guess at the end of the day I just didn't expect (what I feel like is) my first real dosage of city life to be so morbid. Its a ugly feeling.

Also, on a totally less graphic side note, many thanks to Kansas for effing my entire bracket. Just read a story that of 6M March Madness brackets build in 2011, only 2 (TWO!) people have placed the final-four correctly. Twenty bucks says they're both VSU alumni or students.

Praying About It

So, now that we're all in agreement that GB is pretty freakin cool, allow me to add this little gem:

Rather than trek it back up to the homestead after Viki's (beautiful) wedding, we decided that we were going to stay the night downtown. Post reception, we dashed downtown with Kails & Co. ready to slam shots and party long into the night. (Well, I thought I was anyway) Fast forward twenty minutes and you have me falling asleep in the back of a bar surrounded by good conversation with a lot of people who I don't know. An early morning in combination with the time difference is a total bitch, and after one beer, GB and I were so sleepy that we decided to head back to the hotel. Once there we just kind of bummed around talking about everyone who reads this blog and then the conversation turned to us.

You see, the night before (in a moderately drunken state) GB had started a sentence that I was 98% sure was going to end in the "L" word. Being me, I chopped it off at the knees, but 24 hours later I got the distinct feeling that the Hydra was back -- not only eight heads strong but also sober. Eff! So, we talked about things that I hate talking about, and I dropped the very honest line that no I'm not there yet but I feel like were going that direction. This is not a fling for me. And then he tells me this...

I'm a fling. A space filler. Thats all. (Hahaha, just kidding.) No no, he tells me that when I came up to visit last month, as we were sitting in mass on Sunday that he asked God for a little help in showing him that this was worth pursuing. Twenty-four hours later my flight was cancelled and he says he had his answer.

Sigh, he prayed about it.

The Last of Them

37. I can't think of anything witty enough to explain how this feels.
I'm nose deep in Wednesday's newspaper when I peek up to check train times and catch the eye of someone familiar, but for the life of me, I simply cannot remember where I'd met him before. Train arrives, and before I know it I've arrived at my transfer station. We moved offices last month, something that probably should have made this little list, but I forgot and its not a big deal. Here I switch trains to head across the city to Capitol Hill, the neighborhood where our new place is located, and who steps on right behind me but this mystery man.
He turns to me and asks, "Do you remember me?"
Oh, oh yes. Yes I do. Suddenly, I know just who he is.
"I do," I say, laughing. "You never called."
"No! I did, I called four times. It to me a week to get up the courage and then every time I called I got a disconnected signal. After that, I had to leave town because my sister had a baby and then I quit seeing you in the mornings. I thought you gave me a fake number and then avoided me."
Well this is awkward.
He continues, "So, you're not working at Archives anymore?"
"No, no, we moved offices about a month ago and I'm up here now. Same company, but now on the Hill."
"Which building?"
"(Insert building name here.). Its a pretty awesome space; we like it a lot."
"That's my building, too!"
You've got to be kidding me. I can't remember his name from last time and I feel really bad asking... anyway, we were on the same damn train this morning and made small talk on our walk to work afterwards.
And, no. Not giving up GB, but still charmed about this whole little situation.

38. I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE YOU GUYS!
That's all.

"Mass. Lunch. Parents. Wait, WHAT?!?!"

First there was part one and then there was part two and now there is part three:

27. I have found one half of my wedding gift.
The other piece(s) are out there somewhere but in the meantime, this first one is pretty dang fun. I haven't seen Miss Viki's house yet, but given their registry, I'm sure its going to be tres adorable. The idea of decorating a house tickles me, unfortunately, it looks like I might be doing so a little sooner that I'd like.

28. When my lease expires in May, MY RENT GOES UP $500 A MONTH!!!!!!!!!!
I can't even talk about this right now, no one wants to be mad before they go to bed. Luckily for me, the last time I found a house it took four days with zero knowledge of the area; this round I think my chances of finding the perfect place for the perfect price are marginally more manageable.

29. GB and I had a freakin' awesome weekend together.
I landed in Detroit around seven pm on Friday and after we got back to his house (um, yeah, the kid owns this house... whoa) we jetted out to dinner downtown at this fabulous little Mexican place. Let me tell you about these margaritas. Legit. After that we strolled around for a little bit and picked up chocolate cherry cookies before heading home. The next morning we ate our cookies for breakfast and then bummed around until almost five-thirty, at which point we finally put our acts together to go have dinner with KM and her boyfriend. Her new place is so cute and I was really pumped to finally meet this boy shes so in love with. What a winner. Not only is he gorgeous (together, they're mega hot) but the kid is ridiculously smart and social. Big fan. On Sunday, GB thought mass started at 11:30 but it was actually at 11 so rather than be those kids who roll in a half hour late we decided to kill a half hour by driving around and then hit up the noon service at a different church.

30. And in that thirty minutes, GB hit one of two high-points all weekend.
We drove around for a few, him mindlessly pointing out random places and chatting about how their food was before rolling into a car dealership that sells Morgans!! Not only are these are my very favorite cars ever, he totally made a point to take me to see the two they had.

31. Mass. Lunch. Parents. Wait, WHAT?!?!
Church? Check. Lunch? Another adorable little restaurant downtown that had a make-your-own-bloody-mary bar. Basically, they pour you a big ole glass of vodka and you make your own concoction using whatever you like. The food was epic. The company was perfect. After that, we perused the shops downtown when... his mom called. They were on their way to town to "drop things off." Ha. Ummm, sneak attack anyone!! So, I met the parental units. They're great, and rumor has it that they like me to. Good things all around I guess.

32. Fast Forward to Monday...Valentines Day!
No, he did not shower me in rose petals and chocolates. Hell no. Thank goodness! I mean, that stuff is fine and fun, but its not us. We don't really roll that way. Actually, he had texted me on either Tuesday or Wednesday to tell me that the White Castle on his way home from school was taking Valentines reservations (true story, they had 48 already scheduled when we called on Saturday morning) and how excited he was that he'd finally found the perfect evening plans.

33. Airport time was sad.
Unfortunately, my flight left at 6:30 Monday night, kaboshing any and all dinner plans. We slept in that morning and then had lunch at a little Cuban place before heading home to bum around until it was airport time. I repacked my bags and checked the phones for any last-minute emails that I needed to send off before leaving. Email one? Flight cancelled!! Something about scheduled repairs? At this point I was not asking questions about who schedules repairs and flights at the same time, all I was doing was rescheduling my flight for 6am Tuesday, giving me essentially twelve more hours to hang out with GB. He was equally pumped.

34. Frank Sinatra is now one of my Pandora stations.
We went grocery shopping for dinner and then settled into the kitchen at which point, GB nabbed the ipad, tuned it to Frank and popped it on top of the fridge for a little mood music.

35. And then he danced with me.

36. Four am comes real early.
GAHHHH. Leaving was not fun, but also compounded by the fact that my flight left at six, boarding started at five-thirty, we left his house at four-thirty, the commute was thirty minutes, and the security line at the airport was twenty minutes plus. If you did your math correctly, I missed my flight. Thankfully, a helpful desk clerk loudly informed me that thanks to US Airways' policy on overtime, there was indeed no gate attendant to assist in boarding the plane, so despite the fact that I was five minutes past take-off time, no, my flight had not yet boarded. I've never been so thankful for unions in my life.

(So close.)

Sixteen through Sleep

No, I don't usually write my blogposts like big ole number lists. This is a story that began here.


16. I just had the most hilarious conversation with my doorman.

     Me: Hey there, Patrick, how are you?

     African Patrick: I'm good, I'm good. How are you?

     Me: Oh, a little sleepy but good! 

     African Patrick: You always home so very late! 

Oh, goody. Favorite doorman either thinks I'm moonlighting or a total alcoholic. 

17. Sometimes, as humans, I think we let our minds trick our hearts into thinking we're stronger than we really are.

This is not a deep philosophical thought, but just a pretty casual observation. I'm surrounded by very strong women, and I think that deep down, some of our outer strength is very superficial. As women, our job is to make it all "fine," and when its not fine, we do everything to make it look like it is. 

18. I was 100% not ready to run into the Govnah tonight.

There is an exceptionally large gathering (12K+) of like-minded politicos in town today through Saturday and given my firm's role in the event, much of our staff will be kickin' it at the venue for the next couple of days. It had crossed my mind that he'd be there, wife in tow, and a quick peek at the schedule on Wednesday confirmed both his father-in-law and sister-in-law on the schedule as speakers. That said, I love me some grassroots, but I certainly don't do the campaign scene. My personality and talents are far better suited for the fundraising side of things, so I pretty much figured I was in the clear for this particular event. That is, until I found out that as a sponsor we received lots of tickets to VIP banquets held tonight and tomorrow. Long story short, I got donors to attend which means I needed to attend. Literally, I set my foot down inside the hotel where OVER 12,000 PEOPLE ARE ATTENDING THIS EVENT and who is the first person I encounter? Joe. My heart fell out of my chest. (Thank God for small favors. I looked smokin' hot today.) He graciously introduced me to his father in law, shared the short-version of how we met, politely chatted about life, and then introduced me to the Mrs. She was nice enough but prompt forgot my name (she called me Emily. Seriously?). That part didn't hurt--it merely confirmed that this broad is dumb--the kicker was when she walked away and I looked up at him and he looked at me the way he always has. That, that took the air from my lungs. I congratulated him and then he apologized for not telling me. "Its not exactly something I could just put in a text." So, um, yeah. Not ready. Thought I was. Nope. 

19. All things considered, I'm a pretty happy camper.

And one day, I'll find someone who makes me feel all the good without all the bad. 

And if I can't find him, I'll get a puppy.

20. Sunday thru Tuesday, Mr. Media flew to visit best friend.

Mark my words, she is going to break his heart. Putting my work life and my home life in a food processor is not what I signed up for, and the more they talk, the less I feel like I can talk to either of them. Loose lips sink ships here people.

21. Tomorrow I'm off to MI to visit Ginger Beer for the weekend.

My silver lining for today. Pretty excited about this trip for a variety of reasons. One, quality time with the boy. But, in addition to getting to chill for a couple of days, I've also penciled in some time with KM and her boyfriend, and Ginger Beer's sister (who went to college with KM and I) wants to hang out on Sunday. It's like a vacation, ya know, if you're in to places like the Arctic tundra. Forecast is sunny and frigid. 

22. I've been watching old school Grey's Anatomy episodes lately.

They remind me of the first season when we all used to text furiously back and forth about the drama. I vividly remember that after purchasing the first season we had a marathon in Miss Harder's basement. Things like this make me really wish we were all together on a more permanent basis. 

23. Speaking of togetherness

I'm excited that Kailey Shea will be returning to the Mile High vicinity and very eager to hear about all of the thoughts and prayers that went into her decision to come home. What is even more exciting is that we'll all be reunited again for Miss Viki's wedding! I was thinking the other day about most of us being there, and to be honest, it just wasn't the same. 

24. These are no longer facts...they're more like chapters. Storytime. 

So, just after getting my beautiful wedding invitation in the mail (seriously, Keeks, from a design perspective they're just stunning) I got to thinking about how everyone now has these husbands and babies and serious lovers and friends that they'll bring to the wedding and really, I'll be damned if I'm going to be the dateless one. Flipping through my mental rolodex of men who are attractive-and fun-but-not-in-a-hookup-or-sloppy-drunk-kind-of-way it dawns on me that Ginger Beer's BFF resides in Denver and we're just good enough friends that he's the perfect fit for this kind of outing. I pitch Ginger Beer on said date and instead of the manly yeah-grunt, he deadpans me and asks, "Yeah, thats totally fine, but why didn't you ask me?" 

Ummm, maybe because if you asked me to fly halfway across the country to go to some stranger's wedding I'd probably tell you no! 

Long story short, him coming to Denver is a three-birds one-stone situation -- not only do GBBFF and he get a reunion, he gets to see me, and finally cross Colorado off of his to-visit list. So, surprise! You get to meet the boy in just a few short weeks. 

25. Next weekend, I'm off to NYC with Mr. Media

Strictly platonic. Fact. End of story. Done. No need to say anything further. Bottom line is he needs a "fun & sophisticated" lady to kick it with friends of his during a weekend jet up to Manhattan. Pretty pumped about this because although I could never live in New York City, its truly a very fun and beautiful place to spend a day or two. Also, Mr. Media happens to be one of my most-est favoritest people ever to bum around with. He is, hands-down, the closest thing I've found to my college boys since I migrated east. 

26. It is very late. I haven't packed for Michigan yet. And my house is mess.

Thus, its time for miss me to get some shut-eye so I can function at work in the morning. 

All my love to all of you and I'll wrap up my lllllloooooonnnnnggggggg list soon. 

Thirty Eight

Its been a while, kids. So how about we make a deal? I'll tell you one thing for every day that I didn't blog.

1. Best friend came back to the city with me for New Years Eve and it was epic.
Rather than hobble around the city in our dresses and heels, we opted into one of those big ticket, black tie extravaganzas. Ours was James Bond themed, and though I'd heard several nasty rumors about long lines, skeezy people, and general debauchery, it really was quite a lovely experience. We met people who we'll never see again, we kissed people who we'll never see again, and we had a damn good time doing it.

2. I didn't eat a black-eyed pea on New Years Day
Oh, I hope my mama doesn't read this, she'll kill me. It is a hard-core Southern tradition to make and eat (at least one) black eyed pea on January 1st, and every-year, I've had my mom there to do it for me. Apparently, I'm not quite as self-reliant as I think, because this year, there were no peas gracing my table. Thus far, there's no sign of a black cloud, but I'm mildly terrified its going to roll in on some idle Tuesday and wreck my life. Superstitions are hard to shake.

3. Ben's Chili Bowl is ridiculously overpriced.
I don't care what Bill Cosby says, seriously people, two hot dogs, covered in chili, and fries should never cost me $17.

4. The only boy in DC who I explicitly tell best friend to stay away from happens to fall head over heels for her, naturally.
A snapshot? He is one of my two very favorite people in my office, ten years older than best friend, recently divorced, and I'm pretty sure he digs the fact that she can wear thigh-high boots and explain complex chemical make-ups at the same time (neither of which he can do). Its complicated, yeah. I've made it explicitly clear to her that if this fucks up my career, I'll never forgive her. I've (so far as I can) explained the same to him. It is a mixture of my worlds that I really really don't like, but life gave me lemons, and I count myself lucky that I have the ability to be honest with both of them. Let's call him Mr. Media.

5. Right after best friend left, I flew to Portland, OR for a four-day company retreat.
Our president is on a bit of a kick right now, yeah, that's right, the kind of kick where you budget a four-day all expenses paid trip for your entire staff to the furthest possible place in the domestic 48 states. It was a really neat experience, not only because I'd never been to the North West before, but also because it helped illuminate our larger mission. No, we didn't do trust falls or all-night gab fests, we had serious brain storming sessions and laid out attack plans for the 2012 elections. It was a very intense four-days, but the beauty of our staff is in the details. Voodoo Doughnuts were around each morning and several cases of Portland's famous microbrews showed up every day around 4pm.

6. I ate some strange shit in Portland.
Tagliolini Neri is squid ink pasta for those of you who don't know. It has a different taste and it dyes your mouth and teeth a temporary black but I suppose ink isn't that terrible. That said, had I known what the hell it was when I ordered it, there is simply no way on earth I would have tried it.

7. The very best meal of my entire life (thus far) was at Irving Street Kitchen in Portland. 
This place has wine on tap & they serve it in mason jars. Need I say more? Yes. I cannot quite explain what I had for dinner that night because their menu has already changed, but beyond that its fairly indescribable. This food was beautiful. Shame on me for not taking pictures to share.

8. The Ace Hotel is weird and wonderful.
Talk about a hipster paradise, this place is it. Mine and PS' room had a GIANT MURAL OF A TINY ASIAN CHILD surrounded by multiplication tables, but despite the creep factor, I simply couldn't help but love the place. (We stayed in the standard double for those of you wanting a picture.) Everything was adorable--right down to the cut keys and scented soaps.

9. When all else fails, the gay bar is probably still open.

10. Frontier Airlines is dead to me. 
Here is the situation: you're trying to fly twenty people from one end of the office to the other and being a fairly Libertarian organization, rather than book a sensible travel agency to put you all on planes, you let your staff go buck wild with their own reservations. End result? Thirteen people on one place. Worst case scenario? Plane gets cancelled due to terrible weather in New York. FALSE! Worst case is when on Tuesday night, Frontier Airlines tells you that your flight is cancelled and thirteen people rebook their tickets to leave anywhere from Thursday thru Sunday (missing work, mind you) only to find out the very next morning at  four-thirty am that NO your flight wasn't cancelled and now everyone gets to scramble to get back on their original plane which wasn't cancelled in the first place. Never again. Never, ever again.

11. The first few weeks of January were an absolute whirlwind.
BF to DC: December 28th - January 6th
Me to Portland: January 9th - January 12th
Ginger Beer* to DC: January 14th - January 17th
*I'm calling the boy Ginger Beer for a variety of reasons. One, he is kind of a ginger. Two, he brewed gingerbread beer for Christmas. Three, I like ginger beer and I like the boy. Four, it will tickle my audience.

12. I really like Ginger Beer. 
Yikes. If you had told me a year ago that I'd be back at the long-distance relationship thing, I may or may not have punched you in the face. But black-eye or not, you've been correct. Its a bit masochistic. I'm not going to get off on some terrible tangent on everything I learned from Govnah etc. however, things have a distinctly different feel this time around - one sometimes makes me want to run for the hills. He's sweet. He listens (Like, woah. He listens and remembers everything. Example? I hate my iPad case; its ugly and not very good at its job. So what does he do? He rolls into DC with a perfectly wrapped Vera Bradley iPad cover in a beautiful new green/white/black pattern. No, hes not gay. He made his sister [whos a friend of mine] pick out the pattern before he picked it up.) He's wonderfully kind. He loves Jesus (Catholic.) He's hilarious. All in all, I'm a pretty big fan, but nevertheless, were still in stage one of this little adventure. Of course its fun. We've briefly and very generically chatted future, which for now is an agreement that we'll do our best.

13. This is a romantic city.
If you have any doubts, take a nighttime walk around all the monuments. They're beautiful.

14. Chelsea Handler's books are nothing short of hilarious.
Okay, so they're a little dirty, sometimes raunchy even, but if you're looking for a quick and laugh-out-loud funny read, I highly recommended you give one of them a whirl.

15. My company got the exclusive rights to the Atlas Shrugged trailer
My favorite book of all time is about to become a movie. The anticipation is killer, but given what I know about the screenwriters and producers of the film, I have lots of faith that they've done right by Ayn Rand's famous economic love story. It has every element of a blockbuster film... a thick plot, a scandalous love story, intrigue, all of it. So exciting. I cannot wait to see the trailer and the first 15 mins.

Yeah yeah yeah, I didn't even hit half ... to be continued.