Five Things Friday: Big Apple Edition

1.  I'm spending the weekend outside D.C. for a mini vacation to see TB and The Princess!  But this Buzzfeed sums up the city perfectly:  http://www.buzzfeed.com/morsecode322/the-ups-and-downs-of-living-in-dc-alie

2.  People keep asking me what I'm doing while I'm NYC.  And I have No. Freaking. Idea.  Sorry, not sorry.  I'm always insanely over scheduled in my every day life, so I'm super looking forward to just winging it while spending time with some awesome people. 

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3.  I guess we could try to find one of these NYC lunch parties and crash it:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/fashion/for-office-workers-lunchtime-dance-parties.html?_r=3&. This is something I would totally bring to DC - the ability to dance it out at lunch.

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4. Maybe I'll go hang out at the Met steps and judge everyone, a la my hero Blair Waldorf:

Via:  http://theunreal-life.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-letter-to-my-workout-via-gifs.html

5. Mostly, I'll just be drinking outside on the Highline, hanging out in Chelsea Market, cheering on TB while he runs the Brooklyn Half, and generally having an awesome time.  Bring it on, Big Apple!

And Then I Bought a $700 Shiny Toy

IT'S HERE IT'S HERE IT'S HERE IT'S HERE!!!!!

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I finally caved and bought the iPad mini I've been lusting after.  And I'm typing from it RIGHT NOW.  

I can't wait to play with it uninterrupted for all the hours on my trip to NYC on Thursday to see the Princess!  (OH HEY, TOMORROW IS MY FRIDAY!). I have so many questions - are there apps I just have to have?  Why won't my photo stream sync?  How many movies or Netflix can I realistically watch on it before my brain melts?  

After work, we have Flair Week at bocce tonight - this season's theme is Beach Gear, which would be lovely and make me happy to dance around and sing "I'm On a Boat"

via (http://keepcaffeinatedandcarryon.tumblr.com/post/44934020557/click-for-the-most-hilarious-relatable-gifs#notes)

Except that it was 44 DEGREES LAST NIGHT.  They're saying it'll be in the 80s today, but I am le skeptical.

Other than that, I'll be throwing my stuff into my new KS Tequila Tote at the last minute, since I played with my iPad instead of doing laundry last night...whoops!

What are you loving today?

Weekend Shenanigans: Relaxing Edition

This was one of the greatest weekends in a long time.  The weather was beautiful, friends were in town, and we had a blast!  (although now that I've written the recap, it seems sort of boring...guess you had to be there).

Friday night, after a crazy day at work, we headed out to watch T's softball game and cheer him on!  After the game, we headed to the Exchange and sat outside and enjoyed the lovely weather.  It started to rain, so we headed to U Street -- several hours of dancing at Dodge City and Tropicalia later, I poured myself into bed.

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Saturday morning was all about the recovery nap before an afternoon Nats game (where there was some recovery Shake Shack).

After the game, we headed back to T and C's, to "kill time before we went out."  We ended up staying in all night, just hanging out and enjoying great company.  I haven't laughed that hard in months.  Stellar.

Sunday, I managed to squeeze in some barre (to maybe counter a little all the fun I've had this weekend) before brunch.  We went to Ping Pong Dim Sum in Chinatown -- it was the first time I'd ever been and it was absolutely amazing.  The prices were really reasonable -- we got bottomless mimosas for $15 -- the service was great, and the food...oh my gosh.  I didn't have anything that wasn't delicious.  We may have sauntered down for some Pitango gelato before heading home.  After an amazing afternoon nap, I watched the Once Upon a Time and Revenge finales -- so intense!!

What shenanigans did you get up to?

What I'm Loving Wednesday

this week's is short, because I felt guilty that I've only made time to blog for linkups, but then I started writing this at 8:00 a.m. and it's now 2:15 p.m., so I'm just going to pull the trigger...

1.  Cafe Luna - LBunny and I went on a first bajillionth date last night, using a Living Social coupon for Cafe Luna near Dupont.  For $40, we got two glasses of wine, two appetizers, two entrees, and a dessert to share.  The food was DELICIOUS and our server was excellent - super attentive, really funny, and super nice.  We had the spinach and artichoke dip (which wasn't traditional, but was amazing), calamari, the blanco pizza with chicken, and tiramasu.  We'll definitely be back -- the food was reasonably priced and the restaurant has a great atmosphere!

2.  What Would Blair Waldorf Do Notecards from Hey Love Designs.  I honestly have no idea why I haven't ordered these yet, because I've been lusting after them for weeks.  Fiscal responsiblity?  What is that?  Mostly, I'm just trying to spend less on things so I feel better about dropping $600 on an iPad before my NY trip...  #firstworldproblems

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3.  Honest Toddler Twitter:  He just cracks me up every time.  Kid has some sass.

It’s hard to take adults seriously when you realize that their greatest fears are Mondays & carbohydrates.
— Honest Toddler (@HonestToddler) April 29, 2013

How can you be afraid of bread. It doesn't even have a face.
— Honest Toddler (@HonestToddler) April 29, 2013

“The truth will set you free.” But so will taking off your pants.
— Honest Toddler (@HonestToddler) May 6, 2013

What are you loving today?

Weekend Shenanigans: Party and Party and YEAH!

On Friday, I was on top of the world.  It was a fairly quiet day at work, so I not only got to eat lunch OUTSIDE (seriously a novel concept to not eat at my desk), but slipped out at 3:15 (which, I got there at 6:00 a.m., so....).  I headed home to pick up some packages (including this baby for my trip to NYC next weekend):

Before heading out to meet Christy for some delicious wine at Cork, I made a pit stop at Batch 13 and found the seasonal Green Hat gin (from a local distillery) I'd given up hope of finding, because really, all I did Friday was win.  It has citrus and cherry blossom notes -- super excited!

After some awesome wine (flat cava = AMAZING), we headed to Busboys and Poets to hear the incomparable Eve Ensler speak and do a reading of her new book.  It was absolutely incredible and inspiring - a great end to the week.

Saturday, I squeezed in some barre before heading out to LBunny's to cook for our amazing Derby party.  We spent the early afternoon baking pie, running to Costco, and chatting before everyone came over.  We had a pretty impressive spread, if I do say so myself.   It was an awesome party - great friends, good food, and an exciting race.  I capped the night off with a quick drink at Vapiano in Chinatown before collapsing into bed.

Pimento cheese, benedictine cheese, and deviled eggs.  Thanks for teaching me to cook, Mama Bunny. 

I was gloriously lazy yesterday morning before heading out to Living Social's Beer Fest with the crew and some bocce friends - it's this great event where they bring lots of beer vendors and have tasting pours. There's live music and food trucks and sunshine. There's a lot of people, but it's not crazy and the lines rarely take forever. It was an absolute blast and great to spend some time outside - even with the sweet forearm sunburn I got. After we'd tasted out, we headed over for our first Cantina Marina visit of the summer for some Cinco de Mayo margaritas Coronaritas. It was a blast - is there anything better than drinking outside?

Things I did NOT do this weekend:  clean my apartment or laundry or any of the work I needed to get done.  Whoops.

What shenanigans did you get up to?

Thursday Thoughts: Rabbit Rabbit: It's May!

(NOTE:  I wrote this yesterday, got distracted, and never published, so I'm keeping Rabbit Rabbit.  so there).

So, my April goals...let's just say they didn't go particularly well....

1) Being Better about Budgeting:  I was better about thinking about budgeting?  And a little more conscientious about saving money.  And I did read the book, which was interesting (and a super quick read).  And I upped my retirement savings.  So, I'm not calling it a total wash.  But I also may or may not have purchased this yesterday during the Kate Spade surprise sale... Seriously, that woman has all of my money.

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2) Being Faithful to Eating Healthy Things:  This one actually went a little better.  I ate lots more veggies and not as many french fries.  Baby steps.  And I cooked a little more, including chicken fajitas.  Which I ate on naan, because Whole Foods was out of pitas.  They were actually pretty delicious.

3)  Being Open to New Things:  Never got around to making a spring to-do list (in my defense, work has been even more of a disaster than normal...), but I did make lots of friend AND quiet time.  And had drinks with someone from work - a new friend!  And took days off to relax (that is TOTALLY a new thing for me).



So what's in store for May?



1)  Caffeinate Less:  While this feels like a betrayal of my lifestyle blog, I drink wwwaaayyy too much caffeine and not nearly enough water. I've definitely been cutting back lately, but I'm not always good at being conscious of my alcohol caffeine intake. New goal: one coffee in the morning and one Diet Coke in the afternoon on weekdays (self control on weekends, as we know, is not my forte, so I'm not going to set myself up for failure there).

Coffee keeps me busy until its acceptable to drink alcohol
— sorry i'm not sorry (@sorrynotsorryy) May 2, 2013

2. Show Mama Bunny Some Love: May is Mother's Day month and MB needs some extra loving - she's having a stressful work time too. So there are some flowers in her future and if I can ever think of a present she'll actually like, something extravagant. (Seriously, the woman is so hard to shop for - our tastes are too different.). But she's my biggest cheerleader and my absolute favorite person in the world, so I want to make sure she feels extra appreciated and loved instead of just calling her with all my woes.

3. Spend Time Outside of D.C.: I'm going up to New York in two weeks to see some pretty awesome friends from college and I'm super excited!! It's been like two years since I've been up to NY and I'm looking forward to a weekend getaway!  (This is probably cheating as a goal, especially since I'm only doing one thing, isn't it...).

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What's your to-do list for the month?

Weekend Shenanigans

After last week being lots of this:

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I was ready for a supremely lovely, relaxing weekend.  After a Friday night happy hour with some awesome coworkers, I went to bed at 9:30 (because as we established last weekend, I'm ancient).

Saturday, I got up early, grabbed a restorative donut and coffee from Heller's Bakery, and poked around the MtP farmers' market before barre.  I did some light cleaning before heading off for lunch and shopping with Vienna, including a stop in Dupont Circle for sunshine and froyo (YUM).

I did some serious damage at Ann Taylor thanks to their 40% off everything sale (and yes, I promise not to wear the top and pants together...).

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After sufficiently being shopped out, I popped up to Georgetown for drinks and a snack with the lovely Turk at Bandolero.  Get the short rib nachos and the frozen margaritas.  Delicious

I rushed home to shower and change for drinks at Black Jack and a late night snack at Taylor Gourmet with Vienna and LF.  A quiet but quality evening.

Today, I cancelled my barre class and slept in.  It was bad for me but deliciously glorious.  Even if the cats were not super thrilled (although they were totally on board with my impromptu couch nap later this afternoon...).  I literally spent the rest of the day catching up on Tivo and being a total waste of space.  It was excellent.

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In other news, how does May start this week?!  How crazy is that!?

Saturday Silliness: Tiny, Drunk Adults

This has absolutely made my crazy, insane workweek better:  26 Reasons Kids are Just Tiny, Drunk Adults.  Thank you, Buzzfeed.  Thank you.

1. They'll stop what they're doing to take a nap. Doesn't matter where they are. Doesn't matter who they're with.

15. They don't know when to stop drinking.

19. They're obsessed with finding something to eat...

Via: reddit.com

20. ...but they often don't make it that far.

Thursday Thoughts: Midwesterners and Doing What You Love

1.  I know I say this every week, but WILL THIS WEEK EVER END?  My staycation feels like it was months ago instead of a week.  It's unbelievably cool to have a job where current events and important things factor into your daily life and to see things you're involved with on the front page of newspapers and news sites, but sometimes it's just exhausting.  And I just want to go home and hide.  Luckily, there are margaritas and gin in my future today and tomorrow.  And lots of lazy weekend plans.  SO CLOSE.

2.  Twenty-Nine Things Only People from the Midwest Understand.  So one of our pass-the-endless-crazy-hours-at-work mental breaks is Buzzfeed and this one I just had to share.  Personal favorites:  #2 (STEAK N' SHAKE, I MISS YOU), #5, #16 (the State Fair is my favorite week of the year), #19, and #26 (it was my "signature dish" in high school).  The only one I particularly disagree with:  #29.

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3.  Finally, thought-provoking article of the day:  Elle's "I'm for Sale."  I found this super interesting, both from a "you can't always just do what you love" angle and also from the "if you are responsible, and take a job that you may not love but pays the bills, you may not ever wind up doing something you love."  I'm definitely in camp two (except that most days, I genuinely enjoy my job/career path).  Part of me longs to quit the responsible working world and open a bakery or run an events company, but I'm way way way too financially terrified to attempt it, so I have enormous amounts of respect for people who do.  And who knows?  Maybe one day I'll get there.

She’s also suggested a recasting of the adage "Do what you love and the money will follow,” which, she writes, “is great advice for people who love neurosurgery or filing briefs. ‘Do what you love 70 percent of the time and spend the rest of the time doing various things you hate, or that are difficult for you, and see what happens’ might be better advice.” 

Weekend Shenanigans: Staycation Edition

Sorry for the blog silence, friends.  I was enjoying my staycation.  And generally just being a boss.

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Got FAR too drunk for a Wednesday, celebrating the first season of bocce and NO WORK ON THURSDAY.  It was fun, but ended up kind of like this:

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Dragged myself out of bed off of LBunny's couch on Thursday morning, swung by the new Nordstrom Rack (pro tip:  if you want to save money, go shopping with dirty hair -- everything will look terrible and you won't buy a thing).  I lazed around my apartment (and grabbed some Z Burger to soak up all the whiskey...) until it was time for margaritas with Christy and LB!  Because when you're hungover until 4:30, tequila at 5:00 is clearly the answer (see also:  I am the queen of good life choices...).

Three hours of FROZEN margaritas at El Centro turned into dinner and champagne at Cork and epic amounts of bonding, about boys, crazy families, Gone with the Wind, and just everything.  Love love love.

Friday, I dragged myself out for some barre, ran a few quick errands, and then came home and did a whole lot of watching Boston coverage.  Saturday, more barre and lots and lots of baking and cleaning before a night at the Turk's for my favorite ginger's birthday!  There were lots of people from GW that were in my fraternity in college, so I felt super super old, but it was still super fun.

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Today, I had my lovely coworkers over for "book club" because we "read the Great Gatsby" before the movie comes out.  I totally failed at taking any pictures, but I made some awesome homemade cinnamon rolls (#humblebrag), my standby hashbrown casserole, and blueberry muffins, we had lots of mimosas, and had some awesome girly time (even if we spent most of it talking about work...).  After some speed cleaning, Vienna and I headed downtown to the Agora Day Market at Zatinya.  It was chilly, so we didn't stay super long.  I capped off my super exciting evening catching up on Smash and blogs!

And sadly, now it's Monday.  And I have to work five days this week (white girl problem o'clock over here).  Hopefully y'all had some shenanigans to see you through :)