Happy Friday, aka vacation kickoff day! I'm taking the day off to prepare for our vacation tomorrow, which is sadly necessary given the mess and empty suitcases staring at me ahead of our 6:00 a.m. departure. Before I start doing laundry and packing wee swimsuits, though, I leave you with some fun moments from the week. I'll check in from vacation next week to share some fun news related to H's nursery, but in the meantime... au revoir!
Best. Walkup. Song. Ever.
I hear your inane country tune and your angry metal and I raise you one glorious "Careless Whisper." Josh Reddick, you are my new favorite.
Courageous Bride, Beautiful Wedding
My fabulous friend Sara consistently plans spectacular DC weddings full of swoon-worthy details. This wedding of Sara's, though, takes the (wedding) cake, for all the right reasons. I want to hug this bride a thousand times over!
Alternate Ending for Tyrion
This alternate ending to Sunday's Game of Thrones episode makes me cackle with delight. Sometimes it just doesn't take much. Team Tyrion over here (obviously). (Also, we can agree that Jamie's haircut is absolutely terrible, right?)
It snowed last week. I wore tights to work today. I've been shivering for fires at night. But I'm choosing to believe that change is around the corner - arriving late like DC's cherry blossoms, but bound to arrive nonetheless. A warmup is needed around these parts, and stat. I did come home with an obscene amount of ranunculus recently to make things a little springier around here. Oh how I love these flowers.
Some random please-make-it-spring thoughts:
The Nationals are back! Today was the first home game and day game. Day games are tough for me because my office is across from the ballpark. Imagine me at noon, sitting in my tights and dress, looking wistfully out at the bustling sidewalks and filling stadium, a sea of red everywhere, wishing I had a beer in hand and sunshine on my face. Sigh. Maybe next time I can sneak away...
I figured I'd get a lot of "You don't get Good Friday off?" last Friday (we get nothing off... just nada), but what is up with how many people asked me if I really had to work on "Easter Monday" today? Is Easter Monday really a thing? When did this happen?
Veronica Mars is coming along nicely. We're about to finish Season 2, and the cameos keep coming! My recent fave was an episode featuring George Michael and Maeby Funke, not being George Michael and Maeby Funke.
Also, The Voice is back. This is The Voice!! Love this show, absolutely my biggest guilty pleasure on television. I'm really not sure what I'm going to do without Cee Lo this year. I'm always on Team Cee Lo. Shakira is the upgrade of the century from Christina, in my opinion. (And yours, I'm willing to bet.) (Seriously your loss if you have no idea what I'm talking about - everyone needs a good guilty pleasure show.)
We also finally watched Season 1 of Homeland, a million years late. I know this sounds like a lot of tv... remember that whole hermit thing I wrote about two posts ago? Television marathons are made for hermitdom. And reading a ton of books. Which I've also been doing ... so there. But back to Homeland. T has this longstanding hatred for Claire Danes stemming from her being an entitled biotch in college, so it took us forever to get on board with the show despite that fact that everyone and their mom told us we would love it. The fact that CD isn't meant to be likeable helps. And yes... we love the show just as much as you all said we would. Season 2 needs to get to Netflix asap.
There is no way to gracefully transition to this one... but Eleanor has a major thing for my underwear, and it's out of control. I've replaced at least ten pairs! And am now having to do laundry frequently enough so that the hamper lid can actually fit onto the container to keep her little paws out! The outrage! So gross.
It's been pointed out that I'm a bad blogger, which is entirely accurate. Instagram is so much easier and fun to update lately than the blog, I have to admit (I'm "magmaeA" over there, by the way). In other words, I'm tired and lazy right now. And yet, our days have been peppered with liveliness, too. A little taste:
This girl.
Getting a dog was such a good idea. She's worth it in every way, even if she's turning out to be a little shrimp who'll be probably 1/3 of what I consider to be the ideal dog weight. She's our little shrimp, though, and she's perfect. DNA test results coming soon!
This weekend getaway.
We spent a recent weekend on the Delaware beaches with one of our favorite couple friends, J and A. The four of us see a lot of each other around DC, so when they invited us to hang at their parents' place in Delaware (whose beaches I'd never visited), we pounced. I think we can all agree that finding couple friends can be pretty tough, and when it works, you hang on tight. A and J were kind enough to invite Eleanor to spend the weekend with us, too. Watching her big grin and tiny body on those long legs running free on the beach warmed my heart more than I should admit. Our Delaware weekend also featured one of my all-time favorite meals: a lobster BLT served with lobster creamed corn. Yeah, I said it. NOM. This getaway happened just when we needed it most, so I'd like to raise a virtual bloody mary to the couple we like even more after a weekend away with them - no small thing. Next up: foursome scotch tour of Scotland! (Which admittedly might take a while to come to fruition. We can dream, right?)
This weekend at home.
My parents spent last weekend in DC and true to form, we kicked some major butt under their direction. They planned two weekends with us this fall. The first was to be the "yard planning" weekend, and the second was the implementation weekend. Although we were technically supposed to be just planning last weekend, we did a heck of a lot of implementing, too. My mom's grand vision for the yard is slowly taking shape - it's about halfway done. We put down 23 bags of mulch, ripped out multiple ancient and sickly plants, found all manner of glass and trash buried in the yard, put in lots of new plants, and developed a concrete plan for the weekend of October 20, when we'll finalize it all. Yard stuff is so funny - I never prioritized having one or really caring much about the fact that for Capitol Hill, we actually have a big yard. Now that Eleanor's with us, though, I love that we can play fetch right at home and she can actually run up and down that side yard - all the better now that it's no longer covered with ivy. We love our walkable neighborhood and big local parks, but seeing this yard finally becoming an amenity rather than an afterthought is pretty spectacular. And it's all due to my parents, who rock. Big time.
Rather than an annoying post of OMGsobusy, let's look at the happy moments in between the stress instead, why don't we? I hope your Julys are moving along at a carefree pace. Who's on Team August Will Be Awesome with me?
Drinks and oysters at Senart's with my pal Brian
(Him: moscow mule. Me: Hendrick's martini with a twist.)
Beer Stein Night at the Nats game
My new bike! I'm geeky-happy about her.
Neighborhood love
Biergarten Haus with my dad and T
My dad's first authentic ramen! We love you, Toki.
Hi friends! I'm working out of T's company's New York office today... all the better to scoot up to Connecticut tonight in time for family dinner. Last night we ate at Babbo, which has long been on my to-do list, and tonight we'll eat at a longtime family fave, The Place. From chianti-stained pappardelle to clams and corn on a tree stump... I try to be well-rounded, you know?
My view today... not too shabby
I hope your weekends are full of good cheer. Here are some tidbits from my world this week. Have a good one!
Women's Congressional Softball Game
One of my favorite things about living in DC are those moments when you realize our nation's capital is actually just sort of... a small town. Cue our neighborhood elementary school athletic field hosting the Women's Congressional Softball Game this week. Nerd Celebrity people-watching (my favorite kind), long-lost friends in the crowd, a favorite senator on the mound and a favorite congresswoman wielding pom poms, playing against the Media team featuring a slew of fantastic female journalists. Oh, and Andrea Mitchell and Sen. Klobuchar as the play-by-play and color announcers? I think I have to attend every year now.
Fur Rugs?
Are these rugs ridiculous, or as amazing as I suspect? Because I sort of love them. One on each side of the bed to greet our cold feet in the morning? Cats who will love us forever because we just brought the coziest rugs of all time into the house? I'm on to something here, right?
Lace Flower Pots
I'm totally charmed by this simple DIY. These would be adorable hanging out in my sunny office window back in DC. I think it's glue gun time!
This is one of those weeks where I look up and am shocked to discover that it's already Wednesday. So before the week escapes me completely, some tidbits:
Bedroom Progress
On Saturday we painted our bedroom, set up the new furniture, and purged. Let me tell you... that felt pretty awesome. I'm excited about finally getting the room to a good point and sharing it with you. I've even caught myself just hanging out up there, it's getting so clean and pretty. That's pretty major considering it used to be my least favorite place in the house. Putting together a gallery display over the bed is going to take some time, but I think the end result will be great. (By the way, see how the curtains aren't long enough? I've been meaning to fix that problem for over a year.)
TJ at the office
My latest eBay find: one of the Nationals presidential bobbleheads. Those racing presidents are one of my favorite things ever... of course I had to have this.
Oops
Speaking of the Nats, at the ballpark on Sunday I acquired the most awkward sunburn in the history of awkward sunburns. Let's just say that unclothed, I still look like I'm wearing a white v-neck tee. I'm desperately trying to correct the situation with strategically applied self-tanner in advance of our family portrait on July 6. Something tells me white shoulders with a sundress isn't a great look. When will I learn?
HBO, Always
This week it's 100 degrees outside, so I feel less guilty than usual blathering on about television. Tell me - is anyone else despondent that Girls is over? The show completely won me over, due almost entirely to Lena Dunham's writing. I mean, "she wears floral capris like her hymen’s still intact," are you kidding me? That line just kills me. Another television obsession of late that I already miss: Veep. An instant classic, that show. Since I'm already sharing raunchy lines today, how about Veep's spit-out-my-drink analogy of "that's like using a croissant as a fucking dildo." Oh, yes. One facial expression from the man I will always call Buster Bluth and I am done for, completely. And finally... we have entered the land of Game of Thrones, at long last. We're making our way through Season 1 via Netflix, and yep... everyone who told me we'd get hooked on this show, you were correct.
When the habit of blogging is broken, it can be so hard to jump back into it. The pressure to compose something worthwhile is greater than the pressure to say anything at all. A reprehensible marriage amendment has to pass before I'm compelled to pick up the blogging pen. It's a bad cycle. So this is me trying to recapture the habit, with odds and ends from my corner of the world and without artful composition. You'll notice that I'm sharing some of this news woefully late... so it is:
Black Wings Won! You'll remember the Austrian hockey team we fell for over the holidays, due in part to our relation to the goalie, but also, you know... because they rock? They won the Austrian League Championship! We couldn't be happier for Alex, who finally won a championship after 13 years as a pro, and for T's sister Avery, who's the most badass hockey wife ever. Linz ist Meister!!!! #32!!
I'm going to be an aunt again! Shortly after their wedding in September, my brother and sister-in-law announced that they were expecting! My nephew will join big sister Taylor in late June, and we couldn't be more thrilled for them.
We have roses. Lots of them. I didn't like these roses last year, but that's because they didn't grow like this. We just planted a slew of new stuff, too. Updates coming soon... really.
Wedding shoes, at long last. Nearly three years later, I finally had a chance to wear my wedding shoes again, at the wedding of one of my favorite DC couples. So many memories represented by that red satin... I really should've worn them years ago. (Rare awkward photo of T = cutting his head off on purpose)
Last night I opened up Google Reader, my sorely neglected portal to the rest of the blogosphere. I currently subscribe to 490 blogs, separated into folders for my sanity. These folders range from Food to News to DC Neighborhoods to Interior Design to Transit Planning. Oh, and then there's "Personal," and that's the folder where you probably reside, if you're reading this and have a blog of your own. My overall Reader count will pop up over 1,000 posts in a single day if I don't open it (I've always viewed Reader's policy to stop counting over 1,000 to be kind), but I normally have certain folders under control. Normally. Only, here's how bad it's gotten: my "Personal" folder, your folder, had 716 unread blog posts in it as of last night. 716.
So if you're wondering why I haven't commented or chimed in on your stories, both big and small, that's why. I'll get there.
In the meantime:
I cooked this weekend! This is a big deal... my kitchen has been used mostly just for coffee and eggs all month long. But behold, fish tagine and lemon curd tart!
It's awesome having a National League team to root for now. And the stadium a 25-minute walk from my house? Bring. It. On.
I accidentally got sucked into The Voice. Embarrassing.
Aaaaaaand.... that's about it. My life is so crazy, right?
I would ask what's new with you, but I suppose to find that out all I need to do is wade through that Personal Blog folder, don't I?
Practicality: Seeing our brother-in-law play hockey professionally, which we have somehow still never done. And not that the clock is ticking on how much longer he'll be playing, but you know... tick tock.
We're thrilled. And the great thing about spending half the trip in Salzburg and Linz with locals is that we can let our hosts be hosts, and focus on planning the Paris portion of the trip. Which leads me to ask the following questions:
Have any of you ever visited Paris in winter?
Do you have a Paris hotel recommendation?
What are your must-see's and do's, keeping winter weather in mind?
What in the world should I pack?
What are your must-eats? (the fun question!)
Merci! Danke!
(!!!)
PS: Perhaps the promise of future posts labeled "Eurotripping" will guilt me into finishing the recaps of A&A's wedding trip... a year and a half ago. Oops! I really can't believe I still haven't written about my favorite part of Prague.
This week was all about simple instincts for me. Cheer (item #1), awwww (item #2), and chuckle (item #3). We have a bunch of home improvement projects to work on this weekend, all in the name of inching toward our six-month anniversary in the house, which I promised myself would involve a photo report card of sorts here. Eek! Before I scoot off then, some items for you to cheer/awww/chuckle.
Happy weekend!
Queen Kicker
Did you guys catch the story of Brianna Amat this week, the Michigan high school senior who's a homecoming queen and a football star? She makes my heart burst with that "I love teen girls" pride that my cousins always give me. Our girl Brianna went onto the field during halftime to receive her homecoming crown - in her uniform - then came back out to kick the winning field goal. Is it too soon to begin writing her campaign literature?
Interspecies FTW
Much like my belief that the best way to ensure your baby will be adorable and grow into an insanely beautiful person is to create it with someone of another race, I think a little interspecies action is the quickest way to turn your cute animal photo into the sort of thing that makes grown men cry. Enter Fuck Yeah Interspecies Friendships, which is the best thing to happen to my computer in a long time.
Arrested Development, always and forever
Like many of you, I was beside myself with the news that Arrested Development would be back with another season and a follow-up movie, five years after its brilliance was shuttered. Best tv-related news of all time, methinks. This collection of Arrested Development GIFs took my excitement and put it on steroids. Time to break out our box set again!
Here are some little snippets from my phone's camera that I thought it'd be fun to share:
Downstairs Bathroom Paint
It's on. Ben Moore's Galapagos Turquoise, that is. Staying true to my island vibe in the kitchen (which is painted BM's Azores), this blue makes me happy, and works wonderfully with pops of red and orange. More to come on this project!
Fall Nails
I'm so into this color for Fall: Essie's In Stiches. This pic can also serve as a nail-biting update. In short, I'm doing okay. It was a rough summer (too much captive-audience driving and not enough nail-painting to deter me), but I'm optimistic that Fall's yummy colors can keep my teeth away!
Oiled Butcher Block Counters
It took me five months in this house to oil our butcher block counters, but it won't take me more than two to do it again. They look fantastic... so rich and warm. I used a bottle of butcher block conditioner that I already had for our cutting boards, and it worked like a charm. I also hear that plain mineral oil will do the job. Our kitchen continues to make me really happy. Sorry for this nighttime shot - I've gotta get out the real camera on a sunny day.
TJ and the Nats
I don't have a National League team, so it's been really fun to cheer for the Nationals since we moved to DC. At a game last weekend, it occurred to me that besides the fact that we can walk to the ballpark and it's a young team with a lot to root for, the Presidents Race alone makes this a team worth loving. I couldn't be more on board if I was wearing a giant foam head myself.
I think I'm still high on happy from this weekend. It was epic. Not in the "party down while shedding leaves" kind of way, but in the "sleeping is the best thing in the world and oh my goodness we just got an extra hour of it for FREE" kind of way. Mellow magic, you might say.
It all started Friday, with my first-ever Caps game. So you know, attending hockey games (much less sort-of knowing what's going on and cheering) is fairly new for me. When I left NC to go off to college in the brrrrrcold Northeast, my home state didn't yet have a professional hockey team. I don't think I'd ever even seen the sport played on television. I went to a few games in college not so much because I was interested, but because our pal Alan got so riled up yelling at the refs from the stands that we basically went in order to laugh at him. But you know, the Beanpot does have a lot of charm, and it's tough not to be at least a little intrigued by the icy rivalries.
Flash-forward to 2006 when I met an ex-goalie and came to realize that our life together would be more fun if I developed at least a passing interest in the sport. Not to mention, by falling for a North Carolinian, T had to surmount his personal hatred of the state that stole his beloved Hartford Whalers, so I felt I owed it to him. There's more: T's former teammate is now married to his sister and playing in Europe, so there really is no escaping hockey in this family. I paid my dues doing things like attending Men's League games in suburban Dallas at 10 pm on a Monday, so these days, watching the Caps is a total treat.
So Hockey Is Fun, what of it? Well, this entire preface is actually a long-winded excuse to brag about T's new blog 50 Mission Caps. See, there was me, Mate of Hockey Guy. And there was T, Mate of Blogger. And in a stunning display of "maybe we like each other a little too much," Girl now enjoys hockey while Guy takes up blogging ... genius!
I introduced T's blog to you by joking that it was a blog perfectly suited to Virgo hockey goalies, which is to say, probably not well-suited to many of you. But I couldn't be prouder that my favorite guy's analytical think pieces about Caps goaltending are getting linked to throughout the Caps and hockey blogosphere. There is an audience for this guy of mine, and it thrills me to no end. (Though you wouldn't know it by comments... links are the currency in his blogging world, it turns out.) We actually have a J&G dinner riding on possible blogging outcomes of the Caps season, so I'm quite invested in his success. I mean seriously, over brunch yesterday I caught myself asking him informed hockey questions about team goalie management. INSANITY.
With any luck, we'll one day become that annoying Blogging Couple who attends blogging conferences together, ignores our children, and burns dinner because we're too busy live-tweeting election returns and the Oscars (me) or the stock market and the NHL draft (him). Who needs real jobs when we could just sit at home and expound instead, right? Heck, maybe we'll just morph into the same person. Pretty soon you'll be asking him for a new cleanser recommendation (Bliss Clog Dissolving Cleansing Milk, even though the product name is incorrectly un-hyphenated) and me what the current ranking of the house college hockey team is (#3 in the country).
By the way, all future Obnoxious Couples Tweeting will be done with this phone, which Blogger is demanding that I display vertically for some reason:
That's right ... a near-dead Blackberry combined with my previously explained need for keys pushed me toward a Droid 2 this weekend. It only took months of hand-wringing and a 30-minute bout of paralysis inside the store. Maybe I'll even issue a hockey tweet or two on it soon. Time can play funny tricks on a person, after all.
Please tell me that you've all seen at least one "30 For 30" on ESPN. I don't want to hear that you're not a sports fan, or that you hate documentaries, or that you never watch ESPN. I don't want to hear it, because this documentary series celebrating ESPN's 30 years on the air is the best thing on television right now. (And yes, I say that knowing full well how many groundbreaking scripted dramas and comedies are currently on the air.) Like all my favorite sports-based art, the series either leaps outside or steps back inside with each story. For one story "30 For 30" will shrink inside of the news, peering within and poking under the bed of the story. Then with the next, it will expand to take note of the societal, cultural, and political undercurrents of that single moment in sports. That Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City is my favorite book about sports is a telling indication of why I love "30 For 30" so much. It's the book I wish I wrote, following the threads of change and the currency of place and politics that run through it all.
Take "30 For 30"s piece on Allen Iverson, for instance, which tells the tale of an infamous player, but does so in the contentious context of where he came from, which colors everything differently. (Freckled Citizen Trivia of the Day: my mom grew up in the same apartment complex Iverson did in Newport News, VA.) Or how about The U, digging into the cult of the University of Miami football team in the '80s, in all its coke-white splendor. Or June 17, 1994, which in brilliant - brilliant, I tell you - pacing, shows us just how many sports stories were unfolding during the the OJ chase, all in live action. I could keep going. I could bore you with my Sox pride again, I could tear up about the poignancy of Vlade Divac, I could talk about the brilliance of paralleling Tupac with Tyson, or I could simply geek out. What I'm getting at here is that there is a "30 For 30" for everyone. There is a "30 For 30" for you.
Last night I finally got around to a "30 For 30" I'd been saving for just the right moment: "Unmatched." The film explores the relationship of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, from what they call the greatest rivalry in sports, to their enduring friendship today. It's a remarkable piece about the strain of rivalry, the bonds of friendship, and most of all, about respect. Watch:
Martina and Chris grew up together. They practiced together before matches, even during the heat of their rivalry. They loved and hated one another. For fourteen years of women's tennis, one of the two of them was #1 in the world. The rankings shifted, but their bond did not. They were each other's biggest ally and biggest defender, even though their careers would have profited enormously had the other failed.
These women are an absolute delight to watch and to listen to, each remembering in many cases the triumphs and details of the other's career before they do their own. We learn about life off the court, too - how Chris accompanied Martina back to her hometown after she defected, watching for the communist leaders to applaud the hometown hero. We learn that Martina introduced Chris to her second husband, and wore a dress to their wedding. We learn that Chris defended Martina's sexuality at a time when no one else would do so, and that Martina would correct reporters who brushed off Chris as "America's sweetheart" by calling her the toughest woman in tennis.
There are few people in life you can call in the middle of the night and say that you need them. Martina and Chris are that person for one another. They're each other's rock, still. Through it all.
Watching these two powerhouses hang out in a dreamy beach house, walk along the beach, go for a jog, and drive off into the sunset, it occurs to me how rare it is these days to have the pleasure of watching women over fifty who aren't from Hollywood simply be. It's an honor and a treat to watch these women in conversation, confessing sins and doubts, in awe of the brashness and confidence of days gone by, but absolutely comfortable in their own skin. I grin when they laugh. I grinned a lot.
So maybe, just maybe, if you haven't yet found the "30 For 30" that's for you, this could be the one. It's amazing stuff, watching these two in action. Go find out for yourself, and start grinning.
Since I was last here, some strange and wonderful things happened.
I had another fab Skype date with a far-away pal. Technology, you complete me!
I attended a birthday party full of Brits and Americans known to take on pseudo British accents.
The Yankees lost. THE YANKEES LOST!
T finally acquired his DC driver's license, seven months after our arrival. Yes, we're slack, but the DMV hours here are simply ridiculous. The burning question: just how long will it take us to get DC plates on our car? (Because the plate is so cool, I might be a tad more excited for it than I am lazy about battling the DMV again.)
We attempted to run errands, but upon finding nearly every road out of DC (as well as several within DC) closed, we simply turned around and came home.
Lots of eating and drinking (my faves). Not so much in the way of burning calories, but heh, that's what the week is for.
Halloween costume brainstorming
Halloween party brainstorming (oh it is ON)
Dinner at the apartment of T's family friend, who just moved to DC (yay awesome women living in DC!)
Getting lost in suburban Virginia in search of a Michael's craft store (there are no craft stores in all of DC, seriously) for costume makings ... but not being able to be annoyed because the foliage is drop-dead gorgeous right now. Getting lost is the new leaf-peeping.
Receiving the ultimate surprise from T: an afternoon appointment at Bliss for a Triple Oxygen Facial! He knows how much I loved getting these before our wedding, and how much I've missed them. Husband of the Year.
Somehow topping off the facial: dinner afterward at our favorite DC restaurant J&G, so good I didn't even care that my face was the color of my ginger salmon tartare.
Our cat Fanny's new thing: repeatedly waking us up by banging a painting against the wall with her paw. Bonus points for timing that with the neighbor's howling dog last night.
Weekend anticipation. (already) (it's going to be awesome)
So here I sit, with a huge bag full of crazy from Michael's that is somehow going to turn into a cute costume in a manner of days. I think I need to buy a glue gun.
I mean sure, I (in a very big "we" sort of way) pulled off a wedding that was on-theme and color-coordinated and pretty festive. But did it come close to achieving the grand vision of my sister-in-law's new husband, whose personal Christmas each year is the day known as The Stanley Cap? I think not.
11 teams of 2 players each, assorted bystanders, and 2 very pregnant fans (including a two-time Stanley Cap champion!) converged in Charlestown, MA for 8.5 hours of play (and lots of lots of beer) on Saturday. The winners who prevailed? None other than the Cap organizer himself and his sister-in-law!
Poor T was so hoping that he'd be the one to get his last name onto the winner's banner, not that pesky middle sister of his. And in case you're wondering, it was recommended that I take part in a few practice games in the off-season before next year.
