here it is: the less-good

yeah. remember how i said there'd be less-good days? a man was shot about 3 blocks from my home last night, at 5:30 pm. it doesn't sound random, and doesn't happen much, but that only goes so far to make me feel better about walking home from work tonight...

this must be the place

oh wow! this week has been pretty incredible as cam and i settle into our new home. we painted our hearts out, and now have a beautiful green bedroom, in which now sits, as of 1pm today, the bed. it's enormous and extravagant and i can imagine spending all my waking AND sleeping hours in it. last night we walked to dinner in our neighborhood. do you hear me? walked. it's a delightful restaurant owned by a salvadoran couple - they met while working at a gourmet pizza place in dupont circle, and have now opened their own place just blocks from where we live. the pizza was out of sight, the restaurant was cozy, and the flan was so good we finished our first serving and had to order another. i know there will be days that are less-good, but this, this is why i moved back to the city.

the big time

well, it's official! i'm a homeowner. it was kind of... easy. ok, so making a billion phonecalls and getting my financial ducks in a row and stressing about what my final number needed at closing were kind of sucky (especially that last one... i was so stressed i temporarily turned into a monster. seriously. i think it's over now, though). and now i own a beautiful condo in which i am currently sitting... leggy oak floors everwhere, sparkly dark green granite countertops, shiny stainless and black appliances, two bedrooms, tiny bath. cam and i spent our first night here last night (after the easiest mattress delivery ever, i swear - nice guys, on time, efficient, awesome) on our fancy new mattress with luxurious sheets and down duvet. sure, it was on the floor in a blank room, but it was so cozy! there's a window over the sink in the kitchen... and another in the bathroom... two things i love. we ran the dishwasher with all our new dishes last night, and i've already placed them in the cabinets. i found the most beautiful, perfect, ME shower curtain last night - i know, of all things to get excited about, but really, check it: gorgeous.

oh, and in case i didn't mention it, i bit the bullet and ordered the bed. i can't wait for it to arrive!

ok, time to get painting! right now the whole place is this awful neutral cream, and i hate it. so the ceilings are going to be white, trim white, and color everywhere else. which means... i need to get cracking on the ceiling.

so everyone... come visit!

nesting, and fleeing the nest

whoa. this condo thing is getting serious! $5k has changed hands... with much more to come. my agent has advised me to get the utilities transferred. cam and i have selected a paint color for our bedroom (happy camper, a green). i'm seriously considering a really expensive bed. last weekend, cam and i rocked a series of home store outlets (the crate, the w-s, the pb, the restoration... you know the drill) AND an ikea, all in a matter of hours. we now own things like silverware, a hanging basket for produce, plates, hooks. and yet... friday we return to hatteras, the site of all things wonderful, a return to our cottage on the beach. a respite from faxing and transferring funds and signing documents. we're back monday, and wednesday, if all goes according to plan, i close on my own little piece of DC. our new home. crazy!

two pieces of winter fashion advice... which may come too late for most

here it is, folks: how to wear a winter coat in two steps.
1. carefully snip off the oblong label on the left sleeve that says "fabric made in italy," or "100% cashmere" in fancy script. note how it's sewn on with a few spare threads, rather than the intensive stitching featured elsewhere on the garment. that's because it's not meant to be permanent. cut it off.
2. keep those scissors handy. flip the coat over, and cast your eyes upon the vent(s) - the flap(s) in the back. note how they're sewn closed, generally with a big X-shaped stitch. again, the light stitch is a pretty good sign: it's not permanent either. read the sign, snip the thread, let your vents flap freely.

thanks. and i can take it as well as i can dish it - anyone with solutions for gross dry peely face skin or static-filled flyaway winter hair, please help!

yikes!

verbal counter-offer received, my agent's calling to discuss later this evening... exciting!

home sweet home?

i know i've been talking about it for nearly six months now, but there's finally progress to report: i've found a condo i want. it's tiny - about 660 square feet - and it's a ways out of the fun parts of town. but it's on a beautiful, quiet, residential street with tall trees and lots of parking, and it's got something i never imagined: two bedrooms. it's a conversion, so the whole unit's brand new, with granite countertops, oak floors, and black appliances. it's got a full-sized stacked washer and dryer. lots of pretty windows with sills deep enough for winston to sit on. a couple closets. basement storage. cam and i saw it first a couple months ago, together, and both though hmmm... this could be the one. and friday he and i and my agent took my parents by, and they liked it too. it's all started to feel really good, so friday we put together my offer. turns out we didn't have the proper contract, so i haven't actually signed anything yet, but tomorrow at 4:30, i'll get my pen ready and this will enter a much more serious phase. window shopping was fun, but now it's time for action. i can't afford the place, but we're hoping that the volatile market and glut of units on the market will mean i can lowball the hell out of the developer and get in at something i can afford. cross your fingers!

in other news, i've got my assignment for super tuesday: i'm headed to nyc and the giuliani event. should be exciting, since i've pretty much never been to new york... i only wish i was going to have time to see jbd and my cousin and everyone's favorite millionaire...

dude, you got a dell

woo! new laptop, and soon, new ipod! get ready, as soon as i ascertain my internet situation, for more frequent and increasingly more mundane updates and thoughts! you're shivering with anticipation, right? thought so.

true love!

my beautiful sister and her amazing boyfriend are engaged! friday night, the evening of their 4th anniversary, he popped the question! i'm beyond excited! i couldn't ask for a better match for my sister - i mean, how lucky am i to wholeheartedly love the man she's going to marry? no one's ever supposed to be good enough for your sister, and lo and behold, he is. they have a beautiful life together already, and i can't wait to see what the future holds for them. plus, selfishly, they're two of my absolute favorite people in the world, and now i get to have them together forever, and the best brother-in-law a girl could ask for!

thanks, marian

what is WRONG with me? why don't i ever go to the library? it's the best flipping place in the world! you walk in, pick out anything and everything you like, and they let you walk out with it, for FREE. i finally went after ages and ages last night and i felt like a kid in a candy store. i got three books - THREE BOOKS! the only problem? now i have all these books waiting for me at home, tempting me, at odds with my mile-long to-do list. choices. choices must be made.

prize winner

dinnertime!

men movies

snowflakes! this morning on my way to work, ditzy snowflakes bounced around in my path, just infrequently enough to make me search for the next, convinced the little flurry was over. nope! not over. and tomorrow they say more is on the way.

last night was date night, matchbox & a movie. we saw "no country for old men," and it was fantastic. i haven't read the cormac mccarthy story on which it's based so it was a complete surprise at every turn. and creepy as all hell. i had no idea josh brolin could act - really act - and when javier bardem appeared on screen, he looked like no one i've ever seen before, a face jarring in its new-ness, even though he's not new at all. haunting. i don't really know who/what the oscar contenders are, but if i had any say, i'd nominate them both.

the last movie we watched together was "children of men," so if you've seen it, you know it's been a very dark, violent, and spooky couple of weeks. i mean, not really - life's great! love and families and travel and almost too much food and drink, gifts and surprises and cuddles and the occasional inappropriate text message... maybe we've been seeing these disturbing movies for a bit of balance! even still, i think it's high time for my annual "elf" viewing... and i'm moving "waitress" to the top of my netflix queue!

a public service announcement

ok. let me say first that i'm all for getting a flu shot. i've done it every year since i started my job (where we get it on-site, for free, if we want), and so far no flu, so that's good. that said, i had a particularly informative nurse this time around, so here's what she told me before the shot, in case your nurse isn't so informative:

1. the serum is thicker this year, so it's going to HURT. take four advils after your shot and stay on it.
2. don't exercise after your shot, it only makes things worse. something about your body making more antibodies or something. so take a night off from the gym.

DUDES. don't let me dissuade you from flu-shotting-it-up, but MAN. she was not lying. i was mocking everyone in my office who got it in the morning and then complained bitterly that their arms hurt. i know now the error of my ways and have eaten my words with gusto. this freaking thing HURTS. i took two advils and can barely type for the pain (ok, slight exaggeration, but only slight!). i see more advil and quantities of bourbon in my future... you know, since i can't go to the gym and all.

a trick or a treat?

it's official... today, i got blackberried. i'm not really sure how i feel about it yet. first of all, it's going to be kind of annoying to have 2 cell phones (personal and work). second of all, there's always the, "who wants to be THAT in touch with work?" question. i love my job and my work, though, and i know i can always just ignore it, but there's a bit of a philosophical debate there even still. that said, it's pretty cool, and it'll be nice to go through my work emails on my way to work instead of wasting time doing that when i get here. plus, since i don't have internet at home, it'll be cool to be able to look up an address or directions or whatever if i need them.

and a little piece of me feels special that they think i rate one, even if i think it's a little silly.

speedbump

i've been waiting on a little extra cashflow to make a decision on a condo, and it's been put on hold... fingers crossed that it comes through! frustrating.

home sweet home

when i have my new home, i will...
-sleep in a queen sized bed... thanks, cam!
-do jigsaw puzzles
-come up with fantastic pitches surfing wirelessly from my new laptop
-have a dv-r (thanks again)
-paint all the walls, whatever color i want
-go to antique shops and thrift stores to find furniture... modern furniture is far too oversized for whatever petite condo we choose
-really notice that my (current) roommate's the one with all the good kitchen stuff
-have fewer clothes and fewer books
-relinquish my oversized stereo system for a smaller set-up
-finally be able to get a new ipod

i'm going to add more as they come to me... what's been your favorite part of owning a home, or moving in with your loved one?

in a nutshell

i have total writer's block lately. not that what i jot here counts as writing. but anyway, here's an exercise in memory...

20 years ago I...
was nine years old. i don't remember much about it. i guess i was in fourth grade... ok it's coming back now. my hair was the shortest it's ever been, and so many people thought i was a boy i'll never ever do that again. i had a blue chambray shirt with silver studs on the pockets and a khaki skirt that i absolutely loved to wear together... i can still feel the fabric of the shirt, and how good i felt in that outfit. someone still referred to me as a boy, one day when i was wearing that outfit, and it never felt the same after that. it still makes me a little sad to think about. that, and that my grandfather died that year. i was so young i didn't really understand it. i mean, i knew what it meant, but it felt like something i reacted to in the way i felt i should. i loved him a ton, but whatever mourning i've done over his death has been a mellow missing him over the years, more than a tremendous display of emotion at the time.

10 years ago I...
was 19 years old. in college, a sophomore, naive and having the time of my life. i lived in river mill, tried my first cigarette, and dreamed of boys i didn't actually know. i also had my first boyfriend, though i have a hard time calling that since the entire thing was long-distance. i remember him with utmost fondness. we had a shared love of dental hygiene. we broke up when i was in cambridge visiting family, and i can still see him riding away on his bike. yikes. it was actually a huge year. one of my best friends went to prison - real, honest-to-god lock up, and my other grandfather died. that one was a lot harder... it wasn't a surprise, but i was so far from my family when it happened... it was strange.

Five years ago I...
entered my last year of grad school in dc. it was a very intellectual time period where i held down my dream internship and wrote my thesis. i had lots of fantastically smart friends, and graduated.

So far this year, I've...
done more than i can possibly distill. it's been the best ever, full of LOVE more than anything. friends, family, kitty, and the best boyfriend in the world. i even love my job, most of the time.

Yesterday I...
grilled top-notch steaks while cam made a flawless hollandaise to go with the asparagus.

Today I...
haven't done much, but a former crush did call me a "beautiful woman." in less than an hour, cam's picking me up so we can meet my agent and see some more condos.

Tomorrow I'll...
cook up a storm for the halloweiner! and hopefully come up with a halloween costume.

vroom

this weekend i went on my first motorcycle ride. i am HOOKED!

wires and waves

it's sad, but true... i just don't go to as many shows as i used to. i'm no less a fan of music, at least, and my xm has really gotten me back into it. but shows? maybe it's a function of aging and having the kind of job that i both MUST be sharp for and WANT to be sharp for. maybe it's because tickets in this fine city are so much more expensive than in athens. maybe i'm a bit jaded and tired of standing through less than stellar opening acts (and secretly mortified that i hadn't heard of them prior to arriving... when did i go from the kind of person who knows every band on the bill and actually prefers the opener to the headliner to the kind who doesn't recognize those kids up on stage?). it stresses me out a little. but last night i got off my lazy butt and saw rilo kiley with my sister. i've been a casual fan for a while, and my admiration jumped considerably with jenny lewis's rabbit fur coat. my sister loves rk, so going seemed like a decent idea. it was SO much more than that. trust me, rilo kiley puts on a hell of a show. they were incredibly tight - no wanking between songs, just the right amount of chatter, all equipment functional and tuned... and lewis is just luminous. i can't say anything about her that hasn't been said before, but i can give you this: the show we attended, courtesy of npr. it's wonderful, and it reminded me what i love about live music. thanks, rilo kiley.

humpty-dumpty

is it really only wednesday?
i've been having a really normal week, but somehow it's dragging on infinitely.
is anyone else having this problem?

rilo kiley with my sister tonight... maybe that will help! or maybe it'll just make me tired... and the week longer... bad attitude!