on vacation!

It's finally here. I've been planning this trip since January and it's finally time. I leave tomorrow morning at 11am, not too early, not too late. Last night was fairly hectic. I packed my boyfriend's suitcase...I know it sounds cheesy, but it's just better that way. He usually just throws every thing in and pushes down until he can close it. This time, since he had already laid out everything that he want to take, I just took over an neatly packed it in for him.

We also ran to the drugstore for some travel sized goodies. After that I came home an laid out my clothes. I know that I packed too much, but that's okay. My bad is smaller than his! Yup, I got everything that I wanted bring in my carry-on sized suitcase. I still feel inclined to check it. I'm also going to see if it will hold an empty travel bag to bring purchases home.

I am just so excited. Since I don't know if I'll be able to blog, I will say au revoir! I'll see you in about 10 days.

finally spring...

The weather took a great turn this weekend and all of a sudden I feel like I'm in the middle of Spring! Lots of sunshine and heat. I love this weather.

So, yesterday my BF and I went for a walk. Originally we just wanted to get out of the house for a bit. We ended up on a trek down to Georgetown instead. That's about 3 miles. Check out our route:



Once we got there, we got a bite to eat and then contemplated what to do with the rest of the afternoon. In general we dislike Georgetown. And, since it was such a nice day, there were way too many people in the shops. So, we decided to start walking back, with a quick stop at Fresh Fields to get stuff for dinner. When it was all said an done, we had gone for a 4 hour stroll!

Needless to say, I got my exercise for the day!

birthday celebration draws to a close...

Actually, it was over before it started. But, as a recap. I ate out almost every night for the last week, including a super fancy birthday dinner at a restaurant called Palena. It's run by an ex-White House chef and and pastry chef. Fabulous!

Friday night I went and had a couple afternoon drinks by myself. It had been a long time since I had enjoyed a sunny afternoon and cocktails. On Saturday, we finally went to Toys R Us and it ended up being my lucky day. Hoops were buy one, get one free!

That night we had Thai for dinner...and a couple of fru fru drinks. You know, the ones with funny names and fruity flavors. Than a bit of pinball at the Black Cat.

And now, the celebration is over. My BF's gift to me came yesterday. I'm the proud owner of a new sewing machine. As Anne (my BF's sister) said, "If I didn't know you better I might think there was something wrong with you." I know that I'm into really "domestic" things, but I'm not girly!

vacation count down...

Everything seems to be falling into place. I have been trying to finalize our hotel arrangements for the night that I'm spending in Napa. We were able to get a 2nd room through my BF's brother. We're going to be staying here. So what if can't afford any of the spa treatments. It's really convenient to the vinyards. We're also going to visit Berkeley, where our friend Michael is in school.

The best part is that this will be a true vacation. No worries about work. No short weekend trip. It's a full week in Cali!

1. What do you do for a living?
I am a Program/Budget Analyst for the Smithsonian.

2. What do you like most about your job?
The best part of my job is that I get to work here...

3. What do you like least about your job?
The average age in my office is in the upper 40s and most have been doing the same job for nearly 20 years. I fear turning into that girl.

4. When you have a bad day at work its usually because _____...
I've had to wait on information for other sources/people before I can finish an assignment.

5. What other career(s) are you interested in?
I was much more excited when I worked in advertising. I really enjoyed working with people more closely. And, there were some awesome perks to be had.

a year older, not much wiser...

So most people ask you silly questions when it's your birthday. You know the ones: "how old are you?," " do you feel older?," blah, blah, blah.

Well to tell you the truth. I don't feel older. I haven't gotten up and "felt older" since I turned 25. On my 25th birthday, I was in San Francisco and spent a lot of the day by myself while the friend I was visiting was at work. I got a few calls on my cell phone wishing my the best. And, the thing that made me feel older was this...I was the first time that I truly realized that I don't live in the same city, or even time zone, as a lot of my friends. I knew that keep these relationships would take work (and money). I didn't really feel alone, but I did feel like something was different.

At the end of the month, I am going to go back to visit that friend in SF. This time, I'm taking part of my posse with me. And, we're going to celebrate her birthday in style. So, hopefully, for a few days we all feel younger on someone's birthday.

it's my birthday!

So far, I'm in a pretty good mood. I guess there's really no reason to get depressed about turning 28. It's just one of those in-between years while I wait for 30.

I wish I could have asked for the day off, but there are a couple of projects at work that need to be done. That, and my supervisor is on leave this week. So, Plan B entails taking a long, leisurely lunch -- something I don't do often enough -- and then going somewhere nice for dinner. I have one place in mind but it's out of the way and would keep us from going to cakelove for dessert. We've already gone to our favorite tapas spot on Sunday with my parents. Well, I have all day to decide.

so fucking cool...

I've always loved unkymoods. But, today is the best. current mood...knitty!

take that...

I guess the effective writing class I took last month paid off...

You are a GRAMMAR GOD!


If your mission in life is not already to
preserve the English tongue, it should be.
Congratulations and thank you!


How grammatically sound are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

making it official...

My doppelganger is almost ready. I'm just about ready to unleash needleGirl on the world. What that really means, is that this blog is going to be changing too. This page will (hopefully) be defined by judy brown and the rants thereof. On the other hand, needleGirl, will only deal with the rants and raves as they relate to knitting. Wish me luck.

Oh yeah, and this blog will be getting a makeover as well. If I can ever work out a graphic theme for it...I can hear n-Gen calling to me.