10 on Thurs.day* - Where to Go

*This is supposed to be 10 on Tues.day as explained by my Aunt Jan here. I'll do better getting it up on Tuesday from this point on.

10 Places I Would Take Someone Visiting Arlington.*

*Great care was taken to leave all food establishments out... That could be a whole list of its own.

1. Picnic at Gravelly point - This is a park along the Potomac and the Mt Vernon Trail near the Reagan National Airport. You can sprawl out on the grass and watch the huge underbelly of a plane as it takes off right over you. Seriously awesome.
2. Capital building - It's huge and beautiful and the new visitor's center is worth seeing.
   
3. CNN - Special shout out to Jill Chappell, guest booker extraordinaire!
   
4. My apartment. I really love it. Here's a sneak peak...
   
   
   I love the darker blue in the kitchen. And yeah, sorry, this picture has less of the apartment and more of the dress I've been meaning to show Annee for some time now.. I do love the blue striped floor mat. And I need to remember to take that silly floor lamp back upstairs to Jill.
   
   
   
5. Mt Vernon. The grounds are beautiful. The old house is absolutely inspiring.
   
6. Ford Theatre. It's so neat to be exactly where Lincoln's assassination went down. That may sound morbid, but once you're there you'll know what I mean.
   
7. The White House. It's not nearly as big as it would be if built today. Which makes me appreciate our country's history and tradition even more.
   
   
8. Lincoln Memorial. Given.
9. King Street in Old Town Alexandria. Particularly the end near the river. Lovely evening stroll.
10. Georgetown wandering. The campus and the commercial part.
    

Honorable mention goes to Lucketts Antique Store out past Leesburg, VA, The Bureau of Printing and Engraving, as well as The Spy Museum.

Just for the record...

Busy season is not a good time to be an "over-promiser"
as we all know I am...

I always say yes.
And I always intend to accomplish.
But there are only so many hours in the day.
And one can only complete so many 10 hour projects in the precious few days left in the week.

Not sure how this one will pan out...
But the life lesson has been learned!


P.S. Lauren and I saw An Education last weekend. Read her thoughts on the movie HERE!

Thank you Whole Foods...

For just cutting to the chase.
Why bother with chocolate-covered-peanut-butter-filled-pretzels (my old fav) when
peanut butter covered pretzels are an option?


I had no idea. Thank you!

Brother Steve and I stopped at Whole Foods for lunch yesterday.
And the firm brings Whole Foods in for dinner 4 out of every 8 days,
so our relationship is building and improving wonderfully.
That place just thinks of everything.

Do you need a good book to read?

And by " to read" I mean "to listen to", obv.

I saw Blindside back at Christmastime along with the rest of the world. Then I read the book. I was so impressed! The best part? Michael Oher would never have been able to go to college for football without spending a summer taking BYU's online classes to bring his grades up. Michael's dad Sean Twohy referred to it as The Great Mormon Grade Graft.

I read another of Michael Lewis' books a few months ago, Moneyball, which was also interesting. I'm not a huge sports person but each book was well written and kept my attention. They're short and sweet so check them out.

Brittany was kind enough to loan Dawn and me her advance Oscars copy of Blindside so I could re-watch the movie after finishing the book. A Saturday doesn't get much better than that does it?

Actually it does. I recently reread The Great Gatsby as preparation to see the Washington Ballet perform an interpretation of the book. What could make ballet more enjoyable? Jazz! Who would have thought.

Don't you hate it when people cop-out and post about entertainment rather than real life?
Me too...

P.S. The hearse is still around...

Oops....

All I can say is it was a giant-run-in-the-tights kind of day.

Didn't happen until halfway through the workday at which point what could I do? The pictures really don't do it justice, the run is downright trashy and I should've been ashamed walking around the office until 11pm like that.

Oh well.

Here's a tiny glimpse of my bedroom. I do intend to share more photos soon. I think I basically have it set up the way it's going to be, I just need to sort through all the mail and clutter on my desk and bookshelf before it's ready for show and tell.


This kind ward-ie helped me hang my chandelier which made me feel 100x closer to being "done" with my room.

Time for bed.
Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday.

Dear Courtney...

I painted my nails last weekend. It was in honor of Valentine's Day and in honor of YOU. Because having painted fingernails makes me think of you and all the bottles of nail polish you went through in Junior High. Thanks for being my friend!

P.S. Wanna go to CoCoSala with me? I really think you'd love it.

Please note the churros...

It's this swanky restaurant lounge where every item on the menu has some chocolate in it.
Like Mac n Cheese garnished with chocolate coated bacon.

Um, yes please.

They serve small plates of many things, which reminded me of pintxos-bar-hopping with you and Kirst in Spain a couple years ago. (And also reminds me I never published the post which included all the pictures of the food we ate that night... Oops)

Oh boy...

I just woke up. Because my head slipped off my hand and hit my laptop.


Is it really only Tuesday?

If a black cat crosses your path...

You have bad luck right?

Well what if the SAME black hearse passes your car on three different mornings when you're driving to work at three very different times? Creepy.

On Saturday I drove down to Fredericksburg for a big antique fair/flea market. I love this vintage wallpaper and wish I had found some to line my desk drawers.

I also wish this mirror had been cheaper. Like $200 cheaper...

On Sunday, new friends Kraig and Michael, plus Dawn and I spent time clearing snow from the banks along the side of the road. And by clearing snow I mean Kraig drove recklessly over large piles of snow while we held on for dear life. Goodness.


P.S. Did I forget to mention last week I got pulled over for the 14th time? (For reversing on a one-way road... I had driven past the person I was searching for and instead of going around the block I just backed up. Completely logical choice, no?) This time by a female cop. I thought for sure I would break my lucky streak. BUT NO. I have now been pulled over 14 times and only received 1 ticket. Ridiculous.

Love this.

Your dress should be tight enough
to show you're a woman
and loose enough to show you're a lady.

--Edith Head
(famous Hollywood costume designer)

Found here via here

Not quite...

As you know, I love my job. And I love the co-workers I sit by. I love the flexibility I have for when I arrive and when I leave.

BUT.

I do not love my desk decor. Or lack thereof as the case now is... I need to put up photos. I need to get control of the cords exploding all over my desk. I need to get some of those cute, stylish desk organization tools I see all over the blogosphere. I've been so focused on my apartment that the desk has taken a back seat...

Back in 2009, I spent a few weeks researching calendars and ended up with several lovely options in my mailbox. One particular favorite is this little $5 pocket-sized calendar with graphic prints on the back side of the little month pages. It's darling. But I haven't figured out a good way to use or display it at work. I don't want to tack them all up to the wall because the printing is really small so I wouldn't be able to see the calendar all the way on the side of my cubicle.

Clearly the only viable option was to tape them around the edges of my second monitor.

Nothing but class going on here.

In case you were wondering...

...what melon looks like when it sits out in The Commons over a 3-day weekend, here is a photo. I thought the janitors would have thrown it out Friday night but not so.

After

Before

Many thanks to Mr. Valentine #3 for the lovely gift delivered to the office on Friday.

In case you were wondering where your campaign contributions go...

Last night, roommate Dawn and I went out to dinner with fancy people at a fancy restaurant downtown. The city is full of staffers in town for CPAC, which I would know nothing about except for the fact that all my friends work in politics nowadays. When the bill came for this lavish meal, 'Bruce' took it and said "Don't worry guys, this one's on the PAC." Which I have come to learn means free dinner/drinks for all. Hands down best part of the night.

Good in theory, but not in reality...

#1 - Homemade Kettle corn...

Failed attempt number three displayed above.

#2 - Me in striped shirts...

I love them always, but I should wear them never. So I compromise by taking a photo in the dressing room.

Better in reality than in theory:
The fortunes in this month's batch of fortune cookies from PF Changs.
Seriously, go get one.

Storm watch!

You've probably heard about the storm in DC by now. I can attest that it is a real snow storm, although Utah will get 5 more storms like this before winter is over.

The snow hasn't really bothered me, except for the fact that I planned to unload my pod into my new apartment this morning. I had movers lined up and everything. But when 8am came, the movers did not show up and I have never heard from them since. I couldn't get the doors of the pod open myself due to the knee-high snow piled in front.


I may have found new movers listed on craigslist as snow shovelers to come shovel out my pod and salt the area tonight. They may have agreed to come back and help me unload it in the morning. They may have then proceeded to get stuck in their truck in a snow bank as they attempted to leave Arlington. They may have then asked for a place to stay. They may be sleeping on the floor in my new, very, very empty apartment while I stay upstairs in my old apartment. I may feel a little weird about it all...

Catching up: Thanksgiving in Utah!

I headed out to Utah for Thanksgiving. It's confusing to my co-workers that I'm FROM Los Angeles but go to UTAH for the holidays. Not exactly sure how I feel about that either, but I digress...

The weekend was so much fun. Particularly, wasn't it great to have two Saturdays in a row after Thanksgiving? Placing that holiday on a Thursday was genius. Or maybe keeping offices closed on the Friday after is the genius part. Where am I going with this...

Things started off with the Orem Turkey Trot. Few things make me happier than a good local community race. And a race t-shirt.

Dinner with extended family.


Of course the BYU vs. Utah football game was a highlight of the weekend!


Loved the vintage blue jerseys!

Did you know you can get a Neapolitan shake? That changes everything.


There is much more I could report on but without good photos what's the point right?
I'm so excited to head back to Utah for Christmas!

Catching up: Visiting Summer in Atlanta.

One of the first things on my East Coast To-Do List was make a trip down to Atlanta to see BFF Summer, Travis and little Finley. I'm so glad timing and flights worked out for me to do so. They have created a beautiful life and home and it was a pleasure to be with them all.


Summer and I talked for a total of 40/48 hours I was in town. It was just what the doctor ordered! We looked through old photos and reminisced about our almost 20 years as friends. Also of note, I had my first experience with the Twilight series. Summer gave me a complete rundown on the first book before we went to see New Moon. I can definitely see why people love the series!

I look forward to seeing them much more frequently!!

**I really need to go through my physical photo boxes and digitize them all. We have some better vintage photos but this is all that's on my computer at this time..**

Catching up: KHill comes to town!

Can you believe how lucky I am? Only a couple weeks in DC and I had my first visitor! It was so fun exploring the city with Kristen, we hit as many hot spots as we could over her long weekend in the city. Seriously, you name it, we checked it off the list.

Mt. Vernon was a particular highlight. I did not know George and Martha had no children together. Instead they raised hers from a prior marriage. While that is sad, in a way it seems inspired. In such a young country with people who were used to royal families and monarchies, it almost seems inspired that there was no "monarchal heir" for our first president. Instead the power shifted smoothly to the next elected official. There is much about the formation of our country that is inspiring, and Mt. Vernon brings a lot of that to mind.

Mt Vernon is also aesthetically inspiring. This is a snapshot of one of the room's inside George and Martha's home. I LOVE this room. I've been scheming ever since about how I can create a Kelly Green room. Look at that ceiling! And that woodwork! And those chairs! Oh I'm in heaven.

Of course the weekend involved great food. This is Eastern Market. Will you please come visit me? Because I NEED more excuses to breakfast here.

Lastly, this photo does a lot to explain why I had to live out here.
Just look at that.

Catching up: Turns out I love my job.

I'll start with a report about work. I really, really love my job. I feel so lucky to be in this office, this group, even sitting next to these people. I could not be in a better situation (at least I think so). I feel well prepared and eager to learn as much as I can (especially anything that can help me do my family/friend's taxes better, now and down the road!). It's our slow season so I haven't been overwhelmed with work which is nice (most of the time). I think I'll be well acclimated by the time busy season begins.

For the first few weeks on the job, we were training all day long. They had us in a couple conference rooms. That is a really great way to get to know people! And to share strep throat...

Even though I did not take a bite, it made me feel better to have the donut sitting right there, can't really explain why.. I mean, it's understandable that I felt awesome controlling myself in the face of such a blatant temptation, right? I thought so too. :-)

On that note, isn't it cute what Steve & IeLi gave me instead of cake on my birthday? Now that's love.