It is almost July and I have a fever of 101, a sore throat, and a NyQuil hangover. Not fun. Especially since my parents, aunt and uncle are coming up tomorrow for the week. We're trying to figure out what to do for the 4th of July. My friend P is throwing a party at his place in Adams Morgan but I don't think it's the kind of party I can/want to take my parents to, much less my 75-year old uncle. We would have a nice view of the fireworks from the rooftop, but that involves shimmying through a bathroom window onto the fire escape and then climbing up a ladder (hello, vertigo).
I was in Houston ten days ago for work. No offense to you Houstoners, but Houston is the kind of American city that makes me depressed: humidity, sprawl, strip malls, concrete, no charm or history...a kind of generic, corporate, overbuilt bland metropolis where there are no pedestrians (we walked back to the hotel one day after our meeting and got honked at at least 5 times in 15 minutes). I saw at least 3 Office Depots and 4 Starbucks on the way from the airport. Oh, and a drive-through Starbucks, too. How lazy can you be, people!
We did have a nice time at the dinner though, where we were treated to some really good margaritas and Texan barbecue. But it's true that I was glad to return to my little Washingtonian enclave where there are trees! - and old houses!! - and sidewalks!!!
In other news, I found the wedding dress of my dreams. It's by a Spanish designer called Pronovias. And no, you can't see it! Wedding plans are in the works...we're going to be married next summer in France, near Bordeaux where my family lives. I hope to have a website all about it up and running soon.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Speechless
A lot has happened since my last entry.
I celebrated my 25th birthday last week and it was one of the most memorable weeks of my life, I think: dinner on Thursday with MF at La Ferme, a French restaurant (delish); tapas and margaritas at Oyamel on Friday, followed by martinis and dancing til 3 at Blue Gin; recovery on Saturday with Red Bull/Gatorade/jasmine tea/Alka Seltzer/greasy breakfast; and then I had about 15 people over to continue the celebration on Saturday evening where we cooked hamburgers/made S'mores/sat under the wisteria arbor with Christmas lights twinkling/ate birthday cake and drank champagne/took group pictures in the studio. And then Sunday we went to Middleburg, VA at Chrysalis Vineyards for some wine, a picnic with leftovers and a walk in the countryside. I can't think of a better way to have spent my 25th, especially in the company of such good people.
Also, I am engaged to be married. AAAAAAA!!! MF flew to Switzerland (all the while telling me he was in Rochester NY for a business trip...sneaky monkey) to get a diamond from his grandmother; and proposed in front of the Tiny Jewel Box in DC. It's impossible for me to get any work done right now...I feel woozy!
I celebrated my 25th birthday last week and it was one of the most memorable weeks of my life, I think: dinner on Thursday with MF at La Ferme, a French restaurant (delish); tapas and margaritas at Oyamel on Friday, followed by martinis and dancing til 3 at Blue Gin; recovery on Saturday with Red Bull/Gatorade/jasmine tea/Alka Seltzer/greasy breakfast; and then I had about 15 people over to continue the celebration on Saturday evening where we cooked hamburgers/made S'mores/sat under the wisteria arbor with Christmas lights twinkling/ate birthday cake and drank champagne/took group pictures in the studio. And then Sunday we went to Middleburg, VA at Chrysalis Vineyards for some wine, a picnic with leftovers and a walk in the countryside. I can't think of a better way to have spent my 25th, especially in the company of such good people.
Also, I am engaged to be married. AAAAAAA!!! MF flew to Switzerland (all the while telling me he was in Rochester NY for a business trip...sneaky monkey) to get a diamond from his grandmother; and proposed in front of the Tiny Jewel Box in DC. It's impossible for me to get any work done right now...I feel woozy!
Friday, May 4, 2007
Bienvenidos a Miami!
I'm going to Miami tomorrow until Tuesday to visit my best friend from college. Yay! In the very near future I see: cocktails, the beach, a boat ride and flashy cars. And probably sunburn too, although I wear SPF 50, a hat, shirt and sunglasses.
Photos to follow. Cheers!
Photos to follow. Cheers!
Thursday, May 3, 2007
25
I turn twenty-five a week from tomorrow. Ack!! That's halfway to 50 and halfway in between 20 and 30. Yikes!!
I always thought 25 was so old. I don't feel old now though, I feel like my life is just starting. I am so blessed in so many ways, grateful and humbled by how kind life has been and how many things I shouldn't take for granted: good health, a man I love that loves me, my family, my amazing friends, a job I feel fulfilled in and that gives me a glimpse of what a true career is, and enough money to live comfortably and travel every now and then...I am humbled because I know it's not the same for many, many people I share this planet with. Every now and then I have to remember not to take it all for granted...it's easy to let life pass you by without stopping to appreciate it.
The other day, for example, there was an accident on Canal Road on my way home from work. It wasn't moving at all so I decided to turn around and park near Lock 6 by the river. I had my yoga clothes (a tank and a pair of sweatpants) with me and changed into those in the car, but I had no tennis shoes - although I did have a pair of big blue slippers still in the backseat from my last trip back home to NC. So I went walking down to the river to watch the sun over the water. People on the trails were looking at me like I was bonkers: I was wearing workout clothes with blue slippers. But I could care less. It was better than wearing my black pointy-toed work shoes. I sat next to the water and just enjoyed the scenery and let all of the other drivers back on Canal Road fight traffic.
Tuesday evening MF and I had dinner with our friend G who is an amazing cook: she made curry salmon (the homemade kind where you add each individual spice yourself and let it simmer). And then we watched the movie Kinky Boots: I highly recommend it. It's like the Full Monty - British humor, cross-dressers and bad teeth. It's the story of this little shoe factory in a sleepy town in England that is going belly up, so the owner decides to start making kinky boots for drag queens (basically, patent leather stilettos that are tough enough to hold a man's weight) and hires one as his shoe designer. It's funny but also endearing - especially in terms of social acceptance, identity and open-mindedness. One of the lines that sticks with me is "Change your mind about someone." I'll leave it at that - you should see it.
I always thought 25 was so old. I don't feel old now though, I feel like my life is just starting. I am so blessed in so many ways, grateful and humbled by how kind life has been and how many things I shouldn't take for granted: good health, a man I love that loves me, my family, my amazing friends, a job I feel fulfilled in and that gives me a glimpse of what a true career is, and enough money to live comfortably and travel every now and then...I am humbled because I know it's not the same for many, many people I share this planet with. Every now and then I have to remember not to take it all for granted...it's easy to let life pass you by without stopping to appreciate it.
The other day, for example, there was an accident on Canal Road on my way home from work. It wasn't moving at all so I decided to turn around and park near Lock 6 by the river. I had my yoga clothes (a tank and a pair of sweatpants) with me and changed into those in the car, but I had no tennis shoes - although I did have a pair of big blue slippers still in the backseat from my last trip back home to NC. So I went walking down to the river to watch the sun over the water. People on the trails were looking at me like I was bonkers: I was wearing workout clothes with blue slippers. But I could care less. It was better than wearing my black pointy-toed work shoes. I sat next to the water and just enjoyed the scenery and let all of the other drivers back on Canal Road fight traffic.
Tuesday evening MF and I had dinner with our friend G who is an amazing cook: she made curry salmon (the homemade kind where you add each individual spice yourself and let it simmer). And then we watched the movie Kinky Boots: I highly recommend it. It's like the Full Monty - British humor, cross-dressers and bad teeth. It's the story of this little shoe factory in a sleepy town in England that is going belly up, so the owner decides to start making kinky boots for drag queens (basically, patent leather stilettos that are tough enough to hold a man's weight) and hires one as his shoe designer. It's funny but also endearing - especially in terms of social acceptance, identity and open-mindedness. One of the lines that sticks with me is "Change your mind about someone." I'll leave it at that - you should see it.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Playing Dress Up
Warm weather is finally here, after two weird weeks at the beginning of April. It makes me ancy (antsy? ansy?) or however you spell it.
I tried on wedding dresses this past weekend. Fear not, I am not getting married anytime soon (the thought of planning and paying for a wedding actually makes me break out into a cold sweat and rash). The reason I tried on dresses is that I am going to be modeling for an event at the Four Seasons Hotel - I think it's an event for wedding planners and brides or something like that - and wearing a dress from Hitched and jewelry from the Tiny Jewel Box. They are also going to fit me with a Marie-Antoinette style wig. It should be very glamorous and fun...as long as I don't trip over myself at the event (this dress I am wearing is huge...why anyone would actually wear that on their wedding day is beyond me, considering how limited your walking/dancing capabilities would be under these 500 pounds of satin and tulle.).
I hope I don't jinx myself. Is it bad luck to wear a wedding dress if it's not your wedding day?
I tried on wedding dresses this past weekend. Fear not, I am not getting married anytime soon (the thought of planning and paying for a wedding actually makes me break out into a cold sweat and rash). The reason I tried on dresses is that I am going to be modeling for an event at the Four Seasons Hotel - I think it's an event for wedding planners and brides or something like that - and wearing a dress from Hitched and jewelry from the Tiny Jewel Box. They are also going to fit me with a Marie-Antoinette style wig. It should be very glamorous and fun...as long as I don't trip over myself at the event (this dress I am wearing is huge...why anyone would actually wear that on their wedding day is beyond me, considering how limited your walking/dancing capabilities would be under these 500 pounds of satin and tulle.).
I hope I don't jinx myself. Is it bad luck to wear a wedding dress if it's not your wedding day?
Friday, April 13, 2007
Candy Ass
So I have a funny (albeit bittersweet) story. Last night MF (Man Friend) and I went to a Thai restaurant. Somehow between the Chicken Satay and Pad Thai I started talking about my cousin Emma's wedding. She got married in 2003 in France, more specifically at Aubeville, this little tiny town of about 10 people in the countryside near Bordeaux where my family lives. Anyways, the conversation went something like this:
Me: "It was honestly the most beautiful but the most simple wedding I've ever been to...she arrived in a horse-drawn carriage with flowers in this beautiful brown and gold dress for the civil ceremony, and then changed into her wedding dress for the religious ceremony, they got married in this 15th-century tiny Roman chapel, and she made the bouquets for the chapel herself, and had her family members sing the music, and then you walk out of the chapel and it's just fields of sunflowers..."
And then I start tearing up and then just start outright crying at the restaurant and cover my face with my napkin, and stop talking entirely because I'm choking up, at which point MF says (jokingly, and lovingly, of course):
"You candy-ass!"
And then I try to explain that I wasn't crying because of the sunflowers or how pretty the wedding was, but because I have an image in my head - all I can think of is my grandfather kissing the bride outside after the ceremony and he is crying, and people are throwing rose petals. My grandfather would pass away two years later, on Oct. 13th, 2005. I still miss him so much. And so I try to explain this to MF who is looking at me like I am one of those sappy candy-ass emotional girls crying at a Thai restaurant over sunflowers!
Also, my family's place in Charente is a very special place for me, and it reminds me of my grandfather and my childhood - I spent every summer there when I was little. My mom cries every time we leave, without fail. My grandfather always said that the sunlight in Charente was the most beautiful and would tell us stories about his youth there.
Me: "It was honestly the most beautiful but the most simple wedding I've ever been to...she arrived in a horse-drawn carriage with flowers in this beautiful brown and gold dress for the civil ceremony, and then changed into her wedding dress for the religious ceremony, they got married in this 15th-century tiny Roman chapel, and she made the bouquets for the chapel herself, and had her family members sing the music, and then you walk out of the chapel and it's just fields of sunflowers..."
And then I start tearing up and then just start outright crying at the restaurant and cover my face with my napkin, and stop talking entirely because I'm choking up, at which point MF says (jokingly, and lovingly, of course):
"You candy-ass!"
And then I try to explain that I wasn't crying because of the sunflowers or how pretty the wedding was, but because I have an image in my head - all I can think of is my grandfather kissing the bride outside after the ceremony and he is crying, and people are throwing rose petals. My grandfather would pass away two years later, on Oct. 13th, 2005. I still miss him so much. And so I try to explain this to MF who is looking at me like I am one of those sappy candy-ass emotional girls crying at a Thai restaurant over sunflowers!
Also, my family's place in Charente is a very special place for me, and it reminds me of my grandfather and my childhood - I spent every summer there when I was little. My mom cries every time we leave, without fail. My grandfather always said that the sunlight in Charente was the most beautiful and would tell us stories about his youth there.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Some really good news and some not as good news
Really good news: I am moving on up in my career! I know that I said before on this blog that I wouldn't talk shop, but it is pretty exciting to have a promotion. I've never had a promotion (granted I have only been on the job market for all of three years)!
All I will say is: I get to go to Paris for work twice a year for a couple of weeks at a time. Woot! Tonight we are celebrating with our good-looking lawyer friends (as opposed to our good-looking engineering or consultant friends - I know it sounds kind of trite or superficial and silly but it really is true that all of our friends are indeed successful and good-looking when I stop to think about it) by having fondue (cheese AND chocolate) and champagne.
Not as good news: I went to dentist for the first time in nearly two years this past week. I have THREE cavities. This is not good. I've never had a cavity in my life. It makes me feel like a horrible candy-eating, slacker-brushing person. So now I have to do some serious damage control and have to swish this fluoride thing after breakfast. I hate going to the dentist and being admonished and made to feel very guilty ... this is why no one likes you if you are a dentist and that within the medical profession dentists have the highest suicide rate.
On a random note I also learned where the middle finger gesture came from. Apparently in WWI the Germans would cut off the middle finger of their prisoners (the middle finger was used to fire guns) and so the prisoners would show them the middle finger to essentially say: ... well you know.
All I will say is: I get to go to Paris for work twice a year for a couple of weeks at a time. Woot! Tonight we are celebrating with our good-looking lawyer friends (as opposed to our good-looking engineering or consultant friends - I know it sounds kind of trite or superficial and silly but it really is true that all of our friends are indeed successful and good-looking when I stop to think about it) by having fondue (cheese AND chocolate) and champagne.
Not as good news: I went to dentist for the first time in nearly two years this past week. I have THREE cavities. This is not good. I've never had a cavity in my life. It makes me feel like a horrible candy-eating, slacker-brushing person. So now I have to do some serious damage control and have to swish this fluoride thing after breakfast. I hate going to the dentist and being admonished and made to feel very guilty ... this is why no one likes you if you are a dentist and that within the medical profession dentists have the highest suicide rate.
On a random note I also learned where the middle finger gesture came from. Apparently in WWI the Germans would cut off the middle finger of their prisoners (the middle finger was used to fire guns) and so the prisoners would show them the middle finger to essentially say: ... well you know.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)