Songs I've Been Rather Obsessive About Today

Great Lake Swimmers - Your Rocky Spine
The Weepies - Gotta Have You
The Weepies - Stars
Yann Tiersen - Comptine d'un autre: l'apres midi
Keren Ann - Liberty

Took a hike

For my three day weekend, I ended up playing a whole lot and not at all catching up on sleep. It was totally great, but I needed to rest up from all the fun, and sadly I still had to come to work, so I was a leeetle tired on Tuesday. And drugged on sinus meds, which made for a very excellent combination that led to several sort of nonsensical work documents. Which I revised today.

My two most obvious weekend hangover issues are sore muscles and a mosquito bite on my ear (<-right?! but it itches like CRAZY!). Kandi and I (at my suggestion, mind you) went out to Front Royal and Skyline Drive and were very pumped about hiking a bit. I have a park pass, so entrance was free, and I was so excited about the whole thing that I even ended up buying a guide book of various hikes for the many, many return trips we would have. Kandi packed us a great little lunch (I contributed like two bananas and some peaches...it's the thought that counts?), but we forgot one very, very crucial ingredient for a good hiking day.

Water.

Which is important always, but especially on May days that might be getting a bit hot and sticky and dehydration-inducing. But we were still optimistic about our abilities, and set off for what was supposed to be a 5-mile jaunt. Sadly we were not led very well by our lovely park ranger at the entrance, and missed one of our turns. This added some distance, which in my mind grew and grew in proportion to my thirstiness. At the time it felt as though we went roughly 12 miles out of our way, although in retrospect I think it probably added another mile at the absolute most. So I'm a little sore now, but not too terribly, and believe it or not, ready to try again soon-ish, before it gets unbearably hot. Besides, I still have like 40 more hikes to cross off in my little book!

Oh So Lovely

Hey kids, it's almost Memorial Day Weekend!

I know I should tell you that I have something patriotic or such planned, but mostly I'm looking forward to a relaxed weekend...a little shopping here, little seafood in Annapolis there, and hopefully lots and lots of sunshine. I need a little vitamin D in my life - this has been the winter that wasn't all that tough, but WILL NEVER END.

So no work on Monday! I'm heady with the riches of three days in front of me. What are your plans?

I Don't Consider Myself to Be a Super Feminist...

From a review of the upcoming Sex and the City:

"This movie will give female audiences a jolt of excitement in the same way that seeing Indiana Jones back in action will thrill male audiences this summer. City’s obsessed fans will force their husbands and boyfriends to take them to see the flick before catching it another couple times in theatres with friends."

...but um, screw you, dude. I'd much rather see Indiana Jones. As would many others. Perhaps I'm being a bit thin-skinned, but I resent female audiences being lumped in with Manolos and vacuous sex-obsessed tv-show-take-off movies. You sir, can suck it.

If the whole housing bubble crisis confuses you, check this out. It's a time investment, but totally worth it if you'd like to make heads or tails of what's going on.

**Addendum: It's a little scary though, so the result might make you want to curl into the fetal position and hide under the covers. Perhaps listening to this was not the *best* plan as I contemplate car loans?

So NOT kosher at the grocery store

As I looked down into my little basket, this combination made me chuckle:
I have clearly spent way too much time thinking about foreigners' dietary restrictions.

Muxtape

Okay y'all, so I tried to be all sly and just stick a little link off to the side there. But impatience is getting the better of me. It's a site for making your own mixtape! Online! Hurry up and get your domain name, and then email it to me. For real! Go go go!!

Overheard in my office...

A: "Hey, do you have a lighter?" (leaves, presumably to smoke)
B: "That's the curse of being a social smoker, everyone knows you have a lighter."
C: "Dude, you are not a social smoker."
B: "I am so."
C: "You spend most of the time smoking by yourself. That's the opposite of a social smoker."

Texas Trip Wrap-Up

I made yet another pilgrimage to the Lone Star State, for yet another wedding. Based on current circumstances, this should be the last one I will need to go to for a while though - and actually I'm not whining, it's a great chance to see everyone and visit and have people ply me with wine and cake and yummy food. And because we're a bit over going to the clubs and such, it's a good opportunity to get a little dancing in :).

My first (very quick) stop was Houston, Texas. I know you're thinking, what? WHY? Yes, Houston is a bit gross and all, but it is the home of my lovely friend Ginger and her husband, James. She's all preggers and such now, so not only did I want to see their new house, but wanted to spend as much time with the typically tiny Ginger when she has a belly. She's still tiny everywhere else though, which I'm sure provokes much hatred in the waiting room at the doctor's office. At one point, we went to Target to register for things, which was a bit ridiculous, because we have absolutely no idea what babies need. I mean, we've both done some extensive babysitting, but when you do that, the mom already has all the necessities. There was a lot of "um, how many of these do you think we'll need?" "Beats me, just start zapping stuff..." Very productive trip, that.

We then drove to Austin for the wedding, all the while playing the "name that tune/artist challenge" for the 80's radio station. There were also wildflowers everywhere:
The wedding was very lovely - Sarah and Matt seemed very relaxed and happy...
and I got to put my wannabe seamstress skills to use in fixing bridesmaids' dresses. Brianna the flower girl was very cute (can you believe I babysat for her when she was two weeks old? Me neither...) and got to spend lots of quality time dancing with the big kids.


The next few days were mostly punctuated by lots of good meals and hanging out time. I finally broke down and bought myself some perfume. It was definitely time, since we calculated that Sarah gave me the least old perfume bottle I own about eight years ago...and I bought the others in college, so when I wear them, it's like eau de Rachel a 19 ans, which is an odd sort of throwback.

We celebrated cinco de mayo at Trudy's (north) with ridiculously cheap margaritas (at least, so it seemed to this DC gal - $3.50 each!? I'll take four! Wait...bad idea) and all of the yummy snacky Tex-Mex stuff I could squeeze in.

All in all a very lovely time. And now the crazies are planning a summer trip to Vegas, which I can state that I DO NOT HATE FOR THE FREAKIN' LAST TIME, because it's my blog. So there.

Critical Mass

On the train yesterday to BWI, cleaning out my purse to ensure it passes TSA's security standards:

A ziploc bag full to the brim of cancer sticks. This is my public record reminder that I do not need to even consider purchasing lip products for the next decade or so.