Gray and sleepy weather

Why oh why didn't I appreciate nap time back when it was both required and encouraged?

SO FUN.

(via Mighty Girl)

oof

I knew that this ballet class thing was going to have an eventual result: one day, I would wake up, and every inch of me would hurt. So far I've only had the pleasant soreness of having done something active and slightly strenuous, but I hadn't really minded, because it wasn't that bad, and also I felt a sense of accomplishment, like "I've done something good for myself! Yay me!"

Class number seven was the magic one. I woke up this morning, and my first thought was "ouch." And that was before I had actually moved at all. So instead of "Yay me!" this morning was "Yay Tylenol!"

Don't you just love when you buy stuff online and then a week later, you get presents delivered to your door?


Like lovely new spring clothes on sale at Banana Republic.


And new fun shoes from Old Navy.


And boxes and boxes of grains you bought in bulk because they don't sell them in stores.









(Wait, what was that last one?)


I'm all set on this stuff for the next year. Okay, three years. Yay!

Throwback

A friend in grad school once mentioned that her uncle had made her a CD that was a compilation of all of the Top 40 #1 Songs on her birthday through the years. Being a professed mixed CD addict and loving the sure to come cheesiness of such an endeavor, I made my own list:

1. My Sharona - The Knack (1979)
2. Upside Down - Diana Ross (1980)
3. Endless Love - Diana Ross and Lionel Richie (1981)
4. Hard to Say I'm Sorry - Chicago (1982)
5. Maniac - Michael Sembello (1983)
6. What's Love Got to Do with It? - Tina Turner (1984)
7. St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) - John Parr (1985)
8. Take My Breath Away - Berlin (1986)
9. La Bamba - Los Lobos (1987)
10. Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns 'N' Roses (1988)
11. Hanging Tough - New Kids on the Block (1989)
12. Blaze of Glory - Jon Bon Jovi (1990)
13. Promise of a New Day - Paula Abdul (1991)
14. End of the Road - Boyz II Men (1992)
15. Dreamlover - Mariah Carey (1993)
16. I'll Make Love to You - Boyz II Men (1994)
17. Gangsta's Paradise - Coolio (1995)
18. Macarena - Los Del Rio (1996)
19. Honey - Mariah Carey (1997)
20. I Don't Want to Miss a Thing - Aerosmith (1998)
21. Bailamos - Enrique Iglesias (1999)
22. Doesn't Really Matter - Janet (2000)
23. I'm Real - Jennifer Lopez/Ja Rule (2001)
24. Dilemma - Nelly (2002)
25. Shake Ya Tailfeather - Nelly (2003)
26. Lean Back - The Terror Squad (2004)
27. We Belong Together - Mariah Carey (200)5
28. SexyBack - Justin Timberlake (2006)
29. Big Girls Don't Cry - Fergie (2007)

I particularly love the multiple appearances by Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey. Find yours here!

Things That Continue to Baffle Me About the East Coast

1. The fact that the mulch that is used by everyone from little old ladies to companies with sidewalk flowerbeds is really, really pungent and foul smelling. I know they don't have to use this stuff, because other places also mulch their flower beds with far less terrible odors.

2. The need for all drivers to back into parking spots as though some sort of quick get-a-way is imminent.

3. The incredulous response you will receive when explaining you'll be driving 3+ hours "just to get away for the weekend."

You would be shocked to find out how many people make it to my blog while looking for John Denver lyrics. Awwwwesooommmme.

5ives

Number 2 is my favorite.

new food obsession

I've always found rice to be a bit boring. And I also rather despise frozen dinners for many reasons, not the least of which includes the fact that it's not even close to enough food to fill me up (the real reason behind the "lean" of Lean Cuisines). However, I've tried the Kashi frozen ones recently, and let me tell you, they are delicious. They are also mostly served over Kashi 7 Whole Grain Pilaf, which is pretty much the best thing ever. And of course it's not sold in grocery stores, at least not that I could find.

But it is sold in bulk at Amazon. Thank goodness, because I'm now convinced that everything I make from now until whenever NEEDS this to be good. Yum.

Is this one of the signs of Spring?

Along with the cherry blossoms peaking out and temperatures staying above freezing, the Wolf Trap Summer Season is released!

And, I have to admit, it's a smidge lackluster this year. Oh well.

Definites include Candide, the Gilbert and Sullivan players, and maybe Pilobolus (why are the dance shows always on effing Tuesday nights, the ONE night I am committed for the foreseeable future?!).

I'll be there with wine and cheese, if any of you care to join.

Adieu, sponge paint.

Ever since Kandi explained her many house painting plans to me, I have been on a mission to my paint my own kitchen. Until yesterday, it was sponge painted yellow. For three and a half years, I have lived in a place where at least one room was sponge painted. This is not okay.

At our last house, it was only the downstairs half bath, and it was dark blue. The girls who lived there before us said that the dining room used to also be sponge painted maroon, and it looked as though someone had been violently murdered there. Then we moved to this place, with the yellow spattered kitchen. Blech.

Here it is, in all its glory:












Do note the fact that whoever painted it didn't even try to get close to the edges. Also note that Gina and I had bacon for breakfast that day. Yum.

So then, off to Home Depot! To wander around for awhile because we don't really even know what we're looking for! Eventually we made it home and got down to painting:












We even taped stuff up and everything. We're practically professionals.













Isn't it just lovely? I have no comments about some small blue smudges that may or may not be on various surfaces including countertops, cabinets, and/or the ceiling. However, I will admit to the small incident where I was painting the edge up near the ceiling, and Gina was painting the side next to the cabinets (see diagram below), and I might have dripped a blob of paint down the little space in between her shirt and the top of her paints. Um, oops? Pretty impressive aim though.












I get really happy every time I walk by.

Ballet Class, encore

I finally took my first ballet class since high school last night. I really did mean to go last week, and had plans and everything to go with a friend from work, but was in a big rush in the morning, and left the bag with all my stuff in it at home. I was worried I was going to miss it last night too, since I couldn't find the studio ANYWHERE and the time for the class to begin was rapidly approaching. I squeezed in at the last possible second though, so all was well.

And it was really fun! I had forgotten how mental it can be - having to remember all the combinations and such. I'm a bit sore today, but nothing terrible.

I still have the same pair of shoes I danced in in 1998, and they are a bit the worse for wear...there are definitely some minor-approaching-major holes in the big toe area in both shoes. I should get a new pair, but I'm actually really attached to these for inexplicable reasons. We've been through a lot together, I guess :). Then my mind jumped from them to other dance shoes and/or costumes I've had and remember fondly. Here are a few (in chronological order):

-When I was really little, maybe 4 or 5, I was in a tap number and our costumes were gold sequins. They spray-painted our tap shoes gold and put glitter all over them. Of course we left a huge trail of gold crap every where we went, but I remember thinking they were SO PRETTY.

-There was a ballet number once to "Surrey with a Fringe on Top" and I had never seen Oklahoma! at the time. I thought the song was so strange.

-I was one of about twenty Batmen in a jazz dance to "Lemon Crush" by Prince. No really, I swear.

-I had red pointe shoes I wore when I was Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. They were so cool. I mean, hello, have you ever seen the Red Shoes? Case in point. Classic.

For those "cleaning out my jewelry box and my life days", see here.

Wow.

Mmmm...

Snuggling down into my bed, with the windows cracked and the sound of rain, with a nice almost spring breeze, gives me the littlest glimpse of what heaven will be like.

It's been a while since I posted about food

Have I told y'all how much I love brunch? I can't remember. But I do. Lots.

We went to "The Original Pancake House" on Saturday. It's important such meals happen at brunchy sort of time, since the average human can't (shouldn't?) eat their body weight in pancakes, eggs, bacon, and hash browns first thing in morning. Through a series of miscommunications, we had to wait about an hour to eat, and in typical fashion, I was running late in the morning so I didn't make myself any coffee before we left. By the time we were seated, the waitress practically had to insert an intravenous drip into my arm so I could function enough to peruse the menu. Fortunately, everything looked so tasty I couldn't really go all that wrong. I ended up with a Pecan Waffle and we all split a gigantor Apple Pancake.

But in the end, it isn't the food. It's the lazy, roll out of bed and hang out with friends, have some coffee and silly laughs, and look up and oh wait it's already 2 pm. Saturdays rock.

Other good brunch places: Kramerbooks, Bob and Edith's, and I hear Carlyle but haven't been. Kandi's on a mission to hit the whole list in the Washingtonian, so apparently my next twenty Saturdays are spoken for.