Late Night Packing

Well I'm still packing. Packing for trips always takes me days. I'm not sure why. It's like a tragedy or something if I forgot toothpaste, even though I have like 7 opportunities to buy toothpaste before I ever need it anyway. It's not like I'm going to a third world country. I think B packs lighter because chances are if he forgot something, I have it. Like band-aids are on my list. And 2 separate purses. Extra batteries for my gameboy advance (fun on the plane). 3 paperbacks. I've gotten comments on the fact that I even have a list. It's sorted by clothing, accessories, health&beauty, other stuff. There's also a list by day of what I plan to where each day down to purse, belt, shoes (need to make sure I pack all the pieces). And of course there's the list of things to do as I walk out the door: turn off computer, close blinds, drop bills in mailbox, leave rent check written out in apartment in case something happens and I don't make it back to Seattle by June 1st.

I'm really excited for this trip. There are lots of people that I haven't seen in a year that I'm sure I'll bump into. And Pat McGee band is playing. And I'm going to the Triangle show. I'll have to post some pics when I get back. But for now, I have to pack! Only half the items have been checked off the list!

Long Day - Fun night ahead

Ok, so the subject was really going to be "New Purse!" but I didn't want to come across like some kind of valley girl or something. But I did get the most fabulous orange purse today. It has these little circles on it! It'll be perfect for Princeton Reunions.

B seems really stressed out these days. He has so much work to do. Hopefully he'll get it done by this weekend so we can have fun together. Reunions can be a little weird for us as a couple because, although our friends overlap, we also have 2 entirely different sets of friends. I know his and he knows mine, but our priorities are different for who we want to spend time with. It's not a problem. Basically we split up for some of the time. Even though we don't see each other that much because of long distance, we only see these people like once a year at reunions. I think it's good for us - it forces more of a healthy balance. I bet B doesn't even think about it or analyze it or anything. He's more of a "go with the flow" kind of person. That makes me the over-analytical one.

Last night I went with Karen to see Urinetown at the Paramount. I thought it was really good, although it's weird to watch a show about urine. The puns were hilarious, as one might imagine. My favorite was Freedom/FreeTum song when they wanted to have free toilet access. Karen and I had Mexican food beforehand and we couldn't decide what makes a Mexican restaurant authentic. I think it needs to be a little grungy. Like Gorditos!

This entry is getting too long to the point that people won't read it. Right, because I have such a large readership...

I'm late for Kells. It's Chris Dickens' birthday! I gotta represent.

Who says a party should be internal?

Got some wine stains on my new pink shirt from my shopping spree this past weekend. Stain stick to the rescue! This could be the trampoline incident all over again...

Uh-oh

Uh-oh, she's got the candles out. The nail polish is chipping. What's going on in Wallingford?!

Impromptu Ballet

There's nothing like impromptu ballet, dancing to the radio alone in your apartment after a good glass of wine.

Vino!

Ah, wine. Glorious wine. There's nothing like a glass of red wine in the evening to help you unwind.

I have never been more aware of my toes. Ever since this pedicure, I'm a little paranoid about getting the polish chipped. I didn't realize just how often I bang my toes into things. Books on the floor, the car door, my subwoofer,...I had no idea.

The Dangers of Shopping

Yesterday I went on a mini-shopping spree. I needed to make sure I had the latest in orange clothing. You see, next weekend is Princeton reunions, and each year you need to look better and better. The catch is that you need to look good while wearing orange and black. I have a few outfits that should do just fine. I even bought some orange flip-flips with heels. Those were a mistake. Who would buy flipflops with heels? Ummm...me. I don't recomment them. But they were on sale!

Anyway, when I was trying on a blue/green skirt at Urban Outfitters, I was trying to move quickly, and I accidentally zippered my skin. Ah! That hasn't happened since I was a toddler and wore those one-piece pajamas with the feet. Anyway, the big question was how to get free. Do I painfully unzip? I sort of tried but it was hurting and then somehow it just freed itself. The morale: take your time in the dressing room!

Today I had my very first pedicure. Can you believe I'm almost 25 and never got a pedicure? Well I guess that's just the kind of person I am. It always seemed like a waste of money. Until today. It was worth every penny of the $15 it cost. And such a good color! A nice dark red. Overall, I'm very happy, and I think I'll be a returning customer to this place in Kirkland. I never really liked my toes until today. Now they're so fun! They totally massage your feet and calves with lotion, so it was very lucky that I had shaved my legs this morning. After the pedicure, I went down to the Kirkland waterfront to read and show off my toes. It was overall a lazy, but good day. Now I gotta grab dinner and get to Sopranos. It's the second to last episode of the season!

What exactly is the allure of thin ice? Why do people walk head-on into bad situations? Why do people go looking for trouble? I do it myself, and I think it's about the excitement of the unknown. Testing your own limits and taking risks. We learn at a young age that it feels kind of good to do what you're not supposed to do. It's the adrenaline associated with it. That's why the kids who had tons of restrictions do a lot of sneaking around and go crazy in college, while the kids who were given a lot of freedom don't seem interested in breaking the rules. Like if I were to say, whatever you do, don't go to www.zefrank.com, how many of you would go there just because I said not to?

Last night I went bowling with a group of Microsoft people. It was all guys until Nick's girlfriend showed up. Where are all the women in Seattle? I'm not what you call a natural bowler. I certainly wasn't born to bowl. There was only one round out of three where I wasn't in last place. But who's counting? CJ is in a league, which is kind of funny because the only people I know who participate in bowling leagues are Fred Flintstone, Al Bundy and Dan Conner from Roseanne. Even ignoring the fact that none of those people actually exist outside of fiction, CJ doesn't exactly fit in with that crowd. So I have to assume there's something about bowling that I just don't get. Anyway, CJ taught me how to bowl. I didn't even know there was a right way to bowl. I mean all you do is roll a big heavy ball into some pins. Anyway, it was pretty fun. And definitely a cheap way to spend a Saturday night. My beer was only $2.75.

After bowling we went to this karaoke place across the street called The Rickshaw. It turned out to be a Chinese Restaurant. I'm not a big fan of Chinese Restaurants because I really don't like the smell of the food. So I wasn't very upset when we couldn't find good seats and had to leave.

Then on to the Lava Lounge in Belltown. I sat between CJ and Jay Fleugal. I don't know if I spelled his last name right, but he's a nice guy. I wonder why I've never met him before. He likes to call Shotgun before we're in sight of the car. CJ and I had a strange conversation about two totally separate things which left us each thinking about our own issues. I think that's what happened anyway. Jason was there too. He told me he always has an internal party going on. I think he should show it more! Giorgi was really intense about bowling, and at Lava Lounge he started to literally play with fire. Nick was kind of preoccupied with his girlfriend. And I'm not sure what Paul was thinking about on the other side of the table. We stayed until they kicked us out around 2am.

Then we went to Nick and Paul's place. I wanted to go to Giorgi's place to say hi to Walter but CJ and Jason wouldn't allow it. They thought he might be already in bed. So at Paul's place we played with the XBOX karaoke game. It was actually pretty fun. Singing badly in a group isn't so bad.

Then CJ drove me home at 4am. Jay got Shotgun. I slept in today.

Elementary School!

Today I got to read to the second grade. I read a chapter from BFG by Roald Dahl. This is exactly kind of thing really makes me want to be a teacher. It was so much fun, the story was good, and the kids clapped at the end of the chapter. They all said Ew! and Yuck! at a part when something was "as red as blood." It was great!

I got a new look from blogger. What do you think? I switched comments to use the ones that come with blogger, so I no longer publish the old ones, but I might find a way to get them back.

Ooh. Blogger changed their look and feel. I like blogger especially these days since they gave me a gmail account. GMail is great. The biggest thing it's lacking is some sort of IMAP or POP service so I can use it with Outlook or Outlook Express.

United recently announced that they're bringing back the ice cream sundae to their Premier First Class service. I wonder if they read my blog...

Had a good time at the W Saturday night. Yanda came back to visit. He thinks I should go to Prague with B. I think that's a great idea. Karen was wearing some great heels, and she introduced me to her friend, Mark, who has horrible taste in cocktails. I took some pics but I can't get them off my camera phone.

Sopranos night was uneventful. I brought cupcakes with the rainbow chip frosting. That stuff should be regulated. You should have seen the Pfau sisters devour the frosting off their cupcakes! It's so good. I prefer yellow cake with white icing. None of that lemon stuff though. Best way to ruin a cupcake.

Bought tickets for Nepal this morning for Tommy and me. I used my magic to get us some sweet seats. I can't wait. Only 7 1/2 months.

Seven and a half cents, doesn't mean a helluva lot
Seven and a half cents, doesn't mean a thing
But give it to me every hour
Forty hours every week
That's enough for me to be
Living like a king!
--The Pajama Game

It's been a while. I've been so busy with work and I also went to St. Louis this past weekend. B & I had a lot of fun. We saw the Gateway to the West. It's a giant arch. I said it reminded me of McDonald's. B thinks that says something about me. I think it says something about society. We did lots of fun dancing at the wedding. I tried out some superhigh heels, but ended up changing to lower ones due to the extreme pain I was in after walking like half a mile from the church back to the hotel. I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to uncomfortable shoes.

I got upgraded to first class on all my flights (4 total since I didn't have any directs.) I love first class, although Northwest is NOTHING compared to Continental. Continental's First Class is better than United's too. Continental is so awesome! They are so polite and kind, and they serve ice cream with your choice of toppings. I always get caramel. It's so good. Their food is best too.

My big takeaway from the flight was that First Class is dominated by middle-aged white men. I was the only woman up there on one flight, and on the bigger plane, there were 3 women out of 24 total. All the rest were middle-aged white guys. Nice men for sure, but I was glad to represent. Sometimes I feel guilty getting one of those huge seats when there are way bigger people squishing into tiny seats in the back. But that ice cream...!

B and I did lots of dancing at the wedding. I think I already said that. He looked great in his Armani suit. It was cool because we didn't really know anyone, so I had him all to myself. Of course it had it's drawbacks too because we were sitting with a table of strangers, but they went to Princeton, so we had stuff to talk about.

I really enjoy weddings, noticing all the details. My favorite detail about this wedding was the bouquets, especially the bride's. It was a whole bunch of pink roses, tightly closed, all poking out in a perfect half-sphere. Gorgeous! The ceremony itself was a little awkward because it was in a Catholic church and you could tell that most of the people had never been in a church before. Nobody sang along with the canter or said the responses or anything. Well B and I did a little but it was all kind of strange. They caught on to the shaking hands thing but the people in front of us didn't realize they were supposed to turn around so B & I kind of got gypped. But on such a happy occasion one can overlook such things.
:-)