365 - mad men me

Myself, as a glorious new secretary? copywriter? for Sterling Cooper Advertising, thanks to madmenyourself.com. I love it so very, very much. Yes, I am smoking but that's because everyone is on the show, and let's just say my 1960s self caves to peer pressure more than I do. Or something. It looks so good!

Regardless, I had far too much fun with this today.

365 - putting on the slipper

Today was my last big day of errands before Japan. I bought shoes for trekking around and they're like walking on air. I love them. At this point, though, I'm still in denial (and I'm sure will remain so until I am quite literally on the plane en route). I found out today that our flight is flight #1, which amuses me greatly -- and harkens back to the trans-Atlantic Pan Am London - New York flights, which were #1 and #2 respectively. I love that.

I bought body wash that reminds me of Hawaii, a new carryon bag, and tiny carryon bottles. Thrilling, really. Now it's on to 2.5 days of work, class, and finding an apartment in the meantime. I shall be a busy, busy bee.

365 - take 3, take 2

My Apollo glass arrived today! It is making friends with its cousin, my Apollo whisky bottle ($25, best purchase ever). It makes me wonder how many drinking vessels in the shape of space vehicles there are -- not to mention the fact that their shape does not lend themselves to drinking, necessarily. Note that the Command Module on the bottle is removable, and it nonexistent on the glass. Intriguing.

The stairs in my good friend Leah's new apartment in Petworth. She had a BBQ on Friday -- her apartment is amazing. Paneling!

Speaking of apartments, we (the four roommates) went on a whirlwind (ok, 2) tour of apartments today. It was lovely, we had slurpees (as evidenced by Josh's blue lips).

365 - apollo glass

I won! I am very excited with the spoils of my most recent eBay win. As you can tell, it is quite fabulous (and a logical partner to my Apollo Command Module bottle). Oddly, this is only the Service Module - no command module - but I suppose you couldn't drink it that way.

365 - paper bag

I went to that Italian deli again. There's something just so physical about brown paper bags that I love. The feel, the holding of groceries. Not sure if it's a retro thing, or if there's something so tangible about it. It just makes me happy. So does the delicious sandwich inside. Yum.

365 - bright sky, kitchen, projected

Final shot taken while watching "Atomic Café" in class.

365 - mourning ring

I picked up a ring while in Williamsburg -- it's a hand-made (in the Silversmith shop) of an 18th century mourning ring (given out at funerals). I got one for Claire a few years ago, and I've always loved it. So, huzzah.

365 - breeches role

Amy in her role as "Mr. Scribble," a breeches role in this case, which is a role of a male character played by a female. Amy was, by all accounts (including my own), fabulous, shining in a great shows to boot. Lots of calls for "encore" - which in the 18th C. meant that you would quite literally replay the last few seconds of the show -- of course those calls were coming from good friends in the audience.

All in all a lovely time, and of course, we're all jealous of how well her suit fits (better than any suit fitting any guy in the area!)

365 - harry take II

Since this photo was taken at 3am, I think it counts. I'm sad I don't have a photo of watching Dr. Strangelove with Nick today, which was a blast (no pun intended!) and exactly what I needed -- or of class, which I'm enjoying more and more but realizing that we only have 3 classes left.

Frustrating to have a class last only a month when you wish it would last a semester. On the plus side, 2 weeks until Japan, which means my list of things to do before I leave grows ever-longer. Phew.

365 - harry potter

A late post, because we were out late watching the most recent incarnation of the Harry Potter films, Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince. It was fantastic, but I must to bed, leaving only the lament that we were one of few folks dressed (and fabulously so) for the midnight showing, which made us sad. Thankfully, the sadness did not last, because we were dressed so amazingly, even though I had to disguise myself as a Gryffindor. :)

365 - alas, babylon!

This book has kept me up pretty darn late. It's frightening, but that's not why. It's compelling. Gives an interesting perspective on the dawn of the nuclear age (written in 1959). It's due on Wednesday. I'm halfway done.

365 - late night

I read for class, played Warcraft for 10 minutes. It was a pretty mellow night, really.

365 - morning

Good morning! After a night that ended at 5am (surprisingly) due to late-night diners and talking, it was nice to just collapse into bed and not worry when I woke up. Still woke up at a reasonable hour, which was nice. Headed out this evening to celebrate Alexandria (the city)'s birthday, which promises fireworks and I'm not sure what else.

On another note, I love having my bed next to a window. I will relish this as long as I don't leave anywhere near any place plagued by earthquakes. The weather's been so lovely recently (today is the first sliiiightly humid day), breezy, in the 70s and 80s, wonderful, so I can still fall asleep with the window open (and a fan on).

365 - it's been a rough few days

Here, I waited for my car to get fixed (just oil change &c) and attempted to learn Hiragana / Japanese syllabary.

One of the more difficult days of my life culminated with a sandwich from the Italian Store, a lovely deli, a night on the town with some girlfriends, and screaming the lyrics to pop songs. Also, a stranger randomly spun me around in circles, and Leah listened.

365 - night

Tonight, we watched interviews of survivors of the atomic bomb blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

365 - drive home

Today was a long drive home, since I left at the regular time (and not my usual 8pm - 10pm ish), but it was a lovely day regardless, and I always forget how simply green things are this time of year. So, along Canal Road (while stopped), I snapped a photo of the trees over the canal. I rather like this overabundance of greenery.

365 - double feature

Grass stains on my jeans from the BBQ.

Quite a few books for classes arrived in the mail today - can you tell what I'll be studying for the next month and a half? I'm rather excited for Japan, though I'm just trying to keep everything in order in preparation. Hard to imagine that it's coming up in a few weeks!

365 - snake whiskey

Apparently, he asked for it for Christmas.

It's snake-infused whiskey from Thailand. Apparently, a cobra with a vine snake in its mouth. Unreal. Sadly, the only photo I took last night from a fabulous Fourth of July BBQ in the city. Not photos of the delicious bacon-wrapped-shrimp, no photos of Nick's adorable dog Eva, no photos of the 10 different fireworks shows we could see from the hills of Fort Reno (one of the old forts to defend the city), but a photo of snake whiskey.

You'll have that, I suppose.

365 - navy yard

Oh, gosh, I've been dreadfully remiss in this blog, and I realized that I rather like having a chronicling of what's happened in my life, so I'm beginning anew. I'm making myself post a photo a day, which even without its context, will tell me more about the day -- though, knowing my verbose nature, I won't be able to resist waxing poetic.

At any rate, here's number one. I know, I'm starting in July (not January, which I suppose is "traditional" for these types of things, but I went to Artomatic and I was inspired. So there you go.

This is the Navy Yard station, since we went to a Nationals game today -- my first of the season, which is pretty depressing, considering I vowed that I would go frequently. I suppose you'll have that.

We had, however, a lovely time, and it's that perfect summer weather -- before the humidity comes in full force -- where it's pleasantly warm, and stays warm into the night. 77° tonight, with a slight breeze, and it was perfection. Add Ben's Chili Bowl half-smoke to that, and it's pure heaven.

From there, it was off to Artomatic, which is kind of like Festival of the Arts in that it's 9 floors of art installations and art for sale, and even a tattoo parlour! (the officially website adds: "nine floors of visual and installation art, theater performances, dance and comedy, three music stages, street performances such as fire dancing and drum troupes, and a film screening theater " ... yep) It was fabulous. We probably spent 3 hours there, and I only made it to the 6th floor, and this was after all the shows had finished!

At any rate, a bully start to the 4th of July weekend, even if I don't do anything for the rest of the time. Lovely.

Now... to bed!

short trip, long trip home

Well, I headed to San Francisco for the weekend.  This was to be a relatively uneventful trip -- of course, it was a bit more of an adventure.  

Fortunately, the weekend itself was lovely.  Friday was quiet, and I took a trip into San Francisco to meet up with my cousin Amanda & her friend Brittney.  They're both studying abroad this next semester, and it makes me so happy.  I so loved my time abroad, and it's such a chance to branch out, travel, and really come into ones own.  It changed me so much, and now, I just can't wait to go back.  Of course, that has to wait.

But this time, I headed back to Eric and Lisa's and had a quiet night.  We knew that another 8 people were showing up that night (ok, 3 a.m.) so we relished the calm.  

The session was the next day, and it was... amazing.  Probably one of the best we've ever had.  Engaging, funny, dark, plot-focused... It managed to completely take my breath away, and I was so glad I went.  More on exactly why later, though, because we must focus on the road home. 

My flight was cancelled due to thundersnow in DC, and the first flight out that I could get on was at 7pm.  Fortunately, I was rescued by Lisa, who fed me and we chatted non stop for 5 hours.  From there, I present my trip in photographic form.  

I think that pretty much sums it up.   I have never been happier to see mini-bagels in my life.  

More on the session itself later.