Like a Hurricane

Yesterday morning, when the DC area was feeling the wrath of tropical storm Hanna and while most of you were probably cozy in your beds as the ran drops pelted your windows, I was out at Hains Point at 7:45 am, getting ready for a six mile run. Jim and Colin (the coaches) had emailed us at 5:30pm on Friday with the subject line "TRAINING IS ON FOR SEPTEMBER 6th" in those huge, screaming capital letters. So, when the alarm on my cell phone went off at 7:00 am on Saturday morning, I left my comfy bed, changed reluctantly into spandex running pants, a technical tee (that's supposed to wick water like sweat away from your body) and laced up my running shoes.

By the time Turk and I got out there, the rain and the wind hadn't picked up speed yet, so the warm up lap wasn't terrible. However, by mile 4, the wind and the rain were in an unforgiving mood and we were both soaked. My clothes were heavier and my sneakers squished with every step and at times my right foot went numb but I made it. And the rain, while annoying at times, did help keep me cool.

When we were about half a mile away from our goal, Turk decided she wanted to pick up the pace and sprinted ahead of me (with my blessing). I would like to point out her comments on this blog about it being okay for me to leave HER when I want to sprint ahead. HAH. Despite her doubts, it turns out that she is the fast one :)

As soon as we got to the car, I realized I hadn't brought any towels so we had no choice but to just plop ourselves onto my bare seats, which helped soak up some of the rain. This was fine, except I forgot about my wet seats when I headed out in my jeans later that night and ended up walking around Georgetown with a wet behind.

I'm sure there are a lot of things in life that feel great but terrible at the same time but I don't think anything felt as bad (yet as good) as peeling off my soaking wet, sweaty running pants, the running shirt, my shoes and socks and worst of all (but best of all) the two sports bras I had on.

As cheesy as this sounds, I was thinking of two things that kept me going any time I wanted to stop:
1) John McCain and all his POW buddies and the torture they experienced (this is NOT an endorsement, though)
2) The cancer patients and their friends and family as they go through chemo treatments. It SUCKS and I'm sure any of them would much rather run 6 miles through the rain than deal with months and years of cancer. In fact, I am CERTAIN that if you ask anyone who has watched a family member or a friend battle leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, Hodgkins or ANY form of cancer, they would much rather get up at 5AM any day of the week, under any circumstances, to run 6 miles if it meant that their loved one didn't have to go through the pain of cancer treatments.

Thanks to everyone's donations, I'm just under $300, which leaves me with $3,433 left to go! If you want to contribute, now is a great time!

Also, and this is very important - if you know anyone who you think would want to donate to this great cause, please forward along my emails, the link to my blog or even just the fund raising site. When I was fundraising last year, MANY of my donations came from people who weren't on my email list - friends and family members of my friends and coworkers who have been affected by blood cancer.

My fundraising site: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/wdw09/adin

Thanks for all your love and support everyone - thanks for the donations and the text messages asking about training and the emails that you send! It really means a lot!

My Second Donor (and crazy teammate)

My second donation comes from my running buddy, Turk! Turk completed her first triathlon a couple months ago and mentioned she might be interested in doing a full marathon. Well, once I signed up for Team in Training, I decided to recruit her to join with me via gchat. The conversation started at 1:13pm and by 1:22pm she was ready to sign up. It started like this:

Andrea: did you need something?

Me: do you still want to train for a marathon?

Andrea: maybe a half marathon

baby steps


And within minutes, I had convinced her to do the full marathon! Baby steps, shmaby steps. We just did our first team run together on Saturday and like I said in a previous post, it was a success - meaning she didn't want to kill me after waking up ridiculously early on a Saturday or getting lost several times in that godforsaken state known as Virginia.

So, Turk is my hero. Not only for making a donation but for going through all of this with me, step by step!

First Team Run

This morning, we had our first (of many) team runs. I had to be up at 6:45AM in order to be ready in time for Turk to pick me up.

Side Note: I convinced my friend Turk (Andrea) to run the marathon with me. It took about 3 minutes and she said yes and filled out the paperwork. I was amazed. I'm always trying to convince people to do things with me (go to a Cowboys game in Dallas, go skydiving, watch Buffy) and it's never been this easy! In about a couple months when we're logging long miles, she will most likely want to kill me.

So, trying to be a responsible adult, I went to bed early on Friday night. I set the alarm on my cell phone and set it on my nightstand right near my head and fell asleep to the movie, Enchanted as it played in the background. At 3:07 AM, my phone went off, alerting me to a text message. At first, I thought it was already 6:45 and time to wake up. Very soon after, I realized it was a text. Who would be texting me at 3:00 in the morning? I immediately assumed it was a drunk text from my friend, Heather. I checked the message before calling to yell at her only to find that it was Barack Obama (or his campaign but I would like to think Barack was texting me himself) informing me that he had chosen Joe Biden to be his running mate. UGH. So, not only was I awake but Obama chose the one person I was hoping he wouldn't.

So, obviously, not a great start to my morning. Add that to the fact that I had dropped a beam from my cubicle on my foot the day before (don't ask) and I was NOT ready for a run. Luckily, the first day of training was a light day. We just did 30 minutes on a track at Washington and Lee High School in Arlington and then spent the rest of the morning learning about hydration, common injuries and other running equipment.

All in all it was a success. Turk still seems happy that she decided to take this on and my foot did not fall off. Yeay!

Also, there's been a skirt movement in the running world over the last couple of years. I heard about it last year while I was training and scoffed at the idea of doing anything athletic in a mini skirt (never mind the fact that I played field hockey in high school). However, I think I might give it a shot. I mean, I was blessed with nice legs for a reason, right? Might as well show 'em off any chance I get :)

I will report on the benefits (or drawbacks) of running in a skirt as soon as I do a test run.

Also, if you've made it to the end of this post and you want to donate, you can do it here: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/wdw09/adin

My First Donor

So, before I sent out a mass email to everyone, I included a link on my gmail as well as on my Facebook page asking someone to be my first donor. It ended up being Mr. Juan Garcia - my hero for the day!!

I met Juan while we were both working at for the DC government (I still do) and we bonded over many early morning meetings, our love of the mac & cheese from Noodles & Co. and a couple fun car rides. Ever since then, he's been my on-again, off-again gay boyfriend. We usually break up (by post-it notes) when he insults my driving skills.

here I go again...

So, it’s been over a year since I completed my first marathon in San Diego, California. After months and months of waking up at the crack of dawn in freezing cold weather, feeling aches and pains in muscles I didn’t even know I had, having my sports bras slice through my body numerous times and losing a few toe nails, I decided I was ready to do it again.

I received an email from Colin and Jim, saying that they were going to be coaching again for the winter season. Colin and Jim, who are crazier than I am because they both just finished the Ironman triathlon in Lake Placid (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, 26.2 mile run in one day), are in just one word: awesome. I wouldn’t have made it across the finish line if it wasn’t for their encouragement, their support, and for Colin holding his cell phone up to my ear and running beside me while it blasted Bon Jovi’s “Livin on a Prayer” during mile 20 of the marathon. So, their email planted a seed in my mind. About 3 days later, I woke up on a Sunday morning and within 2 minutes had talked myself into signing up again.

Now, I haven’t really been running much. Ok, I haven’t been running at all. So this whole endeavor should be interesting. And it seems that a lot of the knowledge I gained the first time around fell out of my head, along with some of my common sense. I say this because yesterday was my first day of training. We were supposed to run 3 miles on our own to get ready for a longer run at the end of the week. I couldn’t wake up early to run before work (which would have been the smart thing to do) so I decided to go after work. In 87 degree heat. With nothing but 2 diet cokes in my system. In really old running shoes that I should have replaced after the last marathon. Through a heavily wooded, isolated trail, by myself.

I think I ran about 1 mile before I started to feel like everything I ate that day was about to come right back up. I started walking because I wanted to find the trail I had planned on running to, just to find out where it is. The trail is called the Glover-Archibold trail that goes from Van Ness to the banks of the Potomac River. I found the unmarked trail and followed it into the woods. The trodden path was narrow and slightly muddy, covered over by dry, fallen leaves. Large tree roots crossed over, jutting out unexpectedly at every other step. I was barely a quarter of a mile in when I decided that it would not be the best idea to run this alone, without a cell phone when it seemed like my body was near dehydration. Defeated, I turned around and walked/ran back to my apartment. I kept trying to motivate myself to keep running; when my iPod started playing Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel” I tried to imagine that every time he said “Go on, girl” he was encouraging me to run. Needless to say, it wasn’t very helpful. Even thinking about the fact that Oprah ran her marathon over an hour faster than I ran mine didn’t motivate me.

It’s going to be a loooooong season.

There is a website for everything!

I have always loved the coupling of the colors teal and brown. Now that I have the chance to redecorate my bedroom, I'm finally able to use these colors as a base.

As I was searching for various duvet covers online, I came across a website devoted to all things brown and blue!!

The Chocolate Blues has a great listing of things from comforters and duvet covers to plates and dishes to furniture.

What I really, really want is this but it can only be found in a twin size :(

Alas, the search continues....

My December

The list of CDs that I can listen to the whole way through is a very short one. I’m not talking about “greatest hits” or “best of” CDs either – I’m talking about studio albums. For years, the list did not change. It consisted of “Janet” by Janet Jackson, “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, and “Nevermind” by Nirvana.

While these were amazing albums and I still listen to them, I could never really relate to them. “Thriller” and “Janet” both came out when I was young and while I enjoyed the music and understood the content, I could never really relate to most of the songs. I remember blushing and almost cringing when I would hear “Any time, Any Place!”
And when “Nevermind” came out, I was 9 years old. I was 12 when I actually started listening to it and while I enjoyed the music, couldn’t really understand the angst.

It’s been a while since I’ve come across an album by an artist that is truly an album – a collection of songs related to one another. And, with the advent of applications like Napster and iTunes it’s possible for people to purchase single songs. We can now pick and choose which pieces of an album we want. For the most part, this has been very convenient since most mainstream albums that come out today are a loose collection of songs, most of which are meant to be radio hits.

However, I’ve recently discovered two albums by the same artist that I can listen to the whole way through and for the first time, they are albums that I can completely relate to.

Back in 2004, Kelly Clarkson released “Breakaway.” I was able to relate to most, if not all of the songs on that CD. I had just experienced a terrible breakup, had just graduated from college and was on my own for the first time – trying to figure out what my niche was in the world. I remember loading that CD up onto my iPod and listening to every song, over and over again on the metro and while I was running. I remember thinking “oh my God! She knows exactly how I feel!”

And now, Ms. Clarkson has once again produced an album of music that I can relate to. Unlike “Breakaway” her new album, “My December” was completely written by her. And most of the songs, while ridden with anger and sadness (she’s writing about a boy who broke her heart) are ones that I can completely relate to. Almost every single feeling she describes in the lyrics are feelings that I am experiencing now.

There is something very comforting about hearing my very thoughts expressed by someone else – knowing that while I feel completely alone, my experience is a shared one and that things WILL get better.

Summer Reading

Not that anyone cares but I am going to post my summer reading list. I could write it on a slip of paper but I would lose that in about 2 days.

I think this should take me through July:

1) The World According to Garp by John Irving
2) The House of the Spirits by Isabelle Allende (re-reading)
3) Lamb by Christopher Moore (for some good laughs)
4) 1776 by David McCullough (my non fiction selection)
5) The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (never read it plus the current economy put me in the mood)

Say my Name, Say My Name...

After years and years of stupid, lazy people mispronouncing my name, I've decided to make a command decision. If you mispronounce my name, when it is written, clear as day in front of you, I will not respond, for several reasons:

First of all, my name is pronounced EXACTLY the way it is spelled: A-N-E-E-S-A. Its not that hard at all. So, if you can't pronounce it properly, then it means you're either a moron who needs to go back to school or just too lazy to try.

I was at Einstein Brothers Bagels this morning, on my way to work. I drove completely out of my way to the only decent bagel shop within a 10 mile radius so that I could get my morning coffee and bagel. I get there, place my order and give the gentleman my name. He clarifies the pronunciation, I spell it out for him and he enters it into the computer. After I scoot down the line to the register and pay for my purchase, the next step is to wait as someone else prepares my order, with the rest of the hungry Sunday morning patrons. I heard someone calling for "Anyka's" order and I figured it wasn't me. The bagel man, called the name several times and was clearly frustrated. I was starring off into space, thinking about my time line for the rest of the day. Finally, he called out, "who had an asiago bagel with sun-dried tomato cream cheese?" I realized the idiot had been calling for me the whole time but had been completely mispronouncing my name. I stepped forward to claim my food and he looked at me and said "Anyka??" and I said "no, its AnEESa." He handed over my food, as he rolled his eyes at me.

He is not the only culprit - I've endured years and years of substitute teachers, job interviewers, and TAs constantly mispronouncing my name. And I was stupid enough to help them out by taking pity on their poor, moronic souls by stepping forward, properly identifying myself and then helping them with the pronunciation. Well, I'm not doing it anymore.

I have two theories as to why people have a hard time pronouncing my name. I've found that in situations where people first glance at an unknown name, they're too lazy to try and sound it out and instead mispronounce it by adding letters that were never there and omitting ones that are. Either that, or they're just stupid and can't read, in which case I SHOULD feel sorry for them but my days of excusing stupidity came crashing to an end when I stopped chasing after ex-frat boys.

Our society is now more multi-cultural than ever. Not every second person you meet will be named John or Laura or Mike. So, all I am asking is people actually TRY.
Its very easy...A-N-E-E-S-A. There is only one way to pronounce it.

The Song

You might notice various lists on the right side of my blog - lists of the books I'm currently reading, the DVDs I'm currently watching and the cds I'm currently listening to. I've added a new category called "The Song." Many of you who know me, know that I'm the kind of person who gets a new toy, plays with it incessantly and then get bored with it and then moves on to the next thing. I do this quite often with songs. For the last 15 years or so (probably longer than that) there is always one song that I'm really obsessed with and I'll play it on repeat. Not only that but I'll learn all the words and then belt it out in the car. My sister and my parents had to deal with this for years. They had to listen to "Beat It" or "That's the Way Love Goes" or "This is How We Do It" or "Can't Touch This" over and over and over until I got sick of it and didn't want to hear it again.

I don't know how some people put up with it. I remember a year ago, I became obsessed with "La Tortura" by Shakira and one night, poor Crystal had to hear it on repeat while we got ready, and then while we drove (in her car, I might add) to the bar and then on the way back (with 4 boys in the car). I don't know why she didn't throw the CD out the window. Probably because she knew I would jump out and run after it.

Anyways, since the advent of iPods and me driving around alone in my car, I usually obsess on my own, with no audience so I thought I would keep you guys updated on my latest song obsessions. In trying to recall some previous obsessions, I came up with:

"Layla" (original) by Eric Clapton (I think Matt had to deal with this one)
"La Tortura" by Shakira (as referenced above)
"U + Ur Hand" by Pink
"Juicy" by Notorious BIG
"Queen of the Night" by Whitney Houston
"PYT" by Michael Jackson - this one never really goes away but every so often, I will play it over and over
"A Whole New World" by Aladdin and Jasmine (not to be confused with the one sung by real people)
"Southern Man" by Neil Young
"Piece of My Heart" (the Faith Hill version, NOT Janis Joplin)
"Money Aint a Thing" by Jay Z
"Any Man of Mine" by Shania Twain
"Walk Through the Fire" from the Buffy Musical
"Livin on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi
"Dreamlover" by Mariah Carey

Last week it was "Because the Night" by Patti Smith and now its "Who Knew" by Pink. I think that by the start of next week I'll have a new one.

Dude, Where's My Car?

I haven't seen my car since Monday afternoon. I found a street about 4 blocks away where you don't need a DC permit to park. So, I parked there on Monday and haven't been back since. Not sure if that's smart but am I seriously supposed to walk 4 blocks after the long days I've been having (got home at 8:30 last night and 9:15 tonight) just to check on my car? I am a little unnerved that I haven't seen it but I'm sure its ok - its not like I parked in SE, its parked in front of a multi-million dollar home.

In other news, there was an article in today's post about construction at the Smithsonian. "Raising the Roof: Smithsonian Celebrates Construction of Gigantic Glass Ceiling" Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks that's hilarious?!

NFL Hottie and Hot Dogs...

Actually just one winner - Brett Favre. I didn't realize how hard it would be to tally the results and I'm just too exhausted from my first day at the new job to figure out who should be ranked where. But based on the handful of responses I received, Mr. Favre gets the #1 spot. He was ranked the most often and ranked higher than most of the others. Honorable mentions go to Tom Brady, Jason Taylor and Reggie Bush.

In other news - there is a hot dog stand right by my new office building. Actually, there's about 3. I discovered them when I had to go into the city last week to get my picture taken for my ID badge. Getting the photo taken only took about 4 minutes and I didn't want to just go home so I stopped at the stand and bought a hot dog. The nice lady who runs the stand kept calling me "baby" and asked what I wanted on my hot dog. I told, her, paid my buck-fifty and ate it as I walked through the city. I've always wanted to be one of those city girls who has a cool job and has a hot dog stand where I can just ask for the "usual" and they'll know how to fix it up for me. My new goal is to visit the same stand so often that eventually she'll know my face and know how I like my hot dogs. It'll be a cold, winter day and I'll show up in my boots and cute winter coat, blackberry attached to my waist and I'll go up to the stand and the woman will say "hey baby! You want the usual?" And I'll just smile and nod and she'll hand me a hot dog with mustard and ketchup and relish. She'll ask me how my day is going and I'll respond with some clever old adage like "oh you know how it is - another day, another dollar..." and she'll agree and say "don't I know it!"

I'm giving myself till Christmas.

NFL's Hottest

I'm trying to figure out who the NFL's best looking players are. Week after week, I read ESPN articles that rank teams based on offenses and defenses; they rank players based on completion rates and total rushing yards, etc. While I realize how important all those stats and rankings are, I'm also curious about who the hottest players are. But, as Heather pointed out, I'm not the best judge since my taste in men is a bit suspect so I need your help. Rank the top 10 of the following candidates and email me at aneesadin@gmail.com (or just leave a comment on this blog) with your picks. I'm going to post the results some time next week. And fellas, I know this isn't really your cup of tea but your input would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you feel I've missed someone, then just write him in. Enjoy :)

Name: Tom Brady, #12
Position: Quarterback
Team: New England Patriots




Name: Peyton Manning, #18
Position: Quarterback
Team: Indianapolis Colts




Name: Jason Taylor, #99
Position: Defensive End
Team: Miami Dolphins





Name: Brett Favre, #4
Position: Quarterback
Team: Green Bay Packers





Name: Jevon Kearse, #93
Position: Defensive End
Team: Philadelphia Eagles




Name: Eli Manning, #10
Position: Quarterback
Team: New York Giants




Name: Terrell Owens, #81
Position: Wide Receiver
Team: Dallas Cowboys






Name: Brady Quinn, #10
Position: Quarterback
Team: Cleveland Browns




Name: Matt Leinart, #7
Position: Quarterback
Team: Arizona Cardinals




Name: Lito Sheppard, #26
Position: Cornerback
Team: Philadelphia Eagles




Name: Tony Romo, #9
Position: Quarterback
Team: Dallas Cowboys






Name: Tedy Bruschi, #54
Position: Linebacker
Team: New England Patriots





Name: Brian Urlacher, #54
Position: Linebacker
Team: Chicago Bears




Name: Reggie Bush, #25
Position: Running Back
Team: New Orleans Saints

An Event 15 Years in the Making...

So, as many people already know, I'm crazy about Troy Aikman. I've been crazy about him since I was about 9 years old. I grew up watching him on TV and I guess you could say he was my childhood hero. I had my entire bedroom covered in Dallas Cowboys gear - I had my mom make me a duvet, pillow cases, and curtains. I bought a blue Troy Aikman jersey that I proudly wore to school, even on Mondays after the Cowboys lost.

I was so inspired by Aikman's performance in the 1994 NFC Championship game (they lost) that I wrote him a fan letter. I vividly remember being so inspired by the fact that Aikman didn't give up and I think I saw him encouraging the rest of the team to play hard. I think it was in that instant, when I fell in love. Yes, a complete school girl crush. I convinced my dad (an avid Redskins fan) that I HAD to write to Troy and tell him how he had inspired me. Some how, Dad found me the address and I remember laying on my stomach in front of the TV, writing out my letter to Troy. And everything I wrote to him was true - as a little girl and then as a teenager, any time things got hard, I always thought of Troy Aikman and his ability to stay in the game and play as hard as he could, no matter how bad they were losing.

Trust me, I realize how dorky that sounded but its totally true. I guess my crush on Troy Aikman wasn't the same as a crush a teenage girl would have on a normal star - I feel like there's more to it than just that. Anyways, now that Mr. Aikman is up in the announcer's booth, I've decided that I should really try to meet him. Every now and then, he announces Redskins games here in DC. That means that at some point, we will be within a few miles of each other and I have a chance of running into him. I'm going to start practicing what I'll say to him when I get to shake his hand. Not that I haven't been rehearsing for 15 years ;)

Update

So, I haven't really updated this blog as much as I would like to. I always come up with ideas for posts and start writing them and never finish. I just looked through the incomplete ones and for some of them, I can barely figure out where I was going with it. So, I'm going to make a resolution (yes, I know its not New Year yet) to complete what I start. So, whether its a blog post or the Ikea Hemnes shelf/drawer unit thingy that's been sitting in the living room with no door for about 5 days, or a box that I have opened but not completely unpacked, I am going to start finishing things.

Anyways, in light of that spirit, I'm going to do a mega post with a condensed version of all the unfinished posts from the last couple months. And some of it will be in past tense and some will be in present. Deal with it.

August:
Other than the massive crack in the windshield, the car is driving fine. Its taking a lot of time to get used to how big the body of the car is but I think I'm getting the hang of it. I just hope I don't have to do a lot of parallel parking. (Is this foreshadowing? Hmm....)


September:
Football season is FINALLY back!!! I'm a little disappointed with my fantasy picks but I think I'll be okay. I didn't get LT, who pretty much carried my entire team on his back last year but I'm excited about Steve Smith, Frank Gore and TJ Houshmanzadeh. Not too excited about Mark Bulger, though. I think I took him with my second pick and I had my fingers on Tony Romo's name. I had even peeled back a corner. NOT because he's the Cowboys' starter (or because he's dreamy) but because I KNOW what I saw last season and I KNOW it'll be good! But, like a moron, I listen to Jason, who reassures me that a) Romo will be a good back up to have and that b) i can draft him in later rounds since he's sure no one will pick him up. Well as luck would have it, Candice picked Romo up RIGHT before I was going to. DAMMIT!

Also, there is a new job offer in the works - quite possibly my dream job (for this age). We'll see how it works out.


Early October
Restaurant Eve is quite possibly the BEST restaurant I have been to this year in the DC area! At the beginning of the year, I told myself I would try more DC area restaurants and not stick to my old favorites. So, I had been to Smith & Wollensky, Blue Duck Tavern, DC Coast and a few others I don't remember off the top of my head. But, we went to Restaurant Eve last night for Court's bach. party and the food was absolutely amazing. I had cream of parsnip and something soup to start. And then prime rib for dinner. That was some of the best steak I've had - I'll even go so far as to say better than the fillet I had at S & W. The rosemary fingerling potatoes were also exquisite. I've made rosemary roasted potatoes and they tasted NOTHING like the ones I had at Restaurant Eve. It was almost as if they found a way to infuse the rosemary flavor into each piece. Then for dessert I had birthday cake - yup that's right. A mini birthday cake - yellow cake with white icing. It was yummy to say the least. Plus, Abi brought some of the wines from the vineyard she works at so we had several bottles throughout the night. Apparently, the restaurant has a "no BYOW policy" but since Abi works where she works, the sommelier was more than happy to oblige.

The Wedding
As far as American weddings go, Court and Tom's was quite possibly the most perfect one I've been to. Ok, so I've only been to one other but I'm counting the ones I've seen on TV too! It was on Sugarloaf Mt. at a mansion and the weather was perfect and the bridesmaids looked perfect and the cake was perfect and the music was perfect. I think I started tearing up when I saw Turk walking to the altar and they overflowed when Abi walked past. Courtney looked stunning and the ceremony was beautiful. I can't even describe how perfectly that ceremony fit Tom and Court. It wasn't stuffy and boring - it was full of life and Courtney was throwing her head back and laughing and really enjoying the moment. She came out to the Allman Brothers song, "Blue Sky" and Tom put his glasses on so he could see her as she walked towards him. And I cried some more. Turk read a poem and then the kiss was so romantic! And don't even get me started on the food - crab cakes and steak!! How can you go wrong with that!? It was all amazing. I think the whole event was simply breathtaking and it really made me stop and consider their relationship. I know that there is a cliche about single women at weddings and how it makes them want to get married and such and I don't want to fall into that category. But, I will say that being there and witnessing it made me want to strive for a lot more in my pursuits. As dorky as this sounds, it made me want to find someone who is as perfect for me as Tom is for Court and I really don't want to settle for anything less.


End of October:
Why, oh why did I listen to Jason and not go with my gut!?!?!? It is now almost week 9 and Romo's QB stats are second only to Tom Brady's! And I've since benched Bulger with his bruised ribs and lackluster performances for Brett Favre. My fantasy team is not doing well, despite having some high scoring players :( At least I'm starting Favre, who I love and adore but apparently, not as much as Chris Berman does.

What's a Girl Gotta Do??

There is either something wrong with the cosmic forces that control this universe or my perception of things is completely off.

I'm 25 and after years of dating, I thought that I would have gained some sort of insight or knowledge that I didn't have 10 years ago. And for the most part, I think that is true. I don't believe in fairy tales or Prince Charmings anymore. I don't assume that all wayward romances will end in a chase and some sweet, dramatic gesture like they do in the movies. I know I don't have it all figured out but I usually feel like with every passing year and with every new experience, I learn something new and as a result become wiser.

Then, as it has a way of some times doing, life throws me a curve ball. There is someone who I have amazing chemistry with. We can talk on the phone for over an hour about absolutely nothing and have a ball. We have fun doing all kinds of random things together. He makes me laugh when all I want to do is cry and even though he won't admit it, I know I make him laugh too. We love trying new things together and he's done some of the sweetest things that anyone has ever done for me. We're both incredibly physically attracted to each other and many times, various people have commented on the way we look at each other. But, we're not together and we never were and we never will be.

I'm the kind of person who needs to find answers to questions that puzzle me and I usually can't let something go until I do - no matter how mundane it is. When things haven't worked out with other men, there's usually been a reason as to why it didn't. Some times it hasn't been clear but I've usually been able to find it. I've never been able to find the reason as to why me and him can't be together.

I've tried countless times to convince myself that the chemistry is one-sided but after 2 and a half years, its just not possible to ignore it. I've tried to convince myself that he doesn't really care much at all - that he acts the way he does with me with everyone else. That doesn't work either. The mystery never got solved - I just eventually stopped trying to figure it out.

But now, the old questions have crept back up and they're begging to be answered. Its my own fault for letting him get to me. You know what they say - "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." I'm back where I was 2 years ago and this time the stakes are much higher. We've grown to be good friends - I've come to care about him with almost the same intensity as some of my closest friends. After just 2 years, he knows me better than a lot of people.

I know we won't be together. He won't get on a plane and come rescue me in Paris. He won't chase me to the air port as my flight is leaving. I know he won't climb up the fire escape with roses. And I know I won't get the answer to my most pressing question, which is "why don't you want to be with me?" I already know how this story ends. I know that eventually the questions will get the better of me and they'll keep gnawing away at my mind and my heart until the only solution will be to cut him out of my life. And that's the saddest part of the story because I'll have lost a good friend.

The question that alarms me the most is "If I can't make it work with him, under these circumstances, then who can I make it work with?"

Apartment Hunting in DC

So, its been a couple weeks and I've been searching for a place in DC. I haven't been searching too hard - I've sent out several emails to people who have posted places on Craigslist and I've gone to one open house and visited one apartment. I've been a bit lazy :)

I have to say that I'm not a huge fan of the Open House - its just not a good way to pick a roommate because there's just too much confusion and awkwardness. And it almost feels like a sorority/fraternity rush event. There's way too many people there at the same time for you to even remember who is who and most of the time, I can't tell who the current roommates are from the other idiots like myself who are looking for a place to live. You know why? Its because the other searchers keep striking up conversations with me about where they're from and how long they've been here and they want to know how long I've been here and what I do. I start talking to them and turning on the charm, only to find out 5 minutes later that they don't live there and have no bedroom to offer me.

Making appointments with each person is definitely the way to go. Last night, I saw an apartment on Conn. Ave in Van Ness and fell in love! First of all, the location is perfect! 2 blocks from the red line and in a really nice area! Its not downtown at all but close enough. Second, the apartment itself is really nice. Its not too new (since I hate new places) and not quite old enough, but its nice. The room is a decent size - it would fit my bed, dresser, nightstand and perhaps a desk. Third, the price is REALLY good! And 4th - the cherry on top, if you will, is that the roommates seem really great! One of them works for an NGO that helps women in developing countries and the other works in Education. They seem very mature and worldly. They were friendly, without making it seem like we had to be best friends and do everything together if I moved in or go out and get "wasted" together. AND they offered me a glass of red wine - they like to unwind with a glass of wine after work - sound like my kinda girls!

I just hope that the 15 minutes they spent with me were enough for them to realize that I'm their best choice for a roommate :)

Taking the Plunge

Over the last week, I've been searching for housing in D.C. Yup, that's right - the District of Columbia. Austin, TX is a no-go and it looks as though I'll be in the area for a while. I might as well take the plunge and move in.

I've always wanted to live in the city and some roadblock always managed to stand in my way. But now is the time. I'm not scared of being stranded in the city, or of having to live in a teeny tiny room and pay an pay an exorbitant rent or of running into the boy I used to date with his arms around a new girl. Things are different now - I can afford higher rents and I like old places and quirky neighborhoods. I have a car so if I feel suffocated by the city, I can leave any time I want. And the boy? He's still the same boy who hasn't changed so I'm not scared of him any more either.

Yup - its finally time. The only question is where? Adams Morgan? Cleveland Park? Mt. Pleasant? Columbia Heights? I'm going to have to do some exploring.

Stay tuned....

If I Celebrated Christmas...

this is what I would have on my list.

Whole New Ballgame...

So, I've tried not to blog about this topic and for the most part, have been quite successful. I didn't want to sound like a broken record or for this to be a "Sex in the City-esque" blog but I should have known it was inevitable. This blog revolves around my thoughts about various topics that enter my mind and as a single girl in her 20's, it was going to come up sooner or later.

Why does it seem like most of the guys who want to date me need a manual or a guidebook? Newsflash, fellas - if you are interested in a girl and you get her number, CALL HER AND ASK HER OUT!!! Guy meets girl. Guy likes girl and wants to get to know her. Guy asks for girl's phone number. Guy asks girl to go out to dinner. Seems pretty simple, right? Well, you would be surprised how few men in this area actually get that. I feel like I need to clarify what a date is.

This message especially goes out to the overgrown frat boys - you know who you are in your flip flops, backwards baseball caps and Abercrombie t-shirt that is obviously too small....

A date, typically, involves dinner and/or drinks, maybe a movie or a walk or bowling or ice cream or going to a museum (if you live in a big city) or a concert. Think along those lines.

A date is NOT texting her to see if she wants to go to 1223 later that night, it is not a bar crawl in Bethesda and DO NOT under any circumstances ask her if she wants to come over to your filthy apartment and watch reruns of "Family Guy" on your ridiculously large and expensive flat screen/HD TV while you and your roommates roll up a joint and proceed to get stoned.

It seems like a lot of guys in their 20s are just re-living their college years but with the added benefit of a salary from a full time job. I almost feel like its an insult to my intelligence when someone wants to set me up with one of these goobers. Maybe 2 or 3 years ago, I would have swooned at the opportunity for one of these idiots to get my number. I surely would have eagerly waited around for him to call or text me 3 or 4 days later, hoping for an invitation to dinner or some other cool, fun activity. I would only be slightly disappointed to receive an invite out to "the bar." And, I would have gone. After meeting at the guy's house or apartment to "pre-drink" and play beer pong, we would have made it to the bar (with a bunch of his rowdy friends) and then I would have the nerve to be disappointed when this guy doesn't turn out to be the intellectual, funny, sophisticated man I had expected.

Luckily, I've wizened up a bit.

So fellas, if you come across a lady that you find attractive and interesting, just call her and ask her out on a date - a real one. Show her that you're willing to think outside the box and put some effort into getting to know her. Meeting up at your local college watering hole, buying her cheap beer or rail drinks that are on special and then taking her to your bedroom in your shared house to hook up with her no longer works. Calling or texting her to hang out at your place to watch a movie is also lame for a "first date." We're not in college anymore, kids - its a whole new ballgame.