Spotted - What Not to Wear

I am by no means a fashionista, but while at lunch the other day, I spotted a girl walking down the street with who I assume was her boyfriend. The two were matching - his shirt was plaid and her purse was the exact same plaid design. Not sure if this was on accident but it was way too matchy-matchy for me. Couples dressing alike is not acceptable in everyday wear.

Weekend Recap

This weekend went by in a hurry and it's already Monday again. My sister Erin came to visit for her birthday and we all went to Sushi Rock to celebrate.

Happy Birthday Erin!

Saturday the boyfriend and I went to the Building Museum and checked out the LEGO Architecture exhibit which I highly recommend. They made LEGO versions of significant buildings in architecture from around the world. They also had a whole room full of legos (and of course tons of children) where you could play with the legos and build whatever you wanted.

The boyfriends sculpture

ME!

The boyfriend

 

Go Legos! and Architecture!

After the Building Museum we grabbed a late lunch / early dinner and ended up playing around with this free app I downloaded called CamWow. You can take pictures with a fishbowl lens to get pictures like this:


Or a drawing photo that looks like this:

 

Then we headed home to watch the USA vs Argentina match which ended up a tie but was a great game to watch! After that we went to meet up my other sister Amy and her boyfriend and some of their friends for a drink. 

Sunday afternoon I had soccer and then lounged around for most of the afternoon before heading out for an evening movie / date night with the boyfriend where we saw limitless. A while back I had bought the Fandango Groupon which got us 2 movie tickets for $9 total. This was a much better deal than the $22 we would have paid sans Groupon. The movie was really good too, very entertaining and made you think. Plus the movie was shot all over NYC and it was fun to see all the places the boyfriend and I had visited in the movie. All in all a great weekend!

Tip of the Day

For all the ladies out there - here's what NOT to do:

Source -> http://socialhype.com/lifestyle/2127-15-of-the-worst-mistakes-women-make-trying-%20to-look-attractive-infogaphic.html

Countdown

- Days until my sister comes to visit for her birthday: 3

- 10 days until my next race

- I just bought tickets to go see DC United vs LA Galaxy in 18 days

- Leaving for London in 32 days!

- 73 days until the boyfriends birthday

- I turn 27 in 254 days

Finance Tip - Overheard Edition

Saturday afternoon I was on the bus making my way up Wisconsin Ave, when I overheard a girl talking on the phone. The bus was very crowded, I was standing next to her, and she was talking loudly. She was talking to who I assume was her mother, and she wanted her mom to try and get her a credit card again since she now had a job and was 21. She wanted this credit card so she could "make the minimum payments" and not have to pay back the full amount to her mother each month.

There were so many things wrong with this conversation. First of all, a credit card does not equal free money. By not paying off her balance each month, she is paying somewhere been 20 - 25% interest on all of her purchases. This means $100 for a pair of shoes turns into $120. Also, by making only the minimum payments each month on your credit card, this means that you are carrying over the balance month to month, meaning you are paying interest on the carry-over. Let's say you have a credit card bill of $500, and you make the minimum payment of $10. The next month, you spend $400, but the $490 that you didn't pay off the previous month rolls over. Then, you have to pay 20% interest of the new total ($1090) * 20% + $1090 = $1308. Now your $1,100 in purchases has turned into $1,308. See how quickly it escalates.

Seeing that she was so young, this is a crucial stage for her to learn proper money management. Mistakes she makes now will effect her future - they run a credit report (usually) when you apply for a lease to rent an apartment, they sometimes run a credit report when you apply for a job, your credit score will come into play if you want to take out a loan (maybe for school or a house), and if your score is high, then your rate will be high, and you will end up owing more than someone with a better score.

The moral of the story is - pay off your credit card in full every month (or make more than the minimum payment at the very least). And don't have loud personal phone conversations on the bus if you don't want others listening and then blogging about your life.

Weekend Recap

Can't believe it's already Monday again - the weekend flew by. Friday after work my co-worker and I went to pick up our packets for our race on Sunday. It was gorgeous outside - sunny and warm and just perfect. We got our packets, t-shirts, did a bit of shopping, and then headed home. I relaxed outside for a bit, and then the boyfriend came over and we watched basketball and I made tacos and we chilled out.

Saturday morning, while the boyfriend was at flag football, I had all these grand intentions of going out and being productive and hitting up the town. Well, that didn't happen. Once I finally left the house, the boyfriend came over and we headed to meet up with some of my old co-workers for dinner. It was such a great time getting to catch up with them all, and the food was great as well. Then we had to run off to go out for our friend Chris's 30th birthday bash. Jules hosted the party, and she made the funniest t-shirts with embarrassing pictures of Chris on them along with funny quotes. There was also some Edward 40-hands going on which always leads to a fun time. Unfortunately we couldn't stay out too late, since I had to get up early for the race the next day.

Sunday morning I awoke very early to go meet up with co-workers for the Scope it Out 5k, which is the largest Colon Cancer race in the world. Since it was a group of all girls, we decided to walk and chat the entire way. The group was walking a little too casually for my taste, but it was a great time and great cause.

The Capital - taken during the Scope it Out 5k

Let me take a time out here and let you know how wonderful the boyfriend is. He brought both my bike and his bike all the way out to the race. Then he sat there and waited for me and my friends to finish the race. Since we were walking so slowly, he waited for about 45 mins. He also didn't realize how chilly it was out, so he was freezing the whole time.

The boyfriend with his bike on the metro after soccer

After the race was over, the boyfriend and I darted off to catch the metro and then bike to his soccer game. Two of his teammates are married and both wanted to play in the game. They brought their 2 adorable children to the game, so I walked one around the track in his cart until the babysitters showed up to take over. The boyfriend played amazingly, and his team won 2-1. The weather warmed up and it turned into a beautiful day.


When the game was over, we metroed and biked back to his place to watch basketball. We grocery shopped, made dinner, and settled in to watch the Illinois - Kansas game (Illinois is the boyfriends alma mater), and unfortunately Illinois lost, although they did play their hearts out. Too bad for them, maybe next year!

And now somehow it's Monday already.

Friday and Sunshine!

Today is Friday and its going to be almost 80 degrees today :)

After having 3 painfully slow days at work earlier in the week, yesterday was a crazy long day for me - and the timing couldn't have been worse. It was St. Patrick's Day, and since I am 1/8 Irish, I really wanted to get in the spirit. Every hour at work they raffled off prizes (I didn't win anything), we had a pizza party for lunch, and tables were set up so everyone could watch the basketball games. Many of my co-workers started happy hour during lunch time, and our actual work happy hour started at 5. Meanwhile, during all of the festivities, I was at my desk working away on a report and power point presentation. I even had to work late, which I rarely ever have to.

I'm not complaining since I love my job and the work that I do, I just wish that I had been able to partake in the festivities that were occurring. Also, much thanks to the boyfriend who came over just to watch me stress out and work.

Anyways, enough of me complaining. Today is Friday! And I have the whole weekend ahead of fun activities. I'm running a 5k on Sunday with co-workers, and meeting up with friends on Saturday. Can't wait!

Places I'd Like to Visit

Seeing as I'm leaving for London in 38 days, I've been thinking a lot about other places I would like to visit. Here is a list of places I want to visit:

In the US:
- Philadelphia
- Yosemite
- Austin
- San Diego
- Alaska
- New Orleans
- Hawaii

Outside the US:
- Iceland
- China, Japan, Hong Kong area
- South Africa
- Egypt
- Australia and New Zealand
- Trinidad and Tobago

Ive been saving up my money for my London trip, but I really hope to be able to visit some of these places soon. Maybe later in the summer.

Weekend Recap

It's Monday and I'm tired and cranky (more on that later) but this weekend was a blast - action-packed and fun-filled.

Friday night I went errand shopping with the roommates - we hit up the Party Supplies Store, Target, and the grocery store. Not very exciting sounding, but it was fun. Saturday morning my roommate Ashleigh ran a 4 mile race that was right down the street from our house, so Emily and I went to go watch her finish. Then we came back to the house to get ready for the roommate's brunch. We decked the house out for St. Patrick's Day:

Decorated Front Window

Decorated Door Frame

Table full of accessories

There was so much amazing and delicious food for this brunch! I was very impressed and ate way too much.

After brunch, the boyfriend came over and we watched the Arsenal game and then decided to go for a bike ride around the area. We discovered a park full of all the local neighborhood toddlers and their parents, and was adorable to watch. I wanted to swing on the swings, but didn't want to kick off a little kid (such a rough life), so ended up just heading home. Then my sister called and wanted to see if we wanted to get dinner with her and her boyfriend, which we did and was a great time.

Sunday I woke up early and went over to the boyfriends, hung out for a bit and then got picked up for my soccer game. It was the 1st game of my Sunday Spring Soccer League, and the weather was great. The game was fun, we won 1-0, had tons of subs, and I played more aggressively than I usually do (I even drew a foul by running into a guy that was twice my size, falling, and then rolling on the ground). I got dropped off after the game about a mile from the boyfriend's and since the weather was nice, decided to walk home. I stopped at McDonald's to get a chocolate shake for the walk. Then the boyfriend surprised me by meeting me on the walk home, and upon our arrival at his place, we decided to stay outside since it was so nice out. We walked down to the park nearby and practiced soccer skills. It was tons of fun, until I slipped on some mud mid-kick and then my back starting hurting. The boyfriend was super nice to me after I got hurt, taking excellent care of me, letting me borrow his heating pad, and even taking me out to dinner. He really is the best!

I didn't sleep as well as I usually do last night due to pain every time I rolled over, and then to top it off, my alarm went off an hour early (at 6:30am instead of 7:30am), even though the time on my phone had been showing the correct time after the time change. Must have been a weird iPhone glitch, and after my alarm went off, I could only get back to a half-sleep state. Let's hope my phone alarm glitch is fixed for tomorrow, and tonight I am planning on baking some cookies (if my back allows so). Happy Pi Day!

A Shit-Show

Last night, I was at home making dinner with my roommate Emily, when she goes to the front window and says "come look, there's a shit-show happening outside our house". I run to the front window and see 4 firetrucks outside our front door, one of which is the Arlington County Hazmat Unit:

Firetrucks

Hazardous Response Unit

We weren't sure what was going on, but something had happened at our next door neighbors house. We thought it was some sort of fire, seeing as there was no ambulance or police, only firetrucks. We watched outside from our front porch, trying to figure out what had happened, and when we saw the crew putting on hazmat suits, we got concerned. Then another roommate came home.  We sent her out to chat up the firefighters, and she said they had said that there was an oil spill next door in their basement. 

Worst picture ever, but if you look really closely you can see a guy in an all white Hazmat suit

Then our final roommate and her boyfriend came home, and they went outside to talk to our next door neighbors. Apparently they had a 100 gallon oil drum in their basement from when the heat used to be oil. When the heat was converted over, the oil drum was never drained, and it started leaking last night. Since the oil is a hazardous material, the hazmat crew had to come clean it up.

Running wires through our yard to the neighbors basement to try and get the oil out

The trucks finally left around midnight, I'm not sure if they got it all cleaned up, but I haven't seen them back since, so I assume so. The neighbors also said that the county would pay for them to be put up in a hotel if they wanted (it smelled strongly of oil), so that's good to know if you ever have a hazardous material spill in your house.

Speaking of dinner, it was supposed to be the highlight of my post, but then the shit-show took over outside. I made steak and Emily made me pan-roasted potatoes and an avocado salad. It was delicious, healthy, and thanks again Emily for cooking for me!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

So I have been slacking and haven't posted anything all week! I have some updates - the roofers came out to look at the roof and determined that it needs to be replaced because it is so damaged. This is great except that they can't come back out for about 3 weeks. Did I mention it's raining out right now. Sigh.

I've been enjoying my break from soccer - it's between the Winter and Spring leagues right now, but my Sunday Spring league starts back up on Sunday. In the meantime I've been busy with kick-boxing and yoga. I've also started a diet - not an actual diet like no carbs or anything like that. Just a general, trying to eat healthier, diet. I'm also trying to stick to Bethenny's advice of "you can eat everything, just not at once", meaning if I want a Girl Scout Cookies, I will eat 1, instead of 4.

Not much else to report on, except work has been surprisingly busy this week, which has been nice. Not too busy where I'm stressed that I can't get everything done, but just busy enough where my days are full. This has been a nice change and I'm hoping it stays this way.

Besides that I just can't wait for the Spring weather to get here. So over this rain and cold weather. Hopefully I'll have something more exciting to talk about next time!

TGIF

I'm counting down the hours (3 left) until the weekend begins! My plans include:
- Scanning my tax documents so my dad can do my taxes for me
- Celebrating birthdays!
- Watching the Arsenal game
- Laundry
- Cheering on the boyfriend as his soccer team plays in the play-offs
- Cat Sitting
- Reorganizing my room to make my summer shoes more accessible

To update you all on my life - my soccer team didn't win our game on Wednesday, so the Winter Season is over. But - the Spring Season starts up in 2 weeks, along with my Sunday league as well. No word yet from the landlord about the safety hazard called my roof. My little sister is planning on coming to DC in 3 weeks to celebrate her 25th birthday, and I leave for London in 51 days!

A Good Day

Today I'm having a great day for no apparent reason. I was walking to work when some little girl was running by me on her way to school and she stops and says "hi". I said hi back and then she stopped again and turned and says "you're pretty" and I responded with thank you. Such an innocent little comment, but so nice to hear.

Once a month I have to do this report at work that is a lot of data entry. I have to pull the numbers in for a bunch of other reports, and it's very important that I get every single line item exactly right. It's really confusing to know if you are entering in the correct data, since sometimes there's multiple line items on one report that need to be combined into a single line item on my report. Anyways, today's the lucky day, and usually I get stressed about it, since I don't want to mess up, but I just finished and am feeling very confident about the numbers.

My boss today trained me on how to make the Financial Reports for the Quarterly Board Meetings. This means that the reports that I make will be sent directly to our Board of Directors, which is very exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. I'm glad to be getting more exposure and high-level reporting opportunities.

Arsenal played Leyton Orient today in the FA Cup, which is a make-up game after tying with them in the last game. After loosing tragically in the last few minutes of the Carling Cup, they really needed a win here. And they did! They were really giving it to Leyton, dominating the game, and beating them 5-0, trying to make up for their lost last week.

Tonight I have soccer, and hopefully my good day will continue at the game!

March Already!

How is it March already! This year is really flying by. No new news to report on the leaky roof from yesterday. My canker sore is starting to feel a bit better - I think the ice cream I had yesterday really helped. Today seems to be dragging on and on, but I have happy hour after work which I am very excited about.

My Wednesday night soccer team made clinched the last spot in the play-offs, and the first round starts tomorrow. We are playing the team we played at our previous game, in which we should have won but ended up tying 2-2. I'm worried that we're going to beat them and then have another game the next week. Mentally I got in my head that this Winter League is over, and now I am just not looking forward to these upcoming games. Plus, they're all the way out in the middle of nowhere, which is not easy for me to get to. I can't just not go, since we really need girls (with me going, we have the bare minimum number of girls), and if we don't have enough girls, we have to play down a man, which is just double the punishment, and I don't want to screw my team over like that. Oh well, guess I'll just suck it up and go and maybe even have fun.