Luck Is On My Side

This week has been pretty crazy for since my boss put in his two weeks. This means I will be taking over the majority of the reporting that he used to do, so I've been super busy trying to thoroughly learn all these new reports while he is still here for me to ask questions. Talk about being thrown in the deep end! I just hope I swim and not sink after he leaves.

In other news, I went to an event for with my friend Julie at a ritzy hair salon in Friendship Heights on Tuesday night. We basically went for the freebies, but they had a raffle which we entered and I was the 1st name picked! I won a free haircut which I'm super excited about!

Tonight I'm off to the Tennis store to see if I like the racket that they ordered for me, and then packing for the beach! I cannot wait for the long weekend!

Weekend Recap - Sporty Edition 2

My bike!

This weekend was full of sunshine, bike riding, and soccer. Friday night the boyfriend and I laid-low since I had an early soccer game Saturday morning. My Sunday team was in the Semi-Finals (hence the Saturday game instead of the usual Sunday game) and we ended up loosing 2-1. After the game we decided to get some brunch at Steak and Eggs, since I had a Groupon from there. Then we decided to hit up a tennis store I had also bought a Groupon for. They had to special order me a racquet so I have to go back and make sure I like it. We also hit up the hardware store and I bought a kickstand for my bike, that the boyfriend was kind enough to put on for me. Then we were passing by a farmers market and my front tire was low on air, so we decided to stop off at the free bike clinic and this ended up being the best stop. They filled my front tire with air and gave my whole bike a look over - telling me I needed a new front tire and a new chain soon, before it damaged other parts of my bike. They did this all for FREE and even fixed a few minor things on my bike as well. I could feel a huge difference in the bike after we left the clinic. Well, after a whole day of bike riding (did I mention that we rode our bikes to all of these stops) and sunshine - we were quite tired. We were supposed to meet up with some friends but were too tired to go out, so we ended up just staying in.

Sunday also started off early with the boyfriend and I meeting up with my co-worker B for an Eastern Market trip. B is sort of new to the area and she had never been to Eastern Market before so it was so much fun showing her the market. She LOVED it and we will definitely be back again. Sunday ended with me watching the boyfriends soccer game, which he scored the team's only goal at (they tied 1-1). However, he got quite dinged up at the game and was limping around today. The poor thing, it was breaking my heart to see him hurt like that.

Today's Monday again, but only 4 more days of work and then I'm off to the beach for the long weekend, which cannot come soon enough!

Royalty

When I was London I brought back a few of these flags for my sisters and my friends from work.

I could only get a certain number of flags, and one of co-workers Lisa expressed interest in having one, so I enlisted the skills of the boyfriend to re-make the flag with Lisa's head in place of Kate's on the flag. He is amazing at Photoshop and the flags came out amazing looking (I used some straws at work to complete the flag look), and I decorated her desk with the flags. She loved it and says she is never taking the flags down. Big thanks to the boyfriend for his great work!

Let's Go Nats!

Sunday night the boyfriend and I decided to go to the Nationals game the next day because it was $1 Mondays, meaning that hot dogs, popcorn and peanuts were all only $1 each! The Nationals were taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates so the game wasn't exactly a "must-see". After an extensive search on google for a coupon code to use, I ended up finding super cheap tickets on Stubhub that the boyfriend bought for us. Our seats ended up being AMAZING - we were on the 1st base line, looking straight down the line into home plate, with the outfield right beside us. The Nationals ended up winning 4-2 and was tons of fun - especially for a Monday night!

Awesome seats!

President's Race - they ran right by us!

The outfielders were right next to us (this is during warm-ups)

Exciting News!

Note: not her actual ring, but sorta close to it

Yesterday, my sister Amy got ENGAGED to her boyfriend of 4 1/2 years! She is the 1st of the sisters to get engaged so this is ultra exciting for us all. Even more exciting is the fact that she asked me to be her MAID OF HONOR! I am so touched, honored, thrilled, and excited to be her maid of honor! I will of course update everyone on the plans as they unfold. I am also grateful that she was able to share her special day with me and the boyfriend. So much excitement around here!!!

Out and About

After taking a hiatus last week while sick, I was back in action this week! Monday night I went to happy hour with my co-worker, Tuesday night my sister had me over for dinner, Wednesday night I went over to a friends for a pizza party, and last night I went to a District Sports Happy Hour. The boyfriend and I play in a distric sports league soccer (in different leagues though), and the happy hour was for a good cause - to benefit Street Soccer USA which aims to end homelessness through sports. For a "suggested donation of $10" you got a drink ticket, a raffle ticket and a Georgetown Cupcake. The boyfriend and I both tried the Cookies and Creme cupcake and it was very delicious - it tasted like an oreo milkshake, but in cake form.

We were getting a little bit bored, since we didn't know anyone at the happy hour, but then the raffle began! The very first raffle ticket that was picked was one of ours!!! It was for a Prince of Petworth t-shirt, which is very coincidental considering just an hour earlier the boyfriend and I were discussing the blog. The shirt is size XL which kind of sucks since its definitely not my size, but its still fun to win things anyways!

Prince of Petworth t-shirt won at raffle

After the high of winning, we decided to hang out around, just on the off chance that we could win something with our second raffle ticket. They had handed out all the prizes (more t-shirts, DC United tickets which I really wanted, etc), and then the Georgetown Cupcake guy comes through the crowd with 4 dozen boxes of cupcakes, which I presume were leftovers from handing them out earlier. They pull a ticket for the 1st box and its was our second ticket's number!!! What were the odds of winning twice! I told the boyfriend to take them into work, but he said it was donut day so I should take them, which I did. I was so excited to tell everyone that I won them in a raffle! Great way to start off the weekend!

Afternoon Treat

Today was one of those days and I needed a little afternoon pick-me-up. I was in luck because this week Starbucks is having a Frappuccino Happy Hour from 3-5pm, where all Frappuccinos are half price. I picked me up a Decaf Caramal Frappuccino and am in heaven sipping away on ever since. Yummm. I would upload a picture of me and my frap, but I forgot my phone (told you it was one of those days) so this generic one will have to do. You better hurry though because the happy hour ends May 15th!

Weekend Recap

Friday night the weather was beautiful and after a work happy hour, I met up with the boyfriend in NE for his friend's surprise birthday party. The party started early (7:15) which is my kind of party (why wait around until 10 to get things rolling) and the surprise part worked out great. The hostess was amazing and all in all it was a great time.

Saturday morning after a glorious sleep in, the boyfriend and I headed over to the annual Flower Mart at the National Cathedral. We shopped around at the vendors selling various items such as flowers, plants, antiques, trinkets, and so forth. We ate some ice cream, people watched, and then we saw signs for the Bell Tower Climb. Not really sure what we were signing up for, we embarked on the 333 step journey up a small windy staircase to the chamber where the bell-ringers gave us a demonstration on how the bells work. There were also some great views of the Cathedral (both inside and out) that you could see from the tour. It ended up being super fun and glad we were feeling spontaneous. After the festival, we changed into our DC United gear and headed off to tailgate for the game. I had received free DC United tickets for volunteering at the Cherry Blossom Soccer Tournament  so we got to go for free. Since I worked for the tickets, the boyfriend treated me to snacks during the game (isn't he the best) and although the game ended at a 0-0 tie, it was still a great time. After the game, we headed to a friends bbq, which luckily was nearby because I was so tired after all that.

Sunday was a pretty lazy and relaxing day for me. I skipped soccer (it was so early and the other side of town) and slept in. The boyfriend and I enjoyed the sunshine by walking around Georgetown, and then I came home and did laundry, painted my nails, and cleaned my room (sitll hadn't quite unpacked yet from London).

Below are some pics from the Flower Mart by the boyfriend - he got a new lens, a fisheye lens, so enjoy!

Flower Mart 2011

Climbing up the windy steps

View from the Bell Tower

Bell Ringing Demonstration

Me in the bell

The boyfriend in the bell

Inside the Cathedral

Inside the Cathedral

FIRE

Friday, I was hanging out at the boyfriend's when he starts yelling at me to come look out the window. I go

Firefighters putting out the garage fire

over to the window, and the garage across the alley from his apartment is in a blaze of fire. I'm in shock, staring out the window when all of a sudden the boyfriend starts yelling at me to get my shoes on because we have to get out of the apartment due to the flames getting way too close to his apartment.

In my quick reaction skills, I start thinking "oh I need to get my iPhone, is it cold out? Where's that sweatshirt I was wearing earlier..." and proceed to take my good old time getting out of there. Due to my slowness and not being able to find my shoes, before we even made it out of the apartment, the firefighters showed up and
were able to put out the flames in less than a minute.

I learned that if there's ever an emergency, I suck at reacting. My brain shuts down and I can't think logically. Good thing the boyfriend was thinking clearly for the both of us! And, more importantly, no one was hurt in the fire.

Then, in case that wasn't enough fire action for you for one weekend, Sunday afternoon the boyfriend and I
were in Rosslyn waiting for the Circulator to take us to Georgetown, and the boyfriend says "look over there, I think that building is on fire". This luxury apartment complex had smoke billowing out of it, and about a minute later you could smell smoke. A minute after that, the roar of the sirens started and they were soon surrounding the building. I'm not sure what happened because the bus came a few minutes later and we got on.

Turnberry Towers on fire

Recovered

Upon my return trip home from London, I contracted some sort of bug. I'm not sure if I ate something bad or just picked up something along the way, but all I know is my stomach was not happy with me. I had to travel all the way back from London on 2 flights (flew to Newark and then to Reagan) feeling like I was going to throw up the entire time - not fun at all. When I returned home safely, my wonderful boyfriend was there to nurse me back to health, and after 5 days of my ginger ale only diet (and 4 pounds lighter) I am finally able to eat again. Hooray!

I'm Back!

I successfully returned from London and had an amazing time! Hooray! Jenna and I left Saturday early morning and flew basically all day, and met up with her sister Jamie there (whose study abroad semester in London had just ended). In total baller style, Jenna arranged for us to have a driver take us from the airport to the hotel.

Sunday, which was Easter, we walked around the city and walked the Tower Bridge, saw the Tate Museum (a modern art museum), Globe Theater, and Westminister Abbey. Monday we did the London Eye (which is huge ferris wheel that is all glass so you get spectacular views of the city!), Trafalgar Square, Parliament and Big Ben. Tuesday we went to an Ice Bar which was such a neat experience and saw the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, and Wednesday we did the Emirates Stadium Tour which was definitely a highlight for me! Thursday we saw Abbey Road and did Afternoon Tea which was so much fun. Friday was full of Royal Wedding craziness and Saturday we did the Portobello Market which is a huge outdoor market in Notting Hill for most of the day. Sunday we left to go home, and it was such a long day!

Adjusting to the time change was surprisingly super easy to deal with, but I guess our afternoon naps helped with any tiredness I would have been feeling. Arriving in London on Saturday evening around bed time made it easy to naturally go to bed (it was dark out, we were tired from travelling, etc), and Sunday when we headed back to the good ole USA we left super early in the morning, making it easy to go to bed very early last night. Going to bed at a (relatively) normal time yesterday helped make getting up for work today and getting back on track so much easier.

Below are a few pictures from London!

Jenna and I at the Ice Bar

Me in front of a London Taxicab - I love these things!

Big Ben

On the London Eye

Changing of the Guards

We saw Meredith filming the Today Show!!!

Posing with the Harrod's bear while shopping

Riding the Tube (Gloucester Road was the stop our hotel was near)

At Emirates Stadium