One Liners That Really Hit You in the Gut

“It takes good people with integrity. Human beings exist that have integrity… that know how to keep their mouth shut…. that know the bigger picture…that don’t sell out their friends. Those people are all over place…..When things get bad, they are still the same friends.” -Sandra Bullock

Nomads No More

We had a few requests from our readers to inform them once we became apartment renters again. Lucky for everyone, we have arrived at that spot in life. After the strenuous application process, we were able to sweet talk someone into letting us rent their apartment. I have to take credit for this one, because we decided that if the renter was a female, I would do all the talking and if it was a male, Lo would throw out the bait. Well I won! Gotta love flirting with a middle age lady. I must be good at it. :)

So yesterday we got the keys to the Secret Garden. That is the name of our new place. Lo named it, clearly. I would have preferred to call it the "ultimate man cave", but that was quickly ex-nayed. You will see the name fits by the posted picture.

Along with our joy for the new place, we are also sad to leave behind our old apartment. You never really realize the great things that occurred in a place until you close the door that final time. A world wind of emotions run through your body. Bittersweet.

I am posting a few pics. Some are of us packing and others are to reminisce the good times we had on Maryland Ave.

Early stages of packing

And the boxes start to stack up

Last but certainly not least, the tv, spirits, and ironing board must go

The Penthouse back to its original state (minus our touch)

Sianara Penthouse (with our touch)

Funtimes at Murrrrland

(thats how people say it here....no comment)

Welcome to the Secret Garden

(aka the UMC, "Ultimate Man Cave")

More to come from this lovely abode. Until next time.......

Sometimes You Feel like a Nut; Sometimes You Don't

After the Friday I have, I can totally relate to both parties involved in the video below.

The Narrator:

• I believe somethings are better than they really are.
• I am constantly asking, yet getting nothing in return.
• Talking, but no one is listening.
• Love my animal, yet hate it at the same time.
• Constantly make excuses to cover the truth
  

Jobey

• Sometimes, I just do not want to listen to anyone.
• I hear ya, but it's going in one ear and out the other.
• I, like Jobey, need to meditate sometimes.
• Ocean water feels good on my feet too.
• Sometimes, you just gotta shit in the water to get your point across.
• Its my ball. Its my shit. Common denominator, its mine. Not yours. Don't judge me.

Sometimes you feel like the helpless owner. Sometimes you feel like a shitty dog. Until next time.....

Remebering Katrina

Sunday marks the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I remember exactly where I was the day the storm hit. It is amazing how much progress and lack of progress still exists in New Orleans and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The Boston Globe has a tribute to the disaster in honor of the anniversary.

If you have a couple of minutes, the pictures are powerful.

Boston Globe Website

One Liners That Really Hit You in the Gut

"To achieve greatness, start where you are, use what you have, do what you can." - Arthur Ashe

Why....hello.....

I'm trying to figure out where to begin. I have been absent-minded in my thoughts, causing my side of the blogging world to be that of a blank page. I started a new area of the legislative world in my career and during what is supposed to be a period of relaxation (since Congress is in recess) I have been quite the opposite. I have been running at 90 mph and the days are speeding away from me. I guess in the end, that is not such a bad thing. During the day at least. I prefer my nights to be slower.

Like the South, D.C. has experienced intense heat, not allowing our a.c. units to properly perform their duties of cooling down our apt. I have found recently, I can get quite cranky during the evenings if things are not going my way. I'm sure most are in shock at that last statement, because if you know me or Lo for that matter, you know I probably never get things my way. In a sense, I guess that comes with the job of a husband. I like to think it comes with being specifically married to my wife. Nothing makes me happier though than when I can make her smile. Everything negative goes away during those moments.

[In case you are wondering what makes me cranky at night]

1. The heat. I shower every evening to relax me. The kitchen in our apt is not ventilated, which causes the temperature to insanely rise while we cook. It makes me super cranky. It gets to a point when Lo has to take over, because I am in such a bad mood.

2. The heat. Continuing with this topic because the insane heat I spoke of earlier moves its devilish self into our living area, where I am trying to relax on the couch. At this point, our ac units have been pumping hot air into our apt all day and no where (except on the floor right in front of the unit) is cool.

3. Lo not performing her duties in a timely manner. I also like my week nights to go in order. We have to make Lo's lunch, pick out her clothes for work (she likes to do this "in her head" first so it takes a while), iron her clothes (I do this because she "doesn't iron them like I do"), wash her face and get ready for bed. By 9:00, I would like to be sitting on the couch, watching useless tv shows Lo assures me are great. By 10:30, I want to be in bed...Now this is were our marriage has its differences. Lo hates bedtime, refuses it actually. She will do whatever it takes to postpone going to bed. Rarely do we go to bed at the same time. I have never understood why it takes women so long to get ready for bed. Just wash your face and go to sleep. No need for face creams, under eye creams, forehead creams, neck creams, behind the ear creams. I just don't get it.

Going back to the nightly chores. Ideally, I would like for many of the things to be completed right when we arrive at home. Rarely, this occurs, but you bet your bottom dollar, my amazing, little wife will let me know when the uncommon act happens. She usually has a form of this conversation:

After I walk into the door before it has closed in its entirety
Lo: Guess what I did? (this isn't really a question, just an introduction for her to tell me) I already made my lunch and picked out my clothes. And just so you know, my clothes do not need ironing. I picked them especially for that reason so you don't get cranky. Aren't you proud of me? I did it for you. (huge smile and eyes beaming)

Got to love her. Wouldn't ask for anyone else. Ever.

Well the weekend is upon us and I must be out to enjoy the weekend with the ol' devil herself. What's in store for the weekend you internally ask? Probably a purchase for the wife for already making her lunch and picking out clothes that didn't need to be ironed. But that didn't happen this week. Oh well.

Until next time.

What Lo Wants: I Must Have This Jacket

So as I get older (aahhh!) and essentially poorer (waahh!) I am trying to focus my wardrobe on more classic pieces and items that I know will be timeless, so that I can just change accessories up a lot to make different outfits. The roads you have to take when you have no money to buy clothes... siiigghhh. Anyway! Lately, I have been attracted to a lot of jackets and blazers. Never my style before, I keep finding myself wanting to buy more and more. I got the fall Anthropologie magazine earlier in the week and I died when I saw this jacket. I absolutely must have it. The orange color is perfect for fall and it would be a great layering piece. Think about it with wide legs jeans and tons of gold jewelry... oorrrrrrr skinny jeans and grey knee high boots with a white ruffled shirt underneath??!! Yes please.

wolo weekend

When you live far away from your family and friends and only have a handful of local friends, you have to start getting creative. Hence, wolo weekends. wolo weekends are where basically Wesley and I don't do anything at all besides exactly what we want to do. Maybe we will go shopping (my choice!), run some errands, go to a farmers market or flea market, happy hour or go out to dinner. Since we are trying to save money right now, we have had a lot of wolo weekends staying in and cooking pizza and tacos - our two favorite meals. A couple of weekends ago though, we decided to go out to dinner. Wesley has recently gotten a promotion (yay!), so we decided it was time to celebrate. We went to a new local restaurant called Acqua al 2. Check out there website and menu here. By saying that this restaurant is one of the best restaurants ever is an understatement. It is situated right in the middle of Eastern Market on 7th Street NE. We got there a little early for our reservation, so we had a glass of wine at the bar. When the table was ready, we were taken back down the narrow restaurant where is the dark and intimate. I started off with the fennel salad (which was HUGE) and Wesley got his favorite, the caprese salad. Both were amazing and fresh. We had a few recommendations on entrees and decided to go with the balsamic steak for Wesley and the blueberry steak for me. Both were cooked perfectly to medium rare - I could eat the blueberry steak EVERY NIGHT. The only thing I would change would be to order a side dish as everything is served al a carte. Instead of dessert, we ended our meal with a glass of prosecco. All in all, I would recommend this restaurant to anyone in the DC area. A-MAZ-ING.

Cheers to wolo weekends!

Housing UPDATE

So I know everyone is walking on egg shells waiting to see if we find an apartment. We found out we did not get the apartment that I loved so much. This taught us one thing. Owners judge you by what you are wearing. Do not wear your gym clothes, but dress up like you're going out. Is this real life? Oh yes, it is. Until we find somewhere new, we have moved into the residence below.
New address - 1 Box on a Street, Corner of 3rd and Maryland NE...

T MINUS 19 DAYS......