good day sunshine

I woke up this morning and it was hot. Hot. Really hot. It was 90* all weekend! Yes, it is a nice break from the cold, but I'm not sure if I am ready for this heat just yet! I am so much more a cold weather girl. What about you? Do you prefer heat or cold?

Big news! Friday night, I had a sushi date with Magda and I tried TWO new sushi rolls! We went to Mate in Georgetown and I decided to try a volcano roll on my own. Then M coerced me into trying a spicy tuna roll as well. Seriously, that girl is manipulative ;) I'm a bit of a baby when it comes to sushi. I like the veggie rolls; ie, avocado, asparagus, cucumber, etc. I will also eat ones with crab and sometimes salmon, but not always. I once got something with smoked salmon in it, and disliked it so much that I used my chopstick to poke out the salmon and just ate the cream cheese and avocado! I refuse to eat eel and it is unlikely that I'll eat much raw stuff in the near future. Sashimi? Highly unlikely ever! However, I did try the spicy tuna, and I liked it! Magda was so proud of me that she wasn't upset when I didn't like the hot sake we ordered :)

I'm way behind with my correspondence. My best friend's wedding anniversary was yesterday and my aunt's birthday is today. Both cards will be dropped in the mailbox today. I have several other cards to buy and send. Majlinda, one of my Albanian girls, has a birthday at the end of May, so I need to get her present in the mail. I found the most adorable doll on etsy. I bought two of them, one for each girl, for their birthdays. Obviously it will take a few weeks to get to Albania, so I need to mail it this week!

Speaking of Albania, it seems they are making a formal application to join the European Union tomorrow. This is following the news that Iceland is apparently closer to joining as well. Sigh. When I was in Poland, my Master's thesis was written on Norway and Iceland and their reasons for remaining outside of the EU, and the implications of eastern enlargement of the EU to them (this was written in 2003, before the big ten enlargement of Poland and the others). My first Master's is in European Studies, and I spent my time in Krakow studying the EU and enlargement of the EU. Despite that, I'm a bit of a Euro-skeptic. Iceland, yes, they are having a few issues, but they'll be fine!

Dear Norway,

Please don't ever join the EU. Don't let them suck you in, you know you are better off without them.

Love, Lexilooo

xoxo

Oh yes, and on Saturday we went to the book sale at the Arlington library that I mentioned on Friday! I spent about $35 and came home with 20 books, including a few quilting books with patterns of things I can eventually make. I found a gorgeous book called "Coastal New England" that is all photographs. I also found a few childrens books (I collect them) that looked great, including a gorgeous hardcover copy of Eleanor, by Barbara Cooney. Do you know her work? She's an amazing artist- she did Miss Rumphius, which is one of my all-time favorites.

We went to WARL (Washington Animal Rescue League) yesterday where I fell in love with a beagle called Oscar. He's adorable. I need him.

The Red Sox swept the Yankees this weekend! This included a steal of home by Jacoby Ellsbury!

I took the link to my blog off of my twitter profile. More of my "real life" friends are joining twitter, including a co-worker and right now, I'd prefer to keep the blog low profile. Some people know about it, which is fine, but I'd rather be the one to tell them, then them finding it on their own.

I was so sad to hear that Bea Arthur has passed away. Thank you for being a friend...

Oh and huge congrats to Katelin, who got engaged over the weekend, on her birthday! Happy birthday and congratulations to you and Matt!