moving right along

So last night I left my office at 5:15, as usual. I had to go to the MLK Library at Chinatown to return a few books and get a few more. So from there, I redlined to Union Station and took the bus home from there. When I walked up to my building, I saw two police cars to the left of the building with the lights flashing. I didn't think too much of it. I walked up to the front door of the building and saw a police officer standing there, on his walkie talkie. I would have asked him what was happening, but he was walkieing. So, inside I went. I checked my mail, went upstairs, took off my coat, etc. I turned on my laptop and once I checked my email, I found the following message from the DC Alert System-

Police Alert-ROBBERY HOLD UP GUN____ BLOCK OF ____ ST NE. LOF B/M SKI MASK BLACK JACKET SHORT HAIR CUT DO NOT TAKE ACTION CALL 911 W/EVENT #i2009146061Sent by DC Police Alert to e-mail, pagers, cell phones....powered by Cooper Notification RSAN


There was an armed robbery on my block!!! I live on Capitol Hill!!! Yes, I know this can happen anywhere, I am not so naive to think that anywhere is immune, but really? In the nearly five years I've been in DC and almost four in this apartment, I have never, ever had a problem or seen something happen.

Maybe it's time to move?

here comes the bride

How long do you think an engagement should be, in reality? More then a year? Around a year? Less then a year? Could you pull off a wedding in less then six months and still be happy?

I’m not engaged (yeah, you knew that!). I was looking at the website for the place I am currently loving for a reception venue, and the list the available dates on the site. It turns out that Sunday, September 20, 2009 is still available, so I may have mentioned to Steve that if he wanted to propose likerightnow, we could get married then (he didn’t propose, obviously). I was telling a friend of mine this (who is engaged and getting married in October) and she said that there is no way I could pull this off because (mainly) I couldn’t find a dress in this amount of time and would need to buy off the rack (the horrors!). She thought I might not enjoy it as much, because I wouldn’t have all of the things I wanted, because there just wasn’t enough time.

So dear friends, what do you think? Would you be happy to plan a wedding in less then six months? How long was your engagement? Would you have wanted more or less time? Thoughts?

P.S. This is in no means being to belittling to any brides in the least! I’m sure I’d probably want more then six months, but I just think I could do it in less. Granted, I am not planning a wedding, so I could be way off :)

prom dresses?

Totally random-

Do you know of the organizations where you can donate old prom dresses and other formal gowns? I remember hearing about one here in DC where your old gowns would be donated to local high schools where girls who may not be able to afford them could choose one for their prom. Sometimes they are called Glass Slipper Projects or Cinderella Projects, things like that. 

I've tried googling and not much is coming up, other then one in Chicago. I also found one in NH, as well as other states, but I thought it might be nice to stay local. I have a few dresses that I will not be wearing again and it might be a good idea to donate them. I'm sure I could bring them to the Salvation Army or the like, but this might be easier. 

Anyone know of anything?

how's that for inspiration?

So I recently came across someone really fabulous. A little girl in Ohio named Hannah. A few years ago, Hannah and her mother were serving food at a soup kitchen in Toledo and she saw a man whose shoes had split and wasn't wearing socks. She wanted to give him her own socks. Soon after, she began collecting socks to hand out in homeless shelters.

So far this year, Hannah's group called Hannah's Socks has collected 24,642 pairs of socks with a goal to collect 60,000.

Did I mention that she is nine years old?

I know that I talk about things I'd like to do, but I am the first to admit that I have awful follow through when it comes to my ideas. With the exception of World Vision, I haven't done a very good job of sticking to something. I've found all sorts of organizations that I admire, places I'd like to volunteer, etc. I'm just finding it refreshing that this little girl is actually doing something, unlike me, who just talks about it. There was an article in People magazine recently, which is actually where I learned about Hannah. She also has a facebook page.

I know that everyone talks so much about how awful the economy is right now, and I can't say that I don't complain as well, but I think that it's good to remember that there are people out there who are worse off then I am. I have a drawer full of socks, most of which I never wear. I decided to donate $10 a month for the next 12 months to Hannah's Socks. Perhaps also, when I go into Target, I will pick up a few packages of socks to be mailed to Cincinnati.

Really, it's the least I can do.

when Irish eyes are smiling

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Since it's nearly over and I am home eating dinner (and okay with that, might I add), I thought I'd wish you a happy day. I actually celebrated over the weekend with some of my favorite people. We went to a winery (shocking, I know, I never go to wineries!) calledChateau O'Brien, which is way out on I-66, in a really lovely spot.

I'll share a few pictures of the fun.

See the food photos? They had corned beef and cabbage, Irish stew, Sheppards pie, Irish cheeses and bread...but best of all- GUINNESS CHEESECAKE!!! Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds, and I must find a recipe. They were tiny little tart, so it was okay to eat about 30 of them, right? Okay, I didn't have that many...but I wouldn't have minded, ha!


See the picture of me holding the wine glass and a tiny green plastic mug? They were hiding those all over the winery with prizes inside. I found a ticket inside mine saying that I had won a free glass of wine! They had an apple wine that was fabulous.


See the picture of the case of wine bottles? They were doing a deal where if you bought a case, you were entered into a drawing to win a free week at a cottage at the Outer Banks in NC. There were eight of us there, so we all went in together! It was a four bedroom cottage, so it would have been fine. No word on winning yet, but my fingers are crossed!


How was your St. Pats? What did you do to celebrate?

discussion du jour

Here is an article I just read in one of the NH newspapers I read. Read it, and share your thoughts.

This just makes me so sad. I find it so ironic that they are saying that libraries are not essential in today's economy. Frankly, I find it even more so! Right now, people don't have the extra cash to stop by Borders and buy new books, so they'll get them at the library! If the book they want isn't available, they will add their name to the wait list. Libraries also have resources for job seekers; job postings, internet access and other useful tools. Why wouldn't you want to learn something new every day and what better place to do so, then your local library?

Are libraries becoming obsolete and an unessential service? Do they intimidate you? Or, are you a proud and happy library user, where you will someday take your children to, and teach them all the wonderful aspects of your pocal public library?

***12:30pm edit-

Take a look at this and just try to convince me that places this amazing shouldn't exist! go on, I dare you!

one of those days

I stayed home from work today. It wasn't that was close to my deathbed or the like, but when I woke up this morning so exhausted that I could barely open my eyes, I knew it wasn't a good omen for the day. I had also been up much of the night with a splitting headache, so I knew I wasn't going to be terribly productive. So, at 7:15am, I called our office manager (she gets in at 7am) and let her know I was sick. Normally this would suffice, but my office has this policy where in addition to calling in, I need to also speak with my supervisor to get permission to stay home sick. So, I went back to bed for two hours and then called her and got permission to be sick. Does that seem strange to anyone else? I've never heard of such a thing.

I did nothing all day, nothing of substance anyway. I slept a lot. I read Jodi Picoult's Vanishing Acts. I listed five Vera Bradley bags on ebay that I never use. I read the new Martha Stewart Everyday Food that arrived in my mailbox. I wrote out a birthday card. I reminded myself to get St. Patricks Day cards tomorrow. I found a five dollar bill in a shoe (yeah, I don't know either). I made muffins (by made muffins, I mean that I used one of those mixes where you add half a cup of water to the mix). Steve came by with orange juice and some pretty pink flowers, so that was nice.

How was your Thursday? Plans for the weekend?

contain this

Do people still have tupperware parties at home? I remember my mother going to them when I was very small, but I haven't heard anyone actually going to a tupperware event in years! Now it's all Pampered Chef, Mary Kay, Lia Sophia, Slumber Party by someone, Partylite candles, etc.

What's your favorite at-home buy-something-party?

you've got to be kidding me

Apparently I just spent the better part of my weekend writing a 15 page section of a 60 page group paper on the wrong topic. I was going by what we handed in to the professor as our outline, but somehow along the way, my group changed topics and I missed the memo.

Oh yeah, and it's due Wednesday.

Awesome.

roam if you want to, roam around the world

Have you ever gone away by yourself, either for just a short weekend or a week-long trip? I am so in need of a vacation, and maybe a little quiet time to myself might be nice. 

Pretty much everything is getting on my nerves right now and I need to figure out how to make this funk that has taken over my life go away and stay away. 

berry lemony fresh!

If you totally loved me and wanted to make my day, you could buy me this or this.

Both would be so adorable in my little kitchen!

girls vs. boys

Anyone want to come over and help me write a paper on gender disparity in education in Uganda? Anyone know anything about the topic?

Me, not so much...boooo!

when will it be me?

Two more friends became engaged in the past two days.

Meaning two separate friends were proposed to by their boyfriends, two separate couples who don't know each other.

Why am I not engaged?

Sigh.

on ways I love my library

So as I mentioned in my previous post, I had a bit of an overdue fine at my library. You know me, I love libraries...I just don't always remember to return the books in time! In this case, it was two books that had slid under my bed and remained there for several months before I realized it. Oooops.

I stopped at the Southeast branch on my way home from work today (love Eastern Market!) and had planned to pay part of it. I knew the fine was a bit, um, high, but I wasn't sure what it was exactly. I had some cash, could have used my debit card, didn't have my checkbook with me (does anyone still write many checks these days?). Turns out, my fine was $70. Ooops. I had $35 in cash, they didn't take debits. The librarian looked at my record and told me she'd waive the rest of the fine! Woo hoo!

New self-imposed rule: Lexi, until you are a good library patron again, you may borrow no more then three books at once.

pot 'o jumbles

• I've spent the morning taking pictures of a board meeting, where four of the members didn't arrive, due to the "inclement" weather we are experiencing
• I was up way too late last night, mostly due to my outrage at The Bachelor. Molly should have told him she was over him and was no with something else. That would have been SO much better!
• I almost got locked inside the U.S. Botanical Gardens last week
• I fell in love with another corgi, this one called Clara. By the time I emailed the shelter (she was in Altoona, PA), she'd been adopted. Yes, I tried calling too. Boooo. I need to stop looking for corgis, because I never get the one I want
• there is a dog adoption event at a nearby winery this weekend. It's on my schedule
• I love Milky Way Darks
• I wish it had really snowed yesterday. Like, really snowed.
• I need to pay my overdue fine to the DC Public Library