"well, i hope it's not jumbo shrimp because i'm allergic to oxymorons"

First of all, happy 25th birthday to the most amazingly handsome loving understanding hard-working supportive and hilarious husband a girl could ask for. Ten years ago, I was just a girl in english class gazing at cute boy across the room and here we are today, sharing these monumental birthdays together. God's plan - myself moving to Virginia and switching english classes three times until I was plunked down in a chair facing him - worked out unbelievably well.

Steve's birthday dinner went off without a hitch - he loves his sushi. The waitresses even turned the lights off for his techno birthday song and brought him out some green tea and mango ice cream... Steve quickly learned that when they ask you what kind of ice cream you want, you can't say "chocolate" at a true blue Japanese restaurant. I baked and baked all day so when everyone came back to our house we had lots of snacks to go along with lots of beer. Unfortunately, we had spent the previous night drinking into the wee hours of the morning with old friends so neither of us were really in the mood to party. Plus, Steve is sick. On his birthday! His boss refused to stay home last week so his disease has now spread to others in the office. Thanks, Scott. Aside from the sickness, we had a great time with everyone and I'm so happy that everyone made it. What good is a birthday without great friends to celebrate it with?

The title was a tiny hint at something I am very excited about. That's right. We just purchased our tickets to the Michael Ian Black/Michael Showalter night of hilarious stand up comedy glory on February 1st. Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter of Wet Hot American Summer fame (only one of my top five favorite movies). Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter also of Reno 911!, I Love the 70's, 80's and 90's, The State and more... I cannot wait. It's in Richmond and since it doesn't start until 9pm, perhaps we will turn the evening into a River City sleepover if Taryn and Nate-o are willing. An evening spent in Richmond will inevitably start another discussion about getting the hell out of here... although a serious discussion about it will probably start in a few weeks. Steve will be spending a week in Richmond doing training for work and with every night that he sees our friends and eats at our great restaurants, he'll miss it even more.

Time to go take care of the sick hubby. I'll have to put some blueberry muffins and Tylenol on the coffee table while I drive to Reston to submit the time report that I forgot about on Friday. In this day and age and working for such a gigantic worldwide corporation, I find it hard to believe that I can't submit it remotely. Lame.

P.S. Lets hope the Skins win on Steve's big day!

polaroid post

Happy 25th birthday, smashface!

Ethan's 2nd Christmas!

Wonderful girls...

My favorite person ever.

Obviously, the coolest siblings ever.

post-merry christmas

My days off flew by. We spent the first few days relaxing and finishing up our Christmas shopping followed by a few days of trying to be too many places at once. The poor pups didn't even recognize us by the time we got home last night. Even though the long weekend went by waaaaay too fast, we were lucky enough to be able to see friends we hadn't seen in awhile (we miss you Taaaaaaaryn) and spend a lot of time with our families. Unfortunately, Steve got the Xbox he's been wanting and has already taken over the living room. I'll never be able to watch my season one of Weeds or play our awesome Amazing Race DVD game (props to Mom for both of those gifts). All in all, it was a great Christmas... we received some much-needed (and much-appreciated) gifts, including numerous gift cards to South Moon Under (my favorite!), cozy Columbia ski pants and lots of fun stuff for our place (p.s. we love Crate and Barrel).

This time of year is a bit crammed due to the holidays, Steve's birthday and New Year's Eve occurring within a week of one another... but I'm ready for my four-day weekend already. Steve's birthday is on Sunday so I'm thinking out for some early drinks while watching the Skins/Cowboys game then Steve's favorite - sushi - for dinner. There's a place we go to where they bring out a birthday cake and play an obnoxious techno version of a Japanese birthday song... it's perfect (perfectly cheesy) and Steve should be sufficiently embarrassed. Embarrassment is key when you're turning the landmark age of 25 - the point where we should seriously accept that we're adults but will remain in denial for yet another year.

Oh, and we'll absolutely be celebrating his new amazing job.

icky

I'm sick... my stomach feels really strange and I'm getting these waves of nausea over the past two days, my ears are hurting (?) and I'm hot as hell (no, not complimenting myself there). I'm tired... two nights in a row I've stayed up past my bedtime (damn you, Monday Night Football and Biggest Loser finale!) and my eyelids are heavy. I'm also sick and tired of going to work - I need my five day Christmas vacation asap.

On the bright side, at least I'm not a member of the Spears family. Yowza.

viva nyc in the winter!

New York City in the winter is one of my favorite favorite favorite things in the whole world. It's where we spent some of our best times during winter breaks in college, where we got engaged, where we spent New Year's Eve 2003, where I've had some of the greatest food on earth, where some of my favorite people live. Unfortunately, we've had a difficult time making it up there this year... plus, Ryan just up and moved to L.A. so our free place to stay is now an apartment on the West Coast (although I'm certainly not complaining). We know plenty of people in NYC but Ryan was the only one we felt comfortable enough imposing on (we love you, Ryan!)... and, unlike some finer hotels, he allows us to pay him with pizza and microbrews. So, we were pretty bummed at the possibility that we might not end up going this year. Until now.

Hello, Upper East Side! We realized that it has been awhile since we actually splurged on ourselves and decided to book a nice relaxing weekend trip. Across from the Waldorf Astoria, our temporary home away from home is a mere three blocks from Rockefeller Center and ten short blocks to our spot at the corner of Central Park where we got engaged. We're used to staying farther downtown or in Brooklyn but this will be a nice change of atmosphere. Besides, everything is a short cab ride away... and no matter where we stay we'll be visiting the usual suspects: Two Boots Pizza for a slice of Mr. Pink and a Larry Tate, Go Sushi for a teriyaki bento box, the Marc Jacobs store on West Broadway to drool and Balthazar on Sunday morning for a scrumptious brunch (and celebrity sightings, of course)... I. Simply. Cannot. Wait. To. Leave.

We had a great weekend because we got to visit Ashley in Charlottesville (love you!!) and see her wonderful face and her wonderful mom and wonderful Batman. The Blaze unfortunately lost their second game (I'm just happy they finally chose a more parent-friendly team name). We finished up our Christmas shopping and wrapped everything... and the Skins actually kept their playoff hopes alive yesterday (thanks a lot, Kansas City - WTF is 4-10???). It was nice. Now we have a (hopefully) snowy weekend full of shopping and eating to look forward to soon.

how disappointing...

Yesterday I grew a pair and told my boss I needed to transfer out of our department when I had my monthy progress meeting. I've been here awhile, I'm completely burnt out on the work I'm currently doing, there are open roles in other departments which would provide me with a much more challenging experience than I'm receiving right now... plus, they pay significantly more and I'm more than qualified for the position. I tell the boss, she says that's fine, I can't wait. Case closed.

Not so much. Today an HR manager on our project kindly notified me not to get too excited. Since we are in a rebid for our contract (which, they insist, they fully anticipate they will win), they're very sketchy about approving internal transfers. In some rare cases (for example, when there is an obvious need in another department), they will approved the switch. Perfect. The department I'd like to move to has an open role. I am now waiting to hear back from the higher-ups. My boss made an excellent point, though - one that has already crossed my mind - if they don't approve my move, there's no reason for me to stay here. My job stresses me out to the point where I think about it in my sleep. I don't get paid enough to carry that around with me all day. Time for a change.

fresh white powder

So, we didn't receive the blizzard of the century last week, but it did bring a quiet reminder that my favorite season is knocking at our door. While most people (understandably) covet the flowery springtime or their beach-trip-filled-summers... I get geeked out over snow. You would imagine that I would be completely over it after spending two frustrating hours skidding and sliding (and honking, naturellement) to work last Wednesday but it only made me anticipate the coming months even more.

We spent Friday night excitedly planning day trips to Ski Liberty (yes, I know it is merely a large hill with machine-made snow on it) and even grander mid-season trips to Breckenridge with Andy and Nicci. Sunday evening we started planning our annual voyage (yes, it's a voyage... we drive... in one van) to Québec to celebrate the goodness of Martin Luther King, Jr. Of course, this is a lie. MLK, Jr. was a fabulous man but the best part about the holiday in his honor is that Canadians don't feel the urge to celebrate his life. Much like Turkey Day trips to Canada, Tremblant will be swamped with Americans but those pesky Canadians will still be at work (I keed I keed! I love me some Canadians!)... leaving those beautiful slopes wide open for the Munson/Velasco clan to clamor down. Yes, some still clamor (cough, my wonderful husband - this time we'll spring for some good old snowplow lessons).

I even did a Christmas List revamp for my parents. My mom made the mistake of mentioning she hadn't gotten to Steve and I yet... so I took advantage and did some shopping at Ski Chalet's website. I have some super fly new skis and comfy boots - obviously I need new ski pants. And gloves. I'll take a new coat as well but I fear that may be asking too much, no? I am 25 after all... apparently that means I'm an adult and have to buy my own stuff.




P.S. My 8th grade girls SYA basketball team played their first game this weekend. Sadly, we start off the season 0-1. I would shamelessly plug our team name but we are still at a standoff on that one. Although they're all in agreement that Yo Momma would be like sooooo like totally awesome... some of the parents may consider it a tad inappropriate. They gave two big fat thumbs down to my choices: The Gladiators (come on, they could have each had individual gladiator names à la Nitro, Ice, Gemini...) and Sparkle Motion (holler, Donnie Darko fans)! Somehow, I'm the dork.

so stoked...

Although it took me two long excruciating hours of crawling traffic to get to work today, I still like the snow. I would like it even more if I was in my regular spot on the 9th floor with a nice view out the window... rather than training new hires on the lower level with absolutely no windows. I'm not looking forward to spending another couple hours driving home this evening though, so I would really appreciate it if they closed the building... right... about... now?? Now..... NOW.

No such luck. :(

shoot.

I miss Richmond. In a previous post I pointed out our tendency to relapse whenever we visited... and it happened again on Thursday night. As soon as we got off 95 (onto a nice new downtown Frankin Street exit, I might add... way to wait until after we leave to make that an easy exit), we were sad. Even when we passed trashy Velvet on our way to find parking, we were still sad. Lets review:

• Steve was giddy as he ordered fried okra with his sandwich
• We had a view of the Riverside on the James condos downtown... the floor to ceiling wall-to-wall windows makes our condo look lame (considering they're the same price and have city views!)
• Unlike northern Virginia, we didn't wait an hour to be seated at dinner

We'd made note of these things after only five minutes in the city... I also had a nice local draft for only four bucks, too. Steve wasn't halfway through his okra before he was ticking off all of the reasons we could/should/ought to/will move back to the river city. Even when we make a decision to move somewhere else (San Diego and Wilmington, most recently) we always come back to Richmond. Maybe it's a sign. Another sign? Steve's 75% of the way through the interview process with a company whose corporate headquarters are in Richmond. I would consider that slightly more than coincidence! We'll see what happens... I'm crossing my fingers.

spoiled rotten!

These two adorable faces will be spending their day at doggie daycare tomorrow. How unbelievable spoiled is that? We usually leave for work around 6:45am and we're both leaving work early tomorrow to head down to Richmond for the Paramore (!) show. We felt bad leaving them at home alone all day so they'll be at doggie daycare while we're at work... and sleeping at home while we're at the show. It's an even trade. They'll be nice and worn out by the time I pick them up in the afternoon. Just thinking about it makes me laugh. I won't deny that we're embarassingly obsessed with our dogs. For the time being, they're the closest thing we have to having our own [human] children. I often find myself talking to them while I'm cooking. Luke whimpers if I'm taking a shower because he loves the water so much so... I'll admit that I let him jump in occasionally. When I woke up this morning, Lila was warming my feet like the furball she is. Sometimes when she's sitting by herself in a room I'll ask her "what's wrong, Lila Belle?" or say "you're such a tired boy, aren't you?" to a sleeping Lukey on the couch. Then I answer for them. That's how I know I'm just a little bit crazy when it comes to these two. Just a little bit.

oh, the places you'll go

Paris. I would venture to say that I’d be willing to move anywhere in Europe (any modern city, at least) but if I had to pick one… I choose Paris. I love Rome, Florence, London… but Paris has an energy that is unlike anywhere else. It can feel romantic and powerful at the same time, has delicious food, beautiful architecture and style, style, style. Parisians (et Parisiennes) are inexplicably stylish. They’re all gorgeous (much like the Italians) and wear beautiful shoes. After six years of struggling in French class I truly think I could get a handle on the language if I was fully immersed in it. France may very well be the only country where I could learn the language – I don’t have years of experience reading Italian or Spanish. French is my only shot! 35 hour work weeks? Sign me up. Chocolate croissants? My favorite. Universal health care? I’ll take it. In fact, one studious semester of comparative politics in college taught me that I would fit right into the French Socialist Party (although I could still follow the UMP marital drama of Nicolas Sarkozy and his “wife” just as much as I do my US Weekly). Paris it is.

Canada. Don’t misinterpret this by assuming I’m not proud to be an American… I just love Canada. Case in point – I love snow, maple syrup, the French language, Ryan Gosling, skiing (especially Mont Tremblant), the Chez Cora chain of breakfast restaurants, “eh?!?”, the list goes on and on. I love Montreal and although I’ve never been to Vancouver I think I’d like it as well. I’ve certainly been close enough while visiting the Puget Sound/Seattle (see below). I heard on the radio this morning that the UN ranked Canada the fourth best place to live in the world. Wow. The proximity to all the wonderful things the US offers is a benefit, too. You’re a fairly easy plane or car trip (depending on where you are) to NYC, Chicago, the beach… Canadians are easy to please when it comes to the beach. They don’t need to go to the Bahamas to escape for a week. Southern Florida is pretty exotic to them, all things considered. Plus, don’t Canadians always seem so happy?

Seattle. If Seattle weren’t so far from my family, we would be living there already. I love the Emerald City. I love the open air markets, the Puget Sound, the proximity to my love Canada (see above), the healthy feel of the city… I could even be a Seahawks fan (although my heart will always be with the Chiefs, of course). Qwest Stadium is a good-looking stadium compared to Arrowhead or even Fed Ex. They followed the same great plan as KC and put the Seahawks directly next to the Mariners, for all your sports-hungry visits downtown. I would say, hey of course I love Seattle because I love Starbucks, but that’s not even necessary. Even though I did make the trip to the OG Starbucks near Pike’s Place Market, the number of other privately-owned (specifically, not Starbucks) coffee houses in Seattle is amazing. We also have family across the Sound from the city, so in the same weekend I could visit my cousins and go skiing on Mount Hood (amazing!). Lets just say Mount Hood makes Ski Liberty look like… well, look invisible. Like nothing. What hill? There was a hill there?


Denver. The Mile-High City. I feel the same way about Denver as I do about Seattle. If it weren’t so far away from our families, we’d be there already. I miss the Midwest (not sure if those in Denver consider themselves Midwestern, but I sure do). The mountain views from the city can’t be beat and the fact that you can be skiing in the Rockies in one hour or less is magical to me. We could drive to see Sara in one day (not two!), my family in Oklahoma in one day (not two!) and even drive to Yellowstone in one day. The perks are endless: I think it may be the smallest city in the country with all four major sports teams, the median housing cost is around $220,000 yet the pay is similar to where we’re at now, the sun shines 300 days a year and there’s over 850 miles of paved off-road biking trails. Which brings me to my next point… as much as we would love to ride our bikes, it’s difficult to take off on a bike ride in northern Virginia. Denver is so healthy.

Richmondo. RVA. Finally… Richmond. Where we lived before we moved back here. Don’t even ask. We created a lot of reasons to leave in our minds (careers, missing our families, etc…) which we could have dealt with and been perfectly happy had we stayed. Now we’re here. We’re working. We’re homeowners. We’re stuck for a bit… but everything we hate about northern Virginia makes us realize it was that much better down in Richmond. We miss Belle Isle and hanging out at the river, Carytown, our delicious restaurant haunts (Sticky Rice, Hill Café, Nacho Mamas, Akida, Starlite, Strawberry Street…), going to the movies at Westhampton, having great places to walk the dogs, Byrd Park and Swan Lake, the Fan during the holidays, the dog park, sweet tea, Sarah Bell at Hair Theatre, all of it. The people, the slower pace of life, the faster commute… Now, every time we visit we leave with a sad face. Furthermore, Steve’s exact words were “this feels like home to me” last month when we were there. That’s a good feeling to have. Some people go their whole lives without feeling at home.

Honorable mentions:
· San Diego (the availability of good Mexican food – can we say delicious?)
· Chicago (not a big fan of deep dish, but I do love Wicker Park and the lake)
· New York City (if only we could own a patch of grass for Luke and Lila)
· Cinque Terre, Italia (this would be our summer home… of course)

great success!

After 10 hours of waiting in 40 degree weather outside of the Best Buy in Gainesville, this finally belongs to my brother. I wasn't out there with them all night as planned - but I was a good daughter/sister and paid them a visit from about 10pm-1am. The best part of the whole ordeal is learning that our little incident last year has become a Black Friday urban legend. The Best Buys were all abuzz with the story of "the woman who got a beer bottle thrown at her". Although we overheard a few slightly exaggerated versions where she bled from her head, there was multiple casualties, etc... but it was still amusing. Apparently it changed the whole Black Friday campout for good - police were stationed at all locations from midnight on. Niiiiiiice.

P.S.... and they were fourtieth in line and they still got it. Boo yah.

why is it called black friday?

First I must point out that I was lucky enough to bear witness to, not one, not two, but three NOVA back-ins last night as I was trying to park at Shoppers. All I wanted was that small 16-slices-per-package Kraft american cheese and I was stuck in the parking lot. I turned into one aisle and a giant truck full of illegal immigrants (I'm not being facetious, the truck was giant and I'm pretty positive none of them were US citizens) decides to take the time to back into the tiniest parking spot available. As soon as I see the smallest amount of space open up in front of their truck I angrily sped around them (had to make my point, you see). What happens next? A woman in a black Focus steals my spot and - yep, she backs in. After waiting for this moron to make her four attempts at backing in (still crooked, I might add), I speed off and turn into the next aisle... oh wait, I can't turn into the next aisle. Why not? Because some idiot in a Suburban is making a twelve-point turn to pull into his spot... backwards. At 5:30 pm on a Tuesday night when Lord only knows all I want is to make a nice hot grilled cheese when I get home, people in this area think it is of the utmost importance to back into spots. Is this to save time when they leave? Because it certainly cost them more time to back in than if they had just done it the NORMAL WAY... I can't possibly get into the ridiculousness that is the self-checkout line in this entry. If I had a pet peeve list, it would be in my top five.

....but my grilled cheese was delicious, no thanks to anyone in the Centreville Shoppers Food parking lot.

Last year my mom and I did the whole Black Friday thing. We went to Best Buy at 2am and realized that we were more than 100 heads back in line and proceeded to actually wait there until they opened.... as if we would actually get anything (we didn't). A drunk mexican (my theme today is illegal immigration, obviously) also threw a beer bottle at her when he thought she was cutting in line. It wasn't funny at the time, but we laugh about it now because he called her a "beech", as in "get back in line, you beeeeech". He said this while making the "suck it" motion with his hands. Come on now, that's funny. Even better, he was arrested shortly after his brazen attempt at crowd control. We also had her convinced that she should sue Best Buy for lack of security during such a crazy event... but once we started saying "if you win, there's this great sectional at Crate and Barrel you could get us", she felt she would be crossing her virtual ethical line. Oh well, to each his own.

My point is, after that incident of drunk mexicans and coming home empty-handed, we swore up and down we would never attempt another Black Friday again. What bright idea did we come up with last weekend? Lets do Black Friday this week. My brother needs a laptop and she can get one for $399. It's for him, so he's staying out there. She doesn't want him to stay alone so she's staying out there. I feel bad that they're going by themselves so now I feel guilted into staying out there (consequently, Steve will be dragged out there). The worst part is that they've decided the best plan of action would be to go immediately after Thanksgiving dinner. My mom wants to make sure she's first in line - Kennedy, we have to be first or else we'll never get anything! Then your brother won't get his laptop... then he can't do his Microsoft certification on WiFi at Caribou Coffee... then he can't get a job in IT... then his career goes down the drain... then life is pretty much over... and for what? Because we were fourtieth in line! That's what. So camping out at Best Buy it is. A word of advice: stick to the Best Buy in Fair Lakes or Gainesville. The Manassas Best Buy gets a little rowdy after 2am.

is it turkey day yet?

Our systems are working painfully slow today at work, which is forcing me to spend this time on a much more productive project... job hunting. I wouldn't say I am actively searching for a new job, but I do scour Craig's List, Washington Post jobs and SHRM.org every few days to see if anything catches my eye. The problem I seem to have with job hunting is that I am extremely picky when it comes to this "new job" I'm on the hunt for. Right now I drive between 45 minutes to an hour to and from work each day. This enigmatic job I'm on a perpetual search for is pretty limited where the commute is concerned... I either want to drive much less to work (no more than 30 minutes) or be able to take the train straight to work (and not have to switch and ride the metro, as well). I'm also somewhat spoiled as far as pay goes because my current company certainly pays well... so this other job has to think I'm worth as much, if not more, than I am making now.

Suffice it to say, the results of my job search over the past couple of months have been minimal. I did get a little excited today, though. I found a pretty great job with a great organization right near the train station in Alexandria. If I got this, I would be able to walk (or take a 30 second drive) to the VRE station near our condo, hop on, snooze or read the paper and be at the King Street station in 35 minutes. They also have a transportation allowance that would take a hefty chunk out of my monthly train ticket. Lets cross our fingers!

Last night I wrote out a few more Christmas cards... there's something about the annual mailing of the Christmas cards (or holiday cards, for my non-Christian friends who will be receiving them) that makes me feel a little bit domestic. I fail miserably on the domesticity scale when it comes to cooking (we love the microwave), laundry (I do my laundry but take forever to put it away) and cleaning (scratch that, I'm a clean freak - but I do hate taking out the trash). It's the least I can do this season to prove that yes, I am a wife and damnit I can act like one! At least I didn't put Santa hats on the dogs and send out a photo card... because I certainly thought about it.

I did buy two different kinds of holiday cards this year, though. I have a thing for snowmen/snowflakes so that's normally what I buy... but this year I went a little further and shelled out a good amount of money on these adorable letterpressed cards from Papyrus. I have decided that these will go to my immediate family and then to my married friends (including Kate and Greg, my pseudo-married friends). The other recipients will still receive a snowman card but it is from Target and the card stock isn't quite as thick... equally as cute, just not as satisfying to the fingertips. Now I just need some cute stamps... maybe some that look like this:

day one and counting

So I've been maintaining my mobile blog (http://kennedyrosey.blogspot.com) for a few months now... it was a silly idea when I started it. I like to take a lot of strange photos with my phone and I really wanted a place where I could keep them all. It was entirely for my own amusement, since I highly doubt more than three or four people other than myself have ever looked at it. Occasionally, I'd be scrolling through and have an urge to write a post... but I thought it might throw off the whole "look" of the blog, it being a photos-only site. So here I am.

I've attempted to blog long long ago... I'm hoping this lasts longer than my previous attempts. I feel like I had a longer attention span in high school when I used to secretly blog, but I'm giving it another shot. The previous blog/diary also taught me an important virtual lesson - never blog about anything you wouldn't want to tell an audience. Although you may think old blog posts are in the past, even at 25 years old some people still behave like high schoolers and revisit the past... but I've already put too much energy into that topic.

At the front of my mind, every Monday through Friday from about 6am until 6pm, all I think about is how much I hate my job. I think that starts this blog off on the right foot, considering the title I chose (yes, I am totally gay and picked a Paramore song title but I thought it suited my personality quite well). A lot of the time I guess I have a cynical tone in response to certain things around me... my job, certain people, where we're currently living, our next door neighbors to name a few. On the inside, I'm much more optimistic. I bitch about my job but on the inside I know there's more out there for me. I bitch about where we live but I know we'll be out of here someday soon. I bitch about our neighbors, but on the bright side, they have quieted down. I'll live. I'll even keep my eyes and ears open for a less pessimistic (and less lengthy) title.