Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

I'm still in awe of the fact that this is my home...

‘Tis the season...the Christmas season, that is. I’m sure I’ve been terrifying all of you with how excited I’ve been getting for Christmas, and I’m pretty sure my coworkers think I’m insane, because I constantly have Christmas music blaring from my Grooveshark station. As I’ve been saying to everyone, Christmas Day, for me, is kind of anticlimactic. It’s really the part leading up to it that is so much fun: the Christmas cards, Christmas cookies, Christmas music, Christmas movies, Christmas tree. But this year, the closer it gets to Christmas, the closer it gets to my return to Massachusetts. I’ve been joking for years that I’ll probably get kicked out of my beloved state any day now because of my failure to adjust to the cold (I blame poor circulation that, as it turns out, is genetic!), but it’s actually happening. My dad started his new job in DC last week, and will be living in executive housing until we sell our house and find a new one in the DC area. Chances are that this will be my last time at home, in the house that has been my house for the past 18 years.

Of course, it will be emotional, even though, since graduation, I have spend less than 48 hours at home (I stopped for an overnight on the way to the wedding in June and then came home for 24 hours to go to a Sox game with my family in July), but it is still the only house I ever truly remember living in. I think I remember bits and pieces of our house in upstate New York, but I was only four when we left, so my memories are limited. Because I have come to love this house so much, the prospective buyers that walk through it (it’s not even on the market, and yet several couples have walked through it; that’s what happens when you live on one of the most desirable streets in town) and critique its every detail, it feels like a personal slight. So what if it doesn’t have central air? You really only need that for about two weeks a year in New England.

Anyway, my return home promises to be a brief respite from the exhausting routine I’ve gotten myself into over the past few months. Starting graduation weekend, I have been severely lacking in sleep in a way that is completely foreign to me, given that I always placed the highest value possible on sleep in college. I know that I’ve been running myself ragged, physically and emotionally, but it’s nearly impossible to get out of that pattern once you’ve started it up again. So I think a few mornings of not getting up at 5 will do me well!!!!! I can’t wait to sleep, read, watch movies, change up my exercise routine and spend some good quality time with family and friends. If a couple of snowstorms were to be thrown in there, I would hardly object :) I was able to see Kate and Dave for lunch today, and, after a weekend spent with my dad’s side of the family in New York, I’ll get the chance to meet up with Kristin and Alex in Boston, which I couldn’t be more excited for!!!!!! As I have said on many occasions previously, I’m kind of experiencing some separation anxiety when it comes to my college friends, so the chance to see three of them over break was one that I jumped at. I also have a February reunion with Allie, Kristin and Kate to look forward to, in addition to Molly moving back to DC, so I have lots of fun college friend time in my future!

This holiday season has been a wonderful one in so many ways, so I thought I would just take a moment and list off the things that I’m loving right now, the things that are keeping me happy despite my exhaustion. First and foremost (and I know this is echoing my Thanksgiving post), I feel so lucky to be surrounded by a wonderful family and the best friends a girl could ask for, and also to have a job and a place to live. I count my blesssings every day, because, for all intents and purposes, I don’t want for anything. Another thing that is keeping me sane? The promise of returning here next Christmas. I’ve already informed my family that I’m going to be AWOL at this time next year, because, with the amazing Christmas break that Georgetown gives us, it’s the best time to go and not have to use a ton of vacation days. There is a constant, dull ache in my heart when I think about Strasbourg, and would give anything to go back. Considering that Christmas is the ideal time to go, what with the Marché de Noël and all that that entails, I can’t help but think of the magic that is Christmas in Strasbourg.

Some other noteworthy mood-lifters that take some of the edge off of the frigidly cold winter days?
~A friend shared Bippity Boppity Boo with me over the summer, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I refer to it as my “essence,” because it touches the hopeless romanticism that is at my very core. I have since stumbled across other Tumblr feeds that I love, but none match the glowiness elicited from BBB.

~ I think I have gotten mildly addicted to the Epiphany, the raspberry hot chocolate that they make at Uncommon Grounds. I think I need to make it one of my New Year’s Resolutions to stop spending my money there and just make my own hot chocolate. But it’s so delicious...

~ Breaking out my winter coat is always fun, especially now that I have one that I love. It’s a beautiful jewel-tone purple, and it just makes me so happy every time I put it on. I think it literally puts a little bit of a spring in my step, because, when I look around at all of the other commuters on the metro, falling asleep and looking so uniform in their black coats, I seem the most awake and cheerful out of all of them. Not that there’s necessarily a correlation between the color of your coat and your mood, but it just makes me happier. And it’s so warm... :)

~ Usually, I judge artists that come out with Christmas CDs, but, since I unquestioningly support any decision that Coldplay makes, I have come to love this song.

~ By now, you all know of my love of Glee...and, in case you haven’t heard about it, I will also tell you about my love of Darren Criss. He played the title character in StarKid Productions’ A Very Potter Musical, basically the most amazing thing since sliced bread. Seriously. Mind-blowing. Now, Darren has a long-running guest stint on Glee, much to my, you guessed it, glee. While I dislike most of the songs on the Glee holiday album, this one, which I fell in love with even before I saw the INCREDIBLE episode, instantly makes me smile, from the inside out. If you disregard the fact that the song is kinda sorta predatory and creepy, you can appreciate how fantastic of a song it is...or at least admit that it’s catchy!

~ When I get home from work on the days when I don’t have something planned for after work, I have fully embraced throwing on my flannel pajama pants, big, roomy Georgetown sweatshirt and LL Bean furry slippers. It’s the simple things in life, really. My roommate and I have definitely come home on a few occasions, thrown our pajamas on and sat in front of the TV watching Christmas movies or old movies (Funny Face was our most recent viewing, another movie that makes me positively glowy).

~ Georgetown basketball. I feel like no explanation is required, and my afternoons or evenings spent at Verizon have the power to single-handedly lift my mood. You can ask my friends, the second I set foot in Verizon on gameday, I’m positively giddy. Also, to get myself in the mood to watch my Hoyas, I’ll typically wake up to either the Fight Song or the pre-game video song...as if I needed any more encouragement :)

I’m wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas, and I’ll be posting again in a few days with my 2010 highlights!

Giving Thanks: The Detox Edition

Now that the food coma has essentially worn off, I thought I'd do a little debriefing session on the Thanksgiving holiday. I had been looking forward to Thanksgiving weekend for weeks beforehand, mostly because of the promise of a few solid nights of sleep (something I am severely lacking in my daily life), as well as that of an escape from the hectic city pace that my life has assumed since I began working. I was thinking, on my commute home on everyone's favorite Red Line, how easy it is to get sucked into the daily grind and forget to take time out for what you truly love. I could not wait to be enveloped in the peace and tranquility of the Shenandoahs, where I would spend a few days at my grandparent’s house with the two of them and my immediate family. My grandparents do not have wireless, and I couldn’t have been looking more forward to disconnecting from the internet (too much of a presence in my life) and all other means of communication other than my phone for the weekend. I haven’t read a book for pleasure since I devoured Eat Pray Love at the Lake, and it has been far too long since I’ve lost myself in reading, something I love so much but can never seem to find the time to do. The thought of leaving all of the stress of this fall behind in the city was more than a little bit attractive to me.



I was exhausted by the time we rolled into my grandparent’s hilly mountain driveway, emotionally and physically drained by a long, stressful week at work, and a lack of sleep that dates back to the end of July. But I couldn’t have been happier the second we were met by my grandpa. I immediately took note of his wardrobe; one thing you should know about my grandfather, if nothing else, is that his life is more routine driven that you would ever think possible; you may think that my adherence to a 5am wake-up time during the week so that I can work out before work is excessive, but Grampsy takes his routine to an obsessive level. You can plan to the minute when he will take his tea breaks (and his tea must be prepared just so; watching him carefully measure out his tea, set his timer so the water will be perfectly warm, and then, once carrying his teacup over to his chair, pouring the water so that it just skims the rim of the cup), take his beloved (and adorable) dog, Disney, out for a walk, take his afternoon nap and go into town and get the mail. But his obsessive routine is one of the things I love about him most, because, most of the time, it is just an adorable little quirk about him. Additionally, he has his uniform of sorts, his Episcopal High School track pants, a flannel shirt (and, if it’s cold enough, a fleece jacket), tall white gym socks, sneakers, and a hat, sometimes worn upside down on top of his head, to keep his perfectly shaven head warm. So you can imagine my shock when I noticed that Grampsy was wearing…wait for it…JEANS. I think my mouth was agape, and I had a good laugh about it later with my mom. Grammy immediately fussed over who was sleeping where and where all of our stuff was going to go, one of the things that I love about her, but we were all soon sitting around the roaring (gas) fireplace catching up. I called it an early night, being that I was exhausted, and that full night of sleep was absolutely delightful.

Thanksgiving morning was completely lazy, which was such a nice change in pace from a normal weekday for me. I did some writing, baked a pie, and generally lazed around. By mid-afternoon, though, the type-A in me took over, and I decided to go for a run. Well, a run turned into a hilly trek (seriously, those hills were like nothing I had run before), and I ended up over by the highway. I ran, on the highway, back down into the valley, after having run, essentially, to the top of the steep ski slopes. By the time I got back to the house, an hour-and-a-half had passed (that’s what happens when I have my iPod and decide to go for a run; one of the things I have loved about getting back into running in recent weeks has been my ability to get truly lost in my music and in the rhythm of running. It is the most head-clearing, wonderful feeling, and is truly a natural high), and I felt on top of the world. Add to that a delicious Thanksgiving dinner and you have the makings for a pretty amazing day. I even watched a little bit of football…begrudgingly, claro.



I realized how long it had been since I had seen my grandparents (I hadn’t seen them since my cousin Amy’s graduation from JMU in June) until Grammy and I had a ladies day out (my mom, unfortunately, had caught Grammy’s Thanksgiving stomach bug, and Grampsy would too later on in the day) when I went for a girls day out with Grammy and realized how little she knew about my life since May! We had a great day, complete with a stop at an art gallery, lunch at a tearoom, and a lovely drive over rolling hills and past vineyards, with gorgeous mountain vistas all around us. It's the simple things in life, man...I took another hilly run later in the day, and then we settled in around the fireplace and ushered in the Christmas season with a little Love Actually viewing. It had been ages since I last watched it (perhaps since last Christmas?), and I always love being re-introduced to all of the storylines of varying degrees of romance. Unsurprisingly, my favorite is that of Jamie and Aurelia, he the bumbling, adorably awkward Englishman and she the Portuguese transplant in Marseille. Their miscommunication is funny enough to leave the viewer in stitches, but the part of the storyline that makes me melt is that they each learn each other's language...well, kind of. When Colin Firth's character marches through the streets of Marseille with the entire Portuguese community there in tow, intent on finding the woman he loves to propose to her in his (not so) carefully spoken Portuguese. This movie would make even the biggest of cynics turn into a hopeless romantic :)

The second I got back to DC on Saturday, a newly purchased Christmas tree and ornaments in tow, I felt the stress of city life come rushing back. After spending the weekend relaxing, reflecting and writing, it was back to reality. I immediately shifted into full-on type-A mode, flitting about and trying to get all of my errands done. On Sunday, though, I was able to run to Georgetown, where I went to a wonderful 1st Sunday of Advent mass at Holy Trinity, and then continued my run along the waterfront, around the Tidal Basin, and then over to the Portrait Gallery. There has been a Norman Rockwell exhibit there for months that I've been meaning to go to, and I figured that this would be the perfect opportunity. I was not at all disappointed; even though I have been to Rockwell's house and official museum in Stockbridge, MA, there were still some paintings that I hadn't seen before. I just love how he captures the spirit of his subjects, as well as the spirit of their times. Each of his paintings is like a scrumptious little slice of Americana, and I could look at them all day. Being able to stand before those paintings to the point where I could see the brushstrokes and blending of colors, well, it just made my day. I limped home (yeah, going from not running at all to running 4 times- for 8-10 miles each run- in one week took a toll on my poor little knees, so I think I'll sadly have to skip running...well, until this weekend!) and got ready for a new week of work after a positively lovely long weekend.

The Christmas season is officially upon is in DC, and I can't wait for all of the joy and revelry that I'm sure it will bring. One thing I'm particularly joyful about? Georgetown basketball!!!!!!! I was remiss in neglecting to mention my beloved Hoyas in my original "Giving Thanks" post, but, when I think about the happiest I've been in recent memory, it was November 15th, the day of my return to the dear old Phone Booth, the Verizon Center. Although our seats are about a gazillion times worse than the first-row seat that I occupied for my entire time at Georgetown (not to mention about four times as expensive), just the chance to be there and watch my beloved team left me walking on air. This season promises to be full of near-heart attacks, as is evidenced by Chris Wright's buzzer-beating three that sent our game against Mizzou last night into overtime (we went on to win the game 111-102), but I couldn't be happier for another season of the Hoyas!!!!!!!! It's nice to have something to look forward to!

Now it's on to my next projects: decorating my apartment for Christmas and sending out Christmas cards!!!!!! Ahhhh, I love the Christmas season!!!!!!! I'll leave you with a little something from my favorite Christmas crooner: BING!!!!!

Here's hoping for another snowy DC winter :) Hey, a girl can dream!

Giving Thanks

So I’ve been meaning to blog again for awhile now, and I thought that, with Thanksgiving only days away, I would take a moment and blog about all of the many things that I am thankful for (okay, I also read Kate’s post of the same theme this morning, so I thought I should get my act together and follow suit). First of all, the opportunity to stay and work in DC (and, specifically, at Georgetown) has been so wonderful, and is something that I am so grateful for. This is such an incredible city, and I think you all get how much I love Georgetown. I mean, come on, I’m like a living, breathing, gushing Georgetown ad! One thing that I’ve noticed about working at Georgetown is that there are just fantastic people working here! When I was interviewing for my new job (which I started two weeks ago and is going fabulously!), I was asked about how I handled any disagreements I had ever had with coworkers. Maybe this just speaks to the fact that I haven’t been out in the workforce for very long, but I have honestly never been in a disagreement with anyone I work with, because Georgetown, quite simply, hires good people. It feels so nice to be surrounded by people who are committed to keeping Georgetown the best place possible.

I can honestly say that I give thanks for my family and friends every day, but I suppose that all of you deserve special recognition in honor of Thanksgiving (because, to borrow, and alter based on holidays, a line from Love Actually, the bastion of cinematic Christmas/romantic comedy genius, “if you can’t say it at Thanksgiving [actually Christmas], when can you, eh?”). I count my blessings every day for the family that God has given me. In a world where so many families suffer innumerable hardships and have relationships wrought with strife, I feel so lucky that my family, despite its imperfections (like every family’s) is intact and just full of love. The four of us had dinner last night when my parents got back into town (they’re meeting with a realtor today so they can find themselves a new home in DC!!!!!), and I couldn’t help pausing for a moment while we were all chatting and laughing to think about how lucky I am and about how much I love my family. I feel as though my relationships with each member of the family have each gotten stronger since graduation, which has reassured me that maybe I CAN find the balance between breaking out in the world and being independent while also staying grounded and connected to the people I care about the most. In addition to our cozy little foursome, I am equally blessed with a wonderful extended family.

Thank you Tim for actively ruining this with your aversion to smiling for photos

My "Lake family" (if you hear me talk about my "fake siblings", here they are!)

I don’t even know where to start when it comes to my friends. Ever since graduation, I have struggled with the scattering of my closest college friends to all corners of the globe, and have (somewhat begrudgingly) had to dust off the old Skype account (which was the only reason I made it through my year abroad in one piece) in order to keep in touch, rather than popping my head in the room next door or walking all of 5 minutes for a hot chocolate break. There is no way I can pay tribute to all of my friends in this post (God knows that concision is not one of my virtues when it comes to letter-writing and blogging), but I just wanted to take a few minutes and thank the people who have touched my life so much. I can’t even say how blessed I feel to know all of you.
My closest girlfriends (my senior year roommates plus Allie, my roommate sophomore year; but minus Lauren)

I’ll start with Allie, my first true Georgetown friend. I remember how we used to go to breakfast at Leo’s every morning before class, initially in a group but then just the two of us. Actually, I was thinking about it, and, because of the fact that she was in LAS, I can indirectly trace most of my closest Georgetown friendships to her, so I will be forever grateful to her for that! I think it’s impossible to put into words everything that Allie means to me, because we’ve been through so much together, but it basically comes down to the fact that we are kindred spirits. Some of my happiest college memories have come when we had head-banging dance parties to release our daily frustration, or when we walked on the banks of the Seine in Paris and through the windy streets of La Petite France in Strasbourg. Our conversations may, at times, dissolve into delirium, but it’s only because we’re THAT comfortable being weird around each other. She has been the most incredible confidante imaginable, and I am confident that I could talk to her about nearly anything and she would give me the most amazing advice ever.

Molly. Our friendship is epic in nature, with Facebook albums, phrases (“CLARO”) and gravity-defying jumping pictures stemming from it. Sure, we were good friends before going abroad, but, when I looked back at our wall-to-wall on Facebook recently, I noticed how NORMAL (perhaps bordering on boring? lol) we were before we went to Spain. Our posts used to be so cordial, like “Molly, I really like your new profile picture! We should get a group together and see a movie soon,” and, “Kristen, I really like your new haircut! I hope you had a fun Christmas break.” Now, inside jokes and name-calling (we have been known to throw “bitch around”, and sometimes call each other by the names of my host sister’s pet hamsters) abound, but that’s only because...well, because we kind of turned into sisters when we spent 16 hours a day together in the Dirty Sal. We are each other’s partner in crime, always willing to try new things, even if we look silly (or get too drunk?) in the process. Whenever I do something fun, I literally ALWAYS think, ‘I wish Molly were here,’ so you can’t even imagine my glee that she’s coming back to DC soon! Despite the fact that Molls is my friend who I can always rely on for a good time (and more than a few good laughs), our multi-hour deep life chat over 4th of July weekend is evidence of the fact that we CAN have conversations that don’t involve Spanish pirates, Harry Potter, or the ladroning of certain accessories.

Lauren was one of the many LASer friends that I made, and one of my first memories of our friendship was the set of email exchanges we had over the summer after freshman year. At that point, I barely knew her, but the interest she took in what was going on in my life speaks to the fact that she is the most giving friend I know. I often find myself feeling guilty when I’m with her, because I feel like we’re always talking about my problems, but she always shrugs it off. All of my closest friends know that, as a hopeless romantic, my head is perpetually in the clouds, and, while Lauren is definitely so supportive of whatever makes me happy and listens to all of my glowiest moments, she also has the power to bring me back down to reality and think logically about whatever issue I’m tackling. That undying support on the one hand and reason on the other is one of the things that makes her the most incredible friend. Whether we’re having the deepest of life chats (we LITERALLY talk about anything and everything) or I’m calling her sobbing, unable to produce any words, she always has the most insightful of advice. I truly think that she knows me better than I know myself, and she has the amazing power to predict how I will handle certain situations (and read my mind) because of how well she knows me. And, I can safely say, it brings me so much joy when one of us says, “Did you SEE... [insert celebrity’s name]?”, and the other immediately knows which people.com story the other is speaking of an has thoughts on it, leaving the other people around us completely confused. Also, Lauren is very much responsible for introducing me to new parts of the city and new things to do in the city, which speaks to her adventurous spirit, a part of her that I so love. I can’t even begin to describe how glad I am that she is not only in DC with me, but is also working at Georgetown- our lunch dates always make me so happy! The inside jokes...the people in Hoya Court must judge us like no other...

Before I came to college, I didn’t know many people who share my name, but you can imagine my delight when my Burrow roommate turned out to be the beautiful (and similarly left-handed!) Kristin! From our first bonding experiences with our favorite Grinnellians over Celtics games and being beer pong partners (we were actually unstoppable, just ask all of the other teams who we so gracefully dismissed), I knew that we were destined to be good friends. By senior year, our gym dates (I think she is the only one of my friends who truly shares my obsession with exercise), bitchfests and TV watches had become pillars of our friendship. Kristin’s biting, sarcastic sense of humor cracks me up like no other, as do her absolutely unforgettable faces. She is one of the smartest people I know, but, rather than take herself too seriously, she adds life and humor to every situation she’s in. I love our serious life Skype chats (yes, one of the many perks of Skype: you can still have those serious chats), but her power to make me laugh is just the best. Also, I just have to say that her close relationship with her brother is what I aspire to in terms of the closeness of my relationship with my own brother.

Kate and I first bonded over the fact that, unlike our other friends (and much of the rest of the college population), we were both going abroad for an entire year. Having her there, in the same time zone and always available to chat about the joys and challenges of studying abroad in a non-English-speaking country (or countries, in my case!) was so reassuring, and I feel like we had our own little sisterhood of full-year study abroad survivors that our other friends couldn’t necessarily relate to. Whether it was talking about creepy Italian/Spanish men, issues with classes, language snafus, the joys of traveling, missing Georgetown or getting proposed to (!!!!!!! this was all Kate), I felt like there was someone who could relate to whatever I was going through. We were then able to share our experiences about our return to life in America, and to the Hilltop (slash, to a university with ACTUAL work), all the while developing a bond as roommates. Kate told me a few weeks after graduation that she was having difficulty falling asleep without the low drone of my fan as white noise (since, being in the stuffy loft, I turned the fan on every night while I slept), and I will never be able to think about the Charlie Bit My Finger auto tune remix, dates and goat cheese, ANTM, Project Runway, Bride’s Magazine or wedding planning without thinking of her. Seeing the fruits of her hard labor coming to fruition on her wedding day was such a wonderful feeling, and seeing her as a blushing bride was such a joy. And, consequently, the two most wonderful weekends of my life happened to be her wedding weekend and the weekend when I visited she and Dave (and others) in Georgia this summer. I loved having her as a birthday buddy- our joint party certainly made for more than a few interesting stories, and I appreciate her ability to laugh at my weird quirks.

Alexandra surprises me every day with her sunny disposition and willingness to tackle daily challenges head-on. Whenever life has dealt her a tough hand, she has not given up, but has employed her inner strength, which I wish I could muster more of at times, and has become all the stronger for it. Her child-like spirit is absolutely infectious, and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone get as excited about chocolate, dogs and Disney movies as her (I have to say, the chocolate stash was so key to making it through the last few weeks before graduation). She is truly an inspiration because of the grace with which she lives her life, and she is incredibly giving to those who she cares about the most.

Since these are my closest girlfriends, I just had to acknowledge all of them. But it does not mean that I don’t love and give thanks for the rest of you! Whether you are a friend who I’ve known since I was seven and have shared in so many Georgetown basketball memories with; a friend in law school in NY who, as it turns out, is my twin in a lot of ways; a friend in grad school at Georgetown who has taught me how to laugh and not take myself too seriously; a friend who I met in France and so enjoy reliving our many experiences there with (par exemple, the canneberge lady); an office friend with whom I can be a complete and total creeper and know that you are not only not judging me but are being equally creepy; two wonderful new roommates who have induced so much laughter and have introduced me to so many great people and experiences; a friend who never refuses a dance party and a French conversation; someone currently in the mountains of Georgia who has taught me so much about myself and about love; or any other friend in between, I really do give thanks for you every day. The various people who have come into my life, from 99 Days, Tombs trivia, Georgetown basketball, and various other outlets make it worth it to get up every day- it’s hard not to want to get up when you’re surrounded by so many incredible people!!!!!!!!!!!

I am wishing you and all of your loved ones a VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, I had to add in some pictures for the “Awwwwwwwww” factor...and because, with my photo-taking addiction, I’ve built up quite a cache over the years.
At Kate's wedding! We take pretty pictures :)

...but don't ever accuse us of taking ourselves too seriously!

Settling in to working girl life

No drastic changes have really occurred in my life since the last time I wrote (which, I admit, was entirely too long ago), but I wanted to include a few updates on how my life has changed (or remained the same!) as I continue to settle in to life in DC post-grad. I must say, I have become more aware than ever of the fact that I NEVER LEFT GEORGETOWN as an undergrad. Of course, I try to justify it to myself by saying that I really had everything I needed in Georgetown. As a consequence, I can say that, other than the Verizon Center, my Washington did not extend beyond Dupont Circle. I'm kind of kicking myself now for not embracing all that the city had to offer when I was an undergrad, but, on the other hand, my recent ventures into the city have led to me falling in love with D.C. all over again (and not just the quaint, at times cobblestone, streets of Georgetown).


"My DC" pre-graduation

I definitely still appreciate everything Georgetown has to offer as a neighborhood. For example, I went to Taste of Georgetown a few weekends ago, which, strangely, I had never taken advantage of as an undergrad. Rows and rows of booths lined Wisconsin Ave. between M and K, and a number of Georgetown restaurants (a few of which I had never even heard of!), and a ticket (or a pack of five, which I split with the guy I was with- that proved to be a smart decision, because I could not have eaten all of five dishes by myself! Some of those portions were pretty hefty!) got you a dish from the restaurant of your choice (each restaurant had 2 featured choices). We settled on falafel, butternut squash gnocchi with currants, wings (for him, obviously), and, drumroll please, PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE from Filomena. That ranks up there with the best of desserts that I've ever tried (and, as we all know, given my sweet tooth, I've tried many a dessert!). It was so light and airy and ohsodelicious. The whole event was a fantastic marketing strategy, when you think about it, because they entice you, with these little teasers, to come to their restaurant for more where that came from. Hey, if it works...

But, anyway, that was off-track, but what I meant by it was that Georgetown really DOES have a lot to offer if you're willing to look for it. And, don't get me wrong, I was giddy at the opportunity to revisit old Georgetown haunts (okay, namely Tombs...we went there on both Friday and Saturday nights and then on Sunday for brunch), but, on the other hand, I'm so grateful that I live in another part of the city now, because, if for no other reason, being on the red line has forced me to get out and see other parts of the city. Some favorites? Well, Dupont still ranks up there. But Adams Morgan and U St. are my new favorites, and, of course, I always love going back to the Chinatown and Eastern Market areas. I feel like I'm being given a second chance to get to know this city and make it my own, and I couldn't be happier. Sure, I still haven't tried out quite as many new places as some, but I've found the ones that I love- who knows, maybe I could pull a page out of my own book and become, as the Spanish would say, "conocida" at some of them (a la Tombs)...le sigh. A girl can dream, right? I may get laughed at for failure to "cut the cord" (the Georgetown cord, that is), but I think I've done a pretty good job of it (aside from the occasional Tombs trip, claro).

Some other fun things that I've done in the city recently? At the top of the list is the Ingrid Michaelson concert I went to last week. It was late on a rainy Thursday and I was exhausted after my habitual rise-at-5 day (nope, I still haven't fallen off the 5am workout wagon!) and just wanted to go to sleep, but when I left the 9:30 club at close to 10 (my bedtime during the week, mind you), the last thing I wanted to do was go to sleep. I have been an Ingrid fan for years, and was actually offered, and turned down, a ticket to go to one of her concerts sophomore year, a decision I have kicked myself for for the past 2+ years. But I FINALLY got to go!!!! I saw an ad in the Express one morning, and I knew I had to have a ticket. Luckily, Lauren was on board, so we bought tickets. The concert was, in a word, incredible (I seldom go to concerts, and, since this one was so mind-blowingly amazing, I don't see why I should even bother going to any more!), and I left feeling exhilarated, with a newfound skip in my step and the perpetual soundtrack in my head set to Ingrid. Her band played all of my favorite songs (also, just have to say, she did her own version of Britney Spears' "Toxic". An indie version of Toxic. A combination that you would never envision, but, nonetheless, one that worked.), so I was a happy camper. Not surprisingly, I am one of those concertgoers that sings along and dances; I wasn't able to do this as much as some other people because I was feeling a little bit claustrophobic (not really, I just didn't have much space), but I swayed back and forth in time to the music and softly sang the lyrics that I knew. That was easily one of my best nights in DC.



I had been meaning to go to karaoke for some time, and was finally presented with the opportunity in late September. A few hours before we went, I started to fear that I would chicken out, that I wouldn't go through with something I had wanted to do for years. But in the end, I just couldn't subdue my inner performer! I gave an intense (and incredibly cathartic) rendition of Your Love...CLARO, and for the rest of the night, our little group just danced, sang, and was merry. It also ranked among my favorite nights in DC.

After 4 months of physical therapy, I'm finally running again! Not very often (it usually only happens on long weekends haha!), but I would love to get back into a routine. Because of when I get up during the week, it would be kind of difficult to run outside, but if I could run at least once a weekend,I would be one happy girl. The biggest hindrance to my desire to run alot is that I go on REALLY long runs when I do go, just because, when it's a beautiful day, I'm outside and I have a ton to look as I make my way downtown from my apartment, I just want to keep going. As long as I'm stimulated enough that I'm not dying from boredom, I keep running.

My roommates had a friend visiting this week, and one of his priorities was doing the monuments by night. When he suggested it as a post-work outing for all of us, I realized that, while I have been on the Mall and to the monuments more times than I can count, I have never gone at night for the sole purpose of going to the monuments. I've always been walking back from somewhere else or have watched the 4th of July fireworks there. We started the night off with some delicious Indian food (side note: one other benefit to living in the city? LOTS of opportunities to refine my palette! I now consistently crave Indian food, have come to love Ethiopian, and am warming up to Thai, picked up a nice bottle of wine and made our way over to the Mall, after my roommate's friend handed out Silly Bands and proclaimed it "Silly Night." As it turns out, we just keep topping ourselves in terms of fun things to do in the city. The monuments are, not surprisingly, GORGEOUS at night, and the generally silly atmosphere (alternating sips of white zin with singalongs and flitting about gleefully)was sufficient enough to melt all of my troubles away (I would imagine it did the same for everyone else, too). The photographic results of the night are, as expected, hilarious. Not that we really did botellones when we were abroad, but there always existed the POSSIBILITY of a botellon. I MISS EUROPE, have I mentioned that lately?!?





As is typical with me, I always intend to make these posts short, but my wordiness always seems to get in the way! Oh well, considering how eventful these last few months have been, I think this post is not at all unreasonable (but maybe I'm just kidding myself). Until the next post, I'll probably be spending my days breathing in the crisp fall air, breaking out the fall (and maybe winter?) coat, and embracing all that the city has to offer. Because I often imagine my life as a movie (possibly an ill effect of my 12 year-long celebrity fascination/obsession?), I've come up with an overly romanticized fall fantasy, with this wonderful city as a backdrop and something like "Claire de Lune" or "La vie en rose" playing softly in the background. I'm not out of touch with reality or anything...

A Few Big Life Changes...All Packed Into One Post!!!!!

I realized it had been awhile since I had done a regular-length post, so here goes. A lot of kind of big and exciting things have been happening in my life recently, so I guess that, since this is a blog about my life as a “real person” (yes, I’m still not sure that I actually qualify as a real person yet, so I’ll keep using quotations), I should fill everyone in!
A few weeks ago, I sensed that I was approaching a crossroads: my job search had, up until that point, been entirely unsuccessful, so, unless I found something by the 7th of August, the date I had to be out of my Georgetown townhouse, I would probably have to go home for awhile, at least until I got a job offer. Now, for those of you who know me well, you know that I have spent MINIMAL time in Longmeadow (granted, a very nice place to grow up but not exactly a hotbed of things to do), especially since coming back from my year abroad, so the prospect of having to go home for any period of time was not exactly a welcome one.

So I decided that, in order to avoid the torturous fate of returning to Longmeadow, I had to step up the job search big time. In a two-week period, I had several interviews (both over the phone and in-person), and had set up several more. Despite being relatively new to the interview process, I came out of each of my interviews feeling confident, so I was really hoping that some of the prospects would pan out for me. Well, one beastly hot morning (really, that could describe any morning in DC) , I went in to interview for a position in the Business School at Georgetown. Not having any background in business, I was skeptical, but from the second I stepped into the office, I got a great vibe from the office environment and all of the people who worked there. I was pleasantly surprised to get an email from them an hour after my interview offering me the job!

I had another interview the next day in another office at Georgetown, and, while I came out of that interview feeling like it had also gone really well, it left me with a dilemma. That office had said that they would probably not be looking to make someone an offer until the end of the following week, and I had already told the office in MSB that I would let them know before Friday (before I left for Georgia). So I thought to myself, ‘Do I decline the MSB offer and potentially not get an offer from this other office and end up back at square one? Or do I take the MSB offer, an offer in a great office that I would love to work in [but an offer that is temporary, with the possibility of it becoming permanent after January]’. Lesson #1 of the job search: learning how to play your cards. In the end, I decided that I didn’t want to potentially end up back where I started, with no job, so, especially since I loved the MSB office so much when I interviewed there, I accepted the offer!!!!!!!

I had also been put in touch with two girls who just graduated from Notre Dame about potential housing by a friend of mine from Georgetown who also knows one of the girls. When I heard that they were looking to live in Friendship Heights, I was initially skeptical, because I was really set on living downtown. But as time went on, I began to think that living there would be a really attractive option. After all, it is right on the Red Line, so you can be in Dupont in around 10 minutes; if you’re going to live outside of the city, I think that living on the Red Line is a must. Through talking with one of the girls, I thought that our personalities would mesh very well, so I ended up deciding to live with them! All of this was decided the same week that I got my job offer, so you can see how, because of the trifecta of a job offer, finding housing and going to Georgia, it was literally my best week ever!!! I went to look at the apartment the week after I got back, and fell in love with the neighborhood (the apartment is just over the Maryland line, by about a block-and-a-half, in a really ritzy part of Chevy Chase…not that there is a non-ritzy part of Chevy Chase, but let’s just say that Tiffany’s, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, JCrew, etc. are some of my neighbors) and the apartment. It’s a really ideal setup, and I’m so glad I decided to live with these girls!
So, two weeks later, my dad and Tim kindly came down and helped me move! It has been so nice to start settling into our little nest egg and fill it with our things. I still don’t have pictures up on my walls, which is a priority; I was saying to someone that, although this sounds really silly, one thing I really wanted was to put my posters (at least, my favorite ones; those of you who know me well are familiar with my EPIC poster collection, and there’s no way I could have fit all of those in my room) in frames, so that my room looks more permanent and less like a college dorm room with posters taped to the walls. So, little by little, it is starting to look like home.

What does my daily life look like now? Well, I wake up at 5 during the week to work out in the gym in my building before work. I know that, if I waited to work out until I got home at work, I wouldn’t work out, because I am, without fail, EXHAUSTED every day after work. So I shower, change, eat breakfast and head for the metro. Life as a commuter has been interesting; rather than take one of the 30 buses, which, while convenient, take FOREVER because someone inevitably wants to get on or off at every stop, I opt for the metro to Dupont and then a GUTS bus. Door-to-door, the commute takes 35-40 minutes, which isn’t too awful. What IS awful is how expensive it is to commute; I die inside a little bit every time I have to add money to my Smart Trip, which is VERY often. Unlike every other major city, which has monthly commuter value passes, DC has shunned any such money-saving plans. So basically, if you’re going at peak hours (or the newly classified peak-of-the-peak hours), you’re going to have to pay through the nose to commute. With the new fare increases (more of which I’m sure will come to help a fledgling WMATA), it sometimes feels like I’m selling my soul to the metro. Gone are the days of spontaneous shopping, because I now have to choose between that cute dress and commuting to work.

Anyway, since we had Orientation for our students during much of my first two weeks of work, I wasn’t getting home until 7:30 or 8, and sometimes even 8:30. When you consider that I am in bed by 10 to start the next day anew at 5, that means that I basically don’t spend much time at home, nor do I have much time for myself during the week. These are two things that I am not at all used to; even during college, when we had class during the day, my roommates and I spent a fair amount of time at home. And while we did have ridiculous amounts of homework, there was almost always time to watch a TV show or read a magazine, if we chose to do so. Now, basically all I want to do is collapse into my bed and watch a movie or an episode of a TV show while I eat dinner (since our dining room tale still hadn’t arrived when I left to go up to the Lake; but, I’m not going to lie, I did enjoy eating dinner in my room, because it meant that I got to stretch out on my comfy bed). I have gone to happy hour a couple of times since starting work, which I hope to do more of once I get into a more normal 9-5 routine at work, but the combination of being exhausted after work and going through a tough time in which I haven’t really felt like myself and have just needed time alone have meant that I really just want to come home after work and veg. But again, I think that that should change the more I adjust to my routine; however, I will still have to keep grandma-like hours during the week so I can get up to work out. I feel like I’m turning into my father more and more every day, since our early-morning, pre-work exercise routines and early-to-bed times are starting to resemble each other!

So I GUESS I should talk about my job now! Like I said, I loved the feel of the office and all of the staff when I interviewed there. It is a really small, all-encompassing office, so there is always a lot of work to be done. My coworkers and our students are what make it worth it to come to work every morning; I’m sure there will come a time when the students will come in asking demanding or annoying questions, but for now, at least the first years are so sweet and unassuming, particularly the international students, who we have gotten to spend even more time getting to know since we had a separate international student orientation before general orientation began. Okay, I’m kind of biased towards the international students, because it is because of them that I get to practice my French and Spanish!!!!! I’m giddy every time I get to speak one of those two languages with them, and they are always pleasantly shocked to find out that I speak them. It’s okay, I’m fine with being a language freak…Adjusting to working 9-to-5 has been interesting; I find that, by the time I get home at the end of the day, I’m totally gassed. Hopefully, once I get into more of a routine, it will be easier. One thing I’ve learned though from my first few weeks of work? Heels are not my friends. I’ve always known that I didn’t need to wear heels- I already have a certain height advantage over most people, especially other women. But you can imagine that, wanting to look cute and professional during my first few weeks at work, I whipped out the heels. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m going to put some lucky podiatrist’s children through college someday (add to this a work injury incurred when I essentially dropped the corner of a heavy wooden table on my toe. Essentially a toe massacre, and, embarrassingly, the only casualty of Orientation Week).

I'll try to churn out a Lake post within the next few days...

Technology

In recent weeks, since the departure of my friends from the Hilltop and their relocation to pockets all around the country, I have been thinking a lot about the role that these people, who I once saw every day, will continue to play in my life post-graduation. Naturally, technology has to be considered in any such conversation. We live in an age where technology is bringing us closer than ever (perhaps even too close!), but, in other senses, I would argue, is driving more of a wedge between us. Yes, the term "social media" does imply the ability of these communication outlets to connect people in terms of social networking, but it also, on another level, denotes a change in how we socialize with one another. I guess I would like to examine some of the technological tendencies I've noticed in my own life post-grad, and maybe come to a decision about whether or not these tools are a help, a hindrance, or something in between.

I guess a logical place to start would be Facebook, that global hegemon that has turned even the most cynical of social networkers into Facebook addicts. Phrases like "so-and-so friended me" and "I wrote on so-and-so's wall" and "oh, so-and-so is such a Facebook stalker" have invaded our daily discourse, for better or for worse. One can spend hours perusing the photos of a friend from preschool, a first crush, or, frighteningly enough, a grandparent, so one can look up at the clock and discover that one has been on Facebook for SEVERAL HOURS without even noticing it. One can look at an archive of the conversations between two people (Wall-to-Wall) and see when one's friends are online, giving Facebook almost Big Brother-like monitoring power. As far as my own case, I primarily used Facebook as a photo storage and posting outlet during college; don't get me wrong, I certainly communicated with people over Facebook, but my posting has skyrocketed since graduation, now that, still jobless, I have more free time. Despite my increasing frustration with the seemingly useless changes Facebook makes that render it less user-friendly, I have still turned into a summer Facebook drone. When I look at the people I communicate with over Facebook, it is a startling mix: while I do keep in touch with acquaintances past and present over Facebook, some of my relationships with family members are largely carried out there as well. The one saving grace is that, despite the fact that my closest friends and I do keep in touch over Facebook, we still do not hesitate to pick up the phone to call one another or make the effort to go visit one another. As long as Facebook doesn't completely depersonalize my relationships, I guess I'll keep using it...as if I could resist!

So I realize I was a little bit behind the curve on this one, but I got addicted to Gchat last semester. I love hearing the adorable little chirp when a new post has been added to the conversation thread (as opposed to the annoying clicking noise that Facebook chat makes), and the system rarely freaks out the way Facebook chat does. I like that Gchat is more selective; I only chat with my contacts, a.k.a. my close friends, so you don't get the sense that anyone could potentially start chatting with you, like you do on Facebook. However, I've said it before and I'll say it again, NONE OF THESE CHAT FEATURES OR SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ARE ADEQUATE SUBSTITUTES FOR ACTUAL CONVERSATION, whether it's over the phone (NOT texting) or in person. Gchat, Facebook chat and the like are wonderful tools if you want to have a quick chat with someone, but to expect that to be a substitute for actual conversation is ludicrous. For example, I have one friend who I've been Gchatting with a lot recently about something that I've been really happy and excited about. I saw her in person this past weekend, and she said to me, "Ahhh, I get to see the smile as you say all of this!!!" Emotions just don't translate online, so obviously seeing me talk about this particular topic in person really drove the point home for her. But I feel like that is my main gripe with technology- so much is lost in translation, you lose so much of the authenticity of a conversation when it is carried out online. The one thing that comes close is Skype (or, I suppose, other video chat services), because you can actually see the other person's face, expressions and reactions, but still there is no substitute.

Texting. Maybe one of my problems with it is that, with my penchant for writing texts in the form of epically long novellas (all while shunning the use of T9), as opposed to quick phrases, and the fact that my friends with smartphones can type back so much faster than I can, I often feel flustered and exhausted from trying to keep up. It is often insurmountably difficult for me to resist the urge to just dial a person's number as opposed to texting them, but texting is just so much easier (particularly if you're constantly on the go). I've noticed a lot about myself in the context of social media, most notably, that I can be funny, confident, flirtatious, etc. when I'm texting or when I'm on one of these sites. TECHNOLOGY, IN THAT SENSE, IS THE NEW ALCOHOL: A SOCIAL LUBRICANT THAT ALLOWS PEOPLE TO ASSUME PERSONALITIES THAT ARE EXAGGERATED, OR EVEN COMPLETELY OPPOSITE, VERSIONS OF THEIR OWN. I am a generally shy person, and do not consider myself at all funny or flirtatious. So who is this funny, confident, flirtatious girl? I look back at the texts that my technology alter-ego sent, and I just shake my head in disbelief sometimes. Yes, I can certainly force myself to embody those traits in public, but when I try to think of the fundamental qualities that define me, those would not be the first on my list.

Another new phenomenon in the Information Age is the concept of TMI. Some people, with the advent of Twitter and Four Square, constantly post updates about what's going on in their lives (Twitter) and "check in" with a Google Maps-esque image of their exact location (Four Square). Obviously, I'm doing this blog, so I'm perhaps guilty of putting too much information online, but I think that, in the cases of those services, they shouldn't serve as substitutes for actually talking to your friends and family. Those people shouldn't have to follow you on Twitter or Four Square (or Facebook, for that matter) to figure out what is going on in your life. In general, there is just too much information. Those of you who know me well will laugh at me, but I'm going to quote a pearl of wisdom from Drew Barrymore's character in the movie "He's Just Not That Into You" that I believe captures my sentiments exactly. Mary (Barrymore's character), like so many of us, has so many accounts that it would make your head spin, and she muses to her coworkers at one point, "I had this guy leave me a voicemail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting." Trying to keep all of your profiles up-to-date and devote ample amounts of time to each of them (in addition to, oh, I don't know, REAL LIFE!) IS exhausting!!!!! But I feel like, starting with our generation, children will be getting accounts starting at ridiculously young ages. For example, I recently saw that someone had created a Facebook page for their baby, and it broke my heart a little bit. Gone are the simple days of our youth where we played outside and played pretend- now, kids will be talking on their smartphones and checking in on Four Square.

So how do we strike a balance? I have noticed, in my experience, that I am comfortable dabbling a little bit in each of these forms of technology, as long as there is still a good balance between "real" communication (phone and face-to-face conversations) and social media-type communication (texting, Facebook, Skype, Gchat, etc.). For example, in the case of someone I've been talking to a lot recently, we talk on the phone every 3 or 4 days, and text/Facebook chat the other days. It has worked out really well for us so far, and if either of us is ever feeling like we've been texting excessively, one of us will say, "I'd love to actually hear your voice!" and we'll talk on the phone. I think it's important to be able to recognize when you just need to chat over the phone, or get together to talk in person. Also, this is completely random, and you can call me crazy if you'd like, but I just want to throw this out there: I have recently been longing for the days when people wrote letters. Getting a letter in the mail is such a satisfying feeling, looking at the stationery the sender chose, observing the nuances of their handwriting, studying their writing style (which, I would argue, is more their writing style than that which they express over email or Facebook). There is a certain intimacy that you achieve by writing letters, so it's a shame that it seems to be a dying art.

My question for all of you is, what do you think about the role technology plays in our lives, more specifically in the context of the transition into post-grad life? If you are less of a recent college graduate than I am, how have you found technology helpful (and perhaps frustrating) in keeping in touch with college friends who may be continents away? Thank you to all of you who read this little technology rant, and I would be interested to hear what all of you think!!!

The Wedding!!!!!!

The happy couple's first dance


Me and Trinity, the most adorable flower girl ever!


Our West Point counterparts: Elliot, Todd, Gareth and Jeff


Molly, Allie, me, Alex and Lauren before the ceremony


The newlyweds exit the Cadet Chapel under a sabre arch

This past weekend was Dave and Kate's wedding, the event that we've all been waiting for since they announced their engagement nearly a year-and-a-half ago (yikes! I can't believe it was that long ago!). Heading into the weekend, I was excited, to be reunited with the girls, first of all. It has been a strange few weeks of seeing things that remind me of them every day, but having to confide in them via text, Gchat Facebook or phone conversations rather than in person. Luckily, I've had Lauren and a host of other close friends here with me in DC, but I've missed my core group of girlfriends. So when Molly and Alexandra got to my house in Longmeadow on Thursday so that the three of us could drive over to West Point together, we were jumping around, hugging and shrieking when we saw each other (although that was mostly just Molly and I, naturally).

A few hours later, we got to our hotel, and by the end of the evening, most of our reunions were complete. The girls and Kevin went out for dinner, and it was just so nice to all be together. Kate and Kristin were busy with their respective bride and bridesmaid activities throughout the weekend, but it was nice to just be able to enjoy a few hours with everyone without anyone needing to be anywhere. And our insanity that usually only comes out when we're all together was present in full force. This was evidenced by the fact that, when the ice cream place we had been eyeing was closed as we drove home from dinner, we went to a gas station and bought two boxes of ice cream. Claro.

On Friday, there was room for some of the group to go over to the Class of 1949 Lodge (the reception site) to help set up, and then go to the rehearsal ceremony. It was decided that Lauren and I would stay behind at the hotel. After perusing iTunes for about a half-hour trying to find a movie to rent, I was exhausted by the lack of decision-making (although I suspect it was also a lingering effect of a light sleep week), so ended up taking a very out-of-character two-hour nap. I woke up feeling completely rejuvinated and ready to head off to the rehearsal dinner.

The dinner was great- it was at this cute little pub not too far from our hotel, and it was a really nice mix of people. The families of the bride and groom were there (the highlight: Trinity, Kate's 2nd cousin once removed, who is the most precocious and adorable 5 year-old I have ever met. We definitely bonded, and I think she loved all of us in general because we were the cool older girls who doted on her), as well as the Georgetown girls and the West Point guys. And so began the ohsooriginal (not)great social experiment: throw together a bunch of college-aged guys and girls. The result is always guaranteed to be interesting...The guys were great, putting up with our incessant questions about life at West Point and in the Army, because, let's face it, we're all pretty ignorant about what that life is like. In our girl's debriefing session at the end of the weekend, we all remarked at how normal they were, as if we had all expected them to be hulking, gun-toting neanderthals. But they were great, really. Kate and Dave were just glowing, and it was so wonderful to not only be having such a great time with the guys, but also to see how happy they were. Molly and I were saying how unique this wedding was because we know both the bride and groom (given that they were high school sweethearts and we're all friends from college).

On Saturday, the pre-wedding primping began early, and we took a cab over to the lodge to help with our Wedding Elf duties. The Elves consisted of Molly, Alexandra, Allie, Lauren and I, and our job was basically to make sure everything was in its place, especially at the reception site. We arrived at the Lodge to find it locked, so while we waited for the caterer, who had the keys, we had an impromptu little photo session, which we're apt to do in our group. Finally, the very dissheveled caterer arrived and let us in, so we busied ourselves with last minute details like setting out favors, alphabetizing place cards, setting up luminaria outside, and just making sure everything was in its place. The guys looking dashing in their dress blues, arrived to take pictures at the lodge with Dave, and drove us over to the indescribably beautiful Cadet Chapel. We handed out programs and welcomed the guests, and hurried to our seats just in time for the sobfest (I'm not speaking for anyone else but myself). The ceremony was beautiful, short and sweet but still very personal and emotional. For example, Kate's mom did a very touching reading that left me (and I'm sure some others as well) in tears. And Dave's face, as Kate walked down the aisle, was the picture of pure happiness and adoration, a reaction I hope I'm lucky enough to elicit at my own wedding someday. Everything seemed to go off without a hitch (despite the fact that one of the members of the sabre arch was on an assignment for the Army and couldn't be tracked down, so had to be replaced at the last moment), so I'm sure Kate, ever the planner, was thrilled about that.

The reception was really lovely; the rustic-yet-elegant character of the Lodge evoked the down-to-earth nature of Kate and Dave's relationship, and was the perfect size for the intimate crowd of 130ish guests. As usual, the Georgetown group provided the entertainment, thanks in large part to the amazing playlist. I would say that we spent about 75% of the time on the dance floor...CLARO. As usual, it took awhile to get the guys on the dance floor, but once we did, I think it's safe to say that we discovered they're all pretty good dancers. So we didn't have to be dancing just in our little gaggle of girls anymore...not that we're not used to that. It's kind of what happens when you like dancing that much. I guess it also freaks people out when we shriek at the top of our lungs when our song request comes on...

Some highlights from the reception: Kristin's maid of honor speech, which left everyone who knows Kate in absolute stitches. Kristin (I know you'll be reading this eventually!) has the most amazing sense of humor, and the speech was spot-on, a perfect mixture of nostalgia and poking fun. Mr. and Mrs. Weatherby doing a tango (at least I think it was a tango) by themselves on the dance floor was really sweet, especially since taking dance lessons, according to Kate, is one of the things they do together. Kate and Dave's first dance, to an Italian song whose name is slipping my mind right now, was so incredibly sweet; Kate sang the Italian parts of the song to Dave, and, as in any interaction with the two of them, it takes about 5 seconds to realize how madly in love they are. Of course, dancing with little Trinity was so much fun; on Friday, she told us that she didn't like to dance, and we convinced her that we would force her to dance. Not only did she love dancing, but she also had a surprising talent of remembering pop lyrics.

The college-age set decided afterwards to go back to the Holiday Inn, where the West Point guys and a couple of the Georgetown guests were staying for a little afterparty. I'm not going to go into details, but it reached an understandable level of insanity, and I was more than a little pleased with how that night, and the extended weekend in general, worked out for me ;) I was so grateful that I got to be there to witness that beautiful ceremony that so beautifully showcased Kate and Dave's love for each other. I'm so glad it provided the opportunity to reunite with the best group of friends a girl could ask for, as well as an opportunity to meet some really wonderful new people. This wedding was light years better than any of the family weddings I had been to- there's really something to be said for being at a wedding with close friends and other people your age!!! And I can't wait to hopefully visit the newlyweds in Georgia!!!