lady of leisure: day 1

so far, so good on this new work free lifestyle. i've tackled two loads of laundry, ironed the boy's pants, made breakfast, and watched a few reruns of my favorite shows. no, i will not devolve into watching daytime tv. standards, people, standards. i've called babysis no fewer than 3 times, only to be warned that just because i am not at work does not mean i can bother working people all day.

although the laundry and ironing do not fit a true lady of leisure lifestyle; since the boy decided the we can still keep the cleaning lady even though i'm not a-working, i will iron and fold with a smile. far better than toilet scrubbing in my book. i love that man.

now off to target, the grocery store and a museum to celebrate my first day as a ward of my husband. i've got to get the most out of these months, right?

a very happy thursday

only one more work day until i'm officially a lady of leisure for the rest of spring and summer.

i thought this new ipad sleeve was quite appropriate.

 the flip flop basket has also returned to its rightful place and the uncomfortable work shoes are hiding in a box.

 

my work bff, madge, gave me some adorable alex and ani bangles that i wear almost every day now. i'm going to miss some very special people from this job.

 

 

the boy and i are going to gold cup this year. we are very excited because one of my good friends is hosting us in her company's fancypants tent complete with fancypants food and drink. these tickets also come with a VIP parking space, which any gold cup veteran knows is clutch. of course, this required a new hat. the dark stripes look black in this picture, but they're really navy. you can also see my cute new erin condren iphone case that was a gift from tiff. i love it.

 

tiff and i went to the movies last week and saw mirror mirror. i am a sucker for any julia roberts movie. it was cheesy, but cute. we had a funny laugh in the car because tiff and i always end up with the same (or very similar) things. here are our copycat kate spade bags!

 

i've been planning to rip out the bushes in front of our house because i've hated them since we moved in back in july. then, spring sprung and they bloomed! the pretty will only last a while, but maybe the bushes have grown on me.  i don't like how haphazardly the pink and white are mixed, but it is still very cheery. 

hope you are all having as happy a day as i am!

i'm still alive

remember back when i said 2012 was not going to be a year of changes for us? that we were just going to be boring? ha. well, then i went and quit my job. 

my last day is next friday. i'm taking a few months off and then going back to teaching! i am over the moon with this decision. i miss teaching and minis and and lesson planning and learning from little people while i teach them. i miss working in a school community and loving on little ones every day. wahoo! and, yeah, the whole summers off thing, that's not so bad either.

i'm sorry for the radio silence for the last few weeks, but between trying to close things out at work, another work trip to to seattle and some other stuff, it has been very busy.

since i last wrote, my dad celebrated his 60th birthday, and we tried to get 60 candles on a cake. this nearly ended in disaster.

 

 

 

my stepbrother and his girlfriend got a new puppy that i contemplated kidnapping.

 

 

isn't he precious? 

 

i've been rocking the red pants entirely too much. with crab flip flops. 

 

countdown until i'm officially a lady of leisure (for a little while, at least): 7 days!

still on a hunger games high

teacher love heidi and i co-hosted a hunger games party on saturday. you don't even want to know how much we spent on prizes and decorations. i don't even want to know. we geeked out and if you aren't a hunger games fan, you may as well quit reading now.

we had a blast playing trivia games (my favorite was to draw panem), assassin, dashing to our cornucopia for prizes and preparing a menu inspired by the series. we made the lamb and plum stew that katniss loves from the capital. yeah, we're that nerdy. i own it. 

i loved the movie and can't wait to go see it again. how many of you cried when rue died? i swear the entire theater was sobbing. i am so bummed that the next movie won't be out until thanksgiving 2013!

who else went to see hunger games this weekend?

finally, colored denim that works for me!

 i finally found a pair of bright jeans that work for those of us who are not in the itty bitty category. and they were on sale. huzzah! as usual, they look nothing on me like they do on the model, but that's life. in the picture online, they look a bit faded, almost a nantucket red, but in person, they are a bright, almost orangey-red. the online image also leads one to believe that the leg opening is skinny.  not so. you will see in my real life pictures that the pants are straight leg, but NOT skinny.

online picture:

i'm wearing them here with a chambray shirt from old navy, of all places. i love this shirt. if you get it, size down. i was swimming in my usual size and had to return it for a smaller size. vanity sizing is so frustrating for shopping online.

 

 and here with a top that is slightly more fitted. the rise is medium and they have a little bit of stretch.

i can't wait to wear the pants with this top that i got last month. it has been waiting patiently to be debuted with my white jeans, but i think the red will be even better!

i made through my birthday weekend alive :)

well, i made it to 30 without incident. i had a great weekend. i spent the entire weekend with my family and it was fabulous. on friday night, bff h and i went out for drinks at jackie's sidebar in silver spring, my new favorite place. the french 75 is dangerous. i warned you.

mommy and i hung out on saturday and shopped all around town,  then went for dim sum with the boy and my stepdad. another too many cocktails experience. you only turn 30 once, right?

on sunday, we got up early, went to a long walk around the neighborhood, had breakfast out and then headed to my grandmother's for a family dinner. my in laws came, my cousins were there and it was perfect.

my whole family and bff tiff chipped in and gave me a really big present - the new ipad! i love it.

 

of course i needed a cute case for it, and then my iphone looked lonely. 

i'm now officially an apple addict. i've got two iphones (one personal and one for work), a macbook and the ipad.

everybody's working for the weekend

one of my favorite 80s songs and totally where i am right now. i spent yesterday thinking that there was no way i was going to be able to make it from under this mountain of work.  i have 4 big events to organize and run on between now and the end of the month. i planned out my april and i've got 8 full day trainings to facilitate,  three trips, two red eye flights, two big projects to wrap up, one new one to get off the ground plus all of my day to day work. none of that stuff will quit. and then may starts with 2 weeks of back to back travel, involving more red eyes and sundays in the airport. give me strength.

i am surely working for my weekend. i know the complaining about one's job gets old, but my goodness the job needs to let up. i say uncle, you win!

cherry blossom time again

i love cherry blossoms. the backdrop of those puffy pink and white flowers against a blue sky just feels like springtime and new beginnings to me.

even though the crowds make it less enjoyable, the national cherry blossom festival is one of my favorite dc events. this year, the unseasonably warm weather means that the peak bloom period is happening earlier.  according to the post, the blooming should begin on sunday! some of my favorite  memories as a teacher are of taking my students to see the trees. two years ago, one of my best friends got married under the cherry blossoms. that was a great wedding to be a part of!

this is a special year for the national cherry blossom festival. it is the 100th anniversary of the trees in dc. the festival this year lasts from march 20th-april 27th, but peak bloom time is march 24th-31st.

i'm in love with the commemorative stamps.

 

i already preordered mine here. they ship on the 24th. yes, i'm nerdy, but i also hate going into the post office unless absolutely necessary and special stamps often sell out.  so, it is worth paying $1 to ship stamps to me! 

what is your favorite dc event or attraction? if you aren't a dc reader, what is something special in your city that one must see? any excuse to visit a new place, right?