my mouth hurts

Gross. I despise DJ Lyons at this very moment, but he got hit by a train so my pain is better than his death.

Nine Years

I had some brunch with AY and then remembered it was our nine year anniversary. We promptly took a taxi to Whole Foods and then took this picture enroute to T's office. I had to bring him flowers on our anniversary! He wasn't too impressed that I had a few rounds of drinks with brunch, but I think he liked the flowers. They are pretty. We don't have any plans tonight. What exactly should one do to celebrate 9 years?

breakfast of champions

I like tequila

jim as laura

cardboard cutouts are so fun

Laura's Party

the hottest boys at the party...

White Party

It was time for some teeth whitening. Vanity? Excess? Perhaps, but lets see if it makes me feel more confident. It could even kick off another non-smoking attempt! Why not give it a whirl?

Flowers and Balloons

There are all these happy people with flowers and balloons on the Metro for their 'unsuspecting' lovers. It is fun to watch the silly grins on their faces as they realize everyone else is looking at them, some with judgement, some with jealousy, and some just to break up the monotony of the commute home.

The men are the funniest due to their slight embarrassment. One in particular, on the Yellow line, is transporting an enormous red devil like balloon character with flashing led lights on it. Perhaps he's going to get lucky with his little devil tonight! You have to wonder if all this is for love, tradition, or in reality just in hope of earning a little credito to be cashed in the sack tonight. I am so jaded.

We aren't supposed to do any flowers or gifts this year. The little Happy Valentines Day kiss on my way out this morning was more than enough. Kisses are infrequent after almost 9 years and a morning kiss even rarer. I suppose that's why it was so nice and I thought about it all day while surrounded with the red and pink madness of the holiday. With or without flowers, I am happy today.

Getting off the train and looking forward to movie night.

baked from scratch!

Aren't they pretty? I slaved away in the kitchen on a double batch for tomorrow's movie night and only ate 2.

Energizer

funny how tequila works like the bunny

yes

both wearing wigs and michael has on my brokeback mountain cowboy hat. a sunday funday continues...

energizer bunny

...still going

hotparazzi

prominent window seat at Solly's

bro & sis

fun times

bros in the city

having fun at Be Bar

Family in the city

My baby bro and my sis came to the city for some urban random fun. Perhaps not as fun as rescuing goats in OH. Sounds odd, but check out HOTTBEEF for the goat rescue photos. Hurry because they'll take 'em down soon.

Pancakes!

The only thing I ate yesterday was a few spoons of butternut squash soup from Trader Joe's. Their boxed soups, by the way, are quite delicious, inexpensive, and I love how you just pour out the amount you want at any given time and refrigerate the rest for up to 10 days! I woke up this morning with a craving for pancakes. Odd since I never eat them, but I figured acceptable since I've been unable to swallow and eating little this week. What I'd like to know is how we have a box of Jiffy baking mix that was best if used by 12/05. That's over a year ago. Have we not used it, or even looked at the box to think about using it in such a long time?

I was hungry. I made a half batch (so as not to waste 1/2 cup of milk if it tasted awful) and it was perfectly fine. It didn't taste old or odd or anything. I did, however, throw away the rest so as not to accidentally serve expired food to a guest. This also motivated me to look through the cabinets. We had six types of chocolate powder, the oldest of which expired in 2002. It was in a cute tin so we probably didn't really check the date, but please. Fortunately we rarely drink or use powdered chocolate and they each looked like we may had taken a teaspoon out in their early years. I purged the cupboards and threw away a few dozen cans and packages of various food related items. Had to be done.

T is at work and will be leaving for Ohio when he's done. He took Monday off to meet with the developer of the condo there. Mold has infested the exterior walls and he is negotiating either a repurchase or reconstruction of the unit. What a freakin' mess. I'd love to help, but I don't have time. He needs to be responsible for something other than the laundry and his beer drinking anyway. That was mean, but didn't someone once say it wasn't mean if it was true? And this is happiness. Nearly nine years of happiness.

JT Satisfaction

Yeah I know...no cameras. This is clearly an amateur camera phone shot. It cracks me up how the glow of the camera phones in any concert audience these days will almost trump the spotlight.

The show is satisfying, but not a 10. Cat is giving it a 5...I say 6. Tiff says too little dancing and I say too many clothes. He's cute and all in a shirt, vest, and jacket, but can't we get a little of that Justin body? There doesn't seem to be much diversity in the choreography, which surprises the hell out of me. He does, however, have a fantastic mix of ethnicities and body types in his dancers (both male and female.) Yes, the 'thick' ones aren't as prominent as the itty bitty waists, but they are there.

I like how a center stage puts the action closer to more people and I'm sure they like how it can increase the ticket prices, but I'm not such a fan of him performing 'behind the curtain' for so much of this show. He is, as you can see, digitally superimposed via the video broadcast onto the curtain, but it psychologically separates me from my JT. I want nothing but air between us as he performs. You judge my claim of ownership? The $114 ticket gives me the right to claim anything I want for this brief moment of time. He sells himself to each of us to do with as we like in our heads. The more we pay, the closer we get to our fantasies. I am doing dirty things, very dirty things. (Don't tell my boyfriend.)

JT Anticipation

It has been a long week. I ended up with icky Strep and have been trying to quarantine myself. Dr. M said I should be able to attend the concert tonight without being contagious. I did offer to wear a veil as an alternative method to attend if he said I couldn't go. He laughed.

I did need some rest so we missed the opening act (Pink.) We have decent seats in Section 102, Row K at the Verizon Center (which I can't stop calling the MCI Center btw.) Perfect view if you ask me with the center stage layout. I guzzled a half a glass of wine at RFD with the girls and am feeling a little loopy on my medication and an empty stomach. Perhaps I am merely quivering with anticipation for JT.

Nah...even I'm not that gay. I might ordinarily say nobody is that gay, but all I have to do is look around. Holy gayness in the nation's capital. It is all the gays, some chubby teenage girls, and a bunch of early 20's Hollywood wannabes with fake Gucci bags who've had far too much liquor that they can't handle. Ridiculous

I'm sitting by a Latin tattooed hottie. Yummy delicious. Perhaps his girlfriend will go to the bathroom and he'll want to cuddle up with me. Not a chance.

Trader Joe's and Short Hair

I took the car in for its first oil change, which was free. I thought that was nice. Of course Mazda is nothing like Mercedes where they are all free to 50,000 miles. Work was crazy today as usual, but I didn't work very many hours. Since I dropped the car off and had a Dr. appt mid day, I called it a 'sick' day. I did work constantly via PDA even when I wasn't there, but don't want the man to think I'm taking advantage of my situation. I guess that's what differentiates my work ethics from some of the others.

Lisa did hit bad snow last night driving home, but she made it safely. Timmy is in the air right now returning from Seatle and I have to pick him up at BWI at 10:45. Tomorrow everything will be back to normal. Last night when I couldn't find anyone to hang out with me for Sunday Funday, I realized how lonely it can be without him. I did end up grabbing Eric after his shift for a few drinks and then Tish, Tara, and Vera joined me for a few. We went to Helix and then Grillfish. I was out for about four hours. I did get my head buzzed off too. I so wanted to grow the curly hair out again until it got cold and hats made my head a frizzball.

I shopped at Trader Joe's tonight on my way home from work. I do love that store. I bought a few meals worth of food and a case of wine. It was time to restock the wine cellar.

Time for a little nap. I should leave work at 5 every day! Funny how I called it a sick day to be able to do that.

Lazy Day

T is still in Seatle visiting our friends with a new baby. My sis just left to drive home after a fantastic weekend that included fun dining, shopping, touristing, and just hanging out. The weather kinda sucks so I hope she drives safely and it doesn't take her too long.

Everyone is having a lazy day so I'm just vegging out with the tv and doing the same.

Funny thing - Forever 21 now sells boy clothes. I bought a shirt there - I am much too old to be shopping at such a store. Funny.

Brunch!

Lisa ends a fabu weekend with brunch at Playbill! Will add more later.

The Washington Auto Show

There will always be a place in my heart for a VW. Having fun at the Washington Auto Show withT. We are having a car show date before he leaves for Seattle to see our friends and their new baby for the weekend!

She might kill me

She might kill me but I took a photo as she nestled in front of the fire. We essentially stayed in all weekend until this evening. Had a few glasses of wine at Pollys and Sollys and now settling in by the fire with spaghetti nite with friends. This one is done!

Three times the PAIN

I mentioned yesterday that the Military Challenge class I took at Vida Fitness kicked my ass. Well I am very sore today. Antwoin makes it miserable to fail - for example - After completing lets say 3,000 squats, he makes the class hold it in down position. The first person to collapse has to do 100 more in front of the class. Brutal. I love it. My goal is to be able to breeze through his class, but I'll spend many more weeks struggling through it and embarrassing myself first I'm sure.

I purchased an exercise ball at Target to work on my core early in the week, but I'll have to rest before the Saturday Military Challenge class. I've decided to take Matt's class on Tuesday and use Thursday for working my upper body. It is strong enough to recover by Saturday for the Military Challenge class where my core is not.

R and I had lunch at Freddie's Beach Bar in Crystal City. Their menu is hysterical. I ate a "Girlfriend" and he had a "Mermaid. What a riot. Beyond the food, it was rather strange to be able to light up a cigarette after eating. It has only been a few weeks in DC, but I am completely comfortable with going outside to smoke; I embrace the DC Smoking Ban. It tempers my smoking and I can wear my couture to the bars. I smoked like a chimney at Freddies, not because I wanted to, but because I could. I hate VA smoking laws - yet another reason to avoid crossing over to the other side.

No major plans for today. It was great to be exhausted last night. I had a tiny bowl of homemade chili with M/C and fell fast asleep on their sofa before 10 P.M. Around midnight I crawled home and nestled into my own bed for a fantastic night of rest. I've been up since 7:30 and am ready to face the day!

Three times!

So I'm not doing so well with the smoking, but I did eat healthy ALL week. I only went out for drinks on Thursday (work event) and only had a few. In addition, I went to the gym Tue/Thu/Today this week and took hour long classes (That's three times - my target). Holy crap. I'm sore. The military style class I took today kicked my ars, but I'm going to shed some pounds and get in better shape before Costa Rica if it is the last thing I do.

Running to Target for some household crap and then helping Tisha move this afternoon. Should be fun...that is if I can lift my arms by then.

New Beginnings

Well I fell of the wagon on the smoking recovery with the holiday weekend. With the visitors and the going out and such, I didn't even make an effort. I'm up early this a.m. and about to head to the gym for a class. Perhaps I can make it through today without a smoky treat and will get back on that very shaky wagon.

Have a great Tuesday world -

Dottie's at Eastern Market

Look...It is Michael and his gays! We had brunch at the Banana Cafe where 18.95 will get you a buffet of delicious food and as many mimosas as you can drink. We were here a few weeks ago and the shaved head guy (don't know his name) was a much better server. This time, we had another guy and the champers didn't flow as freely. We took the visitors to Eastern Market and had to pose in front of "Dottie's" store.

We had a fantastic time last night...too much to write about, but it did include convincing a cabbie to put 10 people (yes TEN) into his car and making a pit stop at the host hotel for MAL weekend. Jack was having a good time, but Anthony and I were a bit out of place. Anyhoo, many others will join us throughout the day as we chill in Capital Hill. Tonight a giant group of us will invade the Phase for Sarah's last hurrah. Very sad to see her go...very sad.

Visitors from Ohio!

Yeah! It is a long weekend and my friends Jack and Dottie are here from Columbus. We went out last night and I am on my way to work this AM (unfortunately.) They will be here until Monday when I don't have to work for MLK day. It is fantastic to see them and I am very glad they came.

Last night we did the U St. / 14th St. Bars and zipped over to Halo on P. Jack loved that place and I do too. I only wished it was early enough for half price happy hour. $37 for a martini, two beers, and a mixed drink is a bit excessive, even for DC. Tonight we will do Be Bar and 17th Street. Timmy hates Be Bar, but it is becoming one of my favorites!

Lord knows what we'll get involved in tonight. Fun Times!

Sunday Funday

What's this? Could Laura and Iris be displaying nurturing motherly instincts? Lissa, Milian, Baby Flora, Tim, and I met them for brunch at the Beacon Bar and Grill. Was great to get everyone together, and as you can see, the girls were fascinated.

The brunch - AMAZING. Including tip it was around $30 per person and this includes obnoxious unlimited amounts of Bloody Mary's and Mimosas. The waitress just set the bottle of Champers on our table at one point. Fantastic! The food was superb in selection and quality.

...there's always a story with the DMV

I waited in line barely long enough to snap the photo and mobile blog it. The cruise director motioned me on to lane 5. Not surprisingly this was the handicapped / senior citizen line, but I didn't care because I was motioned around the 1 car in front of me. The inspector came up and asked me to 'beep the horn,' which I did. Then he told me I passed and that I should drive around to the front and park in the exit to lane 5. No break light check, no turn signal check, no tire check, nothing. Just beep the horn and pass. Welcome to DC.

Normally I'd park off to the side, but lane 5 is by the door and there was a car parked between 4/5 so I did as I was told and parked in the exit. Another man came up and started screaming at me. I told him I'd already been inspected and that I was to park at the exit. He says not in the lane, "..if somebody hits you I have to fill out a report, and it's near the end of my shift and I have no time for paperwork." I asked where I should park and he directed me to the sidewalk. Now I thought perhaps I should park legally at the DMV, and I thought I was following instructions, but no. I was wrong.

After receiving my horn check sticker, I mean inspection sticker, I went inside to renew my tags. Now they did expire in July, and I thought perhaps they'd question me, but they did not. He asked if I wanted one year or two. Last time I checked you could only renew motorcycles for one year at a time and I believe my inspection sticker is for one year. I figured if he offered, I'd take it, so I said, "two." I paid him the $129 and he hands me a receipt. He then fiddled around in the drawers and said he was out of stickers so he'd just give me a windshield sticker. Now I realize that some motorcycles have windshields, but WTF? I advised that I had no windshield and he said they didn't have 2009 stickers for motorcycle plates yet (of course they don't because they only renew for one year at a time) and that I'd have to go to the C St. location and request one. I told him I didn't have time and asked if he had a 2008 sticker I could use until then. He did.

So I left the DMV with a 1 year inspection, a 2 year registration expiring in '09, a windshield sticker (which I can't display) and a license plate sticker showing '08. LBJ - and that's all I'm gonna say about that.

Oh ... one more thing ... Fenty has his pic up on the website already - he should be so proud of this city. Did I mention he's really hot? I don't know why, but it feels dirty to say that; as if he's related to me or something. Just because he's the mayor shouldn't make it dirty to lust after him...should it?

I went to Eastern Market to get Lisa the other half of her typewriter earrings and some hot sauce for Todd. That place has some sauce with serious kick and flavor. The sample dude in the store remembered me from a few weeks ago when I bought some for Steve. I'll have Timmy mail that off to Chicago next week. Time to work. Yes...I'm working today. Uggh.

DC vehicle inspection

Yes. Even the Vespa has to be inspected. Here I am waiting in line. This must be a great time to go because there is only 1 car in front of me.

failure

it was to be expected....

cheating

We both tried to have a smoke and Jake stopped us by crashing our lit cigs to the floor. After a great deal of arguing, Jake gave us each a hit of his Marlboro Red and we demanded a picture. Here it is.

trump

My friend Scotty manages at a fantastic restaurant (Grillfish) and he brought a brownie with a sparkler. It trumps the sheetcake and 25 friends singing happy birthday (out of tune)

Happy Birthday Tisha

Celebrating Tisha's birthday (belated because she was out of town for the holiday) at Polly's Cafe. Surprisingly, it doesn't smell like dead rat, despite the smoking ban. I haven't smoked yet. Yet.

Going home

...just waiting for it to blink! I need my tubular chariot to arrive and inject me back into to the city where I belong. It was a more reasonable day (perhaps 10 hours) but I'm ready to be home.

Duffys Irish Pub

Yummy delicious dinner; very strange. I ate a vegetarian Irish Burrito. Never heard of that before. Essentially potatoes, onions, cheese, and mustard sauce in a tortilla. Also comes non-vegetarian with corned beef. I'm still craving a smoke, but it is measurably easier with the DC Smoking Ban keeping the bars and restaurants smoke free. It may not be popular with my social circle, but I am embracing the ban!

Dinner, two beers, and now off to bed. It is better to sleep than smoke!

I'm still standing

No I didn't have a Wild Wednesday or anything like that. Just another long stressful 12+ hour day with a 5 minute lunch at my desk. I'm still standing because I have not had any smokey treats. This is just the end of day two I realize, but you have to start somewhere.

There's nobody on the train...not sure what I'm doing for dinner.

I will survive

I didn't leave the office all day...not even to eat. I was there for nearly 11 hours of non--stop action. The craving to smoke grew quite strong and I am pretty much dying on the train.

I plan to go have some food and then to bed. We're skipping trivia night at Stetsons for a variety of reasons, including some football game LW has to watch. We didn't study anyway! A few weeks ago we won the "Participation Award," which was a lovely ribbon for us to proudly display! We might not win, but we positively have fun trying!

Not sure if I'm going straight home to eat frozen food or if I'll buy something out. This is the first night I might be able to catch the Yellow line all the way to U Street. Very exciting! Perhaps today's excuse to dine out???

No Smoking

Well here it is. The first non-smoking day again! I don't usually have one until mid morning so I shouldn't even notice for awhile. Psychologically it is killing me. I can't even focus on my Express paper today on te train! I'll be at work shortly and that should take my mind off of it.

The train is dead because the Federal Government is closed for a day of mourning. They are having the service for President Ford today at the National Cathedral.

My 2007 smoking picture

Happy New Year

Having fun with friends at Michael & Catrina's house. We are ringing in the new year with a Mexican theme party and an Ab Fab Marathon! Fun times!

Bens Chili Bowl

yeah it ends like this

Omega

I know...the sign is vague....so are we. Need to eat.

Be Bar (continued #2)

blurry. i know. fun. hmmph

Be Bar (continued)

So the doorman found each of us in the club and returned our cover charge. Apparently we were on some list and didn't even think to ask when we arrived. We are too gay, but of course he knew our names. Our bartender friend, Brad, said he didn't do it. We might be fabulous (for once in our life...or perhaps this is the thousandth time and we didn't notice).

Magnificent.

Be Bar

Timmy is tired and went home, but we've moved on with Anacani to Be Bar. Having a smoke b4 we go in.

Solly's Tavern

This is where we really are going. All the peeps are here!

Bar Nun

Jusr Kidding...despite our efforts to convince Cici to escort us in (bad idea all around) we didn't go. We had jeans on anyway and there's a dress code. Funny...jeans and cherry pie kept us out.

Pollys U St. Cafe

...and so the party resumes...where it all began in DC.

The Ellington

so it isn't a bar but we had to drop off the purchases. Short distraction (drinks included)

Dinner

I ordered a dinner roll for RJ and I but Sayid insists we have pita. Serves 8. Bee Aye Dee. Shouldn't a "dinner" roll be sufficient. Oh you judge.

Barrel House Liquors

Trying to work a free pack of Red Bull but I evacuated too soon before Randy could work his magic. Enroute back to 1409 where Timmy is holding court.

Titan's Ramrod

The sign outside is hard to photograph without going across the street so we snatched a pic of the mirror sign inside. We intended to have just one, but it is BOGO free just like Payless. We must alert Timmy and the bankers that it could be a moment (or 7) till we return to Playbill.

Dakota Cowgirl

We left the bankers at Playbill and went down the street to the former Hamburger Mary's, now called Dakota Cowgirl. An Absolut Ruby Red is in order here. We passed the Barrel Liquor store. Might have to get some Vodka...it's on clearance says the sign in the winder.

1409 Playbill Cafe

We finally arrived at the Playbill to drink with Timmy and the bankers. our amazing bartender, Eric, is serving up some more Joans. RJ and I pre-arranged a commitment to protect each other from the Patron tonight. We'll see.

Our friend gives us money!

Our friend, Atam, has been giving us money all day for Sinful Saturday. Hope he doesn't run out. Here's RJ getting another handful from Atam.

Stoney's

Timmy is waiting, but we couldn't get down P St. without a pee break. A quick shot at Stoney's and a bathroom break then we are on our way!

JR's

What's a Sinful Saturday without a drink at the JRaaaz? Enough coffee...back to the Rose Kennedys. It is time we meet the bankers for HH, but one here is fine.

Lucky Bar (continued)

...so it is a bit blurry, but so are we. The random stranger must have been further into his grapes than we are. Arcelia is a fantastic bartender. We had two holiday themed coffees and will be on our way shortly!

Lucky Bar

Settling in for a pick me up coffee drink!

Sign of the Whale

Just a quick Joan Kennedy amongst the straights from FL making jokes about their adventures with the DC Cougars

Rumors

We had a fantastic brunch, some bloodies and some shots

Brunch!

Time for brunch with Rita Jean! This pic is from a few weeks ago when we started the day with an innocent lunch. Bloody Mary joined us and the rest was a quagmire. Thankfully he didn't buy those glasses, but they sure made for a pretty picture! Smile RJ

Happy Holidays

Wow - Haven't posted in five months! I am getting ready to stop smoking again and this was quite therapeutic to write on here (to nobody) about it the last time. I figured it would be a great idea to start it back up! I've gotten serious about the tattoo, which coincidentally appears to be the last thing I blogged about. I would like to quit smoking on January 2, to coincide with the DC smoking ban. I am fairly decided that a tattoo would be a great way to commemorate this event and would give me something concrete to focus on. I settled on an artist through a recommendation from my military friend. I met with his guy, Tony, at Jinxproof in Georgetown. He seems really cool and understands what I want. It will be much in the style of my favorite tattoo artist, Stevie Moon, but Tony definitely has his own take on things. I need to schedule a two hour freehand drawing session on half of my back and then he'll make a template to mirror image it. The whole process will take several weeks and numerous visits of 2-4 hours to fill it in. I realize this is quite an ambitious undertaking, but again - will give me something to focus on and is definitely better than smoking! The tattoo could save my life! Of course the BF still says I should go for laser hair removal first. I barely have much to shave - I think I'll bypass the hair removal.

So here's a catch up since the last post.

1. Still Smoking (obviously as mentioned above)
2. Got a stress fracture in the hip - despite my doctor's specific demand to not even travel, I went to VA Beach over Labor Day weekend and collapsed in horrific pain after walking (yes walking) the first mile.
3. The 'surprise' was fantastic, but I ended up traveling for several weeks in a row before the vacation so I ended up revealing the secret about a month in advance. We had an amazing time in Greece. Made many new friends from all over the world! While I didn't live blog from Europe, I did go back and convert my written journal to vacation posts on here.
4. The promotion...nice story there...my boss left and it was never processed. The new director thought it was put in place so I missed it in the fall promo-equity cycle too. Rumor has it I'm actually being recommended for it with the next cycle in a few months - I'm over it.
5. Work is great - growing substantially and getting more responsibility. This means regular trips to NC which I am not looking forward to.
6. Christmas was amazing - spent time in OH & PA with friends and family. Five locations, four nights, fun times!
7. Mom is doing well...still seems depressed since her stroke.
8. Planning the next vacation in March! Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, here we come!
9. Got a new car. The damn mini-hoo haa was in the shop 10 times in 11 months. Went with a little CUV - much better for the road trips and grocery getting. Still take the train to work though!

Funny how I can summarize five months in 9 short lines.