today was a marvelous day.


mid-day, i was greeted by perhaps my most favorite chap in the DC metro area for
a lunch date- my nephew. and he was charming as ever. he never
disappoints and i'm always intrigued by him. we hung out, walked the
city... it was a rather leisurely and long lunch hour as we enjoyed the
70-something degree sunshine. we were happy as clams as i pushed his
stroller along DC's downtown streets. returning to work after such a lovely lunch date was tough.


later in the evening, it was a gallery showing followed by a happy hour
at viridian, where they have a great
ambiance, nice bartenders, and delicious scallops... the crowd, was
just so-so though. sitting in the bar with a gal pal, we were swarmed by every
possible doozer there. and i use the term doozer without any kind of
exaggeration.... it was as if every 40 to 50-something, socially inept, single DC guy was trying
to chat us up, and we were disgusted. we did later end up meeting some cool
new folks, closer to our age, who we may hang out with sometime. and while chatting up one of
our new friends we met at this evening, we entered into an interesting
discussion about DC's transient nature.


here in DC, you meet a great deal of people who are here just for a
temporary stay. everyone is from somewhere else and many seem to be in
a constant state of transition. they'll be here for just another year
or two they say, and then it's up and away to somewhere else- back
home, or to bigger and better places. and at times, it's almost as if
people simply want to be somewhere else- anywhere else- just not here
though, as if DC doesn't have much to offer them...

yet the city is eager to provide opportunities for those equally
eager to work and enjoy them. it's a great place to build up your
resume; you can gain interesting and unique experiences not afforded
anywhere else as this is the mecca for politicos, bureaucrats, and non-profiteers.
but you also get to meet so many interesting people from diverse walks
of life... for example, i'm finding myself in the company of more
midwesterners than i ever have before. haha, yeah, that isn't so
diverse... but it's the first thing that came to mind. but despite all
the opportunities and chances here, it still seems so many people want
to be somewhere else, using the city for personal gain, and then
tossing her aside as if she has nothing more to offer after a few
years.

i don't think i'm one of those folks however, or
rather, i hope not to be one of them. and i'm finding that it's a bit
of a game trying to weed through the professional networkers and
temporary residents to find those wonderful gems of people who like me,
are in it for the long haul.

in thinking about some of the characters i've come across
since landing
here, i do have to admit that with some, there have been twinges of
sadness that came with making their acquaintance. as soon as they
articulate that they don't plan on being here for any kind of long
period of time, i begin to either lose interest, or just not take them
quite as seriously as i might with others. i see them as just fleeting
blips on my radar screen who eventually will fall off and move away.
and it happens with the chaps, in particular, that i meet. it's like,
okay, here's someone interesting that i might like to get to know...
but then as soon as he says he's going to be moving away soon, or
doesn't plan on being in DC long term... my heart drops a little.

not
that i'm not looking for mr. right necessarily, maybe mr. right now is
more like
it... but i still always get this small pang of disappointment when i
meet a nice lad and he tells me he has plans to move up and away from
DC in a
year, in two years...
it's on to chicago, it's on to new york, it's back to L.A. i hear
one thing or another about how DC stinks and they'd rather be somewhere
else, and they aren't here for any kind of long haul... but they sure
would like to meet someone nice during their stay here anyways. i brush them off at that point though as i
don't want to allow them to have their cake and eat it too. because
what if i'm here to stay for good? what if i'm in it for the long haul?


i say that i'm not looking for anything serious, but if it
were to happen, i always say that i wouldn't be opposed to it either. i
say that i want to keep things organic and just see where things may lead
with the fellows... but i think deep down, i know that i want
something a bit more. i don't want someone who is going to move on and
away; i want something lasting. i miss having that constant, that
steady, that stability... that person who you know is going to there for you
when you're having a shitty day and will be there for next month or
next year's inevitably shitty day. i'm here for the long haul, and i hope to meet others who are like minded... sometimes it just isn't that easy to find those diamonds
in the rough though when we're all walking around lost in transition.

i think sometimes, people don't really understand what it is i do all day. sure, there's the recruiting aspect which is a huge part of my job... but then there's the babysitting i have to do. correction, i meant to say, the "employee relations" issues i have to deal with... anything people related flies my way and i'm asked to resolve or handle... and those issues bring me the greatest joy for sure. like having to:

-tell someone their feet smell and they need to keep their shoes on unless it's a medically related issue... then we'd handle it differently.
-tell someone his cologne is too strong and people don't like it.
-advise someone to stop asking his co-worker out to lunch. she's not interested. leave her alone.
-listening to someone complain about how he thinks someone is masturbating in one of the stalls of the men's bathroom. and could i look into it?
-scold grown adults about getting to work on time.

the list of weird and dumb things i have to deal with on a regular basis goes on and on... and let me tell you, i'm having a really good time.

i think i might be back- back to good health, and back into the swing of things.

after a wonderfully restful weekend, i'm actually eager to get the week started and hopefully have a quasi-normal existence. work, work and work.... happy hours and girls nights... a date here and there... and hopefully some great running. i'm ready to take it all back on, but with caution of course. i did my due diligence and rested my body this weekend, but i'll still try to ease back into my week. looking ahead, aside from work... my mission for the week ahead will be to find cute accessories for my outfit that i'll wear to my brother's wedding... never have i ever put so much time and energy into one darn outfit... and i'm not even done shopping. that's the power of first impressions and knowing what they mean, i suppose... but what a wonderful feeling it is, like i had today, to have found a beautiful pair of shoes. they are just delicious. i can't wait to wear them.

and that's all i have tonight. going to call it an early night and get into bed so that i can wake up early and start the week.

after such a fun filled weekend, i woke up on monday morning with an achy body, a killer fever, phlegm like you've never seen, and swollen glands in my neck causing for it to be quite difficult to swallow spit let alone any food or beverage. i hauled my ass into work anyways though. but after half a day, i had to call it quits and go home and sleep. and i practically slept for two days straight except to move from my couch to my bed and then back to my couch.

i thought i was dying on monday and tuesday for sure. i crouched on the floor of my tub trying to shower on monday night. i hugged the bowl of my toilet for half of tuesday as i threw up the nyquil i have been downing. and i sweat myself through several changes of clothes which are lying in a sopping heap somewhere in my bedroom... i have been an ugly mess. and as much as i'd love to take folks up on their offers to bring me food, check up on me, etc... one, i don't want to get you sick. i don't wish this kind of flu on my worst enemy. and two, i'm too vain to let anyone see me looking this pitiful.

so here we are, wednesday night, and i'm still not at 100%, but the phlegm has subsided greatly, the achy body is gone... but i'm still a sweaty mess (from a fever?) and my glands are still quite swollen. i'm going to go to work tomorrow though and try to be a contributing member of society.

i hate being sick. i hate it. i hate it. but perhaps my body was forcing me to take a break because i've been on the go far too much lately.

cafe saint-ex serves brunch until 5pm on saturdays and sundays- and i love late brunches like that. when a gal like, oh say me, doesn't wake up on the weekends until 12pm, 1pm... i kind of feel like restaurants should serve breakfast or brunch at all hours of the day to accommodate late risers like me. i had the ham and egg sandwich with gruyere cheese on toasted wheat bread at saint ex, quite delicious. the egg was sunny side up and the ham, which they did not skimp on, was thinly sliced. add a spicy bloody mary and good company on the side? it makes for a good time. by the way, their bloody maries are nice and thick- their tomato juice has chunks of tomato in it which makes drinking through a straw a bit tough... but delicious none the less.

lastly, i am allergic to mangoes, guavas, and papayas. sometimes the allergies seem ridiculous. i am vigilant about avoiding such foods, but i'm always tempted to test the allergies. papaya lotions? shouldn't be such a big deal. but when used at a nail salon, i broke out into hives. last night? mango flavored rum. a little rum with coke, shouldn't be such a big deal... but this morning, i woke up with some hives that had developed during the night as the drink [processed and passed through my body. i'm a little itchy today. not fun. i should quit testing and just accept that i am allergic to those fruits. so, doctors orders: off to take a benydryl and go to sleep. hopefully that will subside the itching.

quick posting and then i'm going to take a disco nap.

i ran just 5.5 miles today... to adams morgan, up to woodley park, back through adams morgan, down through u street, and then back home. it's been a good few weeks since i've had a long run because of the weather. hopefully with spring coming soon, i can ease into running greater distances.



to my surprise, i was pretty clear headed on my run today; physically, i was struggling though. my body was stiff,  breath winded... and with running as the usual
place for me to let all my festering issues out, my mind's refuge and
release, i expected for today's jog to be full of contemplation and
maybe even an emotional run given the week's surprising events... there was very little thought given to him and that news though. i ran thinking about the dresses my sister and i tried
on this morning. i did a mental inventory of my closet to try to pull
together an outfit for later tonight... my thoughts were very much
in the present even despite actually having heard from him on thursday.

of course, bitchy me did take a moment to ponder the statement of them having a lot in common- i
mean, what exactly do they have in common? they both just have high
school diplomas? they both are always broke? he's in a dead-end job and
she has only ever held the same? i honestly couldn't come up with any
other commonalities, and alright, those are extremely low blows.... it makes me sound awfully bitter; i acknowledge that. but hey, he brought it up and so i pondered it. whatever floats their boats though, and if they are happy together, then hey, good for them.

so my response to
that statement of his? "that's good!" in my head though, i was really thinking that i just didn't care that much. we exchanged more pleasantries for a few moments longer, but after the banter and Q&A starting dying out, i ended the call. i told him i had to go, and i said good luck. i hung up the phone, and then carried on with my evening. and i haven't thought much more about it since then except now as i type. i just don't care enough to be stuck in a rut thinking it through for days on end.

dating is fun, but exhausting. it's so hard to go out on a "school night" and haul myself into the office in the morning. i'm so sleepy. i bring this on myself, i suppose...

that was my Thursday evening.

at the suggestion of my brother in law, i will post periodic reviews of DC places i frequent and give semi reviews. part of this is to chronicle my adventures in this city which is still new to me... although in looking at a calendar, it's crazy that i've officially been in town for about five months now. so much is still new, and there is so much to still explore.

this evening, or rather earlier on wednesday evening, it was bourbon, in adams morgan. decent service, nice digs, very diverse crowd. they have a hundred different kinds of bourbon to serve... but i had none of it, of course.

it seems of late, i've been hanging a bit with some hipster types and i keep on ending up on darn 18th street. bourbon was definitely more my scene than pharmacy bar, also in adams morgan, which i visited last week. they have great service and cheap drinks... but it's a bit hard to hear yourself, or others, talk given the blaring juke box. definitely a friendly crowd there, unassuming and a tad more cozy and intimate, yet gritty, spot compared to bourbon. the highlight of the pharma bar however is definitely their one waiter/bartender who has a freakishly close resemblance to danny bonaduce. i couldn't stop staring at him and laughing.

i received a surprising bit of news today. and i guess this means that i was wrong about things. it isn't the same 'ole, same 'ole... it's actually a bit more interesting than that. and my initial thoughts on all of this are as follows:

• i'm not upset.
• i'm not angry.
• i'm very shocked.
• i genuinely hope that things work out for the best.
• i'm kinda weirded out.
• i'm glad it's not me.
  
• i hope he doesn't get fucked over.
  
• as long as he's happy, then i'm good with it.
• this is what he's wanted for a long time, so it's for the best.
  
• his parents must be ecstatic. i'm happy for them.
• and, i've moved on. so it's okay. that could be me next month,
  who knows! okay, it probably won't be me for years, but ya know what i
  mean.
  

they seem like quite adult reactions, an adult response to this
situation. i was pretty pleased to have reacted as such, truth be told... it was a very nice demonstration of my maturity (haha), and a great gage of where i am with things. yet it was surprising to some- they thought that i'd be
upset, or pissed... and actually, they thought that i should
be upset, or pissed.

ps: thanks phuberdiddle for the reality check. much appreciated.

my sister has been raving about the new whole foods in fairfax... and it indeed is wonderful. it's the best whole foods EVER! they have a great bakery too, where they make what they call, "fancy cupcakes"... okay, so $1.99-$2.99 a pop, they are pricey little treats- but look how fancy they are!



if you look closely, the wings on the bees are almond chips... and the arms on the snowmen are pretzels! clever! fancy! i love it.