*A-Hem*

Hi BLOG! I've missed you! Still getting caught up around here on the West Coast. Crazy! I have so many pictures left to share of all the happenings from the past 3 weeks...let me start off with yet another one of the highlights...

I present to you, Drag Brunch: que party music *uns uns uns*

We took Keene's family to Perry's, located in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of DC.

Mimosas to start, obvs.

First up: Latin Sensation Drag Queen. Woo!

FIERCENESS.

This is not John Leguizamo. Well, I'm pretty sure it's not. I got Keene attention from her for his graduation present. I'm sure he appreciates it.

BAH! Hags. Me n' Keene's sister, Marissa, having a good ole time.

I recommend going to Drag Brunch at Perry's for any formal occasion with the entire family. It is a blast. Don't forget to bring your dollar bills!!!

Police Week at Kelly's Irish Times - not a rumor

For 3 years now Keene has been telling me that during Police Week, the officers "pull the doors off their squad cars and chain them to the fence outside Kelly's Irish Times"...and I'm always all, "yeah right"...well, we walked by last weekend and What. Do. You. Know...there were doors, chained to the fence at Kelly's. I think this is part of the Police Week celebration (and drunkenness) and also a way to honor police who have died on duty. Pretty dramatic and cool way to honor their people, eh?!

Shannon Came through Town! Woo!

People: Shannon and I have been friends *almost* our entire lives. It's true! Since baby class. Thanks to our moms for joining that class because since then we have been lifelong friends. Shannon is AWESOME and we got to go see her play in NY last October. It was a fabulous night. I can't wait because I get to visit New York this week and have more supercool times hanging out with her. Anyway - she was in town last Saturday and for the afternoon I kidnapped her and showed her all around our neighborhood. Then we all went down to the Municipal Wharf and had ourselves some Mar'land Crab. It was Shannon's first taste of Old Bay Seasoning! Can you believe that?! Old Bay runs in people's veins out here. She did not give up at the sight of these things, and between the 3 of us I think we powered through 9 crabs. Hardcore. See you soon, Shannon!

Juris Doctor in the Hizzay!!!

My cohab GRADUATED from GEORGETOWN LAW SCHOOL yesterday!!! OMG - so proud and excited for him. A law degree is no joke, it's such an accomplishment. I watched him slave over those really boring-looking books for 3 years and he worked his butt off. And I'm so proud to share that he graduated *Cum Laude* because he's a freakin' stud smarty pants and I love him! Thank you, Honey - it was so fun to watch you get your diploma on Sunday :) I'd been waiting for this day for a long time. It was soooo worth it!

TA-DA! I'm telling you people, this regalia was P.I.M.P. - ! The hat, the faux-velvet, the satin stole (or "cape" as I like to call it) - it rocked.

The "book"...

More awesome regalia shots.

Keene's siblings! Kellum & Marissa :)

Woo!!!

Wooo!!!

Wooo!!

So they actually gave them their foreals diplomas - I hope it made it back to Seattle in perfect condition...

The gang that motivated and supported each other through all the law school madness (eternally grateful to them)....

Keene wore his law socks - too cool.

And...our standard "prom pose."

It was an awesomely humid and emotional day. I am soooooo proud. Now it's PARTY TIME!!! Oh wait...I mean, as soon as the bar is over... :)

Gonna miss our 12th Place

SAD!!!!! I've honestly never been very sad to move out of an apartment before. But this was different. 12th Place was part of our adventure out in DC, and it's been really good to us. I'll miss all the light in this apartment, how it felt like a "treehouse", waking up to recess noise from the school across the street, the kitchen, the DECK and phantom tree. We have a lot of memories here, like walking home with our first Christmas tree, cooking countless dinners, parties, watching House Hunters (too much), bbq-ing on the deck, New Years, election night, that time I got soaked in a flash rain storm on the way home, crazy neighbors, making brunch & coffee, ...all good memories that I feel lucky we get to take with us forever.

The last "front porch" pic.

There it is, in all it's mint green glory.

The much-improved-nowadays English Garden.

Bye for now, Phantom Tree! And good luck to you!

This was from a free "rhizome" we for free one day. I just threw it in this pot to see what would happen. And this beauty popped up. I swear, stuff really GROWS here. Not like in Seattle where you have to beg things to grow. I'm gonna miss that about DC!

More "see you laters"

I couldn't leave town without meeting up with my other fabulous DC gal pal: Kathryn. I will be eternally grateful to her for being so friendly to me at my first contract job out here. She gets all the credit for starting up our beautiful friendship. "Make new friends, but keep the old...one is silver and the other gold." (Camp Fire Girls) Kathryn, I know we will be golden friends! :)

Me and K-dawg at Lola's Barrack's Bar & Grill (btw they have a kickass quesadilla).

Love this Girl!

I am seriously gonna miss this Beotch...

Ugh. Had to say goodbye to my girl Drew tonight. Ahhhh! I hate goodbyes! I mean, I know no one really likes goodbyes, but still. They're just SO SAD! Drew has been my rock and my main gal pal out here from the beginning. Ours has truly been a fairytale friendship of crafts, gabbing, eating, drinking and having a freakin' blast. Since the day we met: each as lonely cohabs at a law school bbq, I had no idea the fun times that were in store for us (if only I knew!). She is truly one of the most deliciously sarcastic, witty, sweet and genuine people I know. I'm so lucky to know you, Gurl! Here's to many more adventures and beer together! I now have an even better excuse than Ben's Chili Bowl to come back to DC ;)

Drew & I at Matchbox on Barracks Row. Good times! Lots of chatter!

We might have had a (a-hem) few Watermelon Wheats. They were gooood.

Drew got me these adorable DC and WA state cookie cutters! Aren't they totally perfect? Now I'm going to have to have a "bi-coastal"-themed party just to make cookies with them. *Loves it!*

Thanks Gurl for being an awesome friend. I can't wait to be Seattle neighbs some day in the future and to come visit you soon in DC :)

Corporate Marketing All-Stars

So Friday was my last day as a corporate designer out in Arlington, VA. Sad times because I had to say goodbye to my very awesome co-workers. I have no doubt that they'll do a great job taking care of each other, going to Starbucks and PF Chang's after I'm gone though :) I'll miss them - thank you girls for making my adventure in DC so fabulous!

Me. My cube. My dueling Mac & PC. (took this pic for Mom, obvs)

Me and my cube neighbor (the best cube neighbor, ever!), Neha. This is kindof exactly what we look like when we're gossiping.

My other awesome neighbor and work buddy, Sam.

My art director, Kelly, co-worker, Anne-Marie and I at the "W" on their upper deck, with some fab cocktails! (and yes I am wearing this damn bahamas shirt again in all the pics)

Um....the view up there is AWESOME.

It was raining balls. Really - balls of rain....can you spot The White House?

The W of course has some mansion-worthy chandeliers. Would look fantastic in a walk-in closet, no?

I will miss my work ladies, dearly! I really dread goodbyes, but my fabulous coworkers of course made sure we still had lots o' fun. Hopefully I'll get to have a corp marketing happy hour reunion some day soon :)

This blog is abouts to get neglected...

HI YOU GUYS. Ok so y'all know by now that I am moving back to Seattle soon, and things are gettin' a little crazy around here pre-move. Today is my last day of work(!) and tonight is "goodbye happy hour" (sad), then family gets in to town tomorrow, and I have a week of hanging out with friends, packing, and doing last-chance DC tourist stuff. I'll hopefully be snapping pics of everything so I can tell you all about it later in some "re-cap" marathon posts. 

And guess what? My Honey finished Law School yesterday! WOOO! I'm so proud of him. He's worked so hard. I feel so lucky! *Party time*

Art of the Day

Upholstered chair by Suzie Stanford. {via the Jealous Curator}

Real life Pac Man by Katie Sokoler. {via CraftZine}

"Smoke Knows" by Pae White. {via Habitually Chic and on display at the Whitney through May 30th}

Poster by Retrofuturs. {via SwissMiss}

Word. "Live with Art" poster by Mikey Burton. {via SwissMiss}

LUXURY PARADISE ISLANDS, PEOPLE

Hot Manse Islands of the Day: check out this little gallery of Luxury Paradise Islands. Lounging, mai tai, manservants fanning me with palm fronds...sigh...

my fave: this one in Taprobane, Sri Lanka.

Phantom Tree: Update

Phantom Tree has come out of hibernation and is looking good! Behaving a bit odd...with the leaves closer-in popping up and not on the ends of the branches. I'll miss you, Phantom Tree!

Weekend Re-cap: checking stuff off

Busy weekend - so much to do! I'm kinda freaking out over here...packing, errands, work, freelance...my goal this week is to pack one box and do one hour of freelance work every night. I swear every time I get home from work I try but I'm just exhausted. What is it about sitting in front of a computer all day that could possibly do that? Anyway, it's my last week of my 9-5! I'll be sad to say goodbye to my coworkers :( Excited to start Underemployed Vacay Part 4 though ;) (and anxious, obvs)

So Friday night we decided to make what was probably our last trip out for Papusas at Tortilla Cafe near Eastern Market. Damn, Keene really loves those things. I mean, they're good! I didn't get any pics of our papusas (why?!! - too hungry) but this is what they look like:

They're these fried cheese/pork-filled things. GOOD. And here's a pic of the Market when it's actually quiet - it's a really nice building. I'm gonna miss the market so much!

Saturday I had my last hair appointment with Steve at AVA Salon on Capitol Hill. I had to get one last style in with him before moving. Steve is responsible for my latest bangs overhaul and more "caramel" color - this time we went more blonde for Summer (natch). I totally recommend him if you need your hair did in DC!

My "work in progress" look. I can never take this part seriously.

And the finished product - here's me and Steve! He's rad and knows his stuff.

When I got home we had Venison Burgers Part 2. Yes, we still have venison! Tonight is venison spaghetti sauce and then I think we will have consumed all the venison left from Pennsylvania, ever.

Then later of course the eating had to continue...and it was glorious. I FINALLY had myself a Chili Half-Smoke from Ben's Chili Bowl. Oh. Mah. Gah. SO GOOD. I know this is going to plague me forever - it's an instant "chasin' the dragon." I'm kinda sad I didn't try this earlier but then again that would probably turn into a Ben's addiction and it was sortof a good end-note to being in DC. Cross Ben's off the DC bucket list!

Behold. The chili half-smoke. Dad - you would be all about this thing. The chili is sooo good! The height of sophisticated cuisine.

I made Keene pose for this.

I am so pumped to be alive right now.

Bye Ben's! Glamorous view from our bus.

By now you're thinking the eating-marathon must be done, but no. Not yet!!! We hit up Eastern Market Crepes on Sunday. We each got our ushe: Keene got the blackberry/blueberry/peach blintz-style, and I got the ham/apple/maple/gouda.

I always regret getting the powdered sugar because it's so messy. But you know what? It's also SO GOOD. It was super windy, it got all over me, Keene thought it was the funniest thing ever.

After fueling up on health food, we made one last trip through the market and picked up some wooden ducks (they're awesome), and a painting we've been lusting after for 2 years. It looks awesome, btw. I can't wait to hang it wherever our new home is. I managed to pack about ten boxes when we got home, too. Damn, packing sucks! But it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I mean, ask me again in a week if I still feel that way. So far so good though.

I hope you guys had as fun a weekend as we did - lots of eating and pretending to work!