Things I Learned This (Long) Weekend

Dante was foreshadowing the Crystal City underground when he wrote "The Divine Comedy."
Because Crystal City is a circle of hell. There were many metro delays on Friday evening that had me stuck on a train for about an hour at the CC station. I finally gave up and thought I'd find a bus. Wrong! I wandered around the impossible underground maze of stores, which were eerily devoid of shoppers and owners, for a half hour. On my third trip outside to find a bus, I instead found a cab. Best $25 I've ever spent.

If you love fruit dip and have no self control you shouldn't make fruit dip.
Especially when you're the only one around. But that damn fluff/cream cheese/vanilla mixture is just heaven on strawberries. And a fork.

They really mean "rummage" at a Rummage Sale.
A church at the end of my block had a rummage sale on Saturday, my first rummage! And they really mean rummage. They had tons of clothes in heaps on tarps. I skipped them at first, heading for books and housewares, where I picked up 4 books, a "Votes for Women" packet, a basket, a divided tray, and a solid tray. I then meandered back to the clothes and after spying some nautical flag napkins -- I'm kind of obsessed with nautical flags -- decided to jump in to the heap and dig. (I didn't actually jump, but there was digging.) I found 1 hat, 2 skirts, 1 dress, 1 pair of pants, 2 J Crew wool sweaters, 1 Old Navy sweater vest, and a child's Vineyard Vines polo dress I thought I could wear as a dress. (See more on that below.) What was the grand total for all of this? A whopping $16! (Actually $20 because I donated the change. It's a church!)

I have a big head.
Or at least a head that's too big for a child's dress. I gave it to my co-worker for his daughter. At least it was only a $1.

A sewing machine and a little patience can lead to a new wardrobe.
Or what feels like a new wardrobe. On Saturday I took in six skirts! Two were from the rummage sale and four were from my closet that I've been making fit with safety pins for the last two summers. It was alarmingly easy to take them all in and I'm so happy to have six new (to me) skirts in my repertoire.

The inside of an iron with a retractable cord is a mess.
I dropped my iron for the 100th time, but this time from a distance of about 3 feet on to hardwood floor. The iron still works, but the cord can no longer be stored neatly within.

The Jonathan Adler store is pretty.
And expensive. His store opened in Georgetown in the fall but this was my first visit. I only took one picture, as inspiration for what I can put under my own new (to me) cloche. But the entire store was lovely and modern and bright.

You know you're in for an interesting show when you have to take off your shoes and wear these.
This is B and I before a dance performance at the Kennedy Center. We knew ahead of time we would have to remove our shoes, stand for 45 minutes, and there would be nudity. Wowza was it a show. (See more on that below.)

Some people play fast and loose with the word "art."
I won't get too specific out of respect of the "dancers," but we saw what was billed as a dance show. We walked in to a long, white room with various large squares on the floor. Some squares had plastic cubes, some had piles of paint, two had a disgusting amount of fake, dark hair, and most squares had a person, wearing only flesh-colored undies. Yep. For 45 minutes the crowd walked around and amongst the squares, watching the performers dance, move cubes, freeze, and eventually roll in the paint. (And the hair, which was awful.) It was different, to be sure, but at least we have a good story to tell.

I seriously love a weekend trip to pool.
As I blogged repeatedly last summer, I'm sure I'll be blogging the same this summer in terms of trips to apartment pool. I just love it so. And this year they have new chairs that can lay completely flat! Hello, easy reading on my stomach.

I seriously love a weekend trip to the pool...even if my knees look like a "weird butt."
Or so says an FB friend after I briefly posted this photo. Umm, pretty sure everyone knows those are my knees, and not my butt.

Too much foot soak + electronic foot bath = bubble madness
I made three trips to the kitchen sink with a handful of bubbles before giving up. I bought the bath on crazy sale on Sunday, thinking it would be great for use with all my assorted foot products. I'm hoping it was just user error or else this thing will be going back.

Shoppping With Mom

I was so very excited to have my Mom up this past weekend. It's been awhile since we've had a weekend in DC together and it was great. Things haven't been too stressful lately, but they're certainly not perfect, and it's always good to have my Mama here.

The main point of trip was to hit the Luckett's Spring Market. Luckett's is a popular antique store in Leesburg that Mom has read about a lot. For their Spring Market, vendors cover the grounds, selling their vintage, modern, and re-made fares.

I have a dream of making a couch out of a clawfoot bathtub like Holly Golightly in "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and this just fueled that dream.

There were a lot of great vintage offerings, and a number of items that were already revitalized and re-purposed. Since Mom and I like the fun challenge of doing that ourselves, we weren't quite as blown away as we thought, but it was still nice.

And, of course, we each walked away with a few things. Mom bought a great hutch to put on the screen porch, and I got the following.

Old Pepsi crate, basket that used to pick up golf balls, tin watering can, and a stamp holder with stamps. If only my name were "Barbara H. Taylor," I'd have my own signature stamp.

They really did have a little bit of everything, from old hen houses to a GIANT corkscrew.

Even though it rained a bit, and we should have brought a rolling cart for our wares, it was a productive day that we hope to repeat in the future.

Things I Learned This Weekend

Sometimes you just need a Friday to yourself.
I woke up Friday morning very late, with a headache, as it poured outside. So I made the executive decision to work from home. It cleared up as the day went on and I took a long lunch to just be out and run some errands. It was perfect.

Having a craft store accessible by metro is going to change my life.
A variety store re-opened in Bethesda about a block from where one of my close friends lives. I checked it out for us on Friday and OH MY WORD it's got a huge craft section. I didn't have my full list of ongoing craft needs but I did buy fabric, bobbins, embroidery floss, and other things. I'm probably going to be here once a week.

A clean home is a happy home. Unfortunately.
I hate cleaning. Hate hate hate it. But sometimes you just have to. So I picked up a bunch of things on Friday night, made a mess again on Saturday, and then re-cleaned with broom and vacuum and swiffer and spray all over again on Sunday. It sucks but it is nice to come home to.

My first writer's conference was awesome.
On Saturday I attended my first writer's conference. It was held at a Johns Hopkins building in Dupont Circle and was created by Barrelhouse literary magazine. It was an all-day conference with a keynote speaker and three breakout sessions. I learned so much and got a lot of inspiration for my own work. It was very reasonably priced and so close to home that I couldn't not go, and I'm glad that was the case.

Working out and crafting are great ways to end a busy Saturday.
I was very tired on Saturday after a 9-5 day of conferencing, but I still made myself exercise and do things. After a brief nap, of course.

There's just no good way to spray paint indoors.
In this week's installment of Bonnie Attempts Spray Painting In Her Apartment, this is what I tried:

I saw on Pinterest where someone created a sort of spray tent using a cheap hanging garment bag. I attempted the same thing only I didn't want to pay for a bigger one so I got this smaller one. Which, as you imagine, didn't quite work since there wasn't exactly a lot of room to spray. I also didn't take into account how I would hang it. Thank goodness for (UNC) duck tape and bungee cords. On the upside, I haven't been able to spray paint in awhile but I got to use my sprayer and tarp and mask. Yay!

D.C. is confusing, maps suck, and spray paint might hurt your brain.
I was meeting Brandie for brunch and a movie on Sunday and got so turned around and kept going in the wrong direction in roundabout ways. She blamed my spray painting from the previous night. I blamed maps and D.C. and the fact that I move so much faster than the little blue dot on my map app.

All restaurants should be housed in former fire stations.
Whilst hunting for brunch options, I came across Sixth Engine, a restaurant near Chinatown that is housed in a former fire station. 

It had such cool ambiance and decor, not to mention delicious mimosas and chocolate chip flapjacks. (And they were flapjacks, not pancakes, as the waitress corrected Brandie.)

Ryan Gosling is attractive even with tattoos, bad hair, and bad clothes.
But it can't make up for the depressing, heavy handed, and long winded "A Place Beyond the Pines." B and I had to see it, of course, as we do all Ryan's movies, but this was not a good one.

Don't get angry at Barnes and Noble when you can't find the book you're looking for. When it hasn't been released yet.
I have a B&N gift card that I keep forgetting about and thought on Sunday I'd use it to buy the new Audrey book written by her second son. Well, after fruitlessly searching the store for it and about to haughtily ask for it and mention that Amazon had it in stock, I realized it wasn't out yet. Oops. At least I realized it before huffing and puffing.

When you find yourself hand painting the horns on two ram figures Carolina blue, step away from the crafting.
They look adorable though and are going to make awesome bookends eventually. I have no regrets.  

Things I Learned This Weekend

Being in charge of a Happy Hour is a bit stressful. But also kind of awesome.
It was my work friend Shana's birthday and since she is the usual office HH organizer, I organized this one for her. I got really irked that people replied and didn't go, or went to a different bar instead/first, but it ended up being a good small group celebration for the birthday lady.

You're never too old for balloons.
I don't know exactly how it happened, but one minute a guy was carrying a bundle of the bar's balloons followed by a young girl, and the next minute the young girl was bringing three balloons over to Shana. It may have had something to do with our group yelling, "Look, Shana, balloons for your birthday!"

I can go to the thrift store and only spend $4.
After not going for more than a month, I went and only bought a loaf pan, two books, and a pair of shoes.

Drills are just freaking amazing.
I got a drill two Christmases ago but only just used it for the first time on Saturday. Before I had it I always needed one, thus the asking for it, but then after I had it was afraid to use it without adult/Daddy supervision. Well, now I'm a drilling machine and just want to drill holes in everything. (Which the roommate is thrilled about, naturally.) I even broke a drill bit! Like a bad ass.

There's something very fulfilling in finishing a craft project started six months ago.
I bought and spray painted these keys way back in October, and then lost them. I found them a few weeks ago and finally found a shallow frame and voila, I have this handy bit of artwork to hold keys. With hooks HAND DRILLED BY MOI and keys secured with ribbon threaded through holes HAND DRILLED BY MOI. 

The only thing better than finishing a project begun six months ago is to finish one in the works since a year ago.
I bought this vintage dancer brooch from an estate jewelry salesman in Eastern Market on President's Day weekend with my sister. In 2012. It was chipped in places and had some missing jewels and pearls. (I don't have a before picture but these look like mine did expect for different colors: Etsy 1 and Etsy 2.) I wasn't crazy about the random mix of colors anyway so I bought a variety of blue and green crystals, cleaned her up with some silver paint, and here she is, finally.

The best way to procrastinate doing taxes is to watch a movie and organize paperwork.
I watched "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" while clearing out all my files. (Pay stubs from jobs held 7 years ago? Bye!) Then I did my taxes. In less than an hour. And the movie was really good, too.

A beautiful day plus a Pier One store closing sale is a dangerous combination.
As a reward for doing my taxes, I set out for a walk on our first real Spring day. (Finally!) Unfortunately, my walk took me right to the Pier One in my neighborhood that is closing. Since I have no self control/really did need fake flowers, I walked out with these beauties. (40% off!) I still have some arranging to do, though.

Top photo: The vase is a Waterford vase I selected as my 5 year anniversary gift at my job. It's so heavy and lovely.
Bottom photo: Please also note the amazing calendar Karey got me and the other ladies for our birthdays. She went way back into the photo archives of our friendship and put together just the best calendar of memories. Each month is like opening a time capsule. I love it.

Standing five rows back at a concert is awesome.
Sunday night I went with three friends to a Frightened Rabbit concert. Shana gave me a bunch of random CDs as part of my bday present and theirs was one I really enjoyed. Since the tickets were cheap and it was Shana's birthday, I decided to see them live. They were really good and being so close to the stage was a first for me and made it all the more intense and enjoyable.

Some people still wave actual lighters.
Ok, I hate when people hold up their cell phones for light at concerts, it just seems so yuppie or something, but, honestly, the lighters made me nervous. I wanted to scream, "Fire hazard!"

Standing five rows back at a concert for 2 hours, in new boots, when you have a bad back and a propensity to feel faint after standing for too long is not awesome.
So I left before they came back for the encore. And I have no regrets about that.

On the Left Coast: Things I Bought

Please excuse the blatant conspicuous consumption in this post. But I'm still exhausted from the busy, but wonderful, weekend and the exhaustion continues as I have another killer deadline tomorrow. So it's this or nothing.

There's something about being in LA, and being with fellow serious shopper Jan, that makes me want to shop, shop, shop. I actually controlled myself better this time than last, but still walked away with some pretty cool things. (Which were a lot easier to get home than you might think thanks to packing an extra, empty bag.)

First up, from a vintage store in Burbank, a lingerie pouch. The lace is a bit yellowed, which I love, and the inside is a perfect pink satin. I think lingerie in the past must have been a lot smaller or more delicate than my utilitarian cotton pieces from Victoria's Secret, but if anything can make them fancy, this will do it.

The next two things also came from a vintage store, this one in Santa Barbara. First was a German "Breakfast at Tiffany's" poster. As you can see, I already own English and Spanish versions, and I've been wanting German and Italian versions, too. Three down, one to go.

Now for what might just be my favorite thing ever. It's a random collection of old printing press letter blocks. Many of them still darkened black from the ink! I've been wanting some blocks for ages but didn't know what to spell or what to do with them. This mix of letters arranged in such an artful way solved the problem for me. I love that my eye is immediately drawn to "Go" and "God." I still haven't hung it up yet, but I just love to touch it and look at it.

Also in Santa Barbara, I bought this pretty freshwater pearl bracelet and this charming match box Nativity Christmas ornament. (I get an ornament anywhere I travel.)

Finally, the piece de resistance. An object I'm pretty sure I've coveted since I was 5 years old. A dinglehopper! That's right, it's a hairbrush made to look like a fork in honor of Ariel's misguided use of a fork thanks to Scuttle in "The Little Mermaid." (Aka my favorite Disney movie.) The folks at Disney Land were pretty brilliant in this creation, tapping right in to that inner part of me that has always wanted to brush my hair with a fork. (And actually may have, once or twice, with a plastic fork from my play kitchen.) The second best part about this object? (The first being the object itself, of course.) When the cashier rang it up he asked me, "So just the dinglehopper then?" Why yes, sir, I am a 29-year-old adult who has to pay rent and all, can't get too crazy.

Things I Learned This Weekend

Nordstrom has very pretty dresses. 
Friday night was our first attempt at finding bridesmaid dresses for B's wedding. Since we'll be wearing black, we're trying out a few national chains in addition to the standard wedding sources. We haven't found "the one" yet, but it was fun to try pretty dresses on. 

It never gets easier to watch your team lose.
Oh, Carolina basketball. I'll love y'all forever, but you're kind of killing me.

Never let your freakishly strong friend handle the wine stopper.
I have the cutest/tackiest wine stopper with a woman's legs coming out of the stopper. Brandie, who you'll recall is an arm wrestling beast, was trying to get it out and ripped her poor legs right off! 

Playing Wii games with friends is a good antidote to bad basketball.
This was our second Wii Game Night and it was another success. I finally got a second remote and we played Wii Sports. And laughed a lot.

We're a little too good at punching.
The boxing game is awesome for pent up aggression. Which we had a lot of apparently.

Tennis is really really hard.
For me. B and K did great. We may have to credit B's commitment to the game, as she's seen here pretending to bounce the tennis ball, just like the pros.

Rameses makes a good bowling partner.
At least according to Brandie.

Vindication can be found in Wii bowling. 
For years, my family's made fun of the way I leap a little when I Wii bowl. My friends were making fun of me too, until I had 2 strikes and about 6 spares, all because of the leap. How do I know it was the leap? Because as soon as K and B tried the leap, they too, scored higher. It's all in the leap, people! 

 
I can quote the vast majority of "Clueless." 
And not just sporadically. 

Justin Bieber needs to stay away from my "Saturday Night Live."
I've seen every episode of SNL since 1997. Even the ones where Eminem was the musical guest. So I feel confident in saying that Bieber seriously needs to leave my show alone. 

Every Sunday should start with "Sabrina" on the big screen. 
My friend Sasha alerted me to the fact that a D.C. theatre was showing Audrey's "Sabrina." I, of course, leapt at the chance to see it and to introduce Sasha to another Audrey film—it's only her second one! (Her first being BAT outside a few summers ago.)

I could listen to "The Weight" on repeat forever. 
I found myself really enjoying the Grammy's this year, no part more so than the collaborative tribute to The Band's "The Weight." I seriously love that song

First Day Back

I got back to D.C. yesterday evening after 2 and 1/2 weeks at home in North Carolina. (Which I'll be blogging about plenty in the weeks to come.) Today was my first day back in the office since the middle of December. I'm tired but need to get back into blogging so here are some random bits about my first day back:

1. Nearly died when my alarm went off. Yes, DIED.
2. Was not only ON TIME to work for, like, the first time in a year, but I was EARLY. 
3. But I forgot my non-commuting shoes. 
4. And my lunch.
5. So I bought black boots at Ross for $16.99 and then, going back up to office, FELL very loudly up the stairs and 4 people came out of their offices to see if I was ok.
6. My right knee is now a bruise. 
7. When I went to get lunch at the sandwich place that knows me only as "primo ham and cheese, sub roll," I walked in and saw 2 of my coworkers. 
8. Said coworkers told the owner it was my birthday and she gave me a free cookie.
9. Ran a few errands at mall--which means I bought things--and while at American Eagle got "ma'amed."
10. But then I got 15% off since it's my birthday month so it was worth the "ma'am." (And the comfy slippers I bought.)
11. Decided that given how busy this year is going to be, I need to go back to using a paper planner, and found a Moleskine one on sale at Papyrus for $4.73! YES, that is correct.
12. I bought 4 pairs of tights at 2 different stores for $40. (All but one pair will go back.) And at Nordstrom there was ONE pair of tights for $40. I can't even.

A Practically Perfect Badass

It's only two weeks after the day, but I put it on the to-blog list, so by golly here it is, my work Halloween costume.

At the suggestion of my friend, Sasha, and this inspiration, I set out to re-create Mary Poppins.

Now, lest ye think this costume flies right in the face of Operation: Badass, let me point out some reasons Ms. Poppins is quite the badass herself:

• She doesn't take any crap from Mr. Banks and his sexist ways.
• She does what she wants with the kids.
• Jumping into chalk paintings and dancing with penguins=acid trip
• Spoonful of sugar=some sort of downer drug
• Mrs. Banks is a suffragette and you know Mary was, too.
• She's a free spirit who doesn't let herself get too attached, once the wind changes, she's gone.
• Burt is clearly in love with her but she just keeps him as her friend. While using him for acid.
• She is a master of the exasperated look and eye roll.

Now that that's out of the way, this is me channeling the ultimate badass:

And her accessories. (The hat caused a lot of hot glue gun grief and I hate that you can't see it in the above picture. I'm still waiting for coworkers to post their pictures.)

I think it's easy to put together a costume if you want to spend a little cash. But I set out to do this one for $20 or less, just because I love a good shopping challenge and really don't like Halloween. And I was able to accomplish this. (More or less.)

Shirt: $3, thrift store (This was so perfect and I hope to figure out a less uptight way to wear it.)
Skirt: $2.50, thrift store
Hat: $6, Target/homemade
Daisies and berries: $4, AC Moore/homemade
Bow tie and belt: $4, AC Moore/homemade
Bag, shoes, tights: Already owned (Bag was a tote bag of Mom's that I re-constructed.)
Umbrella: $13, Target (Mom paid so it doesn't count in total.)
Total: $19.50

Not too shabby. Plus, I was one of the costume winners at work so I'll get a nice lunch out of the deal, too.

Now that I've channeled both Mary/Julie and Holly/Audrey, what 60s era leading lady shall I do next year?

Things I Learned This Weekend

A good end to a rough week is watching a great movie with a great friend while drinking secret wine.
I went with a girlfriend to see the brilliant and hilarious and wonderful "Pitch Perfect." I won't reveal which of us snuck in the wine. (Though I can reveal that one of us dug shards of plastic out of her purse this morning after forgetting to remove the spare plastic cup.)

There's nothing quite like the library on a Saturday.
This is my library. I had a lot of errands to run on Saturday and started late, but there's always time for a good book.

Making goodie bags for a friend's wedding is a good activity for a dreary day.
One of my friend's is getting married in a week and she has been so stressed I went to help her with some wedding stuff. While I'm still nowhere near ready for marriage, I do love all the fun wedding stuff.

I should really stay away from World Market.
There is no reason to buy a Christmas ornament in October. But I bought two. Neither of which I'll be using as ornaments, though, so I'll give myself a pass.

I really miss home whenever I need to spray paint.
My Daddy, in addition to having every tool ever, has a great garage set-up and all the perfect things for spray painting. Tarp, handle for the can, wires to hang things, etc. Though at least I finally rigged up an acceptable spray paint area in my place using a sheet and a hangar. See? It's a little sad and depressing, but it got the job done.

The best way to combat the smell of spray paint is with a candle.
I bought this rosewood vanilla candle at World Market. It's a good size and just smells wonderful.

Decorating with whales is way more fun than decorating without whales.
In the past week I FINALLY found not one, but two whales. The smaller one was bought in West Virginia and the larger one is a soap dish from World Market that I spray painted. I'm not sure where Freida and Lola will be living yet, but for now they're chilling on my bookcase.

Maybe I should stick to just beading jewelry.
I'm working on a very tedious beading project. I want to give it as a gift, but I fear by the time I finish it, if I finish it, I'll be too selfish to give it away. But at least I have this glass egg crate from World Market to help me sort. (And it was $10 cheaper than the ones at Anthro.)

Orzo + Feta cheese = Yummy
This is what I threw together for Sunday dinner. And I don't throw things together. But it was easy and cheap and was good for lunch the next day.

Despite my complete hatred and disrespect for Christopher Columbus, a day off would have been nice.
Alas, I had to work. But, you know, that's ok since I'd rather not have a day off work in honor of the man who did NOT discover America, but DID spread disease and unhappiness to those who DID discover it. And my sister sent me this:

Things I Learned Last Weekend

I was too busy last week at work to get this up, so here is last weekend's recap, the majority of it spent in Myrtle Beach for Michelle's (brother's fiancee) bachelorette party.

Sleeping in a teenager's room covered in One Direction paraphernalia is better than sleeping in a teenager's room full of Jonas Brothers paraphernalia.
Because they're all legal? Not sure, though I did still feel a little creepy. But since I ended up hiding my niece's alarm clock to smother the ticking, and then forget to tell her that, I guess we're even.

Working from home with two other people is more fun than working from home alone.
I worked from my sister and brother-in-law's house on Friday, and so did they. Best of all, my sister picked me up lunch and tissues.

There is a town in North Carolina called Tar Heel.
How did I not know this? It makes me happy.

If I can't be with my best friends all the time, at least I can drive through their hometown.
Two of my best friends from college are from the same small town in Eastern North Carolina. We drove through it on the way to Myrtle Beach and it made me smile.

There is a part of Myrtle Beach that looks like the bayou.
On Friday night we took a casino boat cruise. But when we first pulled up, we couldn't see the water or the boat. It looked like we were just in a bayou or like we might just die. Luckily, we weren't and we didn't.

Matching t-shirts are fun.
I kind of want to make custom t-shirts for my girlfriends and I, just because.

Slot machines are more fun when there's a lever.
Not that too many of the machines actually had levers. I'm not a gambler at all, but I don't mind playing slot machines for a bit, and I only lost $10, so not too bad.

The captain's bridge is completely dark.
And kind of creepy. Especially when the captain invites your group up and then lets you do all the talking. (Picture not of bridge, but just because we look cute.)

Allergies+sea sickness+indoor smoking=pain
It was fun to hang out with the sister, future sister-in-law, and other bridesmaids, and nice to try something new, but the combination of the three things above meant I spent a good portion of the cruise in pain. 

Murphy beds are more secure than I thought.
The sis and I shared a Murphy bed at the hotel. I always thought I'd be afraid of flipping up in one, but that didn't happen.

Bachelorettes get special perks.
On the ship we got invited to the bridge and were given VIP status for exiting the boat. The next night, we got free shots and the bachelorette got free admission.

The best way to recover from allergies and a 3 a.m. bedtime is to lie by the pool.
And float in the lazy river. But only if the river is actually lazy, and not completely stagnant like one of them was.

The best way to start a night of bachelorette fun is with a crazy waiter.
Our waiter helped Michelle cross off several items on her scavenger list by giving us free shots, serenading her, dancing with her, and all sorts of other fun.

Balloon hats aren't just for kids.
Thank goodness. 

Dueling piano bars are way fun.
I want to go again.

If you play "Yeah," by Usher, I have to dance.
I'm not a dancer, but when at a club with other ladies, I'll make do. Especially when playing this song, not sure why, it just makes me want to very nu-rhythmically move.

Taking your shoes off whilst resting outside a club in Myrtle Beach is an invitation for a foot massage.
A man saw that my heels were off, bent down, touched my foot, and asked if I wanted a massage. Given that I don't hold hands or really like to be touch by people I know, I went with a NO. 

Allergies+indoor smoke+loud music=pain
The sis and I ended our party a little after midnight because we weren't feeling well. But we had so much fun, despite the fact that we're apparently just getting old.

It's no North Carolina beach, but Myrtle Beach can be pretty.
View from our hotel:

A weekend of terrible allergies and little sleep will result in a 2-hour nap in the car.
And what a good nap it was.

If you're a good patient when receiving a band-aid, your sister will give you a sticker.
Her first aid kit had stickers. How cute is that?

I just love shopping with my mom and sister.
Mom met us in Raleigh to spend a few hours before I had to leave. I was tired and still feeling yucky, but casual hanging out with the family always makes me better.

Garden Ridge sells a variety of British telephone booths
And I want one.

The more places travelled to in the shortest amount of time, the more tired and stressed I am after it stops.
From Thursday to Sunday: DC to ALX to RMT to Raleigh to Myrtle Beach to RDU to BWI to DC via metro, train, car, boat, plane, and van. Whew. But oh well, it was fun.