Day 80: Walking on sunshine

Another thing I have just accepted that I will never be able to do: walk in high heels.

Thankfully, flats are back in style again and comprise 99% of my shoe collection. And how much do I love black ballerina flats? So much that I went through 3 pairs in the 6 months I was in London. The last pair, that I bought for 2 pounds at Primark, finally got a hole in them two weeks, a year after I bought them. Thus in need of a new favorite shoe, I bought two pairs of black flats at Nine West, which cost more than $20. I've NEVER had a pair that were more than $20, and each of these were a bit more than that. (But still on sale, of course.)

I now have two incredibly cute new pairs of flats, that will support my arches better, and given their brand and cost, last forever.

Day 79: Mad About March

It's that time of the year again, one of the BEST times of the year...MARCH MADNESS!

My first March Madness outside of North Carolina, where basketball is so integral to the way of life, that at only 5'8.5", I was still repeatedly asked, "You're tall, do you play basketball?" (The answer, other than that one disastrous season in sixth grade, NO!)

The good news is, the madness exists everywhere. To varying degrees of course, and it's never the same as it is when surrounded by fellow Tar Heels, but it's madness nonetheless.

Including at my work, where today I entered my first ever work pool, for anything, for the NCAA tournament brackets.

And now I'm looking at my pristine bracket, no highlights over the correct picks, no scratch-outs or bad words around the incorrect ones. Just a blank slate and the slight inkling of hope that maybe this year I won't totally and completely suck at it. Or not.

Day 78: Je vois la vie en rose

Thanks to being a contributing member of society once again - i.e. receiving a steady paycheck - I can allow myself the luxury of renewing my Netflix subscription. I received my first movie, "La Vie en Rose," a few days ago, and watched it tonite. Or, read it tonite, as it was subtitled. (And the amount of words I knew without the subtitles was disgustingly low. Did I toil and trudge through three semester of it at Carolina for nothing? Apparently so.)

But as I was trying to paint my nails and read/watch at the same time, something had to give. Thus I attempted painting one of my hands whilst reading the screen. Surely after years and years of painting my nails, I'd be deft enough to do it without actually looking at the nail?

Nope. But I am very good at removing nail polish from my entire finger without looking. And very very good at admitting defeat, pausing the movie, and trying again.

Day 77: "You have overburdened your argument with ostentatious erudition." (Abigail to John, "John Adams")

There's a reason why I kept one of my majors as History, even after deciding not to go to law school, knowing that technically I would never use it. (Technically in the practical sense that advisers and many adults couldn't get over why I would study something that I couldn't get a job in.)

It's because I love it. Because, ironically enough, it never gets old for me. It will always exist, and even when something seems set in stone, a person, event, or place, it never really is. History evolves just as much as the present does.

Anyway...enough of that. Today I watched the first two parts of the "John Adams" miniseries on HBO. While Adams is certainly no Jefferson - and the series' portrayal of him thus far is the only problem I have with it - he is still a very interesting figure. I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did, but I think I will be glued to my TV the next several Sundays. A shockingly accurate George Washington, funny rebels from South Carolina, and the most gruesome and disturbing tar and feathering scene, to name a few. And it's all, mostly, true.

Day 76: Just say no...to junk mail

If I had a quarter for every credit card offer I got in the mail, I could afford to pay off my current credit card.

Yes, I realize that is way cheesy, but it's true. And if I didn't immediately tear them, and all junk mail, in half and toss in my shred box, I would keep track of how many trees are killed in the name of Chase and Ing.

Thus, in the same vein as my best friend, the Do Not Call registry, I signed an online petition for a Do Not Mail registry. Joining the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and...some other famous people, I only really cared about Leo.

Day 75: Sat by the river and it made me complete (kind of)

Spring is thisclose to coming to Virginia. I don't normally care for Spring that much. Maybe because North Carolina tends to only have it for about a week, before sweltering kicks in. Or it's the pollen and itchy contacts and bees and my own pasty white legs. But after perpetually shivering for about five months now, I'm ready for a change.

Today was a preview, reaching mid to high 60s, I believe. In celebration of light jacket, no hat weather, I headed for Old Town Alexandria and Clarendon to do a little shopping. I worked up an appetite with all the bag carrying and debit card swiping, and I ate a hot fudge sundae on a bench along the Potomac.

Day 74: 3.14159

I hate math as much as I love chocolate, Jon Stewart, and London: combined. I don't like numbers in any form. I'd rather make 4 dozen cookies than calculate how to make only 1. I'd rather just leave too much of a tip, than do all that fancy percentage work needed to calculate it correctly.

But I made an exception today and celebrated Pi day, a mathematician's favorite day of the year.

Did I do it by measuring circumferences of circles to my heart's content? Haha, like I could remember how to do that anyway. Did I pull out some trig formulas from the far corners of my brain? Of course not, they barely stuck around long enough during my actual trig class.

Nope, in honor of this great pi day, I ate pie. Thus turning a nerd's holiday, into a Bonnie holiday. Or, just any other day.

Day 73: Saving for a rainy day

In an effort to avoid seeing my bank account balance and having a panic attack, I'm trying to be better with keeping track of what I spend and save. I've tried keeping an emergency $20 in my wallet before, but as "emergency" in my mind occasionally means purchasing British Glamour and then splurging at Starbucks...I never manage to keep it around long. Mom suggested I take some and hide it in my room somewhere instead. The principle, I suppose, being that I'll save while not constantly being reminded of its prescence. (I.e. the way Mr. Jackson would call to me from the "secret" wallet compartment when I passed Barnes and Noble.) Thus there is now a $20 bill hidden in my room. Hopefully I'll add to it every week or so and can splurge on something nice at the end of the year.

Or, if in two weeks this whole budgeting thing was just a passing fad, and I have no money for food, someone can remind me of this post, please.

Day 72: Confused, hug or eat?

I am never a fan of the "viral" videos and images that circulate so heavily on the internet. So I've always tried to ignore the "Lolcats" of icanhascheezburger. Primarily because I don't like cats, and I really really don't like improper grammar. Really really don't like it. But then this one just melted my heart into a puddle of goo, so I'm sharing one of the lolcats, so your heart can be melted too.

Day 71: Jump around

Is it really weird that I like to brush my teeth? That when I'm at home and have ready access I'll brush my teeth after every meal and snack. That I used to use those creepy "brush-up" things like crazy, before they stopped carrying them. (I think they stopped, I haven't seen them in awhile.) Anyway...tonite I spiced up my brushing routing by hopping around on one foot whilst brushing. I know you're thinking, "Girl gags on toothbrush in tragic hopping incident," but it is surprisingly easy to jump and brush. Jump and spitting is another matter, however.