Sweet Bea

Introducing... ????

2009-08-20T20:11:00.006-04:00

Hi sweet friends - did you forget about me?

Sorry I've been so bad about blogging since the big announcement that I was picking up and moving to Arizona...the move happened incredibly quickly and this week has been a blur!

But, here I am, in an empty office at 5:00 p.m. - such a weird feeling! I have never worked a job where I come in at 9:00 a.m. and can leave at 5:00 p.m. I'm not saying this to show what a hard worker I am (though I do pride myself on my work ethic) but it is just a very strange experience, especially on a campaign where you usually work over 80 hours per week.

But I'm not at all complaining! After all, here I am, chatting with ya'll, singing away to my blaring Les Mis on my iTunes (don't ask...I'm a bit of a diva apparently when the office closes...)

My work hours and musical delusions are not the point of this post, however.

I'd like to introduce you all to my new little buddy!

{Hi guys!}

My brand-new-to-me Ford Escape Hybrid. Super cute, eh???

Just one little problem - little buddy needs a name.

And...that's where ya'll come in! :)

What do you think I should name it? (Ugh, I HATE calling it it, but I don't know if I should name it after a girl, like a car...or after a boy, like a truck!)

Comment me your suggestions by SUNDAY at midnight Pacific (yes, I know...technically that is Monday...whatever) and then I'll post the names and ya'll can vote!

Some names that will already be banned from competition: Lulu (too many friends with that nickname), Delilah, Lucy, and Bo (Florida's truck's name.)

But other than those restrictions - have fun! I can't wait to see what you all come up with! :)

Cheers!

Channeling Mama Bea

2009-08-11T19:26:00.003-04:00

Ever stop to realize how silly the things are that we form emotional attachments to?

Mama Bea is notorious for keeping items simply because of their emotional value - my elementary school artwork, Brother Bea's many sports trophies, our graduation gowns and toys/blankets/stuffed animals...and I always tease her because our small house is stuffed to the gills with stuff.

Not artifacts, collections, or anything like that. Just stuff.

Florida and I were moving things around in "his" bedroom in our apartment today and I asked him what this big blue piece of material was. He answered that it was his graduation gown. I laughed.

He blamed it on his mom...but then again if he didn't want it, he could just get rid of it...after all his mom lives in Florida and probably wouldn't notice if it went missing.

And yet, just now, as I clean out my closets and continue the never ending process of packing I find myself channeling my inner Mama Bea (and Lord knows how I try to keep that woman out!)

My denim mini-skirts that I only wear on my birthday...

Mama Bea's vintage t-shirt that says "100% Fat Free..."

or Mama Bea's vintage t-shirt that says "Never trust anyone under 6,000 feet - Lake Tahoe..."

The sequined tube top Grandma Bea made for me...

hell...all my sequined tube tops (there are few. Don't judge...)

The many pairs of pants and skirts that simply no longer fit but were expensive and therefore in my mind should be kept...

It's all so silly...and yet it's causing a major delay in my packing.

I know that I don't want to pack, ship, and store these items...yet my emotional attachment to them is so strong I just know I will break into tears if one day I open my closet and don't see my favorite 100% Fat Free shirt.

Nothing more to this post - just my random thoughts on the packing process thus far (which is terriboo!)

Happy Tuesday evening, sweet friends!

Cheers,

PS - yes I know that I am a woman of a certain age and women of certain ages do NOT wear sequined tube tops and denim miniskirts...

The Business Casual Blues vol. 1

2009-08-07T11:00:00.001-04:00

Haven't we all been there? Just when we get comfortable in the rules, regulations, and standard operating procedures of our workplace wardrobes, the game changes* and we find ourselves staring blankly into the void of our burgeoning closet and shout with all that is left of our strength:

I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!

At risk of being fired because we show up to work wearing what the lady in the Bluefly.com cocktail commercials dons, we have two options:

1. Run like mad for the nearest shopping area (because online shopping just won't do in a time crunch!)

2. Shop in our own closets.

As you know, I am moving to the Valley of the Sun in T-one week. After years spent working on Capitol Hill (most recently for the most fashionable Member...a very tough act to live up to!) I now find myself facing the most daunting wardrobe task of all - the dreaded "business casual" office.

Given my recent off-the-Hill and campaign work, I now have the two wardrobe extremes: the "I am a professional, damnit, in a suit 5 days a week balls-to-the-wall on the Hill" wardrobe...and the "I just don't give a damn anymore and no one cares anyways" wardrobe.

In an attempt to save money and have less to pack for my move I decided that I would follow the #2 option listed above: Shop in my own closet. Besides, as the ever elegant (and one of the most fashionable ladies I know) Miss Mindless puts it: at what point do we say, "Enough! I have enough!"

I must admit - I was fairly impressed with the results. Are any of these outfits on the cutting edge of fashion? No. And that's just fine by me - I like classic things and I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who considers me to be trendy in any way.

Here are some of the pieces I pulled together. It should be noted that, before this exercise, I had never worn any of these combinations before - so to me these truly are brand new outfits.

Shirt: J. Crew Slim Stretch Shirt - White
Pants: J. Crew Original Fit Chino - Stone
Belt: Ann Taylor Wide Patent Belt - Black
Shoes: Enzo Angiolini peeptoe heels - Black
Necklace: Express - Black

Shirt: J. Crew Cashmere T - Black
Pants: J. Crew Original Fit Chino - Stone
Belt: J. Crew Refined Skinny Leather Belt - Black
Shoes: Linea Paolo Patent heels - Red (!!)
Necklace: Banana Republic - Pearl

Up close shot of my shoes, since my pants are a wee bit too long. The jury is still out as to whether these are actually office-appropriate or not. I sure do love 'em!

Shirt: J. Crew Slim Stretch shirt - White

Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - Pink
Belt: Ann Taylor Wide Patent Belt - Black
Shoes: Enzo Angiolini peeptoe heels - Black
Necklace: Express - Black

Shirt: J. Crew Slim Stretch shirt - White
Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - Mustard
Sweater: J. Crew Jackie Sweater - Navy
Shoes: crappy kitten heel boots - Brown

Necklace: "borrowed" from Grandma Bea's closet - Orange

Shirt: Express Sleeveless Wrap - Leopard

Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - White
Sweater: J. Crew Jackie Sweater - Black
Shoes: Engo Angiolini peeptoe heels - Black

Necklace: Nordstrom Long pearl strand - Pearl

Shirt: Express Sleeveless Wrap - Leopard

Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - White
Sweater: Ann Taylor Cardigan - Green
Shoes: Engo Angiolini peeptoe heels - Black

Necklace: Nordstrom Long pearl strand - Pearl

Shirt: Gap Lace-trim Tank Top - White
Vest: J. Crew cable knit vest - Navy

Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - White
Jacket: J. Crew Seersucker - Navy
Shoes: Payless Linen kitten heels - Yellow

Necklace: Nordstrom Long pearl strand - Pearl

Up close of yellow kitten heels. Pretty darned cute for $15, eh?? Pretty darned comfy too!

Shirt: Gap Lace-trim Tank Top - White
Vest: J. Crew cable knit vest - Navy

Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - White
Belt: Ann Taylor Wide Patent Belt - Green
Shoes: Enzo Angioloni Peeptoe heels - nude (not shown!)

Necklace: Nordstrom Long pearl strand - Pearl

Shirt: Ann Taylor Cashmere sleeveless sweater w/ tie - Turquoise

Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - White
Sweater: J. Crew Jackie Cardigan - Black
Belt: J. Crew Refined Skinny Leather Belt - Black
Shoes: Kenneth Cole Patent Flats - Black

Brooch: "Borrowed" from Grandma Bea's closet

Shirt: Banana Republic Silk Blouse - Black

Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - White
Belt: J. Crew Refined Skinny Leather Belt - Black
Shoes: Kenneth Cole Patent Flats - Black
Necklace: Nordstrom Long pearl strand - Pearl

Upclose of the BR silk blouse - love me some polka dots! :)

See? Like I said, nothing major or earth shattering. But, at least for now, my new business casual wardrobe provides me with several options. Add on top of this my dress collection (including a new DVF dress I got at Bloomingdale's for a scant $60!) and some other separates to be posted about later, and I'm actually feeling quite good about presenting myself in a good manner!

If you have any comments, critiques, advise, or suggestions - please fell free to let me know! As I mentioned I've never been in a business casual environment before and therefore perhaps don't understand the intricacies of what is appropriate/expected.

On this note, by the time you are reading this I will be off to the mountains with Florida, The Northerner, and her hubby and puppy for some quality camping time. If you've ever seen the four of us together...you know we are in for a veeeeeeeeery interesting, and fun, weekend.

Have a wonderful weekend, Sweet Friends!

Cheers,

* For Capitol Hill staffers, this change of policy is usually called August recess...where far too often professional staffers are confused for tourists, save for the ID badge. Sigh...

PS - I apologize for the rumpled state of some of my clothes...they had been thrown into a suitcase in a makeshift attempt at cleaning the apartment before the landlord brought over a potential new tenant. Also, I know most of the pants (except for the rumply white ones) are too long...I unfortunately rarely wear them, as they were all (except for the rumply white ones) purchased during my last campaign when it because clear that my jeans - my only non-suit pants - were simply not going to zip any longer. And since I needed to wear them ASAP, I just rolled the cuff up and wore them like that. Pretty? No. Practical? Yes. Win some, lose some...

PPS - If you want some fun while shopping in your own closet, head over to here and join in the fun! I plan on playing once I am settled in Arizona.

jewelry without jewels Giveaway!

2009-08-01T19:41:00.003-04:00

Hi Ya'll - happy Saturday!

I am having a GREAT day - enjoying a Saturday off to spend time with my man (who is currently snoozing on the couch) and getting things done in advance of my big move to Arizona in a few weeks.

BUT - that not the point of this post. :)

If you remember, in honor of my 100th post, I held a *jewelry without jewels* giveaway, which was won by the lovely Wearing Mascara.

Well, Erica, the creative force behind *jewelry without jewels* is at it again - hosting her own giveaway for one of her fabulous necklaces from her new season to celebrate her new website!

Head on over to enter, or visit her Etsy store (don't we all just love Etsy??) to pick up some gifts for your besties today!

Have a lovely Saturday!

Cheers,

When I Roll Into the ...When I Stroll Into the...When I Bounce into...the Wild Wild West!

2009-07-29T00:55:00.004-04:00

Big news folks, big. HUGE!

I got a job.

And the crowd goes wild!

It's in Arizona

And a hush falls over the crowd.

Yup...I'm packing my bags and heading out West, back to my college town (kinda...going to Phoenix, went to school in Tempe, just outside Phoenix.)

I'm taking a gig with an issue-based campaign as their Communications Director. This will give me fantastic statewide press experience, and hopefully help me get a campaign job when the 2010 Congressional races start up in the spring/summer.

If you remember from my Tweets, I mentioned that I got cold called by a company because I put my resume up on a political website...well 2 interviews and a lengthy reference check process later, they are the organization who hired me!

Oh yea...did I mention I'll be leaving in about 2 weeks? Yea...awesome.

If you've been following my Tweets, you'll also know that I've had just the WORST luck trying to get a new apartment here in DC...and now I'm thinking that all those rejections (and believe you me...there were a TON!) were for a reason - I was meant to take this job. (This also make me feel better about myself, so I don't think that people just didn't want to rent to me/live with me.)

I am bittersweet about the entire thing...I am going to miss my DC friends dearly (especially my bloggy friends - and especially especially this gal who is moving to my neighborhood as we speak!) and then there of course is the whole Florida issue.

Long story short with Florida: not sure what is going to happen. He's known from the very beginning that I haven't wanted anything serious...so we'll see. After the Badger debacle I'm totally against being in another long-distance relationship.

So if I don't write for a few weeks, know that I still love you all very much and I am just busily packing up my apartment, finding places to store everything, buying a car (no public transportation in Phoenix!), moving across the country (again...), finding a place to live, and oh yea - starting a brand new job.

I guess I'll have to change my header to "Thoughts on life and love in our State Capital city!" haha!

I hope you all have a fantastic rest of the week - thankfully I took the rest of the week off work (my lease was supposed to end July 31 and I knew I'd need the last final days to pack because I might possibly be the worst worst procrastinator EVER) so I'll be starting to pack and go through things and do a ton of research on my new job!

Cheers,

PS - If you happen to have a spare room in your place in the Phoenix area (and you know who you are...) and want a clean-ish roomie, let me know! :)

Running of the Brides: DC Edition

2009-07-19T22:53:00.002-04:00

I think I might like being the "FOB" (Friend of Bride) because I get to be there for all the fun planning stuff, but without having to pay for it (or marry the groom.)*

As I mentioned in my Tweets, I've had 3 couples (6 good friends!) get engaged in the past 3 weeks (actually, all within 5 days of each other!)

One couple, Friend and his girlfriend (I refuse to call her his fiancee) are simply NOT right for each other (she is my friend but he needs to do better...she is WAAAAAAAAAY too over dramatic for him.)

The other 2 couples I could not be more excited for.

Bear and Dougle were my campaign BFF's during the last cycle, when I was in CA. Dougle (the boy) and I shared an office, and Bear (the girl) and I hit it off as soon as we met. Their relationship was interesting because he was her boss...and one of the other staffers who worked for Dougle thought that he was showing Bear favoritism in the work she was being assigned. I can honestly say that this was because she simply is a good worker and the complainer was a whiny, spoiled brat with a sadly inflated sense of self-importance.

BP is my college buddy and I've loved his now-fiancee ever since the first time I met her, while we were brushing our teeth in the guest bathroom in pj's at BP's folks home in Madison (this was during my campaign in Wisconsin, and I had a training in Madison.) BP and D have since moved to DC and currently live across the street from me. We have so much fun together - it's never awkward when just the 3 of us (or when Florida comes along.)

Tonight was the first time I've gotten to see BP and D since their 4th of July engagement, and it was completely spur of the moment: I went to peek at a house I emailed about earlier today and decided I'd pop into their house across the street before an appointment to look at another house. We chatted for a bit, Florida and I went to the appointment, and then came back (with beer) and settled in for a longer chat.

Turkey chili followed, and D and I got into chatting about wedding planning. We somehow started talking about the Filene's Basement bridal gown sale, and BP Googled it to see when it was.

It's in 2 weekends.

Cue angelic music from high atop the thing (bonus points for getting the reference!)

Instantly, D and I started making plans.

We are both going to take that day off work.

We are going to Filene's earlier in the week so we can map out our attack plan. There will be sketches and flow charts. The planning for this would make the Navy SEALs proud.

She will be wearing flip flops and leggings (though the article BP pulled up said some brides wear bike shorts and a bandeau top. I told her I would start working for her enemy if she wore that.)

We will be in matching shirts so we can easily identify each other (preferably in neon!)

We are going to have Sharpies and posterboard.

We are going to have walkie-talkies (my codename: Foxtrot. Her's: Delta.)

We are going to kick some brides' BUTTS to get my girl the dress of her dreams.

SO: Has anyone done the Filene's Basement Running of the Brides sale before? Or any sample sale like this? What are your suggestions? Tips and Tricks? Words of warning?

Delta and Foxtrot look forward to your thoughts!

Cheers,

*Not that I don't love the groom in this particular case. But given that his little brother is LBP...it might be awkward. ;)

This one's for you, Blue Eyed Bride...or how Fleetwood Mac saved my relationship and my life

2009-07-16T23:57:00.005-04:00

(not only an accurate title...but also words that Stevie Nicks said in dedication of Landslide to her Daddy (replace Blue Eyed Bride with Daddy...you get it. It will make more sense in a few seconds. Just keep reading.)

So Blue Eyed Bride mentioned on her Twitter that she loves Fleetwood Mac's The Dance album, and I responded that I had quite the story involving that album's DVD, peach margaritas, candles, and my ex-boyfriend's mom who told me that since I was from California, I must be crazy.

Seriously.

To my face.

During our very first conversation.

Bless ex-boyfriend's heart for standing up for me and telling his mom the next morning that what she said was really offensive. She then spent rest of that day trying to make it up to me.

Let me set the scene.

Ex-boyfriend Colgs and I were in town (Chicago) for our friend's wedding. We had just started (secretly) dating, and we were going to be spending the weekend at his folks house. Colgs comes from a very close-knit family, and I knew that their approval would seal my fate, either way.

I thought I was charming and they would love me at once. However...

...during the introductions (the INTRODUCTIONS! I had literally JUST met this woman 2.5 seconds ago!) this is what ensued:

Mama Colgs: Bea, so you're from San Diego, right?

Bea: Actually, I'm from San Francisco - the other part of the state.

Mama Colgs: Oh. Well it's the same thing, everyone from California is crazy.

Bea: {awkwardly} ummmm...yea, we are, heh...it's what we're known for (?????)

Colgs: {quickly} Um, so Mom, can we help with dinner??

Yea...basically called me a crazy to my face. Awesome.

So the next day, Colgs had to go to work (we flew in on Thursday night) and left me alone in his house.

With his mother.

It was tense, to say the least. She knew I was pissed and offended, and didn't know what to say to apologize.

So we were talking about the wedding over a late breakfast and who knows how, but somehow Fleetwood Mac came up.

Well I guess she realized that I must not be crazy if I like Fleetwood Mac, so she decided that we needed to put on the DVD.

Now we can enter the margaritas.

When Colgs came home a few hours later (he left work early, worried about me and his mom alone...) Mama Colgs and I were several pitchers of William Sonoma peach margaritas deep, the DVD was STILL on (and had been repeated a few times), every single candle in the house was brought to the family room and lit, and Mama Colgs and I were dancing and singing* in the middle of the room to the blasting DVD (because we had spent much time enjoying our frosty margaritas on the patio, and we had to hear the music out there too, obvi!)

He took one look at us, dancing and swaying and singing, and walked back out and headed back to the office.

The world may never know if he left because he knew his mom and I were getting along famously and didn't need a babysitter...or because he was simply scared of what he saw in that family room that day.

The rest of the trip was fine, and Mama Colgs and I remained very close throughout our year-long relationship. In fact, Colgs and I are still very good friends, and as his parents are both in the pharmaceutical field, whenever I have questions about medications (I'm very allergic to a few common ones) I still call them for advice.

When we got back to DC, I wanted to send them a bottle of wine (I tried to find more W&S peach margarita mix...but they were sold out for the summer and I've never seen them again) to thank them for letting me stay in their home.

Attached to the wine was a note that read: A bottle of California wine from your favorite crazy Californian.

And there, Blue Eyed Bride and all my sweet friends, is my story of how Fleetwood Mac saved my relationship and my life.

Happy Friday!

*I believe the song on at the time was Tusk...in which case we were also playing air instruments alongside the USC Marching Band...

I am...an American Girl!

2009-07-16T15:49:00.004-04:00

I ~~might be~~ am in love.

NOT with Florida.

With Dierks Bentley.

I've always been a fan, since he's a good ol' Arizona boy...but it was not until a few minutes ago when I truly realized our love is meant to be (Florida and his wife be damned.)

Here's why:

This is Mr. Dierks Bea's tweet from July 3

http://twitpic.com/976g6 - watching roger clyne and the peacemakers rock it out...a fellow AZ native.going to sing petty's american girl
Um. SWOON!

Not only do I:

1. Love me some Dierks Bentley, but I

2. Love me some Roger Clyne, but I also

3. Love me some Tom Petty, AND

4. AMERICAN GIRL IS MY FAVORITE ~~TOM PETTY~~ SONG EVER!

I mean, come on now...are you freakin kidding me?????

How am I possibly going to function today knowing that somewhere out there (beneath the pale moonlight...) Mr. Dierks Bea is just waiting for me to come watch the Peacemakers do a kick-ass version of my favorite song EVER with him??

Hope you are all having a most amazing Thursday - I know I (now) am!

Cheers,

PS - bonus points for singing along to any of the songs in this post :)

Blog Redesign...

2009-07-16T02:08:00.008-04:00

Hi friends!

Miss me yet??

Sorry I've been so blah about posting...I have lots to say but just don't feel like sitting down and putting mouse to screen.

But, I've decided that my blog is boring, old, and stuffy (in both design AND content, actually!) so I've made some design changes (obvi) and there will perhaps be some content redesign too.

(Don't worry, I'm not going toooooo far away from the norm. There will still be lots of random posts about me falling down, things Florida eats, and whatever crosses my little mind.)

I think I'm going to start featuring an item from my wardrobe that I've always loved and get some fresh ideas from you all on how best to wear it. It will be my own version of shopping, since I still don't have a real job that allows me the luxury of retail shopping. Le sigh...

I hope you all have been well - if you've been missing me, please follow me on Twitter...I'm much better at updating my tweets than I am this little corner of the interwebs.

Cheers,

AIDS is DC's Katrina

2009-07-02T15:14:00.003-04:00

(Source: http://www.aidshealth.org)

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

Yes, it is provocative. Yes, it is thought-provoking. Yes, it is encouraging debate.

But is it appropriate?

To give a bit of background for those non-Beltway folks (read: people outside of the DC area,) DC does have a staggering AIDS problem. According to the AIDS Healthcare Forum, the group behind this ad, the AIDS rate in DC is over 3%.

The imagery shows President Bush looking from Air Force One over the devastation Katrina left behind - devastation many feel he did not do enough to rectify before leaving office. It is left to the reader to deduce that President Bush's non-action during Katrina is tantamount to President Obama's non-action over the AIDS epidemic (assuming they mean nationwide, as AHF is based in Los Angeles, not DC.)

I've been meaning to write about this for some time now, as it is the ad in my bus stop I sit at nearly every day. In fact, the ads are primarily being displayed in bus stops, and bus riders, at least on the lines I ride, tend to be African-American.

It is no secret that AIDS disproportionately affects minorities. I wonder, however, if President Obama were white (or perhaps, if it were President McCain,) if we would be seeing the same ad. Would the hands gripping the cardboard be white hands? Would there be a different tragedy used as the central image?

I don't have the answers. But, I open this topic up to constructive debate, well aware that I might get hateful comments and email.

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Ouch...or why DC ain't big enough for both of us, Owen Wilson

2009-06-24T13:30:00.007-04:00

NOTE: This was SUPPOSED to be a scheduled post, but since I clearly lack the capacity to schedule posts correctly, you get to read it now. It's short and sweet, and with pics. :)

Ouch.

I got elbowed in the nose last night by my coworker.

It was on accident, so I'm not terribly mad at her (though still mad!)

I have a small black eye (though Florida says I'm imagining it) and my already large-and-in-charge nose is swollen (Florida admits that it is swollen.)

I totally almost pulled Marsha's "Now I'll never be a teen model!" line from the Brady Bunch Movie but decided that at nearly-30 my window for being a teen model has sadly passed.

Needless to say, I didn't get any sleep last night because my nose and head hurt and I'm incredibly freaked out about finding a job and a new apartment, so now both my eyes have heavy dark circles around them - making it look like I have 2 black eyes.

Ugh.

On the flip side, here are some quick pics from the wedding I had the pleasure of attending in Milwaukee this past birthday weekend.

At some point soon there will be a recap of my Florida adventures and more/better pics from the wedding...but until that time, enjoy these!

Exchanging of the rings

Close-up of her bouquet - notice the lovely blue irises??

The bride - she was truly beautiful

The salad, in a martini glass. Quite clever, I thought!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS - thank you all for my birthday wishes!!Birthday in Milwaukee was a blast, celebrating at the Old German Beer Hall with an old friends and new friends, and ending with Chinese food, pajamas, and The DaVinci Code movie. DC Birthday part 1 was last Friday with a YUMMY dunner at Zaytinya, one of my FAVE restaurants in the city, with Florida, Bestie, her boyfriend gK, and our good friend WestWing (for her fave show) who just moved back to DC and looked SMASHING. DC Birthday part 2 - the karaoke edition - will be sometime in July when everyone's schedules open back up.

Happy Birthday to ME!

2009-06-20T08:00:00.002-04:00

Everybody sing along now:

Happy Birthday to ME,

Happy Birthday TO ME,

Happy Birthdaaaaaaaaaaaay to MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE,

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPY Birthday, TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(hitting the high note at the end!)

Today, your fearless leader, moi, turns the big 2-9.

When I return from Milwaukee (stupid ass friends planning their wedding on my birthday weekend. I was here first!) there will be dinners at Zaytinya, karaoke (duh!,) and perhaps (if I am lucky/persuasive enough,) a trip to Medieval Times.

Hopefully someone will come home from Milwaukee to a lovely display of blue irises (her favorite!) If not, her Bestie will remember and bring some to dinner (she ALWAYS does!)

Hope you are all enjoying MY birthday! Have fun for me!!!

(Birthday) Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS - Don't worry, I'll be back to my *slightly* less selfish self after the birthday festivities wind down and the countdown to 30 starts...

Why Tequila and Champagne are my BFFs...or why National Airport, Midwest Airlines, Alamo Rental Cars, and yes, even NASCAR, are on my bad side...

2009-06-19T11:17:00.006-04:00

NOTE: This post was supposed to be done yesterday, but I needed ~~some booze~~ a day to decompress. So here it is, a day late (and 400 dollars short.)

Today, I flew to Milwaukee for a friend's wedding.

But, as with nearly all my air travel, it did not go without complications.

After staying up waaaaaay to late on Wednesday night playing on the blog and avoiding packing, I woke up at 9:00 a.m. to pack for my 2:00 p.m. flight out of National. Read: tired and cranky.

Side note: DC has 2 airports: Reagan National, just outside the city, and Dulles, about 45 minutes away (without traffic.)

Eventually I packed and showered and got ready to go to the airport. Florida took leave today so he could drive me - ain't he sweet? We decided that since he was off today we would use the day off to also get his new parking permit so he didn't keep getting parking tickets every night.

Florida drops me of at the airport and heads off to meet with my leasing agent to get the required proof of residency form that my agent said he would fill out for Florida.

I meanwhile check-in at Midwest and am informed that my flight is 15 minutes delayed.

15 minutes? No sweat!

I cruise through security (cutting my bare footsie on a shard of glass in the process...) and find a seat at my gate, get settled and comfy, and start reading Something Blue (FAB!)

A bit later I realize I haven't heard any announcement from the gate regarding the delay - which was now much more than 15 minutes late. But what I do hear is the gentleman sitting across from me talking to his neighbor, saying that the plane was at Dulles.

Dulles.

The other DC airport.

I am absolutely incredulous at this proclamation, so I decide I must head to the counter to verify for myself - because there had still not been any announcement from the gate.

Yup - plane at Dulles (DULLES!)

Nope - they have no idea when it is arriving at National.

Dejected, I return to my seat and decide a call to Mama Bea was in order. Yea, because she always cheers me up...

50 minutes later, Mama Bea and I hang up because my cell battery is somehow dying - still no info on when our plane is arriving, nor any official announcement from the gate.

I get a text from Florida:

Sorry to bug you while you're on the phone with Mama Bea, but you have to fill out the form so I need to wait until you get back to go to the DMV.

Wait - what??

Leasing agent SPECIFICALLY said that HE (leasing agent) would fill out the form and notarize it as he is a notary public (I think it what it's called.) And now he says that I have to fill it out?

So of course, I call the leasing agent and leave a very terse message: I am at the airport getting ready to board my plane (lie) and you need to call me back immediately to resolve this issue as you said you needed to fill out the form and notarize it.

Leasing agent calls back and informs me that no, my information (gotten from him!) was wrong and I actually had to fill the form out, sorry! (HATE my leasing agent.)

I call Florida back and just say - fill out the form with my info and sign it. I am not waiting to deal with this on Monday, and he needs the permit TODAY.

Oh, and still no announcement from the gate.

30 minutes later, Florida sends me this text:

I need a copy of your license before I can get the permit. And a copy of the lease with your name on it.

I swear I about lost it and replied with:

If ONE MORE THING goes wrong today I am going to SCREAM!

My plane is now 3 hours delayed (and was supposed to be touching down in Milwaukee and my magical plane was at the WRONG AIRPORT!) and Florida can't get the permit that we need today so he doesn't get any more tickets...I was about to lose it.

I finally hear an announcement that we are boarding (hmm, no one ever announced that our plane had arrived, but sweet!) I push through the line because I am in Row 9 and that is what the are boarding, and hand the agent my boarding pass.

She tells me I need to go to the next gate.

Huh??

Apparently they have CHANGED GATES. Awesome. Several people around me also then go to the "correct" gate, where they are boarding as well.

The idiotic boarding agent (who at this point is being so incredibly rude it was unbelievable. Lady - if you make an announcement, people won't individually come up to you every 5 minutes to find out what's going on. Not hard...) rudely takes my ticket while saying (not over the loudspeaker) that this is the final boarding call for our flight. What an idiot. No one can hear you! No one is here to board!

FINALLY on the plane I start to stress about getting a rental car when I land in Milwaukee. Yes I should have reserved online but frankly I was only home for one day and had to work most of it and then ran errands the rest of it and it slipped my mind. Sue me.

There is a fresh wad of gum on the floor directly in front of my seat - right where my feet or purse would go. Awesome.

Trying to ignore the horrible children sitting in the row in front of me shaking their seat so much that I literally couldn't read my book that was sitting on the tray table (and trying with all my might to not 1) yell at them/their mother, 2) punch the back of their seat to get them to stop) I looked at the drink menu.

I do not drink (on planes.)

I hate to fly, and I learned early in my aviation career that Bea + plane booze = a vocally terrified, neurotic, paranoid Bea. Not good.

But Jack Daniels looked mighty, mighty good to me right then.

Luckily for me and my still-full wallet, bu the time they came around (much too late in the flight, in my opinion) I just got a Diet Dr. Pepper and waited patiently for the baked on board chocolate chip cookies (pretty much the only reason I fly Midwest.)

Once I had cookies in my tummy, things started getting better. I finished Something Blue (the book I STARTED at the airport!) and set about playing with my ipod and doing the crossword.

Pretty quickly, we landed. Sweet Lord, I am finally in Milwaukee.

I get my bag (2 rows behind me in the overhead bin...a total plane pet peeve of mine. Don't put your laptop/purse/coat in the overhead bin!) and take off to the rental car area.

Now, I just rented a car in Florida last weekend through Budget, and I have a coupon for a free weekend day rental, yay! I also have a coupon for $15.00 off through Alamo, double yay!

I decide to forgo the line at Budget and go next door to Alamo...where I am promptly told I cannot use my coupon because I don't have a reservation. Who cares if I made a reservation!

I huff off to wait in line at Budget. After waiting a few minutes, I realize that their sign saying Cars Available wasn't to be seen. I hear an agent on the phone with a customer saying something about NASCAR being in town...and I start to panic (It's not even real NASCAR - it's Busch Series...like the minor leagues of racing. Stupid stupid Busch Series!)

I look at my Budget coupon - also needed advance reservation.

Shit. Now what?

I saunter back over to Alamo with my tail between my legs, and request a car (their Cars Available sign was up.)

My cost (without any additional coverage or anything): $400.

$400!

For the exact same car I rented in Florida last weekend for under $100.

WTF?

I grimace and realize I don't have a choice, and fork over my debit card.

The agent, Nancy, asks for the printout of my return flight.

HUH? Yea...I don't have that.

She (not terribly) politely informs me that without proof of a return flight I can't use my debit card. SO stupid.

I ask her how I was expected to go about getting her a printout of my return flight. She responds that I needed to go the Midwest ticketing area and have one of them print out my return flight information.

Yea...right. That ain't happening. I just spent over 3 hours dealing with awful Midwest people...am NOT going to deal with another.

I very angrily throw my credit card at her (yes I know I am not being mature but I was PISSED!) and she informs me that my card says it was not authorized to be used.

You have GOT to be kidding me!

I yank back my card and dial the stupid credit card company to raise hell because I already activated this new card! There is no reason this shouldn't be working.

Meanwhile Alamo Nancy has called for backup, and one idiot boy has decided that talking to me while I am CLEARLY on the phone with the credit card company is a wise idea. He informs me that if my card was declined they can't run it again for 24 hours.

Shiiiiit.

I tell him that my card wasn't declined - it wasn't authorized, and that they would be running it again as soon as I was off the phone (take THAT Alamo Nancy and friends!)

Sure enough, 5 short minutes later, $400 was dumped onto my newly-reactivated credit card and I was angrily storming out to get my stupid car.

Ironically, the car is bright red, and I was red with anger.

Finally I get to my friend's house and we head off to dinner where we are approached by 2 ladies bearing Jose Cuervo Platino tequila shots. Yes, please! (PS what is it with me and tequila lately? I HATE tequila! But recently it has been soo good!) It is apparently a very exclusive tequila...but I'll tell you exactly what it tastes like:

Regular Tequila + water = Platino.

I told the girls this...they didn't look happy. But it was terrible - and my tablemates all agreed with my assessment. Sorry tequila girls, your shit sucks. Not my fault.

(Not to say I wouldn't have taken another shot has they given me more free booze...)

Next I decided to order the cava, but they were out, so they subbed in some very yummy champagne, which I ~~downed~~ elegantly sipped ~~a few glasses~~ one glass of.

Finally the wave of ~~booze~~ calm washed over me and I sunk back in my seat and remembered how much I love being in Milwaukee!

So today, I am feeling much better (save for the minor headache) and am looking forward to tonight's wedding - even if it is cold and rainy and the wedding is outdoors...

I'm sure there is more I am missing, but I need to hop in the shower to get ready for the wedding!

Wishing you all a fantastical weekend and blue, sunny skies!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

No 360 degree mirror needed here, Stacy London...or Why I will NEVER Move Away from My Bestie

2009-06-18T00:50:00.009-04:00

So, if you've read my tweets from this evening, you know that the dress I planned on wearing to this Friday's Milwaukee wedding that fit just last week or so now Will. Not. Fit. At. All.

I'm talking even with Spanx and hideous girdle-y type underoos would barely zip up.

And when it did, I looked a little like this. In other words: not pretty.

Here's what it looked like ~~5 years ago at my graduation party~~ last week (honest!):

Sorry for the sloppy ribbon belt...it had been a looooooong night. Speaking of long - check out my hair!! (I'm obvi on the left, College Bestie PIC on the right)

Another sloppy ribbon belt pic. Notice the horrific red surnburn?? Yea...I barely walked in the ceremony, I matched our maroon caps and gowns. Bad bad bad news. I use sunscreen now...College Besties KJ and PIC on the left and right, respectively

The sash I bought at David's Bridal per Mrs. Newlywed's brilliant suggestion looked great...until I moved. And then it rode up from around my waist and gave my underwire a run for its money. Sigh.

When I added the wrap I bought and my shoes and pearl necklace, I looked absolutely ridiculous. Even Florida looked up from his ~~boring ass~~ exhilarating world history novel long enough to tell me I looked silly (but not fat, he said. Just silly.)

Freaking out since my plane left in less than 24-hours and I now had nothing to wear, I start tearing into my closet to find something, anything!, suitable for this wedding I already have no idea how to dress for.

I pulled out my new birthday maxi dress and tried a few options with it. Maybe...

Next comes my go-to strapless LBD that I've worn ~~eleventy billion times~~ every now and then since purchasing it my sophomore year of college (ASU ladies - anyone remember the name of the shop on Mill next to Z Gallerie-ish?? Small store, rude sales people, cute clothes??) This dress has possibilities.

I put the wrap and sash on...getting warmer, but still not right. Take the sash off. Put the sash back on. Try on different jewelry. Take off jewelry.

And on and on it goes. For an hour.

Frustrated and completely bewildered (and feeling like a sausage in my Spanx!) I call my Bestie.

Now I love this girl with all my heart - she is an amazing friend and I can't see myself in DC without her. But - she ain't perfect.

In fact, she often doesn't pick up her phone or return my texts. (Maybe she's just not that into me?)

So as her phone rang and rang and I grew more and more frustrated/worried/loud in my near-frantic cursing of her, I thought I was doomed to wear jeans to the wedding and start a new trend.

But she answered (mid-curse, mind you. I'm such a lady!)

Poor Bestie was still at work but would be headed home in about a half hour and would be available to help.

Thank GOD Bestie lives a mere 3 blocks away (she is, after all, the reason I picked our neighborhood when I moved into DC.) I packed ALL the dresses, ALL the jewelry, and ALL the accessories into my bag and scooted out the door at ~~breakneck speed ready to topple small children, puppies, and old people who dare get in my way~~ like a true, genteel lady.

Well in no time, she decided I would wear the black strapless dress and pulled out the PERFECT necklace and bangles for me to borrow (knowing full well there is a distinct possibility she will never get them back. I'm HORRIBLE about returning things unless you seriously remind me every day and threaten to take away our future play time!)

She also opined on what I should wear with the maxi dress (for my birthday dinner sometime next week) and even gave me an even MORE perfect sash to wear with the original turquoise dress in case I ~~miraculously have this baby I'm somehow carrying in my belly~~ stop retaining water in the next 48 hours. She is AWESOME.

So - here is the wedding outfit (I couldn't find anything but the shoes on stupid Polyvore or the Googles, so I made my own!)

A sneak peek into my bedroom. Yes that is a disco ball hanging from the doorknob. :)

close-up of Bestie's necklace. LOVE IT!

So you can see a bit more detail of the dress. It is incredibly simple, with just this ruching to the (food) baby bump.

So, long story short (too late!), Bestie has once again come to my aid and proven to me that I cannot survive unless she is rightthere to help me.

And I promise to give her her necklace and bangles back. Eventually...

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS - I'll be gone until Sunday, so expect at least one VERY IMPORTANT scheduled post. You won't want to miss it, I promise.

When you see the Southern Cross for the first time...

2009-06-15T11:00:00.000-04:00

Still on holiday in the Gulf! I wanted to bring you one of my *fave* Jimmy Buffett songs* in tribute to my own stay in Florida! Be home tomorrow!

Southern Cross

Got out of town on a boat goin' to southern islands.
Sailing a reach before a followin' sea.
She was makin' for the trades on the outside,
And the downhill run to Papeete Bay.

Off the wind on this heading lie the Marquesas.
We got eighty feet of the waterline.
Nicely making way.
In a noisy bar in Avalon I tried to call you.
But on a midnight watch I realized why twice you ran away.

Think about how many times I have fallen,
Spirits are using me, larger voices callin'.
What heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten.
I have been around the world,
Lookin' for that woman, girl,
Who knows love can endure.
And you know it will. And you know it will.

When you see the Southern Cross for the first time,
You understand now why you came this way.
'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small.
But it's as big as the promise, the promise of a coming day.

So I'm sailing for tomorrow, my dreams are a dyin'.
And my love is an anchor tied to you, tied with a silver chain.
I have my ship and all her flags are a flyin'
She is all that I have left and music is her name.

Think about how many times I have fallen,
Spirits are using me, larger voices callin'.
What heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten.
I have been around the world,
Lookin' for that woman, girl,
Who knows love can endure.
And you know it will. And you know it will.

So we cheated and we lied and we tested
And we never failed to fail, it was the easiest thing to do.
You will survive being bested.
But somebody fine will come along make me forget about loving you.
At the Southern Cross

*Yes, I know it's not actually a Buffett song - it's a Crosby, Stills, and Nash song. But the first time I heard it live was back at a Buffett concert so I will always think of Jimmy when I hear it. The video is from the 2006 Buffett concert here in the DC area that I was SUPPOSED to go to, but ended up in Wisconsin for the campaign instead.

GUEST POST: Always a Northerner

2009-06-14T11:00:00.001-04:00

Because, as you all know, I am off gallivanting the Gulf Coast with Florida, I brought in one of my awesome bloggy-turned-real-life-friend to guest post! Enjoy, and I'll be back soon!

If I set up my email rules correctly, your comments should be emailed to her - so feel free to comment away!

Hey all! I blog over at Always a Northerner and I am filling in for Sweet Bea while she is down in Florida soaking up the sun. I've got a major issue and need your help, so I am just going to jump right in and throw it all out there!

I have a lot of family members that read my blog, including my husband, so sometimes I can't talk about certain things. I have a problem that I would love other bloggers' opinion on, so guest blogging is the perfect way to blog about a dilemma without angering any family members. Right? At least, let's hope.

About a year ago my husband's sister got engaged to the guy she has been dating for a few years. When telling us the big news, she asked my husband and I to be in the wedding. We happily agreed to be attendants and to help with planning as much as possible, as we had just gone through it a few months prior to her engagement. The situation was slightly complicated by the fact that she lives in California and we live in DC, however, we both promised to do as much as we could to help. She informed us that she was planning to have the wedding the Saturday or Sunday of Labor Day weekend, which would work out great because it is easier for us (and the rest of her family) to travel out west for a weekend when an extra day like Labor Day is built in. Because life got crazy for all of us, we never actually communicated about the wedding again, until she contacted us last week with some new information.....

She decided to have a wedding where only 15 people are invited (including us) the THURSDAY before Labor Day and have the reception with family and friends on Sunday. All in California.

Obviously I am aware that it is her wedding and she can do whatever she wants, but seriously.... holy inconvenience.

I am a school psychologist in the public schools, and this is the second week of work for me. Also, this is my first year as a school psychologist, and I can't take off three days the second week of school, particularly on a holiday weekend. Taking time off before or after holidays is heavily frowned upon in general (because ALL school employees would take off then and there would be no one to work with the children), and doing it right after I begin working will look even worse. If this had been communicated to us prior to me accepting my current position, maybe I could have negotiated the days off, but at this point, I have already accepted without any special circumstances being brought to their attention.

Also, my husband will have just started his second year of law school and also shouldn't be missing important classes the first two weeks of school. However, his situation isn't nearly as serious as mine. It's just a tad inconvenient for him.

When she told us this we were honest and told her we would have to discuss our options given work and law school, hoping that she might be understanding if both or one of us (obviously me) couldn't make it for the wedding. Well, she must have told her parents what we said because a couple days later we received an email from my husband's mother telling us our attendance at the wedding is mandatory.

Nice.

I understand that she is family and that ideally we would be there, but doesn't making the wedding on a THURSDAY negate some of the obligation to be there?

I am just scared that I will forever be black listed by the family if I miss the wedding. As for work, I am scared to ask about taking the days off, because if they say no and then I take them as sick leave or something, I could lose my job and/or the chance to gain seniority in my position if I just skip out on work.

What would you do?

~The Northerner

Gone Coastal!

2009-06-13T11:00:00.000-04:00

I'm here:

Sanibel Island, Florida
(photo from thesanibelisland.com)

Watching these:

(photo from sanibel-online.com)

Collecting these:

(photo from flickr.com)

Doing this:

(photo from bornesversustravel.com)

(and catching more than this guy:)

Florida

Be back in a few days!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS - like the photo-journey idea for this post? Me too. That's why I blatantly stole it from Wearing Mascara. :)

UNEDITED FLORIDA PIC

2009-06-05T13:35:00.002-04:00

(my photo)

;)

What?? You didn't really think I'd show you his FACE on here, did ya?

Oh, you did?

Oh...

Well hmmmm...

Sorry! :)

Cheers,

(a very naughty)
Sweet Bea

PS: Dugout Daisy- this pic is for you :) Enjoy the tattoos!

What I came home to last night...

2009-06-04T11:24:00.003-04:00

(my pic)

Wonder where I am (other than behind the camera, obvi?)

I'm standing directly in front of my apartment.

Boo hiss DC's yucky thunderstorms! :(

I've spent my day off playing around on the interwebs, getting ready for tonight's softball game (weather permitting, ugh!) and making plans for hanging out with some of my FAVORITE ladies tomorrow night.

Florida is en route to Texas for work and I fully plan on enjoying our brief separation...I need some alone and girl time!

BUT - he won't be out of my mind entirely...stay tuned for his first UNEDITED photo to appear on my blog tomorrow. (I know, get excited.)

Other than that, absolutely nothing new to report except I've found this AMAZING blog, courtesy of Legally Heidi (MissHeidi on Twitter) and am managing to continue wasting away this horribly chilly and rainy DC Thursday reading that (except the blog is only 2 weeks old and I've already read all the posts, boo.)

Perhaps a nap is in order? Maybe some lunch? Who knows!

Have a great Thursday!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Brother Bea = Smart. Sweet Bea = Not So Much.

2009-06-02T14:00:00.002-04:00

It must be said that Brother Bea is a math genius. He takes after Daddy Bea, and me being adopted, didn't get any of the cool stuff from my folks. Except my mom's ability to over-dramatize EVERYthing...but I think that must be nurture, not nature. And if you've seen it in person, you know it's not cool.

In order to pass my math requirement in college, I depended on Brother Bea to program HIS scientific calculator with the various things that people need to pass Calculus and Trigonometry (see? I'm so dumb I don't even know what the things are called!)

Have I mentioned that Brother Bea is 3 years below my in school? Meaning that he was still in his baby years of HIGH SCHOOL when I was having him program the calculator for me?? He smart, me dumb. And to this day, anytime I have a math-related question, I turn to him. Keep this in mind.

Now, onto the rest of my post:

So if you've been reading my last few tweets, you'll know that I've been fighting with the State of California over my taxes. Basically, they say I owe money from when I worked there during the campaign season, and I say I do not.

Here's a bit of backstory: I LOVE tax season. I know, I'm a freak. But I LOVE doing my taxes...I find something very soothing about it. It should be noted that I still use the EZ and short forms of nearly all my taxes because I have no investments or anything that will one day make me want to pull my hair out/cringe and hide under a rock during tax time. My taxes are usually easy-peasy.

Except every other year.

Because every other year I get a wild hair up my bum and decided to take off for exotic lands like Racine, Wisconsin or East Bay, California for a campaign.

And then my taxes get a bit tricky.

In 2006 I had to file in Wisconsin, DC, and Virginia (stupid House of Reps didn't process my change of address from August 2005!) Everything worked out fine and I ended up owing a minuscule amount to DC, but getting all of VA (rightfully) refunded and almost all of Wisconsin back too. YAY me!

And then 2008 tax season came around.

I ended up having to file in both DC and CA...which from the looks of things, should have been easier than 2006. But no, not it isn't.

My dear home state of Cali decided that not only do you need to fill out your regular, non-resident taxes (not online, I might add) but you also have to fill out a ridiculously complicated adjustment schedule form...which was 2 pages of charts and nonsense.

But I got it done and mailed in on time. YAY me!

And then I got a letter last week, stating that CA had redone my taxes (sidenote: seriously? You redid my taxes?? why not just do them for me in the first place next time and tell me how much I'm getting back??? SHEESH!) and found a discrepancy, and now I owe then $200.

Needless to say this did not make me happy and I spent the better part of an hour cursing my state to anyone who would listen (Florida.)

I gathered all my necessary tax documents (luckily still not properly filed away and laying on my bedroom floor) and prepared to do battle.

I spent much time yesterday trying to call and was greeted with the lovely message that they were talking to too many other people and I would just have to try back again later. Over and over again.

So today, I regathered my resolve and tax forms and called. I got through! This in itself was a major victory! I was determined to take my complaint to the Governator if I had to. I was not going to pay CA any more money!!!

So the wonderful woman on the other end, Agent 352357 or something, spent over an hour going over line by line with my, trying to figure out where they had gone wrong (she never said that they were right and I was wrong - she assumed that I was right and they made a mistake.) I could understand her words completely, and when they didn't make sense to me (because the tax forms are ridiculous!) she tried several different ways of explaining until ~~I pretended~~ I understood.

Finally, it got down to this: I had to read to her line by line the numbers I had for BOTH FORMS so she could figure out what went wrong.

So line by line we went.

Through the entire forms.

We narrowed it down to a problem with the standard deduction percentage. WHY the standard deduction would vary from person to person when it was supposed to be a STANDARD deduction still boggles my mind, but whatevs. We knew the problem was there.

And then I hear this come from her mouth:

I think, on Part 4 line 47, you divided the numbers in the wrong order.

Which to me sounded much like:

garbledegook garbledegook math math math.

To which she further explained:

You needed to divide the little number by the big number, and you divided the big number by the little number.

YES. She said big numbers and little numbers, as if I was seriously in 2nd grade learning math...

...and she was right.

I now owe The Great State of California $202.13 because remembering which number goes into the calculator first, even after asking several times, when it says "divide line x by line y" is hard.

FAIL blog anyone?

Hope your Tuesday is cheaper than mine has become...

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Buy me these, please!

2009-06-02T11:02:00.001-04:00

A few bits and pieces of what I want for my birthday in 2.5 weeks:

1. A *jwj* necklace - preferably Toile or Sadie. Yes I can buy it myself but it is almost my birthday and I want someone else to buy it for me. :) When I was getting the original giveaway post ready, I very, very clearly too Florida to the *jwj* Etsy shop and pointed out incredibly carefully which ones I wanted for my birthday...we shall see if he listened (but I don't think he did, and you'll find out why at the bottom)

L.L. Bean's Boat and Tote Zip-Top Bag, Large with Long Handles, Turquoise Sea.
{$31.00}

J. Crew Critter Wedge Flip-Flops in Navy/White Fleur, size 5.
{$26.50 BUT 20% off when you order two}
(second choice = Grey & Pink Skulls)

4. A Vintage Dallas Cowboys fitted t-shirt. (Can't find any cute ones online just now...but I know they are out there.) Florida, listen up: I DO NOT WANT A JERSEY OR ANYTHING PINK!*

5. Sticky notes from Ashley Brooke Designs. A silly gift because I don't have a job where I use sticky notes...but that matters little to me. She had the idea of drawing me on the sticky notes with irises in my hair - cute, no? :)

Well, I suppose I've been selfish enough for this post, haven't I? My birthday is kinda a big deal (to me) and I expect everyone to fully relish in the fact that I was born 28 years + 347 days ago.

::GASP! That's right, I'll be turning 29!!::

This had better be a FAB birthday because it just might be the last one I celebrate!

Happy Tuesday, friends!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

* Guess what Florida got me for my birthday? After I specifically told him before he ordered my gifts that I did NOT want a jersey because I want to be able to wear the shirt on non-game days? A JERSEY. Boys. Do. NOT. Listen.**

**Am I being harsh and mean, and shouldn't I be thankful I have an amazing boyfriend who even bought me a birthday present? Yes, I should. I know this. But at the same time, when I specifically tell you something that I DON'T want, and when you are ordering the gift next to me and saying "I don't think you'll like this..." shouldn't that be a sign that it's perhaps not the right thing to get??

GIVEAWAY WINNER!

2009-06-02T00:49:00.005-04:00

Hi folks!

It's that time you've all been waiting for: the winner of my very first and fantastic *jewelery without jewels* GIVEAWAY!

And the winner is...

Here's her favorite piece and what she'd wear it with:

I'm obsessed with the Melanie necklace because a) my sister's name is Melanie and b) it's the color of PITTSBURGH.

What would I wear it with? I would proudly wear it with jeans, black heels, and my Steelers jersey :-)

Now, even thought she will be wearing it with Pittsburgh stuff (if you remember, I had to wear a Florida Gator hoodie on my first date with Florida because we made a bet and I lost the bet/the Cardinals lost to the Steelers in the Superbowl and I hate the Steelers as a result,) I can't wait to see it on her during one of our playdates this summer.

Congrats Julie, and thank you again everyone for entering and making my first GIVEAWAY a huge success!!

AND - of course - a massive thank you to Erica over at *jewelery without jewels* for giving away one of her fabulous necklaces!! Please visit her Etsy site and support her - remember that she donates 10% of all her sales to VH1's Save the Music Foundation.

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

GIVEAWAY ENDS TONIGHT!

2009-05-31T21:00:00.001-04:00

Just a friendly reminder that my GIVEAWAY for a fabulous *jewelery without jewels* necklace ends tonight at 11:59 Eastern!

Click here to enter and good luck!!

If you look at the pic below, you'll see why I'm so excited for this GIVEAWAY (and why I really wish I could enter myself!) I'm the girl on the left with the really big necklace getting bunny-eared and giving the thumbs-up to the awkward prom-style picture during the Inauguration. :)

photo credit: a friend who shall remain anonymous :)

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

If You're Reading This...

2009-05-31T07:00:00.002-04:00

...then you'll soon know I am at NASCAR in Dover, Delaware. :)

DON'T FORGET: Today is your LAST DAY to enter my very first GIVEAWAY - a lovely *jewelery without jewels* necklace, celebrating my 100th post & saying a big THANK YOU for all the support over the last few weeks!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS - don't remember who I'll be cheering on at the track known as the Monster Mile? It's this guy, Jamie McMurray. Here's a bit of background on Jamie (emphasis added):

How about Jamie McMurray? That was an incredible finish. [referring to his win at the Daytona summer race (not the Daytona 500 - that's the spring race!)]

McMurray is one of the most likeable guys in the garage and to see him finally get back to victory lane really put a smile on my face.

The fact that he beat out the Busch brothers only made it sweeter.

Quick story about McMurray, who you really never hear anything about away from the track.

When the Cup series rolls into Texas every year, McMurray would spend his Friday night involved in a program to help those out having a good time get home without having to get behind the wheel of a car.

He spent his Friday night driving around downtown Fort Worth in a cab picking up patrons and driving them around for free.

Did you hear anything about it? Of course not.

McMurray is a good driver and an even better person. Congrats to him for finding his way back to victory lane.

-Houston Chronicle, July 12, 2007

Will You Marry Me?

2009-05-29T11:02:00.004-04:00

Dear Florida,

Can we please get married this summer? I would like this to be present at my wedding:

J.Crew's 'Sophia' Dress in Silk Chiffon

in this color for the MOH (because she has the most AMAZING blue eyes):

and in this color for the rest of the girls (because green is my fave color, obvi!):

and perhaps someone in this color too (or maybe just for me to wear!):

Thank you very much, honey.

Love,

Sweet Bea

PS: There is still time to enter my GIVEAWAY! Click here for all the details! It's super easy and a PERFECT item for the summer!! :)

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T18:05:00.006-04:00

I tried to post this earlier today, but Florida fell asleep on my shoulder (big shock, I know,) and then my interwebs conked out...so I took a nap. But better late than never!

The U.S. Air Force (Wild Blue Yonder)

Off we go into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun;
Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,
At 'em boys, Give 'er the gun!
Down we dive, spouting our flame from under,
Off with one hell of a roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame.
Nothing can stop the U.S. Air Force!

Minds of men fashioned a crate of thunder,
Sent it high into the blue;
Hands of men blasted the world asunder;
How they lived God only knew! (God only knew!)
Souls of men dreaming of skies to conquer
Gave us wings, ever to soar!
With scouts before and bombers galore.
Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force!

Here's a toast to the host
Of those who love the vastness of the sky,
To a friend we send a message of his brother men who fly.
We drink to those who gave their all of old,
Then down we roar to score the rainbow's pot of gold.
A toast to the host of men we boast, the U.S. Air Force!

Off we go into the wild sky yonder,
Keep the wings level and true;
If you'd live to be a grey-haired wonder
Keep the nose out of the blue!
Flying men, guarding the nation's border,
We'll be there, followed by more!
In echelon we carry on.

Nothing will stop the U.S. Air Force!

And because this will give you a glimpse at what a goofball my Airman really is:

Remember to stop and say thanks to all who serve - men and women alike - on this Memorial Day, and everyday. They are the ones whose service makes us able to enjoy the freedoms we have - including the freedom to blog.

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS - did you remember to enter my very first GIVEAWAY? No? Hmm, well click here to read all about it and enter!

100TH POST AND THANK YOU GIVEAWAY

2009-05-13T12:34:00.008-04:00

Hi ya'll, remember me???

I've taken some time off from the bloggy world to lick my wounds, but I'm back and better than ever!

To say a huge thank you to everyone who commented and emailed about LOML, and to celebrate my 100th post, let's have a GIVEAWAY!!!

Because giving back is a fantastic thing!**

Erica from *jewelry without jewels* and I are teaming up to bring you THE accessory for the upcoming summer months - one of her fantastic necklaces!

These are the ones I've been ~~blatantly telling~~ hinting to Florida that I want for my birthday next month (get excited, ya'll!)

*toile*

*sadie*

So - without further ado, let the GIVEAWAY commence!

Here are the rules:

You have until May 31 at 11:59pm Eastern to enter the GIVEAWAY. Once we have a winner, Erica will pick out a *fabulous* summer necklace and it will be sent to the winner.

One Entry: Head over to *jewelry without jewels*, and pick out your favorite piece. Then, comment on this post about the ideal outfit to wear your favorite *jewelry without jewels* piece with (please include your email address!);

Two Entries: Comment as above and become a follower (or let me know if you are already a follower);

Three Entries: Comment as above, become a follower, and follow me on Twitter;

Four Entries: Comment as above, become a follower on both the blog and on Twitter, and Tweet this post;

Five Entries: Comment as above, become a follower on both the blog and Twitter, Tweet this post, and post about this giveaway on your blog;

and for all you truly dedicated friends out there

for a whopping TEN ENTRIES: do all the above AND head over to Erica's blog and send her some love on her recent engagement!! (but make sure you let me know!)

Thank you again for all the love and support this past 2 weeks - talking to you has really made this yucky time so much easier. You have made me feel so much better about myself - I've said it before and will say it again - I am truly blessed to have stumbled upon this fantastic community.

Cheers to the next 100 posts,

Sweet Bea

** Did you know that Erica donates 10% of all sales to VH1's Save the Music Foundation? How awesome is that?? As the product of music education in the schools, I know how important this critical learning is as part of a full, well-rounded education and experience.

How many times CAN I break till I shatter?

2009-05-05T01:25:00.003-04:00

LOML is engaged.

I know I shouldn't care but I do.

I know I shouldn't be crying but I am.

I am completely tied up in knots inside and am rapidly crisscrossing the emotions of grief, anger, confusion, hurt, frustration, shame, embarrassment, betrayal...it's like they are an emotional to-do list and I am trying to cross each one off in lightening speed.

Worst of all, I found out via Facebook. While on the phone with Florida. He could tell how upset I was, even though I kept the tears inside for the most part. I don't think he's happy that I am this affected by it*. He only knows bits and pieces of our 8-year saga.

Here is a snippet of LOML and my convo from last July...he's referring to his now-fiancee (my emphasis):

so - off the ever not-so-private wall option of facebook, i broke it off with the old lady on friday. she was upset, i feel awful.
i think i did it at the right time in the right way, but it is always difficult you know? you know, you are the queen of laying off males suiters.
anyway, i felt obliged to tell you that for some reason.
cheers.

(In case you're wondering, I sign off my posts with "Cheers" because that's what he always did and I liked the way it made me feel.)

Wonder when he's going to feel obliged to tell me he's engaged?

He knows it will hurt me. He knows how I've felt for so, so, so long.

I'm going to try and get some sleep now...thanks for listening. Special thanks to Wearing Mascara for being so awesome.

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

*Florida is most def not ok with it. Here's a text I just got from him: "I'm very sorry if I'm waking you up but I would like to talk about you still having feelings for this [LOML] guy tomorrow, it kinda bothers me. Sorry." And now we're "talking" about it...awesome. :(

Calling all Kappas!

2009-05-04T00:17:00.002-04:00

Um. Can I just say WANT???

AND they are in a size 5?

Someone has a birthday in a month...just saying. :)

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

Vote for Mitch!

2009-05-03T12:54:00.004-04:00

That is all.

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Badger? I don't need no stinkin' Badger...

2009-05-02T20:24:00.004-04:00

...not when I've got this guy on my arm:

You'll have to trust me that he looks a LOT hotter when his face isn't all blurred out :) I must also admit that I looked very nice last night myself - my skin wasn't acting up too bad (nothing that ~~5 pounds~~a little of cover-up couldn't hide, at least) and I had dark smoky eyes and pale glossy lips. My hair looked pretty fab too - I have thick curly hair naturally (don't believe me, eh?? It's true!) and since it was rainy I knew straightening it was going to be out of the question. So, I curled it, poofed up the front part (my face is round so I need the height!) and pulled the rest back into a ponytail that I pinned up. And then ~~sprayed the crap out of~~ misted ever so gently with ~~super~~ soft hold hairspray.

Needless to say, I got tons of compliments on my outfit and look both at the dinner and the BBQ...it actually became a little uncomfortable after a while...but it was nice to be seen as a girl instead of just one of the guys for a change, ya know? (Didn't hurt that I overheard several people talking to Badger and around him about how good I looked. Suck on that, Badg!)

Am I being perhaps a bit immature? Of course. But I don't care. He needs to realize what he threw away. And I'm MORE than happy to remind him.

The best part of the evening - and the part I was most concerned about beforehand - was how the people who are our (Badger and my) friends would react to having all 3 of us in the same place. They all love Florida and he's one of those guys who chats with anyone and ends up having the most random conversations with whomever he meets...not at all clingy. But the birthday twins, who were hosting the BBQ, are also some of Badger's closest friends and former roommates...so I was very worried that they wouldn't be as warm to Florida as they usually are, because Badger was there. (Does that make sense? It does in my head...but I'm not sure if I'm expressing it correctly.) But my worries were for naught - they didn't treat him any differently at all, which was great.

Anywho, unfortunately Florida is leaving for Salt Lake City tomorrow morning to advance a Drill Team trip there for a few days, so I'll be all alone. Tear. Luckily, softball season starts on Monday and we had a scrimmage against another Hill League team and beat them 24-1...so I'm hoping this is the year the Natty Boh's make the tournament!! :)

Happy Saturday evening to you all, sweet friends - and thank you for the kind words about Badger and not making me feel bad for needing to be vain for a bit. I appreciate it, and ya'll!

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

PS - did anyone watch the Derby??? What a crazy awesome finish! Mama Bea and I watch the Derby together every year, via phone...but she didn't get home in time from a First Communion to watch with me...boo. It's only the 2nd year we've not watched it "together." Our dream is to go to the Derby one year...alas.

The Badger returns...again

2009-04-30T13:19:00.005-04:00

Awesome.

Roommate's boyfriend and his twin are having a birthday bbq tomorrow night.

Badger will be there.

Florida and I are planning on attending - coming right from a formal Air Force dinner...aka he'll be in uniform and I'll be in floor length dress (the dress I bought over a year ago to wear to an Inaugural Ball...but since I was the ONLY GIRL IN DC WHO DIDN'T GET TO GO TO ONE it will make it's debut tomorrow evening.)

I'm totally freaking out.

I was going to do a post with pictures and stories about how awesome Florida is...but now I can't get the impending disaster that is the bbq out of my head.

Isn't this silly? Florida is amazingly wonderful and adores me (and I adore him!) but at the same time I know how I absolutely fell apart last time Badger was in town and I had to deal with him...it was not classy, mature, or pretty. I cried for a week straight.

I know that He doesn't give us things we cannot handle...but I'm starting to wonder if He thinks I'm a whole lot stronger than I really am...

(PS I'm not a religious person per se...so you won't get many religious-leaning posts from me. But I do find comfort in a verse from Philippians - I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. It's either 4:13 or 3:14...both are great verses but I can never remember which is which.)

To make me feel better, here are some photos of irises from my 'hood I took on Tuesday evening. Shout out to my amazing photo assistant, Florida, who not only held me steady as I balanced on a rock wall to get some shots, he also pulled other plants out of my way. :) For like an hour. He's a good, good, man. :)

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

Florida vs. Florida...or how I learned not to let my boyfriend handle our travel plans (and other stories from the day)

2009-04-28T23:46:00.005-04:00

I apologize in advance for any typographical errors in this post...I'm trying to type but Florida has once again taken residence on my right shoulder and I am forced to type with just my left hand...sigh. I suppose it's a small price to pay to have my yummy man snuggled up next to me...but it sure does make blogging hard!

Today I had to fight with my leasing company because they didn't cash my rent check for 20 days and then charged me a $50 late fee. They held my check because I am not on the lease (THEY said I didn't need to be, back in December!) and are complete idiots when it comes to managing the account. It is seriously ridiculous.

They were slightly more willing to actually be helpful this time I think because I had come from lunch at the Mexican restaurant with Dennis the Menace and drank margaritas while soaking up the crazy warm DC sun on the patio. And then walked 13 blocks in the heat to get to the leasing company (God forbid they actually have the site in a Metro-accessible area...) I was probably sweating tequila once I finally got there, HA! Oh well.

After dealing with the ~~idiots~~ lovely people who run my building (and of course putting in the requisite daytime drunk dials to Florida, my bestie from college KJ, and of course, my mom - who had to leave her class to take my call, HA!) I returned home to try and clean my apartment. After the Roommate tried to blame the funk in our apartment on our chipolte shrimp from the last post (even though it clearly smelled in there BEFORE we cooked) I decided that one of us needed to clean the apartment...and since she still treats me like the maid (even though I now work more than she does!) I figured the only person to clean would be me. As usual.

Then Florida came over and we booked our trip to Florida the State! :) Sanibel Island, here we come!

He was on the phone with the hotel we are staying at booking the cottage when Bestie called to tell me her dad was in town. I absolutely LOVE her dad so of course I started chatting away with her and stopped listening to Florida book the reservation. I was surprised that he was able to get us a beachfront cottage since I had called earlier in the day and wasn't able to get one right on the beach...but I thought nothing of it.

Until I got off the phone with Bestie.

I popped over to where he was and started listening to his convo with the booking agent, who was on speakerphone.

She confirmed his credit card number and everything, and then started to give us the details of the cancellation policy. "Since you are nearly within 15 days of arrival, blah blah blah..."

Wait - nearly within 15 days of arrival?? We aren't going until June!

So I hop onto the convo and cut off the very nice woman and say - what days do you have the reservation for?? "May 13-16," she replies.

Florida then instantly realizes what he did wrong. We are going in JUNE...not MAY!

MEN!

We all got a good laugh and unfortunately the beachfront cottage is booked up in June when, you know, we are actually going to be in Florida...but oh well.

My day concluded with a stop at Jacob's Coffee Shop to get smoothies, a wander over to where my poor car has been parked for about 4 months to check when the registration expires (May of NEXT year - yay me for getting 2-year registration and zone parking permit last year!) and then a tour of my Capitol Hill neighborhood looking for irises to photograph (pics to come soon - got some great ones before my battery died.)

Before we knew it, we were jaunting down Bestie's street and just about to walk past her place when out walk she and her boyfriend gK. Yay!! They had an errand to run but we all met up for late night dinner at Union Pub near our houses. Bestie and I are still sad that they did away with the Wedge salad though. :(

Well sweet friends, Florida just woke up and has shifted positions, but not before giving me a big kiss and telling me what I beautiful smile I have (I was smiling because I was here with ya'll chatting about him and I was trying to hide my screen!) so I guess it's time to hit the hay.

Wishing you a wonderful Tuesday evening (even though it is now Wednesday morning here on the East Coast) and a fantastic rest of the week. Hopefully the weather is as glorious for ya'll as it is over here - the breeze blowing through my open windows is absolutely heaven right now.

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

There is no moral to this story at all...

2009-04-27T12:46:00.003-04:00

...and everything I tell you very well could be a lie...

(It's not - but it's a line from a FANTASTIC Peacemakers song, Nada, that is in my head and I needed a title for this hodgepodge post!)

The already-too-short weekends are even shorter when you have to work on Sundays...what a drag! :(

Friday I had the day shift but Florida came and picked me up at 7 or so and we headed back to my place for happy hour with BP and his girlfriend, another friend from college BA and his fiancee. BP, his girlfriend, and I are very close - the 3 of us do lots together and it's never awkward. And when one or the other is out of town, then I play with whomever is left - I'm an equal opportunity friend I guess.

But BA's fiancee is another story. I've only met her a few times...and it is literally like pulling teeth.

The first time I "met" her we were all at a bar watching the ASU vs. U of Arizona football game. Game sucked, but BP's girlfriend (really need to get her a nickname!) and I had a blast talking to people from the Santa Bar Crawl that invaded our tiny bar. BP and BA were watching the game and chatting...but BA's fiancee had her friends in town and refused to even speak to us girls. In fact, when BA tried to introduce her to me, she was all "Umm, I'm taking a picture?" completely rudely and sarcastically.

She was, in short, awful.

She's also gone around to some of our college friends and bad-mouthed BP's girlfriend as being "high-maintenance," which can be true sometimes, but rarely and there is no way that the fiancee would have ever experienced it. I rarely have and I'm with them all the time.

The next time i met the fiancee was at a wine and cheese party at their condo and she didn't even acknowledge that I had walked in (with BP and girlfriend) until I was chatting with her fiancee (who I've known for going on 9 years now) and then she butted right in and proceeded to try and make out with him in the middle of our conversation. Yuck.

So, needless to say, I was hesitant to accept BP and girlfriend's happyy hour invite since BA and fiancee were going to be there...but I hadn't seen BP since they returned from Europe and sitting outside having a beer sounded lovely, so I dragged Florida and off we went.

Well, to our shared surprise, the fiancee - once she warmed up (didn't even say hi to me and barely said hi to Florida, who she had never met) she was actually pleasant to be around - what a refreshing change! So the happy hour was actually lovely and we all had a good time and good food.

After happy hour, Florida and I headed off to an impromptu bbq at Roommate's boyfriend's house down the street from where I and the BP's live. Florida immediately got into deep conversations about Air Force funding and so I was wandering around chatting with random folks when I had a blast from my recent past: my Chief of Staff for the campaign I was on made an appearance.

I hadn't seen her since Election Day and it was not the most pleasant way to leave our relationship. But, she gave me a big hug and congratulated me on a job that she heard I had just gotten (which, sigh, was the result of false information...I didn't get the job and had just found out a few hours before) and chatted about the really messed up situation from this post. See, she left right after the campaign to go run another office. Apparently, the agreed upon plan was that if the Communications Director was leaving right after the election, I was supposed to take over once I got back to DC. If he wasn't going to leave for 6 months or so, then the Deputy (who is also now her boyfriend) was supposed to take over. Needless to say, we both got screwed. But she offered her services to try and send out my resume to as many places as possible, which was so great and will be really helpful. All in all, a great night!

Saturday was fantastic too - so incredibly toasty warm! Florida and I lounged around like bums all day and then finally got out act together and met The Northerner and her hubby for drinks up in Dupont. Unfortunately, the schizophrenic DC weather made us run inside partway through drinks and dinner, but we still had fun. This was the first time Florida met anyone from my blog world...he was really nervous - it was so cute! :) But we had a blast and finally went home to crash since we both had to work on Sunday (boo.)

After work Florida picked me up and we headed back to Bolling to drop off his friend who he brought with him and came back to my place to cook chipolte shrimp and eat/watch Forgetting Sarah Marshall on my rooftop deck. Unfortunately, my deck is stupidly small for the size of the building, and the people out there wouldn't take their feet off the chairs so we could sit down...so we carried everything back down to camp out in my room (since my roommate was watching a movie on the couch and it was apparently she wasn't going to move for us.) Unfortunately, my stupid laptop won't let me play the DVD and, as usual, as I was trying to figure out what was wrong, Florida fell asleep on my shoulder. I almost got up to take a pic of him snoozing for the blog because he is so cute when he sleeps (hell, he's so cute anytime!) but i couldn't remember where the cord for my camera is so I gave up that plan pretty quickly. Oh well...maybe another time :)

And now I should be catching the bus to work in 20 minutes or so but here I am, in bed, chatting with all of you. :) Don't you love my priorities????

Wishing you all a comfortably cool Monday (as it is 90 here in our Nation's Capital!)

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

2009-04-21T12:29:00.003-04:00

This is going to be a Wearing Mascara-focused post...just so everyone knows. :)

1. WM has switched over to WordPress so make sure you updated your Google Reader or your list of blogs you follow...otherwise you won't be able to keep up! ALSO - you should check out her current post about blog plagiarism. It's pretty messed up (plagiarism, not her post, obvi!) and she offers tools to help protect your blog from a similar attack. I pity the fool who tried to plagiarize my words...mainly because who the heck would want to! :)

2. I have a cold. This is not WM focused, obvi, but I wanted to break up the theme a bit. I work in food service right now...having a cold is not only sucky, but kinda gross. If you come visit me I will not breathe on you or your food service products. :)

3. I am itchy. I have a scant sunburn/tan from Saturday's glorious weather and spending the day either at Jacob's Coffee around the corner from my house having breakfast with out-of-town friends, at Bagels and Baguettes meeting up with Bestie and her bf, gK, or back at Jacob's drinking sweet tea and doing the crossword with Florida. I literally soaked up the sun this weekend. :)

4. Back to WM. So remember how a while ago she posted a mascara review about Dior's DiorShow Mascara, and how it related to a certain wonderfully naughty man-bit. Well, the other morning during sleep v. 2.0 (I worked Sunday night and stayed at Florida's house for a romantic dinner and movie night...which was great except that we stay at my house during the week because he has to be at work at 7:00 a.m. and since he lives an hour away - versus my 20 minutes - means we are in the car at 5:45 a.m., which means we are up at 5:30 a.m., ugh.) I had the most RANDOM dream I think I have ever had. And I've had some really, really strange dreams.

But first, here's a side note that will help to explain the dream (I hope): Have you ever seen Superbad? Well, I've recently become OBSESSED with Forgetting Sarah Marshall and have loved every Apatow move I've seen (except Pineapple Express, which I was forced to watch during my weekend in Madison) so I really wanted to watch it, and Florida owns it. So, if you've seen Superbad you know about Seth's obsessive man-bits drawings, right? And if you haven't...well, Seth obsessively draws man-bits. (I didn't give anything away, I promise.)

Anywho...so here is my dream: I walk into a Sephora-type facility looking for a new mascara. I remember Wearing Mascara's review of some Dior mascara, and ask the helpful lady to pull all of the Diors for my perusal.

And then I see it: the holy grail of mascara. The DiorShow, in all it's splendid glory. It's beauty is like nothing I've seen before - I swear I heard angels singing and a halo of sunlight appeared behind it as I lifted it from the shelf.

The mascara was large indeed, easily exceeding a full foot in length and quite hefty in the rotund department as well. But it's true exquisiteness lay not in it's size, no no, but in it's shape. One part Washington Monument, 2 parts Christmas ornament, composed entirely of the most magnificently cold stainless steel I've ever beholden.

At this point I am woken up to a text message from Florida telling me that he's changing his entire life-plan based on some info the Air Force finally got around to passing along to him, so I couldn't dwell in the WTF-ness of my dream.

So I thought I would share my lovely dream with you all. I hope it brightens up your Tuesday afternoon. :) I am off work today, and even though I have a cold I need to do laundry and clean my house (I got my feather bed dry-cleaned...the reason why is a completely separate post, trust me...and now there are little feathers all over my house!)

I can only assume 2 things about this dream:

1. I miss WM and my bloggy friends!! We haven't played together in a while :(

2. I clearly still had Superbad and the man-bit drawings on my mind when I went back to sleep at my house.

Regardless, it was a weird, WEIRD, dream that left in in absolute giggles when I replayed it in my head later (and when I told Florida about it too.)

Happy Tuesdays, sweet friends!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

HAPPY WEDDING DAY LULU!!!!!

2009-04-18T13:21:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to send some East Coast love to my dear friend Lulu on the day of her wedding. :) Head over to her blog and send her some love too! :)

Enjoy your Saturdays, sweet friends!

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

A little Friday miscellany for ya'll

2009-04-10T12:59:00.003-04:00

Whoopsie!

Instead of showering and properly prepping myself to head to work for 9 or so hours...I stayed in bed and caught up on your blogs.

And I don't regret one ~~minute~~ second of it!

Hope ya'll have a lovely Friday evening and an even better weekend, in case I don't get a chance to come back and chat. I'm working tonight and going to a party with Florida's Air Force friends tomorrow night...wish me luck. They are all hammering him as to why he hasn't brought me around yet (ahem, ya'll were in ALABAMA for a month!) so I have to be on my best behavior and charm them (and their girlfriends/wives.)

I might be social...but in crowds where I know very few people I get quite intimidated and tend to clam up, try too hard to be funny, and drink. Not a good combo.

There is a rumour however that Rock Band will be played...and as we all know your Sweet Bea loves to sing :) Rock Band to me is just in-home karaoke! So maybe I will wow them with my vocal stylings?

Anywho, no real topic here...I've been meaning to post all week but Florida has tended to fall asleep on my shoulder while I work on stuff (I had an interview this week - keep those fingers crossed!) which gives me an excuse to cheat and come to blogland (my happy place!) and catch up on your lives...but makes it impossible to catch you up since I can't move my right arm as he is snoozing away on it.

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

Awards to get and give

2009-04-07T13:38:00.004-04:00

Hello sweeties!

Florida is HOME and I am happy. He unfortunately had to go in to work today, on my day off(!), so I have some time to check in and say hi to all ya'll.

First - a HUGE thank you to each and every one of you who sent happy thoughts my way this weekend. They meant more to me than you probably realize. I know I'm not the first, nor will I be the last to say this - but I am so lucky to have wandered my way into this amazing network of folks back in November. I've made some WONDERFUL new real life and online friends, and caught back up with some of my nearest and dearest real life friends from days gone by.

Now, on to the awards!

As you know, yesterday was the NCAA Men's Championship Game. March and April are always bittersweet for me because as much as I LOVE tournament time and March Madness, it means the end of college basketball season is near and that makes me sad. It also means that baseball season is starting...which might make me even sadder (Sorry Daisy!)

But anyways, without any further ado, it is time to announce the winner of Blogs n' Brackets:

JACKIE from Always a Northerner!!!!!

Her bracket was pretty much awesome - in the West region, she was 100% until she had Memphis over Mizzou and UConn...not too shabby!!! :)

I, unfortunately, placed second to last. Sad, sad Bea indeed. Oh well.

I think next year, I will coordinate a giveaway with the bracket - wouldn't that be fun?

Now, onto a big THANK YOU for some bloggers who have recently given me awards! Katherine from just lovely gave me the Love Ya Award - yay! Her name will be added to my sidebar along with ASC's :)

And, Freck from It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere gave me the Kreativ Blogger Award!

Since this is a new award for me, here are the rules that accompany it:

List 7 things that you love, and then pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you love! Be sure to tag them and let them know that they have won. You can copy the picture of the award and paste it on your sideboard letting the whole world know . . . you are Kreativ!

Lulu from Dirty Martini Diaries - not only a real life friend but also an incredibly creative lady! She planned her entire wedding from across the country! And, since I know her and her impeccable style, I know it is going to be a WONDERFUL and creative affair.

Megan from Newly Wed, Newly Bred - also a longtime real life friend, her writings crack me up, no matter what they are about. Also check our her pics of her baby...if those ain't creative then I don't know what is!

Jackie from Always a Northerner - her and her hubby's apartment is so warm, inviting, and very creatively decorated (gotta love DC apartments!) My favorite is the sign by her front door - Enter as Strangers, Leave as Friends. Tis so true!

Nina from According to Nina - Just check out Target Tuesdays for a sample of her creativity...not to mention her gift-giving ideas!

Erica from Sunshine Daydreamin' - Hooray for *jewelry without jewels*! What could be more creative that those??? LOVE THEM!

Kappa Prep at Monograms and Manicures - she is always crafting up cute ideas and sharing them with our bloggy world

Mojito Maven at Make Mine a Mojito - not only does she have some of the most creative and unique post topics, she also has the courage to stand behind her views and her posts.

Okie dokie sweet friends, your Bea needs to get out of her warm and comfy bed and into a warm and toasty shower and eat some leftover fajitas! Have a fantastic Tuesday afternoon!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Thank you Badger...or how I learned to stop sweating the stuff over which I have no control

2009-04-06T02:26:00.003-04:00

Well sweet friends, it's the middle of the night and my Florida is not yet home.

Though he texted me FROM the plane, it had mechanical problems and they weren't able to get another MILAIR or commercial flight to DC today...so alas, no happy reunion for me, yet.

His flight (hopefully!) leaves tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. with a layover in North Carolina before arriving DC after 1:00 p.m.

What a sad panda I am tonight! I nearly burst into tears when I got a text from him nearly an hour after I put up my last post...I just knew it was going to be bad news.

But - this gave me an opportunity to put into effect something I learned from my terrible breakup with Badger: There is no use in getting angry at something that is out of your control.

Let me back up and explain.

See, as you all know, I went to CA in June and came back just before Thanksgiving for the campaign season. I didn't get to see my beloved Badger that entire time. Not once. Towards the end, we were barely even speaking on the phone due to my crazy schedule (or at least that's how I justified it at the time. But I digress...)

I went to AZ to visit my best friend KJ from college for a few days, since it had been nearly 5 years since I'd seen her and I desperately needed some down time after the campaign ended. It was in Arizona that Badger taught me his lesson.

I got into town on Thursday and unfortunately KJ had to work Friday night (poor thing has 2 jobs because she's a high school math teacher and gets paid nothing.) She apologized up and down for ditching me when I was in town, but she really needed the money to help pay for her condo mortgage since she kept having roommate problems. I said not to worry, I would hang out with her puppy (who is an old man doggie now!) Wiley and watch TV. I was ready to absolutely veg out.

Imagine my surprise when Badger called! I was so excited to talk to him because I was coming home in just a few days and I couldn't wait to see him!

And then he dropped the bomb. He got a gig for full pay rate with a great Art Director in NYC...and it was for the exact time I was going to be in DC before he headed back to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving.

In retrospect, it was an amazing opportunity for him - he's an independent filmmaker and because he's not in the union he gets the shaft a lot on his pay, and has to work with less-than-awesome people sometimes. But, at the time, I didn't react quite so objectively.

I. Flipped. Out. Big time.

While he had really made me mad a few times on the campaign (not answering his phone, not returning my calls/texts/emails/facebook messages, etc) I absolutely let loose on him, releasing nearly 6 months of pent up anger and frustrations about how he treated me and how he obviously didn't care about me.

It went on for quite a while...and was NOT pretty. Tears and cuss words were involved. It was a cathartic experience for me. I'm not sure however if KJ's neighbors appreciated it...but whatevs.

I was devastated and beyond angry. And he knew it.

That conversation/argument/flip out was the final nail in the coffin for our relationship. He realized that he couldn't be with someone who didn't understand how his life was going to be and wasn't in NYC. Granted, he realized this a loooooooooooooong time before this, but I guess had hoped for the best? Who knows what went on in his head - but this was clearly the final kick he needed to actually do what he knew he wanted to do. He broke up with me one week later.

I've held onto this anger for a very long time, as unhealthy as I know it to be. But, I am still very mad at Badger for what he did and how he treated me. But he taught me a lesson.

I needed to look beyond my own feelings of anger, hurt, and resentment and see the bigger picture. This was a great chance for him and I needed to put my own feelings aside and be supportive, even as hurt as I was. (In theory) he didn't have a choice - he had to take this gig. It was beyond his control.

Now granted, there are several differences between this situation with Badger and this situation with Florida, and I fully realize that. But I think the lesson here is not to diminish the importance of the similarities - both situations left me feeling angry, hurt, and resentful, but both were beyond our control.

So when he texted me earlier today with "Not coming home until tomorrow, baby...," as much as I wanted to respond, "Are you f'ing kidding me? That is such BS I'm so pissed!" and go off on a textual tirade, I simply responded ":( Boo. Are you booked for a flight?"

There was no sense in flipping out - HE did not break the 2 planes and make all the commercial flights fill up so he didn't have to come home. I know he felt awful and was just as disappointed as I was, so why make it worse?

So - I paused, and decided that I was not going to sweat this situation over which neither of us have any control. I was going to roll with the punches and go with the flow.

Now - will I still flip out over things because I'm in a bad mood or because I'm projecting anger? I don't doubt it for one second.

BUT I have learned, from Badger, (and who the heck ever thought I'd be saying that, eh? Not me, that's for sure!) that it is not worth the headache or eventual heartbreak these outbursts can have. I take a deep breath and try to remain positive. At least Florida won't have to wear his flight suit on the plane, he can wear civilian clothes. There is a silver lining to nearly every situation.

So, thank you Badger. You may have caused me heartbreak like I've never known, but you may also have saved me from several more.You taught me the lesson that so many who proceeded you failed to do. You taught me how to breathe, pause, reflect, and proceed. Or, as others have said much more simply and eloquently than I:

image courtesy of www.keepcalmandcarryon.com

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

THE text! YAY!

2009-04-05T13:22:00.002-04:00

Sweet friends I just got THE text!

THE text from Florida that says the plane is taking off and that he will be home to me in 4.5 hours! (The are flying MILAIR - military aircraft - with a sliding departure time...so we had no idea when they were leaving until a half hour or so ago.)

So...I have 4.5 hours to clean the mess it took me a month to make in my room. And put away 4 loads of laundry. And DO 2 loads of laundry, including the sheets I am currently laying in. And shower. And find a cute outfit. And do my hair. And do my makeup. Oh yea, and find something for lunch AND dinner.

So what did I decide to do?

Come play with you for a few minutes :) (because apparently I didn't do that enough with my 3-hour long post about the Peacemakers earlier today!)

Ok sweeties - I am going to get up and out of bed (because it IS 1:30 p.m. after all!) and put on some Peacemakers and clean clean clean my room!

So...needless to say, I might not be back to chat for a few days ;)

See ya'll later!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Circus Mexicus...or how I like to pretend I am still in college

2009-04-05T10:38:00.005-04:00

So when I was in college, I was *slightly* obsessed with a local band, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers.

photo courtesy of Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers

(My college friends who are reading this are probably laughing at the number of times I dragged them to concerts!)

Anywho, they are amazing and I don't care and I still go to see them every time they are in town (usually once a year.) their music is always positive, about living life to the fullest, never having regrets, and tequila. :)

They are a Southwestern rock back - so a little country, a lot of rock, and some Latin influences too on many tracks.

Think you've never heard them? Think again, if you watch King of the Hill - they wrote the theme song. Remember the song "Banditos" by The Refreshments? Yup...that was them too, before they became the Peacemakers. (Apparently Banditos is on Guitar Hero 2...which makes me NEED to go buy it. Like NOW.)

Well, each summer they do a weekend long performance in Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point) Mexico, and I've NEVER been.

So I'm trying to decide if I want to throw caution to the wind, put on my tank top, jeans, and flip flops, don a beat up cowboy hat and hop on a plane to Phoenix to head down to Mexico.

Just wanted to share my Sunday mornings thoughts with ya'll! :) I know how much ya'll love it!

Here are some vidoes for your viewing pleasure:

The official video for Banditos

And of course, one of their signature songs, Mexico (from Circus Mexicus 07)

Girly/Baba O'Riley

Green and Dumb

Mekong (from Circus Mexicus 08)

One of my absolute favorites, Switchblade (this song is nothing less than HAUNTING live)

And, since this is how they often close out the sets,I thought ending this post with Nada was appropriate. Hearing this song in an Arizona monsoon is an incredibly spiritual experience. (And yes, I know that sounds nuts but you'll just have to trust me on this.)

So, as Roger says...

Thank you for your time, and here's to life!

Sweet Bea

Old love, new potential love

2009-04-04T11:51:00.007-04:00

Today is April 4th.

It is Mama and Daddy Bea's anniversary. They have been married for 45 years - can you believe it??

(Don't judge me, but I had to use the trusty laptop calculator to do the math...)

I'm so lucky to have them as a model and inspiration for how I want to live my life.

And speaking of new potential loves, FLORIDA GETS HOME TOMORROW! WHOO HOO!!!!

I am so incredibly excited to see him I can barely contain it!

Since he is a potential new love, and the relationship is blossoming, I decided to share some of my favorite blossoms with you - DC's famous cherry blossoms! (Lame segue, I know...) These pics are a few years old...I just haven't been able to get to the trees this year, and it has been so rainy and windy these past few days, I'm afraid they are almost gone already. The cherry blossoms are so fleeting...I suppose that adds to their beauty in a way - they are a brief reminder to live life as it comes, because it could all be gone tomorrow.

my personal favorite :)

the Tidal Basin with the Washington Monument

closer shot of the Washington Monument.
(See all the people underneath the tree? It is PACKED!)

the White House through the trees, and more tourists
(I've always wanted to get a paddle boat during the festival!)

the Jefferson Memorial, or as Mama and Daddy Bea like to call it, the Standing Man.
(The Lincoln Memorial is, therefore, the Sitting Man.)

Side note: If you live in the DC area, go to Giffords Ice Cream NOW. They have Cherry Blossom ice cream and it is HEAVEN!

Hope ya'll are having a wonderful Saturday afternoon!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS I have to share a random memory with you. It was my first year in DC and the bestie and I were driving into the city from our apartment in Alexandria (about 20 minutes away.) I think we were going to look at the cherry blossoms maybe? I can remember what we were doing...but we ended up spending 3 hours in the car and couldn't get to where we were trying to park...and somehow just got dumped back on the highway headed towards home. BUT, the windows were rolled down, the weather was warm(ish) and we had Fleetwood Mac blasting in the car. It was a wonderful day.

It was, however, very similar to when we tried to have Ethiopian food around the same time - but that's another story for another day, sweet friends. Needless to say, Bea and Bestie are much better with directions after living here for over 5 years. :)

Three Big Words...or how I might have accidentally told my Diet Boyfriend that I loved him...

2009-04-01T21:59:00.004-04:00

...oh sweet friends, how I wish I made some of this stuff up. Seriously.

***The Scene***

Sweet Bea, after a night of Leine's and basketball with BP, enters her bedroom, unaware of her intoxication.

She picks up her phone to dial Florida.

(Phone Rings)

Florida: Hey baby, what's up?

Bea: (slurring) Hey you sexy man you, what are you doing?

Florida: I'm at Hooters with the guys...have you been drinking?

Bea: (slyly) Nooooooo...

Florida: Hahaha, you crack me up babydoll.

Bea: Yea, yea, you love me

Florida: Yea, I do. You love me too.

Bea: Yea, I love you too. [Version Florida heard]

-or-

Bea: Yea, yea, yea, whatever. [Version Bea thinks she said]

**The Next Morning**

(Bea and Florida are texting)

Bea: Morning baby!

Florida: Ugh...my head hurts.

Bea: Boo, I'm sorry babe. I feel great!

Florida: You're so mean.

Bea: Maybe, but you think it's cute.

Florida: Nope, not today I don't.

Bea: Boo, I hate you.

Florida: No you don't, you love me. You told me so last night.

(Record scratching to a stop)

Bea: No I didn't.

Florida: Yes you did.

**End Scene**

Needless to say...this morning was incredibly confusing. I still maintain that I did not actually say those three little words...he maintains that I did. When asked why he said that he loved me (when I was, or so I thought, being obviously playful) he responded that he was caught up in the moment. I replied that he was in HOOTERS and it wasn't exactly the epicenter for romance.

At the end of the day, we talked it out and worked it out and both realize that we are *not* in love with the other (in case anyone was wondering) and that we perhaps need to be slightly more careful with what we say to the other.

We're both still wounded from past relationships, and while he is still more angry at his ex, I am still more sad at Badger. We both have been told that we weren't loved anymore by people who promised to be there and love us. We are, really, fighting the same battles. We are teammates. We are friends. We are lovers. We are helping each other learn to trust again and learn to feel again.

Anyways, my sweet friends, the hour is getting late and I am getting tired, and my Florida is even more tired in Alabama and wants to hear my voice before he goes off to sleep :)

Have a restful night and peaceful dreams!

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

SUCH an idiot...or, How Florida Learned Just How Uncool I Really Am...

2009-03-26T18:43:00.006-04:00

So you know how my last post has "like WHOA" in it's title?

Well, I didn't properly credit my friend Jackie for introducing me to the phrase, which I blatantly stole and have been using, well, like WHOA.

I am sitting watching the news and texting with Florida warning him to be prepared for my new phrase (I'm still introducing him to 'btws' (bee tee dubs), and LolSpeak)...here is how our convo is playing out:

WARNING: semi-scmoopy dialog to follow...

Bea: Have I mentioned today that I miss you like whoa?

Florida: Um no, I don't think so...

Bea: Oh well I do. Like Whoa. That is my new phrase, btws. I plan on using it daily. Be prepared. I will heart you like whoa. I will be hungry like whoa. I will be hot or cold like whoa. Be prepared. (some other quasi-dirty stuff was written too, but I'm not going to repeat it!)

Florida: like whoa!! You must be listening to that song :)

Bea: It's a song?

Florida: Yea...you didn't know that?

***

Sigh...so uncool. It really is amazing that this boy likes me so much...

...like WHOA. (Sorry, couldn't help myself!)

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS Ok so I tried to YouTube "Like Whoa" to hear the song Florida was referring to...and 2 songs came up and I have no idea which one it is!

This one, by Mya...

or this one by Aly and AJ

UPDATE: It's neither of those. It's by Black Rob...and I do actually think I've heard it before. Could I BE any cooler? Sheesh!

I need to do laundry like WHOA

2009-03-24T16:27:00.002-04:00

I do not know what is wrong with me lately!

I have so much paperwork to do - stupid taxes (which will be a nightmare because of the campaign), medical insurance claims due to the fall, and I know for a fact I need to organize my files that have been neglected since before I went to CA for the campaign (read: May.)

So what am I doing?

Laying in bed, in my jammies, on the blogs.

Now, I could have grabbed all my paperwork and worked on it from my bed. But no.

I'm trying to figure out what to wear to do laundry. Seriously.

I need to wash my pjs.

But if I change out of my pjs, what do I put on?

Jeans? Nope, need to wash them all TODAY.

Other pj pants? Nope, those need to go into the "colors" load.

Workout pants? Nope, those need to go in the "darks" with the jeans.

Ok ok, I'll leave the PJ bottoms on, whatevs. But what about the shirt?

Need to wash the t-shirt I'm wearing with the "darks." UGH!

This might be the stupidest conversation with myself I've ever had. And believe you me...that's saying something. But I felt like sharing with all of you.

Somebody please put me out of my unemployed misery!!!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS - does anyone else have massive problems with the Italic button not functioning? When I try to write something in italics it's fine...but when I try and go back to normal font, it won't stop writing in italics, even when I edit the HTML. The only thing that works is highlighting what I've written in italics (that is supposed to to be normal) and then unclick the Italic button. It's driving me CRAZY!

Still hiding...

2009-03-23T17:36:00.002-04:00

...seriously, I'm still in my room.

I haven't even gone out to eat lunch. It's almost 6:00 p.m. I'm quite hungry.

I seriously need a life, and a new roommie.

BUT that is not what this post is about.

This post is about how RANDOM my life in DC is.

So my Bestie's boyfriend is in town. He lives in LA and is a lawyer, moving back to DC (yay!) I'm not sure if Bestie or I are more excited for this. He's HILAR.

Anywho, he called me at 11:00 am this morning and woke me up (jerk) because I stayed up until past 4:00 a.m. chatting with Florida (the boy) and planning our vacay to Florida (the state.)

Her boyfriend, gK, wanted to know what Friend's email address was. They know each other, so I didn't think twice about it.

But then, once I started to stir from my dogmatic slumber, I started wondering why gK had asked. So I asked him.

Turns out, my old boss is nominated for an Assistant Cabinet Secretary post. (And gK is trying to get a job.)

This is not an old Congressmember I worked for, no no. My old direct supervisor. My old Chief of Staff.

My old Chief of Staff who makes us play a really inappropriate hazing game when first starting in the office.

My old Chief of Staff who I used to get HAMMERED with in the office!

My old Chief of Staff who made me drive her to her Craft Club after work one night while we sang and danced in the car.

My old Chief of Staff who told me I should have taken Friday off to go to Ocean City, MD for a FIRST DATE! (long story...)

My old Chief of Staff who used to make up silly names for my ex-boyfriends.

My old Chief of Staff who sings loud, off-key Happy Birthday songs.

My old Chief of Staff who made me the cutest green and navy headband (which she learned at Craft Club) as a going away present, along with a bunch of bath productes that were all green (color, not organic)

My Old Chief of Staff who set me up with her waxer (Debbie at Fusion Day Spa if you're out there, I love you!) and gave me intimate details about Brazilian bikini waxes.

My old Chief of Staff who is a mere 4 years older than me!!!!!

I suppose this is how DC works. But it is just so, so, so strange to me to think how people move in this city.

Anyways, I just thought I'd share that with you. Thinking about our very frank conversations about Debbie always makes me giggle, and I need a giggle today (especially when I realize that someone just 4 years older than me is going to be Obama's freakin' Cabinet(!) and I can't find a job anywhere on the Hill...)

Ok...I NEED food...I'm starting to get a headache. Wish me luck as I try to find something I don't have to cook (since I'm fairly certain each and every pot and pan (all mine, of course) are dirty...

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

I'm in hiding...

2009-03-23T14:35:00.004-04:00

I'm hiding in my room and not coming out!

I just walked outside of my room to go potty (or as Grandma Bea calls it, "void." OOH would I get in trouble when I said "I have to pee." "Ladies don't say 'pee' Sweet Bea," she'd always remind me. Makes me giggle to think about it now) and nearly had a panic attack.

Let me back up.

I like my roommate. I like her a lot - we get along great and she's been really wonderful after the whole Badger-ripped-out-my-heart-and smooshed-it-on-the-sidewalk debacle I am still going through.

And I am not the neatest person even known to grace this fair Earth of ours, and I would never claim to be.

But you see, sweet friends, I lived on my own for 3 years before taking off to California for this past campaign season. And after the campaign ended and I was looking at places back here in DC, the prices had jumped. A lot. To an out of my price range level. So, I started looking at roommates.

Roommate and I had met before - she's from my hometown (actually grew up literally around the corner from me) and is friends with my friend Friend's girlfriend (jeez, could that have BEEN anymore confusing??) She is 5 years younger than me.

I found her on the wonderful CraigsList.org, and sent an email basically just asking how big the room was (I had given up on the cutesy emails I'd sent to like 9 million other potential roommates by this point.) An hour or so later, her boyfriend (who is Badger's best friend and old roommie, and one of my really close friends too) called me and said "You just sent an email to my girlfriend about an apartment."

Random, I know. She knew she knew me because when she went to respond, my name already had popped up in her Gmail because we were always on email chains together with our group of friends out here.

I could share the many, many stories of how she has been a ridiculous roommate, but I won't. Well, technically, I did start writing them down...but perhaps they should be a weekly segment instead...Lord knows there are enough of them! And probably, part of my problem is that I haven't had to deal with a roommate in over 3 years. But this is ridiculous.

Here is what I saw when I walked out of my room:

A pile of her clean (I can only hope) laundry on the floor of the living room. Including panties.

A sink OVERFLOWING with her dirty dishes from breakfast yesterday. Overflowing means not only in the sink, but on the counter next to the sink, and still on the stove. OH, and we have a dishwasher...

Her dirty ass running shoes on the floor of the bathroom - from 2 weeks ago.

Her spare sheets in the washing machine for the 3RD WEEK! She has neglected to put them into the dryer for 3 WEEKS and instead just keeps re-washing them over and over and over again (I seriously think we are on re-wash #4), which of course prevents me from doing MY laundry. They are about to be dumped on the floor next to her pile of possibly-clean clothes in the living room.

Now, like I said, I'm not the neatest person around. I've been known to let me dishes pile up for a day or 2. Or leave papers or stuff around the living room. I won't lie.

But this is a constant struggle I have with her. It is endless.

I know for a fact that yesterday morning she did wash her dishes from last Monday's dinner she and her boyfriend cooked...because she did it while I was in the shower. We don't have enough hot water for us to both take consecutive showers as it is - and half the time the hot water runs out long before either of us are done with our showers - so why the hell did she wait 6 days to wash her dishes when I was in the shower???

I am sick and tired of being treated like her maid. If she wants to pay me to clean the house everyday, that is fine. I'll gladly do it while I am looking fora real job. But this is ridiculous.

I had to help her clean the apartment for her friend's arrival 2 days after I got my concussion in January. I literally almost passed out while vacuuming. (Seriously, saw stars and felt my head get all hollow and start to go white.) But I was expected to do clean.

She complained that the dishes hadn't been done and were smelling (HER DISHES!) when I had the stomach flu a few weeks ago, and I got up and did the dishes while she was out boozing with her boyfriend (and THEN had the nerve to COOK WHILE I WAS DOING THE DISHES!) I couldn't even stand up straight because my stomach was cramping so badly, but there I was at 2:00 a.m. doing the damn dishes so I didn't have to hear her yell again (and frankly, they smelled like ass and it was making me more nauseated to lie there and smell them.)

She promised me for 4 days that she would take out the garbage (since I had scrubbed the rest of the house, including mopping the floors for the first time since she moved in last JULY and washing out the garbage can that her shit overflowed into and was perma-smelling) and finally I took it out because Florida was coming over that night and we were having our cooking date.

I swear I am at my wit's end with her. I hate complaining but I just do not know what to do with/about her, and it's stressing me out completely. And I'm not trying to act like a martyr, but I am trying to keep my share of the bargain and I feel like I'm being completely taken advantage of.

The lease is up in July (thank GOD) and we aren't even discussing living together again, which is nice.

So, sweet friends, I am turning to you for help and advice. Does anyone out there have any suggestions?

Cheers...

Sweet Bea

PS - did I mention that her best friend from high school is in town with us? Yea...I found out last Monday that was coming 2 days later (Wednesday)...and she doesn't leave until tomorrow. She's actually been awesome and fun to hang out with - not to mention CLEAN(ish). Sigh...

PPS - did I mention also that she invited her friend from college to live on our couch, for free, for the summer while she interns?

Why being a man is AWESOME...

2009-03-19T09:32:00.007-04:00

HAPPY TOURNAMENT THURSDAY!

Since I will probably be consumed with the Tournament for the next 2 days (have you gotten your Bloggy Bracket done yet? Email me at SweetBeaBlogs (at) gmail (dot) com to get the invite!) I wanted to send a quick post out to the blogosphere for what might be one of the most ~~awful~~ amazing inventions EVER.

And it also simply goes to prove why being a man is so much more awesome than being a woman.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a girl. I love high heels, pearls, makeup and perfume.

I suppose, however, I could be a drag queen and still get those benefits, plus the ability to use this gem:

Image courtesy of MATCO

Yup. That's a golf club. That you pee into. Introducing...UroClub.

How many times has this happened? You’re playing 18 holes with your best buddies, drinking sport-“ades”, water, beer, etc. You’re coming up to the 3rd hole with no rest room in sight. There are no trees or bushes around and you just have to go, what are you going to do?
-UroClub Website

Well, if you have this little miracle, you just pee into your club.

Thank God - otherwise we'd be stuck with a bunch of golf dudes looking like this:

another AWESOME image courtesy of MATCO

But gee golly gosh, Sweet Bea, how does it work?

Why fine readers, let me show you!

yea yea yea, another image from MATCO

Friends, I swear I can't make this stuff up.

The website proclaims the capacity is "over half a liter, twice the volume commonly urinated" and the length is "like a standard 7 Iron," which to me, raises the following questions:

1. Ok, you've been drinking your "-ades" and have to pee by the 3rd hole, as mentioned earlier. And according to the brilliant scientists over at MATCO, the makers of the UroClub, you pee approx 1/4 Liter. Assuming you continue to consume your "-ades," wouldn't you have to pee again at the 6th hole (assuming of course that you pottied right before you teed off)? And if you pee again at the 6th hole, and you pee another 1/4 Liter, you are now at capacity. What happens at the 9th, 12th, 15th, and 18th holes?

2. The length of the UroClub is like a standard 7 Iron. I'm assuming that you'd put this club back in your bag with your other, real, clubs. And let's again assume that you keep consuming your "-ades" throughout your game. After the 6th hole (and the 2nd "use" of the club) the club has got to have some weight to it...probably near what your real 7 Iron would have. And let's admit, you're probably not the world's best golfer if you're consuming "-ades" on the course - you're probably out there just whacking away for fun. What happens when you mistakenly grab the UroClub instead of the 7 Iron for a shot on the 16th hole and the sheer force of you hitting the ground instead of the ball with all your drunken might pops the leak-proof top off and your "presents" from the 3rd and 6th holes dump out all over you?

I leave you with those burning questions, and of course, the link to order the world's worst idea ever.

Happy Tournament Thursday, sweet friends. :)

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

March Madness Reminder

2009-03-18T14:28:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to send out a quick reminder about signing up to do a blog bracket for March Madness.

As I'm sure you ALL know, the Big Dance starts tomorrow, which means you need to get your brackets set TONIGHT.

If you want to participate - comment me and let me know ASAP (if you haven't already) and I will get the group started and send you an invite.

If I don't get a good response, I'm not going to set up a group because I've got a few others to manage already.

SO - recruit your friends and readers and let's have a fun March Madness! Remember, this is a free league and the winner gets online bragging rights.

Hope everyone is recovering from whatever their St. Patrick Day plans included...I'm still reliving the awesome memories of last nights festivities and Shamrock Shakes!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

St. Patrick's Day! vol 2.0

2009-03-17T23:22:00.003-04:00

Friends if you are anything like me right now, you feel like a roly poly.

A fat roly poly.

But, a fat, happy roly poly.

I want to curl up in a ball and have someone gently flick me to my destination - in this case, bed.

This evening, I was introduced to McDonald's Shamrock Shake - a delightful concoction of a vanilla shake and green mint syrup.

Green + Mint = YAY!

After festivizing for St. Patrick's Day with Always a Northerner, her hubby Alson, and Wearing Mascara, Alson was wonderful enough to not only call for the free cabs roaming around DC tonight for both me AND Wearing Mascara, but also went to buy the happy foursome Shamrock Shakes.

Extra large Shamrock Shakes.

Which I downed in the 10-minute cab ride home.

Which then prompted me to send Florida this adorable text:

Can you come home and roll your girlfriend to bed please?*

And sent him a picture of my blowing my cheeks out with my jacket and scarf still on making me look much larger than I am.

See sweet friends...I have priorities. I haven't even taken off my cozy scarf or jacket before I came to chat with you all.

But now you know why I feel like a roly poly.

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

*No Florida and I are not boyfriend/girlfriend yet...but I am too full of Shamrock goodness to text anything else. He just has to deal with it. :)

St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T15:16:00.004-04:00

Hello my little shamrock friends!

AP Photo/Ron Edmonds

Happy St. Patrick's Day to each and every one of you!

Of course, your dear Sweet Bea loves this "faux-liday" because (in case you couldn't tell) green is my favorite color.

I started my celebration with a second interview at a retail establishment here in DC, and I got the job! It will certainly be a change from political life, but I think it will be a battery-charging change for the time being.

The celebration then went on to a Mongolian BBQ joint for an early lunch (seriously, we opened the restaurant at 11:30 a.m.) with a friend, complete with ginormous beers. YUM. We took pictures of us with our beers and sent them to our friends. Ha ha.

For my job interview, I decided to keep is simple - old Gap white camp shirt, black J Crew cashmere tee, and my Ann Taylor kelly green patent belt, jeans (yes, it was a jeans appropriate interview), and my black boots.

But now I'm conflicted as to what to wear tonight!

Green polo with jeans?

Green long sleeve t-shirt?

Green cardigan?

Green argyle sweater?

Green J Crew Sophia dress? (HAHA that would be totally ridiculous, but hey, it is green!)

So confused... :(

But, this is a wonderful type on confused - it means I am fortunate to have a closet full of wonderful green things to choose from. Many people these days aren't so lucky.

I hope you all have a wonderfully fun and SAFE! St. Patrick's Say!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

An Irish Blessing

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
May the rains fall soft upon your fields,
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

-St. Patrick

March Madness Blogger Bracket???

2009-03-15T17:06:00.002-04:00

I know I just posted, but I had this thought and wanted a separate title.

Anyone out there in blogger land want to put together a March Madness bracket?

I'm thinking it would be free - so the winner gets bragging rights throughout the blogosphere.

Open to anyone and everyone in our fabulous bloggy networks.

I'm happy to do the leg work of getting everything set up (since I have some free time on my hands)

Shoot me a comment if you'd like to participate!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Selection Sunday!

2009-03-15T16:54:00.003-04:00

Selection Sunday starts in ONE HOUR!

I heart NCAA Basketball.

After a devastating loss to the horrendous Southern California (gotta love refs who get paid by conferences that get money for each conference team they get into the tournament...) my spirits are picked up to see just who will make it into The Big Dance.

My Arizona State Sun Devils? Check - probably with a 6 or 7 seed.

My second team, the rascally Badgers of the University of Wisconsin? Should be in...though with a high, high seed (am thinking around 12...but 12/5 upsets are my favorite and my specialty)

Hometown Saint Mary's Gaels? They are on the bubble right now...but I think they should be in. If they don't get in, Roommate (and St. Mary's Alum) will be horrendous to deal with...since her rival Gonzaga (and boyfriend's alma mater) will be in for sure.

My rival, University of Arizona Wildcats? Not looking likely (which means I win a $50 bet I made over Christmas that Arizona would not make it into the tourney) though I wouldn't put it past the selection committee to continue Arizona's streak of consecutive March Madness appearances (the longest in the nation.)

And last but not least? FLORIDA WILL NOT BE IN.

Who will be the overall #1 seed? Louisville.

Other #1 seeds? Memphis, UNC, and perhaps Duke or Michigan State. Ugh to all of them.

Just some of my thoughts as we get ready for Selection Sunday (yay!)

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Update from Florida (in Alabama)

2009-03-14T13:17:00.003-04:00

So as I've whined about before, Florida is in Alabama leading USAF Drill Camp for a month.

Le sigh...

We've been keeping in constant contact via text messages (thank GOD I now have unlimited texts) and since I upgraded my text plan so I don't get another $350 cell bill again, I also can send and receive picture messages...so that's been fun. :) I wish I knew how to get them from my cell to my laptop...I'd post some for you - I have a great one of him drilling with bayonets all around his face (a very, very dangerous move obviously, but he trained his men well and trusts them completely...even if I don't!)

Anywho, they are down at Maxwell AFB outside Montgomery...and from what I understand, there ain't a whole lot to do. Basically Hooters, Buffalo Wild Wings, and a movie theater.

So last night, Florida, his best friend, and some of the other guys (all married or with girlfriends, except my poor Diet Boyfriend) decide to go to BWW for food and beer.

Florida is a goofball. He is the life of the party. He's the kind of guy who enters air guitar contests - and wins, hands down. He's just a funny, funny guy. We're always laughing when we're together, which is awesome.

Florida is also competitive. Very competitive. And, (and I've seen this in person so I can attest to it) he is a human garbage disposal.

We went to grab food at Panera one night, and I ordered my standard Asiago Roast Beef with extra horseradish sauce, apple, and water. Florida ordered a bowl of soup, one of their large salads, AND a sandwich.

And proceeded to eat it in about the same time it took me to eat my one, solitary sandwich.

It truly is impressive to watch him eat. As weird as that sounds.

So back to last night...

The boys get to Buffalo Wild Wings and decide to order wings and beer (obvi. What else would you order there?)

My Florida orders his wings, and the table looks at him like they can't believe what they heard.

FLORIDA ORDERED 50 WINGS. FOR HIMSELF.

Now, I know wings are small. I love me some hot wings. LOVE hot wings. But 50 wings???

I wish I could post the picture of him with a HUGE grin holding his 2 BUCKETS of wings. I would not, however, post the picture of him midway through the wings, with sauce all over his face (as funny as it is.)

Needless to say, not only did my Florida put down the 50 wings, he also polished off 2 pitchers of beer.

Like I said...he's the human garbage disposal. Unbelievable.

So - you may be asking yourselves...why on earth is Bea posting about her quasi-boyfriend's digestive abilities?

Well sweet friends, the answer is simple:

He wanted me to.

He loves hearing about my blog, about my blog friends, what I post about him, that I call him Florida, and trying to come up with clever ways of getting me to tell him what it's called (he'll never figure it out, I'm positive.)

And he's very proud of himself. One of his guys tried to keep up with him and only got to 37 before quitting.

So, in honor of my man proudly serving his country by shoving as many chicken wings in his mouth as humanly possible, you have this humble post. :)

Sigh...

I hope you all are having lovely Saturdays - it's mild but cloudy here, and supposed to rain...so I think I might hunker down in the apartment and work on organizing my closet (right now there are dressed mixed in with polos...it's anarchy in there!) while blasting my iTunes' "Getting Stuff Done" mix (basically my fave songs to keep me motivated.)

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

My Latest Diet...

2009-03-13T15:30:00.004-04:00

I have a pseudo-boyfriend.

I have a faux-boyfriend.

We came to the conclusion, after he had a discussion with his friends, that we are in fact, in a relationship. Which I am fine with.

I am in lots of relationships - with my friends, with my colleagues...heck with the cheese lady at Eastern Market! So being in a relationship with Florida isn't scary.

It is scary when he says that he wants to be my boyfriend. And, therefore, me his girlfriend.

Ugh...those big scary words again. Why the heck is he doing this! We agreed, from the very beginning, that we both needed to take things slow. Like practically backwards slow. We were both getting out of tough breakups that caught us out of the blue, and were both still not really healed from them.

We both also have talked about not wanting to see other people...so why the need to start putting labels and titles on things? We've been on the same page since Day One.

So, last night, we were talking (have I mentioned that we're now talking on the phone? I like his voice...it's quite nice to actually talk to him instead of just text when we're not together) and he came up with the perfect solution for me, right now:

He is my Diet Boyfriend. Same great taste, fewer scary issues.

All the benefits of having a boyfriend (including the commitment. I don't want you to think that I'm being all weird about this because I want to be messing around with others) but without the scary part of actually being His Girlfriend.

So, perhaps I am silly, but I'm too scared to fully commit publicly that we are, in fact, in a relationship (even though we clearly are.) I should be so lucky that he wants to move our relationship forward and is willing and open to talk about it with me.

But I'm too scared of getting hurt again by falling for someone who I know is leaving. Like Badger.

So, until then, I will GLADLY have my Diet Boyfriend. :)

An early morning helping of Meatloaf...

2009-03-13T07:38:00.004-04:00

So...I'm heading off to a food service retail job interview this morning.

I heard yesterday from the person who would be my boss' boss that they have a great field of applicants, more like what they are looking for than in the past.

"You know, people 19-21 years old, college kids."

I'm staring 30 in the face.

And found a grey hair today.

On my temple.

And my hair is pulled back.

And wearing it down is NOT an option.

And I'm rocking out to Meatloaf's Paradise by the Dashboard Light.

My competition probably doesn't even know who Meatloaf is.

Happy Friday the 13th, darlins...

Cheers,

your blogging elder,

Sweet Bea

I. Can't. Move.

2009-03-09T15:21:00.004-04:00

I am sore from head to toe. Even my fingers hurt...and it's not from texting Florida 24-7.

See, this weekend in our Nation's Capitol, Spring made her first wonderful appearance. It's hard to imagine that one week ago we were under the largest amount of snow of the season...and this weekend it was in the 70s and I have a little sunburn on my shoulders.

Thursday was starting to get warm - I walked to Eastern Market for some fruit for the chocolate fondue I was making for Florida and my first cooking date at my house. He was in charge of the salmon and the veggies, and I was in charge of wine and dessert...but I forgot the wine because I suck.

As I was walking back from Eastern Market nom'ing on the strawberries I just bought (and ate half of them on the walk back...) this big black truck pulled up next to me with a very cute driver...and I realize it's Florida who happened to drive past me en route to my house. Which was awesome, except I wasn't wearing my cute date outfit and had no makeup on yet. Boo :( It had now been 2 weeks since he'd seen me in makeup. Luckily, he says he doesn't care...the first night we had a sleepover he looked at me in the morning and said that I was one of the lucky ones who was just as beautiful in the morning as I was at night. Yay me :) But I still want to be cute, damnit!

Friday was great - Florida and I went out on King Street with some of his friends to Murhpy's and Rock It Grill (scene of Karaoke to the Death last month) and then headed back to my house because he had to be on base at 8:00 a.m. to catch the plane to Alabama. Needless to say, after joining my friends at Cafe Berlin on Mass for happy hour and then going to King Street to meet up with the boys, I was a little tipsy by the time we got back to my house...and promptly fell asleep. When that darned alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. I wanted to shoot myself - my head hurt SO MUCH! Needless to say...we didn't exactly get to have the goodbye either of us wanted. Stupid, ~~yummy, delicious~~ stupid Hefeweizen... :(

Saturday was so warm and toasty outside so the bestie, BP's girlfriend, and I decided to hit up the rooftop bars on U Street. Line at Marvin was too long, so we headed across the street to Tabaq. I had never been there before...but let me tell you, I will be back. I loved the rooftop bar and the food and drinks were quite tasty! After Tabaq, we decided to head back to Marvin to see if the line had calmed down. It had, and so we hiked up to their rooftop deck.

It was a cluster. It was so uncomfortably crammed with drunk idiots that we were only there for one round. We literally had to listen to a migrating duo discuss the virtues of dryer sheets. DRYER SHEETS! Ugh. I say migrating because they literally started off on my right side and drunkenly wandered/stumbled all the way over to my left. The guy literally had his ass on the knee of another poor guy who happened to be sitting at the fence talking to a girl. It was insane.

After a very rude driver refused to take us home (would not even unlock the door so we could get in and almost drove over BP's girlfriend's foot in the process of peeling out away from us) we finally got a cab and headed home, where I started to late-night text Florida...for 3 hours. Poor kid :(

Sunday was even warmer than Saturday so the crew decided to head to B&B (Bagels & Baguettes - our weekend breakfast spot) and then play a little softball.

Now, you probably remember what happened the last time we played softball...lucky Florida and his balls weren't here to be hit this time around. I did text him and say that I was going to avenge them for him... but it turns out not only can I barely hit I also have absolutely no control where the ball goes when I do actually made contact. I am, however, getting better at fielding...which basically means that I only sometimes hide from the ball when it's hit to me. Sigh...I did make quite a few faux double plays though (I was playing 2nd base) so I was proud.

But...now on Monday...it turns out that I might have played a little too hard (and without stretching...naughty Bea!) because I. Can't. Move.

Literally every part of my body is aching today...my arms, hands, upper back, butt, thighs, and calves. I am in soooooooo much pain :(

BUT - it felt so great to be outside this weekend playing softball and playing with my friends. Though the weather isn't supposed to be nearly as nice the rest of the week (it is so windy today I literally thought we were having an earthquake because my windows were shaking so badly!) but I know that spring truly is JUST around the corner. And how lovely is the extra hour of sunshine?

Hope you all are enjoying the first day of the week!

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

I had a threesome...

2009-03-07T16:28:00.005-05:00

So I just have to share a funny story from last Saturday about a threesome I had.

As I mentioned here, last Friday night I went out with my bestie, BP and his girlfriend for a drink. Well, most of my "crew" of friends ended up showing up at the bar and it turned into an absolute debacle. At some drunken point, one of my friends asked me where Florida was, and that he should come out. So, since we were texting all night anyways, I decided to tell him to come to the bar. It was probably about 1:00 a.m. and he lives a half-hour away...but that didn't deter me from literally berating him into coming out. I am such a charming lady, right?

Well the debauchery continued until bar time and Florida drove me home (he only had half a beer because BP's girlfriend basically kidnapped his Guinness and drank the whole thing) and we went to bed...

...woke up in the morning at about 10 or so because my phone was ringing. Nothing worse than a early morning phone call when hungover and all you want to do is curl back up next to your hot man...but I digress.

At this point, it should be noted that some time during my drunken stumblings around my apartment the night before, I had grabbed my new Martha Stewart Cooking School book and brought it to bed. With Florida. A happy little drunken threesome with me, Florida...and Martha Stewart.

Well, for whatever reason, in the morning while I was getting the twin bed that has occupied our living room since December ready to be taken away (FINALLY! One of our friends just moved into a new place and needs a bed until she gets a job and can buy one. She was the phone call, asking if she could come get the bed) Florida decides that he wants to read up on grilling vs. bbqing, direct vs. indirect heat, and the like.

Now, imagine how hard it was for me not to jump him when I walked to open the front door to my apartment and walked past my open bedroom door, and looked in to find a partially naked Florida sitting up in my bed reading my Martha. OMG ladies I almost said "screw the friends at the door to get the bed" and jumped back into bed - he looked SO HOT.

Which means, of course, that I am slightly obsessed with Martha...and probably with Florida as well.

Well, I did open the front door to let the girls in...and when they walked past my open bedroom door they both literally stopped talking when they saw the hotness in my bed. Needless to say, I about murdered him when he offered to not only help the girls move the bed down the 3 flights of stairs, but also to put it into the truck and drive it the 2 blocks to the new apartment. I wanted him to stay in bed waiting for me...but he's too much of a good Southern gentleman (and it didn't hurt when he whispered in my ear that if he helped them move, it just meant I got to get him undressed again...)

I'm such a lucky girl :)

Alas, Florida is down in Alabama for the month leading the Air Force Drill Team camp (he left today...which probably explains why I am hermiting in my apartment on this lovely warm DC day shovelling Cheez-Its into my mouth at breakneck speed while watching college basketball. Go ASU! Go Kansas! Damn you Florida Gators!!) but at least I have the very vivid memory of the awesome threesome I had last weekend :)

Florida + Martha + Bea = HOTTNESS! :)

Hope you are enjoying this wonderful Saturday!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

I'm a WINNER!

2009-03-04T15:49:00.005-05:00

Sweet friends, I feel like such a horrible bloggy friend right now. ASC gave me a lovely award just after Valentine's Day, and I am just now putting it up onto my own blog - so incredibly rude of me! ASC I apologize a million times for this delay, and I truly appreciate the award :)

LOVE YA AWARD

Now, there are rules:

“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

The blogs I would like to recognize with this award are:

Katie at A Hokie and a Wahoo

Miss E at Miss E's Misadventures

Pink Pearls and Muddy Sneakers

Landlocked Mermaid

Daisy at Dugout Daisy

Wearing Mascara

Megan at Newly Wed, Newly Bred

Meg at The Many Adventures of Meg

My life list - just for funsies!

2009-03-03T23:29:00.005-05:00

So I've been finally catching up on all your lovely blogs finally, now that my computer and I are friends again. I saw this on DC Prep's site, and thought it would be a fun thing to do - I love things like this! :)

Basically, you put an X next to the things you have done.

(X) Gone on a blind date (It was a really blind date...neither he nor I knew we were being set up. Turned into a year and a half relationship...)
(X) Skipped school (um...like all the time??)
( ) Watched someone die
( ) Washed, groomed and dressed someone after they died.
(X) Been to Canada (technically...I've been to the Calgary Airport...)
(X) Been to Mexico (TJ and Rocky Point (Puerto Pensaco)...classy, eh?)
( ) Been to Florida (not yet! We shall see...)
( ) Been to Hawaii
(X) Been on a plane (::shudders:: I hate flying!)
( ) Been on a helicopter (hell no!)
(X) Been lost (teehee! Many, many times. My favorite was the first weekend I lived in the DC area and my bestie and our roommate decided to go to Ethiopian food. We didn't know how to drive around the city, and bestie was driving, with me in the backseat looking at a map. All 3 of us are chain smoking out the window (note: I have not smoked in 2 years and 2 months!) and she turned on some random street and hollers to me "I'm turning, find me!" The night ended 3 hours later with us hitting up the Wendy's across the street from our apartment...we never made it to the restaurant - we couldn't find it!)
(X) Gone to Washington, DC (um...yes?)
(X) Swam in the ocean (Pacific, yes. Never actually seen the Atlantic...pathetic, I know!)
(X) Cried yourself to sleep (Many, many, many times. Too many to count.)
( ) Played cops and robbers
( ) Recently colored with crayons (no...but Roommate has. She looooooves her crafts...ugh!)
(X) Sang Karaoke (DUH!)
( ) Paid for a meal with coins only
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't. (yea...they often have names...)
(X) Made prank phone calls (teehee, who hasn't! The best was in the days before cell phones when you had to make COLLECT prank calls from a PAY PHONE! Like at the local skating rink. AWESOME!)
( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose (it burns...)
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) Danced in the rain-naked
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe (sigh...any year now!)
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone (umm, with Florida this weekend? Though, does watching imply you are actually watching...or that you are still awake when the sun rises? He does look lovely at magic hour though...yum yum)
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating (technically when I fell I slid on the ice...that counts, right?)
(X) Gone to the movies
( ) Been deep sea fishing (I really, really want to though!)
( ) Driven across the United States (ugh...Mama Bea won't let me. Seriously.)
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving (hell no. Scared of heights AND falling)
( ) Been bungee jumping (see above)
( ) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets (that will be my plan this summer in the back of a certain boy's truck...)
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish (never seem to come true...)
( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
(X) Seen the Statue of Liberty

My photo, from my Memorial Weekend trip to visit Badger in NYC :(

( ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
( ) Been on a cruise
(X) Traveled by train (LOVE train travel!)
(X) Been horse back riding (almost got bucked off...I did not get back on the horse!)
(X) Ridden on a San Francisco CABLE CAR (yup!)
(X) Been to Disneyland OR Disney World (the ORIGINAL Disneyland!)
( ) Truly believe in the power of prayer
( ) Been in a rain forest
( ) Seen whales in the ocean
( ) Been to Niagara Falls
( ) Been to the Olympics (been to the Olympic Village in Munich and Squaw Valley...)
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China
( ) Saw and heard a glacier calf (I don't even know what this means?!?)
( ) Been spinnaker flying
(X) Been water-skiing
( ) Been snow-skiing
( ) Been to Westminster Abbey
( ) Been to the Louvre
( ) Swam in the Mediterranean
(X) Been to a Major League Baseball game

I HATE the Yankees...I spent this whole game taking photos and playing with the settings on my new camera because I was soooooooo bored. Also from Memorial Weekend trip to see Badger.

(X) Been to a National Football League game (Cowboys, baby!!!)
(X) Been to Las Vegas (Cousin's 30th bday last December - AWESOME!)
( ) Been snorkeling in any ocean
( ) Been naked or topless on a beach
( ) Called 911 because McDonalds was out of McNuggets...

I'm back, lovlies!

2009-03-02T14:06:00.003-05:00

Hi darlins'!

Sorry for my bloggy absence...but as I mentioned here, my computer (and me, at the time) had a nasty virus. Well, the computer virus didn't like my repeated attempts at eradicating it...and it fought back. Hard.

Well, I am smarter* than the virus and prevailed, finally. It got so bad that not only could I not Google anything, I couldn't even get onto the interwebs! Hence, no bloggy goodness from me.

It also attacked my emails - so I apologize for not being able to respond to all your sweet comments!!

Good news however, the virus is totally GONE and I am (obvi) back online, thank GOD!

It's cold and SNOWY out here in DC today...my plan is to clean my apartment because it has gotten a bit nasty since I was so sick last week and I played with Florida all this weekend (seriously...he met my ~~drunk ass~~ one glass of wine self at the bar Friday night and went back to his place at like 10pm last night) and turned all domesticated and Martha Stewart on him by not only cutting up my very own chicken, but then making homemade stock, and using the poached chicken to make a VERY tasty chicken salad (technically the chicken salad was after he left, but whatevs.) Bless his heart for staying up with my until 3:00 a.m. on Saturday night/Sunday morning straining the HUGE vat of chicken stock I made. With coffee filters, because I was out of cheesecloth. Note to all: coffee filters don't filter anything but coffee.

Anywhos, while Roommate is at work (boo no snow day for her!) I am going to surprise her by getting our place nice and clean and actually looking like a real apartment (we've had a twin bed in the living room since I moved in...long story...)

Hope all you DC'ers have a SAFE time getting to and from work (clearly, I am not allowed to go outside...and have gotten several texts and emails reminding me that it is icy out and that I am not to leave my apartment unless there is a fire.) If you are outside DC - I hope you are having a warmer, less snowy day than we are!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

* It should be noted that I got the computer virus directly as a result of my own stupidity...I downloaded something I shouldn't have (NO it was not porn, people!) and I KNEW BETTER but did it anyways...and got the virus. :(

Wordle!

2009-02-26T12:21:00.005-05:00

Have you Wordled yet?

I hadn't, but am finally catching up on my blogs that I have so mistreated since le flu took hold me late last week, and was reading Sweet Soft Southern Thrill (I just love that bloggy name!) and she posted today her Wordle, and asked her readers to post theirs as well.

Since there ain't a whole heck of a lot going on in my world lately, I am happy to oblige!

So I don't get sued: Photo courtesy of http://www.wordle.net/

Now, gangrene doesn't show up in my Wordle, luckily, (and you'll have to head over to Sweet Soft Southern Thrill to find out why I write that) but there are a few words that surprise me:

Like: Ugh...I'm embarrassed that shows up so large. Same with OMG. I must really be 15...sheesh! Oh yea - new bill came...2700 texts. WTF!

VOTE: Given that I am in politics (when of course I'm not unemployed and spending my days in bed with my laptop and a 2lb box of See's chocolates, like I am today...) this shouldn't surprise me...but I thought I refrained from political speech here!

Death: I know that this is just in reference to KttD (which, as you can see is apparently my favorite word EVER!) but it still is a bit morbid to have it that big!

Happy: it's teeny tiny and smushed into the bottom right corner! That makes me sad!! Laugh and Awesome are also small :(

Florida: Well, natch he's in there, and fairly prominent :) BUT - where is Badger?? Not even on here at all. That surprises me...and frankly, makes me kinda happy (which just got a teensy bit bigger I hope!)

So, sweet friends - PLEASE create and post your Wordle today...not only will it be fun for us to read - but it could also be eye-opening for you as well!

That being said, I'm off to shower and maybe get some *real* food in my tummy because my bestie and I head out to Leesburg for some retail therapy, outlet style. They have a J. Crew over there...and as Hopsy over at Monograms and Manicures let us know today, the J. Crew outlets are stocked to the gills with fabo finds! :) I'm hoping that since J. Crew proper updated it's website with some new AWESOME things like this:

I die! Image courtesy of J.Crew, obvi!

it means that they have sent a bunch of stuff to the outlets and it's just waiting for me to peruse through!

Have a LOVELY, wonderful, happy, cheerful, AWESOME Thursday, sweet friends!

Cheers! (Ok - how was this NOT my top Wordle word??)

Sweet Bea

PS - and shame on me for not writing this as the FIRST THING in this post: THANK YOU to everyone who emailed and commented wishing me a speedy recovery from le flu!!! It was so wonderful to read your kind words. I apologize for not responding to the posts, but my email and I seem to be in a bit of a disagreement about it's behaviour...and well frankly, it's being insufferably insubordinate and must be dealt with. XOXOXOXO to all! ~SB

Le flu...

2009-02-20T13:00:00.003-05:00

...I haz it. Ugh.

Woke up at 5:15 a.m. snuggling with Florida (yes, we are having sleepovers. This was our first 2-day-in-a-row sleepover...but it was more out of necessity and proximity than anything else. He had an evening event at Bolling -and an early Habitat for Humanity day of volunteering this AM- and I live like 20 minutes from there, vs. his hour-long drive to Fairfax. So it made sense. Don't judge.)

Instantly I knew something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

I managed to wait until the heater turned on to give me some sound cover, and ~~sprinted~~ elegantly walked, so as not to awake my very yummy bedmate, out of my bedroom (could barely get the door open because my hands were so clammy!) and THEN ran like mad to the bathroom across the apartment.

Once safely reaching the bathroom I dove for the toilet where I think the devil himself took possession of my body for a good 20 minutes. Ugh ugh ugh. I'll leave it at that.

When the exorcism was finally complete, I managed to crawl my way back to my bedroom, where I had absolutely no intention at all of crawling back into bed with Florida (he likes to cuddle and I was dripping sweat) so I grabbed my pillow and crawled to the couch, turned on the TV for some light in case he came out wondering where I was (he did) and grabbed 3 blankets and tried to go to sleep.

But sleep...o, elusive sleep...I never did find thee. I basically tossed and turned and moaned on my couch for the next hour or so until Florida awoke (and at some point, Roommate's alarm started going off like a clocked possessed...and she was at her boyfriends, ugh!) Florida came out, sat down in the chair, and started rubbing my head, as he could see and hear by my moanings that something was very wrong indeed.

Bless his heart, he stayed right by my side rubbing my back, filling my water glass, and even went into my backroom and got my previously-used (but washed out in the shower! I'm not that nasty people) garbage can and brought it to me (because I was so tangled in the 3 blankets it was clear I might not make it to the bathroom when the devil made his next appearance.)

He even offered to run to the 7-11 at the corner and get me a soda to help calm my tummy...but at this point even water wasn't staying put so I thanked him and moaned some more.

Eventually, he did have to leave, but not before giving me a kiss on my forehead (again my protestations - I don't want him getting sick too!) and then texted me about a half hour ago, just to check in on me.

Lucky for me, I had been sleeping on and off since he left at 7 a.m. and was starting to feel *slightly* better, so I was able to text him back and let him know (but not before informing him that his beloved Gators are the 3# most despised team in Facebook's NCAA tourney site.)

I'm actually amazed I've been able to write this long...but I'm going to put down the laptop (which has a virus too! Like hardware like user, I suppose!)

Hope the start to ya'll weekend is much more fun than mine, that's for sure!!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Weekend Recap

2009-02-17T00:24:00.003-05:00

Oh wow, sweet friends.

I am exhausted - even though I slept in until 3:00 p.m. today. Seriously. I am pooped!

This weekend was one of the best weekends I've had in a long, loooong time - and it was incredibly deserved.

As you all know...Sunday was the Daytona 500 and Karaoke to the Death (KttD.)

After not sleeping more than 3 hours Saturday night/Sunday morning (from about 5:00 a.m. until 8:00 a.m.) I got up off the couch at the house where we were throwing the party and started helping get ready for the party (which, I won't lie, consisted of me telling people where to put the decorations.) We then proceeded to IHOP (which I HATE, but was surprisingly good,) to the store to pick up beer and the cake, and then back to the house to finish getting ready.

Florida showed up just before 2:00 p.m., which is when pre-race started. Roommate and her boyfriend showed up a bit later. Things were getting ready to roll...and then the beer/Jack started. And it went downhill from there.

Friend and his girlfriend showed up...but I didn't know for AN HOUR AND A HALF because they were talking in her car. It should be noted that Friend's girlfriend is a f'ing drama queen. It's been bugging me for a while...but Sunday REALLY was the last straw with me. My friend, SLR, who hosted the party...well her roommate DM and her boyfriend Hubby MitchMo decided to (drunkenly) harass them since they were being so ridiculous and hanging out in the car (really, she was being obnoxious...and Friend got sucked into dealing with her.) We had cookies that we decorated with our driver's numbers and such...and so DM and Hubby MitchMo decided to write "OMG" and "WTF" on some of the cookies and bring them out to the car. Which, I must admit, was pretty funny.

Anywho, Friend and his whiny-assed girlfriend finally decide to grace us with their presence, and are fine the rest of the race.

As you may have heard, the Great American Race was shortened by rain (ugh!) but that just gave us more time between the end of the race and the shitshow that was to be karaoke later that night.

We roll up to karaoke just at 8:15 p.m., which was perfect timing. Unfortunately, the table we reserved wasn't where I hoped (which is next to the KttD folks, of course!) but we still made it work.

Now, I will admit...KttD this year left me a little disappointed. I hate saying that...but there weren't some of the awesomely bad performances I've grown to love over the last few years.

Don't get me wrong - they all suck. Big time. But it wasn't the same. Some of the songs butchered included: Montell Williams' This is How We Do It, Alicia Keys' No One (sung by Hotrod, a guy, who won), Extreme's More than Words (my personal favorite of the night), Jackson Browne's Running on Empty, Wilson Phillips' Hold On, Enrique Iglasias' Hero, and Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi. They were all awful.

There were a few highlights of my night...and no, none of them involved Friend and his annoying-ass girlfriend leaving the bar to take walks 2 OR 3 TIMES BECAUSE SHE WAS "UPSET." The highlights are as follows:

Florida slow dancing with me to Alan Jackson's Remember When while singing in my ear (SWOON! This boy is gonna get me in trouble, ya'll!)
My own awesome version of Gretchen Wilson's All Jacked Up (yes, I was GOOD. Very, very good.)
Florida singing (really, drawling...) Alamaba's Song of the South while wearing a camo cowboy hat (omg SEXY. What the hell is wrong with me???)
ASU beating Southern California in basketball (which resulted in my having to buy Friend a shot of bourbon - YUM!)
Being asked by KttD to VOTE IN THE CONTEST! OMG OMG OMG!

Yes...you heard that right. Hotrod himself - the eventual winner - came up to me and asked me to participate by voting in the contest. I was seriously thrilled...all my friends (other than Florida, obvi) had ~~been thrown out of~~ left the bar, so this was a perfect opportunity to hang out with the KttD'ers (who I only see once a year.)

I cast my vote for Aussie Rob, who "sang" More than Words...and even though he didn't have a chance at winning, I still stand behind my vote. As I mentioned, Hotrod, one of the co-founders of the KttD tourney, was the winner of this year's festivities.

And then, Hotrod snapped this photo for me, specifically so I could share with all of you:

Yes, my friends, that is the trophy for KttD :) AWESOME! I just love it.

So now...there are only 364-ish days until KttD 10...and I can't WAIT! The theme for this anniversary event is Duets. I am willing to bet that songs from American Tail and Aladdin will be in full effect...as well as some from Dirty Dancing. I seriously can't wait!

As they say in KttD-land to close a blog post: Excelsior!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS -if you want to read more about KttD, including recaps from the participants themselves, check out this and this blog post!

Have you seen these?

2009-02-13T16:57:00.006-05:00

I know I shouldn't like them since they are railing on my party...but I just can't help it.

As you know, I work in politics both here in DC and across the county on campaigns. I can be partisan and can passionately defend my party and my party leaders (the ones I agree with...which is not all.)

But I also have a sense of humour.

Roommate sent me this link earlier today, and I absolutely was beside myself giggling. These are the political equivalent of my other favorite e-card site, someecards.

This is the one I sent LBP today (he's a Republican and I bought him an Obama magnet as a foolie-foolie Christmas present when I went out there last month):

Here is my V-Day card to all my single girlfriends:

And this one, as a little reminder to myself:

HAHAHAHA!! Oh, what fun!

Wish you a very happy and safe Friday evening and Valentine's Day Eve!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

My Valentine's Weekend Plans...

2009-02-12T12:13:00.001-05:00

...have absolutely nothing to do with Valentine's Day. Or love. Or romance. Or anything like that at all.

BUT I couldn't be happier.

Nay, my Valentine's weekend will be filled with my two passions:

1. NASCAR

2. Karaoke

See, many people, when asked what their favorite day of the year is, respond Christmas! My Birthday! 4th of July!

I squeal, jump up and down while clapping, and yell out THE SUNDAY OF PRESIDENTS' DAY WEEKEND!

First on Sunday is the Daytona 500. Yes - I admit it - I like NASCAR. I more than like NASCAR. I LOOOOOOOOOVE me some NASCAR.

My driver, #26 Jamie McMurray. YUM!
Photo courtesy of SceneDaily.com

So...what is the ONLY way to cap off the AMAZING Great American Race on Sunday?

Why, with a little karaoke, natch!

But sweet friends, this is not just any ol' night at the karaoke bar, no sir!

You see, the Sunday of Presidents' Day Weekend is very special for more than just the Daytona 500 and the start of the NASCAR season...

...it is also the date each year of the infamous Karaoke to the Death tournament.

To give you a bit more background of Karaoke to the Death (or KttD as it's commonly referred to), here is the first rule of KttD:

If you consider "The champion shall be the one who is determined by popular vote of those in our party as the individual who sucked the worst." as a condition for victory - like I do - rather than a rule, per se, then for years KttD has had only one rule. To wit:

You have to try.

Which, in essence, means: you have to pick a song you think you will be terrible at, and try your best at it.

It is, in one word, AMAZING.

The official KttD Logo, courtesy of Hotrod's blog. Merchandise can be purchased here.

I am, alas, not allowed to participate in KttD, by decree of the founders, because I am actually a good karaoker (that does not, of course, mean I am a good singer. They are very, very different things.) But my exclusion in the festivities only makes the tournament more wonderful - I get to sit on the sidelines and laugh and watch and laugh some more.

I wish more than anything that I had pictures from previous KttDs (this will be my 5th year going) but alas, I do not. I will do my very best to take pictures this year, however.

The venue is Rock It Grill in Alexandria, and festivities start at 8:30pm. I would not recommend arriving later than 9:30 though - not only will you miss so much of the fun, but you could also be forced to stand in line outside because this place gets PACKED.

I'm happy to provide more details about the event for anyone interested...and be prepared for a recap of the night. Oh...how I wish I had a BlackBerry so I could liveblog BOTH the race and the tourney.

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS - any suggestions for songs I should sing?? I have a deep, husky-ish singing voice (anyone hearing me speak wouldn't believe it)...if you search around hard enough, there is a recording from last year's KttD of me singing Son of a Preacher Man while the "PR" person for the tourney is interviewing one of the contestants. Needless to say...on that particular night, I could have easily qualified for KttD. HA! :)

O Happy Day!

2009-02-11T16:33:00.002-05:00

Sweetest friends, I haz a happy today!

Nope, nothing major happened, but I am happy.

I'm coming to you LIVE from Jacob's Coffee House on Capitol Hill.

The weather is warm and the doors to the coffee house have been thrown open. The breezes are AMAZING.

My bedroom is clean and organized. My APARTMENT is clean and organized.

I get to see Florida tomorrow.

I'm nom'ing (eating, for you non-lolspeakers) on a turkey panini and drinking a soy chai latte.

I'm wearing my favorite ASU fitted t-shirt and FLIP FLOPS!

And I'm getting to share my thoughts and feelings and life with all of you wonderful, wonderful people.

O Happy Day indeed!

I had to share this video with you - not only do I LOVE Sister Act (both of them!) but this song is awesome, AND my choir sang Joyful, Joyful AND we won the singing contest this movie is based on my senior year.

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

I'm a WINNER!

2009-02-10T18:18:00.004-05:00

YAY! My very first blog award! The Lemonade Award!

Talk about brightening up my day- thank you Freck!!

Freck is over at It's Five O'Clock Somewhere - if that title alone doesn't put you into a wonderful mood, especially during winter, her blog will.

I'm still surprised that people even read this little cyber-adventure of mine - it's been such a great experience!

This is what to do:

1. Thank the person who was so thoughtful for giving you this award by linking their blog to this post.

2. Put the logo on your blog or post.

3. Nominate 10 blogs which show great attitude/gratitude.

4. Link your nominees to your post.

5. Comment them to tell them about the award they've won.

What fun!

Here are my bloggy friends who always lighten my day:

Landlocked Mermaid

Megan from Newly Wed, Newly Bred

Lulu from Dirty Martini Diaries

Kate from Nautical by Nature

Jackie from Always a Northerner

You girls are all fabulous and I'm so happy to say that not only are you bloggy friends, but I have the pleasure of knowing you all in real life too!

And when I fret that life has given me lemons or I'm having a pity party for one, you all make me smile and put me back into my happy mood again :)

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

Why you should never bring a boy around your friends...

2009-02-09T21:39:00.004-05:00

So...things with Florida have been going well...he met my friends and I out after dinner on Friday night, and then we went out with some of his friends on Saturday night (to a new bar in Dupont I'll be reviewing in an upcoming post.)

And then Sunday came along...

Sunday morning we decided to get bagels with my friends and after bagels, while we were walking back to my apartment, Friend called me to see if I wanted to head down to the elementary school by my old house and hit a few softballs around.

I ran the idea by Florida, and he was game, so we said we'd see them at the field in 15 minutes or so. Florida had some running gear in his truck, which worked out perfectly, since he was wearing jeans and a button down (have I mentioned that the fiasco that was his wardrobe on our first date seems to have subsided? He's been in jeans, appropriate shoes, and buttons down shirts every other time, thank goodness!)

So, we change at my place and head over to the field.

I decide that I probably shouldn't play, since I can't bend to field plays and probably shouldn't be swinging a bat around, so I'm on the sidelines cheering on everyone and relaxing in the sun (it was 65 degrees out, yay!)

Everyone was switching positions and eventually, Florida was pitching. My friend, Dennis the Menace (which was note going to be his bloggy nickname, but it's appropriate now...) was up to bat.

It should be mentioned that Dennis the Menace (or DtM) played college baseball in the midwest. And, he can probably place this hit wherever he wants to.

Which, in this case, was square in Florida's, um, fun place.

(Sidenote: DtM asked me out the night of the inauguration, and I said no because he's in the group of friends. I thought he was cool with it...but now I'm wondering...)

Needless to say, Florida went down, hard.

I felt so bad for him - but what the heck am I supposed to do in that situation, you know? I don't want to run out and smother him (as I'm sure he was not only in agony but also totally embarrassed) so I just kinda sat there in the dugout until he got up a few minutes later.

Florida, however, is a trooper and got back up and headed to second base to keep playing.

Later that night, I got the following text:

Got an icepack on by balls and a beer in my hand. What a day.

HA! At least he has a sense of humour about the whole thing! SHEESH!

Hope you all had a lovely, toasty warm, and safe weekend!

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

No More Grumpy Gus!

2009-02-06T12:22:00.003-05:00

Thank you all for the kind words of support and for letting me rant and rave like a looney toon yesterday!

The situation WILL get better. I WILL find a better job! I know something great is in the cards for me!

Beyond all the sweetness that ya'll poured over me yesterday, I also found some fun cards tucked away in a box I was unpacking. I don't think I'll throw these away, just in case I need another dose of smiles :)

Here are some of the fun things my former coworkers wrote in my b-day card 2 years ago:

Bea, From the day I started with Team T, you have been a wonderful friend to me: showing me the ropes, buying me food, and always stopping to listen to my woes and whimsies or share a good story from your life. You're awesome, Bea, and I hope you enjoy your wonderful day. -LC

Bea, Since we share an office I want to write at least as much as LC wrote. But he is apparently quite verbose and I feel my time would be better spent working on an op-ed, so I'll leave it at that. Happy Birthday - CD *I was CD's press assistant. He's one of the funniest people I've ever met.*

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEA! In celebration of your b-day I intend to drink a Bud Light, speak in a southern accent, sing Son of a Preacher Man and date a NASCAR driver as an homage to you. Love and kisses, AB

Friend/Quasi/Roomie- What can I say, my cheap-beer drinking, NASCAR-watching, karaoke singing, green-loving girl? I owe almost everything good that has happened to me here in DC to you! I am looking forward to a crazy weekend and some damn fine karaoke singing ("Before He Cheats" stealers be damned!) - Friend *Friend is from my hometown and good friends with Brother Bea. I've written about him before*

Baseball, booze, and bad singing. You've hit the trifecta! Enjoy! - MS

Bea, They didn't leave me enough space inside, so...HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You make ~~surviving here~~ work great. -PK

And then from my going away card from that office:

HOO-ray! Gonna miss you Bea. Don't forget your little LC when you're running the press shop for an illustrious member! Love, LC

You will be missed - you already are. - Chief of Staff

Bea, I miss the southern charm...oh wait...you're not southern. I just miss you then. - PK

Bea, As a press assistant you made one hell of a scheduler. - CD

I haz a sad... :(

2009-02-05T11:33:00.003-05:00

My sweet friends, I'm a little bit blue today!

First off, it is absolutely frigid outside and my apartment refuses to get about 60 degrees, regardless of what the thermostat is set at. I am going massive amounts of laundry and leaving the door open in a vain attempt at having my washer and dryer heat up my apartment.

Then, as I'm busily working in my room, trying to FINALLY get everything unpacked, put where I want it, and organized, my cell rings. I assume it will be a call from Florida (even though we've only spoken on the phone once...mainly because I don't pick up when he calls during Idol), but it is a Capitol Hill number. My heart skips a beat...

...it's the campaign I worked on so hard this summer and fall back in California. Their Communications Director is leaving, and even though it was still supposed to be mum, your sneaky Bea got very early word (so early in fact most of the staff hadn't been informed yet!) of his departure and sent my resume over to the Chief of Staff.

Alas, the Chief of Staff is calling to tell me that they have hired someone from inside the office, who just moved out here from the California office last month to take a legislative position and she wanted to take the Communications Director position.

Someone with, to my knowledge, absolutely zero experience (in a field where experience, especially experience speaking on the record, is gold.)

But - all is not lost! The Chief of Staff said that he clearly knows what great work I do and that I'd be a great Communications Director and he's willing to make calls to other offices for me. OH, and the going away party for the departing Communications Director (my boss on the campaign) is tonight and they'd like me to come say goodbye. Oh, goody! (sorry for my snark in this paragraph, but I'm frustrated and hurt!)

This comes a week or so after not getting a ComDir job with an office I've already worked for with a Chief of Staff who for 2 years has told me that he'd hire me in an instant if a ComDir job opened up. And then hiring someone else when the job opened up.

I had an interview last week that I'm really excited for...but at this point I'm so demoralized and feeling so down on myself that I really don't have much hope for it. Which is too bad, because it would be an awesome job! We'll see...

And then I go to pay my monthly bills (which I usually do on the 1st but I forgot!) and my cell phone bill is 3x what it should be...because I have $100 in TEXT MESSAGE CHARGES! What am I, 15 years old??? Sheesh! And since Florida and I text instead of talk ALL DAY EVERY DAY I'm sure it is only going to get worse! ¡Aye caramba! indeed.

But, I've been chatting with my campaign manager about the current job funk in which I find myself, and he helped put things into perspective, so I'm starting to feel a *little* bit better, which is good.

And to end on a positive (because I HATE being all negative, even though I do use this little blog 'o mine to vent more often than I'd like) I've been making great strides towards getting my room finally put away. There are a few things I can't move and lift because of my tailbone still hurting (but not nearly as bad as it could have been!!) but my roomie is strong and tall so she'll help me (our kitchen is quite funny...I'm only 5'2 and she's about 6'0 in flats...so her stuff is way up high where i can't reach it, and she put all my stuff on the lower shelves for me.)

Sigh...well thank you for letting me vent and moan and have a pity party for one over here in my sad, cold DC. I promise I'll be back to my chipper self ASAP!!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

A sneek peak at Florida...

2009-02-04T15:42:00.006-05:00

...but I'm not gonna tell you which one he is :)

For all you ladies out there (and I do have a few gentlemen readers, so I don't want to make blanket statements about my readers) I would like to share a lovely video with you.

Introducing...Our United States Armed Forces Honor Guard Drill Teams.

Video available here if it isn't working, scroll down to Drill Teams RECON.
And Air Force is first...you don't have to watch 27 minutes, I promise!! :)

YUM!

Now, as you all know, Florida is stationed at Bolling Air Force Base here in DC. What I haven't mentioned is that he is part of the Honor Guard, and more specifically, part of the Drill Team.

Now, I'm not going to tell you which one he is, but I will say that you can get a pretty good look at him...at one point :)

Muah hah hah, evil Bea!!!!

I'm so sorry, but that's all you'll get from me.

NOW - if you haven't had the opportunity to see these AMAZING men (and sometimes women!) perform in person, you are truly missing out. I dated a Marine for about 2 years and during the summers, had the wonderful experience of going to his parades every Friday night (nothing helps you relax for the weekend like hundreds of Marines in Blue-Whites treating you like a queen) and let me just tell you, the pageantry and precision they exude is truly inspiring.

USMC Silent Drill Platoon, in the formation called "The Long Long"

So...not only do get a video AND a pic of yummy, yummy men in uniform...but as it becomes available, I will share with you information on where you can see the various Drill Teams here in the DC area (and if I can find it, in other areas too!)

Yummy, indeed.

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

My 25

2009-02-04T14:34:00.004-05:00

Like Ms. Mindless, I keep getting tagged, so I decided to post my 25 random things. Enjoy!

1) I love to cook. I love to make intricate things...but my roommate had to teach me how to scramble eggs last week

2) I am fiercely loyal to my friends, relationships, and jobs, even when it is to my own detriment

3) My mother is one of my best friends, but she drives me absolutely insane sometimes

4) I was adopted when I was a baby

5) I am Persian and Irish, with an adopted German last name, which in Hindi sounds like the word "love"

6) I have a horrible weakness for dark-haired, blue-eyed boys. Please keep them away from me

7) I have a little brother who is brilliantly smart - he's the reason I passed calculus. I call him Stupes :)

8) I am a state champion in Parliamentary Debate. Which basically means, don't argue with me, as I will make you cry

9) Speaking of debate, I chose Arizona State partially because that is where my coach Kevin went to college. He died when we were at Nationals my first year. Debate is what got my life on track (and it's fun to make people cry)

10) I'm not a huge movie person...I often say "ooh I want to see that" and then never, ever watch it. The one movie I watch any and every chance I get is Love, Actually. I watch it every night as I fall asleep over Christmas, because I'm a hopeless romantic and I love the airport scene in the beginning. It is actually filmed at an airport, and they are real scenes of people greeting each other - not actors or scripted

11) Children annoy me greatly, and I don't plan on having any. Mom swears that will change when I meet "The One" but I'm not so sure

12) I can be ruthless in getting what I want. I'm always respectful, but I don't back down until the job is done and I've emerged victorious. It really sucks to be on the other end of that...

13) I am horribly allergic to cats

14) If I were to leave DC, I would move either to LA or Wisconsin. I would not move back to the Bay Area. I lived in WI in 06 and fell in love with it...

15) ...but I HATE being cold and my goal in life is to live on a beach

16) I am apparently very clumsy. I dislocated my ankle 2 years ago while walking in heels, dislocated my hip at the Inaugural concert 2 weeks ago (still no sure how I managed that,) and fell on the ice last week and ended up with a concussion and bruised tailbone

17) I am a blogger [this was done for Facebook...ya'll get an extra one at the bottom!]

18) In the summertime, you can often find me with a bottle of Moscato sitting on my front stoop, watching the world go by

19) I am a karaoke FREAK. I love to sing, and I have no shame. I qualified for a karaoke contest this summer, and took summer. While I won the crowd portion, I decided not to sing on key that night. Le sigh... :( I took second place and won a guitar. First place was a Mexican cruise...and I really needed a vacation

20) Speaking of vacation, I've actually never been on an a vacation without my parents...

21) I love country music, classic rock, and good, loud, smoky Southern rock

22) And whiskey and water

23) I love pearls and try to wear some every day. It's very interesting when I'm at a dirty dive bar listening to some dirty Southern rock, drinking whiskey, and sporting a double strand of pearls.

24) My favorite flowers are blue irises and I love that my neighborhood has some of the most amazing iris gardens

25) Teams I love: Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Arizona State Sun Devils, Wisconsin Badgers, KU Jayhawks, and NASCAR's #26 Jamie McMurray. Teams I hate: Florida Gators, University of Southern California, Oakland Raiders, New York Yankees, New England Patriots, any team from Pennsylvania, and the Busch brothers. I'm sure there are many more, but those are the top ones.

And for my sweet bloggy friends:

26) I love laminating machines. I've been known to laminate my NCAA Tournament bracket so it doesn't get destroyed, and carrying it around with me at all times. I once also laminated the bracket of the Congressman I was working for, because he was going overseas on a trip and I wanted to make sure his sheet didn't get messed up :)

Tis all for my, sweet friends!

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

Giveaway Time!

2009-02-03T14:55:00.003-05:00

Nope...still not mine. But I'm getting good ideas on how to host one when I hit 100 posts (or, at least, that's my goal!)

So, big big news! In case you haven't heard, the lovely Nina has a new site: According to Nina.

AND, in case that wasn't tempting enough, she's hosting a giveaway!

Not only is she giving away kitchen items (my weakness!) but they are GREEN!

But you should check it out because the new site it so pretty and in my FAVE colors - green and blue (in case you couldn't tell by looking at my blog! Doesn't her button over on the right look like it was just made for my site??)

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS - I've made some edits to my site too! I've joined Twitter (thanks to Wearing Mascara's advice) and added a CNN News Ticker on the right under Nina's button. Never hurts to be informed about what's going on in the world! :)

Date Night Recap!

2009-02-03T09:11:00.003-05:00

YAWN!

My sweet blogger buddies, your Sweet Bea is EXHAUSTED!

I played WAY too late last night, and woke up at 4:00 A.M. FOR NO GOOD REASON and have been up ever since. UGH!

It should be noted that Bea is NOT a morning person, AT ALL. So I apologize in advance for any typographical and grammatical errors (as well as liberal use of CAPS!)

So...I know everyone wants to know how the big first date went!

(Seriously, I am so tired I can barely even see my computer screen!)

So, our plan was to meet at Union Station (the subway -Metro- station closest to my house) and head over to the newly revamped Smithsonian American History Museum to get our culture on (HIS idea - add one point.) Unfortunately, our plan was derailed (ha!) by the Metro...there was a delay on the line he was on, so it took forever for him to get to the city.

Lucky for me, I headed to Union Station early to drop off a pair of boots that needed new heel caps, and ran into my roomie getting off the Metro. She quizzically looked at me (in her head I know she was wondering why I was out...I'm still supposed to be taking is easy and I get dizzy when I walk more than a few blocks) so I told her that I was meeting Florida there, but she needed to hang out with me until he arrived. So we dropped off my boots, and her phone rang. It was her friend from home who was in town for a med school interview and staying with us. She had just arrived at Union Station herself, and wanted to see if roomie wanted to get food.

So, the 3 of us went upstairs to Sbarro (I guess I should note that Union Station isn't just a Metro stop, it's also the Amtrak, a mall, and has a food court.) and I got a text from Florida saying that the Metro was totally stopped and he had no idea when he would be there. I texted back saying that it was fine, I was ran into my roomie and she was going to hang out with me since he ditched me. Tee hee! I'm pretty sure he knew I was joking...

So, we are at Sbarro and I was a little dizzy, so I decided to get sugar in my body, via Dr. Pepper. I heart Dr. Pepper. But...I don't drink caffeine (New Year's resolution 2006) so I was just a wee bit hyper (lie. I was bouncing off the walls) by the time he finally arrived.

So, roomie and her friend left a few minutes after he got there (which was great because even though I clearly had already stalked him online and found pics to show roomie, I wanted her to see the real thing, you know? I'm so clever!) and we got to talking.

But first: we must discuss the wardrobe choice. Brown boots and jeans, fine. Black UnderArmor sweatshirt? Hmmm. University of West Virginia hat? SERIOUSLY??? I mean, granted, I was wearing jeans and a black long sleeve t-shirt...but I knew I was going to be wearing a danged Florida sweatshirt the whole time...so no need to be super cute! (minus one point.) Under his sweatshirt, I would later find out, is a navy blue LA Fire t-shirt. Not a trendy t-shirt or anything...literally just a t-shirt. He's not from LA. It was weird. BUT - he did say that he tried on 3 shirts before he decided on the winning combination mentioned above (which frightens me about what the other options were...) He said he decided on what he wore because he is just a t-shirt and jeans guy, and wanted to be himself. Which is fine...but couldn't you have been yourself...wearing something that you maybe wouldn't wear out with the boys??? Sigh...

Sorry, got distracted remembering the outfit.

Well we knew that going to the museum was no longer an option because he was so late meeting me, so we ended up just hanging out at the Sbarro and talking until about 6 or so (so about an hour.) He suggested going for a beer because neither of us were really hungry at that point, so we wandered down the road to Union Pub (where, ironically, I had my first date with Badger...) and after playfully arguing with the server that calling their food and drink specials Manic Monday when there were 4 people at the bar was silly. I also said that their "Baby Shot" special (which, and I do not make this stuff up people, was a 1/2 shot of Jager for 1/2 price. So, in other words, not at all a special.) and their beer special ($3 pints...but pitchers were $12...and there are about 4 beers in a pitcher...?) were stupid. But, the server was really nice and played along with my harassment, and we decided to order a pitcher.

Keep in mind that at this point all I've eaten is an English muffin (yum!) and I haven't had anything to drink since I fell last week...so perhaps this wasn't the best idea. But whatevs, it was fun.

One pitcher turned into two, and we were still chatting up a storm. Now, I'm not going to lie...I was partially watching the Louisville and Kansas basketball games over his shoulder, but honestly, for the most part, we were getting along fabulously.

Then came the bomb. He has been married before.

(insert record scratching here)

Now, I know it shouldn't bother me...and as my friend SLR so eloquently said in an email this morning, "As for him being married, at least he told you. Fact is that you are almost 30, guys are going to start to have been married before. Especially military, they tend to get married young. And then divorced young. Be glad there's no kids." But I can't help feeling the teensiest bit weirded out by it. Badger was engaged, but never married before, and that bothered me too.

But SLR is correct...at least he told me...plus one point. It should be noted that SLR will take any opportunity to remind me that I am older than she. Sigh...

Anyways, we talked about all kinds of things, mainly focusing on jobs and what we do in those jobs (since they are pretty foreign to the other person) and before we knew it, we were getting kicked out of the Pub. At 11:00 p.m. And we still hadn't eaten. Whoops!

So, we headed out looking for something that was open (anyone living in DC is laughing right now...ain't NOTHING open!) but we were still wandering down the road and he asked "What time does Metro close."

Oh, crap.

DC'ers are laughing again...because the Metro closes at midnight. Whoops!

We decided to wander in the other direction and see if perhaps anything is open at Union Station. Well, we were in luck! Pizzeria Unos is open until midnight! W00t w00t! Yay us!

After we finished scarfing pizza and getting kicked out of yet another place (as it was now a quarter to 1!) we decided to forgo the Metro and just grab a cab outside at the queue.

Well, like the song goes, the freaks come out at night! That's not entirely fair to say...but our cabbie had no clue what was going on. First, he couldn't get his meter to turn on (I seriously live like 8 blocks from Union Station...I told the driver how much it was going to be and that we didn't need the meter. Don't worry though sweet friends...he was only dropping my off at my house and then taking Florida to his, I promise!) And then, once the meter was working (Florida and I giggling in the back the whole time), he started to drive away from the curb.

BACKWARDS!

WITH ANOTHER TAXI BEHIND US!

I finally hollered "We're going backwards!!!" and he stepped on the brake and decided that perhaps putting the car into drive might be a better option. At this point the backseat giggling had stopped and been replaced by sheer fear.

Well, thankfully, we make it back to my house, and he hands the driver money and asks him to please wait for a moment (AWKWARD!) and we hopped out of the cab...and started to walk up to my building.

I open the door, and we walk into the lobby.

TOTAL college flashback - seriously. I was waiting for the RA to come down the hall. Uber awkward.

Anywho, so he says he had a great time and doesn't want to ruin it by asking for a kiss, but really wants to ask for a kiss (so cheesy, but cute) so I reply that a little kiss would probably be ok.

(I've got one eye on the cab driver because I'm not 100% sure he's actually going to wait and this boy is NOT coming upstairs. Absolutely not.)

So we kiss a bit...and we will be working on the kissing. Wasn't bad by any means (maybe that's how his EX-WIFE liked to kiss??) but not my style...so we'll be practicing. Practicing sounds better than working on it.

Anywho, the cabbie waited (thank GOD) and so we parted and I went upstairs, where I tossed and turned until 4:00 a.m. and finally gave up, flipped over on my tummy, and watched the snow fall. And when I heard my roommate and her friend wake up I finally gave up on the snow and started giving them the date recap (since they don't read my lovely prose.)

Anywho, I haven't heard from him today (though we did text till about 2:00 a.m.) which is weird because I usually get a text first thing in the morning.

So...we'll see.

Overall, I give the date an A for good convo, spontaneity, and general fun.

However, like I told my roommate and her friend this morning...I don't really see this going anywhere terribly serious because we are in two TOTALLY different life stages (beyond the fact that he's been MARRIED!) and he's planning on moving back to Florida when he's done with the Air Force this summer...so who knows.

So, my sweet readers, there you have the very in depth recap of the date! I hope you all enjoyed!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

TEAR! :(

2009-02-01T23:25:00.004-05:00

I'm a sad little Bea right now...the Cards were SO CLOSE to Superbowl victory. Tear, indeed :(

BUT - I did win the Superbowl Grid so I ended up winning $20...but alas, there isn't enough money to heal my broken heart or to buy back my dignity after I have to wear a Florida Gators sweatshirt...in public...on a date ~~later this week~~ TONIGHT! SIGH.

Introducing...new boy who shall be called Florida.

Florida and I met last weekend when I joined some girlfriends at a hick country bar in Alexandria, VA. It's always a great time when we go, but it has a cover charge and I ABHOR cover charges and usually refuse to pay them, but we were celebrating a friend's divorce so I didn't choose the location.

So I mentioned the night and what happened to my divorcee friend TDubs in a recent post, but what I didn't mention was that I too met a boy that evening.

So in this bar, there is a wooden fence. Seriously - a wooden fence. It is up against 2 sides of the dance floor, and we lovely ladies were hanging out taking up one side of the fence, and Florida (with BollingBoy and others) was around the corner on the other side of the fence.

Here is a diagram for easy reading:

As you can see, Florida was standing closest to the corner on his side, and I was closest to the corner on mine. We were both pointed away from each other when we were talking to our friends. Even when we were both watching the karaoke singer (or the girls who were celebrating a bachelorette party and literally doing cartwheels on the dance floor) we never were facing each other.

At one point in the evening, Florida left his side of the fence, and asked me if he could stand on my side. I said yes (because I'm polite!) and so we started chatting.

At the end of the night, he went to close out his tab, and my friends literally took off through the back door while Florida was up at the bar. I felt rude just peacing out like that, so I went up to the bar to say goodbye. As I was stepping up next to him, he handed me a piece of paper with his number on it, and said "I wanted you to have my number." I thought it was sweet, thanked him, and left with my friends.

And then I got into the cab and texted him with "Wanted you to have my number as well." (I am so clever!) So then we texted for an hour or so, and have been texting since.

He actually called me on Tuesday night but it was during Idol so I didn't answer, haha. I didn't return the call because then I got an email about a job interview on Thursday so I started preparing. He texted me Wednesday morning saying "it's icy outside, be careful" and clearly I didn't listen to his warning. Alas...

Anywho, we text all day, every day, but haven't talked on the phone. Which, I think, I am ok with? We decided to make a wager on tonight's Superbowl, which I lost. My punishment? I have to wear a University of Florida sweatshirt (because we spent most of our first conversation at the bar talking about how much he loves the Gators and how he can't wait to go to school there once he's done with the Air Force - and about how much I HATE the Gators) on a date ~~this week~~ tonight.

I don't know how I am feeling about going on a date with him for a variety of reasons...but first and foremost because...

...I've never been on a date with a stranger before.

I haven't been on many dates in general (I tend to makeout with boys and then convince them they are my boyfriends and skip the whole awkward dating thing.)

So, I need to rally to get excited for this potentially unbelievably awkward encounter this evening. I have no idea where we are going, other than that he's coming into the city (he lives out in Fairfax - about a half hour-ish away from me) so we'll go somewhere closer to me, which is nice.

Since I'll be wearing a Gators sweatshirt (but apparently he's being nice and letting me wear the grey one and not the bright blue one...OR making me wear his Teebow jersey...) I'm thinking jeans and a fitted long sleeve t-shirt and heels (since I think he's about 6'5 or so)?? Thoughts?

It's times like these when I really miss my Blackberry or wish I had an iPhone so I could live blog the date under the table :)

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

GO CARDS!

2009-02-01T14:52:00.004-05:00

image courtesy of Fanster

Hooray! I heart the Superbowl! Even though it means the end of football season, which makes me sad.

Now, I will admit, the Cards are not my first choice team, nor my second choice either.

Frankly, my heart belongs to the Cowboys and Packers, but I'm pretty stoked for the Cards.

After all, the first and only professional football game I ever went to was a Cardinals game (granted the played the Cowboys...but whatevs!)

And Emmitt Smith, the former Cowboy, played for Arizona (his first game was against Dallas - the game I went to.)

And I did go to school in Arizona and spent much time in their original stadium, Sun Devil Stadium.

So clearly, it's natural for me to cheer for Arizona in this matchup.

Bea will be making her famous artichoke dip (which easily beats out all other dips in taste tests year after year) and will be drinking water because she's still not feeling 100% (ugh!)

AND - she met a cute boy last week (more on him later!) and while she is not watching the game with him, they have a bet going (don't know why I'm referring to myself in the third person...)

If Pittsburgh wins, I have to go out with him this week and wear a University of Florida hoodie (UGH! I HATE THE GATORS!)

If the Cardinals win, he has to karaoke ANY SONG I CHOOSE.

Awesome. :)

Ok sweeties, I'm off to gather the ingredients for the famous dip - sit back, relax, and have a GREAT Superbowl Sunday!

Cheers(ing for the Cardinals!),

Sweet Bea

PS - if you're more of the Steelers variety than the Cards...head on over to Wearing Mascara and give her some love!

Guess where I was tonight??

2009-02-01T00:12:00.002-05:00

Guess who I was with??

Some of the FABO DC bloggy ladies for our meetup!

In typical Bea fashion, I was dumb and didn't pay attention to the start time, so of course I showed up 45 minutes late...but *hopefully* no one held it against me! I will just blame it on the concussion! :D

The ladies were as lovely as could be (I mean, duh - they are part of our wonderful network!) and after dinner we headed out to Zola's for drinks. Bea drank water because of the pain meds, but it was just fine. I wouldn't have wanted to miss any of our conversations in a boozy haze!

Ladies - I can't wait to chat with you gals again!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

I've been TAGGED!

2009-01-31T12:06:00.003-05:00

Yay! More fun games to play!

Katie, a new bloggy friend, over at A Hokie and a Wahoo tagged me in a Q&A game.

Here are the rules:

Step 1: respond and rework—answer the questions on your own blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.

Step 2: tag—eight other un-tagged people.

1) What are you wearing right now? Well,it's noon on a Saturday and I am already awake, out of bed, showered and dressed! This is a big achievement for me on any Saturday, and since I don't go to sleep until like 3:00 a.m. last night I'm quite proud. Yay me!

2) What's the last thing I read/ are currently reading? He's Just Not That Into You. My bestie from college, KJ, made me read it while I was visiting her in AZ on my way back to DC from the campaign trail. As my relationship with Badger was literally held together by a thread. I finished it on the plan to DC, and needless to say, I was trying to claw my way through the plane window and jump somewhere over Oklahoma because I think I realized what I had feared through the campaign: Badger had fallen out of love with me.

3) Do you nap a lot? No, not usually, because I can't just take short naps...my naps turn into mini sleep sessions and I always wake up groggy. Now, if it's the weekend and there is no reason for me to try and keep by sleep cycle in proper working order, there is nothing I love more than an afternoon nap.

4) Who was the last person you hugged? My bestie when she brought me home from the hospital!

5) What's your current obsession/addiction? Umm, other than boys? :) I'm kinda obsessed with Lidia's Italy and Lidia's Family Table, on PBS/WETA. I don't have cable (grumble grumble) but we have 5 PBS stations...so I watch the WETA Create channel nearly all day and night. I'm sure my roommate hates me but whatever - she doesn't want to get DirecTv so this is her punishment. Oh - and Facebook.

6) What was the last thing you said out loud? "Why the hell are you calling me?" to my phone as it was ringing, and the name Roger Williams came up on callid. RW was a boy I "dated" during my internship out here...don't know why the hell I dated him other than that I was sad that LOML was heading off to a Teach for America site and hadn't paid much attention to me after I moved out here (turns out he had a girlfriend, whoops!) and RW was the cutest guy in my program. There were, I think, 5 guys TOTAL in the program, fyi. Ugh. He's in the Air Force and while my internship was 5 YEARS AGO he's decided that he wants to call me to randomly check in lately. He did it once on the campaign when I was driving home from work at 10:00 p.m. (which would have been 1:00 a.m. had I been in DC, where he probably thought I was) and just wanted to say hello and catch up. Clearly I didn't have his phone number anymore, but thought it could be a reporter, so good little worker Bea answered the phone. Ugh. Turns out he's stationed in NorCal and "wanted to meet up and hang out." I said "I'm on a campaign. I work 14 hour days, 7 days a week. I do not "hang out." Sorry." SUCH a biatch but I don't care if I ever talk to this guy again, eew. Sorry...had to share :)

7) What websites do you always visit when you go online? My Blogger dashboard to see who of you lovlies has posted something new for me to peruse, J. Crew, and Facebook.

8) What was the last item you bought? Well the last thing I paid for was my pain meds, but technically my bestie bought them for me. Last thing I personally purchased was groceries that now I can't use because it hurts to bend over and reach into the fridge. And a bottle of Moscato and a 6-pack of Leinies...neither of which I can drink since I can't drink alcohol on the meds. Woe is me.

9) What is your most challenging goal? Getting Mother Bea to be proud of me and to stop nagging me about everything. She's actually getting much better since this post.

10) If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished- anywhere in the world, where would it be? THE BEACH! A beach where it stays warm all year round, there the water is warm and clear. Perhaps on an island. I would be perfectly content living on a beach and owning a beach bar where expats come to tell tales of their political days. That would be heaven.

11) Favorite Vacation spot? Well...I have a confession to make. I've never really *been* on a vacation. I went with my parents when I was a kid (and when I was in college because they refused to admit that I really didn't need to look at colleges up and down California for my little brother...) but I've never had a grown-up vacation anywhere. But - I imagine my favorite vacation spot would be a beach, somewhere warm year round. :)

12) Say something to the person who tagged you: Katie I love that when I read your posts, I can see myself telling the stories out loud. Particularly the post about how you and Ryan met. I think we would be real-life friends, indeed!

13) Name one thing you just can't resist no matter how bad it is for you: Brown haired boys with blue eyes. In particular, a brown-haired, blue-eyed boy named 1T. I melt anytime I see him, even though the results are usually disastrous.

14) You are on the Oregon Trail. How are things going? (OMG who cam up with this question?? HILAR!) Things are going well, thanks! I'm a pretty darned good hunter, so we have plenty of food. My oxen are holding up well, as is my wagon, and it's pleasant outside here in Independence. Jolly good day for a wagon ride, I think!

15) Favorite pair of shoes you keep going back to over and over, even though your closet is over flowing with a zillion others? Ooh, tough. In winter, my Uggs. In summer, my KKG flip flops from freshman year of college (nearly a decade ago.) They have light blue straps with dark blue KKG embroidered on them...and while the light blue ain't really that blue anymore, they are so unbelievably comfortable that I lived in them on the campaign.

16) Name one thing you can not live with out: My laptop. It keeps me connected to everyone and everything.

17) Has a celebrity's haircut ever influence you on your own hairstyle? Certainly - I can admit it. Last year I had an angled bob, aka the Posh. It was longer than hers and not as severe...but it was pretty cute.

18) What is your most embarrassing moment? You mean, other than falling on the ice and causing a rukus? Update on that: I was talking to my friend who lives in the building next to me about what happened...turns out she was driving by and saw all the firetrucks and ambulance taking care of me. HAHA!

19) NEW QUESTION: What brought you to blogland? For me, it was my friend Lulu...I read her blog and thought "that looks like fun, and like she's met a ton of great people. Maybe I should try it!" And just like that, Sweet Bea was born! :)

And who shall be tagged this time around?

Freck

KAG

Kate

ASC

Megan

Liana

Daisy

Oh (Rein) Dear...

2009-01-31T00:15:00.016-05:00

Oh sweet friends, I must share with you what I just stumbled onto.

WARNING: Send the kiddies away :)

See, I've been looking for nude high heels for like 2 years now. I'm a size 5...so finding any shoes in my size that I like is a problem...but when I am very specific about what I want it gets even harder.

I basically want these, but they, of course, not available in my size at Zappos and I can't find any others that I like (suggestions welcome):

So I was searching around online for something like these, and I stumbled upon a wonderful gem, www.3wishes.com.

Oh Lordy, what fun did I have!

I want to share some of my, um, favorite finds with all of you! I hope you enjoy... :D

Because I support our troops!

For Lulu, Muffy, and all my other brides-to-be!

For Kate - I do hope you'll wear these tonight at our bloggy meetup!

Ok, ok, enough shoe fun! I moved on to the Clubwear page...because to be honest, I couldn't NOT check out their clubwear after viewing their shoes.

Ok, I'm confused...do you leave the mesh thing at coat check?

Ok, this would be kinda hot if you are are with a military man and wore it with the camo heels... JLC I'm looking at you for this!!!

My Inaugural Ball dress...HA!

YEEHAW! Ride em/me cowboy!
(My favorite part about this outfit is that in the, ahem, rear view, you can see just how long the chaps are!!!)

At this point, I'm about hysterical with these outfits...but I decide to check one just one...more...section...

The Christmas section.

I'm going to admit a fantasy of mine: I've always wanted a boyfriend that I could dress up and sing Santa Baby to. Preferably wearing this:

Santa baby...slip a sable under the tree, for me...been an awful good girl...

And this for the Santa Pub Crawl that BP's girlfriend and I are going to go on next year:

Ho, ho, ho, indeed! But it's got a hoodie...so it will be warm...right?

Hahaha I just couldn't help but share my wonderful finds!! :)

I hope you all enjoyed this installment of "Bea has a head injury and therefore is staying in on a Friday night and playing around on the interwebs!"

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Giveaway Time!

2009-01-30T12:39:00.004-05:00

No, once again, not mine. (Though I'd love to do one if anyone can provide suggestions on how to do them!!)

Mandy over at House of Rose is hosting a giveaway of the LOVELY Nina's monogrammed stationary!

Head on over to her blog (and stay awhile! Check out our her adorable hubby and baby too!) and enter her giveaway NOW!

Here's what you could win:

Mandy will not only send you 20 flat cards, but will ALSO send you the file so you can print refills - how clever, right?? AND you can pick the colors!

For my sweet friends who are, like me, currently between employment opportunities, a handwritten thank you note for an interview will certainly set you apart from the field!!

The thank you note I need to do today for my interview yesterday would look sooooooo nice on some of Nina's fabo stationary!

So...in recap:

1) Head to House of Rose and enter the giveaway
2) Head to Nina's site (and her blog, while you're at it!) and check out some of her other amazing stuff!

YAY!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Sweet Bea

Introducing... ????

Channeling Mama Bea

The Business Casual Blues vol. 1

*jewelry without jewels* Giveaway!

When I Roll Into the ...When I Stroll Into the...When I Bounce into...the Wild Wild West!

Running of the Brides: DC Edition

This one's for you, Blue Eyed Bride...or how Fleetwood Mac saved my relationship and my life

I am...an American Girl!

Blog Redesign...

AIDS is DC's Katrina

Ouch...or why DC ain't big enough for both of us, Owen Wilson

Happy Birthday to ME!

Why Tequila and Champagne are my BFFs...or why National Airport, Midwest Airlines, Alamo Rental Cars, and yes, even NASCAR, are on my bad side...

No 360 degree mirror needed here, Stacy London...or Why I will NEVER Move Away from My Bestie

When you see the Southern Cross for the first time...

GUEST POST: Always a Northerner

Gone Coastal!

UNEDITED FLORIDA PIC

What I came home to last night...

Brother Bea = Smart. Sweet Bea = Not So Much.

Buy me these, please!

GIVEAWAY WINNER!

GIVEAWAY ENDS TONIGHT!

If You're Reading This...

Will You Marry Me?

Memorial Day

100TH POST AND THANK YOU GIVEAWAY

How many times CAN I break till I shatter?

Calling all Kappas!

Vote for Mitch!

Badger? I don't need no stinkin' Badger...

The Badger returns...again

Florida vs. Florida...or how I learned not to let my boyfriend handle our travel plans (and other stories from the day)

There is no moral to this story at all...

HAPPY WEDDING DAY LULU!!!!!

A little Friday miscellany for ya'll

Awards to get and give

Thank you Badger...or how I learned to stop sweating the stuff over which I have no control

THE text! YAY!

Circus Mexicus...or how I like to pretend I am still in college

Old love, new potential love

Three Big Words...or how I might have accidentally told my Diet Boyfriend that I loved him...

SUCH an idiot...or, How Florida Learned Just How Uncool I Really Am...

I need to do laundry like WHOA

Still hiding...

I'm in hiding...

Why being a man is AWESOME...

March Madness Reminder

St. Patrick's Day! vol 2.0

St. Patrick's Day!

March Madness Blogger Bracket???

Selection Sunday!

Update from Florida (in Alabama)

My Latest Diet...

An early morning helping of Meatloaf...

I. Can't. Move.

I had a threesome...

I'm a WINNER!

My life list - just for funsies!

I'm back, lovlies!

Wordle!

Le flu...

Weekend Recap

Have you seen these?

My Valentine's Weekend Plans...

O Happy Day!

I'm a WINNER!

Why you should never bring a boy around your friends...

No More Grumpy Gus!

I haz a sad... :(

A sneek peak at Florida...

My 25

Giveaway Time!

Date Night Recap!

TEAR! :(

GO CARDS!

Guess where I was tonight??

I've been TAGGED!

Oh (Rein) Dear...

jewelry without jewels Giveaway!