lauren & john have a website!

Remember a while back when I told you I took engagement photos for my friends, Lauren and John?  Well, the save the dates are officially mailed, and I can't wait to share those pictures with you next week!  But in the meantime, you can take a sneak peek at some of my pictures through their wedding website, which was created by their good friend (and one of Lauren's matrons of honor), Shauna!

All of the background pictures for each page are mine, and I actually think my favorite is the Registries page, haha!  But you'll have to click here to see the whole website.  Enjoy!

p.s. Lauren and I have officially been friends for a year, because today is our one year anniversary at ICMA!  We started on the same day and have become fairly inseparable at work.  I love her to pieces!

more thursday randoms

Back by popular demand (not really, I'm just a lazy blogger today), here are the latest pictures from my phone, in all their stunning visual quality.

Your eyes are not fooling you, that bus company is actually named Bieber.  Why they haven't painted their buses purple and tricked them out, I don't know.

Do people really think this works?  I saw this on the way back to VA from home one day, and I guess I'll just never understand why Christians think threatening other people with hell is the way to their hearts.  (Don't worry, Mom, we were in stop and go traffic for both these pictures.  I don't regularly take pictures at 65 mph.)

Molly's twin sister, Chelsea, is engaged!  Isn't her ring just beautiful?

And this is the latest addition to my overdecorated desk at work.  I got this shutter frame at Sunset Beach and it just makes me so happy!

So there you go!  I promise a more interesting post tomorrow.  Sometimes I just have to do a phone dump.

for amy

I'm dedicating this post to my sweet friend, Amy, who reminds us all the time how much she "loves love." Amy is getting married next February, and it has been an absolute BLAST talking about all things wedding with her, but I actually haven't even showed her this yet!

A couple weekends ago, I was flitting around on the Southern Weddings blog, and I saw a feature they did on Inkspot Crow, a husband-and-wife team who do "documentaries about love" and are especially good at wedding videos!  They have a ridiculous ability to make a wedding video look more like a movie, and they have a scary sense for exactly which song should back it up.  Sigh.  I could just watch their stuff all day long (and you should click on that link up there so you can, too)!  But, until you have that kind of time to devote, here's my favorite.

(Amy, please come over to my desk and grab my headphones so you can watch!)

summer heat challenge

So, you've probably heard (or, more likely, experienced) the stifling, unbearable heat that DC has been suffering through in the past week, and I feel very fortunate to work in an office where it's not only air-conditioned, but often a little chilly.  But still, we all have to put up with the heat, and last Friday, management decided enough was enough.  The "no shorts" rule had to go.  We typically wear business casual clothes and love our Casual Fridays,  but since the heat index got up to 121 degrees on Friday, we had a little contest in our office to see who could fit their summer best into some crazy categories, including the "Frank and Estelle Costanza Award", the "Super Fan Award", and the "Don't Need a Stinking Award Award".  I thought about belting a super huge t-shirt over some leggings, but I realized I have more UNC gear than should be legal, so I went after the Super Fan Award and dressed like this (complete with Carolina headband, earrings, and flip flops):

Here were a couple of my competitors...

I'm really glad they didn't actually hand out awards, because if I had lost to a Redskins fan, I might have quit.

My teammate, Louise, lives and works in Hawaii, so she reported in from the ICMA Aloha Field Office. So jealous.

And our COO was at his beach house in Corolla.

Max and Megan participated in the shorts theme, and Max took it one step too far (as usual) with the socks.  No one knows what that piece of cardboard says.

But the best outfit of the day was Tom's (this was actually his third outfit), which included seersucker shorts, tube socks, and some '80s glasses he found at a vintage shop on Pennsylvania Ave.

Group shot on the patio!

I'm pretty thankful for this pack of weirdos!

chop chop!

You may remember that I have recently had super long hair.  As in, the kind of hair that keeps you from turning your head when you drive because it gets caught between your back and the seat.  And the kind that makes you feel like a superhero when you run through crosswalks.  And the kind that Willow Smith encourages you to whip back and forth.

Well, yesterday I decided that 'do just won't do anymore!

So, here's a super inadequate webcam picture of my new shorty mcshort short hair!

Alright, it's still not that short.  But it does feel much healthier and lighter, and I think it's going to save me a lot of time in the morning.  And the best part is, even though I love the pampering I get at swanky salons, I got this 'do about two minutes from my house at the Hair Cuttery.  Twenty-one bucks.  Thank you much.

happy birthday, molly!

For eighteen days, we get to be the same age!

Here's the very first picture we ever took together, before watching that display of cinematic brilliance that was Step Up 3D.

I didn't know at the time that you would become one of my very best friends ever, but you've said it before, and I totally agree:  our friendship, with the amount of time we spend together and the fact that we share a house, is proof that we both can survive marriage one day.  Since this is my second birthday post this week, I'll switch it up and give you my top ten favorite crazy things we ever said or did.

10.  When we met at Old Glory for the first time last July, and I prayed, "Dear God, please don't let Clara AND Molly both live in the house because I don't know if I can take that much energy ALL THE TIME."  He must have laughed at me and thought, "Oh, you just wait..."

9.  Halloween.  We didn't have a single trick-or-treater, but that day, we met Teddy the Waiter, dressed up (roughly) as Lady Gaga and a '50s housewife, and convinced the checkout lady at Target that we did not, in fact, share a child even though we were buying alphabet magnets for our fridge.

8.  Two words.  JAMMIN'.  JAVA.  How has that place not hung our faces on the wall yet?  Also, still working on apologizing for that time I told Brendan James how much you loved him.  To his face.  Basically shouting.

7.  Pancake dinners!!!  We do them often.  Both of us would rather just eat breakfast foods only.

6.  The parking tickets.  No need to go much further here.

5.  Picking out our very first big girl Christmas tree!  And lashing it to the top of your Nissan.  Oh, and the way you play them maracas.

4.  New Year's Eve!!!  And how we met lots of new friends and navigated the subway like champs.  But this night was quickly upstaged by that time you went through BWI security and got so mad that you ripped the handle off your suitcase and dragged it through the terminal by one metal bar.  Clara and I are STILL laughing about that.

3.  This video of you climbing our steps in an ice storm.  And the little victory dance you did at the end even though I asked for a victory stance.

2.  That time you told me, "DON'T LOOK AT ME WITH YOUR EYEBALLS!"  There will never be a time when that won't be one of my favorites.

1.  All the trips to Whitlow's, all the episodes of Parks & Recreation, all the road trips, and all the times I felt so blessed to have a friend who made me laugh constantly and put up with my perfectionism and still wanted to be my friend, too.  I love you soooooooooo much, and I hope you have a FABULOUS day!

Welcome to your Michael Jordan year!

amos lee concert

On Tuesday night, Molly, Megan, her friend Clint, and I headed out to Wolf Trap to see Amos Lee!  Haven't heard of him?  Click on this video and see if you don't recognize this song...

Isn't he lovely?!?  "Southern Girl" is probably my favorite!  You can't help but be happy and relaxed when he's singing.

Even though the humidity was probably 95% (I'm not kidding, it was like walking around in the Amazon), we packed chairs and a big picnic and just had the best time!

Check out that haze!  The sun did not help.  We were all sweating profusely.

I had not seen these before, but they are GENIUS!  Stakes for your wine glass?  Shut up!

This lady spent a good twenty minutes wandering every inch of the (small) concert venue looking for her husband after she undoubtedly made a trip to the restroom and maybe a little detour to La La Land.  Megan thinks she may have been drunk, but I just think, hey, she was in range of my camera and made me laugh.

Amos Lee!

I don't know why I didn't get a group shot, but probably because I didn't want my super sweaty face to be documented at ALL.

And on the way home, the moon looked extra orange and beautiful!  I love this city.

happy birthday, leanna!

Twenty-two years ago today, my life changed forever.

Because a tiny human with exceptionally long fingers and toes brought me a brand new stuffed Bert doll (of Bert & Ernie fame).  (Just kidding, I'm pretty sure that was an impossibly shrewd move on my parents' part to get me to let her into my wolfpack.  It worked.)

Leanna, if you're wondering where your sweet gift is, I currently have half of it made and half of it still rolling around in my brain.  However, Mom always let us have birthday weeks, and yours will just include presents throughout.  But, in an effort to give you a little something today, here are the top ten things I like about you (in no particular order, except probably the last one, which I'm sure will be sappy).

10.  You are a beast on the guitar in Rock Band.  The George Harrison to my Ringo, if you will.  Those exceptionally long fingers you have came in handy when the guitar shunned me for being unable to stretch across all four buttons.

9.  You always have something on the DVR for me to watch when I come home.  It's probably an episode of the Real Housewives of New Jersey that I haven't seen, and I will remember how much I love it.

8.  You let me do your hair in the twisty crown things for band concerts in high school.  Mom made you/me do it every time, and you never complained.

7.  Even though you had your own room when we lived in Tallahassee, you always slept on the trundle that pulled out from my daybed.  We really didn't love being separated.

6.  When I used to get sick in the middle of the night, you would take your large, matted head of hair into Mom and Dad's room and knock on Mom's head until she woke up so you could tell her to come take care of me.  Your silhouette scared the bejeezus out of her in the process, but I never puked alone.

5.  You are the default animal bed sharer.  Reba and Dottie know I'm the backup plan.

4.  We never really share clothes.  Sometimes you borrow my cardigans, but I loved that I never had to go looking for my clothes in your closet.  You thought I was a psycho dresser and I thought you might graduate from high school in soccer shorts.  Neither were true, but my lost clothes were always my fault.

3.  You taught me how to watch TV shows on the internet and how to convert songs from YouTube videos to mp3s.  I won't go into detail because the internet police are undoubtedly addicted to my blog.

2.  You have old lady hobbies and 12-year-old obsessions.  You are the only person I know who loves to cross stitch while watching Twilight.  Both will serve you well as you become a middle school teacher and have to daily relate to both the principal and the young girl who brings her cardboard cutout of Justin Bieber to the 8th grade dance.

1.  You are my best, best, best, best BEST friend in the whole wide world ever and ever and ever.  I used to ask Mom and Dad for another sibling so you would be shoved into middle child-dom, but I really could never imagine having a sibling with as much patience and understanding for my neuroses as you have.  We've never thought we were exactly twins, but here on your twenty-second birthday, I'll readily admit we favor each other.  And I love it when people tell me our mannerisms are identical.  They are, and I wouldn't trade them, because that means we get to laugh at, judge, and react to things with the same facial expressions.  And I can't wait to see what you'll accomplish this year!  You're off on a new adventure in teaching, and I promise to always answer the phone to hear your latest story.

I love you so very, very much, and I hope your day is amazing!

(Also, congrats to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin for walking on the Moon forty-two years ago today.  Those of you rolling your eyes at the screen right now are cordially forced to watch Apollo 13 with me one Sunday afternoon.)

oh, my sweet north carolina

How I do love you.  Fortunately, the people of Pinterest love you, too.  Here's how they show it.  (And note, if you are not from North Carolina but share an equal affinity for your home state, most of these pictures are available from sea to shining sea.)  Just click on the pictures to take you to the sources!

Esse Quam Videri.

bossypants

Is Oprah still picking books for her book club even though her show is over?  If she is, this book will not be in it, because then people will read it and forget all about Oprah and Tina Fey will be the one telling you that your best life is but a mirage oasis in the desert.

I'm about halfway through it, and already I'm researching ways that I can be on SNL or work at SNL or scrub the toilets at SNL or floss the teeth of Kristen Wiig because if people exist that actually write like she does, then...

Here's a quick excerpt from one of my favorite parts of the book:

Remembrances of Being Very Very Skinny

For a brief time at the turn of the century, I was very skinny. This is what I remember about that period.

• I was cold all the time.
• I had a pair of size-four corduroy short shorts. That I wore. To work. In the middle of Manhattan.
• I loved it when people told me I was getting too thin.
• I once took a bag of sliced red peppers to the beach as a snack.
• I regularly ate health food cookies so disgusting that when I enthusiastically gave one to Rachel Dratch she drew a picture of a rabbit and broke the cookie into a trail of tiny pieces coming out of the rabbit’s butt.
• Men I had met before suddenly paid attention to me…and I hated them for it.
• Sometimes I had to sleep with a pillow between my legs because my bony knees clanking together kept me awake.
• I had a lot of time on my hands because I wasn’t constantly eating.
• I ran three miles a day on a treadmill six days a week.
• I felt wonderfully superior to everyone. 
• I didn’t have a kid yet.

We should leave people alone about their weight. Being skinny for a while (provided you actually eat food and don’t take pills or smoke to get there) is a perfectly fine pastime. Everyone should try it once, like a super-short haircut or dating a white guy.

So, all you people headed to the beach with your tubes of Pringles and your inflatable orca pool toys, please take this book with you.  Just remember to take the shiny wraparound cover off first.  Have some respect.

for dustin

So last Friday, I sent my good friend, Dustin, a link to my blog at his request, and this is what he wrote back.

Well, ok!  You may remember Dustin from New Year's Day in NYC, when he joined Zach, Hannah, and Erica, who we met in Times Square, for a little Staten Island Ferry action.

Turns out, there's a lot more to Dustin than his astonishing ability to ride a ferry!  He's the Know Pastor (which is an extra cool way of saying Education Pastor) at Authentic Church in White Plains, NY, and he also happens to be an exceptionally gifted Skype Sock Puppeteer, as Molly and I learned last Friday.

This Tony Award-winning show took place, clearly, after the Grammy-nominated Skype Hat Show, which is why Dustin looks like he's trying to avoid frostbite in his mid-summer New York apartment.  We may or may not have run out of substantial things to talk about during this Skype sesh.

Dustin also gets gold stars for the following character traits and accomplishments:

1.  When Molly and I were in White Plains last month, Dustin indulged my love for the Atlanta Bread Company and happily chatted with me while I mangled a loaf of soup.

2.  Dustin's closet is more impressive than mine, in a cornucopia of unique ways.  A whole slew of his clothes are from Tommy, and they all intentionally go together.  Mine are from an insane number of different places, and it's a miracle that I can even answer when someone says, "Where did you get that?"  Dustin also has probably shod at least half of Nigeria with his Toms collection.

3.  One of Dustin's spiritual gifts is apartment parkour.  There is video evidence of this, but not on my computer, so you'll just have to trust me.

4.  Dustin is a big fan of ice cream sandwiches.  Particularly of the Klondike persuasion.

5.  Dustin may have to go to war with the big crock pot of soup in the back of his refrigerator that Zach made and decided to harvest there for the winter.  He's not real excited about it, but he really wants the crock pot back.

So there you have it!  Our friend, Dustin.

This actually inspires me to do a Cast of Characters over there in my sidebar just so you can have a little cheat sheet on the people in my life.  And I solemnly swear to choose the most embarrassing pictures of them.

Say goodbye, Dustin!

top 8 for july

This may shock everyone, but I actually couldn't come up with ten songs I loved enough to post this month!  But,  I did find eight that I love quite a bit, so maybe that makes up for liking ten just an average amount?  Anyway, here they are!

8. When I'm Alone - Lissie (This song isn't super popular yet, but VH1 loves to play it all the time!)




7. Something in the Water - Brooke Fraser (This song has been out for a little while, but I still love it just as much as I did when I heard it the first time. And the entire video looks like it was shot in Anthropologie.)




6. Shadow - Colbie Caillat (Her new album JUST came out on Tuesday, and I love it!)




5. Every Teardrop is a Waterfall - Coldplay (New Coldplay is always a good idea. And this video is genius.)




4. Mercy - Matt Nathanson (This song was a free download on iTunes a couple weeks ago, and I can't stop playing it!)




3. Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 (feat. Christina Aguilera) (I dare you not to dance to this song. I DARE YOU.)




2. Best Thing I Never Had - Beyonce (Her new album is also baller. But then, what has Beyonce ever done that wasn't?)




1. Hello - Martin Solveig & Dragonette (The idea to use real tennis players in this video is brilliant, and I can't help but dance to this song, either. It's a blast!)




And that's it for this month! Happy listening!

rehoboth beach

So, after a crazy week of weddings and fireworks and a house full of visitors, a beach weekend was definitely in order!  Molly and I had been dying to go to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, and three of my very best friends from work came along with us!  We had a BLAST!  We couldn't have begged, borrowed, or stolen better weather, and even though the beach was packed, we loved just sitting there reading our books and working on our tans.  It was a perfect Saturday!

The water was only about 69 degrees (I may or may not have said something snarky to Molly about how cold water would be impossible in July... turns out I'm not an oceanographer), but that didn't really keep us out of it!  But the fact that I couldn't see what was swimming around me absolutely kept me out of it.  Ever since I lived in Florida during an overwhelming summer of shark attacks, I've been less than calm in the ocean.  I do not mess around.

The boardwalk concept was also really new to me (even though I love and appreciate Jersey Shore), but I liked it!

After we rinsed off and changed, we headed inland to Que Pasa for some delicious Mexican seafood!

Their margaritas were DELICIOUS!

And I loved that we still got to stick our feet in the sand during dinner.

It'll be ok if you want to believe that Amy said something really inappropriate before this picture was taken (because, let's be honest, she probably did), but Megan just really did not want to be in it.  TOUGH TOOTIES!

I love these three!  Lauren and I will be celebrating our one year anniversary at ICMA in 2 weeks!

We saw the most beautiful sunset on the way home!

And this week has been one of healing from the sunburn.  So worth it.

fourth of july!

I adore Christmas, and New Year's Eve in NYC was one of the best nights of my life, but I have been waiting a VERY long time to experience the Fourth of July in DC, and it was everything I thought it would be!  Since I moved here last year in late July, I just barely missed the celebrations, but this year's were definitely worth the wait.  My sister came up the Saturday before to experience it with me, and of course, we still had all our Ohio friends here from Bob and Clara's wedding, so it was a massive party!

Leanna and I woke up early and drove my car through the neighborhood parade (not really, but we did cut off a couple parents who were shuttling their munchkins across the streets in crepe-papered wagons) to get to the grocery store and stock up on all the snacks the group would need for the day, and we all ended up leaving the house around 10:30, so we got to the Mall around noon.  We were definitely some of the first people in line to claim our spot on the grass, which was great since we had to go through a security checkpoint to get there (which we had to go back through every time nature called.  Inconvenient).  But we had fun while we waited!

This hat looked exceptionally hot and undoubtedly full of B.O.  Still, she rocks it.

One of my favorite pictures of Molly ever!

Oh, Paul.

Once we were on the West Lawn, we settled down with our blankets and snacks, and I was definitely thankful for the ability to sit down and relax the whole day, unlike Times Square!  Also, it was hotter than Keith Olbermann's temper up in there, so staying as still as possible was the name of the game.

Please try to appreciate this picture despite the huge butt in the background.  Rude.

Check out the Secret Service man with the huge binoculars!  Legit!

THIS WAS NOT OKAY.  And yet it happened.  God Bless America.

We also met these two barrels of monkeys, Jim and Kyler!  They were hysterical and kept us laughing the whole day!

I don't know these people, but they are precious.

Jim and his friend, Luis...

Probably one of the more appropriate pictures of Jim from that day.

Sister love!

And "sister" love.

Josh Groban made an appearance!

And then the big moment began!

We had a perfect view, and the sounds of the orchestra playing the 1812 Overture and The Stars and Stripes Forever in the background made it just spectacular.  I hope those of you who watched the PBS special had as much fun watching it as we did!  It was so surreal to be there in person after years of watching it on tv.  Molly will be the first to tell you that I get goosebumps at the mere mention of America, so I may or may not have come close to crying.

Afterward, we made a stop at We the Pizza before heading home and collapsing!  But it was a perfect day.  And the invitation is open to any of you who ever want to come experience it!