Open Road Song

We stocked up on non-perishables, booze, and candles, filled several spare containers with water, pulled everything off our balcony, and hunkered down to sit through Sandy. We stepped out onto the balcony a few times to listen to the wind, and watched a shit ton of Doctor Who. And then I went to bed and slept through the worst of the storm. Lucky for us, DC was not hit as hard as expected. Some flooding, some trees down, some power outages. But not nearly what was called for, and not nearly as bad as the derecho storm over the summer. So! We've been checking out the damage that *did* occur, and I'm thinking of all my friends up the coast. All seem to be well, and I hope their power gets restored soon, and that NY and NJ recover quickly. That being said, watching the reports out of Ocean City, MD is a bit devastating. I love that pier, and I know those streets, and just this summer I met an older man (a WWII vet) who lived right on the Bay, and I'm hoping that his flood-proof house lived up to its name. So.

In other news, the 5k is coming up this Saturday. I don't feel at all prepared, but will have a run or two over the next few days and will hopefully make it through the race without dying. And then that Sunday is another Redskins home game, at which I will give my friend Chris the scarf!

I got to see some family this past weekend- both sisters were in town, as well as my brother in law and the babies. Who can't really be called babies any longer, as they're running around like little mad things. I gave them some carved wooden toys I picked up at the Fenton Street Market, and that seemed to move me past their distrust of me. I'll see Ed and the twins again this week, and Serena at the end of the week. Clarissa I'll see again at Christmas.

And that's about it! I did start on another project- it was supposed to be the first project from the Sticks & Chicks Guide to Knitting, but my local yarn shop did not have lace-weight metallic yarn. So I decided to just make a scarf for myself, with tassels, and then I'll try project two. I might not go to LYS for Project 2- it calls for novelty yarn, so I might just buy a fun acrylic from Michaels or AC Moore. We'll see!

In keeping with my New Years resolution to do more crafting, I've finally completed Project Jewelry Display! You can read a detailed post on it here, but if you just want to see the result and not read about the process, a picture is under the cut.

( Crafty! )

Anyhow, life proceeds apace. The job hunt continues, as do my pathetic attempts at networking. Seriously, how do people do this all the time? I'm a people person (I've worked in food service for years without killing anybody, that qualifies me) and yet attempting to network turns me into an awkward insecure mess. Blargh. I think it stems from my general unwillingness to ask for/need help, and thus I work against my own best interests. I need to try to fix that. Probably by just sucking it up and networking more. Gah.

Our balcony garden is doing well. The basil has doubled in height, the pepper plant has gotten super tall, and the tomato plant has four, count them FOUR blossoms! Hurray! I know it may all come to naught- we don't get a huge amount of direct sunlight, but we do get a lot of reflected light, so hopefully the tomato will pull through and fruit for us.

Possibly going to see the Avengers again tonight. I've fallen head first into Avengers fanfic, and I really would like to watch the movie again. I guess we'll see how we feel after dinner. It might just turn into, "Lets drink beer and watch the new Suits episode" so who knows, really.

I bought a book! It is the Chicks with Sticks Guide to Knitting which is a getting-started book for knitting. It takes you through simple projects to more complicated ones (ending with sweaters, omg) but teaches you new techniques with each one. It seems interesting! I still have to finish my friend Chris' Redskins scarf, but then I plan on getting started! Of course, the first project is another scarf, but I'll make this one for me! Thick, chunky yarn in a vibrant color, rock!

I bought a second book! The Urban Biking Handbook which talks about gear and safety for urban biking, but also a bunch of how-to maintenance for your bike. I'd like to be able to tinker with my bike a bit more, so it seemed like a good purchase. And now I want to go bike touring. Not a crazy long trip, but out to the Delaware beaches maybe. (Or maybe just to Sandy Point)

After procrastinating for much of last week, I freaked out and did two papers in two days, including one 10 page paper in 4 hours. Because I'm crazy like that. This week should be a little easier, as I don't have 5 things due on the same day. But I do have to start working on two projects that are due in the next 3 weeks, so that'll be good times. Yup.

Palmer and I were super social this weekend! On Friday we went out to Adams Morgan to celebrate my friend Duante's birthday. I don't really... go clubbing at all, so I was super nervous about going to District, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. There was a big group of his friends there, and everyone was dancing and having a good time, and I ended up dancing for something like 5 hours straight. It was intense! Also, I have discovered that I shouldn't sing when dancing, because if someone snaps a picture of me doing so, I look like an idiot. Sigh. But still, super fun! And then we had Jumbo Slice. I really felt like a DC cliche on Friday, let me tell you.

Saturday after the freak out and the paper writing, we met up with our friends Stuart and Kim for dinner and a movie. Dinner was at Lebanese Taverna, which was delicious. We had drinks at Fire Station, which I don't think any of us will be going back to. It just wasn't that great, and it was super noisy and not in a good way. Then we went and saw Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which was phenomenal. Palmer wasn't a huge fan, but I loved it. Gary Oldman was amazing, and Benedict Cumberbatch is my favorite, seriously. Colin Firth and Mark Strong were wonderful as always, and good lord Tom Hardy is an attractive and talented man. But yes, quite liked it, and I may have to start reading some Peter le Carre novels. I do love me a spy thriller!

Sunday I did more studying, then we went out to dinner with Palmer's mom and brother. We went to a Greek place out in Rockville, which served the largest portions ever. Like, I ordered a sampler which had a bunch of stuff like moussaka and spanakopita, and each "sample" was like a full sized serving! I did not finish it all, needless to say. I have leftovers that I will enjoy for lunch today! Palmer and I also got to meet his mom's new kitten, Cami. So tiny! So rambunctious!

( Cut for discussion of weight )

That's about it! Going to do some more studying here at the apartment, then snag some lunch, then bike to Bethesda, do some studying there, and collect the car so I can get to work tomorrow. Tonight we're being social again, going out to Quarry House for Taco Tuesday. I am excite!

I had another expedition to the yarn store this weekend. I had originally bought two skeins of that lovely baby alpaca yarn, but after getting through them the scarf was still not long enough. So my friend Gerti and I went back out to Woolwinders in Rockville to get me some more skeins and to then hang out and knit. Well. I guess I wasn't the only one drawn to that yarn, because it was sold out. I spoke to the woman who owns the store, and she is special ordering two more skeins for me, but still, that was disappointing. So I ended up starting early on my friend Chris' Redskins scarf. I bought 4 skeins, two of a rusty red, one cream, and one yellow. Stripes will happen! And tassels! Gerti suggested that I try doing a ribbed scarf, and taught me the purl stitch. However, 3 inches in and the stitch wasn't looking that great with the cotton yarn. So I've pulled it apart and am just doing a garter stitch for this project. When I start on the fingerless gloves I'll give purling another try, but I'll probably also get a thicker yarn to do it in.

So after the yarn store we walked over to Mayorga, a local coffee chain, to drink coffee and knit for a while. I ordered my new favorite drink, a dirty soy chai. I know, it kinda makes me an obnoxious coffee drinker, but here are my justifications: 1)Lactose intolerant, must drink soy. 2)Love chai. 3)Chai is not caffeinated enough to prevent me from getting headaches. 4)Kind of hate how espresso and soy taste together, with a few exceptions. So! It makes the most sense for me to get a soy chai, and have them throw a shot in there. Tasty and prevents caffeine headaches! Rock on! Except for on Saturday, because the barista gave me cows milk. The chai and the espresso masked the taste, so I didn't realize anything was wrong until about halfway through. Which means I drank 8 oz of cows milk. I don't know how many of you are lactose intolerant, but in case you didn't know, digesting dairy products without the aid of an enzyme pill like Lactaid is incredibly painful. I was in a severe amount of pain and discomfort for the next 4 hours, alternating with bouts of nausea so bad I *wished* I were throwing up rather than feeling this. It ruined our plans for Saturday evening, and I felt like shit until I finally was able to go to sleep around midnight.

Look. I'm a barista, I get that sometimes mistakes happen. But I have NEVER made a mistake that could hurt someone. When a person orders soy, I don't assume they're doing it to be trendy, I assume they are either lactose intolerant or have a milk allergy. And I ask! Because if it is intolerance, I just need to rinse out a pitcher. If its an allergy, I need to sanitize a pitcher, or grab one that hasn't yet been used. I don't fuck around with something that can hurt people! And I'm really pissed that this barista either didn't write down that I ordered (and paid for) soy, or didn't care. I've submitted a complaint to the company, though I doubt anything will come of it. And I won't be going back to that coffee shop. Frankly, I'm not really in a place where I'm trusting anyone but me to make my own drink, because I don't want to be poisoned again. Soy. Not an unreasonable request!

Anyhow! This took longer than I though, and I have homework to do. So. Off to work on my final exam, and finish up my term project powerpoint. Til later!

Also- it might make me a hipster, but I am clearly using this icon ironically. SO ANGRY! WILL NOT BE CALM!