Saturday, July 30, 2005

Life Happens

Sorry I've been so slack in writing...ever have a time in your life, where nothing in particular is keeping you busy, but you are just busy letting life happen around you, and you get so wrapped up into daily conundrums that you kind of forget to connect to people outside your immediate daily sphere? I call that "Life Happens", and that's where things have been lately.

As for the kitchen project..still going, albeit it with a lot of problems. Tao (cabinet maker/thai restaurant owner) decided to build the cabinets about 6 inches shorter than what was in our contract, and installed them in our house. When we came home, I was in tears...I couldn't even reach the bottom shelf of the cabinets because they were shorter than what they should have been. We had to call him, and have him revise to our specifications. So, that puts us behind by at least a week.

And, the countertops were also cut wrong, and had to be redone, but they are finally ready, and have been installed, and our appliances are plugged in..so even though we're still using paper plates, and don't have all the cabinets installed, we've been able to cook a little bit at home (although we have to eat standing, since we don't have anywhere to sit--all of our furniture is covered in plastic right now).

Aside from the kitchen project...work is great. I'm really happy, and I feel really at home. I feel as though I know enough about environment, fundraising, and database to get by and be successful, but feel like it's a challenge since I don't know about grant or foundations. I feel that everyone is really genuine, and really easy to connect with...which is what I was definitely looking for.

And for the past few weekends Al, David, and I went to Roanoke last weekend to surprise my mom for her birthday--it was fun to be with my family and get away from the kitchen for a little while. I went with my mom to a jazzercise class, and ended up really liking it--I was a total klutz, and fell all over myself, but I works up a serious sweat...which I needed after eating out so much! We also went to see Wedding Crashers, and I would just like to profess my love for Vince Vaughn. Adorable.

Last night, we had an anti-shower for friends Matt and Katie, who are having a baby any day now. They didn't really want a big shower or anything, so we just had everyone meet up for crabs at the Bethesda Crab House (a favorite of mine for crabs). We did the 2 hour all you can eat, which was fun, but I felt so gross afterwards...we were covered in Old Bay seasoning.

That's about it here, but thanks for being patient for me to blog. In the immortal words of John Lennon, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Tree Huggin

I'm back doing environment work, and for now, couldn't be happier. I think part of it is being with people who I have common interests with, and part of it is that the people are so welcoming. It's been eye-opening, and really made me realize that the right work environment does truly matter. I feel myself smiling all day...and actually excited to go into work. It's been a long time since I've done that. Word is that I was a bit of a trend setter at my old job, as several others have followed suit and gave their notice after I left.

For now, I'm still in training mode, so I'm a bit overwhelmed taking in names, information, systems, processes. I feel like I have all pieces of the puzzle, but now I'm just trying to put it all together.

In other news...kitchen renovation still continues. Counters get put on tomorrow. I'm sick of eating out--and what makes it harder is that Al had his wisdom teeth out on Friday, so we're limited to places with soft foods. Tonight I got to initiate Al into Pasta Mia. We waited an hour and a half to get our food after being seated, so I think it was a bit of a let down to Al...no matter how darn good the pasta was. Oh well.

Off to hug a tree...

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

A rose by any other name...

I start the new job tomorrow!! I'm a bit nervous, but I feel like I've started so many new jobs, I should be an old pro.

We tried to have a pretty relaxing, low key weekend. On Saturday, I went to my cousin Debra's to catch up with her, and play with her sons Evan (5) and Jared (2) at the pool. Jared was so adorable, but couldn't quite grasp my name, so for the entire day I was Josie. Josie this and Josie that. But, he was pretty easy to please, and laughed at everything I did, so I found Josie agreeable since I was so gosh darn funny.

I know it's well known that people love hearing their name...but I realized that people do not like hearing their name butchered...2 year olds okay, other people not so much. My contractor--calls me Judy. Al's friend Zach, prefers Joanie. Beyond that, I found that I also get irritated when people call me by my nicknames when they don't know me very well. Some friends call me Jodes, Jode, Schwarzy, Schwarzy-Goldberg. But, not just anyone can use my nicknames. I don't know the suitable amount of time that I mustg know someone before they can call me a nickname, but I'd say long enough for me to feel comfortable with a nickname.

Okay, now that I've obsessed over that, the eating out thing has grown tiresome. Saturday, our friend Kristin had us over for a cookout, and Sunday, we met up with Luke and Stacey for falafel in Adam's Morgan. Al and I tried to go to Pasta Mia again last week--and again that guy is closed--this time until July 19. I give up. Tonight, we go to Katie and Matt's house for fajitas.

Wish me luck on the new job tomorrow.

-Joanie

Friday, July 08, 2005

Day #6 without a kitchen

Last night we went to Wine and Design in Georgetown. It's located in Cady's Alley, which is lined by several design stores.

The design stores that participate stay open late, have light snacks, and of course, wine. It was cool to walk around, and see what the trends are...we are heading back to the 50's and 70's--a lot of shag, and a lot of 50's knock offs.

Afterwards, Al and I dined at Leopold's---it's a European-esque restaurant and felt very reminiscent of places we dined at in Switzerland, but not as good in my opinion.

Today is my last day at OMP, and next Wednesday I start the new job...aeiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Kitchen Renovation

Before



After

Want to see more pics? http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAOGjJs2bsnDk4&notag=1

I remember a simpler time

I remember a simpler time,
when the grass was green, the sun did shine
but every since the towers crumbled,
the floor shook, the walls tumbled,
things just haven't been the same.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/07/AR2005070700261.html

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Can I get some Pad Thai with that?

The man who is making our cabinets is also the owner and cook of a Thai carry-out restaurant. Are we crazy....well, take a look at this article, and you tell me.

http://restaurants.washingtoncitypaper.com/hungry.php?week=20050701

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Day #3 without a kitchen

On Saturday, July 2, we embarked on Kitchen Renovation. We knocked down, we destroyed, we disassembled. We now have no cabinets, no countertop, no running water in the kitchen, and after today, will have no appliances. It's already day 3 and I'm sick of having no kitchen.

We'll be eating out a lot--so I'll try to blog about what we're hitting. It'll be like a supersize me experiment--how much weight can I gain from Kitchen being renovated?

It took Al, David (my brother) and I about 5 hours to take everything down, and about another hour to clean up. I was smart enough to think ahead though, and scheduled Al and I for massages on Sunday. While it felt amazing at the time, my neck is now majorily sore. I thought massages were suppoed to loosen you up, but my neck hurt so much last night, that I had to go to sleep just to stop it from hurting so much.

After our massages, we went to our friend Brandeis' for a pool party and BBQ. Brandeis had invited Matt, Katie, PW, and about 30 girls and maybe 3 guys from the Thompson Boat House Rowing team. (Al used to do crew, and a lot of his friends still coach or are involved).

I had a totally "I'm Old!" moment while hanging out with these 20-year olds. The kids--not so bright these days. If you stand by a pool, at a pool party, you are going to be thrown in. No exception....unless you are of course me, and not 20, then the guys actually listen to you when you say, "don't throw me in!" It helps, I found, if you have a Coach bag on hand as well.

I didn't end up getting in the pool, or getting thrown in. Al got thrown in, and threw some girl in--in her white t-shirt and jeans. She kept saying how pissed she was, but then she stayed in the water for about an hour....so guess she couldn't have been that pissed.

Last night, we tried so desperately to find food--we literally tried 5 restaurants and a sketchy bbq joint, but to no avail....everyone was closing early for the 4th. We finally grabbed a hot dog and fries at Ben's Chili Bowl and walked up the hill to see the fireworks---we have this huge hill right up the street from where we live, and you can see the fireworks not only on the National Mall, but shooting off over all of DC--Capital Hill, Alexandria, Dupont Circle, etc. Alot of people were their from our neighborhood who we knew--guess we weren't the only ones with that good idea!

More to come on Kitchen Renovation, and stay tuned for places we are going. And if you have a kitchen, invite us over, we'll even cook for YOU!