Betty

Jefe and I are sitting for Betty, our friend Becky's Jack Russell Terrier this weekend and I'm getting really excited. And there's a baby Jack Russell on Daily Puppy today too! I can't wait to spend the weekend with my favorite pup!

Things That Make Me Happy...

On a gloomy Friday afternoon with a weekend of work ahead...

My new hot pink iPhone case...


The Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks is back...

Diet Coke...


... and potato chips. Yum!


Oh, and this little guy from Daily Puppy earlier this week...


Happy Friday Everyone!

The Freshman 15

Lucy's away message alerted me to an article in The Washington Post from Sunday that discusses "What Every First-Year College Student Needs to Know About Washington".

Here are some of my favorites:

1. Stand to the right. This is really the first and last rule of Washington, a city obsessed with rules. If you don't want to join the hurried commuters walking up or down the Metro escalator, then move to the right and stand there. Do not block the path of the important people. They will huff and puff and make snide comments about your touristy ignorance. Soon enough, you'll be able to do this, too.

4. Maintain residency in your home state (if your new home is in the District). Especially if you're from a swing state. Your vote (absentee or not) will count more in Ohio or Florida than it will in the District, which is bluer than blueberries. Plus, D.C. residents have only a non-voting delegate in the U.S. House. Some call this "taxation without representation" (you'll see the phrase on our license plates), and it's why Americans shook off the shackles of Great Britain in the first place. You now live in the capital of irony.

7. That police car is probably not pulling you over. Yes, its lights are flashing, but if it is moving at normal speed and you don't hear the siren, you can feel relatively sure that you're not about to get a ticket that you'll have to explain to Mom and Dad. D.C. police keep their car emergency lights on as a way to make themselves more visible to the law-abiding public -- and, of course, to criminals. Trust us, when the D.C. police want to pull you over, they will let you know in no uncertain terms.

8. Yield to cars in traffic circles. The city is overpopulated with circles (a.k.a. Washington planner Pierre L'Enfant's grandest practical joke), so you're likely to encounter them if you're a driver. Yield to the cars in the loop. More important, don't stop if nothing is coming. ("Yield" means "yield," not "stop.") College freshmen are responsible for 85 percent of the accidents in D.C. traffic circles. We're making that up, but it's probably 25 percent true.

11. There is no J Street. No matter how far you walk, you'll never cross J Street. If someone tells you to meet her anywhere on J Street, you are being punk'd. The lore is that Washington designer Pierre L'Enfant (yes, him again) had a beef with John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States, and so didn't include a J Street. The real reason is that the lettering for J and I streets were too similar, so J got axed. Seems kind of harsh in retrospect.

The Great Reveal!

Batteries in camera = photos!

Now, keep in mind that this is incomplete. I'm still waiting for the print for above the bed and deciding what to do about curtains etc. Oh, and the side tables that STILL aren't in stock at Ikea. Hope you like!

Bristol and Shawn

I write this in a very non-political way. But does anyone else think that Bristol Palin and Shawn Johnson look alike? I think it's their button noses. But as we know, unfortunately for them, button noses are out.

Great Re-decorate 08 Update

This all started when I was sitting in a Philadelphia Starbucks waiting for a bus back to D.C.. I noticed the blue paint color on one of the walls and it was love at first sight. I knew I had to have it. Nathan dubbed it "slate blue" and that was the beginning...

Some of you dear dear readers have asked about the results of the Labor Day 'Paint with the Parents' project. Well, not only did we have a blast, but I think the bedroom turned out brilliantly, mostly due to help from Dee picking out the paint color, and Blind Billy's steady hand (impressive since he had cataract surgery two days prior).

We did have an unsuccessful trip to Ikea that included UMD game-day traffic, so there are a few details to come. The room is still missing the print above the bed (ordered) and the Ikea side tables (out of stock). I'm undecided on the bedding, may need some additional pillows, which I'm sure Jefe will be ecstatic about!

As soon as I get some batteries for my camera I'll post some photos. Thanks for all your interest!

With the bedroom nearly finished, it's time to focus on the office. Right now it's a deep navy blue which is gorgeous, but, well, I'm over it. I bought 'Jalepeno Pepper' from Benjamin Moore this weekend, it's one of the Pottery Barn colors. I'm still deciding between a lime green with all black and white theme vs. a more eclectic look of lime, teal, colbalt and mustard. See photos below. I'm still waiting on reconstruction work from some water damage and then it's paintin' time again!

Bravo Top Design

It's been a wonderful week of season premiers. Gossip Girl and 90210 with a little The Hills mixed in got me through Monday and Tuesday, but I have to tell you I was just as excited about the season 2 premier of Top Design on Bravo (I know what you're thinking... shocker!).

I wasn't actually too impressed with the designers. I'm not saying I could do better, but this is supposed to be the cream of the crop right? I was, however, very impressed with the first challenge. Broken up into 4 teams, 13 designers were tasked with decorating a loft apartment for $2,000 in 2 days. The clients were one of the four judges. I enjoy the challenges with smaller budgets because I think they are more realistic. I think it takes much more creativity to decorate with limited funds... anyone can replicate someone else's good taste from a catalogue with enough dough. Plus, most people can't afford to re-do an entire room/home completely, you have to build off items you already have.

The final products were pretty lack-luster in my mind but judge Jonathan Adler made this episode with his "incomprehensible sofa saga" comment.

Despite episode 1's dull designs, I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. Bravo!

P.S... Check out judge Kelly Wearstler's website. Im obsessed.

About-Face

KT mentioned this article to me in New York magazine. About-Face, How Plastic Surgery Can Give an Older Woman the Face of a Baby. It's all about how plastic surgery has changed and what used to be the "new face" with plumped lips and taut cheeks as now become "juicier" lips and a fatty face. Read the article and you'll see what I mean. It's totally fascinating. I was thinking about how wacky our culture is that we do these things to our faces and the fads come and go like the wash of your jeans, but I suppose this has been going on since the beginning of time. Maybe one day millions of years ago someone said: "You're going to stick a needle through your ear lobe to hang a piece of metal with beads!?" I guess it's all relative.

A computer composite of the ideal face.

The Old "New Face".

The "New" New Face.

Atticus & The Giant Peach

Turns out Atty has a thing for peaches. Jefe and I had returned from a farmer's market (more on that later) and noticed that Atty was all about this peach in the fruit bowl. He somehow got it out of the bowl and then began to treat it like it was his lil' baby doll! He rubbed his head all over it and then sat with it in his arms. Finally he took a little nap with his cheek on the peach. See pictures below. I've never seen anything like it and I swear we didn't place the peach. All Atty.

Another Sighting...

Nicky just ran into Ted Allen from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. That's a good one Nicky!

Poopfoot-Atty for Prez!

Some of you may already know that Nicky calls me "Poopfoot". I may or may not have stepped in Atticus' poop... once. The nickname stuck. Today Nicky sent me the clip below... it's pretty hysterical! That Nicky, he's the best!

Here We Go!

Some of you may have heard of my "Great Re-decorate 08" project. If not, to catch you up, I thought it would be a great idea to re-decorate the apartment in the middle of the busiest time of year at work and when the apartment is actually, already decorated. But if you're reading this blog, you know me, and this notion isn't that silly at all. Plus... KT and Nicky are decorating their new fabulous apartment in New York City, so it's a solidarity project!

I've decided to re-do the office and the bedroom first. Bill and Dee are coming in town Labor Day weekend for a visit and to help paint. I'll have to post pictures of the rooms in their current state so you can see the change.

Here's the bedroom plan:

Grey/Blue walls. Not too dark. Still picking out the exact color.

This print above the bed...
(I've randomly been to Nice several times and LOVE this print)

White bedding that we already have and the below duvet cover from Pottery Barn...

and these side tables from Ikea...

That's where I am so far. Would love some feedback and ideas. More to come!

NYC Celeb Sightings...

Well, it's Day 3 in New York City for Nicky and KT. They don't have a sofa, but they've already run into their first celebrity. Our favorite NYC duo rode the elevator with Anthony Bourdain of the Travel Channel's No Reservations. Not bad for Day 3!

P.S. When Nicky and KT were in NYC a few weeks ago to check out their new digs, they saw my favorite TV sisters, Angela and Vanessa Simmons of MTV's Run's House.

Man On Wire

I saw a story on DCist about a new documentary called "Man On Wire". James Marsh "chronicles the story of Phillipe Petit, who in 1974 stunned the world by managing to sneak up to the top of the then-under-construction World Trade Center, string 450 pounds of steel wire across the chasm between the towers, and then spent the better part of an hour walking, dancing, and hopping around on a 3/4 inch cable a quarter of a mile above the concrete and asphalt below." I really want to see this but I think my palms would be sweaty the whole time!

You can check out the trailer here:

More Vizsla Love...

from Daily Puppy. This is Penny from San Francisco.

P.S... I wussed out on the bangs. I realized that after my five block walk to work in the morning they would be plastered to my forehead in this summer weather. Maybe a fall look as KT suggested.

To Bang...

... or not to bang. I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow and this Lucky magazine cover of Zooey Deschanel has inspired me. It' s a big commitment, but I think it could be fun. Shannon (the lovely woman I see at the salon) says I'll look like a child... but this blah pony tail I've been rockin' (think Kristi from Babysitters Club) isn't exactly winning any maturity awards. We'll see what happens in the chair tomorrow!PS... how gorgeous is Zooey!

Eureka Car Park

I saw this on Dubbs' away message and thought it was pretty cool. Axel Peemoeller designed distorted letters on the parking garage walls that can be read perfectly when standing at the right position. The project has won several international design awards according to this site.

Funny Story

So my office shares a ladies room with an organization that employees several people who are blind. One woman in particular I see in the ladies room a couple times a week. She is very nice and uses a guide dog. Of course it kills me to be around such a cute pup and not be able to interact with him, but I respect that he is working and avoid any contact. Well, except that he joins me in the stall about once a week. He is often in the next stall with his owner, but his upper body peaks in to my stall and looks up at me just like this:

It's hysterical and takes everything in me not to laugh out loud. I imagine he's thinking the same thing I am... "Man, two more hours and we're outta here!"

Happy Friday!

Shwayze

It's possible that I am a giant tool... but we already knew that. I was watching Run's House on MTV last night, one of my all-time favorite shows. A new show came on after called Shwayze. I had seen ads for it, but chalked it up to some silly new teeny bopper show, as if I'm above The Hills and the like. Anyway... I got hooked of course, and not only did I enjoy the show (keep in mind that I have very low standards), I'm kinda diggin' on their single "Buzzin". You can watch the video on YouTube by clicking the photo above. Is it not so bad, or am I nerdalicious?

OMG

They actually don't bleed!!!!

I just bought the previously mentioned Sharpie pens and they are just as wonderful as promised! I trekked over to Staples and had to ask for them as they were behind the counter... Sudafed style. They only had black. I'm hoping to add the other colors to my collection soon, and crossing my fingers that this is just the beta release and there will be more colors to come!

Working in bliss,

K