My favorite speech writer

In the midst of season 4 of The West Wing. They've just introduced Will Bailey and I know what is coming. Sad face. Preparing to bid adieu to my dear Sam Seaborn...

(On a side note, Toby is pregnant with twins?! I don't approve. They'll be grouchy and cynical by age 3.)

The big month...

While I have until December to complete the list, this is the month - I turn 30 on the 30th of September! Still unclear on what exactly we'll do to celebrate, but like it or not, it is coming fast. Grant usually very nicely (and patiently at this point) asks me what I'd like to do to celebrate and I say something like, "That's a really good question!" and then I forget about it within two minutes or something happens that makes me think about something else. I should really consider adding working on my attention span to this list...

In other news, I got my Eastern Market artwork! In my six years in DC, I've purchased earrings, tomatoes, roasted nuts, lemonade, birthday cards, cheese, and other random goodies from the market. Up until now, I haven't supported our local artists who offer up their photographs or paintings for purchase. After a yummy brunch this Sunday at Tunnicliff's Tavern and an iced latte from the local coffee spot, we wandered by several artists and browsed. I found this lovely photo spread of the Jefferson Memorial showing it at all four seasons. It's perfect! Grant and I got engaged on the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson is one of our favorite DC landmarks. It's matted, framed and ready to hang. The where to actually hang part is still TBD but it's set to go on the dining room table just as soon as we decide.

Non-snoozing is still a work in progress. Work has been, to be kind, CRAZED for the past two months so it's been hard to get into any kind of routine. Excuse? Perhaps, but I'm working on the snooze. I've been keeping my alarm clock on the windowsill away from the bed so I actually have to get up when it goes off. When that happens at 6:30 am, I'm all set. When that happens at 5:00 am, it's a different story. Friends tell me to have a baby and then I'll be getting up at 5:00 am no problem. For now, I'll stick with our fish, Po, and continue to nearly fall to the floor as I stumble toward my beeping alarm.

For my non-alcoholic month, welllllllllll. Hmm. I REALLY TRIED! We're going to have to bump this one to the month of October. Grant and I went home to ABQ and were wedding venue searching - one of the spots was a winery. You think I'm going to consider a venue that only serves their wine if I haven't tried it?! No. However, I did make the super delish cucumber cranberry sparkling beverage. It was delightful! Nice and crisp. I would recommend using less of the cucumber simple syrup than the recipes calls for. It was a little too sweet. I added in some additional sparkling water as well as the sparkling cranberry juice and it worked out nicely. Just play around with it. But try it! Yum.

More to come in September! Planning for a segway tour, Skymall purchase, and trapeze lessons are underway. Here's to the big 3-0!