My New Year's Resolution

Sigh...to be honest, I'm kinda running out of things I want to resolve to do.

In 2006 it was giving up caffeine.

In 2007 it was quitting smoking.

I'm proud to say that both of these were accomplished with little difficulty (though I will admit it was harder to give up caffeine than smoking...which just goes to show how addicted I was to soda) but my other vices I'm not ready to give up yet.

Staying up too late? Nope. (it is, of course, 3:45 a.m. as I write this)

Getting a little boozy every now and then? Ha...no way.

In N' Out and its evil cousin, Five Guys? Never.

Men? Oh HELL no.

Overspending at J. Crew? I think I'll give up men before that happens!

I suppose I could try and repeat 2008's resolution: to train for a marathon. But, let's face it...I hate running. Which I suppose is why that resolution petered out by March (which, to be honest, was actually quite impressive to me!)

I shouldn't say I hate running...that's not entirely true or fair to myself or the sport. On the few days where I had "good" runs, I felt absolutely alive. I felt there was nothing in the entire world that could stop me. But, alas, there were more "bad" runs than good, and it became a hassle to get up at 5:30 a.m. to run or come home after a long day of work and put on running shoes (as cute as they were.)

Perhaps I start smaller: Resolved: I will get in shape by running for exercise and for health, not to keep up with Brother Bea's marathon-ical feats of endurance.

When I got the wild hair up my ass about training for a marathon last year, I of course needed massive support, so I turned to the interwebs and found this gem: www.runningahead.com. I'm horrendously ashamed to admit that I had long ago lost the link, and since I had a new computer, no amount of digging would solve the problem.

BUT - I finally found it and I couldn't be happier. The folks on the site's forums are hilarious and incredibly supportive.

So I've decided to once again start up running. But this time, instead of just putting on my cute running shoes and heading outside, I am going to have a plan. And I, with your help sweet friends, am determined to complete it.

Here's the plan: It's called Couch to 5K, and it's a 9-week program designed to get you from sitting on your arse on the couch (excuse the random British thrown in...I'm listening to Love Actually as I write) to running a 5K (3.1 miles) in under 3 months.

The BEST part is that you don't need to download the program for $19.95...you can just input the plan into your RunningAHEAD calendar!

So bear with me but intermixed with my most random posts about Thundersnow the Mouse, babies, what I'm wearing, and of course, how the job process goes (once, of course, I get off previously mentioned arse and start APPLYING!), there will also (hopefully) be weekly running updates. Perhaps I'll motivate others to start running?

Or most likely, I'll just provide funny stories about tripping over myself :)

Cheers (and happy almost-2009!),

Sweet Bea

PS you can follow along my progress here!

NYE help needed!

Hi ya'll!

So...we're throwing a *fabulous* formal NYE bash here in DC to ring in the new year (and hopefully shed all reminders of my 2008!) and I'm looking for some ideas for equally fabulous hors d' oeuvres. Any thoughts?

We don't have a particular theme...and the party should be small (approx 20-25 people) and with the craptastic economy and all we don't want to break the bank throwing the bash (plus we're saving up for the inaugural party), so I'm very open to suggestions!

Thanks loves!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Baby Brady Charles

Your darling Sweet Bea is a (kinda) Auntie!

Baby Brady Charles, little brother to Miss Hannah Mac (who actually does call me Auntie Bea), was born on Saturday at 2:41pm, weighing in at 7 lbs 5 ozs, and measuring 19 inches.

He's so cute (and we all know that I am NOT a baby person!) but no, Auntie Bea didn't hold him (I don't hold babies until, if dropped, they can more or less pick themselves back up again.)

Unfortunately, Baby Brady is having some breathing problems right now, so while Bea's high school bestie Schmoe and her hubby got to go home today (or at least, that was the plan last night and I just got off a plane and haven't heard an update yet), the little bugger didn't get to go home with Mommy and Daddy and Miss Hannah Mac.

So - please say a quick word to the folks upstairs that Brady gets all better and gets to come home where he belongs! :)

Cheers,

Sweet Bea!

PS - Brady needs a nickname! Please help!! :)

The Pickle Hunt Heard 'round the World

So Megan over at Newly Wed, Newly Bred asked me about the pickle hunt I participated in on Christmas Day, and I thought I would share it here.

Here goes:

Each year on Christmas, a good friend of mine in DC, who is from my hometown, has a pickle hunt.

For those who don't know, a Christmas pickle hunt is a supposed German tradition where the parents, after decorating their Christmas tree, hide a glass pickle ornament on the tree for the Christmas attendees to find. The finder receives a small present and a year's worth of good luck.

Now, its important to note that my friend is an only child. So each year on Christmas, when the annual pickle hunt is underway, she is "competing" against her aunts, uncles, and grandparents. And needless to say, she has been undefeated for many, many years.

Until the 2008 pickle hunt.

See, a few months back, she started bragging about her impressive dynasty as Pickle Champion. And she challenged those of us who are from our hometown to try and take her on and dethrone her, if we dared.

And so dare we did do. There were 5 of us on that fateful Christmas morn, and as we were read the official rules of the pickle hunt, our eyes grew bigger and bigger at the mere thought of taking down the champion and reveling in pickle glory ourselves.

The rules are simple: you may not hit your fellow hunters. You may not climb the tree (it was too wobbly this year.) You may, however, climb on anything else, and you may use whatever means necessary to win, unless explicitly outlawed by the previous rules. This will come in handy later...

We took our places at the starting line, and when the signal was given, we ran towards the tree in while Chariots of Fire played in the background (at least in my head.)

High, low, and on all sides of the tree we hunted for the pickle. We dug through the branches, climbed on furniture, the fireplace and window sills, and cursed the pickle hider for their hiding aptitude (of course, on this most hyped-up Christmas, the hiding spot had to be extra good!)

Then, a long, drawn out 4 minutes and 34 seconds later, a victor emerged from deep within the trenches.

Lo! A new champion had been found! The years of pickle dominance were at last over! The monarchy was finally toppled. A coup had taken over the once peaceful family room.

And just who was this ultimate seeker? This finder of pickles?

Sweet Bea, natch.

Of course, much speculation was made over the legality of my win, because I came to the hunt wearing one of these:


Yes, sweet friends, that is a spelunking headlamp. That is what carried me to victory on that glorious Christmas morning.

While some questioned my tactics, I know it was because they simply felt foolish at their utter lack of preparation.

Did the headlamp play a significant role in my sweet victory? Absolutely.

As you can clearly see from the above link, the pickle is shiny, and it was the reflection of the pickle in my headlamp that caught my eye. Nearly every other challenger was looking in that very area of the tree, but they were destined to lose because none had my dedication or my foresight.

Or my headlamp :)

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

The Dulles Airport Diary...or how I learned to stop stressing and love air travel

On the 22nd day of December, Dulles Airport gave to me...

12 Passengers a-complaining

11 Crew members a-snapping

10 Hours a-sitting on a plane

9 Dollars a-paid for food on the plane I couldn't get off of

8 Babies a-milking

7 Hours a-delayed

6 Hours a-flying

5 Screaming Kids!!!!!!!!!

4 Rebooking lines a-stood in

3 Terminals a-walked through

2 Broken planes a-boarded (and number of In n' Out burgers shoved in my mouth upon arrival)

1 Happy Sweet Bea at home in California (15 hours later)

2008 White House Christmas Tree

National Christmas Tree and White House

I was very happy that I was able to get this picture...my camera's night settings were not cooperating much of the time...

The White House

We were taking our sweet time getting out of the house to go look at the tree, but thankfully I was able to snap this before they literally turned the lights out.

The California Tree

Each state had its own tree, spread out throughout the grounds...it took a bit to find the California tree, but we finally did :) The unlit National Menorah is in the background,

The Wisconsin Tree

Because I was with one of my favorite Sconnie friends and his girlfriend, and because Wisconsin is my home away from home. I suppose this then is my tree away from tree :)

Round Two: Mouse

So I left the sticky traps up again on Friday night, shut my door, went to a wine party, and "slept" at a friends house.

I came home Saturday afternoon...and the mousetraps were left undisturbed. In fact, the only spot in the gelatin that had moved was the part where I stepped on the trap as I was running out the door (in my brand new boots, natch.)

I had dinner last night and went to see the National Christmas Tree (pics coming in a bit) with some friends, but the traps again haven't moved - even though I supplemented their peanut buttery goodness with some brie. It appears that Thundersnow has, in fact, outsmarted me (and has no taste in cheese.)

I had really hoped that I would have taken care of this silly mouse problem before I left for the holidays in CA, because I don't want to leave the traps out and have him die in one tomorrow night and then stink up my place for a week! So now I just don't know what to do :(

Ummm. MAJOR UPDATE: I just went into my room to grab a sweatshirt (its freezing here and roommate doesn't like to use the heater...grumble grumble.) I decided just to peek at the sticky traps, just to reinforce my fear that Thunderstorm is, in fact, smarter than me.

One of the traps is missing.

If you remember, I set up 4, and placed them around my bed. I decided on Friday that perhaps I should spread them out a bit more, so I kicked one of the traps under my nightstand, and spread the others more around my bed.

The one under my nightstand is nowhere to be found. I looked behind the dresser, by the boxes near the dresser, and in all logical spots that a mouse stuck in a glue trap might run to...and I can't find it anywhere. So now I'm freaked out even more about this damn mouse! NOW where the hell is he???

Cheers...

Sweet Bea

Round One: Mouse

So newly-named Thundersnow (my mouse from this post) has beaten me in the first round of Get the F Out of My Room! :(

After spending the last few nights "sleeping" (because there really is no sleep when you know a mouse might jump on your bed again) with the light on to try and keep Mr. Mousie away, I finally cracked down and bought mouse traps.


Round One Product: JT Eaton's Stick-Em Glue traps. They are little tubs (sorta) filled with sticky gelatin with some peanut buttery goodness in the middle for Thundersnow to eat. They are humane (as humane I suppose as mouse traps can be) but unfortunately, at least last night, they were useless.

I thought I heard Thundersnow scratching around a little bit around 4am or so...but I was so blasted tired that I fell right asleep (light off, but completely cocooned in my comforter so Thundersnow wouldn't come snuggle with me again.)

When I awoke this AM (to my roomie knocking on the door to see if she could use any boxes) I peeked down, half hoping to see Thundersnow in one of the 4 (4!!!) sticky traps I so carefully placed (all around my bed) for him, half hoping that he wasn't there so I didn't have to deal with him!

Lucky for one half of me, Thundersnow is nowhere to be found. Perhaps he left? Perhaps he outsmarted the Bea? We may never know just what happened.

My plan is to leave the traps up tonight, and possibly put out the other box around the room (because I misread the box and didn't see the ginormous "4" on it indicating that each box had 4 traps in it...) and leave the light off while I'm out and about at a wine and cheese party (outfit coming soon, I hope.)

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Giveaway Time!

Not mine, but Nina's! I found her blog through Lulu and it's always a great read.

AND - on top of that, Nina is having a FABO giveaway with 2 adorable items - a Kate Spade 2009 Planner AND a Keep Calm & Carry On Spoof Calendar, from Little Brown Pen.

Seriously? So f'ing cute!

So...check out Nina's blog and get yourself entered for her awesome giveaway, and then put share with all your friends too!

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

Keep it in the family, folks!

You know something that just absolutely burns me up?

Its going onto Ebay and looking up my sorority's name to see what cute stuff I find...and am welcomed with an onslaught of badges.

I get that even thought you say you are Greek for life that sometimes that life interferes and you take on other priorities. I won't claim for one moment that I've been the best alumna - not even a good one.

But I would never, no matter the cost, give my badge to someone outside of the sisterhood.

I realize that many of these are from deceased members who didn't leave instructions for their badges and pins. I get that.

But, even if you were dealing with the death of a loved one and in cleaning our their items stumbled onto their badge, why on EARTH would you think it was acceptable to give that person's badge away???

Grandma Bea is in a nursing home and we know that she will never live in her home again...so when I was home during the campaign I'd try and help Mama Bea go through some of her things. I was specifically looking for her pin, from Alpha Delta Pi (Psi Chapter, UC Berkeley, 1930 I believe), because I want to make sure that it doesn't get into the wrong hands. I will return it to the headquarters where it will be properly looked after.

Even if I wasn't Greek, Mama Bea (who didn't go to college and doesn't really understand the whole thing) wouldn't just give Grandma Bea's pin to someone, or sell it on Ebay!

When you enter into a sorority or fraternity there are certain rules, certain standards and traditions, that you subscribe to. Your initiation - and the several weeks of hard work that often precede it - teach you these rules and traditions. Just as I don't sign off as Sweet Bea, MD because I didn't earn it, you don't get to wear my letters because you didn't earn it. I didn't get to wear an honor cord at my graduation because I didn't earn earn it, and you don't get to learn the history and symbolism of my rituals because you didn't earn it.

Please don't think that just because you purchased a Greek pin on Ebay you have the right to wear it, display it, share it, or do anything with it. You do not. You did not earn that right. Speedos can be purchased on Ebay too, and Lord knows nobody, outside of this guy has earned the right to wear them.

Chill out Bea...calm down Bea! I know, I know, I'm ranting like a lunatic (I'm actually on Ebay procrastinating setting mousetraps...ugh!) but still, it just really frustrates me to see people pledge themselves to something with so little care and thought.

Ok done. Soapbox neatly tucked away under the bed (with the mouse, who my cousin says should be named Thundersnow, after the crazy phenomenon happening in Wisconsin, my second home, right now.)

Cheers,

Sweet Bea (MD)

Seriously??

I just had a mouse on my bed.

Not in my room of my new apartment.

Not in the walls of my new apartment.

Not underneath the bed in my new apartment.

ON. MY. BED.

Seriously. (?!?!?!?)

I heard all these weird scratching noises and figured that it must just be boxes settling and packing tape moving around, but I decided to sit up and take a look around just in case (in the dark, mind you. My bedside lamp had its CFL lightbulb stolen by my friends who watched my stuff while I was in CA.)

So I sit up...and there I see it to my left. I jump, and it takes 2 hops off the edge of the bed and disappears.

And now there is silence in my room. Which is somehow more terrifying than hearing the scratching noises.

A mouse. ON MY F'ING BED. Thank God I was awake and have a queen size bed.

I am seriously so freaked out right now I just don't know what to do.

I can only assume that it hitchhiked from my friends' basement where my boxes were, in a box (since they were ALL OPENED AND GONE THROUGH! Even my box with my new Victoria's Secret stockings and other miscellaneous lingerie! But that's another angry post altogether), was sealed up by me in said box on moving day, and then decided to hop out and see what it could find ON MY BED.

OMG what if it had crawled INTO my bed??

I know I'm craving some bedtime snuggling right now, but with a Badger, not with a MOUSE.

Photo courtesy of icanhascheezburger.com

Hope you're having a better sleep than me! (grumble grumble)

Cheers...

Sweet Bea

Thoughts on new living situation...

Have you ever felt like a stranger in your own home?

That's how I feel right now.

I just moved into a new apartment, and after living alone for the last 3 years, I have a roommate.

And the roommate has a boyfriend, of course.

And the boyfriend's old roommate is my old boyfriend, Badger.

Lovely.

Today was my first day in the apartment, after spending all day yesterday moving boxes and furniture...I don't have keys yet, so I literally couldn't leave the apartment and go anywhere (including to get food!) because I couldn't get back in. Which is fine, as I am not paying rent until January 1, but still.

So right now, roommate and her boyfriend are watching a movie in the main room, and I'm hiding out in my room.

This is silly right? I should be able to go out into the main area and watch a movie with them...but they're all mushy and kissy and frankly it is depressing me because I want to be mushy and kissy with Badger, and I can't be because he broke up with me.

So I ask you: is it wrong that I feel like I'm not supposed to come out of my room? I mean, there is a TON of unpacking for me to do, and I have a cold, so I'm sure it doesn't seem weird that I'm hiding out in here, right??

Just needed to get that off my chest...I suppose now I'll start unpacking...ugh.

Sorry to be a grump...I'm just a bit out of sorts right now I suppose.

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

TAG! I'm it!

YAY! My first tag! In the holiday spirit, its a Candy Cane tag, courtesy of Lulu (double yay!)

The instructions are to Copy, Paste, Answer, Add a Question, Tag the 3 bloggers with the most recent updates on your blog feed/roll, let them know they've been tagged in a comment, and learn about your fellow bloggers.

So...here are the questions and my answers:

1. What is your favorite Christmas Movie? It's a tossup between White Christmas and Love Actually. Daddy Bea and I always watch White Christmas together, so it always makes me think of him. When I first watched Love Actually I wasn't crazy about it, but I watched it again and absolutely fell in love. Poor Brother Bea has to put up with me begging to borrow his copy (yes, HIS copy. I don't own either movie!) every single night when I'm home for Christmas (so I'll start begging him on the 22nd of this month.) The other sleepless night I was actually Googling Vera-Ellen, one of the female leads in White Christmas because she was such a beauty and was so under appreciated in her time. Very, very sad.

2. Favorite Christmas Song? Ummm, is it wrong that it's again a tie...this time between Santa Baby and Do you Hear What I Hear? I also love David Bowie & Bing Crosby's version of Little Drummer Boy. Tee hee :)

3. Favorite Holiday Memory? Hmmm, this one is tough. It would have to be the last Christmas where my whole, tiny family was together, before Grandma Bea went into the care facility and my cousin Jean passed...Christmas 2006. There was nothing particularly memorable about it per se, but we were together and it was just very, very nice.

4. What is your favorite cookie/treat to make? If I made them, it would be gingerbread men. I just love them!!! But we try not to have too many cookies and treat in the Bea household (NOT your dear Sweet Bea's idea!)...

5. Have you ever made an igloo? Umm, no? I'm from Northern California...and not the part that has snow, sorry :(

6. Do you love Starbucks? Not particularly. I don't drink caffeine, but I do like their spiced cider. I am, however, a HUGE fan of Wilson's in Racine, Wisconsin. Our 2006 campaign office was next door-ish and we were constant visitors. Their decaf soy chai latte was to DIE for...I've never had one so good in my life. Their teas were excellent, and THEY were wonderful people. I miss it! :(

7. What makes the perfect Snowman? Again...being from NorCal I would have to say snow? I've never made a snowman, unfortunately. Even here in DC we don't get enough snow for a snowman...just snowballs, which are very fun to make. I suppose I could make mini-snowmen next time??

8. Maids a-milking...(for some reason, no #8!)

9. Best gift you have ever received? Jeez, these are hard! I've had many Christmases in my advanced age! Let's see...best gift ever was probably my diamond earrings from Daddy Bea. They aren't big, but they were the first real jewelry I ever received from anyone, so they mean a ton. I wear them every single day (which reminds me, I need to buy some jewelry cleaner!)

10. What is the snowman's name on Rudolph? FROSTY, duh! Right? I mean, it must be Frosty? Those claymation or whatever movies frighten me...

11.Silver or Gold? In terms of what??? This is a trick question! In terms of decorating? Gold. (more like champagne gold, not gaudy gold.) In terms of jewelry, silver colored jewelry.

12. What is your favorite Christmas decoration? OMG I just found it on Friday too! When I had to spend Christmas here in DC a few years back, Mama Bea sent me all my ornaments...so all the Barbie collectibles that my relatives (who I think refuse to believe I grew up...) send me every year, and all the other ones that are "mine." But I don't do family keepsake ornaments and things like that...I like an incredibly polished tree, with white lights and ivory & champagne ornaments, ivory silk ribbons with gold trim, etc. So needless to say, the ornaments that Mama Bea sent me sit in their boxes year after year (apparently her idea of cleaning is shipping me things I don't want.) BUT - there is a vintage cardinal with paisley wings that I absolutely ADORE. It it meant to be clipped on to a branch or garland, not hung. I love, love, love this cardinal. So Mama Bea sent me that too, and it is the only thing that made it out of the big box of other ornaments that made it to the holiday party on Friday night. I'll take pics of it so ya'll can see and post back later.

Photos from Christmas 2004

13. What's your Christmas decorating style? Oh...well sugar! I should have read the questions more closely before answering the last one! Well, my decorating style is pretty traditional - I love fresh greens and soft colors and white lights. Very classy, very elegant, and very simple. OH and I LOVE wrapping presents in matching papers...this year I'm thinking toile with a gingham ribbon (I saw it in a commercial...don't remember what it was for...and I loved the look!)

14. Do you hang stockings? Yes...if Mama Bea can find them (its always an interesting hunt!) We've had the same ones since we were little, but Brother Bea's name is spelled wrong (well, they shortened his name, which we don't do in our family.) They are hand knitted, and soft and fuzzy. Just perfie! :)

15. How many days do you celebrate Christmas? Well I tend to put on the holiday songs the day after Thanksgiving and keep the tree up through New Year's at least. One year, however, I remember Mama Bea not putting the ornaments away until we needed the dining room table for Easter... (she'd KILL me if she knew I wrote that!)

16. What was your favorite ornament on the tree as a child? Oh this one is so easy. We have these thin metal ornaments that have very intricate, almost lacy, patterns cut into them, in gold, red, and silver (one color each.) There is one that is a box and you can actually open the box and put something into it. That was always fun to look for that ornament and see if there was anything in it (even though we couldn't touch it yet.)

17. Where will you be spending this Christmas? I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali :) I feel like I JUST left...but Mama Bea STILL likes to guilt me about Christmas 2004 when I stayed here...

18. When you do open presents? We open our ornament from June (family friend) on Christmas Eve night, stockings Christmas morning before parents get up (though these days I'm usually the last one up!) and then main presents once the whole family is together, but before "breakfast" (tee hee, usually around noon!)

NEW QUESTION 19. What is your favorite Christmas tradition? On Christmas Eve, we eat crab and chili with French bread. From what I remember, my godfather "Uncle" Ian's family used to do this, and somehow the tradition was passed from their family to ours (but I could be wrong about that.) On Christmas night, we eat "plum" pudding that Grandma Bea used to always make until a few years ago. I think it is supposed to be made with plums, but she couldn't find them one year, so she used persimmons, and its more like a loaf than a pudding. And then we have hard sauce (a thick, stiff rum & powdered sugar sauce.) And when she used to make it ooh-whee was it STRONG! Mama Bea has tamed the rum sauce a but, unfortunately. And the rule is: no hard sauce without pudding. But sometimes sneaky lil Bea's like to forage in the fridge for a nip of the hard sauce :)

Because I'm still new to this whole world o' blogging, I'm only going to cheat and only tag one lady: Newly Wed, Newly Bred.

Hope you all had a wonderful, fun, and safe weekend and a fantastic week! I just moved today, so I'll try to get some pictures for ya'll (now that my camera connector has been more-or-less located!)

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

T-Box Bar Crawl

Ya'll heard of this? Its T-Box, a 12-bar crawl in Chicago that starts at 10:00 am this Saturday...and estimated to have 4,000 attendees this year.

My good friend (and 2006 campaign, um, "boyfriend," if you will) LBP is driving from Madison, WI to Chicago to attend...he called me tonight (returning my call from last night teasing him about how I was shopping for our Christmas tree in flip flops and he was in a blizzard) and told me about it.

I begged him to please be careful and to make sure he holds someone's hand when he crosses the street...he told me that he didn't think he'd have a problem finding some girl to hold his hand...SHEESH! Men... :)

Now I'm all for bar crawls and letting loose (in fact, LBP's brother (BP)'s girlfriend Dawn and I kinda sorta became part of one last weekend watching the horrible ASU football game)...but a multi-thousand, 12-bar crawl starting at 10:00 am? That seems a little ridiculous.

Thoughts?? Am I being a boring grown-up??

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

So I've been in a funk since I got back to DC, and it was made worse when my boyfriend (who lives in NYC and I haven't seen since June and was totally looking forward to FINALLY seeing once I got back...) broke up with me the day after Thanksgiving.

Joy.

So, after several days of crying non-stop and not eating I decided that I would pick myself up by my bootstraps and head over to Eastern Market, a historical farmers' market on Capitol Hill.

Usually, Eastern Market is split into 4 areas: the flea market where you can find all kinds of awesome things, the farmers' market where you can get fresh local produce, the indoors market, perfect for more produce, flowers, meats, cheeses, and pastries, and finally the art and artisan portion, where beautiful hand painted and hand crafted goods can be purchased.

OH - and they also have Market Lunch in the indoor market, where you can get some of the most amazing crab cakes outside of Maryland. YUM-O.

Anywho, Eastern Market burned down last year April 2007 (can't BELIEVE it has been that long!) and thankfully, the DC Government got right to work to make sure that the vendors who are here daily don't lose their livelihoods (though in looking for the original article about the fire, I stumbled upon this) and built a new temporary building for the indoor vendors. The community really pulled together as well, hosting fundraisers to help support the rebuilding efforts. (If you're interested, you can still help here - and I encourage you to do so!)

Trips to Eastern Market are usually the highlight of my week, and I hadn't been since my return to DC. I figured that this past Saturday was the perfect opportunity, since I was having such a rough time (what, with not having a job, a stable place to stay, losing my cousin Jean, and of course, getting dumped by my previously-awesome boyfriend, Badger) so I picked myself up and headed on over.

What I didn't realize was that people along my travel route (all of 5 blocks or so) was that people would be putting up their Christmas trees in their lovely bay windows. I stopped in front of each and looked through the windows and felt much better.

I continued on my way to Eastern Market and ran into a vendor who was cleaning up his stand who told me that I was very pretty today (I still felt puffy and red from all the crying) but I took his compliment as graciously as I could and felt even better than before.

When I turned the corner, my heart literally stopped as I saw Eastern Market for the first time in 5 months and saw that it had turned into a wonderful Christmas tree lot. And I was absolutely on cloud nine.

I wandered through the beautiful trees smelling them and picking up the garlands that were on the tables next to the trees and decided that the visit was exactly what I needed to boost my spirits.

I finally left my happy place of trees and wandered inside to buy cheese for my new faux-roomies, but unfortunately forgot that at the cheese shop they don't take credit cards and I didn't have any cash on me, so I left with just some pumpkin ravioli and a smile.

So this weekend, my faux-roomies are throwing a holiday party and we are going to Eastern Market to get our own beautiful Christmas tree and trimmings, and I just can't wait! :) Hopefully, this next trip to Eastern Market will make me smile as much as the last one! UPDATED: The trip was a success! We went last night (in flip flops and t-shirt because while it had rained during the day, it was fine and WARM! at night)and picked out a beautiful tree, I haggled with the guy, got the tree for a STEAL and he threw in a free 28' garland. YAY! Tree was delivered today and will be decorated in time for the holiday party tomorrow night. Will have pics, I promise (but of course, that depends on me getting my camera charger from a box at friend Eric's house...where it has been since I got back to town. UGH!)

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Happy Birthday Brother Bea!

That's it...basically just happy birthday Brother Bea! :) He turns a whopping 26 today. He then reminded me that he is "a spring chicken in comparison" to me...to which I gently reminded him that I am a mere babe of 23...

:)

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

New Year's Eve 2008 Ensemble

New Year's Eve 2008 by Sweet Bea

So unfortunately the J. Crew Isabella dress from this post didn't fit at all (bummer since it's now on sale...), so I went back to my original plan: this LOVELY asymmetrical dress from Banana Republic.

Other items here include:

Patent Belt from Ann Taylor

Maylie Shoes from Enzo Angiolini

Grandma Bea's vintage brooch (much prettier than the one in the pic)

Thoughts?? Particularly - I need your thoughts, sweet friends, on this burning question: to neck accessorize or not to neck accessorize?

Also - in a bit of abfab J. Crew news: a few years ago I had the most A-MAZ-ING personal shopper named Allan at the Pentagon City, VA J. Crew. He was wonderful to me and it was always a pleasure to be in the store (especially since sometimes being in that mall is a sheer nightmare!) Anywho - imagine my THRILL when I went to the J. Crew in Tyson's Galleria specifically to try on the Isabella dress...and who should be in there? None other than Allan himself! YAY! So that was an absolute treat and he was just as wonderful as always!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Funny email of the day

This comes from Mama Bea, and was sent to her by her Bible study friend. I just couldn't resist - I would have laughed out loud but was afraid of waking up the faux-roomies :) This absolutely, and appropriately, tickled me!

There is a factory in Northern Minnesota which makes the Tickle Me Elmo toys. The toy laughs when you tickle it under the arms.

Well, Lena is hired at the Tickle Me Elmo factory and she reports for her first day promptly at 8:00 am.

The next day at 8:45 am there is a knock at the Personnel Manager's door. The Foreman throws open the door and begins to rant about the new employee.

He complains that she is incredibly slow and the whole line is backing up, putting the entire production line behind schedule.

The Personnel Manager decides he should see this for himself, so the 2 men march down to the factory floor. When they get there the line is so backed up that there are Tickle Me Elmo's all over the factory floor and they're really beginning to pile up.

At the end of the line stands Lena surrounded by mountains of Tickle Me Elmo's. She has a roll of plush Red fabric and a huge bag of small marbles.

The 2 men watch in amazement as she cuts a little piece of fabric, wraps it around two marbles and begins to carefully sew the little package between Elmo's legs.

The Personnel Manager bursts into laughter. After several minutes of hysterics he pulls himself together and approaches Lena.

'I'm sorry,' he says to her, barely able to keep a straight face, 'but I think you misunderstood the instructions I gave you yesterday...'

'Your job is to give Elmo two test tickles.'

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I just couldn't resist!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Whoopsies! My bad!

Sorry for my extended absence, I promise to do better!

I've been in a bit of a funk lately due to am incredibly hard breakup, among other things, and since I'm not working and its really, really cold outside, I frankly don't have much to write about, unless you'd like some prose on HGTV's daytime lineup (Seriously Curb Appeal - you've used the same holiday special for the past 2 or 3 years! FILM A NEW EPISODE!)

Here's what I can give you: I'm moving boxes into new apartment this week, moving furniture (and me, hopefully!) this weekend, ugly sweater holiday party on Friday (ugh...NOT my idea...so f'ing tacky!), starting to search for jobs, and heading home for the holidays on the 22nd.

So, until then, please accept my apologies, and I'll try to post some fun happy stories this week.

Cheers,
Sweet Bea