Wordle!

Have you Wordled yet?

I hadn't, but am finally catching up on my blogs that I have so mistreated since le flu took hold me late last week, and was reading Sweet Soft Southern Thrill (I just love that bloggy name!) and she posted today her Wordle, and asked her readers to post theirs as well.

Since there ain't a whole heck of a lot going on in my world lately, I am happy to oblige!

So I don't get sued: Photo courtesy of http://www.wordle.net/

Now, gangrene doesn't show up in my Wordle, luckily, (and you'll have to head over to Sweet Soft Southern Thrill to find out why I write that) but there are a few words that surprise me:

Like: Ugh...I'm embarrassed that shows up so large. Same with OMG. I must really be 15...sheesh! Oh yea - new bill came...2700 texts. WTF!

VOTE: Given that I am in politics (when of course I'm not unemployed and spending my days in bed with my laptop and a 2lb box of See's chocolates, like I am today...) this shouldn't surprise me...but I thought I refrained from political speech here!

Death: I know that this is just in reference to KttD (which, as you can see is apparently my favorite word EVER!) but it still is a bit morbid to have it that big!

Happy: it's teeny tiny and smushed into the bottom right corner! That makes me sad!! Laugh and Awesome are also small :(

Florida: Well, natch he's in there, and fairly prominent :) BUT - where is Badger?? Not even on here at all. That surprises me...and frankly, makes me kinda happy (which just got a teensy bit bigger I hope!)

So, sweet friends - PLEASE create and post your Wordle today...not only will it be fun for us to read - but it could also be eye-opening for you as well!

That being said, I'm off to shower and maybe get some *real* food in my tummy because my bestie and I head out to Leesburg for some retail therapy, outlet style. They have a J. Crew over there...and as Hopsy over at Monograms and Manicures let us know today, the J. Crew outlets are stocked to the gills with fabo finds! :) I'm hoping that since J. Crew proper updated it's website with some new AWESOME things like this:

I die! Image courtesy of J.Crew, obvi!

it means that they have sent a bunch of stuff to the outlets and it's just waiting for me to peruse through!

Have a LOVELY, wonderful, happy, cheerful, AWESOME Thursday, sweet friends!

Cheers! (Ok - how was this NOT my top Wordle word??)

Sweet Bea

PS - and shame on me for not writing this as the FIRST THING in this post: THANK YOU to everyone who emailed and commented wishing me a speedy recovery from le flu!!! It was so wonderful to read your kind words. I apologize for not responding to the posts, but my email and I seem to be in a bit of a disagreement about it's behaviour...and well frankly, it's being insufferably insubordinate and must be dealt with. XOXOXOXO to all! ~SB

Le flu...

...I haz it. Ugh.


Woke up at 5:15 a.m. snuggling with Florida (yes, we are having sleepovers. This was our first 2-day-in-a-row sleepover...but it was more out of necessity and proximity than anything else. He had an evening event at Bolling -and an early Habitat for Humanity day of volunteering this AM- and I live like 20 minutes from there, vs. his hour-long drive to Fairfax. So it made sense. Don't judge.)

Instantly I knew something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

I managed to wait until the heater turned on to give me some sound cover, and sprinted elegantly walked, so as not to awake my very yummy bedmate, out of my bedroom (could barely get the door open because my hands were so clammy!) and THEN ran like mad to the bathroom across the apartment.

Once safely reaching the bathroom I dove for the toilet where I think the devil himself took possession of my body for a good 20 minutes. Ugh ugh ugh. I'll leave it at that.

When the exorcism was finally complete, I managed to crawl my way back to my bedroom, where I had absolutely no intention at all of crawling back into bed with Florida (he likes to cuddle and I was dripping sweat) so I grabbed my pillow and crawled to the couch, turned on the TV for some light in case he came out wondering where I was (he did) and grabbed 3 blankets and tried to go to sleep.

But sleep...o, elusive sleep...I never did find thee. I basically tossed and turned and moaned on my couch for the next hour or so until Florida awoke (and at some point, Roommate's alarm started going off like a clocked possessed...and she was at her boyfriends, ugh!) Florida came out, sat down in the chair, and started rubbing my head, as he could see and hear by my moanings that something was very wrong indeed.

Bless his heart, he stayed right by my side rubbing my back, filling my water glass, and even went into my backroom and got my previously-used (but washed out in the shower! I'm not that nasty people) garbage can and brought it to me (because I was so tangled in the 3 blankets it was clear I might not make it to the bathroom when the devil made his next appearance.)

He even offered to run to the 7-11 at the corner and get me a soda to help calm my tummy...but at this point even water wasn't staying put so I thanked him and moaned some more.

Eventually, he did have to leave, but not before giving me a kiss on my forehead (again my protestations - I don't want him getting sick too!) and then texted me about a half hour ago, just to check in on me.

Lucky for me, I had been sleeping on and off since he left at 7 a.m. and was starting to feel *slightly* better, so I was able to text him back and let him know (but not before informing him that his beloved Gators are the 3# most despised team in Facebook's NCAA tourney site.)

I'm actually amazed I've been able to write this long...but I'm going to put down the laptop (which has a virus too! Like hardware like user, I suppose!)

Hope the start to ya'll weekend is much more fun than mine, that's for sure!!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Weekend Recap

Oh wow, sweet friends.

I am exhausted - even though I slept in until 3:00 p.m. today. Seriously. I am pooped!

This weekend was one of the best weekends I've had in a long, loooong time - and it was incredibly deserved.

As you all know...Sunday was the Daytona 500 and Karaoke to the Death (KttD.)

After not sleeping more than 3 hours Saturday night/Sunday morning (from about 5:00 a.m. until 8:00 a.m.) I got up off the couch at the house where we were throwing the party and started helping get ready for the party (which, I won't lie, consisted of me telling people where to put the decorations.) We then proceeded to IHOP (which I HATE, but was surprisingly good,) to the store to pick up beer and the cake, and then back to the house to finish getting ready.

Florida showed up just before 2:00 p.m., which is when pre-race started. Roommate and her boyfriend showed up a bit later. Things were getting ready to roll...and then the beer/Jack started. And it went downhill from there.

Friend and his girlfriend showed up...but I didn't know for AN HOUR AND A HALF because they were talking in her car. It should be noted that Friend's girlfriend is a f'ing drama queen. It's been bugging me for a while...but Sunday REALLY was the last straw with me. My friend, SLR, who hosted the party...well her roommate DM and her boyfriend Hubby MitchMo decided to (drunkenly) harass them since they were being so ridiculous and hanging out in the car (really, she was being obnoxious...and Friend got sucked into dealing with her.) We had cookies that we decorated with our driver's numbers and such...and so DM and Hubby MitchMo decided to write "OMG" and "WTF" on some of the cookies and bring them out to the car. Which, I must admit, was pretty funny.

Anywho, Friend and his whiny-assed girlfriend finally decide to grace us with their presence, and are fine the rest of the race.

As you may have heard, the Great American Race was shortened by rain (ugh!) but that just gave us more time between the end of the race and the shitshow that was to be karaoke later that night.

We roll up to karaoke just at 8:15 p.m., which was perfect timing. Unfortunately, the table we reserved wasn't where I hoped (which is next to the KttD folks, of course!) but we still made it work.

Now, I will admit...KttD this year left me a little disappointed. I hate saying that...but there weren't some of the awesomely bad performances I've grown to love over the last few years.

Don't get me wrong - they all suck. Big time. But it wasn't the same. Some of the songs butchered included: Montell Williams' This is How We Do It, Alicia Keys' No One (sung by Hotrod, a guy, who won), Extreme's More than Words (my personal favorite of the night), Jackson Browne's Running on Empty, Wilson Phillips' Hold On, Enrique Iglasias' Hero, and Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi. They were all awful.

There were a few highlights of my night...and no, none of them involved Friend and his annoying-ass girlfriend leaving the bar to take walks 2 OR 3 TIMES BECAUSE SHE WAS "UPSET." The highlights are as follows:

• Florida slow dancing with me to Alan Jackson's Remember When while singing in my ear (SWOON! This boy is gonna get me in trouble, ya'll!)
• My own awesome version of Gretchen Wilson's All Jacked Up (yes, I was GOOD. Very, very good.)
• Florida singing (really, drawling...) Alamaba's Song of the South while wearing a camo cowboy hat (omg SEXY. What the hell is wrong with me???)
• ASU beating Southern California in basketball (which resulted in my having to buy Friend a shot of bourbon - YUM!)
  
• Being asked by KttD to VOTE IN THE CONTEST! OMG OMG OMG!

Yes...you heard that right. Hotrod himself - the eventual winner - came up to me and asked me to participate by voting in the contest. I was seriously thrilled...all my friends (other than Florida, obvi) had been thrown out of left the bar, so this was a perfect opportunity to hang out with the KttD'ers (who I only see once a year.)

I cast my vote for Aussie Rob, who "sang" More than Words...and even though he didn't have a chance at winning, I still stand behind my vote. As I mentioned, Hotrod, one of the co-founders of the KttD tourney, was the winner of this year's festivities.

And then, Hotrod snapped this photo for me, specifically so I could share with all of you:


Yes, my friends, that is the trophy for KttD :) AWESOME! I just love it.

So now...there are only 364-ish days until KttD 10...and I can't WAIT! The theme for this anniversary event is Duets. I am willing to bet that songs from American Tail and Aladdin will be in full effect...as well as some from Dirty Dancing. I seriously can't wait!

As they say in KttD-land to close a blog post: Excelsior!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS -if you want to read more about KttD, including recaps from the participants themselves, check out this and this blog post!

Have you seen these?

I know I shouldn't like them since they are railing on my party...but I just can't help it.

As you know, I work in politics both here in DC and across the county on campaigns. I can be partisan and can passionately defend my party and my party leaders (the ones I agree with...which is not all.)

But I also have a sense of humour.

Roommate sent me this link earlier today, and I absolutely was beside myself giggling. These are the political equivalent of my other favorite e-card site, someecards.

This is the one I sent LBP today (he's a Republican and I bought him an Obama magnet as a foolie-foolie Christmas present when I went out there last month):


Here is my V-Day card to all my single girlfriends:


And this one, as a little reminder to myself:


HAHAHAHA!! Oh, what fun!

Wish you a very happy and safe Friday evening and Valentine's Day Eve!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

My Valentine's Weekend Plans...

...have absolutely nothing to do with Valentine's Day. Or love. Or romance. Or anything like that at all.

BUT I couldn't be happier.

Nay, my Valentine's weekend will be filled with my two passions:

1. NASCAR

2. Karaoke

See, many people, when asked what their favorite day of the year is, respond Christmas! My Birthday! 4th of July!

I squeal, jump up and down while clapping, and yell out THE SUNDAY OF PRESIDENTS' DAY WEEKEND!

First on Sunday is the Daytona 500. Yes - I admit it - I like NASCAR. I more than like NASCAR. I LOOOOOOOOOVE me some NASCAR.

My driver, #26 Jamie McMurray. YUM!
Photo courtesy of SceneDaily.com

So...what is the ONLY way to cap off the AMAZING Great American Race on Sunday?

Why, with a little karaoke, natch!

But sweet friends, this is not just any ol' night at the karaoke bar, no sir!

You see, the Sunday of Presidents' Day Weekend is very special for more than just the Daytona 500 and the start of the NASCAR season...

...it is also the date each year of the infamous Karaoke to the Death tournament.

To give you a bit more background of Karaoke to the Death (or KttD as it's commonly referred to), here is the first rule of KttD:

If you consider "The champion shall be the one who is determined by popular vote of those in our party as the individual who sucked the worst." as a condition for victory - like I do - rather than a rule, per se, then for years KttD has had only one rule. To wit:

You have to try.

Which, in essence, means: you have to pick a song you think you will be terrible at, and try your best at it.

It is, in one word, AMAZING.

The official KttD Logo, courtesy of Hotrod's blog. Merchandise can be purchased here.

I am, alas, not allowed to participate in KttD, by decree of the founders, because I am actually a good karaoker (that does not, of course, mean I am a good singer. They are very, very different things.) But my exclusion in the festivities only makes the tournament more wonderful - I get to sit on the sidelines and laugh and watch and laugh some more.

I wish more than anything that I had pictures from previous KttDs (this will be my 5th year going) but alas, I do not. I will do my very best to take pictures this year, however.

The venue is Rock It Grill in Alexandria, and festivities start at 8:30pm. I would not recommend arriving later than 9:30 though - not only will you miss so much of the fun, but you could also be forced to stand in line outside because this place gets PACKED.

I'm happy to provide more details about the event for anyone interested...and be prepared for a recap of the night. Oh...how I wish I had a BlackBerry so I could liveblog BOTH the race and the tourney.

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS - any suggestions for songs I should sing?? I have a deep, husky-ish singing voice (anyone hearing me speak wouldn't believe it)...if you search around hard enough, there is a recording from last year's KttD of me singing Son of a Preacher Man while the "PR" person for the tourney is interviewing one of the contestants. Needless to say...on that particular night, I could have easily qualified for KttD. HA! :)

O Happy Day!

Sweetest friends, I haz a happy today!

Nope, nothing major happened, but I am happy.

I'm coming to you LIVE from Jacob's Coffee House on Capitol Hill.

The weather is warm and the doors to the coffee house have been thrown open. The breezes are AMAZING.

My bedroom is clean and organized. My APARTMENT is clean and organized.

I get to see Florida tomorrow.

I'm nom'ing (eating, for you non-lolspeakers) on a turkey panini and drinking a soy chai latte.

I'm wearing my favorite ASU fitted t-shirt and FLIP FLOPS!

And I'm getting to share my thoughts and feelings and life with all of you wonderful, wonderful people.

O Happy Day indeed!

I had to share this video with you - not only do I LOVE Sister Act (both of them!) but this song is awesome, AND my choir sang Joyful, Joyful AND we won the singing contest this movie is based on my senior year.

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

I'm a WINNER!

YAY! My very first blog award! The Lemonade Award!

Talk about brightening up my day- thank you Freck!!

Freck is over at It's Five O'Clock Somewhere - if that title alone doesn't put you into a wonderful mood, especially during winter, her blog will.

I'm still surprised that people even read this little cyber-adventure of mine - it's been such a great experience!

This is what to do:

1. Thank the person who was so thoughtful for giving you this award by linking their blog to this post.

2. Put the logo on your blog or post.

3. Nominate 10 blogs which show great attitude/gratitude.

4. Link your nominees to your post.

5. Comment them to tell them about the award they've won.

What fun!

Here are my bloggy friends who always lighten my day:

Landlocked Mermaid

Megan from Newly Wed, Newly Bred

Lulu from Dirty Martini Diaries

Kate from Nautical by Nature

Jackie from Always a Northerner

You girls are all fabulous and I'm so happy to say that not only are you bloggy friends, but I have the pleasure of knowing you all in real life too!

And when I fret that life has given me lemons or I'm having a pity party for one, you all make me smile and put me back into my happy mood again :)

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

Why you should never bring a boy around your friends...

So...things with Florida have been going well...he met my friends and I out after dinner on Friday night, and then we went out with some of his friends on Saturday night (to a new bar in Dupont I'll be reviewing in an upcoming post.)

And then Sunday came along...

Sunday morning we decided to get bagels with my friends and after bagels, while we were walking back to my apartment, Friend called me to see if I wanted to head down to the elementary school by my old house and hit a few softballs around.

I ran the idea by Florida, and he was game, so we said we'd see them at the field in 15 minutes or so. Florida had some running gear in his truck, which worked out perfectly, since he was wearing jeans and a button down (have I mentioned that the fiasco that was his wardrobe on our first date seems to have subsided? He's been in jeans, appropriate shoes, and buttons down shirts every other time, thank goodness!)

So, we change at my place and head over to the field.

I decide that I probably shouldn't play, since I can't bend to field plays and probably shouldn't be swinging a bat around, so I'm on the sidelines cheering on everyone and relaxing in the sun (it was 65 degrees out, yay!)

Everyone was switching positions and eventually, Florida was pitching. My friend, Dennis the Menace (which was note going to be his bloggy nickname, but it's appropriate now...) was up to bat.

It should be mentioned that Dennis the Menace (or DtM) played college baseball in the midwest. And, he can probably place this hit wherever he wants to.

Which, in this case, was square in Florida's, um, fun place.

(Sidenote: DtM asked me out the night of the inauguration, and I said no because he's in the group of friends. I thought he was cool with it...but now I'm wondering...)

Needless to say, Florida went down, hard.

I felt so bad for him - but what the heck am I supposed to do in that situation, you know? I don't want to run out and smother him (as I'm sure he was not only in agony but also totally embarrassed) so I just kinda sat there in the dugout until he got up a few minutes later.

Florida, however, is a trooper and got back up and headed to second base to keep playing.

Later that night, I got the following text:

Got an icepack on by balls and a beer in my hand. What a day.

HA! At least he has a sense of humour about the whole thing! SHEESH!

Hope you all had a lovely, toasty warm, and safe weekend!

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

No More Grumpy Gus!

Thank you all for the kind words of support and for letting me rant and rave like a looney toon yesterday!

The situation WILL get better. I WILL find a better job! I know something great is in the cards for me!

Beyond all the sweetness that ya'll poured over me yesterday, I also found some fun cards tucked away in a box I was unpacking. I don't think I'll throw these away, just in case I need another dose of smiles :)

Here are some of the fun things my former coworkers wrote in my b-day card 2 years ago:

Bea, From the day I started with Team T, you have been a wonderful friend to me: showing me the ropes, buying me food, and always stopping to listen to my woes and whimsies or share a good story from your life. You're awesome, Bea, and I hope you enjoy your wonderful day. -LC

Bea, Since we share an office I want to write at least as much as LC wrote. But he is apparently quite verbose and I feel my time would be better spent working on an op-ed, so I'll leave it at that. Happy Birthday - CD *I was CD's press assistant. He's one of the funniest people I've ever met.*

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEA! In celebration of your b-day I intend to drink a Bud Light, speak in a southern accent, sing Son of a Preacher Man and date a NASCAR driver as an homage to you. Love and kisses, AB

Friend/Quasi/Roomie- What can I say, my cheap-beer drinking, NASCAR-watching, karaoke singing, green-loving girl? I owe almost everything good that has happened to me here in DC to you! I am looking forward to a crazy weekend and some damn fine karaoke singing ("Before He Cheats" stealers be damned!) - Friend *Friend is from my hometown and good friends with Brother Bea. I've written about him before*

Baseball, booze, and bad singing. You've hit the trifecta! Enjoy! - MS

Bea, They didn't leave me enough space inside, so...HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You make surviving here work great. -PK

And then from my going away card from that office:

HOO-ray! Gonna miss you Bea. Don't forget your little LC when you're running the press shop for an illustrious member! Love, LC

You will be missed - you already are. - Chief of Staff

Bea, I miss the southern charm...oh wait...you're not southern. I just miss you then. - PK

Bea, As a press assistant you made one hell of a scheduler. - CD

I haz a sad... :(

My sweet friends, I'm a little bit blue today!

First off, it is absolutely frigid outside and my apartment refuses to get about 60 degrees, regardless of what the thermostat is set at. I am going massive amounts of laundry and leaving the door open in a vain attempt at having my washer and dryer heat up my apartment.

Then, as I'm busily working in my room, trying to FINALLY get everything unpacked, put where I want it, and organized, my cell rings. I assume it will be a call from Florida (even though we've only spoken on the phone once...mainly because I don't pick up when he calls during Idol), but it is a Capitol Hill number. My heart skips a beat...

...it's the campaign I worked on so hard this summer and fall back in California. Their Communications Director is leaving, and even though it was still supposed to be mum, your sneaky Bea got very early word (so early in fact most of the staff hadn't been informed yet!) of his departure and sent my resume over to the Chief of Staff.

Alas, the Chief of Staff is calling to tell me that they have hired someone from inside the office, who just moved out here from the California office last month to take a legislative position and she wanted to take the Communications Director position.

Someone with, to my knowledge, absolutely zero experience (in a field where experience, especially experience speaking on the record, is gold.)

But - all is not lost! The Chief of Staff said that he clearly knows what great work I do and that I'd be a great Communications Director and he's willing to make calls to other offices for me. OH, and the going away party for the departing Communications Director (my boss on the campaign) is tonight and they'd like me to come say goodbye. Oh, goody! (sorry for my snark in this paragraph, but I'm frustrated and hurt!)

This comes a week or so after not getting a ComDir job with an office I've already worked for with a Chief of Staff who for 2 years has told me that he'd hire me in an instant if a ComDir job opened up. And then hiring someone else when the job opened up.

I had an interview last week that I'm really excited for...but at this point I'm so demoralized and feeling so down on myself that I really don't have much hope for it. Which is too bad, because it would be an awesome job! We'll see...

And then I go to pay my monthly bills (which I usually do on the 1st but I forgot!) and my cell phone bill is 3x what it should be...because I have $100 in TEXT MESSAGE CHARGES! What am I, 15 years old??? Sheesh! And since Florida and I text instead of talk ALL DAY EVERY DAY I'm sure it is only going to get worse! ¡Aye caramba! indeed.

But, I've been chatting with my campaign manager about the current job funk in which I find myself, and he helped put things into perspective, so I'm starting to feel a *little* bit better, which is good.

And to end on a positive (because I HATE being all negative, even though I do use this little blog 'o mine to vent more often than I'd like) I've been making great strides towards getting my room finally put away. There are a few things I can't move and lift because of my tailbone still hurting (but not nearly as bad as it could have been!!) but my roomie is strong and tall so she'll help me (our kitchen is quite funny...I'm only 5'2 and she's about 6'0 in flats...so her stuff is way up high where i can't reach it, and she put all my stuff on the lower shelves for me.)

Sigh...well thank you for letting me vent and moan and have a pity party for one over here in my sad, cold DC. I promise I'll be back to my chipper self ASAP!!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

A sneek peak at Florida...

...but I'm not gonna tell you which one he is :)

For all you ladies out there (and I do have a few gentlemen readers, so I don't want to make blanket statements about my readers) I would like to share a lovely video with you.

Introducing...Our United States Armed Forces Honor Guard Drill Teams.

Video available here if it isn't working, scroll down to Drill Teams RECON.
And Air Force is first...you don't have to watch 27 minutes, I promise!! :)

YUM!

Now, as you all know, Florida is stationed at Bolling Air Force Base here in DC. What I haven't mentioned is that he is part of the Honor Guard, and more specifically, part of the Drill Team.

Now, I'm not going to tell you which one he is, but I will say that you can get a pretty good look at him...at one point :)

Muah hah hah, evil Bea!!!!

I'm so sorry, but that's all you'll get from me.

NOW - if you haven't had the opportunity to see these AMAZING men (and sometimes women!) perform in person, you are truly missing out. I dated a Marine for about 2 years and during the summers, had the wonderful experience of going to his parades every Friday night (nothing helps you relax for the weekend like hundreds of Marines in Blue-Whites treating you like a queen) and let me just tell you, the pageantry and precision they exude is truly inspiring.

USMC Silent Drill Platoon, in the formation called "The Long Long"

So...not only do get a video AND a pic of yummy, yummy men in uniform...but as it becomes available, I will share with you information on where you can see the various Drill Teams here in the DC area (and if I can find it, in other areas too!)

Yummy, indeed.

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

My 25

Like Ms. Mindless, I keep getting tagged, so I decided to post my 25 random things. Enjoy!

1) I love to cook. I love to make intricate things...but my roommate had to teach me how to scramble eggs last week

2) I am fiercely loyal to my friends, relationships, and jobs, even when it is to my own detriment

3) My mother is one of my best friends, but she drives me absolutely insane sometimes

4) I was adopted when I was a baby

5) I am Persian and Irish, with an adopted German last name, which in Hindi sounds like the word "love"

6) I have a horrible weakness for dark-haired, blue-eyed boys. Please keep them away from me

7) I have a little brother who is brilliantly smart - he's the reason I passed calculus. I call him Stupes :)

8) I am a state champion in Parliamentary Debate. Which basically means, don't argue with me, as I will make you cry

9) Speaking of debate, I chose Arizona State partially because that is where my coach Kevin went to college. He died when we were at Nationals my first year. Debate is what got my life on track (and it's fun to make people cry)

10) I'm not a huge movie person...I often say "ooh I want to see that" and then never, ever watch it. The one movie I watch any and every chance I get is Love, Actually. I watch it every night as I fall asleep over Christmas, because I'm a hopeless romantic and I love the airport scene in the beginning. It is actually filmed at an airport, and they are real scenes of people greeting each other - not actors or scripted

11) Children annoy me greatly, and I don't plan on having any. Mom swears that will change when I meet "The One" but I'm not so sure

12) I can be ruthless in getting what I want. I'm always respectful, but I don't back down until the job is done and I've emerged victorious. It really sucks to be on the other end of that...

13) I am horribly allergic to cats

14) If I were to leave DC, I would move either to LA or Wisconsin. I would not move back to the Bay Area. I lived in WI in 06 and fell in love with it...

15) ...but I HATE being cold and my goal in life is to live on a beach

16) I am apparently very clumsy. I dislocated my ankle 2 years ago while walking in heels, dislocated my hip at the Inaugural concert 2 weeks ago (still no sure how I managed that,) and fell on the ice last week and ended up with a concussion and bruised tailbone

17) I am a blogger [this was done for Facebook...ya'll get an extra one at the bottom!]

18) In the summertime, you can often find me with a bottle of Moscato sitting on my front stoop, watching the world go by

19) I am a karaoke FREAK. I love to sing, and I have no shame. I qualified for a karaoke contest this summer, and took summer. While I won the crowd portion, I decided not to sing on key that night. Le sigh... :( I took second place and won a guitar. First place was a Mexican cruise...and I really needed a vacation

20) Speaking of vacation, I've actually never been on an a vacation without my parents...

21) I love country music, classic rock, and good, loud, smoky Southern rock

22) And whiskey and water

23) I love pearls and try to wear some every day. It's very interesting when I'm at a dirty dive bar listening to some dirty Southern rock, drinking whiskey, and sporting a double strand of pearls.

24) My favorite flowers are blue irises and I love that my neighborhood has some of the most amazing iris gardens

25) Teams I love: Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Arizona State Sun Devils, Wisconsin Badgers, KU Jayhawks, and NASCAR's #26 Jamie McMurray. Teams I hate: Florida Gators, University of Southern California, Oakland Raiders, New York Yankees, New England Patriots, any team from Pennsylvania, and the Busch brothers. I'm sure there are many more, but those are the top ones.

And for my sweet bloggy friends:

26) I love laminating machines. I've been known to laminate my NCAA Tournament bracket so it doesn't get destroyed, and carrying it around with me at all times. I once also laminated the bracket of the Congressman I was working for, because he was going overseas on a trip and I wanted to make sure his sheet didn't get messed up :)

Tis all for my, sweet friends!

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

Giveaway Time!

Nope...still not mine. But I'm getting good ideas on how to host one when I hit 100 posts (or, at least, that's my goal!)

So, big big news! In case you haven't heard, the lovely Nina has a new site: According to Nina.

AND, in case that wasn't tempting enough, she's hosting a giveaway!

Not only is she giving away kitchen items (my weakness!) but they are GREEN!

But you should check it out because the new site it so pretty and in my FAVE colors - green and blue (in case you couldn't tell by looking at my blog! Doesn't her button over on the right look like it was just made for my site??)

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS - I've made some edits to my site too! I've joined Twitter (thanks to Wearing Mascara's advice) and added a CNN News Ticker on the right under Nina's button. Never hurts to be informed about what's going on in the world! :)

Date Night Recap!

YAWN!

My sweet blogger buddies, your Sweet Bea is EXHAUSTED!

I played WAY too late last night, and woke up at 4:00 A.M. FOR NO GOOD REASON and have been up ever since. UGH!

It should be noted that Bea is NOT a morning person, AT ALL. So I apologize in advance for any typographical and grammatical errors (as well as liberal use of CAPS!)

So...I know everyone wants to know how the big first date went!

(Seriously, I am so tired I can barely even see my computer screen!)

So, our plan was to meet at Union Station (the subway -Metro- station closest to my house) and head over to the newly revamped Smithsonian American History Museum to get our culture on (HIS idea - add one point.) Unfortunately, our plan was derailed (ha!) by the Metro...there was a delay on the line he was on, so it took forever for him to get to the city.

Lucky for me, I headed to Union Station early to drop off a pair of boots that needed new heel caps, and ran into my roomie getting off the Metro. She quizzically looked at me (in her head I know she was wondering why I was out...I'm still supposed to be taking is easy and I get dizzy when I walk more than a few blocks) so I told her that I was meeting Florida there, but she needed to hang out with me until he arrived. So we dropped off my boots, and her phone rang. It was her friend from home who was in town for a med school interview and staying with us. She had just arrived at Union Station herself, and wanted to see if roomie wanted to get food.

So, the 3 of us went upstairs to Sbarro (I guess I should note that Union Station isn't just a Metro stop, it's also the Amtrak, a mall, and has a food court.) and I got a text from Florida saying that the Metro was totally stopped and he had no idea when he would be there. I texted back saying that it was fine, I was ran into my roomie and she was going to hang out with me since he ditched me. Tee hee! I'm pretty sure he knew I was joking...

So, we are at Sbarro and I was a little dizzy, so I decided to get sugar in my body, via Dr. Pepper. I heart Dr. Pepper. But...I don't drink caffeine (New Year's resolution 2006) so I was just a wee bit hyper (lie. I was bouncing off the walls) by the time he finally arrived.

So, roomie and her friend left a few minutes after he got there (which was great because even though I clearly had already stalked him online and found pics to show roomie, I wanted her to see the real thing, you know? I'm so clever!) and we got to talking.

But first: we must discuss the wardrobe choice. Brown boots and jeans, fine. Black UnderArmor sweatshirt? Hmmm. University of West Virginia hat? SERIOUSLY??? I mean, granted, I was wearing jeans and a black long sleeve t-shirt...but I knew I was going to be wearing a danged Florida sweatshirt the whole time...so no need to be super cute! (minus one point.) Under his sweatshirt, I would later find out, is a navy blue LA Fire t-shirt. Not a trendy t-shirt or anything...literally just a t-shirt. He's not from LA. It was weird. BUT - he did say that he tried on 3 shirts before he decided on the winning combination mentioned above (which frightens me about what the other options were...) He said he decided on what he wore because he is just a t-shirt and jeans guy, and wanted to be himself. Which is fine...but couldn't you have been yourself...wearing something that you maybe wouldn't wear out with the boys??? Sigh...

Sorry, got distracted remembering the outfit.

Well we knew that going to the museum was no longer an option because he was so late meeting me, so we ended up just hanging out at the Sbarro and talking until about 6 or so (so about an hour.) He suggested going for a beer because neither of us were really hungry at that point, so we wandered down the road to Union Pub (where, ironically, I had my first date with Badger...) and after playfully arguing with the server that calling their food and drink specials Manic Monday when there were 4 people at the bar was silly. I also said that their "Baby Shot" special (which, and I do not make this stuff up people, was a 1/2 shot of Jager for 1/2 price. So, in other words, not at all a special.) and their beer special ($3 pints...but pitchers were $12...and there are about 4 beers in a pitcher...?) were stupid. But, the server was really nice and played along with my harassment, and we decided to order a pitcher.

Keep in mind that at this point all I've eaten is an English muffin (yum!) and I haven't had anything to drink since I fell last week...so perhaps this wasn't the best idea. But whatevs, it was fun.

One pitcher turned into two, and we were still chatting up a storm. Now, I'm not going to lie...I was partially watching the Louisville and Kansas basketball games over his shoulder, but honestly, for the most part, we were getting along fabulously.

Then came the bomb. He has been married before.

(insert record scratching here)

Now, I know it shouldn't bother me...and as my friend SLR so eloquently said in an email this morning, "As for him being married, at least he told you. Fact is that you are almost 30, guys are going to start to have been married before. Especially military, they tend to get married young. And then divorced young. Be glad there's no kids." But I can't help feeling the teensiest bit weirded out by it. Badger was engaged, but never married before, and that bothered me too.

But SLR is correct...at least he told me...plus one point. It should be noted that SLR will take any opportunity to remind me that I am older than she. Sigh...

Anyways, we talked about all kinds of things, mainly focusing on jobs and what we do in those jobs (since they are pretty foreign to the other person) and before we knew it, we were getting kicked out of the Pub. At 11:00 p.m. And we still hadn't eaten. Whoops!

So, we headed out looking for something that was open (anyone living in DC is laughing right now...ain't NOTHING open!) but we were still wandering down the road and he asked "What time does Metro close."

Oh, crap.

DC'ers are laughing again...because the Metro closes at midnight. Whoops!

We decided to wander in the other direction and see if perhaps anything is open at Union Station. Well, we were in luck! Pizzeria Unos is open until midnight! W00t w00t! Yay us!

After we finished scarfing pizza and getting kicked out of yet another place (as it was now a quarter to 1!) we decided to forgo the Metro and just grab a cab outside at the queue.

Well, like the song goes, the freaks come out at night! That's not entirely fair to say...but our cabbie had no clue what was going on. First, he couldn't get his meter to turn on (I seriously live like 8 blocks from Union Station...I told the driver how much it was going to be and that we didn't need the meter. Don't worry though sweet friends...he was only dropping my off at my house and then taking Florida to his, I promise!) And then, once the meter was working (Florida and I giggling in the back the whole time), he started to drive away from the curb.

BACKWARDS!

WITH ANOTHER TAXI BEHIND US!

I finally hollered "We're going backwards!!!" and he stepped on the brake and decided that perhaps putting the car into drive might be a better option. At this point the backseat giggling had stopped and been replaced by sheer fear.

Well, thankfully, we make it back to my house, and he hands the driver money and asks him to please wait for a moment (AWKWARD!) and we hopped out of the cab...and started to walk up to my building.

I open the door, and we walk into the lobby.

TOTAL college flashback - seriously. I was waiting for the RA to come down the hall. Uber awkward.

Anywho, so he says he had a great time and doesn't want to ruin it by asking for a kiss, but really wants to ask for a kiss (so cheesy, but cute) so I reply that a little kiss would probably be ok.

(I've got one eye on the cab driver because I'm not 100% sure he's actually going to wait and this boy is NOT coming upstairs. Absolutely not.)

So we kiss a bit...and we will be working on the kissing. Wasn't bad by any means (maybe that's how his EX-WIFE liked to kiss??) but not my style...so we'll be practicing. Practicing sounds better than working on it.

Anywho, the cabbie waited (thank GOD) and so we parted and I went upstairs, where I tossed and turned until 4:00 a.m. and finally gave up, flipped over on my tummy, and watched the snow fall. And when I heard my roommate and her friend wake up I finally gave up on the snow and started giving them the date recap (since they don't read my lovely prose.)

Anywho, I haven't heard from him today (though we did text till about 2:00 a.m.) which is weird because I usually get a text first thing in the morning.

So...we'll see.

Overall, I give the date an A for good convo, spontaneity, and general fun.

However, like I told my roommate and her friend this morning...I don't really see this going anywhere terribly serious because we are in two TOTALLY different life stages (beyond the fact that he's been MARRIED!) and he's planning on moving back to Florida when he's done with the Air Force this summer...so who knows.

So, my sweet readers, there you have the very in depth recap of the date! I hope you all enjoyed!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

TEAR! :(

I'm a sad little Bea right now...the Cards were SO CLOSE to Superbowl victory. Tear, indeed :(

BUT - I did win the Superbowl Grid so I ended up winning $20...but alas, there isn't enough money to heal my broken heart or to buy back my dignity after I have to wear a Florida Gators sweatshirt...in public...on a date later this week TONIGHT! SIGH.

Introducing...new boy who shall be called Florida.

Florida and I met last weekend when I joined some girlfriends at a hick country bar in Alexandria, VA. It's always a great time when we go, but it has a cover charge and I ABHOR cover charges and usually refuse to pay them, but we were celebrating a friend's divorce so I didn't choose the location.

So I mentioned the night and what happened to my divorcee friend TDubs in a recent post, but what I didn't mention was that I too met a boy that evening.

So in this bar, there is a wooden fence. Seriously - a wooden fence. It is up against 2 sides of the dance floor, and we lovely ladies were hanging out taking up one side of the fence, and Florida (with BollingBoy and others) was around the corner on the other side of the fence.

Here is a diagram for easy reading:

As you can see, Florida was standing closest to the corner on his side, and I was closest to the corner on mine. We were both pointed away from each other when we were talking to our friends. Even when we were both watching the karaoke singer (or the girls who were celebrating a bachelorette party and literally doing cartwheels on the dance floor) we never were facing each other.

At one point in the evening, Florida left his side of the fence, and asked me if he could stand on my side. I said yes (because I'm polite!) and so we started chatting.

At the end of the night, he went to close out his tab, and my friends literally took off through the back door while Florida was up at the bar. I felt rude just peacing out like that, so I went up to the bar to say goodbye. As I was stepping up next to him, he handed me a piece of paper with his number on it, and said "I wanted you to have my number." I thought it was sweet, thanked him, and left with my friends.

And then I got into the cab and texted him with "Wanted you to have my number as well." (I am so clever!) So then we texted for an hour or so, and have been texting since.

He actually called me on Tuesday night but it was during Idol so I didn't answer, haha. I didn't return the call because then I got an email about a job interview on Thursday so I started preparing. He texted me Wednesday morning saying "it's icy outside, be careful" and clearly I didn't listen to his warning. Alas...

Anywho, we text all day, every day, but haven't talked on the phone. Which, I think, I am ok with? We decided to make a wager on tonight's Superbowl, which I lost. My punishment? I have to wear a University of Florida sweatshirt (because we spent most of our first conversation at the bar talking about how much he loves the Gators and how he can't wait to go to school there once he's done with the Air Force - and about how much I HATE the Gators) on a date this week tonight.

I don't know how I am feeling about going on a date with him for a variety of reasons...but first and foremost because...

...I've never been on a date with a stranger before.

I haven't been on many dates in general (I tend to makeout with boys and then convince them they are my boyfriends and skip the whole awkward dating thing.)

So, I need to rally to get excited for this potentially unbelievably awkward encounter this evening. I have no idea where we are going, other than that he's coming into the city (he lives out in Fairfax - about a half hour-ish away from me) so we'll go somewhere closer to me, which is nice.

Since I'll be wearing a Gators sweatshirt (but apparently he's being nice and letting me wear the grey one and not the bright blue one...OR making me wear his Teebow jersey...) I'm thinking jeans and a fitted long sleeve t-shirt and heels (since I think he's about 6'5 or so)?? Thoughts?

It's times like these when I really miss my Blackberry or wish I had an iPhone so I could live blog the date under the table :)

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

GO CARDS!

image courtesy of Fanster

Hooray! I heart the Superbowl! Even though it means the end of football season, which makes me sad.

Now, I will admit, the Cards are not my first choice team, nor my second choice either.

Frankly, my heart belongs to the Cowboys and Packers, but I'm pretty stoked for the Cards.

After all, the first and only professional football game I ever went to was a Cardinals game (granted the played the Cowboys...but whatevs!)

And Emmitt Smith, the former Cowboy, played for Arizona (his first game was against Dallas - the game I went to.)

And I did go to school in Arizona and spent much time in their original stadium, Sun Devil Stadium.

So clearly, it's natural for me to cheer for Arizona in this matchup.

Bea will be making her famous artichoke dip (which easily beats out all other dips in taste tests year after year) and will be drinking water because she's still not feeling 100% (ugh!)

AND - she met a cute boy last week (more on him later!) and while she is not watching the game with him, they have a bet going (don't know why I'm referring to myself in the third person...)

If Pittsburgh wins, I have to go out with him this week and wear a University of Florida hoodie (UGH! I HATE THE GATORS!)

If the Cardinals win, he has to karaoke ANY SONG I CHOOSE.

Awesome. :)

Ok sweeties, I'm off to gather the ingredients for the famous dip - sit back, relax, and have a GREAT Superbowl Sunday!

Cheers(ing for the Cardinals!),

Sweet Bea

PS - if you're more of the Steelers variety than the Cards...head on over to Wearing Mascara and give her some love!

Guess where I was tonight??

Guess who I was with??

Some of the FABO DC bloggy ladies for our meetup!

In typical Bea fashion, I was dumb and didn't pay attention to the start time, so of course I showed up 45 minutes late...but *hopefully* no one held it against me! I will just blame it on the concussion! :D

The ladies were as lovely as could be (I mean, duh - they are part of our wonderful network!) and after dinner we headed out to Zola's for drinks. Bea drank water because of the pain meds, but it was just fine. I wouldn't have wanted to miss any of our conversations in a boozy haze!

Ladies - I can't wait to chat with you gals again!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea