Introducing... ????

Hi sweet friends - did you forget about me?

Sorry I've been so bad about blogging since the big announcement that I was picking up and moving to Arizona...the move happened incredibly quickly and this week has been a blur!

But, here I am, in an empty office at 5:00 p.m. - such a weird feeling! I have never worked a job where I come in at 9:00 a.m. and can leave at 5:00 p.m. I'm not saying this to show what a hard worker I am (though I do pride myself on my work ethic) but it is just a very strange experience, especially on a campaign where you usually work over 80 hours per week.

But I'm not at all complaining! After all, here I am, chatting with ya'll, singing away to my blaring Les Mis on my iTunes (don't ask...I'm a bit of a diva apparently when the office closes...)

My work hours and musical delusions are not the point of this post, however.

I'd like to introduce you all to my new little buddy!

{Hi guys!}

My brand-new-to-me Ford Escape Hybrid. Super cute, eh???

Just one little problem - little buddy needs a name.

And...that's where ya'll come in! :)

What do you think I should name it? (Ugh, I HATE calling it it, but I don't know if I should name it after a girl, like a car...or after a boy, like a truck!)

Comment me your suggestions by SUNDAY at midnight Pacific (yes, I know...technically that is Monday...whatever) and then I'll post the names and ya'll can vote!

Some names that will already be banned from competition: Lulu (too many friends with that nickname), Delilah, Lucy, and Bo (Florida's truck's name.)

But other than those restrictions - have fun! I can't wait to see what you all come up with! :)

Cheers!

Channeling Mama Bea

Ever stop to realize how silly the things are that we form emotional attachments to?

Mama Bea is notorious for keeping items simply because of their emotional value - my elementary school artwork, Brother Bea's many sports trophies, our graduation gowns and toys/blankets/stuffed animals...and I always tease her because our small house is stuffed to the gills with stuff.

Not artifacts, collections, or anything like that. Just stuff.

Florida and I were moving things around in "his" bedroom in our apartment today and I asked him what this big blue piece of material was. He answered that it was his graduation gown. I laughed.

He blamed it on his mom...but then again if he didn't want it, he could just get rid of it...after all his mom lives in Florida and probably wouldn't notice if it went missing.

And yet, just now, as I clean out my closets and continue the never ending process of packing I find myself channeling my inner Mama Bea (and Lord knows how I try to keep that woman out!)

My denim mini-skirts that I only wear on my birthday...

Mama Bea's vintage t-shirt that says "100% Fat Free..."

or Mama Bea's vintage t-shirt that says "Never trust anyone under 6,000 feet - Lake Tahoe..."

The sequined tube top Grandma Bea made for me...

hell...all my sequined tube tops (there are few. Don't judge...)

The many pairs of pants and skirts that simply no longer fit but were expensive and therefore in my mind should be kept...

It's all so silly...and yet it's causing a major delay in my packing.

I know that I don't want to pack, ship, and store these items...yet my emotional attachment to them is so strong I just know I will break into tears if one day I open my closet and don't see my favorite 100% Fat Free shirt.

Nothing more to this post - just my random thoughts on the packing process thus far (which is terriboo!)

Happy Tuesday evening, sweet friends!

Cheers,



PS - yes I know that I am a woman of a certain age and women of certain ages do NOT wear sequined tube tops and denim miniskirts...

The Business Casual Blues vol. 1

Haven't we all been there? Just when we get comfortable in the rules, regulations, and standard operating procedures of our workplace wardrobes, the game changes* and we find ourselves staring blankly into the void of our burgeoning closet and shout with all that is left of our strength:

I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!

At risk of being fired because we show up to work wearing what the lady in the Bluefly.com cocktail commercials dons, we have two options:

1. Run like mad for the nearest shopping area (because online shopping just won't do in a time crunch!)

2. Shop in our own closets.

As you know, I am moving to the Valley of the Sun in T-one week. After years spent working on Capitol Hill (most recently for the most fashionable Member...a very tough act to live up to!) I now find myself facing the most daunting wardrobe task of all - the dreaded "business casual" office.

Given my recent off-the-Hill and campaign work, I now have the two wardrobe extremes: the "I am a professional, damnit, in a suit 5 days a week balls-to-the-wall on the Hill" wardrobe...and the "I just don't give a damn anymore and no one cares anyways" wardrobe.

In an attempt to save money and have less to pack for my move I decided that I would follow the #2 option listed above: Shop in my own closet. Besides, as the ever elegant (and one of the most fashionable ladies I know) Miss Mindless puts it: at what point do we say, "Enough! I have enough!"

I must admit - I was fairly impressed with the results. Are any of these outfits on the cutting edge of fashion? No. And that's just fine by me - I like classic things and I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who considers me to be trendy in any way.

Here are some of the pieces I pulled together. It should be noted that, before this exercise, I had never worn any of these combinations before - so to me these truly are brand new outfits.

Shirt: J. Crew Slim Stretch Shirt - White
Pants: J. Crew Original Fit Chino - Stone
Belt: Ann Taylor Wide Patent Belt - Black
Shoes: Enzo Angiolini peeptoe heels - Black
Necklace: Express - Black

Shirt: J. Crew Cashmere T - Black
Pants: J. Crew Original Fit Chino - Stone
Belt: J. Crew Refined Skinny Leather Belt - Black
Shoes: Linea Paolo Patent heels - Red (!!)
Necklace: Banana Republic - Pearl

Up close shot of my shoes, since my pants are a wee bit too long. The jury is still out as to whether these are actually office-appropriate or not. I sure do love 'em!

Shirt: J. Crew Slim Stretch shirt - White

Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - Pink
Belt: Ann Taylor Wide Patent Belt - Black
Shoes: Enzo Angiolini peeptoe heels - Black
Necklace: Express - Black

Shirt: J. Crew Slim Stretch shirt - White
Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - Mustard
Sweater: J. Crew Jackie Sweater - Navy
Shoes: crappy kitten heel boots - Brown

Necklace: "borrowed" from Grandma Bea's closet - Orange

Shirt: Express Sleeveless Wrap - Leopard

Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - White
Sweater: J. Crew Jackie Sweater - Black
Shoes: Engo Angiolini peeptoe heels - Black

Necklace: Nordstrom Long pearl strand - Pearl

Shirt: Express Sleeveless Wrap - Leopard

Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - White
Sweater: Ann Taylor Cardigan - Green
Shoes: Engo Angiolini peeptoe heels - Black

Necklace: Nordstrom Long pearl strand - Pearl

Shirt: Gap Lace-trim Tank Top - White
Vest: J. Crew cable knit vest - Navy

Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - White
Jacket: J. Crew Seersucker - Navy
Shoes: Payless Linen kitten heels - Yellow

Necklace: Nordstrom Long pearl strand - Pearl

Up close of yellow kitten heels. Pretty darned cute for $15, eh?? Pretty darned comfy too!

Shirt: Gap Lace-trim Tank Top - White
Vest: J. Crew cable knit vest - Navy

Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - White
Belt: Ann Taylor Wide Patent Belt - Green
Shoes: Enzo Angioloni Peeptoe heels - nude (not shown!)

Necklace: Nordstrom Long pearl strand - Pearl

Shirt: Ann Taylor Cashmere sleeveless sweater w/ tie - Turquoise

Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - White
Sweater: J. Crew Jackie Cardigan - Black
Belt: J. Crew Refined Skinny Leather Belt - Black
Shoes: Kenneth Cole Patent Flats - Black

Brooch: "Borrowed" from Grandma Bea's closet

Shirt: Banana Republic Silk Blouse - Black

Pants: J. Crew Original Chino - White
Belt: J. Crew Refined Skinny Leather Belt - Black
Shoes: Kenneth Cole Patent Flats - Black
Necklace: Nordstrom Long pearl strand - Pearl

Upclose of the BR silk blouse - love me some polka dots! :)

See? Like I said, nothing major or earth shattering. But, at least for now, my new business casual wardrobe provides me with several options. Add on top of this my dress collection (including a new DVF dress I got at Bloomingdale's for a scant $60!) and some other separates to be posted about later, and I'm actually feeling quite good about presenting myself in a good manner!

If you have any comments, critiques, advise, or suggestions - please fell free to let me know! As I mentioned I've never been in a business casual environment before and therefore perhaps don't understand the intricacies of what is appropriate/expected.

On this note, by the time you are reading this I will be off to the mountains with Florida, The Northerner, and her hubby and puppy for some quality camping time. If you've ever seen the four of us together...you know we are in for a veeeeeeeeery interesting, and fun, weekend.

Have a wonderful weekend, Sweet Friends!

Cheers,

* For Capitol Hill staffers, this change of policy is usually called August recess...where far too often professional staffers are confused for tourists, save for the ID badge. Sigh...

PS - I apologize for the rumpled state of some of my clothes...they had been thrown into a suitcase in a makeshift attempt at cleaning the apartment before the landlord brought over a potential new tenant. Also, I know most of the pants (except for the rumply white ones) are too long...I unfortunately rarely wear them, as they were all (except for the rumply white ones) purchased during my last campaign when it because clear that my jeans - my only non-suit pants - were simply not going to zip any longer. And since I needed to wear them ASAP, I just rolled the cuff up and wore them like that. Pretty? No. Practical? Yes. Win some, lose some...

PPS - If you want some fun while shopping in your own closet, head over to here and join in the fun! I plan on playing once I am settled in Arizona.

*jewelry without jewels* Giveaway!

Hi Ya'll - happy Saturday!

I am having a GREAT day - enjoying a Saturday off to spend time with my man (who is currently snoozing on the couch) and getting things done in advance of my big move to Arizona in a few weeks.

BUT - that not the point of this post. :)

If you remember, in honor of my 100th post, I held a *jewelry without jewels* giveaway, which was won by the lovely Wearing Mascara.

Well, Erica, the creative force behind *jewelry without jewels* is at it again - hosting her own giveaway for one of her fabulous necklaces from her new season to celebrate her new website!

Head on over to enter, or visit her Etsy store (don't we all just love Etsy??) to pick up some gifts for your besties today!

Have a lovely Saturday!

Cheers,

When I Roll Into the ...When I Stroll Into the...When I Bounce into...the Wild Wild West!

Big news folks, big. HUGE!

I got a job.

And the crowd goes wild!

It's in Arizona

And a hush falls over the crowd.

Yup...I'm packing my bags and heading out West, back to my college town (kinda...going to Phoenix, went to school in Tempe, just outside Phoenix.)

I'm taking a gig with an issue-based campaign as their Communications Director. This will give me fantastic statewide press experience, and hopefully help me get a campaign job when the 2010 Congressional races start up in the spring/summer.

If you remember from my Tweets, I mentioned that I got cold called by a company because I put my resume up on a political website...well 2 interviews and a lengthy reference check process later, they are the organization who hired me!

Oh yea...did I mention I'll be leaving in about 2 weeks? Yea...awesome.

If you've been following my Tweets, you'll also know that I've had just the WORST luck trying to get a new apartment here in DC...and now I'm thinking that all those rejections (and believe you me...there were a TON!) were for a reason - I was meant to take this job. (This also make me feel better about myself, so I don't think that people just didn't want to rent to me/live with me.)

I am bittersweet about the entire thing...I am going to miss my DC friends dearly (especially my bloggy friends - and especially especially this gal who is moving to my neighborhood as we speak!) and then there of course is the whole Florida issue.

Long story short with Florida: not sure what is going to happen. He's known from the very beginning that I haven't wanted anything serious...so we'll see. After the Badger debacle I'm totally against being in another long-distance relationship.

So if I don't write for a few weeks, know that I still love you all very much and I am just busily packing up my apartment, finding places to store everything, buying a car (no public transportation in Phoenix!), moving across the country (again...), finding a place to live, and oh yea - starting a brand new job.

I guess I'll have to change my header to "Thoughts on life and love in our State Capital city!" haha!

I hope you all have a fantastic rest of the week - thankfully I took the rest of the week off work (my lease was supposed to end July 31 and I knew I'd need the last final days to pack because I might possibly be the worst worst procrastinator EVER) so I'll be starting to pack and go through things and do a ton of research on my new job!

Cheers,



PS - If you happen to have a spare room in your place in the Phoenix area (and you know who you are...) and want a clean-ish roomie, let me know! :)

Running of the Brides: DC Edition

I think I might like being the "FOB" (Friend of Bride) because I get to be there for all the fun planning stuff, but without having to pay for it (or marry the groom.)*

As I mentioned in my Tweets, I've had 3 couples (6 good friends!) get engaged in the past 3 weeks (actually, all within 5 days of each other!)

One couple, Friend and his girlfriend (I refuse to call her his fiancee) are simply NOT right for each other (she is my friend but he needs to do better...she is WAAAAAAAAAY too over dramatic for him.)

The other 2 couples I could not be more excited for.

Bear and Dougle were my campaign BFF's during the last cycle, when I was in CA. Dougle (the boy) and I shared an office, and Bear (the girl) and I hit it off as soon as we met. Their relationship was interesting because he was her boss...and one of the other staffers who worked for Dougle thought that he was showing Bear favoritism in the work she was being assigned. I can honestly say that this was because she simply is a good worker and the complainer was a whiny, spoiled brat with a sadly inflated sense of self-importance.

BP is my college buddy and I've loved his now-fiancee ever since the first time I met her, while we were brushing our teeth in the guest bathroom in pj's at BP's folks home in Madison (this was during my campaign in Wisconsin, and I had a training in Madison.) BP and D have since moved to DC and currently live across the street from me. We have so much fun together - it's never awkward when just the 3 of us (or when Florida comes along.)

Tonight was the first time I've gotten to see BP and D since their 4th of July engagement, and it was completely spur of the moment: I went to peek at a house I emailed about earlier today and decided I'd pop into their house across the street before an appointment to look at another house. We chatted for a bit, Florida and I went to the appointment, and then came back (with beer) and settled in for a longer chat.

Turkey chili followed, and D and I got into chatting about wedding planning. We somehow started talking about the Filene's Basement bridal gown sale, and BP Googled it to see when it was.

It's in 2 weekends.

Cue angelic music from high atop the thing (bonus points for getting the reference!)

Instantly, D and I started making plans.

We are both going to take that day off work.

We are going to Filene's earlier in the week so we can map out our attack plan. There will be sketches and flow charts. The planning for this would make the Navy SEALs proud.

She will be wearing flip flops and leggings (though the article BP pulled up said some brides wear bike shorts and a bandeau top. I told her I would start working for her enemy if she wore that.)

We will be in matching shirts so we can easily identify each other (preferably in neon!)

We are going to have Sharpies and posterboard.

We are going to have walkie-talkies (my codename: Foxtrot. Her's: Delta.)

We are going to kick some brides' BUTTS to get my girl the dress of her dreams.

SO: Has anyone done the Filene's Basement Running of the Brides sale before? Or any sample sale like this? What are your suggestions? Tips and Tricks? Words of warning?

Delta and Foxtrot look forward to your thoughts!

Cheers,



*Not that I don't love the groom in this particular case. But given that his little brother is LBP...it might be awkward. ;)

This one's for you, Blue Eyed Bride...or how Fleetwood Mac saved my relationship and my life

(not only an accurate title...but also words that Stevie Nicks said in dedication of Landslide to her Daddy (replace Blue Eyed Bride with Daddy...you get it. It will make more sense in a few seconds. Just keep reading.)

So Blue Eyed Bride mentioned on her Twitter that she loves Fleetwood Mac's The Dance album, and I responded that I had quite the story involving that album's DVD, peach margaritas, candles, and my ex-boyfriend's mom who told me that since I was from California, I must be crazy.

Seriously.

To my face.

During our very first conversation.

Bless ex-boyfriend's heart for standing up for me and telling his mom the next morning that what she said was really offensive. She then spent rest of that day trying to make it up to me.

Let me set the scene.

Ex-boyfriend Colgs and I were in town (Chicago) for our friend's wedding. We had just started (secretly) dating, and we were going to be spending the weekend at his folks house. Colgs comes from a very close-knit family, and I knew that their approval would seal my fate, either way.

I thought I was charming and they would love me at once. However...

...during the introductions (the INTRODUCTIONS! I had literally JUST met this woman 2.5 seconds ago!) this is what ensued:

Mama Colgs: Bea, so you're from San Diego, right?

Bea: Actually, I'm from San Francisco - the other part of the state.

Mama Colgs: Oh. Well it's the same thing, everyone from California is crazy.

Bea: {awkwardly} ummmm...yea, we are, heh...it's what we're known for (?????)

Colgs: {quickly} Um, so Mom, can we help with dinner??

Yea...basically called me a crazy to my face. Awesome.

So the next day, Colgs had to go to work (we flew in on Thursday night) and left me alone in his house.

With his mother.

It was tense, to say the least. She knew I was pissed and offended, and didn't know what to say to apologize.

So we were talking about the wedding over a late breakfast and who knows how, but somehow Fleetwood Mac came up.

Well I guess she realized that I must not be crazy if I like Fleetwood Mac, so she decided that we needed to put on the DVD.

Now we can enter the margaritas.

When Colgs came home a few hours later (he left work early, worried about me and his mom alone...) Mama Colgs and I were several pitchers of William Sonoma peach margaritas deep, the DVD was STILL on (and had been repeated a few times), every single candle in the house was brought to the family room and lit, and Mama Colgs and I were dancing and singing* in the middle of the room to the blasting DVD (because we had spent much time enjoying our frosty margaritas on the patio, and we had to hear the music out there too, obvi!)

He took one look at us, dancing and swaying and singing, and walked back out and headed back to the office.

The world may never know if he left because he knew his mom and I were getting along famously and didn't need a babysitter...or because he was simply scared of what he saw in that family room that day.

The rest of the trip was fine, and Mama Colgs and I remained very close throughout our year-long relationship. In fact, Colgs and I are still very good friends, and as his parents are both in the pharmaceutical field, whenever I have questions about medications (I'm very allergic to a few common ones) I still call them for advice.

When we got back to DC, I wanted to send them a bottle of wine (I tried to find more W&S peach margarita mix...but they were sold out for the summer and I've never seen them again) to thank them for letting me stay in their home.

Attached to the wine was a note that read: A bottle of California wine from your favorite crazy Californian.

And there, Blue Eyed Bride and all my sweet friends, is my story of how Fleetwood Mac saved my relationship and my life.

Happy Friday!



*I believe the song on at the time was Tusk...in which case we were also playing air instruments alongside the USC Marching Band...