AIDS is DC's Katrina

(Source: http://www.aidshealth.org)

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

Yes, it is provocative. Yes, it is thought-provoking. Yes, it is encouraging debate.

But is it appropriate?

To give a bit of background for those non-Beltway folks (read: people outside of the DC area,) DC does have a staggering AIDS problem. According to the AIDS Healthcare Forum, the group behind this ad, the AIDS rate in DC is over 3%.

The imagery shows President Bush looking from Air Force One over the devastation Katrina left behind - devastation many feel he did not do enough to rectify before leaving office. It is left to the reader to deduce that President Bush's non-action during Katrina is tantamount to President Obama's non-action over the AIDS epidemic (assuming they mean nationwide, as AHF is based in Los Angeles, not DC.)

I've been meaning to write about this for some time now, as it is the ad in my bus stop I sit at nearly every day. In fact, the ads are primarily being displayed in bus stops, and bus riders, at least on the lines I ride, tend to be African-American.

It is no secret that AIDS disproportionately affects minorities. I wonder, however, if President Obama were white (or perhaps, if it were President McCain,) if we would be seeing the same ad. Would the hands gripping the cardboard be white hands? Would there be a different tragedy used as the central image?

I don't have the answers. But, I open this topic up to constructive debate, well aware that I might get hateful comments and email.

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

What I came home to last night...

(my pic)

Wonder where I am (other than behind the camera, obvi?)

I'm standing directly in front of my apartment.

Boo hiss DC's yucky thunderstorms! :(

I've spent my day off playing around on the interwebs, getting ready for tonight's softball game (weather permitting, ugh!) and making plans for hanging out with some of my FAVORITE ladies tomorrow night.

Florida is en route to Texas for work and I fully plan on enjoying our brief separation...I need some alone and girl time!

BUT - he won't be out of my mind entirely...stay tuned for his first UNEDITED photo to appear on my blog tomorrow. (I know, get excited.)

Other than that, absolutely nothing new to report except I've found this AMAZING blog, courtesy of Legally Heidi (MissHeidi on Twitter) and am managing to continue wasting away this horribly chilly and rainy DC Thursday reading that (except the blog is only 2 weeks old and I've already read all the posts, boo.)

Perhaps a nap is in order? Maybe some lunch? Who knows!

Have a great Thursday!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Badger? I don't need no stinkin' Badger...

...not when I've got this guy on my arm:


You'll have to trust me that he looks a LOT hotter when his face isn't all blurred out :) I must also admit that I looked very nice last night myself - my skin wasn't acting up too bad (nothing that 5 poundsa little of cover-up couldn't hide, at least) and I had dark smoky eyes and pale glossy lips. My hair looked pretty fab too - I have thick curly hair naturally (don't believe me, eh?? It's true!) and since it was rainy I knew straightening it was going to be out of the question. So, I curled it, poofed up the front part (my face is round so I need the height!) and pulled the rest back into a ponytail that I pinned up. And then sprayed the crap out of misted ever so gently with super soft hold hairspray.

Needless to say, I got tons of compliments on my outfit and look both at the dinner and the BBQ...it actually became a little uncomfortable after a while...but it was nice to be seen as a girl instead of just one of the guys for a change, ya know? (Didn't hurt that I overheard several people talking to Badger and around him about how good I looked. Suck on that, Badg!)

Am I being perhaps a bit immature? Of course. But I don't care. He needs to realize what he threw away. And I'm MORE than happy to remind him.

The best part of the evening - and the part I was most concerned about beforehand - was how the people who are our (Badger and my) friends would react to having all 3 of us in the same place. They all love Florida and he's one of those guys who chats with anyone and ends up having the most random conversations with whomever he meets...not at all clingy. But the birthday twins, who were hosting the BBQ, are also some of Badger's closest friends and former roommates...so I was very worried that they wouldn't be as warm to Florida as they usually are, because Badger was there. (Does that make sense? It does in my head...but I'm not sure if I'm expressing it correctly.) But my worries were for naught - they didn't treat him any differently at all, which was great.

Anywho, unfortunately Florida is leaving for Salt Lake City tomorrow morning to advance a Drill Team trip there for a few days, so I'll be all alone. Tear. Luckily, softball season starts on Monday and we had a scrimmage against another Hill League team and beat them 24-1...so I'm hoping this is the year the Natty Boh's make the tournament!! :)

Happy Saturday evening to you all, sweet friends - and thank you for the kind words about Badger and not making me feel bad for needing to be vain for a bit. I appreciate it, and ya'll!

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

PS - did anyone watch the Derby??? What a crazy awesome finish! Mama Bea and I watch the Derby together every year, via phone...but she didn't get home in time from a First Communion to watch with me...boo. It's only the 2nd year we've not watched it "together." Our dream is to go to the Derby one year...alas.

The Badger returns...again

Awesome.

Roommate's boyfriend and his twin are having a birthday bbq tomorrow night.

Badger will be there.

Florida and I are planning on attending - coming right from a formal Air Force dinner...aka he'll be in uniform and I'll be in floor length dress (the dress I bought over a year ago to wear to an Inaugural Ball...but since I was the ONLY GIRL IN DC WHO DIDN'T GET TO GO TO ONE it will make it's debut tomorrow evening.)

I'm totally freaking out.

I was going to do a post with pictures and stories about how awesome Florida is...but now I can't get the impending disaster that is the bbq out of my head.

Isn't this silly? Florida is amazingly wonderful and adores me (and I adore him!) but at the same time I know how I absolutely fell apart last time Badger was in town and I had to deal with him...it was not classy, mature, or pretty. I cried for a week straight.

I know that He doesn't give us things we cannot handle...but I'm starting to wonder if He thinks I'm a whole lot stronger than I really am...

(PS I'm not a religious person per se...so you won't get many religious-leaning posts from me. But I do find comfort in a verse from Philippians - I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. It's either 4:13 or 3:14...both are great verses but I can never remember which is which.)

To make me feel better, here are some photos of irises from my 'hood I took on Tuesday evening. Shout out to my amazing photo assistant, Florida, who not only held me steady as I balanced on a rock wall to get some shots, he also pulled other plants out of my way. :) For like an hour. He's a good, good, man. :)




Cheers!

Sweet Bea

Florida vs. Florida...or how I learned not to let my boyfriend handle our travel plans (and other stories from the day)

I apologize in advance for any typographical errors in this post...I'm trying to type but Florida has once again taken residence on my right shoulder and I am forced to type with just my left hand...sigh. I suppose it's a small price to pay to have my yummy man snuggled up next to me...but it sure does make blogging hard!

Today I had to fight with my leasing company because they didn't cash my rent check for 20 days and then charged me a $50 late fee. They held my check because I am not on the lease (THEY said I didn't need to be, back in December!) and are complete idiots when it comes to managing the account. It is seriously ridiculous.

They were slightly more willing to actually be helpful this time I think because I had come from lunch at the Mexican restaurant with Dennis the Menace and drank margaritas while soaking up the crazy warm DC sun on the patio. And then walked 13 blocks in the heat to get to the leasing company (God forbid they actually have the site in a Metro-accessible area...) I was probably sweating tequila once I finally got there, HA! Oh well.

After dealing with the idiots lovely people who run my building (and of course putting in the requisite daytime drunk dials to Florida, my bestie from college KJ, and of course, my mom - who had to leave her class to take my call, HA!) I returned home to try and clean my apartment. After the Roommate tried to blame the funk in our apartment on our chipolte shrimp from the last post (even though it clearly smelled in there BEFORE we cooked) I decided that one of us needed to clean the apartment...and since she still treats me like the maid (even though I now work more than she does!) I figured the only person to clean would be me. As usual.

Then Florida came over and we booked our trip to Florida the State! :) Sanibel Island, here we come!

He was on the phone with the hotel we are staying at booking the cottage when Bestie called to tell me her dad was in town. I absolutely LOVE her dad so of course I started chatting away with her and stopped listening to Florida book the reservation. I was surprised that he was able to get us a beachfront cottage since I had called earlier in the day and wasn't able to get one right on the beach...but I thought nothing of it.

Until I got off the phone with Bestie.

I popped over to where he was and started listening to his convo with the booking agent, who was on speakerphone.

She confirmed his credit card number and everything, and then started to give us the details of the cancellation policy. "Since you are nearly within 15 days of arrival, blah blah blah..."

Wait - nearly within 15 days of arrival?? We aren't going until June!

So I hop onto the convo and cut off the very nice woman and say - what days do you have the reservation for?? "May 13-16," she replies.

Florida then instantly realizes what he did wrong. We are going in JUNE...not MAY!

MEN!

We all got a good laugh and unfortunately the beachfront cottage is booked up in June when, you know, we are actually going to be in Florida...but oh well.

My day concluded with a stop at Jacob's Coffee Shop to get smoothies, a wander over to where my poor car has been parked for about 4 months to check when the registration expires (May of NEXT year - yay me for getting 2-year registration and zone parking permit last year!) and then a tour of my Capitol Hill neighborhood looking for irises to photograph (pics to come soon - got some great ones before my battery died.)

Before we knew it, we were jaunting down Bestie's street and just about to walk past her place when out walk she and her boyfriend gK. Yay!! They had an errand to run but we all met up for late night dinner at Union Pub near our houses. Bestie and I are still sad that they did away with the Wedge salad though. :(

Well sweet friends, Florida just woke up and has shifted positions, but not before giving me a big kiss and telling me what I beautiful smile I have (I was smiling because I was here with ya'll chatting about him and I was trying to hide my screen!) so I guess it's time to hit the hay.

Wishing you a wonderful Tuesday evening (even though it is now Wednesday morning here on the East Coast) and a fantastic rest of the week. Hopefully the weather is as glorious for ya'll as it is over here - the breeze blowing through my open windows is absolutely heaven right now.

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

There is no moral to this story at all...

...and everything I tell you very well could be a lie...

(It's not - but it's a line from a FANTASTIC Peacemakers song, Nada, that is in my head and I needed a title for this hodgepodge post!)

The already-too-short weekends are even shorter when you have to work on Sundays...what a drag! :(

Friday I had the day shift but Florida came and picked me up at 7 or so and we headed back to my place for happy hour with BP and his girlfriend, another friend from college BA and his fiancee. BP, his girlfriend, and I are very close - the 3 of us do lots together and it's never awkward. And when one or the other is out of town, then I play with whomever is left - I'm an equal opportunity friend I guess.

But BA's fiancee is another story. I've only met her a few times...and it is literally like pulling teeth.

The first time I "met" her we were all at a bar watching the ASU vs. U of Arizona football game. Game sucked, but BP's girlfriend (really need to get her a nickname!) and I had a blast talking to people from the Santa Bar Crawl that invaded our tiny bar. BP and BA were watching the game and chatting...but BA's fiancee had her friends in town and refused to even speak to us girls. In fact, when BA tried to introduce her to me, she was all "Umm, I'm taking a picture?" completely rudely and sarcastically.

She was, in short, awful.

She's also gone around to some of our college friends and bad-mouthed BP's girlfriend as being "high-maintenance," which can be true sometimes, but rarely and there is no way that the fiancee would have ever experienced it. I rarely have and I'm with them all the time.

The next time i met the fiancee was at a wine and cheese party at their condo and she didn't even acknowledge that I had walked in (with BP and girlfriend) until I was chatting with her fiancee (who I've known for going on 9 years now) and then she butted right in and proceeded to try and make out with him in the middle of our conversation. Yuck.

So, needless to say, I was hesitant to accept BP and girlfriend's happyy hour invite since BA and fiancee were going to be there...but I hadn't seen BP since they returned from Europe and sitting outside having a beer sounded lovely, so I dragged Florida and off we went.

Well, to our shared surprise, the fiancee - once she warmed up (didn't even say hi to me and barely said hi to Florida, who she had never met) she was actually pleasant to be around - what a refreshing change! So the happy hour was actually lovely and we all had a good time and good food.

After happy hour, Florida and I headed off to an impromptu bbq at Roommate's boyfriend's house down the street from where I and the BP's live. Florida immediately got into deep conversations about Air Force funding and so I was wandering around chatting with random folks when I had a blast from my recent past: my Chief of Staff for the campaign I was on made an appearance.

I hadn't seen her since Election Day and it was not the most pleasant way to leave our relationship. But, she gave me a big hug and congratulated me on a job that she heard I had just gotten (which, sigh, was the result of false information...I didn't get the job and had just found out a few hours before) and chatted about the really messed up situation from this post. See, she left right after the campaign to go run another office. Apparently, the agreed upon plan was that if the Communications Director was leaving right after the election, I was supposed to take over once I got back to DC. If he wasn't going to leave for 6 months or so, then the Deputy (who is also now her boyfriend) was supposed to take over. Needless to say, we both got screwed. But she offered her services to try and send out my resume to as many places as possible, which was so great and will be really helpful. All in all, a great night!

Saturday was fantastic too - so incredibly toasty warm! Florida and I lounged around like bums all day and then finally got out act together and met The Northerner and her hubby for drinks up in Dupont. Unfortunately, the schizophrenic DC weather made us run inside partway through drinks and dinner, but we still had fun. This was the first time Florida met anyone from my blog world...he was really nervous - it was so cute! :) But we had a blast and finally went home to crash since we both had to work on Sunday (boo.)

After work Florida picked me up and we headed back to Bolling to drop off his friend who he brought with him and came back to my place to cook chipolte shrimp and eat/watch Forgetting Sarah Marshall on my rooftop deck. Unfortunately, my deck is stupidly small for the size of the building, and the people out there wouldn't take their feet off the chairs so we could sit down...so we carried everything back down to camp out in my room (since my roommate was watching a movie on the couch and it was apparently she wasn't going to move for us.) Unfortunately, my stupid laptop won't let me play the DVD and, as usual, as I was trying to figure out what was wrong, Florida fell asleep on my shoulder. I almost got up to take a pic of him snoozing for the blog because he is so cute when he sleeps (hell, he's so cute anytime!) but i couldn't remember where the cord for my camera is so I gave up that plan pretty quickly. Oh well...maybe another time :)

And now I should be catching the bus to work in 20 minutes or so but here I am, in bed, chatting with all of you. :) Don't you love my priorities????

Wishing you all a comfortably cool Monday (as it is 90 here in our Nation's Capital!)

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Old love, new potential love

Today is April 4th.

It is Mama and Daddy Bea's anniversary. They have been married for 45 years - can you believe it??

(Don't judge me, but I had to use the trusty laptop calculator to do the math...)

I'm so lucky to have them as a model and inspiration for how I want to live my life.

And speaking of new potential loves, FLORIDA GETS HOME TOMORROW! WHOO HOO!!!!

I am so incredibly excited to see him I can barely contain it!

Since he is a potential new love, and the relationship is blossoming, I decided to share some of my favorite blossoms with you - DC's famous cherry blossoms! (Lame segue, I know...) These pics are a few years old...I just haven't been able to get to the trees this year, and it has been so rainy and windy these past few days, I'm afraid they are almost gone already. The cherry blossoms are so fleeting...I suppose that adds to their beauty in a way - they are a brief reminder to live life as it comes, because it could all be gone tomorrow.

my personal favorite :)

the Tidal Basin with the Washington Monument

closer shot of the Washington Monument.
(See all the people underneath the tree? It is PACKED!)

the White House through the trees, and more tourists
(I've always wanted to get a paddle boat during the festival!)

the Jefferson Memorial, or as Mama and Daddy Bea like to call it, the Standing Man.
(The Lincoln Memorial is, therefore, the Sitting Man.)

Side note: If you live in the DC area, go to Giffords Ice Cream NOW. They have Cherry Blossom ice cream and it is HEAVEN!

Hope ya'll are having a wonderful Saturday afternoon!

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

PS I have to share a random memory with you. It was my first year in DC and the bestie and I were driving into the city from our apartment in Alexandria (about 20 minutes away.) I think we were going to look at the cherry blossoms maybe? I can remember what we were doing...but we ended up spending 3 hours in the car and couldn't get to where we were trying to park...and somehow just got dumped back on the highway headed towards home. BUT, the windows were rolled down, the weather was warm(ish) and we had Fleetwood Mac blasting in the car. It was a wonderful day.

It was, however, very similar to when we tried to have Ethiopian food around the same time - but that's another story for another day, sweet friends. Needless to say, Bea and Bestie are much better with directions after living here for over 5 years. :)

Still hiding...

...seriously, I'm still in my room.

I haven't even gone out to eat lunch. It's almost 6:00 p.m. I'm quite hungry.

I seriously need a life, and a new roommie.

BUT that is not what this post is about.

This post is about how RANDOM my life in DC is.

So my Bestie's boyfriend is in town. He lives in LA and is a lawyer, moving back to DC (yay!) I'm not sure if Bestie or I are more excited for this. He's HILAR.

Anywho, he called me at 11:00 am this morning and woke me up (jerk) because I stayed up until past 4:00 a.m. chatting with Florida (the boy) and planning our vacay to Florida (the state.)

Her boyfriend, gK, wanted to know what Friend's email address was. They know each other, so I didn't think twice about it.

But then, once I started to stir from my dogmatic slumber, I started wondering why gK had asked. So I asked him.

Turns out, my old boss is nominated for an Assistant Cabinet Secretary post. (And gK is trying to get a job.)

This is not an old Congressmember I worked for, no no. My old direct supervisor. My old Chief of Staff.

My old Chief of Staff who makes us play a really inappropriate hazing game when first starting in the office.

My old Chief of Staff who I used to get HAMMERED with in the office!

My old Chief of Staff who made me drive her to her Craft Club after work one night while we sang and danced in the car.

My old Chief of Staff who told me I should have taken Friday off to go to Ocean City, MD for a FIRST DATE! (long story...)

My old Chief of Staff who used to make up silly names for my ex-boyfriends.

My old Chief of Staff who sings loud, off-key Happy Birthday songs.

My old Chief of Staff who made me the cutest green and navy headband (which she learned at Craft Club) as a going away present, along with a bunch of bath productes that were all green (color, not organic)

My Old Chief of Staff who set me up with her waxer (Debbie at Fusion Day Spa if you're out there, I love you!) and gave me intimate details about Brazilian bikini waxes.

My old Chief of Staff who is a mere 4 years older than me!!!!!

I suppose this is how DC works. But it is just so, so, so strange to me to think how people move in this city.

Anyways, I just thought I'd share that with you. Thinking about our very frank conversations about Debbie always makes me giggle, and I need a giggle today (especially when I realize that someone just 4 years older than me is going to be Obama's freakin' Cabinet(!) and I can't find a job anywhere on the Hill...)

Ok...I NEED food...I'm starting to get a headache. Wish me luck as I try to find something I don't have to cook (since I'm fairly certain each and every pot and pan (all mine, of course) are dirty...

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

I. Can't. Move.

I am sore from head to toe. Even my fingers hurt...and it's not from texting Florida 24-7.

See, this weekend in our Nation's Capitol, Spring made her first wonderful appearance. It's hard to imagine that one week ago we were under the largest amount of snow of the season...and this weekend it was in the 70s and I have a little sunburn on my shoulders.

Thursday was starting to get warm - I walked to Eastern Market for some fruit for the chocolate fondue I was making for Florida and my first cooking date at my house. He was in charge of the salmon and the veggies, and I was in charge of wine and dessert...but I forgot the wine because I suck.

As I was walking back from Eastern Market nom'ing on the strawberries I just bought (and ate half of them on the walk back...) this big black truck pulled up next to me with a very cute driver...and I realize it's Florida who happened to drive past me en route to my house. Which was awesome, except I wasn't wearing my cute date outfit and had no makeup on yet. Boo :( It had now been 2 weeks since he'd seen me in makeup. Luckily, he says he doesn't care...the first night we had a sleepover he looked at me in the morning and said that I was one of the lucky ones who was just as beautiful in the morning as I was at night. Yay me :) But I still want to be cute, damnit!

Friday was great - Florida and I went out on King Street with some of his friends to Murhpy's and Rock It Grill (scene of Karaoke to the Death last month) and then headed back to my house because he had to be on base at 8:00 a.m. to catch the plane to Alabama. Needless to say, after joining my friends at Cafe Berlin on Mass for happy hour and then going to King Street to meet up with the boys, I was a little tipsy by the time we got back to my house...and promptly fell asleep. When that darned alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. I wanted to shoot myself - my head hurt SO MUCH! Needless to say...we didn't exactly get to have the goodbye either of us wanted. Stupid, yummy, delicious stupid Hefeweizen... :(

Saturday was so warm and toasty outside so the bestie, BP's girlfriend, and I decided to hit up the rooftop bars on U Street. Line at Marvin was too long, so we headed across the street to Tabaq. I had never been there before...but let me tell you, I will be back. I loved the rooftop bar and the food and drinks were quite tasty! After Tabaq, we decided to head back to Marvin to see if the line had calmed down. It had, and so we hiked up to their rooftop deck.

It was a cluster. It was so uncomfortably crammed with drunk idiots that we were only there for one round. We literally had to listen to a migrating duo discuss the virtues of dryer sheets. DRYER SHEETS! Ugh. I say migrating because they literally started off on my right side and drunkenly wandered/stumbled all the way over to my left. The guy literally had his ass on the knee of another poor guy who happened to be sitting at the fence talking to a girl. It was insane.

After a very rude driver refused to take us home (would not even unlock the door so we could get in and almost drove over BP's girlfriend's foot in the process of peeling out away from us) we finally got a cab and headed home, where I started to late-night text Florida...for 3 hours. Poor kid :(

Sunday was even warmer than Saturday so the crew decided to head to B&B (Bagels & Baguettes - our weekend breakfast spot) and then play a little softball.

Now, you probably remember what happened the last time we played softball...lucky Florida and his balls weren't here to be hit this time around. I did text him and say that I was going to avenge them for him... but it turns out not only can I barely hit I also have absolutely no control where the ball goes when I do actually made contact. I am, however, getting better at fielding...which basically means that I only sometimes hide from the ball when it's hit to me. Sigh...I did make quite a few faux double plays though (I was playing 2nd base) so I was proud.

But...now on Monday...it turns out that I might have played a little too hard (and without stretching...naughty Bea!) because I. Can't. Move.

Literally every part of my body is aching today...my arms, hands, upper back, butt, thighs, and calves. I am in soooooooo much pain :(

BUT - it felt so great to be outside this weekend playing softball and playing with my friends. Though the weather isn't supposed to be nearly as nice the rest of the week (it is so windy today I literally thought we were having an earthquake because my windows were shaking so badly!) but I know that spring truly is JUST around the corner. And how lovely is the extra hour of sunshine?

Hope you all are enjoying the first day of the week!

Cheers!

Sweet Bea

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

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

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

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

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

Explaining my previous post

Ok - so I got LOTS of questions about my previous posts, so let me explain a little better what happened.

DC had her first snow yesterday (so pretty!) but then the temps warmed up to like 34 degrees, so it started raining, and then the temps dropped below freezing, so the wet roads/sidewalks froze over.

Enter Bea.

So I'm moseying along my street going to the Rayburn House building to meet with an old colleague for coffee and to catch up (and I was planning on begging for a job.)

I cross the street, and in front of a public library, I see a big patch of ice. But, I felt confident in my walking abilities (after all, I've done it nearly my whole life!) and I so I ventured onto the sheet.

Well it was very slick, so I started to make my way towards the fence to hold on to, and WHAM! My feet flew out from under me and fell flat onto my back, whacking my head on the icy brick sidewalk.

I remember being dazed there for a bit, but I pulled myself up by the fence, and a very nice woman who was walking with her son hollered to ask if I was ok. I replied that I wasn't sure, but I thought so, and stood up, in agony.

I walked a few feet further to the bottom of the walkway that goes up to the library, and started to bend over to catch my breath and stop shaking. I was incredibly dizzy at this point, so I wanted to put my head down.

Next thing I remember, I am laying flat on my back again, waking up looking at the sky. According to the woman who saw the whole thing, I had stood back up again, passed out, and fell again, whacking my head yet again on the bricks.

The woman at this point was standing over me asking once again if I was ok, and when I mumbled "yes" she said that I couldn't lay on the ice all day. I replied that laying on the ice sounded like a very good idea. I was clearly not all there at this point.

So, I laid there for a few more minutes and then slowly struggled to sit up (struggling because 1) I fell on my tailbone and it hurt like the dickens, and 2) my abs ain't in good shape and my jiggly tummy got in the way.)

When I sat up, I had a horde of people around me, which was quite embarrassing, but I didn't even notice at the time. The woman asked me if she could call anyone, and I just looked up at her completely blank - I could see my bestie's face but couldn't remember her name at all.

Finally, her name came into my head, and I reached for my phone in my coat pocket and dialed her number, and handed the phone to the woman...I still wasn't really talking in coherent words or sentences.

So I sat there for a while, as both my Samaritan and some of the other bystanders called 911. I begged them not to call 911 because I don't have insurance, but they had already been called.

So, while I sat there and tried to figure out what was actually going on (I was still really, really out of it), the ambulance arrived. And the fire truck. And the police. So embarrassing...

The EMTs came up to me and asked my name, which I stated clearly...and then he asked me what day it was. I replied that it was Tuesday, January 27th. The EMT just kinda stared at me...and then I said, "Maybe it's Wednesday? I'm unemployed so I don't really need to know what day it is! Let's see...I had a meeting at 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday and an interview Thursday at 1:00 p.m....so I think it's Wednesday? But it might be the 28th?" Had they actually known me, they wouldn't have thought I had a head contusion...but was just being myself. Sigh...moving on.

The wonderful EMTs started helping me get ready for my ambulance ride by removing my scarf. It should be noted that my scarf is actually a cashmere wrap, which is very, very large. As they were unwrapping me from my wrap, the EMT started teasing me saying "Girl, are you wearing a blanket in there??" which made me laugh. They strapped the neck brace on me (side note: I HATE things around my neck. Totally paranoid about it. But this didn't freak me out...which makes me wonder if it was on right?) and then slid me onto the backboard.

It should be noted at this point that one of the bystanders who had driven up to the scene took pity on my sitting there on the ice, so she gave me a towel to put around my shoulders, and a bright pink scarf, and a bright pink hat. And a SpiderMan boogie board to sit on. I looked ridiculous, but it was really funny.

So, the EMT help me slide onto the backboard...and strapped me in. With athletic tape. Then, they tried to figure out to get me from the sidewalk to the ambulance, seeing as how it was covered in ice and even the EMTs were falling over trying to walk.

Well how do you get a girl taped to a backboard to the ambulance? Slide her along the ice, of course! Looking back on it, I bet it was hilarious to see...but at the time all I could see was a grey sky that was making me wonder if I was seeing anything at all (if that makes any sense.)

When I was lifted into the ambulance (and thank goodness I didn't hear the EMTs straining with the weight of me!) and finally hear my bestie climbing into the side door. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anywho, several hours, cat scans, x-rays, and pain pills later, I was home resting and eating cookie dough right out of the tub. Which is awesome. I heart cookie dough.

So, with a lovely prescription for pain meds and (and I can't believe I am admitting this...do I have no shame?!?!?!) stool softeners, I'm now watching Sex and the City with my roomie and her boyfriend.

OH and LBP left me this funny message on my Facebook: "Wow. You can't go anwhere. You wouldn't last a winter in Wisco. I'm glad you are ok. Next time remember to watch where you walk and don't be in such a hurry." He then called me just to make sure I was actually ok :) SWOON!

As for the dislocated hip - still not sure how I managed that one, but it was dislocated from the Sunday of Inauguration Week through the day after Inauguration. Hurt like hell...was literally dragging my right leg behind me all weekend (and of course, this was the weekend I walked for miles and miles and miles around DC.) But, then on Wednesday night, I was sitting on the couch and I reached over to grab my phone, and it popped back into place. Woke up Thursday morning with absolutely no pain. SO weird.

Cheers,

Sweet Bea

Sorry for the delay, ya'll!

Hi friends,

Sorry I've been slacking in the whole blogging department...it's been a looooooong week. Lots of emotions (good, bad, and everything in between), parties, changes, job stuff, friends...let's just say I've been physically and mentally very busy, and haven't really had the time to sit down, decompress, and put together a thoughtful post.

I hope to be better tomorrow...in the meantime, I will do my best to sort through the hundreds (if not closer to a thousand) pictures from all the inaugural festivities (Concerts! Galas!) to put up - WARNING (and super-secret identity spoiler alert) your dear Sweet Bea is only a wee 5'3 (ok FINE, 5'2 and a half!) and we were usually pretty far back (but we made it in!) but I'll see if there are any decent photos to post.

Cheers,
Sweet Bea

Oh, Mother!

I love Mama Bea. I really, truly do.

But I swear that woman can drive me crazier than anyone else I know.

Just now, I was whining to her about how annoyed I am with all the Inauguration stuff. I mean, I'm so excited for our new President and excited to be in DC for this historic occasion...but seriously - it's a hassle for those of us who actually live and work here (not that I have a job yet...which is another grumble for another post.)

My friend from high school (really, elementary school) KT is coming down from Connecticut for the Inauguration...but we don't have tickets to anything so I'm not really sure what she wants to do or see while here...AND I don't know how she's going to get here from the airport in Baltimore on Monday night since my car is out of commission. AND she doesn't want to go to a ball, which annoys me greatly because I really, really do.

So I'm telling Mama Bea this, and she says that I should leave KT at home to watch TV if I want to go to a ball and she doesn't.

Which is ridiculous - I would never do that! That would be so rude...and I *TRY* very hard not to be rude to people.

Anywho, I ask her to please stop nagging, and she gets all pissy about how no one listens to her opinions or cares about her feelings...and how she is "dealing with so much and what I am finding is no one cares or is supportive of me." And then she leaves.

Sigh...I just can't deal with her sometimes! All she does is judge the decisions I make or my opinions and thoughts on things.

AND - I wasn't asking her opinion about the situation...I was just VENTING to her! Shouldn't I always be able to vent to my mom?

BAH!

>:(

ON a super-fun note however, I just heard that one of my buddies is in town for Inauguration and we're all getting together tonight, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.

Hope everyone's Saturdays are cheerier (and warmer - holy crap it's warmer in Madison than it is in DC right now!!!) than mine!

xoxo,

Sweet Bea

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 :)