Leap Day 2012

It just struck me that in four years, I will be four days from forty. I am not sure why that is so startling to me right now, other than the fact that there is a symmetry of four's.  And I'm still grappling with 36, in my last four days as a 35 year old.

This coming weekend will be a whirlwind with the cross the country and back trip, Steve's birthday, and a whole host of other things to focus on, including meetings and traffic and another trip next weekend. 35 has been a decent year, with the most remarkable thing that we moved out of that condo. We survived. And we can thrive in the coming year, hopefully.

I also gained a new nephew this year, visited Jamaica, became a premiere member on United, and was lucky enough not to lose anyone close to me. I hope this coming year is even better.

Michigan Ground Zero

All eyes are on Michigan today, as voters participate in the state's Republican primary. It really is the Romney vs. Santorum show, with each side picking their surrogates (like, say, Kid Rock).  I think Romney will pull it out, though I don't discount the likes of Dems supported by Michael Moore voting for Santorum in order to get their "preferred" opponent for Obama. I'm not sure who I would vote for if I still liked in Michigan. I guess Santorum, Or Romney; I'm not convinced by Taranto's argument that Santorum could be more electable. 

Either way, I'm actually interested in a primary. Let's see if Romney can win.

Weekend Wrap-Up

1. Dinner was fun with T&M on Saturday, but my purse still reeks of Indian food. Sigh.
2. I did not watch the Oscars. I don't even know anything about most of those movies, except for the Help.
3. Pearl Dive Oyster Palace did serve a good brunch, but man, were portions small and overpriced. It took about six bites to finish my itty bitty omelet. Next time, I go big for brunch.
4.  My favorite thing to cook is my shrimp scampi. Garlicky buttery goodness. So bad but so so good.
5. I will miss my Saturday a.m. shopping routine for the next few weeks. I will miss having Saturdays off for a few weeks, CA and LA be damned.
6. I started Mad Men Season three. Is it possible for a show to stay this good?
7. I also finished Nothing to Envy.  I already ordered Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader. Highly recommend.
8. One more day until Fanfarlo's album comes out.
9. It feels spring like today. Almost 60 degrees and sunny. I am SO ready to say goodbye to winter!
10. It's birthday week...that is all.

Quiet

I've been intrigued by this book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. I flipped through it at the airport the other day. As a classic introvert, I certainly felt that I could relate to a good part of the book's premise. And I think introverts can easily be confused as shy, or dismissed as boring or stuck-up, when there are really just different philosophies/personalities at play here. Extroverts are favored because of their outgoing nature, their story telling ability, their natural gregariousness.  And I like to think I am just that way in certain circumstances, in smaller groups. In larger groups, I get talked over and feel like I need to shut down.  But I'm not shy--I can easily speak in a big group, or talk on a conference call.

I've been enthralled with Nothing to Envy, by the way. Such a fascinating account of North Korean refugees who lived to tell how they fled their homes to head to South Korea. I never really how truly, horribly desperate the famines of the 1990s were and how many victims they claimed. I am sure I will finish the book by this weekend.

A New City

I went to Louisville yesterday for a quick trip to see Rand Paul speak. I am not quite sure I've been in Louisville before, so I added that to the list of cities I've been to. There are only a handful I really haven't been to...Cleveland, Salt Lake City, St. Louis, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Memphis, and Nashville are certainly some places I'd like to get to. And I'd like to get up the NE to Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. It is amazing how much I've been able to travel in my time here. I have not taken that for granted, even though at times it is a great hassle. Now I really need to add some international destinations to my list. Life is far too short to not, right?

A Good Weekend

We had an action packed weekend. Dinner at Shawafel and drinks at Jimmy Valentine's on Friday night.  Dinner at the Atlas Room on Saturday followed a drink on U Street. And then dinner with Nate & Meg on Sunday with happy engagement news! It was just a good weekend, and I followed it up with lots of relaxing Mad Men Season Two on Monday. Oh I am obsessed with that show and must catch up before March 25 when season five premieres!!

Good weekends like this make up for less than great ones, and it almost makes up for mediocre traveling ones. I'll happily take it.

Can they Tigers Win?

Expectations are high for the Tigers this year. As spring training is about to begin, lots of questions still hang in the air for this team. The question is: Can they bring a World Series championship to Motown for the first time since 1984? And with a Red Wings team setting records and the Lions playing in the postseason for the first time in forever, 2012 should be a good year to be a Detroit sports fan. Hopefully.

Valentine's Day, Belated

I didn't write about Valentine's Day, but it was quite nice. I bought our favorite lamb loin steaks from Whole Foods (from New Zealand!) and I grilled them with S&P, garlic, and rosemary. I also sauteed some asparagus as well as made our favorite mashed potatoes.  I bought some cajun shrimp and bread/olive oil dip for snacks, and we each had mini fruit tarts for dessert. Simple and easy, and less pricey, even with the inflated Whole Foods prices, than going out. I also received some beautiful roses.

Valentine's Day is a good moment to ponder having so much love in my life, particularly after all of the craziness of last year.  I am happy to have wonderful parents, siblings, three awesome nephews, gracious in-laws, great friends, and of course the husband.  A girl can't ask for much more (can she? Well...).

Best Children's Books

I saw this list and immediately wondered how many of these "Greatest Books for Kids" I had read once upon a time. Of course, Charlotte's Web; Anne Frank; Shel Silverstein; Judy Blume; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; and The Secret Garden were on there, but I think there were some notable omissions in favor of some modern stuff. Um, now Little House on the Prairie?  And I guess the Shoe books are too old, sadly.  And Beverly Cleary? No Ramona? Hmm, definitely not happy about some of these choices.

Grandpa Joe

Yesterday was the 18th anniversary of Grandpa Joe's death. It struck me that I had now lived more than a half life since that day my senior year in high school, three weeks before I turned 18.  It is amazing at how that day can feel like yesterday, and how it can feel like such a lifetime ago. I wrote this tribute two years ago. And after my workout, I did go to McDonald's to have a quarter pounder with cheese as a nod to him.

I will always be grateful and fondly remember how he came up north with us every summer.  He was a good buffer for those car trips with three bickering children. Later he brought Blackie, the car sick doggie.  Oh, memories.  He loved the outdoors, hitting the golf balls around and then looking for his much sought after morel mushrooms.  Gosh, he knew everything about gardening; perhaps he will channel some of that spirit toward me as I embark on taking care of our little garden patch in front of the house.  It is hard to recall his voice after so many years. Though I do hear echoes in his little namesake of a great-grandson. I am sure we will tell a lot about Grandpa Joe to Joey in the years ahead.  Love you, grandpa Joe.

Mad about Mad Men

Yes, I am about five years too late, but I have really gotten into Mad Men. I watched the entire first season over the weekend, abandoning most of my previously construed weekend plan list. Oh well, it was worth it. Don Draper is magnificent. Betty is the perfect Grace Kelly stooge of a bride, and Peggy is everygirl who has a knack for copy and is knocked up. I tried to follow along with online reviews so I could get the characters down. I also immediately went out and bought season two on DVD. Because season five is starting next month!

It does take a while for us to get into new shows, but Big Bang and the Office were two we adopted and fell in love with. And I really am in love with Mad Men. I even abandoned the Whitney tribute (lame as it was, though through no fault of Jennifer Hudson) to watch it!

Weekend Plan

Have fun tonight at the Big Board and Little Miss Whiskey's!
Pick up the side table at Bo Concepts.
Get some good workouts in. I started on the right track, no pun intended, with a 3.75 mile run this a.m.
Clean. Desperately need to clean.
Cook a couple of healthy meals for dinner and prepare the Valentine's Day Menu.
Buy a Valentine's Day gift for husband.
Read.
See a movie. I cannot remember the last one I saw, so I should decide if I want to see any of Oscar nominated ones or just a fun one.
Watch some of the grammys. 

Hockey Classic in Motown

Drew Sharp's correct that Detroit is the big winner in this--plans for Michigan Stadium.  And hopefully, Comerica Park will be able to celebrate this hockey festival and alumni game just two shorts months after the Tigers bring a world series championship to Detroit.  One can only hope.

I cannot believe the Classic hasn't been in Detroit yet, honestly. Detroit is Hockeytown, and the Metro Detroit area is going to be so excited to host. It is really tempting to go, just to see that excitement.

And for the chance to see Steve Yzerman in a Wings jersey one more time? Can't beat that, either.

Ten Things I am Liking Lately

Butter croissants at Pret.
Non-snow events this winter.
Ladies night out this weekend.
Rick Santorum giving Mitt Romney a real race of it.
Turkey chili.
Our kitchen finally getting repaired.
The days getting longer.
Being able to race intervals on the treadmill.
The premiere of Smash. I liked it.
Our new side table finally arriving.

Half-time in America

Chrysler and Clint Eastwood's new commercial. Meh. Last year's commercial with Eminem was better. That was far more buzzed about and catchy. That music. That message. This was people pondering and looking like they were deep in thought.

Though Eastwood is a curious choice for this...the libertarian has voiced his disapproval of the auto bailout. But money talks, right?

The Little Things

1. Finding my lost earring; thank you St. Anthony! I loved that pair ever since I bought them in Ann Arbor for my birthday. SO happy it was found!
2. Two full days off. Cannot be happier than that.
3. Finally getting the kitchen fix started on Tuesday.
4. Shopping time this weekend. More wine, maybe a new top or two.
5. Our side table should be ready any day now.
6. Brunch with the girls.
7. Date night with husband.
8. Reading time. I finished Injustice and Grand Pursuit in the past week. More on that later. I am starting Rick Brookhiser's James Madison.  I've already started Paris 1919.
9. A chance to work out. Sunday will be rushed, but I really want to get in a good run that day before Superbowl gluttony.
10. And  yes, it's Superbowl weekend. But that also means six long months without football...sadness.

Detroiter in the City

I saw this other blogpost today from another Detroiter now a DC-er. This comment: "Detroit may be my hometown, but DC is my home," really resonated with me, because it's largely how I feel.  In light of the paperwork being mysteriously lost several months after the firetruck incident, I'm feeling even more acutely the problems of corruption, bureaucratic ineptitude, and incompetence that is still present in this city.  Thankfully, DC won't elect another Barry, just like Detroit won't elect another Kwame (right? right?).  But the City Council still remains a tier below or more what it needs to be (DC still elected another Barry). And as someone committed to the District, in a way that I wasn't committed to Detroit, I do fear that slippage will occur, despite the countless positive things about the city.  Whether it's the growth in housing prices, the largely successful Capital bikeshare program, Michelle Rhee's transformation of city schools and the growth of charters, the transformation of area neighborhoods like my own H Street corridor, the development of retail in the city like Costco, and I could go on. I'm not even sure that Vince Gray's rather mediocre term as mayor will undue some of the development and growth that has occurred. 

I hope Detroit will turn around, I really truly do. And I hope it can catch up to DC at some point, even if it takes a decade. And I equally hope that DC won't slip backwards because it can't get its government ethics problems curbed.

Seventy

At 3:41pm, today, February 1, it is 70 degrees out.  Ahhh...

It is no secret that I dislike winter. I loathe snow, ice, and most of all, darkness. I miss the days of running after work, not wearing layers, and not being fearful that nasty wintery nastiness would keep me housebound. Or burst a pipe.

That being said, I don't like the 110 degree weather we had last winter. I would be happy with 50s throughout February, 60s and 70s through May, and then a warm summer. 

Now if the groundhog could just do its thing tomorrow...