A Toast to the Happy Couple

At the request of Sarah, of course. And Sarah, if you actually read this at T's wedding, I will likely die of laughter...no no wait. You might die because she might kill you.

My dear, I love you, but you made me a mess!
The planning and primping made me over-stress!
But since I'm happy for you,
I'll do what I must do
In my overdone hair and my pricey maid's dress:

To my friend on the day she becomes a new wife
You'll have days filled with laughter, and ones filled with strife.
But to you I now toast
For you have more than most:
He'll be holding your hand for the rest of your life.

A Recipe for Delicious

Blueberries?


Check.

Milk?

Check.

Sugar?

Check.

Mmmmmmm! Enjoy!

The Maxi Dress

They're so comfy and cool; so light, airy and flowing.
They're perfect on days when you're sweat...I mean glowing.
Many people abhor them;
Darling Hilton adores them.
Sorry Sarah, the maxi dress market is growing!

http://www.thefashionablehousewife.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/paris_hilton_nyc.jpg

Some Sappy Crap

Dear Dad, My Hero,

It's your birthday. Normally on your birthday I'd tell you happy birthday. This year, it's thank you. I still melt into the knobby kneed, scraggly haired, eight-year-old version of myself whenever you give me a big bear hug or whenever I call you for a word or two of encouragement or advice. You're my confidant, my friend, and my biggest fan. And I know that I have a bit of stiff competition from my brother and sister, but I'd venture to say I'm your biggest fan, too.

You're one of a kind. The guy I still consider to be the "big guy" in my life. Luke is the guy I'm living with now, the guy responsible for looking after me and keeping up with me (don't worry, he's doing pretty well). I love him and it means the world to me that you do, too. But I also love that you know that you never have to compete with him. As some would put it, he's the "man in my life", but you know that you'll always be the guy who looked after me and kept up with me from day one. Good job, Dad. And thank you.

Maybe one day when you're older I'll share my blog with you. For now, I think you're a little too young.

Love you,

Lannie Lee

January...

Once upon a time we went to the Inauguration of President Obama. We stood on the Mall in the cold with millions of other people for five hours. Then we walked through the I-395 tunnel to get home. It was weird. And cool. The End.

Monday

Yeah, it's a blah title, but it's true. It's definitely Monday. But since I've started actively searching for jobs and since our trip to New York, I feel like I have a new lease on life. My current job is now just a placeholder until I find something I love. And so here I sit, doing my job, trucking along, making due. For at least a little while. And I'm feeling better about it.

But I digress. The real reason I signed in this morning was to express my minor bewilderment about the spry 19-year-old intern who skipped into my elevator at the 3rd floor and then popped out on the 2nd floor. And on both floors he came from and went in the direction of the stairwell. DUDE, JUST TAKE THE STAIRS.

A riddle (in a jumpsuit)

What's salty and usually steamy and hot?
At the ballpark you certainly find quite a lot.
It comes with a twist,
And the smell does persist.
A pretzel it is. A gym sock it is not.

I'm Kiki. You can call him Paco.

This week started on Monday, as weeks tend to do. But it was a different type of Monday. It was an "I just spent a fabulous weekend in New York and now I'm totally refreshed and ready to take on the world" kind of Monday. Thanks to Luke. That was my surprise birthday getaway. New York City. And it was great.

We took the bus from Arlington on Friday morning and it was so easy. Poof! We were in New York, 10 blocks from the Times Square Hilton where we'd spend the next two nights. But I was ravenous and ate my weight in noodles and chicken and broccoli and mushrooms and shrimp and pork at the first Chinese buffet we happened upon. And then the subway - oh the New York subway. Hot, dirty, totally insane. But we emerged triumphant at 96th Street and wandered our way through Central Park, the Met, more of Central Park, and all the way back to our hotel on 42nd street. Where we collapsed into bed and passed out at 8:15 p.m. For a "nap." Some nap. I was physically unable to move for 12 hours. Not kidding. It was glorious.

Saturday we took a tour of a new Hilton property where they tried to convince us that we needed a vacation home. Ha! We need a HOME home first! But they gave us $125 for playing grown up and making a big decision that "No, I'm sorry. That's just not in our budget right now." And then the ticket booth in Times Square. Where we were ushered through a very quickly moving line. I got stage fright and blurted out the first Broadway show I could think of and just like that we had two tickets to see Chicago at 2:30 p.m. from the seventh row of the orchestra. And it rocked.

Dinner for two at a former speakeasy-turned-steakhouse where I had a steak that literally melted. It was amazing...and got even more amazing as I downed my half of a bottle of wine. But our waiter was, well, odd. Our waiter was, like all of the waiters at this particular establishment, an old man in a tuxedo. But he reminded me of a character in an Alfred Hitchcock horror film. Just eerie. But he got my order right and kept my glass full and we escaped with our heads, so I was quite pleased.

After dinner, we wandered around Midtown in search of the United Nations (found!) and got drunk in the process because every time I had the impulse to pee (often), I yanked Luke into first bar we came upon, used their facilities, and then we had one or four drinks. We found a really awesome hole in the wall that way. We proceeded to sit at the bar and drink $3 drafts for the next several hours. (I fear what I revealed to Luke during that series of conversations. But he keeps coming home to me, so I guess it wasn't that treachorous.)

Then we stumbled back to Times Square, sat on the street while an Asian "artist" sketched our caricatures, wandered away with the framed Latin cartoon version of ourselves, and Luke strolled up to a street vendor and stood in a smoky haze while waiting for the MOST un-gyro-est gyro I have ever witnessed to emerge from the embers of the street vendor's cart. Spicy and ridiculously charred meat on a pita. With no cucumber sauce. Disgusting. But he ate it. And I love him. And I'd return to New York City with him any time for a repeat weekend because it was phenomenal.

But NEXT time we're spending more time in Little Italy eating lasagna.

Hump Day: A tribute to Wednesdays

Come one and come all, every hipster, nerd, geek.
We're up on the hill lookin' over the peak.
We're all bumpin' and grindin'
And no one is mindin'
For we've made it halfway through this tedious week!

Guessing Game

So Luke was out of town for my birthday, but he told me not to plan anything for this weekend because the two of us were going to celebrate. And so...per his instruction, I have packed two "nice" things - one really nice dress and one pretty nice dress - "walking around" clothes, a sweatshirt, running clothes, and about 6 different pairs of shoes that may or may not be necessary. And my bathing suit.

We have to leave by 9 am. We'll be back by Sunday night.

Any guesses? Because I haven't a clue. All I know is that his claims of coal mining seem to be lies, unless we're coal mining in evening wear.

Final Straw

I. Need. A. New. Job.

And no, I'm not afraid of anyone at my current job reading this because 1.) I'm sure they're not among the 3 people who follow this blog and 2.) they probably already know. I've been in a bad mood for the past 2 weeks.

Bullet Points

Random thoughts floating around in my head today:

• Asian food. Preferably containing MSG.
• Canned Dr. Pepper is far superior to bottled Dr. Pepper.
• Sometimes people I don't know share too much information with me.
• I bought a homeless man a cup of coffee this morning. He had a nice smile.
• Luke comes home tonight :)
• Coffee or no coffee? Coffee or no coffee?

Cats and Thread

Hilarious moment of the day: trying to sew a hole in a pair of pants with Bailey in the room.

Happy August!