I've been feeling down and cranky lately, like I have a lot to decide and a lot sitting on my shoulders. Frankly, these feelings are not doing much for me.

It's time to try a new approach. Just breathe and know it will all fall into place.



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National Book Festival

If you're one of the cool kids in Washington, DC, then you were probably doing one of three things today:
1. Jamming to M.I.A., Matt & Kim, and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at Virgin Free Festival.
2. Cruising through Clarendon Days.
3. Listening to various writers speak at the National Book Festival.
Although I had tickets to Virgin Fest, I opted for option #3. Why on earth would I do that? Well, because Jonathan Safran Foer was speaking, and I just couldn't miss that. I could honestly listen to him talk for hours. He's gotten some flack for his writing style, but listen to that man talk for 30 minutes and you can't tell me that you aren't totally enthralled.

I love that the National Book Festival is on the first day of Banned Books Week, and I love that so many people show up to support arts and literature every year. It makes me think there's hope for us yet.

White Knuckles

What do I love? Puppies.
(My puppy thinks my socks are toys designed specifically for his enjoyment.)

What else do I love? Ok Go.

(LOVE the goose.)

Now, let's put them together!

Silence

I understand that you have a lot of your plat right now, but that's life. At what point will I be one of the things on your plate? I'm running out of patience.



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Soul Man

My father briefly decide to venture into the great wide world of facial hair a few months ago. My mother and I, of course, hated it. We loathed it. We considered shaving him in his sleep. He finally decided to shave everything but one little "soul patch" under his bottom lip. Although we didn't like that either, it was a whole lot better than the strange, patchy forest that he was previously growing on his face. This brings us to the present...

As we're sitting around watching Dancing With he Stars (my money is on Kurt Warner for the win), my father looks over at my mother and I, and says, "Ok, honest opinion. Should I shave this?" as he pointed at the little brillo pad under his lip. My mother and I voted yes, unanimously. He then looks at us, completely serious and a little sad and says, "Really? You think it looks stupid?" Now I feel a little bad... but he continues, "I thought it was kind of like a third eyebrow!" [Points to eyebrow to drive the point home. Smiles like a 2 year old. As if he's saying, aren't you guys with me on this?]

I almost peed.

Paris, Day 6

Thursday was our final day in the city, and I'm not going to lie, we were tired. We got up early and had our hair washed and blow dried by an attractive French man at a salon around the corner from our apartment. We were tres chic. We hopped on the train and headed to Cimetière du Père-Lachaise. Most people don't think to themselves, "while in Paris, I want to see a cemetery." People that don't think this are seriously missing out. The old crypts are morbidly beautiful, and the leaves were just starting to change color. We saw Oscar Wilde, and then decided to move on to see Sainte-Chapelle, a 13th century Gothic style chapel with original stained glass. We decided to check and see if Notre-Dame was open, and it was! W climbed at 400 steps to the top. Yes, 400 up, and 400 down. And it was worth every step for that perfect view of Paris. Exhausted, we headed towards the apartment and grabbed some macarons and desserts along the way before stopping for dinner. It was the perfect final day for a fantastic trip.

Paris, Day 5

This was our only day without a camera. The poor thing just went kaput right as we were leaving the apartment. Which means, every picture taken that day was taken with my sad little camera phone. Mom and I spent our somewhat rainy day at the Opera, and then doing some shopping. The Opera House is so beautiful. It's easy to see how it inspired Phantom of the Opera. At lunch we were seated next to two ladies from Russia. They were kind enough to send us the picture we took together. It was so funny trying to communicate between English, Russian, and French. Not to mention that multiple waiters throughout our trip tried to give me menus in Russian. Apparently I look slightly eastern European. We rounded it all out and finished our day at the Louvre where we saw Michelangelo's Dying Slave. Incredible. I may or may not have cried a little. Everything about Paris is so overwhelmingly beautiful.

Paris, Day 4

On Tuesday, we headed to Notre-Dame. This was the only time we were effected by the strike, and the stairs to the top were closed. Bummer. Happily, the cathedral was open and magnificent. We also took a little cruise on the Seine, and walked through the Musée d'Orsay a hop and skip back to the boat, and we were on our way to the Île Saint-Louis for ice cream. French dairy is an amazing, life changing thing.

Paris, Day 3

Monday was probably my favorite day in Paris and most of it was spent outside of the city. We took a trip to Giverny to see Monet's house and gardens. There are no words or pictures that could ever describe this place. Go there. You will never regret it. When our train got back to Paris, we went to the Musée de l'Orangerie. We may or may not have cried. I plead the fifth. We had plans to meet our group for dinner, but stopped at Laduree for ice cream an macarons anyway. After dinner we went to the top of the Arche de Triomphe. Perfect in every way. If I could relive any single day of my life, it would probably be that one.

Paris, Day 2

On day two, I woke up early to search our neighborhood for some freshly baked baguettes and yogurt. What is up with French dairy? Why isn't our dairy that good? The yogurt is HEAVEN. AND THE BUTTER! I could put it on everything. Breakfast happily in our bellies, we headed to Versailles. The gardens are stunning. Then we went to Eiffel, and saw the city from the summit. That night we were introduced to French mustard. Deeeelicious.

Paris, Day 1

Our first day in Paris started with a long walk, followed by a walk through the Louvre, then a walk around Montmarte, And finally rounded out by more walking. It was perfect in every way. I'm still dreaming about France and all the beautiful things in Paris.

Jet Lag

I'm still so sleepy and my body is not thrilled about leaving Paris time. Who can blame it? My mind wishes I could have stayed there just as much as my body does. Until I can get all the pictures sorted, enjoy a picture of Winged Victory of Samothrace. It was so stunning that it knocked the wind right out of me.

Home.

Paris was everything and then some. Now, I'm so tired I can't see straight. More later!

Vacation!

I'm going to Paris. Really. Like, right now. My bags are packed, and I have ticket in hand. And it is so very surreal.



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I think you are...

You are also brilliant, talented, incredibly clever, and rather cute, too. In short, you mean the world to me, and I don't think I could ever tell you that enough.



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