Spring Clean and Cranky.

This new and fantastic layout is courtesy of a great little blog template designer named Gisele! In even truly more wonderful fashion (even more wonderful than an adorable free layout) she helped me out a lot with the file unzipping and all that. I sent her a few widget questions, so those should be back and up and running, too! All in a matter of time, and you don't have to look at my stupid face in the corner, just a cute little spring bird. 

Right, well in the past week I have: 

• Gone to a bridal shower, felt uncomfortable at a bridal shower, and have just been generally confused about all things bridal for my best friend's wedding (in no relation to the film) in May. 
• Saved my cousin's wedding in October by discovering that the dress for her wedding was discontinued by David's Bridal. 
• Discovered I'm starting to become one of those organic, granola, eco-lovers. Seriously though, organic does taste better and plastic bags are such a pain in the ass. 
• Become hopelessly addicted to Nutella. 
• Been told thousands of complicated facts about officially entering my MAT program in the fall. So complicated I can't even figure out how to put them in print (thus, bullet list). 
• Received my dad's birthday gift in the mail, and blown Amazon.com's list of books for me to read's little mind. I can go in more detail on this one after we celebrate dad's birthday (which is Saturday) on Easter (the next time he'll be here). 
• Read Mary Shelly's Frankenstein on an exercise bike at the gym and received looks of judgment. 
• Realized Frankenstein didn't get any better since the last time I read it. 
• Started learning to play tennis
• Didn't get post-wing night indigestion (I didn't go). 
• Spent a lot of time very sleepy and angry at the weather. 

This week has been a myriad of emotions and I feel like I need a haircut as a result. On deck for this weekend is a cheap weekend of: Friday movie night with Kelly and Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Possibly walking around the flea market on Saturday, trying to organize Earth Hour games (8:30-9:30 p.m. local time wherever you are, turn off your lights!) and then going to a concert to raise money for a memorial scholarship Shepherd started last year. Happy Friday. The sun is out. 

Now, back to my Nutella, oatmeal, coffee, and flash cards. Will tinker with the blog layout later. 

Spring makes Shepherdstown crazy

Yesterday was markedly the first beautiful day of the almost-spring season. These temperatures and things are always quite obvious even if you aren't outside. Something happens to Shepherdstown when warm weather finally graces us with its presence, and it's truly wonderful. The morning started with smoothies and a walk through town with Jessica and a grilled cheese sandwich at the Carriage House. In class, one of my favorite professors laughed at me which made my day, and I ran into Neena, Marie, and Neena's sister Lucy at the Lost Dog for the first almond espresso smoothie of the season. It was delicious. I brought John a donut for the excuse to drive around willy-nilly before the Vagina Monologues cast party at the Blue Moon. 

A very Shepherdstownian sort of afternoon, completely unproductive, unfortunately. 

I discovered the Blue Moon has a great beer selection, and enjoyed the time with the girls before a few of us headed over to the Meck for some post dinner drinks. I went next door to Tony's for a little bit to see the Golden Butter Band perform. They're a Shepherdstown staple and I had never seen them before, but every concert I've wanted to see this year has been sold out, so I figured I'd go to get some sort of live music in my life. They were good, but Tony's was packed with flailing hippies, which is all well and good, but we couldn't even get through the door down stairs. I lasted about three tunes before I was really feeling claustrophobic so I met John and we went to a party for one of his friend's birthdays, which included some of the people from the cast party. We pretty much dominated Pictionary and headed back here around 2:00.

Today, it's supposed to be just as beautiful and I really need to get some Praxis study time in, but I may sandwich some spring clothing shopping with two study sessions, maybe one outside. I live large, truly. 

Eastern mid-Atlantic? Enjoy these next few days before we head back into the tundra! Everyone else? Enjoy your weekend!  

Sex & the Small Town?!

Will someone please, please tell me the appeal of these adorable little drinks, with their adorable little colors, fruity flavors and fabulous glasses? 

Please, someone, so I can justify how much goes out of my wallet and behind a bar whenever my girl friends and I go to the 3 Onions.  

It, honestly, is probably because when the bartender hands me my tab at the end of the evening, the item name reads "Ladies Night" next to the price. Sipping something fruity and girly and catching up on months worth of gossip is best done over two beverages - coffee or martinis. Coffee, however, does not come with a receipt with the word "Ladies Night" on it. Honestly, I just need to stop pretending. My friends and I will never be quite "Sex & the City" caliber. In fact, most of the gossip of the evening was about future (too young!) weddings and relationships. None of my friends (or myself, for that matter) have a fighting chance of becoming the Sex & the City ladies. So instead on staying single for a long time and joining together to talk about our escapades over martinis, we gossip and try not to cry because of the bill at the end of the night. 

Really, this is just a public cry for help. My weeks (months) of living simply are being tested currently. Something came over me this week (pre-celebration for an extremely and unrealistic economic improvement?) and I have been incredibly liberal with my money. This includes a number of shared pitchers of beer and cheese fries on Tuesday, extra coffee Thursday and ballet flats from Aldo and martinis tonight. I need to be realistic again and remember that I work in retail and haven't had any sub positions yet. 

There's just something so nice in pretending. And something so much better about gossip said over a fruity concoction in a fabulous glass...

Though, if I keep this up there's no way I'll be able to keep putting away this money to get those beautiful new MacBooks that were just released so I can get one somewhere between March and May. Stay back delicious pumpkin pie martinis (yes, pumpkin pie martinis), stay back! 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good: 

• Wing night at Tony's...$4.50 pitchers and great friends
• Talking to the HR woman for Washington County Public Schools and learning I can start subbing as soon as my screening clears (in two weeks!) 
• Telling my manager at LHBP that I'll need to limit my hours there when I start subbing
• My kitty attacking my boyfriend's lap top case
• My boyfriend in general

The Bad:

• Our district manager came in today. I didn't greet her. I got in trouble
• Spending 7 hours putting away bras and not really having customers
• Closing on aforementioned wing night
• Not being too sure what I'm getting into with this subbing business

The Ugly: 

• My parents left yesterday. I miss them. 

Have you been to Shepherdstown? I hear it's nice in autumn...

Here I am. Stomach down on my fluffy white carpet, my favorite position to write, in my favorite dress. It's a beautiful 65 degrees in Shepherdstown, all of the windows in my house are open letting bug sounds in (I don't mind them when they're outside...). It seems like the construction has stopped for the day. It's nice and quiet (save some rumblings from my neighbor's kids running up and down her stairs). The breeze feels nice and smells so much better than air conditioning. Today will be a good day. 

Last night, we ate at Kazu for Neena's birthday. Kazu is a Thai/Japanese restaurant on German Street, and it's pretty amazing. Not a regular for us, though, as for a college student/recent graduate $12-20 a plate can be pricey. I had the shrimp pad thai, most everyone else had chicken pad thai or sushi and my boyfriend, John, had chicken pad see ew. Afterwards, John and I took Neena to the Mecklenburg Inn (to be known in the future solely as "The Meck") for a few birthday drinks. His cousin, Bret, joined us and after four beers (two apiece for John and Bret), a Long Island Iced Tea (mine) and three Sex on the Beach(es?) (one for me, two for Neena) we headed back to Birch to drop Neena off and head back to my house. 

As always, the company was wonderful. This is the thing about Shepherdstown, you're guaranteed to run into someone you know, be with people you like and have a really great time. There were eight of us indulging at Kazu and the waiter knew us all...once we arrived at the Meck we all new a few people and knew exactly what to expect. The outside patio area is, as I describe it, a fairy land. The stone tables, tiki torches and brick walkways similar to those that wind through town make you feel like you're at home only maybe slightly less afraid to spill a drink. The bar kitty was there, a friendly orange tabby with a stubby tail, and the whole scene of last night made me feel so happy to be here. 

Shepherdstown is one of those places that sucks you in so you don't want to leave. It's unlike any place I've ever lived or visited. A few years ago, I would have sworn that I'd never end up one of the Shepherd grads that scours German Street for a drink, swearing never to leave this town. It has that 'never-never land' quality to it. (Note: the land, not the ranch) I'm happiest here, wandering the streets looking in stores I've looked in before, sipping smoothies at Mellow Moods or coffee at the Lost Dog. It's just nice, especially this time of year when the temperature drops and the leaves turn over to match the bricks on the rumbly sidewalks. Oh so perfect. 

While at the Meck last night, on a trip to the restroom, I noticed a sign above each bathroom door. Where LADIES and GENTLEMEN were written, the sign read: City of Westminster. This was perhaps the first time I realized that had I gone through my original post-graduate plans I would have just arrived in London for my year at University of Westminster. Seeing those signs and realizing those facts made me realize that I made the right decision not to go. While a year abroad surely would have opened my eyes to other cultures and people and I would have received top-notch journalism training, it's not for me. Not now at least. There is something about this town and this country that needs me here right now...and the more I think about starting school, the more I get excited about teaching and learning about teaching. I'm in the right place this time. Train whistles and all. 

Also on a side-note, I registered with NaBloPoMo yesterday. It's a monthly challenge to blog every day for a month, so I figured that since I'm trying to turn over a new blogging leaf and bring in readers and do a bit more writing than I had been, it would be a nice challenge for me. I urge you all to check it out, too...

Thanks for reading.