hip to the hop

i have been working on a few projects this summer that fall under the "street cred" file. one of them is to un-ironically rock a fedora. i am still working on this. seems like it shouldn't be that hard but i am here to tell you, it is.

i've had a little more luck with my second street cred goal: get into hip hop music. i am almost (almost!) to the point where i can listen to it in my car with the windows down and not die on the spot of poser shame.

listening to hip hop was going well enough, in fact, that i decided to take it up a notch (as they say on the streets) and try dancing hip hop.

please stop laughing.

now.

bixler and i hit up a hip hop dance class in friendship heights last night and, believe it or not, we can (sort of) shake what our mommas gave us.

honestly, i thought i was just going to crumble in a pile of massive humiliation at my first attempt to (i like to) move it (move it), but it was not nearly so embarassing as that and, in an added bonus, it was also really, super-duper fun (as they say on the streets). we have half of the routine pretty well down (i did it for emily h. last night when i got home and she said i looked awesome. so there) and we are going back next week to learn the rest.

i am afraid i was too busy working my moves (as they say on the streets) to take any pictures or (eek) video of the event, but just close your eyes and imagine me rocking it to this little tune (warning: there are swears) and i think you'll get the idea.



how did i look?

turning point

turns out if you are still working crazy hours even though things were supposed to have calmed down and/or you have been too lazy to get it together and sign up for wireless internet service at home (and/or the nearby neighbor's wireless internet that you have been somewhat successfully poaching suddenly and completely disappears, speaking of which, what the heck?) you just don't blog as much as you used to.

but, that seems like the story of my life these days and turns out you are probably used to it by now, so let's just move on. deal?

turns out you can grill just about anything and this includes pizza. yes, pizza. turns out you just throw the dough on the grill and the magic happens. complete with cheese and artichoke hearts. also turns out that if you invite dana over to help you eat grilled pizza, she'll bring mangoes on sticky rice. turns out those are delicious.

turns out i am glad doobie suggested we go see "inception" last night even though i had read some lukewarm reviews, because turns out it blew my mind. dreams in dreams in never-ending dreams? wowsa. turns out leonardo dicaprio is sort of past his prime, imho. but jospeh gordon levitt? wowsa.

turns out i really can get myself on a schedule whereby i arrive at work on time every morning. and turns out this schedule also allows time for making my bed and reading my scriptures and eating breakfast. every morning! turns out i am amazed.

turns out i really love having a little home to come, well, home to. especially when i am tired from working 1 gazillion hours in one week, or when people make me mad, or when people make me sad, or when i see funny little old men sneakily pruning other people's trees and then running away and i can't wait to tell someone about it. turns out emily h. will laugh at my stories and also let me read things out loud to her. which, turns out, is pretty great.

turns out i left waaaaay more kitchen stuff at my parents' house than i thought i did, but also turns out that my mom is pretty great and she mailed it to me. so, turns out, we will soon have a fondue pot at our house. grill everything and then dip it in chocolate? turns out i think that is a pretty good idea.

turns out i had more to say than i thought i did.

look who came to dinner

we put some good work into the house this week and weekend (kitchen unpacked! artistic dining room lighting design accomplished!) so we were ready for our first dinner guests on sunday, just in time to celebrate lance and robert's birthdays.

emily h. got a grill for her birthday last month, so our motto these days is "grill everything." (maybe we should make it "grill, baby, grill." thoughts on this?)

sunday's grilled menu included chicken, corn, zuchini and squash and melon (indeed! you can grill melon! and it is divine!) and then homemade raspberry frozen yogurt and grilled (!) angel food cake for dessert. we made a creamy chili powder sauce for the corn, which i thought i might hate but ended up loving, and squeezed lime juice in the melon once it was off the grill, which gave it a perfect little zip and made it even more delicious, despite the fact that such a thing seemed impossible.

laura's homemade garland added just the right touch of festivity, and was a lovely complement to our new paper lantern montage in the dining room.












it was so lovely to have people over to our new home and to feel like it actually is a home after a couple weeks of boxes and terrible work schedules. grilling adventures on the horizon include grilled pizza and shrimp sandwiches. and the ice cream maker is always at the ready. stop by any time.

grocery god(dess)(es)

we bid farewell to one ms. sarahlolson last night with a grocery store adventure activity and it turned out to be a night full of magic.

for starters, emily h. and i were tasked with finding the most delicious food or drink in aisle 12, which, at the giant on glebe, is the chip and condiment aisle. horse radish, anyone? but then, just as we were about to settle for cheese puffs, we found a bag of discarded ghiardelli chocolate chips! right there on aisle 12. we took it as a sign and picked them up.

divine intervention was confirmed a few minutes later when we came across these, while browing for african-american hair care products.





i think it is safe to say, someone upstairs is watching.

shine or downpour

i am working like crazy this week at a training being held at a hotel that only serves pepsi products, so i don't have much to say except that you should feel really, really sorry for me because a lot of work plus pepsi only is a combination that simply cannot end well.

we did get a little break yesterday to take the event participants to the sunset parade at the iwo jima memorial. we saw the marine drum and bugle corps and the silent drill corps and it was all very lovely and moving.

until it started to rain halfway through. and then rain harder. and harder. and then it started to thunder. and then we saw lightning literally right in front of our faces. which a little scary when the other things right in front of your faces included fixed bayonets. because the marines are hardcore they just kept playing to the end, and then we ran through street puddles that were above my ankle and booked it home, soakingsoaking wet.

and then, for all my trouble, i busted out of that hotel and drank a diet coke.

this old house

yesterday was day five of life at the new homestead, and we finally got the gas connected.

for reasons i cannot discuss in too much detail without risking a homicidal rage, the gas people came on the day i requested and then decided there were too many people around and left without doing anything, and so off our gas went.

naturally.

we suffered through cold showers for one day before decamping to MJ's for a few mornings. and i have to say, if you are forced to shower at someone else's house, MJ's is not a bad place to do it because she'll play the ukele while you get ready.

just saying.

project numero dos has been ridding the house of new paint and carpet smell, mingled with the vague scent of smokers-as-previous-tenants. not great, but a vinegar/ammonia/baking soda concoction sprayed on the ceilings and into the vents seems to be doing the trick quite nicely. a few vanilla bean candles and i think we'll be in good shape.

also on the list of new house projects: assembling my massive wardrobe, which emily and i tackled last night and did a pretty good job of on our own until the top had to be inserted into the sides, at which point emily was nearly decapitated twice and we were forced to admit some level of defeat. luckily, jed was just around the corner and up for a nighttime furniture assembly extravaganza, so he came to our rescue and helped us finish the rest.

i even got my first piece of mail at the new house, courtesy of jaron's aunt kathy and the impending delivery of my big-girl mattress (any minute now!) will cap off the first week. so i would say we are off to a good start.

i mean, our kitchen is still entirely in boxes and we've been eating cereal out of plastic cups for a week, but what is that they say? don't sweat the small stuff? all right. i won't.

firecracker people

i submit that there is no better place to take in fourth of july fireworks than in the shadow of the lincoln memorial, with the washington monument and u.s. capitol building straight ahead. the explosions were so close it seemed like colorful fire would just rain down right on top of us.

a pre-show picnic and a leisurely stroll back home from downtown, in the warm breeze of summer and patriotism made it pretty much perfect.

i loved it.

the end.

i like to move it, move it

tomorrow is moving day and i am only mildly terrified about the ratio of things i own to the space in which they must now fit.

gulp.

i can tell you, though, that planning for a move across town is significantly easier than planning for a move across the country, so this experience has been approximately 1 zillion times less stressful and sad and bittersweet than my last one.

and, concerns about closet space and ugly ceiling tiles aside, i am completely thrilled to be moving into my own space. (not that life at the chez bennett is not wonderful. i mean, i've done that gig for three out of the past five years, so it can't be that bad.) but i am really stoked to see my paintings and my dishes and my refrigerator magnets again. and to not be displaced by japanese flute teachers and various other houseguests. and to live with emily h. and, maybe most of all, to sleep on my new, amazing, swear-it's-a-cloud mattress. makes me happy just thinking about it.

once the suitcases and boxes and plastic tubs are unpacked and the chaos has settled, i'll let you know how it went. until then, keep your fingers crossed that i don't have to give away any more shoes.

fang-tastic

where were you at 12:01 on tuesday night/wednesday morning?

because smack and i were at the midnight premiere of "eclipse" in a theater that was not nearly as full of screaming 13-year-olds as i had hoped.

but, no matter. because i am going to say this about "eclipse."

it was uh-mazing.

so good.

i loved it.

smack loved it.

i clapped at the end until she made me stop. (because everyone else had already stopped, but whatevs.)

no joke.

it was way better than the second one (like, waaaay) and at least as good as the first one. the acting is better (no more pained looks and fidgeting), the script was funny (on purpose) and i don't remember any completely ridiculous lines (see: the "hold on spider monkey" atrocity), the hair and make-up is better (the vampires look significantly less ridiculous, including when they sparkle in the sun), jasper has a southern accent, edward cullen is somehow dreamier than ever (who knew it was even possible?) and hello, jacob black and his abs. yum.

oh, and also there is more kissing.

i love kissing.

plus a really rad fight scene at the end.

and so, as usual, i find myself in the somewhat embarassing position of being a fan of something i should be mocking. and i have nothing to say for myself. nothing at all.

except that you should go see "eclipse." like now.