any miyazaki fans out there? my sister and I basically grew up watching all of his films: my neighbor totoro, kiki's mail delivery service, princess mononoke, spirited away, howl's moving castle, etc. you should definitely check out his films if you haven't already.
my sister is hanging out at home with my parents for a couple weeks and found time to make this great video. love it. love her.
you know why family is the best? because they don't kill you when your flailing hand motions while telling a story end up knocking an entire glass of red wine (correction: YOUR entire glass of red wine) all over their beautiful clothes. instead, they scream, "i've been shot!" and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh.
that's why family's the best.
(my cousins helen and jennifer after i *shot* them)
hello readers! please forgive me for neglecting this blog of mine. It's been a very insane few weeks and I haven't really had much energy to post here. I've also been a little inspiration-less these days. I think when your work life takes over, it's hard to think about anything else. Wouldn't you agree?
The only other thing stressing me out more than my work stuff is thinking about my hair. For those who don't know, I am growing my hair out to donate. this is my second time doing it. It's fun, easy, and something i feel good about committing to.
but when it gets close to being long enough to donate, i start to go a little insane inside. deep down, i'm a short hair girl, and as much as i admire people's beautiful long locks, i can't really manage my own. i am dyyyyying to cut it. so lets brainstorm some ideas.
i've been in hiding these days due to a few things: sheer exhaustion, the crazy heat in D.C. (101 yesterday!), lack of party planning funds, and etc. Ever notice how expensive it is to go out and have fun? Thus I've taken to staying home in my AC and reading or watching shows online or cooking, which means no new posts for you people.
to make it up to you, here's a cute photo of Eli and some puppies (which he adorably calls "uppies").
[jeannie's note: if you click on the photos, they will zoom big for you. try it!]
last year my sister was in town for the july fourth festivities so, while I had a lot of fun this year, i found myself thinking longingly about painting, kebab-ing, and lounging with uno. miss you sister!
chris and i putzed around town all weekend. but it was so hot that i really only enjoyed swimming at the ymca on saturday. i've recently started swimming for exercise and it's been pretty life changing. i used to run a lot and basically hated every second of it. but i can swim for hours, get a really good workout, and throughly enjoy it -- and that, i think, is the key to exercise. you have to find what works for you, what you enjoy. if you run and you love it, great! keep doing it. if you hate it, move on and find something you do like.
i'm thinking about maybe taking a few private swimming lessons to improve my form so i can get the maximum workout from my swim sessions. first thing i want to learn is that cool flippy thing that swimmers do at the end of their lap to keep going without stopping. i am still sort of anxious about getting water up my nose, so i haven't been able to do it. but soon! soon.
and now you're saying, enough of this random nonsensical shit. get to the pictures!
first: jazz in the garden at the national art gallery,
an event where all of dc crams into one small park to listen
to jazz and have a picnic in 90 degree heat with 80% humidity.
it is both fun and ridiculous ... cheers!
the crowds
second: we went to the Nats vs. Cubs game. Chris was so
determined to get a free patriotic Nats cap that he made
us come 2 hours before the game began!
the prized possession
afterwards we went to my place and made a
meal of japanese potato salad, corn, steak
kebabs, and roasted peppers: my kind of food
after dinner we made brownies and watched harry potter II until the fireworks started. (we are trying to make our way through the entire harry potter series in anticipation of the final movie which comes out next week)
the view of the fireworks from my apartment is pretty spectacular, only because you get a good panorama view of all the shows in the city. but i guess it's a toss up between seeing one really good show up close or seeing all of them at once from a distance. in any case, here's a video for you!
