Bike accidents, ball gowns, and books

I had my first bike commuting accident on Friday. I guess it was only a matter of time until it happened, but I was still bummed that it happened. Here's the story:

I was riding north on Connecticut Avenue at Farragut Square, stopped at the light at Connecticut and Eye street. I started from the red light, crossed the intersection, and went about 10 feet. I hit a pothole and lost control of my bike. About 10 feet of wavering later, I finally bit it and went face first into a parking meter. BAM. The right side of my face right into a parking meter. I laid on the sidewalk for a couple minutes before I could get up again. A very nice woman came and sat with me until I was ready to get up. I walked my bike to the office and realized that I'd lost my housekeys. Great. So my coworker and I walked back to F.Square and looked, but couldn't find them. We talked with the Golden Triangle guy (these people that help tourists get to Dupont Circle and the White House, basically) and described the keys to him. Went back to the office and just kind of sat there. Another coworker was nice enough to drive me home. On our way, I got a call that said the GT folks had found my keys. YAY! I ended up with a black eye and some nasty bruises on my leg, but otherwise unscathed. 

So, last weekend I went to the National Italian American Foundation's Annual Gala and it was incredible. I took a friend of mine from college (EC) as my date and we were treated to an incredible, incredible dinner. Antipasto was prosciutto, artichokes, peppers, porcini mushrooms, roma tomatoes, and endives. Never mind the five to six bottles of wine already open on the table when we got there. Primo was penne pasta with vodka sauce. Secondo was a filet with a fontina cheese crust, porcini mushroom risotto, and broccolini. THEN was dessert. Lord, lord was that dessert good. I had the best cheesecake I have ever had in my life. Ever. Ever. Ever. Seriously, I don't think I'm ever going to be satisfied by a piece of cheesecake ever again. So, so good. I stumbled home around 3 a.m. on Sunday morning completely exhausted. If nothing else, the Italians know how to throw a good festa.

Sunday, J and I went to Daedelus Books, a book warehouse. It was awesome. All the books you could want, nothing more than $5. I got three or four books, but none more exciting than Hunger Games. If you're in the mood for an addictive read, I've found it for you. I bought the book on Sunday and am already finished with it. It was THAT good. It's the story of North America an indeterminate amount of time in the future. The continent was divided into 13 districts controlled by the Capitol. The districts rise up against the Capitol and the uprising is quashed, but not before the Capitol destroys District 13. As a reminder to all the other districts, every year that Capitol holds the Hunger Games. Each district sends one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to compete in a grueling, to-the-death competition that is broadcast on live television. 

Despite its somewhat off-the-wall premise, it is riveting. I couldn't put it down. I killed all 370-some pages in less than 36 hours. I devoured it. I'll be getting the sequel tomorrow (that's right. It's a TRILOGY) and I can't wait. So, if you're looking for some reading, pick up Hunger Games.

In totally unrelated news, Rocky Horror Glee is on tonight! Sneak peek:

The best night ever

Teen Mom finale! Recap and rxn tomorrow...

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Turns out I sob at TV shows

So, last night was Glee. You know, the show where they periodically break out into song and dance? The one that is full of light and happiness? Yeah. That one. Well, last night's episode was killer. So, here's the lowdown: Kurt's dad has a heart attack (Kurt's mom died a long time ago) and is in a coma in the hospital. The rest of the New Directions try to support Kurt in various ways (mostly praying for his dad) while he rails against religion and faith. Finn makes a grilled cheese sandwich and sees Jesus in it (to each his own, I suppose) and asks the Grilled Cheesus for a number of favors. Anyway, that's all beside the point. The point is that every scene between Kurt and his dad (or with Kurt at all, really) made me SOB. I was on my 1960's, rock-hard day bed in my freezing basement apartment sobbing into my bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. So much father-son relationship-ness. So many tears. Even my sister got misty-eyed, and she doesn't have a soul.

Anyway, if you're in the mood for a good cry and you haven't seen it, you should check it out. Next up on Tuesday was Teen Mom. We're approaching the season finale, which makes me a little sad. I love this show. Quick recap: Amber is abusive toward Gary and continues to be a crazy. She somehow gets Gary to apologize for his "selfish" (read: responsible) behavior and he even SENDS HER FLOWERS after she tells him that she's already seeing someone else. Who is she seeing, you ask? A guy she met in WalMart who just got out of jail. I kid you not. I can't make this up. Farrah is still upset about Derrick's death (understandably so) and meets with Derrick's sister. Catelynn's mom continues to SUCK at life and be angry that Catelynn and Tyler gave Carly up for adoption. Listen, right on, T and C. They realized that they were too young and that their home environment was NO place for a baby. Next week, they get to go see their little peanut! I'm supes excited for them.

And now, we come to Maci. Oh, Maci. First, she's my favorite. I think she's the best mom of the four we've been following and she seems to really want to get her life on track. She is good with Bentley and is genuinely trying to do her best. So, she moves to Nashville from Chattanooga to be with Kyle, her new boyfriend. They've been doing long distance for two months and she is totally into him. He's good with Bentley and seems to really love her. So, she makes the move (much to the chagrin of her parents and Ryan, the baby daddy). And then, Kyle says it's all too much and they break up. Listen, Kyle (aka jerk-face), what did you think it was gonna be??? How could you do that to Maci?? The episode ends with the poor girl sitting in her living room in her new place in Nashville saying that she'll do the single mom thing, even though it's not ideal. Breaks.my.heart. We'll see what happens next episode, but I'm hoping we find out that Maci's got something really good going on in her life.

And now, onto the biggest news of the day. Listen up people: the cast of The Sound of Music, the greatest movie of all time, is appearing on Oprah in three weeks. First, OHMYGODTHATSSOAWESOME. TSOM is my favorite movie of all time. I love that movie. My love is deep and it is real. I have seen it probably over 1,000 times (that's not an exaggeration) and could probably recite it for you. We used to watch it at my grandmother's house. The two VHS version, thank you very much. (Side note: every time Gretl says, "It'll be my first party, father!" I think, "Time to get up and change the tape." Sad that kids today don't know what a tape is...) I own the DVD and have watched it 6 bazillion times. It is my comfort movie. When I don't know what else to watch, TSOM. When I'm sadder than ever before, TSOM. When I have to write a 20 page Cicero paper in one night, TSOM. When I just need some awesome in my life, TSOM. For no real reason at all, TSOM. 

The most exciting part about the Oprah show is that Christopher Plummer is going to be on. Chris.to.pher.Plummer. He was my first celebrity crush. Man, was he handsome in that naval uniform and in everything he wore in that movie. The whistle is hot. The dancing is sexy (not in a 2010 way, but in a 1950 kind of way). The scene where Maria and the Captain dance the Laendler is one of the most romantic scenes ever captured on film. (Can you tell my love runs deep?) I used to dream about the Captain coming and dancing with me. I wanted to be Maria. Man, oh, man I loved him.

Here's a little video that I love. I wish I could've been a part of it:



As for tonight, just finished up The Middle and heading into Modern Family. There's also a Burn Notice marathon on so I'm a little torn. OH! And I'm making chili in the crockpot. I think I may have screwed up. I'm THAT good of a cook. I'll let you all know how it goes...

That time I was in college

So, no posts over the weekend, as I was sans internet and sans sobriety because I spent the weekend at Colgate. That's right kids. I was that alumna who went back for homecoming weekend. And it was glorious.

Took the day off on Friday and headed up to 'Gate with J. We had a lovely car ride that included a stop at Wegmans and the realization that my car had little to no oil in it. No big deal. We got to Colgate and I headed to Nichols for happy hour. Spent some QT there and then went to SLICES. Be jealous. Slices --> Wayne's --> Tri Delta --> Back to Nichols --> Glass. Once at the Glass, I stayed. And then I closed the Glass. Closed. The. Glass. I didn't even do that when I was in college. Crazy.

Spent the whole next (gorgeous) day at tailgate and with my lovely sisters. Headed to the Barge for coffee with one of my old professors, WCS. I was terrified of him for about five semesters, but ended up adoring him. He's crazy and mean and hilarious all at the same time. Then back to the house for alumnae dinner and some before-downtown activities. I shared this video with everyone, they loved it:



Headed back downtown, Glass --> SLICES --> home. All in all, an excellent weekend. It was 65 and beautiful both days and I got to spend it with some incredible people. Although, I did get stood up for my Quacks date (cough DAN cough). I guess I'll just have to take a rain check..

So, the only show I watched on Thursday was The Office. Before I continue, I have a confession to make: I don't watch Community or 30 Rock with any kind of regularity. I know. For shame. I know that they're both awesome and that everyone loves them, but I just never got into them. I missed a number of the first episodes of Community and didn't even hear about 30 Rock until waaaaaaay late. So, judge me. Judge away.

This week's episode of The Office was okay. The show hasn't really been the same since Jim and Pam got married and there wasn't a really good plot in this episode. Michael has to go to counseling with Toby and Toby tricks Michael into talking about his issues. Pam tricks the people from Sabre into making her the Office Administrator. And there's this weird thing with Dwight getting his money back. Best line of the night? Erin on disposable cameras: "Disposable cameras are fun, although it does seem wasteful and you don't ever get to see your pictures. If it's an important event, that you want to remember, I recommend using a real camera." Priceless.

Tonight, I am putting my feet up and catching up on Mad Men, Rubicon, How I Met Your Mother, and Castle. (If you don't watch Castle, you should, if for no other reason than Nathan Fillion is adorable.) Also, totally random, but if you ever watched Nickelodeon, you should check out this quiz.

UPDATE: Per request, a story. So, J and I were up at Colgate this weekend and as I made it clear to him (and a number of other people), this was not an "us" weekend. This was a bro/bra (<--- the word we came up with as the female counterpart to "bro") weekend. When we arrived at 'Gate, I headed to Nichols and J to the Glass. Following conversation ensued:

As we're sprint-walking downtown.


J: What are you up to tonight?
Me: Going to Nichols to hang out with Mee and ES. You?
J: Glass.
Me: Nice.

Arrive at the five-way intersection.

Me: Okay, babe, see you later!
J: Well, when?
Me: Well, I don't know.
J: Will I see you downtown?
Me: Not sure. Depends on how things go with Mee tonight. I'm all hers.
J: [awkwardly stunned silence]

It's like a Thursday night in here

So, tonight is Wednesday night. But for me, it's like a Thursday. I'm taking Friday off and heading to Colgate for homecoming (hello, awesome). So tomorrow is like a Friday! Woo end of the week!

Anyway, the DC area is preparing for a massive flood thanks to tropical storm Nicole so I'm not riding my bike to work tomorrow. I'm not really looking forward to that.. I've been riding my bike almost every day since I moved to DC proper and I love it. It's way cheaper. Thanks to recent fare hikes, it's ridiculously expensive to use metro. I save upwards of $100 a month by riding my bike. Plus, it's good for me (and the environment!) and I spend less time commuting than if I use metro. BUT, if there's going to be a torrential downpour, I probably shouldn't (or couldn't) ride tomorrow. So, I, along with hundreds of others, will commute via metro. Fun times?

Onto the TV (which is why you [Brianne] read). Tonight is one of my favorite TV nights, due to (and I never thought I'd say this) the ABC lineup. The combination of The Middle and Modern Family is brilliant. I think I love it so much because the combination of the two shows is basically my childhood. If you take the ridiculousness that is Phil Dunphy (plus my dad's name is Phil) and the sibling relationships from The Middle and sprinkle in a little bit of deafness, and you've got my life.

A clip to illustrate why I love Modern Family:



However, my new favorite show is Sister Wives. Please, please tell me that you've seen this show. An new addition to the TLC lineup, it's an hour long show that airs on Sunday nights (which is already taken up by Mad Men and Rubicon) that is about plural marriage. Let me tell you, this show is incredible. One guy (Kody), three wives, twelve kids, all magic. We've just made it through the first half hour and met all the wives and their kids. And now, he's gonna tell the kids that he's "courting" another woman. ANOTHER WOMAN. He will then have FOUR (4) wives. I can't imagine being married to a man who had other wives. Other. wives. And the really incredible part is that these women (well, the second and third wives) both were looking for a plural lifestyle. I mean, hey, to each his own. I just am really, really struggling to imagine this.

So, he's told the kids that Robyn (the woman he's courting) likes them and that he wants their family to grow by four more. "We sure need another one, it's getting kind of boring." That's the quote. I respect that he's talking to the kids about how they feel about another family joining theirs. It seems that the kids are okay with the idea of another wife coming in and I guess, in the end, if the kids are happy and healthy, that's what matters? But, it seems all is not well in paradise (?), the other sister wives are not happy with the potential (and according to the previews, eventual) addition of Robyn. Jealousy abounds. I'll be watching this show closely...

Reviving an old hobby

So, I'm back to blogging... kind of. Not that I was ever a frequent blogger before, but I wrote a bit about my time living in Venice. Lately, I've been restless and lots of people I know are blogging, so I thought why not. Also, I suppose it's more for me than for anyone else, so there's that.

Instead of doing the whole "this is what I've been doing since I last posted" thing (which includes graduating college and moving to DC), I'm just gonna jump right into it.

I have a feeling that a significant amount of time is going to be devoted to writing about TV, as that's what takes up a lot of my time (outside of work and running/biking). For example, tonight is Tuesday, which means Glee and Biggest Loser. We'll start with Glee.

Tonight was the Britney episode. I was so.excited.for.this. I love Britney. One of the only concerts I've ever been to in my life was a Britney concert. I was 13, it was my friend K's birthday and we took a limo. Best night of my life. I loved Britney then and I love her now, which is why I was a bit disappointed by tonight's episode. While the girl who plays Brittney (who was a dancer for Britney, I believe...) is an incredible dancer and is basically a body double for Ms. Spears, I just wasn't feeling the premise. So, the kids from New Directions go to Emma's boyfriend (JOHN STAMOS?! Welcome back to my life, Uncle Jesse.. for your viewing pleasure, one of my favorite Uncle Jesse videos EVER:

P.S. you're welcome.) to get their teeth cleaned and while they're there, they hallucinate Britney Spears songs? And when they finally sing a BS song for the homecoming pep rally, there's a giant orgy in the stands? (The kid with the 'fro creeped me out ^ extreme.) I think Glee is at its best when, as Todd VanDerWerff from AV Club says, it's a sadder show about how sometimes dreams don't come true, but that life will be okay anyway. And this episode veered too far into the bizarre, "we can do anything because people love us" territory. On the upside, next week looks awesome. Next week includes tunes from Billy Joel and Whitney Houston, two of my all time favorites. How could it be bad?

I love Biggest Loser. I really, really do. Such a simple concept, but genius. Not too much to say today, as it's episode number two, so we've just met everyone. Nothing really dramatic has happened because there's too many people. But I do have to say this: the elimination challenge this time was dumb. Plain dumb. They lined up all the people who fell below the yellow line (eight of them this time) and told them to run to get a flag. Whoever got the first flag was safe. Then, they just did it again. And again. And again until there were two left. One (Allie) was eliminated. Not interesting, BL, not interesting.

Welp, Teen Mom (another one of my all time favorite television shows) is on. Gonna settle in to watch and then head to bed. I have to work forty hours in four days so I can take Friday off and head to Colgate for homecoming!