promises

I, Deva, promise:

1. To make the weekend of September 11th a Deva weekend.  I will do whatever the hell I want.  I probably won’t be around people.

2. To start going to the gym regularly.  I’m actually planning on leaving the Y and joining the monstrous New York Sports Club chain.  There’s one close to my house… not super close, but it’ll do.

3. I will be completely moved into my room by the end of September.  I’m sick of my room not being put together.  That said – I already kinda want/need a new desk chair.

4. To see more concerts… and Broadway shows.

5. To start saving for a macbook.  I want to get one for Christmas.  Happy Christmas to me.

roller coasters and pride

I am dehydrated… I think.  But I had a great weekend.

On Saturday, I went to Six Flags with Adam, Ryan and Jason.  The bus trip was pleasant, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and we never spent more than an hour standing in each roller coaster line.

Sounds like success to me.

Me and the guys heading to our first ride...

Somehow, the guys got me to ride THREE (yes, three) upside-down roller coasters.  PS: I don’t do upside-down coasters very well.  As a matter of fact, I don’t really do them at all.  Just recently (in the past 4 years) did I start riding them… my first was Alpengeist at Busch Gardens.

Well, here’s the full list:

1. Alpengeist – Busch Gardens, 2005

2. Tennessee Tornado – Dollywood (don’t hate), 2006

3. The Incredible Hulk – Islands of Adventure, 2007

4. Superman:  Ultimate Flight, last Saturday

5.  The Great American Scream Machine, last Saturday (this ride is painful and old – do not ride it)

6. Bizarro, last Saturday

I somehow made it out of Six Flags alive.  My head was spinning (and still is…) but I was alive.

Sunday was a different day… more Pride-ful, if you will.

In support of 98% of my closest friends, I stumbled over to the Pride March with the typical posse (minus Jason – see above).  Unlike DC Pride last year, the weather was stunning – and with the high energy, it made for a fun parade.

I don't get it.

Nope, that's not Liza.

I'm sorry I missed the front?

This was adorable in a "I'm making a statement" kinda way...

Clearly, it was a good time :)  At least for the first 3 hours.

**I’m not sure what I was trying to accomplish with the black and white photos… I think I just enjoy having that feature on my camera.

a little lightheaded

I really wanted to blog about my super awesome weekend, but I’m feeling kinda nauseous.  Perhaps my body still hasn’t recovered from the Great American Scream Machine (I hated that ride).  Unfortunately, I will have to delay this posting until tomorrow.

Good night, all.

surprises

So, Emily and Melissa stopped in this weekend… 

And so did Linh.  From effing Miami.

Except no one told me.  Her comment was, “did you think I was gonna let you guys hang out without me?!”  Crazy Linh…

I completely flipped out when Linh walked into my apartment.  I normally don’t scream like a 5 year old girl when I get surprised, but I definitely screamed and waved my arms around when I saw Linh. 

It was a 4747 Lambeth reunion – and it was awesome.  Thank God for that extra blow up mattress.

Here’s my weekend of fun in pictures:

We got 2nd row seats for Guys and Dolls thanks to Linh.  Incredible.  Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat was one of most amazing songs I’ve ever heard on Broadway.

omg.  Lauren Graham.  She’s one of the the reasons why we saw the show.  Surprisingly, she has a good voice.

We took a ridiculously long train ride to Coney Island, in search of the Coney Island Market.  It doesn’t actually start until May 15th.  My bad.

Yep, the sideshows are still there.  Coney Island is still a freak show.

 

Hot dogs!  We each ate one.  They were tasty.

Then we hit up a few sweet places for cupcakes and candy.  It’s really hard for us to pass up sweets. 

That’s Em hiding behind Seredipity 3’s extra large menu.  Our 11pm dinner was really tasty.  I highly recommend the ham and brie sandwich.  And the frozen hot chocolate, of course. 

Oh – and we saw Little Ashes.  Emily wanted to see it because of Robert Pattinson (aka. Edward from Twilight).  Definitely worth the $12.  PS: Javier Beltrán is crazy hot.  

Whoops, one more picture: 

That’s the ping pong table (at Fat Cat) where Em and I both schooled Melissa in 3 awesome ping pong matches.

 

So, my weekend was pretty freakin’ awesome.  Me and my B’s :)  I miss them already. 

weekend recap.

I’ll start with the ending: It went REALLY well.  One of the smoothest weekends my organization has had in several years. 

And now, the beginning.  Don’t worry, I’ll give the reader’s digest version:

Thursday, April 30th.  Astonishingly, all 29 finalists made their way to NYC without problems.  This made me happy because I booked everyone’s travel.  

Go me.  Point for Deva. 

Around 6pm, one of our most important events of the year began: Finalist Night (click here for my cousin’s recap of the event).  Overall, it was a hit.  The food was good, the drinks were flowing, and there was a lot of mixing, mingling and whatever else happens at cocktail parties.  And, most importantly, people were really excited about our finalists. 

Another point for me, and a point for everyone else on staff who made the entire night a success. 

Friday, May 1st.  The day was full of interviews, so I don’t have much to report on – EXCEPT the fact that we started and ended the day long interview fest 100% on time.  In case you don’t know, my organization is NO-torious for running late in almost everything.  I work with very chatty folks.  I’m not sure how it happened, but my team was very excited about ending on time, because we all (finalists, staff and judges) had a very lovely dinner planned at Dos Caminos that night.  

And finally, Saturday, May 2nd.  It was mass hysteria in the morning for about 15 minutes.  Judges were running late (or didn’t show up at all), finalists didn’t know where to go for their interviews, there were several room changes, our catered breakfast didn’t arrive on time… and little ol’ me had to manage all of that ridiculousness.  After being pulled in 529 different directions, things eventually calmed down.  Interviews ended at 12:30pm, then the finalists went to lunch.  Sadly, I didn’t go – I had the privilege of watching the judges, and later the senior staff, deliberate until 9pm. 

Then my weekend was over.  I got home, ate some food, then passed out.

All in all, it was a success.  My very first big event :) I can’t wait to add that to my resume.

finally here.

The last 9 months of my job have been leading up to this upcoming jam-packed weekend.  Selection Weekend 2009.  

We fly in a bunch of people from around the country, and even the world, to participate in in-person interviews with a panel of “judges” (we’re starting to call them interview committee members).  There’s also a big-ish 200+ guest cocktail party the first night of the weekend where all people, rich and poor, come together to celebrate the good work my organization is doing – and obviously the good work of the fellows and finalists too. 

This had better be grand. 

My team has been extra careful to NOT slack off until the last minute, and I’m pretty sure it has paid off.  We’re able to leave on time and no one is stressed.  Not even me.  Not even my boss.  Excellent.

All I want is for this weekend to run smoothly.  It doesn’t have to be perfect – just devoid of major interruption. 

And after this weekend, I will sleep.  A lot.  Get excited.

weekend thoughts

This weekend has been weird. It started with fellowship applications, and ended with Daniel Radcliffe’s naked body.

Weird.

What happened between those two “extremes” was pleasant. I cooked for Adam and Ryan on Saturday night (a healthy chicken stir-fry with chocolate pecan pie for dessert) and we all were reasonably drunk by the time they left. On the plus side, my dinner turned out well and I think I’m finally starting to enjoy wine. I think Michael Pollan would be happy with the way my stir-fry was prepared (not so much the chocolate pecan pie…) :)

Earlier that day, I went shopping for cleaning supplies for my apartment and a few other odds and ends (from the Container Store). I kinda hate dealing with Saturday shoppers so my Saturday shopping didn’t last very long.

This afternoon, I saw Equus. Overall, I think I liked the play. It was my first time seeing a non-musical. It was a fairly dark story: “Harry Potter” plays a troubled 17-year-old who worships a horse (Equus), and it consumes his life. Most of the play takes place in a psychiatrist’s office, where the doctor is trying to get to the root of Harry’s problem (background: Harry had just recently blinded 6 horses, forcing his parents to send him to a psychiatrist). At the same time, the doctor is struggling with his own personal life issues. Essentially, both main characters are hot messes.

Then there’s the infamous sex scene between Harry Potter and his “love interest”. I’m not gonna lie – seeing Harry Potter naked was super weird. Obviously, I was unable to get the whole “Harry Potter” image out of my mind throughout the play (his character’s name is actually Alan Strang), so that screwed with me a bit. On the whole, I think Daniel did a really good job in that role. It reminded me of Harry Potter in Book 7 – angry at  everyone and everything.

So – who should see Equus? Anyone who:

a) loves Harry Potter

b) loves Harry Potter/Daniel Radcliffe so much they want to see him naked

c) likes dark, quasi-twisted stories

d) has $31 and a free Sunday afternoon (and lives in the NYC area)

e) is a fan of Richard Griffiths or Peter Shaffer

FYI: I fall under options a and d, and sorta c.

the weekend: in 3 acts

***Side note: these acts are not in chronological order. I apologize in advance.

Act 1: Saturday, October 25, 2008. The football game.

For those who don’t follow ACC football, the University of Virginia beat Georgia Tech 24-17! I can’t tell you how excited that made me on Saturday, and how excited that still makes me today. I love it when Virginia wins, but I love it even more when Virginia beats schools at their homecoming games. I was also happy for Peter, who really, really wanted to see UVA beat Georgia Tech. Basically Georgia Tech to him is what the University of Maryland is to me – hell on Earth – and it’s always pleasant one of the best things EVER to watch your grad school suffer at the loss of a football game.

Booya, Georgia Tech.

Oh – and to the Georgia Tech fan who called UVA a “safety school”, he can kiss my ass big left toe. UVA is not a safety school. I hope he felt like a douche bag after his school lost. I wish I could’ve laughed in his face… but I was too busy singing the Good Ol’ Song with my fellow Wahoos.

lazy weekend

I haven’t written in a while because I haven’t really done anything blog-worthy. My life right now goes something like this:

wake up at 6:15am, leave for work at 6:45am, get to work at 8:50am, work until 5:30-6pm, get home at 8:50ish, eat dinner around 9:30pm, watch some tv while gchatting, sleep at 12:30am.

How exciting… except not at all.

Last Friday, I broke away from my dreadfully boring daily ritual and had a mini dinner party with Adam and Ryan. Adam made chicken biryani (from scratch – none of those rice mixes) and it was tasty – and spicy.

I’m not a huge fan of really spicy food, but the biryani was manageable. Since Adam made dinner, I agreed to make dessert… so I whipped up a cookies and cream cake (also from scratch).

Well, it wasn’t the prettiest cake, but it was pretty delicious. I’m no Ace of Cakes or anything, so don’t hate. Ryan mostly sat around. He was kinda sick, so it’s probably best that he wasn’t making any food. We ended the night with Smart People. I only gave it 3 out of 5 stars. It was kinda depressing.

Then yesterday, we just roamed around Manhattan. Adam bought an ipod touch and I was jealous. Today I did work. At home. It was a lazy day.

Wow. What a weekend. I hope I’m ready for the craziness this week will bring…

At least Emily and Patrick are coming to visit next weekend. I’m REALLY looking forward to that. It will be awesome.

fastest weekend ever.

The past 3 days felt like 2 days, and that’s no good.

I told people I was spending the weekend in DC, but I actually only spent about 3 hours in DC the entire time. I went to the new and greatly improved Murky – Peregrine Espresso. I’m so glad I was right on time for the grand opening :)

It looks absolutely fantastic inside, and I got to see my pals Randy, David, Mike (who worked at the old Murky Capitol Hill) and store owner, Ryan. Unfortunately, I forgot to buy one of their shirts. Next time.

So, my weekend in a nutshell was jam packed but fun (except when UVA lost to USC).

After spending most of Friday night on a bus from NYC to Virginia, I crashed on Patrick’s* couch until early Saturday morning. We did some shopping before heading to the sports bar where we met up with Emily 1 at a sports bar where we watched Virginia Tech lose to East Carolina (YAY!) and then Virginia get kicked in the face shat on by USC. It was a very sad game. Patrick, Emily 1 and I did some more hanging out before parting ways. I headed to Melissa and Emily 2’s apartment. The second I walked through the door I was greeted by this hyperactive little man:

His name is Tiki Barber (or Tiki-tik, if you want to be cute) and he’s a black pug. Emily’s family is big on pugs (she already has 2 pugs that live with her parents), so Tiki fits right in. I really wasn’t expecting such hyperactivity – he was licking every surface of my head, from my hair to my nostrils to my ears. It was pretty disgusting, but I guess he missed me. Sunday morning was more of the same; Melissa woke Tiki up and he almost immediately attacked my face again.

I eventually got a chance to take some pictures of him when he was not as crazy. He’s a cute puppy (and he’s a UVA fan, obviously). When I wasn’t being attacked by a 5 pound dog, I got a chance to catch up with Emily 2 and Melissa, which was nice. They’re great. Almost as soon as I got there, it was time to leave and meet up with another friend of mine, Ally, at Peregrine Espresso. An hour later, I was leaving Virginia and DC. Somehow I managed to see 5 of my friends in 1.5 days.

Mission Accomplished.

Then – Labor Day. I ventured out to NYC to meet up with my cousin, Allison, who I hadn’t seen since her college graduation last year. It was nice to spend time with her, especially since a lot of my family is so distant. That’s what happens when your extended family is huge, I guess. I roamed the city a bit before bothering Adam and Ryan while they moved into their new apartment.

And that’s that. I’m in serious need of a relaxing weekend. Unfortunately, I’m not seeing that in my future.