Meet Me On Monday...

Since it's going to be quite slow at work this week, I thought I would start the week off by answering some of these questions borrowed from MEET ME ON MONDAY of NEVER GROWING OLD Blogger.

1.  Tomorrow I am: going to work as usual.

2.  When is your birthday? January 1st.  Yes, I am a New Year's baby.


3.  What are you currently excited about?  We are going to NYC this weekend for a long weekend get away and also the NYC 5 Boro's 40 mile bike tour on Sunday.  So excited to hang out with my dear hubs, eat some good food, shop a little, and take lots of photos.

photo taken Oct. 2011 at the tweed ride

4.  Do you have any secrets? Of course. Who doesn't?? 


5.  What do you normally eat for lunch?  I usually take leftovers  or get something healthy from the cafeteria (soup and salad or sandwich).

A Day To By Myself in Georgetown

I have the day to myself. Dear husband is at work, the house is clean and I have nowhere to be. So I grabbed my camera and my bike and it was time to go to to the Georgetown French market early this morning.

Apparently I was too excited and got there too early but took a few photos anyway.

1. Georgetown sign - looking North on Wisconsin Ave.

2. Stopped my consignment shop  - Ella Rue. No luck finding anything.

3. Walked by the Georgetown Lutheran Church with their fantastic rose garden, although you couldn't really see it.

4. Went up to Reservoir but nothing was going on up here except for the sign.

5. Looking Southbound on top of small park North Georgetown.

6.  I had to get a pastry from Patisserie Poupon. For some reason I forget to take photos of my food. I ended up having a small quiche with salad, then a fruit tart.

That was the end of my day. Nice and relaxing and I didn't even shop.

A Consignment Find

Hello World!! How the heck are you?

I woke up early because Home Depot delivered our new fridge and microwave. Afterwards I donned a comfy outfit, hopped on my bike and headed out for my weekly weigh-in at a certain someplace (only to find out I've gained a bit). Nothing like retail therapy to help out with a negative start.

My good friend and I decided on an outing in Georgetown for a bit of shopping. Plus, I had a $50 gift certificate to spend on at this cute place called Ella Rue. I found a beautiful cropped white leather jacket which fit perfectly so it was definitely meant to be.  Can't wait to wear it all year long because it's that light.

   

Why Do I love Such Sad Songs?

I know this song has been out for a while but I can't help but can't help but me mesmerized by the words and the video. It's a sad song and brings back memories of long ago.  

This is Gotye's "Someone That I used to Know"



My Favorite New Dress

   

My new      favorite dress: Gap

navy blazer: Anthropologie

shoes: 

I love polyester. No, not the old 70s kind but the newer fabric of today which is so soft and light that you can wear it any time of year.  Yes, polyester is not breathable in the outdoors during summertime but does comes in handy when the AC is blasting away in the office.  Plus polyester washes easily. I know I can ride my bike and not worry about ruining it because I can throw it in the wash and not have to deal with expensive dry cleaning.

Trench love

It's been quite busy the last week, with the in-laws popping up on saturday and then work that I haven't had a chance to take photos. Here's something I wore last week thinking it would rain but it never did.  It was still a great excuse to wear the polka dot trench from Banana Republic.

House Work and Spring Cleaning

It's that time of year when I want to get things done around the house and one thing I've been meaning to do is clear out the 2nd guest room which is currently our bike storage room, laundry room, guest room, office and Photo light room.  That's a lot of things for one room to be.

This is how the second bedroom looked like before we moved in 8 years ago.

This is what the second bedroom looks now.

This is what the rest of the condo looks like after cleaning the second bedroom (can you say I'm a bit overwhelmed?)  I'm so surprised how much much we can collect and hide in one room.

More photos to come later this weekend after I clean up and put up new book cases and pretty things up a bit. 

Flashback Friday

It's the 90s revisted.  I realized that the 80s were a big part of my life but the 90s and 2000's had just as much impact.  As you know, music was the only outlet in my teen years and during college. I was shy and introverted back then and luckily I've come around.

Here's a band that I've adored since I was 14 years old and a wondefully written song too:

Duran Duran's - No Ordinary World. 

"Ordinary World"

Came in from a rainy Thursday
On the avenue
Thought I heard you talking softly

I turned on the lights, the TV
And the radio
Still I can't escape the ghost of you

What has happened to it all?
Crazy, some are saying
Where is the life that I recognize?
Gone away

But I won't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

Passion or coincidence
Once prompted you to say
"Pride will tear us both apart"
Well now pride's gone out the window
Cross the rooftops
Run away
Left me in the vacuum of my heart

What is happening to me?
Crazy, some'd say
Where is my friend when I need you most?
Gone away

But I won't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find

And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

Papers in the roadside
Tell of suffering and greed
Here today, forgot tomorrow

Ooh, here besides the news
Of holy war and holy need
Ours is just a little sorrowed talk

And I don't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

Every one
Is my world, I will learn to survive
Any one
Is my world, I will learn to survive
Any one
Is my world
Every one
Is my world

A Productive Weekend.

Saturday - Since I lost 2.2 lbs so I decided to treat myself. I got a much needed trim as you can tell from my bushy sides in the first photo.  Okay so the second photo with my new do and the glasses is not so flattering but it's all about the sides of my hair. 3d, is what I wore out.

       

 Gap top, HM pants, Gap flats, faux leather jacket

Afterwards, I felt good so decided to shop although I'm not sure I needed most of these clothes so I am feeling a bit guilty about spending more than I should have. I ended up buying a cute dress from Ann Taylor and skinny jeans, then a top from BR, then off to Loft to buy a coral skinny jean and a floral top with another striped top. I'll try them on again today and see if I really like them.

 

Sunday was the famous Cherry Blossom 10 mile race. I finished my 10 miler in 1 hour and 34 minutes but didn't make a PR. I'm kind of annoyed because I did better at my half marathon than this race, but I'm still happy I did it and actually didn't have any problems. This race is fairly popular and more than 25,000 people ran so there weren't too many opportunities to pass people. I also think they changed the route and some streets were narrower than others so that made it more crowded in certain spots. And I had more water / gatorade stops than I did for my half so that also may have contributed to my time loss. Oh well. I'll do better next time.

Maybe some day I will be up in the tent above. NOT!!! 

 I thought it was appropriate to take photo of the eagle kite stuck on the flag.

The usual 20,000+ crowd of runners.  

I ran a 9:25 pace so next year I can start 2 corrals ahead of the 10:30 pacers. 

M, T, W - My body needs a break from all this running and since I'm off the next few days, I don't plan on doing anything except some much needed house Spring cleaning. My second bedroom needs to be cleaned out so we can paint and then turn it into the guestroom/officespace/bike storage/sewing/photography room. See photo. Is this even possible? I sure will try!! The bikes are already up but that's what the second bedroom will eventually look like.