ugh

Three people (1 attorney and 2 law clerks) just had me and another attorney sit through them eating at the Pizza Hut lunch buffet. It was an eating competition of sorts. One of the clerks brought in a scale and the three competing weighed themselves before they left and then when they got back. It was me out to lunch for 4guys so that in itself was fun. Being in an interesting environment like Pizza Hut was, again, fun. So we weighed them when they got back. These THREE guys GAINED TEN AND A HALF pounds while out to lunch.

Insane, right?

Ew.

NOT COOL

This is a great bike event in NYC. I am all about bike events in general. The cop is such a jerk!!! And I normally LOVE law enforcement people. No lame excuse could work here. Walking pedestrians have to YIELD to bikers! Come on, NYPD doesn't need bad press!!

Here is the NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/nyregion/29critical.html?ref=nyregion

I am addicted.

Michael and I need to just be officially engaged and then all of this wedding dreaming won't be so aggravating. I LOVE vintage patterns. My mother was in the fashion industry for around 30 years, she is an incredible seamstress and we have an understanding that if she is nimble enough when it happens, she will be making my dress. Here are a couple of examples:




and




Le sigh...

My Grandmama's family recipe

Southern Baking Powder Biscuits by Mrs. Eunice Worthington Brandt Jones (Boots)

2cups of sifted all purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
7 tablespoons of all veggie shortening
3/4 cup of whole milk

sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. with pastry blender work shortening into flour until it looks like coarse cornmeal. make a well in center of mixture. pour in HALF of milk. mix thoroughly and lightly with a fork. add more milk and mix until dough clings to fork and forms a ball (like if you were making bread dough). turn dough onto a floured surface (i use floured wax paper as I have a tiled counter) and roll with floured rolling pin or hands to a 1/4 inch thickness. cut into circles with floured biscuit cutter or a small drinking class. place on greased pans - sides lightly touching. they will not expand across so much as up. bake in 450 degree oven. my grandmama's recipe says 15-18 minutes but my oven was jiffy quick in about 10-12 minutes. i would watch them/smell them. i wait until they are a little brown on top and slightly crunch-dark on the bottom, otherwise they just fall apart because they are so soft but still dense. the recipe should make between 15-20 biscuits depending on how big your biscuit cutter is. with leftovers, I normally put them in the convection/toaster oven at 325 for 5+ minutes, watching them to monitor them.

Michael and I in Baltimore

Wonderful weather. More humid than hot but wonderful times with his friends for a happy wedding. This is taken at McCormick & Schmicks on the Harbor front, which is where the reception took place. Good times, hon!

Too bad Mike looks like a cop and I can never get a picture of him looking uncop-like! haha! Oh well, I love him anyway.

Eyebobs

I will blame Ms. Bunny Tomerlin's recent Men's Vogue entry about Eyebobs, which reminds me... I have NOT replaced my glasses (frame NOR lenses) in about 6 years (http://www.mensvogue.com/magazine/blogs/daily). Thank God I don't wear them everyday. These are a couple of my favorites:

A mere $60 to start for these babies:


These are a brighter color than my eyes and I look good in green.


Another green style but with black on the front for some drama.


I have chestnut colored hair (natural, hon) so it would look classy but fun at the same time.

Thanks Bunny for another good fashion tip.

Courtesy of: http://www.eyebobs.com

an update!

Anyway, how are things with me?
Amazing, still.

Michael and I have me all moved in into his apt for about 2 months now, and I have been busy trying to unpack stuff but it is harder than I thought! Quite difficult. My issue isn't the unpacking so much as it is the sorting and distribution of stuff throughout our home.

My lease at Eagle's Landing ended last night at 5pm, and I went over there yesterday to clean and it was defintely something I was glad I did alone. Michael had nothing to do with that place --- but a couple of other guys did. And I am glad that I was able to separate these two lives, because the overlap was aggravating. I just didn't need the reminders - awkward. I mean, don't get me wrong, Mike is VERY well aware of my past, but I am glad I decided to move in with him, definitely.

And while I am living with him, which no one in my family but my Grandmama and Grandpapa Jones have a problem with, we recently came to a crossroads...

Does Ms. Worthington want an engagement ring now?

OR

Does Ms. Worthington want a down payment on a house?

WELL, after much thought and consideration, I recently decided that I want a house. The market is good, and I can be on standby for a rock while wearing a traditional Claddagh ring (which I find classy and tasteful before I get my platinum and diamond masterpiece, which we have already chosen). Oh yes, my ring. So it is a gorgeous 3-stone oval-cut ring. With around 3 carats total including the side stones and diamonds within the platinum band. The band also is laser cut on the side with neat scrolling/floral work - and they can make another band with maybe some stones for a wedding band for me. I chose it because Michael loved it as much as I did. I didn't want to make him buy a big blingy ring that he didn't like too.

So, right now we are saving. I am saving for a house and a wedding. And he is saving for a house and a engagement ring. Woohoo!

Work is good. I still enjoy doing what I do everyday. I wouldn't have it any other way. There is sometimes some inner-office drama, but nothing else is a big deal to me. I do my routine, and I like that. My job is a routine. I know what is coming up, except when we have sudden arrests, and I like knowing when my days off are. That is a benefit of this job, still, over retail. Plus working for the goverment fits my ego. I'm a proud person, and having the ability to work for the government works well for me.

Mike and I are just so good. Sure, our life is kind-of quiet, but we make sure our lives aren't redundant. We go out on occasion, and we are REALLY good about seeing shows we want to see, and travelling so see friends and family. We are pretty sure both of our federal holidays coming up, Labor Day and Columbus Day, that we will be seeing his family for one, and his friends for another. And we have a uber-long weekend when we go to a friends wedding two weeks after Columbus Day. That wedding will be in Greenville, SC, so that'll be fun.

We communicate well, and enjoy each others company. I feel really cheesy in saying that, because it makes it sound like we are married already, and I know, it has been only 7 months, but we are so involved in one another that it's a general understanding that marriage is the next step. And besides, we have faith, and I think that gives us a huge boost whenever we have nervous moments in our lives.

My sister, her husband, and my brother recently spent 3 weeks together in China... that was interesting. Even though my Mom told my sister what to expect she still thought eating weird foods was unusual and that the people in the more remote areas were disgusting. As Michael and I talked about it, the more I realized, while I love my big sister, she is a huge narcissist. I mean, she has gotten over the past 3 years the same emails from my brother out of China as I have. He has told us so many times about the cramped trains, smelly holes you use as toilets and have to squat over, and the people spitting and cooking anyplace they wish. A lot of her emails weren't but a couple of sentences about the amazing places James guided them to. The other 3/4s of the email was her complaining about various ailments and how awful the weather was. Um, you ARE there during the WET SEASON. You ARE in ASIA. WTF? She is 38 now, and she doesn't need to complain to her family over here about how "uncomfortable" she is. Nor do I want to read about all of the gross side affects of her dehydration and stomach problems. I had to EDIT them before forwarding them to Michael. Ew Ew Ew.

So that was going on in June/early July. My brother is back in the States for a month while his Visa gets renewed. This is a new Chinese gov't policy. Previously, he would FedEx it to be renewed and could stay in China. Now he has to go back to the States, which is like a 1200 plane ticket, for 4 weeks while Chicago goes over and renews his Visa to continue work in China. He will be leaving the States on August 13. He will JUST miss C & T who will be in LEX for Court's 20-year high school reunion for that weekend.

I had my wisdom teeth taken out. It took me a month now before I started feeling like myself again. I can even be unafraid to brush teeth and smile and laugh! Oh boy. That was a blast, let me tell you. It was probably the most disgusting thing I have ever been through and I am glad it is done and over with. Mike was such a trooper though, as I have said before, because I was HEAVILY drugged. I was also a crying mess and albeit pretty demanding through my suffering. And he took it like a champ! I think he went to the store several times over my 5-day in-home period, because of weird requests. pudding, jello, chocolate ice cream, beef broth (my hero!!), and other lame non-solid substances. I'm glad all of that is over with though! (I just hope the insurance doesn't kick me in the ass).

I can now start today back with my working out. I have been confined to lame free weights lifting during this crap, and forbidden to even do sit-ups (risk of loosening clots and losing 3 weeks of healing). I have been missing it! I need to get back to my Golds routine and thai boxing, etc etc. Mike this Saturday has a lecture to attend at one of the places he trains at on thai boxing so that'll be cool to sit in on if I decide to do so. I might just play house at home and do stuff there. Plus I can always do my yoga from home too.

I hope everyone I know has seen the Sex and the City movie by now.

Mike and I had a great July 4th holiday weekend. It was his 32nd birthday on the 5th so it was busy! On the 3rd we walked after work to South Street Brewery and had some drinks with some of his Marshall buddies. See, in case not everyone heard about it, the President decided to speak at this year's Naturalization ceremony at Monticello on July 4th, which is a ceremony that occurs every year. There was a short-time frame in which to plan the event, so a lot of meetings occurred in my office to help plan and coordinate. Mike, luckily, did NOT have to work this event, but several of his other coworkers did from various branch offices. We also went to dinner with some at a restaurant here that is called West Main. We like it a lot. Then we saw some bluegrass (with Brennan Gilmore) for a couple of hours. Then we went home. On Friday Mike and I spent the 4th at the Brandermill CC with our friends Douglas and Cindy. The guys jiu-jitsu'd for a couple hours in Doug's garage (it has mats in it) while Cindy and I talked about her wedding plans and played Wii Olympics (flipping hard game, btw). We then grilled out and then walked to the reservoir where the fireworks were. Good times, although I got bitten in a few spots, boo. The next day, Saturday, was Mike's bday! He only gets to be a decade older than me for 3 weeks, haha! So we went to see the Black Crowes and it was awesome. Good times were had by all even though there was torrential downpours before the show and not long after it either. Monday was the day my brother got back from China and flew into Richmond so we (James, Mom, Dad, and I... Mike had to rush off for a Marshall duty) met up on the Mall for lunch and had Five Guys and gelato at Splendoras(James wanted a really good burger as his first meal back in the States). It was a great long weekend.The weekend after THAT was the Wedding in Baltimore. I posted pics on Facebook. What a gorgeous weekend weather-wise. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn and had a lovely 10th floor corner room suite that overlooked the 8th floor garden. The wedding was at Loyola College, which has a gorgeous Catholic cathedral. The ceremony was presided by a close family friend who is a Deacon, and it was just a really intimate, although big, group of people who came from all over for this couple. The reception was at McCormick & Schmicks on the harbor front in B'more. It was great. I cannot say that too much I think. Everyone kept telling me "welcome to the family" so I really felt welcome and happy to be with everyone (except Kelly C. who gave me the stink eye the whole time).

And now I think I have caught everyone up on all I have been up to...

I promise I will do a legit post soon!!!

But for now, watch this: