Lost!

Oh. My. God. How fantastic was Lost last night? The Penny/Desmond time continuum story was in my top three favorite episodes ever.

Questions:
*So Faraday is a time traveler too? Is it because he was exposed to the radiation in the lab and Des was hit by the blast when the hatch blew? What about the old lady that knew Desmond when he was flash-forwarding? Is she a time traveler also? How?

*The communications guy on the boat (who died). What about that dude? When was he exposed to radiation. According to Faraday, he probably didn't have an anchor in both times, that's why he died. But why did he have to go back to the island?

*Penny's Dad was buying a book about the Black Rock. He also stopped up the sink and left the water running right before Desmond time-shifted. What does he know? (Because, duh, he totally knows about the island. Why else would he get Des the boat??)

*Sayid: "I need a minute." Heh.

*Crazy-looking dude on the boat freaks me out in a bad way. Likewise, I really really like the Faraday character because he actually lets the Losties in on what's happening!

Mmm...Tallula

Last night DH and I went to dinner with my parents at Tallula. It's a part of the same restaurant group that owns Vermilion, Rustico, and Buzz Bakery (all places that we frequent) so of course we love it. Let me rephrase. We love Tallula. For the money, we think it's the best "value" menu of informal restaurants in DC. We can get in and out with starters, mains, desserts and a bottle of good wine for around $250 for two people. Add that it's just a $10 cab ride away, and Tallula's pretty much our "neighborhood" restaurant.

The new Spring menu is out and it. is. fabulous. While my favorite, Amish chicken with black truffle dumpling, is gone, I was *very* satisfied with my order.

Starters: My starter consisted of homemade egg fettucine with black truffle butter. As everyone knows, I LOVE truffles in any shape or form. The dish was also supposed to have crispy speck (a fruity proscuitto) on top, but I'm not eating meat for Lent so off it came. My parents and Rich split plates of the amazing mini burgers (topped with red onion marmalade and truffle butter), risotto fritters (soooo good with the green curry sauce), housemade chorizo mini corn dogs, and the venison meat pie. If you wanted a quick meal, I would totally get two mini burgers and a glass of wine.

Mains: I had the gnocchi with wild mushrooms, wilted swiss chard, ricotta and chive cream. It was completely rich and decadent and I would eat it again in a heartbeat. DH had the pork chop which was quite possibly the largest I've ever seen, with brussel sprouts and carrots. He ate it down with gusto. My mother picked at the Diver scallops but I think she wasn't eating because she was upset at us moving. Dad had the NY strip with crispy polenta and said that it was "very good...but Bobby Van's is better."

Desserts: I managed to talk the waitress into asking the pastry chef if we could go off menu and order from Eatbar, the gastropub next door. They have an amazing butterscotch ice cream sandwich that really hits the spot. (Word to the wise: it is HUGE and was easily split between four people.)

All in all, a great meal with the people I love the most in this world. I hope that we find a warm and happy restaurant in SD that reminds us of all the meals we've had at Tallula.

Yet another box I will have to hide from DH....

J.Crew sale + additional 20% off always gets me. I stocked up on a couple of things that, honestly, I don't need - I just want.


Remember how I bought this dress a while back in blue? Yeap, picked it up in this pretty berry color for $40.






J.Crew perfect fit tees are perfect. That's why I always buy a bunch whenever they're on sale. Especially the white ones because really, white shirts need to be replaced on a yearly basis.





I already have a black pair of corduroy trousers, I know. But these have a cuff!






And what I really really really wanted: the J.Crew madras dress. I LOVE this dress and have wanted one for years. I almost bought one at the outlet last month but I'm glad I got it through the regular store. Sometimes the outlet fabrics just don't feel right and wear out more easily, imho.

I'm starting a new job in two weeks and the dress code is similar to my current one (business casual) but more polished. So I really need to step up my game, clothing-wise.

As I cannot type whenever I wear a bracelet, I'm going to invest in a bunch of cufflinks. These are all from Thomas Pink (the best dress shirts, hands down).

Navy and green silk knots:


Sterling with pink silk weave:


Blue and green fiber optics set in sterling. (We bought the mens version for the groomsmen in our wedding and they are *cool*.)


Sterling bulldogs. Is this too much? They're probably too much. But I love bullies.


Raspberry and pink silk oversized knots.

A little while ago...

DH: Let's take the scenic route back home.
Me: Ok

(driving through Sterling)

DH: You know, this is pretty cute.
Me: This is my idea of suburban hell.

Silence

Me: I'm really a city girl now, aren't I?
DH: Yeap.

A whale of a time

Now that DH has a new job, my self-imposed shopping hiatus (in reality, more of a slow-down) is now OFF! Vineyard Vines, you beauties, are all mine!


I like green seersucker for pants since they're a little more unexpected than the blue.


Pink, bow, seersucker? You'll be worn on opening day at Del Mar, with my big straw hat.


I'm moving to California. I want, no, need these flops.


I've wanted a VV sash for forever to wear with my white strapless beach dress from JCrew.


I don't need these, I just want them. Subtle difference, no?

Boden for Spring

I've been meaning to try out Boden for a while. Everyone I've talked to says that the clothes are good quality and I really like the clean-cut nature they portray. And with 10% off, free shipping and returns, you really can't go wrong, can you?


I'm trying to get away from plain-Jane cardis and this one would look so cute with a little white skirt.


A proper topper for Spring.


I like that while it's a delicate color, the stones are really heavy.


I've been needing a neutral pair of heels for summer (because I HATE white sandles), and these cork wedges will do nicely.


This has a retro vibe that I really dig. And it's great for those days when you don't want to bare tummy in front of nubile 16 year olds, flaunting their naturally taut selves.


DH's little brother is getting married in England and I need something to wear. I like how tailored this dress is around the waist. Add a really cute fascinator (I'm imagining one with quail feathers) and this coat:


...and you're good to go from 10am to midnight.

Go Mister!

Just wanted to send out thanks to the universe that Hubz got a job in San Diego that:

• Pays extremely well
• Does what he likes (and is great at) doing
• Has great benefits
• Has lots and lots of potential career growth

Hubz has had the hardest time finding a new job in DC. Not being a citizen hurts in a town where TS/SCI is pretty much a pre-requisite for anything. So yay for my wonderful, brilliant husband. I love you, Schmoo!

Home sweet home...to be

Obviously, our househunting trip was to find (and I quote) "suitable and affordable housing." We spent the first week driving around neighborhoods trying to figure out where we wanted to live. Our thoughts on the 'hoods:

La Jolla - Absolutely beautiful and full of very very very wealthy people. We saw a Bugatti Varon being driven. A Varon! That's a $2,000,000 car, people! We liked La Jolla but didn't like what we could afford, or the obscenely high taxes to pay for their (excellent) school system.

Pacific Beach - We found an apartment on the beach that we absolutely loved. Unfortunately, the management company was going to be too much of a PIA, so we passed. We looked elsewhere in PB but I wouldn't have felt safe walking from the beach. So, no go.

Hillcrest - A bunch of people recommended Hillcrest since it's like the Dupont of SD. We found a very cool apartment right next to Trader Joes (I LOVE TJs) and Ralphs. We thought it was a fun area but we questioned if we'd have any place to hang out. The restaurants were great but the bars were...not.

Little Italy - Little Italy is full of great apartments and condos. Unfortunately, it is also one short street of Italian restaurants and a British pub. Not quite lively enough.

Gaslamp - Fun, busy, full of restaurants and bars. We had problems finding two bedrooms with two parking spots, under $3500/month. For that sort of money, I want to be paying a mortgage.

East Village - Finally, we found a place called home. We're literally next door to Petco (see below). Since we're on the other side of Petco we're technically "East Village" instead of Gaslamp. We like that our building is brand new (it was built as condos but they're renting out the last ones), it has two parking spots, and the amenities are fabulous. Oh oh, and there is a bulldog in the building named Peaches. :) All in all, I think we made the right decision.


The lobby


Front door and kitchen


The new kitchen. Not crazy about the granite color, but hey, it's a rental.


Living room, door to master BR, and part of the walk-out balcony.


The view out the living room windows.


Left view out the balcony.


Center view. (The big pond is the building site for the new library. We like to call it "Lake San Diego.")


View right. If you look really hard, you can see Coronado's bridge and the bay.


Master BR with the smallest closet. That God there are tons of closets in other rooms.


Master BR window views.


Guest BR. Luckily it has a huge closet. Guess where my shoes are going to live??


We hear the next door neighbors can be a bit loud, especially on weekends. We'll see how they do. Go Padres!

And we're back!

We made it back from SD in one piece, albeit with nasty head colds. Go figure - the one time I forget to take my airborne and now I sound like Kiki the sex phone operator.

SD was pretty cool, I have to admit. I am still completely in shock to leave the East Coast but c'est la vie, no? I was also quite disappointed that the Fashion Valley J.Crew was under extensive renovation. J.Crew is like my security blanket, I need to know that there's one within driving distance. My boarding school prophesy even said that I'd died of a premature heart attack due to the discontinutation of J.Crew catalogues.

A few pics from the week:


This is actually a pretty cool little dive bar down near the waterfront. Right when we passed a uniformed navy dude walked out. :)


Pretty pink and green at Seaworld.


Sunset up near Carlsbad.


La Jolla shores. Pretty much what you expect Cali to look like.


Not the most flattering picture of the two of us. We set it up on the roof of the car at sunset. Kinda ghosty, really.

That's all for now. More on apartments to come!

So sad in San Diego

Sorry I haven't posted in a couple of days, the Mister and I are on our (company paid!) househunting trip in San Diego. I've never been to California before so it has been a *complete* culture shock. So far:

Day 1 - We landed around noon on Friday. After two broken cars at the rental place, we were upgraded to a full size. I now wish we had kept the intermediate - our impala is like driving a battle cruiser! We spent the rest of the day driving around La Jolla and going to the beach. Word on Californians and their cars: we saw three (3!) Rolls Royces parked ON THE STREET in La Jolla. Makes you wonder what they kept in their garages! Being that it's 73 degrees out, Mister and I can't believe it's February. We stopped at La Jolla Cove and walked around, absolutely in disbelief that we're in Cali.

Day 2 - More cruising around, trying to find neighborhoods we like. We drive up to North County coastal, and while we like it (and enjoy the free surf competition), the Del Mar/Carlsbad areas are just too sleepy for us. We also decide that La Jolla is too family-friendly. We wouldn't be able to afford any of the multi-million dollar homes on the coast, anyway. We head to the Gaslamp Quarter at night. It's definitely fun since the Rugby 7s is over the weekend in San Diego. (Word to the wise: Rugby 7s is a really fast version of rugby with only 7 players on the field. The best in the world play during this tournament.) We eat dinner at an obscenely cute Mexican place. I am thoroughly regretting giving up meat for Lent because everything looks sooo good.

Day 3 - We decide we like the laid back vibe of Pacific Beach. We stumble upon (no exaggeration), THE MOST PERFECT APARTMENT IN THE WORLD. It's huge, has tons of closet space, is ONE BLOCK from the surfers beach, and overlooks the water through huge floor to ceiling windows in the living room and bedroom. I mean, I literally gasped when I saw the view, it was so spectacular. Now why Elliott, does this make you sad? It's a great beach front apartment and while expensive, is doable. Why didn't you snatch it up? Well, we checked online at a few apartment rating places and they confirmed a weird vibe for us. Turns out the management company is hellacious. They do random "spot checks" in your apartment every other week to see if you're breaking any of the rules. The lease is 25 pages long and they are extremely anal about every clause. As the soup nazi said: No guests for you!

I am so heart broken but we have to pass on the perfect apartment. It isn't living if you can't have friends over and make no noise. (No, we're not noisy people but we do throw awesome parties, if I do say so. And if we play Guitar Hero a bit too loud, so what? That's what bitchin' stereo systems are for, bro!)

Day 4 - I met with my new boss and team. They seem lovely but I don't post about work so I'll stop right there. The hubby and I spent the rest of the day going out to Hillcrest which was described to us as the Dupont of San Diego. We found an apartment in a great location (right next to TJs and Ralphs, down the street from tons of boutiques, restaurants, and Whole Foods). We liked it but we weren't in love. We figure we could definitely live there for a year if we didn't find anything downtown that we like.

Day 5 - If I get dressed and out the door, I'll be in good shape. :)

So there you have it, dear readers. Half way through our househunting trip. We've loved, lost, and almost found places to live. Cross your fingers that we find a place in Gaslamp that 1) fits the budget 2) has two parking spots.

Coachella/When DH's appendix exploded

OMG. I just realized that we will be able to go to Coachella this year!! Bands that I particularly want to see:

• FRIDAY, APRIL 25: Jack Johnson, The Verve, The Raconteurs, Fatboy Slim, Tegan and Sara, The Swell Season, The National, Stars, Diplo, Vampire Weekend, Architecture in Helsinki, Black Lips, and Rogue Wave.

• SATURDAY, APRIL 26: Portishead, Death Cab for Cutie, Rilo Kiley, M.I.A., Hot Chip, Cold War Kids, Animal Collective, DeVotchKa, Flogging Molly, Mark Ronson, VHS or Beta, and St. Vincent.
  

• SUNDAY, APRIL 27: My Morning Jacket, Spiritualized, Gogol Bordello, The Streets, Metric, Murs, and Sia.

Yeah, Friday is definitely the strongest day. I'm a HUGE Swell Season fan, ditto the National. DH is a big Jack White fan so the Raconteurs will be awesome. Death Cab, of course, rocks my face off. DH doesn't dig them all that much because we saw them with Franz Ferdinand the night before his appendix burst. Let us reflect on that scary moment.

DH and I had been dating for only a couple of weeks when DH called and said simply, "Help." I knew then that something was tremendously wrong. I drove like a bat out of hell from Alexandria up to Bethesda. When I got up to his apartment he was shaking and crying and in oh so much pain. Since I didn't know Bethesda I had to call up a friend who lived in Maryland and asked for the nearest hospital. Luckily, there was one about ten minutes up the road from DH. I knew we were in horrible trouble when DH looked over at me and simply said "Please, please hurry."

Well, I pulled up to the ER and DH was rushed into the back while I was up front trying to get him admitted. Let me tell ya, when you've only been dating a guy for a couple of weeks, the hospital admissions process is like the dating test from hell.

"Please answer the following: Name, Age, DOB, SS#, Address, Employer, Parents Names, Health Insurance..."

Anywho, I got through all of the paperwork and they finally let me go back to see DH. He was incredibly looped because they were pushing morphine through his IV. As we waited for the x-ray to come back, he asked me to call his parents. Yeah, that was fun.

"Uhm, hi. I'm sorry to wake you at 3 in the morning but I'm dating your son DH? Has he mentioned me? Ok, good. Yeah, well, he's in the hospital BUT HE'LL BE OK! He's going in for emergency surgery but HE'LL BE OK. Yeah...yeah...no, HE'LL BE OK! No, he doesn't want you to fly over...HE'LL BE OK!"

So that's how I first met my future in-laws; on the phone, in the middle of the night. I apparently won major bonus points because I called them back post-surgery to tell them that he was fine and what the prognosis entailed. (As if I wasn't going to call them back. C'mon, people, that's what you do!)

DH's surgery took a couple of hours instead of a routine 45 minutes since he's a medical oddity. DH's appendix was covered in scarring because he is one of the few people diagnosed with REOCCURRING appendicitis! I didn't even know such a thing existed. Apparently all the times he had horrible stomach pain (that he would wait out, no less!) was a case of appendicitis. How he managed to have appendicitis several times a year for a couple of years is beyond me. I once asked him "If you're in so much pain that you can't move and it's making you vomit, shouldn't that be a sign that you need to go to a hospital?" He just shrugged. Men, I tell ya...

Anywho, I stayed with DH for a couple of days in the hospital while he recovered. My bosses were really fantastic and let me take sick leave even though DH wasn't technically family. He still needed another week or two to recuperate once we got him back to his apartment. He was so brave and amazing. I still can't imagine all the pain he went through.

People ask me when I knew that DH was the one for me. I think it was one afternoon in the hospital when DH said "You know you don't have to stay. Really, I'll be fine." I looked him in the eye and said "You're an idiot. I'm not going anywhere." That's when I knew that I had committed myself to this wonderful, brilliant man.

I can't wait for DH to get back tonight.

It's Raining Dresses...

...at Monsoon!

When I lived in Ireland there was a glorious little (chain) store called Monsoon. Oh how all the pretty party dresses would call my name. However, my student budget just did *not* extend to 150 pound dresses.

Anywho, while the exchange rate makes these still a little out of my price range for date dresses, I think they'd be lovely for special occasions like anniversaries or weddings. Unfortunately they do not ship to the US so I'm thinking about sending an order through and having it delivered to my ILs. Lovely MIL is quite the clothes horse so I'm pretty sure she'd help me out. :)

This has such a fun 50s vibe to it with that sweetheart neckline but the color is quite sophisticated.


My darling husband, please take me to Spain for a holiday so I can wear this out to dinner.


I would like to replicate this entire outfit for a Friday dinner date with DH. Now if only my thighs were as slim as the model's.


Cable knit charcoal shrug? Add a white tank and light gray J.Crew khakis and this has "Elliott" written all over it.

11 Hours 33 Minutes....

Until Hubby comes home. YAYAYAYAYAY!!!

Touche, Sir. Touche.

I'm an easy going sort of gal. I like everyone. I leave pennies at the counter for other people. I over tip. I'll let you merge even when you're a butthead who speed up the outside lane. However, today I am L.I.V.I.D. I have spent the last six nights (Wifey-on-her-own week) and the majority of the weekend AND my RDO finishing this book.

Now, I was prepared to have to intellectually struggle. Umberto Eco is known for very dense reading. He is rumoured to have written the first 100 pages of "In the Name of the Rose" in order to weed out the people who would read and understand his work. But I figured I'd give it a go in order to expand my horizons, blah blah blah.

Sweet Jesus. I haven't had to pull out a dictionary in order to read a book in a loooong time. What's more, I had to draw upon my *elementary* school Latin, *high school* French, and *college* Italian to make it through!

So there I am, congratulating myself for having made it to the end, 600 mind-numbing pages later. And you know what? THE ENDING SUCKED. So Mr. Eco, I salute you. You drew me in and spat me out. Now where did I put my copy of Bridget Jones?

/Rant

Wifey-On-Her-Own Week...

...continues. If DH doesn't get home soon, I will be officially shopped out.

The loot:

*Kasper collar-less black leather jacket...I've been on the hunt for one ever since I saw Susannah wearing one on the BBC version of What Not to Wear

*Nine West fitted caplet...Very structured, super cute, and warm to boot. Great for the office.

*Vineyard Vines skirt...It was $3.75. I was definitely going home with it!

*Banana Republic coral lace camisole...I buy these every year, in most colors. They look great under all my v-necks.

*Banana Republic navy suede driving mocs...Comfy, cute, in my size, and 40% off.

*J.Crew navy pique polo...You always need a new polo, right?

*Ralph Lauren button fly denim skirt...I have been searching for an a-line denim skirt for a while. The fact that it was button fly made it all the better. Seriously, where have all the button fly jeans gone? I loooooved my last pair to bits. Literally, they fell apart in the wash.

*Kate Spade gold leather wallet...I have one of the J.Crew flip wallets but needed a bigger one when I need to carry more cards a/o cash when overseas.

So, all in all, not a bad lot for $200!