Natural Disaster Week

You might have heard that we had practically back to back natural disasters last week, both of which I was completely unprepared for. And you know what? That's scary.

Tuesday August 23: Earthquake.

It felt like there was some kind of construction going on in the building because the floor started rumbling. Then I realized that the whole building was shaking. What did I do? I hesitated and tried to decide if I should climb under my desk or not. While I was still deciding the earthquake stopped. Had it been worse, I'd have been toast. (Subsequently, I learned that climbing under a desk isn't the smartest thing to do anyway. You should curl up next to the desk.)

What resulted was an evacuation from our building and a walk home across the Potomac back into Virginia. Below are two evidence shots from my afternoon: Pennsylvania Ave. (If you look closely you can see the Capital building at the end of the street.) We walked along to Potomac and got picked up by Erin at Gravely Point, where the planes fly directly over you.

Luckily the weather was gorgeous and not hot. It seems like the perfect afternoon for an earthquake.

August 27: Hurricane Irene.

After spending the evening up around Dupont Circle Friday night we decided we should probably stock up on a few things so we headed to the grocery store. I bought two bottles of water, a can of soup, a box of cereal, a watermelon and four magazines. Flashlights were sold out. But we've never lost power before in a storm so it was no big deal.

Hurricane Irene hit Saturday bringing with her high winds and beating rain. I went to a coworker's engagement party in The District and found myself driving home in heavy rains. That was scary.

But more scary was having our power go out at 9 pm (while we were in the middle of some really good karaoke I might add) not knowing how long we were going to be out and not having our own flashlights. Luckily Erin was staying the night with us and luckily her aunt gave her flashlights and camping lanterns. We are idiots for not having our own stuff. And luckily the power came back on a few hours later. But it wasn't until morning that we realized how lucky we really were because the street next to us was still out of power after a tree was up rooted, crashed into a garage and pulled down the wires.  

Needless to say, I think this is and was a wake up call to get going and to actually have some preparation for the future.

I also found this blog post really good in regards to preparation and natural disasters. I probably shouldn't take them so lightly.

Good Things

Even though the weather is gorgeous this week I'm heading out to warmer weather 

for a last minute weekend trip:

I'm meeting my sister, parents and cousins down in Orlando.

I can't decide if I'm more excited to 

a.) see my family, 

b.) go to Harry Potter World again, 

c.) enjoy summer weather.

Actually, maybe I'll combine all three...

Hooray!

Snow!

My house. Picture taken this morning around 8:30.

I like how DC shuts down in the snow. That's probably because I don't have anything urgent to attend. I just get to wake up later, spend a little more time making my breakfast and getting into work late without feeling guilty. It's so ideal. Getting to work after 10 is so nice.

But this morning there were frustrations with the bus because we waited a good solid 30 minutes without one ever showing up even though there were three on the schedule to arrive. We ended up walking.

But the good thing about walking is that everything is a little more peaceful and we met neighbors we've never known before (because they were shoveling their walks) and said good morning to a handful of people we've never seen before. And, it's really pretty.

My street with the plowed road no visible neighbors yet.

Fashion

Good Idea: Wearing a t-shirt paired with a necklace and pencil skirt to work. (The t-shirt is MUCH cooler.)

Bad Idea: Making that t-shirt a gray one.

By the time I got to work this morning I had to fan myself for a good 20 minutes before feeling comfortable. I can't believe how hot it is. The humidity is impossible and I can't commute without feeling like I'm swimming through the air, or showing up for work looking like I was swimming either!

Update

I've been slacking a bit on the blogging. Lets see, what's the quick update:

1. Went to the DC Independent Film Festival last Friday with Debbie. We saw Tenure which I thought was pretty hilarious. Luke Wilson looked cute too. And I haven't been thinking he looked very good lately in those AT&T commercials.

2. Went to the Young Single Adult Combined Ward Chili-Cook Off and Hoe Down. As I walked into the stake center I was shocked at how many people were there. They were getting the dancing started and there were about a hundred people dancing around doing dosey-dos and line dancing. It was so fantastically hilarious. Just so cliche Mormon. I didn't dance. I stood on the side and mocked it with my friend Erin. Did I wish I was out there dancing? Just a titch. But that was only because someone made the off-handed comment that this was how the Celestial Kingdom would be. (Too many women to men.) And that was depressing when I realized I was one on the sideline.

3. Watched the Oscars. Was extra happy about The Young Victoria winning best costume design. Wasn't very happy however about the acceptance speech. It sounded something like, "This is my third Oscar and since some of you will never get one, I'll dedicate it to you." Somehow that just struck me wrong. But whatever. I loved The Young Victoria.

PS. Did you know Rupert Friend is dating Keira Knightly? (It's true, Google it.) Apparently Wickham and Elizabeth get together after all!

4. Went to The Dairy Godmother last night with Erin for their flavor of the day. How much do you just love that name? I love my bus driver too. He stopped at my bus stop even though I was continuing on down the hill to meet Erin at her apartment. Isn't that so nice! I kind of felt bad I wasn't getting off! Now I feel like I have a chauffeur. And that's a good reason to ride the bus!

5. The weather has been so absolutely gorgeous! It feels like Spring! Though there may be some rain coming on, I'm ok with that when the weather is upper 50s and low 60s. It just seems heavenly after all that snow!

Cabin fever

I'm finally going back to work tomorrow. Last time I was at work was last Friday. It's been a whole week! And, I have a three day weekend too! Sounds pretty posh. But, I'm ready for a little more structure in my day so this is good.

What did I do today?

1. cleaned my room really good-- it now NEEDS that chaise for the corner
2. shoveled the trash cans out so the garbage man can get them tomorrow
3. made the driveway opening wider so my roommate can get her car out, luckily a LOT of work was done before us
4. watched Law and Order--I just like that show

My new roommate Rebecca is a photographer and took some really pretty pictures yesterday. Check them out HERE. (P.S. Those are my galoshes in the picture. They look so cute!)

Enough snow already!

Done:

Shoveling followed by Sense and Sensibility (Part 3, Parts 1 & 2 were watched last night)

To-do:
Build a snowman

Snow Day Number 3!

Not a weather related post

Or maybe not totally weather free.
What is going on with the weather right now? It's snowing.
Again.
And tomorrow is going to be snow day number three.
Three!
Three snow days in a row!

Wow.

Ok, enough weather talk.

Here is a quick rundown of my last NYC trip I took in January (Martin Luther King Jr. Day).

Highlights include, but are not limited to:

Slumber party at Erin and Andrea's
Meeting a significant other
Brunch at Good


Next to Normal


Levain's


Shake Shack


Brunch at Isabella's
Erin's birthday party
Fitting three people into Liz's double bed
Shopping at Anthropologie with Carly
Shake Shack again
Magnolia Bakery and Levain's again (to go obviously)

Hm... I seem to eat a lot when I go to New York.
But, it's always fantastic to get out of town and go visit somewhere. Every time I go visit it's like a mini getaway vacation (minus the beach that usually goes along with a vacation).
Thank you for the fantastic weekend Carly, Liz, Erin and Andrea!
Thank you for letting me stay at your apartments Liz and Erin and Andrea!
Thank you for hanging out with me all weekend Carly and most of the weekend Liz (too bad you had to work on Monday)!

Love you all and can't wait to come again!

(And, pssst! Carly! Can't wait to see you this weekend! Hope the weather doesn't keep you away!)

Dreams do come true!

Snow is fantastic for a lot of reasons.

1. It's pretty.
2. It prevents me from getting to work tomorrow.

That's right, I HAVE A SNOW DAY TOMORROW!

And today church was canceled so we walked down the road to have a small sacrament meeting.



I took pictures as we walked home of the crazy amount of snow.



Tired of hearing about the weather?
I finally found/uploaded a few pictures from my latest New York trip. I'll write about that sometime soon. (This week maybe?)

(P.S. All photos taken by me with my new camera.)

Blizzard

February 5, 2010 8:00 am


February 6, 2010 8:30 am


It hasn't stopped since it started yesterday at 11 am. And, it's not supposed to stop until early evening tonight.

I'm off to get my workout of the day: Shoveling.

Snow Day?

Ok ok, so we didn't get a snow day yesterday. BUT, we could have a partial snow day tomorrow. There is a major storm brewing up for the Northeast. Check it out, even CNN says so.

And my boss and the rest of the bureau administration seem to be planning on it too. (As evidenced by some emails in my inbox.)

So please please pleeeeease can we have an early release and a long-er weekend?

Thank you CNN for letting me use the picture...