this wilderness needs to get right out of my clothes and get into my bedroom.

I was walking home from where the bus lets me off (I was returning home from the Freeminds Book Club "Friendraiser" at Marvin*) when as I approach my stoop I see a cute dog walking around. No leash, no owner, just walking around. It came up to me and I pet it and it was really sweet. It looked like a puppy but kind of a big puppy. Really nice dog. I walked up the stairs to my door and the dog followed me! I sat down and pet it and talked to it and it didn't have a collar but it was obvious that this dog had been socialized with people. So cute!

It ran to another stoop where a woman was on the phone, she yelled to me "is that your dog?" and I said "no" and she said she was calling animal control. That made me so sad- I sat and pet the dog for some more and tried to take a picture to show it to my boyfriend. I came inside so that I wouldn't be so tempted to keep it. I was SO CLOSE TO BRINGING THAT DOG INSIDE. I want a dog so bad! And I'm pretty sure animal control puts animals to sleep if no on adopts them really fast... so I'm feeling really sick about it now... but I'm pretty sure that since it is still a puppy and it's so friendly and cute that someone will adopt it quickly. aw. I came inside and spewed that whole story to my roommate and almost cried.

I'm at a time in my life where I really want a dog for the companionship and consistency (since both of those things are kind of up in the air right now) but I live in a small apartment, I don't come straight home from work all the time, I can't come home for lunch to let it out, I travel spontaneously... the list goes on. Bad idea to bring a pet that needs a lot of love into the mix. I am still considering getting a hamster, though. They don't mind being alone and you can leave them for a pretty long amount of time and they are ok. Really I want a dog, though.

*Marvin is a really cool bar near U street in DC. It is a Marvin Gaye tribute bar. I can't even believe that exists and the fact that it does exist and that it is VERY CLASSY AND NICE just floors me. They served chicken and waffles and ribs at the fundraiser..... my first chicken and waffles! Marvin is is specifically devoted to a period in Marvin Gaye's life when he moved to Belgium to kind of "regroup" so they serve Belgian beer (my favorite!)

Memories Made in the Coldest Winter

I realize I have semi-abandoned this blog. I tend to do that when I get too busy (true) or when I get really sad (also true). I think I will just pick up this blog from current life- if I tried to brief the interwebs about the past two months it would be too much. Instead, I will leave you with a sort of photoblog of my absence and I will just start writing from the here and now. yaaaaay.






This past weekend my buddy A came up from Raleigh to visit! It was perfect timing because I've been super down and sad about the weather, job issues, homesickness for my boyfriend / western NC, etc. Winter is way harder than I ever expected- I've always enjoyed winter a lot. When Spring didn't suddenly appear at the end of February I was really thrown off. I'm spoiled.


So A and I went to the Library of Congress with her boyfriend F (both of them are getting their degrees in Library Science). That was pretty cool- but not as cool as the BABY GORILLA we saw at the National Zoo (!!!!!!!!!!) We also saw sleeping otters. And a cute otter statue. And PANDAS. and RED PANDAS. PANDAS!!!


We spent a lot of time in Adam's Morgan- so of course we went to Amsterdam Falafel- the most awesome food EVER. You get a pita with falafels in it that they FRY TO ORDER and then you get to put all the toppings you want on it. Oh man, I could eat that every day. It's also cheap and they have really good fries.

We walked a lot over the weekend- it makes my feet tired but it makes my legs feel good. It was so warm over the weekend and for most of today- my mood has improved a lot. Feeling a breeze on my legs is enough to change my outlook on life, if only for a little while. The entire city smells different when it warms up, maybe it's the daffodils or maybe it's the fact that I can actually smell things and my nose isn't running constantly. I cry and whine about winter in DC, I know it's nothing that bad- but we did have 8 inches of snow a week ago and I didn't have any delays in work or anything. I think that validates my crying and whining at least a little bit.

Work has been strange lately. I'm not going to say much on this most public of all venues- but I feel it must be known on my blog that the real world is not "glamorous" at all. The only glamorous part is not having homework and getting a paycheck. Realizing this and accepting it can be very difficult, and can raise many more questions and decisions to be made. I am constantly searching for happiness and ways to fake my own happiness.

Here is my current list of fake happiness (temporary happiness that fools you into short term happiness):
exercising
reeses (easter egg reeses are especially good)
hair mousse
alcohol
sunshine
surfing petfinder.com
calculating airfares
google image searching sealions or groundhogs

I can go on. I am trying to get happy- re-starting this blog is a sign of that. Spring is sure to help out: new opportunities, lots of friends to see- there is always something to be done or someone to visit. I predict some great changes coming. I am joining a kickball league. Hibernation is over!