WHAT THE CUSS

the world was made good by the following:

Fantastic Mr. Fox
Fantastic Mr. Fox soundtrack
Free showing of Elf at the Brew and View
awesome luck at the J. Crew sample sale
Christmas Jam beer at the Brew and View
mom visit
VEGAN DUMPLINGS
GREG
Megan
Tippy
hot toddies
the library
FUTURE EXCITING EVENTS THAT COST A LOT OF MONEY BUT ARE FULL OF LOVE AND ADVENTURE

FEELING REALLY GOOD

Coming Home

A lot has been going on. I moved back to Asheville (very stressful) but I am really happy about it. My boyfriend helped me a lot which was really nice. After all the mean packing got done we went to Great Falls, VA to check out the crazy waterfalls on the Potomac (see picture).

My new job is really exciting and exactly what I should have been doing the whole time. Happy non-profit flexible job! My office is in the upstairs of a cute house across the street from a great coffee shop. There are two types of lavender next to the sidewalk to the porch as well as a hydrangea. Those are basically my two favorite plants/flowers. The lavender is blooming right now so you can smell it when you walk by. From the window of my desk I can see the blue ridge mountains. It has been my fantasy in life to live in a room where you can see those mountains. My senior year of college I could kind of see a ridge line- so I guess that counts, but I finally have the real deal with this office. Unbelievable. I miss talkin' trash and recycling but energy conservation is all related.

My new apartment is super cute and really cheap. I live downtown and can walk to everything I need. I am around the corner from Greenlife Grocery for instant food gratification and I just discovered today that the closest ATM to me is from a credit union and DOESN'T CHARGE ME A FEE TO USE IT?!?! Magic happens in Asheville. Anyways, my room is pretty small but that is ok with me, it is basically only for sleeping and dressing and storing. It is a 3 bedroom apartment in a big house that has been separated into apartments. I am still searching for a bed (hard to do without a car) so I have a palate on the floor which is fine for now. The biggest improvement overall I think are all the windows in my life now. There are windows in my office (my old office didn't have windows, it was awful), there are WINDOWS IN MY ROOM that look over a wooded lot. Since the room is on the second floor of the house it feels like I am in a tree house!! Lots of trees. I can hear birds, even identify some of them! There is a church close by that rings bells on the hour. At 12:00, 5:00 and I think 6:00 it plays crazy bell songs for like 15 minutes. I'm in love. It's exactly what I wanted / needed.

New roommate K is totally awesome, as well. She and I went to college together and it is really such a good situation. She has a cat, Queen, that lives with us too. I am allergic to cats, only if I pet them and love them like I want to though. So we live an awkward existence- I talk to Queen a lot but if she gets too close I have to shoo her away. I hate doing that but so it goes. I call her the following names:
Queen
Queenie
Queen Bean
McQueen
Little White Cat
Little Cat
Bad Cat

I thought for a while that Eloise (from one of my favorite children's books of all time) had a pet dog named Queenie but after some research it turns out her pug is named Weenie. Queen is 15 years old! She acts younger than that, though. She takes a long time to sit down. She is very small and quiet. She tries to go out of the door of the apartment anytime you open it, though when she does actually get out she is too scared to go down the stairs to properly escape. Our relationship is complicated and sad because I do love her but I can't pet her, so she is still kind of mystified by me. She is a very friendly cat.

Since moving back I have been riding my bike to and from work every day. The first few days were kind of hard- I had to reacquaint myself to the hills around here. Now I am pretty comfortable with them- I think a lot of it is just getting into routine. I am in the process of getting a car, sadly, because the program I'm doing requires it. I'm telling myself it won't be so bad because I can drive home for the weekend if I want, or drive to Pisgah to go hiking, go to DC, go to my favorite grocery store on the planet Amazing Savings (they don't have a website! Figures...) or go to anywhere I want.

This morning, my first real Saturday since I've been back, I got up extra early to check out a yard sale on my street. I was hoping for a bed- they did have a futon, which I considered, but I really don't like sleeping on futons. Instead I got a MSR Whisperlite Internationale Backpacking Stove, something I have wanted SPECIFICALLY for years- they were selling it for $20! Ha! This stove rules because:
#1 It's a Whisperlite, the stove I am used to using since my very first backpacking trip
#2 It's SOOOO LIGHT
#3 It's constructed really simply so even an engineering dummy like me can take the thing apart and fix it if it's screwy
#4 The internationale version of the Whisperlite can run off of lots of different kinds of fuels, not just white gas. This sucker can even run on JET FUEL if you happen to have it when your plane crashes and you have extra jet fuel. EXTRA SPECIAL!!!!

I also got a Minolta Dynax 5 SLR film camera for $25. I just need to get some batteries! What a steal. All my SLR's die (I probably have a graveyard of at least 4 or 5 in my room in my mom's house) so when I see a cheap one I like to snatch it up and use it until it dies, too. It's cheaper than getting the old ones fixed, that's for damn sure. So hopefully some happy really nice pictures soon. This camera even came with the instruction book and still had the original receipt! Crazy! Maybe this one won't die. I can hope.

I also made french toast for breakfast, something I haven't done in a long time. I should cook things that aren't stir-fry more often. haha. NAAAHHHH

Being back in Asheville has felt like coming home. I am really pleased with everything so far.

Come down from the mountain, you have been gone too long

So, big news! I went down to Asheville last Thursday after work
("J, I'm off of work, what is the plan?" "E, do you want to leave now?" "YES" "Lets go.")

I had a job interview in Asheville for a position with the Western North Carolina Green Building Council. It was on Friday in a happy upstairs room of a house/office in West Asheville. I felt so good about it and was already dreading the feeling of being let down after being so excited about leaving my current job (which has progressively gotten worse and worse, things I have not revealed in this blog).

I returned my bff R's car to her (she was still at work) and since I didn't have anything to do but wait I offered to help her since her job was swamped that day. Her bosses immediately swooped in to meet me (very sweet) and when I told them I had just returned from a job interview they scolded R for not telling them I was looking for a job (!?) and ushered me into a hilarious conference room- shouting "get the cookies! bring the cookies!" the whole time. So I sat and ate a cookie while we had a pseudo-job interview at this law firm?!! It was really funny and so kind at the same time. I really love small town type things. I swear upon everything I know, I think that people in Western NC are NICER than most. I don't know what it is. Maybe I am nicer when I am there, too. So I had two job interviews back to back, one official and one not (but kinda?). So funny. At the end one of the ladies said, "We're ready when you are!"

I changed out of my interview suit and met up with my boyfriend for a weekend of hiking and general Western NC therapy in Pisgah National Forest. It was wonderful to smell all the mountain smells and listen to wind. Wind is really loud when you're high up in the mountains. We hiked up Black Balsam and over that ridge and back down to Flat Laurel Creek (please talk to me if you know what area I'm talking about, it's one of my favorite places of all time). We didn't actually go backpacking because we really didn't have time to. It was still so nice to relax and stare at mountains and rivers and nothing without any obligations for a while. The mountains help me to clear my head better than anything else. I can see things for what they are so much better after I consult the Blue Ridge.

So Sunday morning came and my blissful mountain time had to end. The drive back to DC was grueling as usual, though I had a lot to think about. By the time we got to Fredericksburg it was time for a snack so J and I cruised the chip isle of some gas station debating whether or not almonds were a better snack than Teddy Grahams (I hate Teddy Grahms). I got a call from an unknown number - 9:30PM on a Sunday night? It was THE GUY FROM THE GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL. I GOT THE JOB. 9:30PM ON A SUNDAY NIGHT. I am just now coming down from the cloud I was elevated to on the chip isle. Holy hell, a ticket back to Asheville doing meaningful work for people WHO WILL APPRECIATE IT. Yes yes, a thousand times yes!

Today was filled with resigning from my current job (!!! hello grownup!) and the beginning of lots of mental lists. I am moving back down to Asheville in less than 3 weeks. Dreams come true! I can't stop listening to Fleet Foxes. I am feeling good. Goodbyes are hard but I am getting better at them every time.

Gosh, I am so pleased. It makes so much more sense for me to live in Asheville. I am confidant.




Darling, I can barely remember you beside me
You should come back home, back on your own now

Be good to your daughters

Today I got some really great news that implies that I will be going to New York City this weekend. That means adventure and bagels. I am about to jump out of myself over the good news- which I won't share here but if you know me in real life I'll gladly tell you.

So, in case anyone was wondering, Chinatown bus travel is easy, cheap, and sometimes comfortable. I go back and forth to New York this way, usually using Megabus or Boltbus- but sometimes the other "lesser" Chinatown companies that are cheaper or more convenient. Megabus and Boltbus both have very clean buses and free wifi on the bus. Boltbus is always on time. Megabus isn't. Tickets are usually around $20 one way but if you book them early enough (like.... a month in advance) Megabus sells some tickets for $1-$8. Some people claim to have had very bad and terrifying experiences on Chinatown buses but I have yet to have had one. It seems like everyone knows a Chinatown bus terror story .. but when it comes down to it the guy who was stabbed to death and then decapitated on a bus was on a greyhound bus in Canada.. not a Chinatown bus.

In other news I ate Amsterdam Falafel again tonight and it was AWESOME.

Obama! Yes Yes Y'all!

Obama won!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am still so thrilled I can't even handle all my emotions. One of the first feelings I felt (once I quit screaming) was an overwhelming feeling of protection and safe-ness. Barack won't take away my rights as a woman and Biden will fight for the rights I deserve. I'm so happy. That is only the tip of the iceberg of all the things I'm happy about concerning this election. (HI I CAMPAIGNED FOR AND VOTED FOR THE GUY THAT WON, HOW ABOUT THAT?!)

When I walked to the metro at 7AM to go to work the line to vote at the middle school a block from my apartment was wrapped all the way around the block! The District of Columbia voted 93% for Obama... I am in heaven. I went from South Carolina to 93%... so awesome!!!

C and T came over and I made some "Yes We Can Spaghetti" (success!) and some "Campaign for Change" cupcakes. The cupcakes were good, the colors came out kind of pastel. I need a measuring cup really bad.

So we screamed and toasted and had a lot of fun celebrating. NC STILL has not been called, but it looks like Obama won in the closest race in the country... so my vote did go a long way. Cool. After C and T left I couldn't sleep and was very antsy so I walked to the capitol. It's such a nice walk and so beautiful at night. There is still a lot to be done, we can't ignore the fact that this country is still not accepting of gay people and that will have to change. But for now, I'm just going to be happy about Barack and his cute family. I'll be upset about other things soon enough, anyway. I can't wait till inauguration day!!

Rainbows and Moonbeams

Oh yeah!!! I basically got a job offer today through a voicemail (?) but that's ok with me! I still have to give them my references but OH YEAH!!! Success!

Also WHAT'S UP DEMOCRATS!!! BARACK IS THE MESSIAH!! HE WILL SAVE US ALL!!! I was pretty sure that when he opened his mouth tonight at the DNC rainbows and moonbeams were going to come out but instead it was RAINBOWS AND MOONBEAMS OF HOPE?! I sure hope he can deliver because there are a lot of people who really believe that the man is going to save us all, myself included. So I guess I'm a member of the church of Barack. Let us pray.

I'm back in South Carolina. I'll try to post more now that things are actually happening.