Burden of Proof? Pshaw.

So I got a bunch of bogus parking tickets a while back. Literally a bunch. Some illiterate meter maid gave me the same incorrect ticket three days in a row. Through a combination of laziness and curiosity, I decided to fight them online. I took some photos and wrote a compelling (duh, it's me) appeal...

DISMISSED. Yes!!!!!!

I should be a lawyer.

Slideshow Friday: Life Recently

AKA I've been busy helping DS get his condo ready to sell and haven't had time to post, so I'm dumping a bunch of random photos I had on my phone here and calling it a day. Enjoy!

This is DS saying "sorry" for beating me for the 17th time in a row. I am NOT a good loser.

See the graffiti way up on the...high-up cone thingies...of this building? How did someone get up there? Impressive!

RAINBOW!!

Some bird took a massive crap on my windshield the morning after I finally had it cleaned and detailed for the first time in over a year. Jerk birds.

I come across this all the time...gnarled piles of broken car window glass. How does it get like that?

DS looking way handsome in his new turquoise shirt at my favorite local restaurant.

There you have it, folks. Hope everyone survives Andrea.

Zombies schmombies.

Having been in this creepy dark stairwell several times now and fully aware that I should never enter the basement alone under these circumstances, I'm 100 percent prepared for the zombie apocalypse. 

This is probably for that time in my past life when I stole that little girl's ice cream and kitten.

So remember back when I said I was doing this?

Pretty much immediately afterward, these happened. I literally can't take my eyes off this picture. And yes I WOULD pay $40 for one. Right now I would rip off my right earlobe for one.

And then I was all, "Oh, it's hot outside? It's OK. I'm OK. We're all OK. Teeheehee! (Giggles and flips hair.)"

And a freaking transformer explodes on my block, extinguishing the air conditioner and my enthusiasm  in a puff of smoke. This probably occurred as I was writing aforementioned post.

It's like rain on your wedding day. It's the good advice that you just didn't take. Who would've thought...it figgers? You know?

It's electric!

Actually it's not. 

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

There has been a very grumpy, sweaty, possibly nude (but not in a sexy way) Allison sleeping on her couch all night. Worst of all? No Internet, so I can't fix my blog settings so my little sister can make funny comments about it. 

Update: I'm being embraced by the sweet, sweet air-conditioned (and connected) arms of my cubicle. Julia, you can comment to your little heart's content now!

The Next Fitness Craze: Prancercise

What do you think? Yay or...neigh?

Is she channeling a horse? Because I see a camel toe...

2013 Summer Lovin' List

Summer is here.

In recognition of the current heat wave, I thought I'd skip the bitching about my butt sweat, and instead create a list of things I'm currently enjoying with the arrival of the warm weather. Look at me, all puppies and rainbows.

Prosecco

Actually, any sparkling wine will do in a pinch. The only issue with my newfound love of all things bubbly is that I feel pretty lame ordering it at a bar when everyone else is drinking PBR. I've been rewarding myself with a glass each time I survive a run (or a walk to the 7-11), so I had to figure out how to keep it fizzy for a couple of days. There's this trick, which is pretty much like magic. (Who knew?) But since DS is a gadget guy, he got me a real live champagne stopper. Spiffy!

Cheese Plates

This isn't necessarily just a summer thing, obv. DS and I have always been pretty into cheese (unusual, right?), but the obsession got kicked up a notch when his sister got us a sweet cheese slate last Christmas. We like when restaurants serve an assortment of extra stuff with the cheese. That way we can make fun little sandwiches and stuff with it. Free cheese-mustard-weird mini pickle thing sandwiches! Score. We recently attended a cheese tasting class because we're cool like that, and evidently the whole pairing thing is bullshit. It's all LIES. You can eat whatever you want, however you want. So don't buy into the hype. I know…I took a cheese class.

My Running Glasses

Remember Dan and Dave from the 1992 Olympics? (Team Dan!)

They would totally wear my new sunglasses. (Mine are way awesomer because they are bright 80s white.) I needed something to block all the sun/wind/dust/gnats/giant cicadas I kept getting in my eyes during runs and bike rides, but I didn't want to spend any money. The answer? Target, natch. I feel like people look at me weird when I wear these, like maybe I should be running faster than I am. Or wearing a side ponytail and Walkman. But I'm too busy judging their dumb outfits through my tinted plastic lenses (ummm that happen to say IRONMAN) to really care.

My Lulu Hat

OK, so this hat might look like something your mom would wear to the grocery store with her sweatpants and Crocs. The flowers under the brim are a little much for some people. But I've all but entirely swapped the headbands for hats when I run, and I wanted a light-colored one for summer, and I didn't want pink, and lululemon is a block from my office, and I really don't care what you think anyway. And I can wear my Dan and Dave glasses with it.

Bike Sharing

The interwebs have been all abuzz as of late about NYC's brand new bike share system, Citi Bike.

Ummm whatever, New York. You're old news. We've had bike sharing since 2008. Anyway, despite the fact that I had to pay full price for this year's membership (I didn't last year), I love Capital Bikeshare. If I don't bring my own pretty bike with me, it's a perfect way to get home from a bar. I'm pretty sure drunk biking is frowned upon, but tipsy biking is fine. Right?

Movies Outside

True, you can watch Princess Bride on TBS most Saturday afternoons. But. Can you watch it under the stars? Eating a gourmet grilled cheese from a food truck? Chanting, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." and "Inconceivable!" with a couple hundred other people? I'm pretty excited about this year's lineup, which includes Moonlight Kingdom. I kind of missed out last summer due to a hives outbreak that lasted six months. I'll spare you those photos.

Daft Punk's New Album

This album has received a lot of negative reviews. These reviews are bullshit. Don't read them. Daft Punk's latest album is the first album I've enjoyed in quite a while. It's just…groovy. There's a distinct 70s vibe, blended with their signature electronic sound. It makes you want to put on some cool bell bottoms and drink some Hennessy in a bar that looks like it vomited gold trim, disco balls, mirror ceilings and faux fur. If that's your thing, get this album. (It's also great running music.)

Not Wearing Pants

Thaaaaaat's right. I'm going pantsless these days. 

Because I've switched to dresses. (I just got this one.) I've even gotten pretty good at riding my bike in them (squeeee she's so European!), though my mounting/dismounting could still use some work/aka I'm totally spastic. 

My blood is so average.

I recently gave blood for the first time. I nearly went down. A few minutes in, I got really dizzy, sweaty, nauseated...and things started going dark. I was pretty determined not to faint, so I somehow stayed conscious long enough for someone to get me a cold towel and recline me. I was pretty disappointed. I don't really consider myself a fainter. I guess you never know.

The cookies were worth it...Keebler Jumbo Mint Fudge Sticks. OMG.

Then a few weeks later, this came in the mail.

A positive? LAME. I was really pulling for AB. Everyone and their mom is A positive. I guess I could look at it as getting an A+ in blood donation. Yeah, that works.

I'm ruuuuuuunning in the rain...

Yesterday's poorly timed run left me drenched. It was pouring, with thunder, lighting...the works. I didn't really mind, since I'm usually disgustingly sweaty at the end of a run anyway. Plus the lack of traffic and very few pedestrians to dodge were a rare treat.

The only thing I was worried about was my iPhone. Fortunately, my hand-held bottle thingie has a pretty water-tight pocket for it. But next time I think I'll try this tip from Neon Blonde Runner.

Yay for baseball ticket hookups!

Someone in DS's circle is involved with the Phillies, so whenever they come to DC to play the Nats, we try to get tickets. We got SPOILED this weekend with front-row seats. Here's our Kiss Cam photo.

Just kidding. But we were sitting next to Duff Man and a giant hot dog, so you probably saw us on TV if you caught the game. 

My nephew is funnier than me.

A recent page from his journal:

I never realized I loved Taylor Swift.

Until today. 

Check out T-Swizzle's face when she catches Selena Gomez and The Biebs sucking face. 

Awesome. 

My smoothie disappeared before I took a photo.

It was THAT good. Here's the recipe:

The Disappearing Banana Smoothie

One medium banana

1/4 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk

1/4 cup nonfat cottage cheese

A few ice cubes

Blend and enjoy. Just try to make it last more than five minutes. I dare you. 

Awkward Poop Chat

Hardly anyone else uses the women's locker room at work. Today I came back from the gym to find someone in the restroom...er...having a rough go at it. When she came out, I was nonchalant, of course. She mentioned she liked the body spray I had just used. 

I told her it was to cover the stink. 

She told me she just had Indian food. 

I told her I was talking about MY stink...as I just came back from the gym.

Awkward.

Happy Bike to Work Day, DC!

We participated in BTWD for the second year in a row this morning. I was pretty stoked that the t-shirts were blue this year instead of the lime-ass green (yes, limes have asses) they were in 2012.

Note that DS is dressed in normal clothing while I'm decked out in workout gear. I sweat a lot more. Also note how many of us are sporting helmets...

Let's take a moment and talk about my butt sweat.

I overheat frequently. Which only bothers me when I shouldn't be overheated. For example, if I'm going for a run or bike ride, I expect to get sweaty. When I'm at a bar or in bed, or in bed at a bar, I shouldn't be.

I dread the summer. I basically spend May through August counting the days til cooler weather. I wish I loved it. Everyone else loves it. But it does not make me happy to spend four months with swamp ass and a sweaty upper lip. Sick.

According to the Chopra Center, my dosha is Pitta. Some characteristics of Pitta:

Qualities of Pitta: Hot, light, intense, penetrating, pungent, sharp, acidic. Those with a predominance of the Pitta principle have a fiery nature that manifests in both body and mind.

Physical Characteristics: Pittas are usually of medium size and weight. They sometimes have bright red hair, but baldness or thinning hair is also common in a Pitta. They have excellent digestion, which sometimes leads them to believe they can eat anything. They have a warm body temperature They sleep soundly for short periods of time and have a strong sex drive. When in balance, Pittas have a lustrous complexion, perfect digestion, abundant energy, and a strong appetite. When out of balance, Pittas may suffer from skin rashes, burning sensations, peptic ulcers, excessive body heat, heartburn, and indigestion.

Emotional Characteristics: Pittas have a powerful intellect and a strong ability to concentrate. When they’re in balance, they are good decision makers, teachers, and speakers. They are precise, sharp-witted, direct, and often outspoken. Out-of-balance Pittas can be short-tempered and argumentative.

Skin rashes? Excessive body heat? Powerful intellect? Pretty much me in a nutshell.

Now, I know what you're thinking. I don't really subscribe to this kind of crap. It's nice to know that the yogis acknowledge that experiencing extreme discomfort in the heat is something that I can't help.

My inner fat girl is now on Pinterest.

I've always considered Pinterest to be lame and full of recipes and wedding crap. But since I'm no longer on Facebook, how else am I going to waste time online?

So I opened a Pinterest account. My first board was Recipes. I may or may not have a private Weddings board.

Since Dr. Steve and I have pledged to start cooking dinner at home more, I invited him to my recipe board so we could share some ideas.

"There's no actual FOOD on this board," he noted. "It's all just cupcakes."

Uhhhhhh yeah. Dinner?

LOOK at those mint chocolate ones.

I really shouldn't be allowed to complain that my jeans won't button.

Magic Mango Strawberry Smoothie

I've been on a huge smoothie kick recently. I suppose I could be on worse kicks. Previous ones have actually included snack cakes and French onion dip. 

They are so insanely easy. That's perfect for me, because I do not cook. The first meal I ever made was Miracle Whip and chocolate chip sandwiches. With bowls of Miracle Whip with chocolate chips for dessert. Don't judge. This was at least three years ago. Also some people LIKE Miracle Whip. 

Today's smoothie:

I'll admit, the end result isn't exactly pretty. Which I'm pretty certain is why I can't get Dr. Steve to drink them. But they are sooooooo delicious. And they're like THE easiest way to get two or three servings of fruits and vegetables in. 

Magic Mango Strawberry Smoothie

One medium banana

One small handful frozen mango

One small handful frozen strawberries

One small handful spinach 

Spoonful nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt

Splash light soy milk (so it won't get too thick)

Sometimes I'll also toss in some chia seeds for added Omega 3s or some protein powder. Clearly this is an EXACT science. Basically these things are impossible to screw up. Enjoy!

Only in DC.

Only in DC would your run be interrupted by a motorcade. This is so NOT the only time this has happened.

Dr. Steve informed me it's National Police Week. Cool beans. 

Are you cute when you run?

I don't consider myself a particularly fashionable runner. More functional-meets-whatever's-clean. 

I was walking home the other day when a girl told me she liked my "outfit." I was wearing a t-shirt, running shorts and a hat. And I was sweaty to the point of disgusting. I was like, "Mine?" She nodded. It was weird. I still really think she might have been making fun of me. That would make more sense. 

(Hat: Nike, Shirt: Adidas, Shorts: Champion, Shoes: Brooks)

Restaurant Review: Standard

Standard is a beer garden. Sadly, this does not mean that beer grows on trees here. It means that it consists solely of a bunch of outdoor picnic tables, and beer is available. (There is no indoor area.) In my opinion, this is not nearly as sweet as an actual garden of beer...a Willie Wonka-esque paradise for adults.

If you consider yourself a DC "hipster," you have no doubt already experienced Standard. It is absolutely teeming with Wafarers, skinny jeans and mustaches. And you WILL wait for a table here. It's on my running route and from what I've seen, if it's open, it's packed, no matter the weather or temperature. This is why I try to avoid Standard, even though it's a mere three blocks from home.

They have a small but satisfying selection of draft beers, and if you're on the wagon, a handful of great sodas...like Coca-Cola with real sugar. Mmmm.

We attempted to order a beer in every color.

The food is good, although there's not a large selection and definitely not tailored for anyone counting their calories. You'll find no salad here. You WILL find doughnuts, brisket, bratwurst, pulled pork, onion rings... Bring your Tums and enjoy!

Standard is a great choice for anyone who never sat at the cool table in high school. All those kids are probably here at Standard, and you'll be squeezing right in there next to them, enjoying a big German beer and fried delicacies.

On an unrelated note, I tried the interval workout again and saw some improvement. 

Single Speed Sally

If I was a bike, I'd be a single-speed. I have no gears. I have no control over my running speed whatsoever. It's all just haphazard flailing randomness. 

I tried this interval workout on my run yesterday and it was such a fail. 

Clearly I'm really good at going slow. So thats something. Right? But the whole steady/fast concept is out of my grasp. 

Call me Master.

You guys. I'm going to grad school. 

I was just accepted to the Public Policy program at George Mason University! What whaaaaaat. 

I'm filled with equal parts excitement and dread. I'm stoked that I'll finally have a real answer to the typical DC inquiry, Where did you do your undergrad?" However, I'm guessing that as of August, any semblance of a social life is out of the question. 

I am also trying not to think back to my days at UTA (five whole years ago). Working full-time while going to school suuuuuuuucks. I have never been more exhausted. Or done more drinking. And now I'm old as shit. 

But I need to train myself to once again keep my eye in the prize, because I know it will be so worth it in the end. 

So I guess it's almost time to go shopping for a new Trapper Keeper and blue jeans. Because I'm going back to school! 

Restaurant Review: La Tagliatella, Arlington

I might be biased here. This restaurant moved into the location recently vacated by Restaurant 3...a bacon restaurant. Those are some huge shoes to fill.

The (confusing) menu at La Tagliatella does indeed include bacon. And cream sauce. And pesto. And cheese. But check out the menu and Command-F chicken. That's right, there is NO CHICKEN. What the hell kind of place doesn't serve chicken??

I got over the absence of fowl quickly when I noticed the prosciutto pizza.

While we waited, our waitress brought out a dish of the tiniest olives I've ever seen in my life. They were the size of small blueberries. And we got like eight of them.

The Caesar salad has actual anchovies on it. I guess that's pretty Italian and stuff, but I find anchovies to look like little dead aliens.

Our food finally came. Well, MY food finally came...a good 10 minutes before any of the other five people in my party. So I sat with this thing in front of me:

Note the small plate containing anchovies and the smallest olives ever.

This was not the prosciutto-mozzarella-tomato deliciousness I expected. It was a huge nearly sauceless, nearly cheeseless crust COVERED in a layer of prosciutto. And it wasn't cut...instead, it came with a pizza cutter shoved between the pizza and the plate, so you can do it yourself! Fun! No. NOT fun, since the edges of this thing hung over the sides of the normal-sized plate by two inches all around, making it impossible to cut with the completely dull pizza cutter. I ended up eating it by ripping pieces off. Seriously, they couldn't take five seconds and fucking cut this ridiculous thing for me?

No one else's food was much better. The lunch portions of pasta were like 10 pieces of pasta on a tiny plate. 

It's impossible for me to tell what kind of vibe this place is going for. The decor is just like a wannabe-fancy Ruby Tuesday's. I kept expecting to find a salad bar somewhere, complete with those brown croutons that look like miniature brownies. 

Are those brownies on your salad??

I will say, the desserts looked pretty good.  Unfortunately, since it was a business lunch, there was no time to partake, but the lemon gelato was tempting.

This place is just shitty Italian. And I feel like it's really hard to make Italian shitty. (I mean, come on...how do you screw up a pizza or pasta?) But seriously, Olive Garden beats this place by a mile. At least they have breadsticks.

Rucksack Runners

What's up with all the people running with backpacks these days? 

I'm not just talking about the Camelback things. These people are carrying just regular old backpacks, charging down the sidewalk. It's like they're all running for the schoolbus. It looks awfully uncomfortable to me. Maybe that's the point?

Headaches, you can be such a headache.

Anyone else deal with frequent headaches? And not just tension headaches. We're talking full-blown migraines.

If you do, you know that they can really get in the way of your life. Today, for example was supposed to be the day I started my running and yoga routine. Instead, however, I spent all night tossing and turning because of a headache, and the pain continued all day long.

This isn't the kind of pain I can just deal with and run through. It's the eye-watering, nausea-inducing PAIN that can last up to 10 days. These things SUCK.

So anyway, the first run day was a big fat fail. Bring on the name calling, humiliation and wedgies.

I ran.

If some people run like the wind, I run more like a fart. I just really stink up a room afterward. Also I'm super slow.

I hate reading runners' blogs when they're all, Oh I'm not a runner...I've never been a runner...except when I ran on my high school cross country team. UMMMM newsflash: you're a runner and have been since high school. I was on the swim team in high school, and even though I haven't been swimming regularly for 15 years or so, I can still swim circles around 90 percent of other folks.

When I say I've never been a runner, it means that when my swim team coaches used to try to make us run for cross-training, I would hide somewhere and then find a shortcut. I couldn't run more than two minutes without stopping to walk. Nor did I ever try. I have never made a secret about my hatred of running. I HATE IT.

Fast forward to my early 30s. Lately my body seems to have been...transforming? Actually, it's being a total asshole. Any muscle tone I've been able to maintain thus far is starting to get a little soft. And my jeans are sitting on a shelf, twiddling their thumbs (yes, my jeans have thumbs), waiting for my expanding ass to try and wiggle back into them.

Running is cheap and accessible. And trendy...heeeeyyyyy. So running it is.

And it's totally official now that I ran my very first race last month, the Crystal Run 5K Friday series. I placed in the top 500 women!

I'm the confused looking one. As usual.

The chick in blue is about to smoke me.

Anyway, I'm blogging about running to try and stay on track this time. I've been nursing a bad knee the last couple of weeks, but it's time to hit the pavement. My alarm is set for 5:30 a.m. You guys please give me a ton of shit if I start slacking. Be relentless. Call me names. Give me wedgies. Egg my car. (Please don't do that last one.) 

My Brief Bicycling History, Part 2

After that embarrassing and painful episode, I decided I needed to learn to ride. And the only way to do that was with practice. I began suggesting we bike to nearby places. For some reason, DS agreed. With understandable hesitation. I can't say I was much (if any) less whiny on subsequent practice rides, but I became more and more comfortable on my bike.

Finally I decided I was ready. I was going to bike commute to work the next morning, on Bike to Work Day. I spent a long time the night before figuring out what I would wear, how to tote my work clothes and toiletries with me, and most importantly, how the hell to get there.

That morning, DS escorted me to our pit stop, where we picked up the swag they were handing out for BTWD. Afterward, we kissed good-bye and parted ways, and I was on my own. Somehow I made it to work alive...and I didn't even have to walk my bike up all the hills this time. Just some of them.

So, high on success, I thought I'd be adventurous and try another route home, one with seemingly more bike trails than my morning route winding through Georgetown. Big mistake. BIG.

I took a wrong turn and ended up on the Route 66 bridge. Now, for a more experienced rider than I was at the time, this would've been simply, you know...a different route? For me, it was more of a torturous ride of terror, doom and (near-) death. The trail over the bridge is quite narrow, just barely wide enough for two riders to pass. And according to my (admittedly possibly skewed) memory, the rail on the traffic side is not even waist-high. So every time someone on the trail would pass me headed in the opposite direction, they would have to slow down and use the high river-side rail for balance. Because I was on the traffic-side, I essentially had nothing to grab and nearly went toppling into the middle of rush-hour I-66. By the time I reached the end of the bridge, I was shaking violently and crying. So basically looking awesome.

It took me a while to recover from that. But when I finally decided to give it another go, I really was ready.

By making the commute a couple of times a week, I slowly improved to the point where I didn't walk my bike up any hills. And now I don't even dread them. By no means do I like them, and I still whine about them to anyone who will listen.

I even bought a pretty new bike after a while. With amazing turquoise handlebars.

My Brief Bicycling History, Part 1

I'm pretty new to this bike thing.

One of the first things I did when I moved to the DC area just over two years ago was buy a bike. After a couple of wobbly, nervous test rides in the parking lot (I hadn't ridden a bike in 20 years), I shelled out a few hundred bucks on a mountain bike, mainly because that's what the guy at the store told me I wanted. I was fully prepared to start riding to work every day, since I lived right on the lovely Mount Vernon Trail. 25 miles round-trip? Pshaw, said I. Cake.

Lookin' fly with my shiny new bike.

Until I rode to brunch with a friend one morning, just over a mile away, and thought I was going to collapse into a pool of my own sweat (and probably tears and possibly vomit).

So the bike became an ornamental fixture in my living room. And hipster poser status.

Over the next few months, I met and started dating my boyfriend, Doctor Steve, and soon decided to relocate to The District from Alexandria to be closer to him. I quickly learned that DS is really into biking. He bike commutes to work every single day. In a suit. It is equal parts bad-ass and adorable.

Eventually, full of inspiration from him, I suggested that we go for a bike ride one day...Hey, how about to my office, since it's only 5-6 miles away now? Wouldn't that be sooo much fun?

It was NOT fun.

I was tired. I was hot. I was falling off my bike. I didn't know how to use my shifters. There were too many hills. I was scared of the traffic. I was scared of the pedestrians. I hated the roads. I hated the sidewalks. I was running into shit. I couldn't keep up. I was out of control. I don't waaaannnaaaaa... I caaaaaan't...

One of the reasons I love DS so much is his seemingly endless patience with me.

We finally got to Arlington after more than an hour of my whining and complaining. A cupcake from The Bake Shop in Clarendon definitely helped, but I'm pretty sure we ended up taking the Metro home, which was probably not even my idea.

Bullied Into Thin Mints

You know, my mom made me walk my happy ass around our neighborhood in my lame Brownie sash with almost no badges because I was the laziest Brownie ever, peddling my sweet crunchy wares to our old crusty neighbors. I had to sit patiently on Ms. Rosenberger's couch while she got her purse. I had to make conversation with the Heltzel couple while they perused the selections. All the while knowing that I wouldn't sell more than about 20 boxes...definitely not enough to score me a sweet prize like a Walkman or a bike. My coworker said "his daughter" sold nearly 300 boxes last year. I bet she got a sweet prize.

When exactly did it become acceptable for parents to do their daughters' dirty work when it comes to Girl Scout cookies? Some of these people are like crack dealers. One of my coworkers keeps an electronic inventory of what everyone purchases from his kid. If you don't cough up the same cash as last year, don't even think about trying to get your email to get sent out on time. Unfortunately, my inner fat kid bought a bunch of Thin Mints last year...and needed an update about fees sent this year.

Did you know these things are $4 a box now??

2012 pretty much ruled.

I kicked off the year in Chicago with a little bean flick.



Then this happened...



2012 was the year I tried White Castle for the first time. What the hell, people? That is some scary, nasty shit.

I went to an Alice in Wonderland party in 2012. My life is finally complete. I'm not kidding at all. It was amazeballs.



You can dress me up, but you can't take me anywhere. (Especially when there are tables and tables of free fancy cocktails involved.)



I made sure to get in plenty of whining about the heat.



Although it looks like I'm smiling here, I was definitely still whining about the heat. And gassy. There were free hot dogs.



I was assigned Mexico for the Olympics opening ceremony party. I totally dressed the part, and my outfit looked way better than the actual lame crap the Mexican team wore.



On a road trip to Texas, I got to see Big Tex just hours before he burned to the ground. I did not do it.



I turned 33 in 2012, which is evidently the happiest age.



My birthday present was a Redskins game...in Club Level seats! Of course, we lost, but losing with a beer in a Club Level seat definitely softened the blow.



I stood in the longest early voting line on the planet.



And I spent the holidays in Eastern Europe, where for some reason they don't celebrate Thanksgiving.



For serious though, 2012 was an amazing year. I'm so grateful for where I am, what I have, and who I have around me. I look forward to 2013.