Trivial Tuesday

Staying up way past your bedtime on a "school night" is usually frowned upon in this neck of the woods.  However, it's tough to argue when the Tuesday night fun is just so much fun. After a long day in what was a fairly enjoyable class (but was originally dreaded), I went to get all the hairs chopped off.  Love me some summer short hair!  Then it was on to Pub Trivia, where my team was on fire.  I say my team, because I don't think I answered a single question all evening, but there was food and chocolate and fun, so it still counts as a fabulous evening!  

Now it's off to bed so I won't fall asleep during the second day of class...I hope.

Just a Thought...

At the moment, there are 16 people in the running for the Republican nomination to the presidency.  16.  You have got to be kidding me! (I know there are quite a few Democrats in the running too, but at least they're not up to 16...) I understand, that's the reason we have primaries, but there's no chance any state will be able to pick a decent candidate from such a huge field.  You're basically just picking the lesser of the 16 evils.  

Then there's the fact that Donald Trump is one of those evils.  Donald "I have really ridiculous values that don't really matter because I'm loaded and get to say whatever I want" Trump.  Not that I have a strong opinion on him or anything...  But I have to say I was quite excited to see him dropped by NBC and Univision this week.  His mouth is finally getting him into trouble and every bit of it he deserves.  

Because of this, I have a proposition.  Seeing as the primary isn't until November, there's a good chance that even more candidates will enter the race.  To stem the tide of ridiculousness, I propose we start issuing IQ tests to all the candidates.  If they can't pass at a decent level, let's kick them out of the race.  Why should we have to worry that some dumbo with a bad comb-over and a tendency to say hateful things about immigrants is going to rule our nation?  Just give him the same IQ test that's been given to thousands of regular Americans. 

I guarantee he would't pass.  He's never had to worry about smarts.  I don't want you to think I'm just focusing on Trump either.  I'm sure some of the candidates are quite smart - most are already elected officials.  Unlike certain candidates, I'm sure they actually understand how laws are created and how the government works.  I'm sure they'd do fine. 

And at the very least, it could drop the playing field down to a bit more manageable number. 

Just a thought...

The Girl's Got Guts

A few months ago, a close friend and a co-worker of mine told me they were getting together to do a live production of The Vagina Monologues.  I was skeptical.  The co-worker's kinda artsy and has always acted so it made sense for her to be wanting to do it.  However, the close friend is nervous in front of crowds like me; hates being the center of attention and is generally not a fan of getting up and saying risque things.  

But after seeing the production tonight, I have to say, I can't believe I was ever skeptical. The girls rocked it!  It was well produced.  The set, and the costumes and the space were perfect for the topic at hand.  And the girls were positively awesome!  They got up and owned every monologue they recited.  They said all around blush-inducing things without blushing a bit and they were pretty much superheroes!

Honestly, driving into Baltimore City and looking for a parking spot for 45 minutes while worrying about having to walk back to that spot when the show was over in the dark, is not my cup of tea.  And the V Monologues is also something that has never really set my non-feminist heart aflutter.  But after sharing the show with friends tonight, I'm so happy I got to see it!  I don't see myself reciting any of those monologues anytime soon, but I do wish I could have just a little of the moxie they have to jump into something so new with both feet.  

You go girls!

He's Home!

A rainy, dreary, lazy Saturday made so much better by the fact that he's finally home!

More of your regularly scheduled programming tomorrow...

Friday Five

1. SCOTUS Decision on Marriage Equality: In all honesty, this should be numbers 1-5 on the list.  It's amazing to see such a momentous decision!  I can't seem to fathom how it took so long for the Supreme Court to realize that individuals should be allowed the simple privilege to marry who they want to marry.  It's a simple right and everyone should be allowed to do it.  #LoveWins!

2. The iPhone6: After 3.5 hours spent at Verizon today arguing, fuming and all around being a major witch, I was able to get a new phone that actually works.  A phone that doesn't have a delay.  A phone that actually rings when someone calls.  A phone who's battery doesn't die when you look at it funny.  Of course, I basically had to sell my soul to receive it, but that's beside the point...

3. As to not belittle the SCOTUS decision, this was the SECOND best news I heard all week!  I, like a big old dork, bought the Christmas CD and absolutely love.  With each collaboration Jason Manns does, I fall a little more in love with the idea of him releasing a non-Christmas version.  And it looks like he finally realized it was a fabulous idea too!  Can't wait until pay day to most definitely donate : )

4. While on the KickStarter train, I also found this awesome idea and this one was actually funded.  It's such a simply cool idea and the fact that it's actually happening in Baltimore, makes it even better.  Can't wait to take a class or two!

5. As a book nerd, I'm in love with this article  All possible Prince Charmings, please take note!

Thank you!!

Getting lost sucks.  We live in a world full of technology that includes a lady in the box that resides in my phone that tells me exactly where to go to get where I want to be.  That is of course, when it works (Thanks Verizon for your crappy customer service and your terrible phones!).  Because of this, I was stranded in the middle of South River - I was supposed to be in Annapolis but I got all sorts of turned around.  After trying a failing to figure it out myself, I stopped at a red light, and waved down the jeep driver next to me.  Luckily he had his sides off and heard me and even more luckily, he knew how to get me where I needed to be.

Thank you kind sir!  You are my hero!  Without you I'd still be driving through Annapolis aimlessly...

Wistful & Wishful

Maybe it's because this week has been nothing but boring and hot and rainy.  Maybe it's because it's less than 6 weeks.  Maybe it's just me being me, but I've been daydreaming of nothing but England these last few days.  It's so close I can taste it.  I hate wishing the entire summer away, but England is looking so good right now.  The worst part is, I keep planning and planning, but there's really not too much more to plan so I'm just stuck daydreaming. Come on August! : )

Holy Crazy Storm Batman!

In Maryland, we've had some crazy storms over the years.  There have been hurricanes, and thunderstorms and even an earthquake once.  But tonight's thunderstorm was possibly the craziest I've ever seen.  There was rain, and wind; lightning and thunder.  You know, the usual par for the course.  The pictures below are the aftermath.  But what the pictures have a hard time showing, is the insane shade of yellow that's spread all over the sky right now (no filter necessary!).  It's creepy!  I feel like I'm in Oz.  Currently the yellow is turning to pink. And it's also spooky as the day is long!  Should I be worried it's the end of days or just summer in Maryland?  I'm just not sure...

Yellow streaming in the skylight 

England vs. USA: Food Edition

As a big fan of food in general, one of the very first things I search for when I'm traveling somewhere, is the food.  I look for specialties, like malasadas in Hawaii (still on my list of to try items!), or tea in Britain.  I look for little hole in the wall restaurants to try.  And most importantly, I look for items that I just have to have.  Most of the time, these are sweets and desserts.  What can I say?  I'm predictable. 

So as I was searching for all the latest and greatest restaurants this evening for my England trip, I noticed something I've never noticed before.  I'm not sure why. It might have something to do with the fact that, as someone without kids, I've never had to worry about it.  Here's the thing.  The Kid's menu in England, is vastly different than the ones in the States.  

I guess it's just something I never thought of before.  When you think of kids meals here, you think of chicken tenders or hamburgers.  French Fries or spaghetti.  They've been trying to improve them, but kids meals are basically something bad for them.  However in England, kids seem to be eating pretty much the same deliciousness their parents are eating.  I saw a menu tonight that included Tagliatelle with Pesto, Mini shepherd's Pie, Roast Beef or Pork (only on Sundays) & Kelmscott Sausage, mashed potatoes and gravy.

How fantastic is that?!  I'm sure that not all kids meals here are terrible and I'm sure that not all kids meals there are fantastic, but it's cool to see.  When I was little I always ate exactly what the grown ups ate.  And I'm happy I did.  Seeing the pickiness of some of my previous students, I wish that was the case these days.  

Just another reason to love my England!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my one and only dad, who just happens to be the very best dad in the entire world.  I'm not sure why other people say this about their's because it's obviously not true; mine is the best, and that's just facts : )  He's a fantastic chef.  He makes me laugh every day.  And whenever I have a problem, I just send up the bat signal and he's there.  I love him to pieces and I'm not sure what I'd do without him!  I hate that he's not here to celebrate this weekend, but next weekend for sure, he'll be home and we'll be sharing the love!

Hope your Father's Day was fabulous!

Things you Learn...

When attempting to teach yourself how to shoot in manual as opposed to automatic.  

~ Turns out, I have no idea what I'm doing.

~ Pinterest cheat sheets are awesome, seeing as I'd have a 0% chance of ever figuring things out without them.

~ This centerpiece was a lovely subject.  However, you can't see it in a single one of the photos I took because even though the cheat sheet told me I was doing everything right, my camera wasn't believing it.  

 ~ Once I figure things out and I actually succeed in taking a single decent picture, I've no way to replicate it because I forget what I've changed to make it all work in the first place.

~ I'm terrible at selfies... though this may not be just a manual photo phenomenon.

~ England, may just have to be taken using auto.  There's too much to photograph and not enough time to learn how.

Friday Five

1. Love these murals I discovered in Annapolis tonight.  They've probably been there forever, but I've never noticed them before.  So colorful!

2. Is it wrong that I'm loving the US Open mostly because Phil is doing well and Tiger isn't?  I actually sort of feel bad for the guy, and I NEVER say things like that when talking about Tiger.  His game was just that miserable.  But this weekend, even the good games haven't been that stellar.  Those greens are ugly!  However, Phil still made the cut, so either way I'm ok with the outcome (Though I have a cupcake bet on Phil winning so if he could do that, I'd really appreciate it...)

3. Love, Love, Love Jon Stewart!  This was so incredibly well said.  If they actually gave Pulitzers to late night comedians that were truly fantastic news men, he would definitely receive one for this commentary alone.

4. I'm not going to say that I'm the Rock's target audience, which is why I assume I'm not such a fan of any of his movies.  However, he genuinely seems like a nice guy and seeing him let this little girl pull a plane, is pretty darn adorable!

5. And as always, it's summer, and I'm back in love with this song.  The perfect tune for wide open windows and the wind in your hair! 
           

Unfathomable

I just don't understand how someone can hold so much hate in their heart that they decide to pick up a gun and shoot up a bible study group.  How can you go to a bible study group with these people and kill them an hour later?  These were good people.  But even if they weren't, guns are never be the answer.  

The shooter was only 21 years old.  What's happened in his life that would even put this thought into his head? I'm by no means giving him an excuse, I'm just curious as to how a person goes from praying to killing that quickly.  And more importantly, how does someone with active warrants get access to guns?  I know guns don't kill people and that people kill people, but if those people didn't have such easy access to those guns, their choices would be a bit more difficult to pull off.

My heart goes out to the families and friends of those killed as well as those in South Carolina, reeling from this loss.  Something has to be done, so this doesn't happen again.  

#AllLivesMatter

L'Hermione Love

There's always something fun happening in Annapolis in the Summer time.  Tonight it was a Concorde Class frigate named L'Hermione which happened to be docked at the Harbor.  I have no idea why the ship's here, but it's beautiful and enormous!

PS: First time shooting in manual - woohoo!

Way to go Birds!

Gotta love a good night at Camden Yards!  I should have known it was going to be stellar when the O's were already winning by 6 and the first inning hadn't even ended yet.  In the end, a franchise record was broken - 8 Home Runs in a single game (2 players made 2 each!) and the O's beat the poor Phillies 19 -3.  I actually kinda felt bad for them.  That is until the Phillies pitcher was ejected for trying to hit JJ Hardy.  Then I decided they deserved what they got.  

Though the best part of the evening was seeing Chris Parmelee - a player who was acquired today - make 4 hits (2 of which were HRs) out of 6 in his very first major league game with the Orioles.  He totally deserved the Player of the Game honor and the 3 pies that were bestowed upon him by his team mates : )

Way to go O's!

Go Crazy!

Do you ever just get the urge to do something crazy?  Something ridiculous that you know is dumb, and you know is dangerous but you kind of want to do it anyway?  That's sort of where I am right now.  Now, I know what you're thinking.  Tattoo?  Weird body piercing? Jumping out of an airplane?  Nope none of the above.  The tattoo might someday happen in the future, but those other things are WAY too crazy for me.  I'm in the mood to be crazy but not that crazy...

What I kind of want to do is this -

That's rappelling 17 stories down the side of a building.  And the best part?  It's for charity! Now I hate heights - not in airplanes mind you - but I'm not crazy about them when I'm not encased in a big metal tube flying at 500 mph.  And I happen to think people who jump off a tall things such a buildings, or rocks are pretty insane, when it's just as easy to stay on them where it's nice and safe.  But like I said, this is about being out there. And hey, there are all sorts of wires attached to you.  That means it's safe, right?

Of course, before hand, I'd actually have to find a building in Baltimore that allows this.  I feel like that's maybe a big barrier to the whole - go crazy and climb a building plan.  Maybe I'll start smaller - rock climbing wall, perhaps?  How does one even find one of them?  As you can see, I don't usually go crazy - there's apparently a lot of work to it : )

The Problem with Netflix...

I, like most people, love Netflix.  It's such a fabulous idea and the fact that it's cheap is so darn wonderful.  How can you not love one stop shopping for all sorts of binge-able entertainment?  But, it comes with a few issues. One of which, is my main problem with the groundbreaking site.  

Netflix has SO much to watch, that I can't decide on a single thing so I just choose nothing.  I think it has something to do with the ADD I don't have. I can't focus.  I'm like a kid in the candy store.  There's Gilmore Girls, or West Wing, or Friends or Mash, or something new I haven't seen yet like Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt or House of Cards, or Arrow.  And that doesn't even address the movie selection. It's ridiculous!  I've been using Netflix for months now and I've been wanting to watch every one of the shows I've just mentioned, and yet, I've only ever sat down to watch one - Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt.  And even that was months after it came out.

How many site can you wish to have less choices?  Not many I'm sure.  I love you Netflix but you stress me out! 

Just Another Summer Saturday

I love summer Saturdays spent with loved ones.  I love summer Saturdays that are super hot and super sunny, that make you forget about the 6 degree days you were suffering through just a few months ago.  I love summer Saturdays spent outlet shopping over the Bay Bridge and real shopping in Naptown.  I love summer Saturdays that end in donuts.  Most of all I love summer Saturdays spent outside enjoying the fact that it is finally a summer Saturday.

Friday Five

1. I'm way behind on this one, but I'm adoring The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt!  It's absolutely adorable!  Leave it to Tina Fey to create a perfect show.  After starting a few hours ago, I'm already 6 episodes in...so darn binge-able! Oh, and the darn theme song will be stuck in my head for years to come.

2. We all know Phil Mickelson's awesome.  But when he did this earlier this week, he became even more awesome. Love him!

3. There are some truly fantastic travel blogs out there.  Of course there are some terrible ones too.  That makes the good ones that much better.  That's pretty much how I feel about LandLopers.  Matt - the blogger - just seems to be in love with travel but he also seems to get what travel writing is all about. He's not just in it to see the world.  He's also in it to share his love with people and he's created his own little niche doing what he loves.  His post this week on how he did it and what you need to do to do it too was fabulous!  If I could figure out how to make his tips work for me, I think I'd be a very happy camper.

4. Fell in love with this version of the song for...reasons.  But then I learned Darius Rucker sang it first. I was never a huge Hootie and the Blowfish fan but Darius Rucker is fabulous!  Now I'm pretty much all about both versions.  It's a pretty darn catchy little song - I'm warning you.  You'll have it stuck in your head for days now!
         

         

5. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Hillywood Show and their jaw-droppingly amazing parody videos.  Well, this right here is a great interview with them.  Their creative process was really cool to hear about and the reactions to their ideas were just so expected from the cast they were working with.  It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to hear about others that love something as much as I do.  (And just in case you want to see it again - here's the best parody video ever!)
          

Should Have Fallen For...

After chancing upon an article on BBC today, it seems I should have fallen for Germany rather than England.  Not only is Germany on the Euro, which is just so much cheaper than the Pound right now; but also, Europeans as well as Americans can attend college for basically next to nothing.  We're talking all students not just scholarship students.  And when I say next to nothing, I'm not exaggerating.  Some "tuition" is merely nothing but a few fees equal to 4-500 dollars a year.  Can you believe that?

I have to say, I was skeptical at first.  If this was the case, surely you'd have to be fluent in German to take the classes, but no, wrong again. Tons of programs are taught completely 100% in English.  Then I thought they must be highly specialized programs that only the top of the top tier can handle, but no, again.  There were programs ranging from American Studies, to Tourism Management, from Chemistry to Informatics.  A huge range just waiting for classes to be filled.

The reason behind this huge expense for the German governement is even fantastic.  They believe that if they provide the education, that these same great thinkers of tomorrow will bring their ideas and their research to Germany and cultivate an even better tomorrow.  What an awe-inspiring idea!  

It's amazing that one of the top richest countries in the world (i.e. America) can't focus their energy and resources on the same idea instead of making students practically sell their first born just to get a simple education...

Mumford!

As you can see we were very excited to see Mumford & Sons this evening at Merriweather Post Pavillion.  It was a beautiful evening.  We had lovely lawn seats. We were in great company.  There were ice cream sandwiches made with chocolate cookies.  The band played perfectly.  All was well.  Except for the fact we knew way fewer Mumford & Sons songs than we thought we did.  I knew a total of 2 the entire evening. Also, they take too long between songs - call me ADD but do you really need a 2 minute break between every single song?  Anyway, even so it was a great evening with a great friend!

PS - Dude in the background is a little creepy, no?

An Earful of Earhardt

I've always been fascinated by Amelia Earhardt.  First off, she was an amazing woman who followed her dreams.  She lived a life that women in her time, just didn't.  And she didn't care.  She also grabbed life by the horns and lived it for all it was worth.  How can you not want to be her?  Seriously, she flew planes when most women were answering phones. She's fantastic!  

So you can say I was all over the story that broke today of the previously unseen footage of her and her twin-engine.  How has footage like this gone unseen for so long?  Honestly.  It's literally been sitting in the corner in some dusty office for decades.  It sort of makes you wonder what else is hiding in dusty offices.  

                                        
It's so cool to see her like this.  She looks happy and full of life.  Most of all she doesn't look worried or scared at all - even though she was about to embark on a huge challenge of circumnavigating the globe. I get excited when amazing people like this make it into the news again.  Maybe little ones of today will discover them and choose do something awesome like she did - as opposed to wanting to be some pop star.

You go girl!

A Taste of Three Cities

This year was the third year for The Gathering's Taste of of Three Cities - a food truck meet up with trucks from Baltimore, DC and Philly.  And I just have to say, it was their best year yet!  They finally nailed the perfect location - Patterson Park.  For the last few years, they've had it in a huge open area, on black top with zero shade and no place to sit or eat.  And of course, it's always HOT.  However this year, they held the event in a park with loads of trees and allowed you to bring in chairs to get comfy in the grass in the shade.  It was fabulous!  

As for the food, it's always delicious!  There's just so much to choose from.  You can find pretty much everything you want, and then some - and I most definitely did!  The only complaint I had, and it's the same complaint I have every year, is the lack of "tasting" menus.  The event draws something like 60 trucks, and every truck is serving full portions of all of their items.  The problem with this is, you get stuffed after only a handful of trucks.  If they really wanted you to try everything, they'd start serving miniature sized versions of their items.  They'd still be making money because I guarantee more people would buy at a lower price point and everyone would get to taste test everything!  Emporiyum wizened up to this fact this year.  Hopefully, the Gathering will catch on soon.  

Even without the tasting portions, I was able to try a bunch.  If you ever plan to go, here's your plan of attack.  Take a friend with you that loves to eat just as much as you do, then share everything you purchase.  If you're sharing, you can try twice as many trucks : )

First up was the Arancini from Di Pinoteca - The Best thing I ate all day!  It was ginormous and delicious!

Cheese Curds were up next from The Cow and the Curd - I'd had these last year and they were so good I've been dreaming about them ever since.  Unfortunately, they weren't as fabulous this time around.  Don't get me wrong, they were good, but they were also super greasy.

Then on to Cuban Mac and Cheese from a truck that only sold Mac and Cheese (Sorry, I can't seem to find the name right now).  This was our least fave of the day.  It was just too much everything and seeing as the box it came in weighed about 3 pounds, we were never going to be able to finish it.  It sounded like it would be delicious with pulled pork, and cheese and mustard, but the mustard I thought would be mixed in was actually slathered all over the top of the concoction - yuck!

For the last savory meal of the day, we had tacos from DC Tacos.  I read the list and most of the tacos seemed to have things I didn't like on them, but I chose to ignore and just try a steak taco instead.  And honestly, it was delicious!  The meat was perfectly cooked and while I'm not exactly sure what all was on top of the steak, it all tasted pretty good together!

Alas, it was time for dessert.  When attending the food truck gatherings, the Cheesecake Truck is always, always a must.  Who can resist chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick? Sadly they weren't offering my fave banana this year, but the Cookies and Cream cheesecake certainly made up for it.

Last but not least, was an Elvis cupcake from Iced Gems - another must and my personal fave of all the cupcake trucks.  They have about 40 different flavors to try and they're always yummy!

PS: Please excuse the lack of pictures - apparently my photography skills go down, while the food intake increases.  Basically when I eat I take terrible photos...

In the Kitchen: Danish Dream Cake

I was so excited when I found this recipe for Danish Dream Cake last week on Saveur (another reason to love Twitter - Recipes!!).  It looked absolutely delicious!  How can you say no to coconut.  What's even better, which is slightly out of the ordinary for a Saveur recipe, it seemed fairly easy.  There were no crazy expensive ingredients that would only be used for this cake, and never to be seen again. 

And honestly, seeing it come out of the oven, I was pretty darn proud of myself.  I mean look at it!  It's gorgeous!

                 

 

And while, it's beautiful, it wasn't exactly what I wanted.  The cake itself was pretty good - more like a pound cake than I was expecting.  And the topping was coconut-y, but for me it was too coconut-y.  Too sweet!  The verdict is that it's definitely not my favorite, but I have to say - I might have to make it again, just for the sheer wow factor of just how pretty it is : )

Triple Crown Winner!!

I've been holding out hope for a very long time, that eventually a horse would win the Triple Crown in my lifetime.  Seeing as the last one was in 1978, it was well before my time.  I thought it just might happen last year but then California Chrome was injured and unable to run in Belmont.  

I had an inkling that American Pharaoh might have a chance after the Derby, mostly because the press were eating the story up.  Then the win at the Preakness came by such a huge margin, it was all but inevitable.  As excited as I was during the lead up for Belmont, for some reason I completely forgot about the race today, until I caught it in the bar at the restaurant I was eating in this evening.

Thank goodness for small miracles!  After all this desire for a Triple Crown, I finally got to see it happen in real time.  And it was pretty darn Awesome!

Congrats to American Pharaoh and Congrats to Victor Espinoza!  You're truly 2 for the record books!

Terrible, Horrible...

No Good, Very Bad Day...

I'm taking the evening off to ponder what gods I ticked off to give me such a terrifically awful 24 hours - also, adding insult to injury, even if I wanted to blog I couldn't; the laptop that was working so beautifully has decided to stop connecting o the Internet...again.

Future Job Plans

A few days ago, I took this little quiz.  I usually don't hold much stock in these darn things.  I took tons of these as a Psych major and the one thing you learn when doing so, is that you can pretty much get any result you want, if you try hard enough (That doesn't stop me from taking the utterly ridiculous quizzes on BuzzFeed - What European city are you?!- mind you; I still jump into those with both feet and I'm still utterly annoyed when I don't get the results I want.  Seriously!?  How can they say I'm Prague rather than London!?)

But that's beside the point.  

Anyway, I was completely honest when choosing my personality types.  Based on their choices, I decided I was an ISFJ - Introverted, Sensor, Feeler, Judger.  It's true.  So imagine my surprise when I learned what my jobs were supposed to be:

School Teacher
Librarian
Franchise Owner

These are all pretty perfect for me, right?!  I am a teacher.  I LOVE to read and could totally live my work life in a library and one day I'm hoping to own the franchise of my father's as yet un-thought-about (by him not me) restaurant.  You might be thinking at this point that this quiz is so scientific it's scary.

But then you'd see the number one job and decide whoever wrote the quiz is a moron. According to the smart people of Meyers Briggs, I should be a..........DENTIST!  I mean, honestly?!  A dentist.  That by far is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.  But it was most definitely a good laugh : )

Graduation Day!

This little cutie officially graduated Kindergarten today.  She's hilarious and adorable and I love her to pieces.  In her 6 years, she's had a whole slew of Natalie-isms. And tonight was no different.  During a rousing game of I-Spy, I was informed by little miss gymnast that she was quitting gymnastics.  When I asked why, I was told it was because she's "done gymnastics for years" and "all they want her to do is stand still but she just wants to run" and even though she's "super flexible", she's going to "lose her flex when she stops doing gymnastics."  When I asked what she was doing instead, she told me she was going to play soccer because she played soccer today at the "party for all the graduates."  What a nut!

Happy Graduation Cutie!

Tomorrowland

As much as I love George Clooney, I never really hold much stock in his movies.  He's not been in anything that I've loved since ER.  His movies are usually high concept - I actually liked, not loved Goodnight and Good Luck - or just too ridiculous for words.  I'm looking at you Oh Brother Where Art Thou?  But when word came out he was doing a Disney movie, I was pretty excited.  Not to mention, a Disney big-budget high concept, gorgeous movie like Tomorrowland - what wasn't to love?

Then the reviews came out and apparently it was less than impressive.  But it still looked great so I still went to see it. And?  The one thing I learned? Sometimes the ratings lie.  I thought it was awesome!  And not just because George Clooney was in it - though that's a piece of it; he's just so dreamy!  I loved the message of What's Next?!  It wants us to keep looking forward and looking up.  Be creative.  Be curious.  Be smart.  Be open.  Honestly, what's more needed right now than good ideas?!

I also loved the fact that girls kicked butt.  Honestly, there are a lot of damsels in distress out there getting rescued by great big brave prince charmings.  This one had George as an unlikely prince charming but the 2 strongest characters were a little girl robot and a 16 year girl.  And you know what?  They saved the day by using their brains and kicking a little butt. Girl Power!

On a more shallow note - George Clooney!  And Hugh Laurie!  And a perfect little boy that looked exactly like a little George Clooney.  And 2 awesome female actresses that will have quite the careers.  In other words, the casting was perfect!  Also, the special effects and CGI were pretty drool worthy. 

Basically, on a scale of 1 to ER, George finally made a movie that's on par with the best show ever! 

Washington DC Day

I always forget how much I like DC until I go there, and then I fall in love all over again. Aside from the ridiculous amount of construction happening down there and gobs and gobs of people, there really is just so much to see.  I think it's finally come to my attention in the last few years or so, that everything is fairly centrally located.  So if you want to see everything DC has to offer, they make it pretty easy for you - do you think they did that on purpose? : )