A happy list that is way too long

 So, I went through this phase last August where I really needed to focus on things that made me happy. Luckily, I easily find joy in the smallest, silliest of things, but I needed to be able to remind myself each day of what brings happiness into my life. My brother came to visit last July, and each day after he left, we'd text each other what our "little bit of happy" was for that day.  Well then I decided to start making lists of things that always make me happy because... well, just because. I now present to you 82 things from prior lists and 13 newly added today. That makes 95 things that always make me smile :).

1. Old friends
2. New friends
3. Anything that makes me laugh
4. Dive bars
5. Thank you notes
6. Friendly cab drivers
7. Wyoming summer nights
8. Chinese Buddhas
9. Green Machine Naked brand juice
10. Bread and butter
11. Walking in the sunshine down a sidewalk
12. Walking around Capitol Hill
13. Walking in general
14. Having no particular plans on a Sunday
15. Making plans with my mom for anything
16. People who open doors for others
17. Being asked directions by random people
18. College football on chilly Saturdays
19. Ice cream straight from the carton
20. Window seats on airplanes
21. Writing in cursive
22. Stopping to smell the roses
23. Huge West Virginia honey crisp apples
24. My mom
25. My brother
26. My sister
27. Black ink ballpoint pens (particularly the free-from-the-hotel-room variety)
28. Tasting the wine before accepting the bottle, even though I know I'm not going to send it back
29. Learning words in new languages
30. Prosecco sparkling wine
31. Old family movies
32. This video: http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/video/default.aspx?vid=942e77cd-d20f-4254-9ad9-f8a06712a747%26tab%3DRelationships%26ap%3Dtime_inc&from=en-us_lifestyle_relationships
33. Broken escalators that make me think, "escalator temporarily stairs; sorry for the convenience".
34. Mitch Hedberg quotes (see #33)
35. Dancing
36. Hugging
37. "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles
38. Any place that sells Niederegger brand marzipan
39. Outdoor movies
40. Orchids
41. Driving with the windows down
42. Flip flops
43. Reading IBD's 10 secrets to success every day
44. Fires in the fireplace
45. Stars (the celestial kind, NOT the gossip-column kind)
46. Puppies and big dogs
47. European churches
48. Listening to my Oma tell stories about her life
49. People who jog in place on sidewalk corners
50. Snail mail
51. Finishing a Sudoku without cheating
52. Calculating the tip on a restaurant bill in my head (and people who can do this)
53. Lightning bugs
54. Any family time I get
55. Water. Specifically Oceans. Sparkling water when I'm in Europe.
56. Sharing wine with my girl friends
57. Making chocolate chip cookies
58. Sun on my skin and warm weather
59. Stretching and looking out my window in the morning, admiring Capitol Hill and thinking about how lucky I am to be here right now
60. Tasting the produce at Eastern Market
61. Making Valentines. Glitter.
62. Grapefruit on Christmas
63. Swimming
64. Flourishing gardens in DC front yards
65. Aisle seats on long flights
66. Peppermint tea
67. Tomato, mozzarella, and basil. Together or seperately.
68. Nutella straight from the jar
69. Wishing on fallen eyelashes
70. Getting caught in the rain
71. 3rd and East Capitol
72. City lights
73. Talking to my mom and seeing her smile
74. Coffee dates with my sister
75. Movies and laughing with my brother
76. The smell of bookstores
77. Chicken soup on a rainy day
78. Stepping on crunchy leaves
79. Cartwheels
80. People watching at the airport
81. Taking trips-- planned or spontaneous
82. Cubs fans
83. Warm summer nights
84. "Please" and "thank you" s
85. Dandelions
86. Hot dogs with poppy seed buns
87. Doughnuts, even though I am DONE eating them. Done, I tell you.
88. Chewing gum (but not when it's stuck to my shoe)
89. "Country music Fridays" with Macy in the front office
90. DC family dinners
91. Taking pictures using Macro setting
92. Dirty, hippie barefeet in the summer
93. Any mention of the words "trip", "vacation", or "adventure"
94. The colors green and blue when used together
95. This video: Meet the sloths from Lucy Cooke on Vimeo.

Hope you have a good Memorial Day weekend <3

reason i heart DC #2

The way I feel on a summer night... I could live forever.

DC in the summer is hot. It is humid. It is downright sticky. Everywhere you go, everyone is dripping sweat unrelentingly. You get used to having your clothing stick to you or your hair simultaneously frizzy and without body. And as someone whose first house here did not have air conditioning, let me be the first to proclaim what a gift it is to have such thermal control during the DC summer. You quickly learn where the air vents are at Metro stations so that you can hog the little bit of cool air being blown into a space that feels like the equivalent of wearing a wetsuit in a sauna. Cockroaches scuttle about the sidewalks when the sun goes down, and mosquitoes feast on your legs as though you're a delicacy. Men get sweat stains down backs of their dress shirts. It gets to the point where putting on lotion is almost torture since it clogs the pours and causes even more perspiration, if that's possible. People groan and complain and stay in the air conditioned office building for lunch, but really, who blames them? To step outside is to look a mess for the remainder of the day.

But you know what, I love it. I don't mind looking disheveled and damp because everyone else looks that way too. The swampy weather means that plants grow, almost jungle like in their green-ness, easily and beautifully. And at night, oh my dear sweet DC summer night, the air stays muggy and warm but my need for sleep grows shorter. I could stay awake forever. The smells, the sounds, the feeling-- it brings back good memories of my previous summer in DC and urges me to continually make more. The air makes me crave a glass of wine on my back patio (or a dance, as was once the case). It makes me crave a walk, stomping on the occasional cockroach (sorry, karma). It makes me crave outdoor movies, good friends, good music, and of course good ice cream. The summer nights in DC bring back the feelings from the summer past and its wishes that never were, but it makes me feel so alive with possibilities of what could be.

So, welcome back to DC, summer nights. I've missed you.

"Hold me close and hold me fast,

the magic spell you cast,

this is la vie en rose"

A lil somethin' somethin'

OOooooo, you want to see something that grosses me out?! Check out this koi pond in Hawaii.

Yet somehow I couldn't look away... and even paid to feed them and make them fatter and floppier. Goodness gracious.

Noodle Spoon

 

Oh how I love a good smile!

Moon River

You know what movie I like? Breakfast at Tiffany's.
You know what part I like in it? Well, all of it really.
But I feel like liking this part in particular today:

"You musn't give your heart to a wild thing. The more you do, the stronger they get, until they're strong enough to run into the woods or fly into a tree. And then to a higher tree and then to the sky."

the little things i love about dc #1

there are so many reasons that i love dc. there are a few reasons why i really don't like dc either, and at some point before i leave, i'll touch on those too. but i have a bit of a crush on so many of the quirky, unique things about this city. my time here is coming to an end, so from time to time between now and the soggy, tearful, heart-wrenching day that i drive out of the city, i'll explain to you just what it is about dc that has won my heart. here are just 5 out of the many...

• the old man who lives across the street from me who, on every warm night in the city, walks his little old dog (of which i am not a fan-- it's small and kind of hates other people and especially hates people on longboards). they walk very slowly down the sidewalk together while the little old man sips on what i can only assume is a glass of scotch and smokes a cigar. i can't recall ever not seeing him out on a warm evening, really.

• the small ratio of pigeons to human population of dc. most cities have an absurd number of these winged creatures. birds put me on edge, and i consider pigeons to be city rats in the sky (or circling the sidewalk cafe table and hoping for a croissant crumb to scavenge- not happening, ya filthy bird!). in venice, italy, i about died of a heart attack in the piazza san marco where the world's pigeon to human ratio must be about 100:1. but dc has a really manageable amount of pigeons, and i really appreciate it for that.

• speaking of sidewalk cafes, in dc you can get food from anywhere in the world. seriously, name a country! name a region! name a continent or city! and i bet you can find the cuisine to match. maybe it's like this in all cities. i don't know. but as someone who adores traveling- nay, craves traveling, i like being able to know that at least my taste buds can go on a trip even if i'm stuck in this concrete jungle (except it is more like a marble or granite jungle, and not so much a jungle because of the building ordinances but more like a thicket or shrubbery).

• the capitol. i love the capitol. i love that i can go wander around the capitol and soak in its beauty on a tough work day. i love everything about that building. and my very favorite? the mint green corridor outside of the senate chamber. it's just so dang pretty. natural light enters through a window, and no tours go through there. it's generally empty save for the capitol police stationed there or the occasional hurried staffer, milling member of the press, or senator. ooo-ie! if only i could pocket it up and take it with me when i go. it breaks my little dc heart thinking about the fact that i will not be invited (and would be probably tackled or something if i tried) to be back there once i am no longer an employee. oh, frown. 

the delectable minty green-ness of the corridor

• my address. my cute, little, old, classic capitol hill rowhouse. it used to be a carriage house. horses used to ride right into the first floor of my home (we're talking over a hundred years ago here people)! i love the house number. i love that it's blue. i love each roommate i've ever had there (george, noor, courtney, jenny... that means you!). i love that i have good landlords. i love that it is impossible to combat the abundance of mint that takes over my garden in the backyard. i love that i even have a backyard (err... back patio, actually). i love the neighbor man who sometimes brings our trash and recycling bins back up to our fence. i love the winery tiles as the backsplash in our kitchen by the stove. i just lurve it all, and chances are good that i'll cry like a small child when i have to leave it.

my little house during snowmaggedon 2010!

i could go on and on about what makes life here so good. i will go on and on about all of it but only in installments of 5 at a time so that i don't overwhelm you with feelings on things. does my lack of capitalization today overwhelm you? i'm really enjoying not using my 'shift' key.

love always <3

A small tribute to the Boogeyman

There was some news that saddened me this weekend. Derek Boogaard, 28 year old professional hockey player, was found dead. In college, Kenny and I spent hours on YouTube watching clips of his fights. He didn't score often or have very many assists, but I bet his teammates knew that he had their backs when he was on the ice. Check it out, and rest in peace, Boogeyman.

noun \ˈblis\ 1 : complete happiness

Yesterday I came home from an after-work swim, and my roommate's girlfriend looked at me and said that I seemed just completely

b l i s s f u l

And you know what? I am.

I have had a series of wonderful trips and adventures this Spring. I was in Hawaii, took a rejuvenating trip to Phoenix, and this past Sunday Emma and I drove out to Assateague Island to spend the day on the beach. My skin looks like it's been kissed by the sun. The ocean puts my soul at ease, and the sand I had stuck to my toes all the way back to DC was like a cherry on top. I believe to my very core that I was made for sun and sand and salty oceans. Nothing seems to really bring peace to my mind quite like the ocean on a sunny day can. Here are some pictures of our Zen day...

Assateague Island National Seashore

Zen Zone

Sebastian the ladybug kept us company all day

Ballet on the beach

Run like the wind!

"This is why we're friends"

Someone left their mother's day rose outside the outhouse...
sometimes it's the little things.

Wild horses met us at the exit to bid adieu to a lovely day

I hope you find yourself feeling blissful today, too. Love always.

**sorry for the re-post of this. I messed up the labels, and it was driving me crazy. Now it'll probably drive me crazy that my posts are out-of-order by date. Ah well...

Roses are all sorts of colors

Isn't the Hill just so cute?

My neighbor has THE PRETTIEST roses.

 

 

 

Hello from Capitol Hill on a gorgeous Sunday! There is a massive, looming storm cloud rapidly approaching, but the morning and afternoon was sunny and in the 70's! Just gorgeous. And now I'm off to the movies!

Sub-one, sunshine, and Rachel

After a winter of swimming on and off and competing in a few meets here and there, I buckled down for the month of April and really focused on a few weeks of nothing but good practices. And you know what? It pays off to practice.

USMS Spring 2011 Nationals were held in Mesa, Arizona during the last weekend of April. It was 4 days of competition, over 1,800 competitors, and perfect weather-- warm, sunny, and slightly breezy.

For Christmas, my Uncle John gave a plane ticket to me for a 2011 adventure. I used it to get myself to AZ. Not only was there swimming to be had and records to be broken (OK, I didn't break any records), but the best part and main reason for going is because that's where my Rachel lives! In case you live under a rock and haven't heard me mention her, Rachel is one of my very dearest friends.

She and her husband are expecting their first baby-- a girl! If there is one person on this Earth who is having trouble containing her excitement about this news, it's me. Orrrrrrr their mothers. But still, I'm a close runner-up.

Here are the highlights of my trip:

-Taking the longest cab ride ever from the airport in Phoenix to the pool in Mesa. Who knew it was that long of a drive?! Geez. It's like my time on the East Coast has made me forget that in the West, things are  s p r e a d  o u t.

-Going for cheapish Chinese (Chineese, eh Rachel?) food, lo mein of course, and getting to catch up with my adorable friend.

-Adventuring to her man made work pond. She had no hand in man-making it, to clarify.

-Waking up at the ridiculous hour of 2am to watch, love, and analyze the Royal Wedding with Rachel.

-Waking up by myself again at 5:15am to watch the kiss on the balcony.

-Making "English" breakfast with Lady Rachel daahhhling in honor of aforementioned Royal Wedding. Scrambled eggs are kind of like eggs benedict, right?

-Almost missing my 50 free but then setting a personal best for my Master's career (what, like, 4 meets? Still.)

-Reminiscing about high school days and past silliness

-CUBBIES GAME! Homerun, hot dogs with purchase of ticket, the win.

-Swimming a personal Master's career best in my 200 free and having Rachel there to watch (sorry your bum hurt from having to sit there forever on my flat-as-a-pancake towel.) I think it was good practice for her upcoming soccer mom days to have to be there for so long. No? Ok.

-Making pineapple burgers and watching Black Swan with not only Rachel but also Devin, the soon-to-be-daddy and outstanding husband in this senario.

-Waking up stupid early to spend all day Sunday at the pool. I got to watch my teammates race, my relay kicked serious ass (26.46 split for me) and placed 3rd (ooo big medal!), and I went sub-one in my 100 free. I also got tan, which is probably the very best part of this day of the meet.

-Painting little baby Claire's crib with Rachel (and accidentally painting a big of the fence, some plants, some rocks, and my toes). I'm not a good painter, I learned. I liked just painting and talking. This was maybe my favorite part of the whole trip.

-Eating steak and potatoes (from a box, which is a delicious way to make potatoes, I'll have you know)

-Wandering around the Arizona State campus early in the morning before I light-railed to the airport (MUCH better than a dumb cab ride). After climbing into a parking garage and hauling my suitcases up some stairs, I found the swim team outside already practicing. They were swimming 100's on a minute 20 or 30 in a 50 meter pool. YUCK. I also found a bagel place. This must be noted because a large orange juice and a blueberry bagel with honey almond cream cheese is noteworthy.

When I came back to DC, I felt really refreshed. I loved the sunshine. I love the people I swim with. I was happy with my performance in the pool. I ate well. I slept well. And best of all, I got to reconnect with someone very near and dear to me, and I got to feel part of this next step in their lives. It was wonderful vacation.

Race for the Roses

Saturday was Kentucky Derby day!!! I love the Derby. I just do. And Derby day is one of the best days of the year.

I didn't get to go to Louisville this year (and I haven't gone since I was 2 years old, so it's not like it's out of the ordinary to not be in attendance), but I couldn't let the day go by without letting myself get super excited for the race. In honor of this year's race for the roses, Emma and I went to Eastern Market to try on the silly hats. The usual hat lady was not there, which is too bad because last year we purchased ridiculously froofy headbands from her to wear to the Preakness. Anyway, we managed to find some pretty stellar hats for sale there at another vendor.

floppy hats of all colors

emma is under there somewhere...

oh you fancy, huh?

Can you believe how stupid these particular hats are? Me neither.

emma dahling

and hats with which one can sport a ponytail

the floppiest of the floppy hats

I think I like the Derby so much because when I lived in Chicago, we'd get together with the "Monopoly Group" (family friends who are close enough to just really be family) and have big clam bakes and such for each of the Triple Crown races. My family hosted the Preakness party, but the Kentucky Derby was the best party. While all the grown ups did a clam bake and ate lobsters and such, I busied myself with the other kids fishing in a little lake and finding people to take our catches off the line for us because heaven forbid we touch the top fin and get stabbed or something. I also would spend most of the day eating the hostess' delicious french bread and butter. Oh my lanta, it is the very best bread. I guess for me, the day means fun traditions that have changed and evolved but that always take me closer to home, even if just in spirit.

This year, my chosen horse came in 2nd (that's Nehro, to you buddy), so I won the family pool. My mom diligently collects the win, place, show picks for all of our family members and some friends and tracks who the winners are. No one picked the actual winner, Animal Kingdom, so my choices brought me 2011 Kentucky Derby glory! Bragging rights for a year, baby.

To My Mom on Mother's Day.

It's technically still mother's day in Wyoming, even though here in DC we've just inched into Monday. Ich liebe dich, meine Mutti. You're the best mom in the world.

Happy Mother's Day!

>>I have re-named this post because it's former title was apparently also a popular Google search that correlated with someone in the business of adult entertainment, turns out. I kept wondering why it got so many views. So, oops, sorry, and please enjoy the new title.

Dear Host Family,

I have to write a letter to my potential host family. It's due tomorrow. Here's the thing: I don't know where I'll be or who they are. I'm encouraged to include pictures of myself, information about my family and hometown (which hometown... I have a few), and other informative tidbits about me. GAH! Mostly also I don't feel like it, but I'm pretty keen on the idea of not being homeless for a year, so I should probably just buckle down and do this. Here are potential pictures of me in the running for "persuade my unknown host family that they already like me":

Ok, so maybe there aren't many pictures of me where I'm looking nice and normal and standing still. As of right now, I am accepting all pictures of me meeting the above criteria. Gracias (you like that? Happy Cinco de Mayo).

Maybe it will go something like this:
Dear Host Family,
My name is Elisabeth, and I'm really excited to move to Germany. My name is even spelled with an "s", so I should fit in perfectly. Please keep Nutella on hand. It's delicious.
With much enthusiasm,
Elisabeth

Well that was easy! Now I can focus on plans for Cinco de Mayo errrr I mean work. Focus on work.

Bin LaaaaI'm just kidding... cell phone pics!

Word on the street is that a certain "Most Wanted" responsible for the attacks on 9-11 exists no longer. But you know what, I'm not going to use my blog to rant or rave about that. This place is my escape. So instead, I feel the need to report that I just spent the last 4 days in the Phoenix area, and let me tell you-- I feel so refreshed. It was a fantastic trip in every way, and I'm back now feeling happy and rejuvenated (and looking a bit tan, which is nice). I'm too much in vacation bliss mode to compose a comprehensive post of the trip, so for today you get a few little cell phone pictures. Happy Tuesday!

Rachel's new house. Pretty!

A little last morning walk around the ASU campus.

ASU swim team already doing sets of all-out 100's. It was like 7am.

Palm Walk- ASU campus

Have you read "Where Men Win Glory" by John Krakauer? You should.

This is horrible picture of me, but I had to prove that I was there. Don't judge.

Ok, so the only cell phone pictures I took were on the Arizona State University campus, looks like. I have better pictures from my big-kid camera. You'll see.