Vacation Monday

I slept in so late today. It was incredible. The dogs even slept in late. 

This weekend was pretty eventful yet relaxing. 

Friday we went over to Scott and Miriam's to meet baby Hays. Didn't get any pictures of Hailey because I'm a failure but we'll be going back soon! 

I made dinner:

Sesame Ginger Baked Cod and Baked Bourbon Chicken with roasted broccoli and roasted potatoes.

I'm not so sure about that fish. It was interesting, but besides being dry, the chicken was pretty tastey!

I made a large Upholstered Letter H for Hailey's nursery. 

You can kind of get an idea of size since you can see Sketchy's hand in comparison. It wasn't cooperating quite well so I'll need to find a better way to bond it. Got a cutesy stand for it to sit on as well. 

Hailey was super cute and pretty quiet. I actually held her for a lonnnggg time without any crying. Curse broken? Or maybe she just likes me better than other babies?

Kerry came by Saturday afternoon. We hung out at the house and then I made dinner

lamb chops

Tequilla-Lime Cilantro Chicken

After dinner we headed out to Hirsh's Birthday/Housewarming situation. Their home was really beautiful. There was a mad men theme so men suited up and girls 'dolled-up' 60s style. No picture of me or me and Sketchy together, but I got this one of him: 

Sketchy loves fedoras. 

Sunday morning we had planned to take Kerry to a brunch for bottomless mimosas but that was a fail. We ended up having mimosas at home and watching endless marathons of Bar Rescue and Duck Dynasty. Omg please don't judge but Duck Dynasty is basically the best thing ever. It's like the Redneck Kardashians and actually entertaining! New favorite show. 

Pretty awesome weekend in all. Today I'm getting things together at home and relaxing until Sketchy gets home. Then we're heading out to an event at the Kennedy Center I've had my eye on for the past few weeks. It's a climate change through photography discussion that's part of their Nordic Cool exhibition. 

Great way to start off the week. 

FREEDOM FRIDAY!

Last night Sketchy and I tried out a new Kabob Place sort of near us. We drove until we found something we wanted. We're the most indecisive people ever. We literally had to flip a coin to pick between the Kabob place or grill place next door. 

Kabob place was a success. No biryani though. I'm still on the hunt for a good kabob place with biryani to take Mehran's place when they're gone early next year. We've now tried over 15 kabob places in the DMV area! 

THE END OF AN ERA:

Today was my last day in the office! I didn't want to write much about job situation for the past two weeks because it was all still in the process. I put in my two weeks notice on Wednesday, February 27, 2013. 

The best day ever. 

I cannot tell you how incredibly unhappy I've been at my current work place for a little over a year now. I continued to stay there thinking that things would get better and it only got worse! In the past month I've lost so much sleep and have been so incredibly unhappy in my regular life because of my job. I understand that it was a good job where I was getting great experience and it was great pay as well, but at the end of the day, money can't buy you happiness! In fact, this particular money was killing my life. 

I had been talking to Sketchy for the past few weeks about quitting and what that would mean for us as new homeowners and such with one income (since I clearly had not started applying for jobs). 

When purchasing a house, we made sure not to max out our living. We wanted to ensure that if someone lost a job, we could still afford the mortgage.

Sketchy was the most incredibly supportive person ever. Many of you saw my status a couple weeks ago -- that was after hitting send on my 2 weeks notice e-mail to management. Sketchy realized how unhappy I had been and was supportive in me quitting, especially because he also did not feel I was being treated fairly for the hours I put in and all of the time I've invested in my job. He not only was supportive in my decision to quit but said all the right things and was super encouraging regarding me getting another job soon. 

I cannot tell you how amazing it felt to send my 2 weeks notice. It was seriously as if 500,000 lbs of weight had been lifted off of my shoulder. I'm so ready to move on and see what's out there! Hopefully this will get me more in gear to take GREs and get into grad school application mode since I don't have the cushy job on which to fall back! 

That same night I applied to about 5-6 places and continued to work. Within a day I was called in for an interview. I've since had a second interview for that job and accepted their offer. I'll start a new job on Wednesday, March 13, 2013. 

One of the main reasons I wanted to leave my current position was to get into a field closer to my undergraduate studies or at least something I was more interested in, such as environmental policy. This particular new job is still in marketing (which I like to do) but not in any new field of interest. I'll do this job for the next couple months and see how i feel, all the while applying to more jobs. I cannot be the sit-at-home type and do nothing with my life! Who knows, maybe I'll like the new job.

Yesterday, after being informed that I would not be needed to train the incoming person, I informed work that Friday would be the last day in the office and that I would be using my remaining paid vacation days through my real last day (Wednesday, March 13, 2012) and would be cashing in the remaining paid days. 

I just really did not want to be working any longer than I needed to or starting any new projects. It was the perfect break in work to leave. So excited for Monday and Tuesday to just SLEEP and do NOTHING until new job starts on Wednesday. 

Tonight we're going over to Scott and Miriam's to meet Hailey Hays! 

Hope everyone has a great weekend! 

Most Boring Post Ever.

Mo's off to Canada. No visitors until maybe Saturday. Kerry may stop by for the weekend since he's working nearby for a couple weeks. 

Today has been yet another ridiculous day at work. This past month and a half has just been the absolute worst. Today after work Sketchy and I are going to go out somewhere because I absolutely do not want to cook tonight. Too tired. 

Just want to sleep. 

Sorry for the super short post. 

Snowquestration

So last night I went out to dinner with Sketchy and Sam in Chinatown. We went to Nando's Peri Peri. I think the one and only other time I've been there was with Sam over a year ago. It's always delicious -- not sure why I don't go more often. I love all the sauces! 

Anyways, over dinner we were informed of some news we were not expecting. Sam wants to tell people in person, but I doubt anyone she wants to tell is reading this -- hope not anyways, lol. Sam has decided to apply to jobs in Boston and move back to be closer to family. While I'm unhappy with her decision because this means losing a friend in DC, I'm really happy for her in that she's made a life decision. Life decisions in your twenties are ridiculous. They're important and no one wants to make any. So yay for Sam deciding on a path to take with her life. 

After dinner, we walked around Urban Outfitters which is always an entertaining past-time. Found some interesting items as usual. Think I'll need to hit up Urban for a few items before bachelorette party! 

Sam headed home around 9:30-10:00 to get out of the soon to be rain and snow. Sketchy and I hung around to grab Mo from the bus station. He went to NYC for the day. 

Today we're all home due to the snow. Once again, meteorologists have claimed we are to get a snow storm and a lot of snow but nothing happens. Maybe an inch or two? Fail.

I had Mo bring me back some food from a specific place in NY (can't believe he actually did lol):

Today's been lazy for the most part. Not really doing any work from home. Watching lots and lots of TV and movies. Tomorrow Mo hops on a plane to Canada. The snow will probably be completely melted by morning. Fail.

Anyways that's about it for now. 

Need Plans? Late Night in Chinatown?

Last night we went out to Froggy Bottom Pub for 1/2 priced pizza. I was hoping to take Mo out to do something activity-esque, like Pub Trivia but that failed. I'll definitely have to try Mighty Pint's Monday Pub Trivia at some point. It looks like a good trivia from reviews and also .25 jumbo wings! 

Upon coming home, I realized we need a serious cleaning and organizational day where we really hang up everything. Want to get that all done by Cocktail Party. 

Snow. Everyone's heard about it. Everyone feels differently about it. I'm mixed. I'd like the snow to shut down the federal government so no work, but then also want to get things done at work. Want snow because i'm a child and find it so pretty and fun but don't want snow because i want to start having our yard get thawed out and in good condition for landscaping and fencing! Really want to start working on that end of March-Early April! 

Maybe we can get one giant nice snowfall and have it be the last snowfall of the winter season?

On another topic, I'm so so so excited for daylights saving time. I love when it stays out lighter later. Can finally start taking the dogs for walks around the neighborhood and maybe start riding bikes again! =)

Mo went to NYC this morning for a day trip. Have to hang around Chinatown til around midnight to pick him up! Will be grabbing dinner with Sam in Chinatown. If anyone wants to entertain me after dinner in Chinatown, let me know.

Mo's Visit and Weekend Festivities

So Mo managed to miss two flights. Long story -- maybe I'll tell it in person if you ask about it. He eventually made it to DC by 2PM. We headed straight to the Leprechaun Leap bar crawl from the airport. 

Grabbed Vapianos (gah it's been so long and was, as always, so good) and then headed out to the first bar. We went to quite a few before heading over to U Street to meet up with Catherine, Matt and a few other friends. We went to a few spots on U Street before Mo started falling asleep on us! Haha, we were totally home by 12:30am. That was kind of perfect though because I had been tired from the last couple of days! 

Sunday we went out for bottomless mimosas at Tonic, then watched 21 and over which was a pretty funny movie. We ended the night by grabbing Pho for dinner and a couple movies from RedBox. We watched Baby Mama which was funny and still have Flight to watch. I know that's going to be a more serious movie. 

Pretty eventful weekend if I do say so myself. 

Mo is taking it easy at the house today (probably sleeping through the entire day).

Tonight, maybe we'll go out to a hh or I'll make dinner in. Undecided as of yet. 

Gah, Monday mornings. Can't wait for this day to be over so that I can go home!

Sapna's 23rd Early Birthday Festivities

Tomorrow (March 2) is Sapna's birthday, but we did bday dinner early. Sketchy grabbed an ice cream cake (more for him than her -- but Sapna loves ice cream too so I'm sure she'll be happy) and candles. 

His mom made dinner for everyone and then afterwards we surprised Sapna with the cake. 

So something I found out this past birthday is that it is not normal to feed people birthday cake. Evidently that is only for wedding cakes -- so say the white people. The brown people, however, are all on my side. This is a tradition that my family and sketchy's family have grown up with as with many other brown families. All of your 2398 cousins and siblings line up to feed you cake! 

Anyways, we keep true to this custom. Pictures:

Cake

Sketchy feeding Sapna.

I'm not sure what he did here but it's hilarious. Such an action shot. 

Then I tried to give her the largest piece of cake possible and give her brain freeze. lol

and then her dad tried to feed her with the largest knife in the house. 

She didn't really want to do anything for her birthday so it was low-key and nice. The ice cream cake was, of course, delicious! We ended up staying up pretty late watching Daddy's Little Girl. Solid time with the Patels. 

Mo will be here in the morning!