You're the One that I Want

Ignore the totally silly video (watching water boil on YouTube is just as boring as it is in real life, and there's no payout at the end so it's doubly boring) and listen to this amazing cover of "You're the One that I Want." It may possibly be the best three minutes of your day.

Studies in Indecision

There are some things I excel at--one of which is procrastination--but you may have guessed that based on the lack of posting. I've started drafting epic posts once in a while, but get distracted by things like school, cleaning, and Battlestar Galactica. Unfortunately this week is also shaping up to be a short, but very busy, one, so here's a list of things you should look at some time, if you please:

Pinterest will be my downfall yet.

If you aren't already, you should be reading Refinery 29. Bonus: they just started a Washington, DC edition. Feeling the hometown love.

I'm thinking of buying this little number to serve as my graduation dress and "winter is coming" pick me up.

A great article found via A Cup of Jo about relationships.

Do want.

Books holding up books on bookshelves. Or tables, if you so choose. I'm just surprised this is a DIY I can (and would actually want to) do!

Here's to tomorrow's forecast of 66 and sunny:

So, this Happened (Redux)

Once upon a time, there were two law students. These students had a great deal in common, including their general manner of dressing. Sometimes, this similarity led to semi-intentional coordinating outfits. (At this point, Student A--the shorter one--would like to point out that the only reason instance one counts as "intentional" is because Student B--the manlier one--refused to change his outfit.) Other times, the coordinating outfits are completely coincidental.

And pointed out by a third party. Before Student A realized anything was amiss.

She may or may not have turned a particularly bright shade of red.

Apparently the theme of the day was pale pink. (Not pictured: matching grey skirt/slacks.)

Please ignore my creepy eye. It's creepy. I know.

In the grand scheme of things it's not the worst thing that that could ever happen, but let's hope this doesn't become a trend.

No Rain

I swear the weather report this morning said it was going to rain. I even double-checked the weather report as I was leaving to make sure I wouldn't feel completely silly in my rain boots.

It did not rain anywhere near school, and I may or may not have looked a little silly in my rain boots.

Add to that the following exchange, and you've got another amazing (and awkward) day in my sartorial life:

Friend: Did you paint your nails to match your boots?
Me: Well -
Friend: And your shirt?
Me: They are about the same color . . .
Friend: And kind of your eyes?
Me: Huh?

I guess I should backtrack for a second - I've been trying to look more polished (unintentional pun, but it's staying) lately, and part of this effort has been taking care of the nails I've neglected for many, many years. I've always shied away from painting my nails because of the inevitable chipping, but impulse-bought this little guy during one of my alarmingly regular trips to Target:

It's called "Power Clutch", and defined on Essie's website as "a striking, deep gray-green." I would say it's much more gray than in person than this picture shows, and is a definite winner in the "color, but not too much color" category.

Even if it does match my boots.

And my shirt.

And maybe my eyes.

Shiny, Happy People

So I may or may not have spent the weekend in sweatpants doing incredibly important things, and by "incredibly important things" I mean, "watching movies (some for the second - or maybe fourth) time and playing Zombie Gunship on the iPad."

It was awesome, and only slightly depressing when I walked outside (gasp!) to get the mail and managed to run into the entire neighborhood and their dogs in my men's extra large sweatshirt, high school track sweatpants, and pink slippers. The picture of elegance, I tell you.

But after every unproductive weekend comes a Monday, and I hit this one head-on in the most cheery yet work appropriate outfit I could muster in a desperate bid to outshine the crappy weather.

I have no idea why this picture turned out so yellow, other than that maybe the light in my room is crappier than it looks. The skirt is actually a medium tan with silver, as seen below:

Have I mentioned recently how much I miss living near the J.Crew warehouse? My bank account appreciates the distance, but my soul does not.

On a completely unrelated note: The pink-and-glitter nails didn't even make it a week. I would like to attribute their premature demise to my hard-partying lifestyle, but realistically it's because I put on too many coats of polish too quickly (Essie polishes are super sheer, so opaque = 3-4 coats) and they started to peel on day 2, which resulted in picking at my nails from days 3 to 5.

The lesson? Patience, grasshopper. Or thicker polish next time. Probably both. That, or marry a bajillionaire so I can get manicures when my nails are looks especially raggedy. Equally probable scenarios, which doesn't say much for my nail polish game but I'm okay with it.

This is What Success Looks Like

Yesterday (after very nearly being late to work) I made a commitment to myself that I would be up at six every morning from now on. In my mind, I thought this would make me the most productive person on earth - assignments would be completed; puppies fed and walked like a champ; diem carpe-d.

Here's what actually happened, post dog walking like a champ:

Watched the trailer for "The New Girl" again, and wished I were Zooey Deschanel.

Finished some school work, although it took much longer than it should have.

Painted my nails. Pink. With glitter. I am officially three years old.

Totally didn't drink that Dr. Pepper as part of my breakfast, by the way . . . definitely not.

Pretended to do my hair, then realized it had started to rain and my super laborious (sarcasm) efforts were for naught. Subsequently decided to give my skin a much-needed break from makeup and wear fake glasses in an effort to cover up my laziness/try and blend in with the hipster contingent at school. Ended up looking more like a librarian on her day off, and I'm okay with it.

I'd say this new plan is going swimmingly, wouldn't you?

The Thing About Law School is . . .

. . . that it can be completely life-consuming, if you let it, which I have for the past two weeks or so. But after finally getting into the routine at my internship, sitting through a barrage of student group meetings (some of which I organized, so I guess that's my fault), and finishing the first two big-ish assignments of the semester, I'm back!

Actually, Ashley was the one who reminded me I had this whole "blog" thing going in the first place, so Miss Yates, this is for you:

Consider it my homage to your splendid red lipstick-wearing skills, although mine is a tint that looks kind of blotchy up close. Also, I know what you're thinking, and that is definitely not the bathroom of a Harris Teeter where I stopped to buy a sad-looking generic fruit tart before dinner with the Gent's family on Saturday. Nope.

I survived the past week (Edit: week before last) by telling myself (repeatedly) that fall is on its way, which, on the east coast, is a magical time of year. As the Gent pointed out, I own more cardigans than the average individual. Maybe multiple average individuals. But if you've spent any time in Virginia between late September and mid-November, you get it. I can't wait to go on a drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway . . . if only I lived closer!

Sad but true - I started this post a week ago today but never finished it because law school got in the way (again) and then I completely forgot where I wanted it to go. I will therefore move in an entirely different direction. Onward and upward!

I usually don't have much to say in the was of "lawerly" things, other than platitudes about school being a major time suck, job applications being the bane of my existence, and me being . . . well, me. On the other hand, being a completely broke law student makes the little things in life that much sweeter. Like when you get an email asking whether you'd like to attend the 2011 Legal Times Awards Dinner, which in my mind reads like this:

"Hey you, we both know you can't cook and haven't put more than 10 minutes worth of effort into getting ready in months. How about you get off your lazy bum and do something about that hair, and we'll provide you with a wonderful meal in the company of roughly 200 complete strangers?"

Make that 200 complete stangers and this fine gentleman.

Anyways, good times were had by all, the pumpkin cheesecake was delicious, and the wind only managed to half ravage my hair before dinner (a job which it promptly completed on the walk back to the metro.) But you know what? Life is pretty good, and I'm gonna roll with it. How's that for "deep and inspirational?"

Earthquakes, Hurricanes, and Homework

The last week has been pretty interesting for us Virginians, huh? (And most of the east coast/northeast, for that matter.) Nature is a fickle mistress, folks. Thankfully we don't have any damage to report, just a couple new chores for yours truly as I get to clean up the tree branches that fell in the backyard.

Kirsten + power tools = Sketchy at best.

For now, however, I'm pretending to finish a 3-4 page single-spaced paper for class Monday. It's weird, I've become so used to double-spaced papers that typing three pages single-spaced feels like a huge production. But really, I should stop dragging my feet and finish up because the Gent's on his way over and we're supposed to make Madelines, which won't happen if I don't have this paper done in time. It's a good thing I like sweets . . .

And for anyone reading (namely Ashley and Sam) I highly recommend setting up a "Belle & Sebastian" Pandora radio station. It may be the best decision I've made in a while. Take the last four songs to play, for example:

"Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" - Bob Dylan

"Cecelia" - Simon & Garfunkel

"Janglin'" - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

"Michelle" - The Beatles

It's good stuff, let me tell you.

Also good stuff: Chocolate bread a la Balthazar. I'll post the recipe once I get around to making some myself (sometimes it pays to live with your culinarily-inclined mother at 23-years old.)

Then and Now

...

Not much has changed.

New York, New York

So the fact that I'm updating this blog (finally) on a Saturday night may or may not be proof positive that I have virtually no life, but it must be done for me to feel justified in having taken roughly ten billion photos on my iPhone over the past few weeks . . . and having a certain someone groan at me almost every time.

Anyways, as I mentioned in the Keanu Reeves post, I have finally seen New York City and kind of, sort of, fell in love with it. Part of that may be because we stayed in an amazing home (designed in part by Robert and Cortney Novogratz, for you fellow design nerds!) in a great part of the city, but I remain steadfast in my opinion!

The first thing I had the opportunity to fall in love with in New York is the food, which I continued to fall in love with it over and over again during the next three days.

This is a shot from brunch at Balthazar, where we enjoyed the most spectacular (and expensive!) bread basket to ever grace my table. Some day, I will learn to bake their chocolate bread.

Monday night, we went to a vacant lot turned food truck and hipster hangout. Tacos with kimchi may sound strange, but trust me - they're a game changer. We need real (aka cheap) food trucks here in D.C.

(So there's not actually any food in this picture, but Republic Noodle was pretty awesome and I mean, look at that tie - someone should definitely give this gent a high paying job with reasonable hours and a good healthcare plan.)

This may have been my favorite meal of the trip - 3 different types of Bahn Mi sandwiches from a Vietnamese deli and gourmet rice pudding from Rice to Riches (don't knock it until you try it.) I would not, however, suggest the move '2012' unless you enjoy yelling at the TV about plot holes as much as we do.

The gent also tolerated - and to some extent encouraged - visiting the more touristy sites. Seeing as to the fact we only had about 72 hours in the city, some of which were consumed with things like sleeping, we took a fairly truncated tour of the city.

First stop: Central Park, possibly the only place in the world where bicyclists may actually be more dangerous than cars.

Second Stop: FAO Schwartz, for the sugar-crazed, materialistic child in each of us.

(This last one's for Tesha.)

Third through Remaining Stops: Places either on the way to or from somewhere else.

Tiffany's: Where men's bank accounts come to die.

Radio City Music Hall

30 Rockefeller Plaza, and its Lego facimile.

The most beautiful place on earth.

It's the J.Crew flagship(?) store, right across the street from an Anthropologie. Winning.

The Empire State Building

Grand Central Station

(and its absolutely amazing ceiling.)

The Highline - A park literally built on some old railroad tracks in Manhattan. It's beautiful, as you can clearly tell from this blurry, late-night camera phone picture.

Times Square, for roughly 2.5 seconds.

So I actually have about 50ish more pictures, but roughly 3/4 of those were taken in ABC Carpet & Home and fall under the "Things to Buy When I Have an Income and Home to Put Stuff In" and this post is already absurdly long so I'll spare you the remaining 1/4. The bottom line of this post is that life does in fact exist beyond northern Virginia, and public transit is cheaper there.

How to Make a Killing (or Just Kill Time)

I have returned from the city that never sleeps and enjoyed every moment of my trip (and every calorie consumed, of which there were many.) My iPhone has a number of photos that it is just bursting to share, but I am le tired and have little ingenuity with which to craft mildly interesting stories to share. In their stead, I give you very blurry iPhone pictures of the one and only Keanu Reeves. It's a teaser of sorts, if you will.

New York City - it's a pretty strange/beautiful/amazing/scary place.

Mea Culpa

I have some serious amends to make.

• First and foremost, I need to apologize to those lovely ladies in BV that I promised I would visit today; driving six hours in one day then immediately leaving for another five hour drive just proved to be too much for this sad little body of mine. I hope you're having an amazing time!!

• Second, I need to apologize to me fellow interns in chambers, to whom I promised homemade cupcakes and then failed to make because I spent Friday getting my (totally rad, but always breaking) car fixed.

• Third, I need to apologize to the Gent for being absolutely terrible at packing and a major procrastinator, because I have not packed for New York yet. Actually, that's not true; I tried to pack last night, but you would think a five-year old had done it because my bag is missing some essentials, like more than one shirt. And shoes that I can walk more than 100 yards in. And a toothbrush.

As of very early Friday morning, my summer officially ended. Two terrible (content and performance-wise) finals and a couple of very late nights made for a less-than-fun week, but it's over and I've done all that I could do. Now it's time to prepare for interview season and the fast-approaching fall semester. Onward and upward!

And this one's for Kelsey: remember Miles Fisher's cover of "This Must be the Place?" Well, I found this new music video on YouTube today. It may not be quite as amazing, but it's worth a listen. Or three.

Best Coast

I know it's early (in my terms, at least - waking up is not my forte) but I saw a snippet of a music video last night (on MTV! Gasp!) and kind of, sort of immediately fell in love with it. I looked it up first thing this morning, and it's got everything. You want the breakdown?

1 - Donald Glover. With a beard. Enough said.

2 - Chloe Moretz. Super talented, and super cute. No idea how they made her hair do that, but I'm intrigued.

3 - The fight scene toward the end is (in my opinion) perfectly choreographed - it's very stylized, but doesn't come off as "Step Up 4: Now with more Headspins!"

4 - Every time someone shoots a movie in that drainage ditch(?) setting, it makes me think of Grease, which may or may not have been my favorite movie growing up. In fact, I may or may not have worn an Olivia Newton-John style catsuit at one (or more) point(s) during that time period. Yes, I really was that awesome. Still want to be my friend?

5 - It manages to pack all the best parts of a doomed romance into 3 minutes and 30 seconds. It reminds me of West Side Story, for obvious reasons, but doesn't come off as a hokey remake of the story where Maria's a badass with a heart of gold. Well played, Drew Barrymore, well played.

. . . oh yeah, and the song's not bad either.

Okay, back to studying and wishing I weren't such a Sandy, pre-carnival.

Once More, with Feeling

One final down, and one to go before I can finally say summer is over. It might sound like a strange thing to say, but I'm pretty happy this summer is drawing to a close.

Back in May I had fooled myself into believing I was one of "those people" - the ones who are not only to do everything, but do everything fairly well. One terrible final and a very long, more than full-time internship later, I'm looking forward to the respite offered by a regular class schedule and two-day-a-week internship. At the same time, I've had the opportunity to do some pretty awesome things - like visit Utah for Lindsay's wedding - and look forward to spending some time this weekend with my friends of a more pseudo-southern persuasion (as much as possible!) and taking a short jaunt to New York City for a job interview next week. It hasn't been an easy summer, but I wouldn't change a thing (mostly for fear of inadvertently throwing off the universe's balance and sending us all hurtling into the nearest black hole . . . Hey, it could happen.)

Until then, however, here's a song for all of you.

So, this happened . . .

Sometimes it's kind of weird to be dating someone whose style is (fairly) close to your own. Like, for example, when something like this happens:

You can't see my shoes, but they're brown loafers. Just like his.

This is what we wore to brunch at the Fort Myer Officer's Club with Thad's family. No, it was not planned, and yes, we realized we were matching shortly before leaving. He refused to change out of principle* and, well, I don't make a habit of carrying spare outfits around so were were locked in with this awesomely awkward--and slightly patriotic--look.

You should know the first three attempts to take this picture were successfully photobombed by this little lady (who is actually not that little at all, but totally adorable nonethelesss):

This is Zephyr. She will race you up the stairs, take up all the space on the bed, and put her head in your dinner plate given half a chance.

She loves you.

Anyways, it's finals time (as in "I'm taking a final in approximately 2.5 hours") and I have studying to do. Hope the first of August is treating you well!

* His rationale was, "Well, my pants are more of a salmon and your skirt is fuschia. They're different." Love the fact that he actually reasoned it out.

Stop the Presses

I think I've found my tiny, Korean baby soulmate.

I don't know her name, but I'm pretty sure we could have some amazing sleep-talking conversations . . . once she learns how to talk, that is.

Okay, back to studying.

The Magical, Mystical Carousel Adventure

So this one time (yesterday) when the heat index wasn't at a bajillion and we had a few hours to kill between work and class, the gent and I drove out Glen Echo Park to ride the mystical carousel. Why "mystical", you ask?

Because it's never open when I try to ride it. Mystical indeed.

Taken as he said, "You're not going to get a good picture through that window." Hah!

Well yesterday was no exception, so rather than taking a turn about the carousel we sat on a picnic table and watched two girls practice an Irish dance routine while bemoaning our fate as (soon-to-be/as-yet) unemployed "scholars of the law." It got pretty depressing for a while there, but after I took a few artsy-fartsy photos of the rest of the park and we bought a couple of Cherry Cokes from the 7-11 down the street, life was pretty good again. The moral of the story? I'll go ahead and defer to Mr. Kerouac for this one:

Be in love with your life, every detail of it.

(Even those parts you can't seem to control.)

Long Story Short . . .

My hair has gotten out of control. Think I'm kidding?

I give you Exhibit A, as rad-ified by Instagram:

Yes, there is a clip in my mouth and no, I don't know why I'm throwing some serious shade at the soap dispenser.

And because you weren't totally positive I took these in the courtroom's bathroom, Exhibit B:

Cradling invisible produce.

And just for reference's sake, I'm 5'1", 5'2" on a good day. Now normally having long hair doesn't bother me too terribly much - I've never had short hair, and my version of an "adventurous" hair cut was getting bangs a few years back (which looked cute for about 10 minutes, or until I realized there was no way I could style them like the hairdresser) but with interview season looming on the horizon and temperatures in the DC area reaching the 100s, I'm starting to realize I am in desperate need of a haircut.

Thus begins the neverending struggle between me, myself, and those I force to listen to me and myself argue. In my mind, I'm stylish and edgy enough to pull off a hair cut/color like this:

Image via A Cup of Jo.

But then I remember that I'm a goofy kid with an absolute inability to commit to serious change and go with a trim and some highlights. Such is the life of the indecisive . . . If it's all the same, though, I wish my hair would look like this, because it's pretty awesome. Maybe some day when I have a real people job and I'm not so scared of drastic changes.

As a complete aside: what does it say about you when your spam mail has subject headings like, "Be A Teacher?" What cite was I looking at that determined I should be investing in more education? Spam indeed.

Ew.

Woke up this morning feeling pretty far left of "fine" and ended up calling in sick to work. Rather than spending my sick day as I would have in high school (sleeping in and watching daytime television) I'm filling out job applications and studying for finals.

Accountability - I has it. (Sorta.)

But just for your viewing pleasure, here is a picture of the boy who refuses to look at cameras unless he's making a face. I'm sure he'll appreciate me sharing this with you . . .

Apologies for the blurriness, it's only a cell phone after all.

Hot Hot Heat

It is currently 95 degrees outside, with what I'm sure feels like 1 billion percent humidity. In other words, it's hot. Kind of makes you question the whole "building a city on a swamp" thing, but liberty--and amazing transition seasons, which are all too brief--make the whole thing feel pretty worth it. (Also, the DC Courthouse is something akin to a refrigerator right now. Seriously; it's cardigan weather in here.)

It's another day of no "bosses" here in chambers because the Judge is out of town and the law clerk's cat is really sick, so I've been alternating real work with dreaming about the weekend. In a perfect world, my summer weekend would start with some of these:

Image via Apartment Therapy.

Followed by this:

Image via The Sartorialist.

And yes, maybe even some of this:

Image via A Cup of Jo.

But in all reality, it will most likely involve lots of studying, seeing as to the fact that finals are the first week of August and I haven't even begun to prepare for them. We are going to American Ice Company Saturday night for one of Thad's friend's birthdays, though, so that should provide a brief barbeque-y respite from an otherwise "thrilling" weekend.

Here's hoping yours is at least somewhat more exciting!

On an unrelated note, and as a (wannabe) fledgling lawyer, I feel the need to note that this blog's title is not something I came up with - it's part of a quote:

"Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice.Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean security is out of the question. The words "make" and "stay" become inappropriate. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free."

- Tom Robbins

Summer "Reading"

Today is the epitome of a slow summer work day. It's roughly a billion degrees outside, the AC in chambers* is on full blast, and there's no one with a semblance of "authority" in the office right now. It's my second-to-last week here, and I can't finish drafting my order until the law clerk comes back from lunch. Which began two hours ago. Therefore, I find myself perusing the e-pages of Matchbook Magazine.

What is Matchbook Magazine, you say?

Matchbook is "an online lifestyle publication celebrating classics - shaken and stirred." (Their words, not mine.) But what you really need to know is that it's pretty, fun to read, and free. Pretty sure I'm not their target market, seeing as to the fact I can't afford virtually anything they advertise and don't have the skill/drive/sense of style necessary to be a fashionista, but a girl can dream, right?

*I'm currently interning at D.C. Superior Court. I work in one of the Judges' Chambers, where I draft orders, research issues, and occasionally watch trials. It's a pretty sweet deal, aside from the fact that I don't get paid.

This is not the first time I’ve tried blogging. In fact, I don’t think it’s the second time either . . . Anyways, my life is at that oh-so-wonderful stage where I’m almost done with one phase, and being thrown kicking and screaming into the next. The facts are these:

• In May 2012, I will officially graduate from the Washington College of Law with a Juris Doctor that, in this economy, may not be worth the paper it’s printed on.

• I am seriously dreading my impending job search.

• Believe it or not, I like things that don’t involve law school. In fact, virtually all of the things I like don’t involve law school. Or the law. Or work generally.

So the general purpose of this blog is to give me something to do that doesn’t involve thinking about any of the above, and maybe hopefully me keep in contact with those fools I call friends (because they are – and they’re the best kind of fools) that have for some silly reason or another abandoned the east coast for “greener pastures.”

As if.