the one where i do the obligatory recap

it’s the end of the year and the decade, which calls for a recap. my recap is of the aughts. this was my decade. i know i grew up in the 80s and 90s, but the aughts were my time. that’s when everything big time happened.

2000:

the first century leap year since 1600. the sydney olympics. the bush/gore election. i finished middle school and started high school. i went on a big trip to france, switzerland, monaco, italy, and spain.

2001:

technically the beginning of the 21st century. ed mccaffrey got a compound fracture of his leg in a MNF game – that was the cover story of the denver post on september 11th. the pre-9/11 world was one of wonder. but alas, things change. the netherlands passed the world’s first act allowing same-sex marriages. and, slobodan milošević was arrested to start his trial.

2002:

we invade afghanistan. department of homeland security is formed. i finished my sophomore year of high school. i quit band so i could horse show more. got my drivers’ license and my sweet sweet truck. was on some horse for probably 80% of the year.

2003:

the human genome project is completed. we invade iraq. martha stewart is indicted for insider trading. the concorde makes its last commercial flight. saddam is captured. i spend the entire summer horse showing in the mountains. finalize my farmer tan that will be present for the rest of my natural life.

2004:

the last oldsmobile is made. reagan dies. the year of the dean scream. bush wins his second term. i graduate from high school. ride every single day of the year. start my wonderful life adventure at heaven on earth.

2005:

iraq has its first free parliamentary elections since 1958. the 265th papal conclave occurs. kuwaiti women are granted the right to vote. colin powell steps down as secretary of state. john roberts becomes the 17th chief justice. i went on an epic road trip. i broke my foot and spent the summer [and my brother’s wedding] in a cast.

2006:

mark foley skanks it up with some pages. justice alito is sworn in. serbia and montenegro become independent countries. saddam is executed. pluto was de-planet-ed. i spend much of the year in new zealand; living it up, making PLCs, having the time of my life. i also go to australia and tahiti.

2007:

a 2100 year old melon is discovered in japan. harry potter and the deathly hallows is released – children’s hearts explode when finished. the writers guild goes on strike. arthur schlesinger dies. damned al gore wins the nobel peace prize. i spend my first summer in dc as an intern. i turn 21 after the summer [boo].

2008:

petroleum hits $100 per barrel for the first time. nepal becomes a democracy. radovan karadžić is arrested for war crimes. some butterface swimmer wins a whole bunch of gold medals. william f. buckley dies. i graduate from college, permanently breaking my heart. i start law school. i sit on a horse for the last time of the decade.

2009:

obama is inaugurated. ahmadinejad is “reelected”. the piggy flu descends. the underwear bomber fails and assures a life of being made fun of for being known as “the underwear bomber”. sotomania ensues. i have the best summer evah for dc part deux.

so yes, this has been quite the decade. i’m ready and raring for another one. 🙂 🙂

goodbye aughts, hello tens!

44 days!

2010 winter olympics start in a mere 44 days! i am so freakin’ pumped! don’t get me wrong, i like the summer olympics, but nothing is better than the offerings of winter olympics!

a few of my favorites:

the luge:

bobsled:

ski jumping:

freestyle skiing:

and my favorite, alpine skiing:

february 12th to 28th, i will be glued to my television. well, with a few exceptions – eg: figure skating. blech. but i can’t wait!! go team usa!

what are your favorites?

randumb.

yesterday and today i have done nothing.

nada.

zip.

zilch.

total freaking waste of space.

seriously. i took a 2 hour bubble bath, am currently reading the lost symbol [yes, i know dan brown sucks, shuddup], and am contemplating applying for more jobs. i had planned on skiing more, but i super tweaked my knee on some moguls sunday, so skiing is out for a while.

also, i have the coolest brother ever. he’s 31 – nearly 8 full years older than moi. he just moved back from amsterdam and is pretty awesome, despite all the ribbing.

he’s a real life adult with a cool job and apartment. for christmas, he got me two things i really, really wanted: the west wing complete series and a pandora one subscription! two things i super duper love? politics and music. specifically, josh lyman and my bruce hornsby station. now i get to enjoy ad nauseam.  my brother rocks the socks.

now all i need is to find a real life libertarian version of josh lyman and i’ll be all set. a sam seaborn would be okay, too. 🙂

recap

what a few weeks! minor recap: got home, spent time with my family, went skiing. christmas was superb. met up with old friends i haven’t seen in a while. got a super awesome new jacket! it’s soft and cozy – i may never take it off. won my first blog giveaway! and ya know, pulled my head out of the sand and watched the news and saw some crazy stuff.

i hope yall had a wonderful christmas.

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a brief catching up of best of 2009 challenge:

car ride: my best car ride of the year was probably the back route i drove every day to school from my 1st year apartment. it is a department of defense highway, right on the bay, passes an old battle cruiser, and is pretty cool. i love driving on windy roads with no one around, and that’s the only place i could find in new england.

new person: a lot of new people came into my life this year. particularly, i made marvelous friendships and connections in dc with people who challenged me, made me think harder, and believe in myself. they know who they are and i owe them an immense amount for that.

project: a new project of the year was working for the think tank and getting published. my name in 4 books and one lecture series is pretty freaking cool. 🙂

startup: a new found business i love is, without a doubt, tucker blair. it’s products are unique, exude a certain attitude, and are just wonderful! i can’t wait to get my new flip flops in.

web tool: since google rules the internet, it’s fitting that i find one of its products to be the best – the google reader. streamlines my life and is a nice refuge from studying all day.

learning experience: definitely learning that my dreams may not be my reality, and that’s okay. i love my life and have always had an image of the future higher than the thermosphere. i think this year was the first time i truly recognized that some of my dreams are just not likely to happen, and i need to learn to love the present, the here and now, instead of forgetting it in lieu of the future. nothing’s ever promised tomorrow today. [NB: first and probably last time i’ll ever quote kanye west.] i’m probably not going to be a big time judge or president, but through a lot of work, i might be able to eke out a slightly different and no less lofty dream.

gift: something i gave myself this year that has kept on giving has absolutely been curiosity. i get that i’m a big nerd, but i love to learn, and i’ve only this year discovered that learning doesn’t have to have an end goal. instead of learning to regurgitate on an exam, i can learn for the sake of learning. and that’s really freakin’ cool.

insight or aha! moment: my epiphany of the year had to have been the realization that life is totally what you put into it. yes, there are outside influences, but you choose your attitude, you choose how hard you work, and what you get in life reflects that.

social web moment: i definitely discovered twitter this year, but my absolute favorite has been getting to know people’s blogs and growing from them. i rarely comment, but i get so much out of many of them. i feel like i know these people so well, yet i haven’t even met them. of course i read dcblogs, and most of the blogs in my reader are dc-centric, but that’s where my heart is.

stationary: handwritten notes are just special, and i absolutely love buying a set with a design but no words – so versatile. i bought wonderfully thick cards from the paper source in georgetown this summer – a cream colored thick cardstock with a turquoise peacock on the front. they are just perfect for a quick note.

hope y’all have had safe travels and are gearing up for 2010!

up in the air

i purchased up in the air friday at 5:45am in the airport. a $7.99 paperback impulse purchase.

i expected it to entertain me for a few hours. i expected it to provide me with a bit of an intellectual break after hellish exams. i expected it to even make me giggle once or twice. but what did i not expect? for it to take my breath away.

it’s remarkable, funny, terrifyingly analogous. walter kirn, an author whose work is new to me, created a masterpiece, which i anticipate reading over and over again along my path of self-actualization.

adjectives from the mediocre amazon reviews include: fragmented, wandering, sardonic, wry. it is all of these and more. it’s not for everyone, but to me, it was one of the rare books to permeate.

this is a verse from walt whitman’s “song of the open road.” it starts the book and serves as an apt description of the main character. rings true with me, as well.

you but arrive at the city to which you were destin’d,

you hardly settle yourself to satisfaction,

before you are call’d by an irresistible call to depart

vineyard vines!

hey ya’ll,

if you’re like me, you love vineyard vines. in fact, my whole family loves it – my dad frequently steals my catalog to buy men’s stuff for him.

it’s great. wanted to let you know about a giveaway for the vineyard vine’s women capeside cardigan over at the glamazon diaries. super easy to enter and you can win this adorable sweater! wouldn’t that look super cute with a corduroy skirt and rainbows?

sleepy!

I’m at the airport waiting to board. I was perusing my crackberry, trying to clean out the inbox a bit. The emails from a week ago? Might as well be a lifetime ago. Time passes so strangely during exams-i never know the day of the week, let alone anything outside of my little exam-filled world.

Time is so fickle. But for now, I’m just gonna sleep as much as I can on the way home.
Safe travels, all.

shop

december 18: shop. where did you spend most of your mad money this year?

i was going to try to come up with some super cute boutique, but had to be realistic. i buy almost all of my things from one place. once i’m actually earning money, i intend to buy considerably more from there. their suits are beautiful; their clothes classic, feminine, and flattering.

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i’m currently lusting after this beauty. maybe santa will be extra gracious this year? a girl can hope.

intense!

december 17: word or phrase. a word that encapsulates your year. “2009 was…”

2009 can be divided into 3 distinct chunks:

• january to may: 1L spring. loooooots of studying, lots to show for it.
• may to august: summer in DC, think tanking it up, partying like crazy to make up for the time i lost of my “irresponsible early 20s” by being in law school. hobnobbing  all over the place.
• august to december: 2L fall. took classes with an insane work load.

the underlying theme? intensity. whether that was from studying, partying, or just loving the heck out of life, i was intense about every single emotion this year.

in related news, my VERY LAST EXAM is tonight. as of 9pm, i’ll be halfway done with law school and, more importantly, free for 3 whole weeks!

there will be much jubilation. 🙂

a little of this:

and a whole lot of this:

i can’t even describe the happiness.

tucker blair, anyone?

hey ya’ll,

i made a friend a few weeks ago because i was wearing my tucker blair crab headband. she’s way cute and now we’re buddies. the power of tucker blair.

anyway, i just found out that the glamazon diaries are doing a tucker blair giveaway! definitely check it out – flip flops and a polo! something for you and a gift for the special dudeski in your life. or two gifts for you. 🙂