Look at me!

I ran 2 miles (and ran the whole time), I had a somewhat healthy dinner, I deleted all the duplicate songs on my iTunes and my apartment is relatively clean! Wow! It's starting to seem like I've got my act together!

Ok, it's not all roses, but still, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm really proud that I was able to run all 2.02 miles without stopping. Now I have something to build on! I'm also very excited to figure out more routes around here and to run more frequently. I suppose I should tell you that this is momentous because I think the last time I ran two consecutive miles without stopping to walk was in high school, which was a whopping 9 years ago and I was 30 lbs lighter. yick. So needless to say, this makes me a little giddy. And when I set out to run today, I had every intention of walking up the Brady street hill... but did I? No! I felt really good, so I kept running! And I ran all the way back home! And sped up at the end! Ok, I sound so perky that I'm making myself sick. I'll stop.

Anyway... hm. What is new? Not much here. I'm hoping that life will slow down just a teeny bit for the fall. Summer is fun and all, but I feel so spent, and I'm so busy every weekend that it's hard just to find time to relax and catch up on me time. I was basking in the glory that was my thoughts of fall and how it will be relaxing and calming, and then I recalled that the Milwaukee Film Festival is Sept. 23 - Oct. 3. So much for relaxing! But I must say, I'm very excited for the film fest to roll around again. It really is a great experience, and I hope that everyone has a chance to get out and see at least one film, because it's really good stuff that won't get a screening at your typical AMC.

So, maybe I'll relax in October?

In other news, my bday is coming up, a week from tomorrow. I have no concrete plans as it's a Wednesday. Boo Wednesday birthdays. The last time my bday was on a Wednesday, it was my 21st, and let's just say that it wasn't the most pleasant experience... anyway. Probs looking to grab some cocktails after work. Maybe I'll do the Buckley's thing like I did last year. We shall see.

Speaking of birthdays, it was a coworker's birthday today and he brought some Italian version of creme brulee, which was DELICIOUS. Needless to say, looks like I'm going to have to step up my game. Apparently chocolate cupcakes won't cut it this year, even if they DO have homemade chocolate butter cream frosting. Suggestions (and offers to bake for me) are welcome.

At any rate, I think I'm going to go read my book for as long as I can and then hit the hay. I'm really looking forward to girls night tomorrow at Izumi's. I'm really not looking forward to my muscles being sore when I wake up tomorrow. But I suppose it's something that I'm happy to deal with. :)

DC Trip and Other Interesting Tidbits

As some of you may know, I went to DC last weekend. I saw an awesome Norman Rockwell Exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery. Norman Rockwell has always been one of my favorite artists and it was really great to see some of his work up close, and without 3,000 of my closest friends (we went about 90 mins before close on a Friday, so the crowd was pretty sparse).

On Saturday morning we went to visit the National Cathedral. The place was huge. I did not realize that it took almost a century from concept to completion. The main reason was financing - no public money was used for the cathedral, it was financed entirely by donations. Kind of blows my mind that so much money can be raised in this day and age to construct something that benefits everyone. On a related note, I don't believe in taking pictures in churches. Or really in any places where it says no photography, even though 98% of tourists don't respect those signs. Rude!

After that we hit up the Newseum, which I have been fantasizing about since it opened 5 years ago. Long story short, it was AMAZING. The staff was great and incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. And there was SO MUCH TO SEE! A ticket is good for two days, and we definitely used it both days. There are so may great artifacts that tell both the story of news and the story of America, and it's really amazing to see how development of the news influenced the course of history. Definitely worth the trip, and totally worth the $20 ticket price that some folks complain about. If you ever make it there, be sure to check out one of the best views of Washington on the 6th floor terrace.

After Newseum round 2 on Sunday, I checked out the National Museum of American History. I had about 90 mins to kill before my train so I caught a few exhibits. The ones I enjoyed the most were the First Ladies exhibit and the Apollo Theatre exhibit. There were a ton of people at the museum and most of them were in line for the Star Spangled Banner and the American Pop Culture exhibits (I skipped them as this was my third visit to this museum in 5 years). While I enjoyed everything I saw at this museum, the experience was slightly less than pleasant. There were a lot of people that day and everyone seemed to be aggravated - cutting in line/being cut off in line, grumbling about lines, kids running everywhere, fingerprint smudges on all the glass and just a general bad mood in the museum. Kind of sad. I felt that a lot of the guests were being disrespectful of what the stuff was and where they were; that they saw it more as "stuff" than as something that has been so instrumental in what our nation is about. Or maybe I just have a different idea of what museums should be.

At any rate, I'm back now. The return flight was good, and my scotch on the rocks was DELICIOUS. Plans are stacking up for this week, which is good and bad. I just can never seem to catch up on sleep! Also, I'm seeking topics for further blog posts. Maybe like reader questions or something like that. So feel free to ask away, or send in questions that you've always wondered the answer to.

First up: Sasquatch: Fact or Fiction?

Stay tuned...