mazel tov jenna and henry
May 12th, 2008 @ 10:54 pm | dc, wedding | Comments (30)Some people review books. Others review products. Today, dear readers, we are going to review a wedding. First Daughter Jenna Bush’s wedding, to be precise.
I’ve made my support for Democrats pretty clear, and I’m no fan of Mr. President GWB. However, I’m not afraid to say, despite the fact I don’t know her, I really like Jenna Bush. When she was going through her collegiate drinking antics, so was I. Granted, I never got arrested, but I lived in New Orleans, where basically nothing is illegal.
When I moved to DC, the Bush twins were also in DC. They kept a low profile; I liked that. I think it’s pretty cool that of all the things Jenna could have done career-wise, she became a DC public charter school teacher (and the school wasn’t in ritzy Georgetown or anything). Then she did UNICEF work and wrote a book about an HIV-positive single mother in Panama….and, damn, the girl is sounding more like a globally-minded liberal activist than a princess of privilege.
Jenna got married on Saturday at her family’s ranch in Texas. She could have chosen a fancypants DC wedding at the White House with 600+ guests, but instead she chose a relatively small (for the daughter of the leader of the free world!), relatively simple affair.
Okay, and maybe I’m just a little biased. Because this photo:
Kinds reminds me of my own wedding:
Except my arms are not as skinny. Dangit!
I think Jenna’s dress was so pretty, and I loved that her hair was not-too-updone (unlike Mrs. Cindy McCain — good lord what is with that hair, woman?). Don’t you agree?
Mostly, I think you can just feel the love in these photos. This looks like the wedding of a truly happy couple, not two kids who just want to play dress up and put on a good show.
Plus, the pastor who married them endorsed Barack Obama. Too funny, really.
I do have one little tiny thing I’d like to mention though. What the heck was up with twin sister Barbara’s floral head wreath? Is this a Texas thing I never learned about? Did Jenna want to make sure that her twin wouldn’t outshine her own beauty? Did a bird build a nest on her head during the benediction? Somebody please explain!!!
I say: Best wishes to the happy couple! What do you all think?
little of this, little of that
May 7th, 2008 @ 11:56 pm | miscellany | Comments (39)Some weeks I get three-fifths in and can barely fathom stringing together two sentences on this blog. This week is one of those weeks. To be honest, my mental energy has been spent in other places. But I figure I can at least take time for a useless brain dump here on the old blog.
Thing One: I’d like you to be sitting down when I introduce you to my most favoritest new blog in a long time. Are you sitting? Okay, good. It is called Swistle: Baby Names, and the content is just that: All baby names, all the time. Real scenarios and honest answers. I freaking love it. This blog is either going to make me want babies as soon as tomorrow, or help me hold off the desire by living vicariously for several more years. Either way, it’s glorious. Go check it out, but do come back again soon!
Thing Two: I think I need to go into the custom framing biz. What a freaking racket. I like to support local businesses and all, but knowing that custom framing is pretty pricey, we went to Michael’s tonight with two items for framing and a “60% off entire order” coupon hoping for a bargain. We picked a very basic frame and no matte. The total, AFTER THE DISCOUNT, was something like $340 dollars. Oh Ma Gah. Are you serious?! When I had a coronary at the counter, the guy tried to point out what a great deal I was getting because the original price was more than $800. Which is when I had a second coronary, because is it possible that people pay that much to frame two items in a very basic setting? At Michael’s?!?! And if so, like I said, I really need a piece of this biznass for myself.
(And now I am going to pretend that expenditure never happened because, frankly, I’d like to keep my last remaining brain cells. From now on we are hanging unframed art. Raw art. I dunno what to call it, but I am going to start this trend and it’s going to sweep the nation.)
(EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS.)
Moving on.
Thing the Third: I have a really fabulous outfit for Thursday’s Mission: Put Together. And I am still going strong on WW thanks to all the blogger friends doing it with me. In a sick way, I hope that my super cute outfit no longer fits me in six to eight weeks.
Numero Quatro: Yesterday I did a photo walking tour of my stroll through DC, starting downtown and ending up down on the Mall near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Would you like to see it? Narrated, of course. Highlights include a photo of a bench. You see, I meant to snap a photo of a hot guy running on the mall with his shirt off, but my camera clicked too slowly, and so you get a bench. On second thought, maybe this photo essay is a horrible idea.
Five: Here’s a confession. I love the new Miley Cyrus song. Yeah, I do. Have you heard it? I can’t decide whether I should be ashamed or if I should sing it from the rooftops? Please discuss.
Aaaaaaaand, I’m spent. Seriously, thank you for not giving up on me even when my brain is made of oatmeal.
extra credit
May 5th, 2008 @ 6:15 pm | miscellany | Comments (24)I’m not sure how many of you took the time to read through the answers to Friday’s test (aka the comments) but boy, they had me rolling on the floor laughing all weekend long.
The absolute best answers were to Question #4: When I was a kid, I had an irrational crush on [fill in the blank].
Many of you had crushes that seem irrational now, but were indeed quite rational, and even common, for a kid in the ’80s (give or take a decade). Answers like Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Jordan Knight, Kirk Cameron, Ricky Schroeder, John Stamos, Scott Baio, and HUBBA HUBBA Christian Bale. (My love for him is well-documented.)
The answers that I was hoping to get, the truly irrational crushes…oh, they were just too good. So good, in fact, that I need help picking a favorite.
Is it:
A) Jackie with her not-a-crush, but an “obsession” with Angela Lansbury. Jackie notes that she loved both Murder She Wrote and a geriatric exercise Ms. Lansbury filmed. Jackie also used to name all her dolls after Angela Lansbury.
(Jackie, thank you for being a good sport and confessing this to us. You have provided us all with a little joy today.)
B) Celia, who loved Jason, the red Power Ranger. Times like these I am thankful I didn’t have a brother. Nobody made me watch Power Rangers.
C) Two people had crushes on Rafael, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. One of them is Jen and the other is my dear old friend Kristin, who defended and hypothesized on her love of Rafael:
“It isn’t my fault I had a weakness for the vulnerable and injured bad-boy. He was the turtle that got hurt and was alienated from his other anthropomorphized animal friends. In fact, here is brief synopsis of Rafael’s character, per wikipedia: ‘The team’s anti-social bad boy, Raphael has an aggressive nature and seldom hesitates to throw the first punch. He is an intense fighter. His personality can be alternately fierce and sarcastic. He is intensely loyal to his brothers and sensei.’ I hate to say it but this sort of, unfortunately, sounds like the type of guy lots of girls fall for when they are young, before they realize that nice guys are actually the way to go.”
There is a reason Kristin is getting her Doctorate this year. That girl is smart and always thinking like a professor!
D) Laurel, who had a crush on the cartoon Disney Robin Hood. The bleeding heart liberal in me (and also the fact that Laurel and I are long lost twins) can relate to this one. But still?! A cartoon fox.
Which one is your favorite?
this is a test
May 2nd, 2008 @ 10:05 am | blonde moments | Comments (33)Whew! It’s been quite a week. I think it might be time for a little test. Don’t worry, I grade on a curve. (Oh, and just to be clear, in this quiz, you are taking it in the first person. So you are “I” — get it? This is why I am not really a teacher, btw. I can’t write good.)
1. What is the best reason for NOT watching that awful looking show, Farmer Wants a Wife?
A. The farmer is totally not hot. At all.
B. The girls are trashy caricatures who probably all have chlamydia and below average IQs.
C. The stars on the left side of the logo are just slightly off kilter, which is majorly annoying and just plain ugly.
2. Rate my waffle addiction:
A. As long as you keep it to just two per day, I will still be your friend.
B. I have seen your freezer, and frankly, 4 boxes of waffles are about 3.75 too many.
C. It’s perfectly reasonable to allocate half of your daily WW points to frozen waffles — go get ‘em!
3. Thursday Night TV - Pick one for each WATCH — TIVO — SKIP
A. Lost
B. 30 Rock
C. Grey’s Anatomy
4. When I was a kid, I had an irrational crush on _____________. (fill in the blank)
(KH — if you are reading this don’t you dare cheat and not admit your crush on Donatello. The Ninja Turtle.)
5. Janet is wearing jeans to work today. She is freakishly overjoyed by this. This is not a question, just a good time to let out a little:
A. Squeal of delight for Janet and her jeans.
B. Groan because Who cares? Some people get to wear jeans to work every day and it’s not that exciting.
6. My main source of news is:
A. The dead-tree version of my local newspaper.
B. An online source of national news.
C. Celebrity gossip blogs.
7. True or False: I already bought my mom something for Mother’s Day. Bonus points if you’ve already put it in the mail.
8. Weight Watchers is:
A. Working
B. A diabolical starvation plan that should die and go to hell.
C. A topic I am already sick of hearing about, please kindly STFU about it.
9. This weekend I am most excited about __________. (fill in the blank)
Class dismissed! Happy Friday, darlings!
up to
April 30th, 2008 @ 8:14 pm | up to | Comments (19){as always, borrowed from not martha}
playing:
Wii Sports with my girlfriends. Rather, they were playing and I was watching, and laughing so, so hard
watching:
Lars and the Real Girl. Totally lovable once you get over the initial weirdness.
reading:
Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth. I’m two stories in so far. If you liked her last book of stories you’ll like this one too.
eating:
Multigrain waffles. Two plain ones every day for breakfast and I’m a happy lady. Even happier when they are Buy 1 Get 1 Free. Each waffle is 2 points.
wondering:
What to get my awesome sister for a graduation gift? Holy cow she’s almost a dentist!
Hmmm, I wonder what Britney would get her….
