Bouquet of Freshly Sharpened Pencils

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." – You’ve Got Mail

One of my ultimate favorite lines (and movies for that matter). Something about that movie – maybe it is the adorable Tom Hanks, or the chemistry between Meg Ryan and him, or maybe it is that it takes place in my favorite city during fall…whatever it is, I LOVE that movie. It doesn’t matter how many times I have seen the movie, if it is on tv, I am watching it.

Here in DC it has turn a bit crisp – well let me rephrase that – today’s high is 66. On my way to work this morning I couldn't help but notice that two people on the metro next to me had scarfs on…now I am not talking the lightweight uber trendy scarves, but rather the WOOL (winter, snow storm type) of scarf. Just when I started hearing the lyrics to Paula Abdul’s song, Rush Rush (you know you loved that song in the 80s – Rush Rush, Hurry Hurry lover come to me. Rush Rush) I saw out of the corner of my eye a woman wearing gloves! Leather gloves and a heavy coat! I had to just shake my head. Maybe I am just warm-blooded, but something tells me a high of 66 does not warrant breaking out the scarf and leather gloves.

Today
High: 66 Low: 48
Mostly Cloudy
Wind: WNW at 11 mph Precip.: 20% Humidity: 58%

Maybe I am just bitter that the cold weather is creeping up on us. Don’t get me wrong, I love fall, and chilly weather, sweaters and pumpkin everything, but for some reason this year I find myself wanting to hold on to summer for just a bit longer. I feel like a child who desperately wants to stay up just 10 more minutes, but I just am not ready to let summer go just yet. I can’t even bring myself to shop right now (and if you know me you know that is a feat in itself). Something about buying sweaters, and tights, and long pants right now only to have them hang in my closet just seems depressing. I want to hold on to my cotton sundresses for one more minute. My goal for this weekend is to switch out my closet, switch the summer to the fall clothes. I always find that I hold out on doing this until the very last minute (that and well in DC you never know if it is going to be 50 or 80 degrees). I suppose this weekend I will begrudgingly pull out the sweaters and fold my bright colored sun dresses until next year...now if only Mr.President's stuff wasn't taken over all the space in my closet!

Hope you are enjoying the crisp weather where you are – but hopefully you haven’t pulled out your wool scarf and gloves just yet!

Why are the ponies so fat?

Happy Monday!

Hopefully I have you all scratching your head and waiting with baited breath from the title of my second post. Rest assured, the answer is just moments away....

I spent this past weekend with Mr.President in Chincoteague Island, VA

Mr.President's Aunt and Uncle own a place there and it is only about 3 hours away from us, so we decided to spend one last weekend relishing in summer before saying hello to fall. We left Friday night around 8:30 (and luckily beat all the traffic). We woke up Saturday morning, and despite the forecast of chilly rain showers, it was a beautiful morning - sun shining, warm temperatures, PERFECT! After sleeping in a bit, we got ready and headed off to breakfast (my most favorite meal of the day) at a little place called Bill's.

Mr.President begrudingly standing for a photo-op in front of Bill's

Bill's was just what you would expect from this small town - very rustic, and quaint with waitresses who couldn't be more southern. Once our waitress handed me the menu my eyes lit up - PUMPKIN pancakes were the special. Well I needed no further time to think, I knew those pancakes were going to be in my belly.

Pumpkin Pancakes

After savoring (devouring) these yummy hotcakes, we were off to ride our bikes to the beach. This all sounds fine and dandy until we realized one of the bikes had a flat tire. I of course chock this up to being a simple fix, however Mr. President assures me that it is not such a quick fix when the bike pump is broken.

Mr.President hard at work "fixing" the tire

After about 45 minutes of pumping air into the tire, Mr.President asks if we can switch bikes (since I am lighter and won't be affected by the slightly flat tire apparently). Before we know it we are off. Now I say off...but that once again means there was a wrench in our plan. Mr.President swore - even after my repeated chatter of "are you sure this is the right way?" - that he knew (a) how to get to the beach (b) that in fact we were going the right way. Well, about 45 minutes into our bike ride, it dawns on him that in fact we are not going the right way at all. (clearly I was right to second guess him the 12 times I did). So we got on the phone and called his Aunt and found out we were heading in the exact wrong direction...ugh!

Once we turned around and started peddling the right direction, it set in just how far out of our way we had gone...and let me tell you my bottom certainly felt it. These bikes look lovely and have that rustic beachy feeling to them, but they are not built for long, wrong way trips!

After a not so short ride, we eventually ended up at the beach - which was a bit windy, but lovely nonetheless. It was nice to stick my toes in the sand and enjoy one last taste of summer.

The highlight of the trip though - and why I sincerely recommend you make a trip to Chincoteague were the ponies. They were so pretty and it was just so cool to see them so close.



The only minor draw back is that we were not adequately warned about the terrible, horse fly mosquitos that are all over the island, and we of course had no bug spray to speak of. Luckily we stumpled upon two nice women who were willing to share (which both me and Mr.President's leg's were grateful for).

Overall it was a wonderful ode goodbye to summer - one last view of the ocean, one last wiff of the salt water in the air, and one last dip for my tootsies in the ocean.

Now onto the real reason you read this far...why are the ponies so fat?

"Because the ponies graze on the salty marsh grasses--saltmarsh cordgrass and American beachgrass in particular--they drink much more than other horses and usually appear to be bloated or fat".

And so it begins....

I just created my blog while sitting at my desk cleverly disguising my fretting over my header, font colors, and pictures as actual work (Fridays are supposed to be easy days at the office, right?). I have to tell you I am just brimming with excitement to enter the blogging world. I have been reading along and religiously following so many of your lovely blogs and have officially been inspired. Now that I have started, I am a bit overwhelmed. There is so much to learn about headers, and layouts, and gadgets (I was initially afraid to click on the gadget button - I thought this must be a whole can of worms I am not quite ready for :)...so please bear with me as I struggle to figure out this whole new world of blogging!



I suppose it would only be approriate for me to start by introducing myself to you all...



I live in Washington, DC and work on the hill...no not for a Senator, but for a non-profit interior design association. I am originally from Pennsylvania, so a northern girl (but I swear I have a big heaping dose of southern in me too). I went to school at James Madison University and studied Psychology and Interior Design.



While at JMU I met the love of my life - Mr.President ( a nickname he earned in college when I would tease him for being his Fraternity's president). I met him while studying in the library (sounds nerdy, I know). I was a bit of bookworm in college and could've been found at the library just about any hour of the day, unless of course I was in class. Ms.Goody-too-shoes back then. Mr.President was a frequent library goer as well, but I have a sneaking suspicion he was there to scope out the fraternity/sorority scene more than hitting the books. We have been dating for a little over 4 years and let me tell you what a roller coaster that has been. Don't get me wrong I have adored every moment, but for the last 3 years we have been long distance, him in Philadelphia, me in DC. Over the last 3 years I have grown oh too accustomed to the 3 hour drive up and down 95 - however we survived and I am now thrilled to tell you that he just moved to the district!



Currently Mr.President is temporarily living with me until he finds his own place - so we are stumbling through the obstacles of getting adjusted to living in the same room. It is most certainly a blessing, but does not come without its challenges.



Let's see, what else should I tell you....



I love all things weddings - ALL things bridal! Now rest assured I am not one of those over-zealous girls who is already planning my wedding (I am far to picky and indecisive for that!), but instead have a burning passion for all the gorgeous details of the big day. I would LOVE to plan weddings in the future...my own wedding aside, I just want to plan and me immersed in all the fabulous, small and big details. I find myself lost in wedding blogs and websites for hours on end and wonder where the time went.



My favorite site is Style Me Pretty - the hours I have spent at that website is surely unhealthy.



Aside from weddings my other passion (if we can call it that) is for FOOD! Seriously, I love food! Beyond just enjoying food, I have a hearty appetite to boot. I can (and often do) eat Mr.President under the table. It is a constant joke around my office that if there is food that I not only a) know about it, but b) was most likely first in line to get said food, and c) and am already up getting seconds. I am not exaggerating when I tell you this girl can eat. However, I do not, repeat can not eat one thing in particular - salads. I hate salads There is just nothing about a salad I like - unless it is covered in cheese, bacon bits, fattening salad dressing, and has yummy chicken resembling chicken tenders atop it. I have to force myself to eat a salad, and when I do I assure you I am not enjoying it. I make efforts to eat healthy from time to time, but often end up eating something an hour later because I am not satisfied. If you have any good salad recipes, fabulous dressings etc. to try, please pass them my way. I am trying to keep an open palate....



I am certain I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of an adequate about me post, but I promise to keep posting.



I look forward to continuing to follow all of you through your blogs and hope that I can create even a pinch as interesting of material for you all to follow.



In the meantime, I am off to research templates and headers and gadgets, oh my!