It was so nice talking to you. So nice.

My roommates - CM & CS - are a crazy bunch.  Put us all in the same room for an any extended period of time and we'll be laughing so hard someone has fallen off the couch or has suddenly developed a foreign accent and is repeating random phrases like "Popo Gigio" over and over and over again.

CM, the ever hair-flipper, has been known to always have a Dane Cook joke or a funny t-shirt on hand.
CS does the BEST imitation of Sandy, her GPS.  It's fantastic and always amusing.
And I'm guilty of doing the robot ... quite frequently, actually.

So there's a friend of CM's who somehow got the impression that both CS and I were named Becky.  Weird, right? Especially when, in reality, neither of our names even start with a "B" ... or end in "ecky."  After CM's friend left, we collapsed with laughter. And out of that, we came up with

"All the Famous Beckys" set to the tune of Beyonce's classy "All the Single Ladies."



Catchy, right? We're thinking it'll spread like wildfire.

Have a lovely weekend,

Becky*

Bless Your Heart : Use It In a Sentence & Make Your Mama Proud

For those of y'all who aren't from the South, "bless your heart" [byh] may sound dumber than a bag of hammers.  No need to get all tore up, I'm fixin' to explain to y'all.

As the hilariously funny and Southern as biscuits and gravy author Celia Rivenbark tells it in Bless Your Heart, Tramp, "A Southerner can get away with the most awful insult as long as it is prefaced with the words, ' Bless her/his heart.' As in, 'Bless his heart, if they put his brain on a head of a pin, it'd roll around like a BB on a six-lane highway.'"

That being said, I have got to tell y'all what happened last night.

The fine workers at the credit card company, bless their hearts, who so kindly helped me to validate my new credit card, then proceeded to suspend that same card due to "suspicious activity" fifteen mintues later.  Say what? While I was trying to buy tickets for the ACC Championship Game [FSU vs. VT!] this weekend with the newly activated card, they were busy being alarmed at my sudden purchase.  So when the Customer Relations rep said I could use the card as soon as I got off the phone with her, was she just lying through her teeth?

After waiting for-eva on hold, they patched me through to a nice man who told me that for my own safety and protection, they had suspended my card for the time being.  And bless his heart, he said they could reactiviate the card within 3 to 4 days after I fax over pages and pages of personal background verification forms.  Isn't it a funny thing that it's easier to be approved for and get a credit card than it is to use one? In an effort to fight off identity theft, the company, bless their heart, is now tied up in doubting my identity and then reinstating it.  Ain't life a peach.

byh,

Lorin

[Image via: Good Reads]

Best Places to See Christmas Tree Lighting

Happy December to you! Now that it's finally here, all things Christmas will be in full swing. Ice skating, holiday movies, manger scenes, hot chocolate - I can't get enough.  I'm especially excited about the possibility of snow days! Never thought this Florida girl would ever get to say that.  This great weather blog will be tracking when and how much of the fluffy stuff we'll be getting this winter. Ahh, I can't wait!

But, until it's time to break out the corncob pipe and button nose for some serious snowman making, check out these local Virginia and DC events for Christmas tree lighting events that are sure to brighten your week.

- Wednesday is the annual Light Up Rosslyn event over on Wilson Boulevard.  At 6:31 pm, they will flip a switch and illuminate all the buildings on the skyline.  Not technically a tree lighting but still pretty darn enchanting.  Plus, free chili, cookies, cocoa, and chorusing, too.

- If you're looking for a quaint, small town feel, The Village at Shirlington is a perfect choice.  My roommates and I live within walking distance from here and can't w-a-i-t for the countdown to the tree lighting and a relaxing carriage ride around town (in exchange for a non-perishable food item).

- For more politically inclined festivities, head over to the tree lighting ceremony at Union Station.  Like the French, the Norwegians, too, have expressed their friendship to our country with a gift - in this case, a 32' tall gift. 

- And for a truly DC Christmas experience, the one and only - lighting of the National Christmas Tree. And there's quite a lineup of musical performances scheduled for the night, too: Sara Bareilles, B.B. King, and Maroon 5. This is a ticketed event - don't even try to Salahi your way in without one.  If you didn't register for a ticket or get picked through the lottery, no worries.  You, me, and the rest of the District can watch the capitol event in the glorious comfort and warmth of our own homes, via live stream at 5 PM on Thursday, December 9th.  No, thank you, DC.

Well bless your heart,

Lorin

[Image via: Shirlington Village Blog].

The Class of Dimes

When speaking, what we do - or don't do - with our hands is significant. Are you an all-hands-on-deck communicator? Or do you prefer to let your words do all the talking? I'm definitely the former. Even as I sit in my apartment, noshing on cookie dough and writing this blog post, my fingers have the urge to flee the keyboard and gesture wildly in the air.

Silly, I know. 

In high school, did you and your friends have a sign y'all threw up in the air at pep rallies and graduation? We did.  Class of '06.  Pretty standard double-handed zero and six combo.  My roommate CM and I chatted with a friend earlier tonight about various hand signs for different years and I started thinking back over 2010, this time as a college grad.  Since this spring, I:

graduated from Florida State [go Noles!], interned with Tallahassee Woman Magazine while simultaneously job hunting all summer, packed up my apartment in Tally and moved home, found a roommate and an apartment, the job hunt continued, landed an interview in Virginia, landed the job [not in the order most people do it], found second roommate, packed up my blue Corolla, said goodbye to family and friends, boarded the auto train to Virginia, slept on friends' couch for several weeks, started my job, and then moved into the apartment. It's been a bumpy, unexpected, and at times hectic and spontaneous journey to here, but I'm grateful for every blessing God has brought into my life.

To everyone who graduated in '10, I don't know what kind of year you've had, but Class of Dimes, here's to you.  To believing, achieving, and succeeding.  To saying, "Screw you, Economy," and getting the job.  To listening to and following God's will for your life.  To putting aside your pros-cons list and following your heart.


Cheers,

Lorin