We made another trip to NYC this past weekend.  Went with Daves and Jenna.  (THERE.  Daves.  I linked to you.)  Hope to get around to writing more about the trip later.  But in the meantime, enjoy the few pictures we took during the weekend.  Woo ...

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i AM declaring that i AM going to sleep well tonight.

i insist upon it.

i demand it.

i'm feeling ...

very ...

sleepy ...

(fingers crossed)

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Today was my first day sitting in my new space on the 6th floor.  Throughout the day, I attempted to unpack somewhat ... without much success.  I emptied all my bins except for one.  Hopefully, I'll get around to that tomorrow.  But if tomorrow goes like today, it's highly unlikely.  Sooooooo busy.

And, I just found out that next week is going to be especially challenging.  Ahh, makes my chest tighten just to think about it.  Happy thoughts, happy thoughts ...

At any rate, first impressions of the 6th floor: precisely what I was expecting, actually.  I do miss the folks on the 9th, but I love everyone on the 6th!  So it's a wonderful balance of mixed emotions, which -- frankly -- is exhausting!  I can't wait for this initial phase to pass ... haha ... and for me to finally be done unpacking my desk.  We're going to have some good times on the 6th!

We did meet up with the gang for lunch in the kitchen on the 9th; just like old times. :)

Here's to a challenging few weeks ahead!  (Off to get some sleep I go!)

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... found in my cube while packing to move to the 6th floor:

• Massive arsenal of napkins - Comes in VERY handy when people ... spill coffee all over your cube ... hypothetically, of course
• Goggles - Yes, I'm serious.  Apparently, a trip to CVS with Kaitlyn results in the purchase of goggles.  But really, why not?  (Note: they have now taken up residence in Jenna's cube.)
  
• Deck of cards - Picked up during one of those random, fun trips to CVS; still haven't played yet, but certainly will be useful one day during beer-thirty, I'm sure.
• Pair of socks - What.  My feet get cold during the day.
• Magic markers - You never know when you're going to need to add a little color to something.
• Alabama license plate - Ah, well.  I used to have this on display in my cube.
• Hard hat - From the trip to the offshore platform.  My. Job. Is. Cool.
• Shampoo, conditioner, hairdryer, curling iron - This stuff is still at the office, after being kicked out of my locker at the gym downstairs.  Boo.  At least I'm always prepared if I have to pull an all-nighter.
• Itty-bitty bottle of red wine - In case of emergency.

I'm quite sentimental, so this move is a sad thing for me in some ways.  But at least packing has been entertaining!

6th floor, here we come!  Fun times ahead!

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Andrea sent me this picture of her, Jesse and Ben out in the SNOW this weekend -- first snow in that area in a long time!

Ben's first snow!

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Random guys at the Silver Diner ended up being very entertaining.

MVI_1354

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I added a few things to my sidebar a couple weeks ago, and I'm finally getting around to pointing them out. 

First up, I recently joined Twitter, which is ... hmm ... how can I explain this.  Technically, it's called "microblogging."  But in plain English, on an individual basis, it's like a personal website devoted to status updates.  You post -- in 140 characters or less -- what you're doing right then.  Depending on your privacy settings, anyone can go to your unique URL and see those updates.  See, mine are at www.twitter.com/shmay.  There is also an element of group interaction involved with Twitter.  You can "follow" other people and they can "follow" you -- which sounds very stalkerish, I know -- but it's more so a way to create a big, ongoing, public chat room.  It looks like this (most recent entries at the top):

Picture 1

So ... all that leads up to ... I've added a widget to my sidebar that automatically updates with my Twitter status message.  So if you're ever curious what I'm doing right when you're reading my blog, take a look at that widget.  I don't update it as obsessively as some people, but it's still a fun little feature!

Alrighty, second thing.  Right below that in my sidebar is a Flickr widget.  It automatically cycles through a new random selection of my Flickr pics, refreshing each time you visit the page.  Just a fun way to be reminded of all those great memories!  :)

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Weeee!

I am FINALLY getting around to writing up some of the funny stories from our latest trip to New York.  (Took me ... 10 days.  Yeesh.)

Okay, so.  We took the bus up there.  Only $35 roundtrip -- that's a pretty sweet deal.  And we had this bus driver, Fred.  He was pretty darn hilarious.  Let me put it this way ... he was very clear about the way things would be on HIS bus.  And he also gave some helpful tips regarding the importance of not missing the bus BACK to DC at the end of the weekend.  Apparently, "That Chinese bus ... they'll get you there fast, but they ain't got no brakes."

This thoroughly amusing ride was just the beginning.

We had a wonderfully fun weekend, filled with a perfect mix of shopping, sight-seeing, great dining, fun nights on the town, and a loooong walk through Central Park.  Honestly, the pictures -- alllll the crazy, silly, goofy pictures -- tell the story pretty well.  Be sure to catch the pic of me eating my first Central Park hot dog, me and Jenna in front of Radio City Music Hall, us doing our perfume pose in Sephora, our Rambo tattoos, me and my buddy Jack, etc., etc.  :)

But one story for which we don't have any photos to share ... our rather ridiculous journey to catch the bus back to DC.

We left Paull's upper-east-side apartment, having been advised that it would be best to take a cab.  Didn't take much to persuade us on that; at that point, I was weighed down with a back-pack, duffle bag, pillow, and shopping bag FULL of new stuff.  So we hail a cab, climb in with all our junk, and are on our way.  We ran into a lot of traffic, though ... which slowed us down significantly.  Significantly.  The minutes were ticking closer and closer to the time that we needed to be AT the bus stop.  We were still several blocks away.  Slowly, we crept toward our destination.  But then.  We realized.  We only had $11.  Oh, no, wait.  $12.  (Jenna had a dollar in change. Whew!)  So we watched the meter closely.  When it hit something like $10.50, we cried, "Okay!  Thanks, this is good."  Paid him and got out with our load of belongings.  So.  There we were.  With all our crap.  Minutes away from when we were supposed to be boarding our bus.  And still blocks away from the bus stop.  So what did we do?  We hauled ass, dodging and weaving in the sea of people on the sidewalks of New York.

Unfortunately, we hauled ass ... to the wrong bus stop.  We stood there for several minutes before somehow determining that this was NOT the line for OUR bus.  Our bus was somewhere in the vicinity, though.  So, hey!  We were close!  We eagerly ran to the next bus and asked the driver, "Is this the Washington Deluxe??"   About the same time that he delivered the bad news, it dawned on me that there were about five buses in the vicinity.  None said "Washington Deluxe" on the side.  At this point, after checking on our time, we were also feeling pretty hopeless.  We'd missed it, surely.  I was slowing down to a stroll.  Jenna was a bit ahead of me.  Then we spotted one more bus.  She started to speed up, and I followed her lead.  We made that one little last dash, and sure enough -- this was our bus.  We caught it just in time!

What a great, comical end to a wonderful adventure of a weekend!

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Since I invested in my new pillow, sheets and mattress pad ... I've seriously fallen in love with my bed.  So if you ever wonder if all that stuff is worth spending money on ... YES.

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