Word or phrase. A word that encapsulates your year. "2009 was _____."

Chaos.



The home front was chaotic. From the beginning of 2009 I was running around trying to get the condo ready to go on the market, I found a buyer pretty quickly, but then had problems finding a house that I wanted to buy. When I did find my house, it was a short sale, with 2 banks involved. I lost my first buyer because the short sale was taking too long to be approved, and I refused to remove the contingency that I find a home of choice. I found a new buyer 3 days later, and the short sale was then approved, but things were down to the wire for closing ....

Work was chaotic too.... Potluck Bitch. Need I say more? She was on a major path of destruction, and I am lucky I didn't pop her in the face.... cause I came close ;)

Then I moved into the new house and started dealing with raccoons, bees, mice, bats!, guns, leaks, and fleas!

So 2009 was Chaos. But I managed to stay on top of things!

If you are in the DC area you know we are in the middle of some crazy wind...

And over the last few weeks I have not been sleeping well, usually I wake up a few times, turn on Nick-at-Nite, with the sleep timer amd roll over and go back to sleep.

But last night ... I slept awesome. Until about 5AM.... when I heard a big crash! Then I realized it was very windy outside... I figured maybe a shutter had blown off the house... but then I got up and checked outside....my trash can had blown over :)

So I went back to sleep for about 20 minutes....

The morning continued as normal... Madison messing up the bed making process, hair drying, etc...

Then I went downstairs.... to get ready to leave.... something didn't seem right. I have gas logs in my living room, and I can usually hear a small hiss from the pilot light. So I went to look for the blue flame. No sign of it! I thought Oh No! Pilot Light is out! Is gas streaming into my house?? Um no cause I didn't smell it..... Weird I thought.... is gas out to the whole house??
I didn't think so becase the heat had been running all night, but I ran downstairs to check the furnace. Everything seemed normal.

Ran back upstairs, figured out how to turn off the pilot light from the main controller. Then sat down to think about next steps. I was still confused why gas wasn't coming into the house. I called the place that installed my gas logs. Not open until 10am.

Then I remembered "Google is my Friend" :)

I googled "Pilot Light Blows Out" and found a site that explained all about how pilot lights work... Basically when the flame blows out there is a mechanisim that shuts off the gas flow... YAY for Safety Features!! Now I just need to remember how to re-light it when I get home :P

Forget the Una-Bomber....

Now we got the Fruit-o-the-Loom-Bomber...

Hanes-Bomber?

Jockey -Bomber?

Tightie-Whitey - Bomber?

Boxer-Bomber?

We're all gonna die (eventually).

I'm surprised the WMATA Metro hasn't been blown up yet... there is plenty of opportunity. MARC train too.

There are a ton of unstable people in the land. You cannot put your life on hold and cower to the threats.

Shame on TSA or whomever is announcing all these reactionary plans (no bathroom use for the last hour, no tv, no wifi). Fix the screening/security process. If it means doubling your time at the airport... Too Damn Bad. Welcome to the world we now live in.

Live your life to the fullest.

When did you get your best rush of the year?

This is easy.... Sea of Confetti 10/31/2009 - Pearl Jam @ The Spectrum. Truly an awesome and magical moment :)

What's the best change you made to the place you live?

This should be obvious to regular readers!!! The best change is that I sold my condo, bought a single family house, and cut my commute in half (thereby doubling my social life :P)

I received this in my INBOX today (via the 930 Club's mailing list)....

Weird. Pearl Jam fought against Ticketmaster's monopoly maybe 15 years ago.....

Concert Fans Beware!

There’s a train wreck about to happen and consumer groups say YOU will be the victim if the two most powerful corporate interests in the live concert business get their way. But you can help stop the merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation. The government needs to hear from music fans now. Tell the Department of Justice that you’re against these monopolies amassing illegal power over consumers, before it’s too late. antitrust.complaints@usdoj.gov

As a concertgoer you have already felt the pain, and if Ticketmaster and Live Nation get their way, it’ll get worse. In the last 12 years, since Live Nation and its predecessor started its widespread takeover of the concert industry, concert ticket prices have shot up 82% while the consumer price index has gone up just 17%*. We are concerned that if the two concert industry behemoths, Live Nation and Ticketmaster, are permitted to merge, the variety and quality of artists coming to local venues will be affected, and your costs could rise further and faster.

Five of the nation’s most prominent public interest groups called on the Department of Justice to block the proposed merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation:

“Consumers deserve a fair deal in the entertainment marketplace, not the fewer choices and higher prices that would result from this merger,” said Susan Grant, Director of Consumer Protection at Consumer Federation of America

“This merger is an insult to both musicians and consumers,” said James Love, Director of Knowledge Ecology International

“We cannot envision a remedy that would ease this chilling impediment to competition… In the absence of other effective, expeditious remedies, the proposed transaction should be prohibited.” American Antitrust Institute White Paper

As described by Senator Herb Kohl (WI) in the House Antitrust hearing, “This merger will not only expand Ticketmaster’s control of the ticketing market by eliminating a competitor, but it is also creating an entity that will control the entire chain of the concert business – from artist management to concert promotion and production to ticketing and ticket resale.”

“This merger would be a disaster for consumers. Nothing short of blocking this takeover of the ticket market by two industry behemoths will be acceptable,” said National Consumers League Executive Director Sally Greenberg

“As president, I will direct my administration to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement. I will step up review of merger activity and take effective action to stop or restructure those mergers that are likely to harm consumer welfare…,” said Senator Barack Obama when he was campaigning for the presidency.

If you agree with the consumer groups and lawmakers, make a difference and LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD NOW.

Send a message to the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice telling them you support President Obama’s campaign promise to protect the American public from abusive monopolies.

antitrust.complaints@usdoj.gov

To learn more, check out:

ticketdisaster.org

Public Interest Groups Call on Justice Department to Block Ticketmaster/LiveNation/Comcast Merger

American Antitrust Institute's White Paper TICKETMASTER - LIVE NATION

Philadelphia Weekly’s cover story “Monopoly Rules”

Signed,

The 9:30 Club, I.M.P., Merriweather Post Pavilion, Jam Productions, Metropolitan Talent, Another Planet Entertainment, Frank Productions, Stone City Attractions, Rams Head Live, The Black Cat ... and independent concert promoters and venue operators nationwide.

*Study by Princeton University economist Alan Krueger

If you are viewing the text-only version of this email, click the following link to email:

This was my first major snowstorm as a house owner... and here is what I learned....



1)Don't back the car all the way back in the driveway. If I had followed what others were doing I would have noticed they were parking as close to the sidewalk as possible... so they would have the least amount to dig out...



2)Don't go to Ghetto Giant right before a snow storm. It was a mess. All I needed was cat food... and there was only 1 express line open.

3) Buy more Ice Melt. I had one little jug that I was so proud of myself for buying at Target a few weeks ago. It lasted for my front porch and front walk.....I resorted to dumping cat litter on the sheet of ice that is my front sidewalk and driveway... but it is a mess. I'll try to pick up some more ice melt at 7-11 or CVS today.

4) Put recycle bins and trash cans outside. Mine are now safely tucked in my garage. With an icy sidewalk and 18 inches of snow between us :(

5)Shovel a path from front walk to driveway... I should have done this on Saturday.... Now I have to walk across icy sidewalk and driveway to get to my car and garage



When I was in my condo... all I had to do was dig out my car. SFH may be more work... but the quiet is definitely worth it!!!!

I was debating between a few specific places (Matchbox and Bullfeathers)....but ultimately decided... the Best Place of 2009...

DC after 5pm!!!

Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You


(bet you thought I would go with Pearl Jam's Backspacer! )

one last Xmas commercial...

Challenge. Something that really made you grow this year. That made you go to your edge and then some. What made it the best challenge of the year for you?

Hands down... biggest challenge.... dealing with Potluck Bitch! I have never worked with someone so hateful (and I am full of Hate :P) and out to cause trouble in a workplace....

Last summer before the finale I guess she was making a no holds barred-end run in a "Its Me or Them" all out fashion. And while I was pretty much able to ignore her from last Thanksgiving (2008) through May 2009 she started pic-picking at me. around June I guess. I told my boss she gets 3 attempts and then I fight back.... just as a fore-warning....

After the third hit eventaully came, I did fire back..... in my usual passive-agressive fashion. I called her out for not following the dress code.... :P

She was canned maybe 2 weeks later....

I am proud of myself for 1) not hitting her and 2) not dumping a beer on her

I have had a bunch of awesome nights out this year, especially since I have moved closer to DC.

I almost went with Halloween up in Philly (for the last show ever at the Spectrum), but after further reflection I think my best night out was July 2 (July 3rd was the Holiday for July 4th).

I started in Capitol Hill for Happy Hour with some co-workers at our usual spot.... Tortilla Coast. Margaritas? Check. Coronas w/ Lime? Check. Tortilla Chips? Check. Random Hot Guy? Check. (I even spotted him on Metro a few weeks later... with Sunglasses on. Inside. Major FAIL :))

Then I went and met up with another friend at Penn Quater Sports Tavern. Then we moved on to Rocket Bar :D

Luckily I was paying attention to the clock and knew I needed to leave around 11/11:30 in order to catch metro since I need to switch from Yellow/Green to Orange. Which I did. But I fell asleep. Ended up in New Carollton. After the last train back to Vienna had left ( it was a Thursday so it was regular weekenight hours). So I had to cab it back to CHV....

Perfect :)

Do blog posts count as an article?

This was an old post that I stumbled across while searching for something else...

A Woman's Right to Shoes...

From my favorite episode of Sex and the City.... ever!


"The fact is sometimes it is hard to walk in a single woman's shoes, that's why we need really special ones now and then, to make the walk a little more fun." -Carrie

Happy to see other gals feel the same way :)

So many to choose from....

One of the main reasons I wanted to move closer to DC was so that I could spend more time in the city (after work and on weekends).

And I have certainly been doing that in the 6.5 months that I have been here.

Sometime over the summer I posed a question on Twitter asking about Brunch locations in Capitol Hill. I was directed to Matchbox on Barracks Row.

I ended up going for my Birthday, for Brunch with my mom.

We both started with Champagne Cocktails... my mom got the Capitol Hill (pineapple juice / champagne / aqua pear liquor / granny smith apple) to start and I got the Palm Springs (grapefruit juice / champagne / pama pomegranate). We both agreed the Palm Springs rocked and each ordered another . :)

The actual Brunch menu looked awesome and I had a hard time choosiing but I eventually ordered the cast iron chorizo & manchego egg tortilla (brunch potatoes / salsa verde / chipotle sour cream / grilled ciabatta with garlic butter) and my mom got the goat cheese & chorizo roll (tomato sauce / asparagus / scrambled eggs / brunch potatoes). We both agreed the food was awesome! As was the service! I definitely want to go back and try the stuffed french toast (cinnamon french toast / honey cream cheese / maple butter / fruit salad).

I have since been back for lunch (Awesome Crab Cake sandwich!) and look forward to trying the Pizza!

Prompt 1 - Trip What was your best trip in 2009?


Not counting Day Trips I didn't really travel much this year....Philly and Western MD were the only contenders

So Western MD wins!!

Good friends, Good food, Good drinks, Spa Trip... and something I've never done before.... white water rafting.... :)

I came across a set of 31 prompts for a December Year End Best Of..... while reading a post @WasItforThis....


So I thought I would try to participate.... so be on the lookout for a waterfall of posts :D

A few weeks ago I received my invitation to Nordstrom's Private Holiday Shopping Event (I got one last year but didn't go).

The trigger for the invite is spending a certain amount (via a Nordstrom Card) which I did when I purchased this....

So I decided to attend the morning event at Tysons Corner. I had never been to the mall in Tysons. A previous employer had an office there that I had been to once or twice And i had also been to the Tiffanys located there.

Luckily due to it being early on a Sunday traffic was not a problem.

I took my mom with me. As we are walking into the mall I notice she is carrying a big Macy's shopping bag!!!! I asked her to please fold it up ( hello! we can't have a Macys bag at a big Nordstrom event... that would be like taking a Kate Spade handbag to a Chanel fashion show ;) )

Her response: But my candy canes are in there!!

Me: What?!?!?!!?

Mom: Candy Canes! I hand them out to salespeople!!

This was the first time I had heard about any such activity... so I am sure I made a face....

Moving on...

We entered Nordstrom with my fancy ticket.

Silver platters of food, tea and coffee from Silver Service!



Waiters with trays of OJ, Water w/ Lime and fancy appetizers :)

I only bought 1 item, but wow! some of the other shoppers were going crazy!!

Then we went out and explored the rest of the mall. I did some damge in Pottery Barn, and my mom even handed out her candy canes, which the salespeople made a fuss over (since I am not one for fuss... and really want to avoid talking to salespeople at all costs anyway... I just smiled and tried to get out of the store as fast as possible).

We went to lunch as Coastal Flats..... it was all decorated for XMAS..... and I had an awesome Shrimp Roll .....

and I don't even believe in God :P

Yesterday I had the opportunity to work some overtime (aka bill extra hours aka buy more shoes!).

Orange line was of course single tracking (hey its the weekend!). So I decided to drive to my office. Mapquest put it at an approximate 20 minute drive. Metro usually takes me 30 Minutes. With the waiting around for single tracking trains driving of course won out. Weekend street parking was free. This all probably sounds like driving should win..... but I can't read while I am driving....In bound traffic would be way worse during the week....and if I wanted to go out after work I would need to move my car somewhere. Also the big downside to driving.... getting from SW to 295N. Its weird and annoying.

WMATA wins!!!!!!!

But the real question is... if I had used Metro to commute this weekend, and SmarTrip had converted to the new system... what purse would my fare have been deducted from!?

A new one.... but it mocks AT&T so I am a fan :)

MTV's Jersey Shore.... this may put RHoNJ in a whole new perspective!

On your Best Rock Song Grammy Nomination for "The Fixer"

If you spend anytime in the malls or reading fashion magazines (or in Ann Taylor Loft) you know that ruffles are huge this year.





Yesterday's Zoe Report arrived in my inbox touting a ruffled blazer, but the real find was what was suggested in the Parallel Universe (aka cheaper option).

Ruffled Cardigan from Anthropoligie!

Some of my favorite Xmas themed commercials.... :)

I stop at Starbucks every morning after getting off the Metro. I need my Latte... especially if it looks like there may be Drama in the office.

Way back when I was getting into the office around 7am I rarely noticed what I am getting ready to rant about, probabaly because it was so early, there were never that many people in line.

First up seems to be a problem at all Starbucks if they are busy..... People laying all over the drink counter, effectively cutting off the counter from other customers. Hey guess what people... if you just ordered and Starbucks is busy.... your drink is not going to be the next one ready.... hang back and wait until you order is called.

Second.... is a problem due to the layout of the store. Once more than 10 people are in line, the way the line snakes around teh store, the door to the outside CAN be blocked if rude people are in line. People with a clue about the world around them leave the space around the door unblocked, (so a space between them and the person in front of them), and the line continues to snake around the store. The only problem this can cause is when someone comes into the store and jumps into line in the "open space". This is usually cleared up by telling them.... "The line actually starts back there...".

This morning the scenario above happened, complete with me having to tell a line jumper where the line actually started. But the guy behind me apparently wasn't man enough to be able to tell someone where the line started because when I crossed over the empty space, he stayed with me, blocking the door. As someone was coming in. And then to make it odder, this tool would not move away from the door to let the person in. He did this weird scrunch up thing with his arms and then was trying to step on me! I was this close to 1)Telling him to not touch me and 2) Suggesting that he not block the door. But since I knew I'd come off sounding like a b*itch I decided I didn't want drama that early in the AM, so I just focused on my BlackBerry while feeling morally superior :D

Watch Pearl Jam on this weeks Austin City Limits! (Check Local PBS listings!)

*note you may have to reload the page to view the embedded file...

I set out to pick up some soup for lunch at the Au Bon Pain inside L'Enfant Plaza's La Promenade set of shops, to find the store all closed up. In fact all of the shops around it were also closed. It looks like they are finally getting read to renovate that cluster of shops/eateries. (Hopefully a good Happy Hour spot will move in ... SW DC near my office is sorely lacking in the bar department). And while it appeared that most of the other eateries had moved to another location... Au Bon Pain seems closed for good :(

On the plus side.... I came across a pizza joint that has NYC by the slice pizza.... and it was GOOD! Its called Pizza Autentica..... 300 7th St SW.... basically kitty-corner to the HUD building.

(according to People :D Guess they agree .... 21 Jump Steet stands upto the test of time!!!)

This past weekend I raked leaves for the first time in my life.


Luckily the town I live in vacuums the leaves left on the curb so I didn't have to bag anything....


This is what my backyard looked like prior to raking





This is an in progress shot...... the orange thing is the tarp I used to carry the leaves from the backyard to the front curb...





They started piling up quickly.... I thought I was going to run out of room! After about 2.5 hours I broke for lunch... and then didn't want to go back out after I sat down to eat ;)


But I gave myself a short nap and went back....And after one more tarp trip where the backyard seemed slightly more than halfway done, I busted out the lawnmower and proceeded to mow (thanks to a previous hint/suggestion from a friend).


Backyard done!





Then I moved on to the front yard which is much smaller, and really only has leaves at the very front... I raked the front and mowed the rest!


After about 4 hours of work I was done.




Final Damage - 2 blisters ... one on each hand (Guess I should have worn gloves!) and my forearms ached sooooo bad I could barely concentrate on anything else. I also have some tightness in my shoulders and back..... but oh well.... better than paying someone!

Less than a week to go!

Google has had some awesome images over the last week to celebrate...

But I'll always remember Big Bird and Mr Hooper dying :(

Sent from my BlackBerry

The Halloween show had been hyped for months before on the PJ fanboards....

The week before it picked up into almost unseen frenzied levels. They will play every song they know, They'll play until 2am, Bruce Springteen will be a special guest... and all kinds of other rumors picked up at a frenzied past as the date drew closer.

By this point there was no way the show could have lived up to everyone's expectations....
Which is why I try to usually have none (aside from really wanting to hear 1 or 2 specific songs)...

The SEPTA train ride was more packed than Friday due to the World Series game across the street, but it was fun... a ton of people were dressed in costume (including me!)

Picked up 10 Club tickets... this time 12th row on Mike's side... woot!

Beer Tent time.. and another cover band outside the venue! People watching time..... I saw a dude waiting in line dressed as JT from the SNL "Dick in a box" skit; a guy in a banana suit; Bee Girl; guy dressed as Bret Michael's (he gave me a high five when I laughed at him :P); too many Elvis's to count; Jesus; it was fun to see people get into the spirit!

Then it started to rain, so C and I headed inside.

Up first Bad Religion... Guitarist dressed as skeleton... YAY!



Then its Pearl Jam time! (as before full setlist can be found on any other Pearl Jam site).

Here are the stand out moments, probably in a random order :)

Due to someone I follow on Twitter... I was alerted to Balloons up in the rafters....



Opened with Why Go ... so glad they have resurrected this live... its AWESOME!

Pilate!


Rats!! (A person in a Rat costume appeared onstage ... I thnk they were part of the crew.... various members of the crew were in costume)




OUT OF MY MIND!!!!!!! -- as Vedder said "this isn't even a song" . This is a live improv that was released as the Not For You b-side. Only played twice before....It was awesome because I love this song, and thought I would never hear it live :D


** Bathroom Break*** Bathroom situation at the Spectrum was ICKY!

BUGS!!!! w/accordian :D took a few tries but it was cool to see :)



The Final Encore may have well been perfection from start to finish.... but I think at this point most in the Venue knew the Phillies were losing so I think the crowd lost some steam....

First part....just may have been worth the price of admission for those 5 minutes....

Pearl Jam came out on stage ...Dressed as Devo and performed Whip It! TRULY AWESOME!!



Sweet Lew - Jeff singing and Eddie Basketball dribbling...too funny!


Smile - :)


RITFW - A minute or 2 in and Confetti came shooting out in all directions .... the Spectrum was filled ... and made for some AWESOME pictures.. Then the balloons dropped too cool!






I got a poster :)


So glad I was at this show ..... for all the one-off moments

This show start to finish was amazing. It may be my favorite all time....even counting when I was front row center back in 2000 @ Merriweather :)

The drive up to Philly from DC was not bad... considering it was Friday traffic (Special thanks to EZ-PASS!!!! and my Navigation System.... though DC to Philly is pretty much a straight drive up I-95......)

Anyways... my friend C and I arrived at the venue around 6:30 I think and picked up my tickets.... 7th row center! Haven't been that close in a while ... usually averaging row 12 in DC and NYC shows, so we were stoked!

We wandered around to one side where a beer/drinks tent was set up and got some drinks and proceeded to watch the Pearl Jam cover band that was playing in front of the Spectrum.... Then made our way inside.

Bad Religion was playing and were pretty good... (I admit I only know one of their older tunes...) They finished and it was time to chat with fellow 10 Club members (after so many years.... seated by number you start to see the same people over and over.. which makes it fun!)

You can find the setlist on any Pearl Jam fansite, so I won't go into the whole thing, but they played a good mix.... and the new stuff sounded AWESOME.. especially The Fixer , Got Some, and Unthought Known, I was also happy to hear In My Tree, Off He Goes, Breath, RVM, Mamasan, and Sonic Reducer!!

It really was a perfect night! band and crowd energy was great!!

(Until we got back to the Hotel, and found Friday's with doors locked at 12:40PM.... Late night eating in Philly is a #FAIL)

Next up... thoughts on Philly the city!

Admittedly I do not watch many shows on NBC (obviously chances are if you are reading this you don't either cause the network is in the toilet... ratings wise).

Last season I watched ER, Law & Order and SouthLAnd.

SouthLAnd started well, and seemed to get better each week.

I especially liked the Regina King and Ben McKenzie/John Heard storylines and was happy to C Thomas Howell back on my screen (I am a huge fan of The Outsiders - Book and Movie!).

So imagine my surprise a few weeks ago when NBC announced that they were canceling SouthLAnd. Apparently they said their was no room in the schedule with Leno sucking up all the 10pm slots (oddly they found room for L&O on Fri at 8PM....WTF?!?!? way to start killing that show). Twitter erupted! I deleted the only new NBC show I had picked up this season... Mercy... from my DVR series recordings.

Word came today that TNT has picked up SouthLAnd to start airing in Jan 2010...YAY!

Which brings me to my point..... sick of NBC and Leno? Turn your TV on at 10pm and set it to any channel other then NBC (I'll be setting to TNT if I don't have a conflict in the 10pm slot) or set your DVR to record anyother channel at that time)... Apparently most local NBC affilaites are ready to revolt against NBC any minute due to this Leno fiasco causing a sharp drop in their 11pm newscasts (and ad revenue based on them).

Maybe this could help push them over the edge :)

The hotel in Philly was 4 miles from the venue so my friend C and I knew we'd be using public transit (or cab) to get to the venue. So I started perusing the PJ fanboards to find out what was the best option. And promptly came across a post about SEPTA getting ready for a walkout ...Zoinks!


Add to that Game 3 of the World Series was in Philly the same night as the last PJ show at the Spectrum (right across the street from the baseball stadium) and all signs pointed to transportation being a clusterf*ck. (Driving to venue from hotel could been done with my AWESOME navigation system... which made this road trip way better than the 2000 jaunt to Jones Beach, NY... I don't ever want to hear about a POW/MIA highway ever again! - but this was a way way way last resort option).


Before leaving Friday I checked online and the general consensus was a walkout wouldn't happen until Saturday.....so I setup a Google Alert and headed out!


Friday evening arrived in Philly checked into the hotel, changed and headed for the SEPTA station. The SEPTA system is much more like NYCs Subway system (none of this farecard/exit fare crap), you use tokens.

Point SEPTA.

The machines to buy fares only took $1, $5, $10, and $20.... and you couldn't adjust the value you wanted to buy if you inserted a large bill.

Point WMATA.

(Luckily I just bought $20 worth of fare for me and C and hoped the strike didn't happen!) Other people were trying to get change from the SEPTA station manager.... no dice! And don't even get me started on the morons that didn't buy roundtrip fare... the line to buy it after the show each night was worse than Gallery Place after a show at the Verizon Center) Some time on Saturday afternoon I got a Google alert that SEPTA would not strike while the World Series was in town... YAY!


SEPTA stations smell like piss... and each station I was in had a fare share of homeless people sleeping in them.

Point WMATA.

The actual ride on SEPTA was fine..... and I don't recall any jerking to a stop. Bonus... on Saturday after the show... the train headed uptown...EXPRESSED!!!!!!!!

Two Points SEPTA!

Also on Saturday.... there were Balloon arches at the SEPTA exits and a SEPTA Employee directing people up the steps with a big foam finger :D (obviously the Nats are no where near being in a world series... but i just can't see WMATA decorating like this... so.....

Point SEPTA.

Looks like SEPTA wins :)


*has WMATA ever gone on strike? (the week long - we will be following all rules craziness that happened about a week ago does not count :P)

Happy Halloween!!!

Pearl Jam began their 4 date close-out of Philly's Spectrum on Tuesday night, and by Wednesday morning message boards were filled with topics like "Saturday until 2AM..." . It seems Ed Vedder made a comment that by 2AM Saturday night they will have played every someg they know! So teh speculation started ... Could this be true? Will they be playing until 2AM?? People started digging for info. Apparently various Spectrum security staff has confirmed that they will need to stay until 3AM (some policy is in place that security stays around until an hour afterteh show is over).

Currently the longest Pearl Jam show is from 5/3/03 - State College, PA (and I was there!!!!) and clocked in at 3.5 hours. (Though there is some debate that the 3rd Mansfield, MA show is longer due too PJ playing an acoutstic set, then Sleater-Kinney "opening"; then Pearl Jam playing their main set).

Saturday should put the debate to rest!!

Can't wait....updates after I return :D

As you may or may not know.. I have a few handbags...

And they tend to pile up during the week....



So I ordered a coat rack to bring some order to the chaos!



Much better!

to FlashFoward....this caused me to re-evaluate my public transportation use :P

I was scrolling thru Twitter this afternoon and saw a tweet from @Pearl Jam announcing a Mobile App for Verizon Tour customers :D

So I of course stopped what I was doing and downloaded...

1)It's free :)

2) You can download select songs from this summers tour

3) Wallpaper for your phone (live shots from the tour!)

4) Tour Dates

5) Setlists

AWESOME!

So glad I stayed with Verizon when I upgraded ;)

Philly in less than 2 weeks !!!!!

Sent from my BlackBerry

I have wanted a Wii for a while, but kept putting it off. Then a few weeks ago Nintendo announced the big price drop. Shortly there afetr a co-worker sent out a link where Amazon had the Wii + Free Shipping + $25 Amazon Giftcard all for $199. Done Deal!

The system arrived a few weeks ago. I have been crazy busy, but managed to play a little Bowling and Tennis. I also order Wii Fit Plus with the gift card. I hoep to have that set up this week!

My latest want :D

One of the decorative features I first fell in love with when I first went to look at what became my new house was the original stained glass windows in the living room (very faded though)...



I knew I had to replace all the windows going in... so I wanted to try and keep stained glass in the Living Room....but as I was looking around... I was finding the cost to be outrageous.

Then my mom mentioned a friend that had decorative films on a window of hers.

So I looked online and ordered some samples. I fell in love with what I eventually ended up getting for the living room....





The I ordered some Ice for my Bathrooom... which turned out AWESOME!!!!




and some stained glass for my master closet window:



(I also got some plain Sandblast films for my basement to have some additional privacy (on one side of the basement with the new windows there is no longer room to hang tension rods for curtains).

It all turned out really well, and was super cost effective. I should have measured better (I cut it very close on two of the installations), but it was all pretty easy to install.