Lions and Tigers and Bears...Oh My!

My best friend Kara, whose house I am currently invading, has a 2 year old daughter named Sophia. You might have seen her in some of my pics over the years...she is the most adorable little thing ever. Super naughty, but super adorable.

Over the past month that I have been living with them I have totally fallen in love with her. On my darkest of days, when the stresses of life slap me hard in the face, one little hug from her snaps me back to reality. I'm sure that's how all you moms out there feel. But since I'm not a mom yet, this is the next best thing. (if not better, since I can always give her back ;)

Today we took her to the Zoo, or as any of you other kids in grown up bodies know, that is code for...we actually took ourselves to the Zoo ;) We had such a great time too. The weather was just perfect.

Here are a few pics:

Someone is a little excited













I'm not listening to you, I'm not listening to you...













Showing Mr. Bear some lovin'













Loved the elephants!





















Quote of the day: "Remember when you thought boys had cooties...when friends were new, dreams were un-shattered and worries few...when recess was too short and life was too long...decisions came easily without need to belong...when storks delivered the babies and passions weren't so strong...friendships were un-broken...right was right, and wrong was wrong...when bad things didn't happen...when only skinned knees brought tears, and the night light in it's socket quieted all our fears...when farewell meant just for summer, and real friends didn't part...the fun went on forever and never left a broken heart."

Check That One Off My Bucket List

Last night was my Boyz II Men concert and let me tell you...they were AMAZING! I don't really even know how its possible, but I definitely love them even more now than I did before.

The concert was at this awesome venue called Birchmere Music Hall in Alexandria, VA. It was my first time there and I was totally impressed. Its a small, intimate place that holds maybe 300 people at most. You sit at tables and they serve you appetizers, dinner, drinks...anything you need to keep you happy while you wait.

Seating is first come first serve so the plan was to leave my place at 4pm, get there around 5pm when the doors opened, get good seats, and then just sit and have dinner til the show started at 7:30pm.

Well...lets just say it didn't quite work out that way.

DC traffic SUCKS!...enough said.

The 13 mile drive to VA took us over 2 hours and we got there almost right as the show was starting. As you can imagine I was beyond pissed. Luckily the second Shawn, Wanya, and Nathan came out on stage, the previous two hours from hell were erased from my mind and I had nothing but feelings of euphoric ecstasy. (Yeah, they are really that good, no lie)

They sang all my favorite songs and then some, handed out roses, serenaded a birthday girl, told jokes, had choreographed dances, and even called some dudes mom on his cell and sang a "Song For Mama" on the phone to her.


Omg you have no idea...I was so in love <3>

I waited the past 18 years to see them (they really started singing together way back in 1991, isn't that crazy)...but it was definitely well worth the wait!


Quote of the Day: "Back in school, we used to dream about this everyday. Could it really happen, or do dreams just fade away. Now everybody is singin' now, it's in this town, woo ooh. So we started a group and here we are...Kickin' it just for you" ~ Boyz II Men ~ Motown Philly

Craptastic!

This past week was absolutely gorgeous. I whipped out my shorts, tanks and flip flops and was really getting used to all the sun and summer-esque heat. Now, lately, for some stupid reason, good ol' Mother Nature decided we need some rain...and lots of it. Just checked the forecast and looks like there is no end in sight either. Awesome. Can pretty much chalk this weekend up as craptastic!

Tonight I'm going to the Nationals baseball game with some of my girlfriends...if the rain allows. The Nats suck hardcore and I honestly couldn't name a single player on their team if my life depended on it, but that's all really just trivial. Nobody cares about the actual game anyways... as long as I can see the players asses in those tight baseball pants, everything else is irrelevant.


Should be a fun time!


Quote of the day: "Baseball is a game where a curve is an optical illusion, a screwball can be a pitch or a person, stealing is legal and you can spit anywhere you like except in the umpire's eye or on the ball." ~Jim Murray

Hello SUN-day!

Dear Sun,

Welcome back! I am so so glad you are here. I was beginning to think cold had a permanent strong hold on you, but I guess I should have known better than to doubt whether you were coming back. These past few days I have spent reconnecting with you have been oh so glorious. My pale skin has been slightly smooched by your lips and I am loving it. I can't wait for all the fun times you and I are going to have this summer. I think its fair to say I love you sun!

With all my heart,
Robyn

____________________________________________________________________

Happy SUNday everyone! Really hope you all are enjoying the weather this weekend as much as I am. The thought of sitting inside on my computer when the sun is shining outside just about eats me alive so I'm going to speed things up and resort to a little bullet point action today.

Friday night I went to the Waterfront with some of my girlfriends. I have never been there before and quickly realized I have totally been missing out. Georgetown, water, boats, outdoor bars and restaurants, young people everywhere...love it. Definitely going back.

Saturday my bestie, her daughter and I went to College Park to stroll around Maryland Day. Its basically like a big carnival on campus where they set up fun stuff to do, see, and eat and anyone and everyone comes through to check it out. Such a perfect day for it too. For lunch we sat on our picnic blanket under a tree, relaxed and people watched. Doesn't get much better than that.

For the rest of the afternoon we went shopping. Spent too much money, but got some great new stuff for summer that made me smile (and that's all that matters). Couple pair of sunglasses, some adorable pink loafers, a Zack Morris posse t-shirt, and a fabulous sheer paisley print tank. Enough said!

Yesterday was the NFL draft and my boy Darius Heyward-Bey was taken by the Raiders as the 7th overall pick. I'm so excited for him...Terps represent!!

And today I'm just planning on going to church, then maybe cruising around downtown with some of my work friends, maybe catch a movie later. There is one called Obsession with Beyonce in it that I'm trying to see. Should be fun!

Quote of the day: "Count your blessings. Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the SUN will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move toward the life that God intended for you with grace, strength, courage, and confidence.” ~ Og Mandino

Get Your Bloomin' Arse Out of My Way!!

Saturday morning was the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in D.C., and for God knows what reason I thought that would be a great time to head down to the mall and check out the beautiful scenery.

Unfortunately, 2 million other people (literally) had the same idea. Ughh...Have I ever mentioned how much I hate tourists?

I pretty much live a stones throw away from the district and thus could've went to check out the cherry blossoms at ANY other time over the past couple weeks, but of course, my bestie and I so conveniently chose to go the same day as every other human being on the planet.

Awesome.

The Metro was a total cluster f***, I couldn't walk without running into someone, someone's child, someone's pet, or someone's stroller, we had to eat lunch on the window sill in the corner of the cafe in the Smithsonian because there were absolutely no seats to be had, and thanks to the hurricane-like winds I could barely even open my eyes long enough to see anything.

...but other than that...those darn cherry blossoms were pretty beautiful, I must admit.

Can you tell how much we loved the wind? That pic pretty much sums it up.

Quote of the day: "Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are." ~ Arthur Golden

Is the Weekend Over Already?

Friday night was suppose to be our much anticipated "Made in the 80's" Party and let me tell you, I had the most radical getup picked out. Here's a picture of my shoes, just to give you a little taste.

Unfortunately one too many people couldn't make it, for one reason or another, so rather than sitting around with our side ponies, singing Milli Vanilli, and eating ring pops by ourselves we decided to postpone the party to a more suitable weekend.

So the four of us, who could actually make it, decided to go out for a nice dinner instead. As a pre-birthday celebration for moi we went to Gordon Biersch, a brewery restaurant in downtown Rockville. I had never even heard of the place prior, but the food and drinks were awesome and the company and conversation was even better. The only complaint I could muster up is that our seats were much too far away from the TVs, so I couldn't see the basketball action the way I would have liked. Luckily Duke wasn't playing that night so it really didn't create too much anxiety for me

I had a delicious Raspberry Bay Breeze cocktail, Crab & Artichoke Dip appetizer to share, and Tuscan Chicken Pasta as my entree...Yuuuummy. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water all over again.

After a rather late night, according to my standards, I had to wake up bright and early Saturday morning (waaaay too bright and early if you ask me) for a day trip down to the National Harbor. A group of fellow photography enthusiasts were meeting up there to learn a little, laugh a little, and of course try to get a few nice shots. Here are a few that I took with my measly camera, that I'm now on a mission to replace with a nice Nikon or Canon. (A special thanks to my model Kara (aka my bestie) for her participation in a couple of them)



Hope you all had as good of a weekend as I did!



Quote of the day: “Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.” ~ Aaron Siskind

Girl's Night

A few days ago one of my amazingly fabulous girlfriends turned the big 2-4. Yeah I'm aware that 24 is not all that big, but who really cares? Any reason for us to get dressed up and go out, my girls and I are always down. So to celebrate her birthday we had a private booth reserved at McCormick and Schmick's on K Street in DC. And although my wallet protested, not attending would have went against everything I stand for, so I of course replied to the facebook e-vite to let everyone know "I wouldn't miss it!"

I took the Metro down by myself (boo!) and met everyone there around 7. Jenn came straight from work and Lex from seeing her man in NYC. So needless to say they had their luggage, backpacks, laptop bags, all in tow. Basically we looked like nomads....that or we were planning on moving in. Luckily the private, curtain concealed area they reserved for us to sit, hid it all rather well. So it really wasn't quite as embarrassing as it could have been.

Our waiter was absolutely hilarious. He was an actor in training (or at least he thought he was) and he kept us laughing the entire night. My girls ordered fried calamari, oysters on the half shell, Maryland lump crab cakes, shrimp alfredo ...and then of course there's me, being my normal picky self, I ordered a chicken ceasar salad. Yeah I know I'm so lame, but what can I say, a chicken ceasar salad is always a safe bet. Wouldn't wanna get too risky, you know :)

We talked about old friends, a dying fox, trips to Atlantic City, teaching English abroad, Disneyland, having sex in inappropriate places, and other random topics that are slipping my mind at the moment, for good reason.

After sharing every dessert known to man...including creme brulee, berry medley with grand marnier sauce, cheesecake, and a chocolate truffle marquise (listed out just to make your mouth water a little...yes, your welcome) talk then turned to going out afterwards. Being that it was already pushing 10 o'clock (eww not 10 o'clock! I know, just call me grandma) and I had to wake up early for work the next day I thought better of it and decided to just go home instead.

I got back, changed into my comfy clothes, washed my face, and hopped into bed. As low key as it was I had a great time and as I was laying quietly in my bed I couldn't help but think how thankful I am to have my friends....without them this whole being single thing...would totally suck sooo much more.


Quote of the day: "Lean on me, when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on. For it won't be long, 'til I'm going to need somebody to lean on."