Writing is a struggle against silence. ~Carlos Fuentes

I. Making a batch of PDQ (ie 24hr) pickles. They are a quickie version of absolutely nomtastic bread'n'butter pickles. My fave. I'll definitely finish them before I leave. I say again: Noms.

II. Got an email yesterday about a new exhibit coming up at the Met's Costume Institute: Schiaparelli and Prada, Impossible Conversations. And the cousins I was going to visit in LA are going to be here in DC by the time I get to their neck of the woods. Which proves that life happens when you're busy making other plans and there is never a "good" or a "right" time to do anything. Truth. In the immortal words of Nike: Just do it.

III. Joined the San Diego Museum of Art mailing list. Balboa Park is one of my favorite places in SD. My only quibble is that museums charge fees out there, but that just means I'm going to pick my outings carefully. And the park is worth a visit any time. Can't wait!

IV. Here's a deep, dark sekrit: ( Shhhhh... )

V. Friend of mine from college is coming over next week to help me move some things back to my folks' house and tell me what boxes he can store for me. I've emptied out my linen closet, thrown away a lot of the paper I've been trucking around- program from college crew dinner? GONE. Things are getting done. Feels really good. :)

1.) It's so weird- after years of trying to keep levels of stuff UP in my apartment, I'm now trying to get then DOWN. I use paper towels like they're going out of style, paper napkins, disposable cups, toilet paper. The expensive chocolate chips I've been hoarding since they went on sale, etc.

2.) Today's films are Midnight in Paris and Breaking Dawn. See what I did thur? :p

3.) Last night's happy hour went on a bit longer than planned. I wasn't hydrated and so my first drink turned into the only drink- an alcoholic slushy from Little Miss Whiskey's Gold Dollar on H St.- that I slurped down like there was no tomorrow. After, we went to Granville Moore's, which is known for mussels. Kinda expensive mussels, so instead we had some appetizers and fries. Then I crashed at a friend's place. We went to bed around 10pm, but I still didn't sleep well. Maybe it was the sleeping in a strange place or the couch in particular, but when my friend woke me up this morning I was already up. Got lost trying to get out of Northeast, but snapped some shots of DC in the morning, so it was a good tradeoff.

4.) One of the reasons I got lost, aside from my inability to perceive the cardinal directions using the sun overhead, is that I haven't updated the maps on the Garmin and, I suspect, the UK English setting didn't help either. I've noticed that the British English directions lack, well, directions. And they mispronounce the street names- JefFAIRson, PatTEARson, etc. It's deliberate, I tell you. DELIBERATE.

5.) PEEKCHURES! In order as I saw them:
( GOOOOOOOOOODMORNIN'VIET... whoops. )

1.) Got a super-nice response from my landlady- she emailed that I was a "pleasure" to have as a tenant and she wishes me luck. And that she thinks the walk-thru and damage inspection shouldn't be a problem. Yay. I was braced for crankiness because that's what I usually get so it was nice to get a warm fuzzy. More of that I say. :)

2.) So the next thing on my list is to get my camera. Getting a Nikon D5100, just have to decide on glass ('lenses' to everyone not Kev or Beth or Hema or me). (Henh.)

3.) Talked to my sister tonight and told her what was up. She was super-supportive. We hung out in Baltimore with two friends of hers, had beers at this great lil' pub and then dinner at a Poe-themed place called the Annabel Lee (I got the COOLEST pint glass- one more thing to drag to Cali. *lol*). James told me that for beer I'm going to MECCA, and Anne gave me a recipe for Hot Milk cake from a Maryland-themed cookbook. Making it tomorrow, probably! I still have a lot to learn about the state I've called home for so many years, but that's what happens. Right before you leave a place, things just open up and get interesting. *lol* Definitely going back before I leave.

4.) Saw this on Pinterest. Off to write fanfic. Or rather "sleep". Yes. That.