ever have one of those days? mine started yesterday. normal errands to run... easy, right? notsomuch.
after work, i headed out to burke to pick up my dry cleaning. i get there and they can't find it all. the girl comes back with 3 of my things and says, "the others are being treated.."
i look at her like, "#($*%" "well.. there was a spotting issue," she says. "spotting?" i ask. "they were fine when i brought them in??"
now, i've had some terrible luck with drycleaners in the past. one in harrisonburg used some crazy chemical on 2 of my sweaters that left bleach marks and holes in them! holes! they weren't even paid for and i had to throw them away.
ever since then, i've had serious issues with dry cleaning. so much so, that when i found this one in burke, that did a reasonably swell job with a 24-hour turnaround, i stuck with it. i could live in maryland and i'd still go to this drycleaner.
ok.. so back to my story. the spotting thing.they tell me, "you can go ahead and take these items. the rest will be ready tomorrow after 5."
that means i get to make ANOTHER trip out to burke. another night of sitting around, waiting on traffic to die down just so i can drive 11 miles and not have it take an hour. fine.
then - with the company of my rad roomie, i decide to go to ulta [awesome girly store, makeup, hair stuff, etc.] i was in search of the chi curling iron, 1 1/2 inch. i used rita's last weekend and decided my life was incomplete without this hair appliance in it.
except..we get there and the chi curling irons are MIA. we ask a lady and she says, "let me check, everything has been moved around..."
she comes back only to tell me, "we're all sold out."
i learn the next shipment will be in on friday. friday?! i'm going out of town friday and i wanted the chi before then... you know.. to take it with me.
so i ask her to call the other fairfax location to see if they have one..just when i get my hopes up, nope. they're sold out too.
WTF. when did the big chi curling iron become so effing popular?
to end the night on a better note, i made the executive decision to take my roomie to barnes & noble. i got us chocolate chip frappuccinos and some good chic lit for myself. sigh.
cut to today. i head back to burke. luckily, none of my clothes had bleach marks OR holes in them. success. maybe things are looking up?
i then drive over to target. just to look around. [deonna-i might be turning into you.] nothing caught my fancy so i decided to hit up the mall. oops.. gas light comes on. stop at the exxon in fair lakes.
so the $3.00/gallon gas is pumping really slow. i decide i won't fill up all the way.... but i will get a car wash. the downside of having a black car is all the pollen. wash one day and see the magical green dusting cover your car overnight.
so i get my receipt and pull around to the carwash. there are 2 cars in front of me and 2 behind me. i call my dad, like i usually do when i'm out running errands. i happen to look down at the receipt and it says...
"Your car wash code is"
**End of receipt**
It cut off my number! and i'm stuck between 4 cars! what do i do? after pushing the "help" button by the carwash, and unsuccessfully getting any help, i drive through the bay when it would have been my turn (i bet the folks behind me thought i was nuts) and drove back up to the front of the convenience store. run in, dude prints me a new receipt with my oh-so-secretive car wash code.so i drive back around to get in line. yep. i'm back behind 2 cars again. all in all, i was at the exxon station for about 35-40 minutes.
when i got home, i was a) surprised my roommate hadn't called yet, but b) glad to learn she was going to call if i wasn't home by 10. that was comforting.
i am going out on a limb here, but i think my bad luck has ended.
some highlights of my day: a) i did find the chi at a salon in tysons. so take that ulta, and your friday shipment. (and it was cheaper there too!) b) tori & dean: inn love came on tonight and i really dig that show. c) i learned my very favorite chay lee is going to be in harrisonburg this weekend. that's the best news i've heard since leaving tv3.
so i guess my point here is... i hate traffic and the entire dry cleaning industry i have a weird thing for curling irons and i'm indefinitely ready for the lake.
Mani Gone Wild... Mani Does Dallas...and other inappropriate blog titles...
Warning - This blog entry is dedicated solely to The Manicure. Males might have a hard time relating, unless they have ever gotten a bad haircut....
-- BEGIN SCENE -- My roommate flew to Cleveland yesterday - she is in a wedding this Saturday - so that leaves me at our apartment ... alone... for several days.
Last night, I passed the evening with a long happy hour with some friends - 2 Bud Lights and a yager bomb and I was a happy little lamb.
Tonight, I decided to treat myself to a manicure / pedicure. Those who know me well can tell you I rarely get manicures. First of all, I'm a chronic nail-biter, so there usually isn't anything on my hands to manicure. But many, many weeks ago, I decided to stop biting my nails. I was going to let them grow out. And I did. And they grew, and grew, and grew. So long that they were getting in my way when I typed.
So before going to visit my boo this weekend, I thought, "I'll get my nails shaped and they'll look so good!" The place that I've been going to does a great job with pedicures.. so why should I expect less from my mani?
So I get there around 6:45 or so... Pick out my pedi color - this always takes me forever. It's like picking a mate. I'm stuck with this color for the next 2.. 3.. however many weeks. That spells c-o-m-m-i-t-m-e-n-t. They rub my feet, paint my toes, yada yada. Then it's time for my mani. I tell her I want more of a square-shaped nail... I hate the full on round shape on my hands... it is simply not flattering when you have skinny fingers like me (the only part of me that I can genuinely call skinny..)
So she starts filing away. And I notice my left pinky nail is not filed evenly across. It's filed like a steep hill... one that you stalled out on the first time you drove a stick. I ignore it and think to myself, "I can fix that when I get home." She proceeds to file the other nails, and slaps a clear coat on them. Then I'm off to the nail dryer for 6 minutes.
Once at the nail dryer, I realize I have smudged the polish on my left thumbnail. (Please feel free to stop reading if you are yawning.) Again, I think to myself, "I can fix that when I get home." My other nails, minus the left pinky/steep hill, look good, so I'm pleased.
When I get in my car, just after 8 p.m., I realize all my nails are just filed weird. Not smooth, some with really sharp edges on the corner and that just means they will snag everything they touch. I proceed home and think, "I ..... can .... fix that..."
So here I sit at 9:28 p.m., in my uber quiet apartment, with freshly painted nails - this time from myself.. As I got home, and realized my nails were filed so poorly that I'd have to basically file them all off and start over. So the growing process begins again. Dateforthemoment - Don't worry, I have enough nails for some back scratching. But I wish you could have seen my nails pre-poor filing job.
The one thing I have to look forward to tonight (now that I've spent my evening redoing the mani that I paid good money for) is The Hills.... My new favorite obsession on MTV. If you haven't seen it, I recommend at least watching one episode - 10/9 CST. Let me know what you think.
Things I wanted to hear while driving during a flash-flood warning:
- how the traffic was on my current path (I66-East) - why there are fire vehicles whizzing by (accidents?) - new construction patterns - a heads up would have been nice
Things I didn't like hearing while driving during a flash-flood warning:
- "If you don't have to be out on the roads, driving, walking, PLEASE stay inside." - (radio reporter in the District) - "I'm lucky because I know the roads, but there are cars stopped everywhere since visibility is so limited." - "Route 28 to Dulles is blocked by standing water... if you're flying out tonight or picking someone up, please use the access road." - "Fairfax City, Fairfax County, and your house in particular, Ms. Dovel, are all under a flash-flood warning until 11:30 p.m."
With a little bit of luck and some help from the Man upstairs, I made it home safely tonight. I have officially decided I will work from home tomorrow, as Mondays are the best day to do that.
I spent this weekend with my roommate and friends at Lake Anna... I don't know the specifics, but this lake has something to do with the nuclear facility located nearby -- the water is always warm (even at 4 a.m.) and the fish have 3 eyes. Just kidding about that last part.
Anyhow, Rita, Denise and I got to the lake Friday night. Our friend Kat invited us as her parents rented a 6-bedroom house for a week...so we had Mom & Pop, Kat, two brothers, sister-in-law, James & Killian (dogs), and lots of girls. We started the night by making smores outside by the firepit, followed by one of our traditional game nights. We played the highly competitive game of "Wise and Otherwise." The jist -- there are cards with ancient sayings on them. Someone reads the first part, and then everyone else has to fill in the phrase. The goal is to trick everyone else into thinking your phrase is actually the right one. This game is bizarre and I officially suck at it. Evidenced by me filling in a Swahili saying "When a squirrel is pulled from the water..."
I wrote, "An angel gets its wings."
Everyone got a good laugh out of that one, and referenced it while talking to me for the rest of the trip. (I did make the statement that I wanted to make people laugh, not to win. Done.) Around 4 a.m., as previously mentioned, the water was very warm so we decided to go swimming. It was pretty dark - not a ton of lights around the lake. Eventually, the air was so cold above the water that we decided it was time for bed.
Woke up Saturday a.m., it was freezing in the room that Nise, Rita & I were sharing. After a quick shower (wanted to at least wash my hair from swimming the night before) we all headed down to the water. Soon came my first (of many) adventure(s) on a jet-ski -- I was the passenger with Kat, who I thought was driving very fast. I was holding on to the handles so tight that I got a blister. Then a little later, I took one of the jet skis out with Rita, and eventually by myself. Kat's brother (aka Naked Shaver -- a story for another time) taught me how to do a sweet 180 and I unofficially decided that I will purchase a jetski when I'm older and can afford one.
Lunch and dinner passed, consisting of chicken kabobs and pizza, with margarita drinking and lots of story telling. Then we had game night #2 followed by a round of smores.
We drove back this morning, and made a quick stop at Cracker Barrel (one of my faves). The rest of the day will consist of laundry folding and SATC. Hope you've all had a great weekend as well! :)
Things omitted from this story but not on purpose: *I accidentally threw Rita off the jet ski at one point and proceed to speed off. *I am viciously sunburned. *I will never travel without my white hoodie again. *Aerobeds are the best invention ever.
Anyone who grew up when and where I did has heard of Tanya Tucker. What you might not have heard of is her reality tv show that appears on TLC called - Tuckerville. I've yet to figure out if this is an actual place (due to a roadsign shown in the show open that says "Tuckerville" with a population number. Regardless, in this land of Tucker stands a huge mansion, 3 kids, along with dogs, goats, and ponies - big and small. This show has become my not so secret guilty pleasure, as I added it to my Tivo list months ago, and have somehow gotten my roommate hooked to where she'll watch it even when I'm gone.
If you'd like more info on the show before tuning in, visit http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/tuckerville/about.html. Or you can just watch it on Saturday starting at 10 p.m. EST. It's truly great. An old-school country girl (or woman) that carries Louis Vuitton bags bigger than most dogs AND rocks the fanny pack at her local Wal-Mart. It just doesn't get any better than that.
Heading up to Annapolis this weekend for a maritime festival. So we'll head to Envy Isle - where all the rich folk dock their boats. Eat lots of seafood hopefully and drink some - well, drinks. I'd like to catch a movie this weekend as well but I'm not sure if that's gonna happen. United 93's out but I think that's going to pretty much consume my head for the day(s) after I view it. Read some reviews and seen many documentaries on the subject.... but you can never really be prepared for that.
Maybe I'll just veg out with some SATC or Match Point. Gotta love those cheatin' Brits!
Anyway--probably won't be updating anytime soon. Luckily I don't have my page sponsored by Mountain View Dental Team or other equally lame business.
Have a great weekend!!! Happy Seis & Siete de Mayo!
