NO SLEEP TIL... Virgin Gorda?

For a house where everyone is supposed to be sleeping, there sure are a lot of unexplained middle of the night crashes here. Everytime I'm about to fall back asleep, there is another one, and even so I don't think I'd be able to sleep anyway. Just too much happening. It feels like everything is changing right now. People are leaving, I'm leaving actually! Virgin Gorda for a week for the Rolex Swan Caribbean; I was lucky enough to be invited to go along to do foredeck, and I could not be less excited. I've never been before (Puerto Rico doesn't count...), and honestly, getting out of town for awhile is exactly what I need at this point. Something that I've been dreading for at least six months has finally happened, and I'm just trying to figure out how to deal with it mentally. I'm feeling stronger about it now than a few days ago, but still not totally at ease, so focussing on mindless hard sailing for awhile sounds great. Also, I just got bangs to try to get my mind out of this mental rut too! I can already tell I won't be getting any trims other than to keep them at bay as they grow out (just too much work to keep bangs I think...) but it's fun for awhile, and it keeps my thoughts on my head, not in which is nice. Also, my phone has finallyyyy bitten the dust, so this is perfect timing! I won't even need it!

Where We'll be staying - Cannot Wait!

Cheese!

3 Months In

Officially March 1. New Years feels like yesterday, and it's things like this that make me believe that I am literally almost 30. And yes, I realize I'm 24, and some might say that is nowhere in the vicinity of a third decade, but literally, I will wake up one day and say "It feels like just yesterday I was 24," and it will feel just like this does. That's my justification for that argument, even though no one seems to accept it as fact but me, but it actually really does make sense!

Sunny has been so clingy lately! This was her last night, in between my knees where she refused to move for 20 mins. She never goes up to the third floor unless she's feeling needy, and then she just sits and stares, just willing me to understand her. I never do, but pet her anyway, and here she is in all her silent glory. It's a little unnerving actually, she's so intense when she wants something. I almost wish she'd bark; it would lighten the mood.

Also, Stubbs has my favorite shoes ever back in stock. I actually never realized they were narrow until I saw them on the site again, and now I get why they've been pretty much impossible to break in. I wear a B width, so AA is actually two sizes too narrow. For some reason I always thought I just had huge feet when it cames to Stubbs, so this is very reassuring. Also, I hate to say it, but they've (accidentally) turned into my rain shoes as of late (just horrible serendipity when it comes to not checking the weather and getting dressed in some of my favorite shoes simultaneously), so they're looking a little like the roof of a wet tiki bar woven into some truly lovely footwear, and I wish there were some way to fix this!

In all their unstained glory

Finally, see Argo! Ben Affleck has been a favorite actor ever since Shakespeare In Love, and I honestly thought I'd be bored out of my skull, but I actually stayed relatively transfixed the entire time! And that never happens, unless it's some sort of Pixar, so this is saying a lottt! Also, John Goodman is back, so another county heard from (when was the last time he was in a movie?) and another reason to see it!

Mom Dance

Any sort of politics aside, #GIRLSGOTMOVES! And I don't use hashtags lightly #atall, but this made my day. She dougies better than most people my age!

FOODDDDD

Not gonna lie, have spent the past hour on foodgawker. I have no idea why I put myself through this, but it's been my vice for about the past 5 years. Also just started using the Livestrong calorie counter app just for kicks and a little bit of self deprecation on the side, so decided to skip dinner since I ate about a ten egg Greek omelet (with maple syrup, anddd ketchup... I know, gross but I love it, and it doesn't happen that often anymore. It used to be daily. Don't ask how I ever got it under 110 in college it was clearly not on purpose!). Anyway, if I were going to eat after my massive brunch (did I mention with bacon? Also, major problem) this looks delicious. I love making cakes with yogurt and gluten free flour, and about half the suggested sugar, and this would hit the spot right now. Sighh. Going to bed early now seems like my only option at this point

                                   Find the recipe here

Manatee Lovin

             Adopt a manatee today! Wayy better than buying roses

Pilot Clutch

Big Sister

Baby sister of the much adored Pilot by Rag & Bone, the Pilot Clutch is bound to become an it bag I believe. Now may someone pretty please buy it for me? It comes in either solids, or perforated leather. As if it matters, but even if it did, I have no idea which I'd go with. Badass

Little Sisters

Edgier Black Sheep Sister

Back to reality: I just splurged on the Kate Spade Kensington Dunn (no longer available on their site) from the last chance sale. It was just too good a price to ignore, and with a promo code... it was dirt cheap. Also, am and always will be a sucker for a bag with 14k gold plated hardware. Cheesy I know, but it feels substantial. It's very business-y, but am ever on the quest to look like a serious business woman, not the girl with the collection of dirt stained (but still beautiful!) Tory Burch totes who managed to finagle her way into an office building

Big Girl Bag - Literally, it's huge

Surprise! Your Bank Account is Empty

Could not resist this sale. While the options were tough, I bit the bullet and bought the South Kensington Dunn as an investment in my work attire. Cannot wait for this package to arrive! I admit it, I still have a hard time visualizing Kate Spade as something other than the brand I'd always see growing up lounging on the shelves of T.J. Maxx in all their canvas mismatched stripey glory, but I really do think they've made a turn-around. I thought this bag was chic enough to carry around, but sturdy enough to hold all my papers and iPad and definitely edgy enough for me. Check out the Kate Spade Surprise Sale here before it's over! I had a promo code, so my bag was a cool $100 (off $528!)

Your Point?

Had to share. After last night's Super Bowl power outage debacle, really though, if you think about it what is the big deal? I actually have gone to one lowly game at the Dome, and there was a point even then for about 10 seconds where the power was out. It was terrifying. Also, the dorm, my house; neither was exactly stellar at keeping the current going. So there you have it folks. You can pretty much play 20 questions in that city, and no matter what you pick, chances are it will black out at some point.

What I've Been Up To...

The past few weeks, keeping track of what kind of trouble I've been getting into has definitely not been a priority. First of all, clearly, Ravens won the Super Bowl yesterday, and while I was incredibly jealous of all my friends still down in the Nola and those who made the trip also, it was still pretty exciting here in Naptown. Even though I may or may not be a Skins fan. Or Cowboys. Or Saints... ok anyway, I'll always be a Flacco fan. Also, I just got back from Key West for Race Week! It always feels so so good to get back to where the people are sketchy and the swamps are smelly... something about going that far South always makes me feel so so happy with the world. It's not even the warm weather, honestly I'd be totally cool with it if it were 100 and muggy. Everything just feels better to me. So... that was great! Also currently trying to figure out where I'm going with real estate, and evaluating a few other life goals as well, so it's definitely a time to ponder/aka keep my head on straight/aka nose clean. But that's gross. And a given, so more referencing head I guess. So the past few weeks in review:

Who are those terribly adorable kittens, and what are they doing at Nantucket Race Week?  (New fave app and time waster - Cat Wang)

                 The Fireball crew sent us out to get beer. Whoops

 New meaning was given to my favorite sign. I wish I had pics of the manatee kisses

Had to take the picture without the candles lit (my poor phone can't take this kind of stress anymore) but finally got around the making the clementine candles with canola oil, only I used oranges and floated them in a bowl with flowers. Put one in the pool first, but pretty quickly turned into a bad idea

The graphics on the Chessie Racing Invincible I was on when I wanted to go out and watch the races/aka fish. I like to call it the Chessie Racing Fishing Syndicate. It's all very professional

Chessie cruising out of the harbor one day without me. It was a little bit of a relief to finally get this sight, they did not mess around when they went out for the day. Fishing was the main agenda, and at one point the closest city on the GPS was Havana by 25 miles. Definitely went hard that day

                       Me being professional. And sunburned

Lady lovahs

Sad to walk to leave the Southwest gate... but luckily it was a long hike to the plane so there was time to mourn. Funny story: about 25% of the people on the plane were from Annap, but we were all spread out from different boarding groups. My friend Wilson got on first, and I overheard him responding to the requisite "where are you from?" question with "I'm from Annapolis." I piped up "me too," and the guy a few places back was like "me too," and about five people after that all over the plane yelled it out as well. It was a good moment

They Put a RING On It

I have no idea how many Natty Boh's I've consumed today, but I do know that about 3 weeks ago, I had a #5 Flacco jersey in the Good Will pile, and it was literally about to go out the door. Suddenly, there was a certain playoff game, and I had to rescue the jersey ASAP. And well worth it of course. So hometown pride is kicking in hard right now, and today was an amazing day for a multitude of reasons. But for the most easily explainable, WOOT WOOT RAYYYYVENSSSSSS!!!!!!