A few pictures from Miami...

Went for a little jog one evening - took a breather for some shots...this is on the little bridge that goes over to Key Biscayne.

Same bridge, different direction.

Art festival fun with some fabulous co-workers. Made my weekend :)

The art I wanted to buy.

Seriously, how cool would this be in a hallway or front porch? Lonely at home? Someone to talk to....kidding. I loved this though.

Insomnia....

Dear Insomnia,

Well hello old friend. I see you have decided to visit me in Miami - I am happy to say that I had a vacation from you for the first 2 weeks here and it was quite grand. I even managed to fall asleep before 10pm on many occasions. Did you feel left out? Were you jealous that sleep was winning me over and that you could no longer keep me company well into the wee hours of the morning?

I admit that we have had some pretty interesting times, Insomnia. So many nights where you provided an unwanted comfort. How to fill the quiet hours of the night? The time when everyone else is sleeping all around you...including the dog who takes up at least 3/4 of the bed....

Oh Insomnia, let's read for a bit or listen to some music on Pandora. But remember, no new stations allowed because every new song will spark an interest in my sleepless brain in curiosity of this amazing string of notes floating in through my ears. Or maybe we should stream a movie on netflix...but again, remember not to watch "The Dark Crystal" at 1am. That initial excitement at reliving a movie from childhood quickly turned to a realization that this is one twisted movie. Who are these weird bird creatures and what was Jim Henson on when he thought up this plot? So Insomnia, please remind me to stick to cartoons, romantic comedies, or Lord of the Rings when you come to keep me company.

We have spent a lot of time together, you and I. But maybe one of these days, we'll get better at figuring out our relationship and we won't have to see each other as often...

But until that day, my dear Insomnia, here's to another sleepless night and a weary morning. I hope you grace another's mind tonight.

In fond remembrance of me,

Lucy

Cheer up Buttercup

Utterly exhausted from today and needing something to take my mind of the mundane...good thing Toy Story 3 ended up in my bag :)

To infinity...and beyond!

Feng Shui

Remember that creepy icky feeling I got when I arrived in Miami? That one where you just don't feel right where you are staying....well that was the first apartment I stayed in - the one with the hallway that smelled like a combination of kitty litter and chemical toilet cleaner. Anyways, since I got this place through Marriott, I asked if I could switch locations to another apartment that is closer to the shopping area, restaurants, and bars. And mind you...this new apartment is a whole 5 blocks away from the first one :) They could not move me until yesterday, the 28th, but I jumped on the chance. Now, I hate moving...but it seems to be something I've gotten very good at because I've done it so often over the last few years. I was amazed at how little time it took me to throw all my clothes (neatly, of course) back into my bags and haul it all to my rental car. Got a little arm workout in the process too - I think I overpack. After work yesterday, all I wanted to do was get to my new apartment...would it be worth the change? Fun? Clean? Not-smelly? Pool? Gym? Will I feel safe? These were all the thoughts going through my head as I sat in a half an hour of lovely traffic - of course the worst traffic I have encountered on my drive home since I arrived here. I finally got to the apartment around 5pm and dashed into the lobby to pick up my keys. It smelled like permanent marker, still pungent but definitely an improvement over something designed to cover up cat poop. I got myself into the parking garage and was so excited to go see my new place I could hardly contain myself. Is it sad that I get this excited about a place I will be staying for exactly 12 days? Maybe. 8th floor room - not bad I thought. I stepped off the elevator and felt like I turned 15 corners before I reached my room. Yes yes, over-exaggeration but I turned one corner and saw the longest hallway I've even encountered - I was almost expecting the scary twins from The Shining to turn the corner and ask me to come play with them - it was that creepily long, however, it was well-lit so I managed the make the long walk to my room. And, I now understand why Marriott Execustay can get these apartments in nice buildings...every room is by the elevators, but hey, I'll take it. I walked into my room and felt like I could breathe a breath of fresh air. The overall feeling in the apartment was a hundred times better than my other place. It was bright, cheery, balcony overlooking the yes, working pool and gym. Sigh....There are two bedrooms, however, the second bedroom is completely empty. A little strange but it might turn into my dance party room...who wants to join? I quicky unpacked my bags, threw on my gym clothes and went for a nice long workout to get rid of the other stresses of the day. Then took a walk down to the grocery story, which is a whole block and a half away and I was just so happy. Sauntering by restaurants with outdoor seating, people sipping wine and drinking beer, eating delicious appetizers - yes, I was jealous. But, I was just happy that they were happy and enjoying their evenings. Well, this may be a ridiculous thing to write about but I do believe it's true that there is a 'feel' in a living location...I have also decided that I just do not like apartments. Thank goodness I am moving into a house when I get back to D.C. Feng shui my life.

Burn to the Sun

Oh yes, that's right. I am sunburned. Oops. This one was a sneaky little sunburn...

But basically, all this sunburn means is that I got to spend a few glorious hours at the beach frying myself to a crisp. And don't worry Mom...I was wearing sunscreen - 30 on my face and 15 everywhere else :) However, I got a new sunscreen for my face that came on a stick...I thought it would be awesome, didn't need to get all the gooey stuff all over my fingies. Wrong. I forgot to put sunscreen on my eyelids and somehow missed right under my hairline on my forehead. So when I went to dinner tonight, I thought I just looked sunkissed. An hour later, I went to the restroom to freshen up, and lo and behold the woman staring back at me in the mirror was wearing red eyeshadow....how bold! It's only gotten worse over the course of the evening but I'm hoping my skin will bounce back like it normally does and be red for a few hours or so and then turn into its nice golden brown afterwards. Lesson of the weekend though, if tanning during the hours of 11am-2pm, make sure to re-apply.

On another note, I think my Vitamin D therapy is kicking in. There's something to be said about the way sunshine affects my well-being. While it's not totally up to par yet, the sun is definitely helping.

Movie Quality....

Guillermo: Finished my hw, time to rage for the weekend.

Me: Would you like a gold star?

Guillermo: Yes.

Me: How about a punch in the face instead?

Guillermo: hahahahah is that from a movie?

Me: No

Guillermo: Well it's movie quality.

(For the purposes of this post, names have been changed. I don't really know anybody named Guillermo).

Notes on a blog...

While I was at the art festival on Saturday - I had some ideas spring into my head throughout the day. To ensure I did not forget them, I wrote a quick note on my phone...a few days later, I remembered I had done this and here's what I had written:

"Margs at fest...Band playing "Love Machine" song that reminds me of the Heavyweights movie...Gigs"

I don't know how I come up with these things sometimes, but the fact that I wrote 'gigs' honestly just makes me giggle. (I have a tendency to shorten words for no apparent reason other than it makes me laugh).

But, the above statement that may not make sense in short form actually means this:

I am drinking margaritas at the art festival. I got the topper shot in my margarita which is basically the long tube shot filled with tequila and placed into the frozen margarita. It provides an extra little zing. Standing in the afternoon sun and drinking a margarita with coworkers who I do not know very well but with whom I have had a fantastic afternoon. The band is playing oldies but goodies and everybody is having a great time dancing - especially the old couple in front of us. The woman is a little portly, is wearing a black tank top (too small) and black pants and has a belly dancing wrap with gold coins hanging off of it. She was very fluid with her hip movement. And next to her was her husband...hawaiian shirt, jorts (jean shorts), tevas, a visor, and oh yes, a fanny pack. While his wife is in her own world smoking a cigar and twirling her hips, the husband is having way too much fun with his pelvic thrusts.

Then, "Love Machine" starts playing and all I can think of is the movie "Heavyweights". Such a great movie about fat camp - the awkward dance scene that turns into a blast when this song comes on. The counselor in the movie dancing like a maniac and getting all of the other kids into the music. Ahhhh those were the days - that movie was so great when I was a kid....actually, it is still.

The fact that one song could make me think of one movie is what led to the giggles, hence, the gigs. And this turned into my favorite day up to that point in Miami. Standing on the lawn of a festival, a little sun-kissed with burnt shoulders, and a tasty margarita by my side...followed by appetizers and wine with the girls where the truth really starts pouring out. Fluid days like that are the best. No worry about making sure you look good after being outside for the past 10 hours...who cares? When you are having fun it really shouldn't matter how you look. I think I need to do this more often....I think Miami has been good for me.

Disney

I am listening to the Glee Pandora station this morning and "A Whole New World" from Aladdin came on...it made me want to get up from my desk, drive home, and watch one Disney film after the other until I ran out. Too bad all my DVDs are home....sigh...

...and in the back of my mind....

Do you ever wander around a public place full of strange and interesting people and truly think about the situation? You are all here for a similar reason yet, there's a good probability that the things going through your respective heads are so off-kilter that it would seem the only thing you have in common is the place you are standing. These are the kinds of things going through my head when I venture out to a new place. Say, for example, this weekend. I went to the Coconut Grove Art Festival down here in sunny Miami. I met up with some coworkers and ended up having a great time - festivals have this aura about them....the wafting smell of sunscreen, cigarettes, funnel cake and beer. How's that for a combination? The art at this festival was pretty impressive. A lot of it was generic but there were some stand-outs including There was some really interesting art at this festival including some African art that I would have bought in a second if I did not live on a government salary. I'll try to post a picture of it once I figure out how to post pictures.... But I digress, I need to get back to my original idea of people in public places. I was having one of those contemplative days where I look at people and just wonder what they are thinking about. What does this person think of this same piece of art I just stared at for 5 minutes? Do the sharp blues hit them in the same manner? Are they starting at this piece of art thinking about something completely different? There was one artist who used prarie grass as his medium - it was simply beautiful. The colored grass made me think of grassy (not to be misread gassy...) experiences in my life....such as rolling down a hill and getting grass stains on your knees, playing soccer, picking flowers, swimming in a lake and having lake grass tickle my feet and scare the crap out of me, driving across country and being mesmerized by the sea of prarie grass flowing in the wind. Oh what I wouldn't give to be able to jump out of my car and just run, run as fast as I could amongst the strands silently swaying a song of the ages. Memories trigger in an instant and I am constantly amazed at the route they travel... All of these thoughts are brought back to reality by the crepe and nutella stand. I continued on my day, listening to music, looking at art, having a few drinks, and trying to understand the reason that I am right here, right now....

Weeeeekeeeenddd

It's a three-day weekend....don't tell anybody, but I secretly planned my Miami detail around this holiday so I'd have a nice little three-day weekend in the middle of my trip. shhhh. I had planned to take a trip down to Key West but somehow forgot that this is peak season in Florida. Spring breakers yada yada yada, hiking up the hotel rates and ruining my weekend. It didn't cross my mind seeing as though I had been in the middle of winter up in DC. I may still try to make it to the Keys one of the upcoming weekends depending on hotel availability. I want to do a Hemingway tour (so basically drink and write in all the bars he frequented). Sounds fun, no? Who wants to join me? So, seeing as though my plans changed for this weekend...I've had to find some other things with which to occupy my time. There is an Art Festival going on in Coconut Grove that I have heard wonderful things about. I don't really know what I'm in for but art festivals are usually pretty entertaining - food, art, you get the picture....(get it?) Sunday and Monday will probably see me at the beach - the place I have been dying to get to since I arrived in Miami. Work has just gotten in the way....But don't worry, I brought my sunscreen and will do my best not to fry myself the first weekend. I am not even sure if my skin knows what sun is anymore...this is the most pale I've ever been in my entire life and that needs to change SOON. All in all, I'm hoping this weekend will be relaxing. Sleep (sleeeeeepppppp), gym, sun, festivals, beach, naps, music, beers, books, awesomeness, and if I'm really good....maybe even make some new friends!