I want that to be me someday.

I mean, really.

Karaoke: The Proof

This photo is completely unflattering. However...

...it proves a few things:
1. I was on the stage.
2. My body was moving. Remember, there was choreography involved.
3. My mouth was moving.

Things it does not prove:
1. That any sound was coming out of my mouth.
2. That anyone could hear me. Notice how there were only two microphones and I just happened to be the one that didn't get one?

I love this photo for a lot of reasons, but primarly because of the look on my face.

It's clear that I am the only one not under the influence of alcohol and am (oh so) very aware of what we had just done on stage.

Oh, and it's also clear that I'm judging people. At that very moment.

"whoa!"

So there I was, holding my nearly two year old nephew as we were standing in line for a delicious Paseo's sandwich (first of the summer!). He was touching my glasses, touching my necklace, when all of the sudden he grabbed the top of my shirt, pulled it out and peered down it.

That's awkward to have your little nephew giving The Ladies a once over.
But it gets better.

Not only was he peering down my shirt, but he then said in the cutest, two year old voice, "whoa!".

Huh.

Elbow Grease

What I learned tonight:
The time and energy you save is totally worth whatever it costs to get your car washed by someone else.

No, really. It's unlikely I will ever wash my car by hand again.

My car has been covered in sap for two months. Okay, probably more like three or four. [I have to park on the street. And now I know why the spot under the jumbo tree is always available.] But I just haven't been able to muster up the motivation to figure out how to get rid of it.

Tonight was the night.

My roommate, TheNewKid, told me rubbing alcohol would do the trick. So off I went with my iPod, a bottle of rubbing alcohol and rag, ready to tackle the project I'd been procrastinating for so long.

Yeah, it was about as fun as you'd imagine it would be. The only thing that could have made it worse was if I had been on my hands and knees and scrubbing with a toothbrush was somehow involved. By the end I was so tired of it I was practically dumping the rubbing alcohol directly onto the car.

But it wasn't over. I still needed to wash it. I had already been out there for over an hour and it was getting dark so it's safe to say I just wasn't into it. 

The best part? The residue left by the rubbing alochol/sap combo isn't easily washed away. Awesome. I'm pretty sure the car looks worse than it did before.

Lesson learned.

Sweet Caroline

There are just so many things I could say about today.

• It was the day of our summer company party and I wasn't allowed to sit at my desk or turn on my computer. Apparently I'm addicted to my email because not checking it was very hard.
• We had the presentation portion of the party at the Showbox at the market.

• There was Plinko involved.
• There was an actor with a very bad wig that hosted Plinko.
• We talked about a lot of the work being done out of our office, including the strategy around distribution for this piece of content. Kind of awesome.

• Walking through the office the other day, I saw a cardboard cut-out of Edward Cullen. I thought it was weird, but wasn't totally surprised. Today during a presentation they showed a close-up of it and not only is it a life size Edward Cullen, but he has a conversation bubble taped to his face that says, "Bella is a b!@*h, Joanna. You're the one I love." Obviously, I found this hilarious.
• During one of the presentations there was also a picture of Justin Beiber (it worked somehow), which reminded me of another favorite M&D story from last night.

       M: Why are they selling Justin Beiber t-shirts right now? Is he from Vancouver or something?
       D: He doesn't have to be from Vancouver. The whole country has Beiber Fever.

• After our gathering with the entire Seattle office, we broke off into departments for the rest of the afternoon. My department chose to go to bar in Queen Anne. TO SING KARAOKE.
• Karaoke was mandatory. Of course my first time singing karaoke would be in front of all my co-workers. Of course.
• Sometimes you wish you were drunk. This was one of those times. 
• Sweet Caroline, in case you were wondering.
• I had to turn around and shake my butt during the ba-ba-ba's. Choreography was part of the judging criteria. Oh, didn't I mention there was judging? There was.
• We came in 2nd place (out of 8).

That was only Thursday. I'm a little nervous of what Friday will bring.

The Boys Are [Back] in Town

I love Seattle summer nights.
I love them even more when they are spent at the ballpark.

(Am I legit enough to use the term "ballpark"?)

I love them EVEN MORE when they are spent at the ballpark with awesome people.

M & D are in town from Chicago. 

I met them on my first Cayamo cruise. We had tickets seated next to each other for our nightly headlining show. It was in the cards for us to meet each other. They were a highlight of the trip.

Meet M.

Meet D.

We reconnected last year on my second Cayamo cruise. Again, they were a highlight of the trip. (Mexi-faux, anyone?)

So of course I was thrilled when I heard they would be in Seattle for a visit. If you spent even five minutes with them you would be laughing. Some of my favorite moments of the night:

D: "It's really annoying when you post pictures on Facebook because your friends are so good looking. Mormon boys are hot!"

M and I explaining the difference between a Mr. Misty and a Misty Freeze. We're from the mid-west and our love for Dairy Queen runs deep.

Me: "I'm being forced to sing karaoke with my co-workers tomorrow."

D: "I know that I'm here so we can just talk about it, but I'm really looking forward to those FB status updates."

Me: I want to steal that baby. It's just so cute.
M: I wanted to order a baby in Target the other day.

Random Girl: "Free passes to Dream Girls!"

D: Really, I think we're good.

Their White Sox lost, but I'd still call the evening a success.

I'm looking forward to the next four days!

One More Thing...

...my house smells like fish.

Not just the kitchen, but THE HOUSE.
My bedroom.
Everywhere.

Do you know me at all?

Right. So then you know how crazy this is making me.

Best Moment of the Day

Maybe this story is strange to write about, but I loved it. So here it is.

I have been thinking of my parents a lot lately and realized yesterday it had been a long time since I had talked to them. So, thinking my Dad was out of town working, I gave my Mom a call on my way to work. (Sometimes the three hour time difference works in my favor instead of against me.)

No answer. Left a voicemail.

Skip three hours ahead to me sitting in a meeting. I see a gmail notification pop up on my screen and find an email from my Mom just checking in and providing a quick update.

That was nice, I thought. Maybe she just wanted to send me the update now isntead of waiting to talk after work.

Jump to seven minutes after that when another email comes through. Again from my Mom, but this time she said that she got home and sat down to write me the email telling me she was thinking of me. After hitting send, she noticed she had a voicemail. A voicemail from me telling her I was thinking of her.

Kind of adorable, right?

I thought so too.

The Good and The Bad

The Good: Calling a friend on the way home from work and chatting for an hour and a half in the driveway. So much to talk about!

The Bad: Realizing when you open your car door 1.5 hours later that your headlights had been on the whole time. Knowing what will happen, you put your keys in the ignition and turn. click.

The Good: Friends that will come over and roll your car down the driveway to give it a jump.

The Bad: Having them tell you that you should really get a new battery.

You've Got a Friend In Me.

But do I really? Because by the looks of things, you are super creepy and I'm not quite sure I want to be your friend, Big Baby.

Also, creepy? This guy.

Look Who Showed Up

Summer. Summer showed up.
And Summer brought a few things into my life:

Monday: Poetry reading/writing in a backyard with cupcakes. Sounds awkward. It wasn't. (But was).

Tuesday: Backyard movie night. A personal favorite, Dumb & Dumber. I'm not ashamed.

Wednesday: Butterfield is back! And along with her return came some time spent at the water.

Thursday: Ice cream and conversation at Green Lake. At midnight.

Friday: Dinner outside and a bonfire. Nevermind that it was a million degrees and too hot for a fire.

Saturday: Milk Carton Derby at Green Lake + more celebrations for Susan.

Dear Summer,
I think I'm in love. I never want to be apart from you again.
xo!
S

After the Storm

My heart has nothing to hurt about.
But the chorus of this song really, really wants my heart to hurt.

Different year. Same me.

2009: If I couldn't have fireworks, I wanted a sparkler. I got a match.

2010: A sad, little star.

2009: Happy Fourth of July (!) crazy eyes.

2010: Happy Fourth of July (!) crazy face.