My 50th Birthday Party

Remember Christmas, when I described the two types of old people? Awesome vs. curmudgeonly. Well, I had another awesome old people sighting, and it reinforced my desire to remain awesome no matter how old I get.

When I turn fifty, I want people to wonder if I'm having a birthday party or a bachelorette party. Nothing raunchy, no penis lollipops or scavenger hunts or anything, just a night out not worrying about anything except having a good time.

On Saturday night, a friend and I saw a group of middle-aged women dancing at a bar in Georgetown. One of them wore a tiara and a pink feather boa, and we debated with two guys there as to which type of party they're having. It turns out, a blonde woman with a nametag that said "Dixie" was celebrating her fiftieth birthday with all of her girlfriends. They danced with a couple of young guys, a couple of older guys, and me and my friend. They knew all the words to "Tik Tok," everyone bought the birthday girl a drink, and they probably went to bed at a reasonable hour (they were in full swing around 10). Sounds like a perfect fiftieth birthday party to me.

First Snow!

Our apartment complex sign

Last night was pretty magical here in Our Nation's Capital. Andrew and I went to see The Artist (phenomenal, btw. I might write another post about how enchanting that movie was.) and when we walked out of the theater around midnight softly floating snowflakes filled the sky and covered the ground. After coming out of a silent black and white movie, a snow-blanketed empty Arlington fit the mood perfectly.

We were the first people out on the pet path behind the building, so Domino quickly filled up the blank snow canvas with paw prints and yellow spots.

Snow paws

While the cold completely shuts Andrew down and reduces him to a whining, shivering mess, Domino seems to gain energy through the snow that coats her fur after she rolls in the drifts. We went for as long of a walk as we could handle, and she ran up and down Key Boulevard like it was her last day on Earth. Andrew threw some snowballs at me (it was prime packing snow) and we did a lot of sliding down the steep hill that's on the side of our building. Basically if you get a little bit of running momentum you can kind of maneuver yourself sideways and snowboard down the icy sidewalk if you're wearing treadless shoes like Chucks. I wish I had a decent video, because I'm not the best at explaining things like that. We had a good time.

This morning the snow iced over and was all nasty-colored, but at least we were awake to see it last night in its prime.

Snow is the best.

Bath Day is a Sad Day

Happiness of the Day

I miss Charleston pretty much every day of my life, but this video made me wish on every star that I was back there. Everyone in the Holy City, please watch Channel 5 this week to catch this amazing attack ad.

 

Brief backstory: In a recent poll, more South Carolinians said they would vote for Stephen Colbert than for Jon Huntsman (perhaps this was part of the reason Huntsman dropped out today). So, as he did for the last election, Colbert announced that he would run for president in South Carolina. For legal reasons he had to transfer his Super PAC to Jon Stewart last week. The Romney attack ad started running today, and I really hope they pay for spots up until the primary on Saturday. 

And yes, that is John Lithgow. Which makes the ad even better.

I Resolve to...

The first week of 2012 is gone, and the best way to stay accountable for resolutions is to post them publicly on the internet! That way, if I break one you'll all know and I'll be shamed. Public humiliation is a great motivator.

So this year I decided to make very few simple resolutions, as my goal is to actually keep them for more than three months. I only have three, and they're all geared toward different parts of my life that are within my control. If I fail to keep these resolutions, it's entirely my fault. Self-reliance is also a great motivator.

1. Volunteer at least once a month - got this one covered. I'm starting volunteer zoo guide training in February, and I have to lead people around talking about the animals three times a month for a full year.

2. Plan one unique, awesome date per month for me and Andrew - I have something secret-ish almost planned for his birthday on the 18th, and Andrew will read this at some point so I'll leave it at that.

3. Go to the gym three times/week with Andrew, and go 30 min on the elliptical - this was originally his resolution, but I thought it was a good idea and sweating is much more fun with a buddy. We started the last week in December, and so far we're going strong! I really really hope this lasts for more than three months. If we're ever going to New Zealand, I must be fit enough to hike Mt. Doom. (Speaking of which, has anyone seen the Hobbit trailer yet? Goosebumps.)

I thought about making a resolution about updating this blog more often, but... let's not get too ambitious. Maybe next year.