New Martina Duet

With Alan Jackson, "Never Loved Before." Kind of an odd but cute little ditty. Download it here. Check out the CSI-inspired video here.

Summer Must Read

I came home tonight from a late night (work reception, at least there was free wine and beer) to find the coolest surprise gift from (I'm assuming) Jeffro: a copy of Chelsea Handler's brand new book Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea. How hilarious! I didn't even realize it was out yet! Considering I loved her My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands, I'm dying to get started reading!

New Martina McBride Live CD/DVD

For your purchasing pleasure, Martina McBride today released her first live CD/DVD. Guess what I'll be ordering as soon as I get paid?

ihasahotdog.com

Brought to you by the same folks who created http://icanhascheezburger.com/ there's now a dog version!

http://www.ihasahotdog.com/

Enjoy!


Thanks to MJ for the tip.

Please Come to Boston

I just spent 4 days in Boston on business, after not having been in over 10 years. What a great city! I had forgotten how awesome it is. If only it were so friggin cold in the winter. However, we had beautiful 70+ weather, and I had the chance to hang out with a very flamboyant gay guy who's lived and worked there for like 30 years, who showed us a great time at . . .

Union Park, right near his office. I also loved the Public Park.

Aquitaine restaurant, enjoying steak au poivre.

Banq bar/restaurant, with its hip/chic architectural details (see photo).

Pops with awesome Mums iced tea and Italian sausage sandwiches.

Picco with amazing pizza and ice cream, supposedly hense the name (P=pizza, IC=ice cream, CO=co).

Stephanie's on Newbury with its great people watching and mac 'n cheese.

We also managed to go into the Copley Fairmont and visit Catie Copley and get a book signed and visit with Catie.

I also bought a pair of Switch Flops at Copley Flair, a great store right near Newbury.

What a great city, what a fun time! I would love to go back when I have more time.

Solomon's Island Weekend

This weekeend I went to Solomon's Island, MD, for our annual trek to celebrate a friend's birthday. The pattern is the same every year, but the players change each time. We had a group of about 20 people this time. Late lunch at Stoney's followed by drinks at the infamous Tiki Bar. Yum! It was a beautiful day for the trip, lots of sun but not too hot. Just far enough to feel like you're getting away from DC, but close enough to wrap it all up in a day. A very fun time.

Today I spent the day cleaning in preparation for my mom visiting. We had a nice dinner at Carlyle. I leave Tuesday for Boston for the better part of the week, so happy week, everyone!

True Arrival of Spring

I know spring has truly arrived, cause my allergies have finally kicked in full force. Seriously, though, I love finally not having to wear a jacket outside so I guess I will try my best not to complain.

I've been exceedingly busy, as usual. Somehow I got sucked into running a local neighborhood pet event in May. On top of that, I've been having to deal with my taxes, which are a nightmare because of the freelance work I did this year. Did you know that freelancers are considered small businesses, and all are taxed an extra 15+ percent? How is small business expected to thrive in this economy? I actually sought the advice of a really evil accountant, who made a mathematical error on my first round of taxes so huge even an idiot like me caught it. We finally got it straightened out, but the bottom line is I am still paying thousands of dollars to the IRS and VA government. Gotta love it.

Next week will be as insanely busy as this past week, with something going on just about every night. Then the following week I leave for a work trip to Boston. In preparation--cause I won't have any other time to do it--I spent today getting my hair cut and my first pedicure of the season.

Tonight we're going to see local favorite band Catfish Honeymoon at Jay's Saloon in Arlington. Tomorrow's fairly free, but I need to clean up my garden so I can recycle the debris in this week's special recycling pickup.

PS - I just have to make a comment about American Idol this week. I was shocked and horrified that Michael Johns got kicked off and David Cook was safe. I usually love David, but this week's performance was absolutely the pits and he should have at least been in the bottom three. And it's not fair that Syesha and Kristy have been in the bottom three at least three times now and was safe and Michael, who has never been in the bottom, was kicked off. Totally a bummer.