adventures inside.

my man:

one of my many new tricks using adobe lightroom:

grayscaling & color using brush. 

yay snow! 

hopeless, and a romantic.

nearly missed

the missed connections

but happened to find

this amazing blog/artist. 

 

this missed connection

is my favorite

and consequently

the first.

if i wrote one

for when i met h

(for the nth time)

it would say:

w4m - barely 24 (at the time)

you had a yellow shirt

sleeve ripped off

and now around your head

banana thunderrrr

you screamed.

you didn't notice me

in radiant red

yet.

i  think i remember you

crutches boy

from my college

freshman year dorm.

radiant red

went home

with a cold

from drinking too much

pool water.

thanks for the splashes.

can i have your number?

update.

7:40 am

me: "baby, your laptop is in richmond!"

h: "oh..."

7:46 am

me: "BABY, it's out for delivery!"

h: "i told you, i never doubted fedex."

yeah right.

i do have to say
it got from shanghai to richmond
in one day
i'm pretty impressed.

sighs.

h ordered a new laptop from hp a few weeks ago.

(if you signed up for verizon fios you got a $299 gift card for hp)

he is like a little kid waiting for christmas morning.

(he currently is using my laptop as his computer is slowly dying.)

every day he gets up and checks the hp website.

it was still in production 5 days after the estimated ship date.

thought someone was going to reach through the phone...

but yesterday

it shipped!

today it was ready to be accessed on fedex's website.

it's currently in shanghai, cn.

"is there a shanghai in connecticut?"

he asks at 7:15 am,

"what's the abbreviation for connecticut?"

"ct," i say.

wishful thinking.

on the way out the door for v's walk,

"how long do you think it'll take to get here from china?"

on the way back into the house from the walk,
"do you know which way the tradewinds go?

is it faster to fly from china to here?

how long is the flight to china?"

shouting from the shower,

"if it shipped at 4 pm, is that our time or china's time?

what time is it in china now?"

getting dressed,

"can you refresh the fedex page?

anything changed?"

on the way out the door,

"what if it's like castaway?!
and the plane crashes
the there are fedex boxes everywhere
and a local finds them

and steals my laptop

and goes back to his island

and listens to itunes?"

"it is coming with an american power cord,"

i say.

"well it does have a battery,"

he replies,

"what if it doesn't make it!?"

one step out the door,

"you'll be here to sign for it, right?"

poor guy.

making himself sick over it.

h,

 if you're reading this,

it's now been updated.

it will arrive on december 22

at 10:30 am.

but it's still in shanghai, connecticut for now.

love,

me.

(almost) official.

sorry for the lack of posts. a 70-plus-hour workweek followed by a weekend of moving and (trying) to be lazy do not equate to a highly-motivated me.


h has officially moved in, nearly everything but signed the lease now. some things i welcomed with open arms (amazing new bed) and others... well... big sigh. ( ; my office has been converted into a "man-cave," but not to my dismay. although i originally scoffed at this idea, it proves to be an EXCELLENT place for me to put all of the things that don't "match" the rest of the decor, plus is like a room that h can feel like is his own in a house that has already been decorated by a super-type-a woman. a huge big-screen tv, exposed brick walls, a bathroom, a couch and recliners, soon to be a fridge, and now there's talk of a bar... 


after a long day of cleaning, moving, trying to watch football, and more moving, we made heidi's broccoli cheddar soup with some disclaimers - ours looked nothing like hers... it looked more like panera's version. we used sharp cheddar, frozen broccoli cutlets, and we left our broccoli and potatoes chunky. we mixed in some flour and cream to thicken it. and served it with some cheddar jalapeno bread. what a great fall sunday dinner in front of football for our first night of being roommates! 


i'm super looking forward to thanksgiving dinner with my girlfriends tomorrow night! so excited we'll all be together...! 

I swear, he did this on his own accord.

OMG!!  Faithful readers... I have the most amazing boyfriend alive!  He dressed up in my favorite khakis of his and shaved and brought me flowers and took me on a date tonight!!

Just kidding.  But not really.  This really is H.  And I did take Rachel on a date tonight.  I decided, from my small list of places approved by Rachel that were participating in Richmond's Restaurant Week, to go Stronghill Dining Company. But I didn't let her know ahead of time.

I remember now why I choose not to go to the fancy restaurants... and it just so happens to be the same reason I think Rachel really wanted me to go to a fancy restaurant... portion control.

The food at this place was pretty good but I don't think it was excellent but what do is I know I am not a holy crap-get-a-life-food critic from Top Chef.  My only real problem arises from the fact that I am a real man who LOVES to eat.  I strongly support venues that serve buffets from the sunrise to well after the sun goes down (places such as Golden Corral).  There really is nothing quite like a smorgasbord of delectable treats to get the senses tingling with excitement (and more bang-for-your-buck)!

Case in point - they served the very first course - an oyster mushroom and duck confit miso soup, in bowl-like dinner plates.  We had to swirl the soup to create a vortex and then move the spoon in the opposite direction to scoop up the fishy broth. And it was fishy.  There were easier methods such as tipping and slurping but again we were not at the Golden Corral.  I decided to order a new beer to go with the steak I ordered.  It was a very nice beer - Jefferson Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout.  It was pint size so I thought it would be perfect for the size of my steak.  Ohhh was I wrong.  I should have ordered a shot of beer instead. Dessert was a pumpkin apple pie. It was light and fluffy. Again a small portion on a giant plate with a giant mint leaf. Good, but nothing like those rich, creamy desserts you can get elsewhere.

My tiny steak and Rachel's two giant scallops. 

Out of a possible 45,692 points, Stronghill Dining Company received a total 27,656 points

But truth be told, in the end, I wouldn't trade a date night with Rachel, regardless of the location,  for anything because I am firm believer in its not where you are but who you are with - even if it was a date spent at a buffet.  That served pizza.

The end.

h. age 16? grand canyon.

lots to catch up on.

has it really been 3 WHOLE months? no way. besides the fact that i have crashed 2 computer this summer, i have a whole list of other excuses, promise!

-at the time of my last post, i was recovering from m's wedding at delfosse vineyards near charlottesville, va. h&i stayed the night and enjoyed a very southern wedding brunch complete w/ shrimp & grits before heading to monticello on sunday.


-h's & my birthday celebrations (june 16 & 15, respectively). i got a toddy coffee maker, pretty cool! if you have instructions on how to use this effectively, please let me know! i have to experiment.

-4th of july beach trip w/ the fam & h... was great! it went by too fast! but the house was perfect, and the company was unbeatable.

-july 11 i won a free ice cream party from edy's & invited h's neighborhood. v was abused by screaming children with stick fingers and one little girl nearly cried when we told her she couldn't have h's mullet wig. ( :

-we went rafting with the rivermen on the new river in mid-july with some coworkers & friends. it was so great, we're going again for the gauley (eek!) in september!


-my last weekend in northern virginia we went to baltimore for the day w/ m to go to the aquarium and inner harbor. this was the peak of my apartment hunting craze and i nearly decapitated my ever-loving boyfriend. poor guy. it was a great day, tho! i'm sad to miss mrs. m!
-I MOVED! on august 1, back to my hometown of richmond. i love my new neighborhood. precisely after i moved, i spent 3 straight weeks traveling for work. i now work from home, so i have to be extra-diligent about my blogging, i mean, working. it helps when you don't have a computer! i've spent the last month or so decorating, and really trying to make this place feel like home. i'm pretty happy with it! ( :


i've been missing my friends, and my family that lives up north, and my sister, but overall, i feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders! i finally feel happy, and relaxed, and at home! more pictures & updates to come.

be jeal.

me & h with del mccoury band (l to r: del, h, me, alan(?), ron, and rob)

the show on friday night was amazing! then h woke me up on saturday morning at 8 am- he had shaved with a real razor (so smoooooth!), brought me purple roses, read me a 2-page+ rhyming poem he'd written, and gave me a beautiful necklace from dogeared with a message: let this necklace be a reminder to keep your circle positive and loving. when you act with your heart, love will surround you. thank you for making a difference!

that boy knows how to work it. he picked it out himself!

this is what h got for v-day:

a photo strip from kikkerland for his room, otherwise completely void of anything on the walls. filled with 17 absolutely precious pictures of me, h, & venus, of course!

tickets to see the heavens are hung in black. what else would a civil war-lover want for v-day? i am most excited about wearing my new dress & purple tights to the theattterrreee; assorted red candy from candy heaven: red pomegranate jelly bellys, jelly belly hearts, red sour patch kids, red gummy worms, and watermelon slices. i ate half of them before they made it home; and corny scratch off "lotto" tickets=classy. unfortunately they were super SUPER corny. as in: "champagne dinner" "your house" "next friday." ahhhhh!

happy valentine's day!

critical reasoning.

if h's dad's girlfriend's brother-in-law happens to be ron mccoury of the del mccoury band; and
if i happen to be quite obsessed with bluegrass music; and
if it happens to be valentine's day; and
if i am deserving,

then:
we are going to see del mccoury tonight b/c h is rad!

iff this argument is both valid & true. yay! ( ;