January 30, 2005 financial milestone I just wrote my 700th check! I've had a checking account since July 1998, but I didn't do too much check writing before I moved out in May 2001. Seems crazy that I've written that many checks and I'm only 24. Hey, I've gotta find something good about bill paying day, don't I? Jenn posted at 5:49 PM |

And the local time is... I have arrived home and am quite tired. It was nice to see my skyscape and my bottomless hill. It is not so nice to have the guy below me playing his blow up movies so loudly that it sounds like the world is going to end. I know it's not quiet hours yet in this timezone, but since I'm not on this time and quite tired (did I mention that?), I would really love to be able to go to sleep now. Jenn posted at 12:32 AM |

January 27, 2005 book update I've slowed down in my reading, but I finished another book and a half, so I thought I'd update. I'm slowly working on my A-Z for Bookcrossing as well. Most recently read: Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married by Marian Keyes I actually only read the first 150 pages of this book before I stopped. The title character was sort of quirky and interesting, but then she went off on a tangent about clinical depression that just turned me off. I've suffered from it in the past and the last thing I want to do is read about it in my chick lit. The Ex-Files by Jane Moore I really liked this book, despite its strange marketing. While the flashbacks to both the bride and the groom with their exes were interesting, it really had little to do with the plot of the book and was quite misleading as time went along. I was quite surprised at the role that the brother played in the whole thing. All in all, it was a good quick read, even though it wasn't what I thought it was going to be about. Previously read over break: Jenn posted at 2:46 PM |

soft spot I'm the queen of cute nicknames and terms of endearment. The way I throw around "honey" and "fabulous," you'd think I was trying to replace Carson Kressley. During any conversation, I'll use many variations of "babe," "honey," and "sweets," but those I'm talking to rarely reciprecate. Such was the case last night. Until the end. "Have a safe flight, sweetie!" He slipped it in at the end, just as I was hitting the off button on the phone. Was he nervous about using it? Did it just slip out? Either way, it made me smile and I was reminded why I have such a soft spot in my heart for him. Tonight: Dinner with Caryn Jenn posted at 2:02 PM |

January 24, 2005 Have you ever been "skiing"? There are at minimum two people and probably about five people maximum who read my blog that really *get* the title of this entry. It is, of course, one of the over 400 one-liners we accumulated over a two year period in high school. I never really gave that much thought to when we started writing down these little gems, but I was reminded yesterday that it was sophomore year, during Surrender rehearsals. How do I know? The youth musical this year is Surrender and yesterday the youth choir sang one of the songs as their anthem. My teenage cousin proudly announced to me after church that she had my book. I innocently asked her if it was all written in because I had a habit of scrawling all over my scripts, not caring that future generations wouldn't want my markings on them. She nodded and then mentioned that there was some stuff written on the back cover. "Something about skiing?" she said, with a confused look on her face, hoping that I would enlighten her about the mysterious message. "I showed Tiffany, but she didn't get it either." Great, now there were at least two 8th graders who knew about our silliness. Since I'm so much older than her, I'm inherently cool, no matter how dorky I feel. But would I retain that status if I spilled our shared stupidity with her? I'm sure she has her own inside jokes with her friends and things that seems so funny now that will lose their humor in ten years time. And it's true that when I read the list or any of our old school stuff, I still laugh because I remember the situation and the feelings we had, but trying to explain that? Not likely. So I chickened out. "It's dirty. I'll tell you later." Jenn posted at 1:43 PM |

last one before school starts a way to start Monday: quick drive to NYC surviving the cold in NYC great food in NYC ignoring the political stuff on my trip finishing another book warm house and car in the cold weather going to church with Kimber lunch and reminiscing with Kimber Google-stalking people from high school Friendster and Facebook hot dogs from Gray's Papaya successful new website homemade Chex mix the love of my friends and family Jenn posted at 2:24 AM |

January 23, 2005 Nice place to visit, but not tough enough to live there I have returned from NYC! We left about 8:30am on Thursday, stopping to get money at the ATM before hitting the highway. The drive up was uneventful and we caught the tail end of Bush's inaugural speech on the televisions at the rest stop in Jersey. I'll refrain from commenting on it, but I'm sure you know what I'm thinking. I successfully directed Daddy through the Lincoln tunnel and into Midtown Manhattan, easily finding our hotel and a spot to drop the car on the street for the valet guys to pick up. Standing outside the car, while trying to gather all of our belongings, I was shivering, which was an omen of things to come. We checked into the hotel and dropped our gear before heading out into the city. From our hotel on 40th and 6th Ave, we walked up to Time Square and beyond, looking for the Ed Sullivan theatre. KB had assured me that there were always tickets available for Letterman on the day of and I knew that Dave taped two shows on Thursday to make up for not taping on Friday. After several false starts, trying to oriented myself in the 3-D version of my StreetWise map, we finally made it the theatre. The bad news-- apparently during the intervening years between KB's employment with Worldwide Pants, there had been some changes in the ticketing process. You now have to win tickets by answering trivia questions on the web. Cold and discouraged, we did get a picture of the Hello Deli and saw Rupert laying on the counter, looking quite bored. Bouncing back from this setback quickly, I suggested we try to get tickets to see Conan. We walked to Rockefeller Center, visiting the skating rink first, where I decided to forgo fulfilling #14 this time since I was freezing to death and I knew that I would inevitably land on my butt. We went into the NBC studio and my dad tracked down an employee to ask about Conan tickets. We got 3 standby tickets (#46-48 of 75) and had a half hour to kill before we needed to line up. We went down to the concourse level to get some much need beverages before heading back up to the second floor. We got in line and I had an inkling that we wouldn't get in. When I had been on the NBC tour in 1999 as part of bell tour, I had seen first hand Conan's studio. It's no bigger than Craig's and the confirmed tickets line was quite long. As it turned out about 20 people from the standby line got in and the rest of us were sent off. After being on my feet for a few hours in my boots, I was ready to head back to the hotel. I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before either and it was catching up with me. I took a nap and then we headed out for dinner around the hotel. We found a great little pizza place right around the corner. I woke up about 8am on Friday, all on my own with just a tinge of a migraine. I took some medicine and ate some snack mix while watching tv. We got going around 10am and set out in search of breakfast for my mom. We first stopped at Starbucks, but they didn't have what she wanted so we headed to McDonald's in Times Square. Those seven blocks chilled me to the bone and I was happy to be inside. From there we went over to the TKTS stand and found that they didn't open until 3pm, so our Broadway tickets purchase would have to wait. My dad hailed us a cab in front of the Marriot Marquis and we were off to the American Museum of Natural History. They have some great exhibits there, including a special exhibit with 200 frogs (which we paid extra to see). I like the Smithsonian's Natural History museum better (and not just because it's free!), but we still had a good time. We had lunch in the cafeteria in the basement before braving the cold to go next door to the New York Historical Society. They had some great photos and prints that I enjoyed, but I was a tad disappointed that much of the museum was taken up by a special exhibit dedicated to Alexander Hamiliton. Not to say that I'm not a fan of Hamiliton or that I can't appreciate his contribution to American political culture, but I don't really idealize him the way the exhibit did. By the time we had finished there, it was about 4pm and I was getting tired again. All the walking and the cold, really zapped my energy. We caught a cab back to Times Square, to the TKTS booth. My parents volunteered to wait in line while I walked back to the hotel for a nap. I had a great NYC moment, walking the streets alone with my head down, fighting the cold. I slept for about two hours before meeting back up with my parents. They had made good time in the line, but the only available tickets were obstructed view for $54 a piece! (And that's 50% off!) I said NO WAY to that. I can't imagine someone paying over $100 for an obstructed view ticket. Especially since my WHEREinNY magazine listed the ticket prices between $40-$120 dollars, but whatever. The little snow storm that was mentioned for Saturday earlier in the week was becoming a bigger deal by the hour. My dad made the decision that we would be getting up at 6am on Saturday and leaving NYC, so as not to be snowed in for the next week. I think that was a bit of an overreaction, considering the amount of snow we got here vs. what was predicted, but I got out voted. At the same time, I'm kinda glad we left because I was just unable to enjoy myself in the bitter, wretched cold. We had our "last supper" at Da Nico (suggested by my friend Amanda) in Little Italy and it was fabulous! We cabbed it back to the hotel and watched some television before calling it a night. I couldn't actually fall asleep until after 3am, though. I got up promptly at 6am and we were leaving the hotel a little after 7am. We drove to Gray's Papaya on the Upper West Side to grab some hot dogs for breakfast before hitting the Lincoln Tunnel. We left NYC around 7:45 and pulled into our parking lot at 1:15pm. Not too shabby considering the wretched conditions we hit in Delaware that stayed with us for the rest of the journey. I'm hoping to go back in March when I can truly enjoy myself and hopefully see and do more things. Jenn posted at 8:49 AM |

January 19, 2005 NYC, baby! I'm watching "The West Wing" before I head upstairs to pack every article of warm clothing I own. The average high this weekend is about 26 degrees and I'm sure that I'm not ready for that kind of cold. Snow was fun today, though I'm glad I didn't have to go out in it. I'm not taking the computer with me, so that I will be sure to soak up every minute of this weekend in Manhattan. See you on the flipside! Jenn posted at 9:45 PM |

learning to live with disappointment I was disappointed today. Not in and of itself a noteworthy event, but I felt compelled to mention it in the vaguest of terms, so that I might remember how this felt. Expectations of people and situations are almost inevitable. No matter how much I say I'm not expecting anything, there's still a large part of my brain that is spinning scenarios of how it could be. In recent memory, I have yet to come into an event where a scenario I dreamt up has come to pass, but my mind continues to weave tales and lies for me to believe. "With the law of averages," my subconscious says, "one of these days, I'm bound to be right." Tonight, it was very wrong. And yet, I think it was possibly the best thing that could have happened. Jenn posted at 1:44 AM |

January 18, 2005 lyrics of the moment oh when you're cold i'll be there hold you tight to me when you're low i'll be there "By Your Side" by Sade Jenn posted at 9:44 PM |

January 17, 2005 positively a way to start Monday: seeing Kimber after 4 1/2 years writing more reading more books good hugs from good friends learning to let go of things that I can't control new winter apparel Teri Hatcher won a Golden Globe watching "That Thing You Do!" twice on HBO homemade Chex mix the love of my friends and family Jenn posted at 11:19 PM |

catching up Last night, I went out with "the girls," serving as a reunion coordinator for two sets of friends from high school. We had dinner at McD's (I love being cheap!) and then headed for the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse for the movie. The movie was "Napoleon Dynamite" which I'm not really sure that I get, but it did make me laugh (always a plus with me). We went back to see Rachel's townhouse before heading for home. I skipped church this morning (bad Jenn!) and slept in (sorta). Somewhere in there my parents informed me that Chris would be stopping by, but I didn't remember it. So when I woke up, I rolled out of bed and ambled downstairs with my laptop. I am NOT a pretty person first thing in the morning (even though it was afternoon). Even though I'm sure he's seen me worse, it was still quite a shock to see him at the computer. I went over to Anna's to watch the Golden Globes. I correctly guessed 11 of 24 (not my personal best, but pretty close). I was ecstatic for Teri Hatcher's win and I absolutely adored her acceptance speech. She's been a favorite actress of mine since the days of "Lois & Clark" and I'm so happy to see her succeed. Jenn posted at 2:43 AM |

January 15, 2005 "J" men and projection television I got to hang out with an old friend tonight, who we discovered, I hadn't seen in 4 and a half years. It didn't seem like it had been that long -- where does the time go? Dinner and a movie were both quite enjoyable as was the company. I hope it won't be another 4 years before our paths cross again. Jenn posted at 1:31 AM |

January 14, 2005 right then Two things you should know about me: 1. I can imitate an accent within minutes of hearing it. 2. I talk to myself, verbalizing my internal monologue, a la Zach Braff on Scrubs. Having watched Love Actually and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban multiple times in the last twenty-four hours, I have now taken to talking to myself in a British accent. It's quite peculiar, but also quite fun. Try it sometime! Jenn posted at 1:30 AM |

January 13, 2005 objective: to get a job that will pay me enough to live to work another day I started putting my resume together tonight. When my laptop had a meltdown, I lost my updated resume as well. The most recent copy I had was the one I used to whore myself out to entertainment companies. A few jobs and locations later, it's time to dust it off and think about getting a real job. Well, not really a real job yet, but at least a professional internship, where I won't actually waste my entire summer answering the phone and making endless copies of script revisions for a show that's destined to tank three years later. Jenn posted at 1:26 AM |

January 12, 2005 another book finished! I just finished another book last night. I'm not quite keeping up with my book-a-day goal that I set for myself before break started, but I've definitely read more of my mounting TBR pile over this vacation than I have in the past six months. Most recently read: Summer Sisters by Judy Blume I've had this book since it came out in paperback and five years later, I actually got around to reading it. The beginning is a little confusing and I wasn't sure I would get into it, but I stayed up late last night to finish it. The character of Caitlin reminded me of my childhood friend, Suzy M. We didn't have a person like Abby to keep us together, however, and I lost track of her. Previously read over break: The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot I read Meg's second book with characters from the same office first, so I had an idea of what to expect and Meg did not disappoint. Though many of the plot twists are predictable, I kept reading "just to be sure" and I loved it all. Also told entirely through e-mails, it is quite revealing just how much of ourselves we reveal in our electronic correspondence. I can't wait to pick up Meg's new book, Every Boy's Got One. Wanderlust by Chris Dyer Told entirely through e-mails between the main character and her friends, we get a peek at the jet-set life of a travel writer of a column called "Wish You Were Here." Though the life sounds glamourous, it becomes apparent that despite five star hotels and enough frequent flyer miles to flit off to Europe at a moment's notice, sometimes all you need is a reason to come home. Chris Dyer creates fabulous, unique characters that you root for until the very end. Jenn posted at 11:15 PM |

January 10, 2005 Dress Shopping! Today was so fun! Kristin invited me to go wedding dress shopping today with her and her mom at David's Bridal. I took my camera along and we took some pictures of her in different gowns. She is a gorgeous girl anyway, but in a wedding dress, she's just stunning. I'm so excited for her. Jenn posted at 9:20 PM |

positivity a way to start Monday: sleeping in having a mom who calls to make sure I don't oversleep reading more books watching POA on my laptop, snuggled in my warm bed finally seeing "50 First Kisses" all the way through on HBO new haircut for a new year dress shopping with Kristin the cute black cat that roams the neighborhood the love of my friends and family Jenn posted at 2:22 PM |

January 9, 2005 meme: a year in review - 2004 Take the first sentence from the first post of each month of 2004. That's your year in review. January: it's now 13 plus hours into the new year and i've really enjoyed it. February: i almost forgot the best part of my shopping buys. March: this little bonus day was fantastic. April: I got paid today and I've been busy spending that money already! May: I woke up about 11am today after going to bed at 12:30am and I feel fantastic! June: I just realized I hadn't updated all week. July: Wow, this has been a whirlwind trip to the Bay Area and I can't believe it's almost over! August: We hung pictures today. September: I had my junior seminar today. October: First I just want to say that Adam summed up my feelings about the Expos coming to DC perfectly. November: I'll be spending tomorrow voting and watching returns. December: I'm saying goodbye to Tom Brokaw tonight. Well, it seems I was quite the shopaholic until I left my job and then my life became quite boring and/or political. Sigh. Jenn posted at 4:09 AM |

snowed in Looking at Laura's photos from their latest snowstorm, I was reminded our blizzard that started today nine years ago. I almost got stuck at Erin's house that week because they invited me to a Mason basketball game and then to spend the night. For whatever reason, I declined and woke up the next morning to over a foot of snow. And it was still snowing. We were out of school for a week and I don't think I've ever shoveled more snow. Those were the days. Jenn posted at 1:48 AM |

January 8, 2005 Convinced! I've decided to change my personal e-mail address. I've got forwarding set up for all my other addresses, so if you don't feel like updating your address books, your e-mails will still get to me ;) jenninthecity [at] gmail [dot] com Jenn posted at 8:11 PM |

January 7, 2005 classification: vomit My dad got a copy of Que Pasa! magazine in the mail today from his friends in Puerto Rico. There was an advertisement for Parque de las Cavernas del Rio Camuy (Camuy Caverns) and I commented to my parents that we had never been there. My dad purported that we had and my mom backed him up. They said it was part of the trip we took when I threw up. I love how we classify our family trips by my digestive issues. Anyhoo, I told mom to produce photographic evidence, since she takes pictures of everything. She went through the photo albums from the trip and what do you know? No pictures! Guess I was right after all! Jenn posted at 5:43 PM |

gMail I got an unexpected card in the mail today from an old high school friend. We had been talking about her a couple weeks ago at dinner, since she had become one of the many "whatever happened to ____________?" people. Now, I know and I'm eager to get back in touch with her. I'm thinking about switching my personal correspondence to gmail. It seems to be the hip thing to do and there are many features I like, but I'm so, so resistant to change. I've had the same personal email address since I moved to California. I think I'd be lost without it. Jenn posted at 4:43 AM |

January 4, 2005 Is this supposed to make me feel bad? I just got the following response to my reviews at TV Tome: Subject: idiot Hey, This is a concerned fan of friends. I have seen about every episode of friends and your reviews(some of them) suck. You put out that you like the show but you don't show it. Shut up and except an episode for what it is There isn't one episode I didn't enjoy. The whole world loves friends episodes everyone of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've gotten my fair share of hate mail from this gig since I don't obsessively gush about every episode, especially later ones. But this one just made me laugh, so I thought I'd share. Jenn posted at 10:34 PM |

January 3, 2005 participation positives returns! It's been seven months, but I thought with the new year, it was time to get back to doing this on a regular basis. a way to start Monday: sleeping in dress shopping with Kristin next week dinner with friends as grown-ups taking more pictures writing my parents' Christmas letter that's funnier and better than the one I wrote for myself good friends who look out for you coming to terms with friendship deterioration watching the XF pilot on the SciFi channel the love of my friends and family Jenn posted at 4:36 PM |

Grades Grades for last semester were posted (finally!) and here they are: American Politics A Western Civilization I B Historical Analysis Seminar B Presidential Election Lecture Series CR Biography of a City-New York A So, my first semester back in college, I ended up with a 3.5 GPA. Not too shabby! Jenn posted at 4:27 PM |

no late fees? Okay, I just saw a commercial that Blockbuster isn't going to charge late fees anymore. So I guess that means that Netflix is really sticking it to them. But what am I missing? I mean, I can't imagine that I can just check a movie out of Blockbuster and just keep it for like 3-4 weeks without being charged. Jenn posted at 1:55 AM |

January 2, 2005 dinner at Sequoia I successfully made the journey to and from Georgetown by myself to celebrate Caryn's birthday. We had a slightly crazy waiter and had way too much trouble trying to figure out the bill, but it's all good. I got to talk with Adam's honey, Emily, who is super nice. The new sidebar picture is from tonight. I had to split it into two parts to make it fit and look nice, so I hope those in the lower half aren't too offended. Jenn posted at 11:57 PM |

pictures of my mind I watched Shannon pull out her camera on Friday night and I realized that though I seem to carry my camera everywhere, I rarely take any photos. In high school, I never went anywhere without my camera and I'm sure that PhotoCraft was able to declare dividends based on my photo developing alone. I was even nominated for historian of the youth group at one point. But somewhere along the way, I stopped taking pictures. As I look around my house, most of the photos are several years old and are not of people with whom I am currently friends. I've traded my film camera for a digital one and yet, even with that freedom, I still don't document like I wish I did. I started to rectify that on Friday night. Here are two photos I took that night: The Masonic Temple in Alexandria had beautiful lights shone on it (l-to-r) Caryn, Shannon and Chris as we waited to countdown to the New Year My new New Year's resolution: Take more pictures! Jenn posted at 1:32 PM |

It's your Big, Scary birthday! Happy Birthday, Caryn! We've been friends for over 20 years and I love you like the sister my parents (thankfully!) didn't give me. Here's to a fabulous year! Jenn posted at 3:43 AM |

January 1, 2005 Welcome 2005! I have arrived home from spending First Night Old Town with Caryn and Tommy, Adam and Chris (and their respective girlfriends). We had fantastic weather, though it was still a bit cold for me. I did get to wear my new hat, which was quite excellent. Here's to a wonderful year full of love, hope and joy! Jenn posted at 4:56 AM |