Kristin Emma

When I look back on this year, I have to say, "Great Success!" (In my best Borat accent).  The first big surprise happened in February when Justin popped the question at the most unexpected moment.  I know it took me a long minute for me to respond but the truth is I never really thought anyone would ever want to marry me. Later in the month, I had the opportunity to return to my old job at an ad agency.  I was so happy to go back because I was getting burned out as a consultant and really needed a 9-5 job.  Having more time at home allowed me to prepare for the wedding. We were married September 18th. Both the ceremony and reception went so smoothly that the day was pretty much perfect - expect for the part when my brother's cell phone went off during the ceremony.  And, yes, he did step out to take the call :)  One of my favorite moments that day was hearing our family friend, Sue, sing the Lord's Prayer. I knew she could sing but wow, what a beautiful voice! I'm also very grateful that our friend, Steve, could play and sing during the appetizer hour of our reception which helped set a lovely atmosphere.  I really enjoyed seeing all our family and friends who came out for it.  And I'm really thankful for the support of our families.  I couldn't have asked for a better day. Standing across from Justin as we spoke our vows was the happiest moment of my life. I love him so much.We spent our honeymoon in Kaui at the Grand Hyatt for 10 days which was a perfect retreat after a busy year.  That is my year in a nutshell.  Hopefully the next year will be just as exciting!

So I go to CVS to pick up some glysomed hand lotion but I forgot what I needed once I got there. I saw those hostess cupcakes sitting on a shelf and I thought to myself, "Dang, those look good." As I was waiting in the long lunch hour line, I noticed I left my ATM card and all my cash in the office. I frantically search my wallet for anything so my time in line wasn't in vain. Finally I found that mini Visa that is small enough to fit on the key ring. When I slid that card into the slot, it was so small it got stuck. All the way stuck inside and we couldn't get it out. My favorite cashier who I see everyday picks up the credit card thing and starts shaking it violently to the dismay of all the customers behind me. Still stuck. A manager comes over with a Box knife and slices it open and got it out. By the time he took it apart and put it back together again-- he was ready to KILL me.

I took my nephew to Silver Lake today which is across the street from Brighton. Just so you know he's adorable. We saw a moose and I was a little scared he would charge us. My best friend worked in Alaska one summer driving a tour bus and got chased by a moose once. She lived to tell about it and we had a good laugh. I'm really glad I came home this week because my sister is in labor right now so I should have a baby niece really soon.

I love that buying a couch from Craigslist resulted in one of the most fun nights I've had in a long time with new friendships being made. It all started when I moved into a fabulous but empty Crystal City apartment a few months ago. Our furnishings have been modest-- a futon, TV (on a small TV cart) and a yoga ball. The TV does not have a remote which is where the yoga ball comes into play. You roll it over to the TV and sit on it while you change the channel and then roll on back over to the futon and use the ball as a make-shift ottoman.
Last week as I was casually cruising the furniture section of craigs, I came upon a red 3 seater sofa and chair at a good price. And I knew right then it was the ONE. It was love at first sight. Fotunately, I was the first and I had to have it. The only thing about buying furniture, is finding someone with a truck willing to help you. I was lucky, I knew of a guy who would be willing to help out for just the cost of gas. Last night, a friend of mine came over to sell me her 311 ticket and while she was there I asked if she could come and help us with the couch. She's cool and we all crammed into his small truck. We all clicked and had fun on the way over. On the way home, we missed 395 and got on the wrong way to 495, creating a one hour detour. Most of the time, I might get frustrated. This time, I was having fun and didn't mind it at all.
When we got to my apartment building, I was worried that we wouldn't be able to get into the passenger elevator because they have strict rules and the freight elevator was closed for the night. So my friend was able to carry the entire chair past the front desk without them noticing. Then, we had to get the sofa by them. We carried a RED sofa past the front desk and got past them. I was tip-toeing so they couldn't hear us coming and we were so stealth. We got that couch into the elevator successfully. By the time she saw us and said something, the doors were closing. When we got the couch situated, he throws a pillow at me and the next thing I know my whole apartment is in a huge pillow fight. But the fun didn't stop there. We went out to dinner at Champs and planned out what we're gonna do together. It starts this Saturday with a pizza and a movie and we'll all go clubbing sometime. I'm excited that we're all BFF now. And to think it all started with buying a couch....

As I was trying to fall asleep Friday night around 1 am, I laid awake wondering if hiking old rag would be worth waking up at 6:30 on a Saturday morning. Knowing that it was going to be a difficult hike, I was already kicking myself for deciding to go. The fact that I was out of breath by the time we got to the trail head made me worry that maybe I wasn't in shape enough to go all the way. I've done more difficult hikes before but I was a lot slimmer and I didn't have the humidity to deal with. We paced ourselves and it took about four hours to reach the summit. Climbing over the rocks was my favorite part. It's amazing how your feet can stick to the rock as you pull yourself up. I always think my feet will slip but somehow they stay in place. The one thing I learned on this hike is that you can push your body to go so much further than you thought was possible. There were so many times that I thought, "This is it. I'm done." But you get to a point of no return where going back would take longer than going forward. I'm not sure if reaching the summit was like Rocky running up to the top of the stairs but it was worth the effort just to see that I could do it.

Just so you know, this is something that happened about a month ago but I wanted to share it with those who hadn't heard about it yet.
So I get on the metro this morning and noticed the train was already full and we still had 3 stops to make where people would be cramming before they started getting off. I braced myself for what would be a long and uncomfortable ride. Then the train pulls up to the Pentagon stop--the last transfer point for people trying to take a short cut to Capitol Hill, a very popular stop. Even though we had reached capacity, people managed to pack it in so there was hardly room to breathe. The door couldn't even shut because people had no room to move in. As the door is slamming into them this one jerk yells, "Could you guys move towards the center,there's still room, MOVE!"Obvious guys says, "Look--there's no room, I'm already wearing this lady's clothes" We all bust out laughing, everyone but the jerk. So the jerk makes some kind of comment and it's clear he's not in a good mood. So obvious guy says, "Do you need a hug? Because I could give you a hug if it would make you feel better. This will be a good memory though. And deep down inside, we just all want to be close to each other anyways." A few chuckles from the crowd. But he doesn't stop there. Oh no. Obvious guy continues saying loudly, "I hope that'snot your hand on my inner thigh because if it is, I find myselfcuriously aroused." HAAAA. We're all laughing now--even the jerk. Everyone except this one black guy who just shook his head.

I want the grand opening of my blog to start off with the highlights from my first year here. Most days while I'm at work, I spend my time planning what I'm going to do in DC either on the weekend or that day. I start with the DCist and work my way through the Washington Post until I'm satisfied with my calendar. If I'm really bored, I start to look at airfares so I can plan my next vacation to New Zealand, Australia or wherever I feel like going that day.? Although I consider myself to be a West Coast girl, I've had a lot of fun in DC this past year and appreciate all of the fun things it has to offer. I'll highlight some events from my summer: Like going to a Nationals game with friends




It's true I'm in love with Andy Roddick. I ran into him after the Legg Mason tennis classic and scored his autograph. Being able to scream, "Andy we love you" was priceless.






Where else can you go to hear 300 pipers play Scotland the Brave at once?






I really wanted to be in the picture with this guy but I was intimidated. I'm not sure what he was doing at the Scottish Fest since he looks like an old british officer from the colonial era in Africa.








Aaaah, the National Cathedral. Isn't it beautiful? I went to some of their free concerts in July. The one with the NSO and National Cathedral Choral society was excellent.





For only 10 bucks we got to see Better than Ezra play at the Fairfax County fair after a nice fireworks show. Not only was this band great live but we got see a guy go on stage and rock out with a cow bell. He got the crowd going. He was the painter and we were his canvas.



I won the wicked lottery and believe it or not, this was my view of the stage. They basically give 10 winners 2 tickets each. Well, out of 400people who put their names into this lottery, I was the first namethey called! You should have seen it, we were going crazy we were so excited. Everyone was dressed to the nines for this show but here we were dressed in our t shirts and jeans sitting in the very front row, center stage.






NYC is close enough to take a bus up for a 3 day weekend.