2 points for West Virginia

{photo from Belle of the Bakery}

looks amazing, right?





as i sit here in my lonely hotel room out in sleepytown, west virginia, aloe-ing my sunburn and singing along with Laura Burhenn, i'm going over my love/hate relationship with my part-time summer home. mountains? stunning. towns built out of strip malls? not so purdy. abundant sweet tea and 99cent beers? awesome. ZERO coffee shops? not so good.

when burger king's veggie burger was our best bet for dinner tonight, i thought i'd lost all hope in dining out here. untillllllllll, we were shown the light of O'Neill's restaurant! after a long day in the field, we stopped by this place and walked out of there with some tall arnold palmers and peach cobbler for the road. i somehow saved my dessert until just now and it. is. AMAZING. by far the best i've ever had. if i don't get another stop at O'Neill's this week, i'm definitely going to attempt my own this weekend. these look like pretty good bets at re-creation:

Belle of the Bakery

Delicious Days

AllRecipes

en route: (official) bike to work day

{jamie, with bike}

lovely to see the increase of bikers joining me on the morning commute. way to go, DC. hopefully you guys stuck it to the Metro this morning, gave your car a break, and rode your stylin' two-wheeler to the office today in support of the District's Bike to Work Day. for those who officially signed up for the day's events - enjoy the free food, drinks, prizes, and mmmhmmm - tshirts! if you miss the shirt today, and want in on some other bikey gear (/news, sites, general excitement) check out:

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...the earrings that are now on my birthday list

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..an awesome site for awesome cyclists

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......this cute gift idea

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..a bicycle inspired wedding

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....Joanna Goddard's adorable bike helmet

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.........these yummy treats

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..a new york summer film festival

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....a silly bike song

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..the perfect bike ride for Nique

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i hope everyone has a lovely weekend! my mom is in town for the next couple of days, so there is sure to be cupcakes and coffee breaks and shopping trips a plenty. then, sadly, we are wishing David goodbye before he summers in Maine then studies at UNC for the next two years.

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next week, i'll be working and hopefully blogging too (*fingers crossed for internet*) from west virginia. keep me updated while i'm gone!

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Sweet D

a second chance

i dug deep into the archives of the music i've sworn off as unlistenable, and was pleasantly surprised by a few songs. first, The National - their new stuff is still too melow and simple and depressing for my liking but their 2003 album - Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers - is totally me. it's dark alt-country that's pretty damn reminiscent of Wilco.

next, The Decemberists. i've gotten over lead singer Colin Meloy's affected vocals to enjoy this awesome song from the rock opera they put out last year - The Hazards of Love. pretty creative video, too.

check 'em out:

{murder me rachael, the national}

{the rake's song, the decemberists}

new tune Tuesday. Round 10. The New Pornographers

{crash years, the new pornographers}

THIS. BAND. ROCKS. from leader A.C. Newman's song writing to Dan Bejar's killer voice to Neko Case's folksy flare to the tight, catchy sound of this not-too-sweet supergroup's power pop. their new album Together, out for two weeks now, is GOOD. it's not Electric Version, and certainly no Challengers, but it's very good and worth a listen to to pump yourself up for their show next month (come with me!). check out their older stuff, too - a little more raw and a little more exciting.

Mutiny, I Promise You

These are the Fables

Adventures in Solitude

The M Street Mansioneer, an excerpt

{nique, so dang excited that it's time for installment 2 of The M Street Mansioneer!}

our dear friend Nique, who serves as the M Street mansion's wine sommelier, also moonlights as the editor-in-chief of our highly regarded, quarterly news source, The M Street Mansioneer. last quarter's issue, with over 24 copies sold (read: distributed at Happy Wednesdays™) District-wide, was a wild success. with the next issue nearing completion and due out in the next couple of weeks, i would like to share with you a sneak peak that Nique was kind of enough to pass along to me. please enjoy.

"Krishnan's third-piece-of-furniture celebration cut short"
By, Nique

Continuing the unlucky streak of events originating from 2AM Wild Cherry Pepsi cravings, Krishnan's record third piece of furniture, a small bookcase, was destroyed in a late-night freak accident on Saturday, February 2. Only nine short hours before, Aiyer had found the medium-colored wooden bookcase at the corner of 5th and M Sts. NW on his way home from work.

"Let me tell you, he was like a little kid coming home with his first 'A' in gym class," recalls fellow housemate Jamie Rowe. "He was so proud. While he was DJing our party that night, he even made announcements to take people downstairs to give them a bookcase sight-seeing tour. He got them to come down and see it by offering them 'dessert,' which consisted of one fun-size Clark bar."

Jimtern "Jimmy" Vazquez, a partygoer and bookcase-tourist who took the only known photograph of Krishnan with the bookcase before the accident (see photo at right), claims that it was a "solid piece of pine, that bookcase. Oak. Maybe hickory. Hell of a piece of furniture."

....read more in the next edition of the M Street Mansioneer, coming out soon!

ah, who cares, you always end up in the city

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HIATUS. OVER.

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i'm back (in the city)! from my extended jaunt in the west virginia hills. for those that are unaware of my new schedule, i'll be back and forth to there for the next few months and hopefully will return to you with more exciting news than the song that's been stuck in my head for the last week and the tick bite i think i have.

pictures to come!

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and stories of hillbilly bars and sleepy old towns and Waffle Huts and flop houses and new friends named Leonard....

but before i trek back out there, we have partying to do this weekend to celebrate all the good times, good parties, hot love, Thanksgivings, nights on the deck, barbecues, birthday bashes and all else that has gone down at our M Street mansion. because (ACK!!), sadly, it is time for us to move. so come one and all to our home this saturday for the FINAL Burning of the House. treats and brunch (mayyyybe) a la me and jamie, Sam Adams a la Diane, and friends of M Street galore!

see y'all Saturday!

{jamie, me, pancakes}

{friends, pre-House Burning number uno}