so long sucka

by way of pure coincidence, in the last week i finished watching 'band of brothers', a fictional miniseries about ww1 from the american perspective, 'birdsong', a fictional miniseries about ww1 from the british perspective, and i finished reading 'fall of giants' a fictional novel about ww1 from the american, british, and german perspectives.

as a result, i've been thinking a lot about service to and sacrifice for one's country. add to that my work trip to philadelphia, and i think we have a bonafide theme.

that being said, philadelphia remains one of my all-time least favorite cities.  and one of the very few in which i feel genuinely unsafe. but, as always, my co-workers and i attempted to make the best of it!

we enjoyed an amazing array of chocolate confections and other (less chocolatey) menu items, and i even picked up a souvenir (which i very rarely do). these porcelain milkshake glasses just spoke to me!

and of course, we took advantage of the history and made a stop at the liberty bell and national park. it reminded me, once again, of the great men and women who have served and sacrificed. some in uniforms, some with speeches or signatures.  service to one's country takes many forms, not all of which i agree with,.  but i have enormous respect and reverence for those who set about trying to make our country and world a better one.

in west philadelphia

a strong contender for one of my all-time least favorite cities, i'm in philly for a couple of days. with a late arrival last night and a booth set-up this morning, i haven't had much time to wander...nor would i without my male colleagues. but after talking to jami last night, i learned that reading (pronounced - redding) market is just around the corner.

akin to pike place (seattle),north market (columbus), union station underground (dc), a diverse and numerous bunch of counter restaurants are clustered together for a culinary treat. since room service was no longer running when i got in last night, my dinner consisted of microwaved beefaroni from the wawa across the street. needless to say, i was grateful for reading market and it's close proximity!

as a sidenote, did you know that most of the game monopoly is based on philadelphia? always happy to learn something new, i also learned that people often carry two wallets here... a real one and a fake one, for when someone inevitably tries to hold you up. now perhaps you'll understand why there is no love lost for this city. it's one of the only cities i've visited that actually feels dangerous.

fortunately my travel companions, all male, arrive today.

designing woman

i'm going to be on the road for most of may and june, so i have been taking full advantage of the ENTIRE MONTH that i've gotten to be home, to do some future planning for my end of june move.

i may be a little overly excited. like. a LOT overly excited.  something about a move after four years kind of gives you that 'fresh start' feeling, so i have been planning and purchasing to make sure the fresh start comes with an aesthetic high note.  wanna see?

this is how the bedroom is shaping up...

and the bathroom is starting to come together as well...

muaahhhh ha ha. can't wait for the end of june!

glaad los angeles

1: celeste and i with matt bomer 2: drew barrymore
3: celeste and i with ross mathews 4:jennifer lawrence

saturday night saw the second of three (but the last i'm going to this year) of the glaad media awards that my company sponsors.

the los angeles event is particularly well-attended by celebrity guests, and this year, there were some big names on tap. i was exciiiiiiited!  and, when we had a last minute (three days before) cancellation at our table, and there happened to be an actual boy that i might actually want to bring as my date, i invited the mexican to join me.

he canceled his existing plans for the evening and happily agreed to be my date. so come saturday night, he joined me at the hotel after i had finished my 'work' portion of the event, and was putting the final touches on my appearance.  we got to know more about each other hollering back and forth between the hotel room and the bathroom while i curled my hair. is it weird that i thought that that was kind of fun?

the truth is, i have given up on trying to impress men.  that's not to say i don't make an effort to put my best foot forward, but i prefer to do so in a natural way.  it was actually the bulgarian who 'taught' me that.  after showing some interest in me during some of my sweatiest 'hair up' moments while setting an exhibit booth, he made me realize that i want a man who thinks there's something cute about glasses and buns.

1. celeste and i with chris and scott evans  2: celeste and i with darren criss  3.bill clinton  4:celeste and i with alex newell
1. celeste and i with eric dane and rebecca gayheart  2: tobey maguire, perks of being a wallflower cast (mae whitman)
3: ryan murphy  4: charlize theron and leonardo dicaprio

at any rate, when i had finished getting ready, my handsome date and i headed downstairs to start the celebrity gawking.  javier had told me that bill clinton was the person he was most excited about seeing (and i knew he would not come through the press line), but i found it amusing how little he knew about the folks that did.  most of them were b, c, and d list celebrities, but, what can i say, i watch a lot of tv.

we chatted with my colleagues as we played the 'guess what he/she was in' game, and i was glad that my co-worker mike, and his wife celeste were back at the event. we make a good spotting team, and when the time comes for photos, we've got a rhythm down.

javier and i

we were waiting for someone to come through who we really wanted to meet, and for me, that person was matt bomer, from white collar.  i went a little bit stalker on him, but i got the photo i'd been hoping for.  in the process, i also met eric dane (gray's anatomy) and his wife rebecca, ten danson and mary steenburgen, alex newell (glee), and ross mathews (comedian, formerly from jay leno, currently on chelsea lately, but a favorite of mine from his olympic coverage).  and finally, it was time to head into dinner.

on our way into the room, we passed by chris evans (captain america, the avengers) and stopped to take a photo with he and his brother scott, before finally making our way to the table.

we enjoyed an unusually good dinner (i don't love hotel food, but this was good hotel food) and the program began!  presenters included such names as leo dicaprio, charlize theron, tobey maguire, jennifer lawrence, harvey weinstein, and matt bomer.  and of course, the most illustrious winner was former president bill clinton.

javier was elated, and despite the fact that clinton has gotten (obviously) older, he is still dynamic and charismatic, and it was a very cool experience.

my date was a perfect gentleman and i thoroughly enjoyed my evening with him.  i couldn't have asked for a better companion or a more unique experience!

i have. an announcement.

dramatic enough?  i may have stolen my own thunder by posting on facebook a few days ago, but if you hadn't read, i'm moving!

my new 'landlord' :D

the truth is, i'm not moving that far, so let me explain why it's a big deal.

my current roommate and i have been living together since april of 2009.  it's had it's ups and downs as we've discovered that we are not ideal roommates (though i think a friendship is possible once we are no longer living together), so there have been some challenges and some confrontations.  but, it was the first place i 'settled' into in california that felt like home. i love our house and i have loved knowing that cordy (the canine apple of my eye) was safe and looked after during my frequent road warrior-ing.

truthfully, despite the challenges, i probably would have stayed until i ultimately leift the state of california. but, last summer my roommate got engaged, so i knew that i had to figure out what my next step was.

a little short on wall space, but i'm obsessed
with the natural light my new room will
be getting!

the challenge for me was that i really am ready to head back east.  i've had that 'feeling' that i get, that a big change was coming, but every time i took a step in that direction, i got another 'feeling' that i needed to cool my jets for awhile.

being the control freak that i am, i have been filled with fear and trepidation. and it was amplified even further when the roomie and fiancee decided to get married in february so that he could reenlist in the military with the guardianship of his son already worked out.  and, because roomie is a teacher, the plan was (is) that she would stay in california until august, after their official reception, then join the hubs in las vegas.

i had a deadline, and it felt like it was coming fast. too fast. but every time i tried to move in one direction, i got stopped in my tracks. just kept getting that 'feeling' to hold my horse at the get and get ready to run.  and, as is so often the case, i get it now.

a couple of weeks ago, i got a text message from one of my favorite california friends -- you may recognize her from my many nerd forays (comic con, wonder con, haunted play, etc.).  she had been looking at houses to buy, on and off, for over a year. one week she might be looking here in california, and the next month in hawaii.

i'll admit that  i had fantasies that she would buy a place here, with two bedrooms and a fully fenced yard (for the dog), and that she would invite me to live with her. but as time passed, i chalked it up to a pipe dream.

living room, dining room, kitchen

according to her text, she had gone to look at a house in the long beach area (about twenty minutes north of where i am now), and she had kind of fallen for it.  a spark of hope was ignited, and later that night -- LATE that night -- i got a voicemail from her saying that she was going to put an offer on the place the following day.  even pipe dreams can come true!

after putting an offer down, and accepting the counter-offer, she officially invited me to come live with her in the 3 bedroom 2 bathroom bungalow with a fully fenced backyard.  i, of course, said yes. then got on my knees to say a prayer of gratitude.

it's everything i could have hoped for, and i am still in a state of awe that it all fell together so neatly.  while i am still hoping to get back east eventually, i am so thankful to have the burden of not knowing what was next, lifted from my shoulders. i don't know that i realized quite how heavy it was until it was gone. i feel lighter and ready to move tomorrow!

but partly in an effort not to leave my current roommate hanging for too long and partly because of my travel schedule, i will be a long beach resident come july 1st.  in a way, i'll be celebrating my own kind of freedom this july 4th. after spending the last couple of years feeling stagnant, i have lots of good reasons to hope that that chapter has finally closed.  let's see what the next one has in store!