Memorial Day: Rhapsody Revue

I had the pleasure of spending my Memorial Day weekend at the Laramy residence in Easton, MD, as guests of Molly and Tim, for their annual "Rhapsody Revue" weekend-long holiday throwdown.

It was an awesome time, extremely relaxing but also quite eventful, with two days full of eating (fried chicken! corn on the cob!), drinking, wiffle ball, softball, badminton, boat riding, more eating and drinking, and lots of great music all the while. The perfect weather sure didn't hurt, either.

I was lucky to have convinced some of my college pals to drive out and join the fun on Sunday, which made the event extra special.

All in all, I was not happy about having to go back to work today, and I'm already looking forward to the party next year...

As I've noticed some page-loading problems with the blog when I post lots of pics, from now on I'll (try to) update my Flickr as often as I can, and when possible, direct you to my albums there for extended viewing. Let's start right now... more photos from Memorial Day weekend.

Nike and Apple -- more techie toys!

So Kam informed me the other day about the latest partnership between Nike and Apple. The Nike+iPod product is the latest in snazzy technology, this time connecting your shoe wih your iPod Nano to allow you to exercise and store your times, distances, and calories burned and then view it and organize it on your iPod. You can also custom-build playlists that go with your workouts, and apparently you can decide when to "play your power song for an extra boost." But wait, there's more-- your iPod will also talk to you while you're working out, chiming out lines like "2 more miles to go" while also giving you pace information. Pretty sweet stuff. If only it said, "Are you feeling that Mickey D's lunch from yesterday yet? Pick up the pace, you slowpoke."

But seriously, it's kinda awesome. It may seem a bit confusing when you only read about it, but if you visit the Nike website they have a nice video set up to illustrate to you just how it works. Also see the Apple page for more info about the product and the software you need to run it. I guess the only catch is, you have to have a Nano. Oh, and you have to like Nike running shoes. I'm telling you, these big companies really know how to getcha!

The coolest part about all of this is that the initial link Kam sent me was directly linked to the original press release issued by Nike. Who sent it out, you ask? Why, PR Newswire. Oh, what a shameless plug.

Happy Memorial Day weekend, all!

Flowers in the Window

Ah, what a glorious Spring weekend it was. Perfect weather for just about anything. Some snapshots from the weekend...

Me and Steph, enjoying the waterfront Baltimore breeze:

The J.Crew couple:

Only the freshest at the Dupont Circle Farmer's Market:

Mmm, my favorite fruit:

And finally, because everyone loves a puppy -- even if he isn't quite potty trained:

P.S. No snapshot for this one, but a big Happy B-day shoutout to my dear friend and loyal blogreader, Lo!

Apple-mania

By now most of you have heard about this weekend's big opening of Apple's Fifth Avenue store. The thing is basically like New York City's Louvre now, wouldn't you say? Instead of a pyramid, a cube, and instead of rare works of art, popular technology for the masses?

In classic Apple form, if you are bored/obsessed enough, you can visit the website to watch fast-forwarded Quicktime video of the first 24 hours of the store opening. That's right, in case you weren't one of the crazy people who camped out to get into the store, you can be one of the people to watch those people as they waited in line as the sun rose and fell. Anyway, it's so cultish and true to Apple form, but also totally cool. I'll be first to admit that I'm excited to check it out. After all, I'm the loser girl who loves to go to Apple stores in every city, even though I know all the products are the same.

This one will be open 24/7, 365 days a year, so in case you have a severe case of insomnia on, say, Christmas, or the bars have kicked you out but you're not ready to call it a night, you can stroll into the Apple store and play with iPods and check your e-mail. Apple probably hopes that you'll be drunk enough to throw down your credit card for some new headphones or maybe even a MacBook Pro.

Gothamist has a nice article wrapping up the grand opening weekend...

My First Nats Game!

Thanks to Tim and one of his extra season tickets, I was able to take in my first Nationals game last night, and it just happened to be the first game of the "Battle of the Beltway" series against the Orioles.

This much-hyped, first regular season meeting between teams from Baltimore and DC since 1971 didn't provide too much drama or action to get the crowd hyped up, and the stadium (RFK looks so tiny, by the way!) was 15,000 short of a sellout. See empty seats below:

It was a fun time, despite the late evening chill and the fairly poor showing of the hometown team, who fell 5-1 to the O's. I found myself rooting for the Nats the whole time, but at one point I realized, as if stumbling upon some amazing conclusion, "Wait a sec, I was an O's fan way before I was ever a Nats fan. Actually, I don't even know if I'm a Nats fan." After this inner battle of sports team loyalty -- during which I had to pause for a moment and laugh over how I used to love Brady Anderson -- I realized it didn't really matter and was interrupted by a more important thought: "This jumbo grilled hot dog and cold, overpriced domestic beer is damn good!" Then I remembered why I love baseball games -- it's just choosing between the hot dog/nachos/$9 chicken tender platter that always causes some problems. The home runs and the fireworks (which incidentally we missed as we were walking out of the stadium, oops!) are just fun bonuses.

Holy TV Week

Ok, I haven't been a great blogger and I'm sorry for that. The spring got me sucked into the vicious cycle of work-home-TV. Hopefully after next week, I'll be out of the rut. But in the mean time...

It's that time of year, folks... Season finales are dominating our lives, and within a few weeks when all our shows wrap we'll find ourselves flipping the channels and wondering, "What the hell do I do now?" Ah, how sad it is to realize how we let TV rule us, but soon with the good weather, we can re-devote ourselves to being more social and getting out more (or catching up on all the DVDs of the series we couldn't fit into our schedule! Kidding...). Anyway, Monday night started out what should be a fabulous week of the highly-anticipated May sweeps/finale period.

Millions of Americans breathed a sigh of relief after Bush's Immigration speech lasted less than an hour. Say whatever you want Dubya, just don't delay my "24" or "Grey's Anatomy"!! Sad, but true.

Monday's two hours of Grey's was probably the most anticipated episode the series has seen yet. After Sunday night's gripping ending, reminiscent of old ER-style drama (incidentally, ER's finale on Thursday also includes a hospital shooting), everyone tuned in to see what would happen to Burke and Denny, and whether my-scrubs-are-too-tight Izzie would lose her job over all of it. The episode lived up to all the hype, and as usual, I found myself wiping up tears at the end. I'm still amazed that a show with such an unlikeable title character -- Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey -- can be so popular. (For those of you who never saw Ellen Pompeo get Punk'd, it doesn't do much to improve her image, and it's actually a pretty poor Punk'd; sorry Ashton) Maybe it's that they cast such great guys to play opposite her -- ummm Hello Chris O'Donnell, thanks for crawling out from under that rock, and don't worry if you haven't shaved in awhile, we like you with the scruffy face!

In contrast, 24 messes with my emotions in a completely different way. It's a totally ADD-driven show and since everything happens so quickly, it leaves no time for you to register a death, an injury, a big reveal, or really anything significant. Again, can I remind everyone that President Palmer, Michelle Dessler, Tony Almeida and Edgar all died this season? Forgive me if I'm leaving out other significant characters; my brain is so fried from the drama that I can't keep everyone's fates in order. You're turning us all into robots, Jack! Shed some tears, or for crying out loud, find a hot pocket or cup noodles and eat something, you must be starving! Forget being trapped on an island, everyone at CTU could stand to get some food deliveries from the well-nourished bunch on Lost.

Tonight's Idol was also a goodie, and I was glad to see McPhee return to her old form with a beautiful rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." So she can be a little too big for her britches and she's had her off moments, but when she's on, she's really the best, and come on-- did you really want Daughtry to be THE Idol? He'll be fine on his own selling millions of hard rock albums. And if not, he always has Fuel (or maybe even Creed!). Either way, guess we can look forward to a thrilling Taylor Hicks/Katharine McPhee final next week!

To conclude, I know House is like the best show ever, and while I've seen a couple episodes and enjoyed it, I'm no regular and thus cannot comment on what a great season it's been. BUT, I can contribute a fun link to Tweevs and her sneaky L.A. adventure to the House Soundstage... What fun!

Before he was Sawyer...

Thanks go to EW.com for pointing out that Josh Holloway, also known as Sawyer, the bad boy (and hottie) of "Lost," is the same guy who got his butt kicked by Alicia Silverstone in the awesomely huge and memorable Aerosmith "Cryin'" video. Gotta love the "before they were stars" trivia.

Pop cult. update

Since Meevs just sent me the latest news on Britney (she's preggers, again!), I thought it was a time for a short pop culture update.

This week on TV, Jack Bauer does the improbable and manages to land a freakin' airplane on a short stretch of freeway, somehow managing to slam on the brakes before careening into a overpass without so much as a spark or small fire igniting. Thank god there are only 3 hours left, I don't know how much longer I can suspend my disbelief! (Honestly, since when is the Prez. left alone for multiple hours in a mysteriously dark room during a huge national crisis, and does he really have his own RAZR? Does 'W' text message??)

Watching this week's Iron Chef America rematch between Morimoto and Galileo's Roberto Donna was, for me, equally exhilarating as the 24 episode. My heart was actually pounding during the judging session. I was elated to see Donna come out on top after his disappointing and lackluster showing the first time around. How no one manages to accidently cut off a finger during the intense competition is still a mystery to me.

My dad is currently watching the ABC TV movie, "Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America," centered around the "what if..." of a bird flu pandemic. All these scenarios, not to mention the gazillion number of press releases I've processed on the bird flu, are starting to freak me out a bit. They're starting to remind me of the scene in "Outbreak" when Patrick Dempsey (now known only as "McDreamy") boards the plane and spreads the virus and you can see all the particles floating through the air and infecting everyone. Way to make everyone paranoid, people!

In more serious television (not really), Katharine McPhee needs saving on American Idol. Those of you reading this within voting hours must do your best to save the only female remaining in the competition!

Scrubs alert: the Season 3 DVD was released today and Best Buy has it on sale. This is still my favorite comedy on TV; I can't think of another show that has me laughing out loud more often.

In music news, some new Radiohead tracks are floating around on the 'net, mostly from their May 6 show in Copenhagen. These guys are so the opposite of Ryan Adams that this is very exciting news for fans. Go here to find some tracks.

Finally, to round out this completely random post, here's one of the best recent open letters posted to McSweeney's: AN OPEN LETTER TO THE OCCUPANTS OF A HOUSE ON THE NINTENDO GAME "PAPERBOY."

Oh, what I'd give for a Nintendo marathon right now!

Kyle cleans up nicely, don't you think?

Kyle... in a suit! How could I resist?

And one with his rents:

Foxfield Photo Diary

Ok, so there are no excuses for my poor blogging etiquette, but I hope you'll forgive me with this update from last weekend's wonderful trip to C'ville.

Below are a series of photos to illustrate what was a perfect day at the races.

Rounding up the crew in the parking lot of the Hampton Inn, one of Charlottesville's finest hotels off Route 29...

In case you forgot to bring your own hat...

Funny joke? Or starting to feel the mimosas?

The gals of 354 on the back of the pick-up.

Will and Ingrid in their Foxfield best (Check out those orange sherbet pants!!)

Pouy and fried chicken = happy camper.

I actually caught a couple horse races this year, and guess what? They're pretty exciting to watch!

It's all fun and games until someone has to clean up the mess...

I'm actually mid-air in celebration over finding some porta-potties with no line (nice camera work, Lo!)

And this one's just to illustrate what a freakin' amazing blue sky day it was. (And of course, to show Alli nuzzling Lo)

Sunday was another gorgeous day to end the month of April, and we strolled the grounds and enjoyed a delicious bagel brunch. Where, you ask? Why, at Bodo's... on the corner!!

Gorgeous tulips we observed in one of the gardens as part of our botany field trip.

'Til next year!...