New outfit?

Tell me...when was the last time YOU heard of a parka dress?

You know you want one.

Beach Walking

Yesterday, I walked to the beach.

BECAUSE IT WAS 65 DEGREES!

It was beyond glorious. I saw a man in a convertible with his bike in the passenger seat like it was his pet dog. I saw a lady wearing a flowing, flowery shirt and a hat blasting rap music through her open car window. I saw some tweenage girls huddled in a clump on the sidewalk, discussing the significance (?) of who had the best shoes. I saw a man wearing a sweatshirt and a rainbow scarf wandering down the side of the road.

But the weirdest thing I saw happened when I got to the beach itself. A girl and her boyfriend were meandering slowly near the water's edge. Suddenly, a dog, no more than one foot off the ground, ran up to them.

And the girl started screaming.

Not cute* screaming. We're talking oh-my-gosh-I'm-about-to-get-murdered screaming. Screaming screaming. And she proceeded to run around her boyfriend in circles until the dog finally decided to give up its efforts to play.

Better yet, there were two other dogs on the beach that within a five-minute span had elicited the same reaction.

The dogs' owner passed me as I was walking by and we shared an incredulous smile.

People are funny sometimes.

*Note: I have never actually witnessed an event where screaming could be classified as "cute." But you get the gist?

Breakfast Frustration

In honor of Shakespeare, Margaret Thatcher, Henry Purcell, Guy Fawkes (?), Richard the Lionheart, John Dowland, Francis Bacon, John Lennox, Charles Dickens, and (of course), Kate Middleton, I have eating tea and crumpets for breakfast every morning for the past several days. At work, no less.

They're delicious. They're a little like a hybrid of English muffins and sugarless pancakes. I'm sure they're not the REAL deal...but I quite like them. They remind me of our apartment Royal Wedding Extravaganza.

In any case, this morning I went go to heat up my crumpets in our office toaster oven. The kitchen is conveniently directly across from my office, which is great because then I can work while they toast instead of standing there watching them. I set the timer, walked away, and waited until the bell rang.

I was hungry. I couldn't wait to eat them...all covered in butter and jam, warm and slightly crispy, complemented by my steaming mug of chai. I reached into the toaster oven and started to take them out.

They were cold.

So logically, I reset some settings, put them back in, and did it again.

Still cold.

And a third time! This time making sure that the heat came on before I walked away.

STILL COLD.

I finally gave up and walked to the other toaster oven in our other kitchen. (Yes, we have two. Yes, one of them is chock full of awesome snacks. Yes, you're allowed to be jealous.)

Then I realized that the first toaster oven temperature was set to...oh...75 degrees.

Oops.

Surprises

Ok, so after all of my previous complaining, I completely neglected the absolute sweetest part of today.

I had to go to the doctor this afternoon, which was something I had dreaded with fear and trembling (sort of) all afternoon. Once that was all over, I met up with the Official Blog Boyfriend (he will be referred to as such henceforth) for a quick dinner before I headed home and he went off to a rehearsal.

And he had bought me flowers.

Just-because flowers.

Saying he's the greatest is an understatement.

March Madness

Not going to lie...I hate this time of year. I don't like that I'm tired to death of being inside, but it's not yet warm enough to go hang out in the sun. I don't like that spring still seems like it's probably months away. I'm tired of my same old winter clothes. And I don't like that I'm complaining so much.

I guess you could say I'm in a funk.

That being the case, oftentimes I feel like I don't really have that much worthwhile material to say, which ends up making me a dull conversationalist. That ends up leading to me feeling dreadfully inadequate as a person, silently shouting to the heavens something like, "Why oh why do I feel like a rock?!?" (Qualifier: yes, I am aware that rocks don't have feelings.)

Having said all of the above, I can. not. wait. until. spring.