Da diddley qua qua.

This evening I was working late, and when I finally wrapped up what I needed to do, I stepped outside my office building to torrential downpour. I made my way as quick as I could to the subway station and found relief for forty minutes or so until I got to my stop.

Trying to walk to my apartment, the wind was trying to wrench the umbrella from my grip, and the rain doused me every chance it got. I entered my building as if a monster had been chasing me. I was soaking wet and my dress clung to my legs and when I took a step my heels made that squiggy sound to let me know they were full of water.

Yesterday, my evening went FAR better. The weather was beautiful and I walked around the city in my sunglasses. And...I got a haircut!

Before, I've complained about finding a good and reasonably priced stylist in the city. Well, lo and behold, my stylist is two for two now. And yes, that's my Gap dress with a tee on underneath! Cute, right? I then met up with Kells at Sweet Emily's and we had a grand time consuming our favourite food and gabbing about all the exciting things that are happening this summer and all that already has!

Unfortunately, my amazing cut and blowdry (my stylist called it the "fun" blowdry), which usually lasts a couple of days, was a victim of today's horrendous, vindictive weather.

I'll make this painless, try to be sweet.

What a glorious weekend it was! On Friday, Erica, Kelly and I had another official summer date - dinner at Sweet Emily's and then a movie. What movie? Well, Star Trek. Yes, third time! Yes, Chris Pine has officially entered my Top Five. And I'll discuss those included in the top five in another post. For now, know that Jon Hamm was kicked out (this may change on August 16th...) and neither Keanu Reeves nor Ryan Adams were ever in contention, however intrigued I am by their works.

Here's another thing about Star Trek - my best friend Kelly is not a fan of science fiction. She has very high standards when it comes to movies. It has to be thought-provoking and usually indie and/or star Zac Efron. She despises sci-fi, period pieces, and cheesiness (except where Mr. Efron is concerned). She loves Wes Anderson films and Natalie Portman. But she looooved Star Trek. This is the highest recommendation I can give. "Oh why haven't you checked out [Movie]? Kelly saw it and loved it." That usually makes any friend of mine who knows Kelly, go see the movie. That's why her nickname is Kells For the Win.

On Saturday, Erica and I hosted our annual rooftop BBQ! We had some real fun with our good friends! Per usual.

Jen & Molly!

Gaby, Katie, Sean.

Kristen, Lauren Ashley, Cara, Rob.

Molly, Ben, Kristen, Lauren Ashley.

Andrew, Katie, Jonah.

Rob, Jaime, Andrew.

ROOFTOP BOCCE!!!

After the festivities, we headed into Manhattan to see Tyler & Pete's band A Great Big Pile of Leaves play a show at Lit Lounge. It was uberfun and I love their music - it's quite interesting to watch Tyler's skills at the drums. He said he will teach me how to play some Foo Fighters songs on the drums in the future (holding you to that, T-Bone!). Anyway, they're working on a video right now for a new song and a) the video is awesome and b) I can't get the song out of my head!! More on that when it's released!

Yesterday I caught up with a lot of things on my checklist, and also caught the MTV Movie Awards because I heard Chris Pine was presenting an award. There was actually a few good moments during them, none that topped Pine's cardigan + oxford + tie ensemble, though. Let's be honest.

Later today I'll be announcing the winner of my Mandy Moore contest! We had a very astute reader come through on Saturday with a one-step answer and I think that's put off any other contestants from leaving a comment :)

How was your weekend?!

It's toasted.

Announcement! Announcement! I don't know if you've heard, but Jon Hamm (THE Don Draper, my favourite of the Mad Men) is hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend. We all know of my love for him. And GUESS who is going to the live dress rehearsal Saturday night?!?!?!

THIS GIRL! THIS GIRL! THIS GIRL! WHATTUP?!

If you're unaware, the dress rehearsal occurs from 8-10 every Saturday night before the actual live show. They go through two hours of material during this time, and between 10 and 1130, they cut out a half-hour of skits for the live broadcast. My laugh factor (or lack thereof) may help decide which skits make it and which get auf'd. Just sayin'.

Oh, and the musical guest (who also rehearses) is Coldplay, a band who's music is creeping up on my U2-brand lame-factor. But they're solid, of course. The SNL studio is actually one of the best out there - apparently it sounds amazing when you're right there, but sometimes doesn't translate to television as wonderfully.

I'd like to give a special THANK YOU to my bestie Kells for this lovely engagement gift. How awesome is she?? Yeah, she's right at 11 stars out of 10. She's good people. She's salt of the Earth. And, in all honesty, she's one of the most inspiring people I know, and one of the people I most admire. Two words: Hero Status.

And now, this is a perfect opportunity to share more Jon Hamm/Don Draper photos. Anybody complaining? Didn't think so.

Slick.

Pensive.

Perceptive.

See you on Saturday.

She's scared to death of cobra snakes.

I've been incredibly busy. But here are some wrap-up stories about my wonderful Memorial Day weekend spent with my family and friends:

- Hi Dad! Hi Uncle Arthur! (They found my blog.)

- So, Kells hates period films and dust in movies. Yeah, dust. We thought it was wise to bring her to Indiana Jones! The best part is she LOVED it. Yay! I mean, the three of us were sitting there cracking up at the corniness (oh, the monkey scene) and the myriad of unintentional comedy scenes (Shia rolling up on his moto'cyyyyy). It was a fun adventure movie and it kept us laughing, so I'll thumbs up that one. For part of a franchise, it held great - at least it wasn't X-Men 3 or Spiderman 3 (UGH). Also, pretty cool that they brought back Indy's love interest, and they didn't shack him up with the likes of a 20-year-old Hollywood starlet. Also, that actress, Karen Allen, runs a knitting shop and got a call from Spielberg to her knitting studio asking her to come back. Uh, YEAH, I'm freakin' knitting, I have some time to be in the next Indiana Jones mega-blockbuster...or, whatever.

- Indiana Jones, via someecards.com:

- Erica and I were running to catch the 456 from Grand Central when she ran onto it, and the doors closed in my face. I was so mad that I had to wait. (So much traveling, you know?). Anyway, I get on the next train and after a couple of stops I look up and I realize that it's my roommate from college, Melissa, whom I haven't seen in THREE YEARS (since we graduated, woah!). I snap my fingers at her (I dunno, my voice was gone?) and we have a mini-flipout on the train, along with her friend Jill, that had come and visited us at Boston University years ago. Turns out she lives near Union Square, and I had to take the L, but it was a fun little coincidence. We are getting together soon...

There's my wrap-up.

Oh, also, there's THIS new pic from the Watchmen movie:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm SO BUSY this week. On Friday I'm jetting off to St. Louis to meet up with the FIANZ. I can't contain my excitment! We're celebrattin' his birthday :)

Walking into spiderwebs.

We know I'm a videochatting fiend. So, Jesse's computer broke yesterday and I had a sad. I mean, we're in a long distance relationship - no es bueno. Yeah, we have the phone, but it's easier to talk to people while you see their face. Maybe it's just me, but talking on the phone is just too much guesswork. I tend to pay real close attention to inflection, and it's much more labor intensive than video chat. Also, I happen to love my fianz' face. Today I came home from work and saw that my bestie Kells had a little camera next to her screenname!

Me: Wait, should I put on pants for this?
Kelly: What? You're not wearing pants?
Me: HAHA just kidding.
Kelly: hahahaha
Me: Actually, I'm not, but that was funny, right?
[flash a bare leg into the screen]
Kelly: Why aren't you wearing pants?!?!
Me: Well, I just got home from work and I hate my work pants so the first thing I do is take them off, and then i was just checkin' on the internets, which is pretty PANTS OPTIONAL, and we started video chatting.
Kelly: Oh, okay. So, what's up?

---
P.S.

You knew I wasn't going to do a videochat post without one of him. Also, can you see why I love looking at his face?!?!?!?!?! THANK YOU.

Kells keeps me laughing via email.

Kells: fakey wedding planner, and always for the win. She seriously rules. Especially when I'm having a crappy day. Yay!