Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Went to the National's game last Saturday and had a blast. I met up with Ames and Melly at their house and we metroed in. Apparently, it's tradition to stop at Five Guys before the game, so that's what we did. Five Guys is a decent $5 burger:

And then we headed in to watch the game:

The best part about everything was that it was deliciously mid 80s and the sun was shining and I was warm and happy. Even got the slightest bit of a sunburn. Oh, and the Nationals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 10-4 which is fun. Apparently they sort of got good out of nowhere.

Opening pitch.

I really wanted to capture the exact moment the bat hit the ball, but that's actually really hard to do.

First home run of the game. Yeah!

Nat's win!

The President's race was also pretty funny.

Afterward there was a Dierks Bentley concert. At which I learned that I don't love Dierks Bentley. There's a level of sophistication missing from his music generally, and 5 of the 10 songs were about drinking, and he sort of embodies the "forever young and carefree" mentality of the age, which I don't love. BUT he does have a ton of energy on stage, and we like that.

All in all a lovely way to spend a Saturday. There's not much more wholesome than a stadium of people singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the 7th Inning Stretch; and we like wholesome around here.

Soundtack for a Break Up

January and February -- Daft Punk, Something About Us

...I need you more than anything in my life/I want you more than anything in my life/I'll miss you more than anyone in my life/I love you more than anyone in my life...

March through May -- Kenny Chesney, Come Over

...I told you I wouldn’t call, I told you I wouldn’t care/But baby climbing the walls gets me nowhere/I don’t think that I can take this bed getting any colder/Come over, come over, come over, come over, come over...

June and July -- Jerrod Niemann, What Do You Want From Me?

...Now tell me, what do you want? What do you want? What do you want from me?/Are you tryin’ to bring back the tears or just the memories?/You keep takin’ me back, takin’ me back where I’ve already been./When we hang up it’s almost like I’m losing you again./Can’t you see? So what do you want, what do you want from me?...

August -- Sara Evans, A Little Bit Stronger

...And I'm done hoping that we could work it out/I'm done with how it feels, spinning my wheels/Letting you drag my heart around/And, oh, I'm done thinking that you could ever change/I know my heart will never be the same/But I'm telling myself I'll be okay/Even on my weakest days, I get a little bit stronger...

First half of September -- Jana Kramer, Why Ya Wanna

...Why you wanna/Show up in a old t-shirt that I love/Why you gotta tell me that I'm looking good/Don't know what/You were thinkin'/You were doing/Moving in for a hug/Like you don't know I'm coming undone/Why you gotta/Why you wanna/Make me keep wanting you...

Second half of September  -- Julieta Venegas, Me Voy

...No voy a llorar y decir que no merezco esto/Porque es probable que/Lo merezco pero no lo quiero/Por eso me voy/Que lastima pero adios/Me despido de ti y me voy...[I am not going to cry and say I don't deserve this/Becaue I probably do deserve it, but I don't want it/so I'm leaving/It's a shame, but goodbye/I'm bidding you farewell]

I'm in Trouble

Walked out the door today to head to work and with a shiver and a groan of dissatisfaction thought to myself "Why is it Winter already?"

This is a problem, because it's not Winter. It's barely the first breath of Fall. I will never be warm again.

Shenandoah

So I woke up yesterday and the universe spoke to me. It said "Jules, you need to go hiking today." So I did. I drove down to Shenandoah National Forest and hiked what they call the White Oak Canyon/Cedar Run Loop, and I'm going to tell you, that hike ain't no joke. About eight and a half miles, and steep. But really pretty.

I was unable to find someone to come with me on short notice, so I ended up just going alone, and honestly, I really enjoyed that (for those of you with safety concerns, don't worry; I let three people know that I was going and where I would be hiking, chose a relatively popular route, and checked in with the park ranger). It was nice to be able to just go at my own pace and be alone with my thoughts and stuff. And the biggest danger I found myself in was when I slipped on a slick rock and fell on my face. Which is the only reason I somewhat regret not having anyone along, because I'm sure that was hilarious.

Watch for slippery rocks

Anyway, it was a tough hike and I'm definitely feeling the descent in my calves today, but I think I was smiling literally the whole time. Particularly after I got to the summit.

And also when I made it back to the car. The last few miles took some grit. And it started pouring rain, which was fun for a while, but then my socks got wet, and that's no fun. Anyway, I'm glad the universe told me to go because it was awesome. Now I need to go back in a few weeks when Fall finished turning all those trees to fun shades of Autumn. More pictures from the hike can be found here.

This Is a Post About Running

New running shoes in bright red? Of course,  I can totally run faster and jump higher in them.

I took the month of August off of running. Mostly because I dropped heavy things on my feet while moving and one was starting to twinge bizarrely when I ran and the top of the other one was just sore. I thought to myself: perhaps I should take some time off running. And I did. Instead I spent a lot of excruciating on the elliptical machine.

A very distant secondary reason that I took August off of running is that I had worn through the soles of my running shoes and I used August's clothing budget to build up my work wardrobe, and I had to wait until I engaged the September clothing budget to buy new running shoes (sometimes the budget goes to September before the year does)

So anyway, all through August I'd been telling people that in September I was going to start running again, and I was all "yeah, running, whatevs" like it's just what I do to burn calories and maintain a healthy cardiovascular system. Then I engaged September clothing budget early so that I could have new running shoes available at the beginning of August. I went to a running store, but they were exceedingly not prompt in attending to me so I ended up just ordering new shoes off of Amazon.

And then something magical happened. As I completed my order, an excited feeling started to swell within my breast. And I said within myself "you're getting new shoes to run in and on Monday, you can GO RUNNING!" and my soul squee'd in delighted anticipation.

Guys, I WAS EXCITED TO GO RUNNING!

I think that this officially makes me A Runner.

And you know what, I WENT running on Monday. Sure, it was just an easy mile -- have to break in the shoes and the feet -- but it was a-MAZ-ing. 'Cause, you know, *Jules nochelantly shrugs her shoulders and makes her "it's no big deal" face* I'm A Runner now.

Sunday Evening

Went with one of my favorite people to one of my favorite places. Love.

Four Lists of Five Things

Five Things I Miss About Key West

1. The sun. I feel like I somehow managed to be outside much more often when I was in Key West, but that might just be because Reston is a super shady (as in there is a lot of trees and therefore shade) town, so even when I am outside, I'm still not getting that full Sunshine effect.
2. The people. This should probably actually be number one, but oh, I miss the sun. Facebook is nice because I still feel like I know what's going on, but also sad-making because I wish I was there. Yay! for staying clued in, Boo! for making me miss all my awesome friends.
3. Annie's. I did not realize how great of a deal Annie's Buying Club was until I starting having to buy veggies individually from stores. And I also am still not sure about this whole, plan your menu and THEN go to the store business.
4. My tiny office. I work in a huge office building now filled with strangers (and some familiar faces). I miss both the closeness of a small office and the feeling of being a big fish in a small pond. I'm now just a regular sized fish.
5. The Cafe, Matheessen's, Big Johns, Thai Life, Goldmans, etc. Sure, there are a ton of restaurants here too, but I haven't discovered my favorites yet. And none of them is a floating restaurant.

Five Things I Do NOT Miss About Key West

1.  Living on base. Ordered pizza for lunch today, and just gave the dude my address. And then he came and knocked on my door. No need for a call from the corner of Whitehead and United. Invited my friends over, same thing: just gave them the address and they knocked on my door. Genius!
2. Geckos. They aren't cute.
3. That stink that sometimes happens in the late summer. If you've ever been in Key West during the stinky times, you know what I'm talking about.
4. Mopeds. I'm sure they are great for the people who drive them, but I hated getting stuck behind them.
5. Tourists. Luckily I live far enough away from the tourist hot spots that I just don't have to deal with them anymore. And it's glorious. I love being a tourist, but I don't love living in an area that a lot of people tour to.

Five Things I'm Loving About Northern Virginia

1. Old Friends. I do miss my Key West friends, but it's been great to start integrating old friends back into my daily life. And I don't want to sound elitist or anything, but it's been awesome that so many of them are single.
2. Target. And Macy's. And specialty running stores. And specialty grocery stores. And DSW. And holy heck how did I live my life without such convenient commercialism!
3. Smart people. I'm not saying that people in Key West are not smart, just that if you've decided to live in Key West, it's for a reason, and the reason is not so that you can randomly start talking about the Napoleonic Wars and expect five people to join in the conversation.
4. Bike paths. Everywhere.
5. Cultural Events. All the time. 

Five Things I'm Not Loving About Northern Virginia

1. Traffic. And roads that make no sense. And the people who drive here.
2. Rent. I'm getting a great deal for my area, but its still substantially more than I was paying. And also, it's not just being withheld from my paycheck like it was, so I actually see that giant chunk of money disappear.
3. The lack of a horizon. Between the trees and the hills and the wonky curvy roads, you just can't ever see that far ahead of you. Sometimes it's cozy, and sometimes it's claustrophobia-inducing.
4. Having to put make-up on every day. I sort of hate feeling like I have to look good all the time.
5. Slow hymns. Our pianist at church in Key West always played the hymns at a wonderfully fast pace and I loved it. Now I feel like I'm singing dirges all the time.