Lex Discipulus

So Long, Farewell

2010-10-11T20:47:00.000-04:00

I have had some wonderful times on this blog, but like my significant other, I am moving on to Tumblr. The Blackberry application won me over. Plus I could import all my old blog posts and use my adorable background. All winners in my book.

So follow me on Tumblr.

http://lexdiscipulus.tumblr.com/

xoxoxo
Lex

Happy Columbus day

2010-10-11T14:05:00.000-04:00

Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492.

And now half of America has the day off.

But I dont. I am stuck in a sauna of a class room with it being so hot you want to jump out the window to escape.

But enjoy your day off if you have it.

If not, giggle at this picture.

Vote for my Blogger for Blackberry idea!

2010-10-10T20:36:00.001-04:00

http://productideas.appspot.com/#8/e=e828

Its been a while, so I feel like I need to update you all

2010-10-10T17:09:00.000-04:00

THE MPRE: I have been studying for that a lot lately. My goal is to get through the lecture and do a practice test or two. BTW, the MPRE is November 6th. Kinda far and at 9 am! Ew. I still have a little less than a month to do my studying.
MY LONG RESEARCH PAPER: I have gotten as far as a handwritten outline. It has cases and a basic set of "here is what I want to explore." I also need to get on top of that soon. Specifically before the semester is up. I promise I will focus more on it when I have my MPRE done.
MY COMPUTER: It is dying. It turns off randomly, Sony thinks it is because they have a defective fan installed on it. So they are allegedly coming to fix it soon. Huzzah! Hopefully that will make it better. For now I have a bag of frozen peas on my lap, with my laptop on top of them.
MY HAIR: I have found a favorite shampoo. Well at least for now. Organix Coconut Milk Shampoo and Conditioner. Yum it smells good. And I normally dont like the smell of coconut. But this is nice. Plus my hair looks FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC! Yay!
HALLOWEEN: I have no holiday post for now, but I did make sugar cookies. Pumpkin and ghost cutouts! With some pumpkin seasoning. Yum! They tasted good and the Pillsbury can of icing was the best tool ever. It made frosting the cookies a breeze!
HALLOWEEN COSTUMES: The tax attorney and I still havent decided on a costume outfit. We are running low on time and we need either (a) suggestions or (b) some sort of inspiration. Keep in mind last year we were Jack and Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas. Yeah. Hard to top that!
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: My favorite Disney movie ever came out on DVD and BluRay. Guess who bought it for me? And got to listen to me sing the songs? Yup. The tax attorney. Best boyfriend ever? Hells yeah.
WORK: So far going really well. I got to write a reply brief for a brief I wrote before I left for the summer. It was a blast. And I banged it out in 3 hours. Woot! I know I know, more experienced attorneys can do it in less time, but I am super cool and young. Cut me slack.
SCHOOL: I still love my Crim Trial Ad class. Wills is still ok. BA is killing me and 1st Amendment could be so much more interesting. Oh well.
THE TAX ATTORNEY: No changes. We are still dating and still happy. I think.

Thats all I can think of. Oh! I joined My Blog Spark on the suggestion of a friend. They send you things to review and give away. So plan on having some prizes for you, my loyal readers (hahaha. Wow. That sounded ridiculous) in the coming future.

Easy Peasy Pumpkin Pie

2010-10-03T18:29:00.000-04:00

I love pumpkin pie. I love the taste, the smell, the warm pie and cool whipped cream. Yum. Being one of my favorite foods, I figured I can share with you all an easy pumpkin pie recipe that ANYONE can do!

Being easy, there is some cheating.

You will need the following:

Premade pie crust
1 can of Pumpkin filling (about 2 cups) (in a can if you are lazy or you can make your own)
1 Cup of Heavy Cream
3/4 Cup of Milk (I use 2% or skim, lots of others use whole)
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Allspice
Vanilla
Ginger
3/4 Cup of PACKED BROWN sugar
A pinch of salt
2 large eggs (if you want a thick pie, 3 if you want a more custard like one)
A little bit of melted butter

How to make it!

Preheat your oven to a warm 375 degrees.
Mix your eggs well in a bowl
Add Pumpkin filling, Heavy Cream, Milk, BROWN sugar, and eggs. Add spices to flavor (I love my pie full of spice, so I try to mix a little of each until it is about 1 Tablespoon of spice).
If you need numbers for the spices, you can try this: 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp allspice.
Add a pinch of salt (lots of people dont do this, but salt makes EVERYTHING taste better)
Mix it up well. It will be watery. It's ok.
Use your premade pie crust and put it into a 10inch pie dish. Decorate the sides of the crust with a fork or pie cutter or your finger. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE poke a few small holes in the pie crust with your fork. I promise better results!
For those that like the pretty golden crust, brush a little melted butter on the parts of the crust showing.
Pour in the pumpkin mix. SLOWLY.
Bake for about 45-50 minutes. OR until the filling is mostly set, but still wiggles a little when you move it.
Cool the pie and pop it in the fridge.

It's easy enough! And its SO good with some whipped cream. Yum.

hey im new at this blogging thing how do u get ppl to follow you?and how do u find pages to look at other blogs?

2010-10-01T01:06:00.001-04:00

Wow, um honestly I have no clue. I dont even know who I have following me/if I have anyone. Just write what you want and the rest should follow.

Ask me anything

The Great Rain, Stub, and Window Clings!

2010-09-30T17:39:00.000-04:00

It is raining like a mofo. It's been raining ALL DAY and the puddles are actually secret lakes that may or may not be deceptively deep. And this may or may not have lead yours truly into walking into said deceptive puddle. And getting soaked to the knees. Regardless of the rainboots.

And off to work I went, where I picked up some papers and headed to various courts. After rushing around court 1, I head to court 2 (which is a BIT more sketchy than court 1 with my pants still soaked. I was glared at and given the creepy up down looks by random sketchballs. And then I run into my Crim Trial Ad prof.

*sigh*

One of his first comments was if I crossed a river to get to court. No. I didnt. After some mindless chatter, we parted ways and I filed the remainder of my papers.

Ps. It is still raining.

----------------------------------------------
Stub visited this week. After a Bears victory (SUCK IT PACKERS FANS AND TAX ATTORNEY) and then going out on Tuesday with Stub I was ready to pass out on Wedn.

But onto Stub and his visit.

We drank. We discussed everything and anything. And at some point I did something and I ended up with a bruise on my back. I got skills.

But after all the drinks and the laughter, it came down to this. I missed him. It was so great to see him and to spend some time with someone, who even now can make me think I am in undergrad. All that was missing is my bar in undergrad.

-----------------------------------------------
Onto easy breezy Halloween stuff.

Window Clings

I love them. I have a small apartment with LOTS of windows so clearly one of the easiest ways to decorate my apartment. And they can stick to mirrors! So using my super easy method I have used the following clings (ps this web sight is the BEST for decorations!) which have to be clicked on bc they wont let me post pictures!

http://www.partycheap.com/Spider_and_Web_Clings_Window_Clings_14_sheet_p/01034.htm

http://www.partycheap.com/Pumpkin_Patch_Window_Clings_12_sheet_p/01130.htm

http://www.partycheap.com/Halloween_Character_Clings_25_sheet_p/01131.htm

Combined they lead to a cool end result!

One window pane is goofy and the next creepy.

I was too lazy to get up and take a proper picture. Oh well.

Halloween Obsessions: Baking!

2010-09-28T12:30:00.002-04:00

I love to bake. Cookies, brownies, cupcakes. Love them all. So for this Halloween season I am going to share the things that make my Halloween baking a bit easier.

1) Frosting! I love to add frosting on my cookies. Especially when I do a basic sugar cookie. This one looks so promising bc it comes out of a tube (?) and allows me to interchange icing tips! It comes in a cute orange color and should go GREAT with basic sugar cookie!

(Dont mind the random kitchen appliances)

2) Cupcake liners! I happen to love a set from Crate and Barrel. It's a set of 50 with 3 different styles. Last year I got through the spider and ghost. This year I have the witch's hat. These liners are adorable and add something cute to the cupcake!

3) Gel icing! I love the basic icing, but sometimes I want to do something a little extra! Draw a ghost, write Happy Halloween, make a spider web. It varies! And that is where this BEAUTIFUL gel icing comes in. It actually sparkles. Yes I am in love. And yes I like sparkles on my cookies.

4) Cookie Cutters! Unfortunately I have no link for them. I have slowly been collecting them from random places and whenever I find one I love. But of course you need cookie cutters! Basic item that makes the average sugar cookie SO much more fun!

I wish I had a number five, but I am going to leave that to you! What other Halloween product do you love for baking?

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

2010-09-25T16:43:00.000-04:00

For those of you who DONT use google reader to read my blog, will notice that I have changed up the background a bit. I am moving into fall and all the fall glory that comes with it. Including Halloween love. So expect lots of posts that require little hard core thought from me about decorations, Halloween candy, costumes, and fun things like that.

I promise it is NOT because I am getting sick of blogging. Because I am not. I am however busy as hell. Today I registered for the MPRE (the test a lawyer to be must take t prove they are ethical) and I have an appeal I am working on for work. Yes it is a Saturday and yes I am working. I also have a direct examination I have to prepare for Tuesday. Plus going on interviews with my clinic kids and working on an outline for my long paper. Plus actually doing some studying for the MPRE.

And the reading. Which I havent done yet. Oops. So while I work on all my stuff and decorate my home, I will be entertaining you with my stories of Halloween decorations, cute cupcakes and muffins, pumpkin picking and carving and costumes.

If you are hoping for more hard core stuff, you might need to look elsewhere for a while.

xoxo
Lex

5 things you dont know about me . . . or maybe you do?

2010-09-20T11:24:00.001-04:00

1) I talk to my parents about twice a day, per parent. Plus at least one phone call to each sibling per day. That is a total of about 7 calls a day. And that doesnt include the days where I really wanna talk to them or have something major to say. Most of my friends find this totally weird. I find it normal. And I like it because it makes me feel closer to them even if they are far apart. I know what is going on in their lives and they know what is going on in mine.

2) I will always have 3 things in my apartment. Coffee, tea and baked goods. Come over for a cup of joe or tea and some cookies or muffins. I like visitors. And I like to bake.

3) I am a neat freak. Things belong in a certain place damn it. I like my clothes in a certain place and my stuff clean. Right now my bathroom could use a mopping. And one of the first things I am going to do when I get home is mop my kitchen and bathroom and then fix my bed. I also clean my computer keys almost every other day.

4) I love salt water. I love it! I need water and ocean and sun and sand to live. Normally I get my fix from Greece. This year I had to accept Jersey as a substitute (which it totally isnt). The Mediterranean is crystal clear blue. It has so little waves. It is warm. Jersey is grey. Has lots of waves. Is cold.

That is Greece. Note the beautiful BLUE color!

I dont have a photo of Jersey water, but rest assured. It deos not look like that.

5) I never really believed in massage as a means of treatment for serious issues. However, I did become a believer this weekend. The tax attorney's sister fixed all my back pains and since she fixed my pectoralis minor I havent had chest pains. I asked her to teach the tax attorney and now he can do it!

The letter I wish I would have written

2010-09-13T02:10:00.001-04:00

You have ruined me.

I am in my last year of law school. I finished undergrad. If I remember correctly you told me I couldnt do it. Well I did. Not only did I finish, but I got accepted into a top 50 law school. And to top it off, I will be done this year. I will walk out of those doors with a JD in my hand. And dont take credit. I know a sick and twisted part of you wants to take credit. To detract from what I have accomplished. And I dont know if it is your fault or mine, but I know you. I know you well enough to know that if you ever read this you will know who I am. Not only that, but I will be scared when you read this.

As scared as I will be, it doesnt detract from the fact that you fucked me up. Forever. You are the reason I am up at 1:30 in the morning. Sobbing. I'm not crying because my boyfriend left for Jersey. I am not crying because I am lonely or scared. I am crying because you ruined me. As a person. You took all that was good in me and burned it to the ground. Before you I was happy. Always. I didnt cry before you. I still dont cry by the way, so dont think you screwed me up that bad. In fact right now I am happy. Really. The tears streaming down my face dont imply sadness. They imply I had too much to drink and not enough of my personal savior to counteract it. See I have done my best to move on. To put what you have done to me behind me. I tried so fucking hard. I tried everything. I jumped from bed to bed, I went from one relationship to another. Nothing helped. Then I moved. I figured a change of location would make all the difference right? It didnt do anything. When I moved here I was just as terrified. Just as angry at myself for who I had become. I didnt recognize the woman that I knew. The woman who didnt take jack shit from anyone. The woman who stood up for herself. Consequences be damned. After dating you I became the woman who was won over by material gifts. And I am so ashamed to even say that. It breaks my heart.

What breaks me even more? I became the woman I told myself I would never be. The woman who allowed her significant other to cheat. Not physically, you were too proud for that. Emotionally I wasnt yours though. You had your ex, and I had my tequila. I suppose that is another thing I should thank you for? You didnt get me to fall in love with tequila. And good tequila too. I still have a hard time downing anything that isnt Patron.

We might have only dated for a handful of months but you changed me. Do you know I cheated on you? I did. Your cheating might have been emotionally, but I went for the physical. It was a normal night, went to my bar after an exam, saw a friend, had more drinks (a lot more drinks) and I went home with that friend. The sex was . . . well fuck, I dont even know if it counts! His penis was so small that the condom fell off. We called it quits after the second attempt. Thats right. We tried twice. Jesus, this is the worse cheating act ever isnt it? But you know what? Bad or not, I rebelled. I went against you. I went against you and your subconscious and subversive anti ME actions. I went against you. It was the first time I stood up to you, do you know that? But the best part? Not only did I cheat on you, that would be too easy, but I went to your apartment after waking up in the middle of the night. I went there with every intent of breaking it off with you. Well at least telling you what happened. That way you would break up with me. But I was chicken shit. Instead of telling you we should break up I fucking convinced you to keep trying with us. I guess I have a slightly masochistic side? I dont even know why the conversation went that way. I think because winter break was starting? I dont even know. But I do remember sitting on your lap, sobbing that you shouldnt give up on "us." Yeah. I called me and you US. You have been wanting to hear it for ages. I never gave you that. It was always YOU and ME. Always separate. But for some reason I went with US that night. God I am so idiotic. A million times over I thought that if I stuck with ME and YOU we would have called it quits.

But we did call it quits. Weeks later. There was a scare and a disagreement after words. A harsh disagreement. You called me a whore, I called you a bastard, and we hurt each other. But I am not sorry. I still hate you so much that I cant say sorry yet. I dont hate you for what you did then. I hate you for the scars you have left me. I hate you for the fact that I cheated. I FUCKING CHEATED AND I HATE YOU FOR THAT! I hate you so much. I hate you because I am scared to tell my boyfriend this. I am scared because in some ways he reminds me of you. Not the crazy you. I wont allow myself to be with anyone like that ever again. I am scared that he wont trust me ever again. Just like when I was dating you, I have friends, the majority of which are guys. And I am scared that he will know this and he will never trust me.

Do you see why I hate you? I hate you because I hated everything about you so I cheated, but I dont think my cheating will ever escape me. And I have tried so many times to tell him. I have. Because I love him. I want to have a family with the man I am with now. He is the antithesis of you. He is sweet, and caring, and he loves ME. Not who I was then. And what my status was. He loves me. He loves every part of me. Even the parts I hate. And I love him. I love him more than I knew I could. I thought I loved you for a short time, but I didnt. I dint love YOU. I loved the idea of you. And the idea wasnt enough. Be he is more than an idea. He is the real thing. And I am scared that my past could ruin me and him. Us. The real us.

I hate you so much. I hate what you have done to me. I hate that I am a scarlet "A." I hate that I am someone who has ruined a relationship not because of the person I am, but because of the person I became because of you. And it isnt all your fault. I mean you did your best. I dont think you wanted it to end the way it did. But you still changed me. And not for the better. I just hope I have changed. I hope I am not the person I was when I dated you. I hope I have grown since then.

I hope I can see happiness and run towards it.

I hope I can see the bad and run away from it.

I hope I am running towards the good thing.

The Boy has left me.

2010-09-12T16:24:00.000-04:00

Well not left me like "broke up with me" left me. He has just abandoned me in DC with his Wii and a giant stack of papers. He left me and went to New Jersey with his family. He is off enjoying cheese steak sandwiches, sunshine, beach, and vacation. And I am here with a pile of papers that I need to use to turn into a statement of facts. Preferably before tomorrow. My goal for tonight is to go through 200+ pages so I can finish day 2 of 3 of the trial transcript. I dont know why he left me for that!

If I wasnt so busy, I would have loved this. I would have been able to go out, drink a lot, bake, clean and do whatever I want to do. Instead I am working on an appeal. That is due soon. It makes me want to cry. To top it off? I have a delish looking beer in the fridge. Hasnt been touched. I also have a great white wine and another sangria in the fridge. Again, hasnt been touched. Tequila, hasnt been touched. Oh alcohol, you wait until I am done with my appeal!

Besides my appeal work, I still have to prep a cross examination, even though at this point I think I am going to just have my basics down and go from there. As for reading? Well, lucky for me I have finished my Wills reading last week, I still need to do some BA reading and 1st Amendment reading. And get on my research paper. Because I still havent even started my outline. I have a mess of work to do.

My friend is in Afghanistan

2010-09-11T21:01:00.002-04:00

I suppose it is only appropriate to remember the troops on the day when America was hit right? Well this is my tribute.

My friend is in Afghanistan. He is over there helping people. In his own words, he is defending those who cant defend themselves, helping the helpless, fighting for the righteous and being a force to reckon with for those who are evil. He is a Marine and I am proud of him. I am proud of the fact that he was walking children to school when he was shot. He was protecting children when spineless bastards attacked the kids. He and his battalion made sure that no one was hurt. Not a single child was injured. But he was. He's lucky though. The bullet went right through his quads and didnt hit the bone. He'll walk with a limp forever, but he will still walk. For weeks he was in recovery and was able to talk to me. To reconnect and rekindle a friendship that was put on hold when he went to war.

Now he is most likely back with his Marines and I am both happy and worried. Happy because I know that he wants to go back. He wants to be with him boys and he wants to do what he was made and trained to do. But I want him safe. And I know that in the recovery ward he was safe. And I could talk to him daily. Its been 4 days since I heard from him. Four days. It seems like ages. And I worry. I know he is a good marine. But his job is dangerous. And when he explained to me what he does I almost cried.

You see in the ground there are the equivalent of mines. IEDs. And you see these things can wreck a Humvee. Easy. So someone has to find these things so others can disarm them. And that is where my friend comes in. With his dog. My friend says that his dog has a good nose. Never lies. But you dont need your dog to mess up lots of times to get hurt. You only need her to mess up once. I worry about it every day.

So what can one do? I mean what can I do for a friend who is in the middle of a hellhole? Well I write him letters. Really boring letters about my day, my plans for the weekend, how excited I am for football season, how school is going, what I am doing at work and how I like it. They are such boring letters that I dont know if he even wants to read them. I suppose they give some semblance of a normal life and he has told me he wants normal. And an anchor. So I guess I am trying to do that.

To say that I am proud of him is an understatement. I am beyond proud. I am humbled to know someone like him. I am honored to have him, and people like him, defending our country and representing America.

Nine years ago, America was attacked by cowards. A group of fanatics took hold of 4 planes. They used civilians and civilian planes to attack a civilian building. They didnt wear military uniforms, they didnt attack military outposts, they didnt even attack an army. And now, like the scum they are, they attack our men, not while they are on military missions, but when they are helping. When they are walking children to school, when they are distributing food, when they are doing good.

Please I hope no one takes this as a bash on all Muslims or Iraqis or Afghanis or Arabs or whatever. This isnt. Its a tribute to one brave man I know. And a condemnation of all people who use cowardice. Be that attacking civilians, using child soldiers or anything else. And I know. Civilian casualties are always expected in war. But there is a difference between civilian casualties and the use of civilians to create chaos and casualties. And I condemn the latter.

For the troops abroad and at home, we support you. For my friend in Afghanistan, I care for you and wish you the very best and to stay safe. For the friends and family of the 9/11 victims my heart goes out to you.

Get some 2/6.

I went Home for Labor day.

2010-09-08T12:20:00.000-04:00

Well I left the DC land on Thursday morning and trekked to Chicago via plane. I had a good flight and it was uneventful. Other than me buying The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Which I read about 300 pages of. I promise I will finish it (unlike my previous book, The People's History of the United States) and I will love it damn it. I feel like if I spend that much time reading the book I should enjoy it. Right? So I land in Chicago and get outside to the freezing cold temp of low 70s. Sure that is standard normal temps, but when you have had weeks of humid and hot DC weather, 70 is freaking cold. I get home, unpack and started doing homework. Still Thursday kids. My siblings get home. Everyone has projects. And everyone needs help. So I, like the good sister I am, help. I finish a whole project for my brother, and half of one for my sister. Time for Sleep.

Friday: 60s. Fuck. It is cold. I am not happy, but lunch with Dad makes it better. Then home again. Where my cousin comes over and spends the night. So overall yay! Except for the fact that I am old and I need my damn sleep. I cant stay up until 5 am anymore and wake up at 10. I dont have that skill! Well I do just that. for 2 nights in a row. But back to Friday, more helping my sister with her school work and more crap that needs to be done. My homework? It can wait. Right? Well it has to because she has a birthday on Sunday and I guess my present to her was me finishing her homework?

Saturday rolls around and I head to a BBQ. With a bunch of people I dont know. It was fun, full of gays and psychologists. I was scared to say anything out of fear that they would analyze my every word. Maybe I am more screwed up than I thought? Either way I dont need to know. Sat comes and goes. Temp: 70.

Sunday is the little sister's birthday and my little brother's football game. Watching him play was so much fun and they looked so cute. They also won their first game! Woot! After the most adorable football game I ever saw we got to hang out at the mall and pick out more birthday presents for my little sister and then dinner at Bennihannas. (Is that even CLOSE to the proper spelling?) Dinner was a blast, sushi and steak. Yum. Home and then passed out. Because I am a zombie at this point. Temp: 68.

Monday. Labor day. My sister and brother had a party (they have birthdays in the same month) with the family. This means several things: (1) We BBQed (2) We had about 40-50 people over (3) I had to wake up early and help (4) I cleaned. A lot. After making beds, mopping, cleaning mirrors and windows, etc I helped my mom cook. Because we cant do just BBQ and some sides. That isnt right. We couldnt even do the standard sides of like potato salad etc. We had to make things like lima beans and eggplant and spinach pie. All which take a lot of time. Then 3pm rolls around. And the doorbell starts ringing. And slowly, but steadily, the kids and families trickle in. Within 30 minutes there were over 15 kids. All screaming. All wanting to go to the pool. I popped some aspirin and told my mother, who unlocks the pool, tells the adults that they need to watch their kids, and let them go. 10 seconds later the pool is filled with kids. *Sigh of Relief* A little less noise. Food is ready and we sit down to eat. When my cousin (not the one sleeping over) starts to ask about the tax attorney. In front of my whole family, not all who know about him. After not getting the clue about me NOT wanting to talk about it and I guess not noticing the "I will shank you if you continue this" looks I decide to be a bit more drastic.

You see her boyfriend is Greek. One point for him. But he is younger than her (and me) so he is back to zero. He also has no "job" -5 now. And he raps. -100000. Not everyone knows about the rapping in my family. She isnt proud of it and to be honest, his music sucks balls so much that he makes a $5 hooker look like the most expensive geisha in the world. So I take the opportunity to inform my family, just like she did about my boyfriend. "So cousin, how is your boyfriend's rapping? I hear he is trying to get on the radio!"

BAM! Noise everywhere. "He raps?" "I thought he was only in school?!" "Omg can we hear his music?" I hear the last question. I pipe up "Oh I can pull it up on my phone!"

I pick out the trashiest and worse song he ever wrote. I plug it into some speakers. And I press play. My cousin flashes me a look of evil. Song ends and everyone is silent. Then my older younger brother (he is 18) does the best thing ever. He turns to my cousin, laughs and begs her to get an autograph from him because one day he will be worth millions. I step back and smile. The message is clear. Bitch, dont fuck with me.

After everyone leaves and everything is cleaned up, my sister comes up to me. "Lex, remind me to never get you pissed off in front of people." I am a vengeful person. After I pack up I head to bed (you know early 8 am flight). The next day I wake up at 6:30, we leave at 7:00. We head to the airport. About 7 miles out, an accident occurs. I watch us crawl slowly. I watch the clock move. I know boarding starts at 7:30. 7:15 Fuck. Fuck Fuck. We still have a while to go. I do the mobile check in. Hopefully they wont leave without me! I have security to go through. We pull into the airport. 7:25. Please dear Jesus let there be no line for security. I run into the airport. The security lines goes to the door. THE DOOR FOR OUTSIDE! I am ready to cry. 7:27. I run to the airline counter "Ma'am my flight is boarding. The line is out the door. Help?" She ushers me past all the line. I go through the TSA ID check. I get to the metal detector lines. 7:32. Now I have tears in my eyes. Oh come ON! The line is long. I turn to everyone and ask "Please. My flight. Its boarding. Please . . ." I dont even finish and they say "Just go." I take off my shoes, remove my laptop, my sweater, give a blood sample and sign away my soul to the TSA. When it clicks. I forgot that my books caused problems on the way to Chicago.7:35. I turn to the x-ray dude. Still about to cry. "My books. They are in there *sniff* and they cause problems in the way here. Should I take them out now?" The TSA guy with the nicest and most sympathetic look ever says "Dont worry." 7:36. I go past the metal detector. Grab my stuff, get my laptop in its place, look at my watch. 7:37. Oh God. I run to the gate. Did it leave? Oh please say it didnt leave. I see the plane! YES! I swipe my mobile boarding pass and run in. I barely made it. 7:39.

I have been in school for 2 weeks. Here is the run down.

2010-09-01T15:37:00.001-04:00

BA (Business Associations) My prof puts me to sleep. Its his voice. Its soothing and calming. Help! Plus its my 1st class in the morning. It makes me drowsy. I cant help it. But it's an important class. So I will do my darnest to pay attention.

Wills, Trusts, and Estates If you see my twitters, Wills is fucking hard. But my prof is a good prof and she knows her shit. Speech impediment is problematic, but totally tolerable. To top it off? I set next to a cutie. And there is a Sergent in my class. Oh yes. I swooned. I cant help it.

1st Amendment Law This is supposed to be my fav class! It is! WTF? Where is the drama? The anger! People are supposed to be seriously partisan on the 1st Amendment and its application! There is none of that here. I need a hard core conservative to be in my class.

Criminal Trial Advocacy Oh. My. God. I love this class. So much that it is my my favorite class. Period. My profs are brilliant. My fellow classmates are cool. And the same Wills Sergent is in my Crim Trial Ad class. Oh yes. I just smiled.

I think my big "30 page research topic" is going to be in 1st Amendment. I am leaning towards Corporations and the rights they obtain in application of the 1st Amendment. In specific the Campaign Finance Reform Act. Hopefully it will be approved. I really need to get on that.

-------------------------------------

I am re-bonding with a friend of mine. Yes he is a Marine (maybe it is why I am noticing the Sergent?). He is a Dog Handler, which means he does what the main characters did in The Hurt Locker. Its terrifying. The tax attorney wont let me see it. I suppose I dont blame him. Anyway, my friend was shot in the leg and he has been spending a lot of time doing nothing and healing. Which is why he has time to talk to me. He is going back to his battalion soon. And of course I worry. He said he is gonna call me as often as possible but never before a mission. Only after. And I'm ok with it. As long as I hear from him.

I also sent a card. I wonder how long it takes to get there. And how the hell I will know if he got it.

---------------------------------------

I bought the tax attorney a Wii game. The NEW Super Mario Bros. Its great. I love it. I also think I gave him something to do when I'm busy. He has also promised to work on Greek over the weekend for an hour when I am doing homework. We are also going to do better about working out. Because right now I suck at it. He is doing better than me. I am failing. I need to find a way to get 30 min of cardio in a day.

--------------------------------------

The P90x results are totally legit. I have had several people say I lost a lot of weight. Hopefully another 90 days of working out will do the same thing. I would like to slim down significantly be graduation. It would be nice.

Is Google trying to tell me something?

2010-08-25T15:23:00.001-04:00

The GMail ticker thingy on top had this:

Two-timing Husband? - www.TheCellSnoop.com - Catch Him without Detection He will never know!

Does GMail know something I dont?

First Day of My Last Year

2010-08-23T13:45:00.001-04:00

I am a 3L officially. I have finished 2 years of school and I am on the final stretch. This year I am taking Business, Wills/Trusts/and Estates, 1st Amendment Law, Criminal Trial Advocacy. A schedule which left me Thursday and Friday totally open. Which enables me to work for 2 full days. Plus 5 hours a week working on Clinic stuff. Overall a busy semester.

As I see the new 1L's all lost and confused (WTF IS A TORT! HELP!) I feel like a veteran of the law school. Someone who has mastered the art of seat location, case readings, etc. However, I still suck at paying attention in class. And picking professors who are really interesting. Out of my 2 classes that I have had so far, both have been monotone and hard to follow. Great.

One professor is just monotone. The other eeeeeeloooooongggggaaaaatessssssss various letters. Oh dear Jesus.

To top it off: My books were $7000. Fan-freaking-tastic.

Oh and the class gods have decided that I deserve the punishment of having a crazy person in both of my boring classes I have had. Maybe its a secret blessing because they will say crazy shit? God I hope so.

Aaaaaaaaand noooooooooooooooow baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack tooooooooooooooooo cllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssss

From Mrs. Discipulus to United.

2010-08-21T21:44:00.000-04:00

My mother wrote this to United on August 19th after having a hard time trying to get United to work with her. She requested that I post this on Facebook for others to know. Because I think she has a point, especially in this recession, and because I am a dauther that supports her mother, I am obliging.

To Whom It May Concern,

I placed a call to United Customer Service on Thursday Aug.19th, 2010 at 1pm Central time. I was greeted by a representative named Justin in the country INDIA. I explained to him that I have two minor children, ages 15 and 9, in Washington DC. I am the mother of these two children and am in Chicago, Illinois. One of my children is sick and needs to be seen by her own doctor in the Chicago area. I had asked what is the protical for standby. Justin (your representative) told me that same day their is no charge but if you change a date a $150 per ticket charge is issued. I had asked him what seat are available for Saturday morning he told me that the 8:35am flight is canceled, 9:35 flight is sold out and the 10:35 flight is already on stand by. I then told him that Friday the 20th every hour on the hour their are seats available 8:35 65 seats,9:45 12 seat, 10:35 18 seats, 11:35 20seats, 12:35 37 seats, 1:31 19 seats and so on. Therefore I told him I will free up two seat for you on Saturday the 21st for more paying customer if you can do a courtesy switch.

He again told me the policy which I respect and know he needs to follow. I then ask to talk with his supervisor at this point Justin's tone got fierce and told me"Why you don't believe me?" and "Do you think I am lieing to you?" I replied that I did not use any of those words. I was appalled at him choice of words and do not appreciated anyone talking to me in that manor.

I have use United airline with my family of six for most of my trips and also use your alliance partner Luthansa every year to my travels in Greece. I finally was put through to his supervisor Aslam and told him of the situation of his representative Justin. With his tone and choice of word. He told me that he will talk with him.

My husband is a manufature and he, and his family and employees, is proud to put the sticker "Made in the USA" on all his goods. His profits are less but he is putting America to work.

I do remember when United customer service was in the United States. The service was so much better. I know my needs were not met that day, but the bigger question is: Who's needs are met?

Regards,

Mrs. Discipulus

The Siblings Are Here

2010-08-18T02:25:00.008-04:00

So my Siblings are here, so let me give you a rundown of the following few days:

Sunday: Get in around 3. Drive around DC a bit. Unpack. Grocery shop.

Monday: Visit the Smithsonian Castle. Tour the Capital. Go to the Natural History Museum . See the following (just a few photos) Eat Dinner.

Tuesday: Go to Old Post Office. Get Lunch. Go to Zoo.

We still have to see the Air and Space Museum, the American History Museum, the monuments and a ton more.

They are currently sleeping on an air mattress borrowed by a friend. That leaks. By morning they might as well be sleeping on the floor. Oh well. My sister smartened up and started sleeping on the bed. Smart girl.

We also Need to stop the uber fancy lunches/dinners. I am a poor law student. We are "brown bagging" it for now on.

My apartment is REALLY small for 3 people. Good thing I dont live with 2 other people all the time.

My little brother wakes up CRAZY early. Like 8 am early. I cant deal with that shit. I hope my kids sleep more. Because I hate waking up early. Especially to a child. Who wants to do things. And needs to be fed. By food that doesnt come from a freezer. Ug. Other things that will suck? Waking up at 5 to get to a White House Tour. That is saved for Friday!

Things that also suck? Having a sick sister. That is def no fun. Poor girl has been a hardcore trooper. Doing the sightseeing and not complaining. I am so proud of her.

Part of me is totally ready to get back to my routine. But I do love this. I love the days of doing nothing. Not like we had any of those. But I love having my sister and brother here.

Thinga I really should do

2010-08-13T04:12:00.000-04:00

As I wait here for the alleged meteor shower (I have YET to see anything) I figured I should make a list of 13 (in honor of Friday the 13th) things I would like to do this year. So here it goes

Take more pictures. I used to take photos ALL THE TIME. Especially in undergrad. I now dont have that many at all, but I am hoping that the new BB will help remedy that for the times when I dont have a camera near by.
Actually work out on a daily basis. Ok, I'll be more realistic. Mondays and Wednesdays suck, but there is NO reason why I cant work out for an hour every other day! With P90X videos and my elliptical, its totally doable.
Tell the tax attorney more nice things. I ask a lot from him (attention me! wash my dishes? wanna do laundry? MORE ATTENTION!) but I dont think I tell him enough nice things.
Manage my money better. Seriously I suck at that. I always wanna buy things! I need to cut down on that.
Drink less booze. I know that it is my 3rd and final year of law school, but less drinking wouldnt hurt anyone.
Keep in touch with old friends better. I have not been doing that great with that lately and it has adversely affected my relationships with people. It isnt acceptable to call someone back 2 weeks later.
Download and sing more Greek songs. I havent been keeping up on that either, and I really should try to do that.
Go to more places with the tax attorney. We have lived in DC for years. We still havent seen all the monuments or museums. And there are so many things to do here!
Find better ways to make veggies. As of now, my go to for veggies is steaming. Because it is quick, easy and requires little work. I need to find new things!
Eat healthier. Closely related to number 9, eating a well balanced (and portioned) meal is important and I dont think I emphasize that enough with the meals I make.
Do better on washing my face at night. Its 4 am, you are drunk and just stumbling home. I dont know about you, but for me the goal is to kick off shoes, lock door and pass out. And not die. I need to do better, and that includes washing faces.
Ice skate, at least once. Last year the tax attorney and I got THISCLOSE to doing it. But of course, I wimped out and said no. I am a chicken. But this year I WILL DO IT!
Host more parties. Yes my apartment is small, and yes its a lot of hassle, but they are fun. Right now I am thinking of a Halloween Party, Thanksgiving, and we'll see what else.

On Love and Tolorance

2010-08-12T02:04:00.001-04:00

I come from a mixed family when it comes to tolerance. On the one hand, I have a part of my family who is loving and kind and accepts a shotgun wedding, as well as a wedding to a non-Greek woman, with love and joy. On the other hand, I have a part of my family who includes a gay uncle that no one will admit to. Except a handful. I even have some parts of my family who, shamefully, believe that interracial marriage is wrong, you can only imagine what gay marriage is.

In my direct family, it cuts to about half (the youngest is too young to know or be judgmental). While at a family gathering, one family member was talking about how much it sucks when people take things too literally. His example was calling someone gay. Gay as in dumb. I ignored most of the conversation until it shifted to a point where I felt uncomfortable. Keep in mind I am a straight person with a lot of really good gay friends who I love truly.

What made me feel uncomfortable was the statement that gays are abnormal but want to make everyone else think they are normal. I pipped in with a simple, "Well a lot of them are fabulous hairdressers, and to find a truly amazing hairdresser, straight or gay, is not normal." I honestly expected a half chuckle and then a change of topic. But instead I was berated. By the same individual who thinks interracial marriage is wrong. On of the points was that it wasnt the fact they were gay that was irritating, it was that they had contempt for us "normal people." Hold. The. Fucking. Boat. Contempt?! Where are we getting this? Last time I checked it wasnt the straight people getting beat up by gays. It wasnt the straight people that had slurs thrown at them (although, the gays that DO call straight people "Breeders" with the same contempt this individual calls them "fags" are not cool. How can you push for love and tolerance when you are throwing hate at people?). But I was 100% certain that the contempt was (mostly) thrown at the gays. Of course pointing this logic out was unhelpful because gays have Pride Parades (kind of like how Greeks have Greek parades?) which is a slap in the face towards the straights. Clearly I missed the meeting about that.

I was frustrated and shaking with rage. And because I have a lot of respect for this individual (not their views) I walked away. My mind was racing and reviewing every other debate we had about this. And I arrived at the following conclusion (much like the famous judge):

There is NO logical reason to prevent state issued gay marriages.

None.

Any argument you can have for it is so intrinsically involved with religion or absurdity that it cannot hold up.

Gays cannot procreate: Neither can the infertile and the old. Clearly they cannot marry too. We also must mandate that everyone who gets married has at least one child.

Children need a mother and a father: Single parents should have their kids taken away. ASAP. These kids will grow up dysfunctional.

Tradition dictates that it should not be so: Tradition also allowed slavery, segregation, treating women as second class citizens, also allowed for the poor treatment of almost every immigrant you could think of. Oh and prevented Catholics from becoming President.

But the California voters voted: Yes, and if allowed majorities to remove liberties we would live in a tyranny of the majority. (I love you J.S. Mill) And in times where women could not work, have a say in their property, slaves were still acceptable and we would live in 100% segregation.

God does not allow it: Um. No. How can you assume that you know what God does and does not allow? The 10 Commandments say nothing about this and neither did Jesus. Dont have the audacity to assume YOU know what your Creator wants. Also note: nowhere does the Bible specifically condemn or condone same sex anything. Please know a little about history before you cite "A man shall not lie with a man as he does with a woman." Thanks.

The loss of religious freedom: I still dont really get this one. Unless I dont know anything, I am certain that a CHURCH cannot be forced to preform a marriage of anyone. And I am sure provisions of the law prevent churches from being forced to hire someone.

The right of a child to be raised by its biological mother and father would be violated: No sperm donors, no surrogates, and forget adoption. Everyone keeps their child. Period.

Even with this arsenal of common sense there are a lot of people who are against it. And this makes me sad. How angry at life do you have to be to try to deny two people happiness? How insecure must you be in your own marriage to think the gays could unravel it by getting married? How full of hate are you when you obtain joy in crushing the hopes of others to live a happy life? How spiteful (or prideful?) do you have to be to deny your OWN CHILD happiness? Why would we, as human beings, creatures capable of compassion and love, actively seek out others who are happy and do our best to take it away?

When I was a child, I was told two things. (1) Treat everyone as you want to be treated and (2) love. Just love. Dont love based on skin color, eye color, hair color, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Just love everyone as a human being. As a fellow man with feelings and emotions. I also believe a really cool guy who has been forgotten said something similar.

I recently watched Hairspray. It seemed so bizarre to me when I saw and heard some of the lines about race relations. I was still in awe that as recently as 1960's we were STILL a segregated society. I want my children to look back. I want them to be in awe that as recently as the 2000s we were a society that treated certain people as second class citizens, based on who they loved. I want my children to not look at someone as be scared to "catch the gay."

I want my kids to grow up tolerant. I want them to love their fellow humans. I want them to NEVER feel like they cannot tell me who they love because they are scared of judgement. I dont think I could have them around poison that promoted hate. I hope my whole family learns to love and tolerate. I really dont want to keep my children away from anyone.

I wrote a long blog post via blogger . . .

2010-08-11T00:54:00.001-04:00

BUT it deleted. Clearly my fault. I should have done it via Google to help keep it. My bad.

Lots of Thoughts

2010-08-05T21:41:00.001-04:00

This will be a long, and mostly rambling, post. But a post nonetheless.

I am back in D.C. for only a little while longer. I came back here for a wedding. It was wonderful. The tax attorney and I stayed at a nice hotel with a giant bed. We relaxed and had a lot of fun. The actual wedding was beautiful. I did my own hair and it turned out really nice! The bride and groom wrote their own vows and I am glad I could not hear them because I would have cried. I am so very happy for them both and I wish them ALL the best.

D.C./VA has and is having a huge storm. Lots of trees knocked down and power out in a lot of places! So we are stuck in a hot apartment with no air or power or interwebs. How am I blogging? I am at the tax attorney's hockey game. Freezing, but happy to have some internet and power. I need to remember this freezing feeling when I am in the steamy apartment. Ug.

The D.C humidity has reminded me why I love it here so much. My hair has never looked better. And yes that is vain, but I have to find a positive for the humidity.

I found out today that I have become a VIP for Sephora. *facepalm* I have spent too much money there. Ug. I suck.

From the time I got here to maybe 20 min ago, not a single healthy veggie crossed my lips. My body was pissed about that. I really think my body has caught up with my mind. I ate a pint of tomatoes and I feel like a million bucks.

Prop 8 was found unconstitutional. I for one am thrilled. Although I expect this to go much higher. We might even have SCOTUS decide this one. While I celebrate the idea of every individual selecting who they will marry with no one interfering, I am also a huge advocate of the 9th and 10th Amendments. And the fact that the people of California decided to make gay marriage "illegal" is something they decided. Now that doesnt justify what was done. And there are LOTS of things that if people voted the outcome would be morally questionable (things that come to mind right away include slavery, interracial marriage, women voting, integrating schools, etc) but I can reasonably see a situation where SCOTUS or even the court of appeals decides that the 9th and 10th Amendment win. But considering that the 9th and 10th Amendment are all but dead, maybe it wont happen.

I am still crazy excited about the siblings coming to D.C. It is going to totally rock. I know. I am more excited than them. Oh well. I ordered new pants from my fav place ever. Maurices. The salesladies are CRAZY helpful. They ship free of charge, and they will find what you want. I have stuck with 2 of their jeans. One is a dark wash and the other a light wash. I know I need to order new ones every now and then, but the light ones are only in the spring and the dark only in the fall. So I order them right before they are going to swap colors so that I can get both of them at once. This lady was BEYOND amazing. She called other stores looking for my pants, and after she found them she had them call me and arrange everything. Super great. So there is my 2cents.

Ok. I am gonna go warm up before my fingers freeze off!

Highlights of Lake Geneva

2010-07-25T20:34:00.002-04:00

1. My cousin ate pig ears. They were crunchy.

2. The beach. I'm not used to swimming in fresh water. I also decided
I want to go to Virginia Beach.
3. Don't trust little sister to give waterproof mascara.
4. Living proof hair spray is amazing.
5. A sparkely pink flower in my hair dresses up a black coverup.

New Job? Nope. Just helpin out dad. But looking for a new job sucks.

2010-07-21T12:06:00.001-04:00

So due to unforeseen circumstances (aka the secretary's mom getting into a car crash and she jetting of the North (or maybe South?) Carolina to see her mom) I am at dad's work again. My job? Answer phones. I am so cool.

But I am using this valuable time to do other things (no I am not JUST playing Facebook Games or stalking Beyond the Rack so I can get that REALLY ADORABLE picnic set) like edit my resume. With the help of the brilliant tax attorney of course. With some help and some amazing wording, we have a pretty sweet resume down.

But now comes the epic fail of writing cover letters.

If I had to pick between eating chicken feet, breaking a bone or writing a cover letter, I'm sure enough hot sauce makes feet taste great! Unless there is a Dr with morphine near by.

I hate cover letters. I suppose it is because I hate talking about my "accomplishments" and why I would be an "asset" to any company or law firm. I hate it. I do knot think I am THE SHIT! but I know I am good. Cant I just say "Hire me and I will work hard and bring you in clients?" The end. No need for pompous BS. Then again, I am not like the tax attorney who has a way with words. On paper he is the golden candidate. I on the other hand suck at writing myself as a great candidate. But give me an interview and I can show you in person that I know what I am talking about. And I am nice. Well unless I am dying or totally blank and think you said something you didnt. Oops.

This brings me to my dream job. I wanna work for the DOJ/DOD/other 3 letter acronym for a govt agency. Other than the good pay, great benefits and much more laid back atmosphere than a private sector the govt doesnt want a cover letter. Period. At most give me a 500 word or less paragraph of why you wanna work for X govt agency. No more. And no letters. Just a resume, transcript and writing sample. I love it.

As summer winds down, I am getting my resume and writing samples up to par. And looking into jobs. Already.

As I Lay Awake. Again.

2010-07-20T01:26:00.001-04:00

Lately sleep has been just out of reach. No matter what. On the days I have work I cant sleep until 1, 2, or 3 am. On the days I dont have to wake up early for work my body decides to wake up at 8 am. For no reason. It sucks. But at least I get a blog post in? Well a haphazard one that is filled with random thoughts.

I am excited to be done with work. I am ready for a weekish of fun and no work. While I love what I did, I am eager to get back to my criminal work in D.C. and the much more fast pace life that comes with it. Plus I miss the secretary. And my boss is beyond cool.

M.I.A. is crazy hot. And I remember when I loved her and no one knew who she was. Then she worked with Jay-Z and now everyone loves her. And even post baby. She looks great.

I miss the tax attorney with every fiber of my being. And its HARD! Esp since I know I have to leave him again after the wedding. I am going to watch a friend of mine get married and then I have to leave the love of MY life. At least I get to bring my sister and brother back to D.C.?

We already have plans. On the 16th we are touring the Capital (and some museums after that). On the 18th we are going to the Washington Monument (going to the top is something I havent done yet). Of course we are going to go to Georgetown one day, the National Zoo, a plethora of museums, places with great views, dinner places, etc. It will be an expensive week for me.

I have gotten no new music lately. Its kinda sad that I have stuck with the same things. I really need to get on that sometime soon. I dont wanna end up behind right?

Today I had a minor meltdown over my job prospects. Am I taking the bar? No. Am I ridiculous? Yes. But after talks with the tax attorney and my father I went from major freak out to minor meltdown. Am I still worried? Hell yeah. I notice this occurs when we get out class ranks. Effin school.

Too many friends of mine are getting ready for the Bar Exam. I have a plan of avoidance. If confronted, then encouragement. But none of the "Oh dont worry" BS. Because then I will lose my head. And I like my head thankyouverymuch. But for those of you who want a smile, please read ahead to some of my fav

People You Will Hate While Studying for the Bar Exam (Courtesy of this person)

1. People who don’t record their deeds:
Hey. Fuck face. That’s a nice deed you got there. Went ahead and bought Stankacre, didya? That’s awesome. Owning property is a signof real maturity. Now, why don’t you do us all a fucking favor, and go record the fucking deed.Right. Fucking. Now. Don’t put it in a goddamn drawer. Don’t go off to India for 20 years. Don’t leave the deed in your will for dear cousin Victorianox. Get your fat lazy ass down to the records office, and record it before I burn your goddamn house down

2: Wily property sellers:
Here is a suggestion to those Bill of Rights violatin’ petty thug assclowns, the Police. How about you go down to Doucheacre, and arrest the son of a bitch who sells the same house to 15 different people, over and over. I’m sick of this guy getting away every time he pullsthis shit, and I’m left to sort out the fucking pieces.

3: “Known” arsonists:
Here’s a little tip to all the cretins that keep hiring “known”arsonists to burn down their cheating girlfriend’s house. Why is it, do you think, that he is a known arsonist, you dipshit? He’s known because he has been fucking caught before. You don’t know who the good arsonists are, do you! Because they have their shit together. But no, you had to go hire Dusseldorf, or Durango, or whatever D word your fuckwit moron arsonist is named, and now he’s gone and burned thewrong house, and left me with a BAR question.

4: People who back out of conspiracies:
Why don’t you just stick with it and save us all some trouble, you pussy.

5. Power companies that leave an electric wire live to deter copper theft:
While I appreciate your effort to rid the world of thieves stupid enough to try and steal raw copper wiring that’s fucking humming and has blue arcs dancing on it, it’s just gonna bite you in the ass inthe end. Just let the copper go.

6. Fertile Octogenarians:
I think I speak for all of us when I say……Burn the witch! Burn her! And don’t use a “known” arsonist!

7. People who use anything more complicated than Fee Simple Absolute in a will:
Hey, old man. Either give Horatio your fucking interest in Scroteacre, or don’t, alright? Don’t condition it on him growing a mustache, or learning to play the calliope, or winning “Dancing withthe Stars.” Don’t grant a springing executive interest to Zenobia if she manages to graduate from Ninja academy. Stop making my life more complicated than it needs to be, you Narcissistic old twat, and stop trying to control your property fromthe grave in a vain attempt to make up for your feebleness in life.

8. House Painters:
Just paint the fucking house yourself, Paulson.Trust me on this one. It’s not worth it.

9. Bank Mortgages:
Hi there, First National Bank of South Calizonachussettsas. I don’t mean to tell you how to run your business, but allow me to impart abit of sage wisdom.
When someone :
1) named Defaultina McBankrupstein,
2) is taking out her 17th mortgage with you,
3) on a place called Mushacre
4) so she can buy a new hat,
….do NOT fucking come crying to me when the inevitable judicial foreclosure sale nets $34, a button, and some lint, all of which are devoured by the banks that are 20 miles ahead of you in creditor line. And do not ask me whether you are a junior or senior mortgagor, or whether you debt is secured, or some other bullshit I don’tunderstand, because the answer is always the same.
D) You are Fucked. Take it like a man.

10. Wanna-be Burglars:
I am sick to death of these slackjawed melon-heads deciding at 2 a.m.that they need to borrow their neighbors wrench, and are sure he”won’t mind” if they saunter on over there in the middle of the night,crowbar the garage open, smash open his tool chest, and “borrow it.”And then always the inevitable fucking:
Did he commit Larceny/Burglary/Robbery?????? Ohhhhh, no intent!

Let him go, boys. Let the man go. So I can throw the wrench right at his goddamn teeth. Good thing when we are really in practice we will have these Intent Goggles (c), that can magically tell us, despite every bit of evidence to the contrary, this jackass really didn’t intend to commit a crime. He genuinely thought that breaking into your neighbor’s house, stealing his car, taking a shit on his pool table, and sleeping with his wife were all part of the social covenants between good neighbors.

11. The Cheap Old Uncle Scenario (courtesy of Patrick from Nuts & Boalts):

If you are entitled to money under some contract, and you want to give your neice a nice birthday present, just cut to the chase and give her a damn present — don’t try to be clever or cheap or whatever by assigning her the benefits of your agreement with someone unrelated third person. It is a pain for the other person in your contract, who doesn’t give a damn about your neice. It is a pain for you, who will still be on the hook for your end of the deal. And it is a pain for your neice when, six months from now, she learns of the contract and builds a house for her boyfriend in reliance . . . only to find out that you are old fashioned and don’t WANT her living with her boyfriend, because he has an earring or tattoo or lesbian parents or whatever. Next thing you know, you are trying to revoke the gift, you are in breach of the contract for some unrelated reason, everyone is suing you, and you are hiring a known arsonist to burn down her new house.

Trust me. Just give her a present and leave it at that.

12. Indecisive Mailer: courtesy of Bob

Please don’t mail your acceptance, then mail a revocation, then call to counter-offer – I mean, can’t you just email?

14. FOB, the SOB: courtesy of Bob

F.O.B., Ex-ship, etc. Please just say who is liable when, what, where, etc. And read your contract before you sign it to make sure it includes everything and anything.

15. Sacrificial lamb chicken: Courtesy of Bob

Why can’t anyone in my city be sacrificing raw chickens for the purpose of religion??

Best of luck Bar Takers!

In exactly 2 weeks . . .

2010-07-19T10:04:00.001-04:00

In exactly 2 weeks I will be flying back to D.C.

I will see the man I love for the first time in over a month.

I will spend the night with him for the first time since Mid-May.

We will go to a wedding for a good friend.

I will watch her marry the man she loves.

In exactly 19 days I will leave the man I love. Again.

I will be back in Chicago for a little over a week.

In exactly 27 days I will be flying back to D.C.

This time I will have my little sister and my little brother.

I will have to go grocery shopping with them and make sure I have food they like in my apartment.

I will get to show them everything I love about D.C.

We will go see all the touristy spots.

I will take them to some local places.

I am hoping they have a blast.

In exactly 33 days I will be sending my sister and brother back to Chicago.

Me and the tax attorney will move some of his stuff back to my place.

I will be buying school books and supplies.

I will be reading and studying.

I will get back into my school routine.

I will call my employer in D.C. and ask him when he wants me to come back to work.

I will pay my tuition, cancel my school insurance, and visit the OCI desk.

I was gonna have a great post

2010-07-17T13:24:00.000-04:00

I was gonna do a post about Great America. And how much fun I had and how I hate their new policy of YOU CANT BRING ANYTHING WITH YOU IN LINE!

Then I got sick. So forget that. I am crawling into my bed. Maybe dying. Who knows.

Some shorter versions of posts I was going to make

2010-07-14T14:02:00.001-04:00

Yesterday as I was leaving work, I took a route I did not normally take. It consisted of taking an alley. Last time I do that. I saw some hoodlums hijacking a car in a style similar to this, but it was not their car. I was scared. I thought I would get shanked. Keep in mind, I work in a REALLY nice suburb. This wasnt like bad parts of town.
I think my body has finally come to terms with my mind. I will lose weight by exercise and watching what I ate. Today I had a not so healthy meal (there may or may not have been sour cream and cheese and what not involved) when 10 min after I was done my body revolted. And I rushed to the bathroom. Touche body.
I am alone in the office. What? OF COURSE I am not singing. Nor dancing. Nor writing blog posts. Dont judge. I finished my job for the day.
I am going to a roller coaster park tomorrow. I am excited.
I am also due to hang out with CBF and CS. Soon. This will happen before I leave for D.C.
The tax attorney is learning Greek well-ish. It helps he has to do 10 min of Greek every night. He is s sucker for special presents.
My voyage (and by voyage I mean a 2 hr flight) to D.C. is coming fast. Which means I am alsmot done with p90x. WOOT!
I have built up my resume, I have new writing samples, and a bad ass letter of recommendation. To top it off, one of the writing samples if from a case relatively well known in Chicago at least. Maybe in other places too. But it will be ground breaking. I promise. Unless we settle, which isnt likely.
I am addicted to Starbucks Via Iced Coffee. It is amazing. And delish. Did I mention it works great with my grown up water bottle?
Benjamin is supposed to arrive to the office. It is after 1. He is not here.

WOW possible evil woman?!

2010-07-06T12:57:00.001-04:00

I am going to give you a time line and I wanna hear your thoughts:

Woman marries filthy rich man 30 years older than her.

Filthy rich man sets up trust for his daughter.

Filthy rich man allows 300 year younger wife to amend trust as long as he is alive.

Filthy rich man get leukemia and has surgery.

Filthy rich man tells 30 year younger wife that he wants to talk about the trust.

Filthy rich man falls into coma

Within hours 30 year younger wife amends trust so she has all power to amend and revoke even if filthy rich man dies.

One day later filthy rich man dies.

2 months later 30 year younger widow takes all money from trust.

At deposition 30 year younger wife is "insulted" that attorney asks if she made any life support decisions when filthy rich man was in coma.

*******She killed him.

LOL

2010-07-06T11:34:00.001-04:00

It is not known if Kim Jong-il is a fan of Justin Bieber's music

BESTEST PRANK EVER! Send Justin Bieber to North Korea! Oh 4chan.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10506482.stm

Random thoughts

2010-07-06T00:18:00.001-04:00

Honey got a booty like pow, pow, pow

Honey got some boobies like wow, oh wow

Yes. I just quoted an Usher song that I may or may not be in love with this week. So what? Dont judge me. The tax attorney often tells me that those two things are his 2 fav physical parts of me. And I thought of him when I heard this part of the song.

This weekend has been nonstop. And yet none of the things we did were things I wanted to do. Which kinda bums me out/frustrates me.

I am so glad the tax attorney and I settled on two kids. I was babysitting 3 and I was frustrated. Perhaps I had homicidal thoughts . . .

I found the dress I am going to wear to my friend's wedding. I am vowing to get into better shape. Well more better (yes I know that doesnt work)

So I have work tomorrow and Wednesday. And thats it. I hope Benjamin will be in.

I really need to get back on the workout wagon. I skipped Saturday. Whoops. But I am still watching what I eat and working out most days.

On a similar note, I suck at following p90x. I really do. Is this week an "easy" week? Yes. Am I going easy? Nope. Am I going to follow the next month? Maybe. But in one month I will be back in D.C.

HOLY COW! IN ONE MONTH I WILL BE BACK IN D.C.! I better not let myself get out of shape again. Hmm. That means I am on week 10? Well I re-did a week, so I guess I need to follow week 9.

I should really start adding in the Ab workout. I think I'll keep that along with a few others that I will randomly use for my routine when I go back to D.C.

I still dont know if I will do clinic next year. And honestly, I dont know if I want to. I am going to be busy with class and work. Do I need clinic? But free printing is nice . . .

Maybe I'll coerce/ask the tax attorney to bring his printer to my place since he barely spends time at his place. Then I could print at home.

I recently started watching Pushing Daisies. (1) Great show (2) I got my sister and the tax attorney hooked and (3) there are only 2 seasons!

I love my BlackBerry with every fiber of my being. Seriously I do.

Face has cleared up 99% but now I am left with dry skin. I like the Aveeno stuff but I did get my hard core moisturizer. I'll bring the Terminator with my to D.C. as backup. But the Aveeno has counter acted the dry skin very well.

My hair doesnt curl as well here as it does in D.C. which makes me wonder, how am I gonna style my hair for the wedding?

Crap. How am I gonna fit all my super cool stuff into a suitcase to come with to D.C.? I got a yoga mat and the resistance bands and the water bottle plus clothes and shoes and other stuff. Hm. I guess I will deal with that later.

Oh! Last thought. I got a super cool bronzer (Alas Bare minerals is empty) from Benefit. Its called 10. Its a highlighter and bronzer in one. Yay!

An OLD story

2010-07-02T14:24:00.001-04:00

A while back (like years ago) I met a good friend's girlfriend. This friend and I are quite close and it was only reasonable and logical that he would introduce me to her. We have known each other for a while and he values my opinion. While in general I dont get along amazingly well with girls (since a lot of them are bat shit crazy) I assumed this would be different. He is an old buddy, we have known each other forever and he seems to really really like her. Plus he told me she was cool.

So I went into the bar with a good attitude. I had finished school and I even worked out! I didnt have class the next day. When I walked in the door he recognized me right away and I saw the slender blonde next to him and thought "Ok. She seems nice." After hugs and kisses and exchanges of how our fams are doing he introduced me to the girl.

She smiled, was polite and was "SOOOOO happy to meet you!" And I returned the smile and the sentiment (without the high pitched voice). We sat down and her boyfriend (my friend) went to go get drinks. I was basic and went with a house beer (or a wheat beer) and she got a fruity drink. I knew it wouldnt last for long.

See my friend is a few things (1) VERY laid back (2) super cute (3) a guy's guy and (4) filthy rich (he wasnt at the time, but everyone knew he would be). While I wont put up with ANY of his shit (I dont put up with anyone's shit. Except maybe my family) the women he dates always do. He is a charmer. The first time I met him he asked me if I would seep with him because he "loves the bandonkadonk." I kid you not. I giggled and he bought me a drink. We were friends ever since. And I know him and his type. He wants a pretty trophy gf who does what he asks. But he wont settle down yet because he doesnt have to. Basically we would NEVER work. But back to the slender blonde.

As soon as my friend was out of earshot she turned to me. Smile that she plastered on her face vanished and I am 99% certain her eyes changed from blue to red as horns came out of her head. "If I ever see you alone with him I will cut you."

Um. WHAT?!?! Bitch please. After politely informing her that she was a fling and he would dump her ass at the 3 month mark and that I will damn well get drinks and dinners and coffees and lunches with him if I want. I smiled. Got up. Walked to her boy toy. Looked her in the eye as I grabbed his face and kissed him. He of course thought I was crazy, then he laughed and said that he was rubbing off on me. I grabbed my beer, maintained eye contact with her and walked back. Bitch. Please.

She stayed a reasonable amount of time and then told he she wanted to go home. He said he would call a cab for her, but he was gonna stay out with me for a little longer. I smiled and told her I looked forward to us seeing each other again. At the 3 month mark he dumped her. He doesnt say "I love you" to anyone but his fam, me and a select number of friends.

Now he is making millions, is loved/hated by a lot of people and he is dating another girl. And he wants me to meet her. Ever since his millions I have avoided meeting the ladies he is dating. I know they will hate me no matter what so I avoid it. He called me not too long ago and asked me again. I refused again. So now, after a "vacay" he has planned, we are hanging out. And there will be no gf there. I had to put my foot down

I am officially a grown up

2010-07-02T01:21:00.001-04:00

Within the last 2 years I have grown up a lot. I cook more, I clean more, I cook with a healthier mindset, I clean with the environment in mind (mostly), I work out (more on p90x later), I have a yoga mat, I learned yoga, I have suits and a respectable wardrobe, I have a purse that cost more than it should have, I drink regular coffee (IN A THERMOS!)I have resistance bands (BEST THING EVER), I love 100% alone (except when the tax attorney is with me (which I guess is often)), and I am responsible for maintaining my grades and life. Until recently though I sucked at having a proper water bottle. I mean yeah I have the ones the law school provided, but those suck. I did have another when I was young. It looked something like this:

only it had more sparkle, the outside wrapping was peeling and it probably has BPA. In DC I reused water bottles I bought (so I ended up with a million plastic bottles) but we dont do that here. In Chicago my parents are all about the tap water. We have two specific faucets for drinking one in the kitchen and one in the basement. Since we have well water (Northern Suburbs. Back off) all the others are kinda not cool for that. But when I wake up at night I am thirsty. So in my sleepy haze I go to my bathroom and drink from my faucet (like I did for 18+ years in the old house) and every time I end up unhappy with the taste in my mouth. So for a while I used my old school Barbie water bottle. Until I realized it was ancient and would kill me. So I went to Target to pick up a new water bottle. The options were ENDLESS! So I went with one I heard good things about and one that bragged about being 100% spill proof (because I am a little clumsy). Of course I wanted to match my yoga mat, so I present my new, GROWN UP water bottle (BPA free!):

It Blue, has a spout (woohoo!) and WONT SPILL! I have tested it. I filled it to the top, closed it and shook it and held it upside down and even rolled it around the floor. No spills.

So it is official. I am a grown up.

_____________________________________________________

Now, about p90x, it is going well. Today was Yoga (ug) and I still cannot balance for the life of me. Forget the one legged moves. BUT the tax attorney, who is SUPPOSED to be doing this with me, has skipped SEVERAL days. Thats right. Several. Go harass him. http://etsicpendet.blogspot.com/ or on Twitter if you like: http://twitter.com/tax_esquire

I know I never really talked about it, and I have meant to I swear, but the best tool EVER is resistance bands. I fly pretty often and I need to fit all my stuff in a carry on and the TSA has some odd rules about weights. So these have several benefits (1) they are light (2) they are flexible and fit anywhere and (3) they are not prohibited!! The resistance bands let me workout where ever I go and can go from 5-50 lbs of resistance. I usually only use 2 or 3 on a regular basis.

_____________________________________________________

As for my skin woos: my face is doing a million time better. I knew my HS regiment would be helpful. And it has been. Only sad part? Its on the slightly drying side (forgot about that!) so now I have to use my HS moisturizer until I get my butt to Sephora to pick up mybig girl stuff.

Benjamin is more of a hassle than I thought possible.

2010-06-30T15:54:00.001-04:00

I am a huge advocate of giving new law students/lawyers experience. It is hands down the best means of learning. At least for me. And last year I had a great practitioner offer to let me work for him. And I learned a lot. I was working for another practitioner during the school year and I was learning even more then. Well usually. My point is, I wouldn't know anywhere near as much as I do now if I didn't practice in the real world.

This summer I have Benjamin. The "my-shit-don't-stink-because-I-go-to-U-of-C" law student. Who wants to do appellate work (Dude. Wrong office.) and thinks he knows everything. Today he was working on a memo regarding fiduciary duty. Specifically in trust cases and corporate shareholders/owners. I did all the research last year on this (for a similar case) and all my really great research and memos were kept. Since I worked WITH the attorney for this project because it is complicated, I know my stuff was good and so did the attorney.

All Benjamin had to do was Shepardize the cases to see if anything changed. That's all. Well he did. And he was 100% certain that I was wrong so he told me he was writing a memo re: his findings. I was supportive. I told him since the attorney was out I would look over it for him. He insisted he knew what he was doing, so he didn't give it to me to read.

The attorney came back, read two sentences of his memo and handed it to me. "Read this. Correct it. Benjamin has it wrong." I assumed he cited incorrectly or used a case from Cali or something. Two sentences in I read this gem:

"The only fiduciary duty a corporate owner has is to not lose the trust."

Um. What?! Dude. What trust? Like "I trust you" trust? Or an actual trust with money and what not? Does the corporation have a trust? No facts were given (Lucky me is working on the case now so I know the facts. And the corporation doesn't have a trust.) and I just sat there. Thinking to myself," Oh Benjamin why didn't you give me the memo beforehand? I could have fixed this (and the bad logic) and made a memo that was more presentable!

Benjamin just created more work for me in the form of a 10 page, fallacy filled legal memo.

It is 9:30 p.m.

2010-06-29T22:31:00.001-04:00

I have been running myself ragged lately. Work is early, home and siblings and parents demand attention, friends I havent seen in a long time want to hang out and the tax attorney misses me. I have been going to sleep late (be it from staying up to talk to the tax attorney or from not being able to sleep) and I have been waking up early (for work or home stuff).

I have work, p90x, family things, and friend things. I am exhausted. My days start at 7 a.m and I am at work by 8:30. I am there until 4:45-5:00. By the time I get home its past 6. By the time I eat dinner and help with dishes and other family things it it 8:30. By the time I finish working out, I am happy if it's 10. Between a shower, finishing up some work stuff and talking to the tax attorney I get to bed around midnight. And even then, I am lucky if I get half a night of blissful sleep. So imagine my excitement today to realize that by 9:30 I would be done with my workout? Well as I was doing Double AirBorn Heismens I was think about what I would do with my extra time. And I figured it out.

I would pop in some Tylenol PM (to ensure a full night rest), Ped Egg my heels (flipflops and summer shoes have lead my heals to look like the Savannah), wrap them up in a super moisturizing mix (that also ex foliates) and soak in a bubble bath with sleep inducing lavender while my face soaks up some moisture with the Korres rose moisturizer (all while in the tub mind you).

Of course by the time I am done, I'll end up passed out.

I heart my older clients.

2010-06-29T11:45:00.002-04:00

The same crazy client that brought you funny convos brings you this:

Client: I don't know why somebody thinks I would steel them (paintings). Why would I steel my own shit?

Attorney interviewing: Who is accusing you of stealing them?

Client: You tell me did I ever see them. I how would I see them? I was in Florida when the shit burned down.

Client's Attorney: Client, I can appreciate that you feel insulted. He has a job to do. Let's just get it over with.

Client: Ok. I'm stupid.

God I love this guy.

I'm sorry! I promise to do better.

2010-06-28T20:46:00.001-04:00

This will be random. I apologize from now.

To all 4 people (FOUR!!) who have asked me via formspring how my p90x is going. Sorry that I havent responded. So I'll just do it here. I sucked this week with the p90x. I skipped 2 days. I kinda didnt do another. Epic fail. So I am redoing this week. My fam is still 100% certain I have lost weight. The scale doesnt say it, but my clothes do. My doctor thinks I am building muscle (fat % is down!) which weighs more than fat. So TECHNICALLY I have lost no weight. But the p90x has helped. I fully intend to keep doing it. Esp Kenpo, Plyo, and Cardio. Maybe I will even start adding the Ab Ripper. Plus any "problem areas" that I wanna work on (triceps and legs come to mind).

________________________________________________________________________________

I got a Blackberry. A pretty white blackberry bold. Am I in love yes? I dont think I told you all here, but if you follow me via twitter it shouldnt be news. I now get email, twitter, facebook and all the fun stuff the interwebs offers on my phone. Sweet.

________________________________________________________________________________

I have been SO bad at keeping up with news. In specific, the removal of Chicago's gun ban, the decision that public universities CAN choose to refuse to recognize groups that ban certain members (cough cough gays cough cough (I can ONLY FATHOM the fury Fox News, BillO, Sean Hannity and GB will have)), that dude who just so happened to torture lots of people (oh did I mention he is an ex-Chicago cop?) and the Blago Trial. Actually I have been following that pretty close.

________________________________________________________________________________

The tax attorney and I are doing well. However, I think I may have cause irreparable damage with this convo set:

(He is BOLD and I am normal) *Context!!! I was bored at work. I had nothing to do. I was looking over old things from my Google Reader and the tax attorney sent me this thing about Jersey Shore being Twilight. So I was all "Hmmm. Perhaps I should understand why this is so funny" and that lead to this*

I just spent almost 2 hours looking at twilight crap. i suck at life

seek professional help immediately dear

i know. i read EVERYTHING about each character. I can give you their life stories!

*facepalm

please, never ever tell me anything about twilight.

you do realize you are 24 now. and not 12.

BUT BAAAAABE the mom like character (esme) fell in love with her vampire husband when she was 16! She fell out of a tree and broke her leg and her later vampire husband set it and she was uber smitten. And then she married an abusive dude and she didnt say anything to anyone and her abusive husband was drafted for ww1 and she was happy but then he came back and was even MORE abusive and eventually she ran away and she found out she was preggers and after the baby was born, it died a few days later and she was miserable so she threw herself off a cliff, and her later vampire husband was working at the hospital when they took her in and he turned her into a vampire. and they lived happy. omg i almost vomited from that.

wow. you should vomit. you will have to. you are now on time out.

And he ACTUALLY PUT ME IN TIME OUT! He didnt talk to me for like 20 min. I was bummed. And bored. It was sad.

________________________________________________________________________________

Someone actually wanted to know my make up routine. I thought I had it up here, but I guess not so here it is:

Primer: Korres Face Primer. The traditional one. Most primers either (a) make my skin sting (b) make me feel like I am wearing a mask or (c) never actually absorb. This one is made 99% natural products. Plus its loaded with antioxidants and vitamin E. It is like a lotion and feels so nice on my skin.
Foundation: Bare Essentials Bare Minerals Foundation in Medium Beige. I know I know. Its powder! Ew right? Well I am in love. I cant help it. It glides on and it does an AMAZING job of covering without looking fake! Plus SPF!
Mascara: Korres Deep Color Mascara with Rice Bran. I am so picky when it comes to my mascara. I want something that doesnt feel stiff, that looks natural and wont clump. This baby took me years to discover, but I love it. And now that I know it, I am NEVER letting go.
Lips: Neutrogena Moisture Shine Lip Soother. I am not a big lipstick gal. I like shine, but not sticky. Moisture, but dont cake it on. For now, this is my go to lip gloss. $20 says it changes in a month.

One thing I ALWAYS have with me. It has saved my butt numerous times. It has everything I need to look perky even after 10 hours of school and I am just stopping home to grab heals and a necklace and I am heading for drinks. Oh wait I look like I havent slept in days? WHAPA! The highlighter rescues the day. My lips look sad and dull? Tinted stuff away! And it looks nice on cheeks. The concealer is great too! I havent found a single thing in that mini set that I dont love 100%.

My Birthday

2010-06-27T19:04:00.001-04:00

Today is my 24th Birthday. And my skin woke me up with a giant surprise.

A row of acne right along my smile line. I guess my skin isnt happy about my 24th birthday and decided to ravage my wimpy Lush all natural defenses.

I can venture several guesses why. Perhaps it is because my skin is mad that I am getting old? Or maybe because I left D.C.? Perhaps its because I am losing weight and I am no longer "Lex with the pretty face" but now (well almost now) "Lex with the pretty face and SLAMMIN BOD!" (I kid. I am not that close to that point) But either way there is a revolution.

Well skin you are in for a treat.

I present my High School Regiment

Clean and Clear Acne Cleanser. This baby drops 10% of benzyl peroxide on my face and works nonstop. And my fortified defense needs a strong offensive infantry yes??

I present the Terminator.

Battle positions!

Benjamin will not be in today.

2010-06-23T11:55:00.002-04:00

I know mow much you all have been looking forward to hearing more Benjamin Tales. Alas there will be none. Little Benjamin and his U of C-ness (what? ME?! bitter! NEVER!?!?!) are working on Law Review. Which brings me to my next question:

Why is he working for a great litigator when he seems to be interested in business law? (I am judging by his U of C student status and his law review love. Oh and that he wore a full suit to work)

I dont like him much do it? Whatever. Jerk used all my post-its and messed up my office with his silly memo writing (no joke. 12 single spaced pages for a memo that should have been done in 3-4 pages.)

What am I doing? Still abstracting, but drafting a response to a motion to dismiss. As soon as I finish my last abstract.

At work

2010-06-22T10:45:00.000-04:00

I am currently at work. Writing MORE deposition abstracts. I am bored out of my mind. So I have Eurovision songs playing on my headphones.

Oh yes. It is epic. Sure the first minute and a half is just breathing and nothing but random shots of faces. Sure the dancers might be gay and the group (George and Friends) makes me think its a cartoon show. But hear me out!

I love the Greek one, yes because I am Greek, but I LOVE the songs in the language of the country. Its important that each country represents who they are. I also LOVED the French one. The choreography, while at times ridiculous (like the 3:30 mark) is not bad at all. Could they have shown a better sequence at the 3:40 mark when they played the lyra? Sure. But I love the lyra. Its Greek. Like real Greek. And that makes me happy. Are the dancers hot? Yeah. Are they most likely gay? Probably. But the drum sequence! WOW!

Here is the French video:

And the winning video (Tax attorney said it gives him a headache):

BP and my little brother

2010-06-20T01:49:00.001-04:00

As I am sure many of you know, BP is spilling millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. They put 20 Bil into escrow for damages. While lots of blame is put around, and lots of people are pissed, my little 10 year old brother has been bothered a lot.

Yesterday he showed me this slideshow, which I already saw, but I was amazed that someone as young as him was showing me.

A few days ago when I went to get gas. The nearest gas station is a BP one. I went to pull in with him and he goes to me, "Lex, dont go to BP. They are killing dolphins and fish." I went to a gas station a little further down.

When I first came home I was in the car with my brother and my dad and he said something that really made me smile, "Dad how much money do I have in the bank?" "Quite a bit why?" "Can I send it to the people at the oil spill so they can get more people to clean it up? I know I have about $20 in my piggy bank. I was gonna buy the lego Pirates set, but this is more important." That night I made a donation in his name to this place. It was for $20 and I took him to get his lego Pirates set too.

Today we went to a graduation party. Lots of discussion happened about what people want to do with their lives and what kind of career they want. At one point my little brother got involved. He told everyone he wanted to be an inventor. And that he wanted to make cars run off of the heat from the sun. So no one would need oil.

One of the people at this party works for BP and everyone has tiptoed around the oil spill. But not my brother. He took it head on. When this BP worker told my brother how vital oil was to us and how many jobs it created, my little brother said it the best:

You might create jobs, but if I can make cars run on heat someone has to make the engine for me. Someone has to make the car. Someone has to fix it. What I want makes jobs too. Plus with my job, in 10 years I can show all my friends what Bluefin Tuna looks like.

I didnt know this, but I guess Bluefin Tuna only has like 2 nursery grounds for the baby fish. And one of them is the Gulf of Mexico.

The BP worker had nothing to say.

I am not saying that oil is bad, but it can be catastrophic. I think we need to get away from the idea that we are DEPENDANT on oil.

I also am not saying that everyone needs to care, because I know that wont happen. But to me, seeing a nine year old realize how bad an ecological disaster can be is encouraging. It gives me hope that kids will remember this and want to find a means to protect our fragile ecosystems, to get us off of our oil dependancy, and to push us to reinvent ourselves and technology.

As Lewis Black once said (well something along the lines): Ipod can fit THOUSANDS of songs on something as thin and small as a credit card. And we cant figure out solar energy?

Things are getting serious

2010-06-17T18:50:00.001-04:00

The tax attorney and I have been dating for a little over a year and a half (I had to count that out for a second). And we have spent 1 whole summer apart and we are working on our second. We have talked about a lot of stuff, but lately though we have both been feeling the pangs of our biological clocks.

I will be ready to have a kid in nine months. I had a persistent thought the other day that I am ready for kids. That I am ready for kids. And the last two books I have read have been about fathers and sons. And I think I will be a good dad. And then yesterday, there was a passage in one of the books that choked me up and I was gonna have you read it the next time I saw you, but basically it was, dont wait too long to have kids because you want to see them as grown ups and living a good life. Now dont get me wrong, I am not ready to start making babies, but if last summer taught me how much I actually loved you, so far this summer has taught me how wonderful we are gonna be as parents.

-From the tax attorney to me.

And I am following closely. I have been all about the babies. Wanting a girl, wanting to play with her and hold her and do all sorts of things with her. Wondering what she would look like. Hoping she gets his nose and my hair. Wondering what her smile will be like (I want a girl). Maybe its just a thing I am going through temporarily (I hope so) and will not lead to the tax attorney leaving me because he thinks I am baby crazy. But I cant help to think that all of this is a good thing.

See all these pangs (or gongs for the tax attorney) have gotten us to talk about things very few people discuss. Sure most talk about how many kids they want. Be we have talked about EVERYTHING! Are they going to go to Greek school? Will they be baptized? Where? Will he come to church with me? Will we go at all? What are we going to do when they want their first car? First phone? First date? How are we going to pay for college? Where will we go for vacation? And so many more I cant remember all of them. The good thing about this is that we understand each other. Do we agree about EVERYTHING? Of course not. But in the words of my dearest:

I spent all day with me, the last thing I want is someone who is exactly like me. I want someone who challenges me. Someone who makes me try new things.

When I think about how far we have come and how much we both have grown I am amazed. I cant attest to how much the tax attorney has changed, but I was a very different person before we dated. I know it is SO cliche. But I was. I had some trauma in my past, some documented here and most of it not, and that has left me, I hate this word, kinda broken. I had an inherit distrust of men, of marriage, of happily ever after lives, of believing that one person could be everything you needed in life. The more time I spend with the tax attorney, both time physically together and time we are far apart but still talk, the more I realize that all the things I thought were impossible, really arent. They are hard, and there are times I want to yell at him and there are times he wants to yell at me (he wont admit it though), but they are not impossible. Even when I am furious at him, even when I want to just scream and cry and be mad at him, I still want him there. I want him next to me in the morning when I wake up and I want him to kiss me goodnight. I think that is the biggest reason why I think we will be great parents. We love each other so much that even when we are at each others throats we still want to be with each other.

What factors drew you to DC?

2010-06-17T00:59:00.001-04:00

A few things drew me to D.C.
(1) I'm a political junkie. I love politics and D.C. is the place for that
(2) I love the east coast and the nicer weather they have
(3) I was accepted into a damn good law school.

In the end it was an easy decision.

Ask me anything

The Other Law Clerk

2010-06-16T15:16:00.002-04:00

I already dont like him.

How It Started
He came into a VERY casual office (like sometime we wear jeans and we almost ALWAYS wear sandals) in full suit attire. Like tie, slacks, button down, suit coat (its int he freakin 80s) and his high class watch. I remained optimistic. Maybe he is super nice and not a total douche? I say "Hello, my name is Lex" he says "I'm Benjamine." "Oh cool. How are you Ben?" "It's Benjamine." Ug.

Two Minutes Later, as I continue to Try to be Nice
"So Ben, what law school do you go to?"
"It's Benjamine. University of Chicago."
"Oh. Thats good."
"What about you?"
"My law school in D.C."
"Oh. That was my back up."
1) Fuck you dude. My school is in the top 50 overall and top 3 in Litigation
2) Did I mention? Fuck you.

Still keeping my Cool
"So Beeeeenjamine. What year are you?"
"I just finished my 1L year. You?
"I finished my 2L year."
"Wow. And you arent a summer associate?"
1) Fuck you. Again. Little bitch.

Doing some dep work and then it hits me . . .
"So how did you like your 1L year? Was it hard? Ready to quit law?"
"Actually I loved it. I liked being able to express my concerns and thoughts in all my classes"

I know why I hate him. He is a gunner.

The most annoying thing ever:

2010-06-16T13:50:00.001-04:00

Answering all question in a deposition with "As I sit here today I do not recall . . ."

damn smartass attorneys

I hurt myself often, but my family is used to it. Except the Tax Attorney.

2010-06-15T00:26:00.002-04:00

me: oh so you know how you bruised me?

Tax Attorney: yes i know how i bruised you

me: well i had to get a bathing suit on to go into the pool and there was no way of hiding the bruises. i mean they were slighlty covered but if i moved you saw them.

Tax Attorney: uh oh

me: so my mom goes "Lex what is that? why are you bruised on your chest? how do you even do that?" and i'm all "what???" and my little sister, god bless her soul, jumped in and was like "Lex remember when you dropped your charger and you bent down to get it from your bed and you hit yourself on the corner of your nightstand?" and i was all "OH YEAH! that is probably how i did it"

Tax Attorney: hehehehehehe. go little sister. quick witted that one is

me: yeah but the sad part is that actually happened

Tax Attorney: oh babe. really?

me: i got skillz

Tax Attorney: you hit yourself on the coner of the nightstand?

me: my charger fell!

Tax Attorney: you never hurt yourself when i am around

me: so i put my left hand on the night stand and i reached down with my right hand (so i was on my stomach). my hand slipped and i kinda hurt myself. i didnt get bruised

Tax Attorney: oh baby

me: but it was a few days before you came

Tax Attorney: please be careful. i know

me: i am careful when you are around. hence why i never hurt myself

Tax Attorney: and you thought your fam wouldnt make a big deal about it if they saw it

me: yeah

Tax Attorney: BE CAREFUL ALL THE TIME

me: but i totally forgot about that happening

Tax Attorney: what am i gonna do with you babe? plastic bubble? course then, you could never explain the bruises i give you just promise me you will be careful

me: i am! dont worry! geesh

*As a side note, I totally bruised him too. On his calves.
**Also, theses are not like beat me with a stick bruises. They are . . . ummm love bruises. We were excited to see each other.

I love my work sometimes

2010-06-14T15:18:00.002-04:00

We have this client, a greek guy who is a defendant to a fraud case. He basically lends money out and collects (kinda like a loan shark) and I am reading and abstracting his deposition.

Here are some highlights:

At one point he was asked how would he collect money? sue? He answers "beat his brains out." you can tell from the dep transcript that both attorneys were like WTF?!?!

The questioning attorney was like "Mr. Greek man you hurt my feels!" Our client responded "I dont give a damn about your feels. I tell you truth."

One of my favorite dialog:

Client: Do you know what kind of house I live in?

Questioning Attorney: Tell me.
Client: 15,000 square feet. Why would I own that piece of shit house?

"Let me tell you something. When I go home at 4 o'clock there is nothing on my brain. I dont give a shit if everything burns."

Oh Client . . . (more great chats)

Questioning Attorney: Why is it only the wife on the lease?
Client: At least I can talk to her. She's not going to go out and put the house in bigger hock again. She's only a woman, so you can only do so much. Excuse me ladies.
********************

Questioning Attorney: Please read this.
Client: I am not reading shit. You can either tell me what it says or I wont answer your questions.

I cannot even put in 1/200 of this case, but let me assure you, the deposition is fucking hilarious.

The best part? The deposition has a word index. "Shit" is listed in there. On 24 pages.

LOVE!

I am not a hypocrite. And I FINALLY present Year Four

2010-06-14T01:55:00.001-04:00

So today I was complaining to the tax attorney about how he never blogs anymore. You should go to him and harass him into rebloginng again. He really is hilarious. Of course I semi-pouted about how much I write about him, and yet I get nothing from him. (ignore the random posts that happen to mention me slightly. Oh and the super amazing one (from almost ONE YEAR AGO!)) Hopefully with enough harassment he will inform you that I really am super cool and amazing, even though my life really does seem super boring. Which brings me to my final installment of my college in a nutshell.

This is the final part of my 4 part series of college. Years One, Two and Three have been written and you can read them if you like or are new. But to recap, year three was tough. By the end of it I came out stronger and ready to use my final year in a manner that would make me happy. I think the best way to do this would be to tackle the year by theme instead of chronologically.

My senior year. To say it was a party year would be an understatement. To say it was a great year would be to give it no where NEAR enough credit. I was 21. I always had booze in my room. I had no class on Friday. I also didnt have a class before 1. Two classes a day. I rocked.

My senior year I worked on a senior thesis with the college prof that changed my life. We would meet every day, we talked about my thesis, I TAed his class. I made a survey, handed it out, computed data, pulled my FIRST all nighter finishing it. In the end I had a thesis I was proud of. And it was a ton of work. But totally worth it.

My classes were more for fun than anything else. I took some philosophy courses with the college soulmate. We hung out a ton. We made some bad choices and we made some great ones. We went on dates, we went out to drinks, we slept together, and we were amazingly great for each other in a lot of ways. And to this day we are still amazing friends.

Wednesday was my fav day. My bar had logo night every wedn. And I was there. Me, CBF, college soulmate, and the girl that was doing her senior thisis with the same prof as me (JC), SS (the girl that was freinds with CBF and totally amazing). Every Wednesday. I ended up with a collection of logo glasses. Towards the end of the year I switched to Bacardi Coconut with pineapple and grenadine. Mmmmm. Every Wednesday I was the person who never had to wait in line to get in (friends with the bouncers! WHA?!), never had to wait at the bar (bartenders = bestest buds!), and never seemed to pay for a single drink (bartenders and friends were everywhere). While every Wednesday was logo night, me and the crew (all the folks I went to my bar with) also experimented with other places. One of my favs (and the place that ended up holding my goodbye party) was a place I shall call M&Ms.

M&Ms is where I tried my first Tusker beer, my first English beer, my first amazing shot of tequila that wasnt patron, my first make out with college soulmate, first beer that was so sweet I could drink it as juice (Georgia something. Peach maybe?), lots of firsts. But M&M was my going away party. And while chronologically it should be at the end, it is going here. For those at my going away party, you remember. Well you might not. The bartender lined up shots along the bar. Poured tequila in each of them. Handed me about 10 lime wedges and a salt shaker and she told me to go to town. I did. I am still amazed I didnt die. I still dont remember much of that night, but I do remember it was fun. Hugs, drinks, shots, smiles, laughter, some tears, lots of pictures. It was a night that might have topped everything.

Other amazing events happened that year too. One of my favs was the LMAs. Local Music Awards. Stub was in charge of most of it (so I got a kick ass t-shit) and I showed up in my fav outfit of all time. That tshirt. No it isnt me. (I still had shorter hair and bangs) But the tshirt was (and still is) mine. Pair it with high heels, chunky yellow and pink bracelets, hot pink hoop earrings and dark jeans? I looks freaking hot. And I was looking like a rocker. I totally fit in great. While the actual event and award show was fun, it was the afterparty that blew the roof off. Beers were flowing, shots were everywhere, and the fun was not going to stop. I think that night I was hit on the most, and I had one of the most interesting and fun nights ever. Some of the pics are QUITE hilarious.

Other than local music awards, drinks, and class I also bonded. My housemates and I became amazingly good friends. We drank, we watched movies, we hung out in my room, we made hilarious videos, we had chair races, we chilled on the roof, we ate dinner together, we got late night ice cream. We were, and still are, like family.

I didnt only bond with housemates, but I bonded with classmates. Over renegade mondays. Renegade Monday was always at one bar, famous for its "firehydrants" which were large amounts of beer poured into a hydrant like thing. On Mondays they were $5. You could easy get around 10 drinks or so. So on Monday me and a few fellow seniors went to this bar. We played circle of death, we played asshole, and other drinking games and got drunk. Yes on a Monday night. We were rockstars.

My senior year was everything I could have asked for. I cannot think of one bad thing to say about it. I just hope my 3rd year of law school goes as well.

2010-06-13T12:26:00.001-04:00

Today the tax attorney is heading home to D.C. and I cannot even put into words how much I will miss him.

Wow it sucks right now

2010-06-12T00:44:00.000-04:00

I just spent the whole day with the tax attorney. I got to hold his hand, kiss him, smile at him, I got to see him be happy, I got to run my fingers though his hair and I got to smell him. But like every day, this day came to an end too.

The tax attorney just left. And it sucks. It feels like the best part of me was ripped away from me. I wont be able to sleep tonight, so I decided to take some Tylenol PM. I already miss him. I miss the way I fit perfectly in his shoulder, I miss the way he smiles at me and pulls me close to kiss me. I miss holding his hand. I miss looking into his eyes.

We got to just lay next to each other for a little bit today. It felt so right. It felt like everything was perfect when I got to feel his arms around me and be able to look right at him when we talked. I have never really felt miserable when I was away from someone.

I never REALLY saw myself with someone forever. I never pictured a family and a house and a dog with someone until I found the tax attorney. I didnt even know I could feel that way. And you would think it would be easy. I found the person I want to be with for the rest of my life. But it isnt. I miss him so much that I want to cry at night. I miss waking up to him snuggling me. I miss falling asleep to his snuggles. I miss seeing him walk in the door around 5:30-6:00. I miss spending weekends with him. I miss eating dinner with him. I miss everything. And I miss it so much more when I get to see parts of it.

51 Days until I get to go back to that.

What was left for me at the office today

2010-06-08T11:43:00.001-04:00

I got a call from my boss as I was on the train. He let me know no one would be there and he had court all day. So I was all excited and I went into the office. Only to find papers all over the place giving me directions of what to do! After reading that I misread all the bank statements I worked on yesterday, I got to this:

Lex,

      The unfortunate relity of being a lawyer is that a lawyer's time is all he has to sell. Therefore, we have to keep track of our time.

      Please keep a timesheet filled for every cleint you work on. I need you to account for 6 hours per day, at elase. The more detail in your desription of time, the better.

      You also need to kame a document for the days you come in so I know how much to pay you.

                                  Your Boss

Basically, I have nothing to offer but my time.

Thoughts on Day One of Work

2010-06-07T23:54:00.001-04:00

As I sit on my bed, hair wrapped in a towel, staring at my really pretty Mermaid to Order toes, waiting for Tylenol PM to kick in, and slightly exhausted from Yoga X (I still hate it) I figured I would give a brief recap of the days events:

For those that follow me in Twitter, it should come as no surprise that I hate reviewing bank statements. Like a lot. It was my whole day, and I was not excited.
Another possible negative, I have another law clerk to work with. I hope I get along with her, and I hope she is a 1L so I can feel slightly superior. I know, I have a complex.
On the positive side, my commute (a major factor in the job decision) is 15 minutes. YAY!
I now get BAD ASS blueberry scones. Again. I dont think they are very good for me though.
I packed my lunch. It was a great idea and I will continue to do this. Tomorrow: Salad with chicken.
The attorney I am working for continues to be happy with me, overall. However, he is a taskmaster if there ever was one.
The secretaries STILL rock hard core.
I totally feel that 2:30 feeling (cue the commercial) and unlimited Coke Zero makes it go away.
I get Fridays off (YES!) and I might work with another attorney that my current boss works with to get a few more hours. Does that even make sense?
I also dont have a set schedule. I think I will be coming in 3 days a week (???) or something like that.

Overall, I am thrilled about that. The job is gonna be fun and I am working until August. Well the very last day of July is more likely.

For now, bed time since I have to be up by 7:00 (lame).

First Day of the New Job (plus a few random bits)

2010-06-07T00:08:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I start work again for the attorney I worked for last summer. He was so happy with me that he wanted me again. Promising no? Well last year I did a lot of memo writing, some motions drafts, and a few other things. I am expecting much of the same this year, but with more a focus on the motions. Hopefully I will still get GREAT client interactions. (fingers crossed)

But, for me, the most exciting part is NO FILING! WHA?!?! Yeah I am pumped that I wont have to file anything. Because I hate filing. Its boring. But I am excited. (1) Because this guy is a civil litigator. So I get to see that side again. Hopefully something that I will enjoy.

___________________________________________________

Chelsea Dagger is on replay in honor of the Hawks and their well earned victory. Wednesday off to Philly.

___________________________________________________

I know he will never every admit this ever again, but the tax attorney sent me a cute text a while back. He had a few beers and he confided that he hoped the Hawks went to game 7 and won, just so he could experience that with me. Cute? Yes. If they Hawks lose Wedn, blame him. (But I kinda share the sentiment)

___________________________________________________

I tried Fresh Farmacy (the pink Lush cleanser) and without getting TOO excited, I am TOTALLY optimistic. I really think this one is a winner! Tea Tree Oil + calamine = blemishes fading and a soothing feel. Plus its an ADORABLE pink color!

___________________________________________________

I am STILL waiting for 2 grades. Seriously? How long can this take? I wanna see my GPA skyrocket damn it!

___________________________________________________

The tax attorney told me a while back that I should look int bar registration/application. OMG what a bitch to deal with. Speaking of the bar exam, I totally think I will take a leaf out of Legally Fab's book. Because it REALLY seems like the ONLY way to stay sane. Oh and I will DEF do my studying in DC. Away from family and all possible distractions. Except the tax attorney, but he will lose privileges if he is a distraction so I am not worried.

___________________________________________________

For now, I need some sleep since it is late and I will be up early.

Someone is looking for P90X related stuff!

2010-06-05T14:30:00.002-04:00

So someone found me by typing P90X results. So I guess I should give that person what they are searching for.

I am on day . . . 20. Last workout of the first 3 "Hell weeks." As of now, and with only a few weeks of doing this I can safely say this:

IT IS HARD!

Seriously. I tried doing P90X in DC with the tax attorney. We did 3 workouts? Then I gave up. I was sore, I was crabby, I couldnt keep up, and I had a small apartment.

When I came to Chicago I decided I was going to make it happen. While the tax attorney always tried to push me to do it, its different at home. I have brothers and sisters that will make fun of me forever if they can do it and I cant. I didnt want to deal with that.

So I started doing it. I knew what to expect for the first few workouts. And yeah I was sore for days. I still get sore sometimes. But for now it gets easier. And I want to Kill Tony (the guy who made this) less and less each day. It's an improvement.

As for physical improvement/weight loss? WELL today was the FIRST time I went on the scale since D.C. and I dont remember how much I weighed there. So I really have no number for you guys. However, I can tell you this. Everything fits better, my face has gotten thinner, I have lost some of my "tummy pooch" and I feel myself getting stronger. Even my brother has noticed, and he wont pick on me as much now. My family and friends tell me I have lost weight, so I suppose I have? I know my parents wouldnt lie about that.

So do I recommend it? Yes and no.

If you are going to STICK with it, do it EVERYDAY for 3 months and you wont cry and whine about being sore, then yes.

If you dont think you can do that, skip it and save yourself a bunch of money.

But what about when the 90 days are over? Well you can start again, as many people do, or you can do some of the workouts that you enjoy. For example, once the 90 days are up I will continue Kenpo (I love it!), yoga (I wanna actually be balanced enough to stand on one leg for 90 seconds wo falling), Core Synergistics (I hear its GREAT for abs, that is next week for me), and some of the P90X plus routines (like upper body, total body, interval). If you wanna jack up a specific area, you can always just do those. They have like 4 work outs for arms for goodness sake!

Now how it does for the boys, you have to ask the tax attorney.

A Quick Story

2010-06-04T00:24:00.000-04:00

My little sister had a bit of an earache. So she asked my for pain meds. I told her all I had was Tylenol PM (the real one and not the CVS brand) and that if she took it she would pass out fast. Poor little sister took too. After taking them and me warning her a SECOND time she told me that they would have no effect because she had to stay up all night to study. Me and my mom personally think she needed sleep more.

Fast forward 15 minutes. Little Sister (LS) is laying down on my bed, ready to pass out. I walk her to her bed and ask her if she is going to stay up all night. She goes to me:

Lex, I dont like these. They make me sleepy. And I cant keep my eyes open

Cue her trying to pull her eyelids open with her fingers. At least she will get a full 8 hours of sleep tonight.

Finding my Mojo

2010-06-03T22:41:00.000-04:00

For the past few days I have been grumpy. Like really bummed out. No particular reason why. But I am finding my mojo.

Today I popped the pretty Mermaid to Order color from Sephora onto my toes. I love the color. Like a lot. Every time I look at my toes I get a little happy. Its such a nice color. With such a pretty shine. Might be a bit much for my fingers, but with pretty tanned feet I should be good.

In my everlasting search for a product that removes undereye circles I have come to Clarins Eye Gel. The gel is soothing and cooling and makes me feel more awake. Now will it work? Who knows. If it doesnt I am going with Clinique next.

Pair all this with the sudden onslaught of "Lex, have you lost weight?" and combine it with new found strength (seriously I am getting stronger) and you have a receipt for some smiles.

All this with some sort of crazy desire for me to keep my P90X up and Lady Gaga's song Alejandro.

I thin the nail polish was the catalyst. Tomorrow I am gonna soak up some sun. Damn, its supposed to rain. Lame.

Let me preface this . . .

2010-06-02T20:15:00.000-04:00

I love my family. I really really do. If you have ANY doubts, ask the tax attorney. I would kill people for them and I would die for them.

Keeping that in mind, I am dying. Not literally. But suburbia is killing me. I have lived for the past 6 years alone for the most part. And honestly? I loved it. Sure there were times, lots of times, where I missed my family, but I had freedom, a thriving social life, and the ability to do whatever I wanted.

Now? I am back in the NW Chicago Suburbs. Too far to really go out to the city, at least under the standard rules of living at home (aka sleep at home) and even if I train it, I still have to drive home so I cant even get too drunk. I am cooped up. Sure the house is huge, I can go swimming, I can watch a movie in the kick ass theater room, play pool, and yeah the mall is near by, but what am in? Junior High?

I just need a break. I need a vacation or a trip or even someone CLOSE to my own age to go out and get plastered with. I need a little freedom back. It suffocating to have to answer to someone ALL the time. It makes me wanna break down and cry. I miss the ability to have several drinks in the middle of the day! Sure I never really did that, but I had the OPTION.

And I know if I asked to be able to do something I'm 100% positive that my parents would let me, with some restrictions. But I miss being able to walk out the door, hop onto a train and go downtown and drink. Not tell a soul where and why, not have anything holding me back like folding laundry or helping someone.

I miss DC. And I know this is whiny and incredibly dumb in comparison to the rest of the world's problems. It doesnt change how I feel. Nor does it change what I miss.

So I am going to just suck it up, do another day of p90x and perhaps watch V for Vendetta in the giant movie theater. And have several drinks. Alone.

Ug that makes me sound like I have a drinking problem.

A little bit of everything

2010-06-01T18:30:00.000-04:00

So today I finally decided where I was going to work: A single practitioner in Chicago. 3-4 days a week. So I still get some free time for the summer. I will be there all summer (until August). I am actually really excited!
_______________________________________________
Lately my face has not been cooperating with me. Normally its good, doesnt break out often, and behaves and looks nice. However the past few weeks I have been struggling. I think it was the coalface cleanser. I no longer use it on my chin. I use it only on my nose. It gets rid of black heads beautifully. So while my face is healing I have been using neosporin on my chin to ease the healing process. So far so good.

I went to the mall for a bit today and I went to the Lush store and confessed that tea tree oil is the best thing for my face. So please help me. She directed me to two products: Phresh Pharmacy and Herbalism.

Phresh Pharmacy has some tea tree oil in it, which to me is the saving grace while herbalism is a gentle cleanser made with clay. I have more hope for the Phresh Pharmacy than the Herbalism, but we shall see.

I hear mixed reviews for both, and some people say that one works better than the other. I would love it if BOTH worked! Of course I am going to let everything heal up first before I dive into something new, so dont expect any reviews anytime soon. So for now I am sticking with my Clinique face wash.
_______________________________________________
I also stopped at Sephora to pick up a sample of eye cream for my horrendous eye circles. DDF is not cooperating any more. So I got a nice new gel based sample and we'll see how that goes as well. But I did get a spur of the moment object. I pretty color for the summer and something to grab attention:

I present Mermaid to Order. It is apparently the newest fad and somethine that is supposed to look GREAT on summer skin. I plan on using it on my toes, seeing that my thumb STILL hasnt grown out :(
_________________________________________________
I also got some of my grades back. Very happy with them so far. I am waiting for two more grades, but if things continue as they are now I am looking at one of my best semesters ever.
________________________________________________
Things with the tax attorney are going well as of now. We talk every day and now that he has a new office with reception we text every now and then. I miss him terribly.
________________________________________________
I am on week 3 of p90x and everyone says they see a difference. I really dont. But today I looked in the mirror, and maybe it was the angle, but my face looked thinner. And my pants are def looser. So maybe I just cant see? Who knows. But I'm keeping up with it and that is what really matters.

Speaking of p90x, I have scratched 2 of the DVDs. I suck. But the tax attorney came to the rescue and sent me a copy via interwebs. I now need blank DVDs to make the copy. I still cannot believe I did that. TWICE! Ug.
_______________________________________________
I have gotten tan. Over the weekend my siblings had this thing called Junior Olympics. Me and my family were out in the sun ALL day and were exhausted by the time we got home. I was slightly red, NOT burned, and now I have a pretty color, only problem is that i wore a regular tshirt, so my chest got no color. I am totally planning on sitting in the sun soon. I would like SOME color.

P90X, results, home

2010-05-26T23:36:00.000-04:00

So I am on day 10 of 90. 1/9 DONE BABY! Thus far, I def feel stronger. My whole body is sore, but I have slimmed down a little. The tax attorney is doing it too and he has thus far lost almost 10 lbs. Bastard. I would hate him if I didnt love him so much. (Exhibit A: Gchat Convo re the significance of a names' day and what it means to Greek people Tax Attorney : no really, i was looking into it, you wrote me a letter on your names day and mentioned how important it was, and because i am dense, i decided to do some research on it, and realized how important a persons name is in the greek culture and that the names day is more important than the birthday, and how i understand your insistence on our kids names much better now)

As for my results, I am not sporting a 6pack, but i have noticed things fitting better. And so far I am happy with the results. My goal is to lose weight by the time a friend's wedding rolls around.

So how am I feeling about it? Well it is gonna be hard for me to wash my hair tonight. And sometimes it is hard to walk. And I dont feel like eating ever (except at night which I am trying to curb!).

As for work, I will be starting soon. I promise folks. And when I know you will know. And I will have ALL sorts of stories for you guys.

I love that my man can appreciate dancing

2010-05-25T23:02:00.000-04:00

me: so babycakes

Tax Attorney: : yeah sweetheart

me: whacha up to

Tax Attorney: watching dancing with the stars

about to watch the daily show

me: dancing with the stars?

Tax Attorney: um, i mean girls gone wild

me: Wow. you are SO manly

Tax Attorney: dude, those gay ballroom dancer guys are tough

and some are even straight!

it is totally manly

we should take dancing lessons

me: OMFG I am cracking up SO hard

25 is Not That Far Away

2010-05-24T22:13:00.000-04:00

My 24th birthday is coming up. I am so freaking old. And normally you see lists of things you want to do before you are Thirty. But I march to my own tune/beat/drum. So I am doing a list of 25 things I have done this year.

Finished another year of school (like you guys didnt realize that was coming up!)
Had a trial where I was the attorney
Lost parts of said trial and felt bad about it
Went to a foreign country
Lived in an apartment small enough to fit into my bedroom in Chicago
Lived with the love of my life
Realized that I wanted to live with the love of my life for the rest of my life
Regained 1/5 of the cool I lost when I went to law school
Joined Twitter
Started p90x then quit and then restarted
Actually doing p90x for more than 3 days
Held a job during the school year
Actually fell in love with DC
Watched 12 freinds get engaged/married. Yup. One for each month
Learned about Hockey
Watched SEVERAL NHL games
Bought an elliptical
Saved a woman's life (litterally)
Laid verbal smackdown in class
Tried to switch to organic (and have MOSTLY succeeded)
Went to Farmer's Markets
Met the Tax Attorney's Fam (and yeah they loooved me)
Have someone ask for my legal opinion and ACTUALLY care about it
See the National Tree Lighting Ceremony
Went to Jersey

So there you have it. 25 things I have done this year. Hopefully there will be MANY more lists of things that I have done and few/no lists of things I wished I could do.

So I used a lot of Lush Products. What do I think?

2010-05-24T01:52:00.001-04:00

I know ANOTHER makeup/skincare post. I'm sorry loyal readers.

As you might remember I bought some Lush products a while back. And now that I got to use them I should let you all know what I thought:

Cosmetic Warrior Face Mask: Yes it smells like garlic and tea tree oil. Yes you smell like a salad and its thick and gooey and chunky. But damn it I love it. It was the best buy ever. EVER! I miss it. And it will be my standard.

Cupcake Face Mask: Doesnt hold a candle to Cosmetic Warrior but smells a million times better. It does help tighten pores. And I think it works great with the coalface soap.

Coalface Soap: Thus far ALL blackheads on my noes have been removed. I am thrilled. Has it made a difference with the rest? Not really. Its great for really oily days, but other than that I think this will just be used for my nose.

Godiva Solid Shampoo: LOVE. THE. SMELL. Oh my god its amazing. As for its ability to moisturize, we shall see. Today I used it sans conditioner even though EVERY bone in my body wanted to feel the slick silicone and chemical filled feel of my conditioner.

Overall, I do love Lush. I cant help it.
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Yeah I know I owe you Year Four. I am working on it. I promise.

I also really miss the boyfriend. Normally I dont do this, but this text was too cute:

So as I make my lunch, a sandwich with double fiber bread, deli ham. and deli cheese, fresh celery, fiber enriched yogurt, 50 calorie string cheese, and fresh fruit (an apple and del monte fresh cups, sadly no room for strawberries), I cannot help but think of how much you have enriched my life and how, just like you being far away, that something is missing. So I am gonna put some edamame in my lunch and hopefully that will help me get through another day without you. But I'm thankful for everything you have given me and how much I love having you in my life.

I am dating that. See how lucky I am?
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Lately I have had trouble sleeping. Like right now, 1 am. Cant sleep. My day was jam packed and 2 hrs ago I was ready to pass out, but I cannot fall asleep unless I take Tylenol PM. That isnt good. Tonight I am just gonna force myself into sleep. Somehow. Yesterday I wore one of the tax attorney's tshirts that I have. Today I am just gonna make it happen.

Back Home

2010-05-21T17:59:00.000-04:00

I am back in Chicago. Its great to be with my family. As of now, I do not know what I will be doing for the summer. I have a few options.

I miss my boyfriend. So very much. Its hard going from seeing each other every day and waking up with each other to nothing. Sure we call and text and sometimes video gchat each other. But it isnt the same. Plus sometimes I suck and am super busy and dont really get a chance to call him. But he always calls me. No matter what. God I miss him so very much.

Other than that I really dont have much. Im glad my year is over. And I miss my boyfriend.

New Face Mask

2010-05-16T15:13:00.000-04:00

Ok so I went to Lush. Again. This time I wanted a mask that would hold better for the trip home. So I went with Cupcake. Chocolate that is good for your face! It def has a lighter fluffy texture and doesnt have the heavy feel of Cosmetic Warrior. So far it smells nice, almost over powering, and it hase a great exfoliating feel. Updates on thoughts and feelings later.

I also got CoalFace cleanser: It has bits of coal in it and is supposed to be AMAZING for getting rid of blackheads and acne. Overall good stuff for your skin.

Finally I got a solid shampoo. Godiva. It is supposed to be a shampoo and conditioner and does a great job of making your hair feel fantastic. This is def something worthwhile for travel! No security hassle. Now to see if it works as well as all their OTHER products!

Reminiscing About Undergrad: Year Three

2010-05-14T16:05:00.007-04:00

This is part 3 of a 4 part series about my undergrad years. Year One and Two have already been written. As I have said, Years one and two were a blast and I was due for a bad year. My Third Year was it. But to give you some background, my second year was spent dating CS. Over the summer I went to Greece and had a lot of fun. That trip to Greece drove a wedge between me and the CS for many reasons. In the end, he called it off and I started my third year like this:

Bottles of wine and empty cartons of ice cream. My room in the house was littered with them. For about a week it was all I did. Drink and eat ice cream. My roommates were fantastic and spent time with me and watched movies with me and drank with me. I was miserable. I didnt care about class and I was making bad choices. But after about 3 weeks of me in my PJs and wallowing in self pity and wrapped in my comforter CBF saved my ass. He came to my house, literally dragged me out of my bed and threw a pair of butt hugging jeans and a tshirt at me and demanded that I get dressed. We were going out. CBF and his significant other and SS (the fantastically sarcastic woman) went to a bar on the other side of town, a bar in retrospect I realized was picked out to ensure CS wouldnt run into me. We went out and we drank. And I smiled and CBF refused to let me wallow or look sad. So I smiled. And I drank. And I remained happy for his sake.

Shortly after that My wonderful housemates rallied. We settled on my bar. Me and about 15 of my housemates went. We took the biggest table in the center of the bar and I asked one of the really hot housemates to just faun over me. And he did. Oh he was great. And did I run into CS. And I ran into the bathroom and cried. After a few minutes I settled down, wiped my eyes and walked back out with smiles and continued laughing and being my charming self. Inside I was dying. And I wanted to go back to my covers.

I kept doing that for a long time. For over a month I just acted happy. I went to class, I went out, I laughed, and I pretended everything was fine. I even dressed up for Halloween with CBF as Jack White and Meg White. And then I made a huge mistake. I went out with a a couple of guys. I drank more than I should have. A lot more. And I let a guy who was terrible for me walk me home. Lets call him SOB. Nothing happened that night. But after that he started to court me. And I mean it in that old fashioned sense. He bought me tickets to see the FooFighters (because I love them) and Carlos Mencia. He bought me drinks, and presents (including a new TV) and I let him. I let him get me present and I let him date me. And I didnt listen. I didnt listen to CBF and SS and all my housemates. Everyone told me that he was bad for me. Everyone. And I didnt listen to anyone. God I was dumb. And the more I fell into this situation, the more I couldnt find a way out. I became someone I didnt like. There wasnt a physical change, but I changed. It was little things. I lost little pieces of myself over time. They were so small I didnt even notice at first.I let him talk poorly to me but it wasnt one day he called me sweetie and the next whore, but they were small changes. A different tone, then a different pitch and slowly different words. I lost a lot of respect for myself and I fell into a deep hole. I cheated on him, I let him treat me like crap, and I didnt do anything. I just let it happen. Eventually I lost enough peices of myself to realized I had changed. I wasnt me.

I still remember CBF and SS sitting me down at my bar. Telling me that they didnt like SOB. And they knew they only had a few minutes before SOB would come back with my drink, but they had a bad feeling. CBF knew that SOB didnt like him. SS knew that SOB wasnt going to make me happy, especially the way he treated me. But I didnt listen. I dont really know why.

Well two people pulled me out of this. DS and my College Soulmate.College Soulmate and I met in a Philosophy class. And we hit it off from the start. And I adored him. One of those boys saved me physically. Over Thanksgiving break SOB and I got into a huge fight. He wanted to tell me how to take care of my own body. He wanted me to have no say. I told DS about it. And he was blunt. He told me I was an idiot. He told me that I had lost all respect for myself and that I had become someone he didnt know. I was stunned. He was right. And it was that moment when I called it off. It was break so I had time to get over it. But when I got back I had something waiting for me.

SOB was a jackass. He wasnt happy that I called it off and he wasnt happy that I left. Well he was furious. People were around to make sure that I was safe, but I couldnt be watched 24/7. One day I was walking down the street. And I ran into him. To say that what happened was like this would be an understatement. And I wasnt Jimmy.

But I was lucky. College Soulmate was driving down the street and he saw me. Out of the 20 or so people that walked by he was the only one that stopped. He pulled SOB off me, told me to get my ass in the car and and exchanged words with SOB. College Soulmate saved me.

After that, I was better. I became close to my old self. I was over CS. And I got bangs. Part of my renovation was getting bangs. I couldnt help it. The rest of that year was mostly joy. Over Christmas I got a camera and I documented so much of that year. I became even closer with DS and College Soulmate. I spent time at my bar and I got to know the bartenders. I got involve in Radio, I managed DS's campaign, I took more classes with the College Professor who changed so very much. In fact he was an advocate of me and SOB calling it off from the get go. He was also the first one to notice how very different I was. My housemates and I got closer and we spent spring nights sitting on the roof talking. I got involved in the radio and got to meet an amazing person. Lets call him Stub.

I could go on and on about the fun times I had. Like the 18 hour movie marathon with my housemates, shaving cream fights, long days laying on the quad, nights spent walking around and getting late night ice cream. Stub/CBF/ SS/College Soulmate calling me at 10:30 and night and saying "It time for your bar." Or even the logo nights every Wednesday. I had a collection by the end of the year. Arranging DS's campaign for Senate, visiting the various Sororities and Fraternities, getting gelato with him, talking for HOURS about anything and everything.

That summer I spent about 2 months at my undergrad, working for the college prof. I was his research assistant and I took a class. I spent so much of those 2 months just hanging out with College Soulmate and CBF and Stub. It was this summer that I turned 21. CBF hosted a party and I wore a tiara and a big fake pearl necklace with a sash given by SS and her friend. I drank a lot, but it was great. I defended CBF and punched a dude harassing him in the face. It was one of the best summers to date.

By the end of my third year I was prepared. I was ready to make my last year an epic one. I knew people from everywhere, DS's student body campaign, Stub and the radio station, CBF and his friends, my bar and the regulars, my housemates and all the people that would visit us, my prof and being done with just about all my requirements. I was my old cheery self only this time I was wiser. I created long lasting bonds with my housemates and friends.

Work Story

2010-05-13T19:41:00.002-04:00

I am at work and reviewing a plaintiff's opposition to defendant's motion for reconsideration of an order of default. I read the response, I read the cases the plaintiffs rely on and I have come to this conclusion: Plaintiff's counsel cannot read. Plaintff's counsel contends that the order of default cannot be reconsidered because State law does not allow reconsiderations of the court's decision on liability. There is an iota of truth in this. The State's rules do not allow a reconsideration for a JUDGMENT of default. We only have an order of default. Plaintiff's lawyer cites three major cases. All supporting the fact that you CAN reconsider liability for an ORDER of default but NOT a JUDGMENT of default. I am highlighting this portion of the Plaintiff's most cited case: "Underlying the first step of plaintiff's argument is the mistaken notion that the order of default in arbitration was a judgment of liability that could not be disturbed." AKA: Plaintiff, you are dumb. Plaintiff's attorney in our case, you are just as dumb, if not more so for choosing a case that explicitly called you dumb.

I am salivating over the future success of the motion.

Reminiscing About Undergrad: Year Two

2010-05-11T11:00:00.000-04:00

Its not even 10 am and I am up. I was going to nap for another hour once the tax attorney went to work, but I got up to do something and then said fuck it. My goal is to walk out the door by 10:30 to go to work (after stopping at the DC Ct of Appeals to file something). So year two:

My second year of law school was filled with more ups than anything else. It was when I first met some amazing friends, I was also dating College Sweetheart, living with great friends, etc. I think I can safely say that my 2nd year was the best (After me senior year!).

My second year began as any other would. Over the summer me and one of my great friend's from year one started dating. College sweetheart. We dated for a whole year. So he is in the background of all of this.

This year I started hanging out even more with the college sweetheart and I got to know his roommates (I called them "my boys") and some of the girls that lived around him. One of them became a GREAT friend of mine, and after a falling out in my 3rd year, I do hope to reconnect at some point. We will call her Little Talker (she and I woud chat for HOURS on end). So LT was a sweetheart. I didnt like her at first. A girl hanging out with my boys?? WTF? Right? Well after a while I got used to her.

Classes were not bad. My first semester I took an english class, an anthro class, two poli sci classes and a philosophy class.

CBF moved to an apartment that was not with the College Sweetheart (CS) but I still hung out with him all the time. I wont lie though, my circle of friends was mostly the CS and his buddies and LT and her girls. But CS was a great boyfriend. We went to concerts together (my first one in America! Foo Fighters.), we went to St. Louis (where he was from) and I met his family and they loved me, we celebrated his 21st (which was insane and involved him making out with a girl in front of me and begging for forgiveness on his knees but more on that later), and we overall had a blast.

I really dont remember an insane amount of details my second year. It was really just one happy time. Eventually first semester came and went and second semester rolled around. It was this point where I took the Poli Sci class that changed my life, and the philosophy course that got me to know one of my fav people. Oh I took another english course, 2 poli sci classes and 2 philo classes. In case you cared.

Oh. Might not have to work. Post just got a lot longer.

My second semester is when more of the fun stuff happened. So I have a few stories: trip to St. Louis, CS birthday, valentines day, the prof that changed college, and the friend that became a crush and then a friend again.

My trip to St. Louis was so much fun! I have pictures of the arch and everything. We stayed in St. Louis for a weekend. I got to meet CS family at a huge family dinner where everyone loved me and his uncle told him to never let me go because he will never do better. Needless to say, I felt great there. We went in the winter-ish (I am wearing a heavy coat) CS family was so sweet and nice and kind to me. Hands down the family that treated me the most like family (until I got to know the Tax Attorney's fam who just amazes me with how much they care!). Every picture has me smiling like a fool and so very very happy.

Of course between stories there are nights of going out. At this point I became quite the social butterfly. Going form one place to another. Beer bars with the boys, champagne bars with LT and the girls. But notice this: No talk of my roommates. I was an idiot at this point. I thought that I could safely have a circle of my boyfriend and his friends and suffer no consequences. I was an idiot. It was my biggest lesson of the year. But back to the happy!

There are photos of me smiling, having a drink, dancing, having a blast. All while keeping great grades thank you very much. This was also the year when I started going to My Bar. Anyone who knows who I am knows what bar this is.

But I went out. A lot. And I have more than one picture that shows me drinking. I studied hard and partied hard. The end.

The CS birthday was another major event that I dont want to forget. The CS and I had been dating for about 6 months and his birthday was coming up. So me and LT planned to have a birthday party for him! We got drink specials at a kinda frat boy bar (I would never EVER go there again) and I invited his friends and mine (which were also his) and we drank. A lot. At this party several things happened. But one thing that was pleasant was meeting a girl CBF brought with as a friend. She was smart, funny, super sarcastic and we got along. Well. I am gonna call her SS (for super sarcastic). We didnt become friends yet, but we had a connection. Anyway, back to the party. Well CS was drinking. A lot. Understandably right? 21st birthday. Why wouldnt he drink? Well he drank too much. And he kissed a chick. That wasnt me. She kinda looked like me (short brown hair and purple top) and in retrospect I can justify it that way. Of course at that point I couldnt justify it. I tapped his shoulder and told him I was leaving. He of course looked confused and followed me out (we might have been one of the last one of his friends still there). I was furious and he knew it. It was cold. He kept saying sorry. I kept saying that I didnt want to talk about it. He told me "I cant have you mad at me. I am sorry. And *gets down on one knee* (I begin to think "Oh fuck. Dont do something dumb like propose") I am not moving from here until you . . . ("SHIIIIT!!!") tell me you are not mad at me."

Oh I almost lost it. I continued walking and eventually he chased after me and I turned him over to his roommates and asked the only sober one to drive me home. He saw how upset I was and agreed to it. On the ride home I told him what happened and he said he understood. After getting home, getting into my PJs, washing my face and brushing my teeth, I got a call from CS's roommates. He wanted to see me. He refused to cooperate until he got to see me and say goodnight. I didnt want to go at all. I was still furious. His roommates told me that I should come by, if anything so I could show him that regardless of how pissed I was I still cared. At that point I didnt care though. But the sober roommate came by and picked me up. And I went there. I said goodnight. Told him I would talk to him tomorrow and I went to bed on the couch. I was still pissed.

In the end we stuck together. Until I made a mistake and CS couldnt forgive me. The irony. But that is a story for Year Three.

Valentine's day was supposed to be amazingly wonderful. I had a significant other! Well CS and his buddies planned a gambling trip for VDay. I of course played it cool. I just hung out with LT, drank Boone's Farm "wine" and watched when Harry Met Sally and other sappy movies. I am going to go out on a limb and say this might have been up there on great Valentine's days. (Oh. Brings be to Year One VDay. Which I am going to edit into Year One)

The next really major event: The college prof that changed EVERYTHING. No I did not have some sort of affair. I just found a professor that was truly a genius. He taught my Public Policy Course. I loved it. We talked torture and I was so engaged. He was smart! And he took time to talk to his students. I was determined to take classes with him. Period. And I did. His importance becomes more obvious in later years.

As for the friend that turned into a crush that got me to meet my College Soulmate? Well I met him in Philosophy. Advanced logic with the craziest prof ever. Like ever ever. Crazy as in Bush personally cause 9/11, aliens were going to take him and he was going to be the ambassador for Earth crazy. We spent a lot of time laughing at him. But the reason why I sat next to this friend? I'm going to call him Duke of Smarts (Shorthand DS). He was a smart dresser. Like really smart dresser. And he looked, well royal. A friend of mine suggested he looked like a Duke or something. Oh and he is smart. Like CRAZY smart. So DS. Anyway, DS and I became friends. We giggled in the back of the class and we talked about what we wanted to do with our lives. We clicked in so many ways and eventually I got a crush on him (3rd year story). Well after lots of chit chat he invited me to a party he was hosting. And there, for one brief second, I got to see the College Soulmate.

DS and I remained good friends for a long time. We had a minor falling out, but reconnected again recently.

When it comes down to it, my second year was filled with joy. No sad parts really. I found a group of friends, I was dating a great guy, and I was hitting my academic stride! But the scales of life dont let you have only joy all the time. I was due for a hard year. And I was going to get it.

Slight Obsession

2010-05-09T17:12:00.002-04:00

I like clear and healthy skin. I do. I hate it when I break out and I hate it when my skin isnt looking great. I'm sure everyone is like that to a certain degree. But I think I have a slight obsession. I am going to give you the run down of ALL my skincare items. Stuff used often will be marked with *

Clinique Liquid Facial Soap*: My every day soap. Morning and night. Overall good basic soap for my every day needs. Not too pricey either at $15 for a bottle that lasts for several months!
Lush Toner Tab: A recent buy when I realized how humid summer is going to be. For 2 bucks you get a sweet tab that you can use to let some good nutrient rich steam clean out pores. Plus you can bottle the water and use it later.
I.D. Bare Vitamins*: My lotion. I use it every night. It helps remove dead skin, moisturizes, has a bit of salic acid to fight blemishes and smooth your skin.
Lush Face Masks*: Every other day I put this stuff on. Sure I smell like a salad but it is SO worth it! Everything feels great afterwards and I have noticed a HUGE change in my skin. Enough to make me want to drop most of these products!
Philosophy Purity Made Simple: My go to travel/overnight face wash. Gentle, cleans amazingly well, foams beautifully and most importantly it does a great job of balancing oil. Moisturizing when my face is dry and removing oil when my face is feeling the D.C. humidity.
Korres Wild Rose Brightening Serum*: I have bad bags under my eyes. Like really bad. Dark circles that make me look like I havent slept in months. But this helps keep them at bay! Every night before bed I dab some under my eyes and any place on my face where I feel like I look really exhausted. The next morning it looks so much better and, well, brighter. Yes it is pricey, but I got mine in a Wild Rose Set. Which I totally recommend. Mine was slightly different and contained the rest of the Korres products I am going to mention along with their famous lip butter, foundation, and mascara.
DDF Erase Eye Gel: When my bags or under eye circles become too much for Korres and my cooling eye mask to handle I bust this out. Yes it is almost $50 and no I have not bought the full size one yet. I have 4 samples of the stuff to go through still. But I love it. Within 2 days I see a huge difference. Will it replace my Korres? Probably not. Will it be my backup just in case? You bet.
Korres Wild Rose Cream: This moisturizer was my lifesaver in Chicago. What I hate about D.C. summers (the humidity) is what saves my skin in the winter. Getting used to a humid-ish winter here left me and my skin TOTALLY unprepared for Chicago style winters. And I was lucky this cream came with my Wild Rose Set. It was the best moisturizer ever. Thicker than Clinique's famous lotion, and more absorbent than Philosophy Hope In A Jar (which my sister uses and loooves) plus the light fragrance of roses smells great and makes my face feel just fine in the bitter wind and cold of the Windy City.
Korres Pomegranate Face Wipes: Another travel fav. I find this one to be more plane friendly and GREAT for times when I have to wake up super early to get on a plane and I still havent put make up on because I know the recycled plane air will make me wanna wipe it off. This stuff leaves just the right kind of moisture, plus removes grease, oil, and even tightens my pores. Plus Pomegranate is known for its antioxidant powers.
Murad Acne Spot Treatment: This stuff is the big guns. When I feel a zit coming on I know this little bottle of goodness will make sure that NOTHING surfaces. And if it does, a few treatments over night and that pesky pimple is long gone. No redness or discoloration!

Murad Clarifying Cleanser: This product does the same amazing things that the spot treatment does. So come times when I know I will break out (finals and PMSing come to mind) I skip the Clinique and go to this bad boy. It helps prevent pimples and helps surface the ones already there so I can zap them with the spot treatment and get rid of them within a few days instead of fighting them for weeks.

As for law school, I have finished two finals, I have my ethics final left. That will be done at home on Tuesday I think. Then I will be done. I will be spending a few days enjoying all that D.C. has to offer and working before heading home to Chicago for the summer and figuring out my work plans. If I am lucky I'll get to go to Greece for a few weeks (3 at the very very most) and enjoy the sun and beach. August I return to D.C. for a good friend's wedding and then maybe back home for a week or so and then back to D.C. (hopefully with my little sister!) to spend a few days enjoying our nation's capital before starting my 3rd (and FINAL) year of law school!

10 min before Admin Law Final

2010-05-06T13:22:00.000-04:00

Everyone is in a full out PANIC mode about an email sent by my prof:

Dear Ad Law students:

I thought I would send around one last message with a couple of final thoughts. First, the exam that you will be taking tomorrow is a challenging one, but -- as you will see -- one that contains no surprises. You are the best Ad Law class I have taught since I started teaching the course in 2002. This exam is at your caliber. Tough but fair, in my estimation. I expect that you will do very well on it as a class. Please make it difficult for me to stick to a standard [My Law School Name Here] curve. If as a class you do exceptionally well on the exam, I will not hesitate to bust the curve upwards and reward you for your efforts.

Second, I will give you the full four-hour exam block to complete the exam. Some of you will be finished early and that's OK. I did not want any of you, however, to face excessive time pressure unnecessarily.

Below are two of the instruction points from the exam. Note that the question sets are not equally weighted. Also know that, for your convenience, I calculated time allocations for each exam question in accordance with the relative point values. The timing suggestions are above each question. They're just suggestions that you don't have to strictly adhere to, but -- as we discussed -- it is imperative that you answer each question and subquestion, so I urge you to budget your time accordingly. (Remember that if you only have 30 minutes for an answer, you will get full credit for writing a strong 30-minute answer. Writing a polished and thorough 90-minute answer that will cannibalize time from other answers would be wasteful and unwise).

Finally, best of luck. I know that this class will make me proud. And go to sleep!

I am personally cracking up about everyone freaking out.

Reminiscing about my Undergrad: Year One

2010-05-05T12:19:00.002-04:00

I spent 4 fantastic years in a state school in the middle of nowhere. I loved every second of it and I miss it still. I figured I could break down my 4 years. One at a time.

I loved my undergrad. I did. Sure it was in the middle if cornfields and surrounded by nothing. It was a college town. Busy all school year then empty all summer. I remember being at my school on the first day. They put us in the basketball arena. I was one of thousands. Just a number, but I didnt really care. It was going to be my home for 4 years. And yes I was terrified because I only knew one girl. But it was going to be fine. I decided.

I lived with the girl I knew from HS. I was convinced it would be great. And 2 other girls that I really didnt know. But it was my apartment/dorm and I figured I would love it. And overall my first year was grand. I met the college sweetheart, college bestest of friends, the Greeks (Greeks as in actual country Greece Greeks) and so many other people. But in the beginning it sucked. I didnt really find a place where anyone understood me. As time went by my roommates that I didnt know found their place (the fraternity parties that were almost next door) and the girl is knew found hers (a sorority) but I was still looking. I found friends.

I got to know CBF who was and still is one of my best friends. He was great. Funny, quiet, played guitar, and got me to love Family Guy and South Park. He looked out for me all the time (even preventing me from trying acid by accident [I seriously thought it was a breath strip!]) and came to my rescue on more than one occasion.

Then there was the college sweetheart (which didnt become my college sweetheart until my 2nd year (??)). He had a huge crush on me, and that was fine. I also didnt know until I was told. But he was a sweet guy. He and CBF lived together along with 2 other guys who I am still friends with.

Anyway, it was about the 2 month mark where I met the Greeks. And I found where I belonged. I cant even begin to tell you the kindness those people showed me. They had a house where I was welcome to come by any time I wanted and I was more than welcome to spend the night there. No matter what. No questions asked. And I did take advantage of that more than once.

Things went swimmingly for a long time. I would go out, I would have fun, spend time at the quad, get involved, and overall enjoy myself. I played video games (oh yes) and took classes I loved. My first semester I took Severe and Hazardous Weather (YAY for easy gen eds), a basic history course, a speech communication course, poli sci 101 and philosophy 101. Out of all those classes, the one that stuck with me the most was Philosophy 101. It was with a Professor who was so amazingly wonderful that the class was the highlight of my week. I dove right into Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Leibniz, Rousseau, Kant, and just about anyone else the professor had us read. I fell in love with the class. I fell in love with Descartes and I realized I wanted more of this course. I ended up with a double major, Political Science and Philosophy. And this professor got me to do that.

My second semester wasnt as much fun. I took two English classes, a logic philosophy class (which I did surprisingly well on, especially with proofs), a statistics course (bleh) and two political science courses. I had a busy schedule.

**I am adding this part in after remembering my Year Two Valentine's Day**
My VDay for my first year was . . .epic. Me and my boys agreed that I would be allowed to get 100% wasted. And I did. I drank Malibu rum like it was water. Oh the shame . . . but I got drunk. Fast. And I assigned each boy a job. CS was supposed to be my bodyguard because he was big and tough. CBF was supposed to be my friend. And roommate #3 was just there. I was drunk. Cut me slack. But the most vivid memory of that night: I went to the bathroom. Out of nowhere my bra came undone. I got out and told the boys that. I told CS that he couldnt buckle it because I saw "The Bodyguard" and I couldnt allow that (lies. I have never seen The Bodyguard. Nore do I know if it is a movie) I told Roommate #3 that he couldnt do it either because he had a crush on me (he did but I wasnt supposed to know) and I turned to CBF and tell him that he has to do it. Because I KNOW DEEP DOWN that he is gay. Several months later after a light dating stint, it turns out I was right. Psychological damage ensued. But after that I dont remember much. And I admit 100% that what I decided to do (get wasted) was dumb. But at least they all drank with me right? Well I got too drunk. And I passed out. The way their kitchen was set up I fell in a manner that allowed me to hit my head on BOTH the oven and the counter. Yes I have skills. Well I was passed out face down. And all 3 of them are standing over me figuring out what they should do. And THIS is when roommate #4 walked it. And was concerned who the chick was. And WHY was everyone standing over her? Wait was she dead? If they killed a girl and are planning on doing something bad he wanted to leave. Of course everyone burst into laughter (except passed out me) and when roommate #4 saw it was me, he got me a pillow and blanket, plus water for when I was going to wake up wanting water. I woke up the next day happy as a clam and wanting to hear stories of what happened. Everyone else was nursing a hangover.

Beyond VDay fun, the boys also taught me things. Like how to throw a ball. In order to ensure I did my best to throw straight-ish the put me in one doorway and I had to throw across the living room into the other room where CBF was with a glove. In this manner I tried to learn how to throw. This was done for weeks on end. Until one day I threw a ball that almost took off CBF's head. We never played again.

My second semester is also when I had a bit of a falling out with my roommate. Yes the girl I knew. No need to get into details, but words were said and actions happened that left us both hurt and angry. So I did what any girl who has left home for the first time would do.

I cried. As I called my mother. Oh yes. I was sobbing and on the floor clutching my phone wondering what I would do. Well the fantastic place I was living at offered to let me stay in one of their single rooms. But how was I going to move everything? As I was sobbing to my mom and hearing my dad in the background saying he would kill someone, my boys trooped in. Yup. College sweetheart, CBF and their roommates came in. With a trolley. And they just started piling things. One on top of the other. And slowly they moved everything I Owned into a new room. That single kind gesture solidified our relationships. I never asked them for help and I didnt even know they knew what happened. They were saints at that moment. They were everything I could ever ask for.

Even though this forced move was only 2 weeks before my finals, I did surprisingly well. I didnt fail and I ended up with A's and B's. I was impressed with myself. By the close of my first year I was ready to move into the Greek House. I was excited for it and I was ready for the new school year.

I had learned a lot that year. I walked into my Undergrad very naive. I thought people were only capable of good and I didnt think people that knew me would ever do something mean to me. I was dead wrong on that of course. And while the last month is slightly tainted with bad memories, I still remember the bliss I felt when I would lay on the grass in the quad, watching my boys play tag football. I remember the laughter when I watched my first few Family Guy episodes. The thrill of playing video games at 5 in the morning because we had nothing to do the next day. How much I learned but just listening to people who were and still are thousands of times smarter than me. Hanging out with my Greek friends and talking about anything and everything. Yes, even the nights of drinking. I still loved those too. My first year was great. It set up the rest of my college career to be something of a Godsend. I wouldnt trade a single moment of that year for the world.

My Life as of Right Now

2010-05-04T12:44:00.000-04:00

Lets see. It is noon. I am still in my PJs (I rock) and I havent continued my Admin Law reading. I have played several games. I did come across THIS gem though.

It is from Dr. Ruben's book. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sex: But Were too Afraid to Ask.

Oh yes. It is as funny as it sounds. For some GREAT bits of the book check out 2B1B. For the Dr. Ruben and for the hilarity that is always there.

Its 12:30 and I really should get reading. Or eat lunch. Maybe I'll go out and grab lunch. Or make a PB&J sandwich. Decisions decisions.

Oh my apartment sublease STILL hasnt been decided. Its a toss up between 3 people (1) a student willing to rent it for the full 3 months for 1500 per month (2) some lady who I can kinda tell is going to be a pain in the ass (3) a guy with a kinda sad story who told me he would get back to me today or tomorrow. I really wanna rent to the student for 3 months. Or the guy with the sad story.

I am a fan of the new changes to blogger. Just thought I would share.

My social life has taken a turn towards the nonexistent. I hate finals

The more I read about the oil spill and the Tennessee floods the more irate I become.

Watching Countdown with Keith Olberman makes me happy and sad. He is a bit of an extremist. Not as bad as Rush or Glen.

Law School Finals and More

2010-04-29T22:38:00.000-04:00

Ok things I still have to do:

Admin Law Outline
Ethics Outline (HA!)
Work
More work
Finalize sublease

Random points

I bought a Lush Face Mask. Cosmetic Warrior. Thus far I love it. Yes it smells like a salad dressing (I blame the garlic) but WOW is it helping my skin. Redness GONE. Blemishes POOF! Softer skin? Yes please. Sure they are about $5 a pop and you need to keep them in the fridge because they are all natural and REAL ingredients but they are really amazing. I am planning on trying all of them. I wont lie, I love their products. Especially their bubble bath stuff, their bath bombs, face masks, etc. The only thing I struggle with is their shampoos and conditioners.

I have been working on subleasing my apartment. I had a couple ready to sublease and I swear I might have a promissory estoppal claim. But it looks like I will be renting it to an attorney who is letting her daughter's roommate rent it. Sounds iffy but its not too bad. Maybe I'll even form a connection!! But it seems like the summer is going well. I will be back in Chicago for about a month plus Greece for a month. I am excited.

As for the Tax Attorney's bet, I am going strong. God I want some chocolate so badly, but I am holding strong. Baby computer I want you so bad! So wish me luck!

I love the Tax Attorney

2010-04-27T17:32:00.001-04:00

Me: so a friend of mine is having a graduation party (after being in college for 7 years) on the 15th and friend of mine whos bridal party I am in has her engagement party on the 16th

Tax Attorney: A graduation party for seven years in college???? I think she partied enough, she doesn't need another one

Chiming in on the debate

2010-04-22T13:33:00.002-04:00

Recently two very wonderful ladies in my hometown talked a bit about the appropriate fashions in the law world. Specifically the workplace.

I present Legally Fab and Dai sy

I fully agree with EVERY bit of advice they give. Really. But I think people failed to look into the fashions of law school. It is just as important. You meet your professors, amazing guest lectures, as well as every student you are with will become the professionals you deal with. For that reason there are a few basics to cover, as well as other "professionalism" rules, since I guess people forgot them in my school. Maybe its because of exams, either way:

Dont wear a miniskirt. If I can see your panties when you bend over, its too short for school. Wear it to where ever you want, but school isnt the place. If you MUST wear a miniskirt, put on some leggings! The same applies to low cut shirts
Dont wear the "funny" political/religious tshirts. This is assuming you go to a reasonably diverse school. Think about it. Your neighbor might be the judge in your case one day. Do you really want to risk offending them? Or lets assume your school, like mine, hosts symposiums where very smart and connected people come to talk. Do you really wanna be the douche that wears an offensive shirt and risk losing that connection?
Shower. Please. Like really you have to.
If you are going to a symposium wear dress pants at least.
No one says that you should not speak your mind. If you disagree with a case, please say so and explain yourself. But dont make an ass out of yourself. Please. Think about what you are saying and then contemplate is ANY right or left wing extremist would say you did well. If the answer is yes, turn it down a notch. Or even better, explain why you think what you think. Dont just say stuff without backing it up. Please.

Note: Jewelry is a great way to show some individuality and style.

Sorry for the delay

2010-04-19T10:33:00.002-04:00

Trial: Went OK. The judge made snarky comments and I was not happy. Neither was clinic partner. We won a lot but we are also appealing the ones we didnt win. We have a chance. I've been royally bummed about it, mostly because the judge seemed to allude to the fact that if only I would have impeached better maybe our client would have gotten off. So clinic partner and tax attorney and just about everyone else has been super great and supportive. I just find it best not to think about it too much.

School: This week is my last week. Which means that I will be going over my notes to see what I need to learn. I missed my employment discrimination and admin class due to trial so I have some work on those in specific.

Work: Its been work. Its actually really nice to have it because its a great relax from the grind of school.

Finals: They are coming up soon too. I need to read some of my admin/emplyment discrimination and fill in some of my already very well organized notes and I should be ready.

Summer: Still havent subleased my apartment. :( If you know anyone who is spending a summer in DC let me know! I'm going to go home and work at home for about a month, head to Greece (for hopefully a month) and then back to DC in August for a good friend's wedding and school.

The Tax Attorney: We are doing royally well. Hockey playoffs are in full swing, plus his hockey games which means I have enough time to myself to actually study for finals (I should really get on that). But we are doing well. He is totally ok with Greece and he knows how it rolls. Other than that, everything is going well.

A series of random things

2010-04-12T17:57:00.002-04:00

One: http://evilpuppy.livejournal.com/365126.html

Seriously United. WTF?

Two: Trial in tomorrow. Worried? Me? NEVER! Along with that, my clinic partner is a saint. Seriously. He and the tax attorney have done a great job of reminding me that I shouldnt lose it.

Three: Over Easter weekend I slammed my thumb in the car door. Today it fell off. Because my body hates me and couldnt wait a day or two. It is REALLY gross. Like really gross. And it hurts.

Four: My phone is malfunctioning. Epic sad. If it fails to behave itself I am probably going to get a new one. Most likely this one! But one fix is to use a toothbrush to brush out the dust that could be in the phone/charger. Already done. (I blew in it instead) Also, in order to ensure I can afford said phone I really should get paid first.

Sorry for the delay

2010-04-07T09:46:00.002-04:00

Since I have a lot to cover we are gonna do this in parts

Easter came and went. And I of course went home. It was great. I will include pictures at some point. I promise. At least of the lamb. Because of all the food, I brought a bucket of meat back. Plus home made sausage from my Italian Aunt. Yum.
I am feeling 99.9% I still have a cough which sucks, but overall I am better. The tax attorney is starting to get sick though.
The TA and I re-started P90X. My shoulders are KILLING me. For those of you looking to lose some weight/get in shape I STRONGLY recommend this. But be prepared to feel sore all over.
Clinic is going well. Trial in a week (actually 6 days) and it is a bit nerve wracking. This has a solid 90% chance of going to trial. The only way it wont is if the ASA offers to nolproc everything or dismisses everything. Actually I revise my percent. Its closer to 95%.
Class registration comes soon. I have enlisted the help of Legally Fab as to what class sched I should take. The fun one with some bar materials OR the strictly bar materials one. Fune one is winning.

Other than that nothing else is going on. I'll keep you guys up to date on the P90X. We are on day 3 today. And the soreness!

I have to make a quick run to work and then to DC court to file things. And Ethics at one. Plus meeting with clinic prof at 4. Then home for P90X day 3. Not too busy of a day.

Finally! A light at the end of the tunnel!

2010-04-01T10:27:00.003-04:00

I am feeling better. After a wrenched Tuesday where everyone told me that I looked like crap (gee thanks guys!) I decided I needed rest. And lots of it. So I slept. For hours. I'm talking like 12 hours a night. And I slowly started to feel better. Today I am almost back to 100% great but I have a lingering cough.*Sadface*

Now that I am feeling like a human being I suppose I should write something that goes beyond my illness.

Classes are going well. Admin law is the same. Boring but such an adorable teacher that I cant help but smile in that class. Employment Discrimination is still good. I am actually LEARNING a lot. And the teacher actively seeks out pro-corporation viewpoints. That helps ease my sanity. Ethics is . . . well a 2 hour time waster. Seriously. What a joke. Clinic is great! I love it. Me and Clinic Partner (CP) have become decent friends and he makes me smile. He also worries about me. Cute huh?

My clinic case is going swimmingly. There is a high chance of trial. Like crazy high. So that is exciting/nerve wracking. But our client seems nice and he almost made me cry with his sad story. That is about all I can say about that.

Fromspring is acting up. Sorry I havent gotten to your questions.

Sick part 2938403

2010-03-29T10:51:00.003-04:00

I am still sick. And it sucks. A lot. Not only am I getting behind on my clinic work and getting a little panicky, but I am not putting in work hours either. Great. This means my budget is perilously low. Like so low that when the tax attorney saw what was left he vowed to pay for everything for a while. Sad huh?

But fear not. Today I can get out of bed! Sure I still cough a lot and feel like death, but I am going to work on my work stuff and my clinic stuff. Because I kind of have to. Today I will be productive. I promise.

I will get out of sweats (I've been living in them for a while)
I will finish my Closing Memo for my previous client
I will finish my Agency Rulemaking thing for Admin Law
I will do my work stuff
I will do research for my client.

Lofty goals, but if I accomplish 3 I'll be happy.

Also, I've noticed there has been a lack of law related blog posts. Submit your questions and I'll be happy to answer! I know people are starting to apply to schools. So feel free.

Virus Fail

2010-03-28T10:04:00.003-04:00

I tried to suppress the virus. I failed. Not only did my body revolt yesterday, but it is throwing twice as hard of a temper tantrum today. Today is Palm Sunday. A big deal for me. And I am missing it. Sorry God.

I feel like crap. My lung might get coughed out of my body. And everything hurts. EVERYTHING. So I took advil. And dayquil. And I am PRAYING that it makes it better. The more drugs the merrier right? So the plan for today:

-Finish homework

-Not die.

Death Virus

2010-03-27T20:59:00.004-04:00

I have contracted the death virus and my clinic partner and I call it. He got sick a few days ago, then I got sick within the last 48 hours. I am dying. I decided. Seriously this is knocking me down and it wont leave me alone. The aches and pains, the coughing, the stomach REFUSING to cooperate, the head pounding, and oodles of more fun. I hate you clinic partner. I hate you.

Of course the tax attorney has been a dear and has come over to ease my pain. He came over Friday and spent most of today with me. And then he left. An hour later I was in the bathroom cursing everything I ate. And ginger tea. I hate you too ginger tea.

So I am on my bed. Ready to die. Contemplating that if I dont, I have a lot of homework to do. Including a negotiation reflection! WOOHOO. I think I have like 5 more "How do you feel" questions yet. Right now, I hate how do you feel questions. They make me want to answer "LIKE CRAP!" but I know that isnt what they want. Plus a closing memo for my previous client. No clue that is supposed to go in that. And a case plan. And research. And work stuff. I doubt I'll be fine enough to do work stuff on Monday. Ug. I have no desire to do any of this.

Anyway, I have a friend who came to DC, well specifically Annapolis. And he wants to see me. I of course want to see him too. (1) Bc he makes me smile and (2) we party like we are in undergrad still. Oh God the stories I have of going out with him. Lets call this particular friend Surfer Dude. Not because he has the beach blond hair, but because he used to surf. And he still has the surfer body. He is a cutie. Anyway, he is also amazingly great. As in he was the first (and ONLY person) to actually get me to dance on a stage. That had stripper poles on it. No I did not strip. They were for show. He is the kind of guy that pregames early and will be out at 4am drinking with people he just met because they are cool. Seriously he is my hero. But unfortunately Surfer Dude is an engineer. AKA he is required, by law, to NOT have the social skills of liberal arts majors. Seriously its a law. So he has a hard time with the ladies. Not because he isnt hot, or he isnt smart, but he is an engineer. Case in point:

The story of how I became friends with Surfer Dude

Sufer Dude and I first met via a mutual friend. She introduced me to him and I was like "Awww. He is cute. Plus an engineer. I should be his friend." In my amazingness, I asked him to get dinner with me and my fav bar in ALL of the Undergrad. Oh and of course Drinks. Because that is how I roll. He agreed and I was excited. NEW POTENTIAL FRIEND!!! So the day of the drinks arrives and I'm at my bar drinking a few beers and all happy because I will have a new friend by the end of this dinner. He comes in we chit chat. I'm all pumped and thrilled and he looks nervous. I of course begin to think its me. Does he not like how happy I am? Is it my tshit? Maybe he hates local bands. Or the radio station I work(ed) at. OMG he hates me! In my spiral of WTF Surfer Dude says to me "Can I tell you something? And I dont want you to get upset or anything." I immediately am excited. I tell him of course. Then he pauses. He thinks. He takes a deep breath and starting VERY slowly, "Lex, you are a great person . . . (me in my head: well DUH!) and I think you are really nice . . . (me: Ok I wonder where this is going) and I REALLY do want to see you again (me: OH MY GOD IS HE ASKING ME OUT?!) because I do have fun with you (me: hm What should I say when he asks me?) but (me: BUT??) I dont want you to think this is a date because I like someone else."

At this point I am torn between laughter and confusion. (1) I wasnt aware we were on a date (2) what does he mean he wouldnt date me??!!

After regaining my composure I said politely "SD dont get me wrong, you are a cool guy and I think you are fun to hang out with, but we arent on a date. I really do appreciate the pre-emptive rejection but it was unnecessary."

He of course profusely apologizes and tells me that he just didnt know what I was doing when I asked if I wanted to get a burger and drinks with him. I of course giggle. Because really at this point I was getting lunch/dinner/coffee with everyone, even people I didnt REALLY like. I was a popular person. I explained it is something friends do. He calmed down and felt bad. I remind him of this every time I see him. Since then we have been great friends. He has gone off and finished school and has become super great, and I moved halfway across the country. He has visited twice and I am so excited about his visit.

So excited that I am going to force my supervirus into submission for a few hours and head to my fav bar in DC. Ill let my body wreck havoc upon myself tomorrow.

I am FANTASTICALLY lazy

2010-03-24T22:39:00.006-04:00

I have been running around all day. Waking up at 7:00 to shower form last night's work out (which left me sweaty and gross but I was too exhausted to shower) class from 9:30 until about noon. Headed to lunch with the tax attorney and then stayed in DC superior court about the rest of the day. Trying to get a few papers for work (dear GOD do they suck. The Appeals Coordinator is a life saver though) and then completing court observation part one. Stayed in court until about 5. Went home, had dinner (at a cool ceral place then burritos bc we were hungry after our 1 bowl each), and then homework. Lots of it. The wonderful tax attorney did laundry and made my lunch. While I pined about my clinic client and drank sangria. Thank God I can still drink. Now its almost 11. My plan: Bed time after House. His: Work out on the Wii fit and on the elliptical. I promise tomorrow I will do better.

For tomorrow:

Meet with Clinic Advisor from 11:30-1
Class from 1:30- 5:30
Read my admin law sometime between that
Maybe pick up lunchmeat, peanut butter, bread, yogut
Make dinner (lentils and rice!)
Greys + work out
Sangria myself up
Pass out

Something Long Overdue

2010-03-23T14:19:00.003-04:00

I am not talking about healthcare (which I DO think was long overdue) but a review of a very good restaurant that the tax attorney and I went to a while ago.

Zaytinya

"Spread of 3": We got the taramosala (fish roe), baba ganoush (eggplant) and feta with roasted red peppers. We loved them all! Even the tax attorney liked the fish roe which was amazingly airy and light. The feta with roasted red peppers was something of a godsend. Smother any of the above on their air pita and its heaven. I would STRONGLY suggest getting something like this. If anything to have something to smother on the pita.
Loucaniko: aka sausage. MMMMMMM! So good. came with an olive oli/lemon sauce. And wow. It was grilled slightly if I remember correctly (We went Feb 13, 2010) and had a great dip that i dipped my pita in. Often
Kotopoulo Youvetsi: Chicken with pasta. The chicken was good as was the pasta, to me this dish was nothing to write home about, but it was tasty. I think the put Mezethra on it, which is a slightly stronger and saltier cheese. Tasted authentic to me!
Lamb Chops: Oh. My. God. THESE were the toppers! Each chop was deliriously good. They came with a yogurt sauce that makes my mouth water as of now. If you go there, get this dish for sure! Something I could eat every day and be happy. The meat was tender, well seasoned and SOOOOO juicy. Ask for them to be medium. The cuts are good and dont over cook them. For the love of god.
Soujok Spetzofi: Another Sausage dish. Tasty but again nothing fantastic.
Veal Sweatbreads: Ok I know people are adverse to sweetbreads, but hear me out! The tax attorney (who is very conservative with his food choices) LOVED THEM! They were fried slightly and had a great meaty taste. No fancy, just enjoy the amazing taste. Another dish to get.
Lamb Kleftico: Lamb in a filo dough with some veggies and potatoes. I know and love this dish from Greece, and my ONLY complaint is that there was a thin filo vs a thicker one I am used to. But the lamb was well seasoned and cooked to perfection. That is an impressive thing to do.

Overall the dishes were amazing. I would strongly suggest going. What I love is that the dishes are small, so you get about 3-4 per person. And you share. It's an intimate thing. So make sure if you go you bring a good person to share with. The tax attorney and I also had some drink. Our grand total, pre tip, was 106.15.

For that many dishes and two drinks each, not that bad. But plan on spending about $50 each and eating very very good food.

A confession

2010-03-19T11:36:00.006-04:00

I am about to tell you something that will cause some anger. It has caused rifts in my relationships and has made friends upset. Ready?

I never get hungover. Never.

True story. Last night I went to my bar. And of course my bartender was there. So as you can guess I was downing them like the Prohibition was coming back. Several raspberry flavored goodness, followed with grapefruit flavored amazing. THEN I opted for the big guns. Tequila. I dont know if I told you this before, but tequila is my weakness. My favorite drink ever. EVER. Also the drink that leads to blackouts. Of course after 1-2 (and by 1-2 I mean like 5-6) of the best tequila drinks ever I decided I wanted this:

It is called a hand grenade. At the bottom there is vodka redbull. The two shots are tequila and jagger. You drink it by pulling the tequila, downing it. As you do this the jagger falls into the vodka redbull and you then down that. Clearly is a very strong drink. I, in my brilliance, decided to have 3 of them. Those drinks plus the priors led to this:

I know my spelling is bad, but really??? I think "vreepy" was a combo of very and creepy. My amazing drinking also lead to this:

If you cant read that here is what it says: BET IS TOTAKKKYT AIDED BY MY LACK OF CHOCOLATE. OTHERWISE I TOTALLY WOUDL HAVE EATEN A WHOLE 50000000 BARS OF CHOCOLATE/

I sent that to the tax attorney. After I made an egg sandwich (according to him). The tax attorney had a lot to fill in for me.

Tax Attorney: you told me a pakistani guy thought you were funny, tried to get your number.

Me: yeah some guy wanted to know when I would be back

Tax Attorney: he gave you his number on a napkin and you lost it. you also told him you were too cool for the fp on thursday, friday and saturday. But you would be back monday. So you can meet him then.

I am so cool.

Of course I pass out around 4 am. Wake up at 9 chipper and rested. And THAT kids is the moral of the story. I can get blackout drunk and not feel a thing the next day. And the tax attorney hates that.

2010-03-18T14:04:00.001-04:00

http://deadspin.com/5496451/joslyn-james-does-not-disappoint-with-her-tiger-sext-messages

I heart this. Favorite quote?

" Next time i see you, you better beg and if you don't do it right i will slap, spank, bite and f*** you till mercy"

If Greece went to war with the United States, which side would you fight on?

2010-03-16T11:23:00.003-04:00

I wouldnt fight.

Ask me anything

What is the best thing about DC?

2010-03-16T11:23:00.001-04:00

A lot. The people are sweet. The weather is milder than Chicago. The food scene is good(ish) and it is so close to NY, Atlanta, Florida, etc. All places I wanna go. With Illinois, if you've seen one cornfield you have seen them all.

Ask me anything

SO lazy

2010-03-16T11:08:00.002-04:00

It is 11. I have been up since 9:30 and I am already exhausted. After eating breakfast (Greek yogurt with honey and "bunny food") and lunch (Salad with avocado and eggs and amazing goodness) and working on my first cup of coffee, I am ready for bed. Yup. I am sleepy. You would think that I would do something like dry/style my hair or even put on real people clothes (Took a shower). Nope. All I wanna do is nap. Seriously something is wrong with me.

On the law school front: I have a new clinic client. Sweet. He is in jail. Not so sweet. I am also enjoying Employment Discrimination. Much more than I thought I would. Ethics is a joke. Still. In fact when I told a freind of mine (who I havent talked to in a long time) that I was taking Ethics she laughed and said "I didnt know you had legal ethics." Yup. Admin law is . . . well I dont know.

So now comes the decision. I dont need to walk out the door until 12:30. I can either try to wake up or nap for 20 minutes.

Nap it is. I am so lazy.

I know I never ever do Beauty Reviews . . .

2010-03-11T11:57:00.005-05:00

BUT I was asked what beauty/make up products I couldnt live without.

I did find my new fav thing that I cannot live without. Officially.

I dont have thin hair by any means. But I love it to have a bit more volume. And I also HATE taking forever to get ready. This amazingly wonderful product lets me get great volume and great curls. JOY! And its the easiest thing ever. Shower. Towel dry hair. Comb/brush hair. Apply dime sized* amount in hands. Rub hands together. Put in hair. If you want comb it so it spreads around. Tousle hair. Walk out door. For those that dont want the curls, you can actually blow dry your hair and MAN do you get volume. Like enough to withstand sleeping at night. The next morning my hair is still soft and full of volume.

Other objects I cannot live without:

Crazylibellule and the Poppies solid perfumes (I have 3 of them. I tote them everwhere and WOW do they smell good)
Bareminerals foundation
Maybelline Define-A-Lash mascara
A good foamy and non drying facewash

What about you? What can you not live without?

*When I say a dime size amount, I am not even kidding. More than that on my shoulder length hair leads to bad things.

Uno, Robots and Chocolate

2010-03-10T22:00:00.002-05:00

As you are all aware: Bet is still on. Still havent had any chocolate. Including, but not limited to, chocolate chip cookies, any coffee, with mocha, cakes/brownies/etc. I have a birthday to go to on Friday. I hope there is no chocolate cake.

My sister taught me how to play facebook Uno. She is hilarious to watch. Fav quote ever?

"I like how the robots never play tricks on each other. They always reverse so its on me."

Back Home!

2010-03-08T11:05:00.004-05:00

I am home. Well I've been home for a while. As I type, I am sitting on my enormous bed with wet hair (just took a shower) looking at the pond in my back yard. In a lot of ways I love it here. My dad was saying the other day that "God willing, I'll buy up a few more lots of land here and all 4 of you could build your own houses here." I dont know how the tax attorney feels about that, but I think it would be so cool to have my sisters and brothers nearby.

Of course today is foggy and 34* while DC is sunny and high 50s. Just my luck right?

But I do love these breaks. I get time to do my own thing and I do enjoy the lack of work right now. I def wish I had some of the sunny nice weather DC was having though.

I do still have a few things to do:

I still need to listen to my missed classed due to trial
I need to work on my Ethics Project
I should work on my Admin law project

1 and 2 will end up being dealt with. 3, maybe later on. But I will totally listen to my missed classes tonight and do a little bit of ethics work later tonight as well.

As for the tax attorney, I think he is well. We do talk every day. And he seems to be doing great on the bet. Which I would like to point out is MUCH harder at home. I have no real control over what gets bought so there is chocolate all over the place. Plus mom made chocolate chip cookies. *Sad Face*

On other news, my older younger brother (he's 17) watched paranormal activity. He freaked out. I laughed.

Today is gonna consist of lunch with my dad, looking over some papers, and later tonight listening to my missed classes and perusing the model rules of professional conduct.

Post Trial and Pre Break

2010-03-04T21:36:00.002-05:00

There was no trial. Prosecutor was a bit abrasive. We got a conditional nolle prosequi. Client needs to do 36 hrs of community service and all is well. Tonight I drink sangria and I watch Grey's as I wait for the tax attorney to pick me up and we head to his place.

Tentative plan (which I havent told to him yet):

Friday day we go to C&B. Have I told you guys that I love that store? Like a lot?
Friday evening we might go see Alice in Wonderland.

And Saturday Morning I head home. YAY!

Love for all

2010-03-02T16:33:00.002-05:00

WBC is coming to DC. They are planning to protest DC. Why? In a very proud moment of our history, DC is allowing gay marriage. HUZZAH! WBC is unhappy. It seems like the "Antichrist" Obama is taking this country to hell in a handbasket.

That being said, I am excited and sad. Not sad about WBC (bc I gave up that fight a long time) but the fact that I cannot make it. I have clinic. But if I could I would be holding a sign like this:

Last week before a week of nothing!

2010-03-01T11:02:00.002-05:00

So this is it. The crunch time. Trial. Papers. Lots of work to do. Plus a trip back home (yay!)

My week is pleasantly hectic. Today I have work, calling my client to go over her wardobe to determine what she will wear, lots of emails, reading for class.

Tuesday: Meeting with my clinic prof at 11 to discuss our case, class until forever

Wednesday: Clinic, ethics. Meeting post ethics

Thursday: TRIAL! Plus class (if trial goes quickly) and of course packing!

Friday: Reading. Lots of reading for my classes so I dont have to read for them during by week of nothing.

Saturday: HOME!!!

Of course I then get a week of nothing but fun. I am sooo excited.

_____________________________________________

In other news: I got a haircut! And so far I love it! its just a little shorter but it no longer has split ends or any terrible unhealthy looking stuff. It is shiny and smooth!

In other news: the Tax Attorney and I went to the farmers market on Sunday! Oh. My. God. I think the only time the bread compared to the one we bought was in Greece. The same goes for the eggs and veggies! Oh my goodness were they good. I cant get over how yummy everything was. New goal: visit farmers market more often.

And this is more a cry for help from some of the culinary party throwers. I am hosting a games and drinks night. And I need some general population friendly snacks. Any and all help is very much appreciated!

formspring.me

2010-02-25T20:32:00.001-05:00

If you and Jon Stewart were trapped in a cabin covered by an avalanche (like homer and mr. burns in that one episdoe), how long before you broached the topic of sex to help pass the time?

3 seconds. Or as long as it took me to realize that we were stuck.

Ask me anything

formspring.me

2010-02-25T20:31:00.001-05:00

peas or carrots?

Peas

Ask me anything

formspring.me

2010-02-25T20:29:00.001-05:00

Is life too short for bad coffee? Even if it is much cheaper?

Yes. Life is too short for a lot of things. Like not trying new food, eating bad chocolate/cheese/meat, having bad coffee. Life each day as if it was your last and try everything at least once.

Ask me anything

formspring.me

2010-02-25T20:14:00.001-05:00

who would win in a fight: cavemen or astronauts?

Caveman. Clubs beat space suit any day of the week.

Ask me anything

Lex Discipulus

So Long, Farewell

Happy Columbus day

Vote for my Blogger for Blackberry idea!

Its been a while, so I feel like I need to update you all

Easy Peasy Pumpkin Pie

hey im new at this blogging thing how do u get ppl to follow you?and how do u find pages to look at other blogs?

The Great Rain, Stub, and Window Clings!

Halloween Obsessions: Baking!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

5 things you dont know about me . . . or maybe you do?

The letter I wish I would have written

The Boy has left me.

My friend is in Afghanistan

I went Home for Labor day.

I have been in school for 2 weeks. Here is the run down.

Is Google trying to tell me something?

First Day of My Last Year

From Mrs. Discipulus to United.

The Siblings Are Here

Thinga I really should do

On Love and Tolorance

I wrote a long blog post via blogger . . .

Lots of Thoughts

More Random Posts with no Theme

Highlights of Lake Geneva

New Job? Nope. Just helpin out dad. But looking for a new job sucks.

As I Lay Awake. Again.

In exactly 2 weeks . . .

I was gonna have a great post

Some shorter versions of posts I was going to make

WOW possible evil woman?!

LOL

Random thoughts

An OLD story

I am officially a grown up

Benjamin is more of a hassle than I thought possible.

It is 9:30 p.m.

I heart my older clients.

I'm sorry! I promise to do better.

My Birthday

Benjamin will not be in today.

At work

BP and my little brother

Things are getting serious

What factors drew you to DC?

The Other Law Clerk

The most annoying thing ever:

I hurt myself often, but my family is used to it. Except the Tax Attorney.

I love my work sometimes

I am not a hypocrite. And I FINALLY present Year Four

Wow it sucks right now

What was left for me at the office today

Thoughts on Day One of Work

First Day of the New Job (plus a few random bits)

Someone is looking for P90X related stuff!

A Quick Story

Finding my Mojo

Let me preface this . . .

A little bit of everything

P90X, results, home

I love that my man can appreciate dancing

25 is Not That Far Away

So I used a lot of Lush Products. What do I think?

Back Home

New Face Mask

Reminiscing About Undergrad: Year Three

Work Story

Reminiscing About Undergrad: Year Two

Slight Obsession

10 min before Admin Law Final

Reminiscing about my Undergrad: Year One

My Life as of Right Now

Law School Finals and More

I love the Tax Attorney

Chiming in on the debate

Sorry for the delay

A series of random things

Sorry for the delay

Finally! A light at the end of the tunnel!