Happy National Coffee Day!



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Today is National Coffee Day.  I've already celebrated by helping myself to an iced latte and an iced vanilla coffee.  I'm thinking a should go all out and have one more cup...after all it is National Coffee Day.

What's your favorite coffee drink?

Stuff I Like

1. Old Town Alexandria

I never spent much time in Old Town during undergrad but I wish I had.  It's full of adorable little shops, cafes, and restaurants.  I'm thinking I'm going to have to spend a few afternoons this fall strolling down these streets.  Plus, they've got Alexandria Cupcake!  They have the most delicious whipped frosting.

2. Four Weddings

Three of my favorite things are weddings, competitions, and bad reality tv...it's no surprise that I love Four Weddings.  If you haven't seen the show, it's about a group of 4 brides who attend each other's weddings and then vote on the best one.  I enjoy seeing all their different themes, dresses, and menus but my favorite part is hearing the other brides' opinions.  It's interesting to hear all the different views on the evening.

3. Preschool Gems

Does anyone else read the Preschool Gems Twitter feed?  It's so cute!  It's a collection of things preschoolers have said and they crack me up.  Here are a few of the best ones:
"Tonight we're going to have a pizza party! And scream!"
"I hear something... I think it's the earth."
"I don't care, I can fly."
"I wish being bad was good 'cause I love being bad"

4. Hart of Dixie

I just loved the first episode of Hart of Dixie.  I'll admit that the acting could have been better but this show is definitely my new guilty pleasure.  The characters were engaging, the fashion is great, and there are a few love triangles brewing.  I'm already anxious to see who Zoe ends up with.  Let's hope this show doesn't disappoint as the season goes on!

5. Maps

I've been looking for ideas for how to decorate my new bedroom and I keep being drawn to maps.  I think they're a fun way to add an interesting pop of color to a room.  I'm dying to put a desk in my room and I love the idea of putting a map above it...now I just need to decide on what type!

Straight Up Thug Town Called Arlington

After what seems like an eternity of apartment searching...I've finally found the perfect place and a wonderful roommate!  I'm satisfying my inner prepster and moving to NoVa...watch the video and you'll really understand how awesome it's going to be.

I'm hoping to have everything squared away this week so I can move in over the weekend!  The apartment is gorgeous (washer/dryer, dishwasher, a balcony, giant closets and my own bathroom!!) and the complex has 2 pools and a gym...what a change from the building I lived in in NYC.  I will definitely be sharing some pictures of my room once I'm all settled and have done some decorating.

Weekend Wrap Up

Friday

Friday was a very exciting night in the life of Leanna.  Rachel and I had a classy dinner date at Five Guys (the greasy burger and fries were exactly what I needed after such a busy week).  Then the girls and I camped out on the couch and spent some quality time with the Tivo.  There's nothing like a few good episodes of Say Yes to the Dress to help you unwind at the end of the week!

Saturday

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Rachel and I hit up a bunch of our favorite Adams Morgan joints on Saturday night...including adding a new stop at Leaky Faucet.  They have delicious sweet tea vodka drinks and I definitely recommend trying them.  After Leaky Faucet we wandered over to Town Tavern where we met some interesting characters.  I have a tattoo on my back, just below my shoulder blades.  I was wearing a backless dress and a guy in his early 20s came over and said, "I see you have an apple on your back.  I have a teddy bear on my arm.  See it says 'little bear'...it's for my son!"  There are two serious problems with this: 1. You have a teddy bear tattoo on your arm.  2. You think mentioning your son is a great way to pick up women.  Nice try sir but no thank you.  I really do attract lots of winners.

Sunday

On Sunday, we FINALLY found the perfect football spot!  Murphy's Grand Irish Pub in Old Town Alexandria.  We knew we had found a winning spot when we could hear people cheering from down the street.  Murphy's is a Pats bar and it was so much fun to watch the game with a huge group of Pats fans.  I mean, how can you not love a group of people that start chanting "Jets Suck!" after every touchdown!?  It was a tough loss yesterday but all the fun we had made up for it.  This is officially our spot every Sunday!

Saturday Silliness

Amy at Crazy Random Happenstances shared this game at drawastickman.com.  It's adorable and even though I'm terrible at drawing, I thought it was fun!

Stuff I Like

1. Flippin Pizza

I was walking through Dupont Circle the other night and literally saying "Dupont is great but it could really use some late night pizza", when I stumbled upon Flippin' Pizza.  This pizza is delicious and completely satisfied my late night craving with it's crispy crust and fresh toppings!  They have locations in the DC Metro area and California and I highly recommend stopping in for a bite!

2. Moves Like Jagger


I'm not a big Maroon 5 fan but I really really like this song.  I think people are starting to get sick of hearing me sing "I've got the moooooooooooves like Jagger!"  Especially since my singing voice tends to sound a bit like a dying cat.

3. Oreo Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

I bought these at Target in a moment of weakness earlier this week and boy are they delicious!  I think I inhaled the whole thing in about 30 seconds.  Who doesn't love Oreos and ice cream!?

4.  Old Ebitt Grill

I was a very lucky girl and I had a work dinner at Old Ebitt Grill last night.  I just love their food and the atmosphere of all the political types hanging around for happy hour...you have no idea how many middle aged men with suspenders were there haha.  If you ever go, try on of their seafood dishes.  The crab artichoke dip and crab cakes are too die for!

5. Paddy Whacked

I've only read the first few chapters of Paddy Whacked, but so far it is absolutely fascinating!  It chronicles the history of the Irish mob from when Irish immigrants first began arriving in America until the present.  My dad's side of the family is Irish so I'm finding this particularly interesting.  It's informative without being boring making it an overall great read!

Favorite Things Swap

I've been wanting to participate in a blog swap for quite some time now, so I was thrilled to participate in Leeann at Join the Gossip's Favorite Things Swap.  I was so excited when I was paired up with Jessica at Southern in the City.  I took one look at her blog and her About Me and knew she was the perfect partner for the swap.  Here's the lovely package she sent me!

When I opened the package there was an adorable card that described what was in the package and why they are Jessica's favorite things.  It was a great personal touch...and in a world of text messages and emails, I think it's always fun to get a hand written note.

1. Sensual Amber Hand Sanitizer and Body Spray: This smells wonderful and reminds me of fall!  Plus, they're the perfect size to stash in my desk.
2. OPI Diva of Geneva: We all know how I can't leave the house without painted nails...I feel naked without some polish!  I can't wait to give this shade a try.
3. Burt's Bees Pomegranate Chapstick: In her note Jessica mentioned how she's crazy about anything pomegranate...she's a girl after my own heart!  I love all things pomegranate.
4. Polka Dot Socks: I love how cute these are...you can never go wrong with polka dots!
5. Starbucks Gift Card: Starbucks is one of the things I'm most obsessed with in life...apparently Jessica feels the same way.  Oh and in case you're wondering...this gift card was all used up within 48 hours.  Hey, self control has never been one of my strong suites.

Thank you so much for the sweet and thoughtful package, Jessica!  If you have a chance, you should stop by her blog and show her some love.

Weekend Wrap Up

Friday

On Friday night the crew and I headed over to Bier Baron (formerly Brickskellar) for some international beers.  It was such a fun time...I can't remember the last time I laughed so much!  This bar is great since they have hundreds and hundreds of different beers to choose from.  I personally really wanted to try the Kelpie Seaweed Ale (mostly because it was the strangest sounding beer on the menu) but no one (including the waiter) would let me...apparently it's that bad.

The boys set a challenge for themselves and attempted to drink all 9 beers in the Baltika series.  This beer is probably the most disgusting beer you'll ever drink in your life.  They're so bad they don't even have names...literally they're just numbered 1-9.  After a very impressive effort, they each came just 1 beer shy of finishing all 9.  We called it quits and asked for the check.  Our server brought us the check...and shortly after brought the 2 Baltikas the boys never ordered and declared "We finish what we start here".  Amazing!

Saturday

We spent our day hunting for the perfect townhouse.  We only have until October 1st to find something and it's been hard so far!  We saw a place that we absolutely love and have put in our application.  They aren't running first come first serve applications on this house though.  They are going to consider all applications they received this weekend equally.  It's making us nervous but we've got our fingers crossed...if it's meant to be it'll happen!

Sunday

Like last week, Rachel and I are still in search of the perfect place to watch a football game.  This week's destination was Buffalo Billiards.  Like Kelly's, it was a good place to watch the game but it was clear that we have to keep searching for the perfect football bar.  You couldn't beat the $3 Coors or Miller Lites or the fact that it was easy to find a table to sit at.  However, the bar is so big the fans are very spread out.   The fans weren't really interacting with people outside their small groups and they weren't quite as rowdy as I would've liked...I mean it's football...yell at the TV a little!!  Next weekend we're going to journey out to Virginia to the Patriot's bar.  We've got our fingers crossed that it'll work out better!

In other news, we decided we deserved a little Sunday night treat after watching the game...you can never go wrong with a Krispy Kreme!

I hope you all had wonderful weekends as well!

Stuff I Like

1. LearnVest

One of my biggest goals with this new job and move is to become more financially stable.  I'm off to a little bit of a rocky start with all of my moving expenses, but I already feel like I'm getting a better handle on my spending habits.  The next step in the budget extravaganza is working with LearnVest.  You link it with your bank account and it monitors all your purchases, categorizes them, and tells you exactly where your money is going each month.  This girl is currently spending waaaaay too much money at bars and restaurants.  I'm going to try to turn that around ASAP!

2. Donut Shop K Cups

My new office has a Keurig.  It has been life changing.  I can now experiment with all kinds of exotic coffee flavors.  My favorite so far has been the Donut Shop...I think the festive picture of the donut has influenced this decision but it's definitely still delicious.  I'm also dying to try the Chocolate Glazed Donut variety.  I am seriously considering ordering a box and keeping it hidden in my desk!

3. Kelly's Irish Times

Rachel and I are in search of the perfect bar to watch a Patriots game and Kelly's Irish Times was first on our list.  This place is absolutely DIRT CHEAP.  We each had 3 beers and split and] appetizer and each ended up paying only $20...you can't beat that!  Plus, their cheesy bacon tater tots were probably the most tasty thing I have ever eaten.  The crowd was a little older than we expected but everyone was super friendly.  I don't think it will be our regular football watching spot, but we will definitely be back!

4. Southwest

I've been booking a lot of travel home lately (if you follow me on Twitter you'll know that my dad's been sick) and Southwest has been a godsend.  Their fares are actually affordable, they have a great rewards program, and they don't charge you to check a bag!  Plus, their staff is always extremely friendly.  I've never had a bad experience while flying with them.  You should all keep them in mind for your holiday travel!

5. Vera Bradley Christmas Cards

I hope you're all ready to get some of these this winter...I'm loving how cute Vera Bradley's Christmas Cards are!

Office Supply Love

Having a new desk is making me dream of all the things I can fill it with.  Here's what I'm lusting after right now:

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Organization and a fun pop of color!?  Yes please.

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I admit, these might be a little much....but that's why this is a wish list and not a buy list, right?

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A stylish and environmentally friendly way to hit up the water cooler.

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A blackberry case is on the top of my list of things to buy once I get my next paycheck.  I can be one clumsy girl and I do not want anything happening to this guy!

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With the amount of coffee and sweets I consume on a daily basis...this is perfect.

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We all knew I couldn't make it through this list without a little Vera Bradley! haha  The lanyard is a necessity for my office key card.

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You can't have a lanyard without the matching post it notes...