Goodbye Fuji

This weekend I sold my bike on Craigslist to someone who would truly love it: a preteen girl.   

The cool thing about having a blog is I can figure out exactly when I first bought it: August 2009. Feels like forever ago.  I adored it, mainly because of the color. But ever since I got the Bikeshare, I rarely rode the Fuji. If I get another bike, I want one with a step-through frame because this one was a bit too much bike for me. I love the look of this one, but that feels like a silly purchase for me. Even if I ride the Bikeshare to work every day, that has to be cheaper. Although, that's assuming that the Bikeshare bike is available for your commute...

Looking back through the blog's archives, I can see it's been an up and down relationship: I got passed by a jogger while riding the bike, received a bike light from a friendly biker, wrestled the bike up and down the stairs,  and accessorized with a hot pink Hello Kitty bike helmet.

It's bittersweet: I feel like I kind of gave up on this bike, but I enjoyed it while I had it. And hopefully this new owner will give it the love it deserves. And I will pocket the cash.

Croquet Washington, DC

Last year, I tried to host a croquet-themed birthday party but it turned out to be 104 degrees on the day of the party. Stupid July birthday. It didn't seem fair to make my guests risk heatstroke in order for me to live out a scene from Heathers, thus croquet was canceled. I'm glad Joe discouraged me from buying two croquet sets as I had planned.

A year later, and we are finally playing croquet in D.C.! 

In the shadow of the Capitol dome, no less! Here's Alex posing with the confident smile of a croquet champion.

As it turns out, I am horrible at croquet. As in, swinging and missing completely. I am going to blame this on the fact that the grass was a bit overgrown, which meant the ball could go any which way. Also, the set appears to be made of balsa wood. We had a blast though. It was also fun to watch bemused tourists looking on at our game. If you see me inspecting patches of grass, just know I am looking for our next croquet court.

Do More 24 DC - Thursday, June 6

The United Way of the National Capital Area reached out to me to help spread the word about their Do More 24 fundraising event. It's a 24-hour give-athon starting at 12 a.m. on Thursday, June 6, and organizations like Wegmans are chipping in, donating 100,000 pounds of food to area foodbanks. And if you donate at least $24, Uber is matching that by giving out $24 vouchers to the first 1,000 existing customers and any new customer. There are a ton of events on Thursday too, see the whole list here. The dress-up-your-pet contest appeals to me, even though I don't have a pet as of yet. One of my best friend's first jobs was with the United Way, so I know they are doing great work in communities, and I wanted to give this a shout out.

Tunes Tuesday, "Long Time Coming," The Delays

Bringing you back to 2004 with today's song by Brit band The Delays. Remember this one? When I studied abroad in London in 2005, we didn't have Internet in our dorm, a fact which seems laughable today. We'd go to the public library to write emails, and I would check out dozens of CDs, rip them to my computer and return them. That's where I discovered this song, and there's something so perfect about the intro/chorus. it seems meant for a sunshine-y day like today.

New Hair Cut: The Modern Long Bob or "Lob"

So ​before I went to Coachella, I almost dyed my hair pink! In fact, my stylist attempted to dye it pink, but for some reason it didn't take. Maybe God was watching out for me. It would've been subtle, I swear. She suggested doing an ombre baby pink on the ends, and it would've been cute. But maybe that's a lot of look for me, so perhaps its for the best.

​The pink might not have worked out, but I did get a new haircut. My hair was the longest it's ever been, and it was driving me crazy. I feel like the long bob is having a moment (or the lob, if you will), so I found some inspirational images to show my stylist. Check it out below (oh hey, rocker Taylor!).

Image sources: Taylor​, Miroslava, Alexa, tutorial from amazing stylist blog She Lets Her Hair Down

​I like how it turned out a lot, but I can't make it look as good as my stylist did. That's always the case though. I'll post a picture when I can get my act together. Also, the past few weeks I've been itching to go a lot shorter (oh hey, Michelle Williams pixie crop!).

What do you think of the long bob? What hair trend are you feeling lately?​

Father John Misty in Concert

Just posting a quick picture from the fourth row or so at Thursday's Father John Misty 9:30 Club show. I might sound like a Father John Misty superfan at this point.

I went to Brightest Young Things today to read about how awesome the show was, and instead I was left scratching my head at this review. ​The Post's review was less obtuse, of course, but even more withering. I just feel like they missed the point. From my vantage point (fourth row), the man puts on a show that's plenty entertaining. That includes the dance moves, laugh-out-loud banter, and vocal chops. He's charming, and that's not the case for a lot of indie acts. And I actually like the album, the writing is memorable. Maybe everyone needs to take it less seriously.

But then again, I am a super fan.

PS - No one mentioned this in the reviews, but Tillman talked about playing the 9:30 Club in front of 50 people and it looking like a performance art installation of what failure looks like. Ha! Now he is selling out shows...