The Ondricek's

Nathan and Megan Ondricek

Megan and I had worked at Joyful together for a year and a half when her and Nate were about to get married. J and I made the trip up and it was so worth it. I only started getting to know Nate because he was in a class of mine but he was quirky, smart, charming - perfect for Megan.

Before school got out they invited me over for dinner. Megan made an amazing Split Pea Soup with Ham, and a Salad. For desert I made strawberry shortcakes, and we almost started a fire... then we watched Emperors New Groove - It was a night!

Megan and Nate are up in DC this summer and living about 30 minutes southwest of me. Its been far too long since we have seen each other and so tomorrow we are doing dinner again! Im so excited because I get to cook for them this time and Nate will have to take the Metro for the first time, what an experience. I wanted to post somewhere what I have planned for dinner but didnt want to ruin the surprise so I chose my blog :-)

The Menu

Tossed Salad with Cukes, Tomatoes, and Peppers

Baked Ziti

with Italian Sausage, Homemade Roasted Red Peppers and Fresh Mozz

Blueberry Cake

with a Lemon Glaze

Im SO excited!!

P.S. For Iron Chef I think Becky and I are making a cake so I wanted to get a nice looking cake plate/stand, and I really wanted a ceramic baking dish, so I tripped over to Home Goods. I found a really nice cake stand for $14.99 and a teal square baking dish for $9.99... but I wanted to see what better deal I could find. I went to the sale aisle and found instead a triangular cake plate (Think Equilateral version of a Ouji Board guide) that would fit our cake for $2.00 and a navy square baking dish with a metal rack for $7.99!! I love steals like that :-)

Dear Tourists of Washington, D.C.

If you don't start listening to the announcements/picking up on the patterns that we D.C. Commuters know, love and live by - I am going to write, nay, paint a lovely poster for you so that you may realize what you are doing wrong and why we dont sympathize with you when your arm gets stuck in the Metro door.

Tips from a fully frustrated commuter:

1) When you hear the announcement that the doors are closing, or see the blinking red lights in the door way this is not, I repeat is not, the time to play daredevil and try and make the train. Chances are, there is one right behind the one you are trying to get on. If not, well get to the platform earlier next time but please, do not delay us because you have to make this train. You don't. When the door closes on your purse, your backpack, the tent that you are carrying in said backpack, (or funnier yet) your arm - We dont have much sympathy. Why? Because most likely, it is rush hour that you are doing this during so we are already in a crunch to get to our paying jobs and now the door will (hopefully for you) re open and try and close again. This is a delay. If you continue to stand in the door, it will close on you again... I just may laugh. Then I get to hear a lecture from the conductor on proper Metro door etiqitte, which doesnt make me any more thrilled that you actually made it.

2) When standing on the platform waiting for the train you probably hear an announcement that suggests (read: demands) that you allow passengers to exit the train before you enter the train. This is a safety thing, seriously. When the train stops notice that commuters part to the sides of the doors leaving you and your 8 kids & a stroller standing directly in front of the doors... and people trying to exit. When you push your kids onward this upsets/causes a hold up at the entrance of the train. When you all link arms and try to enter, you make us all upset. Move to the sides and get enter the train like the rest of us do.

3) When your card does not work to allow you in to the metro, Do not stand there and try to force your all day pass in especially during rush hour. We're just trying to get home, sometimes our cards dont work either, it happens - just step to the side or find a less crowded gate but dont hold the rest of us up.

4) Grosvenor has a silent 's'.

5) On the escalator the rule is "Stand Right, Walk Left", standing in the middle may result in a slight shove and/or language. Disclaimer: I have not shoved someone nor used language I would not use at work, but have been the witness to this ocassion many times, the general feeling on the end of the receiver is confusing because they dont know the rule. There is a pattern in all things, just look for it.



That is all I have for now. I called J to rant about this after work and he could not stop laughing. He said " I got your text, I think it said that you dislike tourists on the Metro... Do you remember that was us at one point? " Yes, dear, that was us at one point. However we stood on the right side, realized rush hour was not the time to be at the Metro but rather eating good things like METRO (Silver Diner), Cosi, and Panda Buffet, and "metro surfed" on empty cars rather ones full of people. We were the fun kind of tourists. When I see people like us running around exploring, I smile.

**I sound terribly bitter and angry. Im not. Its all in good fun, until because of your chain link family entering the Metro it is my arm/purse that gets caught ...There may be a problem.

Time to Budget

As the summer comes to an end, I am realizing just how little money I have left - and how much more I want to do/want to buy. Concert Tickets is the main thing. Ive decided that its better late than never to start a budget. Im hoping to get at least 2 concerts in out of the few that I want to go to (Maroon 5, DMB, Paramore, Kings of Leon, and Fountains of Wayne).

Did I mention I am planning on going to Italy right after graduation...? Yikes. I am the definition of a poor, college student.

Music Monday

I listen to Music, pretty much all of the time. On Sunday its MoTab and this Cello station I have on Pandora. Other days are filled with Florence and the Machine, Carbon Leaf, Justin Bieber (yes), Maroon 5, Kings of Leon, and others. I've decided to do Music Monday - Each Monday I'll share some songs with you that I've recently discovered.

So here we are, the very first Music Monday.

Say You Don't Want It by One Night Only

Inspiration Boards

Since we do our invitations (and most any other type of card, gift tag, menu cards, thank you notes, etc.) in house I make more than a few trips to PaperSource. It is a store made for people like me. I like to go in after work and play around with all of the colors they have. I love seeing colors work together, I like coordinating colors, I like putting colors together you think would never work, I like accents... Its a shame I don't have the confidence to do it with my wardrobe (I stick to a limited palate of colors when it comes to clothes and shoes).

This little "hobby" of mine makes me want to try my hand at event planning or you know... the dream is to be a wedding planner... :)

One day while looking at ideas for decor for a dinner my co-worker stumbled upon this little website, and its become a favorite of mine. My favorite part? Well, there are many but i LOVE the inspiration boards. Ive made up a few of my own but here are some from their site. {Inspiration Boards are compiled by those who run SnippetandInk & are photos from other sites/sources}

{Ivy & Brick - Ivy Green, Brick}

{Pretty, Pretty Picnic - Oak Leaf, Raspberry, Marigold}

{Poppy & Mint - Mint Blue Green, Poppy Red}

{Baby It's Cold Outside - Snow White, Silver Ice, Royal Blue}

{Sleek Orange & Gray - Cement Gray, Orange Peel}

Let's talk wedding colors. Not that a wedding is really on my mind, nor is there a reason for one to be, but what else do you just throw colors together for? What colors do you like together?

My recent favorites? Burnt Orange & Blue.

(Can't decide if I like the royal blue or the lighter blue better)

Birds, The New Obsession, Crazy Nights in Bethesda & Upcoming Events

I usually wait until Friday to post but I cant wait!

First - The Birds
I got a call this morning at work from my boss and she says "The nurse spotted me as the woman in The Diplomat, can you go get me a copy?". Sure thing. Walk over to Furins :-), grab one copy, open it up and THERE SHE IS! So I grabbed 4 more (and a croissant) and walk back to the office. On my walk back I see these two little birds hopping around next to each other, clearly having an intense conversation, as one hops very close to the
other and starts chirping loudly. I giggled... thinking, well - I look crazy, giggling at two little birds...but it did make me smile.


The new obsession -
Mango. Everything Mango. Can't get enough of the stuff. It started with Nantucket Nectar Orange Mango, Continued with Mango HonestAde, and scales were tipped as I went to Trader Joe's this morning for breakfast and bought a Mango smoothie - Yum, Yum and Yum! Not sure what it is about Mango, or this past week that has me craving it
but hey... I'm certainly not complaining. Its good stuff.


Crazy Nights in Bethesda-
Last night (I guess it should be crazy night... I feel there will be more to come though, Ill leave it plural) was NUTS! During work yesterday I am working on Save The Dates for WFP and all of a sudden - a hurricane hits Georgetown! Not really, but it was crazy! Downpour, strong winds, black skies... Crazy. It lasted for maybe an hour and was hot and humid as all get out on my trip home. I must have barely missed the next part of this story because I got home a few minutes before they say it happened but... a guy jumped on the Metro tracks at my metro station. He was not hit by the train but by the electric rails. At this point though, it is rush hour, and did I mention my section of Wisconsin was SOOO without power! Well, I get home & decide I am not sitting in a hot house so I will instead, go explore Maryland, sans tomtom.

I, of course, brought tom with me in case I became so terribly lost I couldn't find my way home but I set off to explore to find out... The traffic lights on a very busy 8ish lane highway are not working, I start taking back roads and there are accidents Everywhere! I decide to just go over to fivebelow to walk around. I get a call from B asking if I made it home... well, of course I did... but shes stuck walking up Wisconsin to get home ...oh gee. That's when I learned about the accident at the metro. M picked her up and then B and I met at home, and went over to FHE (where we were eaten alive by mosquito's as we played water balloon volleyball still, fun was had by all).

We decided that we were not going to heat up the apartment and cook so we convinced a friend to come with us to Arby's. We get back to the apartment and M calls asking if we want to come to Taco Bell... Why sure. I bring my laptop hoping (praying) for Internet and my phone charger since my phone was on its last bar. Taco Bell - No Internet. We go to Mcd's (passing another accident) - No Internet... and an outlet on the ceiling. Picture my stop sign red Samsung Intensity dangling from the ceiling of McDonalds. True Story. We get in contact with a friend in the ward and go to her place where I check facebook (sick) and charge my phone. M gets a call that we have power again and off to home we go. Yikes. What.A.Night.


WHEW, Ready for one more?

Upcoming Events-
I have (slowly) started to find things to do to fill my free-time. Sure, you could go to a museum. You could go tour the monuments. I'm an extrovert, Id rather be with people. Wednesday, B and I are feeding the missionaries. Friday - there is a French Cuisine night and my roommates are showing off their photos from their trip to Istanbul/Egypt. Saturday: a.m. Breakfast at the Brian's home, afternoon Folklife Festival, evening Rehearsal 4th of July Concert. Sunday - Church and then fireworks at the Jefferson. Monday - Trip to Philly/Gettysburg (Cross your fingers). More updates to come.


I should... go do something other than this.

Week 7 - Complete

I feel like this week has been a blur, compared the last few where I can remember specific things.

Monday -
I had to give devotional at our staff meeting. It was rough because I couldn't think of anything super profound. On Friday on our way to the Senate meeting Reed asked how my parents met and I realized, I didn't really know. Then I thought, well I don't even know how they really joined the church. I mean, I knew the gist but I didn't know the story. So I had my mom e-mail me a talk my dad gave a few months back when John and I were visiting home in which he talked about how he came upon the decision to join. Then I had my mom e-mail me the version including more details, the whys, who was involved, and a better timeline of the events. I decided to tell my office a story of how my family came to join the church. It all started with a conversation in a park. I then said how I really admire the work we do because of all the many, often simple conversations "in the park" that we have as representatives of the Church. Its great the work we can do, by small and simple means. Sure, we plan grand events, dinners every month, coordinate Festival of Lights - but its the discussion, the mentioning of who is sponsoring the event, the thanks we give to Ambassadors for their country's allowance of our missionaries... those are the things that spark interest. Cool stuff.

Tuesday -
Blur. I left early so I could run to Laurel, MD to get a package that was being held at the UPS shipping location. I got my Downeast Basics clothing!! 2 new dresses, 2 shirts, 2 cami's - They are thoroughly modest and as always I had a color scheme (without noticing it until I opened the bag)... it was PINK!! I think this was my first pink color scheme, I don't wear pink. Ha. Guess I do now.

Wednesday -
Stephanie Smith, a woman who has made her way up in CIA rankings, came to speak to BYU Management Society at the Barlow Center. I saw the email and said "Hey! I'm Management Society. I work at the Barlow. I'm going!" So I did. It was GREAT! She is an excellent speaker. Great stories, great presentation, overall wonderful. She is also coming to SVU on September 10th, I hope to have lunch with her then. As I was walking downstairs in walks Kevin and Christian, two friends and fellow SVU- Management Society'ers. I cant tell you how exciting it was to see people I knew! I even got an extra hour and a half to hang out with them after the lecture. Great Day.

Thursday -
Blur. I was so tired and really not all with it.

Friday -
SO MUCH TO DO! Western Family Picnic. Ambassadors Wives Luncheon Photos. Ways and Means Briefing. Letters to Ambassadors. Save the Dates. Keep my sanity... We'll see.

Oh! And one co-worker is gone this week, the other may be leaving Tuesday for a week... pretty much leaving me with lots to do, phones to answer... oh goody. I love it though. Really. I'm excited to see all that I get done next week and excited that they are really trusting me with a lot of high importance things. Yikes. Updates next week, for sure.

Including updates on the camp out tonight and all I hope to do on Saturday.