Got snowed in and my neighbors are the greatest. Wish I spent more time here (well no I don’t because then I’d be broke) because I had no idea how much fun it is to live in my building! Enjoy.
My friends are the bestest!
I have the most thoughtful friends… After all my complaining about the new $.o5 DC bag tax, and seeing how silly I looked a few weeks ago at CVS because I didn’t want to pay for a bag, my girlfriend Courtney sent me some reusable Eagles shopping bags AND a couple CVS bag tag coupons. CVS and the Iggles — my two favorite things!!! You’re the best Court. You know me so well. You made my month!
How to NOT miss your blessing
I heard on the Today Show on Friday morning that a study showed that Louisiana was the ‘happiest’ state to live in. And after the fun I had this weekend in NOLA, I wouldn’t argue that one bit! I went to Louisiana to see BFF Jenny (excuse me — Dr. Jennifer Pinder Ellis) receive her Ph.D. from LSU!!! YAY! Sooooooo proud of you, J!
Jenny’s husband is from New Orleans and threw her a big graduation party at a great restaurant there on Friday nite.
And after a short program and a fantastic dinner, the party really got started. There was a great DJ who played line dances that I’ve never even heard of — in fact, I’m pretty sure Jen’s husband and his sister made at least 2 or 3 of those up on the spot ;) At some point we realized that some of the people from the holiday party across the corridor (where there was no DJ) were coming out into the hall to dance to the music at Jen’s party. The bartender even came to ‘notify’ us that they were mooching off our DJ ;) Tee hee ;) Continue reading →
Fourth o’ July – Pt. 1 (Work Hard)
This weekend I had the honor and pleasure of headlining the main showroom at the Improv here in DC.
I close at other clubs on the road, but there’s something special about the people that have been watching you since you first picked up a mic having enough confidence in you to give you such an awesome opportunity. The management and the staff at the Improv have been AMAZING to me over the years — they’re like family. And at every juncture so far they’ve supported me and even pushed me to take leaps before I even thought I was ready.
Thanks guys for everything!
So many of the friends I grew up with in Jersey have settled in the DC area. A bunch of them came out to support this weekend and for most, it was their first time ever coming to one of my shows! This is my girl Jenny with her two brothers Jamal and Jerome and their friend. They took me out dancing afterwards. We had a ball!
Pre-drinks and dancing... By the end of the night I was leaning like one of the backup dancers in the Smooth Criminal video.
This is my friend/big brother/cheerleader, Joe. Everybody should have a 'Joe' ;)
And this is my former roommate Crystal — the only person (besides my folks — well at least besides my mom) who has lived with me and still likes me ;)
Me and Crys
Many thanks to all my Jersey homies and my Howard buddies who came out to the shows this weekend, and of course the hundreds of other people who took a chance on this small town girl living in a lonely world (how hard does Steve Perry STILL rock? ;)
You made my weekend!
Fourth o’ July – Pt. 2 (Play Hard)
Kellz, Joie, and Chris
So me and BFF’s Joie and Kellz went to a BBQ at new buds Chris and Zach’s house on the 4th. And boy did they do it up. They had kegs of whatever you wanted to drink and tons of food — they roasted an entire pig! Zach said it took from about 6am to 3pm to cook it. WOW!
We like big sunglasses.
By the time we got there, they’d already sliced up the pig. But the face and the ears were just chilling on the picnic table… Because boys think it’s funny to gross girls out. Pighead aside, it was damn tasty though. Shout to whoever made the special bbq sauce for the sandwiches. YUM! Good job guys ;)
Ugly Thrash Demon
Chris found a band made up of high school kids to perform at the BBQ. They were actually pretty good. There were just a lot of them… Think Earth Wind and Fire — except the exact opposite. Tee hee ;) Their name was Ugly Thrash Demon, but they weren’t a metal band. Because you can’t be a metal band with a ukelele. Or an accordion. Or maracas. Or a cello… Should I continue?
Oh why the hell not?… Or a trumpet.
I’m assuming the name was supposed to be ironic. And well, I think it was except I’m still not clear exactly what ironic means. I always use it wrong…
Moving on.
Zach’s parents were in town, and his mom is kinda the best — she’s southern and adorable, AND she convinced me to participate in my first ever game of beer pong. Well, kinda… I’m not a big beer drinker so the other players were nice enough to bend the rules for me… I just wanted to see if I could get the ball in the cup ;) Check out my follow through!
Thanks fellas for the invite! We had so much fun ;)
My first fragrance
Me and Stace
Tonight my friend Stacey and I attended a workshop on how to make organic body scrubs and lotions. It was held at Greater Goods DC and was taught by the super cute Kristina Libby who owns an organic body and skin care line called For the Love of… (also here) Besides being a super fun nite out, half the proceeds of the class go to Susan G. Komen Foundation. Kristina donates a portion of the proceeds of all her sales to a different women’s charity each month. How much do you heart her?
Kristina!
All that said, when Kristina was talking about all the yucky products and toxins we put into and on our bodies on a daily basis, I felt like that sinner in church — that Christmas-and-Easter-only-Christian — who feels like the pastor is preaching directly to them… I assumed that most of the other people there were also organically-minded, but I gotta admit that the “how to make your own lotion and body scrub” part was more appealing to me than the “organic” part. I respect people who care enough about their bodies and the earth to buy only green/organic products. But I haven’t yet jumped on that wagon. The organic eating might be more expensive but damn it if making my own skin and body care products wouldn’t save money. Equilibrium, people. Very appealing… Continue reading →
Cereal bowls and skinny jeans
Everything is relative.
I just got off the phone with BFF Angi who has a 1-year old and finally got back into her skinny jeans! HOORAY for her!!! She’s always been athletic (In fact, she was named as one of the 50 Greatest ACC athletes of all time) and is back down to her fighting weight of 120 pounds. Gee An, I probably should have asked before I posted that, but I’m probably gonna add this to the act and talk about it in front of hundreds of strangers every nite anyway, so try not to be mad.
Funny thing is even when she told me what her heaviest weight was, it still sounded tiny to me because literally, she’s half my size… So I said to her,
“You know, if we were a cereal commercial, it would take 2 bowls of Angi to equal 1 bowl of EJ.”
It takes 4 bowls of Corn Flakes...
She immediately knew what I was talking about and we couldn’t stop laughing. Sh!t, I still can’t… It’s funny because it’s true. This is why I’m still going hard with GF’09. Wish me luck!
War stories and ‘chichi’ brunch
My battle buddies: Stacey, Carrie and Regina
I’ve never been to war — hell, I’ve never been in a fist fight, but if I can liken anything to what I imagine war would be like, it’d be the last job I had. I don’t think anyone who worked there enjoyed it. It was just an awful, unhealthy environment.
It was while I was working this job that I finally tried stand-up for the first time. I was miserable for 40 hours a week at work and I was looking for something to help infuse some joy into my personal life. The only bright spot in my days were the friends I made while working there. We were down in the trenches together and we were literally like a support group for each other. We’ve remained friends and still hang out whenever our schedules permit. This weekend we went to brunch at a ‘chichi’ spot in DC to reminisce on old war stories and just catch up in general. I heart these girls. They were my first joke testers. I’d go into their offices and tell them the first [terrible] jokes I ever wrote… They always laughed. And I KNOW I wasn’t funny then.
Silver lining: If I’d not had that crappy job, I may never have appreciated quite how sweet it is to do something you love for a living.
Love you guys!!! Thanks for being such awesome friends ;)