And this is how I became snazzy-pants.

We bought a house! Yay!

I started my new job! Yay!

I got the most perfect pair of shoes today! Yay!


So, the house! We are buying a brand-new townhouse. It's being built right now, in fact, and when we went up to visit it on Tuesday night they'd just put the insulation in. It's theoretically going to be finished September 3rd, we're just hoping we close in September. We are SO excited to see an end to apartment-living. It's going to be AWESOME!

My job - I love it! It's the first job I've ever had where I've not been counting down the minutes until time to go home, and I'm really enjoying my time there and what I'm doing. It's such a great feeling. I mean, it's been 3 years coming, essentially.

The shoes - sigh... Have you ever had one of those shoe experiences where you find the most perfect shoes and if you don't buy them right then (because you're trying to be responsible and sleep on it - decide if you really can afford them) you can't stop thinking about them? That was these shoes. Of course I'm a bit crazy about shoes - one of my friends says shoes are my kryptonite, and I agree with her. Here's the thing - if you're feeling icky about your body and none of your clothes are fitting, if you put on a great pair of shoes you feel fabulous and look pulled together. And shoes will never make you feel fat.

I saw these black, leather, sling-back peep-toe heels at Banana Republic and decided to wait and think about it. I couldn't stop thinking about them. No really, I was thinking about them instead of going to sleep at night. So I went and got them today! I absolutely love them, and even Husband agrees that they are awesome shoes. I'm going to look ridiculously snazzy-pants on Monday. I'll try to post a picture of them soon, but if you go here, mine are black. I love the silver, but with an impending mortgage, black is much more practical. Go ahead and drool.

Oh, and you know I had to wait to purchase the shoes until today - the luckiest day of the year.

Yay!

Today I get sworn-in!

I am so excited!!!

Although it does feel very surreal...they're letting me get sworn-in? Really?

I'll let you know what the ceremony's like.


***
In other news, both my aunt & Husband's mom & step-dad are here, and it's like we're just here observing the Mom Show. It's been a lot of fun, though!

Good news!

I got the job!!!

My future boss called me himself this morning to extend the offer. I am SO excited about it! I start July 2nd. I want to say more about it but can't.

Hooray!

Pirates and interviews and mortgages, oh my!

Lots has happened in my life, and I think the best way to sum it up is via a list. I know this may seem like a cop-out, but tough - you'll just have to deal.

1. I interviewed for an internal position within my current company a week ago Friday. I should hear by Tuesday if I got it, which all signs are pointing to "YES". Apparently they want to fill the position internally & I'm the only internal candidate they were considering (as of last week, that could have changed); also, I guess all the feedback from my interview has been really good, so keep your fingers crossed. I'd be doing cool things like reseach (yes, I'm actually excited about it). While I wouldn't be practicing, per se, the only reason I was considered for this position is because I passed the bar and will be sworn-in shortly. And the direction they want this position to go in would involve giving legal advice, so it's all cool as far as I'm concerned. And it'd be a lot more money that I'm currently making, which is good!

2. Last night we went to see Pirates. It was wildly entertaining and I enjoyed it...of course any amount of time spent starting at Mr. Depp is considered a success in my book. (He's always #1 on my List.) And um, HELLO, can we talk for just a minute about how hot Orlando has gotten? Husband reached over and wiped the drool from my chin at one point...I don't know what happened, but I think he might be a contender for a spot on my List.

3. Friday evening we went to see one of the Seattle International Film Festival movies - Death at a Funeral. HIGH-larious. Seriously, one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while. I would strongly recommend going to see it! Husband & I laughed our way nearly through the entire film, and at one point I was laughing so hard I was crying. It was awesome. I highly recommend it.

4. In perhaps the biggest news of the last few weeks, Husband & I put an offer on a townhouse today. It's terrifying and exciting. We don't know if we'll get it because there's already an offer on it, but it's contingent upon them selling their house. Now that we've put in our offer, they have 5 days to clear up their contingency or we get it. Since weekends don't count, they have until Friday at 9:00pm to sell their house. I'm trying to remain very phlegmatic about the whole thing because there's a good chance we won't get it. I'm trying to retain the attitude that if it's supposed to happen, it will.

5. Swearing-in!!! I get sworn-in on Monday, the 11th. This Thursday, my aunt is flying in from Chicago, and on Friday evening, Husband's mom & step-dad are flying in. They're all leaving the next Tuesday, so it's going to be a fun weekend of family. The last time my aunt & mother-in-law were together was at our wedding, so they're really excited to see each other, too.

I think that about covers it. Send me/us good wishes for me getting that job and the house!

I quiver for you, oh brave California peeps!

I remember what this was like...counting down the minutes, trying not to die, hating the evil CA bar examiners for having the balls of steel to make it a minute-by-minute countdown for bar results.

For all of you waiting on results, my hat is off to you. You are brave, and you'll be fine, no matter what happens! Hugs!

***
In other news, I interviewed today for an internal position at my current company. It'd be in a completely different part of the company, and sounds like it would be a great fit for me. Oh, and the fact that I'd be making a LOT more bank in the new position doesn't hurt! I have a really good shot of getting it because (a) I'm licensed (okay, WILL be as of June 11th), and (b) the manager wants to hire internally and according to the recruiter, I'm the only internal candidate he's considering. In a shocking turn of events, he wants to move quickly with this; I guess he'll be out of the office the first 2 weeks of June and wants to decide before then. Which means next week. Augh! So keep your fingers & toes crossed that I'll be relaying some very good news a week from today!

Life on the other side!

So here's how it all went down on Saturday. I kept thinking I was going to lose my breakfast, and decided to check the state bar website for shits and giggles. As soon as I saw the link for the results, my heart nearly stopped. No, really, I thought I was going to go into cardiac arrest. I finally scrolled down and as soon as I saw MY NAME WAS ON THE PASS LIST I burst into tears and sobbed (and sobbed and sobbed). I've never cried that hard over happy news! I just couldn't believe it. I kept making Husband pinch me. I'm still feeling emotional whenever I stop and realize I PASSED. I finally printed off the pass list so I wouldn't keep going back to the website to make sure my name is still on the list. It's just the most surreal, fantastic, amazing, humbling, gratifying, vindicating, AWESOME feeling ever. I'm just so grateful I passed. And so excited!

And can I tell you how much fun job hunting is now?!? I spent a good deal of time this weekend looking at the jobs that are out there. I met with another recruiter today; so far, none of them are telling me the relationship is exclusive, so I'm fully enjoying whoring it out with every agency I can, as well as any and all contacts I have. I really want to do estate planning (with maybe some land use thrown in), so I'm now turning my powers on to envisioning my future job and salary, etc., and I can't wait to start interviewing.

Oh, and how did I celebrate? I had wine and good food and champagne and shopping and sleeping and being lazy and napping! I got an awesome, brand new suit, and Husband got me a gorgeous new watch. I feel so professional and spiffy now! Also, tomorrow night Husband & I are going to see the touring cast of RENT! I'm so excited about seeing RENT! that I have to add the exclamation point. RENT! Yipee!!!

I guess I could sum all this up by saying that I've been disgustingly, deliriously happy all damn day. I'm just so buyouantly happy that I felt like I was floating all day. I tell you what, this is one of the BEST feelings I've ever had; I wish I could bottle it up and pull it out on crappy days.

I'm also excited because being licensed means I'll get to fulfill a very long-held dream to volunteer at a women's shelter, in a legal capacity. I can't wait to get started on that!

OH - I got Tori's new CD today; it fucking ROCKS! Go get it immediately!

Cunning verbal linguist

"I am more than sufficiently fine."

"These last few twitch-inducing years with Bush as our president."

Oh yes, cunning linguist am I. Your knees should be sqeaking with awe and dread.

Obviously I have gone mad.

I can't do anything but sleep!!!

I don't remember the last time I slept so much or felt so tired! Yesterday I slept in, took a marathon nap in the afternoon, and by 10:00 pm I was exhausted. This morning I woke up early (I still got 9 hours of sleep last night), finished the novel I started last night, cleaned the apartment (FINALLY!), and when I got out of spending a half hour in Old Navy buying some much needed new work clothes, I felt exhausted again.

What the hell.

I guess my body is still decompressing from the exam.

The exam itself was good - I feel great! The first morning I nearly didn't make it; the alarm FAILED! TO! GO! OFF! It was set, checked, double checked, triple checked, so it was a fluke. I woke up 20 minutes after I had wanted to leave, and ran into traffic in my mad rush to make it to the convention center. I don't remember if I even stopped to put deodorant on, but I made it with 10 minutes left of registration. If I hadn't made it in time, I wouldn't have been able to take the test.

There were also a few moments where my computer decided to not recognize it was plugged in, but WE MADE IT THROUGH, my computer & I!

So now I'm just looking forward to receiving my "Congratulations..." letter. And yes, I'm visualizing it every day! I know my test is now in the hands of the graders, but I don't see any reason why I can't still use The Secret (you know, that Law of Attraction?). If I receive the thoughts I send out, then I'm definitely going to keep visualizing my congrats letter. As all of you should, too!

I watched 2 Harry Potter movies since the exam! Lovely! I've read an entire novel! Wonderful! I've done a thorough cleaning of my apartment! Clean is good! I've almost finished with ALL the laundry! Yay for clean clothes! And perhaps the most exciting of all, I have new clothes to wear to work this week! HOORAY for new clothes! I'm going to look spiffy this week - I may even break out my pearls - wooot!

The thought of having tomorrow evening totally free - not that I was naughty and took a weekend off, but that I'm done studying! Hee! The thought makes me feel downright giddy! If I wasn't so tired, I'd want to stay up late and enjoy the recklessness of it. :) However, I have decided to swear off Starbucks - my bank account & my thighs could use the break, so no frouffy drink for me tomorrow...which means I need to go to bed now. And I think I just heard the dryer stop, which means I can put clean sheets on the bed. I heart sleeping in a bed with dryer-fresh sheets.

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!

Today has been AWESOME. Aside from getting up way too early because of the phone ringing (someone on the East code to tell me Happy Birthday!) - once the phone rang & I stayed awake because I was so excited it was my birthday! But I compensated that up-too-early by having a FANTASTIC 2 hour nap this afternoon. It was AWESOME. We went out for Waffles, then we went to REI to pick up a birthday present for me from my parents (camping gear, Woo-Hoo!), then to pick up a ring that was being repaired, then (drum roll, please) to the outlet mall for one specific store: Coach. I got the cutest pink Coach wallet! And I saved MORE than I spent! Which is a great feeling to have any day, much less on your birthday! Oh, and Husband got me a Coach purse - he's so good! He also brought me a dozen roses...I think I'll keep him. :-)

In any event, I'm about to take my new purse & wallet out to a lovely dinner at one of my favorite Italian joints (Maggiano's Little Italy).

Last night we went to a movie - The Pursuit of Happyness. It is probably one of the best movies I've seen! You should all go see it!

Okay, I'm off to eat CARBS, BEAUTIFUL CARBS! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

HEAR ME ROAR! R-O-A-R!

I am SUPERWOMAN. Today, not only did I completely finish AND PUT AWAY all the laundry (a *huge* feat!), but I accomplished 9 of the 11 essays on my to-do list. And the house is clean (thank you, Husband), and there are clean sheets on the bed (thank you, me), and I'm only a half-hour late to bed.

However, today commences the WEEK OF MY BIRTHDAY, so I'm allowed to stay up late. Ha! That's right, you will get to hear about my birthday all week. I know it's not until next Sunday, but I'm a firm believer of the week-long-birthday school of thought.

Okay, I am tired, though, and I'm going to purposely ignore the fact that the last load of towels just finished in the dryer (okay, so I lied about having finished all the laundry) and go to bed. I even get to sleep in a little bit tomorrow morning - I don't have to go straight to work because I have to go to the doctor's. Hooray for sick time!

It's a Saturday Night: do you know where your pajamas are?

Hooray for an entire Saturday spent in pajamas!

I did manage to study - I actually kept on track with my schedule, and even got in a lovely 2 1/2 hour nap! What ridiculousness! I felt so indulgent...it was wonderful.

And now I'm currently in the midst of obsessively watching U2's new video on You Tube - Window in the Skies. It's fucking AWESOME! If I wasn't still in my pajamas and it wasn't almost 10:oo at night, I'd go out and buy the single. Yes yes yes I know I could just get it on iTunes, but when it comes to matters of U2, I need to physically have it in my grubby little hands - it's just part of the magic. Sort of how I still like the process of dropping off film and going to get it in a few days. Not really convenient, but so much more magical!

So go now and do your duty as a human - go to You Tube and check out the video. Not only is it an awesome song, it's an awesome fucking video!

POWER! IT'S A WONDERFUL THING!

On Thursday night at about 7:00 pm we lost power. We didn't get power back until last night, roughly 72 hours after we lost it. Holy moly, is it ever nice to have heat and lights again! You don't realize how automatic it is to walk into a room and switch on the lights until you can't. We were able to take hot showers on Friday morning, but that was it...until last night. I think I washed my hair twice and face about 3 times. No, really. There is something so nice about a hot shower.

There are still lots and lots of people without power...I hope it comes back soon. The apartment building behind us is apparently on a different power grid as they didn't get power back until this morning. I would have been so pissed if I lived there! Because we live in an apartment & a generator is not really an option, we did keep the fireplace going (thank goodness we can burn wood!). We also played a lot of poker, blackjack, rummy, uno, and monopoly. By yesterday morning we were both starting to crack up a bit. We do have an emergency radio/flashlight/blah blah blah thing - it can be either battery-powered or hand-cranked powered, so we did have some Christmas music, which was nice. But still - "cabin fever" really can happen!

Yesterday we did go up North a little ways to where there was power restored just to be inside somewhere with heat. We walked around a mall, & I started having evil thoughts about everyone who did have power. Of course you could tell the people who didn't have power - the greasy hair and "I'm so over it" expressions - but the people who didn't have greasy hair were on my shit list. Not really, but it was to the point where Husband & I tried to get our hair cuts just to get a hair wash. SERIOUSLY.

We went to 2 movies yesterday: Borat and Apocalypto. Borat was hysterically funny. Seriously, go see it! Apocalypto was awesome - not at all funny, but excellent. It was such a great story. It's a little violent, but it doesn't feel gratuitous.

Since I work for a very large company, I get three paid days of Bereavement Leave per year. I'm taking that leave today, tomorrow, and Wednesday. The service was on Saturday, and in some ways it was nice to have a quiet, media-free weekend so I could take pause.

So what do I have planned for these few days? Oh, something very exciting - studying. That and getting all the Christmas presents sent out and Holiday cards written out and sent...oh, and packing since we're moving next week after Christmas. Sigh.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Holiday season. We had a tree up (fake, I would never tempt my cats with a real tree, yet)...but it didn't last long. It was only up for 2 days, and in that time it got taken down approximately 12 times. No, really. Apparently my cats hate Christmas. Little grinches. We decided it wasn't worth the fight this year when we're not even going to be home during Christmas weekend. If we were, I might have considered nailing it to the floor and/or tying it to the walls with fishing line.

Well, it's about time for me to go back to sleep for a spell before I get up and commence studying (*sob*). Have a jolly day.

Hooray for Snow Days!

What's better than a snow day when you're in elementary school? A snow day when you're an ADULT!!! Hooray! Although perhaps it's technically more of an ice day. The road I live on is blocked off because there's a hill that's a sheet of ice (hmmm, ice sledding, anyone?) and there are 2 Metro buses stuck at the top of the hill from last night! And speaking of last night, it took me 2 hours to get home - miserable.

So I get to stay home today! Hooray!

I hope all of you find something equally joyous today.

Hooray!

This morning I received some delightful news: the tech guy that was trying to extract stuff off my bad hard drive was successful! I am so thrilled! Of course now I have to procure somewhere in the vicinity of 20 CDs to burn this stuff to, but at least I haven't lost anything! Hot dog!

I hope you all have a great day, too!