Pleasant Surprises

I have had a bit of a hectic week. So excuse the LATENESS of this post.
I've never been big on surprises. All too often, surprises consist of being embarassed, or your mettle being tested. Some definitions of surprise include:

• a : an attack made without warning
• b : a taking unawares

There's NOTHING pleasant about ANY of that! When I think of surprises, I think of that JERK Jokey Smurf offering you an exploding present. 

This past weekend, however, was filled with PLEASANT surprises.

Friday, I hung out with 2 of my girls M & J. We haven't been out together, just the three of us in a while. We went from spot to spot and had a jolly good time! M has been booed-up for a while, so we don't really hang out with her anymore, and it's not even a catty "girl" thing. It's a respect for her relationship. We're so mature lol. We went out to 3 lounges & suddenly decided to go to an actual club to hangout with one of our boys that was working there that night. When we got to the area where the club was, we saw two more of our boys working at a party nearby. They were surprised to see all three of us together AND out so late (it was around midnight). They got excited because they thought we were going to their spot, but we told them we were meeting someone elsewhere. when we got to our destination our boy walked us in the door, right by the lady at the door that was looking at us like we were crazy for coming to the club in chillwear... HA! We went in & spoke to more of our boys on duty that night. we 2-stepped a little, but mostly LAUGHED, as always. M started getting sleepy so we had to take her old behind back to her car! As we were walking back to the car, we passed by the other spot where more of our boys were working. The DJ (who we didn't know) saw us walking down the street & told us to come in. We walked up to the front of the spot & saw some of our people working the door. so we walked right in. we walked around and spoke to everyone we knew and made sure we greeted the dj. Then we left. We were told, by the guy on the mic that we need to stop doing cameos. WE found it hilarious, YOU may not. It was a GREAT night to be, what we call, established. Through our journeys in life in the Metro area, we have met some great people in high school, college and after that we have remained good friends with. It just so happens that many of them have made their way into the club/lounge scene and even though we don't party 4 days a week like we used to, we can still walk up in a spot and be greeted with a smile, a hug, a joke, and a drink!

Earlier that Friday, some guys that I met in Jamaica were supposed to be coming to town. I asked my homeboy who was coming and he named 3 guys from Jamaica and, I quote, "This other dude you don't know". I was thinking wow how many of these dudes ARE there? Earlier in the week, one of the guys that I had become really cool with informed me he wasn't coming with them because he had to work. but much to my surprise, the other dude I didn't know, was him! He surprised me! We had a good time Saturday... and I appreciate his friend being in on the ruse. Nice touch...

Sunday, I had made plans to go to the drive in with one of my boys from B'more. I asked him on a whim earlier in the week and really didn't expect him to WANT to go, let alone follow through. I was snoozing in my recliner after church on Sunday, and my text messgae alert went off. It was him asking me what time we were meeting. I drove up north to pick him up and we headed to the good old-fashioned drive in. I LOVED Inception, but I was surprised that Grown-Ups just was NOT funny to me!

Overall, once again, my weekend was made of AWESOME! I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had and with who. It's not often that people can surprise me with their actions. I often try NOT to have any expectations at all,(or, despite my new more positive attitude, LOW expectatoins),  in an effort to avoid the disappointment I was experiencing in too many people. But this weekend, I was pleasantly surprised everyday by how good people made good days AWESOME!

For What It's Worth

Last night, I found out that someone I was possibly interested in was still married, but had been separated for a few years. Never before had the subject come up and I feel like had I not brought it up, he may have remained close, but distant and chosen "some other time" to tell me.

This isn't the first time, this has happened to me. Everyone has been lied to by omission. But wrong is wrong and I'm worth much more than that. It seems as though I have gone from one extreme to the other in my dating life and now, it's time to find a HAPPY medium. The key word here is not HAPPY, but medium. Defined as: Something, such as an intermediate course of action, that occupies a position or represents a condition midway between extremes.

This goes for friends & potential lovers. I have been stabbed in the back, lied to the face, and generally mistreated by people because I am so understanding. As a Christian, it is my duty to be this way; but as a human being, I can only take so much. So, I must balance my soul's destination, with my self-preservation. So simple, but not easy... nothing simple ever is, though, right?

I'm trying to find the balance between self-worth that's so high I am all uppity & snooty (like I used to be).... or lower than it should be that I continue to make excuses for people that really have NO excuse.

I'm seeking balance and clarity. I have been blessed with so much, too much to allow some people to continue to NOT appreciate my worth. *bangs gavel* Court is dismissed!

New York State of Mind

A few weeks ago, I made the decision to hop a bus to NYC for Fourth of July weekend. I knew several people in the area and decided to just go for it. If you don't know, I rolls dolo from state to state! Day trips to Philly, weekends in NYC... I feel it, I do it! My original plans didn't end up working out, but what DID happen was nothing short of AWESOME!

Friday:

I finally got my EVO! I was so excited I took the dumbest picture ever with it. SO dumb, I won't share it. But I looked like I was veddy happy to be here! lol

VEDDY HAPPY! J was looking at me like was crazy because i wouldn't put it down the WHOLE RIDE to the ERRO concert.

Oh yeah, I went to the Eric Roberson concert at the Birchmere and had a BALL. I could not have asked for a better experience. Great food, great drinks, great seats, great venue! So the weekend was already off to an AMAZING start! New techie toy, my R&B boo & good food... all I do is win! Afterwards, I came home & made sure I had everything I needed for my trip to NYC in the morning. Because I did NOT want to be unprepared!!

Saturday:

I got up overly early like a little kid on the first day of school. I puttered around the 7-11. I drove to my office building to park & had MORE time to kill, so I puttered around the CVS. As I was walking to the bus, a nice caucasian cab driver drove BACK around the block to give me a ride! This is surprising to me because i didn't even know there WERE caucasian cab drivers in DC anymore. He gave me a ride all of 7 blocks AND helped me with my bag. I get to the line for the bus & I am the 4th person in line. My "brother" was supposed to be meeting me there, but it turns out he was hungover & passed out (dern West Indians!). I get on the bus & prop myself up in the front seat @ the top! It was a great ride & a great view & a great time for me to play around with my camera. I took this picture as we were riding up NY Ave.

AWESOME, RIGHT!?!? RIIIIGHT!

I downloaded The Roots new album via wi-fi on my sessy phone! and I rode up the road playing with the apps and snapping a few pics along the way:

Bmore

Delaware

Jersey

NYC, baby!!

I took the PATH train all by my lonesome to Jersey City. Hit a quick wardrobe change & me & the boiz headed into NYC. We went to brunch @ Acme. it was a very odd place this is the ceiling fan:

The Sunoco sign was embedded in the ceiling & the fans actually ROTATED. HILARIOUS! But the whimsy ended there, cuz the food was SERIOUS!

I would like to introduce my breakfast from left to right starting at the top: country fried steak, eggs over medium, fried potatoes, CHEESE GRITS! *faints at the memory* AMAZING FOOD! I took to the NY streets on my full tummy with my boy W. He took me to his hang outs around the city which included traipsing through Noho:

This little guy was hanging out at 14th Street station with some friends!(or was it 14th Ave)

Highland Park:

This park used to be abandoned railroad tracks! How cool... In DC they would've turned it into some sort of money making venture! *rolling my eyes at Fenty*

Everyone was staring thru some apparatus at this building, I didn't get the whole story, I just took a pic!

this guys heels were practically BLEEDING! (on the right)

W looking off into the distance. That white building is AMAZING up close!

I thought the architecture and layout was nice!

You can see the metal from the train tracks!

You could see down onto the street.

It was hotter than JANUARY in sub-saharan Africa (nerd joke) so we didn't walk very far. But when we descended back to the street I saw this:

I had to have my MOMENT! and then I moved on down the street or I SURELY would have lost my mind & my savings in there!

Then we swung on the swings inthe West Village & we went to Magnolia Bakery. I wasn't that impressed but here is the line:

That's W there in the back of the line.

From there we went to the waterfront by Chelsea Pier and enjoyed the shade & pastries. There was a nice view and plenty of people watching:

Then we headed home, I passed OUT! And was awakened at 10 PM to play (and lose at) Wii! Great first day!

Sunday:
We milled around the house and decided that S was going to take me shopping & SHOP WE DID! I spent STOOPID money in the accessories store. Unfortunately, I have been sworn to gay secrecy so I can't take anyone to the store... (Sorry Mimi & J). I finally went to Crumbs Bakery in the Garment District. I had the Cosmo Cupcake & S had the Good Guy:

Vanilla cake tinted pink filled with strawberry buttercream frosting and topped with lime cream cheese frosting edged in pink sugar.

There were some mannequins that different designers had on display along the street:

I also had the pleasure of going to the well-organized & awesome 4-level Forever 21 in Times Square. But not before I got some great pics of the street scene:

HEY, how'd that picture get in there!

Sunday night, we watched the fireworks from a parking lot in Jersey City. I LOVED the ones that looked like purple flowers & the smiley faces made me giggle everytime! Afterwards, I went on a hotdate... oooo mindaybizness!

Monday:

I chilled out extra hard & packed to go home. I hung out with my girl from Paterson who I haven't seen since '99! Took a nap & woke up to realize I had a 1 AM bus ticket, not an 11 PM like I told her. So I had to hang out at Penn Station for a while after discovering the 11 PM was sold out! I made some friends at the bar @ TGIFriday's- taught some redfaced drunk dudes the term "cheap in the face". Then I made a friend at the KFC next door who apparently felt bad that I only ordered a chicken leg & gave me a 3 piece and a biscuit instead- he missed the Chalupa meal I was waiting on lol... FREE CHICKEN FO ME! I chatted on the phone with some of my night owl friends & then headed out into the heat to wait on the bus. Once on the bus, I passed out. I woke up briefly when we stopped in Philly & Bmore, but my eyes literally SLAMMED shut shortly thereafter.

Tuesday:

Once back on DC swampland, I stole a cab from a guy that was too busy yammering to get in the cab himself. Headed to my office building to grab my car & went home to sleep like a brick for 3 hours before heading back in to work.

Final Thoughts:

I could not have imagined a better time in NY & NJ. I want to tell my girl T, I love her & I am proud of the great mommy she has become while still being the same crazy chick I adored in undergrad. To my hot date, thank you for being so HILARIOUS and an all-around gentleman; I look forward to hanging out again. And last but certainly not least, S & W, I love you guys so much! W, I want my blazer back! I'll be back SOOOOON!

AND

bad grammar, but the sentiment is the same!