Hallelujah!

Finally sat down to do taxes - for some reason I was just in the zone tonight and had to knock it out. TurboTax makes it a breeze, especially when you can free file through the IRS (why didn't I figure that out sooner?).

So I'm entering my W-2s (all three of them), and there's that neat box in the left hand corner that was happily green, showing my refund. As I'm doing the last W-2 I watch my refund spiral down from $600ish to me owing $54. What?! I was pissed. About to have a freak out, since Crate and Barrel stopped taking out federal taxes when I switched to part time - was it gonna burn me that badly? Thank goodness the two deductions I can claim (maybe I should get some dependents next year?) put me back up into the few hundred dollar refund range. Whew. There's one good thing about paying off student loans.

So now comes the question - do I be responsible and put that money to debt, or do I use it in NYC in a few weekends? Eh? Eh?

American Tourister

Job searches suck. I'm glad I'm not going through that anymore! My friend JH, a recently returned Peace Corps volunteer, come down to DC and crashed at my place for a couple days, just to be closer to two job fairs. Gotta print your resume out, get the right paper, type all those damn cover letters, wear a suit, fake smile and ask all sorts of questions, come up with interesting things to say. Blech. Buena suerte, JH! Guess I'll be doing that after grad school someday though Eh :/

JH and I met up with another college friend and his Italian wife on Friday night in Chinatown, aiming to get into the bowling alley, which is ALWAYS busy. Some stupid private event - we didn't even have a shot. We decided to take a little stroll and find a place for dessert. Call us stuck-up Europeans (or wannabes, since two of us are actually Euro) , but nothing in the surrounding area sounded good. All the ridiculously overrated bars trying to be the hippest spot of the night by only letting in the very best-dressed, or the dumb chain restaurants like Ruby Tuesday's that I typically abhor. Where are the quaint cafes with coffee and pastries? Oh wait, we're not in Europe. So we wandered off into the freezing night, stupidly, since everything downtown closes at 10pm. With time running out and our fingers almost frozen off, where did we end up?

The worst place possible. The place you can't go when you actually live in the city.

Yep. Hard Rock Cafe.

We almost pretended to be tourists, not locals. So sad. And our portion sizes in America are dumbfoundingly HUGE. I wanted a brownie sundae - couldn't get anyone to share one with me, as they opted for cheesecake. I'll just order one, I thought, how bad could it be? Turns out an entire kindergarten class could share one of those things! Awful. Awful. Awful. I mean, it tasted good, the 5% I could shovel in. But wow....

Check that One Off the List!

I've had a deep love for the 930 club ever since I moved to Washington, almost 7 years ago. I remember my first show there (Fleming and John, Train & Ben Folds Five), and I've been to countless shows since. I was so grateful at that point in life to get out of Podunk, Middle America, and get to a place where I could actually see a band that wasn't countrified. Not too many of my favorites made tour stops at the Leflore county fair.....

PE and I braved the mostly high school crowd on Thursday night to see the Damnwells (so-so), Cary Brothers (good, but mellow), and the Fray (lots of pop fun). Every girl there was decked out in Uggs, jeans and tiny shirt, grabbing onto all the guys in their polo shirts underneath a vintage tee and blazer. The way they were fake smiling and snapping photos, I thought it was the first night of Spring Break in Cancun. BFFs forever! We finally found a spot that was mostly teen and camera-free, thank goodness.

Just after the Fray went on, I was standing directly in line with the balcony that overlooks the stage. I saw a couple men up there in suits, very overdressed for the occasion, but hey, this is Washington. Just behind them I saw about 1/3 of a girl's face that happened to look very familiar. Could it be? No....but yes! She's from Denver, the band was from Denver; indeed it was the fantastic Charity Sunshine! There, up in the balcony, the place I've longed to stand for almost 7 long years!

I quickly sent her a text message, convinced that she wouldn't even notice it til the next day. Within seconds of hitting the send button, I noticed her jumping around the balcony, looking over for me. I hadn't seen the girl in months, but there she was. Needless to say, I made it to the balcony, fulfilling a long-time dream.

I can't believe it took me this long to get up there; I did work for a radio station at one point, had friends who worked for radio stations and record labels, and I've even known some bands passing through. I've gotten to do all sorts of fun backstage stuff before at the 930 club, except for stand on that balcony. Finally!

I'm so ridiculous.