Melyssa-with-a-Y

Another year, another Oscar /Birthday party! Le menu: Bloody Marys (for There Will be Blood , and Sweeney Todd ) Spicy bread-dipping sauce (also TWBB , it was part of the theme menu I found online) French bread ( Michael Clayton ) Beef and bean chili ( No Country ) Mac & cheese ( Juno ) I didn't have anything for Atonement . I was going to make sticky toffee pudding, but I did that last year for The Queen . I also bought "meat pies" (well, empanadas) for Sweeney Todd , but forgot to serve them. The party crowd was larger than last year (I know more people now!), including Rebeka, Marcia, Henry, Faith, Matthew, Paul, Atesha, Janie, Rachael and Andy. Good thing I went out and bought some extra folding chairs ! (they were on sale) Somehow, I managed to guess wisely on my Oscar ballot, and got the most correct answers! How did I beat Andy? I have no idea. He's seen everything. In fact, this is the first year in a while that I've seen more than one of the best

One of these days I'll have time to catch up on all the stuff I need to post. In the meantime, here's a picture of the beautiful flowers I received on (the day before) Valentine's day. They arrived a day early because the sender knew that I was leaving for Vegas on 2/14. (He's such a sweetie!) I've never been the-girl-who-got-the-flowers before -- in any office I've worked in (although I did have a visit from a singing Elvis once...) so it was kind of fun. :) And much to my surprise, when I came back to the office on Tuesday, the tulips were blooming beautifully and standing straight up out of the vase. Wow! More on Matt and the family trip to Vegas shortly. After Friday, when I can breathe again!

The Democratic contest could be called a "horse race", and it has major similarities to the race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral, 70 years ago. Will this race end the same way? Only time will tell. *Print of Seabiscuit and War Admiral from Terry Lindsey studio

Taken from Stick : You Can Only Type One Word Not as easy as you might think. 1. Where is your cell phone? Sofa 2. Your significant other? none 3. Your hair? ponytail-ish 4. Your mother? Tempe 5. Your father? DC 6. Your favorite thing? knitting 7. Your dream last night? Clooney! 8. Your favorite drink? G&T 9. Your dream/goal? Kid(s) 10. The room you’re in? Living 11. Your ex? Needy 12. Your fear? Loneliness 13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Married 14. Where were you last night? Movies 15. What you’re not? Bitchy 16. Muffins? corn 17. One of your wish list items? Italy 18. Where you grew up? DC 19. The last thing you did? dishes 20. What are you wearing? sweats 21. Your TV? Foodtv 22. Your pet? rock 23. Your computer? Old 24. Your life? Great! 25. Your mood? Great! 26. Missing someone? everyone 27 Your car? Clean 28. Something you’re not wearing? watch 29. Favorite Store? Target 30. Your summer? long 31. Like someone? Matt 32. Your favorite color? Red 33

Since apparently I can't be bothered to blog more than once a week any more, I thought I'd run through the various highs and lows of the past week, real quick-like. 1. Obama-mania! OK, so he didn't win California. (Really interesting take on that here .) But Superduper Tuesday did show that a lot of the country is interested in what he has to say. It's going to go down to the wire on this one, and surprisingly enough, the Dem vote in Texas might actually matter! :) 2. The Patriots didn't win! ...err, I mean, The GIANTS WON THE SUPERBOWL ! I've never been a huge Giants fan -- being a Skins and all -- but my "underdog-itis" (as Dani calls it) took over, and I had to root for little Eli and his guys. Hey, it's not my fault that Brady's pass rush couldn't protect him! Go Giants! My cousin even went to the victory parade in NYC. [Apparently the Vegas odds-makers were none too pleased with the result, though.] 3. Bill Clinton wised up and deci