Nestie GTG FTW (part 2)

I am a lucky, lucky girl, let me tell you. this month, I've had the pleasure of having TWO encounters with Internet strangers, and it has been awesome. I mentioned in this post of yore that I was planning on having a little get together with good friend and fellow Nestie, Tara, when she came to visit from Florida. fortunately, fellow DC'er Rebecca was able to join in on the fun as well! 

we decided on a girls night... one, because Sean was too busy drinking his life away during the Ravens loss to the Steelers, and two, because girls nights are more fun anyway. we met up at Jaleo on 7th Street in the city (Rebecca's recommendation... SO good) and started the evening off with a pitcher of sangria. 

and let me just inform you that this beverage was, hands down, the best sangria I've ever tasted in my life.

pardon the quality, it was taken on my cell phone.

before we knew it, that pitcher turned into 4 (yes, four) and we were talking over each other in conversation... about books, husbands (and how stupid they are sometimes), pets, our jobs, city living, etc. we tried hard to convince Tara that a move up north would be exceedingly beneficial for her, but something about the 40 degree weather was giving her enough reason to decline. 

ring shot, courtesy of Tara (clockwise from left: Rebecca, myself, and Tara)

we ate a multitude of different foods... from miniature sweet shrimp, to salmon, to roasted potatoes, to asparagus, to scallops with a butternut squash puree, to hazelnut cake for dessert. it was the first time I'd ever eaten at a Tapas style restaurant. 

I was a little nervous at first, being a picky and somewhat non-adventurous eater, but the food was absolutely wonderful and our waitress was amazing as well. she made sure to keep me updated on the Ravens/Steelers score so that I could somehow gauge my husbands' drunk factor in my head. 

photo courtesy of Tara  (clockwise from left: Rebecca, myself, and Tara)

all in all, I'd say my second ever Nestie GTG was a huge success, and I can't wait for more. in fact, I'm even interested in bringing Sean to this restaurant to try out more items on the menu. I'm not sure if he'd agree to it after seeing our bill. 

like I said, that sangria was fucking delicious. 

Happy Thursday!

Nestie GTG FTW

remember back when I posted that blog about all the fun stuff that was coming up during and after the holiday season? and remember how I was mucho excited about my very first Nestie GTG with Krystyna, who was visiting the DC/VA area to be with family during the holidays?

WELL, dear readers, you will be happy to know that my first get together with an internet stranger went amazingly well. it went about as awesome as possible... the only thing that would have made it better is if we could have stayed out longer. unfortunately, because we took the Metro in, we had to be on the train by midnight. 

we met for dinner at Gordon Biersch downtown and enjoyed a delicious meal, tasty beer, and each others' company. we talked about everything from books we've read to TV shows and school and where we've lived. I was a little nervous that it would be awkward, but it was far from it. Sean & Krystyna's husband, Andrew, talked about sports the whole time... mainly college football. I was relieved that they had something in common and had plenty to discuss. 

the obligatory ring shot - Krystyna on the left, mine on the right

dinner @ Gordon Biersch

drinks @ Clyde's

needless to say, I'm awaiting the day that Krystyna & Andrew visit the area again and can't wait for our next chance to hang out! 

also, neither of us brought our cameras, so all these pictures were taken with Sean's cell phone. please excuse the quality and the massive red eye. and if you know Sean in real life, tell him to stop bragging about his stupid 8 megapixel camera on his Droid. he thinks he's cool and frankly, it's getting out of hand.

booshit, booshit, booshit!

for the record, I'd like to state that Forgetting Sarah Marshall is one of my favorite movies ever... and a lot of that reasoning goes to the fact that we actually stayed at Turtle Bay during a portion of our honeymoon.

if you're not wearing green today, you're going to burn in the fiery pits of Irish hell, which will inevitably be overrun by potatoes. just sayin. St. Patrick's Day used to be one of my favorite holidays growing up - I loved getting all decked out in green and celebrating my Irish heritage with a healthy dose of green eggs and ham. now the green eggs are substituted with green beer, but I'm still celebrating none the less.

I have a couple more substantial posts in the works, but I haven't had the time to upload pictures and actually fully write them out. in order to avoid going a couple days without posting (again), I figured I'd post one of those little "interesting fact" tidbit posts that are going around the blogosphere as of late - compliments of the lovely Erinn (Go Bragh!) of Strawberry Swing and other Things.

so here we go - a bunch of random threes of MandeeFoFandee:

Three names I go by:
1. Mandee
2. Mandee Ree
3. MandeeFoFandee (compliments of my Nesties)


Three jobs I have held:
1. Hostess @ Chili's (this was my very first job, and I was fired due to my "bad attitude")
2. Sales Associate at various retail stores
3. Construction Estimator

Three places I have lived:
1. Lothian, Maryland
2. Davidsonville, Maryland
3. Shady Side, Maryland


Three favorite drinks:
1. Dr. Pepper
2. Pineapple & Malibu
3. Relax Riesling


Three TV shows I watch:
1. Bad Girls Club (I haven't watched the reunion yet, but it's on my DVR waiting for me!)
2. The Office
3. Criminal Minds


Three places I have been:
1. St. Thomas
2. Mexico
3. Hawaii


Three places I would like to visit:
1. Greece
2. Ireland
3. Australia


Three people who text me regularly:
1. Sean
2. Laura
3. Renee


Three favorite old TV shows:
1. Boy Meets World
2. 90210 (the original, obviously)
3. Fraggle Rock


Three favorite dishes:
1. Grilled salmon with a loaded baked potato and sugar snap peas with almonds (from the Original Steakhouse)
2. Grilled cheese
3. Cheesecake


Three makeup/beauty products I cannot live without:
1. Primer Potion by Urban Decay
2. BadGal mascara by Benefit
3. Oso Shimmer Smoothing Solution by Cibu


Three things I'm looking forward to:
1. warmer weather
2. getting our tax refund and working on the house
3. Maryland blue crabs



Happy St. Patty's Day, everyone!

PS - I'm definitely the only one in my office wearing green today. WIN.

I haz teh header picture! See? Up there! ^

Thanks to the ever-so-amazing Andrea, I have an awesome and crazy cute header now. I absolutely adore it. And I get to look at my little Bear Claw face all day long now, which is always spectacular. So... thank YOU times a million, Andrea! If you're interested in seeing what hard work looks like, pop on over to her place (here) to check out the renovations her and her husband have been doing all by themselves. Crazy folks, I tell ya.

Now. I know I said I wasn't going to tell Mr. MandeeFoFandee (also known as S) about the blog, but I was so excited, I couldn't resist. In fact, I spilled the beans the minute I walked into my house on Tuesday after work. Our conversation went a little like this:

Me: Hey, I'm home. (and also arriving tres late, since I was busy at work... writing my first blog entry and all)
S: Hey, it's about time. How was your day?
Me: It was awesome, wanna know why?
S: Sure.
Me: I started a blog.
S: Oh jesus.
Me: If you laugh, you will NEVER read it. EVAR.

- insert the hysterical laughing of Mr. MandeeFoFandee here -

Jerk. Even though he's a total asshat, and still makes fun of me, I let him read it last night. He now seems to be pretty supportive, since I'm fucking hilarious in writing, apparently. Now I can threaten him with "if you do ______, I'm going to blog about the time you ________." Pretty genius, if I say so myself. It's like having the super star of blackmail outlets. Take that, husband.

__________________________________________________________________________________

In other news, I've been searching the D&R (Decorating & Renovating) message board over on The Nest for inspiring home blogs. I'm pretty sure I found two (scratch that... three) of the best home decor blogs I've ever come across, and I thought I'd share them for anyone else looking for a little motivation to get their homes in tip top shape.

1. Decorating Obsessed - Ashley is a graphic designer, and therefore has a natural "eye" for all things design. I love her style - her shades of violet modern-glam Hollywood living room & dining room are absolutely to die for. She also has some handy organization tips for those of us who seem to be more... uh... cluttered.

2. sunshine and wine - Suzanne is a 20 something living in Kansas City. She is total DIY-er when it comes to home decor, and it's really refreshing to see someone create such beautiful pieces and NOT spending a fortune doing it. I have a feeling I'll be stealing some of her techniques and ideas for myself! andplusalso, her dogs are adorable. just sayin.

3. Young House Love - I know I'm super late to this party, since they've been showcased in magazines and TV and shit, but I'm immediately obsessed. Just thought I'd share that. Oh, and once again, this great find is also thanks to Andrea, who obviously does not want me to get any work done. ever.

That's all I got for now. It's been a hectic and busy day here at work, and this is the first chance I've had to sit down and relax. In fact, I haven't even eaten lunch yet. I should probably get on that.

If you care to share, tell me about your favorite blogs!

First Entry, Fo Fentry.

Hi! I'm Mandee (FoFandee). I'm totally new to the blogging world, but I feel like I have a lot to say, so why not say it to the whole wide Interwebz? I'm still working on making my space funky and personal and offensive, so bare with me (or Bear with me, whichever you choose).

Some interesting things (or not so much) about me:
I married my soul mate (awww, mush) on August 8, 2009. Here's a picture of us being all cute and shit at our wedding.




He's pretty cool, I guess. We had a kickass wedding and and even more fabulous honeymoon in Hawaii. If I were smart, like my friend Erinn, I would have documented our trip, but instead, I got drunk at the pool everyday and ate too much. And had a little sex in between. Oh yeah, I cage dived (dove? what tense would that be?) with sharks too.

I'd also like to note here that the husband laughs at my ideas for a blog, and therefore will NOT be told about my little space here on the Web... unless he cooks me a really awesome meal... because then it might just slip out (that's what she said) due to taste bud euphoria.

I've lived in Maryland my entire life, and I love it here. So much, that I've dedicated my left arm to a Maryland tribute sleeve. Oh yeah, I guess I should mention that I'm one of those crazy REBELS who has tattoos that show in public. I grew up in a family with two younger brothers, and acquired two more brothers after my parents split up and hooked up with other people. My mom died when I was 16. It's been 7 years, and it still feels like it happened yesterday.

I didn't go to college. Let me rephrase that - I went to community college for entirely too long, pursuing an interior design degree. All of a sudden, adulthood smacked me in the face and I realized I had to either finish the classes required to get my associate's degree (which, let's face it, won't get you a job anywhere these days), or get a big girl job and join the real world. I chose the latter. Now I've been at the same big girl job for 5 years, and I love it, even if I don't make a million dollar salary.

Blah blah blah. There's a good chunk of my life story for you. Since buying our first home together, I've become ridiculously addicted to everything that is home decor. Pier 1 Imports, Pottery Barn, Ikea, Home Goods, Bed Bath & Beyond = 5 stores I spend entirely too much money in. I'll frequently be blogging about our home, what I've done to it, and my great deal finds on home decor.

So, you're probably wondering why I spelled "Bare" wrong in the title, huh? That's because you're smart, and you catch onto things quickly. You probably correct everyone's spelling on their Facebook statuses, don't you? Don't worry, I'm guilty of it, too.

Anywhoozits - I'm a cat lady. I wouldn't necessarily call myself crazy (I can't guarantee that my husband would say the same), but I am a cat lady nonetheless. I have four cats: Lily, Pheobe, Mama Cat (also known as Pearl), and Bear. I guarantee you will see countless photos of them throughout my blog-venture. Here's a picture of all them on our bed - from left to right - Pheobe, Lily, Mama Cat, and Bear.



See, Bear was a special case. We rescued him when he was two weeks old. We had to bottle feed him and teach him how to poo (details in a later post, I promise), and we still noticed he was a little... off. Turns out, he had some kind of weird imbalance in his equilibrium, and therefore kept his head tilted to the left and walked in circles. It was great entertainment, trust me, but we wanted him to live a normal kitty life, where he could play and run and NOT run into walls and step in his food bowl. So, long story short, my amazing vet came up with some insane concoction of medicine for little Bear, and day by day, he got better. Now, he's still a little funny in that he walks like a snake (weaving left and right after attempting to walk straight), but he's learned to live with his disability. And damnit, he is the most lovable freaking cat I've ever encountered.

So there - that's the story of Bear, and the name for my blog (courtesy of my favorite non-guidette from Jersey, Jess).

Now. I promise that my blogs won't ever be this long winded EVER again. I just feel like I had a lot to catch you up on, yaknowwhatimean? So, now that we're friends and all... or followers? or blog buddies? (I don't know the politically correct terms for this place)... tell me... how did you get the name for your blog?