i'll head in some direction

simplybecause @ 2009-08-30T10:32:00

2009-08-30T17:34:19Z

Usually, I don't get terribly upset about the deaths of public figures, but I haven't been able to stop crying about Ted Kennedy.

just a few reasons I love my life

2009-05-26T03:39:19Z

- soaking up the sun with Becca in Hawaii in less than a month!
- moving in with Steve in just over two months
- very successful shopping for a very shiny object
- organizing a very successful (i.e. drunken) girls' night with some of my favorite ladies
- having time for friends again
- doing a job that I love
- being good at the job I love
- kicking two years of law school ass
- only having one more year of law school
- being done with finals for another seven months
- fighting Bank of America and winning
- an awesome Memorial Day weekend

simplybecause @ 2009-05-13T08:59:00

2009-05-13T16:04:20Z

I can't finish my Financial Institutions final. It's due at 3pm today and it's the only thing standing in between me and three glorious months of summer....and a trip to HAWAII. Ahhhh. Must. Finish.

simplybecause @ 2009-05-03T11:26:00

2009-05-03T18:30:58Z

I just realized that I am barely musically literate anymore. What a waste of eight years of piano lessons.

I WILL re-master the Pathétique Sonata...one of these days...when I have access to a piano.

finaaaaals

2009-04-29T02:56:19Z

I think every finals period is getting progressively more challenging, not because the actual material itself is becoming more brainbreaking (well, it is), but because I now know that I can do relatively well with minimal effort. I would also like to point out that my standard for "relatively well" had dropped drastically since undergrad.

Ms. Gonzalez and a troop of SC students wandered through Sullivan Hall today. Needless to say, I was surprised to see Ms. Gonzalez, especially in a wheel chair (don't worry, she just had an injured foot). She looks great and is as energetic as ever. Ana is in first grade. I feel old.

I think it might be more useful to create a flow chart for Business Entities, but I am so far (18 pages) into this outline that it seems foolish to stop. Although...if I'm going to be honest with myself...it's probably going to take another 20 pages.

Also, I ran into Fernanda today. She's moving to Ecuador after graduation. I think Steve and I may move into her condo. It is on the small side though. We'll see.

Hilma ordered the two bridesmaid dresses I picked out; I think the rest of the bridesmaids and I are rendezvousing in Bremerton to try them on. I hope they work. It's hard to find lettuce colored dresses that don't look like...well, bridesmaid dresses.

I also ran into a ton of SC people at Heather's birthday thing. That was pretty weird. God, I'm tired.

shameless bragging ahead

2009-04-11T16:40:37Z

Steve and I found an amazing condo! It's next to brand new (stainless steel appliances! new bath fixtures! WASHER AND DRYER!!!) and we're renting directly from the owner, who seems like a really chill guy. Not only is the condo in my favorite neighborhood in Seattle, we're also getting it for a song. Really. You would not believe how little we're going to be paying. Did I mention that the condo has a lovely little deck, on which I'm going to grow herbs and throw bbqs? And THE WINDOW SEAT??? We are going to miss Kevin, though. Sad. No more corralling Kevin into eating dinner and watching movies with us.

Out of the eight jobs for which I applied, I got five interviews. Out of the four interviews (I said no danke to the one in Boston), two have resulted in offers and I'm waiting to hear back from a third (I feel really good about the third). By lawyer standards, the jobs pay peanuts, but by normal job standards, they pay all right. I am grateful to be employed at all in this horrible economy.

It's nice to receive affirmation of my skills and qualifications from employers. Law school often makes me feel like an underachiever; on the bad days, it makes me feel like an utter failure. Objectively, I know that that's not true so it's gratifying for employers to compliment me on my work experience or writing. My grades may not be the greatest, but I have hustled to get internships, experience, and contacts. Looks like it's finally paying off.

to do

2009-03-23T21:53:22Z

School

Read last three assignments for Business Entities plus Disney cases
Read next assignment for Trusts & Estates, review formality statutes
Look for sample sales contracts on Westlaw; draft sales contract hypo for Intl Bus Trans
OUTLINE

Work

Review voter roll purge docs by Weds
Draft memo for de facto parentage amicus brief
Find CA docs for asylum case
Draft confidentiality agreement & service contract

Life

TAXES
Interviews tomorrow, next week (?), 4/9; decide about RDI
Return library books
Tanning; hot yoga with Meg tomorrow(?)
Return MBMJ necklace
Buy black flats, nude pumps

the good

2009-03-09T22:56:59Z

1. I interviewed for a cool summer job today. It's not my first choice out of the seven (!) I applied to last week; the pay is kind of pathetic and I feel ambivalent about returning to the non-profit sector. However, the work sounds interesting and they want me badly, which is always flattering.

2. Liz and Carrie both got engaged in the last week. I am SO excited for them and for their lovers and for bridesmaiding. I'm going to be such a pro (or alternatively, according to the old adage, never a bride).

3. I have travel on the brain. Major trips are out of the question for the rest of 2009 (except for a jaunt to the Bay area), but 2010 is going to be amazing. South America with Derek (and maybe Becca?): Machu Picchu, Buenos Aires, and Rio. Post-bar trip with Steve: the Balkan Coast, Greece, Macedonia, maybe some Aegean and/or Ionian islands, and Istanbul. AMAZING.

simplybecause @ 2009-01-16T16:31:00

2009-01-17T00:54:58Z

It never ceases to amaze me that the Indian place in the Columbia Tower is actually quite good. Not 'good for an office building food court' good, but legitimately good. It was fun to see Carrie and Decorno (though I guess I don't have to call her Decorno anymore since she outed her true identity). Carrie and I had a ridiculous time being giggly girls. As it turns out, we essentially had the same news to share with each other.

Weekend To-Do List:
- Parents/Kenny time
- Ikea trip
- TV and sparkly shopping with S
- Closet purging + prosecco with C
- Football with the boys and their girls (Me: "You know I don't really do football, right?" Jorge: "Whatever, you know you want to hang out with us." Rob: "Plus, if you come, Sarah will come so she can hang out with you!" Jorge: "Also, you feed us." Me: "HAH! The truth comes out!")
- Reading.
- Get pants hemmed and skirt taken in; dry-cleaning
- Planning for spring break. Jorge's condo in Cabo? That might be a little ambitious. Maybe Chelan?

Poladroid is fun!

2009-01-15T02:34:27Z

simplybecause @ 2008-12-29T15:07:00

2008-12-29T23:08:52Z

Zooey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard are engaged?

simplybecause @ 2008-10-29T21:46:00

2008-10-30T04:55:21Z

I just want to capture the absurdity of this moment: I am so busy at my internships that I don't have time to do my schoolwork. But hey, protecting the election, ensuring that all votes will be counted, pursuing legal rights for women, and researching 1983 and Title IX claims are much more important than learning, for example, that appellate courts review trail courts' evidentiary findings in summary judgment proceedings de novo.

Being a law student is awesome. Horrible, but awesome.

currently

2008-10-15T03:40:58Z

classes: 4
internships: 2
research assistant-ships: 2
jcrew-ship: 1
free time/social life: big fat ZERO

so tired.

simplybecause @ 2008-09-20T21:53:00

2008-09-21T04:54:15Z

I got my dream job.

simplybecause @ 2008-09-10T23:40:00

2008-09-11T06:41:13Z

such a weird day

simplybecause @ 2008-09-08T20:46:00

2008-09-09T03:50:28Z

To do for tonight:
- read 1298019238123 pages for Admin Law and Con Law
- finish writing externship journal entries that were due yesterday
- research for trial brief & email research log to Printer
- take up sleeves on suit jacket
- decide which suit to wear tomorrow
- PREPARE FOR OCI INTERVIEWS!!!!
- enjoy Gossip Girl

I know it's silly, but I'm really glad that Britney Spears sounded coherent and looked more like the I'm-a-Slave-4-U-Britney of yore than the head-shaving-hot-tranny-mess-Britney of recent memory. It feels, in a way, like the world is righting itself again.

simplybecause @ 2008-08-31T14:46:00

2008-08-31T21:50:22Z

"I wish I had boobs to catch my food." --Sean, co-worker at J.Crew. He is fabulous, by the way. I wish he would dress me every day of my life.

"Everyone hates Nazis! But do they hate them more than Scientologists?" --Television Without Pity, on Valkyrie, Tom Cruise's Hitler-assassination-attempt movie

In other news, I got my first OCI rejection email on Friday. Thanks for nothing, Foster Pepper.

I bought plants today, plants I plan on cultivating and not killing. Wish me luck.

I love my Jonathan Adler birds. And my orange bamboo candleholders.

And my Rilo Kiley print.

ch-ch-ch-changes

2008-08-29T02:13:57Z

Even though Obama wasn't my candidate, I have to admit that I am moved by this moment.

school.work.life.

2008-08-21T18:09:11Z

1. Summer internship at MFS, over. They also invited me back for summer 2009. While I appreciate the offer (and the vote of confidence in my legal abilities it entails), I really hope that I find a legal job for next summer that is more in line with my actual interests. Sidenote: incredibly, in my last hour of work at MFS, we got a phone call from the detention center saying that one of our removal clients would be released the next day. How cool is that??? I (well, Dan and I) got a client out of removal proceedings!

2. OCI prep, in full swing. I must write 16 personalized cover letters between now and next week, 6 of which are due Monday. That's totally manageable, right?

3. Northwest Women's Law Center internship starts Monday. I am so excited for this internship--
this group does such great work and I am so honored to be a part of it. Additionally, the attorneys I'll be working with have such amazing backgrounds; I hope to learn a lot from them.

4. Classes start Monday. Con Law, Admin Law, LWII, prepare to get your asses kicked.

5. New apartment, AWESOME. Finally figured out how to hang my framed art on the plaster-over-brick walls: carbon coated steel nails. As soon as my Rilo Kiley print and West Elm rug arrive, the apartment will be all but complete.

6. J.Crew, draining my bank account. Working there is fun, except when it's not. The last time I worked retail was the Paper Zone when I was a sophomore in high school; this retail redux experience has only reinforced my conviction that 97% of retail "lifers" are 1) hugely stupid and 2) really bitter about working in retail for their entire adult lives.

simplybecause @ 2008-08-18T08:49:00

2008-08-18T15:51:32Z

Email from Derek, reprinted in all its glory:

"How did the North Korean girl who couldn't stay in bounds on the women's vault beat the AMAZING LIFETIME-MOVIE-IN-THE-MAKING Russian 33-year-old who decided to play for Germany after they took her Leukemia-ridden son in and NURSED HIM BACK TO LIFE. She got silver ... then the fucking Chinese robot tumbler struck again and gave the judges gave the Chinese girl who FELL on her second vault a bronze over Alicia Sacramone, our sad sack gymnast who can't seem to do anything right and needed it more than DEAD IN THE EYES ORPHAN COMMIES. Fuck I'm spent and going to bed. Vault is stupid and Bella Karolyi agrees: "This rip-off is inadmissible! You can't rip out the heart of a young athlete! Double-heartache -- WHY? Why it has to be this way??"

"Bob Costas: "Um, I think that was rhetorical."

"I am so jingoistic tonight. 12 hours at a government facility will do that to anyone."

Daily reading

2008-08-14T02:00:12Z

1. New York Times
2. CNN.com
3. ApartmentTherapy
4. Design*Sponge
5. Decorno
6. Decor8
7. Slate
8. New York Magazine

simplybecause @ 2008-08-08T16:47:00

2008-08-08T23:48:37Z

John Edwards, you are a world class schmuck.

simplybecause @ 2008-08-07T14:36:00

2008-08-07T21:41:05Z

Bah humbug. I wish I had time to unpack and hang my pictures and deep clean my bathroom and buy groceries and most importantly, sleep.

simplybecause @ 2008-07-25T16:15:00

2008-07-25T23:17:11Z

SUCH a good day at work today. Take that, government!

simplybecause @ 2008-07-24T18:32:00

2008-07-25T01:42:29Z

1. This Professional Responsibility class is a waste of my time. Any old asshole can figure out that helping one's client break into said client's ex-wife's house and then microwaving said ex-wife's cat violates multiple Rules of Professional Conduct. Oh but wait...a good third of the people in this class lack a discernible moral compass. That's comforting.

2. I love this law firm so much...it's a shame that I have little interest in practicing immigration law as a career. Last Friday, my boss had us all over to his house for a delicious vegetarian bbq and croquet tournament. Delightful!

3. "I will never forget it for as long as I live. Unless I get Alzheimer's or something." --PR prof

4. I cannot overstate how excited I am to move to my adorable studio on the Hill. SO excited. SO SO excited.

5. Apparently my very pricey legal education is worth something after all. Thank you, SU Law, for teaching me the skills that enabled me to lay some serious jurisprudential smack down on [name redacted], District Counsel for the Executive Office of Immigration Review. Booyakasha.

6. Working at J.Crew is very bad news for my bank account.