Last night I drove with some friends down to Fredericksburg for the birthday party of Lil DC Diva’s boyfriend…a good time was had by all and the party was still kickin well into the wee hours of morning. There were a ton of people from college and also many other family members and friends.

I’m going to be brave and forgo the anonymity to satisfy the curiousity of some with some pictures – just note they were taken about 3 am and we all look a little rough. Sara was a little MIA at this point as well, so that is why she was not in this Kodak moment (we love you though!):

Me & Lil DC Diva

Me & one of my sorority sisters

And…just for kicks – another pic of just me from a random happy hour for all the lovers/haters out there:

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Kelly Ripa. What can’t she do? I mean, I don’t know how she has time. She is on with Regis in the morning. She stars in Faith & Hope on Friday nights. She was on All My Children. She has three kids and a gorgeous husband. Her body is bangin. She’s 35 and fabulous, and one can only hope to be as beautiful and successful as she is. She’s in a word…amazing.

I know that Lil DC Diva aspires to be like her (and I know she too will do amazing things!)…and I can see why.

So, here’s to you Kelly…you are a role model for women as an actress, a talkshow star, a wife, and a mother. Some girls really do have it all.

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So on Thursday I went out with my new roomie A to Whitlow’s. We randomly ran into two friends of mine from college. Background story – one of the guys used to date one of my sorority sisters. We all hung out last summer – me, the two of them, and his roommate. We kind of lost touch through the past few months when the guy and my friend broke up. But, we are on good terms.

Anyway…so I catch up with these two again, and we’re all hanging out. So, the guy who used to date my other friend thinks A is kind of cute. They exchange numbers, and he suggests we all hang out on Saturday. That’s cool. We decide maybe we’ll do something low key, like beer and movies at his place.

The question is, is it wise to hook up friends with other friends? I’ve done it before, and the couple dated for over a year – however they had a messy break up in the end. It’s hard when you are close with two people who start dating, sometimes you don’t get to see one or both of them as much – as they gain a partner, you lose a friend.

Assuming something more than friendly flirtation occurs…am I doing a good deed? Or just asking for drama?

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Maybe it’s just me, but I get the feeling that a lot of corporate America kind of snoozes through the summer. Especially in the DC area. With Congress in recess for the better part of the summer, it seems DC comes to a stop to let the tourists in and let the vacation time begin.

Perhaps it’s due to the influx of interns eager to do any kind of work, or because with people in and out on vacation, productivity just slows to a crawl. But, I for one find myself increasingly saying, “oh, I can do that tomorrow” and doing my best to avoid work altogether. I am much happier at the prospect of planning happy hours than I am with making phone calls.

I guess it’s hard to go the first 20 some odd years of your life having a summer vacation, to working year round. (Unless you are a teacher, who gets to enjoy the summers off but not so much enjoy the steady paycheck.) Especially in the U.S. where people are overworked (and as in my case, underpaid haha) and often don’t even take the small portion of vacation days allotted. Compared to many European countries, America is lacking in leisure time. In addition to that, thanks to crackberries, people are now even more tied to their jobs 24/7 and it makes it harder to really get away.

“Jobs can be greedy things, gobbling up all the time we give them. In a country where we have six weeks less time off per year than our Western European counterparts, nearly half (46 percent) of U.S. employees feel overworked, according to the Families and Work Institute. That overwork has serious implications for safety in the workplace, job performance, retention, and health care costs. Yet, a full 25 percent of U.S. employees don’t even take the vacation they’re entitled to because of job demands.”

So, maybe it’s OK to slow it down a bit when the sun hits, to take off early to play kickball, or to take the kids to the pool.

The old adage must ring true for work as well as for its orignial intent…”How could I possibly be expected to handle school on a day like this?”

Now stop reading this and get back to work!

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The victim of this vicious attack was a friend of one of my friends.

The guy took PCP to “celebrate his 21st birthday” and then he stabbed her in a drug induced rage.

Pray for the girl and her family and friends. And give thanks that someone cared enough to step in and help her.

We can all hope to be so lucky, or to be so brave.

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