My favorite TV show + organization = hilarity

I've officially decided that Modern Family is currently my favorite TV show. How do I know this? Every time Matt asks me what TV from the week we should watch first -- increasingly, over the weekend, when we finally have time -- I say, "Modern Family." I'm hooked. The show has ridiculous, likable characters, clever jokes and then a sweet-but-not-too-sappy conclusion to each episode.

This week, though, my head nearly exploded when I saw the opening scene of the show, which reveals Claire holding a bunch of Tupperware containers and lids, complaining that none of them go together.

When she asks how this is possible, Phil responds, "Built up containment, money issues, met a younger lid."

Claire then turns her attention to her 13-year-old daughter whom she suspects is keeping boy secrets from her. All the while, in the background, Phil is clearly getting ready to crack the next organization-related joke.

Holding a lid in one hand and a container in the other, Phil says with a smug expression, "He blew his lid when she tried to contain him."

I nearly died.

If only the Modern Family on this show would follow my Tupperware organizational tip, their containers and lids could co-exist in perfect harmony.

Girls' weekend in D.C. and a purchase

Let the cricket noises stop! I am back from my (very brief and unprecedented) blogging hiatus and ready to explain myself. On Thursday night Matt went to San Francisco on a boys' weekend to visit his friend Craig (he really likes this friend Craig, as our friends who've joined us at the beach for New Year's for the last two years know all too well). So, as Matt and several of his Northern Virginia buddies crossed the country, my friend Priya came into town and we had our own weekend of fun.

Priya had visited the D.C. area before, so she was happy to skip the usual touristy locales on the National Mall and visit some places she'd never explored. With perfect weather, we made the most of the outdoor offerings of Northern Virginia/D.C. at their finest -- high 70s, sunny and no humidity (we'll enjoy that last part for this ever-so-brief period before the serious stuff kicks in soon).

Here are some highlights:

Old Town Alexandria
Even if you don't care for historic sites, Old Town offers plenty for the modern tourist, including a pretty little waterfront and park as well as the Torpedo Factory -- an art center where artists-in-residence have studios open to the public displaying their creations, and amateur students like myself can take classes. I've taken three classes at the Torpedo Factory through its school, The Art League, which included a drawing class one summer during college, a pottery class I took with my friend Laura about six years ago, and a photography class I took the summer after we got married. Classes are more expensive than what you'd pay through Fairfax County Park Authority or other local organizations, but in my experience the Art League classes are taught by better-trained artists and therefore worth the investment.

After we walked around Old Town, we had an afternoon snack of Asian appetizers at a place that offered outdoor seating. We ate vegetable rolls in our sundresses, and it was delightful.

Jaleo tapas restaurant
I love tapas. Jaleo is one of the two best tapas restaurants in my rotation. A Jose Andres restaurant, Jaleo has three locations in the D.C. area: Crystal City, Bethesda and downtown near Chinatown (across the street from Hotel Monaco) where we dined. We had a shockingly short wait Saturday night of about five minutes, and then we were seated outside to enjoy our patatas bravas and sangria, among other delicious items. I'm on a tapas kick right now, anticipating our summer trip to Spain and Italy.

Eastern Market
Just south of the Capitol in D.C., Eastern Market is this awesome Washington institution. I love everything about farmers' markets and craft fairs, and Eastern Market takes both concepts and rolls them into one. The best part is that it's an event you can attend frequently, unlike other craft fairs that come and go. Let me clarify: when I say craft fair, I'm not talking about your run-of-the-mill-doily-and-wooden-bear-infested-junk-festival I remember from my childhood. This is a place to find beautiful jewelry, purses (by Elizabeth Designs, my favorite), homemade soaps, wooden cutting boards, and D.C.-inspired paintings and photography. I'd had my eye on the latter for the past year, and I finally decided to make this purchase:

In case you can't tell, this is a collection of four photos of the Jefferson Memorial as viewed from underneath the cherry blossom trees. It's classic D.C., and also the home of the American leader Matt refers to as "our boy" because he founded the University of Virginia, so this art holds some sentimental value too. It represents something I would love to create myself if I had better equipment and time to travel into the city at four perfect moments every year, but something tells me I won't be making it there in the snow. It's by an artist named Xiong Tan. I need to frame it and choose where to hang it among several spots in my house I've been itching to fill with art.

For now, though, I need to head to Michael's craft store before I pick Matt up at the airport. I know Matt won't want to go with me because it's his least favorite place on Earth. Girl time ends in T-minus two hours...

Recipes: Everyday Food and Lindsay

One of tonight's activities included grocery shopping that we did not accomplish on Monday (our typical grocery day) or Tuesday (because we were both dead to the world). We also watched not just one but two of my absolute favorite shows -- Lost and Glee! All I need is to watch Modern Family in the same night to make it the ultimate triumvirate.

Dreamy? (and mysterious!)

Dreamy?? (also, is it weird that I love Emma's clothes? Is it too librarian of me?)

Dreamy??? (also probably my favorite episode)

Tonight also involved a new recipe: Pad Thai from our latest edition of Everyday Food. Now, if you read my good friend Lindsay's blog, you'll notice that she made this last night. This was a fairly insane coincidence, seeing as it was on our menu for tonight before I read her post, and I got a chance to read about her experience before we tried this out ourselves. She forewarned us that the recipe would not be terribly spicy, so of course that meant my husband, he-who-loves-Native-Hot foods (a nickname he picked up on his trip to Thailand), had to kick things up a notch with our various hot sauces in our house.

Oh, and, tonight we used the scallions I planted (or perhaps it's more accurate to say replanted) in our garden last month. Somehow we managed to unintentionally cook food this month that did not require scallions until now, so we haven't brought scallions into our house for a while. 

So, while Matt cooked, I filed recipes from this month's Everyday Food in our recipe notebook. Although this was not my original Thursday night dinner plan, I did make the executive decision that we'll be having the fish taco recipe from this magazine, another dish my friend Lindsay tried out before me.

I could get used to this....Lindsay, perhaps the best cook among all my friends (though she and my friend Sam may tie for that title), can just tell me what to eat each week, and I can stay just one step behind.

Entertainment idea: Get Mortified

Part of being organized is planning fun activities for your free time, so let's take a break from cleaning and filing and ponder life's wonders...

A few months ago I read a Washington Post magazine article about the Get Mortified tour and I was immediately intrigued. The general idea is that some 20-30-40-somethings read from their childhood diaries and other writing they found buried in their parents' basements. The readings, of course, are mortifying but oddly therapeutic. I visited the Web site and learned that the latest installment of the Get Mortified tour would be heading to D.C. on February 10. So, I bought our tickets in advance at $10 a pop (plus a $1 service charge).

Then the snow postponed the show.

So it was rescheduled for last night.

Matt and I made it to Town nightclub right off U Street and across the parking lot from the 9:30 Club. We again made the mistake of driving (must learn to rely on public transportation!). The roads were horrible thanks to everyone being back on a normal schedule and the piles of snow blocking parking spaces and driving views, but we managed to still get there a few minutes early. It was a standing-room only crowd (not too many seats to begin with, so most of us stood anyway). Scheduled to start at 8, the show really started more like at 8:25, probably because the organizers were trying to make up for the horrible transportation situation, so I won't dock them any credit for that one. The whole event lasted a little more than an hour, and it was totally entertaining.

We heard from:

• An early-30s female who read from her summer camp diary.
• A mid-to-late-30s female who read from the travel diary her parents forced her to keep during her teenage family trip to Europe.
• An early-30s male who read letters written to him by his crazy first girlfriend.
• A late-30s male who shared his original art detailing his obsession with Barbara Streisand.
• A late-20s male who read the letter he wrote to his high school crush (but thankfully never gave her).
• A 40-year-old male who shared the poetry he wrote and read to friends and lovers at inappropriate times.

The audience, mostly composed of people in their late 20s and 30s, was really supportive and laughed at all the punchlines, and there were many. It's a nice reminder that everyone had major insecurity, dramatic thoughts (and actions), and generally bad writing skills when they were teenagers. Too bad the show is 21-and-over because this would be probably the best therapy for middle school kids. Great reminder that the cool kids weren't really that cool after all.

Too tired last night, I searched for my childhood diary this afternoon. Victory!

Funny thing about this diary cover: I was never allowed to take ballet classes as a child.

But I kept it locked as a child, and of course I no longer have the key. I was ready to cut the lock off, but turns out just some light pulling does the trick.

Even though I wrote in this diary sporadically for five years (from the ambitious ages of 6 to 11 and somewhat shockingly not as a teenager), I only left behind enough reading material to fill about 20 minutes.

Here are my favorite observations:

• My first diary entries contain the following dates in this order: January 14, 1989 [the day I broke my arm]; February 27, 1989 [the day the doctor removed my cast]; January 31, 1989 [the day I went to the Children's Museum, apparently with a broken arm]; September 7, 1987 [the day my sister Ashley was born]. This might explain why today as an adult my to-do lists always include items I have just completed, just so I can chronicle my progress.
• I kept track of every snow day and every day I stayed home sick from school from grades 1 through 6.
• I vowed to never forget the wonder that was the March 23, 1989 Belvedere Elementary School International Day. I have no idea what this was. Apparently my class was Sweden.
• I wrote about the first time my little sister successfully used the bathroom by herself (for the record, that day was May 11, 1989).
• May 30, 1989's entire entry: "Today I found out that this year is the worst year of my life." Little did I know...
• November 26, 1989: "And for when I grow up these are my friends..." Shout out to Amber for being the only person on the list who is still my friend. I'm not even Facebook friends with the others. Man, gosh!
• November 27, 1989: "Here is a poem by me: 'Children playing soccer/A group of girls talking/and wind blowing their hair out./ The laughter of the children is so happy.' This may help me when I am older." Yes, it will help me share a ridiculous entry on my blog.
• I definitely wrote several entries about organizing my room/my parents' house at the ages of 8 and 9. Awesome.
• Apparently I did not eat dinner on April 15, 1990, and as a child I could not appreciate the tax-day irony of that fact. I wrote, "These are tough times! Boy, are they!"
• The summer of 1990 I spent a few days at Ocean City. Here are my thoughts from that entry: "When we got [to the beach] this thing started with Saddam Huessin [sic]. See, he will no longer give us gas. We think there will be war. We are sending turps (millitary) [sic] there to Iraq. And besides that there might be an earthquake east of the Mississippi River on December 4." So worldly, so wise, so bad at spelling.
• To bring us full circle to the present, I extensively chronicled the 1992 winter Olympics. If you need stats, check my diary.

Dig through your basement, dust off your diary, and then, in the spirit of Get Mortified, share it with someone else. And then buy your tickets to the next Get Mortified show near you!

Tips 24 and 25: Movies and books

Bad news, ladies and gents: Today marks the start of National Public Radio's annual winter membership drive. This means it's time to change the station and consume other media this week. Time to focus on movies and books. Let's start with movies.

Tip 24: Use the Sunday paper to update your movie queue.

Here's how you can use the Sunday paper:

• Look at what's currently in theaters, and add the movies you're interested in to your queue. Yes, they won't be available for some time, but it's a nice surprise when they're ready.
• Look at the Best Buy circular (this one is all Matt's idea). See what is coming out this week on DVD. If there are movies you'd like to see that you haven't already added to your queue, add those there.
• Matt also reads Entertainment Weekly, and he'll update the queue based on his findings in there as well.

I have to explain this post by saying that Matt and I own two giant TVs, and we justified this purchase by deciding to rarely if ever go to the movies again. So, we broke that rule in December when we saw Avatar in 3D, but up until that point the last movie we had seen in the theater was Borat in 2006 (I guess we ended on a high note??). We're partial to our Blockbuster online account, mostly because we started our queue years ago, and the queue has been growing ever since. We used to take advantage of the option of having in-store returns and pick ups as well, but that was back when I was trying to get caught up on Lost and couldn't wait for the disc to arrive in the mail to satisfy my 12-hour TV marathons. Now, we're down to one rental at a time all through the mail, so we have to be picky about the queue.

Here are the movies we've most recently watched from the queue:

• The Hurt Locker -- we would both recommend this one for its intensity (with a girl-power nod to the female director).
• The Hangover -- funny, but not as funny as a movie we could keep watching over and over, like Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
• In the Loop -- witty political satire, ridiculous characters, and the resurrection of Anna Chlumsky of My Girl fame (but sadly no Thomas Jay).
• Star Trek -- I begrudgingly watched this one, but I actually really enjoyed it.
• Up -- hands down one of the best movies I've seen in a long time, and perhaps my favorite Pixar movie (at least tied with Wall-E).
• Away We Go -- sure to please the ladies who like Jim from The Office, or anyone who appreciates some dry humor

And, this ties in nicely with keeping track of books...

Tip 25: Make a spreadsheet of books you've read and books you want to read. Save that spreadsheet to your Google Docs.

In June 2007 I decided to start tracking my reading. I would read a book and then want to recommend it to a friend, but then I could never remember the title. I know there are plenty of Web sites that allow you to do this (and yes, I have the Facebook WeRead application) but I like a plain old spreadsheet. Much like the movie queue, I keep this updated when I hear about a new book on the radio, read a book review, or get a recommendation from a friend. I also do this so I can put books on reserve at the library rather than shell out big bucks for books, most of which I'll read only once. The bad news about my library's reservation system is that, unlike with Blockbuster, I can't reserve books in my account before they're in the library's system, so this does require more effort on my part in terms of visiting the library Web site more often than I'd like. (But the library is free, so I will accept it).

Here's how I've set up my books spreadsheet:

• Page 1 is titled Read It, and it's divided into Fiction and Nonfiction selections. I try to divide my time equally between both. I also keep track of authors.
• Page 2 is titled Want to Read, with the same fiction/nonfiction division and space for authors.
• I have a Page 3 titled People Who Have Borrowed Books. So yes, if you've "borrowed" a book from me, I know who you are, what book you borrowed and when you borrowed it. And while I assume I'll never see that book again, I like to know who I can blame for its loss. I'm still waiting for you to return my copy of Life of Pi. Grrrrr.

I like keeping this as a Google Doc because then I can access it anywhere and update it at any time. If you don't subscribe to a movie service such as Blockbuster or Netflix, a movie spreadsheet set up in a similar manner as this book spreadsheet would be a fun way to track your viewing, plan your future viewings and share suggestions with friends.

Here are some of my favorite books from my book spreadsheet:
Fiction:

• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao -- Junot Diaz. About a geek from the Dominican Republic. Award-winning and deserving.
• People of the Book -- Geraldine Brooks (actually, I would recommend anything she has written). A rare-book expert uncovers mysteries layered in an antique Jewish text.
• The Art of Racing in the Rain -- Garth Stein. A book told from a dog's perspective. Even though I love animals, I hate books about them, but this one surprised me and has stuck with me.
• Digging to America -- Anne Tyler. Two families adopt children at the same time, and their lives keep intersecting.
• Let the Great World Spin -- Colum McCann. A post-9/11 book primarily set in New York before 9/11 (actually, in 1974 when the World Trade Center was being completed).

Nonfiction:

• One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding -- Rebecca Mead. Great if you're like me and amazed by the ridiculous nature of the American wedding industry.
• A Year of Living Biblically -- A.J. Jacobs. The author conducts an experiment to take the Bible 100 percent literally for one year. Hilarity ensues.
• One Nation Under Dog -- Michael Schaffer. Just like our weddings are out of control, so is our spending on our dogs (and other pets), but we love them anyway.
• Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time -- Rob Sheffield. Don't read this too close to Valentine's Day. A music enthusiast suddenly loses his young wife. Heartbreaking but still pretty.
• Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman -- Jon Krakauer (I would also recommend any of his other books, especially Under the Banner of Heaven). This is another heart-breaker about the pro football player who enlisted and died fighting in Afghanistan and the military cover up that followed.