July of Jenn?

I'm extending the June of Jenn into the first week of July to accommodate for the 4th of July holiday. To commemorate the last night of the official June of Jenn I accepted two invitations on Monday.

oops

Sorry about being so terrible about updating... I guess I've been busy living the June of Jenny ;) Actually, the truth is, I'm not the best at following the rules. On Friday at the 18th Street Lounge, I definitely didn't flirt with Whatshisname from Arlington who hadn't heard of the Hirschhorn, even though he's lived here 2 years (I know, I'm a snob when it comes to art); I didn't take a new friend up on her invitation for drinks with her friends on Saturday night (although I was fulfilling another drinks invitation elsewhere); and I regret deciding to stop calling a boy I now have a possibly major crush on.

That said, I had the quintessential June of Jenny weekend. Thursday: goodbye dinner in Dupont, finishing off the leaving friend's wine supply, walking home after missing the last train. Friday: a very hungover day at work, jazz in the sculpture garden, after hours at the Hirschhorn, the above-mentioned party at 18th street lounge, just making the last train. Saturday: sleeping till noon, afternoon at the National Gallery with Rita, shopping at Urban, dinner with my cousin chez moi et Will, beer with my cousin and Costa till too late. Sunday: brunch with new friends, an afternoon at the Corcoran (finally made it there! great art), an evening of shopping (getting a price adjustment at Banana Republic and then promptly re-spending it, and more, at H+M's sale).

So even though I missed an invitation, didn't flirt, and had some regrets, I had no trouble living it up which, after all, is what the June of Jenny is all about!

How to not turn down a social invitation

Leslie: baseball?
me: yes, please
Leslie: lets go
me: right now?
Leslie: i think its at 7 or 8
me: haha yeah, i'm down

June of Jenn Update

This weekend Jenn traveled across 6 states to join in the wedding celebration of her cousin Kim.

It all started many months ago when I didn’t turn down an invitation to be a bridesmaid. Unfortunately my cousin lives far away in Connecticut and I’m relatively immobile these days so I could have easily turned down the invitation for purely logistical reasons. But by the miracle of e-mail communication and many trips on Amtrak I was able to be part of the wedding.

The past (many) years I’ve tended to spend a lot of time with the guys. Guy friends, relative, coworkers, and roommates – all of whom are pretty great. Because of this, I really appreciate the female relationships I have. I’ve been lucky enough to have a cousin close to my age to spend time with on holidays and the many summer vacations we took together. It feels great to see someone like Kim happy, in love with her great husband, and looking beautiful in a wedding dress. I’m thankful I got to be a part of it.

You see the June of Jenn is not just about Jenn, it’s also about all of you – the important ones in Jenn’s life. Just too bad about none of the groomsmen being single…

June of Jenn Update

We've talked a lot about one aspect of the June of Jenn and that’s never turning down social invitations. It’s really as simple as it sounds and has led to the most memorable experiences this month.

But the silliest rule - flirt with everyone - has gotten me into some trouble. I'm striking up a conversation with you on the metro, in line at the supermarket, on the elevator, or at the bar if I find you to be the slightest bit attractive. It's led to some fleeting conversations and mostly friendly small talk with nice men.

There was some kind of influx of foreign nationals in DC bars last week and I gave out my number to two men. I still have this great idea to take up a foreign lover and we can both teach each other our native language and go on picnics and share our countries delicacies. Or more likely I just want a guy who doesn't speak English so I don't have to hear him blabber on and on about whatever nonsense you guys like to talk about.

First was Rob Russia. I call him that because he is from Russia. We met in a ball pit.

Then there was Christian from Bolivia. I told him he was pretty. He didn’t speak English AT ALL so I mostly had a conversation with his friend who helped translate. I haven’t answered his phone calls because I don’t know how that would even work. Hello? Hola? What?

There’s still plenty of time left in June. Here's to you (cute guy riding a bike I saw this morning).

A Serious Update from Jenn

The June of Jenn may seem like all fun and games. And in a lot of ways it is. Parties, drunken times, meeting people, trying new things. But the June of Jenn was started for a very important reason. It was May and I approaching my one year DC anniversary, one year after graduating college, one year into the a real job. I was in the process of ending yet another dysfunctional relationship and just falling into a general slump. I could have just wallowed in that slump and trudged along. But I chose to try something new. This lifestyle was something like what I lived by in college and I figured if I could adopt some kind of nuvo-undergrad attitude in my current situation, things would start looking up. Maybe this hasn’t really been a huge change in contrast to the other 11 months but it offered a new insight into what was turning into a boring adult lifestyle. Sometimes you just need a different perspective.

Things I’ve been stressing about lately – namely this job and some unreliable friends - almost prevented me from going to a concert I really wanted to attend last night. But invitations from two friends I haven’t seen in a while brought me out of the office and into DC9 to say hello to an old pal and his new band (and beard). Thanks for the music in my head, Kenny.

Weekend June of Jenn Update

This weekend brought about many opportunities. Most importantly I recently returned from Dewey Beach, DE. Basically I found this thing on Craigslist - someone was renting part of their house for the weekend. So my friend and I drove down to this random house to spend the weekend with random (fun) people, a keg full of beer, and the ocean only a few blocks away. It was ridiculous to say the least. I employed the 3 principles of the June of Jenn which I will explain now. These are very basic and open to interpretation but it is these 3 I have been trying to live by the the past 15 days.

1) NO REGRETS
2) Never turn town a social invitation
3) Flirt with everyone

Simple, sure. But trying to live by these 3 is a full-time job.