ummm... i moved

After all the crazy spam I've been getting lately i decided to move my blog.

You can now find me here http://fixitwithwine.wordpress.com/

Hope to see you there!



P.S. Don't forget to change your Google Reader settings.

What Gives?

For the last month I have been going to the gym regularly 2-3 times per week and trying my best to eat right and small portions and taking alli.

I lost the 3 lb’s I had gained over what I usually weigh and now I’m stuck. The scale is the same every morning.

I’m totally frustrated now.

I only want to lose 10lb’s in the next 4 months. I think it’s a reasonable goal. But nothing seems to be working.

I know that muscle weighs more than fat so that could be the case and I know it’s really about how I feel, and I have definitely been feeling better, but at some point I want to be able to loose the weight and I want to know that when that time comes it’s not going to be insanely difficult.

I blame some of the weight on my birth control, but that’s not something I plan to stop any time soon.

And I’m not sure that I can handle the no carbs thing.

So anyone have any good ideas?

A wedding and a funeral?

The other day I was in the car with my mom on the way to do some shopping and she said “what if we have to cancel the wedding?”

i'm thinking is she kidding? and then she says...

“What if we have to cancel the wedding because your grandfather dies?”

First of all my grandfather has been in the hospital because of surgery and physical therapy and a bit of dementia but currently it’s not serious.

Because of this I am already planning on not having my grandparents at the wedding. It makes me terribly sad but there is nothing I can do to fix it.

Second of all if he dies on the same weekend as the wedding I think that sad as it may be the show must go on. I could get wedding insurance but if it’s that weekend half the people will already have nonrefundable tickets to fly into town and hotel rooms reserved and there is no insurance I know of that will cover that. If people have to go through all that trouble will they come when we reschedule? I’m thinking not. and on top of all that i don't think he would want me to cancel.

So what do I do? Do I get wedding insurance? What if he dies the weekend before? Why does she think this is even a possibility?

200!

My last post was my 200th for this blog. very exciting.

I am still receiving Japanese spam comments so for now the comment moderation will remain.

I'm starting to think that my blog needs a purpose or i should stop blogging. but i have no idea what i would focus on. what do you all think?

updates and stuff.

So the paella turned out ok. My mom was too lazy to go get the chorizo so it was lacking a bit in flavor. also i was not as happy with the arborio as i was with the La Bomba rice from La Tienda.

lunch yesterday was fun and worth the calories, but dinner was a bit awkward.  we were a table for 6 at the melting pot we had two burners. the waiter put beer in one pot and wine in the other for cheddar and swiss cheeses. but when he put in the cheese he put the swiss with the beer and the cheddar with the wine. i told him nicely that he had made a mistake and he insisted he had not. it took several times to convince him to re-do it. after that my mom was upset because he was very slow. we were there for 3 and a half hours. And on top of that my cousin was sick and did not want to eat.

also between eating out, decorating my cube (pictures soon), and buying gifts for people, i have spent WAY too much  money in the last two weeks. so now i need to try my best to not buy anything for a few more weeks. wish me luck, i'm going to need it.

ACK!

I have been very good the last 3 weeks and finally lost the 3lb’s I had gained and today I’m going to ruin it all.


I promised a few co-workers I would take them to The Counter Burger for lunch.

It’s a build your own burger place and I have decided on the following

A beef burger 1/3lb (I know it’s higher in calories than their turkey, chicken, and veggie burger but I need the real thing) 450 calories

Horseradish cheddar – 80 calories (less than most of their other cheese options)

Red onions, pickles, mixed greens. All are 0 calories!

Ginger soy glaze – 45 calories (not bad at all, and I won’t use all of it)

And an English muffin for a bun. 190 calories. It’s fewer calories than the white and wheat buns and I will probably take off the top half anyway.

That’s 765 calories for lunch and does not include the fries.  :(

I had figured I would be bad at lunch and then go to the gym and eat a light dinner and all would be ok and then my mom asked if we could take my aunt and cousins to dinner at the melting pot for my cousin’s birthday. CRAP.

The average 2 person meal at the melting pot is 1400 calories.

So I plan to take the salad home for lunch tomorrow, and eat more veggies than meat.

But even with all me pre-planning I’m going to be way over my allotment for today.

Sad.

And I had a mini bagel for breakfast at about 200 calories when you add the cream cheese.

That’s going to put me right around 1600 calories for the day. Not horrendous, but not great.

Tomorrow it’s back to the gym with a vengeance.

Paella it's what's for dinner

On our way to Virginia Beach a few weeks back we stopped at La Tienda.

We bought wine, cheese, chorizo, paella rice, a clay paella pan and they gave us this recipe for paella.

At the beach we went to the fish monger and bought fresh clams, shrimp and some lobster we got the rest of the stuff at Farm Fresh.

It came out really well.

A few observations…

To keep cost down switch out the lobster with some kind of white fish that won’t flake too easily.

Instead of whole chickens just cube some boneless skinless thighs.

Of you can’t find La Bomba rice just use Italian Arborio

Use clams or mussels but both are a bit much.

Use more saffron

Don’t bother with both sizes of shrimp, one size makes life easier.

Tonight is our second attempt at paella, this time with some of these modifications. YUM!

Comments

I have had to turn on comment moderation because I have been getting odd spam comments with Japanese like characters and links.

I apologize. If the weird spam stops I will turn it off.

Let there be light!

Yesterday, after a year and a half of living with no real light source in our master bedroom, we took out the old ceiling fan and replaced it with this one.

I cannot tell you how happy I am that I can now see my things at night and don’t have to stumble to the other side of the room to turn the bed side lamp on.

It really is the little things in life.

Now if only I was tall enough to reach the cords. Damn vaulted ceiling. I need Russ to install the extenders.

You Can't go wrongo with Wrongo Dongo.

Wrong Dongo is my new favorite cheap wine. last weekend we bought and drank three bottles of it and today we bought two more.

I found it for $7.99 at World Market. It's a Monastrell from Jumilla, Spain.

If you want to try something a little different from Spain try this Grenache from Calatayud Spain. The bottle is pretty and my dad said he liked it a bit better than the Wrongo Dongo. I found it for $9.00.

One Line a Day

EmpressKate and I bought 2 of these yesterday and i'm super excited.

every page has the day of the year at the top, like "January 1" and then underneath that it has 5 lines that all start with 20__ and you fill in the year. so when it's finished that page with have what you did on that date five years in a row.

 I was thinking how cool this would be to give to new mom's so they could record the first 5 years of their child's life and guess what? they have one for that too!

I did so much today i'm not sure how to fit it all in one line. i have always tried to journal and i never stick to it but this i think i can do.

wish me luck.

Pretending

On Saturday I did something I never thought I would do again, I pretended to be Catholic.


In order to do the reading at Ryan’s funeral mass I had to be Catholic, and in order not to raise suspicions I said all the prayers, sang the songs, and took communion.

It’s nothing new for me. I was raised catholic. I received the sacraments of baptism, reconciliation, communion, and confirmation and for a period I went to catholic school.
Sometime around the age of 10 I decided it was not for me and for years I pretended to still be Catholic.
When I finally told my family I was met with resistance, anger, and sadness. But it is a decision I have never regretted.
The weirdest thing was seeing all the other people I know to be pagan do the exact same thing. It’s nice to know I’m not alone.

On Death

In the last few days I have had a lot of time to contemplate death, and boy am I still terrified.

It’s the kind of thing that I can be going about my day and then I will feel so overwhelmed by the idea of death that it stops me in my tracks.

Some days I feel at peace with the idea but most often I am paralyzed with fear.

Although I consider myself spiritual and have always believed in reincarnation there is a fear in my rational mind that says what if it just ends.

And then I try to contemplate nothingness and my brain cannot comprehend it.

Sometimes I get to thinking that at least through the children I may one day have I can live on through them, and then I wonder if my children will be just as scared as I am of death and should I even have them at all sparring them the dread.

I am amazed by people who have faith and can with all certainty tell me they believe in an afterlife, but I am not so sure.

And if this is all there is maybe I should do more with the time I have.

RIP Ryan "Bug"

September 25, 2010 - May 14, 2010

In September a close friend of mine gave birth to sweet Ryan. Sadly Ryan was born with congenital myotonic muscular dystrophy and PVL and on Friday after eight months of suffering he passed away. I was blessed enough to have met Ryan when he was just a day old in the NICU and last week i was able to say goodbye knowing that he was not long for this world.

On Saturday, those of us that loved him most will celebrate his short life as we lay him to rest. My thoughts are with his parents who are two of the strongest people i know. Their strength is awe inspiring. I wish them peace in knowing that Ryan is now free from pain.

We miss you already! 

I've Been Busy

Sorry for the hiatus. I’ve been busy.

I worked a highland games in North Carolina a few weeks back and had a great time but was totally exhausted when I got back. I’m not sure how I ever had the energy to work the renaissance festival, go to school, and work 3 other jobs.

We did our engagement shoot a few weeks ago and I will post pictures at Domestic Empress Weddings soon.

The band played their final show on Friday at Bangkok blues and it was awesome!

They tried an encore on Saturday in the backyard and the police came twice and shut us down the second time. When I looked it up today the law says that a band cannot cause noise during the hours of 11pm – 7am (exactly what I explained to the second officer who came, he told me that that was not true, what a jerk)

My annual meeting at work is coming up and I have been insanely busy. I was so frustrated with the hotel we are working with that a few weeks ago I cried at work. For two weeks they sent me rooming lists with problems. I have over 200 sleeping rooms that I am in charge of and every time I sent them changes they either did not make them or made them incorrectly and then would resend me the list like nothing was wrong.

So I think posts will be sparse for a few weeks. But I’m still around, I swear.

A wonderful end to the weekend

Last night the guys decided that band practice would be outside. They spent half the afternoon bringing all the equipment outside. When the music started the neighbors came out to listen. The backyard wall full of neighbors sitting in lawn chairs and watching their kids play. Surrounding neighbors watched from their decks and yelled song requests.

The White Hot is preparing for their final show which will be Friday, April 30th at Bangkok Blues in Falls Church, 10:00pm-1:30am. Their singer Todd is being sent to Baghdad until November and by the time he returns the drummer (my brother) will most likely be away at school.

(The White Hot: My Dad on bass, my brothers on guitar and drums, my fiancé on lead guitar, and their singer Todd)

The outdoor practice went so well that even the police made an appearance. Apparently someone called to complain but did not leave a name. When the police arrived the neighbors all told them that they did not want the band to stop. so they told the band to end by dark, sat down to watch for a bit, and then left.

The neighbors have decided that before Todd leaves there will need to be a backyard blowout with several Bar-B-Q's going and the band playing and all the neighbors. I'm in!

Waking up is hard to do

When i switched jobs in July i was very excited because i could sleep in a bit, my new job was only 6 miles from my house instead of the 18 mile commute in heavy traffic i had before.

But as time has gone by it has gotten harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning.

I try to be at work by 8am so that i can take an hour lunch and still be out by 4:30pm but lately i have been getting up later and later. I've been getting to work around 8:15 or 8:30, which is fine cause if i eat lunch at work i can still leave at 4:30pm, but i miss having a lunch break.

My other problem is that i'm tired all day at work. I sometimes drink 2 and 3 cups of coffee or resort to diet soda (cherry coke zero is the only one i can stomach) just to stay awake and then when i get home i take a nap or lay on the sofa for hours.

What do you do to motivate yourself to get up in the morning and keep yourself energized throughout the day?

Bridal Blogging

Hi readers!

The Domestic Empress has started her own wedding blog, Domestic Empress Weddings!

I will be the first bride blogger for DE Weddings so all my wedding related posts will now appear at http://www.thedomesticempress.com/weddings/ please stop by.

and now this blog can return to it's regularly scheduled program...stay tuned.

Hallmark moment

Yesterday i went to Hallmark to get a card for my grandfather who was turning 77. my grandfather speaks broken English so i though maybe a birthday card in Spanish would be nice.

I asked the lady if she had any birthday cards in Spanish and she looked at me like i had 3 eyes and said that she might have one. I never told her exactly who the card was for.

We found the card but unfortunately it's the same card i gave him last year so i told her thank you and that i would just have to choose a card in English. she asked me if he was a citizen, and he is, so she said it was fine (weird, but whatever). So i picked a card about fine wine and having a fine birthday. I went back to the same lady to pay. she asked if i had a hallmark card and i said yes. I pulled it out and she scanned it. she looked at my last name and said "oh now i get it, your Spanish!" no shit sherlock! i told her that actually i was Cuban on both sides and left.

did she think i was buying a birthday card for my Latin lover? does this kind of crap happen to anyone else?

Trends

I think I’m addicted to Google reader.

Go to your trends section and see what it says. I would be interested to see how much time other people are spending on Google reader.

My trends say that…

From your 102 subscriptions, over the last 30 days you read 1,712 items, starred 50 items, shared 0 items, and emailed 2 items.

Does this seem like a lot to anyone else?

General Life Update

Lately I have been on a bit of a blogging hiatus. I have started several posts and never seem to finish them. The last few days I have felt really crappy. I think it’s probably allergies and the change of season.

On Saturday I went to Winchester to see some of the members of The Popular Outcasts do stand up comedy. It was a great night. They even had to turn people away.

Tonight one of The Popular Outcasts, Rachel Thayer will be performing at http://www.soundry.net/ in Vienna, VA. I will be there so please come join us.

I have been busy with wedding plans. We have officially signed with a venue and our date is Oct 30^th 2010. Fingers crossed now that the weather will be nice for an outside ceremony. I have made my own head piece for the wedding and am now working on a necklace. I will post pictures soon.

This week I have been on a cooking kick. I have made garlic and thyme roasted tomatoes, pretzel crusted chicken with a mustard cheese sauce and ginger lime chicken with avocado salad. Tonight I’m going out to dinner but tomorrow I’m thinking of making homemade baked corn dogs. We will see how that goes.

Ankle Update

This is what my Ankle looked like two days after i sprained it. it still looks like this, perhaps a bit faded. i am on my feet again, i'm limping for sure but at least i'm off the crutches.

i am still wearing a brace or splint almost 24 hours a day but it should be back to normal soon.

Ouch!

So today began like most other days. i went to work, i had my daily 10:30 meeting, and then my boss and i had a 1pm lunch meeting. so when she got out of her 11:30 meeting we got in her car, drove to the town center, parked, and walked down the two flights of stairs in the parking garage and on the last step i sprained my ankle.

People i saw stars and thought i was going to pass out.

Thank god a security guard saw what happened and called for an ice pack and water. they took down my info, my boss told the person we were meeting that we would not make it and then she drove the car around to pick me up and take me to the hospital

This is what it looked like almost immediately...

so after 4.5 hours at the hospital (3 of which with my boss) i finally got an x-ray was told it was just sprained (which i knew) and was given a splint and crutches.

i have sprained this same ankle several times. i have very little strength in it and the Dr's keep telling me i just need to break it for it to heal correctly.

i am not stuck on the couch, Russ is at band practice. i have a computer, a book, TV, and pillows, but i still feel stranded.

this sucks. :(

To Nook, or not to Nook, that is the question.

Remember those 2010 goals I set? Well I have accomplished very little in two months.

My goals for the year if you don’t remember were to spend less, loose weight, and read more.

Well so far I have probably spent more due to wedding stuff, I lost 4 lbs and quickly gained it back, but I have been reading. Nothing really notable or amazing but at least my stack is getting a bit shorter. I think I need to also try and finish all the books I started which is a feat in and of its own. I don’t like not finishing books, it’s weird.

Speaking of books I have been researching the Nook and the Kindle and am still so undecided. My library wall we had built in the basement is packed and I think I need to stop buying physical books.

There are some definite pros to both the Nook and the Kindle

The Nook: I spend a lot of time in Barns & Noble so the free book previews are great. You can lend books to other Nook users, and the screen is bigger than that of the Kindle and it’s a lot sleeker looking

The Kindle: is thinner, more user friendly, and has a browser which I love. I am also a huge fan of Amazon and I get Amazon points from my credit card which I can use towards purchasing the kindle and buying e-books

Which would you choose?

RIP Dana

Last night I got a message from my old boss at Curves. One of my old co-workers had died. She was 25 years old.

Her Name was Dana, and she was loved. She had Addison’s Disease which made her sick quite often and caused a simple stomach flu to take her life.

You can see her obituary HERE

I went to the service and met up with my old boss, manager, and two curves customers who loved her. The service was short. We cried. We told her mother how great she was and then I went back to work.

But I keep thinking about something I heard, that the current owner of the Herndon/ Reston Curves locations refused to give her health insurance and finally fired her for no good reason. Her mother told us she missed working at Curves a lot.

When I worked at Curves it was a family, a gathering of women who loved each other and this new owner has turned it into nothing more than a business. This makes me sad and angry. Had Dana had insurance she may have checked herself into the hospital sooner.

“The soul takes flight to the world that is invisible. But there arriving she is sure of bliss, and forever dwells in paradise.” - Plato

I have a dress!

Yesterday, after trying on over 50 dresses in 3 different stores i bought my dress. Just in case Russ happens to read this i will not post pictures of THE dress but i will show you some that i liked.

The middle dress i loved! I tried it on at Leesburg Bridal and really loved it. The other two dresses i tried at David's Bridal, i really liked the dress on the right a lot but it had a bit too much bling for my taste. The dress i picked is very simple, comfortable, and has just a tiny bit of sparkle. I LOVE IT. I never wanted to take it off which is how i realized it was the one.

So now that i have that done i need to nail down the colors and bridesmaids dresses.

Huntington Cabernet Sauvignon California 2007

When i was in Dallas for PCMA the Ritz Carlton Dallas invited about 20 meeting planners to dine at Fearing's. it was an excellent meal, in a beautiful room, with wonderful company, but the best part of the evening was the excellent wine.

Huntington Cabernet Sauvignon California 2007

if you can find a bottle i highly recommend it!

Mike's Burritos

Russ's old roommate makes the best burritos ever. my family usually makes double batches and they are usually gone within a day.

we had them for dinner last night and they were excellent as usual. so i decided i would share them with you.

Mike's Burritos

1lb Chorizo

1 lb ground beef

Salt and pepper to taste

Light sprinkle onion and garlic powder

1 pkg flour tortillas

2 cans refried beans

Heavy sprinkle of chili pepper

10 oz cheddar cheese

2 tb tomato paste

Crumble chorizo, brown and drain. Repeat w/ beef, adding seasoning

Mix in large microwaveable bowl meat, beans and tomato paste. Mix well, heat covered on high in microwave for 2-3 minutes. Mix in cheeses. Divide mixture among tortillas and roll.

Line baking pan and cover burritos with foil. Bake at 375* for 15 min or until cheese melts

Note: it usually yields about 12-15 burritos from medium sized tortillas. if you can't find chorizo, hot Italian sausage works well. if you want chorizo find the grocery store near you that serves the largest Latino population, the Food Lion next to my house usually sells 4 different kinds of chorizo.

RIP PHIL HARRIS

Yesterday Captain Phil Harris, of the Cornelia Marie, died due to complications following a stroke.

As many of you may know my favorite show is Deadliest Catch. I have been watching it since the original documentary aired years ago. And as much as i get made fun of for watching the show it is excellent TV.

Phil was one of my two favorite captains and he will definitely be missed. my heart goes out to his sons Jake and Josh and the rest of his family and crew.

I hope that the boys are able to follow in their fathers foot steps and keep the Cornelia Marie Running, i'm sure it's what Phil had in mind when the boys started working on the boat.

My Birthday

At 11 am we were dismissed from work because the Snowpocalypse was on its way. I finally left at 11:30ish and went for sushi with some friends. I got a Vera Bradley bag that I wanted, an IOU for an apron that was in the mail, and Ann Rice’s The Sleeping Beauty Novels.

I love my new bag, the Apron came in the mail and I can’t wait to use it, and I am almost done with the first of the 3 novels.

Russ and I actually hunkered down at my parent’s house. We spent the night drinking and eating and playing dominoes (which when drinking heavily and played with Cubans is hilarious) at 11:30 I realized that our neighbor with MS was out with his snow blower working on my parents insanely long driveway.

We gave him some Cuban coffee to warm him up and we helped him shovel a bit. But he was out there till after 1am and the next morning it was as if he had done nothing and then he was out their again. So we all went out and shoveled. The boys got on the roof since the roof has very little pitch and we were scared of a roof collapse. With 32” of snow there was only so much the roof could handle. We spent the entire weekend their and finally went home on Monday when the roads were a bit passable with an SUV.

It is now Wednesday. We got another 9 inches of snow last night and the office is still closed tomorrow. I have been working from home. And watching TV and Reading, but now I’m getting some major cabin fever. Tomorrow I plan to clean house.

I'm starting to hate snow

Remember my “it’s that time of year again?” post about how my birthday always sucks?

Well I currently have all these wonderful plans to go to dinner Friday and Saturday night, and I’m supposed to have a tasting and a site visit on Saturday as well, but nooooooooooooo we are fixing for another snow storm.

It snowed last Saturday and kept me from doing things I needed to, it snowed yesterday, it’s going to snow tomorrow through Saturday and now they are calling for snow Tuesday –Thursday of next week! WTF mate? Global warming my ass!

So I guess I will spend my weekend cleaning house and working on wedding stuff, although after a lengthy conversation with the Fiancé last night he informed me that he hates weddings (this I knew before, and have been trying to work around it) has never been to a wedding he enjoyed, and that he knows he will hate our wedding. Great.

So I’m wondering what the hell is the point of spending a ton of money on one day that he will hate, when we could just as easily get married at the courthouse and then spend the money on our mortgage?

On the upside I went to McCormick & Schmicks for happy hour last night with my girls and it was great fun. I highly recommend it. I don’t recommend going to the gym after 2 beers, half a burger, some oyster shooters, and calamari but I am down 4lb’s so I’m not complaining. I’m going to the gym again today incase the snow keeps me indoors all weekend.

And so the planning begins…

So far I have been engaged for 4 days and I have a tentative venue, a tentative caterer, and a tentative photographer.

Our site visit at the venue is on the 6^th and then things should start to firm up. As of right now we are looking at a wedding date of November 13^th, 2010 which equals 288 days to plan.

Budget: I am trying my best to whittle down the budget but my family keeps insisting on inviting family members I barely know. The guest list is currently a little under 200.

Invitations: Russ and I think that we want to do an Evite instead of invitations for most people and a formal invitation to the older relatives who will expect them, my mom did not seem to like this idea. I found a set at Michael’s that I like. I’m going to go sometime this weekend to take a look.

Reception: Also I do not plan to have a formal sit down dinner or a separate ceremony. As of right now I think we will ask everyone to sit down at the tables while we get married and then party can begin. Since both Russ and my dad hate the traditional flow of a wedding with scheduled dances, cake cutting, and bouquet tosses, I need to keep this stuff to a minimum.

The Dress: The style of dress I want is hard to find. I really want a dress with ¾ length sleeves,(it’s going to be November and I like the way they look on me) I also think I want to wear silver instead of true white, and I want it simple with very little frill. All that, makes my ideal dress a bit hard to find.

I started dieting a few weeks ago and so far I have had no luck, this week I started back up at the gym, and I have begun taking Alli, if none of this works and I am the same size I am today when I get married I will not be a very skinny bride which is ok but I am very well endowed and a strapless gown (which seems to be the norm these days) is not an option and I’m not a huge fan of my arms either.

I wish I could just borrow someone else’s gown because for a free gown I would forgo being picky about the design for the most part. But I’m not sure how many people would be willing to lend out their wedding dresses especially if alterations need to be made. I think most women have this idea that their daughters will wear their dress and that’s usually not the case, but it makes it hard for many women to part with their dresses. It kills me that some women spend upwards of $2000 on a dress they will wear for 5 hours.

So I will probably go try stuff on at a bridal consignment shop in MD sometime soon and if that does not work I have a friend who is willing to make it.

More to come…

Drum Roll Please....I'm ENGAGED!

On Monday night I went to dinner with a friend of mine who recently got engaged.

At dinner she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids and I accepted. We spent some time talking about wedding plans and I went home and started discussing these plans with Russ. I turned on my laptop and started to look at the menus for the hotel she was thinking of using.

I turned to Russ and sais something like ”you know sweetie, I think when you decided it’s time to get me a ring I would like to come and help you pick it out” he started laughing so I started laughing and said “unless you already have it” he went up stairs and came down with a little box. He asked me to remove the laptop from my lap and then got on one knee and asked me to marry him. HOLY CRAP! I cried hysterically for about 15 minutes all the while hugging and kissing him, and somewhere in there I said “YES!”

(let me just say I LOVE MY RING! i told him i wanted a band instead of a solitaire and i think he did an excellent job. you should see it sparkle. i will most likely not buy another ring and just wear this one.)

A few minutes later my mom called “hello?” “Are you ok? You sound upset” “oh I’m ok; Russ and I just got engaged!” “OMG I have to tell your father!” Russ is hearing this and says “he already knows, I asked him yesterday.”

I tried to take a picture of my ring with my phone but I would not work so I asked if we could go to my parents house for a bit so I could show my mom my ring. Luckily they live 1.3 miles away.

When we got there my youngest brother said he felt like the room was spinning and my mom was super excited and my dad, who informed me he had already seen my ring, was ready to start planning.

We had champagne, I called everyone, and then we went home. I did not sleep at all and my stomach was in knots from all the excitement.

Yesterday I hardly ate, I could not really function at work, I went to the gym, and then got a pedicure with the Domestic Empress who is one of my maid’s of honor. Last night I finally slept.

Let the planning begin!

It's that time of year again?

The last two years in a row I have had terrible birthdays. I spent my 2008 birthday crying and yelling at my dad and my 2009 birthday I was so stressed out by my terrible job that I was depressed and angry that entire week.

So this year I am turning the big 25 and i am not freaking out about work (because I love my job) and I have dinner reservations at Acadiana for the day after my birthday with my family and Russ. I have been wanting to go to Acadiana since 2008 so I’m excited to finally go.

So far 3 of my close girl friends have asked me what I am doing for my birthday. And other than going to dinner with the fam I seriously have no plans. One suggested we have a party, but it was more like “why don’t you throw a party?” if someone wants to throw me a party that is cool, but I am not going to spend my week stressing out about the house being clean and stocking up on party decorations and food and drinks. It’s my birthday and forgive me but I don’t want to clean house. So I’m not exactly sure what to tell people when they ask what my plans are. As of right now I’m going to work all day, go home, and chill. But that could change I guess.

I wonder what Feb 5th will bring this year?

Dallas, DC, NYC, and stuff

Last week I was out of town for 4 days attending the PCMA (professional convention management association) annual meeting in Dallas. It was a great conference and I have plenty of experiences I will share with you later.

But just to give you a taste of how nerdy meeting planners can be please watch the Face to Face Meetings song. Cracks me up.

After Dallas I was home for two days before driving to NYC for the weekend. We got detoured off the turnpike to 295 after an hour in traffic and finally made it to NYC after 1am on sat morning.

We pretty much ate our way through NYC. We had pizza, bagels, Mac and cheese at Pinch and S’mac and had Ethiopian for dinner at Queen of Sheba.

Since Monday was a holiday I slept in and then caught up on my blog reading.

Let’s Entertain had posted about a chicken tortilla soup (she got it from Food Network) that looked great, so I decided I would make it that night. I spent the rest of the day reading at Barns & Noble (definitely my favorite way to spend a day off) and that evening I went to the store and got everything I needed to make the soup. The recipe was super easy and tasted great. I highly recommend it. I paired it with a side salad; I added fresh cilantro and avocado to it. What a great dinner.

Foot Candy

Did I run all my readers off with yesterdays post? I guess we will see.

In other news, last weekend I bought these…

YAY for foot candy!

Absolute Power, Corrupts Absolutely - Lord Acton

So I was at lunch with my Mom and we were talking about politics. I generally stay away from the topic but we were discussing the above quote and it’s correlation to career politicians.

I would like to live in a world where politicians only hold office for 5 years or so and then they have to go back to their original career path. This way you always have new ideas and fresh blood. I’m tired of 80 year old congress men who can barely speak, their ideas are old and quite often they can be bought. The world is moving quickly and we need new ideas to survive as a nation.

Also, while on the subject I also want to point out that socialized medicine actually sucks and for those of you who think it might be a good idea I urge you to educate yourself on the tragedies that have occurred in other countries participating in socialized medicine.

Below I have listed actual newspaper headlines from Britain…

• Kidney cancer patients denied life-saving drugs by NHS rationing body NICE
  - April 29, 2009 [Daily Mail (UK)]
• Girl, 3, has heart operation cancelled three times because of bed shortage
  - David Rose, April 23, 2009 [Times Online]
• NHS 'failings' over elderly falls
  - March 25, 2009 [BBC]
• Our cancer shame: Survival rates still lag behind EU despite spending billions
  - Jenny Hope, March 20, 2009 [Daily Mail(UK)]
• Failing hospital 'caused deaths'
  - March 17, 2009 [BBC]
• Chocolate should be taxed to control obesity epidemic, doctors are told
  - Simon Johnson, March 13, 2009 [Telegraph UK]
• 1,000 villagers wait for a dentist after just one NHS practice opens
  - March 10, 2009 [Daily Mail(UK)]
• Disabled children wait up to two years for wheelchairs
  - March 4, 2009 [Guardian Unlimited]
• NHS under fire over waiting times
  - February 25, 2009 [The Scotsman]
• Government procrastination blamed for HIV-contaminated blood tragedy
  - February 23, 2009 [Guardian Unlimited]
• Specialist nurses 'vastly overworked'
  - February 20, 2009 [Harwich & Manningtree Standard]
• Hundreds of operations cancelled at Lothian hospitals
  - Adam Morris, February 19, 2009 [The Scotsman]
• Stop asking for antibiotics to cure coughs and colds, Government tells patients
  - Daniel Martin, February 17, 2009 [Daily Mail(UK)]
• Only five out of 51 hospital trusts pass hygiene test, say inspectors
  - Sarah Boseley, November 24, 2008 [Guardian Unlimited]
• Heart patients dying due to poor hospital care, says report
  - Sarah Boseley, June 8, 2008 [Guardian Unlimited]
• Private healthcare managers could be sent to turn round failing NHS hospitals
  - Philip Webster, Political Editor, and David Rose, June 4, 2008 [The Times]
• Pensioner, 76, forced to pull out own teeth after 12 NHS dentists refuse to treat her
  - Olinka Koster, March 26, 2008 [Daily Mail(UK)]
• Dental patients face care lottery
  - March 26, 2008 [Metro(UK)]
• Lung patients 'condemned to death as NHS withdraws their too expensive drugs'
  - Jenny Hope, March 24, 2008 [Daily Mail(UK)]
• Women in labour turned away by maternity units
  - John Carvel, March 21, 2008 [Guardian Unlimited]
• Health inequality has got worse under Labour, says government report
  - Andrew Sparrow, March 13, 2008 [Guardian Unlimited]
• NHS chiefs tell grandmother, 61, she's 'too old' for £5,000 life-saving heart surgery
  - Chris Brooke, February 28, 2008 [Daily Mail(UK)]
• NHS patients told to treat themselves
  - James Kirkup, January 4, 2008 [Telegraph UK]
• The World's Worst HMO
  - Stephen D. Moore, November 24, 1999 [Random Thoughts]

And those are only a fraction of the crazy headlines that can be read HERE.

And while I’m on my soap box I just came from a four day conference where I attended several sessions on Green Meetings. For the record I knew global warming was crap, climate change is a farce, and this whole going green trend is retarded.

The only thing I like about green initiatives when it comes to meetings is that you support the local community where your meeting is being held by using local produce. Also please note that we are currently going into a small ice age which has naturally occurred throughout history and is no cause for alarm. The planet has been through thousands of climate changes and has adapted very well, it’s us humans who have problems with change.

That is all, carry on.

Petpev

I was watching a movie with my mother the other day and it showed this bridge...

I can't remember the name of the movie but the characters called it London Bridge.

That is a picture of TOWER BRIDGE!

The following is a picture of London Bridge...

As you can see they are VERY different.

Please educate yourselves so you don't sound stupid.

Thank you, that is all.

Diet: Day 2

Yesterday I started off the day at work with another bagel and cream cheese.

Then I had two rounds of 4 pizza bagel bites for my next two meals

And after that I have no idea what happened, I forgot to eat.

When I realized that I had forgotten, it was too late. I had to go to the store and get food for Russ and stuff for me to take to dinner at The Domestic Empress’s house.

So by the time I got there I was pretty hungry.

I made a salad with all free foods, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, red pepper, and purple onion.

I also made a no calorie salad dressing using apple cider vinegar, water, spicy mustard, Splenda, and Melting Pot garlic and wine seasoning.

The Domestic Empress made some awesome low calorie chicken and due to my missed meals I was able to have about 300 calories worth of chicken and a ton of salad. Yum

When I got home I ate some Kix like popcorn while watching TV. Kix are pretty awesome and you get 1 ¼ cups for only 110 calories which is pretty awesome.

because of my missed meals i only ate about 1025 calories which explains why i felt like crap today and stayed home from work. After sleeping in till 10, i spent the rest of the day working from home. Today i have not forgotten to eat and i still have 400 calories to go before i go to bed, which is kinda awesome. only two more days till i get my weekend diet break. I've been dreaming about an Italian Store Milano for 5 months and Friday night i plan to eat one, actually half of one, but it's just as awesome.

This year’s goals…

Spend less, lose weight, read more.

I started my diet today, and I have to admit I’m hungry. I’m not starving I just miss my large portions and frankly I normally spend a lot of time on preparing and eating food and now I find myself with nothing to do.

Today I ate the following: a mini bagel with cream cheese, a Greek yogurt with honey, 4 pizza bagel bites, diced peaches & half a mini bagel w/ cream cheese, half a croissant, 3 meatballs with tomato sauce and 10 spears of asparagus.

I have 2 meals to go. I’m thinking another plate of meatballs and asparagus and perhaps a bag of popcorn. I really need something to just munch on.

Because I’m trying to stick to this diet I think we will eat out much less, which should save me money. And because I need something to fill the time that I’m not eating or cooking I’m hoping to get through the gigantic pile of books next to my bed.

So if all goes well I will be skinnier, wealthier, and maybe even a bit smarter by the end of the year.

Now i'm off to my next "meal".

the year so far...

For only having had 10 people over on New Years Eve we had a really good time.

We drank a lot. I mostly stuck to Pama & Sprite with lime, and Patron shots but I did have some champagne with blackberries.

We had all kinds of snacks including cheese fondue, pizza bagels, egg rolls, and buffalo chicken dip. Great drunk food for sure.

We mostly just sat around and talked. The girls naturally migrated to the kitchen where we ended up spending half the night sitting on the floor and the guys naturally hung out around the food.

We were in bed by 3am. I miss the days where I would drink with friends till the sun came up and then go to Ihop, I hope those days are not over, but it has been quite some time since I’ve been truly drunk.

The next morning we cleaned house and hung out until Russ’s mom and sister arrived. We took them to The Container Store and to dinner at Gordon Biersh. Both were amazing as usual.

Saturday we took Russ's sister to The Smithsonian to see the American History Museum and the Museum of Natural History it was fun as always. The best part by far was the Written in Bone Exhibit. I'm a sucker for Anthropology, i fell in love with it in college, but realized it was not a good career move.

when we came home i made seared scallops in tomato basil orzo with mushrooms. i cooked it all in white wine and seafood stock. it was very yummy.

Sunday was a day to clean and go shopping, we had several gift cards we wanted to use and found nothing we wanted at Pottery Barn or William Sonoma. Actually i found several things i wanted but we could not agree on any of it. I really want THIS pan, but i can't really justify an $180.00 roasting pan. maybe one day.