Nothing a little Wine & Cheese can't fix...

ummm... i moved

2010-06-25T10:00:00.009-04:00

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?

2010-06-24T09:10:00.001-04:00

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?

2010-06-15T09:24:00.000-04:00

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!

2010-06-14T11:28:00.000-04:00

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.

2010-06-09T09:47:00.000-04:00

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!

2010-06-08T12:35:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-07T17:00:00.002-04:00

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

2010-06-07T10:55:00.000-04:00

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!

2010-06-07T10:45:00.000-04:00

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.

2010-06-06T10:00:00.001-04:00

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

2010-06-05T21:07:00.000-04:00

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

2010-05-24T13:15:00.001-04:00

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

2010-05-24T09:50:00.001-04:00

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"

2010-05-20T16:41:00.000-04:00

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

2010-05-03T14:11:00.001-04:00

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

2010-04-12T09:37:00.000-04:00

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

2010-04-07T09:32:00.004-04:00

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

2010-04-03T11:11:00.000-04:00

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

2010-04-02T13:07:00.000-04:00

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

2010-04-01T13:18:00.003-04:00

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

2010-03-24T11:27:00.001-04:00

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

2010-03-15T12:00:00.002-04:00

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!

2010-03-10T20:09:00.002-05:00

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.

2010-03-09T16:49:00.001-05:00

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

2010-03-02T12:50:00.002-05:00

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!

2010-02-28T18:11:00.003-05:00

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

2010-02-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

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

2010-02-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

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

2010-02-10T20:40:00.005-05:00

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

2010-02-10T16:11:00.002-05:00

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

2010-02-04T09:14:00.000-05:00

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…

2010-01-29T15:30:00.001-05:00

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!

2010-01-27T09:47:00.006-05:00

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?

2010-01-21T15:16:00.001-05:00

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

2010-01-21T09:34:00.002-05:00

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

2010-01-15T09:28:00.001-05:00

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

2010-01-14T15:38:00.000-05:00

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

2010-01-14T09:31:00.005-05:00

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

2010-01-06T20:33:00.002-05:00

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…

2010-01-04T20:30:00.001-05:00

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...

2010-01-04T19:43:00.004-05:00

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.

To do's

2009-12-30T12:19:00.003-05:00

I love lists.

So not only did i have a list of Goals but i had a House To Do List.

As you can see i only got a few of these things done in the last year, but it's a work in progress.

Basement

~~Wall unit~~
Lighting
~~Comfy sofa~~
~~Sell futon and love seat~~
~~Artwork~~
Tile floor (round door)
Clean coat closet
Organize laundry

Garage

Power wash floor
~~Sell fridge~~

Stairwell 1

Lighting
Artwork
Banister

Kitchen

Organize
Paint
New Appliances
New Countertops
Cabinets
Floor
Hardware

½ Bath

Paint
Mirror
Lighting
Floor
Décor

Living Room

~~Table lamps~~
Décor for corner unit
~~Painting for back wall~~

Dinning Room

~~Organize~~

Stairwell 2

Lighting
Artwork
Banister

Master Bath

Fix shelves
Fix outlet
Re caulk

Master Bedroom

Light kit
Table or floor lamp
Wall switch
Lock on door
Remove curtain rods

Guest Bedroom

Organize

It's good to have goals

2009-12-30T12:09:00.003-05:00

At the beginning of 2009 i wrote myself a new list of goals. It had goals for this year, 5 years, and 10 years.

The only goal for this year was: Get a new, better paying, job I love.

And i did. Go me!

My new job is the best thing that happened to me in 2009. i started looking in Feb and by July i had it.

I have a great boss, a great cube mate, i love what i do, and my commute is only 6 miles.

2009 a Crappy year in review

2009-12-29T11:44:00.002-05:00

Of course there is a lot of stuff missing, good and bad. But these are the bad highlights. I am hoping that 2010 will be MUCH better.

I have cancelled my New Years Eve party due to underwhelming RSVP’s
My Christmas party was cancelled due to snow (although fun the impromptu dinner did not make up for it)
Thanksgiving was ruined by my painful wrist
My close friends had a baby who was born with severe problems like congenital myotonic muscular dystrophy, clubbed feet, and cysts on his brain which caused him to have a stroke in utero.
a long time family friend died after a VERY long battle with Cancer
My grandmother Niva was admitted to the hospital, was transferred to hospice, and died from dementia
My other grandmother had stints put in her heart
My grandfather had a quadruple bypass
My step-grandfather was sent back to Chile, and then came back because his son stole his money.
My best friends grandmother died
I got in a car accident, and now my heater does not work and it’s freezing out.
My cousin’s son was forced to visit the dad he hates in a place he hates, several times this year, because the law sucks.
My January NYC trip was cancelled due to the fact that I had the plague and could not stop throwing up.

The Blizzard of 2009

2009-12-22T13:11:00.002-05:00

The bushes in the first picture of my last post are now entirely under snow.

When we woke up on Sunday the plan for the day was to cook the turkey. My friend walked through the snow to bring me the citrus, herbs, and butter I needed to cook the bird with.

Meanwhile Russ shoveled snow with the neighbors outside. That was when I got the idea to invite the neighbors to dinner. So I walked around and explained that I had a 21lb turkey and that it needed to be cooked. And would they please all come for dinner. One neighbor agreed. Please note I have never met any of these people before.

My friend and I spent the next 4 hours cooking turkey and watching Pride and Prejudice.

Eventually she had to walk home to her family and Russ and I made potato latkes and scotch and mushroom risotto. I also whipped up some garlic green beans.

Our neighbor John came over with some beer and then we got an older couple who is new to the neighborhood. They bought wine, sweet potato casserole, and cookies. And then came Skender, our neighbor from across the street. He’s a little awkward but he was fun and the best part is his name spelled backwards is REDNEKS! Too hilarious.

My friend who helped me cook the turkey came back with her husband and daughter, they pushed their way though the slush with the stroller. They brought like 8 different cheeses. The Domestic Empress came with her lobster quiche, baked brie with mushrooms, and Plaza White Sauce which she had her brother pick up in Newport News on his way home for the holidays. And MoBot braved the snow in her mothers Jeep to bring me green beans and hang out with us.

Now I’m not usually a complete klutz but during the course of the dinner I made the spoon fly out of the green beans and onto the floor and then tried to help The Domestic Empress and made the mistake of going out onto the driveway in converse high tops. Needless to say I slipped and fell on the ice. It was straight out of a cartoon. My neighbors must think I’m crazy.

But all in all it was a good night. We met out neighbors, and had a great time.

I still have not braved the snow in the convertible. Perhaps tomorrow. My parents were kind enough to come pick Russ and I up and drop us off at work and at the buss stop. Our streets are still so bad the usual bus that Russ takes won’t come near the house yet.

Thank god this is a one day work week.

BTW yesterday was also the Winter Solstice so Merry Belated Yule to everyone!

it's my party, and i'll cry if i want to!

2009-12-19T13:59:00.008-05:00

Every year for the past 6 years i have thrown a Christmas dinner for my friends from high school.

The 7th annual dinner was scheduled for tonight and now it looks looks like this outside...

We have had over 12 inches of snow fall since 9pm last night with no end in sight. actually you can hardly see this bush anymore and this picture was only taken a few hours ago.

I took yesterday off from work just to get ready. I bought beer, wine, liquor, food, and i decorated 3 tables for everyone to sit at. they look like this...

i was so excited.

since everything has been called off now i'm doing what i always do when i feel like crap, eating cheese. Brie and fig preserves to be exact.

Russ is cooking. he is making pasta with chicken and vegetables in port wine.

I still have a 21lb turkey sitting in my fridge that needs to be cooked soon before it goes bad. i think thats the plan for tomorrow, but my friend with all the stuff to make the turkey is stranded about a mile away. i might have to trek to her house tomorrow to get all the stuff.

stay tuned...

6WD

2009-12-17T08:53:00.001-05:00

A few years ago I did the Six Word Diet (6WD) and it worked great.

The 6 words?

Eat 100 Calories Every 90 Minutes

For me it was great, I could eat whatever I wanted as long as I ate a very small portion.

I lost over 10 lbs in a week which is ridiculous. Now it’s not really healthy to loose that much in a week but I have a very slow metabolism and this diet jump starts it hence the almost immediate loss of weight.

There are many ways to modify the diet and if you want to read more about it you can download the book at http://sixworddiet.com/

The last time I did this diet I modified it two ways. I could eat whatever I wanted on the weekend (Friday night to Sunday night) and to make it a bit more convenient I ate 175 calories every 2 hours.

If you are an exerciser or a muscular person you can eat up to 100 calories every hour but the weight loss will not be as rapid.

I like to use the trick from the lady’s at cook yourself thin take the weight you want to be and multiply by 10 and that’s the number of calories you should eat everyday. I would like to weigh 140lb’s so I need to eat 1400 calories everyday. During my day I have to eat 8 small meals if I am eating every two hours so if I divided 1400 by 8 = 175 calories per meal.

I have decided to start again after the holidays. And this time I don’t think I’m going to take weekends off although it depends on how fast I am loosing weight.

The hardest part was coming up with different meals so that I did not get bored, packing everything for work (5 of my meals will be eaten at work), and not eating myself stupid when I get home at night.

So until January I’m going to work on figuring out meals with approximately 175 calories in them. Using foods that can be packed the night before, and coming up with something to distract me from eating too much at home.

Some of my favorite foods that you can eat a lot of on this diet are: asparagus (26 sticks!), popcorn, sweet potato, mushrooms, and shrimp. So it’s really not that bad. There are no restrictions on what I can have so if I want a donut, or mac and cheese, or spaghetti that’s fine. It’s all about portion control and making your body think that it’s feasting not fasting.

If anyone decides to do this with me let me know because I could always use someone to bounce meal ideas off of. Happy shrinking!

* NOTE: I am NOT being compensated to talk about the Six Word Diet.

I could use a hobby

2009-12-16T08:53:00.003-05:00

I used to have all kinds of things that I did to keep busy. I could spend an entire day in my room alone and feel fulfilled.

I used to be in theater and in chorus. I tried sports like horse back riding, ice skating, tae kwon do, fencing, gymnastics, ballet, and a million others, I traveled, and groups.I Read, watched TV, went to the movies, colored, crafted, sewed, did community service and volunteer work, babysat and did a million other things.

Then came a period in my life when all I did was work and go to school. I had 4 jobs and went to school full time. I loved working at Curves and talking to all my customers everyday, I loved working at a catering company planning weddings for people and eating great food, I loved working at the renaissance festival 3 months out of the year, I loved taking tickets at all the awesome concerts in town, and although I never loved school work I loved learning and was proud to get a degree.

6 days after my last final I was offered a job, and 12 day before my technical graduation date (I did not go) I started working. And I never looked back.

I love planning meetings and I love going to new town and hotels and meeting new people. And for the most part my hours are steady and I could have time for other things but then I get home and I’m tired, I have to cook dinner, I watch a few shows and it’s time to go to sleep.

Two nights a week Russ goes to band practice, and for the most part I find stuff to do with myself, I clean, or go see a friend, or go see my mom, or run errands but last night I had nothing. I was too tired to do the dishes that needed doing but I wanted to leave the house or actually do something. Instead I showered and sat in bed watching Netflix videos on my computer. The movie was cute and entertaining but I wish that I had had some other project to work on. A hobby like Russ’s band practice that would require me to leave the house several nights a week. But I don’t.

I wanted to join a choir, but they all have expensive dues, ugly outfits, and make you pay per sheet of music. I wanted to take a floral design class but again it’s very expensive. I wanted to find a dance class but have not really found a place where I am interested in going or a class that I am particularly interested in. so what now?

I really don’t like sitting at home two nights a week rotting my brain with television and wasting precious time.

Any ideas?

New Banner

2009-12-13T22:10:00.002-05:00

Thank you to Lauren of LFB Photography and Design for the new Festive Banner. With her help i plan to have a new banner for every season.

Check out her awesome Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/lfbphotography

I'm not taking them off unless i want to!

2009-12-10T15:51:00.004-05:00

i saw this picture on http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/ today.

I personally think that it is rude for people to force guests to take off their shoes when you invite them to your house.

what if they have smelly feet, holes in their socks, or ugly feet and feel self conscious about them? you don't want to make your guests feel uncomfortable. if they want to take them off thats one thing, but don't give them an ultimatum.

As far as i can tell the person who made this sign is an Asshat.

that is all.

I can’t believe that just happened!

2009-12-07T18:50:00.000-05:00

So today kinda sucked. It started out fine. I got up went to the orthopedics office and was told that my appointment was for tomorrow. So I got an appointment at an office across the street for 3:45 today and cancelled the appointment for tomorrow.

So I got to work late, my hand was hurting, and there was not much I could do.

At 3:00 I left work, got my X-rays from the hospital, and went to the ortho’s office.

He came in, took one look at my x-ray, said it was a tendon problem and decided what I needed was a Cortisone shot, no problem, I’m good with needles.

He jabs a 2 inch needle that is really thick into my wrist in several directions and all the way in. no problem. It oozed white from the numbing medication he had added to the needle. Again no problem.

I grabbed my stuff walked into the hall and promptly passed out on the floor; thank god the doctor caught me before my head hit the floor. My color came back, I drank water, and left.

WTF? I have no idea what happened.

saturday snow

2009-12-05T20:14:00.000-05:00

Today it snowed in Northern Virginia. I woke up and the trees were beautiful and the day was still and magical.

We had no food in the house and plans to go to Costco. My parents picked us up and we went to Dunkin Donuts in 4 inches of snow and slush. We got coffee and donuts and went to the high school around the corner to wait for my brother to get out of the SAT’s. There was no snow on the ground when he left for the exam at 7am and we were worried he would not know how to drive home in the snow. So we sat in the car and ate donuts and talked for over 2 hours. My dad would periodically get out of the car and clean my brothers car and help all the other kids leaving clean there cars too (he’s kind of awesome that way).

We finally made it to Costco which had the shortest lines ever which was nice. I spent more money there than I should have and we went home.

I only got one load of laundry done today and my plan was to do about 4. I sat in front of the TV and caught up with all the shows I missed while in Chicago. I also bought UP and Star Trek so there will be some movie watching in the near future although Russ has this weird thing where he does not like to watch movies he has already seen, so I wonder why I bother buying movies when he won’t watch them with me.

Anyway that is all I have for today. I go to get my arm looked at on Monday morning so hopefully it will be good news. I can function much better now but I still can’t lift or pull anything and forget opening jars, it hurts.

I made a mistake

2009-12-01T19:55:00.001-05:00

At the biggest solo conference of my working year I made a mistake. Actually I made several small ones and a big one.

And although I fixed it, it did not go unnoticed.

I’m upset with myself. My boss even told me that I was doing a good job and not to dwell but that she knew I would. She is a good boss. After my mistake we went shopping and to dinner, she quickly learned that shopping with me can mean dropping $100 in 30 minutes and we went to dinner and got back past my bed time and all was well.

And now that I have been through this once I know that next year things will be different.

But next year is far away and right now I feel like an idiot.

Movie Etiquette

2009-11-29T22:01:00.001-05:00

The night before thanksgiving I went to the movies to see Boondock Saints II, and although the movie was not as good as the first it was certainly entertaining.

I was part of a group of 5 and by the time we got to the movie the theater was packed. There were plenty of open seats but none together.

So people when going to a movie I totally understand not wanting to sit next to a stranger and leaving an empty space is ok when the movie is not packed but when it is full you should fill in so that there are empty seats on the ends.

The reverse is that when going to a movie that is not full, try not to block anyone’s view by sitting directly in front of them, especially if you are tall.

Am i the only one who feels this way?

Yum!

2009-11-29T09:02:00.000-05:00

Last night I hopped on a city bus and went downtown to shop on Michigan Ave.

I bought some cute socks at Gap and went to Nordstrom’s. They did not have the shoes I liked in my size and I needed to eat because all the meds for my hand were making my stomach hurt. So I figured pasta was a good choice.

Two people suggested Buca Di Beppo, a family style restaurant. The place was packed but they found me a table. The portions are huge and being only one person they allowed me to order off the lunch menu. I had the Linguini Frutti Di Mare. It was divine. Mussels, squid, and shrimp in a spicy red clam sauce, I even polished off an entire thing of bread on my own. The service was really good and the place a little tacky but lively.

Tonight it’s Italian again. I’m going to The Italian Village with co-workers. Hopefully it will be just as good. For now though I could really use coffee and a bagel.

Injured Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T08:58:00.003-05:00

While everyone else was spending thanksgiving morning cooking and baking I was in the ER.

On Monday my hand started hurting, and everyday it got worse. The ER doc says it’s either a nerve or a split ligament. I also have a bone chip from what he says is an old injury. I’m thinking drunken cartwheels on a balance beam a few months ago was a bad idea.

The pain reached an all time high around 6:00pm thanksgiving night right before the family sat down to dinner. I sat on the sofa and cried. My brother who has the emotional range of a tree sat next to me and rubbed my arm and let me lean on him. I am grateful for that. My plans of movie watching and shopping were shattered and the night ended all too soon. Maybe next year things will be different.

The ER doc wanted me to see a specialist tomorrow but I’m stuck in Chicago on business until Thursday night.

BTW one handed blogging is hard.

Blog Awards!

2009-11-25T19:09:00.004-05:00

Two of my favorite blogging ladies Mrs. Misadventure and Empress Kate have nominated my blog for awards! Thank you so much.

The rules are as follows…

One lovely blog award

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who's given it to you, along with the link to his or her blog.

2. Pass the award to seven other blogs you enjoy.

3. Contact those bloggers to let them know they've been chosen for this award.

Over the top award

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who's given it to you, along with the link to his or her blog.

2. Answer the questions below and post them to your blog

3. Pass the award to seven other blogs you enjoy.

4. Contact those bloggers to let them know they've been chosen for this award.

1. Where is your cell phone: on the kitchen counter
2. Your hair: is a mess from the nap I just took

3. Your mother: is my favorite person on earth
4. Your father: is amazing
5. Your favorite food: Cheese and wine of course!
6. Your dream from last night: I don’t remember, I did not sleep very well.

7. Your favorite drink: wine and raspberry iced tea, not together of course!
8. Your dream/goal: own my own business one day

9. What room are you in: the family room, I’m watching Oprah on my Tifaux.

10. What is your hobby: I used to have many, but lately I have taken up napping instead.
11. What is your fear: home invasion and ventriloquist dummies
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years: married with children?

13. Where were you last night: I went to see the Blind Side with my mother, it was an awesome movie and I needed the girls night out.

14. Something you are not: shy
15. Muffins: Are crap, eat a croissant instead.
16. Wish List items.: um…
17. Where did you grow up: Northern Virginia
18. Last thing you did: watched Russ make dinner
19. What are you wearing: jeans, my Gaelic Storm t-shirt and my red sweater.

20. Your TV: gives me something to do in the evenings.
21. Your pets: Angel lives with my parents, I am currently petless

22. Your friends: are awesome.
23. Your life: is good at the moment
24. Your mood: sleepy
25. Missing someone: yes.
26. Vehicle: a gold seabring convertible, apparently it’s a yuppie car. I don’t think so.
27. Something you’re not wearing: socks or shoes

28. Your favorite store: White House Black Market
29. Your favorite color: Green
30. When’s the last time you laughed: yesterday, today was too stressful.

31. When’s the last time you cried: last week I think

32. Your best friend: all 3 are amazing women
33. One place you go over and over: The American Café for the spinach con queso and the potato cheese soup.
34. One person who emails me regularly: my cousin with stupid forwarded e-mails half of which are untrue and I have to send her the snopes.com link to prove it.

35. Favorite place to eat? Too many to name.

and the Awardees are...

Empress Kate for One Lovely Blog

Mrs.Misadventure for Over the Top Blog

Little Sarita for One Lovely Blog & Over the Top Blog

LizinDC for One Lovely Blog

MoBot for One Lovely Blog & Over the Top Blog

Devorah for One Lovely Blog & Over the Top Blog

LFB Photography for One Lovely Blog

I shaved my legs for this???

2009-11-18T13:39:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Russ’s birthday.

At work all day I was having “an ugly day” I left work and went home and shaved, put on my little black dress, make up, and my favorite necklace and we went to dinner at a French restaurant in town.

I did not get a “you look nice” all night.

Next time I’m wearing jeans and we are going to McDonalds.

Going to the Cabin

2009-11-12T12:22:00.002-05:00

It’s only Thursday and I have worked late 2 days this week, cried, had a fight, been confrontational at work, and tossed and turned for hours in bed.

I also have not had time all week to watch my usual shows and I am very backed up coming into the biggest TV watching night of the week.

So last night I did what I do best, I went home and ate cheese, tonight I will do the same and there will be wine involved. It’s amazing how the smallest things make such a big difference.

I have been gearing up all week so that I could take Friday off. I will spend all day tomorrow packing and shopping for a camping trip with some of the people I love best in this world. It should be fun, although most likely wet and I can guarantee you there will be brie and fig preserve involved. There will also be alcohol of all kinds and for better or worse probably guns, arrows, ATV’s, and a canoe. This could be bad, but I’m stoked, and so is the rest of the group.

Please keep your fingers crossed for a dry weekend.

crazy?

2009-11-06T10:01:00.000-05:00

As a huge fan of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre I have recently started reading Villette.

Last night I was reading out loud to myself in a British accent (something I usually do when reading a period novel) when Russ walked into the room. he thought I had lost my mind.

Is this weird?

home at last

2009-11-03T22:39:00.002-05:00

I’m back! My conference went well, and as always I love chicago. I relly can’t wait to be back in the windy city in less than a month. Although the next time I’m there I will be a lot bussier and not in the best part of town and it will be a hell of a lot colder.

What did I miss while I was gone? A lot, some of which I can’t talk about here.

The saddest news is that my Best Friend’s friend died. I met her not too long ago and my friend had said that she wanted me to meet her because we were so much alike. I have been reading all the heartfelt reponses that people have left one her facebook page and found a comment that really weirded me out. It was a girl who had the same name as one of my friends and she called her “thing 1” thats my faire nick name in the kilt shop! I even have the pewter pin to prove it. How much alike we really were I will never know.

I really feel for her 6 year old son and all her friends and family who are greiving, she was very loved and will be missed.

Give Blood

2009-10-27T11:07:00.002-04:00

Today at 1pm i will be giving blood at work.

I encourage the rest of you to do the same sometime soon.

that is all.

UPDATE: they turned me away because my hemoglobin was 12.4 not 12.5. thats crap!

In over my head

2009-10-26T22:42:00.002-04:00

OMG i have so much work that i'm having to delegate it to my boss and co-workers. on Thursday i am leaving for Chicago on a business trip and need to have everything done for two simultaneous conferences both in Chicago, and i am the lead planner for both meetings.

At least by Sunday night two of my meetings will be over and i can focus on my huge conference when i get back. The Saturday after thanksgiving i will be going back to Chicago to run 40+ meetings over the course of six days.

i know i have been remiss in my posting. to tell the truth i have written several posts and deleted all of them. i have a lot to say, some of which is not mine to tell and the rest of which i don't think is interesting enough for anyone to care.

Ok i worked a 10 hour day and need to go to bed and do it all again in the morning. wish me luck this week. i'm going to need it.

that was rude.

2009-10-14T13:35:00.002-04:00

Today I went to La Madeline for lunch. It was very crowded and I found a 2 person table that still had dishes on it, to sit at. In front of me were 3 men at a table for 6 but they were having a business meeting and their things were spread out. Because there was a lack of tables an older lady (70’s or so) put her tray down at the table invited her friend over (also in her 70’s) and proceeded to eat their lunch. They did this without asking. You could tell the men were very confused as to what to do with the women. I quickly finished most of my lunch stacked my dishes and told the ladies that I was leaving and that they could have my table.

Etiquette lesson #1:Barging into someone’s business meeting is never acceptable, no matter how old you are. Ask before sitting down at a table with others at it. It’s common courtesy people!

Shop and Save

2009-09-23T11:12:00.004-04:00

I was reading Liz in DC’s blog this morning and was intrigued by the “don’t go over in October” challenge she found over at Ms. Career Girl’s blog.

After I commented with “I have a shopping problem BUT I NEVER spend more than I can afford, so is it really a problem?”

I realized that no, it’s not a problem, because I make smart shopping choices.

I should explain myself. As much as I love to shop, I am good with money and I love to see my savings grow, so I live by a few simple rules:

NEVER buy anything you cannot afford. This includes eating out, buying fancy groceries, going to the movies, buying cars, and spending money in general.
ALWAYS pay credit cards and all bills ON TIME, IN FULL
Whenever I have $1000 in checking that I know is surplus and not necessary to the months bills I move it into savings.
I almost always use a credit card. It is very easy for me to spend cash and then I have no idea what I did with it. Get a credit card that not only rewards you for using it but sends you a summary at the end of the year of all expenses.

I happen to have the Amazon Visa card and I LOVE IT!
The end of the year summary tells you how much you spent in gas, food, clothing, home repair, entertainment and lots more over the course of the entire year and helps with budgeting purposes.

My last bit of advice is if you have no other debt and you have the resources, invest in a home. Real estate will always make you money if you buy wisely, wait out economic down turns, and only make those repairs which will increase the value of your home.

I have now lived through almost an entire year of mortgage payments and although I thought the bills would kill me and I would never be able to do anything ever again I am here to tell you that when it came to money my lifestyle did not change when I bought a home.

I love Project Runway

2009-09-16T13:55:00.000-04:00

When the 2^nd season of Project Runway premiered a group of my girl friends and I decided that every Thursday night at 10 pm we would get together to watch..

For years Thursday night during the PR season meant wine, cheese, girls and lots of PR drama.

This season started off much the same. I was so excited because a few of my friends had moved closer to me and would be able to make it. We had five girls, lots of cheese, several bottles of wine and what I considered a very successful evening.

Well since that night most of the group has bailed, some because of school, others because of work, and some just because.

Last week I hardly saw Russ let alone had free time, but I still made time for Project Runway. I was tired, I had just come back from visiting a friend in the hospital and I only saw PW with one other girl but it was a lovely time. This time with no wine due to the fact that my friend was on medication, but we had a ton of cheese, fruit, and fig preserve. Yum!

Project Runway Night for me is not just about the show. It’s a time to relax with the girls, unwind with a glass of wine, and eat some great cheese. But it seems like the tradition of making it into more of an event than a show may be dying. People have other things to do and other people to see. I’ll be fine watching alone, but it will never be the same.

No Halloween for me.

2009-09-15T10:26:00.000-04:00

Have you ever been really sad about something that everyone else says is no big deal?

My favorite holiday of all time is Halloween. I love the parties, the dressing up, the decorations, and best of all time with friends.

October 31^st also happens to be Samhain, the pagan new year, the most important holiday on my religious calendar.

Well this year I will have to spend it alone in a hotel in Chicago, a city where I know no one.

This has had me upset ever since I was told that I might have to help out with this conference and now that it has been confirmed I get teary eyed almost once a day. The worst part is that this conference is at the same time every year and as the most junior member of my department I am the most likely person to send, every year.

Last year I spent Halloween with Russ sitting in our empty new house that we had purchased only a few hours before, we only got a hand full of trick-or-treaters and I only put on my pirate coat. Had I known that that might have been my last Halloween at home for quite some time I would have done something more extravagant. Now everywhere I go I see Halloween decorations and think what’s the point of purchasing decorations if I won’t be home to enjoy them?

My friends and mother keep telling me that it’s no big deal. That maybe next year they will send someone else. But to me it’s a very big deal.

Oh Halloween, how I will miss you already.

Four words, Green Valley Book Fair

2009-09-03T10:08:00.000-04:00

That is my plan for the weekend.

If you are like me and you LOVE to read then I highly recommend this as an awesome escape from the hustle and bustle of the D.C. area.

http://www.gvbookfair.com/

I leave you with some words of wisdom from Mr. Groucho and Mr. Twain…

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx

I find television to be very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room and read a book. ~Groucho Marx

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them. ~Mark Twain, attributed

Be the change you wish to see in the world.

2009-08-28T14:14:00.002-04:00

I realized I have already asked my readers for money once this year and I would never do it again if it was not a cause close to my heart.

During my last semester at George Mason University, I had the opportunity to work on one of the most important projects I will ever encounter. It was a sustainability plan for a real town in Cambodia. This was the only project I ever worked on in school that actually made a difference in the world. Whether or not my group’s project was eventually chosen or not I did not care, we were all working to make the world a better place.

Since then I have kept an eye on the Blog of Kari Grady Grossman the one who started it all. You can read her blog or purchase her book (Bones that float) here http://www.karigradygrossman.com/wordpress/

Today on the blog Kari is asking for donations to help 11 of her students go to school for an entire year. Each student needs only $150. That’s only $1650.00 for all of them.

I plan to give, but what I’m thinking is that with a little bit of outreach we can give big.

What if we raise the full $1650? Or at least try. Should I stand outside of the grocery store? Have a bake sale? Just throw a party and ask for donations? What do you think?

Tell your friends and families, I know your readers know a lot of people, post on Facebook, blog or tweet about it. Let’s make the world a better place through education.

If you wish to send your donation through “network for good” just use the link above, but please post a comment telling us that you donated, and if you are comfortable in divulging how much you are donating, I would love to know. If you would prefer to send me your check or cash and I can send it all to Kari at once make checks out to Sustainable Schools International, and leave a comment with your e-mail, I will send you my address.

more food!

2009-08-27T14:39:00.001-04:00

Continuing with this week’s food theme I would like to try the following restaurants, and I would like to try them with company.

So here is the deal. I realize that fine dining is expensive and not all of us can afford to go out all that often. So if you are interested in a group outing to one of the following places leave a comment with the name of the restaurant and a date, or two, that is good for you.

We can then settle on a date and invite more people to come along. I think this could be a lot of fun. And I really need to stop going to the same chain restaurants over and over again.

American

Clyde's Willow Creek Farm – Leesburg

Eventide - Arlington

Red Fox Inn – Middleburg

Inox –McLean

French

Mon Ami Gabi – Reston

2941 Restaurant – Falls Church

Bastille - Alexandria

Other

Texas de Brazil Churrascuria – Fairfax

Acadiana (Creole/Cajun) – DC

So who’s in?

Also feel free to suggest other restaurants.

Restaurant Week Continued

2009-08-26T10:31:00.000-04:00

According to the following article D.C Restaurant Week Top Ten Picks

The following restaurant have extended their RW promotions…

Restaurant Week Promotion Extensions

2941 - August 3 through August 28
701 Restaurant - August 24 through Sept 6th
Art and Soul – August 24- September 6
Café Atlantico – August 24- September 6
Cedar Restaurant - August 1 through August 23
Co-co Sala - August 24- September 2
Darlington House - August 24th through September 6th
Dino - August 1 through September 13
Grillfish DC - August 24th through September 13th
Ici Urban Bistro - August 21 through September 1
Il Mulino - August 1 through August 31
Mio - August 1 through August 31
Nage Bistro - August 17th to September 6th
Occidental - August 24- September 6
Rasika - August 24- September 5
The Heights - August 24th through September 6th
Zaytinya - August 24- September 6

YAY!

D.C Restaurant Week

2009-08-25T09:31:00.004-04:00

If you don’t already know, twice every year D.C has a Restaurant week. Many of the restaurants offer special menus for lunch and dinner. Lunch is always priced the same as the current year, so in 2009 the lunch menu is $20.09 and dinner is $35.09. Some restaurants create special tasting menus and others let you choose a few things from the regular menu. Either way it’s an awesome deal, and allows you to try restaurants that are otherwise not in your price range.

Tomorrow I have a lunch reservation at Passion Fish.

The Domestic Empress and I have really wanted to check this place out and what better way to try it than at $20.09 for three courses.

The menu is as follows…

Restaurant Week Menu

Lunch Menu

Dinner Menu

And then Russ and I are going to Vinifera for a date on Thursday, I might get dressed up and everything. Vinifera is located inside the Westin Reston and has a very nice selection of wines by the bottle or by the glass.

I think I’m going to go with the Paella, but incase you are interested here is the menu…

Vacation Pictures (because i promised)

2009-08-17T21:47:00.007-04:00

forgive the order, this was actually taken on our last night in Florida. we were at my Grandparents house and i was so burnt i was wearing russ's shirt and no bra.

the what the inside of our room at the Merlin Guesthouse. the pool was right outside our door and it was not at all as loud as the reviews said it would be. the sitting area was nice for watching TV.

up a few stairs was our bed. it was very cozy, and to the right was our bathroom.

This was the view from the bed. it was rustic and tranquil.

OMG can you believe the water? this is what beach water should look like.

and this is a real beach. our boat is anchored at the end of the sand bar. we swam to shore but had to walk back because the tide went out. the keg was on the boat so all you had to do was swim up to it and pour yourself a drink.

more beach...

you see the girl in the water with the hat on? thats me getting a sunburn and loving every minute of it.

here is Russ, we just had a few drinks at Capt. Tony's which is where the original Sloppy joe's was. we drank at the very same bar at Earnest Hemmingway and then we went to Sloppy Joe's where i danced to "dancing with myself" all by my self in front of maybe 300 people. i had had ALOT of margaritas that night.

me, by the pier, at sunset.

some of the best sushi ever. A Key West roll and an Eel roll

some awesome smoking sashimi. yum!

and last but not least, us, 90 miles from Cuba.

shelving, yay!

2009-08-17T21:40:00.002-04:00

So remember when i said my basement needs a facelift? well the facelift has begun. today we had a wall unit installed to fit our insane amount of books and movies.

here you can see Russ putting our books in order. sorry about the quality, i will take a picture with a real camera soon. the basement still has a long way to go, and i wish i could find a before picture, but it should not take us too much longer to finish the basement. just a new sleeper sofa, a few tables and perhapse some track lighting and it should be complete.

believe it or not, there are only 6 empty shelves on the unit already. i think i need so start using a kindle or giving my books away.

Are you there God? it's me, Kathy.

2009-08-13T00:06:00.002-04:00

you remember my Since April post?

well since then a long time family friend has died, after a VERY long battle with Cancer and my fathers best friend's retina detached and he has to have surgery.

to top it off i had two dreams about my dad's friend's son, in both dreams he was upset about something and now, this happens. not two days ago i asked my mom if everything was ok with the family, i often get worried after my dreams. When i was a little kid i told my uncle that if he left i would never see him again, we have it on film. i was crying and screaming and he still left. days later he died.

often after a bad dreamsi will call the person that was in my dream and make sure that he/she is ok.

in other sad news my parents finally called Juan Carlos in Chile and told him that my grandmother had died, it broke his heart.

please make the months of heartache and hardship end. I need a break, and so does my family.

Nothing like a Bar-B-Q in 98 degree heat

2009-08-10T21:16:00.000-04:00

Russ plays softball with a lot of my friends and last night was the end of the season party.

We hosted it at my parents house and although it was insanely hot we had a great time, ate great good, played football, and got an impromptu concert from “the band” which is made up of Russ, my dad, my two brothers, and my dad’s High school friend.

So all in all the night was a hit. I made my famous prosciutto and asparagus; it’s the easiest thing ever. Just wrap the asparagus in prosciutto and put it on the grill till it gets crispy. Amazing! The team captain made beef and turkey burgers. We also had hot dogs, all kinds of chips and dips, salad, and desserts.

let's do that again!

Since April...

2009-08-06T09:37:00.003-04:00

· My grandmother Niva was admitted to the hospital

o Was transferred to hospice

o And died from dementia

· My other grandmother had stints put in her heart

· My grandfather had a quadruple bypass

· My step-grandfather was sent back to Chile

· My best friends grandmother died

· I got in a car accident

· My cousin’s son was forced to visit the dad he hates in a place he hates because the law sucks

· And yesterday my aunt’s 14 year old dog died

Is it over now? I really can’t take much more.

Two Blogs you must read!

2009-08-05T22:00:00.000-04:00

http://herbadmother.com/

http://thebadgrandma.blogspot.com/

so good!

Shut up and fish!

2009-08-05T10:12:00.004-04:00

I was talking to Mo-Bot the Robot last night and we got to talking about Deadliest Catch and the sad event that was the death of Jake Anderson’s sister. As a loyal fan I was saddened to see Jake so hurt and elated that Sig turned to boat around to get Jake home as fast as possible.

But there was one thing that neither Mo-Bot nor I could figure out, why did Nick give Jake the News instead of Sig? After some digging it seems that Jake and Nick’s brother are friends and that is how Jake got the job on the Northwestern in the first place.

During my digging to find the answer I found something amazing. The Northwestern crew has a calendar, and what’s even better? It runs from Aug 2009 to July 2010, so I can still get it! Ok who wants to buy me one???

Let's talk TV and Movies

2009-08-05T09:37:00.003-04:00

True Blood: I love you but your episodes are too short, and the plot needs to progress a bit faster.

Deadliest Catch: I was so excited that it was Tuesday yesterday and then realized that last week was the season finally. I miss you already.

Hell’s Kitchen: I am so tired of the predictability of this show; challenges always come down to the final two contestants because everyone else always seems to tie. And I am so tired of the timing of the commercial breaks. Enough is enough.

Shark Week: I have been a loyal fan since I was a kid. But now it seems like nothing but re-runs and I’m bored. Yes a Great White feeding frenzy on a whale carcass is cool, but you can only watch it so many times.

Merlin’s Apprentice: anyone remember the 1998 movie Merlin? I happen to own it. I just realized that there was a sequel. It was made in 2006 and is so far quite horrible. There is no continuity from one movie to the other and the acting and writing is god awful. Very disappointing.

Revolutionary Road: was very strange. Not my kind of movie, but interesting to watch.

The Ugly Truth: was crude and funny, but I really enjoyed it. Gerard Butler, nuff said.

Life Update

2009-07-31T11:54:00.001-04:00

So Wednesday was just as awkward as I though it would be. We had a cake and gifts, and said our goodbyes. We were all crying. Juan Carlos was crying because of all the gifts, birthday cards, and well wishes and the rest of us were crying because we know we probably would not see him again. He mentioned to my brother that he will be back in two months, but that most likely will not be the case.

It seems my dad wrote a worried e-mail to Juan Carlos’s son. His son’s response was very reassuring. He told us that his wife already had a room prepared for him. That the whole family was waiting to welcome him and that Chile was a very nice country to live in, and that he would be loved and well taken care of.

It’s very hard to just hand over a fragile loved one to a stranger, albeit his own son, after 30+ years. My Mom tells me that my Dad is still taking it very hard. Saturday I expect will be the worst. My parents and my aunt and uncle are going to Niva and Juan Carlos’s apartment to clean it out. My mom told me that my dad has asked his sister for all the pictures and his mothers badge from her old job. It’s interesting to see who asks for what. When I was talking to my mom I asked if I could have a small piece of Niva’s jewelry, my mom said she would ask my aunt. I cried when I asked her.

I though I would handle this much better. And for the most part I am. But a few times I have broken down in tears, just to be fine a minute or two later.

~*~

On the job front I have made it through a whole week at my new job. The first few days my head was just spinning, but now I’m getting things a bit more under control. I’m hoping to be totally organized by sometime next week. The work keeps pouring in and I am still trying to figure out which event is which.

On Tuesday I went out to lunch with a group of ladies from my department and today I am going to lunch with my boss. I am still trying to place names to every face, there are a lot more employees at my new company than my old one, and after I year and a half I still did not know everyone at my old job. I wish I had a better memory and was better with names.

~*~

After 3 consultations and months of hating my basement, Russ and I have finally settled on a company and design for our built-it media center in the basement. I can’t wait till they install in on Aug 17^th. I’m going to try and take before and after pictures so that I can show you all the mess that I have now, and hopefully the amazingness of my new built-in.

TTFN!

RIP Niva

2009-07-29T12:35:00.002-04:00

On Friday, July 24th, my grandmother Nivida (Niva) passed away.

It did not come as a shock, she has been in hospice care for months, and I said my goodbye’s a while ago, when she was still slightly lucid.

My grandmother and I were never close. But she shared a very close bond with my younger brother Kevin. He was her golden child. Even when she recognized few other people she always lit up when he entered a room. So although her passing is sad, what bothers me most is that my dad, my mother, and my brother are hurting. Not to mention my aunt who has been at her side everyday for the last few months of her life, and had to deal with all the horrible things that people do when affected by dementia.

Tonight we are having a family dinner with my grandmother’s significant other, Juan Carlos. My grandparents were divorced before I was born and ever since I can remember Juan Carlos and Niva have lived together. I only found out a few years ago that they had never married. I always just assumed that they had.

Juan Carlos is old and frail and all of his family lives in Chile. So tonight is our last meal with him before he moves back to Chile for good. My dad and aunt have decided not to tell him that my grandmother has passed. I am angry about this, but it’s their decision. They are worried that if they tell him he will have a heart attack and die here, before he gets to see his family. Juan Carlos’s birthday is on Saturday. They plan to tell him about Niva when he is settled in Chile and perhaps a bit stronger. Till then they have told him that she has taken a turn for the worse and that she is “quarantined” which is why they can’t let him see her before he leaves. The whole situation sucks. I think he deserves to know the truth.

My poor grandmother had a very hard life. I’m very sad that things ended the way they did, but finally after so many years of pain and heartache she can rest in peace. All I can do is wear the pearls that are the only thing I still have that she gave me, and say goodbye to Juan Carlos.

Sadly I find myself using my favorite quote from Lady Jane more often these days…

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

what's the plan?

2009-07-29T08:27:00.001-04:00

After reading Liz’s post on plans, I thought I would talk about my own plans.

I’m a planner. I plan everything. I am a meeting coordinator by trade, nuff said.

When I was little my dad was always accusing me of having planed things too far in advance, he always thought I was exaggerating. So when I was little it always went something like this “But Dad I’ve been planning this sleepover for 5 months” and it was usually true, but he always thought it was me trying to force him to say yes by exaggerating.

When I was in the 5^th grade my teacher asked the class to write a list of goals. At the end of the year she returned them to us, and lo and behold I had accomplished everything on the list without even having it as a reference.

The same thing happened in my sophomore year, and again my senior year of high school.

When I was moving out of my parent’s house into my new home I happened to find the list I wrote my senior year. It was divided by 1 year goals, 5 year goals, and 10 year goals. To my surprise having been out of high school only 6 years I had accomplished everything on my list, save for one thing. Get my masters. My 10 year goal? Buy a home. Done and done.

So I had to come up with a new list of goals.

Here it is…

This year:

~~Get a new-better paying job I love~~

5 years:

Get my masters
Start my own business
Travel more

New Zealand
Scotland
Cambridge
Ireland
Spain

10 Years:

Pay off my house

As you can see I have already accomplished my goal for this year and we are only in July. My job offers tuition reimbursement after a year of service, so expect me to get on the GRE bandwagon next year. As for traveling, next year should be my New Zealand trip and I am soooo excited. So all that is left, is to pay off the house, and I have a plan for that too. I’m not too stupid to think that I will pay off my first house. But I plan to sell it in 5 years or so, buy a new home with the money from my townhouse, and maybe that home I will pay off, or maybe the one after that.

The point is that plans work for me. I need them to keep going. Without a plan or a list of goals I think I would be a bit empty. So for those of us that need plans and goals, I encourage you teachers to try the same project with your students and see where it gets them.

Grilled Cheese

2009-07-20T09:28:00.007-04:00

Russ and I eat a lot of soup and sandwiches; in fact we love them so much that we have our own soup/ sandwich plates.

After watching an Oprah episode where Gail traveled to find the best sandwich, and gave 5 stars to a grilled cheese sandwich, I tried last night to duplicate it.

This is the original recipe:

Café Muse's Grilled Cheese Sandwich

1 slice Havarti cheese

1 slice mozzarella cheese

1 slice Danish fontina cheese

1/2 Tbsp. butter , softened (for best results, use high-quality butter)

Honey from a squeeze bear bottle

1 tsp. fresh basil , chopped

2 slices tomato

2 slices bread (organic multigrain bread works best)

Sauté pan large enough for 2 slices of bread

Butter bread on one side with melted butter. Place in pan, butter side down, over medium-low heat. Place mozzarella on one half of the bread and fontina and Havarti on the other. Cook until golden on bottom and cheese begins to melt. Place tomato on mozzarella side and honey on fotina/Havarti side. Place under broiler for a few minutes to heat up tomato. Sprinkle basil and assemble sandwich.

What I did:

1 slice Havarti cheese

1 slice fontina cheese

1/2 Tbsp. butter

Honey from a squeeze bear bottle

1 tsp. fresh basil , whole leaf

1 thin slice tomato

2 slices bread, three cheese semolina

I used my Panini press and everything worked very well. There was more then enough cheese without the mozzarella.

All in all it was very good, but not 5 stars worthy. I think next time I would use pesto instead of the fresh basil, maybe add some more tomato, and add a dash of the garlic and wine seasoning from The Melting pot.

Ray's Hell Burger

2009-07-17T14:08:00.004-04:00

Ray’s Hell Burger

1713 Wilson Blvd

Arlington, VA 22209

(703) 841-0001

Hours:

Mon. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Tue-Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Actual Hell Burger

Today my department took me out to lunch as a farewell and oh was Ray’s good.I had never heard of it, and the sign still says Ray’s Steaks, which has moved down the street.

I ordered the B.I.G. Poppa: Au Poivre Burger With Black Peppercorn Crust, Aged Danish Bleu Cheese, Cognac & Sherry Sauteed Mushrooms, Grilled Red Onions

The blue cheese was perfect, the burger rare, and 10oz of black pepper crusted perfection.

The place is crowded, the line is long, the burgers very messy, and they only take cash but its well worth the line. They also don’t serve fries, but instead serve seasonal sides such as watermelon, corn, and mac and cheese.

It’s a must try!

OMG,OMG,OMG!

2009-07-14T08:57:00.000-04:00

I know I promised I would post vacation pictures, and I will, but I have much bigger news...

I will be leaving my current position on July 23^rd and will begin my new position as a Meeting Coordinator on July 27^th!

This new job is very exciting for the following reasons…

1. It is only 5.8 miles from my house! I’m so excited about a 10 minute commute

2. I no longer have assistant in my job title.

3. The benefits are amazing, including 3 weeks vacation!

4. I get real casual Friday’s! I can’t wait to wear jeans to work!

Honey, i'm home!

2009-07-07T08:45:00.003-04:00

I’m Back from Vacation and I have pictures and stories to share. Until I can load the pictures from my camera on to the computer I will leave you with my wonderful sunburn that I received after 6.5 hours on a “do nothing all day” trip. The trip was fantastic, the burn was not.

I did use suntan lotion! And i reapplied! :(

It was an accident!

2009-06-26T10:46:00.002-04:00

On Wednesday morning I was running late for work and ended up getting into a car accident.

I was driving on 66 when traffic came to a stop. We were on a downward hill and traffic began to move again. The car in front of me slammed on his brakes, and I on mine but it was too late. I rammed into the back of his HUGE SUV and his toe hitch went through the body of my car into the radiator.

We pulled over to the side of the road and I got out and asked if he was ok. He was. And his car did not have a scratch. By his license plate I could tell he was a fire fighter. He told me that he had the toe hitch for exactly this kind of situation. I asked if we should call the police and he said that because he and his car were ok that I should not. We did not exchange info and he told me to quickly get off 66 and park my car.

So I did just that. I drove up the ramp and pulled in

to a body shop of all places. I asked if I could just park my car while I called AAA and my parents, and the guy agreed. Unfortunately he was not as nice as the guy I hit. He made my dad pay him $75 for just having my car there for an hour. What a jerk. I have such hatred for this guy and his company. I was looking for a Good Samaritan and got a slime ball instead.

Finally the tow truck came and I went to my parent’s house. I never made it to work that day. And I spend a good few hours in tears.

So now my car is a disaster.

Waxing disaster

2009-06-16T12:55:00.001-04:00

So I did something yesterday that has me a bit upset now.

I waxed my brother’s chest and stomach. He asked me to after he tried to do it to himself, his test patch was really red and scabby.

I had him buy bikini zone to help with the bumping and redness. It was really bumpy when we did it, his skin is soooo sensitive. But I figured the bikini zone would help. Not so much.

He texted me a few minutes ago and said that it looks really red and like the face of a prepubescent boy.

The men in my family have an insane amount of chest and back hair (my mom has already promised my brothers that she would let them get laser hair removal at 18) was it wrong of me to do it? It seemed fine at the time. But now I feel bad that he’s all red and bumpy. I did not even get to finish the top because the kit he got did not have enough strips. He said he’s going to shave the rest. Sad.

Amazing Grace

2009-06-12T10:28:00.001-04:00

If you know me, you know that I was raised Roman Catholic, went to catholic school until the 5^th grade, and was confirmed against my will at 13.

Sometime between ages 9 – 11 I realized that I was not a Christian. When I told my family I was forced to continue to go to CCD (Sunday school, but not on Sundays) and was confirmed event though I expressed my wish to not be confirmed to my parents, CCD teacher, and priest.

My mother finally apologized a few years ago for making me go through with it and I feel like I have made my peace with that.

When I was in catholic school I sang in the church choir on Sundays and attended mass with my school on Wednesdays. For years I went to mass twice a week.

It’s been well over 10 years since I’ve been to church regularly and I recently realized how ingrained the mass was in me when I attended a catholic funeral complete with a full mass. I remembered the entire mass word for word including all the words to the songs that I sang so many years ago at school.

It’s always a bit awkward now to go to church, I know all the priests lines, I know the congregations reply’s, I know all the prayers, but I feel like a traitor if I participate because they are not my own beliefs and convictions. So I sit quietly, I bow my head when I need to and I use the time to reflect on my own beliefs. But the songs get me every time.

As we were filing out of the pews the other day the final song was “Here I am lord” a song I have always loved. As I sang a caught the eye of a tearful mourner as she walked past and she smiled and winked at me. I’m glad I could help ease her pain.

“Here I am lord” may be meant for followers of the Christian faith but I see my own beliefs and truths in it, and although not all the lines are to my liking I find the song oddly comforting and all encompassing of the faiths that are and have been mine. Now if I can only do something about that pesky Catholic Conscience.

Here I am Lord

I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin,
My hand will save.

Chorus
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

I, who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?

Chorus

I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have borne my people’s pain.
I have wept for love of them.
They turn away.

Chorus

I will break their hearts of stone,
Give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak my words to them.
Whom shall I send?

Chorus

I, the Lord of wind and flame,
I will send the poor and lame.
I will set a feast for them.
My hand will save.

Chorus

Finest bread I will provide,
'Til their hearts be satisfied.
I will give my life to them.
Whom shall I send?

Chorus

Saying goodbye to a wonderful woman

2009-06-07T12:08:00.002-04:00

On Thursday night I had the opportunity to say goodbye to my best friend’s grandmother. I spent over two hours in the ICU waiting room with her family reminiscing about the good times. There were of course some tears, but mostly laughter and smiles as we talked about her.

I have always called her Grandma, and so have a few others that are not related to her by blood. I have spent many a night on the sofa talking to her while drinking a glass of wine and watching her knit. I laughed as I watched her snow tube down a hill, and I always listened to her advice on life and love. She was always happy to see me and ready with a hug and a kiss.

She was the kind of woman who would spend countless hours watching over a fish and praying that it lived. Her kind heart and tender manner was always a comfort to those around her.

As I listened to the stories that her children told about her that night I felt honored that she was a part of my life, albeit only for a little while.

This morning at 3:30am grandma left us. Grandma lived a good life, and raised a small army of loving children and grandchildren to be some of the most wonderful people I have ever known.

I love you Grandma.

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

Accommodations

2009-06-03T11:22:00.005-04:00

Russ and I will be staying at the Merlin Guesthouse during our stay in Key West. I had a love bird named Merlin once and think perhaps this is meant to be. Because it’s the summer season it’s only $99 a night.

According to the review the standard queen room we are staying in is very small, the house is old, and the walls are paper thin. But truly none of that bothers me. I’m most excited about the pool and hammock in the yard, and the outdoor continental breakfast every morning. I will post pictures upon return and let you know how it was.

Like I said yesterday it is only one block from the hustle and bustle of Duval Street which is very exciting. The Lonely Planet guide book I have been reading warns that if I hang out on Duval street too long I may be puked on by drunk frat boys, so perhaps this might not be our favorite places on the island but I hear that the Beach at the state park is beautiful and not as popular with the tourists.

I found an all day “do nothing” cruise that I really wanted to go on, but it’s already booked on the only day we could go. So that is a bit sad. But there is plenty to do so it’s not a problem. In case you’re interested here is the link…

http://sunsetwatersportskeywest.com/donothinginkeywest.html

I have a feeling this might be the kind of place we want to go back to over and over to explore all the different islands.

the vacation verdict?

2009-06-02T15:50:00.003-04:00

The Florida Keys!

(i know they were not even on the list)

I just booked a room in a small house one block north of the famous Duval Street, and i think i have most of the logistics worked out. I can't wait to share all the details with you. but until then i leave you with the following...

Vacation

2009-05-21T10:27:00.001-04:00

I have not been on a vacation in over two years and it’s starting to show.

My problem is I need to save up vacation time and money for a trip I am planning to New Zealand sometime next year.

So far my ideas are…

Ashville NC

Myrtle Beach SC

Salem MA

Austin TX

Seattle WA

New York NY

Las Vegas NV

I’ve been to Miami more times than I can count and I have no interest in Disney this time around.

So reader’s do you have any fabulous ideas of where I should go? Do you know someone with a vacation home/ timeshare for rent? Any and all suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thursday Night Line Up

2009-05-21T03:29:00.000-04:00

I have always watched a lot of TV, and probably always will, but this is ridiculous.

On Thursday nights I already watch:

Ugly Betty

Grey’s Anatomy

Private Practice

Hells Kitchen

And now The Mentalist???? That’s right The Mentalist is moving to Thursday nights.

That’s 5 hours of TV on Thursday alone. Better yet they all air during a 3 hour period!

What happens when one show has a two hour special? My DVR will explode and so will my brain from all the drama.

How do you Fondue?

2009-05-19T13:52:00.002-04:00

I love the melting pot. and i probably go there too often and spend too much money when i go. but when i tell people they need to try it they get a bit nervous about what to order. so the following is what i usually order when i go. but i have tried almost everything on the menu so if you are wondering about trying something just ask.

Cheese: i LOVE blue cheese so naturally the Wisconsin Trio is my favorite.

Salad: i love the sweet house dressing.

Signature Selection: the Teriyaki and shrimp are my favorite. also don't forget your entree comes with bottomless veggies (the mushrooms and green goddess sauce are my favorite)

Coq au Vin: i like this cooking style the best because of the added wine and garlic.

Flaming Turtle: there is nothing better than caramel, pecans, and chocolate to dip your bananas in.

As a special treat here is the recipe for the Wisconson Trio...

Wisconson Trio

1 ½ cups (6 ounces) shredded Butterkase cheese
1 ½ cups (6 ounces) shredded Fontina cheese
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¾ cup white wine
¼ cup dry sherry
2 teaspoons chopped shallots
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
¼ cup crumbled Blue cheese
2 tablespoons chopped scallions

Toss the Butterkase and Fontina cheese with the flour in a bowl. Place a metal bowl over a saucepan filled with 2 inches of water. You may also use a conventional double boiler. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and pour the white wine and sherry into the bowl. Stir in the shallots using a fork. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.

Add half the cheese blend and cook until the cheese is melted, stirring constantly. Add the remaining cheese blend in a small amount at a time, stirring constantly in a circular motion after each addition until the cheese is melted. Fold in the pepper and Blue cheese. Pour into a warm fondue pot and keep warm over low heat. Garnish with the scallions.

Dresses From Nordstroms

2009-05-19T01:07:00.002-04:00

I was bored the other day and found these at nordstrom.com the blue one if you remember is one of the ones i bought and returned for my best friends wedding. i like that the bride could wear the white one to match. i would so wear it to my wedding if i was taller ( i would have to cut off some of the beading to wear it even in heels) and if my boobs fit into it. i really love the grey dress it's very grecian goddess, and of corse i love green hence the green silk dress.

that is all.

I don’t do vomit…

2009-05-18T10:52:00.000-04:00

So remember I said I took Friday off work? I did and it was a very nice day with the Empress and a very nice evening which included dinner and a movie with some of the usual gang.

After the movie which ended at around 1:30am i had a feeling that I should swing by my parent’s house. My mom was in Miami and my dad had decided to extend his trip to Cincinnati. The boys had told me that they were cooking dinner with a friend, when I walked into the kitchen the house was dark and quiet and there was a mess of dirty pots and pans and dishes but nothing alarming. And then upon further inspection of the kitchen I found a pink cell phone, earrings, flip flops and a girl’s purse. Shit.

I went upstairs and found that the light was on in the hallway bathroom and someone had been in the “man cave” the futon was open and there was a box of condoms. There was also another pink phone and another purse. Shit again.

I walked into B’s room (the younger of my two brothers) and tried to wake him up, he started talking to me incoherently but I though nothing of it because he was a sleep. the only light I had was my cell phone and the hallway light but I noticed something weird on his face “B did you throw up?” “yeah in the back yard”

I walked through the connecting bathroom into my other brother’s room, OMG he’s in bed with a blond. Thankfully he has a shirt on. “K wake up” I slapped his face, pinched his arm and did everything I could to wake him up. K is the soundest sleeper I know and every morning is a hassle to get him out of bed. A walked back to B’s room through the bathroom and by this time Russ has turned on the light. Shit shit shit!!!

B had thrown up in his bed. And was not only covered in it, so was his pillow that he was laying on and the bed was soaked though. Now for anyone who knows me you would know that I DON’T DO VOMIT…well this time I did.

By this time J (K’s friend I don’t like, who had been in the bathroom with the other girl) comes into the hallway and I ask him to take B and put him in the shower. I stripped the bed and went downstairs to put the stuff in the washer.

Meanwhile B takes his shower and then lays down naked on his wet mattress and goes back to bed. I had to ask K, Russ, and J to move him to the futon in the “man cave” and put a trash can near him.

I eventually went home sometime after 3am and realized I had left my cell. Russ and I got back in the car. We decided that we should probably sleep at the house anyway. When I got to the house the kids were now sitting around the kitchen table eating leftovers from dinner. I switched the laundry, found my phone and laid down in my parents bed with Russ. I could not sleep but Russ was out almost immediately. I got up and finished the laundry and washed up the dishes. When I finally went to bed it was 5am.

When I woke up in the morning I kept think of the song “Oh what a night”

stuff

2009-05-14T15:33:00.002-04:00

I really need to carry my camera around with me to show you lots of fun stuff but I'm just not that kind of person. I'll work on it though I promise.

Things are a bit crazy on the home front. My grandmother is in hospice care, my grand father is recovering from a quadruple bypass, my mom went to Miami do be with my grandfather, and I am cooking dinner everyday for my dad and brothers. On top of that one of my tires is flat and needs to be replaced so I have been driving Russ's car.

Last night Russ's softball team was scheduled to play, like always they did not have enough girls and like always asked me to play. I usually say yes but last night I had plans and said no. they had to forfeit the game. It really makes me mad that I'm the one that always gets stuck in the middle. I did not volunteer to play, and I have expressed my dislike of softball several times. So why then do I feel bad saying no when it's not my fault that the girls on their team are always bailing?

Instead of going to watch the game like planned with the Empress, we decided to go for sushi buffet which was oh so good and then walked around the town center for a bit.

Tonight I am going to happy hour at the Melting Pot with the girls, then home for dinner with Russ and then to the Empress's house to watch the finally of Grey's Anatomy. Grab your tissue box your going to need it!

My dad has a one day business trip tomorrow and that means that Russ and I might stay at my parent's house tonight to make sure the boys get out of bed and make it to school on-time in the morning.

i have tommorrow off of work to hang out with the Empress and get some other stuff done.

have a great weekend everyone!

Life is Crap!

2009-05-04T13:11:00.001-04:00

I think i need this t-shirt!

Visit www.lifweiscrap.com for your very own Life is Crap t-shirt.