Unskinny Bop Anyone?

I don't feel like I've been busy the past two or so weeks, but looking back I guess I have.  My dad is currently in Alaska on a fishing trip so I've been hanging out with my mom more.  Both this past Saturday and the Saturday previous we met up and did some hiking/trail-walking.  It was nice having some one-on-one time with my mom, as well as getting some exercise out of the deal.

The rest of my weeks have mainly been spent at work, including our Employee Appreciation Dinner at Newcastle Golf Club a week ago last Friday.  It was nice to catch up with coworkers outside of the office, and the food was pretty dang good too.  The hubs and I had to leave a bit early as he works really early on Saturdays, but that was okay as I kept yawning through the night - not out of boredom, just out of tiredness.

Other than work and work events, things haven't been too busy (thankfully) - though this weekend was a bit packed.  Friday night I went with a friend (we'll call her PV) to go see a seriously awesome concert - Bret Michaels!  Oh yes, that's right, we went to see the lead singer of Poison, and it was really really fun.  The concert was at Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, which is quite a long way from where PV and I live, so we had to skeedaddle around 6:30pm to be sure and make it for the start at 8:30pm.  Once we got there the people-watching was quite entertaining.  I had a beer and PV and I took our seats.  The concert started a slight bit late, but not too bad, and lasted a little over an hour.  We got to hear lots of Poison songs (Unskinny Bop anyone?) and some covers of songs I love (like Sweet Home Alabama).  The great thing was, the concert was over around 10pm, we left right away, were able to get out of the EQC parking lot really easily, and I was home by 11pm.  I feel old saying this, but I was really glad to get home early and get to bed.

Saturday was hiking with my mom, then the hubs and I spent some time together.  We went out to dinner at Claim Jumper's, then went to see the movie Iron Man with Robert Downey Jr.  I had heard it was pretty good, and indeed it was.  And today has been spent working around the house and running errands - overall a pretty productive day and fun weekend.  Now to gear up for the work week starting tomorrow.

Me Mosaic

Since my friend Weathergirl always knows how to do things right, I'm copying her idea...

Instructions:

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

2. Using only the first page of results, pick one image.

3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab's Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

Questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food right now?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. What is your favorite drink?

7. What is your dream vacation?

8. What is your favorite dessert?

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. What is one word that describes you?

12. What is your flickr name?

The only zip code that matters

I found out that one of my all-time favorite shows, Beverly Hills 90210, is making a come back.  The CW is doing a remake of the 90's classic scheduled for this fall.  After I found this out, I noticed that the SOAPnet channel is rerunning old 90210 episodes - twice a day at that!  I confess, I have been DVR-ing the episodes and reliving my middle and high school days watching them each night.  And another, even bigger confession - I enjoy them I think even more now than I did then.  I swear 90210 has got to be one of the best shows ever, even when the gang went to college and Brenda went to "Europe".  It almost makes me miss middle school...almost.

Time to update

It's definitely been a while since I've blogged, and there has been quite a bit going on.  Here are some updates:

South Beach - I made it through Phase 1 (barely) and am now working with Phase 2.  There have definitely been some not so good food choices, but overall I'm still down (weight-wise) from where I started.  I still need to work on eating more veggies, but I'm definitely eating more fruit and less bread/rice than I used to.

Friends - there has been some fairly serious parties going on lately.  There was a birthday bash w/ dinner at Umi Sake house and karaoke at Ozzie's and a baby shower - with the baby due in just a couple weeks!  And there have been many a little get together here and there, mainly at The Jones.

House - something major has been happening with our house.  We finally put in (fake) hardwood floors!  My dad and my hubbie's dad and brother came over and helped us install things and man was it a pain in the ars.  Unfortunately we couldn't do the stairs as the stairnosing is on backorder, but at least the ugly blue carpet is gone.

I'm sure there are other things I'm forgetting, but that will have to wait for a different post.  Today I will be busy celebrating my husband's birthday and trying to regain feeling in my mouth after having cavities filled at the dentist this morning (bluh).

South Beach - Day Four

Okay, I'm not gonna lie - this is hard.  I hadn't realized I was so dependent on carbs until I started this diet.  I do know it's working though, because already I've lost about 3 lbs.  But the meals are quite different than I (or the hubs) am used to.  I am comforted by the fact that I only have a little over a week to go with Phase 1.  I think the meal planning is what's hardest - I really have to plan out what I'm going to eat ahead of time.

On a separate note, I'm really glad it's almost the weekend - for some reason this week has felt really long.  I've got a lot of fun things planned.  Tomorrow night I'm going to see My Fair Lady the musical with some of the knotties, then one of the knotties has a baby shower Saturday afternoon, and a different knottie is having a karaoke birthday celebration Saturday night.  Fun times!

South Beach - Day One

Day one of South Beach was a difficult day, I have to admit.  The mini quiches I made for breakfast were not so hot, the dressing I made for my lunch salad was really quite gross, and I started feeling queasy in the afternoon as my body was going through serious carb withdrawals.  I'm better for the moment as dinner was something I actually made before starting on SB that I really like.  Plus I'm about to have a sugar-free fudgesicle, and chocolate always makes things better.  But man, I would kill for some brie on a baguette.  

Time to gear up for day two.

Welcome to Miami

This Sunday the hubs and I are gearing up for a major undertaking starting tomorrow - we're going on the South Beach diet.  It's time for both of us to lose some weight and get healthier.  I read the book yesterday, picked through all the recipes today and developed a meal plan for this week. Then came the shopping - surprisingly it wasn't as difficult (or expensive) as I thought it would be, though it still was not cheap.  And it will definitely take more time than I'm used to putting in to my meals, but if that's what it takes to get the hubs and I to lose weight, then I'm willing to do it.  Wish me luck! 

What a tweener

It's fairly rare that I buy CDs - I mainly listen to the radio or buy singles for my iPod.  However I got a giftcard to Target for my birthday last month and decided to get not one, but two new CDs that came out fairly recently.  The first was the Mariah Carey CD, which a friend told me was really good.  The second was the new Danity Kane CD - their second album.  I didn't purchase their first, but after watching the most recent Making The Band season on MTV I really wanted to get their album.  

I had a brow appointment this morning with the best esthetician ever - Christina at the InSpa in Woodinville - and decided to stop by the Target just nearby afterward.  It's a decent size Target, though not the biggest by any means.  I found the Mariah Carey CD with no problems, but couldn't find the Danity Kane CD.  I ended up having to ask a sales associate (a guy probably a little younger than me - not by much) if they had that CD, to which he replied "who?"  I then repeated myself and he was like "Danity Kane...hmmm, let me see".  He looked for a moment and said "Are you sure it's out yet?" forcing me to reply with "yeah, it came out before the Day 26 album and you guys have that", which made me sound like the biggest tweener on the planet.  He said "ooooohhhh...Danity Kane" as in he suddenly understood who I was talking about - and the fact that I have the musical maturity of a 12 year old.  They ended up not having it and I got it at a different Target (where I called to ask to make sure they had it before going - another embarrassing situation, at least not in person though).  I haven't listened to it yet, but I'm sure I will be bopping my head up and down in the car when I do - like the tweener-in-a-nearly-30-year-old-body that I am.

The Big Numero Uno

I can't believe it's been a full year since my husband and I have gotten married.  It's definitely been an eventful year, full of both ups and downs.  The hubbie and I celebrated our anniversary this past weekend.  I told him I would plan this year's anniversary and he would plan the next, and we would continue alternating the planning.  I put together a tour of Qwest Field, a trip to the Seattle Aquarium, and dinner at The Brooklyn (where we had our first dinner out as a married couple).  I also wrapped up some clues for the hubster to guess where we were going next.  The first clue was his Seahawk hat, the second was some swedish fish, and the third was a Baby Ruth (I couldn't think of anything else that would carry well and represented NY).  The day ended up being really nice, and fairly cheap thanks to a coupon for the aquarium and an off-hour happy hour at the bar at The Brooklyn.   So here's to a successful year of married life, with many more to come.

The Convergence Zone

I have so had it with this weather.  Last Saturday the weather was fabulous - reminiscent of my time in California.  Nearly 80 degrees, sunny, no clouds in the sky, etc. etc. The hubby and I got some yard work done and just hung out in the sun.  This weekend was quite different.  Friday night I went out to one of my fave restaurants, The Jones, with a good friend.  While we were there it started snowing...in mid-April.  It wasn't sticking, so I wasn't worried.  Well, about an hour into dinner, it started to stick.  I was definitely getting worried.  We finished up, paid our bill, and I drove my friend home - with the snow really coming down.  I got home and there was already about half an inch on the ground, with more on the way.  When I woke up yesterday morning there were about 3 or 4 inches on the ground.  I honestly could not believe that it was almost May and I had to deal with snow.  What surprised me was the my parents, who live out in the Cascade Foothills, did not have snow.  This is really the first time we've felt the effects of the infamous Puget Sound Convergence Zone - gotta love that.  At least all the snow melted by today, but I swear if it snows again, I am going to go ballistic.  Summer, where are you?

A rare weekday night out

It is a rare event that the hubbie and I go out for dinner - on a weekday or otherwise.  Mainly due to our conflicting schedules, but also because we're tired and don't want to go out anywhere.  However, tonight we were both home from work relatively early so we went out to dinner and it was lovely.  We went to PF Changs and had some good Chinese food, including the always scrumptious lettuce wraps.  Then I took the hubs to fro yo at Red Mango.  Turned out he didn't like it - at all.  Which is too bad because it's really good.  Hopefully he'll learn to love it because it's a delish alternative to ice cream and we're both going to try and eat better.  Here's to keeping with the new year's resolutions!

Step by Step

I have been so busy lately I haven't had much time to blog.  Work has been absolutely crazy with this week looking to be just as crazy.  It's led to some seriously bad eating habits as I've been so tired I don't want to cook so I end up getting fast food for lunch and dinner.  No good for the whole weight-loss thing I'm trying to keep going.  Plus I haven't been able to make it to the gym as I've been pulling really late nights at work, so it's been a double whammy.

The weekends have been pretty busy too...this weekend a friend of the hubbie's got married and he was involved in the wedding party.  So I went to work on Saturday morning, then the rest of Saturday was filled with wedding-ness.  It actually was a really nice wedding - ceremony at St Mark's in Shoreline and reception at Bell Harbor downtown on Pier 66.  The food was fabulous and the bride looked amazing.  I was originally not looking forward to going as I've been to so many weddings I'm kind of on wedding overload, but I ended up having a really good time.  We sat with a bunch of couples we didn't know hardly at all, but by the end of the evening we were all tearing it up on the dance floor to NKOTB's Step by Step :)

Speaking of NKOTB, I am so so excited - they are getting back together!  I was in love with them when growing up and now I have a chance to relive the glory that is New Kids on the Block.  If they end up touring and coming to Seattle, I am so going to that concert.

Back to being a nearly 30-year-old...it's just about my bedtime as I have to get up early for the long work week.  Here we go again.

Pure Bliss

I just got back from Habitude, a fabulous spa in Seattle, and it was so so nice - indeed, pure bliss.  My hubbie got me a gift certificate to the spa for my birthday and I've been so stressed out lately that I decided I needed a massage now.  So I booked a river rock massage for tonight after work.  I was freaking out because it started snowing around Noon (that's right, snow when it's nearly April) and I thought I would have to cancel or leave at, like, 4pm to make my appointment at 7pm.  Thankfully it stopped snowing around 3pm, however I was still worried about traffic so I left around 5pm.  I ended up getting to the spa at 5:40 - way early for my appointment.  I was going to just hang around in the steam room and read magazines and such when the host person told me they had an open appointment for a manicure.  It was only about $25, so I decided to go for it since tomorrow is the big bday celebration and who doesn't want nice nails for their bday? 

As I agreed to the manicure I mentioned something about celebrating my birthday which she replied "great, we'll get you a free spa smoothie."  Nice!  I got my nails done (a sexy dark red) and I think it's one of the best manicures I've had - they look fab.  After my manicure I sat down and flipped through the latest InStyle, then off to my massage!  I was a little nervous as it was a guy masseuse (masseur?), which I've never had before.  Thankfully, I'm pretty sure he was gay, so no need to worry. :)  And truthfully, I think it was the best massage I've ever had (not that there's much to compare to, but still).  The masseuse recommended that I come back (of course) and that I do neck stretches three time a day over the next couple of weeks.  While that seems a bit excessive to me, if it will make my neck and shoulders less sore and carry less stress, I'm willing to try it.

Now I'm off to bed for hopefully a lovely deep sleep - and more importantly, a sleep-in tomorrow morning. Mmmm...sleep. 

Best of both worlds

Well, the trip is over, and despite the rainy weather it feels good to be home.  I'm back at work with lots to do, which is a bit stressful, but I'd rather be too busy than bored.  However, it makes me really quite tired, which is why I have spent my birthday doing a whole lot of nothing.  In light of the fact that I'm not getting any younger, isn't that the best way to spend a birthday?  Of course you have to do it up a bit too, which is why on Saturday a friend and I are having a big joint birthday bash.  Best of both worlds - and why not?  Here's to a week of relaxation in preparation for a fun filled Saturday night.

Houston - no no no no no, LA - yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

I am still not impressed with Houston - and at this point, probably never will be.

Tuesday was a little better than Monday, but not much.  The conference was pretty good, and I met some interesting people.  I also did a little shopping at The Galleria and found some good jeans and a pair of shorts on sale at Macys.  So far, the day was looking up.  Then in the evening I went to the NASA space center as an outing with the conference.  I debated about going as I was so tired, but thought when would I ever get the chance again so I better. Mistake.  The center was not really a lot to see, there were kids swarming all over the place, and I didn't get to go on the tram ride to tour the facility, which is the thing I really wanted to do.  The up side was that there was a bbq put on in the space center which was good, but that was about it.  When they announced that the first tour bus was leaving the facility, I practically raced to the door.

Wednesday started out a bit better.  I found out my company won two awards for the maps we turned into the map competition.  Plus I was leaving the God-forsaken city of Houston.  However the day quickly got worse as the Super Shuttle service that was picking me up to take me to the airport was late, got stuck in traffic, and I almost didn't make my plane to LA.  I would have been livid, but thankfully, on the plane my suitcase and I went.  I arrived in LA, got my suitcase, got the rental car (after waiting in life for half an hour), and drove out to my friend and her husband's house - I'll call them Meadow and Rugby

My time in LA has been fabulous - really quite relaxing.  I've been lounging around their house, which has a lovely pool and a lovely view, reading the new Sophie Kinsella book, Remember Me? and getting a tan (hopefully).  On Thursday night we went to this place called The Velvet Margarita and woo-eee did Meadow and I get drunk.  We also got holla'd at - once in the bar (Whooooooa...rooooooowwwrrr) and the second time as we were leaving the bar (You ladies need a sugar daddy?  How 'bout a nice guy?).  Only in LA :)

Since then I've been driving around their little town outside of LA, went to Hollywood today to The Grove and the Farmer's Market, and have had fro you twice (frozen yogurt, for those of you not in the know).  I've also been able to hang out with some of Meadow's and Rugby's friends, who I had met before at their wedding a couple years ago but hadn't seen since.  It's really been grand, and sort of makes me want to move to LA, though I don't think I could leave my family back in Seattle.

Tomorrow I leave back to the Emerald City and am sad to leave my friend and the lovely sunshine.  But back to reality I must go.  I'll have to gear up for the weeks ahead at work as it's likely to be very very busy.  Wish me luck.

Not Impressed

I have to say, thus far, I am not impressed with Houston.  People are not nearly as hospitable as was the general impression I had, the conference has been kind of ridiculous (decent workshops, but there's just certain little things that have annoyed me), the airport is disgusting, the mall the hotel is linked to is so big I keep getting lost when trying to look for anything (which normally I would love a big mall, but even I can't take this), everything looks brown and flat, and to top it all off, it's in the Central time zone so all my shows are on a hour earlier, throwing off my schedule.  

I have to elaborate on the hospitality thing, because there is one thing that is bugging me the most.  When I arrived at the airport I waited over half an hour for my suitcase to arrive through baggage claim, then I went to a shuttle counter as I had reserved a ride to the hotel through them. They couldn't find my reservation.  Let me say that the first impression I got from the gal behind the counter was fabulous - hair all out of whack, a lazy/bitchy look on her face, and  a gold front tooth.  That's right - she had bling in her teeth.  Nice.  

I gave the girl a phone number and my first and last name and nothing.  Of course I didn't have a confirmation code with me because usually my name is enough - not a lot of people have my name, and combined with my last name it's really quite original.  So I call my husband and he gives me a code and I go back and they find it - it was under my maiden name.  Should I have possibly thought I put it under my maiden name?  Maybe, since I still haven't changed my debit card, but don't you think when this chick looked up reservations by first name for the time I specified, she could have said "the only reservation I have is for a (insert maiden name here)"?   How many people with my first name can there possibly be coming in at 5:30pm.  Give me a break.

I'm hoping tomorrow is a better day.

The Land of BBQ and Bush

The first leg of my trip has begun...I am sitting at the airport waiting for my flight to begin boarding.  I always get nervous flying - not sure why, since I've heard it's actually more dangerous to drive a car then to fly, but I'm nervous none the less.  Plus I had to check a suitcase, which I don't normally like to do - an additional worry that I'm not going to have any clothes when I get to Houston.  At least the hotel I'm staying at is in one of the largest malls in the nation, so if necessary I can buy a whole new wardrobe - I'm sure my bank account would like that.  But I did pack all my shoes in a small suitcase I'm bringing as one of my carry-ons, so at least I won't have to buy any new footwear (darn it).

I have to admit, it was quite the task to pack for this trip, since really it's two trips in one.  I had to pack a bunch of work clothes for the conference I'm attending Mon-Wed, then a bunch of fun clothes and some beach clothes for the LA portion of the trip.  I even went so far as to write out a clothes schedule for each day - if I had a polaroid camera I probably would have taken pictures of each outfit, a la Kimora Lee Simmons.  Speaking of which, I think she is so fabulous, having watched her show, Life in the Fab Lane.  She definitely knows what she wants and knows how to get it from people, which I have to say I admire a bit as I am certainly not that way.  

Anyway, I digress.  Not much longer until I board the plane to the land of BBQ and Bush - hmmm, putting it that way doesn't make me so excited to go.  It's like going into hostile territory - hopefully I come back alive. :)

Darn you yahoo!

I am currently watching the results show for American Idol, which I think I like better than the actual performance show.  Usually I record it and wait until the last 10 minutes to watch it so I can skip through all the commercials and lame show filler.  For some reason, this time I am watching it live, which I don't think I will ever do again - and this is why.  When I watch TV I usually also check my email and surf the internet at the same time.  I go onto Yahoo to check my inbox and what do I see - a headline spoiling who already got booted off American Idol!  Hellllooooo - just because the results are done on East Coast time doesn't mean everybody watches it at that time!  So flippin annoying. 

Giddyup

Things have been pretty crazy at work lately, and they're only going to get crazier.  I have quite a few projects that have deadlines in early April with still a ton of work to be done.  Now mix into the pot the fact that I'm going to be out of the office all next week and it's the perfect recipe for stress.  

Despite the stress of leaving for a week, I'm really looking forward to the trip I'm taking.  The first part of the week I will be going to Houston for a conference for work.  While conferences aren't always fun, this one deals with GIS (Geographic Information Systems), which is what I use on a daily basis at work and also what my undergraduate focus was on.  Plus I'm entering some maps I created for work into a map competition at the conference, so I'm really hoping I win.  Maybe I would get a bonus!

The conference lasts only from Monday to Wednesday, at which point the second part of my trip (my actual vacation) begins.  I'm so excited to be going to LA to visit one of my best friends (and her hubbie).  They bought a house not that long ago and I'm excited to see it.  I'm also excited to lie on the beach, hopefully in the warm sun with no clouds or rain.  And I'm going to be a geek and admit I'm excited to try and spot celebrities (even D-list ones).  I need to make sure and charge my camera so I don't go to take a picture of, say, Alyssa Milano, and get the low battery flash.

How do you like dem Apples?

After quite an absence of posting, I am now blogging from my new MacBook. Yup, I made the switch from a PC to a Mac, and so far so good. It's definitely different - not bad different, just...different. It will take some getting used to, for sure, but I like it.

This switch came quite suddenly, actually. Yesterday I found out that my company has a computer purchase program where they'll buy the computer for you and you can pay them back interest free within a year. Considering the laptop I have now is about to crash, and I'm headed to Houston in a week and a half for work and don't want to lug that 15 lb brick around, I decided to just bite the bullet and get the laptop.

Other than that, not much has been going on. I've been working quite a bit, which probably explains why I haven't been blogging much. I also have been working out quite a bit - every day since Saturday in fact. It's been really good - it definitely helps to do it every day to keep my momentum going. And I alternate my workouts between running near my office and going to the gym (and doing a little DDR - Dance Dance Revolution - on my "off" days). Gold star under my name for "keeping New Years Resolutions"!

Sara & Ingrid

Lately I've "discovered" some new artists that I really love. The first is Ingrid Michaelson, who a coworker introduced me to (her music, not actually her). She sings the sweater song that was on the Old Navy commercial awhile ago. Her music is quite different than what I would normally listen to, but in a really fun, kind of eccentric way. The second is Sara Bareilles, who sings the song "Love Song" that's pretty popular right now. I downloaded that song from iTunes awhile ago and on a bit of a whim decided to buy her album, which I ended up loving. She kind of has a Norah Jones type of feeling, with maybe a touch of Indigo Girls mixed in. If you're reading this, you should check out both of their albums, because they are fabulous. There - plug done.

The cutest little American Idol

I have to say that David Archuleta on American Idol is just the cutest kid (yes, kid) and has the most beautiful voice. He's so humble and has a really infectious laugh. And he's got cute little dimples. If I was in middle school, I would totally have a crush on him. Who am I kidding - I do have a crush on him and I'm 10 years his senior. I just want to pick him up and put him in my pocket!

That's it - I'm tired from a long day at work and have to gear up for more long days in the coming weeks, so that's all I've got.

I'm baaaaccckk!

It's time to get back in the swing of blogging! I've actually been fairly busy over the last week. This past weekend I took a trip to Portland with two close friends from the sorority and we met up with another close friend from the sorority who lives just outside of Portland. We got a cheap hotel downtown and spent the weekend shopping, seeing the sights, and trying fun restaurants. It was great to have a girls weekend and nice to pay no sales tax at the mall! Although it was President's Day weekend, we came home on Sunday as I had to work on Monday - which actually worked out pretty well because there was no traffic on the way home. Yesssss!

Monday brought the start of a really busy week at work - which after a very slow week previously, I welcomed whole heartedly. I have a feeling the busy trend will continue over next week, which I definitely don't mind. I would much rather be busy than twiddling my thumbs. And what's really great about this week - it's almost over! Tomorrow should actually be pretty easy - especially since we have the blood center coming for people to donate blood, so everyone will probably be in and out all day. I'm supposed to donate blood, which I've done before, but it took forever because the thought of the needle in my arm freaked me out. It still kinda freaks me out, but I figure me being a little freaked out is not enough of a reason to not donate. Look at me pitching in for the greater good.

I pink puffy heart SJP

Can I just say, Sarah Jessica Parker (hereon referred to as SJP) is so cute and such the girl next door (even though she's older than I am by at least 10 years). Not only do I like her because of Sex and the City (one of the best TV shows ever), but I'm watching her right now on Project Runway and she's so nice and just...likable. And it probably helps that she and I share the same birthday, but only a little. SJP, I think you and I should be friends and hang out in fabulous New York restaurants. Give me a call.

Dorky McDorkerson

Why I'm a dork...

1) I saw Ratatouille this weekend and it made me want to try and make the dish...so I did, for dinner tonight. (It actually turned out pretty well, thanks to allrecipes.com)

2a) I'm watching the Westminster Dog Show

2b) When the beagle won Best in Show I teared up a little (courtesy of our own little howler, Chesney)

Hey, at least I can admit it.

It's the simple things

I have no idea why, but for some reason a little after lunch I got a serious hankering for good bread with good cheese - mainly a baguette and brie. I was thinking about it all afternoon, day-dreaming about how good it would taste. Against my better judgment, I stopped at the store on the way home and picked up...yup...a baguette and some brie. And then I proceeded to hork it down as soon as I got in the house (even leaving some of the other groceries I got on the kitchen counter). I have no will power...but a full tummy.

Here we come a'caucusing...

This weekend were the Washington state caucuses and for the first time ever I decided to go. I figured this presidential race is probably one of the most interesting (and possibly most important) I could ever see, so it was time to go and cast my vote. Originally I was planning on going, signing in and voting, then leaving. Once I got there I thought "well, maybe I'll stay" - then I ran into a friend from the sorority who I hadn't seen in forever. She was leaving right after voting, so I decided to leave with her to go grab a cup of coffee and catch up. Turns out she's working down at the Capital as a session aide in the Senate and loves it. It was very interesting to hear about as I've never given much thought to what goes on at the capital, but she was so passionate about it I was definitely captivated.

Today has mainly been about a rest day and a house duty day. I went to the store earlier than I normally do (even before breakfast) and got the grocery shopping out of the way. Then I started in on the laundry - and amazingly enough have kept tabs on it all day. Usually I start in the afternoon and then forget it until I only have enough time to finish one more load. Not today! I also cleaned up the kitchen and installed one of those automatic shower cleaners in our guest shower/tub. I absolutely detest cleaning the shower and bathtub and thought maybe I wouldn't have to if I installed that cleaner system. I'll have to give an update after two weeks (once it's supposed to get things cleaner).

I also cooked dinner today, like a real honest-to-goodness dinner (not just lean pockets or chicken tenders or something). I marinated some chicken in this Chili Coconut Rub With Love from Tom Douglas (a famous Seattle chef). It's not actually a rub, it's a sauce that can be used as a glaze or a marinade. I baked the chicken in the oven after marinating it, then cooked some rice and peas and it was soooo good. I am definitely a fan of this particular marinade - plus I feel it's a fairly healthy meal as it's skinless chicken breast with rice (maybe not so healthy) and peas. Yummy! Now I'm wrapping up the evening with folding the last of the clothes and gearing up for the week ahead. Hopefully it won't be a crazy one.

Lipstick Jungle

I have decided that I really like the show Lipstick Jungle. It's kind of marketing itself as the next version of Sex and the City, and while I don't think it can be nearly that good, it comes up a pretty good second. My enjoyment might have something to do with the fact that I've had nearly a full bottle of wine, but you know, let's look at this objectively. It's a fun show with good actresses - and I think I will like it even when I'm sober. That's gotta count for something.

Ain't nobody gellin

Unfortunately, the gel inserts did not work out. They were just too big for my shoes (who would have thought that). I went running today (go me!) with my old ratty shoes and they actually stood up fairly well. I'm sure I need new shoes, but my old ones should last for the next couple weeks.

Other than that, not much else going on. I'm really excited for the premieres of some of my fave shows. One being America's Next Top Model, coming up on Feb. 20th. That's the one I'm probably most excited for. There's also Girlicious, which is basically a continuation of The Pussycat Dolls. And of course American Idol - which I think is on at the same time as ANTM. Hmmm...that could present a problem.

Are you gellin?

With all of this running I have been doing lately, I decided to get new shoes. Actually, to be more accurate, right when I started I bought new shoes because the ones I have are so old and beat up. I wore the new shoes the past three times I've been running and I realized they're really not that comfortable. So today I went to Nordstrom's and returned them (I originally bought them there, I wasn't just returning them there because Nordstrom's pretty much take everything), then tried on a bunch of different shoes. Of course nothing fit because my feet are so ginormous, so I went to the New Balance store in the mall hoping for better success. Keeping with the theme of the night, they didn't have the right size either (they make it, it just wasn't in stock). The guy there ordered the right size, but it won't be in for about 7-10 business days. I don't have to buy the shoes the store ordered - I can try it on and see if it fits - but that still leaves me with only my old ratty shoes to run in. So what did I do? Bought some gel insoles to hopefully lengthen the life of my old ratty shoes. Will it work? I'll have to let you know.

The Past 48 hours...

I just wrote a huge ole post and it was deleted...damn it. So here we go again...

The past 48 hours have been quite busy. On Saturday I went running around Greenlake with a friend again - two weeks in a row, woohoo! In addition, I went running after work today, around this loop by my office building - twice! Farther than I've ever run before (without someone yelling at me to keep up). I would say definitely in keeping with my New Year's resolutions.

Other than running, I've been up to quite a bit. Saturday after my run (and a shower) I met up with a friend from my sorority for coffee. We hadn't seen each other in awhile, so we spent 3.5 hours catching up. It was great to see her and hear all about her upcoming wedding in December. Then I came home and the hubbie and I ended up going to see Rambo (not my first choice, and probably one of the bloodiest I've ever seen, but not gawd awful either), then out to dinner at Claim Jumpers (with a giftcard).

Sunday I mainly hung out, cleaned up a bit around the house, and watched the Superbowl. Then today I went to work and came home to find a nice little surprise under our dining room table, courtesy of Chesney - a old, dried out, torn up rat carcass. Completely disgusting. I don't think Chesney was the one who chewed it up, but rather just dragged it into our house. Yay for cleaning that up.

So to sum it all up...take that Tom Brady, you lost!

Sickness is Blechy

Well this week was a strange one. We hand snow on Sunday night/Monday morning and I took Monday off, then on Wednesday I started feeling sick with a sore throat. I didn't want to take another day off work, but when I woke up on Thursday with a throat that felt like it was on fire I decided to call in sick. Luckily I was able to rest up and went back to work today, but for some reason I have this very annoying cough now and am sneezing a lot. I'm not sure what sort of illness I've contracted (a bad cold? a weird flu?), but I'm hoping it's just about over. Especially because I'm running around Greenlake tomorrow and I don't want to be hacking on people the whole way around. Plus the Superbowl is this weekend and I want to laugh my ars off at Tom Brady when he throws interceptions without it turning into a body-convulsing cough. I never thought I would say this, but Goooo Giants!

Snow Day

The snow kept a fallin last night and I called in a snow day to work. While it was nice to be at home and not be out driving in the snow, I'm a little worried about the additional 2-4 inches that are supposed to fall tonight. I have more paid leave I can take from work if I really can't make it in, but I don't want to look like a wimp who doesn't want to drive in the snow. I'm not denying that I indeed am a wimp who doesn't want to drive in the snow, I just don't want to look that way.

Being at home when there's snow on the ground is definitely nice, and since I did something to my ankle sometime yesterday I'm trying to stay off of it - which means my ars is on the couch watching TV (what a sacrifice). I was watching reruns of one of my favorite shows of all time, America's Next Top Model, when I stumbled upon the upcoming season of Making the Band. I haven't watched it since the very first season (I think they're on season 4 or 5) because it was too much drama, but I have to admit this season looks really good. Kind of like a Diddy version of The Real World - but the back in the day version of the Real World, not the latest version. I think the last couple of years have really, well, sucked. The best seasons were San Francisco, London, Miami, and of course Seattle - now it's just lame. It almost makes me wish they'd bring Puck back...almost.

You really can wear bridesmaid dresses again!

Not only did this weekend start off fun with all the girlie time on Friday, but the fun continued over Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning I went running around Greenlake with one of the knotties. I didn't run the whole way around the lake, but considering I haven't been running probably since I was in grad school, this was a pretty big accomplishment. We then took our sweaty selves to Target and had a little retail therapy, which in my opinion is a great way to spend the rest of a Saturday morning.

Saturday night I had conflicting plans - the knotties were having a Wine, Wigs, and White Trash party, and my husband had some of his cousins coming over to our house for game night. While I was sad to miss out on the knottie white trashiness, I decided to stay home and play hostess for game night, which ended up being a lot of fun. My husband and his cousins are always a good time - we ended up playing Battle of the Sexes and Loaded Questions, which presented lots of opportunities for family jokes here and there.

Saturday night was followed by Sunday morning, which was basically comprised of sleeping in (one of my favorite activities). For the most part it has been kind of a lazy Sunday - my husband and I played the Wii for a bit, I did some laundry, caught up on some of the shows I DVR'd, etc. Then once the evening rolled around we went to my company's Anniversary Dinner (which they decided to do instead of a Holiday Party, as it's less controversial). It was held at Purple Cafe & Wine Bar in downtown Kirkland, with great food and drink (as you would expect the latter by the name alone). My company had arranged for a Murder Mystery to occur, where people who were coming could sign up for a role and play a part in a fake murder. The scene was set at the wedding of Becky Giovanni and Stanley Simpson - I played Denise Simpson, sister of the groom, and my husband played Harry Hitt, business associate of Becky's dad, Tony Giovanni (a known mob boss). People really dressed the part (I actually wore a bridesmaid dress from a wedding I was in a couple years ago) and it ended up being a really good time. Plus you can't beat free food - or free wine. Now we're back home, and I'm trying to think how the heck I'm going to get to work tomorrow with the snow that's falling from the sky. Since I've already written a post about how much I hate snow, I'll refrain from a soliloquy here, but know that I'm not excited to get up and drive in to work tomorrow. So long to another weekend.

Girlie Time

Tonight was a super fun day. I took a half day at work and met up with a friend who was in town for the weekend. We went to Bell Square for lunch and then went shopping. We each got a new pair of shoes - hers for work, mine for running (since I'm really actually trying to start working out more). Then after her husband picked her up I met up with two other friends for Happy Hour, and we got to have some time to catch up. All in all it was a good day for girlie time, which every woman needs on a regular basis. Now I'm just about off to bed to get some good rest so tomorrow I'm energized for my run.

Call me Betty Focker

This week has been filled with meetings at work - lunch meetings, project meetings, etc. One of the meetings was a potluck lunch staff meeting where they had about half of the employees bring food (the other half brought food to the November staff meeting) and the company donated the money they would have spent on buying us all lunch to charity. I volunteered to make a cake - this great poppyseed pound cake that my mom always made growing up that I recently learned how to make as well. I love this cake and when I've made it for others it usually gets raves. So imagine my surprise when I cut up the cake and set it out on the table where all the other desserts were set and maybe five people took a slice of cake. Five! Out of, like, fifty! People, that cake was a great dessert! I am a good baker! Give me some credit here - I'm not saying I'm Betty Crocker, but c'mon, my cake ain't that bad! Hmph.

Damn the NY Giants (and an update on life in general)

This weekend was a pretty busy one for me. Friday night I met up with a friend for dinner at one of my absolute favorite restaurants, The Jones. One of my friends, MoHo, owns the restaurant with her husband and man, do they do things right. I got to enjoy some nice wine, delicious ravioli, and the most divine banana dessert I think I've ever had (sorry Mom). Then Saturday morning I got my yeti brows waxed so I didn't have to subject anyone to their hideousness anymore. Later that morning I met up with a group of friends I met on an internet website The Knot, known as "the knotties" (MoHo and the friend from dinner are included in that group). We all saw the movie 27 Dresses at Lincoln Square, and it was great. Predictable, but still cute. I then had lunch with about half of the knotties, did a little cruising around Bellevue Square, and headed home.

Saturday night I met up with friends from the sorority I was in at U-Dub. One of them lives near Portland, Oregon, and I hadn't seen her in months, so it was great to catch up. We had decided to get together at the Irish Emigrant, a bar in the U District we frequented quite a bit during our college years. It was definitely weird to be in a college bar, especially when you're about 10 years older than the people who are currently in college.

Today the busy-ness continued as my family celebrated both my Dad's and Brother's birthdays with a lunch/brunch at my parents' house in Issaquah. It was nice to see the family, however we ended up spending more time out there then we meant to and I had to reschedule coffee with a friend for later this week. The rest of the day has mainly been spent doing laundry and dishes (so exciting - but hey, it keeps me in line with my New Year's resolutions), and watching the NFC championship game, which The Packers and my lovely NFL crush Brett Favre have just lost to the New York Giants. It may not sound like it, but I'm seriously raging inside at The Packer loss. Now I'm not nearly as invested in the Super Bowl - though I'll probably still watch it for the commercials, and with the slight hope that the Giants could actually beat Tom Brady and the Patriots this time around. Again I repeat from a previous post...freaking Tom Brady.

Fetch!

When I was little I loved to read, and I read all the time. Through high school and college that changed quite a bit as I was forced to read books that I didn't necessarily want to and didn't have time to read the things I liked. Recently I've gotten back into reading for pleasure, and I even joined a book club. The most recent book I read (which was not a book club book) was "Marley & Me", and it was so fabulous. For those who haven't heard about it, it's the story of a dog, a family pet, and all the trouble he gets in to. Of course eventually he passes away and it's so sad, but the story of Marley was just wonderful. Of course it makes me think of our dog, Chesney - our dear little beagle. She cracks me up with her butt wiggling from happiness when we get home and her "talking" to us when she wants something (mainly a toy or a treat). While it's difficult to know that one day she will pass away, I like to focus on the daily little things she does and how much fuller my life is because of her. Like when she's barking at whatever is (or isn't) behind our back yard fence. And when she thinks a kitchen towel is a new toy. And especially when she climbs all over my lap (and laptop) when I'm trying to write a post. Okay Chesney - enough computer time. Let's play some fetch.

Peyton, what were you thinking?

Being married to a football nut, I have come to enjoy football quite a bit. It's still hard for me to watch a full game when someone besides the Seahawks are playing, but I for sure want to see the highlights and check websites for scores. I've even played fantasy football and enjoyed it. With this has come a few tiny pro-football crushes. One is on Brett Favre (despite him beating our beloved Hawks) - he's just so darn All-American. The other is on Peyton Manning. Again, totally All-American, and from what I can tell with all the commercials he's been in lately, fairly good with the comedic timing. Most of the time I think pro athlete's commercials are completely lame, but the Peyton Manning commercials seriously crack me up. Especially the NFL pep talk ones.

However, I just saw a commercial that has made me revert back to my old way of thinking. And seriously question Peyton's comedic sense. It was a commercial with Peyton and his brother Eli for what I think everyone can agree is completely related to football...double stuff oreo cookies. It was something about both of them leaving football and starting a double stuff oreo licking league. And it was seriously weak..and completely un-funny. Oh Peyton, let's step up the standards, shall we?

No thunder stealing here

I am so excited for a friend of mine. And I'm going to direct you to her blog to wait until she tells the whole world before I do. I can't steal her thunder :) But Spring Break, I'm completely thrilled for you and your man.

http://awatchedpotwaitingtoboil.blogspot.com/

It's beginning to look a lot like...snow

It has barely stopped snowing at our house and I am not happy about it. I should clarify - I'm not happy that it snowed in the first place, and I actually am happy that it stopped. I cannot stand driving in snow, or driving after it's snowed, or driving on snow - anything involved with snow and driving I pretty much can't stand. It makes my muscles get all tense and my stomach do flip flops of anxiousness. So you can imagine the fact that I need to be in Kirkland tomorrow at 6:30 am (to pick up a coworker and drive down to Fort Lewis for a site visit by 7:45 am) is not sitting well with me. These are the times I wish I was a kid, when I would pray for snow every week so I didn't have to go to school. Which makes me think of a funny little story from my childhood - well, technically my brother's childhood, but roll with me here.

My family has always loved listening to Christmas carols, and Bing Crosby is one of our favorites. We would listen to the album over and over again. According to my mom, the song "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" came on and my younger brother was singing away. Right after the line "and Mom & Dad can hardly wait for school to start again", my brother (who was probably in kindergarten or around that age), turned to her and asked "Why do you want us to go back to school?" in this completely sad little voice, as if he was supremely hurt that his parents would want him out of the house. My mom just cracked up.

Aaaaahhh, to be young and naive again.

A Lovely Lazy Sunday

Today has been a lovely lazy Sunday, which I relish. While I do like to get out of the house a bit on the weekends, sometimes it's just as nice to hang out at home. What isn't so good is that I often spend a lazy Sunday on the couch, watching TV and surfing the internet; this isn't exactly in keeping with my New Year's resolutions of having a cleaner house and losing weight/working out. What also isn't in keeping with my New Year's resolutions is the pile of clean clothes that's been sitting on my dining room table for the past 6 days (side note, we don't usually eat at the table, unless we're having people over, so no food near the clean clothes). I don't know why I don't fold them, it's not like it's hard, but for some reason I resist doing it. It's time for an attitude adjustment. And it's time for me to get my tush off the couch and fold some clothes.

Our F-game

Today is a sad, sad day. The Seahawks lost to the Packers in an NFC Division Round game. And it wasn't even a close loss, it was pretty much a blow out. To quote a friend, the Packers brought their A-game, we brought our F-game. On the upside, I have a mini-crush on Favre so if we had to lose this game, I'm okay with losing it to Favre. It would be great if the Packers could go on to face the Patriots in the Super Bowl and kick their butts. Plus I would love to see Tom Brady fall on his ars. Freaking Tom Brady.

Friday-what-ous?

I like to think I'm a fairly intelligent person, and that I work with intelligent people. I also like to think that the people I come into contact with through work are intelligent as well; I mean, they hold a job, so they have to be a little smart. Well, today I found out that apparently that's all you have to be to hold a job...a little smart.

But a little background first. I have been doing work on Fort Lewis for the past two months or so. It's been very interesting work and I've really enjoyed it. What I haven't enjoyed is the circuitous communication that's required by this project's contract. Technically, the company I work for is a subconsultant to another firm (we'll call them Firm XYZ) who actually has the contract with the military. In order to ask questions or get any of the data we need, we have to ask Firm XYZ, who asks the contact at Fort Lewis, who gets the information, gives it to Firm XYZ, who then gives it to us. As you tell, this is quite the efficient way to do things (yeah right).

Anyway, the woman who I speak with at Firm XYZ to get the information is so peppy it kills me. I swear she came out of cheerleader bootcamp - she just oozes cheerfulness. I called her today because she was supposed to email the Fort Lewis contact with a letter attachment about a site visit I'm doing next week and cc me, but I didn't see the email. When I called her she said something along the lines of "Did I not cc you on the email? Oh my goodness, I'm such a boob! I'll forward you the email." Who uses the word "boob" at work? Especially when talking to someone who you barely know, who you have never met face to face? As if that wasn't enough to cause alarm, in the email she forwarded me, she wrote (and I'm paraphrasing here) "Sorry about the email! I must have Friday-idous!" Friday-what-ous? You mean, Friday-itis? As in arthritis? Appendicitis? Even senioritis? How did this woman get her job? More importantly, how does she keep it? I do not mean to be harsh, I'm just quite surprised - and a little sad at the state of our education system. In fact, it's giving me encephalitis (inflammation of the brain, for those of you not up on your itis-es).

This is an outrage

In September I started volunteering with an organization called ACE (Architects, Construction Managers, and Engineers). The organization has a mentor program that works with high school students - we (people who work in the previously mentioned fields - there's about 15 of us) meet with a group of students (about 25 or so) every two weeks through the course of a school year. They have a project that they work on - they have to choose some type of building to design. First they pick a location, then go about designing it, taking into account the mechanics, plumbing, soil, traffic - all the various engineering aspects.



We had our first meeting back from winter break tonight and I have to say these kids crack me up. The goal of tonight's meeting was to pick the location for the project (a mall with an amusement park in it - think Mall of America). Over the break the students visited one of the sites on the list they came up with at the previous meeting - and boy, did people get attached to their sites. First off, let me say that there is limitless budget for this project. Now, some of these sites were very...out there. One was St Edwards park. Another was Mercer Island - the entire island (never mind the people living on it). A third was a random site in Chehalis (picked because "dude, there's nothing else out there"). The three most viable options were the old Safeway distribution site, the Factoria mall (meaning it would be redeveloped), and 60 acres (a huge soccer field area in the Woodinville/Redmond area which isn't actually 60 acres). Trying to discuss (read: shout over each other until someone gets heard) about the pros and cons of each site went something like this (as best I can remember).



"Your site's too small"

"What are you gonna do with all the kids who want to play soccer? They're gonna be all on the side of the road, pissed that they don't have anywhere else to play"

"Dude, the farmers won't mind if we build right next to them. They're cool"

"Who wants to travel to the middle of nowhere" (said about the site in Woodinville/Redmond)

"No, seriously, think about it, the whole island would be a theme park"

- and my favorite, said by one boy under his breath somewhat jokingly after "his" site was not voted as the project site

"This is an outrage"




Wouldn't we all like to go back to a time when one of our biggest problems was the site we wanted for a project didn't get picked? I think so.

A Minor Accomplishment

I'm really trying to keep up with my New Year's resolutions, and in doing so I had a minor accomplishment today. Those who have lived with me know I am not by any means a neat freak, and if given the chance I will let cleaning go until a) things get so gross it becomes unlivable or b) I have guests coming over and I have to hide the fact that I'm a slob. My kitchen was verging on option a, but not quite there yet. Normally I would let it go until the weekend, but instead I loaded the dishwasher, ran it, unloaded it once the dishes were clean, put the dishes away, and loaded it back up as much as I could. I don't know that I've ever done that on a weeknight. Sad but true - but hey, I'm making progress, that's gotta count for something!

Rats!

Yup, that's right, we have rats. Not mice, rats. In our crawl space/attic. It is creepy to think that there are little critters crawling around and breeding above my head while I sit here typing. We had a guy come out to see where they were getting in and what we could do about it. He's supposed to come back in about a week to seal things up, but we'll need to replace all the insulation up there because the rats have used it has one giant bathroom. Gross. In addition to that, we really need to replace the carpets in our house because they are seriously disgusting as well. Houses are complete money pits.

Begin at the beginning

Seeing as blogs have become so popular lately, I've decided to start my own. While I don't think everything I have to say is terribly interesting, I love reading others' blogs and find that it helps me keep up to date on my friends' lives. So this will be my story, of a girl who has been married less than a year and is dealing with life in general.

With the start of 2008 I have made a number of resolutions. First and foremost (and a classic) is to lose weight. Second is to keep my house cleaner (notice I didn't say "clean", just "cleaner"). Third is to become more financially responsible. So far I'm not doing so well; I'm the same weight as at the first of the year, my house isn't that much cleaner (though I did clean it a bit for when we had people over for the Seahawks/Redskins game on Saturday), and I have a serious weakness of shopping on the weekends. But there's still the rest of the year to improve, and you never can tell what will happen in a year's time.