Happy Christmas...and extended weekend.

The trees at my stepgrandparent's place.

I know I'm behind but I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday weekend. Some of you live in places that saw an insane amount of snow in the last week which made it hard to get places and some of you (like myself) didn't see a single snowflake. Seriously, we've had a great sunny weekend here even though it's been cold...and the fact that Seattle wasn't all drizzly was a feat in itself.

I worked up until Christmas Eve at about 11am which was hard enough, as this year my cousin and I decided we were going to host dinner that night. My grandparents were out of town and everything is usually at their house, so we stepped up to the plate. Well, my cousin suggested it and I went along for the ride because I'd be damned if eventually Christmas Eve ended up at her house once we were old. It's my right, I'm the first child of my mom's (the first of my grandparent's). Anyway...

Pies were made (4 in total, pumpkin & apple) on my part. I forgot how much effort goes in to one apple pie, let alone two of them. Cranberries were made (and then forgotten in my fridge) and turkey with all the other fixings.

We had a great time though, presents were exchanged and then I headed up to my family's place to stay the night in anticipation for Christmas morning. It being an economic turmoil type Christmas there were not a lot of gifts, but still a great time was had. My family picked up a few books for me (in particular Augsten Burrough's latest...a Xmas novel), a Philosophy set (Pomegranate Berry), some dessert wine, pot holders (that match my holiday apron), slippers and a few little things. Later in the day we went up to the step grandparent's house where I managed to get an awesome coat seen below in "jazzberry" (ie: purply magenta).


Despite the drama...you know no family gathering is w/o unless you're cyborgs...or my boyfriend's family (they're so perfect, it's not normal) I had a good night. My stepaunt & uncle got me Criminal Minds Season 4 (top of my list) and Wii Super Mario Bros (hopelessly addicting) which has kept me busy all day. Now I just need to finish cleaning my place since the holiday prep has left it in shambles.

I hope you all had a great holiday & have a great week, I am lucky enough to work for a company that shuts down between Christmas & New Years so I'll go back to work on the 4th. Feel free to hate me, I would if I wasn't me. My little brother will be spending at least one day of the break with me to get away from our parents. The rest of the time will be me trying to figure out my Flip video camera & software and resting up for the New Year.

I can't remember the last time I rallied like this...

I've been planning this Party Lite show for about two weeks. My mom sells the stuff and I love it dearly, best quality candle I've ever come across...but on Friday I woke up feeling like absolute crap. I mean, the only reason I made it into work was because we were having our holiday party at a restaurant and I was the holder of all the gift cards. So I sucked it up, I felt miserable but made it through the day...and even most of the night. But by 7pm I thought I was gonna die.

What makes this so hard is that I'm a total hypochondriac. If I have a cold I'll convince myself that death is imminant. And that's for an ailment that I've had before, add in something I've never felt and Dr. Google is my new BFF. That is, a new BFF who is an asshole who loves to freak me out and tell me I have some serious cancer going on. I was also reminded of this fact when I started having a constant pain in my right ovary area. I went through all kinds of diagonosis...appendicitis, ovarian cancer, lupus, death, bowel obstruction...the list went on. And you know what? Dr. Google stepped up and cheered saying "oh yeah? I can find something worse that you'll die of!" What a butthead.
But the simplest idea here is to call my doctor, and that's what I'm going to do on Monday. I can deal with the head cold, the fever and even the stomach ache. These are all well known symptoms to me over the years. Add in the ovary of doom and my life will implode on itself.

The real point of this story though is how I rallied. After waking up this morning and still feeling like crap I wanted to cancel my Party Lite show. Ok, I didn't *want* to, but I had completely hit the level of if this was a work day I would have called out in a heartbeat. But being something I enjoy...and having people over to my house I had to make it work. And you know what? I think that made the difference because after enjoying the company of others I felt a little better. Or it could have been the Benadryl I took.

The moral of this story is this:

Dr. Google is mean.
&
My heart belongs in socializing, makes me feel better even when my insides are running a muck.
or
If you need some candles hit me up, they ship all over.

Thanksgiving meme, or one to do while passing the time.

I stole this while surfing around blogs tonight, was taking a break from trying to come up with something for my Christmas list....I hope you enjoy.

1. Name someone with the same birthday as you.
The real question is who DOESN'T have the same birthday as me. Whenever I meet new people they all tell me someone who was born on July 23. I can tell you there are 4 others in my family (extended) and Harry Potter (the actor, not the character) off the top of my head. Oh yeah, Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia on "Buffy") and Monica Lewinski.

2. Where was your first kiss?
Eighth grade in a standard spin the bottle endevor during my bday party. Nothing good.

3. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else’s property?
That's one of those things I don't think I could do w/o feeling extremely guilty afterward. Not my thing.

4. Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex?
There's the occasional accidental kick in the nads to boys in school (soccer people, I'm not that evil!) and the random smack in jest to the boyfriend but that's about it.

5. Have you ever sung in front of a large number of people?
I did choir until 6th grade but after that it's really only kareoke for bachelorette parties or Christmas songs in front of my family. What? I have a huge family.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about your preferred sex?
Arms & eyes.

7. What really turns you off?
Can't get over the corner mouth crusty stuff, lying and jealousy.

8. What do you order at Starbucks?
When I actually do it's a decaf peppermint mocha w/half the chocolate. What is with Starbucks and the insane amount of chocolate that goes into a mocha? Look at the iced one, it's basically black.

9. What is your biggest mistake?
I have regrets but I don't think they're mistakes.

10. Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose?
Like I said, the guilt afterward isn't worth it.

11. Say something totally random about yourself.
I'm making an INSANE amount of cranberries and some pizza right now.

12. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity?
I don't think so but apparently that myheritage thing tells me I look like Laura Bush. Thanks for that vote of confidence.

13. Do you still watch kiddie movies or TV shows?
I love a good Pixar movie and I'll watch the random SpongeBob if the boyfriend makes me but that's about it. Oh wait, I have a 9 year old brother, I watch his stuff too.

14. Did you have braces?
Never, although my dentist was great to tell me that two of my teeth overlap and I could consider them "if I want". Thanks for the complex man.

15. Are you comfortable with your height?
It's not too bad, I'm 5'5" which isn't bad. Was an inch shorter for a long time but I'm still way taller than my mom so I'm the person who gets stuff off of shelves for her.

16. What is the most romantic thing someone of the preferred sex has done for you?
I really like the fact that my boyfriend sends me flowers for the big things (anniversaries) when I've pretty much forgot about them.

17. When do you know its love?
When you can't imagine spending extended amounts of time with anyone else. When you're comfortable enough to fart in front of each other. When you'll watch all kinds of tv that you're not even interested in because they love it.

18. Do you speak any other languages?
I can do a little French & Spanish. Wait, I know more French, the extent of my Spanish is "un cerveza por favor".

19. Have you ever been to a tanning salon?
I have, but oddly only for the "sunlight" principle. I like being pale mostly.

20. What magazines do you read?
At one point I had like 10 subscriptions but now it's the random People, some Cosmo if I'm feeling stupid about men & Business Weekly.

21. Have you ever ridden in a limo?
Never. Could you please arrange that for me? Actually for prom I worked out all the details and then my friends (who's family's were WAY better off than mine) said it was too pricey. Sorry, I saved properly.

22. Has anyone you were really close to passed away?
Oh yes, I was super close to my g. gma (think 20+ years and lived with her for most of it). I miss her so much.

23. Do you watch MTV?
Every time I do I feel like my brain cells have died. At least I don't still have a Season Pass to The Hills.

24. What’s something that really annoys you?
The fact I have to clean my house tonight before Thanksgiving because my mom's oven is broken and she's coming over to cook her sweet potatoes before heading to the grandparent's house. Seriously, I haven't been here for like a week and it's a mess.

25. What’s something you really like?
Wine. Just kidding (sort of), how about TV? That's better. :-)

26. Do you like Michael Jackson?
I like a few older songs.

27. Can you dance?
Of course, and sometimes very well.

28. What’s the latest you have ever stayed up?
A little over 48 hours, thanks in part to a high school senior year project. I told myself never again and I've stuck to it.

29. Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room?
No, but I did drive myself to the ER with an ulcer in my eye. NOT FUN.

30. Do you actually read these when other people fill them out?
I love them

31. Tag 5 people!
Screw this, I don't want people to feel left out. If it sounds like fun, feel free!

Pass the stuffing

Everyone is blogging about what they're thankful for this week & yes I'll hit on that quickly. I'm thankful for my family, for being as healthy as I possibly can, for an amazing boyfriend, great friends and the fact I have a job I actually enjoy going to every day. But more than anything?

I'm thankful for the FOOD. Especially the food at my grandparent's house because that's the way it always should be.

I know we all have our own traditions, but there's nothing like not being able to partake in your traditions to realize how engrained they are into your brain. Case in point, when I was about 15 my mom remarried. Nothing wrong with that, he's a good man...but he comes with alllll kinds of family. Not a super big family, but his parents had divorced & both remarried so there was quite the scene to sort out when it came to holidays. We've finally settled on whomever gets Thanksgiving does not get Christmas Eve and it alternates every year. Someone else gets Christmas Day and the rest of it is up to where we feel like spending time.

So...the first year? I went to my stepdad's father's house. I didn't really know them and I don't remember all that much about it but what I do remember? Is my introduction to what is known as canned cranberries.

???

To this day I still don't get it but "eh". I think making real cranberries is one of the easiest things to make so I don't know why you need to make it any easier. But everyone has their own way of doing things and that's just fine & dandy.

That is, until you go out to eat on Thanksgiving. Yes, I've had to do that too and when that happened (multiple times) that I refused to eat anything turkey related because it wasn't made at home. What? I never said I was mature (at least at that age).

Now my mom & stepdad usually have Thanksgiving dinner at their house on these off years and I'm perfectly ok with that. I make pie the way my grandma taught me, my mom makes the turkey and my stepdad makes the perfect stuffing to go with it.

Tomorrow night I head to my grandparent's house for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, the only difference is we do it a little more potluck style. I'll be bringing the cranberries and I'm excited to see all of my extended family.

And of course all the wine. ;-)

What is your favorite part about Thanksgiving? And your favorite food?

If I stitch fast enough, does it count as aerobic exercise?

Do you ever get to the point where you say "oh crap! I haven't posted since *insertnumberofdayshere*!"?? Since so many people have signed up for NaBloPoMo this year my Google Reader has been PACKED with posts to read. I do read all of them and even comment on some (come on, I'm not a machine!) but my writing has suffered because of it. I just realized yesterday that it had been over a month since I updated LJ, so let's rectify all of this.

Thanks to all of you who are following Stepping Diagonally, I checked my dashboard today and all of a sudden it's a whole different dashboard. :-) Now the pressure's on to say something witty, or entertaining at least. Can I handle the pressure?? Let's kick this blog post off with stuff I'm thinking about right now:

Waiter Rant (by Steve Dublanica) - I picked this up the other day at B&N because I've been meaning to for a while. From the same named blog Steve writes about his experiences as a waiter with all kinds of truth and humor that I'm sailing through this book quickly. I also picked up Kristen Chenoweth's "A Little Bit Wicked" as well but I'm of the school of thought that I can only read one book at a time. Are you?

Thanksgiving/Christmas - I know there's a few other holidays in there but I don't celebrate any of them...sorry. But if you work in an office you've probably been getting catalogs for holidays cards for the last I don't know...month or two? I finally asked about what we're doing in our office the other day since I wasn't here at this time last year. Who knew that it would be so complicated? But with the invitation from my grandparents for Thanksgiving arriving in my e-mail yesterday it dawned on me how close it all is.

But why does it come so fast? And why is it that the day after Halloween all the stores are decked out in Santa gear? Even more important...why don't I remember to start knitting earlier in the year so I won't have to do it 24/7 until Christmas Eve because I've been procrastinating??

The nice thing is that Starbucks has put out their red cups and brought back all those yummy concoctions for us to partake in. I'll admit, I haven't been to Starbucks in well over 2 months or so, but I'm luckily enough to have one of these big boys in my office (Interactive cup brewer) so I don't have to go out in the rain to get coffee. Be jealous, it's totally ok. :-) The downside is that I'm drinking drip coffee and not a peppermint mocha with peppermint whipped cream and little sprinkles on top, but I will survive.

What is your go-to drink for the holidays?

Last night I had the wonderful idea of heading to the mall since it was payday. I haven't been for a while, especially since I have a serious shoe addiction and the best course of action is to stay far far away. But there were some things I desperately needed and it was the only place to go. I needed new work pants which btw is the most annoying thing to shop for. Do designers think we're all over six feet tall now? Over at Express the pants that used to fit me perfectly (short for flats, regular for heels) are a joke. Even the short length I was swimming in...and I'm 5'5".

Aaaaaanyway...let's stop that tangent right there. I also picked up Bare Escentuals Warmth, because it's the only bronzer that works for me (I'm super pale) and isn't shimmery (and I'm all out) along with Philosophy's Hope in a Jar in the tiny size because I needed moisturizer and I don't know if this will work better than their sensitive skin variety. But the point of all this is I went in search of a new fragrance. I've been using Estee Lauder's Pleasures Exotic for quite a while and I love it. This scent has the right amount of grapefruit in it and has been my staple for quite a while.

Umm...I wanted a change.

Nothing crazy, I didn't want to smell like a baby prostitute. *cough*JuicyCouture*cough* But I figured Nordstrom would be all kinds of helpful in finding me something great. And great they did, something a little similar to what I had before but a little different.

Meet Versace's Bright Crystal

Inspired by a mixture of Donatella Versace's favorite floral fragrances, Bright Crystal is a fresh, sensual blend of refreshing chilled yuzu and pomegranate mingled with soothing blossoms of peony, magnolia, and lotus flower, warmed with notes of musk and amber.

Notes: Iced Accord, Yuzu, Pomegranate, Peony, Magnolia, Lotus Flower, Acajou, Vegetal Amber, Musk.

Style: Sheer. Sensual. Luminous.




I am in love with this perfume. It smells a little different on everyone so you're not going to smell like absolutely everyone else in the room. The mix of the floral notes and fruity kind of give it a grapefruit-like smell and best of all it came with a free gift! Mini sizes of the body wash, lotion and a purse sized fragrance were an absolute bonus. Plus, the bottle design is oh so pretty.

In other news, the dear Wendy at Fashionable Heart gave me my first award!


The guidelines are:
1. Say Thank You and give a link to the presenter of the award
2. Share "10 Honest Things" about myself
3. Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.
4. Tell those 7 people that they have been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines.

So thank you Wendy for bestowing me with such an honor and here are 10 honest things about me.

1. I cannot stand rain in any form. I know it doesn't make sense being from Seattle but I associate it with cold and I feel like I'm melting & in the Wizard of Oz.

2. I sometimes will go a week wearing the same jeans w/o washing them. Sorry, they are more comfy that way and they're not dirty.

3. I remember the most random pieces of information. I can still tell you my high school boyfriend's birthday, all my friends from 8th grade's birthdays and who was my favorite band that performed in The Bronze on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Just don't ask me what the chemistry code is for salt. Or what I had for dinner last night.

4. I have a car alarm remote that most people confuse for the smallest cell phone EVER. Think Zoolander small.

5. Despite the risk of alienating everyone I know online I have a serious soft spot for Nicholas Cage. One of my favorite movies is The Rock and I find him sexy. I will admit though that a lot "" of his movies suck.

6. I am on Twitter way more than I care to admit. I don't always update but since I can check it from my BB I'm hooked. My boyfriend has more than once accused me of loving Twitter more than him.

7. I secretly now want oodles of babies. I think this is the boyfriend's fault because growing up I did NOT WANT children AT ALL. Up until about 3 years ago I disliked most everything about children but now all I want to do is cuddle little babies. I thought that internal clock was all a myth.

8. I'm a pretty awesome knitter & crocheter - when I actually do it. I go through phases where I'll do it all the time and then never again for around 6 months. I better start soon though because my entire extended family is expecting dish cloths come Christmas.

9. I have an unhealthy love & hate of Costco. Love going into the stores and getting killer deals for myself but hate them when I use them at work. I can't count the amount of times I've not received parts of my order because they're out of stock. They don't backorder - bastards.

10. I have a potty mouth that gets me in trouble at my family's house on a regular basis. Mostly it's because I get in trouble for words I don't consider bad. Sucks, pissed off, crap & shut up are the big killers. Supposedly I'm here to set a good example for my little brother (who's 9).

And now the killer people who deserve this award are...

1. LiLu of Live It, Luv It - because it's her birthday and she's kick ass.
2. Melly of Drawing on Dandelions - because I love her and her blog.
3. Catherinette of The Catherinette Chronicles - because she makes me laugh.
4. Cjengo of Jude, the Diary of a Baby & a Stroke - because she's unbelievably strong.
5. New Black of The New Black - because she's a Seattlite like me.
6. Jay at Genius Pending - because his cartoons crack me up.
7. Chelsea at Chelsea Talks Smack - because I love her writing and I'm still sad I missed her shows here.

Do You Have Road Rage?

I don’t know about you, but I have a serious case of road rage. Nothing insane, I don’t follow people home, get out of the car or anything, but from the very first time I drove by myself the profanities have spewed from my mouth in record numbers. I jokingly blame this on my mother who has the same habit (she’s now trying to do better due to my little brother being in the car), but I had no clue I had this problem until I drove solo.

I think this is mostly due to the fact that most people cannot drive to save their lives. Or I should say, each of them has their own set of rules they follow and they don’t always match with everyone else’s set. So I provide to you below my own…

Information Not Always Found in the Normal Drivers Manual

Putting your turn signal on does not entitle you to a spot in the lane next to you.
Just because you did not prepare properly by getting into the appropriate lane it does not mean I have to let you in.

If you realize you’re about to miss your exit, it does not mean that you should do a hard turn of the wheel to make said exit.
I know it’s a crazy idea, but the next exit is perfectly acceptable to get off of and to turn around.

It is never acceptable to go less than 60 mph in the left lane.
This is the passing lane or the “I’m going faster than everyone else” lane.

For those of us lucky enough to have a designated time for a carpool lane (5am-7pm), if you are using this lane outside of these hours this is NOW THE LEFT LANE.
See previous explanation.

If I decide to pass you, the appropriate response is NOT to speed up when I attempt to pass you.
This makes you an asshole and you deserve coal in your stocking.

If you see a cop who has pulled someone over, you do NOT need to slam on your breaks.
Unless you’re going waaaay over the speed limit the cop is far too busy with the guy they just pulled over. Letting your foot off the gas slightly is good enough.

Similarly, if you pass a cop waiting to pull people over, hitting your breaks is a red flag that you have been speeding.
Seriously, it’s OBVIOUS you’ve been speeding.

Checking the lanes next to you before you merge is a good idea.
Some of us have small cars and are sometimes hard to see (despite being bright red). I don’t want you to drive over me.

The horn on your car is really only there to let other people know the light has turned green.
Do you have road rage? That’s why you yell – you feel better and no one outside of the car can hear you.

What would you add to this list? Or do you think mine are crazy?

Who doesn't love a before/after haircut post?

It's taken a while but I finally got pics of my new haircut! It had been about a year and a half since my last one so it was looking a little bit ratty. Not so bad that a few curls here and there could hide but I'm so happy with the end result. Now curls are only if I want to, not because I need to.

Before

After

Ignore the obvious camera placement in the photo, I was happy that this image wasn't super blurry like the others. Why can't I take a photo in the mirror w/o that problem? :-)

//

In other news fall has officially hit the northwest this week. We've had some pretty great weather lately but this week the rain showed up and the sun started setting earlier in the day. Today I busted out the cashmere sweater AND the electric blanket for the couch so I could make the appropriate indoor cocoon.

Also, does anyone watch Lie To Me? I haven't tried it because it seems like it focuses on only one part of profiling and I'd prefer to watch Criminal Minds any day, but maybe I'm missing something with this show. Instead now I prefer to catch up on my DVR. Later gators!

I better start practicing my downward facing dog again...

I used to be thin, like stick figure thin, rail thin, people convinced I'm anorexic thin. And I couldn't gain weight to save my life. The doctors were always concerned and forcing me to eat more calories than the norm. Now I see that I should have blamed it on high metabolism, dance classes, band, soccer and the fact I can't really sit still. I know, poor me. Some of us have been overweight our whole lives, right?

But you know what? Despite being thin I was never in shape. Every time I went to a dance class the next day I was so sore. After every soccer practice I was exhausted and never wanted to go back. And I think that "eat whateverthehell I feel like it" mentality is causing some problems now.

If you showed most people a picture of me and asked them to describe me, one of the few things they wouldn't say was that I was fat. But I am pushing maximum density here and I can't button up my dress pants anymore. Put together my sedentary lifestyle, a boyfriend who likes to take me out to dinner and the fact I now drink alcohol means I've started putting on the pounds. What's a girl to do?

Apparently I need to start exercising again because doing nothing isn't working. We're coming up on the holiday season and there's going to be so much yummy food around that I won't want to NOT partake in it all.

I need tips people. How do YOU get in shape? I apparently gain all my weight in my midsection (my thighs/butt area on my pants still fit perfect) and I don't know what works for that. Toning up everything would be ideal but I need to start small.

For now I'm going to break out my Wii Fit again and see if that will help. Bonus, I'm going to try and use it w/o drinking beforehand because apparently that screws with the balance feature. :-)

And people say *I'm* the weird one

The lovely LiLu has a little segment she calls "shiz my boyfriend says" and there are times I find this far more entertaining than TMI Thursdays. Mostly it's because it reminds me that my own boyfriend has some crazy things that come out of his mouth. Sometimes I giggle, sometimes I look at him like he grew three more eyeballs and sometimes I'm so frustrated with him. But last night I got all three.

Scene - watching the latest Mad Men on my laptop in bed

[Betty's in the hospital]

Boyfriend: mmfmdm [sticking his tongue out]
Me: ... what did you say?
Boyfriend: mmfmdm mmfmdm
Me: seriously, are you trying to show me something? does your tongue hurt? what?
Boyfriend: mmfmdm mmfmdm
Me: what?

[after a good two mins of this]

Me: whatever, I don't care anymore. I'm hitting the play button again.

[pause]

Me: fine, tell me what was so damn important or exciting on your tongue.
Boyfriend: it's dry. my tongue is dry, this feels so weird.
Me: [stares]
Boyfriend: what?
Me: dude, YOU'RE the weird one.

I'm amazed that I put up with this guy, guess it's a good thing I love him.

A smell of wine and cheap perfume...

The beauty of the week before a long weekend is that no matter what office you are in, things slow down to a crawl. I know there's some idea of getting things done before vacation, but realistically this never happens. Today alone I have three people in my office on vacation, all of which sit by me so it's super quiet. I know three people doesn't seem like a lot but when the office has about 15 in it it's a pretty big chunk.

I'm looking forward to this Labor Day weekend for many reasons, but most off all because it's going to be some time to actually relax. Last weekend M & I had not one but two! weddings to attend (Friday & Saturday) and a BBQ and somehow we managed to do all that and have a picnic on the Kirkland waterfront in a secluded park. We danced to the like of Black Eyed Peas (Boom, Boom Pow anyone??) and other classics like Don't Stop Believing so much that my feet were killing me. We also reminised over long times past with old neighbors and got caught up in the lovely dovey nature of it all. M caught the garter at one wedding and at the same one I had the bouquet snatched out of my hands. Apparently the girl who did the snatching wanted it more than I did, and I wasn't going to fight.

Rattlesnake Hills

So we'll be headed over to Yakima to visit M's family a bit and visit the Rattlesnake Hills area for wine tastings. I'm excited to see his family since it's been since Memorial Day and I might even brave the drive to the farm with him to check up on things. I stress the might aspect of that part, it's not really my cup of tea.

But what's most important this week??? I got my hair cut! I know, not the most exciting news I guess but for a girl who's gone about a year and a half since her last cut I'm feeling proud of myself. I decided on some side swept bangs which was a little scary since the last time I had any kind of bangs was 8th grade. But I also decided against the Locks of Love cut this time, I'm keeping the length for a little while longer. I hope to have pics soon, once I figure how to style it properly. :-)

Now a question, do you watch the entire process when you get your hair cut? I try to at first but halfway through I get that anxious feeling in my chest and have to close my eyes until it's done. The inbetween stage freaks me out that my poor hair will be gone forever. Like this time, what if she doesn't do side swept but blunt bangs? My heart jumps into my throat at the idea of it. But sure enough, none of that happened and I felt like I was a crazy person for a minute (or a lifetime.)

Friendship Styles

First off, thanks to all of you who commented on my previous post, I went shopping and got the following dresses:

Both of them fit like a glove and actually are pretty similar in color. But at least they work for the weddings to be attended.

*****

For many years I have been known as a social butterfly. It's funny to me because I consider myself pretty shy in the first meeting of people but I hide it well, many years of training myself I guess. I will be the person who at a party will search out someone who is quiet or feeling out of their element to chat. This is in part that I've been in that position before, or in hopes to make a new friend. And it usually works. I've made great friends this way and I've seen the relief that's come over their faces when someone comes to talk to them.

But it doesn't always go so well. Sometimes I chat with them and realizes we're not meant to be friends. I'm ok with that, but it makes me think of my own "friend style". Do you know what I mean? Some of us are reluctant to invite others into our social circle right away. Some of us assume you suck until you prove yourself otherwise. Me? I have a tendency to think all people are great until they prove otherwise.

Case in point - about a month or two ago some friends of mine got new roommates. My friends own a house (married couple) but rent a room out upstairs. Another couple (early twenties) moved in and they got along great. So a bunch of us were invited over for BBQ night and to meet the new roommates. I thought they were nice, had good conversation. That is until the girl asked me if I was pregnant.

...

...

Yeah, you read that right. This girl committed a big time faux pas. You never ask anyone that unless you know for sure, especially someone you just met. I could tell she was embarrassed and a little naive, but to this day I've been "done" with her.

The problem is now that I run into her sometimes. Obviously she lives in the same house as my friends, but now whenever she sees me she shrinks to as small as she can. I shouldn't care so much but I would think she would try to remedy the situation or overcome that obstacle. But that's just me. I'd move past the comment (yes, I actually have) and now I'm more concerned that she won't talk to me at all.

*shrug* I guess sometimes you're just not meant to be friends.

What kind of friendship style do you have?

Please, help me shop!!

August is known for one, no two big things. This is the month where people get married and hold reunions, at least in the state of Washington. It's probably the best month weather-wise and in turn your schedule gets PACKED. I have a bachelorette party and reunion on the same weekend and the following weekend is the wedding so I need to be lookin' sharp. I'm going shopping this weekend but I was hoping you guys might have some ideas as well.

Bachelorette party consists of dinner, comedy club and clubbing/dancing. Maybe not something super pricey (more H&M style) for this, but then on Sunday there is the reunion picnic. Think oodles of families all at a park. The wedding weekend is pretty fancy (no casual thing going on here) so I only have so many options before I have to buy new things, you see?

Here's the ideas I have so far...

Slice of Lime dress from Anthropologie. I love the little sash accenting the waist and it seems fun.

Cranesbill dress from Anthropologie. Same thing with the sash here, bonus: my boyfriend's already seen it in the store and likes it.

Storm of Shapes dress from Anthropologie. I love the colors in this, for once I could do yellow since the brown is upstairs.
Caranday dress from Anthropologie. Another I've seen in the store, also comes in a pinkish color.

Framboise Souffle dress from Anthropologie. Completely feminine and I love the color. The neckline's pretty sweet too.

Calendar Pages dress from Anthropologie. First seen over at the Advice Smackdown it comes in black, this blue and dark purple. And it's on sale, that's nice too.

I can definitely be persuaded to do more than one of these dresses since there's multiple occasions to go to but I'd love to go into shopping with some sort of idea.

HELP guys & gals! I need a personal shopper! And I haven't even started in on shoes!

I love...

Let's get back on track with the blogging thing, forget this posting once a week or less. I've been in a sea of changes of the last couple of weeks which has a tendency to make me pessimistic. I love change, but when it's not on my dime my life tends to go all chaotic and I don't always know how to process effectively. This is why I'm going to try and bombard this post with positivity...things I love.

I LOVE...catching an incredible sunset like this one at the Edmonds-Kingston ferry.

I LOVE...a good farmer's market because I can get incredible flowers for cheap (among other things).

I LOVE...Seafair in Seattle. The Blue Angels are amazing the hydros are not so bad when they're up close and personal.

I LOVE...hearing that despite all my little brother's attempts to not be interested in Harry Potter he can't put down the first book (I bought for his birthday).

I LOVE...that I know where to find a great crab cake benedict on the weekends.

What are some things that you love today?

Birthday...seriously belated.

Sorry it's taken so long to get an update posted, in my quest to move I didn't plan setting the new place up with TV or Internet. The only reason I got my power turned on was because the apartment complex did that for me. I think this might be what you call lazy, but it's given me plenty of time to do repeat viewings of The West Wing while sitting in my bed or unpacking the 234435 boxes still left over. Sam Seaborn & Josh Lyman please report to my apartment office immediately.

Things started off with a BANG! in the form of my birthday dinner. As I mentioned before we headed to Elliott's Oyster House. Despite my dislike for oysters and the insane wait time (LOVE reservations) we made it in and gorged ourselves on crab, prawns, lobster, squid...you name it. There were a variety of dishes chosen around the table, but most importantly I had the crab cakes. My mouth salivates just thinking about the little cakes of pure awesomeness. We stuffed ourselves silly (copious amounts of wine, burnt cream) and chatted for a few hours. Some friends gave me lucky bamboo for the new place and all and all I had great time.

The boyfriend (aka M) and I at dinner.

The next evening M and I headed up to see my family and I got to introduce him to the experience that is my step dad's chicken parmesan. This stuff is so good that I refuse to order it in restaurants because it doesn't even compare. I hung out with my family while my little brother got
antsy (it wasn't time for cake yet) and opened some presents. So sweet, I picked up a hand mixer and a new pair of shoes!

Up next is an intro to my new apartment. I'm warning you, there's an unnatural amount of space in this place, I don't know what to do with myself. Stay tuned!

They say it's your....moving day?

With my birthday dinner with friends coming up tomorrow, my actual birthday on Thursday with family and moving on Saturday life is quickly becoming "fly by the seat of your pants" fast. I hope to return next week with all kinds of tales of amazing service at Elliott's Oyster House (cross your fingers...there's another big party at the same time as us), family shenanigans and getting along great with the boyfriend during early AM box carrying.

Because you're worth it.

I have what people call the kind of hair that they want. I don't understand it, but typically everyone wants what they don't/can't have. My hair?

• Long - hits right about the middle of my breasts
• Fine - a little flat naturally but there's a ton of it (does well w/volumizing products)
  
• Straight - just a hint of wave that goes away by blow drying and can be played up when it's shorter

The problem with this type of hair is that it takes FOREVER to dry in the morning. Seriously, I'm flipping my head upside down, to the left, to the right and even sectioning it off in hopes to speed up the drying time. That is until this morning.

Yesterday I twitted that my hairdryer up and died on me. I hoped to fix it, I opened it up and looked around with no success. So I headed to the store in hopes to find something. Nothing too pricey, I didn't want to spend oodles of $$ on it, but I knew you should at least spend a little.

Isn't this thing pretty?!?! I love red so yeah, I was a little drawn to it, but holy crap this thing works! Not only do I not have frizzy hair today (this has been a big problem recently) but it dried quickly! Best thing ever, this hairdryer retails for $36.99 and I got it for $24.99. Not bad at all.

In other news, I hope to be out of the office by noon today to make the trek to Seaside, OR for the 4th of July weekend. If you haven't been before you're definitely missing out. It's a small little beach town that has stood the test of time. I'm crossing my fingers to be having breakfast at the Pig 'n Pancake, drinking wine at Yummy Wine Bar & Bistro, spending time out in the sand & seeing some great fireworks.

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Chocolate starfish, and the hot dog flavored water

My name is Cass and I haven't had a hot dog in at least 18 years. No, not a vegetarian, I'm just one of those people where if I eat something and get sick from it - that food is off the possible eating list for the rest of my life. But because I love my boyfriend and hot dogs always smell so damn good I decide to agree when he suggested them for dinner. I mean, for all I know it could have been the potato salad at the BBQ that made me sick (and probably was).

So the boyfriend plans to head to the grocery store for the hot dogs and I tell him that if I'm eating one of these things I'm gonna do it right. Ketchup, mustard, relish, sauerkraut, you name it. As usual, you can see everything going on in his head on his face. This girl is CRA-AAZY! Why? Because he will only put ketchup on his hot dog. But we compromise, no sauerkraut and I'll use the relish the next time we have hamburgers.

Once he gets home I ask him how long it takes to cook them since it's been forever since I remember eating one. He tells me 10 mins and I think nothing of it...at first. When I start asking him all about getting the coals ready for the BBQ he gives me the CRA-AAZY! look again. Apparently I AM the crazy person because I assumed we would be BBQing our hot dogs! Oh no, instead we're boiling them.

I posed this question to the people following me on Twitter and I guess this is a fairly common way to cook them. Where have I been? I know sometimes my family will put them on broil in the oven if it's too cold to BBQ and I've heard of microwaving if you're lazy but never this boiling thing.

So tell me people, how do YOU cook your hot dogs?

It only took about a month

Hey all! I bet you forget I even went to Mexico last month because I never did the post complete with photos. Oh no, I'm finally doing it and it's gonna be fun. So hold on to the person next to you, I hope it's not a bumpy ride!

When we first arrived in Puerto Vallarta it was right after the immediate threat of the swine flu. You know, it was all over the news, none of us knew what it was about and the media did it's job of scaring us senseless. But the wedding was still on and the 8 of us were determined to go. Thankfully enough PV wasn't really hit by this swine flu nonsense, but that didn't stop the security areas from asking all kinds of questions and special temperature sensitive cameras to check and make sure we didn't have a fever. But despite all this, we made it to our destination...Villa Suzannah. This photo? This is the view from the pool area. We were overlooking the Mismaloya beach area.

When we first arrived our hostess (ie: the bride to be) made sure that there was all kinds of treats waiting for us. Chips & fresh made salsa and guacamole, a stocked fridge full of beer and all kinds of tequila and mixed drinks at our disposal. We found out that one of the couples coming (from CA) had some sort of passport issue and would be there at the earliest of the next day so our job was to chill out and have all kinds of fun.

And fun...we definitely had.

Faces blurred/smudged to protect the not so innocent.

The next morning we decided to trek down to the beach below and see if it was as fun as it looked like. We were staying in this beautiful place but it was towards the top of a very steep hill and it wasn't until a few days later we realized we could walk down it just fine (but not up). So a taxi was taken and we decided to spend a good portion of the day down below.

This was a perfect day. I spent my time lounging in a chair, drinking strawberry daiquiris and wading in the water. Well, that and fending off all the people trying to sell me jewelry, blankets, dresses and every other thing you could think of every five seconds.

My view on the beach and my current desktop wallpaper.

Later on the missing couple showed up just in time and we had dinner at the villa. Seriously, the chef at this place is beyond AMAZING, everything he made I wanted to gobble up ten fold. That night we had crazy dance party at the villa (aka round 2) with the new couple.

The next day was all about the soon to be happy couple. They had to head to the courthouse to do the "official ceremony" before the pretty one. You know, the one with witnesses and signing documents (*cough* remember that stuff Heidi & Spencer?) and the bride's parents came into town. M and I headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch (and to buy a PV bear for his mom) and we experienced our first water taxi ride.

Little ol' me

Friday was all about the fishing expedition, one of the few activities we booked before arriving in PV. We were on the most beautiful boat and we out all day long but didn't catch a single fish! On top of that this was also the day that I got seriously sunburned. I forgot to put sunscreen on my face AND accidentally fell asleep outside for an hour so my poor face was fried. It felt like I was attacked by the botox shot in my forehead. The good news though was we saw dolphins!

Can I take them home with me?

Now on Saturday...this was the big day. It was time to prep for the wedding with mani/pedi's overlooking the view, a little beach time and of course the wedding!

The ceremony (love the bouquet!)

The toast!

Afterwards there was of course the reception. Check out what the restaurant did for us! They brought the dining experience outdoors by the pool.

We were going to have a 7 course tasting menu. Sounds good in theory, right? Sure it is, if all the portions are small. But we started with a shot glass full of something and each course afterwards was a little bit bigger. By 5 and 6 we were dying, a full fish meal followed by filet mignon? Normally sign me up but my stomach didn't know what to make of it. We didn't even eat the wedding cake until 2 days later.

So once recooperated from the festivities on Sunday we went to the flea market...along with Monday. I could spend all kinds of time in those, I'm apparently a master barterer. I got deals that the rest of the group had their jaws dropping from, I don't know what it is. Later on we stopped in a restaurant for a "cocoloco". Basically it has all kinds of random alcohols in it, but the best part is it's in a real coconut!

But also on Monday we went to Tony's, this restaurant that unless you know about it you'll never find. It was actually close to the villa but an employee at this big chain hotel down the way told us about it. Apparently there was some big travel agent retreat going on in their restaurant for the night so they were closed. But we made the trek to this place.

Think of walking through this run down area, turning the corner and assuming you'll see it but all you see is this super run down house. You get anxious because if you ate there it would obviously kill you. But then you realize...you're not there yet and arrive at this cozy 3 story house with sand covering the floor. They bring out the menu, this big platter of steaks and seafood and you want absolutely everything. The food here was so good we ate there the final two nights of our trip. Even better, we met Tony!

Say hi to Tony! And my horrible sunburned face.

On the final day we basically just chilled waiting for everyone's plane's to take off. For some reason each of us had a completely different time to depart so until it was time we hung around the pool, read a little and prepared for the trip home.

Hanging out on our balcony.

I hope you made it through all this in one piece. If you ever get the chance to visit Puerto Vallarta I have to recommend you take it. For my first time in Mexico it definitely makes me want to go back.

Success!

I found an apartment!

Somewhere in the back of my mind I figured that if I posted about the trials and tribulations of finding an apartment I must have known that's all it took. Or I'm just lucky, who knows.

And yet, I think I'm excited. Obviously I haven't been the biggest fan of this particuluar change, but I think I'm getting there. There's plenty of features in this new place that are making me happy.

First off - there is approx. 250 sq ft MORE than my last place. On top of that, it's approx. $300 less per month. The beauty of moving 5-10 mins away I guess.

Check out this floor plan! If you look closely you'll see that there are TWO closets in the bedroom, one of which is big enough for you to walk into. There is a washer & dryer, oodles of storage, and an area for barstools at the kitchen. Somehow I managed to score a top floor corner unit as well and it's about 5 minutes away from my work.

Now I have to figure out the logistics of it all. I get the place on July 24th, one day after my birthday. So the weekend instead of festivities will probably be all about moving but there's enough time to pack & clean up the old place before my lease expires (end of July).

I just need to stay positive. This is a great change, but it's definitely going to take some time to get used to it.

My pets are dust bunnies, so what?

I'm thinking more and more that my Mexico post isn't going to happen. Or at the very least it'll be a little bit because between work & home there hasn't been enough time to do so and where there HAS been I haven't had my photos with me.
What's been on my mind instead? Apartment hunting. This is both the best and worst thing in the world to do, but I'm definitely leaning towards the worst. It certainly let's my OCD freak flag fly but at the same time I'm one big ball of stress.

My lease expires at the end of July and because of this I start early. My rent thankfully isn't going up, but I've been paying far too much for my little sanctuary, not even 600 sq. ft. With the economy the way it is I'd like to have a little bit of green still in my pocket, you know...to pay bills (or wine as the case may be). But I've realized that not only are there oodles of apartments in my area, a large handful of the ones in the city I'd like (Kirkland) are a pretty penny. I have succumb to looking at surrounding areas and brought out the big guns...the only thing that can make me feel even remotely in control of this whole situation.

...

...

Spreadsheets. Yes, you read that right - I'm using Excel to figure out my apartment hunting nightmare. There are columns and columns of data ranging from name/address to sq. ft/ monthly rent to parking/pros/cons and little notes about each place. So far I've seen approx. 7 places and I want to stab myself in the eye with a fork.

Lots of specials, woohoo! But then there's all the questions -

• When are you moving? Wait, not the beginning of July?
• Why are you moving? Because I like my money. And not smelling my neighbors BBQ smoke in my living room.
• Is it just you? Oh, just you...sad.
• Do you have any pets? No, I can't keep a plant alive, having a cat would scare me.
• What amenities are you looking for? Washer & dryer with storage, a walk-in closet and ceiling fans are a bonus. I know I have a lot of stuff, shut up about the amount of couches.
  
• Do you work close by? Yes, I know it's a wonderful reverse commute. Shut up about it.
• Isn't this unit amaaaazing? Sure I guess, but it's on the ground floor and I'm a single woman who is not super trained in self-defense. Got something higher up?
• Look at our awesome fitness center. No thanks, I've had one for 3 years and set foot in it once.

Do you see the dilemma here? Having these questions thrown at you all the time will make your head spin. I just need to make a decision already. I have two more places I think I need to see and then there's the next step - deposits and packing.

Oh god, the packing. Who's up to help? I supply wine & beer. :-)