Happy Birthday & your 30's

Today is M's 30th birthday. Currently he is taking in very important business meetings in Chicago & hoping he can catch an earlier flight home but he's also desperately trying to hold on to his 20's.

I get this.  We celebrated my 30th birthday last year and I did the same thing.  For the 6 months prior to my birthday I was freaking out.  You know, worried that I haven't accomplished enough, that despite being as old as you feel...what if I feel old?  Now I realize that this is how it's going to be with us, every ten years.  I'll go through the motions first and we'll follow up with him.

But despite M being out of town for his birthday, we did manage to do it up right.  We celebrated his birthday last weekend on St. Patrick's Day.  Making sure to get a couple of our friends we went out to a fancy dinner at El Gaucho Bellevue since the one thing he was requesting was a good steak.  Followed it up with a trip to Lucky Strike, a fancy bowling alley and we were laughing our asses off.  Apparently M is the only one who while drinking can still bowl a decent game, and our group of friends have some interesting takes on bowling form.

Monday was also our 4 year anniversary and the day before he left for his trip so I gave him his gifts: a blu ray player and Game of Thrones Season 1.  He was beyond excited, but insisted I set it up while he was gone.  Somehow I'm the tech person in our family. :-)  We also head across the mountains to Yakima for the weekend so he can spend some birthday time with the rest of his family.  I'm hoping for some relaxing and good weather since yet again I woke up this morning to a dusting of snow.  Spring can't come early enough to WA.

Happy birthday M - come home safe tonight.

Love & holidays

I'll admit, I've been behind on my blog for a while. Posting Ten on Tuesday is pretty much all I had time for, and by the time I've caught up with my Google Reader there's not a lot of time to actually post.  But I'd like to work on this a little, so let's start slowly with a little bit of a list.

+ Biggest & brightest reason I've been absent? I got engaged!  Back in October M & I headed out to Kansas for a KU football game (my first trip out there).  He wanted to show me the town where he spent his college years since in our home it's Jayhawks all the time.  Well, toward the end of the campus tour he started acting a little weird.  We made it to the campanile which overlooks the stadium and he pulled out the most beautiful ring.

We spent the rest of our trip celebrating it up and cheering on the football team even though they lost.

+ Because of the engagement it's been a bit of a whirlwind around here.  As per usual, everyone we come in contact with wants to know details.  Have you set a date? September-ish.  Where is it? Not sure yet. Etc. etc.  Add in the fact that almost every other friend I have is engaged or married right now that's all they want to talk about.  But we have appointments on Sunday to look at some venues...so stay tuned.

+ Thanksgiving came and went with a lot of drama.  My grandparents usually do dinner at their house, but my mom called me the Tuesday before saying my grandfather had a really bad cold.  Because of this my grandmother didn't want to get the rest of the family sick.  My mom offered to host the event, but I reminded her that her oven was out of commission and in turn Thanksgiving was at our place.  Almost 20 people over and a 25 lb turkey?  That would make most people's head spin...let alone two days before the event.  Add in I've never even roasted a chicken before, let's just say I was a little anxious.  But it went off w/o a hitch...no burnt turkey and everyone had a great time.

+ As for now?  I'm hopelessly trying to get my holiday shopping done in time.  I managed to get my cards out, but I have another 250 to do at work so I just keep remembering to breathe.  Anyone else running behind schedule???

It's beginning to look a lot like....crazy Christmas days....

I should be blogging. I mean, that's why I have a blog, right? To post entries, whether they be an account of my day, a funny story, needing advice or something else. And here I am with a self imposed hiatus in which I didn't even really know I did it.

It's nothing personal, and I bet 90% of you didn't even notice. That's perfectly fine, despite my viewpoint sometimes not EVERYTHING is about me. :-) But life has been a little topsy turvy over the last month or so. When we last left off I was choosing a new dress for a wedding we went to. The problem here is that most pics of me were not taken w/my camera so I can't show you the final result. There is this one though, taken a little too close and it makes my arms look huge, but there you go.

We had an amazing time, boogied on the dance floor and managed to get into a fight over trying to find the hotel. Seriously, the two of us + two different GPS systems does not = a good time. But once we arrived to the hotel we were fine.

//

We did manage to finally have our housewarming party, this would be the biggest reason for my absence. Who knew throwing a housewarming party in the 1st week of December would be so much work? This means getting all your holiday decorations up before the party (minus the tree) and right after getting home from Mexico. I took off the week after our Thanksgiving vacation to prep for the party and that's probably the smartest idea I've had in a while. More and more people RSVP'd, and I think the final count was around 40 people. I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off for a while but I think the end results came out nicely.

Our staircase

The front room fireplace

Then of course we started prepping for Christmas. There was oodles of shopping every weekend (in the far early morning). Am I the only one who hates shopping during Christmas time? There are too many people around and I tend to lose it. The only way M got me out an about to some of the more popular spots is because we showed up right when the place opened.

But on top of this I had to organize our company holiday party, the white elephant gift exchange (because it wouldn't make sense to have them at the same time) and then surprise! I realized I had not finished all the knitting I promise people every year. Now I'm a knitting machine and freaking out over the time left.

//

M has left for his family house today for Christmas since despite our long term status we're not married and do not share our holidays. I'll head up to my family's tomorrow and I'll attempt not to strangle anyone. Something about being around your family brings that out of people. :-)

But before M left, we had our own Christmas on Tuesday. We toured the new neighborhood looking for holiday lights and even went through the other close neighborhoods where we almost bought houses seeing if theirs were more festive. The verdict being that some of them were better, but ours is pretty good for a first year decorating project. Next year expect better things from us. Hehe.

But we exchanged gifts before we went to bed. M got me this treble clef from Pottery Barn I had been eyeing a few weeks back along with this wine label serving tray since I've been saving labels pretty much since we started dating. The best part though were the "santa" gifts. Although there were a few nice things in my stocking (pedometer, candy etc) Santa brought me this gorgeous piece of machinery!!!:
It's the Kitchen Aid professional stand mixer (in empire red) that I've been coveting for the longest time. Apparently he bought it before I even officially put it on my Christmas list. I cannot wait until I get to use the thing, although I've already put it up in the kitchen. I feel like it needs a name, but nothing stands out as of yet.

Now since everyone is busy with holiday festivities...what is your favorite part? And what stresses you out the most?

Home is where...you eventually decide on furniture.

It's been far too long since my last post, I apologize for that. It doesn't seem like much, but the things that have been going on in the last month have kind of flipped my entire world upside down.

M and I moved into the house on September 11th and despite the ominous significance of that date it's gone very well. Not only were we moving into a new place, this was the first time we have lived together. Up until then we would stay together every night, alternating the location (his apt or mine) but this is a bit of an adjustment. Not necessarily a bad adjustment, but an adjustment no matter what.

Things are good between us.There are little things that drive me & him crazy, like where he insists all our boxes need to be unpacked within a month of our move-in date. Or how the counter is always sticky because I missed a spot. Or that I can't quite figure out when to watch the TV shows on the DVR that he has no interest in. But considering these are the main issues we have I think we're doing pretty well. Everything revolves around this house right now, which is why I can't find time to blog. I haven't really had my laptop up when I'm sitting on the couch.

There's all kinds of expenses as well, you don't think about these when you're planning. Or is that just me? We needed a lawn mower...then a new TV. A bedroom set and couch are on the list to purchase sometime soon. And down the line we'd like to redo the deck and eventually the kitchen cabinets. Whoever said that houses are money pits was definitely correct.

However I am looking forward to decorating. There's a little bit of friction between the two of us because we don't have the same styles, and trying to find a common theme is difficult. We need to figure out paint colors because despite the "move-in ready" status I cannot live in 32487 shades of brown. But the promise of ideas has me content until we take the plunge.

Same thing with pets. We will get them when we're ready. I say I'm ready right now but M insists at least our boxes should be unpacked before we do so. Plus, we have some stand-in pets for now. Fred & Ginger are tree frogs that hang out on our front door/window.

Ginger

Fred

And this weekend I realized we have a woodpecker marking his territory. The damn thing pecks not more than 3 feet from my head outside on the gutters. Research shows unfortunately that I can't just buy a shotgun and shoot the thing because they are protected. But there's a few solutions that might work. Most of them sound crazy but hopefully we'll get it right on the first try.

"If a June night could talk, it would probably boast it invented romance." -Bern Williams

Summertime is...

Corn on the cob

Floating in the lake / Sitting by the pool

Strawberries & blueberries

BBQs

Vacations

Iced tea

and most of all....BIRTHDAYS.

I don't know about you and your family/friends, but summer is called "the season of going broke" in our family because of the sheer number of birthdays. It starts in June and doesn't end until September, and until the last few years we used to have a party pretty much every weekend. It's a little exhausting.

But my birthday in particular, is very significant. July 23rd, is home to birthdays for two different great uncles, a step-grandmother, M's new niece and myself. I welcome M's niece w/open arms because this is a pretty special day to be born. :-)

This year the day was pretty packed. I made the executive decision to work that Friday and we had a BBQ at the office. In addition one of my coworkers made me angel food cake with berries & whipped cream because she knew how much I enjoy it. I was able to cut out a little early and head to the hospital with M to see the new addition to his family. She's beautiful and healthy and absolutely perfect.

Of course we needed to cut our visit a little short because we had plans to go to dinner that night at John Howie Steakhouse. If you live in the Seattle-area you've probably heard of the new mall area called the Bravern, it's home to such famous stores as Hermes, Anthropologie, Jimmy Choo as well as many other high end stores. But what's special about chef John Howie is that he already has an awesome restaurant called Seastar Restaurant & Raw Bar. I have been to the steakhouse once for happy hour and their happy hour food is tops.

We decided to check out their full menu this time and they definitely did not disappoint. But the best part? M totally surprised me! We had planned to go (just the two of us) and when we checked in they told us some of our party were waiting in the bar. Turns out he invited a bunch of our friends! He can never keep secrets from me so I was so thrilled.

The following weekend was my grandfather's & brother's birthdays, so we celebrated with brunch on Sunday for my grandfather and dinner the next night at this tiny Mexican joint that my little brother loves. Thankfully this weekend will be a little quieter, we have a pass until the next one. Instead we're headed to a Mariner's game on Saturday and out to Seafair on Sunday. Please wish us luck that it doesn't rain like it's supposed to this weekend, Seafair is much more fun when it's not raining.

So tell me...what are your big plans this weekend? And most importantly, what signals to you that it's summer?

"I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy. Come on, Squishy. Come on, little Squishy. Ow. Bad Squishy, bad Squishy."

Sounds of water running.

Jaws dropping.

Feet hitting carpet...squishing.

Frantic phone calls.

Waiting what seems like hours, days.

Shop-vacs sucking.

Fans whirling.

Silence.

Last week my washer proceeded to flood. Well scratch that, let's start at the beginning. It all starts the same way, I start to remind M that it might be a good idea to wash his towels. He tells me that they are JUST FINE and I disagree saying they smell, which is apparently something only someone FEMALE can smell and ends with him relenting. To be nice I offer to let him use my washer & dryer because you don't actually have to pay for each use in quarters and we're on our merry way.

That is until this time. We put the towels in the washer and proceed to make dinner and once we eat I go to check on the laundry. That's when I hear water still running, see water in the bathroom and feel that squishy yucky (hot!) water under my feet. In that second I'm frozen until the only thing I can do is yell "M!!!!!" He runs for more towels, I call the emergency maintenance line for my apartments and then I wait. And wait. Stupid phone line is actually a pager so someone has to call me back. Luckily I get the call back soon but then proceed to wait until they finally show up.

But they did and were surprisingly helpful. One round of the shop-vac and them telling me how great it was that I caught the flooding early. Two days of fans drying out my carpet, I now have that sound of industrial strength fan buzzing through my ears at a moment's notice.

My poor downstairs neighbor was not nearly as fortunate. She wasn't home for most of it and the maintenance people had to poke holes in her ceiling to get the water to flow...and flow it certainly did. But we're now back to normal with no indication it happened in the first place.

Yikes, I don't know how people deal with this when they own their own home. Still wish we could find the perfect one, we've been on the search since October.

But in much happier news, have you voted for LiLu to be MTV's new Twitter Jockey?!?!


Please please vote for her, she's one of my first commenters on this blog and I love her dearly.

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings & what sound bees make

With all the controversy surrounding Google Buzz I haven't really known what to think about the system. It really seems like a mix of Twitter, Facebook & Google Reader but there certainly are parts of it I do like. I do like the fact that if you put your blog in your profile you can find blogs you didn't know existed. I have some IRL friends who I didn't know they blogged at all. I guess that could be a double edged sword for some, but don't put the information if you don't want it out there.

What I love the most is the "people you follow" section in Google Reader. I never utilized this before and by "following" people in Buzz it's opened a whole new world to me. Jamie Lovely shares some of the awesomest (is that a word?) posts and I've found some new blogs because of her. I also like how all the shared items show up in the Buzz timeline as well.

Here is my list of new blogs or things I've discovered in the last few weeks that make me extremely happy.

Green Wedding Shoes - No, I'm not getting married but I love everything about this blog. The photos, the ideas that can be used for ANYTHING and yes...when the marriage thing happens I'll be prepared.

Eat Drink Chic - Everything about this blog is awesome. I came for the DIY origami heart love note and stayed for so much more.

Aria - I'll be going to Vegas soon for the first time and staying in this hotel. The BF's company did work on the City Center and since I've heard all about it for so long I want to see it in person.

Seattle sunshine - We all know the reputation Seattle has and it's not for the great music. It's all about the rain and although most of the country is covered in snow we've had one of the most beautiful winters ever.

The Millionaire Matchmaker - Ok, I watched this show off & on last season but I finally set up a season pass on the DVR and surprise! The BF is addicted too. We spent last Sunday watching a marathon when I felt crappy.

What have you discovered lately or made you happy?

Valentine's Day, lingerie & what makes you feel sexy

I love what Valentine's Day is supposed to be. You know, the spending time with your significant other or alternatively w/people you love if you're not coupled up. I love the little presents involved and the ooey, gooey nature of it all. Yes, I'm that person who likes Valentine's Day even if I'm single.

But this is a year of being coupled up. It is also the start of the gift giving season because there's 2/14, then 3/19 (our anniversary) and 3/22 (his birthday). This is the time of year I go crazy trying to figure out what on Earth to buy the guy. What do you get a 27 year old man, a label loving, engineer type who travels, rocks out to Guitar Hero on the Wii and is technology challenged?

//

At the very least I bought some new lingerie for the evening. I had been looking at the Victoria's Secret site for a while trying to decide on one thing and I picked out a little pink number. Think of this in bright pink w/lime green & purple accents. It was gorgeous, you know until I got the thing in the mail. That Bombshell bra? It's like a B cup in the bra, let's just say that when I put it on I felt like I got a very severe boob job. Yeah, not really my thing...I had to return the thing. But I ended up finding a bra that was the same color and a lot less help in that department. On top of that, I found a cute little cherry number that is great for a fun everyday wear.

//

Remember that post on New Year's Eve? We went to this restaurant that was pretty much food porn and had an amazing time. Our plan this year for Valentine's Day was super simple, all I wanted was to go to Chipolte and maybe have a little picnic in front of the fireplace. Well, that was until I got an email from that restaurant telling me they had a Valentine's Day special. Pair in the 3 day weekend and it was too great to pass up. We're now heading down there on Saturday morning to have a few food orgasms.

//

And back to the lingerie thing...what makes *you* feel sexy? For me sometimes it is lingerie that fits just right and gives me a bit of confidence. Sometimes though it's being in my favorite pajamas (pants & a tee) that makes me feel sexier than no other. And of course having the right bra & panties under an outfit (work, play, whatever) that gives me the confidence to take on the day. Hell, sometimes it could even be a glass or two of wine to do the trick, but we all know that one.

//

Finally, thanks to everyone who commented on the last post. Those girls are stll "super slutty" but I've also found out the boys that live above the BF are just as slutty too. When I look out the peephole and see the guys walking up the stairs there is always a different girl w/them. I don't know what kind of place he lives in but I'm just happy that he's not one of them. I kind of miss living around old people.

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.

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?

"Stress is when you wake up screaming and you realize you haven't fallen asleep yet"

Although the whole point of a blog is to post, I'll admit that the fact this blog had 23 posts before this one had me not wanting to post ever again. Crazy? Probably. But 23 is one of my favorite numbers (the only one beating it out is 9 for reasons that will make you think I actually AM crazy) and I was a little superstitious.

But let's just go with it, shall we? Thanks to all of you who commented on the office supplies post, I had no clue that there were so many of you who feel the same way about them. :-) I think we all need crocodile staple removers in our possession.

Last weekend wasn't nearly as exciting as some of yours out there. I mostly did laundry and made to-do lists for packing...throwing in a little Mother's Day celebration at my mom's place. BTW - she is awesome, even though she stresses out like crazy (hmm, that might be where I get it from!) but she puts on a great spread. We had a brunch fit for champions - strada, homemade hashbrowns, blueberry muffins (from scratch), bacon, sausage, fruit x3, mimosas etc. I ate entirely too much and suffered for it the rest of the night.


But here I am today at work, finishing up the last of everything I can before I head to vacation in Puerto Vallerta! I'm stressed out over the packing and the excitement of it all. Anyone else do that? The first time I was to see Phantom of the Opera I made myself so sick from the stress I couldn't go. My mom didn't tell me we were heading to Disneyland until the night before for that very reason. But here I am trying to pack early so I don't freak out and it's having the opposite effect on me.

I'm still surprised work is letting me go on said trip. I've only been with them about 2 months but they're letting it happen since I mentioned it when I was interviewing. We've had this vacation on the books for about 9 months and I'm going to make it the best ever. A week with sunshine, great friends, a wedding and all kinds of food & drink. I don't think it could be better than that. Well, unless I stopped stressing out. But I have my books for the trip/plane ride (Jen Lancaster's "Pretty In Plaid" and Dooce's "It Sucked and Then I Cried") and an awesome boyfriend to calm me down.

I doubt I'll be posting in the meantime so everyone have a fantastic week!

I think I've found my best friend

This week was St. Patrick's Day. I'm not particularly Irish, I think there's a smidge hidden in my heritage, I'm mostly Norwegian and Native American but my great grandmother always insisted on reminding me that there was Irish in there too "and don't you forget it" so I haven't. There were plans to head out to an Irish pub in Seattle with a bunch of the boyfriend's pals but because it's an Irish pub and St. Patrick's Day you KNOW it's going to be packed. This is why I was given the task to show up insanely early (woohoo unemployment for once!). I got there about 1:30pm thinking at least I'd be able to read some of my book (Geek Love!) and that was the silliest idea I've come up with in a while.

Funny thing though, while waiting I ran into this girl who apparently had the same idea, book and all. We started chatting and in the end our friends ended up co-mingling the rest of the evening. New friends are always fun.

In much more exciting news, yesterday was the boyfriend and my one year anniversary! It's gone by SO fast and I hear that's a good sign. :-) The day was a little hectic for me as I had to go to 4 different stores in hopes to pick up the Eliza Dushku issue of Maxim (which BTW I never found because they JUST put out the new one) and instead felt like I was buying porn since the magazine was inside a plastic cover. But the boyfriend buys one every time he has to go out of town for work and he's going to San Francisco at the end of the month and I wanted him to be prepared.

But all that was worth it for what was to come that evening. He came home from work with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers I've pretty much ever seen. Afterward we headed to Morton's Steakhouse for dinner which was a first for the both of us. We arrived a little early so we started in the lounge for a drink while watching some of March Madness. I was not completed finished with my martini when our table was ready so the host insisted on carrying it to the table for me. :-) But what was so surprising was when we got to the table our menus were waiting...with the heading of "Happy Anniversary _____ and _____!" I think that just made my night.

All the food was amazing, there were bacon wrapped scallops for an appetizer, beefcake tomato salad (for me) and lobster bisque (for him), filet oskar (mini filet mignon with lump crab & bearnaise sauce w/asparagus for me) and filet mignon & lobster tail w/asparagus (for him) followed by a Grand Marnier souffle (for me) and hot upside-down apple pie (for him). All this was paired with an Argyle pinot noir and we were in heaven. It was all amazing and the great kind of full where you don't feel like you will explode. :-) During dessert they even came by to take a complimentary photo of us that got put in a paper frame and came home with us.

I can't imagine a better evening. All I can think of is the time we'll spend together in the future and he makes me so happy. This morning (super early) I was greeted with a "happy 366 days together" from him. Oh my, if you're reading this you probably just threw up but you know what? It put the biggest grin on my face. I think I've found my best friend.

I have 10 fingers, you have 10 fingers, let's be friends!

Yesterday was Mardi Gras and it was the first time I've ever really celebrated. Ok, so the boyfriend and I went out to dinner and there was more fun in the bar at said restaurant (pictured at the left) but it was still great. There were balloons, decorations and of course...beads! Thankfully I didn't need to start flashing anyone to get said beads, I still ended up with quite the collection.

Unfortunatly I was beyond stuffed before we ever arrived to the restaurant. Earlier in the day I went to happy hour with one of my closest friends who I haven't seen in a few months. We stopped by a local mexican joint called Cactus and her boyfriend came along. We did the catch up thing, snacked on chips & salsa/guac and had quesadillas. But all that meant was come 7pm I could barely force myself to eat anything extra. :-(

For all the fun had on Tuesday, great hair day and all...today isn't really the same kind of day. I think the job search is starting to catch up to me. I was all positive thinking and going strong with applications etc. and today I can be bothered to care. Ok, scratch that. I care, but the lack of responses and the continuous questions from absolutely everyone about how the job search is going is getting to me.

The boyfriend and I have started watching Dead Like Me recently. I've seen it countless times before but I like to introduce him to shows that he hasn't seen and that I love. But because of this I feel myself missing working in an office. Yes, I just said that. I miss it, I miss having a reason to get up early even though I can't stand waking up before 9am. I miss having deadlines, projects to work on and seeing the same people day in and day out. I miss having a desk or a cubicle where I can put those little doodads up to make me smile after a potentially boring day.

What is wrong with me?

Super Bowl *insertnumberhere* :-)

Today I attend my very first Super Bowl party. Yes, I'm approaching 30 (scary!) and I've never been to a Super Bowl party. But I've never been a big football person, mostly because despite being told and explained to over and over again the rules make no sense to me. They throw flags over the silliest things (flag! he celebrated too early!) and I know that college and pro rules are different. But I have a boyfriend who is a big football fan so I'm trying to get into the spirit of things and most of all, I provide food. :-)

Yes, I bake and make all kinds of snacky goodness so they put up with my endless questions in the middle of the game because without me there wouldn't be tasty treats. Today I'm making a concoction of pigs in the blanket with little smokies. Somewhere in there we're throwing in cheese etc. so it should be good. But because of this I have to start early with the prep, the party we're going to has 20+ people already RSVP'd.

In other news I've been craving crab cakes benedict for the last week or so like nobody's business. For one reason or another I haven't been able to have it and at this point my body is rebelling because I'm not feeding it what it wants. I've dreamt about these things and even too the point where I get to the restaurant and find out you can't get them if you sit in the bar and at that point in my dream I have a tantrum, it's not pretty. But as a pre-Super Bowl excursion we're going to get the car washed and then head over there for lunch/brunch.

Yummy food, here I come!

I sleep with the fishes ... only not really

I promised a more upbeat post about my weekend, so here we go.

The boyfriend and I had a quiet Friday night watching the second Underworld movie (I can't believe he hasn't seen these), drinking some wine and lighting a fire because it was brr...chilly. Nothing like the rest of the country of course but cold enough to freeze if it wanted to, you know? But really this was all low-key since his company holiday party was to be held the next evening. I know you're thinking "holiday party? I thought the holidays were over." and you'd be right, they are over. But their company likes to hold their party in January when it's not as busy.

So we booked a hotel in downtown Seattle that was pretty fancy for the evening along with another couple we're friends with and had plans to meet up in our room before arriving at the party. On a side note, the boyfriend passed his PE (engineering) test and there was cause for celebration. Once we met up we drank Dom Pérignon, headed to the bar downstairs for a quick drink since it was still pretty early and then to the party over at the aquarium.

Now I've been to the aquarium before, but every single time I've been surrounded by screaming children and no space to walk. So this was a completely different experience. There were appetizers, dinner, drinks, dancing and the entire aquarium to ourselves. There were even a few employees to answer questions we had about the fish etc. The only downside I had was the next morning, not because we were hungover (thank goodness we were NOT) but breakfast. I had been looking at the room service menu since we got there and all I wanted was crab cake benedict. When we went down to the restaurant it turns out they were doing Sunday brunch buffet and although there was eggs benedict it obviously not what I had my heart set on. All in all - a pretty good weekend. :-)

The Facts of Life

I have that theme song stuck in my head and I never really watched that show growing up. :-)

It's 5:50pm on a Sunday night, and here I am watching Ocean Force on TruTV. The boyfriend is at the gym and I can see the sun setting out the window. Even better...when he comes home he'll be cooking me dinner...can it get any better? His family has been in town recently due to the birth of his new niece and it's been great to see them. They live on the other side of the mountains so it's not very often I get a chance to make a good impression, but this time around we've spent a fair amount of time with them. Friday night the boyfriend and I, two of our friends and his father went to the monster truck show down in Tacoma. Not usually my cup of tea but I've willing to try something new out at least once. We had a good time but there was a commotion in a section a few down from us that we were not sure what was going on. The next morning the boyfriend went into work early and texted me...turns out there was a little boy who got hurt from flying debris, he later died. Six years old, it's unthinkable. I know that something like this is a horrible accident and in the many years this show has been operating they've never seen anything like it before - but I think that something else should be done in preperation...I don't know what, but SOMETHING. They didn't stop the show, the continued the rest of the shows for the weekend. It just leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

Happy New Year! (and all that jazz)

It's 2009 already, where did the year go? I remember just the other day I was...having my first date with the boyfriend. That happened in March and who knew that would be the start of a serious whirlwind.

Confession time - I met my boyfriend on match.com*. Yes everyone, I did the online dating thing and it was, get this...successful.

How on Earth did something like this happen? I've heard horror stories, I've read about countless stories on blogs I follow and it makes me want to jump out from delurker status (because I'm still really bad at commenting) and shout from the rooftops that IT CAN WORK!!! I'm the exception it seems in the online community, and I'll share my story in the slight hope that it might help you out too.

Back on March 19, 2008 I had a date with the boyfriend and I almost fell head over heels for this guy. It all started out because I got this email. It said something to the effect that one of my friends decided to set me up with a match.com profile and I needed to complete it. Said friend was one I used to work with and become fast BFFs with, but I never thought she'd be into that sort of thing (she's gorgeous, has no probs with guys) and let alone her thinking I needed that kind of help. I mean, what kind of quazimoto did I need to be to need help in the dating world? I'm not horrendous looking, I'm spunky, love some random guy-type stuff and have guy friends. I shouldn't need help like this?

So basically I was a little offended. I called her up and gave the big WTF?!?!? about it and she told me point blank that I was an awesome girl and she wanted to see me happy. I rolled my eyes a few times and she told me to shut my mouth, I was amazing and although I was super busy and not focused on guys that she wanted me to possibly date a few people and get me back into the dating mindset.

Seriously, everyone needs a girlfriend like this. I think there's a few lists out there that tell you the people you should have in your life and she is one of them. Note to self: call her ASAP, it's been too long.

But I finished my profile and started looking around. I didn't see all that many people I liked but there were a few. Even though I was signed up I was in free status so I couldn't do all the cool stuff, like IM people or even email them so I thought that was lame. I bookmarked a few profiles for later and didn't think about it. But then I found out about a 7 day free trial.

I was wary, I'll give you that. But worse things have happened to me and I checked out the emails I had waiting. Some were douchebags, some I wasn't interested in and some were trying all too hard. But there he was. A guy who made me giggle in front of my laptop and score! He lived in the same city.

After a few emails back and forth (and me soon canceling my trial) we decided to try out dinner. We started at this Mexican place that had almost an hour wait, but headed to an all American restaurant down the street I've been to a few times. He was quiet and let me talk, which made me happy since I can't ever shut up. I think I babbled about my hair a lot, it was down my back in my photos but I had recently cut it and donated to Locks of Love. Boys like long hair so I was freaked out.

A hug was had at the end of the date but we planned to get together two days from there. His birthday & Easter were that weekend so we wouldn't be seeing each other for about a week...It didn't matter.

It's nine months later and we're still going strong. I see him almost daily, and talk at least once a day. I'm never sick of seeing him and even most of his quirks I still find endearing. We've been through a few family deaths, family pregnancies, meeting the parents (and actually LIKING them!) and countless other outstanding events.

What I'm really trying to say is...IT CAN HAPPEN. Don't sell yourself short, don't pretend to be someone you're not. It's cliche but that's for a reason, because all that stuff is true. Be you, don't be discouraged. Someone is there for you, and they're amazing. They might be online, they might be in your city or across the country. Remember though, it takes time. Some of us find that special person in their high school sweetheart and some find them two marriages down the line at the age of 60.

Live like you mean it - seriously.

*I promise, I am no way affiliated with match.com or made anything off this post. I just have a success story.

SNOW DAY x38475642

In my last post I wrote about the almost lack of payout from all the December storm news coverage. This in particular gave me pause:

I packed up my things and headed home before 4pm and was in the midst of a hail storm for about half my commute, but then it just abruptly stopped. Nothing, no rain, no hail, no snow for most of the night. This had me sad, because with all the hype I needed payoff. I decided I would snuggle up with my electric blanket, glass of wine, some decent tv and would peek through the blinds outside to see if anything changed. It didn't.

I wish someone had smacked me. I repeat - why didn't anyone smack me when I said this? This was last Thursday and today, 4 days later I am stuck at my boyfriend's apartment. Said boyfriend is not here because he has a backup vehicle with 4 wheel drive and went to work early this morning. I on the other hand have spent the last 45 mins trying to dig my car out of the snow with no success. I wouldn't have even THOUGHT about doing such a thing, but you know...if there are countless cars/trucks going up and down the same hill I shouldn't have that much of a problem.

Oh yes I did, and at this point I am freaking the eff out. I want to go home - if anything I want to be snowed in at my own place. From there I can walk anywhere to get some food or cleaning supplies or whatever. Instead I'm sitting on my boyfriend's couch watching TV that has no TiVo and wishing I had more clean clothes.

*sigh*

I guess hindsight really is 20/20.

Snow Day

We've had some crazy weather in my neck of the woods over the last week and today is no exception. The weatherman/woman (or is it weather people?) have been lamenting about "Winter Storm 2008" even though winter isn't for another few days. But they've been forecasting snow, snow and more snow for pretty much the entire area and last night I was sent home early from work due to the storm coming south from northern Washington.

I packed up my things and headed home before 4pm and was in the midst of a hail storm for about half my commute, but then it just abruptly stopped. Nothing, no rain, no hail, no snow for most of the night. This had me sad, because with all the hype I needed payoff. I decided I would snuggle up with my electric blanket, glass of wine, some decent tv and would peek through the blinds outside to see if anything changed. It didn't.

But I got a call from my boyfriend who was busy cleaning his house for upcoming family visits. I didn't plan on seeing him this night but he insisted since Wednesdays are ours, we watch Criminal Minds and South Park (if it's new) because it's the yin & yang. I love the first, him the second. I pack my overnight bag on the off chance that the weather will change and we snuggle up with the tv and couch that has become oh so comfortable.

Cut to the next morning when we wake up far too early, think around 5am. He looks outside and tells me there's no snow, I pout but try to force myself back to sleep. There is a flash of white I see even through my closed eyes and the rumbling starts...a thundersnow (not my term, look to the weatherpeople). I sleep for another half hour and we peek through the blinds.

SNOW DAY!!!

In an instant we have at least 3 inches covering everything. A winter wonderland is mine and I feel vindicated. The roads are a mess, traffic isn't moving because it's rush hour and people in the area were taken by surprise. The boyfriend however is not deterred and sleeps until 8am before deciding to go to work.

Here I am stuck at his house as my little car hates the snow. It's not so bad, I have the comfy couch under me, tv at my disposal, but he's not here. He trusts me to stay in his house for extended periods of time without him, which is nice...but my hope for today was that we would BOTH be celebrating snow day together.