Doing a little shopping

I am sitting here at work doing what I do best...browse/shop online. I found the funniest/weirdest online store, Fred Flare. Aren't these umbrellas the cutest!?


There is even a redhead...wearing my favorite color, green!



I put her in my shopping cart, but am now hesitating. I think that this might be too little girlie for me to use, even though it's so cute. And it's not like I don't have a million umbrellas already. But, I don't have a green one. Hmmm.

My sleeper mask is in need of replacing, so this one is a necessity. I wonder how Rob will like looking at this in bed everyday. I think it's funny!! Long live Napoleon Dynamite. :)

Feeling like a teenager again

I have grown a third eye. Right between my existing two. In the form of a pimple. Ugh! I shuddered as I typed that...I am so embarrassed. Aren't I past the age of this!?! I think it might look more inconspicuous if I were to plaster on one of these and attempt to pass it off as a 'sports' injury.

I told Rob I felt like a unicorn. Instead of reassuring me, he laughed. Guess it really is that bad. I am traumatized. Do Dermatologists make office visits? I am too horrified to step out of mine.

Happy Monday.

Rob *hearts* the 'HOP'

Sunday afternoon we went and saw the movie W. I read the reviews (which were not very good) and was hesitant on spending my afternoon on it. I wanted to see another movie. I lost. We went to W. It ended up being pretty decent and a lot funnier than I expected.

After the flick we were heading to Tukwila for dinner. Rob wanted to go to his favorite BBQ joint, Famous Dave's. It's a little bit out of the way, but we didn't have anything better to do. When we are within a block or two of Dave's we stop at a light and notice that a brand new IHOP has opened up right on the corner.

Rob, being the pancake lover that he is, decides that IHOP trumps BBQ (I don't care either way...I am not a fan of either) and we dine at the oh-so-classy IHOP instead. Never mind that we literally passed three other IHOP's on our way down there...one that was across the street from the movie theatre!! Like I said...we didn't have anything better to do. :) His night was made even better when the waitress announced that they had all you can eat pancakes. Sometimes I wonder if it came down to choosing either me or pancakes, which one Rob would pick. If ever faced with this decision just hope he remembers that I can make pancakes. :)

I feel undeserving

A few days ago I received a loving shout out from my friend (way back from high school!), Amy and it just so happens that she *hearts* my blog (as I do hers!!).

She gave me this award and I now get to present it to seven other blogs that I love. These seven bloggers will then post the award, thank the person who gave it to them and then choose seven other blogs they would like to pass the award onto.

This was a tough choice...I read SO MANY blogs! My Google Reader is tracking ~60 blogs right now and I never get caught up with it. :) So, after much careful deliberation, I have chosen to pass this award onto

Nelson Newsletter

Mrs. Priss

Odi et Amo

Confessions of a Jersey Girl

Sodermoto

Joseph Family

(No) Sex and the City

Congratulations and enjoy!!

It was love at first sight

I would like to introduce you all to my new love. We first met here and my thoughts have been consumed by her ever since. I have named her Audrey. Fitting isn't it?

I tried to talk Rob into inviting her into our home, but he gave me a big fat no. Why? I believe that it was her $12,000 price tag. But, can you really put a price on the happiness and joy that results from bringing a new member into the family? Apparently so. Rob suggests that I sell my car and buy her. He is so impractical! :) Maybe we will win the lottery. I will just have to keep on dreaming. Oh, such sweet dreams. Audrey, I will always love you.

My new favorite number

Um...that would be 24!

I never bought into the hype of the show, but I was finally convinced to start watching it a month or so ago. I have been hooked ever since! Thank goodness for Netflix...the 24 DVDs just keep a coming! Now seriously, could Jack Bauer be any tougher!?! He is like a male Sydney Bristow. Yes, I understand that me talking like they are real people makes me sound like a loser, but I don't care! If there was any chance that I could pull it off I would dress up as Sydney for Halloween. Gosh, I am such a nerd!

Back to 24...I would have thought that this show would be right up Rob's alley, but he is showing no interest in it. So, needless to say I have been putting in a lot of solo TV time lately.

Visit from the girls

We have been lucky enough to have some house guests this past week. My Mom, aunt Alane and sister-in-law Melanie arrived in Seattle on Wednesday. That evening we headed over to Alki Beach for a great seafood dinner at Dukes and did some catching up. Snoqualmie Falls was our first stop Thursday morning.

The foliage surrounding the falls was so beautiful. We took tons of pictures of all the changing leaves. That afternoon we walked around the Seattle Art Museum. It was definitely not on the list of my favorite museums, but it was interesting nonetheless. As you walked in they had white about 5 white Taurus cars hanging from the ceiling with big flashing light sticks coming out of them. Weird, but it's art...I guess. The last picture shows Mel's favorite piece (the long silver robe made out of dog tags) and my least favorite piece (a large rat on top of a bed).

On our way home we stopped by Southcenter Mall to grab some Red Mango and do a little shopping. Here is Mel posing with a crazy headband she found in Forever 21. She cracks me up!! I also found a great dusty blue handbag/clutch there for only $25! I love their accessories...they are so cheap!

On Friday we went to Pikes Place Market and did some shopping. Alane bought me a pretty bunch of dried flowers. I love getting dried flowers from the market...they look great and last forever!

That night we dined at a good old favorite; The Crab Pot on the waterfront.

After dinner we went home for a little R & R before hitting the 10:00 showing of The Secret Life of Bees at the Lincoln Center.

I read the book a few years back and liked it. The movie was great, but you know what they all say: the book is always better than the movie. Everyone else (minus Rob :) he was so good to go along with our movie selection!) really enjoyed the movie. It was 12:30 before we arrived home. We were all so tired!!

After sleeping in a few hours on Saturday morning we drove through the Arboretum to check out the changing leaves and have a little walk around. The weather was exceptionally warm and bright. There were so many people out with their cameras!

The next stop of the day was Gas Works Park. You get a great view of the city and Lake Union from this park. See the sky in the background? Clearness of that kind in nearly unheard of during this time of year. The girls really lucked out on their trip up here...hardly any rain at all! There were a bunch of people (all adults!) there dressed up crazy costumes and playing weird games...it was a funny site to see.

We arrived at the Seattle Center in the late afternoon. I was so surprised that they still had the fountain going. There were even a few people playing in the water...crazy! It was definitely starting to cool down by this time in the day, so I could only imagine how cold it was if you were wet. :)

While waiting in line at the Space Needle a lady in front of us handed us some free passes...nice, huh! Since everyone but Alane had been up in to the top before, Rob and Alane waited in line to go up to the top and Mel, Mom and I went back to the Center House to watch the Seattle Turkish Festival dancers. It was pretty entertaining!!

Back at home we played some games over pizza and a movie and hit the sack. The girls were off to the airport the next morning and our exciting time with them came to an end. We had such a great time with them all!! Rob was such a good tour guide and drove us all over the place! He sure did a better job than I could have. :)

Thanks for coming to visit us...can't wait to see you again soon!

Thwarted plans

My lunch hour plans were pretty packed. They consisted of an express manicure, a trip to the pharmacy, a quick deposit at the bank and take away from the great new Greek place around the corner. It just so happens that I didn't get past the first errand. It was a very unproductive lunch hour and I blame it all on Ellen DeGeneres.

Ellen's talkshow was playing on the television at the nail salon when I arrived and I was quickly sucked into it. I was so engrossed in her show that I subconciously convinced myself that I had better let my nails dry a little longer. Next thing I know, I have been sitting in front of the nail dryer for 30 minutes! So much for an express manicure...my lunch hour is nearly over!

Due to the jobs I've had over the years I have never had the opportunity to watch daytime television during the week. If Ellen is this great, are there other shows that I am missing out on? I might have to take up a life of leisure so that I can explore this further...or else dump school and get a night job. :)

Back to red, for now...

Brunette to Redhead Part II seems to have been a success. It's not the exact color that I had in the pre-brown days, but it's close enough. Before the official dyeing took place told myself that the color might not match 100%, but as long as it was a little darker vs. lighter I would be okay. I was secretly hoping to come out with one of the colors below. Nice, right? No such luck...I am more of a bright red.

When I got home the first thing Rob said...'Well, it sure isn't brown.' Sweet, I know! For someone who never wanted me to dye my hair brown in the first place, he sure got attached to it. I happen to like the brown color better as well, I just don't enjoy spending all of that time (and $$!!) getting it done. So, I am red for now, but don't be surprised if I go brown sooner than later. :)

Love is in the air!

Congratulations to my cousin Breanne and her new husband Jake! They just got married in Utah yesterday. Don't they make a beautiful couple...

Another congratulations is order...my lovely cousin Hayley just got engaged. Such exciting news! Here is a shot of her and her new fiancee at the wedding yesterday.

Another charming couple, my Grandparents.

One of the bummers about living away from your family...you have to miss out on a lot of this stuff. Thankfully my Dad keeps me semi in the loop by sending pictures. Thanks Dad!

Illegally Blonde

On my recent journey from a brunette back to a red head I hit a major roadblock. It all started yesterday morning at 9 AM. The first step in my transformation was to bleach, yes, I said bleach the entirety of my tresses. Since my hair was so dark, the process took two applications and several hours. After the bleach came the color - yay! This also took hours. Apparently my hair is a little bit stubborn. When the colorist was happy with the hue of my hair she washed the dye out and began blow drying. I was so excited to see my red hair again!! It has been so long since I have had red hair, I hardly remembered what I looked like with it. But as she continued blowing out my hair, the color I was seeing was anything but familiar. I know my memory couldn't be that bad...my hair had never been this color. The color I am referring to...BLONDE. Immediately my smile turned into a frown, and she tried to convince me that it was a lovely shade of strawberry blonde. Um, no...it is just blonde, no strawberry in sight! My stubborn hair just didn't take to the color as she thought it would. By this time the salon had already been closed for 90 minutes, so there was nothing further she could do for me yesterday. My eyes are pricking up with tears as I am reliving this.

The kicker of this is the salon cannot fit me in to fix it until Tuesday afternoon! I have to walk around looking like a blonde wannabe faker until then. Although, I have hid out at home ever since the incident. I am tempted to buy a box of red hair dye from the store a fix it myself. I know this would probably only create more problems for my hair, so I am showing restraint...so far. As soon as Rob saw my hair he expressed his disinterest in it, but now says that the color has grown on him. I think he is just trying to make me feel better. I am going through my scarves and hats and trying to pull together a decent, but not overly obvious look to disguise the mess. No winners as of yet. I could sport a ski mask...

Mystery Solved!

Check out Whitney's blog to find the real reason behind this stumping post. Clever huh! :)

Whit, you make me laugh!!

What's with all of the NOISE!?!

Last week I was thrilled about all of the leaves falling outside my office window. Today I have realized a major downside of that...leaf blowers.

Especially when there are three of them being operated outside my window while I am in the middle of a VERY, VERY, VERY (really, 3 very's are in order!) important conference call. Argh!

Oh well...Happy Friday!

Oh, how cute!

Head on over here to see two of the cutest little girls ever...my nieces! You won't be sorry. :)

Hula Hoopin' Fool

Last night I was putting in some serious work with the Wii Fit. Towards the end I was spending a lot of time on the hula hoop exercise. I was really killing it...until I wasn't. Apparently hula-ing the hoop is too intense for my poor old back...it is killing me!!! My regimen of ice packs and icy hot is just not cutting it. Right about now I am really regretting breaking up with my Chiropractor. I may have to grovel my way back there if this doesn't clear up soon. :) I sure wish my Dad, who happens to be my favorite Chiropractor, made house calls!

In my defense, my back was still a bit skiwampus (sp?) from my last car accident, but I honestly thought that I could handle the hoop. I better stick to the yoga exercises for awhile! Man, I feel old!!

I *heart* Tina Fey!!

This clip is a little long, but every second of it is hilarious. I have never been a huge SNL fan, but this Palin stuff is too good!!

SATC

For all of you Sex and the City fans, head on over to iTunes...they have a FREE behind the scenes exclusive clip available for download.

I loved the movie!! Although I had already seen it a couple of times I bought it the day it came out. It's an extended version and has an bonus disk with a bunch of extras, plus deleted scenes. I love seeing all of the behind the scenes footage and what it takes to put movies together!

Wanna buy a house?

Yesterday we attended a fabulous Modern Homes Tour that consisted of five homes through the Seattle area. I brought my camera so that I could snap a few pictures, but never got aroudn to pulling it out of my bag. Check out their site, they have some great shots. While they were all amazing homes, modern architecture is not the direction I would like to go. Rob on the other hand was ready to hop on board. He really liked the minimalist look they used in their decorating. Me, I am a huge shopper/junk collector/hoarder and am anti-minimalist. I need a house with plenty of room for displaying and storage! We are still working on finding something that suits both of us. At two of the locations they had putting greens. Each person who could sink a hole in one scored a Starbucks gift card. Putting extraordinaire Rob snagged us two gift cards and I managed to get one myself.

We spent a few hours on the tour, visited his Auntie in the hospital and stopped by Bellevue Square for some Red Mango before heading home. I am still feeling yucky and was exhausted. I was in bed by 9:00!

Best impulse buy ever!!

Well, maybe not ever, but definitely the best one this week. I was waiting in the LONGEST line at Staples the other day when my eyes wandered onto this shiny baby...

...as soon as my gaze locked, I knew I had to have it. I had forgotten about it until this afternoon and have been on a labeling spree ever since. So now everything in purse/computer case has been tagged in metallic silver. I even drew silver dots on my bright red toenails. This is what happens we I am home from work and hopped up on DayQuil & Sudafed. I took the DayQuil and wasn't feeling much better. Turns out it expired in February of last year, so I popped two Sudafed, then I was feeling pretty good. That's not good though, huh? I had better check the expiration date on the NyQuil before I take it...

Casual Friday...to the extreme

I woke up this AM with a cold...I don't feel good!! I didn't want to go to work, but figured I am up anyways, I will go for awhile. I had been freezing all morning, so I pushed past the stacks of capri's in my closet in search of some long pants. There was a lonely pair cast off on the end of the shelf, so I grabbed them, wondering why they were all on their own. Then I remembered that these were the most comfortable casual jeans ever...perfect for feeling crappy at work. Yes! I will wear them today...it's Friday anyways. So once I get to work I realize that they are a little too baggy and I am feeling slightly sloppy. I chalk it up to casual Friday and plan to stay seated in my office so no one will see me. A few hours into work, I take a big lean back in my chair and notice that something feels different in my pants area. It then all comes rushing back to me...I remember why these jeans were cast off into the corner of my closet shelf...oh no!!!

Yep, I am sporting jeans with a big hole in the butt! Feeling slightly mortified, I dash off to the bathroom to see how bad it is. After glancing at myself in the mirror I tell myself that it isn't that bad. It matched the distressed wash of the jeans, right? So, I run/walk back to my office to grab my phone so that I can take a picture. It took about 14 tries to get the right picture. I opted for a close, close, close up because I am not brave enough to post a picture of my entire bum online. Coward!!

As if my day wasn't dumpy enough, a co-worker walked in on me taking a shot of said hole. Weird, right? I kind of explained to her what I was doing and she laughed at me. What else had I expected? Whatever...I knew I should not have come to work today...I am going home.

Leaves are falling all around!

All throughout the day I have been watching leaves fall off of the trees outside my office window. It has put me in such a great mood! I have been so excited for the Fall, but the last week or so has been an extension of summer...it was in the high eighties for the past few days (boo!).

I think that this weekend may include a nice drive in the mountains to check out the foliage.

Hooray for the Fall!!