Sleep like a baby

I cannot live without

It makes my world go 'round! I highly recommend it. Not like I am a pusher or anything, just an incredibly satisfied customer.

They have this vanilla kind too, but I am hard core...I only do the real stuff. :)

Me = better than Celine

I love Celine Dion's Christmas album. I even listen to it in the off season (middle of the summer!) sometimes...that is just how much I like it. O Holy Night is my favorite Christmas song and she does an amazing job with it. Why am I sharing this? It is a little bit of the back story that will help explain a crazy dream I had last week.

As the dream would have it, I was at a HUGE Celine Dion Christmas Concert (which for the record, I have never seen her in concert) and during the intermission there was a buzz throughout the audience that her voice had given out and she wouldn't be able to perform her last song...O Holy Night. What a disaster! That single song is the reason everyone was there! Suddenly I was pulled from my seat by men in black suits and earpieces and hustled backstage where and Ms. D herself begged me to cover the last song for her. Her entire staff agreed that I was the only one who could save her show. I of course declined her request...that is until I was told that I could wear the big HEART OF THE OCEAN (!!) necklace she donned for her Titanic/My Heart Will Go On performance. So naturally, I gave in.

Part of my performance was actually me, but in a Mr. Kruger's Christmas kind of way...the part where he dreams he is leading the Tabernacle Choir and everything is all-a-glow around him while he is gleaming a twirling around. The other part was as if I was in the audience watching myself. Either way, I was absolutely amazing! The highlight of the performance was when I held a really strong note for an extremely long time (about 4 1/2 minutes into it on the actual song) and then the entire auditorium erupted into applause. Unfortunately I woke up soon after that (stupid alarm clock!!) and didn't get to make a run for it with my new necklace, but I did feel a little French-Canadian for the rest of the day.

I don't really know where the dream came from. I know that I cannot sing and I don't like to be the center of attention, but it was still pretty cool! I wish I could remember my dreams that vividly more often. I am not tech enough to know how to insert the actual song into the post, but you can check out a YouTube clip of it here. When you watch it just remember, my performance was ten times what hers was...I seriously killed it!

I think that I have an old N Sync Christmas album somewhere...I might have to pull it out and take a listen. Maybe then I will dream that I am 16 again and the love interest in one of their videos. Lame, I know...but at 16 it would have been awesome!! :)

Me vs. the 'Bucks

After living in the Seattle area for nearly a decade I can officially call this my home. I have really acclimated to the culture with one major exception. I don't drink coffee. I cannot stand the taste of it, let alone the smell of it! With Seattle being the unofficial Land of Coffee, I am definitely considered to be an oddball due to my dislike of the bean. However, I do my part in supporting the King of Coffee, Starbucks.

I recently gave into the hype of the new drinks they are promoting and tried their Salted Carmel Hot Chocolate. As I hit their drive thru in the early morning hours instead of ordering my usual chai tea latte, I gambled and grabbed the cocoa instead. It was terrible!! I've had several people rave about how great they are, so why am I gagging it down?

Perhaps I shouldn't have nixed the whip? But everyone else loved it...can it really be that bad? Maybe I should try it again...just to confirm that it really is crap. The barista probably mixed it incorrectly, that's why I didn't take to it. Everyone else cannot be wrong, right? But if I do try it again and it's crap, then I am just the chump who bought not one, but TWO crap cocoas.

After a few days I gave in and tried it again...I was right. It is crap! Back to chai tea for me.

I rest my case.

I. Am. Heartbroken.

I just read terrible news. ABC is cancelling my new favorite show, Dirty Sexy Money. Such a letdown. I am officially bummed. I hope they change their mind. Doubtful, right?

Watch it online while it's still here.

Jinglin' with Gap

I know it is a little early to start with the Christmas stuff, but I just cannot wait. Here is my favorite holiday Gap commercial. A little patience is required because it takes a little while to load, but it's definitely worth it!



I wonder if you can buy it?? The one with the guys and the bells is a good one too. I do not like the one with the Dixie Chicks and Sandra Bernhard. Come on Gap, step it up!! You can view them all here.

So I guess I think I'm British

Bit of strange news. Looks like I am the ambivalent host of an alter-ego. It appears that deep down some part of me thinks that I am British. Well, part British at least. It stems from my recent fancy of Sophie Kinsella books. She is a best-selling British chick-lit author and I love her! Well, more her work than her. I mentioned awhile back that I have taken to listening to books on CD as a means to make my lengthy commute seem somewhat tolerable. Over the past few months I have listened to six (!) of her books and am just starting another one.

If I were to have simply read her books, I don't think that my I would have developed this quirk; it's the fact that the person reading the book has a British accent that gets to me. Now I often think my thoughts in a British accent, I use words that are British in my everyday conversations and emails and I have been converting prices in US dollars to British pounds (the Shopaholic books talk A LOT about the cost of things!). It's getting to be a little too much! :) I think that this is a sign that I need to start reading/listening to some different material. Next on my list is Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time.

Search Party

I cannot locate my glasses. I think I lost them when we moved. Yes, that was over six months ago. I thought I would come across them someday when I wasn’t really looking for them. Funny, but it hasn’t happened yet. I finally decided to buy a new pair but my eye doc won’t give me my prescription…says I need an exam first. What a racket this eye game is! Maybe I will just keep looking for my glasses…I never wear them anyways. Oh, boo.

***Sidenote: Blogger spellcheck is total garbage!!!***

Q of what?

Typical Monday morning. Did the 'So what did you do this weekend?' with about a dozen people. I told every one of them that I saw Quantum Solstice on Friday night. Not until #12 or so did someone point out it Quantum of Solace. Um...whatever that means. It wasn't my movie choice anyways! I don't really do Bond movies. :)

Flying Solo

Yesterday I had an appointment in Bellevue that ended at 4:00. I also had an exam for my Psych class in Bellevue at 7:30 later that night. So I either could have driven all the way home and done nothing for a few hours, then driven all the way back for my test, or I could stay in Bellevue and do something fun. Not a hard decision, right? Right! I had been wanting to see Burn After Reading, but haven't been able to drag Rob along with me.

It just so happens that it was showing in my favorite Bellevue movie theatre at 4:40...yes! I know what you are thinking...go see a movie alone? But that's weird, isn't it? No!! I LOVE to go to the movies by myself. Not in a loser way, but in an early matinee way. I think it's fun. Does that make me sound like a loser loner? I don't care, I still like it. So being the super cool person that I am, I stopped at Bartell's to buy a treat to sneak into the movie theatre (M & M's 2 for $0.88 - score!). Rob has always thought that bringing in outside food was the weirdest thing to do. Me, I think it's perfectly normal...we always did that growing up! There was rarely a time a movie was seen without a quick stop at All a Dollar first. Every time Rob and I catch a flick we buy a large popcorn, 2 large drinks and a candy. Never mind that we have NEVER ONCE eaten it all! And he thinks that I am wasteful?! Oh, I digress.

So I buy my ticket and wander into the theatre. It is completely empty. I know this will make me sound dorky, but I thought it was so cool that I would have the entire place to myself. As I took a seat in the very middle of the theatre, it hit me how big it actually was...and it was all mine. See, dorky! This theatre usually has an usher welcome the crowd before the movie starts, but not this time. I was slightly disappointed that I didn't get a personal welcome. After the fact I realized that it might have been a little awkward...for both of us and then I was alright with it. I was enjoying the previews when I saw some movement in the far corner of the theatre...what was it? Oh no, it's people! An elderly couple crashed my personal movie viewing party - the nerve! I got over it pretty quickly and enjoyed the movie (as well as BOTH packages of M & M's). It was really funny! Not mainstream funny, but dark funny. I was out of there in time to flip through my notes and get to my exam on time. Now if I do say so myself, I am quite the great date!

The Snooper

As I was browsing the MSN homepage my eye stopped on this picture and the caption next to it

BEST PLACES TO SNOOP ON CO-WORKERS

It just so happens that I have the biggest snoop of a co-worker in my very own office. I will here on out refer to that person as Snoopy. I am intrigued by the site of this photo and decided to see if MSN's version of a snoop has any similarities with my nosy office mate. The name of their article is Best Places to Eavesdrop. As I am reading this, I think that it must have been written by Snoopy, only in his/her amateur days. Some points in this article mirror the exact tactics Snoopy used in his/her early days of employment with us. He/she has since graduated to much more advanced practices...only he/she attempts to disguise his/her nosiness as concern. It's the worst!!

As coincidence would have it, just as I am reading this article Snoopy sneakily, silently enters my office...looking at my computer screen the whole time, which he/she does quite often. My office is a big square with a corner desk, so my back is to the door and my computer screen is open for anyone behind me to see. I usually keep my door half open, so this provides a little bit of privacy. Not that I should need it because I am an incredibly dedicated employee who never uses the internet for anything other than work. This is clearly evident as I am blogging at work. :) Yeah, that is a whole different story. Anyway, I notice Snoopy is there, and swing around in my chair and ask him/her what he/she wants. Snoopy, holding a file I had earlier asked for, has the nerve to comment with a chuckle on the article I was reading. Word for word, this is exactly what Snoopy said to me

"Some people have no sense of others' privacy. Luckily we don't have a problem with that in our office."

I stare back at him/her with a blank look for about five seconds. That is actually a long time to stare with no speaking! I then give a slight roll my eyes, grab the file, curtly thank him/her for the file and swivel back around in my chair. Ugh, I so wish I had an office where the desk faced the door instead of away from it! Oh, and maybe a different co-worker...is that too negative of me??? :)

Irish Evening

Last night we met up with some new friends at Wilde Rover Irish Pub for some dinner and their weekly trivia night. All teams pay $10 to join and then the winners take home the loot. I LOVE trivia games! Not to brag or anything, but Rob and I are quite the trivia buffs, or so I thought...until last night.

I assumed that it would be all pop culture trivia and maybe some history and sports (Rob's forte), but I was mistaken. It was completely random trivia that covered topics dating back decades before I was born. I was feeling pretty dumb. I did come to the rescue on the round where the teams had to identify a dozen different Hollywood actors from the late 90's. Score for me? I always feel like I am so old, but in social situations I am usually the youngest one around by a few years. After last night I am beginning to think that it shows!

Best commerical EVER!!

This commercial makes me laugh every time...it is my favorite!!

Parker

Today my nephew Parker turns 1 year old! Last year at this time I was in Utah when my brother Jason called my parents so tell them that Courtney would be having Parker that evening. Mom and I decided that we weren't doing anything else, so why not drive down to Las Vegas to see the new little one. Thirty minutes after the call we were on the road to Vegas. That was such a fun little road trip!!

I haven't seen little Parker and his family since the 4th of July, and cannot wait until I see them at Christmas time! It's a bummer to live far away from family, but it is a great feeling knowing that you will get to see them all together soon. Oh, the anticipation!! :)

Weekend Review

Friday night we met up with some friends for dinner at Buca di Beppo. I like to do Italian, but Rob always says that he hates spending $20 on spaghetti. So I tell him not to order spaghetti! I had to laugh when we ordered...I decided on lemon chicken and he got spaghetti. It was $65 later he was still hungry so we had to pick up some McDonald's for him on the way home since he was still hungry. :) There were some couples at dinner that we had not met before. While talking to one couple we discovered that they live 3 doors down from us...such a small world!

Rob had a big paper for school he had to work on all weekend, so I was pretty much on my own. Instead of running errands and crossing things off my To Do List, I chose to be completely unproductive.

I am usually not a big TV watcher, but this weekend consisted of more TV in two days than I usually watch all month long! Recently I have discovered the convenience of watching my favorite shows online and use the weekend to catch up on a few of them. Over the weekend I watched SIX episodes of 24 (bringing me to the end of the most recent season), Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, Dirty Sexy Money, The Office, two episodes of 30 Rock, 4 episodes of Heroes, Sex and the City: The Movie (again) and in keeping with our Academy Award Winner Sunday night plan, Quiet on the Western Front (yawn!). I am SO TV'd out!

Twilight Countdown

T-15 days!

Would I be a total goober if I bought this online and wore in under my clothes to see the movie? Okay, maybe I wouldn't go to that extreme, but I would wear it as my new PJ top.

You can browse for your own here. I was surprised to find so many different Twilight t-shirts! Apparently everyone is head over heels for Edward. Well, he's got nothing on my Rob! :)

No one that I know up here has read the Twilight books. Can you believe it!?! I really think that I am going to let Rob off on this one and go see the movie by myself. Oh well, I still cannot wait!!

Who is he?

Last night Rob and I revisited an ongoing issue of ours. We just cannot come up with a conclusion that pleases the both of us.

Dilemma: How do we refer to each other/introduce each other to people?

We are attending a dinner party this weekend where we will not know most of the other guests, so there will be a lot of introducing.

Rob thinks that it is strange that I call him my boyfriend. He feels that title doesn't accurately represent the depth of our relationship. I can kinda see his point. He does seem like more than a boyfriend to me, but what is that called? Now me, I don't care what he calls me. I am fine with girlfriend, but he is insistent on being called something else. So, we ran through our list of options.

There is the simple Boyfriend, but it has already been vetoed by him - too juvenile. OK, Manfriend (a la SATC) - he isn't old enough to be referred to that way. How about Partner? That sounds too same sex relationship for him (although he is clearly a M and I am clearly an F, but whatever!). Next one I suggested was Significant Other. Apparently that just sounds stupid to him. What about Roommate? He didn't think this was funny at all...I did. :) Now I am all out of suggestions.

He has decided that he would like to be referred to as my Lover. When he first mentioned this way back when, I thought he was joking. Turns out he is serious. I informed him that this is definitely a no. He doesn't understand why this is a completely inappropriate way to introduce me to anyone...especially a total stranger. What am I going to do with this guy!?!

I think that I will just call him Rob and say that we have been together going on eight years. Simple...no title needed! I just hope that he follows suit. :)

Election sweets

These cookies made me laugh. Little Rae's Bakery is patriotic and yummy!

The Big Day

I hope that everyone remembers to vote!!

If you haven't yet, you can find your local polling place here.

Dearest Daddy-O

Doesn't my Dad look dashing in a tux?! I think so! :)

It's amazing how moving away has brought me that much closer to my Dad. Perhaps it's also just me growing up? Over the years I have realized what I great friend my Dad is to me. Sure we can make small talk as good as anyone else, but I feel that I can really talk to him about things that are important to me, which I don't do with many people. He is incredibly real with me, which I appreciate immensely. I always assumed that I was more like my Mom than Dad, but as I get older I notice more and more things about myself that are defnintely Dad-like, and I embrace them. I really treasure the relationship that we have together.

He was a pretty cute kid too.

I love you Dad. Happy Birthday!

So much to do

I recently had a mid-twenties meltdown. I just hit me that there are so many things that I want to do and I am running out of time to do them. Pretty soon it will be time to start a family and then I will have to concentrate on that instead of flitting around fulfilling all of my quirky dreams. I have spent the last weekend sitting around doing the same thing. When I told Rob about it he thought I was overreacting a tad (true!) and decided we needed to make things happen. I had a long list of things that I wanted to do (which I compiled during a boring night in my Psych class), but it all seemed so overwhelming. Where to start? Rob pointed out that now is not the best time to up and move to another country. Also true. So we decided to pick a few small things to start on.

1. Watch all Academy Award winners for Best Picture - We decided that every Sunday evening we would watch one of the movies from this list. This way we get to watch a great film and spend some much needed quality time together.

2. Trip to New York WITH ROB - No big secret...I LOVE New York!! It's been several years since I have been back and I would really like to return with Rob. He's never been and he has no interest in visiting. I think that if I could just get him there he would really enjoy it. I finally got him to commit to visiting...but not until June. That is way far away, but I will take what I can get. :)

3. Become fluent in Spanish - I took Spanish for years in school and still remember quite a bit of it. I bought some Instant Immersion CDs a few years back for us to listen to on a road trip, but we didn't really spend a lot of time listening to them. Rob would rather take a class vs. listening to the CDs, so we decided that we would sign up for Spanish classes starting next quarter at BCC.

These are some of the small ones that we feel are doable now, but I am trying to put a few of the others in the pipeline. I am hoping that we will be spending the summer in Europe next year...but because of conflicts due to school it will most likely the summer after that. Keeping my fingers crossed! Now I need to tackle my individual ones. Oy!