One a day

I gotta say, I received some pretty amazing gifts this past Christmas, but one really outshone the rest. Oh, and this gift happens to be the one I bought to give to myself.

Yes, to me and from me. It was a line a day journal that spans 5 years.

I am not sure which idea I like more: having enough room to only write a sentence or two or that all these entries will span five years and still be so compact.

I've never been good at journaling (this blog is a prime example of that!) and I hope that with the bar set so low here I can keep up with this. I'm at 100% so far, haven't missed a day...yet.

Another season down

Last weekend we headed down to Emerald Downs again to close out the racing season. There was rain, mud and luck in the air.

My fav jockey held up his end of things a won me a pretty little pile of money...that will now fund my flight to NYC next month. See, gambling does pay off. Sometimes.

I'm trying to get Rob to go in on a horse. He says no. I'll keep working on him. ☺

Cayman Islands

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands was our first stop. The boat docked in Georgetown, which was bustling with people. We had an excursion out to Stingray City planned for later in the morning, so we first set out to explore the area around the port and scout out the places we wanted to stop by on our way out for souvenirs.

We stocked up on gifts at the Tortuga Rum store (rum, rum cakes, sauces, etc.), which they graciously delivered back to our room on the ship. We also popped into Hard Rock, to grab a few goodies.

The whole pirate theme was all over the Caribbean (crazy, I know!☺), so we have a gazillion shots of us posing with pirates - fake and 'real', and some pirate ships - again, some fake and some really real (pretty cool).

We then made our way along Seven Mile Beach (absolutely beautiful for snorkeling!!) and ended up hopping a boat to Stingray City. It was here that we donned our snorkeling gear and jumped in to swim with the stingrays. We swam with them, held them, fed them and even kissed them (for good luck)! This was probably my favorite water activity of the entire trip. Rob liked that it was only four feet deep.

One of the guides went diving for a bunch of conch shells to give us to take home. They were really big and really icky on the outside, so we just opted to hold them and pass them off onto the other passengers. The shells are absolutely beautiful on the inside though. Apparently the urchin-like thing that inhabits them is quite tasty...the locals were eating them right out of the shells. Eww, I know.

We bought some disposable waterproof cameras to snap pictures in the water with, but I have yet to develop them. Actually, I have yet to dig them out of our still unpacked luggage, so all the water pictures will have to wait until I get my act together.

I did manage to get a few goobery shots of us on the boat after swimming. And yes, that is my nose plug on the band around my neck. When it comes to being in the water, the nose plug is the best invention ever...as far as I am concerned. The water in Grand Cayman was amazing! It felt like getting into a hot tub...almost. And the color of the water, absolutely hands down the best color of all our stops.

We came across some new housing developments on our way back and Rob was trying to convince me that we need to purchase the one on the right as a vacation home. I told him I'd have to think about it. ☺

There is a small city on Grand Cayman called Hell. Yes, that's right. Hell. They have a post office where you can mail postcards to all your loved ones (or not-so-loved ones) from Hell. Rob thought it's be hilarious to send out a mass mailing from there, but sadly we were out of time so we had to pass it up.

We hit some more shops (FYI - diamonds are super cheap here!!) and then back to the big ol' ship we called home. And that my friends, was Grand Cayman, in a nutshell. Next stop, Honduras!

For your viewing pleasure

I gotta admit that I was a bit puzzled by the first SATC trailer that was released (what's the deal with them in the desert??) but this one MORE than makes up for it. This looks so good and I can't wait until it comes out!!

Oh, and I am excited to see Aidan again. In my book he beats out Mr. Big any day!

Enjoy.

Because I am just THAT cool

I just bought myself a ticket to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on opening day. This also happens to be the same day we fly down to Utah. Did this deter me? No. I'm going to the early show and then flying out later that evening.

The part that makes me feel super pathetic cool is...I am going all by myself. I could not find a single friend who wanted to skip out of work early that day and go with me. Not even Rob. How's that for loyalty. And I really don't want to do the logical, grown up thing and wait a week until we're back from Utah to see it.

So, yes I am a super cool twenty-something who is leaving work early to go and see the new Harry Potter movie on opening day with a bunch of screaming tweens and I am proud of it. At least I'm not wearing a cloak and carrying a wand. I do have standards.

Let me introduce you...

...to my new best friend: The Wii EA Sports Active Personal Trainer. I call her Megan. Best thing I have bought in a long time!

I wasn't sure what to expect from her, but she is an honest to goodness personal trainer! There are a ton of different exercises that work all parts of your body. It keeps my keister off the couch and definitely beats working out next to all the other sweaters at the gym!!

The more time I clock exercising, the more exercises that are offered. So far the punching bag is my favorite. I started the 30 Day Challenge last week and am excited to see where it goes!

Peanuts & Cracker Jacks

Saturday we attended a friends birthday celebration hosted at the Terrace Club at Safeco Field. The Mariner's played the Boston Red Sox...and lost, but it was still a great game to watch! While I think that watching baseball on television is the slowest sport ever (well, next to golf!), baseball games are my absolute favorite to attend! The energy of the crowd and the environment as a whole is so fun!

An old Seattle favorite is back in town...Ken Griffey Jr. up at bat. There were so many Red Sox fans in attendance. It was funny to watch the groups of fans cheer on their teams and taunt each other.

Rob even made sure that we had our Cracker Jacks to make the experience authentic. While I don't care so much about the Mariner's, the games are sure fun to go to! We were given tickets to go again this Thursday, but sadly I have an exam that I cannot get out of...bummer!

Just another weekend

Friday night we dinned on crab legs with our favorite out of town couple at our favorite seafood spot and then wandered around Bell Square. It was good to chat with each other and do some good ol' reminiscing. It's even better when it's done over some Red Mango!

Saturday didn't really get started until late afternoon at our house. We went and saw Defiance at Southcenter (good, but not as good as I thought it would be), and I picked up a couple fun, cheap jewelry finds at Forever 21 (don't judge me!). A stop at Target on the way home and we called it a night.

Sunday involved a whole lot of TV...Rob downstairs, me upstairs. I started re-watching season one of Grey's Anatomy while I am assuming that Rob watched football...I was too into my stuff to confirm. But now I am fully convinced that I want to go to med school and be a surgical intern. Reality will set in soon and I will realize that it's just the silly TV show fanatic inside me. I am such a goober.

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!! :)

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.

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!

Best commerical EVER!!

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

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.

Midnight Sun

I would first like to apologize to all of those that I judged (only slightly) when they told me they were addicted to the Twilight Sage. Vampires, come on!?! :) Thanks to all of the peer pressure, and Molly for lending me all of the books, I now am too a follower. I am almost finished with Breaking Dawn. I have about a fifth left, but I am not finding it very interesting. Maybe it's just the deep denial I am feeling about the series ending...I just don't want to admit it's over?? Yesterday I stumbled onto the greatest thing ever...Midnight Sun. It's supposed to be Twilight told by Edward's point of view instead of Bella's. Stephanie Meyers has 12 chapters of it published on her website. Apparently it is a partial draft that was leaked and posted all over the internet. Due to the breach she is unsure of if she will finish the book or not...I hope she does! I have spent more time than I care to admit reading it at work. It is great to see Twilight through Edward's eyes. Any Twilight fan has got to read this. You can legally read it here for FREE. Enjoy!!

What a lucky day!

My search for the perfect sunglasses seemed to be never ending...that is until yesterday. I have finally found them!! I wasn't even looking for them...I was actually doing a little birthday gift shopping for a few friends. I only tried them on because they were green on the inside (my favorite color), I didn't expect them to look perfect, but they did! Too bad the entire summer had to pass before I discovered them.

My sunglasses high was so intense that I just had to lounge around the house for the rest of the day to recover. I watched a little bit of football with Rob, did a little bit of laundry and thought about dusting...didn't actually get motivated enough to do it though. Rob's little sister hung out with us for a little in the evening and we watched Mean Girls...so funny. It's one of our favorites; it's one of those movies that we could watch over and over again and still laugh. Does that make us sound like losers?

**Rob thinks that I am making too big of a deal over these sunglasses...he just doesn't understand. I bet he's just jealous :)**

For all of you online shoppers...I would like to introduce you to MyPoints.com

This is the best website for those of you who shop online! Your purchases earn points and then you can cash in your points for gift cards. I then use these gift cards to shop online and earn more points. It is great!! I signed up for their FREE service in October of 2005 and have earned nearly 320,000 points. A $50 gift card is redeemable for anywhere from 6,000-7,500 points, depending on the retailer you choose. So if my math is right (which I am pretty sure of??), over the period of almost 3 years I have received nearly $2,500 in gift cards.

They also have a refer a friend bonus that gets everyone more points. If anyone wants me to send them an invite, shoot me an email robnwin@gmail.com.

Shop away! :)

Relaxing Sunday

This afternoon we thought it would be nice to head to Bellevue Square for a movie and try out Red Mango (a Pinkberry rival). We got to our movie early and decided that we would rather have our yogurt first and possibly miss the previews. This just proves how much I like these yogurts because the previews are my favorite part of going to the movies. I NEVER miss the previews! I have to tell Rob that the movie starts earlier than it actually does because he runs behind so often. He uses the previews as a buffer...not okay with me. :) Red Mango was great...I think that I have got Rob hooked on them too. Thanks for the suggestion Jen!

We ended up seeing Traitor...good movie! I like Don Cheadle. He has been in so many different types of roles and he always does so well in them all...Hotel Rwanda, Oceans 11, 12 & 13, Talk to Me (funny!), and now this. I never really realized how great he is.

After the movie we wandered over to Alki Beach in West Seattle for a nice long walk. The weather was fantastic! I doubt that we will have many more beach walk weekends this year...fall is coming! I didn't have my camera, but I did have my handy camera phone. I tried to capture the great view, but this picture doesn't do it justice.

Here is my handsome hunk of a man half-grinning for the camera. It was a wonderful afternoon; too bad it didn't last long enough. We had to head home early in the evening so that Rob could spend some time working on his statistics homework...bummer for Rob!

LA

This past weekend I was able to spend some quality time with a good friend in LA. We spent a few days shopping, talking and just driving around taking in the nice weather. It just so happened that our hotel was situated right between two great malls. Needless to say, we put in a lot of time and money there! It was also in LA that I discovered my new all-time favorite food, or I guess I should say snack...Pinkberry. This yogurt is amazing! Oh, and did I mention that it was fat free!?! I think that it is common knowledge that I am not a huge fan of California, but I am seriously considering relocating to The Golden State just to be close to my new love: original yogurt with strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. I know this sounds a little extreme, but believe me...it would be SO worth it! I think that I might be able to get Rob on board. :)

I couldn't resist diving right in before snapping a picture of it. This is perfection!

Since I am already on the subject of great food, actually this again is a snack...Sprinkles cupcakes was another discovery. While I am not normally a big cupcake person, I did develop pretty intense feelings for the red velvet cupcake. I was hoping they would have their infamous peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes baking the day of our visit, but sadly they weren't. No worries though...there were still plenty of flavors to choose from. Rob is a HUGE lover of cake, so I knew that this place would have been heaven for him. On the way to the airport we stopped to pick up a few more for the folks back home...they were quite well received at my house.

YUM!

We also went to see Wicked...it was so great! The theatre it was in was really beautiful. It was much funnier than I had expected. We were actually quite lucky to get seats at the last minute.

I finally got to see the movie Mama Mia too. I was singing the songs in my head all night! It was really cute! One morning we visited Westwood Cemetery, which is a little cemetery in the middle of the city. There are a number of famous people that are buried there. It was kind of a neat, and slightly odd experience. Overall, the trip was pretty great. I had a wonderful time catching up and just goofing off. Thanks for the good time M! :)

There was never any doubt in my mind!

I have always had a special place in my heart for The Big Apple. Ever since I was young I was intrigued by it. As soon as my friend sent me this quiz, I knew what the answer was, but wondered if the quiz would know it too. And of course, I was matched up perfectly! If I could only convince Rob of it. Someday (hopefully soon)!

You Belong in New York City

What City Do You Belong In?