It's a growin'!

My hair is now officially long enough to be put into a halfway decent looking ponytail.

BIG day for me, I tell ya.

Rob's been missing my long hair ever since I gave it the big chop. I think he's happier about the ponytail than I am.

I guess it doesn't take much to make us happy! ☺

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!! :)

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.

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! :)

What a great Monday!

I know that Monday's are usually not the best day of the week for most people, myself included, but today was a really good Monday as far as I am concerned. All day long I was just grinning away...it was really weird. Work just seemed to whiz by today. I just finished a huge project last week so today I just poked around and worked on a few loose ends. Mid morning I talked to Rob and we decided to go away for the weekend. There are a TON of fabulous places to visit around here and we rarely visit any of them. We never drive out of the Seattle area unless we are driving to Utah. The rest of the time we just hang out in our little metropolis, well now it's more of the suburbs, but still, same thing. So we have decided to take advantage of all of the great trips within hours of us. We still haven't decided if we are going to:

A. Visit the Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, OR

B. Check out the Bavarian village of Leavenworth, WA. I really want to save this trip for the Fall. I have heard the drive is beautiful due to all the changing Autumn scenery, plus they have Oktoberfest, but I doubt we would attend.

C. Our next big city to the South, Portland, OR. They are supposed to have a pretty decent zoo. The Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle isn't anything to brag about. A zoo could be fun. Plus they are supposed to have this amazingly huge bookstore down there somewhere. That could be fun too.

I guess we still have a few days to decide, but I think I have just voted for Portland. I am sure that Rob will agree. :)

Anyways, back to the greatness that was my Monday. With the weekend already on my mind, work was over in a flash. After work I visited a dear friend, who also happens to be the best massage therapist ever for an amazing massage and some girl talk. About a year ago when we first met we both instantly realized that we would become great friends. She is one of the people that I feel most comfortable with and I am so grateful that she was placed in my life! And with a relaxing smile I headed out for some shopping (my massage friend tipped me to a great sale) and purchased some great going-out-of-town-for-the-weekend-clothes.

One more stop at the grocery store and I was on my way home...all the while, just in the best of moods! Nothing really out of the ordinary happened, but I am still in a terrific mood. I guess I shouldn't keep pointing out how odd that is; it makes me sound like a total downer of a person. Really I am not! Oh, if everyday could be a Monday...