Cute Overload

I saw this picture on Cute Overload and couldn't resist posting it here. The title is, "Congratulations, it's a kitteh".

Rachelle, Rachelle

I found out today that a friend from California is going to be here in Virginia for a training class next week and right by where I live! Rachelle and I met in college in Santa Barbara and were roommates for a year. She is an awesome woman who would do anything for friend. In college she was a confidante that would keep all my secrets and didn't complain the time I called her in the middle of the night to come pick me up at a bar because my designated driver thought she only had to refrain from alcohol but other things were ok. We had tons of easy going fun making cookie dough, laying out and playing with the cats. My favorite story is when we were coming back from Taco Bell one night and got pulled over in her beater car (no offense...) because of a tail light that was out and the cop was surprised to find us inside. I tried to bribe him with our Taco Bell food (jokingly, of course) but he just let us go. Her mom is also incredible and they made me feel like I had a second family after my mom died. After I graduated I moved all my stuff to my dad's house in Orange County for the summer. When it was time for me to move everything to the Bay Area where I was going to grad school Rachelle even helped me. Everybody hates moving but I have fond memories of driving up the 5 with her and moving my stuff. I visited her a few times in both Santa Barbara and San Diego. I'm not sure what happened, but we didn't see much of each other after that. Nothing bad happened, probably just jobs and life and the fact that we lived so far apart from each other. Rachelle got married in Santa Barbara about 4 months after I moved to Virginia so it was a good time to fly back to visit California since I felt so out of place in Virginia back them. Here is a picture from Rachelle's beautiful wedding. I haven't seen her since, which was over 5 years ago now. I can't wait!

Tell Me What You Want

OK readers...I'm a little low on ideas lately and need your input. Will you leave me some comments on what you want this week's Thursday Thirteen to be about? Thanks!

This Candy Sucks

It was a guilty pleasure, but I really enjoyed reading LA Candy by Lauren Conrad of The Hills. Her second book, Sweet Little Lies: An LA Candy Novel, just came out so I was eager to read it. What I enjoyed about the first book was that it gave an inside look at how reality shows work. I stayed up late 3 nights in a row to read it, I enjoyed it so much. I thought Sweet Little Lies would be just as good, but was I wrong. It is basically a book version of a typical reality show where people lie and scheme and get in fights. It was really annoying. If I had another book to read, I would have just put this down. Luckily it is very easy reading so I finished it pretty quickly. No late nights with this one though...it wasn't worth giving up my sleep time. There is still one more book to come in this series. I doubt I will get it.

Weeds

When Snowmageddon covered my satellite dish with snow and couldn't get a signal I decided to hook up the Roku and find something to watch. The Roku is a little box that has a wireless connection and streams movies and TV shows from Netflix and Amazon on Demand to the TV. Only the "watch instantly" movies work from Netflix so the choices are limited.

I had Season 1 of the Showtime series Weeds in my Netflix queue so I started watching it...and really like it! It's about a woman whose husband just recently died from a heart attack and she sells weed to support her family in an upper middle class suburban neighborhood. The show also makes fun of suburbia which I find hilarious, even though I happen to love suburban life. The intro and theme song crack me up every time (click here to see it). I embrace it, but know some of it is ridiculous. She refuses to sell to kids, is on the "healthy eating" committee of the PTA, but then sells to all the parents at soccer games and in their minivans. It's considered a dramedy (kinda like Ally McBeal was) where there's lots of humor, but serious stuff too. I'm still on season 1 and there have been 5 seasons so far so this will keep me busy for a while.

34...Again!

Happy Birthday to me! I'm 34 years old...again!!! As I've told people who don't know my real age, I'm 34...until further notice. I've not been feeling well for about 5 weeks now and have had issues with my appetite. Luckily, my appetite came back today in time to celebrate. I'm now leading the work Biggest Loser contest without even trying! Although I'm much rather be pudgy and feeling well.

Spotted P

My body is covered with red itchy spots! It's an allergic reaction to an antibiotic I was taking. This didn't show up until after I finished taking the last one. I noticed it this morning and it spread so quickly that it weirded me out. I went to the Dr. to have it checked and he said it is classic allergic reaction so I officially now have something to tell doctors when they ask about allergies.

Beaches & Bananas

My Bunco group helped me make the final decision on my new travel blog. Beaches & Bananas it is!

Candy Heart Day

Two Tickets to Paradise!

We decided on our vacation plans for this spring! Yay! We are going to spend 4 nights in St. John and then 3 nights in Anguilla. We have been to St. John before and love it so much. We usually do not repeat vacation spots since we like to try new places, but we love it that much. We still want to try new places so Anguilla is the new one this time.

Remember this picture...this is where we will be staying in Anguilla.

This is the resort on St. John. 7 beaches on 170 acres...it's so peaceful.

Wordless Wednesday: Coco in the Snow

Getting Close

I'm close to a decision on the name of my new blog. It's either going to be "Beaches & Bananas" because it's random and I like alliteration or "Princess of the Caribbean" as a play on Pirates of the Caribbean. These two also did the best in the poll, but neither a clear winner since there weren't very many votes. Once I finally pick, then I need to decide on a host and then I can get going on building it.

Snowmageddon

Yes, that's what they are calling it...Snowmageddon. Last month when we got close to 2 feet of snow, we thought that would be the worst we would ever see. This is our sixth winter here and we haven't had much snow, usually just a few inches a few times a year...until this year. I have no idea how much exactly we got, but I think it's around 2.5 to 3 feet and that's before it drifted. My husband spent 6 hours shoveling us out today. I helped for a few hours, but he really did most of it. We live on a "shared" driveway that is long and wide and mostly ours. I would say the entire thing is about 4 times as big as most people's so it took forever. I'm pretty sure this is a record breaking winter for this area. Hubby says if it was like this all the time, we'd definitely move back to California. Prior to this year, he didn't think the winters were bad at all. Anyway...we made it through with just a couple minor problems. A tree was leaning on the house, but we shook off enough snow to get it to stand up a little and the satellite dish is covered in snow and can't get reception...boo! Who knows when it will work again so we will likely miss the Super Bowl. Tonite we used the Roku to get a move thru Amazon on Demand so we can still watch movies. I am thankful though that we have power and heat and the tree didn't hurt the house. The piles of snow are so huge that I bet it will be spring before they melt. I hope all my fellow Snowmageddoners made it thru without any major problems too!

Urban Dictionary: Patrice

Here is what the Urban Dictionary says about Patrice:

1. A very nice and caring girl who is very hot. And who is also very funny and great to be around.
Girl #1 "aw look at her she is so nice!"
Girl#2 " Yeah, shes such a Patrice!"

2. The cutest girlfriend in the entire world. Looks better than you and anyone you know. A patrice is a perfect person.
Man 1-Damn who the hell is that?
Man 2-I don't know but she sho' is Patrice.

3. Verb: to patrice
The act of being passionate about life and certain aspects of it, such as film, art and people; can act intensely, rashly, be a bit ridiculous; very lovable
Man, that film director will patrice forever, she really is enthusiastic about life!

4. The act of being the life of the party, or being the MVP in a championship game, completing a monster project early, messing up the curve for all the losers by getting hundred percents, you get the picture
"Did you see me on the court? I patriced that shit"

5. something nasty I don't want to repeat

Thursday 13: Things I Love About Spring

Here are thirteen things I love about spring!

1. Daffodils blooming

2. Tulips blooming

3. Azaleas blooming

4. Opening the windows in the house

5. Sitting on the deck and having a drink

6. Taking walks after work

7. Wearing shorts

8. Cherry blossoms

9. Annual vacation time in my house

10. Turning off the furnace

11. Wearing sandals

12. Bright green grass and trees

13. Winter is over...

What are your favorites?

Wordless Wednesday: Kata Tjuta

The Grammys

Bravo to whoever put together The Grammys show this year! It moved along, had good performance and only got boring for a little while. Why no big ending performance though???? Here are my thoughts on the show.

• Pink was AMAZING with that Cirque du Soleil type acrobatic performance and while singing live! Oh, not to mention her body is amazing too. She stole the show even though I'm not sure if she won any awards or not.


• I was confused by Beyonce's performance...crotch grabbing, writhing on the ground and singing a cover of You Oughta Know...plus some typical Beyonce moments with the fan and hair blowing. Just not sure if I liked all this or not.


• Why did they bother with the Eminem (and some other guy) performance when they bleeped out so much of it?


• Did I miss the memo that I needed 3D glasses?


• Loved Lady Gaga and Elton John.


• I like Taylor Swift but she seems a bit full of herself lately. It was nice to see her sing without the attitude...although some high notes seemed off...she should work on that before her tour starts


• This is a show where the stars can have fun with what they wear, but most were awful!

Best Dressed - Lea Michele
I didn't even know who this was, but I think she best represented a young star at the Grammys. Fun and flirty...love it!

Worst Dressed - Britney Spears
Oh come on Britney...that was awful. We want to love you. You have the world on your side and then you show up in this??? What happened to the beautiful Marilyn Monroe look or when you and Justin coordinated in denim? Please don't tell us that brown hair means your pregnant again...