jack and mac

Just found two cute pics from our visit to Wilmington in May. Here is our pup meeting his first baby. This Freddie's cousin's baby, so first cousin once removed? To make it simple, she'll just think of us as Uncle and Aunt...I think that also makes us more inclined to spoil her.

Jack and Mackenzie









We have a great one of him giving her a big old kiss, but not sure if we showed that one to mom and dad, so I'll hold out!

fun and flattery

I checked my sitemeter today and searched by referrals. I discovered two things. 1) A lot more people have links to my blog than I realized. Thanks! Some of the ones I checked out, I'd never seen before, but I'm looking forward to checking them out. I tried to set up my own bloglines today. So far, I just enrolled. I couldn't figure out the rest. I'm still waiting for a confirmation e-mail, maybe that will help me sort out the problem. Up until now, I've just been going to perfectly-pink and reading down her list. I'm getting so tech savvy (yeah, right!)

2) Some people found me through very funny google searches. It seems the most popular search was for waxing, but there were a few related to weddings. My absolute favorite google search was ACCIDENTALLY STUCK TOGETHER. (Kind of reminds me of something obscene I once saw at the dog park) Whoever you are, I feel for you and I hope you get unstuck really soon.

to go box

I am a big fan of the to go box. I love having a good meal and look forward to eating it again. Many times, I eat according to the to go box plan. Meaning, even if I want a little more of one particular thing, I'll resist so it can go into the to go box. Of course, 9 times out of 10, I actually walk out of the restaurant and accidentally leave my box on the table (thank God for servers who will kindly chase you down. It's incredibly frustrating to abstain from your favorite dishes so that you can savor them later only to find that they'll be wasted...unless the server is my sister who will actually eat a stranger's leftovers, but that is a story for another day.)

Last night, we went out for a Valentine's Day date. We didn't go to a really fancy restaurant, but one a little nicer than where we typically eat. We had blue crab and spinach dip...yum! I ordered a fancy martini with blueberries. For dinner, I got the parmesan crusted chicken. There was another entree that was slightly more decadent but I chose the chicken because it came with steamed vegetables and, my absolute favorite, mashed potatoes. When the meal arrived, there were two breasts on the plate, so I planned my to go box. I ate one breast and some of the green beans and some potatoes. Then I ate more potatoes. Then I ate more. I have a hard time stopping when it comes to mashed potatoes. I always have.

There were probably only two bites left when I finished and I take small bites, but I noticed the chicken was resting on the potatoes and so there were probably two more bites to be savored when I finished the meal at a later date. I saved about 5 green beans and asked the girl for a box. Now, I know there wasn't much left besides the chicken, but I carefully evaluated my strategy and knew that it was just enough extra to make the meal tasty for lunch. When she arrived, with the box in hand, instead of asking if I'd like her to box it, or simply leaving the box, she just took my plate. I got a small sense of panic, but let it go. Until she returned with my box and the only thing inside was the chicken! My frustration must have been obvious because my husband instantly said, you were going to save those mashed potatoes. To which I replied, and the green beans!

This has been a difficult lesson for him to learn. For whatever reason, I grew up part hamster. You might think I was a character in Oliver Twist the way I hoard food. I'll get things I'm incredibly exited about and never eat them, but you better not eat them either! My husband has felt my wrath for drinking the one cherry lemon Sundrop in the fridge. (Hey, I can't find them anywhere!) He's also gotten lectured about not eating my leftovers, finishing the girl scout cookies too quickly (you can only by them ONCE A YEAR), and eating a sugar free pudding when there are regular ones in the fridge too and he could care less about his waistline.

It's taken him 7 years, but I think he's finally catching on. Way to go, Fred. Now, could you run back to the kitchen and get our waitress to put the rest of my dinner in this box?

winter wonderland

I met a friend for dinner tonight at The Loop. When we got up to leave, we were bummed to see tons of rain, only it wasn't rain it was SNOW! It was a crazy drive home, the snow was blowing in the opposite direction and only showing up in the headlights, so it felt like I was in some kind of crazy vortex and traveling backward on the highway. (Do you ever get that weird feeling in the car wash? I swear, it trips me out every time!) I thought I was going to drive into the guardrail because the snow was hypnotizing me, but when I got back to Greensboro it finally stopped, but when I pulled back into my driveway, it started again. Now it's sticking!!!! It's so pretty. I was able to snap a few (bad) shots. I'll upload tomorrow. Hooray!

my husband's affair may, quite possibly, break up our marriage

It's really becoming a problem. He spends every minute he's home with her in the guest bedroom....

ink

I don't have any tattoos. I don't particularly want any. In college, I used my roommates design markers to draw a little star on my toe. I thought it looked cute, but I realized I could just draw it whenever I wanted it.

I find tattoos intriguing. In college, I also designed a tattoo for one of my roommates. That sounds a lot more LA Ink than it should. I guess I should say she mentioned wanting to get a tattoo that looked like half a moon and half a sun, I drew it and said, "oh, like this?" Apparently, she wanted it exactly like that because that was the template. I'll be the first to admit that it was not good. I definitely would not have it tattooed on my body. I did, however, drive her to have it done, because I'm fascinated by that kind of stuff, and she bought me a Tour of Italy at Olive Garden.

I enjoy watching Life of Ryan on MTV, but every time that kid takes his shirt off, that giant tattoo slaps me in the face. That thing is massive. Freddie thinks it's no big deal. It's his name and he's famous apparently that equals sensible. I think his parents shouldn't have given the okay on that one just yet (yes, I know I'm probably naive and there was no parental permission involved-but his are nuts, so you never know). It's huge! He may change his mind when he's a bit older and then it won't be a cute little, oh gosh I was so silly when I was 18, I let a dumb girl design a tattoo for me in exchange for a feast of Italian flavors kind of story. It'll be a giant crooked bilboard across his back (look closely, it looks a little crooked to me).

I'm thinking of all of this because last night at Omega sporting goods, the clerk had an obviously shiny new tattoo on his wrist. It was the olympic rings. I asked him about it. According to the hubby, I may have made it sound like the rings were a dumb choice, however, I was actually wondering if he had been in the olympics. (Okay, maybe he wouldn't be working at Omega if he had, but this didn't seem that far fetched. In highschool, I swam against a girl who was in the Olympics and she was on the public school team---some people just want to give back, you know?) Turns out, he was not an olympian. He just found them inspiring. Good deal. I'm sorry I made it sound foolish, young man. 10 years from now you'll probably be happier about it than Sheckler with his crooked billboard, or this guy.







By the way, did you know you can tattoo your eye now?

Too bad, so sad

we finally got a new computer and I will be up and posting regularly asap. It's a mac and I'm still learning the ropes. In the meantime, I was trying to catch up on a little web browsing only to discover that some of the blogs I love reading have gone private. Not sure how many of you actually read mine, or if you still are since I've been gone for so long, but just in case....
Marriage, Magnolias, Manhattan, Perfectly Plump Preppy, and In the Life of 5 Year Olds, may I read too...pretty please.

Too bad, so sad

we finally got a new computer and I will be up and posting regularly asap. It's a mac and I'm still learning the ropes. In the meantime, I was trying to catch up on a little web browsing only to discover that some of the blogs I love reading have gone private. Not sure how many of you actually read mine, or if you still are since I've been gone for so long, but just in case....
Marriage, Magnolias, Manhattan, Perfectly Plump Preppy, and In the Life of 5 Year Olds, may I read too...pretty please.

I'll Be Back

Did you make sure to read that title in the appropriate muscular Austrian accent? I hope so.

Anywho...BOTH of our computers have crashed. So I'm stuck with 15 minute slots at the local library. But, hopefully we will resolve this problem shortly. Stay tuned.

oh gracious

I went into J.Crew today in hopes of finding some fabulous on sale merchandise without having to deal with ordering online (I still haven't gone overboard for online shopping-I hate to pay for shipping). I did find a few sale items in our store, but what blew me away was the new spring line. I am loving it! I have never been over the top for J.Crew, lots of great stuff, but never overwhelmed, until today! So cute! I called my husband right away and told him I wished it were summer and I were skinny and rich. Skinny is one of my new year's resolutions, so maybe I can forget that I'm not rich and reward myself for a job well done. Now, I just have to do it. We're joining the Y this month and I think I'm headed back to Weight Watchers. I did really well on South Beach, but WW is just so much more flexible.

By the way, has anyone tried Zumba or a Spin class? I'm interesed in both but slightly concerned about having a heart attack mid class.

Little man started school this week. That's right, young Jack is about to learn some manners. This is going to be easier said than done because unfortunately, Jack's parents like to laugh at him when he's "bad." It's also probably a bad sign that my husband thinks it's really funny to watch the kids go nuts on shows like Super Nanny.

busy little beaver

3 posts counts as busy, right? Especially when you haven't really posted in forever.

I suppose a meme (what does that mean anyway?) isn't really a post, but I was tagged (albeit a long time ago) and that means somebody likes me (yes, I would jump off the bridge). Hooray!

here goes.

Name one person who made you laugh last night? Freddie impersonating the singer at Church doing a wonderful baritone rendition of jesus loves me...good stuff.


2. What were you doing at 0800? sleeping :)



3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? trying to salvage the christmas cards



4. What happened to you in 2006? got engaged, got my first new car, first time being a maid of honor (again, someone likes me...good stuff)


5. What was the last thing you said out loud? freddie, someone's breaking in our house (they weren't)

6. How many beverages did you have today? one, sweet tea (well, two glasses, but just one beverage)


7. What color is your hairbrush? I don't use a hairbrush...curly hair + brush=not good. I use a green comb when it's wet then I LEAVE IT ALONE.


8. What was the last thing you paid for? Groceries


9. Where were you last night? at the christmas party that didn't really happen, then make up for it cocktails at Proximity hotel


10. What color is your front door? the door is actually cream, but the disgusting slatted thing in front of it that is on the do do list is brown.


11. Where do you keep your change? in my dresser drawer


12. What’s the weather like today? chilly and super windy



13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor? i like cappuccino oreo(it's been so long that I can't remember if that's really the name, but that's the taste, so the name should really be Awesome.) at bev's in richmond


14. What excites you? puppies, vacations, babies, surprises, mashed potatoes, tulips, mail, blog comments, free time



15. Do you want to cut your hair? Yes, would you like to pay for it?

16. Are you over the age of 25? si


17. Do you talk a lot? pretty much



18. Do you watch the O.C.? not anymore because it was cancelled, but I did watch it.



19. Do you know anyone named Steven? yes, but the ones I know right now are actually named stephen


20. Do you make up your own words? yup


21. Are you a jealous person? i can be a little green


22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’. Amanda


23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’. Kellie


24. Who’s the first person on your received call list? I'm going to guess my mom because I don't feel like looking for the phone.


25. What does the last text message you received say? okay



26. Do you chew on your straw? I used to all the time, not so much anymore. (me too, joy)



27. Do you have curly hair? when it's behaving other times I'd be more inclined to call it electrocuted than curly



28. Where’s the next place you’re going to? the den to watch tv


29. Who’s the rudest person in your life? SC



30. What was the last thing you ate? crab cake benedict


31. Will you get married in the future? probably not since I already got married in the past



32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks? Enchanted!

33. Is there anyone you like right now? not today



34. When was the last time you did the dishes? thank god for the dishwasher


35. Are you currently depressed? right now, I'm good.


36. Did you cry today? No.


37. Why did you answer and post this? See the beginning of this post.

dirty santa

Perhaps because I'm a little embarassed about goign to someone's house last night for a party that had already ocurred or because I have no impulse control, for your holiday entertainment, I thought I would share a fun story at our friend's expense. Our friend Ashley has notoriously bad taste in men. (though Freddie assures me that her latest boyfriend is awesome. Good for you Ash!) Last year she was dating someone sketchtastic and invited him to a Christmas gathering with a dirty Santa gift exchange. Ash was a little confused about the concept and thought she was supposed to bring something naughty, so she picked up a pair of furry handcuffs and went on her way. When she arrived and the game began she was set straight about the true spirit of Dirty Santa (you may also call it white elephant or Yankee Christmas). So, Ash was a little embarrassed about her gift choice in the presence of her friends and also her friend's parents and their friends who were invited to the party too. Her handcuffs weren't really all that bad though, they were kind of silly and everyone could appreciate the humor in the situation, until sketchtastic whipped out his choice for "dirty" Santa, ANAL BEADS. Merry Christmas, Grandma.

holly jolly christmas

I'm crazy.

We went to a Christmas party last weekend. It was pretty fun. I actually thought we would have to do a bit of juggling because our neighborhood party was the same day. I was wrong. I thought it was last Saturday, but it was actually this weekend.

So, tonight we got all dolled up and stopped by one of our neighbor's houses across the street who was having an open house before the party. We were on the tail end of the open house. We arrived about nine and it went from 6-10, but we thought we'd just stop in for a quick second before heading to the neighborhood party where the open bar would be. We took a little longer getting ready that I thought because I tried to make a little dessert to take a long (some oreo drop cookies), but Freddie convinced me to leave them until I could find some white chocolate to dip them in since they looked like little baby turds.

So, we rolled up the across the street neighbors' house around 9:00. They've actually been the nicest too them, but they're a little...different...they homeschool their kids and served as missionaries for a few years...very nice though. Freddie spotted Ellen, wearing a slightly casual christmas sweatshirt, looking oddly at him before she let us in, so he said, sorry we're so late. Did we miss visiting hours? Ellen smiled and said, oh, the party was last night! Boy, were we embarassed! But, they kindly invited us in and we chatted for a bit. Sorry, we told her. Freddie thought he remembered her saying they were sorry their party was the same night as the neighborhood party, so that's why we thought it was tonight. Ellen kindly got out her newsletter and pointed out to us that the neighborhood party was also last night and then we all had a good laugh at our expense.

So, we fools decided to head out and have a little fun while we looked all spiffy. We toured the town scoping out lights and stopped at a cool new hotel for drinks. I had a ymmy fruity martini and rounded out the night with a chocolate martini and we met a nice couple and chatted for an hour. So, the neighbors think we're fools, but we made it work. You win some you lose some.

Did I mention we had already paid for our tickets to the neighborhood party?

bah humbug!

I love Christmas. I love the lights, I love the music, I love the decorations, I love the gifts, I love the whole thing. But, this year Christmas is proving to be a bit difficult. (Should I be surprised? That seems to be the theme of our first year of marriage.)

We finally got our tree up last week. We tried 3 times before we succeeded. First, they didn't have any lights. Then, no stands. Then, no actual trees. We finally settled on one, but it's actually too skinny. Bummer. We had an ornament shower last Christmas and got tons of cute ornaments that I saved until this year when we did our tree together, but they won't fit! I like my tree stuffed, but there really isn't any room. The tree is in the corner, so I'm not decorating it all of the way around. It's the first time I've seen a lot of them on a tree, so I don't want to hide any. Solution? Two trees. Yes, friends, we'll be putting up two trees this year. The other is sitting on our porch waiting for hubly to come home from Baltimore. Our main tree has white lights and much to Freddie's delight, the second tree will feature colored lights. everyone's happy.

Second problem, (well, not really number two, but I'm not going to explain the whole dilemma of deciding where to celebrate, so I'll just move on) Christmas Cards. I am way behind on this project. I actually bought a few last year, but now I want something better. I wanted to use a photo card with our wedding photo, but I don't like any of them. Actually, I like plenty from the photographer, but she wants to charge me $50 just for one image and that seems really high because I still have to print a million of them (and because the engagement pic was only $25). I won't go into more details, but she's driving me a little nuts. (I liked her a lot before the wedding, now I'm having second thoughts...good timing, right?)

I also purchased Christmas stamps early because last year I couldn't get my hands on any of the snowflakes, and had to settle for the ornaments that looked like Santa and Frosty in a casket. Anyway, am I the only one who CAN'T STAND the new Christmas stamps?







Holiday knits? Seriously, USPS, this is the best you could do? They're awful...especially the bear, I can't stand the bear! I'm thinking I'm going to have to put these in my Old Lady Christmas Box (that's not really want it's called, I think maybe Santa for Seniors, and my poor old lady wanted food, stationery and stamps). I may have to go religious this year, or maybe I'll really mix it up and get the Kwanzaa stamp.

somebody's watchin' me

Hey, Kimba, if you're still reading, can I join the party?

granny

I babysat tonight. Yes, today is Friday. I'm over 16 years old and I spent the evening babysitting. As I was driving home at 10:45, I decided to call some friends. Problem. I realized I don't have any friends I can call at 10:45pm on Friday and be certain they are awake. Then, I realized I'm old.

I finally did think of someone. My sister lives in Oregon, so she's a safe bet considering the time change and all, but she was out. She was probably doing all of the cool things college girls who are turning 21 on Monday will do (Happy Birthday, Rachael!). So, I listened to my Enchanted soundtrack instead of chatting. And, I sang along. Correction, I repeated the Happy Little Working Song over and over and over again until I could perform it perfectly, then I worked on my princess face...yes, while I was driving. I am quite the multitasker.

I guess I'm not that old because it's now 12:48 and I'm still awake, but I'm playing on the internet. So, I'm just a little less old and a lot more lame. Oh well. I'm okay with it.

ewww

You know what I can't stand? Hot fruit. I really don't like it. I don't much care for many sweet things when they're hot. I prefer cakes and pies to be cool. Warm Krispy Kremes, no thank you. I just feel like the hot and the sweet are more than I can handle.

This can be a problem sometimes. I don't like cobbler until it's cold. I'm not interested in hot apple pie and this time of year, I'm bummed out about cider. It always sounds like a good idea. Oooh, it's Christmas, I should have some apple cider, but then the hot and the sweet fruit flavor hit me all at once and it's gross sensory overload. The other day I went to a craft fair and they had free wassail. I was all about it. I've always wanted to come a-wassailing among the leaves of green, but then I read that it's some kind of hot berry drink and I had to pass. I know I'm missing out on the seasonal splendor but what can you do? I'm learning to embrace my inner weirdo and just say no on the hot fruit.

it's beginning to look a lot like lazy

I am feeling very inspired these days. I am so excited to put our tree up that I can't stand it. I have grand ideas about how to decorate our new house. I'm plannign to make candy for all of the neighbors. I want to have all of my Christmas presents bought and shipped by the 15th. But, did I go out and purchase a tree stand so that we could put our tree up tomorrow when Freddie gets home? Have I gone to the attic to get the decorations down and inventory them? Have I even begun to clean out the front room so that we have a place to put the tree and decorations? Do I have a clue how to make candy or have I begun to figure that out? Have I purchased even a small portion of my Christmas gifts? The answers, no, no, no, no, etc. Instead, I have been sitting on my butt.

I really enjoy reading blogs. But, I'd been out of the loop for a while. So out of the loop that I really couldn't even motivate to catch up even though I wanted to. I'm good about giving myself certain expectations that are pretty much ridiculous. I only began to realize this when I was telling a friend about all of the magazines I had to catch up on---WHILE I WAS IN GRAD SCHOOl! I actually let the pile of 2nd hand magazines my mom gave me stress me out. So, I am allowing myself to no read every single post I missed and just enjoy reading what I can.

Of course, that is also allowing me to breed a whole new form of lazy. I really should go check on my dog. I can hear him rummaging through all sorts of things in the other room, and considering the fact that I removed a large nail from his mouth this morning, it's really not wise to leave him unattended. But, he's still excited enough about me that I can call him every 7 minutes or so and distract him from his mayhem. You may call it lazy. I call it efficient parenting.

full discosure

I've always wanted to be a princess. I'm not too particular about what kind of princess I want to be any kind of princess will do. I think this has always been true, but I only came to realize it after seeing The Princess Diaries. After watching the movie, as my husband says, I felt all Disney inside, but there was something much larger stirring in me. I felt a need to be a princess. I began to explore possibilities to make this dream come true. Perhaps I could enter some kind of pageant, of course, I have no real talent, or beauty for that matter, to speak of, but maybe being crowned miss something would settle my soul. I also began to pay a lot more attention when Oprah would feature the single princes of the world, but I'm not exactly sure that I was looking for the responsibility of being a real princess. I think what I really wanted was that sense that there was something much greater about me than the world, or even I, could see. I'm still trying to find that little piece of princess within myself, but as I begin to come more into my own, not just by growing up, but by learning more about myself and growing just a bit more comfortable in my own skin, the need to be a real princess becomes less pressing....until I see a movie like this...







I had anxiously awaiting the arrival of Enchanted in the movie theater. It looked so cute in the trailers that I feared it would be another Hollywood let down, but let me down it did not. If you have a little girl, you must take her, if you don't have a little girl, get over yourself and go. You'll be glad you did. Even my husband taps his hands on the steering wheel when we listen to the soundtrack. I may go again this weekend. :)

What's been keeping me so busy

I'm sure I've alienated all of the people who used to read this blog, but I'll keep trying.

If it's any help, I have been really busy. Here's the main thing that's been occupying my time...





Meet Jack. He's our 5 month old mutt. Freddie brought him home one day and we've been buds ever since. It's pretty amazing how one small little guy can really make you feel like a family. Suddenly, we really have a common goal. I love it. Of course, I was begging for a dog and hoping that we could pick one up on the way home from the honeymoon, but Freddie was more resistant. After the leg and all, he wasn't really looking to find anymore responsibility.

Jack is a firecracker. He's currently running around with a piece of tupperware, but he's been so much fun.

We've also been to two weddings and to Wilmington to see our new little niece, who is actually our first cousin once removed, but I like for her to call me Aunt Amanda and it's much less confusing that way.

I'll post some more snaps as soon as I get them on the computer. You're gonna love this girl's hair!