The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight was released on DVD yesterday and being the faitful Netflix customer that I am I added it to the top of my queue and there it was in the mail ready for me yesterday.
I had watched it before when Mr. Jason bought it from the bootleg guy - I have many issues with bootlegs and no one of them is NOT that they are illegal I could care less. The issues are: the picture sucks, the sound sucks and they are GHETTO. But my biggest complaint about the Dark Knight bootleg - it cut off in the last 20 minutes!! Sucked big time.
So we settled down to watch in stellar color and sound a real DVD. And the one thing I kept thinking was how amazing Heath Ledger was and that many people probably didn't realize his true gift until this movie. He was amazing as the Joker, just breathtakingly amazing. The laugh is what got me the most - it was so on point it was unreal.
The first time we watched it we weren't that crazy about it - why does everyone call him "The Batman"? And why does Christan Bale put on that ultra-scruffy voice to speak as The Bat? And my biggest complaint is schnauzer-faced Maggie Gyllenhall -- she does NOT deserve to be the leading lady in a Bat Man movie nor did Katie Holmes. It's like casting one of the Duff sisters as a Bond Girl. It doesn't work unless you are a descendant of Michelle Pfeiffer or Nicole Kidman.
But moving back to the movie...We both said how much more we liked it the second time around but my thoughts lead back to the horrible quality of the movie and that might have been more of a factor than I considered.

Favorite Cameo: Anthony Michael Hall as the news reporter - he is STILL fat

and Deebo from the Friday Movies - he plays the "Tattooed Prisoner" who throws the detonation devise out the window. Brilliant acting.

But my favorite quote of the movie was:
"Madness is like gravity, all you need is a little push" - The Joker

The best Christmas forward

I am a big fan of the emails with all the questions that instruct you to fill in the blanks and send to others in hopes that they are as easily amused as you and reply. And to my delight my sister, Sissy did and I had to copy and paste her answers because they were so lovely and her little family sounds so nice with their holiday traditions that I had to share it with the world (or the 5 people that read my blog)...

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, Here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy (not forward) this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you......Tis the Season to be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. I know it's so Martha Stewart, but I LOVE matching, coordinated wrapping paper, bows & ribbons!

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial AND real.

3. When do you put up the tree? The artificial went up the day after Thanksgiving and the real one went up last night.

4. When do you take the tree down? A week or so after New Years.

5. Do you like eggnog? I've never actually had it, but it sounds gross.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? A beautiful Chrissy doll, with gorgeous red hair that you could make longer or shorter by turning a huge knob on her back!

7. Hardest person to buy for? Nobody really - I can think of gifts for just about anybody.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Anybody in my family - we all have lists on the refrigerator.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? I have a beautiful Lenox one and my favorite one is made by Madison out of drinkable yogurt containers. The Fisher Price doll house baby is baby Jesus. Ray threw him in the trash last year by accident and I made him sift through the trash in the middle of the night until he found him!!!!!

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I don't send cards out on a regular basis, but if I did - they would be regular mail.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I'm sure there were one or two, but I can't even remember. I think I banished them from my subconscious.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf, the Bells of St. Mary's, & Emmet Otter's Jug band Christmas.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I always by something during the year, stash it someplace and forget about it, so I would say all year round!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Sure, who hasn't?

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Filet & coconut custard pie from Aunt Linda - not at the same time though!

16. Lights on the tree? Can you ever have enough?

17. Favorite Christmas song (s)? I love Josh Groban (I know, I know) singing O' Holy Night. It gives me chills. But I of course love, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and The Little Drummer Boy

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Usually Christmas Eve is Mom's holiday, but this year I borrowed it! Christmas Day is always spent at home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Comet, & Vixen, Cupid, Prancer, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? A star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve? Only the ones from people that won't be around on the Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Crowds, stressing about money and the COLD.

23. Favorite ornament, theme or color? Madison & Mackenzie's baby binky ornaments - they're usually the first ones on the tree.

24. Favorite tradition in your house? Going to the same Christmas tree farm that we've been going to since the girls were little, picking a tree, making a secret bet with Madison & Mackenzie if Dad will say "Timber" or not when the tree falls over. Going to Mass on Christmas Even and then spending the entire Christmas day in pajamas (clean pajamas of course). We don't leave the house, except for Ray, who goes out to get Chinese food, but he even goes in his pajamas. We watch movies, nap and enjoy the day. It's one of my most favorite days of the year!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Peace and harmony in my family.

26. Who is most likely to respond to this? Diane?

27. Who is least likely to respond to this?? Becky's right - my Mom.

This shit is still on Ebay

BATWING BLOUSE WOVEN ART PAINTING Wearable Art ChainMail

Buy it now price:
US $800.00

I think I posted about this before and had to post it again. Here is the listing and I recommend going to it because some of the comments are really funny.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=934710233#ebayphotohosting

Reasons that this is worthy of a re-post 1 - it's called a Batwing Blouse, 2 - it's called wearable art, 3 - it sells for $800??!!

I might be unpatriotic but...

I am SO over Michael Phelps. He's everywhere and his hayday is OVER. Yes I know he is a decorated American Hero but seriously what did he REALLY do for us? The economy still sucks and all the Olympics did was make this country patriotic for about 1 month then we all went back to being typical selfish Americans.
My hatred was spurned by last weeks' episode of Entourage. Vinnie was walking down the streets of NYC and ran into Michael Phelps - quite literally. I know that he is just NOW showing up on Entourage because it took his agents this long to get him on a show that has been pre-written so far that they had to probably make a scene up for him to appear in. I've been ok with seeing him in Rock Band commercials even though I don't think he has much right to stand beside such greats as A-Rod, Kobe and Tony Hawk. Yes I know he has broken every single Olympic swimming record further proving to us that he is in fact half man half dolphin and his body has the eerie shape of a bottle opener...
But truth-be-told in 3 more months people will be even more over him. This is what I consider abusing your 15 minutes of fame. We've all forgotten the rest of the Olympic winners why can't he just go and disappear into oblivion like Bruce Jenner and let his kids be the ridiculous ones in the family?
His appearance on SNL was embarassing to a point that I couldn't even stand to watch clips and thankfully Entourage had enough sense to not let him talk or else he will expose the man-child that he really is by opening his mouth.
Seriously Phelps, you don't belong with such greats so get off TV, shave your legs and get back in the pool.

Puppy Mills

Today, The Humane Society of the United States releases the results of a shocking investigation revealing that pet store chain Petland Incorporated is the nation's largest retail supporter of puppy mills.

So in summation - do not shop there and tell everyone you know not to.
here is the link to the map of stores so if you know anyone in that area tell them DO NOT SHOP

http://www.petland.com/FindPetlandStores/FindPetlandStoresUnitedStates.htm

HUGH

If you don't know that I am a HUGE fan of Hugh Jackman I suggest you find my posting where I was deeply saddened by the cancellation of his last show - Viva Laughlin. It was a terrific show and they cancelled it after only 2 episodes. But I digress. My day was brightened when my friend, Andrew sent me a link to this months' People Magazine and I saw that Hughie was voted the Sexiest Man Alive 2008! Hooray!! He is yummy delicious and for any guys that think he's a wuss may I remind you he was Wolverine!!

Why fall sucks

Ah the joys of home ownership...and no not townhome or condo ownership but HOME ownership. One of the reasons we fell in love with our new house was the big ass backyard - we got a total of 1/2 acre which around here is kinda of a big deal. We thought it was just great, the dogs can run free around the backyard, the front is quite lovely with a birdbath and a small holly tree - blah blah. 2 weeks ago Jason and his brother-in-law Steve came riding over from his dad's house on mowers and took about 2 hours and got all the leaves together, put them in a small pile and were done with it.
Well this weekend we tackled the leaves about 11AM and didn't finish until 6ish...DEATH
It started badly with some guy that our neighbor hired to do his lawn (brilliant idea in retrospect) who decided to lecture Jason and I on our lawn mowers, leaf blowers, etc. all things that we don't even OWN but are borrowing, along with how we were piling our leaves by the side of the street. By about his 3rd interruption on my mowing efforts I finally looked at him and yelled "WHAT, WHAT NOW?" I don't think he got the point because he came over with his big, fancy stuff and did half our yard for us. Wow. I couldn't believe he wasn't the least bit offended by me and my attitude. I think he got me back a bit though - he came by and literally showered me with leaves shooting out from his giant John Deere thingy.
But the backyard is a different story. The back has 3 times the BIG ASS trees as the front, a ton of exposed roots and piles of dog shit that have been covered by inches of leaves.
By this time after Jason lectured me on being on the lookout for such roots he hit a big one with his dads mower so bad that he broke it beyond repair. Oops.
Long story short - I ran over so much dog shit it was stuck to 3 wheels and turning over and over sent a fresh wave of stench towards my nose. Then my mower ran out of gas and the cap was turned on so tightly even Jason couldn't get it loose. It took us FOREVER and we didn't even finish. We left a big pile in the back and 1 in the driveway...after being forced to rake and manually drag a tarp covered with pounds of leaves to the front yard.
UGH - paying someone $1,000 for this would SO be worth it...my back, arms and entire body are so sore and stiff it's not even funny.
LEAVES ARE THE WORST and being the eco-friendly person that I am I am very upset that I had dreams of burning down my entire backyard forest but good god it is tempting.

Even hockey brings out the sleeze

Last week we went to an impromptu hockey game - no the game wasn't but our appearance was a bit last minute. Jason's dad has box seats so whenever there's a chance to go we feel bad letting the tickets go to waste. So far the games have been pretty uneventful until the last time - first off the Caps actually won which was a feat among itself. But even more fascinating was this girl 2 rows in front of us. I am assuming and hoping that she was wasted. She was with a guy who I am pretty sure she was dating but whenever they scored a goal she ran up to the security guards and did a little rump shaking dance up on them. It was majorly disturbing and she was the biggest fan of the Caps which she demonstrated by pumping her fists in the air and standing up and dancing in her seat oh yes and the ass rubbing.

I tried a few times to get a picture of this monstrosity of a person but all I got was this:

She's the person in the middle with her glass in one hand pointing very suggestively towards the rink with her 1 arm over her head dancing.

Sofia Coppola

My dear friend Andrew introduced me to the BEST DRINK EVER

Sofia Coppola is following in the steps of her father and getting into the wine business. I will say I am a big fan of Francis Ford Coppola wine. But when he told me about the mini Champagnes that come in cans with their own individual bendy straws I was SOLD.

I bought 2 packages of these lovely, pink canisters of happy last weekend - by Monday it was all gone.

If you are so inclined you can order it at Whole Foods, which is what we did - they do carry it at the Whole Foods by Andrew's house in the city but I'm not sure where else you can get it. But that's not my problem, its yours. HA

But the name is Sofia Blanc de Blancs and you can also purchase them on the website at:

http://www.sofiamini.com/site.php

Enjoy!

Why computers are the Devil

Now don't get me wrong I don't know what we would do all day if we didn't have computers. I often wonder whilst watching 80's movies and I see a big corporate executive what they do all day without a computer on their desk. But when they malfunction that is when ze devil comes out. For some reason my CD-ROM drive decided to eat itself and not work.
So one of our IT guys comes to my desk about 2 weeks ago and tries looking up some software malfunction code on the internet - all the while I'm thinking "can't I do this myself?" Then I suggest replacing said CD drive which wasn't the solution. So it turns out I have stumped them in IT - this is something they don't know what to do. So the solution is to replace my entire tower. This was not as easy as it sounds. Then I couldn't get into any of my own documents nor anything on my desktop - grrrr.
Now 2 days later I am still having things reinstalled - looking for archived emails, searching for files, blah blah. All my settings were lost, my Outlook is a mess - in summation I am NOT a happy worker and am behind almost an entire day from watching them work on my computer then spending the time to restore all my settings and it's not even close to being done.
BLAH technology.
One good thing happened today - I found a new box of soft tissues in the workroom and they are now mine. The little things give me pleasure.

Retail Me Not

As is my duty to share all the lovely little secrets to saving money I had to share this one. Whenever shopping online make sure to go to http://www.retailmenot.com/ and search for the retailer you are buying from. Chances are that you'll find a coupon. I've had luck with a lot of them and the ones that don't work what's the downside? You tried to save and even if you only find 1 coupon code that helps you save 10% at Amazon my thoughts are the more the better!

$1 donation

I made my first purchase from Uncommon Goods yesterday and was even more delighted with them when they gave me choices of charities to donate $1 of my purchase to. They included Americares which gives help to the victims of Hurricane Katrina - hey remember that? I still have it fresh on my mind from my trip this summer to New Orleans and even more the sight of people still living in a city of tents under the highway.


Defenders of Wildlife - which this time was my charity of choice, I think the name pretty much sums up what they do. And a great one for all you New Yorkers - Comprehensive Development, Inc. which gives support to NYC public highschool students.


I am trying to find something for everyone from this site for Christmas and I like that I can feel like I'm helping by shopping!!

This is what I got yesterday and anyone with a baby boy knows how essential these can be:
For the Sprinkling Wee-Wee - PEE-PEE TEEPEES

Birmingham, Raleigh-Durham, NY or Boston - Mental Floss is coming to you!!

From this weeks' Mental Floss:

If you live in the vicinity of Birmingham, Raleigh-Durham, New York or Boston and you're looking for something to do, come out to a Mental Floss History of the World book release event. I feel like an FM disc jockey saying this, but Mangesh and I will be at the Diamond Bar in Brooklyn tonight (Tuesday). We'd love to meet you, and we're offering free nametags.

Some good advice for you

I read this article on 401(k)'s today - I think it's pretty good and worth sharing!

http://digital50.com/news/items/BW/2001/07/14/20081107005758/schwab-offers-six-tips-for-401k-investing-in-todays-volatile-market.html

The best place to shop for the Holidays

I got a catalog in the mail yesterday from Uncommon Goods - http://www.uncommongoods.com/
and flipping through it I started earmarking half the pages for gift ideas. Not only are they really different items (hence uncommon) but a lot of them are recycled materials! Cool things I found:
tin wall art make from old cookie tins, flip-flop mats made from rubber generated by sandal factories, recycled windshield glasses - glasses made from old car windshields and windows.

Most of the prices are really good, yes some are more expensive than I would think for certain items but the difference is in the gift!!

Why moving sucks...

Other than obvious reasons of all the packing, moving, unpacking, blase blah one of the worst things about moving is finding that new clutch Chinese Restaurant.
We used to order from Ho's and they would be there within 15 minutes with perfectly spicy General Tso's, yummy crab rangoons, egg rolls not just spring rolls and everything else on the menu that we tried was delicious.
But now that we moved we have to work our way through a couple disgusting, bland restaurants before we find the right one.
We did ask for some recommendations from Jason's family and whether or not they ate there or just don't really know what GOOD Chinese tastes like I don't know...
So we tried Oriental Cafe one night and I should have known from the fact that they didn't offer egg rolls that they were no good but I didn't listen to my instincts and instead listened to my grumbling belly. Damn belly.
And the other one I think was House of Dynasty and we ordered from there our enagement night and they SUCKED so bad. I got chicken that came with JUST chicken. Not a shred of broccoli or noodles, nothing.
Ick.
So I will continue on my quest for the replacement for Ho's but I will shed a small tear whenever I drive past and know that I am no longer within their delivery route.

Pentagon Memorial

Sissy and I were trying to get somewhere when she was here a few weeks ago - and we followed the GPS lady onto the "hov" not H pause O pause V pause but like a word "hov" lane. Only in DC do they have an HOV lane that doesn't let you exit whenever you want but instead takes you on a trip straight to the Pentagon. Even if you don't want to go there its either the Pentagon or you end up in the City. I found this out one of my first weeks' here but I hadn't been in the HOV lanes in so long I forgot and we listened to the evil GPS lady.
So moving on...as we were coming around the exit I suggested that we go see the new memorial they had just dedicated to the victims of the Pentagon attack. It was a really emotional experience and I felt that I should share it since many people won't get a chance to see it. So here are just a few of my pictures...I felt strange taking them but at the same time it's a really pretty memorial and pictures felt appropriate. So take it for whatever you will...

Oh and I forgot

I was out for lunch the other day with Lauren and Ashley and we were walking back to the car and I happened to look over at Olsson's and realized that it was CLOSED. So I walked up to the door not realizing that they were actually taping I really thought the 2 guys standing there looking mildly interested were just scouting not really working.
Here I am in all my Valley Girl glory...do I really sound like that??

http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7557217&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.2.1

More TV, please

I just checked when 30 Rock will finally be returning to TV and I have to wait for October 30!! WTF? They are WAY too late on the schedule, all the other shows have started back up. At least this explains why I can't find it on the guide. I have been scrolling through as far as it will let me go - which is about 1 week and finding NOTHING.
But tomorrow is the series premiere of Kath & Kim which looks hilarious. I will be queueing up the DVR for that one.
And yes, I am still watching The Hills, 90210 and Gossip Girl they are still guilty pleasures but I did find out I'm not alone. I know all your secrets....hahhahahhahahahhaha. Sorry it's still a bit early and no one is here AGAIN - why is my department empty? Guess I have to amuse myself.

And presents

I have been told that I am very hard to shop for something I don't understand at all...

But I have made sure to inform those around me what I would LIKE for birthdays, christmas, etc. so I never again receive a sports Jersey for a gift (he tried, it was Derek Jeter who he HATES and it's the thought that counts).

So I was half-surprised but very pleased when I opened this years gift - the new Ugg Cardy's!

I guess they were really hard to find and the color I originally wanted, grey was impossible. But I don't care the brown or Stout as they call it are adorable and I love them! I know I am going to hear comments from everyone about how ugly they think they are (yes, Sissy that would be you) but as past shoe purchases show, I don't care if I like them that's all that matters. Now I just need to figure out what work pants I can wear with these damn boots - I don't think they make skinny khakis that I can wear to work. So come on cold weather I'm ready with the appropriate footwear!

Birthday - hooray!

Just 2 days ago I celebrated the ending of my youth - my 29th birthday. I decided nothing would be worse than to spend the day at work trapped in a cubicle so I took the day off and Jason did too. Our original intention was to drive to Skyline and take the dogs and have a wonderous day. Those plans started turning sour when he mentioned something about waking up early. One of my favorite things to do is to sleep in and on the holiest of days why would I want to rise early? oh NO. So we scratched the plans of Skyline - and considering what gas prices are is taking a scenic drive really the smartest thing?

After sleeping in I woke up, got some coffee and sat on the couch with Pugsley and watched some TV - I gotta tell you Lifetime in the morning is so much better than any other time. I watched Frasier and some Will & Grace then decided to get moving.

We went to Ikea and did some shopping - 1 item I had to get was this lamp that I broke and was so sad about. While we were painting the bedroom I brilliantly left a glass lamp on the bed and when I was hoisting a nighttable over the bed - wonder of all wonders the leg of the table hit the lamp and all that was left were a million shards of glass. I'm still finding them.

Soooo moving on...had a glorious cinnamon bun from the Ikea kitchen and we went on our way. Somehow we spent like $400?? How does that happen?!

Rest of the day was spent searching for an Apple store and the Fair Oaks Mall - casual errands and such. The night ended with going out to dinner and the topper of the evening - we built the first fire in our new house in 1 of the 2 fireplaces. It was so cozy watching a scary movie with all the lights off and the fire crackling. This is one of the things that makes me appreciate living in the Suburbs - can anyone afford a place with 2 fireplaces in the city without making millions?

Black Keys?

I was watching the first episode of Private Practice this season and kept wondering what the music was that I was hearing...I turned up the sound only to be interrupted by a commercial - darnation!! So another scene came back on and there it was 10 AM Automatic by the Black Keys! I was way too happy to hear the noisest 2 guys in Rock and Roll!
After seeing them this past summer I really couldn't stop listening to them over and over and appreciate any show that features their skills.

John McCain already tapped that

I do follow politics and how could I not living where I live but I usually refrain from watching the debates out of embarrassment...
I am an Obama fan but when I saw Big Joe Biden invite a handicapped man to stand up I was thoroughly mortified and started to question my chose of VP.
But out of sheer curiosity I decided to watch the Vice Presidential debate and woo hoo what fun it was. Sarah Palin - you are a MORON.
From her "shout outs" to school kids and her "gooly gee, Say it 'aint so Joe" nonsense I really felt like telling her that someone had flattened her pickup truck tires and shot her bird dog. Her accent alone would be humiliation - how are our foreign allies to understand a hillbilly? I didn't know they sounded like that in Alaska - she sounded more like Fargo.
I think it's a crock and she is either very cunning and trying to cover it up or she really IS this stupid. My votes lies with the latter...
So go on Tina Fey keep on ridiculing the woman that is doing just as good of a job on her own.

iPhone cupcakes

Not what you were thinking...

Mother of the Year

Cake Wrecks

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2008/08/this-calls-for-celebration.html

I was emailed this blog by a co-worker today and OMG I almost peed myself laughing. Not only is there the sexual harassment cake but creepy baby cake, when brides have no budget or taste (and I've seen too many of those recently)...the list goes on and on. So go on treat yourself (oooh that could be a bad pun) and relish in these disasters!

I got engaged!!!

Oh yes my time has come finally. I am better than all of you non-engaged, non-married girls! Just kidding! But my days of being the girl who congratulates people but secretly hates them are gone!
Now the fun stuff begins, planning a wedding. Thankfully I have a co-worker who is a part time wedding planner, bless her! But it was a huge surprise and I had NO idea it was coming and the first thing I said was "really?"
It was amazingly romantic and sweet and unexpected and my ring is gorgeous and now I am happy girl!!

Spotted

I saw a girl this morning in a full-on winter coat with lining and everything. I understand it was a bit chilly this morning and it is OFFICIALLY Fall but its still 60 degrees out! I really don't understand people at all. And she looked pretty damn healthy so I'm sure it wasn't because she was that sick. And if you are then why are you walking in the alley behind Whole Foods??

Viva La Vida

I know Coldplay's newest album has been out for a few months but I kept forgetting to blog about it! This has become almost my favorite Coldplay album. I keep it in my car and listen to it over and over again. It has a great mix of faster songs, sing-along songs and some of their spacier sounding songs. My favorite is Parachutes which has more of the "spacey" songs and some of the best lyrics ever written.

But as of my favorite album of the summer it was Viva La Vida.

I will say the videos are WAYYYY out there and the first time I saw Violet Hill I was like WHAT THE F is that?? But it's a finger-tapping good album and if you haven't bought Coldplay yet I would recommend this one.

The things you find on craigslist

Sent to me by Sissy:

CLAWFOOT TUB THURSDAY MORN ONLY
THIS IS A STILL IN USE CLAWFOOT TUB . THURSDAY MORNING ONLY MUST CALL FIRST MS.TOOTSIE 215-479-1844 AND YOU MUST BRING A CASE OF SODA FOR THE KIDS. THEY LIKE GINGER-ALE OR ORANGE. THANK YOU. MS.TOOTSIE

I don't understand - do you bring the soda in exchange to use the tub or to take it or even to clean it???
I'm tempted to call Ms. Tootsie but am afraid that it is a dirty phone-sex number.

Why Maria is an Evil Woman

Letter from the landlord:

1. Turned off of gas $60/transfer $45. – Difference $15.--------------------- 15.00
2. Cover hole above refrigerator Laundry Room
and sanding basement and holes across the townhouse
(Pictures taken)------------------------------------------------------------------200.00
3. Pillow missing from table/stool taken and not returned --------------------15.00
Shelves freezer refrigerator in basement missing ---------------------------75.00

So she is charging ME for turning off the power so I could have it on at the new place
And $15 for a stool cover for a table that is MAYBE worth $20 total
and the BEST ONE - $75 for a shelf in a freezer in the basement that is from 1970
Real nice huh?
I HATE this woman and she is horribly mean and just wants to keep my entire security deposit which is really horrible and from what I've heard commonplace for most dragon-landlords.

These are a few of my embarassing things

I must admit that I have become very interested, dare I say addicted to some shows that I think I am too old to be watching as my 29th birthday is looming in the near future.
It all started with The Hills. I did watch Laguna Beach the first season and as I enjoyed it I wasn't that girl that went to work to discuss every detail of what Kristen said to whatshisname and who is now dating whom blah blah. But while I was out recovering I discovered that MTV repeats old episodes of the Hills like crazy so I got a bit into it. Now it has become a regular on my DVR and I have watched each episode whilst expressing perfectly coinciding emotions. Like when LC and Adriana had their little talk a few episodes ago and they were crying I must admit dammit I started to tear too. Maybe it was the 4 glasses of white wine I had that might have contributed but when Stephanie went on a date with LC's ex, Doug I freaked!
I know I know I am usually much more picky when it comes to my entertainment but with writers strikes and the summer lull it's been hard to watch movies every night.

I also started watching the new 90210 and even though some of the actors really bother me, the blonde who flares her nostrils WAYYYY too much and the main girl who is always sweeping her hair back and making "cutesy" faces but they've already had cheating husbands, cheating boyfriends, lavish parties, the main boy character pulling a "Brandon Walsh" and getting a job at the new Peach Pit, drugs and some sex talk.
I missed 90210. When I watch it now I grimace from embarassment from what they wore and how bad of an actor Ian Ziering really is.
And the worst of all is Gossip Girl. I really like this show dammit and the characters names are easy to remember it is deliciously wrong. Stepmom's sleeping with their own step-sons and paying high school age boys to sleep with them and blackmailing to send their fathers into the arms of the FBI. The girls are evil and backstabbing and dress in some great fashions. I think this may be the show that I've been secretly waiting for.
Now that I think of it The Hills might be a bit more acceptable to 30-somethings but it is a fake reality show and at least GG is supposed to be scripted.
But some good shows debut this week including The Office and I can't wait to see if Jim will really propose to Pam and if Angela will break it off with Andy. It's tomorrow night - woo hoo!
Too bad I'll have to cut my Happy Hour short to get home in time...I know I am recording it but I don't think Jason will wait for me!

Funny of the Day

Email from Dwight - the trust fund baby, McCain voting, SUV driving, Republican

Hey Went to Whole Foods to pick some bread, because its soo good... but funny when i left someone put a note on my car saying i was a racist becuase i had a McCain bumper sticker on my SUV then said i should be ashamed to be driving an SUV. - Whole Foods now is a place i refuse to go to now like Trader Joes...

Crapping Mondays

I am tired, it was still dark when I woke up this morning and it was 7 ish so that just means that it's going to get worse and harder for me to wake up early. Yes, 7 ish is early for some of us who cherish sleeping in as much as....hmmm what else means that much to me? My Ugg boots :)
Then I forgot my giant water cup at home - you know the one they give you in the hospital the giant ass pink cup with the handle, top and bendy straw? I LOVE that thing so now I'm stuck drinking water out of a Starbucks mug that I bought and some dumbass put in the dishwasher and the red paint is cracking off and I'm probably swallowing it and contracting the China milk disease from.
Also, it is SO cold in our office - and I just ate at my desk in hopes of leaving early and now I'm fighting the urge to fall asleep at my desk. I also squeezed not too much squeezed this morning into my size 4 pants but now post-lunch they are slowly cutting off my blood flow.
Hmm what else about today? Oh yeah I had a sliced Kiwi in a small tupperwear in my purse and it leaked all over my checkbook! Kiwi juice attacks!! Thankfully it's not very sticky so the situation was resolved with a few tissues. I wonder if it got my Shuffle? Hope not...
But the day is more than half over - kinda...so that's a good thing!
Off to read Perez Hilton and make it LOOK like I'm working because I don't have the motivation to work right now. I did a LOT this morning.
One more thing - our copywriter quit 2 weeks ago when I was out for my surgery and now I'm stuck writing copy for our ads. I am NOT a copywriter and somehow it all doesn't suck but whereas I used to enjoy creating ads I now shudder at the mere thought of it and now we have about 6 ads due for different publications and I don't want to think about it!
Can't I just do all pick-ups?

Emmys

I missed the Emmy's last night doing yard work until 8 PM and my cable shows were on so I didn't even know that they were on. However, I did get a lot of brush and rotted wood moved to 1 big giant pile in the yard. And the ECO in me was soo happy that underneath the rotted pile of wood was a bigger pile of gardening appropriate soil. It was full of nutrients from the wood and had lots of worms in it - gross to some but if I don't have to touch them I know they're good for gardening. So I filled the little cart with a big pile of dirt, 3 total piles actually and covered up the poor excuse of what I call concrete dirt that is already on our land with big glorious piles of brown, worm filled soil.

So moving on, True Blood and Entourage were on last night so I was distracted by them and was very tired so I went to bed at 10:30 but this morning I checked the Emmy winners and was delighted to see that a lot of my favorites were rewarded for being so.


Among them were 30 Rock, one of the best shows on TV in a LONG time, Ari Gold/Jeremy Piven from Entourage - he is one of the best things about that show and Stephen Colbert - lots of people hate him but good god that might be one of the reasons that I love him so much.


I just perused a few hundred pictures from the ceremonies last night and came across these few:














































The first 2 are self-explanatory but I had to include this picture of Cheryl Hines. I loved her on Curb your Enthusiasm and even more in the movie Waitress but in this picture she looks absolutely plastic! Even so much that I titled the picture "plastic". She needs to relax and wear something more comfortable.

Funny search of the day

The day is winding down and since I did a LOT of work today I decided to continue on my quest for a black bedskirt/dust ruffle. I wasn't finding much of a selection searching black queen bedskirt - and when I googled black dust ruffle I came up with this:



Taxidermy Bear Mount "Standing Grizzly"















Reason being:
Product Information: Average Size: Grizzly Color varies from blond to black. ... be careful not to ruffle the hair and ruin the appearance of the mount. ....


HAHHAHAHAH

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Bacon

My co-worker recently returned from a trip to Beijing to see the Olympics. As I have never been to either the Olympics nor China I actually looked at her 600+ photos and wanted to share some of the best ones...

Whew what a ride

So for anyone who doesn't know (and there's probably a lot of you) I had to get my gallbladder removed!! I had a lovely trip a few weeks ago to the ER for the WORST pain imaginable - they told me I had gastritis and NO as you may think it does NOT mean I am extra gassy...ha. They thought I just had overactive stomach acid...oh la dee da no I foiled medical science again (see my open-heart surgery scar)!!
Then a few weeks ago NIGHT before the Jonas Brothers concert actually I was woken out of a dead sleep with a sudden attack of what I thought was this gastritis again. It was 2 AM and the first thing I thought of were my nieces and OH MY GOD I can't miss the JONAS BROTHERS they will DIE. So I once again dragged myself out of bed and went to the ER. I got in pretty quickly as I have almost every time - the words "chest pain" and "heart surgery" are like a golden ticket in that place...I ended up finding out that I needed surgery and in fact had some lovely gallstones. Fun fun.
As I was getting my ultrasound I was told by the nurses I would need surgery. I asked them if they had teenage girls at home and thankfully one of them did so when I told them of my plans to check out, go see Jonas Brothers, then return for surgery - they understood.
So.....I got out of the hospital finally about 1PM - promptly went to Ho's Chinese Food for some replenishment (egg rolls and soup anyone?) and went about running around town, quelling Maddy's freakout because Kenzie got black marker on her skinny red jeans and filling my prescriptions...
We made it to the concert a LOT later than I wanted to but ended up having perfect timing. The VIP parking passes and seats were SO worth it as we got in and out in record time, had our own cabanna and great seats.
I will say I have NEVER heard louder screaming in 1 area than when the JB's got on stage. But I am the first to admit I had a great time and we danced and sang and the girls were the happiest I have ever seen them. I've never seen them scream so loud and freak so much as I did that night.
As soon as I got back in the car my pain flared up again but I was more focused on the pounding headache and my loss of hearing that I really didn't feel the pain. Thankfully my prescriptions were waiting for me at home (thank you Jason) and I had a nice, long night of sleep.

Long story short - I checked back in a day later and waited about 26 hours for surgery - you may be wondering how I knew it took that long - I didn't get ANYTHING to eat or drink except the mocking ice chips they fed me so I was counting every hour!
Surgery went well I made it through and didn't have large scars thankfully - since in my opinion 1 is just enough. I spent a day or so more in the hospital but had a lot of visitors and a bunch of really nice nurses - 1 in particular was from Nigeria and she was SOO nice.

I had a long "vacation" from work and overall I was out for 3 weeks! Today is my first day back and this morning was pretty busy but once I went home for lunch at 2 I got completely unmotivated and decided to blog a bit. I'm back!!

Words cannot express...

http://television.aol.com/tvtop5/toris-music-video-tori-and-dean/2196201

WOW

J-J-J-Jonas Brothers

If you haven't heard of these guys you are seriously out of touch or just way too cool...
Being that I am the coolest Aunt ever I am taking my nieces to see the Jonas Brothers later this month while they are visiting for their now 3rd Annual Summer Vacation.
We have some killer seats and VIP tickets with our own entrance, food, tent, bathrooms (which is the part I am most thankful for!) on and on. Needless to say they are so excited to being going and Kenzie has been thanking me since April for this.
I think it will be filled with screeching teenage girls and I will probably have a headache for days but it's worth it. I am taking them to their first concert experience and all of their little friends are insanely jealous and I might have a little fun too.
I will give a detailed play-by-play after the concert.

Coffee I missed you

Only by doctors orders I quit drinking coffee and eating dairy for 1 week. The first day last Friday was HELL. I woke up with the most splitting mind slicing migraine that did not go away for one second until I went to bed that night. I had to leave work early because I could not look at a computer screen for 1 more minute.
I didn't think it was going to be so hard once I got over the initial shock of caffeine withdrawal but not eating dairy was more upsetting. Every food that I love has some form of dairy in it and others I just wasn't sure of. I even had to call my mom and ask random questions like "is egg salad considered dairy? Is the lactaid milk dairy? What about decaf tea, does that have caffeine?" I found out that decaf and caffeine free are very different things.
I did cheat a bit and had chocolate that first day in hopes that the caffeine would take some of my headache away - it really didn't. But last night I had a cheeseburger and good god it was splendid. This morning marked my 1 week and I did give a seconds' pause to consider if I should start drinking coffee again since I had successfully kicked my habit - but once I smelled that Dunkin Donuts brewing it was all over.
And today for lunch I had pizza....mmmmmmmm.....cheese.

Few of my favorite things...

I love the mugs from miam.miam and they are having a HUGE sale - as that I am saving for a house I am very tempted to buy a few but must be good...maybe. But I highly suggest getting a few they make wonderful holiday gifts and come in these really cool boxes you don't even have to wrap and it's like drinking out of art...

their website is http://www.unitedbrands.us/ if you can't read their ad - GO NOW!

Landlord = Dragon Lady

The closing on our first home is later this month. As we are in the middle of a 1-year lease we had to get out of it so we could move and not pay a mortgage and rent - no thanks.
So somehow our services were offered to list the townhouse and find new tenants...always a fun chore. The people that frequent Craigslist are the WORST people that I have ever interacted with. Mind you the ones that have come to see our place haven't been bad but the other ones - good god.
I have been asked a plethora of stupid ass questions and after millions of emails back and forth people all of a sudden decide they just don't want to come or as a lovely person did on Monday and just not show. Mind you it's not that big of a deal for most people but when you have 2 of the worlds highest shedding dogs its an ordeal to get the house clean on a nightly basis.
Also, since we went to New Orleans one or both of the dogs has the WORST gas and about 30 minutes before anyone comes over we have to put them outside to fumigate the house or it smells like eggs and egg farts...sooooo gross
So the job of listing and interviewing agent has been a pill and hopefully something I will never have to deal with again.
Or it could be like last night when I was a good 25 minutes into making dinner and just about to mash the potatoes and a group of 3 kids come walking up to the door. I was thinking it was some more campaigners since they have been coming around frequently and I answered the door with the always pleasant Jersey-style "yeah?"
I'm surprised they didn't go running for the hills...at least Deuce didn't try to attack them that probably would have set them off.
After getting over the initial shock of forgetting something (which I never do, I spend almost $50 every December on a very nice planner just for things like this) I let them into the house which was not up to my standard showing appearance.
So all in all I don't think that one went too well - damn me and my distrust of random people!
So I will keep waiting...

Oh here's a good one I just got - Unfortunately, I am looking for something that's a little more updated. I wish you luck in finding the right tenant, though!

To which I responded:
Just an FYI - I would suggest looking outside the Village area since all the townhouses were built in the 1940's and some are renovated like ours is but nothing is up-to-date as you are looking for.

I just love stupid ass people who don't research the area that they're looking in and expect new houses...durrrrr

A Cupcake on your iPhone? Mmmmm cupcake

You know when you're on google or gmail and they put links that correspond to whatever your last email was about or what you are searching for? The links usually go to some out of the way news article that you are just amazed about. So today I was thoroughly intrigued by "A Cupcake on your iPhone"

Here's the article stolen from forbes.com

With hundreds of applications ranging from games to password-keepers to calorie counters, what's next for the iPhone?
One firm is betting on virtual cupcakes and Tamagotchi-like digital pets. Viximo, an 11-month-old Cambridge, Mass.-based start-up, has created four iPhone applications that revolve around digital goods--digitally produced images that people buy, exchange and display online.
When the applications debut in September or October, users will be able to exchange digital goods, such as a cupcake to celebrate a birthday or a teddy bear as a get-well gift. Senders will pay anywhere from a few cents to a few dollars for the goods.
Recipients will download the digital presents to their phones, possibly using links in text messages. "It's about connecting people and celebrating relationships…everything from flirting to gift-giving to playing," says Viximo Chief Executive Rob Frasca.
Such services are common on social networking sites like Facebook, where users send and store digital gifts on their online profiles. Lightspeed Venture Partners, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, estimates that the business generates up to $15 million a year for Facebook. In fact, two Facebook applications, Birthday Calendar and Family Tree, currently use Viximo's designs.
But technical and billing complications have kept companies from promoting the practice to cellphone users. Apple's Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) App Store ecosystem, which uses iTunes to access customers' phones and bill them, takes care of those challenges.
As a result, Viximo is confident that consumers who have iPhones will pay up, citing the multi-million dollar market for ringtones, another kind of digital good. "Digital goods allow people to reach out in a new way on their phones," Frasca says. "Right now, they're limited to text messages and e-mail."
What's more, the iPhone, with its sophisticated touchscreen, crisp graphics and motion-sensing accelerometer, is the perfect showcase for digital goods, Frasca notes. Most digital goods resemble static computer icons. The iPhone, however, can allow users to shake a virtual 8-ball, "drink" a can of beer or launch a 15-second movie clip with a flick of their handsets.
The phone's geo-tracking function could also come into play. Retailers could identify iPhone owners that walk into certain stores and offer those consumers digital gifts. "The iPhone has a lot of horsepower…this is unparalleled stuff for digital goods," Frasca says.


It goes on and on with some shite about virtual pets or something so I cut it off after they stopped talking Cupcakes. But I am super excited for this new adventure in iPhoning.

Rock Band...kicks ass

Or kicks your ass - depending on how old you are
We recently added Rock Band to our ever expanding investment Nintendo Wii
I was totally jazzed to see kick ass songs from everyone from Hole, to the Rolling Stones, the Killers, The Ramones, Beastie Boys, Radiohead on and on.
So we set up shop and I started to play guitar since I was convinced I must be half good since I almost beat Guitar Hero (yes it was on the Easy setting but whatever). As I am trying to play I notice that this guitar is a bit different...the keys are a bit harder to push and I wasn't doing very well at all. Poo.
So I went on to the drums which I wasn't too bad at actually considering Jason isn't very musically inclined which somehow translates to a video game? So while he was singing I was jamming out...we had fun. But the thing that sucks is the further you get in the game the crappier the songs get.
But a few weeks ago I had my nieces stay with me for a weekend and Maddy, Kenzie and their friend, Maggie rocked the casbah!
I let them just go at it jumping in every once in awhile to sing a song that I knew and HAD to sing but for the most part we all just sat in wonderment while they beat song after song scoring 90% and up. I will say though I did get 100% on a song, I think it was Hole Celebrity Skin...too much fun.
We are in the process of packing to move and I made Jason keep the Wii and the Rock Band stuff out because the girls are coming later this month and I want to be amused for an entire night again watching them make it look too easy.
I think its old age that prevents me from being a Wii Rock Star...sigh.

Ebay

Ebay is by far the easiest way of making money
Case in point - you can buy an iPod shuffle on the apple website for $40 plus free shipping. I just sold 1 we had just laying around the house on ebay today for $36 + $4.60 in shipping.
So my new slogan for Ebay is:

"Ebay, making money off the stupidity of others"

Piglet the Puppy is still missing

So for anyone out there that doesn't know my sad but true story...you may be able to help!

I got my first dog, Piglet for my birthday 2 years ago from Jason and I just fell in love.

Being that I couldn't go anywhere without my little guy I took him with us to New Jersey for Thanksgiving where we were spending the long weekend with my family.

Everything was great and I will never forget that entire evening of Piggie running around my Aunt Joan's house and playing with my little cousin, Adian and taking him out for a short walk in the rain. As we were leaving I got into a huge accident with a minivan. My car spun out of control, ran off the road and smashed into a tree head-on. After the airbags deployed and I came to I heard Jason yelling for Piglet. He had been sitting in Jason's lap with his harness and leash on and when Jason's head hit the window from the impact of the other car the window broke and Piglet either jumped out of fright or was thrown from the car.

We spent the next 3 days dredging through the swamps of the Jersey shore (Howell, NJ) knocking on doors, hanging flyers, putting them in every mailbox within a 3-mile radius of the accident intersection. I left food by where the accident had happened along with a sweatshirt of mine hoping he would come back if he smelled me.

Nothing.

Our friend, Brian who is a cop in PA brought his K-9 Dax and they scoured the area looking for my little guy, still nothing. Brian did say that it could be a good thing that they didn't find him because it could mean he was still alive.

I had local radio stations make announcements, I got an article written in the local paper offering a reward and came close a few times to finding him but it turned out to be a hoax from some people just wanting the reward money.

A girl did find a Pug wandering on the highway and through me and my Aunt Pat and an incredibly generous new friend, Judy who called me offering to help in any way after seeing the posters, we got the little guy a nice new home. But he wasn't Piglet.

It has now been almost 2 years since this happened. I have since then taken another Pug, Pugsley in and I love him dearly, probably a bit more than I should from the circumstances.

Piglet is still out there I am convinced. I heard a story from a shelter about a woman who found a dog in her backyard and gave it to a friend but the woman at the shelter didn't have names or numbers of either people. This might have been him.

I am going to keep looking - I received an email from a friend with a story of a girl who found her dog 5 years and hundreds of miles after losing him so my faith is renewed!

Here are some pictures of my little guy so keep an eye out - you never know how far he may have gotten!

Further proof why I am Master of the Universe

When we were in Chicago we decided to experience the Chicago Pizza phenomenon - if you haven't tried it before it's a twist on the original pie. They make their pizza over 2 inches thick and instead of the cheese on top it goes - baked crust, cheese, any meats you choose, uncooked sauce, and an additional layer of crust is baked on top.

It is enormous. I have pictures don't worry.

So we get to Giordano's which has the reputation of the best Chicago Pizza. Obviously everyone else in Chicago knew or wanted to know about this. Saturday night at oh 8:30 we pull up front of Giordano's to only be met by a swarming crowd of people inevitably watching their lives flitter away before their eyes for a piece of stuffed pizza.

I am appointed to go inside and scope out the wait. The hostess tells us that it's about 2 hours for a table to which my reply is "we were stupid for not making reservations" to which she tells me that they don't accept reservations.

As I am turning away ready to accept my fate as a non-stuffed Chicago pizza eater something takes over me..where it came from I cannot say even to this day as I am fondly remembering.

I turn to the hostess and say "How about if I give you $20 will that get us a table? It's really not beneath me to bribe you."

She takes 1 beat and says "Ok" and I reply "really? for $20?"

I whipped out my cash folded it up gangsta style and pass it to her. I shit you not we had a table 15 minutes later. We had barely gotten beers from the front bar and taken a few sips when they were calling our names. On our way to our table they even told me if we didn't like the booth we could get another one. $20 gets you WAYYY too far in Chicago.

The pizza was pretty damn good considering we ordered 2 for 6 people and only finished 1 pizza - barely. 1 piece is sufficient - and I am a good eater!

But one more thing - as we sat down our waiter informed us that the wait for pizza is an additional 45 minutes to 1 hour. Can you imagine the fury of waiting 2 hours for a table then an additional hour for your food? I am amazed more people don't do what I did.

So word to the wise - don't ever let bribing people be beneath you. It will get you further in life than being nice or making reservations...at pizza places though I'm not too sure it will work in really nice places but maybe a $50 would!

Here are the pizzas:

Great minds think alike

I am going to New Orleans next week and am preparing my palatte for some exceptional food.
Whilst perusing local restaurants I was told to go to Cafe Du Monde for their beignets and iced coffee. I will definitely be taking that advice from the rave reviews I found online.

This review beat them all hands-down:
The three reasons I despise Dunkin' Doughnuts: 1. Rachael Ray - Die bitch, die. If I ever hear 'yumm-o" again? You're toast lady. 2. What's with the Baskin Robbins connection? Trying to get us fatter? Assholes! 3. I've been to Cafe Du Monde.

So simply said - Cafe Du Monde here I come!

Sally Struthers Strikes at the Local Mall

My dear friend, Christine was in the mall the other day and happened upon none other than the nearly forgotten Sally Struthers. In case you don't remember she used to be a skinny actress and later was spokesperson for the Christian Childrens Fund. Funny thing is she was gaining weight whilst in Africa while the kids behind her in the commericals had increasing swarms of flies around them...I personally think she was eating all the rice that was supposed to go to the kids.

But moving on, Christine was in Nordstrom the other day and ran into Ms. Struthers.

Here is part of the conversation:

Christine - She had a chicken purse named Pat

Me - WHAT??? A chicken purse?

Christine - Yeah mark said something about it and then she had it lay an egg!! Then she proceeded to tell us that her dog drives. She whipped out of the chicken her dogs drivers license.

Me - HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHA. I am dying here.

Christine - there it was little bob struthers with a Cali license. She still lives in LA. A little black Scottie pictured on the license.

Further proof of this whole ridiculous interaction is below:

Friday Funny

Poor Granny...but this is too funny not to post...only in the South

Poor DMV officials. They have a hard time of it, between re-taking digital I.D. photos until little newly-licensed Kayla or Callie gets her bangs just right and, well, they have to spend all day in the DMV.

We can't blame them for being a little behind on the Web-SMS shorthand lingo, but this? Really? A cute 60-year-old Grandma from Fayetteville, NC happily drove to and from her teaching job with the kickin' set of WTF license plates that had been issued to her by the DMV. Last July, she figured out what the somehow not -- thanks to some help from her teenage grandchildren. When the kids informed her of the true implications of the letters on her license plate, the woman was so vexed that she complained to DMV officials.

Gran's plates were replaced gratis, and the North Carolina DMV has offered to exchange any WTF or other questionable plates free of charge. Embarrassingly, it took DMV officials almost a year to realize that the sample plate on their site is also, ironically, of the WTF variety. Apparently some NC Webmaster has an, er, awesome sense of humor. They are currently trying to take the picture down. [Source: WXII12]

Maroon 5

Yum...reminder that I took these with my iPhone and didn't bring my camera...stupid girl. But I will be getting pictures from my co-workers!