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.