I can understand why some people around the country hate February. It's about the time that everyone is sick of their snow/frigid weather and has the itch for Spring. Around here, we can have some beautiful weather in February... It is my favorite time of the year not only because of my birthday, but because when we have these cold, crisp days with clear skies our mountains are SO beautiful! It was so refreshing to spend the day yesterday cleaning up the garage a bit, mowing the yard and just enjoying the fresh Washington air. I tried to catch a few pictures of the dogs yesterday, they were having a good time making laps around the house, haha!
For some reason, this old girl is afraid of the camera! I literally tried to trap her on the porch because I knew that she couldn't jump down from the high point that you see her trying to do in this picture! I quickly ran over there to stop her because I didn't want her to break a hip!!! She's SO weird!!!
Of course, this guy is a ham. But, he is afraid of me folding laundry... Good Lord!
Today, we are headed to a beach town to look at beach homes in this cute town! My mom is showing us at least four! This is a family endeavor, not solely Brandon's and mine! :) I can't help but think of the great fun that could be had at a family beach house! Yipee! I see us doing a lot of this: and
Or perhaps some lovely CLAM DIGGING! So much fun!
But mostly, I just look forward to relaxing and having a place to get away!!! We'll see if we find anything today! :)
I got to enjoy sunny and 80 degree weather this past weekend in Southern California! Amazing!
LA BFF is having her wedding at this beautiful place down in Fullerton in April. It's going to be so beautiful. They have an awesome outdoor garden area that is small enough to be intimate but so open and airy and perfectly lined with gorgeous palm trees. I can't wait... It's going to be a fabulous wedding. She's going to be such a beautiful bride, see? **This is not her dress, no worries! This was a close 2nd but the dress she chose is amazing!*
Anyway, this past weekend was packed full of wedding prep and events. We spent all day Friday running errands here.there.everywhere. An appointment with the florist did not go well nor did a much needed mani/pedi! However, we made an unscheduled stop at a Chevy's for Pineapple Coconut Margaritas! Yum! Thankfully, her hair appointment was much better and now she knows *almost* exactly how she wants her hair. The only thing in question now are her bangs. Yes? or No?
Saturday was her highly anticipated bridal shower. I feel bad because when I go to SoCal to visit she has to tote me around and because of that she ended up having to run last minute errands for her own bridal shower. *lame* But, she didn't mind and it was quality time spent! We booked a super cute and quaint cafe for her bridal shower. Since it ended up being a beautiful day we were able to have it outside in their courtyard! We couldn't really get around the whole Valentine's theme so we decided to just roll with it. Cute centerpieces, favor boxes and other decorations were tailored to the red, pink and purple look. I think it turned out well!
This is a picture of the "Advice Tree" that I made. The pink cards hang from the lovely branches and were filled out with advice for the new bride-to-be! Cute!
We also adapted the age old "memory" game into the "apron game" where she wore a cute apron around that had random household items pinned to it and people had a set time to memorize what was on the apron... too cute! The cafe had champagne & raspberries for us, assorted desserts and fruit with chocolate to dip it in! Yummm! It ended up being a very pretty shower. Here is the bride-to-be with her sister and mom... Pretty ladies!
After the shower we went to the boutique in Pasadena that is making our dresses. That was a fiasco in itself... but I'm hoping it will all work out. Nothing like leaving it to the last minute! The lady that is doing the dresses is just SO unaware of deadlines and the fact that we all live in different states is adding its own drama to the situation! Let's hope all six of the dresses fit all of us!!! :)
Anyway, the whole weekend was great but very tiring! I'm happy to be home. :)
I, unlike the rest of America, spent this last Sunday celebrating my birthday with my wonderful Hubbs instead of watching the boob tube!** He rented us a hotel here and took me to dinner here.
OH! MY!GOSH!
We both are so busy in our daily lives it was just such a nice gesture for him to not have to work on Super Bowl Sunday. I mean, he manages a Sports Bar with several huge flat screens... we were inevidibly going to be busy! Duh! I had mentioned that I have lived in Washington State my entire life (minus one year) and had never been up in the Space Needle at some point this past year. So, he decided we'd splurge for my birthday. The odds were that the weather wouldn't cooperate for us but thankfully it was a clear night and the views were beautiful! I have some pictures, but my camera cord is missing. So, they'll have to wait. We were pleased when dinner was absolutely fantastic. We have actually shared quite a few fabulous meals together and this was one of the best. Brandon ordered the bone-in Rib Eye steak that was a whopping 24oz! Shooot! And, that 145.5 lb man ate it ALL! :) I enjoyed a delicious filet that was served with black truffle reduction and king crab legs! Yum O! After dinner we enjoyed some adult beverages with each other at a really nice place downtown Seattle... it was a perfect date night! Thanks Babe!
**Rest assured knowing that I strategically took a "nap" in the hotel room before dinner with CBS on... Yes, my man did get some good old football watchin' in! I couldn't be THAT selfish!
Earlier in the week some of my girls and I celebrated my birthday with dinner at a Thai restaurant in town... Afterward my BFF Liz and I hit up the best place to dance in this town and met up with Hubbs and Cousin Kyle. I don't know why I always call him Cousin Kyle... Oh well!We had a blast! Here are the highlights...
Liz & I tearin' up the dancefloor... Isn't she gorgeous? Love her.
Cousin Kyle & I enjoying Jake's Hot Dog Stand... Oh, and we got fried pickles.
Lastly, this is my adorable Husband who is not at all afraid of what anyone thinks of him. Seriously? He squeezed himself into Liz's sweet bomber jacket! Wow! Oh, and he's completely sober. :)
Anyway, here's to a great year! I plan to make it better than the past two have been, that's for sure! :)
This weekend was a little bit more exciting than normal! Whoo hoo!
Saturday I went to Seattle for a baby shower for my cousin. I've previously mentioned this but they don't know what they're expecting and I love the element of suprise! She's registered for mainly gender neutral basic things and is waiting until he/she is born to buy the bedding. She figures since the baby will be in their room for the first couple of months it was worth waiting to buy bedding. The shower was small but it was a good thing because it was in my Aunt & Uncle's small condo in West Seattle! I am SO not used to city life! I think I'd go crazy! I had a tinge of road rage just driving up there!!! :) It was really great to catch up with some family that I've lost touch with over the years. I plan on trying to regain a relationship there as these people are my biological dad's family, who died when I was nine.
Saturday night we worked, per usual. It was so slow at the bar though until about 10:30 (it figures!) and as soon as the kitchen was shut down there were about ten orders for food! Brandon will never turn a customer away, so he dirtied up the kitchen and we fed the weirdos! :) I swear it was a full moon... I never did check on that.
Sunday we had made plans with Brandon's parents to see Avatar. The showing was at 12:40 and we barely made it! I swear, the bartender life is for the birds! Ha! Anyway, I was sure that Brandon and his parents would love the flick as they all enjoy SciFi type of stuff. I, however, was just along for moral support. I had heard good things but wasn't going in with great expectations! I will admit that I fell asleep about 1/2hr before the end of the movie! I KNOW! What the HECK!? I was tired. And, the movie was LONG! But, it was good. I wouldn't say it was "amazing" though. Brandon thought it was fine and so did his dad. His mom wanted to go to Disneyland afterwards... I'm not sure what that was about. I think the Fantasy Land thing got her mind a goin'! HAHA! Anyway, after the movie we all went to the gym and I did a mix of what I've been learning on the Shred and had Brandon's mom along for the ride. I am still sore today (three days later!) from everything that we did! Yowza! Brandon's mom is a good sport though, she will never give up on me! We had dinner with them that night too... steaks, crab legs, butter clams & asparagus! Yum!
Monday brings the start of the school week for me. We had a very interesting conversation in my Ethics class on Monday night. I thought about trying to make a post about it - maybe I still will. The class is all about analyzing case studies of ethical issues that have occured in the business world. We even watched a documentary on Enron and I learned a lot about that debacle! I knew the surface stuff about the corruption but not EVERYTHING! GAH! It made me irate! I'm really enjoying this class though. It is really interesting to see everyone's different perspectives! Usually ethics classes get me hot headed as they are more about personal moral issues. This one is a bit different, which is good.
Yesterday and today I have E all day and we have done plenty of napping and playing! She is getting so big! It's fun to watch her growth since I started watching her in September. Her newist tricks are pointing (which cracks me up!) and doing the scrunched face and breathing really hard through her nose! So cute! She's getting a little bit of separation anxiety when her Mama leaves but her face lights up when I come over, so I know she loves me too! :) She'll be ten months this month which is crazy! We're trying to transition her bottles to sippy cups... that leaves much to be desired! So far, she's not having it. We'll keep trying though!
Tomorrow I am getting my hair *did*! I know that sounds like Larry the Cable Guy! Ha! I just always say that for some reason. Then, I'm going out with 10 or so ladies to a Thai restaurant in town for dinner and then to a wine bar for drinks! After that some of us will head to a bar in town that has music all night so we can boogie! Whoop! I'm sooo excited! I rarely ever get out! My stinkin' birthday falls on Super Bowl Sunday (lame!) so we're celebrating a bit early. I can't wait to hang out with my ladies!!!
Hopefully I'll come up with some interesting posts soon!!! Have a great week everyone, Happy Hump Day!
Last night is my one and only evening off during the week. Brandon usually works until at least 10pm on Thursdays but the bar actually wasn't too busy so he was done early. After some Marshall's and Ross scouring for leftover baby stuff that my SIL needs I used my fancy new phone with it's Fandango App to check show times for Avatar. I figured we could have a little date night! Well, long story short, I messed up the movie times AGAIN and we wasted two hours waiting around for the movie that "started" at 9:50. Well, the 3D one started at 8:00 and I wasn't about to see Avatar in the regular theater! Duh. I can't read show times, apparently. This happened to us when we were trying to see The Hangover too! So, I was determined to see something and we decided on Extraordinary Measures.
Now, Brandon wasn't super thrilled over this choice but the other option was Sherlock Holmes and I wasn't too into that either. So, of course, I won. Ha! They actually had to turn the movie on for us as there was no one in there and we got the whole theater to ourselves! Whoo hoo! No worries, we didn't behave like teenagers would have.
Anyway, the movie proved to be a bit slow. It was definitely "good" in my book but I can see how people may think it's slow. I really think that Keri Russell should have had a more dominant role in the movie as she's a better actress than Brendan Fraser is an actor. I just don't really think he's that great. But, you couldn't help but love him in this move. Also, Harrison Ford was good, as usual. So, this is not my favorite movie ever, but it definitely is worth renting. The plot is a little dry and drawn out but I think that it's good they didn't make it a fluffy "happy go lucky" type of movie and stuck with the seriousness. I did cry several times, but I'm a crier! I want to read up on the actual story that it was based off of.
My favorite part of the movie? Well, besides the important stuff... The HOUSES! Oh my, they were fabulous. I can't find any pictures of them online but... in the words of Rachel Zoe "I die. I die. Oh.My.God. I die." It helped that they family lived in Portland so the homes had just the PNW charm that I adore.
I've been thinking about my pet peeves a lot lately. Maybe it's because I'm over tired and irritable this past weekend. Maybe it's just because I'm a terrible person. I tend to agree with the first statement. None the less, mispronunciations are at the top of my pet peeve list!
Let me start by admitting that I am not perfect. Nor am I an English professor or a Professional Linguist.However, this girl is highly annoyed with mispronunciations and misspellings of common every day sayings and words.I also tend to get annoyed with short versions of words that are used in text messaging.Is it really that much more time consuming to write out “good” instead of “gud?”I don’t get that, at all.Anyway, recently I’ve been keeping track of the mistakes that bother me the most.
Expresso.This one makes my skin crawl! I suppose it’s because I spent quite a few years as a barista.There is no X in this word.In fact, the real word is ESPRESSO. I would now like to express my love for espresso!
*Ahem* that was good, right? Oh, it wasn’t? Ok, note taken.
Acrossed/Acrosst.I agree that the double “s” sound is awkward for the end of a word, but it is just that! There is no “t” or “ed!”
Axs.I really don’t understand this one. I suppose I should look it up.Until then, I’ll just set the record straight and say that the correct way to spell this word is ASK so it should be pronounced as spelled!
Dialate.There is only one “a” in that word.It is simply DILATE.
Excetera.I am guilty of mispronouncing this word every now and again.However, I have made a great effort to think about the word in enough time to say ET CETERA. Hence the abbreviation of this word being ETC not EXC!
Febyuary. Maybe I’m a bit partial to this word because I’m a FEBRUARY baby.Or, maybe it just bugs me.Whatever the case, there are two “rs!”
This next one REALLY gets me… Are you ready?
Irregardless! Oh, the nerve! My first thought is that this word is a double negative! How is it possible to have “less” and “ir” in the same word!? So, this word should mean: not without regard? Hmmm… I’m confused!Thisspelled it out perfectly, I think.
Libary.There are definitely two “rs” in this word!
Perscription.How is it that a Doctor could PRESCRIBE a PERscription?Doctors only prescribe PRESCRIPTIONS!
Probly.This is another mispronunciation that I am guilty of.It is just way easier to say PROBLY or PROLLY than to actually sound out PROBABLY! I'm definitely working on this one!
Reel-a-tor.My mom has been a REALTOR for twenty years. The Association of Realtor’s radio and TV ads even mispronounce it! Oh my gosh!
Nucular. I once was guilty of saying this word incorrectly but have since corrected myself! Now, it drives me nuts when people don't say NUCLEAR!
Last but not least… The one that drives me the most insane!
Supposably. Maybe someone accidentally write their “d” backwards one day and that’s how this mispronunciation was born.I can’t come up with any better suggestions! Supposedly, someone just started saying it incorrectly and it stuck!
I love laughing until my guts hurt with my mom and her sister about these. They crack us up! Well, after they annoy us, that is. What are your word/spelling/grammar/mispronunciation pet peeves!? Please share so I feel better about myself!!!
Kelsey is hosting Wishful Wednesday again this week and this is the topic:
'I wish' .... I could have worn the gown that ______ wore at the 67th Annual Golden Globes Award"
It is kind of a coincidence that I actually saw a lot of the Golden Globes on Sunday because usually I don't watch award shows. But, I was at work and there are like six big screens on so it was kind of easy to catch a few glimpses!
If I could have worn anyone's dress I think I'd have to go with Sandra Bullock's. I love her and I love purple... so that decision was easy! I totally disagree with people that say she's past her prime. I think she looks awesome and the movies that she's done this past year have been good. The color of the dress looked great on her and did anyone catch the back of the dress? Gorg! :)
Brandon and I are high school sweethearts that married on August 16, 2008. We both work for our family's business and I go to school full time. We love our animals which are like our children! We also love to cook and travel to cool places!
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