Happy 2012

O.M.G.

Seriously. I know it’s been a heck of a long time since I last blogged but these last few weeks/months have been a whirlwind! I can’t believe the holidays have come and gone. HAPPY 2012 everybody!

I am thankful for my healthy, happy family and what a great holiday we all had. The boys were spoiled… no surprise and I got to see my family back in Michigan. I haven’t “home” for Christmas in at LEAST 10 years. It was so cool!
The boys met their cousins and enjoyed playing with the. They enjoyed their first experience with snow. I think they had a blast.
We had a small hick-up in coming home (San Diego, home) from Michigan when we got to Denver. We knew we had a 4 hour layover, but we didn’t know that 4 hours would turn into 48 hours. It was an adventure to say the least and we survived it! It is good to be back to a normal routine and our own beds! We kicked off the new year in a bad way, so it can only get better from here, right?

Here’s to a great 2012. Good things are on the horizon… I can feel it! Let’s Go already!

Randomness

Ahhh... I really do THINK about blogging ALL.OF.THE.TIME. But then 8 p.m. rolls around and all I can think of is getting into bed and vegging out in front of the TV.

So in order to cover all the things running through my head I'm going to resort to a list

• Big Dude turned 2 1/2 and little Dude turned 10 months old. Where does the time go?
  


• Am on week 3 of my marathon training and so far so good. Finding time for the mid-week "runs" is challenging, but I'm doing it.



• Had fun at Baby Loves Disco a few weeks ago



• Looking forward to a wedding that Greyson is in next weekend. Not looking forward to the 6 hour drive there and the 6 hour drive back.



• Going on a business trip to Denver with Claire... although it will be "work" it will be fun too!



• Signed up for an on-line art class. Hope it will be fun.



• with that in mind... I plan to clean out the garage and make a space to call my "art studio" again

summer wrap up

Well folks, I'm baaaaaack. In California that is. We got back late Saturday night and have been trying to get the little one adjusted to PST ever since. We'll see how tonight goes. It was sad to leave Michigan because it felt like I was saying good-bye to summer. As I was packing up all of our things and saying adios to Tina et. al. it was like my summer romance was over and I had to go back to school or something. It was great spending time with my dad and other family members as well as spending some good times with Tina. I am, however, glad to be back in my own bed and back to the old routine (as much as we are in a routine). I think Greyson is glad to be back too. I did my share of hauling him around from place to place and more often then I am willing to admit, he didn't sleep in the same crib/bed two night in a row. Poor kid. And I wonder why he wasn't sleeping too well.

It is hot as Haiti right now, though. Whew... thank Buddha for AC. I'm ready for some cooler weather now. It was a nice break from the heat when I was in MI, but man it could get HUMID out there. Ahhh... will I EVER be happy? Can I complain any more? Sorry... I'll stop now.

So it turns out that I will be going back to work, on a temporary basis sometime in August. What a bummer, but I've gotta do what I've gotta do. In a small way I am looking forward to having some adult interaction, but 1) I feel guilty as hell and 2) I'm going to miss the little dude when I am away from him. How WILL I survive?

Hope your summer is going well and you're staying cool.

ditto from the TB blog...

welp, my dad did indeed get internet access JUST.FOR.ME. Isn't that sweet? And as promised, I said I would post from the Great Lake State. So far we have done a lot of nothing. And that is what this trip was intended for. So far we have spent a lot of time with family and today we are heading off to the "friends" part of the "friends and family visiting spree." TB's Godmother has a house on a lake and it is a PERFECT place to make some summertime memories. Too bad TB won't remember any of it... yet.

TB has handled the trip and time difference ok. I say ok because he didn't sleep much last night and I almost sold him off to the gypsies. I said almost. That gummy smile this morning bought him at least another 24 hours around here though. I'm not sure what is doing it. Is he hungry? Growing? Just going through a phase? All of the above? Tonight I am going to try to give him his cereal before bed to see if that keeps him full and in a carb coma for a good 10 hours. I'm not asking much, am I?

When in Michigan, root for the Tigers is what we say. (Notice he is still true to his Padres, though).

For those interested, the flight over here was better than anticipated. The first leg was great. We had an empty seat next to mine, so I was allowed to bring his carseat on board and the flight was perfect. The next, and longer, leg was a full flight... so no carseat and very cramped quarters. It's amazing how tough it is to hold a baby for 2.5 hours. Yes, he's only 14 lbs. but when there is not much space to sit in and the baby is squirming around, it's a challenge. He managed to sleep for maybe half an hour of the flight which was very welcomed. We changed his diaper while flying which was also a welcome distraction from sitting in the cramped seat. Doing so wasn't as bad as you might think. No National Lampoon's moments in the head. Eventually we landed and without any meltdowns... thank you 6 lb. 4 oz. baby Jesus! I'm not looking forward to the flight home b/c I'm scared that they both will be full flights... and now I know how heavy he can be. Oh well... I will try not to sweat it until I have to.

what was I thinking?

This picture just about sums it up for me.  What was I thinking?  Going to Michigan for two whole months?  Do you know what sort of packing and planning that takes when you have a baby?  Oh my.  I can't forget the white noise maker or the binky's or the _____ (insert many, many things here).  I am also traveling alone... am I CrAzY?  I have a baby, a stroller a carseat two suitcasestwocarryonsandapartridgeinapeartree to worry about... ON.MY.OWN.  The only saving grace is that Tony will be helping me at this airport and my dad will be helping me at the other airport.  I'm hoping for helpful flight attendants and friendly seat mates on the plane.  

We'll be away for 2 months and I'm not so sure about what kind of internet access I will have while there, so pardon my lack of updating.... just in case.  If we do have access... then I hope to update while on holiday.

In other news... oh, there isn't any.  Just truckin' along these days, taking it one day at a time.  Life is getting easier with the little one.  He is getting more and more interactive as the days pass and soon he'll be in college.  I'm looking forward to starting swim lessons once we get back in August.  I like to have little things to look forward to.  I'm NOT looking forward to him getting some shots tomorrow at his 4 month well baby check up.  You go in with a happy baby and come out with a fussy, sad, upset, hurt baby.  So not fair.

Happy Halloween!

How'd you like it if this bee stung you in the butt? Ouch! Happy Halloween blogland.... I hope you are all in the spirit! This was taken outside of my dr.'s office. Yes, I wore the costume. Why not, right? There ain't no shame to my game. All is well with the baby boy. Strong hear beat, movin' like he's doin disco, and growing. In the new week or so I get to do my glucose test {big fun}, get some other lab work, and get my rhogam shot. Sheesh... so much for the uneventful appointments! It's all cool though, I don't mind at all. She tried to sucker me into taking the glucose test today, right after my appt. I was like... "hello? It's Halloween... don't ya think I've already had my share of sugar today?" That darn test would put me in the hospital, no doubt.

So, obviously, I am back from Michigan. It was a great trip! I got to fly first class this time {woo hoo} and it was fabulous! Did you know they serve drinks in REAL glass glasses? Who knew? We flew in on Wednesday evening and headed straight to dinner from the airport. Turns out the owner of one of my favorite restaurants out there was financially supporting terrorists, so he was indicted and flew the coop. We went to a similar restaurant instead, hopefully THEY are not doing the same. Yikes!

Thursday was my baby shower thrown by Tina and crew. It was so cute! She had the place all decked out and the theme was "little prince"/ polka dots. I will post pics soon. It was an intimate little gathering... just perfect. We had Thanksgiving dinner, no games, lots of conversation, and lots o presents. Wowza. This kid will not need any clothes for awhile! I also asked for books in lieu of cards, so his library is shaping up too. I still hate being the center of attention, so I was pitting out when I was opening presents.... ugh, I hate that part. I love the presents, but having EVERYONE sit there and stare me is SO UNCOMFORTABLE! Overall, the party was a total hit. Thanks Tina!

Friday was a chill day. Tina and I met our friend Lisa, who happened to be getting married the next day, for breakfast. We got caught up and then went shopping. I ended up finding little dude's christening gown. The gown I got in Rome was a little on the girly side. I know, as if wearing a gown isn't girly enough? Look kids, I like to be old school and way back when, dudes wore little gowns too. They didn't have these little white tux's to sport around... so don't give me any shit, ok? I also picked up a few little unnecessary things for dude. What's new? It's my latest addiction! I want to find a tiny pair of Asics or Nike's or something. Actual miniature versions of a pair of running shoes. Not just "baby" running shoes... have you seen those anywhere? I know they exist b/c I've seen them... a long time ago... when I wasn't in need of them. I just think those would be cute. If you have any leads... please pass them to me.

Back to the story.

Saturday we went to Lisa's wedding at the D.A.C. Lovely. She was beautiful, of course. The whole wedding was very elegant and just beautiful. I'm not feeling the thesaurus today. I didn't have as much fun as I usually would... because I was all puffy and feeling fat and not drinking and tired. BUT... it was still a good time. None of that business was any of HER fault... just sayin.

Sunday I just hung out with my family and Monday afternoon we left to come back to SD. The weather was nice and cool and the tress were all changing colors and... ahhhh.... it was nice. When we got back to SD it was HOT. Not just warm, but HOT. As in 88 degrees. Oi...

little dude's first half marathon

As per usual... the Nike Women's Marathon (and 1/2) was the bomb.  This year I did it the right way and arrived early, stayed late.

We got in on Friday afternoon dropped the bags off at the hotel (which was inconveniently located atop TWO killer San Fran hills).  I vowed that the first time I climbed those suckers would be the last for this weekend.  Thank God for cable cars!  Besides, Friday was an unseasonably warm day for SF... I mean like in the 90's... DUDE... I came prepared for cool weather...  I was so sweaty it was gross!

Anyway... after dropping a load we took off to catch the expo.  this race is sooooo great b/c they totally cater to chicks.  I got a back/neck massage.  There also were foot massage stations, mani/pedi stations, ipod engraving, a send a postcard station, a button making station, gait analysis, and some other stuff I can't even remember right now.  Definitely reason enough to come on Friday, which is slightly less crowded than Saturday.  Then I hit Nike town... which is where all of the race paraphernalia is sold.  Oi vey.  I went a little overboard this time around.  After that and a bit more shopping around Union Square, it was time to go to dinner and hit the sack.

Saturday morning I woke early to attend the "Legacy Runner" breakfast.  I am considered a legacy runner for this race b/c I have done it all 5 years.  Kind of a kool honor I guess.  We got special t-shirts saying how special we are.  After that I headed off to one of my favorite stores in SF... Timeless Treasures.  This is where I got the letters to spell out little dude's name.  Such a cute little shop.  I would love to own something like this one day.  After hitting TT, I had a slice of Blondies pizza with Joyce, where I somehow managed to get hot pepper flakes and garlic salt in my eye.  Not a little bit either.  A big ol' pile of it.  OMG... I thought I was going to die right there in the basement of this pizza joint.  That crisis was eventually averted and I got to catch up with my friend, one eye open, before heading back to the room to rest before dinner.

Later that night we all (my parents, Joyce,  and Eilene) met up for a good ol' fashioned high carb pre-race dinner.  Yummy.

Sunday morning.  Race day.  Up early and at the start line at 6:45 a.m.  Imagine 20,000 runners/walkers and their support peeps squeezing into Union Square.  Yikes.  We were nutz to butts and that ain't no lie.  Something has to be done about the rude people pushing and shoving... but what can you expect I guess???  Other than that, the race went off without a hitch.  The weather was cool... typical SF weather I would say.  I would also say that I managed it fairly well... considering I had this big ol' belly to lug around.  At about mile 7 I was feeling the dude though.  It seemed that with every step I took, he bounced right on my bladder or something... I had to stop to pee at least 5 times throughout the race.  All in all, it went well.  Little dude was a trooper.  We got our bling bling and headed back to the hotel.  The rest of that day was pretty much a wash, except for eating dinner.  We were ALL pooped.

Sunday we woke up and basically just wrapped it up and headed to the airport.  This was the big change from previous years... I usually wrapped it up after the race and flew home on Sunday.  That was too much stress... with trying to check out on time and all... so this year was a lot more relaxing (as relaxing as walking 13.1 miles can be while 6.5 months preggo) and leaving on Monday made all of the difference.

Here are some pics:

consider this the 25 week belly shot too.

Joyce and me in front of the Golden Gate Bridge

the view from my hotel room.

where else but in America...

Where else can you visit New York City and the Eiffel tower in a matter of minutes... but in Las Vegas Baby!

I went to Vegas as a last minute thing for Easter since hus is out of town for work. It was a laid back weekend... (except for the travelling thing- I hate waking up super early...). So, overall it was coolio. I'm back at work now and quite sleep deprived, but wanted to update the world... as if they care.

p.s. the pics are from my polaroid... just trying to give it some love before it goes extinct. Looking at the quality, it's no wonder they're doing away with it... other than the "artistic" aspect of having that polaroid look... it doesn't have much else to offer.

Rome- day 4

***p.s. if you click on the pictures, you can enlarge them for better viewing!!




We managed to wake up a bit earlier today, to make it to breakfast before they shut down the buffet. I'm still not used to the hard bed or the time change for that matter... which makes waking up in general a bit more challenging. It's cool. We take the metro back to the Vatican so we can pick up some chatzki so we can have it blessed by the Pope, thus making those souvenirs WAY more cool.
We were a bit early for the Pope's arrival, but it was fun people watching while we waited. Groups of people had banners, other groups had matching t-shirts... it was like being at a rock concert, sans the pot smoke and earplugs. We also witnessed a couple of little kids licking, yes LICKING the bowl of a water fountain. We were in shock. Where were the parents? Hello... clue? even Holy germs can KILL!

So finally Ben shows up at his apratment window. He first addressed us in Italian (duh) and afterwards blessed us all in 5 different languages: Italian, German, Spanish, English, and Polish. It was tres cool. I really can't describe how cool it was. We saw something that not a lot of people can say they saw, live, not memorex. This rates right up there with my experience ringing the closing bell at the NYSE.

We finished up the day by checking out a couple of malls(?), stopping by Trevi fountain for the obligatory coin toss/wish, lunch, and general sight-seeing. The true highlight of the day was Ben. For our last night in Rome we decided to really shake things up and have dinner at GIOVANNI'S. We got a chance to hang with G himself for a few minutes as he seronated us with a rendition of "Country Roads" and "Sweet Home Alabama" on his acoustic guitar.

Another EARLY wake-up call and headed back to the airport for the HELLA plane-ride back to the US. Let me just say that I HEART Lufthansa airlines. If you EVER have the chance to travel with them, do. They treat their passengers with 100% class.

Rome- day 3

We woke up at 9:30 a.m today and barely made it to the *free* breakfast. After bfast, we took the metro over to the Vatican... or "Vatican" if you're referring to the country. We toured the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Cathedral. We shopped in the little gift shop run by the sweet little nuns. We then went to the Vatican post-office and sent out some post cards, not to be confused with the post cards we sent from that other country, Rome. We then decide to spend the rest of the day shopping, since there was a good possibility that the shops would be closed tomorrow, Sunday. I decided that a really cool thing to buy in Rome, practically the capital of Catholicism, would be a baptism gown for the kid we will eventually have one day. You would THINK that it would be an easy thing to find in such a city. It wasn't and I almost gave up, but eventually found it. I sprung for the matching booties and bib too. It will be an heirloom, as long as the first kid doesn't have a blowout while wearing it or anything. Cool, huh?
We had lunch at a crappy, tourist trap, cafe. We were not happy about it... but it was too late to leave once we got the check. YIKES! We hit up some more shops and then decided to head back to the train station a.k.a. "home" a.k.a. our hotel area. We ended up back at the super market, this time to stock up on those souvenirs I told you about in Travel Tip #1. We hung out in the room for a bit and headed over to GIOVANNI'S again for dinner. Why fix what's not broke, right? Tomorrow, our only time restraint is that we have to be at the Vatican by 11 a.m. to hang out with Pope Ben.

Rome- day 2, Venice day 1

So we hop the train to Venice. Another early wake up call due to the 6:55 a.m. departure. 4 hour trip each way. Are we gluttons for punishment or what? So, we're cruising along and all of a sudden the train stops, and not at an obvious station. WTF? What is going on? About 1/2 an hour later we realize that another train broke down on the tracks and we had to rescue them. Needless to say, the train suddenly became REALLY full. Luckily they all got off at the next stop which was about 45 minutes down the line. However, this did cut into our time in Venice by about an hour and a half. Boo!
We finally get to Venice and step off the train and W.O.W. instantly amazing! This city is nothing but eye candy. I wanted to take pictures of EVERYTHING. We decide that our first destination should be Ponte di Rialto... a major bridge that is essentially a shopping haven. The streets of Venice are basically small alleyways going every which way and you have to be really careful as to not get lost. One of the first streets (alleyways) we turn on to brings us head to head (no pun intended) with a masturbating man... right there... in front of us... GROSS... we just keep moving forward and start to walk at a faster clip. In my head I'm thinking "great, is this a sign of things to come?" I felt totally violated and wanted to call HR... but, oh yeah, we're in Venice and what the hell am I talking about? He didn't chase us or anything, which is good news, but the whole thing was utterly disturbing. Fortunately, this was the worst moment of the whole trip.
There is so much character in every inch of this place. I took a bunch of pictures of the doors alone. Each one was so different and unique. I noticed that there were a TON of stores selling underwear and lingerie. These people are obsessed with SEX!
We shopped here and there and once we got to THE BRIDGE, we shopped some more. Next destination is Piazza S. Marco. This place is the place you always see in movies where there are a ton of pigeons landing on people and just swarming around. Well, I was NOT interested in getting pooped on, so I took some pictures and moved on. We bought a ticket to board the next boat over to Morana and as we are sitting there we realize that if we get on this boat and get to the island, we wouldn't get back in time to catch our train (the last train) out of Venice. Good thing that damn boat was taking it's sweet time to pick us up b/c we realized our {almost} mistake and bailed on the boat trip. We head back toward the train station and catch lunch somewhere in between. We had pizza this time and it was DeLish! We pick up some more souvenirs, get to the train station with time to spare, buy our ticket back to Rome and wonder around a bit more until it's time to board. I finally got my hands on some gelato and we are on our way. We get back to the Rome station at about 11:30 p.m. (thank goodness our hotel is only a block away) and back to our rooms EXHAUSTED!!! We are excited that we don't have a tight schedule tomorrow and can sleep in a bit.

Rome- day 1

We left for LAX at like 1 a.m. in the morning. Do you know how hard it is to wake up at 12:30 a.m. to go to the airport? Well, take my word for it... it's freaking HARD! Thank God Mabelle drove. Thanks girl.
We get on the plane and head over to DC. A couple of hours later we hop on a plane to head to ROME baby. I took a couple of Benedryl in hopes of sleeping through the flight. Unfortunately chatty charlie was sitting behind me and happened to have a super deep voice. Anybody that knows me knows that I have a hell of a time sleeping (a trait I inherited from my dad), let alone on a plane, with a chatterbox behind me. I gave him the stink eye a few times, but it didn't work. My powers must be weakening. So, even Benedryl could not make me fall asleep. I suffered through the 9 hour flight to Rome. We arrived at 7 a.m.ish Rome time. We jump on a shuttle to head over to the hotel and the first things I notice about this place is how dirty it seemed. There was a ton of graffiti EVERYWHERE. How sad to ruin a city with such a long history. So we're driving along and BAM, there's the Colosseum... right smack in the middle of this road. People just go around it like it's no big deal... but HELLO? this is the Colosseum... ya know, the one in Rome?!!!! It was huge and totally kick ass. We never did get a chance to go touch it, but there is always next time, right?
We get to our hotel and LUCKILY they let us check in (it's about 10:30 by this point). Our room turns out t be quite cute. Seriously, especially for the price... 290E for the 4 nights we stayed... plus breakfast is included. So we settle in a bit and decide to take a little nap. It felt good to stretch out. Our little nap took us into the evening and we woke up at like 5 p.m. Holy crap. We can't just sleep, otherwise we'd have a hell of a time sleeping at bedtime and the nightmare would continue. So we head over to the train station, conveniently located 1 block away from the motel, to check out our day-trip to Venice, and to pick up tickets for the same. Amazingly enough 2 chicks, both with masters degrees, one fluent in Italian, couldn't figure out how to use the damn phone cards (to call home) and couldn't find the freaking ticket counter/kiosk to buy train tickets. We finally DID find the ticket kiosk, but never figured out the card thing. We ended up going to an internet cafe to write the boys and let them know we were safe and sound. Before we headed to dinner we went to the supermarket to pick up some provisions to get us through the next couple of days. Travel tip #1: some of the best souvenirs are found at the grocery store. We dropped the bags off in the room and went across the street to have dinner at GIOVANNI'S. The food was yummy and hot and the prices were GREAT. We couldn't believe how inexpensive dinner was! I love that there is no smoking in the restaurants, although smoking on the streets is super prevalent and DISGUSTING!!!! After dinner we headed back to the room to catch a shower and get to bed.... since we had to catch a train to Venice.

the race, the lottery and the fires... the good, the bad, and the ugly...

whew... what a spectrum of events going on... flying back home last night we flew over LA and I saw a bird's eye view of what was going on down below. Bright orange flames licking the mountain ridges. A lot of them and in like 10 different spots. I land and Tony picks me up and I ask... "is that smoky smell coming all the way from LA?" Well... it was immediately obvious that I didn't see the news all day (as we were busy with the race, details later) and that San Diego was once again on fire. It has been said that this set of fires (there are many "sets" of fires all around...) is worse than the Cedar Fires that happened a mere 4 years ago. The winds are high right now which is causing the fires to "jump" around. The embers from one fire float up into the air, and are blown into another area and start a whole new set of fires. What's scary is that is happens so quickly and really no one is safe, because of the winds and the floating embers. VERY SCARY! I am due to leave for Michigan tomorrow morning and right I am thinking... do I pack up the stuff I would want saved, just in case my neighbor has to grab the box for me? Do I fall into the trap of "oh, it won't happen to us?" Tony's making fun of me for wanting to be prepared. He's making me so mad because of it. Like WHAT WILL WE BE ABLE TO SAVE WHEN WE'RE IN MICHIGAN? Ugh. I'm putting stuff aside and my neighbor promised to grab it in the case our area is evacuated while we're away. I'm not too worried about my safety... hell, I'll paddle out into he ocean and camp out there until stuff chills out. It's my STUFF I WORRY about. AAAGGHHHH!

OK, I'll stop... people at this very moment are having to pack up and evacuate... those are the people to worry about right now. Prayers for Southern California would be greatly appreciated right now.

The lottery... for CE... my application is "still pending" at this moment... UGH.

The race.
tres cool as usual. I love going to San Fran. That is one crowded city sister! Anyway... the hotel we (my mom and I) stayed at was cute. Old, but cute. That is until the keeper was a jackass and wouldn't let us stash our lugagge for a while so as to allow us to grab a bite to eat before we left for the airport. So here we are lugging our luggage through the city and trying to eat some pizza, in the crowded eatery.
The race course didn't change much from last year. It was a perfect race day. The weather was just perfect. The morning was not cold at all... so there was no need to be all bundled up in trash bags, etc. The views are spectacular, as usual, and although that mile 6 hill is horrible, it didn't seem so bad this year. The time flew by!!! Joyce, Mabelle and I ended up doing the race together... my mom hung a little behind, but still made great time and completed the route like a champ.
The necklace this year is AWESOME! I wasn't too happy with the design the last two years, so this was a very pleasant surprise. Everything else was pretty status quo... great ending, good organization... whew! 23000 women (well, maybe a few men mixed in there) rasing a TON of money for a great cause! We kicked some cancer ass!

new last name.... new hair...

well... the big day has come and gone! Oh, I can't tell you how perfect the wedding was... if it weren't for my MOH, it wouldn't have been as cool or smooth... but stuff really seemed to work out... except for the fire at table one... or the glass of wine on my dress 5 minutes into the reception... but hey... what would we be talking about right now?
I don't have any pictures to post yet, except this one of my new Posh Spice haircut... we are off to Cancun this morning (it's 4 a.m.), so I will have much to share when I return...

oh lazy river.. how I miss thee...

We're back. Much more relaxed than before, but also much more stressed. Relaxed b/c we had a fab-tastic weekend in Phoenix. Our trip went smoothly... no babies were born in the car, no strippers, no jail. All in all, what I call a success! It was H*O*T hot! But it was a {dry} heat. I'm sure I could get used to it. This place we went to was AWESOME! And the parts that weren't so AWESOME, they quickly reacted to make them awesome again! The lazy river was the bomb and I so could find a way to work from it. I think only one more tube would do the trick... oh and WiFi... We had such a blast, even without anything too outlandish to do, we had our share of laughs and silly stories... and our share of saving the world talks...
For the guys that ended up with the mangy strippers... we probably saw better boobs than you did...
but here are some other pics too... of us and our "wild" weekend...

oh, I almost forgot to add the "stressed because" part... anyway... stressed b/c...HELLO? It's only 17 more days until the wedding.... you figure the rest out...

4 girls and the open road...

This weekend the girls and I are heading East... well, as far East as Phoenix... for some fun in the sun, some margaritas, and some crafting! Now THIS is what I call a bachelorette party! The boys have opted for strippers... TYPICAL. We have mani's/pedi's on the docket, as well as some massages. The best part is the lazy river waiting for us... ahhhh... I can sense it now... my fat ass in an inner-tube, with my butt coming out of the hole, soaking in the cool water as the 114 degree sun beats down on me... it's a sight I'll tell ya...

you'll have to wait for the pics before you can get really jealous...

did I tell you about the Bazzil tour we have planned? Hmmmm.... mr. Bazzill himself will be guiding us... can't wait!

A: Uh, because it's GRAND!

Q: Why do they call this canyon the Grand Canyon?

Wow... no pictures that I post can ever do this place justice, but I will post anyway. You can literally spend hours just staring at the awesome colors as they change throughout the day. Granted, we only got to spend an hour and a half there, but I got the jist of it. Then it was 7 hours back to my parents house. Sheesh... overall it WAS worth it!

I'm the "Super American!"... day 4

We are a rollin'! We are hot! We have this city DOWN! We know the metro like we were born on it! We wake up early, Mabelle and I wanted to check some stuff out that Emma had already seen. So we went and checked out the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower...minus the strong willed vendors (we saw a cute gaggle of little kids going on a field trip to the tower...very cute!)... Then we went on the hunt for the only scrapbook store in Paris and wouldn't you know it, I left the address in the hotel. Damn it. We couldn't find it from memory so we head back to the Louvre to do more shopping. then picked Emma up and went over to the Latin Quarter. We had breakfast from the supposed "best bakery in Paris", but my quiche was not noteworthy. Regardless, we had our breakfast and walked around, looking at the cute shops. Once we were spent there... we decided to go find the scrapbook store. This time I had the address. We found it and it was surprisingly huge. Most of the stuff in it was stuff you could get in the states, but I did manage to buy a few little stamps that were French.
Once we blew our nut there, we went back toward the hotek and stopped at the mall across the street. The one with the kick-ass gourmet grocery store. I pulled the "American Poster Child" move when I helped a French chick, only after her own people ignored her after she dropped a jar of chili's on the floor. Mabelle says George Bush was proud that day!

Back to the room to pack up all of our loot. As usual we stayed up talking, solving the world's problems and planning our next trip. Sleep is over-rated anyway... yeah right!

Montemartre Day 3

Day #3.
We slept in today. Learned our lesson from yesterday. We went to Montemarte...very cool. Had breakfast at a cafe/pub. Very coool. Saw Van Gough's house. Neat to see... but nothing special. Saw Moulin Rouge (the place, not the show). Got near "Pig Alley" or Pigalle... where the porn shops live.
Off to Notre Dam. Quite huge and very impressive. Lit some candles. Good jou jou. Did some shopping around there. Yes, even at church on a Sunday we can find ways to shop!
Back to the room... Emma and Mabelle went off to see Moulin Rouge (the show this time) and I hung back to chill. The girls had a near mugging experience but Emma was at the ready with her heel, ready to take action if the thugs got any closer. She is a crack up!
We went off to dinner, as late as usual. It was mediocre this time. I guess you CAN find a crappy meal in Paris.
We then chatted until 4 a.m. Had to be up at 7 a.m. the next day... our last full day in Paris.

c'est combien ca? Day 2

Day #2.
Up at 7 a.m. Off to marche dux puce (the flea market). We get there (the book said it opened at 7 a.m.) and the vendors are *barely* setting up. WTFO? We somehow decide to come back at about 11 or so... once things are set up and ready to go. Oh, by the way, it is still rainy and chilly.
We decide to go to the Louvre. It was totally better than what you saw on the "DaVinci Code." I even snuck in some illegal pictures of Mona. She didn't mind. She even thought it was quite mischievous of us! We then shopped some at the stores around the musee, had lunch, and then checked things out from the outside.
We headed back to the flea market. This time we were successful in finding the actual "flea market" part, away from the "swap meet" part. I think the French forgot that they were selling JUNK, because you'd think we were at Bloomingdale's with the prices we saw. Umm... yeah, we'll be heading out to the OB flea market when we get back to the US. We came, we saw, we left.
We headed back to the hotel, but first stopped at the market across the road from our hotel to get some water, Orangina, and snacks. We end up taking a 2 hour power nap. Once we woke, Emma said she felt ill, so we did what good people do... we left her in bed and went to check out the Eiffel Tower sans sunlight.
What a sight! Mabelle and I practically got attacked by two peddlers, trying to sell us some overpriced mini towers... but we survived... even after the "there is no George Bush here!" insult. Woooo... what a burn!
Once we got back to the hotel, Emma still didn't feel like going out, so Mabelle and I went on the hunt for food to bring back. Since we were out so late, 1 a.m. ish... some of the restaurants were already shutting down... so we landed at a Tabacci and got some... drumroll please... baguettes with meat and cheese. Oh, and some pomme frites for Em.
We watched some t.v. and actually went to bed at like 3 a.m. We deicided we would wake up at like 8 or 9 on Sunday... since we learned our lesson today.