Award-Winning Blogger Here!

In the same week I hit 20 followers and got my first AWARD! Best.Week.Ever!!! Mrs. Bear over at Think Happy Thoughts awarded me and 6 other lovely ladies this blog award, which means I get to share 7 facts with all of you! It's definitely your lucky day!

1. I have very vivid dreams. Often part of our morning routine is for me to tell JB what I dreamed about the night before and sometimes this takes a while. I think it actually runs in my family because my mom and my brother are the same way.

2. I have an irrational fear of low flying aircraft and large objects. By large I mean skyscrapers, cruise ships, aircraft carriers, big rigs, etc. Oh, and pretty much anything military/war related. I think I was a soldier in my past life or something. I dunno.

3. I have always felt inadequate when it comes to doing my hair and makeup. Good thing I have a BFF who is a hair/makeup artist.

4. I danced for 12 years. Tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop, lyrical, etc. I did two years of cheer and two years of dance team in high school. I.Miss.Performing. I miss it so much. I want to start dancing again, but can't afford the studio I want to go to. :(

5. I am really good with pop culture, but terrible with current events. It's definitely something I always feel like I want to change, but then I lack the interest to educate myself on it all. And so...here we are.

6. I hate missing out on things. Anything really. I used to have a schedule that was jam packed because I had to fit everything in. I finally realized that I was just stressing myself out and I needed to take more time for myself. It's still a work in progress, but JB is really good at reminding me about it.

7. I'm writing a story. I am only a couple of pages into it, but plan to finish it one day. It's non-fictional, so I don't have to worry about where the storyline will go. It will kind of just write itself if I can get myself to sit down long enough to write. I always get sidetracked by facebook and blogs though.

So, there's my seven facts. Now I get to pick 7 other fabulous people to receive their award! In no particular order we have:

Mrs. Awesome
Pink Sass
Young & Fabulous
Ashley at Oh Me!
West Sac Honey
Brown Girl
Kristin at Busy Bee

Thank you so much for reading!

Sunday Stroll

Today I went to hang out with Nugget and her mom for a bit. The weather was amazing so we decided to go for a walk through a lovely neighborhood filled with houses like this one:




This 'hood had some of the biggest lots I have seen in a long time and some of the houses had tennis courts in their backyards. Ridiculous.

In one of the courts there was a pathway down to the river.







Nugget fell asleep on the way there.




But woke up when her mommy started feeding the ducks.










The walk home was long, and mostly uphill, but I got a good workout pushing the stroller. We had some lunch and played a little before I headed home.










I can't believe she is already 9 months old! She is getting so big and just started crawling recently. What a wonderful way to spend a beautiful Sunday!

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Happy Birthday Daddy!

Yes, I will always call him daddy. Hope you had a wonderful day today! I love you!




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V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

Without spilling too many details since this post it work related, let's just say that the job as an HR Manager is not always so glamorous. In times of a down economy, it can be draining and sometimes really depressing. It sucks to know that when you walk into an office, people are afraid that you are there to "drop the axe" and they may be next.

I have had to visit one of our offices for the past couple of weeks on a Friday to do just that. Today, I changed the game. I finally had enough notice that something was going to happen, and other events occured with optimal timing, to be able to save someone from being laid off. It took several meetings with several different people between yesterday and today, but I was able to walk in with better news today than the past two Fridays.

Today was one of those days that I felt like my job lined up with the reason I went into this field initially. Today was a victory.

Honeymoon = BOOKED!

I can't believe it, it's finally booked! We have been struggling to find decent flight prices and itineraries for months and as of last night, we are officially going to Europe!

Our initial plan was to fly to Germany a week and a half after the wedding and stay for a week or so to attend our friend's wedding in Hamburg. The day after their wedding we planned to fly to Rome and spend the remainder of our honeymoon there.

We started our search around November when our friends had mentioned that they purchased theirs. They were around $1300/person then to fly from SFO to Dusseldorf and everyone kept telling me we could probably do better and to wait for the beginning of the year. I signed up for a few alerts for the itinerary we were planning and waited. Every time I got an alert email, the prices were going up instead of down and I kept getting more and more stressed out. Finally JB and I made February 20th our drop dead date of purchase no matter what the prices were because according to the trends, we couldn't afford to wait much longer.

In the meantime, I contacted my aunt to help us find a hotel room for our stay in Rome. I thought it might be nice to fly into Germany and then home from Rome, but a one way ticket from Rome to SFO was like $1700 back in November and that didn't seem very promising. With that in mind, we had this initial plan:

Jul 7 - San Fran to Dusseldorf (please note this requires is a 3 hour drive to Hamburg)

Jul 17 - Dusseldorf to Rome

Jul 21 - Rome to Dusseldorf

Jul 22 - Dusseldorf to San Fran

We had learned that the European domestic flights were quite inexpensive, but then also learned that there is usually only one flight in and out each day, so there's that. It was all very overwhelming and frustrating, especially not knowing anything about the geography and different available modes of transportation. We finally decided that it might be a better plan to just fly round trip from SF to Rome and then have the domestic flight be from Rome to Germany. Yesterday I thought to text one of our friends that will also be going to Germany, and has been before, and run my plan by her. It just so happened that her husband is off work this week and made it into a little project for himself to find us the best itinerary for the best deal.

We went over there last night so he could review his findings and we found one that worked out great and was all together (our international + european domestic flights) less expensive than just the round trip flight to Germany would have been for us! So now, this is the plan:

Jul 7 - San Fran to Rome (arrive the morning of the 8th at 9:40am)

Jul 8 - Rome to Hamburg (That's right, we're flying right into Hamburg!)

Jul 17 - Hamburg to Rome

July 22 - Rome to San Fran

On the way there we have a layover in Houston and one in Montreal, but both are relatively short and the flights between them are about 3.5 hours. Then the long leg to Rome is overnight so we can sleep. We also have a short layover from Rome to Hamburg, but will be in Hamburg by 4pm. We have the same layovers on the way back and will get to SF at 10:30pm. The only thing we weren't able to avoid is leaving SF at 6am the first day, but we'll survive.

You have no idea how happy I am to check this off of my to-do list. This has been stressing me out way more than anything related to the wedding. A huge thank you to our friends (who also gave us our wedding gift early!) and my aunt who helped us get our accomodations figured out. I can't explain what it means. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful people in our lives.

CELEBRATION!!

Oh-Em-Geeeeeeee, I have 20 followers!

I feel like I should have a party or a give away or something (even though I have no idea how to go about having a give away). Some of the blogs I read have like 500-600 or more followers and I have no idea how that even happens or how long it takes for something like that to happen, but I am just super excited about 20.

They like me! They really like me!

I wish you could all see how hard I am laughing as I type this. Yes, I am excited about this. Yes, I know that makes me really lame, which is why I am making fun of myself for being so excited.

Made my Tuesday. Thanks for reading about my silly life!

Let the Nightmares Begin!

I have had different dreams about my wedding here and there over time. Sometimes the ring is hideous or the dress is all wrong, or there isn't enough time to get everything done and I have to walk down the aisle half done up, but I would have to say that last night was my first actual wedding nightmare.

Our wedding is going to be local, but we are going to Germany/Italy a week and a half later for our friend's wedding/our honeymoon. Last night in my "dream" we were actually getting married in Germany. None of the dream took place at the wedding, it all had to do with getting there.

The dream started mid-scene as they usually do. JB and I were on a train or something with one of our friends that is going to Germany with us as well. First, he insulted her husband right before we arrived in Germany. Her husband wasn't there, but he made a very rude comment about him right in front of her and pissed her off. Then, when the train stopped, he just picked up half of his stuff and stormed off the train. I was left there with the other half of his stuff and mine, and a pissy wife-friend. For some reason I recall that JB and I did not start this trip together. We both came from work or something. As we get to the check-in counter, I realize I don't have my passport. And then I realize I don't have the Rick Steve's guide to Rome...or my wedding dress...

I start to panic. I can't even get into the country where I am supposed to have my wedding, and I sure as hell can't get home. I remember that my parents will be meeting us in Germany and that my mom can probably bring my dress and the guide book, but I still have no passport. I catch up to JB and find out that he has both of our passports (in real life I had him put them both in the same easily accessible and easy to remember place and this came into play in the dream). He saw mine in the drawer when he went to grab his and grabbed both of them. Yay!

A lot of other little things came into play in this dream that stressed me out. No one spoke english, we were waiting around for other people to arrive, we had no Euros and couldn't figure out how to get where we were going. There were different buildings to check into the country and then to pick up our luggage and the staircases were steep and unsteady and I had to get down from this ledge with all of my stuff and it was too high for me to jump and I was just paralyzed with fear. There was also a point later in the dream where we were trying to go on this bike tour and one of my tires was flat and I could not catch up to the rest of the group for the life of me.

All of it was really stressful and I woke up in a panic. Actually as I laid my head back down to go to sleep I remember thinking, I should just blog about this now. LOL!

All of my former and current brides-to-be, was/is this happening to you? What kind of craziness were/are you dreaming about?

Intuition

Sometimes I creep myself out. I have dreams that tend to foretell events that happen in my life. I have inklings that turn out to be true. I can read a vague status on facebook and know exactly what the person is talking about before confirming it with them. It's really creepy.

For example...

The Sunday before last I had a dream that I was with my bro and SIL and the baby was moving around a bunch and I was talking to her tummy. Five minutes later, in the dream, I looked over and she was having the baby. So when I woke up, I had a feeling the baby was coming soon. Not even a week later, cupcake was here (two weeks early). On top of that, early Saturday morning I woke up for no apparent reason at 3:30am. I didn't have to go to the bathroom or have a bad dream or anything. I was just suddenly awake. As I was lying there trying to go back to sleep, the phone rang. My SIL's water broke at 3:30.

I told you, creepy.

The last few people I have known to become pregnant recently, I knew before they told me. I just had this feeling. So I probably burst their bubble when they are like, "Guess what?" and I say, "You're pregnant." as a statement rather than a question. I also had a strong feeling they were going to have girls, and so far, I have been right.

Maybe I'm a fetus whisperer or something. LOL!

This morning I read a friend's FB status that simply said, "...is excited for this much needed change." That could mean anything given what I know about this person. A new job, going back to school, buying a house. For some reason, I knew it meant she cut her hair. So, when I texted her and asked her to explain her vague status and she told me she chopped her hair off, I was not surprised.

Does anything like this ever happen to you?

Here She Is!

Madeline Esther finally graced us with her presence at 10:25pm on February 12th, 2011. 7lbs 1oz and 19.5 inches of adorable!!!

They used my grandma's first name as her middle name since they now share a birthday.

SIL did the whole thing drug free and I am so proud of her!! What an amazing feat! I can't wait until they get her home and I can have some bonding time with my new niece!!

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The Waiting Game

Got the phone call at 3:45 this AM that my SIL's water broke. They initially said that the baby might be here around noon, so I notified the people on the list I was given and tried to go back to sleep. We got to the hospital around 11am and have been waiting ever since.




She's getting there, slowly but surely.

My SIL isn't doing an epidural so she is really loving life right now. Hopefully cupcake will be here in the next few hours.

Stay tuned...

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Jersey Shore

Don't roll your eyes at me, it was only a matter of time. I'm actually surprised it took this long for a Jersey Shore post.

JB and I love this show. Between Vampire Diaries, The Office, Community, Outsourced, and this, it's like Christmas comes every Thursday. The first season we all focused on how much of a douchebag The Situation was, but by the time Miami came around, these Macaroni Rascals had really grown on us.

We got to see through the crazy eyes and helmet hair on Pauly D and see that he's fucking hilarious! Vinny started to really come out of his shell. Mike showed more than just his flare for all things douchey. Sam-Ron stopped being polite and started getting real. Snooks became more endearing and less (but only a little) retarded. Jenni stayed real and Angelina shouldn't even be mentioned.

And now, we are back at the Jersey Shore. And all is psychotic in love and war...

Is anyone else yelling at the TV when they show these exchanges between Ronnie and Sam? Does anyone else wonder what they are thinking when they watch this back and listen to the words that are said or see the edited sequence of events? I mean, does this really happen in the order they show it in, because it seems a little reduntant to me.

S: I hate you for what you did to me in Miami (as you should)

R: You're never going to let me live that down (and why should she? Of course, I wouldn't be back together with you in the first place, but those are just my standards, who's to say they are right?)

S: You don't deserve me (yet you are still here, still crying, and still taking his bullshit)

R: You're nothing without me (um, I'm sorry, who are you?)

S: I'm done! (yeah, okay. Heard that one before. Remember that one episode in Miami where she said it like 15 times and then he was in her bed that night? That will teach him!)

R: You're a dirtbag! (Okay Ronnie, then why are you going to spend the rest of the night crying in the bathroom or on the porch?)

S: I'm leaving (hell to the yes!)

R: Wait, let me talk to you as your friend. (I'm sorry, my friend that just trashed everything I have here and tried to throw my bed out on the balcony with me still on it? BFF!)

S: I'm leaving! (you go girl!)

R: Fine! Bye! (But when you really pack your suitcase and call a cab I am going to tell you not to go and hug you and cry when I just trashed all of your shit and told you to go to hell)

Sammie FTW!! I was so happy when she actually got in that cab and drove away. I don't feel like anyone else is getting enough air time this season and these are not the people I want to focus my attention on. These people are already a terrible enough example of how to be a human being, we don't need them showing young men and women how to put up with someone treating you like shit because you "love" them and they "love" you.

Love = Respect

Buh-lee Dat!

Sick Days

Out of nowhere I got blindsided with a virus. I have held out through the last few times JB got really sick, but somehow this one managed to take hold. It seriously came out of nowhere. I felt fine the day of the super bowl and the next morning when I woke up, but I felt myself deteriorating on the drive to work and ended up heading home at lunch time. JB was down and out on Sunday and was already home sick for the day when I got home. We were both home sick yesterday, although he was on his way back up and I was just getting started in my hole of miserableness. Today he went back to work and I stayed home suffering alone. I took my first shower in over 48 hours and it sucked the life out of me, so I basically laid on the couch for the rest of the day. I think I am finally coming out of it though and should be returning to work tomorrow.

PRAISE THE LORD!!!

The last thing I want to do is waste all of my honeymoon time on being sick. I need it for my tour of Europe, duh. Also, it's almost NBA All Star weekend, which also happens to be the weekend before Valentine's Day. I am hoping that we will be joining our friends at our favorite local winery for their wine and chocolate event.

What do you have planned for Valentine's Day?

It's the little things...

The last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy in preparation for kicking off our Nor Cal Mentoring Program at work. The kickoff lunch was on Tuesday and this morning I found this on my chair




Made me smile so I thought I would share.

Happy day before Friday!!!

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Top Seller?

I think not.

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DC Trip

So, I had this blog over halfway written and then I didn't save it on my phone and I accidentally closed the app. Yeah, pissed. So, what was going to be a funny and interesting blog about my trip to DC with DC and Tiff, is now just going to be a bunch of pics and captions. All of the pics are terrible iPhone 3GS quality and most of them are of food because all we did was eat and walk around and freeze our asses off and read plaques at museums.

(It snowed the first morning we were there but didn't stick around for long)

(This is a mac 'n' cheese lollypop from Chef Geoff's)

(Pasta dinner at Chef Geoff's that I split with GF)

(my pal Abe)

(Julia Childs' kitchen)

(Overhead shot of the air and space museum - stresses me out!)

(another creepy air craft)

(shepherd's pie at Elephant & Castle)

Don't get me wrong, I had a great time. I am just really mad at myself for doing that to my blog. It was great to see the nation's capitol and the holocaust museum and the Smithsonian museums. I definitely needed way more time there, which is good because eventually JB and I will go back to Virginia to visit some of his family and we can spend some time there since he has never been. DC and Tiff were great travel buddies and other than the freezing cold, crappy service at every single restaurant and 10% tax on everything, it was an awesone trip!

I still have a bunch of pics on my real camera that I need to upload, so maybe I will add those later.

Wedding Update!

With 5 months to go I have checked a few more things off my list of wedding to-dos.

• Booked DJ for ceremony/reception music
• Booked florist
• Engagement session done (check out some pics here)
• Menswear purchased
• Centerpieces picked up (Thanks Mr & Mrs Awesome!)
• Super close to having invitations/placecards finalized
• Guestbook is here and I love it!
• Cake Topper by Bling Diva Designs is here and ahhhhmazing!
• Cake design selected
• Bachelor/Bachelorette parties planned
• Rome hotel BOOKED!

I guess I promised you a save the date scan and that has not happened yet, so I will really try to remember to do that when I get home :)

I have some ideas for gifts for the wedding party. I need to help my mom find a dress and maybe JB's mom too. We also need to get our dads some suits. I feel like I have accomplished so much, but I feel like there is still much more to do.

I picture the day in my mind often. I try not to get too set on how things will go that day because I don't want to have some crazy expectations that will be shattered (this, my friends, is my biggest fear). All I know is that I am very excited to marry JB, celebrate with our friends and family, and to explore Germany/Rome with him and some of our friends. I feel like 5 months is a long time, but at the same time, I feel like I am already running out of time before the big day.

Any words of advice, wisdom, or tips for the rest of my planning? I'm looking specifically for things I may not have thought of yet, so anything you can offer would be much appreciated!

Attention Blogger Buddies!!!

HELP!!!

I need a better forum to create my blogs in. I dread writing any blogs that include more than one pic because it's such a cluster to format in blogger. Also, WTF is up with this stupid little box they give me to write in? Like any blog is going to be that short? Well, except for maybe this one.

Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them. Also, and this may be presumptuous of me, but if you have me in your RSS Feed, can you follow me too? I just want to know how many people out there are really reading this thing.

Thanks much and blissful blogging!

Cupcake Shower!!

In case you haven't noticed, I need something to call babies when they are still incubating. Makes it more personal for me. What better nickname for a baby housed by my SIL who loves to bake cupcakes than CUPCAKE?! People have buns in their oven, but she has a little cupcake in there.

I know this is long overdue, but here are the pics and a brief wrap up from the baby shower my mom and I threw for my SIL and her local friends. Her mom and sisters threw her another shower in her hometown in the Bay Area. Needless to say, we went with a cupcake theme, which apparently is only being done for 1st birthday parties and beyond, not baby showers. We still made it happen though. Don't doubt me.

(party favors doubled as centerpieces)

(So many gifts!)

(she and my bro work for the PD)

(grubbin')

(cupcake martini glass that we made her drink punch out of)

(cupcake piggy bank from GG)

(friends and family)

(yummy cupcakes from icing on the cupcake)

(Close up of the cupcake favors. Found them here and then my mom put them together.)

(mom, me, aunt)

(my fave outfit!)

(GG, GG, aunt)

It was a very successful shower. We played a couple of games (matching baby to mama animals and gift bingo) and gave away cupcake related prizes, ate yummy appetizers, and cooed over cute baby stuff. My mom put in a lot of work for the shower and I think we made a pretty great team. Also have to shout out to my best coworkers for designing the games and helping me print them out. They turned out so cute!

Cupcake will be here within the month and I am so excited to meet her and be an Aunt!