Dirndl and Lederhosen

Another pic from Germany and yes that's a dirndl I’m wearing. We go all out, the guys wear lederhosen too. This is Marcus. He's a lot of fun, and he's a great friend to have around when you're going to Oktoberfest. He knew lots of people, and got us into tents without worry; even the fancy tent where celebrities post up and drink beer. Although those weren't much different than the Hofbrauhaus or the Armbrustschutzen tents, other than the people were much cleaner and the tent had nicer hops hanging from the ceiling. It’s such a good time. What they don’t tell you though, that you might expect, is that there are tents set up for the alcoholics, with medics and nurses there to help rehydrate and keep folks that get out of hand (and that’s the majority of everyone) alive. I can literally taste the cold beer, it’s getting that close.

Das Germans

Boyfriend and I went to Germany in 2007 to visit some friends (das germans) and do hoodrat things at Oktoberfest. It was a lot of fun but I did get a little sick on the trip, and it wasn't from the beer! It was definitely good times, and I look forward to going back this year.

p.s. This is me with dark hair, what do you think?

Baby Shower

Sunday was a baby shower at the cutest place ever Hidden Tea Secrets.

We ate scones dipped in lemon glaze and clotted cream, drank teas flavored with creme brulee and berries, and had a delicious veggie quiche for lunch. It was nice to see some friends I hadn't seen in a while, and some I'd never met before. It's a nice group of friends and family and it made for a really sweet day.

I couldn't be happier for her that little O. will be here in just 8 short weeks.

(p.s. This is the painting I made for them, it matches their baby room decor.)

Pooch

This is my favorite pooch. She visits me when her owner takes her for a walk in our little neighborhood. I get so excited when I see her, she is so sweet and loving. She's just a puppy now, so her skin wrinkles up when you pet her. She's the kind of dog that I've always wanted, and our wrinkles match too!

Here fishy fishy

It's Friday, and I'm looking forward to the weekend, we have some quality girl time coming my way, and a baby shower on Sunday for my beloved friend. These are our fish by the way. Closest thing we have to children I guess :P...far too many to name here before you'll be bored, but it's a pretty cool thing to have fish in our dining room. They are so peaceful and low-maintenance. Ideal pet fo' sho. The jungle you see next to the tank is a bamboo tree that we inherited, it's a little big but the fish tank was lonely on the wall by itself.

Hmm...I hope I can find time to head to the beach this weekend, speaking of fish.... :) ciao!

Greedy and Looooooooving Maegan

I've been learning some new tricks from this awesome blog, ....love Maegan. Trust me, you will love her too. For a few weeks now, she has been my little secret. And I have loved her that way. Her style is what mine would be on a bigger budget, but her DIY's help with that too. She's sassy and honest, and everything I strive for in my blog. Don't be surprised to see me trying out her fringe necklace and various gratuitous outfits because I loooooooooove her. I've been wanting to share her with you for a while now, but I couldn't bear to let go of such an awesome find without savoring it for a few weeks on my own first.
I know, I'm a greedy bitch that way.

Wild Hair

I found this awesome blog that I'll maybe probably share with you tomorrow...and got a tip on how to do my hair pretty sweet. Only problem...I didn't do it as sweet as...let's call her Maegan...did, and today I'm going to a luncheon that my CEO will be coming to...whoops!

Fantasy

PHOTO

We went to Fantasy Fest a few years ago and these were one of our costumes....Argghhh!
If you've never been to this debaucherous Key West occasion, and you enjoy nakedness, beer, freaks, and train wrecks, I highly recommend it.

My girl

The story of finding my girl V. is so fun that I thought I would share it with you. I met her in late 2003, and I remember having conversations with her mom prior about how I would just love her daughter - and I do. We are the best of best of friends, and I love this girl like a sister. We started our journey together exactly how I imagine we would, if I'd have known us as friends before hand. We met at one of the branch offices of a company that we both worked for. We couldn't help but crack up laughing at the same things throughout the day, the craziness of that office was just hilarious. Knowing that we were both rocky in our love lives, she burst out with a booze cruise plan that would take us on an adventure of a lifetime. We quickly decided that we had to have a new outfit, and spent an hour at the mall trying on various items before deciding on basically the exact same outfit, each. We met a friend on his boat and took it to all of the great bars along the Intracoastal in Palm Beach. When the CG pulled us over towards the end of the escapade, having a brother that is an Officer really helped us out of what could have been a pretty big pickle. We've been great friends ever since, and there hasn't been a time once that I felt I couldn't count on her friendship.

Father's Day

We had the most amazing dinner on Father's Day with the family. If you haven't been to CHOPS Lobster Bar, wow, I would highly recommend it. It was nice to be able to spend some time with them, especially since my dad and grandpa both live out of state.

Wine

G and I spent Saturday evening in the kitchen. How cute is she in that apron? The boys enjoyed watching a UFC fight that was on, while we made healthy lasagna rolls and salad and garlic bread. We ended up sleeping overnight since we had quite a few glasses of wine. It's fun to do hoodrat things with our friends!

Mommies

Two of my good friends, J&J, are pregnant. I adore these two and can't wait to meet their little girls :) They are both going to be great mommies! We had lunch on Friday, V was there too but she had to run out for a meeting before the pic was snapped.
LOVE YOU GUYS!

Girl Routine

Some days, I'm really sick of being a girl. I mean, the morning routine alone is enough to make me want to crawl back into bed. Granted, it can be fun to get ready at times (fancy dinner, show, night out, etc...) but most mornings, I wish I could just pull my hair back and pick up an outfit that I don't bulge in. Every day seems to be the same routine.

• Wake up, brush teeth, wash face/shower (if not done the night before), moisturize...dig through closet, try on pants/skirt/dress/whatever, take it all off because it doesn't look right or squeezes your icky thighs in the wrong place, do this 3-5 times.
• Fix hair, change hair because it looks crappy, yell at hair because it's not doing what you want, look for appendages to put in hair to cover up wrong curls/2 day hair grease/bad cowlick/etc...
• Quickly apply make-up because now you're running late (stupid poo-poo thighs in those pants, and you should have washed your hair last night, dammit) smudge mascara all over eye, run upstairs for eye make-up remover, take off all mascara. Repeat. Do the same with eye liner, liquid mess all over face, smudge and leave the house with what looks like bruises all over cheeks.
• Throw shoes on. Wrong shoes. Wrong pants, pants too short for those shoes. Change pants again. Wrong shoes again. Put on first pair of shoes. Repeat.

What's your morning routine? Is it anything like mine?

mommy.

Sister and Nieces

(Pic taken at Mom's wedding last year around this same time)

I'm SOOOOOOOOOO excited! My sister and my nieces are coming down in just a couple short weeks. I can't wait to give them the biggest hugs and kisses EVER. Nieces are the most amazing joy, and I am so lucky to have two beautiful, intelligent, and hilarious nieces. It's going to be awesome having them around for a whole month!!

Adopt a Pet

I've been dying for a dog lately, and found this site that is super clever and adorable...just an FYI for today -

Pet adoption and

rescue powered by

Bye Bye Jetta

My lease is up in just a couple of weeks. I can't believe I've had the Jetta for 3 years now. It's going to be weird to give it up. Usually I just wreck a car to get rid of it.
Boyfriend also wants to get a Vespa. A part of me kind of wants him to get one - because I think he will look hilarious/cute/ridiculous on it, however; another part of me is terrified of him driving around on one of those things.
What do you think?

Romantical

I thought it would be funny to post this picture of us.

I put this headband on him.

Pretty sweet, right?

We went out to a Greek restaurant and had appetizers and wine on Monday. It was romantical.

Pasta a'Italia

Sunday was a lazy day (picture not reflective, this is from Friday night), we woke up later than usual and then spent most of the day watching movies. I finally saw "Taken", and it was awesome. I loved it and wished I had a father like that little Kimmy. Lucky betch.
Later in the evening we took a walk over to the wine store and bought a couple of bottles of red. I spent a quick minute in the kitchen to recreate a recipe I'd been craving since San Francisco. A simple pasta dish, mine with a healthy spin. I will share because it's easy and awesome.

A San Francisco Treat - Traditional Pasta a'Italia

Whole Wheat Spaghetti Noodles - Boil aldante.

Sautee garlic and crushed red pepper in more than enough olive oil (use the same pan you boiled the spaghetti in, leave the noodles in the strainer; tip: more than enough olive oil because this is the base of your "sauce")

Brown garlic, then turn heat to low

Add fresh basil and diced tomatoes just before adding the noodles back to the mix.

Stir, and serve with side salad and of course, wine

We enjoyed dinner while watching the premiere of "True Blood". If you haven't seen this yet, go and get Season 1. It's awesome.

LOVE

Time

G and I spent the day on Saturday shopping to graduate her wardrobe to the next "lady" stage. We had the best time hanging out, I really enjoyed every minute of it.

Later, we ended up creating this awesome french bread pizza recipe that everyone raved about.
It was made of homemade marina sauce, mozzarella, fresh basil from our garden, beefsteak tomato slices, a little sea salt and cracked black pepper, and of course garlic to taste. Next time, I will take pictures and post...
Oh, and have you ever tried goat cheese with rosemary? I forget the name of the cheese exactly but let me tell you, it was literally crack! So, look for a goat cheese with rosemary on the outside of it. Trust me.

In the end, the group all skeddaddled around the same time, and our house was nice and clean despite the amount of beer that was consumed and the amount of people that were there. All in all, a nice, successful evening, and a perfect end to a great day.

Our Extended Family

We had a get together on Friday with our extended family, and were able to share in the joy of our friend's excellent news. They are pregnant, and we all couldn't be happier. It's crazy how life changes and big happenings turn our lives around and make us re-think what is most important. I'm super happy for our extended family, and looking forward to meeting the little one in 9 short months. Congratulations!

Marlins Baseball

The Marlins baseball game was AMAZING! Boyfriend and I got tickets from a vendor at the last minute, and ended up getting to sit in the batters box next to the opposing teams dug-out. It was so cool. We sat next to the security guard named Eddie, he knew everyone! It was like a little family in these seats, everyone shouting at each other and bantering. Eddie even got me an official MLB baseball, so sweet!

Mistakes

It's awkward when you do something stupid, with the intent of doing something nice - and then you get in trouble for it. We all make mistakes. Has this ever happened to you?

Dear God, Aging is Pissing Me Off

I don't know about you, but aging is probably the most annoying thing to me. Ever. Ok, maybe aging as a female. Men just get better looking as they get old. Seriously, God? Was "Adam" really that good to you? This is so not fair.
We have WAY too much to do. It's ridiculous. We constantly torture ourselves with masks, plucking, micro blah blah blah, "gentle" exfoliating, super duper wrinkle be gone procedures, and none of these really make that much of a difference on their own.
In fact, I heard it's actually necessary to do all of these things simultaneously, while getting our daily cardio, cooking a healthy dinner, cleaning the house, and taking the heavy side of procreating. Oh, and p.s., we'll get our monthly hormone surge during all of this too.
Thanks God.

Tattoo

Ok, I love tattoos. And lately I've been thinking about getting more. This one is on my right achilles; my sister and my cousins and I all got these cute little hearts the day my aunt cancelled her wedding. It was only irony that we wanted to do something that we would all have the same, and the heart was about the only thing we agreed on. But I'm super happy with it. Isn't it cute? Well, my sister is coming down this summer with my nieces and she wants to get another tattoo with R and K. Do you think we should add on to this? What would go? Hmmmm... your suggestions or comments are appreciated!

Rain

It has done nothing but rain here in South Florida lately, and I'm starting to think it will never stop. The sky may look all nice and friendly right now but come 3PM, it will be pouring - I can almost guarantee it. Good thing I'm planning on staying in and while having Renee do my hair...and if the clouds break, we might go see The Hangover.

Procreate with Friends

After a Saturday spent at L's beautiful baby shower, watching her open cute presents, eating her delicious tastings, and all of the awww's and sooo cute's you can take in for one day, I have decided that I would like to procreate with friends. Not that you can always plan these things, but if given the opportunity, I sure would like to!

My friends J&J&L are all preggers right now, and it is absolutely breathtaking and heartwarming to be around these grateful mommies and their cute smiles and their funny stories about experiences I don't know how to relate to. But that's just it, I don't know how to relate. And all of these things, albeit beautiful and magical...are overwhelming, terrifying, and real, people. Thank goodness they have eachother. Because no matter how many times your mom or your sister did it, it wasn't now. For example, while shaving your ahem may have been overlooked in the 80's, I would like to know what I need to do now, in 2009, in order to keep these areas maintained, even though I can't see past my gigantic child-bearing tummy.

So, when boyfriend and I are ready to take the plunge, I hope it is alongside some of my most trusted girlfriends. Hey, just because I look really cute with a baby, doesn't mean I know what the hell I'm doing yet.

Photo credit: Baby Gia H.

Up to No Good

The ladies and I were up to no good on Friday night. We had wine, champagne, sangria, pedicures and an array of "girlie-tupperware" to purchase.

Love to my friends

I love my friends. Last night was great, we had the best time at the No Doubt show and I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's party. Girl time and pedicures here we come! :oP

The Sounds of No Doubt in the Rain

J, J, L & I made our way up to West Palm Beach to see No Doubt on Wednesday night. There, we met up with my cousins. Unfortunately I was unaware that one of my favorite bands, The Sounds, was the an opening act for Gwen Stefani and Paramoure, and we pulled in as their last set played. I was bummed, but we had a great time nonetheless. I loved how Gwen kept referencing "the people out on the grass" and "squishy squishy people" because we were faced with what every Floridian in the summer deals with, mucho, mucho, rain.
It has been raining here non-stop since I left and went to San Francisco...I'm talking weeks people. Here's hoping the sun will come out for all of us soon, and I'll get to see The Sounds play next time they're in town.

6 Months Later

Ok, so here we are 6 months after I moved into my new all-by-myself apartment, and I'm preparing to leave it. Boyfriend and I have made the decision to live together again, and I'm excited about what the future has in store for us.

Jury Duty

I wonder why I wasn't selected for jury duty today? Was it because I was trying to see through the eyes of the 200+ lb, 6'5" man standing before the other 40 jurors and myself with 9 charges brought against him? Or, maybe it was the look on my face when we were read the crimes aloud; battery, forced burglary, deadly weapon, shooting at an unarmed group of women, on and on with these violent crimes. It was one of the scariest experiences of my life staring through the eyes of this potentially dangerous man, and yet I can't wait to have the chance to do it all over again.
In retrospect, I probably wasn't selected because of my role working for the corporate office of a company that owns and operates prisons throughout the world (we each had to state our profession aloud to the group). However; I can't help but think that those shifty characters on the defendant's team were watching the expressions and behaviorisms of the people that would be dictating the next 10-20 years of this guy's life.
I would love to know what an attorney's point of view is on this.