Joined the bandwagon (AKA will you be my friend?)

Well when I was in NY with my friends I got some slack for not being on any social networking site. So after hearing all about it I joined one....facebook.

It has been a fun looking for people. I found one of my friends from when I used to live and work in the UK. Then I was pushing (ok nagged) the BF who was already on to be my friend and then classify me as his "relationship with person". I have found people from jobs and from school and then I found the ex (hence the regression to the BNL songs). Finding him brought back a flood of memories. No we are SO not friends nor do I intend to be.

I have been cautious to not put too much info as to prevent stalkers like me. But some things are there for my friends to find me. (An ironic statement at its finest!)

So while I am into this site for now and until I get bored with it.

If you want to be my friend, I am on face book

Too sleepy

I am bleary eyed, wanting to sleep at my desk tired.

I am so sleepy that I can't even look at the computer straight and posted a weird comment on another blog. I need a nap!

Here is the best part, I have a presentation to give in a half an hour. Oh joy....let's hope the caffeine will work.

Rebuild

This was another song during that time.

But it was more for me to help me rebuild.

When you were born, they looked at you and said....

I came across this song again recently.

It got me through a rough break up a few years ago. Time changes perspectives but, this is still an awesome song

Pinwheels...

The BF has been very busy and stressed out at work.

Yesterday while working from home he accidentally spilled coffee on the laptop and broke a dish. He worked for about 9 hours and was tired.

I heated up leftovers and he spent time killing things on his Xbox. I went to the couch to watch some programs I DVR'ed and picked up a random cook book and began to look through it. This was a cookbook I got for $5 at the discount area a few years ago and all the recipes contain 3-4 ingredients.

So I began to look through it and found something that I could make for the BF. I tried it last night for dessert and oh my God it was so yummy and easy. So I am going to share it.

Cinnamon Pinwheels:
1 sheet of thawed puff pastry
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup of sugar (I also used some vanilla sugar that I had)
2 tablespoons of cinnamon

-Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
-On a floured surface roll out the puff pastry, not to thin
-mix the sugar and the cinnamon together
-with a brush, brush the pastry with the egg
-sprinkle 3/4 of the sugar mixture on the pastry
-Roll the pastry (not too tight) and brush the egg wash on it
-Sprinkle some of the sugar mixture on it
-cut into pinwheels
-Bake on a baking sheet with parchment (or a Silpat) for 10 minutes

When they are warm sprinkle the rest of the sugar mixture.

Warm they taste like cinnamon rolls. Cool they tasted more like a pastry for coffee or tea. I should know I ate about half of them!

I am already planning on buying more puff pastry this week. Plus, I am thinking of making them savory with ham and hard cheddar, spinach and perhaps Gruyère or feta.

Yum!

And now she is back....

I am back from my happy fun reunion weekend. It was good to see some people that I have not seen in years! It is interesting to see what people are doing and how things have changed. There was an air of familiar but changed surroundings. But all things change or so I suppose.

It was also great to be in the upstate region of NY. I forgot how beautiful it is to have mountains and hills. But at least I have the lake.

Of course the drama was with the actual getting to and fro. O'Hare was having serious issues (as always) my flight going was delayed about an hour and half and my flight coming back home was delayed by at least 3 hours. Plus they stop selling food at the airport that I was stuck in at 6 PM. I felt bad for the crowds (yep there were crowds) at O'Hare when I landed at around 10 pm, the gates were flooded with people and every food and Hudson news was open. However, as my plane landed in a thunderstorm, I suspect that many of the passengers were going to be stranded.

O'Hare sucks, it is the hands down worst airport ever!

The BF managed the house hold without me. He is awesome because while I was gone he:
-got my car detailed
-filled the gas tank
-took the dog to the groomer (she is sooo soft)
-unpacked boxes and bins
-put said bins in the storage room

All while the AC was out. Thankfully, we still had the AC and he was able to sleep one night. The HVAC guy came on Sunday and fixed the problem.

Yesterday, I was home catching up on the news, email, blogs oh and got a pair of tickets...for these guys. Well the BF did actually on my behalf.

He's got the right stuff and kept reminding me.

Only a Decade

Tomorrow I am heading to the wonderful area of Upstate New York for my 10 (gulp) year college reunion.

I will be heading to Swigmore U (no that is not the real name) to see my friends and I am beyond excited. Some of my friends who came for another milestone will be there which means that I have not seen some of them for over a year and a half. Some of my other friends who will be there I haven't seen in about 5 years!

I am excited to go back to the place that I called home for 4 years. I met my closest and dearest friends there. In fact, I do not keep in touch with friends from high school or earlier but talk to my friends from college often.

College itself was not full of wine and roses it was tough. Classes were challenging, there was always some sort of drama, there were roommate issues, there were boy issues, there were lifestyle issues, there were late night discussions, plenty of interesting drinks made! There was the finals which had us up late and punchy due to amounts of chocolate and soda or coffee consumed. There were tons of slices of pizza and wing consumed, the utter dismay of the cafeteria selections, the fire drills at 3:20 am (a special shout out to the drunk pudgy freshman to who decided in his infinite wisdom to see if the sprinkler system pipes could hold him...it did not)
There was the semester abroad in London. There was the graduation where we just were amazed we made it and were scared shitless as what to do next.

Here we are 10 years later Some are single, some in relationships, some are married, some are divorced, a few went to grad school. There have been ups and downs tears and laughter. There have been a lot of job changes and promotions. We all lost one of our dear college friends in 2000 at the age of 24 due to cancer, we cried a lot over that loss and had each other to comfort. We've moved all over the country.

But this weekend some of us are heading back to where we really grew up and were some of the foundations as to who we are were solidified. But the best part is seeing my friends!

Two...

Such a magical number.

Happy second to my special someone. We' ve had the ups and downs but we have had each other.

The Menagerie

We have added 10 new additions to the casa. Gold fish for our "pond".

Last week, it a fit of gardening we purchased some water lilies to see if we can make them grow. We got a plastic vase like bucket and dropped them in the water. They are starting to sprout and the BF was afraid of mosquitoes (especially since a mosquito with West Nile was found in a west suburb were his sister and her fam live). So to combat the bugs the BF decided we should get fishes.

So yesterday we introduced 10 of them and they seem to be okay so far. No floaters!

Although I am not allowed to name them to quote the BF "I am not going to listen to you cry because "Harry" or whatever you would name the fish died. I would not even know which one he is anyway."

Got to love him!

more Sex

OK I saw it with my friend and it was awesome.  We had such a blast!

What did you all think?

And bloggers when are we going to get together and have a cosmo?

Are you ready for some Sex?

That is right it is Sex and the City weekend! I already have tickets with my friend for tomorrow. Then we are going to find a Cosmo and toast the girls.

According to my friends, I am a Charlotte with a streak of Carrie. Which one are you?

Klutz!

I have been developing this very nasty habit of falling and scrapping my left knee.

A few weeks ago I slipped and fell in mud no less and last night the BF and I broke a chair when I was hugging him. He feel backwards ( and is bruse free). I fell and landed on the same knee and re-opening the same wound.

Gravity does not like me!

Getting my hands dirty

Our neighbor set up a lovely window box the other day that the BF and I have been wanting to do.

We've been growing basil, lavender and thyme in our sunroom but decided to grow a herb garden with some flowers.  So we have inpatients, cilantro, rosemarie and marigolds.  I was quite please to start to grow a garden.

The BF also rearranged our office and I started on some boxes.  It has been a very mellow weekend.

On Friday we made our contribution to the Indiana Jones franchise and wandered around Evanston.  

The cat has developed a nasty habit, he has now decided that 4 am is prime time to be up and annoy the parents.  So he has discovered that knocking down what every mom has on her nightstand is sure to get a reaction.  Just like clawing at the closet.  The water bottle has been strategically hidden and he sure gets upset when he gets sprayed.  Just as we get upset when we can't fall back asleep at 4 am!

It was a much needed and lovely weekend with plenty of extra hours to catch up on the much abridged sleep.  

Spices and herbs oh my (and a note to the cat)

This weekend was one that we so needed. The BF and I did nothing related to shopping for major purposes. Instead we hosted an appetizer party! Saturday after getting our breakfast at the newly discovered-down-the-street-local-coffee house we went to get groceries and then went home. We cleaned, unpacked, cooked, watched TV and then hung out with my friend PK and his wife. It was so much fun to catch up with them and it was nice to have people come to our place and love it as much as we do. We are not fully unpacked and the office is a mess but our living room looks great and when our kitchen is clean it looks beautiful!

The BF remarked how we should have people over more often because it forces us to clean and get organized. He is so right. His friends stopped by last night to peek at the condo and in 5 minutes from the "we are parking the car now" call we made the bed, picked a few things and had a moment to breath before the buzzer rang.

I also had a "date" on Sunday with the BF. He remarked recent that we don't go out on dates anymore. He is right, we got out to eat to actually eat but we haven't had a date in a while. So we went to a cooking class that was focused on your taste and how flavor can change. So we tasted salts like kosher salt, sea salt, iodized salt, we tried a range of vinegars and oils. We tasted fresh herbs and reconfirmed my dislike of Rosemary. I learned so much and we had such a great time. Of course afterwards we were itching to cook and add spices to our house so off we went to The Spice House. We bought nutmeg, vanilla sugar, grand Marsala, saffron among a few others. Yum! Then we wandered around Evanston and headed home where the BF made and grilled ribs while I fell asleep on the sofa!

Oh that reminds me....memo to the cat....the leather sofa is not for jumping, climbing, pawing , clawing or sitting. You have two cat beds, you have our bed , you have the window ledge all of which make perfect perching opportunities. I am going to have a freak out if there are more claw holes. This is the reason why I hesitated getting the leather couch....we have not even finished paying for it. So get off of it now!

I heart My GPS

I made it to and fro from the Garden State.  My Garmin got me to the office, the hotel and the airport with no problems.  Plus it helped me avoid some tolls.  Garmin rocks!

I saw my parents while there and it was good to see them.  The last time that I saw them was at the funeral a few months ago.  My mom just got back from visiting her family in South America and was brimming with tokens and gifts.  The best one was a pair of custom made shoes.  I sent my aunt this picture and when my mom was there they went to the shoe guy.  He is a cobbler who makes custom made shoes and took the photo and made a pair for my feet.  They fit and look awesome.  Plus as not he has my mold he can make me any shoes that I want.  It cost about $35 and are just beautifully made.

My parents took me out to eat and it was nice catching up.  I was really missing them but did not realize it.

Tomorrow starts my work from home one day a week.  It will rock!

List o errands

Saturday is errand day and we only had three places to go.  The first being Best Buy, the second Target and the last to the grocery store.  Well 1 out of three ain't bad...

We wanted to get a flat screen tv, I was told by the BF that it was a necessary.  So I agreed with conditions, it had to be from Best Buy as I have the credit card and we can make monthly payments, it had to be under our budget and it had to be a good name brand one.  He wanted a 46' one so as long as they met the parameters I was fine with it.

So after weeks of searching and waiting, we saw one on sale that met all the conditons.  So off we go to the first one.  They did not have it in stock but they recommened antoher store that did.  So off we went to store number two.  Nope they did not have that one.  So we went to lunch and the BF used the Jesus phone to locate a store that did have one...45 miles away.  So off we went and we got it.  We got the last one, apparently it was on sale and they have been flying off the shelves.  

So then we had to fit the box in the car, they only had tape, so we taped it and went in search of rope.  We ended up in the store that shall not be named because I don't like it and got rope.  The the sky turned grey and I had to go back to the store that shall not be named to get tarp.  So the car was packed and we headed back to Chicago with our new TV and not paying the lovely Cook County 10% sales tax.  So we only hit Best Buy....it was an all day process.

Diana and I had class last night.  It was all about tapas and it was delicious.  They made this amazing salad with jicama, avocado, grapefruit, cherry tomatoes, oil and lime.  It is as easy as that.  It was so good.  I learned to make bacon wrapped dates, sangria (I knew how to do that one but each recipe is different) and tortilla espanola.

These classes so make me want to cook.  I am so inspired that I know I will make them.  Plus with the summer there are the farmer markets and fresh fruits and veggies.  Yum.

Vanity Fair

Tomorrow I have a doctors appointment to get my "lady bits" (as per the BF) checked out. Don't worry the post is not about the lovely time that one can have in stir-ups it is about my doctor's side treatments. In addition to being an obgyn, she provides esthetic services. Her philosophy is to treat the whole woman. So in addition to getting a PAP, you can get a chemical peels, laser hair removal etc. Lately, I have been seeing her on commercials promoting her treatments.,

So it got me thinking about the things that women do. I am all for laser hair treatment and well, time seems to be marching on across my face. I've started to notice them....lines....winkles. In fact, I am getting glabeller lines (lines between the eyes), lines on my forehead and one near my nose, and skin discolorations. It is amazing how a 10x mirror can make one feel like a monster abet one with lip gloss.

Ack, what to do. However, due to lovely moving costs I can't afford the treatments even if I wanted to. But then I was thinking "No, I will be okay. I can take some of the tax rebate and go get a facial. I can budget for that, it is a possibility. That may work, all will be well in the world. I mean nobody can see you as close as a 10x mirror so you can hide imperfections. Make up is a good thing, concealer is my friend." Right?

But I have a wish list of things I would like to get done if there was more pennies in the coffer:
-teeth whitening
-monthly facials
-monthly massages
-regular eyebrow waxing
-laser hair treatment

Maybe one day I can get some of the things on my list.

But down the line, will I be that vane to even consider doing anything drastic? Growing old gracefully is sometimes not as easy nor pretty as it sounds.

Which way is up

I have a confession...

I am directionally challenged. That is right, it takes me a second to think which way is left and which way is right. I am bad at giving directions, I tend to point to places where to turn or at landmarks, which is not always good for the driver. I am the one who gives directions,

"Make a left by the taco place called El Famoso but if you get to El Bandito you are too far north"

Or

"The road makes a weird twist thing, keep going straight

I am getting better but still I am the last person to ask for directions by car.

So after my last fiasco of driving in NJ I got me a GPS which will be coming with me to NJ. Now NJ is not that bad, I mean it produced Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi but the roads are confusing with weird twists and turns. I have to be there next week and already I am pondering how not to get lost for hours (again).

In other news, I got my new phone in Maroon it is a LG EnV2, it is my new toy!

Rat race

When it rains it pours.  My social life that is.

We have been very busy with the whole buying a condo, packing, moving and unpacking that every week for the past month seems jammed packed.  This weekend was one where we did very little other than home things.  

The BF installed my new closet on Saturday and yesterday he set up the grill and we did some more unpacking.  We have 95% of the office done but still have a few dozen more boxes of things for the living room and bedroom.  It never seems to end.

I had to get Bogart looked at today, I received two recall notices so off to Honda!  Tomorrow is tentative dinner with my former manager, Wednesday is tentative dinner with JT but he is flaky and Friday Diana and I are going to take a tapas class.

Next week I have to head to the Garden State for work...no rest for the weary!

Lift off

I got to launch one of my projects this week and start to work on another.

I love my new job, it is interesting and I am in the know.  My boss is awesome and lets me do my thing and supports my ideas.

My previous boss is also cool (she always was) but we are on different levels now so we are both able to help in different ways than before/

I get to tell sales what to do and when they complain, their VP hands their asses on a silver plate to me.   Yea, I make them suffer by asking them to do their damn job! 

Plus I may get to work from home a day or two a week which will save some of my damn hard earned money in gas.