Aloooha!

Today is my last day at work before our big vacation starts bright and early Sunday morning. The reason for this trip is two-fold:

1. My husband has been working like a madman since Februrary and he is due for a bit of a break so that he doesn't start to look like this:

2. The second reason is to celebrate this:
We'll be celebrating our 2 year anniversary in a little over a week, which is crazy to me because it feels like we've been together forever (in a good way though)!

Hawaii, Maui in particular, holds a very special place in our hearts because a) it was the first place we went on a "real" vacation together and b) it was where we got engaged (two separate trips btw). And let me just tell you, the engagement was a rockin' success. Dinner at Mama's Fish House and then a complete lie to me about how he needed to "sober up before we drove back" so we headed out to the beach to let him "sober up" (right, like a walk on the beach was going to do that. don't really know why i bought that story, but whatevs). Anywho, as we're walking, he stops me and tells me that he loves me and some other very nice things I'm sure --- this is where I knew what was coming and well, I sort of went deaf for a moment --- and then he got down on one knee and proposed. I said Yes! followed quickly by a "I thought you'd never ask!" and then we proceeded to be giggly and stupid for the rest of the night.

But, here is where it gets interesting. We head back towards the restaurant and a fairly normal looking guy comes up to us and asks if we want him to take our picture. Why, it's like he read our minds! Oh, but it gets better. He sheepishly proceeds to tell us that he saw Jim get down on one knee to propose and he said he always remembered his sister saying how much she wished she had pictures from her actual proposal. So... he took out his camera and started taking pictures. By the time he started shooting, Jim had already stood up, but he caught the rest of it. And we were in such a giddy haze that we were ecstatic to hear this!! (Granted, later that night, this sort of creeped us out a bit, but hey, he hasn't stalked us, so I guess it's all good). He gave us his email, said to drop him a line when we got back to the mainland and he'd send over the pictures. I did just that and this is highlight of what he sent:

Pretty crazy right? I absolutely LOVE the last one as it is kind of artsy. So yeah, Maui is a pretty special place for us.

The real point of this post is to say the blog will be neglected for the next two weeks as Jim and I will be sitting on a beach, drinking mai tais and *hopefully* staying far far away from the computer. A full recap though when I return.

Cheers everyone!

It's all about ME!

So, I was tagged by Aline and Mrs. P to share 8 things about myself. The previous game was to share 7 fun facts (you can see that here), so this is upping the ante a little bit. Sorry in advance if you already know these, but here goes:

1. I did not drink until I was officially 21. Sure, this may not be ground-breaking news, but let me also add that I was in a sorority in college. And not one that revolved around academics. Crazy, right? And yet, I was always welcome for outings as I made a great DD for those few years. Even today, I'm still very much a light-weight when it comes to drinking.

2. I have never gotten an electronic personal organizer (e.g. PDA), but instead still use a zipper-bound paper one. What can I say, I'm old-school like that. I also cannot bear to throw out the pages from 2005 that coincide with the week of our wedding and honeymoon. Instead, they sit there at the front of the organizer as a pleasant reminder of being married and what a fantastic time we had in Europe.

3. When I was 17, I tried out for "All-Stars" at cheerleading camp and was the only girl from our squad to be invited to Paris to cheer/dance in their New Year's Parades. It was an unbelievably fun trip! My mom came with me and we made friends with a group of other girls and their moms while we were there. Several girls were there solo, so we sort of "adopted" them into the group and we spent the next week basically attached at the hip. We were from all over the US, so we lost touch after the trip, but it was really an experience of a lifetime.

4. I'm *slightly* obsessed with organization and my closet reflects that. My clothes are organized by color and then within each color by type (e.g. sleeveless, then short sleeved, then long sleeved tops). My shoes are all in clear plastic boxes stacked neatly in shelves. People are actually speechless when they see it. Yes, I'm crazy. Yes my husband knew this before he married me. But, it really makes picking out clothes quite easy.

5. I once dated a guy that was my TA in college. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but the class he TA'd was over before we started dating or even flirting with each other. That is probably the most scandalous thing that I did in college. Ha!

6. When I was 21, I went through a phase where I really wanted a baby. I seriously don't know what I was thinking! It lasted all of a month, then I came to my senses. And now? Um, yeah, the closer I get to 30, the more I want to wait even longer to have kids. This pleases my husband to no end.

7. I'm love pens! Have since elementary school when Sanrio was biggest thing ever. I still love buying new pens, but I'm very picky about what I like. I prefer fine tip with a smooth ink flow. The pentel RSVP pens are my current favorite, but I'm always on the look out for new ones to try out.

8. My initial plan in college was to become a doctor. I went so far as to take the MCAT and then decided that the life of a doctor just wasn't for me. I instead went to grad school for Public Health and never looked back. It's a decision that I've never once regretted and in many ways I think it was one of the better decisions I've made in my life.

Most everyone has already been tagged for this so I think I'm out of options for tagging other folks. :-(

So much to tell, so little time....

I've really gotten into the habit of blogging nearly every day... but then last week my computer died. As in, it needs serious professional help. Boooo! Work has been crazy and so my blogging has been cut drastically short this past week. And the really sad part is that there has been so much fun stuff going on to blog about. Hmph! So, while many of these events could be an entire blog post in and of themselves, I'm instead just doing a short recap of the past week and trying to squeeze in highlights of everything. Sorry in advance for the long, jumbled post.

Fantasy Football

Thursday night my husband and I attended a Fantasy Football Draft dinner with some of his co-workers. We are sharing a team, which should be fun seeing as how I watch far more football than I care to admit. This dinner though was intense. The host had ordered this whole fantasy football draft kit, the picks were posted online in real time on the team forum so that those who couldn't attend could keep up with who was already taken, there was food galore and a full bar set-up, etc etc. The make-up of the attendees was quite the mix. Swinging bachelors dropping the f-bomb at every turn, a few married childless couples and several guys with wives who were due any day now. While Jim does work crazy hours, his co-workers are a riot and I always have so much fun at events with them and this one was no exception. Regular season kicks off in a little over a week --- stay tuned for updates!

Brother-in-law Birthday Dinner

Friday night we headed to PF Changs for a birthday dinner for Jim's middle brother. The group included my in-laws, Jim's youngest brother and his girlfriend, Jim, me and the birthday boy. Great food, great conversation, lots of laughs. I declined wine at dinner because I was driving and I got the "Oh, why aren't we drinking tonight there Amber? Hmmm...." from my mother-in-law, followed by lots of giggles. I love her to pieces, but I don't have the heart to tell just how far away we are from having babies. Also, my youngest brother-in-law and his girlfriend are the cutest! Everytime I hang out with them, I like her more and more as an individual, but also think they make a really good pair. Yes they're young, but I wouldn't be surprised if they wind up dating for a long time and eventually wind up married... which would please me to no end. You know, I'd prefer to not have to deal with the crazies as my sisters-in-law.

Baby Shower

Saturday I attended a baby shower for my dear friend Wan. WeeMo, Wan, and R all did a great job of re-capping the day complete with pictures and everything. Needless to say it was a very fun afternoon and I can't wait to see Wan's little bean very soon!

Sunday Brunch

Sunday morning was another fun GTG with a bunch of cool chicks from LA and OC. WeeMo again did a fantastic job summing it all up. The food was fab, the company was even better and I can't wait to meet up with the gals again soon!

The rest of the weekend was filled with a blur of laundry, cleaning the apartment, finishing up birthday party invites for a co-worker's daughter and getting ready for the week. Good times. We only have a few days left til we are officially on vacation and I cannot wait. This week is jam-packed with hitting the gym, tying up loose ends before the trip and packing. Wheeee!

Night #2 sans husband

Last night was the second night in a row with the hubs staying at the office til the wee hours of the morning. He is getting just slammed right now at work and while this has happened before, I feel particularly bad for him this time. It all started this weekend --- he worked from home both days, but it was serious work. He literally didn't leave the apartment either day and was up late both nights working away. Monday was much of the same with him staying late, coming home for a quick late dinner and then continuing to work for several hours. Tuesday night was an all-nighter (I think he got home around 5am) and last night he stayed until maybe 2 or 3ish this morning. My normally chipper and happy husband just sounds beat down and depressed. This is the same guy that even after pulling a series of all-nighters in law school and being stressed beyond belief, would still perk up when I called and not let on how stressed out he really was.

This time is different. I can almost hear the stressed out expression on his face when I call to check in at night, but the worst part is there isn't anything I can do to improve the situation. So instead I worry about him and pray that things let up a little in the next week and a half or so. I've already resigned myself to the fact that he is going to have to bring his blackberry with us to the beach on our vacation and he going to have to do some document editing a couple of nights too, but I hope that the whole trip isn't consumed with him having to work. The reason for this vacation was that he needed to get away and have a bit of a break. If the mobile office is going to be a constant on the trip though, it sort of defeats the purpose.

Tonight we are going to a fantasy football draft dinner (more on that tomorrow), which should actually be a lot of fun. And there will no doubt be an abundance of good beer and yummy food so that should help a little. I just hope he is able to get some sleep tonight so he doesn't totally crash and burn over the next few days. :(

Music to my ears

I have recently realized that if it wasn't for my TV addiction, I'd rarely have new music to download from itunes. As my husband has pointed out more than once, I'm a total sucker for a montage---you know, when they show a bunch of different scenes from several plotlines and set it all to a background song. Well, I can't get enough of them! Some of my favorite shows, such as Dawson's Creek, One Tree Hill and Grey's Anatomy, are notorious for them. And while some may argue these programs are not the most high-brow television out there (my husband, for one -- I think he'd rather gouge out his eyeballs than sit through an episode of any of the above listed shows), they are suprising in that they tend to use really good music! Combine that with SYTYCD, which also uses some really great stuff, and I seem to have a never-ending list of new songs I need to download.

Some of the songs that I'm particularly digging right now are:

Mellow:
Switchfoot - Dare You to Move
Elisa - Dancing
Ryan Adams - Two, Everybody Knows
Paolo Nutini - Million Faces, Last Request
Travis - Closer
Robin Thicke - Lost Without U, Can You Believe
Ray LaMontagne - Hold You In My Arms, Within You
James Morrison - This Boy

Work it out:
Eve - Tambourine
Ciara - Get Up
JT - Love Stoned
Timbaland - The Way I Are
Christina Aguilera - Candyman
Ne-Yo - Because of You
Sean Paul - (When You Gonna) Give It All To Me

Another weekend gone

On Thursday I realized that I had absolutely no plans whatsoever. This is something that only happens to me about every 6 months or so, so I was stoked! A whole weekend to do whatever I wanted with no prior commitments to get in the way. Here is what a lazy, "fly by the seat of your pants" weekend looks like:

Friday

After work I swung by Beverly Hills to run some errands and pick up a box of Frittelli's doughnuts. In addition, I had to get some invite supplies for my co-worker's daughter's birthday party from Paper Source and I ran through Banana Republic to pick up a few tank tops for our upcoming vacation. While at Banana Republic, I spotted an adorable pair of glen plaid wool pants in black and white with a hint of pink in them. I tried them on and they fit perfectly! So those came home with me too. Oops!

That night, Jim picked me up after work and we ran out to Costco to stock up on some essentials (paper towels, wine, plastic cutlery for the office, snacks, etc etc), we grabbed a pizza for dinner and called it a night.

Saturday

We woke up and tried the doughnuts I had picked up the night before. I had the lemon glazed doughnut, he had a raspberry glazed doughnut and we split a vanilla latte cake doughnut. I really really wanted to love them, but they were just okay. Maybe it had to do with them being a day old, but I wasn't impressed. I'll probably give them another shot, but I was sad they didn't knock my socks off.

After a stop at the gym for step class and a long chat with my very pregnant step teacher, I headed to Century City mall to look for a new strapless bra. Now, I'm not the most well endowed girl, which is fine, but the selection of strapless bras for small-chested gals at Bloomingdales was dismal at best. I have previously had luck with the Wacoal petites line (ironic because at 5'6" with long legs for my height, I'm anything but petite... guess my chest is though. hmph!) and I did manage to find a few hanging in the back corner, but they were all one cup size smaller than what I normally wear. On a lark, I decided to try one on. Um, yeah, it fit. Like it fit really well. That is just great. I guess the few pounds I've lost have all come off my chest. Someone mentioned to me that since the area is mostly adipose tissue, if you're losing body fat, your chest is going to get smaller. Well that's great and all, but last time I checked, my backside was mostly adipose tissue too, but I'm not noticing a huge decrease in size back there! Anywho, I guess I should be glad I found one because what I thought was a dismal selection at Bloomies looked like a gold mine in comparison to what I found at several other large department stores. Good times.

That night I made lamb for the hubs (thank you trader joes!) with mashed potatoes from scratch and roasted asparagus. Between the dinner, a bottle of red and old episodes of Nip/Tuck (best trashy show ever btw) it was a very mellow evening.

Sunday

Yesterday was the ultimate lazy day. Got up late, had breakfast, lounged around on the couch watching re-runs of One Tree Hill (yes, I love that show. what?) and tried not to melt in our apartment. In the late afternoon I finally ventured out to pick up a baby shower gift for a friend, a birthday gift for another co-worker's daughter (more on the baby gifts in an upcoming post) and groceries for the week. I had planned on doing laundry, but I just never worked up enough motivation to get it done. Oh well.

Last night I tried a new salmon recipe for dinner -- pan-seared salmon with a savory sour cream and dill sauce and shaved cucumber with dill -- and it was pretty good. Made my lunch for Monday, laid out my clothes for work and called it a night.

Sadly, my husband didn't figure much into this weekend as he worked from home the entire time. As in, didn't step foot out of the apartment from late Friday night until this morning when he went to work. It was really sad.

:-(

Upside --- only 13 days til we leave for Hawaii! woohoo!

Oh Starbucks, how I love thee....

Amongst our friends it is a well known fact that Jim and I are both addicted to coffee. He may be slightly more obsessed with the stuff than I am, but I'm running a very close second. I mean, we're the couple that registered for 3 different coffee-making type appliances for our wedding --- and all of them get regular use.

Most nights before going to bed, Jim gets the coffeemaker all set for me to turn on in the morning when I wake up. [Side note: We have very different work/sleep schedules. I'm in bed by 10pm and up by 5:30am. Jim, on the other hand, rarely makes it to be before midnight and sleeps until 8-ish] The coffee brews while I'm in the shower, I fill up my pink metal Starbucks travel mug and leave the rest for him to take into work later. It's a perfect system really.

Anywho, the last 2 nights Jim hasn't made the coffee --- Monday night he was too busy getting to bed super early so he could wake up at 4:30am to be in SD for a hearing at 8:30am, fun... on opposite day; last night he got the machine all set up... just forgot to put the grinds in the filter, gave me a great laugh this morning --- and quite frankly, I am just too lazy/still half asleep to do it myself when I get up. So the last 2 mornings I have have taken my little pink mug with me empty and stopped at a Starbucks on the way in to work.

While I love our system of making coffee at home --- both for the convenience factor and it being easy on the budget --- I always forget how much I love fresh brewed Starbucks coffee from the shop itself. It just smells stronger and tastes better than anything we're able to make at home. I tend to smile a little with every sip and it just makes the morning that much better.

Tomorrow we'll be back to our regular coffee system, but right now I'm enjoying my little Starbucks treat. Mmmm, mmmm good!