I just viewed my last post, sent from my iPhone, and it looks like a
poem to me. Something may be afoot with the formatting when it comes
to blogger posts sent from the iPhone. We shall see... I have a
feeling that I may be posting a lot from my iPhone, so I hope the
formatting doesn't become an annoying issue...
Sent from my iPhone
Poor Alex. He has been puking all day. He must have some sort of
stomach bug. I feel bad for him but I really hope that I don't get it
and ruin our New Year's Eve tomorrow. He actually had a brief
interlude where he felt better and that fooled him into thinking that
he was well enough to go see Seven Nations at Katie O'Byrnes tonight.
Turns out that wasn't the case. We had to leave less than an hour
after we got there. That was enough time for me to get pretty buzzed
(read: drunk) off of three Guinness. And we heard three of my
favorite songs of theirs already, so I wasn't too sad to have to leave
early. Plus we'll see them tomorrow night at First Night in
Saratoga. Ah well. Poor Alex.
Sent from my iPhone
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My car will be paid off in April. That's good. My car is now 8 years old. That's bad. My car needs about $800 of work in order to pass inspection, which is up in April. That's very bad. Alex has been telling me for a while that I need to think about getting rid of my car because Volkswagens do not age gracefully (at least the newer VWs) and it'll be expensive to fix. I've found that out already, having put over $2000 into my car over the last 2 years because things have broken. I'm thinking that he's right and it's only going to get worse.
What's a girl to do? I don't have a lot of money to spend on a car and I don't think that I want to buy another used car that I'm going to have to keep sinking money into to maintain. So, I'm going to try leasing my next car. Since my daily commute is incredibly short - 4 miles round trip - I'm not worried about having to buy more miles for a lease or about going over my miles when it's time to turn it in. And it will be nice to have a new car with lower payments than buying. I've been looking for the past few months and have been having a very hard time deciding what I want. I still love, love, love my Beetle. It's the most adorable car ever. I really don't want to go from fun, adorable car to boring sedan or horrible mom-mobile.
I first started looking at Mini Coopers, but I might hold off on getting one until I'm old. I mean, I want to have kids in the next couple of years and a lot of what I read during my Google-ing indicated that car seats don't fit well in the back. I can hold off on a Mini until the future kids are out of the house. It's OK.
Then I started to look at hatchbacks. I tend to think that hatchback vehicles are adorable and I love that they are kind of sporty and not sedans. I looked at the Mazda3, which was very cute and scored high marks stylistically with me. I also looked at the Subaru Impreza, which had a unique and cute looking "butt" but the front of the car just looked so sedanish. Also, the inside was just sort of blah. Even though it didn't do much for me style-wise, it's still in consideration because it's 4 wheel drive and I live in the Northeast and there's about 8 inches of snow outside right now. I looked at the Nissan Versa, which I loved because Hiro on Heroes kept saying "Nissan Versa" and sounded very cute. It is very cute and I can get it with every single toy I could ever want in a car for not much money at all, but I was a little "meh" after the test drive. Something about it felt small or cheap or something.
Last night, we went back to the Nissan dealer and I test drove a Nissan Rogue. I'm in love. It's adorable. It's sporty. You can fit a bajillion things inside it. It feels like a sports car on the inside and not like a mini-mini-van. Unfortunately, it's also brand new for 2008 and the sales guy pretty much admitted that you can't get a good deal on it right now. When I told him that my time line isn't immediate - that I can really wait until April, he inferred that I might be able to get a better deal if I hold off until then. Right now, the only thing they have going is a lease on the All Wheel Drive with floor mats and Splash Guards for $249 a month for 24 months. That's only $20 more a month than I pay now, so totally doable, but I sort of want more toys... The Rogue that I drove last night was the "maxed out" model with a moon roof, Bose stereo system with audio controls on the steering wheel, Bluetooth, and Intelligent Key (which allows you to keep the key in your pocket and unlock and start the car and is super hella cool). It even had paddle shifters on the steering wheel, so even though it was an automatic, you could manually shift if you wanted to and right on the steering wheel like a race car or something. Cool. The sales guy estimated that a lease on that model would be over $360 a month. No freaking way.
So, I'll wait. I'll shop around. I'll keep trying out cars. I'm not in a rush. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a better deal on a Rogue in the future, and if not, I can always lease the base model. I just need to decide how important the toys are. Although, I still think the intelligent key thing is awesome. Totally unnecessary - I mean, you still need to dig out your keys when you get home anyway to get in the house - but cool.
... She's asked me for my Christmas list like a million times. So, here it is. Sorry so late. I suck.
Well, the BIG news is that Scott proposed to Dodi last night!!! Yay!!!! I am SO excited for them and SO happy for Dodi!!!! Congratulations!!!! :)
In other news, we put up our tree and other Christmas decorations this weekend. The place looks very cheerful. I posted a lot of pics here. Our tree is looking rather beat and tiny, so I think we'll be getting a new one when this Christmas season is over (and they're on sale). Less than 30 days left! :)
And lastly, Alex and I finally got our butts back to the gym this morning. I think this might be the first time since we got married. I'm already sore and was not a very nice person when Alex woke me up this morning. But I appreciate that he got us moving because I've gained about 20 lbs since the wedding (MY GOD!!!) and I REALLY need to do something about that!
Alex and I hosted Thanksgiving for the first time this year. We had his parents and grandmother over for dinner, then Beck, Kevin, and Nora came over for dessert. I made the turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, butternut squash soup, a pecan pie, and homemade pumpkin ice cream. Alex's mom brought creamed onions, green bean casserole, cranberry relish, and chocolate chip cookies. His grandmother brought a lemon meringue and a pumpkin pie. Needless to say, we had a lot of food!
I started cooking on Wednesday after work. I made the pumpkin ice cream first - a recipe from my "Ben and Jerry's Cookbook". I used my Kitchenaid mixer ice cream maker attachment and the ice cream was super easy to make and turned out delicious! It tasted like liquid pumpkin pie with whipped cream. I made my pecan pie next, which turned out deliciously, even if it didn't set right. I had Alex help me as my sous-chef that night and he did a lot of the chopping of veggies for me to use in my stuffing and gravy the next day. I roasted my butternut squash and started the soup preparation then stuck the mixture in the crock pot and then fell into bed.
Thursday morning, I got up at 7:30 and took the turkey out of the fridge to rest and come up to room temperature. I reviewed all my recipes and then started to try and tidy up the apartment. I can't tell you where the morning went. I missed all the parades. It took longer than I expected it to make the stuffing (even with prepping all the veggies the night before!). The turkey went into the oven around 11am - about an hour and a half after I wanted it to go in. D'oh! Alex's parents and grandmother showed up around 1pm, just as I was finished getting dressed after a light-speed shower. Patty helped me peel potatoes while Grammy, Keene, and Alex watched the first Harry Potter movie in the living room. The turkey came out of the oven around 4:30pm.
The turkey looked picture perfect!! Martha Stewart did right by me. I used her "Perfect Roast Turkey" recipe as well as her Chestnut stuffing recipe and they turned out perfectly. We reheated the sides as the turkey rested and then Alex carved the turkey. The table was overflowing with food and our new china and crystal. It looked great!
We all enjoyed stuffing ourselves with Thanksgiving dinner. Afterwards, Patty led the charge in the kitchen to clean and put away. I was very thankful for her motivation because otherwise, Alex and I probably would still have dirty Thanksgiving dishes. ;) Beck, Kevin, and Nora came for dessert and we indulged ourselves with 4 different pies, cookies, and ice cream. Nora is almost 4 months old now and can almost sit up on her own and is starting to grab things. She can grab her nuk from Kevin and almost put it in her mouth herself! Alex is more interested in Nora now that she is starting to interact more with people and he spent some time holding her and playing with her. VERY cute! :) Nora is almost starting to crawl now. She's going to be trouble pretty soon! Probably just in time for Christmas. ;)
We had a great Thanksgiving. It was very different from in the past, but even though we had to do a lot of cooking and cleaning, it was somehow less stressful. I guess that was because we weren't trying to hit two different places for dinner and dessert and all that jazz. I really enjoyed cooking and Alex keeps telling me how proud he is of me and how great Thanksgiving was. Yeah! :)
I hate the last day of vacation. Even when it's only a mini-break. I woke up pretty early on Sunday and was able to get Alex motivated relatively early. We packed, he arranged a town car to pick us up at 5pm and bring us to the airport and then called bell services to come get our bags. We were checked out and on our way to the Magic Kingdom by 10:30am.
For some reason, we decided to take the bus to the Magic Kingdom rather than walk through Epcot and catch the monorail as we'd usually go. The bus was pretty crowded and we had to stand, but the trip wasn't that long. A little girl got on the bus wearing a Princess gown. The bus driver flipped a switch and an announcement started that sounded at first like one of the regular recorded announcements... "Ladies and Gentlemen, please remember to be on your best royal behavior in the coach, we're traveling with a Disney Princess today!" It was so cute! :)
We started our day with a "breakfast" of corn dog nuggets and french fries with plenty of cheese sauce at Casey's on the corner at the end of Main Street. Eating at Casey's on our last day is a sort of tradition for us. We've been doing it since we first went together in 2004. We watched some kids feed the ducks that were surrounding the outdoor tables. Right next to the kids was a sign that said, "Please do not feed the birds" but their parents seemed to not care. After we were finished eating, we headed over to Adventureland. I took a picture of Alex in front of the entrance because I'd taken one of him there on our first day in the Magic Kingdom in 04:
We're packing up the room this morning. :( Our flight isn't until 8pm tonight, so we have some time to wonder around the parks. I hate going home. Waa. Depressing. :(
Friday was a loooong day! I was up relatively early posting my pictures and my recap and made it "on the road" by about 10am. I went to Animal Kingdom first. I rode Expedition Everest first. The standby line said that it would take about 20 minutes, 
but I think it took less than 10. No Single Rider line on that one. Luckily I didn't need it. After Everest, I walked over to Africa where I was going to try and get on the Kilimanjaro Safari, but it was already after 11 and the standby line said 40 minutes and I wanted to be back to Epcot by 12:15 or so to meet Alex, so I skipped it. I spent a few minutes watching a "Crazy Limbo-Dance Troupe" in Africa - even shot a little video, but it's still uploading so I'll have to link to that later. ;) I went to "Dinoland USA" and rode Dinosaur. As you can see from my mobile post below, the loud large dino near the end of the ride still manages to freak me out every time. After wandering around for a bit, I headed back to the Swan and met Alex for lunch.
Alex and I strolled over to Epcot and had sushi in Japan for lunch. Epcot is our favorite park because there's so much strolling and eating and drinking to be done. ;) After Alex returned to the conference, I relaxed in France for a bit, made some dinner reservations at Guest Services, checked out the Imagination Pavilion and then headed over to the Magic Kingdom.
I got into Main Street just in time to watch the end of "Mickey's Dreams Come True" Parade. I took a few pictures and then headed back to Frontier Land. I rode Splash Mountain with the two old guy Muppets that usually sit in the balcony. Well, not really, but it was just me and two old men in the boat. I sat in the very front of 
the "log boat" and the two old men shared the very back seat. "We sat back here so that you'd keep us from getting wet! Oh ho ho ho!" After we went down the big drop and I got pretty well sprayed, they laughed again. "You did your job - we didn't get wet! Oh ho ho!" I got a kick out of them. :) I wanted to do the Haunted Mansion next, but didn't want to wait in the line (20 minutes) so I went to Fantasy Land and saw Mickey's PhilharMagic. Still my favorite thing in all the "world". Alex called me to let me know that he was done with his conference for the day, so I hopped on a monorail and met him in Epcot.
Alex, of course, was waiting for me in a pub. The Rose and Crown pub in "England". We each had a Guinness and then strolled over to the International Gateway exit and crossed the Boardwalk area then took the path to Disney Studios. We got to the 
studios around 6pm when everyone was piling into the "Hollywood Bowl" to watch Fantasmic. We weren't interested, so we went on Tower of Terror. Still my 2nd favorite thing in all the "world". ;) We went over to Streets of America after that to see the Osbourne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. I was impressed. Alex was Grinchy. I took some pics and some videos and then we walked back to the Swan to get ready for dinner.
Alex was very excited for dinner because I'd gotten us reservations at the Yachtsman Steakhouse in the Yacht Club. He'd heard that it used to be one of Michael Eisner's favorite restaurants on property and that the steaks were phenomenal. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to its reputation. I mean, it was OK, but frankly I've liked my filet better at Outback. My appetizer was really good - a tomato salad - and the rolls with butter and roasted garlic were pretty good. Oh, and my mashed potatoes were very good. But my steak. Meh. Alex felt the same way. We skipped dessert and headed over to Epcot for their Evening Extra Magic hours.
We took our time strolling through Epcot which had very few guests. We had our picture taken in front of a giant Christmas tree (will link to that later) and then rode The Seas with Nemo and Friends. That wasn't open the last time we were here and I was very excited to ride it because I'd heard it was pretty cool. Again, I was slightly disappointed. I felt there should have been more of a cohesive story to the ride. Instead, it was sort of a bunch of scenes. Still pretty cool that they successfully projected the digital fish seamlessly onto the tanks of a real aquarium. We were going to ride Soarin' next, but there were no more fast passes and the standby line was 30 minutes and all I could think of was last year when the sign said 20 minutes and we were in line for over an hour and Alex was VERY grumpy, so we just left.
We finally made it to Jellyroll's last night. We've been so tired every previous night but last night we fought the sleepiness and boy were we happy we did! It's really one of our favorite bars in the world. It's just too much fun to sing along and it's amazing that the "piano men" know just about ANY song you request. I'm fond of requesting super cheesey music - stuff that Adam would call a "gay guilty pleasure" song - so I requested Journey, "Separate Ways". The one guy did it and he was amazing. I was afraid that he wasn't going to do it at first because he referred to it as "Obscure Journey" but I think he really enjoyed doing that song. We had an awesome time and didn't get to bed until around 2am. Consequently, Alex is dragging today but he's only got a 1/2 day at his conference and we won't be back to Disney for a loooooooong time so I just told him to suck it up. ;)
OK. Well, it's my last "full day" here so I have to get out to the parks!!!
Yesterday was my first time visiting a Disney park on my own and it was a unique experience.
Kids stared at me. "Where is her mom? Or her kids?" Ride operators were slightly surprised when I'd say I was a party of one. I had no one with me to hug when the "Disney" got to me. There were some benefits, though. I went to the Disney Studios first, and because I was a single rider, got right to the front of the line on Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller Coaster. That ride reminded me how old I am, though, because I had a headache coming off of it. (Waaaaa! I'm OLD!) I rode Tower of Terror a couple of times and then 
saw the Beauty and the Beast Stage Show, something that Alex would have never gone to see with me. I saw the Indiana Jones Stunt show and then bypassed Star Tours because apparently I'm old and jerky rides give me headaches. (Waaaaa! I'm OLD!) I didn't have to wait by the bathrooms. I didn't have to eat when I wasn't hungry. I didn't have to buy lunch, in fact, because I brought some ready made tuna salad in a can with crackers and that was my very cheap lunch. ;)
I did meet Alex during his lunch break from the conference and strolled around the boardwalk with him, which was very nice. :)
After that, I strolled through Epcot, where I saw Off Kilter, a Celtic Rock act (who 
were nowhere near as good as ETH, GMT, 7N or GB, but still fun) and had the most expensive Guinness in the land. I headed over to the Magic Kingdom, where I saw Mickey's PhilharMagic, which is my favorite thing in all of Disney World. I rode It's a Small World after that because apparently I'm a sadist or something. I never have to go on the ride again. Alex met me in the park then, since his conference was over for the day and we saw the 6pm show of Wishes, then went to the Grand Floridian where we had dinner at Citrico's. Our meal was fabulous! I'd read mixed reviews on Citrico's and was a little apprehensive about making reservations there, but we had great service and excellent food. Yay!
After dinner, we went back to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party. 
We had a great time riding the rides with no lines, enjoying complimentary hot cocoa and sugar cookies, watching the Special Holiday Wishes Fireworks show and the Christmas Parade. Well, I had a great time watching the parade while someone grinched it up next to me. ;) We headed back to our hotel around 11:30 where we totally crashed.
Today, I'm off to the Animal Kingdom in the morning, then back to meet Alex for lunch on the Boardwalk, and then I think I'll either go back to Disney Studios for a bit (Tower of Terror is my 2nd favorite thing in all of Disney World) or go back to Epcot. And I'm off!! :)
I was just peeking at the Disney Boards as we're leaving for our "almost free" trip the day after tomorrow and am excited. I'm feeling guilty about going on the trip because I'll be away from work when I have 3 new people in my dept and we're totally strapped for cash. BUT, I really, really, really, really, really need the break for my mental health and because Alex's company is paying for the transportation to/from the airport, his airfare, the hotel room, and his half of the meals all I need to pay for was my airline ticket (very cheap on Southwest) and my part of the meals. My park tickets are more than completely covered with Disney dollars earned on my Disney Visa this past year. We both know that this will be our last vacation for a very, very, very long time so since we're already committed to going and since it will be just about the cheapest vacation ever I'm going to try and just enjoy it.
Anyway... On the Disney Boards, there is a Budget Board which I've been visiting and "listening in" on the strapped for cash ppl out there to see how they deal with budgeting and saving. They apparently do a thread every month called "No Buy (month)". Here are the details:
No Buy November (with a twist!)
The Game Plan: Everyone sets their own lists of essentials and exemptions. Think carefully over the month and try to plan ahead. For example, if you know you have a birthday coming up and need to buy a present, or if your Disney trip is coming up, list the trip period as an exemption. Remember that Thanksgiving and the Holidays are coming, but if you plan them in, you will save yourself from impulse buying. Everyone sets their own rules.
The Goal: To become aware of everyday spending habits and save a little money. Or, as I think of it, to end the $100 detergent habit. What's $100 detergent? It's when you run in Target or Wal-mart for laundry detergent and end up spending $100. Now, you may use everything you bought and it may fit into your budget structure, but if you are in a saving mode, did you really need it at that time? Or is it a money leak?
Posting: Try to post your progress every Monday. I found that the more often I posted, the more it kept me honest and the more I thought about it while I was in dangerous situations. If you need/want to post more often, that's up to you. We love lots of posts!
The Twist: With Thanksgiving coming up and with us all having a lot of exemptions to deal with, we are going to try and add a little gratitude to our posts. This can be as simple as mentioning that someone opened a door for you, thankfulness that a loved one is in your life, or the mother of all Black Friday snags that will save you big bucks come December!
Take the next couple of days to get your lists together! In the mean time, if you haven't checked us out before, try reading through the No Buy October thread. We'd love to have you along as a participant or even just for support.
I was going through my bookmarks this AM trying to just clean them up and found an old bookmark to Overheard in New York. I can't stand how freaking funny I find this site....
But, Most Importantly, I Bought an IPhone
Guy #1: I haven't seen you in a while. What have you been up to?
Guy #2: Well, I'm in the process of switching web hosts, and it's going to be saving me a few bucks a month. I just need to decide what Linux distribution to use. What about you?
Guy #1: I got married and we had a baby.
Guy #2: That's cool.
--Office, Midtown
Cube rat #1: Um... Where'd they put the fridge that was here?
Cube rat #2: I don't know, but I had juice in there. With vodka in it.
63rd Street and Broadway
New York, New York
That is a direct quote from me, five minutes ago. Alex and I had just finished watching the "Heros" episode that we DVR'd from Monday night. I get so freaking excited when I watch that show. I didn't watch it at all last season and actually hadn't seen an episode until we bought the first season on DVD about a month ago. We watched the entire first season in a marathon weekend of viewing and I was hooked.
Unfortunately, that experience spoiled me because now watching one episode a week is not enough. I get all pissy when the episode is over because I want to know what happens next right now. It's murder watching the previews for next weeks show! Next week, Kristin Bell (Veronica Mars) starts on the show - and it looks like she might be a "bad guy" and I'm totally curious about what that story line is going to be all about.
OK. Well. That was a way overly dramatic and intensely geeky post about a TV show... Time to go to bed.
It's been A LONG, LONG while since I posted but I had to jump on quickly and share my exciting news: we're going back to Disney! The plan is still up in the air, but Alex's job is sending him to a conference at the Disney Swan & Dolphin Resorts Nov 15-17th. We figured that since the hotel room would already be paid for by his company and all I'd need to pay for were airline tickets, park tickets, and meals it'd be a very cheap (AND VERY NEEDED ALREADY) vacation for me. I'll even be able to pay for my park tickets with Disney Dollars that I earned by using my Disney Visa. Rock!! It sucks that Alex will be busy during the day with his conference - but that's why it gets to be such a cheap vaca for me... And we'll be able to hit the world showcase at Epcot at night. OH!! And since we'll be staying at the Swalphin (Swan or Dolphin) we'll be able to cruise the Boardwalk and hit Jellyrolls EVERY night!! That's the dueling piano bar which was totally our favorite place to be late at night last trip. I'm very, very excited!!!
So, Alex's birthday is Tuesday. Every time I've asked him what he wants for his birthday over the past few weeks/months/whatever, he's said a Wii. Every time we've gone to EBGames, we've asked, "Do you have any Wii's in stock?" and the answer has always been a (snotty) "NO!" So, this morning when I asked Alex again what he wanted for his birthday and he said, "a Wii" I said, "Fine. Well, I'll give you the number to EBGames and if they have a Wii, I'll buy you one. If not, you'll have to tell me something else to get you." So he called. And they had Wii's in stock. Said they figured that no one new about them because they've been in since yesterday and they haven't sold out yet. Alex said, "I'll be there in ten minutes!" and proceeded to rush me to put some pants on and forget about my hair and let's go!!!!
So now we're the proud owners of a Wii. Most expensive birthday gift I ever gave anybody... But probably also the best. We've been having so much fun tonight!! We've played table tennis, tennis, fishing, pong, some weird tank game and now we're bowling. It's funny how we won't go bowling in real life but we'll Wii bowl in our living room. I'm doing pretty well - as usual I barely broke a hundred my first game and now I'm kicking butt in the second game and will probably beat my last score by 50 pins or so. To make the bowling experience more authentic we broke out the Guns and Roses and some beer. Now we're just missing the sketchy people in the lane to one side and some people that one of us graduated with that we're pretending we never knew in the other lane. So I guess it's not the complete authentic Clifton Park Bowl experience, but it's close. ;)
Anyway, we're super-excited about the Wii. It's great to have a gaming console that we both want to play and it's a lot of fun to play together. Wiiiiiiiiiiiii! :)
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Wednesday night was Celtic night at the Empire State Plaza. Steve, Alex and I went out because the Glengarry Bhoys were going to be there (along with the Prodigals and the Saw Doctors, but we're not too familiar with either of those bands). Glengarry went though some changes in the last year or so and the only remaining members from their previous lineup are the lead singer and the drummer. The bassist, fiddler, and bagpiper are all new to the band. The previous fiddler, bassist, and bagpiper went on to be in Greenwich Meantime (GMT), which is now one of my favorite bands. We'd seen "the Bhoys" once or twice since the change and weren't all that impressed, but we had an awesome time on Wednesday night.
Start using your new name! It will feel weird and may sound funny at first, but the more you start using it your friends and family and coworkers will catch on and get
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I maintain a pretty busy calendar at work and, unfortunately, there's not a way for me to view my calendar away from the office. It's difficult for me to make commitments during the work week without knowing when my scheduled meetings with clients are. I've created a Google Calendar for my work stuff and have been adding meetings to it while I'm at work to keep me in the know away from my desk. But... I wanted a calendar app. I didn't want to have to have my browser open and I wanted something that would sync automatically for me.
I decided to switch to Thunderbird the other day (because I just needed something new) to handle my email. The promise of extensions was just too much to resist. I discovered the Lightning calendar add-on and then... ta da! The GData Provider extension which allows for 2 way communication with Google Calendar. After following the easy step-by-step installation instructions here, I was up and running. I'm so excited and can't wait to get this going at work as well!
I've found a few other extensions that I am looking forward to using at the office as well. The Xnote extension for Thunderbird allows you to add sticky notes to email messages. I love it! I've been so busy lately at work that I'm not able to respond to emails right away. With Xnote, I'll be able to quickly jot a note about an email - right "on" the email - so that when I am able to respond to the email later on I'll have my notes right there. Also, the sticky notes look like little yellow post-its - so cute! Love it!!
The Show InOut extension is going to make my life a little easier. I store all messages - incoming and outgoing - related to a client in a folder for that client. When I open the folder, it's sometimes a little confusing to look at the emails because the outgoing copies always say my name since I'm the "from" person on it. Show InOut adds a graphical designator to show if the email was incoming or outgoing and then shows the sender or recipient. Nice!!
Yay! I love new things! Especially new things that don't cost me a thing. ;)
Musicovery Musicovery, by Frederic Vavrille, is an interactive webRadio Frederic made all come together in Musicovery. The user can start by selecting a mood in the mood/energy matrix or choose a radio acording to their mood by clicking in the colored matrix. After that the interaction is very similar to MusicPlasma, where one can easily navigate between different artists, only this time with sound.
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Guidelines for Cats Doors:
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Months of Planning - check.
Wedding - check.
Honeymoon- check.
umm....
What's next?!
I think Wham and Pa would like a grandchild, but we're WAY too poor to do that yet. Oh, and I think Alex's head might explode. It's fun to tease him about it, though.
So what's really next? Well, here are some ideas, in no particular order:
* Thank you notes, thank you notes, thank you notes.
* Buy a Hutch so that we can put away all our beautiful wedding gifts.
* Decide on colors and paint apartment.
* Work on resume.
* Organize office/guest room.
* Do official changing of name with Social Security, DMV, etc, etc, etc...
* Edit wedding and honeymoon pictures and provide captions. Get prints.
* Review professional proofs and decide on pictures for albums.
* Work on Wedding Albums, scrapbooks, etc.
* Scottish Games!
* Irish Fest!
* Alex's Birthday!
* Joe & Christina's Wedding then Michele & Darrel's Wedding!
* Halloween.
* Clean out and organize room of doom - transform into library/organized storage area.
Ok. I'm starting to feel a little better - all of those are things that I expect to do in the next few months and it's starting to look like I won't be as bored as I thought I'd be! And then it'll be Thanksgiving and Christmas... Time is going to fly by!
The Honeymoon's over. Well, the actual trip is over. Most of it. We arrived back to JFK about an hour and a half ago and are now at the Fairfield Inn where we'll crash tonight before driving back home tomorrow. The room is not 5 stars like the hotel we were staying in in London - but it's clean and it'll do. We've now been up for over 21 hours and are very tired... and smelly. Travel makes you gross.
I'd love to blog all about the trip but I need to make myself go to sleep as it feels like 5am for me right now. Tomorrow is going to be a big day - driving home, stopping to see Beck and Nora if they're up to it, and then saying goodbye to the family as it's their last night before they move to Dubai. :(
I am in a funk this morning. We had another great day yesterday - this time ending our day on a London Walks Pub Walk. These are Pub walks and not crawls, so you don't necessarily get hammered on them... but I pretty much got hammered last night. We had a lot of fun and got back to the hotel a little after midnight.
About an hour and a half after I passed out, I woke up because Alex was shaking me. "Listen!" There was a very polite but firm male British voice speaking in our room. "... the fire alarm has been activated. Please vacate the building and go to the assembly point in Lincoln's Inn Fields behind the Hotel. Please do not attempt to use the lifts." I immediately wanted to throw up. Shaking, I jumped out of bed and pulled on the clothes I was wearing earlier. I was flying all over the room while Alex tried to calm me down. "Grab your bag," he said which made it all too familiar for me. At least this time I had my camera in the bag... I grabbed our passports out of the safe, slid on my flip flops and followed Alex out into the hall.
We passed other hotel guests in various stages of awakening - coming out of their rooms with their hair askew in wrinkled pajamas, rubbing their eyes and asking if we'd heard an alarm. I'm sure that I was not a reassuring site to them as I likely had a look of extreme panic on my face. Alex located the "in-case-of-emergency" stairs and we fell in line with others walking down the winding staircase.
When we got to the bottom of the stairs we met with some hotel staff members who apologetically informed us that it appeared to be a false alarm and invited us to return to our rooms. The line of us on the stairs turned around and trekked back up to our rooms. I wouldn't get undressed when we got back to the room and couldn't lay down right away. I was drunk and scared and not reassured by the fact that it "appeared" to be a false alarm. I kept trying to peer out of our window into the courtyard - "What are you looking for?" Alex asked. "If you saw a fire truck and lights would that make it better?! Come back to bed!" I eventually did return to bed but left the passports and my bag fully packed next to the bed along with my flip flops and fell asleep in my clothes.
Thankfully, I'm not hungover today. I'm still a little freaked out - I'm having a hard time returning to calm. Today's our last full day here and I'm excited to go out into the city, but Alex is taking forever to get ready which is making me antsy. I'm sad that our honeymoon is coming to an end - Alex said that he's been having a great time but is ready to return home to our kitties. I'm not fully sharing in that wish yet... I'm not ready to return to wash and dishes and work and bills. I'm not ready to go home and say goodbye to my family. I'm really not ready for that. I'm going to try and pull a Scarlet O'Hara, though, and "...not think about that today." I'll push it all out of my head for now and focus on having fun today in London!
I can't believe that the wedding has already come and gone! It was amazing - the happiest day of my life!! I was beaming from ear to ear all day long. AND I didn't even cry during the ceremony! I was just SOOOO happy!!!!!
I've got pictures from me, Dodi, JJ, and Brenda posted so far in My Wedding Album. I'll be adding to these as I get more pictures from friends (keep sending them my way!!!). Eric sent me a link to his album from my wedding and I'll be adding those pictures to my collection after we return from the Honeymoon.
Speaking of the Honeymoon - it's been fantastic so far! Our trip down to JFK got a little hairy with A LOT of traffic, but once we got on the plane it was smooth sailing. Or flying, as it were. Anyway, our room is fabulous and we got out a bit today to do some "pre-sightseeing". We rode the London Eye and walked around and snapped a bunch of pictures. I'm now trying to figure out what we want to do tomorrow (well, I'm SUPPOSED) to be doing that now anyway... ;)
We're having a great time, but I know that this trip will be over too before we know it and then it'll be back to reality. Life will be pretty busy the week we get back - we'll want to go visit Beck and Kevin and meet their NEW DAUGHTER!!! Eleanor Patricia Fournier (Nora) was born the night of our wedding!! Alex's mom gave us some pictures Saturday night - look how beautiful Nora is!!!
The day after we get back, the family moves to Dubai. I was pretty shocked when Dad told me the day that they were moving - I thought we'd have a few days after Alex and I return from the Honeymoon. I was really, really upset about it on Saturday night - I think that I've never really conceptualized what exactly was happening. I figured that I didn't have to worry about all that until after the wedding - and now that it's after the wedding (which, in itself, I can't believe) reality has hit me hard. I'm going to miss them SO much. I know that it's only 2 years but still, it's two years! The boys will change so much during that time. I'm feeling better about it now - Dad told me to focus on the fact that we'll see them every few months and it's not forever and that helps. And I know that it's a huge opportunity for them and they're very excited. I just can't wait for the next two years to be over and have them back! Although, in two years I will be turning 30 and that is absolutely insane. INSANE.
Anyway, enough about that. I'm on my Honeymoon! Since it's now past midnight London time I'm going to try and throw together a quick outline of a plan for tomorrow and go to bed!
More great news!! Patty called me earlier this morning to let me know that Beck's in the hospital with contractions 4 minutes apart!! She's totally having her baby today!! HOW EXCITING!!!!! :D I hope that everything goes well and I can't wait to hear if it's a boy or a girl and what they name baby etc! Hopefully Alex and I will be able to see mommy and baby on our way down to JFK on Sunday to leave for our Honeymoon. YAY!!!!
I'm SOOOOOOO excited!!!
I woke up right at 6:30 this morning like I've been doing every day so far this week. Ah well. At least I'm consistent. ;)
I figured that since I was already awake, I'd put up my pictures from yesterday. So the wedding album is started and you can View It Here.
I've still got hours before I need to be anywhere, so I think I'm going to try and go back to sleep (ha ha) or try and at least relax and read for a bit.
Only 10 and a half hours left!!! :D
Oh. My. God!!!!!!!!
First of all, how much of a complete geek am I that it's the night before my wedding and I'm sitting in my hotel suite with my laptop posting to my blog? It's sad, really.
Today was an alternately stressful and then very relaxing day:
6:30am - Woke up. Dammit. Could not get back to sleep. Tried for a while then gave up and ready Harry Potter.
8:00am - Got out of bed, took shower, finished packing. Realized that I'd been holding my breath nearly that entire time.
9:30am - Went to Panera, car packed, Harry Potter in tow. Had breakfast (bacon egg and spinach souffle and hot chocolate). Headed to Kimberley's for a Spa Day.
10:30am - Had Hot Chocolate Bath at Kimberley's. Was very nice but I wished I had a bath pillow so the back of my hair didn't get so wet and I wished the water actually looked like Hot Chocolate - it had chocolate oil in it but that was clear. Sang to myself in the tub and giggled about getting married tomorrow.
11:15am - Had Chocolate Massage. Was my first professional massage given by a guy - was awesome. Michael did a great job and I'm noting his name in my blog in case I want to book another one with him in the future. Chocolate Syrup (chocolate scented massage oil) smelled just like Chocolate World and reminded me of being a little kid so I smiled like a big idiot throughout the very relaxing massage.
12:20pm - Had Chocolate Body Buff. Was amazing. The tech, Sarah, rubbed chocolate scented sea salt mixture all over me, then sent me to the shower to get it off, then coated me with chocolate butter cream, wrapped me in plastic, put a warm blanket over me, gave me a scalp massage, and then left me to relax in the warm chocolate cocoon for 20 minutes. I dozed. It was wonderful. Wonderful. My skin feels incredibly smooth and I am chocolate scented.
1:30pm - Had Manicure. Anne seemed rushed but did a good job. Not GREAT, but good enough.
2:20pm - Met Amy and Dad at Yvonne's where we picked up my dress. Drove to Franklin Suites and checked into my Suite - it's large nad has a big fancy bed and a whirlpool tub. It's my favorite hotel room ever. It's filled with antique looking furniture so it feels homey and there's free wifi. Life doesn't get much better than this.
3:45pm - Amy and I head back towards Clifton Park while I fret over there not being enough time to get to Crossgates or Colonie Center to run an errand and clean my ring. We stop in Clifton Park Center and are able to accomplish both tasks. Stop on the way to the Parent's house so that Amy can pick up Phil's suit. Drop off Amy at the folk's and realize that I haven't eaten since early this AM and the spa treatments have taken a lot out of me (shut up - it's totally true). Stop and get a 4 piece chicken McNugget which I eat on the way back to the Hotel.
5:20pm - Arrived back at the Hotel. Ironed my dress for rehearsal. Fielded some phone calls. Did hair and makeup, got dressed.
5:50pm - Dad arrives with JJ, Jen, Jonathan, and Ashley, who've just arrived by train. They take quick showers and get dressed and we head across the street for the rehearsal.
6:30pm - Rehearsal begins. Goes very quickly because we've got a simple ceremony. Diana is our on-site coordinator and she rocks. She looked through my program with me, asked me a few questions and then ran the rehearsal. Our tables were all set up and looked fabulous. She told me that I should go into business for myself because in the 14 years that she's worked with the Plaza, she's never seen anything like the menu cards, place cards, and programs that I made. Damn right!
7:30pm - Rehearsal Dinner at the Dakota begins. Food is excellent and everyone seems to have a great time. Alex thanks everyone for coming while I hide behind him - when did I become shy? We hand out gifts and I hand out an itinerary for tomorrow's events. The girls giggle at me while the boys look at me like I'm a freak. Whatever - it stems from all those guard shows - you can't go to a show without getting a sheet about it first. Knowledge is power, people, and I want to keep everyone well informed! Begin to get a little hyper/excited/freaked out when dinner is coming to an end: "Oh my God, tomorrow is really here. Tomorrow is really tomorrow." Wish for tomorrow to be in a few weeks or months. I'm excited for everything but that means that the planning will have to end. And I SOOOOooo enjoyed the planning!
10:30pm - Arrive back in hotel room. Tell myself not to turn on the computer but can't help myself. Start writing long rambling post about tomorrow. Keep yawning. Should go to bed. Hopefully I will not wake up at 6:30am tomorrow like every other day this week. Oh well. If I do, I've got Harry Potter to keep my company...
Yawn. Sleep Now - I hope! And then Tomorrow - Wow. Tomorrow....
How freaking crazy is that?! CRAZY!!!
I woke up today again at 6am. Annoying. I think it's nerves. I'm not sure why I'm feeling like that - I've got pretty much everything done. Amy and Wham helped me tons with some of the DIY stuff so that was all done pretty much by Sunday night. All of the "wedding crap" (accessories, props, etc) is out of the apartment and either already down at Franklin Plaza or is at the Folk's house waiting to be taken over this AM. I feel like I've got everything pretty much under control!
I guess the nerves come in because while I've consulted my many, many checklists, I'm nervous that I'm forgetting something. I know what I need to do to get finished up in the next two days: pack for my nights at the hotel, confirm the hotel for the honeymoon, start packing for the honeymoon, make sure that I have the marriage certificate in with my “wedding day stuff”, make sure the boy puts someone in charge of my ring, get a pedicure and eyebrow wax, have my spa day tomorrow, pick up my gown, and check into the Franklin Suites. Once that’s all done, it’s really wedding time! I just hope that I'm not forgetting anything important.
We found out on Monday night that Beck is not going to be able to be at the wedding. :( It's sad, of course, that she can't be there but Mother Nature will do what she has to do so there's no use getting too upset about it. She also found out that she'll be getting induced on Sunday so that means that probably by Sunday night she's going to have her baby!!! We'll have a ton of photos and our DVD - which our videographer ships to us within a week after the wedding! - to share with her afterwards and I'll make sure to set aside one each of the DIY projects that I did so that she can have some little pieces of the day. Her mom told us Monday that Beck was really upset about it, but I hope that she's doing better now - I hope that she's focusing on the little peanut that's on his or her way! That's the most exciting thing ever!!! I hope that she has the baby early in the day on Sunday - maybe Alex and I can stop by the hospital on our way down to JFK. I don't want to go to London without knowing that everything went OK!
I'm going into work today because I am a crazy person, which means that I need to start getting ready. I really, really, really would rather not go into work because I'm starting to feel insane and work stresses me out and I really don't need that on top of everything else. I've decided that I'll only go in a half day, though. There are some things for a couple of my clients that I really want to get done so that no one else has to get saddled with it while I'm gone and once I get that stuff done I'm out of there today! Then, it's off for a pedicure and eyebrow wax and then back here to start packing.
40 hours, 45 minutes remaining!!!!!
I will be married at the end of this week. Today is Monday, I get married on Friday. Insane. Insanity.
I was up pretty late last night trying to pull together all of the remaining projects. Amy came over and was here for almost 6 hours helping me finish off the DIY stuff for the wedding day. She then brought it all up to the parents house so that they can take it with them to Franklin Plaza today when they go to meet with them and finalize everything. She is a saint. I can't believe how long it took to finish everything up. Things I've learned about DIY projects: you always need more materials than you think and it will always take longer than you expect. Oh, and you'll always think of just one more thing that you wanted to do or you think you should have done. Wham will tell you that Dad acts the same way with the house. It must be a Wollyung thing.
So yeah. It's Monday. I have today, tomorrow, and Wednesday left to finish up any of the Wedding related chores that I want to get done. Unfortunately, I have to work as well. I don't have too much left to do - must write Thank you notes for attendant/parent/reader gifts and wrap those gifts, have to finish up two very simple DIY projects for the out-of-towner gift bags, have to pull together a list of people for group shots for the photographer, have to confirm all the vendors, etc. Not all that much left, actually. There is a ton of stuff to be done around the house (my DIY whirlwind has left the apartment a MESS) but Alex has the entire week off (brat) and so I've got a list started for him on the fridge.
I can't believe it's so close. I can't believe it'll be here so soon - and then it will be over. Insane. So much planning goes into one day - I'm very happy that we'll be getting a DVD and tons of pictures to remember it all! (Which reminds me that I'd like to be able to somehow get the word out to folks that if they're taking digital camera pictures, I'd love for them to share them with me... Have to figure out what the easiest way to do that is...)
I should be getting ready for work (which is going to be busy and hellish these next few days) but I'm glued to this computer obsessing over what I need to make sure that I do. I need to relax - I've got a VERY detailed to do list with 26 open items to be completed this week and I'm pretty sure that I'm not missing anything off the list. I woke up this morning before the alarm went off and was immediately wide awake. I think the freaking out is beginning. Hopefully I can ward that off with organization and planning. :)
In other news: Beck should be having the baby very shortly! She'll be going to the doctor today and is a week over her due date so will be able to "talk inducement" with the doc. Hopefully everything goes well for her today! I can't wait to meet her baby... I can't believe she's going to be a mommy! I predicted that the baby is a little girl. I guess that's my "official" prediction now as it's on my blog. ;) Can't wait to find out!
Also, we got our Harry Potter books on Saturday morning and I'm already a third of the way through. Can't wait to finish up all the wedding projects tonight so I can get back to the book!!! ;)
July Rocks.
I still have 51 open tasks left on my wedding related to do list, but tonight I have SUCKED big time with getting stuff done. All I could do all night was surf Engaget's posts on the iPhone. It is the coolest thing ever. Alex and I are planning on buying each other one for Christmas - well, a late Christmas gift as my Sprint contract doesn't expire until February. Gives us plenty of time to save up - and maybe by then we'll be into the next generation of them. I'm completely obsessed at the moment with my need for one. So cool. Went to the Apple store the other week and played with one and totally fell in love. Sprint sent me a "loyalty reward" today. If I call and sign up for another 2 year agreement, I get a $100 service credit. The mailing was totally geared towards their younger customers by the look of the font and graphics. Sorry Sprint: the iPhone had me at hello.
I also somehow stumbled across the Nabaztag/tag wifi bunny. How cute is that?! He can tell you the time, read you RSS feeds, play your subscribed to podcasts, tell you the weather, and send and receive messages to friends. Soooo adorable! I envision how cute it would be if the family got one as well - we could send little messages through our bunnies back and forth from Dubai. Weeeeeee!
OK. I'm loopy. Must get back to wedding chores. Oh! And tomorrow's my birthday - yay! But then I'm old - boo!
