1st faux pas

the other day 1st lady Laura Bush wore a $8500 Oscar de Larenta dress to a party... and so did 3 other people.

This dress shouldn't have been worn by anyone. Luckily she was able to run upstairs and change.

But really, if you're going to spend that much money, you can do better! I think it looks like festive curtains. a little too matronly for me.

Thanksgiving

Thanksigving is supposed to be a day to be thankful, but in reality it's a day to stuff our faces

TV time

sooo...yesterday we did it. we bought the new TV a Sony Grand Wega 60 inches LCD rear projection. It fits nicely in the corner of our apartment. a little ostentatious, but it's really cool.

we also picked up the new Nintendo Wii and Zelda. Last night we drove by Toys R Us and the line for it was litterally wrapped around the store. I believe they had a midnight launch, so people didn't have to sleep over, but still! they could have pre-ordered it and picked it up in the morning. we also have another one coming from amazon, for our use. the one from today is currently on E-bay.

PS3 madness

This morning, at promptly 10:00 am, the Playstation 3 makes its debut for the 2006 holiday season. Apparently there has been a lot of buzz about the $600.00 video game console. They are even going on EBay for around $2000.00!!!

Dan being the smart geek that he is, has decided that we don't need a PS3 right away, we can wait until the price comes down after Christmas, but that didn't stop him from buying one to sell on EBay. About a month ago, at places like Game Stop and EB games, they had a pre-sale. You could put a deposit and save your place for the release day. He got in line about 7:00 and waited until 10:00 when the store opened.

The dumb geeks have decided to buy their PS3 at places like Best Buy and Circuit City. Those places didn't have the fancy pre-sale of the geekier stores like Game Stop, so people have been waiting in line overnight since, and I kid you not, MONDAY for a release date of FRIDAY. Last night, we did a driveby of Best Buy just too see it, and there they were, with their little tents waiting for their video games.

Anyway, we're hoping to get a nice flat screen plasma TV with the proceeds from the PS3 sale.

Redskins Fan?

Sunday, I went to my first NFL football game. Pretty exciting. We left the house at 9:00 am to get to the game and tailgate in the parking lot. Overall it was a pretty good time. The Redskins played the Cowboys and won 22 to 19.

Reston, VA

today I'm writing from lovely Reston, VA, home of Morgan Stanley's smaller office in the area. This office is relatively quiet.
This office is further away than the one I usually work in. I left the house at 7:30, but did not get there until 9:00 today. This morning I also got pulled over. Not for speeding, not for going through a red light or changing lanes without signaling. I got pulled over for my plates!!! So apparently my Massachusetts plates expired 2 months ago and I need to get Virginia ones. They give me 5 days to get new plates before I get in trouble. I forgot to ask if Sunday counts since the DMV is not open!
Reston sure is a pain in the butt to get to. I have to travel on the same bumper to bumper highway that I take to get to my regular site, go past that and get on another highway where there are 2 tolls in my shorter ride. There is a toll to get on and a toll to get off. I'm not sure why, it doesn't make sense. Why not pay a dollar once instead of 50 cents twice? or if it's different for distances, why not do the ticket at the begining and pay at the end? the 2 tolls really messes with the traffic!

So it is post-Halloween and there is candy EVERYWHERE. it's hard to resist since I like candy so much. I'll admit I've had a few peices here and there. I wish it was all stuff I don't like so I wouldn't be tempted!

off the plateau

so....for the past month and a half, i'd been plateaued in my weight loss. up 0.2 down 0.2 each week. no fun. but! this week, i was down 1.2! finally off my plateau, i hope. it seems as if all i talk about is my weight, so i think i'll talk about clothes.

i deal with clothes quite a bit. not just because i wear them every day (duh!) but because i work at a clothing store. sometimes i think about brands and trends and such. like this year, for example, the leopard print. very in. now i never thought i'd like the look, but i do, and why on earth would i want to spend money on this trend that has a short shelf life? i thought i'd like to have a pair of leopard ballet flats....but, do you spend the money on a nice pair or go for the cheap version. i went for this cheap Target version.

i sometimes wonder where you draw the line between quality and price. like these $775.00 Michael Kors boots. i like them a lot. they're nice and pretty and could go with a lot of outfits. but what makes these boots so special? is it that michael kors designed them? is it the fabric? the labor?
i also like this J Crew version. they're nice. they are minus the platform and the heel is lower, but other than that, pretty similar. and for $258.00 (or with my discount $103.00) they seem a lot nicer. they wouldn't be bad boots to have. i'm sure they'd hold up....so i guess after all this rambling, my question is this:
i know sometimes we get what we pay for, but at what point are we just paying extra for the name?

Diamonds are a girl's BEST friend

So imagine all this stuff being yours! You'd probably be a go-jillionaire because these are all heirloom peices at the museum of national history. The second one down is the Hope Diamond. I don't remember which the others are, but they're nice, and even nicer in person.

Anyway, this weekend I'm very excited because The Nightmare Before Christmas is playing in 3D at theaters all over the country. I originally planned to go Saturday night after work, but it is Dan's Aunt's birthday and we have to go do that. Sunday he said "well, i'm watching football" But I'm making him go if I have to go to his Aunt's birthday.
Halloween movies are fun!

Before & After

or should I say after and before. The picture on the left is of me from this weekend at Lauren's wedding. I'm wearing my last minute emergency dress because the dress that I had picked out (and loved...and loved the $66 price tag) was TOO BIG in the chest area of all places. This dress was nice and it seems like something I can wear again. Overall I had a good time at the wedding. I'm not really a fan of the bubble church, but it's her parish, so that's OK. The reception was nice. The Hyatt at the airport had an awesome view of the Boston skyline.



It was really nice being home, asside from the sucffle with Eleanor the Evil. I got to see Annabelle and Jack after my encounter with the Evil, so they brightened my day. The leaves have already turned up north, so everything was so pretty.

Anyway, the picture on the top right is me on the day before I started Jenny, 15.6 pounds ago. Pay no attention to the outfit. I was just lounging around at home on a Sunday, but I really think you can tell the difference. I'd like to wear a size 6 or 8 even. Right now, I'm a 10 in J crew clothes. I'm not sure if they run big, but they're the only pants I've purchased recently. On top, I'm still a size large shirt. I don't think that would change unless I had surgery. It's the curse of Auntie Katie I suppose. Overall, I'm happy with the way things are going. During the last month, I haven't actually lost any weight. I've had visitors, 2 weddings, and my birthday. It was something different each week that involved CAKE! I do love cake, but it's time to start being a little strict again. I've figured out how to maintian, but now I need to lose that last little bit. I'm going to treat myself to 2 non-Jenny dinners a week so I don't go crazy. Their lunches and breakfasts don't bother me at all, but for some reason, dinner is when I want better food, so twice a week I will either cook or go out.

That's all for now, but I will post again soon

unhappy wednesday

So the world debut of Suri Cruise. I'm not sure what all the hype was about. It's just a baby. She's cute. Maybe she came out funny looking and they wanted to wait until she got cute. Perhaps we can all stop wondering where she came from. It still is a little suspicious to wait 5 months to let your baby out in public....

This is the Fendi B Bag. I like it, it's almost my birthday, so it should be mine. Who cares about the price? Oh not me!

In other news, my root canal is today. Ouch. I'm not looking forward to this at all!

weight update

Since I haven't mentioned it in a while, I thought I would. Sooooooo...I am down a total of 14.4 pounds. Even though the loss has slowed, I still feel good. I'm headed in the right direction. I have about 35 more pounds to go, to make it a total of 50 pounds. I was also talking to the girls at Jenny and they said I'm on target to reach my goal maybe by february or march. Sounds good to me. Definitely in time to buy a bikini for next summer!!!

keep on truckin'

Today I checked in at Jenny Craig to find out that I'm down exactly one pound this week, which brings my total to about 12. Not bad I think.
My challenge this week is Jackie's visit. She'll be here Thursday night and leave then she's leaving Sunday. My plans are to take her into DC to see monuments and museums and such on friday, on saturday, go to King's Dominion (an amusement park) in Williamsburg on Saturday, and Sunday I'm not sure. Maybe shop at the outlets.

Also...This weekend I bought golf clubs. Very exciting. I went to the driving range and hit some balls. It's surprisingly fun. I never thought I'd like golf, but I went with Dan and now I like it a lot. I'm not as bad as I thought I would be for a beginner. Just call me Tiger!

milestone!

On my weight loss journey, I have reached my first official benchmark and passed the 10 lbs mark at down 11.2. They also took measurements my first week. I'm down 2.5 inches in the waist/hips area, but NOTHING in the chest area. No surprise there. I'd be a DD even if I were the size of Nicole Richie. That would be pretty scary.
This is pretty exciting for me. I can't wait until I need new jeans! I really want a pair of designer jeans. I have a pair of Seven's because they are the only ones that fit, but I would like True Religions. They have cuter butt pockets.

Fashion Don't!!!

Check out the foot on the left. I just had to post this because hose with sandals is the fashion "don't" that gets to me the most. The receptionist at my office is guilty of the crime every day. It looks terrible and gives me the shivers because I find it so foul. It kind of makes you look like you have webbed feet. Isn't the point of sandals to show your toes? My office doesn't have a policy that one must wear hose, so I don't see the point of this offense. If you don't like your toes, wear close-toed shoes!

Don't Cry For Me Argentina

So...I am 25 years old. Inching toward 26 and I have never been out of the country. Well, actually, I've been to Canada and Mexico, but you don't need a passport to go there so they don't really count.
I've always wanted to travel. I always figured I'd go to Europe first. England, Italy, Germany...somewhere I'm somewhat fimiliar with. I would like to take this first trip with Dan, but since he's been everywhere, he suggested Argentina. Dan has been to 5 of our 7 lovely continents, not South America or Antarctica. At first I kind of thought "what the hell is in Argentina besides soccer and former Nazis?"
Well I started researching it, and it seems pretty cool. Buenos Aires is supposed to be the new "it" place to go. It's being called "the Paris of South America"

Argentina is also known for it's great seak houses, Mendoza wines, skiing in the Andes, and glaciers.
The place I'm looking forward to going the most is Ushuaia, also know as "the city at the end of the world". It's the small city at the very very bottom of South America in the Antarctic Circle. From there, you can also take a glacier cruise to Antarctica.

Anyway, I'm still planning and thinking about this, but I think it seems really fun and interesting

this week

This week, I lost 2.4 pounds. That pretty good. I definitely wasn't expecting to lose another 6 pounds. That would be unhealthy. The first week is usually big, but then 1 to 2 pounds a week is normal. This brings my total lost to 8.6. Not bad. I can't tell the difference in the way I look yet, but I do feel better. I don't feel full and bloated all the time. What I'm most excited for is buying a new pair of jeans and a nice dress for Lauren's wedding. By October, I should be able to buy the dress I like, not the one I have to get because it's the only one that fits.

And speaking of Lauren, I find it pretty scary that people my age are getting married! I am also going to a wedding of a friend of Dan's from high school in September. I still feel too young. Sometimes I feel like I'm playing house or something. It also amazes me that I'm in Virginia living so far away from everyone I know. Occasionally I think "what am I doing here?" I never pictured myself in Virginia. The tobacco state. You can still smoke in bars and restaurants here and cigarettes only cost $3.50 (ish).

Anyway, tonight, Dan and I are going to see Spamalot. It's a Monty Python play. Then, Monday the market is only opened a half day and tuesday it's closed! I don't have any 4th of July plans yet, but I'm sure DC has some good celebrations!

Update!

Sooo...It has been 1 week since I began Jenny Craig. One week means first weigh-in. I am happy to report that I am down 6.2 pounds! Can you believe that? I am awfully proud of myself. It was particularly difficult this weekend when I was home sick watching TV. Every other commercial is about food. One for Appleby's, one for Fruit Loops, One for the new Blizzard at Dairy Queen, KFC, etc. It's crazy!
I was able to fight my way through it. The results were worth it. Next week, I'm expecting a smaller loss, but that's OK as long as I'm on the right track.

Challenge!

So, I've gained a bit of weight since I moved here. Actually I gained a bit of weight before too. I got sick of it and decided to join Jenny Craig. It's actually not bad at all. I'm not famished all the time and the food is decent. Some of it is actually good.

Today...I had my first major chanllenge! My office brought in PF Chang's for lunch. They had rice and lo mein and general gao's, lettuce wraps. All sorts of stuff that was not the best for you. I really really wanted some lo mein. It's just so good. Food, I guess, is my crack. I was able to resist though, they had a steamed veggie platter, so I had some of that and my small Jenny's turkey burger and Jenny popcorn. *sigh* I'm pleased that I was able to resist. Usually the first challenge is the hardest. I can do it! I can be bathing suit ready by the end of the summer...

Actually, that's partially what I was hoping for. My 2 year anniversary with Dan is in September (it's been that long already? Yes). Perhaps we can go away somewhere sunny.

In other news, I am currently watching the world cup of soccer. England vs. Trinidad and Tobago! Tied 0-0

Origami Master

These are some of my origami projects, a pig, bird, and 2 dinosaurs. They're pretty simple models. The orange one was a little more difficult, so I'm pretty happy with him.

Dan is Back

Dan is back from China. Jet lag made him wake up in the middle of the night for a week. Things seem to be back to normal. Although, he does not want Chinese food for a while.

He saw some cool things like the Great Wall, The Yangtze River, and the Starbucks in the Forbidden City.

My new hobby of Origami

A few weeks ago, when we went to visit the cherry blossoms, we also visited the exhibit of a Japanese artist named Hokusai at the Sackler museum. Hokusai was the guy who painted "The Wave". Anyway, that museum is the Asian art museum and in the gift shop I found some Origami books.

I didn't buy a book at first, I just looked up some diagrams on the internet. After successfully making 3 different birds and a pig, I decided to buy a book and some pretty paper. In Dan's absence I needed something to do besides watch TV. So far, I've really only made those birds and the pig. It's harder than it looks. I've tried to make a bear, but I get stuck. Hopefully I can figure it out. It's pretty neat. I of course use plain paper until I get it right, but it looks like I may be stuck with the easy birds and the pig. I do like the pig, it's cute and I had some pink paper for it.

Unfortunately Dan has the camera in China, so I can't take any pictures of my projects, but I will be sure to post them when my camera returns.

We're talkin' about China here!

So Dan is leaving for China on Saturday morning. Although I think it's kind of neat that he gets to go to China, I'm also a little jealous. After this visit, he'll only need to go to South America to have visited every continent. I don't even have a passport! The most cultured I get is Canada.

I remember that when I was young (little Danny's age, in fact), I really wanted to visit China because my BFF Betty Chin was Chinese and I thought her culture was so cool. At the time, I didn't realize that it was an over-populated communist country. All I knew was that everyone rode bikes. I haven't seen Betty in almost 15 years. I wonder what she's up to.

Anyway, I'm going to be alone in Virginia for 2 weeks. The thought is a little scary. Not only will I be lonely without Dan, I don't know how to get anywhere that isn't near our house or near my work. The receptionist at my work (who is mom aged) offered to give me her number in case I need anything. I think that was awfully nice of her. She's from Massachusetts too.

I hope Dan brings back some fun Chinses souvenirs. He wants to buy cheap electronics so he can sell them on Ebay.

red sox away game

Sunday afternoon, I went to Baltimore to see the Red Sox play the Orioles. I thought I'd be a minority in my Red Sox gear, but there were so many Red Sox fans there, it was almost like being at home! The chants were "let's go Red Sox" not Orioles. Go figure. We sat along the left field foul pole. A nice view to see Manny Ramirez scratch his bum for half of the game. Even with the bum scratching, a nice time was had by all. Luckily Sunday was a beautiful day. The Orioles' stadium was nice and Baltimore wasn't as gross as I thought it would be.

Cherry Blossom-tastic

Not so many years before world war II, Japan gave the US a gift of cherry blossom trees. They are the only foreign plant in the US. Several years later, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and became enemies. Still we got to keep the pretty pink trees. They bloom in Washington DC every year for about 2 weeks, so Dan and I went to see them in person.

New Haircut

I got bangs. I'm so NOW!

Mardi Gras!

I am listening to the news about Mardi Gras in New Orleans. They're wondering if it's a good idea since they city is still in shambles. Well I think it's a good idea. They need business in that city and they also need to have some happy times.
But...in the spirit of Mardi Gras, the whole purpose is to indulge before lent. I haven't really given anything up for lent successfully in a couple years. In the past it's been stuff like soda, chocolate, pastries from Starbucks. This year I've decided to give up shopping/buying stuff. Of course I'll have to buy things like food, hygene products like soap, gas for my car, etc. I'm really talking about things I don't need like a new shirt, sunglasses, shoes, books, makeup etc. No shopping for myself until after Easter.
So if I'm going to follow this, today is my day to indulge. I have to buy Dan a birthday present today since his b-day is thursday, I may just pick myself up something small too!

Lucie visits DC

This weekend Lucie visited DC. We had a nice time, mostly relaxing. We visited the outlets in Leesburg, did a little sight seeing, and saw Brad Carson from college (who lives in Quantico and is now a Marine). A good time was had by all, except that it was cold the whole weekend!

I've set up a webshots account so to see more pictures, go to

http://community.webshots.com/user/thehube02

my weekend

Today I'm slightly sad because on my way to work this morning, I noticed the beginings of a cold sore!!! These always throw me off for a few days because I feel like the cold sore overtakes my face and I can constantly feel it there. It seems like people are looking at it thinking "eew it's Herpes Girl" Damn cold sores to HELL!!!

Other than the terrible herpes on my lip, things have been going well. This weekend, we drove up to MA to get the rest of my stuff. Including the couch. It's lovely to have a couch. I really like it. I also have a book case, so my books are not spread all over the place any more. Little things like the couch, book case, pictures and stuff are making my apartment more like a home and less like a dorm room.

The ride to Boston wasn't so bad, Dan drove until just before the New York border and I drove, from New York on. The impending snow storm, however, made our journey difficult. We planned to pack the truck Saturday morning and stay until Sunday, relax and see some people. But, in order to beat the snow, we packed and turned right around. I drove Dan's car and he drove the truck with our stuff in it. Things were going well until southern Connecticut (near SHU) when it started to snow. By the time we reached New Jersey, the snow was full force! It took a total of 10 hours to get home, which we finally reached at midnight, only to wake up the next morning, shovel, then move furniture in the snow.

Even though, it was a pain, it's now done and we have a couch. I've also decided I'm not moving again for a while.

a post with pictures!

finally, I have gotten around to posting pictures of my new apartment. I've been here exactly one month today and we still have no couch. The place is pretty messy because half of our stuff is not here. Everything is just scattered. Either way, here are the pictures featuring my snazzy Ikea furniture!

end of the day. my ipod is broken, so I'm off to the mall to the Apple store to see if they can fix it. When I turn it on, it shows a sad face and tells me to go get help! Oh well...

Also, tomorrow should be time for the stitches to come out. It pretty yucky looking. I hope it doesn't hurt!

I'm going home for Annabelle's b-day. I miss her and the Jack and Michael and Danny. :-)

lost

so yes, the inevitable happened. I got lost. So lost, in fact, that I ended up in MARYLAND. I was in the wrong state. I had been staying in Springfield at Dan's parent's house, but yesterday our bed came and we stayed in Alexandria for the first time. I went a different way to work. I take 495 to work. So DC is a little confusing and the highways basically make a circle around the city called the "beltway" and for a point 95 and 495 are the same. The signs said 95N/495W or 95S/495E. I figured Tyson's Corner (where I work) is north or where I live, so I went North. This was apparently wrong because I didn't recognize anything. By the time I had a place to turn around, I had crossed the Woodrow Wilson bridge into Maryland. So 495E and 95S are the same thing. Go figure. That was my lovely morning. Oh well, you learn and now I know better for monday

Here in VA

Here I am in, still at Morgan Stanley, but in Vienna VA. I'm sharing an office with a guy named Jason, who is pretty cool. He's a HUGE football fan. Virginia Tech in particular. One thing I have noticed about living in the south is that everyone loves college football. So far so good at my office. They are a little more flexible with times when I come and go. It doesn't have to be exactly 9 to 5, it can be 8 to 4 or 8:30 to 4:30, which ever I choose. They like us to stay until 4 because that is when the stock market closes, but other than that, it's OK. I like that I can leave a little earlier than before.

As for our apartment, I haven't slept there yet. The water was turned on today, and our bed won't get there until Thursday. Yesterday we made fun Target and Ikea trips. We got a table and 4 chairs for $100.00 from Ikea. I know that seems a little cheap, maybe it will fall apart, but it's fine. We'll only have it for a couple years anyway. We got pots and pans from Target, all sorts of apartment stuff. The place isn't put together at all, we have 2 more chairs and the entertainment stand for the TV to assemble. There are so many little things I need, it all adds up and gets pretty expensive.

Once the apartment gets put together, I'll take some pictures and post them here.