Brand New Car!

I bought a new car!!! It's a Honda Civic LX. Just like the one below, it is also blue. I'm not sure that it looks like the exact shade. I think mine looks more metallic. Either way, it's brand new. I drove it home yesterday, and when I got in it, it had 6 miles on it. It's pretty nice, it has 2 doors for the sporty look and it's a 5 speed manual. Civics also come in 4 doors, but I wanted a coupe. Next time I buy a car (in 5 + years), I may have kids and need to buy a mom-mobile (SUV, never a mini van).

http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-coupe/price.aspx?Model=FG1168EW

A week ago, I almost bought a Nissan Sentra. I loved the Altima, but it was slightly too expensive to finance, and I didn't want to lease. I was THIS CLOSE to buying the Sentra, but the dealer was a horrible jerk. He was pushy and mean. I decided to walk out. The next day, I was feeling sad and decided to test drive a Civic and I was plesantly surprised. I liked the way it drove, so I put it on my short list, test drove it again this saturday and here I am on tuesday and it is sitting in my driveway.

I spoke to several people I know that own Hondas and not a single person had a bad thing to say. Many, like my co-worker Suzanne, have had multiple. She had 2 Civics and just bought her 2nd Accord last year. Dan, of course, was biased because he has a Pilot (the Honda SUV) and loves his car. Jackie has a Civic from 1989 and it still runs well. Her car is older than many college students!!!

Another plus is that the dealership gave me a coupon book for free oil changes and discounted scheduled maintenaces for the life of the car!

Race For The Cure

This year, I'm particpating in National Race For The Cure.
It's a 5K run/walk in DC in to raise money for Breast Cancer. I've decided to actually run along with a couple people from work, we've started a Morgan Stanley team. If you want to donate to me or Team Morgan Stanley, click the link below. This will also be my first race (for running)!

https://www.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=263218&lis=0&kntae263218=9C1F9E4B341C49A1848695D0156E38F4&supId=0&team=2741779

new (to me) car

Could this be the car of my future?????

This is the 2007 Nissan Altima.

So, my car Jetta 2 is near the end of its lease. My last payment is is May, so I've begun the hunt for a new car. My first thought was to get a Volvo. Or a BMW. The expensive, not responsible choice. I also had a thought to test drive a Nissan. Saturday afternoon, I test drove a Volvo (which I really liked) and a new Nissan Altima.

After a little thought, I realized that leasing an expensive car may not be the best option. So there was the Altima. Then I realized that I don't want to squander the savings that I built up. A car's value drops the moment it leaves the lot. So fine. An 07. Not too many miles, only 1 year old. The only trick is finding one with the options that I want. I've been searching inventories and I can't find a manual transmission within 100 miles of here!!! Le sigh! I may have to go for the automatic. I like that no one else can drive my car. We'll see what happens though, maybe the guy at the dealership has a trick up his sleeve. I'd like to have a new one within the next month!!!

zut alors!!!

last night, round about 10:30, Dan's father yells downstairs "hey there's house on fire!" Lo and behold, a house about 2 houses away is up in flames. And really the house is engulfed. It looked like a scene from a movie, but it wasn't in a movie. It was down the street. Had the wind been bad, it may have been on us. It literally the WORST fire I've seen up close in my life.
Junior year, building 7 of Avalon (where friends lived) burned on the top floor (my friends were on the bottom and had no damage.) This fire destroyed a single family house. Down to the ground nothing left. The houses on either side of it had small salvageable damage.
The strangest thing about it is that I can't find any news articles about it online, nor did I see anything on the news. What caused it? Was there anyone inside? I have no idea!
How scary is that? What would I try to save? Most of my stuff I could live without, but it would make me pretty sad to lose Thomas the Bear.

Remember me?

Remember the Pogo Ball?? I had one in the 80's. If I remeber correctly, mine was a black ball with red round disc. Not sure what reminded me of it, but these were fun and good exercise. I'd like one, so if you happen to see one in the stores, let me know. 80's toys were great!!! Maybe I'm partial, but that's OK.

Support SHU

I'm not a huge basketball follower, but tonight, Sacred Heart is playing for a chance to be in the NCAA basketball tournament. They are on ESPN 2 at 7:00!!!
VERY EXCITING!!

Stock Brokers are retarded

This is the office recycle bin. We never had one until yesterday. People have been bugging Mary, our office's do it all person, for one. Finally one appears. Mary sends an office wide email saying that ONLY empty beverage containers, like plastic bottles or aluminum cans can go in or they won't take the recycleables. What do we find??? Napkins and sweet & low packets. This memo went out not once, but twice. The original, and after the initial napkin violation.

I'm Domestic!!!

I made lasagne! With directions from mom, I made "less bad for you" lasagne. It had wheat pasta, part skim ricotta and part skim mozzarella (jar sauce. i'm not that talented yet). I must say, it was pretty good. Dan liked it and so did his parents. You can barely taste the wheat under all the sauce and cheese. The cheese is also barely different. So, if you need lasagne, but also need to save some calories, try this!

I wouldn't recomend it if you are baking for a large group. When I told people at work about it, all but one were turned off by the wheat pasta.

ice skating

Monday was Martin Luther King Day, and Dan and I both had the day off from work. I'd been wanting to go ice skating for the longest time, but Dan was VERY reluctant. He was afraid that he'd fall and break his wrists or bruise his knees of his butt would get wet.

But he promised me that he'd go around once. And he did. He acutally went twice! Very slowly, but at least he went.

I, on the other hand, was worried that I'd forget how and fall. Luckily, I didn't. Other than my feet being a little uncomfortable, it was fun. There were lots of kids since It was a holiday for schools too, so I couldn't go as fast as I'd like. Still, I miss skating and mostly hockey. Hopefully we can go again!!!

sports time!

The time in the winter between the end of football and the begining of baseball is dreadful. It's the coldest grayest time of the year. Now that I don't really ski anymore, there's nothing to do in february and march. They also don't really air hockey on TV much anymore (although the Bruins will be in DC in March)
Luckily, I have something to look forward to. As the Orioles are in the same division as the Red Sox, they frequently visit Baltimore. Today, Dan and I bought tickets for 2 games in May and one in August. For the May games, my friend Melissa and his friends Mike and Joe will be visiting. His friend Sean also bought tickets to the same game. Very fun!

I really want to go skiing. I miss it so much, but the closest place is over 3 hours from here. It's not really worth it to go for just the day. It would have to be a big weekend event, and for some reason, people are always wishy washy about making plans. I'd also have to rent equipment, which I'm reluctant to do. I know that sounds snobby, but I don't think I've EVER rented skis!!!
Looks like another ski-less winter :-(
Something that may be easier to to is ice skate, something I'd also have to rent. It's kind of funny though, not many people in Virginia ice skate at all. There may be 2 rinks in the area and that's it! In Boston, there's at least 1 rink in every town. Even still, I'm determined to go skating. Dan says he's only been once in his life and he's reluctant to go because he may get hurt. I'm not sure how I love someone who does not love winter sports like skiing and hockey, so he must be pretty special.

this is amusing

You Are 76% Massachusetts

You're pretty Massachusetts, but you're starting to slip. Go eat a bulky roll and flip off a New Yorker.

How Massachusetts Are You?

Basement Dweller

Well, I've changed the title of my blog. I live in a house and it happens to be in Virginia....When I named this blog a few years ago, Daniel had thrown me a theme birthday party where everyone dressed up as a young celebrity, he called it "the young hollywood party". "house in virginia" seems a little more appropriate now. It also happens to be the name of a song by Brendan Benson.

Anyway, as of yesterday, I am officially living in Dan's parents' basement. Saturday, his friend Sean helped us move some of the bigger thing like the couch and TV. Sunday was supposed to be the day we moved all of the little stuff, but it rained and we were stuck doing some of it after work on New Year's Eve!!!

Now this basement dwelling kind of stinks. Dan is a pack rat. He gets that from his dad, who is far worse in his pack rat-ness (yes i know i made that word up). We had to do an initial cleaning before moving in. I found receipts from (no lie) 1996!!! There's still a lot of stuff, like VHS tapes, comic books, and computer parts. Now, there's our stuff. I've managed to hang/fold most of our clothes, but it's a little difficult. Everything is in boxes and bags. Yesterday, I couldn't find my shoes. I'm not quite sure where my phone charger is. There's stuff everywhere and I don't know what to do about it.

It is nice of them to let me live there. Since we're not married, they don't HAVE to accept me. Luckily, their place is big, we have our own bathroom and truth be told, the basement is around the same size as our former apartment. If it had it's own kitchen, it would be perfect. But, rarely is free ever perfect, so I'll live. Besides, it's only temporary ;-)

2008

Inspired by Jen, I'm going to make a list. Except, my list will be thing to do/accomplish in 2008
so here goes...

1. Update the blog regularly - I never think what I do is exciting, but someone might, right? I should also put pictures on it. Which brings me to....

2. Take pictures - I have a camera for a reason, but I don't take many pictures anymore. I should also find a sight to host them too.

3. Get in shape - I plan to get a personal trainer with my year end bonus money. Hopefully this will work! I've already spoken to the guy and we are going to set up a schedule after the new year. Ever since high school (which is now officially 10 years ago) my body has been in miserable shape. No matter what whether my weight is up or down, none of it is ever muscle.

4. Run a marathon - I've never been much of a runner, but if # 3 works out, # 4 should be less hard.

5. Eat less candy - I'm a sucker for sweets like hard candy, skittles, twizlers, etc.

6. Eat fish - the smell bothers me, so I refuse to eat it. I don't like the mushy texture. I hear it can be tasty and good for you, so maybe I should give it a whirl!

7. Get my licenses - my financial licenses, that is. I have the series 7 test scheduled for february, so we'll see what happens from there

8. Visit a place that requires a passport - it's been 27 years and I have yet to travel abroad. Maybe this will be the year!

well, it looks like that should be enough for now! hopefully some of it gets done :-)

I want it!

http://www.jcrew.com/catalog/product.jhtml?id=prod89213241&catId=cat270139

I want this sweater. It's a navy blue hooded sweater with a little skier on the pocket. Of course I will just buy it myself since it's from J Crew. But, I just thought I'd share because it's so cute :-)

another month goes by

another month goes by, another month in which i forgot to update.

This time of the year is pretty busy. Last week I was in Boston for Thanksgiving. It was nice seeing the family, especially the kids. It was also nice to see some friends.

Mostly, I've been trying to shop. For other people that is! Going in and out of stores makes me want to buy things for myself, but I haven't. I'd like a new dress for the company holiday party, but I've resisted. Christmas presents are kind of stressful. I can never figure out what to get and stay in budget. I hate feeling like I spent too much on one person at the expense of someone else.

Oh and I should get something for Dan's family. I REALLY don't know what to get them, even if I did have the money!

Anyway, tonight, we are going to look at a townhouse to possibly move in to. I hope this place works out.

That's all that's new with me!

Looks like I haven't updated in about a month. Not much, besides being older, has happened.
I'm pretty busy lately. Mondays there I have guitar lessons. Wednesdays, I work at J Crew. Fridays and Saturdays, I have my series 7 class.
Last night, however, I decided to join a gym. A girl that I work with at J Crew was telling me how she just took her test to be a persoal trainer at Bally's. She also mentioned that there is a brand new one near my house. So, I thought I'd check it out.
I decided to join and they give you a session with a personal trainer. I will say that I haven't worked out so hard in maybe 10 years. They are tough, they don't let you rest and they work your whole body. The nice thing is that they push you when you think you can't go on anymore. A couple times, I felt like I may throw up (I didn't)! On the way out, I could barely walk up the stairs!!!
Unfortunately, the PT is a little expensive. Perhaps I can save for it and do it after the new year. Right before Christmas is a little difficult, seeing as I have so many toys and cute outfits to buy. I've also decided to get Dan a watch since he doesn't have one.

But, if anyone wants to get me a PT package for christmas, I could do that!

F.F. and my b-day

This weekend was special for many reasons. First of all it was my birthday. I got some nice cards and calls and presents (including that 80GB ipod I just blogged about from Dan). I got to talk to Danny about video games, Michael talked about the guitar and Annabelle serenaded me with "happy birthday". Jack wasn't in the mood for the phone.
I'm not sure how I feel about being 27 because I've passed from "mid 20's" to "late 20's". I remember, when I was younger, thinking that 27 was old because several rock stars (Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, and Janis Jopplin) died at age 27 and they had lived a long life.
On the day of my birthday, Dan and I went to the Redskins game (they blew a 14 point lead), but it was still fun.
In other exciting news, I also got my first win in Fantasy Football. I'm no longer in last place since I had such a good week I have moved from 12th to 9th!

10 years!!!

Yesterday, I got something in the mail from Newton Country Day about my 10 year reunion. Save the date, May 8, 2008. I can't really believe that it's been 10 years. It got me thinking a little bit. So much has happened. I couldn't even imagine myself owning a car or not living at home.

I can't wait to see who is married and who has kids. For the 5 year, there were no marriages or children.

On a completely different note, my birthday is in a little over a week. I don't really need anything, but people from work have gone on their last summer vacations and brought back salt water taffy from the beach. I've been offered a piece here and there, but I'd like some for myself. All I want for my birthday is salt water taffy (preferably the fruit flavored or mint). Please!!!
Thanks!

covet thy neighbor's goods

Acutally, no neighbor of mine has this yet, so it's hard to covet. But still.

Apple came out with some new stuff today. The New Ipods are 80BG and 160GB. I'm not really sure how to explain how large that is other than saying my iPod is 20GB, I've only used up 8.47 GB, I have 1683 songs, which is 4.5 days of listening to music without repeating 1 song.







I'd really love that 80 GB. It's $249.99. The 160 is $349.99

What I don't actually get is that the new 16GB Nano is $199.99. Why not get the extra 72 GB for $50.00?



I must say, that I do get my money's worth on the iPod. Everyday to and from work, I plug it into my car. It saves my life in the rush hour traffic. It's much nicer than carrying around 500 cd's.

My Top Ten

Since Jen tagged me to do a top ten of my current favorites, I thought I'd be the good sister and do it. I'm not going to tag anyone in particular since I'm not really sure who reads my blog. And you are very wrong, mine are not more interesting. These are in no particular order.

1. fantasy football - so this year I was invited to join the fantasy football league at work. I've been researching all the players and as a result, I'm super excited for the upcoming football season. I don't think I've been this excited for football since I was 6 and wanted to be on the Patriots. Go Patriots!!!

2. stairway to heaven - my 17 year old guitar teacher, Ben, told me that you aren't an official guitar player until you can play "stairway". He's taught me how to play it and I feel cool. Although Dan probably hates it since it needs to be "perfect" and I keep playing it.

3. freaks and geeks - this show came out about 7 years ago and was way ahead of its time. I've been watching it on DVD and it's my new favorite show. It stars all the guys from "Knocked Up" and Marshall from "How I Met Your Mother." I wish it hadn't been canceled after one season.

4. perez hilton - this flamboyant gay cuban guy is a gossip blogger. He likes to make fun of Britney, Lindsay, and Paris, etc. It's fun and funny, so I read it every day. It's like my crack.

5. rilo kiley - is an indi band from California. They just came out with a new album a couple days ago. Their single "silver lining" is a great song. I've been listening to it non-stop. The girl from the 80's movie "troop beverly hills" is the singer!

6. running -as I've blogged about, I've been running (very slowly). My goal was to be able to go for 20 minutes without stopping and I've made it. Now I need to build on the speed thing, I'm sure it will come eventually. Next goal: MARATHON!

7. robek's - Robek's is the smoothie place near my house. They have great low calorie smoothies that taste like heaven. I get one each Saturday after guitar lessons. My favorite is called Big Wednesday which is some papaya/mango concoction.

8. the fall - the last third of the year from September to December is my favorite time of year. I love when the leaves turn colors and it's just a little bit cool out. It holds all the good holidays including my birthday, Halloween and Christmas. Thanksgiving is OK too.

9. lion boxers and fuzzy sweatshirt - last week i bought some girl boxers with lions on them and a fuzzy sweatshirt at J Crew. I actually bought Annabelle the same sweatshirt for Christmas last year, this year I had to buy one for myself in adult size (don't worry Annabelle, we have them in kids sizes again if you've outgrown yours!). Most comfortable outfit ever!

10. breathe right strips - Dan used to be the worst/loudest snorer until one day we were in the super market and I made him get breath right strips. Now he wears them to bed and he is virtually snore free, which means I sleep through the night.

whoever reads my blog should do this, and tell me you are doing it so I can see your list!