little update

I desperately needed an oil change and Dan needed his breaks done, so we went up to the Toyota dealership (even though neither of us have a toyota) because 2 of his friends, Kyle and Brian, work there. All we had to pay for was parts and dinner afterwards.

While the guys worked on the cars (Kyle and Brian worked and Dan looked and worried about grease on his hands), I walked over to the dealership to check out the cars. Toyota makes Scion cars, so after talking to the sales guy, I took a Scion TC for a test drive by myself. The car is not so bad and not very expensive (in the 17K range). It's, for all intents and purposes, a base model Camry. All I really care about is that it runs well, is safe, and has a radio, anything extra would be nice...it has a sun roof, which my current car does not. Anyway, this car will go on my short list.

In other exciting news, I'm going to see the Red Sox play the Orioles in Baltimore on Thursday.

these are pictures from Puerto Rico...a fortress called El Morro, which means "the morro" actually I'm not sure what morro means. I looked it up on babblefish translation and it told me that el morro means "the nose" but Dan doesn't seem to think that's correct.
anyway, it was built in the 1500 by the Spaniards to defend the island against pirates.
the above picture is a lizard on a tree outside Dan's apartment building.

I know I took a while to put these pictures up, but at least they're here now.

Remember When?

Remember the days when Doc Martens were just the coolest? I do. I miss those days. Just pausing to remember a moment in (my very own) fashion history. Mine were green

beatlebum35's Wish...

www.kaboodle.com

I'm off!

Thursday, Dan and I will be going to Puerto Rico (again). He claims this is the only vacation that we can afford (since we have a place to stay and and a car to drive, we only have to pay for air fare). While we're there, his grand mother will be there the whole time and his aunt will be there the first night.

Even so, I'm sure this will be a good time. Their apartment is a block from the beach. Thursday, after we get there and say hi to grandma, I plan to go to the beach and then Dan's aunt is taking us out for a nice dinner (his b-day is Friday, he'll be 28).

For his b-day on Friday, I plan on getting him a professional massage at a spa. I've had real massages from someone who was in training at massage school. And that was great. I can't imagine how one from a real professional is. Then I'm going to take him to a restaurant called Dragon Fly, which my friend Elina suggested from when she went to PR. It's a Latin/Asian fusion place. Could be good.

The rest of the time, I'm not sure what I'll do, but it will include being in warm weather!

NRA Lady

So...This weekend I did a very Republican/redneck thing.
Dan has a friend named Brian. Brian was in Iraq 2.0 and has some guns. He goes to the shooting range at the NRA to keep up with it sometimes. This Saturday, Dan and I decided to go with him. Dan had been before, but this would be my very first time holding/shooting a real gun. Brian had a semi-automatic rifle. I think it's an M16. I was pretty nervous about all this shooting.
When you get to the NRA, you have to fill out forms and take a little test to make sure that you aren't going to shoot anyone. You have to wear protective eye wear and sound proof ear phones. I was pretty nervous waiting to shoot the gun while Brian was loading it. It's kind of funny because you see guns on TV and in the movies, I think we're a little desensitized to them. They are a lot louder than I had ever imagined.
Anyway, each clip had 20 bullets. On my first go, I only hit the target once. Not very good. I was really scared and I wasn't prepared for how much kick the gun had. The second time, I was a little more relaxed and hit the target 11 times and pretty close to the center.
I think shooting the gun made me appreciate how dangerous they really are. I really don't think they should be in homes or anything. They are so violent and scary and having shot one, I'm now probably more for gun safety than I was before.

On a more fun note, Dan and I went to go see the Washington Capitals play on Saturday. It was a pretty fun game (even though we sat in the heavens). The Caps won 7-3. They have a second year player named Alex Ovechkin who is supposed to be the next greatest thing in hockey, so it was fun to see him play. I had to explain things as they were going on to Dan. I couldn't tell if he was having fun or not, but I did so that's all that matters!

Walk This Way

The other day I read an article about how Americans with desk jobs (such as myself) tend not to walk very much. They said it's good for us to walk about 10,000 steps a day, but the desk workers walk maybe 7,000 or so, which is part of this country's overweight epidemic. The article mentioned how New Yorkers (from the city anyway) walk a lot and tend to be thinner. They even mentioned the Amish people, who have a very high fat diet, filled with red meat and butter, have a very low percentage of overweight people because they take about 50,000 steps a day.
Anyway, I decided to buy a pedometer to see how much I walk (or don't walk). Unfortunately I left it at home today and I'll have to test it out tomorrow. I'm curious to see the results. To increase walking, they suggested things like getting up to go see fellow co-workers rather than calling them on the phone. I'll try it and see how it works!

lack of wisdom

today, i got my final 2 wisdom teeth out. a few years ago, i had my top two out. it was a pretty bad experience. i was supposed to have all 4 out, but i screamed and cried a A LOT and we had to stop.
fast forward to a few months ago, i had a regular dental checkup and found out that i needed 2 root canals. the wisdom teeth were pushing on my back teeth which caused bad cavities. so i had the root canals before the new year (they weren't as bad as everyone says) and today i've had the wisdom teeth out. my last step is to get a cap on the root canal-ed tooth. i don't think that should be too bad. the dentist has to take a mold of my teeth then pop the cap on. easy enough.
but i must say...the wisdom teeth is much worse than the root canal! but today, i am proud to say, i was very brave (unlike last time). no tears, no screams, and i was even awake the whole time.

as of right now, the vicodin is in effect, so i feel OK and i was able to eat some pudding.


anyway, i have a shift at J Crew on sunday for the first time since before Christmas. apparently they've been very slow. no one buys clothes in january. go figure. i will be home to watch the end of the patriots game. since living down here, i've started to like football again. i remember being in kindergarten and wanting to be the first girl on the patriots. now i realize that wouldn't have been such a good career choice. who wants to be pummeled by a bunch of 300 lb men?

the following takes place between 8:00pm and 9:00pm

when will they learn to trust Jack Bauer?

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!!!