bumblepug

viva las vegas

currently in vegas ____________ (fill in the blank).

gambling
clubbing
getting married
drinking on the streets
enjoying the spa
lounging at the pool
getting heat stroke
shopping at wynn's mall
pigging out at a buffet
watching a show

have i forgotten things that can happen while in vegas?

more on monday.

(irene, call my cell so we can meet up! we're at the mirage.)

re-visiting las vegas

ralph and i are going to vegas.  we talked about it briefly on friday and within 10 minutes we had tickets, a hotel, room, and show idea.  we're staying at the mirage and we're going to see ka (the newest cirque du soleil show in vegas) at mgm grand.  i can't wait to see wynn and the new mall across the street.  i haven't been to vegas in 2 years which is a record and i think it's been 3 for ralph.  i can't wait!  i love lounging near the pools, going dancing at night, and being pampered at the spas for recovery!  yesterday i bought some cute heels and a sparkly top for the occasion!  here i come buffets of vegas!

is there a harmonica in this bag?

on recent travels my bag was received special attention because there was an "unidentified object" in it according to the tsa who scanned my bag.  i thought that was odd because i didn't add anything to the bag and my bag wasn't inspected on the way to my destination.

i complied with the search as the tsa unpacked my meticulous packing job.  he asked, do you have a harmonica in this bag or another type of musical instuement?"  i told him, "i wish i had a harmonica in here because then i'd know how to play it!" but i was thinking, "yeah, i have a piano in this bag that can only fit 2 pairs of shoes!"  note to self and others: if you travel with a harmonica let secuity know.  i thought it could be my ipod or my razor.  after 10 minutes of inspecting dirty clothes and toiletries i was free to go.  what an experience!

babies in bars

we are staying in a house with approximately 20 people 4 babies, and 2 children- and it is about 30 degrees (i think i have frost on my ears).  this is interesting.  we've gone out the past 2 nights and the babies and children have joined us.  i'm sure everybody in scottsdale hates us now.  this experience has made me reconsider having 6 kids and 10 dogs, unless i could have 2 or 3 nannies.  something more realistic is 3 kids and 2 dogs.  as i spend more time with friends with kids this number may decrease! ;)

the weather in az at 118 degrees is hot but i'm not melting quite like i thought i would (even though it's still in the hundreds at night!!!  what is this, hell?).  we've been in water all day and boating was a lot of fun.  i just wish we would've done more boating than we did docking.  oh well, it was still nice to get sun and lay in water all day.

have a hot weekend!

beantown

ralph and i went to beantown (boston) to attend grant and sav's wedding (in cambridge).  we had such a great time and i'm so glad that ralph is a great travel companion as well as the sweetest boyfriend, ever!

aside from the wedding, the highlights were being leisurely in the city and walking until my feet bled (literally), eating ice cream at jp licks several nights in a row, the pride parade, and breakfast at charley's on newbury!  we stayed with mike, wenli, and lee for a few nights then we stayed at the hotel @ mit the last evening.  lee hung out with us and we had lots of fun together.  after riding the t all weekend, i'm saddened to come home to my car and shitty public transportation.

we also ate at union oyster house, which is the oldest restaurant in the u.s.  the food was delicious, as were all the other meals we enjoyed.  for sav's rehearsal dinner we ate chinese buffet at a joint in china town.  it was delicious!  i also ate lobster for the first time this trip!  i'm so deprived!  ;)  as for the bubble teas, don't ever go to the place in cambridge next to urban outfitters- it sucked.  quite honestly, dog could've brewed better tea and softer pearls.  mike had made a tea rec. but it was too far to travel to during our time constrained trip.  boo hoo- maybe next time!

at sav's wedding i did surprisingly well with the reading - no stutters- yay!  she chose awesome food for the wedding dinner, and what do you know...i caught the bouquet!

we have lots of nice photos that we'll post later once we catch our breathes and some winks of sleep.

congratulations to grant and sav on the beautiful and enjoyable wedding!  you did such a great job and your families are wonderful!

gone to napa!

ralph and i decided to drive to napa for the day.  it was a spontaneous day that took shape perfectly!  we went to the napa outlets, dean and deluca for picnic supplies, and then we dined at mustards grill (yum-o!).  i loved our day!

we randomly chose wine at dean and deluca based on price and label appearance.  we were looking for a high priced wine (opposite of what i'd usually do) and a label that appealed to us in the "drink me" sort of way!  whatever we chose (can't recall the name but we didn't choose de santo which was the other one) was awesome and paired perfectly with white cheddar, chocolate, and red grapes.  we picniced in his truck and drank out of little juice glasses that we also had to buy there.  thanks goodness his swiss army knife had a corkscrew or we would've had to buy that, too!  yay for me for drinking out of a glass that at least 10 people have probably touched (and i didn't even get to wash it)- we did wiped it well with napkins and i'm sure the alcohol killed everything!

while we were in dean and deluca i had enough samples to feed a baby goat!  they had this awesome berry balsamic vinaigrette which ralph talked me out of buying which was probably best for my current budget.  he thinks i can make one just as good as my own so stay tuned!

i want to go back to the cole haan, dkny, and calvin klein outlets there.  they weren't crowded and they actaully had good clothing.  the barney's ny outlet was nice, too but still pricey.  i bought a nice hair clip that looks like carved ivory (but isn't) but my fro already broke it!  argh!  pass the pliers (sp?) cause i gotta fix this!  it's too cute to not wear.

what a soul quenching day!

back from a mini vacation

this weekend ralph, dog, and my mom drove to santa barbara.  the day before we left, dog's paw got hurt at the beach and it was quite a mystery.  i don't feel like typing the long story so maybe one day i'll tell it.  she's better now.

on the way down to santa barbara dog almost ran into a busy street while we were eating at good ol' burger in paso robles.  the 3 of us nearly had heart attacks (as if the burgers weren't going to do that on their own) and i've never seen ralph run so fast but dog was still a lot faster.  luckily, she u-turned right before she got to the street and ralph snatched her up.  she escaped from her leash which used to only happen when she was a puppy.  thanks goodness she's ok, and ralph, too since they were both running towards cars!

later that day we snuck her into the hotel because every place that took dogs was sold out.  amazingly, we got away with it!  i think she's traumatized though and will forever hate my mom's ikea shopping bag.

thanks to our hotel neighbors i had terrible sleep because they thought the whole hotel needed to hear the evening rendez-vous at 2 am!!!  then, at 7 am!!!!  jeez, somebody must've told them to get a room!  i wish they had gotten a room elsewhere.

the food in sb was good and the weather was perfect.  next time i go, i'd like to do some hiking, bike riding, wine tasting and get a sitter for dog.

fly me to the moon...

or anywhere else but please don't make me road trip!  this past weekend i spent easter in o.c. with ralph's family.  i had to buy a one-way ticket to get there since i missed my ride (the night before) so i caught a ride on sunday for the return.  i've decided that if i go anywhere that is more than a 4 hour drive, i must fly!!!!  it could cost $500 and i'd still rather fly.  there's nothing fun about being in a car (oh, i guess watching i love lucy and eating junk food from gas station stops) for me since my legs and back are incredibly claustrophobic.  i guess raod trips are fun when they have lots of stops in areas i've never been before.  for example, i'm still looking forward to a road trip from atalanta to the fla keys.

anyways, enough complaining.  easter weekend was nice.  it was my second easter away from my family (the first being my freshman year at bu) in an effort to offer ralph a holiday.  i missed my family because we normally picnic but i was okay with being away.  we spent some time with his family and friends which was nice because i don't get to see them all that often.

on friday night i had a slight case of upset stomach, and a headahce that lasted nearly all weekend developed.  i hate headaches!!!!  more than that, i hate dry heaving in a brewery trying to get the bugs out of my stomach.  that night, we hung out with some of ralph's friends (at the brewery) and i met some hermit crabs- those sure are gross.

on saturday we went to this bar with a small dance floor with his friends and it had great music!  i'm glad his friends peer pressured him into dancing because i would've had to dance on my own.  they were doing some wild stuff on the dance floor so it was cool to be out there to watch, and to work up a sweat.  earlier we celebrated his grandma's bday with his family and melissa got a coke bath.

sunday was easter.  we went to church and i could barely hear the mass because we were in an odd location since it was so crowded.  better next luck year on this. 

all in all, it was a relaxing weekend because i was either eating or sleeping. 

back from the show me state

(pic: ralph, me, and dad) the trip to kansas city was fun considering i was so sick i nearly couldn't get on the flight.  i wanted to postpone the trip because it took a while for the antibiotics to kick in but i was able to pack in 5 minutes and i wanted to go this week rather than next since it was my plan.  it's people like me who i dislike when i fly in perfect health.  i pittied the people next to me because i had to blow my nose every 2 seconds.

i saw a lot of family members, spent some time with dad, went to some nice holiday shops, and had the best bbq at arthur bryant's 2 days in a row.  i think ralph, dad, and i are suffering now from day 2 at ab's because we all have stomachaches, etc. (use your imagination here).  the weather was chilly and i was underprepared for it as usual.  i think my desire to pack as light as possible is bad for winter month trips to states outside of ca and hi.  i'm glad i was able to layer sweater upon sweater and wear my big old pea coat over everything.  i looked like a stuffed sailor.

we saw ray and bridget jones's diary 2.  we had to take advantage of the cheap ticket prices while out of state.  ray was decent but rather long and bjd2 was hillarious.  co-workers told me it received bad reviews but i found it to be as good as the first, and i'd like to see it in theatres again, soon.  i couldn't stop laughing at the skiing scene because it's something i would do- oh wait, it's something i've done.  good thing i've already retired from skiing.

i hope dad feels better soon.  i'll probably take another trip there during the summer for 4-5 days.  maybe i can see andrea then since our timing was a bit off this time.  :(  too bad st. louis is so far from kc.

i heard from connie today and she's done with her mls!  congratulations!!!  maybe you can catalog my life now?!  ;)  as a celebration, she and jos are visiting spain.  how exciting!

must go now.  job approved lsat prep course so i need to enroll asap before seats fill up!

as i sleep on the treadmill

we're back from southern cal! we fell asleep around midnight after the long drive and i'm acutally grateful for the garden blowers (for once in my life, this is definitely the first and last time for this gratitude toward them!) because without them i wouldn't have woken up in time for work since i feel asleep without setting my alarm.

oktoberfest was a lot of fun. it started to rain during the party which i didn't think ever happened in southern cal! ;) ralph's friends are experiencing a lot of life changes (babies- twins!, relocation, etc.) and it makes me realize how much older he is than me! just kidding. we're only 2 years apart but i feel like all of those changes are really far away for me so i feel like a 10 year old compared to the rest, but i suppose that's better than feeling 50.

i'm glad to come home to rain. the rain motivates me to bake and cook which is something i love to do but usually don't do because my kitchen gets way too hot, which then makes my house get as hot as hell causing dog to overheat. tonight i want to carve pumpkins and bake cookies but i'll onlly allow these rewards if i make it to the gym after work.

i'm tired. i should've slept more! has anybody ever heard of somebody falling asleep on the treadmill? i think i could make that a reality. why can't they have tvs at my gym? i almost have all of my playlists memorized and i get bored running. what do marathoners do/think for 26.2 miles? i'm just having a problem with 3.

i hope to locate the pep in my step as the day progresses. perhaps pep is being held hostage?!

lunch to dos:
ask amanda if she wants to join
get pp spinach salad
visit shoe store for eccos

home to dos:
sleep, sleep, and more beautifully glorious sleep!

here is a link from irene that might help you sleep.