Monday, August 29, 2011

Sadness

Early this morning my friends lost their baby. She was three weeks from her due date.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Pics From Around Town

Friday found me at work with my camera, so I decided to spend my lunch hour taking a few photos around town:

I'm a sucker for brick building with painted signs on their sides.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

An Office Birthday

Today was the 23rd birthday of one of the other girls in the office (I feel so old!), and to celebrate I made her a cake.  Her request was strawberry shortcake, and although I wasn't quite sure what kind she liked - was she more of a spongecake type or like my family more of a Bisquick shortcake type of person?  I settled on Biscuit au Beurre (Butter Spongecake) from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (my go-to book whenever I'm not sure what to do - I know for other people it's Joy of Cooking or Betty Crocker - leave it to me for my go-to book to be a complex French cookbook) with a sweetened whipped cream frosting with roughly chopped strawberries mixed into the frosting for the filling.  Yummy!  Or at least I think yummy... Too many people came and we ran out of cake!  Oh well, better for my waistline that I didn't get any I suppose....



Wednesday, August 24, 2011

2 weeks at 30

I have now been 30 for just shy of 2 weeks.  I don't feel 30 though.  I still feel 25.  Where did those years go?!?  Oh yeah that's right, I toured for a while and I've been stuck in a dead end job for the rest.  Sigh... Oh well. 

So remember when I mentioned a project I was working on that was sapping all my time and energy?  Well, it was a baby shower.  The main records guy at work's (did I tell you I'm a records assistant?  Well, if I didn't, I am now!) wife is expecting their first child in just a couple weeks so I threw them a little shower.  That is if your definition of little is 50 people with a food, gift, and decor budget of over $1000.  This thing was taking over my life!

Thankfully it's over now, the party was a success, and people are still talking about it nearly 2 weeks later.  At the end when records guy was thanking everyone for coming, he singled me out as organizing it and everyone applauded.  I turned red.  (I blush easily...)

Since it was a guy's shower I didn't want to go all pastel with frou frou food... Instead I went with bright colors and catering from Moe's Southwest Grill (taco bar!).  From previous experience I know that lawyers like to donate towards things at the last minute, so I had an adorable white piggy bank with green and hot pink polka dots and a big green bow on it's head where all day off donations were put, next to which was a box of chocolate cigars wrapped in hot pink foils.  As people started arriving I was dishing up The Pioneer Woman's Watermelon Granitas - super popular!  Dessert was a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling from a local bakery - it was delicious, but we discovered that a 3/4 sheet cake can barely fit in my truck!  That was a bit of a nerve wracking drive...  Pennant banners, brown paper to doodle on, pinwheel centerpieces, and pinwheel adorned goody bags finished up the look.



(and yes, the baby's initials are OMG)


Friday, August 5, 2011

30 Countries

30 Countries I Want to See (3 of which I've already been to...)

30)Antarctica
29)Australia
28)New Zealand
27)China
26)Japan
25)Nepal
24)Cambodia
23)India
22)Indonesia
21)Russia
20)Poland
19)Czech Republic
18)Turkey
17)Croatia
16)Greece
15)Italy
14)Monaco
13)France
12)Belgium
11)Netherlands
10)Norway
9)England
8)Scotland
7)Moroco
6)Egypt
5)Kenya
4)South Africa
3)Brazil
2)Chile
1)Argentina

Thursday, August 4, 2011

People... or Not

I had written up a list of 30 Pretty Interesting People, but I seem to have misplaced it... I will get it to you just as soon as I find it!

Books

30 Books on my Bookshelf

30) ShopGirl
29) Tales by Beatrix Potter
28) 1000 Places to See Before You Die
27) Love of the Last Tycoon
26) The Great Gatsby
25) Pride and Prejudice
24) Swim, Little Wombat, Swim
23) Wind in the Willows
22) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows
21) My Life in France
20) Swell, a Girl's Guide to the Good Life
19) too many Lonely Planet Guidebooks to list them all by name
18) the Atlas from the encyclopedia set I grew up with (the world circa 1979 - Germany was still split and the USSR was still intact)
17) A Walk in the Woods
16) The Painted Veil
15) Bridget Jones' Diary
14) Don Quixote
13) Band of Brothers
12) Brave Men
11) A Moveable Feast
10) Mastering the Art of French Cooking
9) D-Day
8) The Art of Dress
7) Historical Fashion in Detail
6) Christmas Carol
5) The Beautiful and Damned
4) In a Sunburned Country
3) Travels with Charley
2) The Last Campaign
1) The United States of Arugula

Soooo...

Last night I opted for pizza, a good book, and sleep over typing up Yesterday's Top 30 list, so check back later tonight for 2 (count 'em, 2!) Top 30 lists!!!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Buccos

My sister and her hubby were in town last night... actually they're still here sleeping in my living room... any who, we went to a Pirates game last night, and in true Buccos fashion, they lost brilliantly.





Tuesday, August 2, 2011

30 Things to Know About My Bestie

30)she is also known as my Running Buddy (RB)
29)she has brown hair and blue eyes (like me!) except she gets blonde highlights and I get red
28)she had 2 brothers, 1 sister, 1 BiL, and 2 nephews
27)she is married to the CH (chubby hubby)
26)her dream car is a new yellow bug
25)she is a cat person, through and through
24)she is obsessed with anything Disney & Hallmark ornaments
23)once upon a time she wanted to be an animator, but she gave that up
22)she wants to be a pastry chef when she grows up (like me she turns 30 this year)
21)she dislikes her job (but really, who doesn't?)
20)we both failed AP chemistry only to transfer to geoscience and wreck the curve
19)classic high school quote: "you guys sisters or something?"
18)she is an avid scrapbooker/ crafter
17)she drinks Miller Lite by choice
16)but she loves Grey Goose dirty martinis
15)and can't handle her tequila, especially when I'm mixing the margaritas
14)she tries to speak/ learn Spanish after she has had a few drinks
13)she is a better artist than me
12)I'm better at math
11)she is a better violinist than me
10)she can be a spaz, but you get used to it
9)she has never been west of the Mississippi
8)she is terrified of flying, yet she says she's ok, even though I think all of her flying stories involve tears
7)she is a francophile like me
6)her idea of travel is the polar opposite of mine
5)she likes to shoot down my plans for grand adventures
4)she came to visit me in NYC and left with a pierced belly button, she got it at the same place I got my tattoo
3)she is still my friend even though I have a tendency to run away for years at a time
2)she has been my friend for the longest time - 19 years
1)she once let me dress her up in a costume from HMS Pinafore (it was a peach dress with matching hat and parasol) and curl her hair in rag rollers (I'd show you the photos but I think she might kill me!)

The Latest Royal Wedding

Did anyone else, upon seeing the picture of Mike Tindall on the day he married Zara Phillips, get the song "Get Me to the Church On Time" stuck in their heads?  You know the My Fair Lady song: "I'm gettin' married in the morning... Ding, dong the bells are going to chime..."  Or was it just me!

GROOMED SERVICE   photo | Mike Tindall
Photo is from People.com
For those of you not as royal obsessed as I am, Mike Tindall is the bald one in front on the right.

And I don't mean that in a bad way, I think it's adorable!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Flat Zach in Paris

With my friend's passport being stolen, I suddenly found myself traveling to Paris alone.  Well, not quite alone, Flat Zach came with me for those 3 days in the City of Light, and although I did get several odd stares it was fun to take FZ around to see the sights.

The hotel was just a few blocks from the Moulin Rouge:



Stopping by the cafe where Amelie worked in the movie of the same name:



What trip to Paris is complete with out seeing the Eiffel Tower?


Or the Notre Dame?


And of course since this was my trip, a lot of time was spent seeing the impressionists:






Isn't Flat Zach so cultured?

We'll Start With an Easy One

30 of my favorite places in the world (both domestic and international):

30) Singapore
29) Puebla, Mexico (corrupt cops wanting bribes aside...)
28) Pittsburgh, PA
27) Vigan, North Luzon, the Philippines
26) Cuernavaca, Mexico
25) Butte, MT
24) Koln, Germany
23) Bogota, Colombia
22) Oviedo, Spain
21) Corpus Christi, TX
20) Washington DC
19) Porto, Portugal
18) Burlington, VT
17) Steamboat Springs, CO
16) San Juan, Puerto Rico
15) San Francisco, CA
14) Coastal Maine
13) Corona del Mar, CA
12) Fort Worth, TX
11) Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia
10) Stirling, Scotland
9) Red Rock Country - NM & AZ
8) Savannah, GA
7) New York, NY
6) San Angel, Mexico City, Mexico
5) North Shore, Oahu, HI
4) Fairbanks, AK
3) Paris, France
2) Edinburgh, Scotland
1) Isle of Skye, Scotland

(if you couldn't tell, I love Scotland!)