I Heart Champagne in a Can

Not only does it come in a pink can, it has the coolest little expandable straw. It's really quite yummy. Sofia Sparkling Wine. Get it. Drink it. Love it.

Tonight- I'm having champange for dinner...

Clinkies!

Let the countdown begin

In honor of my last days as a "Twenty-Something", I've decided to have a glass of fine champannyah every day until Thursday. WEEEE! Bring out the Moet!

BEWARE!!!!

If any of you are getting married in Cour D'Alene Idaho and thinking of using Quicksilver Photography http://www.quicksilverphotography.com/ DON'T DO IT!!! My friends are having a horrible time with them in getting their pictures from their wedding. THEY SUCK! Tell everyone you know!!!

Lately...

Yesterday Jeremy and I went "hiking" to Rattlesnake Lake out at North Bend. I say "hiking" with quotations because it really wasn't hiking. It was just walking up a steep trail. There were a ton of people out there- a lot of families with kiddos. One group we past on the way down was walking up with two strollers. I can't imagine they would have gotten very far- it's definitely not a stroller friendly path. I would have made those kids get out and walk. It was a good jaunt outside, I worked up a good sweat, it was great exercise and an amazing view at the top. I also had a raging headache around 5:30-6:00 so I went upstairs and slept until about midnight. Then I couldn't go back to sleep.

Here are some other pictures I've taken lately.

I can never get them to look at the same time.

Had to throw this one in there. Why do we insist on taking pictures of her like this?

Working from home... not so much fun...

So I've been working from home today, thinking that it would be a nice way to get some work done, while in my pajamas and drinking all the coffee I want. Well, the pajama and coffee thing is true, getting work done- not so much. I'm able to get into the network at work through VPN- which is fine and dandy. However it likes to kick me off a lot, and thus I have to reconfigure the security settings and log in again. Translates to: PAIN IN THE ASS. And to boot, the cat barfed on the carpet three times this morning, right in front of me.

The only good thing about today is that I've been able to enjoy the quietness of home, with just some music on. That and I've had about 10 cups of coffee this morning. Zing!

All before 8 AM...

Ah Monday. Today was a day that the odds were against me, screaming at me to STAY AT HOME and HIDE UNDER THE COVERS!! I was certain that the following events were a precursor to a more hideous fate, and that Fate was indeed warning me to stay away today.

6:30 AM: Alarm goes off after the third time I hit "Snooze". Decide it was time to get up. The Husband rolls over and sleepily notes that MKF is perched atop our laundy hamper- how cute that she is up there looking at us. I get up, my heart all fuzzy and warm that our beloved pet is guarding us over any intruders such as crowes or sparrows. I pet her head and wonder how she got up there without us hearing a thing. I notice that she probably used the footstool as a little step to get up to the top of three foot high hamper. I also notice on the footstool is the blanket that my Grandma made me when I was five. This is when I also notice that there is A BLACK STREAK on the blanket. WHAT. It took me all of five seconds to put two and two together. Nasty CAT LITTER STREAK ON MY BLANKET. OH. MY. GOD. I start yelling at the cat and she takes off down the stairs in order to escape my fury. I grab the blanket and head towards the washing machine.

6:35 AM: Washing machine still has laundry from previous day. I had attempted to remove a stain from my new favorite shirt that I had only worn twice. Darling lavender Three Dots shirt. Expensive Three Dots shirt. My favorite Three Dots shirt. Did I mention it was expensive? After removing the laundry from the washer, I notice that the stain is indeed gone from my shirt, however the F***ing stain remover BLEACHED my shirt. I am still veklempt as I type. I can't believe it was RUINED! RUINED!!! I just wanted to cry at this point.

6:37 AM: Pissed, upset, mad, tired- you name it. I throw the blanket in the wash and try to get the nasty cat stuff off my blanket. I hop in the shower. After a quick shower I hear the most hideous noise coming from the washing machine. It's not just a "Off Kilter" sort of noise, but a metal grinding metal noise. Horrified- I stop the machine. At this point, The Husband is up and trying to help me with the washing machine. He figures out how to drain the washer and I pull out the blanket, sopping wet. He tells me not to worry about the washer and that he'll look at it after work.

7:25 AM. Hair is dried and dressed for work. I go back into the bathroom to apply necessary makeup. As I turn to look into our little medicine cabinet mirror, my back freaks out on me. It's tweaked, pinched, twisted- whatever. It hurts like hell. I continue to try and get ready, groaning a bit as I putter about the house. The Husband advises Aleve and a helmet. The Aleve is for my back, and the helmet- well, for whatever else is going to come down on my head.

7:35 AM: No hope of catching the bus to work, sore back, broken washing machine, stupid cat and a ruined shirt.

I blame TV...

Have any of you seen those shows on TLC and Home and Garden Network- Flip That House or Property Ladder? Well they are everywhere, documenting go-getters in their quest to make a buck on the real estate game. Don't get me wrong, real estate is a smart investment and can be quite lucrative, but some how it seems lately it's getting a little out of hand.

Today I dropped off some cupcakes for a babyshower that my sis-in-law was throwing in S. Seattle and I decided that on the way home I would take some back roads and explore the neighborhood a little more. As I wound my way through the Lakeridge neighborhood, I started to find the "For Sale" signs. I pulled over to one particulary cute house and almost peed my pants when I saw the price. $519,000?! ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME?! It boasted a "Lake Washington View" (which it kinda didn't) and "Total Remodel" on the flyer. Well sure, I have a Lake Washington view at the condo; only if I stick my head out the bedroom window and crane my head to the right. This would certainly prove to be quite dangerous and stupid, but it's a view- right?

I took the flyer home and started to do a little research online. Looking for houses is a fun game I play sometimes, messing with the payments and the interest rate just to see how much I CAN'T afford. I found on zillow.com that the house sold in March for a measley $300,000 and was back on the market in July. Holy smokes, that is a crazy flip- the house is indeed remodeled, but I can't even imagine that they would make a $200,000 profit on the house. Zillow.com had it estimated at $428,000. Well, as my dad says, property is only worth as much as someone will pay for it.

Forgive me, its been a forever since my last post...

Wow this past weekend was a doozy. We started off on Thursday night celebrating Jeremy's 33rd birthday at Tokyo Japanese restaurant in Factoria. Awesome food, awesome service AND you get a free entree on your birthday! Being the thrifty man he is, that was music to Jeremy's ears. He got the Deluxe Bento box and it's amazing we made it out of there alive. I felt like Audrey in the beginning of "European Vacation"- the food kept coming out and I kept stuffing my face. And to top things off, they brought out TEMPURA ICECREAM with a candle on top. HURG.

Friday was another day of overeating. We gathered the family at Lana Thai Restaurant in Everett for another birthday dinner. I even made the kids (and Jeremy) birthday hats with their names on them. I think the funniest part of the whole evening was when they brought out another deep fried ice cream dish for Jeremy. Emily, the little cake diva that she is, was PISSED that there was NO BIRTHDAY CAKE. My sister valiantly tried to convince Emily that mango ice cream or sticky rice pudding was just as good- but my niece replied "I want cake" and stuck out her lip. Poor child, she was brought to a birthday party for two things: birthday hats and cake. She only got one them.

Saturday we got up early, packed the car and headed out to Hood Canal to stay at Andy's property. I love going out there, it's just so nice to hang out, enjoy the water and eat s'mores. Unfortunately, my s'more experience was cut short when I WAS ROBBED of my graham crackers by some theiving little raccoons. Sadly, it was indeed my fault for leaving them out. I came down in the morning on Sunday to discover that my graham cracker box was shredded, every single cracker GONE. I spent most of Sunday eating "low carb" s'mores- just the marshmallow and chocolate. It was pretty pitiful. We also went crabbing, however I couldn't bring myself to eat the little sea spiders-it was just too horrifying to kill them.

Out at Dabob I rediscovered my love of the water, just being ON the water on a calm morning, brought back countless memories of crew practice and how much I loved that sport. I took out the little plastic kayak that Andy had and cruised around the bay, counting seals as I went. I counted ten in all. They were so curious, poking their heads up every now and then to see where I was, then diving back down to go a little further away. I loved the solitude and peacefulness of the kayak. Even though it was a bit different that being in an eight- in many ways it was still the same. In an eight, the only voice was mine, the commands that I gave were followed without question (most of the time) and the best part was being out on the water when it was like glass. I think I might have to get a kayak some day- even if it's a crappy little plastic one. It's still a lot of fun.

Blogger is being a pain about uploading pics, so I have to go through Shutterfly. Click here for pics...