Things I Like

A while back I was visiting a friend I hadn't seen in a couple of months and we were discussing things we like. Our new favorite lip gloss, Food Network personality, typical girl stuff.
I've made a list...

Bare Minerals
I decided to jump on the bandwagon and got these two kits


The first time I used it, I looked in the mirror and was thought it looked a little... powdery, like it was obvious that there was powder on my face. However, people immediately started commenting on how well rested I looked and asked if I had finally gotten a good nights sleep - yes, these people are all aware of how exhausted I'd been due to school the last couple of months.
I think I've gotten the hang of applying the powder so that I don't have that "powdery" look. I'm loving the powders, eye shadow, blush, even the lipgloss! The mascara... eh, its not that great.

However, a mascara that I DO like:

Its great. Thats really all there is to say about it. No need to elaborate, rave about its virtues. Its just fantastic, go get some. NOW.

Guinness.

But thats not really much of a surprise to anyone who knows me.


Renting beach houses.
Last fall a few friends and I rented a house in Sea Ranch for a weekend.
We stayed here

It was awesome. Quiet, secluded, a short walk to a beach. Bonus - the house had a hot tub AND a sauna. Totally affordable when you get a small group of friends together and everyone contributes one meal each.

Body washes.
I am a total and complete sucker when it comes to various body washes. These are my current faves:

Caress Exotic Oil Infusions in both Moroccan and Brazilian.


They both smell fantastic and moisturize well.


Dial Yogurt Body Wash in Vanilla Honey



I also have the hand wash in this one.
The scent is nice and clean.

Face Cleanser.
Laventine Water Soluble Facial Cleansing Oil in Olive Forte

Its an oil - you take a very small amount and rub it all over your dry face. Since its oil, it melts away the mascara and all dirt, and doesn't leave your skin feeling dry. How it doesn't leave an oily residue, I have no clue. I once asked someone with more science type knowledge than what I have and he started saying something about charged ions, and thats where he lost me. I have no idea exactly how it works, but I love it.

Redken Fresh Curls

Ive been using this line for about 6 weeks or so, and my hair is super soft. The curls are holding nicely but without feeling like theres a ton of product in it. So far all I'm using is the shampoo, conditioner, and curl boost scrunching spray but I'm thinking I may have to try some of the other products in the line.
I think the "secret" ingredient is coconut oil - it moisturizes really well, and anyone with curly hair knows that moisture is the difference between nice curls and frizzy mess.
Now that I think about it, I'm almost out of the shampoo and conditioner. I'll have to pick some up soon.


Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale

Tasty, light & crisp, plus one can has 100% of your daily vitamin C

Travel in general

Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to be able to do a lot of it in the too near future. The price of airline tickets are really high right now so it's beyond my budget, plus with my new school schedule I just don't know when I'll be able to squeeze any travel in.
I would like to reward myself with a little trip somewhere after the fall semester is over, but considering thats right around Christmas time I won't be able to get much time off from work, if any.

Ace of Cakes

I just discovered this show a couple of weeks ago and I LOVE it.
Mary Alice is hilarious!

I LOVE Geofs dead pan speech

And yes, as a matter of fact, I DO have a wee bit of a crush on Duff

Hes totally like MacGyver... with CAKE! Hilarious, looks like he'd be an awesome boss, laid back, creative, drives a Vespa, plays in a band, spends a work day doing a mock Iron Chef challenge, come on... how could you NOT like him?

My Maddie Baby Girl

A few years ago I was going through a rough time.
Over the course of just a little over a year, my mother had a heart attack, my grandfather had a stroke then passed away 6 months later, my dog Trucker (who had really become more of my grandfathers dog, to be honest) had to be put down due to brain tumors, I became an overnight mother of 3 when I got custody of my cousins while my aunt got clean and sober, and I found out that my grandmother had inoperable lung cancer.
I was feeling depressed, overwhelmed, and as though I had completely lost touch with myself. I needed something of my own, to be able to hold on to and bring me back to my center.
I decided that I needed a dog. It had been over a year since I'd had to have Trucker put to sleep and that was the longest I'd ever been without a dog in my life.

I made numerous trips to the pound out on Bradshaw, but every dog that I connected with, and who got along with my youngest cousin who was 4 at the time, was either deemed "unadoptable" or was adopted by another family before I was able to get to the shelter.

I was feeling heavily discouraged that I would never find a puppy and did something that I customarily do not condone - I started looking in the newspaper and on Craigslist.
One of the first listings I found on Craigslist was for a woman out in Marysville (now known to my cousin Erin and I as Scarysville after our trip out there to this womans house). The woman had long haired chihuahuas that she was trying to rehome.
My theory is that she had SO many dogs that the county was making her find homes for them before they were seized and taken to the shelter.
Erin and I pulled up to this womans double wide and were immediately apprehensive - there were numerous skulls, I think cow & goat... or maybe sheep, I'm not sure, fastened to the cyclone fencing around her property. Against our better judgement, we went inside.
The woman kept bringing dogs out of every room and structure on her property. There had to be somewhere around a dozen of them, if not more.
These dogs had obviously had no socialization at all because any time I went to put my hand towards one so that they could smell me, they would snarl and bite at me. There was one that would sit on my lap, but it was so incredibly frightened that it immediately peed a map of the Hawaiian islands on my leg.
Yes, I wanted to take home as many of these dogs as I could so that they could live in a better environment, but I had a 4 year old at home and there was no way I could risk having a dog that would bite at her.

A couple weeks later I found a listing on Craigslist for a woman in Fremont who had a litter of Pembroke Welsh Corgi/Miniature American Eskimo mix pups that were 4 weeks old and she was starting to line up homes for once they reached 8 weeks.
I truly do not support back yard breeders, but saw this photo and my heart went mushy.



I made the drive down to Fremont and sat with the woman for well over 3 hours, holding each puppy and talking about dogs. I feel she was as responsible as a backyard breeder could possibly be, wanting to know my pet ownership history, training and discipline methods, how often the dog would be left alone, etc.
As I held each of those puppies, my thoughts were "so adorable and sweet, I want this one. No, this one, no this one."
When I picked up the puppy on the far left, she snuggled up in my arms and fell asleep. After about 20 minutes or so she woke up, crawled up my chest, sniffed my mouth, gave me a little kiss, and then curled up on my chest and went back to sleep.
I knew that she was my baby.
I went home that night, with arrangements to come back 4 weeks later to pick up the puppy.
I spent the next 4 weeks deliberating over names. I considered celtic names since she's part Pembroke Welsh Corgi. I considered Inuit and Native American names since shes part American Eskimo. Absolutely nothing seemed to fit.
On the day that I was to pick the puppy up, my cousin Meghan and I were in San Francisco for the morning and walked into a Starbucks. I started considering coffee names since its one of my favorite beverages. None of those worked either.
As Meghan and I were placing our orders at the counter, she picked up a package of madeleine cookies and asked what they tasted like. Then she looked at me and said in an awed whisper, "Madeleine!" I looked at her and confirmed "Maddie!" I then new what my puppys name was.
We went to the womans house in Fremont and picked Maddie up - she remembered me from 4 weeks prior, and the whole car ride home to Sacramento Meghan held her as best as she could while Maddie tried to crawl over to me.
I've gone on many vacations the past couple of years, and whenever I've returned Maddie has greeted me with excitement - jumping up and down at my feet until I pick her up and give her love and kisses.
I went out of town this past weekend and got home incredibly late Sunday night, was exhausted from the long drive back from Redding and went straight to bed.
Monday morning I was running late for work, so I just peeked out the back window to make sure that Maddie had food and water, then I left for work.
A couple of hours later, my grandma called me to let me know that my mom and great-uncle had come over and found Maddie on the back porch and that she seemed to be sick. They also found 4 packages of d-con that Maddie had apparently eaten.
We haven't had d-con here at my house for a number of years. I suspect that someone threw it into my yard, and I have an idea of who may have done it, but unfortunately no proof at all.
My mom took Maddie to the vet for me on Monday where they treated her with a Vitamin K injection and gave us a prescription of Vitamin K pills to give her over the next month.
She came home, and I was taking care of her as best as I could, but late Tuesday night she took a turn for the worse.
Maddie went back to the vets yesterday and they told me that the damage was more extensive than was evident when they originally saw her on Monday. The Dr and his staff said they really couldn't give any prognosis other than to see what happens day by day. She was admitted so that they could keep her hydrated and use more aggressive medications than what I would be able to give her at home.
Last night I stopped at the vets to visit her after work before going to school.
I sat on the floor next to her kennel and leaned in and snuggled against her for a while.
She again sniffed my mouth and gave me a little kiss. Just like the first time I met her.

This morning I got the call from the vets office that Maddie had passed away during the night.
I love you my Maddie Baby Girl.

Two Places

There are two places that I should not be allowed to enter when I'm trying to budget.
Well, realistically, there are A LOT of places I should not be allowed to enter when I'm trying to budget, but heres two of them:



It all started out innocently enough, as it always does. My psych professor offered us an extra credit assignment (only 5 points, but still extra credit) of writing a reaction paper to this movie:

I'd seen the movie when it first came out, but that was a couple of years ago, but figured that it would be best to watch the movie again to refresh my memory. Why not just rent it? Theres a fair chance that I may owe Blockbuster some cash. So, I went in search of the DVD. It was not available at either of the two Walmarts I went to, so I decided to swing by Barnes and Noble, they didn't have it either but I decided to browse the clearance section. Thats where everything started to unravel. Thats where everything always starts to unravel for my budget and me - the clearance section.
It started innocently enough with this:

It was only $2.99 in the bargain bin! Jackpot! I LOVE home spa remedies! I LOVE L'Occitane! How cool could this possibly be?
I'll tell you how cool. It has such eye opening tips as "Avoid soaking in the bath for longer than about 20 minutes, or the skin will become overhydrated and look as wrinkly as a prune." and "Apply a face mask suitable for your skin's needs and leave it on for 10 minutes or as directed." Seriously? I don't know that I would have ever figured any of that out. On the plus side, it does have some good suggestions for different combinations of essential oils. And the back has a directory of every single L'Occitane store in the whole entire world.
Then I wandered beyond the clearance section where I picked up just a couple of items.
First

Atonement by Ian McEwan.
I thought the movie was fantastic, and I just finished reading another novel of his, Enduring Love, which was great as well.
Then I picked this up

I've been hearing about this series everywhere so thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. Although, I probably will save this for last since theres a series and if I like it I will probably want to go straight into the next book in the series.
Then I found this



The synopsis on the back grabbed me

This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964 when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Downs syndrome. For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decision that will haunt him all their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and deeply moving, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a brilliantly crafter story of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love.

How could I NOT pick up this book?

Then I wandered into the biography section and got this

The title alone is awesome:
Bitter is the New Black - Confessions of a condescending, egomaniacal, self-centered Smart-ass, or why you should never carry a Prada Bag to the unemployment office.
and then theres the synopsis on the back:

This is the story of how a haughty former sorority girl went from having a household income of almost a quarter-million dollars to being evicted from a ghetto apartment.... It's a modern Greek tragedy, as defined by Roger Dunkle in The Classical Origins of Western Culture: a story in which "the central character, called a tragic protagonist or hero, suffers some serious misfortune which is not accidental and therefore meaningless, but is significant in that the misfortune is logically connected" In other words? The bitch had it coming.

Plus, I've been reading the authors blog for a few weeks now and it sounds promising.
Just a couple of shelves up I found this

Why a novel was in the biographies section, I'll never know, but it is fitting.
I picked this up because I have been a member of the bridal party in five different weddings so far in my lifetime if you include the childhood flower girl trips down the aisle:
1 - 1979 flower girl in my moms first wedding
2 - 1982 flower girl in my youngest aunts first wedding
3 - 1998 maid of honor in my moms second wedding
4 - 1999 maid of honor in my cousins wedding
5 - 2007 bridesmaid in my oldest friends wedding
and now I've been asked to be a bridesmaid in TWO weddings next year.
The obligatory synopsis

What do you do after you walk down the aisle at four weddings over the course of just a few months - none of them your own? What's left after you've donned the must-have-not dresses of the season, forked over your case, and fake-smiled your way through countless photos? After you've dealt with the smashed guest, the mushed cake, the dashed hopes, and the missed bouquets? That's what Cate Padgett is starting to wonder, as she embarks on stint after stint on the sidelines, watching friends swap bar-hopping for baby-naming...while her own love life goes nowhere fast. But is Cate unwilling to settle down - or just unwilling to settle? And can anyone really judge her if they haven't walked in her dyed-to-match shoes?
Wild, witty, and full of weddings to cry over, Always the Bridesmaid is an endearingly romantic comedy about standing out in the crowd even when everyone's wearing the same celery-green dress...and daring to make every day The Happiest Day of Your Life.

If this novel ends predictably with the protagonist catching the bouquet, finding the man of her dreams, falling head-over-heels in love and him proposing, I will vomit.
My hand to God.
In the end, I never found the DVD I was looking for, but I think I remember enough about it to BS my way through a "reaction" paper to it.

Transportation Options

Last week I was obsessing over a scooter. I still am, but some of my fellow bloggers brought up some good points which I wanted to address...


Shauna brought up a few points:
1. My BAD car accident luck. Yep, in my last car I had horrendous luck. Over the course of three and a half years, I was rear ended four times - and 3 of those times were over the course of about six or seven months. As ridiculous as it sounds, I really think that that car was cursed. Somewhere (don't remember where) I read that green cars are one of the most commonly hit - that car was a lovely dark green. Since I dumped that car, I've had no fender bender issues at all.
Yes, a scooter would definitely have a higher risk than a car. I would definitely have to be a more defensive driver, but I would take the extra measure of taking one of the CHP motorcycle driving courses to learn how to safely operate the scooter and defensive maneuvers.
2. Residual back pain from the above accidents. Honestly, I hadn't thought of this. My back hasn't bothered me too badly in the past few months and when it does, its primarily due to carrying heavy bags - I've taken care of that recently by switching from a messenger bag to a backpack, but I suppose I could work on strengthening my back anyways. I do have a gym membership that I haven't been using.

Tanya mentioned that theres a place in East Sacramento selling scooters for $1,700 - another friend had mentioned this place, but I found Sac Cycle in the Rancho Cordova area (off of Sunrise & White Rock) where they're selling the same scooters for $1,500 out the door with tax, registration, all that stuff, out the door.
A friend of mine knows the owner and has bought 2 from there (matching his & hers for her and her hubby). She's also been kind enough to extend the offer of taking me out for a scooter ride so I could get a feel for it and see if I really want one before committing to buying one.

John asked why I hadn't considered using public transportation on the days that riding the scooter wasn't a very good option.
I wish I could use the bus/light rail for my daily commute - I really do.
If I only commuted to and from work, there would be no problem. My dilemma is that I also go to school in the evenings.
I've checked out the trip planning options on Regional Transits website, getting to work in the mornings would be no problem. Getting from work to school would pose a little bit of a challenge - I would have to be sure that I got out of work at exactly 5pm (this is not always feasible) and I would barely make it to class on time.
Getting home in the evenings is whats proving to be impossible. I go to school at ARC and don't get out of class until 9:30 pm. There are buses that leave the school just before 10 pm, but I could only get as far as Sunrise Mall. The bus would drop me off there at just before 10:30 pm and that late at night, the bus line home from the mall has ended and I would exactly feel comfortable walking three and a half miles home, by myself, that late at night.

This is one of the things that I miss about living in Boston. The years that I lived there I relied solely on public transportation. The network of subways and buses was amazing and they ran late enough that I didn't have these kinds of issues. Utilizing public transportation was extremely convenient.

I hope that Sacramento RT recognizes how much usage is increasing and plans on extending route hours.

Obsessing

Anyone who knows me well knows that once I get an idea in my head, I obsess about it.
Lately, that obsessions has been this:

Yep, I am fully and completely fixated on the idea of getting a scooter. I've been going over all of the advantages, and disadvantages, that would come with scooter ownership. I've been contemplating what color scooter would best suit me, all kinds of things along those lines.
This is what I've brainstormed so far....

Advantages:
1. If I used the scooter ONLY for my daily commute (home to work to school to home) I would save at least $100 per month in fuel costs.
2. Insurance would be super cheap, approximately only $30 per month, and my car insurance would go down since I would be putting less miles on it.
3. Parking - parking permits at school for a car is $40 for the semester. Its only $15 for a motorcycle.
4. Parking, part deux - parking for motorcycles at school is RIGHT OUTSIDE the building that most of my classes are in. For the cars, its a bit of a walk. Yep. general laziness is a factor for me.
5. Commute - I imagine that I would be able to reduce my commute time on a scooter. While I may have to sit through a couple of light changes in my car because of congestion, in a scooter I would be able to lane share and pass by all of the sad cars sitting there waiting to inch forward and cut straight to the front of the line.

Disadvantages:
1. The elements - in the scorching Sacramento summers, I would be without air conditioning and in the cold I'd be without heat. No, I wouldn't ride in the rain, I don't have a death wish. A friend of mine who has a scooter says that she uses it roughly nine months out of the year, the other three months she solely uses her car due to the cold, rain, and winds.
2. Crazy ass drivers who don't pay attention - I would definitely be vulnerable to them.
3. Music - scooters don't have radios! How would I sing in traffic?
4. Purse - would it fit in the little storage area under the seat or would I need to start using a backpack? If I use a backpack would my back get all sweaty? Ew.

Simultaneous advantages and disadvantages:
1. Smoking - can't exactly smoke while riding a scooter. This would be anxiety provoking initially, but would certainly help me to cut back on the amount I smoke.
2. Cell phone - can't really chat on my phone while riding a scooter either. But then again, you're not exactly supposed to talk on the phone while driving a car either, are you? And if you can't talk on the phone you can't text either. Yep, I do text and drive. I am a horrible horrible citizen.
3. Coffee - can't drink coffee on a scooter. Bad for my coffee addiction, good for helping me to cut back. I drink A LOT of coffee. Too much, in fact.
4. Shopping - wouldn't really be able to do any heavy duty shopping on a scooter, but that would certainly be good for my budget, wouldn't it?

Now, for color. Part of me is tempted to go with some kind of super girly pink... but should it be a pastel pink, or a hot pink? Or should I go with a flashy red? Or maybe a classic black, or silver. But, maybe I should go with something bright so that I'm more noticeable in traffic. I am leaning towards the pastel pink, but maybe thats only because I saw a super cute brown backpack with pink flowers a week or two ago. Yes, I am considering how I would accesorize when contemplating what color to get.
Heres the full color options.... I'm not going to assume that the swatches on that page are really true to color, just that they give a basic idea - they just look rather generic on that page.

Thoughts? Any opinions on color? Any more ideas of advantages or disadvantages?

The biggest drawback... I'm not quite sure how I'll finance it at this time. I have a another big expense I'm facing in the near future - a new laptop. Mine is dead dead dead and I do have to prioritize a laptop over a scooter at this point since I'm going back to school. Both cost about the same, $1,500, and I don't really have that kind of cash lying around (see all of my traveling this past year). And if I'm going to discuss large purchases that I don't have the funding for, theres also lasik eye surgery.. I am sick of my glasses and can't wear contacts for long periods of time. Any suggestions of how I can make about $10,000 quickly, and legally, that doesn't involve a pyramid, trapezoid, or anything like that? Whats the Super Lotto jackpot up to these days?

OH, another thing I get kind of obsessive over? Blogging about innocuous things while I should be writing an essay thats due in just a little over 15 hours.

Exhausted

School is simply exhausting me. My typical day has me leaving the house at 7am to go to work, racing from work to school, in class until about 9:30, getting home close to 10:00, then figuring out dinner for Grandma and myself, and by the time I take care of any homework and studying, I'm not getting to bed until about 2 am. Yes, I am exhausted. No, I have no clue how I'm doing all of this aside from catching up on my sleep on the weekend - Friday nights I'm tending to get about 12 hours of sleep or so.

Of course, with work and school occupying all of my time, I'm not getting anything done in the way of knitting, crochet, crafts, or photography. This sucks because I have a lot to get done in all of those fields.
1 - One friend is expecting and due in about.... oh, 3 weeks. Number of projects I've completed for the little one.... 0.
2 - Another friend is expecting but not due for several months. I have plenty of projects in mind for this little one but have yet to start a single one - I figure that I've got plenty of time. Of course, I'll keep saying that I have plenty of time and the next thing I know it will be just a couple of weeks from the due date and I'll be screwed.... again.
3 - My neighbors daughter (whom I grew up with) just had her little one two days ago. I've done nothing.
4 - I've got all kinds of ideas of items I could put up on Etsy, but have done nothing.
5 - I have another photo show next Saturday (yep, one week from today) thats of photos from my recent trip to London. While I have gone through all of the photos from the trip and selected the ones that MIGHT be show-worthy, I still have to go through those and narrow them down to the ones I'll actually have in the show and do any photoshop corrections if necessary, then print them and what not.

Yes, I have plenty to do this next week before the show - in addition to all of that, I have a paper to write for my composition class. FUN!!!

Meanwhile, gas prices here in Sacramento are averaging $4.50 a gallon. Yes, I know thats still cheap in comparison to what gas prices are in Europe, but Europe also has better public transportation than what we have here in Sacramento. Unfortunately with my work and school schedule, public transportation is not an option for me - at least not with the system that we currently have here in Sacramento.
I am considering one thing to reduce fuel use and to save money, this:




but I'm not sure about the color. I'm thinking maybe something more like this:



or possibly this:



Of course, my grandma is dead set against the idea of me getting a scooter. My mom and dad would like to see me get something that has a little more power. Something like this:


I don't know about the motorcycle... motorcycles are rather butch, and scooters are so much CUTER.

Earlier, I mentioned Etsy. I love that site. So many creative types, all of their creations out there, its absolutely inspiring to see so many beautiful things. I recently found this awesome quilt


I wish I could afford it. Unfortunately, its just a wee bit out of my price range, but is definitely inspiring for making something similar myself.

Starting Over

Don't worry, the rest of my tales of my trip to London are on their way as are some photos. I just got the photos put onto disc last weekend, and going through them is going to take some time... I took over 900 photos.
Plus I have a bit of a dilema in that I essentially am without a photoshop program at the moment. On my laptop I had installed photoshop last year, and since the hard drive was just about full, I moved it over to my external hard drive (whom I lovingly call "Max" since its a "Maxtor") and deleted it off the laptop. It still worked just fine when I ran it from Max.
Since it worked when I ran it off of Max with my laptop, I figured it would work the same if I just plugged it in to my Grandmas iMac desktop set up.
WRONG.
Whenever I try to run it now, it tells me that it can't find my user name or serial number. I figure that I'm going to have to install it on the iMac, but first I'll have to find what I did with the original photoshop discs and hope that the serial numbers with them. Yes - I am incredibly disorganized.
So, I've been making do with the limited tools available on iPhoto. Basically, all that I can do is crop, turn to B&W, and tweak brightness and contrast a little bit. Thats it.

In other news, I took today off from work. I would love to say that I took the day off to kick back and relax, maybe do something fun with friends, but no. I went back to school. I went and met with a counselor to get a feel of where I should start. Let me just say that meeting with a counselor was the most pointless thing I did all day today. Essentially what I did was wait for about an hour to have her tell me that I should take the same classes that I thought I should start out with when I was looking at the requirements for the nursing program online this past week. PLUS, the craziest thing is that I told her I work full-time, yet she still suggested that I start out by taking three classes in the summer semester where everything is accelerated AND I haven't been to school in nearly a decade.
So far, I'm only enrolled in one class - General Principles of Psychology - but am considering adding another. I would ideally like to get into a Nutrition class since its a requirement for the program as well, but all of the classes at American River are full. I think that I may have to see if its available at Sac City College. If I can't get into the Nutrition class at either location this semester, I may have to put it off until the fall and see about taking English (Composition) this summer.
Where I'm going to have some potential problems is with math, it was never my strong suit to begin with and today the counselor confirmed that when I took the assessment tests 10 years ago I tested into Intermediate Algebra but she advised that I take the online assessment and print off the results if I enroll in a class so I can show the instructor. I took the online assessment for ELEMENTARY Algebra and got 50%. I totally suck. I don't want to start over in Pre-Algebra and have to work my way back up to Intermediate, but also don't want to go into Intermediate at such a tremendous disadvantage - and I am going to need to improve my math skills for the Chemistry classes that I'll be having to take. Any suggestions?

London Calling, Part 1

I left Sacramento on a Monday morning and my mom drove me down to San Francisco to catch my flight. The flight from SFO to Toronto was pretty uneventful. Once there, I had a little bit of a layover before my flight to London. The flight to London was an absolute nightmare. I started out by making the mistake of not packing any type of sleep aids. Customarily, I at the very least include a small bottle of Tylenol PM in my carry on, not packing it will be a mistake I never make again.
I was surrounded by 3 babies and toddlers that screamed and cried the entire time. It was as though they all got together and had a little meeting before boarding the plane and agreed upon which kid would take what shift.
Then, there were two girls sitting behind me, I think they were probably on some sort of graduation trip. They spent the first two hours talking, loudly and obnoxiously, about how great of tans they were going to get on their trip throughout Europe, how cool it was that they wore the same size because then they could share clothes and it would seem like their wardrobes were twice as big. I was relieved when it became apparent that they were going to go to sleep... until the one sitting directly behind me decided that my armrest was her foot stool and the back fat of my arm was the cushion.
With all of this surrounding me, and the lack of a sleep aid, I only managed to get about 45 minutes of sleep on the plane.
In flight, after the flight attendants had passed out the custom papers and I was filling it out, I realized that I had left the paper with the address of where we were staying, at home. I wasn't panicked at the time because I had friends coming in on another flight after me and I knew that they'd have the address. However, I still didn't have the address to fill out the customs paperwork. I contemplated opening up my trusty Rick Steves guidebook and just pick a random hotel or hostel address, but I didn't want to be dishonest on customs paperwork So, I left that section blank. I figured it would be better to be honest and explain my situation to the customs agent and go on my way.
I wait in line to clear customs, walk up to the agent and its a girl who looks like shes about 22-23 years old. She starts with the usual questions:
"What is the purpose of your visit to the UK?"
"Vacation"
"How long will you be in the UK?"
"A week"
"And you'll be staying at....."
she's obviously gotten to the part I left blank
"Where will you be staying while you're in the UK?"
"I'm sorry, I left the address at home when I left the states, but I'm meeting with some friends who are coming in on a British Airways flight in Terminal 5 in about 2 hours and they have the address"
"So, you're saying that you don't have a place to stay during your visit to the UK?"
"I do have a place to stay, I just forgot the papers that have the address at home"
"You are a grown adult with a legal responsiblity to have a legal address when you enter the UK"
At this point I wanted to launch into some smart assed diatribe about what do people who are aimlessly backpacking through Europe do, but I am smart enough to know that if there is any one person I should not get mouthy with it is the customs agent who can deny my entry or send me off to some back room for some sort of interrogation.
"I understand, I'm very sorry. I'll be meeting up with my friends in a couple of hours and they have it"
"Do you have ANY idea as to where it is that you're staying?"
"We rented an apartment on Elgin-something-or-other near the Notting Hill area"
"Ma'am, you are a grown adult with a legal responsibility to have an address when you enter the UK"
"Yes, I understand, I am very sorry"
And with that she stamped my passport and let me through.

Due to this little delay, by the time I found the baggage carousel, our luggage is already down so I find a spot where I can easily reach the baggage when mine comes around. And I stand there, and stand there, and stand there.
Pretty soon I realize that its the same 3 bags going around over and over and over again. F*ck.
I go to the baggage claim desk and hand over my tag that I was given in SFO. The agent looks up my claim number. Apparently, my bag liked Toronto so much it decided to stay there. This is at about noon, the guy tells me that there is another flight coming in from Toronto that will be there at about 9pm, and they can have a courier deliver it to my hotel some time between 11 and 12 that night, approximately. Whats the address for where I'm staying?
Great. This question again.
I explain to him the whole leaving the address at home, but am meeting with friends who will have it. He's very nice and says that if I can remember the name of the hotel he can look the address up for me. I tell him that its an apartment, not a hotel. He gives me some contact information for me to call with the address of where I'm staying once I have it, but that if its a hotel the courier service will deliver any time of night, but if its a residence that they do not deliver past 9pm. The flight is not scheduled to arrive until 9pm. So, even though I am feeling all grungy and covered in airplane, I will not have my luggage until the next morning... and no, I did not pack a change of clothing or any toiletries in my carry on. Perfect.

Have You Missed Me???

Last time I updated, I'd been sick for what seemed like forever.
I FINALLY got better, but then my laptop died out on me. Yup, its dead.
It will occasionally still start up, but it always insists that the date is March 31, 1979. As soon as I correct the date, the screen goes completely black. If I don't correct the date, nothing works right. Even then, it will only stay on for a short period of time, then goes black as well.
Best case scenario, I think I'm going to have to replace the motherboard. Or, at least thats what a guy at my work says - he previously worked tech support for Apple. Worst case scenario, I'm going to have to buy a new laptop. Granted, a new MacBook wouldn't be the worst thing to have happen to me, but right now, the price tag isn't exactly feasible either. I would blog from work, but they've blocked all personal blogs and social networking sights. So, I've had to resort to commandeering my grandmothers desktop.
I will have to be commandeering it a lot soon.
I have another photo show coming up at the end of June and I still have to go through a lot of photos and edit some before then. Then, I'm photographing a wedding in July that I will again have to go through and edit photos and burn them on to disc and whatnot.

So, back to the photo show. Its at the end of June, I'll announce the exact date, time and location later, but it will feature photos taken on my recent trip to London.
London was fantastic, I got to see some amazing sites, but we just did not have time to see everything that I wanted to see. I guess that only means one thing, I'm going to have to go back someday. I did love London, and a lot of the stereotypes were defied - the food was not atrocious, there were dentists offices, not everyone
had horrible teeth. Stay tuned for tales of London, and for photos of my nieces first birthday.

My other big news - I'm going to go back to school. I'm not quite 100% certain of what my ultimate goal will be, but I am heavily heavily heavily leaning towards nursing. I would have a lot of prerequisites to work through before I could apply for the nursing program, but there are a lot of opportunities in nursing, a very high demand for it, and awesome pay scale.
I just need a career that has a future in it. I don't feel that I have that where I'm at now. Yes, I'm going through career angst. Again. I'm not actively hating my job like I was a few years ago, but I'm just... dissatisfied. I don't trust that my office won't be relocated out of state in the next 5 years or so, and theres not really anywhere for me to go, not anywhere that I'd be even mildly interested in going anyways. I just don't see a career for myself where I'm at now, and I need to actively do something to improve my future options.
I know that going back to school would involve some radical lifestyle changes. I'd definitely have to cut back on my social activities and exercise A LOT of self discipline in order to focus on studying and give it the attention it needs. Namely, I'd have to cut back on going out to the pub and going out with my friends. I'd have to learn to draw boundaries with my family as to when I'm accessible to them and when I'm not.
So, I'm thinking that I'm going to start as soon as the summer semester. Its awfully short notice - only about 3 weeks, so I'm going to go in and meet with a counselor to see where I should start. I've been out of school for about 10 years, and am very out of practice. I don't know what math and writing levels I'm at, which classes I should enroll in. I'm thinking I may go for a Spanish class to start - I can enroll in beginning Spanish without having to take any sort of assessment tests, and I do seem to have an ability to pick up languages, at least thats been my experience with my travels. Bonus would be that learning Spanish would be very useful in any career setting, and that it would be beneficial to my traveling as well.
Thats another thing I'll have change with going back to school - my traveling. I think this one just might hurt the most. I'll still find ways to travel - they just may have to be on a smaller scale and will have to be timed better so that they don't interfere with class schedules and exams and what not. So, if I was going to travel on a smaller scale, I may do some trips to Mexico or Costa Rica or someplace like that where I could put that Spanish I'm learning to use.
Plus, I may have to rethink my career while in school. I'm confident that I can handle working my current job full time while taking care of all of the prerequisites and general ed requirements, but if I do end up getting into a nursing program I don't know if I could work my current job while in the program. I think the schedules would conflict. So, I'd have to find some sort of part time night job or something along those lines.
But, thats still a bit of a ways off, so I don't think I need to worry on it too much just yet.

I have decided one thing. Boys are stupid.
So, I meet a guy at the pub. We stand off to the side away from everyone else talking for about 2, maybe 2-1/2 hours. When he leaves he makes a point to shake everyones hand, but doesn't remember any of their names - except mine, and he hugs me but no one else.
I've seen him there a time or two since then, and he always hugs only me when he leaves.
So, I'm thinking thats a sign that he may have some interest, but he still hasn't asked for my number or email or anything.
Boys are stupid.

Chez Sicko

I have been sick, to varying degrees, for 3 fecking weeks now.
I've assumed that its the virus thats going around, but its flared back up the last few days. I called the advice nurse who scheduled a phone appointment with a doctor for me. The doctor calls me back a little bit later and I tell him my symptoms and what not. He agrees that its most likely just a virus, but considering how long Ive had it, he calls in a prescription of antibiotics for me just in case its trying to settle into something else.
I still feel like crap.
Now I'm also feeling dizzy and lightheaded and periodically breaking out in a sweat.
I am sick of being sick.
Ugh.

My First Showing...

My premier photo exhibit went well.
There was a nice turnout, I managed to sell a couple of pieces, and I may have a 2nd or possibly even a 3rd show lined up as a result. Possibly even a Second Saturday show at an actual venue.
For those of you who weren't able to come out to the showing, you can see the photos I had in the exhibit HERE.

I've Done It...

I've booked my next trip!
I am going to........






LONDON!!!!!!


I am SO excited! I found some killer airfare ($450 round trip - total! with taxes and everything!) and booked the tickets this morning.

I've bought my Rick Steves London book and will spend the next month and a half reading it to prepare.

Overload

Maybe if I posted more frequently, my posts would each have a theme and be a bit more concise. Instead, get ready for an assault of information!

Last month, my friend Caren announced that she is pregnant. I am so excited for her, she and Damien (her husband) have been trying since they got married last August. This past Thursday was her birthday, and that afternoon she had an ultrasound to determine what she's having, its a boy!
So, I have a lot of knitting and crocheting to do. Caren and I have been friends since the 7th grade and I intend on showering that little boy with almost as many knit and crochet goods as I do my little Kylee.
Caren and I have been friends for 20 years now, long enough that we know each others siblings well and are pretty much extended parts of each others families. When Caren got married last year, my grandmother, sister and her boyfriend were all invited to the reception. When my sister had her baby shower last spring, Caren and Damien were invited. It was at my sisters shower that Caren & Damien informed me that they would start trying to make a little one of their own as soon as they were married. I had done all of the cooking for my sisters shower and Caren told me that she liked everything I had made so much that she wanted me to do the same for her. Since announcing her pregnancy she has confirmed that she does still want me to take care of the food and cake for her baby shower.
The problem? No one can remember exactly what I made for my sisters shower. I even checked the history on my blog here and I didn't detail everything that I'd made. I only listed one of the items, and that is one of the few that we can all remember. So, I'm still looking throhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifugh some of the old recipes that I'd forwarded to myself at that time, and heres what I've got:
Turkey Pesto Sandwiches - the recipe calls for prosciutto, but I used turkey to keep the costs down since there were a lot of people there.
Parmesan Puff Pastry - these were EASY and quite tasty. Caren does remember these as well, and it is one item that she specifically requested.
Black Bean Salsa - this is the only item that my mom remembers, and I think the only reason she remembers it is because she was HAMMERED on margaritas and there was a bunch of this left over that she put on salads and what not for a couple of days after the shower. It washttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif quick and easy to do, and I imagine it would probably be better made a day or two ahead of time to allow the flavors to all marinate together.
Finger Sandwiches - I'd made these but substituted kalamata olives. Because I LOVE them. Kalamata olives are seriously one of my favorite foods.

Caren did have a specific request for the cake - lemon and coconut. I'm keeping an eye out for recipes that can fit this. I'm thinking butter cake, lemon curd filling, coconut cream cheese frosting, and then cover the cake with coconut flakes that have been colored blue.
Since a lot of people don't care for coconut too much, I'm thinking that I'll also make some cake lollipops. Its a recipe that was mentioned on Not Martha a week or so ago, check out the photos here, I'm thinking that they would be really cute in blue and white and I could do a couple of different flavors - one with blue frosting, and one with white.

In other news, I'm considering a trip to London. I've found some cheap airfare, $455 (total!) round trip, for the end of April. I'm just going to double check that its within my budget. As soon as I do that, I'll be booking the tickets.

I've been bad...

At posting. Horrendously bad.
Works been kicking my butt. December and January have always been bad, but this year felt worse than it has in years.
Family has been... complex. The good news is that this past holiday season was my nieces first Christmas and she was ADORABLE. Also, she is now 9 months old! How crazy is that??? Her 1st birthday is just around the corner!?!?!?

This was taken about a week before Christmas. I got to take the little booger for her mall Santa photo. My sister was going to skip the mall Santa photo for economic reasons, but I couldn't let that happen. EVERY child needs to have their photo taken while sitting on some strange old mans lap, right?
And here she is on Christmas morning.

I know that I'm biased, but I just want to eat her up because she is so G.D. adorable.
Anyways, this was Christmas morning on the couch and my moms with a few of the toys that Santa brought her.

And heres the little pooh-bear with her favorite auntie, me, in the midst of the chaos that is the dinner with the entire crazy bunch, I mean extended family.


Aside from fawning over my little niece, theres been other family issues. My moms health isn't so great. She's had 2 heart attacks in the past, the first at the age of 42 and the second at the age of 45. Last month ago there was reason to think she was having another. Thankfully, she wasn't. However, today we learned that her heart is functioning at only 40-45% of its capacity. I haven't spoken with her personally to find out exactly what this means, what the options are, and where to go next.


On a happier note, I went to Italy last November. I know that I mentioned this before, but I never posted any photos. These are a few of my favorites





Italy was beautiful, spectacular, and breathtaking. All at the same time. I definitely will make a point of visiting that country again in the future.

I've been doing better at keeping my travel blog up to date. I'd initially had the blog hosted on Wordpress, and while I liked Wordpress and its format and everything, I didn't like how they don't allow ads. Granted, Google AdSense doesn't pay out a whole heck of a lot, but every little bit ads up, right? Sooo, once it looked as though I was getting a fair amount of traffic I moved the blog over to Typepad. If you care to, you can now visit my travel blog here.
Bookmark it, talk about it, spread the word, whatever.

If you like the photos of Italy up there, and would like to see prints in person I will be having a show of some of my photography next month. Most of the photos will be of my travels - some of Italy, Paris, Ireland, and more exotic locales such as Forest Grove Oregon, Salt Lake City Utah, and our very own Sacramento California. Here are the details

Saturday, March 1 7pm-11pm
It's A Grind Coffee House
2731 Del Paso Road
Sacramento CA 95835

Need directions? Heres a map.

OH! And the best part? It's your chance to meet me in person. I'll be there all night. I may or may not be sneaking outside intermittently for a smoke and to top off my mochas with a wee nip of butterscotch schnapps or something of that genre, but I'll still be there. So, come! Bring a friend!

As I mentioned in my last posting, I've been working on my weight. I started at the beginning of the year and have managed to drop 15 lbs. Granted, I still haven't been to the gym, but it's a start, right?

I've been crocheting lately as well.
A few days after Christmas a close friend of mine lost her brother. I decided to give her an afghan in his honor and presented her with it about a month ago.
In addition to leaving behind his sisters, he also was the father to a 14 year old girl. My friend told me that when his daughter saw the afghan and found out what it was for, she was touched to the point of tears. What choice did I have but to make one for her as well? I finished it a couple of nights ago and should be presenting it to her tomorrow. I didn't get any photos of the afghan I made for my friend, but am hoping to grab a pic or two before I give this one to the daughter tomorrow.

I Know...

I know that I said I would try to keep this blog up as well as my new travel blog, but, well, I'm slacking. Between work, my social life, family life, and everything else, both blogs are slacking a bit.
Also, I've been off seeing the world again. I spent the week of November 11-17 in Italy and had an absolutely fantastic time. It was a very short trip, and there was a lot more that I wanted to see and do but just didn't have time for. Venice was ideal, I've written about it over on the travel blog, and Florence was amazing. I think what impressed me the most about Florence was the art. The galleries are impressive, the sculptures that are out in the piazzas, just the way the city seems to glow in the sunlight... its definitely a city I want to go back to.
The travel blog is something I need to put a little more work into. I'm looking at turning it into a full blown website, throw a few ads up on there and see if I can generate some additional income from it. Perhaps it can serve to fund my future trips. I am ready to take off for Europe, or anywhere else, again already.
In addition, I've joined a gym. A friend of mine is the owner and publisher of Sacramento's Health and Fitness magazine, and he hooked me up with a free one year membership to 24 Hour Fitness.
I activated the membership last month, but have yet to use it. Part of the reason was that I was in the midst of preparing for my trip to Italy, another was that I lacked any shoes appropriate for working out. You can't do the eliptical trainer in a pair of strappy Born sandals. But, last night I got the shoes and sports bras, and a couple weeks ago I got myself some cute yoga pants, so now there are NO excuses.
I've even found a new online goal tracker so that I can keep some traces of accountability for myself. The first two goals I put on there were to exercise and to update my travel blog. Next I added some of the boring day to day chores that I need to keep up on, such as taking out the trash and doing laundry, but I've also added updating this personal blog a couple days each week. I NEED to write more.
I have a renewed outlook on writing since my return from Italy. While sitting on my hotel patios in both Venice and Florence, scribbling away in my journal, I realized that writing keeps me more in touch with my true self and that its when I put the pen, or the keyboard, away, I lose track of my wishes and dreams, and through losing track of those basic things, I just find myself lost in the BS of day to day life.
Another realization I had on this last trip was exactly how much I dislike my current job. I've been with the same company for over 7 years now, and no longer feel satisfied there. As much as I hate the whole process of interviewing for jobs, I have to move on and find something new. I have found one job to apply for and am in the process of revamping my resume. Please, keep your fingers crossed. I need out. As much as I like some of the people I work with, the job itself has worn me down and I need to find something new, something with a little more security, a new scene, and different challenges.

The Big News

Heres the big announcement I mentioned last week...

All of you know of my love for travel - my passion for immersing myself in other cultures and seeing the world. You also may know that I seem to have a knack for doing this for a rather cheap budget.
Taking the advice of some friends, I've decided to share my tips and resources on how to travel on a budget while not sacrificing any of the experience.
You can read my travel blog at:

www.tightwadtourist.wordpress.com

I'll be updating the blog with any of those killer deals I find, general travel tips, stories from my own adventures, and my travel photos.

Please feel free to give my any feedback and don't hesitate to ask any questions.

Bon Voyage!
Vanessa

Stay Tuned

Big news is on its way.....

Before I Begin

First of all, let me apologize by saying that the "o" on my keyboard is a little wonky right now, so please forgive any typos.

Before I begin telling you about the goings on in my life for the past two months, I want to share some background.

Tonight I was able to catch the tail end of Oprah, where she had Dr. Oz as her guest. I saw a little bit of a family who had some children who were beginning to develop weight problems.

OH, how I could relate.

This family was taught healthy eating habits, the children were enrolled in tae kwon do classes and taught healthy eating habits as well as being shown positive self images.

This was where I was no longer able to relate.

When I was 10 years old, I'd started to put on some weight. Yes, I was overweight even back then. I was 4'10" and weighed 130 lbs. I was approximately 45 lbs overweight.
My family did not make any moves to help me develop positive eating habits at that young of age, they didn't help me to develop a positive self image or anything along those lines. My familiy essentially told me I was getting to fat and put me on Weight Watchers. At the age of 10.
Prior to this I was given the green light to drink bottle after bottle of orange soda all day long, then I was thrown to the opposite extreme of green salads with red wine vinegar and lowfat cottage cheese. Meanwhile, the rest of my family was still downing the sodas.
There was no effort made to make the household dinners healthier for everyone, I was just singled out with separate meals from everyone else, singled out at holiday gatherings out with public displays of how I was not allowed to eat what everyone else was eating regardless of how small the portion size. I was not taught healthy eating habits by my family, and I don't feel that Weight Watchers did either. Perhaps if my family had been more supportive the WW principles would have more educational, but the combination of my home life and WW did not create an environment in which healthy eating habits, healthy lifestyle and positive self image were encouraged.

As a result, my weight is something I have always struggled with. I've gone through periods where I didn't give a crap what I ate and basically binged for long periods of time. I've also gone to the opposite extreme where I've wondered if I would have been diagnosed as anorexic if a therapist were to have watched my actions. Granted, I never got down to a weight that was scary or that would cause any health concerns, but I was practicing some extremely unhealthy dietary habits.
I've never really learned the ultimate lesson here though. Its over 20 years later and I still alternate between extremes, never finding that happy medium.

I applaud the parents that were on Oprah today for taking the time to learn how to be healthier, AS A FAMILY, for not making any of their kids appear to feel singled out and ashamed of who they are but for making them want to be healthier. That was not an option that was presented to me at that age. Still I deal with self image issues, and struggle with trying to learn how to adjust my lifestyle and my eating habits so that they compliment one another.

Dr Oz's book may be one of my next purchases, but in the meantime I'm reading up on The French Diet by Dr Montegnac.

Absence Only Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Im sorry that I've neglected you for so long my sweets. I promise, it will never happen again. I have A LOT of updates for you. A LOT.
I'll be working on them this weekend.
I've had some travel, some adventures, some hum drum. All will be very interesting, I promise you this.

Where o where have I been?

Nearly three weeks without a posting and you would think that I'd been out of the country again. You would be wrong.
i have had a lot going on though.
First there was a friends birthday, which I once again baked the cake for:


Spice cake with seafoam frosting and caramel. It turned out nicely and was liked by all.
The following Saturday I headed east on I-80, stopping at the Donner Lake vista point for a photo op:

a while later I reached my destination:

Reno, where I met up with 6 friends for a bachelorette party

We had drinks that came in fishbowls

It was great fun, and one of the worst hangovers I've had in years.

Then, there was last night.
I THOUGHT that I was going to the suprise birthday party for a friends boyfriend and it turned out to be a suprise wedding. It was quite the shock, and an absolutely beautiful evening.

Auntie Nessie

I got to babysit on Monday night.

Cooking and Talking.

I made dinner tonight. I was going through some of my Grandmas magazines this afternoon - she buys all of the magazines at the supermarket checkout for their recipes, yet she doesn't cook. Anyways, I found a recipe for a lasagna that I just jad to make this evening. Instead of using lasagna noodles, you use chees raviolis. It was fantastic - I forgot to take any photos though so you'll just have to trust me as to how good it was. I did modify the recipe a little though and added some spinach to the layers.
While cleaning up after dinner I realized that I must talk to my grandmother about my coworkers A LOT. She asked me if I wanted to take some of the leftovers to work tomorrow, and I said yes. Then, she said "I suppose you'll need some for your two boys as well, won't you?"
Also, I'm in a wedding next month. My oldest friend Caren is getting married. I'd like for my nails to grow out some before the wedding so I think I'm going to have to resort to my old stand by for getting my hair and nails to grow for a special occaision - prenatal vitamins.
I leave you with a photo of my niece Kylee and I, this was taken about 3 weeks ago. She is so cute! I can't wait for her personality to really come out.