Sabotage.

I came home from work this afternoon in a great mood, ready for the weekend.

I changed out of my work clothes, started some laundry and straightened up a bit, then I stepped out onto the balcony to inspect my plants. As I’ve said recently, I am taking such pleasure in watching those plants grow and sprout little tomatoes and peppers and beans. The vegetables grow so much every day, it’s just amazing.

We’ve used the cilantro several times, and we used the basil this past weekend. And the bean plant, which I thought might be a lost cause, has even begun sprouting a few beans.

The tomato plant has been my favorite, as it’s grown the most rapidly and is just full of little green tomatoes. But in the past two weeks or so, the pepper plant has held my fascination even more. It sprouted two tiny little peppers a few weeks ago, and since then, they have just grown so fast! A few days ago, I finally tied the pepper plant to the railing to hold it upright, since those two peppers were getting to be too heavy for the plant.

So anyway, today I stepped outside and I looked at the pepper plant first. I bent down, and for a moment I thought I was hallucinating. The plant was bare.

My mind was sort of moving in slow motion as I then turned my gaze into the dirt beneath the plant, thinking that perhaps the storm earlier in the day had knocked them off the plant.

But no, they weren’t there either.

I immediately realized - SQUIRRELS must have gotten to them!

I hadn’t even thought of little critters stealing my vegetables, and I’m not sure what I would have done to prevent it anyway. But oh my gosh, I was so upset!

I looked around, thinking I might spot the little thieves. I think I even voiced my anger at them out loud before going back inside to message Dave, who was still at work, on Gmail - OUR PEPPERS ARE GONE!

I was seriously so sad. I almost had to laugh at the situation, just at the realization of how upset I really was! I mean, come on, it was only two peppers, peppers that I can and do buy at the grocery store all the time.

But these were MY peppers. I’d watched them grow from nothing! And now I wouldn’t be able to watch them get big and I wouldn’t be able to eat them at the end of the summer.

So Dave got home and he felt bad, too, that our peppers got swiped. We put it out of our mind after awhile, though, and went outside again to cook some pork chops and potatoes on the grill for dinner.

It was windy, and suddenly the packaging for the pork chops got caught up in a gust of wind and flew into the neighbor’s yard down below.

I watched the grill while Dave ran down to retrieve it, and when he came back up he was holding not only the pork chop packaging, but also one of my green peppers.

The little bastards didn’t even EAT it! They just gnawed all over it before abandoning it in the neighbor’s driveway. That somehow made me feel even worse.

A few minutes later, we found the second one, laying in the gutter that surrounds the porch, with a bunch of the plant still attached to it.

So that was that. No more peppers.

I fully realize how silly it is to be so sad over two little peppers and to document the whole situation, but I can’t help it. I was having such fun with my plants.

So now I need to figure out how to keep those critters away from my tomatoes. I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose those, too!

 

Rodrigo y Gabriela

The first time I heard Rodrigo y Gabriela was when Dave taped their performance on Letterman and told me I had to watch. He’d been listening to them for months - years maybe? - I’m not sure why he hadn’t introduced me prior to this.

Their music, a combination of Latin and rock, played with lightning-fast strumming and thumping on their acoustic guitars, is completely infectious. You listen to it and you can’t help but move. You can’t help but feel happy.

Dave burned me a copy of their self-titled CD and I’ve listened to it probably 50 times over in my car now.

We saw them live at Summerfest last Saturday night, and I’d put it in my top five - maybe top three - concert experiences.

They sounded just as great in person, which doesn’t even seem possible, and it was obvious they were having such a good time up there. They interacted with the crowd a lot, and the crowd - which was one of the most diverse audiences I’ve seen at a concert - in turn clapped along and cheered and danced. It was awesome. My hands were nearly on fire by the end of it, but they were worth it.

Their guitars had tiny cameras positioned on them, so the audience could see their fingers moving on the screen behind them. That was really cool. I don’t know how anyone can play guitar like that - or how their fingers don’t fall off after a performance - but it’s incredible.

Oh, and Rodrigo is really hot.

Here are a couple of clips of them. If you’re not already a fan, check them out, you’ll love them. (It’s not letting me embed the videos for some reason, so you’ll have to click over to YouTube.)

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Tamacun
Rodrigo y Gabriela - Diablo Rojo

Definitely, definitely a band I’d love to see in person again. And I can’t wait for them to come out with another album.

 

Hinterland

First off, I’d like to say thank you, Uncle Sam, for your role in one of the best dining experiences we’ve ever had.

When we got our stimulus check, we set aside $100 for a dinner out. We knew it wouldn’t cover the whole tab if we went somewhere nice, but hey, it would help. It sat in an envelope for weeks, until this past weekend when we decided to give Hinterland, a new-ish restaurant in the Third Ward, a try.

From start to finish, the experience was incredible. Understated, relaxed ambiance, a romantic table in the corner, excellent service by the manager, David, and a meal that was so good, every plate was a masterpiece, both in taste and presentation.

We had a bottle of red wine (I use the term “we” loosely there - it was about a 95/5 ratio), and Dave sampled a few of their signature Hinterland beers.

For our meal, Dave started with fried razor clam served with tartar sauce and sliced pickles. I had the beef carpaccio, which was served with baguette and arugula. That was my first beef carpaccio and I have to say, I’m sold.

For our entrees, we both had seafood, as Hinterland has fresh fish flown in every single day. I had a Hawaiian fish (the name of which escapes me and isn’t on their menu that’s currently online), which was served with whole Morelle mushrooms and a Morelle mushroom puree, pearl onions, and fiddlehead fern (I had to Google it to make sure that’s what it was. Yup.) Dave had a crusted halibut served with fingerling potatoes and andouille sausage. Both meals were just heavenly. I savored every last bite, and after each course, our plates looked as if they’d been literally licked clean.

None of the portions were overly big, and we definitely had room for dessert. We shared a coffee and had a weizen beer ice cream served with plantain chips and a chocolate silk mousse cake.

We left full and oh so satisfied. It was fairly expensive, but definitely worth it. We don’t go out like that very often, so when we do, we really appreciate it.

That was Friday night, and our two-and-a-half-hour dinner ended just in time for us to head back to Shorewood and catch the fireworks at Atwater Park.

As we drove along Lincoln Memorial Drive after dinner, I felt this wave of such contentment come over me that I just wanted to shout out the window. The summer breeze was so warm and wonderful, dinner had been out of this world, and I was with the guy I love more than anything in the world.

Such a good night.

 

Holy hits!

Best day ever so far here at my new WordPress blog -

823 views today and it’s not even 5 p.m.!

Guess people were really interested to see what I did all weekend, huh?

 

How was your weekend?

My answer to this inevitable Monday morning question is almost always “Great! How was yours?” I mean, why wouldn’t a weekend be great? It’s a weekend.

Tomorrow, though, I do believe my answer will be more like …

Perfect-wonderful-amazing-life-doesn’t-get-much-better. How was yours?

Something like that.

As is often the case on a Sunday night, I’m not too keen on spending the last bit of my weekend tied to the computer, so I’ll be brief for now and then elaborate this week sometime …

The past four days included:

- a Weeds marathon and a bottle of wine

- downtime at home, including plenty of time to do some much-needed cleaning and organizing

- finishing a book and starting a new one

- an incredible, romantic dinner at Hinterland

- fireworks at the park

- bed shopping

- a visit with the newlyweds to hear about their honeymoon

- a rockin concert at Summerfest

- a productive morning getting Race for the Cure stuff done

- visits from Mom and Dale and Christi

- and now a quiet Sunday evening to wrap it all up

The weekend was just so, so good. Long and relaxing and full of fun.

Right now, a full DVR awaits me in the living room. I’ll be back later this week with more.

Hope your holiday weekend was a great one, too.

 

Thoughts from all over

• Attempting to work this week is brutal. The weather is gorgeous, the past weekend was exhausting and hardly a weekend at all, and the long holiday weekend is looming.
• I went to the bank just now to deposit a check. Once I’d sent my check and my deposit slip, I sat there and waited. And waited. And WAITED. I was fuming, and then I thought, maybe I’m on a show like MTV’s Boiling Points and someone is going to come give me a $100 for being so patient. But that didn’t happen.
• I ran out of potting soil last week when transferring my plants into larger pots, so I have to go get more this coming weekend. I know that I haven’t done much of anything for my plants besides buy them, plant them, and water them, but I have to tell you, I am getting such a thrill out of watching them grow, and I am really proud of how big they’re getting! I water them each evening and then I inspect to see what’s changed since the day before. First it was just flowers, now I have a few little green tomatoes sprouting, and some teeny tiny green peppers. They’re so cute! I hope they keep growing so that I can have the satisfaction of EATING them later this summer!
• We’ve already used some of our cilantro, and we’re planning to use some basil this weekend. We’ve decided that we’re going to plant stuff every year from now on, even if it’s just a few herbs. We pay more for one little package of fresh cilantro in the store - which goes bad after a week or two - than we did for that entire plant. It’s a no-brainer!
• Dave and I have had a chocolate cake in our pantry for about two years that we never thought we’d actually bake. On Sunday we had a hankering for some chocoloate, so we baked it with only a can of Diet Pepsi in there with the cake mix. And it turned out really good! Not as good as real cake with oil and eggs, but still very, very tasty. And of course, it’s still pretty bad for us - but again, not nearly as bad as if we made it normally. We put Cool-Whip and strawberries on top and oooh, it was such a yummy treat!
• (Ok, baby talk alert. Seriously, can I not go one post without alluding to my desire for offspring? It’s sick.)
• So, I had a thought the other day. As we all know, I’m constantly thinking “I want a baby NOW!” But right after that thought, I immediately think “But our life is so easy right now. And we love each other so much, I’m not sure I want to give up Erin and Dave time!” I realized, though, that hmmmm, if that isn’t the ideal situation to bring a baby into, I’m not sure what is. I mean, what’s the alternative? Our life is already hard and stressful, so let’s throw a baby in the mix? And our relationship sucks and we don’t really like each other that much, so hey, let’s see if a baby fixes that? Of course not.
• So that made me feel better, like hey, it’ll be hard and scary whenever we do it, but also really exciting and wonderful, and we seem to be in a pretty good position right now to add a little guy or gal into the equation. We could have more money, but people do it on much less money than what we make. And I’ve decided I don’t mind making sacrifices to have a baby - including financial sacrifices. I think getting our own house a year or two later or not being able to buy a ton of new clothes is worth it to have a kid.
• I sent Dave the link to this article from Newsweek yesterday that says that a majority of couples report greater levels of happiness before they have kids and after their kids have grown and left home. And that couples who never have kids report the highest levels of happiness.
• I said that I certainly don’t doubt that people who make that conscious choice to never have children are happier in life, at least in the present time, in that they have less stress and more stability. Not having kids is most definitely easier than having them! Plus think of all the extra money. And time to spend that money. I’m sure it’s heavenly. Heck, sometimes I wish that I had been born one of those people who simply doesn’t have an urge to procreate. I’d have a nice house and drive a fancy car and eat out and travel all the time. Fortunately for my future children, though, I was most definitely not born one of those people.
• I also said that I think we’ll see more and more news coverage like this in the media in the years to come. That having kids is just so HARD, and that it’s EVIL, since God forbid, kids take up RESOURCES and populate this already over-populated Earth. I mean, how selfish can one be, wanting their OWN children when there are so many already out there who need loving homes?
• Give me a break. I do think it’s great that we’ve evolved as a society so that people no longer feel pressured to have kids because they feel it’s what they’re “supposed” to do. I think people who truly don’t have a desire for kids shouldn’t have them - leave it to us who really want to do it. And of course, I think people who adopt children are wonderful. If I can’t have kids of my own, I’ll of course adopt. But wanting one’s own child is most certainly not selfish. It’s completely the opposite, in fact! And I think it’s gross that more and more people are looking at the decision to have a child as selfish and bad for the Earth and society.
• It may sound bad, but it’s people like me - and probably a lot of you who are reading this - who should be ENCOURAGED to have more children to offset all the ones who are born to parents who are not going to give a crap about raising good, smart, contributing members of society.
• Whew. Stepping down off my soapbox …
  
• I ran the numbers today for our would-be vacation to Cooperstown/NYC/DC in October, and I just had to break the news to Dave that I don’t think we’ll be able to swing it all. At the bare minimum, the trip would be more than $2,000, and that’s doing everything on the cheap. Hotels, food, theater tickets, everything. I’d much rather cut something out and do the remainder of the trip up right.
• However, the way I see it, we need to either cut out New York altogether, including both Cooperstown and NYC, or cut out D.C. altogether and just stick to New York. But Cooperstown and D.C. are the two places Dave really wants to go, and of course, the highlight of my trip was going to be showing Dave NYC and finally seeing Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.
• So we’re stuck at the moment. The decision can’t be made over email while at work, so we’re going to talk it over tonight. My preference is to cut out New York altogether and do D.C. right. Take our time exploring the city and monuments, eat some good meals … And then we can do Cooperstown and NYC on our next trip. But who knows.
• Either way, I’ve requested off for that week and we’re going somewhere. A part of me just wants to say screw it and spend the money, but I’d really rather keep it $1,500 or less, as we’re obviously saving for some important things right now.
• Being responsible. How lame.
• Speaking of which, lunchtime is definitely over. I should do some work. The weekend cannot come fast enough!

 

GIKAS: Mid-year progress report.

Jan. 1 - June 30, 2008

Total number of workouts: 71
At the gym: 50
Outside the gym: 21

Chest workouts: 15
Legs workouts: 12
Bi/tris workouts: 15
Shoulders/abs* workouts: 5
Yoga workouts: 16
Other misc. workouts (Atwater steps, Tae Bo, etc.): 4
(*abs get worked at the end of almost every workout)

Minutes of cardio: 1,464

Weight, January 1: 145.8
Weight, June 30: 137.8

***********************************************************

It’s been a full six months and my GIKAS plan is going strong. I went through my little notebook tonight and added up my workouts for the year so far - 71 times is pretty good!

The weight loss isn’t such a big deal at this point, as my weight has been right around the same place for a few months now. It’s still pretty exciting, though, to be consistently below 140, and it’s very cool to see the gains I’ve made in my weight training.

I’ve worked out regularly for more than five years now, but this year was the first time I got serious about weight training, and I have never felt better in my life. I can see and feel the difference in my arms, chest and abs, and everything I do is just easier since I have more muscle on my body.

And keeping the notebook, I’m able to go back and see how far I’ve come in certain exercises.

**********************************************************

A few areas where I’ve made some pretty significant gains:

Beginning weight, chest press:45 lbs. (bar)
June 30 weight, chest press: 70 lbs. (bar + 25 lbs)

Beginning push-ups: 1 regular, or 12 girlie
June 30 push-ups: 30 real push-ups fresh, or 2 sets of 15 real push-ups after a workout

Beginning weight, bicep curls: 12 lbs each arm
June 30 weight, bicep curls: 20 lbs each arm

Beginning weight, dips: 12 dips w/ 70 lbs of assistance
June 30 weight, dips: 12 dips w/ 35 lbs of assistance

***********************************************************

Weight training is hard, and it hurts, but it’s FUN, too. It’s a lot more rewarding than cardio, and the way a muscle feels pumped up after working it out is a really sweet feeling. I think I’ve embarrassed Dave a few times by feeling my own bicep in the gym and saying “You HAVE to feel this!”

Not only is the weight training enjoyable and the gains tangible and rewarding, but I also attribute my ability to keep my weight steady to the weight training, as well.

I put on weight very easily. Before tonight, I hadn’t worked out in TWELVE days - since before Amanda’s wedding weekend and my long pre-event week. I ate pretty badly a few times in there, too - and yet I didn’t gain an ounce. I definitely think it’s due in large part to the fact that I have more muscle than I’ve ever had before.

I’m proud of where I am right now and how far I’ve come since January 1. I’m not ripped and I’m not particularly skinny, either - but I’m healthy and strong and I feel better and more powerful than I’ve ever felt before. More so than ever before, I realize how great it feels to take such good care of myself, and I vow that no matter how crazy life gets, I will always make time for eating well and exercising.

It helps that I have such a supportive husband who also places a lot of value in a healthy lifestyle. We work together and encourage one another. Dave’s in the best shape of his life, too, and it shows - and I can barely keep my hands off him!

I suppose GIKAS should be officially retired as I’m not really on a ‘plan.’ If it is a plan, it’s more like SIKAS now, as I want to stay where I’m at and maintain this all my life.

I’ll have to do another check-in at the end of 2008. I really, really hope I’ll have a reason to be more than 140 pounds at that point, but if by chance I don’t have that reason, my goal is to stay below 140 and to keep up the pace with the workouts and get to 140 of them by year’s end.

 

Sigh of relief.

The major event I’ve been planning at work for the past two months finally took place this weekend, and by all accounts, it was a big success.

Work’s been crazy lately, and the past week was especially hectic. The relief I feel that it’s over and that all went well is HUGE.

I can’t say much more about it, as I’ve learned that I can’t really write about anything work-related on here, whether good or bad, as it’s a conflict of interest, especially since I work in PR and have the reputations of quite a few clients in my hands.

It’s a pretty big drag, since work is a very big part of my life - and it’s not like I ever mention clients by name. But hey, that’s life, and I care about my job way too much to go against the rules.

I did post a few pics of the highlights of the event on Facebook, so for those of you who are friends with me on there, check ‘em out!

I’m not too happy about having to go back to work already tomorrow, but the impending four-day holiday weekend makes it better.

I’ll post again soon. I think life will be a little calmer for awhile again, which I’m incredibly thankful for. I can’t believe it’s nearly July already!!

 

Amanda and Mark’s Wedding

So! Moving on to the WEDDING part of the weekend …

I was recapping the wedding earlier today with Christi over email, and we were commenting on how absolutely wonderful the whole day was.

I said when you can strike a balance between a gorgeous, elegant wedding and a laid-back and really fun wedding, you’ve nailed it. Amanda and Mark NAILED it. Everything was so beautiful, and the dance floor was packed all night.

But let me back up …

We ladies all met at Signature Salon and Spa in Waukesha at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning to get our hair and makeup done. After 90 minutes there, we were done and we were all very happy with how we turned out!

We went to the church and had some lunch in the bridal room before getting dressed. We had our photos taken in the church, and then we had to sit tight til the ceremony at 3 p.m.

Walking down the aisle was nerve-wracking but very fun. I spotted my parents and my pals, and I tried to keep a smile on my face while trying not to trip or do anything else embarrassing.

The ceremony was quick, maybe 20-25 minutes long, and it was so moving. Watching Amanda walk down the aisle, all of us girls teared up, and the sniffling in our group really didn’t stop until the ceremony was over. Amanda was just stunning. She was so nervous, though, and for the first five minutes of the ceremony, we were a bit concerned that she was going to pass out.

Luckily, she pulled herself together and was fine the rest of the day. The pastor did a great job, and their kiss at the end of the ceremony got a big laugh. They kissed each other three or four times, Mark holding Amanda’s head in his hands, and once they were finished, she adjusted her hair and he straightened his tie, as of they’d messed each other up. It was just so cute.

We took pictures after the ceremony and then walked down to the Rotunda for the reception. We walked in and … wow. It’s such a cool venue with high ceilings and a really intimate feel, and the whole place glowed with candlelight. The green and ivory linens were so fabulous, and personalized menu cards that matched the invitations were at each setting. The ceremony programs matched the invitations, too.

Mark’s dad is in the wine business, so delicious wines were flowing all night. We were all introduced before dinner, and then the newlyweds cut their cake and danced their first dance. They sat at a sweetheart table at the front of the room, rather than having a head table, which I absolutely loved.

Dinner, catered by Chef Jack’s, was incredibly impressive and delicious. A salad with mandarin oranges, strawberries and a raspberry vinegarette was served in a martini glass with a breadstick sticking out of it. The main course was a breast of chicken in a puff pastry and a filet of beef served with sugar snap peas and roasted red potatoes. I’m a big steak person, but I finished all that chicken and left some of the steak because the chicken in the pastry was that good.

Dessert was a slice of wedding cake served with a chocolate covered strawberry on the side. The cake was similar to the cake another cool couple I know had at their wedding - chocolate cake and cheesecake with raspberry preserves in the middle. YUM!

After dinner, it was party time, and as I said, the dance floor was packed all night. Even my husband, who normally hates dancing and gives me a hard time about it when I ask him to dance with me, hit the floor most of the night. He was a dancing machine, and I loved it.

Amanda and Mark chose their whole playlist and the music was great. There was even some old-school hip-hop mixed in there later in the night - Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer and the like. We did my old favorite, the Cha-Cha Slide, as well as my NEW favorite, the Cupid Shuffle, and we sang along to an old school dance favorite - the mix from Grease. We did a few polkas, and we rocked out to some oldies. It was SO much fun.

It got pretty steamy in there, but when we got too hot, we could just walk outside and get some fresh air on the steps of the building. The night was clear and beautiful.

After a full evening of dancing and celebrating, Dave and I left around 12:15 a.m. to head to the hotel, and the DJ was to wrap up at 1 a.m. I think Amanda and Mark left around 12:30. Dave and I checked into our hotel then went out in search of food. There was nothing open around us, though, so we hit up the gas station for some snacks.

I didn’t sleep too well as my legs were throbbing from dancing all night and my ears were still ringing from the music. I probably got about four hours of sleep before we got up to shower and head down to breakfast to bid everyone farewell.

We drove them to the airport yesterday and we’re going to be feeding their turtle and watering their plant til they get back. Oh yeah, and catching up on Weeds On Demand since they have Showtime and we don’t.

The weekend was wonderful. To see two people who you care about so much and who you know love each other like crazy marry one another is just a really special thing. I know they’re both so happy with how everything went, and I’m sure they’re having an awesome time in Hawaii already. As husband and wife. Yay!

Congratulations to you, Amanda and Mark. We love you tons!

 

Hmph.

Being back at work this morning is a real bummer after such a fun-filled weekend.

I went to bed at 9:10 p.m. last night and it was still a bit light out. I could hear kids still playing outside, and somewhere a few blocks over, someone was mowing the lawn. For the few minutes that I lay awake, I was reminded of when I was a really little kid and I had to go to bed every night in the summer before it was fully dark outside.

I’m skipping the gym tonight in favor of transferring my plants into the bigger pots I bought at WalMart yesterday ($5/each - can’t beat that!) and blogging about the wedding.

 

Amanda and Mark’s Wedding Weekend - Part One

Amanda and Mark are married.

The wedding weekend that we’ve all been waiting and waiting for finally came, and the whole thing was darn near perfect. My best friend married her Prince Charming, and I’m so very happy to have been a part of it.

I’m pretty exhausted after the late, late night last night, and the day has sort of gotten away from me. We took the newlyweds to the airport earlier this afternoon - those lucky ducks are on a plane as I write this to spend ten glorious days in Hawaii. We’re holding down their fort while they’re away.

I’m going to post about Friday now and then I’ll do my best to post about the wedding day (!) by tomorrow or Tuesday. I’ll surely have many, many photos I’ll want to include in that post. Amanda was stunning, the wedding was so elegant, and we all had a blast.

Friday the girls and I went to Fusion Salon and Spa in Lake Geneva for manicures and pedicures, and the pampering was so nice. A great, relaxing way to start off the weekend. When I picked Amanda up that morning, I walked into her house and we took a moment to jump around and squeal a bit. We drove the hour to Lake Geneva and she was feeling what I remember feeling the day before my wedding … like, holy crap, it’s really here.

After our spa treatments, we parted ways to get ready for the rehearsal and dinner. They were getting married at First United Methodist Church in Waukesha, and then they had the rehearsal dinner at Seven Seas in Pewaukee.

The rehearsal was a lot of fun. I got to meet a lot of Mark and Amanda’s Minnesota friends whom I’d heard so much about. Everyone was excited, and Amanda ran a tight ship when it came to going through it all and making sure everything ran smoothly. We all teased her about her down-to-the-minute itinerary for the whole weekend, but her type-A personality resulted in a really fabulous wedding.

Standing up there, we girls got a case of the giggles so badly that we were nearly crying. We got it out of our systems, though, then the next day we were teary up there for a different reason!

Seven Seas was a beautiful setting for the dinner. We had our own private room downstairs and we could walk outside and onto the dock overlooking the lake to enjoy the gorgeous summer evening. Amanda and Mark gave us all our gifts - we ladies got our earrings for the wedding, a pretty photo frame and then these adorable green cloth bags that Amanda made herself.

The food was fried and baked fish and chicken served family style with potato salad, coleslaw, seasoned fries and rye bread. It was all sooo delicious, and of course, Dave and I both ate too much. You put bad food in front of us that we never eat on our own and we go a little wild.

We were home at a fairly decent hour and got a good night’s sleep before the BIG DAY.

Stay tuned for wedding pics and a recap within a day or two. I’m tempted to keep sitting here and do it all now since everything’s so fresh in my mind and I’m still feeling all the excitement of the weekend, but after only a few hours of sleep last night, and knowing I have an insanely busy week and weekend starting tomorrow, I’m going to pull myself away and spend the rest of the evening on the couch with my husband.

 

Wedding time!

The weekend’s here, whoo hoo!

Sorry for my four-day hiatus this week - work’s crazy. The event I’ve been planning is quickly approaching, and next week will be the busiest week yet. I’ll be ready to roll come Monday, but for now, I’m spending three whole days not thinking about it!

I’ll be back Sunday with photos and details of what’s sure to be a fabulous weekend.

For now, I want to give a big shout-out to Amanda and Mark!!

 

So far, so good.

It’s been almost a month and my plants are really growing!

I took these pictures this morning:

The tomato and red pepper plants need to be transferred into bigger pots ASAP so that they don’t stop growing. I just really don’t want to spend another $40 on huge pots right now … I’m considering using a big plastic tub or something from up in the attic. Not as pretty, sure, but it would get the job done.

I haven’t quite decided what I’ll do yet. I’ll deal with it another day. Right now, I’m just excited that they’re growing, that I haven’t killed them yet, and that they might - just might - even produce some food later this summer.

Only time will tell!

 

Search terms.

The search terms people use to get to my blog are always funny but I rarely post them. I do think I might have to start a page on here though that lists them out.

From today and yesterday, a few gems:

• “my husband’s perspective of me makes me”
• “names in the freezer”
• “why does my girlfriend get upset if I do”
• “to tan or not to tan that is the question”
• “I could pretty much eat yogurt forever”
• “pointy boobs”
• “I want to drive through Washington D.C.”
• “deep line in front center tongue”
• “parents are stressing me out”

Update … some more now that I’m home and have more time to look back through them.

• “Tom Bergeron”
• “video of Jon and Kate + 8 big belly”
• “puppy in kennel and now has a fever”
• “I don’t really look forward to doing new”
• “funny pages to forward”
• “is patrick paolantonio married?”

I think I’ll have to make this a monthly or bi-monthly feature on here.

 

Another Monday …

• … another weekend gone by. Life is quite the blur right now - but it’s a good blur.
• Saturday we had a great workout at the gym, did some cleaning around the house, then walked down to Atwater Park to lay on the beach for awhile again and get some sun. The Shorewood Men’s Club was putting on their annual Chicken Roast. The smell coming from those spit-roasted whole chickens made my mouth water as we walked by, and a jazz quartet provided some great background music for the 45 minutes or so that laid on the beach. We were going to buy a chicken for dinner but we didn’t have enough cash on us to get a $14 whole chicken. Oh well.
• Yesterday we drove to Kenosha to visit Dad and Barb. We hadn’t seen them since their wedding, so we got to see their wedding pictures and their pictures from Hawaii. They made us steaks on the grill and sweet corn, and we brought Dad’s favorite dessert - pumpkin pie. The day was absolutely gorgeous and we had a really nice visit out on their porch.
• We did get to talking politics toward the end (we all agree so it wasn’t arguing, just venting and discussing) and I got so worked up that I seriously felt ill the whole car ride home.
• I’d like to blog about some of the thoughts I have, but I’ll have to do it when I have time to choose my words, and when I’m not all worked up. Though I’m not sure when either of those things will actually happen!
• In other news, it’s finally here - Amanda and Mark’s wedding week. They’ve been engaged nearly two years, so I can’t believe it’s finally time for them to get married. I’m just beyond excited for the upcoming weekend. We care about both of them so much and to watch them get married is just going to be the most wonderful thing!
• Besides the obvious - seeing my oldest and dearest friend marry the man of her dreams - other reasons I’m so deliriously excited for the weekend include: having Friday off, getting a manicure and pedicure, wearing my new WHBM dress for the rehearsal, getting my hair and makeup done for the wedding, wearing my gorgeous bridesmaid dress, seeing Mom and Dale and all my girlfriends, actually witnessing the ceremony, eating great food, drinking wine, spending the whole weekend with my handsome husband (hmmmm, not that I don’t spend every weekend with him but … you know what I mean ), toasting the newlyweds, dancing, staying in a hotel … just celebrating all weekend long. I. can’t. wait.
• I’ve finally jumped on the Google Reader bandwagon and I’m not sure what took me so long. I signed up a while back, but then I didn’t like the idea of reading everything inside that plain window. But duh, I can just click into the blog from that window if I feel the need. The best part is that I’m not clicking all the blogs in my blogroll multiple times just to find that most people haven’t posted anything new. That gets annoying! Now I know who’s updated. I’m now checking Google Reader multiple times a day, but it’s a lot quicker than checking all those sites! Google, thank you for making my life easier.
• Hmmm, how many categories is too many for a post? Because I just did this one and it seems excessive.
• That’s all I’ve got. Work beckons.

 

Observations on stress - school vs. work

I remember being near the end of my college career and thinking, God, I’m so excited to be finally done with school forever, to never have to balance both school and work again, and to never have to study for another exam.

I must have known that stress wouldn’t disappear from my life altogether, but I think I thought that life would somehow become less stressful. After all, simply having a job that I had to work five days a week would be a lot less of a time commitment than going to school and having a job, which usually meant having something going on seven days a week.

I can’t fault my naive little self totally, since I had no idea what the working world would be like. But I’m realizing now how very wrong I was back then.

In school, yes, studying for exams, writing papers, and working on projects were all stressful. These things could entail long hours and lots of brainpower. When I didn’t get the grade I wanted or had hoped for, there was disappointment.

But the difference is that, even if I failed a test or got a bad grade on a paper, the only person I was really letting down was myself. The only consequences I had to face were the possibility of having to repeat a class, or ending up with a not-so-great GPA. (Which, by the way, no one ever, ever asks about in the real world.)

The working world is so very different. Not only is there just as much stress and hard work, but there are a lot of people relying on you. If you mess up, it’s not just yourself you disappoint, and there are much heftier consequences than simply getting a bad grade.

Your very livelihood depends on you doing a good job. People are dependent on you, and they often look to you for answers. There’s no shifting the eyes downward and mumbling “I left my assignment at home,” or “I didn’t read that chapter,” and then waiting for the professor to call on the next person. You better be prepared, and you better know your stuff.

I’ve been under a lot of stress lately, more so than ever before in my brief but ever evolving three-year career. And despite a few instances of feeling on the brink of a breakdown, I really don’t mind the stress. In fact, I thrive on it. And now that I’ve grown up a bit, I’m fully aware that stress will always be a part of my life, and it will continue to increase as I advance in my career and start a family. More and more people will come to depend on me, both at work and at home, and the thought both terrifies and thrills me.

I just realized today how funny it is that I really did think back then that life would be a million times easier once I was out of school.

Of course, in some ways, it is. Having two days off every week is something I never, ever had, from the time I was 14 until I graduated college, and I relish every one of those days now.

But in many other ways, my life is a lot more pressure-filled now, and both the benefits and the consequences stemming from how well I perform are far greater than they were when I was in school.

As my career is ever-evolving, so too is my life, and I know that one major part of life is learning to not only accept stress as something we all deal with, but to rise to each new challenge and be able to handle the stress of it all with grace.

And I’m getting there. Slowly but surely.

 

Blogging the bloggers.

Being an Internet junkie, I quite often think of what life would be like if the Internet suddenly just went away. Crashed, or disappeared, or … something.

I shudder at the thought.

The perks of the Internet are virtually endless, obviously, and one of those perks is the ability to connect with people who you’d never meet otherwise.

My online presence has steadily increased over the past couple of years, from blogging to frequenting message boards to maintaining a profile on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. And through this online presence, I’ve come to meet a variety of those people who I otherwise wouldn’t have met.

Since meeting my first “internet friends” in person a couple of years ago, I’ve gone on to meet quite a few of them. Some I’ve met have been really amazing people. Others, not so much. But that’s just like anything in life - you win, some you lose some. It’s the same as it is with dating, which, I might add, I would TOTALLY do online if I were single. I’ve gained quite a few acquaintances, a handful of women I correspond with on a regular basis now, and even a few who’ve come to be friends.

Last night I met up with eight women, all Milwaukeeans, all in their 20s, all fellow bloggers, which is how we all came to “know” each other online. I actually already knew half the group in one way or another, but the other half was new to me!

We met for dinner and drinks at Wicked Hop, and the evening was one of the most fun GTGs (that’s ‘get-together’ for those not in the know) I’ve been to. We talked and laughed and just had a really good time. I had a couple too many drinks and stayed up too late, causing me to drag like heck at work today, but it was worth it.

For those who read some or all of our blogs (the blogosphere can be quite incestuous, can’t it?), you’ll probably hear about our outing more than once. But really, it was great, and I’m so glad we did it. I think we’ll probably do it again sometime in the not-too-distant future. Or, I hope so, anyway!

A few pics are below since, in true blogger fashion, of course the camera had to come out.

(There’s Julia, me, Julia, Sierra, Kelly, Andrea, Natasha, Harmony, and Katherine.)

Update: A photo of creepy bandana, baseball cap, two pairs of sunglasses guy who wouldn’t stop staring at us and who waved to Julia as we left.

And while we’re at it, an action shot. “Hey Julia, this is what you looked like in the picture I just took.” She won’t let me post that one, though.

 

Stim.u.lat.ed.

So, when I first heard of this whole stimulus package idea, I didn’t like it one bit. I didn’t understand how it would really help anything, and besides, where in the world would that extra money COME from? A temporary fix isn’t a smart fix, in my opinion.

(And now some are proposing a SECOND stimulus package? Come on!)

But ok, I have to admit, getting a check in the mail for $1,200 is pretty sweet. (And yes, we had to wait for a check. We didn’t get direct deposit as we had to PAY Uncle Sam this year.)

It finally came this week and putting it into the bank yesterday felt good. And of course, I had plans for every dollar well before the check arrived!

Four hundred went to pay for our recently acquired life insurance. Six hundred went into ING - the house fund, vacation fund, baby fund and new bed fund all got a little love. And finally, $200 stayed out in cash. After all, we should get to have a little fun with our stimulus, right?

One hundred is put aside for a nice meal out together in the near future. (We’re thinking Hinterland … unless there’s another fabulous restaurant that we must try? The only stipulation is that we can’t have been there before.) Then we each got $50 to do with as we please. I’d like a new shirt or two, but mine will probably have to go toward my hair/makeup appointment for Amanda’s wedding. But we’ll see.

So the verdict is, dumb idea or not, I still enjoy getting checks in my mailbox.

What did you do with YOUR stimulus?

 

Heading East.

I remember the days when Dave and I hadn’t yet taken a trip together. The summer we got back together, in 2003, we went away for two nights to the Dells, and I remember it being such a thrill. We stayed in a nice hotel with a hot tub in our room (talk about living - or should I say traveling - in sin!), we spent a day at Noah’s Ark, and we spent a day hiking and picnicking at Devil’s Lake. It was so much fun.

Fast-forward to October 2006, and we took our first big vacation together - our honeymoon in Riviera Maya. Also known as the best vacation I’ve ever been on, and that’s saying a lot since I’ve loved most of the trips I’ve been on.

Last summer, we road-tripped out to Colorado for a week, which was wonderful since it was our first long road trip together and also Dave’s first time to my favorite state.

Now here we are again, planning our third trip as a married couple.

The goal is to take at least some sort of vacation every single year of our lives, and so far we’re doing well! Some trips will definitely be smaller than others, as we’ll likely need to save for longer than a year for the big ones … Europe, Hawaii … those we’ll hopefully take every five years, on our big anniversaries. Can you tell I’m a planner?!

This year we want to do another semi-big one since it might be our last chance to do one alone, or at least without having to worry about leaving someone behind!

We’re road-tripping again, this time out East. We’re going to go in October, and if all goes according to plan, we’ll actually be leaving on the seventh anniversary of the day we met. Awwww.

The plan is to drive a full day (about 14.5 hours without stops) to Cooperstown, NY and spend the next day, or at least part of it, at the Baseball Hall of Fame. (Bet you can’t guess whose idea that part of the trip was.)

From there, we’ll drive the five or so hours to New York City to spend a couple of days sightseeing. I’ve been there twice and Dave’s never been, so it’ll be more or less up to him what we see. I do want to visit Ground Zero again, and have at least one great meal.

I want to see a Broadway show, too, and I do believe it’ll have to be Phantom of the Opera, since it’s been a dream of mine to see that show live, preferably on Broadway. But if a show comes up that features a big celebrity, I may have to change my mind. Or see two shows. Who knows.

After NYC, we’ll drive four more hours to Washington, D.C. for the last couple of days of our trip. Dave’s never been there, either, and I’ve only been once, with my family on the same trip when we went to NYC for the first time - in July of 2001. Aside from the baseball hall of fame, I think Dave’s really most excited about D.C., as he’s a big history guy.

We’ll do the Smithsonian and some of the major monuments, then I’m not sure what else we’ll do.

All we’ve done, really, is set the dates for this trip, so we have some major research and planning to do.

This trip will be a bit more costly than our Colorado trip, because of high gas prices, the hotels in or near major cities rather than in the middle of nowhere out West, and because we’ll be doing a few things that cost a lot of money, such as the Broadway show.

But luckily a lot of what we’ll be doing is free, and we’ll try to pinch our pennies on lodging and food where we can.

I’m pretty excited to have another trip to look forward to, though, and I think early fall will be a beautiful time to drive out there.

If you have any suggestions on what we simply MUST do or see in NYC or D.C., we’re all ears!

 

This is awesome.

Adam Siegel of Bartolotta’s Lake Park Bistro and Bacchus was just named the best chef in the Midwest from the James Beard Foundation.

That is huge!

I got to work with Adam for two years at the Bistro and he’s just a really nice, funny - and obviously incredibly talented - guy. He’s got a gorgeous wife and two adorable kids. He was recently featured on Iron Chef America with Chef Paul Bartolotta (they lost by three lousy points to Mario Batali!), and now there’s this. He must just be on top of the world!

Many congrats to Adam.