Goodbye 2007

Well it’s official, this is the last post of the year and to say goodbye to 2007 I thought I would do a year in review to remember the highlights of my year.

 January marked the new year and many resolutions were made. I got into yoga and discovered a new tea that I love called Honey Vanilla Chamomile.

Love abounded in February. Just kiddin’ but it WAS the month of my 12th wedding anniversary. Maddie is such a big part of our lives and we felt guilty ditching her to go out to a special meal without her, so we took her with us to celebrate our anniversary. By the time we got a table and the food finally arrived, she was irritable and it wasn’t much fun. Take my advice– an anniversary should be for the two adults who signed the marriage certificate only.

 

March brought beautiful springtime blossoms and I planned a trip to the local Daffodil Farm to see all the yellow flowers. Maddie and I picked up coffee and my Mom and were off to see the beauty that springtime allows.

 April was warm enough to plan a trip to the lake with our friends. There’s no feeling like breaking the spell of winter with an early dip in the water and lots of sun worshipping.

 May brought for my first garden, ever. I planted two kinds of tomatoes, basil, thyme, rosemary, chives and cilantro. It was an absolute miracle watching everything grow. I  planted some new shrubs and flowers, too.

The highlight of June was a trip to see Rick Springfield in concert with my good friend, Shannon. We were close enough to Rick to see his dimples and he made every woman there feel like “Jesse’s Girl” even the one’s that brought their own oxygen.

In  July we went Pennsylvania and I got to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. In case you don’t know about it, the house was built in 1936 and is suspended over a natural waterfall. It was one of the most incredible things that I’ve ever seen so if you’re ever in southwestern Pennsylvania, be sure and stop by. The other fun thing we did was tour the Andy Warhol Museum. It housed most of Andy’s work as well as Keith Haring’s and photographs by Lou Reed. I was in heaven.

We sailed off on a houseboating adventure with friends in August on Lake Ouachita. We swam, tubed and had the most fun. This is my favorite lake ever, next to Lake Tahoe.

 September brought the annual trip to Austin for the ACL Music Festival. We saw Joss Stone, The Killers, Arcade Fire, DeVotchka, The Cold War Kids, and many, many others.

In October the weather started to get cooler and we decided to plan a camping trip. A few things went wrong along the way, but in the end, we had a great time and several friends stopped by the campsite for steaks and wine which made it all the better.

November was when my friends took us in their convertible to the Stillwater Inn for my birthday dinner. It was really wonderful and the most memorable thing was when the owner read my blog and posted the recipefor portobello mushrooms with goat cheese in the comments. He’s first class all the way.

 December brought lots of time at home decorating and playing games. It was such a wonderful month and as I look to the new year, I hope for much happiness for every person out there and if I had one wish for 2008 it would be for peace. Love You All!

No Country for Old Men

We saw this film the other night and it was really good. I knew I wanted to see it when I learned that it was taken from a Cormac McCarthy book. I had read The Road and really thought his writing was wonderful– very simplistic and bleak and a perfect way to express a story about the end of time.

Directed by the Coen brothers, this film didn’t disappoint. It reminded me of an old western, very gritty and masculine. It’s set in West Texas and that’s all I’m going to give you. Be sure and see this movie.

Addiction

I’m a little bit addicted to my DVD of Season 1 of Dexter. I watched episodes 1-6 this week and was all nestled down last night and ready to watch episode 7 with my cheddar straws and glass of Johannes Egbert Riesling when disaster struck. As I was snapping the DVD into my laptop drive, the DVD cracked in a sort of hairline fracture and became unplayable.

I was really upset and tried to think what to do. Episode 6 had left off at a precarious place for Dexter and I had to know what was going to happen in episode 7 so I checked itunes and they did offer single episode downloads of the show for $1.99. I quickly downloaded episode 7 to my laptop and was able to get my fix before the DT’s started.

Today I went to Circuit City where we had purchased Season 1. I had my receipt and was all ready to argue with the salesman and demand to see the Manager. I know they have their rules about opened merchandise, but don’t you think a DVD should last longer than a week?

The sales guy could not have been nicer and quickly asked if I would like to look for something different? “Are you kidding?” I said, “I LOVE Dexter, I just want another set of season 1.” We found the set and the transaction was handled very efficiently and I skipped a little step on my way out.

This is really sad

Sean Penn and Robin Wright are divorcing after 11 years. They have two children together and I think it’s so sad that they couldn’t make it together. I know, I know– You think Sean Penn is volatile and a little bit crazy, but give the guy a break. Nobody’s perfect.

My favorite gifts

HP Photosmart Wireless Printer, Scanner, Copier.

Tree of Life sundress brought back from Australia.

First Season of Dexter.

What are yours? (and I don’t want to hear “spending time with family & friends– that’s a given).

Attention fellow taco makers

 Taco shells have a shelf life. Take my word for it. You can think it’s going to be o.k., that you’re above checking the “best if used by date” but they really do go bad and your family will hate you for it.

Wii boxing

We have a very happy little girl at our house. She’s never had a video gaming system before (except the used Gameboy that I bought her last December for $40) so today was pretty exciting. The whole family played baseball, tennis, bowling, and golf and this is her playing boxing. I think we might have a future martial arts sensei in our midst. Hope you all had as much fun, today, as we did.

Across the Universe

from youtube.com posted with vodpod

Saw this movie last night and fell in love with it. If you love the music of the Beatles, you will adore this movie. I was visually and emotionally entertained and surprised at the cameos in it by Salma Hayak and Bono. Directed by Julie Taymor (Frita, The Lion King Musical) it is a stunning film that provides a colorful panoramic view of the 60’s. Evan Rachel Wood was wonderful as Lucy and I fell in love with Jim Sturgess as Jude. Even better, was Joe Anderson as Max. Do yourself a favor and see this wonderful film.

Scentsational memories

I’m waiting for my sample of L perfume by Gwen Stefani to arrive in the mail. Can’t wait. I don’t have as many perfume choices as I used to. Last year someone gave me one of those little collections of Calvin Klein fragrances. It was really great having so many choices. I could wake up and say, “I want to watch Anderson Cooper 360, it’s a great day for Obsession” or “today I need to renew my license at the DMV, I’ll wear Eternity.” But the little bottles were tiny and I quickly ran through them.

One of my all time favorite fragrances is Happy by Clinique. It has a citrus base which is really light and summery and I don’t know if it’s just advertising, but it does make me feel happy when I wear it. When I smell a particular scent, it can take me back to a time in my life when I wore it, quite vividly. When I graduated from 8th grade someone gave me a bottle of Vanderbilt perfume. You remember the swan bottle? It broke in my closet and all my clothes smelled like Vanderbilt for months. 

Then, when I was in 10th grade I saved up for a bottle of Anne Klein perfume. My Dad hated the way it smelled so much he offered to buy me any fragrance that I wanted, if I would throw the other one away, so I got Liz Claiborne which was just as bad. Beautiful by Estee’ Lauder reminds me of my senior year in High School. Escape takes me back to college– my roommate had a bottle and my girlfriends and I would submerge ourselves in it before we went out on the town. Music & Patchouli by Anthropologie reminds me of a summer music festival I went to and had to have a souvenir.

So, when my sample gets here and I start wearing it, what memories will L by Gwen Stefani evoke in the future? Hopefully, it will remind me of 2008, the best year of my life.

Greatest thing ever

This is genius! Haven’t we all been invited to a holiday party that we just don’t want to attend, especially the work party? Who are the people who say, “you know, I don’t feel that I’ve spent enough time with my co-workers this year. Forty hours a week just isn’t enough for me. I want to spend more time with these jerks and not get paid for it.”

Finally, the answer to getting out of holiday parties we don’t want to attend: The Holiday Party Excuse Generator

*May have been blatantly stolen from Some go Softly’s website.