the girl with the panda tattoo

interesting changes are upon us...

2010-12-05T16:19:00.003-07:00

So, thanks to my good friend Amanda Bishop and Starbucks coffee, I recently and randomly became a MARY KAY consultant!! WTF, right!? I still can't believe that I am a Mary Kay gal now, but I am very excited and nervous at the same time. And no, it's not just for old ladies. Their makeup is pretty great!

I met Amanda and her MK director, Melissa Smith, so that I could be supportive of her new business venture when I asked so many questions about the company that I was super intrigued. After convincing Tony to get a free facial at her weekly meeting that night with me and after loving the products we tried (hello satin lips!) I signed the agreement and ordered my "kit" to become a consultant!

The reason it sounded so appealing was for the money. We are always struggling and can use any extra that comes at us. Someday we will be out of this mess we're in, but we have to do something drastic about it for it to change. I will get to pocket 50% of everything I sell with MK and that also means we get 50% off all their products and once I run out of my Oil of Olay, I'm going Mary Kay!

The best part of this extra money is every penny is going towards our schooling! Oh, did I forget to mention it is really happening this time? This January, as in 1 month from now, Tony and I will be in school part time and working full time (talk about the stress!) We need to get out of our current jobs to actually begin real careers and this is the first huge step.

contact me...
emilybarrettrodriguez@marykay.com
or at my normal address
emerald622@msn.com
to order...
http://www.marykay.com/emilybarrettrodriguez

Remember, if you ever want to order anything for yourself or as a gift all the proceeds go to our school fund, which is VERY important!

Also, if you have never tried any of their products you can get a free facial from me anytime. Every Tuesday night we have our weekly meetings and I would love to get some good practice by bringing guests for the free facials.

I will never pressure you to buy anything (because I HATE feeling pressured), but if you love it please do order!!

Thanks for your support!!

P.S. Duh! I forgot to mention that if you are also interested in hosting a Mary Kay party they are fun and depending on how much your guests order you get credit towards your own purchase! Always a plus!

wish list...

2010-11-15T15:16:00.006-07:00

Here's just a little hint at my Christmas list on Amazon!! To see everything on my list... My Amazon wish list

Sew Retro

Nine West pumps

Lost: The Complete Collection

Drowning Girl poster by Lichtenstein

Dexter season 4

Audrey Hepburn Collection

Schwinn Cruiser

Ok so it's the most random list ever but I would love to own everything listed here!!

What do you want for xmas?

quiltin time...

2010-11-03T14:00:00.003-06:00

I told myself I would never quilt again! Not true, but that was only bc I was working on 4 at one time last year and got so burned out. I love quilting and will never quit. Now it is one year later and I am ready to get back in the game!

I found one style a long time ago in a book that I loved and got it all planned out with my graph paper, colored pencils... And I finally bought all the fabrics! I'm very excited. It's called the flower vase and involves lots of flowery fabrics in different colors creating a vase full of flowers set on a table top. I tried to find all fabrics that looked kind of vintage and still modern. I am very, very picky about my fabrics and spend waaaaay to much time at Joann Fabrics. But I am the master of my coupons at crafty stores!!

Here is what the book quilt looks like...(YUCK)

Ok Gross! But this is mine...

It's just the top so far but the backing will be a solid light teal. I can't wait until it is finally finished as it will be my first finished quilt for me!! YAY!!!

Halloween week...

2010-11-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

I have had a fantastic week! (And this is the start of my new at-least-once-a-week postings.)

-saw my dad twice in Portland on layovers
-my bestie, Anneliese, from elementary-high school came here on vaca for 6 days
-good shopping at nordstrom rack (love my new Harajuku pants)
-Halloween party on Tuesday
-Project Runway watch party for Denver native and runner-up MONDO (who is way better than Gretchen, arrrgggghhhh)!
-went to boulder to see some waterfalls but the roads were blocked due to a forest fire which is why the sky was smoky and red

WOW! Busy, busy.

First off, the Halloween Party this year did not get snowed out and we had a huge turn out. We had about 25 people and every single person dressed up. Four of the guys dressed up as ladies. What are the odds?

Secondly, Thursday night was the season finale for project runway and since one of the finalists is from Denver there was a huge party to see if he won. The Beauty Bar was packed to capacity and basically standing room only for 4 hours. Sadly, Mondo didn't win but he was gracious for the opportunity and all his fans that showed up.

I enjoy weeks like this but I my laundry is piling up badly and I need to get cracking on those xmas gifts!

P.S. Visit my new movie review blog... Tothetheater.blogspot.com

Another new blog!!!

2010-10-31T20:24:00.002-06:00

Go check out my new blog all about movies!!!

To The Theater

I want people to branch out with their movie choices. Enjoy my reviews. Let me know what you think of the films as well with your comments.

-EMILY

family news...

2010-09-19T19:42:00.004-06:00

Apparently I don't post anymore. Hmph. I keep starting posts and never finishing them. Maybe I am bored? Too lazy? Too A.D.D.? Probably all of the above.

I really have been up to lots of fun adventures in the last couple of months. But this last week is really worth posting.

My Grandma Kemm, who is almost 85, has had some back problems lately. So bad that she can't do her day-to-day cleaning, cooking, crafting, and everything else she always does. They didn't really know why her back was in such pain, but turns out she had fallen a couple of times and a few discs in her back slipped and a couple were stuck in her spinal cord! After weeks of horrible pain (and no meds!) she finally had surgery this week.

During this time, my 89-year-old grandpa has been doing all her chores including running errands, bills, going to the bank and post office. He has been running himself ragged due to her injury.

So, my mom and I flew to Tulsa to help them out for about 5 days. We left Wednesday and got back this afternoon. We cooked, cleaned, laundred, trimmed bushes... My grandma can barely stand or walk which makes dressing, using the restroom, and bathing very difficult, so we obviously helped out with her and made her as comfortable as possible. Her serious pain meds and muscle relaxers helped a ton.

I fell so good about helping them out knowing they have taken care of so many people in their lives including me. I love spending time with them and they truly appreciated it. I did get to see almost all my family there as well as my sis who came for the whole weekend. Although it was a rewarding trip, I am exhausted and really glad to be home.

100th post hooplah!!!

2010-06-16T21:50:00.000-06:00

In honor of my 100th post I thought I would begin a series of posts it with a bunch of big things going on in our lives. I will be writing these over a couple of weeks to show some progress at our house and events that will be taking place.

**Sunday, June 6th, 2010.
On July 22nd it will be our 2 year anniversary in our house! We have done lots of painting, decorating, re-arranging, making over the laundry room... But nothing major. Our #1 thing to fix around the house is the backyard. It is a HUGE dirt lot that has been time-consuming and is just looming over our heads as a mega-task that we didn't want to deal with. I (and Matt) tackled the spider-housed bushes 2 years ago, roots and all. We planted a lovely garden, last year, with wildflowers that will bloom every year. This year, SOD!!! Tony has been working non-stop the last few days with the dirt and the tilling and the heat. He is so amazing. Here I am just sitting in different cities doing nothing (well, shopping and eating) and he is being wonderfully productive! My turn begins Monday-Wednesday.

**Monday, June 7th - Wednesday, June 9th, 2010.
By the time the sun came up Monday morning I was finally able to see all the hard work that Tony put into the yard... Partially tilled yard, a new garden with mulch and border, cleaned out side yard to discover yet another pathway.

So this week the job was tilling the entire yard, planting trees, planting a couple of other plants, and finishing off the new little gardens. We tilled our butts off. It is such hard work. The damn machine wants to go to the soft tilled earth instead of the hard pressed dirt, so it's constantly falling to the side. We planted our very first tree in the backyard, a smoke tree. They have a different look every season and it "produces pinkish, airy flower clusters in early summer that appear like puffs of smoke." I can't wait to see it in full smokey bloom next year! We also had to rake the yard to get it fairly smooth and level for the upcoming sod.

**Friday, June 11th - Monday, June 14th, 2010.
RAIN! We never get days and days of rain. It is so rare here in Denver. But it is also just a few days early since we hadn't put the sod down yet. Poop. It made the temperature quite nice though.

**Tuesday, June 15th, 2010.
SOD. SOD. SOD! The day has finally come! We drove to Brighton, CO to a sod farm (I don't know what they're really called) to get our sod. We decided on 2 pallets, knowing it wouldn't be quite enough for our enormous yard. Tony's dad brought his truck and 2 other friends with 2 more trucks. We bought 2 pallets, but actually ended up with over 2.5. It's always good to know people to give you a little extra. We also got it for a steal (under $300!!) With the 5 of us working we had all the sod laid in about 3 hours. I still can't believe that we actually have a wonderfully green backyard.

**Wednesday, June 16th, 2010.
So now that the sod is in and the backyard looks swell, we decided to put in a sprinkler system. Apparently backwards backyard is out motto. So right this second a dude is digging, laying, and doing all that is needed for a sprinkler system!! He has to dig all the way to the front yard to hook it up with that system and there were about 5 flower fatalities in the process :( But it will be worth it.

Now for some before and after pics of the yard...

Oh dear god! Just the most disgusting before picture.

And a glorious after!!

before. the back of the house. boring and gross.

after. the back of the house. lovely and not-quite-finished.

Stay tuned for the next big events to come...

when it rains. it pours... and hails!

2010-06-16T08:15:00.000-06:00

I never talk about work on here, but last week's adventure is worth repeating. But it's a LONG STORY!!

Friday, June 12th was supposed to be a normal, excruciatingly long but normal, day. A 12 hour day with 4 flights. It also didn't help that Thursday night's overnight was cut 2 hours shorter.

This is how it was SUPPOSED to go down...

*Seattle 8:50am - Denver 12:25pm
*Denver 1:20pm - Kansas City 3:50pm
*Kansas City 4:30pm - Denver 5:20pm (wait for 2 hours)
*Denver 7:10pm - Kansas City 9:45pm (overnight in KC)

Yuck right? Yeah, it didn't even happen that way. Here is the real day...

*Seattle 8:50am - Denver 12:25pm
*Denver 1:20pm - Kansas City 3:50pm
*Kansas City 4:30pm - PUEBLO, COLORADO!! 5:45pm

OK. So we didn't make it to Denver. The weather, hail, rain, thunder, lightning and such closed the whole airport.

-So, after 1 hour in a divert situation you give out water.
-After 2 hours you break out the emergency divert kit, ie. granola bars.
-After 3 hours, due to the new passengers-stranded-on-planes-for-hours law, the airline gets fined per passenger still remaining in the plane. We are talking about over $20,000 per passenger. And in Pueblo there were 4 Frontier planes so it would cost us about $3.7 million per plane!

Our amazing pilots got us off the ground with 15 minutes to spare. I felt like we were racing against the clock in some action movie. More tiring than exciting though.

*Pueblo 8:28pm - Denver 9:07pm

At this point we had no idea if we were still going to Kansas City for our overnight or not. Where is our plane? How late are we going to be? Won't this be too long of a day if we go?

We found our gate, plane, passengers to head right back to Kansas City. We boarded and headed out into the outrageous line of planes. We drove around for an hour, still waiting in line, and finally the captain told us we were 4th in line and to be seated for take-off. About 5 minutes later his next announcement went something like this...

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are number 2 for departure, but we just got a call from operations and they said your crew timed out for the day."

You should have heard the passengers grumbling. I just sat on the jumpseat and cried. If we had taken off it would have made it a 16 hour day and that is illegal for us. I was so tired I could barely walk or talk and I felt so aweful for the passengers since they had been waiting for us and now who knows when they were going.

So our last "flight" of the day was just driving around the tarmacs and runways of Denver International Airport.

*Denver 10:15pm - DENVER 11:22pm!!

It was too brutal of a day. But the best part was that once we got to Kansas City we were supposed to do a Cancun turn back to Kansas City the next day, well we got the rest of the weekend off since our day had been too long we couldn't go back to KC.

Tony and I had an entire Saturday off together and even got to go to a party down the street that some neighbors had!

We had to come back on Sunday for a Jackson Hole turn. And if you know me at all I would go and see the Grand Tetons any day of the week. I brought my camera and we all walked around the plane to take in the spectacular sight.

So all in all one rough day turned into a great weekend and I guess it's kinda cool that I got to experience my first divert. I just don't want to do it again EVER!

I need a new job. ASAP!!!

2010-05-28T15:33:00.005-06:00

I must confess... I HATE my job! I know there are tons and tons of people out there that hate their jobs and that have terrible profesions, but I think mine is gonna make me crazy! It is also making me sick. I have developed Vertigo over the last year and a half and flying everyday and feeling nauseated is crap! I have to take meclizine before I go to work. Not only is it making me sick its really killing my spirits.

I am a flight attendant. Sounds like a dream job, right? NO! Long hours, low wages (that keep dimishing due to cut backs and bankruptcy), cruddy passengers, being alone all the time, rushing here and there, sitting and waiting for hours, ass-hole pilots hitting on you, forgetting things in hotels, eating cold meals bc there is no access to microwaves.

There are great perks too (loads of down time, being in a different city every night, free flights, tons of days off, great friends, a beautiful view from the windows!) but I am soooo over them. I have been everywhere I want to go and any new places I want to visit I want to experience with my husband. I am ready to be home everyday. I don't mean not working, I love to work and will always work full time, but I want to be HOME every night! I want to eat home cooked meals, be with Tony more than just 3 days a week, work in the yard, play with the pup and cat, and sleep in my own bed and take a shower in my own bathroom.

I have applied to a bunch of places, but of course no luck.

And the real reason for this whiney post... I WANT YOUR HELP!!

*26 year old female searching for a full-time job with benefits earning about $15/hour. Job can involve retail, office work, bank, hotel, library, shoe department at Nordstrom's, cosmetics, anything. Server/waitress positions will not be accepted. 10 years customer service experience.

Seems like a lot to ask for, but I am willing to work something part-time to split up the time I have to be away. I can work part-time with Frontier and part-time somewhere else.

Does anyone know of anything in the Denver area?

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know if you know of anything. I am going to dress up one day and go door to door at the mall since I have no idea what else to do.

Thursday's wish list...

2010-05-20T18:06:00.006-06:00

This is my wish list! (I stole this idea from my friend Kirsten's blog.) It's just a portion of the many MANY things I want. I add more things all the time so I will update this from occasionally.

Oh and since my birthday is coming up... you can get most of them at Emily's Amazon Wishlist

vigotti boots size 8

A Single Man. One of my favorite movies of all time.

lomography colorsplash camera

This is my new favorite series and I have to wait until the 25th to read the final book!

subscriptions to Vogue and Instyle magazines

OMG! There is so much more, but I won't overwhelm you. Hope you enjoyed!

higher education...

2010-04-21T09:43:00.003-06:00

Sewing. I cannot tell you how much I enjoy it. I don’t only love to sew, but I love trying to figure out how the logistics of clothing work. If I stitch here will it fit better? What happens if I dye this fabric? I really can’t get enough of the fun!

This is why I am going back to school (eventually) at Emily Griffith Opportunity School for their Professional Sewing/Design program. They offer classes from beginning and serger sewing to alterations and advanced sewing with everything in-between. I am trying to decide which electives to complete; alterations, design sketching, menswear, lingerie and lycra, and patterns will all be a must. It will take at least 18 months to complete and I hope I can survive working at a job not suited for me for another 2 years until I can do something I love. And the fact that my homework will probably involve a sewing machine while I am traveling around… yikes!

I hate school and the thought of me going back hurts my insides. It is the history, science, math and so on that I feel is unnecessary (albeit good knowledge in general) for an art/design student. I suck at those subjects anyhoo. So I am going to a trade school to just get what I want!

I have been planning this for a very long time and I have been telling everyone about it, but my finances keep getting in the way. No, I can’t use financial aid because I have to go to school full-time to receive it and that just isn’t going to happen when I have to work full-time from out of town. Aaaarrrggghhhh! It’s a huge stress for me but I think I have a solution.

Because I don’t have the money to begin classes right now (but hopefully in the fall (fingers crossed)) I have a fall back plan for the time being. There is a little place called a library filled with magical books on any subject possible. So I am using my FREE resources and now have about 20+ books with me about sewing, crafts, lingerie, fabrics, textiles, fashion design, beauty, history and more. I am studying!! I never thought I would see the day that studying could make me so excited. Some of the books are hilariously outdated but others are such wonderful gems to assist in my knowledge.

Along with these books I have decided to obviously practice with anything I can get my hands on. So far I have…
-bleached pants Alexander McQueen style
-made a floor length size 20 skirt into a high waisted skirt in my size
-made 5 skirts with pockets for me, Carly, and my mom
-used Rit dye for the first time
-made cafe style window coverings for the kitchen
-embroidered several birthday gifts for the ladies in my life

and this is all before I actually got the books or schooling! I will add pictures of my craftings later.

I think I have finally found my niche and I am so excited to begin!

busy crafting... try again later.

birthday, easter, and los angeles...

2010-04-15T19:11:00.000-06:00

We have had quite a busy week!

*Friday, April 2nd... Tony's Birthday!
He is now 29. Yikes! We are getting old. We had a really exciting day and he claims this to be his best birfday evah! He received an iPhone (from me!), new bowling ball, a Wii, GQ magazine subscription, and the series "the States" from the History Channel on DVD. I think he did pretty well! Of course Tony, Matt and I went bowling with his new ball and ate some great bar food while we were playing. For dinner, we decided to try something new with tapas. If you aren't familiar, tapas are spanish style appetizers and are FANTASTIC. We tried The 9th Door in LoDo and just happened to be there during happy hour! Basically $70 got all three of us drunk, stuffed and happy! If we went for normal dinner it would have been outrageous. All in all a fantastic day!!

*Saturday, April 3rd... Flying to Los Angeles
We decided to take a vacation just to get away and it was great timing with Tony's b-day. We have so much family in L.A. and thought it was a perfect opportunity to crash couches. I have an aunt, an uncle, six cousins, and many friends to see. We arrived at 8:30am and were ready to go...

-picked up by cousin Bo from LAX
-while leaving Bo and Hannah's house in Silverlake, saw January Jones at a restaurant
-to Chinatown, bought me a fantastic (cheap) oriental robe
-Olvera Street where it was "Bless Your Pet Day" and, yes, we saw dogs, birds, cats on leashes, iguanas, turtles in carts, and even a huge snake on a little girls shoulders
-attempted to layout by the pool at KK and Trudie's house (aunt and uncle), but it was too cold :(
-the Griffith Observatory for sunset with the most spectacular view of all of Los Angeles
-a late dinner at Malo with Bo, Hannah, and our good friends Elena and Shannan

*Sunday, April 4th... Easter
We have so many cousins here that it takes some serious planning to see everyone. We stayed with Bo and Hannah in their crazy house on Avocado St. But we needed to see the others. We decided on brunch for Easter.

-Gladstone's on Santa Monica Beach (very pricey seafood place) for brunch with the Kemm family cousins, Josh, Chiara, and Jessica. And we saw a dolphin!
-driving back from the beach along Sunset Boulevard, through Beverly Hills, detoured to Rodeo Drive, then the Sunset Strip
-an Easter cookout was in order with tons of roommates (from the Avocado house), more family (KK, Drake, Bo, Beata, Josh), Dodger Dogs, and kebabs
-not only did we have a great cookout there was also an Easter Earthquake! Tony's first!
-we met a friend of Bo's named Bill. Now Bill was super familiar to me. Turns out he was on How I Met Your Mother which of course we love and watch religiously and we knew his part very well (and of course we could quote his line back to him)
-apples to apples, a game of celebrity and talking late into the night rounded out the day

*Monday, April 5th... Lazy day
We didn't do much of anything and had no plans.

-got coffee at the Coffee Bean and had to run back to the house in the pouring rain
-had breakfast with Bo and Hannah at Fred 62 and happened to see the kid who played Elliott from ET. He is all grown up with a little girl and a wife. I think he knew we were talking about him. But apparently its his fault for being a child actor.
-the rent was due at the Avacado house and due to roommate drama we were hiding upstairs when I came up with our new names of Anne and Frank!
-to get away from the drama, we got a beer at the Cha Cha Lounge. A rediculously furnished, dank bar with the greatest vending machine items (jiffy cornbread mix, 21 Jump Street trading cards, naked lady greeting card...)
-to Elena and Shannan's for pizza and beer. My Tony got to meet their cat Tony!

*Tuesday, April 6th... To the beach!
-we took off at about noon and headed to Santa Monica Beach for a day in the sun!
-lunch at Hot Dog on a Stick, only my all time favorite corndog eatery!
-a stroll through the arcades and boardwalk
-off to Venice Beach to see the crazies and the drunkies
-dinner at Red Lion, a great German restaurant, with Hannah, Bo, Elena, and Shannan

*Wednesday, April 7th... home again
We had such a wonderful and relaxing trip and we got lots of great family time in. We did come home during the drama with the "Shoe bomber/smoker" on the tarmac at DIA. But luckily we landed fine and all was well!!!

movie reviews...

2010-03-19T17:09:00.002-06:00

You are probably sick of hearing so many posts about the movies I am watching so I thought I would make it easier on everyone. At the bottom of this blog I have removed the photos and replaced them with a movie review. I will be able to share with you what I am currently watching or just watched. Should you watch The Way We Were? Maybe you should read the review!!!

ENJOY...

The Way We Were (1973) **** Barbra Streisand + Robert Redford. A wonderful love story about complete opposites trying to make their lives work together. I watched this because I love Sex and the City and Carrie compares her relationship with Big to Katie and Hubble's relationship. I guess the curly haired girl with the open mind and mouth never really win (well, until Sex and the City: The Movie!)

Lifeboat (1944) ***1/2 A German Sub torpedoes an American ship. There are just a few survivors. The spend the next few days deciding how to survive. Much drama ensues. Typical Hitchcock. Very good.

Private Benjamin (1980) ** Goldie Hawn. Judy is rich girl whose husband dies on their wedding night. She is sick of living how her family wants her to live and thinks the army sounds glamourous. Boy is she wrong. This is a very 80's movie, but I wasn't that impressed with the entire movie. Maybe Judy Benjamin needs a hobby she actually likes.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) *** Elizabeth Taylor + Richard Burton. A husband and wife basically fighting for the whole movie and seeing which can hurt the other more. The performances are fantastic, sadistic, and entirely entertaining.

The Ugly Truth (2009) ** Katherine Heigl + Gerard Butler. I am not a total movie snob. I do like the occasional chick-flick over the top 100 winners. But this one... not so much. Wow. Predictable. I won't even bother with the synopsis. It was fun, just not something I would even suggest to a girlfriend.

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) (currently watching)

(Star ratings are out of five)

So keep up with my movies down below. Just keep scrolling...

previous academy awards recap...

2010-03-05T21:14:00.007-07:00

Movies. What would I do without them? I revolve so many aspects of my life around them (its sad, but true.) Why, no wonder that I would love the academy awards as much.

The red carpet glamour. The importance of winning. The wonderful achievements of the actors and filmmakers.

I am gearing up to watch this Sunday, but I thought I would think back through some of my favorite moments from previous award’s ceremonies (and yes, way back in 1996 is when I can really remember the awards vividly)…

+Roberto Benigni. Best actor 1997 for Life is Beautiful
+totally annoyed with the amount of awards The English Patient won in 1997
+totally psyched with the amount of awards Titanic won in 1998
+Halle Berry. Best Actress 2002 for Monster’s Ball
+Adrian Brody. Best Actor 2003 for The Pianist (and of course Adrian kissing Halle in sheer bliss from the win)
+Chris Cooper. Best Supporting Actor 2003 for Adaptation
+Cate Blanchett. Best Supporting Actress 2004 for The Aviator (only one of my favorite actresses portraying one of my other favorite actresses)
+The entire costume sequence during the 2007 awards ceremony when Marie Antoinette won
+Dustin Lance Black. Best Screenplay 2009 for MILK
+Kate Winslet (finally). Best Actress 2009 for The Reader (although she could have been nominated for Revolutionary Road and won just as easily)
+Heath Ledger. Best Supporting Actor 2009 for The Dark Knight
+Slumdog Millionaire. Best Picture 2009 (too much hype and by the time I finally saw the movie it wasn't best picture worthy)
+Hugh Jackman as host? Duh! Brilliant! It was the most entertaining ceremony in years.

I do have a few of my own opinions on this year's nominees...

*Really? The Blind Side for Best Picture? (haven't seen it, nor do I really want to, but it seems so vanilla.)
*I love the idea of the wonderfully interesting and new sci-fi thriller District 9 being nominated. Definitely the most original of the 10.
*Does Up need to be nominated for Best Picture and Animated Picture? It's animated. Let's stick with that category.
*Big shocker, but I am still mad that A Single Man only has one Oscar nomination. Did you see the costumes, set decoration, hear the beautiful score? Come on! But good luck to Colin Firth because he can win it!!!
*I am a little biased about Where the Wild Things Are (with my uncle as production designer and all) but the sets were fantastic, original, and gorgeous and really should have been nominated.
*I have a severe love affair with Meryl Streep (more her acting ability and her characters). Her performance as Julia Child is fantastic and spot on. Plus she is the most nominated person in the history of the awards with 16, but only 2 wins. Sandra Bullock will probably win and I will be supremely annoyed.
*Love Steve Martin. Like Alec Baldwin.
*I really hope Kathryn Bigalow wins for The Hurt Locker. Great movie and she deserves to be the first female director to win an Oscar.
*Avatar will probably win. But that's OK because it was pretty cool and super innovative. So I will be OK with that.

Roll out the carpet...

food poisoning, jury duty, and thrift stores...

2010-02-27T14:16:00.000-07:00

*Yes. I had all food poisoning on Super bowl Sunday night. First time ever. It sucked. And it lasted for days.

*Yes. I had jury duty. First time ever. It did not suck. I actually really wanted to be on the trial (the murder trial of Denver Bronco Darrant Williams. Very big news around here!) But, alas, I was not chosen :(

*Yes. I was off for the last two weeks due to both of these incidences. So I went to thrift stores!

It was so wonderful to actually be home on the weekends. Although I was sick for the first weekend, I did still get to enjoy Tony's Grandma's 91st bday, our friend's band playing at a wine bar, and the grand re-opening of our hair salon, The Big Hairy Monster.

In the last week we have gone to 3 really great thrift stores and we got a ton of great stuff...
-a pair of Coach mens-style shoes for me
-bicycle for 10 bucks
-a pair of Nine West silver flats (to replace my disgusting old ones from Old Navy)
-a pair of huaraches
-a pair of grey Brazilian wedges (I did really well with shoes)
-four new books (The Kite Runner, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Atonement, and something else)
-the board game Clue (the 80's version that we love and remember)
-a sweet purse that resembles the original Chanel 2.55 quilted bag ($2.99 is just a little more $2,500)
-a gaming chair (for Tony, obviously)
-one plain cream tank and one J. Crew gold and cream tank

I would show you pics of all my amazing new finds, but I have no digital camera :( Boo Hoo!

All in all, I think we did pretty well. I am kind of obsessed with thrifting right now, and could go to stores everyday! I did remember my hand sanitizer bc I do feel disgusting touching every ones old junk and my new treasures! Maybe I will hit up one more this week...

Hmmmm, sounds perfect!

wedding, yet again...

2010-02-19T20:42:00.003-07:00

It's only been 1.5 years since our wedding and I finally finished our wedding scrapbook! I want to hate scrapbooking (and I do hate the REAL way of doing it), but mine is awesome and I have all my saved wedding related crap in one handy awesome place.

I am also making a wedding photo book through Blurb. So far so good. I have the showers, rehearsal dinner and of course the wedding it self! I hope to have this done by our 2nd anniversary. It will probably be longer, seeing how long the scrapbook took.

Now that the scrapbook is finished I really have to do laundry. Crud.

Movie reviews...

2010-02-15T14:53:00.003-07:00

Yes. I am still working on finishing my movie lists. It is going to be a while until I have them all completed, so bare with me. I have the Academy Award Best Picture Winners, AFI's Top 100 Movies, and the 82nd Annual Academy Award Nominees, plus many more lists which we need not get into today.

I have seen Inglourious Basterds, Up, An Education, Avatar, District 9, and A Single Man. But I have much more nominees I need to see in one month!

Here are some movies I have seen recently...

Tombstone (1993)
-Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer.
Wyatt Earp, his brothers, Virgil and Morgan, and Doc Holiday are retired in Tombstone, AZ when trouble comes a knockin. The Cowboys (the bad guys) are shootin women, newlyweds, sheriffs, bein scoundrels and they need to be stopped. But who could tame such unruly curs? Wyatt Earp, of course! Val Kilmer as the tuberculosis stricken Doc Holiday is amazing! I am really shocked he didn't at least get an Oscar nomination.

The Sting (1973)
-Robert Redford and Paul Newman.
These two actors together are just amazing. I personally like them better together in Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, but this is just a great movie. Two con men team up to seek revenge on a fallen friend. There are great twists and turns and you have know idea who is friends with whom. The ending is classic with the greatest Sting ever played!

Defiance (2008)
-Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber.
This is a true story of four Jewish brothers who escaped the Nazis in Russia during World War II. They set up camp in the forest to survive. Their story got out and Jews went in search of living in freedom with them. Hundreds of Jews lived in the forest together and fought off the Nazis. In the end thousands of lives were saved because of the brothers' will to stay alive and help others.

The Last King of Scotland (2006)
-Forest Whitaker and James MacAvoy.
I am usually not a Forest Whitaker fan but he is fantastic as the Scottish obsessed Ugandan President, Amin. James MacAvoy, as Nicholas Garrigan goes to Uganda to be a doctor after graduating from a Scottish medical school and soon becomes Amin's personal physician. Amin turns out to be one of Uganda's worst rulers. This is based on the true events during his rule in the 1970's.

Yentl (1983)
-Barbara Streisand and Mandy Patinkin.
Musical. Check. Inigo Montoya. Check. Babs. Check. Even with all these great features, it is just an OK movie. Girl wants Jewish knowledge. Its forbidden. Girl pretends to be a boy. She falls in love with boy. Trouble ensues. Predictable.

Bright Star (2009)
-Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw.
A wonderful story about the poet John Keats and his love and muse, Fanny Brawne. This is a true love story about a poor writer in love with a beautiful fashionable girl. He is of course too poor to marry her, then tragedy hits and he becomes very sick. Her mother allowed them to be engaged at least. He died at the young age of 25 after just knowing Fanny for 3 years. The poem "Bright Star" was written about their relationship. This is a real tear-jerker.

District 9 (2009)
Before I saw this movie I thought, "Why did this get an Oscar nomination for best picture?" And then I saw it. WOW! It is such a new style of movie. It's like documentary, sci-fi, thriller, and love story all rolled into one. The editing and cinematography styles alone are so fantastic! Aliens land in Johannesburg, South Africa. They are kept in districts, but its now too over populated so they are moving them to a new camp. In the process, the man in charge of moving the "prawns" gets badly injured, and he begins to transforms into an alien. Still, I can only say WOW to describe this movie. I was pretty shocked it wasn't a video game first!

Phoebe in Wonderland (2008)
-Elle Fanning, Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson, Bill Pullman
This is a total sleeper film that I don't even remember hearing about when it came to the theaters. Thanks to Netflix insta-view I was able to watch it! Phoebe, Elle Fanning (who is fantastic), is a special little girl with a wonderful imagination. She is getting in trouble at school, until the unconventional theater teacher casts her as Alice in Wonderland. Her parents try to keep her happy while she tries to survive in the rule-stricken world around her. This is such an honest movie with heart about accepting people for who they are. Highly recommended!

Funny People (2009)
-Adam Sandler and Seth Rogan
This is a Judd Apatow movie? Named Funny People? So you think its gonna be hilarious, right? Not so much. Yes, there are dozens of funny people thrown around in the movie, but it's not that funny. I do like the fact that it's a nice dramedy about living life and no regrets, but maybe you shouldn't have named it something so obvious when the movie clearly isn't. All I can say is "Humph." Although, the classic Adam Sandler clips strewn about the movie are amazing!

I am now off to see A Single Man again so that Tony can see it this time! Again, it's the best movie I have seen in a really long time...

tv shows...

2010-01-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

Im always writing about movies. Why? Why do you need to ask? Because Im kind of obsessed with them. Thats why! I love watching them, reading about them, movie trivia, characters, commentary, costumes, and on and on.

For instance...
I have seen Titanic about 7,000 times (very rough estimate) and I have watched every bit of all 3 commentaries (director's, cast's, and crew's). I have even owned all 3 versions (2 tape set, 2 disc dvd set, 3 disc dvd 10th anniversary edition). When are you coming to blu-ray??? I know I am totally ridiculous. But, I craft and get other things done while I am watching, so it isnt a total waste of time!

So, this time I thought i would talk about TV shows. I really try not to get sucked into too many tv shows, so that i dont have to play catch-up if i have missed them. We made a conscious decision not to have a DVR for precisely this reason. Plus there are sooooo many ridiculous shows out there, I only need a few to follow!

current series...
-Big Love (2006-present)
-Dexter (2006-present)
-How I Met Your Mother (2005-present)
-Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999-present)
-Lost (2004-present)
-Scrubs (2001-present)

reality series...
-America's Next Top Model (2003-present)
-Dirty Jobs (2005-present)
-Project Runway (2005-present)

shows no longer running...
-Dead Like Me (2003-2004)
-Friends (1994-2004)
-Futurama (1999-2003)
-Sex and the City (1998-2004)
-The Simpsons (1989-present) [Yes I know its still running strong, but honestly the best seasons end somewhere around ten or eleven. You know I'm right!]

A Single Man (2009)

2010-01-23T09:55:00.001-07:00

Tom Ford. The great Tom Ford made a beautiful movie. He put this wonderful story to the silver screen and made it shine. It is one of the most visually pleasing movies I have ever seen. I have told many many people about it in the last 3 days, since seeing it in the theater, and when professing my love for this movie I described it like this...

It is like living in a realistic 1962, going to see a fashion show, a classical concert full of strings, and visiting a wonderfully glamorous art gallery all within 2 hours.

I am just in awe of the vision this movie has. Not only is it a perfect love story between two normal people with different views in the wrong decade, but it shown and told so very well.

I couldn't get enough of the sadness Colin Firth's character, George Falconer, felt. No one could quite understand him or grieve with him, since he was forced to live his true life in private. His happy moments in the film were brought about by bursts of brilliant color and vibrance. It is now one of my favorite movies of all time and by far the best visual movie I have ever seen.

I kept expecting to be let down in some portion of the movie but it kept getting better and better. By the end of the movie, it was whole and complete with nothing left to wonder about. Carly and I just sat through the credits in awe. We just kind of stared at each other with the same feelings about what we had just experienced.

If I happened to be a film critic, I would recommend this movie to anyone who has felt love in their lives. I give it two thumbs up, five stars, and an A+.

Just last week I wrote a post about my favorite fashion in movies... this one is now at the top of the list.

I am writing this on both blogs because it not only has to do with fashion but life and the beautiful things there are to see.

Good Riddance 2009...

2010-01-12T09:35:00.000-07:00

and Hello, 2010!

I can honestly say I have never been so happy for a new year to come about. I am ready for a great year. Do you hear me 2010? Seriously!

Yes, of course, there were some great things about 2009...
- 2 fantastic weddings between 4 great friends, Carly & Matt and Phil & Alicia, including an awesome road trip through the northern plains
- a Barrett family reunion in Breckenridge
- the newest addition to our little family, Kafka, our dog
- being able to spend the holidays with the entire Kemm family for the 1st time in 5 years
- 2 amazing babies joined our lives Daphne Bingham (Jan. 2nd, 2009) and Aiden Aerts(Dec. 31, 2008 @ 10:30pm, so basically 2009)
- my dad moved to Portland which is such a wonderful place to visit
- celebrating our first wedding anniversary!
- I finished 4 quilts this year! I also started cross-stitching which is smaller to travel with than a queen sized quilt!

I have decided to spare you our list of terrible 2009 happenings for the umpteenth time. Be grateful! There are even a few (very few) good things that came out of the bad...
- lower car insurance (from having only one car)
- new movies, comforter, cameras
- adding our doggie as an extra security measure
- life lessons, which we will never forget

In the first week alone, I have been in a splendid mood! I think I am making my self happy just thinking about the new year and all to come. There are still plenty of things that are going to happen which I am totally unsure about, but I will try to take it in stride from now on.

Not a whole lot has happened this year in the first 12 days, but so far so good. I did have horrible delays on a Puerto Vallarta turn (that's why I don't work Mexico). I also went hiking with my pops in Portland to 3 different waterfalls. I have seen Avatar (pretty good) and I'm seeing Nine today. We have deep-fried 3 meals with our new deep fryer, so we are starting out really healthy.

I want to thank everyone out there for your kindness and support in 2009. We have such wonderful friends and family and we may not have survived without you. Even just kind words meant the world to us. I apologize for being quite the sad-sack this year, but hopefully it's over and you will see a happier couple of Rodriguez's this year! And if you ever have any kind of troubles we will be there for you, because we know how important it is to have the support. Thanks again!

Here's to the best year ever...
Cheers!!!

holiday fever...

2009-12-17T17:58:00.004-07:00

I am baking! Baking like a crazy fool. I am making gingerbread cookies, puppy chow (crispix covered in chocolate, peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar), peppermint bark, white and milk chocolate covered pretzels, pecan pralines, and peanut butter scotchies (corn flakes covered in butter scotch and peanut butter).

Carly came over to assist with the pretzel dipping and did a swell job!

The kitchen smells great and has a nice layer of treats on every surface. I am just beginning the gingerbread cookies which will take forever, but I am ready to get started. I truly love using cookie cutters, but the process is ridiculous.

I thought I would watch something festive for the holidays, and since I already watched White Christmas last night, I chose Die Hard for tonight! It's not the most conventional christmas movie, but it works. We also watched Scrooged with Bill Murray to really boost our spirits.

Off to make the gingerbread mens and ladies...

with hard times, come movies...

2009-12-03T23:52:00.005-07:00

With my life being so stressful in the last year (just in case you havent been following thats 2 car break-ins, a burglary and a stolen car in 12 months), I am really finding it hard to be cheerful or even thankful this holiday season. I am usually the first to get xmas cards into the mail, but the thought hasnt even crossed my mind this season. I know it sounds cold and almost stupid to let "things" get me down this way, but it is a hard time right now and I am trying to get through it.

I have a very strong friend whose mother died 4 months ago and just today she told me that no matter the loss, great or small, it is still a loss and it requires grieving. I really needed that. She lost someone very close and special to her while we lost things that were sentimental and special (and some that were neither). Although both are vastly different, in a small way we are both dealing with it in the same way.

I have such wonderful and amazing family and friends who have been so supportive and helpful in any way they could. But truthfully I am most thankful for husband. We have truly been put to the test in our first year of marriage and we are nothing but stronger than we were before. Not a single thing has changed except we know we are there for each other through thick and thin and we know we can make it work.

So, I will do my hardest this holiday season to wish good tidings upon others and I will try to feel the joy, but so far I just feel blah, to say the least. The hardest part is to work very hard everyday to pay bills and eat and have a good life and then people keep ruining it for us by taking it all away. I hope this is the end and we can get back to enjoying small things instead of dreading opening the front door to find the house a wreck!

WOW! DONE! (thanks for letting me vent!)

On a much much MUCH lighter note... I have been passing time with crafts as usual and of course with movies. I have watched quite a few in the last few weeks. Some were great and others so-so. I will only let you in on my favorites!

Dirty Harry 1971. Clint Eastwood in a classic bad-ass cop movie. There are great one-liners "do you feel lucky, Punk?" and really fantastic 70's music. I really liked this movie for the clothes, music, feel, and great San Francisco scenery. I liked the plot since it was loosely based on the Zodiac killer from the 60's. I do like a good serial killer. My favorite part is when he eats a hot dog and then takes out a bank robbery while chewing his food. Awesome!

Up 2009. Man, this movie is very touching and pretty funny. I think kids would like it, but an adult would like it a lot more due to the beautiful relationship the whole movie is based on. I think I liked the beginning scenes the best, but the rest is very sweet. My favorite visually pleasing scene are the beautiful colors the balloons produce onto the ground below.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 1988-1999. Damn, this show is hilarious. If you have never heard of this show I highly recommend it. A guy and 2 robots are forced to watch terrible movies for science experiments... that's it! The greatest part is their hilarious comments on these terrible movies. Just rent it or check it out. Funny. Always.

Silkwood 1983. Not only does this movie have Meryl Streep, but its set in Oklahoma and made in 1983. Why would I NOT love this movie? This is the age old story about worker V. huge bad company. A kind of Erin Brockovich for the 70's. It is a true story about a woman working for a plutonium plant who becomes subsequently contaminated and then tries to make the company realize the plant needs safer work regulations. It is a great movie and of course Meryl is fantastic. I love anything the woman touches!

Star Trek 2009. Could they have cast this movie any better? Every single person was perfect for their role. I really enjoy learning about how characters in movies might have met and this was very entertaining. The action was great and the special effects/sound should definitely get an Oscar nomination, as least! This is how a good action movie should be.

Being There 1979. I saved this for the last, because it is one of my new favorite movies. First off... Shirley MacLaine and Peter Sellers. Enough said. This is such simple story about a simple gardener just telling the truth to the world as he sees it. It is funny, witty, touching, and brilliant all rolled into one. I honestly didnt know what it was about and there were so many great twists I never saw coming, it is impossible to explain all the crazy happenings if I wanted to! There arent very many movies that leave me smiling and totally happy at the end, but this did it. Get this movie if just for the hilarious outtake during the credits!

My last 2 suggestions of the post...
-Lost (the tv show) is sucking me in and is very exciting. Thanks to Hulu.com, I am watching from the first episode. Check it out.
-New Moon is WORSE than Twilight. Do not check it out or waste your time. (Unless you wanna see Edward and all his chiseled goodness. OMG!)

Go forth and watch great movies! Oh and Happy Holidays!

busy little bees...

2009-11-14T15:24:00.000-07:00

I have been pretty busy lately. Obviously. Since I haven't written in quite a while.

I will give you a good overview of the last three weeks. Ready? It's long...

oct 25-30
One of my oldest and best friends came to visit for the whole week! Anneliese and I met in 2nd grade at a friend's birthday party and in 4th grade she transferred to my elementary school. We have had a trillion sleepovers together with barbies, crafts, Fish Food ice cream, and movies. We have partied, traveled, cried and laughed together. We went totally separate ways after high school, but have kept in touch all these years. Even if its a year between our chats we can catch up just like it was yesterday.

She arrived on Sunday and left on Friday night. We had a very eventful week, minus the huge blizzardy storm that made us house bound for a full day.

We shopped at Cherry Creek Mall, Nordstrom's Rack, Target, Park Meadows Mall, Joanne Fabrics, and Halloween stores. We went to Lookout Mountain and Golden, CO. We cooked a few meals, did some crafts, cleaned house, decorated for the party.

The big Halloween party we had been planning for months on Wednesday the 28th, was of course ruined by the crippling 2.5 foot snow storm that started the night before and ended Thursday night. Luckily we had cooked and cleaned all day. We had 5 people at the house already; Tony, Matt, Carly, Anneliese, and me. Our neighbors stopped by with carmel popcorn and the one other guest is our friend Adam. A total of six people partied in the snow and in the garage with the keg for hours and hours!

We had sooooo much food for the 6 of us. We made...
72 mini cupcakes
chex mix
peanut butter cup cookies
sausage rolls
Rotel and Velvetta cheese dip
9 layer dip
cranberry bread
little smokies with bbq sauce
and we got a keg!

Ultimately we had a blast and I fully understood why people didn't make it out for the party. When it snows 2+ feet there aren't too many people that wanna drive to go drinking at a party! Shocking!

oct 31
Work. Blah. Cruddy Halloween.

nov 1-5
Work done by Wednesday morn. Because of the storm last week we threw together an impromptu Post Halloween party to attempt to finish the keg.

I cleaned the house all day to perfection because I knew people were actually coming this time. I asked people to dress-up in hopes of recreating Halloween.

The first couple of guests showed at 6. Then 6:30 Carly showed up. Soon after that, more and more people were appearing at the party. There were some really great costumes; M&M, Russian mail-order bride, Mario (from Mario Bros.), sexy cop, zebra, catholic priest, and more. I think there were about 20 folks in our little house/awesome garage.

We not only had pitchers and pitchers of keg beer, but some girls brought wine, champagne, and vodka. All in all there was a lot of drinking going on. The party went on until midnight. Seriously a fun time and I drank A LOT!

Thursday I probably did something important, but now I don't remember. Oh packing for our weekend vacation!

Later that night, I had a friend's birthday party to attend downtown. I got all dressed up and told myself I wouldn't spend any money or drink. I spent 25 cents on parking and of course there were free drinks.

Someone made me a drink and we danced to the music. We requested some Cyndi Lauper and the DJ said "who?" I then asked for 80's music and he said "what does it start with?" OK. Great!

nov 6-10
Friday morning, Tony and I got up super early to head to the airport. We were headed to Portland for the weekend to visit my dad. Elizabeth flew into Denver earlier that morning to meet our flight out.

Amazing rainy events in Portland...
friday
*Ikea. good shopping, good food and now Tony is in love with the store too!
*Bonneville fish hatchery to watch the spawning salmon in action jumping up the fish ladders
*Multnomah Falls. basically a double waterfall nestled into a lush green forest.
*Kell's Irish Restaurant and Pub. Tony and I love the Seattle location and we had been telling dad about it for years. It didn't disappoint. Corned beef and cabbage with good Irish beer and soda bread ::drool::
*VooDoo Doughnuts. If you go to Portland you have to have VooDoo. The old dirty bastard is AMAZING!!
*POWELL'S BOOKS. That's all I have to say. The best bookstore I have ever been to. When you need an obscure book like Red Dragon first edition or Angels and Demons Illustrated Edition... it's there.

saturday
*pouring rain, actual flooding
*Saturday market. It is a weekly outdoor craft show which might be great except for the cold wet rain.
*back to Kell's for a warm-up drink.
*a beautiful vintage store with Chanel suits and a Karl Lagerfield jacket and much much more. I almost died until I looked at the prices and we left :(
*powell's books again. I just can't get enough.
*Bridgeport Brew pub. Seriously what other kinds of sight seeing are you supposed to do in the pouring rain?
*more vintage stores but in our price range. new patent leather lace up shoes!
*chili for dinner at Dad's house. Nice dry warm evening with family.

sunday
*Elizabeth was supposed to leave, but got really sick in the night so we got one more day with her!
*basically football all day. hmph.
*downtown Vancouver, WA. Thrift stores, antiquing, and more vintage stores.
*Blind Onion Pizza. delicious.

monday
*Tony and Elizabeth left today to go back to work.
*Pittock Mansion. A beautiful house built in the early 1900's. So much history and a fantastic view of the rivers, the mountains, and downtown.
*Powell's one last time :(
*McMenamins on the river for dinner.

tuesday
*home.

Wow. The last couple weeks have been crazy, and now there is just work. Darn. I dont think the next couple weeks will be exciting at all, even though Thanksgiving is right around the corner!!

Here's to the next posts and lets hope they are shorter!

new books (continuation)...

2009-10-17T21:24:00.002-06:00

Just to let you know, after writing the last post about the book, The Hunger Games, I finished the book because I couldn't put it down and immediatly bought Catching Fire. I found out there will be one more book to round out the trilogy. Love it!!

new books...

2009-10-08T18:31:00.002-06:00

On the airplane, I get really bored. I am constantly scouring the plane for good magazines (Time, Vogue, Glamour, Vanity Fair), bad magazines (people, in touch, us weekly), and any kind of books.

I read a great article in Time magazine recently about a new young adult book series, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins...

I used to tell my daughter stories about a family of mer-cats--kitties with fish tails--who lived in the East River and how they were persecuted by a mean purple octopus. I spent considerable time and effort coming up with nonviolent ways for the mer-cats to defeat the octopus at the end of each story. Finally one night I asked my daughter Lily, who was 4 at the time, how she thought the mer-cats should handle the problem. She chirpily replied that the mer-cats should find a sharp rock and then stab the octopus till it died. Ha, ha, ha! Kids.

If the time ever comes, Lily might do pretty well in the Hunger Games. As described by Suzanne Collins in her young-adult novel of the same name, the Hunger Games are an annual spectacle in which a group of children are forced by the government to fight one another to the death on TV. A sequel, Catching Fire (Scholastic; 400 pages), will be out on Sept. 1. The Hunger Games is a chilling, bloody and thoroughly horrifying book, a killer cocktail of Logan's Run, Lord of the Flies, The Running Man, reality TV and the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. But it inspires in readers a kind of zeal I haven't seen since the early days of Twilight. Stephen King is a major fan. So is Stephenie Meyer.

The Hunger Games is set in an unspecified future time when things have gone pretty spectacularly badly for humanity. The world, or the bit of it we can see, is dominated by a ruling caste who live in luxury in a city called the Capitol. The rest of us live like peasants in 12 districts that are strictly cordoned off from the Capitol and one another. Life in the districts sucks: it's mostly hard labor--mining coal and farming and working in factories--in dismal conditions.

To make things even dismaler, once a year each district is required to give up two of its children, chosen by lottery, and enter them in the Hunger Games. The kids are dropped into an enormous arena strewn with traps and hazards, with a heap of weapons and supplies in the middle. The last child alive wins a lifetime of luxury and celebrity. The action is filmed and broadcast to the entire world.

We experience this ordeal through the eyes of Katniss, a resident of District 12, a harsh, cold region mostly given over to coal-mining. She is a passionate 16-year-old who hates the Capitol and is devoted to her family; she volunteers for the Games to take the place of her sister, whose name came up in the lottery. Katniss is a skilled hunter and sheer death with a bow and arrow. She doesn't like to kill. But she doesn't want to die either.

Whereas Katniss kills with finesse, Collins writes with raw power. After a life spent in freezing poverty, Katniss experiences pleasure--warmth, food, pretty clothes--with almost unbearable intensity, and that's where Collins' writing comes alive. (Not sex, though. The Hunger Games isn't just chaste, like Twilight; it's oddly non-erotic.)

Likewise, Collins brings a cold, furious clarity to her accounts of physical violence. You might not think it would be possible, or desirable, for a young-adult writer to describe, slowly and in full focus, a teenage girl getting stung to death by a swarm of mutant hornets. It wasn't, until Collins did it. But rather than being repellent, the violence is strangely hypnotic. It's fairy-tale violence, Brothers Grimm violence--not a cheap thrill but a symbol of something deeper. (One of the paradoxes of the book is that it condemns the action in the arena while also inviting us to enjoy it, sting by sting. Despite ourselves, we do.)

Katniss survives the first novel, and the second finds her back in the arena, where she will try, in her words, to "show them that I'm more than just a piece in their Games."
The Hunger Games and Catching Fire expose children to exactly the kind of violence we usually shield them from. But that just goes to show how much adults forget about what it's like to be a child. Kids are physical creatures, and they're not stupid. They know all about violence and power and raw emotions. What's really scary is when adults pretend that such things don't exist.

- Time Magazine

I was so excited to find out about a great new series, as they are my favorites (Harry Potter, the Hannibal Lector series, Chronicles of Narnia, Twilight, the Dexter series). I immediately put it on hold at the library and apparently everyone else had the same idea. I was number 120 on the hold list and there were only 40 copies of the book. I was sure it would take forever, but it only took a couple weeks. I just got it a couple days ago and am already halfway through. I am loving it. I love Katniss and Prim and Gale. The entire world of Panem is very creative and someplace I hope never to live in. I cannot wait to see what will happen to Katniss, so I better get to reading! Oh, and I really can't wait to read Catching Fire!

I am also in the middle of another book, which I found on the plane. It is so completely opposite from The Hunger Games. It is about Queen Elizabeth I. It's called I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles, a novel told from Elizabeth's perspective. I read The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory, last year and just love all the drama surrounding Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII, and Mary Boleyn. I, Elizabeth is basically a continuation of this story, but by a different author. It is a really great story of a girl born a princess, considered the daughter of a whore, and sent off to live outside the castle. She was hated by the public because of her mother, but when she could actually speak her own mind, then the public finally loved her. It's a great book. I enjoy reading books based on real life events and history and especially in different time periods. The language is so romantic even though the events of their lives are very hard.

I recommend both of these books. Happy Reading!!!

HAPPY FIRST ANNIVERSARY!

2009-10-04T14:07:00.000-06:00

In honor of Tony and I celebrating our one year anniversary of marriage, I thought I would put together a photo montage of our 7 years as a couple!

We met in August 2002 in our photography class at the Community College of Denver. He said "I like your shoes" (pink suede pumas) and I told him "I like your watch" (a beautiful silver watch with 2 faces). We were obviously made for each other right from the very start.

We began dating officially on September 9 and have been inseparable ever since. We have been through wonderful times and very difficult times in the last 7 years, but it has only made us stronger. We have lived in 5 different locations, added 3 pets to our family (RIP Hampy), gotten tattoos and piercings together. We have lost loved ones and celebrated new additions. We bought our first house and a car last year. We have survived car break-ins and a burglary. We both have had every haircut and color possible between us. We love art, crappy comedies, good food, drinking, spending time together and with our animals. We both hate driving and our jobs. He puts up with my crazies and I put up with his fancy-pants cravings. We both love the Broncos, Rockies, and the Avs but especially attending games. We enjoy rain, fall, Halloween,

We have traveled to many places (but plan on tons more); Alaska, Seattle, Oklahoma, New York, South Dakota, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Wyoming... and someday we will actually take a real live honeymoon.

Obviously these are in reverse order. They begin with our first road trip together. Tony drove me to Oklahoma the day before Thanksgiving to surprise my mom. She was so excited and impressed that all her friends heard about my wonderful new boyfriend! And little did she know he would be her future son-in-law.

We have been through so much together and we have wonderful memories and tons and TONS of photos to prove it all!

I am so very very lucky to have my husband and my best friend all rolled into one. He is such a kind compassionate and caring person. I love you Tony and can't wait for many many many more years to come!!

Bacon Corn Chowder with Crab...

2009-10-02T12:39:00.004-06:00

Oh you know you want it!!! I have been craving this recipe all year and now that fall is finally upon us... its soup time. I love making soup. Maybe because they are easy and delicious, but they are good for what ails you!

This one is particularly good. The corn and milk make is sweet. Bacon and crab make it salty and hearty. All the veggies make it very well rounded. I think I will have to finish off the soup with some beer bread or even Irish soda bread for dipping. YUMMY!!!

BACON CORN CHOWDER w/ CRAB from Rachel Ray
serves 5-6

Ingredients:
-8 ears of corn, kernels removed (reserve 4 of the cobs)
-1/2 cup celery leaves, chopped
-2 cups water
-1 cup chicken stock
-1 tablespoon EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-1/2 pound (about 8 slices) bacon, coarsely chopped
-3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
-1 medium onion, chopped
-2 cloves garlic, grated
-3 stalks celery, chopped
-1 small red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
-2 small bay leaves
-4 sprigs fresh thyme
-1 quart milk
-1 teaspoon (or more) hot sauce, divided
-1 cup crab meat, picked clean (optional)
-2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning (optional)
-3 scallions, sliced on the bias

Preparation:
Place a large pot over medium-high heat with the four reserved corn cobs, celery leaves, water and chicken stock. Bring liquid up to a bubble and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer and reduce broth until about 1 1/2 cups remain, about 10 minutes. Keep warm until use.

While broth is simmering, place a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat with 1 turn of the pan of EVOO, about 1 tablespoon. Cook the bacon until crisp and brown, 4-5 minutes. Remove bacon from pot with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the drippings from the pot and add the potato, onion, garlic, celery, red pepper, bay leaves, thyme sprigs and corn kernels to the pot. Sauté over medium-high heat until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add milk, hot sauce and corn broth and bring to a bubble. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer chowder until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

If using crab, place into a small bowl and toss with Old Bay seasoning. Serve chowder garnished with crab, a pinch of scallions and some of the crispy bacon.

Give this recipe a try this weekend!! Bon appetit!!

road trip, wedding, birthday, national parks and family time...

2009-09-22T20:00:00.000-06:00

All in one week!!

Starting Wednesday, September 23rd at 5:00am we are heading to the great north. To Eau Claire, Wisconsin for the Strozinsky-LaFollette Wedding. Our great friends, Phillip and Alicia are getting married and my husband is a groomsman. Matt and Carly are flying out to WI while we are driving and they are road trippin back with us.

This morning we were planning on running errands when the car wouldn't start. Yes. The very car we are taking TOMORROW for a 15 hour road trip! JEEZ! But, thank goodness for AAA and their roadside assistance for jumping our car and getting us back up and running (literally) for the big day!!!!

Today, I stocked up on great road trip snacks: trail mix, beef jerky, fruit, water, and other sundries. We already got The Lost Symbol (the new Dan Brown book), Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, Utopia, and The Great Gatsby all as books-on-CD. We are gonna be getting our read on, or listen to, while we drive.

9.23.9
We are starting in Denver (obviously)
EAST through ALL of Nebraska
NORTH through Iowa
to Bay City, WI (really Red Wing, WI) to visit Matt's (Carly's husband) parents.

9.24.9 - 9.27.9
NORTHEAST to Eau Claire, WI for the wedding and all that entails. Dinners, wedding celebrations, breakfasts and Phil's b-day!

9.27.9 - 9.28.9
WEST to Minneapolis, MN for some IKEA time!!!
Then WEST to Brookings, SD to see my mom for the night. Pork tenderloins, Geoffrey, and homemade sugar donuts!!!

9.28.9
WEST to Rapid City, SD to visit the Black Hills, the Badlands, and Mt. Rushmore. I have been to all 3 places but Tony, Carly and Matt have not!

9.29.9
WEST to Wyoming
SOUTH to DENVER!!!

WOW! Its gonna be a really long week with too much car time, but it will be so great! I must say that I truly love road trips. ANYTHING to get me off a plane every once in a while!!

More than anything I am soooo excited to spend the entire week with my husband. Sadly it has been a while since we have had a week together and it will be fabulous.

Here's to wedded bliss, great friends, family, and a safe car ride. CHEERS!!!

what i want...

2009-09-19T18:18:00.001-06:00

I am in a very strange place in life. I have this wonderful husband, house, dog, cat, car and yet I am never home to enjoy any of it! I am terribly unhappy with my job and currently looking for something to do instead.

Also, I have finally decided what I actually want to do with my life and I am having a hard time figuring out how to start. I have applied to Emily Griffith Opportunity School to study Fashion Design and Sewing with plans to start come spring. This all depends, of course, where I am working. I have to work full time and would like to school full time, but somehow I think this is impossible.

I really do have plans for my life, even if I am rediculously boring right now and I haven't done much in the last few years to show for it.

These are my goals for the future, near and far. I plan on working hard to get them all done...
*I want a new job. I need to be home everynight bc right now its killing me. I could absolutely cook several dinners a week then get to wake up next to my husband every morning. It has been almost 4 years since I have done either!
*Go to school, soak up every bit of information, do well, and graduate before I am an old lady
*Start my own label. I am not asking for fame and riches, but just to be able to make and sell clothing that I love while making a living at it.
*The true dream would be to open my own store or at least have my clothes in boutiques around Denver.
*Continue reading great books and watching wonderful movies. I love to be entertained.
*Add-on to our house. We have such a small house that we need to add a dining room, master bedroom and bath, and double the size of the garage.
*Begin a real live career by working for myself. I want to be busy and stressed and happy with my job!
*Help Tony with his school and let him help me with mine. We both dropped out together and now we want another go.
*Visit my grandparents, parents, and sister more. I want to have more family memories every year.
*Save money!!! Life always happens as we learned the hard way this year, and I want a nice cushion to fall back on
*Save money for a huge European trip!!!
*Be a better friend, daughter, cousin, sister, granddaughter, wife by doing more little things to show people I care. I currently blame my job for not being able to keep up with b-days and special events since I can't keep track of the date. I always know the day of the week though!
*Start working out on a regular basis, no matter what it is. I feel so blah lately.

I know I can accomplish all of these if I work hard and stay at them.

Breckenridge or Bust...

2009-08-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

This weekend is the big Barrett family reunion! FRI, SAT, SUN, MON, and TUE!!! Thank god for a weekend off!!!

All the aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings and parents are coming in from Oklahoma, Colorado, Oregon, and California. There will be 17 in all in one very large house. Luckily there are 6 bathrooms!

We just happened to plan this on the 150th anniversary of Breckenridge as a town! There will be street fairs, fireworks, bands, time capsules, and much much more. I cannot wait!

My sister, Liz, came in town last night so I thought I would throw a dinner party! We had some other friends in town, Nic, Kirsten and baby Daphne, so they were also invited. And like always Matt and Carly were here too!

We had grilled shrimp, grilled corn on the cob, lemon-butter pasta, and angel food cake with strawberries for dessert. We ate every bit of the food with no leftovers. The marinade for the shrimp was fantastic! Way to go Food Network!

Today, my dad comes in at 2:30 and then we are off to the mountians. He is bringing me his old Pentax K1000, (a film camera if you remember those) to replace the one that was stolen, and some lenses! Tony got his new camera yesterday, a Minolta Maxxum 9. We are so anti-digital. I feel like this weekend we will take SEVERAL rolls of film (too bad our hobby is so darn expensive). But we may get some beautiful shots in the mountians, on a hike or just in town.

I will report of the weekend activities once its all done...

Fashion and new blog...

2009-07-29T16:39:00.002-06:00

http://www.emilylaurenrodriguez.blogspot.com

That's my new blog. I thought I would share my fashion favorites and maybe someday include things I have made.

Enjoy!!

our one year anniversary present...

2009-07-22T22:33:00.008-06:00

I haven't been in the posting mood lately and it's been a very long time!

I wrote all the details of our burglary on a very long and very detailed post, and never posted it. I think I was venting or releasing our bad kharma into the universe. I thought anyone who read it would think "those poor kids" or "my god, I hope that never happens to me" or even "oh that happened to me." But I finally realized that it just seemed sad and depressing.

So I am not upset, anxious, depressed or stressed now, so here I go...

One year ago today we purchased our very first home! Our first year in our home was stressful, hard, and completely perfect and wonderful.

It's hard to believe what has happened to us in a year... New car, marriage, garage flood, burglary, grown-up-furniture, and our newest adventure is a DOG!! He is our house gift to ourselves!!!

Kafka is actually a guard dog for us but we are in love! He is a 5 year old German Shepard/Australian Shepard mix that we got at the Denver Dumb Friends League last week. He plays fetch, sits, drools, loves walk and car rides.

This is Tony and I loving our beautiful yard and happy anniversary at our house!!!

We spent the day with Matt, Carly, Elena and Shannon at the Rockies/Diamondbacks game getting sunburned and sweating. After naps, we rolled in the grass, ate pizza, and took Kafka for a walk.

Now time for bed in our very own house. Life is good again!

My Top 5 Favs...

2009-06-03T12:36:00.006-06:00

I just love making lists. I thought I would share a few with you...

TOP 5 FAVORITE...

movies...
1. Titanic
2. Shawshank Redemption
3. Rebecca
4. Amelie
5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

tv shows...
1. Friends
2. Sex and the City
3. HIMYM
4. Scrubs
5. Law & Order SVU

songs...
1. Glycerine - Bush
2. Twist & Shout - The Beatles
3. Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
4. Carry on Wayward Son - Kansas
5. Take On Me - A-HA

books...
1. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audery Niffenegger
2. The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
3. Harry Potter books - JK Rowling
4. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
5. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

food...
1. Crab legs
2. Steak
3. Asparagus
4. Fondue
5. Hot Dogs

drinks...
1. iced tea with mint
2. dirty martini
3. milk
4. Mexican Coke
5. Kokanee (Canadian beer)

famous fellas...
1. Jared Leto
2. Brad Pitt
3. Daniel Craig
4. Brandon Boyd
5. Gavin Rossdale

famous ladies...
1. Gwen Stefani
2. Keira Knightley
3. Katherine Hepburn
4. Edith Head
5. Diane Kruger

colors...
1. gray
2. aqua
3. sea foam green
4. pink
5. black/white

places you've been...
1. Seattle
2. Sweden
3. NYC
4. San Fran
5. Yellowstone National Park

random things...
1. pandas
2. photography
3. movies
4. crafting
5. my house

scents...
1. rain
2. fresh cut grass
3. laundry
4. Lovely perfume by SJP
5. fresh cut cilantro

please feel free to share your own favorites!!

NO DOUBT!!!

2009-05-28T21:31:00.016-06:00

YAY for birthdays!!! Although its still a month away, Carly got me No Doubt tickets for the big day! I have been working like crazy and the concert was such great break. 5 days gone, one day off for the concert and another 5 days on starting today.

The concert was such high energy and so fantastic. They sounded even better live. I saw Gwen by herself two years ago and it was magical as was the No Doubt concert. They only played things from their older CDs and they are hoping if the turn out was good enough they will put out another album. Well, since the concert sold out in the first hour, I am positive they are back with a new CD. And you better believe that I will be there at the next concert!!!

The Sounds, one of my favorite bands, and Paramore, suck-fest, opened for No Doubt. The crowd was such an odd mix of No Doubt fans, Gwen fans, Paramore fans, Twilight fans (Paramore's single played in the movie) and the parents tagging along. It was mainly girls, and since all three bands have women lead singers, it fit the bill.

GOD they were fantastic!!! I would go see them every night!!!

My Best Friend's Wedding...

2009-05-19T07:13:00.003-06:00

Oh goodness! I had such a blast this weekend for Carly and Matt's wedding.

Thursday...

Carly's family and Matt's sister came over to our house for chicken kabobs and grilled corn on the cob, bbq chips and cupcakes from Happy Cakes. I also made homemade lemonade, pink and regular!

the happy couple!!

my lemonade ad

Grill master tony

We had a wonderful time at dinner in the backyard, chatting and relaxing until about 8:30 when we got dressed up to go downtown for a mixed bachelor/bachelorette party at the Cruise Room in the Oxford Hotel.

Alicia and I

Alicia and Carly

Philly and Carl

Tony, Philly, and Lisha

We filled up 2 large booths with about 12 people and had ourselves a sloshing good time. $300 later we left at midnight where only 7 of us continued on to Double Daughters. We ordered drinks then pizza from Mario's 2 Fisted and stayed until about 1:30am. Finally, home again with Phil and Alicia spending the night.

Matt, Mark, Kim and Tony

Mark and Jenny

Philly and Jenny dancing like fools

Friday...

The next morning I got all our luggage, fancy clothes and the quilt ready to go while Alicia, Phil, and Tony went to the mall. I picked up Carly and Alicia to begin the drive to Estes Park. Tony and Phil drove the rented yellow Eclipse. At about 1:45 we arrived to get our nails done. Finally after 2 hours we ran to the Stanley and changed for the Rehearsal dinner at the Dunraven.
Tony and I were lucky enough to join all of Carly and Matt's family for dinner.

I had the veal parmesan with a baked potato and seafood bisque. Tony ordered the filet mignon with the same sides. It was a wonderful dinner with lots of laughs in a quirky little resteraunt.

Once we made it back to the Stanley, 10 of us met in the bar for champagne. We were all so beat we made it to bed by 10pm.

Saturday...

The wedding day. Tony, Alicia and I went to safeway to grab bagels for people while the actual rehearsal was going on.

After breakfast and the rehearsing finished up, we were able to set up the reception room with table decorations, gift bags, candles, and bows on the chairs.

At 2:00, I helped Carly get ready for photos. Of course, hair, make-up, and the dress took forever. By 3:30 when the photographer arrived she was just barely in her dress.

The Strozinsky/Wentzler clans were off to take family photos and couple shots.

Tony and I were able to get ready slowly as the ceremony wasn't until 5:30.

By 5:00 everyone was ready for the ceremony, except one person...the officiant. She had been very hard to get ahold of for a couple weeks so it wasn't too shocking. But of course she arrived at 5:25, just for good Hollywood effect.

Matt's brother played the trumpet while guests were seated and Phil played Book of Love on the guitar when Carly and Greg walked down the aisle. It was a beautiful ceremony and everyone laughed and cried.

(all the wedding and ceremony photos that i took were taken with normal old film, so there are no photos yet!)

Afterwards, we all had a big group shot and the reception commenced. Cheese, fruit and crackers for appetizers, open bar, wonderful dinner buffet, toasts, cake, dancing, dancing and dancing. We ended up staying in the reception area for an hour and a half longer than we were supposed to b/c the wait staff danced with us! One guy named TR (apparently like teddy roosevelt) gave us the rest of the champagne, even if they weren't opened.

Tony, Elena, and Randy (the siblings)

Finally we moved the party to the porch where TR also found cigars for all the fellas! We sat, drank, smoked and talked for a couple hours. I also gave Carly and Matt our gift to them... the quilt!!

After a really long day, everyone went to bed!

Sunday...

It was really tough getting up the next morning. We ran to safeway again and grabbed 3 dozen donuts and juice for whomever wanted to join us back on the porch for breakfast. Everyone looked very similar with shades and hangovers.

Carol, Carl, Susan, and Kim

packed up. checked out. said goodbyes.

Tony, Elena, Randy and I decided to hang around The Stanley to take a tour. We had to see room 217, the mosted haunted of them all. And of course when we got to the room something on the other side of the door knocked so hard the door visibly bowed out! YIKES!! And the elevator button shocked 3 of us terribly. So, it was obviously time to go. We found a diner to get some good greasy eggs and bacon before we started the journey home!

Room 217

elena and randy in a teeny forrest!

The stanley was so beautiful, old and interesting and was such a great place for the wedding and just to stay in general.

Oh and they play the Shining 24 hours a day on a loop. Could it get any better? We bought the book in the gift shop.

friday picnic in the park!

2009-05-13T19:00:00.000-06:00

What a beautiful day for a picnic!

On friday, Tony, Carly and I decided to have a fancy picnic in City Park in Denver. The park is home to the Denver zoo, lakes and the museum of nature and science.

We received a picnic basket (more like a backpack) for the wedding and I had been dieing to use it. Thank you, Jen! It came with a cooler compartment, corkscrew, cutting board, plastic plates, wine glasses, silverware,

Tony and I went to the store to get the necessities... Cheddar and havarti cheese, salami, pepperoni, proscuitto, croissants, strawberries and grapes! We stopped by the liquor store and Carly got chardonney and melbec.

Off to City Park for a perfect sunny-60 degree-Colorado day! We parked our picnic by the lake with our blanket and cameras and food and booze.

There really is nothing like cheese and wine. Don't you think?

After a while of eating like royals, a guest appeared. Yeah, a little buddy squirrel. Like fools, we fed him all kinds of goldfish (so delicious) and he loved us. Then, of course, the Canadian geese came waddling our way.

After finishing the cheese, both bottles of wine, and a couple hours in the sun, we packed up our belongings and headed out.

A wonderful trip to Cold Stone topped off the perfect afternoon. Ooooohhhh...Apple pie-ala-cold stone!

The next beautiful day, go get some fancy food and plop down in a park with some good friends. It is so relaxing and a wonderful way to spend a few hours in nature!!!

Fancy pants!

i am so close to finishing, i can taste it!

2009-05-05T19:09:00.001-06:00

I am hand quilting Carly and Matt's quilt for their wedding and I am almost DONE, (which is good since the wedding is in 9 days!) Luckily, I have hours and hours in hotels to work on quilts. I have taken this thing all over the country.

I only have one more row before its time to put the binding on the edges and call it finished.

It is a beautiful green quilt with only 4 fabrics on the top and one more green backing fabric.

I could potentially finish this quilt this week!!! No. I WILL finish this week!

But there is another quilt waiting right behind! My mom's quilt is the same pattern as Carly's but all in pinks, maroons, and tans. Carly and I layered and basted the top, batting and backing together the other day to begin after the green one is done.

I will post pictures soon!

updates. always updates.

2009-04-27T12:13:00.003-06:00

So, apparently I have become quite lackadaisical in the posting department. I have been busy lately and that's probably the main reason. But, where to start...

(since I have been so busy, I cannot even remember the order of these events)

*a visit to Portland to visit my dad since he just moved there. Including a dam, fish hatchery, beautiful waterfall, and lots of rain. Oh, and the best... IKEA!!!
*tony's bday celebration. One whole day at breweries, fancy dinner, cigars. Basically 2 full days of drinking!
*i bought "Yes Man" (which I just love, by the way) so matt and carly came over to watch. Dinner included pasta, chicken, salad, delicious angel food cake with strawberries. It all ended with a home made bonfire in our little pit in the backyard.
*a visit to okc and tulsa for a few days. Lots of family and quilting (thanks kathy and grandma)
*hot dog on a stick in Sacramento!!
*yard work, shoveling, clearing weeds and more yard work. I also bought tons of wildflower seeds and herb seeds. Time for gardening!!
*day trip to ABQ to search for a house with mom (for her, not me)
*a couple of blizzards
*wonderful chicken enchilada with the in-laws and the movie "Next"
*while visiting my sis in Norman, Ok - drag queen show at a dive bar, medieval fair, and the OKC bombing memorial.
*installing new lights under the kitchen cabinets and a lovely wine rack above the kitchen sink
*delicious mac-n-cheese at matty and carl's house
*snow + airlines = delays! 1 lightning strike, 4 gate changes, 1 bird strike, 1 broken jetway, 2 broken engines,3 de-icings, 1 sick flight attendant, 3 screaming babies, 4.5 hours on taxiways, and i cant even remember if I forgot something!! (and, yes, it all happened in about 10 hours)
*hot dogs, chips, "Gray Gardens", and a tri-bday party in stupid DTC with masses o flight attendants
*bought new beautiful weber charcoal grill with propane start and had our first cookout with Tony's family and Matt and Carl!
*we now have 2 new screen doors to make the house cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter!
*one more stupid snow and a cold to go with it
*"Adventureland" @ Brewvies in SLC!

Man, I have been busy! And super lazy posting!

you thought it was done, but the wedding is back...

2009-04-22T10:15:00.003-06:00

There is the most amazing website for brides looking for swell ideas that are just slightly... offbeat! There are gobs of ladies and fellas out there not looking for the traditional ideas for their wedding.

offbeatbride.com Its a blog with real couple's crazy weddings!

I entered our wedding photos and a couple months later they posted some photos! I was obsessed with all wedding stuff and now i am quite over it. But today I thought I would check if our photos ever made it to the blog for all to see, and there we were!!!

This is our little page...

http://offbeatbride.com/2008/12/classy-trashy-museum-wedding#comment-40990

YAY!

If you need more photos...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/emilyandantonio/

procrastination is my middle name...

2009-03-29T18:00:00.000-06:00

Wow! I am so good at putting things off. I might even say I am a professional. For days and weeks and months. I haven't put things off for years, except for the dentist only because it will be pricey.

Apparently not anymore though. I have gotten so much done in the last week and my list for next week will be accomplished as well. I am a huge list maker, so the order and cleanliness of lists makes me thrilled even if the items themselves do not.

So far these have been checked off or erased from said lists...
-get Tony's car fixed and pass emissions and new plates
-fix car window (kind of)
-make dr. appointments/go to appts
-deep clean/organize spare room
-return things of no use to target
-get passport with new name
-realize some cameras aren't fixable; sold on ebay
-finish last few thank you cards (finally)
-get backyard ready to till
-new social security card
-refinance house!!!
-plan tony's bday fun!

Of course I will have more to do on my next list. Crud! But I am proud of myself for now!

movie review...

2009-03-14T10:15:00.001-06:00

In honor of the Oscars a couple weeks ago, I am reviewing movies which were nominated for an Academy Award. I really didn't see too many that were up for awards, but I am catching up now.
I do have to say that I just loved the awards show. Hugh Jackman is fantastic in anything and was a swell entertainer. And yes, he is Wolverine!

First off...
WALL-E. It is such a great movie with heart and very little dialogue. I couldn't believe that little robot could make me cry with out saying a word. When we were thinking about buying a blu-ray player we instantly thought of Wall-e. It is a really incredible movie to watch and hard to imagine that it is all drawn and computerized. So much of the movie looks so real. I would recommend this movie to anyone wanting a light hearted family friendly film.

Frost/Nixon. I didn't want to see Frost/Nixon at first b/c I didn't want to see a movie about Nixon. But it turned out to be a very good movie. I still want to hate Nixon afterwards, but oddly enough, I actually felt sympathetic for him. Frost really stuck it to him in the interviews and its hard to believe the things that came out of Nixon's mouth.

Milk. I was truely moved by this movie. It gave me hope that change can be made and its never too late to try. It opened the eyes of the people of san fran to the lives of real human beings with their personal prefrences. Harvey Milk was just a normal man who wanted a change and made a huge difference in everyones lives today (equal rights in the workplace.) The movie is wonderful for anyone with an open or closed mind. You will be moved.

Changling. It is one of my favorites from this oscar season nominees (again, so far). I have to admit that Angelina Jolie is annoying to me, but I really loved her as a loving hard working mother fighting to find her son. There are so many twists and turns that I never saw coming. It kept getting better and better every minute. I kept thinking "there is no way this is a true story." Clint Eastwood, again, made a wonderfully honest movie.

And these weren't nominated but they are worth mentioning...

In Bruges. I really loved this movie and it really makes me want to visit Belgium. I just love Colin Ferrell and Brendan Gleeson so the two of them bickering about "fuckin Bruges" is just entertaining. It is a very dark comedy with pain and suffering mixed in. And if you like Harry Potter, Fleur and Voldemort are in it as well!

Zach and Miri make a Porno. FUNNY! That basically sums it up. It is rude (porn with katy morgan), hilarous (elizabeth banks and seth rogan), and sweet (kevin smith feel good movie). Zach and Miri are broke and decide to rally friends to make a porno to pay off bills. Hilarity insues and trouble happens. Just see it and laugh your ass off. Watch through the credits and take a peek at the deleted scenes, they are well worth it!

The Business of Being Born. I truely love documentaries for the way they make me feel. I am either angered or saddened or just left feeling something in between. This one made me feel very different. It about midwifery and how it is so natural to give birth to a child without machines and drugs. I feel better about the birthing process and would really consider a midwife. It just reminds me of the book the red tent and how magical child birth is. I feel less aprehensive about having a baby. I also feel that every pregnant woman should see this to view all options.

W. Well, it was good and obviously political and of course made me hate G.W.Bush even more, but I wasn't all that impressed. Josh Brolin was really good as the prez and the only other person believable in their role was the man playing Colin Powell. Everyone else was just actors playing a role instead of me believing they were the real deal. Meh...

I am still dieing to see Revolutionary Road since I read the book and was completely awestruck. I also would rather read the book version of Slumdog Millionaire first since I heard they are so totally different and the movie isn't the same at all. I am sure I will see the movie, but I am so annoyed with the hype right now. In the past I also boycotted The English Patient b/c of the press and awards. I finally saw it and didn't really care for it. So, maybe in 10 years I will see slumdog and feel nothing about it as well.

my name is funny...

2009-03-07T10:48:00.002-07:00

1.YOUR REAL NAME: emily rodriguez
2.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother and fathers middle names) elizabeth jay
3.NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother's dad, father's dad) james jerry
4.STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 ltrs of your last name, first 2 ltrs of your 1st name) rodem
5.DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) gray panda
6.SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, town where you were born) lauren tulsa
7.SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning) the green juice
8.FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name) emez
9. STRIPPER NAME: (name of your fav perfume/cologne, fav candy) lovely jelly bean
10.STREET NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie) chocolate butterscotch
11. ROCK STAR NAME: (pet's name and street where you live) tokyo umatilla
12. PORN NAME: (1st pet, street you grew up on) bernie reno
13.YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, first two letters of your middle name, last two letters of your first name then last three letters of your last name) mdlalyuez
14.YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one of your pets) black tokyo
15.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 4 letters of real name plus izzle) emilizzle

(Obviously I am extremely bored and I don't have anything better to do. Better posts to come soon...)

damn! i love my...

2009-02-24T08:06:00.000-07:00

Tax return! Yes, I said it.

We have decided to make good use of the money we received from the government. The plan is to re-vamp the bathroom, buy a shed for the backyard and some new light fixtures.

Tony also decided to get a little something extra yesterday... A blu-ray player! Including the movies WALL-e and the Dark Knight. Oh sweet lordy, how wonderful! I refused to buy the dark knight until we could see it in hi-def on the big tv!

As for the bathroom, first off, the carpet has to go! So black or gray tile will be on the floors, the walls will be a nice seafoam green, and a new cabinet and sink to finish it off. I bought the paint 7 months ago, so its ready to get to work.

The shed for the backyard is needed desperatly. Our sad little one car garage is just too small with all my shit piled everywhere and the lawnmower and bikes and christmas boxes and a car! It will be wonderful.

Our light fixtures aren't quite our style, so they are going as well. They are fine and they work for lighting up rooms, but basically we are just snobs. We are in real need of a ceiling fan in the bedroom so we don't sweat our faces off in the summer. So that one makes sense to change.

Yeah for boring things to buy to make our house ours!!!

Friday the 13th dinner...

2009-02-13T10:45:00.003-07:00

Well, since Tony and I are both working on Valentine's Day, we decided to have a super romantic Friday the 13th. We both love grilled steaks, roasted asparagus, and ceviche (a citrusy shrimp appetizer), so we bought all the ingredients. I also made Red Velvet cupcakes for my honey, since they are his fav. Would you like to make our dinner for yourselves?

Shrimp Ceviche "Cocktail"
1 qt. salted water
1/2 C. plus 2 Tbls freshly squeezed lime juice
1 generous lb unpeeled small shrimp
1/2 medium white onion, chopped
1/3 chopped fresh cilantro, plus several sprigs for garnish
1/2 cup ketchup
1-2 Tbls vinegary Mexican bottled hot sauce
2 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
1 small ripe avacado, peeled, pitted and cubed
salt
several lime slices for garnish
tortilla chips for serving

Shrimp...
Bring 1 qt salted water to a boil and add 2 Tbls of lime juice. Add shrimp, cover and return to boil. Immediately remove from heat, set pot lid askew and pour off all liquid. Replace lid and set aside, letting shrimp steam in closed pot for 10 minutes. spread out shrimp in large glass or stainless steel bowl to cool completely. Peel shrimp. Toss shrimp with remaining 1/2 C. lime juice, cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
Flavorings...
In small strainer, rinse chopped onion under cold water, then shake off excess liquid. Add to shrimp bowl along with chopped cilantro, ketchup, hot sauce, olive oil, and avacado. Mix gently, taste and season with salt, usually about 1/2 tsp. Cover and refrigerate up to a few hours or serve immediatly.
Serving...
Spoon ceviche into sundae glasses, martini glasses or small bowls. Garnish with cilantro and limes. Serve with tortilla chips.

Steaks
We will probably just put a rub or some spices on the steaks and cook them in our new cast iron pan.

Roasted Asparagus
1 or 2 bunches medium Asparagus
2 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
S+P

Preaheat oven to 350 degrees.
Trim ends of asparagus. Spread shears in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with foil, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with S+P and roll to coat throughly. Roast asparagus until lightly browned and tender, about 8-10 minutes. Give the pan a good shake about halfway though to turn the asparagus. Enjoy!!

Now, we are off to the library for some music, gardening books, and a movie for the night. We are also off to get some champagne!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

25 things...

2009-02-05T19:52:00.002-07:00

Stupid Facebook. I can't stand it really, but it is so darn addicting. If you are my friend on facebook, sorry you have to read this again. I hope you enjoy my totally random 25 facts...

1 - I love lists. It has to be #1! I have lists for movies, people, art, to do, what I want, and anything else. I love having a top ten for everything and i am retarded about it!

2 - Titanic is my favorite movie! I can't even tell you how many times I have seen it. I saw it 3 times in the theater, I have owned 3 different copies of the movie, and have seen every bit of extras about it.

3 - I love to collect b+w photography. I have a nice collage on my wall including famous photos, my photos, Tony's photos and other family members'. I like color photos, but there is nothing more beautiful than a perfect b+w photo.

4 - I love wine, cheese and fruits. Is there a better snack?

5 - I am a flight attendant and i hate it. I did love it at the beginning, but I am sick of leaving all the time. You wouldn't understand, unless you live the life.

6 - My favorite band is Bush. Has been since I saw their performance on SNL in 1994. That's quite a long love affair! I saw them once at OU in 2000 and i cried!

7 - I didn't enjoy college, but I loved my photography and art history classes. I am pretty sure I will only do well in school if its an art school. Maybe that's where i will be soon...

8 - I LOVE my husband! He is so wonderful and kind and funny. We laugh all the time and he makes me feel good when I am down (or sick, like now). If you know Tony, I think you love him too!!

9 - I truely love my little house. It is SUPER small, but just what we always wanted. Hopefully we can build an addition in the next few years!

10 - Colorado weather is just the best! It has been in the 60's this week and it will snow this weekend. In 2008, every season was actually accounted for!

11 - I hate to say it but I love to Blog. I really hate the name though, so I am trying to come up with a new name for it. http://emerald622.blogspot.com/

12 - I am a crafty girl. I really enjoy quilting, embroidery, attempting to make clothes, photography, art, and anything else to do with my hands.

13 - I secretely wish I was famous. I dont want to be an actress, but either a writer or fashion designer. I like to think about what name I would have for myself...

14 - I am kinda obsessed with Law and Order: SVU. I am more obsessed with Netflix and the view instantly movies on the XBOX!

15 - My cat, General Tokyo, is super whiny lately. He is a brat and I just love him.

16 - I feel so good every other Thursday when the recycling truck comes down my alley. I feel like I am doing something to help.

17 - I want to finish 2 specific lists; The AFI top 100 list and the Academy Award winners list. I am over 60% finished on both!

18 - I love cooking. Maybe its because I am gone so often, but it it makes me feel so good to cook something new for Tony and I.

19 - I only have 4 states left to visit to have all 50. Darn those last few states!

20 - I am eating cookie dough and watching Troy with dozens of tissues surrounding me. Don't worry I ate a really balanced breakfast!

21 - I am in the middle of Revolutionary Road. It is such a great book and such a sad story. Next up... Darkly Dreaming Dexter!

22 - I love waking up in the morning in my own bed, with Tony and the General next to me. I love how the sun comes through the kitchen window and warms the room.

23 - I love my blackberry. It is so darn handy when I am out of town.

24 - I am so happy that my friends and family were all together for our wedding. I never thought I would see the day that almost everyone we love would be in one room!

25 - I wish I could finish the laundry, but I dont feel like it! I also wish I could stop sneezing!!

this is the most amazing video...

2009-02-05T17:39:00.003-07:00

EVER!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIaovi1JWyY

In that horrid training the other day, they showed us this video. It is of the new Airbus A380 aircraft in their emergency evacuation test. They had to prove to the FAA that they could successfully evacuate the entire plane in under 90 seconds. Well, there are just under 900 people in the plane with about 18 flight attendants and they get it done in 78 seconds!!! They also blocked half of the exits to make is somewhat realistic!!

AMAZING!!!

The plane is made in Germany, so you may not be able to understand what they are saying!

date night for us...

2009-02-03T14:51:00.006-07:00

I had a supremely awful day yesterday.

I was at the Frontier General Office for our yearly training to refresh our memories of security, evacuations, and medical procedures. It was 8.5 hours of bordem and hell. We have to do a fake evacuation with our commands and motions and if you fail, you are fired. Every year, I have to take mine over at the end of the day b/c i mess something up. This year, I told them that i am not an idiot and I do know exactly what to do in an emergency, but if it were a real evacuation, I would not have people grading me and judging me!! I HATE HATE HATE taking tests and I am pretty positive that I have test anxiety. I eventually passed the door drills but only after sitting through the entire day of trainers attempting to make it a fun day!

After crying and then finally getting the day over with I called Tony to see if his day was better than mine. Well, he gave me super news! One of the beer reps that gets beer for his liqour store had extra tickets to the Colorado Avalanche game. They were not only normal tickets but box seats in a suite and a VIP parking pass! Tony loves hockey, but the avs even more, and basically it's his dream to have box seats to a game. We walked in to suite #36 to find a huge fridge full of beer, soda and water, snacks at the bar and about 12 people mingling about. We found our 2 seats out of 8, ate our food and watched the game from maybe 20 rows up!! Oh and the best part, we had our own bathroom! It was AMAZING!!!

Tony and I have had a hard couple of months and this has been our first real date night since we got married. I think we spent a total of $13.00 last night, and it was probably worth about $200. It was such a great stress reliever and I just love to see Tony super duper excited, as its kinda rare. We will try to get as many of these tickets as we can! Needless to say, my day turned around completely, and it was a great one.

I highly recommend a suite, it is so choice!

oh, the exciting life of a flight attendant...

2009-01-26T11:36:00.000-07:00

Jan. 25th...

I don't often talk about lay overs for some reason. Maybe b/c its old hat to me, or I don't think people want to hear about my jet-setting all over the states. You might be jealous of me when I wake up at 2 AM Denver time in Atlanta and the shower in your room just won't turn on. But because its so early you don't want to change rooms just to take a shower, so you deal with the prospect of flying from ATL-DEN, and then DEN-SEA (Seattle) without a shower. But on the way to SEA, a child decides to throw up on you instead of their parent. By the time you get to your favorite hotel in SEA to shower and change into pjs and watch endless T.V., the key to your room just doesn't seem to work. So, you haul your 5 bags and your stinkin body back to the front desk and wait in line just to get a workable key!

Mind you this has never happened all in one day, but it has all happened!

So, I will tell you about my lay over today! It is a fine day with no mishaps to speak of, yet (we are in DEN getting the stinky de-icing fluid splashed on the fuselage). We are off to Salt Lake City. It is one of my favorite lay overs! I like the city in the winter, as it looks snowy and magical. The hotel is nice, a Red Lion, right downtown. The shampoo and conditioner are from Bath & Body Works (it's the little things, really).

But the best part of a long SLC lay over? A little place called Brewvies! It is a wondrous joint located directly behind our hotel. It joins pool tables, restaurant, bar, and a 2nd run movie theater all in one. Every time I get the same old thing... Movie, cheeseburger, root beer (or real beer, if I am not leaving that day) for a whopping 8 bucks! You really can't beat it! I have spent 10 hours at Brewvies all in one day! Mondays are free pool days, so we saw a movie and ate lunch, then played pool, drank pitchers of 3.2 beer, and had dinner with the crew until 10 PM! What a great day!

Today, the plan is to see Yes Man and eat chicken fingers with iced tea. I thought I should mix it up a bit.

Jan. 26th...
Well, today is day 3 of the trip and I just thought I would continue this post with the excitement of this morning.

Yes man was hilarious, by the way, and a really good movie. It will be one to buy, once it comes out!
Today, like any other day we went through security with ease, hopped on the plane, boarded, de-iced (again), made it to Denver to run to the next plane and board it once again. Well, we just have a fairly simple but lengthy turn to Atlanta and we are full. It was a hectic boarding and then turned wild.

A very well dressed business man began screaming at one flight attendant and then the other. I was minding my business in the back, setting up the carts, when I heard the yelling. He is holding everyone up while FA 2 is trying to calm him down. It was all over the stupid fact that there's just not enough room for bags. I called the captain to inform him of the commotion, just in case it escalated. The pilots talked it over and called back to tell us he would be escorted off the plane. Yeah, you don't mess with the flight attendants in a threatening way, or you are gone. A customer service someone took him to the front to speak to the 2 pilots. It was a good 3 minute conversation with arms waiving and everyone all red-faced. He stomped back to get his bags, and in the jet way there began another screaming match between the CA and passenger! Once the other passengers realized what happened they burst out in applause and cheers! It is nice to know they would have had our back if something had happened mid-flight.

So, no, I haven't had the throw up on me today (yet) and I took a nice hot shower and the evening at Brewvies was fun as always, but nothing beats an ass on board getting the boot!!!

Have a good day!

P.S. Go to www.brewvies.com, it has all the info, if you are in SLC or just call 801-355-5500 just to hear the movies of the week and the hilarous guy explain them. It is worth 5 minutes of your day!

book and movie review and HAPPY OBAMA DAY!!!

2009-01-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I think its time for a book and movie review! I haven't done one in a while, and I am sure you have been waiting patiently. Good for you.

I recently read Chocolat by Joann Harris. It is the very same Chocolat as the film starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche. The movie is really good, but the book is even better. It explains more about the relationship of all the townspeople and why Vianne is the way she is.

I am currently in the middle of Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. It is a very well written book about a couple in the 50's living happy-go-lucky lives, but they are just miserable on the inside. It isn't an uplifting book, just to warn you. The movie is out in some theaters now. I borrowed the book from Carly after rave reviews about the book and movie. I have watched lots of specials about the movie and cannot wait to see it. Anything to bring Kate and Leo back together is fine by me!

I have two more books just waiting to be read after R.R. I have been dieing to read the memoirs of Julie Andrews and the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter, which spawned my new favorite show Dexter on Showtime. Apparently I will be reading the Time Travelers Wife after all those. Carly said I should read it and I guess I will take her word for it.

As for movies, I have been watching tons of black and whites, and quite a few with my fav, Katherine Hepburn. The best of the movies recently was by far 12 Angry Men. Its about jurors making their decisions to send a man to the electric chair. It is set in one room for an hour and a half and is fantastic. I have also seen Adam's Rib, Holiday and Stage Door (all with Miss. Hepburn), His Girl Friday, Marnie (ok, not B&W, but very good), and Tropic Thunder. The latter is quite a different type than the rest and was not even worth a second glance. Yes, Robert Downey, Jr. was amazing as a crazy afro-actor, but the rest of the movie was a waste of my time. Back to the B&Ws, they are all highly recommended and very witty.

As for Obama, even if you don't agree with his views and you didn't vote for him I hope you can agree what an amazing step for America this is. I hope you are proud of the giant transformation the nation has gone through in just the last 150 years (if not the last 40 years). I can finally say, truthfully, that I am proud to be an American. GObama!!! And may Bush be Bashed!!!

P.S. Please google lego-bama, its sweet.

yes, it's true...

2009-01-14T10:49:00.005-07:00

we have officially lost our free cable :(

When we moved in, 6 months ago (I know, it's really been six months now), we had the Comcast guy come to hook up our internet. With it being such an old house, it wasn't even cable ready, so he hooked us up and told us not to give his real name, just in case. Oh, we weren't going to tell anyone!!

Well, during one of the really horrible wind storms lately, the cable was knocked out completely. Another Comcast dude was in the area to fix the cable and I am sure he turned off our service, once he say it was free. Oh well, we had it great for almost 6 months and it was wonderful.

Oh, I meant to post the photos of our new furniture, so here...

Ok, so I was watching something on the history channel about the prohibition and apparently "Booze is Back!"

Ok and this is our new coffee table!

yup. 4 more to go...

2009-01-05T17:56:00.004-07:00

I flew into Fargo, ND today and it is a winter wonderland. There are no mountains, no trees and not a whole lot to look at really, but it is all white and lovely. Deer, open space, and many beautiful views of the horizon.

I now have been to North Dakota and it was thrilling :)

I have only 4 states to visit now! Alabama, West Virginia, Louisiana, and Mississippi!

While writing this, I thought I still had 5 states and boy was I wrong. I already hit up Idaho earlier this year when we began flying to Boise and it really is beautiful up there.

I guess I better get myself down south and to stupid West Virginia (sorry)!

new year

2009-01-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

Well, its a new year and a fresh start! 2008 was such a great year and I am just not sure 2009 can even compete. Although, we had a ridiculously busy year filled with firsts for Tony and I.

I am going to go ahead and copy Kirsten and Nic's blog idea about reporting the events of 2008 (be it good, or bad), so enjoy...

* The biggest and best event of the year was the wedding! Most of our wonderful family and friends came to see us get hitched. It was a bang up party and a packed weekend.

* even better than the wedding itself is the fact that I got to marry my best friend! It only took us 6 years, but tony is finally my HUSBAND! It is still strange to call him that, but I just love it.

* we closed on our very first house on July 22nd. It took a full year to come about, but OUR small, old, 800 sq ft home is just what we wanted.

* Greta the Jetta (I just named her!). My old whitey was going to die or need 2400 bucks worth of fixing, so we sold it for $1000 and bought my loverly VW.

* my birthday trip to Yellowstone National Park with Tony, Carly, and Matt. 4 days of hiking and beautiful scenery with 3 full nights in one hotel (that's a lot for me!)

* Tony and I moved in with his dad for 4 months, although it was rough, we saved enough money to pay off debt, but some in the bank and raise our credit enough to get the house!

* we bought a beautiful, new, HUGE flat screen tv. Thanks to anyone who gave us cash for the wedding, it went for a good cause.

* grown-up furniture. Our bedroom looks like a page out of the west elm catalog, and its just so beautiful. Not only did the bedroom get a make over, but Tony surprised me with new living room furniture last week! I love recession sales! New coffee table and media stand - 40% off! Wow! He did good!

* just two nights ago, on the 31st, the last day of the year, Tony's sister, Monica, went into labor and delivered a little boy, Aiden. He is super cute and tiny! It was quite a surprise to me since I was outta town. Yeah for another nephew (now there are 5!)

* Thanksgiving! Its always a favorite. We were all working on the actual day, so we had a huge dinner on Wednesday. Carly, Matt, Tony, Faith France, and I made a lovely feast. The next day Faith, Carly and I flew to Indy for a lay over and spent Thanksgiving watching Australia!

* Xmas eve was good fun at my aunt Sharon's house with the whole family plus Matt. Dinner, drinking and games. We met a few days later at the bowling alley for my cousin, David, going back to LA. Tony, as incredible as he is, scored a 243!

* Planning the wedding sure took over my entire year. It was sooo fun, but I think I am glad to be back to real life.

* Frontier Airlines filed for bankruptcy and we all lost wages. Our garage flooded, 2 car break-ins, and one dead car battery. Boy those kept us on our toes!

* I saw some really amazing movies this year; Dark Knight, Australia, Benjamin Button, Bond, Indiana Jones, Sex and the City, Twilight, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall!

* I know its 2009, but my great friend, Kirsten, and her husband are having their first child today. Her name is Daphne, and I can't wait to meet her. I have been following her process since I found out they were having the baby. Congrats!

* Being able to spend some time with so many wonderful friends and family the weekend of the wedding. They came from all over the States, Mexico, and Norway!

* How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Big Love, Law & Order: SVU, & Dexter kept me absolutely entertained.

* A special thanks to Obama, stock market, Katy Perry, Conan O'Brian, the Olympics, & the Election for keeping us all in conversation!

* Tony and I had great health throughout the whole year. We still have jobs, even if we aren't happy with them. We have a wonderful home and much love in our lives. Go 2008!

I hope you all had a wonderful year and the next one is even better! Happy new year!

carly's b-day

2008-12-30T15:15:00.002-07:00

Happy belated birthday Carly!! The big 3-3 on the 22nd!

We celebrated with fancy lunch at Tamayo, wii bowling and boxing and a super fancy night out to the Nutcracker!!

To finish off the night, we had drinks at the Cruise Room in the Oxford Hotel.

the curious case of benjamin button...

2008-12-28T15:30:00.001-07:00

Well, the weather in Seattle was colder and much snowier than Minneapolis! I know, shocking.

On the 26th, I went to see Benjamin Button with another flight attendant and we loved it! It was a classic love story about 2 totally normal people, except that Mr. Button ages backwards. It is directed by David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club and Zodiac) and the screenwriter (correct me if I'm wrong) also wrote Forrest Gump. It wasn't dark like Fincher's previous movies, but it is a magical story about life and love and how there should be no regrets. It the kind of movie that has kept me thinking for days now, and it also made me realize just how damn hot Brad Pitt is.

I highly recommend this movie for anyone. It is just beautiful with lovely cinematography and music, and although just under 3 hours, really captured my attention enough to where I didn't get up to use the bathroom! If you know me, that's quite impressive! The visual effects are so amazing that the flight attendant next to me asked where they found an old man just like Brad Pitt.

Hmmm. Anyway... Go see the film and report back on your favorite aspect or what you hated. Then you can dream about Brad as Benjamin on the motorcycle! Hehehe!

merry xmas...

2008-12-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

I honestly think our lives are getting back in order. We now have 2 new car windows (or newish from the junk yard) and one new car battery! My car's battery was low, then the stupid temperature was only 0 last sunday and the battery obviously didn't start. After 4 pilots, one ramper and I tried and tried to start the car for an hour, it was clear it wasn't going anywhere. Then the dang temperature set a record by dropping to -19 at the airport, that had nothing to do with anything except it was REDICULOUS!

After all the crud that has happened, I am finally getting into the holiday spirit, and yes, its slightly delayed. Tony and I got the tree and trimmings up two days ago. It is now full of gifts underneath thanks to our loverly family.

On the 23rd, we had some semi-celebs on the plane. Have you heard of Hall & Oates? I thought so. No, they weren't there, but John Oates' parents were! It was just funny to think they were on their way to see their son in Philly for xmas.

I am now going to seattle to brave the rare snow for xmas day. Tomorrow, like a total fool, I will go to the mall of america in Minneapolis, but I am planning on seeing Benjamin Button! I am very excited! I will give the official review after.

Happy christmas!!!

happy holidays and haircuts...

2008-12-09T19:35:00.005-07:00

Yep, its the holidays again and of course I will have to work on xmas and new years. I have basically no time off from the 20th until the 2nd of January. It is sad, but I guess it's life. We have been trying to set up the house with xmas decorations, but so far there is one string of lights in the front window, barely visible from the outside. Hopefully I will be inspired in the next couple days to put up the rest.

I did start the holiday cheer by making some super delicious gingerbread people! I was a gingerbread virgin, but I am a total pro now. They turned out super yummy! They are especially wonderful dipped in cool whip, which has spawned an out break of talking like Family Guy and "coowhip". If you haven't seen the episode, then you just don't get it and that's too bad.

Onto the other subject in the title...

I am getting tired of my boring old, grown out dark hair. I am usually changing my hair so often that people at work don't even remember me, and yes, that's a fact. I have hardly changed my hair in the last two years. It is dark and growing, and that to me is just boring! I think I have decided on a new hair style!!! YAY!

Well, the style happens to be Katy Perry's haircut. I love her music, for some odd reason, and Tony just thinks she's super hottt!

But I am worried about the bangs. I usually wear my hair curly at work and most of the time striaght bangs with curly hair looks like crap! What to do!? I am also going back to my original color maybe with some random highlights!

Oh on a totally different note, I finally got a window for my car! I can now drive to work!!!

2008-12-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am lame with the bloggin lately! Sorry. A lot has happened, so enjoy the info. Here's the newest news and totally random thoughts...

Well, a couple of weeks ago i applied at Metro State in Denver so I can go back to school. It makes me wanna vomit just a bit at the thought of it. I truely hate school and would love to never attend again, but seeing as I hate my job, I think maybe i should get on it. YIKES! I really really hate leaving so often, and I can't figure out if its from the new house or newly married, but being gone for at least 2.5 weeks a month isn't really doing it for me anymore. I have begun to hate the process to even get to work...laundry, pack clothes, pack food for 4 days, leave 1.5 hours early for work, park in a giant open lot, take a bus to the airport and wait around until i meet my crew. I think the thing I loathe the most is TSA. They are just horrible. I know everyone has dealt with them at one time or another, but to deal with them everyday in every city, really takes a toll on a person. I brought my butter knife onboard as I have done for 2 years, and they took it in Houston the other day. They are so very inconsistant. Waking up early East coast time, then the next morning early morning show on the west coast, really does a number on your internal clock.

OK enough negative nancy!

In other news, I made some super bitchin stir fry a couple weeks ago. It really was fab. Oh Paula Deen you are amazing, even if you usually put 2 pounds of butter in everything!

We had such a wonderful early thanksgiving! Carly, matt, friend faith, tony and I celebrated on wednesday with every fixin. Carly, Faith and I spent thursday in Indianapolis so we went to Australia, the movie, not the country! It was so fantastic but has gotten so many bad reviews, although I have read the reviews in USA today, US weekly, and other smut magazines. I highly recommend it, and no it isn't as romantic like I thought.

On a super aweful note, Tony and I have had two, count them 2, car break-ins in the last month! It has been just terrible. The broke into both cars through the front passenger windows, and took Tony's stereo and ruined his dash. My stereo is stock and the cd player in the trunk kind, so they didn't want it. We still haven't gotten a new window yet as it just happened last week. Carly and I were off to see Twilight when we found my window. I just started screaming. I also found tony's the same way earlier in the month on my way to work. The cops said corner houses in the area were getting hit like crazy! We can't move our house, so we cleaned out the garage and actually parked the car there! Novel idea, I know!

Oh and don't worry, carly is such a good friend, she took me to twilight later in the day, and yes, we loved it!

Hope you enjoyed the lengthy and long-awaited post, I know you have been holding your breath for a new info! Oh and happy December 1st from Austin!

This is Halloween...

2008-10-30T20:21:00.007-06:00

Yes, this is Halloween! Sadly, Tony and I are both working tomorrow and don't even have the chance to do anything festive. He is working until midnight, but wearing white and black make-up! I am leaving for hot-lanta tomorrow afternoon and don't return until the 2nd. Poo! I am just putting braids in my hair and I am going as Wednesday Addams! That's about all I can do for work. Good thing my uniform is black!

So we had ourselves quite the ghoul fest tonight, instead. First off, Sleepy Hollow, pizza, daffy apples, popcorn balls, then The Nightmare Before Christmas while carving pumpkins. We might watch Corpse Bride after that.

Here are our pumpkins...

It's Jack Jack the Pumpkin King

"Agent" Skully the Skeleton and Wink the Emoticon!!

Our front door, all halloweened out!

totally random...

2008-10-25T19:09:00.000-06:00

Yes, today was crap! Thanks for asking. Are you supposed to be truthful when people are just asking politely? Hmmm, interesting.

I decided to take tony's car to work, instead of mine. I was already running late, of course, when I found his front passenger window smashed out, dash torn up with the cd player gone. I went to work in my car, all the while feeling horrible for leaving tony with a busted out window for 4 days.

I get to work to find out I was overpaid on my last paycheck, so now they will deduct the same overage from my paycheck on the 5th! It keeps getting better and better!

We also realize tonys car only has liability coverage, so the expenses will be out of our pocket!

This isn't bad, but funny...

I read a sarah palin interview in people about herself and husband. She was asked if she heard the person at one of her rallies yelling about "killing Obama." She never heard such things, but would dissaprove of such talk. Well, that's a relief! They interviewer went on to ask what she thought of Obama, and Palins answer was something like, "I have never met him." Oh jeez! I like how she has no response when asked if she likes him. What does she read... Some book on 9/11 for fun! Such great material!!!

I am flying with a woman who is so upset that her daughter is voting for obama and not mccain! Don't you think a parent would be happy that their own child has the freedom and will to vote. Isn't this what adults do? Make their own decisions, even if that's different from the parent.
Be proud of your child for having a voice and the courage to vote in such a historic election!

I must be emotional from the stress of today. I am drinking wine at the hilton minneapolis, watching bourne suppremacy, and blogging like a mad woman on my new blackberry!

I also have to be up at 4, go back to denver, a salt lake turn, then on to kansas city! I will be even more exhausted tomorrow. Maybe I can whine enough to my captain tomorrow to get him to buy me a drink or dinner. Don't feel bad for him, he makes tons of money and it has happened more than you think it would! Good old rich fellas. Don't get any ideas, I am a married lady!

Well, goodnight early, bloggers. I have a long day o' flyin tomorrow!

Nothing says romance like...

2008-10-10T11:23:00.003-06:00

having a plumber at your house for 4 hours, just a mere 6 days after you get married!

Here's the whole story...

During the weekend of the wedding, with 6 people staying at the house, the plumbing backed up and basically stopped working. It was great. Tony went to Matt's house to shower and I went to my mom's hotel the day of the wedding! It was fantastic. The plumbing has been ok for the last few days. With all the people staying over, there are lots of sheets and blankets to wash. I took them to the laundromat yesterday, forgot detergent, so I brought my stuff back home. Like the total idiot that I am, I thought one load of laundry wouldn't hurt. Boy, I was sure wrong! I flooded the garage, as the laundry room is in the garage. I was hysterically crying and taking boxes of all my photo albums and negatives (and there are thousands of photos) in the backyard and unpacking them. None were ruined, by the way, LUCKILY!!! Tony raced home and we cleared out the garage. We have been needing to do it for quite sometime, and this was a really good excuse. We also decided to have an emergency garage sale with all the stuff we have been piling up for months now! I called a guy, who is a friend of a friend of the family, and said we could get a deal. He said he could come over at 7:30 the next morning.

So the plumber has been here since 7:40 and it is now 11:30!! I am wondering what kind of a deal we will get, or else what savings we will have to dip into to pay for this!!!

Isn't it the most romantic story?

I am typing this from the garage during the garage sale. I have made a whopping dollar, so far. Good old adorable neighborhood girl bought a purse from me!! I am going to sit out here all day and might even tomorrow. Although it's suppose to snow tomorrow for the first time this season, but whatever. We need this crap gone. I suppose Savers or Goodwill might get a really good truckload full of stuff.

It should be called "help-us-pay-for-our-plumbing sale!!!"

done, finally...

2008-10-07T16:37:00.004-06:00

Wow. It only took me 2.5 months to get this stupid extra bedroom perfect and ready to be slept in, but its all over now! JEEZ! I have gone back and forth about the paint colors so many times. It could have practically been a rainbow, but don't worry, its not.

Because I couldn't sleep a couple of weeks ago (all from the stupid colors), I rummaged through all kinds of papers and found just what I was looking for... a paper torn from Domino magazine (an interior design mag, that I just love). It was a beautifully painted room with corals and light pinks. I have always loved it, but never thought Tony would let me paint something so lady like, but he consented (one of the many reasons why I love him) and I jumped on it.

The official colors are Indian Dance (coraly-salmon) and Pink Parfait (baby pink). It is beautiful! Two walls of each color and the doors in pink. I plan on keeping it very clean and tidy, when I am not crafting or wedding-ing, with funky shit on the walls. Good plan? I think so!

Again I will do the before and after, as it is a HUGE change!

before (yipes, so scary!)

yes there are 2 windows back there, if you can see them!

AFTER

Yes, I love the colors. It really makes me feel like an adult just by painting the walls! YEAH!!

It's Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez now!!!

2008-10-06T20:57:00.004-06:00

Yes, its true, Tony and I are married after 6 years! We had so much fun with all of our family in town. We had family and friends from Texas, Oklahoma, Idaho, California, Wisconsin (sorry if I am missing any), and we even had family from Norway and Mexico!! I never thought I would get all of the people that I love in one room. Seems like it would never happen, but it did.

I am seeing some random photos, but I would love to see any if you took some. I have set up a flickr site to show all the wedding related photos. There will be hundreds of photos from not only the 4th, but from bachelorette parties, pampering, dinners and more. This is the link... wedding photos. I am still waiting for the official photos from my cousin, Josh, so those will be added very soon. Please email your photos to me at emerald622@msn.com!!

The rehearsal dinner consisted of tacos and all other Mexican related food at our new house in the backyard! We had our immediate families and wedding party there to celebrate. Not only did we have 20+ people at our house, but the plumbing was completely backed up. I think it is too old with too many guests at one time! We rehearsed, ate and chatted for a while. It was great to be relaxed and with close family and friends!

The day of the wedding Tony went with his friends, Matt, Phil, and Josh to get real shaves at Floyd's Barbershop. At the same time, I went with 3 bridesmaid's, Carly, Liz and Anneliese to the MAC store to get our faces painted with their heavy duty make-up. We had lunch and we all met at the Museum to begin setting up. The clouds looked very ominous and stormy, as there was a slight chance of rain that might ruin our outdoor ceremony. It sprinkled for a minute, but cleared up before the ceremony.

I had a freak-out moment b/c of ceremony music, but it was not a big deal! Sorry, to Adam, I love you!!! It was so beautiful outside, I think it was just perfect. The ceremony was very short and sweet. We did the family photos, wedding party photos, and finally made our grand entrance to the reception to David Bowie's "Let's Dance". The buffet commenced, while Tony and I mingled. Tony and I ate a cupcake, then Dad and I had our Father/Daughter dance. We mingled more, the beer ran out, we walked around the museum and took couple photos. The party died down fairly early, so we moved our reception to Matt and Carly's house with about 20+ other people. We stayed until 3am, got back to the house and opened presents until 4:30am.

The next morning, Tony and I met the Kemm side of the family at Annie's resteraunt on Colfax for a breakfast. We had the same group over to the house again that night for all the left over BBQ from the reception. It was great having a nice day to hang out with family.

I fell asleep last night, after everyone left at 10:00 and didn't wake up for a full 12 hours! I have been completely out of it today, just trying to adjust to having the house to ourselves again. I think the cat feels the same way! We did go shopping with gift cards to Target, Crate and Barrel, and West Elm. Wow! We got a ton of such great things. We needed so much of it and really just wanted replacements of the others!

Thanks to everyone who made it to the wedding, or even just thought of us if you weren't able to make it. We had a wonderful time, and I think it showed the real us, with how we organized things! We had so much help from so many people. I do feel bad that I wasn't able to say hello to everyone, but I am just now realizing it, so, sorry!!

I will add some photos once I get some, but please go to our flickr site and download them and print them if you like!

love you all and thanks for all your support...

bachelorette party, wedding plans, and one more stupid trip...

2008-09-23T21:29:00.013-06:00

Yes, Carly threw me a Bachelorette Party. Yes, she had me decked out in the most disgusting paraphernalia she could find. And yes, it was a total bust. No one showed up to our little party, so we made a big deal out of it with only 4 people! Carly, Me and yes, Tony and Matt. The brave fiances came out with us when its just a gals night out. Well, since we had some dudes with us, we had to do something crazy and kinda manly. What's more manly than a strip-club! La Boheme is rated the classiest strip club in Denver, if that's even possible. It was a fun and hilarious night. The strip club was fun, really nasty and even more disgusting!

Luckily we moved the night on to a different bar, Double Daughters, after a couple drinks. It was more fun and relaxed for us all. We took lots of retarded pics and drank a lot more! Those guys were a great sport and that's why we love them!!!

Wow too crazy a night! It was a bit hard to recover if you know what I mean!!!

As for the wedding plans, they are all falling into place so very nicely. I am done planning as I better be with 11 days to go. I still have tons to do, craft, buy and finish. I am a bit overwhelmed so I am really mad I have one more stupid trip to do. I will be back on Saturday so I have a full week to get my life in order finally! A total of 2 whole weeks for me to relax or stress and plan the wedding and recover! Perfect!!! I really can't wait.

Are you as excited as I am? Probably not.
Are you as stressed as I am? Probably not.

Yeah that's right!!!

4 and 6.

2008-09-08T20:58:00.004-06:00

4 weeks til the weddin! Yowza! It is really getting close. Yes, I am practically counting down the days. Lets see...what do I have ready? Oh, wait that's a lot of stuff done...so, what do I need to do?

set up and decorate the Cupcake Tree for my 200 cupcakes
buy beer and wine
print programs
order flowers
set up and decorate the arch thingy for us to be married under
buy candy for tables
make tablecloths and the veil on my hat
and I am sure many more things to do before the 4th

With all this going on I can't forget the fact that Tony and I are celebrating our 6 year anniversary tomorrow! And of course this wedding wouldn't be happening if it weren't for he and I. It is quite unbelievable that we have been together for so long, and now we will be starting over with a new anniversary and new years.

We met at the Community College of Denver, in our photo 101 class. We have a special place in our hearts for our photo professor, Lincoln, since we started our relationship there in his darkroom. He complimented me on my awesome pink suede Pumas and I told him how bitchin his watch was, and the rest is history.

With in just a few months of dating, he drove me all the way to Tulsa for Thanksgiving. He had driven me to Colorado Springs to take me to the airport for my flight, when it was completely full (and of course I was stand-by, and this was way before I knew all the flying details). I was hysterically crying and he offered to just drive me the 11 hours, and i jumped on the offer before he changed his mind. I was surprising my mom for the holiday, and boy was she shocked. Little did she know we would get married 6 years later!

I am very excited about the wedding, but more excited to call Tony my husband. Although, we are "married" (as classy as common law is) through Frontier to be able to get my benefits, it will be wonderful to be real. I don't know if a wedding is really the best way to show someone you love, but it will be so wonderful to see the entire family and so many of our friends all together in one room.

I can't wait to marry Tony pants!!

yes my thumb is green and thanks for asking...

2008-09-03T15:43:00.010-06:00

...But my fingernails are black. It only took me 5 hours and a great friend to get a ton of stuff done in the backyard today! Luckily the temperature was only a high of 70 degrees today, but the damn Denver sun is so blazingly close it felt like 90, then you stand in the shade and tis grand again.

before

AFTER

(I can't pull these tree roots, :( POO!)

There were three large bushes and their roots against the fence and today I pulled all 3!! Each took about an hour and Matt doubted I could pull it off (pun intended), but I showed him. Although each one was so difficult at the end that I needed his help. The last of the roots was the hardest to get out, but it could have been b/c we had been working in the sun for hours! The best part when we finally pulled it out of the dirt, it looks just like baby! Poor little baby roots torn away from its momma dirt! TOO BAD!

I also whacked all those 3 foot high weeds the other day, while tony mowed the front. It is really looking great around here, but, my GOD, there is so much yard junk to take care of! I think I will get it all planned out so I will know how much sod to buy. I want tons of gardens, too, which is all the better for not mowing!

We dug and dug and dug today until we could dig no more.

This is the baby root. Don't you see it? What a cry baby!

next up... ROTO-TILLER FUN!!!

before & AFTER

2008-08-27T09:45:00.016-06:00

Ok, I have really been getting things in order around the house. Although I have been working 6 days in a row and this is so different from any normal job, as I am gone for 6 days straight. I had one day off yesterday and I am gone for another 5 days starting in a few hours. My one day off is always the same; unpack, do laundry, re-pack, eat a real home cooked meal, kiss tony goodbye and I am off again. Luckily next month I have a somewhat regular schedule; 4 day on, 5 off, 3 days on, 4 off and so on. I have a lot to do before the wedding, as I want to get the house perfect before everyone gets to town!

We have gotten 3 out of the 5 rooms painted and designed how we want, so far. The living room is Polaris (gray/blue), the kitchen is Rolling Hills (avocado/lime), and our bedroom is Coffee and Sky Gray (self-explanatory). The Bathroom will be sea foam green eventually, once we decide whether the cabinets are staying or going. As for the other bedroom, I am thinking something really crazy like fuchsia, but I don't know yet.

Here are our before and after photos of the rooms so far...

bedroom before

BEDROOM AFTER

kitchen before

KITCHEN AFTER

living room before

LIVING ROOM AFTER

Nothing is completely finished yet, but it looks so much better than when we first started, but you can get a feel of how the house will look when it is going to be perfect! It might seem to take forever, but it has to be done in 6 weeks.

The next huge tackle will be the back yard! It is so awful, but luckily Tony's dad had 2 extra weed-eaters and we get one! Once you see the pictures, you will understand our plight to whack it all down and start fresh...

Yes, that's a 6-foot privacy fence and yes, the weeds are up to 3 feet high. Stupid rainy weekend and too much sunlight. When we walk to the gate in the back, through the jungle, all the weeds pollenate on your pant legs and tint everything green. Great for Tony's allergies!

Good luck, right? HELP!!

Shower, #2

2008-08-26T15:42:00.022-06:00

Oh I just love my friends! My oldest best friend asked if she and her mom could throw me a bridal shower in my home town of Broken Arrow, OK! How could I resist? It gave me a chance to see my old teachers, high school friends and my family! It was such great fun. A couple of my mom's best friends helped out with the party. Enjoy the pics...

The "R" cake

The fancy gift table, with my rediculous amounts of presents!!!

These are my wonderful hostesses, Anneliese, Lana, Juli and Paula

Mom's school buddies (aka ex-coworkers)

3 Generations

Delicious spread

Mombo and I

Grandma and I

Loverly Presents

High School buddies

A reenactment of our prom photo

Kathy and Lizzy

The Stockwell Gang

Auntie Nancy and Grandma

I came home with such a haul of really great presents. I got so many kitchen utensils, that my kitchen drawers look like the aisles of Target! Yes, I did get the Jack LaLaine Power Juicer and boy was I super excited! I got more towels in Chocolate Brown, a beautiful vase, 2 sets of sheets, card games and board games, and lots of gift cards! Oh everyone was so generous. THANKS SO MUCH!!!

the women...

2008-08-19T20:54:00.005-06:00

I know, I know, I have already posted about the movie "The Women", but that was only to state that I had seen the mocie for the first time. I love the movie. It is so stylish and fashionable and all about society's role in women's lives. Women, in general, are quite catty and boy does the film show it.

Norma Shearer (right) and Joan Fontaine (left) are great in the film. Yeah, Joan Crawford is a bigger role than the other Joan, but if you have seen Rebecca you would love Fontaine more, too!

The reason for this blog, is the fact that I saw the trailor for the new version of "The Women". OMG! It looks so stupid. Maybe I can't believe they made a remake of this fantastic movie, or maybe they put really rediculous people in the roles. They ladies are all funny ladies, but I am not sure they are all classy enough to even make this a great film. Jeez.

I have no desire to see the 2008 version and if you do, go rent the old one first and make your own opinion!

bridal shower for moi...

2008-08-06T13:58:00.012-06:00

Oh I certainly was showered with gifts on Sunday!

My aunts in Denver threw me a beautiful Black & White themed shower. They requested b&w gifts, wrapping, and attire. All but 2 people complied! It was very relaxed but fancy with fruity champagne drinks, cheeses, fruits and pie! Weird, you say? Why, it was my choice for the strange assortment of my favorite foods as it was MY shower.

My aunts, Nancy and Sharon, hosted my shower...

My mom and sissy...

The new in-laws-to-be...

I got some really amazing gifts!

Dishes...

Towels...

And the thing we have been wanting and needing the most...Silverware!!

I had so many great friends there. Old navy pals, Frontier buddies, in-laws, my family and some of Tony's old co-workers. My mom and sis flew in from OK and SD just for the shower!!

2 is the magic number...

2008-08-04T18:20:00.007-06:00

TWO MONTHS TO GO (until the wedding, if you were wondering)!!! YOWZA!! Oh my, I am excited!

I am getting my invites ready to go as I type, OK well, not exactly when I am typing, but you know what I mean. Right?

I have my Invitations, RSVP cards, and Maps to the Museum all stuffed in envelopes, addressed, stamped and ready to be sent!! I put our new home address on the envelopes, just in case you want to send me some mail. Because, I like mail. Maybe I will be better at correspondence with our new house. I can dream, right?

If anyone who got a Save the Date card doesn't get an Invite, then inform me and hopefully we can get an invite sent your way.

Hope everyone can make it!

Oh, in other news...

Tony and I bought new bedroom furniture today! It is a beautiful chocolate brown bed, dresser and console from West Elm. And boy do we love West Elm crap.

New platform bed...

New console...

New furniture...

Oh and we finally got a shower curtain up. We are no longer taking baths like children with cup to rinse out our hair!

update...

2008-07-29T15:07:00.002-06:00

Now, I know you were all very very concerned about the loss of my dvd collection for the last 4 months, but worry no more...

They have been FOUND and safely returned to my dvd holder inside my house!!!

All is well and good in the new house, now that the movies are back.

What to watch first... Titanic, Casino Royale, Atonement?? Jeez, what a decision!

OMG!! It really did happen!!

2008-07-27T09:19:00.013-06:00

On July 22nd, Tony and I closed on our very first house!! It was a long time coming for us to finally get our house, almost a full year passed with 5 offers on 4 houses, but it happened.

We stayed the night in our first house, directly after closing and a celebratory dinner at Mead Street. We brought our cat, our new air mattress, and an overnight bag to our house. It wasn't great...there is no a/c (and its been so hot lately), General Tokyo meowed all night, and we are retarded for forgetting pillows. Ok, so not the best night sleep of all, but it was really special!

Tony has worked all week, but we have gotten so much done with me at home unpacking and Tony helping with everything else when he gets off work. We officially moved the next day with the largest uhaul available, and it still wasn't enough for all of our crap. Luckily, Tony's dad, sister, and brother-in-law helped all day. Oh I guess I should say his nephews helped a bit too. They mainly complained that a sleeping bag or pillows were too heavy, but it was fun.

So far in the unpacking craziness, I have only found one box with broken objects, which is pretty good, I guess. I still haven't found our box of DVD's, and if you know me, there are a ton, and it will be very expensive and hard to get all our movies and TV shows back. I still have half of the garage full of boxes, so maybe I will stumble across them. Please keep your fingers crossed we will find them. I haven't watched my movies in 4 months now, and I am just dieing to watch Titanic!

I have painted the kitchen, and sure had fun with it. I haven't been able to paint a room the color I wanted in about 8 years, since I lived with my mom and painted my room purple for the heck of it, and I mean really bright, eggplant purple! The kitchen is called Rolling Hills, but it is a nice mixture of lime/avacado/aspagagus green! Tony is a minimilist, love neutrals and straight lines. I like bright, antique, and funky things. We are trying to blend our styles, but it is hard for both of us to do. He is deciding on the paint for the living room and bedrooms, with grays (stormy night), browns (coffee), and whites (arcitechural white), so I told him I got free range of the kitchen and bathroom and they were going to be bright and cheery. I do like the idea of the living and sleeping areas as soothing tones, but the kitchen and bathroom need to be crazy, in my opinion! The bathroom will be kind of sea foam/bright green. Oh I love green!!

Obviously we have tons of decorating to do and cleaning and unpacking to do.

Other photos on the previous blog post... OMG!!! Its actually going to happen

8 things...

2008-07-21T19:24:00.014-06:00

8 things I am passionate about...
1. Tony is always numero uno! My family is also in first place tied with him.

2. the wedding, since I am completely obsessed right now, but I should be as there are only 75 days left until the big event!!
3. our new house, which we are supposed to close on TOMORROW at 12:30!!!! (see post below)
4. well, right now I am passionate about keeping my job, since it is all up in the air. GO FRONTIER! (sadly I didn't take this pic)

5. my baby boy, The General Tokyo

6. Um, this website Lists of Bests. I cannot get over it. I am attempting to finish the AFI's top 100, all the Oscar winning movies, and so many more its retarded!!
7. Wedding related crafts, I can't seem to get enough and i also can't seem to get it all done, but I still have some time.
8. Well, this goes with the house thing, but paint colors. I love the Behr website. You can choose colors you like and paint the walls of really rediculous houses! Too fun!

8 books I have read and enjoyed (in no particular order)...
1. Water for elephants

2. The Red Tent

3. Harry Potter books, and that means all of them

4. Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse

5. The chronicles of Narnia

6. Most books by Sandra Brown, but especially Envy. Oh the mysteries, not romance novels.

7. The death artist

8. Red Dragon and Hannibal

8 things I want to do before I die...
1. go to all 50 states, and I only have 5 left
2. visit every continent, and I only have 5 left as well, but not quite as impressive as the states
3. become a published novelist
4. have one of my novels become a movie
5. to love my tony, and have him love me forever
6. go back to school for writing
7. to make a name for myself
8. I really would love to meet Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale. It shouldn't be that hard, since they are married!

8 words/phrases I often say (and yes I am an adult, but it may not sound like it)
1. Hooty Hoo
2. Poopy Pants
3. Dooty Head
4. OMG!
5. a bunch of hooey
6. Toonses (the nickname of our kitty)
7. I'm starving
8. I thought the Rocky Mountians were a little rockier than this. That John Denver is full of shit! (Well, its a classic. Only to those of us who were born in the 80's and grew up in the 90's)

8 things I have learned this past year...
1. It takes freaking forever to buy a house. Almost a full year for us!
2. Although bad things happen in 3's, so do good things. I think new car, new house, and a wedding are all good things, and only a little bit stressful!!
3. It sucks moving back in with parents, but very generous of them at the same time.
4. I love love LOVE the fact that everything I can do now, I can do as an adult!
5. Planning a wedding really is tons of fun.
6. My new favorite movie is "the women". The original, not this stupid remake which will be coming out in the near future.
7. Bill Murray wishes his name was Bill Murphy!
8. I hate car shopping.

8 places I want to see...
1. The louvre
2. The dali museum in Florida, of all places
3. china, to see all the pandas
4. Tony and I living in our new house!
5. greece
6. ireland
7. venice
8. as many national parks as i can

8 favorite tv shows...
1. Friends
2. Law and Order: SVU
3. America's next top model
4. Scrubs
5. Futurama
6. The simpsons
7. How I met your mother
8. Dirty Jobs

Jackson, Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone road trip...

2008-07-17T09:47:00.008-06:00

FINALLY, weeks and weeks late, here's our road trip. I hope you enjoy Carly's photos, as mine are all on film.

famous ladies...

2008-07-09T16:33:00.006-06:00

So my sis and I are in a magazine this month and its no big thing.

Its just a little magazine called Home and Away, the AAA magazine.

My dad responded via email to a story in the last issue about the decline of visitors to National Parks, saying he had taken me and Liz to many parks and we loved every minute of the trips.
The original article

Maybe you should go and check it out...
Our Article
...tell me what you think!!!

OMG!!! Its actually going to happen

2008-07-05T14:28:00.011-06:00

Oh! Yes, this could be our new house!!!

We need to get it inspected this week and then we can move in after signing the paperwork. Tony and I have now been seaching for almost a full year with no sign of a house on our horizon. We put down 5+ offers and most were forclosures, with 10 offers to compete with for each house. We were also looking in an area thick with investors taking over houses for flipping not giving us first time homebuyers one bit of a chance. We finally moved our search to a lesser known neighborhood, named Sunnyside, which is supposedly the next up-and-coming neighborhood in Denver. A good investment for us for the future, if this is true.

How many times am I going to ask you to keep your fingers crossed?
Well, I am asking again...

3 months and counting (tick tock, tick tock)

2008-07-04T10:04:00.000-06:00

So here is an update since there is so little time until the wedding, 90 days to be exact (aaahhhhh!!!)...

CEREMONY/RECEPTION CITE - deposit paid and tons of contact with the coordinator has been done via email
INVITES - printed, stamped, addressed, stuffed, and ready to go to you
DRESS - ready to pick up on July 16th
CATERER - petered out on me just before signing the contract so I am on to my back
up caterer. AAARRRGGGHHH!!! :( :( :(
FLORIST - oh Costco will be my flower people and I will make the bouquets myself
DECORATIONS - in the process of being assembled by MOI
BEER & WINE - ready to be purchased in bulk
CUPCAKES - decisions need to be made for the flavors
TONY'S SUIT - fits...like a glove! he now needs a tie, shirt and shoes, and he ain't cheap
BRIDAL SHOWERS - these are in the planning process by 2 aunts and a bridesmaid/best friend. Luckily I just have to show up to those!!

Oh I still have a ton of work to do, as you can see. And since I am living in one teeny little bedroom with my fiance and our cat, I have no room to do anything wedding related. Luckily for my BFF, she has loaned me her spare bedroom to be the BARRETT/RODRIGUEZ Wedding Headquarters. I already have a few boxes, but she is just going to have to wait to see what I have in store for her (insert evil laugh here)!!!

I am sure there will be more postings and updates as the 90 days progresses...

fingers crossed, lucky charms, rabbit's feet...

2008-07-02T09:03:00.005-06:00

Yesterday, I found out that Frontier Airlines, my airline, had mailed out announcements to the bottom 100 flight attendants stating layoffs beginning September 1st! I am number 270 from the bottom of the seniority, which means I am safe for now, but who knows what the future holds.

In this time in my life of buying a new car, attempting to purchase a house, and planning a wedding in 3 months and 2 days, I am a bit stressed about getting laid off! As you can imagine.

Please, oh, please, keep your fingers crossed or pray or hope or whatever, that Frontier can pull through this and let me keep my job. Really, I would rather be purchased by Jet Blue or Virgin America, than the company go kaputs. If ever Southwest were to buy us I would quit rather than work for them!!!

Thanks for the well wishes...

ok I promised...

2008-06-27T16:21:00.005-06:00

Yes this is the new car! You likey???

Oh this is how buying a car makes me feel...

apparently Matt feels the same way!

neues Auto für mich!!!

2008-06-18T08:25:00.005-06:00

Do you understand the title? Yeah, I didn't think so. Ok it says NEW CAR FOR ME!!! A Jetta to be exact. (That's the reasoning for the german title. Get it?)

If you remember the blog a while back, about the car troubles I had been having, then you will understand the importance of a new car. I did sell the car for $1,000, thank goodness, and a few weeks later we purchased a Jetta. It is our car, but it is mine to drive on a daily basis.

Oh boy is it fancy! Teal in color (sounds gross, but is lovely), power everything, sunroof, fancy flip-out-key thingy, rain sensing windshield wipers. Jealous? I know, you can say it.

sexy pics coming soon...

p.s. Jetta gets to go on her first road trip to YELLOWSTONE for my b-day with Matt and Carly and of course Tony, too!!!

I am jumping on board...

2008-06-17T13:31:00.004-06:00

...jumping on board the bandwagon! Yes, I bought/read/loved Twilight, along with the other millions of people in this country. I have almost finished and its only been 4 days. I am ready to read the New Moon and Eclipse in the very near future. And then, of course, the fourth.

I had just purchased the book in the Minneapolis airport, when a girl walked up to me and told me if I didn't like the book I was CRAZY! My sis told me pretty much the same thing. I guess I am not crazy.

If you haven't heard about this book, then you don't know its about a teenage gal who falls in love with a vampire. Sound stupid? I sure thought so. But once you read it, you won't think so.

"About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him - and i didn't know how dominant that part might be -that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him."
- Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

READ IT, if you aren't crazy!!!!

oh how I crave thee...

2008-06-07T17:58:00.008-06:00

Have you seen the movie Chocolat? It from 2000 and it stars Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench and Johnny Depp and it is a great movie.

I love watching movies that make me believe in good deeds, magic and hope. I also love movies with characters who are a bit off and unlike the rest of the cast.

I remember going to see Chocolat in the theaters with my whole family. Afterwards we searched everywhere to find a restaurant that had some kind of chocolate dessert to end the cravings brought on by the movie. How can one movie make my mouth water so profusely?

Could Johnny Depp be any cooler? Even as "river rat", he exudes style and smoothness (word?).

I just have to watch this movie every time it is on, and that's a lot lately on Encore!

I will leave your mouth watering...

HEHEHEHEHEHE!!

10-4 good buddy!!!

2008-06-05T08:32:00.007-06:00

OK so I am one day delayed, but it is now 4 months until the wedding day!!! YIKES! I feel like I am totally prepared, and then i remember that I am doing SOOOOOOOOO much on my own and I feel a little sick in my tummy.

I went to another dress fitting yesterday and it is looking really great. I wore my new shoes (the third pair) and finally looked great.

My sister's bridesmaid dress came in and I picked it up. Carly's (another bridesmaid) dress will be in very soon. (Lizzy is on the left and Carly, the right). Their dresses will both be in black, just to let you know.

I still have my caterer and florist to deal with, but hopefully it will be done soon. I also need to make the tablecloths, oragami flowers, cupcakes stands and probably more crap, too.

Oh I think I need to get to work pretty soon!

p.s. As for the title of this post, I realized the date of our wedding is 10-4, good buddy!!! HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!

Colorado History Museum...

2008-06-01T22:24:00.013-06:00

Ahhh... The Colorado History Museum. The future site of our wedding. We finally looked at the entire museum today, not just the reception area. It is beautiful, with amazing photos of Colorado junk and dioramas as far as the eye can see!

Here are the stairs to come down to the bar area, where the bookshelves are now...

Here is the actual reception area (please excuse the blurries, you know, no flash photography)...

Oh, this photo has nothing to do with the wedding whatsoever, but it is such a great display, about 25 meters long. Talk about history...

little lamb...

2008-05-21T15:54:00.003-06:00

Holy mackerel! Today it is one month and one day until my birthday, so YIPEE, a totally random fact until you read this blog!! Tony, Carly, Matt, Phil and I were walking through Nordstom, into the mall, when we realized the store was retardedly busy and crowded with stupid women. It's the half-yearly sale. I hate hate HATE crazy sales! This is until I found out this sale included LAMB bags. I also dislike designer bags (not hate) except LAMB, of course. I looked at 3 different LAMB bags and fell in love with one, but a lady was clutching it like she was going to die with it. Thank the heavens, she put it down, but tried to cover it up with a Juicy bag, and I snatched it right up. Oh my 40% off, what a wonderful early-birthday present! Wanna see???

What a lucky lady I be! I have loved Gwen's bags since I first saw them, but never liked one like this one.

OMG!!!!!!!! Oh my gwen!!!!!!

is it not spring?

2008-05-13T09:31:00.004-06:00

Why, Oh Why is it snowing on the 13th of May?

Well, I guess that's Colorado for ya. But I don't live in the mountains, where it can snow into June! And don't worry the snow isn't sticking to the ground. It is a shock when just yesterday I took summer travelers and college graduates to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and today it is cold, wet and snowy. Whatever...

movies galore...

2008-04-30T18:15:00.006-06:00

Anytime I go to visit my mother, all we do is craft and watch movies. I went to SD for 6 days, and in that time we watched about 8 movies and spent 2 days at a craft fair, hardly selling a thing. We tried selling zipper purses, felted wool bags, mom's photographs and a couple other random things.

While we were crafting, we watched the movies and we saw some really amazing ones...

I think I'm in LOVE!! I am surely adding Steve McQueen to my favorite list.

A raisin in the sun and the women were such fantastic movies. The women is fun and clever and maybe not such a dude kinda movie, but a raisin in the sun is a story everyone should see. It was so wonderful!

i love to craft...
i love to movie...
holy bajoley, i sure do!!

wedding dresses...

2008-04-18T18:17:00.003-06:00

I have been paitently waiting for 4 months now to get a certain phone call and yesterday I got it. I have been awaiting a call from the boutique where I bought my WEDDING dress!!! It is ready for me to pick up, but sadly I can't go until Tuesday because I back from on Monday night and the shop is all the way in Boulder! I truely can't wait to try it on with all my accessories to see how it looks. I have to admit I got a few butterflies when she called, almost nervous because it is actually happening, but so freaking excited!

The wedding is still 5 and 1/2 months away and I sure have plenty to do...

guess I should get to it, huh??

to new beginnings...

2008-04-12T18:30:00.003-06:00

Oh my GOD! Talk about stress. Wedding planning, trying to buy a house, apt. lease ending, cars breaking down, Tony quitting his job, and then moving in with his dad to save money.

These events didn't really happen in that order, but kinda. Tony and I have been trying to buy house for the past 6+ months and it hasn't quite happened yet. Our lease ended before we had a back up place to live, so we decided to move into his pop's house for a couple months to save more money and keep looking for a house. In the mean time our wedding planning is sailing along. I took my car to the shop the other day and it needs 3500 bucks worth of repair when its only worth 1200 TOPS!!! And to top it off Tony quit his job, which has been long over-due.

I think I am done being stressed. Well, I guess after I sell my car and get a better one, then I will be done.

I am rather sad to be leaving our apt. It was our first home together and we are now cramped in one bedroom for the next couple of months with the rest of our belongings in boxes in the garage.

So here's to no rent, crappy cars, and to NEW BEGINNINGS!!!

6 months and counting...

2008-04-05T09:05:00.004-06:00

Oh! Yes, only 6 months until the wedding (well yesterday, anyhoo). I am not freaking out yet. The only thing I haven't figured out yet is the stupid caterer! Hopefully next week I will have a signed contract.

I forgot to mention that I am also in the process of moving into Tony's dad's house for a couple months to save a bit more money for a house. If we don't get a house before the wedding I will really freak out. That's what I am most stressed out about right now!

I already have the baker, photographer, venue, music (thank you itunes), dress (if it ever gets here), suit for Tony, invites and other paper items (sorry kirsten, I mean thanks!!) and more.

What if we don't have a real place to live by the time I will be getting the reply cards back? Or even gifts? What to do?

Yeah I just want a place of our own, to have as long as we want, with no ending lease in sight... Is that too much to ask?!?!?

birthday boy!!!

2008-03-28T09:21:00.003-06:00

Oh I have a little birthday boy, and his name is General Tokyo Rodriguez!! He is my favorite little guy even if he is crazy and a jerk. He is 3 today along with his sisters, owned by my aunt and her friends.

Shout out to the GENERAL... holla!

oops, I guess I lied...

2008-03-26T09:08:00.010-06:00

Alright, OK, so, I originally told you all that I didn't want to say anything about the wedding, but i really want to now! So here...

I went to the mall the other day, to the MAC store with a picture I had cut out of a magazine to show how I wanted my make-up for the wedding.

The girl did it exactly and the final result was perfect.

I can't decide on the red lips though. You know I will be kissing as least one person that night and I am not so sure he will want red lips as well. I think if i don't do the red lips I will go with a very pale matte lip, just like the pic. Although, the red lips go with my whole 50's ensemble.

Decisions, decision...

What do ya think?

don't you dare...

2008-03-19T16:45:00.007-06:00

Today is a kind of a lazy day for me. I have been packing and watching movies. My lunch (at 4:00) was popcorn, an apple, and club soda with lime. It is pretty random. I usually get quite a few phone calls from random people through out the day, but I have not gotten one phone call from someone I know.

Did you get that part? I got 6 calls from unknown numbers, and three text messages from someone telling me I will win something if only I text back.

Does this happen to you? It was a first for me today, but it really pissed me off!

If you want your cell phone off the "lists", all you have to do is call 1-888-382-1222! It is so easy. Just call from the cell phone you want on the do not call list, and it takes about 30 seconds. I remembered seeing an email about this, and luckily I found it.

You can also go donotcall.gov to and it is just as quick. I think you can also register more than one phone number. I called for my number and did fiance's online!

You will be sorry if you don't call 1-888-382-1222!

p.s. these calls you get from solicitors aren't free, it comes outta your pocket and your patience!!

let them eat (cup) cake?

2008-03-18T22:31:00.005-06:00

Oh my yes, I found a baker to make my cupcake/wedding cake! I am going with a little place called Mulberries Cake Shop on Pearl in Denver. It is a quirky shop with adorable cakes everywhere. I went to a cake tasting today with my only local bridesmaid and decided on the spot that it was the place for me. I believe I will be having 3 different flavors: white, a chocolate of some sort, and then something else.

I wonder... if you had to choose an nontraditional wedding cupcake flavor, what would it be?

marble
spice
carrot (fiance's first choice, and my last!)
lemon poppy seed
butter pecan

I will be able to try as many of the flavors that I would like in the up coming months, so eventually we will try them all. I know it is ultimately up to us, but you might as well have a say... you will be eating it too!

any suggestions??

worst movie ever...

2008-03-12T00:05:00.004-06:00

OMG! Seriously I might have found the worst movie ever... Cutting Class.

If you can't tell that is a young Brad Pitt in the lead male role. This movie is from 1989, even before Thelma & Louise. It is one of those really bad high school slasher flicks. I watched it on-demand in the free movies section and it warned you at the beginning "if you like really bad movies with lots of blood, murder, high school kids, oh and Brad Pitt, then this is the movie for you!" There are so many parts to this movie to make fun of... how long is it going to take the dad to die, what is up with the stupid math questions, and who is the KILLER?

By the way, there is very little blood, they don't even show if someone is being stabbed, and there is hardly a nude scene... what kind of a murder slasher movie is this?

I don't even recommend this movie, you can just believe me that this is REALLY REALLY bad!

Brad sure is a cutie though!! But he is aging so nicely... oh my yes!

oh dearest jane...

2008-03-06T18:00:00.001-07:00

I am pretty sure that I am in love. You should know her. She is an author, wrote 6 books, and she is pretty famous. I can't help it... I love Jane Austen! She is fantastic. It is pretty sad that I love someone and I have never read one of her books. But, fear not, I just started Emma today so I can now be able to really understand her writing for myself.

How can I like someone so much and never have read one book, you ask? OK, so since I am more of a movie buff than a reader, I have seen a couple of the movies made from her books and the stories have made the impression on me instead. OK so Pride and Prejudice (keira knightly), Sense and Sensibility (kate winslet, hugh grant, and emma thompson), made me love her novels via the big screen. I have also seen Becoming Jane (anne hathaway) which made me like her as a person for her struggles in love. And then of course the newest movie is The Jane Austen Book Club, which made me want to read them all and discuss them with my girl friends, oh yes, and one token guy friend.

I plan on getting the other books and reading them so I can appreciate them how they were supposed be!

Pick up a copy today at your local Library and then lets dicuss!

Holla fo JANE!!

David Hearn Art

2008-03-04T09:46:00.009-07:00

Ok so I am gonna plug this guy who is an artist at the Seattle Pike Place Market. His name is David Hearn and I love his work! I bought one his greeting card packs while on a layover before Thanksgiving. I met him then and fell in love all his paintings! I went back a few months later, again on a long layover, and bought a print of this little chihuahua.

The next one I want is of the corgi! Oh my I just love them to pieces!!

I don't even necessarily like chihuahuas and corgis but OMG I can't even get enough!! Some day I will get a real painting of my kitty. Take a look and see if he has a painting of a dog like yours!!

http://www.doodledoarts.com/animalpaintings.html

colorado casino fun...

2008-03-01T11:17:00.004-07:00

Oh yes, after returing home at 2 in the morning, I have to say that the casinos in the mountains are certainly a blast. And the fact that there is a shuttle to take you there for only $18 round trip is even more appealing. We, as in my sis (for her 21st birthday celebration), the fiance, and I, went to the Lodge Casino in Blackhawk, CO.

Of course, we had to hit up the buffet. Plates and plates full of crab legs, milk/white chocolate fountains, sushi, and more food than the eye can see! We then went a-gambling. Oh we didn't really win anything more than 10 dollars on one hand, which was thrilling. That is until we saw a trashy middle aged biker with bandannas win $12,000. We decided he has spent half his life and thousands of dollars trying to win that money, so we were just fine with our winnings!

These casinos were the last resort after not being able to get on a flight to Vegas! Boy oh Boy was it fun, though!

If you are in Colorado and wanna get to the mountain casinos, call Colorado Casino Express 303.288.8700!

catering crap!!!

2008-02-26T09:33:00.004-07:00

I am having issues! When is that something new? Ok, I need a caterer for the wedding (obviously). What's a girl to do when she wants a nice party for her friends and family, but the damn catering companies want to charge $25/person? It is so unfair! I have talked with these caterers who say they are willing to help you out (ha!), work with you, and come up with a great food selection for your budget! YEAH RIGHT! I gave them a budget and they went $10+ over what I asked for. They don't listen!!!!!!! These people are so annoying and just look at me with dollar signs in their eyes (you know, instead of stars in their eyes).

Well, I say screw the fancy-schmancy catering companies with their poached salmon on a cruton and their foie gras (EEEWWW!!). No thank you!

What is my new plan you ask? Well, thanks for asking... I am going to go with a restaurant, like, lets say, BBQ, Greek, Italian, Chinese, Mexican or something else fun and great that I know what the hell it is. They are so reasonably priced, includes service in the price, and is just what i want! Why didn't I think of this earlier? JEEZ! Don't worry if I do go with something pretty ethnic, I will make sure there will be things you will recognize and vegetarian options!

Anyone have any suggestions for great denver joints? Anyone? ANYONE?!

entertaining...

2008-02-14T09:11:00.005-07:00

have you seen Gone Baby Gone? Oh my was it good! I am rather lame and don't go to movies; A- because I can't afford to see all the movies I want at the theater (seriously, $10) and B- because I really don't have the time or people to go with to the theater. So in other words, I catch up on movies (new, old, all) through blockbuster online! I am obsessed! Back to the point of Gone baby Gone, it was a really great story, and as much as it hurts me to say it, Ben Affleck directed a good movie. Casey Affleck was way better though, and always will be!

I have one more entertaining subject to praise... The Red Tent. I feel as if every woman should read this book. It is so interesting to see how women in Biblical times might have lived. It actually makes me want to be more spititual! The book has so many uplifting things and so many hard things to read. I highly recommend it. You should buy it for your best friend, girlfriend, mother, or sister and they would love it, I am sure!

JUST DO IT!!