One More Thing...

I am going to be an aunt for the first time in February 2010. My sister-in-law resides in Buffalo, NY and has come home for Thanksgiving. She did not want a baby shower, which saddened me because I was really dying to make one for her. However, we will be eating a baby shower cake for dessert tonight. It's her favorite flavor, banana cake with chocolate ganache. Yum, right? I've attached a picture for all of you to see. Not only has it been teasing me since I picked it up last night because it smells fantastic, but it's pretty darn cute. I hope she likes it! My mother-in-law said it looked "special," not sure if that's a compliment or not, but I love it! I'll keep you all posted if everyone at dinner tonight agrees.

Donating

I'm always looking for new ways to support charities that matter to me. When we registered for our wedding 3% of all purchases that were made by our guests online went to The Human Society of the United States. I discovered afterwards that we had donated close to $500, which made me very happy. So, thank you to all my friends that purchased registry gifts online. I try and purchase registry gifts online for this very reason, there are close to 50 charities that the couple can choose to donate 3% of all purchased items to.
This is the season of giving, not receiving, I truly believe that. I'm fortunate that my office is a Marine Toys for Tots Foundation collection center. I try to bring in at least two presents for the children every year - a boy and a girl. You can find awesome gifts that do not cost a lot of money. I could not imagine a poor, innocent, child waking up to no Christmas. Imagine how different these children's lives could be from simply receiving a toy on Christmas.
Two years ago my husband and I had an opportunity to adopt two children to sponsor for Christmas through The Salvation Army: Angel Giving Tree rather than buy presents for each other that holiday season. We adopted a girl that wanted educational toys (I cried when I read that) and a little boy that loved all things Spiderman and all he wanted was a Spiderman Bed Comforter (we got him all things Spiderman). My husband and I went to town at Target - we were even given their shoe and clothing size to buy them some much needed new clothing. We will be going to JC Penny again to be a child's angel again this year. I encourage all of you to do the same or form a group with a couple friends and do it, the rewards of giving are so much more awesome then receiving.
Finally, this is my newest most favorite way of giving this season and throughout the entire year. If you drink Coca-Cola Products you might be aware of My Coke Rewards. Codes can be found on every coke product sold and you take these codes, log them in, and receive points. You can take these points and donate them to a cause or school of your choice. I'm going to do some research on which school I would like to support and will keep all of you posted, but if you drink Coca Cola products please sign up to do the same. It takes a matter of minutes to log the codes.
There are many ways to give. You can give of your time, FANTASTIC! You can even give your hair, which I'm proud to admit that my sister has done two or three times now for Locks of Love. Post some comments about what all of you plan to do this season and this year to help those that are less fortunate. I'm always looking for new ideas and I hope that I've given some good ones for all of you. Happy Thanksgiving!

I Should Be Thankful

Lately, I've been a cross between being utterly miserable with my life and then utterly thankful that my life is not nearly as bad comparatively to what's going on in the world.
(1a) I am thankful for my job - I've just been informed by HR that as of 11/17/2009 I've officially been employed at my company for 5 years. This means that I should be entitled to a big pat on the back and an engraved desk clock and/or pen at our annual holiday party. (1b) I never in a million years thought that I would (a) be doing what I'm doing and (b) be doing it for 5 years already.
(2a) We live in a very nice apartment. When we moved in nearly two years ago I was so thankful that we found such a gorgeous place on our budget. Our kitchen is top notch, my bathroom has floor to ceiling marble, and basic cable is included. What more could a girl want? Funny you should ask! (2b) Since moving into our rental, which is in a condominium (and despite having a great owner/landlord) I've spent approximately $500-$1,000 on pesticide treatments (my neighbors must be dirty people whose lifestyle attracts ants). My air conditioning unit (brand new in 2008) needs its second official repair - not because of anything we do, but because the builder did not correctly set up the drainage for the units...guess who has to pay for that one? And finally, that fantastic basic cable is constantly missing several channels thanks to the lovely people at MDU Communications, DirecTv, and our association president. We are renting a money pit!
(3a) I am not a shallow b*tch! I watch the news everyday, I read the NYTimes on the weekend, and try to stay on top of current events. I get mad about health care. I get mad about Afghanistan (per my dad, didn't we learn anything from the Russians? You cannot win a war there)and mad about Iraq. I get mad that a mother would sell her daughter to pay off a drug debt. I don't understand why "Main St" and the small business owner doesn't really matter and that so many hard working people are without work. And don't even get me started on how helpless as Americans we are to do absolutely anything about all this crap. I'll admit it, I voted for Obama, I jumped on the bandwagon, I drank the Kool-Aid, but now (and this might be because my sister is a political insider) I can't wait to stick someone else in there in 2012. Not that it will matter and that might be the root of all of my frustration.
(3b) Now that I've gotten that off of my chest, I'm thankful for every single doctor and nurse that takes time out of their busy schedules to help those that cannot afford medical insurance and otherwise would not have care AND I'm even more thankful that people donate to support these types of clinics and advocacy groups. I am thankful for every soldier that comes back home safely and thankful to the news organizations that show these homecomings and not just the ones who don't make it back here safely. I am glad that we have a court and prison system that will send that mother to jail for the rest of her life and throw away the key. I am thankful that despite all the economists saying this is the worst time in American History to open up a business - someone everyday does. I am thankful that I live in a country where I can actually blog about all of this...
Please take the time and watch "Food, Inc." My husband and I did today and it has really changed the way we are going to eat and look at the food that we actually do eat with a more discerning eye. I'm no longer going to support Publix for my vegetables, fruit, dairy, and meat/fish/poultry. I will purchasing all of those items from local and organic farmers. I am also going to blog about it and let you know how it goes.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Home is Where the Heart is...If Someone Will Actually Sell Us Their Home!

We've been searching for a home for the past four months. We've made two offers, one was accepted, but it was a short sale and there were inherent problems with the listing. The second offer (remember this one), for a home that we both adore, we believe was never even presented to the sellers by the agent. We were not even given a counteroffer and the agent was so brazen about the whole thing that she actually wrote an e-mail insulting me and my husband personally, not just our offer.
I spend at least one hour a day looking for homes online. I think that I've looked at 30 houses to date. I know every home in a mile radius of our target neighborhood. I feel like I'm moonlighting as a realtor and after our interactions with most of them I am fairly confident that I'm more knowledgeable than most of them. I'm exhausted and frustrated and we haven't even had the stress of getting to the closing table. After touring three houses this weekend, we actually liked one of the homes we saw and before we had a chance to mull it over, we saw that the home had gone under contract five hours later. Let me repeat, we saw this house at 12pm. We went back to look at it online at 9pm and it was under contract. This is the biggest purchase of our lives and we are just innocent bystanders in the process. Anyone who knows me should know I have a hard time waiting in the sidelines.

I'm not sure if it was the hysteria of house hunting gone awry yesterday, but my husband and I decided to take matters into our own hands. We wrote a letter (HINT: on beautiful stationary with a matching envelope) to the owners who unfortunately had to relocate out of state, which is what prompted them to put their home on the market. It was a well written letter, I believe, and being that we've thought about this house for three months we figured what did we have to lose? For the first time in four months of this arduous process I feel like I've actually done something. We will hopefully receive something back from them and if/when we do all of you will be the first to know. Please keep all your fingers crossed for us.

Vive la France

It appears that I'm finally going to travel abroad!!! The planning has begun and I will leak to all of you the first destination of the ten day trip...three days spent in Paris, qui qui.
I've started my personal research. Travel agents and three couples that have never been there need some help planning this great vacation. We will be embarking on our journey in October 2010 for our husband's 30th birthday celebrations. I've never been to Paris, but for those of you that have been before please post some comments about things we should do, places we should stay, bistros we should eat at while we're there. I've gone to my trusted Tripadvisor.com and I am extremely excited about this first potential leg of the trip. Just the description is intoxicating: "Whether you're strolling along the Seine or soaking up city life from a sidewalk café, you'll see why Paris is synonymous with the word style. Of course, you can't miss the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Versailles and the Louvre. But be sure to spend a quiet moment in the Jardin de Tuileries and savor an éclair from a patisserie or a glass of Beaujolais in a romantic bistro. From culinary delights to cultural sights, haute couture to heady romance, Paris will tempt every one of your senses."
I plan to do all these activities and more and I plan to post the next legs of the trip, but first Vive la France, give me some travel tips for the City of Lights.

Who Watches "Million Dollar Listing?"

It's the third season of "Million Dollar Listing" on Bravo. I've watched it since the first season. I enjoy watching the scripted interactions between the three young hot shot California agents: Madison, Josh, and Chad. Madison is the only one that I actually like as a person - he is such a space cadet, but you can tell that he's a good person. Josh is extremely eccentric and I get a kick out of him. But Chad is a douche bag with a capital DB. He really irritates me more than nails on a chalkboard.
I feel the need to vent about Chad Rogers. I can handle his ridiculous Lego Person hair cut (I can't handle how much he must damage the ozone layer with his can-a-day of hairspray addiction). I can handle his annoying use of "Vivi-cakes" when conversing with his brain-dead fashion designer girlfriend (although she seems to be wising up this season, she's getting fiery, and putting her foot down, I admire that). I can even handle how overly confident he is with his real estate prowess although they've very rarely shown him "closing" a great million dollar deal.
What I absolutely cannot handle about Chad is his exploitation of Viv's chihuahua named Starla! If you watch the show you will see him pull this scared, five pound, black chihuahua out of a briefcase, not even a dog carrier. He claims that this briefcase is a manpurse/dog carrier that is ventilated. He is surprised that fans of the show do not believe that this isn't simply a briefcase. However, if a dog enjoyed being in whatever he calls this carrier of his they wouldn't look scared to death each and every episode. If you are a dog lover like me you're forced to watch this torture each episode and you want to scream at him because it's cruel. You don't put dogs in briefcases that aren't ventilated (I'm sorry, he claims it is). News flash Chad, dogs don't shake if they enjoy being handed off to strangers you're trying to sell real estate to that they don't know.
I want PETA to get involved. I want to call the ASPCA on him. He is the metro-sexual Michael Vick. He should be fined and Starla should be kept away from him and his briefcase at all costs. This is a memo to Chad, you're a world class a-hole for how you treat that poor dog. This is a memo to Vivi-cakes, keep your self-obsessed D-Bag boyfriend away from your dog Starla! Now is your chance, watch the YouTube of when Viv can take a stand and not allow Chad to have any rights to her: Poor Starla I would like to start a campaign to "Save Starla." Who is with me???

Things I'm Obsessed With...

I stopped off at Bloomingdale's today for a few reasons, but I needed to get my favorite lip gloss and mascara, which interestingly enough both ran out officially this morning when I was doing my make up. I also decided to pick up a new Fall/Winter nail polish. I like buying make up, but I'm pretty loyal and rarely try new things. I decided to tell you what I got because they are fantastic and I highly recommend you pick some up for yourself.
(1) CHANEL LEVRES SCINTILLANTES: "Pin-Up" $27.00. I love how it looks and wears alone as just a lip gloss and over pretty much any lipstick color you might have.
(2) Dior DiorShow Mascara: "Black" $24.00. I suffer like most women from non-existent eyelashes. I've tried it all by way of mascaras and this one is my all time favorite. I have blond eyelash tips and try to never leave the house without some mascara on so trust me that I've tried them all.
(3) CHANEL LE VERNIS NAIL COLOUR: "Imperial #469" $24.00. I wanted my new dark color and Chanel always fits the bill. They invented the Vamp craze from the 1990's (trust me when I also say that I owned every single one of those dark colors back then too) so who better to get my fall/winter polish from than them. While this might not be your favorite color, why not go to the make up counter and pick one up for yourself. I almost caught myself going back to Vamp, but decided to try something new. I'll let you know how it goes and if I hate it, but I doubt that I will.

Let There Be Fruit!

One of the best parts of planning a wedding is that through all of the craziness and stress you randomly receive registry gifts. You get these gifts throughout the entire planning period and even after the wedding! It is like Hanukkah or your birthday. Since I live in a tiny apartment, most of the gifts that we received are still packed up neatly and at my parent's house waiting for us to claim them again. I'm going to have a party with my husband and reopen everything. I can't wait, we just need to buy a house, which is a whole other blog for a different day!
If you've been following my blog or if you know me - I'm slightly obsessed with flowers and flower arrangements. If you also know me and as I've yet to blog about, I'm constantly on a diet, thinking about a random diet, or starving myself because I like to eat too many sweets. To put it nicely, I've gained 7 pounds since my wedding, which was only 3 months ago...not good. And then, as if it were kismet, I received my French Wire 3-Tier Stand - a Pottery Barn piece that I coveted and wanted very badly from my registry. Getting gifts leading up to the wedding is great, but getting a registry gift 3 months after the wedding is, well, awesome.
To tie everything together, I love flower arrangements because they bring life and color in the house. I need to love fruit and vegetables because I'm always dieting. I'm obsessed with my new french wire stand because it combines both! In referencing the picture you will also see two more of my wedding gifts that I wanted to display before we moved. The tureen is handmade by a local artist from Pittsburgh, PA and was given to me by one of my mom's close friends as a bridal shower gift. The Fitz & Floyd pitcher was a bridal shower gift from my grandmother. I like how all three pieces tie together on my kitchen island. Check it out - living AND edible art.

Artwork

"Duo Rouge" by Emile Bellet
In December 2008 we went on a Caribbean cruise. The trip was a week long and I found myself going to the onboard Park West Art Auction on a pretty regular basis. Park West knows how to put on a good show...unlimited champagne was served, which helped keep my alcohol bill low on the cruise. I'm not much of a poolside tanner, namely because I burn and this was a fun activity to pass the time during the day or before dinner. Some of the artwork was gorgeous and before week's end I had purchased three pieces - all were signed and numbered serigraphs in color. Maybe they'll be worth something someday, but I bought them because they were reasonably priced and I fell in love with them.
I purchased the following pictures: (1) "Murania" by Shan-Merry, (2)"L'Escalier a Theoule" by Jean-Claude Picot, and (3) "Duo Rouge" by Emile Bellet. About a month after our cruise ended I received a large cardboard cylinder filled neatly with all three pieces. After I looked at them and admired them again for their beauty, I placed them neatly back into the cylinder, stuck the cylinder in my office, and forgot about my artwork for another two months. I pulled them back out because I was ready to frame them. I did some online research, took my artwork's measurements, and being the frugal shopper that I am began pricing out how much it would cost to get all three framed. I was not willing to fork over $600-$1,000 for them to be custom framed. I knew it would be expensive, but had no idea it would be THAT expensive. I rolled the three pieces back up, neatly put them into the cylinder, and there they stayed until two weeks ago...
Fed up that my artwork (that I spent a fair amount of money on) was sitting in a cardboard tube, I pulled my pictures out again. This time however I planned on getting them into a frame. I found my way to my favorite arts and craft store, Michael's, and with the measurements I'd taken months ago purchased ready made frames with mats for reduced by 40% each. As luck should have it, Michael's had all their frames on sale, and for $45 I'd purchased the frames that my artwork now hangs in. Okay, I know that these are not a perfect fit. I know that there is a skill to having artwork professionally framed. I plan one day to custom frame these pieces. However, today (or two weeks ago) was not that day. Check out my handywork. I was quite pleased with the outcome and it's a heck of a lot better than having them sit in a cylinder for another year.
"L'Escalier a Theoule" by Jean-Claude Picot
"Murania" by Shan-Merry

I'm So Over Facebook

In September 2007 - prior to Facebook being banned in my workplace - my coworker and friend Elysia (I did a shout out) got me to join Facebook. I had a previous encounter with social networking sites in 2004 when I did Friendster for a year, but once I shut down my Friendster account I really enjoyed the privacy it afforded me. MySpace always confused me because there was too much going on and when I left Friendster, which was very limited in what you could and couldn't do with your online profile, I really didn't feel like I'd suffered a loss.
I will admit that Facebook is addictive - for no other reason than you can spy on people. Sometimes, I don't like what I discover. Can you believe so and so are friends? Can you believe so and so friend requested me or so and so deleted me as a friend? I've seen pretty much every high school and college friend's wedding pictures because of Facebook. I know when someone gets engaged, when someone gets pregnant, when someone gets a job or loses a job, when someone moves to a new place, you get the point BUT my brain is now so overloaded with unimportant information - completely irrelevant to my life that I cannot take it anymore.
I started really getting fed up when people my parent's age started popping up on Facebook. I get that in order to make more money they had to open it up to the Baby Boomer generation, but it sort of took something away from being a member on the site. For one, it made me feel younger that the only way you could join was if you had a college e-mail account. I think when they opened it up to anyone and everyone, it stopped making me feel young. Now, I feel like the old fart that gets friend suggestions to people 15 years younger than me. I don't know these people, but I do know that my 28 year old self has no need to become friends with a 15 year old that I'm not related to - it's just creepy.
It's funny, but for as sick as I am of Facebook I'm still not able to close down my account. I have taken steps to distance myself from it - lessen my online presence. For one, I deleted Facebook for iPhone - in large part because iPhone's suck and the application was always on the fritz, but deleting that application was a step in the right direction. Two, Facebook is banned at work and the last thing that I want to do when I get home is sit in front of my computer for another couple of hours. It's funny that my office banned Facebook considering the insurance company I work for is now on Facebook and Twitter...go figure. Doesn't that further prove my point about how lame all these social networking sites have gotten? Why does an insurance office need to have a Facebook profile? What person is sitting around thinking about taking a corporation seriously and says to themselves "gee, I wonder if that business has a Facebook profile? I only trust businesses that are so in touch with society that they are on Facebook promoting their business." Three, I've considered deactivating my profile, but not deleting my account. Who are we kidding, I need to just pull the plug and do it cold turkey. I want to say that I'm not there yet, but it's only a matter of time until I am ready to do away with the account. I'm so over Facebook!!!