Sunday, March 30, 2008

tv news

Check it out, Scrubs fans. Fingers crossed we get to see the rest of this season and maybe another one too!

FNL looks like it's moving to the safe column, too.

spring is in the air

It's cool and rainy here today....otherwise known as spring in the Midwest. Thank goodness we didn't get snow last week like a lot of folks North of us.

We're hoping to transform our yard into a space with lush grass, healthy trees and eventually pretty flowers and sprouting herbs and veggies. It's definitely a work in progress, and Ben spent a lot of time yesterday spreading seed and filling bare spots with dirt. We have a variety of bulbs sprouting...we know some tulips and crocuses are coming because we planted them in the fall but I have no idea what else is out there. We need some warm sun to get things moving. I'll post a photo once we have some action.

We still haven't decided what to do with our front porch. A day or two of painting is in order..maybe a new floor and definitely furniture. I know we're getting at least one chaise lounge to laze around on and take naps in ...

c'mon warm Spring days! We're ready!!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

tidbits

I rarely read my local newspaper and get excited about an article. That changed today when they ran an article about threading, the traditional Indian hair removal technique.

I fell in love with threading in L.A. where you can find salons offering the service, or entire businesses devoted to the practice, all over the place. Finding someone who threads in Bloomington wasn't quite as easy...the first gal I tried charged 4 times as much as my L.A. gal (the pain over paying the ridiculous fee was much worse than the hair removal). I did finally stumble upon a heavenly angel who offers threading out of her basement salon for a very fair fee.

I highly encourage anyone who hates waxing and plucking to give it a try!

We watched Gone Baby Gone this weekend and thought it was great. I'm bummed I didn't see it in the theater - it's actually one worth paying for.

I still have free movie passes, but there's not much out I want to see...post a recommendation if you have one.

Opening Day is just around the corner and ironically I may be in St. Louis for a Cardinal's rally (for work). I gotta say I wish I was heading to Wrigley instead. Spending Opening Day in St. Louis just feels like bad ju-ju.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

happy easter



These photos are from a few weeks ago when Abi was in town. We celebrated Easter early by coloring eggs. She really liked the blue eggs and couldn't wait for them to dry so she could put stickers on each one. They weren't drying fast enough for her so she blew on them, and in the photo it looks like she's blowing out candles on a cake made out of eggs.

The eggs were Abi's new friends...but Nan wouldn't let her carry them around just in case she left one hidden somewhere only to become a stink bomb later on. So we played with plastic eggs instead. No matter; Abi wasn't deterred. The eggs were going everywhere. And who needs a basket to put them in when you've got a Mystery Machine?


I make a mean deviled egg so we're taking those over to Ben's parent's house and we're trying a new dessert - Jamie Oliver's Sunken Souffle - made out of ginger snaps, rhubarb and custard. Yum!

Happy Easter, all!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

tidbits

Welcome home to rain, fog and all-around CRAP weather! Today definitely felt like a Monday since it was my first day back to work (boo!) and the weather stunk. Blah!

Today would have been a great curl-up-with-a-book day. I finished Eat, Pray, Love yesterday and it was good -better than I expected actually. I'm ready to start something new...any suggestions??

I have to admit I'm bored to tears without my favorite TV shows. My TiVo is depressed. I'm sad. Come back, Scrubs! Where are you, Heroes? I'm SO SAD that I watched Idol two weeks in a row (I plead temporary insanity). I really do not get the obsession with this show. What am I missing?? I can't bring myself to watch any more of the pain.

I can tolerate Dancing with the Stars though I am already looking forward to the shows later on when it is down to a smaller bunch. 3 hours over 2 night is just unnecessary! My early pick is Kristi Yamaguci - love her!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

last day of vacation


We've had so much fun in Arizona this weekend, and now it's time to say goodbye (for me, anyway; Ben left yesterday morning to spend the weekend studying).

We hiked at South Mountain - Bajada Trail on Friday. It was a fairly easy trail but long and hot. We saw a bunny (desert bunny?), ground squirrel, lizards, and a harmless snake.

Saturday I took Lynn's Pilates class which was tough, but much easier for me this time! We had lunch at great restaurant called Olive & Ivy in Scottsdale and then shopped until our feet could carry us no more (well they carried us through a final stop in Nordstrom's shoe department, but we didn't even buy anything!).

It was actually chilly here today-60 really IS chilly in Arizona when you aren't used to it-but I guess it was a good preview for me since I'll be back in Bloomington tomorrow. Goodbye, Arizona.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

hello from mesa


We were welcomed to Arizona with 80 degree temps and lovely sunshine. It was H-O-T today at the Cubs game. Thankfully the Cubs pulled out a 3-2 win over the Padres. Maddux and Marquis both pitched solidly and the starters stayed in until the eighth inning. Murton drew a walk in the bottom of the ninth and eventually scored the winning run on a base hit by Cintron.

It's so fun to see palm trees, cacti and deep blue skies again! Being out here definitely makes me miss L.A.

We're going on a (low impact) hike tomorrow morning. That should prepare me for Lynn's killer Pilates class Sat. morning!

Sunday, March 9, 2008

save the daylight

It's almost 6 p.m. as I write this and the sun is still shining beautifully! I didn't realize it was evening until Ben mentioned dinner. I love daylight savings time!

It was a low-key weekend in Bloomington. ISU played in the Missouri Valley Conference championship game and lost to Drake again (apparently losing to them twice this season wasn't enough). So now we wait and see if the Redbirds will go to The Big Dance for the first time in 10 years.

We browsed through a Home Show yesterday, but didn't see anything we were particularly interested in. Ben's excited to start landscaping, and I'm looking forward to working on our enclosed front porch. It has an ugly, peeling gray-ish floor right now and zero furniture so we have our work cut out for us. It'll be great to essentially have an extra room in the house during the warmer months though.

We watched the Assassination of Jesse James and it was w-a-y too long. Nearly three hours! Casey Affleck is as good as everyone's been saying, and Brad Pitt is good too.

I gotta wrap this up and do some preliminary packing for Wednesday's trip.

Have a good week!

Friday, March 7, 2008

tgif

It's been a long week! Today could not come soon enough. It's a "toasty" 25 degrees here today and I am sick and tired of the bitter cold. We're staying in tonight because going outside just seems like a lot of effort.

We still have the Assassination of Jesse James to watch, and now we also have Gone, Baby, Gone. I really, really liked this book and I'm so excited to see the movie. Miss Pettigrew Lives for A Day looks fun so I have to try and see that in the theater. Amy Adams is always entertaining.

It's crazy to think we turn our clocks ahead tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to the daylight, but dreading the loss of sleep. I always feel off after a time change..and we'll have two this week with our upcoming trip to AZ (I know, I know woe is me).

Hope you have fun (or boring, but relaxing) weekend plans!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

tidbits

I just got home from a few days in Nashville for work so my life has been pretty boring the past few days.

I did see the Grand Ole Opry and that was entertaining. Country music isn't that appealing to me, but it was interesting from the historical perspective. Nashville reminds me a lot of Memphis but bigger and cleaner. The weather was warmer than Central IL so it was nice to get a taste of Spring and sunshine.

We did a bit of shopping this weekend and I picked up a few Springy items - all of the purple out has definitely caught my eye. I haven't seen any interesting shoes yet- have not even tried on a pair!- so that will be one of my goals for next week's trip to Arizona. Maybe we'll pick up some new Cubs shirts too. Can't wait!

I was disappointed in yesterday's primary results. We officially have to listen to John McCain for the next eight months and Obama doesn't have the Dem nom wrapped up as of yet...

It's time to relax and get ready for the Project Runway finale.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

unofficially spring

I can't believe it's March! It's almost Spring-like today with temps in the 50's. It'll be a short-lived peek at Spring though because we're due to get snow a few times this week.

We'll be in Arizona next week for the REAL start of Spring: a Cubs game! Lynn celebrated her birthday at a game today (too bad they lost) and we're excited to get out there for a game and some more birthday celebrations. Happy 30th, Lynnie!

My favorite things about spring are the blooming trees and flowers, green grass and sunlight. We put a lot of bulbs in the ground last fall so I can't wait to see how everything comes up.

Ah.....I can almost smell the tulips!

Back to today, I was upset to see that NBC hasn't agreed to air the last six episodes of Scrubs. They have some episodes still to air, but apparently the last six aren't a part of the agreement. Hopefully they'll come to their senses and air Scrubs, as well as renew Friday Night Lights.

We finally watched A Mighty Heart this weekend and it was good. The book is great so the movie had a lot to live up to, but Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman and the rest of the supporting cast were all very good. No matter the medium, Mariane Pearl's story is absolutely gut-wrenching. The story stays with you...

It's a big week for politics with some major primaries lined-up for Tuesday. I must say I'm absolutely sick and tired of hearing about the "attacks" from Clinton and Obama. Hopefully Tuesday's results will put Obama clearly in the leader column.

I'm going to check out Oprah's Big Give tonight. The premise sounds interesting and I love Jamie Oliver so hopefully it'll be a decent show...we still have more than a few weeks before our favorites return.

Have a good week!