missing florida.

latley i've been missing florida, sunshine and JUSTINE. here are a few pics that remind me of our past trips. i've got the cartoon-y like one of Jon and I up as my desktop wallpaper. LOOK OUT!!

memorial birthday fun - dinosaur style.

we celebrated the start of summer in style. blessed with gorgeous weather and great company, we headed to central new york for a fun filled BBQ weekend!

Brother Jon came in from DC and we celebrated his twenty-fifth birthday, dinosaur style. You see our family LOVES anything from the dinosaur barbeque. Their cookbook made the rounds one year as christmas gifts so @ his bday dinner request - everything on the table had to come from the book. Let's just say... YUMMMY.

Other festivities included lawn games such as ladder golf and Polish horseshoes. This horseshoe game is like no other - ski poles, beer cans and a frisbee (you really had to be there) and woah the ladder golf tourney (brackets included) was pretty competitive. Then Sunday we hit the water and took a nice boat ride and swim.

You can check out the rest of the pics here.

fun labels.

i found super-cute party theme ideas when looking for bridal *stuff* on this website. it is a wedding style website that framed all the themes around bridal showers which got my mind racing for upcoming friends who might tie the knot in the next few years.

then i got to thinking and several of them could so be a non-bridal shower. they're good fro any ole regular party, get together, birthday, or special occasion! i even used the super cute book club labels for a recent birthday occasion.


sondra turned a FABULOUS age last week and we got her some light reading material. one from me, one from the boy, and one from lucy. i downloaded these labels for the to/from tags and these labels for the 'this book is perfect for you because....' part and VOILA. add fun wrapping paper and we've got ourselves some composition notebook style gifts. perfect for the teacher in ur lives ;-)

game day.

it's GAME DAY...

go team CUPCAKES!!!!

snow bound.

you know a lot of snow fell when....


your snow brush snaps from the weight of it!

obama address.

my brother and his girlfriend live in the DC area. somehow, someway they scored amazing seats to the inauguration address the evening before and braved the cold and the crowds tuesday to watch history in our nation. here are some of his pics:


(their seats)

(posters)

(obama flair)

(security)

(capital)

thanks for sharing!

rising gas prices.

i've decided to come out of hiding in the blogging world and publicly face what has been taking up all my spare time.


no, it's not the rising gas prices. it's the date of our upcoming wedding. our fast-approaching, getting closer by the day, can't put off any longer wedding date.

i apologize in advance, for all the wedding subject posts that are in our future. well, minimally mine, and yours too if you continue to have me ;-)

lucky lucy.

hey gang, lucy here.

call the newspapers cause i really can't believe it. i'm shocked. AMAZED. could it really be true?! could i have made it through my first halloween WITHOUT MY MOM DRESSING ME UP?!?!? i checked the calendar not once, not twice, but THREE times and sure enough - it was the 31st all day long and nothing...

no lions.
no silly hats. (i'm not an easter bunny or a reindeer for heaven sakes)
no bumblebees.
no ladybugs.
not even a shirt!

as if that wouldn't make my day, then they ran off to some party looking like FOOLS while i got to lounge on the couch tormenting every trick-or-treater that came to the door. i'm so happy they mistakingly left the porch light on b/c it tricked those kids into thinking someone was home. you shoulda seen their scared kiddie faces!

so, yes, the rumors are true. my mom didn't dress me up. i skated by this year by the grey hairs on my chinny-chin-chin. it's probably better off that she didn't anyway. not like she was winning any points with me wearing a poodle on her skirt.

lovin the lazy life,
lucy

happy halloween.

boo.

table numbers.

sondra and josh are getting married and she asked me to create twenty table number cards for their reception. ingredients: brown cardstock, burlap, buttons, raffia ribbons and STAMPIN love. here are the results:

on my desktop.

here's a neat photo that my bro sent me. makes inspiring wallpaper for the computs!

skype'ing fun.

got skype?

if you don't - you're not getting FREE internet calls. with OR without a webcam! (thanks jon) who doesn't want FREE calls when ur overseas!

Singapore Day 1.

today was spent exploring my hotel and getting acclimated to the time zone difference. more on that later. my room is in the 'garden terrace' section which is like half outside, half inside. it's really neat. there is this garden area with lush ponds, waterfalls, and palms in the center that jut up a few floors. i snapped some pics and headed out to explore the POOL.


this pool looks really enticing from my balcony and after work, i indulged in both it and the hot tub. it's a blazing 90 degrees here but later in the evening the hot tub was a perfect temperature to relax with a book.

work went really well. i'm working with cisco systems and their office is on the 26floor which makes for a great view. my co-workers here in Singapore are really nice. i can't wait to go to dinner with them tonight and see more of the city.

stay tuned!

singapore arrival.

hey folks. i jumped ship and came to Singapore for work. it's my first time to the asia-pacific region and i'll admit it's been a pretty smooth travel so far. i hopped on one of these gigundo B747s that United runs and it was smooth sailing. these monsters hold up to like 400 people and even have a 2nd floor! i couldn't get over how big the plane was... the wingspan alone is bigger than most of the planes I take for business travel. when we were taxi-ing, i swear one almost went directly underneath the wing.
the haul from chicago to hong kong was over 15 hours... but i really wouldn't know. i slept about 9 hours of it. i struck gold when no one sat next to me and i could take over 2 seats for my bed. my layover in HK was okay... despite losing my glasses. i left them in the women's bathroom when i put my contacts in. HUGE bummer! hope i don't lose my contacts when i'm swimming in the pool at my hotel. speaking of.... check out my view!


although it was pretty early (hence no daylight) here when i took that video... it's HOT! 86 degrees by 6am and 90% humidity. holy toledo... i know i'll be enjoying that pool!



talk soon! i'm off to go convince my body it's really 8am and not 8pm. wish me luck!

b-day boy.

A little birdie told me that today MAY be some anonymous' commenter's birthday. Happy Birthday ya old fart. Next time I see ya I'll be sure to buy ya a beer out of Al's garage!

film reels.

remember when we started painting the living room?! well we've been basically 're-doing' the living room this entire year. (unfortunately just thinking about what we're gonna do doesn't really get much done!) when looking for decor i found these film reels at ballard designs and i think i NEED them for my mantel. they're so neat - there is one size for each era in the film industry, the biggest being about 2 ft.

then i saw the price and i reminded myself why the catalog(s) should go straight to the recycle bin.

window view.

i'm bummed i haven't had the chance to keep up with the blog the last few weeks. i'm sooooo sorry guys b/c i really miss everyone!! unfortunately i just haven't had too many GOOD things to talk about. seems that life is throwing challenges at me left and right these days. and with so many in a row... i could but only stop and think that some force was working against me. hence some reflecting time.

enough about that. an update on when i last spoke to you - i DIDN'T win the scooter. BOOOOOO to that. i called Parkliegh on two separate occasions where they confirmed that the actual winner had already picked up little sunny and was off enjoying their new ride. i've yet to see them on the road but when i do, it'll be tough not to mutter obsceneties at them under my breath. at this point i could have used a little winning luck to pick my spirits up.

(from the corner)

i do have lots more to talk about and get your opinions on so CHECK BACK! including how the heck i'm supposed to resist the urge to skip my morning meeting and run over to the garage/moving sale that is literally next door to my office building. i swear i saw not one, but TWO antique cash registers as i drove in. not sure though as most of my caffeine hadn't kicked in by 7:20am.


(from my office)

here is a pic out of my office window as i sit here and type over my keyboard. crazy, huh?! how the heck am i supposed to concentrate on reviewing business requirements when i can see everyone else HAULING away antique goodies. maybe i could bargain with them out the window!? perhaps i could send them 'best offers' via paper airplanes! oh my. hopefully i'll be that much more productive today knowing i can race out of here and get some goodies. i deserve 'em these days.

scooter madness.

i've been dreaming (and therefore drooling) about a scooter these days. riding on one, taking pictures of one, getting a sidecar for Lucy in one. i decided to take matters into my own hands and WIN one. today i entered to win the SUNSHINE YELLOW Vespa raffle going on at Parkleigh. the drawing is happening very soon and until then, i'll be practicing my facial expressions for when i win!

grand margaritas.

you know you've been drinking a lot of grand margaritas when...


you have empty grand marnier bottles serving as your garden art. here's the TASTY recipe for anyone who hasn't enjoyed one of these yummy concoctions.



they are a nice accessory to our garden sticks.