Tampa Trip

So far in 2010 the most fun I’ve had as been my trip to Tampa and I haven’t spoken a word about it. Weird.

My first revelation is that road trips suck and airplanes rock. I will never again drive down to see my friend. Flying is so worth the money. What makes this my favorite airport experience of all times is that Mandy & I had two celebrity sighting! We rode the terminal train AND escalator with

these hot boys. Yes. We saw them in the flesh AND they are 100% hotter in person! No we didn’t get an autograph or picture, however Mandy did give them the stare down and I contemplated an elaborate plan of bumping into them and falling gracefully into their arms.

Back to the trip, it was great. We had a blast catching up with Michelle and spent the weekend drinking and eating and drinking and eating…

Rain didn’t rain on our parade. We still had a blast. We came up with the cleverest idea. Take a picture every hour to see our happiness progression throughout the day. I ended up with 40 pictures (below are my favs).

On Sunday we saw the worst movie ever – When in Rome. You are only going to like this if you’re 13 or younger. Who watches that crap?? Even though the movie was terrible we had a great time. Michelle took us to the CineBistro. It is a restaurant + theater. Totally trendy and I loved it. The seats were huge, relaxing, leather and clean. We got to pick our seats and a waiter took our order for food and drinks (yes, they had a full bar). *smile*…and then more drinking and eating and drinking and eating…and watching Twilight.

Magnificent  time! Can’t wait to go back.

Movie Quotes: Jennifer’s Body

I’ve lacked in my posting lately and there are several reasons for this tragedy but I’m not ready to disclose them yet…  but in trying to get back on track I wanted to discuss a movie I watched over the weekend. Anyone seen Jennifer’s Body? you know – that movie with Megan Fox?? now you remember. well, this tragic little film is hilarious. I believe it’s meant to be scary but it has some classic lines…

You’re lime green jello and you can’t even admit it to yourself

I think it’s important to reach out to our fans in the shitty areas, too.

These are like smart bombs, you point them in the right direction and shit gets real.

Hey, Monistat. / What’s up, Vagisil?

Nice insult, Hannah Montana. You got any more harsh digs?

Goal Update: January

Time to assess my goals and the progress I made in January. I’ll give myself a B-

My personal 2010 goals:

1. Workout at least 2 times a week x 4 weeks in month = 8 sessions / 9 times for me!
2. Play the lottery once a month / umm… I forgot
3. Finished 1 book out of 26
4. Clean out my car every Sunday / check
5. Volunteer at least twice in the year / got nothing
6. Make a quilt / checked out library books on quilting, it is a start.
7. Start a vacation saving account fund / got nothing

My 2010 house goals: haven’t started these yet…..

1. Landscape front yard (remove bushes, create proper drainage, mulch etc.)
2. Crawl space work (install plastic vapor barrier & ventilation fan)
3. Decorate Living Room (including but not limited to purchasing new furniture & rug)
4. Painting bedroom to coordinate with new bedding, purchasing new dresser & nightstand
5. Stain the back porch to match the fence.  (New addition)

I am so excited!

 Tomorrow I’m off for a long weekend in Tampa to see this bestie.

Book Review: Shutter Island

“The year is 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, have come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to investigate the disappearance of a patient. Multiple-murderess Rachel Solando is loose somewhere on this barren island, despite having been kept in a locked cell under constant surveillance. As a killer hurricane bears relentlessly down on them, a strange case takes on even darker, more sinister shades—with hints of radical experimentation, horrifying surgeries, and lethal counter moves made in the cause of a covert shadow war. No one is going to escape Shutter Island unscathed, because nothing at Ashecliffe Hospital is remotely what it seems.“  {Source: Barnes & Noble}

My review: I decided to read Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane because the movie trailer made it look intriguing and critical me really enjoys reading a novel then watching it on the big screen. I just love to pick the movies apart. My theory is the less I tell you about the story, the better read it will be! I don’t want to give anything away because the mystery of it is what kept me turning the page. The only setback for me was; my lack of history knowledge. The story takes place in the 1950’s and the author refers to several 50’s and 60’s movie stars and World War events/places, so I had to refer to Google a few times. The book takes you on a great whodunit and will keep you thinking long after you’ve finished. And the benefit of seeing the trailer so many times is that I kept picturing Leonardo DiCaprio as the lead character Teddy Daniels. yummy… 

Blogiversary and such….

Happy blogiversary to me! January 23, 2009 is when I started this quest of random rants, raves and rambles… It has been a busy year, I’ve posted 121 times, had 221 comments and almost 4,000 views. cha-ching! Can’t wait to see what happens in 2010!

This weekend I had high hopes of being really productive but that didn’t really pan out. I did get a maintenance color and cut, oil change and cleaned the kitchen. So, it wasn’t totally unproductive, however, I did watch a lot of DVR TV (Vampire Diaries, The Deep End, Housewives, Jersey Shore) and Lifetime. Did anyone besides Quint & I get sucked into the Pregnancy Pact??

I did get my artistic juices flowing… I made these lovelies for my two newly engaged girlfriends – Stacy & Mandy.

Front of notebook:

 The back:

Free Friday!

It’s the little things in life that make me smile. Example, this morning I checked the mail and to my surprise I had a package! – and in that package was a new book – and what makes that awesome is it was FREE! Earlier this month I joined the Thriller & Suspense Challenge 2010 by Book Chick City. I had noticed a few of these challenges floating around blog world and thought this genre was most fitting for my reading taste. Therefore, I took the plunge and signed up. The challenge is to read 12 thrillers in-between 01/01/2010 – 12/31/2010. Easy, peasey, right? You write a review for each book and post it on BCC and ta-dah you’re finished. Back to my free book, as a courtesy of publisher SIMON & SCHUSTER UK, all participants receive a free copy of either Random by Craig Robertson or Venom by Joan Brady. It is supposed to help jump-start your challenge! I received:

Love is in the air!

Something so exciting happened last night – I’m dedicating an entire post to it! Mike broke out the bling. My best bud in the whole wide world, Mandy, is getting married!

Congratulations! I ♥ you both!!

{photo source: Keith Davis Young}

War Wound #1

I forced myself to the gym this afternoon and have decided running s.u.c.k.s! It seemed easier last Monday but today I felt every agonizing second. My chest felt like needles and my face looked like a tomato and my right foot hurt. Wonder why? Not sure how you bleed from running on the treadmill… 

Friday’s French Dip Recipe

Wanted to share a new recipe I tried out this week. Super easy and yummy!

Slow Cooker French Dip

Ingredients:

• 4 pounds rump roast
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can French onion soup
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
• 6 French rolls
• 6 Pieces of provolone cheese

Directions:

Trim excess fat from the rump roast, and place in a slow cooker. Add the beef broth, onion soup and beer (dark beer is better). Cook on low setting for 7 hours. Turn broiler on high, slice the meat on the diagonal, and place meat & cheese on roll. Broil until cheese is bubbly. Serve the sauce for dipping.