Off And Running

It feels like it has been so long since I have tinkered around on this little blog o' mine. And you know what? I have missed it. That is always a nice feeling to know that I still have that oomph that makes me want to come back here....so yay for that!

Let's see since I was last here it was pre-Thanksgiving so let me catch you up. Thanksgiving was lovely. I just love how the focus on Thanksgiving is food and family instead of consumer craziness; the focus is on what matters. So per usual we made cannolis and pizza and were perfect hams (or turkey's I guess) in front of the camera. We took so many pictures of us just being well, us but I will spare you and only show you a couple.

Here is my cousin and I making cannolis and my brothers thought they would jump in the picture.

And then I suggested random pictures for my brothers and I to take. They rolled their eyes but I know years from now they will thank me for being so spontaneous and goofy when we look back at these pictures.

I was totally hesitant about posting this next picture because hello my butt! But hey I am wearing leggings under my dress so whatever.

And then the day after Thanksgiving guess what I did? I worked in retail in Black Friday. Seriously. But to my surprise it was so fun! Everyone was super excited to shop and get some deals that I didn't have to deal with the wackos that give retail work a bad name....not yet anyway...I bet I will have some stories as Christmas grows nearer.

But the store I work for sells these:

And goodness gracious I want one but I can't decide between the black and grey. I asked twitter and the votes were split evenly between the two. What do you think?

And I really can't afford to be that girl that spends her paycheck at the store that she works but oh my gah this ring?!
Seriously, I can't afford to spend my money on fun stuff. No I can't....but maybe just a little.

How was your Thanksgiving?

Oh P.S. You are totally going to want to show up here tomorrow...I have a fun give away for you guys to start the holiday season off right :)

P.P.S Have you guys come across any good cyber monday deals? Do tell. Share them in the comments section!

UPDATE: Some ladies would like to know where they can get that awesome bag. Here are some links for the purse (I work for neither company fyi so no fancy perks for posting their link...not saying I wouldn't mind it....) Aaaanyway, here is one link and here is another. Let me know what color you get!

Changing The Present

In case missed my announcement yesterday, my review blog has gift guides up featuring gifts $50 and under for men and women! I suggest you check it out. I also want to mention one of my favorite ways to give gifts for the person that has it all or wants none of it; the website is called Changing The Present.

Changing The Present is a website with 1500 different ways to donate to charity. There are opportunities to donate to charities for children, animals, artists...really, the options are endless and incredibly affordable, starting at $5 donations. I highly suggest you check it out. I always donate money in Nani and Papa's name every year for Christmas and they have said it is the best gift they have been given.

WIll You Be My Date?

If you are ever stumped about a type of party to throw have I got the answer for you, throw a prom party! Do it! Saturday night Jon and I celebrated the birthdays of two of our close friends by turning back the clock at least 8 years by donning our finest prom attire. It was so much fun!

There was a dance floor set up with streamers and music from high school. There was also a punch bowl which ended up getting spiked by the end of the night. Here I am with the birthday boy.

I wore a prom dress from Junior year and did my own updo complete with fake flowers that matched my corsage and Jon's boutonniere (which I made from the same flowers that were in my hair). Jon got a sweet suit from the Salvation Army that made him a hit. He was going for more of a "Southern Gentlemen" look but got tagged with "PeeWee Herman" more often than not.

Check out the awesome picture back drop, yes that is a unicorn. I think it was the pedestals that really made the scene.

Even though there was a dance floor set up inside I ended my night by dancing to She Wolf on repeat in the garage doing this...

Now that is a quality party if you ask me.

What did you do this weekend?

P.S. Go check out my gift guide on my review blog, I am pretty proud of it! And what do ya know, I finished the gift guide for men today too!

Hybrid Hero

Are you ever embarrassed of your dreams?

Not like your "I have a dream..." kinda dreams but the weird things that happen when you sleep.

Well my dream last night was so weird that it embarrasses me in a way I can't quite pin down.

Here it goes:

I was falling from a tall building in Gotham City. As I fall from this building a hybrid of Batman and Superman comes to save me. So this hybrid of part Batman, part Superman scoops me out of the air and I feel so relieved. But then he tosses me high into the air and I remember that scary feeling of my limbs flailing high above Gotham.

So then Mr. Superhero keeps tossing me in the air and then finally catches me and throws me through a window of a scummy apartment. I land in the apartment and start puking into the dirty, dirty toilet and realize that I am pregnant with the super hero's baby. (!!) I stop puking and my mom is there and she says "ahh, super powered morning sickness".

Before I can get out any words I see these rats as big as well fed house cats creep across the floor. Except these rats look like they are part crow as well. (??) My mom doesn't seem scared so I try not to get scared.

And then I woke up.

What the what?!

I don't even know where to begin with this bizarre dream. It is just so strange because I never remember the dreams that aren't somewhat disturbing, it's always these realllly weird dreams that tug on my pant leg all day.

Have you had any weird dreams lately?

Sassy Sidenote: I Don't Love What You Do For Me Toyota

This video may have the heading "Dogs Love This" but how about the humans? Well this human is not fond of it at all. Every time this commercial comes on Frank runs about the apartment looking for the elusive squeak toy. I try to give him replacement toys but this little guy is way to smart to fall for the ole switcheroo. So instead he frantically looks for the toy that has the matching squeak.

Thanks Toyota!

I Mayer May Not Have A Crush on This Musician

I was in high school when I was introduced to John Mayer's music. I was very suseptible to pop tunes back then so his light and airy melodies were a-ok in my book. But as I listened to the songs I realized that this guy could write some darn good lyrics, and *cough cough*, he was pretty cute too. I went to one of his concerts when he was lesser known and he played the sugary sweet songs as well as some unexpected blues guitar too. Turns out this guy was cute, wrote some pretty deep lyrics and played a mean guitar.

Photo Credit Here

John Mayer followed up Room For Squares with Heavier Things, and while I thought it was somewhat over produced considering the guitar talent he was holding back, it was still enjoyable. But theeeen he came out with Continuum in 2006 and to this day that cd is one of my favorite of all times. The lyrics on this cd really resonated with my life at the time, and even now, so much so that sometimes I listen to them and they make me a little weepy.

So yes, he may be a play boy and make a funny face when he plays guitar but he can play said guitar like nobody's business and write some songs that I could listen to for years and not get tired of. So with that said I am as excited as a chihuahua after a cup of coffee for his new cd "Battle Studies" which comes out tomorrow.

Technical Difficulties!

Don't worry, I know there is something super wonky going on with my site...I don't know what is going on but I am working on it.

Thanks for your patience lovely people!

Random Is My Middle Name, Not Really It's Marie

Here are some tidbits that have been floating through my head:

-I just had a really healthy salad and hard boiled egg but ruined it by having a heaping helping of rice pudding that Nani made. I am my own worst enemy sometimes.

-For some reason a moment when Jon and I first moved in together popped into my head. My back was aching so I put a heating pad between myself and our velvet couch. When I got up I noticed that the heat had singed the velvet (it was hardly noticeable). I then went into a crying jag, alternating hyperventilating with "JON WE NEED A NEW COUCH, I CAN'T HAVE A COUCH LIKE THIS". Looking back on this I think Jon needs a medal for helping me through the other side and I obviously needed the therapy sessions that followed.

-I contacted an agent for Frank...I feel kinda guilty about this. I mean on the one hand I know how much he loves meeting new people/being the center of attention, but on the other hand I don't want to be a stage mom and take away his childhood...and then on the other hand (for the sake of argument lets say I have three hands), never mind, I can't, the thought of me having three hands is creeping me out. Long story short I am a little nervous about making the plunge into dog modeling. (Again, just to clarify, it will be Frank doing the modeling not me dressed in dog costume)

-I thought I was doing so well with not shopping, well this is only because I have not really set foot in any stores. I went to Target to get Jon's Call Of Duty video game and WOOSH, I wanted the new Taylor Swift Christmas cd, and Christmas decorations and leggings, I NEED new leggings. Instead I called Jon (much like an addict calling their sponsor) and he helped me stay focus. And I walked out of there with just the video game which Jon reimbursed me for, so technically I did not buy one single thing. Sigh.

Ok I am done for now. Tell me this, what random thought is floating around in your head...

Straight To Voicemail

You know the great thing about having a blog? When you get super annoyed you have a little place to "put them on blast" as the cool kids say. Without further ado, here is my rant about my cell phone carrier. (I have had an iphone for a year now, so you do the math and figure out who my carrier is) For the last four or five months I have randomly been receiving sports updates via text messages which were being texted to me from Yahoo sports updates.

I mean I like sports just fine. But I would never sign up for sports updates. Never.Ever. But sure enough, any time there was a football game on I would receive at least four or five text messages letting me know that the Steelers are ahead by five points or the Forty Niners aren't doing so hot (come on, I don't need a text to let me know that). At first I figured it was a fluke but then weekend after weekend, game after game I got these texts. Texts that were eating into my monthly texts, meaning I had to pay extra for going over my allotted texts.

I have called many times and tried to calmly explain just how darn annoying this was, to which they would assure me "we understand that this must be annoying". Well even though they "understand" not much was done about it and I still received the texts.

Oh the frustration was mounting! So I emailed anyone and everyone I could from yahoo. After quite a few misses I found someone that thinks he may be able to help me, I just have to wait 48 hours to see if whatever this guy did actually worked. An interesting bit of info that this (hopefully) helpful chap told me was that my phone number has been recycled. Meaning someone else had my phone number, subscribed to these sports updates and then switched cell service providers. So my cell provider decided that they would hand the number off to me before making sure that all of these updates have been taken off of my new number.

So basically I am irked beyond belief that I have had to do so much foot work to have my phone work the way it should. Sheesh.

Do you have any rants that you need to get out? Feel free to share in the comment section.

P.S. I know this is random but Nani's etsy shop is up and running. I just had to tell you guys before I forgot ...again. Click here to check it out!

Weighty Issues

On Friday I took Frank to the vet for a little check up since he will be turning one year old next month. The vet said everything looked pretty good but our little man weighed in at 64 pounds which means this guy is overweight.

I feel like such a bad puppy mama, I totally thought that he was lookin good for a bulldog. I mean they are a full figured breed. So anyway Franker needs to lose about 8 pounds. So Jon and I decided to take Frank to my old stompin/studying grounds to play on the many expanses of finely manicured lawns. I swear, I graduated in June and I just can't stay away.

When I would park my car on this street before we had little Frank I would see the street sign and smile and think of our future puppy. And after we got our little guy this street sign would remind me of our playful little pup waiting at home for me. So it was only fitting that he took a picture with the sign.

Mine and Jon's alma maters are long standing rivals, go figure. So Jon put on his best "yay Santa Clara face".

Frank and I were right at home. Frank is a Bronco (Santa Clara's mascot) at heart.

Frank played fetch for quite a while on the lawn and then decided to cool off in the fountain and plant his big body among the flowers...yeah I don't think that is really allowed but whatever.

Frank slept for quite a while when we got home, so I think that is a sign that he had a great time and a good work out. Our vet also suggested that we change Frank's food as well. We decided to change him to Iams (weight control) which he seems to LOVE. But look how skinny the bulldog is on the bag.

He seems a little too skinny no? I hope Frank doesn't get that thin.

Don't Call Us, We'll Call You

Since business isn't booming in the (slightly naively) way I thought it would I have decided that I need to take a second job for the holiday season. Hopefully by the end of the holidays I will have enough money so that I can focus just on getting clients etc for another few months.

What this means is that for the next few months I will be working with clients during the day and then working at a second job at night and on weekends. So the point of this...today I went on a job interview for a retailer and oh my there were some characters!

First, there was the guy that refused to sit down. He was the only guy there and stood at a very thick six feet two inches-he was a large guy. So we all walked over to the area where our group interview would take place. We all found a spot to sit but this big ole' guy just stood over us. At first the interviewer showed him where he could have a seat. He then silently shook his head and said "no" all creepy like and the interviewer said "You are refusing to sit?" to which he plainly murmured "yes". And there he stood over us for the entire hour long interview. Sooooo I wonder what his chances are....

Next there was a very free spirit of a woman. When asked what she likes about fashion today she went on and on and on about how the social consciousness of women's fashion is comparable to that of women in the post Vietnam era...really she said this.

Just when I thought it couldn't get weirder in walks this young lady, I use that term as loose as humanly possible, she was wearing purple sweats and a lip piercing that hindered her speech to the point that it made everyone lean forward to understand her.

Well, when asked what she liked about fashion (meaning specific examples of trends that she likes) she started naming every type of style under the sun (i.e. emo, rocker, lady like, bohemian etc). The interviewer then asked for specific examples of style (big belts, long sweaters etc) and this girl starts naming brands "Juicy Couture", "Gucci"and "Coach, I LOVE COACH, I wear it a lot. I don't pay for it though, I'm spoiled" she shouts. Now let me ask you this readers, if you "Loved wearing Coach" wouldn't you maybe choose something other than purple sweats to an interview? Now I understand there are people that just have purple sweats to wear to an interview, I get it, we all have to start somewhere. But why would you go on and on about your spoiled lifestyle? And for the rest of the interview she just went on contradicting herself. I think we were all leaning forward to not only hear her but see what yarn she was going to spin next.

ooh ooh and before I forget I met a girl that goes to Santa Clara University (my former school, alma mater if you will) . We chatted about classmates we might have in common. And then she pauses looks very seriously at me and tells me that she is in a sorority and says "were you in a sorority?" and I tell her no and then she puts on the most pitiful face ever and says "oh well that's ok, don't worry". And I just stared at her like "don't worry I'm not".

I feel like I did pretty well at this interview but if nothing else this was an interesting way to spend an hour . Do you have any interesting job hunting stories to share?

Sassy Sidenote: Hot Soup and Blenders Don't Mix...haha get it? Mix?

Looking Back, Looking Forward

When I was on dance team in high school my teammates and I were always together. During school we gravitated towards each other, we had two hour practices everyday after school and found each other together again on the weekends for all day rehearsals. And guess where we would be on our off time? With each other of course, usually out at the movies or a sleepover at one of our houses. And I was able to spend quality time with my friends not on dance team. I mean we had classes together and then a whole lunch time to hang out. Imagine if you had an hour a day to spend with your friends, we took it for granted when we were in school but now it sounds not only ideal but so helpful.

I was thinking about this the other day when faced with conflicting schedules by my friends. You see the thing about growing up is that we are all on our path now and it isn't anyone's fault but I feel like we don't have that extra time to nurture our friendship like we did back then. As cheesy as it sounds, I miss the sisterhood.When we have the chance to get together we are happy and everything is normal and fun as can be. But I still can't help but wish we could have more time to be with one another. It seems odd to me that something that is so critical to happiness, such as being with our friends, can get pushed aside by obligations.

I guess this is just a growing pain as they say. Things change and I guess it just becomes harder to do certain things that see people you care about. It seems like at the end of our get togethers we say "let's not let this much time go by again" and we mean it, we really do. But then one way or another a month or two goes by and life gets in the way again.

Again, I'm not saying it is anyone's fault, because we all have lives and obligations that are tugging at our pant legs. I also feel guilty because at the moment I am not making any money, zero. And so when an opportunity arises for us to go out together I have to say the most annoying words ever, "Sorry, I can't afford it". I know they don't want to hear it as much as I don't want to say it but it just doesn't get easier.

I really believe in putting things out into the universe if you want them to happen, so here it goes: I hope I start working more and make some more money so that I can not only contribute more to the household bills but also have the occasional glass of wine or lunch on a whim with my friends.

So until the universe gets back to me my apartment is open anytime for some get togethers.

This Is It

Yesterday afternoon Jon and I saw "This Is It".

It wasn't compiled like a normal documentary but it was more of a fly on the wall perspective for the rehearsals for Michael's final show that never happened.

I expected to see a sick, frail man, but what I saw was a perfectionist that really loved his job. He looked strong and he looked truly happy. He appeared to really care about everyone that worked on his show, he told his lead guitarist to step up to the front of the stage because it was "her turn to shine" or how he told his sound technician that "he is saying this with love" when they had a slight disagreement.

Jon noticed how Michael appeared to want every detail to be the best it could be, he had the best dancers, singers, musicians and even his costumes were going to be state of the art. The rehearsals footage was exciting to watch because Michael insisted on doing things full out the majority of the time. It makes me wonder what this show would have been like.

Have you seen "This Is It"?