Flower cuff!!

oh my gosh, i love this. it's an enamel bracelet by jcrew. flower prints are going to be all the rage for the spring and this bracelet is just the most awesome thing to accessorize with.

$150 / jcrew.

can i get one???

Turkey Point Adventure

the other night, i went to shaws at 9:30pm to pick up things to make the girls dinner. i was there till like 10 and i have no idea how late this place stays open so i'm hurrying along and things are closing like the deli and bakery. so i go to check out and the stupid girl at the check out counter is gabbing away about other employees and then the bagger girl joins in and they just gripe about work for the entire time i'm standing there. i'm exhausted and annoyed, so i get my receipt and put it in my jacket pocket. i go home, and prep all the delicious foods. the next morning, i'm sitting at work and pull out the receipt to see how many turkey points i earned. -- those not familiar with the turkey points at shaws, you automatically get points towards a free easter turkey or ham with points you get just for shopping there. we shop at shaws and i spend a lot everytime, so we were totally banking on getting a free turkey to try in our new roasting set. so anyways, i realize the idiot girl never gave me my turkey points. i was having a total PMS/chemically inbalanced moment, so i go to the shaws website to complain. i write them an email basically just saying i just wanted my points. so they write back wanting the store name and number, so i give it to them. this morning, the manager from the shaws called me! i wanted to die. i was like so embarrassed that i was making such a big deal. but anyways, in the end, she's now mailing me my turkey points AND a giftcard. looks like i won out in the end.

Hmm

So they think they can take away my livelihoods? Blogging 5 times a day and reading all about celebrity everything are basically what keeps me going during the daylight hours. Now they are taking away personal email. Well good thing I have my cute little blackberry which can debunk their efforts.

I've already found new hobbies anyways.

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soulja boy

so i've been living under a rock for like....6 months maybe and i know Soulja Boy and his huge song that was just massively everywhere for a while.  it's insanely catchy, and i actually kind of like it.  but what i didn't know is that it's a dance too... i know right, i should totally know this stuff.  i was watching America's Best Dance Crew and one of the crews had to dance to soulja boy and they were talking about the technical aspects of the dance, and i'm like oh my god.  i was astonished.  and then i had to google it because of course there has to be hilarity with a ridiculous dance to a ridiculous song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1whKQBcnLiQ

this is so funny!

but if that wasn't cute enough, natalie portman learned how to do the Soulja Boy on MTV TRL.

http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?vid=188940

Yum!

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed with Cream Cheese Jalapenos

INGREDIENTS:
15 jalapenos (when cut in half, makes 30)
2 pkgs cream cheese
2 packages of bacon
toothpicks

Cut jalapenos in half and clean out. If you like them hotter, then leave some seeds. Shove as much cream cheese as you can on that half and wrap with a slice of bacon. I try to cover the open end and the top really good there is less cream cheese leakage;) Stick a toothpick in from the top to bottom to hold bacon in place and prevent rolling up for falling off.

Cook in preheated oven at 350′ for about an hour or desired crispiness.

Cute home accessory

Super cute Easter bunnies. but what are they you ask? they are salt and pepper shakers of course.

found at wrapables.com

Cute outfit alert

Cute dress of the day!

Marc by Marc Jacobs (of course).

Can be found on Shopbop for $428
"Alessandra Shantung Dress"

I loooooove this dress, it's just so pretty to me. you could wear it almost anywhere and look chic and sophisticated.

Whoa

This is so funny!

If you love lost as much as Megan and I do you'll totally know what it is.

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breaks my heart

South Africa to allow elephant killing

PRETORIA, South Africa - South Africa said it will allow elephants to be killed to control their population, reversing a 1994 ban and immediately drawing criticism from animal rights activists.
In a government statement given to reporters Monday, killing elephants is described as one way of managing growing populations. The government in 1994 banned culling the elephant population, but since then, the number of the giant beasts in the country has ballooned from 8,000 to more than 20,000. The new policy becomes official Friday.

Animal rights defenders threatened to call for tourist boycotts and protests and to take legal action against the measure.
------------------------------
This story really makes me want to cry, it's so awful. I'm never going to South Africa, I don't support anything they do.

Baby

Its all our now!
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New car!

We bought a BMW today! We didn't mean to buy but sometimes these things happen. We went to the dealership and wanted just to see the 3 series. We test drove one of the certified preowned cars and liked it. And then just out of curiosity we sat down and crunched some numbers. 3 hours later we put down a deposit and are picking it up tomorow at 2PM. Its a 2005 silver 325xi with leather interior, moonroof, nav system, and all sorts of awesome. The jetta is history and now we'll be traveling in luxury. We just spent a lot of money but I think we will be very satisfied with our investment. All we planned on doing today was going to pier one to look at tables. This was a little bit more expensive but that's how we roll.

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Classes at the gym.

ok, so i was suppose to go to the mat based pilates class tonight at my gym in davis square.  i'm not much of a class person because i'd always thought they were for wimpy people, i've only taken yoga classes before at studios and not the gym.  so i get in there and i'm watching everyone else set up their mats and i take off my shoes and sit, and i'm already sweating a little bit from walking on the treadmill and being nervous.  so then what happens?  turns out the pilates teacher is out of town.  oh good.  so now what?  the abdominals instructor comes in and says she'll give us an abs and core class.  

Holy. Shit.

looks like i haven't exercised my body like this in years.  i was dripping sweat, and just dying, in gut wrenching pain, but the good kind...the kind that made it worth it to go.  i'm going to try and make it to this girl's class more often.  i've found all sorts of muscles that were in hibernation.  that's exactly what i was looking for!

singles...

watch your backs!!:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/21/earlyshow/main3855974.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_3855974

i've been on a few dates where you're kind of like: this dude seems normal...but Is He?

Today's seedlings

cold or allergies?
lots of sneezing, nose blowing, and sinus headache. could be either or both. how irritating.

our water filter at work...are there particles floating in my water?? i'm not sure. i think so...but now that i've drank atleast 5 cups of it, is it worth checking into? doubtful.
hm...i looked into it just in case and it seems that it's cleared itself up after i drank all the tainted stuff. typical.

i'm taking a pilates class at my gym tonight and i'm nervous, i don't know what i'm doing and i feel all flustered. i need to try it though, it will be good for me. i need to try doing things out of my comfort zone.

i'm crally craving wagamama or thai.

Easy Thai Chicken Congee
• 1/2 cup rice (not quick-cooking)
• 3-4 cups water or chicken or veg broth
• 2 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut to thin slices
• 1 tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp ginger, minced
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 dash black pepper (according to your taste)
• 6 pieces shiitake mushrooms, julienned
• 2 tbsp scallions, chopped, sesame oil and black pepper or white pepper for garnishing

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients (except garnishes) in a medium saucepan, bring to boil over medium heat then turn down heat and let simmer until water has been absorbed.
2. Add more water/broth if necessary)
3. Sprinkle with black/white pepper, a few drops of sesame oil and chopped scallions just before serving.

and

Really Easy Thai Congee

• 1/2 cup long-grain rice or short-grain rice
• 5 cups low-fat chicken broth or water
Add garlic!

Directions

1. Combine ingredients for the congee in a saucepan, bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for about 2 hours.
3. Or use leftover rice with about twice as much liquid as rice.
4. Simmer until the porridge has a smooth consistence.
5. Pour into soup bowls.
6. Top with your choice of toppings and condiments: must add scallions!
7. If serving a large group, a larger choice than 2 or 3 toppings might be served.

Caramel Swirl

ode to Breyers Fat Free Caramel Swirl ice cream:

i have never loved an ice cream the way i love you.  you taste like full fat, yet you are not.  if i could rename you it would be:  marshmallowy caramel awesome.

keep being delicious.  you're amazing.

sneezing machine

somehow i've become a nose dripping, sneezing machine. isn't it too early for spring allergies? i've probably sneezed about 100 times since coming into work today and i've been blowing my nose nonstop. i don't feel at all sick, i just feel nose tickling sneeziness. what could be going on? i took an allergy pill before work. it's one of those generic zyrtecs. maybe it's a little too generic and not enough zyrtec. that's something to look into i suppose.

where can i find really great work pants? i seriously haven't bought any work pants for a long time. i wear the same 4 pairs of pants and toss in some skirts, most of my pants are from Express, and i like them because they're like $50 but i'm looking for something a little more stylish maybe. a little more lasting. i just ordered 2 pairs from banana basically because i know they'll fit and i know they're good quality and thankfully they were pretty inexpensive for BR and there is a 15% off sale going on, but they're also pretty boring. boring looking people are often pretty boring and i'd like to avoid that if possible!

Persimmion

for those who like to shop or window shop:

http://www.shoppersimmon.com/index.php

this is the cutest website i've seen in awhile. all the jewelry is gorgeous and some of it is even affordable. there's a pair of aquamarine silver drop earrings that are only $55 and i'm thinking about buying them.

2.4 mi. swim • 112 mi. bike • 26.2 mi. run

the Ironman.

this is what abe and i will be training for. maybe not next year, maybe not 3 years from now, but if we keep watching it every year on tv we will get a little bit more motivated every time. this year a guy with no legs finished as well as many very unfit looking people. i think we look fit enough, we just need to become fit enough.

ok scratch that. i just found on the website that they have a lottery system for the "common man". this is why we saw so many common folk in the race. however, it's still impressive that they were able to finish.

shoe incident and more.

two months ago, maybe less i strolled into urban outfitters on my way to dinner with becca at wagamama. i went to the sale section and found a pair of really cute beige patent wedge pumps for $19. i tried them on. Note: i tried them on. and they fit well and i took them home. today was the first time i brought them to wear at work. i put the right shoe on and it was perfection. i put the left shoe on and it was.... a right shoe. how could i let this happen? i'm such a retard. also this morning, i lost my T pass. good thing there is only 8 work days left in february i suppose.... still, it's pretty bizarre. i don't usually lose things.

something is a bit off...i think maybe the lack of exercise i've been having is affecting me in some really strange ways. tonight, i'm going to the gym.

Closet

This is part of my new walk in closet. Isn't it awesome? These formerly bare walls are now outfitted to hold racks of clothing so that my clothes can feel able to spread out the way they've always wanted and enjoy space to stretch. You can't see in the picture but I also have a shoe rack and on the other wall is my dresser with mirror. Its basically my ultimate closet.

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Day off

Today was the Cho invasion. Tom and Mimi came down from new York with lily and tobias and went to see Melissa and Lauren while sang was working. Tom is making us a lasagna to take home and Korean marinated beef which I love.

Right now we are in the car with the kids grocery shoping while Lauren naps. Tom is taking us to home depot to buy house plants.

Crazy.

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Herbination

My herbs are growing!

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Tax return

I did my taxes last night and guess what friends? I'm getting back about $1600 that's an all time high for me. I don't know why though I only make a tiny but more and I paid less in student loan interest. I'm not going to argue though I am going to take that money and run.

Yes you all read that right: I did my taxes.

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Invasion

My parents are coming to see our place in an hour. We've been scrambling to finish everything because we still actually have a lot to do. We haven't even started the extra room yet and we still need a couple places of furniture and we need stuff on the walls. Abe can't wait to show them the bedroom and say: and this is where the magic happens.

I'm just kidding.

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Wisdom and age

Abe got 4 of his wisdom teeth out this Morning at 10.45 and tonight at 11.30 he looks like this. He only has minor pain and hasn't even opened his pain killers yet. He took only one aleve. I think its so fantastic that his procedure went so well but I'm thinking that I got seriously ripped off. I was so swollen I looked like a fat chipmunk and I was in so much pain that I ate my painkillers like candy and then got more from the doctor when I ran out and basically all I did was sleep and lay there unable to think beyond the pain. What a ripoff.
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Humping elephants

This is our new addition to our fab bookcase. Its a bamboo plant in a clay pot shaped like an elephant holding on. It was one of my gifts to abe. Not as cool as my robe though.

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Conservatives on vday

Check out my new bathrobe courtesy of abe for valentines day. Its from Hammacher Schlemmer and its about 30 pounds of head to toe warmth for those cold mornings when the walk from the bathroom after a shower is too cold to bear. Abe likes this because it covers my entire body and he thinks all the neighbors can see me walking around when I'm scantily clad. It may or may not be true but nobody will ever know.

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Save the Dates

Are these cute or stupid? i can't decide.

Does that even look like abe? i'm fairly certain that it doesn't look like him, but i got it as close to him as i could.

oopsie

Jane Fonda said the word "cunt" on the today show this morning. i guess that TV people didn't think it was necessary to monitor the words a 70 year old used on air, because she should know better. but isn't this the woman who made spandex and legwarmers a national thing back in the day? i might be wrong, i barely know who she is...but she likes to use the "c" word.

Zicam

So abe had a cold. a cold that may have been the flu or may have been anything viral. his germs were everywhere, on everything i'm sure since he had stayed home in wallow in his own germination for a few days. i did all i could to steer clear of his air. however, it didn't seem to work and today i'm starting to feel the first signs of a potential cold: headache, scratchy dry throat, slight coughing. i decided to try and ward it off with Zicam only because i don't really have any other choice: either fight it, or let it take it's natural course. i'm going to fight it obviously. so these particular ones we have are "rapidmelts" and are cherry flavored. i took one this morning after i ate breakfast and jumped in the shower because you can't eat or drink anything for 15 minutes after you dissolve the tablet. first off this is not cherry flavored. it is dirty flavored with a hint of metal that was scraped along a bar floor after a frat party. so i was like: atleast i took it before i got into the shower, so by the time i get out, and get dressed it will be 15 minutes down the road. that was smart. i was just dying to open my mouth in the shower and let the water wash away the dirt in my mouth. also, it takes about 5 minutes to even come close to dissolving. i distinctly remember abe telling me how horrible they tasted, and i was just kinda like yeah whatever. but he was right, they're terrible. so 3 hours later (they say to take ever 3 hours for 48 hours), i really had to think about whether or not i should take another one and inflict that kind of self-hatred again. but i was thinking that again, what other choice do i have? so i took it at my desk and now i had no other real distractions besides this blog to take my mind off really wanted to chug some water.

http://www.zicam.com/Default.aspx

learn more about zicam to see if you're willing to torture your senses.

Zicam.
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Furniture ordeal

Our dresser made it through the window in our bedroom thanks to windows that fully come out. I had no idea these things existed in apartments. Thank god they even arrived at 6.55am. Which is too early to realize how complicated things can get. We almost had to knock on our neighbors door and wake them up to move their cars to make room for the crane. Thank god our furniture ordeal is over!

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Mobile blogging

This is really why I got a blackberry. I just knew that on a whim if have something interesting/entertaining to note.

I got my haircut today with elle at Stilisti and man its gotten really expensive to have a great haircut. $75 now. When I first went to elle it was only $40 and that was in 2001.

Also I found a liquor store near us and got some prosecco and sofia sparkling for a little valentines day bubbles. Not that we even like vday but we do feel obligated to do a little something. Everyone at work was asking me what I'm doing tomorrow and I'm like: notguing special abe is sick and we don't care they think I'm lame. Maybe I am.

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Travel ideas

After a decidedly bland vacation, i've been working on other places to go to erase mexico from my memory bank and this is what i've come up with so far within the US:

Carmel by the Sea
Bermuda
Hawaii
The Florida Keys
The Outer Banks

Dogs Rule

Abe and i decided last night that it would be good to watch the Westminster Dog Show. Actually it was more like we started to watch it and then got sucked into it unable and unwanting to change the channel. of course we had to see which dog won it all! and it was the beagle named Uno. what a cutie. the funniest part to me was when the judge was asking the dogs to switch places in line and she goes "move that bitch up there". you can say bitch in dog shows?? anyways, and in this picture i think that Uno is on a little doggie treadmill working out. it's so adorable. and then there were these awful Pedigree commericals that came on about adopting dogs and how lonely they were when their owners moved and they got left behind, etc. i just wanted to die. so if you like dogs and you get suckered into ads like that, go to www.dogsrule.com and read about adopting a dog or making a donation. i would donate, but i already donated to my elephant this year.

kitchen disaster

i had a kitchen accident last night. i was making Giada's tomato sauce, meatballs and pasta. so i follow all the steps to the sauce. it had simmered for an hour, and next i needed to put half in the food processor to chop the veggies up that were in there. so i put half in the food processor. i never read the directions, i was having trouble locking it in place and having the blade stay put, finally after a little leaking all over i got it ready and turned it on to chop. why are there little holes on the top? no idea, so i was like this isn't working. so then i took the other half of the sauce still in the pan in into the blender and press mix. bad idea. i must have overfilled it. scalding hot tomato sauce went all over the place, all over my face, my clothing, the floor, the walls, into the bathroom somehow, counter, in my hello kitty blender: disaster. that sauce was really hot. abe came into the kitchen and he laughed, but to me it wasn't funny. wasn't funny at all. not only did i almost burn my face off, but i wasn't able to finish the tomato sauce the way it was suppose to finish....ugh.

Belly ring

i took my belly button ring out two nights ago. my stomach looks so strange, but it was time to move on. it's a new period in my life, one without cheap looking belly button rings that always seem to get infected somehow. i'm sure it was a sign. i miss it.

brian austin green

i'm not sure if i should admit this. but abe has gotten me into the new show: Sara Connor Chronicles. i've only actually seen a couple episodes, but it's pretty good. i don't have a tight history with The Terminator, but i did see the one with Linda Hamilton and the little boy and the Governator. but anyways, the best part is that last night it was on and guess who is now on the show?? Brian Austin Green. David Silva is now a beefed up badass with no earring and no frosted locks. he actually looks straight as opposed to his wimpy 90210 persona. congratulations Brian Austin Green, you're no longer borderline. i wish i could find a good screen shot to do a before and after. like before rap career and after rap career. before blonde highlights and post blonde highlights.

holy crap i just saw a rumor that he and megan fox are dating...what?? that's the craziest thing i've heard all week.

V-Day blabber

i have a lot of pet peeves. excessive noise of any kind, loud gum chewing, poor table manners, complaining excessively, horn honking, etc.

this is from julia allison. no, i've never met her. but yes, i read her blog daily. i think she really sums up how i feel about valentines day aka. "the most complained about holiday in the history of the earth."

"2) Stop. Complaining. Now.It’s not V-Day’s fault that your personal life leaves something to be desired. So you don’t have a date, you don’t have a boyfriend, you have a boyfriend but he’s a dick, you have a girlfriend but she wants a ring, you haven’t had sex in a year. These are not calamities! (Except maybe the last one.) Frankly, every single one of those is your own damn fault. Yes, Valentine’s Day has a tendency to highlight romantic problems in your life – but instead of whining about them, change them!"

bookshelf of all bookshelves

this is our new bookshelf. it leans against the wall, you know the ladder kind of shelf. abe assembled it himself and all the pieces even fit into my little car for the ride home. we don't exactly have everything on it yet, but someday it will be a stellar bookshelf. not the cute pink Chanel book, and the lucky cat in the top right corner. she's waving at the door to bring us luck. i'd also like to add a plant. i can't wait to go plant shopping.

weekend update.

man did i have a productive weekend! yesterday we bought and assembled a leaning book case and a bar from crate and barrel. it was actually easy with very few pieces. then it was abe and yuri's 30th birthday bash at the tavern, abe was pretty sick and left early but i still had a great time and everyone showed up which was great. today, i got up went right to the grocery store and then made pancakes. well i more ruined the pancakes and abe saved them, i forgot one main ingredient...milk so i was like why are they so doughy. i'm a retard. then i went to target and returned a couple things, and then bought throw pillows for the couch, pizza pans and cuttter, coffee filter, and gym things. when i got home, i marinated chicken wings to eat for dinner on monday night and then went to the gym. the gym was actually really painful and i couldn't do all that much since i haven't been in like two weeks, but i needed to get a feel for the place before i'm there during rush hour after work. it's a lot smaller than my other gym and is lacking a few things, but i can live with it, and it's $5 cheaper. i got caught in some kind of strange snow storm on my walk home, it was so weird because by the time i got inside and took off my shoes it was sunny out with just a few flurries. if only i had waited 5 more minutes at the gym, oh well. abe and i made a veggie calzone for dinner and it was actually really really good. the key thing was to cook the veggies beforehand. i did a load of laundry and i even ironed two shirts and made lunch for tomorrow. thank god for all the coffee i had today, or i'm not sure how i would have made it.

bar for kitchen

abe and i picked up a bar at crate and barrel yesterday and again abe put his handyman skills to work and assembled it. good job! i love it. little by little things are coming together but they need to move faster...

Flower belting

I Love j.crew. i think it's the cat's meow, the non-rich person's fashion mecca. but this belt is $68. are they kidding: no. but they claim it is silk from a famous silk house with crystals on the bud. but i can make this. i know i can, i'm not craft retarded it seems simple enough. now where do i find a high quality fake flower like this? i'm going to look at michaels....i think i'm going to make this my pet project while abe is recovering from his wisdom teeth removal next friday. if i'm successful, i'm going to make several, it will be my look of the spring.

cute cake topper

Only we should both be typing on our phones....
and they should be asian. white cake toppers....are everywhere!

PDA case/holder thing

i'm looking for a PDA case for my pink pearl. i was really hoping that i could find a marc by marc jacobs one really easily, but i've been proven wrong. where can i find this?

Pink Pearl

i'm going to go get the new blackberry pink pearl after work today. i'm so glad that i held off getting a new phone for so long. i have the crappiest phone ever but now look what i get to use? i think i can even blog from it, which is a great feature for me. i just think it's soooooo cute, so much cuter than my old pink razor and just way cooler.

abe got the iphone today. i think i'm just as cool as him now.

Mooo!

if you haven't been to Mooo steakhouse in boston, you need to. it's in the XV Beacon Hotel next to the state house. i've had a lot of good steaks in my day, especially in the last year, and this was probably in the top 2 i've ever had. the sides were also better than other sides at other restaurants, and the service was impeccable. the inside is remodeled and minimalist modern with a warm feeling. i just loved everything about it except for their flimsy wine glasses. if you dropped one, it would definately break and it just kind of annoyed me. valet is $18, which is more expensive than say a place on newbury which would be about $12 but it was worth it. when you go, bring your appetite, all portions are bigger than you think. appetizers are very filling, especially the chowder and the bisque. be prepared for a Last Supper type of meal.

www.moorestaurant.com

Herbs, day 1

my herb garden is in it's first day. how exciting!

Abe turns 30

Abe turned 30 today. Happy Birthday Abe. it's not every day you get to celebrate a birthday. he's spending it like everyone should: not at work. and tonight we're going to Mooo, the newish steakhouse on boylston. there is this stigma where people think you're supposed to be really sad and mournful on your 30th birthday. i wish i knew who started it so i could punch them in the face. people say: well you don't see the problem because you're not there yet. but really, when i'm there i'm sure i still won't see the problem. who cares. why waste your time worrying about laugh lines you don't have and skin damage that never happened and saggy boobs that never sagged? birthdays are the best days of the year, besides christmas. so if you are approaching 30, fear not, unless you have wrinkles already and didn't take care of yourself then don't worry about looking close to death, you will look exactly the same as your 29 year old self. there's also that saying that life begins at 40... so you'll have something to look forward to.

Vday gift ideas

I'm not a huge valentine's day person, mainly because it's just one day out of the year, so i think it's a little bit silly. i don't enjoy the idea of getting flowers and edibles to celebrate being in a relationship or i don't think you should break the bank to get a gift that's over the top and ridiculous on a hallmark holiday. however, if you need help finding a gift that makes you wallet smile, maybe i can help:

First up is the red velvet cupcake mix by sprinkles from williams sonoma. i like this because you can easily send it to people without worrying about it going bad or dying. it's only $14 and it makes a dozen fancy cupcakes from the famous Sprinkles in Hollywood. enjoy.


Next is the Candy Hearts lipgloss set by Philosophy. they make a great product, and this lipgloss comes in a three pack: melon daquari, vanilla, and rasberry. i think these are pricey for lipgloss though. $25 found at sephora of course. only buy this for people you like.







Majorca's pearl drop earrings. a bargain at $75 at Saks. classic, classy, i love pearls. pearls are a diamond's best friend i think.










A pair of Waterford Double Old Fashioned crystal glasses designed by Mr. Marc Jacobs himself. $130 for two.










And who wouldn't drool over a well made hardcover fashion book with lots of pictures? Chanel, Dior, Dolce & Gabanna, The Kennedy's. there's one for every occassion for every girl and fashion loving gay out there. $50 and under.







if those ideas don't satisfy, i also like the ideas of giving: personal or personalized stationary (only if you can see the person actually using it) Demsey and Carroll makes really cute stuff. plants that grow and bloom and stay alive for atleast one month are nice gifts. robes and slippers often are good. my favorite gifts are personally written cards. if nothing else, if you're broke with 2 cents in your pocket, you should just write your valentine a special note/card.

Princess Pop Star!

i forgot to mention something totally awesome on the ship. there was this little contest called Princess Pop Star on the boat that had like 3 semi-finals and then on the last night, of course, there was the Princess Pop Star finals. you could just sign up and it was straight forward karaoke and the crowd got voting sheets. i looooooved watching this. there were some really good people and some really horrible people and some really old and horrible people. and there was one kid from canada that thought because he did musical theater that he would win it all, but really....he kind of sucked a lot. very unrefined, i'd expect more from someone who can use the term "muscial theater" in a serious sentence. the winner was actually pretty old, he must have been like 65, and he beat out of a lot of spring chickens. good for him. they asked him what he would do with his new found fame and fortune from winning (although there probably wasn't any of either), he said that he'd go on another cruise. we were like: no kidding old man.

our mexican cruise

this is a life boat on our Golden Princess. it was a little disturbing and it turns out that we weren't supposed to take any pictures of the boat from the outside. staff actually came over and made lauren delete her pictures, i got away with it.

the first day on the boat we had to do this thing called a muster drill where you go and learn how to use your life jacket and where to go if something happens. brenda calls it "the mustard drill".

our first day off the boat we went to puerta vallerta and took a walking tour of the city. apparently this is their famous church, why....i have no idea, looked like a regular chruch to me.

outside the church they had this little display for anti-abortion. i wasn't really moved, they weren't really babies, they were plastic babies.

after our walking tour we took a cooking class where we learned how to make guacamole and salsa....like who doesn't know how to make guac and salsa.

abe loves his gauc.

and of course, after you cook in mexico, you get a balloon hat.

abe and brenda playing shuffle board.

pretty sunset on the boat. we actually saw a few whales this night too.

our next stop off was at mazatlan, we got off the boat and found a beach. the water was cold, but the beach was pretty. i was actually pretty disappointed by this... is it really a beach if you can't go swimming?








this was my birthday dinner at a steakhouse on the boat, i love steak and actually steak on the boat was pretty good.








our last disembarkment was at cabo san lucas. this place was by far the best of the 3, but we only had a half a day here and i really could have done atleast a full day. abe is standing next to this strange bird, a pelican maybe, and you can't really tell but the bird goes up to abe's waist.

we took a water taxi to a private beach. the funniest part is that we never really thought about how we'd need to get off the water taxi. the way to do it is to hold your belongings really tightly, hike up your shorts and jump into the water. i was like: oh shit man. but i took it in stride and made it to land. abe jumped, then fell into the water, luckily he was in a swim suit. but later, we saw lots of guys falling...no girls though.

we had this entire beach to ourselves for over an hour. it was so nice, but again, the water was too cold for me.

and in cabo is this place called Cabo Wabo. some bar that a guy from a band opened-sammy hagar?. this is very near to abe's heart, but i really don't know the first thing about it. so abe had to find it and order a tequila shot.

and that concludes the slide show. i am not a cruise person. i don't like being trapped on the boat without the freedom to leave. also, i don't like being surrounded by buffet food at every turn. the food is ok, it's not great, it's just ok, but you feel obligated to eat it all the time since you paid for it and it's there. the rooms are a decent size, and i slept like a rock since i was being lulled to sleep by the movement of the boat. i wouldn't go back to mexico, it's just not that great. it's all the same, beautiful beaches - nothing else. and on the beaches you're just constantly harrassed by people selling shit. i would be willing to try a carribean cruise sometime because there are places there i've always wanted to see. the best part about this was that cruises are fun things to do with friends. abe and i alone never would have survived this experience if we didn't have everyone else there with us. so now we are tan, broke, and needing another vacation. this panda is first class only, and cruising is pretty much sitting coach.