It's a Christmas Miracle

Been a long time since I've done a personal post (this blog often gets the shaft in favor of quick-and-easy (read: lazy) Facebook), but I had a special occasion this week when Kim and Jackson visited. Jack's 20 months old, and somehow already knows all of his colors. Also, thanks to Aunt Jen, he also knows "Move", "Yeah", and "Me me me me me." I swear I don't recall teaching him that last one, but it sounds like something I'd say, so he probably just heard it and picked it up. He also enjoyed Baby's First Steak 'n Shake Milkshake and lots of good times at the local playground.

Jen's House might not have toys, but it has ducks, birds, tall grasses that tickle your face, and rocking chairs. That picture of him with the grass is so cute - he loved it there!







Jack also loved my bed - which got a lot of use on Saturday thanks to a rainstorm that ruined Flamingo Gardens plans. Snug-A-Bug!!





Of course, the biggest toy of all is Uncle Mike.





Speaking of Uncle Mike, he had the brilliant idea of taking Jack to The Rainforest Cafe. Here's a picture of what that looked like for the first half hour or so. (But it got better later, promise.)



Thanks for visiting - glad you guys got a couple days of sunny, hot weather!!

I Need To STFU

I just noticed that my prior post was Post #2001. Cool. BRB. Watching Top Chef.

My Own Top Chef Experience

When Bryan Voltaggio was first introduced on this season of Top Chef, my first thought was "WTF!? He works in Frederick, Maryland!?" Having lived more than 10 years in Maryland, "Fredneck" isn't exactly what I would consider the poshest place for a world class dining experience. Luckily, I was wrong, as I got to experience VOLT last Saturday.

Though we didn't have the 21-course table IN the kitchen (due to a "restaurant error"), we had the next best thing - the 6-course meal with a view of the kitchen.

I have posted the food porn on my little food website if you're interested in seeing it - link here.

Family Post FAIL

It has come to my attention that I suck on updating lately. And that some people just want to see more pictures of their "adorable" kid. (P.S. I blame Facebook -it's much easier.)

I traveled to Pennsylvania a few weeks back to indulge in some age-inappropriate fun and eat (or get eaten by) babies.



Charles is too gorgeous - look at her eyes!


Best. Picture. Ever.




BABIES!!!!!!!!!

I Work With Special People

This belongs on FAIL Blog.

This is what greeted me on the way into the building today. At first I smiled because the smiley face was cute. And then I laughed because these are not the kind of people I'd want to do "buisness" with.


Business FAIL.

Happy Early Halloween!

A cold front came through today and inspired me to carve pumpkins. (Cold front meaning it's 79 right now and expected to get down to 62 tonight.) I'll bet you can't tell which one was made freehand!







I've also got a Halloween Tree this year. It's a pretty brilliant piece of Hallmark marketing, and I ate it up. Though I'd like to note I also made some of my own ornaments - from things like earrings and rubber skeletons.

Welcome to Bizzaro World

This post is about gardening.

Yes, you're on the right blog. I gardened this weekend. I'm a gardener.

It was hot, humid, dirty, and gross, but I actually helped Mike outside instead of just lying around in air-conditioning. And it was kind of fun.

We bought an Earth Box and planted oregano, rosemary (I could live with the smell of rosemary forever and be happy), basil, and mint. The Earth Box is supposed to be idiot-proof -- we'll see. If it's successful, I'll want to plant tomatoes too.



We also planted a key lime tree. It's Mike's Big Experiment. But even if we get no limes, the tree smells great.


And we also added some blue-flowering ground cover in the back and some green lantern lights. This is how one prepares for winter in Florida!

Storm Troopers Need Cheetos Too

God, I love this place.

The Soup: So Meaty!

The Soup Gods were with me on Thursday. Our flight was delayed by 40 minutes. We had to run to Comic-Con to get our passes and then drive to Los Angeles. There was traffic. I wasn't hopeful that it would work out. But we got to the studio about half an hour after we were told to... and yet they hadn't started yet. BRILLIANT!



It was so fun watching a taping. First off, Joel McHale is of course hysterical and kept the audience going during breaks with his stand-up and just generally being funny. It took about an hour for them to tape and they did it in the order you see on TV. The audience is of course encouraged to oooo and ahhhh and laugh - and I got in a nice groan after "So Meaty!" which was basically a dream come true.

Joel was ultra-caffeinated. He sucked down 2 4-shot iced Starbucks while we were there. The audience was probably about 30 people, and he shook everyone's hands and took pictures after. He also likes to give the finger a lot; who knew?

When we took this picture he had just asked if Mike was my boyfriend. When we said he was my husband, he wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me. So that's why I was laughing.



Then I got to meet The Man, The Myth, The Legend, Tom McNamara. As much as I love Joel - and I do - I've been watching Tom since the Greg Kinnear days of Talk Soup. Only like one other person took a picture with him; these people don't know what they're missing. He was really nice and this picture is just quintessential Tom to me. I love it so.

Muir Woods and the Napa Valley

Muir Woods was gorgeous. It must be nice to have this lovely oasis right outside of San Francisco. It's hard to capture how tall the redwoods are - but if you look closely you can see Mike and me at the base of some of these photos!






After that we went to Wine Country. Honestly, I'm glad we just did 2 days in Napa Valley. There's only so much wine tasting I can take. A lot of the wineries look the same and I don't even really like "good" wine. Luckily, we found some great Gewürztraminer and Riesling. And we were sure to visit the cool-looking wineries.

This rich dude has it right. Why live in Italy when you can build your own medieval castle in America? That way you can still enjoy Cheez Whiz and Hollywood films whilst having your own torture chamber. He imported all of the bricks, and lots of the furniture and decor inside is authentic. Plus they make good wine. It's INSANE.




And finally, my Artistic Shots of the Day.

Why Are Americans the Ugly Ones?

Americans have this reputation for being utter douchebags whilst traveling abroad, but check this dude out!!! Mike was afraid of him, because he's probably a Russian mobster, but that of course didn't stop me from joning on him the whole time. I probably have a hit out on me now.

He had his shirt off most of the time!! How gross is that? He had hairy man boobs and I wanted to puke!!! Plus he was wearing that horrid baby blue tracksuit that matched his mother's. Ugh.

Alcatraz: Welcome to the Rock

If you know me, you know I'm a Prison Geek. Love it. So far one of my favorite things has to be the trip to Alcatraz. We took the night tour, which I recommend 1000%. It just adds to the experience to be there at night. Plus they have some special tours and presentations for the night tours. I am so happy that this tour of Alcatraz exceeded my expectations, you have no idea.










The shower room a/k/a Heaven.



The cells. I'll admit that when I first walked into the cell block I full-on squeed and almost hyperventilated. It was like meeting a celebrity or something.





These photos show happier times. When I was innocent and living the dream.



Then I walked into an isolation cell. Pitch black, claustrophobic, I couldn't stay inside it for long.


Ghosts. Those have to be ghosts behind us. No other explanation.


Absolutely one of the greatest things was being able to see the hospital. Hospitals are the scenes of torture and pain and death, which adds up to a truly creepy, eerie feeling. When the hottie park ranger Eric "accidentally" banged his flashlight against the wall, I jumped and almost hit him.





Some quick video. Opening the doors at Alcatraz.


Closing the doors. That park ranger was a trip - he really got off on the power. It would have been hot if he wasn't so dorky.


And finally, my Artistic Shot of the Day.