Coming out of my cocoon.

I've always been somewhat of a fan of Will Smith and his movies, and after waiting a very long time, Netflix finally sent us I Am Legend just in time for the weekend. I had heard mixed reviews about it: some people really liked it, while others liked it but didn't care for the ending. So my husband and I sat down last Saturday afternoon to form our own opinions.

For those who haven't seen it (or heard of it), the premise is that a virus that was engineered to cure cancer ends up becoming dangerous and airborne and turns the entire human race into zombies, with the exception of Will Smith's character who is left to fend for himself in New York City. The story revolves around him trying to do 3 things: 1) attempt to find survivors who are not infected; 2) work to find a cure for the virus to restore the human race; and 3) survive.

I liked the movie well enough - I don't know if I'll ever watch it again, but it was interesting and engaging. There was room for more character development and I think the zombies could have looked a little less computer-created (I've seen Resident Evil too many times, I think), but overall, pretty good. The ending was so-so, but I wasn't disappointed with it as some have been.

As someone who considers this topic one of her top ten fears, I couldn't help but think what I would do if it were me. The very idea shakes me to my core. Since I'm an incredibly social person and thrive on interactions with people, being the only person on the planet would be hard. Actually, it would be worse than hard: it would drive me insane. I honestly don't think that I would survive being alone all the time. I know that I'd probably be able to fend for myself (at least, I hope I would), but the lack of social interaction would be torture for me. Of course, I do have lots of conversations with myself on a regular basis NOW, so I'm sure I'd be my own best friend in no time.

Thus, a lesson in self-discovery. I am a social butterfly: something I never would have said about myself a few years ago. Which means I'm growing and evolving as a person.

Amazing that I discovered all this from a Will Smith movie.

My thoughts exactly.

I couldn't have said (or done) it better myself.




Happy Saturday!!

Mark this date down in history.

I missed something big today.

When I came home from work, R said the cats were sleeping on our bed earlier today TOGETHER. SIDE BY SIDE. TOUCHING EACH OTHER.

And there's no physical proof that it happened, other than R's story. Auuughh!

For those of you who don't know my cats, they don't care for each other. At all. They don't snuggle together all cute-like during the winter when it's cold out - oh no. They would much rather chase the other one from a room or smack the other one on the head with their paw. They're civil to each other most of the time, but every now and then there's a skirmish and it sounds like elephants are running around upstairs. Thankfully there's never any blood or biting - just lots of chasing and intimidation. I always have nice little fairy tale dreams that one day they will sleep next to each other and it will look like a greeting card and they'll have forgiven each other's mistakes and flaws and be BFFs. It's been 7 years and I'm still dreaming.

So! Now you see why today was so AMAZING! And I missed it.

I wonder if this is what missing your child's first step is like.

KIDDING, of course!

Adventures in baking!

One of my co-workers celebrates a birthday this week, and when I asked her what kind of cake I should make, she said her favorite was strawberry cake (not strawberry SHORTcake, but strawberry cake). I've never made that before, so I looked around online and found this recipe on the Betty Crocker website. I didn't take any pictures of the finished product this time (which I should have!), but it turned out very well: almost exactly like the picture! All I did was add a box of strawberry Jell-O to a white cake mix, and presto! Strawberry cake. It was delicious, especially with the homemade whipped cream/cream cheese frosting. Yum!

I had an idea for a future cake after making it: wouldn't it be delicious to add a box of raspberry Jell-O to a white cake mix and frost it with chocolate frosting?? That will be my next cake for sure.

And, another thing worth mentioning: baking makes me happy. I love to make sweets that make the whole house smell like a bakery. I like that people feel happy when they eat what I've created. I love how precise baking is. I love that it makes me feel confident. I wasn't in the best of moods last night, but once I was finished making everything, I felt so much better. Much cheaper than therapy, no?

The next item to try is a recipe for thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies. Can't wait to try them!

My, how the time has flown.

How did she go from this:










To this:










So quickly?


Our little Kim is getting married in 2 months!! I can't believe it. We had her bridal shower this weekend in what was just the beginning of all the celebrating we'll be doing up until the wedding. Here's what part of the spread looked like:











And the dessert table (cue the angels singing):










And you can't see the plates and plates of cookies on the other counter top!

Now I understand where my insatiable sweet tooth comes from.

It was a wonderful day filled with well wishes, family and lots and lots of food. Just the kind of day you hope for.

2 more weeks until the next party!

Just imagine what my house smells like right now.

Sweet, sweet torture. I made them for my cousin's bridal shower tomorrow. Will they make it until then??

P.S. These are the most delicious brownies you will ever eat in your life. They're a Nigella Lawson recipe, and girlfriend does not skimp on her ingredients. They have 6 eggs, a pound of chocolate and 3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons of butter. Heaven on earth.

I added 1 hour to my life today!

How was your day?

Today is the start of the American Heart Association's National Start! Walking campaign. The idea behind it is to raise awareness of how good walking really is for you and to support the fight against heart disease. Did you know that for every hour of regular, vigorous exercise that you do, you gain 2 hours of life? How cool is that?

The company I work for decided to participate in this campaign, so along with a few of my fellow co-workers, we took a 30 minute walk today to kick it off. I felt really good afterwards - unfortunately, it's been awhile since I've exercised since I haven't been feeling well lately and life has just been too darn busy. I usually get a little sleepy during the day (as do most of us who work behind a desk), and this was just the pick-me-up I needed to get me through the rest of my day. And, I added an hour to my life - woo hoo!

So go and do something nice for yourself and your family by extending your life a little bit. And who knows? Maybe you'll make it a regular routine and end up adding years to your life.

Happy walking!

I heart Crossroads Trading Company.

So after my little lament on Saturday about finding that cute red shirt on the Anthropologie website, I took a little trip over to Crossroads Trading Company after I finished running some errands, and I am SO glad I did. For those not familiar, Crossroads is a thrift store that sells gently used clothing for DIRT CHEAP. I go in usually once a season to see what's new, and I decided that Saturday (being my favorite day of the week anyway) would be a great time to see what they've gotten for spring.

I found this:











And this:













And these:










And these (complete with a cat toy in the picture) :













And I got it all for $60. The shopping gods were smiling on me! A special shout out to the cashier who talked me into buying the brown shoes, because they're FIERCE!

The moral of the story is, GO TO CROSSROADS! They're awesome and they have really great clothing. You'll thank me later, girls! :)

Curse you, Anthropologie!!

Occasionally I go to the Anthropologie website to gawk and gaze at their beautiful, fashionable pieces, so since it's the weekend and I'm feeling like window shopping, I decided to take a look.

And I found this lovely, lovely skirt:













And then this adorable shirt:













And then this other adorable shirt:













Oh Anthropologie, why must you torture and taunt me so with beautiful items that I cannot afford?? It hurts my poor little shopper's heart! Le sigh.

Trader Joe's has created a monster.

People, I'm warning you now - DO NOT BUY THE DARK CHOCOLATE COVERED JO-JO'S AT TRADER JOE'S. They have been manufactured with crack and you will not be able to stop eating them. Jo-Jo's are Trader Joe's version of an Oreo cookie (so they're not quite as bad for you as the real ones), and they smother them in a robe of dark chocolate and then throw a bunch of them in one of their little plastic containers. And one serving is one cookie. HA. HA. Ha ha ha ha ha!

And because I am an addict, I will probably be buying another container tomorrow.

I really wish I had something more exciting to say, but it's Friday night and I am so tired. Amazing how laying in bed for half of the week can still make you tired, but it does.

Looking forward to tomorrow - Saturdays are the best!!

A-MRAZ-ing weekend.

A few of my relatives and I went to visit my cousin who lives in Santa Cruz this past weekend. She moved there a year and a half ago, and sadly, this is the first time I've been to visit her. Her and my sister and I went to see Jason Mraz at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz on Friday night, and it was AWESOME: probably one of the best concerts I've ever been to. He's such an amazing singer - I can't even really put into words how great he was. The guy that opened for him, Bushwalla, was a lot of fun - he sang a song about how riding a bike is not very conducive to meeting women. The chorus of that song was "It's hard to be a gangster with a basket on your bike." Hilarious!

We spent Saturday walking around Capitola, eating pizza from Pizza My Heart (yum!), walking around downtown Santa Cruz, and then capped it all off with dinner at a place called Hula's. I had the Thai Chicken Bowl, and it was DELICIOUS. Unfortunately, I wasn't that hungry since we'd spent the entire day eating, but it was still really good - definitely a place to go back to.
I also got to see my cousin's cottage (so cute!) and the school where she teaches (also cute!). I only wish we'd had more time to spend - it went way too fast! Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Me (left) and my cousin at the concert Friday night.

Me, my mom and my sister at the restaurant on Saturday night.

My aunt and my two cousins at dinner on Saturday night. Nice face, Kristie!!

Thanks to Kristie for showing us around all day Saturday. We all had a great time!!

Sick...again.

Sadly, I have come down with yet another cold, so I won't be posting anything exciting tonight. Sorry to disappoint all my fans. I'm off to rest and recuperate so I can tell you all about this past weekend.

Wish me well.

Quandary of the day!

OK girls - here's a tricky one for you.

What sort of outfit would the off white shoes go with?

I adore them and think they are so very cute, but I'm having a difficult time figuring out what to wear them with. If I can't come up with anything, I won't order them. So far, I've decided they'll go with my fancier work jeans, but with what color top?

Such trying times, aren't they?