I need a BREAK.

I'm reaching that point where I just feel like a hamster in a wheel - I'm doing the same things over and over and over and over again and I'm burnt out. I get like this every now and again, and it basically means I'm overdue for a me-day of doing nothing at home (and I do mean nothing - no running to the grocery store, no laundry, no NOTHING), and thankfully, I'll get that chance next week. There's nothing bad happening in my life at the moment (thank goodness and knock on wood) - I just need to breathe for a little while, and then everything will be right with the world again.

The 4 day break from work next week will certainly help with all of this. The best part is that it's a precursor to my 11 DAY VACATION in December. I haven't had a vacation that long in...2 years. I'm beside myself with glee at the prospect of setting my own agenda for a week and half. It's going to be fabulous.

I'm already feeling better just thinking about it!

An important, unrecognized milestone.

November 4th marked the two year anniversary of maintaining my 50 pound weight loss, thanks to Weight Watchers. It's hard to believe that it's been two years already, but I'm so proud of the fact that I've been disciplined enough to keep it off and not give in to temptation at every chance. It's been a challenging two years and I'm still learning as I go on how to maintain my success, but I think I've done pretty excellent, if I do say so myself.

I don't toot my own horn very often, but I think it deserves a pretty loud toot for this.

Repeat movie night.

My husband and I watched The Color Purple tonight after not having seen it for quite some time. I positively love that movie. I have yet to read the book, so I think it's going to be next on my list. The primary reason for watching it again was because I went and saw the play last weekend at the Community Center, and it was great. Better than great. And I'd forgotten about what an inspirational story it is, and was interested in comparing the two to see the differences. The play was pretty close to the movie, although there was a lot more (fabulous) singing in the play.

I won't give away all of the details in case not everyone has seen it, in which case I implore you: please rent the movie! You will not be disappointed, I promise you.

Today's funny cat picture:

Happy Caturday!

Is it April?

Seriously. What's the deal with this weather? I like spring-ish weather as much as the next person, but Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. It's supposed to be COLD. You're supposed to be able to make a fire and cozy up with a cup of hot chocolate and a blanket, not out running around in shorts and a t-shirt with the air conditioning on.

I just checked the weather report and apparently it's supposed to rain next weekend, but it's going to be in the 70's through Wednesday. Sheesh.

Although it will make for a very pleasant weekend, so have yourselves a good one!

Thanksgiving baking adventure.

I've decided to make this cake for Thanksgiving, and I actually get to do a trial run on it before the big day. My co-workers and I are having a potluck the day before Thanksgiving, and we're only bringing in side dishes and desserts. It will be a plethora of mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and stuffing. Yum.

I'm so excited to make this cake! I'm sure it's going to be amazing. I'll be sure to take pictures of this creation so I can share it with all of you.

Maybe I should start fasting now to make room in my stomach...?

Sigh.

My mom sent me this text message earlier today:
















Isn't it picturesque? Her and my stepdad are in Kauai right now. It almost looks like a postcard.


Though it won't be in Kauai, I'm SO looking forward to the Thanksgiving break. Only 17 more days!

A fantastic weekend.

Last weekend I traveled to Oakland for two reasons: 1) to visit my cousin Kim and her husband Nick; and 2) to see Jason Mraz in concert (again) at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. I traveled by Amtrak again and was so thankful that I did, seeing as it poured on the way there Saturday afternoon. The train ride was pleasant and stress free (as it was last time), and Saturday evening was spent at Zachary's Pizza in Oakland. This was one of the best pizza places I've ever been to, hands down. Delicious deep dish with just enough cheese, pesto, garlic and stewed tomatoes. As Nick put it, "It's what Zelda's in Sacramento WISHES it could be." And he was right.

Sunday we walked around Oakland for a little while, and then went to a place called Barney's for lunch (two doors down from Zachary's, which we were tempted to go back to but did not). Lunch consisted of burgers, spicy curly fries, and a delicious vanilla milkshake. So, so delicious. I wish I had taken pictures to share with all of you.

After that, we headed to the Greek for the concert, which was outdoors. Obviously, there was concern that it would rain, and since umbrellas are not allowed at the Greek, we were told to bring ponchos to keep dry. I prayed and prayed Saturday night that it would not rain, and thankfully, we didn't see a drop all night. The only drops I saw were tears of joy from the (once again) AMAZING performance by Mr. Mraz. It was such a phenomenal, uplifting, joyous night that I hated to see it end. He had two opening acts - one band called Two Spot Gobi (who are from the U.K. and stylistically sounded a lot like Jason), and an Irish singer named Lisa Hannigan, who was so great that I cannot wait to get her album.

When he finally took the stage two hours later, I was thrilled beyond words. He played mostly songs from his current album (We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.), got the crowd involved a lot, and was just a pleasure to listen to. I'm having a hard time conveying just how light and airy I felt once we left. I've never really had that feeling leaving a concert, but he has that effect on people. You can't help but be influenced by his positivity and amazing energy. Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay for his encore since I had to head to the train station, but what I saw was enough to keep me uplifted all week. And since I had his CD in my car, I've been able to keep it going even longer. I found out that night that he was playing Freeborn Hall in Davis the next night (which I wasn't aware of when I bought my ticket initially), and considered buying another ticket to go see him again. It was that good. Granted, this concert wasn't as intimate as when I saw him in Santa Cruz back in April, but it was still great. I've decided that I'm going to see him every time he comes to town from now on. If you get the chance, take a listen to his album online or on iTunes - you won't be disappointed.

My thanks to Kim and Nick for their hospitality and for introducing me to Zachary's. And my thanks to Jason Mraz for bringing me endless joy this week.
















The fact that he's heart-breakingly adorable is also in his favor.

Inside the invisible box.

In case you hadn't already guessed by the title, I was a mime for Halloween. Our entire department was a gang of mimes. And we had a blast. Here are some photos to prove it:















This is me at my desk, trying to have a mime-ish expression on my face. I've never worn that heavy white face make-up before, but I have a whole new respect for actors/mimes. That stuff is awful. As soon as I put it on, my face started to itch and I wanted nothing more than to go to town and scratch it all off. I kept feeling little pieces of lint stuck to it all day. At one point, I forgot I was wearing it and rubbed my nose. That required a reapplication. Although for it being my first time applying it and referencing the mighty Internet for a mime picture, I thought I did pretty good. Also, thank goodness for the black and white striped sweater in my closet!

Here's the rest of us hamming it up in the elevator:

















Don't we look great? We went around to different departments sneaking up on them. Some people laughed, some people said it was their worst nightmare come true. But we had a lot of fun nonetheless. And my cheesecake was a smash hit. It came out of the springform pan perfectly, and it tasted like heaven. Although a little goes a long way with that cake - lots of cream cheese and heavy cream make it SUPER rich.

So another Halloween for the books and it was fabulous. With these people as co-workers, I'm already looking forward to next year!