Honeymoon pictures

Here are a few pictures I took during our honeymoon. Details and such will come at a later date with the whole breakdown of events. In anycase these are pictures of Rome, Pisa, Florence, and Paris. Enjoy I did.

 

I'm back

well we are back at home and the cat's are finally forgiving us for leaving them. Poor Pixel doesn't want to leave my side for even a second and she has gotten a little annoying with her neediness. There is so much for me to say and type about the week leading up to the wedding and the wedding and honeymoon, but it will have to wait until I type it all out together in word and then transfer it over. We should hopefully get the proofs by Saturday and if all goes well they will send them to us on disk as well so we can post some. Currently Brad has all the pictures we have been sent from friends and family on his computer so I don't have access to them to show you. However he has posted some on our wedding site so if you want you can head over to the wedding site and click the link under news. I think that will take you straight there. It is funny how very few things at the wedding turned out like I expected but the day was made more perfect by all of the changes that occurred.

In other more recent news, now that the wedding is over I finally cut my hair. I had almost 4 inches cut off and even though my hair is still well past my shoulders I feel like I have short hair. The cut was a very good thing as the ends were rather damaged and my hair was looking stringy. It now looks healthy and full again, and even Brad admitted that the shorter hair looks better on me. He had been unsure of me cutting off my long hair because he really liked it. I like that he can't lay down on it anymore and accidently tug it while I am sleeping. No I don't have pictures of the new hair cut either maybe soon. Anyway that is about it for right now, I shall post again soon.

Florence

So we are still having a great time and we are currently in Firenze known to Americans as Florence. We still have so much to say that can not be said in the few minutes we have at the interenet spot we are in. Last night we checked in to our first hotel here, long story as to why this is our first hotel. When we went to the room we saw that for the first time in Italy we had a tub. In that tub were jets and I decided a nice bath was in order. I filled the tub and got in and started the jets. The thing was I think the jets were literally jet engine powered because water went shotting all over the room and the jets would not turn off. It caused such a comotion that Brad came running in to see if I was alright. We finally got the jets turned down but for the life off us we couldn't get them off. I took a bath and after awhile the water started getting low and the jets started spurting water across the room again. I yelled at Brad to help and he came in and told me to stop doing that. Finally I got out of the tub to keep the jets from bouncing off me. Still we could not get the jets off, nor the water to drain. Brad called the front desk to help and I quickly pulled on clothes over my wet body to not be naked when the desk person came. He finally figured out how to turn everything off and left. There was water everywhere. What can I say I make a comotion where ever I go.

wedding

We are sitting in an internet cafe in Rome right now so this will be a very short post. Our wedding day was amazing and though few things went as planned almost everyone said it was the best wedding they had ever attended. I plan on journelling everything in my spare moments and writing the worlds longest post when we return to the states. Today we went to the Sistine Chapel and it was really mind blowing seeing the works we had seen our whole lifes in person. We probally wouldn't have made it to the Vatican at all if it wasn't for my insomnia. I woke us up at 5 and we decided to get up and get ready. We wallked to the Vatican from our hotel and were about 60 people back in line at 6:45. The museum opened at 8:45 and we found out that it was closed tomorrow. So I guess for once it paid off that I couldn't sleep. I have so much more to say but since we are paying by the minute I shall leave saying I miss you all and will catch up with you when we return.

Wow!

Ok so I was sitting at my computer reading blogs, as I am want to do, and my cell phone rang. I answered the call and it was a voice I was certainly not expecting. My old boss that took back my raise after she had promised it and then never told me she took it back. She had the nerve to be calling me to ask me to work for her for a week. Funny but I wouldn't work for her under the worst of situations but since I fly out this Saturday, as in two days I don't think I will be able to work for her. Wow though she has some balls to think I would even consider it. She did however make my day, I love that she is crawling back to me. You all should be very proud of me though, I told her no I was getting married next Sunday, I did not tell her to F herself or any of the other things the demon on my shoulder told me to say, I was however very cold and straight forward, I doubt she will be calling me again.

Props to good customer service

I just called Cingular my cell phone provider to get some help about using my phone while I am in Italy. Really what I wanted was not an international plan but for them to unlock my phone so I can use a prepaid calling sim chip on my phone. I expected to have to fight for it and was prepared for a battle. I thought they would try and force me into the international calling plan that quite frankly is way to expensive. So I called and the customer service rep was very nice and didn't try to force the international plan at all. I asked her to unlock my phone and she said no problem. She put in the request and within 5 days I should get the code to unlock the phone. I was a little dumbfounded, I can't remember the last time I called a company and got the results I wanted without pressuring them to do so. Due to this I will say way to go Cingular, I shall recommend you highly.

In other news the wedding is now less than two weeks away. Actually two weeks from today I will be on a plane to Italy. Life is pretty good. Saturday my passport came. I am not sure how it is possible but the picture is worse than my drivers license. It is pretty frightening. I hope they don't look at it and declare me a security risk due to toxic ugliness. I guess we will see. This morning I started to clean out my closet. I threw away all my old shoes and now my shoe collection is organized and easy to find the shoe I am looking for. This will be nice. I also went through my closet and pulled out old clothes I no longer wear. Later today I will be taking several garbage bags of clothes to Good Will. I guess that means I could be walking down the street and see people wearing my clothes. That is kind of weird. This is my last week home before the wedding, I fly to Napa on Saturday and from then on it will be all wedding stuff to prepare for the big event on Sunday the 21st. I can't believe in two weeks I am going to be a Mrs.

I have more that I should tell you about like my all day spa day saturday while Brad had his bachelor party but I really don't feel like typing it up right now. So I shall type more later but for now see ya.

sites from vegas

Here are some of the things we saw while in vegas. Of course these pictures were all taken on a previous trip to vegas but since I din't take out my camera much you get to see pictures I already had in my library. No trip to Vegas is complete until you have been in M&M World so you better believe I made us stop in.

 

Wedding countdown

The first three pictures are of Brad and I on the day we got our marriage license. We decided to play hookie after we were done at the courthouse and went to Downtown Disney and goofed off. The first picture is me trying on a cowboy hat and honestly I am only posting it because I think my boobs look amazing in this picture and I thought you should all have a little treat. The next picture is Brad and I kissing in the waterfall caves at the Disneyland Hotel. The hotel has great grounds and if you are ever in the area I recommend exploring the hotel. The waterfall caves were empty and it made for a nice hideaway on such a romantic day. The next picture is of Brad and my drink at the Rainforest Cafe. Both were very good to me. The last picture is of my 2 maids of honor at my bachelorette party, we were at the piano bar at the New York New York casino. We had a lot of fun there. Unfortunately that is one of the only pictures I thought to take all weekend. I guess I can't get in trouble for anything if I take no evidense.

 

No I didn't die

So I know I have been awol from here for awhile and all I can say is that I am sorry. I don't expect it will get much better until after the wedding though so don't get your hopes up too high. My best friend Susan is flying in as we speak and we will spent the day together today and then head to Vegas for my bacholerette party this weekend. I wouldn't count on seeing picture evidence of our time there though, you know the rules. I will try to post when I can from now until the wedding as there will be a 3 week silence from me after the wedding. I will post lots of pictures when I return though.

The last up too long post spurred two questions from most of you, the first how I caught on fire. I was to light the last candle at the Thespian Society induction and I was wearing one of those string friendship bracelets that were all the rage in the late 80's early 90's. I had to reach over all the other candles to light mine and when I did so my bracelet dangled into the other candles and caught on fire. Yes it was in front of a lot of people and yes I was very embarrassed. Thankfully my teacher responded very quickly and put me out before my skin actually burned. I have never again wore a friendship bracelet. Come to think of it that may have been the last time I wore any bracelet. I will have to think about that.

The second question was how I accidentally stole something. When I was a teen stores would have sales all the time with limits on them, like soda limit two cases. When this would happen my Mom would stock up on soda but she would bring me so I could get in one line and buy the limit and she would get in another line to buy the limit. My mom handed me the money and sent me to the register. She was still doing something in the back of the store and I went to the front. Not thinking I went right out the door and to the car without ever paying for the soda. I got to the car and started to unload the soda into the trunk, when I saw that I still had the cash in my hand that I was suppose to use to pay for the soda. I wasn't sure what to do but I knew there was no way I wanted to get caught stealing so I put the soda back into the cart and wheeled it back into the store and then into a check out line. As I was paying for the soda the cashier put a thing of tape across the top and said this is so security doesn't stop you for shoplifting. I laughed at that. I put the soda in the car and came back in and told my mom the whole story. She said I should have just left them in the car and not paid for them. I was shocked, this was the same woman who became the scariest thing I had ever seen when my oldest brother got caught stealing and there was no way I wanted to incur that wrath. We did get a good laugh out of the whole situation afterwards. Since I did end up paying for the soda though I am not sure it counts as shoplifting.

Shamelessly Stolen

I saw this on S's blog and it seemed kind of cute, so I shamelsessly stole it. After looking at the list I realized I really have done a lot.

Place an X beside the things you've done. This is for your entire life:
( ) Crashed a friend's car.
( ) Stolen a car.
(x) Been in love.
(x) Been dumped.
(x) Shoplifted. (Not on purpose though)
(x) Been fired.
(x) Been in a fist fight. (does it count if I wasn't fighting but got hit?)
( ) Snuck out of your parent's house.
(x) Had feelings for someone who didn't have them for you.
( )Been arrested. Not Charged
(x) Gone on a blind date.
(x) Lied to a friend.
(x) Skipped school.
(x) Seen someone die.
(x) Been to Canada.
(x) Been to Mexico.
(x) Been on a plane.
(x) Set a part of yourself on fire.
(x) Eaten sushi.
(x) Been skiing. Snow skiing, yes.
(x) Met someone from the Internet.
(x) Been to a concert.
(x) Taken painkillers.
(x) Love someone or miss someone right now.
(x) Laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by.
(x) Made a snow angel.
(x) Had a tea party pretend or otherwise.
(x) Flown a kite.
(x) Built a sandcastle.
(x) Gone puddle jumping.
(x) Played dress up.
(x) Jumped into a pile of leaves.
(x) Gone sledding.
(x) Cheated while playing a game.
(x) Been lonely.
(x) Fallen asleep at work/school.
( ) Used a fake ID.
(x) Watched the sunset.
(x) Felt an earthquake.
(x) Slept beneath the stars.
(x) Been tickled.
(x) Been robbed.
(x) Been misunderstood.
(x) Petted a reindeer/goat/kangaroo OR jackalope.
(x) Won a contest.
(x) Run a red light/stop sign.
(x) Been suspended from school..
(x) Been in a car crash.
(x) Had braces.
(x) Felt like an outcast/third person.
(x) Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night.
(x) Had deja vu.
(x) Danced in the moonlight.
(x) Liked the way you looked.
(x) Witnessed a crime.
(x) Questioned your heart.
( ) Been obsessed with post-it notes.
(x) Squished mud through your bare feet.
(x) Been lost.
(x) Been on the opposite side of the country.
(x) Swam in the ocean.
(x) Felt like dying.
(x) Cried yourself to sleep.
(x) Played cops and robbers.
(x) Recently colored with crayons.
(x) Sang karaoke.
(x) Paid for a meal with only coins.
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't.
(x) Made prank phone calls.
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose.
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue.
(x) Danced in the rain.
( ) Written a letter to Santa Claus.
(x) Been kissed under the mistletoe.
(x) Watched the sun rise.
(x) Blown bubbles.
(x) Made a bonfire on the beach.
(x) Crashed a party.
(x) Gone roller-skating.
(x) Had a wish come true.
( ) Jumped off a bridge.

The Easter Bunny is a jew?

So we went to my brothers yesterday and then to the Dodgers Giants game. WHen we got back we had to put the little one to bed and then the Easter Bunny needed to come before she woke up. Apparently unbeknowst to all of us the Easter Bunnies special helper is a jew. We had a lot of fun and it was good to spend time with my brother. We were only sad that we wouldn't be there this monring to see the little ones face when she woke up.
 

Random PIcture Saturday

Here you go with some random pictures. Sorry they are a day late.

 

Random Picture, Thursday?

Ok so I didn't get a chance to do random picture Saturday last week and I will be out of town this weekend so won't be able to post yet again so here you go random pictures.
 

Pooh

Ok so most of you aren't familiar with my love for the silly old bear. When we went to New York they happened to have the original pooh and friends of Christopher Robin. SO I of course made everyone go and see them. If you are wondering that is my smile that says basically this is so cool. I am posting this because I feel like today is kind of a pooh day, a day where you are tired of dealing with the concerns of the adult world and want to return to childhood. Mind you nothing is particularly wrong today it is just that I am feeling a bit over whelmed with all that still needs to be done but hasn't gotten done. SO far though 63 people are actually coming to the wedding. Good night more later. 

Lowered Expectations

Ok just a quick vent post because I am tired of business not living up to a standard. Tonight Brad and I decided that we would treat ourselves to a sundae at Ben and Jerry's. We had been seeing the posters everytime we walked by for a caramel turtle sundae and tonight we were going to have it. They were out of turtles. SO I asked for the other special the peanut butter brownie sundae, they were out of brownies, so we left and went to the waffle place. I ordered a crepe, no problem, Brad ordered a waffle, did I mention that it was a waffle place, they were out of waffle batter. Brad was irrated but he ordered a crepe. We asked for two glasses for tap water. The girl told us she couldn't find the cups for water we could buy a bottle. We asked if we could use one of the coffee cups, she said no they were saving them, what the F! Come on people have your product and let people have water. I wish I could say that this was just a freak night but it is happening more and more. We will no longer order from Pizza Hut because every time we order they are out of pepperoni, or pan crust, or medium pizzas or something and they never just tell you they are out of it, no they let you wait for the pizza to arrive and when it is wrong and you call or ask they tell you that oh yeah we were out of whatever so we sent you the pizza on a cracker instead. I tell you what these places had better step it up cause I do not want to have to make every meal at home.

Ok that is all for now come back tomorrow for a much lighter happier blog post.

Pictures with new camera

First up is Juan Pablo Montoya, Monty for short, the killer race turtle. He is asking, You looking at me? as he suns himself with his uv lightbulb. This is a rare treat he is usually too self involved for a picture. Next picture is of our little Pixel, she was worried she wouldn't look good in the picture so she had to take a moment to clean a spot. Third picture is of Zacchy, as she has seen many cameras come and go in her lifetime she was less than impressed and chose to sleep through the photo session. Lastly is a picture of what Brad gave me for Valentines day. I had to wait for it to grow before I could take a picture. If you click on it you will see what I think of you all. Of course I have no idea what it is that I am really growing so I hope it isn't illegal since I keep it in the window and all. ANyway I was just taking a quick break to see what the pictures look like before going and taking more. Expect lots of picture posts in the near future.

 

Random picture Saturday

I have decided to start a new feature that will be random picture Saturday. I will post pictures of random things with no explanation. You can choose to think of them as you wish or even make up stories in the comments. The only rule I will make is that they will all be pictures I have taken. So here is your first installment, have fun.

 

Why Soozieq Rocks

So today I glanced out at my patio and saw a box out there. It was addressed to me so I opened it. Zacchy was very excited to have a new box to play in, because that is her favorite toy. So as soon as I emptied the box in went Zacchy. You may not be able to tell from the picture but she is saying thank you Soozieqhttp://sharpturnahead.blogspot.com . So I opened the other box that was inside the box and found that Soozieq had sent a gift for Brad and I. So needless to say I was very excited. You see she had sent me a new thermometer and crab crackers. I needed these because as you see from the bottom picture I melted my old thermometer by placing it on top of the smoker, a mistake I will not make again. I needed the crab crackers because the last time I made crab I didn't have the crackers and I was doing it by hand and cut myself on the shell. That was not to fun for me so I will say I am glad Soozieq has saved me from further injury. I then tried to take a picture of the box with the card in it but Pixel began to feel left out and so she jumped into the box right as I was taking the picture. My camera then ran out of batteries because I haven't charged them due to the new camera coming. Thank you Soozieq so much, I really can not say how much it means to me that you are so thoughtful. Also this thoughtful gift produced your address which I was going to email you today for anyway. So from myself, Brad, Pixel, and Zacchy we say thank you. Monty couldn't be bothered to offer thanks though he was too afraid I might stick him in the box or use the thermometer on him.

 

Invitations

So I haven't been around to actually update my own blog because I have been non stop on operation mail out invitations since Friday. Yesterday I sent out 143 invitations. Today about 30 more went out. I also filed for my passport yesterday and that should arrive by May 2nd. So I am covered in ink from doing all the calligraphy on the inside envelopes. No I didn't lick the invites I used a sponge thingy to seal all of them. On Friday I went to the post office to buy all the stamps for the invites. I know they have special wedding stamps that you can buy so I was thinking they would be a heart or something. I handed the mail man a invite and asked what the postage would be for that and the return card. The mail man got all excited. He started dancing around and crossing his fingers as he waited for the scale. Once he saw that the invites would be able to go out at the 63 cent prize he jumped up a little in glee. Apparently the stamps come together on a card for weddings so you get the 39 cent stamp on one side and the 63 cent stamp on the other. It is a new thing and this man had never gotten to sell one of them before so he was quite excited about it. He comes back with the stamps and I glance down and find to my horror that the stamp has a bird on it. I hate birds and I certainly didn't want one to be the symbol on all of our invites, on the other hand I wasn't about to tell this man that I didn't want the special sheet he was so happy to be selling. So yep all the invites have a bird stamp on them.

Saturday night we took a break from invitations and went to the dinner and a movie thing. In concept a great idea, in reality poorly executed. There was a Hollywood nightclub that shared a lobby with the theater and so before the movie even ended the music from the club was so loud that our table and drinks were shaking a lot. It was hard to see the movie at times because the serving staff all walked around on the same level as everyone watching the movie. The worst thing was though that the food while it tasted fine was not what we expected. Most of the things on the menu were between 10-20 dollars. I ordered the special which I thought might be a few dollars more than the most expensive thing on the menu. I ordered the filet and it was about 6 oz and they charged $40 I nearly had a heart attack. Yeah lesson learned don't order the special unless you want to be specially shocked. Brad's food came out cold and he had to send it back and get it reheated. So all in all it was not an experience we care to do again. We did have a good time though because it was nice to get away from the wedding planning and it was even nicer to get to go out with friends. It is also nice because the couple we went out with is getting married this summer so they are going through the same things we did or are.

Sunday night I ordered a new digital camera and it should arrive here by Friday. I bought the Nikon Coolpix s5. It is just a little thicker than a credit card and it is 6 mega pixels and it takes TV resolution video. I am told that it is really good. I really like the size of it and that is what I wanted for when we are in Italy. A small camera that is easy to always have ready that takes a high res picture. I can't wait for it to come, however Brad is almost as excited for my camera as I am and I am not sure if he will even let me play with my own camera because he is going to take it over. I suppose that is what happens when you marry a gadget freak.

So the wedding is exactly 2 months from today and I am starting to really feel like this is going to really happen. You know we must really love each other if we didn'y kill one another getting these invites out.

Yesterday my new Tassimo beverage system (coffee maker) It is so cool you put a disk in and hit the button and it makes you the perfect cup of coffee, tea, or hot coco, depending on what kind of disk you out in. It also makes cappucinos and all of the fancy drinks too. I bought it for catering but we will see if I will ever be ok letting someone else touch it. I love new toys.

Poconos?

So it is now almost two months until the wedding and I can finally say that we do indeed have a honeymoon booked. On Monday May 22nd we will be on our way to Italy! Yep Angel Girl I will be in your neck of the world. We are going to spend two weeks in Italy eating and drinking our way through the country and then we will fly back. First though we fly into Paris and have a lay over until the next morning so oh darn we will see one night of Paris as well. Breakfast with real croissants, yummy! I am so excited to get to leave this continent for the first time in my life. It seems as though Mrs. Brad will have more exciting adventures than Miss Karin did.

Yesterday they poured new concrete for the walkway to our building. All day long the concrete called to me saying it needed engraving. Try as I might I could not calm the voice of the walkway and so I carved K + B '06 very small in a corner of the wet concrete. Yeah I am bad, but Brad told me to do it and the first thing he did when he got home was to run out and see what I carved. Yes this is why I am marrying him, everyone needs a partner in crime. Besides who else wouldn't complain about putting drink syrup on their waffles.

Tommorrow night we are going with friends to a dinner place that shows a movie while you eat. We will be seeing Good Noght and Good Luck. Maybe we will see what all the Oscar buzz was about. I think it is a cool idea though to combine the whole dinner and a movie thing so I will have to post how the food was. That is about all I can think to talk about right now. I will post tommorrow and say more if there is more to say.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Sometimes I am not as bright as I think I am

So last night I didn't feel much like dinner and or making dinner. I finally decided to make breakfast for dinner and so we had waffles and bacon. I made the waffles and some how timed everything perfectly to when Brad walked through the door. All was going well and he even seemed excited to have waffles for dinner. I then went to the cabinet to get the syrup. There was no syrup there. What the F how could we possibly not have syrup? Ok well I knew the last time we went to Ikea we bought a bottle of Lingonberry syrup so all was again fine with dinner. I served the waffles and the Ikea syrup and was surprised at how liquidy it was. No problem it tasted fine and Brad didn't complain so I ate my waffles and kept quiet. As we finished and Brad was clearing the table I mentioned that I was surprised at how liquidy the syrup was, Brad said he was too and then he turned the bottle and read it. To make beverage mix with water. It wasn't pancake syrup it was koolaide mix. Yeah and I am a chef. Oh well we all make mistakes.

This week I am a little preoccupied because we have to get all the wedding invitations out by the 21st. We spent all of last night finalizing a list of invites and now it is on to the assembly and addressing of envelopes. Aren't you all glad you are not in the middle of planning your own wedding. I can not believe in a little over 2 months I am going to be a Mrs.

As for the quiz, Walmart is not a department store. I think at best it is called a super store or a drug store. There is only one place that I have made a whole post on hating. I will give you that Walmart is not one of my favorite businesses but honestly there is not one around here so I don't really give it much thought. Don't feel too bad at missing that one though because no one including Brad got that one right, though he should have known better. I am guessing that a lot of you are Walmart haters and were projecting that to me.

I have been to a lot of blogs lately that have lost someone and it is really sad. I don't know if it is the season for it or something but really I am getting so sad I don't think I can deal with much more death. SO if you are a reader of my blog I forbid anyone you know to pass away until after June. I think I can handle it better by then.

It is Purim, which is a very fun loving Jewish Holiday. The rules are, for adults, to drink until you don't know the difference between blessed be Mortichi and cursed be Hamen. While I can't spell it I am still too sober to not know the difference. So pardon this post I am rather buzzed but I am still not to drunk to follow Jewish Law.

I am a joiner

so since I have seen lots of you guys making quizzes and I can not be left out ever I made one of my own to see how you all would do. First let me see if I can post a link cause I have never tried before. Take my quiz.

Big bear pictures

The first picture is of Cassie my brother's girlfriend's daughter, she is wearing her mom's gloves because she didn't have snow mittens yet. The second picture is of snowy Brad. I think he is in shock over how cold it is. The last picture is of my Bro, yep he does have a very red nose. Yep it was snowing at the time. All these pictures were taken while we waited for the chains to be put on the car. We weren't really dressed to be in the snow and we were ourside waiting for over an hour. We had fun though and Cassie loved the snow. Thanks Susan for telling me how to post multiple pictures, now you guys are all in for trouble.

 

Catering

So this week I am catering but not doing data entry for the same company I usually work with. It has been so nice to bring the food and leave and not have to stay there all day and feel weird about how the food is or was. Of course I am not making as much money without doing the data entry but I am still making enough to make it worth my time and I am enjoying it so that is all that really matters.

Today as I was coming home I saw a true fashion victim riding a bmx bike. She was wearing camouflaged pants in green, hot pink sparkly high heeled pumps, a jacket with a fur hood and a big gold sparkly purse. It looked hysterical and was only made funnier by the fact that she was an adult riding a 2nd graders bike. I think all of her items may be highly fashionable on their own but all together it looked dumb. Of course I am sitting here in an oversized t-shirt with food on it and jeans that have chicken grease all over the knee, but in my defense I did just get back from catering and I haven't changed yet.

Today I get to go back to the dentist to see how everything is heeling and hopefully I will get permission to eat with and brush that side of my mouth. I am hoping that all the dental stuff is coming to an end soon. Yesterday I got my Seasonale prescription refilled for the first time with our new insurance and it was only 25 bucks instead of the 115 I had to pay with the old insurance. That was a really nice surprise because when we started with them Brad asked if they would cover that and they said no so I was expecting to have to pay more than with the old insurance. I love stuff like that it is like finding money in your pocket. Anyway that is about it for now if I think of more I will come back.

The Triumphant Return

So my trip to Napa was very successful yet expensive. My mom and I went shopping and we got her a dress for the wedding despite her hatred of shopping. I got dresses for all the pre and post wedding activities so I will be stylin. I found a hair dresser and I have that all set up. I loved my mock up do so I feel good about the stylist. It rained and poured while I was there and I even got some Hail. I also got to go into San Francisco and shop at Union Square. We left Macys at Union Square at 4:09 and we ran the whole way back to the Ferry Building and were on the Ferry by 4:30. I am not sure the actual distance between the two places but let me tell you that a fat girl and her 63 year old mother should not be able to make it that far in 20 minutes. We were the only people in all of San Francisco sweating.

This weekend Brad and I have been shopping non stop. We went and got all the supplies for our Temple to put on the Purim carnival next weekend, plus all the food for me to cater all week. By the time we were down we had a startling revelation that it was time for a new freezer as the little dorm sized freezer I had and the freezer on the fridge just weren't big enough to accommodate all the meat we now need to have on hand at any given time. We found a great chest freezer at Costco that wasn't as long as a lot of the other chest freezers and would fit perfectly into the space in the garage the old dorm freezer was in. The trick was could we get it into the car. It was 7 cubic feet of storage all together and we were pretty sure it had just enough clearance to go into the back of the MINI. So we bought it and a new monitor for Brad and asked the workers to help us load it into the car. They told Brad to move the car around and they would help to load. When Brad started to pull around the guys started to point and laugh saying at least we don't have to fit it into that. I said um yes that is exactly what you are fitting that into. They told me no way would it fit. I said yes it will and they again said no way. I again assured them it would fit we measured and they still didn't believe me. Brad says I should have bet them. We loaded it into the back of the MINI and then had enough room to put the new flat screen monitor behind it and close the boot completely. A perfect fit. Of course our chairs were mere inches from the dash and so Brad had a little difficulty using the clutch. I was carrying a large package of napkins so Brad couldn't see his mirror so I had to be the mirror on that side. The rear view mirror was useless so Brad drove very cautously straight home. But if you are ever wondering if you can fit a freezer in the back of a MINI the answer is yes.

Today was a bit of an interesting day, we had invited friends over to watch the awards but only one ended up able to make it so we have a lot of food in the house. Right before the awards we got a call from Brad's family that B's sisters really good friend, R, that we have met and will be coming and helping at the wedding lost his little 16 year old sister this morning in a car crash. The teens were going over 80 miles an hour and drove into a tree. The 2 passengers, one of which is R's sister died instantly. The driver was in serious condition and has since past away. Brad spent a lot of time on the phone with his sister helping her to find her way to R's families house so that she and friends could be with him right now. This just goes to show how important it is to say that you love someone and to make the most out of the time you spend together. When R last saw his sister it was Christmas break, he returned to school an hour and a half from home not knowing that he had just seen his sister for the last time. What would he have done differently during that break and the time between that break and now had he known how short her life would be. I think it is important to make the people in your life know how important they are to you and to not leave things unsaid. You never know if the last thing you say to someone is the last thing you are ever going to say to them. Let your words and deeds show your love. For all you parents out there please have a talk to your children about making good choices. Not to drive recklessly or to stay in a car with someone that does. If someone is drinking let your teen know they can call you to pick them up and you will not punish them for it. It is much better for you do drive them home on a night that they have made a few bad choices than for them to feel that your judgment of them would be worse than getting in the car with a drunk driver. Things like this scare me, when I think that someday I will have a teen and how I have raised them will effect all their decision making ability. How can I know the right things to teach my kids so that they will make better decisions. In any case hug someone today and tell them that you love them, don't leave things wishing you had changed them.

This week in a nutshell

So I catered all week, for my normal client who was doing work with Brad and his company so I have spent all week with Brad. This was kind of cool but also kind of exhausting. Wednesday I had dental surgery to have my crown lengthened, this is just a glorious term for they cut out part of my gums and I am in pain. So between working, surgery and pain meds I haven't been up to posting much. Tonight our friends in the Mini club threw us a shower so we got lots of great gifts and got to spent time with good friends. It was a nice night. Next week I am not working but after that I am booked every weekday for the next eight weeks, so I am going to spend this week off in Napa getting any and all wedding plans that need to be arranged with me there this week. My train heads out at 7:30 tomorrow morning and I will be back Friday night. I may or may not be able to post from my parents house so next week may be another dry week at chocolate cars. I am hoping after this though that my life can return to some sort of normal schedule. I am exhausted and I am looking forward to the long train ride tomorrow to get some rest. I shall see you all soon. I will try to check up on everyone while I am gone. Have a great week.

Big Bear

This is a picture of My brother, his girlfriend, her daughter, Brad, me, and the girlfriends sister. We are having a very good dinner at a restraunt in Big Bear. We had such a good time this weekend and it was really good to spent time with my bro. We had a killer snowball fight earlier in the day and we also went tubing in the snow at a place that had a up hill people mover to get you back to the top after you tubed down. Brad was very much in his happy place becasue it brought back memories of when he was a kid in the snow back in Philly. He can't wait until we have kids and he can teach them to make a snow man and the perfect snowball. I can't wait to teach them how to aim and hit Brad with the snowball. Yes we all have skills to pass down. I look really red in this picture, probably due to all the wine I drank with dinner.

We stayed at a little 2 room cabin that really wasn't big enough for the 6 of us but with an air mattress we made due. The thing was that the only place to put the mattress was right in front of the gas fire place that was the only heater in the cabin. The first night I didn't sleep at all because I was getting burned alive. The second night I turned it as low as it would go on the thermostat so when it dipped below 50 in the cabin the fire came back on. This made it nice and warm directly in front of me and in my little bubble but the heat didn't reach anyone else and they were so cold they had a hard time sleeping. I didn't sleep that well either but at least I was warm.

We came back this afternoon and went to lunch with them and then headed back for home. WHen we got almost home we were waiting to turn left at a light but the car in front of us was stalled out so we had to go around. I looked in at the car, a 2001 Mercedes, and saw the only person in the car was a woman and she looked clueless. Since we were stopped anyway at the light and I knew it was dangerous to leave the woman stuck there I offered to help push her out of the intersection. The lady was clueless and didn't even know to put her car in nuetral. Then she stayed sitting in the drivers seat while I tried by myself to push her very heavy car and her out of the street. Brad moved his car out of the intersection and parked and ran back to help me push. We got her into a parking lot and the lady was still lost as to what to do. Brad tried to start the car but it wouldn't turn over. He told her to call AAA and to have them tow her to a Mercedes dealership. She said she had just had the car serviced at a dealership. Well obviously it didn't work. We finally left her to call for help to at least she wasn't in the road anymore. She really didn't even thank us for all the help we gave her, go figure. I then went into a pretty bad asthma attack for me and Brad got kind of worried. I coughed out a lot of fluid and took the emergency inhaler which has helped a lot but I am still hacking up a lung. I am a little disgusted that when we see someone stranded no one tries to help them anymore, and when someone does help you, you aren't even grateful for it. We are going to Hell in a hand basket. 

So much to say so little time.

So I have been very busy this week working and dealing with stuff so I haven't been around. Yes I finally got paid today and the check was bigger than expected, in other words it was a good day. I finally am in the groove with catering and feeling confident and so I think things are going well. This week I finally broke down and got a new cell phone. Some of the buttons on my old phone didn't work very well and the phone was having trouble keeping the clock synched which was becoming a pain in the butt. I decided my new phone would be the pink razor so I went on a quest to find one. Everyone had sold out and I had to wait until the next shipment came in on Tuesday. So on Tuesday I called every Cingular store in the area until one of them told me they came in. I went to get my phone and long story short I came away with one of the 2 they got and the waitlist got screwed. SO Tuesday night we connected it to the computer and got everything transferred over and made new ring tones. Yesterday I noticed that it was practically out of battery so as soon as I got home I plugged it in. It didn't seem like it was charging. I then plugged it in to the wall instead of the computer and I left it there for 12 hours. This morning I got up to leave and the phone was still not charged. By 9 am it was dead. What the F. So after I got off today I took the phone and all its parts back to Cingular. Yup it was defective. No they don't have any pink razors try again on Tuesday. So now I have a stupid silver razor until the pink one comes in. Whatever.

Tomorrow Brad and I are going to the mountains with my brother and his girlfriend for the weekend. I love love love his girlfriend, we are going to have a great time. Of course this means I won't be blogging or around to your blogs this weekend, but I will try to make it by everyone's in the morning before we leave. You all have a great weekend, I am going to play in the snow.

Chick Flicks

Ok as we know I love the chick flicks. I got my first movies from NetFlicks and in it I received the movie The Notebook. Now I debated about renting this movie cause I really didn't think it was me. None the less I put it on my list and it was the first movie I received. Wow it is quite probably the best most touching romance movie I have ever seen. I spent hours consumed in my sappy girlie heaven today while Brad was safely away at work. I saw the way my parents love each other in this movie and if you have met them you know what an amazing thing that is. I really got so much more than I expected from this movie, I couldn't bear to mail it back yet so I kept it for a couple more days. AHHH this is exactly why I joined netflix.

Brad played an awful inadvertent trick on me this evening at dinner. He told me Rob Cohen, who directed the movie Stealth that Brad worked on for over two years and I have met, got his break by directing a small chick flick. Brad then paused and said I think it was Circle of Friends. Ok my attention was caught, my jaw dropped and I said you mean the Minnie Driver movie. The movie I have watched like a million times that is one of my favorite girlie movies. He was like yeah where else would I have come up with that name. Ok so I am a bit lame but I started to get all excited could this guy who I thought was kind of lame really have made one of my favorite movies. My mind started spinning, no that had nothing to do with the Martini or the wine with dinner, there was just no way that this man could have made that movie. SO I asked Brad again and he was like sure that was the movie. So I ran downstairs to my office and grab the VHS of that movie, I really need to get that on DVD, and looked at the back panel. No it wasn't Rob Cohen. SO he looked it up on his cell phone and the Rob Cohen movie was called a Small Circle of Friends. SO totally not as cool. Brad insists that he was right while I insist it was cruel to taunt me like that.

Ok so now that I own my own business I have had to become a bill collector. That really sucks. Ok people if you say you are going to pay someone on Friday pay them on Friday they are counting on that money. Then when you don't pay them on Friday and you say we will get a check to you by Monday you had best do it. Cause tomorrow if Karin doesn't get paid there is an aluminum bat in her garage with your name on it. Pay up you big jerks my man would like a VD present and I gave him me last year.

My Doppleganger

So I totally forgot about this until the other day but I had meant to blog about this. It seems as though I have one of those faces that people look at and it reminds them of someone. I can not even tell you how many times I have been asked if I have a sister, or if I have met someone I haven't met before. To be honest I find this really annoying. I don't fancy myself to be beautiful or striking or anything but I don't want to be so ordinary that any number of people look like me. So really I would rather people not notice me at all then to notice me and think of someone they know. I suppose this might not make sense to a lot of you but it is just something that bugs me. Well now on to my point with this post. A couple of weekends ago Brad and I were given tickets to go see the new Getty Villa Museum that was opening that weekend. Since Brad had never been there when the old getty was there he had never experienced the incredible grounds that surround the museum. They also had done a lot of renovation since I had been there when it was the old Getty so we decided to go on a tour to introduce us to the place. We were given these little head set thingies so we could hear the tour guide no matter where we were in the group and she didn't have to speak above her normal talking voice. I had the head set on and was listening to our guide when we walked by the food cart and eating area. An older woman began to wave in my direction and said, "I can't believe I am seeing you again twice in one week, how odd." Since I had the head phones on and was in a large group I assumed she was talking to someone near me and not me so I continued to walk around. Later in the day Brad and I were in the gift shop looking at books to grow an herb garden. I hear a woman behind me saying Maria over and over again progressively louder. Well I am not now nor have I ever even pretending to be a Maria so I ignored the annoying lady behind me. SO the lady gets Brad's attention and asks him, "isn't that my Maria?" Brad responded, "No that is my fiancee Karin." The woman then looked at me very confused and said, "but she looks just like Maria same long red hair and everything." I chose to continue to ignore her. Later though I thought about it and decided I missed a great opportunity. I should have given the woman my card and told her to have Maria call me. Why not finally get my doppleganger in cahoots with me instead of annoying me all the time. Ah well I screwed up. At least though I now know her name so the next person that asks me if we've met I will say no you are thinking of Maria. I also figure I can blame her for all the naughty things I do. So Maria you better watch out I am going to be bad and I am blaming it on you.

The Truth

Ok so a lot of you guessed right in that I did think there was another universe with someone exactly like me. This lead off to a lot of other sub categories of fantasies that I won't be going into right now. I didn't walk into a mail box while flirting with a boy, as I posted into an older post I walked into a fire hydrant and my friend's teased me about it ever since. Feel free to ask Susan about that one I think she is still laughing. I hate McDonald's burgers and I don't think I have eaten their beef since I was a kid and it gave me food poisoning, but I do like their fries and their McNuggets though I rarely eat there. The young drinking incident I was 5 or 6 and it was creme de menthe, but the rest is true. I have never tried creme de menthe again. My date to the prom was regular height more or less at 5'6", he was my first serious boyfriend. We double dated with another couple and Brian was a little person. He did do make a wish when we were in junior high but he met his idol John Elway of the Denver Broncos. Because of that I have always liked John Elway and will root for the Broncos.

So yesterday I joined Netflix to finally watch all the chick flicks I have missed because my sig other doesn't really enjoy these types of movies. So I am taking some suggestions on what everyone thinks is a must see movie. Come on girls I want guilty pleasures as well as all time classics. I mean what would life have been like if I had never seen Pretty Woman. Perhaps there are other movies that I have missed that can stand beside that one. Anyway for awhile I will be watching as many movies as possible and I will let you know some of the better finds I find.

4 lies and a truth

Ok so Susiebadoozieq tag me with this, write four lies and one thing that is true and let the people guess which is true.

1. When I was little I used to believe that there was a parallel universe where there was another girl just like me that did the same thing as me at the same time. So I used to try to do random things to trick her.

2. I once walked into a mailbox while flirting with a boy.

3. I love McDonald's hamburgers and eat them at least once a week.

4. When I was four I got a hold of a bottle of Midori at a family party and I drank it and loved it. My cousins got a little out of hand and the police came. I went outside to see what was going on with the bottle of midori in my hand and it spilled all down the front of me.

5. My date to the junior prom was a little person, he got to do make a wish and for it he met Joe Montana. I don't know what ever happened to him.

Good luck, make your guesses in the comment section. If you know we so well to already know the truth don't blow it for everyone else, or I will tag you with everything I can find. Hehehehe

Who are you

So do you ever look at you bulk email folder and wonder what kind of person the internet thinks you are? Apparently I am a Christian single man who has a hard time getting it up. I use a lot of ink so I need to constantly buy new ink cartridges. I am getting married, thanks knot dot com you are the worst spammer ever. I must like to answer surveys. I also must order random stuff a lot because I am constantly getting emails with confirmation numbers in the subject. There are probably a lot more bulk emails I could talk about but I don't remember off the top of my head. Today when I long on it said I had 666 bulk emails. That is just wrong. Seriously do these emails work on anyone?

So today I am watching TV and veggie out like a proper semi employed person and the phone rings. I check the caller id and it says blocked number. Normally that means it is my Mom cause she is the only blocked number that calls me. So I pick it up and I am ready to say hi Mom when I get a prerecorded voice. DO you have a hard time with your mobility? Would a Hoverround increase the productivity of your life? Ok what the heck is up with that? First of all we are on the do not call list. Yeah a fat lot of good that has done us. Second my legs work fine what is your point? Are you saying I am fat? Anyway I guess my mom isn't the only blocked call we now get.

Ok so Brad is trying really hard to book our honeymoon. He got recommendations on travel agents and so he started making calls. Why is it that when you give someone a budget their first response back to you is almost double what you budgeted. I mean if there is a reason that you couldn't stay within the budget or we are under estimating expenses than say that don't say you can work with our budget than give us packages at double the cost. No explanation as to why it is so much over. Well thanks but no thanks we will keep looking. So hopefully at some point we will have our honeymoon booked. If not there is always the Pocono's.

The Dentist

So today I had another fun filled day at the dentist. Today she removed the broken temporary bridge that I had that was looking oh so ghetto fabulous. Sorry guys I would not have a picture taken of that. I then had the permanate one put in. It sucked as all things at the dentist do but now I have a much better looking smile and there is no gap that is visible when I smile. Needless to say a big improvement, yet expensive. My mouth still feels a little weird but hopefully by tomorrow I will be used to it.

I have been very busy working, which is a great thing, and getting wedding stuff done. I have now gotten dresses for all the bridesmaids, ordered invitations, secured servers, and called the photographer. Last week we got the engagement pictures back. I think it is the first time that I have looked at a picture of myself and not wanted to vomit, so I guess we have a good photogragher. We were suppose to get a disk of the pictures so as soon as I can get that I will post some of the pictures.

My best friend in the whole real world has started to blog. She would love it if you all came by and visited her. Her name is Susan and that is how she is listed on my links. She is called many other things by me so I hope you all don't get to confused. Anyway Susan and I have been friends since 1992, the year I graduated high school. Susan was one of the first people to welcome me into the college group at our little church in Napa. In time I went away to college and a year in half later Susan came and joined me at the same school. We then became roommates the next school year and for two years we lived together and for awhile that experience ended our friendship. A little while after I moved out I realized that Susan was too good of a friend to lose and that we just couldn't live together. We began hanging out again and soon once again were best friends. It was through Susan's encouragement that I called Brad when he gave me his number. Without her I don't know if I would have been brave enough to ever call him or date him. In many ways my friendship with Susan taught me how to love and to be loved and without that I don't know that I would be ready to marry someone. I don't know if she will ever grasp how much I love her and am grateful that she is in my life. I hope that you all will take the time to get to know her and see how wonderful she is. I hope all of you have been blessed with a friend like her.

Lots of Stuff

Ok so first up is a questionaire that I promised I would do last week and I am just now getting around to it.

1. What time did you get up this morning? The first time was at 6:30
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Sirianna
4. What is your favorite TV show? Currently Grey's Anatomy
5. What did you have for breakfast? Fritos
6. What is your middle name? Michelle
7. What is your favorite cuisine? Italian or Mexican, love them both to much to decide
8. What foods do you dislike? Raisins
9. What is your favorite chip? Fritos
10. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Green Day American Idiot, or Rent Soundtrack
11. What kind of car do you drive? Kia Sephia
12. What is your favorite sandwich? Turkey melt with bacon and avocado
13. What characteristics do you despise? Hipocrites
14. Favorite item of clothing? Anything that makes me look skinny
15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Italy, then Australia
16. What color is your bathroom? Blue and green
17. Electronic device you couldn't live without? TV, Computer, DVR, Ipod
18. Where would you want to retire to? It doesn't matter where as long as Brad is with me.
19. Favorite time of day? Dinner time with Brad
20. Where were you born? Vallejo, California
21. Favorite sport to watch? College Football
22. What is your dream job? Being a good Mom, spouse, and caterer
23. What are you passionate about? My Family
24. What type of detergent do you use? Tide
25. Coke or Pepsi? Diet Cherry Coke
26. Are you a morning person or night owl? Morning
27. What size shoe do you wear? 8 1/2-9
28. Do you have pets? 2 cats-Zacchaeus and Pixel and a turtle Monty
29. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone? My wedding is less than 4 months away.
30. What did you want to be when you were little? A lawyer
31. Favorite Candy Bar? 100,000 bar
32. What is your best childhood memory? Playing games with my family at my granparents house.
33. Worst job you have had in your life? Hot lunch server at a private school
34 What color underwear are you wearing? Blue with red trim super girl underwear
35. Nickname: K, KK, Carebear, Honey
36. Piercing? Ears now tried and failed to pierce nose and belly button
37. Ever been to Africa? No
38. Ever been toilet papered? Yes and I have toilet papered someone else
39. Love someone so much it made you cry? Yes many times
40. Croutons or bacon bits? Croutons.
41. Favorite day of the week? Sundays
42. Favorite restaurant? Valentinos, where Brad and I go on our anniversary
43. Favorite flower? Red Sunflowers
44.. Disney or Warner Brothers? Disney all the way
45. Favorite fast food restaurant? Taco Bell
46. What color is your bedroom carpet? Stained, I think it used to be beige
47 How many times did you fail your driver's test? once
48. From whom did you get your last e-mail? My Niece Megan
49. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Target or Torrid
50. What do you do most often when you are bored? Pick at the split ends of my hair
51. Who are you most curious about their responses to this questionnaire, if they choose to do it? Everyone on our links
52. Last person you went to dinner with? Brad, and Melanie
53. Ford or Chevy? Toyota
54 What are you listening to right now? The sound of the keyboard clicking
55. How many tattoos do you have? None I am way to chicken.
56. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The chicken

Stay tuned for more exciting things I have neglected to post that I am meaning too.

Napa

This is my favorite spot in Napa. The picture doesn't do it justice. I am posting this because today I have the blahs so I thought I would battle them with my favorites. Now that this is done I am going to bed. See you all soon.