"New" Jersey Girl

Up and Running

2006-09-12T21:12:00.000-04:00

The Scheiners.com is up and running. So, follow the link to get to my new blog:

http://www.thescheiners.com

We used this as our wedding website, and David revamped it for us. Maybe Brad will post every once in a while now. (With all that free time he has! HA!)

I will send out an e-mail eventually with the new link once I get more savvy with it.

I can't believe it's already Wednesday!

2006-08-30T21:15:00.000-04:00

I am always a few days past the weekend when I post about the weekend, but it's been kind of a busy past couple of days!!

Saturday, Brad was at orientation, so I decided to treat myself. I got a pre-natal massage that was FABULOUS! (Brad gave me a gift certificate for Mother's Day.) Then, I got a manicure and a pedicure (Elizabeth gave me a gift certificate for my birthday.) So, thanks Brad and Liz for allowing me to treat myself! It was much needed! Saturday night, we laid low because Brad was exhausted from a long 4 days of orientation!

Sunday, my dad came and stayed with us because he is working in Allentown this week, so it was great to see him briefly. He helped us out by installing a key pad entry into the garage. We also had our fantasy draft on Sunday night. Our fantasy league is now very spread out over the US! It started with all the teams in Chicago in 2001, and now we have teams in Texas, New Jersey, Kentucky, and Michigan as well.....Pretty crazy! We shall see how my team does. I had the number four pick, so I got Tiki Barber in the first round, Marvin Harrison in the second round, and TO in the third round (if I had it to do over again I would NOT have picked him, I don't know if he is going to be worth having!), then Marc Bulger in the fourth round. I won two years ago, and I am hoping the baby will bring me good luck this year!

Monday, Brad got a big screw stuck in his tire. Yuck!

Tonight, we went and did Super Suppers again. It's this really cool place where you go and prepare meals to put in the freezer. We did it back in May, and we really enjoyed all the meals we made, so we decided to try it out again. And we are planning to go again in late October/early November to stock the freezer so we have decent meals to eat when the baby comes! It's so easy because they have the recipes and all the ingredients out and ready to assemble the meals. We are trying the first one tomorrow, so we shall see how that goes.

Tomorrow we are going to visit two possible daycares, one at Brad's office and another close to where I work. I have not completely decided that I am going to go back to work, but just in case I do, I want a good place for our baby to go. It's like the million dollar question if I will go back to work or not. Some days I think I want to go back to work, other days I think I want to stay home....so who knows. At this point, I think part-time might be the best compromise! I haven't talked to my boss about this yet, but we shall see how I feel after the baby is born. I definitely don't think I am on the career woman path, but living in New Jersey is expensive, and I just want to make sure we are still able to save some money every month!

Things are still going well, I am just having some issues sleeping. Not so much getting to sleep, but staying asleep. Like this morning, I woke up at 5:15 and couldn't go back to sleep! Which is frustrating because I need my sleep while I can get it! I am going to be sleep-deprived enough once the baby arrives!! I have been able to feel more movement more consistently in the past week, which is very cool. But she has gotten into the habit of jamming her foot into my ribs, which I am sure will get pretty uncomfortable as that foot gets bigger!!

Update....

2006-08-24T18:58:00.000-04:00

I know it has been a slow blog time. I have been scrapbooking! And when I get in a groove, I have to go with the groove. My brother also revived thescheiners.com that we used for our wedding, so look to see my blog move there next week. I have to get a training session from him on how to work on the functions. Maybe Brad will even do an entry every once in a while!

Anyways, things are going well. We had the Aquinos in town last weekend and we branched out and actually went to a couple of different casinos! It was interesting….we’ll just say that Trump Marina is a total dump and we will not be going back there again unless it’s to go on Brad friend Larry’s boat. Caesar’s, however, was not too bad! And the Pier shopping mecca they opened there is amazing! We will be hopefully going there again soon, most likely to do only window shopping, but 10 restaurants will be opening in September.

Brad started school yesterday with a 4 day orientation! And he had a case study to prepare for orientation. (Talk about intense!!) But, when he came home last night, he said he liked it, and he was looking forward to going back today, so I guess that’s a good sign. He was definitely anxious yesterday, however…he woke up before the alarm went off. He never does that, usually he barely moves when the alarm starts blaring! He will be staying in the city for the next two nights and get home early evening on Saturday, and then he has class next weekend on Friday and Saturday. No rest for the weary. He got all of his books and materials last week.

As for me, I am still feeling pretty good, but I am definitely starting to waddle! I can definitely feel myself slowing down a bit, and my back starts to hurt towards the end of the day some days. The past two nights, I have had trouble sleeping, so hopefully that will pass. (Somehow, I am not too confident about that, though...). I have decided that drying my hair in the morning is a luxury because I would rather sleep the extra 10 minutes! I feel like I am all belly, but I am feeling the baby move more and more every day, which is still the coolest feeling ever! Brad got to see my stomach move the other day too when the baby did a somersault. I can’t wait to see feet and elbows, too!! Here’s a couple of photos we took this week.

I am excited tonight because the Eagles are not playing a pre-season game. For the past two weeks, their games have been on instead of Grey’s Anatomy!! I was not happy about that at all. I know they are re-runs, but I LIVE for this show! I have already pre-ordered Season Two which comes out on September 12! I cannot wait!!!

I am glad it’s almost the weekend!

Great vacation, not so great travel experience

2006-08-16T21:16:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, we went to Michigan for a little vacation. We were supposed to leave on Thursday night and fly into Detroit and then drive to Brad’s parents house, but our flight was cancelled due to weather. What weather I am not sure, but I think it may have been because of the little storm we had in Philly, but not even at the airport. Frustrating!! And Thursday was the day they were banning liquids from the flight and everything so we expected there to be a huge wait at the airport, but there was no line to check bags and no line at security, it was kind of eerie! They booked us on a flight on Friday morning, so we headed home, had some dinner and then went to bed.

Friday morning was a totally different experience at the airport. It was completely mobbed!!!! It was worse than Midway at Thanksgiving. It was pretty outrageous. We were standing in line to check bags (which took about 35 minutes), and I decided to take the liquids out of my bag and put them in Brad’s so I could go get in the security line. Thank goodness I did because it took an hour and 15 minutes to get through security!!!! We got the gate at exactly the time our flight was scheduled to leave. We would have missed it if they hadn’t been waiting for a flight attendant! So, we were so happy to get on the plane and be on our way to Detroit.We met my mom and Detroit and were on our way to Kalamazoo. We took a small detour through Ann Arbor so my mom could see the campus. Once we got to Kzoo, we took a tour of Helen and David’s beautiful new bedroom. I am jealous, it is absolutely gorgeous!!! Then we headed to lunch at the Moors, and then Brad and David went and played a round of golf to get ready for the weekend. The ladies went and did some shopping!

We got up early on Saturday morning to head up North. The main reason for the trip was a golf vacation for Brad and his dad, but Helen, my mom and I were just tagging along for fun. I wanted my mom to see Northern Michigan because it is absolutely beautiful up there!!! Saturday, we went to an Art Fair in Charlevoix and then headed to Petoskey to check into the hotel. (More on that later.) Then we headed up to Harbor Springs, which is definitely a boating town! All the shops closed at 6! We decided to head up to Cross Village, where Helen said there was a “Funky restaurant” where we could eat dinner. It turned out to be Legs Inn, a Polish American restaurant in a beautiful outdoor setting. Inside was a little “funky,” but the food was good and the view was spectacular! Brad also felt the first kick from the baby after dinner, which is a momentous occasion!

The hotel was interesting because all 5 of us were in the same room, which they described as a suite, but it was actually just one big room, complete with a large Jacuzzi tub and a pull out couch. My mom slept on the rollaway. And we also had Riley, the bichon. So, it was interesting for sure!! I would have gotten more sleep were in not for all the snoring, but oh well….it was just one night!

Sunday, Brad and his dad had their first round of golf, so the ladies headed off for more shopping. We went to Traverse City, which is a very cute little town, with lots of great shops, including several baby shops! We had a yummy lunch at the Mackinaw Brewery and then headed to Elk Rapids, where all the shops closed at 3!!! (I guess it was Sunday after all, so not much shopping there.) We stopped at Helen's friends house where we were staying for a little rest and then we met Brad and David in Bay Harbor for dinner. It was the longest.....dinner....ever, but the food and conversation were good, and Bay Harbor is one of my favorite spots in Michigan!!!

Monday morning, Mom and I headed to Detroit around 10 AM. (It's about a 4 hour drive.) When we were about 45 minutes from the airport, I realized that Brad still had the keys to both my car and the house! So, I didn't really freak out about it until we got to the airport, and the Motor Club guy said they couldn't tow my car home because the tow truck wouldn't fit in the parking garage. I thought I had everything figured out. Not so much.....so I tried to think of what I could do because I had to get into my car to get the garage door opener. I had no other way to get into the house. I called one of my neighbors, Jodi, to see if she could pick me up, and she is a lifesaver!!!! When we landed at the airport, I called the motor club again to see if they could send someone to jimmy into my car, and the tow service they called said lock out is offered as a service from the airport. I called, and sure enough, the Philadelphia airport offers free services such as lockouts and jumpstarts. Amazing!!! They were a little confused because the keys were not in the car, but I got what I needed and Jodi picked me up and we were on our way. I was so exhausted by the time I got home. I am so thankful that we had an extra key to Brad's car here. I don't think I could have faced going back to the airport.

So, being in Northern Michigan was really fun! I absolutely love it up there, and I wish we could have stayed longer! It was great to see the Scheiners and my mom!

Surprise and Happy Anniversary

2006-08-03T22:05:00.000-04:00

I am a little late in posting about last weekend, but I have been pretty tired this week!

Last weekend I went to Pittsburgh for what turned out to be a surprise baby shower/girls weekend! I thought I was going to Pittsburgh to see my old roommates Laura and Shannon, but when Shannon and I arrived at Laura’s house, Tracie and then Stacy and then Tammy walked out of the kitchen!!! I had absolutely no idea, and I was so completely surprised and excited to see them, it was fabulous!!! Just what this pregnant momma needed, is some girl time! They are all sneaky and good at keeping secrets apparently!

So, we ate a (late) yummy dinner of lasagna, salad and bread with peach cobbler for dessert that Laura had prepared and presented beautifully. (Tracie chopped everything of course and Shannon was the Spice Master.) Then, we just talked and then opened baby presents. (Thanks for all the cute clothes and stuff, girls!) We went to bed around 1 because we had an early appointment at the spa.

Saturday morning, we got up early and headed to Nemicolon spa for manicures. We were a little bit late (oops!), so only Laura and I got full manicures. The other four only got a polish change, they were having none of the fact that we were late. Oh well! We walked around the beautiful grounds and then had lunch at this beautiful outdoor restaurant overlooking the mountains. It was quite a beautiful place!

Saturday night, we headed into downtown Pittsburgh for dinner at Hot Metal Grille, which was fabulous! And then we went to see “The Devil Wears Prada.” All of us had been wanting to see the movie, but hadn’t had a chance, and we all had read the book. It was very entertaining, and Meryl Streep deserves at least an Oscar nomination. After we got back from the movie, the baby was going CRAZY! I have never felt her move so much, it was very cool!!!! (I always refer to her in the female, but Brad always refers to him in the male!!)

Sunday, we got up and had breakfast and then everyone pretty much headed their own ways. It was a perfect weekend, and just what I needed. I am so blessed to have such great friends!!!

3 years ago yesterday, I became the luckiest girl in the world when I married Bradley Scheiner in Nashville. It’s hard to believe it’s been three years already!!! It’s been a pretty exciting 3 years, and I think this year is due to be even more exciting! We went to dinner at this yummy Italian place in our neighborhood that we have been wanting to try for a long time. It was really good, although some of their power was out, which made for a kind of warm dinner considering the 100 degree heat outside!!! We decided not to do gifts because we have a lot of expenses coming up soon. I am glad we decided not to go to the Cirque Du Soleil show that is in town because it’s all outdoors. I don’t think that would have been good for a pregnant woman!

On the pregnancy front, things are going really well. I am definitely getting a basketball looking bump. I feel the baby move at least a little bit every day, some days more than others and more in the evening than any other time. I am starting to get tired again (Brad thinks it’s because I need to exercise more, which is probably true, but walking on the treadmill is so boring and it’s been way too hot to walk outside!) And I feel like up until now, things were going quickly, and now I just can’t wait to meet this little person!

Hope everyone has had a good week! It’s almost Friday!!

An Athlete in the making

2006-07-24T21:22:00.000-04:00

The baby is moving.... a lot!!! We definitely saw all of the movement at the ultrasound, but I have been able to feel little flutters lately. It's somewhat sporadic, but it is definitely one of the coolest things!! It will be cool when Brad can feel it, too. He is excited because he is sure I am carrying a star athlete! We shall see!

We went to the doctor today and he said about 26 weeks is when the kicks get strong enough to feel on the outside of my stomach (which is about another month). He said everything looks good, and I am on target with everything, so that's comforting. He could tell which way the baby was situated just by feeling my stomach. I really like going to the doctor because we get to hear the heartbeat, which is just so precious.

Weekend in Review

2006-07-18T20:15:00.000-04:00

As promised! Sorry it took a little longer than expected. I really need to figure out a better way to do photos.....

What a weekend it was! My weekend started on Thursday evening when I flew down to Louisville. I arrived around 11:30 and visited with my mom and my brother for a little bit and then went to bed because I was exhausted!

Friday morning, we woke up and headed out to Churchill Downs to watch some horse racing! First, we stopped for lunch in the Derby Cafe, which was yummy! There were 12 of us: me, Mom, David, Katie, Rebecca, Bob, Glen, Anne, Christian, Charlie, Reid and Jean. It was a big family reunion. I can’t believe it’s been almost 2 years since I saw Katie (since she lives out in Oregon, it’s difficult for her to get home!). After lunch, we headed up to Millionaire’s Row to have some reprieve from the heat and humidity. (I think it’s where all the famous people sit for the Derby, but we only paid $10. I imagine it’s much more for the big event!) It was a nice big room with a bar and door that went outside where you could watch the races. David had his first Mint Julep, and wasn’t such a fan of the Bourbon. None for me, but maybe next time! Rebecca was drinking Woodford Reserve Bourbon on the rocks! What is that all about!?!

Anyways, we all got the lowdown about betting from Bob and Anne, and made our bets on the first race. I did an exacta box on Horses 8 and 9, mostly because I liked their names

, and I won $107!!!! WOW! It was definitely beginners luck, but I will take it! Christian won $50 on another race. On the last race, we bet a Winners box, which means that you bet $2 on each horse to win. It was a bad race to do that on because the horse that won had 4-5 odds, so we ended up losing $15! Oh well, it was fun and cool to see Churchill Downs!!

After the betting, we headed to Frankfort to celebrate Granny’s 88th birthday! There were some very high winds and lots of rain, so it was a little treacherous getting over there. We saw all sorts of trees that were uprooted and trees that had fallen on houses. Pretty scary! It was great to see Granny, and she just kept telling me she was so excited for me to have her first Great Grandbaby. She’s so cute!!!

Saturday was the day of my baby shower hosted by my aunt. She and my mom could seriously go into party planning! Everything was so beautifully set up and everything! It was a great day, and it was so fun to see everyone! Shannon, Tammy, Colleen, Stacy, and Elizabeth traveled from their respective locations to come to the shower, so that was fun!!! I wish it could have lasted longer, but it was still good to see them and for them to see my pregnant belly! We played the game where they had to estimate how big I was by measuring out a piece of string, and some people that I was a lot bigger than I am!!! But I would have had no idea either! We got lots of great gifts, so thank you everyone!!! There was a funny moment at the shower when Granny got a birthday present, and she said "But I am not having a baby!" Hysterical!!

After the shower, we went over to a friend of my mom’s daughter’s house, and I felt like I was on Cribs! This house was outrageous! There was a theater room, and this great pool with a grill attached, 8 bathrooms, a work out room! It was great! We just kind of hung out and had dinner. Elizabeth stayed, so it was great to spend some time with her!

Brad was a busy little worker bee on Saturday, he painted the nursery, and it looks great!!! He sent some pictures so we could all see the finished product and the last picture was one of him which made me cry because I missed him, and it was just so cute!!! It looks even better in person!!

Sunday, we went to brunch with my dad and Connie and the Ropers (the minister who gave the homily at our wedding and his wife, who I have known for a long time and now live in Louisville) at this wonderful brunch place! Yum!!!! Mom and I did a little shopping after everyone left and then just hung around.

Monday we took Granny to breakfast for her actual birthday and then did a little more shopping and then I headed to the airport!

It was such a fabulous weekend, and it was so great to spend time with so many different people!!!! Christian is getting so big! I can't believe he is 12 years old. 4 days is definitely a good amount of time for a visit. It makes me wish we lived closer!!

And my belly button is now completely protruded. (And no, David, it did not make a sound....when I said it was going to pop out any second, David asked if it was going to make a sound! )

Much excitement today!!!

2006-07-06T20:41:00.000-04:00

So, today we had our 20 week ultrasound, and it was absolutely amazing!! It was such a cool feeling to see the baby that is inside of me. While the technician was trying to take her films, the baby was moving SO much! I still couldn’t feel it, but I could see all the movement. Here is the picture that she took for us. You can see the head, and the legs and the feet. That’s our sweet little baby who will make us happy parents in about 20 weeks. It’s hard to believe that I am already halfway. I feel like we still have so much left to do, but I am sure it will all come together. I had a dream the other night that we were having twins: a boy and a girl, but there was definitely only one baby in there. I just can't wait to see what he or she looks like. (Brad said he was sure he saw a "wee wee", but I think he's wrong!) This week, I really think it's a girl, but last week I really thought it was a boy, so we shall see!!!

Our deck was also completed today, so we can finally sit out on our deck and grill out! I can't wait!! Here's a photo of our furniture and the finished product.

So much excitement!!!

Deck Progress

2006-07-03T14:39:00.000-04:00

So, the deck is progressing, but not as quickly as we had hoped! They finished all the decking on Friday, and we were hoping they would come and do some work today, but they are not coming until Wednesday, but hopefully they will finish it by Thursday!

We bought some patio furniture that we had our eye on for a long time this weekend, so we are ready as soon as it gets finished.

Here's some photos of the progress:

Holes are dug.......................................Holes are filled

Materials

Framing

Decking

So, that's all for now! More pictures once it's complete (hopefully Thursday!! Which is also the same day as my ultrasound!)

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

18 weeks

2006-06-28T20:24:00.000-04:00

I am currently in my 19th week, and things are progressing well. We went to the doctor on Monday, and he said everything looks good...my weight is good, my blood sugar is good, and the baby is growing well. We got to hear the heartbeat again, which is still one of the coolest things I have ever heard. It took him a couple of tries to find the baby (which made me nervous for a second), and we heard the baby moving while he was looking. I still haven't felt any movement yet, and I can't wait!!!! It still just completely amazes me that there is a person growing inside of me, that was created my Brad and I. Wow. Here's a photo of me at 18 weeks. Can you tell that I am pregnant? (You totally can when I have my shirt up, but I am not so sure how I feel about posting that out in cyberspace on an un-protected web page!)

So, we were at Tracie and Matt's wedding in Cleveland this past weekend. (Tracie was the honoree for the bachelorette party in Austin when I first found out I was pregnant.) It is our fifth and final wedding for this year. It has been exhausting! 5 weddings in about 2.5 months!!! But they were all super fun. I just love weddings. Brad was in the wedding, and I was a program attendant. It was so great to see some of our close friends all in one place! All 6 of Brad's friends that were in our wedding were there, which was great because it's rare that all 6 of them are able to get together in one place. All the girls were just amazed at my stomach, which is definitely hard to the touch (that's where my uterus is!) This baby is going to have lots of aunts and uncles who aren't related to my parents! I am very excited about that!

The funniest moment of the night was when we walked into the after-party and Rich was sitting there in his tux vest and tie with no shirt! He looked like he was from the VIllage people or something. Here's a photo (sorry Jen!!)

There were two other pregnant ladies at the wedding, which was nice!! One of them is the wife of one of the ushers, Jaymin, and she is due on the same day that I am. What are the chances?!?! And the other is one of the wives of one of Matt's B-school friends, and she is due about a month after me. She was in Austin as well, so it was good to see her again! Jaymin told Brad that he kisses his wife's stomach every morning, so Brad has started doing that, too. It's pretty cute! I just can't wait to meet this little person!

So, I am definitely starting to pop out and get the bump! It's pretty exciting!!!! I am still not big enough for a couple of the maternity shirts that I bought, but I am sure I will grow into them! The only other thing that I have noticed is that my hair is a different texture, and is thicker than when I am not pregnant. So I have two things now that I have never had in my life: boobs and thick hair! How exciting!!!

Dead Battery

2006-06-27T21:16:00.000-04:00

So, we went to the doctor yesterday (and he said everything looks great....but more about that in another post!). We walked out of the doctor's office, and I tried to start my car, but nothing, not even an attempt to turnover. Not good. (Thank goodness Bradley was with me!) So, we tried to jump it unsuccessfully because the jumper cables were not sturdy enough. (I called my dad to get his take on things!) And then we called Allstate Motor service, and they sent a dude over to jump my car with a portable battery charger thing. All paid for (thank you Allstate.)

He said if I noticed my lights getting dim while I was driving home, it was probably because my alternator was bad and I should pull over before the car died in the middle of the road. He also said not to use the A/C or the radio to make sure the battery got a full charge. So, I drove home with the window rolled down, no A/C, watching the lights to make sure they weren't going dim!

I made it home safely, and tried to turn the car back on right after I turned it on. Nothing again, so it must be the battery! (Brad and I had already decided to carpool today, thank goodness.)

At work today, McKenna (my local car guru, not to be confused with my out of town car guru, my dad) said if it wasn't the battery, it was probably the alternator. What the F!!! The car only has 50,000 miles on it, you would think the alternator would last longer than that!

We really should have taken the battery out last night so I could take it to Pep Boys during work today to have it tested and if necessary, buy a new one. But we aren't that bright apparently. So, we came home and Brad took the battery out and we took it to Pep Boys and they said it was a bad battery, so we bought a new one, got some Applebee's car side to go on the way home, and then Brad replaced the battery. And the true test....the car started perfectly once it was complete! I am so proud of my husband!! His first car part replacement! Good job!!! Thank goodness it wasn't the alternator, since we just got the brakes and all these hoses replaced on Brad's car. The last thing we needed was another big car expense!

BTW, Applebee's Car Side to Go was great! We ordered and as soon as we pulled up, the brought our order right out. We could definitely be doing that again in the future!

On another note, our deck materials have arrived, so hopefully if the weather is good tomorrow, we could have a frame in our backyard tomorrow afternoon!! I will keep you posted.

Deck in process

2006-06-21T19:50:00.000-04:00

So, finally after about 2 months, it looks like our deck is actually going to be built. We were hoping for the end of May, but the end of June will work! We will still have July, August and September to enjoy it.

We went through a lot with the permit office. They didn’t approve it because the contractor didn’t have a license (he is insured and bonded!!), so the contractor had to go up to Newark or Trenton or somewhere and apply for a license, which was approved, but he didn’t get the number until last Friday. He submitted the number to the permit office yesterday and we were approved. He is coming tonight to go over the plans (and get paid for the materials) and then hopefully dig the holes on Thursday!

The kind of bummer part of it all is that we are heading the Cleveland this weekend for a wedding, so I hope they don’t build it all. I need to be able to take pictures of the progress.

I am excited that we will be able to grill out for July 4th!!! What would July 4th be without a BBQ???

Things are blooming!

2006-06-10T17:33:00.000-04:00

An update on our garden: It's coming along well (for the most part.) We had to order a few replacement plants, but my mom said my aunt had trouble with the same sort of plant, so I think the plants are defective, so that makes me feel better! And this week a couple of the plants starting blooming!

Very exciting!!! And some of them are getting pretty tall. I think we may have to move a couple of them because they are sort of over-crowding each other.

I am also blooming! I have started wearing maternity pants all the time now because I can't button any of my normal pants. But I have decided that I kind of like it because it's much easier to go to the bathroom (and I have to go a lot more frequently than I used to!). But ask me again in a few months, and I might have a different opinion.

We went to the doctor on Monday, and we both heard the heartbeat, which was so AMAZING!! It was very loud and very fast. It is just so amazing to me that there is a little person growing inside of me. We watched "Conception to Birth" from the Discovery Channel last night (Brad's sister sent it to us, thanks, Sarah!). It was pretty amazing to watch and think about how amazing the whole process of two cells turning into a baby. It all happens in nine months, and somehow all the cells know what to do and how to form the heart, the brain, the fingers, etc. Absolutely amazing! I can't wait until I can feel the baby moving...should be soon!

We also went and registered at BabiesRUs today. Oh my goodness, that place is so overwhelming!!! Babies sure do require a lot of gear! It was very exciting to think that in about 6 months, we will have a new little miracle in our house to use all of that stuff. We sure to have a lot to do to get ready for this baby. First order of business is to clean out the nursery.....

Driving in New Jersey is the worst!!!!

2006-06-07T19:43:00.000-04:00

So, I just have to go on a brief tirade about how ridiculous driving in New Jersey is. We had to go drop off Brad’s car at the Audi dealership because the brake pad sensor light and the check engine light came on last week. (I could go on another tirade about that, but I will stay on point with my current tirade!!!!)

In New Jersey, some brilliant person decided that in order to help traffic flow, they should create jughandles, which basically means that you have to turn right to turn left and you can’t turn around easily if you figure out you are going the wrong way. (It’s hard to explain, and I didn’t really understand it until I had been here for a couple of weeks, but basically you can’t turn left from major roads onto minor roads, so you make a right hand turn and go around a circle kind of like an exit ramp and then you are at a light where you can either turn left to get on the same road you were on going the other direction, or go to straight to be on the road you could have been on if you COULD TURN LEFT!)

So, we are driving west down 70 and the Mercedes dealership where the Audi dealership used to be is on the other side of the road, so we have to do the jug handle only to figure out that the Audi dealership is ½ mile further west down the road. 15 minutes later, we arrive at the Audi dealership, because of course we could only turn right out of the parking lot, and we turned on a road that we thought was a jug handle, but in fact it was not because all of a sudden we were driving around in a neighborhood. We finally get back on the road the way we were going originally and of course we have to do another jug handle because the dealership is on the other side of the road, but the stupid jug handle is too far in advance of the light, so we just turned around in a parking lot. I was so FRUSTRATED!!!!! If it was a normal place we would have been able to turn left out of the first parking lot and then turn left into the dealership, but NO, they have to make it so much more complicated.

And this from the same state where people are actually complaining about the possibility of self-serve gas even if it would lower the price of gas 5 cents. Um, hello, everywhere else (except Oregon) people pump their own gas every day!!!!

GRR!!! Living in New Jersey drives me crazy sometimes.

Ok, end of rant, I just had to get that off my chest.

More big News!

2006-05-31T20:25:00.000-04:00

My exciting news is that I am 14 and 1/2 weeks pregnant! I have been trying to figure out how to blog about it, and I was going to write an entry about my first mother's day, but it's kind of too late now. (I am a little slow these days with the entries!) My due date is November 24, which is the day after Thanksgiving. It's amazing how many people have had babies on Thanksgiving day. There have been several different women who have told me they delivered on Thanksgiving when I tell them my due date.

The funny thing is that my original due date was November 18, which is the date of the Ohio State-Michigan, the day that Brad and I always laughed about "Wouldn't it be funny if we had a baby that day.." And it could still happen! We shall see. My grandfather's birthday was November 19, so I think it would be pretty cool if I had a baby on that day as well.

The other interesting story is that I found out that I was pregnant the night before I left for the bachelorette party in Austin, which was really the day after which I wanted to get pregnant. I am glad that I took it because I would have definitely had a few cocktails that weekend. There weren't too many questions, but I did have to throw out a few shots! But, God had other plans and we couldn't be more thrilled!!!

I have been feeling good, and have been very lucky not to have had any morning sickness (or any time of the day sickness for that matter!). I am very thankful for that! I was SO tired in the beginning, like I was going to bed around 9 every night, but I have started to get my energy back now that I am in the second trimester, which everyone says is the best because I am not quite that big yet, but I am starting to get the bump. I have about one pair of jeans that fits, but I have bought a couple pairs of maternity pants in preparation for the day I put on my jeans and I can't button them. There are some pretty cute maternity clothes out there, but they are not cheap!!!

We are not planning to find out because I think it will be cool to be surprised. We are planning to do the room in primarily green with some yellow accents. At first I was feeling like it was a girl, but now I am thinking it is a boy. I was convinced at first that I was having twins, but I don't think so anymore! That would be quite a shock!

I just started telling people at work, so now the word is out!!! Look for more entries as I get bigger and bigger!

The Final Decision

2006-05-22T20:23:00.000-04:00

So, I know I promised this over a week ago, but the school decision is finalized: Brad will be starting at the University of Pennsylvania at the end of August. The deposit check has been sent and the acceptance letter was mailed, so it’s official!!

He is excited for new adventures, but it’s definitely going to be an interesting 2 years with him in school every other weekend. He is definitely bummed about missing several football Saturdays, but we have Tivo. It is definitely not the same to watch a recorded game, but he should be home around 4:30 on Saturday afternoons. My boss went to Penn State and he just informed me yesterday that the Penn State-Michigan game is on prime time, so he will definitely be able to watch that one.

Congrats to Bradley!

The Flowers are planted and the Draft

2006-05-02T21:11:00.000-04:00

This weekend, Brad’s parents came to visit. It was the first time they have come to visit us that it hasn’t rained at least one day! It was beautiful all weekend long!!

We finally got the flowers my mom ordered for us on Friday! And thank goodness Helen was here to help plant them on Saturday! My mom drew a diagram for the placement of all the flowers. Some of the came as bare roots, and most of them are pretty small, so it doesn’t look like much yet. But I am sure in about 4-6 weeks, things should be blooming. I just hope we don’t kill them in the meantime……

After doing some yard work, we headed to Tony Luke’s so David (Brad’s dad) could try their roast pork sandwich that Brad is always talking about. We got to watch some of the draft there. I am SOOO glad that the Titans picked Vince Young over Matt Leinart. I am convinced he is going to bust in the NFL.

We also headed down to Winterthur, which is a house owned by the DuPont family down in Delaware. There is one of the biggest collections of American antiques there, and since Helen (Brad’s mom) is an antique lover, we went to check it out. Unfortunately, we were unable to do a tour of the house, but the gardens we magnificent! There were several different colors of azaleas that were beautiful!!!

Brad School Update

2006-04-24T20:19:00.000-04:00

Brad found out last week that he was also accepted to the UPenn EMTM (Executive Masters of Technology Managment) program. It is a joint degree between The Wharton School of Business and Penn School of Engineering. It is a different kind of program that focuses completely on technology, which is the field that Brad is in. So, needless to say, it is pretty much perfect for him.

Campbell's seems to be more supportive of the Penn program because it is a more specific degree (and I think because it's local), so it's looking like that is where he will be spending every other weekend for the next two years.

There are definitely positives to this program, including no travelling, more contact with people in his classes, and the technology focus. It will definitely be tough for Brad to miss out on several football games, but that's what TiVo is for!!!

The final decision should be made by the end of this week, but it looks like my husband is going to join my brother as a member of the "ivy league."

Fire Department

2006-04-24T20:12:00.000-04:00

So, this is kind of an embarrassing story, but I just had to share.

One night last week, Brad and I were cooking dinner and the smoke/carbon monoxide detector went off. Brad said this had happened to him before, so he just pushed the button to make it stop beeping. So, we sat down to dinner and the thing proceeded to beep about every 5-7 minutes. And pushing the button was only a temporary fix to the annoying beep. I was starting to get freaked out because what if there was a carbon monoxide leak in our house?? So, Brad called the fire department.

They showed up to our house in about 5 minutes, with the full truck, lights flashing and everything! Boy did that create a stir with the neighbors!! So, these two guys walk up to our door in FULL gear with tanks on their backs and masks on and they handed their badges to the fire chief before they headed on. Pretty crazy. The verdict was: no level of carbon monoxide, which is a good thing, but made us feel kind of silly for calling. But, better to be safe than sorry right?

Apparently, it's just a faulty smoke detector. Thank goodness it's still under warranty and the builder came and replaced it first thing the next morning. We had to turn the entire circuit off for the night because that was the only way to make it stop!! We talked to a few of the neighbors the next day, and it's a chronic problem because we are not the first people to call the fire department for this reason!

Shoo! That was pretty exciting!

Wicked

2006-04-20T20:46:00.000-04:00

This weekend, I finally got to use the Wicked tickets that Brad gave me for Christmas!

We took the train up to NYC on Saturday afternoon and checked into our hotel at the Marriott Marquis Times Square and set off to Central Park. It was an absolutely perfect day in NYC, so it was totally packed in Central Park, but neither of us had ever explored the park before, so it was very cool to see. We didn’t get too far into the park because we didn’t want to get lost!!! I just wanted to see Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick and their son, but no such luck. Brad just laughed at me when I said that. I guess it’s not very likely that they would be in Central Park on the busiest day of the year so far.

Saturday night, we met up with Dawn and Keith (who live in Long Island) and Katie and John (who live on the upper east side) for dinner at a yummy Thai place. We haven’t been able to find good Thai around here, so it was great to be able to eat some quality Thai food. It was fun to hang out in the city with some folks we haven’t seen in quite a while!

Sunday, we were lazy in the morning and got up and got Starbucks for breakfast and then got ready and headed to Puelo’s Too for lunch before the show. It was fabulous! We had stuffed mushrooms to start, and for the main course, I had lasagna and Brad had Chicken Pesto. My lasagna was one of the best I have had! It was yummy!!!

We headed to the Gershwin Theatre (where Wicked was showing), and it is one of the nicer theatres. They of course had booths all over the place with things to buy, which were all very expensive of course, so we didn’t buy anything! The show was phenomenal!!!! It definitely deserves every last bit of the hype it has been getting. If you don’t know the story, it basically tells the story of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda, the good witch of the North. The first act was pretty much a prequel to when Dorothy landed in Oz, but the second half showed where the scarecrow, tin man and lion came from. The two actresses that played Elphaba (the wicked witch) and Glinda were fabulous singers, and the music was wonderful. There were also some funny parts in the show, and Carol Kane played the teacher of the school that Elphaba and Glinda were attending. Apparently, Ana Gasteymer (sp?) from SNL played Elphaba in the original Broadway cast, but the current actress is awesome! I would definitely recommend seeing this show if it comes to a theater near you, or head to Broadway if you can. It is absolutely one of the best shows I have ever seen. And Brad liked it too! (And he’s not usually much for the musicals!)

Landscape Artists

2006-04-13T20:20:00.000-04:00

My mom was here this weekend for a (too short) visit! Saturday, it POURED all day long, so we ended up going shopping, which is a perfect rainy day activity! J I bought a pair of sandals, and we found a perfect picture frame for our dining room, so it was a successful trip.

Sunday was a beautiful day, thank goodness. So, we headed to Home Depot to buy the necessary tools for preparing a garden. My mom is a master landscaper, so it’s good that she was here to help us!! We bought 3 bags of dehydrated cow manure (EWW!), 3 bags of peat moss, 4 bags of garden soil, a pointed shovel, a rake and a pitchfork. It was quite a trip! Then the fun began, we (by we I mean Brad, see right) had to dig up all the grass that was in the place where the garden will be. As he dug up chunks of it, my mom and I shook all the sand out of it and tossed it into bags (see below left) ! It was WORK for sure!!! After that was completed, we mixed all the stuff together and spread it around in the newly ungrassed spot in preparation for the garden. Mom ordered us 30 plants (about 9 different types) to plant in the readied area and it will be beautiful! She also drew us a diagram of where to plant everything, so we shall see how THAT goes in two weeks without supervision!! We will have the most beautiful garden in the neighborhood for sure.

The neighbor that is directly behind us (an Asian man) has some very interesting landscaping technique. Ever since we moved in last September, we have watched him working in his backyard. For pretty much all of September and October, he and his parents tilled the entire backyard by hand with rakes and stuff. It just looked really strange. So, their backyard is basically just one big plot of dirt. A couple of weeks ago, we saw him out there picking up all the scraps of stuff they had tilled and putting it into black garbage bags. Then, he was taking it out of the garbage bags and spreading it all around. (Isn’t that a little counter-productive??) Then, this past weekend, he was out there putting down grass seed. He had the spreader right next to him, but he was just throwing the grass seed out by hand. Very strange!!!!! We shall see….I am convince they are going to have a beautiful lush green lawn soon, but it remains to be seen if this unconventional method really helps the grass to grow.

And my cousin Rebecca came up for dinner because she was visiting the University of Maryland as one of her choices for grad school. It was great to see her, and we just found out today that she is going to attend the University of Maryland, so I will have a family member about 2 hours away! Pretty exciting!!!

Coldplay

2006-04-07T21:33:00.000-04:00

Last night, Brad and I went to the last Coldplay show in North America (for this tour) and it was GREAT!!! We had a good time. The opening band was Richard Ashcroft, who was the lead singer of the Verve. He was pretty good, but a little bit out there. Coldplay opened with “Square One” and then went into “Politik” and “Yellow.” During Yellow, these huge yellow balloons dropped down from the ceiling. As people were hitting them around, I noticed something floating inside them, and when they popped, gold confetti came out. It looked really cool!! I don’t remember the rest of the order of the songs, but they played most of their big shows.

Chris Martin said he had woken up in New York and was sure he wouldn’t be able to sing, but he went to see some doctor at UPenn who fixed his voice so he was able to perform. They did a little tribute to Johnny Cash, which he said they have done at every show over the past year. He said “We got our style of dress from him, except our shoes, which we got from Venus Williams.” (They were wearing all black (obviously!) with white sneakers. It was quite a look!!) It was really fun! He sang the song that is covered on the X&Y album (I think it’s called “Kingdom Come”) and then they went into “Ring of Fire,” which was so fun!! The crowd loved it. After the Johnny Cash tribute was finished, he said “This keyboard is dead. Just goes to show you, never buy a keyboard from George W Bush.” Hysterical!!

I was just completely amazed by how much energy Chris has. He was running all over the place during the whole show and jumping up on the piano and everything. He’s really fun and he kept asking to make sure everyone was doing ok.

Before Coldplay came out, some enterprising fan (who has a lot of time on their hands) had made “over 9000 signs” to hold up at the end of the show. Some of the said “Thank You” and others said “USA Loves Coldplay.” (The bottom of the sign said “There are over 9000 signs here tonight. Please hold up at the beginning of the first encore to become a part of Coldplay Concert History.) We kind of confused about this, but then when he said it was the last North American show of the tour, it made sense. So, everyone was holding them up during the last song, and then they came out and did three songs as an encore and ended with “Fix You,” which is a great song!

We also saw them in August, at an outdoor arena, which was similar to this show, but I think last night’s was better. They had a lot of energy and seemed very excited to be there. I am sure they were very excited as well because they are taking a couple of months off!!

And thanks to Brad’s friend Jeremy who got us some excellent seats! We were in the lower level on the side about three sections back from the stage, 14 rows back, the last two seats on the end of the row. Perfect!!

My dad is 60!!!

2006-04-05T21:22:00.000-04:00

Spring is here! My tulips have bloomed, which is very exciting. However, they are starting to be sad because it’s 39 degrees here. What is that all about? I guess I should be used to it because Chicago was the same way, but I hope the ones that haven’t yet bloomed don’t die of frost bite.

We went down to Nashville this weekend to celebrate a momentous occasion: My dad’s 60th birthday. His wife, Connie, organized a little surprise party for friends of theirs from church as well as some of our neighbors. Brad and I were given the task of keeping him occupied until 3:00, so we took him to lunch and then went to Home Depot to do some research on the deck he’s helping us build in May. At 3:00, he received a call from a lady at church who needed some help with the lights at the place where she was having a party. He was on a mission from the second the phone rang. He walked in the door and was completely shocked when everyone in there was someone he knew, including my brother, my uncle and my grandmother! He was completely surprised! He had absolutely NO idea!! It was perfect!! We also had another surprise for him: we bought him a new golf cart. It’s really nice, and he was definitely totally shocked about that as well. And it all became clear to him why Connie had been nagging him to get the trailer hitch put on the car and the trailer repaired. It was really great to see my 2 uncles and my grandmother as well!! We had a great time and my received lots of chocolate gifts as well, which I am sure will be gone in 2 weeks!!! We definitely did a lot of eating, which is normal for a trip to Nashville!!!

The trip home, however, was definitely a nightmare. We flew into Baltimore because it saved us $120 per ticket, but after our 4 HOUR trip home, we will never be doing that again!! It should have taken a little over an hour, but it took nearly 4 because of the stupid Delaware roads. They were doing construction on the Delaware Memorial Bridge and there were 3 of the 4 lanes closed!!! I know it was like midnight on a Sunday night but there was SO much traffic! We ended up getting home around 2 AM, which was not good!! We both took the day off on Monday to rest! (Which meant I got to watch the Cubs beat up on the Reds!)

Austin, Texas

2006-03-29T20:40:00.000-05:00

Keepin’ Austin Weird

So, that’s the motto of the town where we spent Tracie’s bachelorette weekend. And we did see some weird things!!

Most of us arrived on Thursday night. Tracie, Shannon, Jen and Pam arrived Thursday afternoon and we lucky enough to see Vince Young at Fox & Hound while watching the Texas game. The rest of us unfortunately arrived too late! The bar pretty much cleared out after Texas won, I reckon because it was Thursday night. Then we ended up going to this really random dance club, where a 60 year old guy was bustin’ a move on the dance floor like nobody’ business. He pretty much cleared the dance floor it was so scary!!

Friday, we got up and had an overpriced breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Then, we headed out for S. Congress Street to do some shopping. It was some boutiques and a lot of vintage shops. I bought a cool leather wrist band with a green star in it. It’s pretty cool if I do say so myself! Then, we headed to the Hula Hut, which is a restaurant on the river, recommended by more than one source. We didn’t end up eating until 3:00, but we were all very hungry, so we ate pretty well. After that, it was time to head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner (Eating again already?!?!) We headed out to Z Tejas, which had excellent Tex-Mex cuisine, including the Wild Mushroom enchiladas that I ordered. The only mishap was Laura’s steak which had to be sent back three times to be cooked to medium, thank goodness it was camped without even asking!!

After dinner, we headed out to 6th Street, where all the college bars are located. The street was even closed off!! We started at the Logan Lounge, which was kind of quiet when we got there, but it got pretty crowded when we left. Then, we headed to the Chugging’ Monkey (based on a recommendation from the waitress), which was kind of a dive bar, but they were playing good music and we got to see the last second shot that sent the Upon game into overtime. (The whole bar went crazy!!) Then, we headed to the Dizzy Rooster (made famous by the Real World.), which was fun and very loud and crowded. Tracie did a little dancing on the bar. Laura, Shannon, Stacy and I headed over to another bar because it was just too loud in there. We met some guy who claimed to be a Michigan State cheerleader, but he wasn’t gay. He was just a little bit strange, so we ditched him! Stacy and I ended up going home after that because we were exhausted!!

When we got back to the hotel, our key didn’t work because it had been deactivated, so we had to call Laura and Shannon to make sure they could get in! What a fiasco! So, then everyone else came back and had a little party in our room and ordered pizza, so I didn’t get to sleep as early as I would have liked, but oh well! I did get to sleep in on Saturday.

Saturday, we headed over to the University of Texas for a tour of the Tower. We went to this place called Which Witch for lunch and it was really good!! J I was like a cross between Wa-wa and Potbelly’s. Yummy! We did the tour which consisted of them talking to use for about 10 minutes and then standing at the top for about 30 minutes. It was interesting to see, though, and it was a beautiful day out!!! Most everyone went back to the hotel to go to the pool, but Shannon and I set off on a mission to find a tiara or something for Tracie to wear. We found the perfect princess outfit at Toy Joy, a toy store (for children!!) complete with a sparkly tutu, a wand, a beaded tiara and wings!! It was a successful shopping trip.

Before dinner, we opened presents and played a game where Jen and Pam had called Matt (Tracie’s fiancé) to ask 10 questions and Tracie had to guess what his answers were. The best answer was to the question “What is Tracie’s most annoying habit?” And Matt said “Her intense obsession with Ohio State football. And she didn’t even go to school there.” That was pretty funny! For dinner, we headed to The Roaring Fork, which was EXCELLENT! I had a great salad and fabulous pork tenderloin. Everyone was very satisfied with their meal. We didn’t get to the bars until around 11, which was a late start!! We went to the Warehouse District, which is more where the people our age hang out. We started out the Logan Lounge, where we had two impromptu risqué dances, one from an attractive guy and one from a very overweight guy, which was so odd!!! And then we had a guy who just wanted someone to do the Rumba with him. We volunteered Tracie, and he got all upset when she stopped after about 60 seconds. Where did these people come from? That was like WAY weird (They are definitely living up to the motto!!) We then headed to a couple of other bars and ended up on 6th Street again. All in all, a fun evening!!

The worst part of the whole trip was the inability to find a cab on Saturday night. It was pretty ridiculous! 4 of us hung back from the group and we ended up taking one of those rickshaw things halfway and then walking the rest of the way. Everyone else walked back, the entire 45 minutes! That was really annoying!!!! The rickshaw guy would have taken us further, but there was no way he would be able to peddle the four of us up the hill to get to the hotel!!

I was in the first group to leave around 9:45 on Sunday morning, but I had a great time in Austin (minus the lack of cabs!!), but most of all I think Tracie had a blast, which was the whole point, right?

Atlantic City (Belated)

2006-03-28T21:08:00.000-05:00

So, I got yelled at by Shannon and Tracie this weekend that I didn’t do a blog entry about their trip to Philly, so here it is about a month late!

Shannon, Tracie and Matt arrived on Friday evening and we went to Cuba Libre for dinner. It’s a fabulous restaurant where you feel like you are actually in Cuba! (Despite the fact that is was like 20 degrees outside.) We had to wait for a while, which was kind of frustrating, but we did get a free round of drinks out it, so that was good! After dinner, we went home and watched some basketball and had some drinks.

Saturday, Matt and Brad went to Tony Luke’s for a roast pork sandwich. Brad is obsessed with those, so the girls headed down to Delaware to do some tax-free shopping! It was a successful trip, as I found a cute new outfit for the Atlantic City!

I made a Mexican casserole, guacamole and black beans and rice for dinner. Yummy!! Fanning came over around 8:15 and our limo arrived at 9 to pick us up and take us down to Atlantic City. The limo driver was a little slow, I was kind of worried about getting down there, but we made it in just over an hour. He was FLYING! I am just glad he didn’t get pulled over. The limo ride was fun, between the six of us, we drank almost a case of beer. (Mostly Fanning because he was trying to catch up I think.) We first went to the Borgata, which is the newest hotel in Atlantic City and the most like a Vegas hotel. They have Chalilu glass in the lobby, and it is absolutely beautiful!! We headed to the Gypsy Bar, where a really cool live Band, the Little Romeos was playing. (Although the lead singer was not so little.) We were dancing and having a great time. It was a mixed crowd, but fun! Then, we headed over to the Quarter in the Tropicana.

However, it took us a while to get a hold of the limo guy. He gave us the wrong number, or we typed in the wrong number, so we ended up calling the limo company who then called him. I think we kind of got him in trouble, but it was all good! The Tropicana is our second favorite hotel in Atlantic City. The Quarter is really cool! They are all sorts of restaurants and cool shops. The guys ended up going to find a black jack table, even though they said they didn’t want to gamble (But I knew once they got there, that would be the end of that!!) So, they ended up playing for about an hour or so. Brad lost, Matt won a little, and Fanning won about $75. While they were playing, Tracie was half asleep in a chair and Shannon and I went on a search for a bar.

We ended up having to pay the limo driver for an extra hour, which was ok. It was worth it! We all fell asleep in the car on the way home, but only after eating almost all the small bags of chips that were in there!!!

It was a fun trip to Atlantic City, and I would definitely do it again. The limo is definitely the way to go!!!

Visit to Duke

2006-03-20T20:14:00.000-05:00

This weekend, we went down to Duke for Brad to attend an informational session about the cross-continent MBA program to which he applied. We flew out bright and early on Saturday morning and arrived in Raleigh-Durham around 9:00. It was a bright, sunny day, but there was a chill in the air. We didn’t do much research about how to get to Duke or where to go, but we found our way to a place where got a map and did our own tour of campus! It is a very beautiful campus that reminds me a lot of Princeton because most of the buildings are white stone and look very old. Spring has definitely sprung down there. The dogwoods were absolutely GORGEOUS! (I would post a picture here, but I forgot to take the camera. DOH!)

We walked over to the Fuqua School of Business, which is where Brad will be spending most, if not all, of his time when he is attending the school. It is a HUGE complex, with a large building with classrooms and offices, and then a separate building with a hotel and executive campus for the executive students. It’s a very nice facility and I am glad I got to see it so I could imagine Brad there if he ends up going there! All the athletic fields are across from the business school, so we went over and checked out the baseball field and the football field. And we saw the outside of the basketball arena…..we didn’t figure it would be open with March Madness and all.

We then went and checked into the hotel and figured out where we should go to catch some basketball games. Duke was playing in the early game, so we were hoping to go somewhere to watch the game around the campus, but we couldn’t really find anywhere. Plus, the students were still on Spring Break, so it was pretty dead! We ended up going to Chapel Hill (where UNC is), which is only about 20 minutes away! (Who knew they were so close to each other!!) We found a sports bar and watched the Duke game. And all the people in the bar were of course cheering against them!!

We went back and took a nap and then headed out for a yummy seafood dinner at a place called George’s Garage. (It was a lot nicer than it sounds!) Since Brad was still recovering from the flu, we decided it probably wasn’t the best idea to party like we were in college again, so we went back to the hotel and watched some more basketball!

Sunday, we got up and went to the Shoney’s breakfast bar (right next to the hotel!) It was YUMMY! I haven’t had Shoney’s in a long time. They have the best French toast sticks and buttermilk biscuits. Then, we headed back to UNC to walk around campus. They have some really beautiful sorority houses! Then we ended up going back to the same bar to watch basketball and then headed back to the hotel so I could catch a cab to the airport and Brad could get ready for his info session.

I was the last stand-by person to get on the earlier flight, thank goodness!! It was nice to get home at 6:30 rather than 10!!!

We shall see Brad’s impression after today. The program is primarily on-line learning, and then there are 8 weeks of on campus learning. 6 of those sessions are at Duke, 1 is in Europe and 1 is in Asia. He is very excited about this program, and he should hear in the next couple of weeks! So, keep your fingers crossed.

Grey's Anatomy

2006-03-13T20:17:00.000-05:00

Grey's Anatomy is like my all-time favorite show, so I just wanted to write one blog entry about it. If you haven't checked it out, it comes on at 10 PM Eastern time on Sunday. (It's after the Sopranos, thank goodness!!)

The episode started with George cutting his hair in the bathroom of Burke's apartment with a tiny pair of scissors. The end result was something like "looked like a Hobbitt" (in Alex's words.) Flash to Burke and George returning from a 5 mile run, and then making pancakes. It was hysterical to watch George trying to jump up to the third shelf to get the pancake mix and then Burke throwing him 3 eggs, with Cristina watching on in disbelief!! And at the end, George and Burke were playing in a "band" together. Burke on the trumpet and George on the clarinet. It was a classic moment for sure!!!

Addison was completely ecstatic to have a male notice her for "30 minutes straight." However, it was the husband of her pregnant patient! And after the baby was born, he didn't even look up to acknowledge her.

As Izzie was presenting Denny's case in rounds, Alex volunteered to stay and monitor his progress as well. And the first chance he got when Izzie was not around, he made sure to let Denny know that he and Izzie were "together." (However, I don't think they are together, they are just have relations in the on-call room every once in a while.) Izzie made sure to let Alex know that she didn't appreciate his getting involved, especially since we all know (especially Alex) that Izzie is falling hard for Denny. Alex pointed out to Izzie that it's dangerous to get so emotionally involved with a patient, which I am sure she knows. But you can't deny the chemistry between the two of them. They were playing Scrabble and Izzie played the word "screw." To which Denny responded "I didn't know we were playing dirty word scrabble." And Izzie responded with "I meant the hardware." Sure, she did! She convinced him to have surgery to help his heart beat because "We need more time," Even though it means that Denny will quite possibly never be able to leave the hospital again. Poor Izzie, she is getting herself into quite a predicament, just setting herself up for total heartbreak.

And on the Meredith and Derek front, they are still trying their "friendship," although I was skeptical at first. Pretty much all they talked about this episode was this horrible, awful thing she did and how her friends are so mad at her and she doesn't know what to do about it. (My question is how does Derek not know that she slept with George? Seriously, I mean, this hospital is more gossipy than Beverly Hills 90210, how could he have escaped knowing? I am sure even the chief knows...maybe not, but you get my point.) At the end of episode, she finally tells him "I slept with George. It was an awful thing to do, and I don't know how to get him to be my friend again." Derek gives her some friendly advice and tells her to tell him She's sorry over and over again. She says she doesn't know how she will get his attention, to which he tells her "Use the elevator, that's what I did." (Hysterical!!) Meredith gives George a fabulous apology speech (in the elevator of course), and George never even looks up at her. I understand that he's made, but as Meredith said "It takes two people to make a bad sexual decision."

And if George never would have done it, then he wouldn't have met Dr Torres. (Which I guess is a good thing, although she doesn't seem to be his type at all.) They were working together on a high school kid whose life is dedicated to hockey. He dislocated his finger (I mean seriously dislocated, like totally crooked), and refused to sit out of the "scouting game." He came back into the hospital after cutting off his finger to play (using instructions he found on the internet) so that he could play in the game. However, because of the bacteria that got into his open wound from his hockey glove, he will most likely never be able to play hockey again. That will teach you a lesson about taking matters into your own hands (literally!)

Bailey brought her baby into the hospital because her husband was out of town until the next day (Seriously. Wouldn't she be worried her newly born baby would get some kind of disease? And don't you think the chief would have made her take the kid back home.) Anyways, Cristina was the lucky winner to baby-sit the little tyke, which was as hysterical as you could imagine! She didn't have any clue what she was doing. However, George did. He came up and took the baby from Cristina and the baby promptly started eating. Burke was amazed and George said "Babies love me. I don't know why." To which Burke said "Speaks of a good bedside manner." (A jab at Cristina, which was pretty funny.)

Derek and Meredith were treating a patient (Natalie Cole, I thought she looked familiar) who had gotten a fork stuck in her neck due to complications from a brain aneurism. She had decided that she didn't want an operation because she was finally happy in her life. Ever since her diagnosis, her husband had finally recognized her and they had a happy marriage and she wanted to keep it that way and move to Paris and savor life. However, Derek convinced her to have the surgery and commit to never settling again. All this banter made Derek realize that he is partially to blame for the state of his marriage to Addison.

The final scene was him telling Addison that he takes part of the blame for "what has happened to our marriage." Mostly because he was absent and not attentive before she and McSteamy And he said he's working on it. (By being friends with Meredith apparently.) Derek was totally jealous when he saw her laughing with the random dude.

......I am totally torn with him and his situation. On one hand, Addison is his wife, but she CHEATED on him (which is pretty much unforgivable in my book) and with his BEST FRIEND (which is even more unforgivable.) But he and Meredith are so fabulous together (even though their relationship kind of started off with not the whole truth. And he was cheating on his wife with her, but they were also separated because Addison was an adulteress.) And Addison is holding on for dear life to a husband who she knows doesn't love her, but instead loves this intern.

I love this show and I can't wait until next week already! J

You know you're from South Jersey if....

2006-03-04T16:50:00.000-05:00

So a friend of mine at work e-mailed this to me, and it sums up South Jersey pretty well. (See my commentary in green. There are a lot of strange things about this place!) Enjoy!

You know you're from South Jersey if...

-You don't "go to the beach", you go "down the shore". We are only about an hour from the beach, so that's pretty cool, and there are casinos there!!
-You've had arguments over cheese steak quality. of Jim's, Pat's and Geno's, I've only had Jim's.
- You've actually found the Echelon Mall.
- You or one of your friends have Lyme Disease. Not really sure what this means, but I don't know anyone who has lyme disease.
- You don't understand why there aren't more 24-hour diners elsewhere in the country.
- You know what a Wawa is, and know the location of at least 10 of them. Wawa is like Seven-Eleven only much better and with gas stations. There is a Super Wawa by our house, and it's great!
- You know that you should get the hell out of Camden before dark. Yeah, Camden is where Brad works.
- You know how to successfully navigate a traffic circle. I HATE traffic circles, they just make driving more confusing and ridiculous.
- You say "water" "wudder". So true of people who grew up around here, and it's very odd
- You refuse to call Hoagies "subs."
- You've almost fallen asleep on the parkway, NJ turnpike and I-295
- You've lived through hurricanes, nor'easters, blizzards and fires, but have never seen a tornado, earthquake or volcano. (Well we did have an earthquake once....)
- You know that ACME is an actual store, not just a Warner Bros. creation. It's owned by the same company that owns Jewel, so we have Patricia Heaton on commericals, only she says "Came" instead of "Jewel."
- You have mandatory recycling. Enforced by law.
- You've made a meal out of Tastycakes, Herr's BBQ potato chips, and Taylor Pork Roll. Tastycakes and Herr's BBQ chips are good, but Taylor Pork Roll sounds pretty scary.
- You know New Years is all about the Mummers and the Polar Bear club
- You can go bowling at 1:30 A.M.
- Route 206 doesn't freak you out at night.
- You know that people from the 609 area code are "a little different"
- Your mom still loves Bruce Springsteen.
- You know it can be -10 degrees and 70 degrees in January in the same year.
- There's a fruit and vegetable stand down the road.
- You will always say "YO", and you'll say it often.
- You go to another state and sit at a gas station wondering when the people will come out to pump your gas. Yep, it's illegal to pump your own gas in New Jersey. All gas stations are full service, but the gas is cheaper than anywhere else because of all the refineries close by.
- You know that no matter how much they put into the Camden waterfront , Camden is still Camden.
- You think North Jersey is a different state and South Jersey deserves its own secession.
- You have season passes to Great Adventure.
- You know where Olga's Diner is on rt 70.
- You are tired of people not believing you're from Jersey because you don't have a New York accent. I hope I never get a Jersey accent!!
- You drive by a farm every time you get in the car. (or a former farm!)
- you know what "jimmies" are and refuse to call them anything else. I have no clue what a jimmie is....
- Your neighbor is either a painter, a plumber, a builder, or an electrician with a work truck in the driveway.
- You have crossed all 5 bridges into Philly at one point in your life.
- You have a story about the "Hell Hole" ride in Wildwood.
- You took your report card to Clementon Park for free tickets. Home of the world's oldest wooden roller coaster that is really scary looking.
-You know what funnel cake and water ice are and think something is wrong with people who refer to them as "fried dough" and"slush".
- You've ever driven around aimlessly for hours with your friends saying "So, whatta we doin?"
- You ever drove all the way to the shore just to walk around for 5 minutes then drive back.
- You knew of at least 3 bars where you know they wouldn't card you.
- You lived near a "crick" not a creek.
- You never could figure out which was the Black Horse Pike or The White Horse Pike
- You know that a "Yield" sign is merely a suggestion.
- You don't think you have an accent. Again, I hope I never get a Jersey accent.
- Everything is "twenty minutes away". If you ask how long it takes to get any place in South Jersey, the person always says, "about twenty minutes". To get to a mall, "Oh,about 20 minutes". To get to the airport, "Mmm, about 20minutes." To get from Runnemede to Philly, "Only about 20 minutes". Try it. Only the shore areas take more than "twenty minutes". They're usually "an hour and twenty minutes." ( Well it's true!!!!!!!!!)
- You went to StoryBook Land as a kid.
- Every time someone in Hollywood makes fun of Jersey, you're mad and proud at the same time
- You describe where you live in reference to how far you are from Cherry Hill.
- You would drop everything you were doing and run to the voting polls right now if you heard we were voting to make North and South Jersey separate states.
- You know all of the "back roads" to get everywhere and prefer them to the expressway.

Blizzard of 2006

2006-02-20T19:38:00.000-05:00

So, I know this is a like a week late, but what can you do?? I should have written earlier, but it was a busy week last week!!

Brad was working all weekend on this big data migration project, so I decided to go up to NY to visit my friend Dawn and her fiancé Keith. (They moved to Long Island from Chicago about three months after Brad and I moved here.) I drove up to Hamilton, NJ (about 55 minutes) to catch NJ Transit into the NY Penn Station to meet Dawn and Keith. For some reason, I thought that train station was at Exit 52, when it is actually at exit 65, so I had a bit of a panic, but I made the train and off for an adventure in the city.

I found Dawn and Keith no problem in Penn Station (they took the LIRR) and we went to Keith’s office to drop off my stuff. He has a kick-ass view of the city from his office! He can see the Statue of Liberty! It’s great! Dawn had tried to call and make a reservation at Serendipity for lunch, but they told her they had no weekend reservations until March. But we thought we would give it a try anyways. There was a 2 hour wait!! (This place is so tiny that they can only seat about 5 tables at a time….I think.) So, we opted to eat at another restaurant that was close by since we were all starved at this point. We had a nice lunch, complete with people-watching from our corner table. It was great! We had never seen so many fur caps, coats, vests and ear muffs in our lives. That is definitely a trend that I will not be partaking in! The best was this elderly lady who was wearing vinyl f-me boots, a leopard print coat and a huge fur hat that was perched atop her fake hair. Priceless!!

After our people-watching lunch, we took the Subway to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we spent about three hours wandering through many exhibits including Egyptian Mummies, Frank Lloyd Wright’s house, arms and armour, musical instruments, and of course the European art including Monet’s Waterlilies. We stopped at the bar from a drink and then headed up to Mid-town (I think) for dinner.

We met up with Katie and John ( two people I used to work with at E&Y, who are also good friends with Brian, who was the best man in our wedding) and Annaleise (Dawn’s co-worker) and her husband Tom. We met them at Holy Basil, a Thai restaurant. Katie had made reservations for 6 because they were hesitant to take a reservation for 7 people, but we thought they would just put a chair at the end of the table and it would be fine. However, they gave us some major grief about it, so called La Paella, a tapas restaurant around the corner to see about their availability. We headed over there, and arrived just before two other large parties and got a table in the “death trap basement” (Katie’s words.) We had a fabulous dinner with lots of great tapas and sangria! When we left the restaurant, it was starting to really snow, but we headed out to a couple of bars. We tried to go to this Sake bar, but there was a wait, so we opted for the Red Telephone Booth Bar. After that, we went to a bar where Katie and John needed to go for a birthday party called the Hairy Monk. Dawn, Keith and I stayed for one drink and then headed back to the train station.

Getting on the train was pretty funny! We bought our tickets and then joined the large gaggle of people standing at the board, and as soon as the track was announced, there was a huge rush for the train! We made it on with a seat just fine, thank goodness! When we got to the Bethpage station, there was probably about 6 inches of snow on the ground!!!

When we woke up on Sunday morning, there was A LOT of snow on the ground and it was still coming down. About 9:00, they were saying there was 12 inches of snow in Central Park. At this point, I was starting to get worried about getting back home from the train station. Brad called about 8 and said the weather down there was really bad, so I decided to postpone my departure for a couple of hours. I got a 12:15 train on the LIRR to Penn Station and the snow was coming down pretty fast when I left. I was impressed, though, they were shoveling and salting the steps and platforms at the train station. We were going along fine until we got to Jamaica (who knew there was a Jamaica in New York??) when the train stopped and they announced there were no LIRR trains going east or west out of Jamaica. So, I had to get on the Subway to Penn Station, which took about an hour. I made it to Penn Station and had about 12 minutes to catch a NJ Transit Train to Hamilton.

I arrived to Hamilton around 3:30 and I was impressed! The entire parking lot had been plowed and salted! My car was somewhat plowed in, but I had come prepared with a snow shovel! An Air Force pilot from Georgia who was stationed not too far from the train station was so nice and helped shovel while I brushed off the car. I figured it was safe because he was from Georgia! Then, I was off and I didn’t even have to use 4WD! The interstate was pretty much fine all the way home. Then, I pulled out outside of our house and there was about 8 inches of snow in the driveway about 1.5 feet of plowed snow at the end of our driveway, so there was no way I was getting in there. I was not too happy! Brad was still at work, so I ended up going out and shoveling for about 2 hours. It had to look so funny because I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I have never shoveled snow before!! One of our neighbors also came over and helped, which was so great!!! I left a little bit for Brad to do. I was so sore from all the shoveling, but it was a good workout!!!

I can’t believe I was in New York when they had the record snowfall.

Super Bowl

2006-02-07T20:33:00.000-05:00

Well, we had our first official party at our house for the Extra Large Super Bowl, and I think it was a success! We had about 25 people, mostly Brad's co-workers and their families.

I made veggie lasagna, chicken tenders, black bean and corn salsa, buffalo chicken dip (which is the best stuff EVER!), veggies and dip, cookies and brownies. People did bring some munchies as well, so we have plenty of chips and stuff. I just love entertaining! Our house is perfect for it, especially now that we have a ping pong table in our (unfinished) basement, as well as a dart board in the garage.

Brad borrowed the projector from work, so we projected the game on the big white wall of our great room, which made for a unique game/commercial watching experience. It would have been cooler if DirecTv had installed the right dish the first time so we could get local channels in HD. (But that's another story!!)

The game was not all that exciting, but I was wearing my Miami shirt in support of Ben Roethlisberger, who is now the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl, even younger than that Tom Brady, who went to Brad's alma mater. (When I pointed this out, he made sure to remind me that Tom Brady has won THREE Super Bowls, but I have to get excited about a Miami athlete being in the spotlight because it doesn't happen all that often, and Michigan athletes are everywhere.)

I do have to say that I am glad the Steelers won, in honor of my good friend Laura. I can't wait to hear about the parade because she is a diehard Steelers fan, so I am sure she will be in attendance! I will never forget the time her grandparents did the Pittsburgh Polka around Joe's, the bar where we used to go on Sundays to watch the Stillers.

The commercials were only ok, too. The only one that I can really remember is the AmeriQuest one with the lady on the plane who was trying to get out of her seat and fell on the guy that made it seem like they were gettin' it on. Oh, and the FedEx caveman one, and the MacGeyver one. I need to go and find this magic fridge one that I have heard so much about.

Sydney Post (Part 4 of 4)

2006-01-30T20:32:00.000-05:00

So, it's winding down to our last couple of days in Sydney. It was kind of raining and pretty overcast on Friday when we woke up. Jon and Mona headed off to explore, and Brad and I headed to the aquarium. It was a really nice aquarium! They had all sorts of fish, sharks, seals and an exhibit of the Great Barrier Reef. We got there at the perfect time because when we left, it was SO crowded!!! My favorite thing was the playtpus. He was swimming so fast all over the place, but I got a photo of him!

When we got back from the zoo, we went for a walk through the botanical gardens, which are huge! We walked up to Mrs Macquaries's Chair (it's actually a rock bench and she was the wife of a governor who had it commissioned for her.) There was a beautiful view of the opera house and the Sydney Harbor Bridge from there. We continued to walk around in the gardens, where we saw a lot of cockatoos and then we looked up in the trees and there were all these flying foxes hanging upside down in the trees. It was absolutely amazing how many of them there were! They are similar to bats, but a little bigger and when they were in the trees, they looked like punching bags. They come out at night, and I would definitely be scared if I was in the gardens and they came flying out! Brad was really excited that we finally got to see them.

After that, we headed off to do our Bridge Climb to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was absolutely amazing! It was quite an operation they had. We arrived and they gave us a breathlizer test (Good thing I only had one glass of wine at lunch!) and then they gave us these suits to wear that were wind and water proof, as well as a rain jacket to wear in case it started raining up there. They gave us lockers to put everything in, as we could not take anything up there with us, even watches, since we were over 8 lanes of traffic! They then took us to this station to get our harness with this thing (I can't think of the name right now) that attached to the line that went all the way around the bridge. We (there were 12 of us in the group) got our headsets and then we were off to the bridge. We climbed up about four ladders, which came up in the middle of two lanes of traffic, and then it was pretty easy sailing from there. The steps were not steep, and there were some really great views of the city from up there! We would have been able to see even farther, but it was kind of overcast. It was REALLY windy up there, but it was very cool to see the opera house from above and see out to where the ocean comes into the harbor. There are 60 harbors in Sydney and if you went along the water to all of them, it would be about 400 miles!! Our group leader was very knowlegable, and took about 4 picutres of us on top. (We bought all of them of course, but we don't have a scanner!) The last member of our group was scared out of her mind I think because we were ALWAYS waiting for her, but everyone made it! I am really glad we were able to do that!

After we finished, we headed out to dinner and had Thai again. This time we went to Sailors Thai, which is the second best Thai restaurant in Sydney (according to the concierge), and it was very yummy! I got Pad Thai again, which I know is really boring, but it was excellent again. It was a different kind of restaurant, it was "canteen style," which means it was basically one big long table.

Then, we headed out to the hotels again for a few drinks. We went to two different places, which both had live bands, which were playing songs similar to what we would have heard at a bar here, like Elvis, Bon Jovi....it was pretty cool! It was just so nice because it was warm outside. We tried some good beers there, my favorite was Toohey's Extra Dry. Brad's was Crown Lager.

Saturday, we got up and headed out to do some shopping for souveneirs at the Rocks Market again. We got some good momentos, including an absolutely beautiful picture of the Three Sisters which is being framed at Michael's right now! Then, we were off to the airport.

It was definitely the most beautiful day of the whole week on Saturday, of course. But at least we were leaving with a good picture in our head. The flight on the way back was much harder. I slept about 3 of the 20 hours we were on the planes! I watched at least three of the movies. So, needless to say, when we got home on Saturday night, we slept for about 14 hours! And it took about a week to get re-adjusted to the time change.

What a great experience! Who knows if I will ever get to go back, but if so, I want to explore more of what there is to see outside of Sydney!

Hope you have enjoyed reading about our adventures!

Sydney Trip (Part 3)

2006-01-25T20:14:00.000-05:00

Wednesay, we went to the BEACH! We got up early and got on the Bondi Explorer bus and went through a few nice towns on the way, and got some great views of the city along the way.

(If I had taken a picture of the beach, I would insert here, but I did not take a single picture at the beach. Oops....) It was a fabulous beach!! It was very crowded because the schools were still on holiday. (I sound like such an Australian!) And it was a topless beach, which was interesting. I did not go topless; however. That would have been a little awkward with Mona sitting right there. And I think a sunburn there would REALLY hurt!! It was the sunniest day the whole time we were there, so we definitely picked the right day to go to the beach. I am really bad at putting on sunscreen, and this time I forgot to put it on my thighs, so I had some REALLY bad sunburn. (Like, I still have a little bit left and it's been two weeks.) But it was still nice to soak up the Australian sun! I did venture into the ocean, although not too far because there were all sorts of reports about shark attacks in Australia. (I think they were north of where we were in Brisbane, but sharks can still swim!!) The water was actually colder than I expected it to be, and the waves were pretty big and there was a pretty strong current. But I love being in the ocean! They were a nice breeze the whole time we were there, so it didn't get too hot.

The town of Bondi was a very cute little beach town, with lots of little shops and restaurants right on the water. We had lunch at a little cafe not too far from the water.

We headed back and the guys picked us up and we headed to the restaurant where Brad had the best Thai food he has ever had! It is called Satasia and we met 4 of the Australian employees and their spouses there. It was really cool to have an entire meal with people with Australian accents!!! We had SO much food, and it was all AWESOME!! I was boring and got Pad Thai, but I decided that it was probably going to be the best Pad Thai I have ever had, so I had to try it, and I was right. It was SO good!!! We got a lot of different dishes to share with the table, including Red Curry Beef, Calamari and Pecan Crusted Chicken. Yummy!!!

The locals were telling us all about all the different creatures and huge bugs and spiders they have there, like the Huntsman Spider and flying cockroaches!!!! I don't know if I could handle it!!!!! The huntsman spider is as big as your hand and furry. It's not poisonous, just very scary looking. And I guess the cockroaches are hard to get rid of. We even saw some really small ones on the wall at the restaurant (after we finished eating!) and they weren't phased at all. Mona got pretty freaked out about them.

Thursday was kind of cloudy and overcast. I couldn't get ahold of Mona. (We couldn't use our cell phones over there!!) So, I decided to hop on the Sydney Explorer Bus and take it around the city to see some different parts than we had seen before. We drove by China Town and Star City (the casino in Sydney). It was cool, and the driver was like Asian dude who was making all these funny comments to everything. After that, I went back to the Queen Victoria Building to do some more shopping. I just love that place!!!

Then, I took the bus over to China Town, where Paddy's Market is, which is just like a big flea market. It was kind of cool, but it was REALLY hot in there. It was mostly just t-shirts and jewelry and Asian purses. There is a Chinese friendship garden that was given to Australia by China to celebrate the bi-cenitiary. It was really beautiful and VERY peaceful. It was all about feng shui. It was pretty cool because it was kind of in the middle of everything!

Mona and I were hoping to be able to get some tickets to go to something at the Opera House, but we waited too long (like the day of, so I am not surprised) to get tickets to either Madame Butterfly or this comedy show that was there. But no such luck. The guys went out to dinner with the new manager and couple of other employees, so we were on our own. We ended up eating dinner at this place RIGHT on the water in the harbor by the opera house. I had this fish called Barramundi, which is local to Australia I think. It was REALLY good. Very fish, and not at all fishy. It was kind of buttery. I was proud of myself for trying something different! :)

Then the guys met us and we went to this really interesting bar called Minus 5 (meaning minus 5 degrees Celcius, which is about 20 degrees farenheit.) It was a very interesting concept!!! I had on a skirt and flip flops! But, they were prepared. They gave us all these really warm coats with hoods, glove liners and gloves. They also gave Mona and I some Ugg boats to wear. So, we got all suited up, and then they took us into this room where they gave us these buzzers that let us know when our 30 minutes was almost up. And they told us how to hold the glasses (with two hands) so it wouldn't slip out of our hands. And they made sure to tell us that if we broke the ice sculputres we had to pay for them. So, we headed in and they gave us a pre-mixed drink that was kind of like a screwdriver. It was pretty cool in there (literally, ha!!) They had tables set up with animal skins on the stools and some ice sculptures and a fountain. We just hung out in there and talked until our buzzers went off and we were out. It did get cold the longer we were in there, but my bare legs didn't get as cold as I expected! It could be the newest bar trend, but I don't think 20 above is as catchy as Minus 5!

Sydney Trip (Part 2)

2006-01-22T20:24:00.000-05:00

So, on Monday, Brad and Jon had to go to work, so Mona (Jon's wife) and I were on our own! I got up pretty early and Mona and decided to meet at noon, so I had a couple of hours to kill, so I did some exploring.

I walked down to Hyde Park, which is named after the Hyde Park in London and is the oldest park in Sydney. It was a nice little park and there were all sorts of people around, including some older men playing chess on this big chess board. Also in the park was St Mary's Cathedral, one of the oldest churches in Sydney and the ANZAC War Memorial, which is dedicated to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

Then, I walked over to the Queen Victoria Building, which is one of the coolest buildings in Sydney in my opinion. It was built in the 1800s as a shopping area, and has been restored with most of the original decorations. There were beautiful tile floors and stained glass windows and this really interesting clock. The shops were mostly boutiquey shops, (kind of reminded me of Armitage in Chicago), but there were also a couple of places to buy souviners and lots of jewlery stores.

I met up with Mona and we did some shopping at a couple of the department stores, David Jones and Myer's. They were definitely similar to department stores in the states, they were even having the semi-annual sale like they do at Nordstorm's. I bought a skirt and shirt and Mona bought a few things as well, so all in all it was a succesful trip. The one big difference was that in the shoe departmentof David Jones, they had all the shoes out on tables and racks, so there is no need for a shoe salesperson. It was interesting to see them like that. We were both amazed at all the shopping there! The mall that the department stores were part of was called the Pitt Street Mall, and it just went on and on!

The guys came back around 5, and we headed over to Manly Beach for dinner. We took a water taxi to get there, so we got some great views of the city as we were leaving the harbor. The beach was really beautiful and the waves were HUGE!! We ended up eating at this place called Jellyfish, which was great. The ironic thing was that none of us had seafood. It was really nice to eat with a view of the water! On the way back, we stopped for some yummy gelato! It reminded me of being in Europe.

Tuesday, Mona and I headed to Taronga Zoo, so we could hopefully see some Australian wildlife! We got to see some kangaroos finally! The most exciting thing about the zoo was they had a koala exhibit where you could get really close to the koalas and have your picture taken. The eucalytptus leaves that koalas eat are very low in energy and something about the way the leaves ferment make them somewhat drunk, so they sleep like 20 hours per day! Talk about Lazy!!! But they were still cute, and it was fun to get so close to them. We saw lions, tigers and bears (oh my!), and all the normal zoo animals. It was a nice zoo, and it was a hot day. My arms got a little sunburned. It didn't occur to me that we would be OUTSIDE at the zoo. There were also some beautiful views of the city from the zoo, so that was pretty cool!

For dinner, we ate at this place called Fish on the Rocks, which is the CIO's favorite restaurant in Australia. It was delicious!! We all got seafood. I had some wonderful prawns with three different sauces and Brad had some great tuna. Mona ordered a variety of shellfish, and the prawns came whole, with the heads and everything, so that wasn't so appetizing, but I think that's how they serve them over there. Thank goodness mine were tempura, or mine would have come that way too!!

More to come.....

Sydney Trip (Part One)

2006-01-19T21:05:00.000-05:00

So, this will probably take a few posts because we were pretty busy down under!

First of all, the flight was pretty brutal! 14 hours on a plane is just not too fun, but we did manage to sleep a few hours, which helped to pass the time. We arrived in Sydney around 8 AM on Saturday and got the rental car. It was pretty funny because it's backwards, so everytime Jon went to turn on the turn signal, he did the windsheild wipers instead! It was pretty funny!! We checked into the hotel, which is in a great location because you can see the harbor bridge from some rooms and the opera house from other rooms! It was nice and warm in Sydney, so I got to wear my flip-flops! We all got showered and headed over to the Rocks Market, which they have on weekends where they sell all sorts of things like jewelry, art, olive oil, and other miscellaneous souvenirs. It was very cool.

Then, we went to the Pancake House on the Rocks for the famous pancakes with ice cream. They were YUMMY!!! They serve them all with ice cream, you don't even have to request it that way. My brother would be in heaven.

After lunch, Brad and I decided to explore the area around the hotel, so we walked down to the opera house and the surrounding botanical garden, which were both gorgeous! Then, we decided to go have a beer or two. We ended up at the Orient Hotel (an old law in Australia states that any place that serves alcohol must also have a place to sleep, so a lot of the "bars" have hotel in the name.) It was a pretty nice place. The most interesting thing was that a bachelorette party came in, with the bride complete with a veil and t-shirt stating and "Kate's Hen Party." So, that was pretty inresting! I thought the veil was an American tradition, but defintely not because that was not the last Hen party we saw!

For dinner, we headed to Darling Harbour for some yummy Chinese food. Darling Harbour was a nice little area with restaurants, bars, the aquarium and the convention center.

Sunday, we headed out on an adventure to the Blue Mountains, which are directly west of the city. It was so beautiful out there! Lots of great views and waterfalls and walking trails. We kind of went the wrong way around, so we didn't get to the visitors center until we were about 2/3 of the way through, but we got some good information there and went to Govetts Leap, where we took a short hike over to the Bridal Veil Waterfall. The bad part about the trip was the fly epidemic that was going on out there, so every stop we made, we were surrounded by flies, so that was pretty yucky! But it was still a great adventure. We also saw The Three Sisters, which is a stone formation, which legend says is three sisters who were turned to stone by their father.
We were hoping to see some wildlife, but no such luck!!

Down Under, Mate

2006-01-02T16:44:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year, all! It's hard to believe that 2006 is here. 2005 just went by so quickly, and almost all of it as a New Jersey resident!

My new year is going to start out with a bang. In three days, Brad and I are headed down under for about 7 days to Sydney to explore the outback. Brad is going for work, and I am lucky enough to be able to tag along. We are leaving on Thursday and will return the following Saturday, so it will be a quick trip. But it should be awesome, considering Australia is one place I have always DREAMED of visiting and it's summer time down there, so I get to wear flip flops! I hope I will see a kangaroo and a koala bear! We will actually be staying right next to the opera house, where this photo was taken.

The one hitch is that I am supposed to get my passport on Wednesday. I had a "Duh" moment last Thursday (one week prior to our departure date) that I didn't have a passport with my married name on it. So, I was freaking out!!!! I found this website that promises passports in 24 hours. (That's business days, however.) So, I had to FedEx my marriage liscense, old passport and lots of money in hopes that when I get home from work on Wednesday, I will have a passport waiting for me on the front porch. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Christmas is Coming

2005-12-12T21:07:00.000-05:00

It amazes me every year how quickly Christmas comes and goes! I can't believe Christmas is only 13 days away. As a kid, I can remember feeling like it was never going to get here, but I guess that's because all I had to do was go to school. I didn't have to figure out what to get for all the people on my list, go to work, run errands and do all the other things that we as adults have to do!

We hung lights on the outside of our house this weekend, and I have to admit, it's kind of ghetto, but it's pretty good for our rookie season as home owners! (See photo, kind of blurry, but you get the idea!.) And it's definitely cool to come around the corner and see the lights twinkling and the tree in the window. I worked on wrapping presents this weekend, too, so there are even presents under our tree. (Nothing for me, however, as Brad does all of his shopping at the last minute, I mean, like the LAST minute.)

The exciting thing is that I am going to a cookie exchange with some of the other ladies in the neighborhood on Wednesday night, and then a holiday party in the neighborhood on Saturday night. So, I am definitely looking forward to meeting some more of the neighbors AND getting some tasty holiday treats. I am not as ambitious as my mom is with all the baking. Maybe when I become a pool mom!! :)

Hope your holiday season is going well. I can't wait to see what Santa brings me this year.

Bon Jovi!!

2005-12-05T22:10:00.000-05:00

So, I guess have a become a true Jersey girl. I went to a Bon Jovi concert this past weekend. Three of my good friends from college (Tammy, Laura, and Shannon) came into town for a visit and the Bon Jovi concert. I have to say it was one of the best shows I have seen. He played for 2 and a half hours, and he played almost all of the old songs that we were all singing to at the top of our lungs. He mixed in a few of the new songs from his latest album, Have a Nice Day, and also some of the old ballads. Wow, he looks good for a 43 year old!!!!! And as Tammy said, "He definitely has stamina." He was sporting some very sexy brown leather pants that showed off the muscles in his legs. The best part was when he was wearing a shorter shirt and every time he raised his arms, we were able to see the infamous "v." Oh my gosh, every woman in there HAD to be swooning at that point!!!!!

We did see several true Jersey girls there, with the mullets and feathered bangs that take up half their head with tight pegged jeans. I am not kidding, I think some of those people have never left the 80s.

After the show, we headed to Chickie and Pete's, a local sports bar that is known for their crab fries. (Not so sure what makes them crab fries, they just taste like fries with spices on them, but they are pretty damn good.) We were hoping that Bon Jovi would make an appearance, as he told Oprah that it was his favorite place in Philadelphia. But, no such luck. But they did play a Bon Jovi song about every third song; however, it just wasn't the same as being able to look at him while he was singing.

All in all, it was a fabulous weekend! It was great to catch up with the girls and of course to see JON BON!!!

The joys of home ownership

2005-11-17T00:43:00.000-05:00

So, I am sitting here, watching my husband Bradley build our new desk. We went on a major shopping spree last Friday night and made several purchases, including a new desk from Office Depot. He is becoming quite the handyman! He is a MacGeyver in the making. (Side note: My friends all call my dad MacGeyver because he can fix/remodel absolutely ANYTHING!) This is the fourth piece of furniture he has put together in the time since we moved into our house. He also put together our entire 3-piece entertainment center that we bought at IKEA. I reckon putting together your own furniture definitely saves money because by far the most expensive piece of furniture we bought was a sectional sofa from Ethan Allen. (But it is like the most comfortable couch I have ever sat on....and Bradley falls asleep on it just about every night.) And we didn't assemble a single part of that.

I guess I never really paid that much attention when people said the house was a money pit. We have spent more money on furniture and stuff for the house in the past two months than I ever thought we would! (Thank goodness for that Campbell's bonus.) And we are now the proud owners of a lawnmower, a refrigerator and a washer and dryer.

But I think we are finished for a while. Until we buy the rug for the great room, the rug for the dining room, the ottoman......and the list goes on.

The good news is that our house is starting to feel like a home!!

And tonight I got out of all our Christmas stuff and I just can't wait to decorate for Christmas.

My first article

2005-11-10T17:52:00.000-05:00

Ok, well, I decided that I needed to start a blog because it seems like fun! I figured I could tell stories about my times in New Jersey because I still can't believe it live in Freakin' New Jersey! (Even though we have been here for about 9 months now......)

I should have started this right after we moved to tell the story of our house being built. But oh well.

More later once I figure out what to write about!