Where I've been...

Wow! I just looked at the date of my last blog post and it was two months ago! This year has just flown by and I seem to have taken a bit of a blogging break. Probably because Facebook is a huge internet time-suck for me.

So what have I been up to? Here are a few snippets of 2009 so far:

- learned to knit. I've been wanting to make preemie hats for charity for a long time and I finally got around to actually learning how to knit. I took a really crappy class at a local store and then Tania and I took a good one in Bellevue. I've yet to finish a project yet but I'm getting there.

-started back to healthy eating habits with Weight Watchers. I'm down 11 lbs so far and slowly growing (in a good way) out of my clothes.

-walking. Lots of walking which helps with the weight loss and also makes me feel good.

-developed a nasty back problem. At the end of January, I woke up one day in serious pain and it hasn't gotten better since despite PT and meds. The doc said it was degenerative disc disease and that it will never get better. I'm going to probably get a second opinion

-gotten over my fear of flying.

-spent way too much time statiticizing. Thankfully this week marks the end of six long months of stats.

So that's what I've been up to. I'm starting swimming class this week so I can add more exercise into my routine. I'm hoping that it will help with the back issues as well. I'm also getting ready for 2 weeks of a much needed spring break!

That's it for me!

Bowing to peer pressure

Chris, Lily and Avitania have put up their 2008 recaps so I'm bowing to peer pressure and putting mine up. Here they are in no particular order.

Things I liked in 2008
Lego games for the xBox 360
Zuma Deluxe
Munchkin
Disney trips
A presidential election outcome that I was excited about
"Bevlinis"
Glassybaby candles
Cooking class at Diane's Market Kitchen

Books I liked
The Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire mystery series
Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
A Cook's Tour - Anthony Bourdain
The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Restaurants I liked
Quinns
Toro Bravo
Txori
Samurai Noodle
Fondi
Jiko
Blue Bayou - not the greatest food but the location in Pirates of the Caribbean can't be beat)

Movies I liked
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Milk (ok I saw this in 2009 but it's a 2008 release so I'm adding it to the list!)
In Brugges
Transsiberian
Quarantine
Frost/Nixon

TV Shows I liked
Celebrity Rehab
LOST (for the short time it was on!)
Top Chef
America's Next Top Model
Project Runway
The Office
The Amazing Race

Music I liked
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colors
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
The Killers - Day & Age
Styrofoam - A Thousand Words
Kettel - Myam James 1

That's it for now! If you make a "best of" list, be sure to let me know in the comments!

Adventures in Tubing

Chris, Cole and I spent the morning tubing up at Snoqualmie Pass. The weather couldn't have been better: lots of sun and no wind!

You can see the rest of the pictures here.

Because the weather sucks

Here are some baby animals for your enjoyment






Images from my new favorite blog, zooborns

Colder than a...

*insert your favorite euphemism*

Brrr! Winter has come early and with a vengeance to the Pacific Northwest! As I'm writing this post, it's 20 degrees outside and our street looks like an ice rink. Now, I don't mind a bit of snow, but this ice crap is for the birds! Bring back 45 degrees and rain - that's a proper Seattle December.

Of course, the snow had to fall on the day that we had a big Christmas open house planned. I had been shopping, baking, and cleaning all week in preparation and was horribly depressed when I looked out the window early Sunday morning to see all of the snow. We sat by the phone and kept checking email to see how many cancellations there would be. In the end, about 20 brave souls made their way to the party. We had a great time and it was fun to ring in the season with lots of food, drink and fun.

As Christmas quickly approaches, I just have a few last minute things to do to get ready. The shopping is almost done and I just have to finish the last of the Christmas cards and a couple of crafty presents. It's been so hectic this year with school and holiday prep so it's nice to take a deep breath and enjoy the season.

If I don't get a chance to blog again before Christmas, I hope that each and every one of you have a wonderful holiday season!

This fits my mood today

I don't know if it's pre-Christmas burnout or just a case of the Monday blahs, but this video gave me a chuckle.

Gobble, gobble

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I have to say that as far as holidays go, Thanksgiving is not a big one for me. I rank it alongside Easter as an "eating" holiday. It's good for a meal, but other than that, it's not big on my holiday radar. It's merely a milestone on the way to CHRISTMAS!

We're doing the Turkey Trot in Tacoma tomorrow morning. Cole and I will do the two mile walk and Chris will run the 5k. It's early and it's cold but it's a nice way to jump start the metabolism for the turkey coma that will come later in the day.

Chris and I are heading to Portland this weekend for our annual Christmas shopping bash. We're also belatedly celebrating our anniversary so I'm sure we'll eat lots of good food and just enjoy spending time together.

I've only got a week left before the end of the quarter so I'm madly trying to finish my big project and study for my final. After that, I've got a month off!

Hope you all have a fun and safe Thanksgiving!

Disney, Christmas, Portland and Short-Timer Syndrome

1. Cole and I had a great time on his surprise birthday trip to Disneyland. Seriously, I don't think that there are two other people in this world who love Disney as much as we do. From riding Space Mountain at 7am to shin splints and sore feet, we were all Disney, all day (and night) long for three days straight. We rode, we ate, we shopped and had lots of great bonding time. I think I may have even put a dent in my fear of flying because there was quite a bit of turbulence and I didn't even have a panic attack. Yay me! You can see the rest of the pictures here.

2. In addition to Disney, I also have a love of Christmas. Not so much the actual day but the whole season. Each year, I seem to start a little earlier with the decorations and the all the assorted holiday stuff. I've been listening to Christmas music around the house for about a week which means that I'll be sick of it by December 2nd. FYI: Don't buy the new Enya "Christmas" disc. It sucks. *shudder*

3. Speaking of Christmas, Chris and I have a fairly new, yet fun tradition of heading to Portland the day after Thanksgiving to shop, eat, and relax for the weekend. A big bonus is that Oregon has no sales tax so we save a bit of a money on the shopping. We try to do most of our Christmas shopping while we're there which takes a bit of pressure off of us in December. We're also belatedly celebrating our anniversary. I'm really looking forward to getting away with my sweetie :)

4. I've only got two weeks left of school and I'm totally giddy. I just want to be done with Stats for a month before I delve into the second part of the class in January. I'm off until January 10th - just long enough to forget everything I learned this quarter :) Short-timer syndrome: I has it.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today is our 10th wedding anniversary. Chris and I have been together for 12 years and married for 10 of those wonderful years. I know it sounds cliche to say that you're married to your best friend, but it really is the case with us. I have never felt so connected to another person, and it's amazing to be married to someone who totally gets me.

I am very blessed to have him in my life. In addition to being a great husband, he's an awesome stepfather to Cole. I couldn't ask for a more compassionate and caring spouse. He makes me laugh, lifts me up when I'm down and provides unwavering love and support.

Happy Anniversary, Chris. Love you! :)

Cows are funny

A little post-election humor courtesy of my good friend, Becky.

The World Explained with Cows

DEMOCRAT
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful. Barbara Streisand sings for you.

REPUBLICAN
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
So?

SOCIALIST
You have two cows.
The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.

COMMUNIST
You have two cows.
The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour.

CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

DEMOCRACY, AME RICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
The government taxes you to the point you have to sell both to support a man in a foreign country who has only one cow, which was a gift from your government.

BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
The government takes them both, shoots one, milks the other, pays you for the milk, and then pours the milk down the drain.

AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one.
You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows.
You are surprised when one cow drops dead.
You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have down sized and are reducing expenses.
Your stock's price goes up.

FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.
You go to lunch an d drink wine.
Life is good.

JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains. Most are at the top of their class at cow school.

GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You engineer them so they are all blond, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour. Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.

ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows but you don't know where they are. While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman.
You break for lunch.
Life is good.

RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have some vodka.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You have some more vodka.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.

TALIBAN CORPORATION
You have all the cows in Afghanistan, which are two.
You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts.
Then you kill them and claim a U.S. bomb blew them up while they were in the hospital.

IRAQI CORPORAT ION
You have two cows.
They go into hiding.
They send radio tapes of their mooing.

POLISH CORPORATION
You have two bulls.
Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.

FLORIDA CORPORATION
You have a black cow and a brown cow.
Everyone votes for the best looking one.
Some of the people who like the brown one best, vote for the black one.
Some people vote for both.
Some people vote for neither.
Some people can't figure out how to vote at all.
Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which is the best looking cow.
CALIFORNIAN
You have a cow and a bull.
The bull is depressed.
It has spent its life living a lie.
It goes away for two weeks and comes back after a taxpayer-paid sex-change operation.
You now have two cows.
One makes milk; the other doesn't.
You try to sell the transgender cow, but its lawyer sues you for discrimination.
You lose in court.
You sell the milk-generating cow to pay the damages.
You now have one rich, transgender, non-milk-producing cow.
You change your business to beef. PETA pickets your farm.
Jesse Jackson makes a speech in your driveway.
Cruz Bustamante calls for higher farm taxes to help "working cows".
Hillary Clinton calls for the nationalization of 1/7 of your farm "for the children."
The legislature passes a law giving your farm to Mexico.
The L.A. Times quotes five anonymous cows claiming you groped their teats.
You declare bankruptcy and shut down all operations and the cow starves to death.
The L.A. Times' analysis shows your business failure is Bush's fault.

Celeb-reality, birthday boy, Gobama FTW!

1. I had a brush with "celebrity" this weekend when I ran into "Mr Jay" from America's Next Top Model at Sea Tac. He was nice enough to pose for a pic with me after I took a picture of he and his family for him. He's very tall and very bronze. VERY bronze. ANTM is one of my guilty tv pleasures, and I should have asked him who won this cycle but I didn't want to be a fangirl. Go Elena!



2. My baby turns 16 today. How the hell am I old enough to have a 16 year old? Even more scary, how am I almost old enough to have a soon to be 18 year old?! Craziness! He's a really good kid and I'm so proud of the person he has become. Love you, Cole! He's spending the day with his dad but we have some fun things planned for the weekend. :)




3. In addition to this being a big day in the Lynch house, it's also a big day for the U. S of A. Either way it goes, it's going to be history in action today. Let's just hope that the right (left) person wins. Chris and I voted by mail and we'll be glued to the TV either at home or at an election party downtown. This is the first time in about 8 years that I am super excited about the results.

GoBama!!

Bumps in the night, Doggy bumps and birthday surprises

1. As most people know, Chris and I are early night people. We usually turn in between 9-9:30 and are conked out by 10. I had just fallen into a deep sleep last night when I heard a large BOOM. Tango started barking like crazy and my heart just about raced out of my body! Chris and I both went downstairs to investigate although I was pretty sure the noise had come from outside. Cole peeked out of his bedroom door to see what the commotion was all about. I was a bit freaked because Chris had just told me a story about a co-worker who heard a noise only to find a neighbor hiding behind his kitchen island. Apparently said neighbor had a drug issue and was ripping off other neighbors. Luckily, that wasn't the case here, but it was in the back of my mind! We never did figure out what the noise was, but it took me a good hour to fall back asleep with all the adrenalin coursing through my veins.

2. A few weeks ago, I took Tango to the vet to have some lumps checked out. Most of them were fatty cysts, but two were a bit questionable. The vet said she was 70% sure they were fine, but we should probably have them removed at some point. I decided to get a second opinion but life has been really hectic with my new schedule so I haven't made the appointment yet. Fast forward to this weekend - Chris was petting Kala and noticed a huge lump under her chin. I, of course, FREAKED OUT and starting crying that all of our dogs were become cancer patients! He calmed me down and said that he thought it was a new lump and was probably nothing. I made a vet appointment first thing Monday morning and the vet confirmed that it was indeed some sort of infection. WHEW! She's on antibiotics and her lump should go away shortly. Note to self: Make appointment for Tango next week!

3. Chris blogged this morning about my hatred of surprises. With my birthday coming up, I start pelting Chris and Cole with all sorts of questions about what we're doing and where we're going. Usually, I just get blank stares back because Chris loves surprises. I then go into my litany about how I hate surprises and since it's MY birthday, I shouldn't have to be surprised. It's only taken 11 years, but he finally gave in! I can't wait to go to the Harvest Vine! I'm enamoured with Spanish food and wine right now and I'm going to chow down on some nummy tapas!

Monkey waiters, birthdays and bleeding heart liberals

1. Our friend, Tom, knows of my love of monkeys and indulges me by sending me monkey videos from time to time. I woke up to this one this morning. I either need to go back to Japan or find out how to import one of these guys. Wouldn't it be awesome to be able to study and have my little monkey butler bring me a diet coke! I've tried with the dogs, but they're not having it.



2. October is birthday central for my friends and family. Starting with one of my sister's birthdays on October 3rd, there are seven other birthdays including my own all before the 20th of the month! Tonight is my mom's birthday so we're heading to Tacoma for dinner at Samurai Japanese Steakhouse and then back to my parents for the obligatory cake and ice cream. I make my mom's favorite cake every year - dark chocolate with an icing made from sweetened condensed milk and baking chocolate. It's pretty yummy, I must say! She makes me a banana cream pie for my birthday. We're all about traditions (ie: doing the same thing year after year) in my family which drives Chris nuts. He's all about the new and different!

3. I consider myself to be fairly liberal in my politics, especially when it comes to social policy. Since I'm minoring in Sociology, my liberal bent probably lends itself well to my studies. I'm taking a class this quarter called "Individual and Society" which, as the title suggests, discusses how individuals are shaped by society and vice versa. This week, the subject is poverty, race and crime. I have to say that the information is just frightening. For example, if you are a black man, you're more likely to be in jail than in college. I could go on and on with similar figures. I end up so fired up and outraged after class that I could probably give Michael Moore a run for his money. I'm writing a research paper on Conservatives, Fear and Social Policy. Should be a lot more interesting than recent papers I've had to write on qualitative psychological research methods!

This and that

1. After my first full week of fall quarter, I highly resemble the above picture. I've been out of school for 4 months and my brain is just not in perfect school working order yet. I'm taking two classes this fall: a sociology class for my minor and a stats class for my Psych major. I really think that the soc class will be interesting and one big plus is that it meets two afternoons a week. Unfortunately, while my stats class is only one day a week, that one day is Saturday from 10-1:30 - ick! Looks like my next stats class for winter quarter will also be on Saturdays so I will have limited weekend time for the next 6 months.

2. Speaking of weekends, a good friend of ours was in town this weekend so we had dinner together at the Pink Door on Saturday night. As we were walking around after dinner, we passed by the Paramount Theater where Phantom of the Opera is playing until next weekend. Jeff mentioned that he really liked the show and thought about trying to get tickets for Sunday night's performance. Chris and I had never seen it so we decided to go as well. We ended up scoring great tickets for the Sunday afternoon matinee - about 10 rows from the stage on the main floor. Fun show - I'm not a huge fan of musicals but the production was really good.

3. I'm reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer about teenage vampires in the NW. Our book club had decided to read the first book, Twilight, for our October choice but since I was between books, I actually read it before our September meeting - oops! I'm now finishing up book 3, Eclipse, and I'll be starting the 4th book, Breaking Dawn, tomorrow. All in all, it's an entertaining read - not much depth but the books are page-turners. I'm looking forward to the Twilight movie opening this fall.

Democrats are funny - Redeux!

For your viewing and entertainment pleasure. Wonder if Barack went out for an Orange Mocha Frappuccino after the debate?

Black holes and monkey colliding - the end of the world as we know it?

Well, I woke up this morning and the world hadn't come to an end even though the CERN "Big Bang" Hadron collider experiment took place today. There's still hope though since they just sent some protons crashing around. I'm sure once they start smashing more atoms and crap together that we'll all end up in some gaping black hole of nothingness. At least that's what these people think about the "doomsday device." I think that in light of these recent events, it's only fitting that I'm playing Spore and evolving my own species from cell to civilization. That way I'll be ready to repopulate the planet if need be.

Speaking of colliders, all this talk of smashing particles reminded me of my favorite Onion article of all time - the Super Monkey Collider.

October 22, 1996 | Issue 30•11

Congress voted Monday to cut federal funding for the superconducting monkey collider, a controversial experiment which has cost taxpayers an estimated $7.6 billion a year since its creation in 1983.

Monkeys relax in the main hallway of the abandoned collider, which, if successful, would have smashed the primates together at near-light speeds.

The collider, which was to be built within a 45-mile-long circular tunnel, would accelerate monkeys to near-light speeds before smashing them together. Scientists insist the collider is an important step toward understanding the universe, because no one can yet say for certain what kind of noises monkeys would make if collided at those high speeds.

"It could be a thump, a splat, or maybe even a sound that hasn't yet been heard by human ears," said project head Dr. Eric Reed Friday, in an impassioned plea to Congress. "How are we supposed to understand things like the atom or the nature of gravity if we don't even know what colliding monkeys sound like?"

But Congress, under heavy pressure from the powerful monkey rights lobby, decided that money being spent on the monkey collider would be put to better use in other areas of government. Now, with funding cut off, the future of our nation's monkey collision program looks bleak.

Congress began funding the monkey collider in 1983, after Reed convinced lawmakers that the U.S. was lagging behind the Soviet Union in monkey-colliding technology. Funds were quickly allocated so that Reed could spend a week procuring monkeys on Florida's beautiful Captiva Island. Though Reed returned with a great tan and a beautiful young fiancee, he reported that there were no monkeys to be found on the sunny Gulf Coast island. Congress funded subsequent trips to the Cayman Islands, Bora Bora and Cancun, but these searches also yielded negative results.

Two years passed without a single monkey being procured, and Congress was close to cutting the project's funding. It was then that Reed got the idea to utilize monkeys already being bred in captivity. The Congressional Subcommittee for Scientific Investigation was enthralled by the idea of watching caged monkeys copulate, and increased funding by 40 percent.

With a steady supply of monkeys ensured, construction of the monkey collider began on a scenic Colorado site. Despite environmental pressure, a mountain was levelled to facilitate construction of the seven-mile-wide complex. Huge underground tunnels were dug, at a cost of billions of dollars and 17 lives. Money left over was used to build resort homes, spas and video arcades for Reed, his colleagues and several Congressmen.

Construction of the collider's acceleration mechanism was delayed for years, as scientists couldn't decide how to get the monkeys up to smashing speed. Last month, it was finally decided that the collider would employ a system in which the monkeys run through the tunnels chasing holographic projections of bananas. "Monkeys love bananas," Reed said, "and they're willing to run extremely fast to get them."

But now it seems the acceleration mechanism may never be built. With the monkey collider placed on indefinite hold, the huge research facility in Colorado lies dormant.

To keep the space from going to waste, Congress Monday voted to convert the empty underground tunnel into a federally funded drag-racing track. The track is expected to create hundreds of jobs in the form of pit crews and concessions workers, and will allow President Clinton to impress important foreign dignitaries with America's wheelie technology.

Despite this promising alternate plan, most involved with the monkey collider project feel the sudden cuts in funding are inexcusable. "It is a travesty of science," Reed said. "I remember the joy I felt in college when I would launch monkeys at one another with big rubber bands, and this project would have been even more enlightening."

Back to school, Zuma, scrapbooking and crappy weather

1. Today was the first day of school for Cole. He actually handled it quite well compared to previous years. He woke up, got his shower and headed downstairs for breakfast with nary a snide remark or a put-out look. I treasure those type of mornings. He even spoke using words with more than one syllable. Double bonus for me! I'm sure that even though he was dreading the first day, at least he'll get to see his new girlfriend. Too bad they don't have any classes together. With a lingering cloud of Abercrombie cologne, he headed off for the bus at 6:30 am. These are the days that I love being home so I can pump him for info at 2:30pm. I'm sure he'll be monosyllabic by then!

2. Chris got me a bunch of Pop Cap games awhile back, and while I've enjoyed playing them, I quickly became addicted to Zuma Deluxe. The game is pretty straight-forward- you shoot colored balls at a chain of balls and try to make sets of three. Of course, the game gets progressively harder as the levels increase. I cleared the first 8 levels pretty quickly and then it got crazy hard. I was stuck on 11 for a few weeks and just two days ago, I completed the bonus round on level 13. It was a bittersweet moment because while I was glad to have completed it, I was sad to be done with the game. Chris says I'm now a game addict :) In true addict maner, I searched for a similar game and ended up with Luxor 2. The premise is similar but it's not as fun. *sigh* If anyone knows of any games similar to Zuma Deluxe, please let me know!

3. I've dipped my toes once again into the scrapbooking waters. Chris was nice enough to finish editing the Disney pictures so I started printing them out. My printer, however, is really finicky if I don't use it regularly. The ink clogs and it takes time to run cleaning programs etc so scrapping is not a spontaneous thing in our house. In a flashback to previous technology rants involving the MythTV dvr fiasco, poor Chris had to listen to me bitch about how we have too much technology and nothing is ever easy in this house! For the sake of our marriage, I may run down to Costco and have some pictures printed. Sometimes the easy way out is the way to go.

4. Of course, since August was one of the crappiest summer months on record, September is shaping up to be beautiful - right as the kids go back to school. I love fall so I'm mentally ready for the crisp weather and fall decorating; however, I'll probably have to wait until October for the crispness at this rate!

Munchkin, walking & camping

1. Tania and C introduced to the fun card game, Munchkin, a few months ago and we were instantly hooked. It's a spoof of role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. Players can become wizards, elves, and clerics in order to combat monsters such as Pukachu and Squidzilla. Along the way, they must also deal with curses such as the dreaded Duck of Doom. It's geeky fun but we have a great time playing. We're going to get together tonight and battle it out while enjoying pizza, sangria and bellinis.

2. Tomorrow is the annual 5 & 10k walk/run for Children's Hospital. Chris's company is a sponsor so we always make sure to put this event on our calendar. The good news this year is that the run is in August rather than October. October can be an iffy month weather-wise in the Seattle area. More often than not, it's rainy and icky, but there is also the occassional beautiful fall day. Although it's going to be 93 tomorrow, the run/walk starts at 8 a.m. so we'll be done before the heatwave hits.

3. I don't really enjoy camping that much but I'm going down to Riffe Lake with Cole and my parents for a few days next week. My parents have a motorhome and they enjoy getting out and communing with nature (as much as you can in a fully equiped "home.") I am not a fan of sleeping in cramped quarters so I opt to car-camp. I put an air matress in the back of the Explorer and some tarps over the top to keep the sun/lookie-loos out and I'm good to go! Of course, I can only handle this for a couple of nights, but it's fun to hang out by the lake. And, of course, eat s'mores - the best part of camping :)

Hello jet lag, my old friend...

I always seem to have a hard time getting back into the swing of things after taking a trip. Even a short one like our jaunt to Chicago. I blame it on the recycled airplane air :)

1. Since I'm a lazy blogger, I haven't gotten around to blogging about Chicago, but you can read about our trip on Chris's, Avitania's and RE's blog. I will say that it was such a fun time! I think I slept about 20 hours in total which probably contributed significantly to my jet lag. Although I really enjoyed going out, I think the best night of the trip was just hanging out with RE and LF at their abode and chilling. Mojitos, pizza and the Olympics - a very fun night! And yes, RE, there is quite a bit of video of you singing :) Maybe I should auction the footage on eBay. *evil grin*

2. The school year is almost upon us. I've got about 6 weeks left before I go back, but Cole goes back in a little over two weeks. In preparation, we went school shopping yesterday at American Eagle and Abercrombie. Of those two stores, I much prefer the atmosphere at AE. I must be getting old because I cringe when we enter Abercrombie because of the smell (they spray cologne every 30 minutes) and the music. I had an enlightening conversation with one (cute - according to Cole) employee:

Me: Do these jeans come in 31 length
Cute, yet dumb employee (CYDE): Um.... I dunno.
Me: Do you think you could possibly check?
CYDE: You want me to check?
Me: That would be nice (rolls eyes):
CYDE: (mumbles into walkie talkie, pauses to listen, mumbles again before ringing up our purchases and not saying anything)
Me: Did you find out
CYDE: Oh yeah.... they don't
Me: Gee, thanks for all of your help (by this point, I want to hit her on the head with a bottle of Fierce cologne).

My advice to Cole at the end of this conversation- don't ever date a girl like that - Intelligence trumps cute every time.

3. Speaking of dates, Cole has one on Friday. He's not really calling it a "date" since the girl has to bring a friend along because her parents don't know Cole. I gave him RE's dating advice: "be funny and bring money." The money part will come from me but he's responsible for his own funny. I'm going to drop him off at the mall and then pick him up a few hours later. Maybe I should wear a disguise and sneak into the movie. Nah, I'll let him have his moment :)

On being a mallrat, getting blynched and my walking playlist

1. So the biggest shopping news in our area has been the almost-two year long remodel of our local mall. This mall hasn't been my favorite shopping destination for some time because of the lack of stores that I really like. Finding out about the new stores has been somewhat of a challenge because the developer was keeping it quiet. Bit by bit, however, I found out that H & M was going in along with Sephora as well as some larger versions of existing mall stores. Since I don't have a job or school right now, I've been sleuthing around trying to find out about the new stores. Sad, I know but I need a hobby right? Well, the official opening is tomorrow but since the theater complex opened last week, you can walk through the new section to get to the theater which is where I dragged Chris last night after dinner. I'm happy to report that there will be a Banana Republic (finally!) but no Pottery Barn or Williams-Sonoma (Boo!). I'll be there bright and early on Friday for the opening!

2. I have become a catchphrase for getting drunk. A few months back, I twittered something while slightly tipsy and Random Esquire proclaimed that I was "blynched." My twitter name is blynch23 hence... blynched. I look forward to getting blynched and eating lots of yummy food in Chicago.

3. I've been trying to walk a 5k (roughly 3.2 miles) a few times a week along with a couple of shorter 2 mile walks. I broke out the old shuffle (which I normally don't use for shorter walks) and created a new playlist. Among the eclectic tracks: Adam Ant, Kettel, Above and Beyond, Cesium 137, Chris Brown, Coldplay and Metro Station. I haven't gained any weight back since Orlando and I'm continuing to lose so the walking is definitely helping.