See ya, 2010!!

Ugh, you guys! I cannot tell you how excited I am to see tomorrow. I am so over 2010. I was going to post the Hanes sock commercial underneath, where both the son and father mutter, "We're sick of it." But I thought I would go old skool instead and show one of my very favorite "In Living Color" skits.



Now, I didn't exactly hate 2010. After all, I did get to go to Hogwarts (the Harry Potter park), Las Vegas with my hubby for our fabulous two year anniversary, and the Parker palm Springs twice. But quite a few awful things happened this year that I don't want to dredge up again, so here's to 2011.

Looking back at my new year's resolutions last year, I see that I didn't hold up to many of them. One was pretty unrealistic for me as well considering my profession and the life I lead. So here's to my resolutions for 2011. Let's see if these babies hold up better:

1. Take a multivitamin every day. You did buy a weekly pill case (that looks like it's for the elderly) for this reason!
2. Bring your Camelback water bottle every day. No more plastic bottles! (BTW, I said that in the mother's voice from "Rosemary's Baby."- "No more wire hangars!")
3. Start shopping for stocking stuffer gifts early... January early. Try to get a few each month. That way you won't almost hurl like you did this year when you try to purchase them all at once.
4. You have six months. If you don't finally lose those ten pounds that are keeping you from fitting into most of your wardrobe, it's all getting donated. Done, and done.
5. Find the most exquisite site you can along the coast in France for when you and the hubs finally film your vow renewal.
6. Make sure you make a list of all the Harry Potter sites you want to visit in England so you don't miss any.
7. Try to be more social. Give up the hermit lifestyle. Attempt to have people over for dinner once a month. That is why you bought all that pretty serveware, right?
8. Make sure you save a little me time. Whether that be if you just take a walk when you get home from work, or dance to your favorite song, or even get back into meditating. Hopefully, this will help you avoid all of the mini-breakdowns you have throughout the year.

::sigh:: For some reason, this list seems much more reasonable. I hope you have a lovely New Year's Eve, whatever you end up doing. Be safe, and see ya in 2011.

Rango

I don't do animated films. I just don't get excited about them like most people do. I assume I will when I have kids, although I have already argued with the husband, "Umm, you will so be taking the kids to see this." But have you seen the trailer for "Rango" in which Johnny Depp is the lead voiceover character?



It looks SO cute, right? OK, geek out moment done. I'm officially excited about an animated film.

I'm a Big Kid Now!!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. I just realized today that I took no pictures on Christmas, and I am just a tad bit sad about that since we spent it up at my parent's house. Oh well, I will force my mom to take some pictures when I go up to visit next time.

So I found it hilarious that I was most excited about opening this present on Christmas:



Oh, how my wants have changed. I am more excited about the fact that I can now purchase this with the Christmas money I got as well:



Considering I only wanted the "Giada at Home" cookbook and "Eclipse" DVD for Christmas, I made out very well this year. I hope you all got what you wanted for Christmas as well. I'm off to attempt to clean and organize our house, but not take down the Christmas decorations just yet...not until after new year's.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

I am now up in the desert at my parent's house with family and two of my favorite girls: Sisky and Gabby. I wish you and yours a wonderful Christmas and Happy Holidays.




And as a bonus since it makes me so happy, here's a little holiday song from NSYNC:

Here Comes the Rain Again...

J/K! It's actually not raining today! Hurray! While I love the rain, it sure is nice to have a bit of a break from the six straight days of it we've had. I thought it might make me reconsider moving to Seattle, but it hasn't.

And I am loving the way it has made my backyard look...

Look how green it looks? Very Twilight-y, right? Those are mostly all weeds people. That's going to be fun to take care of. And so is this:


Yeah, I am not looking forward to helping the hubs clean this up. =( And after many of these:



And "Felicity" and "Mad Men" marathons, I am looking forward to getting out of the house. We'll be driving up to the desert later today to spend Christmas with my parents. I am so looking forward to the drive now that it is not raining.

Crockpot Sundays

So lately I have been totally into using the crockpot on Sundays. The weekends are actually the only time where I can relax and enjoy cooking, so I love being able to throw something in the crockpot and have the smell permeate the house.

I have made:

A beer and cheese soup...


A spicy as heck chili...



Dilly beef sandwiches...and barbecue chicken, which I apparently forgot to take a picture of.

I LOVE me some crockpot. I even found a hot buttered rum recipe I can throw in there. What are your favorite crockpot recipes?

Holiday, Oh Holiday...

Am I the only dork who finds out about songs from car commercials?

I've fallen in love with the song "Holiday" by Vampire Weekend, which is featured in the new Honda commercials. I've been down this month (we just decorated our tree today finally), but whenever this song has played during commercial breaks it has put a smile on my face.

Now if only the "Jingle Bells" mash-up with "Our House" from the Verizon commercials was available...

Lovin'...

My peppermint jojos...

My vanilla and cinnamon black tea...

And the fact that I am now officially on vacation for two weeks. Happy Friday!!

Black Swan

It's been awhile since I have been moved by someone's performance in a movie, when an actor has had me so mesmerized that I have been left completely spellbound by his/her performance. The last time I was just blown away was when I saw Daniel Day Lewis in "There Will Be Blood." But, it happened again last night watching Natalie Portman in "Black Swan."



I literally walked out of the theater speechless after seeing this movie. Every bit of hype and praise you have heard about it is absolutely true, and I believe Natalie Portman will sweep every major award there is for her performance. She was breathtaking, captivating, and brilliant. The story...amazing. Run, don't walk, to the theater when this opens in major release. You will not regret it.

Too Much Starbuckies...

It's is no big secret that I am a huge fan and customer of Starbucks. I go there way too many times a week and love most of their blended drinks. In fact today at my favorite store, they even gave me a card when I got my drink that will allow me to get a free drink when I purchase one the next time.

So I freaked out big time when I saw the new Jonathan Adler products at Starbucks. When I think of Jonathan, I naturally think of the Parker Palm Springs, and it makes me long for a little road trip.


Since I didn't purchase one of these right away, and they are sold out online, I am hoping my sister in law, who is a manager at a Starbucks, will be able to snag me one.

On another note, what is with this crappy warm weather? I am so over it. I would at least like it to be cold so it feels a bit more like the holidays out here in Cali. ::le sigh::

One Day at a Time

I try to remind myself of this phrase whenever things get too stressful or I get depressed, but it's so hard to do when you get caught up in things sometimes.

Last week on Wednesday, my 29th birthday started off great. In fact, I had just received some gorgeous flowers at work from my husband when I received the most devastating news: his grandmother had died.

I don't know how I made it through the rest of the school day. My students were so sweet, thank goodness. I tried to hold it together for the hubs at home, but I was the one who kept breaking down.

Though I only knew her for a few years, his granny was definitely a kindred spirit. We shared a love of books, wine, and dancing. No one could crack a joke better than her or make someone feel as special.

Our weekend trip to Seattle was pushed aside so we could drive to Arizona to be with his family.

It just made me remember that it is so important to take the time to let your loved ones know how much you truly love them.

Granny, you will be missed more than you could ever know.