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.

Matt's Big Breakfast

Oy vey! Somehow another month has passed by. Every year I say that I am going to try to lighten my load at work, yet somehow I end up taking more and more on. I enjoyed reading all of your blogs though while I struggled to make it through the month.

Originally, we had planned to have Thanksgiving at our house for the first time. However, my husband's grandmother had a heart attack (she's doing fine now), so we drove out to Phoenix to visit her in the hospital instead. My mother spoiled us the day before we left by making us Thanksgiving dinner that day, so on Thanksgiving we started the five hour drive out there at six in the morning.

After an interesting Thanksgiving meal at Marie Calendar's, the next day we decided to hit up one of the restaurants on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives using the Flavortown app I had downloaded. I am SO glad we did.



Matt's Big Breakfast is TINY inside, but the flavor packed into its breakfasts is huge. I had the best waffle I have ever had. It was light and airy, and the maple butter and maple syrup were to die for.





I was in heaven.



If you are in the area, I HIGHLY recommend going there. I almost ordered a side of their peppered bacon to go; it was THAT good. Then, before we drove home, we went to a restaurant we had seen on Man v. Food, Alice Cooper's Cooperstown. I disappointed the hubs by not agreeing to split the 2 ft long hot dog with him since I wanted to try the Anthony Bourdain's Hot Pastrami sandwich. Luckily, he was quite pleased with the barbecue sandwich he chose.









I am getting hungry just looking at these pictures. Well, I hope your holiday season has started off well. I am determined to get some decorating done now before my birthday tomorrow. Ciao!

Teenage Dream

It's no secret that I adore Katy Perry. I still remember the girl from when she was starting to really hit the scene in Hollywood, playing the Hotel Cafe. I had the pleasure of seeing her on a "Two Hour Tour" cruise in Newport Beach. She played last and ended up forgetting some of the lyrics to one of her songs because she was so hammered. I still remember her uttering to someone at the bar before she went on, "I'm getting drunk because they put me on last!"

So I had a Katy Perry moment on Friday when I stumbled upon her new single, "Teenage Dream," on two different blogs. First, The Swede Records posted a cover by the band The Rescues which is INSANELY good.



I freaked when I recognized an old friend/songwriter I used to help promote, Rob Giles, in the band. Then I stumbled upon this lovely cover which will be on Glee on Tuesday on Perez Hilton's site:



These two covers made me so happy. Enjoy!

Weekend Rewind

Boo! Yes, I know I am too late to be saying this, but I swear, this last weekend flew by. Here's a little recap of my weekend:
Friday was spirit day at my school. It was costume day, so I paid homage to one of my favorite book series by dressing up as Hermione Granger. Though I almost fainted during my first period class (I was wearing a wool dress underneath and got WAY too hot), it was well worth it. My student government class then put on our Halloween dance after school for 220 middle school students. It was crazy!

I then went and saw Lady Antebellum at the Nokia Theater, and they were absolutely amazing. It is so rare to find a band that meshes so well together and performs phenomenally live.

HEAVEN!!

We did some car dancing to the Rocky Horror Picture Show on the drive home.

I then made the hubs accompany me to Disneyland on Halloween. I don't know how I made it. And I still have Halloween decorations to take down. I am so glad October is over with considering we had to cancel my hubs b-day road trip since he got sick and out Halloween party when I got sick. Here's to November, though I have a buttload of grading to do this week since it is the end of the quarter.