Sunday, October 30, 2011

Pinterest!

So I was perusing some of my favorite blogs last night and came across an amazing website.  This is probably old news to a lot of you, and I’m not sure how I’ve never heard of it before, but it is fantastic and I’m officially obsessed!

Pinterest.  Or if you care to look at mine specifically, Pinterest!

For those who are like me and had never heard of this site before, it’s basically like creating your own bulletin boards on the internet full of beautiful pictures!  You can pin pictures you find all over the internet back to your boards and it links back to the original source…so not only are you showing off gorgeous pictures, but you’re educating  your “lookers”…recipes, craft ideas, travel places, fashion…you name it!  Your boards are shared with the community so they can re-pin your pictures if they so please (and of course they do because my pins are fantastic!).  It’s like Facebook for super creative people.  (I’m not super creative, but I’m definitely more motivated to be after spending hours on this site!)

So far here is a list of things I MUST do:

-          Make giant ice cubes with lemon slices in them using a cupcake pan…for punch of course which I drink daily.

-          Get all those maps I saved from our travels and sew the routes we took with pretty thread, frame it, and voila!  Art that will make me happy and reminiscent every time I look at it!

-          Tie pretty ribbons down a string of lights to make pretty garland.

-          Buy more clothes!  (Which I already knew I needed to do, but now I’ve got inspiration!)

Anywho, I’m apparently an ad for the site now.  Check it out, because I’m recommending it and if nothing else it’s a fun way to waste some time.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Cleaning is SO easy!

I went “camping” this last weekend for ONE night (my limit on camping)…and by camping I mean staying at the Pechanga Resort in an RV that is bigger than my first apartment with running water, electricity, and my hair straightener. 

During this trip, Mr. and I gambled a bit at the casino.  We also got to spend time with some of my parent’s friends and old co-workers which was a lot more entertaining than it sounds.  Great people, good wine, and yummy food.

None of this, however, is the reason for my blog tonight.  I wasn’t going to blog about the trip at all because, although it was fun, it wasn’t particularly eventful. 

That is…until I came across these pictures on my camera that I had forgotten I’d taken.

Kind of missed the plate while making a salad...

Not to worry, we'll clean it up in no time!


Clearly a good solution, no?

For any of you who judge me for sweeping dust under rugs or piling junk into a closet and shutting the door so I can pretend it doesn’t exist, now you can see where I get it from.  I love my Mom. 

Friday, October 21, 2011

Panic.

So a few days ago Mr. and I were invited to a Foster the People show down at Soma in San Diego.  The band was surprisingly amazing live and the Cults opened and were pretty great as well.  (Reptar also opened, but I was confused by this band.  Mostly because the lead singer had this weird stick-his-tongue-out-while-he-sings thing going on which made him sound like he had just gotten it pierced and it was still swollen…maybe he had?)

Anywho, we’re enjoying the show and having a great time when it dawns on me that I left my purse in the car.  Leaving my purse in the car wasn’t the epiphany itself (I did this on purpose so I wouldn’t have to carry it around all night), but more the fact that my keys were in my purse.  Generally this wouldn’t matter…but we have a Prius. 

For those who have never owned/driven/ridden in/read about the Prius, let me explain.  You don’t need an actual key to start it…you push a power button.  As well, you don’t need a key to open the door, you just put your hand on the door handle and as long as your fancy-keyless-pager-thingy (the technical term) is close enough, voila!  Open door. 

I’ll give you a moment while you put the two and two together…

Get it?  I “locked” my keys in the car…except that the keys being in the car would allow anyone to just open the door, push the power button, and take off.  I pretty much decided to play my own special version of russian roulette with the most expensive thing Mr. and I have ever purchased.

Panic.  That pretty much sums up my state of being the moment I realized this.  We’d already been inside for 2+ hours at this point, and our car was parked in the middle of the Sports Arena parking lot.  As the show was ending, Mr. and I made a break for it…fingers crossed.

Obvilously our car was still there (because if it hadn’t been, I probably wouldn’t be alive to tell this story).  Lucky for me, I had put my purse in the back trunk and it was just far enough away from the front of the car that it wasn’t registering.  No opening the door by the door handle, hence no one could have stolen our car (without force anyway)!  Mr. used his keys to get in and I was officially saved from making the worst mistake of my life.

Definite learning experience for me, and I won’t make that mistake again!  And bonus, learning experience for all of you reading!  Check the door handles to Prius’ when you walk by, because you could just snag yourself a spify new ride!  I can’t be the only idiot who forgets  and leaves my keys in the car, right? 

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Bates Nut Farm Day!

Yesterday Mr. and I headed out to Bates Nut Farm, a pumpkin patch I’ve been going to since I was a kid.  I thought I had planned well for this outing, seeing as that it is only a 20 minute drive from my parent’s house where we are staying, but apparently in 20 minutes it can get VERY warm.  Or maybe it’s because Bates is up in the hills so we we're closer to the sun…?

After 30 sweaty minutes of walking around the “Big Macs” patch, (and after I had Mr. pick up a giant pumpkin to see how much it weighed) we decided against spending $50 on a giant pumpkin and went back to the kiddo $6 pumpkin patch.  I think pumpkins were bigger when I was a kid, but then again I was smaller so maybe they just seemed bigger.  We picked out these beautiful pumpkins.
Our soon-to-be-Jack-o-Lanterns...


It took Mr. five minutes to find his, and then he patiently waited on a hay bale in the shade while I continued to bring pumpkin after pumpkin to him to figure out which one was best.  After 20 minutes of this I decided on my small pumpkin.  It will make a fantastic jack-o-lantern, you just wait!

To top it all off we got some toffee and peanut brittle at the store on our way out…because we wanted some snacks, but mostly because it is air conditioned in the store and we were ridiculously hot.  I love Bates.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Clearly October is a busy month...

The past two weeks have been crazy-busy, hence my boycotting my blog.  I apologize to all you avid readers, I’ll try not to let this much time pass between posts again. 

To make it up to you, here is a quick recap of the last two weeks in the life of Shana:

-          Howell family get together where I met cousins, aunts, uncles, and TONS of kids I’d never met before.  Absolutely love Mr.’s side of the family, lucky me!

-          Went to my very first hockey game…in Arizona.  (I find this hilarious since it’s HOCKEY…on ICE…in the middle of the DESERT…)  Apparently it was preseason, so the Shark’s (our team) were  playing their 3rd string people which meant we totally lost…and there weren’t any good fights which is what I was expecting from this adventure…but still a great time.  Waiting to see my second hockey game in Anaheim hopefully sometime soon!

This is what we look like in a hockey arena...

 
-          Drove home from Arizona, kid-less.  Rory stayed with Grandma and Grandpa H., Jack and Sid have been temporarily adopted by cousin Ashley, and we had a VERY quiet ride home without all the meowing.

-          Shopped for and purchased our very first new car!  And no, not new to us, but actually NEW!  It is a 2011 Toyota Prius, we love it, and for all of those who asked no…they don’t just pass them out when you arrive in California.  (Although I totally think they should!) 

So pretty and new!  We're still coming up with a name for her...


-          Found Beyonce!!!  (For those of you totally confused by this, click here.)  Apparently the blog-icon was vacationing in none other than Escondido, California. 

I only wish she was for sale...


-          Had my first sans-boys GN since arriving back in California.  This hasn’t happened since the NYC trip of 2010, so I was VERY excited.  We took no pictures, but we ate great food, drank pink panties, and watched Bridesmaids…the only thing missing was Katie.

-          Bought these amazing shoes. 
You know you love them.

-          Dealt with some B-side family stuff which I don’t want to get in to at the moment, but which will be a completely new blog once I get around to writing it.  Stay tuned.

-          Had some fabulous dinners with some of my favorite people.

-          And last, but definitely not least…I finally wore a pretty dress!!!  It’s my first of three that I owe myself for skipping out the past two months on my 30/30 list goal.  Now to come up with two more places in the next two crazy-busy weeks to wear pretty dresses!

Proof of pretty dress 1 of 3.  And yes, I always stand like this next to a piano.