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Weekend Recap (Pictures)

Okay, I know the weekend isn’t officially over, but I wanted to post anyway. Good times, man. Good times.

Friday night, Bob and Bizzy came over. We had pasta bake and watched Dazed and Confused and The Boondock Saints. But I didn’t finish BS because Ivy (swankivy) called! What fun that was. We are such dorks. The funny thing is that she’s one of my best friends and has been since 1998, but we don’t talk on the phone often at all. Most of our communication is long emails and IMs and Live Journal entries. So, actually talking to her was loads of fun, especially with the stories she had for me. Great times!!

Saturday, I woke up at 11am! And that wasn’t even on my own–Aidan came in and took off my face mask. Boy was it BRIGHT! Instant headache. It did fade for the most part, though. Headed down to New Concord for a wine-tasting, only I didn’t taste much wine. A storm blew in–violent but quick. I wasn’t scared! To give you some perspective–thunderstorms used to freak me the hell out. I mean, I’d have all out panic attacks where I’d curl into a ball, stuff my fingers in my ears, and practically cry. I’d be shaking uncontrollably. The more severe the storm, the worse the attack. But this one, I was wishing I could get outside and take some pictures. I did get a picture of the storm rolling in, though:

Storm!

Came back here and took a nap with Aidan, then headed to the stores for some shopping. Went to Nordstrom to pick up my 7s. I got them in April, but in the tradition of expensive jeans, they were WAY too long, so I got them tailored. Now they fit perfecty. See, here’s the thing about 7s. The girl told me that once I bought a pair, I’d never want to go back to regular jeans. I thought “nah, I like my American Eagle jeans all right.” But she was right! All I want now are 7s. They fit perfectly. They’re as comfy as pajamas. And I look awesome in them. So of course I want more pairs, but they’re expensive. So I must refrain.

Anyway, I went to Gentle Wind (where I got my aura read and picked up the Nag Champa incense), and then headed to Target for laundry detergent and hangers. So now that I have that stuff, guess what’s on the agenda for today. Yup, laundry and hanging up, folding, and/or organization of clothing. So fun. NOT.

I still have to unpack from my trip out west! Then I get to finish packing for Chicago, but that will be a lot easier. I don’t plan on checking any bags. That’ll make things so much easier.

Anyway, I leave you with a couple more pictures:

Wet Rose
Wet rose in the yard after a rain

Mr. Aidan
Mr. Aidan. Three going on thirty. πŸ™‚

Okay, now I’m mad. Chris KNEW I was planning on doing laundry today. I haven’t done it in ages and was way overdue. I am NEVER motivated to do laundry. SO WHY IN THE FRESH HELL DID HE PUT HIS CRAP IN THE MACHINE? He NEVER finishes–meaning that he leaves stuff in the dryer all the time. Grrrrrrrrrr. Like whoa. So tempted to take it out and put in on the floor. I mean, seriously. Grrrr.

ETA: Okay, okay, so he did my laundry too. *feels sheepish*

And Aidan is peeling the designs from his shirt for some reason. What is with boys this week?

Anyway….

‘Til next time!

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Long Weekend (Pictures)

I lurve long weekends! I really, truly do! McGraw-Hill treated me to an extra two hours by letting us go at 2pm on Friday. THAT TOTALLY ROCKED! I’m trying to think if I did anything special Friday evening, and you know what, I did! First, I was able to grab a nap Friday afternoon which was much needed and very nice. Then at 5:30, I had a massage. I needed it. My body felt like it was tied in knots, my head was hurting, and my hands felt like I’d been clenching them in fists for hours at a time. Heather really did some magic, plus talking to her is always calming. I was nice and Zen when it was over.

Afterwards, I met up with some friends at Tropical Bistro. It’s kind of a resurrection of Kahiki, which was a really cool Hawaiian themed restaurant. The food was just passable, but the atmosphere was to die for. It was so cool! Well anyway, Tropical Bistro was nice. The food was okay (best egg rolls I’ve ever had, and I don’t even like egg rolls!), the atmosphere was nice but not nearly as much fun at Kahiki. I’d go back, though. Anyway, here are a few pictures:

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Big Update!! (Pictures)

It’s been a long time since I’ve done a proper update. I’ve been busy, or out of town, or some combination of the two. Good times, great oldies, right? πŸ™‚

On May 9 – I went to Kenneth’s and saw Cameron (code word for “I got my hair done by the best hairdresser ever”). I love my hairdresser. He’s the cutest thing ever and sooo funny. I love talking to him. Plus, he did a supurb job on my hair:

New Hair Again
This is even after it was windblown! πŸ™‚

May 10 – took an insanely early flight and got to Vegas a bit after 9am. Didn’t check in to the Monte Carlo until a lot later, though. Visited the most ghastly Wal*mart ever. Ugh. I hate that store even more now, even though they have cute dresses. Finally checked in, got a bit settled (meaning: hooked up the internet and checked email), then headed out to the Strip. Saw the Bellagio fountains, ate good food, went to M&M World, shopped a bit. Ate dinner, then headed back out. Bellagio fountains and Paris Eifel Tower at night oh lovely….

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Chicago Spring Fling Conference! :) (Long & Lots of Pictures)

[X-posted at bananagirl19]

Hello! I am back from an amazing, exhausting, completely fun weekend in Chicago! The Chicago-North RWA chapter is incredible, and so are the people I met there.

FRIDAY

Mandy (mandywriter) picked me up from the airport and it was like we’d been friends forever, which we pretty much have. We started talking and joking right away. She took me to the hotel and chilled out while I unpacked in my VERY NICE hotel room. Let me tell you about this room. It was more like a suite. 25 inch TV, desk, easy chair, couch with a foldaway, king sized bed. Beautiful. I’d ordered strawberries and champagne, but I didn’t open it right away, and I’m glad I waited. More on that later. πŸ™‚

Mandy and I registered for the conference (we were the first two!), then went out to lunch at a place called RAM. I’d never heard of it, but it was pretty nice. Of course, I got the messiest meal ever, but it was really yummy. By the time we got back to the hotel, Sara (sbennettwealer) was there! We went up to their room and hung out for a while, then headed down to the conference. I spotted Dia (agentobscura) right away, so we went to say Hi. She gave us all a group hug and seriously, we all hit it off right away. I felt like I’d been hanging out with these women my whole life.

The first thing we did was attend a “panel” of sorts. Four authors, open dialogue. It was interesting. Alesia Holliday, Mary Alice Monroe, Jennifer Crusie, and Bob Mayer spoke and it was funny and really nice. Afterwards, I went to Alesia to introduce myself and she recognized my name from the Yahoo! teenchicklit loop. She was awesome, and here I am with her:

We had a HUGE break, so Sara, Mandy, Gail and I went to an Italian restaurant. It was yummy. I got a half order which turned out to be a good decision, because it was the perfect amount of food. When we went back, there was class. Sara and I went to “Get Out of Deadwood” where we met Stephanie Hale (stephhale) and a really cool girl named Carmen. We went and had chocolate at the Chocolate Reception (um, check out this damn sign:)


DESERT????????

More pictures….

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Dawes Arboretum…! (Pictures)

First thing— I LOVE MY NEW CAMERA! It’s amazing. One of my favorite things about SLR is that there is practically NO shutter lag. And the manual focus option–LOVE IT. Oh yeah. I had a blast today. I got a polarizing filter, and I can really see a difference in some of the photos.

Second thing–Dawes Aroboretum is so nice this time of year. I didn’t see any mushrooms (ewwww), and many of the trees were flowering. It was just slightly cool, but not too much. A pretty day, perfect for taking pictures. Aidan and I went today for some Mommy/Son bonding time and also for a photo shoot of sorts.

Check It Out!

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