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Good Morning Everyone!

What a wonderful day (primarily because I didn't have to wake up to an alarm clock. Sorry I have been so MIA lately... I have so much going on that I just can't get all of my thoughts together into a post. :(

Even though there is so much happening right now, I have to tell you about this giveaway that I have entered. A girl I went to HS with has an amazing blog about her life, cake and her inspiring throughs on her current weight loss program. She is doing it right, let me just tell you...

She tracks her food and her movement, and the deficit of the two, using her BodyBugg. The great news is that she is giving away a BodyBugg (so exciting) on her blog. So, go check it out. Today is the last day to earn entries to the contest, but knowing her, there will be more. Plus, we are strive to be more healthly and I really enjoy reading her thoughts on the subject of healthy eating.

I hope summer is treating you well,

C

How did I miss this?

I lived in Brookline, Massachusetts for 2 years... and I took the green line T from Brookline Village and somehow missed the fact that they taped America's Test Kitchen like a block down the street. How did I miss this???

Ok, technically I cannot remember if I knew what America's Test Kitchen was back then, but I probably did...

Anyway, that is my rant for the day.

Thanks for reading...

C

How do we do it and keep our sanity?

Ever get overwhelmed and think that there is just too much stuff to manage in your everyday life? Between bills and goals and just little every day things that you have to remember to do, or want to try... or cleaning that you have been putting off or a savings plan that you want to build...

But there is just not enough time or energy (more emphasis on the energy), plus there is the time that you put aside to spend with others... or calling old friends, or relatives...

Not to mention a tad bit of alone time.

How is it possible that we keep all of our proverbial balls in the air with no real plan in place (often times)?

AND - I don't even have kids!!! Oye!

Just a thought... Happy Monday.

Thx, C.

All talk...

Hi. :)

We are going to put a little hold on wedding planning chat and talk about DIY projects and things that I have been talking about doing, but seem to be all talk and no action. So, I am going to try to change that. I am going to talk about some of the things I plan to do, and while I know I am not going to accomplish all of them immediately, I am going to work on them. This is kind of a bucket list, but for the more immediate future. :)

First, I need to make a menu and shopping list each week and only go grocery shopping once a week. This is less of a little project and more of a necessity, so I need to do this.

Second, I want to make breads and muffins and hard boiled eggs for each upcoming week. I want to learn to make more things rather than buy them. My goal here is to reduce the number of hidden ingredients that I eat by making my own food staples.

Third, I am dying to re-upholster something. I am thinking about looking for something at a flea market and working on it (Jeremy is thrilled, clearly... hehe). Maybe a chair. I just have to find a good one - and cheap. (I also want to build myself a Headboard and learn to sew pillows and stuff to decorate my condo. Oh, and paint... before Sarah leaves, otherwise I will never hear the end of it.)

I also need to start eating better and getting to the gym...

Ok, that is all for now... I am sure I will add to this. I am also working on a real bucket list, but that will be another post.

Pictures to come... I promise. I just need to find the cord to upload them. Add get organized to this list... :) Actually, that might go on the bucket list. Realistically, I'm just sayin'.

Have a great night.

C

Hello! :) Happy Wednesday - I cannot believe that tomorrow is April! Where does the time go? I was looking at a scrapbooking retreat in September and thinking about how far in the future Sept. and then it occurred to me - it's right around the corner...

Anyway, so lately my life has consisted of the great venue search... still looking at venues and still working on exactly what the wedding will look like. For me, the planning is fairly simple - I have lots of time in the evening and weekends. Getting Jeremy to look at a venue is hard... and getting harder. It's not because he doesn't want to go look at them, but he has been so busy with work and the end of the Antioch Bocce season (Playoffs, etc) and tournaments that have been planned for months. Now we are at UCSF where he is having a surgical procedure done, which will put him out of commission for a few weeks. (The good news is that he has told me to just go look at whatever I like, and then he will see my top few picks plus whatever he decides that he wants to go look at.)

Anyway, other than the wedding stuff and J's activities, I have been spending some time preparing a spring/summer garden with my Dad and we finally got our veggies planted last Saturday. YAY! I am looking forward to continuing to work on the garden into the summer.

I feel like I have so much time, but I cannot seem to get anything done. I have been sick for about 9 days, and look forward to getting some things done once I start to feel better. We are planning for a series of garage sales to get rid of some things that are taking up too much space and other spring cleaning.

So, my energy has been low and my motivation has been non-existent, and I look forward to gaining some control over my time - to actually get some things done.

Oh, also I am looking forward to picking up my scrapbooking. I am thinking about planning some time into weekends and even some week nights to make sure that I do not let it go by the wayside.

Ok, that is my update for now. I actually have some pics from our trip to Disneyland and from our Garden (and even some venue option shots), but I am not on my home laptop, so that will have to wait.

Anyway, have a great day... will update soon.

C

And so it begins...

Tonight J and I attended our first wedding faire event. We went to the open house held at the Brazilian Room in Tilden Park. It was very pretty...

http://www.ebparks.org/activities/corpfamily/br/br

It's growing on me the more I think about it and I know that this venue is in high demand, so we may not even have a chance to book it (if we decide to try). We will see. I think we are going to visit additional venues in a few weeks and I hope that as we see more, we will have a better idea for our comfort level and start narrowing in on what we really want.

Also... we found a catering company that really impressed us and they seem very flexible and will work with our budget, so we are excited to do some research to find other options - just incase there is something else that we could be missing.

Anyway, the theme for this post is... the beginning. We still have lost more to visit, research, etc.

Should be fun! :)

Happy Tuesday!

C

Hello!!! :) Sorry for the span of time between posts.

Well, I am very excited to announce that J and I are engaged, which means, like it or not, this outlet might become a wedding planning venting outlet. Sorry in advance. :)

We got engaged on Saturday, February 21, on Peak Hill in Bodega Bay... it was beautiful. Maybe one day I will get the film developed so that I can share how beautiful Bodega Bay is and was on our weekend away.

And so it begins... when, where, including who, what colors, etc, etc, etc...

Now I am thumbing through magazines, making lists of venue pros and cons and trying to get a clear picture of what our wedding will look like... so many options. I have never been good with making decisions and now there are a ton of them to make, and to make matters worse, my mom isn't around to help me make them. The good news is that after 30 years of guiding me, I know what she would have said. The other good news: I have lots of people around me who are excited and more than willing to help, and that's more that I could ever hope for.

Anyway, decisions must be made and I look forward to the process... and to being married to J... I can't imagine being more comfortable and in love with anyone else. I look forward to our life together and all that it will bring. :)

Have a great evening and a happy Tuesday. I get to go to the happiest place on earth soon... :) YAY!

C

Happy January 17th. What a year this has been... what? it's only the 17th you say? Well, so much has happened in the past 17 days, it could fill many months. But, I am hopeful. I am hopeful that things will turn for the better. I know they will.

Regarding my goals for 2010. I have been cooking at home fairly well and grocery shopping for food on Sundays. We had a little hiccup over the past week - our kitchen walls got cut open and the workers had to cut the electricity to the outlets in the kitchen. All of this because out plumbing had to be replaced due to leaks under our condo. Anyway, this has made cooking in the kitchen tough. However, it has made me more serious about painting. I have not painted a single wall since purchasing the condo in 2007. Embarrasing, I know.

So, now that I have walls that are partially a new shade of white and partially an older shade of white... ew. Now, the pressure is on.

I have not made my budget yet. I don't remember if I made that a goal for 2010 officially, but it is. In fact, I am putting it off as I type.

I have transported some boxes over to my dad's house for our future garage sale, so that is good.

I can't really think of anything else right now... and I am inclined to work on my budget, so I am going to cut this short and do that. Go me! :)

C

BTW - my wallet, phone and camera were stolen on New Years, so my picture posting will be scarce. But that is what it is. I am going to try to get my old camera working, so we will see.

2010 Resolutions

Well, as we move into 2010, I have high hopes for the coming year. I hope for a change in the clarity of my life. My past life seems messy, rushed, overcommited and I always seem to be forgetting something or procrastinating. I am surrounded by an abundance of physical items, unneccesary debt, unhealthy take-out or fast food, and unresolved emotional issues which most likely are fueling the fire.

My future life will be clean and organized. I will be able to plan for the future and enjoy each day without the burdon of chaos that currently exists. Better yet, I will be able to pay down my debt and save up a rainy day fund and for items that I will be looking to replace in the future, including my computer and various furniture pieces. I have a number of steps that I will follow to make sure that I succeed in my goals for 2010.

(in no particular order)

I will spend most of January 2010 sorting through my belongings and pulling items that I no longer need. This will be the first step in reducing the amount of physical clutter that exists around me. The items no longer needed will be either donated or sold, depending on the item.

Also in January, I will be creating my 2010 budget - which will be a challange but a necessary step to getting a handle on my spending.

Finally in January, I will be kicking off my cooking at home series (which will also include leftovers for lunch at work). It was recently brought to my attention that I have A LOT of cookbooks. That made me think: How often do I cook from these cookbooks?... Rarely/Never would be the answer. I do pull baking recipies from my collection of Cooks Illustrated cookbooks, but most of my meal recipies are either pulled from the internet, family recipies or product packaging. So starting in January, I will be planning meals for home cooking and cooking out of cookbooks in my collection. Cookbooks that (upon review) are not providing recipies that I can use, will be added to my garage sale/internet sales pile. :)

So those are the big goals for 2010. I am hoping that by reducing the money I spend, the take-out food that I eat, and the clutter around me, I will find peace in my life. Of course there will be additional steps, but I am writing an entry, not a book, so I needed to condense.

Alright, that is enough for now. Thanks for reading.

C

December 2009

I will start after the Las Vegas Half Marathon.

December was busy - very busy. After traveling to run in Vegas that first weekend in December, we had the second weekend free to prepare for Christmas and rest before traveling to New York City for four days during the third weekend in December. We had booked the tickets to NYC months ago and while I tried to postpone the trip (our time was just getting too cramped). As it was, we had a great trip.

A few things about our trip to NYC:

1) We were there for a 24 hour snow storm which was exciting... and we found a southern BBQ restaurant just a block from our hotel for dinner during the storm. We are so glad that it stayed open and was a fun upbeat place to go.

2) Jeremy had never been to NYC, so he had a great time seeing the sights. We even saw the Rockettes which was amazing. :)

3) We happened to walk through the Macy's at Herald Square and there was smoke in the air. It turns out that there was an escalator engine fire in the store and we got to watch the firefighters head upstairs...

Anyway, it was an exciting time... and everyone was fine. :)

A few days after returning from NYC was Christmas, which was nice. Of course. It was obviously sad and kind of lonely without my mom, but most days are... It was nice to spend the time with the family and Jeremy's family. :) One thing that I have learned in 2009 is that family and friends really are there when you need them... and they really have been. :)

I took the week after Christmas off (for the most part) and enjoyed cleaning and relaxing. I got a great visit in with some friends and started to prepare for the new year. The resolution post should follow this one... maybe in a few more days.

Last night was New Years Eve. I actually had a great feeling about NYE - and it was fun. Really fun. Then, shortly after Midnight, I had my purse stolen. Thank goodness that it was a clutch for NYE and didn't have my entire wallet in it, but I will still miss my phone and camera. Oh well, not the end of the world. I still have high hopes for 2010... and my LONG list of resolutions will follow shortly.

Happy New Years!

C