Twilight

After reading rave reviews from friends about the Twilight series, I decided to grab a copy from our local library.

I never got into the whole Buffy the Vampire Slayer scene, so I was skeptical. I mean really - how much would I enjoy a teen vampire romance novel? ALOT apparently!

After the first book I was hooked. I read it in about 2-3 days. Didn't do much else that weekend. I quickly placed holds on the remaining 3 books at the library. But like an addict, I couldn't just sit around and wait for my next fix. I needed to DO something to make it happen.

I scoured the online catalogs of the surrounding libraries that have reciprocal agreements with our town. I found a copy on the shelf, but it was 8:15pm and the library closed at 8pm. I came *this close* to breaking down and going to Barnes & Noble to buy it, but in a moment of strength refrained (luckily a new episode of Gossip Girl was on that evening).

Was I embarrassed when I went to pick up the book at the library the next day and a girl that couldn't have been much older than 13 asked me if I had seen the movie yet? YES! But I felt a little better about myself when the librarian told me that she had read all 4 books over her last vacation.

I am now in the middle of the fourth and final book. I have put my life on hold for this series - unable to do anything else until I have finished it. Laundry is piling up. The fridge is barren. My in-laws are coming for a visit this weekend so I need to finish the book tonight so I can have some time in the evenings to prepare for their visit.

I have yet to see the movie, but I doubt it will live up to my high expectations. Plus I am a little scared to watch it on my own - even though I know everything that happens, I would still prefer to wait for Christopher to come home on the weekend to watch it with me, just in case I have some vampire-filled nightmares.

Don't knock it till you've tried it

I think we all grew up saying "EEEEEWW GROSS" at the mere mention of anchovies on pizza.

But I had never tried them, so how did I know? In my defense, every other kid I met shared the same impression so how could they all be wrong?

Well - kids are kids and peer pressure is a fierce thing.

The other night I decided to give the anchovies-on-pizza thing a try. And you know what? I actually liked it!

Conference Call Funny

A funny exchange had me laughing out loud
during a conference call yesterday. Good thing my phone was on mute!

Scenario: a question was raised about a preceding slide in the presentation

Presenter: What slide are you referring to?
Meeting Attendee: Slide number 27 in the presentation. It's the one with a picture of a river on it.
Presenter: It's a fjord actually.

LOL - this totally cracked me up. Even today, a whole day later I can't help but smile to myself when I think about it!

Philadelphia

This week I went to Philly to visit a potential customer. I had connected through the PHL several times before, but had never been to the city as a final destination.

I drove in and made good time so I had a couple of hours to check out the downtown area. I went to Reading Terminal Market grab a bite to eat (not a cheesesteak, but a yummy roast pork sandwich with greens & sharp provolone from DiNic's) and then from there walked over to check out the Liberty Bell & Independence Hall.

Brooklyn: a Study in Minimalism

This past weekend we moved Christopher into his apartment in Brooklyn. It's a small studio, rented to us by a very nice musician who is on tour for the next 3 months.

The apartment is the perfect size for Christopher and has a comfortable amount of space for a week's worth of clothes, frozen food from BJ's (Costco-equivalent), and the Xbox + games. But moving in there it really made us think about all the "stuff" we have back home. From ski/golf equipment stashed in our attic, to bookshelves filled with paperbacks, and textbooks from our student days. We have even gotten into the habit of buying things like shampoo & deodorant in multiple quantities from Amazon for cost savings

But this suburban style of living - where we can park our car steps from our front door, and we think nothing of buying 4 cases of soda when it's on sale, along with buying jumbo packs of paper towel & toilet paper is definitely not conducive to city living - especially in NYC.

I find it pretty cleansing to have a clean space. Sometimes when I go into our attic and am surrounded by all the clutter it makes my pulse race. And I know that my closet is definitely in need of a good spring cleaning. But when I think about giving/throwing away my stuff, I can't help but feel a little protective... What is it about "stuff", especially the stuff we don't use, that we're so attached to?

Energy Efficiency

Wintertime in New England, living in a home built in 1916, certainly raises some questions about our energy efficiency. We use heating oil to heat our home, and natural gas for our hot water. Since the price of oil is way lower than it was last winter, we turned our focus towards our natural gas consumption.

I dug out the folder containing our past Connecticut Natural Gas bills and whipped up this chart using my good friend Excel:

Christopher and I are always looking for ways to improve the energy efficiency of our home. From what this chart indicates, it would appear that our gas consumption is significantly lower during the summer months. So, we're gonna look into an insulation blanket for our hot water tank (new in August 2007) since they are relatively inexpensive and we already insulated our pipes last year.

As a side note - I am feeling a mixture of pride in the geekiness of my analysis combined with embarassment of the fact that I am proud. And I did this whole thing on a Friday night to boot - definitely a sign that I'm getting old, or that I need a hobby!

Ski Weekend

The timing couldn't have been better really. I was asked to visit a customer in Denver the week before Christopher was scheduled to start his new job. So we decided to buy a flight for him on points and do some skiing over the weekend.

We hit up Arapahoe Basin, Keystone & Copper. We didn't have any new snow while we were there, but enjoyed beautiful weather. Is it wrong to show up to business meeting with a goggle-tan?

Craigslist Miracle!

It's funny how fast your life can change sometimes...

On Thursday evening the phone rings - a guy wants to phone interview Christopher for a job he had applied to a week and a half ago. At the end of the call they set up a time to meet in person the next day. Friday Christopher heads into Brooklyn for the interview and comes home with a job offer. Friday evening I scout out a few sublets and send some e-mails to set up appointments to view them. Saturday morning we head into to Brooklyn together and secure a very nice furnished apartment in Park Slope, only a 9-minute walk to the office.

Both the job and the apartment were found via Craigslist. It's a Craigslist Miracle!

I know that Christopher wants to come home to CT for most weekends, but I am super excited about having a pied-a-terre in NY. I am always looking for excuses to go into the city and visit friends, and now that I'll have a place to stay it makes it super convenient! Plus the owner loves dogs, so he's cool with Tyson coming for the weekend. Springtime in the city - I can't wait!

While waiting for Christopher to arrive back home on Friday evening I whipped up this sign with some scissors and blank printer paper. I'm pretty proud of my craftiness:

Sales Sirens Call

Everywhere I turn there seem to be really great sales on home decor stuff. I've been trying to be good about my spending, but sometimes I crack when faced with really deep discounts.

For awhile I've been thinking about a new area rug for our living room area. When I came across a large 9x12' rug on sale online at Pottery Barn for 70% off I couldn't resist. But not being able to see it in person I was somewhat hesitant...

Old Rug

New Rug

It has taken a couple of days to grow on me, but I am really happy with the new rug. And the old one looks pretty good in our dining room, so it's has a home in the next room :)

Which rug do you prefer - old or new?

Clementines - the devil's fruit

I have a canker sore. It is driving me crazy. I have been grumpy and irritable for 2 days now. Eating (which I love) is so painful - it's like torture to me.

In doing some research in what causes these blasted things, I headed to my trusty friend Wikipedia. I learned that the exact cause of them is unknown, but included in the list of factors that provoke them is citrus.

I guess the 3-5 clementines/day I have been eating for the past month were a bad idea. Who knew? I've been addicted to them. They are so sweet and easy to eat. And I thought fruit was supposed to be good for you?!?

Ugh - learning lessons the hard way sucks...

AT Addict

Since it has been such a cold and snowy winter for us, I have been spending alot of time indoors. During my time at home, I have had lots of time to ponder my surroundings and daydream about different decorating options.

And what better place to research my ideas than online! This is where I have found my latest obsession: Apartment Therapy! I know I don't live in an apartment, but I just love the style and freshness of their designs. Plus, all the DIY options and budget-friendly solutions are perfect for my frugal nature.

When I first discovered the site I was completely overwhelmed. It has so many interesting posts that I loved that I felt like I needed to read it all. But after about a week of checking it non-stop, I am finally down to only checking it 5 times a day!

Bugger!

Last Saturday I was being lazy and didn't want to leave the warm comfy coziness of my bed on such a frosty winter morning. I decided to curl up under the covers and read my new Emily Giffin book. I only had around 30 pages to go, so my plan was to finish the book and then I would start my day.

After reading around 10 pages, I reached this point:

Have you ever seen such a thing? And right at the end of the book too! It wasn't just the next page either, all the rest of the pages continued on from 247 until the very last page in the book.

Fortunately a copy was on the shelf at our local public library, so Christopher and I raced off to nab it. That sure motivated me to get out of bed in a hurry!

...baby it's cold outside!

For his birthday last month Christopher's parents gave him a Blu-ray player. Since it's been so cold and snowy the past few weeks we've been hibernating inside, putting the BD Player through its paces and simultaneously exhausting the available Blu-ray discs at our local Blockbuster.

Here's what we've rented over the past month:

• Get Smart
• Wanted
• Tropic Thunder
• Ocean's 13
• Pineapple Express
• Iron Man
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army
• Kung Fu Panda
• Step Brothers
• Ghost Town
• Night at the Museum

Wow - we have never rented so many movies in such a short period of time before. Every time we returned one we would pick up another - vicious cycle. I think we need to take a bit of a break now to wait for some new releases. Good thing we didn't make it to the theatre much in 2008!

Admitted!

Today I accompanied Christopher to the Richard D. Tulisano Courthouse for his Connecticut Bar Admission Ceremony.

It was actually very nice to be part of this smaller ceremony instead of the main one held for the passers of the July 2008 CT Bar Exam, which took place back in November. While that ceremony would have had over 600 participants, there were only 24 attorneys being admitted on this day.

The ceremony took place in a small courtroom and we were allowed to take pictures afterwards. The judge was also really nice and let people take pictures with her. I got to sit in the jury box to watch Christopher take his oath and to snap some pics to remember this special occasion.

It has been a long four years of JD & LLM school, but you're done now and I couldn't be more proud. Congratulations Attorney Schwartz!

Capes :)

I think my cape-making project was a success - whew!

Here is a (dark) video clip of 3 of the kids running around the house on Christmas Day with their capes on:

My aunt first thought that I had purchased these for the kids! Nope - 100% handmade. Well, I didn't weave my own fabric or anything, but you get the idea :)

Santa's Little Helpers

This past weekend we were hit with 2 winter storms that dropped around 12 inches of snow on us Friday and Sunday. So Christopher and I hibernated ourselves indoors. I only left the house to walk the D.O.G with Christopher and Tyson making regular trips out to keep our driveway and sidewalks clear.

Whilst holed up inside, we worked like little Christmas Elves. Christopher kept busy making batch after batch of his famous Almond Florentine, which we boxes up to give out to friends, family & neighbors for the holidays. And I worked diligently on making 6 superhero capes for the little ones in my family. The capes are double-sided (so that's like making 12 regular capes!) and have velcro closures at the neck (so the kids can't strangle/choke themselves). This was my first sewing project since making a pair of boxer shorts in Grade 7. We even bought a brand-new sewing machine just for this! I was plenty worried about ruining my cousins' kids Christmas gifts, nevermind wasting money on a sewing machine I would never use again.

All in all though, I think the capes turned out pretty well. I made logos for Batman, Superman, Wonderpets, and a Princess crown. Hope they like them!

Nature vs. Nurture

The other weekend when we were back in Canada we stayed with Christopher's parents. After they went to bed we decided to take the dog for a walk.

When we went to the closet to bundle up with our coats and boots we came across an interesting site - two pairs of the same shoes. After closer inspection it turned out that Christopher and his dad have the exact same pair of Merrell hiking shoes. Each pair purchased independently of the other and through different channels (online vs. retail store) and in different countries (Canada vs. US).

The part that makes it even funnier is that Christopher hemmed and hawed over which shoes to buy over the course of at least a week. We had a friends & family coupon for Zappos, so we wanted to make sure we made our selections carefully. He read all the reviews and comments on the shoes that were highly rated by the site. And those shoes even come in 3 different colors.

But after all that research, I guess there's no denying what's in your genes. Chris looks so much like his father that there never was any question as to their relationship - but if there ever was, I guess this settles it!

Harnessing the Power...

of humans?

I have often wondered if it would be feasible to capture the energy generated by people working out at the gym. All those treadmills, elliptical trainers, stationary bikes, and even weight machines could be set up in such a way that the energy exerted is stored in a battery of some sort. The power collected could be used by the fitness facility to subsidize their energy usage.

I am all for reducing waste. I am a big fan of leftovers. I love selling/giving away things on Craigslist/Ebay. I find it very cleansing/therapeutic to take bags of used clothes to Goodwill. But there always seemed to be something a little odd about all the people sweating like mad to burn calories just for the sake of burning calories. Images of some poor donkey walking in circles to mill flour pop into my head.

Well - the Internet has the answer to everything I guess. Look what a quick google search turned up: http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/03/08/human-powered-gyms-in-hong-kong/

Hibernating

Last week I was in Anaheim for work. I didn't fully appreciate the warm weather and sunny skies until returning home. It has been freezing this past week!! I am writing this curled up on the couch under a warm blanket, relishing the heat emanating from my laptop with a steaming mug of peppermint tea beside me.

The weather is unseasonably cold for this time of year; the average low-high should be 32-52. But these days we're in the 18-36 range.

This sudden cold spell had totally caught me off guard. I still have some leaf raking and yard work that needs tending to, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I wish I could, but I just can't. So I'm trying to find indoor chores to do so I can feel somewhat productive this weekend. But the problem is that they all involve extricating myself from the warm comfy coziness of my blanket...

Halloween '08

This Halloween I didn't want to get my hopes up after our low turnout last year. But in the back of my mind, I was hoping that with the new neighbours moved into the house on the other side of us, that this would draw more trick-or-treaters to come and visit us.

For decoration this year, we proudly displayed our largest pumpkin ever:

As luck would have it, this year we were visited by more than four times as many trick-or-treaters as last year!! Record numbers of children out on the street asking for a handout - a sign of our poor economic times?