It's All About Me

Seriously. You should all have the above bag.

I did a search for my name because that's what I do and, though I don't need a tote bag, the one below sums everything up: Then, there's the one below that just states the obvious:Actually, I've been trying to use the zillions of tote bags I have as reusable bags. The tote bags are much sturdier than the reusable grocery bags the grocery stores sell. Now, if I can only remember to bring them back to the car so I have them when I go grocery shopping.

Water

I am not a water drinker. If I'm really thirsty and it's ice cold, I will, but it's rare. However, in the grand tradition of "do as I say, not as I do", we give Little Miss water. She drank a lot last summer but lately, we've been giving her more and more. Tonight, she had a cup of juice, handed it back and asked for water. That said, her "juice" is mostly water. It's the lower sugar fortified juice and then we add water on top of that. I can see drinking water because there is nothing else, but I definitely don't understand asking for it, but she did. This is promising because maybe she'll be smarter than I am, too, and become more successful (you know, so, when I'm older, she can help keep me in the lifestle to which I've become accustomed).

Blog Contest

Joyously Living Life is having a give away on her blog for the lace tablecloth pictured above. This is a photo from her blog. She has others if you click here to see the beautiful detail on the tablecloth. There are 3 ways to enter the contest. Good luck!

Purple April

The title of the blog comes from a lunch conversation with a friend. She mentioned a woman who was obsessed with the color purple, and I didn't see anything wrong with that - though I can't say I'm obsessed after hearing about her. However, if I was obsessed, this is what would be in my house (and feel free to purchase any items for me as my birthday is in only a handful of weeks):

1. COACH POPPY BLOCKED OP ART GLAM TOTE in Lilac which is pictured to the left.
2. Yoga Mat and bag in purple.
3. Necklace, Bracelet, Earring set in purple.
4. Le Creuset's new line of products in Cassis which is pictured to the right.
5. Purple Cutting Board, Kitchen Tools, and Stand Mixer
6. Purple cover for my nook
7. Purple Netbook
8. Nylon Dooney & Bourke bag in lavendar and wristlet because none of the wallets come in the lavendar (though I should mention I just purchased this and this in lavendar so maybe I don't need additional pices).
9. Purple coat
10. Purple dress

I would totally be Purple April if I lived by myself - which is kind of lie. My college style was mostly blues and our apartment now is mostly blues and greens. Still, a girl can dream of an all-purple house.

Holy Crap, THERE IS A PURPLE STORE! I need to spend more time on this site.

11 Funniest Unintentionally-Sexual Books of All Time

I can't post a slideshow from this site, but if you have a chance, click here and you won't regret it. All of the books are harmless when they were originally written but if you have a mind that lives in the gutter, you'll snicker and/or laugh out loud. Below is one of the more tame titles:

Random Make-Believe Stuff

I ran across this website today. I plugged in my name and here are the results (with my last name information excluded).

Top 5 Facts for this Name:
1. 50% of the letters are vowels. Of one million first and last names we looked at, 2.2% have a higher vowel make-up. This means it is extremely well envoweled.
2. Backwards, it is Lirpa (Eman Tsal)... nice ring to it, huh?
4. In Pig Latin, it is Aprilway Lastway Nameway. (Though I think April should be Prilay based on how I learned Pig Latin.)
5. People with this first name are probably: Female. So, they are constantly overcharged for beauty products.

Name Origin and Meaning:
Forename:
Origin: Latin
Meaning: Opening (As In Spring); From The Month April


3 Things You Didn't Know (because they're fiction):
1. Your personal power animal is the Grizzly Bear
2. Your 'Numerology' number is 5. If it wasn't bulls**t, it would mean that you are adventurous, mercurial, and sensual. You seek growth through adventure and different life experiences. Although you are a critical thinker, you can sometimes over-ponder an issue.
3. According to the US Census Bureau°, 0.154% of US residents have the first name 'April' and 0.2886% have the surname 'Last Name'. The US has around 300 million residents, so we guesstimate there are 1,333 Americans who go by the name 'April Last Name'.

Weekend Update - I'm TIRED!

On Friday, my parents picked up Little Miss for the weekend for some spoiling. I met Husband and his co-workers (and later their significant others) at Bullfeathers for Happy Hour. Then, we walked to the Nationals game. It was a lot of fun.

On Saturday, I had friends come in from out of town (and some from in town). We had brunch at IHOP and then we went into the city for some sightseeing. We saw the American History and Natural History Museums. We saw the WWII, Vietnam War, Lincoln, Jefferson and Iwo Jima Memorials. We also had a nice dinner at the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant. After I was dropped off, I was sleeping moments later.

On Sunday, my friends and I met for brunch before they got on the road. I head out to my parents' house to hang out. Sister and Nephew were also there. Little Miss and I took a little nap. We had dinner and then we head home. Although the weather was overcast and rainy all Saturday, Sunday turned out to be quite nice. Above is Little Miss on her new-to-her tricycle.

It was a busy but fun weekend. Next weekend should be equally as busy and fun, but instead of trekking across the city, we'll be having company which means cleaning the apartment. If I was ashamed at how awful the place looks, I'd totally take a before and after photo of the apartment's state. Let's just say it'll go from being untidy and dirty to being tidy and clean.

Weekend Update - Busy Bee!

Last Friday, I went out to Rosa Mexicano to celebrate a friend's birthday. It was a fun night.

On Saturday, I woke up with Little Miss as it is my day to wake up with her. She ate 3 eggs for breakfast (1 of which was my breakfast). Then, she ate lunch and took a nap. Husband wasn't feeling well so I took Little Miss to Movie Club where we ate (a lot) and watched Rosemary's Baby. Little Miss happened to miss the nudity and violence in the beginning so that worked out. She was pretty good with the dogs and strangers or rather, she was noticeably better than she has been in the past. She was so good, she had no problem begging for cake from a new friend. It was cute if not completely rude.

On Sunday, Husband was worse. The In-Laws watched Little Miss while I went to Book Club. It was a nice afternoon during which we gossipped more than discussed the book, but that's par for the course. That night, I picked up some groceries, watched Little Miss eat a record amount of food and then bath and bed. Little Miss's vocabulary has been growing by leaps and bounds. She'll help me read to her all the time now. She's only used the potty once, but she does sit on it often. She can now dress and undress herself - though it takes her awhile to dress herself, but she's stubborn enough, er, independent enough to keep trying until she gets it.

This! Is! Jeopardy!

If you do not watch Jeopardy! regularly, the game show usually has a Celebrity Jeopardy every season where celebrities compete for money for charity. It's also a time where the show dumbs down the answers so even I can get a few correct. Plus, I get to mock celebrities who are dumb so it's win-win for me. This year, they shook things up a bit. Every month, there would be a Celebrity Jeopardy episode, the best of the best celebrities of the past. Starting this Spring, the celebrities are back to play a semi-final and final round. The winner of the entire competition gets $1 million for the charity of his or her choice. Last month marked the last of the competitors. I am bummed that Andy Richter cannot compete as he was really smart and did incredibly well.

Anyway, here are the final celebrities and their charities:
The celebrities and their charities:
Jane Curtin (U.S. Fund for UNICEF)
Neil Patrick Harris (Food on Foot)
Jane Kaczmarek (Clothes Off Our Back)
Cheech Marin (Hispanic Scholarship Fund)
Michael McKean (International Myeloma Foundation)
Isaac Mizrahi (Good Shepherd Services)
Pat Sajak (Vietnam Veterans of America)
Charles Shaughnessy (1736 Family Crisis Center)
Harry Shearer (Common Ground Relief)

You can find more information in this article.

Sexy Friday

Sorry for the little Sexy Friday break. I wasn't feeling very motivated. In honor of The Tudors returning this month, Henry Cavill is honored with Sexy Friday today. Yummy. I have only seen Henry Cavill in a few things and don't remember his roles, but he was the reason I stuck with The Tudors as long as I did. I liked the show, but my DVR would always record it funny so I stopped watching somewhere in Season 2. I just peek in every so often to see if his character is still alive.

Guilty Pleasures

I say they're guilty, but we're not embarrassed, er, totally about this. First, I should say that I was flipping through to another channel when I realized that Joan of Arcadia was on Gospel Music Channel (which I only vaguely knew was a channel). So, we watched for a little while. For those who do not know about this show, it was on CBS about 7 years ago. Basically, Joan is approached by God in different forms to do certain things like join the cheerleading squad or work at a bookstore and you see how one little act affects a greater picture. To borrow a phrase from the show, people create ripples - "I believe in you. I've seen the ripples. I've seen how it changes people's lives."While we were watching Joan of Arcadia, there was a commercial for Early Edition. If you've never heard of it, Early Edition stars my favorite Kyle Chandler as a man who receives tomorrow's newspaper today which he uses to save people and avoid catastrophe. Starting next week, GMC is playing both shows every night back-to-back. I'm kind of excited even though we already own both series on DVD. I *heart* Kyle Chandler if you haven't gotten that idea already from reading this blog. Not to the point of stalking but that's probably only because I'm too lazy to stalk.Sidenote: We watched some of Joan of Arcadia last night and then watched Bones on our DVR. When we turned off Bones, we saw another episode of Joan of Arcadia and realized that is the executive producer and writer on Bones but he was also one of the consulting producers and writers on Joan of Arcadia so one may say it was a Hart Hanson night in our apartment.

Oh, No!

Little Miss spilled out a toy the last night and all the pieces went all over the floor. She looked up and went "oh, no!" and it was seriously the cutest thing ever. So, I had her say it again for the camera. You'll need to note that she always says "CHEESE" when she sees a camera or a phone so, once we got past that, I got her to repeat the cutest phrase ever.

Out of my Shoe Comfort Zone

In February, I bought new shoes. Coincidentally, I'm wearing them today. Anyway, when I bought those, I got a $10 coupon to the store. So, I went back yesterday before the coupon expired. The store doesn't usually sell my size (4) so I don't frequent very often, but sometimes the next size up runs small. Yesterday, I continued to shop the clearance rack and picked up the pair pictured above except in black. They are totally out of my comfort level, but they're super comfortable. They were $129 marked down to $70 and I went home with them for $34. I was hoping to get one more wear out of them this year, but the weather turned warm again and they're suede. However, it is supposed to get chilly again this weekend so I'm hoping I can squeeze one or two wears in before storing them for the summer. New shoes make me happy.

D.E.A.R. Day

Curious as to what that means? Well, it's Drop Everything And Read Day! I first read about this on Entertainment Weekly's website. Evidently, and it's been awhile since I've read the book, but Beverly Cleary made reference to this day in Ramona Quimby, Age 8 and, since then, the day has fallen on her birthday. Beverly Cleary turns 94 today. I loved her books growing up and part of me kind of wants to see the upcoming movie, Ramona and Beezus. Wow, just saw that John Corbett is in the movie so now I'm totally going to see it. I cannot, however, drop everything and read, but I will as soon as I get home and will be sure to read with Little Miss tonight.

I'm a Princess and You're Not

The color is totally not my type, but I feel I need to find this just for the name. I'm a Princess and You're Not is part of OPI's Princess Charming Collection. I'll have to see it in person, but I also like Princesses Rule!. I realized while I painted my nails Jewel of India that I have very few neutral or "normal" colors. I figure I have to dress somewhat conservatively, my nails should be fun! Still, these are boring, neutral colors that have secret cool names which is like a secret.

EDIT: I found Princesses Rule during lunch at a discount shop. I didn't realize that it's sparkly. I may have to redo my nails tonight after I drop everything and read.

Weekend Update - Relaxing Weekend

On Friday, we were slugs. Little Miss got a bath, we ate dinner, and I went to bed obscenely early. On Saturday, Husband went to play golf before I woke up. Little Miss slept late, and then we took the Metro to my parents' house. Sister picked us up after we struggled against the crowd going to see the Cherry Blossom Festival. Little Miss played with Nephew. We all had lunch. Then, after Sister and Nephew left, Mom, Dad, Little Miss and I went to the playground. Then, we all took a nap. After, Mom and Dad drove us home. Last night was dinner and bed.

This morning, Husband woke up with Little Miss, but I woke up in time to get pancakes. Then, Little Miss and I took a walk to do a little shopping - some things we needed and many things we did not. We came home, had lunch, and then Little Miss took a long nap. I expect dinner and then an early bed time for all of us. Nice relaxing weekend though.

Below is a video of Little Miss finally enjoying the swings at the playground. She was on for about a full minute and then declared she was all done. Still, she usually hates the swings and loves the slide. So, this is progress of a sort.

Books Read in March 2010

1. Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb (NOTE: This book is part of the In Death series. The order can be found here.)
2. Something About You by Julie James
3. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
4. Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
5. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

March wasn't as productive as February, but I read more books with substance. I left the romance genre for the better part of the month. That said, Fantasy in Death was, as always, a solid Eve and Roarke book. Something About You was Julie James's best book in my opinion. I really liked Shutter Island and hope to check out more of Dennis Lehane. I thought Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and Olive Kitteridge were both good books but neither stayed with me for long. I know people loved them, and they were both bestsellers. The latter won a Pulitzer Prize. However, I only liked them. April is already a rough reading month, but it's only just begun so we'll see how productive it is. You never know.

Movies Watched in March 2010

1. Invictus
2. Alice in Wonderland: An Imax 3D Experience
3. I'm Reed Fish

I caught Invictus in the second-run theater for $1 right before the Academy Awards. It was my last effort to see a nominated movie. I saw Alice in Wonderland in the theater and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. I'm Reed Fish was a movie I recorded awhile ago and just got around to viewing. It didn't really click with me, but there were some cute moments. Part of the problem was that I watched it in 10 minute increments.

Weekend Update - Happy Easter!

Last Friday, we took the day off and drove to Deep Creek Lake. We arrived mid-day on Friday and hit the ground running. As soon as we parked, Nephew greeted us with his bike sans training wheels. Little Miss was glad to be out of the car and ran around. Then, we took a drive to the lake and fed the non-existent ducks. We then drove to Wisp Resort to walk around. It was wild being in the snow and in flip flops.

Little Miss slept very poorly Friday night so we were a bit sluggish on Saturday. Still, we went skiing... in t-shirts and jeans (Husband golfed in the meantime). It was wild. We only skiied a couple of runs before we gave it up because it was too hot and there were only a couple of trails open. After, we went home. We dyed eggs with the kids which was not as disastrous as it could have been. I'm not sure any of the eggs made it through the process without cracks, but the kids had fun. Later, we rode the mountain coaster which was different. Nephew loved it. Thankfully, Little Miss slept much better that night (though it did take some time for her to fall asleep).

On Easter, we got up for sunrise service. Husband and Little Miss stayed home. After church and breakfast, we went home. We hung out for a little while and then went to the hotel to play in the indoor pool before heading home to get ready for the Easter Egg Hunt. It was a mad free-for-all, but the kids each got 2-3 eggs and were content. We went back to the house, had an early dinner and then drove home. I had a monster headache so mostly just went to bed. Also, unfortunately, the Easter Bunny arrived late so none of the presents arrived early enough for Easter morning, but Little Miss did receive some presents and a ton of presents from the Grandparents. Easter evening, she received the rest of the presents. The Easter Bunny better get his/her act in gear next year!

On Monday, Husband and I both took the day off so we had a lovely day with Little Miss. We mostly hung out at home. Husband made us a yummy pancake breakfast. Then, Little Miss and I took a brief nap while I slept off the remnants of my headache. Little Miss and I took a walk and then we hung out at home some more. She kept me company while I changed her closet over to summer and tidied up the apartment. It was a really nice evening before returning back to work.

Happy Easter!