Playing Make Believe

Unknown Pet Peeves

2010-09-21T10:34:00.000-07:00

As I may have told you in a previous post about Mr.B and my budgeting habits, the hubby and I keep a detailed written list of everything we spend. This lists helps us to keep track of exactly how much money we have to spend, and what we are spending our money on. Being so hands on helps us to keep a close eye on where our money's going, and not go over our budget.

Recently Mr.B and I updated our written sheet together, and low and behold a little pet peeve he possesses, which I had no prior knowledge of was revealed. Let me set the scene: Mr.B and I were cozied up to the desk, he was reading the charges from our bank's website and calculating the deductions or credits, and I was writing each one down on our list. All of a sudden, I looked at the sheet and noticed how each time I wrote another line item, my numbers got further and further towards the center of the page. We were very delinquent in the updating of our sheet, so it was easy to see how everything angled towards the center. "Wow, look how slanted my writing is," I said, thinking it was nothing but amusing. "Oh my gosh, I'm glad you said something, that drives me CRAZY," Mr.B replied! HA!

Who knows what drives our spouses a little nutty some times? I personally know that Mr.B can think I'm a bit scary (lord knows why), and doesn't like to point these things out, but personally I would like to know so I can try to change them! Just like I like to point out how it's a huge pet peeve of mine when crumbs are on the kitchen counter, hoping he'll clean them up after making a sandwich, or how it drives me nuts when someone puts a roll of toilet paper on the tank instead of replacing it on the roll (still holding my breath for those).

What are some of your pet peeves? Does your spouse have any pet peeves about stuff you do? Dish! XO. SB.

The Things You Find on Craigslist: Part II

2010-09-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

Since I've been completely slacking recently due to the hectic nature of my current work schedule, I thought I'd provide you all with a chuckle with another instalment of "The Things You Find on Craigslist." I personally was skratching my head, and giggling when I came across them, and I hope you enjoy them just as much! Again, I apologize to anyone who covets and owns these items.

Beautiful Porcelain Center Table - $50
(peanut gallery comment: I really wish I could see the rest of this person's home, it must be magical)

GREEN CABBAGE BOWL (PORTUGAL) - $95
(peanut gallery comment: I don't think the bowl is all that ridiculous (maybe that says something about me), it's the price of $95 that blows my mind!)

"Bear Cub" coffee table - $50
(peanut gallery comment: I almost want this table! It's so adorable, and would make me feel like I was Snow White calling out the animals to come help me clean or something. Again, I wish I could see the rest of these peoples furnishings.)

Furniture plus misc items for sale
(peanut gallery comment: what is this? I think the price was something ridiculous too! Really?)

Bumper Car - $700
(peanut gallery comment: Ummm....FUN! What do you do with this? Child's bed?)

Ok, I should really be working. Ho hum. Hope to post more fun stuff soon! XO. SB.

Ok, Ok, Ok...

2010-09-08T08:01:00.000-07:00

...I know I've been a terrible blogess the last week or so, but works been busy, and just insert any other plethora of excuses here. I do vow to return shortly with a great trail review, book reviews for some fabulous reads I've been devouring, the tale of my attempt at creating art for our living room, and complaints and whining galore about my frustration about a many number of things. All things for you lovely readers to look forward too!

For now I will leave you with a song I've been a bit obsessed with since the closing show of summer tour (Phish tour that is). I always try to remember that I am blessed in a lot of ways, and focus on the positives in my life(even though I usually do the opposite), and this song is a good reminder to do that.

I'M SO EXCITED!!

2010-08-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

Because my FAVORITE author Philippa Gregory's new book is waiting for me at home!!! Thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law!

I'll have to rush and finish the book I'm currently reading (and obsessed with) quickly so that I can get to it!

Sorry for the short posts this week, works been busy! Thanks again MIL! SB :)

I Don't Like Mondays

2010-08-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

My father sings me this song every Monday morning (yes I speak to my father every morning).

Enjoy! SB.

BHG

2010-08-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

This week I decided to subscribe to "Better Homes and Garden" Magazine. When I told my wonderful single lady friend that I was excited to have subscribed to my first magazine since 17 magazine, she of course followed up by asking me what I subscired to. Upon my reply she laughed and told me "you're so cute." Does cute mean old and boring? Was she expecting Cosmo or Rolling Stone perhaps? Not sure how I should be taking this. Maybe I need to subscribe to something more hip (I'm guessing only "cute" people say the word hip) as well. SB.

Holy Exhaustion

2010-08-19T05:31:00.000-07:00

I'm apparently not cut out for late nights any more! Went to the last show of Phish tour out on Jones Beach last night, and I am W-I-P-E-D today! Definitely not as young as I used to be! I don't even think we got home that late!

These past few weeks, I've somehow reverted back to my do something every night of the week schedule, something I used to maintain very well back when I was just out of college (and single). I've been waiting for the effects to catch up to me, and boy do I think it's hit me today like a brick wall!

The kicker is I'm totally doing something tonight as well! Actually, I have two sets of plans! One of my friends may be coming over for some much needed catching up, and due to the lack of food in our house we also desperately need to food shop! I sometimes wonder how my calendar seems to just fill up sometimes, I don't even feel like I have to many friends in the area, and then BOOM, I wind up seeing them all in a 2 week stretch!

I'm really looking forward to our weekend relaxing at the beach! Here's to hoping I don't fall asleep at my desk today! SB.

Is Art, Art?

2010-08-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm off and away on my design kick, and quickly becoming frustrated! Frustrated with lack of time, frustrated with budget constraints, and frustrated with the big clash I've discovered in Mr.B's and my own styles! It's going to be some big compromising on all fronts!

First compromise, art work! I suggested we blow up some of our cooler photos into canvas prints for the main focal point over our couch. BIG VETO! He was so not into it! At least not for the main focus of our room. What he does like is a more abstract type art that I might be able to deal with, depending on what it was.

We browsed Etsy.com last night, and both agreed that we liked something like these:

We also discovered that I apparently like anything with a tree in it.

Admittedly, I do think I would prefer an arty photo or more neutral or soft tones, so I guess we'll have to continue looking. My other thought was to commission my best friend to paint one of our more arty photos in a more abstract or colorful way then it's truly depicted. While she's more of a realist, I think if I got the concept across right it could come out pretty perfect.

My other idea was that Mr.B and I just buy a few long canvases and some paints in the color scheme I would choose for the room and go to town! Thoughts?! ;) SB

Big Girl Choices

2010-08-16T13:50:00.001-07:00

As some of you may know from my gripping in earlier posts, Mr.B and I put our apartment on the market earlier this year. It's been about 5 months, and we really haven't gotten any action. Our realtor has been sending emails with articles and statements which I'm not sure how I should interpret. Topping it all off, she recently told me that unfortunately your first offer is usually your best offer, and our first offer was $40k under our asking price, and is definitely something we are not prepared or willing to take. So last week Mr.B and I started discussing the possibility of taking it off the market, and committing to spending a couple more years in our lovely apartment.

At first the question came up as just that, a question, a thought, what's the rush? Do we want to stay? Why not? It was one week ago that I sat across from my other half at dinner, as he gushed about how much he loved our place, and confessed he wouldn't mind staying. He also threw into the mix that if we did stay, and committed to spending a few more years en casa, we could do some of the renovations I've been longing for. Hence, I've spent the week in quandary over this big kid decision we're faced with.

My biggest concern for staying put is the fact that in the next few years Mr.B and I will probably start a family, and a one bedroom apartment with a newborn to two year old was not really in my game plan. That being said, there are a lot of steps between here and there, and I hear those baby things take some time to cook, which would leave us time to make some more big kid decisions about our housing situation. Friends have also assured me that these alien creatures sleep in your room for at least the first few months, and while it may not have been an ideal situation the one bedroom thing is workable. So with my biggest concern put a bit at ease, I am starting to really feel like why not?

If we stay put, I have full reign to start renovations and redecoration immediately! I've been dying to get my sticky fingers on the place, but because we were planning on moving it didn't seem worth it. I moved in with Mr.B right after we got engaged, and while I wasn't completely opposed to the arty Grateful Dead and Phish posters that decorated the walls when it wasn't our permanent residence, I have to say 2 1/2 years later, I'm ready for an upgrade and a more adult space. I think one of the reasons I was so ready to move into a house, was so I'd have the ability to decorate and make a space that was ours, so with permission to do that in our current living space I feel no rush for a house.

So considering I subscribed to Better Homes and Gardens today, I've started picking out my new decor accents online, and I'm starting to research new kitchen cabinets, I think it's pretty safe to say that I've decided our apartment should be called home sweet home a while longer. I've also been extremely frustrated with the whole selling process, and I'll be happy to be in a place we both love, with the ability to continue saving for our eventual down payment on a new home, while paying down our mortgage even more, so really it's all for the best.

Anyone have any tips for how to tackle a complete apartment revamp? Any tips are greatly appreciated! XO. SB.

Trail Review: Mt. Greylock State Reservation

2010-08-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

Now without further ado, here is my review of our most recent hike!

Trail Specifics (from AMC's Best Backpacking in New England)

Highlights: The highest Mountain in Massachusetts
Distance: 11.0 miles round trip
Total Elevation Gain/Loss: 3,050
Trip Length: 1-2 Days
Difficulty: 3 Stars
Recommended Map: AMC Northern Berkshires Map, AMC Books

We drove up to Massachusetts on Friday evening, and arrived at the trail head at approximately 11:00 pm. Now I do not recommend this, because walking the trail to try to find the camping area in the dark is not a good idea. Mr.B had been under the impression that the camping area was directly at the head of the trail, when it's actually about 0.3 miles from the parking area. Left with the choice of sleeping in the car, or braving the trail in the dark however, we decided to try to walk the 0.3 miles and wound up confused and scared in the dark. We wound up sleeping in a really nice field:

Unbeknown to us at the time, it turns out we were not at the actual camping area, and while we were in a nice open area, if we had slept a bit later we would have been right next to a day hiking trail that is highly used, and we left this awful impression in the field:

That kink aside, we started the next day fresh and early. We actually lost our topographic map somewhere between the car and where we camped, but it wasn't an issue as the trail was extremely well marked. I also highly recommend the hiking book we have (mentioned above), as any time we were slightly confused about which way the trail went, we were able to follow the excellent descriptions in the book.

As the book recommends this is a 1-2 day hike, and while we chose to camp out on the trail overnight, we both agreed that we definitely could have completed the trail in one day, especially if we didn't have our big packs. This was actually my first hike with my big back pack, and I will admit it took some getting used to. The mountains had many side trails that we could have taken and explored as well.

Mr.B and I both agreed that this was a very enjoyable trail, and it wasn't too strenuous. My only complaint about this trail would be that you cross a few roads, because it's possible to drive to the top, so it's not as secluded as it could be. It's also a little crowded at parts for this reason, but even though this is my biggest complaint, it was really a small issue and didn't affect our hike much at all.

Here are some great shots we got at the top of the mountain:

Monument at the top:

We camped the second night at the Pecks Brook Shelter, which was about a mile detour off the trail, and is located on a very nice water source. The actual shelter was actually occupied, however there were plenty of flat spots around for camping. We were one of 5 groups camping at the site, but it didn't feel to over crowded. One of the groups that was at the sight was a family of 5, the parents had decided to try out their first hiking trip with a 4, 2, and 1 year old in tow. While the father seems much more optimistic and less cranky then the mother, we were both impressed and relieved to see that life doesn't stop after you have kids!

When we go on a backpacking camping trip, we usually stop in at one of our favorite camping stores, Campmor in Paramus, NJ, for some dried food. On our menu for the evening was Pad Thai and Veggie Lasagna. Basically you boil water and pour it into these lite, very easy to carry, zip lock packages, let them steep for 10 minutes, and wallah:

Instant dinner! While it may not look appetizing, it was actually delicious! I'm thinking of buying them for home to save time on dinner! Just kidding, they are a little pricey but we think worth it for backpacking. For breakfast we used the same type of food, and had granola with blueberries and milk with broccoli and cheese potatoes.

This hike was beautiful, fun, and very do-able for even inexperienced hikers. The level in the book was a 3 star, but we thought the difficulty level was really low. I know that we're becoming more experienced hikers, so perhaps our views are a little jaded, but I really think this hike is assessable for almost anyone. Especially if you're looking for a day hike on any of the smaller trails the mountain has to offer. We had a great weekend on Mount Greylock! I'll leave you with some of my nature photos from the hike, hope this encourages all of you to get out at hit the trails! SB :)

Detour to Hopper Falls:

Pretty Butterfly (yes I actually took this photo, and yes I'm impressed with myself):

What do you call a mushroom that buys everyone a round of drinks? A FUN-GI!

Lake with old pump house (good marker to know you're back on track after returning to trail from Peck's Shelter):

The Things You Find on Craigslist

2010-08-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

I've been into browsing the antique section of Craigslist.com for furniture and other good finds a lot recently, and thought I'd share some ammusing items I've come across. I cannot however guarantee that you will also find them ammusing. I also apologize in advance to anyone who covets these items or owns them currently, kudos on your interesting and unique style!

OLD STYLE ROTARY PHONE W. STAR - $10
(peanut gallery comment: I'm trying to decide if this is a toy or not, very patriotic either way)

OLD BLUE & WHITE TILE TOP TABLE ~ REMBRANDT PORTRAITS ~ DELFT - $250
(peanut gallery comment: really?)

ANTIQUE CAPODIMONTE FLOWER VASE
(peanut gallery comment: I think my Great Grandmother owned this at some point)

ANTIQUE ROCKER FRAME - $50
(peanut gallery comment: this doesn't look very comfortable)

Musical Crib Toy, circa 1940s
(peanut gallery comment: would you give this to your child?)

Vintage 1940's Japanese Woman in Bath Celleloid Figure-Check Out - $40
(peanut gallery comment: someone has the gall to ask for $40 for this suvenier?)

Hope you're giggling a bit! Maybe I'll post more later!

A.D.D.

2010-08-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

Do we really ever grow out of it? I mean it's a strange chemical thing in our brains right? I thought I had long since trained myself to focus, but recently I'm giving it another thought! I can't concentrate on work to save my life!

Perhaps my past "learning disability" has reared it's ugly head in response to the fact that I'm not happy at work? Who knows, all I know is that I could use some Aderol, or whatever they're giving the kids these days!

Anyone else have trouble with childhood woes still? SB.

U by Kotex

2010-08-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

I apologize for this post to any of my male readers, but I am absolutely in love with Kotex's new ad campaign! How original and clever!

Check out this commercial:

Between their new commericals and their awesomely adorable bright colored tampons and pads:

I was sold. So I picked up some of their regular tampons at CVS the other day, and they live up to the hype! They were priced well, are comfortable, and are just as cute as they look on TV! An extra bonus that I don't think you would hear about anywhere else, the wrappers are made of great plastic that make it really easy to reinsert the applicator into the packaging after usage. Something mom never told you would be a pain in the rear end, and you'd need to do to keep squeamish husbands innocent eyes from having to see tampon applicators in the trash!

P.S. You can grab some free samples at http://www.ubykotex.com/. Cheers. SB.

Kitchen Cabinets

2010-08-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

I've been really into all of these "Do it Yourself" blogs recently, including one of my favorites Young House Love, and all of them have really inspired me to want to do some projects of my own. If you've been a faithful reader, you know that our apartment is currently on the market, and all about my frustrations with said market. I don't think anyone has come by in over 2 months! Hence, I've decided that if I'm going to be living in what was my hubby's bachelor pad for a while longer, I'd like to make some improvements that will make our abode feel more like the home I want it to be, instead of accepting it's faults until have have a house to decorate to my hearts content!

Enter kitchen cabinets!

Now, I could have just posted a picture of our actual cabinets, but when you google ugly 70's style cabinets that appear in tons of unfortunate peoples homes across the entire US, it's very easy to find a picture. In all seriousness though, I really dislike these cabinets.

Now if these cabinets were wood, no problem I'd do them myself in a heartbeat! Even with them being laminate I'm tempted to give painting them a try, but with Mr.B not wanting any involvement in home improvement projects (he says we work to be able to write a check for those), and the scary laminate daunting me as I stare at it day after day, I'm a bit intimidated.

I've read about how the job is done on the Internet, and I'm just worried about whether or not the end result will be worth it. My father is a contractor, and every time I bring the idea up he points out how it wouldn't be very expensive to replace just the cabinet doors (not helpful with the confidence boosting). The other problem is, when do I have time to tackle such an enormous project? Between work and being busy almost every weekend, how will I ever accomplish what everyone else makes look so easy?!

Have any of you redone your cabinets? Any Do-it-yourself nightmare stories? Votes of confidence?! S.B.

P.S.

2010-08-04T13:48:00.000-07:00

Lucy and I were chatting on AIM and when I complained about my job she said, "yeah, but you should be really proud about what you do." I teared up then and I'm tearing up now to hear that my younger sister, whom I feel so inferior to at times is actually proud of me :)

Sisters

2010-08-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

To hold all of you active readers over until the much anticipated trail review of Mt. Greylock is posted, I thought I would sprinkle in an additional post about something I've been thinking about a lot recently, my sisters. Now, as I get older my sisters continue to do so as well (duh!), even as much as I keep telling them to stop! Our dynamic as sisters continues to change as we all face different stages in our lives, but one thing that never really changes is that we're sisters and we love each other as fiercely now as ever (oh, did I not mention this was going to be a super cheesy post?).

There are a lot of things I could talk about in this post, growing up and watching them grow up, the way our relationship has changed as we all have gotten older, etc, etc. There are also a lot of different ways I feel about being the oldest of 3 girls, but what I actually want to talk about in this post is my actual sisters.

The middle in our family, nicknamed Lucy, has always been our wild child, stubborn, pain-in-the-ass, but very lovable and fun sister. She's always been infuriating, never backs down in an argument, is always right, and is very ambitious. So of course in May she graduated from law school, just took the Bar last week, and landed an awesome job! I must say that I am so extremely proud of her and the woman she's become, and the poise and maturity she's displayed these past few months in all her hard work and preparation. I must also say that I'm thrilled that she's finished so I can finally see her again!

Our baby sister, nicknamed Rabbit (why I can't remember), is about 5 years younger then I am, and I am so happy that as we've gotten older the years have closed the gap between us, and we've gotten closer and closer. Now that she's graduated from college (and a semester early I might add), she comes to visit all the time and we have a great time just hanging out! She's currently applying to Med School, and living at my parent's house, and I know she's just itching to get out and get started in her medical career. She's an EMT already, and so impressive with all her knowledge of the human body. I hate watching her struggle to find her footing as she applies to schools, and the stress I know it puts on her, but I'm so proud of her for all her hard work and ambition.

Basically this post was just about gloating, because recently I've just been "kvelling" as we say over the both of them! I've always taken on a "mother hen" type attitude with my sisters, and as they become lovely women it's hard not to feel pride when I talk about them. I just had dinner with the two of them the other night, which is something that hasn't happened in a really long time with all the Bar studying Lucy has been doing, and I couldn't have had a more enjoyable evening. It's sad that as we get older and our schedules pull us in all different directions we don't see each other as often. If you don't have sisters it may be hard to understand, but there really isn't anything like the bond between us. No matter what happens between us, I know I'll always have 2 best friends in them.

OK, enough cheese for you? I <3 my sisters! SB.

Gone Adventuring....

2010-07-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

We're off for the weekend to Mt. Greylock, the highest point in Massachusets! We'll be hiking, camping, and connecting with nature for the next 2 days! Stay tuned for trail reviews!

Book Review: "Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Niffenegger

2010-07-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

Like most avid readers, often seek out books written by authors whose work I've previously enjoyed. So, when I spotted "Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Niffenegger (author of "The Time Travelers Wife") on the shelf at Borders, I figured I'd give it a try. It was another quick read, which I finished in 3 days, and it wasn't because I spent the weekend I bought it at our cabin with no TV. Obviously since I'm taking the time to review it, I enthustically recommend it, ok no joke, I loved it!

The book is about Julie and Valentina, twin sisters, whose Aunt passes away and leaves them her flat in London. This wouldn't be considered odd by most peoples standards, however the girls have never met their Aunt, who is also their mother's twin, and they must adhere to two rules: 1) They must live in the flat together for a year before they sell it, and 2) Their parents are not allowed to step foot in the flat. Julie and Valentina move to London, next door to the Highgate Cemetery, and we follow them as they develop relationships with their new neighbors (all of whom have eccentric quirks), explore the city, test the boundaries of their relationship, and make a few spooky discoveries. The book has twist and turns that made me gasp aloud, and characters you will fall for no matter their faults.

I will admit that the book does devil into the supernatural, which is usually not very believable for all of us. However, with all the Vampires and Werewolves wandering around the pages of our books these days, there is no reason we can't be sympathetic to ghosts as well! It's a very well told story, and if you liked "The Time Travelers Wife" I think you'll love "Her Fearful Symmetry!"

Now get reading! XO. SB.

I'm in Love....

2010-07-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

...with a coffee table!

Since it appears our apartment may not sell for a while, Mr.B has agreed to fulfill some of my house wish list items. Since my wishes have been granted, I've been scouring the Internet for a suitable coffee table. Mr.B likes glass topped tables and I could go either way, but wanting something that would please both of us. So, I have been trying my hardest to find something with a glass top that I like, which apparently is easier said then done.

Alas, my search appears to be over! Although Mr.B quite nicely pointed out the rather pointy edges of this table, which means if we have kids in the future (and trust me this coffee table will not be replaced any time soon, so lets call the future from now until 10 years from now), the table may be a hazard. So do we sacrifice our dream coffee table for our future non-existent children's possible accidents with said table? Or do we buy the table and deal with it later?

All I can say is, I love that table. SB.

Recipe For Disaster?

2010-07-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

Recently hubby and I decided that we were going to start making some new recipes to add into our usual dinner repertoire, which got me to thinking about how I wanted to store and organize the recipes. I am a paper person, so I was thinking something along the lines of a recipe box or book:

Something cute and personalized, and above all organized. I feel if not in my home, at least at work I am probably one of the most organized people on the planet. I color code, excel spreadsheet, and post-it note it until the cows come home. So why not bring some of that organization into my home in a fun and easy way to keep all of our new deliciousness sorted?

Mr.B however is much more into storing our recipes in a data base on our computer (surprise, surprise). He argues that it's somewhere we'll never loose them, they can be easily sorted, and can be found at a moments notice no matter where you are. For instance, if I wanted to run to the store after work to grab so ingredients, I wouldn't need to come home first to get a physical recipe from a book or box. So I'm thinking that as dorky as it is, a database works. I can't however help wanting the physical written recipes in that cute, personalized recipe box.

How do you store and keep track of your recipes? Have any good ones to suggest? SB.

Party Like A Rock Star....

2010-07-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

....really? This past weekend I spent our Nation's Birthday in Washington DC with my best friend and one of our closest girl friends from college, and drank 3 nights in a row! I didn't even get a hang over! Ok, maybe I had a small one on Sunday morning, but nothing to write home about. I was shocked and amazed that I was able to keep up, and when Sunday rolled around I definitely thought I wasn't going to make it, but boy did I rally!

It had been a really stressful week at work, and I hadn't been drinking in preparation for what was promised to be a party filled weekend. So, when I arrived on Friday night after driving for 4 1/2 hours, and BFF offered me a glass of wine I certainly didn't refuse. She has these amazing wine glasses, that are enormous, and well I drank a bit to much wine because before you knew it I was very nicely buzzed. It was a mellow night in, and we had a great time catching up, but by the time we picked up our friend from the airport I was almost in a wine coma. The head nods were in full effect, and shortly after I took my little wino self to bed (aka couch).

If you live in the North East (or at least NYC or Washington, DC, not sure about the other parts of the NE), you know it has been hot as hot can be this past week, and Saturday was no exception. We spent most of the day relaxing by the pool, but the evening turned into a big beer fest. We started the night with a back yard BBQ at BFF's brother's place on Capitol Hill, Frisbee, Ladder Golf, and beer drinking ensued before we headed out for the night. Destination: One of DC's newest attractions, a German Beer Garden (anyone actually know the name of this place?). BFF, GF, BFF Husband, BFF Brother, and multiple other friends all gathered with our enormous (liter) beer steins filled with yummy cold beer, and hovered over people until we got a table. When I say these beer stein were enormous, I'm not joking, we were all trying to figure out the best way to hold them since they are so heavy! We laughed, we drank (a lot), and we were disappointed when they ran out of hot pretzels! We were all feeling very nice when we headed out of the Beer Garden, and headed over to a little place called "Sticky Rice" for some tatter tots. Yes, a sushi place that serves late night tatter tots, and man were they good. I had expected that this was some sort of dining establishment on our walk over, and was pleased to discover that it was actually a bar, with music, and dancing on benches. Dancing on benches is my favorite (actually I think it was the only not to crowded to dance part of the bar), and my GF and I became Dancing Queens! Overall it was an A+ night.

Sunday, July 4th, our Independence Day, I think we were all feeling our beer a bit. I've always been blessed with minor hang overs, and that day was no exception, but I could have really used a Gatorade! The kickers was, that Sunday was supposed to be our biggest party day, with a Bar Crawl on the schedule. This was BFF's Hubby's annual 4th of July Bar Crawl, complete with a new theme every year, and this year was golf. Luckily, GF's a pretty big golfer, and she brought us polo t's galore to choose from! BFF also dug up some pretty cute argile knee socks that rounded out my outfit nicely. We had a great afternoon/evening roaming around Adams Morgan with our golf clad crew trying to make "par" at each bar we stopped at. The evening was capped off with a wonderful DC fireworks display, before we were all ready to head home and pass out.

Overall it was an awesome weekend with great friends, and lots of fun partying. Just what the Dr. ordered you could say! I love a good party weekend, and don't get them so often anymore so it really did hit the spot. I was however able to realize, that I'm OK with the fact that I don't party every weekend (or let's face it weeknight) anymore. While I definitely enjoyed the alcohol fueled weekend, I know that most of what I loved about going out was having a blast with my friends, and quite frankly flirting with boys, which now that I'm married has lost it's appeal. So while I'm happy to be the life of the party (ha! So I'd like to think), I'm perfectly OK knowing that these occasions are now few and far between.

Do you miss your old party girl selves? XO. SB

Book Review: "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova

2010-06-28T18:28:00.000-07:00

I literally just finished this book (in under 3 days I might add), and I have not yet stopped crying. Lisa Genova's novel, "Still Alice" is a beautifully written and gripping first person account of Alzheimer's Disease. The main character Alice is a world renowned expert in linguistics, Harvard Professor in Psychology, mother of three, and a wife, who we follow from her realization that something is amiss, to her acceptance of the disease which is Robbing her of her memory, and beyond. To top it all off she is only 50 years old, and still in the height of her career when the heart breaking diagnosis is delivered.

It's hard for me to know where to start in this book review, because while I think anyone could really enjoy the book, I think I was so moved by it due to my associations with the disease. Not only did my grandfather on my mother's side have Alzheimer's, but my grandmother on my father's side had early onset Alzheimer's just like the character in the book. While reading the words on the page I was forced to also dredge up memories of my own grandmother, picturing her unable to speak or communicate what she needed from us. The book also touched on the genetic mutation that leads to Alzheimer's disease (and it's 50% chance of being passed on), which caused me to think about the possibility, or probability of my parents inheriting this heinous disease, or even myself and my siblings. In fact as soon as I finished the book I immediately sent an accusatory email to my Aunt who lent me the book, saying that I loved it but how could she let me read something that would touch so close to home, and then called my father hysterically crying.

Now, I know that this may sound like I'm not encouraging you to read this book, but oh cont-rare! I LOVED this book, it drew me in from the minute I started reading it, and couldn't put it down. I was immediately connected to the characters, and my heart broke along with Alice and her families as she lost sight of things that were once so familiar to her at a rapid pace.

I also think it was also important for me to read, because even though it's fiction, I feel like it helped me understand what it might have felt like for my loved ones to fight such a horrible illness. It also made me aware that I don't focus enough on it, and finding a cure. Why do I donate and participate in the fight for a cure for so many other diseases when this is the one that has the potential to tear my family apart the most? So I also emailed my family and decided to participate in this year's Memory Walk:

http://www.kintera.org/FAF/home/default.asp?ievent=338776&memory=homepageflash

The books the main character once says that if she could she would trade this disease for cancer, and while the thought is a terrible one, I can't say if in her shoes I would disagree. How many of us would rather be robbed of our mind instead of our body? Please look into the walk and consider participating.

Read the book with a box of tissues close at hand. SB

Phishing!!!!!!!!

2010-06-18T13:21:00.001-07:00

So overdue with my next Africa post, but my computer literally died as I was putting on the finishing touches the other night, and I didn't want to leave everyone hanging!

Anyway, we are headed up to Saratoga, NY this weekend to relive Rob's youth and favorite past time Phish tour! We'll be camping out and jamming out all weekend! Not to mention getting wasted and making fools of ourselves (my favorite past time, j/k)!

I can't wait to get up there and get the party started! It's going to be a great weekend of music, friends, and fun! I'm really looking forward to being outdoors all weekend, escaping the stress of work, and letting my mind be distracted by amazing tunes. Wow, I really sound like a dirty hippy(but I'm thinking you guessed that based on my blogger name)!

I plan on making jello shots tonight, and since there will be plenty of them to go around they will be on sale for $1 each!! What's your favorite flavor jello shot, or favorite weekend activity that takes you back?

SB.

Our African Adventure Part II

2010-06-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

One of the main reasons Mr. B and I travelled all the way to Africa for our vacation was to go on safari, and what a safari we had! We spent two nights and three days in the Serengeti, one of the countries largest game parks, where we camped among the wild life exposed to the unknown, saw amazing animals in close proximity, and drove around in pop-top Range Rovers with the wind in our hair. Not to mention the amazing, breath taking scenery you're looking at with Zebras, Elephants, Wildebeest, and more in the foreground! Here is the view of the park from our great lunch spot!

We happen to be lucky enough to be in the Serengeti during the great migration, and because of that we saw thousands of Zebra and Wildebeest! Someone joked with me that they had become the deer of Africa before we left, and that's definitely how we felt. At first we were all extremely excited by them, and made our guide pull over so we could snap tons of pictures, but by the time we left the game park we were unfazed by them. Even though we did see a lot of them the zebra are beautiful creatures, and they always made me smile.

Our guide explained to us that zebra and wildebeest travel together because zebra have good eye sight and a bad sense of smell, and wildebeest have terrible eye sight and a good sense of smell. Basically they work together to stay safe from predators. We also found out that zebra are very defensive animals, and often found them standing like this:

On our first night of camping Mr. B was very nervous about wild animals being so close to us, while I'm usually not phased by such things. However, on our way to our tent from dinner I had noticed an Ebok (deer like creature) a few yards from our tent, so when I had to use the facilities (and they tell you not to venture all the way to the toilet at night), I was careful to scan the area behind our tent for any near by creatures. As I stood there with my head lamp scanning the bush, some sort of animal (I'm guessing a warthog) let out a snarl that sent me running back into the tent as quickly as I could! We found out in the morning that others in our group had water buffalo munching grass behind their tent all night, and that a hyena had run through our camp site early in the morning! If that's not a safari experience I don't know what is!

Here are some more of the amazing animals we saw on safari, including some rare sights like cheetahs!

Being on safari was so freeing, I felt completely exhilarated the entire time. Camping out always relaxes me, and really takes me away from all my cares and worries. I can definitely say while I was in Africa I was really able to let go of life at home and all my usual stresses. Being out in nature I didn't think about work, or any thing else really, my mind was a blank slate. It was just what I needed! More about our final leg of the trip later! SB.

Committing to a Triathlon

2010-06-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

While I'm definitely far from done with our African Adventure story, I think it's important that I keep you up to speed on some current events in the Blue house hold. Mr. B and I decided on Monday that we would compete in our second triathlon next month! The only problem, it's only about 4-5 weeks away(July 11)!!! With other previous social plans we have, and the seriously short time period, I'm a little worried about our trainging schedule!

Our triathlon, in Up State NY, is a what's considered a "sprint" or "beginners" tri, in other words we will have to swim a 1/4 of a mile, bike 14 miles, and run 3 miles. Luckily this is a tiny bit shorter then the previous triathlon we did 2 years ago (maybe 3?), so we're hoping it shouldn't be a problem to finish. What we are worried about though, is that this triathlon has a 2 hour time limit!

Since I did so well in my last 5k race, I'm determined to try this tri (sorry I couldn't help myself, I had to use the triple t's) for time (4!), while Mr. B is just trying to finish, and using the race as an excuse to get in shape. So we've started our schedule of swimming, biking, and running, and getting in tip top physical form! Of course the tempatures have cooled down this week, which make swimming in our unheated outdoor pool a bit harder, but we're giving it our all!

Another thing I had forgotten, was what a big time commitment training for a race like this was. I usually find my week loaded up with plans with friends, work commitments, or errands, but there's no excuse now for not working out unless I want to crawl over the finish line in 4 weeks! Hence, I apologize to any friends or family who may find themselves neglected in the next month due to my rigorus athleticly inclide schedule!

I'll keep you posted on our progress! Here's to avoiding injuries, getting in the best shape of our lives, and the sweet (or should I say sweat?) taste of accomplishment! SB

Our African Adventure

2010-05-30T05:43:00.000-07:00

While I know I said I would share some journal excerpts with you from our recent Africa trip(I know I've been an extreme slacker about posting), after trying to decipher my hand writing from the bumpy overland trip I've decided it would be better to just give an over all review of the trip over a few posts. I will begin by saying that this was yet another incredible journey I've taken with my wonderful husband, and if you are of an adventurous spirit, and can occasionally conform to a "go with the flow" attitude (something required in Africa), I highly recommend doing an African overland trip.

Our trip was a total of 13 days with travel, as we left our apartment for JFK Airport on Thursday, May 13th and returned on Tuesday, May 25th. I must interject here, that I now believe that travelling mid-week is the much preferable option (I returned to work on a Wednesday of a short week, as it was Memorial Day Weekend, and I definitely couldn't have planned it better). We flew into Nairobi, Kenya, by way of Zurich, Switzerland, and flew back to New York from Dar Es Salaam airport via the same route. From the map below, you can see that Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam are a 12 hour drive from one another, and we spent our most of our vacation in some form of vehicle seeing the country.

While travelling this way could be exhausting, and you may be thinking that your idea of spending your first vacation in a year and half is not in a huge truck

I must say that it was honestly the most amazing thing to look out the window and see this unique and colorful country go by. Small children would wave and run after our vehicle, extremely excited to see Westerners, and I would be lying if I said it didn't warm my heart every time to see their smiling faces. As Mr. B would say this was a country where they may be poor, but you couldn't feel the poverty, they were poor but that was just how they lived. I couldn't agree more with that statement, and I was continuously intrigued as we drove by the small villages and the witnessed the way life was lead. It was amazing to me to think of all the things us Westerners deam necessary to survive when I saw the way the African people throughout Kenya and Tanzania lived. I found the landscape and the people to be extremely beautiful, and overall the trip was extremely eye opening.

Our trip was organized by a group called Nomad Tours(www.nomadtours.co.za, which we booked through a lovely woman named Nicky at www.africanoverlandtours.com. The group was a total of 12 people from all around the world (literally), and we were led by a tour guide and a cook. Mr. B and I went the more budget route, and were on the camping tour, and we stayed at some great camp sites and the tents were the nicest I've ever seen. We began our trip in Nairobi, where we met up with our new pals for the next 10 days, and headed towards Arusha.

The trip to Arusha consumed our entire first day of the trip, but as I said earlier I was alert and excited as I gazed out of the window at all of the sights. I kept missing pictures because we were driving, and either we went to fast or the road was to bumpy to capture what I was looking at, but here are some images of what we saw as we drove along.

The roads in Africa were something else as well! We would be driving along and you'd see something like this:

(picture courtesy of AR from our group), and you'd be off onto a dirt road on the side of the main road until eventually you found a paved road again. It was really wild, and really bumpy! They also threw stones along the road in place of parking cones, something I found highly amusing.

After a full day of travel we arrived in the town of Arusha, which didn't really seem like much of a town, but it was more populated then the villages we had passed, and had a Shop Rite super market, so I guess it could qualify. There was time to relax for the evening at our pretty campsite, where we had a delicious meal (I stayed veggie with the hubs for the trip) made by our chef, and got ready for our excursion to the Serengeti which we would leave for in the morning.

More exciting posts about Africa later. Sorry for being MIA! SB.

Opps....

2010-05-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

So obviously I've been a bit MIA the last 2 weeks, and I realized I never posted that I'd be on vacation for 2 weeks! That's right, vacation, an alien word I'm not used to using since I hadn't had one in a year and half, and it was much needed! Mr. B and I went on an amazing trip to Africa, overlanding from Nairobi, Kenya down to Dar Es Salaam/Zanzibar with a Safari into the Serengeti. It was an incredible trip, and I plan to share some excerpts from my journal in the next few posts! So, that's why you've been missing me, I'll be in touch now. :) SB.

Like My Profile Picture??

2010-05-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

Check out my amazing best friend's paintings at http://www.pochetti.com/portfolio/index.htm. She is incredibly talented, and does custom murals, and commissioned paintings. Check out here website, you won't be disappointed!

Book Review: "One Thousand White Women" by Jim Fergus

2010-05-03T20:42:00.000-07:00

If you have not noticed, I've listed book recommendations on the side of my blog, and I've decided that it would be beneficial to review them for my readers. I'm an avid reader, and really enjoy historical fiction. This book "One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd" by Jim Fergus was an excellent book, that I highly recommend.

This book was originally recommended to me by my mother, and while she and I don't always see eye to eye on books, I decided to give it a try. I found the book to be captivating and heart wrenching, and I was completely drawn in by the triumphs and tribulations of the characters.

This novel is based on actual historical events that took place in 1875, when 1000 white women were traded to Native American tribes by the United States Government for horses, as a method of integrating the Indians into American society. The book follows the journey of May Dodd, a strong and smart woman who travels with the other members of the "Brides for Indians" program across the plains to marry men from the Cheyenne Tribe. May marries the chief of the tribe, Little Wolf, and struggles to fit in to a world that is unfamiliar, unsure of where her loyalties should lie. The story follows the bonds she shares with the rest of the women in the program, and their struggles to learn who they are, and confront why they've all come to be members of the Cheyenne Tribe.

I loved this book, it sucked me in from beginning to end. It literally made me cry at parts, as Fergus' ability capture May Dodd's character is impeccable, and her story is truly special. If you like historical fiction books, I suggest you don't pass up this novel. Hope you enjoy! SB.

Bar Crawl in the Burbs

2010-05-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

Mr. B and I participated in a Bar Crawl this past weekend in the suburb where most of our friends have moved recently. I will admit when the hubbster first mentioned the idea of going on a bar crawl in suburbia, I was not all that keen to participate. I thought to myself, "is this really what we've come to?" It really made me feel like an old looser to be heading deeper into New Jersey then I already lived to engage in an activity that was so not the type of thing older married people with babies and houses usually do. I felt like I was handing in my "youth card" by agreeing to go, but the truth is it was a hell of a lot of fun.

I learned at this little function, that a parent with a baby sitter is more then ready to take advantage of a night off! While all of our tolerances are a bit lower, and I did hear a few complaints about it being past peoples bed times, this little crew partied late into the night, and we all held our own drinking more then our fair share. I hope those parents that were with us, were not as hung over as I was, or if they were that their children stayed with in-laws or grandparents until later in the day!

A big part of this "bar" crawl also seemed to be a recruitment tour for the town. I can't pretend I wasn't convinced by the end of the night that it would be great to move to an area where a lot of cool friends were there to soften the blow of suburbia. Hence, I think the evil plan could have taken root just a little.

Overall it was an awesome night, that helped me realize that it may not be that bad to move into the burbs. I was having a panic attack on the way there at the idea of living there, but the fun night made it less scary. I guess taking that next step into growing up won't be that bad, I hope. SB.

Rewarding

2010-04-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

Speaking of the small things that get us excited, I've decided to reward myself tonight for all of the hard work I've been doing the last few weeks. While I do wish things were going a bit more smoothly as a result of all the effort I've put in to try to facilitate just that, they are going pretty well, and (THANK G-D) my schedule is starting to normalize. Hence, I feel I really deserve to treat myself to something nice.

So, I'm going for a manicure pedicure tonight at my favorite nail salon for the first time in months! Here are the colors I've picked out for my nails and toes (and yes I picked them out online because I'm so excited).

Toes:
Essie "Chubby Checks"

Fingers:
Essie "Cute As A Button"

Although they both looked much cuter on the website then they do here, and I'm the worst at picking my color so I'm sure I'll change my mind ten more times! I love Essie nail polish, and always have a hard time choosing!

I can't wait! SB

Oh The Things We Look Forward To

2010-04-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

I've found as I creep up in years, the things I look forward to and get excited about are more and more lame. I find that I relate very easily to my father, and all the things he looks forward to and gets excited about, and perhaps less to my younger sisters. Joy.

It can be anything as small as a great new flavour of yogurt or getting a new pan, but either way it's a little depressing. I don't really remember what it was that used to cause excitement, a new Barbie, maybe a new crush speaking to you in school, going on spring break perhaps, but for some reason I'm feeling like the reasons to get excited get fewer and far between as we get older. Hence, we get excited over things that wouldn't make other people think twice.

Is it because as we get older we get settled into who we are as people, as a family, in our careers? Life suddenly forms into a routine: gym, work, dinner, tv, sleep, repeat. We work for the weekend, we play hard, and look forward to anything that may cause a blip on the radar. Does that about cover it?

While I do I think it makes me a lamo however, I can't wait until I'm a home owner, because when I am I feel like I will be a "real" adult, and will start getting rid of some of our current things. There are a lot of items in Mr. B's and my apartment that I feel I make do with, and I'm ready to upgrade. Dishes for instance, I think it would be great to have matching dishes. There is nothing wrong with plates from the Salvation Army, they've served us well, but I would like having a set of dishes, with matching bowls, and salad plates, etc, etc, etc. It's the part of me that is ready to be an adult that wants these things, matching plates, nice pots and pans, stainless steel appliances. I can't help it, I just do!

So when all is said and done, I guess I'm just excited that I can be excited about these things. I'm sure there are people who don't, and they must find life boring. At least I have my dishes! XO-SB.

Over Worked

2010-04-23T15:38:00.000-07:00

I'm so over worked right now, that I have no other life, and hence have found nothing interesting to blog about. I don't want to sob about how pitiful it is that I work some night until 12:30 am, or how my husband is feeling neglected, and how if I lived alone my house would be a disaster because I don't have time to clean, or how I'm developing a drinking problem because I'm so high strung that I can't even relax without having a drink!!! All I would like to say is I'm open and welcome to any suggestions for a stress free job!

I've been thinking a lot about that this week actually. I won't even go into the hell I've been going through the past few weeks (I think my little rant above keys you in a little), but it's got me at the point where I'm ready to throw up my hands and move on! The more and more I think about it though, what really is a stress free job? The only ones I've thought about are, house painter, personal trainer (but of course you must stress over personal appearance), gardener, ummm......Yeah, I basically can't think of many. The only thing I know is that being a successful career woman is becoming exhausting!

I don't want to gloat, but I'm really good at my job. So good, that I feel like I'm being taken advantage of for how much money I make (something I plan to discuss with my boss very soon), but I'm starting to think that work is over rated. I've discussed in this blog how I feel it's important to find things in life that make you happy and to let your job be your job, but for me it's so much easier said then done. Even though I keep urging Mr. B to get a full time professorship and finish is doctorate already so that I can become a house painter, I think I would feel like a failure for doing so.

Another thing I wonder if this is a generational problem? I know that sounds a bit cliche, but I do think about it that way. Our parents generation got jobs, and worked because that's what you did. A lot of people were miserable in their careers, but the did it anyway because that's what was expected. Does our generation just desire to much? Ask to much? Want to much? In a way, when I crave a career that will be stress free, and make me happy I feel a little selfish. No, I take that back, A LOT selfish.

That doesn't however mean I'm not still looking for that "golden egg" of a stress free work zone! Sign me up, I need a worry free career! Bring on the suggestions! XO SB.

Trail Review: Abram S Hewitt SF, Bearfort Ridge Loop, NJ

2010-04-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my husband and I kicked off the hiking season with a great hike in Northern New Jersey. Who knew that Passaic County in NJ was so beautiful!? In the past couple of years Mr. B and I have become pretty avid hikers, and enjoy doing weekend long trips, and strenous hikes. This hike was a perfect way to kick off our season.

Now, even though hiking is a "keeping it young" activity, I have to admit that this hike reminded me a little of my age. I'm not old, but as I get OLDER I find that I'm not as confident of a hiker. I used to jump off rocks more and expect my knees to just catch me, but that's not really the case any more. I find myself being a lot more catious. This post however is not going to revolve around my complex with my age, it's about this awesome trail! I hope those of you who love to hike will really check out this great day hike!

The Abram S Hewitt SF, Beafort Ridge Loop is a trail I found online, and is approximately an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes outside of Manhattan. It's approximately 6.8 miles, and was supposed to take us around 3.5 hours to do, even though it took us more like 5 -6 hours. It's a loop trail with amazing views, lakes, streams, rock scrammbles, and is a ranked at a moderate level. We also came across some great camping spots that we're thinking of going back to some time this summer.

I thought this hike was just challenging enough for us and really had a lot to offer. Check out this view:

Our trail may have varied a bit from what others reviewed online, but we parked across the street from the Greenwood Lake Maria on Lakeside Road, just before the Welcome to New York Sign, and took the following route: blue - yellow - white - orange - yellow - blue. All of the trails were fairly well marked, however I found the orange trail was the least well marked of all the trails. Case in point we found this marker had fallen off it's tree and onto the ground:

Where yellow turns to white we came across Suprise Lake, which of course would have been a suprise had it not been pointed out in all of the reviews and named on the maps as such. It was however very pretty, and it was here that we discovered a very appealing camp site (alebit not for the month of April). From the lake we headed on the white trail to the summit of the mountain, up rock scrambles, towards that beautiful view pictured above. It was a gorgeous clear day and we could even see the Manhattan sky line way in the distance.

Overall, I would highly recommend this trail to anyone!! Here is where I originally found the information, http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/Abram_s_Hewitt_SF_5602.asp.. Enjoy! SB

What's up with That?

2010-04-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

So I've been feeling really good about myself recently. I've been keeping up my work out routine, I've been running in a bunch of races, and eating right. I even made my best time yet in a 5k this past weekend (28:25), and came in 7th in my age group! Then why all of a sudden do I feel like I'm fat and starting to look old and squat?!

I've been a bit photo happy lately with my new camera at hand, and after putting the pictures on my computer, and seeing pictures others have posted, the other day I totally baulked! I look heinous! I'm sure this is very untrue, and my husband would tell me I'm nuts, but the truth is I feel hideous and frumpy! In all fairness, I normally hate myself in pictures, but after I was feeling so good about myself, I'm feeling a little bit let down by what's been captured on film.

Does anyone else feel this way about themselves when looking at pictures? Is it really true that as we get older, our bodies change and just don't agree with us anymore? If I was my best friend (and what I do tell my beautiful best friend because it's true), is that she's crazy, she's gorgeous, it must have been bad lighting, you are just being overly judgemental! But am I really? It's hard to get anyone to tell you the hard honest truth about this subject, and I must admit that when I ask my husband, "peoples bodies just change as they get older," is not the response I'm really looking for.

I work hard, and I mean really hard to keep in shape and be healthy. I will admit my self image is not the healthiest, but I've come a long way as I've grown up with handling my insecurities. I will for example now eat pizza on occasion, and love pasta, and eat bread (no joke), when I used to stay away from all of these things in my former years. So am I just supposed to surrender to my genes, and give in to what is my ultimate fate? Love handles, double chin, wrinkles! Or is there some way to avoid them, and if not avoid them then maybe except them?

What I can't except is that these things are happening already! I'm not even 30 for goodness sakes, aren't I supposed to get a few more years before I look short, fat, and old?!?!?!?! Tell me I'm not the only one going through this! When I run on the treadmill my face jiggles, literally bounces up and down, and I'm not just imagining it! And while someone (a model at my companies photo shoot, that was a great day for my self esteem) told me recently that I look really young, I still feel like I'm starting to look more and more old!

So, if someone could recommend and wrinkle cream, or maybe an article about how to dress for your body, or pose for a picture, or any other things that will help me age a bit more gracefully I would really appreciate it! Because I really don't wish this feeling on anyone, but I really hope I'm not the only one going through it! Here's to wishing you always look young. SB.

We Got An Offer....

2010-04-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

....for 40k under our asking price. Whoo hoo! Our realator prefaced the conversation with "don't shoot the messanger." Well at least someone was interested right? Right.

It's a Girl!!!

2010-04-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

One of my closest friends had her first child today, a beautiful baby girl! I'm so sad that I live so far from her, and will have to wait to meet the gorgeous little baby, but I'm so happy for her that I could burst!

I'm trying to be patient and let Mommy, Daddy, and baby rest before I barge in with questions, and it's really hard! I'm so anxious to hear the whole story of the birth and delivery! My friend has been such a great source of pregnancy information, and she really is educated about all things pregnancy and baby.

I will admit that it does edge into my "I feel so old" persuasion that one of my party girl friends is now a Mom, but I'm mostly just excited for this next chapter of our lives. Our little crew is now plus one, and a little girl too so she can be a part of our little girls club!

Wishing all my love, kisses, and heartfelt congratulations to the happy little family! <3 SB

Sellers Blues

2010-04-07T19:35:00.000-07:00

With our apartment on the market, I feel like I'm constantly on a roller coaster of home owner emotion. Within a single day I can go from crossing my fingers to get an offer from a perspective buyer, to wishing we could take down our listing and live in our apartment forever. It can get to be quite exhausting!

Something I'm finding frustrating about the whole situation is that it seems like no one is looking! I find myself annoyed that our real estate agent hasn't even shown our apartment a handful of times, and Mr. B has to constantly remind me that the market is slow. I guess the truth is that I love our place so much, that I don't understand why everyone else doesn't love it and want to steal it away!

I also tend to get my hopes up every time our agent calls to say she's bringing someone by. This past weekend a gentleman who had already seen the apartment brought his wife back to see it. They are relocating to the New York area from Korea, and she flew in specifically to see some of the apartments her husband had pre-apporved. Our agent shared that the couple was very interested in our development, and they were pretty much deciding between our unit and another one on the property. So I got hopeful, of course, and now I just feel diappointed because it's probably not going to happen.

Did I mention that I'm also a complete nudge? I'm probably every real estate agents worst nightmare! I email our agent constantly to try to pry some feed back out of her on what people think of our apartment, why more people haven't come to see it, etc. However, I feel it's important to mention that when I appoligized (via email) for being a nudge, she urged me to never feel that way, and always ask her anything I want. Like I really needed the encouragement?

Well, I feel better already! I guess all I needed was a good rant, although it would be nice to get some more solid action on our listing. Perhaps I'm being to over eager though considering our abode has only been on the market for a month? In the end I just hope someone will love it here as much as we do, and that I'll actually be ready to move when the time comes, and they won't have to pry my fingers from the door frame to get me to leave! ;) SB

Little Things That Made Me Smile Recently

2010-04-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

*The amazing warm weather!.

*All of the beautiful blooming trees (even though they make my allergies wacko).

*The sun going down later.

*Moe Songs.

*My new camera.

Mudders and Grunters

2010-04-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

Every year my husband, some friends, and I run in the Taconic Road Runners Club Annual Mudders and Grunters Race. For those of you who don't already know (and I'm guessing that's most of you), Mudders and Grunters is a 5 mile running race through the muddy woods, and is the oldest course race in NY State. As I've pointed out before, my husband and I are very active people, we run races often, and as per usual we started training for this one a few weeks prior to race time. I don't think anything could have prepared us for what met us at this years race though.

New York and New Jersey have had a lot of flood warnings recently, which those of you in the area can attest to. So this year was one of the muddiest years in the race's history! Not only that, but it was about 30 degrees and flurrying when we arrived to pick up our numbers! Did I mention that part of the course was submerging in a creek (which was more like a river this year)?

Now, I'm an asthmatic, and I'm also extremely hard on myself when it comes to fitness, and it's not always the best combination (a bit of a double edged sword). Especially when the cold is the worst thing for your asthma, and you would never normally sign up for a race that was going to take place when it could be 30 degrees out. So, it would be an understatement to say that this particular Mudders and Grunters was a struggle for me.

Nothing really keeps you young at heart like running through the mud with 300 weirdos, but nothing reminds you of your age more then doing it when it's 30 degrees out, and even though you're in the best shape you've been in in a while you can't run no matter how hard you try! I think next year we may need to find a new tradition, or make a game time decision based on weather. Perhaps though we'll just forget how we said at the end of the race that we're nuts for doing this, and sign up yet again! I guess you'll have to check-in, and find out ;) SB.

Dizzy

2010-03-31T16:06:00.000-07:00

I've been so incredibly busy recently, but Mr. B said he was jonesing for a new blog post, so I figured my other loyal readers (all 10 of them) must be as well! Busy is probably putting it lightly, as the title of this post implies, my head is spinning and I can't think straight I have so much on my plate!

When I look at my current career from the outside, I feel successful and proud even though it completely strays away from my intended career path. It took me a while to figure out, as someone who is ambitious and extremely hard on herself, that a career is just a fancy word for job, and in the end that's what it is, a job. It was my husband that helped show me that life wasn't about work, it was about finding happiness in whatever creates it for you. And when I accepted this, I left my "career path" for a job, related, but outside that box that I thought would make me happier. For this I was rewarded with a job where I was appreciated, needed, and promoted fairly quickly.

Truthfully though, my job has been creating a lot more stress then I'd like to admit. Unfortunately I'm having a lot of trouble in my new position, and with my new boss. I've been thrown into something that I think a normal person would have walked away from before they even got started. The guy I'm working under doesn't have a clue and plays mind games, and I feel like I'm constantly struggling up stream against a million obstacles. I'd like to say that I can just walk away, and leave things at the office when I come home, but unfortunately I'm not that type of person and it's really affecting me. I really need to start focusing on what I know is important.

It's hard for most of us go-get-em young women to accept that maybe a job is just a pay check, but it is, and I feel it's important to share that with as many women, men and children as possible. Who honestly is happy sitting at a desk from 9 - 5 (who works until 5 I'll never know, try 8), writing emails and having someone bark down your back when all you do is work your butt off to try hard to please that same person? I'm definitely among the disgruntled recently on this subject.

I'm not condoning working hard and trying to be successful, mind you, I'm just saying it shouldn't come at a cost. I will never be the type of person that can't work, it's just not in my DNA. Sitting still was never for me, not even in college. For Hanukkah one year one of my close friends bought me a book titled "The Book For People Who Do To Much," I think she was trying to tell me something. Even now, when I tell people I feel like an old fart that never goes out or does anything they tend to baulk at me, and retort that I'm always busy! And I guess I am.

So, to get to my point, even though I'm busy, and stressed, and maybe loosing my mind a bit at the moment, I need to take everything with a grain of salt and look at the silver lining. My job, is just a job, and if I'm unhappy with my situation, I can change it. Truthfully it could be a lot worse, because even though it doesn't feel like it most of the time, I know I'm successful, and accomplished, and an important person to my company. I have an amazing husband who loves me more then anything. I'm young, healthy (for the most part), and active. My busy life catches up with me, but I'm blessed to have so many great things going on in my life.

For now I will look at the bright side, and I urge all of you to do the same. So I hope you take away from today's very cheesy blog post, that you hold your happiness in your own hands. Find your happiness where ever it lies, may it be rock climbing, baking, or traveling, and let that be your life, not your "career," that's just your funding. Excuse the cheese. Later. SB :)

Living with a P.hD Candidate

2010-03-26T13:29:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've gone into it much, but my husband is currently finishing his PhD. It's way, way, way to long a story to get into now, but he sent me a funny cartoon today that got me looking at other cartoons on a very funny webpage , and I though I'd share a comic with you that explains how I usually feel about the whole process:

More on that later. SB

Stroll Down Memory Lane

2010-03-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

So as I mentioned in my St. Patty's Day post, my husband has been away this week. Like the good grandson he is, he's in Florida helping his Grandmother since she had eye surgery. Hence, I naturally jumped at the opportunity to get out of the house today, when my brother-in-law invited me to brunch to celebrate his finishing the NYC Half Marathon (Congrats to him by the way!).

It was a real pleasure for me to head into Manhattan on a weekend, something I rarely do any more. The weather this week has been incredible, and the first full day of spring was no exception. Let me tell you, Manhattan in spring time is like bears coming out of hibernation. People come out of the wood works and are walking every where, shopping, going to brunch, anything just to get out of the house and into the weather. I was loving the vibe in the city as I headed all the way down to Wall St. to meet the 1/2 Marathon Crew.

I think it's important to mention, for those of you who may not have caught how I met Mr. Blue, that my brother-in-law and I were neighbors and friends, and that I met my husband through him. When we lived next door to each other we used to hang out all the time, and I knew many of his friends who were over often, especially for our frequent parties. So it was an added bonus to get to see some familiar faces today, drink some beers, and reminisce, while still catching up on and joking about our current lives and lifestyles.

My favourite part of the day however, was my long stroll from Wall Street to the Port Authority to head back to NJ. Now, while I did not really plan to walk 3.8 miles and countless blocks today, I will say that though my feet and back hurt by the end (I know I'm an old lady), it was really nice to be out and about in the city with no real trajectory or place to be. Admittedly my lovely stroll began with a phone call to Mr. B that turned into a fight, that delayed my getting on the subway, which turned into us making up and not wanting to hang up with each other, so we wound up taking a long "stroll" together on our cell phones hundreds of miles apart.

Days like today remind me how much I really love Manhattan, and made me wish that I put more effort into going into the city when I have time to really enjoy being there. I lost perspective during all the years of daily commuting on how lucky I was to live right outside such an amazing city. Many people baulk at the fact that I moved back to New York from Miami after college, but if you're a New Yorker, you get it. It's this amazing city that has so much to offer for so many different types of people, and is truely an incredible melting pot of activity that sucks you in completely.

So, as I look out my bedroom window at the amazing sky line view of Manhattan, after just re-watching the Sex in the City Movie for the 100th time, I'm insanely head over heals with this amazing city, and I vow to make a greater effort to take advantage of all it has to offer before we move away from such close proximity to it, and begin a chapter of our lives that will make it more difficult. :) SB

New Favortie Products

2010-03-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

So it turns out that part of selling your house is making sure every square inch of your space is spic and span! I will embarrassingly admit that before we decided to sell our apartment, my husband and I were not the biggest neat freaks. However, now that we have our place on the market we are very good about keeping our now very empty apartment, clean and free of all clutter, dirty dishes, laundry, etc! We have even taken to cleaning multiple times a week!

I become a bit OCD about cleaning, so much so that I'll notice something is dirty around midnight, and wind up scrubbing floors ceilings and walls until well in the wee hours of the morning until Mr. Blue has to ask me what the heck I'm doing! This week I spent a lot of time with my new favorite product:

I probably went a little to nuts with it, but I cleaned every surface in my kitchen with this miracle cleaner! It got dirty of in a snap, and even removed really tough stains! Have I sold you yet?

Another product I fell in love with this week was the Febreze Home Collection Soy Blend Candles! I bought the Willow Blossom scented one this week as a treat, since I would normally never spend more then $5.00 on a candle. It was well worth it! The scent of this candle is incredible! My husband and I like having candles around to begin with, and who doesn't like the smell of Febreze? I'm telling you go grab one of these!

I think I should get some royalties for this blog post! Brought to you by my new adult like outlook on life, and the little joys in life :) SB

Ode to St. Patty's Days of Past

2010-03-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

So, today I'm definitely feeling my age (not that I'm so old, just old enough). It's St. Patty's day today, and I am not drunk. Not even close, in fact my doctor told me today since my stomach has been bothering me I should stay away from alcohol, caffeine, and dairy (I am a caffeine addict, so that's torture enough!). Now, my party animal has quieted a bit (ok more then a bit) since I met my husband and got married, but I am definitely a party girl at heart. Hence the fact that we did bupkis this year for St. Patty's Day, Fake Patty's Day, etc, is kind of hitting me hard.

Last year though, was the epitome of all St. Patty's Days. Well, actually it was "Fake" Patty's Day in one of the towns near where we live. Fake Patty's Day in this town is basically a big excuse for everyone to get wasted starting at 9 am on. Oh, and there's a parade, I think. We began the day with breakfast and drinks at one friend's apartment around 10:00 am (9 am is when the "younger" kids start), and around noon we moved the party to another friend's place on the parade route. It was a beautiful day, and we spent the time out side on their roof playing flip cup and getting completely trashed. I was in rare form, completely out of my mind drunk! My husband's favorite story from that day is about when he was practically carrying me to the train to go home, and I shouted at a young mother and her child "what the F*ck are you looking at?" Not my finest moment, but was it better then this year?

This sober, non-celebratory year? I didn't even wear green today! I'm so not in that mode I guess, and it's so not typical because Mr. Blue is away all week! My slogan for whenever he's away is usually "when hubby's away I will play," but apparently not this time. Is it that my office moved from Manhattan to Warehouse City NJ? Or that all of our friends have moved into the burbs? Or that I'm just over it? Growing up? I think I'm just going to use the excuse that I've been nauseous all week (and no I'm not pregnant) so I don't feel like I'm getting old.

My friend on Facebook had the best status today about how we weren't really annoyed at the high school kids ditching school and drinking vodka out of water bottles, we were just jealous! It's so true! My cousin goes to college in Savannah, one of the biggest St. Party Day celebration places in the country, and I was definitely wishing I was cool enough to hang with her. I miss being able to drink all day every day and not caring how stupid I am, or how obnoxious, and yet when I say that my new adult self goes "really? you were so dumb!"

So, for all of you non-lame-o's celebrating St. Patrick's Day Today, HAVE FUN FOR ME!!!! SB

Platinum Weddings

2010-03-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note about the show "Platinum Weddings" on WE TV. I LOVE almost all things wedding, wedding shows, wedding pictures, wedding movies, etc. I've decided however, that as beautiful as the weddings are on this show, it makes me completely and utterly sick to my stomach! How is it that these people can spend more on their weddings (one day of their lives) then my husband and I can afford to spend on a house!?!?!?!?! I just wanted to share how sick it makes me, thanks for listening! SB

Our Lisiting

2010-03-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official! I went on our real estate website this morning and our listing is up! They even showed it once already last night! Poor Mr. Stella Blue hid out in the hallway while they were showing it. All he heard was "wow! Look at that view!" Fingers crossed! Here are some pictures from the listing!

OMG

2010-03-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

Ok, so we signed the real estate papers last night to put our apartment on the market, holy heart attack!! I can not believe we are actually going through with this! Both Mr. Blue and I are freaking out, because we love, love, love our apartment and our life right now, but we both know it's time to upgrade to a bigger space. It's an insane mix of excitement, fear, and anticipation!

The photographer came over today to take pictures for our listing with the real estate expert from our realtor's company this afternoon, and after they left my husband called me at work. At this time we both oozed with nervous energy and giggles when he described how much they loved our apartment! The photographer aparently wanted to move in (I'd sell it to her real cheap)!

The kicker is, they are going to start showing our apartment this weekend!!! We are giddy with the idea that we could wind up with an offer sooner then we thought, and crying on the inside with the idea of leaving our palace! Especially when we just made so many improvements that have made us even happier in the space! Basically OMG!!!!

Hoping I'll get to post some pictures from our listing later :) SB

Flash Forward to the Present

2010-03-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

So I've decided I've had enough of dwelling on the past, and that truthfully all of you readers have probably couldn't care less about all that nonsense. I'm sure I'll wind up referring to the scary, adult molding events in my life as the blog goes on, but I have way to much to freak out about now in my current stage of life to continue babbling about things that have already happened.

Flash forward to present day, I've been married a year and a half to my (most of the time) wonderful husband, and we are currently going through some pretty crazy grown-up stuff. For instance, the source of most of my "bug-outs" these days is getting ready to put our apartment on the market. Mr. Stella Blue bought our apartment about 5-6 years ago when he was single, and while it's an amazing apartment that we don't feel quite ready to leave, we're ready to upgrade to something a little bigger.

When I say our current apartment is amazing, I'm not lying. The view from my bedroom window is a perfect Manhattan sky line, for goodness sake!! We have a pool (also with and amazing sky line view, propped ever so nicely on the top of a cliff), a great park across the street, public transportation right outside our door, and we're obviously super close to NYC! So why are we moving?!?!?

View from our pool:

The only thing that has always bothered me about our apartment is that it's really in need of some updating, I never had the energy to re-decorate after moving in. It wasn't a super bachelor pad or anything crazy, so I just figured I'd get my decorating senseabilities in once we had a house. And lets just say, I don't think my husband has really cleaned anything (that men don't think to clean) since he moved in. I cleaned the windows for the first time ever last night, and I can't begin to tell you how much Windex I wound up using!

So, the past few weeks Mr. Blue and I have been cleaning, packing, and updating our place for sale, and we are hoping to have our place on the market by the end of the week!!! It's safe to say that we are both freaking out just a little at the prospect of becoming suburbanites!! More on our crazy adventure in home selling later. For now anyone want to buy a great appartment? SB.

2010-03-09T07:40:00.000-08:00

One of my closest friend Camille Ford is the host of the Travel Channels new show Food Wars!! Check out the premier tonight at 9pm on the Travel Channel!!

Best wishes Cammie, I'm sure it's going to be great!!!

www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Food_Wars

New Favorite Site!

2010-03-06T20:19:00.000-08:00

Just recently I got turned on to a site called www.etsy.com. You can find great, original gifts there! It's "your place to buy and sell all things handmade!" I bought this great camera strap for my cousin who is a photographer as a gift for filming a wedding:

Enjoy!!

Money, Money, Money, Money....

2010-03-06T19:47:00.000-08:00

Another great way to wake up and go "wow I think I'm becoming a grown up," is to join finances with your fiance. While I was practically living with my now husband, we didn't join our finances until my apartment's lease was up and I "officially" moved in to his apartment (which he owned and we still live in). As I explained earlier I didn't have a budget when I was living on my own, so sitting down and figuring out just what we could afford every month was a little bit stressful for me.

Hence, I must admit I struggled with budgeting, and I was disappointed with the fact that even though we now had a joint income it didn't seem like we had any more money. It took us some time, and some tears from me before we were done, but I have to admit that my husband is amazing at budgeting and money management, and we were able to work out our spending, and more importantly our savings.

My parents were never very open about finances, and although I love them immensely, I feel that they did not really prepare me for managing my money when I was on my own. I think this mostly came from their hopes that I would always stay with them and never leave (seriously). Since I've been with my husband however I've become much more money savvy.

So, the plunge was taken, I added one more notch on my belt into the journey of adulthood. Not only did I now have a budget, but I had a fiance, a mortgage, and a wedding to plan. Holy wake up call!! It would have been so much easier to climb into a tree and forget it all! Play pretend forever! Not grow up!! But, I kept on rolling with the punches, and kept moving further from that tree and closer to the nursing home (well maybe that's an exaggeration).

Paying Rent

2010-02-27T08:58:00.000-08:00

So before I can write in "real time," I feel we should start at the beginning of my journey into adult life. It is my thinking that you become a real life adult the minute you move out of your parent's house, and start paying your own rent. At this point you're pretty much on your own, or at least most of us are. It is now your responsibility to pay your bills, feed and clothe yourself, and to make sure you stay out of harms way. I was pretty good at the first one of these, mediocre at the second, and the third is a matter of opinion.

When I moved out of my parents house a year after college, after saving a good amount of money by commuting a total of 3 hours every day and crashing on random friend's couches, I was responsible for all of my own bills for literally the first time in my life. My parents had been very generous with my sisters and I, and throughout college my only real monetary concern was if I'd have enough money for spring break with my friends. Anything I made went into my own pocket for use on booze, diners out, and fun. When I moved out, I had no real concept of what paying my own bills was going to mean, or how much money I really had to throw around. In other words, I had yet to discover the concept of a budget.

As I had mentioned in my previous post, I work in the music industry, which right out of college meant I made next to nothing. So, most of my money when I became an independent person (hahaha) went to my rent, booze (are you seeing a trend here), and my gym membership. I remember what a great diet moving out was, because I was afraid to spend to much money on food. I think I lived off of a Costco sized box of Special K Bars and Soy Crisps that my parents had bought me for a few months. Needless to say, I do not recommend this diet to anyone. Nonetheless, I survived.

I would like to be able to tell you how I managed my money back then, maybe give a few pointers to those starting out on the same path, but the truth is I don't really know. I'm one of the lucky few of our generation that actually managed to come out unscathed by credit card debt, however I was balancing my income with credit cards. There were times when our land lord wouldn't cash our checks for a long time, and when she did it would leave me scrambling, but I always had money some how. However, some how may have been the depleting savings account I had built up from living with my parents. Overall, I'm very glad my husband is great at budgeting, but I'm also glad I had the real world, "grown up" experience of doing it on my own.

At this early freedom point in most of our lives, we relish in being a "grown up." I use quotations on those words, because I'm not really sure I know the meaning of them, or when you really become one. As my blog's title indicates, I STILL really feel like I'm playing make believe in my grown up world. Back then I felt like someone was going to point a finger at me and say "just kidding, time to go home now. Did you really think you could live all on your own?" But life is an adventure, and I was having a great time diving in head first for the first time on my own.

Allow Me to Introduce Myself

2010-02-26T19:44:00.000-08:00

I'm new at this blogging thing, so I'm feeling like I should take the time to introduce myself to my, oh, zero readers. I'm not exactly positive what I plan to use this blog for just yet, which I do realize is not the perfect way to begin my blogging career. However, you need to start somewhere,right?

Where do I begin? I don't really plan on revealing every aspect of my life to all of you out there, so that I remain a bit elusive and anonymous. You know, to avoid stalking when my blog becomes the most popular thing on the Internet, and I earn a book deal and movie contract, etc, etc. Although I do feel that you should know something about me so I'll be more relatable. So here goes nothing...

I grew up in the suburbs of New York City, went to college in Miami where I majored in Music Business (minor in marketing), and since then have moved back North and worked in the "industry." I began working for a Rock n' Roll Merchandising company right after school, moved out of my parent's house a year later into a little town in NJ right outside of Manhattan, and struggled to live on a music industry salary while having the time of my life.

It was then that my neighbors threw a party, and I met one of their older brothers who would become my future husband. I don't want to say that this was the beginning of the end, but lets face it ladies, every young girl out there who used to go out every night before meeting "the one" knows what I'm talking about. It's not a bad thing, it just happens. You'd rather spend time at home with your man then go out with the girls to cruise guys. But I'm getting side tracked here.

Right after I met my hubby-to-be I got a new job, the job I thought was the greatest opportunity of my life (and in some ways it was). So I left my fun, everyone loves you here, comfortable job to be an assistant at one of the biggest agencies in the world. At first I was happy, thrilled even, I was learning new things and loving it! Two and a half years later, after many tears, pre-midlife crises, and disenchantments, I was lured back to my old company with a better position and much more money then I was making in hell (as I nick-named it). So there I am, back at the fun company where everyone loves me, so much so that 6 months later I've been promoted. And the truth is I'm very content.

So back to that side track, along with this crazy career path, I got married to my wonderful husband. A man I'm sure you'll hear a lot about as this blog continues on. He is after all, probably one of the main reasons I've been growing up. That and those birthdays that keep coming year after year (I guess they didn't get the memo I've had enough!). We've been married for about a year and a half, and live together right outside of Manhattan, in a great apartment that he bought 6 years ago before we met.

There is more I can bore you with, all of you zero readers I've already scared away with my blabber, but as this is just the beginning I'm sure we'll get to know each other a lot more along the way. So I'll leave you with the bones of it for now. Until later....

Test One Two?

2010-02-26T19:11:00.000-08:00

So...everyone seems to be blogging. At first I didn't get it, but after finding a few blogs I really liked, I started to feel like maybe it would be cool to share my thoughts with cyber space. I mean, how many young almost 30 "adult" females out there are going through the same things I am right now? Someone's bound to be relate and benefit from my quirky antics, right? I guess we're about to find out.....