Naturally Optimistic

So we had a fantastic time on our Vegas adventure. It started last Thursday when I drove down to the twin cities after my dress fitting & dinner with Steve. It's a 2 1/2 hour drive and since my brother-in-law was kind enough to drive us to the airport, I really didn't feel like getting up at 5am so I could make the time when we'd have to leave for the airport. This was much better. My sister flies stand-by (because my bro-in-law works for the airline) and she decided it would be safer (more seats) to fly on the 7am flight. She departed for the airport EARLY. My cousin Lindsay & I left around 8am. Our flight was not until 11:35 so we had plenty of time to get checked in & through security, to have a leisurely breakfast and sit at the gate. We met Allison (Steve's sister) in the airport as well. Sarah (my bridesmaid) was running a little behind. As we were boarding the plane I called her and she was still on the light rail! Not even to the airport yet....lucki...

Photo 1: Me & Allison - future sister-in-laws Photo 2: Sarah outside of Hooters Casino Photo 3: Appletinis at the VooDoo Lounge Photo 4: After "LOVE" Photo 5: Lindsay eating the biggest flapjack ever known to man at the Hash House A Go-Go

Had a FANTABULOUS time....I've extremely tired, dehydrated (due to the ungodly oppressive heat not the drinking thankyouverymuch) and am trying to imagine how I came home with SO MUCH MORE stuff than I left with. I will post a real post about it later but I just wanted to let you all know that I am officially OLDER now, didn't get arrested or puking drunk and I have the best friends in the entire universe. (I just wished THEY LIVED HERE!!!!). Some teaser highlights: (because, of course, "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas unless you have a digital camera and a blog") *Boas for everyone! *Tiaras *iPod Nano (in black) *Cirque du Soleil LOVE *Hash House A-Go-Go *VooDoo Lounge *it being TOO HOT for our plane to take off yesterday... more details to come....

I'm off tonight to Minneapolis and I fly to Vegas in the morning to celebrate my birthday & my bachelorette party with some family & friends! We'll see if what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas..... Have a great weekend!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK. Yes, that's me. Eeeeking. A tad embarrassing but there it is. I am getting married in ONE MONTH. Not something I ever thought I'd hear myself say (I always thought I'd end up that "favorite aunt" or something and live with multiple cats in a run down home reading lots and doing crossword puzzles....) So, I'm happy! I can't believe it! Time is FLYING and I better get a few more things off my 'to-do' list pretty soon!!!! Tick tock! (oh and I leave for Vegas in 2 days! whohooooo!)

From August 12th...yes, I'm just getting around to posting them now. I had some problems with Blogger not uploading things so here ya go. This is on the Superior Hiking Trail right in Duluth. We started at 40th Ave West and hiked East towards our house (we live near 22nd Ave West). A Beautiful hike with stunning views. It is 3 miles from that start point to our house. We then drove back to pick up the car. Steve is sitting on a bench that is on the ski trail (near the hiking trail) at Piedmont. It's so high during the summer but during the winter sometimes you can barely get your skis under it to sit down because of all that snow. (incidentally, that's the first trail we ever skied together)

Well, it's been a whirlwind of activity around here lately...I should catch up... Thursday night - I watched AquaMarine with Miss M. A near-teeny-boppery-movie that help her rapt . It had 7th to 8th grade girls, cute lifeguard boys and a mermaid. 'nough said. Friday night I went to happy hour with some co-workers. I wasn't planning on staying long (you know how that goes) and ended up getting home around 9:30pm. Ugh. Steve met us down there as well which was fun and it was nice to be social vs. anti-social for once. I also found many possible candidates for a GAME NIGHT which makes me oh-so excited. Saturday morning it was up bright and early as we headed to the annual R Family Golf Classic. (yes, my family has a golf tournament every year...since about 1980). This year it was in Pine Island hosted by my aunt & uncle who live on the course there. It's a lot of fun. It's a scramble so it's pretty mellow and easy going. I was in the first group to tee off (I ...

I received my Wristlet swap package from Tami yesterday and it is AWESOME. (I will post pics later from home). She made my wristlet in this beautiful purpley w/greens mixed in batik fabric that is really rich and beautiful. She also, being from the Silicon Valley, embroidered this amazing "silicon chip" design on the top. It's really beautiful and I intend on putting it to excellent use. She also put some goodies inside along with some purple fabric and some buttons. I just love it. It was sooooo fun to get the mail yesterday. And because she ROCKS she also included a monogrammed wristlet for Miss M! I am so touched and I know Miss M will be thrilled. I plan on giving it to her tonight. And then there's more! Kelli sent me one of her awesome fruit bags! It's a wedding/honeymoon gift and I adore it. I cannot wait to take it to the beach with me or out to lunch on the island. It will be perfect! You are both such incredibly talented and thoughtful ladies. Thank yo...

Because I know you're all waiting with baited breath.... 1. How did Carrie & Steve meet? online - either Match or Yahoo...we were both on both. 2. Where are they honeymooning? Florida 3. What is their favorite activity to do together? Hiking 4. What month was their first date? February (6th to be exact) 5. Where did they get engaged? Cape Disappointment (!) Washington 6. How many cats do they have and what are their names? (2 points) 2, Beavis & Iko 7. How many siblings does Steve have? 3 - 2 sisters and 1 brother 8. When is their wedding date? September 23 9. What foreign country have they traveled to together? Mexico! 10. What special day is Steve's birthday on? Halloween 11. What color are the bridesmaid dresses? Chocolate Brown 12. What month did they get engaged? August (24th to be exact) 13. What are Carrie & Steve's favorite TV shows to watch together? (2 shows, 2 points) The Apprentice and 24 14. What is Carrie's favorite food? Macaroni and CHEESE 1...

From this past weekend's shower:

It was a busy one...shall we begin? Friday after work I got home and worked out. I then puttered around, did some sewing - the usual. I can't remember what we had for dinner....did I make something? Hmmmm...no clue. Oh! I had soup. Steve went to happy hour with his Dad so I had some soup. That's right... He called around 7 or so and asked if I wanted to go to a movie. We ended up seeing WORLD TRADE CENTER at 9:30pm. The first movie we'd gone to together since BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN! What is our problem? Anyway - perhaps I'll post a review later. Let's just say I cried. Shocking. Saturday we got up and did the usual Saturday morning thing - read the paper, eat Cap'n Crunch. The plan was to leave "in the morning" for a nice long hike but it didn't quite turn out that way...I did more sewing while waiting for Steve to get ready and I think he forgot that I had a dress fitting at 2 (although I did keep telling him) because he kept putzing around and making...

I have a weekend update that I'm working on but it's long and I need to get some work done so in the meantime you get this! Play along! I'll post answers later. This was played at my shower yesterday....how well do YOU know me....Answers will come later in comments. Good luck! (if you were at the shower, you can't play. Because you already did!) 1. How did Carrie & Steve meet? 2. Where are they honeymooning? 3. What is their favorite activity to do together? (keep it clean folks, this was a family shower) 4. What month was their first date? 5. Where did they get engaged? 6. How many cats do they have and what are their names? (2 points) 7. How many siblings does Steve have? 8. When is their wedding date? 9. What foreign country have they traveled to together? 10. What special day is Steve's birthday on? 11. What color are the bridesmaid dresses? 12. What month did they get engaged? 13. What are Carrie & Steve's favorite TV shows to watch together? (2 sho...

Raesha received her Wristlet swap package from me yesterday so I can post it now! Yay! I had so much fun participating in this swap. It was my first one and my first return to sewing in about 11 years or so. I'm already making other projects because I'm remembering how much fun it is. The theme was to represent where you're from. I chose the blue 'watery' fabric to represent Minnesota's 10,000 Lakes. The green lining is to represent all of our trees. The goodies I included were certified wild rice (hand harvested, natch), a mini-can of Spam (as I'm originally from Austin, MN or "Spamtown USA" due to it being the home to Hormel), some Swedish fish (her faves) and some hot chocolate to keep her warm during those upcoming NM nights (heh). I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed putting it together!

I'm feeling rather blech today but thankfully it is Friday and that means 2 days of blissful away-from-here-ness. Tonight I am going to *try* to apply coat #2 of "Evening Gown" (midnight blue) paint to the front door. Come on, it's been over a week already. Sheesh. Next I think I will drink wine and sew. I'm not sure if those two go together, but we'll find out. Tomorrow morning I have a hiking date with Steve. Not sure if we'll do part of the Superior Hiking Trail or the Western Waterfront Trail...we'll see. Tomorrow afternoon I have my first wedding dress fitting. Sadly, I have no one to go with me. Ho-hum. Either tomorrow night or Sunday morning I will drive to Apple Valley (suburb of the "Twin Cities") for a bridal shower that my Sister is throwing for me. Followed by driving back to Duluth. Then BAM it's Monday and we start all over again. Ay yi yi....

Rejections. Although they weren't even nice enough to send me an actual email or a letter. I just happened to drop by their websites to check it out. *sigh* I guess it's a little easier this way as it's not a reminder in my FACE but still. I have 2 more pending but for obvious reasons, I'm not holding my breath. I'm sick of it.

I have been tying up some loose ends tonight which make me feel good. Firstly I finished up my Swap package for Raesha and it will be on it's way soon! Wheeeee! Here's a hint...Beavis helped me sew it. Heh... I also put together my sister's birthday present tonight. The theme this year is "Chocolate." The package includes: the movie Chocolat on DVD, a bag of Chocolate Chex Mix, some chocolate colored ribbons (for scrapping or cardmaking), a sheet of M&M stickers, a bag of peanut M&M's, some chocolate colored socks, some chocolate colored 'fibers' (again for scrapbooking & cards), a chocolate melting wafer (smells soooo good), some chocolate Chai tea and I think that's it. I hope she enjoys it! I always try to do theme for her gifts...some years it works, some it doesn't. I think this one works. I wrapped everything in bright pink & purple wrapping and put it in a brown (sadly not chocolate brown which I couldn't find) gif...

I'm enjoying this new cookbook so much I can hardly stand it. I got it this weekend at the shower from Steve's aunt. I love the "down-home" feel to it which is particulary northern and familiar to me. Although it comes from Michigan, I feel the similarities - the northern climate, short growing season, fresh lovely farmer's market veggies, the big lakes and their affects on our seasons, the tourists that come in for the summers and the simplicity of it all. This book shares a lot of personal details about many of the recipes and includes letters at the beginning of each chapter from Mrs. Chard. This book is centered around her and a lot of her own recipes. I love stuff like this. I actually brought it to work with me after lunch because I'm so bored and I'm just enjoying reading tidbits and considering the mouth-watering concoctions (even a recipe for dandelion wine!). I'm thinking I might make "The Best Mac and Cheese" for tomorrow when Miss...

The FiestaWare in action: I love how my cupboards look now! Wheeeeee!

My computer ("Mac") has been sick for a while. Well, since I got it really in June. The evil X showed up in the battery icon and the battery would never fully charge. I received a new battery from Apple but after calibrating it and it working for about 12 hours, the evil X was back. So I finally caught up with the weddings I'm editing, I've backed up my photographs and I'm taking Mac in today. They tell me the turn around time is 36 hours to 4 weeks. 4 WEEK?!?!? Sheesh. I HAVE to have my computer back by the wedding as it is what we're using for the dance. And I'd REALLY like to have it back as soon as possible. I'm already losing out on one editing job because of this (the whole reason for me buying the computer) and I have 2 jobs waiting to be cut. Not such good timing, eh? So, I hope my Mac will be okay and that they can fix him and send him back promptly. I will miss him greatly but I am looking forward to actually being MOBILE with my laptop. Some...

What a weekend..... Friday night we had a lovely happy hour. My guests that were going on to do some camping ended up staying until about 8:30pm! It was so much fun to have such lovely ladies over for some chatting and cocktails. My friend from work ended up staying much later as once I get a wee bit of tequila in me I can talk for hours. Saturday I got up (with a headache - ugh) and did my "crisis cleaning" before my parents came. I didn't have too much to do but I'm always so paranoid. My grand plan of getting up EARLY and washing the car and renewing my driver's license did not happen. Oh well. My folks came and my Mom got ready for the shower and I got to see their photos from their recent Alaskan vacation (one week land tour, one week cruise - nice!). The shower was at Steve's Aunt's house here in town. There were 11 of us there for a "luncheon." We had lovely sangria (a recipe I'd never tried before and it was so pretty) and sat in the ...

I may have mentioned that I have very few girlfriends in town to hang out with. One is my neighbor Anna (hi Anna!) and our hanging out consists mostly talking over the back fence - which I love. I love having cool neighbors! I digress.... In an effort to bulk up those numbers, I decided to have a happy hour tonight in my back yard (you're all invited!). First it was just my friend Sarah who's coming through town on the way up the shore to do some camping. She's bringing along two friends who have never been to Duluth. What better way to welcome them than by getting them schnockered on my homemade margaritas? So, then I thought, hmm, the receptionist here is new, she's young(er than me), seems cool, hip, artsy, bought a copy of my movie (!!!!) and I generally like talking with her but I don't know her very well. So, I decided to send her an email inviting her to Happy Hour. I was kind of nervous! What is my problem? I sent the email and immediately left my desk to go...

I just wanted to clarify one thing: I DID NOT NOW NOR COULD I EVER GIVE UP CHEESE!!!! That's like giving up air for me. I keep getting such positive comments "way to go!" "you have great willpower" etc but I must dismiss them because I didn't give it up. I had ONE sandwich without cheese. ONE. That's it! Now I'm back to cheese. Because I love it. Today, in fact, I had a CHEESE SANDWICH because we were out of lunchmeat! (tortilla wrapped around cheese, cherry tomatoes & lettuce -yummy). Anyhoo. Sorry for shouting but it's just craziness to think someone like me, who's make-up is probably at least 50% cheese (actual) and 90% cheesy (as in mental). I think I will find a way to sneak some cheese into my evening plans....yes, I'm that exciting.

Let's just say I don't live in the nicest of communities...compared to where I last lived in LA and where my first apt in Duluth was 4 years ago - it's heaven, but even so it's not great . The odd couch remained(s?) in our neighbors yard (2 houses down) through 3 seasons (snow, rain and sorching heat); no one puts weed killer on their lawn so trying to keep a lawn weed free is nearly impossible (and I admit we don't use chems either but at least we pull our weeds); junky cars sit in front of houses, maintenance on some is sorely needed; fireworks go off at ungodly hours for a month before and a month after the 4th of July; windows get smashed in, our grill got stolen, you get the idea. That being said I adore my little house. It's adorable (IMHO) and I have a big yard and it suits us just fine for now. We have 2-bathrooms (unheard of for a house built in 1896) and closets in every room (another anomoly)and a 2-car garage. We have an enclosed front porch with th...

OK Go - Here It Goes Again This truly rocks! Very unique and fun to watch. I wonder how many times they had to shoot this to get it so right on. Enjoy!

To some of you that is probably a "big deal." But to me it's HUGE. You see, I love cheese. I love love love it...which is good coming from the heartland and all. However I am also on the quest for the "wedding-dress-body" so I'm *trying* to be good. Cheese is one of my downfalls. Big one. I could snack on it for days. But today, I decided to NOT have cheese. I am doing the whole 10-pounds-in-10-weeks thing and boy-howdy let me tell you how that's NOT working. So, in order to "be good" I decided to forgo the usual cheddar, mozzarella and/or colby and instead just have ham, lettuce and cherry tomatoes wrapped in a soft tortilla. It was delish! Heavenly even! It could be that the cherry tomatoes are just divine right now but I was happily not even missing my cheese which for me is a fantastic accomplishment. The next step - chips! boy to I love chips. I would say my love for chips equals my love for cheese! Put 'em in front of me and I will ea...

I'm getting a littled "wedding-y" around here lately but you know, that is what happens when you're getting married in 53 days! eeek! Last night after work Steve & I went and picked out our wedding bands. Something that I had been wanting to do but we didn't know if we would have time this week. Lo and behold, we did. We went to the same jeweler that made my engagement ring. He is a very cool guy. Has his own little shop downtown and makes all of the jewelry right there. He & his wife travel to Antwerp every spring to pick new diamonds. What a cool job, huh? Steve chose him because he's a local artisan, just one guy not some big company with stockholders and shares and corporate hoo-ha and that just made sense for us. The full spectrum lighting in that place KICKS ASS and wow did my diamond sparkle. (that made me quite giddy, I will admit). He cleaned my ring when I was there and then I got even MORE giddy. I'm such a dork. Anyway, we met with him,...