Life as Liz

Funny Girl

2011-06-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I guess I am failing again at posting on a regular basis. Hopefully most of your are managing fine without my blog.

Last night Justin and I watched the Comedians of Comedy. Brilliant name, right? It is a special that features comedians like Zach Galifianakis, Patton Oswalt, Sarah Silverman, Maria Bamford, David Cross, Brian Posehn and Doug Benson. If you aren't a stand-up connoisseur such as myself you may not know who half of those people are.

At some point in my adult life I switched from attending music concerts to spending my dollars on stand-up shows. I like to believe I've seen some of the best of the best over the last 5 years or so. Every time I go to a show I think to myself, "Whyyyyy? Why not meeeee?"

Stand-up shows always remind me it is my hidden, or not so hidden, dream to get paid to be funny. Except I have made absolutely no moves to achieve that. I've thought about Improv class, but never done it. I contemplated open mic nights, but then cringed at the idea. I've even written down jokes for a routine, but then inevitably threw the paper away. Sigh

The best comedians remind me that I wouldn't know what to do with myself on a stage. Everyone has different senses of humor and mine is 1) dissipating with age and 2) comprised mostly of conversational sarcastic retorts. Maybe someone could stand with me and I could just respond to them in a funny way? Haha

The dissipating with age part is a weird and unexpected thing. My Mom (whose sense of humor I usually neither find funny or understand - sorry Mom) once told me she used to be hilarious and everyone said she was funny. Used to be? How does someone used to be funny, I wondered? I totally get it now, though. My high school yearbook had the word "funny" written as an adjective for me dozens of times all over the pages. Now I feel like I'm usually more awkward than funny. Or maybe I just don't have a yearbook to capture people's thoughts? Hmmmm

Justin told me that if I was a stand-up comedian I would be a combination of Maria Bamford, Lisa Lampanelli and Daniel Tosh. I think he was basically saying that because I'm mean, loud and quirky. I didn't disagree.

Anyway, maybe when I'm 40 and all my funny has officially dissipated I'll wander into an open mic night. People get more comfortable with themselves and less afraid of embarrassment as they get older, right? That's why the geriatric strut their stuff in gym locker rooms while teenagers cower in corners?

: )

I really like cute small things

2011-05-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

And I take as many as I want from hotels!

You're Invited

2011-04-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share my recent adventures in invitation/ card making with you.

Justin's sister Elysia is getting married on the 30th and I needed to make invitations in a hurry for her bridal shower. My friend Megan has amassed a very impressive and large collection of scrapbooking supplies, so I asked if I could use her stuff and pay her for anything used. We spent an hour and a half going through paper and ideas, but I eventually threw my hands in the air and said "Forget it! Let's go to Target!"

So, we went to Target and I picked out what I deemed to be a reasonably adorable pattern. I don't know if printing on the invites was even an option, but I decided to hand write all of them. Ugh. I was sickened by the site of my own handwriting by the end.

When it came time to list Elysia's bra and underwear size I couldn't think of appropriate wording, so I decided to draw a stick figure and point to the bra and underwear areas to indicate sizing. Classy!

My friend Katie is getting married in June and even though I did not enjoy the invitation process for Elysia's, I still volunteered to make the invites for Katie's shower. Why?? With more than 30 people on Katie's guest list I knew I would not want to handwrite anything.

I picked up some neat petal envelopes at Paper Source in a Tiffany blue color and decided my other colors would be black and white. Dear, dear Megan also helped me assemble all of these invitations and provided me with some additional supplies. The invites for Katie's shower also included an inserted piece of paper in the same blue color that listed her registeries and lingerie sizing. No stick figures this time.

I sealed the petal envelopes by using punched out pieces of printed paper. I had to glue around all edges to keep it secure. Turns out the petal envelopes were my downfall because they were all returned to me with an ask for more postage. Apparently envelopes can't be square?? Bah!

Big thank you to Megan for helping me!! In fact big shout out to Megan in general. My lovely friend helped me with two sets of invites, gave me a bottle of Pasek Blackberry wine today and helped me be less dumb at Math. Love ya, lady!

IN CAKE NEWS...

My friend Heather asked me to help her with an Easter cupcake project and I readily accepted. Cupcakes soon became cake balls (the non-stick version of cake pops), which I've never made. Heather brought all of the supplies over and I served as her reluctant assistant.

I know cake pops/ balls are time consuming, but I did not know they are virtually impossible to make attractive. I think I became discouraged quickly and pouted through the entire experience. Poor Heather! You can see how difficult they are by how - interesting - they turned out. Haha. I think I'll stick with cupcakes! It was great to spend time with a friend trying something new, though.

Haha awesome

I made a frowny face to represent my feelings about cake balls

This woman must be a witch. Her cake balls and pops are flawless!!

Upcoming Adventures

2011-04-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

So, coming off the Hawaii high makes me long to travel again. I don't have any BIG trips coming up, but I have some small adventures planned. Also have ideas for big plans. : )

ACTUALLY HAPPENING - Photos come from the first image in a Google search for the name of the destination city

Trips to Chicago

I just booked two trips for work that both take me to Chicago. My first trip will be May 4-6 and my second will be June 19-21. I am not the biggest fan of Chicago, but I also haven't really seen the city. My distaste comes from the O'Hare airport, which always ruins any flight that comes near it. I don't have any friends who live in Chicago, but in case I have time to do anything fun I would love any tips on restaurants or must-see sites.

Lodi Roadtrip Wedding Extravaganza

My friend John is getting married on August 6th in Lodi, CA. I kind of pushed Justin out of the journey to be able to roadtrip with friends Sarah, Jessica and Holli. We don't even have the invites yet, but we already have a schedule in place (that requires a ::GULP:: 3 am start time) and reserved a room at the posh Holiday Inn Express. I'm super excited for the trip and to hang out with some of my favorite people (like this girl) at the wedding.

Malibu Wedding Trip

Oh, did I mention I've been invited to like 7 weddings that all take place before November? Yeash! One of these is between Justin's lovely aunt Sherry and her boyfriend Mark. I'm not positive I will be going to this wedding, but I'm hoping to. Wedding on the beach in Malibu when it is gross and grey in Seattle October? Yes, please!

Texas Christmas Trip

Justin's wonderful grandparents live in Texas. It is a tradition in the family to reunite at Christmas. Justin and I went down to Texas for Christmas in 2009, but didn't go this past Christmas. It is usually pretty pricey to fly down, but will be worth it for family and a possible trip across the border to Mexico for cheap margaritas!

WISHFUL THINKING

Alaskan Cruise

I really fell in love with cruising after our honeymoon cruise in 2009. It is a great way to see many different places and considering it includes food, lodging and entertainment is pretty cheap. I haven't been to Alaska and we can leave right from Seattle on a cruise. The summer is the only time I would want to go on a cruise, so if we don't go this summer we will have to wait until next summer. I think I will look for last minute travel deals for August and September.

Ireland/ Scotland/ England

These destinations have been at the top of my list for places to visit FOREVER. I want to visit them so very, very much! I would love to get a vacation rental in Ireland or Scotland and journey to the other countries from there. Or backpack and go on the cheap. I've talked to my friend Heather about a possible couple trip, but this is just talk. ; )

Abu Dhabi

Haha okay this one may be a long shot. My friend Jill lives in Abu Dhabi and I believe still plans to stay there another year. Whyyyyy? I have toyed with the idea of visiting her. Mostly because I like her, but also because when else would I ever, ever go there?

I ran into Jill's friend Shauna (twice in a week actually) and she actually did visit Jill quite recently. She echoed my thoughts - when else would you go there?? I'd like to combo it with a trip to Egypt or India. Okay, Egypt is out for obvious reasons. Traveling by myself to these places is maybe not the best idea.

Volunteer Travel

I like helping others and I also like travel, so combo those two and wam bam awesome. Habitat for Humanity has trips to New Zealand (yes, please!) and other cool places. My friend did a H for H tript to Bali and loved it. See Bali-themed cupcakes to celebrate her departure. There are also super cheap trips through this organization. Maybe South Africa, India or Thailand?

What do you think? Where are you going in the next year?

Discovering Happiness

2011-04-06T22:29:00.000-07:00

I'm going to pretend for a little bit that this blog isn't seen by lots of people - many of whom I don't even know. I'm not going to try to include a lot of photos to catch your eye or try to make you laugh. Not this time.

I don't talk about this to many people because it is, frankly, embarrassing but I struggle with sadness. Depression is the technical gross word for it. I like to just say I'm sad - it's less depressing sounding. Bunnies can be sad. Kittens. Pandas. Cute things can be sad. Lately, I've been much sadder than I can remember being in the last few years.

Mostly, I become sad for no real reason. Feeling lonely is the main cause. But I've felt lonely in a room full of people celebrating me. I can feel lonely if I write a blog and no one comments on it or send a text that doesn't get a response. I can feel sad and lonely when someone is shouting compliments at me. I can feel sad when it's cold and grey (which is alot in Seattle, right?) or when I work at home and have no one to talk to. I can feel sad when a purring cat is nuzzling me.

When I'm sad I want to have a concrete reason for it - someone or something to blame. The weather. My job. Where we live. My weight. My husband. My friends. Not having many hobbies. In actuality, it's no one or no things' fault that I'm sad, but my own. I need to change my thinking and my outlook. I need to find happiness in the small and the large. I need to do more. See more. Live more. You can't be sad when you have no time to realize you are, right?

But how does one change their thinking and discover real happiness? Happiness that runs deep. Is there more to it than changing outlook? Do I need to change my surroundings? Wait for the sun to come out?

What makes you happy? How do you combat sadness?

The Latest in Cake

2011-04-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

So, I've been asked to make the wedding cake for my friend Katie's wedding in June. Since my skills are still very limited I'm happy that she wants me to make only the portion her and Peter will cut into and not enough for 250 guests. : )

Katie sent me a bunch of photos from The Knot of cakes she likes. I asked her to narrow them down to 3 and she narrowed them down to...8. Haha. These are just ideas and I'm still not sure what route I want to take.

KATIE'S FAVES:

She thinks the cutest is the one with orange flowers in the bottom left corner.

LIZ'S FAVES (Not that what I think matters when it is her wedding!)
I like both the first one and the bottom one with buttercream the most.

So many ideas are swirling in my head. The cake will be either 1 or 2 tiers. I am leaning toward 2 small tiers. I am also one of Katie's bridesmaids, so that is the main reason I don't want to take on more than I can handle. I'm not sure if I want to do a finished-looking all frosting cake or attempt fondant.

When I saw Katie's dress it gave me an idea for the cake that would mimic her dress. The cake would be an all shimmery champagne color on the bottom layer and the top would be ivory and mimic lace. Just an idea.

What do you think? Which cakes do you like? Do you have any cool ideas or amazing cakes you've seen that would be good inspiration?

In other cake/cupcake news:

Using one of my many Michael's gift cards, I signed up for a beginning cake decorating class. It was kind of a process because I had to wait for them to print out all of the documents. I just kind of assumed the class was on Tuesday or Wednesday. When I got home I looked at the flier and the class is on Fridays from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. I am not going to take 4 classes on a Friday night! Boo!
My friend Sarah had a gathering for high school friends a couple weeks ago. She recently made her own kitchen island (crazy awesome) and joked about it being an Island Party. I took this as a reason to make island-themed cupcakes. I was also filled with longing for Hawaii at the time. Check out the results on Sarah's blog. Here is a photo Justin took:

Hawaii - Part 2

2011-03-28T23:20:00.000-07:00

Have you been waiting with bated breath for the second installment?? Good

DAY 4

Justin and I (well, mostly Justin) purchases a number of Hawaii Groupons in the months before our trip. One of them being a tour of Pearl Harbor and historical Hawaii. The tour left at the ungodly hour of 6:30 am. Uggghh. Our tour guide was a lovely little native named Tony.

Pearl Harbor

Admittedly, I am pretty dumb. I don't know much about most things and it turns out this is true of Pearl Harbor and its history. Well, I know the basics but it was interesting to learn much more. Pearl Harbor consisted of a museum, video presentation and ferry boat to the memorial over the USS Arizona.

Historic/ Modern Hawaii

This portion of the tour was a little disappointing because we didn't get out of the bus to see anything. Kinda lame, but still very interesting tour. We stopped outside of 'Iolani Palace, which I'm sure is just as lovely inside as it is outside. We then drove up to the Punchbowl Cemetary that overlooks Honolulu. I'd love to have such a good view when I'm dead. On the way to Punchbowl we passed government offices and the home of Dog the Bounty Hunter - not sure why he hasn't upgraded the office...

View from Punchbowl

On the way down from Punchbowl we passed by Barak's high school and the apartment he grew up in. Pretty modest digs for a future president.

After our tour we went to the very large Ala Moana mall for lunch. Then it was off to Diamond Head State Park. Diamond Head is basically a very large hill with a trail and stairs leading to the top. It was once a coastal artillery observation platform - built in 1908. Event though the trek wasn't very treacherous, it was very humid, so we got were sweaty and tired.

The view at the top was more than worth it!

On the way down it started to rain. Very, very hard

We ended our busy day with a few beers at Kona Brewery. I'm pretty in love with this brewery because their beer is delicious and...well that's about it.

DAY 5

On Saturday we started the day off right with breakfast at Big City Diner where Justin had another Loco Moco and I had delicious macadamia nut pancakes.

We then decided to use another Groupon for kayaking in Kailua. I don't think we could've picked a worse day to go since it was raining quite a lot. We kayaked out to a small island and got out to walk around. We tried to snorkel off the island, but I ended up floating around in a fit of laughter over the impossibility of walking on rocks with flippers and the ridiculous rain situation.

After kayaking I think I took a nap and then we rode bikes to a local surf bar - Boardriders. The special was Kamakazi shots! After the surf bar we rode to the Kailua Pub. You can definitely be too drunk to ride a bicycle. Haha. After we got home we took a rest and then headed to The Shack for $1 wells. $1 wells...on a Saturday night. A Saturday! That was a sloppy night.

DAY 6

On Sunday we ate breakfast at a lovely crepe place called Crepes No Ka 'Oi. We then headed to a more secluded beach area down in the Southeast corner of Oahu. Beautiful!

In the evening we drove to the west side of the island for the Paradise Cove Luau. The night was filled with lots of activities, entertainment and food. I wish the food had been better and there were unlimited drinks, but the entertainment was great and an overall awesome experience.

Gorgeous!

My Polynesian tattoo

I had a crush on this guy

DAY 7 - The End : (

Our last day in Hawaii. Awwww. We had breakfast at a popular Kailua spot called Cinnamon's. Justin had...shocker...Loco Moco.

We packed up and headed toward Honolulu/ Waikiki. Went to the same beach we went to our first day and then another beach. Trying to soak up as much sun as possible! We went back to the Kona Brewery for happy hour and ate dinner at BluWater Grill. I had a couple of delicious passion fruit mojitos and filet mignon.

We then made our way to the airport. Justin insisted we finish the rest of the rum we bought from Costco earlier in the week, which led to a less than sober trip through security and on the plane.

These birds were everywhere. They are terribly awkward looking

Passion fruit mojito. Yum

Airplane back to Bellingham. Rain. Cold. Sadness

Sigh.

Moving to Hawaii in 2013 : )

Hawaii - Part 1

2011-03-21T23:06:00.000-07:00

For the last month I've been terrible at reading my friend's blogs and writing in my own. Not toooo much is going on these days except being incredibly busy. We went to Hawaii the first week of March and since I haven't even posted photos anywhere else, I'm going to tell you about that adventure.

I may also touch on the depths of sadness that wash over us on a daily basis since. I love Hawaii and Justin and I are already making plans to move there in 2013. : )

DAY 1
Justin and I drove to Bellingham to catch our 5 pmish flight. We got such a good deal because Alaska just began direct service from Bellingham to Honolulu. My good friend Taune was nice enough to let us park at her apartment and drive us to the tiny B-ham airport.

We got into Honolulu at 10 pmish and got to our vacation rental in Kailua after 11. The room we had was...not great. Not at all. That's what you get for being cheap I guess.

DAY 2
We went to Mokes Bread & Breakfast for breakfast. At this time, Justin first fell in love with an island dish called Loco Moco (a combination of rice, egg, hamburger and gravy). After breakfast, we drove to University of Hawaii's Aloha Stadium in Honololu for the Wednesday swap meet. I've never been to a swap meet so large! I bought the most delicious pineapple covered with a red seasoning called Li Hing and Justin bought a coconut. News to me: I hate Coconut water/ milk. I also hate fresh coconut.

After the swap meet, we stopped at Costco to stock up on cheap alcohol. And oh man is the alcohol cheap!! Gallons for nearly nothing compared to Washington. Hawaiian Costco also has an entire aisle dedicated to macadamia nut products. It's pretty magical.

Since the sun was out we decided a trip to the beach was a requirement. We stopped at Ala Moana beach, which certainly isn't the most magnificent beach around, but it was great to be in the sun and near the water.

After the beach we headed back to Kailua and got a lot of much-needed items at the drug store and then ate dinner at a local Thai restaurant. We weren't aware of all the great dining options yet - if we had been I wouldn't have chosen a random Thai place. We ended the night with a drink at a sport's bar.

DAY 3
On Thursday we decided a trip to the North Shore was a must do. We headed along the east coast and up north. Along the way we stopped at beaches and took in the sights. At one beach we tried hopelessly to get photos of sea turtles, but they allusive little bitches.

We stopped at the Polynesian Cultural Center, but it doesn't have a lot to offer if you aren't paying to do something there - except these cool tiki statues.

We briefly drove through BYU's Hawaiian campus. I am obviously not Mormon, but the Mormon's have my respect for thinking to put a campus in paradise. Funny enough their other campuses are in Utah and Idaho, which I would define as the opposite of paradise.

Eventually we ended up at the city of Halei'wa, which is a quaint little beach town with lots of cute shops and restaurants. A friend recommended a Mexican restaurant called Cholo's, so we stopped there for lunch. I am very impressed by their name, but found their food really underwhelming. You win some, you lose some.

After stopping in Hale'iwa we moved on to the Dole Plantation. I am a big fan of pineapple and learning new things, but the Dole Plantation is not a place I would recommend if you have anything else to do. It consisted of a large area to buy things and attractions that are pretty lame after all the pineapples have been harvested. We did hop on the Pineapple Express train ride, which is still pretty lame when there are no pineapples to look at.

After a ride on the express we made our way back to Kailua. Kailua has a farmer's market on Thursday nights, so we headed to the market to check it out and eat dinner. Justin got kalua pork, I got crab corn chowder and we both got lumpia (that took fooooreeeever to make). I also snacked on a delicious Pineapple Vanilla OnoPop for dessert.

That's it for Round 1 of Hawaii. Stay tuned for the next installment!

MOTHERF***ING BRAIN CANCER!!

2011-02-13T23:43:00.000-08:00

Did my title get your attention? Good!

Oh, man. Monday started out like any other Monday at home working in my pajamas. I saw a call from my friend Sarah B and considered not picking it up b/c I assumed it was a butt dial. Sarah and I aren't big phone people - especially in the morning on a work day. My curiosity got the better of me.

At first I couldn't tell if Sarah was really amused by something or near tears. Turns out it was the latter. She had just gotten off the phone with Sara M, who said her husband Kyle (and our good friend) was currently at Swedish in Seattle. Half of his body had gone numb and he was taken to the hospital where they found he had a large brain tumor. I started crying as soon as she said brain tumor. We both cried and blubbered. Then I called Sara M and we cried.

Fucking Brain Tumors. Should I be cursing on my blog? Well, I don't care, I'm going to. When Sarah said brain tumor it brought a rush of horrible memories back to me. My Dad passed away from brain cancer when I was in high school. He had an aggressive form that was inoperable and he only lived about 6 months. It was the most devastating time of my life to watch my Dad go from a brilliant, funny guy to unresponsive.

Sara M didn't know what kind of tumor it was yet, but said she would let me know when they got the results from the MRI. I know myself and many other people who knew about Kyle probably couldn't focus most of the day on Monday. Sara M finally called me in the late afternoon and GOOD NEWS! Kyle's tumor is benign and can be removed easily - well easy for brain surgery. PHEW!

Although Kyle's brain mass was ultimately not cancerous, I kind of feel like brain cancer is all around me lately. Last week I read that celebrated local newswoman Kathi Goertzen has brain cancer and then I received an e-mail from the Western Journalism Department informing me that my college PR teacher had passed away from brain cancer. WTF?

I was only in real distress over Kyle during the five hours when I didn't know what the diagnosis was, but overall the last week has made me take a look at life, my friends, my family and how brief everything can be. If you are reading this and I consider you a friend or family member, know that I love you. I may not express that enough or even know how to express it sometimes, but I do. Very much!

P.S. Kyle had surgery on Wednesday and is doing well so far!

Adventures in Antiquing

2011-02-06T22:27:00.000-08:00

For the most part I like things that are new. New furniture. New jewelry. New cars. New buildings. When I was younger I used to really enjoy making old things new and buying the bulk of my clothes at Value Village. At some point I either really fell deeply in love with Target or got tired of rummaging through things to find treasures.

So, when my dear friend Sara suggested I meet up with her and my other dear friend Sarah (try not to be confused by the name similarity) to do some "antiquing" I don't think I was suuuper excited. But I was super excited to see them and I am usually up for doing pretty much anything, so I gladly agreed. Sara suggested we check out antique malls in Puyallup.

The Sara(h)s both own their homes and are much better than me at putting old things to good, modern uses, and heart antiques. So, it is amusing that I was the one who alerted them to a HUGE ANTIQUE SHOW happening that very same weekend at the Puyallup Fairgrounds. It features more than (gulp) 425 booths!

With the antique show as our new destination, we met at the fairgrounds in the morning this past Saturday. There were as many antique people as there were objects. On average I guess antiquing isn't so much a young person's hobby. I was very overwhelmed by the large number of booths and people. Somewhat thankfully 95% of the booths didn't accept credit cards and that's all I had to pay with.

I spotted a few pretty crazy awesome antiques and I asked Sara to take photos of them.

I really feel like these two statues should
be sold as a set.

Yep, that's Ronald Reagan as a teapot.
His nose is the spout.

Oh, man. This is pretty horrifying.
Who wouldn't want a spinal cord lamp
in their living room??

I don't have a photo of him, but there was also a Abraham Lincoln impersonator at the show. They had a special Presidential Camp set up for him. Haha. We were at the show for a few hours and my feet were killing me at the end. I didn't find anything I couldn't live without, but Sara got a planter and some cylindrical...candle holder? Sarah got a milk crate.

Even though I didn't buy anything it was definitely an experience and a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Home Ownership 101

2011-01-30T22:47:00.000-08:00

If you'll remember one of my goals for 2011 was to Learn all there is to know about home ownership. So far Justin and I've made some great first steps towards that goal.

A little background for you. Justin and I are currently in a 2 year lease at our apartment (ending in May 2012). So, we are really in no place to purchase a home yet, but that doesn't mean I don't window shop.

What is weird about spending so much time looking and worrying about buying a house is that I still remain unconvinced that buying a house in the Seattle area is that great of an idea. I know it is an investment in your future, I know about the tax right offs, I now know about all of that stuff. But houses around here are so expensive for what your get and if you can't put a substantial amount down you end up paying out the ass in interest. Plus property taxes, HOA dues and years of home maintenance and remodels. It is a money nightmare to think about for a miser like me.

THE TOUR
Anyway, despite my many questions and apprehension, Justin and I decided to go see some houses in person. I just needed to get it out of my system. So, last Saturday we took a Redfin tour to indulge my curiosity.

First, we saw this house. I had fallen in love with this place on Redfin. It looked so perfect. This is a great example of how good photography can go a long way. The house was on the end of a street lined with single wides in a terrible neighborhood. The rooms were small and awkwardly built. I went into what I thought was a garage and found another room. When I opened the door in the room it led to a an area only a couple feet in width with the garage door in front of it. What? Why?
Second, we saw this house. It was also in a terrible neighborhood with no real redeeming characteristics. The backyard was flooded and the house was filled with poor construction materials and choices. Plus it was under the airport flight path. Yuck
Finally, we saw this house. This place was actually kind of cute. It is a single floor, but had plenty of room and was made well. However, the backyard had a fence, but neighbored a car dealership or something ugly. Pretty awful neighborhood.

In the end I was reminded how many undesirable areas there are in Seattle. Also, I learned something about Redfin. The agents who work for Redfin receive a salary and do not receive commission from the sale of a home, but instead receive a bonus only if the buyer gives them a positive review. I think that system is the main reason the guy who showed us the houses was not pushy at all and extremely honest. I like honesty.

THE CLASS
I signed us up for a Homebuying 101 class at BECU in Tukwila last Monday. I really enjoyed the class. I learned more about loans, short sales, closing costs, etc. The first speaker represented BECU and I took copious notes because everything she said was interesting. The second speaker was a realtor. I stopped taking notes a minute into her presentation because she was hard to follow, cold and condescending. Ugh I would never sign up to buy a house with her.

I did enjoy the seminar, but I hoped to leave the class filled with knowledge and excited to buy a house next year. Instead, it made me even more worried about costs. It answered a lot of my questions, but brought up a whole bunch of new ones. Justin and I aren't poor, but the idea of buying a house makes me feel like we are and makes me worry about every aspect of the process. Do you think some people just aren't meant to buy a house? Well, unless they can buy it with a majority of the cost paid upfront.

This is not a subject I pretend to know all the answers to, so I would love to hear your thoughts. Do you own a home? What was your experience in home buying and what is home ownership like now? Does the financial aspect of it stress you out or make things easier in the long run? Do you want to buy a house in the next few years?

Masters in Indecision

2011-01-24T12:25:00.000-08:00

A few months ago it dawned on me that I should go back to school. Well, it probably dawned on me a while ago, but I started taking it seriously then. I feel like I am setting out to get my Masters in the fall, but don't really know if it is the right next step for me.

I do not like school. Some people really like school and seem to make every attempt to keep going to school forever. I, however, found college to kind of be a waste of time at certain points. I am somehow smarter than the average bear, but have a great degree of difficulty retaining information. College is not organized for people like me. You are expected to learn a lot of often unrelated things in a short amount of time.

Since I don't like school, I am really only considering getting my Master's so I can 1) further my career 2) hopefully learn more about a specific field and 3) feel superior to other people (j/k!!). Unlike most people considering a Master's program, I am only looking at one school. Justin works for KPLU NPR & Jazz, which is affiliated with PLU in Tacoma. Since he is an employee I receive 75% off tuition as his spouse. Not a bad deal! PLU has an abhorrent selection of graduate programs, but they do have a MBA Program. In an ideal world I would love to go to UW because they have an amazing MBA program, but I'm also cheap. $40,000 vs. $12,000

Since I love bulleted lists, I'd like to show you the pros and cons of going back to school

PROS

Relatively inexpensive. The discount I get through Justin makes it only about $12,000 for the whole program
More experience and overall knowledge
PLU's program includes an international trip
Evening program that meets 2 days a week would make working and schooling quite possible
Opportunity to advance my career

CONS

Still costs money. If we plan to buy a house next year life will be expensive
I don't like school. Despite always being a good student, I find it hard to pay attention and retain knowledge sometimes
Not sure PLUs program is all that good. Wasn't terribly impressed at the January info session
Will involve Math. Math is bad and I think I have to relearn all of it
Is the program right for my needs? What are my needs?
Not sure it will help my career. What am I doing with my life?
I don't want to lock Justin into working at KPLU for another two years, so I can get a discount

When it comes down to it, I think I want a Master's degree just to have a Master's degree. I guess there are worse reasons. So far, my first steps have been attending the info session and enrolling in South Seattle Community College to take a Statistics pre reg in the Spring. Next steps: applying and taking the GMAT

What are your thoughts?

A Tale of Two Fatties: Past & Future

2011-01-20T00:12:00.000-08:00

My goal to lose weight is inspired by currently being pretty husky. Blogging about it at least once is inspired by this chick and this chick. Please join me on a historical journey through the history of Justin & I being fat...and not that fat. Then look at our goals and cheer us on.

Justin and I both started out as dramatically gorgeous babies and children (sorry no photos available, so just believe me). After age 6 or 7 we plumped up significantly. I've never been a "skinny" person. Actually, up until my senior year of high school I was overweight practically my whole life. I started exercising like crazy and eating less as a senior and maybe got down to 130...for like a day. By the time I left for college I had already gained some weight back. Causing my mother to ask if I'd already gained the Freshman 15. Thanks, Mom!

Justin played football in high school, so he was pretty fit the entire time. In fact, I'm convinced if Justin and I had gone to high school together we would not have even spoken to one another. Cuz he was a cool kid and I was not. Haha

We dressed like this every day

Heeeey, what's your name?

When I got to college I remained on the chunkier side until I slimmed down slightly after...sophomore year? I have no idea how much I weighed at any given time. I will guess I hovered between 145 and 155? Between sophomore and senior year of college I think I felt pretty good about myself. Probably wanted to lose some weight, but nothing drastic.

Justin was on the svelte side for some time after he got out of college. He stopped smoking at some point and the plumping began. Apparently, smoking is good for something.


	Nice helmet

Justin and I looked roughly the same as above when we met. He was pretty overweight and I was okay. I wanted to lose weight, but probably weighed slightly under or over 160. My first job out of college put me on the road and away from Seattle 6 days a week. I think the sadness of this caused Justin to not eat for 8 months. He lost roughly 50 pounds during that time.


Awkward pose	Good work, sir

Look at us lookin' good together

I had hoped to lose weight for our wedding in September '09, but that didn't really happen. I didn't look too bad, so it's okay. After we got married we settled back into our routine. We went on our honeymoon in December, which was filled with lots and lots of food. I think that started the slippery slope. By the time I knew it I weighed nearly 190 pounds by May '10.

I feel like my weight gain effects every aspect of my life. Naturally, I feel much less attractive, which makes me less outgoing. I don't want to meet new people. I have no energy for exercise or physical activity and I hate getting dressed in the morning. I'm also mad at myself for gaining so much weight in such a short period of time. If I'd just been paying attention and got on a scale! I know I have to lose weight to feel good about myself again. The only positive about the way my body gains weight is that my boobs grow exponentially with the rest of me. : )

Now, it is January 2011 and this is what Justin and I look like:


198 lbs	280 lbs

Our Goals

My goal is to lose at least 25 pounds by the end of April and an additional 15 or 20 pounds by the end of June. My goal weight would be 150 or 145 pounds, but anything significantly less than now is an improvement. Justin wants to lose 50 pounds eventually, taking him down to 23o pounds.

I don't really have a strategy planned. Honestly, I eat pretty terribly and way too much at times. I plan on exercising at least 4 times a week in some way and just eating sensibly. Also, drinking a lot more water.

I hope you will encourage me along the way. I don't plan on blogging about any weight loss very often, but motivation from my friends and family would be great! I also would love to do more active things. So, instead of getting dinner or going to a movie, maybe we can go for a walk around Greenlake?

Thanks for reading!

Introducing That Girl: A Guest Blog

2011-01-18T12:29:00.000-08:00

Forward by Liz McNeil

Hi everyone. So, in case you didn't know my blog is H-O-T right now. So hot that my good friend Ms. Heather R. Sambrook requested she be allowed to test out the blogging world by guest blogging on Life as Liz. Since Heather is as, if not more, witty and fabulous than myself I responded with an excited, "Please do! I would adore it!"

Give Heather a warm welcome and please leave a comment to support her blogging efforts!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blogging is the new black. It seems like all I hear about whether it be at work, from friends or from “the media” in talking about social media.

In my role as a marketer in a mid-size company, I see so much possibility in the way businesses can utilize this (usually) free media, engaging their customers and building buzz.

In my real life, as a 24-year-old girl from the ‘burbs, I love blogs. I like funny blogs. I like cute blogs. Long blogs and short blogs, its like looking through the window into someone’s mind and seeing what is most important to them. The way people manipulate their blogs and address what is happening in their life (here, now and for reals). Yes!

So, as an avid consumer of other peoples’ wittiness, cleverness, humor, and ideas, I have wanted to write a blog. Just dabble. Maybe a witty post here and there to showcase my own awesomeness.

BUT, here’s the problem. I have a job. And a social life. And a boyfriend. All three major time-suckers. Only probably because I also like to sleep everyday. (Some people, I know!). But now, Liz has agreed to let me guest blog!!!

HOORAY! I can try it out without the commitment. I wish all of life were like this! Imagine, “Oh, I’d like to take these jeans home, wear them a couple times, then decide if I’d like to buy them”, or “Yeah, this place looks nice, but I should probably live here awhile before making a decision”, or even, “Yes, I will order this plate of food, but if the person I am eating with’s looks better, I’m switching *Insert cute smile with arms up adorably image here*.

SO, awesome people who follow Liz’s blog (and I know you’re wonderful because she has very discerning taste and is incredibly witty and awesome herself), please let me know what you would most like to hear about. Here are some of my first ideas:

Awesome words that I have learned from Liz and how they make my life better.
Coupons, and how they are taking over my life (Groupons, especially Groupons, included.
The Pros/Cons of Bridesmaids
Grab-bag (something AH-MAZING to be determined at a later time, like when I’m not at work…)

So, leave a comment and expect something wonderful in a week or so! Christmas is coming early this year kids! Or, well, really maybe a little late, but I’m glass half full, so it’s coming early.

Sincerely,
Your Guest Blogger,
Heather

It's Not All About Me, Volume II

2011-01-15T16:30:00.000-08:00

I was in the middle of writing another blog for unveiling, but was inspired to slip in a different post first.

Last week I was contacted by a guy at our old building on Capitol Hill who informed me a package with my name on it was there. So considerate to tell me! Thanks, Steve. Anyway, I thought, "What fool is sending packages to our place from 2 years ago??" : ) I found out who the package was from beforehand, but just picked it up today.

Look what I got:

Okay, so far this blog does sound like it's all about me. It's not. The package came from my friend Jill who is currently living in the armpit of the world, Abu Dhabi. Don't be embarrassed if you don't know where that is, I didn't. I've included a map for your reference. Jill is on her second year of teaching in the deserty region and even though I do not envy her general location I am continually impressed by her many adventures.

Jill is the kind of friend you talk to other friends about. Maybe because she lives in the armpit of the world, which is always interesting. Or maybe because she is wonderfully unique, incredibly creative, always generous or super cute. Pretty much her only downfall is she keeps befriending Canadians in Abu Dhabi. Ewww Canadians.

Jill blogs about all the cool stuff she makes and her weekend vacays to India, Egypt and Jordan. Most importantly, she blogs about NOVELTY SNACKS. I love reading them and wish I could go on so many faraway excursions.

When I was doing some of my own traveling, she sent care packages that would be waiting at my hotels before I got there. She just thinks to do stuff like that. Here I am enjoying a mud mask sent to me. I've known Jill for a relatively short time compared to some of my other friendships, but I know she's a keeper. Not that I routinely throw away friends. Haha.

Anyway, thanks for the stuff, Jill! Sorry I publicly made fun of Abu Dhabi...and Canadians, but hopefully this makes you smile. Or smirk bemusedly? Anything?

Also, I have so many cupcake cups now! I really need to get around to making ALOT of them. I want to use the cupcake stands like whoa. I've looked on Etsy and think there is a serious market for individual cupcake stands out there. I think I might start with these as a template since they come in pieces and make some of my own.

Two Very Different Books

2011-01-12T23:10:00.000-08:00

Since I only read about 6.5 books a year, you needn't worry about me writing many blogs about my adventures in reading. However, I read two books since Christmas that I found worthy of discussion.

The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

A friend gifted this book and Rule's telling of the Green River Killer to me as a Christmas present. Although I am very interested in true crime stories I was mildly embarrassed to receive both at the same time. Only because I thought the Thai restaurant patrons would think I was creepy for some reason.

I'm going to assume you know at least something about Ted Bundy and his connection to the Pacific Northwest. I thought I knew a good amount, but this book opened my eyes to how uniquely horrific he was. I also realized I didn't really know that much about him or what he did. I'm kind of okay with that. Some random thoughts:

I feel like I've heard a dozen stories from people who say their mom new Ted Bundy or somehow have a connection to him. This guy got a round, so it is quite possible anyone living in Florida, Washington, Utah and Colorado could be separated from him by six degrees or less.
Ann Rule knew Ted personally. They worked at a help line (iroooony) together for three years and he confided in her for years during his trials and imprisonment. This connection to Ted made her an unreliable author. Ted Bundy was so unbelievably awful that I would've flicked the switch to his electric chair myself. So, reading along as someone doubts his guilt, talks about how charming/attractive he is constantly and empathizes with him the whole way was mildly disturbing.
The creepiest part about this book, and society in general, is it shows that if you're even mildly attractive and charming you can get away with murder - literally. People fell in love with Ted Bundy everywhere he went and some fool even married him and birthed his baby when he was in prison. Plus, law enforcement retards let him get out of jail on two separate occasions. The second time he went to Florida and killed 3 more poor women.

Anyway, serial killers suck ass. Rule's attention to detail and my overall rage about what Bundy was able to get away with kept me glued to the book. It was also interesting and frightening to read about so many familiar places - UW, Seattle, Tacoma, etc. Intriguing read.

One Day by David Nicholls
I read this book in the truck on our way up to WA from California. I ordered this book because Entertainment Weekly led me to believe it was about two people who have a one night stand and then decide to meet on the same day every year to smush. It was not about that at all, but still very good.

Are you a When Harry Met Sally fan? You should be. Despite thinking Meg Ryan is awful and finding Billy Crystal unsexual, this is one of my favorite movies. Most love stories in movies and even books are based on pure passion and brief heated affairs. When Harry Met Sally is one of those rare gems that is about best friends who fall in love and live happily ever after. I heart when friends become lovers.

Anywho, One Day is similar to WHMS. It's about Emma & Dexter who have one night of snuggling and snogging and continue to be friends for the next 20 years. I can say snogging because they are British. Oh, how I love the British. Em & Dex face trials and tribulations over the course of their lives and the question of whether or not they will ever get together looms throughout. It doesn't help that Dexter is an incurable man whore in search of fame and Emma is bookish and conservative.

The book was engrossing and a tear jerker for sure. I hear Anne Hathaway is slated to play Emma in the big screen version. Hmmm whatevs

Road Trip

2011-01-10T19:34:00.000-08:00

Justin and I went on a weeklong vaca and just got back on Saturday. I don't feel like doing much writing, but I'll give you the highlights.

We flew down to Los Angeles on New Year's Eve. We stayed with these people:

Aren't they totes adorb?

We did a lot of shopping when we got off the plane and saw this guy:

New Years Dog

We went to Carissa's friends' house in Irvine for New Year's Eve and I did this (note the adorable little woman in purple). I'm not a good dancer and I think you can see familial embarrassment on my cousin's face.

We hung out with our cruise friends and saw my aunt and uncle. I fell in love with a baby who smiled at me alot. We went to Denny's twice in three days.

Why are you the only place open 24 hours with alcohol?

Then we went to Justin's aunt's place in Studio City. Her boyfriend Mark is part of one, or several, fancy Hollywood guilds. So, we watched awesome movies still in theatres while we were there. We saw:

The Fighter - I have no idea what all the hype around this movie is. It wasn't terrible, but just kind of lack luster. Waaaa waaaaa. Plus, I may never find Christian Bale attractive again. C-

127 Hours - Looooved it. Amazing story. Great acting. A-

Casino Jack - I saw less than half of this, but I give what I did see a D

I Love You Phillip Morris - Interesting story and pretty good acting. B-

True Grit - This was really good up until the end, which kind of made the rest of the movie seem not so great anymore. The young girl in it should def get an Oscar nod. B-

We left Studio City in a Penske moving truck filled with lots of old stuff and headed back to Seattle. We stopped in Lodi, CA and saw these people. We drank beer, talked about weddings and admired all the red and black in John's apartment.

We left Lodi and drove to Medford, OR. We drank wine on the way (not in the car, at wineries). Stayed at my favorite hotel chain - Hampton Inn. Drove from Medford, OR to Salem, OR. We stopped in Grants Pass and got this at a questionable looking Chinese restaurant:

So much greasy food

After more wineries and more driving, we got to Puyallup Saturday evening. We unloaded the truck and Season 3 of Hoarders played out in front of my eyes.

1,107 Miles. 3 Hotels. 1.5 Million Calories Consumed. 6 Wineries. 1 Book Read. 5 Sets of Friends & Family Seen. $100 in Movie Tickets Saved. 110 Gallons of Gas

What Santa Brought

2010-12-28T15:34:00.000-08:00

So, I have many ideas swirling in my head for blog posts. When I posed some of the ideas to Justin he suggested I get this one out of the way first because it is the most timely. Also, prob the least weird. Aren't you excited for the future blog posts now??

Christmas came and went on the 25th. I still have gift exchanges to come, but I thought I would show you some of the neat things I received so far.

A large box wrapped in damask paper sat in our living room for about a week. I did some gentle foot nudging and declared it was a Kitchenaid Mixer. Justin told me if I thought I was getting a mixer I would be greatly disappointed. I also surmised it might be a sedated baby French Bulldog. However, on the 25th I unwrapped the big box and yes, it was a mixer. A beautiful one with lots of wattage and a giant bowl that lifts up and down. We can make cupcakes, bread, pasta, etc, etc!

We went over to my Mom's for Christmas. Dinner was delicious and unique. Justin and I received a bounty of gifts, but I'll share some of the highlights. Apparently my mom struck upon Liz gift-giving gold at some hotel gift shop in California. I recieved individual cupcake stands (shown below) that are so damn precious I could spit pink. They scream bridal or baby shower to me. I went to their web site and was disappointed to see how pricey they are. Guess I will have to use these as a template and make my own!

At the same place my mom and aunt picked up some precious cupcake accessories from Meri Meri. Cute cupcake liners and a carrying case that looks like a tiny French Patisserie.

From the same hotel gift shop my mom picked up this oven mitt from Heavenly Hostess. I am in love with damask, so this is perfect for me.

Those are the highlights. I also just realized that the gifts I'm sharing with you make me look like Mrs. Susie Homemaker. NOT TRUE. I never cook, but these items happen to be quite loveable.

Awkward Family Photo 2010

2010-12-22T11:01:00.000-08:00

So, Justin and I first decided to do an awkward family photo in 2008 because I had a gift card to the Picture People and the Picture People allows you to bring cats. It was quite the adventure, but purposely looking ridiculous is a passion of mine. I don't know how long we will be able to get away with these. Actually, it may already be a little sad and weird, but I don't really care.

I prepared for our photo shoot by making a trip to the Kent K-Mart. I was probably there for an hour mulling over my options for ridiculous seasonal sweaters. I finally settled on matching red zip-ups with snowflake detailing from the Women's section. I'm not quite large enough yet for plus size (Yaaay) so I used a binder clip to gather all the extra fabric behind me. As I was walking around K-mart I began envisioning how we would pose in the photo shoot. I decided it must include holiday mugs, so I purchased those.

We took our own photos this year because the Picture People is not worth it if you don't have a gift card. However, not having a clicker for the camera and trying to wrangle a sassy cat is not recommended. As I went through the photos after the nightmarish shoot, I realized the damn mugs are in every photo. Who wants mugs in every photo? We don't like invisible hot chocolate that much.

What we sent out

Some other gems

Liz's Favorite Things: The Holidays

2010-12-20T21:08:00.000-08:00

I thought I would start a new blog tradition: Liz's Favorite Things. I will have themes to my favorite things lists and I hope you will get as excited about them as you would Oprah's Favorite Things. Don't expect to get anything for free, though. I'm not made of money, people. Also, because I like discussing how much I dislike things even more, I will also throw in some of my least favorite things in the chosen category. Let's begin!

Most Favorites

Hot Chocolate I feel like nobody ever remembers this about me, but I do not drink coffee or tea. However, I am quite the hot chocolate connoisseur. I'm very picky about my hot chocolate and enjoy the winter season because businesses put alot more effort into their hot chocolate quality and variety. Unless your Starbucks who crafts crappy cocoas all year long. My most favorite cocoa is from Bay Street Coffee Co. in Bremerton. Mmmmm marshmallow flavoring.

Christmas Movies I'm not a huge fan of holiday music. I do like most of it, but years of working retail during the holiday season has made me a little on edge around Christmas music for long periods of time. Christmas movies, however I like mucho. Bad Santa, A Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life, Home Alone, etc. I'd have to say A Christmas Story is definitely my favorite. There's nary a scene to forget in a movie filled with Red Ryder BB guns, family hijinks, frozen tongues and, of course, sex-oozing leg lamps.

Mail Even in this age of electronic mail and go-green mentality, everyone loves getting mail. Real mail. Made of paper. In your mailbox. Christmas is the one time of year where you can find something awesome in your mailbox every day from December 15th to December 31st. I love getting holiday cards and presents in the mail. Loooove it. I even get excited when someone asks me for my address because then I know to expect something in the mail. Don't judge me.

Family Photos I may be alone in this, but I think "professional" family photos are almost always very unnatural and awkward. Everyone usually looks uncomfortable and anything done in a portrait studio reminds me of Walmart. But I also basically live off awkwardness. It feeds my soul. So, just like I look forward to mail, I also look forward to seeing the slew of family photos that pop up on Facebook. For those who haven't received your copy in the mail, I am not going to reveal our 2010 family portrait session yet. Instead, please enjoy a look back at 2008.

Snow I'm not really into winter sports. Being a poor kid from Bremerton, I did not really get the opportunity to ski very often. So, I don't ski or snowboard. I'm fine with this since it saves me oodles of money over my lifetime. Also, when King County is hit by a Snowpocalypse I tend to stay indoors for however many days it takes for the MADNESS to end. However, I greatly appreciate the existence of snow. There are people who live in such hot hell holes that they will never experience snow. It also makes everything look so pure, twinkly and beautiful. Snowfall makes me happy even if I don't want to hang out in it.

Least Favorites

Poorly Hung Lights I commend anyone who cares enough about Christmas to climb all about their roof to hang a string of lights. I also commend those people who manage to get them down before April. Christmas lights can be very impressive and an excellent way to create unnecessary neighborhood anxiety/competition. However, when strung poorly Christmas lights do nothing for me. In fact, they drive me a little crazy.


GOOD	BAD

Trying to Go Places I'm a procrastinator by nature, so I usually end up trying to buy presents in the final weeks before Christmas when everyone and their mom is doing the same thing. I get so frustrated and claustrophobic in crowded areas that I just want to start punching everyone. HULK SMASH! I won't even leave my apartment on Black Friday. No sale is that important to me. Aside from the difficulties of local travel, prices for airfare go up ALOT.

That's it!!

It's not all about me

2010-12-17T10:44:00.000-08:00

I often feel like a blog can be very me, me, me, look at me, MEEEEEEEE. So, why not write about other people who do neat things? Sound good? Okay, cool.

I'm assuming my friend Katie has been interested in cooking since she was a wee child, but I didn't realize how in love with cooking she was until we were out of college. It was around then that she started doing weekly dinners with her friend Sally (her real name). They've been doing weekly dinners for about 3 years I think. Note: I also realized how much she loves cooking when she leased an apartment that is 2/3 kitchen and 1/3 living space.

Sally & Katie trade off cooking each week and make a unique recipe. Well, unique and new to them. When I lived in Seattle I received an open-ended invitation to these dinners whether they were at Sally's or Katie's. I made dinners for them on occasion, but the burden of feeling like a mooch still weighs heavy on me. Note: I should preface this by mentioning that Katie is one of the most generous and inclusive people I've ever met - if you are new to a city find a Katie. I don't know too many people who would be cool with someone coming over week after week and eating their food.

Katie in the middle with Sally on the left and
Sally's roommate Emily on right

It took me a while to realize that they liked having more people around to eat and critique their food. What is the point of cooking without someone to enjoy it? Why would I make cupcakes without someone to eat them? When I offered to prepare dinner Katie and Sally usually just looked offended like I was taking away their week to cook.

Katie & Sally are now on their (2nd, 3rd?) volume of books documenting their recipes. Every meal they've made was captured by camera and then they compiled a recipe book combining the recipes —I'm assuming only the good ones and not chipotle my-mouth-is-on-fire chicken, right?

Anyway, I bring all this up because Katie's love of making food for others has actually turned into a small side business. When I got engaged Katie and Sally asked if they could cater the wedding. I said of course if it would work with the venue. But then I realized I also wanted Katie to be my bridesmaid. I know the idea of a catering bridesmaid makes some people cringe, so we will just say that somehow that ended up being successful.

Katie cutting lasagna

I had to put this because Katie's mom is adorable

Yummy food! Contact Katie for all your small catering needs!

TANGENT: I like to take credit for the fabulous life changes my wedding created - even if I'm imagining it. Like Erica who was once a lovely and talented photog. I saw her potential fabulousness and tapped her for the wedding. Now she is shooting weddings and engagement photos left and right! Check it

Now, more than a year after my wedding, Katie gets consistent small catering jobs. Her best clients are the people she works with. One woman has Katie cater for all her family events and has her prepare weekly dinners and lunches. Katie and Sally are also currently slated to cater an office Christmas party this season. It is small now, but I think she will continue to grow and maybe one day she can quit her day job! GOOOOOO Katie!

Whether it is photography, food, craftiness, a way with words, etc. I have such wonderfully talented friends. : )

Cupcakes, Cakes & Related Creations

2010-12-14T11:53:00.000-08:00

So, a while back I posted a blog showcasing some of the cakes and cupcakes I've made. Here is another round of that.

I made cupcakes for a baby shower at my old job. Just basic cupcakes and frosting with "It's a Girl" toppers I made.

PROS: Toppers turned out pretty well

CONS: Don't use chocolate cake with white/ pink wrappers. Also, don't dump the top layer of your cake caddy on the bottom layer.

Halloween seemed like the perfect excuse to make themed cupcakes. I poked around the internet, but ended up making something entirely my own. Love when that happens. Cupcakes are covered with fondant.

PROS: Everything! I really like how these turned out. Even more I like that it was my own idea and I had an excuse to use the tub of black fondant.

CONS: I'd like to make the pumpkin a little more realistic if I do these again. Otherwise, love 'em

I made a cake top and cupcakes for John & Tina's engagement party. This where my original idea came from - Cake with Green Fondant Circles

PROS: Good experience in what not to do and I kind of liked the topper - at least it was my own idea. Accidentally made a tasty buttercream frosting recipe when I botched my attempt at white chocolate mousse frosting.

CONS: EVERYTHING ELSE. Nobody asked me to make this and on Friday night I wished I'd never wanted to! I am not going to tell you how many hours it all ended up taking me because I am mildly embarrassed. Plus, we will also not discuss the cost of new supplies (although I can use them all again). In the end the cake looked pretty lopsided and no one seemed to be terribly impressed. I think John and Tina were even fairly underwhelmed. Haha.

While coming up with ideas for the engagement cake I played around with making gum paste flowers. They are hard! Not sure what kind of flower this is - Rose?

I took a Holiday cupcake class at Sur La Table. They gave us great tips for recipes and decorating ideas. The one that is red swirled blew my mind. We cored the center and filled it with Peppermint White Chocolate Ganache!

PROS: Delicious recipes and a few new techniques.

CONS: I've told this somewhat comical story to a few people, but I was kind of the star of the class. You know when you don't think you're very good at something, but everyone else is much worse? A couple of times women from the back of the class came up to the front to see what I'd made and the instructor said (after I made the green tree cupcake) "Oh, you're just waiting since you did it perfectly the first time." This did not make me feel special - just awkward.

Phew that was very long. If you have any ideas for something I can make let me know!

Changes in the New Year

2010-12-13T00:08:00.000-08:00

I know that 2011 is still several weeks away, but I was recently thinking about my new year's resolutions. I have many goals for the new year, so I'll share them.

Live a healthier lifestyle - My trackable goal is to lose weight, but I also just want to maintain a fitness plan and eat better on a daily basis. Weight loss goal = 45 pounds
Friendships - 2010 has not been my year in the friend category. I feel like I am losing touch with those closest to me and one or two friendships were outright severed this year. Those that were severed were overall a good idea and will make both parties happier, but it still makes me think about the way I maintain my friendships. I end up asking those questions about how I treat people that I really can't answer. Alot of my closest friends I don't see as often as I would like anymore, which makes me think we probably just aren't that close anymore, which then makes me sad. : (
Career - I have no real qualms with the job I have now, but I still feel like I need to figure out what I want to do with myself for the long haul. I've decided I want to get my Master's, so I hope this will lead me to a path I can really embrace and excel in.
Do more with my free time - I think seeing the blogs of all my crafty friends (Jill, Sarah, Sara) makes me realize I don't do enough with the free time I have. The main reason for this is I have very few hobbies. I don't read or sew or craft or do photography. I'd really love to learn something new or get involved with a new organization in 2011.
Make marriage exciting - There is a great sense of comfort that comes with marrying the person you knew you were supposed to and settling into a relaxed routine. However, Justin and I are often toooo relaxed. The fact that we both don't have any hobbies we are extremely dedicated to means we often don't know what to do with ourselves. When I'm not hanging out with my friends I feel like I am too okay with just sitting around watching television. Justin is too okay with it also - I want us to do more exploring and more exciting challenging things as a couple.
Learn all there is to know about home ownership - For some terrible reason we signed a two year lease for our current apartment because we couldn't fathom moving again after a year. I miss living in the city every single day, but I also think about buying a house. I kind of refuse to live in yet another apartment after this one, but am also pretty terrified by the idea of buying a house in King County. I need to learn more about the process, so I am comfortable and knowledgeable.
Be happy - Not that I'm not now, but this should be a goal for every day in every year

"It's like a big, cream colored baby!!"

2010-12-11T16:58:00.000-08:00

So, I'm not much of a dog person. Well, I enjoy dogs, but have a hard time getting over their smells, shedding and excitability. Plus, I may be more annoyed by the people who own dogs than any dog. The term "crazy cat lady" is thrown arround quite often, but almost every one I know who has a dog is a crazy dog person. Yes, I'm talking about you who will not hang out with other humans because you can't leave your dog alone. Yes, I'm talking about you who made Corgi shaped cookies for Thanksgiving. Yes, I'm talking about people who mention their dog in every blog post. I myself recently posted a photo album featuring my cat in a series of Winter fashions, so we all have our faults.

Clearly appropriate for
an apartment

I've toyed with the idea of getting a dog, mostly to appease Justin, for quite some time. However, their smellyness, need for constant care, and apartment dwelling deters me. Justin had a Vizsla, German Shorthair and Weimaraner mix growing up and still loves that dog more than he enjoys most people. If it were up to him he would have one of those breeds or the largest dog he could find (see Mastiff, Great Dain, etc.)

I, however, am attracted to smaller dogs who serve the same function as cats: snuggling. I want to be able to pick up a dog and sling it around like an oversized baby. Unfortunately most small dogs are twitchy, yappy and generally unseemly. Getting most any small dog would probably annoy me and do nothing for Justin's overall happiness.

ENTER: The Bulldog Family

In our old apartment building some guy on our floor had an English Bulldog named Barkly. Barkly had an incredible name and was a terribly majestic beast. He always looked annoyed by exercise which is an important characteristic. At that same building we also saw a tenant walking an English bulldog puppy that snarfled uncontrollably and we were told had a heart murmur. Precious.

In the last six months or so I've moved my adoration from English Bulldogs to French Bulldogs. French Bulldogs are stout and muscly looking like the English, but smaller and easier to manage. The French also don't look as saggy and melty as English dogs. I don't see many French Bulldogs in person, so my newfound love for them wasn't officially solidified until I saw the ads for Due Date. The cream colored Frenchie in that movie is pretty much all I could ask for in a dog.

Gimme gimme gimme gimme

We saw Due Date this afternoon and that dog caused me to gasp everytime he was on screen. I fell madly in love with it and kept telling Justin, "It looks like a fuzzy cream colored baby and I WANT IT." You could feel no sadness with that dog in your life, I'm sure of it. Now, the main thing keeping me from getting one is the price tag. Frenchies are expensive and I don't want to get some sort of hybrid dog. Unless it will still look very much like a French Bulldog.

I will have one. This dog will be mine!

Fat Chicks & other Famous People

2010-12-08T21:58:00.000-08:00

I haven't seen this weeks Glee, but last week when I watched it, the newest cast member had me thinking of something...

Reference:

Ashley Fink from Glee

I commended Glee for making a very plus size actress a more central role without making any reference to her weight. She didn't become the 12th member of New Directions because they needed a large girl to round out the group, but because she rescued Puck from a portable potty.

Have you noticed that anytime they make a chunky chick the lead in a T.V. show/ movie they have to make the entire storyline revolve around her weight? As though they are saying, "Okay, okay we knoooow she's fat. We don't like it anymore than you do, BUT there's a reason we hired a fat chick. Just watch it."

Reference:

Nikki Blonsky in a show about fat camp

Brooke Elliott in Drop Dead Diva - a show about a model who dies and
comes back as an overweight, brilliant lawyer. How terrible for her! Ugh

Okay I thought this show was about how she is neat, but fat.
I'm thinking that is not what it's about at all. Oh, well

So, it is pretty lame that with how many fat people there are in America, that is so hard for them to find a place in the media unless it's on Biggest Loser. Well, fat guys are all over the damn place and have hot wives as well. Don't get me started on that.

But then I also think about all the tons and tons of money actors and actresses make. If your $10 movie ticket contributes to the $10 MILLION some random actor gets for starring in ONE movie, maybe we should expect a very high level of perfection of them. Meaning I understand why Emma Stone or Elizabeth Banks or Reese Witherspoon or Rachel McAdams gets paid lots of money. Because they are gorgeous and funny and thin and good actresses and have pretty hair. When I see Ashley Fink I wonder why everyone can't be in a highly rated T.V. show — if all that's required is a moon-shaped face and biting sarcasm. If so then I should be a celebrity for sure.

"When I see Ashley Fink I wonder why everyone can't be in a highly rated T.V. show — if all that's required is a moon-shaped face and biting sarcasm. If so I should be a celebrity for sure."

Maybe celebrities should be required to be super smart, super hot, thin, hilarious, adventurous, fashionable and generally the most amazing people in the world to get as much money as they do for being - well - them. If that was the requirement for celebrity then we would have so very few of them. I certainly wouldn't have to look at or hear Sarah Jessica Parker, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Miley Cyrus, The Situation, Bristol Palin, Owen Wilson, etc., etc.

What's in a Name?

2010-12-05T10:56:00.000-08:00

The boldness of my new blog header got me thinking about something - I LOVE my name. LOOOOVE IT.

Is it the simplicity? The Z? The L? The I? I think it's mostly the Z. Not many names have Zs in them, so I feel blessed to be one of the few. I'm hoping most people do like their names, but I downright adore mine. I feel like it fits me perfectly and I wouldn't have it any other way. Well, I guess I would get rid of the pesky Elizabeth it stemmed from. I loathe Elizabeth as much as I heart Liz.

When you look up the name Elizabeth I'm reminded of how ill fitting it is.

Wikipedia says: Elizabeth or Elisabeth is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name Elisheva, meaning "God's promise," "oath of God," or "I am God’s daughter." Elizabeth and Elisabeth are the parent unit names of Lisa, and Lilly, and Ella; Elsa, Isabel and Isabella are etymologically related variants.
Urban Dictionary #1 says: The most amazing, beautiful, awesome, spectacular, gorgeous, cute, incredible, breathtakeing, wonderful, pretty, adorable, and most importantly cutifulazing girl ever. Awesome
Stats: Elizabeth has 152 variants and is the #5 most common female name
Famous Elizabeths: Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth II, Lots of other Royalty, Elizabeth Taylor, Elizabeth Banks, Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Aside from Elizabeth being like the oldest name in the world with incredible staying power I don't care for it much at all. Elizabeth Banks is faaaabulous, though. Lets look at Liz

Wikipedia says: Liz is a girls' name of Hebrew origin, meaning "God's Promise". Okay, so that's basically the same.
Urban Dictionary #1 says: A truly stunning brunette with LARGE bosoms, usually bitingly sarcastic. Wears large sweatshirts much to the disappointment of the entire straight male population. Knows how to make everyone laugh. Everybody loves Liz, unless they totally SUCK. I do not wear a lot of large sweatshirts, but I am brunette and sarcastic with sizeable bosoms.
Stats: Liz has 5 viariant forms and is #955 most common female name
Famous Lizs: Liz Lange, Liz Claiborne, Liz Lemon, Liz McNeil

Okay, so although I do not approve of it most of us Lizs wouldn't be where we are today without Elizabeth.

The Curse of New Year's Eve

2010-12-02T23:02:00.000-08:00

Since we are officially in December I started thinking today about what I should do for New Year's Eve.

TANGENT: This is going to sound terribly scroogy and awful, but I do not thoroughly enjoy holidays that require me to fill up my social calendar. These include Halloween, July 4th, Valentine's Day and New Year's. Maybe when I'm 60 it will be acceptable, but on these days I feel like I can never just sit around the house and watch T.V. if I want to. I have to be doing SOMETHING. With PEOPLE. And even though I always have plans of some sort there is usually a three-week period prior to the holiday where I worry I will have no choice but to sit at home watching T.V.

Back to the matter at hand. I am dreading New Year's Eve this year. DREAD. Not because I have to be social and consume large amounts of champagne, but because my New Year's is cursed. CURSED. Let us revisit some of my New Year's Eve adventures from the last several years. Oh, it will be fun!

2009 This New Year's Eve began with such promise. Justin and I were in our fairly fabulous Queen Anne digs with a view of the Space Needle from our very own balcony. I toyed with having a gathering at our place to take advantage of the vantage point, but ended up planning on going to parties elsewhere. For some reason I chose this evening to upload, design and order a Shutterfly photobook (I think a coup was expiring), which caused us to leave our apartment at 10:30. By the time we got to the party location there was absolutely no parking within 3 miles. Why would that be on NYE on Alki?? Another party was in Renton, so that was not happening. Justin and I decided to head back to our apartment to catch the fireworks from our balcony. We didn't make it and ended up with an obstructed view from some street in Belltown. FAIL: Expiring Coupons + Parking

2008 We started our New Year's celebration at my friend's brother's condo. There were many dogs, people, munchies and wine. No complaints. We left there to see Hell's Belles at El Corazon. As he often does, Justin loaded me up with copious amounts of overpriced liquor. Enough drinks that I eventually fell over into a magazine rack shortly after 12 am. Despite protests that I was simple awkward and clumsy, El Corazon didn't like that and made us leave. I then turned into a drunk demon and ran away from Justin into the night. When Justin caught up with me I was in the stairwell of a swanky senior citizen apartment complex. Eventually we got a cab and I yacked out its window. FAIL: Liz + Alcohol

2007   Justin and I decided to ring in the New Year in Bellingham. I honestly don't remember why. I was excited to find that a good friend would be at the Nightlight, so we decided to make that home base. The vibe was lackluster and Justin's very terrible friend showed up. He made derogatory remarks about other people and was generally awful. AWFUL FAIL: Awful People

2006 I do not remember this NYE. I've asked many people if they remember what I did or if I was with them, but notta. The Lost NYE   FAIL: Poor Memory

2005 I wanted to stay in Bellingham, but the person I was dating wanted to go to Seattle to see his friends. What I thought would be a fabulous party ended up being us and another couple in a small apartment watching television. We eventually headed to Gas Works to watch the fireworks. At this time the other couple decided to get into a very heated argument. She took off and he followed, leaving us behind. We made it to Gas Works, but didn't find them. After the fireworks we discovered they had headed back to the apartment without us. This was before a time when I at least kind of knew my way around Seattle, so we did not have a good time finding our way back to the apartment. Plus I was walking in high heels the whole time we were lost and wandering. Upon getting back to the apartment we were told it would not be a good situation for us to stay in the apartment as planned, so we slept in our car. SLEPT IN OUR CAR...IN DECEMBER. Who does this to their friends? I don't. It's been 5 years and I am still enraged by this memory!   FAIL: High Heels + Awful People + Being Lost + Sleeping in Car

I can't remember any other New Year's Eves, but I've given you enough to show why it is a dreaded holiday. It is always either memorable for how awful it is or not memorable at all.

Take Me Somewhere

2010-11-29T00:02:00.000-08:00

It bothers me to no end that there is this huge, amazing world out there and I only have so much free time and financial resources to commit to its exploration.

Growing up I never really went anywhere. Every time my mom and I went on vacation we went to California. California. California. There is nothing wrong with the Golden State, but I really missed out on a good 20 years of traveling to new and exciting places on my parents' dime. Gotta love her, but now firmly grounded in her 60s, my mom has only been to a chunk of states and Canada (possibly Mexico?). What I find more troubling about this is it doesn't seem to upset her in the slightest.

I'm guessing our parents come from a simpler time when plane travel was less prevalent and necessary. My mom, like her sister and her mother before her, just doesn't see the need to circumnavigate the globe. Sometimes we are the way we are because of our parents and sometimes in spite of them. I want to go to every part of the world because my mom didn't, not because she did.

Anyway, I bring all this up because I recently discovered Round the World Plane tickets. For those people who knew about them long ago than my apologies for how overly excited this discovery made me. One plane ticket with so many possibilities. I could spend hours on staralliance.com or oneworld.com just planning out a traveling adventure. I feel like the tickets are so cheap for how many places you can go!

Take a look at the itinerary I made: Seattle - Edinburgh - London - Barcelona - Zurich - Rome - Goa - Bangkok - Tokyo

I've been told I have the rest of my life to travel extensively, but I kind of disagree. If I choose to have children I feel like my dreams of seeing the world will be squashed. So, I told Justin we have until I am 33 to buy a Round the World ticket. It will happen!

Bullets

2010-09-10T11:07:00.000-07:00

I think my new approach will be making a bulleted list of my recent thoughts. I will try to accompany these with photos in the future. This one will be short

is it weird that i can recognize any former Top Model cast member? hello chick who walked like a duck and now sells Macy's furnishings

today i was waiting for the bus and a man walked up who had very visibly urinated on himself. i got really sad/ grossed out because how am i ever to know if someone like that sat on the seat before me

i've realized Justin's attentiveness has made it so I'm unable to take care of myself or get anything done when he is gone. i currently need to go to the dry cleaner, tailor, bank, store and dmv

why is it so easy for me to get sad? lately i feel so lonely when i often have no reason to be. i worry about my friendships and people i haven't seen in a while. do they like me? are we friends anymore? why am i afraid of using the phone?

do you think i will eventually be forced by society to get a smart phone? i feel like it is going to happen and i dread that day

sometimes i feel like i'm really very stupid, but somehow have tricked people into thinking i'm competent for many, many years. i mostly feel that with my new job

i commend steig larsson for making me a reader again. i will gladly pick up his books instead of flipping on the t.v.

i want to travel so very badly. i am itching ITCHING to go anywhere

new things

2010-07-20T23:39:00.000-07:00

I really so very, very badly want to write in this, but I just can't get myself to do it! Mostly because I'm lazy, partly because I don't have anything interesting to write about and also because I don't think anyone ever, ever reads this. But does it matter? I should write for myself. For me!

Life in Seatac/Kent/Des Moines is a slightly lonely one. I miss hosting people at my apartment. Maybe I wouldn't miss them if I ever invited friends over. Once our new couch and chair comes it's so on.

I started my new job on July 6th. I am now the Marketing Coordinator at Emeritus. Emeritus specializes in senior living, which doesn't sound like the most exciting thing in the world, but I'm pretty jazzed about this new opportunity. So far I am doing a random collection of things. Today I worked on designing apartment floor plans all day (random? yes).

Our office is right next to the Olympic Sculpture Park on Elliott. The views from our 6th floor perch can't be beat. Blue waters as far as the eye can see. The company is pretty huge with a lot of employees, so I hope to meet new people. So far my face is nuzzled next to the glow of the computer screen all day without much interaction with others. Right now I'm cool with it since the last gig required me to ask for money by phone or in person many, many times a day.

I somewhat started a new hobby when I was unemployed. Cake/ cupcake baking and decorating. I had so much time to dedicate to it when I had nothing but empty day hours. I did make a new recipe and brought the results to work yesterday. I was horrified that all 24 cupcakes were eaten and only a few people even said thank you. If you eat a handcrafted cupcake provided to you without prompting, why would you not go out of your way to thank the baker?? Horrible

Here are some of the things I've made so far:

In celebration of Dani getting married

In honor of True Blood

July 4th

For KPLU employees

Balinese themed cupcakes in honor of Melissa's departure to Bali

I clearly need more reasons to make cupcakes/ cakes. I have a baby shower to bake for soon, but other than that someone is going to have to give me an excuse to craft something.

Okay more later. Bed time!

death and moving

2010-05-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

moving
oh sheash. i am moving next week to a land ever so far away called SeaTac. shock! amaze! horrify! i'm pretty torn up about the whole thing. the apartment we are moving to is brand new and 3 bed/2 bath, so i am compromising nothing as far as size and niceness is concerned. however, i have this terrible notion that people who move past the west seattle bridge or north of green lake are forgotten forever.

i think i would be less depressed by the idea of living farther away if i knew where i would be working. if i work in tacoma i have to drive back to seattle to see friends. working in seattle isn't much better b/c a lapse between work ending and hanging out means i drive all the way home and then back to seattle or hover and wait. hover. hover. wait. sigh. i have to acquire things that will lure people to SeaTac. examples: HBO for True Blood viewing or Rock Band for fun or a giant trampoline

death
Girl is dying. who is Girl you might ask? Girl used to be my Dad's dog and at some point became my Mom's dog. she has a truly unfortunate name my Dad bestowed upon her, so do laugh at its ridiculousness. some people look at animals and think "You make a lot of high-pitched noises, I shall name you Squeaky" or "You are orange, I shall name you Carrot Top." My Dad must have said "You are female, I shall name you Girl."

Girl as a wrinkly little puppy. So cute

Girl is 15 years old, which in human years means she could practically be Betty White's mom or at least her wise, significantly older sister. My mom called me earlier this week to let me know she decided to put Girl down this weekend. She has a hard time standing and is in a lot of pain (Girl, not mom). I agreed to go down tomorrow. I want to go down to support my mom, but I honestly have no attachment to the dog and would rather imagine she took a long vacation than sit and watch her die. Did you know you can be right there as they are euthanized? Ack!

My lack of sadness over the thought of Girl dying made me start to think I am a terrible person. But then I thought of my Mr. Tyrone dying and felt like the world would end. We aren't expected to love every animal unconditionally I suppose.

What does make me sad is thinking of how Girl is such a strong representation of my Dad. My Dad loved her so much and that dog loved him tremendously. She was able to be apart of the things my Dad missed and carries that terrible name as a reminder of how wonderfully weird my Dad was.

I will write in this

2010-05-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

Too much swirls around in my head and I need to put some of it down.

I'm pretty proud of myself that I gave my blog a new, swanky look. Maybe I will be more enticed to write in it if I like how it looks.

So much is happening these days. I thought that unemployment would be a life of leisure, but I am either busy, busy or being toooo leisurely. While I am really happy I decided to quit, I am also worried about so many things. When I had a job I ignored all of the articles, news segments, and talk about the recession. "I have a job - it must not be that bad" Well, it is. With our California trip, I guess I've only been looking for a couple weeks. Why does it seem like forever?

So far I haven't volunteered or read dozens of books or learned Spanish or picked up a new hobby. My day usually starts at 11 and I look at jobs and watch t.v. in my pajamas for hours. I like sleeping and pajamas so much. Justin does like having dinner ready and waiting at 5 p.m., though.

No more for now. Much to say, but later

2008-12-10T22:20:00.000-08:00

wow this is one neglected Blog. i only have one thing to say:

I'M ENGAGED! YAY!

update

2008-05-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

- i got a job if you didn't know. as of May 23 (a day after i get off the road forever with BER) i start at the Alzheimer's Association in Seattle as their Donor Relations Coordinator.

- getting a job did not relieve my post-travel job woes a bit. for a while i constantly looked at craig's list for an uber cheap apartment. Liz Fact: i obsess over money

- just today Justin and I were hired on as Property Managers in Capitol Hill. Property management = free rent. A free 2 bedroom in a nice area at that! Can I get a woot, woot!! exciiiiiited. do you live in capitol hill or the seattle area? yes? than we will haaaang out

- tonight i was supposed to be flying back to seattle. however, portland, maine hates me. and i hate it! i got delayed here which meant i woulda missed my connecting flight so here i am at a holiday inn waiting for my 6 am flight tomorrow. my one day in seattle in a 5 week period. my one day!! portland, me delayed my arrival in vegas, too. damn you maine.

really. i guess that's all. if you have a decent couch, table and chairs or bike to sell i will be needing those items. cough em up

toodles

2008-04-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

i should never have started a blog. im terrible at it.

so, i write to you from my friend's couch in eagle mountain, utah. i ended the week in salt lake and decided to give my pregnant, mormon friend a visit. annaliese can never just be "my friend" but "my mormon friend" and now "my pregnant mormon friend" or maybe "my pregnant, married mormon friend" and soon "married mormon friend with babe"

this past week wasn't too bad. i was in sunny areas for the most part. denver, phoenix, grand junction, etc. on thursday i was in portland, or. justin came down to visit me, which was wonderful. we had the worst group of participants in portland. worst!i came back to my table after lunch sometime to find a lady sitting at MY desk talking loudly on the phone. she did not bother to move when i approached her so i politely asked her to move from my chair.

she proceeded to just scooch over to the chair next to mine (still behind my table). i didn't really know how to handle such horribleness, so i wandered around for a sec and came back and politely asked her to move to a chair nearby. she got up and stood against a wall so she could be in glaring distance of me. 15 minutes later she came out of the class and delivered her evaluation. the evaluation had an essay about how "unprofessional" i was while she was handling an "important legal matter on the phone" and that after first asking her to move i told her to leave.

ummmmmm. ??? some people are so blatantly retarded i can't stomach it. what is sad is she was fairly close to my age, so i can't blame her attitude on menopause or old-people grouchiness, but plain ole BITCHINESS. and i like how she acted like it was out of order for me to ask her to move. if you came into work one day and found someone sitting at your desk, talking on their phone wouldn't it be assumed they had no right to be there???

anyway...that's my rant and it's a much better one in person. Portland is not Seattle's kindred city, but filled with huge bitches.

better things... i had an interview with the Alzheimer's Assoc. last Saturday and a phone interview with the Seattle Children's Museum last Friday. i'm waiting to hear back from both, but i really, really want the former. now i'm acting like i already got it and am looking for apartments. im so antsy!

wish me luck! comps about to die so ill say goodbye

p.s. as of june 1 justin and i will be homeless. if you know of any apts in seattle let me know!!

not much

2008-04-03T07:57:00.000-07:00

i write to you from columbus, ohio.

this is a long week and im looking forward to the weekend!! i'm going to a wedding in denver.

last week i had a spring break. i really did pretty much nothing. i sat around, played alot of board games and ate alot of food. i did see some friends and went to a couple gatherings. got scared out of having children even more at a baby shower. good times

this week i'm with an instructor who is really nice, but he tells A LOT of jokes. not very funny ones. he also makes me play Name That Tune in the car. where he sings or hums songs and makes me guess what they are. gooooood times

OH the reason i'm writing this. i'll finally be somewhat in the Seattle area when i go home. Justin and I are moving into a place in Normandy Park. it is a room in an older woman's house. that isn't an ideal situation, but we'll have our own living space, beach access and it is hella cheap. 10 minutes from the airport, 20 minutes from downtown

i'm getting toward the end of my stint as a traveling gypsy so i'm looking for jobs. if you're ever really bored please e-mail postings about public relations, communications, marketing or related non-profit jobs in the seattle or portland areas to LMMCNEIL@GMAIL.COM. haha

this is laaaaaame but im sleepy

nikki reminded me i wanted to write this...

2008-03-17T07:34:00.001-07:00

not a whole lot is happening. well i guess some things

i'm in syracuse, ny today. every week i just get flung back to the east coast. every week! i was on the east coast last week, but i got to be with my favorite instructor, miss linda, for a second time. lucky me! the woman is sooooo hilarious. love her.

this weekend i finally got to go back to washington. man, does it feel good to sit around all day. last weekend i went to nashville, tn for a group stayover. that was ok. i was disappointed we didn't really do anything. we went to bars and that was all. no country music hall of fame or opry. boo.

the week before nashville i had some medical things i needed to take care of and it was just an overall horrible week. that week made me want to be off the road for good more than i could handle sometimes. ahhhhhh!

i barely made it on my flight from phili to seattle on friday because it was oversold. i saw a "famous" person on my flight. the only reason i care enough to share this encounter with you is because i noticed him in a peculiar way. i only had two magazines to entertain me for a 6-hour plane ride, so naturally i read almost every word on every page. in my People mag i read an article about American Idol alum Blake Lewis and the assortment of tattoos he has. (article photo below)
later, as i drank my OJ and tried to sit through a second viewing of Million Dollar Baby***, i noticed a familiar tattoo on the wrist of the person in front of me. i sat poised with my People mag waiting for the gentleman to eat his pretzels, so i could match the tattoo to the article i read. through cherry blossom branch tattoo matching, i deduced that blake lewis sat in the row in front of me. weird coincidence!

p.s. lewis apparently is still waiting for super stardom b/c he was sitting in a middle coach seat. i don't even sit in middle coach seats.

did i tell you justin got an internship with the seattle times? i think i did. well, now the poor boy is trying to move himself down to seattle. he has one place near the airport that is a good possibility so far. i'll be so glad to live somewhat closer to seattle!

oh, i also am in serious need of a job. J-O-B. as of may 22 i will be jobless and that frightens me. eeeep! i don't even remember how to construct a cover letter.

*** is Million Dollar Baby not the most depressing movie ever made? hilary swank's characters always get royally messed up

v-day and all that good stuff

2008-02-24T16:33:00.000-08:00

hello loyal...and not so loyal readers

i'm back on the road again

i just finished a week long break. i sat around and slept alot and ate like crap and saw friends. if i didn't see you we will have to catch up next time! whenever that will be

i had a most excellent Valentine's Day. justin, being the wonderful boy he is, got me really fabulous, thoughtful things. he actually made chocolate covered strawberries for me and chocolate coconut clusters and peppermint bark. he also made me a flower arrangement with fake flowers. he really got in touch with his feminine side to make stuff that fit me perfectly. haha. it should be noted that he is still "all that is man." he also got me earrings and exercise DVDs for the road. you may know that i despise tipping, so justin made me cards to put on restaurant tables. haha (please refer to photos)

the saturday after valentine's day (since i got in late the 14th) justin and i ate at the Melting Pot (yum!) and stayed at the Hotel Max in Seattle. it was so fun!

during the week i went to Bellingham. saw miss megan on the way and then taune, jill and kayla up north. saw katie on the way down. this job requires too much planning to see friends. haha. i was going to venture to bremerton, but decided it was best to do so another time.

im officially a graphic artist. i designed a logo for justin's mom's ebay site. it isn't very good but im a pretty lame artist. (refer to visual)

OHHHHH so ive officially decided not to pick up this job again in october. i tossed the idea back and forth in my head many times and finally realized the reasons i wanted to do it again weren't very good ones and that i'd prob be pretty miserable if i did. i contacted the PR firm i interviewed with last summer and i'd pretty much have an internship with them right now if i wasn't contracted to b on the road another 3 months. they pretty much said i was awesome, though, and gave me warm fuzzies.

justin interviewed with the seattle times and federal way mirror for internships and found out he got the mirror job. still waiting on the times. now he is looking to move down to seattle. i made him a cake to celebrate (photos).

that's all. sorry no funny stories

oh, wait! i also forgot to tell you i went to arizona the weekend before my break. justin met me down there and we stayed with and hung out with his old braski friends. it was lots of fun. i got to ride ATVs for the first time!

weird

2008-02-13T17:33:00.001-08:00

weird

also...

2008-02-07T10:20:00.000-08:00

i'd also like to add that i have had 2 amazing plane rides this week. amazing because of the phenomenal views

on my flight into boston we passed between a set of clouds. one layer on top and one below. i seriously thought i was looking at heaven. the way the light shown through and how we were surrounded on all sides. i probably looked like i had a learning disability because i sat drooling with my nose pressed up against the window for 20 minutes. i cursed the seat belt sign and the distance between my camera and i. i wish they had rentals amongst the clouds.

yesterday the sun was going down on the horizon as we flew into el paso. the setting sun cast layers of brilliant, gorgeous colors along the skyline. purple, blue, indigo, red, orange, yellow. oh, man.

here we go

2008-02-06T11:50:00.002-08:00

oh man the last month has been craaaazay

i dont know where to begin...

Martin Luther King weekend i went to Vegas for a stayover. that was...different. i've never been to Vegas and i didn't really encounter too many things that would draw me back with any real ferocity. it was pretty fun, though. parents who take their children to Vegas should be shot in the head or reported to child services

view photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/LMMcNeil

i was supposed to fly in from Portland, maine friday night with a stop in chicago. alas, the first flight was so delayed i missed my connection in chicago. so, since im dumb and didnt realize i could expense a hotel room, i attempted to sleep in a chair in a hotel lobby.

saturday of Vegas we (other program managers and myself) toured the strip and went to Rum Jungle. Sunday i shopped too much and Sunday night i drank too much. ooohhh why do i continue my love affair with goldschlauger? i also saw Cirque's Mystere which was pretty fabulous. my missed my flight the next morning and didn't get into my next stop until 2 am. yay

Vegas photos made me realize 3 things: 1) im ghostly pale 2) ive gained too much weight 3) i have bad posture

so far ive only made significant strides with the posture. maybe a little less pale

i dunno what else ive been doing. my memory is fading as fast as my youth. last week was a weird ass week. one of the highlights occurred in Denver where i sipped champagne with my instructor at the Hyatt and we made fun of middle-aged businessman. he was one of the funnier instructors i've had. this convo between us can give you an idea of the fabulous banter between us:

Liz: so, richard i never asked. do you go by rich, richard, richie...what?
Richard: doesn't matter too much, but i prefer richard i guess. not richie and def not dick. i hate dick
Liz: ok, gotcha
Richard: well i mean i LOVE dick, but not as a name
Liz: ::awkward, but amused laughter::

right now i'm in Houston, Texas. i am sans a phone currently. i left it in a cab...again. hopefully ill have it by 3:30 today. i feel weird without my little red friend.

i walked to Sonic today and got a beverage. on my way back this man honked and then pulled over and beckoned me to his car. ive watched too many episodes of Cold Case Files to know thats how a trip to an early grave can begin, so i just stood and stared at him. he got out and came over. he wanted my number and then said "oh, girl don't be like that. don't be like that. just cuz im black don't mean i can't be there for you and take care of you. i wanna take care of you. i wanna love you. you so beautiful. i wanna love you, girl."

haha maaaaaan

this weekend i'm going to Phoenix! i'm excited!

lalalalala

2008-01-16T10:36:00.000-08:00

so, last we were together i was in providence and it had snowed buckets.

well, only 4 people came to the seminar that day and at some point i looked around for my most favorite pea coat, but it was nowhere to be found. i looked in the car and my room and even gently accused the housekeeping staff of stealing it. finally, i ventured that maybe DanBeth accidentally took it out of my car as they grabbed their luggage. i was saddened, though, when i realized i had no way of contacting them.

BUT WAIT! i remembered the humorous name of Dan's workplace and looked up the phone number. sure enough DanBeth took my coat. thankfully, Dan's job is mere seconds from the airport where i had to rescue my delayed luggage. i picked up my coat at day's end and then saved my luggage.

upon my arrival at my next hotel a couple hours later i made 2 discoveries. the first being that DanBeth had inserted a $25 B&N gift card in the pocket of my coat to thank me for driving them. yay for books and good deeds! the second, much less pleasant, discovery was that my assortment of undergarments and nylons no longer resided in the front pocket of my suitcase. whether their absence can be attributed to an opened zipper strewing them across the tarmac, or a pervy panty-sniffing TSA worker is yet to be known.

last evening arrived at another hotel. well, an inn i suppose. the most adorable, plush inn i've ever been in. the bedford village inn in bedford, nh. i am including photos i took of its quaintness and the delightful suite i stayed in. you will notice the photo of the cookies i found next to my bed. the delicious cookies were tucked into a napkin like they were slumbering. mmmmm sleepy cookies.

snow yo

2008-01-14T06:04:00.000-08:00

yesterday i traveled to the east coast with no knowledge that it would be bombarded by snow. my connection from Detroit to Providence was canceled. what is maddening, however, is that they canceled many flights in anticipation for snow when it didn't actually start snowing until 3 am this morning.

so, i hopped a plane to hartford and then drove to providence. i had a wonderful wait in the Detroit airport. boo. upon my arrival to Hartford i jumped on the Hertz courtesy bus to retrieve my rental car. it was at this point i overheard a young couple saying they were heading to Providence as well. they hadn't actually purchased their rental, just reserved it.

i decided that if i was to face the perilous snow this week i might need some extra karma points to get me through it. so, i offered to give the dewy-eyed lovers a lift. they proved to be decent company and assisted me in my inability to successfully find my way. i found that Dan and Beth, the names they provided me, moved from Wisconsin to Providence recently. like 90% of the people i seem to come across, Beth grew up in Washington state. Beth is a lab technician and Dan works for a company that sells and maintains aquariums. i dropped them off at Dan's place of employment and was delighted to see that it is called "Something Fishy." DanBeth are expecting a little DanBeth this summer.

this weekend im doing a stayover in Las Vegas with 20 other program managers. i'm worried. this weekend will definitely interfere with my usual schedule of going to bed before midnight. im not sure Vegas will suit me. i'm convinced it offers only 4 things to its visitors: 1) gambling 2) whores 3) buffets 4) pricey alcohol in abundance. besides whores, i could really do without the other three. and by whores i mean buffets.

my luggage has yet to catch up with me. i feel like a smelly homeless person. its good times.

what did you and taune say about me jill??

i'm back

2008-01-07T23:11:00.000-08:00

wow im the worst blogger

really the only reason im writing now is because i can't get to sleep (it's 2 am in waltham, ma) and i thought jill might wanna read something. i think she's the only one who reads this. haha

so, im back on the road after a 2-week break for the holidays. it was pretty fab times overall. i wish i could have seen more of my friends and for more time, but i accomplished alot considering everyone is strewn about the place in a haphazard manner.

christmas was nice if not mildly boring and new years was alright. at least i should remember what i did at this time next year.

this weekend i am on the east coast...sorta. well, you can see where i am. haha

in my attempt to have a more seattle-based locale, i posted an ad on craigslist to find a room share for super cheap for the weekends im home. most of the responses i received were either pretty creepy or very undesirable. like sharing a one bedroom apt. with a 29-year-old male for $200? suweeeeet. if anyone has an extra room i could rent for pennies let me know!

wow im awful at updating

2007-12-07T14:44:00.000-08:00

i can even begin to relay the last couple weeks with any real detailed accuracy...

so, last you heard from me i had done a weekend stayover in florida.

thanksgiving was nice. i technically had 3 thanksgiving dinners thanks to justin's mom, my mom and nikki's mom. can't get enough of that stuff.

this week i did a conference. conferences last 2 days instead of one and i travel with 4 instructors instead of 2. i also partnered with another lovely program manager. all the ladies were pretty fabulous in their own ways, so despite some high maintenance issues and large numbers, it was a good week.

i got to celebrate my mom and aunt's birthday with them. the first 2 days of the conference week were in anaheim so i went there ahead of time last friday. my aunt lives near anaheim and my mom flew down. that was the only california date i have through march, so it is serendipitous that it fell right on their birthday weekend. the last 2 days we conferenced in seattle and today i'm in portland.

ill be spending the weekend here, so that should be good times.
today my instructor is a crazy canadian woman. i worked with her for the conferences and she is just a hoot. she is loud and has a very distinct canadian accent. she also adores her "wonderful, loving husband Leon" who still makes her face light up after 35 years of marriage. she dotes on the man so much its almost nauseating. haha. but cute.

florida and thanksgiving photos!

and the beat goes on

2007-11-18T17:31:00.000-08:00

hello friends and family

i write you from a hilton in chicago. a pretty swanky hilton. at least my room is.

last week was pretty awesome. i started the week in savannah, ga and ended in orlando, fl. georgia and florida are pretty fabulous.

i had the best instructor by far last week. she was too hilarious. by the end of the week i found i had adopted her oklahomian accent and tendency to randomly shout things. if i do this gig again next year i will def request her.

she did inform me that i look like a puppet/ cartoon though. she said i shouldn't take it negatively, but i don't know how to take it positively either. haha.

justin flew out to meet me in olando on thursday! i planned a stayover there and it worked out so that he could come, too. soooo exciting.

we spent the whole day at Epcot on Saturday, which was pretty neat. justin took better photos than i so i won't post any right now. we acquired free tickets to Epcot by attending a time share presentation. a rather painful experience. we were told it would only last 90 minutes total, but they stole about 2.5 hours of our lives. i got so agitated that i snapped (in a composed manner) at the old man who refused to let us be on our way. i wish i could have recorded what i said because it was pretty fabulous. every day my balls get a little bigger.

despite that painful experience, it did save us $150, so i can't complain toooooo much.

this is a short week since thanksgiving is coming up, so im excited about that! i miss you all!

im cool

2007-11-06T19:45:00.000-08:00

hello from des moines, iowa

much has happened in the last week or so. ill try to fill you in.

Wed, Oct. 31
Halloween. While everyone else was out having fun I was sulking in my San Antonio hotel room. Torn between continuing to sit there or sucking it up and going to a bar. My hotel was right on the river walk! The day of our seminar I visited the Alamo on my lunch break.

Thursday, Nov. 1
Upon my arrival at my hotel room I was greeted by a care package from Miss Jill. Yay for Jill! She is officially the best friend ever. Haha. It was filled with all kinds of goodies. And, since I was mildly intoxicated from the 2 free drinks the Radisson gave me, I excitedly opened things and took photos. Here I am with a mud mask on:

Weekend:
Justin gave me a pretty, pretty ring. Its a sapphire. Me likes it alot. Lots of laundry and hanging out. More wine consumption.

Sunday, Nov. 4 (Day of Infamy)
So, on my way to the airport my front tire blew out. Yay! It was fixed quickly, but I still missed my morning flight to Sioux Falls. I couldn't get another until 3:20 p.m. So, I sat around the Seattle airport for 4+ hours. You can really live in an equipped airport. Definitely. Of course I don't want to. I arrived in Sioux Falls (in the great state of South Dakota) at approximately 10 p.m.

My luggage did not arrive with me. It didn't come in until the next afternoon (after talking to incomprehensible people in New Delhi several times). So, I attended to my duties wearing warm-up pants, flip flops, and a t-shirt. So sexy...and professional.
Sioux Falls sucks!!

Last night and today I was in Nebraska. I hung out with Justin's Braski friend Abe in Omaha last night. Yay for play dates! More wine consumption. People from Nebraska obviously eat alot of fried mayonnaise balls.

The drives between south dakota, nebraska and iowa are about the most boring drives ever. Snooze. However, one franchise brightens the horizon. I'm sure most of you northwesterners haven't heard of it. I hadn't...

Haha worst/ best name ever

updaaaaate

2007-10-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

i write you from a convention center in Arlington, TX.

this weekend i did a stayover in Providence, RI. despite my apprehension about doing touristy things on my own, I had quite a bit of fun.

I planned on going to the open market downtown, see WaterFire and go on a ghost tour at night. excessive rain canceled the open market and I was sure would cancel Waterfire, but it didn't! I ended up trekking all around Providence and seeing much of what the city has to offer. I went to the RISD museum (Rhode Island School of Design). They have real Monet, Degas and Manet art! Crazy. I love Monet. I walked around and picked out houses I want to live in and toured Brown Univeristy. My feet hurt afterward!!

I've decided it is a good idea to buy shirts from law and medical schools of the most prestigious ivy league schools. I should try to look smarter and richer than I actually am...right?

The ghost tour was mildly lame, but still interesting at times. After my long day I returned to my hotel and ended up watching the world series with several hotel staffers close to my age. Haha ...I welcome any and all human interaction.

I'm in Texas all of this week. I fly all week, which I didn't look forward to until I met my instructor for the week. He is a very jumpy, vey talkative elderly man who I grew tird of within 5 minutes. So, no driving means less time I have to spend with him. He had such a cool name, too. I was sure he would be awesome. At lest he keeps his underpants on.

Last night and tonight I am graced by the presence of other program managers, which is always a good thing. I think another gal and myself are going to try and hit up some Halloween fun tonight. Except I have an awful costume I do not want to wear in public.

weird...again

2007-10-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

this blog thing is mildly addicting when you have anything mildly amusing to say.

so, i write you from providence, ri. specifically, i write you from the johnson and wales inn. if you would like to picture where i am, think back on "The Shining" (lets hope nothing like the featured photo happens)

yes, im in an old, slightly creepy hotel. quaint, though. my instructor and i ate in their restaurant. i told him the boy who seated us was dreamy. he was dreamy. in a "the olsen twins meet ken doll" kinda way. to my relief his more shrewish, bespectacled, olive-complected counterpart became our waiter. i didn't want to be distracted by the other guys good looks anyway. i do like a little eye candy, though. being around teachers who are all around 35+ years old grows tiresome.

justin, you can skip the previous paragraph

i should clarify that my instructor also did not take down his pants entirely, yesterday. he tends to fidget with them and often forgets to zip his fly. when i caught him, however, he had the belt completely undone. i dunno bout that fella.

this weekend i am doing a stayover here in providence. im pretty excited, but it will be weird. it is my only solo stayover i have scheduled. hmmmmm.

so, yesterday miss jill cox messaged me on the facebook and asked if there is anyway to mail me stuff on the road (like mail it ahead of time to a hotel i will be staying). my own mother has not even thought to do that. i didn't even think to do that. whether or not jill actually every sends me anything doesn't really matter. she asked and that is neat.

p.s. i did about wet myself over the idea of getting to a hotel and having personal mail waiting for me, though. ya know...if you have stuff...lying around...that you'd like...wanna send me...ever. hint hint.

good week

2007-10-24T17:33:00.000-07:00

so, it's wednesday of week 2.

this has been a good week. started monday in Rochester, NY, yesterday in Boston and today in Portland, Maine. Right now I'm in Bedford, NH.

this week is good because I get to drive the whole time and not sit on a plane. driving is a million times better than flying! new england is so beautiful at this time of year. gorgeous green, gold and red trees line the roads. like literally every road. you see trees on either side and not ugly buildings. love it!

i cant think of anything to write so ill answer questions people asked.

- i saw Eric, the annoying Jewish one from BB. i was told that's his name.
- i am all alone now. but last week if i referred to "we" i meant the 1 to 4 other program managers i was with during the first few days of on the road training. if i say "we" in the future that is due to a) me suffering from schizophrenia b) me speaking of an instructor i am with or c) me speaking of another program manager i've met up with on the road.
- during the day at my job i do many things. these things include setting up audio visual equipment, registering participants, coordinating lunch options, doing stacks of paperwork and making sue we get to the next destination efficiently and safely. i dont wish to go into further detail at this time.

P.S. My instructor is a wonderful former biology teacher. He is funny. However, he attempted to take his pants off in front of me today and when I said, "Are you depantsing in front of me?" he said< "I didn't think you'd notice."

week 2

2007-10-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

So, i write to you from my hotel room in Rochester, NY. The view from my window looks out onto a grassy courtyard. It is square shaped with white benches on every side facing one another. For some reason it creeps me the hell out. I've included a photo.
The first photo you get and isn't it the most exciting thing ever???

I was in an airport or on a plane from approx. 8 am to 8 pm today. Counting time changes and all. Soooo much fun! I did see the annoying jewish guy from Big Brother, tho. No one cares about that except Justin's mom and sister I'm assuming. haha. I really hope that isn't the only "famous" person I see with this job.

Tomorrow I fly to Boston, but then I get to drive the rest of the week. I'm excited about that!!! Yay for driving.

Bed time. Radissons = sleep number beds = awesome

Ouch

2007-10-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

Here is part 2 of my first week on the job.
So, you heard about New Orleans...

Houston was uneventful
Austin was uneventful. BUT We got to drive from Austin to Houston so it was cool to see the state a bit. We also went out for Thai food and had the most awkward waiter...ever.

Last night and today I was in Phoenix. I actually got to hang out with people! Justin's good pals, Steph and Will, took me to a Mexican restaurant. It was so great to meet them. I don't think I've ever had to try so little to impress someone, though. Justin must have made me sound remarkable. Haha. I look forward to seeing them again!

Oh, I should also mention that I locked my keys in my rental car whilst in Austin. But really if you know me you are probably thinking, "Haha. When isn't Liz doing stuff like that?" It's true...I'm incurably scatter-brained.

Speaking of which...today I left my phone in an Arizona cab. As I turned about in helpless circles in the airport upon realization, I figured I'd never see my shiny red phone again. I decided to call my phone just to see if anyone would pick up. John, the best cab driver in the entire world, answered. He agreed to ship my phone overnight!! I <3 him.

Now, I write this from a hotel in El Paso. I attempted to walk around historic downtown b/c it is beautiful (not hot) evening. Alas, a homeless man who yelled I was "wicked" and other shady characters eventually made me venture back to my hotel.

I'm so close to the Mexican border!! I just want a take a flying leap across!

Leave comments!

It begins

2007-10-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

So, I flew into New Orleans yesterday. We went out and walked down Bourbon Street.

Things I learned:

- Only old white people go to New Orleans
- There are a lot of cops
- I hate being weak and wish luggage could disappear and reappear
- Men are creepy
- Jazz music is cool
- This job will kill me
- Watching a white girl do the worm and learn to booty dance from a black girl is the best thing ever
- Watch out for horse shit

Now I'm waiting for my flight from New Orleans to Houston. Yay!