Home Updates

I had the week off from work, so I figured I'd get some things done around the house. Yesterday I finished the floor trim, which took all day! I also fixed up the trim in the bathroom. Today I put some hardware on the cabinets and spray painted the hinges to match. I still have to put some handles on the drawers. Next on the list is painting the kitchen, putting some finishing touches on the bathroom remodel, and painting the doors.

A Very Merry Christmas

Last night we went to my parents' house and had our annual 7 fishes dinner with my grandparents and sister. My sister's BF, Dave, came this year. The food was great, as usual, and we made some people mad at church, as usual, by talking and giggling. They say the same thing every year, what are you going to miss?!

My parents got us a Dyson, which I am totally excited about. We also got some clothes, a new food processor and an electric frying pan. My sister got me a nice watch and my parents got Mr. B some Hulk boxing gloves because my dad said that that way Mr. B can hit me now...gee, thanks dad!

This morning Mr. B and I opened presents from each other. We set a $50 limit, so I really wasn't expecting anything crazy, but after I opened my presents (a book, a CD set, and some other little things) Mr. B pulled out a little box. He said, "I hope you won't be mad at me, but I went over the $50 limit." He got me a pair of black diamond studs set in white gold. I absolutely love them. They're different and they're perfect. Best.Husband.Ever.

After we opened presents we went over to Mr. B's mom's house for breakfast and presents with his step dad and his daughter, husband and twin brother. Breakfast was amazing and I ate way to much. Mr. B's mom and stepdad got me a Garmin GPS and a new Coach clutch. I'm so excited to use the GPS and I'll probably use the clutch tonight--I love it!

Tonight we're going to my Grandmom's house for dinner and MORE presents. I can't wait till I get my last present so I can order my Uggs!!! Maybe I'll do it tonight ;-)

I want Uggs

I've resisted the fad for this long, but they look so comfortable. I want the gray ones, but apparently they are hard to come by...especially in a size 10/11. I asked for a pair of Uggs for Christmas, but I don't think I'm going to like them. They're almost $100 more than the classic ones, so I would kind of feel bad if I returned them. Mr. B isn't going to by them for me because we've set a $50ish limit for presents this year. I always go overboard, so it was good to have a set amount of money to spend. I think I spent around $60, so only 20% over budget, which isn't too bad for me.

I want Uggs because I can't find a pair of comfortable slip-on shoes/boots that look good and don't crush my feet after standing in them for 5 minutes. I just bought a pair of Nine West boots that were on sale for $19.99 and they're ok, but I can tell that they're not easy to drive/walk in. I always ruin my shoes because I have a stick--always scuffing the back heel so it looks like I have crappy old shoes on. Note to self: Keep slippers in car to change into for driving.

Family Christmas I

Last night we had our first Christmas celebration. It was with my mom's side of the family at my grandmom and grandpop's house. We had some appetizers, wine, and then a light dinner and some small desserts.

I was really not looking forward to going because my stupid cousin that tried to make out with me at my wedding and then actually fell on top of me on the dance floor was going to be there. Of course, he brought another trashy girlfriend who pretended that she had been part of the family all along. She didn't even come over to say hi. Eff her. She looked like she was 18 going on 50, but then I heard that she has a 22 year old daughter with 2 kids (3 and 2 months) and they all live with her, along with my cousin. Wonderful...more white trash. I made it a point to avoid my cousin and her all night by staying on the couch and walking all the way around the kitchen instead of walking by them. Ugh...I could not wait to leave. It didn't help that the food made Mr. B and I sick last night.

I'm definitely looking forward to Christmas II though, because that involves good wine, good food and useful presents. I mean, I can appreciate good wine, even cheap wine, but what do I really need with scratched wine glasses, a set of paper Christmas napkins and a single votive candle. Really, next time don't go around your house and throw a bunch of crap into a bag. Just give me the wine and be done with it. Maybe I sound bitter and petty, but after 26 years of craptastic gifts I've run out of nice things to say about them.

Beware of the Pirate at UPS!

Funny story...I asked Mr. B to drop off some packages at UPS yesterday. I figured it would be harmless enough and it would save me some time since he gets home before me. I get home from work and the first thing out of his mouth is that he's never going to UPS ever again and that I 'Set him up.'

Now, I've been to this same UPS probably 20 times to drop off shoes to be returned and I've never had a problem. He goes in there and the guy at the desk has an eye patch on--Mr. B said that he could see the guy's eye because the patch wasn't even on right and that his eye looked fine. The guy didn't like the one box I had used because he said it was 'soft', so he charged Mr.B $8 for a new damn box. Right there I would have said, "No thanks, I'll take it to the damn post office." But Mr. B said fine, I'll pay for the new box. The guy then says, "Excuse me sir, I have to sneeze." He then proceeded to sneeze and then said, "Excuse me sir, I have to use hand santizer." He used his bottle of hand sanitizer.

At this point, I'm sure Mr. B was looking around for the hidden camera waiting for me to jump out and say, "Gotcha!", but the fun continued when he put the 'soft' box in a new box, sealed it up, asked Mr. B to take the tape off of his finger and then asked Mr. B if he knew the address that was on the box. Nope. So now they're reopening the box to get the address. Oh, God.

Box #1 is taken care of, now onto box #2. This is his dad's Christmas present. The guy looks at the name on the package and recognizes the last name from when Mr. B told him the return address.
The guy asks, "Is that your brother in Ohio?"
Mr. B says, "No, it's my father."
The guy asks, "When was the last time you saw him?"
Perplexed, Mr. B says, "A couple of months ago."
The guy then asks, "Did you see him there or he came here?"
At this point, I'm surprised Mr. B didn't just walk out, but he said, "Here." and the guy thought that was sufficient enough to the end coversation. He also made it a point to tell him that the one package was close enough that it would have been less expensive to drive it over ourselves. Gee, thanks for the advice UPS package guy!!!

When he told me this story, I was on the floor laughing so hard I was crying. Mr. B just gave me this "I hate you so much for making me do that"-look. Never again will you find Mr. B in a UPS store due to this Twilight zone occurence.

Chaddsford Winery

Last Christmas I gave Mr. B a Gift Box for a winery tour and tasting. We didn't get around to it until just recently because of the wedding, the summer and Spain. We went on Friday to Chaddsford Winery in PA.

The drive up was nice and it only took us about 45 minutes to get there. As soon as we walked in the door we were handed a nice, crisp glass of Pinot Grigio and it was delicious. Our tour guide then showed us around the grounds--where they process the grapes, where the grapes go to make wine and where the wine is bottled. The group tasting area is downstairs and she said that they were having an elderly group later that afternoon. She told us that they get them all drunked up and then make them walk upstairs, which is pretty interesting being that they're old and probably can't go up stairs sober.

After the tour we began the tasting in their tasting room. We started out with the whites, progressed to the reds and finished with the lighter, sweeter dessert wines. Mr. B and I both loved the Cabernet, Holiday Spirit and Apple Cider. The Holiday Spirit and Apple Cider were warming in a crock pot and they were just what we needed on a freezing cold day like Friday. We took home a couple of bottles of our favorites and we got a complimentary bottle of the Pinot and our tasting glasses.

Overall, the experience was pretty enjoyable. PA definitely does not make the best reds, but their whites were very good. Mr. B and I were so trashed after the tasting that we went to lunch at P.F.Chang's and drank some more wine :-P

Tom & Heather's Wedding

Saturday Mr. B and I went to our friends Tom and Heather's wedding in NE Philly. Heather looked so beautiful and Tom was so handsome! The mass was so cute...the priest kept making wise cracks about Tom being Italian.

The reception was held at The Fountain Room, which us up by the Franklin Mills Mall. The cocktail hour was really good and the drinks were fabulous. The reception room was gorgeous. They had a red, silver and white theme. The food was excellent and the DJ was really good. They had a surprise toward the end of the night--they had actual Mummers come and sing us a few songs. Mr. B and I had a great time...especially slow dancing to "Pour Some Sugar on Me". The entire dance floor cleared out and it was just us with our glasses on. I was crying I was laughing so hard.

Best wishes to the new couple!

My MIL, Mr. B, me and SFIL

The happy couple.

Delicious cake!

Tom's sister, Tom, and his two best men.

The DJ gave us these glasses when we requested a song. We wore them most of the night.

The Fralinger's Mummer group!

Rainy Thursday

I had to literally drag myself out of bed this morning. I woke up 20 minutes late and was so tempted to just stay in bed and call out sick once I heard that it was still raining. On the bright side, I'm back to being a blondish-brunette. I got a little trim and color last night. I've been going to the same hair dresser for almost 15 years...crazy! Her one dog was running around the house humping the other one and drooling all over her. The poor thing was so tired of being chased around all night that she just stood there willingly.

Mr. B is working from home today...lucky duck. Too bad the office has been overtaken by laundry and Christmas presents. He only has a little path to walk to the desk and back. I hope that I can get to wrap some more presents this weekend, but it probably won't happen until Sunday. We're going to Chaddsford Winery tomorrow for a wine tasting and then Saturday we have a wedding.

I'm pretty excited for the wine tasting, plus we get a winery tour and a free bottle of wine. I hope that it snows, but doesn't stick to the roads. That would make for some pretty pictures in the vineyards. (that would probably also make for an interesting winter TTD session) I miss the wine in Spain. Even the house wines were good and they were inexpensive too. Our fave restaurant just got a new bottle on their wine list from Spain. It's a Rioja and I'm dying to try it. Me encanta rioja!

I finally got the Xmas cards out last night. I'm still missing a few addresses though. I wish our picture would have turned out better. I didn't realize that I didn't fix the red eye in the picture before I approved it to be printed. Oh well, I guess it makes me look like a newborn vampire in a way...kinda pale too.

Twilight

I finally finished the fourth and final book. It's kind of sad that I don't have any more books from the series to read, but I think Mr. B is glad that I won't be ignoring him for Edward anymore. It was kind of disappointing the way Breaking Dawn ended, but it also left the series with closure.

Now that the director from the Twilight movie has been fired, I'm excited to see how they improve the second movie. I just hope that they don't change the plot or major scenes like they did in Twilight. I also hope that Kristen Stewart finds her acting skills.

I've started reading Midnight Sun and I'm hooked. I love Edward and being able to 'see' into his mind is amazing. It just kind of confirms what I thought he was thinking all along...no surprises yet. I hope SM does finish this book and I hope she does it soon! I need my fix!

Weekend Happenings

Mr. B and I finally put up the Christmas tree on Saturday after we went to dinner. Ironically, it was snowing, which was kind of nice since we didn't have to go far. We just have a few more Christmas decorations to put up. We already got a compliment from our neighbor on our outside decorations :)

Last night I went to see Legally Blonde, the musical, with two friends and I had a blast! The show was so fun and upbeat...the half naked men prancing around didn't hurt either. Yes, they're probably gay, but that doesn't make them any less eye-candy for me ;-) As soon as I got up this morning I was singing "Omigod, omigod you guys..." I have a feeling it'll be in my head for awhile.

Christmas Cards

So I finally bit the bullet and made a Christmas list in Word. It took me forever, but I think I got just about everyone. It made me realize that I definitely ordered way to many Christmas cards. Oh, well...too late.




I wanted to use a picture of us from Spain with actual Spain stuff in the background, but alas, we don't have that many pictures with the two of us in them because we didn't want some little bambino to run away with our camera. The picture we're using is ok though, and it's from Spain, so that's all that matters. Here is my masterpiece via Snapfish:

I was able to use a code I found online at Retailmenot.com for 20% off...it's SNAPPYSGIFT if anyone is interested. I would have used a wedding picture too, but since I don't have the rights to my damn pictures I couldn't do that. I told Mr. B that the rights to my pictures would make an excellent Christmas present, but our $50 limit this year for presents doesn't cut it.

Best of Spain

Jerez de la Frontera is known for its sherry wine. We only stayed here one night on the way to Cadiz, but the town seemed pretty nice. We stayed at Hotel Casa Grande, which was right on the main square in the historic part of the town. The woman at the front desk was very friendly and spoke very good English. We stayed in room #1 which was very large and opened up onto the rooftop terrace.

That night, we walked down to La Cruz Blanca for dinner. The food was excellent and the price was decent. Mr. B had an ox filet and I had some garlic shrimp (gambas al ajillo). All of the streets are lined with orange trees and it makes the air smell so good! The next day, we ate breakfast at the hotel before we left for Cadiz. The train station was about 3 blocks away and it was easy to find.

Cadiz is supposedly the oldest city in Europe and it's right on the southwest tip of Spain. The city was beautiful and it had amazing shopping. There were mazes of streets that had all kinds of little shops in them. The seafood here was so fresh; I'll never eat frozen fish again!

We stayed at Hotel Senator Cadiz, which is right of the main road into the city. The front desk service was bad, really bad. They were rude and not very helpful at all. The room was ok. Very small--just big enough for the bed, which was uncomfortable. Our only window faced into an alley so we got to see everyone's laundry hanging outside. We had a connecting room and we could hear every noise the guy next door made. He definitely had emphysema or something because his coughing was horrendous!

We did one day of sightseeing while we were there. We saw the Cathedral and walked up La Girlada, which was one of the towers that overlooks the city. The view from up there was amazing! We also went to see the fort that was used to quaranteen people with some kind of disease 100's of years ago. It's such a pretty city to walk around. We ended up walking to the train station because the front desk people were ignoring us when we asked for them to call a cab. The train ride to Seville was actually really nice.

Seville was my favorite city by far. The food, the people, the sites; everything was amazing! We stayed at Hotel Alminar, which is in the old Jewish district. We could see the Cathedral from our hotel room. The room was very nice and actually quite modern. It was small, but not cramped and the beds were amazingly comfortable.

Our first day there we went and saw the Cathedral. We were both just in awe of the architecture and the massive size of the church. I used up my memory stick before I even got outside. That night we asked for tapas bar recommendations from the front desk and we ended up going to Coloniales. The food there was probably the best food we had all trip. We got a bottle of rioja (red) and about 6 plates of tapas. We got there around 8pm and by 9pm the place was packed and there were people waiting outside drinking in the street. Our favorite tapa was the Patatas Bravas--sliced, fried potatoes with a hot sauce and an aoili sauce. We had that in just about every tapas place after that.

The next day we went to see the Reales Alcazares, which are a bunch of Moorish palaces all connected together with a massive garden. The tilework in the rooms was amazing. We also went and saw the Torre de Oro, Plaza de Espana, and the bull ring. That night we went to Estrella, which was also very good and packed by the time we left.

The next day we went to some museums and basically did all of the little things that we didn't get to do the other days. That night we met up with some friends and went to a Vinoteca for some amazing food. We were so sad to leave on our last day in Seville. We took the AVE (high speed train) to Madrid.

Madrid was the last leg of our trip. We only stayed here one night before we left Spain. We stayed at the Roommate Alicia hotel and we got an amazing suite on the top floor. Our room wasn't ready when we got there so we had some tapas in the plaza across from our hotel. I don't think we had one bad thing to eat when we were in Spain. We went and saw the Reina Sophia museum and one of the botanical gardens in the city.

Our hotel room was absolutely amazing! Panoramic view of the plaza, soaking tub, huge, comfy bed. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant and the food was very, very good. We ended up having two plates of the Patatas Bravas to get our fix. We reserved a taxi at the front desk and he was on time the next day to take us to the airport. The ride cost about 30 Euro, but it was worth it because we probably would have gotten lost trying to find the train.

Mr. B and I are so ready to go back to Spain. We'd definitely spend some more time in Seville and maybe hit up some of the towns that are close...Jaen, Cordoba, etc.

Spain Pics

Here are a few pics from Spain of Mr. B and me:

This was taken in one of the main plazas in Cadiz.

Taken in front of one of the Cathedral doors in Cadiz.

Take at the top of one of the towers in the Cathedral. The view was amazing!

Down by the water in Cadiz.

This is from our last night in Cadiz at a restaurant with the rest of the group.

In the garden of a Moorish Palace in Seville.

Food Overload

I ate so much this weekend...I feel like such a slob. At least I have a couple weeks of repreive before Christmas. All of my crazy, running around shopping should help me stave off a lb or two.

I think I'm about 60% done my holiday shopping. It feels like it snuck up so fast this year! Where did 2008 go?! I feel like it was just NYE yesterday. By the way...I don't like this adult-having to buy presents for everyone thing...it's annoying and time consuming. I'd be fine with just doing a Secret Santa and being done with it. There are like 20+ people I have to buy presents for and my bank account doesn't like it very much. I told Mr. B that we're just going to do something nice, just the two of us, as our Christmas presents and that we could get each other small presents that are under $20. It'll be tough, but it will force us to be creative.

I have no motivation to do work, but I really should. I'd rather be back in bed sleeping--which I didn't get to do much of last night. I should have called in sick. Boss man isn't in so it really wouldn't have made a difference. Oh well...maybe later in the week.