Just Like That

Forgive me if this post is jumbled because I am still in awe of what just happened today.

It may not seem like a big deal for those whimsical, spur of the moment folks out there, but for this girl who plans and plans and plans what happened today was monumental.

Let me back up..

A few weeks ago a co-worker told me about this site: Luxury Link. Basically the site finds all of these off the wall properties and puts them up for bid like Ebay.

So I have been checking it out..mostly to dream of my "someday" vacations. I sent Mom and Becca a 4 bedroom villa in Italy and said we should go. I've been keeping my eye on Greece, etc. Just looking.

Well today, I happened to be on the site. And I find a KILLER deal to this amazing place in California. Not only does it inlude an Ocean-view room, but $50 per day at the spa, breakfast each morning, and valet-parking service. So I dreamed about a little get away with Nate.

And then I thought...why the hell not. So I bid on it with less than 10 minutes left in the auction. What's the worst that could happen right?

Let me tell you here that i have never purchased anythign on EBAY ever....so I bid and I am hitting refresh on my computer like there is no tomorrow. 10...9..8...7... "WHAT? I have been out bid." Crap. Quick 2 minute battle with myself over whether or not to bid again. I do. 5...4...3...2...4..

"Wait? 4? How did two minutes just get ADDED to the auction?"

And then I was pissed...sure this site was one big scam and there was some pot-smoking high-schooler in the back room at Luxury link whose sole purpose in life was to ruin peoples dreams of a killer, yet affordable vacation.

But wait...DING...my outlook beeps at me and I see I have an email:

CONGRATULATIONS! You were the highest bidder!!

WHOO HOO!!! So now Nate and I are going to California in October to celebrate our anniversary.

Check out this sweet ass place: Terranea Resort. Pretty cool huh? It was a whirlwind and Nate doesnt even really know yet because he is travelling for work.

Now for those of you who may be interested in what Luxury Link has to offer, let me tell you I am their new #1 fan. After winning my bid, I submitted my top 3 date choices to their online concierge service. 6 hours later, I got an email confirming my #1 date choice. Done and Done.

Now all we need is airfare!!

This--Not That

My sidebar told me that it needed some love so I thought I would give you some of my opinions on what I have been reading/watching/listening to since some of it is crap and I wouldn't want to lead you astray.

Read THIS: ------------------------------> Not That

We just finished The Russian Concubine for book club (NICE pick Linda). It was a great read. It is set in early 1900's China, and follows and International Settlement of foreigners within a Chinese city. The story follows a young Russian girl who crosses the settlement lines to survive and crosses paths with a young Chinese man. There were great characters, and interesting story lines that kept me turning pages to the wee hours of the morning.

On the COMPLETE opposite side of the spectrum is Gossip of Starlings. This book was a bad combination of the book Prep and a poorly written episode of Gossip Girl. It is completely unbelievable that these girls are in High School and I pretty much hated every character in this book. The only reason I finished it is because I am crazy about not finishing books.

Watch THIS: ------------------------> Not That

Marley and Me is clearly not an Oscar contender and will not be winning any cinematic awards. But if you have every loved a pet, owned a pet, seen an animal, or just in general have a heart that is warm and beating, you will love this movie. I, having a very old--flirting with death every day--cat, bawled like a baby for the last 30 minutes of the movie. It was ugly. Amy can confirm.

The L Word Season 5 is horrible. I realize this TV series may not be everyone's cup of tea to begin with but Nate and I watched the first seasons and enjoyed them. This season--not so much. Horribly self-indulgent, bad acting, bad writing..bad bad bad.

Listen to THIS: Can't Stop to Follow by T90.

Yes, the ditty on Itunes might sound cheezy (Becca...) but I swear once you hear the beat, listen to the lyrics you will be flying down the road leaving any other runners in your dust.

Maybe you have to experience this song with Diva Doug to truly love it. But it is a keeper, and will be carrying me through every run I have.

That's all for now...let me know if you have any of your own recommendations! I will add them to my list.

Deal or No Deal: Blackberries

Yum. Who doesn't love out of season blackberries that actually taste delicous?

Well Costco has delivered these beauties week after week, and I continue to buy them:

I have without a doubt been brainwashed by my Costco-going friends because I would not have bought blackberries in March at Cub Foods in a million years. They would have been reallye expensive and I wouldnt' have trusted that they would be any good.

But bring-on the shining Costco endorsement and apparently I have no issues buying blackberries EVERY week.

The bottom line: $6.99

For 1 pound 2 oz.

At any other grocer, you would get a measly little pint for about $3.50-$4.00 (not on sale).

And I have purchased these bad boys about 4 or 5 times with zero spoilage. Go us.

Chi-Town

Everytime I come back from a weekend in Chicago with Becca et al, I come up with these elaborate plans on how I am going to move there. It sucks to leave her and Nick and Finn because it is always such a good time.


And sometimes we don't even DO anything and it is a good time (point in case: mid-Morning nap Saturday...). Who wouldn't love taking a nap with Finn at 9AM?

We did do lots of stuff that was fun though! Becca took me to a GREAT Indian place on Friday. It was amazing. In fact it was all I could think about last night when I was in the airport eating stale caramel corn.

Saturday we napped, went for a good run, and then headed to Navy Pier. Finn was SO excited. You would say "Want to go to Navy Pier" and he would almost scream "OOOOO-k". Love this kid.


Thought Nate would like this picture..future bike partner.


We got to meet up with Meg and Emily for some AMAZING pizza. I would even go as far as some of the best pizza I have ever eaten in my life. Deep dish, with a crunch crust. It's actually blowing my mind a little right now.



It was great to see the 'other' Ekern girls. We have been further apart in distance almost our whole lives, so it is SO nice to have them in the same city and closer to me! It has been fun getting to see them more, and only hope that I see mroe of them!

And then there was Finnegan. I just love this little guy SO much. I can't even imagine what it is like to be a parent and the love that goes into that because I just think of how much I adore and love Finn, and then I think about how that must be multiplied by 1 zillion times when it is actually your kid.



Clearly, a love fest with Finn.
I have graduated from "Teta" and am now "Gweda"..
I gave Finn his first Peep and taste of other Easter candy.
Finn is a crazy alphabet lover. If the kid sees a letter of any sort he will say that letter outloud and then finish of the alphabet from that letter. Crazy.
He is talking more and I loved hearing him say "Octopus, dolphin, shark, turtle" from his Ocean book.
Mom will be happy to know I am prepping him for Syttende Mai by teaching him Uff-da.

Check out this video footage of the "alphabet monster" himself...

Thanks NWA!

I was planning a great post filled with all the wonderful images from this past weekend with the Keaty's, but thanks to NWA I am just arriving home now. A mere 3.5 hours than originally intended.

Note to self: fly Southwest. Their 6PM flight left and landed on time.

Our flight however, had a something wrong with its wing which is what made it late to Chicago. By the time it got to Chicago it was a horrible wintry mix outside (i swear winter follows me where I go) and we got to sit in the plane for 45 minutes while they de-iced the wings.

Now, through all of this I remained calm and stress-free. I swear it. I did some work email. I read my book. I got caramel corn. All was fine in the world.

And then at 10PM the flight attendant came on and said we would have to wait "just" outside our gate because security personnel were not in position yet.

And that is when I lost it. All of my patience was blown on some stupid secuirty personnel who couldn't seem to get in place even though they had almost FOUR FREAKING hours to do it.

But I am home...and ready to jump into bed. Stay tuned for a classic Finn video that I snuck in today...one to surprise even Mama and Dada...

Gotchya!

Who out there fell for the "woe is me, I cut my finger" schtick?

C'mon...raise your hand. I know you're out there. FOR SURE I know I got Dad. Which let me tell you that after years of running into the living room and telling Dad there was a deer in the lawn and him always mysteriously knowing it was April fools..FEELS HELLA GREAT! Sorry Dad.

So you can be mad at me if you want to, but ask yourself if you are made because:

You fell for it.

or

You missed the two clues I left you to lead you to the truth behind the joke.

That's right.

Clue #1: Read the first letter in every sentence starting at the top and moving down. It clearly spells out April Fools.

Clue #2: Check-out the hand. Do you notice the hairy knuckles? This hand was lovingly yanked from a Google Image search for "Finger Cut."

So there you have it. APRIL FOOLS!!! Now all of you who were worried about my hand modeling career can sleep better tonight.

One Down

Apparently, I should not operate a knife after a long day at work, class, multiple loads of laundry and cleaning a dirty litter box.

Perhaps Nate should just take to cutting up all of my food for me.

Right now, I am dictating this blog post through Nate.

I cut myself and I bled and bled and bled some more.

Like a stuck pig.

Fortunately, Nate saw this coming as he always yells at me for how I cut and we have frequently joked about which emergency room we would go to when I sliced off a finger.

“Off” doesn’t quite define this incident, but it comes close.

Of course, neither of us was smart enough to grab our phones as we rushed out of the house so we couldn’t call to alert our loved ones.

Luckily, my finger is intact and is now adorned with TWELVE, count them, TWELVE stitches.

So feel free to call me because I am clearly not at work firing off any emails, and I am not up and around doing stuff around the house…