delicious dinner

sushi_yum.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

jen and i ate at this place in venice twice. it was good sushi. we weren't expecting all that fish when we ordered our meal however. it didn't mention it at all! but it was good anyway.

good news is i've found a place online that will print poster-size. i'm sending them a photo to test it out and see the actual quality of their work. then i'll have prices online and upload some photo choices as soon as i can. hopefully in the next couple of weeks. i'll keep everyone updated!

a dreamy sort of time

IMG_4960.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

this was taken with a borrowed lens. justin's uncle let me play for a few minutes and now i'm in love. with the {five hundred dollar} lens. not his uncle. although his uncle is pretty swell. he took us out to brunch at the huntington beach pier. this place called "uncles". ironic. anyway, they had this hawaiin group singing and dancing and they forced justin and i to learn a hula dance. it was embaressing to say the least but now i know what to buy j for his birthday. a grass skirt.

enjoy the view

IMG_1619.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

arizona from the air. i woke up in time to catch a few shots. amazing landscape but pretty barren. i took 300 plus photos over vacation, so i'll just upload one a day for a while. enjoy!

the nightmare that is flying

we flew out of LAX at 11:30pm on monday night. a red-eye, cramped, no room to sleep, but we did, an hour or two. my husband needs some paperwork when he flies, and unfortunately the flight crew had handled it wrong and by the end of our flight it was torn in shreds. thus, we missed our 8 am connecting plane. so we were given minor compensation, yaddy yadda and rebooked on a 12:45 flight. we slept a couple more hours on the airport floor.

our flight finally boarded and we were on our way home. not quite. the weather wouldn't cooperate so we waited. and waited. and the baby behind us screamed. more waiting. 2 hours. screamed. waited. 3 hours. waited. screamed. 4 hours later we were taking off. i completely passed out for another hour and then home. at 6pm. we didn't unpack. we didn't sleep. we didn't go to the gym or grocery shop or do laundry. i didn't upload any photos. i was/am pretty bummed, BUT it's nice to be home. to my closet. to my big under-priced house. to my car. and to my bed.

almost home

We fly out tonight at 11:30. Plan on sleeping the entire time. It's been a good trip. In the words of so many stoners. But I am ansy to get back. To my own bed. To my big house. To our lack of traffic and parking tickets. I've filled my camera card to the max so I'll have plenty of pictures to show. I love my husband. He's been such a good sport this entire time. Even when we got the parking ticket in Hollywood because I wanted to get a shot of the chinese theatre. Kudos to him for writing it off like it was no big deal. Well, more posts soon. We land at 9 am...

california sun

it's been a fun few days. thanks to the convertible my shoulders end up sunburned every night. what a terrible complaint to have right.

so far {in three days} we've seen venice beach, malibu, santa monica and beverly hills. i've touched the pacific ocean {which was freezing}, taken multiple pictures of waves on rocks, shopped rodeo drive {and by shopped i mean walked around pretending we had the money to shop gucci but actually having the money to only shop gap} and had some delicious sushi with my cousin.

definately looking forward to our friday shopping day and san diego zoo this weekend. oh the pictures i shall have for everyone...

we're thinking of just driving up the pacific coast highway today with the picnic basket looking for a quiet place to sit. in general it's a pretty relaxing trip but we're still not sure about living out here.

the body shop loot

the body shop loot, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

all this for 25 dollars. {healing after-sun lotion, shampoo/conditioner, soap, mini scents, lip gloss, eyeshadow, body care kits, and adorable gift bags} if you don't already love this store, you will after you visit their clearance sale. and did i mention everything's all natural?

happy friday-before-i-fly-away-from-this-wretched-place...

and the winner of the number guessing to win crap thing is...






wait for it...







charity.
congrats. you won some crap. please comment your favorite colors and e-mail and i will begin making your crap {i shouldn't refer to it as crap because we all know i can make some sweet stuff} as soon as i return....

enjoy the weekend people. i'll be spending half of it locating terminals, having my sneakers x-rayed, getting business papers in order on the flight and paying way too much for a bottle of tap water. hasta until i post again!

well wishes and hallmark crap

happy birthday to my husband. he turns 30 today. one of those life-changing events. i told him he still looked 29 to me. when i turn 30 i fully expect him to tell me i look 22. but he's a bad liar.

also an early happy bday to my 6th reader Robyn. It's not until tomorrow, but i figured tomorrow i might be too busy to blog. have a good one you crazy canuck.

in other news, remember oatmeal cream pies and burger king crowns? just a couple of random nostalgic things i ran into this morning. i used to eat oatmeal cream pies every day and now the very thought of them makes me sick to my stomach. ah, commercialized processed goods.

i also bought loads of stuff at the body shop sale this morning. i figured if i can endure the bikini wax, i at least deserve some grapeseed body butter. and some new lipgloss. and purple eyeshadow. great sale, and the guy there chatted with me about LA for a bit, since he lived out there last year. i already love california and i'm not even there yet! 45 hours until we set foot in LAX.

i was a terrible waitress so i started writing songs

this morning the husband and i went to the gym. i haven't been doing so hot with the morning gym habit. in fact, i completely broke it. SO, this week i need to kick it up again. right before a vacation is always the perfect time to start a routine.

things to look forward to this week:

tuesday - farmer's market, sunshine
wednesday - packing! and softball game
thursday - justin's birthday, the clearance sale at BODY SHOP
friday - announcing the number winner, graduation party, last-minute packing!
saturday - sunny california!!

justin's birthday celebration

justin's birthday celebration, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

here's a little glimpse into what our sunday looked like. i, me, the one that i am, managed to surprise my husband, the investigator. i pulled it off. i was more surprised than he was. it was a good party though.

you see his look of surprise there on the top, along with the death by chocolate {yum} and the photo montage. and of course he got the gag gifts of fixodent and geritol. and look, a carvel cake! and everyone in sweaters instead of swimsuits. oh well. better luck next 30th birthday.

he's not 30 until thursday of course, and i still have no present! {help}.

a picture is worth a thousand bras.

so i've realized i have about five readers. how sad is that. i need to be more interesting i guess. i'll work on it, i promise guys.

so i'm giving everyone until friday to guess a number and possibly beat the one of three people that posted theirs. sad i know, but i want to be fair to all the fake readers in my head. it's only right. on friday i'll announce the winner and then on saturday i'll leave for california. for ten days. when i get back i will then start to make your gift. tough crap. but think of all the great ideas i'll get while in LA. the mecca of hip and cool and all the rage. or maybe i'll buy something and totally pretend i made it for you.

today i went to a wedding and {egads} forgot my camera. what what. yes. i suck. but it was 50 and raining and dark when i left the house, unfortunately {fortunately for the bride} it was sunny and clear skies on the lake 2 hours away. oh well. the saddest part about this whole story is my husband snoring in the passenger seat the entire way home with a bra covering his eyes. AND NO PICTURE OF IT.

so blogs are selfish (mmm...shellfish)

i thought i was starting this for myself. and i did. BUT i love comments. i do. i'm addicted to them. i love to know who's reading (and who's new) and if they enjoy what i write or if they generally think it sucks. and i'm ok with that, i just generally like input, good, bad or vulgar...

SO. this is the post to introduce yourself to me. let me know who you are, why you read, if you hate me, etc. AND there's something in it for you. pick a number from 1 to 100 and include it in your comment. the closest to my choice gets a nifty little hand-crafted surprise. see, i'm not that selfish.

some news for mom.

i tried to look into some racetracks out in california for j's b-day gift. not a whole racetrack, just a day of instruction and driving some cool cars a few laps. anyway, it didn't work out, the dates are all booked. (and super expensive) SO i'm still left with no gift for my husband's 30th b-day. i am a terrible wife. i am thinking of throwing a party this weekend though.

in other news, we leave for california in ten days which i am completely looking forward to. not only because my awesome cousin will be showing me around hollywood or for crashing on her cruddy futon or even for the possibility of seeing tomkat out and about with the new baby, but because in true syracuse fashion the weather on the weekends here has been crap for crap. so it'll be nice to see some sun from something other than a window. (and did i mention the convertible mustang rental?) i plan on tanning (burning) all week. oh the packing i must do (sunscreen). oh the places i will go (hospital)! i wish i could take you all with me (to block the rays), but the car's only a five seater...

taste of life

so i was a bit bummed last week when i got the notice that my normal parking lot would be closed for a few days this week, especially since i just bought a monthly pass. until i realized the reason was a food festival. and we know i love food. so today i'm spending my lunch hour feasting off the goodness that is our local restaurants. it's kind of nice, all the SU food makes it's way over here when usually it's just too far to walk to. and of course the staple tourist attraction, Dinosaur Barbecue. (the husband said they have Thai there too!)

the hummingbird's are back (they love the tree we have in the front yard), which means summer is finally here. i also love that my job is so casual i can wear jeans whenever i want. i also love starbucks bottled mocha frappuccinos. and vacations that are only two weeks away.

basketball

basketball.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

a photo from our weekend travels...