Hair

Once Jeff and I decided that we wanted to buy a home I realized that sacrifices would have to be made. We'd have to eat out less, spend less money on wine, shopping would have to hold off for a while and I also had to give a few things up personally...like tanning and acrylic nails and $60 haircuts and $120 highlights and (eek!), regular purchases of designer jeans. I gave it all up last July (except for tanning, but I'll address that in my next blog) while we were on the hunt for a house. A house that would come with a mortgage payment triple the rent we were paying at the condo. I died my hair out of a box a slightly darker shade so my roots wouldn't show, I just gave up haircuts all together and I learned to love the 15 pairs of designer jeans I already had in my closet. In that year, my hair is now my natural dark blonde and it has gotten very, very long. I think it is the longest I have ever had my hair. Strangely, I have gotten more compliments on my hair the last few months when it hasn't been cut or dyed in a year than when I was spending (let me calculate...) $1000 a year on my hair. Figures, right? I've finally gotten to a point that I can't stand my long, stringy, split end, desperately in need of a haircut hair. I look like a hippy, seriously. So Saturday I'm going to splurge and spend $60 plus tip on a good haircut, nothing drastic but much needed. Usually every couple of years I go drastic and chop it short (like I did the month before Jeff proposed and he was mortified knowing I would want it long for a wedding) but not this time. I'll keep it long for now and just get rid of the hippy, all one length do and post pics later.

Can You Find Us?

In our quest to visit every MLB Baseball stadium in our lifetime, we hit up a stadium in our own backyard. Yesterday after visit with J&G in Redondo Beach we headed to Anaheim for an Angels game It's a beautiful stadium and Angels fans are super friendly. See if you can find us in the true fans gallery:

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGallery.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=AngelsTrueFans&gallery_id=2215930


In two weeks I head to Seattle to check out Safeco field. Unfortunately I don't get to bring Jeff, but it is an all expenses paid trip that I earned for being awesome at work. I've never been to Seattle so I'm super excited and anytime I get to watch baseball, especially in a suite, you know I'm down!

Where the Turf Meets the Surf

♫ Down at Old Del Mar♪

We go every year. I love it! This year we took Nick on his 19th birthday and the kid walked away with over $150 in winnings....

Sweet Little Emma

I'm an Aunty! We're not related by blood, but her momma has been my BFF since we met in Kindergarten in 1983, she knows all my deepest, darkest secrets and she was my maid of honor. She is family. I remember when she called me to tell me the news that she was pregnant, I was excited for her but also couldn't help thinking that everything would be different. What about crazy nights in Vegas? What about girls nights in Laguna Beach? What about going out to the bars? Does this mean we have to start growing up???? Rosa is the first one of our group to have a baby and we all kind of figured she would be. She was well trained (7 brothers and sisters!) and born to me a momma. Now I see that we're still gonna have our fun but its just going to be a different kind of fun, and that's ok. Little Miss Emma was born on June 28th and last weekend I finally got to meet her. I'm in love....she is the most perfect little creature I've ever laid my eyes on. Her momma is so good with her and her Daddy is so proud, they are the perfect little family. Jeff and I call her The Little Nugget, I'm sure she'll go through many more nicknames through the years. I am hopeful that Rosa never tells her that Aunty Katy and Uncle Jeff used to refer to her as "the fetus." I can't stop thinking about her and I can't help but think she's gonna need her a bff...

Sleepy Girl

How Cute is she with her daddy?

Her Grumpy Mug.

Deadly Sins

There are seven of them. My two favorite are sloth and gluttony...As mentioned in my previous post I love being lazy. I also love to stuff my face and drink a days worth of calories (I'm exaggerating). It takes a great amount of effort to resist these two deadly sins. I've always been an athlete, I ran track from elementary school until my sophomore year of college when I decided that beer was a lot more fun than triple jump. After college I always kept in shape by running, lifting weights, going to bootcamp class, etc... As much as I love food and drink, I've always kept close tabs on what I intake by keeping a food journal and would write down every calorie I consumed. Sometimes I would slip and take a few weeks off from diet and exercise but would always get back into my routine and that was that. Well, last year I fell off the wagon beginning with our October trip to Boston. Shortly after Boston was New Orleans followed by the holidays and pretty soon my new routine was being a sinner. I just kind of fell off the wagon and got used to my new routine. Now, 10 months later I am finally realizing how much I've sinned! I've had so much fun eating and drinking and being lazy but I realize how much I miss feeling fit. I haven't gotten fat or anything, but I don't feel as firm as I used to be and my clothes are starting to fit differently. Yesterday I bought a memo book and started writing everything down again and yesterday I started running again. I'm looking into joining the gym and even taking some exercise classes. I miss my old routine and what better motivator than Hawaii in November? I want to wear nothing but bikinis and sundresses that whole week and I want to feel confident again. So here is to a new routine!

Life as of Late

I'm a Taurus. While I don't really believe the day to day horoscopes that promise "love and happiness are coming in the week ahead because Saturn is in retrograde, blah, blah" I do find the characteristics of each sign to be pretty spot on for most people I know. Virgos are organized and tidy, Libras are social and outgoing and Tauruses are stubborn, lazy and like routine. I am a Taurus through and through. I am stubborn, ask Nate. He is a fellow Taurus and we've always been two peas in a pod in the fact we both always think we're right. Years of friendship have taught both of us how and when to concede, but I still love to prove someone wrong. I am lazy. You can say laziness is my hobby. My dream weekend is one in which we have absolutely no plans and I can forgo showering and getting dressed and lay on the couch all weekend catching up on TV and watching movies. I live for those weekends. Routine is my friend. I don't like surprises or disruptions, I'm not all that eager to try something new or out of the box. I like the feeling of comfort the expected brings me. 2 weeks ago all my comfort zones were tested when I had to report to jury duty downtown. Those bastards call me every year on the nose. And every year I park at work and walk the 5 blocks to the courthouse with a bag full of trashy magazines because lord knows how long you will sit in that god forsaken jury lounge until they herd you like cattle into a courtroom Every year I sit in a court room and every year I don't get picked or I get excused because of my profession or my friendships with officers. This year was different. In the jury lounge (where there had to be 200 of us) they announced there was a 4 week trial. I wasn't worried. What are the odds out of all these people I'll get picked? They called several groups of people before me and I was beginning to think they might pick all the jurors for all the cases before they even got to me. Finally they called my name and I followed my group and immediately was called to be juror #3 and lucky me it is the 4 week trial. So the last two weeks have consisted of me getting up at a different time, walking to court, finding new spots to eat lunch (I usually work at lunch and eat at my desk), finding new and interesting ways to stay awake and attentive, heading to work after court at 4:30, working a few hours to make sure all of my crap is being handled and then getting home a few hours later than usual. This sucks! I know it's my civic duty, but this whole change in routine thing is killing me! The good news is is that we should begin deliberating on Monday and it appears we'll finish a week early and then I'm off the hook for 3 years. And then...I get my life back. On top of jury duty I had a whirlwind of visitors last week. It began with Cyn and Nova on Saturday for the Elton John concert, followed by my mom, Linda and Michelle, followed by Amanda, Kiya and Brendan followed by Rich and Steve! I just love company, but it just worked out that they all chose the same week to come stay with me. I've never washed so many sheets and towels or cleaned the bathroom so many times in so few days in my life! I'm really looking forward to peace and quiet and usual work stuff. Sometimes I love a boring day....