A Finely Tuned Athlete

Things have been pretty busy here in the Timiraos-Sweren household. On Friday night I had a Stampin' Up demo at my friend Lori's house. It was a very fun and successful party! And she gave us all the cutest candles molded like flip-flops as favors.

Saturday I got my hair cut and highlighted and did a thorough cleaning of the house. Steve and I visited the new Super Taqueria near our house for lunch, which was delicious, but a bit ghetto. Then I cooked up a storm since we were hosting my family for dinner. I made yummy salmon, orzo salad, green beans and strawberry shortcakes. I also bought a tasty cheese and vegetable dip from Trader Joe's and put it out on my lovely Fiesta chip and dip platter. Two seconds later I found Jackson enjoying the dip, so I sadly had to throw it away.

Jackson succeeded in ruining my appetite a second time that night, when he ran through the backyard, pausing at the sliding door with a mouse in his mouth. Steve went outside to see what he was doing with the mouse, and it turned out the mouse was still alive. He kept letting it go and scurry around, and then he'd pick it up again in his mouth. So gross. Especially cause I had set the table outside, and had to sit Indian-style in my chair, fearing the mouse would return. Now I won't go outside at all without shoes on.

This morning we woke up at 6:30 a.m. to do Pat's Run. My sister won a free entry on the radio, so Steve and I joined her. We got a really cool Dri-Fit t-shirt to wear, and a number and a timer for our shoe. I felt like a real-life athlete. The run was 4.2 miles, and I truly can't believe that we completed it without walking at all. I've never run that far in my life, especially not in a non-treadmill situation. Erica left us in the dust after the first mile, but we stayed steady and finished in about 45 minutes. It really was a nice event, and it felt good to do something that was good for us and good for the community. I'm definitely feeling the pain now, though. I'll probably be hobbling tomorrow.

After that, I ran some errands at the mall and did some things that had to get done around the house. Then I napped for two hours! We had dinner at my parents', watched the Sharks win and then went in the hot tub to loosen up our sore muscles.

Well, I must go catch "Desperate Housewives."

United We Stand

Steve had to work late tonight. And I'm proud to say that instead of doing my nails or vacuuming or something, I took out the car wash supplies (that I bought myself at Dollar Tree) and gave my car a much-needed scrub.

As I drive around my neighborhood, I frequently see women out by themselves doing work that's typically assigned to men. I feel solidarity with them because I too have been known to bust out the leaf blower or hedge clippers and take care of business. I wish we had a special hand signal or something to wave at each other.

So, tonight my post is dedicated to the all the other weed-whacking, raking, tree-trimming, trash-taking-out, patio-sweeping badass women out there!

The Sunshine State

My computer is seriously trying my patience right now. It’s crashed a bunch of times as I’ve attempted to get my vacation photos online in an album. Since it’s not really working, I’ll just upload a few here for now. The one above is at Downtown Disney.

So, here is an overview of the trip: We arrived pretty late on Wednesday night. It was totally humid and about 90 degrees. Despite the humidity, the heat felt great, especially because of the rainy yuckiness we were coming from.

On Thursday, Steve and I went to Animal Kingdom at Disney, as that was the only non-water park attraction we hadn’t been to. It was really fun. I particularly enjoyed the “Expedition Everest” roller coaster, that was a bit of an homage to The Matterhorn at Disneyland. There was a great “Indiana Jones”-like ride called “Dinosaur” and a super-fun spinny roller coaster that I don’t remember the name of. The safari ride was cool, even though most of the animals were sleeping in the shade when we came by. Here’s an elephant we saw:


On Friday, the whole crew went the Universal Studios. We bought these passes so that we didn’t have to wait in any lines. They were expensive, but with a group of 17 (including little kids and old people) they were worth it. There was a roller coaster there based on “The Mummy,” which was definitely the crowd favorite. I also liked the “Men in Black” ride, where you got to shoot at aliens and earn points. I got the high score in my car! Another fun thing happened on the “Jaws” ride. My little cousin Rachel got to hold the tour guide’s grenade launcher, and when Jaws popped out of the water, she shot him and saved us all. The whole boat was cheering for Rachel and she seemed very proud. Here’s a photo of Rachel and her sister Bethany with their kill:


On Saturday I discovered my personal Mecca. Well, first Steve and I went to Panera Bread for lunch, which is a restaurant chain that I didn’t think we had around here (further investigation has resulted in me finding four within a 30-minute radius). Panera is absolutely fabulous. I had a warm and tasty artichoke and turkey panini with delicious melted cheese. Just thinking about it is making me salivate. We went there again for breakfast the next day and discovered the cinnamon crunch bagel. Holy cow. I would balloon to 300 lbs. if there were a Panera closer to me. Then I discovered Mecca. We went to see “The Benchwarmers” (very hilarious, but totally trite) at this movie theater in a shopping center that I could easily spend the rest of my life in. It included familiar favorites like Macaroni Grill and SUPER Target (I had never been to a SUPER one before) and new finds like this cosmetics place called ULTA, a salad place called Crispers, this awesome scrapbook store, a very cute clothing boutique, and so many more. AND they had a Panera. I’m seriously considering moving to Orlando just so that I can experience this shopping center more regularly.

After that, we drove to Daytona to meet Erika and Andy at the Chart House for dinner. Daytona is such a pit. Seriously, I was fearing for my life as we drove through some of the bad sections. But the marina (where the Chart House is) was lovely, and we had a very good time visiting with them.

Sunday we hung around my cousin Cara’s house, ate a delicious Easter meal and had a little egg hunt for the kids in the yard. After that, we hung out at Downtown Disney and headed back to the hotel.

All in all, a very nice trip that was WAY too short. Here are a few more pictures. Hopefully I can get an album together tomorrow.

You're All I Ever Wanted

And I'm back. We had a wonderful trip and did lots of fun things. But today I'm only going to write about one of the highlights. Yes, we had ourselves a great big celebrity sighting.

On Saturday night we stopped at the Orlando Ale House so that various members of our party of 17 could watch the games of their respective teams. Since we were a party of 17 we had to break up into different tables. I ended up at a table in the bar. And as I enjoyed my brew, a familiar face wandered by. It was J.C. from NSYNC (and the Mickey Mouse Club)!! He was with a girl and another guy. They sat at a table across the bar from us and ordered dinner. I didn't want to stare too blatantly, but here's what I can report: J.C. was wearing khaki shorts, flip-flops and a gray hooded sweatshirt. He played part of a game of pool with the guy he came with. After that, he took off his sweatshirt and had on a black t-shirt. He ate a hamburger and drank a bottle of Aquafina and something else in a coffee mug. The only person in the bar who harassed him was a drunk chick at the table next to us. She went over and asked him if he was J.C. and he denied it. Then she complimented the girl he was with on having a cute boyfriend that looks like J.C.

I made Steve take a picture of me with my cell phone that featured J.C. in the background (I'm so sly). And I do have that photo stored on my phone. However, I've spent the past hour trying to figure out how to get the photo off my phone, only to discover that my phone doesn't have the capability to send pictures. So, if you're local and want to see the picture on my phone, I'd be happy to share. If not, you'll have to just deal with the cheesy stock image I used here.

More on Florida tomorrow ...

Bon Voyage!

I went to pilates tonight and it was a bit better than last time. At least I felt like I exerted a bit of effort.

Anyway, the main focus of today was getting ready for our trip to Florida. We leave tomorrow to visit our family members who have recently re-located there (in the Orlando area). I'm sort of dreading the flight, since it'll be quite long, as we're stopping in Dallas and have a three-hour layover there! To gear up for it, I went to Borders at my lunch today and bought the "Stitch and Bitch, Happy Hookers" crochet book. I also bought a bunch of yarn, figuring maybe I could teach myself a new stitch on the plane or maybe even get started on a project. I also got some puzzle books to keep us occupied should the crochet frustrate me. I'm not sure if they let you take scissors on the plane anymore? I found a little pair of fold-up sewing scissors that I'm going to attempt to bring on, because gnawing at yarn with my teeth doesn't sound fun. I also have a book, "Mad Girls in Love." And should all else fail, I've got some Tylenol PMs. Those and a glass of wine should keep me out for at least a few hours.

So, here's our agenda while we're there:

• Wednesday: Land and just chill
• Thursday: Visit a Santana Row-like place with restaurants and shopping, go to my cousin Ryan's softball game, have my Stampin' Up practice demonstration
• Friday: Universal Studios with the whole family
• Saturday: Drive to Daytona to have dinner with Erika and Andy
• Sunday: Orthodox Easter celebration (yes, I'm such a lucky girl, I get to celebrate Easter twice!)
• Monday: Fly home

Not very long, but it'll be a nice break. I'm hoping we can squeeze a trip to Disney in there somewhere, cause I had so much fun when Steve and I went two years ago.

Well, I may not be online until we return, so I'll "see ya real soon!"

Happy Sunday

Today was my sister Erica's birthday:

And it was Easter!

What a day! We had brunch this morning at Hayes Mansion, which was scrumptious! They really had everything done so nicely, including the Easter Bunny photo op. After that, we went to my parents' and opened our Easter baskets. As usual, my mom out did herself. My basket included the following:
-- A Red Sox shirt from her recent Boston trip
-- A Target gift card
-- A Starbucks gift card
-- A silicone baking mat
-- A cute brownie mold/baking sheet thing
-- A tissue holder that matches my bathroom
-- A set of nail gems
-- A box of Crystal Light peach tea mix
-- A pretty watch we found at Macy's

We hung out all afternoon and then went to McCormick & Schmidt's for a delicious dinner. After that, we enjoyed banana birthday cake from my favorite place, Icing on the Cake.

Yesterday's tracksuits and bowling party was quite fun! We were in a VIP room with our own bar and lanes. I've uploaded some of the photos to my Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/98782425@N00/

Peeps: The Next Generation

Don't you just love them!!?!

Shiny Happy Peeple

Hello, world. My peeps were born this morning:

Aren't they just the cutest things ever!??

This is just the first batch. There are two more batches of a more flat design that have to sit out for longer. So stay tuned! There will be more peeps born today! I don't know what I'm going to do with them, cause they are way too cute to eat. Even all of you peeps haters out there have to admit that these are cute!

Today is a big day because we are also celebrating my sister's birthday with a "Track Suits and Bowling" party at Oakridge lanes. She's turning 25 tomorrow! Yippee for her!

Additionally, I wanted to give my friend Sue from work a mention, since she gave me these lovely tulips that are brightening up my entryway:

Stay Puff

The sweet and holy goddess of marshmallows smiled down upon my house tonight. Yes, I began the process of making my own peeps. Really, the marshmallow recipe was fascinating. I was very grateful to have my KitchenAid stand mixer to whip the goo into glorious white peaks.

I truly thought I was floating on the fluffy clouds of heaven when the mixing was all finished.

I had made a gigantic bowl full of sticky, warm marshmallow goodness. It's all I could do to keep myself from diving into it face-first.

The marshmallows have to sit overnight, so be sure to check in tomorrow when I post my lovely products! I absolutely can't wait!!

When Steve came home, I had marshmallow on my face, in my hair and on my shirt. You can see some of it on my face here:

Think there's any resemblance?

Also, we went on a date to see "Thank You for Smoking" tonight. It was OK.

Driven to Drink

A fun fact about me: Amaretto is my favorite liquor. I had some tonight. YUM!

It actually did not rain today! It's rained for like 16 days straight!! So we busted out the BBQ and enjoyed some steaks with teriyaki sauce for dinner.

Girl Genius

I didn't post last night because my computer was experiencing the "blue screen of death." By some grace of God I reinstalled Windows myself and fixed an error by typing in DOS with my very own two hands!! I still haven't restarted since I've been up and running, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I've already burned all essential files onto CDs in case.

Last night I took a pilates class for the first time. It's at the community center where I'll be teaching in the summer, so I wanted to pledge my support. I'm not totally sold on pilates. It was kind of boring, and I felt like I got no workout at all. I didn't even break a sweat. I'm hoping it'll get more challenging as we get past the basics.

Ashley's Book Club

Tonight I finished the book Prep. I liked it better than any book I've read recently. It's about a girl attending boarding school on a scholarship in the early '80s. The book made me remember all of the awkward and exciting feelings associated with those "fun" teen years. It was a pretty fast read -- great for the treadmill. I'd definitely recommend it!

On Location

I’m blogging on location tonight from my parents’ house. We had to come over so Steve could watch “The Sopranos” since we don’t get HBO.

This weekend was pretty fun. Yesterday we went to the co-ed baby shower. The diaper cake (and all of our other Patriots gear gifts) was a hit! The party was quite lovely and the food was good. The most hilarious gift was a stuffed bear that makes the sounds of the womb to help babies sleep better. After that, we went to a housewarming party at Janelle and Bill’s and got to partake in their chocolate fountain.

This morning my sister came over for breakfast and we had a waffle feast. Then Steve and I decided to start our eBay empire, so we took photos and listed a bunch of crap we had around the house on there. Then I ventured out to buy some socks for the sock exchange chain letter thing I got. If anyone wants to participate, let me know. I’m trying not to hit up the same people I sent the flip-flop one to. Anyway, that task ate up a disproportional amount of my day.

I also went and put pennies around all of the plants I planted last weekend. Some lady told Steve to do that cause snails are afraid of copper. We’ll see how that works out.

6680 Crew

I just got back from dinner with my friends Chun and Janelle. We were celebrating Chun's birthday with mojitos and spinach-artichoke dip. Doesn't get much better than that :) I can't believe that we've almost been friends for 10 years!! Chun and Erika lived directly across the hall from me in our freshman dorm and Janelle lived next door to them. I think it's so crazy how you could just randomly be assigned to a room and end up meeting life-long friends. Also, my fellow blogger Shannon lived next door to me on the other side. And Chun's boyfriend (also of almost 10 years) lived right down the hall. Of course, there are many other people we haven't kept in touch with, but that's what Google is for, right?! I will admit to searching a few names from the past to see what they're up to ;)

Separately, at the gym this morning there was a new character. I will call him Mr. FANtastic, as he had a medium-sized rotating fan with him. Yes, the kind that you would put on your dresser and leave on while you slept. As he made his rounds to the various machines, he would take the fan with him, plug it in to the nearest outlet and point it at himself while he worked out. Seems like there might be an easier and more portable solution to his problem.

You've been warned

I'm going to give you a recipe for the easiest, most delicious cake I've ever had (and it's diet-friendly!):

One box of cake mix (yellow, spice or cinnamon swirl flavors work best)
One 15 oz. can of pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix -- just plain pumpkin)
Half a cup of apple sauce
One bag of Hershey's cinnamon chips

Mix all of the ingredients together except for the chips. Stir those in at the end. Bake the cake according to the directions on the cake mix. It may take a bit longer than the box indicates.

Now here's the warning: Do not make this cake unless your willpower is unwavering. My willpower wavers a lot. I made the cake last night, and less than 24 hours later, I had personally consumed more than half of it. I had to throw the rest in the trash can to avoid disaster.

Brusha Brusha Brusha

Today I had a dentist appointment. Guess what they told me? I am allergic to toothpaste. I find this fascinating, as I have used toothpaste for 27 years without incident. Apparently the inside of my mouth looks whiter than it's supposed to, which is the sign of a toothpaste allergy. They gave me some special alternative toothpaste to try out. I think I'm going to stick with the regular kind, cause I haven't noticed any problems.

Also, I'd like to provide a plug here for my friend Shannon's blog: Welcome to Boringtown. Shannon is a very talented and funny lady. I would put a sidebar on my page listing my friends' blogs, except Shannon's blog would be the only one there. Unless you have a blog. So if you're reading this and you have a blog, write me a comment and I'll link to you. And then you can link to me, and we'll be blog buddies forever and ever! :)

Head of the Class

Today I did a little arts and crafts class with some ladies from work. We made the two cards in the photo. I wanted to try them out for a future class. They worked out pretty well!

I had to work late tonight. When I came home I had ice cream and Cool Whip for dinner. Yay!

P.S. If you click on the photo, you can see more of my Flickr images!

Spring Forward

So, it's 4:00 p.m. on Sunday and the list is not yet complete. I'll blame that on the hour that was robbed from me this morning.

I did do the majority of the tasks:

-- Buy my sister a birthday gift
DONE. And I love Macy's now that I'm an "Elite" card holder. I got the gift wrapped for free and felt that the customer service was much better once I flashed my black card.

-- Buy Erika an engagement gift
DONE. I coaxed Steve into dinner at Santana Row last night so I could do this one.

-- Do the laundry
DONE.

-- Clean the house
Just about DONE. I just need to vacuum the bedrooms.

-- Plant flowers and veggies (if it doesn't rain)
DONE. This year we will (hopefully) be feasting on zucchini, yellow pear tomatoes, strawberries and pumpkins.

-- Weed the backyard (if it doesn't rain)
Did as much as I could. Felt that once I filled the yard clippings bin to the brim, I should stop. Steve did a bunch of work in the yard today.

-- Go to the gym twice
DONE.

-- Finish my cards for my birthday card swap
DONE.

-- Finish my New Year's Eve scrapbook
NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

-- Buy craft stapler at The Container Store
DONE. Also part of the dinner trip to Santana Row.

-- Write up a course description for my class at the community center
Need to do this next!

So, all in all, a pretty good effort. Well, I must go vacuum now. Hope everyone had a good weekend!