Crazy Yoga Lady Just Got Crazier

Now, I can add a third studio to my list.  I can't help it if the South Bay keeps cropping up with awesome yoga studios!  This one was truly too good to pass up.  It's opening up around the corner from my work.  It looks beautiful.  It offers so many different kinds of classes.  AND, if I signed up for unlimited monthly before they open on January 1, I get a special founders price of $85 per month for the life of my membership - unlimited.  Seriously.  I pay that for 8 x per month at Yoga Source right now.  Of course, I can't possibly leave Yoga Source...my beloved favorite teacher Angie is not (yet?) moving to the new studio.  In a perfect world, she will.  Until then, for the near and foreseeable future, I'll  be visiting 2 studio's regularly, and throwing in aerial yoga at either the third or this new one.

Luckily, Ryan's on board with it.  Whew.

Check it out!
www.breathelosgatos.com

Aerial Yoga

I went to my first aerial yoga class tonight.  I am ADDICTED already!!!!!  OH MY GOODNESS.  So much freaking fun!!

Here are the deets:

• You don't need to be an advanced yoga practitioner to do it.  In fact, you could be a beginner.
• It's at a new studio located near downtown Campbell
• The fabric hammocks that they use are in the following colors: off white, dark teal & light teal.  It's like it was made for me.
• To me, it wasn't intimidating.  Even hanging upside-down.  The hammock goes down to about waist high, so you're not up too high in the air.
• The teachers are super duper nice and make the whole experience relaxing.  Exactly what they should be like.
• It is a really nice way to get that yoga spirituality connection.
• I wouldn't say that it's difficult...but it's challenging.  It's not like arm balances difficult - but I just know that I'm going to be sore tomorrow.  Really great strengthening for you.
• There was a teacher assisting the class.  She said to me, "there's always one who wants to have fun.  And I can tell that you're that one."  He he.

I still love my power yoga, but I look forward to integrating this into my regular yoga practice!

Here is the studio's website...they also have a Facebook page, which features a lot of pictures of Aerial Yoga.  I posted a few below from their Facebook page, to give you an idea.

www.theyogastudio.biz
www.facebook.com/pages/The-Yoga-Studio/122819027754577?ref=sgm

Namaste!

I think I need a hobby

I haven't been blogging at all.  I thought I wouldn't put everyone in the worst mood ever by reading my daily or weekly thoughts.  I guess I'll just say that life has been unbelievably hard.  My emotions change by the minute, and as of right now, I've yet to feel any positive emotions toward my life.  I miss those.  See?  Now you know why I've been absent from blogging.

Right now all I want to do is swim and do power yoga.  Swimming is about to go by the wayside when the heat in our pool is turned off in November.  I'm thinking I might need something else to occupy my thoughts and time.  Any suggestions?

I miss you...

and love you more than anything.  And I'm so proud of you.

Grateful

Today marks the 6th day in a row that my dad has been doing well.  He's eating a lot better, can walk (barely is using the cane), and is sleeping better.  His blood test results were really positive and much better.

I know we have a lot of days ahead of us - and I know some are going to be bad - but I'm extremely grateful that my dad has felt better the last few days.  Being superstitious, I want to reiterate: Dear UNIVERSE, I am not jinxing anything and I fully understand how much longer this road is going to be.  I know it won't be all sunshine and rainbows and I am aware of how terribly wrong it can all go.  But I am happy for today, yesterday, and the four days before that.  OKAY?!  So don't go teaching me a lesson for opening my mouth.  Love, Nikki

My mom's best friend flew down from Oregon at the beginning of last week.  She has been such an immense help - having her around 24 / 7, and having her help be positive and productive, makes me want to cry. I'm grateful for her.

Lastly, I'm grateful for those of you that continue to still be there for us.  Special shout out to you McMillans.  We couldn't do this without all of you.  Sue has been the most incredible friend to my mom, my dad and all of us.  Jen has been so lovely.  Jeff & Liv have been so supportive and amazing.  And, oh yeah, we LOVE your company!  Thank YOU! :)

Thanks everyone for the well wishes, prayers, and positive thoughts.  It is most appreciative, and knowing that we have great friends has made a big difference.  Thanks for the love.

So...grateful.  Fingers crossed for more good days and beating this thing.  And, if I can be so bold to wish for more, some fat on my dad.  But I won't push it.

USA Shows

The shows on USA have been the entertainment highlight of my summer.  I can't get enough of them.  The quirky character shows all follow a similar formula that just works.  Quirky Main and Supporting Characters + Mystery / Ops + Mini Storylines with Ongoing Storylines in the back drop = USA show.  And I think that if it isn't broken, why fix it?

White Collar: Tied for first place in my heart.  The bromances between Neal & Peter and Neal & Mozzie are just plain awesome.  I love the storylines and seeing what sneaky thing Neal will do this time.  And Neal.  His charisma is hard to beat.  He rocks old 50's style suits and fedoras.

Psych: Tied for first place in my heart as well.  This show is hilarious and it makes me laugh so hard.  The bromance between Sean & Gus is amazing.  Seriously, I want to shrink and sit in one of their make-believe pockets for a day.  It is so dang quirky - after you become familiar with the characters, the jokes just make sense.

Royal Pains: In second place.  Summer escapism at its best.  It's convinced me that somehow I will stuff myself in some socialite's designer suitcase and get to experience the Hamptons.  Otherwise, I have this vision of there being border patrol and turning me away.  I digress.  The two brothers are great together, and the two women are extremely likeable.

Burn Notice: An watchable show.  If it were 45 minutes long, it would be great.  30 minutes would be too short; an hour just kind of drags out a little bit.  Not one I watch religiously, but can easily sit down and watch.

Covert Affairs: The new kid on the block.  It's not bad - the female lead isn't what you would call "the girl next door" - she tries to be, but there is something about her that is just not down to earth.  I guess Sydney Bristow set the bar high on Alias (as did Michael Vartan, lol).  I do, however, think her CIA handler is funny and having him blind adds a nice twist.  I'm looking forward to riding this one out.

In Plain Sight: Haven't tried to watch it and probably won't.  It's just never appealed to me.

NCIS: They show re-runs all the time of NCIS, which is one of our favorite shows.  Perfect!

So there you go.  The TVaholic has three shows (possibly four) two look forward to during the week, all on one station.  Layer that with So You Think You Can Dance, and I don't feel a summer TV lull at all.

P.S. This post is signficantly perkier than the last one, yes? 

Absent from Blogging

I haven't been blogging much lately, because I don't want my blog to turn into the most depressing blog in the world. 

Here are the reasons why I am removed from blogging:

• Dad has now been in the hospital 3 times since the beginning of June
• How he is doing changes hourly.  It's the most nerve-wracking thing in the world
• Radiation and Chemo are absolutely kicking his ass
• He weights around 130 lbs now...at 6'
• I got sick on Sunday and consequently haven't been able to see my family since then.  I would never forgive myself if I got my dad sick(er) and my mom could not handle being sick and caring for him
• My world revolves around my dad's illness...my thoughts, my actions, my dreams.  I've never been so terrified in my life, and I've had a really hard time finding the positive in this situation

Here are a couple good things this week:

• My dad's radiation oncologist said that his tumor is shrinking.  He also gained 3 lbs this week.
• They have been giving him IV fluids a lot, and he has been feeling better
• As a result, I experienced my first positive emotion in over a month
• For the first time, my subconscious dreamed of getting the news that the cancer is all gone.
• I have rainbow chip frosting in my fridge...which I will now go eat a couple spoonfuls of

 BTW, I still am adamant that he will beat this thing and live.  There is no alternative.  I just have to keep telling myself that.

Chemo Card

My cousin Amy sent my dad an awesome card.  The front says, "Chemo Sucks."  The inside says, "But if it sucks the cancer out of you, then 'Yay Chemo!' "

Last night we ended up shaving his head.  The last two weeks, his hair has slowly been coming out in clumps.  It's been pretty depressing for him.  Finally, it was time to just shave the rest off.  I don't think it was liberating for him.  Hopefully it will be better than the clumps.

My dad starts his second roudn of radiation Wednesday, this time on the lung and shoudler.  Thursday he starts his first round of chemo.


Here we go.

Flat Tires and Friendly Ladies

My car hates me this week.  On Monday I had to get a new battery.  Then yesterday, I get a flat tire.  Thanks car.  This after I get you washed, waxed and an oil change?

So, I feel a drag and hear the thump, thump, thump.  I parked in my yoga parking lot and had AAA come to do my spare.  Turns out the VERY next driveway was a tire shop.  Umm...dork.  Of course, they didn't have the tire I needed, so they ordered it.  They said it would be there the next day, and they would call me early this afternoon.  At 1 pm, I call them.  Still not in, but soon.  At 4 pm, I call them.  Not in, but it will be there at 5 pm or 5:15.  Finally, at 5:20 I leave work and just go there.  Still not there.  I think they got the clue that I was not to be trifled with (NOT this month).  They called the place it was coming from and it was still at the location.  What far away and exotic location did it take over 24 hours to come from?  From Keily Boulevard, roughly 6 miles away.  Good thing I brought my book.

As I'm sitting in the waiting area, I sit next to this very loquacious 50-something year old.  Here is what I learned:

• she'd been there since 3:30 waiting (oh god, please don't make me sit here for over 2 hours as well); 
• she had felt something wrong with her car a minute before the alert went off on the dashboard; 
• she didn't want to drive for a moment longer with the alert; 
• she had been in a car accident years ago (shows me scar on arm - it was actually pretty gnarly)
• she was at the doctor's and he referred this tire place for her, which was conveniently down the street;
• she all of a sudden in our conversation started having heart palpitations; 
• she actually was at her heart doctor before, who had run tests and everything checked out ok - nothing showed up as wrong in the tests;
• but something was still wrong.  

I told her that possible it was anxiety?  She seemed like an anxious person.  She asked me what anxiety was.  I should probably mention that all this information was repeated a few times.
 
At this point, here is what happens next:

[Thought pops into Nikki's brain]: "Oh nooooo.....she's actually going to ask me to feel her heart, isn't she?  Oh gosh, why do I have a feeling you're actually going to ask me to do it?"
[Lady]: "Here, can you feel my heart?  My heart's beating really fast.  Put your hand here and feel it."
[Nikki's brain]: "Ahhh!  No lady, I'm not going to put my hand on your boob.  I'm sure you're a nice person and all, and I would feel horrible if something was actually wrong with you, but I'm not gonna feel you up in the tire shop waiting lounge."
[Nikki out loud]: "Umm...noooo, I won't feel your heart."
[Lady]: "No?  But it's beating really fast."(motioning toward boob)
[Nikki out loud]: "I believe you...I really think it might be anxiety."

She was so concerned that she frantically was trying to call someone to come pick her up (after asking if someone from the tire shop could take her home), instead of driving home.  To be honest, she seemed more neurotic to me than sick.  I'm not an expert by an means, but she wasn't exhibiting any signs of anything ill heath-wise.  I sincerely do hope she's okay.

So that's my day.  I finally got out of there at 6:35.  It took until 6:25 for the damn tire to travel six miles, and then they got that tire on in record time.  Good thing, too, because I was prepared to sit in that place until they put my stinking tire on.  I was not going home without my tire.

Those sayings

What are those sayings? We only get what we can handle. All this makes you stronger. Well, right now, life sucks and I am miserable. Radiation therapy is beating my dad up this time around and I feel helpless. I want to make it better. I feel so damn bad for him . Ugh. Not happy. I hate everything right now.

Needed to get that out.

Time to channel Pollyana. Dad's alive and fighting. He went through radiation for a weak before it got brutal. We're going to fight and win. Dammit.

Ode a la Genovese

My cousin Erin sent me this cute text today.  I loved it.  I thought I'd share:

Go, go.  Fight, fight! 
Our Uncle Jim will be alright! 
Cancer, you have tried before...
Jim knocked your ass out the door. 
You have tumors on your side,
but Jim has love that will skin your hide. 
Our Uncle Jim is one in a million. 
Don't mess with us, we're Sicilian!

Not the happiest of posts

I'd like to wake up from this nightmare now, please.  Because somehow we've been stuck in a nightmare from which we cannot wake.  Life is so hard sometimes.

So, we finally have our answers.  Stage IV lung cancer.  There are tumors in his peripheral lung, shoulder, armpit, hip, with some spots in the lymph nodes in the lungs and the fatty tissue of the right arm.  And three spots in the brain.  Stage IV because of the way it has metathesized.  His doctors are being super aggressive.  We got confirmation of the spots in the brain this morning and my dad immediately started radiation on his brain right after.  After we get the brain all fixed, we'll start chemo and then radiation on the rest of the body.

Our spirits are...hmm.  We are fighters.  My dad is a fighter and more importantly, he has the will to fight another battle.  I'm not sure why this amazing man has had to deal with so much shit over the last 7 years.  He doesn't deserve it.  This is pretty bad.  So, we are devastated, heartbroken, angry, unhappy, but remaining positive.  We WILL fight this thing, he WILL beat it and he WILL live, damn it.  There is no alternative option.  So, we're preparing for battle and keeping optimistic.  My dad gets his strength from us...he cannot handle seeing his wife and daughters devastated.  So, we simply are not.  For his sake (and for our sanity as well), optimism is the only option.  It's a horrible scenario, but he already beat pancreatic cancer.  He'll do it again.

Please keep positive thoughts for us and if you pray, please keep my dad in your prayers.  We've had a lot of love over the past few weeks.  It's amazing how much amazing friends rally around to show support and love.  Words of encouragement have made all the difference in the world.  So...thank you.

 

Anti-Depressants

Seeing as I'm a complete and utter wreck lately (and not to mention depressed), I thought I'd look up some funny stories.  I thought I'd post a couple:
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Rolls Royce Loan

A businessman walks into a bank in San Francisco and asks for the loan officer. He says he is going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $7,000. The bank officer says the bank will need some kind of security for such a loan.
So the businessman hands over the keys to a Rolls Royce parked on the street in front of the bank. Everything checks out, and the bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. An employee drives the Rolls into the bank's underground garage and parks it there.
Two weeks later, the businessman returns, repays the $7,000 and the interest, which comes to $19.67. The loan officer says, "We are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little confused. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire. What confuses us is why would you bother to borrow $7,000?"
The businessman replied, "Where else in San Francisco can I park my car for two weeks for $20 bucks?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cinderella Would Be Shocked

Sure, there are some pretty stupid criminals out there. Yet this excerpt from a Washington Post article proves that not all criminals are dumb – in fact, some are so clever that the Post labeled this article, "The Best Comeback Line Ever"
In summary, the police arrested Patrick Lawrence, a 22-year-old white male, resident of Dacula, GA, in a pumpkin patch at 11:38 p.m. on Friday.
Lawrence will be charged with lewd and lascivious behavior, public indecency, and public intoxication at the Gwinnett County courthouse on Monday.
The suspect explained that as he was passing a pumpkin patch he decided to stop. "You know, a pumpkin is soft and squishy inside, and there was no one around here for miles. At least I thought there wasn't," he stated in a phone interview.
Lawrence went on to say that he pulled over to the side of the road, Picked out a pumpkin that he felt was appropriate to his purposes, cut a hole in it, and proceeded to satisfy his need. "I guess I was just really into it, you know?" he commented with evident embarrassment.
In the process, Lawrence apparently failed to notice a Gwinnett County police car approaching and was unaware of his audience until Officer Brenda Taylor approached him. "It was an unusual situation, that's for sure," said Officer Taylor. "I walked up to (Lawrence) and he's... just working away at this pumpkin."
Taylor went on to describe what happened when she approached Lawrence. "I just went up and said, 'Excuse me sir, but do you realize that you are screwing a pumpkin?' He froze and was clearly very surprised that I was there, and then looked me straight in the face and said, 'A pumpkin? Darn...is it midnight already?"

Not So Good News

My dad's been having shoulder pain and it swelled up really quickly.  He went to his doctor a month ago, and the doctor wanted to keep an eye on it for a month.  A month later, the swelling hadn't gone down at all.  So he ordered a MRI.  Which my dad took on Thursday.  Turns out it's a soft tissue tumor.  He has to have surgery to remove it and then it will be biopsied to see if its malignant or benign.  And we go from there.

I'm pretty pissed.  ANGRY.  Most of all, for my dad.  How much does this poor man have to go through??  Can't he just get a break, and live a normal healthy life for quite some time?  Thankfully, we've had the best outcomes over really horrible situations in the last 7 years.  But I'm still pissed off about it.  We are all trying to not worry until we find out what it is.  So apparently I'm channeling what would be worry into anger.  Luckily, if you see me, I *think* I'm holding my emotions in pretty well.  Enough not to be the biggest kill-joy of the century.

On a note of silver lining, my dad's gastro-intestinal-whatever doctor said that he is fairly confident that this tumor (whether malignant or benign) is not related to the pancreatic cancer.  Which is hopefully true and means that his lymphatic system hasn't been compromised with cancer cells.  Also, from the looks of the MRI, it seems that this tumor encapsulated itself in scar tissue (just like the one in the pancreas - so weird), so hopefully if it is malignant, it will have less of a chance of spreading.

Compared to what my dad's been through in the last 7 years, it seems like this one is on the less life-threatening side surgery wise.  They aren't rearranging his pancreas, removing his gallbladder, snipping out parts of his small intestines, putting stents in arteries to the heart and in the abdomen.  So at least we have that to hold onto.

We're hoping for the best.  Please keep my dad in your thoughts and (if you pray) in your prayers.

Days 7 & 8: Florence

Journal Entry: Florence

Once we arrived in Florence, we hopped on the 23 bus to our hotel and got a nice tour of Florence without knowing where to get off.  The hotel website’s directions said to get off at a certain stop, but it was no where on the train’s route.  When it brought us back to the train station, after almost an hour, we got back off.  We decided to just walk to our b&b, which ended up only being a 10 – 15 minute walk.  We actually managed to make it there without getting lost.  Thank you Ryan for coming through in the clutch on that one.  However, we got to the alley where the hotel was, and it was in a little secluded square.  It was one of those experiences where you KNOW you are in the correct spot, but you cannot freaking find the correct door.  I almost felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland, continually trying the wrong door. 

When we finally found it (it of course had the name of the hotel on the little nameplate), the b&b owner told us he had made a mistake and double-booked one of the nights.  He had already made arrangements for us to stay at a b&b next door, for the same price.  We didn’t make a big deal out of it because he actually went to the trouble to find us accommodations.  He said it was a * above his, so it was actually a nicer b&b.  I told him we were totally fine with it, but could he please WALK.US.THERE.  I had no interest in trying to find another secret door.  He walked us to the lobby, which was up 3 flights of stairs.  The lady didn’t speak a lick of English.  The entry smelled – no reeked – of smoke.  My very tired brain was trying to process all this, while all 90% of my brain (well, 90% of what I use of my brain, I should say) was repeatedly chanting “need a shower.  Want a shower.  Need a shower.  Want a shower.”  The room was of course right next to the lobby.  The room itself didn’t smell, at least.  There was no TV, no internet, and no air conditioning.  But it was bigger than a matchbox and had private bath.  There was a small gap in the door, though, so the smoke from the entry way (apparently they allow smoking in the lobby, but not the rooms) filtered in.  My personal version of HELL. 

We went for a walk to find dinner and had decided not to bring the camera with us (our collective thought was “there is NO way I am putting anything remotely resembling weight on my shoulders tonight”).  So, Murphy’s Law decided that we would see the most beautiful sunset of our lives – just far enough away from the hotel to be a hassle to go back to get the camera.  We did count our blessings though, deciding that even though we couldn’t capture it, we at least got to experience it.  Glass half full, and all that b.s.  Near a piazza by the Duomo, there was an archway that the sun was setting against, and it was just breathtaking.  It had been raining that day, and the clouds were parting.  And the sun was casting a very dramatic shadow against one of the buildings by the archway.  Oh, and a beautiful carousel spinning.

We went to a relatively close trattoria, which was molto bene.  Ryan had pepperoni, onion & olive pizza (Ryan discovered on this trip that he loves onions on pizza), while I had tagliatelli bolognese.  My bolognese sauce was not as good as Ryan’s the previous day, but it was still good.  The bread was soooo great and my salad was super yummy.  Oh, how grateful I was that Florence likes balsamic vinegar!

After dinner, we took a walk around Florence.  Ryan realized at this part of the trip that the Firenze soccer team meant “Florence soccer team.”  Throughout the rest of our trip, he realized that all the Italian names for the teams were actually the cities they came from.  I’ll give him this…Firenze does not sound close to Florence.  (Side tangent: why can’t we just call it Firenze?  Why do we have to change it to something English sounding?  Honestly, do Italians come here and call “Washington” something different?  How very arrogant of us.  Italian names for cities are so much prettier!  Napoli instead of Naples?!  Torino instead of Torin?!  Venezia instead of Venice?!  Fiume Tevere instead of Tiber River?!)

Ok, back to our walk after dinner.  Florence is like you walked into an old movie set.  Beautiful streets.  It was almost like the renaissance come to life.

On day 2 in Florence, we walked all over.  We went to the Pointe Vecchio by accident, which was fortunate considering it was on our list of things to see that day.  On the Pointe Vecchio, it started POURING for about 10 minutes.  Which made for some good pictures.  We also made it to the Duomo, of which we had intended to go to the top and see all of Florence.  The line was insane and we decided to try back later.  We went to the Academica (where Michelangelo’s David lives), and the line was insane.  Ryan didn’t feel like waiting in line or paying to see a sculpture of a naked man, and I had already seen it, so we skipped it.  We had a simple, great lunch of pizza in a tiny little place.  We then took a few hours to rest in our room, with smoke leaking in.  Cue near nervous breakdown for Nikki.  What a difference my two hotels in Florence were (from 5 years ago and now).  We went back to try to capture a sunset at the same incredible spot as yesterday – to find it too cloudy with no sun leaking in.  Didn’t get such great ones.  The Duomo was extremely near closing, so we had to skip out on going to the top. 

For dinner, I was hell bent on having something other than pasta, panini or pizza.  We went to a ristorante where I had grilled chicken.  It was divine.  I should probably inject that dinner every night of our trip consisted of Ryan and I wandering around for an hour, looking at every menu.  (If you’ve ever gone to dinner with Ryan and I, then you already know how utterly hopeless we are at making decisions.  It’s quite obnoxious actually, and I can only sympathize with those poor souls who go to dinner with us.)  So, Ryan didn’t care where we ate, and insisted that I make the decisions because I was the picky eater.  This, although annoying to me, makes completely logical sense.  So, I go from place to place to place, looking at the menu outside.  And as Ryan puts it, I won’t eat at one place and then will pick the next place with exactly the same menu.  Although, it really doesn’t have the same menu - not to me.  It is hysterical and ridiculous.  My goal next time we travel is to be a super crazy decision maker on food. 

One thing I could decide on easily: gelato.  We had some gelato for dessert.  Just like all the previous nights, with the exception of day 1.  The gelaterias in Florence go out of their way to ornately decorate their gelato.  All gelaterias in Italy make the gelato look gorgeous, and luscious, and adorable with whatever the flavor is laying on top of the gelato.  My guess is that this is for presentation and functionality, so that tourists actually know what the flavor is.  Florence makes their gelato mounds high and flowy – almost like a renaissance wig, come to think of it.  A renaissance wig with strawberries decorated on the top. 

P.S. I wrote this journal entry on the way to Cinque Terre.  Cinque Terre was on my bucket list, so my excitement level of actually going there was off the charts.  My last sentence in my Florence journal entry was “Almost more excited to see if we have a room that is newer than 1900 or 1910.”  You could say I didn’t exactly love the B&B in Florence.

Days 5 & 6: Capri & Sorrento

 While we were in Italy I wrote emails to my family and a few journal entries when we didn't have internet access.  I'm posting them on the blog, to give you an idea of how our trip went.  Pictures to follow!

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 Ciao!  Ciao!  We went to Capri yesterday and it was beautiful weather.  We went in the Blue Grotto, which is overpriced but needs to be seen!  It was just as awesome as last time.  I almost got my head chopped off taking pictures, not realizing that we were about to exit.  Luckily, I ducked my head in time!  It's only a three foot opening, so you have lay down in the rowboat on your way out.  We then walked around the town of Anacapri, which we both really like.  Capri Town, down lower, was next.  It's still really cute but a little richer (more shi shi).  Still as pretty as I remembered the island to be!

Today we had a lazy day.  It was drizzling a little bit, so we slept in and then walked around Sorrento.  We bought some Limoncello and are having it shipped home to your house, mom & dad.  I'm not sure how long it will take to get there.  We weren't about to lug that heavy stuff around :)  We went to Mail Boxes Etc today, and it would cost 160 Euro to send home 15 lbs worth of stuff.  Looks like we're carrying around our stuff!  I'm trying to not buy too much this early in the trip, and saving it for the second half.  Hopefully I don't shoot myself in the foot doing that!  (post note: I totally did!)

Tomorrow we travel to Florence for two nights.  Ryan's super bummed we're leaving Sorrento and is pretty sure that this will be his favorite city.  We'll see!  It seems like we've done so much, and it's only been 4 - 5 days. We're definitely packing a lot in!  I think you kind of have to do that when you go to Europe.

My "Itanglish" is getting better and I'm getting more comfortable using Italian words with the locals.  It works well to speak half Italian and half English with them.  But most people are pretty good in English here, so it would be fine on anyone, I think.

Love you guys lots.

Day 4: Positano

While we were in Italy I wrote emails to my family and a few journal entries when we didn't have internet access.  I'm posting them on the blog, to give you an idea of how our trip went.  Pictures to follow!

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Ryan is having a good time here.  He really, really likes Sorrento.  We went to Positano today - the bus ride was atrocious.  I almost threw up in my purse.  The bus dropped us off at the top of the hill (have you seen those pictures of Positano?) and we walked all the way down.  The town is really, really cute and pretty.  Just what you think it would be.  But then you have to walk all the way back up it to get to the bus stop.  It only took us 30 minutes to walk up - wasn't nearly as bad as we thought!  But still, it's not a trip for the fainthearted.  And then the bus on the way back was PACKED!  Ryan had to stand up and hold on, as I sat on the floor.  OMG.  Good thing I had taken Dramamine for the way back.  Definitely one of those - shit, if we don't take this one, it will be just as buys on the next bus!  Did the sign of the cross a few hundred times with a few hail mary's thrown in there.

We took a nap back at the hotel and then went to dinner tonight.  Walked around the town.  I love this town!  So damn cute.  There was an Irish Pub with a bunch of crazy Italians singing loudly to American songs.  Ryan and I just observed them, but they were  a riot!

I took a picture of some lemons about the size of coconuts - insanity!  There are so many lemon trees / groves around here!  Tomorrow we are off to Capri, I'm so happy.  The weather is beautiful down here right now.

Days 1, 2 & 3: Rome & Sorrento

While we were in Italy I wrote emails to my family and a few journal entries when we didn't have internet access.  I'm posting them on the blog, to give you an idea of how our trip went.  Pictures to follow!

~~~~~~~~~

Buon giorno!  I don't think you'd like it very much if I called you right now - it's 1 am there.  We finally got our email up and running.  We couldn't access it at the first hotel.  This one you had to pay for it - which is fine - but our converter didn't have three prongs (only two).  We ended up fitting the adapter on 2 prongs and the third prong is loose.  But it works fine!  So now we're up and running and back in communication mode!  How is everything there?  Tutti bene?

We're definitely roughing it this trip!  Ryan and I have officially gotten lost in a foreign county about three times.  In three days.  And these backpacks are both awful and wonderful - they are thirty pounds of utter hell, but they are awesome with all the stairs and trains.  Rome was nice - although it's so loud and not too clean.  With the plane rides and all, we were up for about 31 hours straight before going to bed.  To say I was exhausted was an understatement.  We made ourselves stay up and go out to dinner/walk around when we got there, since it was light evening.  Oh, it took us about 4 hours (no lie) to get from the airport to our hotel.  I felt like the village idiot.  The Rome Termini (main train station) is the main hub and is completely confusing when you are running off 24 hours of no sleep.  After we showered at the hotel, we set out to find the ristorante suggested by my co-worker.  What luck!  It was a couple streets away from where we were staying.  She recommended the lasagna, so Ryan and I split it.  It was totally amazing.  Not really a lot of cheese or sauce at all - it was mostly pasta and meat (thinking a mix of beef and veal).  Super yummy!  Then we wandered around and saw the Spanish Steps at night, Trevi Fountain (AWESOME at night!) and Pantheon.  It was nice.  By the time we got back to the b&b it was 12:30 and we collapsed into bed.  Our hotel room was about the size of the front bedroom at mom & dad's (room & bathroom) - but despite its size (which I was expecting in Rome), it was nice!  Our breakfast was actually pretty good.  Ryan loved the coffee. 

Everyone is pretty nice here and they speak English really well!  We've had some super helpful people.  Like on the train yesterday, we had to get off to connect to Sorrento.  As we were getting off, some guy yelled to us - "Take the numba 2 to get to Sorr-ey-nto!  Riiight - just reee-memb-er, numba 2!"  We must scream tourists.  I still blame the Japanese husband with the camera...not me and my American clothes at all. 

Ryan wants to stay in Sorrento the entire trip.  Our hotel is sooooo nice - our room is easily 4 or 5 times the size of our room in Rome.  We just had breakfast downstairs - it reminded me a lot of the breakfast buffet that we had at the Kawaii Marriott when we were 16.  This hotel has an amazing garden with a trellis and wisteria, lemon trees - it's totally beautiful.  I am super happy with my pick!  It's so central to downtown too - we went to a pizzeria last night, and I a huge medium size pizza for 4 euro.  Then gelato, which was so yummy.  With carrying our backpacks from place to place, we have been getting such a workout.  Sweating so much.  Hopefully it will offset the gelato.  Today we may go down to Positano, with Capri tomorrow.  I'm super happy we decided to stay down in the Amalfi coast for 5 days!  Although the prospect of going place to place next week seems daunting with our backpacks.  Don't be surprised if a box of our dirty clothes show up on your doorstep - I'm seriously considering sending some stuff home on Wednesday.  I'll give you a heads up :)

Oh - our flights were so smooth!  EXCEPT - as we were taking off in the plane to SFO (the 9 hour one), we heard a crash during take-off - it sounded like someone broke a vase.  We're looking around like what the hell was that?!  Then about a minute later, behind us about 5 rows, we hear commotion and some people screaming Emergency!  Emergency!  as we're taking off.  It didn't dawn on me really that it could be the plane - I thought it was a passenger.  Which it was - a passenger.  He (?) had passed out during take off.  The stewards all were rushing as the plane is going up and then they were rushing for the defibrillator.  Which made us worry that someone was having a heart attack.  Then I got really sad for the person.  But, it ends up - not a heart attack, just a horrible time to pass out.  He ended up being fine the entire trip.  They still had paramedics come on the plane the minute we landed in Heathrow.  Besides that, it was an extremely nice flight!  Not too much turbulence at all - not even over Iceland/Greenland area.  I was calm during both flights - maybe I got over my brief fear of flying???

I miss you all so much and wish you were here!  We are having a great time :)  Taking lots of pictures!  Christy, your email about the rat in the bed was hilarious!!!!  (See her Templeton blog post) That is probably the real reason why we have indoor cats!!  OMG, Mike was petting it because he thought it was Merlin.  I seriously hope you soaked his hands in hydrogen peroxide later!  We were in stitches over here!

Tell me what else you all have been doing this week???  How is everything going?  I'll be on the internet often over the next few days, so I'll be in touch!  Love you lots!!!!!!

AAAHHH!!!!!! Italy - here we come!

Italy - here we come!  Or, shall I saw "Italia - qui veniamo!"  I'm suprisingly (and extremely uncharacteristically) ahead of things on packing.  I'm usually packing at midnight the day before I go anywhere.  However, last night I was pretty much all packed!  And, I managed to only pack 25 lbs in my backpacker's backpack.  Only half the limit!  Which means there will be room to bring goodies home.  I'm impressed with myself because I am a CHRONIC overpacker.  I think what I had to do was pretend that I'm going only for a week, and then I packed the right amount for 2 weeks.  Stupid, but it worked for my warped self.  Ryan, my dear love, has only packed two things - and those were two things I set aside for him.  Although, he'll probably pack in 10 minutes flat. 

I'm going to try to update pictures on this blog as we go through it - or Facebook. 

BAHH!!  So excited!  ITALIA!

Warm Fuzzies

I thought I would comment on something I love about Ryan.  He doesn't do grand gestures - I rarely get flowers, he's not really romantic, and the ultimate compliment from him is "you look good."  However, he does these little things that pull at my heart.  One of which is the blanket on the floor by my side of the bed.  We have different sleeping temperatures - he likes it really cold in the room and I like to be warm and snuggly.  So if he has a feeling the temperature is going to dip down, and I don't have a heavy blanket on me, he'll drop one on the floor next to my side of the bed.  When I inevitably wake up super cold, it's there for me (rather than having to get up).  I just love it.  So, you know, in life - for Ryan and me - it's all about those little things.  Although, he may just be doing it because he doesn't want me to wake him up looking for a blanket.  But I'm going with reason #1.

This is an ironic post right now, however, because after waking up from being too cold (and finding the blanket there), I couldn't fall back asleep (damn you, Genovese curse!).  But most of the time it works.

Power Yoga Bake

Yesterday I went to a 3 hour Power Yoga Bake.  I'm probably weird and a little sadistic, but I was looking forward to it for weeks.  I'd been to a 2 hour class before, but never a 3 hour.  I wasn't sure what to expect - would it be full on power for three hours, or more of a workshop where you stop and learn?  I was stoked. It turned out to be 3 hours of power flow.

So, yesterday morning I naturally woke up with a head cold - sinus congestion, cough, sore throat.  I was NOT happy.  I'd been looking forward to this class (and shelled out money for it) for weeks, and the morning of I decide to wake up sick?  On Friday I had a baby sore throat, but it wasn't bad at all.  I took some Airborne and it went away.

What's a girl to do?  Guzzle 2 Airborne and pop some cold medicine, naturally.  I decided to go - I was either going to a) knock my cold out or b) make it much, much worse.  I've had about 9 mini-colds this year, and I'm sick of it (no pun intended).  Give me one whammy of a cold over nine mini ones, please.

I was feeling probably 65% when I got there - not overly horrible but not remotely good.  Of course, when we started, my adrenaline kicked in and I felt like a rock star.  I was able to make it through the whole class, and I think I did rather well!  She threw about every arm balance in there that I can do, and you know how much I looooovveeee arm balances.  I was one happy girl.  I also was able to do a balancing pose that I never thought in a million years I could do.  The only place I could find the pose was here on You Tube - it's at about the 2:35 mark.  A little bit before that is bound revolved half moon, which we did as well (for me, I should say attempted).

Yesterday, I felt exhausted and so wiped out.  I drank 64 oz of water yesterday afternoon.  Today, I feel tired and sick.  So it looks like Option B won.  But it was worth it!

Another Mia Bella Story

I look forward to having kids, because I could tell little kid stories all day long.  You remember Mia, my cousin's 3 year old?  If not, see last week's blog post. 

Before I lay out the story, there are 2 things you need to understand about my family:

1) My mom's nickname on her side of the family is "Neeners."  The story goes that my cousin Frankie couldn't say "Denise" when he was a tyke, so then he started saying "Nee" which turned into "Neeners."  Her WHOLE family calls her that, including the new generations and even my brother-in-law Mike.

2) My family is not foreign to swearing.  I grew up with a potty mouth.  Yes, I've sworn since I could talk.  Horrible?  Probably.  True?  Yes.  Funny?  Definitely.  I'm just giving you background.

So, Amy, Sierra & Mia are at my Aunt Patty's house right now, while Lily is with her paternal grandmother in Sonoma county for a few days.  The phone rings at my mom's house today, and she hears "Hi NEEENAS!  Wah wah wah wah, wah wah, wah."  (Wah meaning to indicate that my mom had no idea what Mia was saying after Hi Neeners!"  Gotta love little 3 year old speak).  Then my mom hears my Aunt Patty ask in the background, "Mia, what are you doing?!" 

What followed, of course, was crystal clear:  "Oh, I'm just shooting the shit with Neeenas."

I love 3 year olds.

Maleficent

My inner child just got very excited.  Sleeping Beauty is my favorite Disney film of all time, so this article made me squeal.  I think it will make Christy squeal as well.  I loved the recent Alice in Wonderland movie, so this could be pretty cool.  While Aurora and the faeries (and of course the prince) are my favorite parts of the animated Disney movie, I'll take a movie centering on the evil queen!  She is, arguably, the coolest Disney villain ever.

Disney, 'Alice' scribe team for film about 'Sleeping Beauty's' evil queen (exclusive)

 Having scored a hit with "Alice in Wonderland," Disney and screenwriter Linda Woolverton are teaming to bring to the big screen "Maleficent," a live-action take on the evil queen in the 1959 animated classic "Sleeping Beauty."

"Maleficent" might reunite Woolverton with Tim Burton; it's one of a handful of projects the filmmaker is circling. His interest in the character was piqued in the summer when he was in post on "Alice," and the studio and Burton's camp have been trying to keep a lid on the project, though the Web site Ain't It Cool News mentioned Burton's interest in January.

No deal has been made with Burton, and the hiring of Woolverton is the first concrete step forward in its development.

In "Beauty," Maleficent is a tall green-skinned woman with horns who can morph into several forms, including a terrifying black and purple dragon. The character, who has appeared in many Disney books and TV shows and is a popular Halloween costume, is also the most serious character in Disney's villain stable, featuring a darkness not found in other Disney characters.

Woolverton's "Maleficent" movie would tell the classic fairy tale from the point of view of the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil," offering a new take on a classic tale as she did with Lewis Carrol's "Alice."

It is unclear just how dark and edgy Disney -- which had no comment on the project -- wants to make "Maleficent." The dragon scenes in the 1959 feature, for example, are notable for their intensity. But if any filmmaker has a successful track record of making the dark and weird work for families, it's Burton.

CAA-repped Woolverton has a long history with Disney, and is best known for having written on the 1991's "Beauty and the Beast" and 1994's "The Lion King."

Random Musings

Here are some musings today:

Dancing with the Stars:

New Host Brooke Burke: is it me, or did she look like a Bobble Head?  This isn't jealousy speaking...just good old female criticism.  As a host, she beat the pants of Samantha Harris.

Ochocinco: better than I expected.  I like the whole "don't tell me I'm good unless I'm perfect" thing.
Shannon Doherty: the thing about her dad touched me.
Erin Andrews: way more likable than I thought she would be.  The fact that her nose isn't perfect helps.
Jake the Bachelor: I hope this week is the the end of the rose theme.
Niecy: I missed this one while driving home from my parents.  Still trying to figure out if I want to go back and catch it.
Evan Lysacek: by far the one I was most looking forward to; he didn't disappoint!  
Buzz: frisky old man
Nicole from Pussy Cat Dolls: Yup, she's goooood
Aiden: dude can't dance, but he sure is funny
Kate Gosselin: yawn.  And she totally has an attitude, right?
Pam Anderson: I think she's on drugs.  Actually, no, I know she is.  She was trash-tastic.

Something I've Been Fuming on For a While:

This:

I loooooove reading.  Love it.  And - of course for everyone - it's almost impossible to nail down your "favorite" anything.  However, if you held a gun to my head, I would spit out "Pride and Prejudice."  Because when it comes down to it, it's probably my favorite.  And why, oh why, did they bring zombies into it?!  Call me close-minded, beacause I need to admit that I have not yet read the book.  I need to find someone who has read it and can tell me that it's way awesome.  I'm sure it's progressive and inventive, but my own pride and prejudice is getting in the way on this one.

As a P.S. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters?!
P.P.S. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls (PPZ's prequel)?!

CBS 5 Commercial:

They were smart.  They played the music from Amelie in their commercial.  Every time I see (or, rather, hear) that commercial, it makes me happy.  I need to sit down and watch that movie again.  It's been a while.  I heart that movie.

And Last But Not Least:

As watching How I Met Your Mother tonight, I am again reminded how Barney Stinson is probably one of the BEST television characters created ever.

Bee Stings and Christenings

We traveled up to Roseville this weekend for a very Genovese weekend - my cousin's itty bitty baby was Christened.  We weren't at the hotel for 5 minutes and I got my first bee sting ever.  In my neck.  The sucker was sitting on my neck and I didn't even think about what was on there.  I was in my mom's hotel room and hadn't noticed a bee at all.  I swatted at it and the rest is history.  The good news: I don't appear to be allergic to bee stings.  The bad news: OMFG, those suckers HURT.  I don't want another one.  My pain level stinks anyway, but no!  I of course took Benadryl, in case I was allergic.  Which made me drugged at 3 pm through the rest of the night.  No operating heavy machinery for me!  It took a while to kick in.  I was laying down to try to take a nap.  It didn't work out so well..I couldn't fall asleep.  I thought I'd get up and was so whoozy.  Then I proceded to walk into the bathroom door.  I'm thinking it was doing its thing by then.

We had an amazing dinner at the Claim Jumper, which totally reminded me of Tahoe Joe's in SLO.  Of course, if you haven't been to either, they are like woodsy steakhouses with antler lights, fireplaces, wood everything, and huge portions.  I split a meal with my mom and it was the perfect amount!

We saw our good friends Erin & Jerry that night - they live there, and we sat around talking.  Love them!

The next morning (today) was the Christening, and it was at a Presbyterian church.  One thing about my family is that we're Catholic, and we're not exactly seasoned going to other religions' services.  So, here comes the stories: A person asked my nonni if her rosary was a necklace and my nonni was flabergasted.  My cousin has two little girls and one future step-child.  Her two little girls spent half the ceremony either next to me or on my lap (they are 7 and 3 years old).  Every time they sang a song, the 3 year old, Mia, would start dancing.  In her seat, from sitting in the pew, while standing - anywhere.  At one point she did her little dance and was pressing her finger on the Bible, trying to match the tune of the piano.  When she was done she turned to Ryan and wanted a high five.  And she would say in her adorable 3 year old voice, "it's time to sing now!"  And everyone in my family almost had tears from trying not to laugh during church.

Amy gave her daughters gum during the service.  I instantly thought, "OH NO."  My nonni is a stern believer that you should NOT have gum in church.  So you have my nonni telling Amy, "You can't have gum in chruch!"

Mia's older sister, Lily, was a good little girl.  She sat by me, listening and reading the words on the big screen.  They had a screen with words on it.  Each pamphlet had a white fill in the blank sheet.  Like Ad Libs for church (but not funnies).  Of which, at the beginning, everyone in the family was confused that there was a test?!  Anyways, the huge screen is a novelty as well to us.  Here goes the conversations with Lily sitting next to me:

(The screen had words on it regarding birth and re-birth during the minister's (?) homily):
Lily: How can you be born twice?
Me: You know, I don't know.
Lily: Really, you can't be born twice!

Lily: What is he talking about?  I don't understand a thing he's saying.  (he was very long winded)
Me: Yeah, me neither.
Lily: He's not making any sense. 

When the missionaries going to Mexico stood up at the front:
 Lily: Why are those people going to Mexico?
Me: Umm, I think they are going to go build churches (I really didn't want to get into the notion of them spreading God's word to others - it's not my place to explain that)
Ryan: (whispering to me) They're not going there to build churches
Me:  (shrug with a slight smirk.  I hope I didn't just lie in church.  They could be going to build churches, right?)

Lily: They are going to build churches?  Why?  Aren't there a lot of churches already?
Me: (nodding) Yeah, there are lots of churches, Lil.

The minister's homily was about Presbyterians leaving the church for "PC USA."  Of which I spent half of it wondering what the heck he was talking about, because didn't PC stand for Presbyterian Church?  How can they leave the Presbyterian Church for the Presbyterian Church?  Turns out it meant "Politically Correct" USA.

At the end of service, the lady behind us gave Mia a hug (who was standing on the pew).  She said, "I'm going to give you a big JESUS hug! :) "  Mia's like, ok, whatever.  Then the lady goes, "So, did you like the church service?"  "No."

Mia rounded the service out by dancing on the alter after it had concluded.  All in all, both girls were actually very good girls in church.  No crying or screaming = thumbs up in my book.  Sierra, Amy's 9 year old step-daughter, sat there by my Aunt Patty like an angel the whole time.  And baby Sierra, who was the guest of honor, was an angel as well.

Ahh, it was an experience for us Genoveses, that's for sure.  Now I know how Ryan feels going to mass.  Lost and a little bit bewildered.  The service and subject matter was not what we were used to.  Just different.  To end: the priest during his homily, was talking about how there are more Christians in China than in the US (and that was not a good thing).  As my mom later pointed out: "Yeah, but China also takes up half the world's population!"

Bolt

Ryan and I watched the movie "Bolt" tonight. 

Here is our cat, Reyna, when the dog is on TV:

Here she is when the cats came on the screen:

 Hilarious.

P.S. Don't tell Ryan that I put that picture of him up :-)

National Geographic

Simonos Petras Monastery Photo, Mount Athos Wallpaper – National Geographic Photo of the Day

I've discovered nationalgeographic.com - specifically their photography section. New favorite website.

Today's photo of the day is particularly ironic, in that it comes at a time where I am researching places to go in Europe. After years of begging, I'm finally at the point of *probably* having convinced Ryan to go with me this year. I gave him some sturdy, logical reasons. We only have about two weeks for the trip, so I have to be selective in where we go. I definitely want to return to Italy (specifically, the Amalfi Coast and Sicily) and the Greek Isles. I've started doing some research, and the truth is, I am hopelessly over my head. It was so much easier signing up for a tour last time, when Tracy and I went with Nonni. However, I'm trying to do it on my own this time.

I'm completely overwhelmed.

Amalfi Coast

What do you do when one of your favorite yoga teachers is leading a retreat to the Amalfi Coast in July?!?!  I LOVED Sorrento when I went there 6 years ago.  It's heaven on earth.  To stay at a yoga retreat there, and travel down to Positano and over to Capri...oh I'm getting so excited just thinking about it.

Must.Find.Money.

Excitement

Maverick's is tomorrow.  Which is a SATURDAY!  For once.  I'm sure there are thousands and thousands of other people who've wanted to go in the past, but aren't naughty enough to call in sick for work too.  We're going!  Ryan's a little hesitant, but I'm all gung-ho!  and EXCITED!!!!!

I feel dumb

I am a Disneyland freak.  It's magical, it reminds me of being a kid again, it's beautiful, and for us - it's a relatively cheap getaway (think in terms of Vegas).  As a FYI, Ryan's tolerance for Disneyland is pretty high, but his yearning for going there is < > big.  Nonetheless, I periodically will break out in a very juvenile "I want to go to Disneyland!" burst to Ryan, just to be funny.  At random times and in random places - at the grocery store, at my parent's house, while watching a TV show.   

One of my "buggings" happened in the car on the way down to San Luis Obispo on New Year's Eve.  At the time, Ryan said, "well, it would be fun to go to Disneyland on a New Year's Eve.  Let's go for your 30th birthday."  And I thought well, that would be fun!  But I'll get him to go before then as well.  A couple weeks later, Ryan replied to one of my bursts - "Didn't we agree we'd go on New Years Eve in two years?"  Well, yes, but I wanted to go before then too.  Which elicited his reply "What, you don't want to go for your birthday?!"  Well, yes, but I can't wait that long.  I'll get him to crack before then. 

Fast-forward to this weekend.  It took me a full month to remember / realize that my birthday ISN'T on New Year's Eve.   Not even close...almost 4 months earlier.  WTF Nikki?!  Goodness.  I like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent individual.  I got a great GPA in high school.  I'm an avid reader.  I'm cautious about putting myself in stupid situations.  But really?  I think I got so involved bugging Ryan that I didn't realize the flaw in his proposal.

 I feel dumb.

Between Ryan's laughing fit last night when I told him I FINALLY realized how he tricked me, I told him he now had to take me to Disneyland 3 times this year.  AND on my real birthday.  Who wants to come?  I promise I normally have half a brain.

Anniversary

Ryan's been telling me for years that no matter what day we get married, we'd have to keep our anniversary on January 30th.  There was no capacity in his brain to remember another date.  I didn't particularly love that idea, until it took us 10 years to get married.  And after that, there was no way in hell I was going to take those 10 years away and start counting over.  So, even though we married on November 7, 2008, we actually celebrate our anniversary on January 30th.

Our anniversaries are always good - most of the time simple, but good.  Which, for many who know me, beats the crap out of Valentine's Day two weeks later (yeah, I'm a hater).  Yesterday was not exception - it was a great day! 

First things first - the sun was out in full force!  Sun, I missed you.  I can see you're out again today, and I know you're hibernating again come tomorrow.  Japantown sells chi chi dango, a type of mochi, at the Shuei-Do Manju Shop.  Ryan introduced me to mochi a couple weeks into dating - America was introduced a few years ago in the form of Mochi Ice Cream, which is now found at Trader Joe's.  The chi chi dango is the mochi part of mochi ice cream.  It comes in different flavors, formed in a square, and (needless to say) I've been obsessed with it for about 10 years and 9 months. They only sell it on Friday and Saturday, so we thought it would be a perfect thing to go get on our anniversary.  We went kind of late - almost 1 pm - and typically they are sold out by then.  Lucky us - they had a good amount left.  Score!

We then went to a crepe place across the street, which has awesome crepes.  I had a turkey, cucumber, lettuce and artichoke spread crepe.  I'm 99.5% convinced the artichoke spread was the artichoke-jalepeno spread sold at Costco.  Which I LOVE.  If you haven't had it yet - go buy some.  It made the crepe perfect.  The crepe shop also sells Hawaiian style shaved ice.  Shaved ice is on every corner in Hawaii, and I have absolutely no idea why it is not insanely popular here.  Because I LOVE it.  It topped off a great lunch.  Ryan started laughing because he said it never ceases to amaze him how much pleasure I get out of eating shaved ice.

I'm still nursing a cold, so a two hour nap was in order.  Afterward, we went over the hill to Santa Cruz to look at the surf and have dinner.  I looked up a place called Lillian's Italian Kitchen, which had great reviews.  Had to be good - my nonni's name is Lillian.  Must've been great, because at 6:30 there had to be no less than 20 people waiting for a seat outside it's tiny quarters.  On the way to Santa Cruz, there was an accident northbound (opposite direction) that resulted in a parking lot on 17 N that spanned 10 miles.  We knew we couldn't go back over the hill anytime soon. 

We went to the Capitola village, which houses my favorite candy of all time - salt water taffy.  Not just any salt water taffy.  This taffy is gooooooood and in every possible flavor.  I honestly haven't met a flavor I don't like.  As you can tell, I have a sweet tooth and we were acting like it was my birthday, getting all my favorite things.  In my defense, Ryan really likes seeing me happy.  Well, you'd think it was my freaking birthday, because the store was having taffy "rotation" problems, meaning that some of the taffy were rotated incorrectly and possibly a bit sticky or hard.  So, the owner asked us to try every flavor before buying it.  Ummm, yes please?!?!  I get to try all this taffy for free?!  Pinch me.

The rest of night was moderately uneventful.  We ate at Margaritaville, because Mexican food sounded good and there was no wait.  Margaritaville is okay.  Not amazing.  We shared fajitas, which were good.  Upon getting home, Ryan wanted to go take pictures of the moon & sky.  I tried but it was so dang cold outside and he sent my whiny butt home.  I fell asleep on the couch at 9:30 for four hours.  We know how to party.

A lot of great things yesterday, and an awesome way to celebrate 11 years together!

Dear Cat

Dear Cat,

Thank you so much for jumping on my bladder at 5 am.  I secretly wanted to get up 2 hours early and honestly hate my warm down comforter and soft sheets.

Love,
Nikki

Good Deal

I was on a hunt for a navy blue cardigan yesterday.  I didn't find the cardigan, but I did stumble upon an AWESOME Old Navy sale.  All clearance items at 50% off.  I got 5 shirts for $10.30 total!!  Love it.

Belated December 09

 

Christmas Day in Monterey 

These two pics remind me of Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix 

Our nutty kitty decided to go between the screen and sliding glass doors.

Portland & Washington

I took a quick weekend up to the Pacific NorthWest to see my cousin Erin, her hubby and their new little baby.  Christy was up there for a snowy plover conference, so I met her on Friday morning in Portland.  We were supposed to go to downtown Portland and have lunch with our godmother.  However, she was an hour and forty minutes late picking us up at the hotel, so that killed our time in Portland.  We made it for a quick lunch and then Erin & co were there to pick us up.  They drove us back to their house near Castle Rock, WA.  They live in this cute little farmhouse (well, not so little - 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, big dining room, huge kitchen).  It's located about 1/4 mile from Mt. St. Helens National Park, where Brayden (the hubby) works.  I want that commute!

We'll get to the best part - their baby, Sierra, is almost 3 months old.  OMG, is she a cutie!  Such a good baby.  And she sleeps well too!  Such a little joy to be around.  Definitely not one of those babies that I affectionally nickname "Birth Control" when I see them stomping their feet and screaming bloody murder at the grocery store.  Just cute and sweet as a little button.

I heard that it was cold up there, so most of the clothes I packed were in anticipation of freezing in bed at night.  They had a space heater, so not so necessary.  I was actually sweating at first and had to shred my extra sweatshirt and scarf and socks.  What do you know?  They know how to heat their house.  Such a dork.

It was definitely a low key weekend, spent with lots of QT.  There was no cell service and they had dial-up internet - so as Christy put it, we went back to 1998.  It's amazing how crippled you can feel when you don't have those two things.  Did I need them?  No!  Did I miss them?  Yes!  When I came home, did I have anything catastrophic that I missed?  Nope!  It was definitely a lesson in relaxing.

All in all, I've been super spoiled.  I got to hang with my cousin Amy two weekends ago, and then with her sister Erin last weekend.  If only all we could all make it in one place together.  Tracy - when you coming out again?!?! :)  The 5 of us need to make it to the same city at the same time.

Thankfully, I came home on Sunday - a day before the sky stopped its wimpy raining and started dumping buckets in preparation of Noah's next arc.  We really needed the rain, and I'm thankful for it.  But it's been insane!

New Year...New Tradition

Ryan and I drove down to San Luis Obispo to spend New Years. On our way into Arroyo Grande, we stopped off at Pismo Beach to take some sunset pictures with our new camera. We thought it would be a fun new tradition - take pictures of the last sunset of the year, every year - together. Here are some pics. Typical to Ryan and I, we are not in the pictures.

It's Official...We're going through our "alike" stage

Christy and I have historically gone through stages of looking alike and looking not-so-alike.  It was the general consensus over New Year's weekend that we're in our alike stage.  Christy and Mike had a Rose Bowl gathering and everyone there kept saying it.  Which we're used to.

Ryan's really never had a problem telling us apart after we started dating - he's actually pretty darn good at it.  This weekend something hilarious happened - he totally got us confused.  Hello hubby?  I'm the one over here :)

We were watching TV - I was in the recliner and Ryan was in the couch sitting right next to me.  Christy was in the "cuddle chair" across the room, which is bigger than a love seat but much smaller than a couch (it fits two really comfortably - hence the name).  Ryan got up and left the room for a couple minutes.  When he came back, he gets a smile on his face and hops in the cuddle chair with Chris.  He nudged her over with his butt a couple times (like scoot...scoot).  I'm sitting there across the room thinking...."hmm...there is a 70% chance he's confused, and a 30% chance that he really wanted to sit in that chair (which, coincidentally, has a horrible view of the TV compared to the couch)."  And Christy's sitting there like, ok, whatever.  Mike got really excited when he saw Ryan sit down there, and subsequently sprawled all across the couch in glee.  So, I think, "ok, whichever it is, I really don't care if Ryan shares a chair with my sister.  Let's see if he puts his arm around her!"  A social experiment is going off in my brain.  You can tell how worried Mike and I are about this situation.

Fast forward ten minutes of watching a Fraiser re-run, and Christy laughs out loud.  The look on Ryan's face was priceless.  He turned, looked at her, and busted out laughing.  He totally thought it was me.  She had blue pajama bottoms on, and he's used to associating blue with me (and maroon with her).  We were all laughing so hard.  I don't think I stopped laughing for about 5 minutes.  Hys-ter-ical!  After 11 years, he finally got us confused :)  We're still laughing about it.