For the last few months my neck and shoulders have been killing me. I went to the gym with the Hubs for a couple of weeks thinking it would help ease the pain. Turns out the gym only aggravates my neck and shoulders. AWESOME.
I went to the chiropractor last week thinking it would help, but it only provided temporary relief. Temporary as in a couple of hours. Sigh. I made an appointment with a regular doctor. I hope she doesn’t just prescribe pain meds because that’s not what I’m looking for. My neck and shoulders issues went away when during my reformer pilates classes last year and I think I need to start those up again. They are just so dang expensive! We’re in a recession, there has to be SOMEONE out there that offers reasonable rates.
I would also like to ween myself off of my coffee addiction, but dude, if this cute little bear can’t even do it, how do you expect me to go cold turkey?
Since I'm going to San Diego soon, I looked at Groupon's website and saw teeth whitening for $185! Total score after looking at the Yelp reviews. Usually I wouldn't but I just inquired it to my DDS and she wanted to charge me $500. I haven't bleached my teeth since I got my braces off and it's time for a re-bleach!
Via MSN, Esquire magazine is running an article on the lazy man's guide to last-minute shopping for a girlfriend. It's a guide to finding the right gift in the stores a guy is already in. I always sigh when men's magazines give away bad ideas. (Btw, Men's Health seems to be the most accurate when it comes to women tips). So I am going to do my part for the men in my Vox neighborhood and improve upon Esquire's suggestions. :-) I am a Taurus... to a 't'... which means I can be rather picky about gifts.
Esquire tip: At the Grocery Store: Option No. 1
Get a gift
bag and some tissue paper (look near the tops of the aisles) and fill
it with miniature candies, gossip magazines, and a best-selling book
that wasn't written by Dan Brown.
Hapa tip:
Don't even think about "wrapping" your girlfriend's present in a gift bag. The message a gift bag sends is "LAZY". It's ok if the gift is a really weird shape, but try to avoid it. If you must, go get it wrapped at a store or something. A gift, when presented beautifully, makes the recipient feel special.
Now, the grocery store isn't the best place to find a gift. But if you're stuck with that, let's hope it's a Whole Foods or a Bristol Farms. Then you can purchase some gourmet treats, such as truffle oil, imported cheeses, olives, etc. Or, if they have sushi-grade fish, you could purchase all the stuff necessary to make sushi, and maybe a non-scented candle, and have a romantic sushi dinner for two at home.
Not all women love gossip mags, so if she doesn't, then it kind of sends a message of, "I think you're superficial, and what else do chicks like, anyway?". And if you're gonna get candles, get them at a fancy store. Those grocery store candles do not smell or look like a gift.
Esquire: At the Grocery Store: Option No. 2
Cake mix, with which you then bake her a cake.
Hapa tip:
See number 1. If you want to buy her a cake, go to a European bakery. One that uses really good ingredients. For example, one of those boutique-y cupcake places, St. Tropez bakery... something more expensive than Duncan Hines. However, if you want to make the cake (nice touch!), find a recipe on Cook's Illustrated, or some good cooking magazine, and do that. Doesn't have to be a cake, but try to do it from scratch and pick a recipe that doesn't look overly complicated if you haven't cooked much before.
Esquire: At the Drugstore: Option No. 1
Most drugstores
sell products from the high-end cosmetics company La Roche-Posay. Get
her the moisturizer, body balm, and face wash.
Hapa:
Take a look at what she already uses -- cosmetics are highly personal. Or, if she's got any beauty/fashion mags lying around, flip through them to see if any pages are dog-eared for stuff she wants to buy. I do buy plenty of my cosmetics stuff from drugstores, but I would tend to buy Burts' Bees or various specific brands.
Esquire: At the Drugstore: Option No. 2
A gift bag filled with candy. Nothing fancy, the stuff she actually likes: candy.
Hapa:
Nah. Cupcakes. Or fancy chocolate (which cannot be purchased at a drug store). Another drug store option (if you must) would be a bunch of toiletries in travel size, in a travel bag -- if she travels. It's nice not to have a separate travel size of all your toiletries so you don't have to pack it each time. If she's into baths or relaxation, lavendar bath salts would be a pretty nice little gift, I think. Pack it up in a basket with a bottle of wine, an eye mask and some relaxing music.
Esquire: At the Hardware Store: Option No. 1
A flower (orchids are always nice) and a nice pot to transfer it to before you get home.
Hapa:
This is actually a good tip. It would be even better accompanied with a bottle of champagne! Btw, Home Depot will transfer the plant to the pot in the store for you (for free).
At the Hardware Store: Option No. 2
If you don't already live together, consider the symbolism of having a key made for her. No gift packaging required.
Hapa:
Not too bad, but this only works when you're asking her to move in to your house. Not really a Christmas thing. If you need another hardware store idea, maybe a wreath or a fruit tree (planted). And if she digs power tools (there are a lot of crafty women around), that would be an awesome gift.
Esquire: At Kmart: Option No. 1
A picture frame, into which you insert a picture of the two of you.
Hapa:
Well you'd better not give her the gift receipt, because then she'll know you shopped for her at Kmart. Actually, I'm cool with Kmart, but a picture of the two of you is a little on the cheesy side. We could improve this gift by doing a digital photo frame (also sold for cheap at Fry's Electronics), with some photos of the two of you, as well as photos of her and her friends and family. Then you score points for putting all the people she cares about (not just you) into the frame.
Esquire: Kmart: Option No. 2
A Wii.
Hapa:
That would actually be a pretty rad gift. I'd be stoked. You can get them for cheaper at Costco, though.
Esquire: At Kmart: Option No. 3
Several of the
practical — and surprisingly attractive — Oxo Pop containers. Fill
them — really fill them — with something she'll enjoy. Like candy. Or a
note letting her know that her real gift is on the way.
Hapa:
I'd love this gift. However, if she's not into cooking, I wouldn't recommend it. But I really love those containers. Sometimes you can find these and other nice kitchen stuff for super cheap at T.J. Maxx, Marshall's and Ross.
Happy shopping!
So since I am buying and selling (still) on Amazon, I winded up selling my CatGenie for $225.00... which includes like $400 of stuff I've bought - including a $100 cartridge resetter. Shipping it is going to be a bitch, but whatevs, it's better than me throwing it away and getting nothing out of it. I went to a store down the street and got more boxes. Since I'm going to San Diego/Mexico, I bought them a new hi-tech kitty box:
Have a spare minute, want to procrastinate?
Click here to vote for Bucky in his holiday photo contest.
What's your guilty television pleasure?
That's easy: Gossip Girl of course! Despite my annoyance with most of the characters, I can't help but keep watching it week after week.
You know you love me.
XOXO, Gossip Girl...
as you are getting ready for the holidays, you may noticed it getting a little bit chillier than usual. why not get a head start on spring cleaning and go into your closet to see if you have any outdated or old coats you no longer want?
one warm coat is an organization will helps distributes a free coat to homeless which will keep them warm during this winter. you can easily find drop off locations across the nation.
Dear Kylie,
In two days, you'll be 6 whole months old. I am still in shock over this!
In retrospect, I am so glad I wrote you letters after your first and second month. My apologies for having missed your 3, 4, and 5th month. Thing is, your mom battled a bit of ppd and it was gawd awful those first 8 weeks, but month 3, 4, and 5? We couldn't be bothered to update on those months because we were too busy catching up and having ourselves the time of our lives. If that's not a good excuse, I don't know what is!
So... let's backtrack a little. During that third month, your personality started to form. You are outgoing, flirtatious, and easy to laugh. You are also highly demanding, impatient, and spoiled rotten.
We celebrated your 100 days of life with a little family dinner and soon after, you started to fill out.
you, 100 days old:
your great-aunt lovingly made you all of these traditional sweet breads by hand!
"put them in my mouth!"
The night after your dinner, we shaved your head. Sometimes I wonder if this was a bad move, as your hair has come back in curly!
At your 4 month check up, we found out that you were filling out maybe a little too much. 99% in weight? wow. I vowed never to be that crazy Asian parent but immediately, my first thought was, "Why are you missing 1%?? Where did I go wrong? Why didn't you do the extra credit question!?"
but one look at your chunky thighs and I know that you are 100%. probably 101% and totally G.A.T.E. material, at that.
You and I were baptized the same day, and you were adorable in a dress one of your aunties gifted you.
For your first Halloween, you were 1- a hotdog, 2- Flava Flav, and 3- a lion. The hot dog costume lasted all of 3 minutes, Flava Flav was for a church outing, and the lion because your grandma insisted.
During this month, you learned how to hold your own bottle, sit up, and outgrew the majority of your 3-6 month sized clothes. You attended your first birthday party and your first garage-red-cup-beer-pong-party. Your almost daily explosive poopy diapers have become 1x/2 week occurances and I thank you for that. You slept 8-11 hours a night, solid, and your dad and I got used to this.
We recently moved out of our rental condo and into our very first home and things have been hectic with the house remodel. You seem to know that your surroundings aren't the same as before and wake up 2-4 times a night to whine and cry. It's killin us, smalls, so please stop doing that soon.
You insist on standing instead of sitting, any chance you get. You *adore* your over-the-door jumper and laugh to yourself with every jump. You just started to get peek-a-boo and you love skyping with your Lao-Yeh in Korea because he will peek-a-boo you and coo at you and you will coo right back. and by coo, I mean shriek at the top of your lungs. It is the best sound in the entire world.
This is the end of your 5th month, baby girl, and it makes me so sad to remember back on those first few weeks and how much I missed of your new babyness because I was too involved with dealing with my own feelings. I hope that these last 4, though, have made up for some of that. When you laugh, it makes me and your daddy laugh. When you smile, we smile. As cheesey as it sounds, you are the sunshine in our lives. I can not remember what I was living for before you were a part of my world, and I can not imagine a world with me but without you.
all my love, forever and ever,
your momma
This was the holiday...
I made these cute little placecards that look like wheat sheaths, which ended up taking a lot longer than I thought, but I can use them again eventually.
Here's the day's menu. I did end up dropping one dish mainly due to time constraints (the green beans). I took Wednesday off to prepare, but it still ended up taking a little longer than I thought.
My turkey process was very simple - easiest part of the meal. I brined the turkey in saltwater for six hours, patted it dry, then let it air dry in the fridge, uncovered, for 24 hours -- that gets the skin super crispy. It took about 2.5 hours to cook, starting breast-side down for 45 minutes, then each wing side for 15 minutes, then the breast up for 30 minutes, basting with melted butter on each turn.
I just got through all the turkey leftovers, upon making a turkey tetrazzini the other night. And the bones made a bunch of rich turkey stock.
Here's some cranberry grappa jelly that I made. I wanted a homemade version of the canned jellied cranberry sauce. Everyone else seemed to prefer the whole berry cranberry sauce, but there's still a place in my heart for the jellied. The dish wasn't hard to make, but a little time-consuming because you have to strain it, and let it set in the fridge for several hours.
And the honey and I when it was all done... whew...
I put my kitties on CL and now someone wants them. :((
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