Sunday, April 27, 2008

Cinco de Mayo

It's one week until one of my favorite holidays!

For some reason, I love Cinco de Mayo. I think it's just because it gives me a good reason to gather with friends and eat Mexican food and drink margaritas! Good enough excuse, right!?

Last year was a blast, especially since it was on a Saturday. I'm sure this year's turnout will be a little less, but hopefully, everyone will come to OTB for a little bit.

If you're around and care to share a cerveza with us, c'mon on down to OTB (On the Border for those that don't know my lingo) at Concord Mills around 6ish until ???

My Space Or Yours?.net

I Got a New Phone!


Woo hoo...Finally!

I've been wanting to get a new phone for a while, but haven't had the $ to do so.
Well, I dropped my phone on the kitchen floor last Sunday and the screen display went kaput. Finally, a good reason to research and get a new phone immediately!

So, after work, I decided on the MotoKrzr. According to Sprint.com, it was free after I send in for the rebate so what the heck?

It has so many new features, all which I never really had before with my Nextel. It has Sprint TV, Radio, GPS, Camera, Internet, etc., etc. I ended up switching my plan to the new Simply Everything Plan too. For just $99/mo. I get unlimited calls and texts, as well as being able to surf and do all that other fun stuff included.

So, what are you waiting for? LOL...Call me or text me! :)

Thursday, April 17, 2008

I'm An Aunt!

My sister, Jessica, and husband, Michael, welcomed Elizabeth Grace Harcar into this world on Saturday, April 12 at 3:16 p.m. She weighed in at 7 lbs., 8.5 ozs. and was 20 3/4 inches long. She's absolutely beautiful and already has a full head of hair. Both sets of grandparents, as well as Lindsay and I were present at the hospital awaiting the birth. Saturday was a very long day, but in the end, so worth it!

She's definitely going to be spoiled by her Aunt Jenn!







My Trip to Seattle...A Very Lengthy Detailed Account

So, as usual, it's been a while since the last post and I need to update you on my fabulous trip to Seattle.

First off, I must vent about Kyleingram33...This is the guy I purchased my camera from on ebay. I had it shipped to Becky in Monroe so it would be there by the time I arrived...WRONG! I emailed him when I got there and he said he had been out of town and would ship it that day. Wouldn't you know, it arrived the day after I LEFT! URGH! But anyway, thankfully, Becky has a fabulous camera and allowed me to use it.

So, I left here on Wednesday, March 26 around 7 p.m., an hour later than I was supposed to...go figure! I was able to fly first class and non-stop. That was the bomb.com as Becky would say. Shortly after take-off, we were offered cocktails, so of course I indulged in a couple glasses of chardonnay. Then we were served a delicious meal on real plates with real silverware and even mini salt & pepper shakers...LOL. Then we had apple pie for dessert...That was cool. First class is the only way to go, but who knows how often I'll get to enjoy that! LOL. I then went to nap and we arrived in Seattle around 10ish. We were held in the air for about 20 minutes because of the SNOW that was falling around the area, causing a back up at the airport. Becky said it hadn't snowed there in three months and wouldn't you know the night I fly in, it would be snowing! Go figure!! I made it to baggage claim, where Becky is standing with a sign that says "Hillbilly Deluxe" on it. That clown...Jay, Brett and Becky all thought that was real funny. It took about another 45 minutes to get my luggage then we headed to dinner.

My one request while out there was not to go to any chain restaurants or places we have here, but at 11 p.m. on a Wednesday night, there wasn't much choice. So we went and had some dinner and cocktails at a nearby Applebee's. It was nice to meet Brett, who I had spoken on the phone with once or twice. It was so nice that Jay and Brett came to pick me up at the airport. I can't believe it had been three months since I had seen Jay and Becky, you know when the Panthers beat those Seahawks...LOL.

After dinner, we took Brett and Jay back to their car then headed up to Monroe to Becky's house. I met Melinda, who Becky lives with, and we stayed up chatting for a bit before we crashed for the night. It was probably 5 or 6 a.m. NC time by the time we went to bed so I was pretty tired, to say the least.

We took our time getting up and getting ready on Thursday. My first thing on the agenda was getting a pedicure. I wanted to get one before I left but Becky said she needed one too so I decided to wait then we could go together. So after pedicures and a brow wax, we went to eat Mexican food for lunch. We had gotten a call from Jay after we left each other on Wed. night, asking if we could pick up his best friend Ryon at the University of Washington because he had gotten a ride but still needed a ride to Puyallup (where they all live). So, as Becky usually does, she agreed and we made our way to Seattle. Thursday was a beautiful day so I snapped some pictures since you never know how the weather will be from one day to the next. We picked up Ryon then drove to Puyallup and Jay's house. Jay and his dad were home watching the Washington State vs. Carolina game on TV. I, of course, had to rub it in their face when Carolina whipped WSU, even though Jay doesn't like WSU, but Ryon goes there, so that was pretty funny. Brett came over and we waited on Jay's mom, Susi, to get home from work. We all went to dinner at Sakura, a Japanese restaurant, in Tacoma. Then we all went to Chopstix, a dueling piano bar, in Tacoma to celebrate Brett's birthday. I love piano bars. We had told them it was Brett's birthday so they got him up on the piano. That was quite comical. He got really drunk and decided to act like a monkey once we left. He climbed up this tree and broke the freakin' branch. It was so funny. Jay and I were laughing our asses off, while trying to check on Brett to see if he was okay. There was more drama afterwards, but it turned out to be more comedy than drama...LOL.


Friday, we were slow going again. It was snowing, which I have to admit, is a nice sight to see since we really don't see it that often here. Becky took me to Dick's, which is a hamburger joint there. There's only four locations, so they were pretty busy. You walk up to the window and order what you'd like, but no special orders. Burgers come as listed, I quickly found out. I had a cheeseburger and some french fries. The fries reminded me of In-N-Out's, which are bomb.com, very fresh and yummy!

We then headed into Seattle to drive around the city. We drove by Quest and Safeco fields, where the Seahawks and Mariners play. We parked and walked around, going into a couple of cute gift shops and a toy store. One thing I noticed while doing this trip was all the people walking around with light or no coats on. I was freezing wearing my wool coat and these people are wearing nothing. I guess they're so used to the cool weather that their bodies have adjusted to it and that's considered "normal." We had decided that we were going to stay at the Westin in downtown Seattle for the night since we were going to go to the clubs there so Becky and I went and checked in. Heavenly beds, need I say more? Becky and I departed again, this time by foot, to go shopping and scope out a place for dinner. We had decided on the Taproom Grill, which features more than 160 beers on tap...unbelievable!

We went back to the hotel to change and await the boy's arrival...Seemed Jay had other plans though and they didn't meet us up at Taproom until 11:30 p.m.!!! By this time, Becky and I were beyond pissed, so we decided to go ahead and start taking some shots! The five of us eventually made it to "The Last Supper Club" for the night. In the short amount of time we were there, we all managed to get a bit wasted! I lost count of how many shots we all did...enough, to say the least! Back to the hotel and Ryon and Jay pass right out. Becky kinda does until she gets up to go the bathroom and passes out in there...That was hilarious! Brett decided he needed to order room service and orders a sandwich at 3:15 in the morning! Cost of this BLT....$35 in all! Unbelievable! Westin definitely makes some $$$, seeing as they charged us $32 for parking, not to mention the lovely rate for the room too!


As has been the case, Saturday was slow going for everyone but me! I was up and ready to go by 10:30, yet the clowns wouldn't get up out of bed. I think we finally left at 11:50, seeing as check out was noon! I had read about this restaurant in Pike Place that had been voted the best breakfast, so I wanted to go there, but by the time we all met up and got there, it was now lunch time. It was still pretty good food with a nice view of the water. Afterwards, we all walked around Pike Place Market, checking out the beautiful flowers, fruits and veggies, and of course the infamous fish market. That was so cool. We also went by the first Starbucks which had singers outside performing. On this one street corner we saw Mini-Me himself, Verne Troyer, on his little Rascal. I couldn't get the boys out of the way quick enough for me to snap a shot, but I got the back of his head and you can still tell it's him...LOL. We toured the waterfront then the boys left and headed to Puyallup and Becky and I headed up to Monroe.

Saturday was supposed to be race day, one of the main reasons I was going. Jay was supposed to have raced but his motor wasn't ready. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. The race initially got rained out, but by the time the night was over...it was SNOWING!! Once Becky got the call that the race was cancelled, we jetted over to the track so she could see some friends before they loaded up and headed home. The Sauls had come up and once it was cancelled, they made their way to the Red Robin, yes, a chain, but oh well...so Becky, Budah and I headed over there to meet up with them. Afterwards, we tried to decide what we were doing. Well, needless to say, Becky and I made the trip to Puyallup once again (about an hour) to go out with Brett and Jay at the Swiss in Tacoma. The band was awesome, but we were all so exhausted from the night before and it was a bit crowded, that we decided to leave a couple hours later. Dropped Jay and Brett back home then we drove back to Monroe again...LOL. I actually passed out on this trip. When we got home, lo and behold, there was about three inches of snow on the ground! Puyallup had not even gotten a flake!

Sunday, we got ready and drove to the airport area with Campbell, Melinda's granddaughter. We were supposed to meet up with Jay and his parents for lunch since he was flying to San Diego that afternoon. Well, Jay was delayed in his packing so all they were able to do was swing by for us to say bye and take some farewell pics. We drove back to Monroe to take Campbell home then Becky and I headed to Bellevue to shop. I had watched Oprah one day and saw this store called "The Container Store" on there. Well, we don't have any nearby but there was one in Bellevue, so I was dying to go there. It was so freakin' awesome. It's probably good that we don't have one close or I'd probably be there everyday needing a container of some sort to put something in...it was just too cool! I did buy some jewelry cases but knew I couldn't buy a lot. I wrote down what I thought I would like so I could look it up online and purchase. We then went to this store called the "Paper Source." Probably another good thing we don't have one of these. Paper, pens, cards, creative, cutesy things. I know Becky has since gone two or three more times to make purchases.
Budah met us down there then Becky drove us to Puyallup to meet up with our friend Shelby for dinner at "The Rock." It was a cool pizza, pasta joint. I had some grilled chicken with ravioli. I was still so full from lunch that I hardly ate any of it and ended up bringing it home. We then decided we needed ice cream to complete our evening...LOL. I somehow managed to find room to eat that...go figure! We said our good-byes, drove back up to Bellevue, dropped Budah off then headed back to Monroe...I think I went straight to bed. I was exhausted and my stomach hurt from eating way too damn much!!!


Monday was my last day in Washington. I packed up all my belongings and got ready. We went to the big town of Snohomish, hometown of Kevin Hamlin...woot! LOL. We had lunch at the Snohomish Pie Company. It was a good soup and sandwich. I obviously didn't partake in their specialty, pie, because I don't eat it, but I did have a chocolate chip cookie that was good. We then walked around downtown Sno-Ho...a very cute town with some very cute gift shops. Campbell had come with us again and we now headed to Seattle to find this cupcake place. I've gotten into cupcakes here lately and Becky loves them too. Trophy Cupcakes was too cute. They were actually featured on Martha Stewart's show the following Thursday. We all had a cupcake and was in awe of the place.


Then we went to the Space Needle, the famous landmark of Seattle. The weather wasn't the best, mix of snow, rain and sleet, but it was very cool to ride up to the top and get the views of Seattle. Simply amazing! Did the gift shop thing then headed to Anthony's at Pier 66 to meet up with Budah and his dad for dinner. A very fine dining experience where I had the best of the Northwest's seafood...a samon filet and a piece of halibut. Both were extremely good and the view we had from our table was beautiful.

After dinner, Becky dropped me off at the airport and I made my way back to the Queen City. It was so good to visit with everyone and meet some new friends. I'd definitely like to go back when it's a touch warmer and be able to see more of the outdoors sights. There are talks of all of us meeting at some point but who knows when we'll all get together again....soon I hope! I love my peeps in the WA.

Sorry this was so long but there was lots we did...LOL. Hope you didn't fall asleep reading.