Long weekends are lovely

18 weeks

Olvera Street in Downtown LA.

I kicked off my long weekend by leaving work at noon (hip hip hooray!). I drug my co-worker with me to Olvera Street. I had to purchase some party items for my bff's birthday party next weekend. I had to rush home to report for "airport" duty. Is it sad that I'm proud of myself for knowing what terminal houses what airlines at LAX? I really need a hobby.

I am Ringo.. hear me roar

Sweet frozen treats in Manhattan Beach

Quality time w/one of my favorite pups. Even Curtis stops to smells the roses.

It was also another puppy filled weekend. I got to spend time with my "niece" Ringo and my "nephew" Curtis. I took Curtis on a long walk on Saturday afternoon. We were both so worn out from the walk I think we were both panting on the way back. Except when I was ready to leave my favorite four legged boy he wasn't having it. He refused to go into the apartment or up the steps. He kept trying to escape to where my car was. I managed to get him back into the apartment but he sat in front of the door. I tried staring him down except he took it for a staring contest and of course won. He obviously was trying to hold me captive. I tried giving him treats. When I went for the door he would knock over a chair. Finally, I had enough and I threw a treat down the hall and ran for the door. I felt like we should have been cartoon characters. Curtis & Rachel starring in "The day Curtis held Rachel hostage". Next time I'm writing my friend a note and taking Curtis home with me. I wouldn't want to spend a Saturday cooped up inside.. alone.

That night I was an emotional wreck. I had a lot weighing on my mind. I also couldn't get Curtis's sad face out of my mind either. I decided to treat myself to a movie. Except I wasn't in the mood to hit up a huge crowded movie theater. So I wound up going to the rinky dink theater by the rinky dink mall. I'm not sure what came over me to see Water for Elephants but I did. I was the only one in the theater who didn't use a senior citizen discount to see the movie. I'm not sure if the movie was that emotional or maybe it was just me. I sobbed and stuffed my face with a hot dog, nachos and popcorn and sobbed some more. There was a scene that involved the elephant. It got to the point where I was about to walk out of the movie. I also sat through the movie thinking to myself, "Why does it seem like Robert Pattinson is playing the same role over and over again? It's like watching a non-sparkly version of Edward at a circus." I mean uhh I never saw Twilight. By the end of the movie I wished I had saved my money and watched another episode of Friday Night Lights on Netflix. Lesson learned: Stick to comedies until further notice.

My Sunday morning was semi crushed when I forgot that coupons don't come in the paper over holiday weekends. Dammit! I'm determined to have at least one transaction one day where I pick out $300 worth of food and only pay under $10 for it! I did manage to save $11 bucks on a transaction. Except the food wasn't for me. It was for Lauren's upcoming birthday party. I bought French's yellow mustard for .40 cents. Yes, I'd like to brag about that! After hitting up my favorite Cantina with Hope. We decided to reward ourselves with In-N-Out. It was the first time in a long time I craved a burger. Double double animal style with animal style fries. The "McBaby" and I enjoyed every bite of our delicious meal. Ringo even wanted in on some of the action. I was selfish and didn't share. I have a feeling Ringo's still in a corner crying about it.

I also was spotting these Os with Xs in them all weekend. What the heck was that about? I just wish my Memorial Day weekend was warmer.. at least for those residents who leave by the beach. Not being able to hit up the beach over Memorial Day because it's too cold and windy stank!

National Stationary Show

Thanks to Oh So Beautiful Paper I got to pretend I attended this years National Stationary Show. Check out Ginger Rae for some of my favorites.

(photo from oh so beautiful paper)

There's someting very boho about summer

The "boho bug" of summer has bit me a month early this year. Over at Ginger Rae I posted some of my favorite "boho" inspired photos.

(photo from pinterest)

Leaving on a jet plane

This past weekend one of my friend's had his good-bye party. He's leaving the Marina to go back to New York. I wanted to be able to give him something before he left. I couldn't find a nice card. Everything was either sappy or just lame. So I decided to make one. I went to Michaels and in the scrapbooking aisle I found that marble looking paper and paper of an old map that happened to be the United States. Perfect! I was on a strict budget so I wound up purchasing those green, brown and blue letter stickers above. I put an X where Los Angeles is and another X where NY is and drew little dots. Voila! A cute little goodbye card. I also wanted to give him a little goodie bag that he could take on the plane with him. So I used a plain paper bag. I got a bunch of them for under $2 bucks at Target. I don't have a printer at home so I wasn't able to print out the images I wanted to. I was getting upset (hormones) because my project wasn't turning out how I wanted it to. I finally decided to buy fancy scrapbooking stickers with a travel theme. They did the job. In the goodie bag I added a bunch of candy and some gum. He enjoyed it and loved the creativity that went into his little goodbye gift. My only regret was not forking out the extra 5 bucks for the typewriter letter stickers. Oh well, there's always next time!

I let my hair do what it wants in the summer

This summer I'm giving my straightener a break and letting my hair do what it wants. Check out Ginger Rae for summer hair inspiration.

So this one time I went to Benihana...

Thanks to the blogger crash of 2011 I was unable to update this puppy last week. Well, I could have updated on Friday or over the weekend but pure laziness started to set in. You know how that goes, right?

After a sleepless Thursday night.. I blame the Lehigh University wrestling t-shirt I wore to bed. I spent Friday not being able to sleep. I was finally able to fall asleep and of course 7am came quickly. Why was I waking up at 7am on a Saturday? I had to get Tobias (my car) worked on. Of course they had no record of my appointment but promised to fit me in. I thought to myself "Uhh, I just woke up at 7am to be here by 8am and I'm eating disgusting Mickey D's for breakfast.. you better fit me in!". I ate my half disgusting breakfast, conversed with a strange man waiting to get his car fixed, and had a heart to heart with the manager Joe. 4 in a half hours and $700 later I was off to get some feathers. Feathers? Yes, I went to the Doves Salon in Santa Monica to get some feather extensions. I'm afraid to dye my hair because of the pregnancy so I thought some feathers might kick my "doo" up a notch. The feathers do look cool.. if you can find them (I have a lot of hair). So I need to make a trip back to the salon so they can be put in a better location. Pictures will come once they switch locations.

Saturday night was Jessi's birthday dinner at Benihana. As I sorted through my clothing I realized I have nothing to wear that looks cute enough to wear out. Then I managed to go through my 4th emotional breakdown of the day. My hormones were not going easy on me! Finally arriving at Lauren's, I sorted through her heap of clothes. Boom! Found the perfect outfit to replace the party dress that enhanced "the bump". Lauren and I "bumped" our favorite rap songs on the way to Benihana. We ordered our over priced meals. I watched the chef cook up the meat and it took everything in my body from not projectile vomiting all over him. The chef spelled out I <3 U with the fried rice he just made. I think it was meant for me. It's my "pregnancy glow" that brings all the boys to the yard. Just kidding! By the end of dinner we all couldn't stop laughing. Scratch that - Lauren and I couldn't stop laughing. Why? It was all our nonsense talk of True Life: I'm jealous of my cat, making stories up about other tables and this random dude glaring at Lauren and I in our photo (hey, mind your own biznass!). Okay.. maybe you had to be there to find any of this funny. I left Benihana without my green tea ice cream that was promised but charged for my fried rice that was supposed to be included in my meal. I also didn't get one of those cool hats that all the kids were wearing. Maybe one day I'll return to Benihana and when I do... I better get one of those damn hats!!

(photos: Bear (Lauren's cat that helped me pick out my outfit), I <3 U spelled out in fried rice, The beautiful birthday girl, Lauren, the creepy dude and I)

This is currently my favorite outfit

So you're pregnant and the maternity fashion you can afford is just not you. Who said that just because your pregnant/have kids means you have to sacrifice style? Over at Ginger Rae, I'm discussing these "issues". Check it out!

Mr. Clooney turns the big 5-0

Happy Birthday, George!! I've had a crush on George Clooney since he appeared on my TV screen wearing scrubs. That was 17 years ago ::insert dreamy sigh::. My life hasn't been the same since ::insert another sigh::. Okay thats enough of sounding like a creep. Back to reality.

Need Cinco de Mayo party ideas?

Ginger Rae has a few ideas! Check em' out!

May 4th = Star Wars Day

Happy Star Wars day to all the Star Wars fans out there! Over at Ginger Rae I have put together my favorite Star Wars finds from Pinterest. Check it out & enjoy!

May The Fourth Be With You!!

Were you one of the few who didn't get to go to the Met Gala?

Join the club because I didn't get to go either! However, I posted some of my favorites over at Ginger Rae. Check out the designer dresses in all their glory!