Melting Pot Fun

Friday night, my sister and I went to drown our sorrows in chocolate fondue at The Melting Pot. We had a delicious meal of bread w/ their Wisconsin Trio fondue, salad for my rabbit-eater of a sister, surf and turf and my favorite: DESSERT, which included pound cake, brownies, bananas, strawberries, cheesecake, rice crispie treats and marshmallows dipped in their Ying Yang [dark chocolate and white chocolate] fondue. Even thought we were both so stuffed by the time that dessert arrived, we couldn't pass it up. I really need to go to the Melting Pot for JUST dessert...that would be awesome, plus way better on my budget!!! Below are some pictures of Jaimie and Stephanie's night of fondue madness!
Stephanie is ready to munch on some shrimp:

Our Yin Yang dessert. Mmmmm:

And finally...we have one of the women's restroom perks: Maxipads. I am trying to refrain from imagining the emergency that made management think having a bowl of these on the counter was a great idea:

Book Club: My Sister's Keeper

Our book for February '09 was My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. Excellent Choice. I am two for two in terms of enjoying Ms. Picoult's books and will definitely pick up another title on my next trip to the book store. This book was a heart felt tale about the struggle of a family dealing with a disease [leukemia] that was dominating their world. The chapters are written in the point of view of different characters and the reader gets into the mind of each, knowing and feeling their pain/situations. This book comes highly recommended by me.

Book Club Treats:
Leukemia is represented by the color orange [as breast cancer is pink], so in relation to the theme of My Sister's Keeper, Jennifer made carrot cake cupcake treats with cream cheese frosting--and they were beyond delicious. Jennifer really spoils the crap out of our fun little group!
In addition to the cupcakes, I went to the store and got tiny containers, put official-looking labels on them [to mirror what you might see when giving a urine sample at the doctor's office] and put apple juice in them--one for each member of the group. This is mimicking a humorous part of the book--and to find out what that is, you will have to pick up a copy!

R.I.P. Rosalina

There seems to be bad hamster juju in the Lopez house. A week after we purchased Rosalina as a replacement for Hammy [the dead hamster with ginormous testicles], she died. Rosalina was the sweetest critter ever--she didn't bite, she let us pick her up and play with her and she was super cute, which is clearly a quality that determines hamster sweetness. Needless to say [if you have been following these blogs regularly], we are down to one hamster: Clover--and she needs hamster Ritilan in a major way.

So. What are we doing wrong with the hamsters? Hammy lived a good four months, but I have heard that hamsters live for years. In Rosalina's case, I have come up with the following theories:

We did feed her a lot of sugar and some of it included chocolate [something we did not do for Hammy], so maybe that was the cause of death. [In our defense, she was extremely cute stuffing her cheeks with cookies that we just couldn't stop!]

Maybe Clover was envious of all of the attention we showered on Rosalina and resorted to murder while Rosie was sleeping. [Dun-Dun-Duuun!]

Too much human contact from picking her up so much. [Okay, quite possible]

Petco sold us a sick hamster, making Rosalina doomed from the beginning.**

There is poison in the hamster food we purchased. [This is a possibility, as Hammy died less than a week after we switched]

Regardless of the cause, Rosalina was given her own little checks box [thank goodness Andy recently ordered more checks] and buried next to Hammy. I'm sure that they are frolicking through the clouds in hamster heaven, happy as can be--and maybe even making hamster ghost babies!

**Petco gives a 15-day hamster warranty and Rosalina [Hamster God rest her soul] died within that time frame; however, we thought it silly to replace a ten-dollar hamster. Besides, two hamsters were SO messy and stinky--much more so than one--so maybe this was a blessing in disguise…Just the wrong hamster died.

Mardi Gras!

I hope that everyone had a *FAB* Mardi Gras, which is French for 'fat Tuesday'…but for me, every day is a fat day, unless I’m dieting. We didn't celebrate a la New Orleans yesterday, but I did go to Crabtown for lunch with the girls and got some beads...Tres fun!

Here is a pic I snapped of Jade last night, decked out in her celebratory gear:

…which brings us to Lent. [Happy Ash Wednesday, by the way] I don't normally give anything up for 40 days, but I've decided to make an exception this year and would like to share my list with you. I really hope that to be strict enough to follow through…So, here it goes:

For Lent, I am going to give up…

1. Exercising. I mean, it only gets in the way of my real life anyway.
2. Working. This one is going to be hard because I actually get paid to do it.
3. Bathing. Just Because.
4. Clothes. This will be liberating--can anyone object if it's for religious purposes?
5. Talking. Won't my husband be excited about this one!?!?
6. Breathing. The air stinks, anyway. [Note: I've tried this one before and failed miserably. Maybe this time…]
and finally...
7. Being Patient. Ask anyone who knows me, I am the most patient person ever, so this one is going to be the most difficult.

What are you giving up this year?

Jadyn - Justified: Policemen

We've all heard the saying 'Kids Say the Darndest Things' and it's totally true. Kids are so much smarter than we [adults] give them credit for. They absorb everything seen and heard, and the way they put everything together is quite amusing! Jadyn has had a lifetime of funnies [all of which are written down in a book]--she is definitely our little payaso. Below is a conversation that Andy and I had with our 8-year old little girl on Sunday evening:

Jadyn: If either of you do anything illegal and a police officer asks me about it, I'm going to have to tell him.
Jaimie: You would get us into trouble? That's very disloyal.
Jadyn: I cannot lie to a police officer.
Andy: What if the police officer was really ugly and he asked you if you thought he was attractive...what would you tell him?
Jadyn: I would have to tell him he's attractive.
Jaimie: Why? That's lying to a police officer.
Jadyn: If I told him that he was ugly I would go to jail.
Jaimie: A police officer can't put you in jail for telling him he's ugly.
Jadyn: Yes he can because that would be assaulting a police officer
Andy & Jaimie: [Pause. Laugh]
Andy: No, Jadyn. I think you mean Insulting a police officer!

Five Years at P|M

Five years ago today, also a Monday, I walked through the doors of P|M to start my very first day of work. It's amazing that I've lasted so long in one place, considering the fact that I was just 'passing through' on my way to law school--a dream that turned into a nightmare once I was in the thick of things and witnessed the excruciating hours and stress an attorney endures daily. [Let's not forget to mention the insane student loans!]

My P|M journey has been a long one: enjoyable, emotional and, at times, exasperating. In fact, I've put my notice in twice and been denied, which is a wonderful feeling [especially when the denial includes monatery gain]. I have been promoted multiple times [sadly almost hitting my glass ceiling] and have been very fortunate to work with bosses who appreciate everything I handle for them.

Our building location has changed, our firm name has changed, my direct management has changed and only one person that I befriended on my first day is still working with me, others having moved on to different things [not necessarily bigger and better].
Only God knows what the future holds, but my P|M journey has been a good one…so far!

Here is a picture that was taken in our 'old' building, circa 2004:

Spill Your Guts!

My friend, Reese, had a super fun post on her blog the other day that I've been really excited about copying...so here it goes [Exclamation Point x3]

Here are the rules:
1. Post a picture of whatever bag you are carrying. No, you can't go into your closet and pull out your favorite purse! We want to know what you carried today or the last time you left the house, including the bag's contents.

2. List how much it cost. And this is not to judge. This is for entertainment purposes only. So spill it. And if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, we’d love to hear it.

3. Tag some chicks. And link back to this post so people know why the heck you’re showing everyone your bag.

Below is a picture of the clutch that I carry. They usually run around $100 at the Coach store and I got this particular one for my 27th birthday [please note my adorable Gemini key chain that matches the tattoo on the small of my back!]

...And here are my clutch guts:

Credit/Debit/Insurance Cards + License;

New twitter companion: my Iphone;

Soft lips-Cherry [in honor of Katy Perry, duh!];

A bobbypin;

Thirty Five Cents, no particular reason;

A blue pen;

Casino Cards: Firelake [my *fav*] and Riverwind; and

A toothpick book that I picked up at Soliel;

The third rule of this game [which I find highly discriminating--I mean, what if a male wanted to spill the guts to his manbag??] is to tag some chicks, but, mirroring Reese, I am going to go ahead and challenge you to spill your own guts--if ya wanna!

Roses and Clovers

With Hammy dead and bloated (STP reference, nevermind), Jadyn's hamster cage needed a new tenant--and what better way to replace one hamster than with TWO hamsters?? Cute factor multiplied by two, with double the stink and double the mess. [Joy] One of the reasons Jadyn believes that Hammy died was that she, and I quote, "didn't put enough effort into his name", so this time around, Jade spent some time picking out names for her new hamsters (both girls): Rosalina and Clover. They are messy little critters, but they don’t have offensively large testicles, which makes them way better than Hammy already.

Meet Rosalina and Clover:

Weigh-In: Week Cinco y El Fin

Today is the final day of the P|M Weight loss challenge (instead of last Friday because participants wanted to make it exactly five weeks). Contrary to my previous prediction, I did not win (Boo!); however, I did lose a total of 9.6 lbs (6% of body weight, which is what the contest was based on)--which is a victory in itself! Just need to keep up the hard work!

…yeah, THAT'S gonna happen…

The way I see it, if I eat right (i.e. bland, small portions) and I exercise my booty-patootie off, I can lose an average of one pound per week. With that mindset, it would take at least fifteen weeks to get to my goal weight. That's a looooooong time, but hey--I'm not getting any younger, so maybe I'll put a little effort into it. Maybe…

Anyhooters, I may have lost the challenge, but I am definitely a winner and feel stupendous! Now…where's that cheeseburger, medium rare with sauteed mushrooms?

*A Lopez Blog Marathon*

On Tuesday, February 10th, I decided I was going to challenge myself and attempt to post (at least) 30 blogs in 30 days. I found a website that is designed to keep me motivated called NaBloPoMo and immediately signed up! I thought this blog-marathon concept would be a piece of cake, but it turns out that I am having difficulty deciding what to write about…so bear with me as I try to keep the Lopez posts upbeat and interesting!!!

xoxo Happy Valentines Day! xoxo

A day blinded by red and pink, flowers, chocolate and sappy cards…and I love every second of it--for the most part because I get to spend it with people that I care about more than anything in the world. I am so lucky to have such a loving and caring family--I am.

Tonight, Andy and I have a great night planned: Indian food by candle light and one of the girliest movies ever: Confessions of a Shopaholic! So. Excited. Our babysitter fell through without enough time to find another, so Jade will get to enjoy the evening with us.

Here is a picture of our little bitty, decked out in her V-day gear:



This is the goofball pose I got when I told her to smile--her personality shines right through!!

R.I.P. Hammy the Hamster

Jadyn's first pet passed away last night and our little girl is soooo sad. He was such a cute and fun little critter and he LOVED to roll around on the tile in his Hamster ball. Jadyn really loved him, too. He was so friendly--if you would go into Jadyn's room he would come out to see what was going on and if you put your finger up to his cage, he would come straight to you and start sniffing through the glass.
Andy and Jadyn put him in a discarded checks box and buried him in the backyard last night, in the dark. I guess we'll be making a trip to Petsmart on Sunday!

Hammy the Hamster (the most cleverly named rodent)
October 6, 2008 - February 12, 2009

(Yes, this is a recycled picture, but I can't get my iphone to send mail when I'm at work. Drats!)

Black History Challenge - 2009

Our sweet little girl entered a challenge sponsored by the OKC Thunder in honor of Black History Month: African American Heroes. The rules were simple: submit a piece of art work, a poem, a one-page essay or a video about her African American hero and why he/she was chosen. Jade has been crazy for Obama and, naturally, decided to focus on him, submitting a short clip for the contest. Participants in this contest were grades 1 - 12, which means an eight year old has very little chances of winning, but she had a lot of fun filming the video and she got some great consolation prizes:

• Four Tickets to a Thunder game


• Two Tickets to the Renaissance Exhibit at the Art Museum


• Six Tickets to the Oklahoma History Center

Below is her entry:

~Wobble Bobble~

For Valentines Day 2007, I got Andy a bobble head of his favoritest person ever: Moi! I found a website that specializes in personalized bobble heads and it was a must have. All they needed was a picture of me (not to mention a substantial chunk of my paycheck) and *voila*, 4-6 weeks later a mini-me arrived via UPS! My darling husband keeps his uber fantastic gift on a shelf in his office so he can spend all day with me--what more could a wife ask for?

The only problem with getting him such an awesome present is that I haven't been able to top it…!

Here is a picture of my wobble bobble:


(please note that the picture was provided by Andy's mobile phone, hence the quality doesn't do it justice!)

Jessica Simpson: Mom Jeans

Although I am not a fan of Jessica Simpson, I have been feeling sympathetic towards her since she made that ridiculous decision to split with Nick Lachey. She has not only gone from one relationship to the next, being burned each time, but her weight is constantly fluctuating and the media scrutinizes every aspect of her life. Now, I firmly believe that if you crave stardom and your dreams are realized then there are consequences. The millions upon millions of dollars that a celebrity receives comes at the price of their privacy...and that's just the way of the business.

Jessica's weight has been in the news for a couple of weeks. She is being called fat by the media and her 'mom jeans' seem to be a topic of conversation on and off the web. In a recent issue of Us Weekly Magazine, there is a story devoted to her weight and a blip on the front cover to help sell their magazines. The story on the inside has her estimated weight in this so-called 'fat' picture at a whopping 135 pounds. Wow...whatever will she do with all of that weight...(sarcasm).

I bet more than half of the women in the United States - 5'0" and up - are dying to be 135 pounds (sometimes literally, right?). Just because Jessica Simpson isn't a size zero and isn't part of the anorexic Hollywood scene, does not mean she is fat. It leaves me to wonder how many women out there read this magazine article and felt bad about themselves because they weigh more than this so-called 'fat' celebrity.

If you look at the picture above, you will see that not only are her jeans really high ("mom jeans")but her double belt is really tight around her waist, causing a slight bulge that even super skinny people get (Selma Blair on Kath & Kim in last night's episode). In addition, Jessica's breasts are huge and they are sagging just a bit, which make her look even more 'fat'.

Simpson is the cover story of last week's Us Weekly. I do look forward to reading this article, as it discusses weight battles and infidelity rumors! (Hey, what goes around comes around, right??)

So...this will probably be the only time in my life that I go on the defense for Ms. Simpson. I'm glad you were here to witness it!

Weigh-In: Week Cuatro

So we have reached week four of the P|M Challenge and with it, I bring rather discouraging (to me) news...I have gained 2.2 pounds since last Monday. Funny how loads of work and effort + eating right will only make a person lose one pound, but four days of not eating super well (although not THAT bad) and lacking three days of exercise will make a person gain 2.2 pounds...

So...the contest ends on Friday (in four days) and I've pretty much thrown in the towel as of this morning. So that's pretty sad. I'm sad. If I wasn't up against someone who is currently breast feeding and able to drop two pounds in ten minutes, I might not feel this way, but the fact of the matter is, it is impossible to win now.

I've now lost a total of 4.2 pounds...pretty much back to week one. Oh well...maybe next year!

The R's Have It!

One of the blogs that I frequent (thank you, Reese!), Clever Girl Goes Blog, had a post of an interesting little game earlier this week called the 'ABC Game'. Clever Girl was assigned a letter from one of her blogger pals and she made a list of 10 of her favorite things that begin with that letter! This game looked like something I would thoroughly enjoy, so I had my sister choose a random letter from A-Z and I was officially assigned the letter "R".

So here goes it:

1. Ryan Phillippe: I would like to officially dub Ryan Phillippe the 'Most Beautiful White Man in the World.' He may not be the best actor out there and he may have been outshined by his amazingly talented ex-wife, but his looks alone draw me to movies and magazine articles surrounding him. (I do admit that I hated Stop Loss, though--but I did watch it!)

2. Reese's Pieces: We can't have a Ryan without a Reese, even if it is one of peanut buttery goodness! This is my favorite movie snack EVER and I get disappointed when a theater doesn't offer it. E.T. totally knew what he was doing when he followed that trail of Reese's Pieces--you could trap me in a box the same way!

3. Reading: I love the escape that reading provides, whether it is to a small village in Africa (The Poisonwood Bible) or a trendy apartment in London (Confessions of a Shopoholic). Reading is also the only way I travel abroad--at least until I can afford that boat ticket to the United Kingdom!!!

4. Rasmalai: This rich, Indian dessert has been my favorite dessert (of all time) since I first tried it at the age of 12. Rasmalai is a sugary, milky dessert made of cheese, soaked in cream and it is *delish*!

5. Romy and Michelle's Highschool Reunion: This movie came out when I was in highschool and it was my favorite movie! My friend Julie and I would watch it all the time and in our relationship, I was Romy and she was Michelle. Julie was a fantastic artist and she drew a picture of "us" (Romy and Michelle) that I had up on my wall until I moved out of my parents house. Good Times!

6. Roaring Twenties: In my mind, I associate the 1920's with a peaceful, fun time in America and I always get a feeling of nostalgia anytime I see a picture from that era or try to imagine what life was like back then. I love the whole flapper scene, the mobsters, the silent films…I just feel like I would have enjoyed this decade.

7. Ricardo's: Lucy and Ricky Ricardo--America's original sweethearts. I love Lucy, the quirky red-head who fills the room with laughter when she graces the television screen. Ricky, her Cuban husband, would get frustrated with Lucy's schemes, but his love for her shined through in the end…and always. Even in real life, he admitted that he never stopped loving Lucy, despite his infidelities and his love for alcohol.

8. Riddles: I love to challenge my brain with riddles and it is such a great feeling to come up with the answer, whether it takes hours, days…or even months! Okay, I have never gone months, I couldn't handle not knowing the answer for that long so I would probably resort to researching the answer (even if it is technically cheating!).

9. Redbull and Vodka: My new favorite shot! Sure, it keeps me up all night and screws up my sleeping schedule for a couple of days, but it gets to the point fast (the tipsy point!) and it tastes oh so yummy (it doesn't burn my throat like some shots do!) So, let's raise our glasses to Redbull and Vodka!

10. Riley: My first nephew gets special props up here and will always hold a place in my heart! He is the brightest, silliest and most handsome little boy there is and I just love him so much!!! So I have essentially saved the best 'R' for last!!!



If you are up to the challenge of your own 'ABC Game', let me know and I will happily assign you a letter to get your list started!!!

Books, Books, Books!

You may have gathered that I. Love. To. Read...so a fun little activity I may find on another blog (Clever Girl Goes Blog) that deals with books is definitely going to wind up here! I had fun going through this list of book titles!!!

What you do is take the following list of books (the top 106 marked most often as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users). Bold the ones you've read, italicize the ones you started but couldn't finish, strike through the ones you really sort of hated, put an *asterisk* next to the ones you've read more than once, and underline the ones on your own personal To Be Read list.


Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi
The name of the rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius
Atlas shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran: a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
The Canterbury tales
The Historian : a novel
A portrait of the artist as a young man
Love in the time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A clockwork orange
Anansi boys
The once and future king
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible
1984
Angels & demons
The inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s travels
Les misérables
The corrections
The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Dune
The prince
The sound and the fury
Angela’s Ashes
The god of small things
A people’s history of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A short history of nearly everything
Dubliners
The unbearable lightness of being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
**The Catcher in the Rye**
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In cold blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

There are a few random books on this list that most people haven't made it all the way through, such as The Iliad, The Odyssey and The Aeneid--but having majored in English in college, there were many Greek Mythology classes to take and I took them! Who knew that the only benefit I would gain from it would be bolding their names on a super awesome list! Yay me!

I dare you to post a list of your own!

xoxo

Weigh-In: Week Tres

Weighed in this morning 1.4 pounds lighter than last Monday. I have also crossed that threshhold into the next set of ten numbers...which is very exciting, indeed!

So that's 6.4 pounds total.

Wow...these pounds are shedding off VERY. SLOWLY.
Expected, I know...but after the first week of losing 4 pounds, it's a little disappointing, I must admit!

As the little engine said: I think I can I think I can I think I can...

Twelve days left!

Walk and Roll!!!

Where oh where did the weekend go? It slipped right through our fingers--ah, but don't they all?
We had a pretty eventful weekend! Friday night, we kicked up our heels and caught up on our television viewing! Saturday was a day of work for Andy and a day of relaxation for Jaimie (not to mention the only free day of the week in my diet, which means no exercise and eat anything I want--in moderation)--fun times! Saturday evening we went to an adult game night at a friend's house--a friend I have not seen since, oh...8th grade! It was very much fun! We played Loaded Questions and Scattergories and the food was fantastic! It was so much fun catching up with Carly and her sister...and to meet both of their guys!! Good Times!
Poor Andy was so sick on Sunday that he spent the entire day in bed, with the exception of a field trip to my parents house to watch the Super Bowl! For me, Sunday had me jumping back on that wagon. I ate super healthy--bringing a weight watchers meal to my parents house to eat instead of the yummy snacks and chili they had set up for the game--and I did a lot of walking. I walked from my house to my parents house twice (4 miles total). My dad drove me home the first time and then I drove home from the Super Bowl the second time. (This is where the walk and roll title comes from! Clever Clever!) I also went that extra mile and did 31 minutes on the elliptical and 10 minutes on the treadmill. Hey...the super bowl was on, my movie had ended and I was bored!

Below is a picture of my second walk of the day (yes...i stopped and took a picture of my shadow with my iphone!):