My friend Mara turned me onto this site and I think it's such a good idea, I had to share it!!
Each year I have some version of this conversation with my mother....
Mom - "So any ideas of what you or Chris want for Christmas this year?"
Me - "oh mom, it's so far off...I dunno."
Mom - "well, don't wait too long, you know I like to get shopping done early."
-- two months later --
Me - "Hey, I thought of something that's a great idea for Christmas -"
Mom - "It's December 4th Tamara. I asked for your list months ago. Your gifts are pretty much bought."
Me - Sigh. "I know, I know..."
The answer to this dilemma and many more.... Ta Da!!
http://www.thethingsiwant.com/
It's an online registry system/wish list. You can start a list for your birthday, your kids, a shower, Christmas or Hannukah. It's not tied to one store and you can add or take stuff off whenever you want! When you see an item you want, just add it to your list so that you don't forget about it!
It's a great idea for your boyfriend, spouse, mother, brother, etc to be able to check in and see what you might like without having to ruin a surprise by asking you!
Check it out peeps!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Kitty Post
Sundance is checking out the stability of the poker table...
Sundance sees a birdie...and Butch decides he wants to imitate her...
Butch reminds me that I can't put papers down on the floor unattended for even a minute.
Hippity Hoppity Easter!
Happy Easter! (and Happy Passover as well!) Yesterday Chris and I managed to arrive in time this year to see Madeleine and Mason's Easter egg hunt at their house. Camilla and Ron's good friends Grant and Kori were also their with their son Lucas and daughter Liv, (who's still a bit young at six months to be searching for eggs), as well as Papa and Gramma Collins on Camilla's side.
We all had a great brunch, watched the kids enthusiastically clamor for eggs and then we dyed some hard-boiled eggs. I tried to remember the dying techniques, which light colors and darker colors worked well with each other and how to best stripe them, but for the most part, they were more tie-dyed than properly sectioned off.
Everyone else took off mid-afternoon, but Chris and I stayed to hang out with Ron and Camilla and the kids for the day. We all had way too much sugar and then were too lazy for real dinner, so we ordered pizza. Healthy day!! haha.
Sorry I haven't been blogging much. We've been pretty low key and just working a lot.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Visiting "A Whale's Vagina"...
If you haven't seen ANCHORMAN, then this is awkward...but it means we went to San Diego.
Chris and I took a little trip down to San Diego last weekend to milk his Hilton perks before they disappear. We got a great room
at the resort there right on Mission Bay, just north of downtown San Diego. Our room had this cute little patio that lead right to the beach and all these cute ducks came up to pay us a visit (read- ask us for food but we didn't feed the little guys). Check out the video- the duck goes right up to our screen door!
Sadly, I had just come down with a cold the day before we left, so I was not that much fun over the weekend. Friday, especially, when I couldn't even taste our dinner or wine. Plus the kleenex was never more than a foot from me the whole night.
On Saturday, we headed out to the Wild Animal Park, which is affiliated to the San Diego Zoo, but is a totally separate area. It's much more akin to the Jurassic Park idea, of leaving animals in much bigger expanses of land and less cage-like situations. Check out this lion, who was gnawing on a huge leg bone the whole time we were there.
They have tons of elephants there as well - a number of whom are children. The smallest baby you can see in this photo is only two months old. He was born at 226 lbs though! WOW!
And then there were these weird hybrid of horses and zebras called the Okapi....and they have REALLY long tongues they use to grab nearby branches and pull them over for food.
I took a video, but you can't really tell from it (See below). Here's a little blurb from wikipedia about them and their tongues - "The tongue of an okapi is long enough for the animal to wash its eyelids and clean its ears (inside and out): it is the only mammal that can lick its own ears."
We had a great time at the park, even though we did get a bit sunburned, and then headed back to the hotel.
I was feeling a bit better by the end of the night, so we met up with our friends Chip and Daryn, who live in the area, for yummy fish tacos and dessert! It has been great to see so much of them recently!
Sunday we grabbed brunch on our way back to LA, stopping in La Jolla at a place called Harry's Coffee Shop. It's one of those old institutions that has the really old diner interior and they just move people in and out. All the waiters seemed to know a lot of the customers and it seems like a place you'd go for years and say, "I'll have the usual!" I really want to find a place like that near us!
Anyways- sorry for all the absent blogging. Been a busy week and it takes forever at home to upload photos...way easier at the office.
Chris and I took a little trip down to San Diego last weekend to milk his Hilton perks before they disappear. We got a great room
at the resort there right on Mission Bay, just north of downtown San Diego. Our room had this cute little patio that lead right to the beach and all these cute ducks came up to pay us a visit (read- ask us for food but we didn't feed the little guys). Check out the video- the duck goes right up to our screen door!
Sadly, I had just come down with a cold the day before we left, so I was not that much fun over the weekend. Friday, especially, when I couldn't even taste our dinner or wine. Plus the kleenex was never more than a foot from me the whole night.
On Saturday, we headed out to the Wild Animal Park, which is affiliated to the San Diego Zoo, but is a totally separate area. It's much more akin to the Jurassic Park idea, of leaving animals in much bigger expanses of land and less cage-like situations. Check out this lion, who was gnawing on a huge leg bone the whole time we were there.
They have tons of elephants there as well - a number of whom are children. The smallest baby you can see in this photo is only two months old. He was born at 226 lbs though! WOW!
And then there were these weird hybrid of horses and zebras called the Okapi....and they have REALLY long tongues they use to grab nearby branches and pull them over for food.
I took a video, but you can't really tell from it (See below). Here's a little blurb from wikipedia about them and their tongues - "The tongue of an okapi is long enough for the animal to wash its eyelids and clean its ears (inside and out): it is the only mammal that can lick its own ears."We had a great time at the park, even though we did get a bit sunburned, and then headed back to the hotel.
I was feeling a bit better by the end of the night, so we met up with our friends Chip and Daryn, who live in the area, for yummy fish tacos and dessert! It has been great to see so much of them recently!
Sunday we grabbed brunch on our way back to LA, stopping in La Jolla at a place called Harry's Coffee Shop. It's one of those old institutions that has the really old diner interior and they just move people in and out. All the waiters seemed to know a lot of the customers and it seems like a place you'd go for years and say, "I'll have the usual!" I really want to find a place like that near us!
Anyways- sorry for all the absent blogging. Been a busy week and it takes forever at home to upload photos...way easier at the office.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Good News!!
We found out today that Chris is going to be kept on at Hilton for part of the transition - so he's employed with them until June 1st. Gives us a bit more breathing room and more time to find that fabulous next job that's just waiting for him!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
So much news!!
I've been an absent blogger... but here's what we've been up to:
Last Friday:
Our good friends Chip and Daryn were up in the LA area and came by that Friday after work for a double-date-night! We had wine, some great cheese & crackers, Chris' famous guac, and then we were off to see DUPLICITY! Check out my side bar for the review.
Saturday:
Morning - Chip and Daryn spent the night and we had the kitties secured in our bedroom area & hallway so there would be no hissing disturbances in the night. [But I will, say the cats are nearly back to normal by now (wednesday) and we are very pleased to see it! The vet and I decided we think Sundance was able to smell Butch's medicine when she sniffed his face and wasn't into it. She's very "sensitive".]
Anyways, we ate pancakes with our friends in the morning and then they left :( to get their own day going, heading back down to SD. We, meanwhile, hung out for a bit longer at home before getting into the car and driving to our friend Dan's new condo for his housewarming in Santa Ana, CA. It's a beautiful townhouse-type condo, with 2 bedrooms and 2.5 bath. Really nice! We munched and chatted the time away with friends.
Then it was back in the car and heading back to LA for Jeff Dix's 35 Birthday Party. After feeding the kitties and picking up the cake on our way, we met friends out for a night of BBQ at this placed called Zeke's. YUM! The fried chicken and potato salad were some of the best I've ever eaten. The hushpuppies were pretty yummy too as appetizers, but Chris found them a bit too bland.
After dinner, we headed to the sleek, trendy bowling alley called called Lucky Strike in Hollywood. I'd never been but had always wanted to go...it's decked out to be a bit of a bar/club, as well as having bowling lanes. And the lights are dim, there are couches instead of rows of those awful chairs and of course, fancy drinks as well as the Bud Light beers in the shapes of bowling pins.
Here are some photos of the night:
Sunday:
Chris and I got back into the car and drove down to Orange County to his parents' home. There, we had a nice lazy day with Camilla, Ron, the kids, Jim and Mary in order to celebrate Camilla's birthay. She and I got hooked on THE HOLIDAY, which was playing on TV. I had forgotten much I liked the Cameron Diaz/Jude Law side of that movie. I've never been particularly smitten with Jude as an actor...but wow- I remembered how much I adored him in this! Looking tan and fit, as well as being the great guy in the movie, I could hardly contain myself! I promptly bought the DVD at the Sony store yesterday and watched it last night.
Tuesday: Chris update
Most of you know by now that Hilton's closing its west coast headquarters shortly and last night, Chris and some of his co-workers went out to celebrate the exit of Adam -
one of their favorite VPs at the company. Here's the sign Chris made for his part of the photo slideshow thing they are putting together. Cute, right?
Tuesday: Tami's excitement
I got to meet Paul Rudd yesterday! He's so nice, sweet and super cute in person! Very nice celebrity experience.
Last Friday:
Our good friends Chip and Daryn were up in the LA area and came by that Friday after work for a double-date-night! We had wine, some great cheese & crackers, Chris' famous guac, and then we were off to see DUPLICITY! Check out my side bar for the review.
Saturday:
Morning - Chip and Daryn spent the night and we had the kitties secured in our bedroom area & hallway so there would be no hissing disturbances in the night. [But I will, say the cats are nearly back to normal by now (wednesday) and we are very pleased to see it! The vet and I decided we think Sundance was able to smell Butch's medicine when she sniffed his face and wasn't into it. She's very "sensitive".]
Anyways, we ate pancakes with our friends in the morning and then they left :( to get their own day going, heading back down to SD. We, meanwhile, hung out for a bit longer at home before getting into the car and driving to our friend Dan's new condo for his housewarming in Santa Ana, CA. It's a beautiful townhouse-type condo, with 2 bedrooms and 2.5 bath. Really nice! We munched and chatted the time away with friends.
Then it was back in the car and heading back to LA for Jeff Dix's 35 Birthday Party. After feeding the kitties and picking up the cake on our way, we met friends out for a night of BBQ at this placed called Zeke's. YUM! The fried chicken and potato salad were some of the best I've ever eaten. The hushpuppies were pretty yummy too as appetizers, but Chris found them a bit too bland.
After dinner, we headed to the sleek, trendy bowling alley called called Lucky Strike in Hollywood. I'd never been but had always wanted to go...it's decked out to be a bit of a bar/club, as well as having bowling lanes. And the lights are dim, there are couches instead of rows of those awful chairs and of course, fancy drinks as well as the Bud Light beers in the shapes of bowling pins.
Here are some photos of the night:
Sunday:
Chris and I got back into the car and drove down to Orange County to his parents' home. There, we had a nice lazy day with Camilla, Ron, the kids, Jim and Mary in order to celebrate Camilla's birthay. She and I got hooked on THE HOLIDAY, which was playing on TV. I had forgotten much I liked the Cameron Diaz/Jude Law side of that movie. I've never been particularly smitten with Jude as an actor...but wow- I remembered how much I adored him in this! Looking tan and fit, as well as being the great guy in the movie, I could hardly contain myself! I promptly bought the DVD at the Sony store yesterday and watched it last night.
Tuesday: Chris update
Most of you know by now that Hilton's closing its west coast headquarters shortly and last night, Chris and some of his co-workers went out to celebrate the exit of Adam -
one of their favorite VPs at the company. Here's the sign Chris made for his part of the photo slideshow thing they are putting together. Cute, right?Tuesday: Tami's excitement
I got to meet Paul Rudd yesterday! He's so nice, sweet and super cute in person! Very nice celebrity experience.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Obama's un-PC comment - oh, the horror!
Okay, here's the thing....I'm watching President Obama on Jay Leno last night, and the minute he made the off-hand comment about the Special Olympics I just knew it would become a big deal. An in my opinion, it shouldn't be. He was making an off-hand joke about how he's not good at bowling and it's a reference I've heard many many people use in their lifetime - at some point, probably myself included. But it's so sad that this is what people are focusing on after watching him instead of talking about what he did or didn 't say about the economy. Let's instead focus on the fact that he avoided Jay's question about Congress getting to decide who to tax higher than others with their own discretion (this is in regards to the AIG bonuses).
Nooo, instead let's all get sucked back into the typical way we've been doing things, which is to focus on a tiny comment instead of trying to appreciate the big picture. Do we really have nothing else going on right now in this country that we need to make an issue of this? Let's speak up and make a big deal every time someone anywhere is totally offended by an off-hand remark. Let's have the media talk about it for days instead of the President just issuing a brief apology and then moving on. Which, btw, he did before the show even aired! He called the Head of the Special Olympics and apologized. The guy accepted and said he was great about it. Should be over!!Oy! It so frustrates me! Weren't we more offended as a nation by having a moron in the White House for 8 years that killed Americans under false pretenses? Come on people!
Nooo, instead let's all get sucked back into the typical way we've been doing things, which is to focus on a tiny comment instead of trying to appreciate the big picture. Do we really have nothing else going on right now in this country that we need to make an issue of this? Let's speak up and make a big deal every time someone anywhere is totally offended by an off-hand remark. Let's have the media talk about it for days instead of the President just issuing a brief apology and then moving on. Which, btw, he did before the show even aired! He called the Head of the Special Olympics and apologized. The guy accepted and said he was great about it. Should be over!!Oy! It so frustrates me! Weren't we more offended as a nation by having a moron in the White House for 8 years that killed Americans under false pretenses? Come on people!
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