Bravo shows are the best

If you watched the Real Housewives of New Jersey, you might find this as hilarious as I did. And they're insane, but I want to be friends with Caroline and Dina.

The weekend was...

Palm Springs, of course. It was slap-you-in-the-face hot. It's so hot that in the public restrooms next to the hand soap they have this...

We stayed in this beautiful house...

and the weekend consisted of relaxing...

eating too much...

swimming...

taking in the sights...

and chasing this little monkey around...

Thank you Kerri, Vic, and Baby J for a lovely weekend!

Weekend away

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If you know me, you know I LOVE the heat. If you don't know me, that was sarcasm. I wilt like lettuce if it's above 90 degrees, and I prefer it to be in the 60s and 70s.

So, we're headed to Palm Springs for the weekend!

But I am really looking forward to it because we're going with three of my favorite people and staying in the very beautiful house of our friend's dad, complete with plenty of air conditioning and a pool. Maybe I'll even take a classy picture like the one above.

Doing anything fun this weekend?

3 Things I'm Loving

1. Burt's Bees Lip Balm

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I'm one of those girls that has an unnatural attachment to Chapstick. I have a tube in my purse, in my nightstand, in my car, in our travel bag, etc. I'm a step away from wearing it on a chain around my neck. And I don't just do one little swipe across the lips. I go around and around like a nutcase. But, in doing a little research about the environment and healthy products, it turns out Chapstick isn't all that good for you due to the petroleum. So I've switched to Burt's Bees, and I actually like it better. It tingles unlike Chapstick and it tastes better.

2. Trader Joe's Garlic Naan

So garlicky and delicious. And it takes one minute in the oven. One minute! A little butter on top, and yes ma'am!

3. Petunia Face

You must go to this blog if you haven't read it. Susannah is so funny, and where and how she finds the pictures she uses is a wonder. Start with this post and just try not to spit all over your computer screen.

Sugar Coma

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Birthday over. MUST. STOP. EATING. CAKE.

The weekend was...

My friend Jim's wedding in Dana Point...

It was a lot of fun, despite being a little chilly and drizzly. And the person whose idea it was to make the chocolate cupcakes be brownies deserves a parade in their honor.

and a little Father's Day/my birthday celebration at my parents' house...

We're big game people, so there were games. And during this one, I *might* have had a minor tantrum that made me look like I had just turned 3 instead of 32 because I was losing so badly. I'm talking record losing. Never in the history of anyone anywhere playing this game has someone racked up as many points as I did. But my mood was instantly lifted when this baby was brought out...

A vanilla raspberry cake with buttercream frosting, covered in a bajillion white chocolate shavings. That's how many there were. I counted.

It was a lovely weekend, and Happy Father's Day, Papa!

A bloggy birthday gift

I'm on a roll, peeps! I've won my second blog giveaway.

I entered a giveaway from Chris on her fantastic blog, Just a Girl. She does a lot of before and afters of her house, which I love.

Anyhoo, the giveaway was a print from Kitty of Your Name in a Frame. She makes these cool prints of your name (or whatever word you want) using photos of things that look like letters. Some examples:

I'm getting one with our last name and wedding date, similar to this one:

Aren't they great? I can't wait to get it and hang it in our house! I'm picturing it either in our bedroom or hallway.

Speaking of giveaways, I've mailed mine to my five winners, so hopefully they get to you ladies soon!

Happy Birthday to me

Holy crap, what do those candles say!?!

Wasn't my last birthday just like, two weeks ago? Where does the time go? I used to have big parties and drag my birthday out to a "birthmonth." Now people have to remind me my birthday is coming, and I barely have time to acknowledge it before it goes flying by.

The hubs has taken the day off from work to treat me to a day of whatever I want. I don't know exactly what the day will bring, but I know we will be heading down to the beach per my request, and there will be much eating of junk. When can you splurge if not on your birthday?

Green living

I've made a few eco purchases lately that I'm kinda excited about, because well, I'm pretty simple and it doesn't take much.

The first one is a fabric shower curtain liner from Target. This is super-eco, because I'm convinced those plastic shower liners are deadly. I would have to hang new ones outside for a few hours before putting them in the bathroom or the fumes would cause an instant headache. So now, not only are we protecting the planet and our health from that gnarly chemical-y plastic, it's also a money saver. We will just wash this fabric liner when needed instead of replacing a mildewy plastic one every few months.

The other two have to do with transporting food, because 99% of the time when I'm quiet and contemplative, looking like I'm pondering life's big issues, I'm really just thinking about my next meal.

This is the Wrap-n-Mat.

It's basically a foldable placemat with a food-safe washable liner that you use to wrap your sandwich. No more plastic wrap or Ziplocs! It's the same basic idea for the next item...

Our new snackTaxis!

I got a pretty one for me and a black one for Mark. They are lined pouches to hold snacks, like chips, veggies, fruit, dry cereal, etc. I plan to load up on these when I have kids so that I can save money and the environment by buying in bulk (less packaging) and putting their snacks in these. Love them!

But, in the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that not all of my eco endeavors have been successful. Last week I bought an all-natural lavender shampoo from Trader Joe's. I think I can safely say I'm allergic to it. After the first (and only) use, my jaw and neck broke out into an itchy, blotchy rash and swelled up pretty hideously. It lasted several days and I still have dry patches from the scratching that I really tried not to do.

I knew my pursuit to be more ecologically responsible would involve trial and error, but yikes. Clearly I have more work to do in finding a shampoo. Meanwhile, I'm back to using the dye-filled, unpronounceable chemical crap that is surely seeping into my bloodstream and causing untold genetic damage, but keeps me from looking like a blowfish.

That wasn't me in your bushes, I swear

Please excuse my lame-assity, and don't leave me. I'll hold onto your leg as you try to walk away. Then I'll call you at all hours and hang up after I've heard your voice.

There are so many things I want to blog about, but life has been getting in the way. All will be revealed hopefully soonish. Sorry to be so vague, there's just no point discussing what "might" happen. But, I promise more real blog posts this week, starting tomorrow.

And to my dear giveaway winners, I am thisclose to sending your goodies. I can foresee them being mailed out about Wednesday-ish.

You're probably bored by this...

but I'm thoroughly amazed!

I checked on our veggie garden and we have sorta yellow squash...

And kinda cucumbers...

And the first hint of tomatoes...

Sure, the cucumbers look like skinny turds, but they came from a tiny seed IN THE GROUND! That's straight magic, I tell ya.

You're all winners in my eyes

First of all, thank you thank you to those of you who entered my little giveaway! I got eleven entries, which is about ten more than I was expecting!

To select the five winners, I used the very scientific and sophisticated method of writing your names on little scraps of paper, wadding them up into little balls, shaking them up in my hands, dropping several of them on the floor, crawling under the desk to retrieve them along with a couple of dust bunnies, shaking them up again, picking five, and spending several minutes unwadding them. (I'm thinking I'll try something different next time.)

The winners are: Everyday Flotsam and Jetsam, delightfuldwelling, Julie, Lisa C., and Em. Ladies, please email me (address on the right) with your mailing information. I will get your packages out asap (which is probably sometime next week).

Congratulations, and thanks for playing!

I gotta swim!

I have a one-track mind right now, and the sole thought that is consuming every ounce of my brain power, preventing me from completing the most simple of everyday tasks, is that we MUST GET A HOUSE WITH A POOL!

I don't know if that's actually going to happen anytime soon, but that hasn't prevented me from drooling over these sparkling beauties...

all images via

Pay It Forward

Ok...I've been a little busier than usual lately, but I've finally got the time to fulfill my end of the Pay It Forward bargain. If you remember my post from a couple of weeks ago, I won a giveaway from the fabulous blog, Heart of Light, and the deal was that I had to put together a little giveaway for 5 of my readers (or my 5 readers ;) ).

So, to enter, just leave a comment on this post between now and Friday. Winners will be drawn over the weekend and announced in next Monday's post.

Bean is always so encouraging.