When All Else Fails

Bah, it's been a crummy week. My friends, Jonel and Julie, were involved in a horrific accident over the weekend. Julie, who always had a smile on her face when I saw her, died Saturday night - I didn't know her all that well, but well enough to know that she leaves behind a tremendous void. Jonel remains hospitalized in critical condition with severe head trauma and in an induced coma - always a trooper, I have all the faith in the world that she'll pull through. Please keep them and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Julie & Jonel

Friends have set up a fund to help with Jonel's medical bills - The Jonel Fund through Suntrust Mortgage. If you can find it in your heart to help- please do, if not - no worries. Thoughts, prayers, and good vibes are readily accepted. I just wanted to get it out there.

Remember, when all else fails - CARE BEAR!




Update: Jonel's family made a very difficult decision today to take their girl off support. My heart breaks for their loss. Crap...

You can also make a donation in Jonel's name to The Beacon House - the hospitality house where Jonel's family stayed.

I Want to Laugh Too

What a great weekend! Starting on Thursday actually with some Shiki sushi and Harry Potter 6. Awesomeness. I took Friday morning off to enjoy some coffee on my couch and a little sanity :) Friday night was another kind of sanity with a girls night in... and then out...

Saturday was a little low key with 3 separate trips to a grocery store. Kroger for some ingredients for the gazpacho - made with the tomatoes and cucumbers from our garden. Yummy! While that was resting we made a run to Costco for some other essentials for the grilling adventure we were going to have later - fresh ground hamburgers!! The third and final trip was to Harris Teeter for the required lamb shoulder.

Glamor shots of the tomatoes before


All chopped and ready to be pureed


Finished product - MMM gazpacho

Chuck, sirloin and lamb


Freshly ground goodness


Almost ready!!


Perfection! Cheddar, burger, little guac, little mayo. Heaven on a bun!

I spent Sunday cleaning and doing laundry. I made a quick trip to the gym and then on to Home Goods where I finally found chairs for my kitchen table that I was willing to pay for. To Paint or not to paint? Paint. Silver like the ones that failed so miserably? Or multiple colors - pink, orange, green and yellow. Keep in mind that my table is blue.

I also found a Chinese guardian lion/Fu lion/ Fu dog who I really, really want and think he'd make a great addition to my apartment but I couldn't rationalize spending $80 on him :( I'll keep checking back and maybe find him on clearance. Or I'll just wait and get a totally awesome pair. I need more space.

We've booked our flights and the hotel for Boston!! I'm so excited... Just one month to go. I will be counting down and researching where to go and what to eat. So far we have at least one Red Sox game (Saturday), the Museum of Fine Art is having a Monet, Renoir, Whistler exhibit: "Mad on Color", Eron wants to visit the Science Museum and I think we'll be visiting Upstairs on the Square for Sunday brunch. I'm a planner... we've been over this.

I have no idea what's on the agenda for this week. Let's just hope it goes fast!!

I Take It Back...

Geoff who? Lame-o Larry seriously kicked my tail tonight. I plan on dropping the prefix to his name and will simply refer to him as Larry. He commands that respect.

Aside from the fact that I likely won't be walking tomorrow, I had a great workout! I really needed to sweat out a super grumpy, cranky, snarky day. One of the things that I think that I'm really going to like about Larry is that he pushes me harder then I would ever push myself and won't let me get away with doing anything half way - in fact doing it half way will only earn me more. But, since I've run through the routine I'll know level of intensity that I should be at when I do the routine on my own.

Seriously, not walking tomorrow. I'll hobble to the kitchen for a cookie now... Night-night!

It's Not Going to Help

I have 20 some odd bug bites on my ankles from this weekend. From Thursday night actually, and they have been the bane of my existence all weekend. Seriously. Not your ordinary mosquito bites - chiggers or ants... I have red welts all over my feet. So painful, annoying and generally itchy that I actually lost sleep. Every time I moved, the sheets rubbed a bug bite which set off a firestorm. Putting socks and shoes on on Sunday = worst idea ever! But, don't mind me... I'll be fine...

The weekend was pretty low key. Pizza, beer, burgers, couch time and a movie but not necessarily all at the same time. We fired up the big grill. Isn't it... erm... nice? Okay, so... yeah... it stands up, keeps the charcoal from hitting the deck and cooks things. What more could you ask for? Maybe a new handle or a thermometer... maybe a shelf to put a plate... I dunno... just a couple of ideas :)

In other news... I don't have any! Hehe I'm passing time by researching places to go, places to see, places to eat in Boston. Have we discussed that I'm a planner? We're not heading to Boston for... I dunno... a month and a half! Geez I'll likely compile a list of a million things to do, see, eat and then only hit a quarter of them. What would you do in Boston? Where would you go? What would you eat?

I Want to Catch Strawberries

I met with my new trainer tonight. Not nearly as entertaining as my last, but that doesn't really matter since he's still going to kick my tail. Larry. Boooriiing. I have a feeling that arms are going to hurt tomorrow... though I did tell him I wanted to focus on my arms and core so I get what I deserve.

In other news my beautiful God daughter is being baptized this weekend! Babies and I tend to have a tumultuous relationships... I want to hold them but all they want to do is squirm and cry. But the moment that little Lilly was put in my arms I was a goner! Head over tin cup for that little girl. I didn't want to put her down or pass her to anyone. I even laughed a little when she cried. Why? Cause I knew that I'd be able to pass her back to her parents! HAHA

look at those lips and gorgeous eyes!

So adorable!