estacey
Saturday, July 11, 2009
No, don't bite the gun.
No, don't bite the gun.
Originally uploaded by estaceyThis is Gretchey's new trick, as videotaped by my new camera, the Powershot SD780 IS. Yipee! I have been wanting a new point and shoot with image stabilization and have been putting it off and putting it off, but now that I have a job - yes, a job, and I start on Monday - I figured I could go ahead and take the leap.
So yay! It's adorable and tiny and RED and has HD video capability. I have to play with that, but hopefully I can put up some relatively nice-looking videos. :) :)
And yeah, yeah, I know - for most people, this is a bit overboard, but I don't see a thing wrong with adding another camera to the pack. :)
¶ 1:38 AM 0 comments
No, don't bite the gun.
Originally uploaded by estacey
So yay! It's adorable and tiny and RED and has HD video capability. I have to play with that, but hopefully I can put up some relatively nice-looking videos. :) :)
And yeah, yeah, I know - for most people, this is a bit overboard, but I don't see a thing wrong with adding another camera to the pack. :)
¶ 1:38 AM 0 comments
My sister wanted a picture of the ring on my hand.
I gotta look up how to best photograph diamonds. When I see this, I think it looks a bit bigger than in person BUT not as pretty as the sparkles are not evident...
¶ 12:32 AM 1 comments
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Ode to my ring, on being engaged, etc.
OK, so I'll admit it (for those of you who don't know me) - I'm a total pain in the ass.
See, Chris and I will have been dating for three years come August 4. From, oh, year one or so, I've been wishin' and hopin' and prayin'... But the months went by and by and I still had no ring on my finger. Even after we started talking about the future concretely, makin' plans and stuff, no ring. Sigh.
Eventually we had to Talk about it. You know, when is SOMETHING going to happen? I know and you know that someday we're gonna get hitched and make some babies, but when is that plan going to be OFFICIAL? The wedding is going to happen someday, but WHEN IS SOMEDAY?
So anyway, I knew it was coming... eventually. Then Patty, Chris's sister, got engaged last December, right before Christmas. She had met her now fiance a month after Chris and I had met. And while they started out dating like normal people, getting together once or twice a week, Chris and I moved into near immediate cohabitation (although that wasn't official for a year or so; I got to pay rent every month for a house I never actually slept in!). You can imagine the emotion that accompanied my happiness for Patty for her news. You got it. "CHRIS: ???!!!" There were also tears, but I blame that on the fact that I was days away from getting a visit from Aunt Flo.
Where am I going with this? Well, after all this DISCUSSION OF SOMEDAY GETTING ENGAGED AND MARRIED, the fact that we were actually going to get engaged and married was no longer a surprise. So my ring? I picked it out.
I actually obsessed over it for weeks, trying to find the perfect one for me. I had originally chosen a Tiffany ring, but they don't list prices there - you only get a "from" price - and the impression I get is that the prices on the website are not really reflective of what you're actually going to have to pay, from the $20k 1-carat rings I've read about. And I gather from lots of research that you pay at least 1/3rd more for the Tiffany name, for the same exact quality diamond and setting. Chris said he'd still get me that ring if I couldn't find another one, but hey, try. In retrospect, I think the ring I had chosen was a little... I dunno. Not me, really. Beautiful, but not me. I ended up finding my ring and falling in love with it and got Chris's approval that he thought it was a pretty ring too.
So anyway, on one hand, I wish I were a more patient type of person. Had I been able to have way more patience than I am capable of, maybe my engagement would've been a huge surprise. Instead of waiting for my ring, I would have been surprised by it. Make sense? Here and there, I felt like I was being a nag to Chris. Particularly when I was PMSing, because it was around then that I actually got upset about it. I think some girls do just date and bite their tongue, even for years, to allow the guy to do it exactly when he wants. I don't think I have that in me, and I regret that a little bit.
On the OTHER hand, well, there's my ring. (The left hand, specifically.) AND OH MY GOD DO I FUCKING LOVE IT. Seriously, I was picking my own ring, and I knew that that was THE RING after looking at hundreds and thinking about it for hour upon hours. But I wasn't even expecting to love it as much as I do. I know Chris would've chosen me a classic solitaire setting, and I am sure it would have been beautiful, but I doubt that I could have loved it as much as I do this one. I keep turning different lights on in the house to watch it sparkle. I can't help but smile when I see it on my hand on the steering wheel in traffic. I can't stop telling Chris how much I love it.
So, the regret that I have about helping this whole engaging process along? It's gone now, because it really was time, Chris is happy, I'm happy, and I have the most perfect engagement ring ever.
The diamond is just beautiful.. it has an ideal cut and is D color ("absolutely colorless" - the highest grade). It sparkles ridiculously. And the setting.. oh, the setting! I have a half-carat of little diamonds on the side, pave-style. The band they're set in is thin, clean... It's, like, simple but sparkly. And I think the size is perfect: 1.26 carats. I definitely wanted that respectable carat, but I didn't find it necessary to get (or, let's face it, ask for, because I'm sure Chris would've balked at the idea of spending that much on a rock for my finger) the doctor's-wife standard of two carats (it's a thing, the jewelers say, which is funny because that's what the doctors' wives told me at some party soon after Chris and I started dating: "Make sure you get two carats out of him!"). (Also, I'm sorry if these parentheses are getting confusing, but it's late and I don't want to figure out how to put all this in better order.) A huge ring is not particularly me either. C'mon, my every-day earrings are a tiny pair of diamond hoops and my most beloved ring until I got this puppy was a $7 silver claddaugh ring I bought in Montana when I was 16. So anyway, it worked out: I just wanted a nice ring, and it turns out I got the perfect one for me. I keep thinking that if I got a two-carat ring, when I looked at it, I'd think, "Big!" Like I do when I see the big stones on the Housewives of Fort Lauderdale By Way of New Jersey around here. This one, though? This one makes me think, "Beautiful!" You know, something I'm proud of, but nothing ridiculous or over the top - just a beautiful engagement ring.
I will shut up about the ring eventually. I'd say give it a month or two. Or three. ;)
I guess it shouldn't be too much of a surprise how excited I am about this ring. I have always loved the idea of being engaged, always loved to see engagement rings on other girls.. It's sweet, you know? You see the ring and you know she has someone out there that loves her enough that they want to MARRY her. Getting engaged seemed very special to me. And I am finally that girl. :)
I was worried before Chris popped the question, actually... I had an inkling he would be proposing on the 4th. I love the 4th of July, see. And we had my ring sitting in the garage for a good month waiting for the time that Chris deemed special enough for proposing. So I kinda figured. We were even bringing the Veuve Clicquot sitting in the fridge since the holidays. Because it wasn't a surprise, I was worried it wouldn't be an emotional moment. But when Chris came to the front of the boat and I realized he had not just fallen, but instead had gone down on one knee... Well, it was special. After I said yes, FINE, we happily kissed a whole bunch. It was surprisingly AWESOME for it to be official. I got to tease Chris that he is now a FIANCE and HAS a FIANCEE and IS GOING TO BE STUCK WITH ME FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE! Officially. We're officially on the way to becoming husband and wife, which is the one step we have left before we start trying to make some beautiful little half-Asian, half-Scandinavian babies. :)!!!
And I finally got to pick a username on Facebook without it seeming like I was jumping the gun or would need to explain: staceytchen. :)
Now if I could just stop referring to Chris as my boyfriend, we'd be set. ¶ 1:43 AM 1 comments
See, Chris and I will have been dating for three years come August 4. From, oh, year one or so, I've been wishin' and hopin' and prayin'... But the months went by and by and I still had no ring on my finger. Even after we started talking about the future concretely, makin' plans and stuff, no ring. Sigh.
Eventually we had to Talk about it. You know, when is SOMETHING going to happen? I know and you know that someday we're gonna get hitched and make some babies, but when is that plan going to be OFFICIAL? The wedding is going to happen someday, but WHEN IS SOMEDAY?
So anyway, I knew it was coming... eventually. Then Patty, Chris's sister, got engaged last December, right before Christmas. She had met her now fiance a month after Chris and I had met. And while they started out dating like normal people, getting together once or twice a week, Chris and I moved into near immediate cohabitation (although that wasn't official for a year or so; I got to pay rent every month for a house I never actually slept in!). You can imagine the emotion that accompanied my happiness for Patty for her news. You got it. "CHRIS: ???!!!" There were also tears, but I blame that on the fact that I was days away from getting a visit from Aunt Flo.
Where am I going with this? Well, after all this DISCUSSION OF SOMEDAY GETTING ENGAGED AND MARRIED, the fact that we were actually going to get engaged and married was no longer a surprise. So my ring? I picked it out.
I actually obsessed over it for weeks, trying to find the perfect one for me. I had originally chosen a Tiffany ring, but they don't list prices there - you only get a "from" price - and the impression I get is that the prices on the website are not really reflective of what you're actually going to have to pay, from the $20k 1-carat rings I've read about. And I gather from lots of research that you pay at least 1/3rd more for the Tiffany name, for the same exact quality diamond and setting. Chris said he'd still get me that ring if I couldn't find another one, but hey, try. In retrospect, I think the ring I had chosen was a little... I dunno. Not me, really. Beautiful, but not me. I ended up finding my ring and falling in love with it and got Chris's approval that he thought it was a pretty ring too.
So anyway, on one hand, I wish I were a more patient type of person. Had I been able to have way more patience than I am capable of, maybe my engagement would've been a huge surprise. Instead of waiting for my ring, I would have been surprised by it. Make sense? Here and there, I felt like I was being a nag to Chris. Particularly when I was PMSing, because it was around then that I actually got upset about it. I think some girls do just date and bite their tongue, even for years, to allow the guy to do it exactly when he wants. I don't think I have that in me, and I regret that a little bit.
On the OTHER hand, well, there's my ring. (The left hand, specifically.) AND OH MY GOD DO I FUCKING LOVE IT. Seriously, I was picking my own ring, and I knew that that was THE RING after looking at hundreds and thinking about it for hour upon hours. But I wasn't even expecting to love it as much as I do. I know Chris would've chosen me a classic solitaire setting, and I am sure it would have been beautiful, but I doubt that I could have loved it as much as I do this one. I keep turning different lights on in the house to watch it sparkle. I can't help but smile when I see it on my hand on the steering wheel in traffic. I can't stop telling Chris how much I love it.
So, the regret that I have about helping this whole engaging process along? It's gone now, because it really was time, Chris is happy, I'm happy, and I have the most perfect engagement ring ever.
The diamond is just beautiful.. it has an ideal cut and is D color ("absolutely colorless" - the highest grade). It sparkles ridiculously. And the setting.. oh, the setting! I have a half-carat of little diamonds on the side, pave-style. The band they're set in is thin, clean... It's, like, simple but sparkly. And I think the size is perfect: 1.26 carats. I definitely wanted that respectable carat, but I didn't find it necessary to get (or, let's face it, ask for, because I'm sure Chris would've balked at the idea of spending that much on a rock for my finger) the doctor's-wife standard of two carats (it's a thing, the jewelers say, which is funny because that's what the doctors' wives told me at some party soon after Chris and I started dating: "Make sure you get two carats out of him!"). (Also, I'm sorry if these parentheses are getting confusing, but it's late and I don't want to figure out how to put all this in better order.) A huge ring is not particularly me either. C'mon, my every-day earrings are a tiny pair of diamond hoops and my most beloved ring until I got this puppy was a $7 silver claddaugh ring I bought in Montana when I was 16. So anyway, it worked out: I just wanted a nice ring, and it turns out I got the perfect one for me. I keep thinking that if I got a two-carat ring, when I looked at it, I'd think, "Big!" Like I do when I see the big stones on the Housewives of Fort Lauderdale By Way of New Jersey around here. This one, though? This one makes me think, "Beautiful!" You know, something I'm proud of, but nothing ridiculous or over the top - just a beautiful engagement ring.
I will shut up about the ring eventually. I'd say give it a month or two. Or three. ;)
I guess it shouldn't be too much of a surprise how excited I am about this ring. I have always loved the idea of being engaged, always loved to see engagement rings on other girls.. It's sweet, you know? You see the ring and you know she has someone out there that loves her enough that they want to MARRY her. Getting engaged seemed very special to me. And I am finally that girl. :)
I was worried before Chris popped the question, actually... I had an inkling he would be proposing on the 4th. I love the 4th of July, see. And we had my ring sitting in the garage for a good month waiting for the time that Chris deemed special enough for proposing. So I kinda figured. We were even bringing the Veuve Clicquot sitting in the fridge since the holidays. Because it wasn't a surprise, I was worried it wouldn't be an emotional moment. But when Chris came to the front of the boat and I realized he had not just fallen, but instead had gone down on one knee... Well, it was special. After I said yes, FINE, we happily kissed a whole bunch. It was surprisingly AWESOME for it to be official. I got to tease Chris that he is now a FIANCE and HAS a FIANCEE and IS GOING TO BE STUCK WITH ME FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE! Officially. We're officially on the way to becoming husband and wife, which is the one step we have left before we start trying to make some beautiful little half-Asian, half-Scandinavian babies. :)!!!
And I finally got to pick a username on Facebook without it seeming like I was jumping the gun or would need to explain: staceytchen. :)
Now if I could just stop referring to Chris as my boyfriend, we'd be set. ¶ 1:43 AM 1 comments
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Sunday, July 05, 2009
My engagement ring!
Guess who is a motherfuckin' fiancee! (And also a lady, apparently.)
Yep! He popped the big question last night. FINALLY.
Now I can announce this too... That trip we're taking to Fiji in October? It's not just for snorkeling; it's for tying the knot. :)
Saturday, July 04, 2009
We were supposed to go to Bimini this weekend...
But were both pooped last night when we should've been preparing. We mulled it over for a LONG time, with neither of us willing to commit to a yea or nay. So we made this list of pros and cons and staying home won, by a landslide. It's slightly inaccurate though, as they should be weighted; the fact that the diving is so awesome there far outweighs sleeping in the boat.
Anyway, lesson learned. After you spend 3 days in Key West one weekend, don't plan on doing anything that requires a lot of energy and is away from home the next. At least, not if you're old.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Key West weekend
So as I've mentioned before, Chris has this total scam going on. His work has a Key West office, and when the doctor from there needs time off or vacation or whatever, they have to find some other doc to cover. He could either fly there for the day, them paying of course, or drive there and they pay for the whole weekend of hotel PLUS gas. Needless to say, we take them up on it whenever it fits in our schedule, e.g. this past weekend.
We drove down on Thursday night after Chris got home from work. We took the truck so we could bring our bikes and way too much stuff. We didn't get to our bed & breakfast - The Mermaid & The Alligator - until almost 1 a.m. so poor Chris didn't get a very good night of sleep before having to go to work on Friday.
Taken on a previous trip to Key West.
I love this place. Pretty house, pretty grounds, and they have dogs too! They don't let US bring dogs, though, so we may be back at Ambrosia the next time we go to Key West...
Taken on a previous visit to The Cafe
As for myself, I slept in (when don't I?) and then got some stuff done online. Then I hopped on the bike and tooled around town for a while. Ate at my favorite vegetarian restaurant, The Cafe, ordering my usual: seitan peppersteak with sweet potato fries and an Izze pomegranate soda.
I don't know if I've ever eaten in a restaurant alone before, so I was glad I had my camera to keep me company.
Went shopping in a few stores, shelled out way too much money for a pair of jeans, bought myself an iced coffee, took some pictures, and made my way back to the hotel soon after Chris got done with work. Which was at 3:30. I told you it was a scam. ;)
Someone's driveway.
Here's Chris sipping on his post-work beverage, the scene I walked into our room to:
Our room was really funny. It was called the Sun Room, I guess because it had a great little balcony. However, the bed was very creaky and VERY HIGH. Chris had a few too many (whee - videos to follow) and FELL OUT OF BED when he went to get up late that night.. It really would be hard NOT to. They had a step-stool to get into the bed on one side, but if you were trying to get in from the other, it was a real challenge! I really cannot see the point.
Unsurprisingly, the place has lots of mermaid stuff around the house.
They also have lots of birds - lovebirds, parakeets, and finches. The finches had a baby in one of their nests, but I couldn't get a good picture of it, sadly. It was RIDICULOUSLY cute, though.
Also, the grounds are gorgeous. Lush and green with surprises everywhere, like these plumerias:
It had just rained; those are not planted rain droplets...
The bed & breakfasts we stay in make me wish I lived in an old Key West house so badly.
Right outside the M&A gate.
One thing Key West has a lot of is CATS. Lots of cats. Pet cats, stray cats, performing cats, everything. While trying to find the hotel, I saw this cat sleeping in a big patch of sunshine on someone's porch. I think it was a pet cat - she had a water bowl and a little hut-type thing to get out of the sun on the front porch. She was a mess, though - stinky and with tumors and stuff in her ears. Still seems to be living a happy kitty life, though, which mostly involves sleeping and the sun. :)
Oh yeah, Key West also has a lot of chickens. Everywhere. These guys were on Duval with their mama:
Oh yeah, Key West also has a lot of bikes.
That night we went out with Dean & Meredith, our friends from here who love Key West and were easily talked into going the same time us. Also, some young Russian doctor that was visiting Chris's office was there; Chris invited him last week to come visit the Key West office and spend the weekend. I was like UGH! People I don't know! But Chris has pretty good taste in folks (if I do say so myself) and the Russian (Alex) was super laid-back and lots of fun. I liked him even though he said he has three girlfriends in Russia and they're all 19. (He's 25, so at least the age is more forgivable.) I even invited him along with us the next day, to Bahia Honda.
Chris overdid it a bit that night and did THE MOST ROUSING RENDITION of "Thriller" that you've ever seen. Moonwalking and everything. Meredith got some video... I'll hopefully get it from her soon. At the end, a few chicks got up and were doing the Thriller dance in front of the stage. I was laughing so hard I was crying.
I only had a few since I wanted to ENJOY the next day at my favorite place.. BAHIA HONDA!
Taken on a previous visit to Bahia Honda
Only when we got there, we were told that the water was CONTAMINATED and we could swim at our own risk but, uh, it was fecal contamination so NO THANK YOU. There were a lot of wet people in the gift shop though. Hmm. More adventurous than me, it would seem.
So Chris called his friend Elizabeth, who has a weekend house 10 minutes or so from where we were. She and her husband took me, Chris, Alex and their two kids out on their boat to the reef so we could snorkel. It was a gorgeous day. The water was a little rough, so once we were done in the water it was time to head back in IMMEDIATELY since we were all turning a little green. It was really nice, though. Alex said he hadn't had such a nice weekend in as long as he could remember... Then we ate ice cream cake. :) It was so cute. I had told the little girl, about 7 years old, that we had brought her ice cream cake. I told her this while we were on the boat, and from then on it was ALL she could talk about. The second we pulled up to the dock at the house, she's like, "ICE CREAM CAKE!" Repeat, repeat, repeat. After we were done, she suddenly became very concerned about whether or not we would be taking the leftovers with us when we left. Hehe.
On our drive to Elizabeth's, we saw KEY DEER! For those of you who have driven down to Key West, you've seen the signs: SPEED KILLS KEY DEER! The daytime speed limit is 45, the nighttime one is 35. These are probably the ONLY speed limits on earth that I strictly abide by.. oh, and school zones. But I had NEVER seen a key deer and was like, um, is this just made-up so we'll go slower? Apparently not! [Cue the key deer!]
If you don't know what a key deer is, just picture a normal deer. Then shrink it.
I'm pretty sure people feed him since he was pretty much walking towards me. Too bad all I had was the point & shoot. No good camera and no apples. The crazies thing is that we saw TWO MORE on our drive back through... One almost got hit by an SUV, but that speed limit allowed the driver to stop and the deer ran back to where it came from. Poor things. I dunno how they cross the road with the crazy non-stop Keys traffic. :( Maybe they gotta wait until weekdays..
We went back and I took a nap and Chris went for a jog - yeah, he never stops. Energizer bunny. Then we went out again with Dean, Meredith, and Alex, and this time I knew I had nothing to wake up for the next day, so....
I actually drank! A bunch! It was fun, though. Lots of mojitos. And I sang "Goodbye Earl" in karaoke. :)
This place has a webcam, so thankfully our friend Lally caught Chris's "Thriller" the night before. He was amazed. Or possibly disgusted.
Hehehehe. Bikes are a good thing, and so are bike baskets. I spilled half of this stuff riding back to our hotel, but hey.
Oh yeah, there's a clothing-optional bar we went to. Well, we went to the first two floors. It's the THIRD floor that's clothing optional. Not a pretty sight, from what I hear. It's all the people you DON'T want to see without clothes on... Like last time, everyone was wearing clothes except for a really old guy and a morbidly obese guy.. Anyway, this is the sign everywhere in the bar:
There was a scheduling issue with our room, so we didn't get to keep the same room the third night. What a blessing! We said goodbye to our giant bed and said hello to a private little cottage-type thing!
The Bamboo Room! They served us breakfast on the veranda. SO NICE, esp. when you consider the fact that I couldn't make it out of the room before the 10 a.m. breakfast's-over time. SO NICE!
So yeah, last night we went out to eat, walked around, visited a bunch of fine establishments, then rode bikes back to the B&B, making a pit stop at Walgreens so I could desperately try to find something to help soak up all the rum in my tummy (Chex mix & chocolate chunk cookies).
Today we had our breakfast and then drove home. Bless Chris's heart, he drove and I got to nap.
Overseas Highway is the PRETTIEST drive.
We stopped by our friends' house, Brian & Marcie. We brought them key lime pie and hung out to play with their kids for a while. Then we finally made it back to a houseful of SUPER happy-to-see-us pets. :) ¶ 11:56 PM 1 comments
We drove down on Thursday night after Chris got home from work. We took the truck so we could bring our bikes and way too much stuff. We didn't get to our bed & breakfast - The Mermaid & The Alligator - until almost 1 a.m. so poor Chris didn't get a very good night of sleep before having to go to work on Friday.
Taken on a previous trip to Key West.
I love this place. Pretty house, pretty grounds, and they have dogs too! They don't let US bring dogs, though, so we may be back at Ambrosia the next time we go to Key West...
Taken on a previous visit to The Cafe
As for myself, I slept in (when don't I?) and then got some stuff done online. Then I hopped on the bike and tooled around town for a while. Ate at my favorite vegetarian restaurant, The Cafe, ordering my usual: seitan peppersteak with sweet potato fries and an Izze pomegranate soda.
I don't know if I've ever eaten in a restaurant alone before, so I was glad I had my camera to keep me company.
Went shopping in a few stores, shelled out way too much money for a pair of jeans, bought myself an iced coffee, took some pictures, and made my way back to the hotel soon after Chris got done with work. Which was at 3:30. I told you it was a scam. ;)
Someone's driveway.
Here's Chris sipping on his post-work beverage, the scene I walked into our room to:
Our room was really funny. It was called the Sun Room, I guess because it had a great little balcony. However, the bed was very creaky and VERY HIGH. Chris had a few too many (whee - videos to follow) and FELL OUT OF BED when he went to get up late that night.. It really would be hard NOT to. They had a step-stool to get into the bed on one side, but if you were trying to get in from the other, it was a real challenge! I really cannot see the point.
Unsurprisingly, the place has lots of mermaid stuff around the house.
They also have lots of birds - lovebirds, parakeets, and finches. The finches had a baby in one of their nests, but I couldn't get a good picture of it, sadly. It was RIDICULOUSLY cute, though.
Also, the grounds are gorgeous. Lush and green with surprises everywhere, like these plumerias:
It had just rained; those are not planted rain droplets...
The bed & breakfasts we stay in make me wish I lived in an old Key West house so badly.
Right outside the M&A gate.
One thing Key West has a lot of is CATS. Lots of cats. Pet cats, stray cats, performing cats, everything. While trying to find the hotel, I saw this cat sleeping in a big patch of sunshine on someone's porch. I think it was a pet cat - she had a water bowl and a little hut-type thing to get out of the sun on the front porch. She was a mess, though - stinky and with tumors and stuff in her ears. Still seems to be living a happy kitty life, though, which mostly involves sleeping and the sun. :)
Oh yeah, Key West also has a lot of chickens. Everywhere. These guys were on Duval with their mama:
Oh yeah, Key West also has a lot of bikes.
That night we went out with Dean & Meredith, our friends from here who love Key West and were easily talked into going the same time us. Also, some young Russian doctor that was visiting Chris's office was there; Chris invited him last week to come visit the Key West office and spend the weekend. I was like UGH! People I don't know! But Chris has pretty good taste in folks (if I do say so myself) and the Russian (Alex) was super laid-back and lots of fun. I liked him even though he said he has three girlfriends in Russia and they're all 19. (He's 25, so at least the age is more forgivable.) I even invited him along with us the next day, to Bahia Honda.
Chris overdid it a bit that night and did THE MOST ROUSING RENDITION of "Thriller" that you've ever seen. Moonwalking and everything. Meredith got some video... I'll hopefully get it from her soon. At the end, a few chicks got up and were doing the Thriller dance in front of the stage. I was laughing so hard I was crying.
I only had a few since I wanted to ENJOY the next day at my favorite place.. BAHIA HONDA!
Taken on a previous visit to Bahia Honda
Only when we got there, we were told that the water was CONTAMINATED and we could swim at our own risk but, uh, it was fecal contamination so NO THANK YOU. There were a lot of wet people in the gift shop though. Hmm. More adventurous than me, it would seem.
So Chris called his friend Elizabeth, who has a weekend house 10 minutes or so from where we were. She and her husband took me, Chris, Alex and their two kids out on their boat to the reef so we could snorkel. It was a gorgeous day. The water was a little rough, so once we were done in the water it was time to head back in IMMEDIATELY since we were all turning a little green. It was really nice, though. Alex said he hadn't had such a nice weekend in as long as he could remember... Then we ate ice cream cake. :) It was so cute. I had told the little girl, about 7 years old, that we had brought her ice cream cake. I told her this while we were on the boat, and from then on it was ALL she could talk about. The second we pulled up to the dock at the house, she's like, "ICE CREAM CAKE!" Repeat, repeat, repeat. After we were done, she suddenly became very concerned about whether or not we would be taking the leftovers with us when we left. Hehe.
On our drive to Elizabeth's, we saw KEY DEER! For those of you who have driven down to Key West, you've seen the signs: SPEED KILLS KEY DEER! The daytime speed limit is 45, the nighttime one is 35. These are probably the ONLY speed limits on earth that I strictly abide by.. oh, and school zones. But I had NEVER seen a key deer and was like, um, is this just made-up so we'll go slower? Apparently not! [Cue the key deer!]
If you don't know what a key deer is, just picture a normal deer. Then shrink it.
I'm pretty sure people feed him since he was pretty much walking towards me. Too bad all I had was the point & shoot. No good camera and no apples. The crazies thing is that we saw TWO MORE on our drive back through... One almost got hit by an SUV, but that speed limit allowed the driver to stop and the deer ran back to where it came from. Poor things. I dunno how they cross the road with the crazy non-stop Keys traffic. :( Maybe they gotta wait until weekdays..
We went back and I took a nap and Chris went for a jog - yeah, he never stops. Energizer bunny. Then we went out again with Dean, Meredith, and Alex, and this time I knew I had nothing to wake up for the next day, so....
I actually drank! A bunch! It was fun, though. Lots of mojitos. And I sang "Goodbye Earl" in karaoke. :)
This place has a webcam, so thankfully our friend Lally caught Chris's "Thriller" the night before. He was amazed. Or possibly disgusted.
Hehehehe. Bikes are a good thing, and so are bike baskets. I spilled half of this stuff riding back to our hotel, but hey.
Oh yeah, there's a clothing-optional bar we went to. Well, we went to the first two floors. It's the THIRD floor that's clothing optional. Not a pretty sight, from what I hear. It's all the people you DON'T want to see without clothes on... Like last time, everyone was wearing clothes except for a really old guy and a morbidly obese guy.. Anyway, this is the sign everywhere in the bar:
There was a scheduling issue with our room, so we didn't get to keep the same room the third night. What a blessing! We said goodbye to our giant bed and said hello to a private little cottage-type thing!
The Bamboo Room! They served us breakfast on the veranda. SO NICE, esp. when you consider the fact that I couldn't make it out of the room before the 10 a.m. breakfast's-over time. SO NICE!
So yeah, last night we went out to eat, walked around, visited a bunch of fine establishments, then rode bikes back to the B&B, making a pit stop at Walgreens so I could desperately try to find something to help soak up all the rum in my tummy (Chex mix & chocolate chunk cookies).
Today we had our breakfast and then drove home. Bless Chris's heart, he drove and I got to nap.
Overseas Highway is the PRETTIEST drive.
We stopped by our friends' house, Brian & Marcie. We brought them key lime pie and hung out to play with their kids for a while. Then we finally made it back to a houseful of SUPER happy-to-see-us pets. :) ¶ 11:56 PM 1 comments
Friday, June 26, 2009
where we are tonight.
we're in key west - yay! yeah, chris is covering the office here, which means a free (almost) long weekend here (LONG weekend for me; chris still has to work on friday here).
i applied for a job! and interviewed for it today! i've been on the fence about a job for a while, but truth be told i only have one online class and one night class (twice a week) and i'm getting kinda bored. also, some extra money would be nice. so i found one that sounded like it fit me and i am going for it. the best part is that it's just M-Th. wish me luck! i almost panicked when they called for an interview... being unemployed gets old, yes, but the thought of giving up all this free time is a little unnerving. but then i realized, yes, i really DO want to do this... so, let's hope they don't make all my interview-outfit-shopping be for naught. because that SUCKED.
i have a few things i'm going to write about in the coming weeks, but right now i'm tired and i gotta get up by 10 to have breakfast here. as byron pointed out, yeah, tough life - she has to get up by 10 a.m. in key west. :D
Monday, June 22, 2009
haha!
apparently i do have a thing for pit bulls - first there was maggie (albeit unwittingly), then this fascination with cesar millan's dog. i actually have only watched that show like three times, but the one time daddy was featured and OMG. he's this super bad-ass pit bull, ALL MUSCLE, but has this super calm demeanor. the one show i saw with him, he was there to tame a chow/pit mix (i think) who would go apeshit on anyone who came in their yard. he went crazy on daddy, threatening, but daddy just stared him down. within 10 minutes, they were walking happily together...
look at this guy, seriously! what a little badass, yet a total sweetie! :D
M-F'ing cane toads
So the house across the street is abandoned and has a nice green pool out back chock-full of tadpoles. Since I am eternally five years old when it comes to animals, I normally would relish this fact. ONLY, they are most likely CANE TOAD tadpoles.
Looks like a little puffer fish to me!
Cane toads are invasive here, Hawaii, and are a huge problem in Australia too. Probably other places as well. When I was researching this, I found lots of stuff going on in Australia about the cane toads. There are entire organizations devoted to going out and finding these toads... and killing them! Geniuses introduced them on purpose back in the 1950s to control sugar cane pests (unsuccessfully) and now we have these buggers everywhere. They're WAY bigger'n our native toads, compete with the native toads and their tadpoles, and on top of that they are TOXIC. From what I understand, the tadpoles can be toxic to the fish, and the adult toads are toxic to anything that may think of the toad as a meal. Big dogs apparently get high if they come in contact with the nasty stuff they secrete, but smaller animals can die. We had our own cane toad scare with Gretchen a year or so ago, when Patty was walking her outside her house in Boca Raton. Gretchen found a toad, grabbed it, then was frothing at the mouth. Very scary. Thankfully she acted quickly, hosing her mouth out, and followed up by taking her to the ER vet.
We have never had a problem with them here in the eastern part of Broward. When I lived out west I saw them all the time, but NEVER did I see them here until a few months ago. Then I found one on the tort enclosure, then another one... And now these tadpoles.. and toadlings!
I have made peace with the latest tortoise enclosure inhabitant (the dogs can't get her as long as she stays in front), but I euthanized the one I found in our back yard last night. The same way I euthanized the toad I found a few months ago that had no legs - with benzocaine. Just rub some on their backs and it knocks 'em out and kills them. When I found him dead, I felt completely awful. I'm used to helping, not killing, you know? They are bad for everything in Florida, bad for our pets... blech... So anyway, all these tadpoles and toadlings I caught are now living in a man-made pond at the corporate park where I used to work. No wildlife to compete with there, the place already HAS bufos, and there are no houses nearby so no pets can be harmed. There are THOUSANDS of other tadpoles in the pool still, however, and I am very troubled about this. I am getting the tadpoles ID'd so I can be certain, but if they are bufo marinus, I may have to take some drastic action. Sigh. As for the adults, I'll relocate them too, but that really just makes it another area's problem. Why oh why can't I just be heartless?
They're awfully cute for being so awful, right?
Also, I know that it's really sad that this is the only drama I have in my life. Or possibly that makes me very lucky? :) ¶ 1:23 AM 0 comments
Looks like a little puffer fish to me!
Cane toads are invasive here, Hawaii, and are a huge problem in Australia too. Probably other places as well. When I was researching this, I found lots of stuff going on in Australia about the cane toads. There are entire organizations devoted to going out and finding these toads... and killing them! Geniuses introduced them on purpose back in the 1950s to control sugar cane pests (unsuccessfully) and now we have these buggers everywhere. They're WAY bigger'n our native toads, compete with the native toads and their tadpoles, and on top of that they are TOXIC. From what I understand, the tadpoles can be toxic to the fish, and the adult toads are toxic to anything that may think of the toad as a meal. Big dogs apparently get high if they come in contact with the nasty stuff they secrete, but smaller animals can die. We had our own cane toad scare with Gretchen a year or so ago, when Patty was walking her outside her house in Boca Raton. Gretchen found a toad, grabbed it, then was frothing at the mouth. Very scary. Thankfully she acted quickly, hosing her mouth out, and followed up by taking her to the ER vet.
We have never had a problem with them here in the eastern part of Broward. When I lived out west I saw them all the time, but NEVER did I see them here until a few months ago. Then I found one on the tort enclosure, then another one... And now these tadpoles.. and toadlings!
I have made peace with the latest tortoise enclosure inhabitant (the dogs can't get her as long as she stays in front), but I euthanized the one I found in our back yard last night. The same way I euthanized the toad I found a few months ago that had no legs - with benzocaine. Just rub some on their backs and it knocks 'em out and kills them. When I found him dead, I felt completely awful. I'm used to helping, not killing, you know? They are bad for everything in Florida, bad for our pets... blech... So anyway, all these tadpoles and toadlings I caught are now living in a man-made pond at the corporate park where I used to work. No wildlife to compete with there, the place already HAS bufos, and there are no houses nearby so no pets can be harmed. There are THOUSANDS of other tadpoles in the pool still, however, and I am very troubled about this. I am getting the tadpoles ID'd so I can be certain, but if they are bufo marinus, I may have to take some drastic action. Sigh. As for the adults, I'll relocate them too, but that really just makes it another area's problem. Why oh why can't I just be heartless?
They're awfully cute for being so awful, right?
Also, I know that it's really sad that this is the only drama I have in my life. Or possibly that makes me very lucky? :) ¶ 1:23 AM 0 comments
Friday, June 19, 2009
y'all have watched the onion videos, right?
they're great!
check this one out:
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/obama_drastically_scales_back
it's like.. obama drastically scales back goals for america after visiting denny's.
i like the part about the tweetie bird tattoos. :D ¶ 2:54 AM 0 comments
check this one out:
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/obama_drastically_scales_back
it's like.. obama drastically scales back goals for america after visiting denny's.
i like the part about the tweetie bird tattoos. :D ¶ 2:54 AM 0 comments
mega sweet story
you all see that movie 'up'? if not, go see it. we went opening weekend and i actually loved it. they got the dogs down, man. oh, also, make sure you're going to a 3-d screening of it. we went to see 'coraline' before and i didn't realize only certain theaters and showings were 3-d, so i was kinda bummed afterwards. (yeah, i like 3-d kids movies apparently.) the 3-d is really subtle, not like imax or anything... but anyway, yeah, good.
check this out. thank god they came through for her, right?
check this out. thank god they came through for her, right?
Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up'
Company sent DVD so Huntington Beach girl, 10, could watch it.
link ¶ 2:18 AM 1 comments
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Yep, definitely Fiji. OFFICIALLY.
I opted out of Sydney, since flying there first was going to put a bit of a dent in our enjoying-ourselves time. You know, the Sydney-Fiji flight is 4 hrs, back and forth, plus airport and travel time... Since we only have about 10 days (Chris's work), I decided to not spend an extra full day travelling, even if it meant seeing Australia for a couple of days. Australia has just been added to the list of things we can do later. :)
So yep, we have about 8.5 days in Fiji. Wooo!
Fiji is a group of islands. You get between them via boat or plane. We want to go to three places:
Viti Levu
Namely, Beqa:
The Mamanucas:
Apparently that's where Castaway was filmed?
And Taveuni, the Garden Island:
That will be us! :D
I got my Fiji guide and now have to figure out where we're going when, where we're staying, etc. It's a great place to dive and snorkel, and the reason we picked Fiji over somewhere flatter is that there are places to hike and explore. I can't wait!
An aside: I actually did do research to make sure that the animal situation in Fiji wasn't one that would depress me. They have strays there, but they look happy and well-fed. ¶ 11:24 PM 4 comments
Flight: Los Angeles to Nadi
Traveler names: Christopher C***, Stacey (me!)
| Los Angeles (LAX) to Nadi (NAN) | 10/22/09 | 11:30 pm - 5:10 am | Air New Zealand 4011 Operated By: AIR PACIFIC |
| Nadi (NAN) to Los Angeles (LAX) | 10/31/09 | 10:00 pm - 1:20 pm | Air New Zealand 4010 Operated By: AIR PACIFIC |
So yep, we have about 8.5 days in Fiji. Wooo!
Fiji is a group of islands. You get between them via boat or plane. We want to go to three places:
Viti Levu
Namely, Beqa:
The Mamanucas:
Apparently that's where Castaway was filmed?
And Taveuni, the Garden Island:
That will be us! :D
I got my Fiji guide and now have to figure out where we're going when, where we're staying, etc. It's a great place to dive and snorkel, and the reason we picked Fiji over somewhere flatter is that there are places to hike and explore. I can't wait!
An aside: I actually did do research to make sure that the animal situation in Fiji wasn't one that would depress me. They have strays there, but they look happy and well-fed. ¶ 11:24 PM 4 comments
It's been a while, eh?
Since May 23 apparently. Oops.
Honestly.. My life is so damn boring. Not much news. And, you know, lugging my laptop ALL THE WAY OUT into whatever room I'm in and, since the battery sucks, GOING TO THE TROUBLE OF PLUGGING IT IN is, you know, a lot of effort. Considering NO ONE IS READING THIS, why bother.. But hey, I was never writing it for anyone else anyway. But it is nice to know that one reader (see previous comment) misses me. ;)
Here's to some more posting, since I really do enjoy looking back on the last few years of my life on here, even if I have felt like I have had to censor it more and more. aka it's not as good as it could be. ¶ 11:21 PM 1 comments
Honestly.. My life is so damn boring. Not much news. And, you know, lugging my laptop ALL THE WAY OUT into whatever room I'm in and, since the battery sucks, GOING TO THE TROUBLE OF PLUGGING IT IN is, you know, a lot of effort. Considering NO ONE IS READING THIS, why bother.. But hey, I was never writing it for anyone else anyway. But it is nice to know that one reader (see previous comment) misses me. ;)
Here's to some more posting, since I really do enjoy looking back on the last few years of my life on here, even if I have felt like I have had to censor it more and more. aka it's not as good as it could be. ¶ 11:21 PM 1 comments
Saturday, May 23, 2009
wheee..!
sorry i been so quiet. i can't say i'm too busy.. hello, no job! but most of my online time is spent busily reviewing forums and stuff like that. haven't been in the mood to blog.
let's see..
remember the maldives v. fiji question. sounds like it'll be fiji.
yes, you're allowed to hate me.
this is where i wanna stay for at least part of it, an eco-friendly resort:
we'll be staying in one of those little water-front huts. whee! :)
also going here:
:) :) :)
so that's the big news.
:)
um, let's see. oh, today i was walking my dogs. all three. we were walking by a little apartment complex. and this lady comes out of her apartment to yell at me - dogs are not allowed there. i'm like, um, i'm just walking by. she keeps on. i'm like, omg, i'm walking my dogs - can you just leave me in peace? she keeps on. i'm walking like.. in the parking spots, mind you, because there is no sidewalk there. my other option was THE ROAD. the dogs are up in the common-area grass, running - not peeing or pooping, just running along all happy. if she would've left me along, we would've been dust in 15 seconds. but no. i finally say, "wow, do you have NOTHING BETTER TO DO?" and keep walking. then a guy comes out of her apartment. i'm far away at this point, but he starts yelling.. you know, something along the lines of "excuse me?" and then reiterating that DOGS ARE NOT ALLOWED. i was already pissy so this was not helping. i'm like, "wow, you really need to get a life. i'm WALKING MY DOGS." he kept on. i turn around and yell back at him because he's still like.. threatening me or something... all mad and yelling.. so i'm like, "call the cops on me. please! go ahead! FOR WALKING MY DOGS." honestly. fucking floridians. the funny thing is about 45 seconds later, we were back in my neighborhood and the three dogs were BARRELING THROUGH this lady's yard. she was out by her car, so she saw them... and was like, "OH! DOGGIES! HELLO!" all happy. her own, private yard... not just some in-front-of-the-apartment patch of grass. i don't know on what planet people get mad at other people for walking by with three adorable dogs - what comes of that? seriously? get a life, or get a nice little real housewives of new jersey habit and, you know, LEAVE ME ALONE.
i just gotta say that it was mighty dumb of that couple to throw a fit because now i'll make sure we ALWAYS walk that way. and if sebastian wants to poop there, i'll let him. :)
okay, that's all. for now anyway! ¶ 12:34 AM 1 comments
let's see..
remember the maldives v. fiji question. sounds like it'll be fiji.
yes, you're allowed to hate me.
this is where i wanna stay for at least part of it, an eco-friendly resort:
we'll be staying in one of those little water-front huts. whee! :)
also going here:
:) :) :)
so that's the big news.
:)
um, let's see. oh, today i was walking my dogs. all three. we were walking by a little apartment complex. and this lady comes out of her apartment to yell at me - dogs are not allowed there. i'm like, um, i'm just walking by. she keeps on. i'm like, omg, i'm walking my dogs - can you just leave me in peace? she keeps on. i'm walking like.. in the parking spots, mind you, because there is no sidewalk there. my other option was THE ROAD. the dogs are up in the common-area grass, running - not peeing or pooping, just running along all happy. if she would've left me along, we would've been dust in 15 seconds. but no. i finally say, "wow, do you have NOTHING BETTER TO DO?" and keep walking. then a guy comes out of her apartment. i'm far away at this point, but he starts yelling.. you know, something along the lines of "excuse me?" and then reiterating that DOGS ARE NOT ALLOWED. i was already pissy so this was not helping. i'm like, "wow, you really need to get a life. i'm WALKING MY DOGS." he kept on. i turn around and yell back at him because he's still like.. threatening me or something... all mad and yelling.. so i'm like, "call the cops on me. please! go ahead! FOR WALKING MY DOGS." honestly. fucking floridians. the funny thing is about 45 seconds later, we were back in my neighborhood and the three dogs were BARRELING THROUGH this lady's yard. she was out by her car, so she saw them... and was like, "OH! DOGGIES! HELLO!" all happy. her own, private yard... not just some in-front-of-the-apartment patch of grass. i don't know on what planet people get mad at other people for walking by with three adorable dogs - what comes of that? seriously? get a life, or get a nice little real housewives of new jersey habit and, you know, LEAVE ME ALONE.
i just gotta say that it was mighty dumb of that couple to throw a fit because now i'll make sure we ALWAYS walk that way. and if sebastian wants to poop there, i'll let him. :)
okay, that's all. for now anyway! ¶ 12:34 AM 1 comments
