Adventures in Rio

That's how Wagner described last night. It began with B and I calling a cab to pick us up at his parents' house in order to take us to Wagner's place downtown. Now of course, nothing with the cab was easy and that alone caused lots of frustration -- what with the Brazilian's relaxed sense of punctuality and all. Then of course the cabby wanted to tell us all sorts of stories the whole drive. At one point he was asking us to take a look at his face (so he turned on the dome light in the cab) so we could guess how old he was. Weren't we surprised to find out that no, he wasn't 45... he was 55! He just looked so young because he lived a stress-free life. But no, that wasn't enough, then he whipped out his cell phone, scrolled through various menus (all the while still driving through the crazy streets of Rio) to show us pictures of his hot girlfriend. LOL. What a riot!

Because of all this, we were at least 30 minutes late heading out towards Wagner's, so the second we got there we had to jump into his car to drive to the airport to pick up his new wife, Livia. We waited about 30 minutes there until she called us to let us know that because of the bad weather they had redirected her flight to a different airport on the other side of town. She was off the plane and waiting for us. Yikes! So we had to jump back into the car and head over to the other airport. Mind you, none of these car rides were really pleasant because I was in the back seat, without a seat belt, bumping and bouncing over every pot hole. My butt was starting to hurt! Fortunately, we were finally able to pick her up and head back to their place to relax for a bit.

It was my first time meeting Livia, and she was so friendly and hospitable (not that I expected any less -- Wagner did marry her afterall!) We stayed a long time and got home at about 2am. Good times!

PS: I took a photo of the elevator in Wagner and Livia's building so that you might better appreciate why I freaked out a bit the time I got stuck in one. We had crammed about 10 people into an elevator meant for 8. Take a look at what it means when the elevator capacity is "8"...

The Country House

Yesterday, despite the heat, we took a drive out to the country house. Here are a few photos -- it's BEAUTIFUL there. All the plants have either gorgeous flowers or huge leaves. Definitely tropical. In the photos you'll see B and me along with his family: mom, dad, brother, and his girlfriend. In this first photo, you can also see "caju" which is where cashews come from! Each fruit bears one nut (which you can see hanging from the bottom). No wonder cashew nuts are so much more expensive than peanuts.

Brazil Update

Well, we've had a bit of an "internet crises" here. Right now I'm using my father-in-law's computer because he has an air-card (their wireless isn't working). That means I can't upload any photos right now. Waah! Never you fear, however, because I've been snapping shots of every sight so I'll have lots to share as soon as I can. Here are a list of a my activities to keep you up-to-date.

. . . .

Friday's agenda:

-Wake up

-Eat

-Nap

-Eat

-Sleep

. . . .

Today's agenda:

-Wake up

-Eat

-Drive to their country house to check it out.

-Sweat like a mo-fo in the heat and humidity

-Eat

-Nap

-Eat

-Sleep

Christmas with B's Family

Thank goodness I was still suffering from the three-hour time difference last night. I mean, how else could I have possibly waited until midnight to eat dinner followed by another 2 hours of opening presents and visiting with one another?! Luckily, it felt like we ate dinner at 9pm and stayed up until 11pm (phew!). Here are a few pictures for your viewing (and salivating) pleasure :)

And we're off...

Feliz Natal!

Amor, Felicidade, e Prosperidade.

Secret Santa

My brother and his wife got both B and me as their Secret Santa people. They pooled their resources and gave us one-freakin'-awesome gift! A home-made, home-designed, one-of-a-kind piece of furniture! We're using it to keep everything organized by the front door (including my millions of pairs of shoes). We LOVE it!

An Early Treat

B decided to surprise me by giving me my Christmas present early. Am I a lucky girl or what?! It has black diamonds in it... have you even ever heard of such a thing?

Snowman Pot Pie

I should've posted this two weeks ago, but I was too busy to sit down and blog. How cute was my chicken pot pie?! Kinda fitting on a day like today.

Merry Christmas!

The whole clan is snowed in at our parents' house in Hughesville. We drove down last night after work, had dinner, and went to bed. When we woke up for "Christmas Morning" we did, indeed find a white Christmas! It hasn't stopped snowing since... as of right now (5:30pm) we're up to about 16 inches. Cabin fever's set in and the clan's showing early signs of insanity. Alcohol's a luxury and the current quota's proved not enough to maintain high spirits. It's a long weekend, and I'm sorry to say, not all will survive when it's all said and done. Think "The Shining"...

PS: I typed the first half of this post and then walked away to find my camera. B eagerly (and sneakily) decided to type the second half. Enjoy!

It's a wrap!

Hubby and I are spending the night wrapping gifts. Fa-la-la-la-laa, la la, la, laaaaaaaaaaa!

Mmmm!

Over the weekend I finally got a chance to see Twilight: New Moon. I was talking to M about this and we both agreed that Edward's character was cast all wrong. Robert Pattinson (despite all the hype) is nothing but a skinny, pale-looking guy.

Edward should be BEAUTIFUL! Let's instead recast Trevor Donovan (from 90210) as Edward. Whaddya think?

Monday on My Mind

It's only Monday and already I've got a million things swimming around in my mind! Forgive me for unloading a few...

1. Hair appointment in 2 days - yay! I'm going for bangs and highlights. I've gotta look GOOD for my first trip to Rio in three years.
2. Thank goodness for cancellations (other people's, that is). I squeezed myself in to see my eye doctor next week. I think I need glasses... YIKES!
3. Sims 3. It's a miracle I pulled myself away long enough to type this list :)
4. Hubby! How cute is he... he's out "meeting with Santa" right now.
5. Big Love, season 3. It's finally showing on HBO so I can catch up before season 4 starts.
6. Silk Pumpkin Spice (yum)
7. First snow of the season... let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
8. Christmas decorations in my house and holiday songs on the radio.

Lepidoptera, baby!

So Sarah came over tonight and we crafted. For several hours. Let me just say, our work looks professional. Etsy... watch out!

PS: Thanks Sarah for a great start to a long weekend :)

You say tomato, I say...

...whoa! This is photographic evidence of my salad. The salad that I made for myself tonight. The salad that included tomatoes! I once heard that your taste buds change every seven years (or so) and by golly that must be true because something is very wrong with me feeling inclined to include tomatoes. Uncle John will be proud to hear this...

The Great TP Debate

So which are you? An overer or an underer?

Confession Time

This is my entryway. I think it's time I get a shoe rack of some sort, don'tcha think?

Nouveau Horizons

So when I got home from work today, I made B play the "I have a present for you, hold out your hands and close your eyes" game. I started with all the posters and materials that M sent home for him (what a good friend!). Then I surprised him with two books and a CD that I had picked up on my way home from work. He loved it all. Now, instead of hanging out with me, he's in the other room studying French from the CD. The thing is, he's freaking out because he's expected to go from 0 to 60 by Monday. Poor thing! I can hear him repeating the phrases from the CD, except that I just heard him say "oh shit." Now despite everything I've been told over the years, I'm pretty sure that's not actually French!

Things are looking UP

Yesterday, B and I went to our friends' wedding at my alma mater. The couple met at UMCP, so they decided to get married in the chapel on campus. It was beautiful! The thing that really struck me though, was that in the midst of their celebration I felt surrounded by positive energy. Maybe that sounds cheesy, but seriously, everyone of my friends had some sort of something to look forward to whether it was new love or a new job. I came home feeling energized and refreshed. Isn't that a great thing?!

Before and After

M E _ _ Y

C H _ I S _ M A S

C A C _ U S

Long Time No See

That goes for you, me, hubby, and this blog!

I had a great time Friday night drinking margaritas (or rather, 'a' margarita) with S. I need to have more girls' nights-out like that!

I joined my mom, grandma, and E for lunch on Saturday. Panera Bread... Mmmmm :)

Then, I spent the rest of the weekend with my folks moving furniture with them. They're getting ready to redo their dining room and office -- both rooms are getting the floors refinished and a new coat of paint -- so all the crap had to be moved out. The process of moving all that crap (which by the way, isn't really trash, it was just a lot to schlep!) inspired me to take pictures of all the family heirlooms. I made a deal with my parents, that if I set up the spreadsheet with all the appropriate rows and columns, they'd fill in the details about each item. I just wanted a way to capture all the stories in one place.

So many of those memories get lost from generation to generation -- especially in our high-tech society. Sometimes it blows to mind to think about pre-historic societies (aka: cultures without a written language) that had to pass down everything through song, story, and word-of-mouth. Their memories must have been impeccable! Does that ever make you wonder whether we're really maximizing our brains to their full potential? Just the thought of it is mind-boggling, don't you think?! (ahh... the irony of that statement) :-p

Happy Monday!

Time to Indulge

So these are the things I've treated myself to while hubby is in Brazil:

Painting Christmas pottery with my mom, E, and L.

My favorite 'Chicken and Wild Rice Chowder'... B doesn't like it so I always make it for myself when he's away.

Pedicure! (I did it myself, aren't you proud?!)

My Silver Lining(s)

About a week ago I did this team-building activity at a work meeting. We had to read through a list of values and eventually narrow-down the list to the two that we felt were most important in our lives. It was a really difficult task because I had to eliminate things that I really did value (like 'having a family' and 'honesty'). I eventually chose 'doing the right thing' and 'hope'. I felt that with these two values combined, I could justify the other things that I had had to cross off. We just found out on Friday that B got laid off, and at a time like this, hope really comes in handy. Here are my silver linings:
1. Family.
2. Friends that love us.
3. Students that care about me.
4. The simple life.
5. Good books.
6. Good food.
7. A home of our own.
8. Health.
9. Reruns of True Blood.

The Monster Mash

My sister made this video and sent it to me. I nearly died laughing. M was online, so I immediately shared it with her. You can see from her blog what a success it's become. Enough with words, just watch the darn thing already!

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/MnAXuj8i029mTvwR

Baltimore Beer Fest '09

Lots of fun with friends... too bad none of us really liked any of the beers :-p They were apparently too "fancy-schmancy" for us (or we're too simple for them).

Bruno's Quote of the Day: 'When I drink beer, I get a little loose. Then I speak English the better!'

Golf Tourney Postponed

...and I can't say I mind. Thank you rainy weather!

"Refreshed" is an understatement

As you all know, I've been fighting a cold all week. I came home yesterday, absolutely exhaustified -- to the point where I went straight to bed. Of course, I couldn't fall asleep right away because my mind was spinning and wide awake. So I played on Facebook and read emails. Finally, at about 5:30 I was ready to take a nap. A nap that lasted until 5:30 AM when my alarm went off. I never even heard B come home or get into bed! I only knew he was there because I saw him at 1AM when I got up for a drink of water. After all that sleep, today was the first day, EVER, that I sprang out of bed the first time my alarm sounded. Maybe I should just sleep for 12 hours every night :-p

Go, go Gadget Grocery List!

Check out my new toy at http://www.smartshopperusa.com/! All I have to do is speak into the recorder and it keeps track of my grocery list for me. Then before I go to the store, I just press "print" and voila! How randomly cool and unnecessary! Love it!

"I'm twenty-nine and thirteen months"

...says hubby. Turns out that 30 doesn't hurt so bad :)

B and I took off from work on Friday in order to drive up to Giants' Stadium for the last concert ever. Mind you, Giants' Stadium is in New Jersey, aka: Bruce-land. Naturally, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band sent the stadium out of business in style. Thirty-one songs. Three hours and ten minutes of Heaven. Our seats were awesome (probably some of the best that we've ever had), and B and I spent the entire time jumping, singing, and dancing together. According to the women sitting behind us, we were "the most adorable couple ever"... yeah, that's right!

We drove home and continued the celebration with one of our most favorite things: an "appetizer party" for two. Today is B's actual birthday, so I took him to Annapolis for THE BEST cream of crab soup in the whole world. We followed that up with a trip to the mall to pick out a watch. Does he have great taste or what?! Check out that watch that he chose! All in all, despite the scariness of leaving his 20's behind, I think it's safe to say that B has had a pretty good 30th birthday.

International Dinner Night... a success!

With the help of several ESOL colleagues, I organized a special potluck dinner night for our ESOL students, their families, and their favorite teachers. We had 8 out of our 13 students attend, along with several teachers (special shout-out to J + hubby and S + Nico for coming!), and even our principal. Yay! We enjoyed food from China, Korea, India, Brazil, Ireland, USA, El Salvador, and Ethiopia. I think my favorite "new" food was the papusas from El Salvador. They are these yummy cheese-filled things with salsa. Seriously, you can't go wrong with that! I think I was the most pleasantly surprised by the Korean food because, well, it looked weird and I was pretty sure I wouldn't like it. Turns out it was ok. I took a couple pictures before my battery died. You can appreciate the decorations and some of the food from these pics. Enjoy!

Painted Pottery!

I tried to match the colors and design on my bowl to the fabric on our new chair. Not bad, huh?

U2... it's catch-up time!

Here are some photos that you've all been waiting for! B and I went to see U2 last Tuesday night at Fedex Field. It's probably the reason why I didn't blog at all last week. I was pooped! The concert was "ok". Actually, we were both disappointed by the poor sound quality. Frankly, if they're not going to make sure that the sound is equally good in all directions, then they should sell tickets to a "360 degree" show. Our seats were slightly behind the stage (imagine sitting by the back left corner of the stage). As a result, there were horrible echoes and reverberations. Sometimes we couldn't even recognize what song was starting -- and this was U2 -- I mean, come on! We should've recognized EVERYTHING! Also, the stage was ridiculous (and I mean that in every sense of the word). Ok, but enough of the complaining. Bono and his posse rocked the stage. They did an awesome version of one of their new songs. They danced around the stage and nearly brought me to tears when they dedicated one of their songs to an Iranian woman who's been on house-arrest forever. Enjoy some pics of the crazy stage.

Yardsale Yahoos

[aka: my mom and me]

Last night my mom spent the night at my place -- Bruno was already on his way to NYC for a Springsteen concert. Girls' night meant eating at the local diner and then watching an hour of Private Practice before calling it a night. This morning, we woke up at the butt crack of dawn and dragged all our most precious "junk" out to my community yardsale. We were actually pretty successful and downsized a lot! The best part was that a donation place from Baltimore was stopping by afterwards to pick up anything we didn't want to take back home with us. I'm feeling footloose and fancy-free now! Gotta love yardsales :)

Pick a Winner

Dear Lady in the Red SUV,
As a conscientious driver, I understand the need to slow down in order to effectively root around in your nose for a concrete booger. Next time that need arises, might I suggest that you warn the rest of us by putting on your hazard lights? Gross!
Sincerely,
Beeps

Dee Oh En Ee

That spells DONE! Thank goodness... my September class is officially over (mind you I spent 12 hours today typing away to make that happen). But nonetheless, it's done. As a matter of fact, you can probably expect to see more of me here again. Yay! First order of business? Pictures of my pottery project. Woo!

New Furniture!

Sofas: Mink

Chair: Polka-dotted

Style: Fabulous

Anticipation

Feels like: can't wait, can't wait, can't wait for tomorrow!

Chirtle, chirtle, chirtle!

I was randomly reading last month's Oprah magazine and came upon a picture of a bird that caught my eye. It wasn't even being featured directly, but rather served as a sort of background for some poem. I did a little google search, and to my surprise found a whole bunch of these treasures! She uses 40-year-old vintage trading stamps as the background and then paints the birds over top. The artist is Laura Levine, and I think part of what makes it so cool is partially the mixed media and partially my sentimentalism for the song birds that I grew up watching in my backyard. Here's one to whet your appetite (it's the one I saw in Oprah)...

Check her out at http://www.illogator.com/lauralevine/index.php

Foster's Clambake Tent

This is the story of my very first high school reunion. B and I got all jazzed up for a night on the town. Are we lookin' good or what?!

We came, we saw, and we conquered those lobsters (thanks in no small part to Becca's iPhone video, which we studied several times before attempting the crack into the beasts)!

As I suspected, I didn't really get to see very many old faces (at least not the ones I was hoping to see--there were plenty of people there). I said "Hi! How've you been? Where are you living now? What do you do?" (all the while thinking, "Who are you?!") to several people, but in the end I mostly just spent time with Becca and catching up with Tim. PS: Becca... you look ADORABLE in this picture!

The end!