Dexter Season Premier :D

Who has two thumbs and loves Dexter Morgan?

-->This Girl<--

Celeste (and Kevin) introduced this FANTASTIC show to me (basically by force) and I'm SO glad they did. I love love love the show. Amazing writing, concept, acting, etc.

The 5th season just started, and Celeste decided to throw a little bit of a "Dexter party" in honor of this commencement night:

The host

(with some goodies)

Virgin-"Marga-RITAs," and other lovely treats

Very cute decor

Creepy. Capital C.

Blood splatter :)

Gross.

Dexter's weaponry of choice

(from last season, at least)

Again, gross.

Sisters :)

Fun. Loved the party, the company and ESPECIALLY, the show!

Thanks Celeste (and expect me around 8:55pm PST every Sunday for the next 11 weeks!)

Jack and Jess

Not Jill. Jess.

Many a strange-ranger walk around Disneyland with these lanyards, books, vests, etc., FULL of Disney-collector pins. I haven't/won't ever catch on to this...thing, but I decided to walk over to one of the vendors and check out a few of the pins (wtf is the big deal with these?)

Anyway, having recently returned from my first ever trip out of the U.S. (or really even the Southwest U.S. for that matter), this particular pin caught my eye (not for purchasing, just wanted to look):

kinda cute, right?

Well, open it up and guess what's inside:

Celeste's fav!

Weird!?

Look at a few of the facts and what else do I find?...

This morbid/creepy character (that I do not, and will NEVER acknowledge as "Disney"-related) was born on Jess' EXACT day of birth!

Weird! ...no. Really. Very weird...

:)

Thoughts...

I’m going to be 25 in a couple of months. Sometimes I can’t believe it…but mostly, I think, “really? Only 25?” I’m pretty sure I’ll start feeling my age once I’m in my 30’s, with no great explanation... other than to simply state that I feel my life has been quite...long and eventful...

After some reflection, I can honestly say that I am very happy with what I’ve been able to experience and accomplish within the first 25 years of life…

Some examples:

- Have lived in 4 different states, 5 different cities, 6 different houses

- Learnt the piano (a skill which has been…almost…completely lost)

- Helped/played a part in raising three (enh…4) AMAZING kids

- Have watched (and own almost) every single Johnny Depp film ever made

- Learnt Spanish, with fairly decent fluency

- Completed my undergrad

- Have made friends with some of the most amazing people in the world (fact)

- Learnt/found a love for the art of pottery

- Found and became part of my absolute DREAM profession (luck played a MAJOR role in that matter)

- Became a member of a church I 100% love and believe in (again, luck)

- Established a decent sense of self

- Fell in love (both unrequited… and real…I think… :)

- Have really lived in and experienced Vegas life (have seen almost every show, stayed in several hotels and have dined at many of the famous restaurants on the strip)

- Became a vegetarian

- Read most of the books on the Time’s list of “ALL TIME 100 Novels”

- Survived a 14 day tour of Europe

- etc, etc, etc

I’ve seen/done quite a lot, but I still have a lot I want to do. In conversation, I oftentimes hear people say things like, “I’ve always wanted to do that!” or "I've always dreamed of going there!" So, I’ve decided to make a list for myself. A list of things I want to accomplish/complete/achieve during the next 25 years of my life.

Here it goes:

My Bucket List for years 25-50 (in no particular order):

1. Marry my Mr. Darcy

2. Become financially secure

3. Learn how to snowboard

4. Own my own business

5. Have a chocolate lab with blue eyes (named Moose :)

6. Learn French and Spanish with absolute fluency

7. Become a great reader

8. Own a piano and master it (again)

9. Learn to cook (a wider variety of dishes)

10. Travel EVERYWHERE

11. Accept myself completely

12. Own a pottery studio (even if it’s just a small one in my backyard/house)

13. Learn to dance (Swing, Salsa, Ballroom, etc)

14. Help as many people as I can, in whatever capacity I am capable of

15. Serve a medical-mission of one form or another

16. Go to Harry Potter World in Florida

17. Become more disciplined

18. See Jay-Z in concert

19. Learn to Skateboard

20. See all 7 Wonders of the World

21. Become more active in my church/religion

22. Take my entire family on a dream vacation

23. Go fishing

24. Build, live and retire in a home I designed from framework to light fixtures and everything in between

25. Attend an Olympic event

It's not complete...but there it is. Wish me luck...and tell me what some items on your list may be :)

Please. Just check me out....

I love to shop. A lot. More than...well, more than I should. I'm ESPECIALLY excited because the Tuttle birthday season (6/10 of us in less than 2 months)/Holidays are upon us! :D

I totally get the "retail therapy" thing. I have no clue why, but I can walk in to a store (9 times out of 10, it's Target), spend an hour roaming around and then walk out with $200 worth of stuff I didn't know I needed (the newest season of The Office? Yep. Cute stationary? Sure. More tank-tops? Mhm. Etc, etc, etc), feeling more serene and relaxed than ever before...

What I hate about shopping? The Checkout.

Not because they're about to take a day or so's pay from me... but for the following two reasons:

1. "Rewards":

"Would you like to apply for a _____ card and save __% off of your purchase today?"

"Are you a member of our _____ rewards club?"

"Do you have a _____-team card?"

"Would you like to start earning points by joining our _____ program?"

Etc.

Depending upon my mood... "No thank you." "Thanks, but no." "No. Sorry, I'm in a hurry." "I'm not, no." "No I don't want it and I really don't need to hear about it." and most frequently... " No. :| " (the "serious" face)

I'd be much nicer if they weren't so persistent about getting you to sign-up. The guy at Footlocker the other day asked if I was a "member of ___?___." I said that I wasn't, he and 2 other sales associates exchanged some look I couldn't quite interpret, and then one of the baboons proceeded to ask if I liked saving money... (to which I replied, "No. :|").

I already have more stupid little key-chain tags, punch/stamp and "club" cards stuffed in all of the different compartments of my wallet than I'd care to admit...

What the deuce? Why is everyone all of the sudden on this stupid little "club card" bandwagon? GRR. Let's drop it people!

2. The INFAMOUS: "Did you find everything okay?!"

No. I've waited in the only open checkout line for 25 minutes behind two Mexican entourages, a couple of overwhelmingly odorous Abercrombie-smelling high school idiots, an unhygienic old guy with his obese daughter (wife?) in the ride-around chair-deal and the inattentive mom with a cart-full of screaming kids to ask for your help with finding a few things...

No. You're store is incredibly unorganized and ridiculous to navigate around. Here is a hard copy of my reorganization plan for your store. Present this to management and insure its completion before I return...

No. So I'm buying this instead. (sometimes true...)

I seriously fear that one of these days, one of my more...ahem...charming responses...is going to shoot across my lips at the poor, unsuspecting retail-clerk before I can gather myself and sensor... :\

Too bad these things don't keep me from my spending... oh, and praise j for Amazon :)

Happy shopping...

******P.S.******

SO...I went to Bed Bath and Beyond the other day and as I was getting ready to checkout... GUESS WHAT I SAW!!!

:|

Case. In. Point.

Labor Day Weekend!!!

Well, I don't know about you all, but I had a pretty fun weekend...

...filled with a little bit of travel...

...and a little bit of much needed R&R!

Friday night I drove out to Disneyland with a friend and we went to the park all day on Saturday. Much to my surprise (and relief) it was seriously under-crowded (considering the holiday weekend, the fact that it was a Saturday AND that the Disney half and full marathons were this weekend as well) and SOOO much fun! (per usual)

We drove back late Saturday night/early Sunday morning. I got up, went to church, ran a couple of errands, hung out that night around the house, did some cleaning/laundry/chatting with the 'rents and started reading this:

...I don't hate it (so far. I'm only on pg 50)!!!

Today (Labor Day) I got to SLEEP IN (!!!), chat with the little boys, help make some salsa and BBQ, then watched "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief" with the little boys (pretty cute/predictable movie! And NO SPENCE/MATT, I haven't seen it before...)

So voila! There's my Labor Day weekend...

But, before I go. Let's go back a few days:

While at Disneyland, a few items were called to my attention by various park-goers (though they may not have realized it), and I think there's probably no better place to voice my concern/opinions than here on my blog...right?

First off: The dang bracelets

These ones.

What the heck? Explain it. Why? They're not cute. They can't be comfortable. And why not just one? Each baby/kid/adult/elderly individual (yeah, I saw them all) had MILLIONS on their wrists!!! ?????

I'm not fashionable. I've never been. I don't claim to be. ...but I really really really don't get this trend, so please please please fill me in...

Next item of business: Little girls dressed as Disney Princesses.

They're all just sooo cute, right?

Wrong.

What's wrong with this picture? Well, let's just go thru them one by one:

1. Ariel: You don't have red hair. You're not even tricking me. You're blonde. You can only be Cinderella, Tinker Bell or Aurora.

2. Belle:You're okay

3. Cinderella: So cute

4. Snow White: first of all...WHY? She's the dumbest "princess" ever, but you don't have short black hair, so you are also not tricking me. You can be either Jasmine, Belle or Pocahontas (the latter being the preferable option, since your skin looks a bit tan...)

5. Aurora: SOOO Cute!

Okay. I'm going to say it because I know you're all thinking it:

Sure. Maybe I'm being ridiculous regarding this issue...but it is what it is, okay?

No, I'm not at ALL racist, but I think...these little girls should dress the part (and really, the blame is on the parents...).

It's not hard! ...There's a princess for every hair color/race!

See?

and even the newest addition to the group:

(Note: EVERY SINGLE little black girl that I saw was dressed as Princess Tiana...so... it looks like SOME parents (not naming races here) have it right...big ups to them!!!)

Phew. Glad I could get that off of my chest. Sorry if that's horrible. I wish (more than you will EVER realize) that it didn't bug me as bad as it does... but let's all team up and try to set these people straight... and make the world a better (less confusing) place!