Back from DC!

MOOD STATUS: "Exhausted". Very little sleep and lots of walking on this recent weekend trip to DC.

Hi, all! Thank you so much for stopping by Diane Estrella's blog for a chance to win a copy of my book. She will have the results of the book win and all the other winners of her giveaways over on her blog today. :)

Friday, after I posted on my blog about her contest, I left town on a little trip with a few of my friends and their hubbies. (This was a no kids weekend trip) Last year we went to Boston and this year we decided to give Washington DC a whirl.

The last time I was in DC, I think I was in 6th grade so it was nice to get back and see the sights. We stayed in the Georgetown area and that's where all our dinner reservations were. My favorite was the Peacock Cafe. I'm still thinking about the food I ate there. It was THAT delicious!!

We got into Georgetown late so we just walked around the shops before dinner. Saturday we were able to do the bulk of sightseeing in the monument area. Our first stop was Arlington National Cemetery. Believe it or not, I had never been there or had seen the changing of the guards before, so it was really cool to be able to do that. Then we needed o grab some lunch so we were told (by many people we asked) to go to Chinatown.

Fine. So we jumped on the Metro. Well, we did that and then... yada yada yada my friend is asking the Pentagon police to call us a taxi. LOL

Long story.

Just know there were lots of Metro delays, lots of escalators and somehow we ended up at the Pentagon--which was completely deserted. (The area around it too) Very weird.

Anyhew...after all that, we finally made it to Chinatown and decided to go into an Irish Pub. We ate quesadillas there. (Does anyone else find humor in that?) :)

After lunch we went to the Holocaust Museum. Oh. My. Gosh. What can I really say about that? I would have liked to have spent more time in it. It was incredibly moving. If you're ever in DC, this is a MUST SEE.

I did want to see the Lincoln Memorial again but there wasn't enough time in our schedule. Obviously a day and a half isn't enough to take in the sights. Next time, Abe.

Basically, the purpose of the trip was to just have a nice couples' weekend, hang out, see some sights and enjoy some nice meals with each other. But we did manage to catch of the "night life" in DC too.

I have quite a few stories, but I'll tell you just this one: We decide we all want to go dancing. So my friend looks up and sees a club called Midtown on the second floor of this building. The music was really pumping. Sounds great, right? But the catch was there was a LONG line to get in.

In fact, it's just like what you see in movies and TV when you think about a NYC club with the velvet ropes and people waiting to get in. Well, we reluctantly got in line. But we're only there standing for about 30 seconds then all of a sudden a guy all runway-suited-up with the earpiece and all (just like TV!) approaches us. He asked us how many were in our party. So we tell him six and then he tells us to follow him. He led us behind the velvet rope and right up the steps of the club and didn't charge us any cover either. It was so cool!

We felt like total rock stars. :)

What a great time we all had! But I need to go back to Dc and bring the kidlet--when she's a little older. :)

Oh, and they had this place called Georgetown Cupcakes in Georgetown. Every time we passed by it--no matter what time of day or night--there was a line outside the door. (What is it with DC and lines?) Anyway, Sunday before we went home we bought a few boxes of cupcakes to take home.

PS: They were definitely worth standing in line for. :)

No writing for me today. It's all about unpacking, laundry, and catching up on emails.

What did you do this weekend?

When was the last time you went to Washington DC? What's your favorite place to visit there?

Back in the New Year

MOOD STATUS: "Excited". Pumped up to run off all those holiday carbs this morning.

Hey, all!

Happy New Year!

I thought I'd ease into my normal blogging schedule this week and start by just catching up with everyone.

So as not to bore anyone...here's the condensed version of MY holiday time off:

Christmas: I laughed, I cried, I prayed, I ate, I...
got me a pair of chocolate brown UGG boots.

Oooh, how did that slip out? :)

Ha! Well, the hubby did get me a pair of UGGs, and I can happily tell you that I'm loving life now that the temperature has dropped to 23 degrees. Brrr. But my feet are toasty warm!

New Year's: I laughed, I cried, I ate some more, I watched the movie UP twice, I skied a few days, I lit some sparklers and actually stayed up to see the ball drop. Woo-hoo.

Skiing went a THOUSAND times better this time than it did last year. After last year's fiasco of tripping my 60 year old ski instructor and testing his saintly patience, I begged my hubby not to make me take another lesson this year. I'm THAT bad.

(And yes, it's embarrassing.)

So I did not, but I did ask for shorter skis (ANY help I could get) and that really made a difference. I'm still on the bunny hill, but I'm not falling.
And I must say I looked darn cute in my new goggles.

I also started reading a new book about writing that I LOVE. It's spot on. Will talk about that on Wednesday.

So how was your Christmas and New Year's? Do anything fun or interesting?

Back With a Boston Recap!

IN THE NEWS: Man allegedly takes car on 1,000-mile test drive. Read more HERE.

Well, I'm back from my trip!

Can I just tell you how much I LOVE Boston? (Too bad. I just did.)

In fact, I love it so much and kept bragging about it to all my friends that I took them all up with me this time. We go into town (after a mere 45 min flight) and we took them first to Faneuil Hall and Durgin Park for dinner.

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful fall day, so we went on a walking tour around town. This is Acorn Street--a narrow lane paved with cobblestones, often mentioned as the most picturesque (or the most frequently photographed) street in the United States.

(And you can see why)

After a quick bite to eat at The Bull & Finch Pub--AKA Cheers-- we took a tour of Fenway Park!

We had dinner at Panza in the North End--which is the Italian section in town. We tried to get some cannolis at Mike's Pastry but the line was out the door and down the block, so we had dessert at Cafe Vittoria (which was just as yummy!)

Sunday was a wash of a day--weather wise--which actually turned out fine since we were pretty tired from Friday and Saturday and had a late start anyway. And since our hotel was hooked onto The Prudential Center, we didn't have to venture outside until dinner time.

We had dinner at Jacob Wirth's in the theater district since we had tickets for a show called Shear Madness--an improvisation and humorous whodunit where the audience gets to solve the crime. Our seats were right in front so we had a great time interacting with the cast!

Anyhew... we got home Monday and I spent Tuesday trying to play e-mail catch-up (which I'm still desperately trying to do) :)

Have you ever been to Boston?

Time Off For Good Behavior

MOOD STATUS: "Excited!"

Well, I've earned some brownie points for working so hard these last few weeks. So I'm taking some time off with the hubby (and six of our good friends) and going on a little vacation.
No kids!!
Uh, I mean... no kids. Boo-hoo.

Anyhew...

Where are you going? you might ask. I'll give you a few hints:

1) Baked beans

2) Good Will Hunting

3) Samuel Adams

See you next week!

Vacation Days

IN THE NEWS: Octopus gets inside lunchbox at Boston aquarium. Read more HERE.


Vacation picture time!

We were in sunny--yet cold--Florida. Bonita Springs to be exact. It was a little too breezy and cool to go swimming the first day (68 degrees doesn't cut in my book) so we played some mini golf.
The kiddo ended up getting a hole in one.


We took a walk around our condo unit the next morning. This cormorant (I think that's what it's called) was drying out its wings in the sun.

This snowy white egret was a few yards away.

The next morning we ended up going to Everglades Wonder Gardens and taking a little animal tour. This is one LARGE crocodile. My mother-in-law and I thought it was fake at first. Apparantly, crocodiles do not have sweat glands, so they release heat through their mouths, which is one of the reasons they keep their mouths open like that.

Baby alligators ----------->>

Kiddo petting a baby alligator.

<----------------------

A cute otter. Well, he seemed cute, until the tour guide told us that they had to keep him by himself because if he didn't like the other otter, he'd drown it. Um, nice to meet you?

Spent the rest of my time in the outside hot tub, reading in the sun, and of course, EATING.

Now where's the gym again?

I Have a Sister! (Uh, sort of)

MENTAL STATUS: "Refreshed". Just got back from... the Bahamas! Atlantis, to be specific.

IDOL COMMENT: Thank goodness David Cook won. I voted for him at least 10 or so times the other night, so I'm really happy for him.

Gee, I know some of my friends reading this are probably thinking, "Good heavens, Atlantis again?"

Yes, Atlantis AGAIN.

Lay off. I love that place. I know I'm in a rut. My hubby realizes we're in a rut. But as one of the mother's in my daughter's kindergarten class said, "I'd love to be in a rut like that." So, I guess it could be worse.

We had a FAB time. And I have to tell ya, nothing makes you look five pounds thinner than getting a nice tan--with tan lines especially. It's like spraying a girdle on yourself. I will post pictures soon. Uh, not of my girdle skin -- but of the Bahamas trip. I'm still getting back in the swing of things--like cooking dinner again (and obviously writing)--but I will download the pictures soon then I'll post a few shots.

And lastly, for some REALLY BIG news: one of my critique partners, Angelle Trieste just sold a story to Samhain Publishing!!! So now, we're not only crit partners but we're Samhain sisters as well. I'm so proud. *sniff sniff*

Anything new going on with you?

Boston Trip Recap

MENTAL STATUS: "Happy". Just got back from a great little trip to Boston, came back and went to a birthday party in Atlantic City, and then a neighborhood BBQ. All in all, it was a pretty good week.


So I guess I've left my book trailer up long enough and milked it for all it's worth now. It's time to post something different.

Like my Boston trip. :)

As I mentioned in a previous post, it was my hubby's 40th birthday, so I got him Red Sox tickets at Fenway Park. He was thrilled, but he likes to give me a hard time and jokes to anyone that will listen that I basically gave him a 14 hour drive ( 7 hours each way) for his birthday. Tee-hee.

Anyhew, we stayed in Marblehead which is a town about 13 miles north of Boston and near where we used to live. It's one of my favorite towns up there because it's very rich in history and there's plenty of stores (like In The Pink) I like to browse around in.

We rented bikes and toured around town for the morning of our first day. We couldn't help stopping off at The Barnacle (shown below) for lunch. This place is sooooo good and has wonderful no cholesterol fried seafood. Uh, it's apparently the home of the $20 lobster roll (market price) too--which I had ordered. Ooops.
With our tummies full of lobster, we made our way to Boston later that day. Here is a statue of G. Washington in the Boston Common. I believe this was the first statue of him on horseback.

We walked around the North End part of Boston too. Mostly the Italian district with lots of wonderful restaurants and people hanging out of their windows drinking cappuccino (only a slight exaggeration)

Below is Mike's Pastry. I have NEVER--and I mean NEVER--had a better cannoli than here in my life. And they now ship anywhere in the country.

Swan Boats in the Public Garden.

We finally made it to the game that night. It was unseasonably warm-which made the experience even better.

And of course, the fact that they won that night added to the experience, too. My mom calling me three states away in the middle of the game to ask me where the potato peeler was also added to the experience. In a different kind of way, though. Grrrr.

Me by the Green "Monstah".

I have to say, there is nothing like seeing a game at Fenway. The park is small so there's really not a bad seat and the crowd is crazy. If you ever saw the movie Fever Pitch, you'd realize there was no gross exaggeration done with the portrayal of Red Sox fans. They are nuts. (But in a good way) :)

We had an awesome time. The whole trip really couldn't have been a nicer gift for my husband.

Have you ever been to Boston?

Happy Halloween!

IN THE NEWS: According to World Magazine, "To draw new students, the University of California, Riverside, says it will try out a petting zoo at a Nov. 3 recruitment fair for local high-school students. But the university plans to have only one animal available for petting: cockroaches. University officials say the fair is geared to future science teachers and engineers who may not be completely grossed out by the idea of petting roaches. Even so, school representatives plan to have plenty of rubber gloves at the ready."

Well, I'm back from my little getaway! (And a little frazzled already.)


As soon as I came home from my vacation, I realized I had forgotten to bake cupcakes because now that I'm a "room mom", I'm supposed to be in charge of stuff like this. Ooops. They're made--and look pretty darn good.
Now I have rush out to a Halloween party this morning at my daughter's school. (I'm bringing the cupcakes and the plates/napkins, and if I don't show, there will be serious trouble afoot)

Oh, and I still need to get Halloween candy to give out tonight.

Oh, yeah, and I have one Snow White wig in my house that looks as if she fell on some pretty rough times and had to get a job working the streets. Actually, I can't even say that. The wig Julia Roberts wore in Pretty Woman looked MUCH better than this thing that's shedding big black hairs all over my beige rugs. I even tried cutting it last night. I'm not sure if Snow White wears bangs, but she has bangs now.

The wig doesn't look bad, but it needs more work. I have a five-year-old counting on me. (She's going as Snow White if you haven't had your coffee yet) But she'll be a "bride" for school, in the meantime. She looks beautiful. **sniff sniff**

Anyhew, I'm off to do a quick blogroll and leave for school. I will tell of my trip later.

Happy Halloween!

MGM (day 4)

MENTAL STATUS: "Happy" despite poor sleep. Woke myself up around 4AM due to dreams of giant spiders and small snakes. But I did do some writing yesterday. The daughter is getting over her cold. We have more cupcakes in the house. So, life is good.

Where was I? Oh yeah. MGM Studios:

We did pretty tame things there. So no Tower of Tower ride or Rock 'n' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith for us (namely, me). But we did catch A LOT of shows. By the end of the day my daughter was pretty much "showed out". Luckily, she had a little recharging at the Playhouse Disney Live on Stage show to make it to the Fantasmic show.

THE best show at MGM!!!

And one we would have never saw if it hadn't been for my stubborn four-year old. She had been helping me "read" the map that day and every time we sat down somewhere she'd point to where the Fantasmic show was and ask me about it. (On the map you see Mickey, fire, lights and a dragon, so naturally it intrigued her)

Even at the end of the day when we were all dragging, she still insisted we see that show--knowing nothing about it. Even my mother-in-law could not cleverly try to persuade her to change her mind by offering to buy her something instead. My daughter said, "I don't want to look at a store. I want to see the show." (This really cracked me up. What kid turns down a toy to see a show? And she loves to shop.)

To quote a line from the Terminator movie, "It can't be reasoned with. It can't be bargained with. And it absolutely will not stop."

That's my girl.

Well, I'm glad she was so stubborn, because I really loved this show. I was afraid it would be a little scary for her (this show is NOT for 3 and under) but she really enjoyed it too. We also had a lovely dinner at the Brown Derby courtesy of my in-laws, so all in all, it was a great day.

Here are some more pics.

This is from the Car Stunt show.


This person (or rather woman) was actually on fire. It's hard to see. She had some sort of gel on her suit which is what actually burned.


These pics are from the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. (I noticed a trend of fire, water and lights for practically all the MGM shows.)

Ah. Something tame again. Pics from the Beauty and the Beast Show. (We had great seats)

Whew! Another vacation day gone by. Trust me, we're almost done here.

Now it's off to story time at the library and hopefully I can get some critiquing done for my critique partners.

Have a great day!

More Magic Kingdom Talk (day 3 & 5)

IN THE NEWS: According to World Magazine, "One Scottsdale, Ariz., middle school shut down after a student reported seeing Batman run across campus, jump a fence, and disappear into the desert. As a result, school officals put three local schools on lock-down and police helicopters tried in vain to find whatever the student saw."
I like how they started the article: "Holy Overreaction, Batman!")


Ah. Now, back to the highlights of our vacation.

If this is boring you...tough. This is my blog.

This picture is hubby, spawn and the mother-in-law in the teacups.

This is the boat we took for the Jungle Cruise ride. I remembered this ride from when I was a child at Disney. (It hasn't changed much) This is also the place where we were briefly standing in line and the mother-in-law turns to us and says, "Boy, did that guy just check Jennifer out." Of course, my reaction was, "Huh? Who? What? Where?"
Which proves three things:
1) My mother-in-law is much more observant than I am.
2) Married men still check out other married women. (Shame on you!)
3) And after being married with child...I've still got it! Woo-hoo!





This was my daughter's favorite roller coaster--and one even I could handle. This was also the one where my daughter cried after the 3 second ride only went around the small track ONCE. (Definitely not worth the wait. And if I was four, I would have cried too.)

This pic is the Stepmother and sisters from Cinderella. My daughter tried to get their autograph but they didn't stick around long enough, which only prompted her to not like them EVEN more!

Well, that's all for today. Going to get my rear in gear and do a little writing. I'm posting the "Do Not Disturb" sign on my forehead. (Not that my daughter can read) We'll see what happens anyway.

Who else is writing today?