Tales of Interest!

Lightning vs. Leafs

2011-04-09T21:25:00.000-04:00

The whole reason we went to Canada was to watch the Tampa Bay Lightning play in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.

Game 1 - Lightning vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

I wore a Lightning hat, but no jersey. I didn't want to stand out as a 'visitor'.

The Lightning totally dominated! Check it out, 6-2.
After the game, I was taking photo of the team all congratulating Dwayne Roloson (goalie) on an awesome game.

Little did I know that 2 Leafs fans were pummeling each other a few rows over. I finally looked up, and both guys were all bloody. I should've been taking photos of that!

Let me tell you something, Canadians are super patriotic. My hat goes off to them. When "O Canada!" played before the game, everybody sang along! I must admit, it is a catchy tune.

Niagara Falls

2011-04-07T09:27:00.001-04:00

(that's me with the American side of the falls in the background. I must admit, the Canadian falls were way cooler than the USA's.)

I haven't been to Niagra Falls in forever. It's not one of those rip roaring, fun filled things to do, but it's one of those famous places you can say you've been to.

It was also FREEZING! It was in the 30s, plus the fall are a giant mist machine. That mist hits your face and partially freezes. My hands were totally frozen by the end of the day.

We spend about 4 hours walking back and forth down the sidewalk looking at the falls. By 4pm we were ready to get going. Then we found out that at 8pm, the falls light up!

We went back and forth, trying to decide if we wanted to kill ANOTHER 4 hours and stick around until 8pm. We figured that we'll never be here again, so why not. We sat in Tim Horton's for about an hour, aimlessly wandered around for another 3 hours, and finally the light show started!

Looking back, it wasn't a glorious light show. Or maybe I was just tired and cold. This is probably the best photo I got of the entire show.

Really?!? So I shouldn't climb over the railing and plummet to my death?

Hockey Hall of Fame

2011-04-03T21:09:00.002-04:00

Our first stop in Toronto was the Hockey Hall of Fame.

(get used to my purple puffy vest. It's the only coat I own, and I wore it day and night!)

I must admit, the Hall of Fame was pretty cool. They had the Stanley Cup out and available for all to see an touch.

Here is a close up of the 2003-2004 Tampa Bay Lightning championship team.

Here is how the hall displays their Hall of Famers. I must admit, its way better than the silly looking plaques that the Baseball Hall of Fame uses.

This stud is Jaques Plante, the first goalie to wear a mask.

Since it was "March Break" in Toronto, the hall of fame had some special things going on. The coolest part was all the area mascots roaming around.

Here is a photo of me with Chuck the Puck!

DIY pants into a skirt

2011-04-01T21:13:00.003-04:00

So here I have a pair of pants that are a little tight around the thighs. Since the waist fits just fine, I decided to try my hand at turning pants into a skirt!

Step 1: Cut the legs in half.

Step 2: Take the top half and cut around the inside of the legs. I actually used a seem ripper to rip the seams out. It was much cleaner than just cutting, although it took 10 times as long.

Step 3: Take 1 of the legs and cut it open. I didn't bother to seam rip this part.

Steps 4-?: I didn't take photos of. Ooops!

Basically you take the bottom leg part and sew it in a V shape in the front. You can see the upside down V in the final product below.

I assumed it would need to sew another upside down V in the back, but when I tried it on (with the back flapping in the breeze), I realize I could just sew up the back and call it a day!

A new bottom hem, and I'm done!

The Magic, The Memories and You!

2011-01-23T21:29:00.001-05:00

Check out (most) of the new Magic Kingdom castle show.

Jonathan managed to record most of it before his flip cam battery died.

I think my favorite part is around the 2:25 mark. Although the train scene is pretty neat. And the consensus is that the rocket scene rocks!

You aren't digital scrapbooking yet?

2011-01-04T11:55:00.001-05:00

I haven't tried to convince anybody to start digital scrapbooking lately ... so here goes:

Put down those scissors and glue and boot up your computer! It's so much cheeper (you can reuse "elements" and "papers" over and over again). You can match colors PERFECTLY with photoshop. And it's less 'stuff' to have in your house.

Here is my gallery on MouseScrappers. Come look around and see the cool stuff you can create with just a computer.

Speed Scrapping Marathon - Jan 7-9

2011-01-02T09:51:00.004-05:00

Get your scrapbooking shoes on, because MouseScrappers is hosting a Speed Scrap Marathon!

I'm hosting on at 6pm EST on Saturday, January 8. It's my first time running a speed scrap, so we'll see how I handle the 'speedy' pressure!

Castaway Cay

2010-12-23T11:07:00.000-05:00

We barely made it to Castaway Cay because it was so windy. In fact, the captain had to rearrange the entire itinerary. We made it there a day late, but we still made it!

Thankfully, the wind died down so it was comfortable. It was still kind-of chilly though.

The island had some Christmas decorations, but not too many. I was actually mildly disappointed at the lack of decor.

Although the tram was sure in the Christmas spirit!

Must be Santa ...

2010-12-21T11:52:00.001-05:00

One morning, as I was walking around deck 4 watching the boat dock, I ran into Santa in the lobby. Unfortunately I looked homeless, and I hadn't showered yet, but hey - it's Santa!!!

I also ran into a different looking Santa in Nassau, Bahamas.

I just notice something funny about these 2 photos. Photo with Santa in the lobby - I'm unshowered. Photo with plastic dark Santa, I'm showered. Yet, I look pretty much the same, and I seem to be wearing almost the same clothing. Gross ...

Jodi Benson!

2010-12-20T09:57:00.002-05:00

Jonathan, his parents and I just got off a wonderful (and cold!) 4-night Disney cruise.

Check out who else was cruising with us ... Jodi Benson, the voice of The Little Mermaid.

We bumped into her in the lobby, then again in the lunch buffet line (where we got our photo with her. She mentioned she was doing a show and autograph signing the next day (for a private group, but hey, she invited us!) so we went to that too.

She was so sweet and nice. And her voice was amazing! She same songs from a bunch of broadway shows and 90's Disney movies. We really got lucky that this private group was on the same cruise as us! I felt quasi-guilty crashing their private concert, but heck, Jodi 'personally' invited us! (ha ha ha!)

More Harry Potter Land!

2010-12-10T16:42:00.000-05:00

More random photos from HP land!

Jonathan's new toy

2010-12-09T16:39:00.001-05:00

My Black Friday deal was a ladder from Lowes (see my 365 photo-a-day album on facebook).

Jonathan's black Friday deal was a flip cam. I guess he uses them at work alot, so he was familiar with how awesome they are.

He's been playing around by taking short videos at the Osborn lights (at Disney), and he walked around HP land at Universal all day.

I caught him in action a couple times. Hee hee. Here he is standing outside of the 3 Broomsticks restaurant. See the actual 3 broomsticks above his head? There's also a "wanted - Serius Black" poster to his right.

More Harry Potter Land!

2010-12-08T16:37:00.000-05:00

Harry Potter Land is a cross between Hogsmead and Hogwarts. Some HP purists say things like, "there's no Olivanders wand shop in Hogsmead!!!", but I didn't care. I don't really pay attending to many minor details when I'm reading.

It was really fun just to wander around and look in all the shop windows.

Here you can see an overview of the 'land'. HoneyDukes is the sweet shop (chocolate frogs, etc ...) and one of the outdoor Butterbeer carts.

And, it's snowing in Florida!!!! (nah, it's all fake)

Butterbeer!

2010-12-07T16:22:00.003-05:00

Hog's Head - home of the Butterbeer! (and other alcoholic drinks, but who cares about those)

One of the attractions at Harry Potter land is the food! They serve butterbeer, pumpkin juice, chocolate frogs and more! The main attraction is the butterbeer. It tasted like a sweeter cream soda, and we LOVED IT!

We had 4 through out the day. It comes in 'frozen', which is a slushie consistency and 'regular'. Frozen was by far the best!

Pumpkin juice was NASTY!!! Normally if I order something, and it's gross, I'll choke it down just b/c I paid for it. This crap I couldn't even choke down. It was downright disgusting.

Butterbeer #1 (frozen). There is some delightful foam on the top that makes a fantastic mustache!

Butterbeer #2 (regular)

Butterbeer #3 (frozen again!)

Butterbeer #4 (one more for the road in the souvenir mug!)

Harry Potter land

2010-12-06T16:15:00.005-05:00

Jonathan had a free ticket to Universal Studios that expires at the end of this 2010. We calculated the perfect day to go would be 12/5/10. The Christmas decorations would be up, and it's the perfect time in-between Thanksgiving and Christmas so the parks would be dead.

Were our calculations correct?

Heck yes they were!

Did you hear news stories about people waiting for hours and hours and hours to ride the new ride? (That's not an exaggeration - when "Harry Potter land" first opened this summer you had to wait multiple hours just to GET IN to the land, much less do anything.

We walked right on the ride. No waiting, no nothing ... walked right on.

The ride is inside the giant Hogwarts castle. The queue line is fully decorated like the inside of the castle, so I honestly wanted to wait a little tiny bit so I could look at all the details.

Later on in the day we walked thru the queue line again. This time the line was a whopping 15 minutes (ha!). When we got to the front we said, "we don't want to ride please", and went thru the chicken exit.

The ride is pretty cool, but it's 1/2 looking at stuff and 1/2 virtual reality. My inner ear can't handle that virtual stuff. Even Jonathan was a little queazy afterwards.

The ride was kind-of scary. A dragon and a bunch of dementors are in your face (I mean, inches away!).

More on HP land (better known as "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter") later!

Laundry Strike - over!

2010-11-17T19:35:00.002-05:00

Well, I survived my laundry strike. Now I'll be doing laundry for the next week and a half.

I made it 70 days.

I could've made it a tad longer, but I just didn't want to. I had a dress and a couple skirts left, but day 71 just felt like a jeans day. So I washed 'em and wore 'em.

Now I'm back to picking what ever the heck I want out of my closet, and it feels so good!!

Laundry Strike - Day 69-70

2010-11-13T19:35:00.000-05:00

Day 69 - Skirt Tuesday! And it's also freezing outside. So I figured skirt (bare legs) + sweater = warmth. I was dead wrong. Also, why have I never worn this skirt before. I love it!!!

Day 70 - Hippy shirt day! I'm quickly running out of things that match.

Laundry Strike - Day 66-68

2010-11-13T13:07:00.000-05:00

Day 66 - Normally I would be wearing my jeans, thermal and thift store sweater (it's cold in Florida!), but I spilled coffee grinds all over them! Have you ever seen those free compost grinds that Starbucks gives away? Well, be careful if you take a bag ...

Day 67 - Wedding wear! Since it's chilly, I'm glad I own 1 almost long sleeve dress.

Day 68 - Since I woke up at the crack of dawn to get a new tire on my car, AND I'm out of jeans, it's sweatpants day at Walmart!

Laundry Strike - Day 64-65

2010-11-11T13:30:00.000-05:00

Day 64 - I am rapidly running out of clothing! Could this outfit be any more blah?!?
Day 65 - This is one of my favorite shirts. I like the color, and I like the 3/4 sleeves. Why did I wait so long to wear it?!?

Laundry Strike - Day 60-63

2010-11-09T16:20:00.000-05:00

Day 60 - Holy moly, I made it to week 2!

Day 61 - Making some new friends at the Magic Kingdom. Seriously, how cute is Flynn Ryder (character from the new movie Tangled)?

Day 61 - Ok, ok ... you got me. I'm wearing the same shorts as the day before. But I didn't watch them (hence, the laundry strike is still on!). And I'm just running in and out of Walmart ...

Day 62 - Skirt Tuesday. This is the skirt I made a couple months ago.

Adios Halloween!

2010-11-08T12:56:00.002-05:00

I love 75% off sales after the holidays!

Let's face it, I don't need any more Halloween decorations or any candy, but I always seem to find a gem in the clearance isle.

Today my big find was 25 cent candles (black, but when they are inside a votive, nobody can tell) and a 2 pack of Halloween underwear for $1! So what if they are black and say "spooky" on the butt (I'm so embarrassed right now)?!? As long as I'm not wearing white shorts, I should be ok.

Laundry Strike - Day 56-59

2010-10-30T15:05:00.000-04:00

Day 56 - I decided to change things up and wear a cardigan.

Day 57 - Happy skirt Tuesday!

Day 58 - Thank you laundry strike. I've never EVER worn these pants. I'm pretty sure they were hand me downs. They were a little tight on top, but overall a fun surprise. Does anybody else find clothes in their closet they kind-of forgot about?!?

Day 59 - Just a few hours at work in the wee hours of the morning (2:50am is the wee hours right?). Go Padres! (for some reason)

Laundry Strike - Day 53-55

2010-10-29T21:14:00.000-04:00

Day 53 - More Breast Cancer awareness pink!

Day 54 - Brown cardigan time!

Day 55 - Magic Kingdom with the MouseScrappers gang!

Laundry Strike - Day 48-52

2010-10-27T13:58:00.000-04:00

Day 48 - Never left the house! Cut me some slack on this one. I worked a lot last week.

Day 49 - Getting called in to work at 3am = black shirt. I think I have 1 long sleeve black shirt in my closet.

Day 50 - I just wanted to show off that this used to be a long sleeve sweater that was sooooooo hot. So I shortened the sleeves and now it's fantastic!

Day 51 - I'm officially out of jeans. Well, I have 1 skinny pair left. I'm not sure those are work appropriate.

Day 52 - I stood next to a guy who was wearing a lime green shirt. Everybody kept saying, "ahhhh - you guys match!" My shirt is yellow! It's an old shirt ... is it moldy or something?!?

P.S. Dear zit on my forehead,

Please go away.

Thanks,

Amber

Skirt Tuesday here I come!

2010-10-26T13:55:00.000-04:00

My friend Julie gave me 2 adorable skirts about 3 years ago. The only problem ... they are too long for a shorty like me. Skirts that hit me mid calf just make my bottom half bigger than it already is.

(wearing fleece socks with a long skirt also make your bottom half bigger than it already is!)

So I finally got my act together and tore it apart. It's hard to tell from the photo, but there is a ribbon layer above the bottom stitching. I cut that off and 3 more inches.

Wa-la! I'm very pleased with my results!

Laundry Strike - Day 42-47

2010-10-24T20:16:00.006-04:00

Day 42 - "You're a weiner" ... classic. And cozy for a little Food & Wine festival at Epcot.

Day 43 - I just want to say that I love this green shirt. I had a coupon for The Gap (I never shop there), but I found this beauty for only $6.

Day 44 - Skirt Tuesday! We were having a party at work, and I knew I would have to do a lot of lifting and walking, so I wore my coziest dress made out of t-shirt material. I had to dress it up a tad with a ... what else ... cardigan!

(Off topic - I bought a $5 cardigan today)

Day 45 & 46 - This is kind-of cheating, but I worked 20 hours in a row starting at 9:30pm on Wednesday night. That's not a typo ... 20 hours. So this was my outfit on Wednesday AND Thursday.

Day 47 - Pink day at work for Breast Cancer awareness. If you're paying attention to my blog, you'll recognize this cardigan! (I tore apart an ill fitting sweater and made it into a fun cardigan.)

Britt-ish Designs!

2010-10-24T20:14:00.003-04:00

Yes, I labeled this post as "celebrities".

I met the super uber talented Britt of Britt-ish Designs at the Magic Kingdom today.

If you're still scrapbooking with glue and paper, get with the program!

Come visit Britt's blog and join the fun!

P.S. Josh - if you're reading this, she didn't spend too much at Property Control. :)

Time Warp!

2010-10-15T18:34:00.004-04:00

Has anybody flown over the International Date line? One minute you're in "today" and the next minute you're in "tomorrow".

Anyway, on Wednesday night I went in to work at 9:30pm. I didn't leave until 5:30pm the next afternoon (you do the math).

I went home, immediately went to sleep, and woke up for work on Friday.

So all day I was thinking, "what day is today? It is really Friday?!?"

I went into work on Wednesday, and the next day I went into work was Friday. I just kind-of skipped over Thursday! Very international-date line like. It was an odd feeling ...

Laundry Strike - Day 38-41

2010-10-10T13:51:00.002-04:00

Wow - over 40 days in and I'm still going strong! Well, I'm almost out of jeans, so 'casual day' at work won't be so casual for me. Bummer

Day 38 - Boston thrift store Gap shirt for $1. I love it!

Day 39 - ADLS game 2. Go Rays!

Day 40 - Breast cancer awareness Friday. Go pink!

Day 41 - Casual Saturday at work. I only have 2 pairs of jeans left. Pair #1 are kind-of skinny. I don't think I can pull those off right now. So pair #2 it is!

Joe Rhode

2010-10-06T19:01:00.000-04:00

I met super Imagineer Joe Rhode on the cruise.

I was actually stalking Bill Farmer (the voice of Goofy) at the time, and Joe Rhode is standing right on front of me. So why not ask him for a photo.

I'm wearing my super cool uniform, while Joe looks very daper and island-y.

Joe is the mastermind behind Aulani, the Adventure's Club, Expedition Everest and pretty much the entire Animal Kingdom park.

Cheers Joe!

Laundry Strike - Day 34-37

2010-10-05T17:13:00.002-04:00

Day 34 - Almost 12 hour day at work. Just the day for a purple shirt that's pretty much made out of paper. I *heart* you H&M!

Day 35 - I had every intention of leaving the house, but then I never did. So I wasted one of my favorite t-shirts for nothing. I got it in (guess!) Hawaii in 2005. And it's a little chilly in Florida (low 80s!), so I'm rocking the fleece socks.

Day 36 - Yikes. Why didn't somebody tell me my pants are too tight. Gross!

Day 37 - Happy Skirt Tuesday! I don't like this white shirt, but that's kind-of the point of the laundry strike, to wear stuff I haven't worn in forever. And yet another Gap $3 thrift store skirt. What's the deal with Gap skirts and people giving them to thrift stores?!? I guess I shouldn't complain.

Squeak, squeak!

2010-10-05T13:58:00.000-04:00

How cute are these little guys from that Pixar short film?

On the SS Member Cruise 2010 they were hiding over in the Route 66 area of the ship.

Happy Birthday Corey!

2010-10-04T12:09:00.000-04:00

My little brother (aka: Walter Payton) is 29 today.

Happy Birthday!

Hi Grandma!

2010-10-03T13:46:00.002-04:00

In case you thought I was cool ... here I am knitting on the beach at Disney's Castaway Cay.

Ironically, I'm knitting a scarf.

Just the article of clothing one needs on the beach!

Hey, when you're on a cruise for work and you get 2 hours off, you head for the beach, but don't get too dirty! No time for a shower before your shift starts.

Laundry Strike - Day 31, 32, 33

2010-10-01T19:27:00.002-04:00

Day 31 - It's Hawaiian shirt day at work. So I borrowed a shirt from my co-worker. I offered to wash it (thus breaking my streak!), but he took it home instead. Whew!

Day 32 - I was planning on wearing a purple cardigan over this shirt (it's not super duper work appropriate) but it's just so darn hot at work! So I saved a cardigan for another day.

Day 33 - Cardigan time! Today was a Friday in October. It was 'wear pink day' for breast cancer awareness. But October kind of snuck up on me, and I pretty much wore the opposite of pink - black!

Protein Spill!

2010-09-29T18:52:00.000-04:00

If you work at Disney, you know what a 'protein spill' is. If you're not privy to that lingo ... it's a fancy way to say 'barf'.

So I just got home from Disneyland in California. They have a new show called World of Color. They sell cute popcorn buckets full of rainbow colored popcorn as a souvenir.

Jonathan bought one at 10am on Sunday morning. We started nibbling immediatly.

At noon I felt kind-of queezy. I figured it was because I had been eating like crap all weekend, and it was 100 degrees outside.

By 1pm I can barely function, so I found a quiet corner and laid down. All of a sudden, I felt "that feeling" and took off running outside to find a corner. I got within 10 feet of a bathroom and "protein spill!" I felt like a 5 year old who just puked in public.

Let me tell you ... that puke was GORGEOUS! There was a rainbow at my feet! Red, yellow, blue, purple ... just beautiful. I almost took a photo of it ... then I realized that was gross. Ha ha ha.

My M.O. is that the second I puke, I'm totally fine. So, after that embarrassing moment, I was totally healed and spend the next 11 hours at Disney. If you're doing the math, we left at midnight.

Laundry Strike - Day 27-30

2010-09-28T20:25:00.004-04:00

Day 27 - Lime green (man, I love that color for some reason) t-shirt and Doreen ... one of the original Mouseketters!

Day 28 - It's a billion degrees outside, so it's skimpy blue tank top day. (I'm in the front row, left side. The moronic girl with her eyes closed).

Day 29 - Again, it's a billion degrees outside, so it's another tank top day. Side note: the black shorts I'm wearing used to be capris. I cut off about 4 inches, made a hem, and wa-la - instant shorts! Capris on a short person like me look ridiculous.

Day 30 - Back to work, and it's Skirt Tuesday again! I thought it was "wear your Hawaiian shirt to work day", but it turns out that wasn't the case. Oh well, I was looking forward to giving this dress I made a 'test run'.

Wow - I'm one month into my laundry strike, and I still have a closet full of clothes. That's actually kind-of pathetic. Although, that 4 day cruise where I wore a uniform all day really helped out.

Laundry Strike - Day 24, 25 & 26

2010-09-28T18:37:00.004-04:00

Day 24 - Back to work on Monday. Blah, blah, blah day. Perfect for a blah brown on brown outfit.

Day 25 - Skirt Tuesday! I changed at work before softball, so no exciting live photos. I love a good $5 Gap skirt from the thrift store!

Day 26 - It's 'fat pants' day. Every girl knows what I'm talking about.

Who is this red scallywag?

2010-09-23T10:21:00.004-04:00

A week ago I got off a Disney cruise. Cruises are the way to vacation, and nobody does it like Disney! It's normally a tad more expensive, but I really think it's worth it.

I was lucky enough to have a great travel companion ... Big Red! Big Red is our office's version of 'flat stanley'.

I handed Captain Jack Sparrow Big Red and said, "can you hold this and look confused?" To which he replied, "I'm always confused."

Rock on Captain Jack!

Laundry Strike - Day 16-23

2010-09-19T20:32:00.007-04:00

Wow - a whole week has gone by, and I still haven't done any laundry! This week was quite easy. I was on a business trip and wore a uniform for 4 days in a row! I actually had to wash the uniform over the weekend, so the washing machine got a little bit of work.

Days 16, 17, 18 19 & 20

Here's me in my snazzy uniform shirt. And that's Joe Rhode - super awesome Disney Imagineer! He created Expedition Everest (among many things).

Day 21 - Back to work. Since I just got off a cruise (for business - awesome huh!), I wore my fat pants. If you've ever been on a cruise, you know what I mean.

Day 22 - "I traded my boyfriend for a Yeti". Classy.

Day 23 - Headed over to my friend Kelly's house. Her house is always chilly, so I took a chance on wearing a long sleeve t-shirt (even though it's 90 degrees outside). My gamble worked out, I was quite comfy!

Disney Cruise

2010-09-16T17:02:00.004-04:00

I was honored to be one of three selected to represent my company on a Disney cruise this week.

I just got off the ship today. We all had a blast!

I'll post more stories and photos later.

DIY cardigan

2010-09-12T10:30:00.000-04:00

Ok - this scared me. Here I have a perfectly good sweater, but I'm going to cut it and make it a cardigan (b/c that what I need ... more cardigans!)

This Gap sweater is cute, but it just doesn't fit me right. It's a kids sweater (I have no boobs), but the shoulders are just awkward.

Step 1: I cut a 1" strip straight down the middle.

Step 2: I cut the sleeves 1/2 off

Step 3: I cut the neckline into a V

Step 4: Hem everything (pain!!!)

Step 5: Turn that 1" strip of fabric into a wacky looking flower. Notice before the sweater had a cute little heart on it. I covered it up with my wacky flower.

Step 6: I sewed a button hole! I was very proud of myself for this. I had never attempted a button hole before. It was kind-of a pain (especially using sweater material), but it worked!

Ta-da! Instant cardigan!

Laundry Strike - Day 13, 14 & 15

2010-09-11T21:57:00.003-04:00

Day 13 - lazy day off ... never left the house. (man, I really need to change my habits)

Day 14 - Football jersey day at work! I'm all about wearing un-dress code related things to work. However, this worries me. If there is a football party during my laundry strike, what will I wear? I guess I can probably wear this shirt 1 more time with out washing it first.

Day 15 - I wore my 'fat jeans' to work again. So now they have to be washed. I hope I still fit in my 'non fat jeans' next Saturday! Yet another cardigan ...

DIY dress

2010-09-10T20:54:00.000-04:00

So I'm still working on the 3lbs of fabric I bought at the Crate and Barrel outlet (in Illinois). It was all random sized remnants, but I had one fairly large piece.

Seriously, this piece of fabric would've cost almost $35, but I got it for about 50 cents.

I measured above my chest, and my hips, cut out a rhombus shape, sewed it up the middle, elastic at the top and ... wha-la! Instant dress!

So I didn't look like a pregnant tent, I also made a belt for cinching. (Who loved SNL in the 90s? "You just cinch it!" (Gap Girls)).

Laundry Strike - Day 9, 10, 11 & 12

2010-09-09T10:08:00.003-04:00

Day 9 - Playing in the Magic Kingdom day! Extremely random shirt given to me at a destination wedding (by my brother-in-law).

Day 10 - I wore my swimming suit all day at Blizzard Beach water park ... so there is NO WAY I'm posting a photo of that!

Day 11 - Skirt Tuesday. I picked up this beauty at a thift store. My husband HATED it so much. He calls it my 'safari outfit'. We were going on this night, so I went to put it back in (I had changed into jammies when I got home from work). He grabbed the dress and threw it in the dirty clothes pile!

Day 12 - Random work clothes. I'm wearing a cardigan again. I really didn't realize I had so many ... and we're only on Day 12.

The REAL Last Tour to Endor

2010-09-09T09:48:00.003-04:00

Jonathan is a member of D23 and for only $5 a person they had a party for members to be the last people (besides the Cast Members I'm guessing ...) to ride Star Tours.

Dramamine - check
Sea Bands - check

Let's do this!

They let us walk really slowly to the ride, taking photos of everything. Same with the queue, nobody was in any rush at all, which was pretty cool.

The best part - a stormtrooper sat on the ride with us! This photo is Me, Sheri and Alice. Lucky Alice got to sit next to Mr. Loveable. He was holding his hands up (weeeeeee!), shaking his fist at the Rebels and facepalming when the Dark Side was defeated.

After the ride they gave us a "official last ride" patch (awesome!!!) and all the Cast Members were making a bridge of plastic lightsabers. Random, but cool.

The other perk of this D23 party was being at the park ALONE at night. I brought my tri-pod and experimented with some night time photos.

DIY skirt

2010-09-05T17:18:00.000-04:00

I'm quite pleased with myself. I bought this fabric at the Crate & Barrel outlet in Illinois (possibly the greatest store EVER!) for 95 cents a pound. It was crazy! Normally this fabric is $35 a yard. Now that's a silly price, but my 95 cents a pound was a steal!!!

The easiest thing to make, I assumed, would be a skirt. I had never used elastic before, but how hard can it be?!?

Turns out, not hard at all - ta da!

What was hard was trying to make the blue lining for the inside. I ended up giving up on it. I hope the white skirt isn't too see-through. I guess I'll find out the first day I wear it to work.

Laundry Strike - Day 7 & 8

2010-09-04T17:08:00.006-04:00

Day 6.5 - Thursday ... my day off ... never took my jammies off!

Day 7 - one of my favorite shirts ever. Thank you Beth for the hand me downs! I have a feeling I'll need to wash the purple tank and wear it again (under more cardigans. I just love cardigans!)

Day 8 - Jeans day at work again! Does this yellow shirt look familiar (no - why would it?!?). I own 4 of the same shirt: black (I wore it earlier this week), yellow, purple and gray. Hey, when I find a bargain and in my size, I go nuts!

And I wore my 'fat' jeans today. I wanted to wear a different pair, but I need to spread my clothes out. That's what this entire thing is about!

Kennedy Space Center

2010-09-02T10:03:00.005-04:00

A year ago, Buzz Lightyear came back from a year long stay inside the International Space Station. He was welcomed back to Earth with a big parade at the Magic Kingdom. His good buddy Buzz Aldrin was on hand to welcome him back as well.

Jonathan was able to skip out of work for a few hours and meet Buzz Aldrin, and get his new book autographed.

Ever since he read that book, he's been dying to visit Kennedy Space Center.
It's over $40 a pop to get in to KSC, so I always put off going until we could find some great Florida resident coupon.

Queue the Star Wars Celebration and a SWAG bag. Insert 50% off coupon! The only kicker was that the coupon expired in 1 week. So off we went!

I was not overly excited to visit NASA, but it was surprisingly fun. The highlight was meeting a real astronaut! Jon McBride was a space shuttle pilot for 1 mission. He was a really cool guy.

So, I highly recommend a visit to KSC. I can't imagine paying full price (it would've been close to $90 for the both of us), so be on the lookout for coupons!

Laundry Strike - Day 4, 5 & 6

2010-09-01T19:51:00.003-04:00

Day 4 - How many boring black shirts do I own? We'll soon find out!

Also, how dusty is my closet mirror?!? Gross!

Day 5 - It's skirt Tuesday! I instituted 'skirt Tuesday' to force myself to wear the billon dresses and skirts I own. So far, I think it's working (for me at least).

Oddly enough, I got a zillion compliments on this dress this week. It struck me as odd b/c I've worn it to work before. But hey, I'll take a compliment, so 'thanks everybody!'

I should really be thanking my bud Hiromi for giving me this dress as a hand me down. I really love it!

Day 6 - I wore jeans to work for no good reason. Maybe because it's TGIF for me (even though it's Wednesday).

These aren't my favorite jeans, and I'm not a huge fan of this shirt ... but that's kind-of the point of my laundry strike: to force me to wear stuff I never wear. And if I wear it and hate it, then to the Salvation Army it goes!

Laundry Strike - Day 2 & 3

2010-08-29T21:28:00.002-04:00

Saturday was jeans day at work (yay!) and Sunday was a day off.

Adios purple super thin shirt that kind-of makes me look pregnant.

Adios favorite t-shirt ever (that I made! Well, I ironed on the hummingbird and flower. Does that count as 'made'?).

Laundry Strike - Day 1

2010-08-27T17:22:00.003-04:00

So I've officially begun. I guess I won't see this orange shirt for a while ...

New Challenge - Laundry strike!

2010-08-26T21:05:00.000-04:00

Inspired by the 'new dress a day' blog below, and an overstuffed closet, I have a new goal:

I'm going to see how long I can go with out doing

any laundry.

No, this is not a laziness thing, it's just to see how long I can go with wearing what's in my closet only once. No duplicate outfits. Although, am I the only person who wears pants twice before I wash them? Am I totally gross, or totally normal?

Let's face it, we all have "a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear". Well, I'm going to force myself to start wearing stuff.

Now, I anticipate washing:

socks

underwear

softball gear

tank tops (I own 2 white and 2 black ones - I figured I'll need to wear them under shirts)

That's it!

How long can I go with wearing only the stuff I own? I'm kind-of excited to find out.

Before you think that I'm a shop-a-holic, I want to prove you wrong. I haven't grown a bit since high school. Don't get jealous, I was not a skinny toothpick in high school.

Also, all my clothes are from the clearance rack at Old Navy, Target and hand me downs. People love to give me hand me downs, and I love to accept them!

So, is anybody with me?

New Dress A Day

2010-08-18T21:49:00.001-04:00

I just found the greatest blog!

http://newdressaday.wordpress.com/

This girl is taking ugly, outdated dresses (most of them mumus) and trimming and hemming them into super cute things!

An open letter to the AT&T store

2010-08-17T20:04:00.002-04:00

Dear AT&T store,

I have a soft spot in my heart for you, since my dad worked for AT&T his entire career. However, I'm kind-of annoyed.

You see, my husband just had a birthday, and his gift to himself was an iphone. This means, to stay on a cheap family plan, I also needed a new AT&T phone. Adios 3 year old Verizon flip phone. Maybe you only made phone calls, but you worked just fine.

Salesman: Are you getting an iphone too?

Me: Noooooooo.

Salesman: What kind of phone do you want?

Me: The free-est phone you have

Salesman: Well, we have this phone here. It's $50, but you get a $50 refund in the mail.

Me: That sounds free enough for me!

Fastforward 2 hours later. Yes, I said TWO hours later. We were at the AT&T store all freaking night!

The salesman rings up my $50 phone. Then he said, "oh, this 2G something-or-other comes with it. It's $20."

Me: I don't want that. I'm not paying $20 for that.

Salesman: It comes with it.

Me: I DON'T WANT THAT. Why would I pay $20 for something I don't want?

Salesman: *looking at me with a lost puppy dog face* This comes with the phone.

Me: What part of "I don't want to purchase this item" don't you understand. What kind of business forces me to purchase an item?

In order to get the heck out of the store in under three hours, we ring up the lame 2G thingy.

We have to go back to the AT&T store to get our Disney discount anyways, so plan to duke this out with the manager.

Sure, it's only $20, but it's the principal of the thing. Why are you forcing me to buy something I don't want?!? That makes the customer happy!

Sincerely,

Amber

How I almost slept at the airport

2010-08-01T08:23:00.003-04:00

So, last Sunday Jonathan and I were scheduled to fly home from Memphis.

Our flight left at 4pm, getting in to Atlanta at 6:50pm. That's plenty of time to catch the 8:50pm connecting flight to Orlando.

Well, when we checked in at Memphis, it said our flight was delayed until 4:50pm. Again, no real problem there (except now I have to wait longer - blah!).

4:50pm comes and goes.

5:30pm arrives. No updates what so ever. I ask a supervisor, "do I have time to wander around the airport and find some dinner? Or could we possibly pick up and leave at any minute?" He says, "you have plenty of time!"

Greeeeeeeat

6:30pm comes and goes, and the finally make an announcement. We will leave at 7pm. So everybody with a connecting flight line up and we'll see what the plan is.

Well, we're not going to make our connecting flight now. We're booked on the 11:15pm flight to Orlando, which arrives at 12:40pm.

Our car is parked at some mom & pop car place.

The mom & pop car place closes at midnight.

We're going to be trapped at the Orlando airport from 12:40pm to 5am (when the place opens again).

So when we land in Atlanta, we find a 10:30pm flight to Orlando (why weren't' we just booked on that one?!?) and sprint to that boarding area. They put us on standby, but 10 minutes later, we're allowed to board!

We're not sitting together, but who cares! We'll get to Orlando by 11:50am and we can get our car!

10:30pm comes and goes

10:40pm comes and goes

10:45pm comes and goes

We need to leave NOW or we're going to miss our car!!!

We finally leave at 10:50pm and land at 11:55pm.

The minute we can use cell phones, Jonathan calls. They will leave right now to pick us up and bring us to our car. Sweet.

We sprint off the plane and sprint down to where public transportation is (we have no checked bags, thank goodness).

As we spring to parking spot A13 (where they said they would be parked) the van is pulling away!!! We wave and yell, "hey, we're here!"

Thankfully the cranky pants guy stops, lets us on ... and everything is saved.

I must admit, I was kind-of looking forward to camping out at MCO just to say "I spend the night at the airport!", but sleeping in my own bed was great too.

I love this so much ...

2010-07-16T20:57:00.002-04:00

I can't get over this commercial. It cracks me up every time I see it.

I was actually was mad when I went to the movies last weekend (Despicable Me) and they didn't play this commercial during the previews.

Say cheese!

2010-07-13T20:10:00.005-04:00

So, before our baseball game at Wrigley Field, we had about 1/2 hour to wander around the stadium.

I knew there was a Harry Carey caricature right above the press box. I walked down (pretty close to the field and snapped a photo).

<-- see the cartoon Harry Carey?

Then, a nice, old lady usher asked if I wanted my photo taken. I figured, what the heck, and handed her my camera. I assumed it was obvious what I was taking a photo of, I mean, Harry Carey is pretty famous. My back was turned away from the field.

She takes my camera in her shakey hands and I think, "well, this will be a blur-fest." Then she keeps slowly lowering and lowering my camera.

"What is she possibly taking a photo of?!?"

After she snaps my photo, she hands me my camera and says, "is that ok?" I look at the photo and say, "yeah, it's great - thanks!"

Here is the photo I got. Pretty sweet huh? *ha ha ha*

Go Cubs go!

2010-07-03T21:09:00.003-04:00

Our last baseball game was a noon-er in Chicago. We had to leave Detroit at the crack of dawn in order to be in Chicago by 11am. We all wanted plenty of time to walk around Wrigley and take it all in.

I had been to Wrigley Field over 10 times, but I hadn't been there since 1998. Jonathan had never been there. The stadium is over 95 years old, so it's a pretty special place full of history.

We had rockin' seats in section 216. We were under the overhang, so we were in the full shade. I could see everything except 2nd base, thanks to those famous Wrigley Field poles.

The Cubs pitcher had a no hitter going into the 7th inning ... but no hitters are boring. Bring on the runs!

The Cubs beat the Reds 3-1. Queue the music: "Go Cubs go ... go Cubs go ... hey Chicago, what'd you say? The Cubs are gonna win today."

I am officially exhausted and pretty darn dizzy from the bus ride. I haven't gotten sick all trip, so I'm pretty proud of myself. So I'm sitting here in a Milwaukee hotel, trying to recover.

What am I doing in the hotel ... watching baseball of course!!! The Brewers are crushing the Cardinals.

Adios Lame-Ville

2010-07-02T22:44:00.003-04:00

Ok ... I'm being a little hard on Detroit. I mean, I guess it's not there fault that all the jobs disappeared. But how many people can harass me while I'm walking around the baseball stadium.

No, I don't have any extra tickets.

No, I don't need to buy tickets.

No, I don't want your American flag pin.

No, I don't have any spare change.

Comerica Park (Tiger's stadium) was super cool. There were giant tigers everywhere, and lots of fun history stuff to look at. They also had a small ferris wheel made of baseballs!

The fans however ... pretty lame. It took us forever to finally get the wave going. And they were just so quiet. "Do, do, do do, do doooo ... *silence*". Where's the 'CHARGE'?!?

Well, we're off to bed. We're leaving the hotel at 7am to haul buns to Wrigley Field by noon tomorrow.

Free Stuff!

2010-07-01T22:51:00.003-04:00

The stadium and team I was least looking forward to was the Pirates. Nothing against the Pirates, but I just have no feelings towards them ... good or bad, just no feelings.

It was free t-shirt day, and they actually had size S t-shirts. Normally freebie t-shirts are always 'one size fits all', so I was quite excited to get a shirt I can actually wear.

Then, they had a roulette type wheel, and I won a super cool stars and stripes Pirates hat! So I was decked out in head to toe Pirates gear. Enter 1 ice cream in a helmet later, and I'm a happy camper.

Also, enter 1 ice cream helmet I found on the ground after the game, and I'm an even bigger happy camper.

Tomorrow morning we don't have to leave until 10am, which is a big change from leaving at 8:30am ... so I get to sleep in a tad! Yee-haw!

Tomorrow, Detroit!

Broken Promises

2010-06-30T22:29:00.001-04:00

Well, it's day 3, and I didn't have a hot dog today. I broke the 1 vow I made for this trip.

For the Indians vs. Blue Jays game we had "party deck" seats. So we had a huge FREE spread of food from 6-8pm. I had a pulled pork sandwich and mac 'n cheese ... and 3 cookies. The cookies were garnished with blueberries, and I also ate 2 lbs of blueberries.

The Indians Stadium (Progressive Field) was my least favorite so far.

A - it was just kind-of boring

B - there was nothing featuring the movie Major League

C - they didn't sell ice cream in a helmet

It was Jonathan's favorite stop so far, because:

A - he bought a t-shirt for $6

B - he got a free Shin-Soo Choo bobblehead

C - he got to see a Shin-Soo Choo homerun

D - free food!

Tomorrow we have a short 3 hour drive to Pittsburgh for the Pirates vs. Phillies. Go Pirates!

Home run!

2010-06-29T23:07:00.002-04:00

Woah - we just saw an awesome game in Cincinnati!

The Reds were down by 3. 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth. 2 men on. Votto, the Reds best hitter is up to bat. I'm complaining that nobody has hit a home run yet because I want to see the smoke stacks shoot off fireworks ...

Boom!

3 run home run to straight away center! Reds tie the game!

Phillies score 3 runs in the top of the 10th to win ... but who cares! It was a great game.

Plus, the Red's mascot, Mr. Redlegs, is such a cutie with his handlebar mustache.

It's 11:09pm, and we have to wake up at 7am tomorrow morning to move on to Cleveland.

Zzzzzzz ...

Go Brew Crew!

2010-06-29T08:18:00.002-04:00

One baseball game down, 5 more to go!

Jonathan and I are in full vacation mode. We're doing a Jay Buckley baseball trip. We flew into Milwaukee yesterday morning, went to a Brewers game last night, and now we're headed off to Cincinnati.

Eventually we'll also make stops in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Chicago (Cubs).

Contrary to what you're probably assuming ... I picked this vacation! My dad used to get a Jay Buckley brochure every year in the mail, but we never went on a trip. So I'm finally going!

My goal is to eat a hot dog in every stadium (although, last night they gave us free brats at a tail gate party, so that kind-of counts) AND ice cream in a helmet!

Let me tell you, the ice cream at Miller Park (Brewers) was enormous! The mini helmet was filled to the brim. The first thing I did was spill chocolate sauce on my tennis shoe. So now it looks like somebody pooped on them.

Well, it's 7:15am, and we have to board the bus to Cincinnati. I've got some pretzels, Back to the Future 1 & 2 and my Snuggle. Let's roll!

Stephen Colbert declares war on the Marshall Islands

2010-06-20T18:27:00.002-04:00

I record the Colbert Report ever night, because, let's face it, I can't stay up that late to watch it.

Last Tuesday (or maybe it was Wednesday), Stephen talked about something that nobody ever mentions ... the Marshall Islands!

Unfortunately, the giant rig that's spilling all the oil is registered to the Marshall Islands.

June 16 at 3:52PM
Stephen Colbert Declares War on The Marshall Islands (Which Apparently Is a Place Supposedly)
POSTED BY: Dennis DiClaudio
Fun fact: The Republic of the Marshall Islands is not where the Matthew McConaughey movie We Are Marshall takes place, but it is the place with the highest rate of leprosy in the entire world. Lots of people don't get those things confused.

Click here for hilarious video.

More hugs ...

2010-05-31T22:25:00.001-04:00

I had some time to kill at Studios over the weekend, so I figured I'd go meet Lotso again. He's just so darn cute and huggable!

More failblog!

2010-05-27T21:29:00.001-04:00

Do you ever see funny photos on the internet and you think, "where are these silly places?"

Well, I stumbled upon this photo on failblog today, and I know EXACTLY where it is. We actually giggled about it during our trip to visit Jonathan's aunt in Memphis, TN.

Morning Wood ... classic!

Dying To Be A Ghost by James Horner

2010-05-19T19:56:00.006-04:00

Rules:
1. Put your music library on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write that song title as the title of your post and then the answer to the question, no matter how silly it sounds! Most of the time they seem to work though, strangely enough.
4. Ok, go!
5. When you're done, tag 20 people in this note, and make sure to tag the person who sent you this.

1) IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OK?" YOU SAY?
Ocean Avenue by Yellow Card

2) WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Right Round by Flo Rida

3) WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Tuesday's Gone by Lynard Skynrd

4) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Homecoming by Kanye West

5) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Never Knew I Needed by Ne-Yo

6) WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Staying Alive by Wyclef Jean (finally - an answer that makes sense!!)

7) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
You're So Vain by Carly Simon (oooooo - that's just mean!)

8) WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Meet Me Halfway by Black Eyed Peas

9) WHAT IS 2+2?
Two Step by Dave Matthews Band (freaky - the one song on my ipod with a number in the title!)

10) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Every You Every Me by Placebo

11) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Love Drunk by Boys Like Girls

12) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Read Between The Lines by KSM (Hee hee!)

13) WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
4 Minutes by Madonna (too bad this wasn't the 2+2 answer)

14) WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
San Francisco by Scott McKenzie

15) WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Kissing You by Nellee Hooper

16) WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Tin Man by Animal Kingdom

17) WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
I Can't Hold Back by Survivor

18) WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Baracuda by Heart

19) WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
A Sorta Fairytale by Tori Amos

20) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Sexual by Amber (ewwwww ...)

21) WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Rock Lobster by B-52's

Ok, most of my answers are lame. Darn you ipod.

Epic Fail

2010-05-15T19:53:00.002-04:00

I shouldn't laugh at this ... but it made me giggle.

Remember when there was just one giant lap bar? So if you are small-ish and you sat by somebody who was large-ish you had to hold on for dear life! That's what made Tower of Terror extra scary.

Failblog is one of my favorite websites. Check it out!

I like hugs

2010-05-09T17:17:00.003-04:00

Jonathan and I met Lotso today at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Holy moly - he's so fuzzy and soft! I'm not one for stuffed animals, but I kind-of want one.

He signed my autograph book *heart*Lotso*heart*

I love you too buddy.

Lots-O-Huggin' Bear

2010-04-27T19:57:00.003-04:00

Why didn't I get a Lot-O-Huggin' Bear when I was little?!?

Oh right ... b/c this commercial is fake!

Pixar, you're a genius. And Toy Story 3 is going to rule.

I love it when things work out ...

2010-04-21T10:36:00.003-04:00

So for the past 3 years (no joke) I've been looking at bathroom lights at Lowes. Every time I go to Lowes for anything, and Jonathan lets me, I walk down the lights isle. We have those stupid, ugly bar lights with round bulbs on it.

So a week ago, they FINALLY went on sale! Jackpot. I bought a 3 bulb fixture for the small bathroom and a 4 bulb fixture for the master bathroom. I wasn't sure which glass globe-y thing to buy, so I bought a cheep ugly small one and an expensive big one. I was hoping I would eventually learn to live with the small one.

Fast forward to today (one week later). I go to Lowes again to buy some flowers and, what the heck, let's walk down the lights isle.

The lights I bought last week are even MORE on sale! I can take my receipt back and get more money.

And that big expensive globe-y thing I bought. Those are 50% off! Now I don't have to leave to live with the cheep ugly small one. The big nice ones are now the same price as the cheep ugly small ones.

Jackpot!!! I just love when everything works out perfectly.

An open letter to Target customers

2010-04-07T11:58:00.004-04:00

Dear Posner Park Target customers on 4/7/10:

I apologize for my smelliness. You see, I rolled out of bed at 8:30am, put on 100% clean clothes, but didn't shower. My plan was to go to Lowes, buy some clearance plants, and come home and planet them. Hence getting really dirty in the process.

You know those photos of people baking, and there is flower all over the kitchen and all over their body? Well, that's me when I'm gardening. I'm covered in dirt head to toe somehow.

Anyway, after a disappointing Lowes trip (no plants on clearance!!!) I thought, I think I'll run to Target.

Low and behold, they had tank tops for $2. Oh man ... did I feel guilty trying them on and not buying them. I just have to stink, and I'm trying on clothes.

So person trying on the $2 tanks after me ... I'm sorry!

Sincerely,

Amber

P.S. Hey Target! Why is your Easter candy only 30% off. Easter was 3 days ago. You're lame.

"Short people got no reason ..."

2010-04-03T21:06:00.001-04:00

Seriously, who wrote that song, and what's it all about?

I'm pretty short. I've been short all my life. To be honest, I don't think I'm short at all, since I've never known any thing different. It's only when I see photos of myself with a group of people I think, "holy cow, I look ridiculous!"

<-- I'm the ridiculous looking one!

Anyway, there are many perks to being short:

1. Airplane seats are comfortable.

2. More airplane perks, I can put my tray table down, and take a nap on it.

3. Need sombody to crawl behind the washing maching to get something ... I'm your girl.

4. I can fit my hand inside a Pringles can.

5. At sporting events, I don't have to stand up when you want to walk past me, I just lean back and you can fit around my legs.

6. Middle seats in cars aren't uncomfortable.

7. Back to airplanes. You know the emergency exit row? I can (seriously) stretch my legs straight out and NOT reach the seat in front of me.

8. Need somebody to crawl under the desk at work and plug or unplug somebody? No problem.

9. Shortness almost always equals cuteness.

10. You can always hem your pants. Adding more fabric to pants because you're too tall is way trickier.

11. I don't fall down. Ever. I never trip and fall. I'll trip and stumble a little. I'll even slip on something wet. But I never, ever fall. (I realize I'm totally jinxing myself by writing this). I think it's because I'm lower to the ground.

Come on short people ... who's got more reasons why being short is awesome?!

Pook a looz

2010-04-02T20:55:00.001-04:00

Pook a looz are finally for sale at the Disney store!

I saw the Pook a looz at the D23 expo, and they were the cutest things I've ever seen! At the expo they had small key chain size ones and the larger beanie baby-ish sized ones.

Check out the Disney Store's website. Be sure to have your cuteness glasses on!

An open letter to Boston

2010-04-01T15:15:00.001-04:00

Dear Boston,

Before I visited you I didn't like you. I'm not sure why. I think it's a sports thing. As a Rays fan, I normally find Red Sox fans annoying. And the Patriots ... I'm tired of you winning all the time. Lame reasoning, I know.

So I just got back from Boston and it was a really cool city! Parts of the city reminded me of New Orleans. It's a really old city. It was founded in the 1600's (I think). So there are parts of the city where the streets are really tiny, and the brick buildings are all smashed together to make room for expansion.

And Boston Bruins fans - you are the best! I wore my Tampa Bay Lightning hat to the Bruins game. I anticipated somebody would punch me in the face, spill something on me, or at least make a comment about how the Lightning suck. None of those things happened! Maybe it was because the Lightning whooped the Bruins, or maybe it's because Bruins fans are super cool.

Reason #1 why I could move to Boston: I love wearing toboggans (stocking hats)!

Reason #2: The public transportation system rules. I would never have to drive again.

Reason #3: I found a cool paper store. I could've stayed in there all day.

Reason #1 why I could not move to Boston: I look terrible in boots. Every single girl had boots on. My short legs just don't cut the boots scene.

So Boston, I apologize for judging the book by it's cover. You are pretty darn cool.

Sincerely,

Amber

Shamrock Shakes

2010-03-31T09:07:00.002-04:00

Why wait another 11 months for a Shamrock shake? Make one yourself!

2 c. vanilla ice cream

1 1/4 c. milk

1/4 tsp. mint extract

8 drops green food coloring

Blend until smooth (I used my magic bullet!). If needed, stop blender and stir with spoon to help blend in ice cream.

These suckers are pretty thick! I ended up adding a tad more milk to help the blending process.

Mint extract is STRONG. Don't pour a lot in. It will knock your socks off.

Hug somebody today!

2010-03-18T16:15:00.002-04:00

Here's a photo of the car accident I witnessed yesterday.

That's no zoom ... that's how close I was.

So hug your friends today. A hug never hurt anybody.

I love God and Shamrock Shakes ...

2010-03-17T18:05:00.004-04:00

... in that order.

So today is St. Patrick's Day. I'm not much of a drinker, nor am I Irish, so I don't really celebrate. However, I do *heart* McDonald's Shamrock shakes. Not only are they delicious, but they remind me of my childhood. Nothing weird or anything, but I just drank them as a kid.

So today, driving home from a friend's house, I decide to get one. McDonalds #1 - sold out. McDonalds #2 - sold out. McDonalds #3 (which I hate going to, because when you exit the place you can't turn left. You have to turn right, drive 2 miles down the road and make a U turn) - sold out. Way to go McDonalds. I can't imagine how much revenue you're losing today!

I knew at home I had a recipe for home made Shamrock Shakes. I had all the ingredients except mint extract, so I was off to Wal-mart.

As I'm slowing driving over the speed bump that's in front of the gate in my community, I hear a noise. I look up as 2 cars are plowing into each other on the highway. One car's right side was totall smashed (the wheel was turned 90 degrees) and the car in front of me was totally crunched. It was also leaking a ton of fluid. I just kept imaging cars in movies exploding on impact.

Everybody was totally ok, but I just kept thinking to myself, "I owe you one God! If I was driving even 5mph faster I might have been right in the middle of that."

Hitler Reacts to the Fantasyland Expansion

2010-03-10T17:16:00.005-05:00

"... first we loose the Adventure's Club, and now my beloved Toontown Fair."

I feel like a total jerk typing this ... but I kind-of agree with Hitler. Only on the Fantasyland stuff ... not the WWII stuff! Just to be totally clear. *doh*

FYI - watch out for a couple f-bombs.

Who ever makes these Hitler You Tube videos is a genius.

Top 5 Things I'm Afraid Of

2010-02-19T21:24:00.000-05:00

1. Snakes. We have them in Florida. I found a snakeskin this evening on a jog around the block. One was sitting on my doormat earlier this year. And another one lives in my flower bed. Yuck

2. Cockroaches. My heart stops every time I see one. Stupid humid Florida weather - they are everywhere!

3. Driving in the pouring rain. Just makes me really, really nervous.

4. Max, my neighbor's dog. He likes to hang out in the garage, leash free. Then, when an unexpecting jogger runs buy, he charges out of the garage, gets in your face and barks really loud. He hasn't jumped on me yet, but he's run half way down the road to 'get' me. This is when I change up my jogging route for the day.

5. These stupid things! Who invented them? I mean, what the business?!? I juste want the delicious rolls inside, but I have to have a mini heart attack just to get to them.

Cinnamon vs. Chili

2010-02-16T20:35:00.000-05:00

Really Walmart ... really?

Did you HAVE to label your generic cinnamon with the exact same color system as the chili powder?

I can't tell you how many times I've reached for the chili powder instead of the cinnamon.

Thankfully, I've never actually USED the chili instead of cinnamon ... but that seems to be a mistake that anybody could easily make.

Fail!

Project 365

2010-02-13T09:19:00.002-05:00

If you're not facebook friends with me, I'm taking the "Project 365" (taking a photo a day) challenge. So far, I've only had one day where I was about to go to bed and though, "crap, I haven't taken a photo yet!"

One of the unexpected perks I've discovered is that I often take 4 or 5 photos a day, just to make sure that the photo I choose is a good one.

So I give you: February 10, 2010 ... the rejected photos.

I sleep in socks. I've discovered that most people find this to be very odd, but socks are the key to warmth. I always seem to wake up with one sock dangling off my toes. It's a physics miracle that the sock hasn't completely fallen off, yet it always stays on. I got these awesome socks for Christmas.

This is what I do with my days off. I sit at our kitchen table and screw around on the computer. My feet barely touch the ground in the chairs, I so always sit with my legs folded up like this. It's doesn't get much sexier than this! I'm rocking my Bears sweatshirt, my striped socks, PJs I bought at a thrift store and no shower.

It's been officially 1 month since the WDW marathon, and 30% of my

toenails are still pretty ugly. They don't hurt, and they don't look like they are going to fall off. I hope they get better before flip flop season. Since I live in Florida, flip flop season is all the time!

I gave Jonathan his Valentine's day gift early, since I had an entire day at home by myself. I made these cheesy Princess and the Frog inspired cupcakes. Those are supposed to be little frog eyes sticking out of water. All I know is that they are delicious!

If you're reading this on facebook, this is my blog uploading to facebook. If you have a blog, I'd love to add it to my google reader!

Bingo!

2010-02-08T20:08:00.002-05:00

Last year I was introduced to Super Bowl Bingo. It's so much fun. I love watching football, but Bingo just makes the game extra fun, especially if you don't really care who wins and who loses. I highly recommend it!

Here's how it works:
1. Make blank Bingo sheets
2. Write down about 35 or 40 things that can happen during the game and during commercials.
3. Cut them out, pick them out of a hat, and fill out your game board.
4. As the stuff happens in the game, cross them off your sheet
5. I think the rest is self explanatory.

Here's a couple things I crossed off this year:
Pierre Thomas touchdown
Injury time out
2 point conversion (I didn't think that would happen!)
40+ yard field goal
Joseph Addai touchdown
Commercial with monkey

Here are some thing I didn't get to cross off:
Reggie Bush touchdown
Failed challenge
30+ yard run
Face mask penalty
Fat, shirtless fan in the stand sighting
Interception (there was an interception, but since it was run back for a touchdown, I crossed off "Defensive TD" instead of interception)

Urban Dictionary: Amber

2010-02-04T20:24:00.000-05:00

So this is all over facebook, but I figured I'd throw it on my blog:

"Go to urban dictionary.com and search for your name!"

I assumed I would find something about Amber the fossil or Amber the gem.

Instead I found this beauty:

An extremely attractive girl whos flirty personality and curvacious figure will keep you coming back for more. She's typically a brunette but occasionally acts blonde. She enjoys long relationships and has many close guy friends. Often mistaken for a "slut" but really isn't. She can also be a super bitch if you get onto her bad side.

"dude, i want to hang out with that girl, shes such an Amber"

Wow - not even close. I guess I am a brunette, and I do have more guy friends than girl friends. And that attractive thing is spot on ... riiiiight!

Good times though!

Duck!

2010-02-03T20:12:00.002-05:00

So you might have read this on my facebook page ... but here is the story again.

Long story short:

I hit a duck today!

Short story long:

So I'm driving home from work on the road that does by Downtown Disney, Boardwalk and Hollywood Studios. As I accelerate from the light to enter Studios I see something out of the corner of my eye.

Turns out to be a duck (a pretty good sized mallard), flying towards the Boardwalk Inn from Studios. Why it's flying only about 4' off the ground is beyond me. I mean, the stupid bird has the ENTIRE sky to fly in, and he flies at car level.

Instead of slamming on my breaks, I just let a loud swear word fly, close my eyes for a second and *bam*. I smashed the duck with my wind shield.

First words of out my mouth to my carpool buddy were, "what just happened?!?".

Seconds words out of my mouth were, "Where's my camera when I need it?!?"

I immediately looked in my rearview mirror, but I didn't see the duck on the ground. Maybe it escaped unharmed. I did have some random liquid on my windshield, but no feathers or anything.

Looking back, I guess I'm thankful that my windshield didn't crack or anything.

Crazy stuff!

You're right Kurt Warner ...

2010-01-30T18:10:00.004-05:00

Jonathan loves Kurt Warner, so I watched & DVR'ed his press conference on Friday. (If you're not a football fan, Kurt Warner announced his retirement yesterday)

He mentioned that he'll obviously miss the couple hours he spent on the football field every week, but what he'll miss most of all is the 5 hours each Sunday he hung out in the locker room with the guys. Sure, he'll still stay in touch with many of his teammates, but it just won't be the same.

This made me really think about my current (and temporary) job. I'm working in a computer lab, sitting inches away from my co-workers. I could pull my chair away from my desk, swing around with my legs extended, and smack 4 people in the back. We all eat lunch together, work together, heck - we even carpool together (ok, I carpool with 1 other person I carpool with, but you get the idea).

Sure, after the job is over (which, for me, is probably sooner than later) I'll stay in touch with some of my co-workers, but it just won't be the same. When you spend 9 hours a day with people, all sort of fun and odd conversations happen. Plus, I really stink at keeping in touch. Facebook makes it easer ... but I just really, really bad at keeping in touch. It makes me sad.

So thank you Kurt Warner! You were the greatest show on turf, and you're one smart son of a gun.

Graph Jam

2010-01-14T21:04:00.000-05:00

I found a great new blog to follow.

www.graphjam.com

It's great stuff!

Notes from the WDW marathon ...

2010-01-11T19:43:00.005-05:00

I really wish I brought a notepad and paper with me during the marathon. I tried to remember stuff, but I'm sure I forgot it all. Mostly, I remember my hamstring ripping away from what ever hamstrings are attached with.

If you've never done a marathon before - I highly recommend it. While you're in the process, it seems like torture, but when you're all done it's a great feeling! As my friend Hiromi said, "Very spiritual ... yet at the same time and awful experience." Yesterday I swore I would never do it again, but today I'm all pumped to have at it again!

Pre-race: People are wearing shorts and the temperature is in the 20s!!! I'm prepared wearing 6 shirts, a scarf, hat, gloves, sweatpants and shorts. Also, pre-race is the last time I saw any toilet paper (remember that for later ...)

Mile 1: There goes sweatshirt #1

Mile 2: Adios sweatshirt #2 and my scarf. "This isn't so bad!"

"Is that guy wearing a really fancy, Norwegian style sweater?"

Mile 3: "My hands are kind-of hot, I guess I don't need my gloves any more"

The water stop water was partially frozen!

Mile 4: "I want my scarf back!!!"

My 3rd shirt is thrown to the side of the road.

Mile 5: My face is partially frozen.

I'm desperately looking for gloves that somebody threw on the side of the road.

Some guy wearing JEANS passes me. Jeans?!?

Mile 6: The sun finally rises!

"Why does my back hurt of all things?"

Mile 7: A high school band is playing the theme song from Rocky. It rocks and totally pumps me up!

Mile 8: "Is somebody stabbing me in my quads? I really think somebody is ... I'm never doing this again!"

Mile 9: I finally found a glove on the side of the road. It was a super nice warm winter glove. I could only find one, but it was awesome!!

Mile 10: I made it inside the Magic Kingdom. Sweet!

Mile 11: Tiana, Naveen and Louis (Princess and the Frog) are out posing for photos. It's impossible to meet Louis inside the park. I wish I had brought my camera.

Two of the Country Bears run along with us from Diamond Horseshoe down to the Jamboree.

Mile 12: It's 9am - I should be at work, but instead I walked 12 miles.

I make the hard decision to throw my hat away.

Mile 13: I think my hamstrings are going to detach.

I stop my 'walk 5 minutes, run 1 minute' routine and start a similar 'walk 5 minutes, run 30 seconds'

Mile 14: I eat 1/3 of a banana. I don't even like bananas, but they are giving them out.

"What's that loud stomping noise?!? Oh, it's my feet slamming against the ground."

Mile 15: The piano guy that plays near Casey's Corner is randomly on the side of the road.

Mile 16: I've had to pee for about an hour, but the lines for the port-a-potties are so long. I finally give in and wait 4 minutes. No toilet paper anywhere!

16.5: I wipe my nose. I realize I just went to the bathroom, didn't use toilet paper, and didn't wash my hands (nothing to wash with). Gross.

My walk/run routine is getting really hard.

Mile 17: "There are tons of hills inside Animal Kingdom - this is awesome!"

They are giving out cold sponges. Why in the world do I want a cold sponge in 30 degree weather?!?

Should I shed my 4th shirt? I don't, and it was a great decision.

"Only single digit miles left!!!"

Mile 18: "Crap, I thought this was mile 19, but it's only mile 18."

Mile 19: They are giving out more bananas. I eat the entire thing this time.

We walk up a massive hill outside Animal Kingdom. I walk backwards for about 1 minute to shake things up.

Mile 20: "I could come in last place ... as long as I finish, I'm cool with that."

It's amusing to say to yourself, "awesome, only 6 more miles to go!" When is it normal to say ONLY 6 more miles?

I can't believe I kept up the walk/run routine. It's a miracle. I decide to power walk the rest of the way.

Mile 21: I see a chubby guy dressed as Mr. Incredible.

"If and when my hamstrings detach from what ever they are attached to, I could still limp 5 miles and finish."

Mile 22: I decide to go to the bathroom again. Again, no TP.

Mile 23: I get a 2nd wind from out of nowhere. It doesn't last too long.

They give out a box of raisins. It could've been a box of broccoli and I would've devoured it.

"I've got this thing in the bag - no problem!"

Mile 24: Walking along that water's edge between Studios and the Boardwalk was super cold!

Mile 25: I get my 3rd wind. I pick up the pace and breeze thru Epcot.

A crazy Japanese lady dressed up as Donald Duck is right next to me. I bust my butt to pass her, so my 'crossing the finish line' photo isn't with her in it.

Mile 26: I've passed Donald Duck lady.

"Where the heck is the finish line?!?"

.2 miles & a sprint later: "Woo-hoo!"

If you're still reading this, congratulations. This might be my longest blog ever.

Wish me luck!

2010-01-10T04:36:00.001-05:00

So if you're reading this at 4:30am on Sunday, then you're inside and I'm outside waiting for the Disney marathon to start.

I signed up about a month and a half ago on a whim. I've done it before (and it was super hard!!!), but I kept thinking, "can I do it again?" It's not every day that you are able to push yourself to the extreme and accomplish a goal. It's a pretty cool feeling to say, "heck yeah - I did this!" Well, hopefully I can say that again tomorrow.

I'm scared to death and really nervous, because you have to keep up a certain pace, otherwise they remove you from the course. I'm not out to set any land speed records, I just want to finish on time ... and get that awesome Mickey Mouse metal!

So, wish me luck! Hopefully this afternoon I'll be back with some photos. I plan on 'running' with my digital camera. (I use the word 'running' very loosely. There will be much, much, MUCH more walking than running.) Although my stupid camera batteries die so quickly. I'll probably get 3 or 4 photos taken before they die. Then I'll have to lug my stupid camera with me for another 15 miles. Stupid batteries!

Universal Studios

2010-01-08T21:45:00.002-05:00

Bart: Cool! Personalized plates. Barclay... Barry... Bert... Bort!? Aw, c'mon! Bort?
Little Boy: Mommy, Mommy! Buy me a license plate!
Mother: No! Come along, Bort.
Man: Are you talking to me?
Mom: No, my son is also named Bort.

PA Announcer: We need more Bort license plates in the Gift Shop. Repeat, we are sold out of Bort license plates.

(a couple of my favorite quotes from the Itchy and Stratchyland Simpsons episode)

I wonder if the Bort nametags were actually sold out (I would've totally bought one!!!), or if they are ALWAYS sold out to go along with that famous scene from the episode? Hmmmm ...

A couple weeks ago Jonathan and I went to Universal Studios (free tickets from my friend Monica - yay Monica!)

I took 2 dramamines and made Jonathan go on the Simpsons Ride with me. That will probably be the last time I go on that ride. Normally my stomach can't handle simulators, and this one is super duper bumpy.

As you can tell from the photo ... it was a very crowded day at Universal ...

Here is a crappy quality YouTube video of Bort ... classic:

Love/Hate

2010-01-06T21:00:00.001-05:00

How cool is this t-shirt?!?

It says "hate", but when you look in a mirror it says "love".

No clue where to buy one, but I was just amazed when I saw it.

I guess I won't actually buy one. I don't really want to walk around with the word "hate" written across my chest.

I mean, how often are really you in front of a mirror besides the bathroom?

Stranger Danger?

2010-01-04T21:44:00.001-05:00

So I've been carpooling to work with Chris, a neighbor, for about 3 months now. We have a pretty sweet setup ... every day we rotate drivers.

So a couple weeks ago we had to work on Saturday, and it was his turn to drive. When he picks me up, I wait by the front door (with the door open, I don't have any big windows to look out from). When he stops in the road in front of my house, I run out and hop in his car.

Well, on Saturday a strange car stopped outside of my house.

Assuming it was his girlfriend's car (I've seen her gray car in the driveway), I ran out the front door towards the car.

As I opened the car door, I see a leg with shorts on. Normally I see a leg wearing work pants.

Still, I assumed it was Chris' leg so I hopped in the car.

Now, it DID end up being Chris in the car (wearing casual shorts since it was a Saturday), but it got me thinking . . . any total stranger could stop in front of my house at 8:25am in the morning, and I would probably hop in their car!

Connect the DOTS ...

2010-01-02T21:02:00.002-05:00

How to sneak food into a hockey game.

1. Wear un-tight jeans

2. Wear a giant hockey jersey

3. Enjoy candy that doesn't cost $5!

Happy Resolution Day!

2010-01-01T17:59:00.000-05:00

Besides dusting off those old usual resolutions (lose weight, eat more veggies, get more sleep ...), I'm going to do a fun resolution this year.

This was all the rage last year, but in typical "Amber fashion", I'm always behind on the trends.

I'm going to take at least 1 picture every day.

I think that will be a fun 365 end-of-the-year yearbook for me.

I stole the idea from a facebook friend Allyson. She did it last year, and I always loved looking at her photos. Granted, she is a professional photographer, so they were alway quality photos.

My photos will just be ... whatever. Whatever the heck I'm doing. And what I'm normally doing is A) working or B) watching TV. So, if you work with me, watch out! I'm bringing my camera to work next week!

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

2009-12-31T20:00:00.000-05:00

I'm a little behind on my blogging. Everybody always says "December is such a busy month!" Well, for me, it's honestly not, so I don't really have a good excuse.

But way back on 12/4/09, Jonathan and I went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party at the Magic Kingdom. It was raining and freezing. Needless to say, I was NOT excited about going.

Right off monorail was a "lake" we had to walk thru. I figured "what the hell!" and barreled right thru the humongous puddle assuming my feet would get soaked inside the park.

Naturally, they didn't.

Even though it rained all night long, it was a really weird rain. You really couldn't feel it.

The bonus about Mickey's VMCP is the free food. They have free sugar cookies, hot chocolate, apples and apple juice. My goal was to eat as many cookies as possible. I was forced to stop after 3. They are pretty big cookies, and my stomach was not really happy with my decision making.

To kill time before a stage show (that ended up being cancelled b/c of the rain) we road the TTA. For those of you unfamiliar with the TTA, it's a lazy shuttle ride that goes all around Tomorrowland, including inside Space Mountain.

Space Mountain has been under construction lately, but it had opened a couple days prior.

I guess it wasn't 100% ready, b/c the ride was shut down the the lights were on. It was really hard to take pictures because:

A) I'm on a moving vehicle

B) there is a huge pane of glass between you and the ride, so you can't use flash

This is the best I could do.

Urg - I hate to do this!

2009-12-29T20:04:00.000-05:00

I've been getting TONS of spam comment on my blog, that I had to add one of those word recognition things.

I always find them annoying ... but I guess it's what the web has come too.

It's Back!!!

2009-12-28T19:54:00.003-05:00

The greatest video on You Tube is back.

This video was my birthday gift from my brother in 2008. He likes to give me the "gift of laughter" (which happens to be free).

It disappeared about a month after my birthday, so I was unable to share it with the rest of the world ... but it's back now!

Enjoy my favorite song (Take On Me), but 'literally".

Just trust me and watch ...

Pipe wrench fight!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T21:23:00.000-05:00

A classic photo of my brother and I when we lived in Montgomery, IL.

I'm guessing this is the Christmas of '85, or maybe '84. That would make me 9 or 10, and my brother would be about 3 or 4.

Go Bears!

P.S. Yes, I'm wearing stirrup pants.

Happy Birthday to me!

2009-12-17T20:26:00.004-05:00

Every year my brother gives me the gift of laughter for my birthday.

Last year it was the "Take on Me Literally" video on You Tube. That is my all time favorite song, and the 'literal' video made me pee my pants from laughing.

This year is no exception.

He introduced me to Randy Moller, the Florida Panther's (NHL) radio announcer.

Every time a goal is scored, he yells "GOOOOOOOOAL ..." then some random movie quote.

Check out this you tube clip. The 2nd one is my favorite.