Monaco

Ugh, it has been awhile. It's been a while because I have been crazy busy, and I'm trying to write this update post but all I can think about is this yucky cat chewing and crunching on his paws in my ear. I push him away, and he goes just out of my reach and continues to eat his paws. CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH. Ugh. Gross.

ANYWAYS!

So I went to Monaco for the Formula 1 Race! And it was great! We had a lot of fun, stayed in France, shuttled into Monaco, and just had an amazing time.

 Yay Monaco! I took a lot of photos this time, because it's dawned on me we don't have a lot of photo of the two of us.

 I took a photo of one of our airplanes, but I wasn't able to get a photo of the other. We flew Polish Airlines there, and Scandinavian Airlines back. We thought Polish Airlines was pretty cool on the way there. Pretty nice, decent food, relatively comfortable seats, nice crew. And THEN we flew Scandinavian Airlines... Hot towels, full bar, camera views of the plane, head screens for movies and TV in the seats. Pretty great.

 I think this one was taken in Poland during our layover. Not quite sure.

 This is the view from our hotel room in Nice. Interesting thing about Nice and Monaco is that none of the windows have screens. At all. That's because they don't have bugs over there like we do here. It didn't seem right.

 Our first night there we walked around a bit and found a nice corner bar and sat drinking outside while it rained.

 And the desserts... AMAZING. The food, not so much, but the desserts were incredible. I found myself a nice chocolate pear tart to take back to the hotel to eat, and yes, I ate the whole thing.

 And then there is the Hairpin, the entire reason we came. Slowest corner in Formula 1. Most famous corner in Formula one. We were able to get a really good look at the cars as they went around the truck.

 There was a large big screen outside of our F1 viewing suite, along with some of the most picturesque views I have ever seen. The entire trip was like being inside of a post card.

 There were a ton of Lamborghinis parked outside of the Fairmont

 See, we're actually there.

 And we had an open bar with free-flowing champagne the entire day. I really loved that part. Champagne all day? Yes please.

 One of the drivers had to be craned out in front of us too! He was okay, not hurt, but still. It's not every day you're eye-to-eye with a Formula 1 car seven stories in the air.

 And yes, they have McDonalds there too.

I definitely needed the giant pistachio macaron in the airport before we left. It was definitely worth it. 

Bruno really missed us, and we really missed him :)

Garden Garden Garden!!!

So I have been pretty busy the past few weeks. If you see me on a regular basis or if we have our weekly phone calls, you are well aware I have been busting my behind to build my garden. It started when I saw a few photos online of raised garden beds. I thought they were beautiful, with sprawling plants and huge tomatoes, and filled with wonder and imagination. I know. I can be a little corny, I don't care. 

 So Jake and I went to the hardware store and he bought me some wood. I have built small things as a kid, but I'm pretty good at following directions. I got the plans off of www.sunset.com. The power drill... kind of intimidating. I tried it at first without gloves, until I really burned my fingers grabbing the drill bit after it just came out of the wood. Once I got the gloves on, it was pretty smooth sailing.

 And then there were two. The large bed I planned for a small garden. Peppers and tomatoes, maybe some peas, green beans, and cucumbers. I thought it would fit, just do one or two plants of each. The small one for asparagus, because I LOVE me some asparagus!

 So out I went again to the store. No where exciting, just Target. I saw a little garden section when I was shopping for Easter candy for my hun-bun Jake, and I decided I really needed some seeds and some seed starting trays. If I am going to do this garden thing, might as well start from scratch. So I had a small tray of seeds for tomatoes and peppers.  But I felt like it wasn't enough.

So back to the store I went. Again. But this time to the garden store..... wow. There were so many choices!! So Many seeds!!!! SO MANY THINGS!!! OMG GARDEN!!!! I discovered heirlooms, and of course I needed more heirloom tomatoes... and heirloom beans, snap peas, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, onion, beets, carrots, and corn. Yes. That much. And when I came home it was raining and I looked at my little garden plot and it hit me.

 I am never going to be able to fit all of this in my little 4x8' garden plot.

 So I got more wood! And built three more beds! And then I needed a fence! And then I read Square Foot Gardening by Mel, and decided I was going to square foot garden. And that required a grid and more planning. Which is fine, nothing I couldn't do.

 And then I read a book called Vertical Gardening. It's available on Amazon. I'm not sure of the author right now, but I have it and it was great. So then I needed trellises, and bean teepees, and tomato stakes and cages. I ordered the cages too off of Amazon, so those haven't come yet.

 But yay! I built it! It took a lot of time and a lot of effort, including three yards of quality topsoil and mushroom compost.

 Funny thing, we don't have a wheelbarrow. So I had this massive pile of dirt, and I'm shoveling it into a tupperware bin and dragging/pushing/pulling/carrying it to the beds. My back was killing me, I'd been doing it for two hours, and only had one bed built. My neighbor who lives across the street that I had not met yet came over. Nice older gentleman named Dick. He brought his wheelbarrow and said to me, "I saw you struggling, and I assumed you didn't have a wheelbarrow. Here's mine, use it as long as you like, put it back in the driveway when you are done." Wow, what a God-send, seriously. It went so much faster with a wheelbarrow! So much! Omg! Sooner than later I was done with the dirt, then constructed the fence, then built the teepees and trellises and set up my few little containers outside. There is my garden! See! I built it mostly on my own. Jake wielded about three wheelbarrows of dirt and taught me how to work the drill. And he dug the holes to put the beds in the ground. Other than that, I did it myself. Super proud, if I do say so myself :)

But I did walk away with several bruises, as you can see, and a pretty nasty sunburn on my face, neck, and arms. But that's okay, it was totally worth it.

Now I just hope something grows!!!!

This message is Bruno Approved. 

Quick Snippet Update

Don't have a lot of time to write, but here are some fun photos for you're viewing pleasure!

I went to the local farmers market here on Saturday and bought Señor Bruno an awesome little scarf. Or so I thought. Until Jake told me he looks like a "gay cowboy." Personally, I like the scarf, but whatever. So this is Señor Bruno, modeling his new doggy scarf. He's more fashionable than I am now!

 And this one... well, we sprung a leak in our boiler's pressure tank (yes, you read correctly, we have a boiler and not a furnace) so we currently don't have heat. We came home Sunday and Jake wanted to take a nap, and of course wrapped up in the blanket because he was cold. Well, the animals must have been cold too, because they all flocked to him. Aside from Vin because he was pretty sick and exiled to the basement. Exiled for his own good. He's now better and back to the group.

I've been doing a short series of Señor Bruno waking up in the morning. This one didn't turn out amazing, but still ridiculously cute.

More to come!

Crab butt.

It's no secret. I've been a huge crab butt lately. I'm sick, a little swamped at work, and I feel like I have 100 things to do all at once and all I want to do is research canning stuff and tinker with my garden ideas. I don't want to do anything else right now. I certainly don't want to blow my nose or sneeze anymore, which seems like the only thing I can do lately. My sleeping has been off, my throat has been sore, and I've had a constant headache. And realistically, I can deal with all of that, I really can. What I have a hard time dealing with is how out of it I have been. It makes me feel like I'm not productive, which makes me frustrated, and then eventually behind and upset.

So here are some cute Bruno pictures to make this post happier.

 This is Bruno looking like a seal. Taken in the morning when we woke up.

 This is Bruno pretending to be sick with me. Although he's not sick, he does a good job of pretending with me.

And here is Bruno trying to fit through the cat door.

Ahhhhh, Vin also has a UTI, poor cat. Needed to go to the vet, Jake had to take a urine sample from him (interesting process), and also has to have two pills each night with dinner. And if you know me, you know I'm not really a cat person. I don't clean the cat boxes, I don't let them sleep in the bed, and I don't let them lay on me very much. I feed them because they need to eat and because I am generally up earlier than Jake. BUT! I am a freaking CHAMP when it comes to giving Vin his meds. Pure champ status. That has been my small success lately.

 Well, that and ALL of my seedlings sprouted. Yay!

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE our engagement photos. LOVE.

The End.

Race for the Cure - Indianapolis

So! I went to Indianapolis this weekend for the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure. I go every year to support amy good friend Krystal and to see my lovely bestie Sara! We had a lot of fun, did some walking, bought some stuff, and had a nice relaxing pedicure. God I love my pedicures. I find it very soothing to have pretty feet, kind of like my own little secret bit of sexiness.

 This is Sara. She is also my maid of honor. She lives in Indiana, and we visit back and forth a lot. I met Krystal through her, and it's been some amazing friendships all around. Wouldn't trade her for the world!

As you can see, I run for my Grandfather and for my Aunt Barb.

The turn out wasn't as large this year as last year, and I blame that on the weather; rainy, cold, but we made the best of it. We always do.

And then we got our sweet warrior paint!

Sara, Krystal, Me, and Holly, all showing off our war paint! It kind of took me back to the old days of being a child again with the face paint, just wished they had cat whiskers. How cute would that have been? Cute little cat whiskers? I digress.

And everyone walks. It was a nice 5k. I like it because it goes through part of the zoo, and you can see some of the animals. See the photos above, the man all in black? That's Sara's husband Thomas. He's pretty neat.

They even dress up the elephants!

 And here is the gang after the race, showing off our team shirts. I'm pretty fond of the style this year, I'll wear it around. I do always enjoy the Race for the Cure. I have a thing about group events. When a lot of people get together for a common cause, it makes me emotional at how beautiful a group can be when it gets together for a mutual cause, and a mutual front on something. Well, except for the holocaust. That sucked.

And here we are, going out for the evening. All in all, it was a really great time. It's always nice to get away for a little bit, and to take a time out to do something for the greater good. I've been pretty obsessed with work and my garden lately, and it was a nice reminder that life isn't all about me, but that there are a lot of other things going on in the world.