We’ve talked about this before, I’m a sucker for magazines. The worst though is that winter holiday season. You know, now. I’m tempted by all the recipes and crafts, and all the gift and decorating ideas. I just can’t seem to avoid it. I’ll be innocently standing in line at the check out, and I just have to read the covers.
One of my grocery stores recently remodeled. Today was the first time I’ve been back since the remodel, so I figured I’d walk around aisle by aisle (not like I don’t have 50 other things I need to get to today!). I actually perused the magazine aisle. I was intrigued by the Rachael Ray Holiday Special Edition. But I used restraint and walked away.
That is until I saw it again at another part of the store. This time I just shrugged and picked it up. What can I say, it’s the holiday season. I need ideas for food I can’t cook (since my inlaws don’t like to try new things) and gifts I’m not going to make. It’s all in good fun? At least it’s not like I’m impulse buying new shoes or purses, right?
So what about you, what’s your holiday season weakness?
It’s nearly midnight and I’ve yet to write something for today. Not cool. Even worse, that this is going to count for my “something”. I can’t help it, the jet lag is intense. We’re both just so sleepy…going to bed early and taking naps in the middle of the day. I tried to stay up later tonight, but man, it’s killing me just to keep my eyes open. This better end soon though, since I’ve got clients to schedule for this week and next.
And speaking of next week…it’s Thanksgiving already?!?! Seriously??? I’m so not ready for this.
We got home late last night, after midnight. By the time we went to bed it was 1:30 or so. Before we could even think about settling down, the cat demanded that we give him the attention he felt he deserved. Of course, by the time we went to bed, he was meowing up a storm to let us know that he wasn’t yet ready for bed.
We woke up far too early this morning, around 8:30 or so. Again, more loving with the cat. We headed out to breakfast (Mexican, yum – you don’t quite realize how much you miss certain flavors when you’re away). Then it was on to pick up the pupster. The cat saw us walking up the walk together and let out two big meows and ran to the door. As soon as we walked in the door, the cat was rubbing up against the dog welcoming him home and trying to snuggle with him on the couch.
From there it was back to bed for this bunch. All four of us fell back to sleep for two hours or so. I woke up so hot from having both boys snuggled up so tight. Well that and the fact that it’s 90+ degrees out. Why the hell is it 90 anything in the middle of November???
I feel a bit better. I’m not as congested as I was. There’s hope this might not turn into an infection yet. Then again, half of LA County is on fire and the smoke and ash in the air is insane. So who knows. I’m just thankful we didn’t come home to any fires in Griffith Park. That would have just been too much. We’re still waiting to hear from my BIL to find out how he is. There’s a mass amount of fire activity over in his neck of the woods and he’s just up the hill from all of it (with his exit on the freeway being closed on and off).
This has to have been one of the world’s most boring posts. To make it up to you, here are a couple videos from our trip around Dublin. If you listen closely you can hear the tour guide (see, I did get some Irish for you CurlyWurly).
More of our bus tour, this time covering the only remaining “old wall” of the Dublina and the Guinness area (I talk a bit through this one a bit, repeating what the tour guide says). Guinness bought up tons of acreage in the city and then took a 9000 year lease on it all. Wow.
PS – it’s not easy to shut off the Flip when you’re wearing gloves
I’ve been up since midnight Pacific and we’ll be home ’round midnight tonight. Right now we’re in Boston enjoying some fried clams and chowda’ and washing it all down with some kickass sangria.
Can’t wait to get home and sleep in my own beds. To say nothing off the copious amounts of drugs I’ll be taking. Flying with a congested head sucks. Having three takeoffs with a congested head is HELL!
And I’m soaking wet. Hard to take pictures in the windy rain. Seriously, it blows sideways.
Brief stop in Killarney for lunch. Hoped to head to castle (Rossmore maybe) but if we can’t appreciate the view and still have a rainy drive ahead it’s not really worth it.
Hanging out at Chili’s drinking a margarita waiting on ‘breakfast’ a burger. Who stops serving breakfast at 10?
Checking in was a pain since every customer rep told us to stand at the boarding pass line. Turns out we should have trusted our instincts and stayted at ticketing. The supervisor was a jerk but didn’t charge for our tiny pound or so overages. Thankfully
Next up San Fran to Dublin. Catch up with you tomorrow from Ireland.
Or more importantly…I survived my free Starbucks coffee and Krispy Kreme donuts. Voting was a piece of cake. No parking, but no lines. They found me right away, checked me off and sent me (and my CA Props cheat sheet) on my way. I can’t stand those shakey voting booths, but it is a super easy process.
With my “I Voted” sticker I headed on over to one of the local Starbucks with the line wrapping around the store. Really, I think the last time I saw this place so crowded, they were hosting the area job fair. They were ready though…had hot cups of coffee ready to hand you as soon as they saw your sticker. I will say, it’s the first time I’ve tried their Pike’s Blend and it was much smoother than their other coffees, but still a tad bitter for my tastes.
From there, I headed down the parking lot to the Krispy Kreme. Their parking lot was insane, but there wasn’t much of a line. It was funny to see so many folks enjoying their patriotic donut with their Starbucks coffee (especially since they have a Coffee Bean at this location). But boy howdy, an original glazed donut with frosting and sprikles is just TOO much. If it wasn’t for the caffeine, I’m sure I’d be napping by now.
Did you know that in NYC and Seattle, they’re giving away free silver bullet vibrators or Maverick sleeves (for men) over at Babeland? And here in Beverly Hills, you can get half off of Botox. Now that’s another way to feel good after voting!
Who knew that 8GB on an iPod just wouldn’t be enough? I mean it sounds like it’s plenty of room. Maybe it is…for other people. But it turns out I had to delete a good chunk of my iTunes library (mostly my husband’s stuff and it’s all in his iTunes library). On top of that, I still had to leave a bunch of stuff off the Nano’s play list.
Totally not what I was expecting. I still need to make a little room for some teleseminars and podcasts. I guess that’s the price we pay for such a modern convenience. I mean, if this was just 10 years ago, I’d have to choose between which CDs to take and let’s be honest, that would take up WAY more space. So I guess there’s no point in complaining.
I do feel better about what’s left to do. Turns out there’s not that much left. Tomorrow I’ll vote, get my brows down, pick up the dry cleaning and finish the actual packing. If there’s time left (I’m sure there will be) and I’m so inclined (no comment) I’ll also give a quick vacuum through the place. We come home to enough cat hair, no sense making it worse by not vacuuming up the old stuff, right?
I left figuring out our travel arrangements to the hubby. Looks like we’ll park at his office and then taxi to LAX. That should work out just fine, though it will be on early morning considering we have the stop the pupster off first thing.
And now, I really, really need to get that Press Release taken care of. later.
We leave first thing Wednesday (man is that going to be a crazy long day). Tuesday, being Election Day I figure the husband will be glued to the TV all night. Needless to say, I figure we have to basically have everything gathered and be pre-packed before bed on Monday.
Of course, there’s still stuff that needs to be done…
buy cat food and cat litter
do the last load of laundry (no promises here) – not gonna happen
strip the bed
add light to a timer
move extra lamp out of office to front rooms
organize the heaping mess of prizing – half-assed, but done
pay bills
call bank re: vacation travel (in the past, Wells Fargo has been known to cut us off while on vacation – simple phone call fixes it, but what a PITA)
write & send interview questions to MG
get battery for travel clock (hell, first I need to find it) – can’t seem to find it, guess we buy a new one *sigh* DONE
touch up roots
bring in luggage from the garage
get brows done
vacation messages on phone & email
organize all the computer equipment to go with
organize my iTunes library for my new-to-me iPod – work in progress, seems I’ve hit a glitch or 3
do last minute work regarding contest event marketing and thank you’s
I think that’s it. It’s totally doable, just a pain in the ass. Funny how it’s always the little things that take all the time and effort when going out of town.
It’s officially day one of NaBloPoMo. No, I won’t be counting off each and every day. I just wanted to let you know that November 1st it all starts. So while I sit and wait for the cat sitter to arrive, I’ll get in a quickie post.
How about a brief introduction for those newbies that might pop in? Eh, better yet, just head on over to my About LA Blogger Gal page over there on the right (see the linky?) and check it out yourself. Just know that I’ll be on vacation for part of NaBloPoMo (again, this year) so I can’t promise a new post every single day. But I will what I can to get it done (hopefully, with the time change, time will be on my side).
November 1st is also the day that our 50 Days of Giveaways officially begins over at ConstantChatter. But since I need to have plenty to post about while I’m gone, I thought I’d hold off on posting our press release here for a bit. No biggie anyway since every contest will run for 4 weeks. So there’s plenty of time to enter, regardless of when I post the specific details – but I will post it all in a day or two (probably the day we fly out).
I’m so thrilled that it finally looks like fall is here. We’ve been overcast and grey with spots of rain, both yesterday and today. Mind you, we’re still forecasted to be in the mid-70’s, but cooler weather is just around the corner (as we leave, of course). First morning in a long time that I can really enjoy my morning tea. Love that!
Okay, quick post is over. Must love the cat (and the jealous dog) a bit before the stranger arrives. Hope to see you throughout NaBloPoMo. And remember to leave comments (activating Comment Luv) so others can follow you back to your own blog.
