I Love OPI

Mandy and I have loved using OPI nail color for years. The names they attach to their colors are so clever. Mandy sent me this OPI advertisement of their recently released color line called the HOLLAND COLLECTION:

You can't make out the clever names listed in this picture, so I'll share:

• Did You 'ear About Van Gogh?
• Petal Faster Suzi
• Kiss Me on My Tulips
• Red Lights Ahead Where?
• A Roll in The Hague
• Gouda Gouda Two Shoes
• I have a Herring Problem
• Thanks a WindMillion
• I Don't Give a Rotterdam!
• Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI?
• Vampsterdam
• Wooden Shoe Like to Know?

These names are so much fun to this Dutch person!

Income Taxes Update

When I'm reminded about this



I usually feel like this

But I went from this

To this in only one night

Now, I'll do a little of this

Turn everything over to my tax guy and hope to get this

Instead of this

Wish me luck!!

Taxes...Ugh!

In less than a month, taxes are due. This is what my table looks like for days. I hate this part of the year.

My New Favorite Food

Facial,
Massage,
Dinner at Cheesecake Factory,
What more can a woman want?

After Stacey spent the day shopping with Faye in Berkeley, she and I hooked up for a fun evening. We both had a facial, I added a massage, and then we went for a bite to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. A few months ago, my mom and I ate there and I asked the server what the most-ordered dinner was on his shift. He said Chicken Bellagio. I read the description and I thought it sounded like a little too much:

Crispy Coated Chicken Breast over Basil Pasta and Parmesan Cream Sauce Topped with Prosciutto and Arugula Salad


He asked me to trust him and to try it. I did and it immediately became my new favorite food.


I had it again tonight and was not disappointed. I practically licked my plate!

I found the recipe on a morning program's website and for a nano second thought about making it. However, I'm not going to do that because I don't want to compete with the real thing at the "Factory." If you are braver than I, try it:

http://weareaustin.com/news/features/morning/stories/vid_20.shtml

Thanks for a fantastic evening, Stacey!

I Love, Love, Love Amazon.com

I don't know how I missed adding Amazon.com to my Favorite Things List on February 9. It is, clearly, one of my favorite things. I mean, what's not to love? You can order a bazillion items from Amazon.com. And, if your order totals at least $25, it ships free and arrives in about a week. And, if that's not enough, the vast majority of their items are less expensive than in stores or other online sites.
I discovered Amazon.com in 2005 when a lot of Amazon.com boxes arrived around Christmas time from Mark and Mandy in Seattle.
In 2006, I thought I should check out Amazon.com and ordered 7 items.
The following year, I ordered 10 items.
In 2008, 16 items.
In 2009, my co-worker said that because Mandy lives in Seattle and I have to send a lot of stuff up there, I should look into getting a Prime account with Amazon. With Prime, every order ships free and arrives in TWO days. And, if you need it overnight, you pay only $3.99 even if it weighs a bazillion pounds. It has changed my ordering and shipping life!
So, in 2009, I set up Amazon Prime and ordered 29 items, all with free shipping.
But, I really got on the ball in 2010, with 50 orders.
In 2011, it jumped to 80.
You can see that I'm addicted to shopping Amazon. I even buy my Perfectly Slimming Levi's from Amazon.com. I save money on gas, I get to shop in my fleece, I save money on products, and I save money on shipping. See, what's not to love?

Amazon, I love you!

Size WHAT??? I wish!!!

When I shop for clothing at TJ Maxx, I love how the racks are nicely arranged by size and that the hangers have a funky little plastic bead-looking device, color-coded, with the size on it, making it easy to locate an entire row of what will probably fit. For example, hangers for size large have a green plastic bead with an L on it; hangers for size medium have a yellow plastic bead with an M on it, etc. So cool. So, when I found a cute blue sweater, I wanted a large size because I would be wearing it over something else. I chose the green bead-colored hanger and headed to the dressing room. It was a perfect fit, so I bought it.

Three days later, I wanted to wear the sweater and pulled it out of the closet, ripped the tags off and started to pull it over my head when, to my horror, I looked at the tag I had just thrown on my bed. It said XSMALL, which stands for EXTRA small. EXTRA small?????? EXTRA SMALL??????????? How did that happen? I KNOW that the bead was green and said L for large. That sweater, now in my hands with the tags torn off, would never fit!! I was so dismayed, thinking I was going to have to try to re-attach the ripped-off tags and go back to the store to return it. Three days ago, there was only one other sweater on the rack and it was a size small, so I was really disappointed.

For some reason, I followed through and pulled the sweater over my head and, to my great surprise, it fit. This was a second shock to my system in under five minutes. I looked back at the tag and it still said XSMALL. The only thing I could think of was that the wrong tags were attached to the sweater, some smart associate figured it out, and hung it on the right bead-color hanger. Whatever happened, I didn't care...I was a happy woman!

P.S. I didn't pay that price!

Stacey's in Town

Two weeks in a row spending time with best buds is the BEST. On Sunday, Stacey, Bonnie, Jim, and the 47 Leals joined us for crab dinner. We ate, we talked, we laughed, we caught up, and we learned a little about Chicago. So fun!






Too bad I forgot to take a picture of the pretty table before we all dug in!

A Fun-filled Week

Even though it was another tough week at work, I was able to carve out some time for fun.

Last Saturday, several of us were able to spend a major part of the day in the city. Here's Norma and her new Fascinator:

On Sunday, Bonnie and Caroline joined us for dinner and we enjoyed girl-talk until MIDNIGHT!

On Monday, Michelle, Bonnie, Caroline, Maureen, and I met for lunch at Il Fornaio--yum!

On Tuesday, Bonnie hosted a pot-luck dinner followed by a great lesson on essential oils by Caroline. I learned much and it was fun to compare notes with my mom about how my grandmother used some of these as remedies for aches, pains, and illnesses "back in the day."

On Friday, Mom, Alex, and I watched THE HELP. I love that movie.

Today, Mom and I did some laundry, cleaned the kitchen, went to a garage sale, shopped for groceries, picked up two movies, and went to Sears to have a security "thingy" taken off a sweater I bought there a couple of months ago. We did the first five things in under an hour. After the security "thingy" was removed from my sweater, we wanted to eat a late lunch at Johnny Rockets. On our way out of the store, well, we actually never made it out of Sears because of a major clearance sale there. We shopped very productively for the next three and a half hours and Mom bought 3 blouses. I bought a skirt, 3 watches, 2 pair of boots and 3 pair of shoes for me, 2 pair of boots for Beth, and boots and shoes for Mandy. Yikes!

If You Loved Phantom...

Tonight, Bonnie and I saw a one-day showing of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies. Bonnie loved it. Although I loved the music and the acting, I had a little trouble with the transition from Phantom to this one. I did enjoy the show, though. If it comes back, go see it!

Fun Day in the City

Our friend, Caroline, came to town and we partied in the City. We couldn't have chosen a better day to go...the weather was fabulous, we found parking right away, the shopping was great, lunch was yummy, cream puffs even yummier, and the friends, well...............priceless!

Thanks for the picture, Faye!

Hurray, It's Friday!

Grueling week...

• Secretary out sick all week with bronchitis (I know what that feels like).
• Worked late three nights (ugh).
• Jury Duty on Thursday (jury finally chosen with only 14 of us left in the cheap seats)
• Hit the ground running this morning with doctor appointment, Wells Fargo appointment for a "medallion signature" (learn something new every day), and a day full of major crises at work (what else is new).

But with some fun distractions...

• Made yummy Beef Stroganoff from scratch.
• Took Ed to dinner at El Torito on his real birthday.
• Played cards with Mom and Alex and won one game.
• Made Coco's Asian Chicken Salad at work.

I'm looking forward to a very fun weekend!

Day in Court

The Leals are getting their share of civic duty opportunities. Until last week, Alex served for a month as a juror on a murder trial. A couple of weeks ago, I received this:

This is the fourth time that I have been summoned. The first time, my group was released the day before I was supposed to go. The second time, I made it to the court room but the jury was selected before my turn came up. The third time, I was excused after one day because my secretary died. This time, I made it to the court room, and, again, the jury was selected before my turn came up to be in the "six-pack," the term they use for the six extra jurors that are brought up for possible selection. 54 prospective jurors were in the court room and at the end of the day (yes, it took all day), there were so many excused, that there were only 15 of us left in the seats, so I got close. The process was fascinating.

I'm now safe for a year.