Miscellany

It's not a Monday but I have a ton of random things to blog about today. So let's get started:

1. I am SO sick of politics. It's only January and I swear it's saturating every minute of my TV time. I can't even imagine what it's going to be like in October.

2. The in-laws house is coming right along! Nate and his dad have basically finished refinishing ALL of the electric in the upstairs unit. Oh, and all of the plumbing, too. So yeah, that took a little longer than expected.

They've begun to hang dry wall in the kitchen and even picked out the cabinets, counter tops and hardware without me. [very sneaky maneuver, eh?] So now we get to pick out the flooring and the wall colors. Now this is the part when my eyes perk up and I get really giddy. I'm thinking of a warm terracotta brownish color for the kitchen.

And remember how the ceilings are super cool and curved like this?
Well I was looking online at some of the other old homes in their area for ideas, and found this picture:
This proves that A. I can consider some bolder colors with the dark wood, because it doesn't look too bad at all, and B. If I paint a brighter color and leave the white curved part alone it could look very pimp. I don't like this cobalt blue at all, but it's just a good picture of color.

And remember how the dining room has this neat trim work, in the shape of rectangles?
This house has the same stuff and they did a great job, leaving the trim white and painting the wall a few shades darker. AND they have the same dark wood all over! Score!

This last picture just proves my "bright colors are okay with dark wood" theory. Again, not my favorite color in the world but it's a nice idea.

3. Tomorrow night I'm going to my second Dinner by Design session with work friends. It is so much fun, takes care of 8 meals for my little family, and is quite inexpensive. I HIGHLY suggest finding one in your area because if you are busy like me this can save you a ton of time.

Dinner by Design

4. While I'm at D.B.D., Nate will be showing our apartment to potential renters number 7 and number 8. Yep, two showings back-to-back. We've been very busy showing off our apartment while Henry growls from under the bed at the strangers. That always goes over well.

Last night the girl really liked it, and even snapped about a million pictures of each room. While I find that slightly creepy and weird, I can respect her love for photo documentation because I did the exact same thing when we looked at this place. I hope and pray one of these fools signs a freaking lease soon. And if I had my way, they'd sign for part of February and we can start saving money ASAP. I cannot handle the excitement. Wish us luck [yet again!].

5. Last night while falling asleep I stumbled upon the last episode of Sex and the City. Now, just to clarify, I was never one of the die hard fans for the show. I didn't watch it regularly and didn't compare my circle of friends to each character. Call me crazy, I know it's sacreligious for some.

Anywho....the last episode really got to me. Carrie in Paris, her true love coming to save her, the girls pushing to get her back to NY, the reunited clique of friends. It just tugged at my heart a little bit and I have no idea why.

I loved Carrie's hair, too. And the scene when Carrie and Big fall down. LOVED that.
So what does my ever-sensitive hubby say to me? "It's not real, you know. It's all false." No really? Thanks dear.

6. Speaking of my dear hubby, wanna hear some more of his lovely quotes?

• When talking about something unattainable: "It's like saying I want hair like Ryan Seacrest. He has a nice head of hair but it ain't gonna happen." [Aww, poor guy.]
• When discussing our work outs: "I don't want to be SWOLL anymore. Just "cut." But I don't think I'm physically capable of being cut. So I'm going to try and avoid being FAT."
  

7. Read this article on the weather and please explain to me what this phrase means: "The National Weather Service forecast warns of floods, gales, rain, thunderstorms, snow, near-blizzard conditions and brutal wind chills." Say what??

8. Have I mentioned how much I love Google Analytics? Apparently the world is reading my nonsense. Here are my numbers for the past 6 days:
And Monday is a very popular day to read blogs, with 165 visits yesterday. Damn, I should have posted something a a little better! It's also surprising to me that I still get just as many visits over the weekend (108-119) because I thought I had "work time readers."
Not only that, but my "motherly love" post has 201 views by itself. You did well, Mom!

9. I never posted about my fake bling. No, not my earrings. My "work rings." Here is every ring I own all stacked together. I try to resist the urge to wear them like this everyday:) Can you tell which are real and which are fake?


Wearing this many rings reminds me of Carmindy from "What Not to Wear." Have you ever noticed her freaking blinged out hand? I swear she has 10 bands stacked on there.Anyway, I digress. I bought this Diamonique band from QVC. I wear it all the time to work because I don't care if it gets completely banged up. And believe me, it does:
It was probably $40 and I just feel more relaxed when I wear it as opposed to my real set.

I also purchased a fake engagement ring set for when I'm feeling ridiculous. I use the word "ridiculous" because the 'simulated weight' of the center stone is freaking TWO CARATS.

It looks incredibly real due to the fact that I have man hands and I dwarf the 2 cts. Sometimes I'll wear the Diamonique e-ring with the Diamonique eternity band for extra spice:
Now the only problem with my fake sets? I don't have the guts to admit they are fake and I'm a horrible liar. I've been getting comments at work like, "Look at that rock! What is it, 1.2 carats?" I just grin and stutter around the subject, like "Oh I don't know, I didn't ask." When my conscience is saying, "It's totally fake but it's 2 carats. I'd pass out if my husband spent the tens of thousands of dollars on a real 2 carat ring. And it wouldn't be from happiness. It'd be from my money-spending-anxiety disorder." But I don't say any of that. Does that make me a bad person?

Here is my real set.
I love it so much that I can't bare to subject my diamonds to the nastiness that is a hospital. Between rubber gloves, hand washing, anti-bacterial gel, bodily fluids, and manual labor they'd be goners. And dirty as hell. So I bring the real set out to play on the weekends only. Nate is ever-so-pleased as you can imagine. Moral of the story? Go to QVC and search for "Epiphany Diamonique rings" and eat your heart out. You will die because they are so beautiful and cheap. Seriously.

10. This post was way too long. I went over my "computer time limit" imposed upon me by myself and my loving husband. Now I don't have time to proof read this for spelling errors and to add better grammar/more sarcasm. Hope I didn't lose you in this monster post!