Out West we go!

This week, I finally began officially planning our honeymoon. I booked our airfare and most of our lodging. Here is our plan:

8/4 Fly out of Newark into Portland, Oregon on an early evening flight. We'll get to Portland at 9pm Monday night and we'll be staying in Portland through Friday.

8/8 After driving to Mount Hood, we'll head up to Seattle, where we will stay until Monday.

8/11 We'll spend this night at North Cascades National Park. We'll we'll actually be staying at an inn nearby. North Cascades looks gorgeous! There are glaciers and all!

8/12 British Columbia, we arrive! We'll spend two nights in Vancouver.

8/14 Two nights in Victoria on Vancouver Island. We'll be staying at an amazing little inn right by the ocean and a huge nature preserve.

8/16 Back to Seattle for one night.

8/17 Fly out of Seattle back home.

Using Trip Advisor, I was able to find some amazing bed and breakfasts for us to stay in. We will be going in a little over five months!

Let me out!

In anticipation of a real snow day!

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Sort of. Well, my mom got the name Marisa from the actress Marisa Berenson but I'm not named after her. My Hebrew name is Naomi Rifka. Naomi is for my great uncle Nat and Rifka is for somebody but I don't remember who.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
When Susan and Tim got engaged!

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING
Sometimes

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT?
Duh. None.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Not yet.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
I think so.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
I love sarcasm.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE TONSILS
Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Maybe in my younger, crazier days. But, no.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL?
Special K with berries or kashi.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM Off?
No.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
Eh. So-so.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM?
Mint chocolate chip. Cookie dough.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
I'm observant. I can tell a lot about a person soon after meeting them but I can't think of one thing.

15. RED OR PINK?
Depends on my mood. I do love pink though.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
My lack of organization.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST
I miss my friends who I can't see that often. I miss my Shayla.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?
If you want to do a survey, go ahead and do this one.

19. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Tealish sweater. Brown pants.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
2 fun size twix bars

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Andy on the speakerphone.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
lime green

23. FAVOURITE SMELLS?
The ocean. Fresh baked bread. Chocolate chip cookies hot from the oven.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Andy

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Of course or why would I spend the rest of my life with him?

26. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Umm...baseball, I guess.

27. HAIR COLOUR ?
Blondish.

28. EYE COLOUR?
Hazel green.

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
No.

30. Your favorite food?
Indian. Thai. Ethiopian. Dark chocolate.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy endings!!!!

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Princess Bride

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Well, I like cold weather better than hot. But I do like my summers off so it's a toss up, I guess.

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
Love 'em both!

36. FAVOURITE DESSERT?
Anything chocolaty. Tiramasu!

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
Jenn.

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND ?
Most everyone else.

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
"Life and Times of the Thunder Bolt Kid."

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
WFUV.org

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T. V. LAST NIGHT?
Didn't watch last night, but tonight, watched The Martha Stewart Show!

42. FAVOURITE SOUND
The sounds of the beach. The ocean surf crashing and the seagulls calling. Norton's snoring.

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
The Beatles!

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
US Virgin Islands

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Not really sure.

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Edison, NJ.

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
I dunno.

Last Night's Eclipse

Anyone see the lunar eclipse last night? It was really awesome! I think it was the first lunar eclipse I've ever witnessed. If you missed it, I'm sorry, because you won't have another chance to see a lunar eclipse until the year 2010.

The moon had a reddish tint and if you looked to either side, you could see the star Regulus on one side and Saturn on the other. Of course, I couldn't tell which was which.

I told my third graders about it yesterday and a few of them were lucky enough to be able to stay up until 10:00 to see it! I remember when I was in third grade, we had a solar eclipse. Well, my teacher told us that we would become blind if we looked at it. I remember feeling terrified that whole day to look anywhere near the sky lest I become blinded! It's nice knowing that it's not harmful at all to look at a lunar eclipse!

(Photo credit: I got the photo from this page and it was shot by Hal Laurent from East Baltimore.)

New Babes

Kayla turned 3 weeks old yesterday! It's amazing how during those first few weeks and months, babies change so much! Here's a cute photo of her sleeping on her changing table from this past weekend.

Here's a promised photo of Vincent Joseph! This was taken Monday while they were still in the hospital. Mom, Dad and Vincent went home on Tuesday and are doing well, albeit a lack of sleep!

AccuWAIT!

In the year 2008, how can seemingly intelligent people still fall into these crazy fad diets? I have a coworker who does the Accu-Weight Loss program. She has a bead behind her ear, which is the acupuncture aspect of the diet. She is supposed to rub this bead to keep focused. Here are some of the rules of the diet.

1. Only eat between noon and 6pm.

2. For two days, you can only consume whole milk products. You must have 2.5 cups of milk and/or yogurt. Thats all you eat on your milk days!

3. The next two days, you consume vegetables only. You get 2 servings of fruit and up to 1.5 lbs of veggies. Thats all you eat on your veggie days!

4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 until you get to your goal weight.

So, basically, you are starving your body on this diet. There are no whole grains and there are no sources of protein other than the milk. Our bodies work best when we combine many different healthy foods and eat them in moderation. I like Weight Watchers the best but in my opinion, the best diet is not really a diet but a plan you can live with permanently!

Anyone ever hear of this crazy diet?

Wedding Registering Madness

I couldn't wait to begin the whole registering process back when we got engaged last Spring. Everything we had for the kitchen pretty much was either hand me downs from Eric's parents, my parents, college leftovers, and other stuff I got really cheap.

Our first registry was created at Williams-Sonoma. We figured it would be easy because it was a small store. We registered for a handful of things there. And we got some of them as engagement gifts.

Then we began a Fortunoff registry as oppose to a Macy's registry. My mom said Fortunoff was better. From visiting either store, they seemed the same to me. So we registered for our "fine stuff" at Fortunoff.

We registered for much of our everyday stuff at Bed Bath & Beyond.

We were done. Or so Eric thought. Then these things happened.

1. Martha Stewart came to Macy's!
2. I realized Macy's has a better website than Fortunoff.
3. Rumors began floating of Fortunoff going belly-up. (Okay, it seems as this point that Lord & Taylor is buying them out.)
4. I visited Crate & Barrel the other day, in search of the perfect everyday glasses, and decided we must register here!

So we decided to abandon the Fortunoff and Williams-Sonoma registry in favor of having only three registries--Crate & Barrel, Macy's, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

So yesterday, Eric and I went to Crate and Barrel to register there. It was amazing. We didn't argue. Not once. We always argue when it comes to registering. So if you're looking to buy us a gift, please don't shop at Fortunoff or Williams-Sonoma because you won't find much left there!

Three Day Weekend

I love three day weekends. Even if I do have to go to the dentist tomorrow.

Today we're seeing Kayla again so I'll post more photos today or tomorrow!

And speaking of babies, Kayla's not the "baby" of the family any longer!

My cousin, Andrea, and her husband, Frank, became first-time parents this morning! They had a little boy, Vincent. It all just happened so I don't have any other details as of yet but its very exciting!

Yesterday, Eric and I explored the little town of Andover. It's ten minutes from where we live and it's home to tons of antique shops. We had a delicious lunch at a cute little coffee house called the Gristmill Cafe. We spent some time wandering around the shoppes in town and bought a couple cute things.

Then last night, Eric got yet another birthday dinner. We had Ethiopian lentils and Ethiopian green beans and potatoes. The green beans and potatoes were a new recipe and they came out pretty good! All in all, it was a healthy and delicious meal!

After dinner, we watched The Princess Bride. It's a movie that I had never seen before but it's one of Eric's favorites. It was a cute movie.

Eric v. Abe

Today seemed like a fitting day to compare Eric M. Munkee to Abraham Lincoln. A fun fact that you may be unaware of is that they happen to share the same birthday! Yes, it's true. Did you know that they have other similarities, too?

Eric loves KFC and while I doubt Abe ever had the opportunity to try their hot wings, he was born in Kentucky. Abe also bears a remarkable likeness to the colonel.

Did you know that Abe was the first president to wear a beard? I think that Eric may very well be one of the first Asians to sport one too!

Abe served as captain of the military. While Eric is by no means affiliated with any sort of military, he is captain of his Strat-o-Matic hockey team, the East Coast Earthquakes. At least, I think that's what his team is called.

Did you know that Honest Abe "clerked" in a shop? As a teenager, Eric never worked in a supermarket as a cashier or grocery bagger. He blames his inability to bag groceries properly on this key fact.

Happy Birthday, Munkee!

Today is Eric's 33rd birthday. Happy Birthday to the love of my life!

On Sunday, we invited Eric's parents and my family over for dinner to celebrate Eric's birthday. It was a wonderful day.

Here's the cake that I baked for Eric. It's a stadium cake! I used the stadium bundt cake pan that we received as an engagement gift. The football cookie in the middle was a gift from Ashley and Joe. Even though I did not think we had any use for a stadium bundt cake pan, it's not a bad thing to have. The cake was definitely a hit!

No More Polaroids

I read online today that Polaroid is shutting down the instant photography aspect of their business. They've already ceased production of instant cameras and will stop manufacturing the film for them (though they do have enough film to last through 2009).

How sad. I admit it. I haven't owned a Polaroid camera in years. Back in 2000 or so, I had one of those Polaroid sticker cameras. They were very popular at the time!

No matter your age, there's still something magical about holding that Polaroid photo in your hand waiting for it to develop.

When my friends took me out for Hibachi on my 29th birthday, I received a birthday Polaroid souvenir. It's still on my refrigerator.

Here's a "vintage" Polaroid commercial from 1979.

Isn't she lovely?

Look at this funny babe, one hour after birth. Isn't she precious?



Kayla's first picture with Grandma


Kayla and her favorite aunt!

PuppyBowl IV

I watched some of the SuperBowl with Eric. Because I had to. But on commercials, we watched the PuppyBowl. The PuppyBowl, in my opinion, was so much better than the SuperBowl. It was sooo cute!!! There were no winners. There were no losers. Just puppies playing on a fake football field.

And, during half-time, there was a kitty show.

You can even go on their website and vote for the MVP.

And, I found out that all the puppies and kittens come from shelters. Eric says we can't get one though. :(

A Big Day

Well, today was a big day. Not JUST because the Giants won tonight's Superbowl.

Today marks the one year anniversary of my first date with Eric. One year ago today, I never would have believed it if somebody had told me I was going to marry that guy. It was a good date. I liked Eric's sense of humor. He seemed like a nice enough guy and we got along well.

The next day was Superbowl Sunday, but instead of watching the game, I was spending the day with a girlfriend. We made pizza and brownies and watched a movie instead. While I was there, I had gotten an email from Eric asking me out for another date.

I asked my girlfriend what she thought. Should I go out with him again? She and I decided, why not? First date went well. Might as well give it a try.

Tonight, I want to thank that dear friend. That first date turned out to be the love of my life.

And six months from today, we'll be married.

And wedding plans are moving along...yesterday we had our second premarital counseling session with the rabbi AND we picked out our wedding rings! We've found a new videographer since the whole Celebration Studios nightmare. And we've contracted somebody to design custom invites for us! Yippee!