January flew by

And this was such a busy week too! I feel like all my moments that haven't been taken up by work have been taken up by my to-do list! It's Danny's 25th birthday tomorrow (!!!!!!) so I've been trying to prepare for that with gifts and cake baking and decorations...all on my lunch breaks. Not easy. If only I was home for enough time to do more than sleep, take a shower and leave again! Anyways, the presents are purchased, hopefully more meaningful/useful than last year's gift. I am going to wake up really really early tomorrow morning to bake a cake and can you guess what he wants to do for birthday dinner? Order one of the new Domino's pizzas. How can I not love this boy?! He is so easy to please...pizza and a funfetti cake.

The bigger birthday celebration is that we are going skiing this weekend! I'm so excited to get out of the city and be in the mountains to enjoy some snow and snowy sports. I haven't skiied in about 5 years, but I used to ski every single winter in the Rockies, so I'm hoping that my skills haven't gone too awry in the last few years. We're going with a group of friends and we have a big house with a hot tub rented, so I am anticipating a super fun weekend!

Things have been going well at work for the past few weeks also...I got a raise at my regular job, which is wonderful and SO appreciated, and I won the award for "Outstanding Desk Associate" at our staff appreciation party for the gym. Nice little plaque and everything!

Not much other fun news to report, I've just been so consumed with work and my busy schedule. I'll update more (with pictures) after our weekend away!

puppy cam puppy cam puppy cam

OMG OMG best news of the week (aside from my raise, YAY!)

THE SHIBA INU PUPPY CAM IS BACK!!!

If you missed this wonderous event last year, you missed out. It's a couple in San Fran that started a live stream of their new litter of puppies (to keep an eye on them while they were at work) and became an internet sensation for 3 months. And now the female Shiba has had another new litter and the PUPPY CAM IS BACK!

Below is the link...prepare to have this open on your desktop all day at work for the next few months. No joke.

http://www.ustream.tv/SFShiba

I wish I was Jewish

So, I know you are all dying to hear how the Bat Mitzvah went! I said my "mazel tov!"s and danced the Hava Nagila and while I was expecting the night to be so-so, it was SO MUCH FUN. I totally missed out by not being jewish. The only Christian equivalent of a Bar/Bat Mitzvah that I can think of is Confirmation. Totally not as fun, who throws a Confirmation party that rivals a wedding reception?

The night is really best described in pictures.

The girls from work

Not sure if we're doing this right...also, nobody passed us the memo that you're supposed to bring socks to dance in all night. Brilliant.

Chelsie was so confused about the whole Hava Nagila ordeal

Figured I should include a picture of the Bat Mitzvah girl

And the boss gets his turn.

And then they passed out feather boas, flashing rings, and kanye glasses, which I later wore out in public. No shame.

This is totally appropriate behavior

my new bad habit

THANK YOU all for the Bat Mitzvah suggestions and help! I feel a lot more prepared to not make a fool of myself at the party tomorrow night :) Hopefully I will sneak a few pics to post on here.

Lets see....so it's Friday. Finally! I didn't get a 3 day weekend like everyone else...my office is always open on MLK day, so this week feels particularly long to me. I feel like I know a lot of people who are always taking random days off, or long vacations, and I don't get how they do it! My 15 vacay days never stretch as far as I'd like them to. Especially between President's Day and Memorial Day. There needs to be a federal holiday that occurs in early April. Maybe I can petition to get April Fools Day off?

Oh yes, I wanted to jump on the bandwagon about 5 weeks late to the party and proclaim my love and amazement for Avatar. Have you seen it yet? If not, go NOW. It was incredible. I thought about it for 3 days straight afterwards. It was actually quite depressing to walk out of the movie theater into the city. I wanted to stay and live in that beautiful forest world. I totally see why there are reports of people being actually depressed by real life after seeing Avatar. I am already anticipating a glowing forest and simluated banshee ride at an amusement park sometime in the near future. It's so wonderful though, and really deserves every award that it will inevitably win. I saw it in RealD 3D, not the IMAX like I wanted (completely sold out), but it was still amazing, so even if you can't make it to an IMAX, see it in regualar 3D.

I'm also getting into a really bad habit that I must confess. There is a pet store near my office and I have gone twice on my lunch breaks this week and held the puppies. Well, one in particular. The cutest little girl Pomeranian. And now I want her so badly that I could cry right now just thinking about it. Except she's $1800. And I am gone from 8 am to 11:30 pm most week days. So I know that there is no feasible way for me to properly care for a dog right now, but it breaks my heart to put her back in her cage and see her big eyes look at me and wonder why we've just had such a fun playtime and now I am leaving her. It's almost as bad as those Sarah McLaughlin abused pet commercials. Anyways, my birthday is 2 months from yesterday, so if you're looking for a birthday gift for me....

Help! My first Bat Mitzvah!

Help me! Particularly my Jewish friends and readers. I have to go to my first Bat Mitzvah ever this Saturday night. It's for my boss's daughter, lest you wonder who I know that is turning 13, and our whole company was invited to the event.

My friend Lindsay has already informed me that I need to give money in increments of 18 (it's a lucky number or something I believe) but I need help with the decorum of the party! A few questions:

1. Is this the sort of thing you arrive on time to, like a wedding? Or can I be fashionably late (within a half hour of the start time)? I only know my co-workers, and reeeeeally don't want to be the first one there. Awkward convos are to be avoided.

2. What do I wear? Cocktail attire? The sort of dress you would wear to a wedding? Don't want to be too fancy, also don't want to be shown up on bat mitzvah fashion by the middle school kids.

3. Should I give her the check by itself, or in a card? Do I use a birthday card, or are there special Bat Mitzvah cards? Will there be some sort of table or area for the cards, or am I supposed to mail it to her?

4. How do I greet her? "Happy birthday!"? "L'chaim!"? "Congratulations!"? "Mazel tov!"

5. Is there an "end point" in the party after which it is not frowned upon if you leave? Cake cutting? Dancing starting? Post- dinner?

ANY help is appreciated... I don't want all the fancy 13 year olds from Scarsdale to laugh at me! Now I need to go buy some new shoes so they aren't all dressed better than me as well...

Help Haiti

The videos of the people in Haiti are wrenching my heart.

It's so easy to donate $10, and I promise you won't even notice it's gone, but it will make a HUGE difference to the earthquake victims. Please help out by texting 'Haiti' to 90999 to donate to the Red Cross

http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.94aae335470e233f6cf911df43181aa0/?vgnextoid=15c0c5a210826210VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD

Glee Auditions!

I was in show choir in high school, and I practice in the shower ALL the time. I think I could totally be one of the 3 worthy winners of this contest, yes?

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/01/11/scoop-fox-renews-glee/