The Honey-Do List

If you're married, you know what this is... Every couple's got one. The Honey-Do List... Basically all of the annoying things you need to fix around the house that you are always pestering your "honey" to do.

So what did we do this weekend? The Honey-Do List of course!!! Well, not all of it, but anytime we can knock off any one of those items on that ever-growing list is an accomplishment. The main entree of this weekend's checklist? Getting rid of the doorbell. Why's that you ask? Because it's this big yellowish box that sticks out of the wall RIGHT above our television. Something that I'm sure no one but me has ever noticed, but I could NOT stop looking at it. I mean, come on.

The Doorbell...

Lovely ain't it? Well, it had to go. And no we couldn't just take it out because a) we need a doorbell and b) we are only renting our house, and I'm sure landlords frown upon the removal of common household functions. SO, being the problem solvers that we are, we decided to install a shelf and hide it behind a lovely picture frame. The other added bonus of the Honey-Do List is getting to watch Hubby go to work :) So after a quick (relatively) trip to IKEA and one $30 shelf later, Hubby was installing our hide-that-doorbell-behind-a-frame-that-sits-on-a SHELF!

What's that you say? You love the drill he's using? Why, thanks for noticing. It was a Christmas present from his super awesome wife!

Once the brackets were drilled into the wall (yes we may have calculated that each of the three top screws in each bracket was carrying no more than 20 pounds in tension and was deemed acceptable to our very high structural standards) it was time for the true test... how level was the shelf? Who needs a level when you have unlimited soccer balls sitting around in the garage doing nothing.

VOILA! The soccer ball rests peacefully! As level as it gets! Good thing too cause for a second there I considered displaying nothing but antique porcelain spheres on that shelf.

What else is that you say? Why yes, that drill DOES have a light on it. Which would have been crucial had we needed to install this shelf in the middle of the night during a blackout.

Level!

 And just incase there was any doubt, proof. Proof that my husband is a shelf-installing-professional. What more could a girl ask for? I know, how about this....

Cleaning up his mess

YEP! The true success of this entire day. Hubby was caught on camera vacuuming up the drywall mess that he drilled out of the wall and onto our TV stand. YEP! My man VACUUMS!!!! Never letting him go!

Final Product!

Doorbell? What doorbell? Looks SO MUCH BETTER!

Now I need to hurry up and print that picture of Joey vacuuming so it too can be displayed up on the new shelf ;-)

What Happens in Vegas...

Goes on my Blog of course!!!

Last weekend Joey and I went on Vacation!!! to Vegas!!! with Friends!!! That intro is just way too exciting isn't it? Well, it was exciting. All of it.

My golden birthday was Wednesday (I turned 28 on the 28th) and our friend Lucas' golden birthday was Friday (30 on the 30th) so the universe was in perfect harmony for us and 12 of our closest friends to head to Vegas. Let me tell you a little about the trip...

First... Joey and I flew out on Virgin America Airlines. It was my first time on that airline and trust me, it lived up to all the hype.

Flight to Vegas

Fancy night club lighting and ALL the Mahjong my heart could desire. This vacation was starting off on exactly the right foot!

Once we arrived in the City of Sin, we headed straight to meet our friends at our hotel, the Cosmopolitan. This is one of the newest casino's on the strip and it was unbelievable. Here's what we saw as we entered the lobby.

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

Yeah. Amazing right? The chandelier bar was pretty self-explanatory. I couldn't stop staring at it...

Chandelier Bar

Two stories tall and glorious. Basically a ginormous work of art where you can order overpriced drinks. So cool.

As if the entire vacation weren't already jaw dropping enough, Lucas booked a super sweet two-story roof top pool side suite for us all to hang out in. Don't believe me?

Lucas' Amazing Suite

Yep. Those are stairs. IN the suite. Whoa. 

So, now that we were all settled in, we could commence our long weekend of vacation celebration.

Vicky, Lisa, Me, Lindsey & Trinette

The Girls: Lisa, Trinette, Cary, Lindsey, Vicky, Me

The Boys: Steve, Dave, Joey, Mike, Kevin, Jameson, Mike & Lucas

Obligatory Prom Pic!

Out on the Patio of the Suite

Tons of fun and I believe Joey and I stayed up until 4am on the first night in vegas. For sure an ultimate record for us. The next day we all lounged around in the pool. Correction... Rooftop Pool. Up 14 stories in the sky, we were bobbing eye-level with skyscrapers. It was crazy.

Rooftop Pool. Not too shabby

Followed by a quick gambling session where I won $140 playing video poker. I'm a natural. And very good at quitting while I'm ahead.

Bling Bling!

With enough napping and 5 hour energy, we were ready for another night! But not without some seriously fine dining...

Papa Johns!

 OK, maybe not your idea of fine dining but this pizza hit the spot and we could all eat and hang out in the suite before heading out for the night.

Me and Hubby. And Luke highjacking the pic as usual.

Love these girls

That night, we we all eager to go see a show. I mean, when in Vegas.... you know... do as the Vegasians do? See a show? OK, maybe that's not a saying, but anyways...

Cary's Awkward Solo Shot

Cary offered to give me a photo op of the show... Isn't she adorable? Yep! And awkward? Yeah. Kinda.

Let the show begin!

 Doesn't this show look cool, and amazing, and exciting? Well, it was. Ask ANY of the girls that were watching. However, ask any of the guys in our party, they will tell you they got the best (and possibly most expensive) nap of their lives. Not one guy stayed awake to see the show. Maybe staying up the night before gambling had something to do with it...

Naps aside, the vacation was incredible. Our first time in Vegas together was a trip we'll never forget.

Our Sweet New Ride!

Last week Joe and I finally took the plunge and bought a NEW CAR! That's right, we are now proud owners of a beautiful opal sage 2012 Honda CRV :-) It's a little bitter sweet because the reason we made the purchase is because my 2001 Mazda Tribute just passed 150,000 miles (a couple thousand miles ago) and it's not getting any newer. Before time does the Tribute wrong, we decided it was more cost effective to get a new car and hopefully one with better gas mileage than 18 measly miles per overpriced gallon. I will however be shedding some tears when the Tribute finds a new owner... I have a lot of great memories with that car and I'm really going to miss it.

That's not to say I don't also LOVE LOVE LOVE the new Honda CRV. This car marks the very first brand stinkin' new car that Joe and I have ever owned.

Just handed our new KEYS!

We felt like such grown ups when we were finally given the keys. It was certainly a surreal moment for both of us. One week of gruesome dealership negotiations, test-drives, and paper work & a whole lot poorer, we finally walked out the door with this bad boy!

Beautiful Inside & Out 

All lit up at night

Fancy Screen in the Dash

 We splurged and got the leather interior with seat heaters, dual air control and all that hoopla that I continue to drool over every morning on my way to work now. This weekend we put the car to the real test... Costco!

Wholesale Junk in the Trunk

 Yep, it passed the Domestic Suburban Life test, easily fitting GIANT tubs of cat litter and cat food that our two cats are constantly running out of. I swear those felines need to hurry up and get jobs so they can start contributing to this family, such mooches. But I digress...

How else has this vehicle surpassed our wildest expectations? Well...

Cup Holders...

The cup holders ARE perfectly sized to hold a mini tub of Ben & Jerry's. Dear car, You had me at Hello...

But the real Piece de Resistance.... The Purse Test. Every woman out there knows what I'm talking about. You hop in the car to drive to your next destination and if someone is sitting shot gun you either have to awkwardly ask them to hold your purse or toss it in the back seat (good luck reaching your lip gloss at a red light). And now? Problem Solved!

Well hello there center console AKA purse holder

Hidden Purse! Sleakly stashed under your arm rest.

The designers of this car have thought of absolutely everything. And while we may be eating Top Ramen every meal for the next 5 years while we pay off this car, at least we'll look good driving to Save Mart to buy more.

Happy Birthday Trent!

Today, March 21st 2012, my nephewTrenton Dane Roach turned FIVE years old. He is officially half a decade old people!!! Yikes. You know when people start sentences with "It feels like just yesterday..."? Well, it really DOES feel like just yesterday Trent was this little munchkin in diapers who let you dress him up in teddy bear costumes because he was too young to know any better. Don't believe me?

Monkey Trent... 4-1/2 years ago

Yep, time's gone by much too quick, so celebrating Trent's big 0-5 was bittersweet. Kev and Trent came over to our house on Saturday night for a little birthday fun...

Decorations... Check.

Sports Hats and Tableware... Check

 

Crazy Party People... Triple Check

With all of the key ingredients in place and after all the cheese pizza we could possibly digest, it was time for cake. Mostly because we told Trent he couldn't open any presents until he had cake, and also because I wanted to eat cake. Let me clarify... I wanted to eat ICE CREAM cake. 

Cake Time!!

Whoever invented Ice Cream Cake... I applaud you. Because who has time to scoop ice cream AND cake seperately into one delicious bite? This just saves you time, effort and hunger... pays for itself when you think about it. 

NOW it was time for presents. Not a moment too soon either because he'd been begging to do so since he stepped foot into the house.

Presents!

It looked more like a wrapping paper massacre than a birthday by the time Trent got through it all, but I'd say he scored pretty big.

The Loot. 

I'd say Operation Birthday was a success. Trent left with a big smile and we did too :-D

OK, just one more quick throw back picture of Trent (and my brother)...

Trent & Kev

OOOOO Tainted Love

Friday night we braved the rainy weather and made it out to see one of our favorite bands, Tainted Love at the Fox theater in Redwood City. If you hadn't already guessed, they are an 80's cover band and yes, they cover the song Tainted Love. Obviously.

Who doesn't love the 80's and what it brought to society? Scrunchies, crimpers, neon leg warmers, the Rubiks cube,  not to mention Joey and myself... but let's not forget to give a huge nod to the musical genre that simply makes you have to dance. Like, obnoxious jump-up-and-down dance. Like, strap-on-a-head-band-and-jazercise dance. Like, hold-your-hairbrush-and-sing-into-it dance THAT's what I'm talking about and THAT's exactly what Tainted Love embodies. We've seen this band at least half a dozen times and every time is better than the last. Friday night was no exception.

The night commenced at the Patty Shack where we all met for dinner so we'd have enough energy to dance and sing the night away.

Burgers, Fries and Beer, Oh My

After dinner we stopped by Bobbie D's... AKA Diviest-of-Dive Bars. Located in the heart of Redwood City and conveniently sharing a wall with the local Bail Bonds, this sweet spot has all the terrible live music and Jager Bombs your heart could possibly desire.

Kendall, Me, Trinette & Lisa - Oh and Lucas

Thank you Luke for completely and effortlessly hi-jacking our girls' photo.

Then we were OFF to the concert! 

Tainted Love

Fun times. So, as we were jamming to the tunes... insert terrible picture of me dropping a beat...

Who sings this song? Yeah. Let's keep it that way.

Sorry as I said, amidst singing along I found myself (as I commonly do) making up words to a song. Not just making them up, but screaming them out. So I ask my friends, who are also singing, what the real words are... not one but ALL of my friends were clueless and making up words too. Have I mentioned how much I love my friends? Well, just to everyone on the internet can now know, the new words to Pat Benetar's "Heart Breaker" lyrics are... 

"You're a heart breaker, dream taker, baby maker, don't you mess around! Na na!"

Cary & Me

For the record, I don't think Cary was in the circle of friends who didn't know the correct lyrics. I'm pretty sure she can recite every 70's 80's & 90's song word for word with 100% accuracy and 110% jazz hands.

Me & Hubs ... as blurry as my lyrics

Another fabulous night with fabulous friends. Life is still good great.

Winter Weekend Fun in California

Here in California, or at least the Bay Area, we haven't had much of a winter. 70 degrees and sunny isn't exactly what you'd expect for the season, but we've certainly been taking advantage of it!

Here's what we've been up to on the sunny weekends lately... 

Hiking @ Pulgas Ridge

Almost every weekend we go hiking because it's so close and when you get to the top, the views of the bay are spectacular. The other weekend we went on the hike with my dad, stepmom Carol, and their dog Charlie. Not a terrible way to burn some calories and spend time with family :-) 

One especially beautiful and lazy Saturday we decided it would be a crime NOT to have some chips, salsa, and cold beverages. WIth that in mind, we headed downtown to Milagros for exactly that!

Chip Me!

Milagros is a local Mexican restaurant that has great outdoor seating, which is perfect for warm days like this. Plus they serve chips out of a gigantic bucket. What's not to love? Know what else they serve out of a giant bucket? ....

I don't always drink beer, but when I do... it's from a bucket

That's right! Bucket o' Beer! The perfect match to sunshine, chips & guac. Our friends showed up to partake in the day and along came Trinette and Mike's baby Kendall! She's absolutely adorable and always smiling. And guess who can hold her???

Kendall & Joe

That's right. Make no mistake, photographic proof that my husband is holding a baby. AND smiling. But seriously folks, how cute is this child?

I know what you're now thinking... how can you be hanging out drinking beers while this innocent, impressionable angel is around? well...

Kendall Rohrbach ... Nothing but Trouble!

She didn't seem to mind. But I do think she has a drinking problem. Don't worry though, I assure you she wasn't driving! We took her plastic toy keys away.

Oh man, our friends are hilarious. And what a great way to spend a Saturday :-)

Finally to top off our weekends lately, yesterday we decided to mix it up a bit and hit the sand for... Beach Volley Ball!!!

Beach Volley Ball

One of the local business parks has a couple of sand volley ball courts so we tried them out. None of us are very good but it was another great way to enjoy the sun with our friends. Cary and I obviously have some work to do on our tans, but despite the amazing weather, it's still technically winter and I'm going to use that as my excuse for my translucently pale pigment. Well, that and my Irish heritage :-)

Hope your winter is going as well as ours!!!