Second Time Around
I am a self diagnosed tv junkie. I watch much more tv than I should and I have been known to set my calendar in such a way that I don't miss the next new episode of my favorite show. From the time shows and new seasons premiere in the fall until their finales in the spring I rarely shift my viewing patterns which, I've discovered recently, is kind of a bummer when it comes to missing out on new shows because I'm so loyal to the ones I like. But thankfully, the best shows often end up in syndication and I've been able to find new loves if only a year (or more) behind the wave. Case in point, over the past few months I have discovered That 70s Show. This show originally premiered on tv ten years ago and who knows what I was watching back in '98 (actually, I was probably watching Dawson's Creek) but I completely missed it. And now, I catch a few episodes a week and laugh out loud almost every episode. It's really funny stuff and I'm sort of sad I'm late to the party. But, better late than never as they say.

Below, a few more shows I was late to catch but am now a proud supporter of:
The Gilmore Girls: An absolutely fantastic show. If you've never caught it you should netflix a few of the seasons and marvel at the fantastic writing (witty banter, Streisand references, touching relationships) and the great characters. This show is what got me through my six-month unemployment slump after graduate school where it was shown four times a day on ABC Family.
Scrubs: I never really understood the Zach Braff phenomenon until I finally got in a few episodes of this show this past summer. He's a funny guy and writes/performs just the way most twenty-somethings think-slightly scattered and a bit out of the norm. The cast is great and he wraps a good, if be it zany, lesson into each episode.
The Sporanos: I'll be the first to admit, I'm not a big mafioso fan. I mean, I liked the Godfather (both the movie and the book) like most people so this show didn't really appeal to me when it was on HBO. I guess it helped that in it's prime I didn't get that channel anyway so it was never a real option. But, since the show started broadcasting on basic cable I've managed to catch a number of episodes and it's a fantastic drama. Sure it's got foul language and can be pretty bloody but it's an interesting look at a family working through all of that and the acting by Mom and Pop Soprano is top notch.
CSI Miami: Okay, so I know there are as many CSI tv shows as there are Law and Order ones and I am generally not a dedicated fan of any of them. But late night tv can draw you in to event the craziest viewing patterns and these days I can hardly get into bed without tuning in to a rerun of this show. I'll be honest, it isn't going to change your world but the forensic crime fighting stuff is freaking amazing. And it doesn't hurt that David Caruso's Horatio Cain throws out one liners like few others currently on tv.

Internet, you can thank Rachel for my re-entry into the blogging world. We'll see if it sticks.

Three Names You Go By
1. Eby
2. Eb
3. Ebenezer (only tolerated from my brother)

Three Parts of Your Heritage
1. Mexican (have some family tree info for this one...)
2. African (and been thinking of tracing the family tree on this one)
3. two is plenty

Three Things That Scare You
1. scary movies
2. failure
3. steaks cooked 'rare'

Three of Your Everyday Essentials
1. lip gloss
2. iced coffee
3. Tigi Catwalk Curls Rock Curl Amplifier

Three Things You Are Wearing Right Now
1. pink* sundress
2. pink* watch
3. pink* lip gloss
(*i know, it's a sickness)

Three of Your Favorite Bands or Musical Artists (at the moment)
1. Barbra Streisand
2. Broadway Showtunes (okay, that's sort of a genre)
3. Sarah Vaughan

Three Things You Want in a Relationship (other than Real Love... )
1. passion (not just the sexy kind but the zest-for-life kind)
2. honesty
3. support

Two Truths and a Lie
1. I get motion sickness.
2. I am allergic to cantaloupe.
3. I sleep with a night light.

Things about the Opposite Sex that Appeal to You
1. dark hair
2. green eyes
3. humor

Three of Your Favorite Hobbies
1. cooking/entertaining
2. singing loudly (not necessarily well, mind you)
3. reading

Three Things You want to do really badly right now
1. finish my laundry
2. drink more wine
3. nap

Three Places You Want to Go
1. Grand Canyon
2. Puerto Rico
3. Facebook

Three Things You Want to Do Before You Die
1. drive the Pacific Coast Highway, bottom to top
2. run a 10K
3. sip champagne at a cafe along the Champs Elysées

Three Ways that you are stereotypically a Chick/Guy
1. i cry...with just about every emotion
2. i can ALWAYS shop
3. pink is my favorite color

Three people I would like to see take this quiz
(other bloggers i know)
1. Corrie
2. Barbara
3. Danielle

A Summer Necessity?
Like most women I know, I am on what seems like a never-ending search for a swimsuit. There are just so many factors that go into the proper fit of one of those things and yet they are never quite right. Utilizing some online resource advice from Rachel I was able to find one that I think is going to work for a while which is nice.

But that is not the point of this post.

I ordered the suit from an online/catalog store that specializes in women's fashions. It is, what I suppose one would call, a niche retailer in that they know exactly who their audience is. Even if a guy is shopping on this site it is almost a guarantee that at some point the purchase will end up in the hands of a woman. And I guess it is with that in mind that this retailer has attached itself to another niche supplier and, along with your purchase, includes a little something extra for the ladies.
This is a small booklet composed of excerpts, well, teasers to some I suppose, of the newest summer reads from the Harlequin novels people. Seriously? Romance novels shipped with my swim wear? What? The book has four or five stories and is about 100 pages. The stories have titles like The Sheriff's Secretary and there are images of the book covers: shirtless men with rippling muscles protecting curly-haired women with various breast sizes. There are also order forms in case you can't sleep until you know how much love they make while by candle light in a secluded cabin.

I wonder if men get copies of Playboy when they order boxers.

Getaway

For the past few days I was on a little mini-break with the ladies in my family. Thanks to my mother's slight love of casinos we (read: she) racked up a couple of free nights at this place in Lake Charles, LA and she was nice enough to cart me, my sister-in-law and my niece along. It was, as one might expect, exactly the type of quick escape I needed. Timely and inexpensive, I enjoyed every minute of it. In fact, I spent an entire day by the pool. Literally. I woke around nine, had an orange and half of the world's largest cream puff (see pic. A below) for breakfast, strolled down to the pool and played water games with the niece for a bit and then sipped a pina colada. I stopped briefly for lunch and then it was right back outside where I sat poolside sipping white wine and reading/napping the rest of the day. All by myself. Then I had a massage. Three days was not nearly enough.

And also, for just a hint of humor, in our hotel where the standard "Do Not Disturb" sign usually hangs was an assortment of placards to use to avoid, nay, caution the housekeepers from entering our space. So fun were the messages I have taken the time to assemble them here for your enjoyment.

• You seem like a nice person. But I'm not feeling very sociable right now.
• Maybe later. I'm doing a little servicing of my own right now.
• We're either busy. Or getting there.
• Keep walking. Move along. Nothing to see here.
• If this sign is hangin', don't come a bangin'.
• Doing things we wouldn't dare do at home.

(pic A: the world's largest, and most delicious, cream puff!)

(pic B: view of the resort pool area from my window)

(pic C: Louisiana sunset)

Baggage

As some of you may know, I have a slight love of handbags. I have an overflowing coat rack in my bedroom covered in purses in every shape, size and color. And the ones that don't fit on the rack puddle on the floor around it's base. I try to keep my obsession under control and only buy new ones when they are really calling my name which is not as frequently as one might think considering my stash. I guess really the deal is that when I do buy one I'm never going to get rid of it.

In the last few weeks I have added to my collection in the greatest of ways, ways in which I didn't have to buy a single one! The three new bags are below. Maybe as the summer goes on I'll share some of my old favorites too.

This bag was a gift from my favorite magazine for renewing my subscription. So I guess I kind of paid for it but not really. It is beige canvas with brown handles and brass colored clasps. It's the perfect size for carrying my light weekend belongings.

This bag is from DSW. I got it free as a rewards member (which I guess signals my other obsession, that of the shoe variety). It is a large bucket tote with silver ring accents and two large front pockets. It is big enough to hold all of my junk so I have been taking it to work and filling it with my planner, my lunch, my gym clothes, etc. I should also mention that I purchased silver shoes at the same time I got this bag. A wacky coincidence as the shoes were required for a wedding.

This is from Target. A friend gave it to me as a gift when I was having a particularly emotional life moment. We had been shopping together a few days earlier and I mentioned, in passing, that I liked it. She thought it would brighten my day, and it did. It is a gorgeous mustard/sunset yellow with cream colored accents and a single shoulder strap.

Now the fun part is finding the outfits to accent the bags!

While cleaning out my shelves and files at work today I came across this. I pulled it from a Glamour magazine in February of 2006 because it made me smile. It still does. Enjoy.

12 Friends Every Woman Deserves
1. The friend who won't let you be less than your best, even if you sometimes want to kick her.
2. The friend who's spent the holidays with your parents, gotten drunk with your brother and lived through the dog-spaying incident of `92. She's family.
3. The personal comedian, so hilarious that you dare not call her while driving.
4. The friend who's a little bit evil--so entertaining.
5. A rich friend who will always buy dinner.
6. A poor friend who'll let you buy hers.
7. The work friend: listener, knower of backstory, saver of sanity.
8. The friend you can't wait to be Golden Girls with.
9. The neighbor who'll lend you her drill--or a pair of red stilettos.
10. The friend who drags out of you all the sexual details you're secretly dying to share.
11. The friend who rafts the Amazon, gets a pet snake and does speed dating--so you don't have to.
12. The friend who, instead of asking how she can help, just shows up and does.

Perspective
I am wearing a slap bracelet and eating Fun Dip.
Sometimes my job makes me smile.

Hey...so I've been BUSY. How about you? And unfortunately this isn't my way of falling back in love with blogging, just another stop on my way to crazy. I leave tomorrow morning for a spring break service trip to Nashville. Me, ten students, five days and a fifteen passenger van I'm supposed to drive. This could be a very interesting trip, people. And then, I promise, sometime after I return I'll get back to the blogging because, believe it or not, I kind of miss my own mindless rambling. And all of you too, I totally miss you most of all!