Amelie

Four years later... I finally took Dustin’s advice and rented Amelie. What a fantastic movie! Very cute- very much my style.

PLOT: The title character is a single waitress who decides to help other lonely people fix their lives. Her widowed father yearns to travel but won't, so to inspire the old man she sends his garden gnome on a tour of the world; with whispered gossip, she brings together two cranky regulars at her café; she reverses the doorknobs and reprograms the speed dial of a grocer who's mean to his assistant. Gradually she realizes her own life needs fixing, and a chance meeting leads to her most elaborate stratagem of all. This is a deeply wonderful movie, an illuminating mix of magic and pragmatism.

There is so much symbolism that I want to know more! Or at least have someone to discuss it with. I have so many questions:

1. Why is everything red and green? What does it mean?
2. What do the few random blue objects represent?
3. Was this how the traveling gnome got started?
4. What did the Tour de France mean?
5. What did the horse mean?
6. I was so lost on the videos she sent to the glass man- were they so he could get a peek into her life?
7. What did Princess Di symbolize?

If anybody out there cares to discuss this with me- please let me know!

ASH (ley) Wednesday

In celebration of ASH(ley) Wednesday - and of my 100th blog post- I am listing 25 random facts about me. (yes this idea is stolen from Facebook)

1. I pretend that I’ve always known the lyrics to Viva la Vida- when in fact I had to look them up.
2. Sometimes (like now) I stay an hour after work so that it looks like I’m a stellar employee- but I am really just writing my blog.
3. My day is automatically 20 times better if I have captured another ridiculous car with my camera.
4. I know nothing about wine- and I fear I never will. (“smells like… wine”)
5. I watch the Young and the Restless every day when I go home for lunch.

6. I wish other people watched Y&R so that we can discuss what is going on.
7. I feel that my taste in music is superior to everyone else’s.
8. I can’t blow my nose.
9. I once slaughtered Crystal in a box assembling competition.
10. Abbers and I are so poor that we can’t afford DVR and have to record our favorite shows on a VHS tape.
11. I panic when/if people ask me geography questions.
12. The secret to Bunkie’s (my dog) shiny coat is that I never- ever- give her a bath.

13. It is a goal in my life to learn how to apply eye makeup correctly.
14. I graduated cum laude from college and try to include that fact in everyday conversations.
15. Right now my favorite color is green.
16. I love white shirts. I own three pairs of the same white shirt from Target as well as three white button-down shirts. I feel that you can never have too many white shirts.

17. I think I am a lucky person- so it actually surprises me when I don’t win the lottery.
18. I’m a big fan of Publix, Google and RainX.
19. My new favorite drink is a vodka tonic with a splash of pink lemonade
20. I g-chat with Jen all M-F all day long.
21. In my next life I will be covered with tattoos.

22. I feel awkward when I have to hug someone.
23. I’m even worse when I have to kiss them on the cheek.
24. I’ve recently become obsessed with the brick breaker game on my blackberry
25. I could eat pizza every night for the rest of my life and never get tired of it.

I'm Blu

There is nothing better than good friends, good food and good drinks. My last visit with Anna before she flew back to Sweden became part of our Sushi Tour. We went to Blu Sushi on 3rd. Hands down this is my absolute favorite sushi place- and my go-to restaurant for special events (Anna leaving, my first date with Abbie). This is the place I compare all other sushi places to.

These rolls are my favorite- although you really can’t go wrong with any of them:

C-Dub Eel, crab, cucumber and avocado brushed with eel sauce and sprinkled with tempura flakes
Blu Special Crab and cucumber wrapped in avocado and topped with baked scallops and shrimp in a cream sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds, served hot

Anna Begins

I had another blast from the past last night. I had dinner with my old friend Anna and her boyfriend Simon. She moved back to Sweden four years ago. Here are some of my favorite Anna memories:
· We stayed together in Fort Myers during Hurricane Charlie- and were so nervous that we started drinking at 9am and ended up passing out as the actual hurricane was blowing through
· We went to Prive in Miami and our feet hurt so bad by 12pm that we just sat on a bed in the club for the rest of the night
· For my birthday – all of my friends were out of town. Anna’s parents were visiting from Sweden so she had spent the day with them- they came home at 9pm and had a cake, flowers and champagne for me and they sang Happy Birthday to me in Swedish.
· One Halloween I had to pull Jen and Anna off the stage because they were too drunk to realize they didn’t win the costume contest (in their defense- they were TOTALLY robbed!)
· When we lived in Fort Myers- Anna and I drove every weekend to Naples to dance while listening to Gwen Stefani the whole way
· One night Crystal, Anna and I had a girl’s night at home and we ended up telling all of our secrets to each other- there was a knock at the door and this lady told us that our sliding glass door was open and that everyone in the neighborhood could hear everything we were saying!
· On her last night in Florida we went to Orlando and ran into all of our Naples friends.
· I made her wait and hour by the dolphin pool at Sea World so that I could touch a dolphin
· Calling Anna “Anna Begins” after my favorite Counting Crows song.

** Those are just a few- I can’t wait to hang out with her again on Saturday!

All growns up!

Being 28 means no more toilet papering your friend’s car because she parked in your spot and no more leaving STD literature on her windshield so the rest of the school can see.

Nope- instead, being 28 means dressing up to meet said friend and her new hubby at a decent restaurant- order only one drink - not 6- and have a civilized dinner. Then laugh and laugh at all of the ridiculous things you did before you were 28.

(silly pictures in front of absurd statues are thankfully still allowed) ** I miss you Lisa***

My first Valentine

Valentine’s Day rewind… Valentine’s Day 1987- I was in 1st grade. That morning a student delivered a Valentine’s Day bag to my teacher Mrs. Dumas (insert jokes here) where it sat on her desk all day long.

It was a red bag with white hearts on it and sticking out of the bag were two white bears holding a big red heart along with carnations and baby’s breath flowers. I eyeballed that bag all day long. Right before the day was over Mrs. Dumas finally read the card attached to the bag and realized it was for me (I think she thought it was for her the whole time)!

The gift was from my mom. (awwww) And to this day no one ever has – nor ever will- top that Valentine’s Day gift. It was the best Valentine’s Day ever.

(Coming in 2nd place- my 1st Valentine’s Day with Mr. Valentine himself)

When good Cheetahs go bad

What happened to the Chester Cheetah we use to know and love? I guess all of those years of enduring pain for the love of Cheetos has really got to him. Now he is a dark and sinister cheetah.

Before Chester:


Chester Now:

Public Service Announcement

Just wanted to let everyone know that Blockbuster is charging late fees again!

15 miles to the....

Loovvvee Shack! I didn't get the chance to put together my gingerbread house for Christmas. My "easy to assemble" kit has been sitting on the counter since, well, Christmas. So, with Valentine's Day coming up- I thought I would express my creativity and make a Love Shack instead. As you can see... I had a little trouble...

From Yeehaw to Hopa!

So this weekend was interesting. Saturday we put on our best wife beaters, met up with a bunch of people and went to a rodeo. There weren’t many people there- which is surprising considering it is South Florida. The people that did attend were a mix of camouflaged jacket wearing southerns along with a handful of "rode-hos" who were decked out in glittery tops, tons of makeup and stilettos. The rodeo itself wasn’t that spectacular so we had to supplement our fun with beer, picture taking contests and a game we called “beat the clock.” All in all- it was a good time.

The on Sunday, Abbie and I went to the Greek Festival in town. There we had loaded Gyros, baklava and beer while watching some traditional Greek dancing. Hopa!

I meant what I said and I said what I meant...

An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent.

I forced Abbie to watch Horton Hears a Who last night. I absolutely LOVED it! What a great message it sends: "a person's a person, no matter how small"

(which apparently caused an uproar when pro-life protesters gathered at the premier of the movie chanting that line)

The movie was beautifully done- very witty and fun. I recommend it for all people no matter how small.

** this is my own Horton (aka Hortie) that Abbie bought me a couple of months ago- because I love elephants**

PS I love you II

My trip to EPCOT with Jen and Brothers...

1. Did you see P.S. I love you too? Wait- there is a sequel?
2. Get up on that top step! You were a gymnast for God’s sake! Now let me see that karate kick!

3. (watching the China gymnast girls) I can’t watch this- what if they fall? I can’t watch.
5. Did you notice that the Disney employee got a little “happy” talking to us?
6. Wait! (switches the margarita for a beer)now take the picture.
7. That guy said two words to us – and you two walk up and he tells you his whole college career! 8. The gloves are off!
9. Old man giving me dap- “FGCU! YEAH!”
10. It’s the accent isn’t it? Do you say things like “ehhhh… how you sey….?” Um. No.
11. Disney worker trying to impress us- “yeah, when I was in 11th grade I dual enrolled. I mean- why not? Right?”
12. UCF was FGCU’s sister school. No it wasn’t! No it wasn’t! Why do you lie?!
13. Bryan- “Wasn’t UCF FGCU’s sister school?” (I had to say something or she would talk to us all night!)

14. Jackasses feeding the seagulls. Can we move!? It's going to attack me!

14. Cockroach under Jen’s pillow. Classic.
15. Why are you being “eh lettel beetch?”
16. I am so hungry I am eating popcorn!
17. (Anthony protecting us from guys) Hahahahaha… keep on walking buddy- they have boyfriends!
18. Why are we bringing 5 cameras?
19. “Did you say you need your gay card?!” You see my family? I have an accent -they don’t help me- they just make fun of me.
20. *answering his phone* “WHAT DO YOU WANT!!!???” (oh- he must be talking to his mom)
21. The race to EPCOT- you know they are parked sideways on the curb with the engine running 22. Pull up to this lady! I swear she is eating the biggest chunk of cheese between two pieces of bread!

23. I don't like to kiss on the cheek- next time that happens I'm going to snarl at the person so they'll back off.
24. (someone puking out the window while we were driving)