She wore an itsy bitsy teeny weeny...

So I was told I need to update my blog today. Yes I have fallen behind, but that is only because Websense is blocking everything on my work computer so I can't slack as much.

I bought swimsuits for our wedding/honeymoon and they are both bikinis. Now the last time I wore a bikini I'm pretty sure I looked like this. Okay so maybe not that long ago, but probably almost 15 years ago.

So I'm taking advantage of losing 3 1/2 stones (~50lbs) and attempting to listen to NBH's advice that I look good in them and am bringing only bikinis. Normally I'm a tankini kind of girl, but to be honest I didn't see any in my shopping adventures.

Here are the the suits, the white one is Floozie by Frost French and the other one is a Debenham's own brand:

I've resigned!

On Wednesday I resigned from my position with the NHS as I've been offered a new job! I will come back and work the last week in August after the wedding/honeymoon so I can get all of my holiday entitlement for August, but I will still end up owing back 8 days.

In September I will start by new job as Project Officer with Alcohol Focus Scotland. It's a Comic Relief funded project until 2011 to:

1. develop a strong and vibrant national network of professionals who work to reduce harm to children and young people from alcohol misuse.
   
   
2. facilitate via the network the sharing of good practice, the development of policies and services where appropriate and to raise awareness of the issues affecting children and young people in relation to alcohol misuse at regional and national levels using a variety of methods.

It's a really big step up both in responsibility and money and I'm really excited about it. And my office will be on Buchanan Street, which is smack dab in the city centre! I've never worked in the city centre of Glasgow; the Red Cross was based out in an industrial estate in Hillington and the East Health Improvement Team was in the most deprived area of Glasgow. No more chippies and snack vans for me-- I could actually have sushi for lunch again, YUM!

Baby Mama

NBH and I went to see a sneak preview of "Baby Mama" last night and it was really funny. Personally I'm a HUGE fan of Amy Poehler and she totally made the movie; there are some really random quotes that you can tell are her ad-libbing. While the beginning drags a bit and it is fairly predictable, I still recommend seeing it if you can!

Pupcakes

Today was Emma's birthday party! In honor of her 4th year of cuteness I made her puppy friendly cupcakes or as I've decided to call them, pupcakes! They were pretty easy to make and like any good "Mommy" I let Emma lick the spoon when I was done.

The dough is really thick, but they come out looking golden brown.

Here is the recipe:

Peanut Butter Pupcakes

1 cup white or whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup finely shredded carrots

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup honey

1 egg

Icing:

Mix peanut butter, honey and vegetable oil until smooth (just eyeball it!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)

Mix together flour and baking soda. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Pour into a greased cupcake tin and bake for 30 minutes or until brown.

Frost this cake with icing and decorate with thickly shredded carrot pieces.

She wasn't so sure about the candle but she devoured her cake! The peanut butter icing caused some pretty funny faces, but otherwise she loved it. NBH, Katie and I tried some too and you mostly just taste peanut butter and they were really nice.

Seriously?

Shitty no good, yucky day. I got up early this morning and headed into work around 7:40am and on the way I got a flat tire. I had to call NBH to come and put on the spare (luckily I was on the bus route 5 minutes away), drive him home, drive to the garage and get a new tire put on for £40. I also found out our exhaust needs replaced; I can't afford to replace it now because its a long month and I don't get paid until the 31st. The guy patched it though so that should at least make it less noisy. I eventually made it to my office at 9:40am.

Then I got to my alterations/seamstress to get my dress and sort out my bustle. My dress fits amazing now, which is great, I don't hate it anymore. Then I show them the pictures I brought with me of what bustle I wanted. Nothing crazy at all, just simple under bustle done with ribbons. Well they say they've never done one....they only do under bustles with snaps or hooks. Everyone I've ever known with overs have had them break.

So now, I'm going to be calling around seamstresses in Glasgow and Cincinnati and try to get something sorted. It's just one more stress (even if a silly one) I don't need now.

There are two happy things about today:

-It's Emma's 4th Birthday!!! We are having a party for her tomorrow so more about it after.






-Arlene, Katie, Deb, Deb's Mother-in-law and aunt and I saw Mama Mia. I wasn't super impressed but it was fun and silly and I really want to watch Muriel's Wedding now.

I totally associate Abba with Muriel; I love Toni Collette and if you've never seen Muriel's Wedding I enthusiastically recommend it. I will leave you a particularly ABBArific scene:

Who's that Girl?

So I asked my friends to describe me in lieu of me writing a "this is me" intro post and they all wrote some very lovely things! Feel free to add your own description!

Blondie is your biggest cheerleader when in need of support and the most honest sounding board when in need of the truth and probably the only person I could ever maintain a true friendship with across an ocean...

I met Blondie through mutual friends in Cincinnati. I had just moved there, and gotten a job at the Dubliner, where she worked at the time. A week or two into living there, I get a call on my cell phone while shopping at Big Lots from Blondie, excited as hell because she won a radio contest and was getting to meet Taking Back Sunday. I was so jealous, figuring she'd take Ashley or one of her other friends that she knew more than me, but she kept using “we” so I finally asked if she was taking me and I believe the response was “of course Silly!” I barely knew her at the time, we'd only met a few months before when I was visiting my friends before moving and she had this great opportunity and she picked me because she knew that I would enjoy it more. Blondie has a picture of us there, which I'm sure she'll tag to this to show everyone how happy we were. This is when I realized that Blondie is the completely awesome human being that she is.

Blondie is the kind of friend who knows that, sometimes, the best way to get over a broken heart is to have your friends dress up in ridiculous outfits and sing karaoke at a sushi bar. Or sometimes the answer is just more vodka!

"My name is Blondie, I am not a boy."

Very confident and bold (anyone who can go one stage and shout c*nt a lot has sheer utter boldness) never not seen her smile so smiley, bubbly girly type and very American! (I mean that in a non offensive way).

Blondie and I bonded over a shared love of making fun of other people...not sure what that says about either of us!

What’s a funny event you shared together? Grillz need I say more...
What are the names of all of their pets? Emma
What is the best moment you've had with him/her? Flossin gangsta
When did you meet? In front of the 7-11 pimpin out hoes
What is their favourite way to spend a day? Canoodling or bustin caps in asses
Name a few things they dislike: Late hoes…fake grillz, bitches
What is/was their favourite school subject? Women’s studies

Pink, Bubbly, Eclectic, Loyal, Humane, Fun-loving, Idealist, Persistent, Extroverted, Feeling, Intuitive, Sociable, Sentimental, Performer, Self-Assured, Gregarious, Enthusiastic....

The cat, the myth, the legend

Okay, so Andrea requested photos and I think Finn should know that 28 years from now it is still okay if he and Derek the Dragon are still friends.

This is Gee Gee and we have slept together for the past 28 years. My Aunt Donna (my mom's college roommate and best friend at the time) got this for me when my Mom found out she was pregnant. Apparently Gee Gee called out to her from the store shelf.

Gee Gee, as you may or may not be able to tell, is a white cat. So he's a bit grey now and his plastic pink nose is gone, his whiskers are all curled up and the soft pink fabric that lined his ears is all put gone, but that doesn't matter.

Gee Gee had to have emergency surgery last night. In Gee Gee's paws are these wood chip type things. I think they might actually be bits of some sort of nutshell, but anyway they make his paws crunchy if you were to chew on them (which I used to do).

Luckily Dr. NBH came to the rescue and hopefully I will stop waking up with wood chips stuck to my legs.

So Gee Gee has been to summer camp, stuck down my Grandma's couch and on business trips with my Dad....so why not have an "Ask Gee Gee" column. It can be about anything; I have a feeling this will not catch on, but hey I will give it a go!

Testing 1,2,3 sibilance

I can post videos, yay. Basically this video is self-explanatory. I ate an apple and then let Emma have a few bites...don't worry she barely ate any of it and she didn't get any seeds. She loves crunchy foods (especially raw carrots) and I love the faces she makes when eating them.

花嫁

So I'm fed up with wearing my glasses already and in a general huff, but yesterday I got a lovely care package from my BOH (bitch of honor) Sabrina and that certainly cheered me up. Sabrina is very crafty these days and made me a fabulous beater and it is even in my wedding colors. I'm really worried I'm going to break it or ruin it though or I'd maybe wear it to the gym. It's not warm enough to wear tank tops anywhere else in Glasgow.

Also my eye is not red at all anymore and I'm starting to wonder if having my eyelashes dyed (which hurt my eyes way more than normal) either caused my limbitis or further compounded the situation....either way it makes me rather hesitant to have it done again before the wedding. I'm going back to the optician on Wednesday and hopefully he will tell me my eyes are happy scrappy and I can wear daily disposables until further notice.

Tonight we went out to dinner with NBH's mom and Dad to a Japanese restaurant, Nanakusa, that we'd never been to before. I LOVE Japanese food and NBH's Dad had suggested something Asian and we didn't want to go to the same place we always go. Anyway it was really good and I had Magura (Tuna) Nigiri and Tobiko (Flying Fish Roe) Nigiri to start and Teppan Taki Soba for my main (teppan fried noodles with egg, chicken, shrimp and vegetables)it was sooo yummy. For dessert I had Yaki mochi which is a pastry/parcel type thing with red adzuki beans in the middle...the best comparison I can think of was it tasted like it an undercooked crepe, but thicker. It was super oishi (delicious) whatever it was.

(according to babelfish, 花嫁 means bride)

Casualty

So, my GP wouldn't prescribe me the eye drops and recommended I go to the Eye Casualty aka Emergency clinic. So I hopped a train (parking at the hospital is a nightmare) and sat for about 1 1/2 hours surrounded by lots of elderly people. However according to the signs I was lucky.

The doctor was actually really rude and didn't explain anything to me. I've got 2 different types of drops I have to take 4 times a day for 3 weeks. In other news, Emma is pissed off at me because I gave her a bath....

Evangelists and Eyeballs

I left work yesterday and found a leaflet stuck in my windshield; I assumed it was something for the by-election and grabbed it since NBH is helping our friend campaign. Um no. It was the "world newsletter" from Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. WTF? How did this randomness make it's way to the east end of Glasgow? I work in a very impoverished part of the city and our parking lot is for teachers for the nearby school (which isn't in session) and our small building of NHS workers. I'm not going to link to the website, you can google that yourself, but I did research Tony Alamo and it's a very interesting story. I'm interested to see if other people find it all as crazy as I do....how did this pamphlet (which makes no mention of the UK from what I can tell) make it from Texarkana to Shettleston?


In other news this is what I will look like for the next week. After retrieving my Tony Alamo leaflet, I went to Tesco to get my contact prescription updated. Yes, Tesco is the same place I buy my groceries, but they have an optometrist now, too and it is free and convenient.

I don't have a new contact prescription. Why? Well my limbus is inflamed and I have an indent on my eyeballs where my contacts were. In other words my eyes (mostly my left one) are hazy and red and the bit around the iris is aggravated.

So no contacts for me for a week and I have to go get some steroid eye drops from my Dr today. I hate wearing my glasses, but looks like I have no choice in the matter. Emma at least seems to like me in my glasses though, which despite how they look are more of a berry pink than red.

Poor Mommy

About a month ago my Mom got her dresses for the wedding and the Glasgow reception, but what she was really excited about were her shoes. A gorgeous pair of, Manolo Blahniks; yes Carrie Bradshaw and Co's favorite shoe designer.

Then on Saturday, she fell. How? She's not sure, but she landed on her left side and managed to break her right foot. She's got what's called a Jones fracture, something normally you only see in professional athletes. If you know my Mom, you will understand the irony. So here she is all casted up....you can see her Tiny Tim sized, children's crutches off to the side. She should be out of the cast and into a boot by August, but I think those Manolo's are going to have to be transformed into earrings...

Happy 4th/New Hair

It's an absolutely sunny, gorgeous 4th of July! I was going to wear red, white and blue but totally forgot, but when I got home I changed into this tee Sabrina got me.

I took this picture while I was sitting and waiting while NBH was getting his hair cut. It was so super sunny, I decided to sit outside with a magazine while he go this new do.

He tends to go through long hair, short hair, long hair phases and since he's graduated and the wedding is coming up, he's back to short.

Here he is:

before

after

I got slightly nervous when he told the girl he wanted an asymetrical cut that was longer in the front that the back and sides. I sorta pictured Christian from Project Runway and his bi-level fashion hawk, but I like it.

NBH's got his graduation ball tonight, so I took the opportunity to take a shot of him all dolled up in his kilt. The next time he wears it we will be getting married! WTF!
Katie and I went and took my dress in to get altered today as well. It took ages, mostly because they had to find a sheet for me to stand on and wait for most of the customers to leave so there'd be space. But it was only £35 and the bridal shop quoted me £180, so yay for saving cash.

Oh there you are eyelashes...

Just got my eyelashes tinted. Tinted you say? If you were blonde you'd understand. Without tint or mascara they are non-existant. With tint it means I don't have to put on gobs of mascara just to make them visible, I can just put it on like a normal person to extend and volumize.

Before

After

Goodbye Bozo...

Bozo the Clown died :( I remember watching the Bozo show on WGN. I can't remember if I ever actually sent in a postcard to try and be the at home winner or not, but man I loved that grand prize game.

I found this online...I had no idea there was an at home version. Basically a boy and girl were selected from the studio audience to toss a ping-pong ball into a series of successively-numbered buckets until they missed. If they made the winning toss into the sixth bucket, they (and an "at-home player") received a cash prize and a bike. I'm pretty sure you got smaller prizes in the buckets leading up, but I could be wrong.

I can't remember much else besides Cooky. Do y'all remember Cooky?

I feel like maybe he got hit by pies alot? I'm going to have to search YouTube for Bozo later and refresh my memory....

Ask and you shall receive...

Emma's what we like to call a schluffy pup. She sleeps a lot and in odd places, including the top of the couch, piles of laundry and often lying upside down or even sitting vertically with her head propped up.

Today she was doing one of my favorite things. Sleeping with her tongue out. I have no idea why I think its so adorable.

NBH, BA Hons, BTech

NBH graduates on Monday but he got his presents today, because I'm okay with early present opening and his and SIL's co-graduation party is on Saturday.

I enjoy putting confetti in cards...

Faux snakeskin journal for story ideas

Semi Pro!

100 Modern Greatest?

I’ve stolen this from xAbbyx’s blog she saw this list which was first published in Entertainment Weekly. These are meant to be the new modern classics in film and I wanted to participate too!

I’ve put the ones I’ve seen in bold and ones I have partially seen in italics. WTF with Fatal Attraction??? I’ve written papers on that movie it is not a modern classic, but part of the backlash against feminism. I can elaborate if needed or you can just watch the alternate ending. That being said I’ve actually seen about 50%:


1. Pulp Fiction (1994)
2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03)
3. Titanic (1997)
4. Blue Velvet (1986)
5. Toy Story (1995)
6. Saving Private Ryan (1998 )
7. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
9. Die Hard (1988 )
10. Moulin Rouge (2001)
11. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
12. The Matrix (1999)
13. GoodFellas (1990)
14. Crumb (1995)
15. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
16. Boogie Nights (1997)
17. Jerry Maguire (1996)
18. Do the Right Thing (1989)
19. Casino Royale (2006)
20. The Lion King (1994)
21. Schindler’s List (1993)
22. Rushmore (1998 )
23. Memento (2001)
24. A Room With a View (1986)
25. Shrek (2001)
26. Hoop Dreams (1994)
27. Aliens (1986)
28. Wings of Desire (1988 )
29. The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
30. When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
31. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
32. Fight Club (1999)
33. The Breakfast Club (1985)
34. Fargo (1996)
35. The Incredibles (2004)
36. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
37. Pretty Woman (1990)
38. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
39. The Sixth Sense (1999)
40. Speed (1994)
41. Dazed and Confused (1993)
42. Clueless (1995)
43. Gladiator (2000)
44. The Player (1992)
45. Rain Man (1988 )
46. Children of Men (2006)
47. Men in Black (1997)
48. Scarface (1983)
49. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
50. The Piano (1993)
51. There Will Be Blood (2007)
52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988)
53. The Truman Show (1998 )
54. Fatal Attraction (1987)
55. Risky Business (1983)
56. The Lives of Others (2006)
57. There’s Something About Mary
58. Ghostbusters (1984)
59. L.A. Confidential (1997)
60. Scream (1996)
61. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
62. sex, lies and videotape (1989)
63. Big
64. No Country For Old Men (2007)
65. Dirty Dancing (1987)
66. Natural Born Killers (1994)
67. Donnie Brasco (1997)
68. Witness (1985)
69. All About My Mother (1999)
70. Broadcast News (1987)
71. Unforgiven (1992)
72. Thelma & Louise (1991)
73. Office Space (1999)
74. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
75. Out of Africa (1985)
76. The Departed (2006)
77. Sid and Nancy (1986)
78. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
79. Waiting for Guffman (1996)
80. Michael Clayton (2007)
81. Moonstruck (1987)
82. Lost in Translation (2003)
83. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)
84. Sideways (2004)
85. The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)
86. Y Tu Mamá También (2002)
87. Swingers (1996)
88. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
89. Breaking the Waves (1996)
90. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
91. Back to the Future (1985)
92. Menace II Society (1993)
93. Ed Wood (1994)
94. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
95. In the Mood for Love (2001)
96. Far From Heaven (2002)
97. Glory (1989)
98. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
99. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
100. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)

Pretty Girl

I totally forgot I took these the other night! We went down to NBH's Mom's on Monday so Emma could meet Arlene's friends that will watch Emma while we are all in Ohio for the wedding.

Emma was so happy the entire time! She really does love people, but she can be a diva sometimes, too.















I think these are some of the best pictures of her, so I thought I'd share them.

Kentucky Fried Skin

So today is the NHS's 60th Birthday. For those of you who don't know I work for the NHS...I knew it was 60 years but I didn't realize it was today. How did I celebrate? I went to the tanning bed.

Okay, I know tanning beds are not healthy...I get it they are bad for you. I also have come to terms with representing pale force one, I'm translucent 12 months of the year now that I live in "sunny" Scotland. It's not a vanity thing, I could care less if I was tan for my wedding. However, I do NOT want to be sunburnt on my wedding or honeymoon.

So my option is the taninng bed. 6 minutes a go, 2-3 times a week for a month. I will not turn a healthy glow and I'm pretty sure most people will not even notice, but I will not fry in Cincinnati or the Dominican Republic for that matter. I am going to attempt to document my journey from Cling-wrap to porcelian. So I took a picture of my ring finger now (its the only tan line that isn't going to be on my ass) and will do so once a week or so. Somehow this also turned out to be the best picture I've ever taken of my ring.

I also have to say, as much as I know how bad they are for you, I also find the tanning beds ridiculously relaxing. There is something about the warmth and the buzzing of the machine I don't know. I might be alone on this one, but I find it very soothing.

Maybe because it never really gets hot here, even if its sunny you don't ever get that overwhelming sense of heat. I don't know, but I definitely miss summer. Actually I miss all 4 distinct seasons; everything just blends into one big wet, overcast windy mild season.

Well from fried skin to fried chicken; Pamela Anderson would be pissed off at me, but she also has been carrying around a huge Hermès leather bag lately, but I'm going to get some KFC after receiving an email from Pepsi about some special they are running stateside. I find KFC here to be fundamentally flawed because it does not have biscuits or mashed potatoes.

Fridgetastic

You might be thinking to yourself...."Why am I looking at your fridge?" The answer is there is only one fridge, that's why. We were very kindly given a full size american fridge by NBH's Mom's friend Diane over a year ago to replace our 1/2 size fridge which was leaking.

Today the old fridge is on the curb hopefully to be uplifted by the bin men tomorow. It's been driving me crazy and keeping our electric bill up (it was also a freezer and we couldn't be bothered defrosting) so I am very happy to see it go.

Here is a close up of the bebes on my fridge. There is incentive for all of you thinking about procreating. If you are my friend and you have a child they get a place on my fridge.

Clockwise: Aiden T (4), Parker MG(3), Molly (3 1/2)and Lukas H (2)

and the newest bebe Isaac E (1 month)

Here we go again....

So in the past I've tried blogging about weight loss, wedding planning and I have failed miserably everytime. I've been inspired by a sorority sister's blog to create my own, mostly of my random thoughts and what I do over here in Glasgow.

I've asked my friends to describe me, because I hate writing those "introductory" posts so while I await their responses I will post a memory of Mary, who inspired me to start blogging. I have a feeling a lot of my posts will be memories, because I often randomly remember something and want to share and NBH gets tired of my stories.

I remember meeting Mary on bid day my freshman year at GW; she was from the midwest like myself and was the first person I think I ever knew with a tongue ring that didn't look atypical. She promised to take me to get mine done if I wanted. I just remember thinking how much fun being in a sorority was going to be, like having a ton of big sisters. Anyway I didn't end up getting it done with Mary, but did get it done in 2002 at Jinx Proof. Eventually I ended up swallowing said tongue ring, but that's a whole other story....