Bella and a snack

Tonight my sister baked a cake and had everything set out to bake brownies after dinner.  My sister ran out to get some dinner, and settled down to bake the brownies.  I hear her shuffling around and talking to herself.  She can't find the package of Crisco that she had set on the counter. She's looking everywhere, even in the trash.  Well, now I'm involved in this search. Holly casually says, "What if Bella ate it?"  and I told her that Bella would never eat Crisco when there is a perfectly baked cake sitting right next to it on the counter.  Holly then reminded me of the pizza incident.....

Sure enough, I walked into the den and noticed a crumbled empty package of Crisco on her bed. Needless to say, I think Bella has a bit of a tummy ache now...

Procrastinating like crazy!

I am busy studying for another part of the CPA exam using the Becker software.  I am taking the practice questions, which are mostly math-based for this section.  Well, the software won't show me the answer.  It will highlight it if I get it wrong, but for some reason it isn't working and it won't let me see how to get to the right answer.  It's very frustrating!!!

So how do I cope?  A yummy Golden Spoon frozen yogurt!  I am obsessed with Golden Spoon.  It's right across the street from my house.  At $1.99 for a small and 22 calories per ounce, what's not to love???

(Don't be deceived by the photo - the one I got DEFINITELY has lots of chocolate - no fruit on my yogurt!!!)  How come it seems that chocolate makes everything better???

Movin' and a Shakin'

So it's about 11:45 am, my tummy is growling for lunch, and I'm plugging away at the computer, doing some fun auditing.  Next thing I know, the ground is moving.  "Okay, it's an earthquake.  I'll just sit here 'til it's over"...and I keep sitting....and I keep sitting....and the earth keeps moving...and I hear people yelling "earthquake!"....and I see the wall of glass windows about 2 feet from me....and I decide to move to the door jam. 

For those of you who don't live in Southern CA, we had an earthquake this morning - and it was the strongest one I've ever felt.  It was a 5.8 magnitude centered in Chino Hills - the closest one ever to my home.  Luckily, no damage here in south county, but north county got quite a stir.   

Eric and I keep talking that we need to put an "emergency kit" together at each of our houses...maybe this will be the little boost we need to finally do it.

Where were you when the quake hit?

Will Ferrell credits my dad!

Many of you may not know, but my dad was Will Ferrell's 1st and 6th grade teacher.  Well, the Orange County Register did had an article today that was an interview with Will Ferrell (because he grew up in Irvine).  I was reading along, and then noticed that he mentions my dad!  Check out the article here.

Bella and the Roomba

Don't think I'm mean.  If you look, Bella's tail is wagging the whole time...she just can't figure out what this crazy thing is in her house.  I think she was mad that Holly and I were laughing at her, because she pouted the rest of the night.

Does this make me the Queen of Lazy???

So, I upgraded my place and got this beautiful new floor.  Unfortunately, I threw a playful golden retriever into the mix and the next thing I knew I had dog hair all over my floor.  It wasn't just a couple here or there.  We're talking clumps & layers of hair.  I brush out Bella pretty regularly and she is groomed every 6 weeks, but we're still talking a ridiculous amount of hair.

How do I solve this problem?  I treated myself to a ROOMBA.  Before I went out and spent the money (by the way, thank you to Bed Bath & Beyond for the wonderful 20% off coupons that I get in the mail every week), I asked friends if they had ever heard of a Roomba.  Well, apparently everybody has them and I am the last to jump on the band wagon.

I took it home last night, charged it up, and decided to give it a test run tonight in my den. Bella wasn't quite sure what to think about it.  I took a video, but am having trouble uploading it.  Stay tuned for the video and my review of the ROOMBA (as it is cleaning my great room right now...)

A visit with my nephews!

Tristan in the spa "modeling" my Kaenon sunglasses.

Nicholas flashing his cute grin.

I had a fun Saturday afternoon - my nephews were in town!  It was a fun-filled day of swimming, bbq, and games around the fire pit.  My nephews live in Colorado, so I don't get a chance to see them often.  Tyler was busy playing football in the pool, so I didn't get a picture of him.

I am in love with Sprinkles Cupcakes!

I was introduced to Sprinkles Cupcakes this last week.  My Client was right across the street in Fashion Island.  I wanted to see what all the hype was about (yes, watch the Girls Next Door and hear how obsessed they are with them).  I must admit I visited Sprinkles a couple of times during the week.  Don't judge me - I had to taste different flavors to decide which one I thought was the best!!!  My favorite?  The Red Velvet cupcake.  This shouldn't be a surprise, as it is the cupcake that has made them famous.  It is such a cute little store and I love the packaging for the cupcakes - what an added touch!

I visited my friend, Sandra, after work on Friday.  I brought her little girl, Sofia, a cupcake, and boy did she love it!  She kept taking the frosting off with her finger and laughing as she showed me the yummy frosting.  I think the photos will show how excited she was for the cupcake.

I've never laughed so hard reading

My friend Elizabeth introduced me to this series of books.  I didn't quite know what to expect.  I must preface this story with....I am not a big reader.  (A big joke between Eric and I is that when we first started dating, he gave me a book to read...it took me 5 months.  In my defense - it was about 800 pages.  Eric reads about a book a day and constantly has 5 books in progress).

Anywho, I opened the first in the seried, Bitter is the New Black by the fabulous author Jen Lancaster, and finished it in 4 days.  I have never laughed so hard reading a book.  In case you can't read the rest of the title, "Confessions of a condescending, egotistical, self-centered smartass, or, why you should never carry a Prada bag to the unemployment office."  I think the title says it all.

I have now loaned out this book to my friend Robin, and she loves it too!  I am almost done with the second book in the series, Bright Lights, Big Ass:  A self-indulgent, surly, ex-sorority girl's guide to why it often sucks in the city, or Who are these idiots and why do they all live next door to me?  Seriously - this one is even funnier! 

I HIGHLY recommend this series of books.  You can buy them here and here.

Can I tell you the best part?  Since it's a memoir, and the author is a big fan of blogging, I can follow her daily blog and laugh constantly!  Okay, don't think I'm a stalker.  Just very very entertained.

I love my Gammy

I love my Gammy.  At 81 years young, she is fun and BEAUTIFUL!  We all went out for Taco Tuesday last night at Rose Canyon Cantina (which I will always refer to as Senior Lico's since I'm old school like that).  Margaritas were flowing and I had to videotape the party howl (sorry for the poor quality of the video, it's from my phone).

My cousins and I taught Gammy the "party howl."  It's basically a fist pump into the air and a big "whoop!"  Gammy has her own version of the party howl - which I love!!!

The new floor

So it's been a while, but here is the new floor installed.  I've included the "before" pictures - just please note that this is the carpet "pre-Bella" and there are virtually no spots or stains.  Things change quickly when you have a 75 lb. beast on your hands!  I really think that the new floor warms the place up - and it's virtually indestructible by Bella (why do I have a feeling that I'll take those words back in a few months?.....)  Overall, I had such a good experience, from order to installation, thanks to the folks at Lowes.