Bye USA!

I'm on my way to San Francisco International Airport this morning, & will arrive in Dublin at midnight California time/8 a.m. Ireland time. I can't believe my trip is finally here! I'll have tons of photos to share when I return.

Another trip update: Our older sister Samantha is meeting us in Rome! Then for Rome, Athens & Santorini all three of us sisters will be traveling together :D

See you in two weeks!

P.S. If my math is correct, when I get back that ticker over there   ---> will say 98 days until our wedding. Double digits!

P.P.S. Check out Rose's blog for more vacation recaps :)

Goal #46: Watch every episode of LOST

The series finale of LOST aired on Sunday, but it was on so freaking late that we DVRed it and watched on Monday (I love DVR!).

The final episode was a bit disappointing for me. I know they want us to draw our own conlcusions, but I don't like that! I want them to tell me exactly what everything meant and exactly what happened. This blog helped explain a lot.

See my list of 100 goals to accomplish by my 30th birthday here.

Hair makeover

I saw these photos of Kristin Cavillari last week and L.O.V.E. the hair!! It got me thinking that I need a change.

After the wedding (of course - gotta have long bride hair!), I'm contemplating getting a fun, hopefully easy and fast to manage cut. Do you think I can pull it off?! Not quite this short - I think I'd probably freak!

For years, I've been loving having long hair and trying to grow it longer. I just feel like a change might be nice, plus it would be healthier to get rid of every last dead end too. However, I can't stop thinking back to my fourth grade class picture when I had a bob and a chubby face and the combination was disastrous!! What if that happens again?!

I'd like to also return to the straight bangs I had last year. I loved that look, as long as they weren't cut too short (ahem, stylist I'm still mad at).

I've always been afraid of short hair but these may be possibilities...

Sushi obsession

I'm a lifelong seafood hater. For as long as I can remember, I never liked fish with very few exceptions. That's why I'm totally and completely perplexed at my latest food craving (that I've been getting about twice a week) - sushi! Yummm!

Source

The first time I had sushi I was 19 and went with my roommates. I thought it was disgusting! But a few months ago James and I went out with some friends... I didn't expect to like it at all but ordered a roll to be adventurous. I loooved it!! And I haven't met a roll I didn't like since.

Source

Ever since then I've been asking my coworkers to go with me at lunch, going for dinner with James and friends, and even stopping by Safeway's deli at lunch because I'll get irresistible cravings that convince me that I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT live another hour without sushi!

Source

I think I definitely need to learn how to make it, because this obsession is going to get expensive!

Source 

Oh, and the other weird thing? All the sudden I can use chopsticks functionally, which I could never do before! What's with that?!

I didn't forget

I haven't been blogging about my 100 goals to accomplish before my 30th birthday lately. Well, that's because I haven't been doing any! But it's not forgotten and it will be completed in the next six years :) In the next several months I plan to check off the following:

6. Visit Ireland

9. Visit Italy

10. Visit Greece

(details on these plans here)

13. Marry James

14. Host a fun, unique wedding

15. Go on a vacation with my sister(s)

(see goals 6, 9 & 10)

40. Fly in a hot air balloon

(this is one thing I'm making sure we do on our honeymoon!)

46. Watch every episode of LOST

(will be completed with the finale on Sunday)

48. Do crafts

(after all these wedding projects [flowers, chalkboards, signs, plus invitations, programs, favors and more coming up], I think this goal can be checked off)

66. Swim in a pool

(at this all-inclusive in Santorini!)

74. Celebrate with James when he passes the PTA exam

89. Visit New York City

(I have a layover there on my way back from Europe, but that doesn't count. I just wanted to add it to the list!)

95. Meet James' extended family
(Thanks to Facebook, I've communicated with several, but will actually get to meet them at our wedding)

And longer term, in the next year I hope/plan to do these as well:

1. Buy a home

2. Paint the interior of our house something other than white

3. Update our home to fit our personality

19. Get back to my weight in high school, and stay there

Graduation party

As of last Thursday, James has completed his Physical Therapy Assistant program! I'm so proud of him! He even started a new job immediately on Tuesday that's working out well so far. The last thing he has to do is pass two state exams, then he'll be a licensed PTA.

On Saturday night, we went to Pyramid Alehouse and celebrated with all the students that have been in his class for the past two years (There are only 24 of them). It was a lot of fun to meet everyone!

Most of the 2010 PTA class

James & some of the guys

Schwarzenegger sighting!

I saw Arnold yesterday outside of a restaurant a few blocks from my office. I knew to look for him because 1. He had two CHP on motorcycles and three secret service-y vans surrounding the area, and 2. It’s his favorite restaurant in town. Sorry, no pics but I wanted to share!

Travel journal

On Friday night, James and I met my sister at brother-in-law for dinner at Tres Hermanas. The gave me the most adorable gift to take on my vacation!

 

It has these tabs and pages with prompts for you to fill in

AND it came with a bunch of stickers and a packing list :)

Thanks Sam! This will be an excellent train/bus/plane/ferry activity!

Wedding band & flower girl basket

We picked up my wedding band this morning. Look how pretty!

Afterwards we went to my favorite secondhand store, Deseret Industries on Auburn Boulevard. I always find the coolest stuff there! I was hoping to find a flower girl basket, but didn't really have anything in mind. This is what I found for only $1!

I put on some ribbon that I already had and voila! Adorable basket for an adorable girl.

We also went to Off Broadway, where I got these

and these

Tonight we're going to a friend's house for tacos. I made guacamole and it's delish!

How is it May already?

I can’t believe it’s already time for Friday Night Concerts in the Park, Rivercats games, wedding invitation making and my trip to Europe! Not that I’m not thrilled about it, but this totally snuck up on me!

I'm sure this summer is going to be so much fun, kicking off the vacation I’ve been planning for a year, and ending with our wedding! And lots of great stuff in between, like bike rides, barbecues, maybe a wine tasting bachelorette party, birthdays & happy hours.

New refrigerator, take 2

Nope, this is not a repeat post. Today we got another new fridge!

The one delivered last week, while not quite as bad, froze all our food! Almost everything in the fridge (and freezer, obviously) was frozen, even a few beer bottles and a bottle of sparkling apple cider exploded a bit. We turned it down to the lowest setting but it was still too cold.

Oh and the ice maker was also broken and it made the most annoying clicking sound every 10 minutes or so when it tried (unsuccessfully) to make ice.

We now have our third refrigerator in the kitchen. Third time's a charm?

Ring shopping success!

Ring shopping went well today - we each found a wedding ring we loved. James got to take his home, but mine's being sized and will be ready next weekend. Here's his

It's tungsten, which is pretty much impossible to scratch. That's why he liked it. I love it. Doesn't it look great on him?

Of course I ended up with the complete opposite of what
I thought it wanted! Mine looks like this

I can't wait to wear it with my engagement ring - it looks beautiful! I'll take real pics and share them as soon as I can, of course!

We also went to the mall and and picked up a new shirt and tie for James (for an upcoming interview!). I went into Icing to see if I could find some new nose studs. I did, and also saw this clutch for only $5.

I admit that the big ball thingies are kind of ridiculous (that's what she said), but other than that I think it's cute! I like to bring clutches when I go out to dinner and bars. It will get lots of use.