A Non-Traditional Fourth in 2008

The hubby and I had a pretty non-traditional fourth of July. Our plan was to go to dinner in the nearby city and then attend the July 4th party of one of hubster's 24 hour lay over co-sufferers.

Well, I was craving sushi. We went to the highly talked of Miyake. Usually the place is packed, but being July 4th we had the place all to ourselves. We had a lovely meal.

First, the pork belly appetizers. Melted in our mouths.

Next, the whelk. Looks intimidating, tastes FABULOUS.

6 pieces of sashimi...well, by the time we took the picture there were only 3 left.

6 pieces of nigri.

Dinner was over. We headed to the house of our new acquaintance only to find that the roads leading to her apartment were closed off because of the fireworks display. Afraid that we would get completely lost and never find our way out, we headed back to our little village - only to be surprised by fireworks in out back yard.

Hope your Fourth was as memorable as ours.

Happy Fourth of July

Happy Fourth to all of our friends and family from our part of America to yours.

Coffee Grounds Where?

I've been noticing a little bit of what I will term "bumpiness" on my thighs. I dare to whisper the word, "cellulite." Well, as you know, I do struggle with my self image. I will hone in on any little imperfection and magnify it by 5 BILLION. Well, my little bumps are my latest silly obsession. The thing is, I really like researching the causes and treatments for all sorts of random maladies. So, while it might be weird to some people, it's like pleasure reading for me.

I was looking at natural treatments for cellulite (I'm just that natural kind of gal) and I found that one of the main ingredients in most cellulite creams is caffeine. One natural remedy suggested taking warm, recently used, coffee grounds and rubbing them on the affected areas. You then then wrap said areas in saran wrap for 10 minutes. Rinse - definitely not a step you would want to forget or forgo.

I know what you're thinking. Did she really do it?

Yes...I basically became a coffee filter in a Ziploc bag.

I LOVE home beauty treatments and this one was no exception. The coffee grounds served as a nice and inexpensive exfoliant (who knew?) and the saran warp (in the words of Melissa Pepin) made me sweat like a man. For anyone who is adventurous and wants smoother (notice I didn't say cellulite-free) legs, try it out. I believe you're suppose to repeat the treatments 2-3 times a week for 6 weeks or so before you see results.

Let's face it...my husband is at work all day and I can get bored easily. I know that I could be out and about touring the new town, but I'm still pretty exhausted from all the recent travel. Stay tuned, we are heading to Portland for the 4th and are sure to have some fun stories to post.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today is my husband's 25th birthday. I woke up early and ran to the Dunkin' Doughnuts (they are pretty much as popular as water around here) and came back to wake him with coffee and a boston creme breakfast. Then he ran off to work...in a suit.

My day centered around making this new "house" a home. I cleaned, vacuumed, straightened, and settled. I went grocery shopping, picked up my bike from UPS, and went about making my birthday boy a nice, home cooked meal.

For dinner, we munched on poppy seed chicken, rice, green beans, and a pound cake with homemade chocolate frosting. It was delicious. I did buy a white icing to decorate with (as you can see, it melted...or bled...or did whatever "bad" icing does.

Today is not the only time I've tried to make him yummy stuff. In the past I have made lots of Southern delicacies - okay attempted to make...below is a picture of a banana pudding that was deceptively beautiful, but will forever more be known as "the banana mush." It was some tasty mush though.

Reunited, and it feels so good.

Thank you, Peaches and Herb for writing the song of my summer 2008.


Well, Hubster and I were reunited last Thursday. I picked him up at the airport (after 5 hours of waiting). Apparently, he spent 5 hours on a tarmac because of 10 minutes of inclimate weather. So, what should have been a 3 hour flight became an 8 hour flight. No worries, I was drunk on the expectation of seeing my husband - so, I got a coffee, found a comfy chair, and read "Love in the Time of Cholera." My dear hubby didn't have it so easy - he was stuck between two very annoying people in the window seat of a tiny plane. Well, he got to the airport eventually, we made it home by 11pm and got ready for the approaching road trip.

The next morning we headed to breakfast with our good friends, Heather and Randy. The hub unit had been craving IHOP for the past 6 weeks - so, we wanted to make sure he got his pancake fill. We then headed to "the BORO" to join our friend Bradley and Roseanna celebrate their wedding! It was awesome. We had a great time with the rest of the wedding party and enjoyed planning a prank at the Rehearsal Dinner. Saturday, Hubby hung out with the boys and even played 18 holes the day of the wedding - those who know my husband will find this pretty humorous. I hung out with Carolyn (one of the groomsmen's wife) and had a ball.


We had the awesome opportunity to go out for some margaritas with some good friends from my husbands youth group. We had a blast, enjoyed one another, and planned a future "Youth Group and Spouses" reunion in Ireland (I'll keep you posted as to whether or not that happens).

Sunday, my husband and I met with his family for breakfast in order to celebrate his 25th birthday. Woot! (can you say lower car insurance!) After breakfast, we immediately headed to the airport. We had a great time just chatting in the car on they way and really got our first amount of alone time since he had returned. We hung out at the airport for a while and then I left him around 2pm. I headed home. At 2am I was awoken by the phone ringing and through tons of static I made out the fact that my husband's connecting flight had been canceled and he would be spending the next 24 hours waiting for a flight to his final destination. Arghh.

Well, My flight left the next evening and my husband and I both arrived at our final destination at the same time. We were both exhausted. We got to our new little apartment for the summer at 2pm. My sweet husband had to go to work at 8am the next day (with only 6 hours over the past 3 days). He came over that afternoon and slept. We went out for dinner that evening and then, of course, went back to sleep.

This morning, I went to get a special breakfast to surprise my dear man. I'm planning on cleaning the apartment, grocery shopping, and picking up my bicycle from the UPS place. (YAY)
I'll keep you all updated on our adventures.