I'm taking a break for awhile from my blog. I feel like I've been struggling to come up with topics, so I'm going to take some time, think things over, and come back better than ever. Feel free to email me if you miss me and want to say hi
Luv
-A

I got married last year, to a magnificent dude
When I think about him, I'm in a better mood
Sometimes when I'm pissed off, or when I want to cry
He always make me feel better, mostly by telling me lies

He carries his trusty back scratcher, on most sunny days
He's got a collection he loves, he puts them on display
Basketball, football, hockey, all games he likes to watch
Sometimes I watch too, if I have a bottle of scotch

He's a true Bostonian, it's obvious when he talks
It's also apparent on the street, he's got an angry walk
He likes to start fights, and can be a magnet for trouble
But he's harmless when he yells, even during the daily double

He puts up with my shopping, I put up with his ticks
Crank, 25th Hour, Man on Fire, all are terrible flicks
I'll be with him till the day I die, this always make me smile
I'll never regret, that special day when I walked down the aisle

It's amazing how Disney has been able to stay on top of what is relevant to kids.  My sister called me the other day because she was watching Ellen and the Jonas Brothers were on.  She and I were discussing which one we liked best, and I'm ashamed to say the one I liked best is only 16 years old.  I was totally skeeved out about it.  Eww!

But anyways, my point is, Disney has ALWAYS managed to be on top of what kids like.  I remember when I was young, the coolest shows on TV were MMC (Mickey Mouse Club for those of you NOT in the know...) and Kids Incorporated was a distant second, but I would still watch it any day of the week.  I remember my sister and I loved The Party, the group that was formed from the show.  My sister in particular had a thing for Damon Pampolina.

I enjoyed Lindsey Lohan, back before she became a drug seeking whore.  When she re-made The Parent Trap, I was so excited!  I loved the original Hayley Mills version.  I can name a tons of shows I've watched over the years starting with MMC, going on to FlashFoward, The Famous Jett Jackson, Lizzie McGuire, and That's so Raven.  I'll even admit to watching the first High School Musical and some horrible sequel to Hillary Duff's movie staring Selena Gomez called Another Cinderella Story.  I don't know what it is, but for some reason, I still find this stuff entertaining.

I'm going to be gonig up north to Boston again in less than two weeks.  I love going up to visit, but Brian doesn't particularly care for it.  I can kind of understand why.  I feel like it's still an exciting city for me to explore, while he knows the place like the back of his hand, so  there's absolutely nothing new or exciting about it for him.  But when it comes to living there, I would choose VA in a heartbeat.  The city is so dirty and ghetto.  Plus, the people are so mean!  It's really unbelievable.  But there are some things I miss:

Shopping - of course this is number 1.  Not only were there tons of malls near each other, but also tons of Crate and Barrels, which I really miss.  The only one near me is really difficult to get to.

The "T" - Why would anyone miss a smelly old subyway system?  I miss having a subway stop 1/2 a mile from my place.  I miss not having to drive to work everyday because I could easily hop on the subway if I would rather read that morning.  I miss taking the subway into the city for the day and not having to worry about parking

Cambridge - Also known as "Lame-bridge".  Yes, I realize it's full of yuppy hippies who think we should get rid of cars and ride bikes everywhere.  But there were also so pretty cool things to see in Cambridge (mostly if you're a tourist).  I went to Harvard quite often, and even once did a tour of MIT.  When I lived in East Boston I had a roommate who went to MIT, and she was really entertaining to talk to.  She was so smart, you could ask her just about anything and she would have an answer.  I miss having quirky people like that nearby.

Summertime - Yes, we do have summertime in Virginia.  But it's so freakin hot!!!  Boston gets hot,  but it's barely bearable.  You can still go to a baseball game, or hang out on Newbury Street.  Plus, the city comes alive in the summer because the winters are so horrific.  There's ALWAYS something cool to do.

Chestnut Hill, Wellesley, Burlington, Hanover, Hingham, Braintree, and even Shrewsbury a little bit - The suburbs of Boston could get on my nerves a little bit, but a lot of them had stuff to offer as well.  I miss driving 10 minutes and being in another town with a completely different culture.

Some things I wish I had done, but never did: go to the beach on the Cape, visit the JFK libaray, go to the Isabella Gardner Museum, go to Newburyport, visit Maine, spend the weekend in New Hampshire, and eat an entire lobster.  Maybe I'll move back in another 10 years so I have the chance.

I drove over this bridge every day I drove to work. 

It used to be that I could name every show that I was going to watch every night of the week. That's not really the case anymore. I have found that a lot of TV shows have just gone downhill, which is really unfortunate.

House - Why did they replace the original team of doctors with this boring group? True, I am a fan of Kumar, but I don't want to see him acting all serious all the time practicing medicine. And who cares about 13 and her disease? Not me! I prefer the House where we barely knew the backstory of the characters, and it was all about the cases and House's ability to solve them.

Nip/Tuck - Why did they have to move to LA? I miss the Miami scene. And how is it that they moved clear across the country, and there are almost the same characters on the freakin show? Drop Julia! She's such a bore. I can't even watch this show anymore. Plus, when there was that flash forward episode a few years back, we learned all about what would happen to them in the future. That episode was a pretty dumb move if you ask me. Alot of the tension has been taken away and now the show is almost anti-climatic.

Hell's Kitchen - This show should go back to the summer line-up. I used to love when I would watch Hell's Kitchen on Monday nights, and SYTYCD on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. But now it just interferes with my Thursday night line-up. Did Fox really think I'm going to abandon The Office and 30 Rock just to watch Gordon Ramsey?

My Name is Earl - When they decided to abandon the list because Earl went to jail and then he came out was all mean, I kind of lost interest. Their formulaic method worked much better. I enjoyed watching Earl, Randy, Crab Man and Joy interact each week. Now the magic is gone.

Honorable Mention (close to being dropped from my list of must watch shows):
Ghost Whisperer - should have never killed Melinda's husband
Law and Order (regular and SVU) - the originality is starting to disappear with each case
American Idol - the fourth judge and all the new rules are starting to annoy me a little bit, but I'm hoping it will get better once the real competition part starts up next week

 Does anyone actually get excited about Valentine's Day?  I remember being in elementary school and thinking it was the coolest day because everyone exchanged those little cards that would go in a little mailbox we made for the day.  Sometimes there would be little pieces of candy involved, but it was always fun.

Then I got to middle school, and people had the ability to send a carnation to their Valentine (think "Mean Girls"- when Kady sends flowers to all of Regina's friends except Gretchen).  So for all three years of middle school, I only got flowers from my female friends, never from any male admirers. 

Then my freshman year of high school, I decided to take a chance.  My friend talked me into sending a carnation to a guy I had a crush on.  So I finally worked up the courage to send the flowers and..... no response!  He wasn't into me.  I was moritified, humiliated, and heart broken.  From that moment on, I decided I hated Valentine's Day and it hated me back.  When I was 19, I got dumped by my boyfriend.  When I was 22 I got dumped AGAIN by a different boyfriend. 

I thought Valentine's Day sucked!  I vowed that I would never do anything special for the stupid fake holiday again.  Screw the cards, candy, flowers, and other crap.  Screw wearing red and declaring your undying love for another person.  Screw it all!  Down with V-Day!  But before another year could pass, my life changed forever.

I met Brian in April of 2004, and I have to say, every Valentine's Day since then has been wonderful.  Believe me, I feel like a complete hypocrite for saying this, but he knows exactly how to make me forget this is the world's most cheesy holiday.  When we celebrate, it's never over the top, but just enough to make me happy.  So this post is dedicated to Brian.  Kudos to you for knowing exactly what I want and being willing to give it to me (mostly jewelry).  You're the best!

Do you know what I hate? Dirty looking guys. I know what you're thinking..."doesn't everyone hate dirty looking guys?" Well you would think so, but it's not necessarily true. I mean, there are some things that I find kind of sexy on a man that's not exactly "well groomed". I like a guy with a five o'clock shadow, or a slight beard or some kind of facial hair. I like a guy with rough hands, and I like a guy who doesn't look like a girl has dressed him.
However, there are plenty of things I definitely DON'T like. In fact, I think they're kind of gross. So here goes, my DON'T list for men:

Hippy - It's gross. Long hair, sandals, patchouli, and dirty jeans. Why would any woman find this attractive? Do you remember Kate Hudson's first husband? He was a hippy, and even she says now that hippy is NOT sexy... ever!

Emo - This type of guy just looks feminine and dirty at the same time. Black hair WITH side swept bangs, eyeliner, and sometimes even black nail polish. What could be a bigger turn off? Plus, sometimes they even wear skinny jeans! There's nothing grosser than a guy in skinny jeans. I truly do not understand women who find this look attractive.

Ghetto/Gangsta - A few years ago, I saw T.I. on Jay Leno's Tonight Show, and he performed "Why You Wanna" in a beautiful cream colored suit. He looked so wonderful. I was hoping that this would be a new trend. Guys would abandon their shirts that are four sizes too big and ugly sneakers for sleek suits and pocket squares. But that never happened. In fact, I saw T.I. on SNL a few weeks ago and he was wearing all black (jeans and a huge shirt) and waving around a Louis Vuitton bandanna on stage. Sigh...

That's all I can think of for now, even though I'm positive there are are more. What turns you off on a man?

I am definitely not a movie critic,  but I'm going to try to review "Coraline" because I saw it on Saturday night.  First things first, this definitely was NOT a movie for kids.  I found it to be pretty tense at times, and at other times, the content was a little adult (funny, but definitely adult).  So if you're looking for a kid's movie, wait for "Aliens vs. Monsters", or whatever that movie is called.

I never read the book, so I can't compare (which I think is better).  But I did think the story was well developed, the characters were interesting (and there was a little surprise about Wybie at the end), and it kept my interest the whole time. 

The story starts with Coraline, a young girl who moved to a new apartment with her parents who are a little neglectful.  You start to feel sorry for her, but realize she's a spunky, individualist who likes to explore and has a great imagination.  Her neighbors are just as much of the story as her family.  There are the old washed up actresses who live downstairs, the Russian (?) retired gymnast who lives upstairs, and the boy next door who's a little crazy and that Coraline can't stand.  When Wybie (the boy next door), gives her a ltitle present, and she discovers a door to the apartment next door, the story starts to really pick up. 

I give this movie 4/4 stars.  It was such a delight to watch!  I didn't see it in 3-D, but I would definitely go back to check it out in 3-D.  The animation is amazing.  It's stop motion, and the level of detail really makes you feel like you've discovered a whole new world right along with Coraline.  Check it out of you get a chance!

I was reading this article about how Etta James ripped Beyonce publicly for performing her song "At Last" at one of the innauguration balls (no, it's not a joke, even though it's very funny). Personally, I think the old lady has just gotten jealous and perhaps a little senile. But this brings up a bigger issue... Every time I see Beyonce perform, I'm always entertained by her music, her dancing, and her outfits. But then when she sits down for an interview afterwards, it's pretty surreal. She just sounds so stupid!!! So this is my question: is Beyonce dumb?

I can't decide. Sometimes when I see her in interviews, I'm like "man, she's dumb!" I mean, really dumb! She can barely say anything that's worth even listening to. But then I listen to her music and I'm like, "Wow, I LOVE THIS SONG!" Even my husband (shhhhh, don't tell anyone) enjoys her music.

So I think to myself, anyone who can sing like she can, and I will admit the girl can sing, has to have some smarts right? I mean, even though celebrities are warped in the brain for the most part, I think deep down most of them have some semblance of intelligence. So, is she a smart, talented, independent woman like she would have us believe based on her music? Or she is she talented, and just lucky that her idiocy hasn't been brought to the attention of the general public yet? I tend to think it's the latter.

I hate going to the DMV. But not for the normal reasons. Yes, I hate the lines, I hate the smelly people who sit next to me, and I hate waiting for my number to be called (Automated voice: "Now serving C-2-0-0-1 at window number 4"). But what I hate the most is getting my picture taken and NOT being able to see it before it's printed.
This morning I had to go to the DMV to get a new picture, and I probably spent about an hour at home primping and getting ready for it. Let me tell you why:

When I moved back to VA about a year and a half ago, I went to the DMV, ready to go, all glammed up, and I got a kick ass driver's license picture. I was really happy with it. Fast forward a year later, I have to go BACK to the DMV to get my name changed. So I just threw on some sweats and a windbreaker thinking I would be in and out. Well low and behold, I had to get a new freakin picture! So I get the new picture, and of course it's terrible. I'm wearing barely any makeup and a gray sweatshirt (it was Juicy, but still!) Plus, it was really dark for some reason. I absolutely hated it.

So fast forward another 5 months, and I can't find my license... anywhere! I look for a week, then I decide I might as go get a new one, then I can get a new picture. Well, the good news is, my make up is flawless, it's nice and bright, and I look pretty good. The only bad thing is I opened my eyes too wide and I look a little deer-in-the-headlights-ish. But that's ok, I'll live with it.

So to all my subscribers out there, here are my tips for taking a great driver's license photo:
1. Dress Nicely
2. Tilt your chin down slightly, it will make you look thinner.
3. Bring oil blotting sheets to get rid of any shine immediately beforehand
4. Wear make-up for goodness sake! Even a little more than usual so it will show up in the picture.
5. Smile!

P.S. Here's the new bag I got yesterday. Isn't it super cute?!