Movie night with the girls

Work was crazy again, but I made sure to leave early enough to go to my parents' house to see my aunt Senada. She has come all the way from my native country yesterday, and it was a delight to see her. She is really funny and super-affectionate. I can't wait to spend lots of time with her this summer. I have a feeling we are going to have a wonderful time together.

Des, Jackie, Spomi & Belma

After the visit, I met up with my girls Spomi, Desiree, Belma and Jackie for a drink on the patio and then we went to see "Bridesmaids" starring Kristen Wiig.

It's like a better version of "Hangover"

I was laughing and snorting obnoxiously the whole time in the movie theater. Finally a girl movie with my kind of crude humor. Loved it and would highly recommend it!
And now a shower, a bit of knitting and late night TV, and then bed. Wish life was always this fun and easy.

Lunch Unplugged

The city had a concert series that allowed downtown employees to attend a concert during their lunch hour and see some local artists. I didn't learn about this until today, which, incidentally, was the last concert in the series. Lee had an extra ticket and invited me to accompany her to see the Nadas, a great local band.

The room was dim-lit and packed. It was a great atmosphere and a nice way to get away from work for an hour. I definitely needed that. (Thanks, Lee!)

Public radio stars

I have old person proclivities, such as knitting and listening to NPR. Well, tonight I got to see some of these public radio "celebrities" in person at Hoyt Sherman Place. Mo Rocca (NPR contributer, television personality, humorist), PJ O’Rourke (author, NPR contributer, satirist) and Peter Sagal (“Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” host) chatted about current events and Iowa. 

I love public radio nerds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Mo Rocca did a one-handed cartwheel.

And then he also sang to us.

In May, I'm looking forward to another radio celebrity - Ira Glass from This American Life. I hope it's just as entertaining.

Entertainment galore

I got to see my favorite comedian live!

It's Louis CK! He performed in Riverside Casino, and my bffs and my hubby went to see him. Good times!
And then I had an even bigger star do a private performance in my basement.

That's Maggie, my niece. Cute overload! That girl is talented.

Random happenings this weekend

There is really no theme to this blog post. Instead, I'll just show you what I did over the weekend.

1) Saw "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" movie with S on Sunday. We give it two thumbs up.
2) Moved from my old job (see cube below)......to my new job with a much prettier cube - with natural light and a view...
...and more space. I am moving on up!
3) Saw "Date Night" with my sisters and S.
And AJ joined us, too (Ami and Adji don't look too thrilled, and S is about to punch him - lol, kidding. We like AJ. He's one of the girls). The movie was super-funny. We laughed and laughed and laughed.
(Ovaj smo vikend išle u kino. Ja sam isto promijenila posao pa sam stavila slike moga starog i mog novog biroa.)

Roller derby!

My sisters and I love Roller Derby. I've been a fan of Mid-Iowa Roller Girls for a while now (yes - before "Whip It!" came out). It's a fun cardio activity, so my sisters and I decided to hit the rink and roll a few rounds.
The rink was filled with kids. It was hard to do it without risking stomping over children right and left.
My sisters kicked ass. I am not doing too bad, either. I did, however, fall and score a huge bruise on my knee in the driveway. I am proud of that bruise.
It's definitely a fun way to exercise and spend time with your sisters. We are going to do this again this summer. Maybe one day we can join a Derby team. ;)

Tangled up in blue

I've got a bike. You can ride it if you like. A pretty Schwinn cruiser that allows me to ride down to the grocery store and get fresh ingredients.
Bicycle! Bicycle! Bicycle! I want to ride my bicycle!...Bicycle races are coming your way/So forget all your duties, oh yeah!/Fat bottomed girls they'll be riding today/So look out for those beauties, oh yeah!/On your marks get set go! (Sorry, every time I think of my bike, two songs come to my mind - and Queen's "Bicylce Race" is clearly one of them.)
Another thing I covet at the moment is yarn (big surprise). The one above is the British Rowan "Colourscape Chunky" in Misty - 100% lambswool.
This one Heritage Sock Yarn by Cascade - 75% merino, 25% Nylon - in Steel.
And I got more of the lovely Mirasol Hacho - 100% hand dyed merino wool in Rainbow Dust.
I can't wait to finish my current project so I can start on these beauties.

Valentine's dinner at Splash

For Valentine's Day, Jeff took me out to the snazzy Splash seafood restaurant downtown.
The ambiance was very chill - dim candle light, lava lamp-like aquariums all around, and reggae filling the room. The company wasn't bad either. :)
And then we get to the food. I had sake shrimp with mashed sweet potatoes and black bean mango salsa. Yum! While it was pricey, it was actually good. I also indulged with a Mai Tai alongside sparkling water.
Hubby picked up the bill, and we were out of there within 30 minutes (we eat and leave - no lingering out and talking for us). Then we got home and watched the movie "Up". Soooooo sweet! Great conclusion to a very nice Valentine's Day.

Stuff on a Donnerstag

S came over tonight and together with Jeff and Wally we watched "The Hurt Locker". The movie was fantastic, albeit sad. My heart was pounding throughout the entire movie.
While we were watching, I managed to finish knitting my husband's "seaman's cap".
I managed to take a picture while he was watching the movie. He is not the easiest model to work with. It fits well and looks good. I made exactly what he requested.
The hat was one of the gifts for our 3-year anniversary (which is tomorrow). I also bought him a cot for when he goes on fishing trips. And I made a scrapbook of our honeymoon in Mexico. Below are a few of the excerpts from it. I am not really into scrap-booking, but I thought it would be a nice and meaningful gesture.
We had a Mayan wedding ceremony and a dinner just for us.
The resort where we stayed, Le Blanc, was pretty much my piece of heaven. The beach, the waves, the infinity pool were all unbelievable.
You can't really see on these photos, but the room we had was better than anything we could have imagined. The bed was facing the beach (upper right hand corner), and we woke up each morning to a beautiful sunrise.
We also went out to see Mayan ruins (Tulum).
The food and the restaurants in the hotel were just like from a 1950s movie.
I would love to visit there again sometime soon. Every moment on our honeymoon took my breath away. I never regretted not having a wedding and having a honeymoon of our dreams instead.

Why, yes! A magazine for nerds!

Last night I picked up a copy of Mental Floss magazine for my hubby (he wanted me to get him a magazine so he has something to read that is NOT a law school book). The bit "where knowledge junkies get their fix" spoke to me. Let's just say I devoured this publication cover to cover last night. My poor husband didn't even get a chance to look at it. After I was done, I went online and subscribed to it immediately. If you are a nerd like me, you are going to love this! Highly recommended. I could try to summarize the content, but I would not even know where to begin. It is something you truly have to experience yourself.

Crazy for Coco

Last night was Conan's last time hosting the Tonight's Show. I admit I might have gotten a little misty-eyed while watching him, Andy, Max, La Bamba and the rest of the crew doing their final comedy bits. I am going to miss unraveling at night with a glass of my favorite wine and my buddy Coco.
NBC has made a huge mistake. I am definitely boycotting anything Jay Leno. And I will be looking forward to what Conan will come up with next.

The Girl with winter blues and greens and yellows and pinks

I have already shared how I like many things Swedish. Furniture, cars, music, and now authors. Stieg Larsson wrote three books before he suddenly died: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and "The Girl the Hornet's Nest" (coming out in June in the US).
Amazon had all the three hardcovers selling at 60% off (their Daily Gold Box deal) and I had to have them. I normally never buy books I have read ("...Dragon Tattoo"), but I wanted to own the entire collection. Now I am looking forward to reading the second and the third books (which will be shipped when it becomes available) in the series. I don't think my description of the books would do them justice, so I invite you to check them out for yourselves. Just know that Stieg Larsson is the best-selling author around the world (following the success of Khaled Husseini - author of the "Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns" - both excellent reads).

Reading and knitting have been my favorite things to do this winter (negative digits on the thermostat, I might add - for effect). The variegated yarn I bought for myself is going to be a fun and lacy scarf. I am trying something I haven't done yet - yarn overs (YO). It's looking good thus far. Another project on the needles is my hubby's hat, but I'll share a picture of that when it looks like something more than three rows on the needles.
How are you entertaining yourself this winter?

How do you say "finally, the shelves are up" in French?

I got my package from Amazon today after work - it contained my latest big splurge: Rosetta Stone! I am so looking forward to learning French. I plan on visiting France in the spring 2011, so I might as well start with some basics.
Other good news... our house's walls are very, very thick. We've been wanting to put up shelves for two and a half years now, with no luck as the screws would not go into the wall. Well, today my hubby's friend G came, and the two of them were able to drill those holes together.
Here is one side of the room with the shelves. Later the other side was added. I will show you populated book shelves tomorrow (or whenever I get to moving the books from the boxes onto the shelves).
My home will finally look the way I envisioned it. Yay!

Disney on ice with the niece

My mother-in-law invited me to go see Disney on ice on Friday with her and my hubby's niece. I've never seen anything like this, so it was quite a treat.
All the little girls were captivated. Myself included.
The seven dwarfs...
Cinderella's pumpkin carriage...
The ball...
The castle...
The entire production was very well done, and the skaters were amazing. My inner little girl was gleeful.

Haunted forest

Friends and I decided to do scary stuff for the Halloween season, and the first activity was the local haunted forest/village attraction. I have never paid to get scared before, so I was a bit reluctant about the whole thing. Luckily, my brave sisters joined me on this journey.

Myself, M and Z before the adventure.

We then met up with my BFF S, her sister Z, and her brother D.

Then there were nine. We were joined by our friend A, and his friends A & J.

It was mad fun. We were screaming and laughing the whole time. Wouldn't call it scary, though.

Here is the gang with awesome 3D glasses on. They look like nerds and crime fighters (except for A on far right - he looks like a grandpa who fell asleep). :D

The first Halloween 2009 activity was a success. I think next we are going to see Paranormal Activity.

Swedes do it again!

Besides Volvos, Ikea, and Jose Gonzales, Sweden delivered another wonder: Koop Islands by Koop. I've fallen in love with this album. Absolutely beautiful. Their orchestrated sound is achieved by slowly putting together thousands of small clips from records. It's Nu-Jazz and it's lovely. Vocals on this album are provided by singers I love, such as Ane Brun and Yukimi Nagano. You just gotta YouTube them.

Oh boy! So much going on!

Saturday was a fun- and stuff-filled day. After the farmers' market, hubby and I took our pup to the vet for his ear infection checkup. He just gets so excited and hyper. Can't you tell by my husband's face?
Next, sisters and I spent the day at the mall buying clothes and getting my haircut. Below is my new haircut. Low-maintenance... I like it.Once at home, I got to show my hubby my new haircut and my loot. He high-fived me. That's his way of complimenting me.
Oh, and today I got my newest Tosca Reno cookbook in the mail. Can't wait to try the recipes!
And, and... I got the newest issue of the Bust magazine in the mail, and on the cover were my girl-crush Ellen Page and this cute lil actress known as Alia Shawkat. I love them! I just had to show.
And now on to my loot. This one was on sale for around $4 at Gap.
And this one is from Aerie. Love the color.
New shoes! Brown, suede, kitten-heel, with a ruffle in the front. It will really go with all the brown stuff I bought.
And as you will see, there is a lot of it. I know some of you may cringe for the lack of color in my new wardrobe (B!), but I promise next time I'll throw in some non-neutral hues.
Here is a recycled material soft brown shirt with buttons on the shoulder detail from Gap.
And a long cardigan that I'll be able to throw over my summer stuff during this transitional season.
And a lovely tweed jacket... brown, of course.
Another brown shirt! Who would have thunk it? By the way, I am now downgraded to a size 10 in pants and jackets, and a Medium in shirts! I can't believe it!
My new, size 10 real straight cut jeans from Gap. They are actually a tiny, tiny bit loose. Size 8, here I come!
Working out and eating right has really made so many positive changes in my appearance and confidence. I am more motivated than ever. As for my wallet... that's another story. :)