Walk down memory lane

My friend Amy posted in her blog her top 3 movies ever. One of those movies made me want to revisit the time in my life when I could watch a movie over and over and over again.

Like Amy, I LOVED Girls Just Want to Have Fun. I guess I most love me some SJP :)

And then 2 nights ago when I was checking what was on HBO I saw it and froze...Little Women!!!

I watched that back in 1994 and have seen it 20 times since (most of which were that same year). I hadn't seen it in years....so I DVR'd my old friend and sat down and watched it. Tears still ran down my face at the same times they used to. And I still hate Amy and wish Jo had married Laurie (ok, I should say I probably say the movie 1/2 the movie 40 times and the whole movie 20...when Jo denies Laurie , I just turned the movie off. I secretly thought each time I played it, this time it might be different.)

I can still remember most of the lines and and background music was so soothing. The cast is Susan Sarandon, Christian Bale, Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes...the list goes on.

Here is a link to a clip for those that are a bit hazy on the details!

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/133561/Little-Women/trailers

(Side note: I also loved all of Louisa May Alcott's books. I am lucky enough to have my grandmother's copy from when she was a girl. Published in 1911...3 years before she was born)

Meet Charlotte York...

For as long as I can remember and WAY before Sex and the City made them popular, I have been in LOVE with Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

Their hefty price tag to buy from a reputable breeder has been around $2,500- $3,000. Way too much for me. I have looked through rescues and you can hardly ever find one...let alone one that is a puppy/young anywhere near where I lived!

Flash back to last Tuesday when I saw a litter of puppies taken from a horrible Puppy Mill in Georgia.

Here are some of the stories

http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/022408/news_20080224085.shtml

http://network.bestfriends.org/truth/news/24103.html

All the puppies where named after the Sex and the City girls (and Steve). I fell in LOVE with Charlotte. I put in my application and thought there would be no chance I got her since they had received about 100 applications for this litter.

The SAME DAY, I got an email back from Southern Hope Humane Society (outside Atlanta) asking some more questions and then checking out my vet and references. I was approved the next day!! I had no idea how many people were in line ahead of me for the other pups so I just gave the lady my preference list and then had the final interview/meet and greet on Saturday. (A 4 hours drive)

Can I say how impressed I was with the facility! I have adopted my dogs before and this place by far had their act together. Their adoption facility was very urban loft like with fun art and black leather couches. It did not smell like dog/cat in there at all! It was small, but housed a lot of animals.

By the grace of God, even though a few people cut me in line, the lady put me on the list first for Charlotte (man, if looks could kill the other people would have killed me on the spot). Charlotte and I bonded :) She was too cute!

For $350 bucks she was spayed, mirochipped, dewormed, all puppy shots minus rabies since she is too young...only 11 weeks. (higher than their usual price because of the breed of dog but still CHEAP considering everything that was included) And the icing on the cake was puppy pads, 2 bags of free food, a collar and leash and a personalized name tag they engraved on the spot!!! I was floored!

The 4 hours drive home back was a breeze...she slept the whole way with no accidents.

Jake loves her, Ellie is one jealous girl! And boy did I forget how fun potty training was...grrr.

Just 'cuz...

I have been bad at taking pictures recently. Having a big camera is not conducive to taking it on the boat or throwing it in the car all the time.

But on the flip side when I do get it out...I love the fun pictures I can take :)

Side Note: I'm learning to get off Auto mode and try some manual modes (please excuse the white balance...it's a love/hate relationship right now)

I call this the "WTF...who's there?" look. And yes, that is a lounge for my dogs. I know, I know...I gave issues :)

This is my Micheal Vick doll...I will update with pictures after my dogs have decapitated his head and maimed him.

This is what your pool looks like when there is a leak in the plumbing and you are waiting for them to filter the water out and go under the pool to fix it...sigh...

Another weekend re-cap

Friday we went to our neighbors high school graduation party then after that we met up with some out of town friends and had some drink at Jen and Friends. Geoff had been there a few times, but this was my first taste of thier candy bar martinis. OMG...it was like a dessert you can drink! I had a Recess Peanut Butter Cup and was in pure heaven. But after one drink we had to get out of there...my days of going to bars past 10 are over. But we forged to another bar (one with a lot less drunk bachlorettes...if I see one more veil). Issac's was very nice and relaxing. We had a couple more drinks and then looked at the clock. It was midnight (no wonder I was so tired). Geoff and I decided to leave and were shocked with how many people were out (and some of them I knew too!). On Saturday about 7 of us took the boat out. We went by the Isle of Hope and then ate at Bona Bella Yacht Club. It was so cool!! You just docked your boat and went right up to eat. We did the mistake of boating at low tide and not knowing how low the water actually went in some of these rivers/creeks. I was worried (that's putting it mildly) we would get stuck anytime Geoff was in the captains position. I made him nervous and the memories of me learning to drive a car with my mom flashed back! Note to Madeline: you will not be teaching you kids how to drive. I was awesome teaching my neighbor how to drive (in my car no less), but there is something about that blood/marriage relation that makes me think I will scar my child/husband for life if I continue on this path. Sunday we drove up to Charleston to see my college roommate, Courtney, and her boyfriend Gabe. We had a good time at lunch and then walked to get some cupcakes (for what seemed like hours in the sweaty hot sun). It was closed (of course). We then went to get some ice cream and do a little shopping. And that's when I saw it....the clouds were beginning to look nasty. We said our goodbyes and hit the road. It was the drive from hell. I white knuckled it all the way back while BUCKETS of rain poured down on us. Sometimes we could not even see the road. We had no place to pull off (we took the back road) so we put on the hazards and prayed we wouldn't die. Between swerving to miss fallen branches or just cause we hydroplaned...well it was tough. Then we have a 5 min. rest as we got on the interstate and BAM...it starts to pour again. Geoff checks the Doppler on his phone and tells me to pull off ASAP. I find a gas station and we stay there for the next hour and a half (fun huh!!). Every time we tried to get pull out lighting would be feet from us! FINALLY we just grin and bare it. The last 30 miles home were not fun (thanks to the semis driving like bats out of hell and dumping water on any car that they passed). There was a very bad accident that we had to stop for. I literally saw a car in 2 pieces. We made it home just as the rest of the storm followed us and pounded us again. I can drive in crazy LA traffic, but driving in a storm is a heck of a lot harder! Slow and steady wins the race :)

Why my husband rocks!

For our anniversary present (which Itotally didn't think we were exchanging anything since the kitchen remodel was our present) Geoff totally suprised me with a spa day at the Mansion at Forsyth Park.

A maasage, body scrub and manicure....pure bliss!!

Thanks Geoff!!!

It's hot....'nough said.

This last week has been hot. That gross hot that starts off in the morning and only in the evening do you get some sort of break. (mind you, I do know that my friends in NC might seem as if they are in Dante's Inferno. For once it was hotter all week there than it was here! And at least we have the water close by to get a nice breeze!) Wednesday all the girls game over for book club. We had it outside and the weather was actually quite nice! Since it was so hot that afternoon, I cut up every fruit I could get my hands on! I can't believe how great the fruit tasted. The watermelon, pineapple, cherries and strawberries were to die for. And my icing on the cake was finding rhubarb. I decided since most people had never tasted it, I'd make it in a pie with some strawberries. I was a bit worried since I couldn't find my grandmothers recipe, but Betty Crocker did me a solid! There was not a piece left for Geoff :) On Friday we found a new restaurant in Savannah called EOS. It was pretty darn good (very small portions though). We then watched Narnia (Joe insisted). Saturday was a LONG DAY. We finally got our boat and it is a DREAM. We had our lesson at the marina we choose to dry dock the boat (that has dolphins EVERYWHERE). So funny that as we take the boat out... we go right by Paula Deans house (you know, where she films her show. The guys actually saw her husband later that night, and Paula was watching tv in her house). Back to the boat. It goes a lot faster than I thought! I refuse to drive it though. I wanna take my safety class first. The wind in your hair as you see the beautiful marshes and coast. So relaxing! Well after lunch, we buy some more stuff for the boat since the guys were going to take it out that evening. I had invited the girls over to watch PS I LOVE You (if you read the book...don't watch the movie...ugh). We had a good time. And by about 9:30pm everyone left, except Ava since her husband was also on this trip. She finally left once we got ahold of them. Mind you it was dark. And none of these guys had been on these waters let alone at night. By 11:00pm I am worried. I know the boat has a GPS, but I thought for sure they were stuck (it was low tide). Finally at 11:45pm an exhausted Geoff pulls gets in bed. He was tired but had a HUGE grin on his face. Seems all the guys thought it would be fun to take the boat to River Street in Downtown Savannah. They docked the boat and went to eat and it was pitch black going back. Good lord! Sunday it was hot yet again and Geoff and I scrambled to get food for the BBQ we were having after our kickball game (which I had 4 RBI's...wohoo!). We won by a landslide!! Then we had 12 people for the BBQ/pool party. The water was 89 degrees. We ate great food and had a good time. And by 9:30 we were ready to hit the hay! Busy, busy weekend...but a ton of fun!

My weekend in review

I should be cleaning for the upcoming bookclub meeting/pool party at our place tomorrow. But I am tired of cleaning (especially when the guys working in the kitchen are making a big mess.

So lemme catch you up on what happened this weekend

A bunch of friends gathered at Forsyth Park for the free Veronicas, Kate Vogel, Natasha Bedingfield Concert. It was fun...but boy did I feel old after going there. It was pre-teen heaven. I still can't believe Geoff went. He kept asking"Now what songs do I like of hers?" Too funny.

Then on Saturday...had a girls outing with about 7 of us (and Molly's husband) to see SEX AND THE CITY. I loved it...then again I loved the entire series! I totally knew what was going to happen since I knew spoliers for 3 weeks. But let's just say while all the spoliers were true. I did enjoy myself and had a few suprises too!

After the movie Geoff and I went with Brandon and Ava to Jarod and Brianne's for a cookout/Stanley Cup viewing party. (They are huge Pennsylvania fans). We didn't leave until 1 am. That's crazy for us (we're old huh?) By the time we dropped everyone off and got to bed it was 2 am.

Sunday was kickball in 95 degree weather. Ugh. It was SO HOT. But we tied at 11 to 11 after extra innings. (I even made it on base twice! And other other team was so nice! They even said "Nice kick!") Thank goodness Geoff and I were in the pool before the game or we would not have made it!! After the game...we showered and passed out!

Back I go to cleaning...

I'm excited for our book tomorrow... this is the book I am picking. And it looks hilarious!! http://www.amazon.com/Was-Told-Thered-Be-Cake/dp/159448306X