Today, Tomorrow, and Beyond

TODAY:
Is my sister's Birthday! So happy birthday, Jennifer! The year ahead HAS to be better than the year now behind you! Time to look forward and find your smile again. I love you!

TOMORROW:
I have to work again, or at least pretend like I'm working and participate in some silly conference calls and exchange some e-mails.
After dinner, I'll stroll over to my neighbor's house for our monthly Book Club meeting. I've been "MIA" for the last few meetings, with no excuse other than I've been uninspired to read anything besides People, Cookie, and Phoenix Magazine. However, this month's read was Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It is about an American mountain climber who decides to build a school in Pakistan's desperately poor Karakoram Himalayan region. I actually enjoyed reading it, and so I'll actually show up to Book Club this month. The truth is, while I do enjoy reading, I mostly use Book Club as a good excuse to get out of house, see my friends, and drink wine.


BEYOND:
We're heading south, across the border into Mexico. I need to see the ocean and feel the sand between my toes. I'm hoping we don't encounter any Drug Cartels... Rocky Point should be pretty safe. And since the Pig Flu doesn't seem to be in the news much anymore (isn't that strange), I'm not too worried about that either. Besides, I like living on the edge a bit. =)

This will be the 2nd year in a row that we've celebrated the 4th of July in Mexico. Ian and our friend Kyle like to go buy illegal rockets and other small fireworks and launch them off the beach, sending the wives into a panic and the kids running into the house for cover. Sounds like the type of fun that I can't pass up!

Plus, Ian's birthday is on July 3rd. My husband is turning 35 yrs old! He deserves to spend his birthday relaxing by the pool and/or beach, with a Corona in his hand and not a care in the world.

I'm hoping we make it back alive so I can share some pictures with all of you. =)

I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend!

Weekend Recap

Friday: Celebrated Ian's best friend Mark's birthday. Dinner at La Grande Orange Pizzeria. Dessert at The Gelato Spot. Yummy!




(lt to rt: Aaron, Reese, and Deanne- expecting baby #2 in Sept)

Ava loved spending time with Aaron and Deanne's little girl, Reese. After dinner we headed over to A&D's house, where Ava took it upon herself to teach Reese all sorts of bad things, like jumping on her bed!

Saturday: Spent a lazy day at home, by the pool. No demands and lots of naps...my favorite pass time. In the evening, Ian and I shared a bottle of wine, cooked a delicious dinner and sat outside. We got restless at about 10 pm, and decided we needed to get out of the house. We took the dogs for a walk around our neighborhood and I pushed Ava in her stroller. It was a beautiful night that we definitely don't take for granted. This week the temperatures are supposed to climb to 110 degress, which means it won't get that much cooler in the evenings or at night.

Sunday: We celebrated Father's Day with another lazy day at home. Ava made her daddy a very cute handmade card at school (in the shape of a shirt/tie), which she presented to him on Friday. Sunday she gave him another cute card, a gift card to Barnes and Noble, and lots of hugs and kisses.

Sunday evening we drove up to north Scottsdale and enjoyed another amazing dinner at Eddie V's Edgewater Grille. Ian and I both enjoyed some wine, Lobster & Shrimp Bisque soup, Sautéed Lemon Sole In Parmesan Crust, and shared Creme Brulee and Chocolate Mousse desserts. And Ava enjoyed chicken fingers and french fries! We then "rolled" ourselves out of the restaurant and decided that we can't let ourselves eat like that again for a while!!

And lastly, I finally booked a venue to celebrate Ava's 4th B-day. She has decided to invite a couple of her friends and her cousins to Chuck E. Cheese's. Certainly not my first choice, but since it's not my 4th birthday, it's not up to me. =) It will be a Hello Kitty theme and so far Ava has informed me that she wants the following for her birthday:

1- Hula Hoop

2- Hanna Montana soccer ball and net

3- New AZ State Sun Devils Cheerleader outfit

4- Roller skates

And we already bought her really good seats to the Miley Cyrus/Hanna Montana concert which will take place in Sept. As soon as these tickets went on sale, Ian jumped on the opportunity to get tickets for us. Ava is so excited to get to see "Hanna Tanna" in concert! Ava keeps asking us: "I get to see Hanna live, in person? Can I go on stage with her and sing?" She has no idea what to expect and we're so exciting to see the look on her face when Miley Cyrus comes on stage.

As usual, life is busy and life is good!! And the weeks are flying by...I can't believe it's almost July! Ian's 35th birthday is around the corner, then Ava's, and pretty soon we'll find ourselves on the road heading north to our vacation in Wyoming. I can't wait!

Rejuvenated

Our weekend "staycation" at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa was perfect! (I promise Ian, this is last time to have to hear me say or read the word "staycation"). =)

The hand-painted ceiling murals in the resort lobby were breathtaking.

On Friday evening we took the resort boat to the Casino for a little gambling. We didn't win big, but we didn't lose too much either! We were up a couple hundred dollars for a while, but then we got greedy. The key to a good time is to know when to walk away!

On Saturday we relaxed out by the pool, enjoyed some cocktails and lunch and took a late afternoon nap.

Early Sat. evening, we had reservations at Kai (the only 5 star rated restaurant in Phoenix).

View from the balcony at Kai.

Just getting started with a bottle of wine. (I apologize for the sun reflecting off my forehead)! We were facing the window and the sun was going down, presenting a gorgeous sunset.
Nothing like an Arizona sunset...

The Menus at Kai have hand painted watercolors on the covers. Each one was different.

Delicious grains, with Indian bread in the middle, served with Olive oil and seeds.
Organic salad to begin the incredible meal.
Mouth-watering shrimp over potatoes with organic tomato sauce.

Raspberry sorbet to cleanse our palate.

Ian ordered the Buffalo. The presentation was beautiful and the mixture of tastes and textures were nothing I've experienced before.
I enjoyed the steak. Simply melted in my mouth.

Dessert- How could we not? Mexican Souffle with vanilla creme drizzled on top. I'll be dreaming about this for months.

So full and so happy... and maybe just a little tipsy. =)

We took a stroll around the resort grounds after dinner, sat in the jacuzzi, gazed up at the stars and talked about life. Even after being together for over 10 years, married for 8 of the years, and lots of ups and downs in our life...we still make each other laugh. We still love to be together. I'm grateful for that.

By this morning we were desperately missing our Ava. So my sister brought her to the resort with Ethan and Emma and they had a great day swimming and going down the slide. After all, we're the happiest when we know Ava is happy and we couldn't imagine not sharing some of this experience with her. And I loved sitting back on a lounge chair and just talking to my sister. It was a perfect end to a perfect weekend.

Attitude Adjustment

My dear friend and neighbor, Jennae, just sent me a message on Facebook reminding me that I haven't updated my blog in over a week. Yep, I've been a lazy blogger and for this, I apologize to my loyal readers. I think I have at least 5 people out there who check my blog on a regular basis to see what I've been up to! And maybe someday I'll gain a bigger following when I actually have something really exciting and interesting to write about...one can only hope. =)

The truth is--I've been in a funk. I think working from home is turning me into a recluse. I wake up in the morning, grab a cup of coffee and retreat to my office, where I spend all day sitting in front of my computer on endless (meaningless) conference calls. If I'm lucky I'm able to sneak in a shower at some point during the day and change into some decent clothes. Most days I stay in my pajamas and try not to look in the mirror. What a life!

It's my fault of course...I've gotten into a bad routine and now it's difficult to change it into something more productive and healthy. And worst of all--I have a horrible, pathetic attitude about work. And yet even as I write that, I feel guilty because I know so many people out there would love to have a job, especially a job that would allow them to work from home. So I know I'm being ungrateful and forgetting about all of the positives that come with working from home. But how do I get myself out of this "hermit" lifestyle and kick-start a more positive, healthy routine?

On a more positive note- This coming weekend Ian and I are escaping to the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa for the weekend. A change of scenery and some R&R might just be the cure to my blues. After having to unexpectedly drop $1200 for a new salt cell system for our pool, we almost cancelled this "staycation"; however I managed to convince Ian that we both really needed this little getaway and after all, we only live once! So I'm looking forward to ordering an over-priced lunch and cocktails by the pool on Saturday, while flipping through silly gossip magazines, and eventually taking a nap under an umbrella. And I'm going to find myself a new attitude about life and everything that comes with it.