Rain, Rain Go Away

Ugh! I'm paying for the daily rain dance I performed at the end of last summer. I'm so sorry rain gods!! I just wanted the lake to fill up enough to keep the ramp open. Now the lake is so full that only one ramp is open and it won't be for much longer as the water rises with each day of rain.

Do I send a letter? Perform the dance in reverse? (already tried that one) Repent, repent repent???

I have a beautiful new boat and a perfect 2007 wakeboard. However, sunshine on a rain free day is required.

Hear me oh gods of rain!

Personal Shopper

I had the privledge on Sunday to shop with my dear friend JV. We entered the "shopping challenge" her Tall Guy presented...... $2000 in clothing in one day plus $500 for shoes. You have to admit, if you don't shop regularly, that is an average amount to spend. Plus, I live in Dallas which is the shopping haven of Texas! Ok, enough said.

I had a few objectives. Quality AND quantity were important. If you want to replace a wardrobe, you need A LOT of clothes. However, quantity alone was not good enough for my friend JV so we decided that everything had to look great or it was returned to the rack! Both our opinions mattered, but both were allowed to veto. (This only works with reasonable friends!) Also, the closet purge had to be completed before we started the challenge. It not only makes room for the new clothes, it gives you a new state of mind.

Obviously it wasn't hard for JV to look great. We succeeded in the shopping challenge in a total of seven hours and bought fantastic items for her in mass quantity which included a dozen wonderful shoes.

So what did I get out of the deal? A very fun day with a wonderful friend and the official title of 'Personal Shopper'. It has a nice sound to it!

The Banff Extravaganza

The hubbie and I spent New Year's in Banff, Canada. He had a conference there, so we went early to enjoy the fantastic mountains of snow. Banff was beautiful. We stayed at the Fairmont Banff Springs. This is a beautiful hotel with a great spa, but it's not worth the list price of $500 a night and is too far from the town center for my taste. I was glad we stayed once, but won't stay again.

Fortunately, I spent a lot of time learning to snowboard. I went to two ski areas; Lake Louise and Norquay. Lake Louise was a great spot. I took a lot of lessons there and found by day five I could actually make it down the learning hill turning on both my heel and toe edge of the board. Quite exciting! Let me just say, private lessons are worth their weight in gold! I wish I had taken one on day two instead of day five. Oh..the progress I could have made. My magic instructor, Kerri, had me linking turns in the first lesson and working the hill in "wicked" fashion on the second lesson. I even had a scary moment where I got a little air by riding over another instructor's snowboard on the hill. Oops! Luckily, all ended well. I landed my small jump and received cheers from those observing.

Banff was a good trip. There are quite a few ski areas under an hour away and there was plenty of snow. However, Whistler is still my favorite. Now I can't wait to go back to Whistler and board!

Smell the Roses

Today is a Monday and I decided to take the day off. It is so wonderful to spend the day knowing I can do absolutely anything my heart desires, even if it's sit in my favorite t-shirt with my cat eating potato chips and blogging. So I started thinking about the saying "Take time to stop and smell the roses". I always interpretted that phrase to mean take an extraordinary vacation. But now I think it's about the little moments. Taking the time to appreciate the small things in life and the living by the classic motto "Be Present". All phrases are good life lessons, especially for me. I'm the first person to get tunnel vision and work until the late hours. It's not good and not happening today. Today is a full day to do nothing but "be present" as the rest of the city runs the rat race. Don't worry rat race fans, I'll be back tomorrow. : )

Wakeboarding and Faceplanting

We have a boat on Lake Grapevine that we share with my brother and his family. Since the hubbie and I love the water, we are on the boat every weekend. My latest adventure is to learn to wakeboard. It's trendy, looks like more fun in rough water than skiing, and I'm hoping it will help me snowboard in the future. My 7-year-old nephew has mastered this sport and is already jumping two feet in the air. So...I assume I can figure it out.

I was able to get out of the water last year, but usually fell the second my body felt more air than water. This year I seem to be on the same track with a far worse effect...the faceplant. Ugh. Misery. After getting out of the water, I seem to catch the edge of the board in the water causing my body to eject from the board and land flat on the water. Although it tends to knock the wind out of me and cause mysterious muscle strains, I'm not terribly injured. So next weekend I will try again and hopefully find a small amount of success with each try. Who knows..... by the end of the summer I could be tackling the two foot jump. For now, I'll settle for falling gracefully.

The Anniversary View

Out of many things in my life, including numerous cars and jobs, the hubbie is the one thing that has stuck through it all. On Saturday June 10th, we celebrated our 6th anniversary. It was the first anniversary we celebrated in Dallas, so we created a day full of things we don't normally do. We started with a doggie day benefit for Operation Kindness (a no-kill shelter). Then we saw the movie Cars, which was very fun despite the tot birthday party behind us at the theater. To end the day, we had a great dinner at Antares. Yes....all the Dallas-ites know it as "the restaurant in the Reunion Tower Ball". Out of all the things we did that day, the food at Antares was the most disappointing. My fish was not cooked well and tasted bland. The hubbie's steak left much to be desired. However, the view from Antares was magical and made the night. In the future, hit Antares for drinks in the bar since it rotates just like the restaurant. Then head to one of the many great dinner spots near downtown for a fantastic meal.

Ahh....Napa

My friend CN and I have a little tradition going. For our birthdays, the birthday girl gets to pick an activity.....any activity. The other person must participate and love every minute of it. It's been my opportunity to sneek in a game of bowling (CN hates bowling!), go roller skating, etc. This last weekend was CN's birthday weekend and she chose a girl's only weekend to Napa. I had never been and was only too exicted to accept. Who wouldn't love a weekend of wine with a great friend? Our day to tour wineries was Saturday. We made it to five and were still standing at the end of the day. We were responsible and had Driver Don take us tasting (which I would highly recommend). Schramsburg was our best tour. We went through their aging cave which was stacked with bottles. Then we had four wonderful glasses of sparkling wine. Our best tasting was at PlumpJack. It's a smaller place with a fun atmosphere. They produce a fantastic syrah. Needless to say......CN and I both purchased. What a fantastic weekend!! Great food, great wine, a great friend, and great stories! Thanks CN for a fun weekend. Hope your birthday was the best.

Don't Forget the Dream Cafe

On Saturday night, the hubbie and I were looking for a dinner spot. I was craving breakfast food and the usual late night suspects (IHOP, etc) were not appealing. We drove by the Dream Cafe in Addison (http://www.thedreamcafe.com/) and found not only were they open until 9pm, they served their full menu, including breakfast items! Dream Cafe has a great atmosphere and I must admit, I like it better at night. It's quieter and feels very cozy. It's one of the rare places you could spend a few hours talking with your best friend over coffee (or tea in my case). So when you need a cozy place, don't forget to stop by the Dream Cafe.

Treat Fix at Sheridan's

Tonight I needed ice cream....not the 'want' category, but the 'need' category. So the hubbie and I went to a new place we're enjoying called Sheridan's located at Campbell and Preston in north Dallas. You can check them out: http://www.sheridansfrozencustard.com/.

My current favorite is the Mount Rush S'More concrete. Yummy! What can be wrong with vanilla custard, hot fudge, marshmallow crème, and Graham crackers all blended up? Yeah...I don't know either. It's sinfully fantastic!

Thank Goodness for Pink

Although I am a woman, I never thought I would be grateful for Pink. The Pink I'm talking about is the artist...definitely not the color. (I'm not much of a pink-the-color fan) Her latest album is appropriately titled "I'm Not Dead"....very fitting for an artist who hasn't release material in three years. I must confess. I've generally liked Pink's music, but I wouldn't say I was a groupie. I didn't buy other albums and the party tunes lost their luster after a few rounds of play on the radio. However, Pink's latest album is a whole new story. I purchased the entire album on iTunes after hearing "Stupid Girl" on the radio and listening to 30 seconds of "Long Way to Happy". I must say it's the best album purchase I've made in a long time. The songs have a wonderful beat and are quite catchy, but the best thing about the album is the lyrics. Pink writes most of her own music and her message is very clear. Did you hear "Stupid Girl"? She's not beating around the bush....she's putting it all out there. Where are all the smart women these days?? It's sad to me that women choose to hide behind ignorance in exchange for fame. I have to appreciate a woman who has the courage to say what she believes in. She asks the tough questions that I've wanted to ask Mr. Bush in "Dear Mr. President". She gives all us independent women a song to tell our men to back off (with love) in "Leave Me Alone". She even finds a smart way to discuss the annoyances we ladies experience at the clubs in "U + Ur Hand". In short....take a spin through Pink's latest album. It's refreshingly honest!