April House Update.
OMG. They’re building our house so fast that we’re within 60 days of closing now. We thought the house would be finished in early July but now it’s looking like mid June. WTF.
The exterior is scratch coated (next steps are the brown coat and finish coat) and the drywall and windows are installed inside. We actually did a pre-drywall tour a few weeks ago and got the chance to walk around. The progress amazes me.
This week’s 5 Happy Things include…
1. Raiding a friend’s bookcase
I love to read but buying books adds up. What can I say? I’m cheap. And these days it takes me forever to finish a regular length book. So having friends who have their own personal libraries is awesome. I don’t need to worry about overdue library fees. Hee.
2. Saturday trip to Disneyland with my cousin and a celebrity sighting!
My cousin came to visit a few weekends ago so we could go to Disneyland (yes, again :P). We used to go every summer together when we were growing up so it brought back lots of silly memories. Good times.
And we saw Jason Lee! For a split second. No picture though. We were in line for Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters when we noticed a group of 6 boarding the ride with empty cars in front and behind them. I thought that was odd. Then I noticed they had their own Disney cast member with them (you can tell because they wear a plaid outfit) so I knew right away there was a celebrity in the group. Then I spotted him! So cool. Celebrities. They’re just like us. They go to Disneyland too!
3. Instant streaming on Netflix
I can be a little impatient (fine, A LOT) so being able to watch movies or TV shows instantly is the BEST. This is how Rob and I caught up with Numb3rs and Leverage. Once the current TV season is over, we also plan to marathon Dexter. And possibly The Tudors too. Ok, that last one’s just for me because I love JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS.
4. Lemon scents
I love love LOVE (almost) anything lemon scented and lemon flavored (mmm, lemon skittles and starbursts). So I get excited when summertime rolls around and lemon scents find their way back into stores. The Body Shop has their new Sweet Lemon collection and Bath and Body Works recently released Lemon Vanilla. Mmmm. I have to check these out.
5. Getting our tax refund
YAYAYAY. It’s going straight to our savings to use when we have to buy a refrigerator, washer/dryer, and all that other good stuff for the house. 😀
Now I just have to get through Wednesday and then I’m off for 5 days! WOOT.
A beginning and an end…
Glee
YAY, it’s back! LOVE this show. But like my friend Sarah, I have to admit that I enjoy this show for the novelty of it. I love the musical numbers, get a kick out of the whiplash-inducing storylines (Rachel/Puck, Rachel/Finn, and now Rachel/Jesse), and adore the snappy dialogue (“Did you know dolphins are just gay sharks?” – oh, Brittany) — but I’m not totally invested in any of the characters. I love them, sure — how can you not love Rachel’s self-absorbed ambition or Puck’s cockiness? I just don’t feel connected or protective of them the way I do with other characters.
As far as the episode…
— Is it just me or did (almost) everything that happened in Sectionals get bumped back to “normal?” Sue and Emma are back teaching (Sue I understand but what happened with Emma?), Finn and Rachel aren’t dating, and Brittany and Santana are scheming with Sue again. Like I said earlier, storyline whiplash. But for some reason, this kind of back and forth doesn’t bother me with this show.
— I like Rachel/Finn (though not enough to officially ship them) but I wanted to knock some sense into both of them! I get the feeling that Rachel only likes the idea of Finn (he’s popular, cute, sings). She doesn’t actually know him. I mean, I know it’s in her personality to be overly enthusiastic about things but Finn *just* found out his best friend and ex-girlfriend slept around behind his back. Cut him a little slack! Not that Finn is any better going out with Brittany and Santana. OMG, these two.
— I’m so torn about Will. I want to like him but he makes the absolute worst choices. Like… MAKING OUT WITH SHELBY WHEN HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND.
— I’ve never seen or heard Jonathan Groff in anything before and I thought he was great! It’s nice to finally have Lea Michele sing with someone who’s actually her vocal equal (sorry Cory). Too bad his scheming was totally projected in that one look he shared with Idina Menzel’s character. This show is so predictable.
— Loved seeing more Mike Chang! Maybe they’ll actually develop his character a little bit this season? If not, I’d be happy with more dancing. 😀
Can’t wait for next week’s Madonna episode!
Ugly Betty
I haven’t watched the last 2 seasons of Ugly Betty (it got a little too over the top for me) but I loved it once upon a time so I wanted to see how it all ended. There were many storylines that I didn’t understand (Amanda and her father, Wilhelmina having a boyfriend in jail, etc) but whatever, I still enjoyed seeing the characters get their happy endings. And yes, I totally cried at the end when Betty says goodbye to her family before leaving for London. Waahhhh.
Back when I watched the show, I DID NOT even think of Betty and Daniel as anything other than friends but after all the hints of Daniel’s feelings in this episode, I totally got on board that ship. When Daniel signs Betty’s contract release form, his quiet sadness about her leaving seriously killed me. I totally forgot how great Eric Mabius is.
And their final scene! It worked for me as an acknowledgment of the possibility of a future relationship. Their flirty banter, awkward hug, and Betty looking back as Daniel watches her walk away… well, that was all just icing on the cake.
Finally, loved the final title card. Just… BETTY. Perfect.
Saturday, August 15.
Today we headed to Uluru (aka Ayers Rock) in Central Australia. They’re a half hour behind the East Coast — isn’t that a random time difference?
As we took off, we could see Cairns and the Green Island below.
Beautiful sight.
First glimpse of Uluru from the plane!
The Ayers Rock Airport is TINY. I think Qantas is the only airline that flies to/from Uluru. It made everything SO easy, though. Our bags came out quickly and the transfer bus was already waiting to take all the passengers to the resort. Options are limited here — one company, Voyages, owns the entire resort and there’s only a handful of hotel options to fit various budgets. This means that prices are SKY HIGH even at the “budget” accommodations because there’s no other choices.
We stayed at the Lost Camel Hotel which is (supposedly) one of the mid-range hotels but it was still $400+ per night. For a tiny room. !!! And that’s actually a winter rate because we were there during the off season. Can you imagine the summer rates?!
After we checked in, it was about 3pm and we were hungry. We decided to check out the town centre and look for food. Sadly, the restaurants and deli were already closed so we went to the market and picked up bottled water (it’s the desert so it’s HOT and dry), snacks, and cup of noodles for lunch. LOL.
They don’t have paper or plastic bags at the market — instead they have boxes! Like Costco.
Eating our lunch. The room was so small there was no seating area with a table. We had to use the counter above the bed. Heh.
Our first activity during our stay here was the Sounds of Silence Dinner. Reviews on various travel forums are pretty mixed (probably because it’s not particularly inexpensive) but we had a GREAT time. Definitely a highlight of our trip.
We were picked up and taken to a sunset viewing area with a fantastic view of both Uluru and Kata Tjuta.
We had drinks and appetizers as we listened to live didgeridoo music and waited for the sun to set.
After sunset, we walked down a trail to the dinner site. Seating was assigned as we arrived and we were placed with 3 other young couples from the US (NY), Britain, and Italy. We were all at various stages of our vacations so we got the chance to talk about and give each other advice on our travels so far. By the time everyone was seated, it was PITCH BLACK. The only light came from the candles on our tables and the torches surrounding the site. Eating dinner would be interesting!
Dinner was buffet style and it was really tasty. There were some exotic dishes like crocodile (tastes like chicken) and kangaroo filets (tastes like beef — I really enjoyed it) as well as standard fare like chicken, lamb, and barramundi. I tried to take pictures but they didn’t come out at all because it was so dark.
So you can see just how dark it was that night, here’s a pic of the pathway leading up the hill to the bathrooms…
I made Rob accompany me because there was NO WAY I was going up there by myself. LOL.
Following dessert (brownies! bread pudding! wattleseed crumble!), all the lights were turned off and we were treated to a tour of the night sky by a startalker. OMG. I have NEVER seen the sky so clear and beautiful. I seriously had no idea there were so many stars in the sky! The startalker pointed out the Milky Way, Jupiter!!!, and many constellations (Southern Cross, Libra, Scorpio). This was an INCREDIBLE experience and I’m glad we didn’t miss it.
More pictures on the Flickr:
Uluru, Day 1
Up next: Uluru, Day 2!
Of course just a few weeks after I rant about 24, the show decides to hit me with 3 solid weeks of episodes (albeit unbelievably sad ones).
DAMN. The internet feed being on a tape delay was a good twist. CTU was too late to save President Hassan. And the terrorists succeeded.
AND THEN.
Renee’s death (after having sex with Jack!). I totally did NOT see that coming. It was unnecessary! And sad. I’m torn about what this means for Jack’s story. Because seriously? Instead of a happy ending, he’s going to be out for revenge. Again. Just like he was many seasons ago after Teri’s death at the end of season 1 (and even in season 6 after Audrey’s captivity by the Chinese). The only difference is that Teri was killed because of Jack. Renee was killed because of what she potentially knew. Argh to the recycling of storylines!
Oh, well. At least Hassan and Renee’s deaths have lifted the show out of the excruciatingly painful funk it was in the first half of the season.
Well played, 24. Keep it up through the series finale!
When Rob and I move into our house, the walls are going to be white. We had the option of having the builder paint it for us before we move in but the additional cost was more than we wanted to pay and we could only choose one color. So yeah. That wasn’t going to work for us. Since we’re not too keen on white, we’ve decided that we’re going to paint the whole darn house ourselves. We decided to get some practice by painting an accent wall in our apartment. !!!
After some online research, we chose Benjamin Moore paint and a few weeks ago, we went to our local Ace Hardware to pick up paint chips in different shades of blue and gray. We taped the chips to our wall, made sure to consider the colors in various lighting situations (day versus night), and ended up choosing an airy pale blue called mystical blue (don’t you love the name?).
Prepping and priming the wall took the longest.
We had to clean off the wall and tape the edges.
I was in charge of cutting in around the edges and corners (omg, this takes for-freaking-ever) while Rob rolled the wall.
Priming made it a really bright white. Ugh, it looks so ugly. Thank goodness it’s just the primer.
After the primer dried, we started painting! And compared to the primer, the paint went on so smooth and so FAST! The wall is about 95% done in the above pic. The blue is really subtle in the daylight.
Here’s the finished wall at night! See how the blue becomes a different shade?
That ONE wall took us about 5 hours. Not to mention the 2 trips we had to take to Ace because we didn’t buy enough primer and paint the first time. YIKES. I can’t even imagine how long it’ll take for us to paint our entire house. The wall’s definitely not perfect, though. We got lazy and didn’t tape off the ceiling so the edge work at the top of the wall is rough (I couldn’t keep my hand steady!). And there are a couple of small spots that don’t have enough paint. Oh, well. Overall we’re happy with it! 🙂
When I was in high school, I succumbed to general teenage angst and was a total drama queen (ok, sometimes I still am). 🙂 Absolutely everything was A BIG DEAL and I made myself sad over nothing. *facepalm* My best friend Carmen used to cheer me up by giving me the daily calendar of 14,000 Things to Be Happy About each year. Waking up to this every day reminded me that there are always good things in life no matter what. While I no longer “need” these calendars, I try to keep the sentiment alive by making sure I acknowledge and appreciate “the little things” — you know, the things that make me smile, SQUEE, and flail about in happiness. And I want to start sharing my happy things here. I’ll keep it to 5, though, not 14,000. 😀 So this week I’m happy about…
1. 3- day weekends
Last Friday wasn’t originally a company holiday but we got the day off at the last minute. WOOT.
2. An unexpected trip to Vancouver
Rob and I have some United Airlines credit to use before the end of April so we figured we might as well go somewhere close by for a long weekend. Vancouver it is! We probably won’t have the extra money to go on vacations after we move so I’m excited about this quick trip.
3. Finding little-known artists on iTunes – Ryan Hiraoka!
When Rob and I were in Kaua’i for our mini-moon back in August ’08, we listened to the radio a lot in the rental car. The radio stations there played the same songs over and over again. Ok, I know most stations do this but seriously, it was about 10 times worse. Anyway, one song they kept playing was Ryan Hiraoka’s “Every Girl,” which I LOVED. When we got home, I looked for a download (legal!) everywhere but he was nowhere to be found. Even on iTunes. And sadly, I was too cheap to buy the full CD. Flash forward a year and a half and I randomly search for him on iTunes the other day and there he is! AWESOME. Here’s the song…
4. Discovering a new app
I wanted a new game for my iphone so I headed straight for the “top” app lists and found this AWESOME Skee-Ball app. Skee-Ball is my favorite midway game so this app is perfect for me. And it’s only $0.99, which is totally worth it.
5. Getting the Anthropologie catalog in the mail
Anthropologie is my FAVORITE store. If my entire wardrobe came from there, I would be so happy. It’s pretty ridiculous how obsessed I am.
So, what are YOUR happy things? Please share!
I totally abandoned my Australia trip report. But I’m trying to be better at finishing things that I’ve started so… here’s the next installment. 😀 Hehe.
Friday, August 14.
Today we explored the area of Cairns known as the Atherton Tablelands.
Since we didn’t rent a car, we went with Northern Experience Eco Tours and the owner, Brett, showed us the sights.
Our first stop was Lake Barrine where we were scheduled to have morning tea at the teahouse and a ferry cruise afterwards.
We opted for coffee and along with it we were given 3 scones each topped with raspberry jam and devonshire cream.Those scones were INCREDIBLE. SERIOUSLY. I’m drooling right now just thinking about them.
The ferry took us around the lake so we could see some of the surrounding rainforest — lots of umbrella trees and figs. We also saw ducks, turtles, an eel (creepy), and a brush turkey.
After the ferry cruise, we headed over to the famous curtain fig tree. This tree is amazing. Sadly, immediately after I took the above picture, Brett was going to take our picture in front of the tree and our camera battery DIED. I totally forgot to charge the battery the night before. %$#!@ Luckily, I had my iphone and our camcorder takes pics as well (although they’re pretty crappy).
We moved on to Milaa Milaa Falls where I managed to turn on our camera and take 1 picture before it shut down again. Grrr. Oh well. I tried. All the rest of the pictures from this day were taken with our camcorder so they’re really pixel-y. Anyway, the falls are beautiful — gorgeous flowers and plants all around it.
Lunch was at Mungalli Creek Dairy and it was probably one of the best tour meals I’ve ever had. It was the most amazing lasagna with a side salad, which was good because I hadn’t been eating many fresh veggies on the trip so far. We also got the chance to sample the yogurt and cheese that they make on site. Mmmm. My favorite was the havarti cheese. So good! The mango yogurt was also excellent. It’s greek style so it’s thick — really good and so flavorful.
The major stop of the day was Paronella Park. Jose Paronella was a Spanish man who made his money in Australia, brought his wife over from Spain, bought land, and built a “park” for his family. It includes a castle, cottage home, entertainment areas, gardens, and a lovely waterfall. The whole park is magical. We had about an hour to spend and we ended up following portions of the complimentary walking tour — but now, I wish we had walked around the park ourselves. While we got to see the castle, the grand staircase, the lower refreshment rooms, and Kauri Avenue, we still missed the turtle nesting area and botanical walk. It also would have been nice to sit in the picnic area by Mena Creek Falls and just enjoy the surrounding scenery.
Our last stop of the day was Boulders Lookout where there was a small swimming area at the end called Devil’s Pool. We had the opportunity to swim but only 2 of 8 of us did. I didn’t want to deal with changing and getting dry and all that stuff. We also had our afternoon tea so instead I stayed by the food and had coffee and chocolate biscuits. 😀
Back in downtown Cairns, we went out again to walk around on our last night. Rob wanted to check out the casino and play a little blackjack. After losing some more money (!), we went to the esplanade in search of food. Not wanting to go to a sit-down restaurant, we settled on self-service chinese food at the night market. It wasn’t very good. :/ All the fun is getting the plate and piling as much food on top of it as possible. Oh well. We grabbed some strawberry ice cream to make up for the average dinner.
When I was planning the trip, I thought we were in Far North Queensland for a long time (6 nights) but looking back, I would have loved to spend a few more days there. We could have spent more time on the beach lounging around or maybe even visited one of the islands located on the Great Barrier Reef itself. Next time. 🙂
More pictures on the Flickr:
Atherton Tablelands
Up next: Uluru!
Yesterday was April Fool’s but it was also Diesel’s third birthday!
We celebrated by taking a trip to Dogma and picking out doggie cupcakes and donuts for our favorite little guy.
Where did the time go?!? *sniff* He’s grown up way too fast.
House Update.
The first and second floors have been framed. And the roof trusses installed. I can’t believe the progress in just a few weeks…
