This was the view from our treehouse. We were surrounded by redwoods

Just a snapshot from Napa, our first day in the valley. Cakebread was our first stop. Why can't we retire and buy a vineyard and be surrounded by this lovely scenery everyday?

Weddings and Such

Wow, it's hard to believe that October is flying by and soon we'll be in the midst of the holiday season. We've had a super busy month at work, last night we had an event for the Chicago Film Festival, Sydney Portier was the honoree. It's rare that we work on a Saturday. Dylan and I are headed to California on Tuesday. We're going to Napa and San Francisco for the week. I've been trying to pack all day, but keep getting tired so have to take naps in between. It's really hard to pack highs in the 80's lows in the 40's. I feel like I have to bring my entire wardrobe. I haven't even picked out shoes to bring yet. Just had to turn off the Red Sox game, too sad, although they made a great push at the end to make it to game 7. Last weekend we were in Michigan for Jay and Laura's wedding. I had a really fun time with E's camera, it's fancy. Karen and I caught 2 real live wedding crashers on film. Have you ever crashed a wedding? I don't think I could. But this chick walked right up to the bar and ordered 3 drinks, took them to her friends and they all walked out. We stopped by a cider mill on the way home. Yummy.

Soxtober

Looks like it's going to be a great October....Let's Go Red Sox...clap clap clap clap clap....Let's go Red Sox...clap clap clap clap clap

Autumn

When I woke up this morning, there was a bit of cold in the air, I'm all jammied up in my sweats and fleece. In regards to our home, we are still waiting to be seen by an insurance adjuster, all of them seem to be busy with other people who have issues. However, we do have a roofer in place, a handyguy in place, and are getting one more quote for a mason guy. So, maybe by January we will be put back together again. Headed to Napa in a few weeks, looking forward to drinking wine and eating oysters. It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is around the corner. Last year we started a tradition of having a nontraditional dinner, this year we are having it at Emon's house. He wants to have turducken, do you know of this? It's a duck stuffed inside of a turkey. I told him I would try it, but I'm not happy about it. Maybe I'll just eat dessert, that's not traditional at all. I've already got a head start on my Christmas shopping, it's less than 3 months away. Wanna here me sing? Red Sox made the playoffs, I think it's great! I'm looking forward to the vice presidential debate on Thursday. Dylan and I were watching Lou Dobbs tonight and heard one of the funniest lines we've heard in awhile. They were speaking in terms of Sarah Palin and her abilty to see Russia from where she lives and how that is considered her foreign policy experience. One of the men Lou Dobbs was interviewing said "just because I can see the moon from my window, doesn't make me an astronaut". The best part was Lou Dobbs actually started clapping. Hilarious.

Emmy's

The Emmy's are on tonight. I wonder how they can give them out when television sucked so bad last year because of the strike. It's gonna be a good tv week, I can feel it.

Stalker Moment

I took Thursday and Friday off last week and had some roofing guys come out to give estimates. Luckily, I don't think we are going to need an entire new roof. The guy who came on Friday gave me the heebie jeebies. After he left I wanted to take a shower. When I went downstairs to answer the door, he gave me this starry eyed look and said "WOW!". So, I brought him upstairs to check out the damage and he just kept staring at me, not paying attention to anything I was showing him. We go to the roof, I tell him I will leave him alone to do whatever he needs to do (the other two roofers were here between 45 minutes to an hour), he was here for 15 minutes and told me I needed masonary work, asked me where I worked and what I did and said that he should order catering from our company. Thank God JPMorgan Chase has 5 buildings in the loop.....Good luck creep trying to find me....And then, no shit, 10 minutes after he left I got a call on my cell from him letting me know that if I needed anything at all, don't hesitate to call. Plain strange...I immediately put a "Do Not Answer" on that number, I don't think we will be doing business anytime soon, on the other hand, maybe he would have given us a good discount. ICK!

Weekend in Review

Friday- Absinthe party at Emon's

Saturday- Couch Potato- didn't leave the house, have a new obsession with www.etsy.com, I LOVE it

Sunday- Brunch at Magnolia Cafe with Sean, Mike, Kristen and Karen
Jewel for some vegetables and snacks
Nap

FYI: Finally, the rain has stopped

It's raining inside our home

Enough said!

New Orleans and Other Things

Well, Dylan and I were supposed to go to New Orleans this weekend to build houses for Habitat for Humanity with his company and 2 days ago, the trip was cancelled because of Hurricane Ike. I'm pretty bummed, we had dinner reservations tonight at NOLA and I was looking forward to eating a lot of oysters. So, it's absolutely pouring rain here today, not a very nice day to do much of anything. Last night we were at a friends house drinking Absinthe. I was a little nervous about liking it, but as it turned out, I really enjoyed the whole concept. It has a sexy appeal, reminds me of eating sushi. I've decided to have a holiday party this year..a pot luck cookie exchange on a Sunday afternoon.

Get this..

Remember how last weekend I went to my sister's house to help her organize. Well, on Monday I sent Oprah an email asking her to help as well....and guess what??? On Friday I got an email back from one of her associate producers who read my email and wanted further information. How cool is that? I always thought those emails went into outerspace never to be read. Stay tuned for further details. On current news, Dylan is hanging shelves in our bedroom at the moment so that I can put my crafty stuff on them and get to craftin'. I can't wait to start making a mess in there. It seems everywhere I turn around, women are having babies. Just this week, two of Dylan's co workers both gave birth to little boys. My old roommate Andrea just had a boy at the beginning of August and three of my coworkers are having babies. Something is in the water.

Rain Rain Go Away

It's been raining all day! Nonstop. We have a leaky ceiling and wall, I know this because first I stepped in a puddle and then I looked up. I guess when you own a home it's always something. The holiday completely threw me off this week, I kept thinking today was Wednesday.

Ants in My Pants

We just ate dinner and Dylan says he needs to "decompress". I have ants in my pants, and can't sit still. I had some strawberry jello at work today. The last time I had jello was at one of our BBQ's this summer when we broke out the jello shots (by the way, I highly suggest pineapple jello with rum, yum). Regardless, I made some blackberry koolaid 2 nights ago and just had a glass of it, and I've been on a fruit roll up kick lately. I go through phases when I can eat boxes of these at a time, but I only like one flavor. I buy them when I'm with my nieces and nephews, that way it doesn't look like I'm buying them for myself and it gives the impression that I'm a good aunt giving in to their every whim. Behind the scenes, I just don't give them any.

Back to School

I remember when I was little, following my birthday was always the first day of school. My mom would always take my sisters and I school shopping for new outfits and supplies. School has now been replaced by work, and even though I don't go shopping for clothes ( I do that year round), I always think of September as a new beginning. It's time to suck it up buttercup and buckle down. I can't wait for television to start up again, I love American Idol and Top Chef and in September Top Design will be in its second season...I find it so funny when Jonathan Adler says "See ya later, decorator". You should watch just for that alone. Plus now that Keifer Sutherland is out of jail, 24 will come out of the closet. I must admit, there are certain times it scares the crap out of me. And, I hope that Jim will propose to Pam this season on The Office...it reminds me of a Ross and Rachel thing. I've started to put my Christmas baking list together, you'll see it at the bottom, I'll be taking requests for about a month, if you have a favorite you want to add, tell me.

Birthdays and Holiday Weekends

I spent my birthday this year in Davenport, IA with my sister. The kids made the best pink cake (3 candles, 39 white polka dots), I guess they thought something or someone would catch on fire if they used that many candles. My nephew keeps calling me Samantha, who is actually my youngest sister...we have a "who's the best auntie war" going on in my family. My mother actually gets Samantha, who lives in Arizona, on the phone just to tell her this. I'll be damned that he'll remember my name before I leave on Monday morning.

My Birthday is Today...

It was the best one I ever had this year!

How petal came to be....and other nicknames

It's all Dylan's fault. Sometimes when I'm in a bad mood he calls me Puddle, and every now and then he calls me Pedal. My nieces and nephews think I'm a delicate flower. Most people just call me Michelle, except Emon and Shelley and Marc. I've had other nicknames in the past, here are just a few....Tidball, Tiddyballs, Titless Tidballs, Woody ( the laugh), Missy (that's a family one, it rhymes with Pissy and I don't like it), Supa Dupa Krupa (I like this one, but not the last name so much). And last not but least, Della, there's surely a Perry to follow....

I've never had a blog before...and now I do

I can't wait to get this thing rolling, I love August ( home to my most favorite holiday)