Archive for the 'Weekend Wrap-Up' Category

June 7, 2010 | Family Portrait,Life in General,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up

CLICK PICTURES FOR FULL-SIZE VIEW

Saturday was my birthday and we spent THE WHOLE DAY at Wet’n'Wild water park.

From 10am to 6pm.

That’s me in my little $161 tankini. LOL.

I’d wanted to go there last year when it first opened, but never got a chance to. Babendude’s company had done some of the lighting for it and ever since he’d told me it was coming, I’d wanted to go. It used to be called WaterWorld. And it was weak. Real weak. When we went last year, we’d gotten there about 4-430. By 6pm, we were done. The rides were so weak.

Needless to say, I’m glad this place got an overhaul. The rides were frickin’ awesome, even though I went on all of them only once. The later in the day it got, the longer the lines. Around 4-something, I was done. Just hung out in the cabana with my niece while everyone else was still in the wave pool or on rides. It was definitely worth the rental fee.

It wasn’t our intention to stay the whole time, but some guests showed up late, the lines were getting crazy long for the rides…it just happened that way. I’d wanted to get there when it opened so that we could rent a cabana. It had two lounge chairs, two regular chairs, a small table, a ceiling fan, satellite T.V. and food service. Awesome.

It was just a small group of us: me, Babendude, my niece, Crouch, Joe, J.T., and my co-worker Lisa and her husband and daughter. We all just had so much fun. After going home to change, Babendude and I went to Kabuki for dinner. We were both so tired after that, I’m surprised we made it out of the house. LOL.

Birthday gifts:
$200 – Mom and Dad
$25 BN gift card – Friends
16GB black iPod (to replace the 6GB that’s close to full), Betty Boop flip-flops and $25 iTunes gift card – Babendude
Tons of birthday wishes and phone calls from family and friends

Best. Birthday. Ever. You can view the rest of the pics here.

Technorati Tags: Wet’n'Wild

June 1, 2010 | "Whoa whoa I gotta go...back to schoooool...again",3rd Semester,Financial Mgmt,Life in General,Mentors,Movie Queue,Prescott College,Summer 2010,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day holiday. 3-day weekends always seem to be so short. And is it just me or does TV suck on week-day holidays? There was nothing good on last night.

Saturday – My intention was to go to Phoenix Comic-Con. John Shneider (I’m a DUKES OF HAZZARD fan) and James Marsters (Spike from BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER)—among other celebs—made an appearance and I’d wanted to get my picture taken with them. But I didn’t want to wait nearly all day to do it. I guess I could’ve gone and just gotten pictures of them. But I didn’t want to deal with paying for parking. Or parking and walking. Because, really, it’s starting to get hotter than a witch’s tittie here, and if I had gotten my pic taken with them, I would’ve been all sweaty and stinky. From the parking and walking, that is. So I skipped it, went to eat at our Usual Place, then went shopping while Babendude hung out with his BF.

I ended up buying a bathing suit.

For $161.

That’s what I get for shopping in Scottsdale. I’d gone to Scottsdale Fashion Square to hit up a particular store: Roxy. But they didn’t have the kind of bathing suits I was looking for: tankinis. I ended up going to Everything But Water and paying $95 for the top and $66 for the little skirted bottom. I, then, of course, end up at Old Navy later (I’m really diggin’ their 2 for $5 flip flops. I’ve not a nice little rainbow of colors. Got a cute sundress, too) and notice their tankinis.

For $12. I think the bottoms were, like $16.50. Or something like that.

I know what you’re saying. “You should’ve waited. DOOFUS!” I know, I know. Needless to say, I’m having buyer’s remorse. Babendude and I went to the same mall yesterday and I should’ve returned it. The tags were cut off, but I still had the receipt.

Anyhoo, to soothe the guilt, I went to see SEX AND THE CITY 2.

Liked the outfits. Almost made me wish I was fashion conscious.

Loved Abudabi. Fabulously beautiful country, but would never want to visit for fear of being kidnapped into a harem or something.

Didn’t like Liza Minelli singing “Single Ladies.” Really could’ve done without hearing/seeing that. Bad enough I get tired of hearing Beyonce sing it, but I really wanted to fast forward this part of the film.

And SJP really isn’t attractive. At all. She’s got man hands. Just sayin’.

Later that night, I watched the saddest. Movie. Ever. Well, maybe not ever, but it was close: MY SISTER’S KEEPER. It’s based off a YA novel by Jodi Piccoult and Lordy, it was a tearjerker. There was nothing happy about this movie. It put you in a constant state of sadness and pissiness (there were a couple of times I wanted to slap Cameron Diaz upside the head). Pass the Kleenex, please.

Sunday – Ate breakfast at the Usual Place, saw PRINCE OF PERSIA (And wow, a buffed-out Jake Gyllenhaal. Wow), bought some Capri pants for work at TJ Maxx, had some ice cream at Baskin Robbins. We used to have one of those near our house and it closed down and was replaced with Thrifty ice cream! *nastyassgenericicecream*. Oh, the horror!

Monday – Breakfast at our Usual Place. I know! Three days in a row. When Ron, the owner, saw us, he laughed and shook his head. He came over and said to me, “Don’t you cook?” “Yes, but we like your breakfast better,” I told him. LOL. Which is why we’re there every weekend. LOL. We walked around the mall and Babendude bought me a couple of pairs of sandals at Shiekh. Buy one get one free. And they gave us the more expensive ones for free. Sweet!

I also got a little head start on homework. The summer session starts in two days and I’ve already got an assignment due on Friday. Ugh! I just ordered books for my Financial Mgmt course last week. LOL. Yeah. My name is Celise, but you can call me Mrs. Procrastination. *sigh* I wasn’t sure if one of the books was going to arrive before the assignment was due, but thank God my mentor, Chantal, was able to loan it to me. I’m used to buying books at BN. I forgot that when you order books on Amazon, you’re sometimes at the mercy of others. *double sigh*.

That’s it for me. How was your weekend? I’m looking forward to the short work week and celebrating my birthday at the water park this weekend (hence the bathing suit purchase). Whoo-hoo! Pics will be posted.

Technorati Tags: Phoenix Comic-Con., John Shneider, DUKES OF HAZZARD, James Marsters, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, Scottsdale Fashion Square, Roxy, Everything But Water, Old Navy, SEX AND THE CITY 2., Abudabi, Liza Minelli, Single Ladies, Beyonce, MY SISTER’S KEEPER, Jodi Piccoult, Cameron Diaz, PRINCE OF PERSIA, Jake Gyllenhaal, TJ Maxx, Baskin Robbins, Shiekh, Amazon

May 25, 2010 | Family Portrait,Life in General,Weekend Wrap-Up

Mr. Blue Eyes is my niece’s boyfriend. He’s a marine currently based out at Camp Pendleton. Today, he left for Virginia to start his job training (bulk fuel). Over the weekend, Babendude and I drove my niece down to San Diego to see him before he left.

Don’t they make the cutest couple? Our time with him was much too short. We left at 430am. We got to the base about noon. He was supposed to be released between 11am-1pm.

He didn’t get out of there until 330pm.

He told us that they were supposed to be released at 8am, but, well, it’s the military. They’re gonna make you work for your liberty (aka free time). We stayed at a hotel in Oceanside (he couldn’t go too far) and went to the nearby beach. We walked the pier and it was a beautiful sight.

It was a little bit cooler than Phx, in the early 60′s, but we still had a good time.

We had dinner Saturday night, had breakfast the next morning, then went to the mall to kill time.

We had to have Mr. Blue Eyes back to base by 330pm.

That’s Mr. Blue Eyes (on the left) with bunkmate, Starch. They don’t know each other’s first names. They all go by last names here.

We didn’t realize how big the base was until we went through one gate…and then had to pick him up all the way on the other side. It took us at least 20 mins to get to Area 52, where we had to pick him up. It’s ca-ra-zy how big that base is.

“I wonder if anyone has gotten lost out here. And never been found,” I say, as we drive to to the other side. LOL. Seriously. It felt like we were on another highway, driving through the mountains.

And then we passed an airfield filled with helicopters.

Mr. Blue Eyes later told us that if we had stopped to take a picture of that airfield, we would’ve quickly find ourselves surrounded by MP. Good thing we didn’t stop. Seeing as how my Dad is former military, you’ve seen one helicopter, you’ve seen them all. LOL.

Mr. Blue Eyes was very grateful–and thankful (can’t tell you how many times he thanked us. Profusely)–that we came down with my niece. He so needed to be with her, to see her, before he left. She may be 20 yrs old, but I still didn’t feel comfortable letting her drive down there by herself. Besides, it was a great, spontaneous road trip for me and Babendude.

We got a chance to get to know Mr. Blue Eyes better and find out a little bit more about the military life and what it’s like to live on base. Rules, rules, and more rules. LOL. I’m not surprised, though. Before we knew it, it was time for him to get ‘on line’. He’ll be coming home for good around the second week of July, but for the two of them, it’ll seem like another 3 months (boot camp was a killer).

My niece found a great guy, though. I highly approve of him. I liked him before he enlisted, but this experience has definitely changed him. In a good way. He stands straighter and is more confident and I thank God his personality didn’t get stripped in the process. Don’t worry guys. It’ll be over soon.

May 17, 2010 | Life in General,Movie Queue,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday – Babendude hung out with his BF, so I had a little “me” time and went to see LETTERS TO JULIET. Cute movie. And just like UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN, this movie slapped me upside the head with the reminder that I really, really, really, need to visit Italy. And that I need to check out the house of Juliet. I loved the concept of the wall and Juliet’s “secretaries.” Also went to Charlotte Russe and picked up a cute little floral sundress. In which the strap promptly broke when I wore it the next day. Nice.

Saturday – Babendude and I went to breakfast at our usual place, then went to a car show my Dad’s classic car club was hosting. He built a ’33 Ford from the ground up and shows it whenever he gets a chance.

It’s in their will and I get dibs. Don’t worry Dad, Babendude and I shall continue to show it after you’re gone. LOL. There were over a hundred cars on display, two of which were Mustangs billed as “Bumblebee” (TRANSFORMERS). They were pretty cool, actually. The one I liked best had seat belts like the kind you find in a race car and the Autobot (or whatever the name is for the good guys) symbol etched in the seats. That night was date night: dinner at Macaroni Grill followed by ROBIN HOOD with the free tickets we got from the movie theater mishap the previous weekend. Russell Crowe was okay. He was more spectacular in GLADIATOR. But Cate Blanchette…she was made for period pieces. I think she does them a lot and they suit her. I can’t really see her doing contemporary films (or maybe she has). Maybe as a ghostly spirit or something. She’s got the skin for it. And I mean that as the highest form of compliment. She’s got great skin.

Sunday – We saw the morning showing of GLEE Live.

So. Much. Fun. And the opening act? LXD aka the League of Xtraordinary Dancers. Phenomonally. Awesome. The dancers really are extraordinary. Makes you wonder how big the League really is because before each routine, there was a like video “lead-in” skit: it would give you the name of the dancers and their member number. From what I could tell, there are over 400 members. One of the dancers looked like Channing Tatum. LOL. The show was just fantastic. The whole cast was there except for Mr. Shue, the teacher. They’re only touring 4 cities, so if you’re a big fan of the show—and can get tickets—DO IT. If you’re worried that they might be lip-synching, don’t. They sound just like they do on the T.V. show and during the course of the performance, you’ll be able to tell that they’re not. At the beginning of the show, “Cheerios” passed out Barf Bags…courtesy of Sue Sylvester. LOL And I now have a shirt claiming that “i’m a gleek.”

Fun times. Really looking forward to this weekend, too. Will talk about that next week.

Technorati Tags: LETTERS TO JULIET, UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN, Charlotte Russe, TRANSFORMERS, Macaroni Grill, ROBIN HOOD, Russell Crowe, GLADIATOR, Cate Blanchette, GLEE Live, League of Xtraordinary Dancers, Channing Tatum

May 10, 2010 | Life in General,Movie Queue,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday – date night for Babendude and I. We went to eat at Kabuki. I tried a new fish: cod. It had the consistency of a scallop. It was okay, but I doubt I’ll eat it again. However, their peach iced tea was really good. It was sweet enough that I didn’t have to put any sugar in it.

Saturday – Got my hair done, bought a wedding gift and then headed to watch a couple of DSG members get married. We got there a little bit late. Just as the bridesmaids were walking down the aisle. Babendude’s all “What the French, toast? When do weddings ever start on time?” Um, that one did. LOL. And ours did, too, now that I think about it. And just like our ceremony, theirs was outside. Unlike ours, their vows were shorter, so it ended a lot quicker. LOL. The food was good, the cake delish and the tunes were taken care of by other DSG members, One Kitty Gone. Good times. Here’s the happy couple, Mark and Becky.

Sunday – Mother’s Day! We went out to breakfast with my parents. It’s been a 5 yr tradition that we’ve shared with longtime family friends. Unfortunately, the mother had just gotten out of the hospital and wasn’t strong enough yet to join us. They were missed, but she’s recovering nicely. After that, we went to see IRON MAN 2. An hr into the movie, the film melted. MELTED, people. It was the weirdest thing. LOL. You see stuff like that happen in the movies and yet it apparently happens in real life, too. They fixed the film, but then ended up having projector problems. They gave us free movie passes and told us to go to another showing. Thank goodness it was playing every hr on the hr. So, we basically spent 3 hrs at the movie theater today. Good times.

I’m really looking forward to the upcoming weekend: Dad’s ’33 Ford is being displayed in a car show on Saturday and we got tickets to the Sunday morning GLEE concert. Woot!

Technorati Tags: IRON MAN 2, GLEE