#65 - Recession 101

There are a few billboards out in the desert (near Palm Springs) that have Recesssion 101 ads (http://www.oaaa.org/recession101.aspx) I find them interesting, here's what they say -

Recession 101: Experience and talent are recession proof.

Recession 101: This will end long before those who caused it are paroled.

Recession 101: Interesting fact about recessions...they end.

Recession 101: Bill Gates started Microsoft in a recession.

I like these because I find them uplifting. Some would argue that we are even in a recession, others would say once the word "recession" was uttered we were already on the road to recovery. Regardless, it's food for thought.

#64 - FrEeBiE!

So, a lot of blogs give away items (I'm assuming it's so they can track their followers??) and I usually don't have anything to give away but today I do - it's 2 pairs of skidnees, courtesy of Soni (thanks!!), and they are going to Brynn - my "only" blog follower! Brynn, your girls are going to LOVE these in pink & purple "have a heart" style. They are fashionable and functional - for the arms or legs. Let me know what you think once you get them, they're getting mailed out to you today!

Sidenote: I am a diehard fan of The Housewives (New Jersey/New York/Atlanta/Orange County - love them all equally) and Bethany of THNJ recently had a baby girl and named her Bryn. :)

#63 - The Albrights

Sunday afternoon, I was invited up to Sierra Madre for brunch with the Albrights! Soni (formerly Culver) is my sorority sister from UND and we hadn't seen each other in 8 years. Since then, she's gotten married, lived all over and started a family - here's her hubby, Matt, and (almost 4 y/o) daughter big S:

V is the youngest at 6 mo. old, super smiley (wish I would have caught one of those smiles on camera!). V lovin' his mama in the beautiful outdoor weather we enjoyed in their back yard shaded by beautiful large trees:

Here's little S right after a nap, still found a smile for the camera:

And a picture of Soni, me and big S. Those are skidnees that big S is wearing on her arms and legs, a signature item from Soni's company collection - Stringbean Company (http://www.stringbeancompany.com/):

Was great to see Soni and meet her family! Brunch was delicious, too - quiche w/ carrots, zucchini and feta cheese, salad, breakfast potatoes and for desert was cake with aprums (an apricot/plumb hybrid). MMM!

#62 - Salt = Flavor, Lesson Learned

I was at Mother's Market yesterday afternoon and picked up some cans of soup because I often get "trapped" at my desk during the day and my last minute food choices are never good. I found lots of great soups chock full of fiber, barely any fat or sodium - SCORE!
Beware this label (see below, correlating nutritional info. above) - it's the lunch I had today and it literally tasted like nothing although I was able to get it a little "spicy" with pepper. The flavor was lumpy water. How could something that smells good have zero taste? It's a mystery.

#61 - This Week

SUNDAY - met up with Tony & Marissa (aka "The Zwetows") for dinner at this neighborhood restaurant in Tustin, Roma D' Italia. You can't order anything bad off that menu, DELISH!
MONDAY - Work, Lui cooked chilaquiles (YUM!) for dinner, watched Housewives of New Jersey.

TUESDAY - Work, ate leftovers for dinner, went to bed early (right at 9PM).

WEDNESDAY - Work, dinner with The Zwetos at Lazy Dog (another good food night).

THURSDAY - 2nd attempt at recycling resulted in me handing over empty bottles & cans to a thankful lady already in the process of recycling her own collection, I'm feeling good about it. Worked late in Palm Desert (the high was 98 degrees - my shoulders got a little burned from being out in the sun no more than 10 min. all together), got home around 8:30PM and watched Housewives of New York on DVR, went to bed.

FRIDAY/WEEKEND - Find myself here, back at work....it's a running theme! ;) Working at a model grand opening in Victorville tomorrow. Sunday I'm meeting up with a sorority sister from ND (and her hubby & 3 kids) who now lives in CA.

#60 - I am NOT a tree hugger

That being said, I have been following a couple of blogs that focus on buying American and lessening our carbon footprints. After hearing about reduce/reuse/recycle for years, I decided to take a step towards making myself more conscious and in turn making decisions in favor of these green concepts.

One example is that I have made it a practice of putting glass bottles to the side of the dumpster when I throw out my trash. I often see people going through the trash, not only at my community but trash cans in public areas as well. They bundle their recyclable collections into big bags and somehow attach them to their bicycles or fit them into the back of their small pick-up trucks. Even though I know they are just doing it for the $, it makes me happy to know that the items they turn in are being recycled.

A couple of weeks ago I decided I was going to try the user friendly recycling facility at my neighborhood Albertsons (you bring your collection to a big, green structure in the parking lot and push through your bottles and cans one at a time - I'm guess after that they print you out a receipt that you take into the store to collect your $??). So this morning I left for work extra early. I got into my car and it smelled like cigar - I put the empty bottles in my car last night and Lui must have tossed one of his cigar butts in a beer bottle, ick. I drove to the Albertsons around the corner, pull up my car and unload my collection - approx. $5 worth, figured that would be "worth" my time and effort. A couple and a man were both ahead of me and engaged in conversation with one another. They told me they'd soon be done but as I looked at their collection (imagining all the time and effort they put into getting those items) and the dirty clothes they were wearing I said, "If you want to turn in my bottles you can have them." The couple eagerly took them from me and the guy said, "Thanks for the prayer!" as I walked back to my car.

I'm not the type to hand out $5 to a pan handler on the side of the street but this morning I felt really good about how my attempt at recycling-in-person turned out. Five dollars for me is a fast food lunch during the day but it was really appreciated by the couple I ran into this morning and that made me feel good. And through the recycling I lessened my carbon footprint. It was a win-win!

#59 - The Nestoss Family

Erik Nestoss, who my mom babysat in Bismarck, now lives in Temecula with his wife and daughter AND they bought a D.R. Horton home! They bought before they knew I worked there so it was all coincidence (I wasn't able to sell them on the value or home warranty!).

On Saturday we had a model grand opening for 4 new model homes in Erik's master plan community so he and his wife, Sarah, and their 1 year old daughter, Gwen, came by for lunch and a nice visit - hope to see them again soon!

#58 - Happy Mother's Day!

To all my friends who are mothers and to my mom - Happy Mother's Day! I see pics of your kids (how they're growing so fast and all of the places you take them) and can't fathom all that you get done in a day from getting the kids ready in the morning until they go to bed at night - you are amazing women!!

#57 - Padres Game & Adams' SD Condo

Jim & April Adams (w/ NewHomesDirectory.com) use to have a suite but now have these fabulous seats to 20 home games this season - 3 rows back from home plate!
These seats come with all you can eat and drink, whatever you like at no additional cost!! Here is the candy buffet but you could also order right from your seat...and we did - garlic fries, beer, pizza, beer, peanuts, beer...you get the idea.

Then, they offered us (which we quickly accepted) to stay at their 2 bed/2 bath condo inside Petco Park! They opted for the city view rather than the stadium which was really nice (blow up this pic to see a plane in the distance - San Diego airport is near by and it looks like the airplanes are going to fly right into the buildings; creepy).

Here's a shot of the San Diego skyline from their master bedroom. Phenomenal condo, great weekend! Oh, and the fridge in their condo is stocked "just like on MTV Cribs" per Lui. :)