I guess I won't be joining the Hell's Angels anytime soon

Things to do before taking the Washington State Motorcycle Safety endorsement class:

1. Spend years riding your motorcycle without an endorsement and already have tons of real life experience

2. Already be completely versed in motorcycle class hand signals

3. Be able to totally pick up the first time long, confusing instructions on where to navigate through obstacle courses.

4. Be able to discern the difference between multiple, same color, close together bumps that all look the same, even after turning around several times in circles.

Granted, items 2-4 would have been a lot easier if I'd had those years of previous experience.

But since I didn't, I was a big FAIL! Actually, I never even got to test because at the end of the first day I screwed something up while coming to a stop and basically knocked my bike over. It was after four hours of hot, sweaty, grueling motorcycle handling, and I was beat. I lost my balance, didn't react fast enough, and wasn't strong enough to make right the heavy, suck-o bike I was stuck riding. Dropping your bike for any reason is an automatic FAIL!

I don't even want to ride a motorcycle, especially the stupid, heavy, hard-to-get-in-gear bike I had to ride. I just thought that if I was going to get a scooter, I might as well learn everything I could and learn all the safety issues.

I did learn a lot about safety, bike handling, and all that good stuff, so I'm not sorry I took the class.

But it was just embarrassing! I was the only one to mess up like that. The guy that killed his clutch 50 times is fine to continue, but not me. Whatever.

Anyways, I'm still psyched on getting my scooter. Did you know that scooters only have two things to do, gas and brake? They are so easy to ride. Motorcycles take a long time to get the hang of, kind of like driving a manual transmission car, but without the fear of falling to your death as you turn corners.

Happy Hat Day!

When Goorin Brother's hat shop on the Ave advertised a half-off sale, it didn't take long for several of us in the office to make a trip and check it out.

First up was John, who came back sporting this new hat:

snazzy newsboy style cap

Next went Maureen and returned with this number:

two-tone straw fedora

Rose and I stopped in after work. We tried on every hat in the store and I ended up with two hats:

bucket style fisherman's hat

and this sharp fedora


And poor Rose only wanted this hat:

sophisticated, wide-brim sunhat

But it wasn't part of the half-price sale. She went home hatless.

Goorin Brother's sale goes through August 11. (if you aren't in Seattle, you can shop online at their website) If you have a small, pea head you'll have your pick, but if you are in the big head club like me, you'd better move fast for the best selection!

Happy Hat Day!!

Craig's List is one-stop shopping

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Craig's List. I've purchased bikes, fiestaware, and sports equipment using CL ads. And I'm currently cruising ads to find the perfect used scooter.

Little Lucy has been ready for a twin bed for a while, and she also needed a new dresser. Fruitless furniture shopping commenced for a few weekends, and then I checked Craig's List.

Wouldn't you know it, a twin bed and dresser set was being sold ten minutes away in Mill Creek. We called the folks and went over to have a look.

And now Lucy has a super cute bedroom set. Which instigated a massive bedroom clean-out. And now her room is perfect. Totally clean and organized. Which will probably last about 5 minutes.

Perfect for practicing her "innocent" face

Lucy HAD to have the pink satin coverlet

Now, if only there was something we could buy that would fix Colin's room....

Like a bulldozer.

P.S. This is the "clean" version of Colin's room (note how everything from the floor is just piled on the bed). Who knew the day before I posted, it would get picked up?

Regular Shopping vs. Online Shopping

Working full time and being an obsessive-compulsive cross stitcher has really taken a toll on my shopping time.

Thank God we live in this modern era of excellent online shopping. I never used to do a lot of online shopping, because I preferred to see what I was buying first, and because I never found deals that were as good as you could find in the store.

Those things are still usually true, but like most things in life, balance must be struck. If you need to shop, but just don't have the time, online shopping is a great way to fill the void. But you need to be smart, and know where and when to get the best deals on what.

Or you need to have my health insurance, which recently offered members the opportunity to get a $30 gift card if they filled out a survey. I did so, and was rewarded with a second $30 gift card because I met minimum standards of weekly exercise.

I opted for a Macy's gift card for my $60 because I knew I wanted a new cross-body bag.

And with help from my gift card, I purchased this leather Fossil bag:

I also purchased some Fiestaware individual pasta bowls. Because I needed them. I needed them in Paprika, Lemongrass, Cobalt and Tangerine.

From DSW.com I got these shoes:

And these shoes (I don't know why the pic is so small):

OK, those last three were not gift card affiliated, but I always google search for free shipping and/or discount codes before I make any purchases, so I'm always buying things that are a good deal.

If you buy something online and don't like it, as long as you got free shipping, you can always return it at the store without a loss. This then allows you some physical shopping time after you complete your return. And that's just the best of both worlds.

I heart Groupon

Have you heard the word yet about Groupon?

It's an online daily deal, catered to the city of your choice. A deal is offered by a retailer, and if enough people sign up for it, "the deal is on!". (Their words, not mine)

Groupon is a great way to try new places and things to do at half the price. I've already purchased a few restaurant meals, a trip to the horse races, and Trophy cupcakes at huge discounts.

Not all cities are part of groupon yet, but a lot are. Check out their main page at groupon.com to see if your city takes part.

The worst part of Groupon is that most of the restaurant deals are for downtown area Seattle restaurants, not many offerings have yet extended up to the Lynnwood area. This is great news for my friend and fellow groupon addict, Calina, who often blogs about awesome groupon places at her blog. Of course, if more deals were in the Lynnwood area, I'd be spending a lot more money at groupon. So the glass is half-full, I guess.

Another excellent website with the same idea is Living Social. If you sign up for both websites, you are bound to come across a great deal for something you want to try.

To scoot or not to scoot...

I decided to get a scooter. I want a cute little ride to move around Lynnwood on. Something nice and small that I can ride on the back roads going about 25mph. Nothing too crazy.

Lynnwood is a great area for a scooter because we have tons of back roads that lead to all the important places I need to go; the mall, the craft stores, Trader Joe's, the Cash & Carry, and many more.

Whenever I tell someone that I'm getting a scooter they say one of two things:

1. That sounds fun! I wish I was getting a scooter!

or

2. You are going to kill yourself! What in the hell are you thinking?!

I'm certainly mindful of safety issues, but I know I'm going to be a smart scooter driver, and I know the roads here and I think the risk is pretty minimal.

I'm keeping my eye out for a used, good condition scooter. There's a lot of scooters out there, and I want to make a smart purchase. Here are the kinds of scooters I'm most interested in:

Honda Metro

TNG- Twist N Go

Sym

There are so many cute scooters out there. And a whole world of scooter accessories! Helmets, locks, storage compartments, and more. There's a whole new world of shopping to discover!

Book Club!!

Recently, I felt the need to add further activities into my schedule. Working full time, having 2 kids, spending several hours a day cross stitching like a maniac, swimming, keeping up on my DVD watching (I'm on season one of "Glee" right now - LOVE IT!) and all the many other miscellaneous things I pack into my day, just weren't enough for me. That's why I decided to form a book club.

Book clubs are a great way to make yourself read more and have an excuse to sit around and drink wine with your friends.

The first book club selection was decided on, and we chose "One Day" by David Nicholls. You can check it out at amazon, here.

I just thought it would be nice to get a group together and talk about something we all had in common and hear everyone's different takes on it. Knowing me, I'll be psycho and dig up a bunch of book club questions that I force everyone to think about before the meeting. Hmm... I like that idea. I'll see what I can google and come up with...

And because I know all of you are dying to know, I'll do a post with a book review/book club review afterwards.

Of course, my main problem is that I've scheduled the first meeting the week before my big fair entry is due. Will I be finished? Will I be insanely stitching during the club meeting? Stay tuned....

I never fill out surveys, anyways

Today was my 35th birthday.

While I was 34, I could tell myself that I was still in my "early thirties". That didn't sound so bad. But that ship has sailed. Hello, "mid-thirties".

The thing that sucks most about turning 35 is that when you have to fill out a survey, the age range boxes go from 18-24, 25-34, or 35-44. I'm in the old box now. That's pretty scary.

But the one thing that always makes birthdays better- no matter what age you're turning- is getting presents. And I was very fortunate to get several delightful items.

From Mom & Dad:

Fiestaware scarlett pedestal bowl

Fiesta sunflower pedestal bowl

Fiesta peacock 2 quart serving bowl

Vodka!!

From my brother - Body Shop vanilla oil

From myself - Lucky perfume

From my husband - Macy's Scottie Dog diamond pendant

From Granny - CASH

I had a great birthday. What do those stupid surveys know, anyhow?

Independence Day

I love the 4th of July. I like to BBQ, hang out, drink beer, and most of all, I love fireworks.

One of the best (or worst depending on your viewpoint) things about living in Lynnwood is that it's one of the last places in the entire Seattle area where fireworks are legal.

Fireworks stands pop up every block the week before the 4th, and the city rules state that lighting them off is only legal when you do it on the 4th, but no one really listens to that rule, and firework pops are part of the normal noise all day long that entire week.

Local firework stands don't really cut the mustard for me, so in recent years I've been making the 25 minute trek up north to the Tulalip Indian Reservation to hit Boom City. Boom City is row after row after row after row of fireworks peddlers, just waiting to make a deal with you.

Now, I'm mostly interested in weenie fireworks like chickens that poop out smoke eggs and blooming flowers. But it's also nice to get an assortment of fountains to add a little pizazz into your driveway show. And of course, you've got to have roman candles, because those are super fun to duel with.

This year we wanted to get something that would give us a bigger grand finale. After consulting with many dealers and haggling with countless booths, I came up with this assortment for about $60. I can tell you that buying at a local stand in Lynnwood, all of this stuff would have cost about $200. That's why the trip up to the res is always worth it.



We had a great driveway show this year. I can't wait to haggle again next year!

Red, White and Dead

Nothing says Independence Day like fireworks, BBQing, and zombies.

When I heard that event organizers here in Seattle were going to try to break the world's record for the number of zombies participating in a zombie walk, I knew I had to go check out the scene and do some zombie viewing.

I never dreamt that I'd dress up and participate, but somehow that's exactly what I ended up doing. My buddies, Steve and Rebecca, were zombies from the 1980's, and I went as granny zombie, complete with a grey haired bun wig and knitting needles sticking out of my body.

Turns out zombie events are not very well organized, and we got fed up after standing around for two hours doing nothing. It is not comfortable to wear four layers of clothing plus a cardboard panel in your chest for fake needle impalement. Not to mention the itchy zombie make-up.

It was also hard to drive wearing this in my chest.

There were some good zombies, though.

Patriot zombie

Stormtrooper zombie

Zombie Jesus (with zombie Ronald McDonald in background)

It was interesting to be a zombie for an afternoon. But I don't think I'd do it again. I'm just too old!

Birthday Gifts

Hopefully you aren't sick yet of hearing about Colin's birthday, because I have one more post about it- Birthday gifts.

My kids are pretty nice and so it makes me want to buy them things. They ask for them, and they're cute, and they look at you with big, sweet eyes, and the stupid thing they want is only $5 anyways, so you buy it. But then before you know it, they have bedrooms full of 50 thousand pieces of crap.

So for birthdays, I am not going to buy a lot of gifts, I am not going to spend a lot of money, and I am not going to buy anymore Legos.

So here's what I ended up getting:

Metal Detector- now Colin looks like he's 8 going on 80

Boxing gloves

These caused a big sparring match between Colin and Grandma

And like all kids everywhere, it doesn't matter what you buy them, the best gift of all is an empty box.