iPhone Case Giveaway (And Why I Can Never Get a Tattoo)

I finally got around to posting this.  It's my first self hosted Rafflecopter giveaway.  How exciting!  I don't do these a  whole lot but I really love it when I do because I appreciate every single person who reads this little blog and it's a nice way to say thank you.  The only down side is that not everyone has an iPhone and not everyone can win! 

My new iPhone case illustrates one of the main reasons why I can never get a tattoo. Besides the fact that I'm too chicken. Tiny Prints offers iPhone cases with tons of options to personalize it. I've seen people with personal pics on their cases and thought, how cool. I want to get one. But when I finally had the opportunity to do so I froze. I absolutely could not choose. There are way too many pictures that I love and way too many to choose from that it was virtually impossible to pick.  I mean, what if I changed my mind?  How could I possibly narrow it down to just one?  There were way to many options for something that felt so...permanent.  So in the end I didn't choose one at all. If I can't even pick a picture for my cell phone case you know I can't pick one for my body.  I simply have no clue what I want on my body forever so in the end I just don't do it.  Plus, the whole pain thing. 

But that's okay.  If you are terribly indecisive like myself Tiny Prints has tons of other customization options to choose from.  Sadly, I even had a hard time deciding on that.  I had to email my sister and aske Mj before I could make a final decision.  I really need to work on this.  I love the one I, or should I say we, picked.  It has my favorite color Pink and my initial on the back but I could've picked a design with my full name or anything else I wanted.  It got a kick out of getting the e mail that my case had gone to print.  It's always fun when something is literally made just for you.  It's cute, sleek, slim and my precious phone is protected.  Heaven forbid anything happen to it.  I dropped it last week at PF Chang's and my heart dropped for a minute but it was fine. 

If you want a personalized iPhone case of your own you are in luck because I'm giving one away.  Check out all the iPhone Case options  here at Tiny Prints.  And if you win I really hope you won't agonize over it as ridiculously long as I did.  Just pick one!  They're all great.

a Rafflecopter giveaway



 

Teeth Whitening, Superman and Father's Day

Every day since we got back from vacation I've really wanted a day of rest where my only responsibility is breathing.  And that is not technically even my responsibility per se as it's an involuntary process.  We got back from DC on Tuesday afternoon and I've been on the go ever since.  The day we got back I went straight to the gym, then to a baseball game, then right back to work for the rest of the week.  It continued with a weekend that turned out to be much busier then I expected.

Looks like some kind of weird science experiment

Lunch at PF Chang's  // Sister and nephew

We had the patio to ourselves

I skipped out of work really early on Friday to spend the day with my mom and sister.  We had a teeth whitening date.  Haven't you heard?  That is THE latest thing to do with your friends.  When I found out that my mom and sister bought a teeth whitening Groupon I had to buy one too.  I actually wasn't all that interested in getting my teeth whitened.  I just didn't want to be left out and thought it would be fun to do together.  The procedure took 30 minutes.  There was a lot of drooling involved, at least for me.  I had about 5 different trays filled with gel to bite down on for 10 minutes at a time while the LED light shines on your mouth. By the 3rd round my lips were feeling numb and spicy.  We got maintenance gel filled pens to take home.  My teeth were already pretty white.  White is basically white so I don't know how noticeable it is but I think my teeth did brighten up a few shades.  Afterwards we had a really nice lunch at PF Chang's.  I'm trying to come off of my juice fast the right way so I stuck with veggies, rice and tofu.  They hung out at my house for a while before heading home.

Goofy Glasses.  It's impossible to look sexy in these things.

Saturday morning Mj felt like going out to breakfast so we got up and did that.  I got egg whites and coffee.  Then, we went to see Man of Steel at Cinepolis.  We had to leave the house by 3:50 to meet our friends for pre movie drinks at 4:30 pm and the movie started at 5:30pm.  When talking about this movie it simply has to be said.  The man is hot.  Central Casting made an excellent decision when they cast Henry Cavill as Super Man.  I didn't understand some of what was going on but it was entertaining and Henry Cavill is really hot.  Did I already say that?  We saw it in 3D so the tickets were $22.50 each!  Oh well.  I ordered a Chicken Caesar salad during the movie and Mj ordered a whole bunch of stuff to recover from having been forced to go into work on a Saturday.  I may or may not have had a few bites of his chocolate molten dessert.

Dani, Mom, Me at IHOP

Me and my Daddy

Sunday morning I was up at 7:30 am to meet my family for an early breakfast with my Dad for Father's Day.  We went to IHOP where I had ...more egg whites!  I made it home around 4pm and went straight for my laptop to download some photos and get some blogging done.  I was working on a guest post for another blogger on Thursday to send out Friday and just putting on the finishing touches when it somehow got deleted from Blogger.  I was totally devastated!  I was so upset.  I didn't think I had the heart to start all over but I got an extension on the deadline and managed to re write it by Sunday night.

In the midst of all of this I still need to buy a new bra since my only good nude one broke and I'm trying to get caught up on my DVR.  What kind of world is this where we catch up on TV watching like it's our job?  I don't know, but I have a ton of shows I need to watch and haven't really had the time to do it.  I also have three movies that I have to return to Blockbuster by mail.  We canceled and if I don't send them back in time they are charging $20 bucks each which is ridiculous.  Figures that all the movies I have left are between 2 to 2 1/2 hours.  I watched one on Saturday and Les Miserables yesterday.  Has anyone seen that movie?  It was so good and so sad that I was bawling.  The acting was amazing and I have always loved the music.  Mj heard me sobbing and came upstairs to see what was wrong with me. I can't wait to see the play live in NYC again.  We haven't actually planned a trip to NYC just yet but when we do that is definitely on the itinerary. 

Today is Day 1 of the Advocare Cleanse and the 30 Day Shred.  We'll see how that goes.  So maybe this weekend I'll get my do nothing but breathe and catch up on DVR day?  Probably not.  Mj is already talking about going to the beach, we need to go grocery shopping and I will need to clean my house.  It's been a delightful 75-80 degrees and sunny since we got back.  I guess it makes perfect sense that I'm out there enjoying it with friends and family even though the homebody in me just wants to chill on the couch.

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From Dover to DC and the Stupid Rain

Clockwise:  Cracker Barrel Pancakes // Rural road from Dover to DC // Travel Naps // Margarita Pizza

Our trip to the Washington DC Metro area was a friends and family trip. There were no real plans of what we'd door when we'd do it. Mj decided how many nights we were staying in each place, but other then that our itinerary evolved on it's own day by day.  No extensive internet research required.  We slept in most mornings and did a lot of sitting around on the couch with friends and family.  A total departure from the frenetic exhausting pace of Europe.  And it was nice.  And cheap since we didn't have to pay for hotels.  We spent two nights in Dover with my Mother in law and one night with my Father in law. The last 3 nights we spent with Mj's friend L in Maryland.  The states are so small and close together that half the time I didn't even know what state we were in.  The weather was hit and miss.  Mostly miss. The humidity is ridiculous.  78 degrees there feels a whole lot different then it does in California.

Out to dinner with mom and Mj's nephew

After a very early five hour flight that went way faster then I expected we picked up our rental car in Baltimore and made it to his Mom's house by Wednesday evening.  The 2nd night we were there we went out to dinner at a BBQ joint.      

Spencer's // The Amish Farmer's Market

There isn't much in Dover.  It's really weird how everything you need is there and yet there seems to be not much of anything at all.  Such is small town life.  There are no snazzy restaurants or bars to speak of and not much to look at either.  If I lived there I'd probably quit shopping and there is a very good chance I'd let myself go.  I'd try not to of course but just being in this town you just kind of get this feeling that there is no point.  Unless you want to get all gussied up to go to Boscov's.  The best thing about Dover is contained in one single Amish Farmer's Market that goes by the name of Spencer's.  I have this odd fascination with the Amish since I've been watching Breaking Amish so I got really excited whenever I saw them in their long dark dresses and white bonnets.  And boy can they bake and cook.  I wanted to eat almost everything in there.  It was wall to wall with baked goods, candy, cheese, bread and delicious foods.  Where else can you get Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Crackers?  I ate one and the other one was for Mj but he left it in L's fridge.  Oh well.  It was really good and so was the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake and Coffee Cake that Mj bought.  I really wanted the Chocolate and Peanut Butter Popcorn and some cheese but after buying Chocolate Peanut Clusters and Gummy Bears I was already pushing it so I had to let it go.

On Friday and Saturday we visited with Mj's grandmothers.  They live in two different senior living communities in two different states.  Going to an old folks home is good and bad.  It makes me feel very young and spry when I'm surrounded by grey hair and walkers.  But it also makes me feel kind of sad about the prospect of getting old.  It's totally inevitable.  I get that.  But it's gotta be hard to watch yourself and your friends kind of deteriorate before your very eyes and lose their independence. Okay, that took a turn for the depressing.  Moving on.

Mj and his Dad

I got my Cracker Barrel on Saturday morning with Mj and his Dad.  It is always a must do when we go out there because their pancakes are crispy edged perfection and the closest one we have is in Arizona.  Then we hit the road for Maryland.  There are no actual highways between Dover and Maryland so we spent a long time on surface areas before we finally hit the highway.  It's so green and rural.  We spent the next 3 nights there at L's.  His girlfriend Em was in town and they made dinner for us that first night.   

At L's house

In Georgetown in front of the Potomac River

Sunday was the nicest day of the whole trip.  Still humid but sunny and no rain.  The four of us stopped for brunch then went to Georgetown at my suggestion.  Why?  I don't know.  It was something to do, I thought it might be a fun place to see and I heard there was good shopping.  I totally struck out shopping which was actually a good thing.  Most of the shops are super expensive and really; I just don't need anything else.

Botanical Gardens in Washington DC

Capital Building

The actual White House.  Not the US Treasury Building

Monday was the first day of the trip that we had on our own.  It was with a sense of dread that I set out for DC because of the stupid rain. I really couldn't see sitting in the house so even though it was supposed to rain for most of the day we decided to go for it anyways.  At first it was just light scattered showers.  We saw the Capital Building and went inside the Botanical Gardens and Air & Space Museum.  We met one of Mj's friends for lunch and after that is when it really hit.  We decided to skip the Lincoln Monument, head straight for the White House and get going.  There was ponding everywhere.  That's a new word I picked up watching East Coast news station.   It means giant puddles.  I had an umbrella in one had so I asked Mj to help me so I could get the camera out and take a picture.  Turns out that wasn't the White House.  It was the US Treasury Building.  Coulda fooled me.  So we walk some more.  It was raining hard and then it started raining even harder.  We snapped a few rushed pics of the White House and Michelle's famous garden.

Water Logged

We still had a long walk to our car and by and by this time we were soaking wet.   Mj more then me because he didn't even have an umbrella.  Then, I realize I have to go to the bathroom.  Really bad.  The rain coming down isn't helping matters.  Then we realize we have only 13 minutes left on our meter. Then there is a long line at the museum to get in.  So we rush into the next museum.  It was humid and sticky.  I felt gross and itchy from my jeans sticking to my legs.  My hair was a damp frizzy disheveled mess.  Our socks and shoes were soaked. Converse and ittly bitty pink umbrellas aren't exactly made for East Coast rain.  Fun right? Well, somehow it actually was.  As we rushed down the street with my hot dripping wet hands holding his I was okay because we were out there doing it together.  And these are the times you tend to remember most right?  That one time we got caught in the rain and ended up soaking wet while speed walking through the streets of DC.

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Vacation Over and a Broken Bra

We're back. The 2nd thing I relished as I stepped off the airplane was the crisp cool air.  Don't get me wrong.  In two seconds I was getting chilly again but it was a huge departure from the muggy, hot, heavy air that permeates the DC Metro area. It's like a hot musty blanket hanging over your head and that's when it's not even raining.  When it rains it's worse.  The 1st thing I relished as we came in for landing was the beauty that is San Diego.  It's so nice to be home.

Our flights there and back were obscenely early.  Both departed at 6:30am so coming and going we had to wake up at zero dark thirty.  I hated ever single second of our flights to and from Europe and normally I hate every second of air travel just going coast to coast but surprisingly it just wasn't that bad.  And I didn't feel like a total wreck when I got off the plane.  I may have looked like one but I felt okay.  I am NOT plane pretty.  I am more like plane plain when I have a long flight ahead of me.  It's yoga pants, converse, glasses and Vaseline on my lips.  I asked Mj.  Do I look awful?  He said no and he would totally tell me the truth so that's good enough for me.

On the way there I worked on my novel for about 4 hours.  No new pages really, just fine tuning.  Which was definitely too long for me to be staring at a white screen with tiny words thousands of feet in the air because by the time I shut my lap top my stomach was queasy and I was looking around for the barf bags.  The five hour flight was over before I knew it.  Same thing on the way home.  I worked on my novel for most of it then napped.  Maybe early morning instead of our usual red eye flights is the way to go.  Airport bathrooms however are always terrible and awkward.  Mj never had to use them but I did.  I bend over to pull my pants down and my head hits the wall.  Then I'm hanging onto the hand rail for dear life as I hover and squat because nobody sits on those toilets right?

We made it home by 11:30am which was great.  We unpacked and by that I mean threw almost everything in the laundry.  I decided to hit the gym.  If not now then when?  Turns out it was the most awesome elliptical work out ever.  I had an hour to burn.  Literally.  So Mj suggested I take a movie he'd ordered off iTunes (Hit & Run) and watch it on his iPad.  I forgot I was working out and it flew by.  It was like I was sweating profusely while watching a movie and the whole burning 630 calories thing was a bonus.  I watched the last 20 minutes later that day.  When I got home Mj was winding down for a nap.  I was tired but that gym work out revved me up a little. I just didn't feel I had enough time to sleep, wake up and still be functional.  Between finishing laundry, eating, watching a few shows and recovering from the shock of finding out that my favorite bra had split in half I never got around to that nap.

Yes, you read that right.  When I took my bra out of the dryer it was literally split in half.  Normally I don't put them in the dryer but I wanted to wear it that night so went ahead and did it.  It's been in the dryer plenty of times before back when I used to dry them so I figured no big deal.   It's a Victoria's Secret Biofit bra and honestly, I've had the thing since 2008 so I guess it was just time for it to split.   It's my only nude bra with straps so now I have to add trip to Victoria's Secret to my list of things to do.

So on top of the five hour flight, gym and laundry we went to a 7:00pm Padre game that night.  The Braves were in town and Mj had to see them so that was that.  Bedtime did not come until around 11:30am but it was so deliciously wonderful to be in my own bed.  I'm on the juice for the next few days to cleanse myself of all the crap I've been foolishly putting into my body and then I'll be starting the Advocare herbal cleanse.  It's a detox that includes food so that's pretty exciting.  I need to get back to making better food choices again.  No more vacations until December so that should help!  I'll be back with a vacation recap and that darn giveaway I keep mentioning.  I promise! It's really going to happen.

By the way thank you soooo much for all of your wonderful comments on this post and crystallizing the concept that popularity is totally overrated.  I have such great readers and have made such amazing connections with other bloggers just being who I am.  Nothing else really matters.  Duh.

Boys and Their Toys

I'm not sure what's so fun about this little toy remote control helicopter. A friend of Mj's had this and when Mj saw a Groupon deal for it he bought one too. I shook my head a little and wondered why he wanted such a thing. Boys and their toys. But when he started the little thing up and sent it flying about the room I found myself fascinated. It's so cute and it's just fun to watch for some reason.  On his first try he  crashed it into walls and even me! Now he's so good he can land it in the palms of my hands.  This little helicopter is indestructible.  It doesn't break upon impact and it also doesn't destroy things that it crashes into because it's made of a really lightweight plastic material.  It's fine to fly it in the house as long as you don't run it into fragile objects.

This is an Estes Remote Control Helicopter. It takes 6 AA batteries and I recommend rechargeables because it kills batteries pretty quick.  If you are looking for a fun and different gift for your guy this is perfect. Father's Day maybe?  It's not just for kids. And chances are you'll get a kick out of it too.

30 second video of the helo in action

So, it's time for me to be off on trip #3 for the year.  I have not organized any guest bloggers so it's going to be pretty quiet around these parts.  Which is fine.  The old blog will be here when I get back.  Hopefully.  I've heard of two bloggers that had their blogs randomly deleted by blogger but it won't happen to me.  Right?  I'm off to my 2nd trip in as many weeks and I haven't felt a single ounce of anxiety.  Which is completely unusual for me.  Maybe I'm finally getting a hang of this whole not freaking out before a trip thing.  The packing was done in advance and I'm only going to Washington DC not Timbuktu so aside from my glasses and my Rx I can buy anything I forget when I get there.  Our flight leaves obscenely early.  6:30 am!  Which is probably why we got such a great deal on our airfare so it's worth it.  I packed way too many clothes and I'm really wishing I didn't see thunderstorms in the forecast but I'm ready.

When I get back I'll be trying aout the Advocare Herbal Cleanse.  I'm sure my body will be screaming for a good detox when I get back because I plan on hitting up Cracker Barrel at least 4 times while we're there.  Kidding.  One time will do.  I've also got a great giveaway planned.  See you then!!