Month: July 2008

Sapphire

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Sunday we went to the mall so I could look for a bathing suit. Yes, I know it’s late in the season. In fact, it’s too late, as I could not find anything. Joe liked the bikini I tried on but I felt like I was falling out all over. Not a good feeling, actually, so I nixed that.

One of the things we did accomplish was getting my rings cleaned, as we’re required to do so every six months by the jeweler in order to qualify for the warranty.

Sapphire Necklace While the lady was cleaning my rings we walked around looking at all the pretty sparkly things. One necklace in particular caught my eye. Just for the hell of it I asked the woman how much it was and she pulled it out so I could try it on. She also told me she’d knock $30 off the price and re-size the chain for free. Feel free to laugh at my naivete, because I asked her what the stones were. “Sapphires”, she replied. My not-usually-spontaneous-when-spending-money husband told me I should get it, so once I got over thinking he was joking, I did. Ironic that my hubby buys me jewelry when it’s his birthday this weekend. He’s way too good to me.

I’m pretty psyched to have a necklace with real gemstones in it. The event required a trip to New York & Company this evening, after picking up my re-sized necklace. I needed something blue to match and found a super soft sweater that I got 20% off as I had just gotten a coupon in the mail today. Talk about impeccable timing! In addition, I got two tops that were seriously discounted; one was only $5.99 when it was marked $26.50. To think I almost put it back on the rack!

Butterflies and the Great Outdoors

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Queen Butterfly

We’ve been waiting for a weekend with nice weather and it finally arrived, so we visited Peck Farm Park in Geneva, Illinois. They have an awesome outdoor butterfly house which is open during the Summer.

Monarch

Since we got there right when it opened, we had the whole place to ourselves. There were butterflies all over the place and we got lots of great photos. It was much more enjoyable than fighting the crowds at Brookfield Zoo.

Julia Butterfly

In addition to butterflies, the park has gardens full of beautiful flowers. I predict we’ll be visiting this place again.

Purple Flower

Pink Flower

After we ran out of things to photograph, we drove to Pottawatomie Park in St. Charles and had a picnic lunch by the Fox River, then walked around for a bit. In all, a nice relaxing morning and early afternoon.

Peck Farm Park photos @ Flickr

Stories of The Cure

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Awhile back one of the Cure fan sites I visit was asking for submissions from fans on how they got into The Cure. I submitted mine and quickly forgot about it.

Today the fan site linked to a blog where everyone’s stories have been posted. It’s called Secrets – The Cure Fan Special. Here’s my story, but be sure to check them all out!

I’m 32 years old and I’ve been into The Cure since I was 15. I remember the very first time I ever heard a Cure song – My high school boyfriend and I were at the local Wendy’s and he asked me to listen to Just Like Heaven. I recall not being entirely thrilled with it, but he insisted I borrow Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. I agreed to give it a chance and took it home. It quickly grew on me and in no time I was completely obsessed with this brilliant band. My boyfriend made a few copies of his cassettes while I slowly built my own collection by asking all my relatives to buy me nothing but Cure albums for Christmas and my birthday.

I still remember the thrill of getting a new-to-me album and the shivers I’d get from a particularly engaging song (such as Mixed Up’s version of A Forest). I currently own all their albums (on cd now, of course), as well as some bootlegs and collectible vinyl, and I’ve seen them four times in concert so far (once at Wembley Arena in England which was a dream come true). Even after all these years they are my #1 favorite band and I can’t foresee that ever changing. That being said, I’m not a blind fan – I feel some of their albums are weak (Wild Mood Swings) while others are quite solid (Faith). I will always have a soft spot for their earlier work, although I’m really looking forward to their new album as well as seeing them live next month in Chicago.

(From: Nicole, USA)

All biked out

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The weather cleared up in the afternoon so I got the bright idea to take our bikes out. We biked from our house to the park (1.5 miles each way) and rode around the park’s bike path (another 1.5 miles). A lot of terrain was up-hill so I’d say we got a good workout. I’m pooped and am going upstairs to read before bed.

When it rains, the money pours

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We had all these plans to visit different nature areas this weekend but the constant rain and storm clouds ruined all that. Instead we spent money. Between yesterday and today, we bought:

New hair dryer (mine went up in smoke, literally, Friday morning) ($12.49)
Travel hair dryer ($8.49)
1st season of How I Met Your Mother on DVD ($19.99)
2nd season of The L Word on DVD ($19.99)
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader DS game ($19.99)
Wii Fit ($90)
A faux leather storage ottoman ($59)

That doesn’t include the little items like food and diet pop. Yeesh, it’s expensive to spend a weekend without anywhere to go!

We also rented two movies:

The Bank Job – I give it four stars (****) because it was fairly entertaining and Jason Statham is nice eye candy.

I Am Legend – I give it five stars (*****) because I love doomsday movies and Will Smith is a terrific actor. One of the best movies I’ve seen this year by far.

So far I am liking the Wii Fit. I got 20 minutes of workout points in my Wii piggy bank, which is so cute by the way! My BMI is in the normal range but we had to add the extension legs to the Wii fit board before it would calculate my weight correctly. At first it had me pegged 8 lbs. lighter than I am. Shoot, I wish! Oh and the hula-hoop exercise? Much harder than it looks. I’m not nearly as coordinated as this chick.