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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas Sales, oh how I love thee

The Aussie and I spent the day after Christmas in REI trying on backpacks. We ended up scoring a great deal, because they were over 60% off.



He has been scooping up other things in the past few days that we **needed** for the bags--a rain cover, a cover for airport travel. He is definitely the boy who needs all the toots & whistles. Speaking of toots & whistles, did you know that a car in the early 1940s-1950s had a slowcooker option. I kid you not. At least that's what I heard on the radio today. It's interesting what people feel they "need." Although, I wouldn't mind some stuffed peppers while I drove ;)

Things have been busy on this end with work. Basically 12 hours every day are reserved for working and driving to/from work. At least I've managed to keep up my sleeping hours. It isn't so bad sleeping during the day when the room is dark. On that note, I'm off to work!

-B

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Sugar Overload . . . woot, woot

If it's sweet, then I'm a fan. I inhaled a crazy amount of desserts the past few days.

Sticky Fingers choc chip cookie(s)


Vegan marble cheesecake (alll minnnne . . . ok, I shared) & coconut cupcake (the Aussie handled this one on his own)


Then the Aussie made vegan snickerdoodles (yum!)


Close-up yummy-e-ness


I also balanced it out with a bit of health in the form of a beautiful smoothie.


Christmas time seemed like a perfect time to hunt down some vegan marshmallows. Actually, it wasn't so much of a hunt as it was them falling into my lap when I went into Sticky Fingers. I was hesitant that they wouldn't taste like the marshmallows I grew-up on. I had no reason to fear. They were amazing. The brand was Dandies. I made a cup of cocoa with coconut milk.



Today I'll be hunting down good sales (inc at REI), but first it's time for brekky!I hope you're enjoying a fabulous Sunday :)

-B

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Happy Holidays

I've been a busy bee on this end--I started a job doing document review at a firm, I've been planning & plotting for upcoming adventures, and *sadly* I've been avoiding the gym. As for the last one, I do hope to begin a new healthy relationship with the gym. I do miss him and his many tvs ;) I'll be dragging the Aussie to the gym in the am. I'm working 10:30pm until 8:00am, so I'm going to attempt to make face time at the gym when I wake-up around 5pm this week.

The holidays have been a bit low key this year, because it's our first without any parent visits (either my family in Nevada or the Aussie's in Melbourne). We did put up our puny but adorable Christmas tree. The Aussie got this for us on our first Christmas in law school . . .


Food was done by the wonderful people at Everlasting Life. We bought vegan ham and vegan mac & cheese.




We bought enough to feed an army, so I do believe I'll be eating this meal over & over again (or at least I'll be force feeding the Aussie it)

We opened pressies . . .


Mostly, we just enjoyed each others company :) In life, it's important to focus on all the positive things you have & not the fact that you failed to buy a winning mega-millions ticket. Fear not, no one won, so 196 million is up for grabs on Tuesday.

**runs to the store to buy 100 err 2 tickets**

-B

Friday, December 3, 2010

Jet Lag Attack

I don't remember ever getting hit this hard with jet lag, but here I am trying to keep my eyes open. I took an hour nap yesterday and went to bed at 8:30. But here I am trying to keep my eyes open. Hello, Jet lag!

Hopefully, it will be better tomorrow. Tomorrow I have my professionalism course as part of my bar admittance. I will happily forgo my Saturday to be admitted to the bar. Aside from that I don't have any big plans for the weekend, except of course fighting Mr. J. Lag. I hope you have more exciting plans. One thing that I must do is get some food in this house or else the Aussie may turn into a Trader Joe's frozen meal after over-consumption of them (thank god for Panang curry).

I *need* a mini-nap, but I wanted to share a bit of my honeymoon in Tonga. Tonga is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean (not too far from Fiji). We stayed off Tonga on an even smaller island called Fafa Island. It was less than a mile to walk around the entire island. With only 12 huts it was extremely secluded.








zzzz,

B

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Miss Me?

After 25 hours (roughly) I am finally sitting back in my room in Annapolis. I have a heap of mail to go through and a to-do list beating down my door, but I wanted to say hello to you first :)

Sorry for the lack of posting abroad, but the internet situation wasn't ideal and I was a busy bee. This was my 3rd time in Melbourne, and this time I definitely fell in love with the city. It's very artsy.





I also fell in love with the Aussie's parents property. They did an amazing job making it look spectacular for the wedding.





The weather was terrible for a few weekends before the wedding and the weekend after, but by a blessing we had lovely weather for the wedding day! I can't wait to share all the wedding fun with you.

Alright, time to be productive and face my to-do list,

B

Friday, November 5, 2010

Packed & Passed

Best.News.Ever.


I found out today that I passed the Maryland bar examination. I DID NOT want to spend another two months studying 10hrs a day again, so I was over the moon. It also saves me the embarassing "no I didn't pass" when everyone asks me in Australia :) Happy, happy, happppppppppppy Babs.

In other news, we're T-minus 13 hours until we are on the road to Australia--the road being a rental car ride to pick-up the new Aussie wedding band, continue to the airport to drop off said rental car, hop on the plane to LA, hop on the plane to Auckland, hop on the plane to Melbourne. I know at this point you're jealous ;) But it ain't over yet! It ends with a 90 minute car ride to the Aussie's parents.

Bags are packed . . .


Okay, okay overpacked ;)

The snacks are plentiful--choc, raw macaroons, oatmeal with protein powder, fruit. Trashy magazines will be purchased (I'm looking at you In Touch).

See ya on the otherside of the world,

B

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Is Gardein Lying? Because it sure tastes like chicken

Lunch today was chinese. Orange chicken to be exact. But this orange chicken was cruelty-free :) It was low in calories and high in protein. It looked so much like real chicken that I had to triple check. The Aussie could not believe how chicken-e it tasted.



This was the Aussie man-sized portion. I had a 1/3 of this amount. The yellow chunk in the back is fresh pineapple--yum!


Today also involved picking this up . . .


Now, I hope I can get it to Australia this weekend with minimal struggle. The trip involves a stop in LA, Auckland, and finally a 90 minute drive from Melbourne to the Aussie's parents home.

Dinner was a favorite "fast food"


Multi-grain avocado and cucumber sushi, oh how I love thee.

Along with some amazing iced tea from the coffee shop in Wholefoods. Best.tea.ever.


Today I also did something pretty darn exciting. I booked a cruise to the Bahamas. I've never been, so I'm very excited. The Aussie's brother is coming to visit, so all three of us are going on a cruise at the end of January.


The picture is from http://www.miamicharters.com/2002/destinations/bahamas.asp.

It looks like heaven to me :) It was also really affordable--300 per person for 3 nights.

Off to shop for bridal party gifts,

B

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

In My Possession

I *may* have quickly pulled my wedding band out of the box and put it on my finger today :) I'm excited, in case you couldn't tell. When they called to say it was finally in, I knew I had to pick it up ASAP :)


Can I get a woot, woot?

I also turned this . . .

Into green! 112 dollars of green to be exact.

In food news, I've been making lots of these . . .


Frozen raspberries, fresh pineapple, a bit of OJ, lots of H2O and ice creates a delicious smoothie with a gorgeous color.

The other day I made the Aussie a sunshine burger (no soy and very tasty)


Tonight dinner was an easy one--black beans, tri-peppers, avocado & brown rice.



The night is ending with a bit of this & that . . .




-B


Saturday, October 30, 2010

Fall Color

Summer is great, but give me fall over summer any day. Fall has the brisk coldness that you can almost smell. It has bright colored leaves covering the world in beauty. It encourages snuggling and hot tea. To me, it would be perfect if it weren't for darkness stealing too much daylight time. But we can't ask for perfection ;)

The Aussie & I spent this Saturday driving to Skyline drive (about 1hr & 40 mins west of Annapolis). It was the vision of fall.


We found a spot to hike, and opted for a 1.5 mile hike down, which meant a tortorous 1.5 mile hike up :( I was a bit sweaty by the end, but it was good to get the heart pumping (seriously it felt like it went STRAIGHT UP)




Of course the Aussie captured a picture of a flat straight, but I swear the hike was intense ;)

The Aussie looks hot, albeit a bit chilly!


The day may have ended with Cheeburger, Cheeburger (ahhh-mazing veg burgers).

One week until we are on a plane to Australia!

Off to cuddle on this lovely fall evening,

B

Friday, October 29, 2010

Drama . . . say what?

I don't mind hearing about other people's drama. In fact sometimes I absolutely love it! However, in my own life I like to be sans drama. Today I failed. It began when I got a phone call from my mom about family drama & the possibility of some wedding crashers. No invite really means you're not invited! Then a few hours later I get a phone call from the Aussie saying the jewelry store called to say the fedex truck carrying his wedding ring was ROBBED and his ring was one of the stolen packages. I kid you not. Pure craziness. We leave in a week and his ring was custom-made, so I think he'll be getting a loaner. Not a huge deal, but still unneeded drama.

Funny enough I spent 2 days partying in Atlantic City for my bachelorette fun and managed to avoid the drama, but it attacked me on my ride back to Annapolis!

The AC celebrations were organized by my former college roommate and best friend . . .


She had decorations.


She had food.


She even baked a *special* cake.


We made bets about who would be the last one standing.


I lost :(

We drank many mixed drinks. FYI cherry vodka is incredible in zevia ;)


We dressed up ;) and played bachelorette games.


We ate good food. Hello, Mr. Veggieburger. I love you :)


One night I definitely ended up on stage with the band. It was a great time with great people.

Off to catch up on my zzzs,

B