Home Depot Woes Continued and Friend-y BBQ

Home Depot Woes: I ordered the fan blade arms online for pick up at Home Depot last night.  I got a call around 6:45 AM saying that they were not able to complete the order, but they didn't provide a reason.  WTH?!  I got out of bed and ordered it again for pick up at another Home Depot (3rd one this week).  When I got the fan blade arms home, I realized that screw holes in the fan blades were too loose and the screws wouldn't hold in them.  I've decided to order 2 sets of replacement fan blades.  I only need one set but I wanted a back up in case I screwed up.  It's easier to return than to wait for another set to arrive.  Ah, homeownership.  Lovely.

Ebay Updates: I sold all the Disney movies that I bought last week from my neighbor.  Mary Poppins by itself (herself?) went for $17.49.  Finding Nemo, Lion King, Fox and Hound, and Alice in Wonderland as a lot went for $19.75.  Translation: bought all 5 for $10, sold for $37.24.  This'll definitely help pay for my ceiling fan replacement items.

BBQ: Julie prepped a very nice feast for us tonight.  Meg and Robyn came over and Julie invited some of her friends.  I wasn't sure if it'd be two separate conversations going on at the dinner table, but we all gelled very nicely.  We laughed so hard at times. 

Meg, Robyn, and I also made plans for our undergrad young alumni weekend. Page and her brother are planning to come too.  This was funny since Page only sent out an email about it yesterday and within about 24 hours we have a hotel booked.  Planning: we do it well!

 It was a really nice evening and a good way to close up the summer.  We're having a humid weekend, so I'm kinda looking forward to cooler weather.

Home Depot Woes

YAY, the start of my 4 day weekend!  Post office, ATM, gas for the car, Goodwill (no luck there), Target for candy (the 1st Target didn't have any of the pumpkin spice M&Ms, but the second one that I went to did...yum!).

The fan blade arms that I ordered online were the wrong size, as I found out when I went to pick them up after I went to my parents' house for dinner.  Mmmyeah.  Fortunately, I realized this really quickly because I brought the broken arm with me.  The new set was smaller and the screw holes did not line up.  I went back to return them and got back in the car to see if they'd be in stock at another Home Depot.  Oh, yes, they were, so I drove out to the other Home Depot.

However, they were not where they were supposed to be.  I had to get someone to climb on a ladder and look around for it.  No luck.  They had white and polished brass ones available, and I was THIS close to getting them just to resolve this problem.  However, that would mean that I'd have to replace all the fan blade arms so that they would all match.  I decided to leave the store with nothing and order them online. 

4-blade fan (instead of 5)?  No problem.  Still good.  Zzzz.

Etsy and Ebay Updates

Etsy: I got 2 custom order requests recently, and the buyers have not been communicative or have purchased their items.  Not cool, people.

Ebay: I sold the pink Pyrex set that I purchased at a yard sale.  Purchased for $15, sold for $23.05.  I initially wanted to keep it, but after I really thought about it, a) I don't need it and b) I don't really have cupboard space for it.  I'm going to stick to lighter things to ship and stuff that's not breakable.  I used quite a bit of packing paper and bubble wrap.  Fortunately, these were packing supplies that I got at the office during the move last week.  I also sold a Tangoes set that I had laying around ($5.99).  It's interesting to see what people are looking for on Ebay!

4 day weekend ahead! :)

Lunch with Jessie

I met up with Jessie (friend from graduate school) for lunch today at Panera.  This was a great opportunity to catch up since I briefly saw her at her daughter's baptism not too long ago.  I talked about my teleworking situation and she was funny.  "Oh, it's like your on maternity leave."  Well, kinda.  Except I'm not pregnant and I have to do work.  Ha ha.  It's more like house arrest.  This is Day 3 of teleworking and the first day I put on real clothes and makeup this week.  RJ's been enjoying the extra attention.

I've been checking some data sets for work and been finding mistakes in it.  I've told that department's director about it and I know that she's not happy about it since it was her direct report that gave me the data set.  I'm frustrated.  She's frustrated.  The three of us have a call about it tomorrow morning.  I'm really dreading it because I don't want to get anyone in trouble, but these mistakes can't keep happening.  I hope the director takes the lead on that call because I don't want to.  Ugh, if I have to double check your work because I don't trust you, that leaves me less time to do the stuff that I want/need to get done.  I just want the problem to go away!  Make it stoppppp.

I ordered some ceiling fan arms from Home Depot and I got an email today saying that they shipped.  At least I can fix that problem.

RJ's Anniversary and Ceiling Fan Troubles

Happy 2nd anniversary, RJ!  Technically it was yesterday, but it kinda slipped my mind.  His arrival story is posted here.

At the "office": Today starts my full-time telework schedule while the office undergoes renovation.  There were some technical difficulties like my email and shared drive not working this morning, but I figured that was to be expected.  Within an hour, things were working better.  The IT folks spent all weekend moving stuff across the street, and I'm sure that was no easy feat.  RJ was clearly super thrilled that I'll be spending more time with him in the coming months.

Houseowner mishap: While I was fluffing up my bed, I hit the ceiling fan and broke one of the arms.  When the broken arm hit my bed, I was horrified.  I can't decide if it was more so at myself for pulling such a dumb move or just the situation.  So now, the fan is down to 4 arms instead of 5.  Crap.  I think I can get some replacement arms at the hardware store.  I hope this will be an easy solution.  Ugh.  I even thought to myself "watch out for the blades!"  I had that thought several times over the course of living here.  I knew it would happen at some point.  BLAH!  It could have been a lot worse.  Lesson learned.  For sure!

Ebay Sales Update

Today started out productive by going to spin class and then I took a long nap and then I used the energy that I had all of a sudden to clean the house: vacuum, laundry, and dusting. Fun fun.

Ebay Sales Update: After relisting it a few times, I finally sold the Dance Dance Revolution Wii game that I bought at a garage sale for $1.  Sold it for $1.80.  I didn't have the game pad that you're supposed to use with it.  Otherwise, I think I could have gotten more.  When I tested it out on my Wii, the graphics weren't that sophisticated looking.  I'm glad to get that game out of my house.

I also sold the 2 Sizzix/Tim Holtz rosette dies that I bought at a craft yard sale last year.  I had intentions of buying the extended plates, but I found out later that they were expensive!  Ugh, forget it.  If I feel like putting rosettes on my cards, I'll cut strips of paper and use my scoring board to make the indentations.  It's more work, but far more economical.  Bought for $10 for the 2 of them and sold for $19.99.

I have a bag of 5 packages to take to the post office tomorrow.  Possibly 6 if the buyer of these dies pays me before I leave the house.  Fingers crossed.

Ebay Sales Update, Yard Sale Finds and Alexandria Restaurant Week

Ebay Sales Update: I listed and sold some Hallmark pins that I had in my closet within an hour last night.  5 pins for $7.99.  I guess some collector out there really wanted them.

I sold 2 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) games that I bought at Goodwill earlier in the month.  Bought for $1.90 (95 cents each).  Sold the lot for $24.59.

I sold the TI-82 calculator that I bought at Goodwill after having relisted it a few times.  Bought for $2.95.  Sold for $13.99

Yard Sale Haul: I went to a house just down the hill from me and this was the only yard sale that I went to today.  I had been eyeing this listing for a few days because this guy was moving cross-country and wanted to get rid of a bunch of stuff, one of them being his spin bike.  Ooo, interesting.  I rang the doorbell and the guy was very welcoming.  His wife or girlfriend was in the kitchen cleaning up some stuff.  "Are you looking for anything in particular?"  Yes, your spin bike.  I saw it in the listing.  "Oh, yeah!  It's great!  Here, do you want to test it out?  I haven't really used it recently."  It felt very sturdy even with carpet underneath.  If this big guy could handle its frame, it'd be a piece of cake for me. I asked him how much he wanted for it and also what we could do about delivery because a) I wouldn't be able to carry it into my house and b) it would not fit in my Fit.  "Oh, no problem.  You said you just live up the street so I could bring it to you in my Blazer sometime."  Whew, ok, we got that figured out.  The other loose end is the price.  "I'm not good with prices," he says.  I offered him $100.  That was the maximum that I was going to go with.  "I would be comfortable with that.  Only because you're so good spirited."  Well, of course! I'm not going to come into a stranger's house and disrespect them, especially when negotiating. 

I gave him my business card and while he went to get his own, I looked at the other stuff he was selling.  I saw a box of DVDs and I picked out 5 Disney DVDs for $10.  I put the Mary Poppins DVD up on its own listing on Ebay (it already got a few bids, currently at $17.49) and the rest as a lot of 4.  I felt a bit nostalgic while I was testing them out on my laptop's DVD player, especially with The Lion King.  I remember seeing the movie in the theater and I was just as horrified by the Mufasa/Scar scene in the beginning as I was back then.  Nonetheless, I was on the verge of tears at the end of the movie because it was so good.  Sigh, how silly. 

The guy gave me a call later in the afternoon to deliver the bike, so he was true to his word. :)

 

After the yard sale, I delivered some books that I didn't want anymore to the used book store.  Now there's some extra room in my bookshelf for my DVDs (they were getting crammed).  I guess it's my effort in paying it forward.  I can't go get all these great deals without giving others an opportunity to get a good deal on stuff too.

Alexandria Restaurant Week: Julie and I drove down to Alexandria to meet up with Robyn and Meg for dinner.  We went to the Wharf, what's seeming to be our go-to place when they have a Restaurant Week offering.   The restaurant did not disappoint.  The food was so good.  The pictures don't do the dishes justice.  It was hard to take good pictures since the dining room was a little dim.

Shrimp &"Blue Crab" Fritters
with spicy Sriracha Aioli

Wharf “Duo”
Lobster- Crabcake and All Lump Crabcake With corn okra relish and drizzled with Florida mustard sauce Served with garlic “Old Bay” fries

Wharf Chocolate Ecstacy
Rich chocolate torte drizzled with white chocolate sauce and raspberry coulis

Last Day at the Office

Today was my last full day in the office for a while (coming in every other week to check on the mail doesn't really count).  All my files got put in crates that will be moved to storage until the new floor is ready. 

Background: my organization is split into two buildings and they want to put us into one building.  We had to wait until we had the full floor in the main building before this could happen.  The plan is to renovate the main building level that we'll occupy.  In the meantime, essential personnel will be moved to my building and everyone else will be working from home for the next 3-4 months.  I had to give up my desk for a friend from Marketing and someone else, I can't remember.  Fine by me!  I'll miss seeing everyone on a full time basis, but at least there's office IM (Lync) and Facebook.

3 bottom ones are mine and the top one is Sadira's.

The best part of today was being able to draw on the walls in the building. It's rare that you can do that without getting in trouble.  Several people brought their kids to work so they could participate. My contribution to the office artwork was a picture of RJ, in all of his chubby kitty glory.  While I was in the main building, I also stopped by the kitchen where there was a bunch of stuff that people didn't want anymore.  I picked up some packing paper and bubble wrap.  Free shipping materials?  Yes, please!

After they fed us pizza for lunch, it was time to go home!  Yay for an easy day! :)

Candy Crush and Ebay Updates

Candy Crush Update: I've been having trouble going to sleep lately.  Case in point: last night.  I dunno if it might be because I had an iced coffee last night after working out.  Probably, huh?  Since I was awake, I figured I'd pass the time by playing Candy Crush.  I finally finished Level 65.  I've been stuck on that level for probably 2 weeks.  I can't remember exactly.  It's been a while.  I'm so glad to be moving on! 

Ebay Update: I sold a lot of 4 Stampin' Up ink pads that I got from 2 different yard sales.  Bought for $6, sold for $14.99.

One-Layer Wednesday #154 One-One-One

The challenge for OLW #154 was "Make a card using only one image stamp, one colour and one sentiment stamp."  Here's the card that I came up with.  I chose a stamp set that I had yet to use and it was convenient that it came with a sentiment stamp so I didn't have to search for one.  The bird and flowers are one whole stamp which was pretty cool.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Dark Peony
Stamps: Stampin' Up- Wings of Friendship
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Commence Office Move and Fall-To Layout #251

At the office: I took a break from my desk to help the receptionist and office manager pack up the dishes in 2 of our office kitchens.  They were very giggly and being silly.  I was partly thinking it was funny and another part of me was thinking "If I had to pack up this office with only a few days left, I wouldn't be laughing right now.  There's a lot more stuff that needs to be boxed up for the movers."  Oh well.  It's not like I can worry for them, so I'll just help with what I can.

Card:  Here's my take on Fall-To Layout #251.
Card Specs:
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black
Stamp: Stampin' Up- Up, Up & Away
Punch: EK Success Parisian border punch
Paper: Die Cuts with a View- Nana's Kitchen
Brads: Recollections- Silver Circles
Flowers: Prima

Fall-To Layout #252

I decided to work from home today because a) my boss is on vacation so I felt like there's less pressure to be at the office and b) Friday (my normal telework day) is the last day in the office before the renovations.  We'll probably get pizza for lunch and we can draw on the walls in the main office because after that, it'll be be torn down.  An opportunity to draw on the walls at the office without getting in trouble? I'm so there!

Working from home automatically translates to more time with this furball.

Card: I used Fall-To Layout #252 for inspiration for today's card.  I did a card similar to it yesterday, but that's because I didn't remember what the sketch looked like and by the time I looked back at my computer screen, the card sorta took a different direction.  Oh well.  Birthday cards always come in handy!
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Charcoal 
Paper: American Crafts- City Park
Stamps: Studio G
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Upper Crest border punch
Marker: Black Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker
Brads: Recollections- Silver Circles
Flowers: Prima

Aria's Baptism

Aria's Baptism: Today was my graduate school friend's baby's baptism.  I went to the church and walked straight into a Catholic mass...in Spanish.  I was ushered into a pew in the back that already had people in it and sat right in the middle.  Oh boy.  I wondered if other people were wondering "What is that chinita (Asian girl) doing here?"  I had a moment of panic like "Did I come on the right day?  What if the baptism was supposed to be on another Sunday?  Crap.  I left the invitation in the car and my phone is off.  Ok, I guess I'll listen to this service.  I have no idea what's going on.  Oh, we're standing now.  And we're saying stuff.  And we're sitting down."  I hope people didn't think I was rude for not kneeling or taking communion.  Eek.  Anyway, I saw Jessie's husband Joel take Aria out when she was getting fussy and I noticed that she was wearing a white dress.  Oh whew, I'm here on the right day.

After the service and most people filed out, I realized that's when the baptism was going to take place.  Aria was not having it, but after getting a bottle, she was much more content.  Since the service was in Spanish, I watched the people around me.  The little girl in front of me was doing to town, picking her nose.  I don't know what was more amusing: that or her mom (?) checking to see what she was going and then being subsequently horrified.

Friend duty: check.

Ebay: I sold some Stampín' Up markers that I bought last year.  I originally bought 12.  I kept 4 colors for myself and sold the rest.  Translation: bought 8 for $4, sold for $11.99.

Card: Here's the birthday card that I came up with today.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Charcoal
Paper: Die Cuts with a View- Mango Frost
Stamps: Studio G
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Upper Crest border punch
Marker: Stampin' Up in Rich Razzleberry
Stickers: Jolee's Boutique- Cupcakes

Song of the day: "Roar"- Katy Perry.  Heard this several times this week, but I didn't really pay attention to the lyrics until I was in the car, driving to the baptism.  It's a really good girl anthem song.

Yard Sale Finds and Fall-To Layout #253

Yard Sale Finds: I went to several yard sales today, but only had luck at one.  I found:

• 3 Box Sets of the show 24 (Seasons 2, 5, 6) for reselling on Ebay
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  I'm now only missing the last movie in my collection, but I'm probably going to have to wait a while until I see that one in yard sales.
• Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.  This was a funny find because I found this at another yard sale weeks ago.  It didn't have the disc inside so I had to return it.  But this one did have the disc, so it's all good!

Total paid = $7.00 for the whole lot.

I saw my coworker while I was out.  She got lucky early with some stuff for her son.  I'll have to ask her about it on Monday.

Card: Here's my take on Fall-To Layout #253 (I'm a little behind!). 
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Charcoal, Warm Red.  VersaMagic Chalk Ink in Sea Breeze.  Stampin' Up in Pool Party.
Stamps: Inkadinkado (birds), Studio G (everything else)
Other: Brown Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Afternoon/Evening Activities: My graduate school friends Jenny, Laura and I went to Cristina's place to catch up in person and meet her babies, Nicky and Alex.  They were adorable.  I even held one of the babies!  Babies usually make me really nervous, but the little guy just sat in my lap, checking us out.  There was a minor spit up on my jeans, but meh, that's totally washable.

Getting home from Cristina's place was a little scary because the car in front of me pulled over, but it wasn't over to the shoulder.  It was that little V between the highway and the exit.  What are you thinking?!  My horn got a workout, sheesh.

Julie came over for dinner...mmm, Costco pizza (half cheese, half combo).  We watched Quantum of Solace on DVD (I finally ripped it out of the plastic).  Out of the 3 Daniel Craig 007 movies, this was my least favorite one.  I can tell because I fell asleep about halfway through it and woke up near the end. :P

My cousin texted me to say that there were treats at her place so we went over to hang out.  I was so full from dinner that I didn't eat any of it.  I know, shocking.

RJ holding our pizza hostage

Fall-To Layout #254

Crazy Happenings: When I was walking from the car to the house, I dropped my keys...in the storm drain!  Fortunately, it wasn't too inside that I could reach in and get it.  UGH, that would have been really bad.  My heart stopped for a moment and I almost let out a curse, but I realized quickly that everything was going to be okay.  When I got home, I googled "dropped keys in storm drain" to see what kind of results would come up in case this should ever happen again.  Things like wire hangers and magnets and duct tape came up which all seem like plausible solutions.

Geeze...

Shopping: In the spirit of back to school season, Maryland is currently having a tax free week, so I bought some nude/cream colored heels at the mall this evening.  I almost picked a brown pair, but I exerted some self control.

MakeUp Update: I decided to return the Revlon Kissable Balm Stain in Cherish that I bought a few days ago.  I didn't think that the cool pink didn't go well with my yellow skin tone.  Fortunately CVS has a friendly beauty return policy. 

Card: Here's my take on Fall-To Layout #254.


Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan
Stamps: Hero Arts- Envelope Pattern, Year Round Sentiments
Paper: Chatterbox
Brad: Making Memories Brad Value Pack- Chelsea's Place collection
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Other: Brown Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Office Event at the Winery

In previous years, my office does a summer picnic, but this year they decided to switch things up and do a wine tasting event, specifically at The Winery at Olney.  I'm not a wine person, but HR said that there would be food to eat.  Food and socializing and not working at my computer was enough incentive for me to go.  There were 5 wines you could try and I tried the Moscato, as recommended by a co-worker who also wasn't really into wine.  I liked that it was sweet. 

Lisa, the HR director, wasn't drinking and I thought that was strange since HR was the department that organized this event.  She held up a bottle of water and said that she was going to be going to spin class. I told her that I'd be there too so it'd force me to go.

Spin class was good, and I'm glad that I went since I've been missing TH night classes lately because of laziness or travel.

After spin class, I went to Goodwill and found a bunch of GameCube games to resell.  I also spent some time to move some of the Stampin' Up items that I had in my Etsy shop to my Ebay site to see if they'll sell there.  Fingers crossed.

Song of the day: "The Wire"- Haim.  I heard this catchy number at spin today.

Ebay Update

Not only have I been selling my unwanted things (and unwanted things that I found at Goodwill), but I've also branched out into selling my friends' unwanted things.  Case in point: my coworker didn't want his keyboard Kindle anymore and I sold it for him on Ebay.  It was in my possession for only a few days because it sold so quickly!  He only read like 2 books on it and then realized that he liked real books instead.

The best part was that I got a cut of the sale.  :D

Beauty Day

When I went to ATL this past week and caught up with Page and her brother Brightman (briefly), Brightman was like "Aww, Tina's got white hairs!  How cute!"

o_0

I was horrified. 

Are they that apparent?

"Brightman!!"  Anyone that was standing in the parking lot probably heard me.  "What?  It looks fineee."

If he was some other male, I probably would have considered giving him a black eye or a death glare or a verbal chastising.  But since I consider him the brother I never had, I gave him a pass.

And promptly went to CVS today to get a box of hair dye to fix this problem, no matter how cute he thinks this problem is.  Truth be told, I had been holding this process off long enough.  It's been 5 months since the last time I dyed my hair. :P For my future reference, I used Nice 'N Easy, Natural Blue Black #124 today.

While I was to CVS (this was 2 separate CVSs and 2 separate transactions), I bought some other goodies since I came armed with a total of $23 in coupons (both in ExtraCare Rewards and manufacturer's coupons).  I basically paid half of what I would have if I didn't have the coupons.  It would make those people on Extreme Couponing proud.  I tried the foundation on this afternoon and it seems to blend in really well with my skin tone.  I'm excited to try out the eyeliner tomorrow.  I have this brand in blue and purple and those don't smudge one bit.  I should have gotten this kind a long time ago!

Wolverine

Julie and I finally went to see The Wolverine today at the movie theater.  I love me some Hugh Jackman!  Who doesn't.  It was amazing.  So, SO good.  I loved it more than the first solo Wolverine movie.  Sequels can be kinda anti-climatic, as in you wait and wait and wait for it to be in the theaters only to be disappointed at the end.  I think this is the rare instance where the the sequel was better than the first movie.  It's definitely something that I'd buy and add to my DVD collection.

Before the movie, we went to CVS...Julie had a coupon for candy and I had $3 Extra Bucks and a $1 Sally Hansen.  I basically got this Sally Hansen XtremeWear polish in Pacific Blue for free. I had been eyeing it for a while and heard great things about it on YouTube and blogs.  This was the perfect opportunity to buy it.

After the movie, we went to get sandwiches at PotBelly.  The SharkWeek coupon (buy a sandwich and get a free cookie) was still applicable.  Yum!

Julie spent the rest of the day hanging out at my place.  She played some of the old school Nintendo games that I got last week as well as the Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt game that I acquired via Ebay this past week.  We also watched the second X-Men movie that I had on DVD.  Two Hugh Jackman movies in one day...hooray!

Running in ATL

Well, the meeting today went fine.  I think I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with the project though because it's all about evaluation and that's not something that I've dabbled in very much.  Also, this project is supposed to only take 30% of my time, but after this meeting, I have a feeling that it's going to be more than that.  Whatever.  I'll worry about it on Monday.

Getting home had been quite an adventure.  There were 4 of us total from my organization that went to this meeting.  One guy wanted to be dropped off at a train station so we did that and the 3 remaining people rushed to the airport.  Except we experienced 4:30 PM Friday traffic.  OMG, it was so stressful because the cars were just not moving.  Once the traffic let up, my boss zipped the rest of the way to the airport.

Except we had to return the rental car.  My coworker and I flew out of the rental car, basically ditching my boss (with her permission), and ran to the train that would bring us to the terminal.

Then we had to go through security, which was also a nightmare because while we had our boarding passes on our phones, the security guy directed us to the pre-TSA approved line.  But we weren't pre-TSA approved.  Ugh, it was awful because I thought it had something to do with my phone and so I rushed to print a new boarding pass and go to the regular TSA line.  I told Elizabeth to get to the gate (save yourself!!) and once I got through security, I ran in my flip flops and dress to the gate with about 10 minutes to spare before they started boarding us on the plane.

If I knew I'd be doing this much running today, I would have warmed up and done some running this past week.  Sheesh.

The good thing was that I got a whole aisle to myself.  Whew.  Never ever do I want to do that again!!

Quick Trip to ATL

I'm in Atlanta for a meeting on Friday.  Since my friend Page was going to be passing through, I thought it'd be a great idea to meet up.  It's been quite a while since we've touched base...the last time was the March cruise. 

Her newest and greatest development was getting a kitty (her name is Lily)!  I was shocked when I got the text message yesterday since I didn't think she liked cats.  She's always grown up with dogs.  Anyway, Page drove the kitty to the hotel and her brother Brightman drove to the hotel to pick the kitty up to take it to the house, since the kitty couldn't stay in the car while Page and I were hanging out.  It was so nice to see the two of them.  I hadn't seen Brightman in a few years, so it was great to see that he was doing well.  He pointed out my grey hairs, which he thought were amusing.  Well, I'm glad that someone does, ha ha!

Page and I went to Violette, a French restaurant and it was so good!  We both got the Bouchée à la Reine (puff pastry filled with chicken breast, topped with a creamy mushroom sauce),  Yum!

Mmm...tiramisu!  More yum!

Bye, Page!  It was nice to see you!

Nintendo Entertainment System (continued)

When I got my used Nintendo Entertainment System and games on Sunday, I only spent time on cleaning the game cartridges.  I was too scared to open up the actual system to see if it needed cleaning.  What if I couldn't put it back together?!  After watching a few YouTube videos, I took a deep breath and unscrewed everything and opened up the system when I got home from work.  Wow, was it dusty!  I would have taken a picture, but it was really gross.  With a Swiffer duster, rubbing alcohol and Q-tips, I was able to get it back into a more acceptable shape.  It was even reading games better without as much jiggling around as Sunday. 

I went back to Goodwill after spin class to return Taboo, the eletronic version (the screen was not working when I put fresh batteries in it).  In exchange, I got some A/V wires that I will be keeping and a TI-82 calculator that I need to test out with fresh AAA batteries.  If it works, up on Ebay it goes!  I found a TI-83 Plus calculator but the battery compartment cover was missing and the battery slots have seen better days, I think.  That would have been an awesome find!

My Cinderella DVD that I bought last week sold tonight. Woot!

A part of me wishes that I got into this Ebay thing earlier...

Baptism Card

Ebay Update: My TI-83 graphing calculator has found a new home.  I've had it since I was a sophomore or junior in high school, but since then it's really had no purpose since all the math I need to do can be done with a regular calculator. 

Card: My friend's baby is getting baptized in a few weeks so tonight, I made the card to go with her present.  After doing a little research on what baptism cards are supposed to look like (I'm not a religious person, so this is venturing outside my realm of knowledge), I decided to go with a simple origami dove for the embellishment for the card.

Card Specs: 
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Charcoal
Stamps: Fiskars- Sentiments
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Embossing Folder: Sizzix + Basic Grey- Kaleidoscope 

Goodwill Finds

Before I get into my Goodwill finds, I forgot to share this last week.  When my Japanese uncle came to visit the house after the family BBQ last Sunday, he saw that I had a lot of cards with origami on them.  He asked me for a sheet of paper so that he could fold me an origami dog.  This is what he came up with from memory.  So cute!  I hadn't seen that design before, but I'm afraid that if I took it apart to investigate, I wouldn't be able to fold it back together.

After going to spin class this morning, I wandered over to Goodwill and I found a blast from the past, an old Nintendo Entertainment System, for $9.95.  It's seen better days, but it came with 2 controllers and there were lots of games there for $1.  Vintage NES games, the good ones, still have some value to them so it'd be worth a try to resell these games.  The console didn't come with a power supply, so I had to buy one at a video game store.  The guy plugged it in and there was a blinking light, which translated to the console not being able to read games.  He said that it wouldn't be worth getting the power supply.  I went back to my car and debated if it'd be worth the risk anyway.  This was an older machine, so it'd probably require some jiggling around and cleaning.  I went back inside and got the AC adapter anyway.  The guy probably thought I was weird, but I was on a mission!  After some major game cleaning (thank you, YouTube), I got all the games to work!  It was like a miracle or something because these games were dirty!  Anyway, this was a fun little afternoon project.  If I could sell a few of the games, it'd totally pay for this haul.

Oh, I also sold my old Sony Walkman on Ebay today.  With my iPhone, no need for a cassette player anymore!

 

Baltimore

I sacrificed my yard saling time this morning to sleep in, and it was totally worth it!

The trip to Baltimore with Meg and Robyn didn't go quite as planned.  When we got there, at 2:00 PM the Aquarium sign said that they were selling the 6:00 PM entry tickets.  Whoa.  We were not expecting so many people there.  4 hours was a lot of time to kill in between and even if we got in at 6, that meant that they were going to kick us out around 8:30 or 9 PM and we didn't want to rush around the exhibits.  We instead decided to go to the nearby Barnes and Noble and, with their help, I picked out this book for my friend's kid's baptism present.

We walked by this candy store that had these giant gummy bears.

And a Coast Guard ship...

We drove around to get to our final destination was G & M Restaurant, where Robyn said they had amazing crabcakes and dessert.  Oh, yes.  She was right.  Trying to get out of Baltimore was interesting.  We noticed there were quite a few people headed to the Baltimore Convention Center.  Some people were dressed up with full on wings, tail, and ears.  I used my phone to look up what event was going on.  Err...it was a Brony convention.  o_0  Guys that like My Little Ponies.  No joke. 

I got the crabcake platter (the crabcake was like the size of a big fist), which came with a side salad and 2 sides (cauliflower and baked potato).  We went next door for dessert and I got a slice of the tiramisu and the red velvet cake for Julie and I to share later.  The waitress was telling us about how she just started a week ago and showed us a picture of her two kids.  When she asked about dessert and we told her about getting it to-go, she said that she tells herself every night that if she made enough money tonight, she'd buy herself a slice, but she always came out short.  I added a separate $5 bill to the tip for her cheesecake fund.  I don't know if her story was true or she was trying to get an extra tip, but if it was true, I helped someone tonight and if it's not, that's bad karma for her.

After dinner, we drove back to Robyn's place and hung out for a while until about 9:30 PM.  I headed to my parents' house and also my cousin's because Mom told me that a bunch of them were watching a movie downstairs.  It turned out to be the 2nd G.I. Joe movie, like the last 10 minutes.  Oops.