Look ma, I'm Asian!

I had a lovely weekend, thank you for your interest. Friday night Rob and I drove up to my folks' house and watched Kill Bill Vol. I for the first time. Kinda gross. Kinda interesting. I was a total wuss and covered my eyes through all the nasty parts. With my fear of eyeball stuff, there was one scene that I wish I was warned about!

Saturday we took the train into the city (nyc) to meet up with my pseudo big brother, Steve. It was so wonderful to see him and give him the hugest hugs! He took us around to all sorts of spots of the city that I always miss. Mostly around SoHo and the Village. It was great! Beautiful weather. Wonderful sights to see. Just the day I needed after a hectic week at work.

Today was make-over day for me. My mother took me to her Korean hair stylist lady for a cut and color. I'm pretty happy with the result. I'm back to my natural color so no roots! Yay!

Here is a visual for you guys.




Rob says it makes me look more Asian.


Speaking of more Asian. I bought this dress in NYC on Saturday.




I'll have no place to wear it, but who cares?

Photo Booth Phun in Philly!

Tonight Roberto y yo went to El Vez for Philly Restaurant Week. It was mucho delicioso. I had some shrimp quesadillas, Pan Seared Atlantic Salmon, and fried ice cream. The atmosphere of the place was great and our waitress was super nice, so the whole experience was a thumbs up!

In the middle of the restaurant, they have a photo booth. I used to go to the photo booth in Woolworth's with my friend Becky back in 10th grade, so I got a little nostalgic and forced Rob to participate in the hokiness.

Here's our ultimately cheesy photo strip, sombreros and all:




We're such dorks.

Anyway, I'm spending my Tuesday up in NYC to check out our exhibit space at a convention, so see you all on Wednesday!

I'm going to need more storage...

...if I keep making cards at this rate!

I had another productive few hours this evening and pumped out 9 more cards. Shoulda been 10, but right as I was sewing the last piece on the last card, I made the mistake of thinking to myself, hey, I've gone the whole night without screwing up a card! Cursed! That's when the bobin ran out of thread. So add that to the 9 I made yesterday and I'm on my way to an inventory. Yessir!

Just to give you a peek, here are the two styles of cards I made yesterday and today:







Sorry for the crappy photos. I think I need to explore some different designs, since all my cards are identical. I'm just trying to build up a little collection of cards in this style and then I'll move on. This sudden urge to craft came about because I think I'm going to take a plunge and (if I'm accepted) be a vendor at an upcoming craft fair in Philly. I'll be going out of my comfort zone if this goes through, but I could use a little nudge.

Craft (Product) Variety Show <-- It seems awesome!

So from now until the end of November (again, IF they choose my stuff), I'm going to be a craft machine. Stay on the scene! With the craft machine! Ehem.

Yeah, I labored this weekend.

Happy post-Labor Day everyone! I had a very refreshing three-day weekend and am totally recharged for the work week.

I spent much of my weekend putting together some new furniture that we picked up from Crate and Barrel. And for the first time in a long time, our place is impeccably clean...meaning no piles of crap anywhere! (Well, maybe hidden in some closets and under the bed, shhh.) So Rob spent Saturday doing all the wifely duties, like laundry and vacuuming, while I played around with the power drill. Here's my stuff.

New bookcase for the corner of our living room. Formerly known as "craft pile corner."



New buffet for the dining room. Formerly known as "craft pile wall."



New desk and cd wall thingies.





Captain Oats (courtesy of Amy and Maria) is now proudly displayed for all to see.



Now instead of hearing Rob nag, "Clean up your piles!" I get to hear him nag, "Keep it this way!" Okay, Rob, I'll try my best. But it's difficult to control my pile-making ways.

On another note, I went back to Toms River on August 27th for the first time in about 6 years to go to the Ordination of an old friend I haven't seen since I was a college freshman. While back in the area, I decided to take Rob to see my old home where I lived from 1987 to 1998. Coincidentally, the house was for sale and just happened to be having an open house that day! So I had the opportunity to go take a peek inside. It was bizarre. The place was completely different, and not nearly as nice as it used to be, but maybe I'm biased.

Here's the house. It used to be brown, and my mom always had gorgeous flowers planted everywhere out front.



Ahh, memories.

I survived!!!

Just got back from an incredible vacation to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. To be honest, I planned this whole trip for Rob's birthday, thinking I'd suck it up and endure some outdoor abuse, but it was truly wonderful. Beautiful. Breath-taking. (A little tiring though!)

I thought I'd share a bunch of photos and a quick synopsis of our trip.


Wednesday

After a long drive, unexpectedly long due to horribly incorrect directions provided by Google Maps and Mapquest, we arrived at Skyland Resort. We had to stop at a few overlooks on the way up Skyline Drive because I don't think I've ever seen scenery quite like it. Skyland was okay. The room was very, uh, rustic. After throwing together our gear, we went out for our first hike.

The first hike we tackled was called Hawksbill and included an overlook at the highest peak in the park. The hike was 3 miles long, and the book we had recommended doing the 2 mile gradual incline and a steep decline coming down, but we somehow missed the entrance and started with a steep 1 mile incline instead. I know I'm out of shape, but I thought I was going to die. Not literally, but you know. Rob was racing up the trail and I could barely lag behind. After chugging some ice water out of my handy hydropak, I got a second wind and that was the only time I struggled during the entire vacation. Thank goodness. At that moment, Rob thought he was going to be hiking without me!

But the view was worth the heavy breathing. Here we are at the top. (Don't I look like a real hiker???)








After the hike we went back to the room and watched a deer begging for scraps.




Then we sat on the back porch and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset.




Turns out there was a television in our room (dang!) so Rob flipped around the stations as best he could (it broke like five times) and I dozed off early. Sleep was pretty awful thanks to some neighbors above us and their incredibly squeaky floor.


Thursday

Exhausted, Rob and I had a tasty breakfast at Skyland's restaurant and headed out for hike #2. This time I wanted to go to Whiteoak Falls. This was twice the length as Hawksbill, and twice gain in altitude, but I wanted to see me some waterfalls! We took an hour drive out to the starting point and got on our way.

This one was also a little tough, with some climbing involved. And the dang gnats would not leave us alone! But every mile or so, we stumbled upon a new waterfall.








Rob spotted this little fella on the hike back.




Same thing with this guy.




We were thankful to get back to the car after this hike. Our feet were ready for a break. I passed out pretty early this evening too, and it was fairly quiet since our upstairs neighbors checked out, but this night was not without incident.

Rob woke me up in the middle of the night claiming he saw a mouse in the room. I tried to ignore him and go back to bed, but every five minutes, I'd hear the little feet scurrying across the floor. Rob took all of our things off the floor and turned all the lights and the television on to try to scare off the mouse/mice. It didn't work. The darn thing loved our room and wouldn't leave. So it was another restless night's sleep.


Friday

We woke up early (since we weren't sleeping much anyway) and went out for a quick hike to Miller's Head. I really enjoyed this one since it was quiet, cool, and seemed so secluded.






After our hike we went to get some breakfast and then to the office to switch rooms to one with no furry guests. I was ready to strangle the office girl. It was approximately 11am and I planned on getting a quick nap before our afternoon hike. She told us we needed to check out of our current room by noon and then check into another room at 3pm. I was so upset that they weren't being very accommodating. After some arguing and telling her we'll take anything, with or without a view (in order to not get displaced for three hours), she puts us into another room. We loaded up our car and drove it across the resort. This room had no television (haha!) and loads of bugs (especially in the shower, which freaked me out a bit), but no mice.

I got my nap, which was the only good sleep we got all trip, and we went out for our afternoon hike. This time to Bearfence Mountain. The book said this one wasn't too difficult, but might require some scootching on your butt to get across rocks. Boy was that an understatement!!




We had to turn around! As did almost everyone else we saw on the trail. When we got to the summit, it was climbing over big boulders, which wouldn't have been so bad, but one foot to your right was a 380 foot drop straight down! One misplaced footing and...KERSPLAT!!!! I'm sure I could have finished it, but Rob was too worried that he was going to have to explain to my mother that I fell off a cliff, so we climbed back down.

This evening we stuffed our faces at Skyland's restaurant, which was delicious, but I felt disgustingly full afterwards and fell asleep. Of course this time, in the new room, we had unruly neighbors who didn't have the word "courtesy" in their vocabulary. No sleep again.


Saturday

We got out around sunrise to drive around Skyline Drive and catch a glimpse of some animals.




The sunrise:








After our drive, we checked out, got some breakfast and headed to Luray Caverns on our way home.








And that was it. Now I'm back in the comforts of my own home. I'll retire my trekking poles until the next time Rob persuades me to go for a hike. Overall, two thumbs way up! Sure, the sleeping situation could have been a little better, but that'll just make me appreciate my own bed that much more. Speaking of that, I think my own bed is calling me right now. Ahhhhhhh.

Amish Paradise

This past weekend flew by faster than I'm used to, although it was eventful, to say the least. Saturday morning we headed to Amish country to attend Rob's father's 2nd Annual Summer BBQ and Festivities. Rob's dad and step-mom have a nice place amongst the corn and tobacco fields of the Amish, and they invited family and friends over to rejoice over mountains of food. Right behind their house we saw an Amish kid, no older than 10, plowing the fields with a bunch of horses.

On the way up, Rob had major road rage since we left a little later than he wanted. Although the reason for that was because he found a deer tick on him and freaked out about it for nearly an hour. So after two brutal hours in the car, we showed up around 1pm.

It was a great time! There were about 40-50 people there, but we only knew about 8 of them. It was mostly neighbors and coworkers. Rob did his usual "ignore Melissa for sports" thing that he does. We did play two games of horseshoes, which we won. I had mad skillz the first game (2 ringers, yay!), then tore my finger up and Rob had to carry the team. After that, Rob started with volleyball, which lasted for hours and hours. I watched a lot. And ate a lot. And talked a lot.

As it got later in the night, probably around 8:30pm, a few of the guests discovered a flood in the basement. Luckily quite a few of the guests were handy with plumbing, so an hour and a half later, they fixed the problem which turned out to be a clog from someone flushing paper towels down the toilet. Nice.

After all that stress, Rob's dad showered and was ready to relax at 10pm. Two minutes later, his wife fell down the stairs and smashed her face into the hardwood floor. Rob and I held down the fort at the party while Rob's dad took his wife to the emergency room where she had to get 8 stitches in her mouth. Yuck. She also had a pretty bad black eye. We're telling people that her son pushed her down the stairs...it makes for a better story.

The next day we left in the morning and stopped by Crate and Barrel to pick up some new fancy furniture for our home. I was really excited about getting a new desk. While we're there, we pick out a buffet, a bookcase, a desk, and two wall shelf thingies. The only things they had in stock were the bookcase and half of the desk. Dagnabit!! So, unlucky for Rob, he's going to have to go pick up the stuff when it arrives.

Then we had some trouble getting out of Crate and Barrel. Somehow we got onto the PA Turnpike, which was an error. And there was no place to turn around so we had to go up 13 miles to the next exit. Poo. Road Rage Rob was not in a happy place. After a tasty lunch stop, we arrived home and I passed out for a good, long nap. Just the refresher I needed before assembling that heavy-ass bookcase all by my lonesome.

Now we have tonight and tomorrow night to pick up our final things for our big trip to Shenandoah Valley, VA! Woohoo! Let's hope Road Rage Rob can stay calm during the 5 hour drive. Fingers crossed!

2 Things

Cosa Número Uno

Tuesday was Roberto's 28th birthday. Woohoo! He really is the easiest person to shop for because he's so dang cheap that he won't buy himself stuff that he wants. Unlike myself, who will splurge on unnecessary garbage. He made it very clear that he wanted a microscope. Not sure what he plans on observing under one, but he only seems to appreciate educational gifts. However, I wanted to get him something a little more meaningful, a little unexpected.

So, I thought, what else does Rob like? Well, there's baseball, but I just gave him that baseball bachelor party as a wedding gift. Oh, nature, that's always a winner. Lessee. He's always said how he's never been on a real hike. After a few hours of deliberation and internet research, I decided on a four day mini-vacation in Shenandoah Valley Virginia where Rob can hike his little heart out. We'll be there August 23-26.

We're staying at the Skyland Resort, at 3,680 feet, in a room with a view.



I gathered a crap-load of hiking-related items (ranging from freeze-dried ice cream, to an emergency kit, to cushiony hiking socks) and wrapped them all up. Still, after 11 gifts, he thought he was getting a microscope! Then I handed him an envelope with the trip details and he flipped, in a good way. I think he's most surprised that I would be willing to go hiking with him. Me - the indoor, nap-taking, fast food-eating, make-up-wearing, internet-surfing queen. I think it's going to be a great time! Just me, my husband, 300-500 black bears, and loads of bugs. Awesome.


Cosa Número Dos

I'm going to stop dawdling and start thinking about what I want out of my life, professionally. Sure, sure, my job is fine. Better than most, I'll bet. But the point of taking a creatively-stifling job in exchange for a decent paycheck is so I can live comfortably while focusing on creativity in my spare time. Well, I haven't been doing much of that! I haven't done anything crafty lately. I haven't even been reading up on my field. I basically get home and veg out. Bad Melissa! Bad! So in an attempt to get back on track, I ordered myself a portfolio book:



Ain't it purty? It's kind of pathetic, but I'm a designer that doesn't have a portfolio together. I started working here while I was still in college, so I never put much pressure on myself to get one together. Four years later, I'm thinking it might be a good idea. I don't know what is going to happen or when it's going to happen, but I'd like to start creating some things that I'm proud of.

*Bonus thing: A street cleaner yesterday told me that I had a beautiful smile and I made his day. I wanted to run over and give him a big smooch for his kindness! Turns out he made my day.

Thursday Night with the Phillies

Thursday afternoon I got offered free tickets to the Phillies game versus the Padres. The seats were in the outfield, but they were second row, which is sweet homerun territory. If it were up to me, I would have passed. I had a big weekend ahead of me, and I would have much preferred a relaxing evening at home. But I know Rob would divorce me if I ever passed on a baseball game, so I called him up and asked. After a few minutes of debating, only because our car situation was inconvenient, he decided he wanted to go. That's fine. Free tickets don't pop up too often.

Luckily the weather was gorgeous. Could not have been better. And it turned out to be a fun evening out! The game was lackluster, and the Phillies lost, but sitting outside, enjoying some ballpark food with my best friend is not bad at all.

I've been carrying around my crappy camera lately. Just because it's tiny. Makes my nicer camera feel too bulky for my skinny arms.

I grabbed a Frappuccino and parked my butt on a bench. This was my view.




And this was my view down. I bought new shoes, aren't they cute? Haha.




Here I am annoying the bejeezus out of Rob.




Goofing off before the game.




Mmmm, crab fries. I don't even really like them, but I enjoy waiting in line for 25 minutes to buy some $7 french fries.







That silly "what" bubble follows me around.










The Philly Phanatic

Our Big Day

I probably emailed this link to everyone who reads my blog, but in case you're a snooper and you'd like to see my wedding pictures, checka check it out.

Our Wedding Photos

I need to do some minor touch-up action to a few of them, especially the ones of me later in the day. I have some hair and makeup issues going on. It was all the kissy stuff the photographers made us do. It's weird to see those pictures because we aren't PDA people.

Post-wedding stuff is going well. I'm feeling pretty stress-free at the moment. I need to go through all the paperwork and do some name changing soon. It's still all so strange to me!

Thanks for peeking!

The Conference Aftermath

I had too much to say and too many photos to post. So I made up a Trip Diary.

You can view it here:
Vegas Trip Diary

And view my photos from the conference here:
Vegas Photos - Part I

and here:
Vegas Photos - Part II


Photos of the wedding will be coming later. I'm waiting on the photographer right now.

I hope you enjoy it! :-)

Everyone wishes they were engaged to me!

Since I am the best fiancé in the world, I wanted to get Rob a nice gift before the wedding. The difficult thing is that Rob hates stuff. But what he loves is baseball. So I had planned to buy a pack of tickets and give Rob a "guy's night" with some of his friends and family. Well, thanks to my awesome company, who I love to death, I was able to use their luxury box for the Memorial Day Phillies game! (Fully catered, by the way.) Gosh, I'm lucky. So after many weeks of stressful planning, 15 of Rob's closest friends and family were there to meet him.

He was stunned! My plan had worked! He thought he was going to a game with three of his friends and sitting in the 300 level. He waited in the lot for his friends to show up, and all his other friends started walking up. He said he was really confused. At this point, he thought Hunter had thrown him a bachelor party, and he had no clue that I was behind it all. As they go to the gate, Rob says, "We can't go in this way, this is for suites only." Then Hunter handed him the envelope with his suite ticket and a letter from me, explaining how I did this all as a gift for him because I love him dearly. And then when he walked into the suite, his dad and brothers and uncles and cousin were in there! He loved it!

Anyway, enough blabbing, here are some photos!




Eric, RJ and Samir, donning their felt bowties, in honor of Rob.




Hunter, cheering for the Phillies.




This is the shirt that Eric made for Rob. And I didn't say no strippers. I said no "female" strippers. ;-)






Thank goodness he wore the shirt that I gave him instead. A Phillies t-shirt with "GROOM" and "06" on the back.








Group shot!