Kitty Deschanel

 How to Increase Traffic to Your Blog (Otherwise known as a BLOG HOP!) If anyone out there has any great Vitamix recipes to link up, please do. I finally gave in and invested in one! I never thought I'd spend over $300 on a blender, but it seemed like such a healthy TTC tool (and, hopefully, we'll be able to use it for homemade baby food). If you've been on the fence too, they're offering free shipping this month, which saves $25. My credit card also has a 5% cash back offer for online purchases in December, so that helped a bit too. The one I have coming is a refurbished Vitamix 5200. Please, please, please be worth the money!

It's the final weekend before Christmas. Are you ready? Perhaps you have things that you should really be taking care of before wasting time online. Yeah, me too. That said, I'm looking forward to reading everyone's posts! (And, if you would be so kind as to comment on a few posts, letting the blogger know you found them through LambAround, that would be greatly appreciated. It can be your Christmas gift to me!)

Any snow where you are?

I found my dress yesterday - and it was quite a nifty deal! :)

We have just a little over a month left and everything is almost done, with one very important exception - I still haven't found a dress! I've only had 3 years to look! Would it be weird to call off the search and just wear something else?  Too bad I can't just throw a dress I already own into the washing machine with some bleach. Geez, there are some UGLY wedding dresses availible! So far I have tried on dresses that were too sparkly, too poofy, too itchy, too big, too small, and even TOO SEE-THROUGH! Honestly, who is buying these hideous dresses?

Anyone get the entire holiday week off?

Have a fun weekend, everyone!

We're just a day away from seeing David Sedaris at Popejoy Hall! YIPPEE!! Also, you know that novel I've been diligently chipping away at? The one I've been neglecting this blog for? The novel that's been keeping me awake at night, constantly churning away in the background of every little activity in my life? Yeah, that one. It's had a major development snafu. The ending is now the beginning, which means everything I've written leading up to the old ending (everything) is no longer any good and I no longer know how to end my story. Yaaaaaay! Welcome to another Not "Baaad" (get it?) Sundays link up. There are 2 things that make this blog hop special: 1. This Linky is open to all posts that you are proud of. Did you recently post about a great decorating project, craft, or recipe? That's wonderful if you did, but just fine if you didn't. 2. Do you ever find yourself trying not to duplicate posts on blog hops but aren't quite

Sexy Nerd and I are off to the East Mountain Celebration this weekend. They had me at 'petting zoo'! Is there anything fun happening in your town? We're big travelers. If you tell me, maybe we'll run into each other at next year's event. Have a great weekend, my bloggy friends! And now...

I'm posting this during my lunch break while eating yummy peanut butter noodles. My coworker has never heard of such a thing (angel hair pasta mixed with a sauce containing peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, and seasonings) and now she thinks I'm nuts. Okay, my coworker has always thought that, but she's considering this to be further proof. The peanut butter noodles really are so good though! Has anyone else tried this scrumptious food? Also, Pica seems to have forgotten all about missing her dad . Actually, I think she may have forgotten that he exists altogether! When Sexy Nerd and I returned from 3 weeks in Australia , Pica and Biscuit were more interested in visiting with my mom (who drove us home from the airport) than us. Dogs are jerks like that. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Do something FUN this weekend. Get off the internet ( after linking up, obviously) and go out to eat, take a stroll to the park, and/or have a hula hooping marathon! I'm hoping to get a certain lazy someone in our house to go for a bike ride with me. I've been trying all summer long, so we'll see how that goes. He enjoyed it last year and seems to have forgotten!

It's bad enough that our Alaskan vacation has ended. Now, I'm sick! Cruise withdrawal, right? Or more likely, to everyone who read my last post , sugar withdrawal. I see you rolling your eyes over there. Punk. (And, in case you're wondering, I've already lost most of my cruise weight. The secret? No eating! Not only does the food at our house not seem as good, but we actually have to prepare it ourselves. Won't someone come bake me some cookies?) Have a great weekend, everyone! Click here to visit the current blog hop.

It's blog hop time! I'm feeling much better, except that I have a headache that I just can't seem to shake. Might it be my braces?? Have a great weekend, bloggy friends!

As I type this, I am eating the best chocolate chip cookie ever. It doesn't go very well with the chicken enchiladas Sexy Nerd made for my lunch, but that's okay. A friendly reminder: this blog hop is open to any and all posts you're proud of. To share a link on Pinterest, click on the image directly. To visit the link, click the description underneath the image. This linky will return next weekend, giving extra exposure to all the wonderful blog posts and giving you more time to discover links you missed the first time around. Have a fun weekend, my bloggy friends!

It's that time again! You know what I'll be doing this weekend? Planning all the fun we're going to have on our upcoming Alaskan cruise ! It will be our 8th cruise but only our first visit to Alaska, so if anyone has any advice on what to see and do while there, please let me know. Fingers crossed for the best vacation ever! Enjoy the blog party, everyone. Be sure to mingle with your fellow blog-hoppers!

I've had too much coffee and green tea today. My intention was to stay caffeinated, but now I just want to lie down and take a nap! As a friendly reminder, you can click directly on the linked post photo to share it on your Pinterest page and/or you can click the title of the link (below the photo) to go to the page. I'm looking forward to lots of new linked posts this weekend to share via the LambAround Pinterest page! Ack...too much caffeine. Have a great weekend, everyone.

I thought Pica was bad, especially when she had tapeworms and earmites, but Biscuit has outdone her.  I was petting Biscuit last night and noticed a bump on her side. It looked like it might be a gross, doggy zit. Sexy Nerd thought it might be a tick, so we decided to try to remove it. We got the tweezers and  held Biscuit down .  Well, we were both wrong. Trigger warning...you may not want to read the next part...don't say I didn't try to stop you... It was some sort of creature that had burrowed into her skin! We pulled out a  big, grubby, stretchy, still-squirming WORM !  Yuck, yuck, yuck! Luckily, Biscuit is just about due for her rabies shot, so we're going to bring the worm with us to her appointment to make sure there isn't anything else we should be concerned about. Poor Biscuit! She actually didn't seem to notice at all. I did give her a scare though when the worm was removed. I screamed. Nope.

Albuquerque is full of crooks! People are so cheap & overreact to the red-light cameras around town, even though the only way to get a ticket is if you BREAK THE LAW! Everyone is so paranoid that their license plate number will be caught by the cameras that they go to all sorts of crazy expense to hide their numbers, even though law-abiding citizens have nothing to worry about. Why am I so upset, you wonder? Derek's license plate was just stolen off of his truck right from our driveway!!! We're buying our 1st house right now so unnecessary little expenses like this are especially irritating. If anyone out there sees a vehicle with the plate HFY505, report it to the police! It's STOLEN! Thank you!

It's that time again. Not wanting to post my blog hop button? That's fine. But I bet you won't be able to resist my cute new graphic. (Hee, hee.) On a side note, I'm typing this up during my lunch break and am in a wonderful mood because of one of the families that was in earlier. They were just so nice ! So often, I don't think people really appreciate the effect they can have with their daily interactions. It's nice to know this family is out in the world, brightening the day of everyone they come into contact with. Also, today's blog post has been sponsored by The LAShop. Their ad is at the bottom of this post. If you could click it a time (or two - kind of a theme today) that would be really nice. There's even a 10% off coupon for The LAShop that you can use. Personally, I was surprised by the variety of products offered by The LAShop, especially when I found these unicycles: So many unicycles. Crazy! Have a great weekend, every

Welcome to another Not "Baaad" (get it?) Sundays link up. There are 2 things that makes this blog hop special: 1. This Linky is open to all posts that you are proud of. Did you recently post about a great decorating project, craft, or recipe? That's wonderful if you did, but just fine if you didn't. I just want you to link to a post or posts you are proud of. 2. Do you ever find yourself trying not to duplicate posts on blog hops but aren't quite sure what you posted the previous weeks? Problem solved! The Linky from today will return in the future, making it easy to see what you posted last time (and giving you a 2nd chance to visit any great posts you may have missed!) I do ask that you link directly to your post and include a photo from that post , not just your blog logo. And if you could post my Not "Baaad" Sundays button or at least a link with your post, I'll love you forever! Link up, then get out there and mingle! Don't for

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. I'm actually cleaning the house! If you know me well, you just fell off your chair. Sorry about that. Now...

My original plan for today's post went something along the lines of "I GOT MY NEW NEXUS 7 AND IT'S THE COOLEST THING EVER!!!" Sadly, like most of the other irked-at-Google people who pre-ordered the Nexus 7, I'm still waiting for my new tablet to even ship, despite others who did not pre-order (and did not pay a whopping $15 shipping fee) simply walking into stores like Staples and walking out with a Nexus 7. I called all of my local Staples to ask if they still had any of the Nexus 7s in stock and confused the heck out of everyone who answered. Despite online reports of it being one of Staples hottest selling items ever, no one here has ever heard of it. Lousy Albuquerque. I sold my beloved Kindle Fire in order to pay for the Nexus 7. I miss it. On a cheerier note, I just baked up an Earl Grey Chocolate Bundt Cake and it's fab. Sooo much more fun than playing with my new Google tablet.

NO WORK! Some of us (me!) even get Monday off. Booyah! Is that how you spell booyah? When it's capitalized, like above, Blogger is just fine with it. Lowercase, I get the little red squiggly line beneath it. Hmmm. Have a great holiday weekend, bloggy friends.

THAT LOUSY PICA HAS EARMITES! AGAIN!!! Aaaaugh!!! And on a completely different subject: Today was a fun day! I went to work until 12 and then Paris & I went to Bennigan's, where we each had a tasty salad & a billini, (however that drink is spelled!) I even had a coupon! Next, we went to see Wild Hogs at the $1 Theater. It was great, especially the parts with Martin Lawrence and the sexy nerd of the movie, (I didn't think he was that sexy of a nerd, but Paris seemed to like him). When I got home, I had an email from the Isleta Fun Connection with info on our wedding reception, (only about $600 an hour to reserve the entire building - not too shabby!) I also found a nice looking place for our honeymoon. The owner of the property sounds really nice so far :) Best of all, Derek & I went for a walk, (it's almost impossible to get him to go on a walk!) We made it all the way to Burger King, where we each had a Whopper Jr. Then we went across the street to t

Still no news about Omaha . Phooey! How's the weather where you are? I hear we made the national news here in Albuquerque for being so stinking hot. It actually didn't seem that bad to me, but to be fair, I've been spending my days with my good friend, Mr. Air Conditioner. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Sexy Nerd and I spent last week traveling to and from London. Did you catch that little news story where all the airports in Chicago had to be canceled because of a control tower fire? Of course we were totally flying to Chicago (or trying to, at least) when that was happening. What are the odds? During our trip, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express and the much fancier, luxurious Crowne Plaza. Both hotels had one important thing in common... Their beds made us miss our Amerisleep mattress! Like, reeeally miss it. Neither of the hotels use memory foam mattresses. We had forgotten how uncomfortable a conventional mattress can be. My back is still killing me! At the Holiday Inn Express, my mattress was so soft it felt like I was falling down into it. The sides rose up to surround me, like a taco. There was also something inside the mattress (a spring?) that kept poking me, but it was running right through the middle so it was impossible to avoid. I think it's actual

Probably to my builder's dismay, I'm constantly seeking inspiration for the house we're building. It makes it impossible to settle on a design! My favorite sites for home photos are not Pinterest or Houzz, but ones like Redfin, Zillow, and Sotheby's, where all the photos are real-life homes (not staged for a magazine) and unique. It occurred to me this morning that other folks might like to look through these too, so from now on, whenever I come across a particularly beautiful home, I'll share it here. Enjoy! It's a charming, fairytale cottage. Using the term "cottage" lightly, of course, as it's a sprawling 10,881 sq ft! The dream home we're building is exactly like this house.  Exactly like it, in that it will also have walls, floors, a ceiling, light fixtures, and a roof. Oh, and windows! Our house will also have doors and windows, exactly like this house has doors and windows. Do all the homes in Greenwich, CT h

I finally got Sexy Nerd to join me at Golden Corral for lunch today. He loooooved it! Did you know they make their own cotton candy? Have a great weekend, my bloggy friends! I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has been up to through this week's blog hop. You're a crafty bunch! *And, just a friendly reminder, click the name of the linked post to visit that link OR click on the photo to share the post on Pinterest.

I'm in for some weird looks with this post. As you know, I've had trouble sleeping my entire life. People often ask how I can get through the day, let alone work full time, after several nights of little or no sleep. I think it's because I'll usually sleep well (at least, my idea of "well", which can be 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep) every couple of sleepless nights. Over the past two weeks, I have not been able to recharge with one of these nights of good sleep. I've been trying to go to bed at a set time, avoid caffeine, not watch TV or blog in bed, (etc, etc!) but nothing ever helps. Sleeping pills often leave me lying in bed feeling somewhat dazed, as if my mind is frozen like a computer screen, but not asleep. After so many nights of uninterrupted sleep deprivation, I've been feeling lethargic, complete with a nonstop, pounding headache. I'm just not myself. I stumbled downstairs the other morning, groggy and grouchy, and got out a pai

Before we start hopping, we have a brand new batch of Best in Show award nominees for the week! Be sure to stop by and show each of them some bloggy love. Comfy Cuisine   Don't Disturb This Groove   Never a Dull Day   RocknRecipes   That Girl   The V Spot   A Season For All Things   Moore Babies   Flour Me with Love Tales of a Trophy Wife Ta da! Aren't they all so fabulous? With so much blogging awesomeness out there, it would be impossible for me to choose just 1 winner for the Best in Show award. So, I won't. Vote for your favorite blog post (right sidebar) and keep your fingers crossed for them! The winner will be announced next weekend. If you were nominated, (you lucky duck!) please feel free to take a button: Now, let's hop! Be sure to visit at least 2 other party goers and let them know you found them through LambAround. Click here for the Not "Baaad" Sundays blog hop RULES and BUTTON.

Happy Saturday night, everyone! Sorry I've been MIA the past few days. I've just been so distracted... ...partying it up for my birthday! Now that I'm officially an old codger, it's time to buckle down and work hard on my blog. The Not "Baaad" Sundays blog hop should have been up hours ago! Actually, you guys enjoy the blog hop. Now that I'm so old, I can't stay awake as late as I used to. 9:30 on a Saturday night? This birthday girl is going to bed! I'll be looking forward to visiting all your nifty blogs in the morning, of course :)