It was a dark and stormy night.

Husband and I were enjoying a nice evening of watching our latest Netflix obsession, Roswell (anything about Aliens and I am in), when the storm outside started brewing. Of course! I thought, there wasn't a cloud in the sky earlier and I had chosen that very day to get my car washed. Go figure. Then, right as I am about to publish the best blog post to end all other blog posts- the power goes out!

Now, this isn't the first time the power has gone off in my apartment. Sometimes it is because the hair blow dryer is going at full speed at the same time I am watching TV. But this time, the whole building's electricity came to a screeching halt. Right after the lights went out, I heard a roar of "Oh my goshes" coming from outside our window. People from our building were hanging out outside next to the pool area and saw the entire building's lights go out. I wish I had been out there, that must have been such a cool experience.

Husband quickly turned into panic-mode because the lights being out meant that not only would we not get to finish our Roswell episode, but now we were forced to find some other form of entertainment that didn't involve the computer, television, game systems, or technology in general.

Husband goes into a deep depression
after the power outage.

"Now what are we going to do?!" There was no light in the room, but I could still see him shaking his fist in the air with utter desperation.

And then I said what no Husband ever wants to hear...

"Well, I guess we could just talk."

A "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" rang silently from his head.

He knew I would be excited that all the lights went out. After all, I love candles, I love anything that breaks up the monotony, and I love peace and quiet. After lighting all the candles we had (Note to self: must buy more candles), I decided to take this opportunity to use try out my new camera in the candle-light.

I couldn't see a lot of the buttons, so a lot of it was blind trying. But I did manage to make a cool star out of the candle lights by moving it in a star pattern as I took the picture. So simple, but so much fun to try. I couldn't believe it actually worked:

Once Husband saw me having fun with technology, he snatched the camera from me to take some of his own.

The power outage lasted until the middle of the night (don't worry, I went and turned off every light so in case that did happen, I wouldn't wake up to a million lights on). But I think it must have been the entire block, because I slept so well without any light streaming through my windows.

Husband thought someone probably crashed into a light pole and hoped everyone was okay. I preferred to think it was a spy trying to steal something from someone's house or apartment, and to avoid making a scene- he/she needed to cause a huge distraction and turn off everyone's lights instead. Then, I went searching for my cell phone and couldn't find it anywhere. Maybe I was the one being spied on...

Probably not though, I eventually found my phone because the bling on it caught the flickering light of the candle and exposed its hiding place. That is, unless the spy is really good and stole it and then put it back in time for my second-search party. Dang, they are good.

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Say Cheese!

As you already know, I have been working hard to lose weight. It started out as a healthiness thing, then it turned into a goal thing, and now it has turned into a done thing! I woke up this morning and had officially reached my goal weight of 130!

To show Husband I wasn't lying later, I took a picture to document this momentous occasion. I know a woman is never supposed to tell her weight (or age), but I am 24 years old and weigh 130 pounds, and I'm pretty freakin' happy about it. Any poundage I lose after the fact will only be an added bonus. 

I still don't look super-skinny or anything, and if you haven't seen me in awhile you probably wouldn't think I really looked any different, but there was some definite bulge developing and I wanted to nip it in the butt before it got a chance to spiral out of control. 

Did I mention I LOVE eating? Seriously, wish I could be eating 24/7. I blame my mother for being such a good cook- I've never done drugs before, but I imagine her food has the same addictive qualities as crack. One taste of her mouth-watering sausage wantons and- well, there really is no such thing as eating just one of them, and I think that says it all. But if you don't believe me, just ask Husband's family. How do you think I won them over? I brought my mother's delectableness the first time I went to Christmas with his whole family, and two months later, he proposed. It turns out, you don't have to be a good cook to hook a man, you just need someone who will do the good cooking for you so you can pass it off as your own. Thanks Ma!

Okay, enough parental-blaming for the time being. Since losing weight, the best part has just been feeling so much better! I've tried and failed before (haven't we all when it comes to dieting?), but then again, I did have a sweet incentive waiting for me at the finish line....

AN AWESOME DSLR CAMERA!! 

Unfortunately, I had to take pictures of it with my old camera. It's like the best dentist in town having to get his teeth done by the second best dentist in town. He is the best dentist in town and he's the one that has to live with sub-par teeth! And a bad set of chompers on the man who makes his money off of making them look good, is not good for business. I know, craziness, right?

I knew my Olympus Evolt E-620 was going to be in the mail today, but was so sad when I got home and opened it up and I didn't have the right memory card for it. Shake ya fist! My stepfather, a camera enthusiast/expert, picked it out for me and I thought for sure that him knowing me so well and all that he would know I wouldn't read the fine details of the description and notice that I was going to be missing a very important part of the picture-taking process. Fear not people, one trip to Target later and I was ready to start shooting!

It is kind of loud when it takes a picture, but I LOVE LOVE it- especially the swivel live-image view screen:

I am also stoked that I finally got to purchase a LugLife bag. I saw a LugLife bag forever ago and kept trying to think of good excuses to purchase one. Then, when I was waiting for my new camera to be shipped to me, I did a lot of online shopping for a camera bag that wasn't so, well, camera-bagish. I couldn't find much, and especially nothing great for under $100. But after an exhausting night of googling, I remembered my long lost-love of the LugLife Puddle Jumper. I thought it would be a little too big, but was willing to make it work if the price was right. When I went to LugLife's website I was so happy to learn they had since developed a mini-puddle jumper!

Is that lucky or what?! As an organization lover, who is using it as a camera bag, I figure I should at least give you proof of why it is so awesome. Here are some pictures that may explain why it is so perfect (for anything really):

Look at all those pockets! It has a pocket everywhere, for anything you can imagine. Perfect for all those bulky or tiny camera accessories. But the selling point for me (not that I really needed one to seal the deal or anything), was the easy access pocket I could use to put my camera in (which is advertised as a nice place to keep a change of shoes, but I think the larger one is better for that. If you ride the metro and keep a comfy pair of shoes in your bag, I recommend the regular size puddle jumper!). 

The secret pocket also keeps it safe from all the other items in the main storage section of the bag. The whole bag is also really nicely padded- making it perfect as a camera bag! And it comes in a bunch of fun colors! I went with black though, because it goes with more outfits. 

Now, to retire the old camera and show you some shots from my new one. These are just on auto without flash, but I still think you can really tell the difference in the quality. I didn't have anything interesting to shoot, and am still waiting for the battery to fully-charge, but here are the quickies:

The first shot with the new camera! 

I never thought I had odd looking feet, but they are kind of freaking me out in that picture. 

Me trying to figure out how to use the live-image swivel view screen to take a picture of myself. 

After finally convincing Husband to take a picture with me. Don't be fooled, he only looks really happy because we were watching something really funny on TV. And finally... 

You know I can never resist taking a picture of the pup! 

Can't wait to play with it more. I'm already annoying enough with my regular camera, I can only imagine what is to come of me now. Say Cheese!

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Prepare To Be BeDazzled!

Long story short, I had a Blackberry Storm which treated me well for awhile but got progressively worse  and eventually developed into the most unbearable device I have ever owned, and yesterday it stopped working all together. My mother was kind enough to let me take her upgrade and so I made my way to the Verizon store- I wont go into detail about how mad I get every time I go there, but I did end up finding a phone that I liked. It also happens to be one of the most popular phones on the market right now and nobody in the near vacinity had one in stock. Such is life.

SO I opted to wait it out for a phone I really wanted rather than purchasing something I didn't really want right on the spot. This is actually a pretty big moment for me as I tend to get the "gotta have it right nows" and can be relentless and unforgiving when I get a goal in my head. Some call it impatience or needing instant gratification, smart people know I just get... enthusiastic about things.

While I am waiting for my Droid Incredible (and if you have heard negative things, DO NOT mention them to me. I am a firm believer of self-fulfilling prophecies and I don't want any negative thoughts swimming around in my head. In case I wasn't clear: If you don't have anything nice to say [about the Incredible], don't say anything at all! [pretty please!]), I have to use an old Verizon phone I still had in my desk. This is also remarkable as my old phones usually go in the (1) trash bin, (2) to my brother, BNIB, who breaks phones at an unimaginable rate- seriously, I went to his apartment one time and found seven RECENTLY USED cell phones laying around in plain site, don't let any store tell you they have a phone that is unbreakable, BNIB has proved over and over again that no phone is truly indestructible - or (3) don't work anymore, hence why I got a new phone.

So knowing that I could be stuck using this old school phone, with no email or facebook or anything!, for up to 3-4 weeks, I decided there was no reason I shouldn't shake things up and do what all cool people do and BEDAZZLE IT! That's right, I've pimped my phone, I've blinged it out, I've sparkle-fied it. But best of all- I've made it EXTRA cheesy by giving it a patriotic theme. I wonder if I say it is a Second Amendment theme if work would let me expense it...

U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

AMERICA, AMERICA... Bada-BLING!

THE PHONE OF THE FREE, BABY!

PATRIOTIC PUPPY!

Are those fireworks coming from my ear?! No that's just me talking on my BLINGING cell phone. And just because I love you guys so much, here is another one for you:

 That phone is FREEDOM-LICKING GOOD!

To come: random rants, a new camera?, the best bag for organization freaks, and more!

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Pandarized!

When someone is out of the office for a long time, or even just for lunch, bad things can happen. A fellow co-worker of mine extended her long Memorial Day weekend into a mini-vacay- so me and Nick (Finance) decided to mess with the small panda collection she has in her office while also leaving her with a new present for her wall. We had much grander plans, but were still pretty pleased with the results:

Pictured above is one of the pandas who got tied up and blindfolded while Nicole (Event Services) was out. The underage panda beside it decided to take advantage of the situation and got a little too tipsy with the shot glass. 

We aren't actually sure what the panda was trying to accomplish by climbing the bowling pin, so we can only assume one of the other pandas tied her up to it.  But best of all was the present we made for Nicole. While others at work may have their prize deers or turkeys hanging on their walls, Nicole now has her own prize panda:

Nicole wasn't as disturbed by it as we had hoped, she thought is was more cute than anything. But doing these type of things may be why I always get blamed when someone plays a trick on someone else in the office.

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Signs of Summer

First freckle of the summer! It's on my leg, and I think it's a keeper...

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