Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!


My new thing is not doing the same old thing. Even when you are having lots of fun or love what you are doing, you can still end up in a rut. I am the first to admit when I have a problem, just ask Husband- he loves hearing about every tiny one of mine. 

Kara is a huge Braves Fan Chipper Jones fan, so whenever they come to town we are, as her friends, required to go watch him in action. So in the spirit of shaking things up- we took our fun to the field. 

It all kicked off with breakfast mamosas at Kara's swank condo on the metroline, then a pretty eventful metro ride to the stadium, followed by some rain delays (but never any fun delay)-- all culminating in one long day of taking A LOT of goofy pictures.
I tried to get them to go to a cubs game, but they just weren't having it.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Leprechaun Hunting!

You know what I am really tired of looking at? That hand-puppet photo in the previous blog post.

There are so many times when my brain is on auto-pilot that I will type in my blog's web address into google and click it open with the same dire anticipation I open up my google reader to see if other people have updated their blogs. My heart fills with hope that maybe, just maybe, while under the influence of some other form of auto-pilot-- say a 3am typing fest or a margarita-induced frenzy-- that I had posted something new and completely forgotten about doing it. I know, it's narcissistic to check your own blog for new content, but that is what happens when you want to have a blog, but you don't actually feel like doing the blogging.

This conundrum has led to eventually give into the daunting task of actually posting after being out of practice for so long. So to speed things up a bit, I shall post mini-posts for now on. Around the world of Amber in a small series of post-dated mini-posts (which basically means, I can make those dates you see at the top of the page say anything I want!):

So this first post- Leprechaun Hunting may look like a long post, but really, I had nothing to say but Happy St. Patrick's Day!!


Mine consisted of getting to rock my new green dress, drinking green beer ( magic coloring by request only) that was served to us by an exact Kendra (one of Hugh Hefner's old girlfriends who now has her own TV show) look-a-like. It was March Madness (I don't even want to talk about my bracket) and St. Patrick's Day so needless to say, the happy hour crowd was aplenty! 

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Getting Handsy When The Lights Go Out

Power Outage + Flashlight = Hand Shadow Contest.

Husband's Challenge to Me: "Make a dog," he says-- simple enough, yes? But wait, there's more... "of German Mastiff descent."

Of course, Husband. Of German Mastiff descent. I should have known there would be more.

Did you expect anything less, people?

From me, that is...


Look familiar? Almost as if Rocky Balboa was a pup?




Hands down, I win. That Nationwide Spokesman has got nothing on me, and in this battle, neither did Husband.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Food for Thought

Food not only sustains life, it sustains story lines. When reading, I find one of the cleverest ways writers give insight into a character is showcasing what they eat. Not how they eat, not where, not when- but the actual what.

Sure, Kathy, a lab-created clone, is fighting for a deferment from the mandatory donation of her vital organs so she can spend more time with the love of her life, but just as importantly she drinks luke-warm water with her dry “biscuits” every night before bed. Okay, so what if Cassia is just discovering that her perfect society is about to crumble from outside freedom fighters? She is about to miss the meal cart that brings her a healthy portion of vitamin-infused mashed potatoes! I know Robert is a nuclear-physicist hell bent on solving the world’s energy crisis but did you know that he can’t start a day without his nutella and banana sandwich?  

I thought I was crazy too. Amber, you really think writers spend sooo much time deliberating over what their character eats? Yes, 1. Because writers have mini-anxiety attacks on every tiny, seemingly-insignificant detail when writing the world’s next greatest novel (which all authors hope they are producing- they’re both gluttons for punishment and kind of narcissistic) and 2. Because, whether you realize it or not, those food choices give you insight into the character and his/her entire environment.

What if Kathy the clone was the one eating a nutella and banana sandwich? Preposterous! She leads a simple life. Her story is a serious one. Only such a sandwich would be eaten by a kooky person (or, perhaps, someone who is a little Bananas? It’s almost poetic if I do say so myself). Nutella bananawiches are for the humorous, mad-scientist to digest in a quirky scifi novel— not for the delicate palate of another mad-scientist’s creation in a book challenging morals and ethics and questioning what it means to have a soul. No, luke-warm water and dry biscuits will do just fine for her.

Yeah, the how and the where and the when are important too. But the what! The what tells it all! What does this character choose put into their body? To satisfy their taste buds? What do they pick to give them nourishment during their life-altering journey?

Cheesefries, really?  I wouldn’t have picked that. No time for food comas when you're leading the fight against an oppressive government.

Monday, February 14, 2011

These are a few of my favorite things...


My Nightstand. 

More specifically, my new charging station that looks like grass (it makes me wish there was a stronger word for love), my elephant ring holder (purchased on my honeymoon), the jewelry stand holding all my new Sabika jewelry (I'm a new addict), the cutest Buddha ever (who conveniently holds my spare change in his tummy), my blue dog-shaped back-knot-getter-outer-thingy, the box with clay turtles crawling all over it my brother brought back for me from my dad in Costa Rica, and the lime green baby duster for the night stand that I believe was evilly magnetically built to attract every piece of dust in the air. 


My Patent Leather Heels.

Especially the ones in bright colors. I have a patent leather addiction, passed down from my mother who can't resist its shiny seduction either. I think I only own one pair of heels that isn't patent leather- and those are sparkly.


The Mickey Mouse Camera Stap.

My grandfather, who died when I was young, had one just like it that he wore all the time and I was absolutely in love with it as a child (or just loved my grandpa that much). It was willed down to my Aunt Lisa but I still always talk about it so my Mother being the ebay-savvy woman she is found me one that looks just like it online. I imagine I will get a lot of looks when I use my camera, but the sentiment means that much to me I could care less.



Surprises.  

1. I LOVE surprises. I LOVE unexpected gifts, or just-because I thought you would like it gifts, or this-made-me-think-of-you gifts. Or notes... but those are a lot harder to come by these days. Anyway- surprises, especially when you have absolutely no idea are coming, are the best. I don't know anyone who would disagree with me, but I feel like I have a special love for them- probably because I'm a random gifter myself. I am horrible at giving gifts on actual holidays because if I don't think you'll love it, I find it hard for me to commit myself to buying it for you. I don't want to just get you a gift, I want to get you THE GIFT! I am rambling now.... but random gifts just seem so thoughtful. 2. It's hard to surprise me, I usually know what I am getting before I get it (or in some cases, don't get it) or I can typically tell when someone is thinking about surprising me. So true surprises, the best!

The bag above came in the mail one day in a flat envelope (the bag is the quality of those earth-friendly grocery bags that are everywhere now so it folds up super easy). It was addressed to me by the company who sent it with no receipt inside, no note as to where it came from, absolutely nothing- just the bag. The company's name was even something really general like CDE which with google gets you nowhere-or everywhere depending on how you look at it. After checking it for suspicious, deadly powdery drugs, and/or a bugging device- I settled my pondering who, what, when, whys, and wheres? on that I must have signed up for something or taken a survey at some time to get it free- but it was still a cool surprise. 

The Mitt Romney T-Shirt came to my work the next day in a flat envelope too with nothing but a tag from the company it was purchased from- which really freaked me out. I mean, what are the chances of getting TWO seemingly-free, cool things in the mail in a 2 day period?? Upon closer review, and an AH-HA! moment, I found where the tag had a tiny little print note on it saying it was from one of the field reps in our southern region. Liz, who made an appearance in the previous post, "Florida Fast Forward", sent it to me after we bonded in Florida over our comMITTment to Romney in the 2012 presidential run. When I saw the gift and who it was from I was ecstatic- it was completely unexpected and made my day! Liz and I both LOVE (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE) Mitt Romney- (his politics people!) she even had a picture of her and him when she saw him speak at a recent event. I was super jelly, but was glad I found someone who shared in my enthusiasm for him to win in 2012 as well!


My Waterproof Nook Case. 

On Christmas break I tagged along with Husband as he visited with a bunch of his high school friends at one of their former teacher's house- a ritual he strictly adheres to every time he is back for the holidays. I decided to come this time and while we were there one of his friends mentioned that her mother loves her ereader and even double wraps it in a plastic bag so she can float around in the pool with hers. I thought that was brilliant because I love reading in the tub. I think I even started doing it the next night while we were on vacation. But it quickly became tiresome after the first two or three times- messing with the bags was a pain and I was still terrified of dropping it. I thought, "someone should make some more permanent form of waterproof case for these things." And like all my great ideas, someone had already thought of it and I easily found one on Amazon. One birthday later, and strict instructions for Husband to purchase it for me, and I was the proud owner of the waterproof nook case you gaze upon above. Unfortunately, Husband would not let me take a picture of me with it in the tub- prude.

I had some more emotionally-centered things to list here. The post above makes me look a little materialistic (Which isn't too far fetched I am sure. I like things to look pretty.), but I think I will make this type of post a reoccurring one and next time I will list all those wonderful intangible niceties that make me all warm in fuzzy inside. You know, like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens...........   ;)

Sunday, January 30, 2011

The House Rules

The picture above was shot at the 1950s Day at my family reunion last summer.
Husband was not too keen on it then, but apparently now he thinks it was a swell idea.
"Why are you turning off all the lights in the house?" - Me

"Don't question what I am doing. We are going back to the 1950s when men were the head of the household and women didn't question everything they did." -Husband

"Oh okay, does that mean I can't blog any more?" - Me

"It means you have to ask for permission." - Husband

"Oh, please continue. What are the other rules of this new engagement?" - Me

"You will vote for who I tell you to vote for. You will...." - Husband

"I'm sorry, could you repeat those after the voting one. I want to type these up for my blog." - Me

"Don't you have to ask something first? Did you ask for permission to blog? Because you're not going to get it." - Husband

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Boom Boom Boom


Last night I topped off my birthday celebration by a joint b-day party for me and two other of our friends' birthdays. We rented out an entire boom boom bus with all of our friends and went from place to place around D.C. celebrating. Except for people saying my dress looked like an accordion all night, it was still a lot of fun!! And I still love my dress...

Unfortunately, I didn't get very many pictures!

Friday, January 28, 2011

Cupcake Cake!


I don't typically bake- but for really special occasions, for really special people, I will! This weekend is Kara's birthday, so I finally had the perfect excuse to try out the giant cupcake cake mold my mother gave me over Christmas. I think she knew the novelty of the baking pan might be enough to actually get me to bake something. And Moo was right!

Kara's favorite is funfetti cake, so I braved the winter storm while I was "snowed-in" and out of work for the day because the office's power was out. But I got home with the cake mix and realized I didn't have any vegetable oil- and while debating using butter or olive oil instead, I remembered I had just bought a bunch of diet ginger ale and it dawned on me that I had completely forgot about my favorite way of making cake- 1 box of cake mix and 1 diet drink of any kind and wala! We have cake! Diet cake!

And cupcakes for other people at work...


"Go big or go home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll have the kid's cheeseburger please." - Kara


This time she can have her cake and eat it too! Happy Birthday Kara!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Snow Show


Guess what?! It only took me two hours to drive home from work today! But it is all put in perspective when someone who took the alternate route home not only left way before me and didn't get home until... well, I am still getting the "still not there yet" texts from her. :( I blame it on Obama- apparently his motorcade held up traffic for hours while he skipped ahead of everyone - thanks Mr. President.

I passed almost ten or so wrecks on my way home, I got stuck twice on the street next to our place, and normally I would love to stay home the next day- but tomorrow is free January birthday lunch at work... mmmmmmmm Kara and I (the office January birthdays) picked Potbelly's.

I actually have to take credit for the onslaught of snow. Last night, before I went to sleep, I told Husband I was going to try and fall asleep thinking about a blanket of snow outside (even though we were told it wasn't supposed to start snowing until tonight). I told him I was going to wish it into early existence, possibly in hopes of getting out work today- shhhhh. Husband wrote it off as a not-gonna-happen, as he does most of my wishful thinking. Later, I woke up early in the A.M. around 4:15- checked my phone for the time, looked at the glowing light coming from the windows, flew to flip open the blinds and shrieked in excitement at the sight of the snowfall outside. Note: Husband does not like it when I wake him up at 4:15 in the morning to share in my enthusiasm- no matter if it is snowfall outside or, I suspect, even if I won the lottery. I still had to go to work today, but I have a sneaky suspicion that in light of tonight's never-ending snowfall, I will be out tomorrow.

Random stream of thoughts: What always surprises me is how light outside it looks at night when it has just snowed. And how warm it always seems to feel just before and while it is snowing. I love the first snowfall. I always get this false sense of security on the first night after it snows. Everything is still pure and calm- it looks so peaceful. I feel like nothing could go wrong.


Matlock even came out to play! And he hates the snow... or did. I haven't seen him run around and play like that in forever. He was so energetic I couldn't even get a decent shot of him (the swirled photo above being a product of trying to catch him in action). And it doesn't help that he is camouflaged...



Saturday, January 22, 2011

Happy Birthday to Me!


+ Birthday Decorations
+ Zen (my latest fascination) Flowers from Matlock (and Husband)
+ Margaritas and Mexican with the Girls!
+ Followed by Movie Night: No Strings Attached
+ Coffee while Perusing the Bookstore
+ Pho with Husband
+ 3 Course Dinner at Extra Virgin (Italian Restaurant) 
+ Chocolate Chocolate Cake (w/lots o lots of candles)
+ Chocolate Covered Strawberries
+ Cards, Phone Calls, Emails, Texts, FB Messages, etc.
+ A Happy Birthday Video!!
+ Presents!
+ Department-wide Free Lunch (to come!)
+ Boom! Boom! Boom! Party (to come!)
+ and, as they say, many more...
   = 25 Years Young


Thanks to everyone who made my birthday so much fun- and those who are 
going to let me stretch the celebration out for an entire week!!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Ice, Ice Baby

I got a delay day yesterday- woke up, stepped outside my apartment in my high heels and before I could even put my foot down, I pivoted back into the door. My heels wouldn't have lasted one step on the sheets of ice that had formed overnight.



It doesn't look bad, but it wasn't pretty in person. I was pretty ecstatic when I got back inside and saw that one of my co-workers had texted me telling me we didn't have to be into work until 10 AM. Just enough time to put on my snow boots and start scrapping (or at least for Husband to wake up and do it for me).

As a side note, I could definitely do more 10 AM start days- I think I was more productive and energized and there was hardly any traffic (then again, most people got off work and school instead).

Not the most fascinating post in the world, but I am obsessed with Matlock and I did promise myself I would try to blog more- so here is my cop-out- a video from Christmas time:


Plus, it's a full moon tonight! Time to get crazy!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

BD ON TN DL

I just got my new driver's license in the mail- and I just want to point out one thing that I can tell is not going to make me (or many other people for that matter) very happy in the future:

Excuse my shoddy photoshop skills, I am feeling lazy-
it comes with old age.
Did you figure out what it could be? Yeah, it's the GIANT birth date billboard across it. Why not just stamp it on my forehead? I'm only turning 25, so it doesn't bother me right now, but I can see this making a lot of women (and men) very uneasy about waving it around. Sorry friends, our days of claiming we are turning 21 over and over again are- over.

But I do love the new heart at the top right corner of my picture. Random, but cute. Tennessee loves me.
Side note: I just googled the heart, it means I signed up to be an organ donor. Ooh that movie "Seven Pounds"- it really makes you feel bad not to be one.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Florida Fast Forward

I was in Florida on business (I feel too grown up saying that) for work and because of bad weather up North, my flight got cancelled, so I was stuck in Florida, on a resort, eating ridiculously good food- needless to say, it could have been a lot worse. But while I was down there, I downloaded a new video editing software to go with the new HD camera Husband bought me for Christmas, so I had to play with it a little bit. The extra day in Florida permitted me to actually get to go down to the beach for a minute-- the real video was not so interesting, the edited version though...

This is my stroll to the beach- on speed.


I mean, I say a lot of silly things and I probably sound like I'm on speed when I say them, but the video and voice distortion made it all the more funny. More on Florida later, slow mow next time. 

Friday, January 7, 2011

Escaping Boredom

Just did some impromptu, at-home karaoke dueting with Husband. Of course, it all spawned from yet another one of my brilliant flashes of idealistic energy as I tell him about one of the most beautiful and ridiculously awe-inspiring love songs I have ever heard.

In case you have never been privy to being around me on these not-so-rare occasions where my eyes grow to the size of fried eggs while I tell you about the next greatest thing that has come to my mind and I must! (must! must! must!) tell you about it at this very moment and if you don't agree with me or share in my excitement my entire world might just fall apart and I will hate you for anywhere between 5 seconds to 5 days for rejecting something I am so obviously passionate about-- well, then you will not understand what I am talking about, or even worse, probably think I am a crazy person after reading this entire blog post (which neither bothers me or is entirely incorrect of you to assume). But if you do know me, then you can get a nice mental picture of me going on and on while Husband looks back at me like the rambling eccentric person I am.

He whose name we do not speak.
I sing (also not so fun to listen to) the few verses of the poetic-genius that I actually know and then proceed to tell him what the song is actually about- failing miserably to accurate convey my feelings and the song's plot, and knowing that I am altering the story to my liking rather than keeping its integrity in tact- I pull up the lyrics and nonetheless he finally takes the bait. He finally caved and played along with my ever-winding and expeditious conversational path if only to get me to stop explaining and start getting to the freaking point.

And so we set off on our duet- Husband of course, not extending himself too much to appease my wild inclination, happily played the part of the vocal instrumental background music (which he did, to my surprise, very accurately for not being all that familiar with the song itself). I, on the other hand, bravely sang till the apartment walls shook (as well as my dying voice), an occurrence I am sure my neighbors upstairs hope is not going to be a reoccurring one, and belted out the scariest version of "Escape" by Robert Holmes anyone has probably ever heard. But I had heart, and fun, so I make no apologies.

Escape? You may know it by another name...


I was tired of my lady, we'd been together too long.
Like a worn-out recording, of a favorite song.
So while she lay there sleeping, I read the paper in bed.
And in the personals column, there was this letter I read:


If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.

If you're not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
I'm the lady you've looked for, write to me, and escape.


I didn't think about my lady, I know that sounds kind of mean.
But me and my old lady, had fallen into the same old dull routine.
So I wrote to the paper, took out a personal ad.
And though I'm nobody's poet, I thought it wasn't half-bad.


Yes, I like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.

I'm not much into health food, I am into champagne.
I've got to meet you by tomorrow noon, and cut through all this red tape.
At a bar called O'Malley's, where we'll plan our escape.


So I waited with high hopes, then she walked in the place.
I knew her smile in an instant, I knew the curve of her face.
It was my own lovely lady, and she said, "Oh, it's you."

And we laughed for a moment, and I said, I never knew...

That you liked Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.

And the feel of the ocean, and the taste of champagne.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape. 
You're the love that I've looked for, come with me, and escape.


If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.

If you're not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
You're the love that I've looked for, come with me, and escape.


Yeah, I'm not so crazy after all.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Blog Makeover

I have been reading a lot lately, and it has been making me miss my blog. But my blog has morphed into a sporadic regurgitation of what I have been up to rather than my not-so-poignant, but at times somewhat entertaining, thoughts on what's happening in my life- like I originally intended it to be.

So in the spirit of the new year and blogging more, I am redefining this blog from here on out and attempting to blog everyday- whether I like it or not (if anyone is starting a betting pool on how long it will take me not to blog one day, I've got dibs on tomorrow's date).

So while I may mention things that have recently happened in my life, like for instance the recent NRA Field Ops party, a.k.a. Field Ops Prom...


... or the bowling we did afterwards....

P.S. Love this picture!
..... or things like trips back home for special occasions....


Mainly I will be filling this blog for the next year (hopefully) with useless thoughts and information, some long most not, to appease my ridiculously large readership.

And since there is no time like the present, I thought I would tell you about my bathtub. Yep, we're going deep here guys, my wonderful, deep bathtub.

Now I'm not the kind of girl who can sit and soak in the tub for hours, surrounded by bubbles, drinking a glass of wine, and listening only to the sound of nearby flickering candles (although the more I type, the more I am thinking I should give it a chance after all)- but I do use it like men use their staycation "bathroom breaks"- you know, the ones where they go in with a newspaper or magazine (or for the real escapees- a laptop) and don't come out for a minimum of 45 minutes.

Okay, before you start thinking about #2, I am really just talking about using the bathroom as your oasis, not actually using the bathroom.

I take a bath almost every other day, for the most part, just to get away. I go into the bathroom, run the water at scolding hot temperatures, and settle in to do absolutely nothing. When I take a bath, I don't want to hear the buzzing of an overheated laptop or commercials playing in the background, I don't even want to see a piece of technology (except my wonderful, do-no-wrong best friend Nook e-reader). I want to close myself off from the world, clear my mind, and most of all---- ignore all traces of responsibility.

Yeah, I want to be lazy and not feel any guilt about it.

So when our deep, wonderful, blissful tub's clog broke from the inside and I couldn't fill up the tub for the few times a week that I get to pretend nobody else exists but me, I about had a mental breakdown. I freaked. How was I going to function without my every other day of pure mental irresponsibility? I threw a fit, stomped around my apartment, complaining for days, until silly me realized that an uncloggable tub may be the better match for my still-developing handy man skills, but it was no match for what Mythbusters has taught us is the most powerful and versatile item in everyone's home- the renaissance man of household tools---- Duck Tape.

Mmmmmhmmm... the answer was so simple. All I needed was a good redneck fix for the problem.

But I was out of Duck Tape, so I used heavy Scotch packaging tape and it works as formidable substitute:


A quick fix for what could have been the straw that broke this camel's back (which is actually kind of fitting seeing as I have constant paranoia that I am developing a hump on my back from slouching too much). 

As I used to tell my friend Rebecca in grade school- "Sometimes, Rebecca, irresponsibility pays off!"

In this particular case, taking a bath helps me ignore responsibility well enough to keep me just sane enough to be responsible the rest of the time. In the case of Rebecca, well I am sure her parents didn't care much for me boasting and encouraging a personal motto of irresponsibility. But she still turned out awesome and responsible despite my many attempts to persuade her otherwise... dang will power. I think she rubbed off on me, what does that say about my will power?

I am off now- time to pretend to be irresponsible.