Pretty in white



Can I just say how surprised I am by how much it snowed and stuck? Granted, it's really not that much in comparison to other snowfalls that we've had. When it had started yesterday, I figured it would be like an inch and it'd be all melted by morning. I do love the way that clean snow is, it makes everything so gorgeous. But I don't like having to drive in it or having to dig my car out! It took me so long to get my car ready this morning because underneath all the snow, there was a sheet of ice that I had to scrape off.

Cinnamon was very persistent on wanting to come out this morning while I was clearing my car off. Since I wouldn't be able to watch over him, he could only look from inside the door. But when I got home this afternoon, I let him out for a bit. I didn't want to keep him out too long because I didn't want him getting sick or eating too much snow. He was such a character - he was timid around the snow, creeping up to it and sniffing it. He kept looking back at me, as if he didn't want to go any closer to it. Dude, he was the one that was ready to rip off the door this morning so go explore the snow! The way he walked with his paws was so dainty-like.

Unrelated, I was just at the supermarket and I was paying for my groceries. They have huge windows there so the sun was completely blinding me. I was squinting one of my eyes so that I could check out the prices. Apparently, the cashier thought I was winking at him so he decided to wink back at me with a $100 grin.

Slow down



This past week has been highly stressful. It definitely didn't help with the neck and all my bruises! My neck is a lot better, but it definitely isn't 100% yet. Turning my head from right to left is pretty normal but it's the back and front that still is not pleasant. The worst is when I'm driving and trying to look back, ouch! I opted for a very low-key weekend. I had been declining trips to the mountain all week, there was no way I'd be able to go through with it. Kevin surprised me with my fave flowers to make up for the crap that happened this week. I have this cute small vase that I had gotten from C&B a long time ago but I never have just like 1-2 flowers that I can put in them, so it was nice being able to use it.

I was bad with Uno today. I was shuffling and since Kevin wasn't watching me, I totally rigged the cards. I just wanted to see if he'd catch on to what I had done. I gave myself only draw 2 cards and the wild draw 4 cards. I gave him all crap number cards, and I made sure the pile only had number cards in the beginning (that way, when he drew them , he couldn't get a draw 2 to counter-act mine). It was pretty funny because he didn't notice until the end. Okay, it was funny for me but not for him.

A completely random question that I have: why can't I go to the library or get gas without someone all up in my grill? Is that too much to ask for?

Stomp or be stomped

I got to watch my Stomp the Yard on Friday, I enjoyed it! But then again, I love these types of movies. It is so crazy the moves that they can do, I would love to see it in person one of these days. Know what else was nice from the movie? Man candy.

On Saturday, I went snowboarding with the guys. Keep in mind that I've only gone one other time last year. It was crazy busy because it was the first weekend that they reopened. Also, because it was so windy out, they only had 2 lifts open. I had fun despite how badly I hurt myself. It all started with a bad fall onto my bindings into my unmentionables. Let me just stress to guys, granted that women don't have balls, it still can hurt! I had a lot of falls onto my wrists and the bootay (mainly the left one). My wrists are so swollen and bruised (it looks worse in person) - there are many other bruises but I really can't take a pic of those. I have to say the most painful and scariest was that I actually hit my head - hard. The guys were freaking me out saying that I could have a concussion and all this stuff. I have some protective gear but I guess I never thought I'd fall on my head since it's never happened before. Honestly, after that fall, I was pretty shaken up and I think any confidence was shot and I just kept falling. My neck has been killing me and it's impossible to lean it back. I did go see a doctor today and he told me that there wasn't anything wrong with my head, no neurological nerve damage. The tests he was doing on my neck hurt so badly!! But luckily, I only have badly strained muscles, I'm just relieved that I don't have any spinal damage. Basically, I just have to suck it up and deal with the pain as it slowly alleviates.

I spent most of Sunday trying to recuperate from the pain. Your body always feels like someone dropped you down a mountain, and that you hit every rock going down. Probably didn't help that I spent so much energy on pushing myself back up. I wasn't able to get use of the tv so Kevin and I played some Scrabble since I wouldn't have to use my wrists too much, or have to move around a lot. I've never seen him that annoyed at me while playing a game. Why? Because I used up all my 7 letters in one shot and scored a nice 50 point bonus! Oh yeah, FLOODING! How you like that? The sad part, even though I had that huge lead, I didn't beat him by much in the end.

Completely random, I can't stand it when someone gets your hopes up and then it just blows up in your face. All that I'm left with now is a painful TB shot! Needles already freak me out as is, try getting poked when your arms are in such pain already.

Going against

These last few months have been rough and definitely breaking me down and apart. In all honesty, I'm shocked and disgusted at myself for not being stronger. I'm not going to go into details because I don't feel like talking about it, and I like to use my blog for random happy/funny things. It's supposed to be the fun thing that I can go back and look at when I need a boost.

The point is that when you've hit a certain point, it's hard seeing the good things that do go on in your life. You also start viewing things differently, even out of your nature. What's worse is that you know you have control over what you do, yet on some level, you've lost that control. Sounds kooky, I know. You can choose whether to "be" in the same manner that you're feeling, or you can try and be better. It's easier to just go with the flow, heck, how much worse could it be?

Anyways, I was running a whole bunch of errands yesterday. I went to Petsmart to pick up a lot of things for Cinnamon. I got him cans of dessert things, grooming supplies, giant boxes of treats, and 2 bags of dog food. I was at the cashier and she decided to only bag half of the items, leaving all the big items unbagged. There was no way that I'd be able to carry all of that on my own without the handles. I politely asked her if I could have some more bags for the rest. She stares at me, rolls her eyes, and gives me the obnoxious sigh. First of all, I asked nicely and I didn't even ask her to bag it, I would've done it myself. She proceeds to only bag the box, still leaving me the 2 dog food bags. That would've been great, if I had brought my extra 3 & 4th hand with me that day. I politely ask her yet again, if I could have bags for all the items since I wouldn't be able to carry everything. Once again, giving me attitude as if I was asking her to wipe crap off of my shoes or something! Unbelievable - with the way I've been feeling, I was ready to let rumble but I told myself I wanted to be the better person.

Barnes and Nobles was next on my list. I was still annoyed over the bagging incident. I got myself the new Cinnamon Dolce Latte from Starbucks, and it was pretty tasty. I figured it'd make me feel better. As I was walking out, an older man who needed a cane was trying to get in. I tried to make it to his set of doors but he had already propped it a bit open. It's hard trying to hold the door for people when they've already started to (you know what I mean?) - so I had no choice but to let him get in himself. He just looked so pissed off at everything and gave me this dirty look and was mouthing at me as I waited for him to come in. Sort of like this look of, "Why are you in my way when you didn't even get the door for me?" Trust me, I was not in his way by any means. I thought to myself, "Be the change Stacey." I zoomed back to the first set of doors and held them and waited for him. He had the biggest shocked look on his face as he walked in and he mumbled a thank you as he passed me, and I swear that I saw a smile cracking as he went by.

In its small way, that actually made my day. He was probably so used to being angry at the world and with the way he treats people, I'm sure they don't treat him much better in return. Not that I'm being naive and saying that what I did for him will make him change, but I hope it let him see a glimmer of niceness out there. After being around someone that mad at the world, it was a huge slap that I do not ever want to become like that.

Fast forwarding

Two weekends ago - Kevin, Jeff, and I finally went on our "Jeff & Stacey" outing. Jeff wanted to go to C21 and Short Hills and I was cool with that, but I also wanted to try out Minado. It seems like everyone and their moms have gone and they're always telling me how amazing it is, but I've never wanted to commute that far just for food. Since all those places were around the same area, I decided to hit them all up in one shot. We went to Minado for lunch, since it was so pricey, I figured it'd still be cheaper for lunch. The place was freaking huge and the first thing that Jeff said was that he was going to have his wedding there! I liked it, they definitely had a lot of things for me to try out, but I also didn't think it was amazing. I enjoyed the various types of sushi they had and all the little cold salads. I was disappointed that they didn't serve the ice cream for lunch, I wanted my green tea! We then went to C21 for a while, they had a parking garage that would validate free parking for 2 hours if you bought something, saweet! The guys were definitely taking quite some time in there! There was this one guy that kept ranting on and on about how he was going to get "Versace"! Not just Versace, but Ver-sa-ciiiiiii, that's how he said it. Afterwards, we went to Short Hills. I got to touch a lot of things that I'd never be able to afford. I was a bit shocked that the mall closed at 7 on weekends. Apparently, it's a "family" mall, that's what I was told.

This past weekend, I went to the comedy club with Jess and Lydia. I had a great time, I laughed so hard that it hurt. The main guy mostly focused on the dirty jokes and he had this whole act going, which I think worked great. He was talking about how unfair it is with the gift of underwear. A girl can buy nice lingerie and say, "Happy Birthday, Happy Valentine's Day, or whatever" and that could be the gift. But now if a guy were to buy a new pair of boxers and try to pull that off, the girl would totally call him an ahole, tell him to put his pants on, and to go out and get another gift!

I went to the outlets with Kevin and guess what I had? Rita's!! Mmmmm. It's an indoor store so they're opened all year round. I was also able to watch Freedom Writers, I liked it, totally shed some tears. I'm so used to watching McDreamy on Grey's that it was so weird seeing him in a different role.


Cinnamon got a new toy this weekend and I got flowers - gifts for all! This new toy is so funny, when you drop it, it just lays opened up. When you drop it on Cinny's head/face, it just stays smooshed on him like pizza dough.

Hello, 2007!

A bit late but happy new year to everyone! I don't know if it's just me but I felt that this past year flew by so quickly. Know what one thing I'll miss from 2006? Dunkachinos. They don't have them anymore, I'm so sad. Since I'm usually in a rush in the morning, I skip out on breakfast but because the drink is so thick, it gets the job done. Apparently they had to make room in the machine for the new white hot chocolate. I don't like white chocolate yet I still tried it, thinking I'd give it a chance. Eww, it was gross - it was so incredibly sweet that it was painful and it just tasted weird, not something you should be swallowing.

On Friday night, I went to the mall with Kevin to return a bunch of gifts. Luckily, the mall was quite empty that night. I don't like how the cashiers give you these dirty looks when you return things, especially when the item was very cheap. News flash, it was a gift, I have no idea how much was spent! Plus, it's not like I didn't have a receipt and was demanding things.

Saturday was Bach and the boys' xmas party. Lots of food and laughs, good times. Most of the guys were obsessed with the Guitar Hero game and wanted to show off their crazy "master" moves. I thought it would've been so awesome if this game also required someone to sing and rock out!

For some strange reason, Will blanked out about the ring that Kevin has always had and was so freaked out, thinking he had missed something. For the longest time, both Kevin and Bach had Will believing that he missed our wedding, 2 months ago!

Since I got home late, it was so hard waking up the next day. Kevin and I just relaxed and chilled. We went to the supermarket so I could buy food to make for our dinner. My cousin Joe gave me this board game Banzai for xmas so I decided to check it out. It is the most ridiculous game ever. I've never seen this game show but it's based on it. Basically, you watch clips on the DVD and you bet on what the outcome is going to be. You're given chopsticks, plastic sushi pieces, and bowls to play with. They give you a few seconds and you have to quickly transfer the pieces into your bowls, the player with the most pieces in their bowl gets to set the amount for the bet. We only played one round and some of the clips were so nuts! One of them required for us to guess which coffin this old woman would choose to be buried in, and they unveil the answer with her lying in it! That's so messed up. Then there was this typical "dirty" Japanese man clip. You see him wake up and look excited because he still has time to go gamble, but instead he takes a drill and makes a hole in the wall. I was thinking the question was going to ask us what he can build from that hole or something. But instead, he peeps through the hole and sees a woman in a towel and we're supposed to guess how many lumps of sugar she places in her tea! In case anyone was wondering, I won.

Kevin got me LEGO Star Wars II as part of my xmas gift. I've never played the game but it always looked so cute to me, plus, I like games that are easy to play. For a game that's meant for children, let me tell you, it's not that easy to play. For the most part, you go around beating things to pieces and putting them back together. But there are certain "tasks" that you have to do, and in a certain order as well - so at times, we had to replay the level because we couldn't figure it out. The little LEGO people are definitely cute, Chewie rocks in this. Kevin hogged Obi because of the saber and his "willing" power.

For dinner, I made us corn, pasta, and this new clam dish that I made up. I also made sangria which I killed off completely. The clam dish was really good, after all, it did have bacon in it. I also added spinach to it, I love my veggies. I'm thinking that I will just add pasta to it next time and just have that as a complete meal. The soup/juice that it gave us tasted so good and Kevin was laughing at me for spooning it.

It was a great weekend and an end to 2006! Now here are some random shots...


Here's Zach and I, battling it out. Look at how serious he looks. Geeez, calm down buddy! Zach totally kicked my butt.



Both Tam* and I were rocking the belted look, so I told Emmy to wrap her scarf around so that we could be a superhero team! Belt power - rargh! Tammy decided that the next shot should involve them beating me up.



It would've been nice if someone told me that the camera case looked like a schlong.



Oh yeah, the game came with the bands - we're so the Karate Kid. Hi-yah!



Kevin making his sad face because I kicked his ass! He's just mad that his chopstick skills weren't as great as mine.



Showing off the dinner and sangria! Before anyone asks - yes, I cover the table with paper because I'm lazy and don't want to wipe it off later. Hey, I'm recycling on my own terms. It's so funny, both Emmy and Kevin gave me something with Simone to be funny. Kevin got me a jersey card and Emmy gave me the photo. She didn't even realize that she got Forsberg in it as well, since I do like the 12-21 combo. I like telling Kevin that the two of them are about to share in a passionate "you just scored" kiss, but Kevin says they're just going to hug. Oh, and that's Mozzarella from the Moofia - Emmy got her for me! I showed it to her months ago, I just can't believe she got it. It's from Tokidoki (that bag I have), I was expecting it to be much smaller but it's huge! Thanks so much chica! Cinnamon actually stole it from me the other day, no joke. I must have accidentally dropped it on the floor and I couldn't find it for the longest time, then I look under the bed and he must have brought it there. Luckily, she wasn't harmed at all.



If people still believe that animals can't show emotions or convey them, they need to get themselves a pet because they can. I was busy and wasn't playing with him so he got all whiny. He does this strange thing where he tunnels his way underneath all the blankets and then just lays in there. I guess somewhere in this tunneling, he decided that we were going to play hide and seek. Since I didn't go look for him, he started making weird sounds to get my attention. I gave in and lifted up the blankets and he refused to come out and just pouted like that for a bit. Eventually I pulled him out and he had the craziest hair!