BLERG

Remember last year when I had an annoying "cold" that lasted the entire winter season? And how that turned out to be a never-ending sinus infection? It was so much fun that I decided to repeat it again this year. Party in my sinus cavities!

It's a little Breaking Bad up in here with with all this pseudoephederine.

I've been sequestered for the majority of the month--not to mention the pukes, pink eye, coughs, and colds of Lancer and Beezie. We've been hit hard, and a plague has been upon our house. Here's hoping February is better. We've been doing a lot of this biz:

We did manage to get out and about here and there.We hit up Palo Alto and spent a nice day in the fresh air, enjoying the sun.

We hit up a slider bar, and I tasted about 25% of it. That 25% was delish.

We hit up Happy Hollow and picnicked on the lawn.

 We hit up a few local parks

I tried to unload this thang on Craigslist, and the only taker was a Nigerian scammer.

I missed a Studio 54 themed party bus night in SF, and had to sell my Rock of Ages tickets due to my stupid cold.

I weep for you, 80's rock!

 But it hasn't been all bad. My Boston Boys made it official with a new album and tour in 2013!!!

You know I got all crazy and got tickets in LA and San Jose. It was a seriously coordinated effort to land top tier tickets in both cities. If things get really crazy, and we feel like we need more FACETIME, we aren't ruling out the possibility of a roadtrip to Vegas between LA and San Jose. Poor Lancer is going to be a NKOTB widow for 3 days. He's a good man.

In related news, my Craigslist friend/normal NKOTB friend Carolyn got our 5 star meet and greet all arranged, so there is ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NO WAY THAT I AM GOING TO MISS OUT ON MY FACETIME WITH DONNIE. 10 people total: 5 guys, 2 girls for each guy. Just me, DDub, and one more Donnie girl. You may recall that last time we had 3 Donnie girls, and a skankadoo stole my time with him. Not happening this time--unless I'm the skankadoo in question. I can't rule it out.

I'm off to a good start. I tweeted Jon a sarcastic picture of Blakely's artistic "talents" and he pinged me back. He totally loves me, and I him. He's the dark horse of the group. He sneaks up on you with his sense of humor, and ensnares you with his charm. Watch out, Ddub.

At the very least, I'm about a million times hotter than I was when they first came around.So, there's that. I think January is still a win for me.

Our "Amazing" Getaway

Transitioning back to real life after the holidays was especially tough this year. I did us all a favor, and booked a fun and relaxing trip away for the weekend in Monterey.

I got a sweet steal of a room, and Lancer got us upgraded to a room on the links with a view. Sweet! The property is amazing and boasts 2 pools and a hot tub. My biggest vice besides Diet Coke is hot water. If we had a hot tub here, I would never get out of it. I was SO looking forward to a good soak.

Our first stop was a little museum in Monterey. It was adorable! They have little themed stations--a life size dollhouse, a rocking boat, a garden, a mini golf course, etc. B had a blast.

We had a fabulous dinner at the house restaurant,then headed back to the room to go tubbin. I quickly discovered that a tiny set of hands had 'helpfully' unpacked my suit. While Lancer and B headed down, I made a mad dash to Target to buy an ill-fitting, unsupportive bathing suit. In related news, I have a cute halter top swimsuit top for sale. Used just once!

By the time I got down there, they were already done, and headed back to the room. We decided to switch off, and Lancer went down later by himself, grabbing the electronic car keys because he had to grab something from the car afterward.

He was blinded by the fine hunnies in the hot tub, and took a nice, steamy dip with the keys in his swimsuit pocket.

I totally understand how this debacle happened

The next day, we enjoyed a made to order breakfast, hung out by the warm fireplace, and then packed up to head to the aquarium.

Naturally, the key was zapped, and wouldn't work. We discussed the various options, and decided on the following plan of action:

Take hotel shuttle to airport

Rent a car

Drive home, pick up spare keys, pick up my car

Ditch B with Team Gray (thanks!)

Go drop off rental car at San Jose Airport

Drive back to Monterey

Start car, verify it works

Drive back home

Pick up B and Logan (double thanks!)

Adding insult to injury, the new key that had to be made was $300!! Thanks a lot, Mercedes. Between the rental and the new key, we were out a cool $400. And we didn't even make it to the aquarium.

This week brought the pukes to B, a sinus infection for me, and double conjunctivitis for both of us. Miraculously, Lancer escaped without any illness--probably because of all the chlorine in his pricey, key killing hot tub jaunt!

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

I knew 2013 was going to be my year!

According to this source, NKOTB will be ditching the BSB part of their mega tour and hitting the road to give me yet another reason to live--not that I'm dying or anything.

And this time, I shall NOT be blocked by a skanky ne'er-do-well. I WILL meet Donnie, and get my Facetime. Time to start tweeting Ddub to let him know to expect me.

PS--a tour, single, and album???? Triple good news!

Top Songs of 2012

Better late than never, I say. Without further ado, I present to you the best, and worst, songs of 2012.

Top Songs of 2012

PSY--Gangnam Style. Thanks to a random tweet from our fave DJ, we were on the Gangnam train long before most people. Lance immediately stated that he wanted to learn the dance, and it was at that moment that I realized we had the new Macarena on our hands. Anything that incorporates horsey dance moves along with a glittery wind tunnel is top drawer in my book.

Bruno Mars--Locked out of Heaven. Where has this guy been hiding all of his talent? He vomits up The Lazy Song last year, and then presents us with this amazing Police-y number this year? I hope this version of Bruno is here to stay.

Macklemore--Thrift Shop. An ode to Goodwill plus a sick beat. Nuff said.

Kesha--Die Young. I have a love/hate thing going on with Kesha, but this song is killer.

Swedish House Mafia--Greyhound/Don't You Worry Child. It's been a few years since I've had any EDM on my list, but I LOVE this group, and these 2 songs made me remember why I love house music.

Carly Rae Jepsen--Call me Maybe. Yes, it's cheesy and silly--but it was bumpin' in my car all summer long.

One Direction--What Makes you Beautiful. See above. I can't explain this one, but I'm hopelessly devoted to this song like Sandy was to Danny. I know nothing about them, and can't tell them apart. My inner NKOTB fan does not approve of this fact, but there it is.

The interwebs tells me this is One Direction

Pitbull--Don't Stop the Party. Shameful, but that bass line is SICK. It makes me want to shake it. Ya'll having a good time out there??

Muse--Madness. Reminds me of Numb by U2. Love it. By far the best Madness song thus far.

M83--Midnight City. An ode to 80's synth. LOVE this song.

Honorable Mention: The Biebs and T-Swizz. Both put out great albums with a more mature sound. It will be interesting to see these 2 continue to grow as artists.

 Worst Songs of 2012

Rihanna--Diamonds. UGH. Shine bright like a DI-MON?? Is it just me, or is she off key here? Who told her this was a good song? Worst song of 2012.

 
Fun--Some Nights. I mostly chose this one because they named their band Fun. Not Big Fun, or Crazy Fun--just "Fun." If you can't do better than that, neither can I.

Mumford & Sons--I Will Wait Why? Why? Why? SO BORING.

Lumineers--Ho Hey Because Mumford and Sons wasn't annoying enough, we had to produce an American version. Ho, hey, go away.

Kanye & Friends--Mercy Maybe it's because he game Kim K a cat by this name that she managed to kill within 2 months. Or maybe it's because it bears the line "white girls politickin." Either way--not buying it.

Rihanna/Chris Brown--Cake Wanna hear Rihanna sing the word cake on repeat while the guy that slammed her face into a dashboard sings about her? Me neither.

Lana Del Rey--Blue Jeans  I think SNL drove this point home better than anyone else could.

Flo Rida--Whistle While I won't deny this has a catchy beat, the name and lyrics are just so obvious and lame. Yes, we get what you're saying. You're so very clever, Flo Rida!

Train--Drive By Because it features a line about two ply Hefty Bags, that's why.

Nicki Minaj--Stupid Hoe Is she kidding? If seizures had a soundtrack, I suspect it would sound suspiciously similar to this excuse of a song. Plus, the faces she pulls--UGH.

And there you have it. Thoughts? Anything you think I missed? Do you hate One Direction? Will you still be my friend despite the fact that I gave Biebs an honorable mention? Are you the one person in the world who loves Diamonds? Do you not know what Flo Rida is actually singing about?

Out on Bail, Fresh Outta Jail

Just California dreamin' on NYE. Our hosts gave us bandanas and told us to wear them how we best saw fit. We decided it ain't nuthin but a gangsta party.

We get it from our baby.

NYE was quite fun, despite the fact that I spent the night refusing to eat live worms, and Lance froze his webbed toes off trying to find marbles in a bucket of ice. The balloons dropped, and we danced like fools to our modern day Macarena, Gangham Style. Thanks, Psy. We dressed classy, and danced cheesy.

I'm really looking forward to the new year--a few items I would like to tackle:

Yosemite (never been!)
Grand Canyon (ditto--and I've been dying to since the Brady Bunch went there on that disastrous trip in a very special episode)
Disneyland
Hawaii--kid free!
Cooking classes with Lancer
Camping somewhere in a camper van
A mantel for our fireplace
Reading more--with my trusty new Kindle!And, yes, I mean more than the new Sweet Life books--though I always knew Jessica would turn out to be rotten!
Improving my sewing skills
Getting crafty
Finding a way to turn my love of dance into being less fat
Keeping my hair silky and shiny, mostly to bug Ashley
Writing more--possibly tackling one of the many books in my head
A girls getaway weekend somewhere with shopping, food, and a spa

A few items I would like to pay other people to tackle:

Pottytraining

See, I'm an optimist. Bring it on, 2013! I can't wait to see what you have in store for us.

Family Photos

I was sort of a slacker, and forgot to do pics when B was 12, 18, or 24 months old. Then the holidays started to roll around, and I wisely decided to cash in my last session and look super hot for my Christmas card. The work is credited to Meghan MacAskill, but let's be honest--our natural charm and classic good looks went a long way.

Seriously, folks. I don't know if pink is just my color, or if Talbots is my store (did I just write that?) but I have to say I'm not sad about the way these pics turned out. And it's not just me--Lance's evil photo twin, Vance, failed to show up in the photos as well!

Those pictures really capture the essence of Blakely--in all of her happy, smiley, funny glory. I look forward to the next holiday themed shoot. I found an adorable Valentine's outfit, and I think I need someone on the portly side to dress up as Cupid for a themed shoot. Any takers?