It has been a busy few weeks! I know I’ve been lacking in the blog department since the video but I’ve been so busy…eep!

A couple weeks ago was my mom’s bridal shower, and since I’m her maid of honor I had to do a lot of the planning for the day. I hand made the invites, collected the RSVPs (the few that actually had the decency to call!), purchased a biiiig deli platter and made a cake. The cake turned out wonderfully! Everyone at the shower didn’t believe it was real, and when I told them it was..they couldn’t believe I had made it. I was flattered..I LOVE baking. It’s one of only a few things I feel I’m good at. The shower went extremely well -  my mom couldn’t have been happier about everything we did for the day. (Now if only the whole wedding thing was a happier situation, but I won’t elaborate on that one. >:( )

The following weekend (last weekend) we headed out to Toronto for the weekend. We had tickets to see Radiohead at the Molson Ampitheatre on Friday night, so we made a mini vacation out of it and stayed until Monday morning. Back in April or May I somehow managed to score the very first 4 tickets for the General Admission Pit for the show. Ryan, my brother and I all went up together Friday afternoon for the concert. The show ended up being amazing. We were right up front next to the speakers and it was a fantastic show! We took in our surroundings and danced and had the best time. Afterwards we went back to the hotel by taxi, admiring the nightlife of the city. We stayed right in the heart of downtown at the Sheraton Centre, on the 18th floor. The view was soo cool! We had a view of the city and the CN tower right outside our window. We went to sleep every night with the drapes drawn open to fall asleep watching the lights of the city. We spent the rest of the weekend shopping and sight seeing - visiting Ikea, the Real Canadian Superstore, the Eaton Centre and wandering up and down Queen Street. I had the best time! I was so sad when the vacation was over. I’m absolutely in love with Toronto and hope someday to own some kind of property in or near the city so I can go whenever I want. Mmmn Poutine.

We then had our engagement pictures taken Monday night upon returning from Toronto..and head out to Binghamton tonight for the weekend. Always on the go..oi! Those will have to be another blog entry.. I want to try and get a workout in, shower and pack (again.) *waves*

Yep, I made a video blog. Well..it’s more of a hello than a blog, and I say “so long” WAY too often. But ya..I’ve had this site for 7 or 8 years now and figured it was about time I made a video saying hello Pure dorkiness. Oh yes.

So I guess I should elaborate on the July 4th incident I touched on last entry. I love July 4th. Fireworks, Family, Barbeques..not to mention it was one of my late Grandpa Joe’s favorite holidays of the whole year. That’s one reason why we decided to hold our wedding on July 4th next year. It just seemed like the perfect choice. It’s on a Saturday next year, our venue is a tent downtown (free fireworks)..it all just fell into place. We wanted to do something special for July 4th since it was one year til the big day. Nothing big, just spend time together, dinner and fireworks.

We went to Binghamton for the weekend to get out of the normal day to day life and visit his parents and family too. We got to visit with all of Ry’s nieces, nephews and siblings at a family BBQ and at night we made plans to watch the fireworks at the Binghamton Mets game downtown. Everything was great until we made the mistake of assuming the area immediately around the outside of the Met’s stadium had to be safe enough to stand out and watch fireworks. We drove around the general vicinity, found an empty side street to park on and walked to a corner with a good view of the sky over the stadium. Little did we know the Met’s were in overtime..and were going to be awhile. Everything was fine, Ry, Zoe and I stood against a building and waited for the fireworks to begin. Then, the creepiness began! An older disheveled guy comes walking by..then stops and turns around to pet Zoe and start talking to us. Totally fine! The guy’s lonely, it’s a holiday..no problem. Well, maybe. The problem started when early in the conversation his topics were hateful and only progressed to be more and more violent. Not directed at us, but progessively more and more disturbing and uncomfortable. He started our convo talking about how the “indians” were screwing him, the working guy, with their lack of taxes and such. Just nod and smile, not going to argue with some stranger and start a fight. Eventually the convo turned into his father abusing him as a child, cutting him up and the like..and how he broke some guys legs and killed another guy. I just stood there nodding and trying to seem empathetic, meanwhile ry stood there fidgeting with keys in his pocket. I didn’t want to say anything that might set this guy off and turn his anger at us, so I just nodded and agreed..hoping..PRAYING..for the fireworks to start, in hopes the show would make this guy move on his way. No luck! Eventually his conversation had him right in my face slamming his fist into his hand, explaining what he did to a guy..and we had to make some kind of move to leave because it was getting worse and we had a feeling we may get jumped if we didn’t skidaddle. Ry made an excuse saying “oh my brother was supposed to meet us here, I should call him and see what’s up.” And off we went back down the side street to our car..Safety! It kind of ruined the whole tone to the night, adrenaline pumping from the whole situation, both uneasy and uncomfortable. We found a parking lot a few miles away to watch the show instead from the car. Not as nice of a view, but hey..not getting jumped and staying alive is nice!

I hope our July 4th next year works out better. Hehe.

I love my bed. So cozy! That’s where I’m writing this post from as I finish up another long day spent on the laptop marketing and building one of my many online business ideas. My right hand feels slightly carpal tunnelish..ouch! It’s been a few weeks and I have a bunch of minor things I’ve been meaning to blog about but probably won’t get to all of them this time around. My time has been consumed by so many things that just needed to be done above all other things, sadly including updating the site. (not that anyone missed me )

My mom’s getting married in the beginning of September (as I mentioned some post previously I’m sure), and I am her maid of honor. I have been working with my cousin and aunt to put together her bridal shower which is only weeks away now. I handmade all of her invites, am buying a huge deli meat and cheese platter for the shindig and am either baking or buying a cake. That has taken up a lot of my time lately! The invites are now in the mail and a marshmallow fondant cake test run was successful, so I’m all set for shower things for now! The bridesmaid dress I ordered from netbride arrived very promptly this week and fits wonderfully. It worked out very well because it arrived a month earlier than they quoted..fantastic!

My time was also consumed by one of my crafting projects, a needle felted dog. I had a woman contact me about making a mini wool replica of her and her husbands dog for their 7th wedding anniversary. He is currently serving in Afghanistan, and their anniversary is the beginning of next month. I was absolutely flattered by her request for such a special occasion, so of course I told her yes of course! I put a ton of time and heart into each craft I create, so between the invites and making this little dog I was so crunched for time! I needed both the invites and the dog out in the mail asap so everyone would get everything on time and be happy. I was so relieved when the mailman came n grabbed all that stuff from the mailbox..it meant it was all done! The little dog ended up adorable, and she was very happy…YaY!

Other than that it’s the usual time consuming stuff of my multiple entrepreneur type businesses all going on at once! Multiple websites to maintain and keep building on to, crafts business..etc etc. Usually I’d be happy to be kept so busy so I don’t have time to sit and think and just drive myself crazy…But, it’s summer! I want to be able to be a bum! I can’t allow myself to though. I know some people may think that since I’m working and freelancing from home I must be laying on the couch watchin soaps and eating chocolates all day. Not at all! Sometimes I wonder if I should drop all of it and find a normal 9-5 so that there was a clear cut start and end of the work day. When 5 o’clock rolls around I walk out the door and home to relax! I’m such a perfectionist that I get in these moods where I drive myself nuts with anxiety if I’m not sitting at the computer plugging away at one of my business attempts. “Omg, I shouldn’t be sitting relaxing right now..I could have added more content to one of my sites..which in the long run may contribute to it’s success!!” I’ve been sortof driving Ry nuts with it here and there. I’ll wake up some days and be on the computer from the time I climb out of bed to the time I climb back into bed. (And then some, if you count right now! ) I forced myself to set down the computer and just watch a show the one night and was just fidgeting, feeling the need to work on -something-…anything! I just want to be able to break out of debt and start paying more towards our July 2009 wedding..If I’m not working on something that may help finances, I’ve been getting anxious. UGH. I need a chill pill. I’ve been recommended St. Johns Wart to calm me some, which sounds pretty necessary..BUT I’m on Seasonal Birth Control pills, so I can’t. The supplement apparently messes with the bc pills and makes them less effective.

I think that’s enough for now..I still have to update ya on my Doc appoint from last week (mostly healthy!), and my crazy 4th of July.. (it involved lots of kids, fireworks..and almost getting jumped by a plastered bum! Not-EVen-Joking. Omigee) I’ll try to do that this week!

BTW - Bob..you aren’t patronizing me.

Well, I’m in the habit of staying up much too late lately, and I’m laying in bed waiting for Ry and decided I’d give you the latest in my world of Lilly. It isn’t a very -exciting- world, persay..but an update nonetheless! I had a very busy Friday! Ry took off work to take me around town to get things done I’ve been needing to do but had been putting off. I managed to accomplish them all by 3:30pm - in time for a much needed nap (due to the aforementioned staying up much too late lately).

When we woke up we headed to get blood tests done. Our new Rochester doctor requested we both have them done, and since they are only open during work hours we both went in at the same time to get them all done and out of the way. His blood draw went pretty easily. It was his first time having blood drawn so his hardest part was just figuring out what to do when he was called into the room (he initially sat down in a stool instead of the chair with the arm rest they strap your arm too). He, luckily enough, has big veins..so she poked n drew quickly and he was all set. I wish I could say the same for me . Whenever I give blood they always have issues finding my tiny veins. I ended up getting stuck in both arms since the first arm was unsuccessful. She poked my right arm and went on a vein hunt, basically (painfully) windshield wiper moving the needle/point back and forth and in and out under my skin trying to find the vein (TMI? Sorrys!). Eventually she gave up on that arm, yanking out the needle, abruptly allowing a spurt of blood fly through the air and onto the only pair of jeans that currently fit me right. Just great. On to the second arm! Same problem with this one, only after a few swipes back n forth she poked the vein, finally, and drew the blood. I got to walk out of the office with matching cotton ball bandage arm accessories. So rad. My doctor said that if they find anything unusual they’d let me know this week. My mom was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism, and since I’m experiencing a lot of the symptoms of it..I’m wondering if I may suffer from it too. Guess I’ll know this week!

Next I went to get my license renewed. I’m not big on driving because the people driving around me (as seen in a previous post) completely lack any knowledge of the road and driving skill. They make me anxious when I’m behind the wheel..and a bit (very) angry. Anywho, my license expired at the very end of 2006, when I had first moved to Rochester..and I had been putting off the whole renewal for a year and a half. Working from home I didn’t have any absolute need to be behind the wheel..so I just didn’t want to bother with the dmv and renewal. I certainly didn’t want to retest tho..so with the 2 years after expiration renewal limit heading my way in under 6 months I figured it was about time I got the crap done with. It ended up being rather painless though surprisingly! I guess that’s one bonus of having to pay $4,000 something in property taxes every year on a house we bought for $115k. The public buildings and services are pretty convenient and modern..and the dmv was great! We went to the Greece Ridge Mall DMV and were in and out in under 10 minutes! Everything was digital…10-15 windows of workers with digital numbers theyd ding on the screen above their heads. You got a number and just waited for it to appear above one of the desks. In and out..super easy..SO cool. I am now licensed to rule the streetz of Rochester once again duddez.

Lastly I went to the Gyno..but I’ll basically leave it at that. I don’t think you need THAT much info. Especially anything involving my girly parts. I managed to get a year refill on my seasonale so I’m happy. Wee-hoo.

That was my Friday! The weekend itself was pretty uneventful except for our meeting with a DJ on Saturday morning. It went well! We are spending more on a DJ than we originally planned..but we are happy with our decision. We were initially thinking “Well, it’s just music, who cares who plays it.” Then we thought about it and were like well..we are putting SO much into everything involving our wedding (time AND money) that it would really suck if we got someone cheap and it ended up being some embarassing, overinteractive douche who ended up being all our guests remembered, despite all of our planning. We saw bad reviews of some djs in our area being rude to guests, hitting on the groom..etc. We didn’t want to be in that group, so we booked a nice package with a company that’s been in business awhile..and is very professional about it. We are excited! What’s neat to is we can login to their site and start setting up all of our playlists for them online. Wee! So that makes us just about done booking all the big stuff for the wedding. All that’s left is the smaller things. We have the Ceremony/Reception Venue, Food, Cake, Photographer, Videographer, Officiant, FLorist and DJ. I also have my dress. Yay..we are moving right along

BED TIME, NIGHT..kapow.

Ryan and I (in pure dorkness) were at Kmart last week (and might I add the Greece Kmart on West Ridge Road in Rochester is like a little ghetto of a store right smack dab in the middle of a prettty affluent suburb..but I’ll rant on that another time). We were there for some topsoil and compost, since we are redoing the garden bed along the back of our house. We got that, and then wandered over to the summer area where we stumbled upon a “Battle Blast” Slip N Slide…and HAD to buy it. Sure, we are 25 and 27 year old adults..but just because you’re old doesn’t mean you don’t still want to do kids things. If you don’t..you’re just lying. So yesterday it made it to 102 degrees here in Rochester NY..and today it was in mid 90s…What better time to break out the battle blaster slip n slide?! Is there a better time??? I think not. So we hooked the shit up, turned it on and poured some laundry soap and body wash all over it to make it extra crazy. We had the dorkiest..most hilarious time out there. We flew down that thing, despite the No adults warning, and had the best time doing it. We may have to do it again tomorrow. It was just too hilarious..and man was it nice on a day where it’s humid and 90s.

We spent the morning driving all over the place shopping for things. I had to go try on Bridesmaid dresses for my moms wedding which is in 3 months..Since bridesmaid dresses typically take 4-6 months to arrive from the date of ordering, I’m crunched for time..My mom -just- finally settled on them this week so I had to go try some on this weekend so I can order immediately. Of course, my blond ass chooses a bridal shop in Fairport NY..right smack dab in the middle of their Fairport Canal Fest Days thing. When I say right in the middle..I really mean right in the middle too. We had to practically bribe some yellow shirt wearing ’security’ dude to let us park anywhere near the shop, ensuring him I was there because I -needed- to get to the bridal shop, not to walk around their fair. It worked out though, I tried on about 4 dresses, and am going to order one from Netbride.com since they didn’t carry the one I needed. I was able to try on some other ones though to get an idea of what style I wanted..and figure out what size to order. All they had to try on were a 6 and a bunch of 10’s n 12’s..I was swimming in the 10’s and 12’s, almost had the 6 on but the zipper wouldn’t finish cause my stupid boobs are just too big and just weren’t having it. I guess that’s a good thing though? I’m going to go with a strapless size 8 in Berry (deep red), B2 dress #9051.

After that whole thing we then went to Lowe’s to pickup a new grill for cooking up all kinds of yum gooodiess. The whole experience there was a clusterfuck. We had about 7 different people waiting on us and also waiting on other people. We got a Charbroil Stainless Steel grill, and rented one of their trucks to get it home since it was way to big for my sunfire. The grill on the plus side came with free assembly..so we took them up on that…Only to get home and realize that since the pre-assembled grills were sitting outside..they also apparently were easy to steal from. Both porcelain grates that sit above the burners were missing. Great! Why didn’t we look at that before we left? I don’t know..because I’m blond? Ry is too. Anyways, we called them and they told us a lot of parts had been getting stolen from grills altely and were more than happy to give us whatever parts we needed when we dropped the truck back off. So it worked out..It was just a bit obnoxious.

That’s about it for now. More soon. Really. Really-Really.

When I was little I used to love watching Mr Dressup and Mr Rogers. Honestly, they both kind of creep me out now..but at the time I thought they were the best shows ever.

I remember loving when Mr Rogers would leave his house to show us some kind of random few minute video of him doing something or whatever…and my FAVORITE was one where they showed you how crayons were made. I thought it was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen. I can still see the end of the clip where a little kid holds up a crayon to their eye when it was all finished. I hated when the trolley would show up and the stupid puppets would take over the show though. Was that what most of the show consisted of? I don’t really remember anymore..but if it was..I’m not sure why it was still one of my favs. Hmn.

As for Mr Dressup..I also was an avid watcher…well, the older originalish ones at least. When there was a little kid puppet named Casey and a gray dog that lived in the backyard. My favorite part was when he’d go inside and sit at his easel and draw. I would pull out my paper and crayons and try to copy what he was doing..but never ever made anything resembling what was on his easel. I was envious of his skillz. I never liked the new puppets that took over the show in later years. They were poosackish.

I’m not sure why I’m blooging about this, but I was bored waiting to go to sleep…and just thought you’d like to know. Good night!

PS~ I’ll update my cam image soonish. I’m a slacker. Nyeh.

Since moving to Rochester NY I’ve experienced an overwhelming amount of people who simply cannot drive. It’s unbelievably crazy. Now, I’m sure you’re thinking..wait..it’s only an hour from Buffalo, it can’t be all -that- different, right?! Wrong! Well mostly. While the people in Buffalo also are no fun to drive with, it’s because they drive like assholes, but most are not lacking actual driving skill. Make sense?

Example:

Buffalo: Driving 60 in a 30, they ride your ass if you aren’t going fast enough, even if you’re going 10 over speed limit…tons of people cutting you off..people crossing double yellow lines to pass in oncoming traffic because they MUST GET THERE NOW OMGZ.

Rochester: Complete lack of turn signals, stopping at non-existent stop signs, driving when they don’t have the right of way, staying in lanes when there have been lane ending signs for thousands of feet, only to continue being stubborn (or stupid?) and continue driving down the median just so they don’t have to follow the signs… and the worst - completely not paying attention to where they dangerously swerve into other lanes

To give you an example of just how bad it is, Ry and I have almost had 3 accidents in under 7 days from people almost hitting us. First some dumb ass in a silver Olds Alero couldn’t understand a lane shift on West Ridge Road, and when the lanes shifted..she didn’t..and instead continues straight at my Sunfire’s right front wheel area. BEEP! Ok, phew..avoided! Now that was Saturday. Today, on the way to work some dumb bitch in a hyundai on Maiden swerved into oncoming traffic right at Ry, only to jerk back into  her lane after he has swerved himself into the shoulder, laying on the horn. Stupid whore kept right on driving as if nothing happened even though she could have easily killed him since they were both going about 40. She’s lucky a bunch of school kids weren’t crossing the street since it was that time in the morning. You think that’d be enough bad drivers for a few days but nope..another dumb punani almost hit us on our way to taking Totoro to the vet. Both have the green, we’re making a right..she’s making a left..we have the right of way..she goes anyways and almost takes our side out. Wow. Driving in Rochester is like gambling with your life. How are people so fucking ridiculously stupid and careless behind the wheel? You’re in a giant moving weapon, the least you could do is turn off your stupid cellphones, stop playing with your radios and learn how to follow simple traffic rules. It just blows my mind how bad it is around here. We were in Toronto and it was amazing how well everyone there drove compared to here and Buffalo. Their Highways were packed bumped to bumper at rush hour times and still moved efficiently without a problem. It was like watching frogger in front of us as cars darted in and out of lanes to enter and exit the highway..and yet stayed polite..following traffic rules, using turn signals…Hell, even the people there were much nicer. Poo on you Rochester drivers.

It’s been a bit. I know *nodnod*. Just having a rollercoaster of an April emotionally, schedule wise..stress…etc. Not really going to get into the details, let’s just say theres been some days the past few weeks where I’ve been so frustrated and mad I could only lay in bed wondering how our luck could be so bad lately. We’re doing ok though.. just hoping next month makes up for this month..cause we’ve been fighting the crap luck monster since our car crapped out on highway 81 on Easter. Grr *flails fists*.

On a brighter note, our kitty arrived on Wednesday, perfect timing since it was Ry’s bday gift and it was his bday. We were supposed to get him on the 5th but our luck was crap (remember?) and first he was overgrooming, then weather get poosackish..then American Airlines cancelled flights cause the FAA was being poosackish. It’s been a tiring 2 days aquainting him with Zoe (maltese dog), but they seem to be getting progressively better over time..so hopefully eventually they’ll be buddies..or at least coexist peacefully. Anywho..here’ssss Totoro, our new Turkish Van KITTEH.

So cute. He’s already played INVIZIBLE SNAKE CHARMER.

Tadaaahh.

It’s almost April! April is generally when the weather finally breaks here in Western NY, and starts actually feeling like Spring. I can’t wait! Tomorrows going to be a bit above average and actually make it into the 60s…I’m hoping to get a walk or run in the fresh air! It sucks being cooped up inside for 5 months every year..it’s always exciting when the weather warms up again.

Speaking of warming up..bikini season is just around the corner and I’ve recently weighed in at 143.2. Yay! Still going strong. 17 pounds lost now! I was in a plateau for awhile ( a few weeks) but kept doing what I’ve been doing and it eventually broke and started dropping again a week or so ago. Starting tomorrow I am going to be adding a lot more toning to my schedule. I’m almost where I want to be weight wise so all I need now is to tighten up a few places and drop the remaining 3-5 pounds and I’m set. I’m excited I’ll be able to pull on my swimsuit this year for Ontario Beach Park and not feel uncomfortable in my own skin.

On another note, I haven’t been feeling so great the past week or so healthwise. I’m been experiencing a ton of dizziness and nausea. I tend to deal with it every month or 2 since highschool..but the past week it’s been almost non-stop and seems to worsen if I turn my head left or right for any longer than 10-15 seconds. Over the years I’ve experienced the dizziness and symptoms in a multitude of ways. Sometimes the dizziness is accompanied by chest pain (I had some sharp ones last night which basically drew the last bit of energy I had in me for the day), and other times it just comes on suddenly and I have a “drop-attack” where I suddenly feel really sick, vision starts to blur and fade out, sounds fade out and I drop to the ground, sweating reallly, really badly. I had cardio tests done years ago and was told I have Mitrovalve prolapse and although the tests didn’t say for sure, they -thought- I also had neurocardiogenic syncope..but noone knows for sure. I finally made an appointment to meet with a local doctor in a month to begin having regular visits again, and hopefully get some bloodwork and tests done to really find out what my problem is. Does anyone experience anything I explained and know what it is? I’ve been dealing with it forever and noone seems to ever have answers, and now that it seems to be getting worse lately I need to really push for some answers. I’ll keep everyone updated, hopefully it’s something minor that I can manage and not anything too severe :/