Here are a few maps / globes I’ve come across lately that I cannot wait to place in my own home:

Isn’t this map marvelous???  You can find it here.

Pretty much obsessed by anything jhill design

You can shop for her maps by place! LOOOOOVE!!!!

Love this black globe:

And my future babies will probably hate me for this one, but I think this mobile would be adorable………

Especially when displayed in a cute nursery like this one:

What do you think?  Cute, right???

1 – Go back to sleep

2 – Go to the Social Security office to start the process of changing my last name

3 – Go for a run

I let the scale decide my fate.  When I stepped on the scale – I knew what I had to do.  RUN!

It doesn’t surprise me that the scale wasn’t very pretty this morning.  Last night I went to a friends to catch up.  We ordered the Isola Verda pizza from Mezzanotte – and it was sooooo yummy!  I also drank 3 Skinny Dips.  But it was great seeing friends and I made it home at a decent hour – so it was a success!

Anyway – back to this morning……..I got dressed and headed to the Y for a run.  I was happy to see one of my favorite treadmills open – so I stepped on with high hopes.  I started my run and a few minutes in I got a terrible pain in my side.  Must be the granola bar I ate before the run.  So I pressed on and ran 1 mile and decided to walk a lap.  Then I ran another mile – and the pain was still there – so I walked another lap.  Repeated again.  All in all, I got 4 miles done in about 48 minutes.  Sort of pathetic, as I’ve been trying to keep my miles at 10:00 or under – but I will not complain because I finished my goal and burned close to 600 calories. 

I’ve got a busy week ahead, so tonight I have a date with my couch.

Do you eat before a run?  Does it give you a pain in the side?  How can I avoid that next time?

A:  They were located in the heart of Uptown @ The Epicentre

B:  Their 3 options included steak, chicken, or seafood

C:  Their set menu also included 1 free adult beverage!

It was so great to catch up with friends and eat some yummy food.  I went with the Coconut Shrimp, Field Greens Salad w/balsamic vinegrette and Salmon w/aspargus.  It was delish!

Afterwards, I was feeling pretty sleepy and my feet were killing – but the girls wanted to get one more drink – so I went with them to Howl at the Moon.  Okay, seriously?  I LOOOOOVED piano bars…….in 2001.  I tolerated them in 2002.  But now?  ICK!  Especially on a Wednesday night – such a weird crowd!  Anyway, I grabbed and ice water and hung for another 20 minutes or so before calling it a night.  It was great seeing you girls!

Saturday morning we went to celebrate our good friend, Nathan who completed his first triathalon!  So inspiring!  I just kept thinking – I could do this!  What is holding me back from doing this?

His wife set up an amazing brunch for friends – so J and I rode our bikes the 5 miles to their house to eat.  It wasn’t so bad on the way there, as it was still 9 AM and maybe in the 80s.  But by the time we left, it was almost noon and it was HOOOOOOOOOT!!!  But we sucked it up and rode the 5 miles back home.  We spent the rest of the afternoon running a few errands and then hit up the pool.

That night we went to see “Inception”.  Everyone has been raving about it – so we had to see what all the fuss was about.  And quite frankly?  I didn’t love it!  In fact, I barely could stay awake through it!  Am I the only one who didn’t love it?

Today J & I set a goal to run an entire 5k with the treadmill set at 6.0.  I was determined to finish a 5k in 30 minutes – and according to the treadmill, I did it!  But according to my Nike + iPod app – my time was 32:05.  I am not sure what to believe – but I do know my speed is improving!  Maybe by Saturday I can kick it up to 6.1 or 6.2?

Busy week ahead – so I’m hittin’ the sack!

G’Nite!

I always go to the sale for 3 things:  Shoes, Mac Makeup Sets and Undies.

The past 2 years I have purchased the brush sets – so I  skipped the Mac counter and moved on to the other 2 necessities.

First, I purchased 2 pair of undies.  If you have never worn a pair of hanky panky undies – you are missing out!!!  They ROCK!!!  And they are usually $21 a pair!  I refuse to pay that much – so I watch for sales.  This year – you can buy them for $12.90/pair.

Next, I hit the glorious shoe dept.  I was initially looking for some boots – but I just bought a great pair last fall – so I decided to find something a bit different (plus, why buy 1 pair of boots when you can buy TWO pair of shoes for the same price?).  I ended up with these:

The Miz Mooz ‘Slone’ Pump in cognac – and Enzo Angiolini ‘Mielee’ Pump in dark red.  I was going to get the dark grey, or navy – but the dark red was soooooo pretty!!!

Next stop:  American Cancer Society

I was there to volunteer for work – a couple of co-workers and I stuffed about a MILLION folders and then about 5 MILLION bags.  See????  Not exaggerating!

Our company is a sponsor for an upcoming breast cancer event – so I signed up for the 5k.  Yeehaw!  It’s just a “walk” – but I’m going to run it to see how I can do.  It’s not a race – so I won’t officially be timed, but I’m running it anyway.  Anyone else want to join me?

It was a crazy, long day at work – didn’t get home and have dinner until after 9 PM.  I’m wiped!!!  Off to watch some TV and unwind.

G’nite!

Island indigo was a blog I started in October 2002. I started it before my friend Jen and I embarked on an adventure of a lifetime (and yes, I’ve had more than one of these!) This go around, Jen and I back packed through Central America for 5 1/2 months. We hit up Mexico, Belize, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. We salsa danced, hiked volcanoes, learned to scuba dive, studied spanish, got sick, robbed, ate strange foods, laughed, loved and had an amazing journey! Here is the link where you can read old archives of our adventure: http://islandindigo.blogspot.com/

I tried my hardest to keep the blog up.  Pinky swear.  But I just got over it.  So in December 2003 – I quit blogger.

Then came blog #2.  My boyfriend and I started making a wishlist of what we’d like to see and do in our lives.  We started thinking of taking a trip to southeast Asia.  Because my dad was in the war and because of my love of the food – I’ve always been interested in that part of the world.  When we realized there was no way we could just take 1-3 months off work (and a few other things in life happened that made us realize how short and precious life is) – we decided to sell our house, quit our jobs, sell our cars, and spend a year abroad.  Best.  Decision.  EVER!!! 

That is when www.bubblesandbugs.com was born.  We became divemasters in Honduras, saw the Taj Mahal, and fell absolutely head over heels in love with Nepal.  We met our dream of spending 3 months in Southeast Asia where we saw stunning beaches, met the “Tumbleweeds”, visited war sites, sailed around Halong Bay, explored the ruins of Ankor Wat, and cried over the genocide of the Khmer Rouge.   Then we spent the next 2 months in a truck traveling through 7 countries from Kenya to South Africa.  We saw lions hunting, fell in love with Zanzibar island, saw a lunar rainbow at Victoria Falls, and dove with the great white sharks in South Africa.  It truly was a dream come true.

However, when we returned – we were jobless for a few months and too cheap to continue paying for the domain – so we axed it and ended up hosting it to a free site:  http://blowfishvodka.wordpress.com/ - which totally sucks because most of the links to our pictures were hosted on bubblesandbugs.com and are therefore now broken, and we lost track of a lot of our loyal readers.    We have, however, continued to post pictures on our flickr site – and select pictures from our trip can be found here:  http://bit.ly/ddgsAZ

So why now? 

Well, the boyfriend and I are now husband and wife.  We live several thousands of miles away from many loved ones, and quite frankly – I sort of miss having somewhere to post my thoughts, ideas, pictures, adventures, etc.  So watch this space – good things are a brewin’! 

Cheers!