Good Bye June....

In less than an hour it will be July!! My favorite month!!! YAY!
Other good things that are happening:

Highlights:
1. Marius got his new collar and ID tag and didn't put up a fuss... I sent him outside singing the B-52's "Roam if you want to, roam around the world..."
2. My pictures from Black Apple came in and they are adorable.
3. I found an extra cupboard in my kitchen. Funny, it had been there all along, staring me in the face! Go Storage!
4. I scored a fabulous deal on a chic mirror for my hallway!
5. My BFF Rach, had a healthy baby boy!
6. I DON'T HAVE TO GO TO WORK UNTIL AUGUST 4!!!

and I had one low... but not worth discussing. not worth it at all.

Also, I'm thinking about starting a picture blog... no words, just picture stories. Would anyone "read" it with no words? I saw an artist in Paris at a museum, who told stories with really random, funny pictures and I loved it. Hmmm.... Any thoughts?

Baby V is here!

My BFF Rachel had baby #2 on Friday... Caleb Mark, 7lbs 5oz, 19.5inches. Rachel and the babe are doing great. Caleb came 3 weeks and 3 days early, just like his big brother Seth. And thankfully Rachel no longer has to be on bed rest, which sucked for her for the last 2 months!!
I'm happy to be a pseudo-aunt once again!

The One titled Taking a Chance or Die Trying

I am not typically a risk taker. I get set in my routine and tend to stay there. Once in awhile i will do something big, like move somewhere or start a new job. But those are life changes and that is, well it's just life.
On an average day, I do not do things that are out of the ordinary. Earlier this week I did. And although the outcome was not what i had hopped for. I took a chance.
And while I'm sitting here feeling really dumb and silly for taking said chance... My quote of the day appeared in my inbox. It was a good one.

A life making mistakes is not only more honorable but more

useful than a life spent doing nothing.
~George Bernard Shaw

A picture story....

A girl outside after work,

a story told in pictures:

Movie on the Rooftop

Last night Ellen and i went to Solera for their rooftop movie night. Every Monday and Tuesday night, Solera shows a movie with a themed drink. The movie last night was Mommy Dearest, the drink was the Red Screamer. It was beautiful to sit outside, enjoy delicious tapas and watch a movie. Perfect summer night.
The atmosphere was awesome because so many people had seen the movie Mommy Dearest, that lines were being quoted left and right. Including one of my favorite lines from a movie, "I SAID NO WIRE HANGERS!!!!" The staff even handed out wire hangers so we could re-enact the scene... everyone was way into it!
I cannot wait to go back for more tapas, movies and laughs.

"Christina, get the AX!!!"

Saving Bunnies and Holding Babies

My weekend was uneventful, besides doing some gardening and cleaning. I found a baby bunny that must have fallen into my egress window. I tried to get him out, but he kept jumping and hopping and freakin' out. Gosh, I felt so bad, I kept saying, Hey little bunny, I just want to help you.
He eventually ran into a small hole in the wall of my house. There he stays, i fear the worst now. :(
Sunday night i brought a meal over to the Kummer's and I got to see little baby Josiah. He was so sweet and little... At least that endeavor was successful.
Only 3.5 days left of work and then I'm on summer break!!! Freedom!

"Freedom is the oxygen of the soul."

~Moshe Dayan

What I just Bought:

I found out about this lovely artist via Kelly's food blog. One glance and it was love at first sight! Check out her store here at Etsy, she calls herself, The Black Apple. Her work is beautiful, quirky and sweet.
This is the print i ordered:

The Cupcake Peddlers

Taco Tuesday

Now I know last night wasn't Tuesday, but whenever there is tacos to be had, I'm calling it Taco Tuesday. It's an inside joke I have with my brother. If you didn't already know, my darling brother Buddy has the "Downs" as we call it in our family. Or I guess you could say he has Down's Syndrome, although when he was born the doctors called him a "Mongoloid". Bad, but we have been known to tease him about that. Anyway, Buddy often goes to activities with his friends, and one of the activities is called Taco Tuesdays, where they play UNO and eat, but what else, Tacos.
My favorite thing to say to the Budster is, So what did you eat at TACO Tuesday? Lasagna?
No Sabrina! Tacos!
And then I will say it again, So what did you eat at TACO Tuesday? Pizza?
We go on like this until either:
a) buddy doesn't think its funny anymore
b) I'm laughing too hard to go on.
My parents have a joke (truth) that between the two us they have a hard time keeping track of which of their kids has the disability!
Well back to Tacos. Last night i met my co-workers, Rachel & Janine at Picosa in St. Anthony Main. They had fab happy hour specials that included, $1 Tacos and great 2 for 1s! We sat outside, by the river, having plenty o' laughs. Yay Tacos!

Garden Party

The past two nights I have hosted different friends over for dinner. First was Michelle, who brought me a lovely housewarming gift and a bottle of wine. We sat outside on my patio eating pad thai and enjoying the weather and good conversation. Tonight i had Shannon over for dinner. Even Kelly stopped by for a brief visit. I made Halibut with Asparagus in Parchment Paper. The food was divine and it was relaxing to sit outside and take in the beauty of the day.

More Peonies

Baby K is here!

My sweet friend Jeanelle had a little baby boy this morning. Josiah John coming in at 7lbs 5oz, 20.5inches... Mom, Dad and Baby are doing terrific! YAY!

The Perfect Man

Shannon was over the other day and we were watching Little House on the Prairie, one of my all time favorite shows. I was telling shan, how wonderful I thought Charles "Pa" Ingles was and how I would like to marry someone like him. Then I thought about what the perfect combination would be for my "dream" man. Now, I know that the possibility of meeting the perfect man is impossible, I took characteristics of my 4 favorite movie\tv rolls men have played and have combined them to create: Sabrina's Perfect Man.

1. Charles "Pa" Ingles (Michael Landon)\Little House on the Prairie: Rugged, hardworking, family man, but a good sense of humor and sweet sensitive side.

2. Lloyd Dobler (John Cusak)\Say Anything: Quirky, goofy, dorky and when he is asked what he is planning on doing for the summer, he says, "Being a really good boyfriend."

3. Bob Rueland (David Duchovny)\Return to Me: Chivalrous, kind, can laugh at himself, very sweet.

4. Guido Orefice (Roberto Benigni)\Life is Beautiful: Silly, Spaztastic, and will do anything to be with the woman he loves. I Love when he greets his wife with "Bon giorno Principessa!"

My Mosaic

I was looking at Heather's Blog and found this on Confessions of a Novice and decided to try it!
Here are the rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.
1. What is your first name? Sabrina

2. What is your favorite food? Pad Thai

3. What high school did you go to? Watertown

4. What is your favorite color? Pink

5. Who is your celebrity crush? Ed Westwick

6. Favorite drink? Mojito

7. Dream vacation? Montevideo, Uruguay

8. Favorite dessert? Wedding Cake

9. What you want to be when you grow up? Librarian

10. What do you love most in life? People

11. One Word to describe you. Friendly

12. Your flickr name. SuperfluousSabrina

1. Sabrina Darling, 2. Pad Thai with scallops at Pei Wei, 3. Dead End!, 4. Pink For Cure, 5. Ed Westwick, 6. Sunday confessional..., 7. Fruit stand, 8. another official wedding album photography disaster - the official sword cake cutting photo, 9. Librarians After Dark, 10. IMG_8118, 11. friendly roses, 12. IMG_0108

The Amazing Adventures of Marius The Cat

My cat Marius, is a wanderer. He is 16 and has 9 lives. He was almost eaten by coyotes and he lived to tell about it. Marius has been known to wander off for days, weeks, months... but he always comes back. Saturday he didn't come back, Sunday he still wasn't back. I was a tiny bit worried, but Marius is amazing and always can find his way back. Although this time, something didn't feel right. I decided to stop in at the local humane society to just see if maybe he might be there. I walked through the Lost animals, cute dogs and cats that i felt so bad for, poor things. I wasn't expecting to actually see Marius there, so i was just putzing around saying hello to the animals. Then i walked into the next room, black cat, calico cat, funny looking dog, Marius, white cat... WHAT! I did a total double take. I yelled, Hey that's my cat!!!
There he was, just chillin' in his little cage, not even looking a bit distressed. He looked up at me and I swore he almost said, "I knew you would come for me, no worries." I started crying. Silly cat.

Birthday Night

Last night Cindy and I took Shannon out for her birthday. Shannon chose Red Lobster for her main meal... which is funny, because she doesn't even like seafood. But Red Lobster it was. We also decided to get dressed up for the fun of it. I often wish i lived in a different time like the 40/50/60's when women dressed up EVERY TIME they went out. We have become such a laid back culture that it leads to lazy dressing. Anyway, after dinner I took Cindy and Shannon to one of my favorite places, Psycho Suzi's. The reason i really like that joint is:
a. every type of social group hangs out there
b. they have pickle roll-ups
c. a fab patio
So we shared a Psycho Punch and I did warn them that they go heavy on the rum. When i warn people before hand about anything, i am trying to be very sincere, but people seem to say,
Wow, how come you didn't warn me!
This happens a lot. As if i would make stuff up.
After Psycho Suzi's we decided to go check out St. Petersburg Russian Restaurant. I now live right by there and yet i am always a little hesitant about going. I guess in the past every time St. Petersburg was brought up, people would say, Oh that place. And they aren't saying it in a bad way. Just in a, oh i have had weird experiences there, and it is a little crazy, but instead I'm just going to say, Oh That place. Somewhat similar to when people used to tell me about the Wondrous Punch at the Red Dragon. Oh yeah, That drink. I never understood what they meant until I had, that drink. Yeah it makes you go crazy, as Ahmad would say!
So back to St. Petersburg... we climbed the rather dark stairs to the top of the restaurant and Shannon said, It looks like we are going to a Russian Mafia Wake.
But when we got there, it was pretty mellow. The bartender was very friendly, he gave us our martinis gratis and we loved him for it.
I also got a lovely bowl of borsch. Oh it was so amazing, I'm still thinking about it. Borsch is beet soup in case you were curious... and I love me some beets. I want to go back everyday for just one little cup of borsch to make me smile.
After St. Petersburg we went back to my house and sat outside on the patio late into the night. Laughing and taking random pictures and being complete in friendship and mirth.

Peonies!

My Peonies are in bloom! That alone makes any bad day, a lot better. I didn't have a bad day if you're wondering, I was just thinking how could you be in a bad mood with peonies blooming? Instant mood lifter... Like a Wonder Bra for your soul.

Happy Birthday Tweaker!

This is a birthday shout-out to one my besties, Shannon. Happy 31st Beautiful lady! I have known Shannon for 22 years now! So here are a few of my favorite Beaner and Tweaker moments:

Spillin' the wax and driving on the wrong side of the road

Crashin' into the snowbank

The stalking route...

The "Jasper" day. JASPER NO! "I retrieved these for you."

Babysitting, Dave Doe and the Marjoram spices

Osakis Road Trip!

The Works Bombs at Cindy's Cabin

Dracula!!! AH HA HA HA!

Celebratin' over Oysters

Last night, I met with Kelly to celebrate her final days as a teacher. She writes about the experience here, and says it way better than i could. I am very proud of her, I know that even though teaching wasn't her thing, it is a very tough thing to walk away from a career. It is so easy to get stuck in a rut and just stay in a career you hate, but are too afraid to move on. A big round of applause for Kelly's perseverance and her chutzpah to step out and take a chance! Bravo!
So to celebrate we met at Stella's Fish Cafe in Uptown. We enjoyed 2 for 1, delish apps and Oysters. Kelly is one of the few people i know who enjoys seafood as much as i do, and not just the basics like shrimp. But good things like, Mussels and Oysters. The oysters there were fresh and salty sweet... mmmm.

Survey Says...

First and Middle Name: Sabrina Marie
Nicknames: B, Brina, Brie, Brie-Brie, Breanie, Bean, Beena, Beaner, Sabs, Sabby, Sabro, Sabideau, Tina
Hometown: Watertown, MN
Have you ever gone skinny dipping? Yes, At summer camp
Have you ever been convicted of a crime?: crimes of passion
One pillow or two?: One
Pets: Cat named Marius
Favorite Type of Music: Yodeling
Favorite Book: We the Living by Ayn Rand and Les Miserables by Hugo
Favorite Movie: It's a Wonderful Life
Dream Car: Jeep Grand Waggoner with Wood Side Panelling
Type of Car you drive now: Subaru Legacy
Words or Phrases you overuse: Your mom
Toothpaste: Whatever is on sale
Favorite Food: Pad Thai
Crush: Chuck Bass
Piercing or tattoos?: No tats, just my ear's pierced
Most romantic thing that ever happened to you: It's a secret.
Do you get along with your parents: love them!
Favorite town to chill in: Paris
Best Trip Ever Taken: Trinidad & Tobago
Favorite Ice Cream: Pink Peppermint
Favorite Soft Drink: I don't drink soda
What's your bed time: 9:30pm weeknights, 1:00/2:00am weekends
Favorite Perfume/Cologne: Spring Fever by Origins and boys ALWAYS smell good wearing Cool Water (im old school)
Favorite Song at the moment: If It Kills Me, by Jason Mraz
Favorite Website: Blogs, it's all about the blogs
Least Favorite Subject in School: MATH!
Favorite Sport to Watch: Baseball
Most Embarrassing Moment: Sending a mean email accidentally to the person i was saying mean things about!
Loudest person you know: Myself
Craziest person you know (or silliest): Liz
Favorite Holiday: Christmas
What do you look for in the opposite sex?: if they are breathing
Favorite number: 17
Favorite color: Pink
Greatest experience in your lifetime: traveling around Europe
Why are you here on earth?: i think my mom and dad must've had intercourse
Who means the most to you?: your mom
Favorite Quote: Should=Shame=Puke

Ped Egg Scares Me

Have you seen the commercial for the Ped Egg? That little device that you hold in the palm of your hand that scrapes away the dead skin on your feet? I'm sorry but that thing gives me the he-be je-bees. I'm not sure if its the thought of scraping skin off, which reminds me of grating cheese or the commercials where the lady dumps about a cup of dead skin into her garbage can. I think i just threw up in my mouth.

And yet I am mildly intrigued and I might just have to try it sometime. Conundrum.

The Four Factor

There is something about a group of 4 girls that just seem to work.

In elementary school I was part of a group of 4 girls, and we were called the Jean Jacket Girls. We ALWAYS wore our stone washed jean jackets. Always! In 5th\6th grade we ruled the school and we were the coolest girls around. I'm not even joking, we were cool (probably the only time in my life). We had sleepovers, wore the same clothes, we all were in gymnastics and we all made up dance routines to Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. Did I also mention that we all had perms, bad ones, and we wore pink frosted lip gloss everyday.

Me, Rachel, April and Nissa... Something right out of a Judy Blume novel. Are you There God, It's me Margaret could have been us!

The same with Little Women; Amy, Jo, Beth and Meg, that was the 1865 version of us. And then I guess the modern day version would be the ladies of Sex and The City.

I have lost touch with all but one of the Jean Jacket Girls, and now i have a new four-some group; Me, Shannon, Jaime and Cindy. We are pretty cool, minus the bad perms and frosted pink lip stick.

Basically, there are always 4 types of personalities in a group of 4 girls:

The Goody-Goody: She is the girl, who is proper, would never do anything bad, has a sweet good natured personality, optimistic. Will always look out for your best interest, always considers your feelings, remembers your birthday, tells you that you are beautiful on your ugliest day and will always be there for you no matter what.

...

The A-Type: Works very hard to get what they want, often the athletic one, intellectual, takes life seriously, often a bit cynical, no-nonsense. Will tell you strait up when you have messed up, but will hold your hand when you are crying, and she might even cry with you. might.

...

The Rebel: Constantly pushing her limits, going against the grain, big into peer pressure, likes to do things just to get a rise out of people, lots of boyfriends. Adventurous, can be potty mouth and crude at times. Will always have your back in a bar fight. Always.

...

The Star: Quirky and often random. Passionate about life and little on the daring side, not afraid to stand up for what she believes in. Boys love her but has a hard time settling with one. All around great girl, friends with everyone and cares about everyone in return. Holds everything together, peace maker and well loved.

Obsession #1

I am a lip gloss junkie. I just counted over 20 different lip glosses in my purse. I do not know why i am so crazy for the gloss but i am and i cant stop the addiction. One is never enough. It doesnt even matter the brand, I wear lip gloss from Chanel but I also wear lip gloss from Wet n' Wild too, there is no bias.

But do you want to know what is really strange? If i were stranded on a deserted island and could only bring one cosmetic item you know what it would be?

You are thinking... lip gloss?

Sorry charlie, it would be Mascara.

A Very Good Weekend

I was excited to finally get to the weekend. The past week had been long with it being the last week of school and packing up the library, i was ready to have a whole weekend for fun.

I am happy with the way my weekend went, busy, fun, productive and relaxing. Friday night Jaime, Cindy and Shannon came over to see the house and have a girl's night. Cindy had been in Europe the past few weeks, so we were all very happy to have her back. She even brought us Belgium chocolates and a beautiful flower basket for my house. We kicked back in the backyard, listening to Mraz, drinking margaritas and playing "Bad" Badminton. Even Marius crashed girl's night and wanted to be a part of the action.

Nothing changes with the 4 of us, we always laugh and we always start up right where we left off. We crashed early because we are now old and got up early because we are dorks.

Saturday i spent the day weeding (Kelly i need you!) and planting some annual seeds. I ended up planting, Sunflowers, Zinnias, Cosmos, Pinks and Morning Glories. It was so wonderful to be outside in my very own backyard, planting my garden. I love dirt.

Saturday night was a flurry of fun and silliness. My co-worker Janine invited me to her bachelorette party. We started at her house, made our way to Chino Latino for dinner. Then we went downtown for Lemon Drop Martinis at the Palomino, then Dueling Piano's and lots of singing at the Shout House. Then dancing at Drink. There we met some very funny Englishmen. They insisted that i wiggle my nose (must be the combination of Bewitched and Sabrina the Teenage witch?) I was also proposed to by one of the Brits, when I declared Churchill a brilliant man. I think what i was told was, "Sabrina you are lovely, I'm in love, will you marry me?"

Hmmm.... Too bad it took me this long to find out all i needed to do to get proposed to was wiggle my nose and talk Churchill. Ha.

Sunday my parents came over to hang out on their 34th wedding anniversary. I made them shrimp and steak kabobs on the grill and chocolate cake (not made on the grill)

We played some more "Bad" Badminton and had a great ol' time. I call it "bad" badminton because I lost all the shuttle cocks\birdies so I play it with a wiffle ball. It works. kind of.

Later sweet Ellen came over for visit. She brought me my favorite Joseph Friedrich Riesling. Nice girl. We chatted and enjoyed the outside weather and then i made brats on the grill for us.

Now i am winding down. Getting ready for another week... With the tedious task of textbook barcoding. help.

Like sand in an hour glass...

...these are the days of our lives. I have not been able to blog all week. I have had no Internet at home up until last night, and work has been so crazy with the big move, that i have had no time there! The media center where i work is being remodeled for the summer, so i have been displaced to a different building. I finally have sighed a deep breath... I can finally relax! Between packing and moving to my new house and packing and moving to my new job location I have been so tired of well, packing and moving. Today I took a shower, put on makeup and jewelry and wore a skirt and nice shirt... I even shaved my legs! I just wanted to feel "pretty" for a change instead of wearing grubby clothes and being sweaty from packing\unpacking\painting\moving... dirty girl.
Although when i got to my new job location today everyone was said,
You know, you don't have to dress up here.
Well today i just needed to feel good, and not living in the pit of slobdom!
I have also had a busy week at night...
I think Monday i got my car fixed and was able to visit my family... Tuesday Heather came over and helped me unpack my kitchen, share some laughs and a bottle of wine. Wednesday I went to the Sex and the City movie with Shannon and Ellen... LOVED IT!
Last night i got cable and Internet and it was cousin Kyle's birthday (Happy birthday!) and tonight i am having Shannon, Jaime, and Cindy over. Tomorrow night i am going to a bachelorette party for a co-worker! And still this weekend i need to unpack and get out in that garden o' mine. I will post some pictures soon as i finish each room...
Housewarming party is July 19th... so mark it on your calenders... E-vite will be on the way shortly.
Great news! My BFF Rachel gets to come home from the hospital next week after a 1 month bed rest! I am so happy i could do a dance... i think i will. Love you Charlsh!

Sigh of Relief

Well the madness is over. And actually it wasn't really maddening at all. I moved Saturday, and it was a breeze. Thanks to all my wonderful friends who pitched in and got me moved out and in to my new house in under 3 hours!! Nice work! Even Nori made an appearance and boy is she strong!! I cant believe how many boxes she carried in! WOW!
So I am now in my new home... and I'm very happy. This is the first move I've made in a long time that i wasn't stressed out. It's a great feeling to own a whole house... its unbelievable actually. It's all about the timing and as I just said to someone... Some things are worth the wait. I am blessed.