One-Quarter of the year is over and here's my first picture (I think)

So one of my resolutions was to post pictures of myself. So here I am on a cruise ship hanging over the balcony of the lowest furthest back balcony room you can get on the Sensation (portside I think)



And here I am right before getting my passport stamped.



This may seem like a minimal thing but last year when I went to the Bahamas with Kathryn I left my passport on the boat (as I was instructed to by my husband's aunt the uber-cruiser). Kathryn however took her passport with her and was able to get it stamped by the customs guy at 11pm 30 minutes before the ship left the port. Getting a passport stamp in Nassau is actually an interesting event as it is not required for entry and is basically hidden in the LAST room on the right after a loooooong empty hallway in a building over my right shoulder in this picture that you can't even see. Craig thought I was nuts dragging him to this place but he got his stamped too.

This weekend when I see Kathryn in NYC she promised to take pictures of me to share here. So of course I'm shopping tomorrow to get clothes that look fantasmic. Can't go to NYC with old clothes ya know.

If I could pay someone to shop for me....

I'd do it in heartbeat. I HATE SHOPPING. Any kind. From grocery, to shoe, to clothes, even jewelry. When I discovered qvc.com and internet shopping my wallet screamed because OMG I can click and click and have things delivered TO MY HOME without stepping foot in a store. Yeah Yeah welcome to 2010.

But even this method is tricky for me, because how do you know that it will match and the reds or blacks are just a bit "off" And then you have to send everything back and THAT gets expensive (although with gas prices today and me living 20 miles from a store it can be a trade off). Then in my mail box magic happened. I received a Spiegel catalog that was a miracle.

EVERYTHING WAS PLANNED TOGETHER!!!


No worries about matching, no stress about colors. It was all categorized for me as well...Natural, Chic, Elegant, etc. So of course I looked at the prices. Nothing this organized comes cheap right???? The one peices above were $39. THIRTY NINE DOLLARS???? I haven't spent that little on a swimsuit since I was 12 years old! So of course I bought two :)

And the clothes are nice as well. I bought the off the shoulder blouse below but realized I probably don't have a bra to wear with it...we'll see how it fits when it gets here...can't wair!!!

Cruise countdown....

Craig and I are taking a cruise in about 30 days to the Bahamas. This will be his first cruise and I have to say I'm a bit concerned. I wanted to list my concerns here so that when I get back I can address them and see if they were unfounded at all. His cousin wants us to take a 7 or 8 day cruise next year and I really wanted to dip Craig's feet in the cruising water before that big of a leap.

1. Breakfast food. This is our favorite meal and can easily make or break a trip.

2. Dinner Companions. Actually dinner in total. Sitting with strangers, the kind of food, the quality, I could go on....why are my top two concerns food???? Becuase that is the hell that is travelling with Craig. Food concerns.

3. Activities on Nassau. It's pretty commercialized and we want to getaway. So I have the Frommer's guide to find the more secluded beaches. Here's hoping.

4. The size of the cabin. I chose a balcony this trip but for the longer cruise am hoping Craig will say it was a waste of money so we can get an interior. This way we can save money to spend on alcohol...which travelling with family is alwas required.

5. Tipping. this is amajor sore point for Craig and the basis of all money made by the people in the service portion of the ship. I need to prep him now so he isn't freaked out that the tips are so big.

I am fully aware of how large my list is, but we are really bad at first time travelling. We like to go where we know things. My first cruise was ok but not the best thing ever and frankly it was the company that made it fantastic. SO this time I am going in knowing what to expect and hopefully will come away happier for it.

Seven degrees of separation via WHERE ANDREA HAS TRAVELED IN THE LAST TWO YEARS

So it works like this: In the last year I have travelled to
Washington DC
Las Vegas
New York
Las Vegas (you may notice a trend)
Nassau, Bahamas (and Orlando as it was a cruise)
Las Vegas
San Francisco
and then next month Las Vegas

I'm not sure how that happened. I certainly didn't intend for every other trip to be Vegas, but as that is where Craig ALWAYS defaults in wanting to vacation we end up there. A few short distance trips within Texas aren't included but the purpose of this list is because I watched two movies. And if you can possible follow the crazy workings of my mind I would like to share the freakiness of these movies:


State of Play with Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck


Duplicity with Clive Owen and Julia Roberts


Let me back up a bit and talk about my trip to DC (Where State of Play was filmed) I had asked my friend to take me to Ben's Chili Bowl because I had seen it on Samantha Brown (see I do love her!) and when we were there Ben himself was sitting upstairs and he signed a book for me about the restaurant. It was pretty serendiptous. I had travelled to DC for a conference with my friend's work and I had spent a little time at her office. So imagine my laugh as we watch the movie and I turn to my husband and say...oh I love Ben's Chili Bowl I made K take me there.

At which point I know he thinks I am showing off (which I tend to do in movies that show European locations). So I KNOW he thought I was full of crap when they show the outside of russell crowe's work and I'm saying OH MY GOSH. That is K's office! I was there too. I actually called up her address on goggle maps and used street view to show him it was the same place. FREAKING CRAZY HUH!

So then I'm watching Duplicity and i'm shocked that the movie plays like a WHERE ANDREA HAS TRAVELLED IN THE LAST TWO YEARS travellogue. (Minus dubai because frankly I have zero interest in being there anyway) I totally caught the Pantheon in Rome. It completely took me back to our trip there. Then New York and then ATLANTIS in Nassau where my friend K (the work place in DC person) and I snuck in with the help of our Cabbie Nigel who was an ex-cop and knew the guards at the hotel.

So it works like this
State of Play>
DC>
K's Work>
K>
Nassau>
Atlantis>
Duplicity

So I watched two movies from completely different locations that linked together for me through my travels. Wonder what other movies I can do that to!