On seeing a 3D movie

Sometime during the summer, Hubby and I went to the movies. I was he'll bent on seeing Tangled but hubby was he'll bent on not seeing it. So, for the first time, we saw separate movies while at the theater at the same time. I must say, it did feel kinda weird but off we went! Tagged is a remake of the Children's book, Rapunzel, of the "Rapunzel, Rapunzel!, let down your hair" fame. It was showing in 3D at the IMAX theater so I was given 3D glasses on my way in. 3D aspect was kinda cool, you really feel as though objects are no longer constrained to the screen as they come right out at ya. The movie itself, meh. I'll stick with the version I read as a child not so many moons ago. Another one off the list!

Accomplishments!

I just realized that over the last few months I've completed about 6 additional tasks on my list and I still haven't updated the blog. I will be doing so hopefully in the near future.

On becoming a us citizen

So I finally became a us citizen yesterday. Woo hoo! Crossing another one off the ol' list

on #26. Give up fast food for a month

Whoo! That was hard. Unfortunately so. I've had a crazy obsession with French fries in the last six months or so which is why I put this line item on my thirty two by 32 list. I stuck to it though and had NO fast food for four whole weeks. I will say I was okay the first three weeks and then temptation almost made me give up in the fourth week. I held to my guns though because I've lost at least 10 lbs so far. The weight loss and loose fitting pants have made the sacrifice worth it. Now you'd think I'd have learned my lesson and I'd continue to stay away from fast food despite the month being over but guess what yours truly did once the month was up? Yup, I hit up the big M. I am proud of myself though that I had the frame of mind to stay away from all things unhealthy during the last month. This is one i plan to do all over again very soon.

On International vacations

I love to travel. Actually, given that I do not do much traveling, I guess it's more appropriate to say I love the idea of traveling. There are quite a few places I'd love to visit, unfortunately, life keeps getting in the way.

That doesn't stop me from researching travel hot spots though. I plan itineraries and price trips and activities because it make me happy. At least I know that when I have the opportunity to travel, half the research will already be done.

Here is my current travel wish list (in no particular order).

1. Disney World, Florida


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Yes, yes, I know this is not an international location but it stays because, well, I wanna go soooo badly lol. And yes, there's a big kid in me. Despite the fact that I went to Disney world in 2004, I've always wanted to go back. In fact, as soon as I left Disney world, i wanted to hop right on another flight and return to the awesomeness that is mickey's world.

2. St. Barth's


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Yes, I'm clearly a victim of trashy TV because ever since I saw the episode of "Bethenny's getting married" where Bethenny and her hubby go to St. Barth's for their honeymoon, I've yearned to take a trip down there and enjoy a luxurious vacation. I loved that Bethenny's hotel/villa had a private secluded pool and they were sooo close to the beach. I've researched this trip so often, I almost feel like I've been there. Almost. Sigh.

3. Italy
Oh where do I begin. Milan, Florence, Rome, Venice, you name it, if it's in Italy, I want to visit. Major sigh.

My very first Louis Vuitton - Damier Trevi

Soooo...you know how I've had my eye on the LV Trevi for a while right, well, I got it today!



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While I've been drooling over the trevi for a while, I certainly did not wake up this morning with the intention that I would take the leap and get it. It was the furthest thing from my mind honestly. but as the day wore on, the Trevi popped into my mind and I kinda got a bit ticked off that I never really spend money on myself. I think I got so ticked off that I decided in anger to make a big purchase and that was that. I got in my car and headed to the mall fully expecting that before I got there, I would come to my senses and scoff at the thought of plunking down that much cash for the Trevi. I drove into the mall, parked my car, got out, walked into Nordstrom and stopped at the handbag section, hoping I would find something less expensive there that I liked as much as the Trevi. At this point, I was trying to back out without actually chickening out but it didn't work out. Nothing caught my fancy and I was determined not to go home without a new handbag. A bit deflated that nothing at Nordstrom deterred me from moving on to the Louis Vuitton store, I carried on and entered the store, still fully expecting to chicken out at any point. When I got to the store, I noticed that I was sweating. I'm not sure if it was from the summer heat (which refuses to go away despite the fact that it's September and it's supposed to be the fall season, but that's another story) or the fact that I was beyond nervous. As I stood with little beads of sweat trickling down my face, I stared at the Trevi which had held my fancy for so long. A sales associate finally came up to me and I asked to see the Trevi. As I held it in my hands, I realized that I loved it now as much as the first day I saw it. It was now or never. I also noticed that the price had gone up. Again!. Gah!! After a few seconds, the SA asked if I liked the Trevi; if only she knew; I indicated that I wanted to purchase it and she began to ring me up. Once I had given her my credit card, drivers license, and I'd signed the receipt, she handed me Trevi in a Louis Vuitton stamped gift bag. I walked to my car, got in and pulled out my new baby to take a closer look. Here are a few pictures.










I'm not sure yet if I'm happy I got it, or if I'm shell shocked that I spent that much money on an accessory, a want not a need, a mere superficial item. I guess only time will tell.

At least I get to cross off another item off my thirty-two before 32 list. Yay!

On #9. Go to an art museum

Checking another item off my list and it totally involved killing two birds with one stone.

This past weekend, I went to my brother in-law's wedding. The ceremony was held at a beautiful church in Philadelphia and the reception was at...you guessed it, a museum! It was a gorgeous location and dinner was setup in the chinese rotunda amidst Egyptian artifacts and a 90 foot dome. Later on, after dinner was served and everyone was on the dance floor, I walked around to adjoining rooms and took pictures of some eerie skeletons and mummies. The entire museum was open for guests to roam through and gaze at the displays.

Art museum, check!

On #13. Backup my computer

Whee...! I finally got one thing done per my thirty two by 32 list!! Go me!

A few weeks ago, I ordered this baby from Amazon. Do I really need 1TB? No, it's kinda overkill, but I figured OS can use it to back up his computer as well and maybe we can store all our music on this sweet storage device as well.




The external hard drive actually arrived a few days ago but I've been busy getting the wedding favors ready for my brother-in-law's wedding so I only got around to tackling this task tonight. I chose to back up my entire computer so it took 3 hours and 9 minutes but my baby's all backed up now. Hmm...that didn't come out right.

And just in case I ever need to restore any data, this looks like a good article.

On #27. Donate to a new charity - Part 1

I thought this would be the easiest task to accomplish and thus cross off the list. Boy, was I wrong. I'm now so conflicted and I'll tell you why.

My first stop was on the intranet at work where there was an article reminding all employees that the flood victims in Pakistan need monetary donations and my company would match all donations as long as we donated through a specific charity. It was a no-brainer, donate to a charity and my money would count twice as much thanks to the maching policy. Yay. Not so fast there hon. My donation is from my tithes, and if I strictly adhere to Malachi 3:10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse", would helping flood victims in Pakistan be considered the storehouse? Would this charity be bringing food and the word to the people? Or would they just be bringing food? If it's just food then I don't think it qualifies.

I've always been of the opinion, since I left my last church, that the storehouse is not stricly necessarily, the church. I have decided it's okay to give to charities who spread the gospel - and if they cater to orphans and widows while doing that then hey, that's infinitely better. Right?

I decided not to donate to this charity and cause solely because the money I'm using is my tithe. Well, also because I have previously donated to this charity. I wish there was a clear definition of 'storehouse'. Jesus was all about the fatherless and widows, but do they constitute the 'storehouse'? Hmm...

So I decided to keep looking for a new charity that passed my criteria - proclaiming the word of God while hopefully caring for orphans and widows.

Thirty-two by 32

I've been thinking about challenging myself to accomplish certain things for a while. With all the goings on in my personal life it's been too easy to spend day after day watching paint dry and the seconds tick away without being motivated to do much of anything. I've finally decided to push myself to get back in the swing of things and I came up with the following list. Most lists that I've seen on other blogs are 'thirty by 30' lists but given that I passed the 30 milestone a few months ago, I figured I'd give myself a realistic time-frame and thus came up with a 'Thirty-two by 32' list. Here's hoping I actually accomplish most of these tasks by my deadline.


1. Finish and order wedding album
2. See a basketball game
3. Visit an aquarium
4. Take an international vacation
5. See a 3D movie
6. Eat like a vegetarian once a week for a month
7. Take a swim class
8. Start my PhD
9. Go to an art museum
10. Bake a cake from scratch
11. Invest in the stock market
12. Become a US citizen
13. Backup my computer
14. Go to a comedy show
15. Sell something (anything) on Craigslist
16. Go wine tasting
17. Discover wine I actually like (?) #16 might help
18. See a football game
19. Go back to Disney World
20. Get a new Handbag
21. Have baby
22. Cook something new once a week for a month
23. Go to the opera
24. Decide on a brand for my stationery business
25. Attend a letterpress workshop
26. Give up fast food for a month
27. Donate to a new charity
28. Commit to a new church
29. Umm…’address’ my closet
30. Go on another short-term missions trip
31. Get the complete collection of LOST
32. Buy 18K gold jewelry