A D8ton Minute

This weekend, I went to Dayton, Ohio to visit my friend Anne and her husband Tim. There were several things on the agenda for the weekend. Meeting their new puppy, seeing Anne's new haircut, going to Trader Joe's for the first time, but most importantly, seeing the new Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen movie, New York Minute, on opening night.

When I got to Dayton, we had some delicious Chipotle. I had a big vegetarian burrito, and the lady hooked me up with a lot of guacamole. After dinner, Anne and I went shopping for a bit then headed over to the theater. We were early so we got some stickers made with our pictures on them in a little booth. Dang, and I forgot to bring my stickers home with me! Oh well. Anyway when it was time we headed into the theater. I had been expecting the movie to be pretty bad, and that I would be wincing the whole time. It turned out to be pretty good though, and it had me laughing through the whole thing. It was fun because a bunch of punk kids sat in our row and obviously came in jest, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves as well. There were only 20 people in the theater.







After the movie, we went back to Anne and Tim's, had some beers, and chilled in the hot tub. The next morning, we went yard sailing. I got some sweet vintage blingbling jewelry. After that, we walked Anne's dog Watts then got ice cream for lunch! We got these low fat frozen custard blizzards with Snickers mixed in. It was awesome. The weather was beautiful so we ate them on Anne's deck.

Then we got together a bunch of people and went to see Mean Girls. It was pretty good, but I would have to say I enjoyed New York Minute more. After the movie it was dinner time so we decided to cook out. My first cookout of the season! We made cheeseburgers, baked beans and corn. We also picked up some potato salad and chips and salsa. Everything was delicious. After dinner it was time for some more beers and hot tub. What a relaxing weekend.

Sunday morning I got to go to Trader Joe's for my first time. I bought SO much stuff. We will be eating delicious and interesting meals for a MONTH! I really wish I lived closer to one, what a cool store. It was time to head back to Athens. A friend of the family was throwing a 25th wedding anniversary party at their house, a potluck. I didn't know it was a potluck until I called my mom from the car, so I just picked up some crackers and hummus. This potluck was one of the most delicious potlucks I've ever been to. There were two kinds of sushi, stuffed grape leaves (the hit of the party!), four awesome types of cheese (with crackers), grapes, strawberries, shrimp cocktail, barbecued chicken, two kinds of barbecued ribs, orzo salad, rice with edamame and beans, pasta with prosciutto, peas and parmesan, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, blueberry cobbler and butter cake with chocolate frosting. I tried everything but the brownies. I was just TOO full. It was awesome.

Monday and today were pretty regular days. The weather was beautiful on Monday so I got to go ride my bike on the bike path. Today I wasn't feeling well so I stayed home sick. I slept a lot, and watched a movie on the couch. I'm feeling mostly better now, I think I'll be able to go in tomorrow, I still have a headache though. The best part of the day was Charlie in his tub. See, if he lays down with you on the couch, he usually doesn't want to stay very long. However, if he's in something, he will want to stay forever. Today, he got in this plastic tub, and Adam carried him over to me on the couch. He stayed there for HOURS!!! He is so funny. Adam took some pictures:













After the movie, I laid around and watched some TV and had dinner and now I'm ready for bed. I thought I would update my web site real quick before bed and guess who decided to join me? Charlie! Yep sometimes he sits on my lap and helps me edit html.

Birthday Party!

Today was a pretty productive day! First I got up and went and did pet care for my friends, they're out of town. After that I went over to mom's house. We went out to lunch at Burger King, we both got BK Veggie Burgers and salads. Mmm! Then we went shopping at Walmart. Blech. But productive! After that we went to mom's house and I gave her a photoshop lesson. THEN I went grocery shopping, then it was finally birthday party time.

Mom and Dad had Adam and I over for his birthday party. Ivan, this guy in from Richmond Virginia who is learning guitar repair from dad and Adam this weekend, was also there. We had steaks, orzo salad, mixed greens with walnuts, onions and strawberries, sourdough bread and a lovely Pepperidge Farm cake that I decorated. Everything was delicious. Also some red wine.







Now I have to get ready for bed, because tomorrow is my first day back for a full week of work.

Mom's Marvelous Malibu Mango Maui

Today was a gorgeous day! It was sunny and the perfect temperature. Summer and I went to our friend Carrie's bridal shower potluck. Mmm. I brought chocolate banana bread. I must say, this particular loaf was delicious. Moist and chocolatey. Mmm. There was awesome food there: fried chicken, mashed potatoes, TWO DIFFERENT black bean dishes (double yum!), fruit with chocolate fondue, guacamole, salsa, spinach dip with pumpernickel bread, and more! Then there was also the shower cake which was the cutest. It was bright aqua with purple, pink and yellow flowers on top. It was also DELICIOUS, because it was lemon. One of my favorite flavors of cake. Oh and mint chocolate chip ice cream too. It was a great lunch.

I went to the shower with Summer, and afterwards she came over. We sat out on the patio and played cards and listened to music. She had brought a new drink concoction that she created. It starts with this wonderful new Minute Maid drink, one of their "Lite" series. It's the Mango Tropical flavor. Then she added some regular rum, and also some Malibu run. The result? A delicious summertime beverage. It was so delicious in fact, that we decided to name it! Since my Mom introduced us to the wonderful world of Minute Maid Lite beverages, we decided to name it Mom's Marvelous Malibu Mango Maui, or "MMMMM!" for short! Hahah GET IT?

So yeah we played Gin Rummy and I won. After that I wrote a letter to my friend Amanda who is in Africa right now with the Peace Corps. When it finally got too dark outside to see I headed indoors. I made Pita Pizzas for dinner and chilled with a magazine. Mary Kate and Ashley are on the cover of the May Allure so yeah I bought it. Hahah and when I bought it, the cashier held it up and waved it around to the bagboy and said "Only 49 days Mike, only 49 days!" Then he rolled his eyes and commented on how he had seen a TV special where they were counting down the days til the Olsen Twins become legal, and how some people need to get a life.

My brother-in-law emailed me some cute pictures of their kitties. Want to meet Mer and Pete's kitties? Of course you do! From left to right, I bring you Ed, Buster, and Lily:

OW my FACE!

Yesterday was Adam's birthday. Since I have this week off from work I mostly bummed around the house most of the day. For dinner we rushed uptown and got a slice of pizza from Goodfella's. Then we went to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I liked it a lot, but I'm not sure I LOVED it... I want to see it again. I really loved Touching the Void, which we saw the night before. That movie was freaking amazing. I want to get the book.

Anyway after the movie Adam headed over to his friends house and I drank a beer and watched some TV. Then I was really tired so I headed into the bedroom. I like to sleep with the windows open, but my window was open just a little too much so I decided to shut it a little. I pushed down on it, and we have those kinds of windows where you can detach them so that you can reach them to clean them, and the whole window fell into the room and landed on my FACE!!!!! I had my glasses on and it twisted one of the little nose pad thingees, but basically the fall of the window was broken by my face.

Suprisingly, my nose didn't bleed, but it hurts like hell and is a little swollen. I have a sore swollen area on my nose and also to the right of my nose on my face. STUPID WINDOW!!! Here are pictures:







Sucks. Oh well though. It's Friday! Jason and Julie are going to come over tonight, we're going to have some beers and order pizzas and play games. Beer is BOUND to help my pain!

The Ghostbusters Visit the West Virginia Penitentiary

Seven of us brave friends met up in Moundsville, West Virginia, to tour the famous haunted West Virginia Penitentiary.



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Renee Visits Athens!

Renee and her boyfriend Yasu came into town tonight. Meredith invited me to go out to dinner with them at Purple Chopstix. I had no idea I was in for such a rockin' night on a WORK NIGHT! We had dinner and drinks at the Purple Chopstix, then headed to the Union for some beers. We played one of my favorite games, the one where you fold a piece of paper into thirds, and one person gets to draw the head, the next person draws the body, and the last person draws the legs, then you unfold it to see what you've got!

I may or may not have stayed up so late that I called in sick the next day, and joined up with my fellow drinkers at Casa the next morning.



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Kelly's Birthday

For Kelly's Birthday, we went to Casa for dinner! Cheers!



Jason enjoying a margarita!



Me, Julie, and margaritas.



Yum!



Birthday cake time!



Look at that CAKE!!



I must say, I was proud of the decorating job.



Cha cha cha!



Cut that puppy up!



These folks are ready to eat some CAKE!



Summer uses the cake tin as a hat!



Mmmmmmm.



Afterward, we played Pictionary!



Kelly and I were team Pen Soldiers, and we totally won.

A Day in the Life of Orangek8

Welcome to a day in the life of me. This photo documentary portrays an average Thursday. Photos taken on Thursday, April 8, 2004.



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Kitties in the Windowsill!

One of my favorite things! Kitties in the windowsill!

Summer's Birthday Party!

We celebrated Summer's birthday party at Skipper's Bar and Grille. That means GIANT MARGARITAS AND POOL!



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Summer's Birthday Dinner

Tonight, Summer, Yumi, Suzanne and I gathered at Stephen's to celebrate Summer's birthday! We gave her presents and had dinner and wine. I surprised he with a camisole she had said she wanted so long ago that she had totally forgotten about it! Whee! Also, Max Studio sunglasses just like mine and a Venus razor because otherwise she'll never try one, and they're just the BEST.

Kara's Birthday in Athens

Kara came to A-town once again to celebrate her birthday! It's a fabulous tradition. A bunch of us got together at the Blue Gator to celebrate! Julie made a Kitty Litter cake. It was ENORMOUS. She made a chocolate cake AND a vanilla cake, and crumbled them up into a (brand new) litter box. Also, bright green vanilla flavored pudding, and chocolate covered peanuts for poop! It was disgusting, but delicious. Lucky me got the leftovers in my fridge. Even with snacking on it daily, there was seriously hardly even a dent in this thing!!!

Summer's birthday is approaching soon also, so we celebrated that as well.

After dinner, we went to The Union and had Irish Car Bombs! Yum.



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Sex and the City Series Finale

In honor of the final episode of Sex and the City, we gathered at Jason's house for a potluck. We all dressed as characters from the show! I was Charlotte, Summer was Miranda, Suzanne was Samantha, Yumi was Carrie, and Jason was Stanford.

We had delicious food and beverages, and watched all of the specials leading up to the grand finale, and then the finale. And we all totally cried. What are we going to do without this show?!

Tea Party at Valerie's

When Dinah announced that she would be moving across the country, Valerie threw her a going away Tea Party! I was so excited to go to Valerie's house, because I hadn't been there since I was little, and her house is so fun! She has antiques, Victorian trinkets, and little knick-knacks EVERYWHERE. I've never seen anything like it. It's truly amazing! I was also excited because I had never been to a real tea party before!



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Modeling Shoot

Suzanne did a modeling shoot with me. I've never done a modeling shoot before! She wants practice, so she's having her friends wear lots of makeup and she practices shooting them. It was super weird to have on that much makeup and stuff! And I shook my little tush on the catwalk. Yeah, on the catwalk.