Life’s too short...to never sleep in a treehouse! 8/27 TR is up! Link in siggie

[carissanboys]

The shirts look great. Love that shade of blue.

And that's wonderful news about the job prospect! Fingers crossed for you.

 

[glennbo123]

is that like TAG you're it?

Kind of, but I can't stay up as late as you west-coasters.

today's the day, we are about to head out to our volunteer activity. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow

The boys think it's for FL vouchers.....

Have a great time. I couldn't find an organization around here that would include the younger kids.

 

[All7OfUs]

Kind of, but I can't stay up as late as you west-coasters.



Have a great time. I couldn't find an organization around here that would include the younger kids.

Ahh, that's no good. You'd think they could have included something for younger kids to do- afterall, that's when some good habits are built and when they are most excited about volunteering and helping! Isn't that the whole point??!!

 

[eandesmom]

Have a great day!

We had SO much fun! I took some pics and will do a mini report.

Did you book the cruise already? Are you doing a land/sea package? Or just the cruise?

The POM margarita was so good. It went well with the avocado egg rolls.

Isn't ADR day so exciting? It means your trip is 6 months away I'm organizing our ADR plans for August today.

For July, I booked Jiko, Boma, Sanaa, Chefs de France, Le Cellier, and afternoon tea the the GF. At least one of the ressies is going to have to go. It's probably going to either be Jiko or Sanaa.

No, I haven't booked the cruise yet, figured it could wait until the deals came out as I'm sure there will be some for that time. If I get the job and don't have enough vacation days (which is almost certain) then I think I'll just move the cruise from mid-winter break to spring break so it will be a belated birthday party I guess. We will see. It all depends on getting the job of course though! It would be just the cruise as it will be the Mexican Riviera after the Magic moves west and that's a 7 day cruise. I might add one MK day though since we aren't doing it in April this year!

I am very excited to make the ADR's! Only 10 days!!! Your July ADR's are yummy, that would be a hard choice in terms of what to give up.

There is a CHANCE we are pushing our trip back 3 days. Doing the analysis this week but it would save us about $600 I think and if so, our trips will overlap!

The shirts look great. Love that shade of blue.

And that's wonderful news about the job prospect! Fingers crossed for you.

Thanks! Hopefully Piper likes them, they should have arrived by today I think, I haven't checked her report.

Kind of, but I can't stay up as late as you west-coasters.

Have a great time. I couldn't find an organization around here that would include the younger kids.

Keep checking, when I first looked there wasn't anything that the kids could do and then about 3 weeks later this popped up. It was perfect and so much FUN!

Ahh, that's no good. You'd think they could have included something for younger kids to do- afterall, that's when some good habits are built and when they are most excited about volunteering and helping! Isn't that the whole point??!!

Absolutely! Although I have to admit our "job" didn't really quite get the point across about helping those in need (per-se)but did about supporting cool volunteer organizations.

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Wow! Wow! Wow!!

Holy moly Cynthia!!! Congrats on how well the interview went and on the second interview!

This sounds like an incredible opportunity!!! I hope everything works out! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

 

[Happydog]

Just got back on track with reading and here I see some great news! Well at least at this point! I do hope there is good news! Good luck with it all! I will have lots of crossed fingers and toes.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Cynthia! I'm finally all caught up, and so excited for you! You have 3 vacations pending (maybe?) and almost a new job and you love what you're doing! Things change fast when we turn that corner don't they? I love the shirt design for Piper and fam! You are so talented! I'll be waiting to hear the news!

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Hi! that is helpful. It's funny as I mostly use papers for card making, not scrapbooking so look at them very differently as a result. I'm trying to do a mix but to your point, some it may not work well for more traditional scrapbooking! I did get one set up on Etsy today....will keep plugging along.

I do find Etsy more than a little frustrating in many ways...there is just so MUCH and it's not super intuitive from a search standpoint so...we will see.

Oh, from a cardmaking standpoint, I see exactly what you mean!

Yes, Etsy is a little frustrating. Its hard to get noticed with all that stuff. I listed something in November and haven't had much luck yet. I think it might help to list one item everyday rather than list a whole lot at once, because it would put you higher on the list if someone was just browsing in a category.

VERY good news. I think!

Hope to have an update later today but the short version is I was asked to come back for a second interview before the 1st ended.

Fantastic! It sounds like everything is clicking on this one!

 

[Native NYer]

We had SO much fun! I took some pics and will do a mini report.



No, I haven't booked the cruise yet, figured it could wait until the deals came out as I'm sure there will be some for that time. If I get the job and don't have enough vacation days (which is almost certain) then I think I'll just move the cruise from mid-winter break to spring break so it will be a belated birthday party I guess. We will see. It all depends on getting the job of course though! It would be just the cruise as it will be the Mexican Riviera after the Magic moves west and that's a 7 day cruise. I might add one MK day though since we aren't doing it in April this year!

I am very excited to make the ADR's! Only 10 days!!! Your July ADR's are yummy, that would be a hard choice in terms of what to give up.

There is a CHANCE we are pushing our trip back 3 days. Doing the analysis this week but it would save us about $600 I think and if so, our trips will overlap!

I can't wait to read about your GAD experience.

A Mexican Riviera cruise sounds lovely I'm a fan of longer cruises. A 7 day cruise is the perfect length and it's worth the $$$. The 3/4 day Disney cruises seem to be a lot of money for such a short cruise.

10 days will be here before you know it. And that means 180 days until Disney

Oh definitely let me know if you have to move your trip back!

 

[carissanboys]

Happy Birthday, Cynthia!!

Hope it's a magical day for you.

 

[All7OfUs]

A little birdie told me that today I should enjoy a nightcap in the honor of:

YOUR BIRTHDAY!!!! ​

Cheers, Cynthia!! Hope you like a rich, red Merlot!


Blessings on you!!

Liesa

P.S. Disregard the bathrobe- but if you can't at least I tried to match the colors with in the text.

 

[eandesmom]

Wow! Wow! Wow!!

Holy moly Cynthia!!! Congrats on how well the interview went and on the second interview!

This sounds like an incredible opportunity!!! I hope everything works out! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Thanks, I hope so too!

Just got back on track with reading and here I see some great news! Well at least at this point! I do hope there is good news! Good luck with it all! I will have lots of crossed fingers and toes.

Thanks!

Cynthia! I'm finally all caught up, and so excited for you! You have 3 vacations pending (maybe?) and almost a new job and you love what you're doing! Things change fast when we turn that corner don't they? I love the shirt design for Piper and fam! You are so talented! I'll be waiting to hear the news!

Thanks Tammie, it's definitely been busy!

Oh, from a cardmaking standpoint, I see exactly what you mean!

Yes, Etsy is a little frustrating. Its hard to get noticed with all that stuff. I listed something in November and haven't had much luck yet. I think it might help to list one item everyday rather than list a whole lot at once, because it would put you higher on the list if someone was just browsing in a category.

Fantastic! It sounds like everything is clicking on this one!

Their search engine leaves a lot to be desired I think. It just reinforces that I need to get my site up sooner rather than later. I've been building 2 other sites for freelance jobs this week so am behind on my own but hope to get 2 main things done this week, my site and interview research!

I can't wait to read about your GAD experience.

A Mexican Riviera cruise sounds lovely I'm a fan of longer cruises. A 7 day cruise is the perfect length and it's worth the $$$. The 3/4 day Disney cruises seem to be a lot of money for such a short cruise.

10 days will be here before you know it. And that means 180 days until Disney

Oh definitely let me know if you have to move your trip back!

I agree, if I lived near the port, maybe 3/4 days could make sense but from here...I don't think so. The pricing for the 7 day cruise seems fair, not so much for the 3/4. I will still hold out for a deal though as they seem to be pretty frequent, we are just looking a year out so there isn't anything yet and I don't think (yet) we have to worry about availability. I just have a hunch it will need to be pushed back until April. As it is, I have 5 weeks of vacation planned over the next year and my guess is I need to get it down to 3 if the job pans out.

We'd love to push our trip out by 3 days, so we arrive on the 15th instead of the 12th, it would save about $350-450 (I thought it was more but it's not). It all depends on K's fall sport plans which are a bit up in the air right now. Trying to get some info out of the school. If we do, we will overlap you by 3 days as we'd be there until the 25th!

I think I'm going to make ADR's for those later 3 days as well, just to be safe

Happy Birthday, Cynthia!!

Hope it's a magical day for you.

Thanks! It's been lovely so far.

A little birdie told me that today I should enjoy a nightcap in the honor of:

YOUR BIRTHDAY!!!! ​

Cheers, Cynthia!! Hope you like a rich, red Merlot!


Blessings on you!!

Liesa

P.S. Disregard the bathrobe- but if you can't at least I tried to match the colors with in the text.

I LOVE a rich red Merlot! Actually had an amazing Gigondas last night which is when Jeff took me out. A lovely dinner followed by Chris Botti.

It was FABULOUS!

Chris Botti.

Sigh.

And now we are off to breakfast. Almost makes up for the fact that the Superbowl falls on my birthday and that Eric has a den meeting at the same time as Evan's baseball skills assessment (which means I have to do one of them lol....I try to do NOTHING on my bday).

Nah, scratch that, it definitely makes up for it! We never go out for bfast.

Oh. And I like the bathrobe!

 

[All7OfUs]

Hmmm.... den meeting vs. baseball skills asses.; I don't know, those are some pretty tough choices.

At least you get a nice breakfast out!! you're making me hungry. wish I had bread in the house, I'd do up a quickie pb&j.

Hadn't heard of Botti before.. just googled!! Whoa. That's one serious hottie, and I LOVE me some jazz!!!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

I will be continuing the retro report It's about half written

RATS! We will be there exactly a week after you, we arrive on the 17th, that would have been so much fun! Where are you staying?

It's a funny thing, you spend so much time in crises mode that it is hard to not only learn how to be happy, accept(and recognize) that you are and then know what in the world to do with yourself now that you don't have to brace for disaster. That it is actually ok to be happy and content! Jeff and I literally were at a loss after the house was done and we moved in. We kept thinking...ok what will hit us next? When nothing did we just weren't quite sure what to make of it. And when it continued to go on like that we realized we needed a serious mind set adjustment. In a good way.

We just booked our hotel for the April trip. We are staying at the Quality Inn & Suites, near the HoJo. I really liked the HoJo from our November trip but they were almost all booked up and their rooms they had left were too pricey. But I loved the convenience of being able to walk to the park, since we leave every day for Dylan's nap. Plus, we are going w/ some friends who did not want to spend a lot on the room. So this was my compromise. It's within walking distance, but isn't too pricey. Keeping my fingers crossed that it is a decent place to stay. The pictures don't look so bad.

It would have been a lot of fun to be there at the same time...we chose our week because it works with the school schedule where I work. I have a feeling that you will really enjoy the Food & Wine Festival.

Ok, off to read your recent update!

 

[Native NYer]

Happy Birthday!

 

[Native NYer]

I agree, if I lived near the port, maybe 3/4 days could make sense but from here...I don't think so. The pricing for the 7 day cruise seems fair, not so much for the 3/4. I will still hold out for a deal though as they seem to be pretty frequent, we are just looking a year out so there isn't anything yet and I don't think (yet) we have to worry about availability. I just have a hunch it will need to be pushed back until April. As it is, I have 5 weeks of vacation planned over the next year and my guess is I need to get it down to 3 if the job pans out.

We'd love to push our trip out by 3 days, so we arrive on the 15th instead of the 12th, it would save about $350-450 (I thought it was more but it's not). It all depends on K's fall sport plans which are a bit up in the air right now. Trying to get some info out of the school. If we do, we will overlap you by 3 days as we'd be there until the 25th!

I think I'm going to make ADR's for those later 3 days as well, just to be safe

If our trips overlap, we can try and meet for a cocktail in the WS. Grey Goose slushies, Kir Royales, and Bellinis sound great right about now.

I'm in the process of investigating airfare. Driving to my brother's house in Maryland (which we'll have to do anyway to pick up my nephews) and leaving from BWI will save us $900. Right now, flying from NYC is out. Long term parking at BWI is only $8/day.

How is the airfare in your area? Can you do a discount carrier like SW or Airtran?

 

[Charleston Princess]

Happy Birthday Cynthia!​

 

[Happydog]

I didn't catch that it was your Bday so Happy Birthday! How fun. I totally get having other things to do on your day -- I actually took my son to another boy's Bday party .... how's that for a mother's love??!!

Hope you had a great day -- sure sounds like you did!

 

[Angies1274]

Wow!! The job sounds like a great opportunity!! Good luck with your second interview!!!

Oh...and Happy Birthday!!!! Hope you had a great day!!!

 

[eandesmom]

Hmmm.... den meeting vs. baseball skills asses.; I don't know, those are some pretty tough choices.

At least you get a nice breakfast out!! you're making me hungry. wish I had bread in the house, I'd do up a quickie pb&j.

Hadn't heard of Botti before.. just googled!! Whoa. That's one serious hottie, and I LOVE me some jazz!!!

Breakfast was YUMMY! We never go out for it and it was really good. Mnn! Swedish Pancakes....

Ah yes, Chris Botti is not hard on the eyes, not at all! He puts on an amazing show, the caliber of talent around him is mind boggling. While he is jazz....he is a crooner with a trumpet as his voice.

Pure bliss.

The den meeting? Not so much.

We just booked our hotel for the April trip. We are staying at the Quality Inn & Suites, near the HoJo. I really liked the HoJo from our November trip but they were almost all booked up and their rooms they had left were too pricey. But I loved the convenience of being able to walk to the park, since we leave every day for Dylan's nap. Plus, we are going w/ some friends who did not want to spend a lot on the room. So this was my compromise. It's within walking distance, but isn't too pricey. Keeping my fingers crossed that it is a decent place to stay. The pictures don't look so bad.

It would have been a lot of fun to be there at the same time...we chose our week because it works with the school schedule where I work. I have a feeling that you will really enjoy the Food & Wine Festival.

Ok, off to read your recent update!

The HoJo gets really great reviews. I have to admit that just doesn't fit with my mental image of a HoJo. I hope the Quality Inn works out. Since we are only doing DCA one day, plus hitting DTD, walking distance really wasn't necessary (as we won't head back mid day) and the Crowne Plaza was a really great deal. I hope it's a good place to stay too! I'm very excited for Food and Wine, you will just miss it, won't you?

We chose our week around school, too, kids spring break!

Happy Birthday!

Thanks!

If our trips overlap, we can try and meet for a cocktail in the WS. Grey Goose slushies, Kir Royales, and Bellinis sound great right about now.

I'm in the process of investigating airfare. Driving to my brother's house in Maryland (which we'll have to do anyway to pick up my nephews) and leaving from BWI will save us $900. Right now, flying from NYC is out. Long term parking at BWI is only $8/day.

How is the airfare in your area? Can you do a discount carrier like SW or Airtran?

Oh that would be fun!

I'm hoping we decide to move dates, or not, in the next couple of weeks as I'd love to do it before Visa announces Free Dining (assuming they do) as I think it's end of Feb/early March that they release it?

Right now is too early for airfare here. I track the rates to MCO pretty much year round and as it gets closer it drops a lot. Best deal right now would be $357 on Air Tran but it would involve 1-2 layovers and take up to 12 hours! BLEH. Hoping for the red eye, non stop, on Alaska on the way out. We will have enough miles to get half price on all our tickets so even if Alaska ends up being more, if the miles get it down we will go that route. Hoping to get them for low $200's but I don't think we will see those rates till April or May.

Happy Birthday Cynthia!​

Thanks!

I didn't catch that it was your Bday so Happy Birthday! How fun. I totally get having other things to do on your day -- I actually took my son to another boy's Bday party .... how's that for a mother's love??!!

Hope you had a great day -- sure sounds like you did!

LOL! Yes, birthdays are never "completely" our own once we have children and a family are they. It's been a really lovely day.

Wow!! The job sounds like a great opportunity!! Good luck with your second interview!!!

Oh...and Happy Birthday!!!! Hope you had a great day!!!

Thanks Angie!