Friendships.

I chatted with an old friend today.  He never fails to make me laugh, whether intentional or not.  I enjoy those kinds of friends.  He brought up the obvious past that we never truly confronted head on.  It was always blatantly obvious.  No one could be so naive to not notice a single droplet of that energy.  It was really hard to keep a straight face on during the conversation, without letting a smirk, smile, or bit of laughter slip through.  To dissect someone who in many aspects share many of your own traits is challenging at best.  It's hard to resist and maintain a perfectly good friendship.  It's also relatively easy to ruin a perfectly good friendship over things we selfishly desire.  We're an enigma in a riddle.  An unavoidable addiction I tried to avoid so well.  I love and hate him all the same.  

Louis Vuitton. Seriously?

Oh, I have been absent for my blog.  There's been numerous moments where I've attempted to write up a "New Post" but I never got anywhere with it.  FAIL on my part.  There were a lot of things that I wanted to blog about.  Unfortunately I just didn't.  I spent time with friends, Peter, my pups... amongst other things.


Today was Black Friday.  Peter was gracious enough to go with me to check out the deals.  I wrote out a list of each store and items that I wanted from that store.  However, some of the deals from the ads online clearly did not reflect the prices in store :( I want to go back today and see if there's any other deals out there.


Since Peter worked, I took to the internet to do some shopping!  I ended up buying a sweet new FourSquare snowboarding outfit for myself -- jacket and pants.  It was perfect since I've been eyeing that Jacket for over a month since I saw it at Zumiez!  I got the last one in my size so I am happy! I also bought Peter's "big" present which was a FourSquare Michalira snowboarding jacket for him.  I hope he likes the design... LOL.  I went with a semi-crazy design but with neutral colors to go with his FourSquare pants that he already has.  The reviews for this jacket was solid and he mentioned today he needed a new jacket :) 


I also bought him a family-sized Black & Decker griddle (hey, it benefits me too!).  I didn't realize how big it was soo I had to try and cover part of it up with my jacket and told him not to turn around the whole time.  LOL.  I also bought him "The Office" season 4 and when he put his stuff in the basket he was like "OoOoooo... I saw what you're getting me!"  I guess that evened out the fact that I saw him with "House" in his hands.  We're silly.  Who actually thought you could shop for your significant other when you're WITH them?!  Haha.


Conflict of the day: My brother calls me up saying, "Hey, what kind of Louis Vuitton bag do you want? We're at the LV store with mom." 


Long story short, I thought I almost got out of it when she settled to (and bought) me a bag from Guess.  && then my mom went and kept insisting I find a bag that I want from LV. She kept saying, "All the LV bags you have are my hand-me-downs.  You don't have a bag of your own."  I basically told her I'd rather have a "cheap" bag from Guess and cash to spend on stuff I am interested in like Electronics.  I think that hurt her feelings and she sounded mad at me :(  (man, I just can't justify spending THAT much on a bag!) She pulled the "Alright!  I'll send you the Guess bag and cash.  You and Dianne (my bros gf) can split all my bags when I die" card.  Oh boy.


Yeah ok, so I guess she really wants to get a bag for me because that's the one thing she LOVES.  I understand that.  It would really give her pleasure to get something for me that she really loves.  I can't believe I felt selfish denying her the pleasure by refusing a bag?  I totally think that's what she thinks.  Isn't that so backwards?!  After talking to my bro again tonight, I decided to just go with the dang bag.  I can't believe I got talked into this.  Hello Louis Vuitton bag.  


I don't know what my mom was on today (she bought herself and my bro's gf an LV bag)... but OK mom, be happy and buy me the bag.  I have to send my bro a style that I like tomorrow.  I'm eyeing the Totally PM in Damier Canvas.  At least this style is less noticeable than the monogram canvas.  Maybe I'll change my mind when I wake up...

I seriously don't need anymore bags than I already have.  Hmm..  is it normal to already know everything I'm getting for christmas?  That kind of sucks.  Where's the element of surprise these days?  Am I that hard to shop for?  Boooo.

Twitter Contests

I've been transitioning into doing more Twitter contests.  They're rather easy to enter.  Though my friends probably don't enjoy all the messages that I send out.  "SPAM BOT" .. sure.  Most of my friends rarely ever use Twitter anyway except to lurk and update every so often.  In any case, I've made an account geared towards Twitter related giveaways.  The first day, I managed to win a DodgeTag toy from @FamilyFun.  It looks like a game Peter & I will enjoy.  


Currently, most of my focus is on winning Twilight related contests.  Hey, New Moon is coming out soon!  I have Twilight fever.  Nothing gets me going like a bunch of sexy vampires & werewolves ;) Here's some contests to check out:

• @twilightMOMs - New Moon Soundtrack Giveaway: http://bit.ly/4A1EXF (ends Today! 12PM PST)
• @twilightees - Free Twilight shirt w/ every 50 followers
• @Shakefire - Shirt worn on screen by Robert Pattinson or The complete TWILIGHT book series & Twilight BLU-RAY: http://twurl.nl/syvm1l

Twitter Name: @xriyah

Black Friday Deals

I'm not much of a shopper, but I do love getting deals anytime I can find them.  I'm currently checking out some of the Black Friday ads from various stores.  Currently looking at the Target ad and it's looking promising.  There's a few items there that I'm interested in/making a note of:

• $3.99 - DVD Movies: Kung Fu Panda, Nights in Rodanthe, Dark Knight, Madagascar 2 ($5.99)
• $12.99 - TV Seasons:  House, Supernatural, One Tree Hill, Friends
• $10 - $17 Board Games:  Balderdash, Catch Phrase, Scattergories, & Taboo
• Make this deal sweeter with a $5 off coupon on Hasbro games
• Appliances - $19 Griddle, $3 Coffee Maker, $3 Sandwich Maker
• Electronics - $149.99 Sony Blu Ray player w/ $20 GC + $10 GC on purchases over $100. $119.00 for player.  Not too bad.

I'm hoping the DVD deals & board games will be live online so I can get them via website instead.  Then I'll have to decide if it's worth getting up early in the morning to snatch up those other deals.  I've been wanting a coffee maker.  Haha.  The griddle would be a good present for Peter as well.  GREAT for breakfast! My bro was also in the market for a Blu Ray player soo, for $119 that's pretty good.

I'm currently watching "Ngayon Nandito Ka."  It's one of my favorite movies.  I really have a soft part in heart for sappy filipino movies.  Haha.  This movie brings back so many memories and flashbacks in the Philippines.  I really love it there... Although I didn't grow up there, I spent a good deal of my childhood there and a lot of good summers during high school.  Watching all these filipino shows and movies also helped me to relearn the language and appreciate my culture more.  

Man, I really miss the Philippines.  I haven't been there for over 3 years.  I love it there.  I love the simplicity.  I love living in the countryside.  I love the silence of the night.  One day.. I'll go back!

Scoots Magoots.

This little man is a purebreed West Highland White Terrier.  They are technically, Cairn Terriers, but white.  Imagine that.  He is a 7 month old puppy, 13.5 lbs, and almost fully grown.  He was sitting in a sea of puppies that were going crazy and not once did he bark.  He was very well behaved and cute.

Normally, I am against buying puppies from pet stores, etc.  I just like to visit the pet stores to see all the cute little babies.  This little guy was returned by the previous buyer and it seemed like the store owner was just trying to get rid of him.  Poor little guy.  He was going for a really good price and Peter got really attached to him, so I consented, said yes.  I can't turn down an opportunity for a new doggy!  I love dogs.

The guy gave us an "out the door" price with everything included-- dog + tax + papers (certifying he's a purebreed) + microchip + meds.  Not to mention, he's all up-to-date on shots except for rabies ($5 at the Humane Society!).  We figured we could take care of him and if worse comes to worse and we couldn't bring him to our new place (we're looking at places in Denver), we could find a really good home for him.  

This little guy is such a ... "feminine" dog though.  The only "small" dog I've ever wanted was a Boston Terrier (we couldn't get that one since she was $650!).  I'm not the kind of girl that dresses their dogs up and carries them in their purse.  He's kind of a scaredy cat.  He's trying to mark his territory all over our house, even our Siberian Husky, Zeus.  He cried when I put him in the bathroom to sleep, but he can't sleep in our room until he is fully potty trained.  He already had a poop accident in the house yesterday!  Thankfully, he pooped outside today.  At least he doesn't run away.

He does have a bit of temper though.  He gets really defensive when Zeus tries to play with him. Perhaps this is why he wasn't playing with the other pup's at the store?  Then again, Zeus is also a bit much to handle.  He's 70lbs and poking at this small 13lb dog!  I'm trying to work on that though.  Otherwise, he's a good dog.  He loves to be cuddled, pet, and follows you around everywhere.

Oh yes, we named him Scooter.

Trekkin' It

Peter got off of work early last night so we decided to go on a bike ride.  We were both pretty hungry so we biked down towards 16th St. first to get some food.  We planned on going to DP Dough, but "Taste of Philly" caught Peter's eye and we decided to go there.  The guy was cool enough to let us bring our bikes in and eat inside.  The philly cheesesteaks were absolutely delicious!  Wow.  The meet was perfectly tender, super hot and fresh, and the bread went well with everything.  I enjoyed it.


After that we headed towards Bittersweet Park on 35th Ave.  We ended up biking all the way to Sushi 1 and back to our house for a total of 9 miles!  Wow.  I can't believe we biked 9 miles at 11 o'clock at night.  It didn't even feel like a "workout" really.  It was moreso fun and enjoyable!  Haha.  Although, I was really sketched out a lot of the time because it was so late and some areas had no light at all.  You never know what could happen in Greeley.  There's a lot of crazies out there!  It was fun though.


Today, we went on a tour at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Fort Collins with Shawn & Keilyn.  For a free tour, it wasn't too bad!  My nose was definitely not agreeing with all the smells though.  Haha.  The beginning smelt like dog food, but it was neat seeing the time lapse of their packaging, marketing, and advertising over the years.  At the end, everyone got 2 samples of beers.  Many people say that drinking beer is an acquired taste.  I'm sorry, but I don't think I will every truly "acquire" that taste.  All beer tastes the same to me.  Beer is beer is beer.  The only time I will drink it is when I'm on a mission to get drunk and it's the only thing available.  With that said, Peter finished off my beers for me.  Haha!


For lunch we headed over to Pho Duy for some delicious pho!!  I love pho.  Haha.  Meatball alll the way.  While we were there, this guy dropped by to drop off the Yakima Rhode Gear bike rack.  $10 for a bike rack, not too shabby!  Layne also came by to pick up his jacket/license from me.


Once we got home, I realized that I took off the house key from my chain of keys when we went bike riding the other day.  Yes, we were locked out of our house.  All our windows are SEALED shut as well because the wood warped during the warm/freezing weather.  I tried using a card to slide the lock open for a while, but Peter was getting frustrated and I stopped.  I can't deal with his frustration a lot of the time... he's so impatient when it comes to certain things, but I wasn't about to call a damn locksmith for a stupid thing (Teri, where are you when I need you?!).  While I was looking for a number, Peter tried his luck with the card and guess what?  The door opened!  Hah.  Now I wish I just kept at it so *I* opened the door and he would learn to be more patient and see how awesome my ideas are.  Lol.


With that said, I'll be locking the deadbolt as well from now on ;)  That or teach Lexi how to unlock doors.


The rest of the night consisted of a 2 hour nap, football, and eating junk food.  Loves it!

Mountain Bikes

I've been wanting to get a mountain bike for a very long time.  I especially wanted one just in case I found a job somewhere close to my house and it was close enough to bike to.  I posted a "want ad" on Craigslist on Friday and made a deal to pick-up a bike by Saturday morning!  On Sunday morning, Peter & I headed out to Fort Collins to pick-up a bike from a guy.  Once I saw him, I knew I was getting a good deal!  As it turns out, his family are cycling enthusiasts.  They were pretty hardcore.


This bike is used, several years old (7 or 8), but still in good condition and a quality bike.  It's a Torker Alpental.  I looked it up online since I never heard of it, once I saw all the details I knew I should get it.  It's not your mass-market, run of the mill mountain bikes from a chain store.  It's a $200-$300 bike equipped with Shimano components.  The bike is 18 speed and complete with grip shifts.  He also installed reflectors on the front & back of the bike and a cute little bell (this bike was his daughter's).  He also lubed it before selling it to me!  For $25, I think it's a steal!


I rode it around that same morning since it was really nice out.  It would've been nice to have Peter riding with me!  I tried to take Lexi with me while biking, but I think she still needs to learn not to get excited and run in front of the wheels.  The seat is pretty hard, but it's replaceable!  Overall, I am satisfied.  



After getting my bike, Peter wanted one.  It'll be a good way for us to hang out, have fun, and get a work out at the same time.  We both are in dire need of that!  I found this Mongoose EFX bike on Craigslist (Yes, Craigslist is my friend!).  It retails for $130 in stores, but I got it down to $40 (from $55!).  We'll be picking it up tomorrow! I read a lot of good reviews for this bike and for our purposes, it will do just fine.  I don't think we'll be hitting up the trails anytime soon anyway, especially with the unpredictable weather.  For casual riding around town and bike trails, we're set to go!
I know, it's November, but you never know with Colorado weather.  It can be really cold one day and beautiful the next.  Today would've been a good day to go, but I forgot about daylight savings time and it was dark by the time I realized the time!  Grrr.  Hopefully tomorrow Peter & I will be able to ride around for a little bit before he has to go back to work!

Halloween & Costume Arsenal

For Halloween, I was Little Red Riding Hood.  Unfortunately, we were in a rush due to already being late and Peter & I never took photos of our costumes.  I also couldn't find my little camera, so I didn't take any photos at all on Halloween!  That's a first for me.  I must certainly be getting old.  The LRRH costume was pretty impromptu.  I was debating all day on a back-up costume just in case my original costume didn't come in on time.  I searched through the mall, Wal*Mart, & Target.  I knew I didn't want to spend more than $10 & I so LRRH it was.

• Red Fabric - $2.75
• Basket - $3.00
• Knee High Socks - $2.00

It was 8PM by the time I got home (I waited for the mailman & took a nap to sleep off the remaining alcohol from the night before).  I had less than 2 hours to get my costume together!  I actually SEWED my cape/hood.  Albeit, it was a really crappy sew job, but I was in a rush!  Most people couldn't tell I sewed it myself anyway.  Lol.  I covered my basket with 'spider webs' and filled it with candy rather than breakfast for grandma.

Overall, it was a success!  I really loved my knee high socks.  I loved rocking them in middle school and I'll be getting more soon!  Peter decided to be Allen from "The Hangover."  We could've got a baby carrier & the baby and all that, but again, no time!  Once we were ready we headed over to a party.  Parties these days seem so lame compared to the ragers back when I was in college.  We were one of the oldest ones there and it was a bit strange, but whatever, I had fun.  After the party we ended up eating at Taco Rapidos, which was awesome!

 It was a great night overall.  Glad I wasn't hanging at all the following day.  Thanks to daylight savings, we got an extra hour of sleep!  I was originally going to be a race car driver/danica patrick.  I'll just save that costume for an upcoming year or some kind of party.

Wet Seal currently has a deal for additional 50% off on Halloween items.  A lot of the costumes were already marked down so w/ the additional 50 off, they were a steal!  When they say that Halloween is an excuse to dress like a slut, I am indeed guilty.  I like 'slutting it up' every so often ;)  I'll be set for the next 4 years of Halloween!  Photos of my purchases below.  

1. Original costume - Race car driver, Danica Patrick 
2. Beer Wench - would make a great Gretel costume or fun to wear on St. Patrick's Day
3. Sailor - originally $80! got it for $10.  it's a steal! 
4. French Maid - back-up costume