The Economy Finally Hits Me

Sunday, February 22, 2009 | 0 Comments

I know that the economy is crap, has been crap, is getting crappier by the day -- but to tell you the truth I didn't feel it until today.

Cost Plus is closing all the World Markets in Minnesota!! AHhhh!!

I almost cried. But, then it would be too hard to find the things that I'd like to get 40%+ off. I will let the comfort of my savings and acquisition of all these goodies console my grief.

I have been meaning to get the blue rimmed goblets and the stovetop espresso maker for some time - no time like 60% off time. The espresso maker works great too.

The green mortar and pestle and the infusion tea cup were 60% off. The carved stone appetizer service forks and the stainless steel dip cups were 70% off. And the beautiful glass candle stick holders were 75% off.

All these great savings and I can barely enjoy it.
Well, at least the ones in Wisconsin haven't closed. The nearest one, Madison, is on the way to my sister's house; so looks like I will be visiting my sister more often!

3 comments:

sideshow bob said...

Sucks!

Double sucks!!!

Shannon said...

My heart would break if all the Cost Plusses (?) closed in Vegas. It would be sad day- you have my sympathies.

Michael Manning said...

Hang on, though! My friends at ASU tell me by the 3rd Quarter we will start to rebound!

18 Years

Thursday, February 12, 2009 | 0 Comments

WOW! SSB and I have been together a whole 18 years!! In some ways it seems like we have been together forever, but in a good way.

We had made plans to have a fun-packed weekend -- but we will be dog-sitting instead. Our older dog had a tumor removed on Wednesday and we are on chew-watch. He's far too nervous a dog for the "lampshade", a his vet calls it. I got a peek at his chart and in the "Warning" box was written "Caution: NERVOUS!"


Happy Valentine's Day!

4 comments:

Lyvvie said...

Congratulations!!

Sylvana said...

Lyvvie, thanks. And we're keeping up our anniversary tradition -- we can't go out and celebrate. Zero needs watching and just to be sure, I got a stomach virus. Blah!!

Shannon said...

Congratulations! I hope you guys make it out to celebrate at some point, and your dog gets better.

Sylvana said...

Shannon, we still haven't celebrated yet, but our dog is much better. Benign granuloma.

4 comments:

Lyvvie said...

You could freeze some, with heavy cream and have egg nog ice cream for the next three-six months!

Heather said...

Mmm...egg nog....{drooling like Homer}

Sylvana said...

Lyvvie, frozen nog is good as well, but nothing beats fresh nog!

Heather, noggy goodness!

Neil Patrick Harris

Tuesday, January 06, 2009 | 0 Comments


I was over on Heather's blog Matted Spam reading her list of songs that get stuck in her head, when I read the fascinating words - Neil.Patrick.Harris.

Neil Patrick Harris in a song list? What the hell does Neil Patrick Harris sing? At first I thought, perhaps there is another Neil Patrick Harris? Maybe there is a band that named themselves Neil Patrick Harris? It's totally plausible. I could see NPH totally digging that.

But NO! It's the real deal! The real NEIL effin PATRICK HARRIS!
SINGING!!!!
And it gets better. It's a whole wonderful, magical, hilarious operetta!
Thank you Heather!!



Note: This take a bit to load and is a 45 minute show, BUT IT SOOOO WORTH IT!!

4 comments:

Heather said...

It thrills me when I turn people on to Dr. Horrible!! YAY!! I'm glad you liked it! I think it's amazing! We made my family watch it on Christmas Eve and they were lukewarm in their reception of it. Don't understand how I ended up being related to them!! ha! Hope you have a great 2009!!

Sylvana said...

OMG Heather! This really started off my new year right!

I emailed it to my family and friends.

Michael Manning said...

Sylvana: Sending you all the best for your weekend! :D)

Sylvana said...

Michael, thanks Michael!

New Year

Sunday, January 04, 2009 | 0 Comments

Wow! A whole new year! And what a great 2008 I had!
Celebrated my 17th anniversary with my awesome husband, SSB!
I had to turn down yet another fantastic job offer.
Planned a trip for the family to go overseas.
I completed a wholesale switch at work.
I got my taxes done in APRIL!! Earliest EVER!
Celebrated SSBs graduation from college.
Whipped our pharmacy into shape for accreditation.
Traveled overseas with the family for over three weeks using only carry on!
I met Lyvvie and her fabulous family.
I got my family passes to Stonehenge's inner circle!
Obama won!! and I helped.
JD, my wonderful son, turned 16!!
Our pharmacy got accredited!
And I got my best bowling game EVER!

I decided that I needed to celebrate all that awesomeness with a party. We invited a dozen people over to ring in the New Year. I made SO MUCH FOOD! And everyone brought food as well -- we're still eating it! I made apple brie flatbread, humus, bruschetta, pico de gallo and we had mixed olives, Pepperidge Farm cookies, mixed cheeses and crackers, various wines, various beers, and various ginger ales and ginger beers (I found the best ginger beer outside of Scotland -- Main Root Ginger Brew. Absolutely fabulous!). Guests brought falafel, salmon cakes, buffalo wings, salsa, tzatziki, praline pecans, and various other goodies. [You will be able to find recipes for all my offerings in the "Sylvana Recipes" drop-down in the sidebar].

One of our guests, Obi, is always worried that he will break our wine glasses, and I hate to have him drink out of plastic cups, so we had gone on a special mission to find unbreakable wine glasses. Mission accomplished at Target. They have a whole line of wonderful acrylic "glass"ware, located with their real glass counterparts. Picked them up for $2.99 each! When he arrived, I showed him the wine glass. He was really excited. I decided to demonstrate it's unbreakability to get rid of any doubt, so I whacked it on the piano bench. His wife yelped and nearly fell over she was so startled; she thought I had a real wine glass. Hilarious! Obi said the look on her face was priceless. See, I've given them a memory that they can cherish forever. And the acrylic wine glass really is tough -- not even a mark on it!

Since we have been too busy to show our trip pictures, we doubled the party as a slide-show party too (by demand, I swear!). We discovered that the Wii is also great for showing slide-shows on your TV. The resolution was far better than the DVD that we burned for the same purpose. Wii's are awesome.

Happy New Year Everyone!!
And for you, here is a slide show of our travels in Scotland. More to come...

2 comments:

pastamasta said...

Wii's are indeed awesome, as the 7 pounds I've lost since buying a Wii Fit board prove! (A fair sight cheaper than a gym membership, too.)

Sylvana said...

Pastamasta, Congrats! I keep fluctuating on the weight part, but the yoga has improved my strength and tone. I love the way that it can let you know if you are balanced for better performance.

What A Week!

Saturday, December 20, 2008 | 0 Comments

Sunday was my BEST BOWLING EVER!!! I got a 192, 151 and a 167 for a 510 series!! And all that doped up on Benadryl!

All my renters are paid up.

And we got accredited! I just got the email today. There are still things to do, but our certificate is in the mail. That is such a relief! Our consultant was so impressed with my accomplishments that he asked if I would consider going into the accreditation consultant business.
I rock at my job.

2 comments:

lindsaylobe said...

In the past 4 years (with a lot of hard work) you have accomplished far much more than most people would even dream about - congratulations ~!!
Best wishes

Sylvana said...

Thanks for the congrats Lindsay. I am hoping to have a calmer year in 2009.

JD Turns 16!!

Sunday, December 14, 2008 | 0 Comments

Yikes! I can barely believe that my little guy is now 16 years old!

And you know what, neither can most other people. When they hear I have a kid, they are thinking that I have a lower single digit. They usually say something like, "You have a kid? Awww! How old?" When I tell them, their expression changes from puppy-dog-dreamy to WTF.

We had another bowling party for JD. The kids LOVE it and it is a way to get a bunch of kids together and not in our house.

JD bowling


JD's final game of the night. His first turkey and his highest score ever!


The cake.

It was a great night. Even one of the parents stopped by and joined in the festivities by passing around an embarrassing picture of her little guy (one of JD's guest in a Pikachu costume). I like JD's friends, and their parents!

4 comments:

Lyvvie said...

Happy Birthday!! Glad to see it was tons of fun with added cake! HUGS!

Can't wait to see pikachu.

Shannon said...

Happy Birthday, JD!

pastamasta said...

Damn... your bowling skillz are madder then mine by some distance. Practice session coming up, methinks.

Happy Birthday to JD...!

Sylvana said...

Lyvvie, the boy got a hold of the picture and crumpled it up before I could get it. But it was adorable!

Shannon, he's grown several inches since you saw him in Milwaukee!

PastaMasta, nice to see you out and about again!

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