Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Back and Relaxed

My remaining time in Florida was wonderful and the Sousas were absolutely wonderful hosts. We were fortunate with the sunny 70-degree weather and spent most of it eating, taking walks, shopping, napping or playing games (I'm addicted to Catch Phrase now). We got some great food in as well--from Italian at Carrabba's to a Spanish dinner (I had the Arroz con Pollo) at Columbia Restaurant and to delicious Ipswich steamers at Crow's Nest in Venice. Matt's dad spoiled me with a yummy egg muffin sandwich and french toast for breakfast every morning. As I know they read this, I'll give a shout out--> George & Sharon, Thanks so much for everything! I had a fabulous time!


Englewood Beach

Friday, December 23, 2005

Christmas lights to the max

There's a house around the corner from Matt's parents that has an insane light display (seems to be a trend here in Florida)--but this one is over the top. Check out the rest of the photos I took of this display.

Florida Christmas House Lights

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Please check your tags

Oy vey. My first 24 hours in Florida was hilarious. After arriving from a red eye, I sleepily picked up my bag and headed north with Matt's parents for a bite to eat and then a nap back at their house. After waking up from my nap, I opened up my suitcase to brush my teeth...only to realize that the clothes in the bag were not mine! Now--this was approximately 8 hours after leaving the airport! I checked my phone messages and found that JetBlue had called me 3 times urgently because the woman whose suitcase I had picked up was leaving for Jamaica the next day. We drove the hour back to the airport to return the suitcase and pick up mine. They were literally the exact same bag--same brand, same color...mine was just a bit more tattered. I can't believe I did that--that was a first. Good thing I caught it before that woman left for Jamaica!

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Time for the holidays!

I leave on a flight in 3 hours to head to Florida with Matt to spend Christmas with his parents. This will be the first Christmas ever for me without my parents--kind of a big deal. But then, this relationship is a big deal...so I can't wait. Matt's parents are so warm and inviting and I'm just looking forward to a week of hanging out and chill time.

I've got about 2 hours to kill before my ride (thanks Tim) comes to get me. I think I'm packed. I just really need to change and then pack all the little tiny stuff (magazines to read on the plane, ipod, chargers, toothbrush, etc..) I'm currently watching the season finale of Nip/Tuck and it's oh so good. This show is highly addictive.

I know I'm not, like, a crazy sports person or baseball fan, but I still can't believe that Damon is going over to the Yankees. Matt is flipping out.

Anyway, back to the final finishes of packing, then food, then finish watching Nip/Tuck. Ciao!

Another silly Asian video

You remember the video of those 2 random Asian guys making a video of them singing to a random song? Now there's one with 2 Asian girls (Thanks Asayo)--what's with Asian people and making the most random videos?

Buy lotsa books online?

Seattle was named the Most Literate City in the U.S. for the year 2005---one major difference between this year's study vs. last's was the introduction of the factor of number of books bought online. Hmmm. The least literate cities (#51-69 on the list) mostly fell in Texas and California---L.A. being #60. Fascinating.

Friday, December 9, 2005

Bird's Eye View

Windows Live Local just launched and it's super sweet. Why? Well, it has all the basic features that you get with Google Maps--map view, aerial/satellite view, pushpins, directions, etc...but they added a Bird's Eye View which gives a really awesome perspective. Even cooler is the fact that you can change the orientation around and get many perspectives of a given landmark or building. They don't have bird's eye view images everywhere but for a good number of cities, including Seattle, L.A., Boston, San Francisco, Vegas, New York, etc.--check them out. Below is a comparison of a satellite image vs. a bird's eye image of my condo: