lampapalooza

I'm in love with a lamp.

I was walking through Hobby Lobby, and it was like in a movie where the skies open up, angelic music plays, and a stream of light filters down through the clouds to the most wonderful lamp I'd ever seen in my life.

And it was 50% off.

And it was the last one.

I walked up and down the aisle trying to decide if I should get the lamp.

Pros to getting the lamp:
-it would be mine.
-it would not be someone else's.
-it was beautiful and adorable at the same time.
-it would be mine.

Cons to procuring the lamp:
-even at 50% off, it was a big chunk of money.
-no place to put the lamp with current "interior design" (ha!) arrangement.


And then, it was all decided for me when a woman walked down the aisle and I practically body-tackled the lamp to make sure she wasn't going for it (she wasn't...but if she'd seen it, she would have). And I knew that I wouldn't be leaving Hobby Lobby without the lamp. And it was a good thing that I did get it when I did because when I was walking to the front of the store to purchase it, I received several compliments on the lamp, but they were more like, "Ooooh, if only I'd seen it first..." compliments.

So it's in my newly formed "reading nook" now. That's right. Bill and I rearranged all the furniture in our house to make a spot for the lamp. It was time for the change anyway. Now we have a proper dining room...and a reading nook. And my lamp.

Seriously, if I weren't already married to Bill, I would call the justice of the peace and marry this lamp.

NO Phone Home

To my real world friends, FYI, right before I left on the cruise, my cell phone pretty much disintegrated in my hands, so if you've called me in the last week or were expecting a call from me and haven't received one, that's why.

But don't despair. My cute new pink phone arrived today, and it is being charged as we speak.

More Cruise Pics

Because there's nothing more fun than looking at pictures of other people's vacations:

The Flying Dutchman from Dead Man's Chest on Disney's Island


There were roosters all over the ports of call. This one was in Key West. Like pigeons but louder.


The Disney "Hooray for Everything" Dancers kicking off the cruise. There was this one particularly infectious song from "High School Musical" that they played constantly. The shot is actually of the big screen TV on the top deck that they would show movies on during the day and sports games at night


Bill and I getting ready to go to the fancy restaurant on board. The waiter actually refused to bring Bill what he originally ordered because it didn't taste good enough in his opinion. (The waiter ended up bringing Bill some of the original order on the side...and he was right, his recommendation was better)


All of us gussied up:

Ahoy, Matey!

Well, I am back from the Disney Cruise with Bill's family. Very, very fun. Here are the details:

The ship did a really good job of corralling the Disney cheesiness to certain pre-set times and places, but everybody was there with kids in one form or another (child, grandchild, nephew/niece), so it was fun to be able to go to the character breakfast and dancing with Snow White (who was c-r-e-e-p-y, let me tell you) and stuff like that with Owen, our nephew. But at the same time, at any point, Bill and I could go to the section of the ship that's designated a kid-free zone. They had an adults-only pool, coffee shop, bar, piano bar, cabaret nightclub...all of that was kid-free. Plus, on their out island, they had an adults-only beach, but we didn't bother going there because we found a secluded spot for the family. There was just so much to do at any point that it was impossible to be bored, but I spent most of my time hanging out in lounge chairs napping or reading.

The shows were amazing...apparently, they were voted the best of any cruise line, although they were all Disney characters, so if characters really annoy you, not a good idea. Bill and I were both "show"ed out by the end of the week. There's only so many times you can cheer for the "Hooray for Everything" dancers dressed as Cinderella and Prince Charming and ooh and ahh when Mickey and Minnie hit the stage. But they were all very well done. If there's one thing Disney does well, it's entertainment.

We didn't do any excursions at the ports where we stopped, so they were kind of "ehh" compared to the ship. We went to a hotel beach in Grand Cayman where Bill's parents stayed earlier this year, which was fun, but a bit stressful trying to get the whole family organized and to & from the beach. Key West was neat. We ate a slice of key lime pie at Sloppy Joe's, that bar where Ernest Hemingway hung out. Really, whenever I got off the ship (with the exception of Disney's island which was really just an extension of the ship to a tropical paradise), I just wanted to get back on the ship and find a good chair and relax.

The food and the service were incredible. I had one day that I literally got sick because I ate so much, but it was just so hard to say "no" to the food when it was in front of you and oh-so-very-yummy. All the crew were from different countries, so it was interesting getting to talk to people about where they were from and their experiences on the cruise ship.

We had good weather until the last night, and the boat started really rocking and going over big waves, and the whole bed would shake. I didn't realize how much I got used to the sea movement until I got home, and it felt like the whole house was rocking back and forth for 2 full days.

And that was our cruise in a nutshell.