At the Cinema ♥ The Hobbit

Nothing like a good movie to take your mind off your own problems, right?  I wanted to see The Hobbit and was having a terrible night so I decided to do it!  And it was still a great movie even considering my awful mood.  So I'm sure it will be even better the second time.

I saw it in 3D and there were a lot of scenes that seemed designed especially for 3D.  That being said, I didn't like the clarity of some of the faster moving sequences in 3D so I would like to see it 2D and see if this fixes the clarity issues that I noticed.  

I didn't think The Hobbit was as good as any of the Lord of the Rings movies, but maybe it's just me.  It still is most definitely worth seeing in the theater to see how the unexpected journey began.  You will get acquainted with new characters and old friends.

Good Eats ♥ Potbelly

It's a sandwich shop!  They just opened in Tanasbourne, OR five weeks ago.  There is also a location in Portland, OR.  I spent a semester in Washington, DC during grad school working at ABC News and there was a Potbelly right around the corner.  It was one of my favorite lunch spots.  They have really yummy sandwiches and milkshakes.  And I'm sooooo excited that now we have one in Oregon to enjoy.  Seriously, try it out!  You will not regret.

Potbelly
2096 NW Stucki Ave
Portland, OR

So Potbelly, pretty much made my Sunday... but then I got to go to a Blazers game too!  It was a Stanford alumni event and it was soooo much fun.  I even got to meet a player Robin Lopez that went to Stanford.  He has the best hair!  

So all in all, a fabulous Sunday!  (I even got a red top for like $4 to wear to the game... and I picked up a couple other tops for a steal also.  Yay Macy's clearance rack)  I just don't want to work tomorrow... I would rather just go shopping and to basketball games please!  You know... the fun stuff :)  I'll be dreaming of basketball players.  XOXO honey bees!

Happy Friday ♥ Furball Friday

Oh my little blog!  I'm very sorry you have been so neglected.  It has been a very crazy week.  I even had to take two sick days.  I never take sick days.  Why would I want to waste my time off being sick when I could be in the Bahamas?  Anyway, you get the idea... I'm very anti-sick days.  But unfortunately, they were needed this week.  And my phone is kaput, well not completely but the home button doesn't work which makes it really difficult to do much on the phone.  Suffice to say, my blog has been very neglected!  But I will make amends next week.  It has been a super crazy week, the holidays, the bad news we've had lately... I hope you are all taking care of yourself and managing to squeeze in some R&R.  We never take enough time to relax, sleep and rest.  So I hope we both manage at least a bit this weekend...

Also, it's not Friday without a little furball or two.  XOXO honeybees!

PS: Come visit me tomorrow at my last holiday bazaar of 2013!  It's from 10-4 at Aloha High School. 18550 SW Kinnaman Rd

At the Cinema ♥ Lincoln

This movie is definitely worth seeing. It's a bit of history and quite educational.  That being said, the first part of the movie is pretty slow and boring. But once you get past the first half, the second half of the movie gets interesting. The movie is all about the 13th amendment and how Lincoln made it happen.  

It was also intriguing to see a glimpse into Lincoln's relationship with his wife Mary.  Mary struggled with the devastating loss of one of her sons Willie.  Lincoln even thought about sending Mary to a mental institution because of her issues dealing with the death of Willie. Sally Fields did an outstanding job playing Mary and had a wonderful moment keeping one of the Republicans Thaddeus Stevens in line.  

Tommy Lee Jones also did an excellent job in the role of Thaddeus Stevens.  Even though we all know what happened, it's fascinating to see how the 13th amendment was passed by the House of Representatives and how Lincoln helped shape American history. 

News to Use ♥

Breanna lost 66 pounds and she's only nine years old.  Click here to watch the story from ABC News.  She started exercising with her family and they had a zero tolerance policy for their nightly four mile walk.  It's a very inspiring little video!  And what a great idea to have a zero tolerance policy for exercising.  It makes working out pretty simple, if you just have to do it everyday!

Bazaar Time

Christmas Bazaar
Dec 7 & 8
9 am - 5 pm
Somerset Christian Church
16260 NW Bronson Rd
Beaverton OR 97006

♥ Lessons from Driving School Day 2

Today was much more sobering.  It was my second and last day of driving school.  We met a mom.  Her son was killed by a drunk driver.  She talks about what happened to her son because she doesn't want him to be forgotten and she wants to educate others.  We also saw some pretty intense photos of injuries from car crashes.  We also heard a story about a class attendee, just like us, who ended up in the trauma room the day after he had finished the course.  He died from his injuries and left an entire family behind.  I hope I don't forget what I've learned.

♥ Lessons from Driving School

I was pulled over by a cop for speeding, cops like to pull me over... I blame the red car.  But I had a nice cop who let me go to high risk driving school.  And surprisingly, it was the inspirational and educational thing I have done in months!  I really think it should be mandatory and everyone should go.  I learned a lot about trauma, but I was really touched by three speakers who came to our class, each who had sustained a traumatic brain injury.  It's not very often that we stop to appreciate what we have, but after meeting and hearing the stories from people who have overcome so much simply to be able to talk and walk, it's truly life altering.

Tyler Presnell was particularly moving.  He was in a car accident when he was 14 and lost his short term memory, but do you know what he does?  He is a motivation speaker.  He does this and he can't even remember what he did the day before.

He speaks with authority and you can't help but agree with him after everything he has been through.  He told me (and everyone) that we need to work harder and decide what we want to do with our lives.  Time is a precious commodity and don't waste it.

Nail It ♥ Black French Tips

My latest mani ♥ Black French Tips
I ♥ it!

America's Got Talent ♥ PDX style

My lovely singing friend DeeAnna alerted me that America's Got Talent was going to be in PDX today.  She actually won tickets to the front of the line on the radio.  Even a sinus infection (me) and a lack of sleep (warren) could not stop us!  We went to Xfactor and this time the audition came to us.

Now one of the main keys for this whole audition thing is to arrive early!  I did go to the America's Got Talent audition the last time they were in PDX a couple of years ago.  We arrived at about 4:30 a.m. and there were about 50 or 60 people in line already.  Since I was sick this week, I wanted to get some sleep before the audition (I also had a bazaar during the rest of the day).  We arrived at 5 a.m. today and were number 7 and 8 in line!  

Yup, we thought it was just the security, but there is the beginning of the line!

Thumbs down Portland, why don't you ever show up to auditions?  How are we ever going to get shows to audition in our city if nobody ever shows up?  People were supposed to line up at 6 a.m. and even then there was still only a handful of people waiting.  (At other auditions, you have to get there a couple hours earlier than 5 a.m. to be anywhere near the front of the line, which is exactly where you want to be so you don't have to wait around all day to audition.)  To be honest, I'm sure you could roll into this audition anytime later in the day and not have any issue auditioning or worrying about a line.  BUT you don't want to count on this being the case.  It seems to vary A LOT depending on the city you are auditioning in.  And if you trying out for another show I would expect to have to deal with larger crowds.

 
And for the first time, we ended up in the first audition group!  I have to give major props to AGT.  They were super organized and super nice, especially when compared to some other auditions that I've been to *cough*cough* (X Factor and American Idol).  Did the fact that there were way less people to manage help?  Definitely, but AGT went out of their way to be considerate of the people waiting in line.  The brought us inside very early so we could wait out of the cold and rain.  They also kept things moving and I didn't feel like there was a lot of wasted time.

After we lined up inside, we filled out release forms.  Next, we had to go through security.  Warren and I were miked to get ambient sounds and taped going through the line (another first) and chatted with a producer (another first).  They say to wear colorful clothing on the website and I would recommend it--I think it's part of the reason we got noticed.  They take you back in groups of 20 to audition.  We were called in numerical order and three of us auditioned together in a room with a producer and a camera man.  They videotape your audition which makes sense--they can see how you look on camera and go back and look over tape to decide who to callback.  I heard that you don't hear back until March if they are interested, but I don't know if this is true or not.  I was just so happy I finally saw significant improvement in my audition, even though I prepped less!

 See the guy in the hat?  He was our audition buddy!  We all auditioned in the same room together.

Are you going to try out for AGT?  Let me know how it goes!  Happy singing honeybees :)