During a mellow Saturday night at home, Mick and I decided to watch a movie, and make it one we considered a cheesy 80′s classic. After suggesting Adventures in Babysitting, and finding out that he had never seen it, the decision was made.

How he could have gone through his teenage years and never seen it is beyond me…but then again, he wasn’t a teenage girl. Happy to report he enjoyed it, and my view on this 80′s hit wasn’t skewed. What I did forget however, and found super entertaining was this.

Yes, that is Vincent D’Onofrio. So random. So blonde. So skinny. Definitely not the Lt. Goren that I have come to love on Law and Order Criminal Intent, or the fat bald Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket (which oddly enough came out the same year.)

Watch one of the clips here:

Last weekend my mom came into town and we were trying to figure out how we could entertain her, and what she hasn’t seen yet. I’ve been in the bay for 8 years now, so she has definitely seen most. Now I’m a sucker for factories. I love shows like Unwrapped, How it’s Made, etc., that take you into the factory to see how things happen. Figured I hadn’t ever visited the Jelly Belly Factory, my mom loves candy….perfect. It is Fairfield, California, so its only a 45 minute drive from Oakland.

Note to anyone who hasn’t been there. I’d recommend not going on the weekend. Two reasons. 1) Full of tourists that can only get away for the weekend, but most importantly, 2)The factory doesn’t work on the weekend. There are no people in it, so you take the tour…but dont get to see the magic happen. Thats what I love about factories…guess I’ll have to go back. We also werent able to take pics in the factory…just the store and outside. So apologies for the lack of cool photos of millions of jelly bellys IN the factory, though there was no movement anyway.

We had to wear silly hats just to even get in the tour.

We also bought 8 lbs of Belly Flops, which are basically the reject Jelly Bellys, either too big, too small or just mishaped. They are cheaper than the others…and taste the same, so who cares.

They also have all this art displayed..that people make out of Jelly Belly Beans. Such detail and crazy accuracy! I took some photos of examples, but there were  a ton more too.

It’s the year of the Rabbit…and I found this article on Yahoo about what this means for someone like me…I’m a Snake. I actually found it quite accurate. I have made some notes corresponding to the places that kind of freaked me out. I’m not much to believe horoscopes…but maybe the Chinese ones are different. All sounds pretty positive, so lets hope my year goes as described.

• If last year was a bit wild for you, things might calm down a bit in the Year of the Metal Rabbit. Your sign’s element is Fire, which has a harmful influence on the Metal year element — make sure you plot your course carefully. Even though your favorability for the year is only 65%, almost all your months will be favorable. Your determination and perseverance might need a tune-up. Are there ways you can boost your motivation? Give yourself a daily dose of self-confidence with words of affirmation. There’s room for you to accomplish great things. (NOTE: In the month of January I participated (sort of) in a program my friend Jamie designed called Immaculatize, which is ALL about bettering yourself.)

(more…)

Have you ever thought of yourself as a character? I’ve never really had that image of myself. My husband is bald and bearded. Easy to describe. Hard not to notice.

I’ve just always thought of myself as a short (ish) girl with curly brown hair, but kind of average. No real style to speak of, just kind of a everyday jane who blends in to the crowd. Till last Saturday night. My old house, the BBH threw their yearly pre-Halloween party, and we were surprised with two of our friends coming as us!! There were doppelgangers at the party, and they did gang-busters at duplicating us as a couple. Like it was so crazy that Mick would go to talk to her thinking it was me, and then remember I was wearing a costume. She outdid her self. It was crazy, eerie and hilarious. See for yourself.

Have you ever had anyone go as YOU for Halloween? I doubt it.

I heart Halloween. Its the time of year that I put my best, craftiest foot forward and throw myself into costume making and decorating. If I lived in a larger house with less clutter, and maybe a few kids running around, it would be full of Halloween decor and goodies.

I’ve been thinking about my costume for a while now. A few years back I had a super successful Halloween costume that I made and went as a bag of skittles.

I didn’t know how to sew, barely handstitched, and was a master at my glue gun. Needless to say, that was a one season costume, as all the glue has pulled away and its filthy.

Now, with my sewing skills passable, I decided to go the candy route again…it worked well for me last time. Can you guess what I’m making?

With the arrival of my mom yesterday, and the impending arrival of other guests starting in just a few hours…I am not going to have the time or energy to post to The Little Goat. I’m signing off for now, and will be back when the family has left, and I have a new last name. So I leave you with a kitten in formal wear, and if you want to watch my favorite of the Muppet Studios Videos, click here. (It won’t let me embed)

After this past weekend, I know the path my life is taking is the right one, and I’ll tell you why.
Our bachelorette/bachelor weekends just came and went (I still don’t think its fair we only get one), and we met up Sunday night, exchanged stories, and I knew that I was making the right choice.

There is nothing wrong with guys going to strip clubs for their party. What is wrong is when the groom to be does some shady stuff, and makes questionable decisions. None of that was even an issue, as Mick’s friends (my friends) all rarely left their Lake Tahoe house, and just sat around with the group of dudes, rarely even SEEING a girl, let alone a naked one.

I’m sure I know many things about his weekend that I shouldn’t. But all of them are so ridiculous, that they just made me laugh, and not throw a fit. Thats just not the type of guy he is.

On my own bachelorette weekend in Calistoga, I had a conversation with a guy outside one of the bars we had visited. OK, so it wasn’t so much a conversation as it was me screaming at him and making sure he did NOT follow us back to hang out. He essentially asked me if I was tired of having guys come on to me and try to hook up while we were in Calistoga. Keep in mind I was wearing a bedazzled veil, and a sash that said Bachelorette. No questions as to the fact that I was getting married. I replied and said that hadn’t really happened, seeing as though I was a BRIDE. He proceeded to go on about that being a perfect excuse for a “One Last Hurrah”.

I just about lost it on him. How dare he even insinuate something like that. Who DOES that? I get that a strip club may be the way that men get around that notion. Check out some boobs that aren’t your fiance’s before you get married. But to actually hook up with someone because you are soon to be married? Because you will soon have a ball and chain? I dont get it. If I WANTED to cheat on my fiance, why would I wait till 3 weeks before we got married? Is that a sign that its a good idea that you are getting married? Does it show that you are ready? I don’t think so. If you even have the desire to cheat….DON’T GET MARRIED. The frustrating part was that this wasn’t the first I’d heard of something like this. I even know some guys/girls who have witnessed this actually happening, and let it go as a rite of passage.

What I do know, is that if anything like that had happened at his Bachelor party…and my friends there let him do it…I’d be down a lot more friends. However…that would NEVER happen, and thats why I’m marrying him, and thats why I call those guys friends.

A few photos from my weekend in Calistoga. I didn’t take a ton, but I still have to upload a few of my own. These were stolen from other people.

Check it out. Super last minute a few days ago, I saw Tinna had participated in an Alphabet Walk, with the letter K, and I wanted to see if I could be a part of it. This Alphabet Walk is the brainchild of One Sydney Road. Basically, everyone has a letter, and they get to take photos of stuff using that letter as inspiration. How cool to participate in a group blog thingy, and get to use my camera skills in the process. Only problem was that I didn’t have a ton of preparation time, and my camera only came out with me today. So I took advantage of a Walk that I needed to take for work today.

I went through the streets of downtown San Francisco, on the way to a conference, and this is what I found. How convienent that I was assigned the letter ‘W’ and I happened to walk by the hotel bearing that very name!!

The 'W' Hotel

The 'W' Parking Garage

the sign directing me West

found it

Make sure you check out all of the other participants in the Alphabet Walk!

Its weird living up north..in an apartment..without a backyard…with no friends who have pools..and where its so foggy that we cant ever see fireworks anyway.

Its one of the main things I miss about southern california. If YOU didn’t have a pool, you knew someone who did. Someone was always BBQing, there were parties growing up at friends of families houses, there were parties on the (sunny) beaches when I was in school in SD. Since I moved to the bay almost 7 years ago…the 4th of July has kind of fallen by the wayside, and not been as important to people up here. It’s never been about the actual holiday for me…I just heart BBQ’s, eating outside, fireworks, and warmth.

I have tried to go and see fireworks  2 times since I moved here…it was always too foggy, and couldn’t see anything. A few years I have gone to High Sierra Music Festival, which is where I’m heading this holiday for a few days as well. Last year we went to Austin.

Its funny though because I think mentally, I’m always preparing for a day where I can have the BBQs, pools, and fireworks again. Even in our registry, we registered for outdoor silverware and condiment caddies. We initially registered for outdoor acrylic plates as well, but Crate & Barrel stopped carrying the ones we wanted. I don’t even have a patio, much less a backyard…but I think I’m preparing for the 4th. For a 4th of July in the future.

I want lemonade in a pitcher of ice. I want cupcakes frosted to look like the American Flag. I want kids running around and swimming. I want families of friends coming over to eat ribs that we have been cooking all day. I want to eat a burger, hot dog AND a rib…just because its all there, and thats what people do at BBQs. I remember when it was all about the party, and that stuff didnt really matter. I’m ready for it now. I guess first things first…and I need to get out of this apartment.

image by Heather Kennedy

A 7 day cruise to Mexico.

After much deliberation, threads on Facebook with many good words of wisdom, back and forths about All-inclusive resorts in Costa Rica, doing it on our own in Belize, even a 45 minute call with a booking agent today trying to sort out a trip to Hawaii…we finally made up our collective minds, and booked a cruise to Mexico.

The reasons are the following:

a) I love cruises, and Mick has never been on one

b) I love the idea of already having most of the trip payed for…with the exception of excursions and booze.

c) The cost was the deciding factor. With the debt that will no doubt follow the wedding…the last thing I want to do is drop a bunch of money we dont have on a trip that wasn’t our first choice. I believe I mentioned it before, but our original plan, Thailand, was thwarted by civil unrest in the country. Now we can save for THAT trip…maybe for our 1 year anniversary.

d) C’mon…it’s Mexico!!

We will be porting in Cabo, Mazatlan and Puerta Vallarta, and I can’t wait!

As Mick said…we have our whole life to vacation, and hit up the other locations that we had considered…this choice just makes sense now.

Soooo..Hooray for honeymoon cruises!!

(added bonus, we will also be on the cruise for my birthday. Thats twice the celebration!)