The Starter Wife

Has anyone seen USA Network's show, The Starter Wife? I missed the show during it's original run but recently downloaded it to my new video iPod and have been obsessed over this show!
I loved Debra Messing on Will and Grace and actually, I didn't think it was possible, love her even more in this series. Debra plays a wife, Molly Kagan, who has a Hollywood life being married to a movie studio executive. One day, he dumps her and her whole privileged life changes. Molly has a great group of friends who all, surprisingly, have their own hefty issues and get their moments. I won't say anymore but, what a great series it was. It's definitely something I recommend and will be watching over and over again on the iPod.

Happy 25th Birthday to the Compact Disc!

Can you believe that the CD is 25 years old?! I am barely older than the CD and can't really remember it gaining popularity until I was in middle school (circa the 90s).

Something interesting about the CD ...

The Philips company (as in electronics) and Sony (electronics too) were working together on plans for the compact disc. Philips had a plan for the CD to 11.5cm in diameter. Sony insisted that all of Beethoven's 9th Symphony fit on the CD. The music label, Polygram, had the longest recording for Beethoven's 9th Symphony which ran 74 minutes long forcing the CD to be wider in diameter - 12cm to be precise to fit the entire symphony.

Thus the reason for those 74 minute CDs and it's 12cm diameter (I had to measure to believe it).

My New, Comfy Flips

I've been dying for a pair of Havaianas flip flops. At first I wanted them because of the hype. One day I came across a ton at a little shop on the Seaside Heights (NJ) boardwalk and fell in love. They are heavier than your standard flip flop and give you more support in the foot -it's cushier.

This past weekend I was shopping at the Jackson Outlets and came across them at a swimsuit store and was sold on a simple black pair. I threw them on that evening to go out and I was hooked! They are truly one of the most comfortable pairs of flip flops ever.

Havaianas are the non-Crocs of the year. I am head over heels for Crocs too but sometimes you don't want to wear them and so I wear the Havaianas. The Havaianas come in all colors of the rainbow and in different versions (just like Crocs). The baby ones, like the Crocs, are irresistible!

Post Wedding Project

I've taken on a pretty time consuming project - wedding albums. I know, you are thinking, "How hard can that be?" Now for what the project entails:

2 Sets of Pictures

1. Hawaii ceremony pictures
2. Chinese reception pictures

Hundreds of Pictures to Choose From

1. Hawaii ceremony - more than 500 images
2. Chinese reception - more than 600 images
   

Albums for Family

1. My family
2. Hubby's Mom & Stepfather
3. Hubby's Dad
4. Hubby's Sister (she was my Maid of Honor and now MY sister!)
5. My paternal grandparents (they couldn't attend either because they are old and live on the other side of the world - I'm also the oldest grandchild and was an only granddaughter for 10+ years)
6. My maternal grandparents
   

That doesn't even include our own wedding album - which will be a later project with more input from the husband. Maybe.

I was going to order the professional pictures from Pictage or Collages but they are just so insanely expensive for the amount of pictures that I need - we'd be broke. So I ordered a handful from Pictage to test their quality - which was very good. I did some research on the prints from the online printing sites and discovered that Kodak offers something called
Kodak Perfect Touch processing, which is none of the other photo printing sites mentioned anything similar. I decided to order a bunch of pictures from Kodak to compare the quality to Pictage. I found only the following items that were of any importance whatsoever and even then other than price it was minimal.

1. Price - Pictage was about $2 for a 4x6 (we own the rights so it's cheaper) whereas Kodak was about 20 cents per 4x6
2. Paper - Pictage had hearty photo paper but was negligibly thicker than the Kodak paper
3. Print - the coloring between Pictage and Kodak was only noticeable when put side-by-side, otherwise you'd swear it was the same thing.
   

So I saved a ton of money on the prints and I was able to finish 2 albums with the pictures from Hawaii and they were sent off to our mothers. My mom loved it and his mom hasn't gotten it yet because I had to mail it to her home in Georgia.

I searched high and low and discovered that Target is a great place to find photo albums. They have so many online and in the store. The online selection is huge but it's always better to see things in person first. I was very picky about the album pages and prefer the sleeves with black
plastic over the paper backings. I am a spaz and would tear or wrinkle the paper in a heart beat. Target prices are also hard to beat. This is the album I chose for the moms' Hawaii ceremony pictures.

Wish me luck!

Handbag Horror

Don't worry there was no destruction of mauling of any kind to a handbag. My issue is rather, materialistic. I want a new handbag (just like every other girl) and can't seem to find the OMG-I-can't-live-without-it bag. There are a gazillion bags out there from every designer out there and I can't find one. I do have a type of bag that I am in search for and it has be an over the shoulder bag but can't be humongous.

A couple weeks back I bought this L.A.M.B. Rowington saddle bag from Gwen Stefani's line. It looked darling on the Nordstrom page in the cheetah (second image) and it was during their Semi-Annual Sale.

I wanted a bag to throw over my should and was trying to avoid a solid color to have something different. The bag arrived, I was excited then disappointed. The bag is huge for a shoulder bag and stiff too. It certainly not have been comfortable for someone 5' 2". So back to Nordy's it went and I've been on a mad hunt ever since.

Most of my bags are satchels and made best for hanging on the forearm. My bags are also huge and can fit a small family thus making it almost painful to carry a bag of such great weight on my forearm. I figured I could get a small bag to throw over my shoulder, keeping my hands free and hopefully my junk at a minimum. So far no luck. The issue isn't really price but rather the designs suck and if it sucks then I just wouldn't pay for it no matter the price.

Thank for letting me have a materialist vent ... I'm sure the hubby just loves it.