Bigger is better...

My husband's belated birthday gift arrived last week... a new lens for his camera.



He loves astronomy and photography, so this gift will help him combine his love of both and I hope to show some great pictures that he will take of the night sky!

His camera has an adapter that will fit onto his telescope...



And this new lens will be able to give a nice close up of features in the night sky.

So, it goes without saying that he was VERY HAPPY with his birthday gift!! (Now what am I going to do next year to top this? *scratching my head* LOL)

Hippity Hoppity...

The Easter Bunny was here and left us some goodies!!


Happy Easter!!

They shouldn't let me out in public...

My husband says that going out with me is an adventure... and today's "outing" was no different.

Just another day in the life of me.. and all my "isms."

First, we met with our new insurance agent and as we're sitting in his office, HIS phone rings. Well, he just happens to have the same ringer/ring tone (whatever they are called) as my business line... so, what does yours truly do... I get up out of the chair I'm sitting in, because I want to answer the phone. It took me a moment or two to "get my bearings" and realize that it was not MY phone ringing. I am sure our new agent thinks I am a total nutcase!!

Next, we went to Red Lobster for a late lunch/early dinner. I love Red Lobster! We're eating our salads when the waitress comes over with our meal, so I went to move my salad bowl... Somehow my fork jumped out of my hand, hit the knife that was on the edge of the bowl and they both tumble to the table... To cover up my embarrassment of apparently not being able to hold a fork, I laugh and said "See, I was just so excited that my shrimp was here!"

At least I could laugh and the waitress laughed as well (although she was probably laughing at me... not with me!)

After that (like those two aren't enough for one day), we go to Target. I'm trying to find a DVD and I'm looking all over the DVD section and can't find it (I'm thinking they have sold out).

I see a young guy who worked there and told him that I can't find this DVD and asked for his help. Without saying a word, he takes 2 steps backwards into the main aisle, and moves his arm up and away from his body (just like "Barker's Beauties" on the Price is Right... err, I guess they are called "Drew's Beauties" now?) and points to the end cap. The ENTIRE end cap is filled with the DVD I'm looking for.

Then, we head to the supermarket and we're looking at all of the different brands/flavors of ice cream, as we're trying to decide which one to get. Nothing was catching my eye, so I say to my hsuband, who is several feet away from me...

"How about Burt & Ernies?"

My husband starts cracking up...

Another shopper is chuckling and I'm clueless...

My husband, through laughter, says, it's "Ben & Jerry's"...

Oh... (hanging head in shame)

And the cherry on top of that ice cream sundae happened when we were walking back to the car, from the supermarket, and I comment to my husband to "be careful" (because of the slushy snowy mess Mother Nature dumped on us earlier in the day) and what happens next (you know where this is going)...

I start slipping and sliding and almost bring the both of us down. Thank goodness, I caught my balance and neither one of us fell...

What an afternoon... I blame it on the snow!!

Happy Spring... I think??

Today is the first day of Spring and with the warmer temperatures and melting snow, I thought for sure we would be heading for this



Or this



But, it seems that Old Man Winter will just not loosen his grip because this is what I have to look forward to... tomorrow



More snow. 6-9 inches of the white stuff. Like I haven't shoveled enough this winter season!

Can you believe it??

My (frugal) Crafty Creation...

So, I've been looking for something with 'height' to put on my bathroom shelf... The other day, I rescued this bottle before it made it into our recycling bin... (This bottle used to contain a gourmet blend of peppercorns for our pepper mill - *mental note: remember to add this to shopping list*)

I cleaned out the bottle, removed the label and added in some of my bath salts and beads that seem to have accumulated under my bathroom sink.

And, here is my frugal, yet crafty creation:

It didn't cost me anything extra to make since I had everything on hand already, the color scheme blends in with the bathroom, it adds some height to that side of the shelf, which is what I was looking for, and I was able to free up some room under the sink... (which really means, now that there's more room under there, I need to go buy more stuff! LOL)

Happy St. Patrick's Day...

The O'Musings of a Jersey Girl in the Windy City wanted to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day because on this day... everyone is Irish! (Now, just read this post using an Irish brogue and I've done my part! LOL)

Me luck was just startin' yesterday as the hubby and I enjoyed a delicious dinner of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots. (are you using an Irish Brogue... it sounds even more delicious when you do!)

And, I found me pot-o-gold at the end of that rainbow in the form of dessert... Brownies and cupcakes... Ain't that lucky!?

Plenty of cupcakes left (I had to hide them from the Leprechauns), so grab a cup of coffee and help yerself, lads and lassies...

WWW...Weekend, Weather and Water towers!

The weekend is here!! *doing the happy dance*

This is a water tower from the south 'burbs of Chicago (area I used to live in)... isn't that cute!

I had never seen a water tower like this before until I moved out here...

Notice the bow tie (around the 'neck' area)... this water tower is looking/smiling at a 'female' water tower across town... how funny is that! (I don't have a picture of the 'female' tower, but the 'female' water tower has a bow on her 'head')

The first time I saw these towers, I knew I had to snap a picture of them... too funny!!

Where I live now, I can see my town's water tower from my backyard... although it's not as fun as the one in this picture, as far as water towers go, I guess it's pretty nice! LOL

So we are expecting about an inch of snow tomorrow night and still have cold temperatures (it was 8* degrees about an hour ago).... then, we're in for a warm-up... temps into the 40's and I saw a 56* in the forecast for later this week!!! (I can't even remember what temperatures in the 50's feel like... hopefully, I'll thaw out by then!) Just hang on... spring is right around the corner!!

This weekend is more or less doing the usual stuff... some shopping, some cleaning, some things around the house and most importantly... some relaxing!! (and staying warm LOL)

Have a great weekend!

Mirror, Mirror on the wall...

We've lived in this house for almost 2 years and I'm so happy that little by little everything is finally coming together.

This is the new mirror we purchased and next to it is one of my most favorite pictures... it's a signed, limited print by a local artist and was a Christmas 2006 gift from my husband. The picture was just hung up a few weeks ago (prior to the mirror) because I finally found a frame for it... not the frame I really want, but a frame nonetheless.

When I find "the frame" for that picture, I'll re-frame it, but for now I'm just so thrilled that's it up on the wall!!

I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but my living room is decorated in a southwest theme and when you first walk into my house from the door, you enter into the living room. The wall in this picture would be the first wall that you would see when you entered my home and the stairs to the basement are right below that (you can just make out some wood railing in the bottom left of the picture).

I have to say... the mirror and picture really brighten up that area and pull the living room together... (Please ignore THAT light fixture!! *gasp* We haven't found one that we liked yet to replace it with)

Now, if you entered my home from the garage entrance you would be in the family room and if you turned to your left, you would see the stairs leading to the basement and yourself in that mirror...

So, see... the little things in life like buying a mirror or hanging a picture excite me... Maybe over the weekend, I'll take some pics around the house and give you the grand tour!

Flashback: My first Chicago winter

Living in NJ, I experienced cold winters, snow, a few blizzards, a few Nor'Easters, frigid temperatures... the whole nine yards. But, it wasn't a constant... some winters were much better than others and for some reason, -10* in NJ feels so much warmer than -10* out here!!

Out there, as an adult, I rarely wore a coat in the winter and didn't even own a hat! My usual routine was from my house... to my car... to where ever I was going that was in an enclosed type of building and then from there.... to my car... to my house. Wind chills meant very little to me....

Now, let's flashback to when I first moved out here, shall we: I arrived the day after a blizzard dumped 14" of snow on my newly adopted city... The people out here just referred to those 14" as "a lot of snow".... this Jersey girl calls it a blizzard!

Anyway, I spent the next month or so freezing my you know what off...but I'm from Jersey... I'm tough... I've seen my share of winter weather and I could handle this... no problem!

Then one winter morning, I found myself at the train station waiting for the train to go downtown... I noticed everyone standing outside all bundled up wearing hats, scarfs, gloves, ear muffs... and I thought to myself, as I sat in the warm comfort of the car (my husband was waiting there with me) how uncomfortable these people looked all bundled up, standing just a few feet away from my car... But me, being a tough Jersey Girl and all, didn't need to be all bundled up like that... it wasn't "that" cold out.

I heard the train whistle and with that, I kissed my husband good-bye and hopped out of the car, wearing my winter coat, which was open (not zipped up/buttoned up)... no hat, no scarf, no gloves... no need... the train was coming and, just as I did in NJ, I went from my vehicle, to another form of "shelter"... I never really had to endure the elements.

I walked the few feet to stand with the rest of the people waiting for that train... I turned around and waved to my husband as he pulled out of the parking lot and watched him drive off and turned back to face the train tracks.

That's when it happened....

The wind kicked up and sent a bone chilling cold throughout my entire body... it was so cold that it hurt my face and literally knocked the wind out of me. There I stood, open coat, no gloves, no hat, no scarf and no earmuffs, wearing pumps... shivering! The train was in view, and under normal circumstances, would have been there already, but for some reason it stopped... within view, but out of reach.

As I stood shivering, I noticed the other people around me dressed much more appropriately for this weather than I was, as I started to do the shiver-dance... you know the movement that you do when you're cold to keep warm.

One person even had the audacity to say... "Boy, it's cold out this morning!" and I wanted to knock his hat off.

Finally, after only about 7 minutes... which seemed like 3 hours... the train pulled into the station... We all piled in and I think I spent the entire trip into the city shivering in my seat.

But, wait... there's more!

After we get downtown... I now have to walk several blocks from the train station to my job... with my closed coat (at least, by this point, I was smart and zipped it up!), no gloves, hat or scarf as the wind continues to rip through me.

I realized that day why they call Chicago the "Windy City"... even though that's not the real reason behind Chicago's nickname... but, on that day, I think it was Mother Nature's way of putting this Jersey Girl in her place....

That night, I went to the store and bought a hat, scarf and earmuffs! (I already had several pairs of gloves at home... in a drawer)

The next morning, I stood waiting for the train at the train station with all of the other people, bundled up, looking as if we were all going to a ski convention. My coat was zipped up... I had on my hat, gloves, scarf, earmuffs and socks and sneakers on my feet (instead of the pumps from the day before).

And, although that wind continued to send shivers through my body, at least I was much warmer than the previous morning... and when the gentlemen from the previous morning said "Boy, it's cold out this morning", I nodded in agreement, sipping my hot coffee.

Shortly before the train arrived, I noticed a woman get out of a car... She waved to whoever it was that dropped her off and took her place with all the rest of us waiting for the train. She had on a long coat (open/not zipped up)... no gloves, no scarf, no hat, no earmuffs, wearing a dress/skirt and pumps.

As the wind kicked up again, I took another sip of my coffee and thought to myself... She must be from New Jersey!

An Almost Spring Day....

Today's high is supposed to be 47!!! Woooooo Hoooooo... I'm doing the happy dance in my jammies! Although there are still snow piles around, today's temperatures should help to shrink them. We broke one of the records in our area for the most snow during the winter season, this season.... I think we are around 63" or 65" (I can't remember which and it really doesn't matter because it's still the same damn white stuff that continuously fell from the sky anyway!)

The sun is shining... the snow will melt and spring, hopefully, will be right around the corner and plans for today definitely include being outside... at some point.

Ever since I moved out here, I've heard people (my husband included) say: "If you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes"... meaning that the weather out here changes on a dime, so if you don't like what's going on weather-wise, hang in there because it will change very suddenly. That weather tidbit of advice has certainly held true.... Today's high: 47 -- Tomorrow's high: 33 and there's some precipitation in the form of rain and/or wet snow and temps head a little farther south into the high 20's come the end of this week...

We'll have to see what the rest of March has in store for us... it came in like a lamb, which means it will go out like a lion!