because I am so excited about my trip to Boston on Thursday!

Since Dr. Meyer has just started his residency in Boston and has an amazing two bedroom apartment I thought. . .what better place to go for the 4th of July!

Be prepared for lots of pictures and hopefully some funny stories. . .

But for now, that’s all I’ve got. . .not a lot is going on right now! Although if you have fun suggestions of things to do in Boston send them my way. . .

I have to admit I was curious about Lauren Conrad’s book “L.A. Candy,” but was really embarrassed that I couldn’t find it on my own and had to ask for help. Then I was told it was in the teen section. . .thank goodness there weren’t all that many people around to hear my question

As I started reading I couldn’t help but think, is Jane supposed to represent Lauren? And who is Scarlett? Heidi, Audrina or Lo? To me this book really just seemed like a twist on her actual life. Though the more I read the more I realized that the characters were a mix of the people on “The Hills,” and not an exact replica of any one of them.

I’m not going to say that this was an amazing book, but I also wouldn’t say it was an awful book either. I wouldn’t doubt though that 95% of the reason this book was even published was because of Lauren’s “celebrity” (if you will) status.

The part I found most interesting about this book was the behind the scenes look at being on a reality TV show. But other than that I didn’t think the story was all that original, though the ending was great because she completely left you hanging wondering what was going to happen and make you want to go out and buy the next book whenever it comes out.

I think this is a great summer beach or pool side read and would definitely recommend it as a light fun read.
My sister showed me a cool website, Good Reads, that allows you to keep track of what you are reading and see what your friends are reading so you are never at a loss as to what to read. Check it out and see what you think, and even friend me . . .I love any and all suggestions for a new book to read.

No her name isn’t really Beeper but that’s what I’ve been calling her for the last 26 years or so and she LOVES it!

(She’s the one on the right. . .that’s for you Brett since you say I don’t always specify who is who!)

Sorry for no wine o. Wednesday, but it isn’t everyday my little sister has a birthday. . .although in all honesty I almost feel like it was my birthday too! Just kidding. . . wait, not really. . .

I remember 26 years ago when Beth was brought home from the hospital. . .we had just moved into a new house and it had an upstairs. . .I remember the upstairs more than I do Beth coming home. . .but can you blame me? I was only 3, how much are you supposed to remember from when you were three?

One of the things that makes me laugh the most about having Beth as a sister is, that even though we really are closer to 4 years apart. . .(that’s right the big 3-Oh is just 2 months away!) everyone seems to think she is older than I am. We love to quiz new acquaintances on this and always get a good laugh!

Here’s a random collection of digital pictures I could quickly get to to share with you. . .

This was my 5th birthday (you can see me in the background clinging to the side of the pool), Beth would have been 2 and needed Dad to keep her afloat.

This was my absolute FAVORITE dress up outfit, I’m not really sure what made mom decide to buy it for me but I wore it all the time and apparently would only share half of it with Beth. I guess I liked the skirt best!

This one was just too darn cute to not include, I like how the bucket is the same size Beth is but she was still determined to help Dad wash the van.

Yes I realize I just fast forwarded about 20 years. . .but it’s a cute picture!

Happy Birthday Beeper, I hope you’ve had a fun day!!

Tonight we went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. . .and there were so many kids in the audience. It was nuts when the car started flying. There was so much cheering and clapping. . .I think it was the noisiest I have ever heard at a musical.

Unfortunately this play just was all that interesting for those of us over the age of 10 so we took off at intermission. So, I really don’t have that much to say about this one, especially because I don’t want to get the stupid theme song stuck in my head again.

But, I’m thinking that our next play, Chorus Line, won’t let us down!

Tonight I am sad to say, I am disappointed in the wine I’m drinking. I was really looking forward to this one and expecting a winner.

This is a new wine from BR Cohn, at least I’m pretty sure it isn’t just new to me, I think it is new to the winery as well.

I have typically enjoyed the table wines from BR Cohn, the Roadster Read and the Woody White, but the Panel Wagon Pinot will not be on my wine club list again. And if you are wondering about the car themed names, the proprietor Bruce Cohn has quite a collection and passion for vintage and classic cars.

This doesn’t have the typical smoothness that most Pinot Noirs embody, instead it is more dry like a Cabernet but without the depth of flavors. To me this is just a plain jane wine, so all I can recommend it for is a follow bottle of wine to something more spectacular because it is rather inexpensive.

Sorry to detour from my journey into white wines, but I was really anxious to try this one out. . .never fear I will be back in the white next week!

Man, have I been slacking lately in the reading category. . .and yes Brett, I do read. . .not sure why that was a shock to you!

I finally finished My Sister’s Keeper, and just in time too since the movie comes out in the next two weeks.

The book was good, but I think the reason I had trouble cruising through this one so fast was that each chapter is from a different person’s point of view and that is just not my style. I find books written that way tricky to follow because I don’t really feel like they flow all that well.

But. . .with that said I think it was important for this book to have been written this way to show the effects that this story had on everyone involved.

If you are not sure what this book is about, here are the basics. A daughter gets diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia at age 2. The only way to save her is for there to be a perfectly match donor for the different needs her body might have. Since her older brother and parents are not a good match the parents decided to create a baby that is genetically a perfect match for the sick daughter Kate.

The only problem with this solution is that no one really seems to think about the effect this will have on Anna. Not too far into the book, Anna approaches a lawyer to help her seek medical emancipation from her parents. But. . .not for the reasons you might think. Only problem is I can’t really talk about that because I don’t want to ruin this book for anyone.

Let me just warn you. . .be sure to have a box of Kleenex near you when you read the book for multiple occasions and don’t forget the Kleenex when you go and see this book play out on the big screen.

For as long as I can remember, every summer we have watched “Gidget.” We had been limited to VHS until a few years ago when the Gidget collection movies were released on DVD.

Today, we watched it. . .and despite being 50 years old this year, I still think this is the ultimate summer movie.

Out of the three Gidget movies, Sandra Dee is my favorite actress to watch; too bad they couldn’t get her for all three of them!

If you haven’t watched it I recommend checking it out, oh and “Moondoggie” ain’t that bad to stare at either.

I sure hope not but until I try to avoid the sophomore slump that just might be how I’m pegged.

Yesterday I took a much needed afternoon off from work for a little play time. Although for a little while there I was afraid that my plans were going to be derailed when my sister sent me a message saying, “I have bad news.” Then what seemed like an eternity later. . .she told me that the water in her shower wouldn’t turn off and she had to leave the house.

Fortunately for me, I have a childhood friend that is a plumber and was able to save my day and he promptly headed straight over to my house to fix the problem. (If you’re in the Dallas area and need a plumber, be sure to check out Watermark Plumbing.)

After John fixed the shower Meredith, Melissa and I headed south to meet up with Brett & Ryan at Top Golf. I know it has been around for awhile but this was my first time to go. I was a little intimidated when we got there and Melissa & Meredith pulled out their sets of golf clubs. . .what the heck? I wasn’t expecting that!

We played three games, I won the 2nd one and wasn’t too far behind Ryan in the second game. I was really excited because I totally expected to suck!

This place reminded me of the driving range in Serendipity that both John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale go to because it is two story. The fun thing about this place is that is similar to skee ball. You are aiming for different holes and the further away they are the more points you get. Within each hole the closer you get to the flag the more points you get too.

I can’t wait go back and use my remaining three free games. Anyone up for some golf?

Sorry to be a day late on this post. . .hopefully I didn’t let anyone down too much! Thanks to that stinking storm that moved through last night I didn’t have power from 7 pm on, and I’m not really sure when it came back on because I went bed at midnight in the pitch dark.

But. .. on to the wine. . .

This week I stuck with the trend of white wine and went back to Sauvignon Blanc. A few weeks back when I was Goody Goody I picked up the BV Coastal Estates Sauv Blanc to try out. This one was just under $10, so I figured I might as well give it a go.

Since, I couldn’t blog last night; I had the opportunity to enjoy this wine on two different days to see what aging did to it.
The thing I have noticed with white wines so far is you can really taste the fruit flavors. Last night I could really taste a grapefruit flavor but tonight it I got more of a peach taste.

This isn’t a bad wine at all especially because it is chilled, and come next Wednesday when we will potentially hit 100 degrees it will be very nice!

I definitely recommend giving this one a try!

Tonight we went to see the musical The Wizard of Oz. . .it was really good and I definitely recommend going to see it. I have seen the movie several times and enjoyed it but never became a huge fan (unlike the one girl in our group whole claims to have watched it 400 times. . .that’s impressive!)

Although, I feel like a little warning is only fair, there will not just be a handful of children in the audience. . .but rather the audience will mainly be made up of kids, even babies. I couldn’t believe there was so much crying. What really amazed me was we didn’t get out of there until after 11:00 pm. . .I know it is summer time but seriously, isn’t this what matinees are for?

But back to the musical, the dog they had playing Toto was so stinking cute! I didn’t even think about Toto being a real dog. . .if I could have one trained like that I would take one in a heartbeat!

This musical moved along really fast and there wasn’t any time to get bored. . .this musical wasn’t really any shorter than normal but I couldn’t believe when the intermission arrived it just seemed happen so quickly. It also had a lot more dialogue than most musical’s with only 21 songs and a good portion of them were reprises or they were under two minutes.

Apparently if The Wizard of Oz is coming to your town your children can audition to be Munchkins, how cool is that! Check it out here.

Moral of the story, if you get the opportunity to “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” and spend a little time with Dorothy, the Tin Man, Scarecrow and the Lion, go for it!

Today, as a woman was giving me her email address on the phone, (jodyslover@______), I began to wonder how or maybe rather why people come up with the email addresses that they do?

I mean, how far into a relationship is it before someone decides to declare to the world that they are jody’s lover. . .why is it that volturesofprey is a good email address for someone else. . .or is pimpdaddy25 really the most accurate thing you can come up with to describe yourself?

Maybe this all goes back to when AOL first came out with AIM and everyone was trying to be creative or funny with their screen name. But these days when I look at my AIM list, I can’t tell you who over half the people are any more, and a good portion of those people have now come up with new screen names that are actually their name and abandoned their old screen name.

So what’s wrong with just using your name or an abbreviation of your name? Aren’t people embarrassed to repeat these crazy email addresses to strangers? I think the rule of thumb should be to keep it simple and professional.

But, I must say congratulations to Jody. . .you must be something special!

I have been such a slacker of an aunt over the last year. . .while I’m not really an aunt, that’s how I am know to my good friend Amanda’s three daughters. I adore all three of her girls, but have special bond with Ainsley. . .because when she was born, Amanda and Eric named her Ainsley Kate Wilson. . .

Ainsley just finished Kindergarten, so over the last year when I go to lunch with her mom just her sisters come, I think I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve seen Ainsley over the last year.

So I made plans to pick her up Saturday morning and take her to see Up. I’d heard it was really good and thought it would be fun to take her. Normally when we hang out I’ll take her to Chuck’s because she loves that place. But, the Chuck’s by me is no more. . .I wasn’t quite sure where to take her so we went to Studio Movie Grill and ate while we watched the movie.

At her request, I took her to Yogurtville after the movie. She had a lot of fun filling up her cup all by herself with yogurt and toppings, and totally cracked me up with how much she piled in that cup.

We had a blast and definitely need to do it more often!