A Ghost of a Post {repost for Halloween!}

This post was originally posted December 13, 2005 as "The Ghost of Xmas Past" But since it's Halloween week, I thought it was a good story to resurrect from the blog grave yard to give you a little shiver... Enjoy!

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Last week, the cold that had been desperately trying to take over my body since my return from the Orient finally won the battle over the Airborne vitamin fizzy things. My voice went, my throat was swollen and I had a hack that you wouldn't believe. I actually burned a sick day last week and stayed home and just laid around all day. I think it was just what the Dr. ordered, because by the weekend I felt much better.

Saturday morning about 3 AM I was hit with a coughing fit that forced me out of my warm cocoon of blankets into the kitchen to find some robotussin. As I walked into the living room, half asleep and without my glasses on, I noticed that the TV was on, no sound ‚ just picture. It was playing some black and white program, which cast an eerie glow over the living room.

In my half awake state, I thought I saw Jason sitting on the couch, but when I called his name and walked closer I realized there wasn't anyone there. I also remembered that Jason and I went to bed at the same time the night before. And we had turned the TV off.

It was at that point that I freaked out and ran back into the bedroom, woke-up Jason to go into the living room, turn off the TV and fetch me my Robo as I hid in bed with the covers over my head. You see, I believe in ghosts 100%. We used to live with one, and it freaked the shit out of me every night, and I vowed to never live in a haunted house again.

Yes, this is the point where you start laughing at me. But I'm telling the truth. When Jason and I were first engaged (and for the first 2 years of being married) we lived in this adorable duplex in Solana Beach. This house was owned by a very creative and handy couple that bought the place for about half of what it was worth. It was salmon pink with teal trim on the outside and had the best blue tile counters and a bathroom floor of beach rocks accented with little blue tiles that looked like an ocean wave. We loved this house and we loved our landlords. They even built us a front yard so we could get a dog... But after a few months in the house we started noticing things..

On more than one occasion I would be asleep in bed in the morning while Jason went out surfing. Laying there in that morning deep sleep, I would feel Jay's side of the bed dip and creek like someone looking for a warm cuddle after a chilly dip in the ocean. Only I would roll over, and Jason wouldn't be there. No one would be ther. Other times I would get up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water, and standing in the kitchen I would SWEAR TO GOD that someone was standing behind me. Little things that I would brush off as being half asleep or plain paranoia. Only Jason and I were both experiencing these situations - without telling each other about them.

I was also having these vivid dreams about things happening to me and having detailed conversations with people. Then one night my dead great grandmother came to me in my dream with a message.. and that was enough to prompt me to finally 'fess up to Jason. And you can imagine my shock and horror when he admitted that he felt the same strange sensations and was having similar experiences. We took a deep breath and uttered the word "ghost."

As time went on, we slept with a light on but accepted our spirit friend. The ghost became our "party story" you know, the story that gets retold to new people and rehashed by old friends at every get together. It became our "thing." We were the couple that was living with the ghost! How cool! We had a fun story and everyone loved to hear it over and over.

One night we had a bunch of people over for a party at our little place. At the end of the night someone brought up the ghost and we started to tell the story when one of our friends interrupted us...

"I didn't know if I should say anything to you guys. But yea, you have a ghost and her name is Julie."

We all just stared at him as went on to explain how he has this 6th sense type thing. It's not something he really talks about because, lets face it, people wont always believe you. But ghosts try to talk to him, and ours had a message for us. She wanted us to know that she wasn't going to hurt us, she was more there to help us and protect us. Apparently the ghost understood she freaked the shit out of us, and she was sorry about that, but she liked us. She wasn't going to interfere with our day-to-day lives, but she would send us messages if she felt they were important.

OHMYFUCKINGGOD.

The next day we finally built up the nerve to say something to our landlord. He was out watering the cacti in the succulent garden out front when after a conversation about the trashcans we casually asked him if anyone has ever died in the house. Our landlord stopped gardening and turned to us and said, " Oh. Yea, didn't we tell you guys that before? So, huh. You guys felt the ghost?"

At this point Jason and I simultaneously got the chills even though it was the middle of the summer.

So the story was that they got the house very cheap because yes, someone had committed suicide in the back unit (their unit, we lived in the front unit) and the house was on the market for about 5 years because NO ONE wanted a house where someone hung themselves in their front closet. The seller was SO motivated to get rid of the property in the legal binding mortgage documents it states that at any time during the duration of them owning the home they deemed necessary, the mortgage co. will pay for an exorcism in the house. But our landlords never really deemed it necessary.

We actually ended up living there for about 2 more years. And in the end it was the lack of space and new drunken neighbors that backed into Jason's car when it was PARKED ACROSS THE STREET that prompted us to move. Julie was true to her "word" (??) and really stopped bugging us. But I never did feel 100% comfortable being alone in that house. Jason and I have often had the argument about what would we do if we came across this great house, great location and great price, but SURPRISE! Someone died here! I said that there is NO WAY IN HELL I would pay a dime for a house that might possibly be haunted spirits that refuse to admit they are dead. Personally, I think this is a fantastic reason to buy a brand new house. No one else has ever shit in the toilets and you know no one ever kicked the bucket while watching TV in the living room. Perfect! Jason, on the other hand, thinks "distressed realty" is a great way to score a great deal on a house.

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Looking back, I can't believe we lived in that house as long as we did. Thankfully, neither of our two THREE houses since have had skeletons in the closet...

Happy Halloween!

2013: Hopes, Dreams and Goals for the New Year

Looking Back:

2012 was interesting. Not the best of years, not the worst of years. I had great months, I had horrible months. 2012 was just there. 

Looking Forward:

Marking the start of a new year is always a good time to set ideas, goals and thoughts down. As we all know, resolutions are made to be broken - so why bother? Of course I want to lose weight and be healthy and make more money... but I want so much more out of these next 12 months. And while yes I would love to accomplish these things from inside a pair of size 6 skinny jeans, I also don't want to deem the year a failure if come next December I'm the same size. 

I've been trying to organize my thoughts on things I would like for 2013... some are materialistic, some are emotional, some are physical

HOPES:

I hope that by 2013 I've regained my confidence. Somewhere along the last few years I've lost the ability to be happy and proud of myself - I want to get that back. Not just the ability to say "I rock." But the ability to feel it. To look in the mirror without criticism and smile without worrying that there is something in my teeth. 

DREAMS:

I want to go to Italy and Malta. I put this under "dreams" because we have yet to take a BIG international trip with the kids and we've been saying this for YEARS now. But our good friends are over there and we want to see them and I think that by 6 and 9 the kids may be more ready for traveling to, an appreciating, Europe. 

GOALS:

These are the basics. Things I WILL achieve for my sanity:

• Re-do our home office to make it a comfortable, creative space for both Jason and I to work in tandem or alone.
• Organize my "craft closet." Seems simple, but this one is daunting to me... 
• Get more spa treatments (because I deserve it).
• Lose 20 lbs.
• Become Rich and Famous so I can hire someone else to do this all while I travel to Malta on a private jet. HAHA. 

What about you? What do you want to achieve in 2013? 

Then There is ALWAYS a Blue Box from Tiffany's ...

I don't EVER want to hear a husband say he doesn't know what to get his wife. Because I have yet to come across a woman in this world who wouldn't love a blue box under the tree. And I've said it before, but I'll say it again - even if you only have $100 to spend, Tiffany and Co. has a perfect something. 

And just in case you need a few ideas...

All I want for Xmas comes in a blue box... by hipmamab on Polyvore

And if you are in the San Diego area... Tiffany and Co. just opened a new store in the UTC mall in La Jolla. That means you North County men no longer have the "it's too far to Fashion Valley" excuse.

And by "men," yes, I do mean Jason. 

What would you like to find in a blue box under the tree this year? 

DIY Craft of The Season: Mason Jar Snow Globes

When I saw these at my local Anthropologie retailing for about $28 my first thought was immediately "I can SO make these for SO much less." And since I need to throw myself into at least one craft a year, I went on a mission to make the perfect mason jar snow globes. 

And since all the postings on Pinterest for this craft seemed to just be a basic "HOW TO" - I thought I would take you deeper into what I have learned while trying to make these "craftacular."

1) The Trees:

The best ones to use are actually the ones from Michaels that are meant for the California Missions. Now, that being said, I'm not sure they sell all the California Mission stuff outside of California. {Duh} But I'm sure your local craft store has little model trees. Don't get the super little ones. They get lost. Get the ones that are about 5 inches or so tall.

2) The Snow:

I used 3 kinds of "snow"

1. Snow Neige - WOW, I love this stuff. It's perfect for spraying on the little trees to flock them a bit. 
2. Glittery Craft Snow - also from Michaels. Just a little bag. 
3. Regular Flakey Craft Snow - Used to create scenes with the ceramic Christmas houses, this is a pretty big bag. I actually put the glittery ones and the regular ones in a big ziploc bag to mix together. 

3) The Mason Jars

This is where me doing this first can help you out. You want the QUART sized, Wide Mouth, as plain as you can get jars. Don't do the "quilted" ones because you can't see the trees though them. Also, pint sized jars are too short for the trees. Most grocery stores carry a decent selection of mason jars and they run about $12 for a dozen. 

If you want to do a bigger display, Target does have glass jars for about $5 each.  

The steps:

1) Flock the trees with Snow Neige and try not to go crazy and flock everything in sight. {real issue, I promise. It's SO MUCH FUN.}

2) Use glue dots to secure the flocked trees to the inside of the lids.

3) Put about 2 pinches of the snow mix into the jar. Just enough to cover the bottom of the jar. You really don't need a lot at all. If you use too much it will bury the tree. (plus the more times you take it out and put it in the bigger the mess you will make)

4) Put lid on and flip over. Voila!

5) I tied a little ribbon around the bottom for a festive look. But you can use twine or add a little tag. 

These turned out SO cute I can't stand it. They are a perfect hostess gift for all those parties or even just little things to give to your neighbors. Also would make a good Teacher gift OR if you are the room mom that needs to organize the Holiday craft, this would be a good one!

Also, if you went crazy with the Neiman Marcus/Target collection and bought way too many of the Tory Burch lunch boxes thinking they would sell out in moments and that you would be the COOLEST friend ever by having extras to give as presents {yea, who could I be talking about?!} these jars fit perfectly into these lunch boxes and it looks super cute. 

Nebraska and Back: 10 days, 6 states, 5 hotels, 1 speeding ticket and 3,000 miles in a 2013 Cadillac SRX

Honestly, before this trip I would never have considered getting a Cadillac. To me, luxury meant European - preferably German. Caddys were what grandmas in Boca Raton drove. But after 10 days of practically living out of the back of the 2013 SRX, I'm now obsessively wanting to get one. Without a doubt I can say this was THE best car for our family road trip and we loved (almost) every minute of riding in it. 

Our trip took us out to Omaha NE to visit Jason's family for Thanksgiving. The route took us up the I-15 through Nevada, the corner of Arizona, Utah, up through the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and across the Western plains of Nebraska. Some areas were breathtakingly beautiful and serene, while others were…um… not. I lost my favorite pair of flats, the kids watched about 25 movies (some a few times) and we experienced a trip of a thousand family memories. 

"Like a Lear Jet on Wheels" - Jason on Twitter

While the SRX is a crossover SUV, it drives like a sedan. Smooth and quiet, this car has power and our model had all the bells and whistles. The moon roof that stretched back over the backseat was perfect for not feeling "cooped up" after 7 hours of driving, and offered the kids a panoramic view of the snow-covered Rocky Mountains and unique sandstone canyons of Utah. The back-up camera helped us to make sure we were not about to run over a left-out piece of luggage, while the side mirrors signaled if there was someone in our "blind spot." And did you know that after a long day in the car, the seat warmers act like a heating pad to ease your sore back? That's not something you see in the literature! 

The Cadillac CUE system kept the kids entertained in the back with the Blu-Ray player, and mommy and daddy happy to be able to listen to the music THEY wanted to in the front. The navi led us astray once or twice - but for the most part kept us on route, with weather and traffic updates in addition to where the closest Starbucks was located. We even got the "chance" to test out OnStar's emergency service when we came upon the scene of an overturned big rig outside of Moab just minutes after it flipped. 

And yes, the car drove so smooth and quiet that Jason even got a speeding ticket. 

In his defense, he was going 10 MPH more than the posted speed limit and within the flow of traffic - but I'm sure that NE State Trooper saw the CA plates and thought there was no way we'd be back to fight it. Regardless - what's a road trip without a ticket of some sort? 

And we put that car through the paces. Packing it up, in and out, fast and slow, up and down altitudes of thousands of feet above sea level and across rolling, flat plains - the SRX PERFORMED. It got good gas milage and looked as good in Moab, Utah as it did pulling up to the Aria in Las Vegas. We were all comfortable and able to charge up when needed with the multiple USB ports throughout the car. My kids normally can't drive to Target and back without fighting, and while the trip wasn't scuffle free, they did about 90x better than I expected them to do. And yes, I will happily give the SRX credit for that.  

I will admit, when they came to take the car back yesterday I considered chaining myself to it and screaming "NOOOOOOOO!"

1 vehicle, 3,000 miles and about a bazillion memories….

*Thank you to the GM West News PR team for allowing us to drive this car for our trip! Opinions are true and our own. While we were loaned the car for the purpose of this travel, we were not compensated for any tweets or posts. But we would totally be okay if the car reappeared in the driveway with a note saying "it's yours!" tomorrow. Just throwing that out there. You know - "the secret" style and all.