James gets here TOMORROW!!!

I was in Tampa, FL for the beginning of this week for work.  It was nice - being almost 70 degrees and all - but unfortunately I did not get to see a lot of "outside" as I was "inside" working almost the whole time.  But it was a fun change from DC and I did get away to do some dress shopping for James' upcoming MBA Gala (read: Prom for grad students) which is February 13.  I must admit though - it was not quite as easy as I might've just made it seem.  I spent all night Monday in the mall only to find NOTHING that even looked remotely right on me (I am different sizes on the top and bottom so this becomes an enormous problem when shopping for a dress, which are pretty much built for consistently-sized people).  Monday was pretty frustrating, but Tuesday we got done early and I decided to give it another shot.  Cache came through and I found an awesome dress, earrings and a ring - all for 20% off! (I think Cache may be going out of business...not sure) - I then headed around the mall AGAIN to look for shoes, and I found a ROCKIN' pair of shoes at Aldo!  WOOHOO! So, now I am all set for Gala and I couldn't be happier!!!

I had a pretty good, quiet weekend last weekend at home.  I did a LOT of cleaning, did laundry, did a bunch of cooking so I'd have stuff in my freezer to eat during the week.  Work is becoming steadily more busy and I've found that by the time I work all day and then head to the gym, I don't get home until about 8:30 at night and I'm usually starving by that point and THE LAST thing I want to do is cook...so my solution is cooking a bunch on the weekends and freezing everything in single-serve containers.  It's working really well so far!

I came home from work last Friday to discover that James had sent me the SWEETEST "care package" for my upcoming business trip...travel size versions of some of my favorite stuff, some Clif bars, a book and a book of crossword puzzles (which I TORE through on my flight...apparently I am picking up the "love of Crossword puzzles" gene from my Mom!).  Here is a picture of the super-sweet "Tampa Survival Kit":

I also recently got a new throw pillow from Overstock.Com - it was so cute I couldn't resist! Here is the Octopus pillow:

James is coming to DC this weekend!!! It's been three weeks since we last saw each other - although this doesn't compare at all to my friend Jess whose husband is serving his third deployment (and second time to Afghanistan), and I am thankful everyday that James and I get to see each other as much as we do - it still stinks to go three weeks! So we are super excited to see each other tomorrow!! He's flying into Baltimore and I'm picking him up around 7:30...YAY!!! Can't wait!! We have a tour of the US Capitol and the Washington Monument planned for Saturday (already have our tickets in hand!) - and the weather forecast says it's going to be snowing with a high of 27 on Saturday...awesome! :)