Luxury Lounging

As mentioned in my last Friday Fill-Ins post, we got to spend this past weekend in the Presidential Suite at the Park Plaza Hotel. Let me just tell you.... this place was FABULOUS!

Ilyana was, of course, right at home. She ran around and played the piano butt nekkid as if she had been living this way her whole life. She must have been royalty in a past life or something, because I was totally in AWE of this place, and here she was, acting as if she belonged there at one year old.

Friday night, we arrived, parked, and got ready to go out to dinner sans Bendy... We don't get to do that too often, so when Mom offered to take her, we were totally there! We walked to the restaurant, an awesome asian place called Jae's... Got a couple of good pics on the way, but my ass almost froze off so we decided to take the T on the way back. Well, I should say ATTEMPT to take the T. See, we got on the wrong line, and we thought our stop was the first one... turns out it dumped us two blocks over from where we should be and only about half of the distance back to the hotel. So I still froze my ass on the way back, too. Seriously. I thought I was gonna need a butt amputation or something. But I survived... Here are some cool pics from the walk:

A little bit of red, white and blue we spotted on the skyline...

Random street block

Hubby plays with the camera in a sidewalk mirror

My artistic alley find

When we were done with dinner and our freezing walk, we went back and relaxed for the night. We didn't want to try and cram too much into one night and get run down... Plus, how often do you get to relax in a suite that EVERY PRESIDENT since the 1920's has stayed in?!?

Yeah, me neither.

The suite was A-freakin-MAZING!

Here is one of the sitting areas in the living room space. There's Bendy in the middle, just for a little perspective. The bar is right behind her...

Here's a closer view of the bar, with my Stepdad David!

Well, hello again, David. I see you are sitting in the OTHER living area. tee hee.

The grand piano which sat in between the two living room sitting areas.

And here is the dining area.

Here is a shot of the kitchen/ bar area. Yeah... I hope my kitchen looks this chic someday! Notice the fruit plate and petit-fours they left us? They left something new for us to eat every day. Yum, yum! Check out some of our goodies:

Everything they served us was so fancy-shmancy! Will re-arranged some of it to get this pretty lil shot.

Spring water in wine bottles.

Truffles... mmmm....

Almost all of the food they gave us, like these nuts, was in edible containers. This one is made of peanut brittle. You can see from how much of it is gone that is was oh-so-good.

More and more fruit!

The suite had three bedrooms and five bathrooms. I don't know why, but we didn't get any good shots of EITHER (that's right, we had two!) of our bathrooms, and we only got this of our bedroom, which isn't very impressive to look at if you could have seen the WHOLE space:

I do have to say, though, that compared to my bed... This IS impressive. haha.

We made sure to get some shots of each of us sitting at the desk in the private office in our suite.We couldn't go without them, knowing that past Presidents had probably sat there to make some important executive decisions. Who doesn't like to feel big and important?

Bendy sitting at the big, honking, GORGEOUS desk which I am pretty sure had a leather inlay... Niiiccceeeee...

Some very important business...

I just love the face he is making! Like he is trying to decide whether to deploy the troops or not... Or maybe he's just trying to stifle a toot... hmmm...

Fancy offices make one feel very high-class, you know.

Oh, look! I can put on a pretty face when I try!

I had to be a little wacky.

This was our view from the living room, both at daytime and at night. Personally, I prefer the night-time view.


Day:

Night:

And here are just some more cute pics of the Ruggle. I got a few great ones of her looking down into the marble floor... She thought there was a baby trapped in there at first, because she could see her reflection. She found it very amusing...

I see you, baby!

And we, of course, found her amusing... As per usual.

Hamming it up for the Grumps.

Sneaking spicy cocktail mix leftover from the party the night before...

Saturday, we took Ilyana to the aquarium for the first time. It was fun... But it was SO crowded that we didn't even get to look at some of the exhibits. People were pushing past us, and it took about twenty minutes just to get back to our locker. So yeah, note to self- next time, go during the week. I think the girl was a little overwhelmed, because she didn't want to touch the animals in the tide pools and it seemed like she was more excited about getting back on the T (which she loved!!) than seeing the fish... fishes... Yes, they are both words. The aquarium says so.

Ilyana especially loved the jellies! This was one of the least crowded parts of the aquarium, so we got right up close to the glass with them. Some of them are so beautiful...

Funky glowy jellyfish!

We also liked it when Mr. Turtle in the big tank swam right up to our glass!

But not so much Mr. Scary Eel. Although Illy seemed less freaked by him than I did.... What?! He's creepy!

We just thought this *star* fish was cool. Is that what it is?? I don't know... it has a lot more arms than a typical starfish...

Nifty shot Dada took of the tank looking up.

And a little ray, too. I didn't even see him. I guess Dada Rugg has a better eye than I. heh.

I've always loved the penguins! They are so cute. Illy thought it was funny that they were taking a *shower* (they have mist sprayed onto them from nozzles.)


After the aquarium, the girl was due for a nap, and Dada Rugg decided to pass on shopping in Boston with the ladies... hmm... wonder why...
They went back to the suite for a much-needed nap and relax, while Mom and I tromped around Boston for another few hours. I do have to say, though, that our shopping trip was lacking. I couldn't find what I was looking for, and it took us forever to find my Mom's stuff! By the end, we were beat and our feet were saying "ow, ow". So we went back to the room. I couldn't wait to relax around the nice room, and sort of felt bad for my Mom, who still had a long night ahead of her... She had the big awards ceremony for NEPA to attend and afterwards, a cocktail party in our suite. So she had no time to rest! Her and my Stepdad got all gussied up:


Don't they look so nice?

Smiling on the outside, but inside... Her feet are saying OW, OW.


And went off to their big awards ceremony.

Of course, Mom had to come back a while later, after I had gotten the Bend up and bathed and ready, to give her some lovin' and bring her downstairs to show her off at the dinner...



I just love this photo! *Pats self on back*

Oh hello Momma, are you going to let me go to the awards ceremony? Pretty please?

So off went the Ruggle to show herself off and suck up to the peeps. They all loved her, of course.

This weekend was really amazing- more than I could have expected, a once in a lifetime experience to be treasured always.

Thanks again Mom and David! You. Guys. Seriously. ROCK! :) Love yaaaaaa....

Wordless Wednesdays #17- Treadmill at the Park Plaza

You can visit other Wordless Wednesday participants HERE! :)

#100 Already?!?!

So, here I am. My 100th post.

I almost can't believe that it's been so many already.

I started this blog last year as a substitute for the scrap booking I no longer really had the time- or the energy- for with a baby girl. By the time she would be tucked in at night (I mean, let's be realistic- who can scrapbook with a baby grabbing all those eensy pieces?!?) I was just so exhausted, I never wanted to lug out my bag filled with findings, glues and papers and start piecing my life together.

Blogging has become so much more for me than just a substitute.

I enjoy doing this much more than scrapbooking in a lot of ways. It's quick, which is good for my impatient side. I enjoy the instant gratification of clicking *post* and seeing my words, my photos, my WORLD, right up there on the page looking all spiffy. I love that blogging has gotten me more interested in- and better at- photography, which is something I have always admired, but never quite known how to go about improving. I love that this is a somewhat permanent record of our lives as Ilyana grows... I hope that someday she'll look back and be able to see what we were doing, know what I was thinking (even if sometimes it's wacky!) and find the exact dates of many of her milestones.

And then there are my friends. You guys.

I always feel so silly calling you friends, because we have never met in real life. But what else do you call someone who is always there to listen to you bitch, to cheer you up if you need it, to look at that 2,876,756th picture of your kid, to pass along crazy memes and give you awards and just all around make you feel special? I don't think there's another word for it. I am so grateful to have found a group of bloggers who I fit in with... You make me laugh, you make me cry, you let me know I'm not alone. Your posts make me feel like I am peeking into your world... but not in a creepy-peeping-tom kind of way, more like a crazy sister with permission kind of way.

In a time when old friends have mostly scattered across the country- in some cases, even further- and it's near impossible to find friends IRL that you can be as close with, I am glad to have found a new way to have friends. Thank you all!

So here is my 100th post. I am going to go ahead and answer a few questions, which were posed to me by Aubrey, first:

(1) Why did you start blogging?

Well, I sort of already answered that one above. Mostly as a substitute for scrap booking, and a way of keeping a journal for my daughter.

(2) And the name, Bendy Ruggles, where does that come from?

LOL. Well, to understand this, you have to know that my mom loves to make up words- and by proxy, we all do. We are always coming up with new, sillier, ways of saying something. When Illy was a baby, she had all kinds of names- Lulu the Ladybug, Suzy Roncine, Rosie McGee, Silly Illy (that one is still around), and, yes, Bendy Ruggles. Bendy is the only one not related to her real name that stuck- it came up because one day, my Mom was trying to hold her and she kept bending this way and that, trying to wiggle away. We were already starting to call her the Ruggle (who knows why) and that's the day she became the Bendy Ruggle(s). :)

(3) What are your blogging pet peeves?

I don't know if you mean when I am blogging, or when I visit people. For myself, I would say it's just the pressure I put on myself to post. It's a little strange, but even when I was younger and would keep a journal I would set these goals for myself, liek number of pages I had to write in that week, or how many entries, and I would totally beat myself up if I didn't reach them. I guess that's why I feel that way now...

For others? I don't like it when I feel I am being preached to, or they are trying to convert me. I also get annoyed if someone starts acting like their way is the only way in life... I think everyone has their own path. Essentially, if I feel like the blogger is judging the readers (including me) too much, I won't go back.

(4) What keeps you going back to someone's blog?

I think it's different with each blog I frequent. A lot of you I feel like I just clicked with, and I loved hearing about your families and just felt like if I knew you in real life, we'd be friends. If I feel an initial connection with someone like that, I usually add them to my blog roll. This includes you, Aubrey, as well as Issa, Nikki, and Karyn.

Some people I visit because I love what they do, and am fascinated by it, interested in getting more into it, or both. I frequent a lot of photography based blogs, one on jewelry, and one on decorating... They include Tabitha, Jewel Street Designs, Thrifty Decor Chick, The Daily Focal Point, and Dr. Cason.

And others are just amazing writers, people who make me laugh a lot, or those with great stories to tell. These include Kyla, Woman In a Window, Michele, and Project Mommyhood.

And, of course, there are the blogs of people I know in real life and just want to keep up with, including my cousin Vickie and my Dad and Stepmom.

Now, I had a suggestion from Issa that I think I am also going to do... Don't worry, you can come back later (or not!) if you get bored. tee hee.

Issa: You could always do the 10x10 thing I did. Ten things about ten random things. It was easier than listing 100 things.

True enough! Here goes...

About me and my hubby- LIST 1

(1) We have been together for 8.5 years, since I was 16 years old. I get asked a lot if I feel like I missed out on my teen/ college *fun* because of it... But my answer is always- what did I miss? Dating a bunch of asshats trying to find the *right* guy? Drinking too much beer at frat parties and barfing all over myself? Being used? Nah, didn't miss it. :P
(2) He proposed to me at the Olive Garden.
(3) We have been through more in our eight years together than a lot of people have in their lives. If you knew us IRL, you'd know why I say that. I promise it's not cuz I'm conceited and think we are better in some way than other people.
(4) We are married, but we still haven't had a wedding for financial reasons. We're hoping to throw some kind of a bash/ celebration for it on or around our tenth anniversary, 6/4/2010.
(5) We have had seven apartments together.
(6) He moved into my Mom's house when I was 16. Thanks again for trusting me, Mom! I knew we'd last...
(7) We want to have another baby as soon as it is realistic for us financially and health-wise.
(8) We couldn't live without our internet!
(9) We are both Momma's girls/ boys. :P We've always been close with our Moms and are always making fun of each other for just how much we talk to them on the phone.
(10) But neither one of us really likes talking on the phone much, other than to our Moms. heh.

Stores I love- LIST 2
(1) Old Navy
(2) Origins
(3) Target
(4) The Christmas Tree Shops
(5) Body Shop
(6) Big Lots
(7) Dollar Tree
(8) Marshalls
(9) TJ Maxx
(10) Avon for cosmetics/ nail stuff

Ten Things I Would Get Myself Right Now if I Could- LIST 3
(1) Pedicure/ Manicure
(2) Fix our Jeep
(3) Massage
(4) Some more time off!
(5) New bedding
(6) A house... this should really be #1, but I wasn't thinking in this direction at first...
(7) Vacation to Disney for the fam
(8) A teleporter so I wouldn't have to drive places anymore!
(9) Shopping Spree at the above stores...
(10) Super Mario Kart for Wii :)

Ten Vacations I Would Love to Take Before I Die- LIST 4
(1) Hawaii- we have a friend who is living there, and I would LOVE to go!
(2) Amsterdam, or more precisely, the Cannabis Cup. It would be a once in a lifetime thing... So much fun!
(3) Disney, disney, disney (again)! I've already been twice, but I can't get enough!
(4) A cruise of some sort... Preferably to the bahamas.
(5) Ride the mono rail thing around Europe- to Italy, to France, Germany, and Spain.
(6) Mexico
(7) African safari! I love animals, I'd love to be thisclose to some real, wild, saharan desert type ones...
(8) Japan
(9) Australia
(10) England... but only if my friend Merry was still there. If not, I'd sub it out for Alaska. Just cuz.

Ten Of My Favorite Games- LIST 5
(1) Scrabble. I seriously rule though. You wouldn't want to play against me ;)
(2) Capture the flag
(3) Word Whomp
(4) Life
(5) Shanghai
(6) Rummy
(7) Bones/ Dice
(8) Cranium
(9) Good old fashioned TAG!
(10) Clue

Ten Of My Pet Peeves- LIST 6
(1) Slow/ idiotic drivers (I am a yeller when it comes to driving...)
(2) Being judged
(3) Being preached to or attempting to convert me
(4) Strangers at the door
(5) Dealing with customer service reps on the phone
(6) Muu-muus
(7) When my hair gets frizzy and just won't quit
(8) Having to drive to visit people all the time... I like the visiting part, but HATE the driving.
(9) Defrosting meat. I just have a thing about it. I'm way less likely to make a good meal for dinner if the meat isn't already thawed.
(10) Bad pics of me! EW!

About my Doggie- LIST 7
(1) Name: Deuce
(2) No, we didn't name him after a crap. *ahem* I gave my hubby the Greek Mythology book and told him to pick a name he liked... It was Deucalion. So we kept it and shortened it, and didn't think about how much our friends would laugh when we told them...
(3) Breed: Shiba Inu
(4) Birth date: 4/17/2005
(5) Coloring: Red and white
(6) Best friend: Duh, Ilyana!
(7) Naughty habit: Getting in the trash! GAH!
(8) He got away this weekend! But we got him back... quickly, thank god.
(9) Sleeps: In our closet. So we put his bed in there, so it can at least be a little bit comfy. He also sleeps on the floor next to Illy's bed a lot.
(10) Favorite activities: Playing catch (though he doesn't give the ball back very well... lol) and going for walks.

Ten Munchables That I LOVE- LIST 8
(1) Tea
(2) Ice cream
(3) Eggs of all sorts. We've been eating a ton of eggs lately.
(4) Cheese
(5) Chicken
(6) Quesadillas
(7) Falafel
(8) Greek salad
(9) Hollandaise
(10) Fruit- especially berries

Random Things About Me- LIST 9
(1) I still bite the skin around my nails. I never broke that bad habit.
(2) I love to cook, especially bake.
(3) I love to burn tarts around my house- they make it smell so yummy!
(4) My favorite seasons are autumn and spring.
(5) My nail polish is chipped right now.
(6) I actually enjoy doing my budget each month. It makes me feel less stressed knowing what we have, what we need to pay, and when...
(7) My family means more to me than anything else in the world.
(8) Christmas is my favorite holiday.
(9) I want four kids. Someday.
(10) I can't wait to be a homeowner and be able to do crafty projects around the house!

Ten Random Things About My Work- LIST 10
(1) I work in a hospital.
(2) But for a college.
(3) An Ivy League one, to be exact.
(4) I really like my boss, she's great.
(5) Not so much the person above her, though.
(6) I am an Administrative Assistant. A lot of people would scoff at that, considering I have a BA in Sociology, but I am grateful for my job and enjoy it.
(7) We work with researchers, so I sometimes get to hear about up-and-coming medical technologies. It's really amazing, some of the work they are doing...
(8) I am the first point of contact for visitors, and I answer the phone.
(9) I hope to stay with the College for a long time... But I'm hoping to move up in my position soon.
(10) My work is about to lay off at least 60 people, and it has been stressing everyone out around here!

PHEW! I did it! Are you still with me?? No?? Okay, I'm going to take a nap now. :P

Friday Fill-Ins #13

A Luxury Weekend to Remember!!

This is a small part of the huge presidential suite we'll be staying in this weekend with my Mom, Stepdad and brothers. The room has a $3000 dollar a night price tag (no, we didn't pay for it- we just get to be special and priveleged this weekend cuz my Stepdad is just that cool) and every President since 1927 has stayed in this suite! Can I just tell you how (ohmygoshIcan'tbelieveit) excited I am?!?! So my Fill-ins this week are mostly related to this FANTASTIC trip :)

1. Please don't tell me that it's going to snow!

2. Can you jump on the big fluffy beds with me in the morning?

3. The color yellow makes me want to dance!

4. I have a craving for japanese food... Jae's, here we come. Yum, yum!

5. If my life had a pause button, I'd pause it this weekend so I could more fully enjoy this amazing, once-in-a-lifetime weekend and the Ruggle at her cutest, most fun age so far!

6. Eyes are the most honest part of the body. (You thought I was going to say "windows to the soul", didn't you?)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to out to dinner alone with my man in Boston and spending the night in the amazing presidential suite at the park plaza hotel with my awesome family, tomorrow my plans include park plaza, aquarium with the girl, out to eat and maybe some shopping... woot woot! and Sunday, I want to maybe grab breakfast with my fam, then drive home and prep for the week- gotta squish laundry, muffin-making, grocery shopping and lunch making into half a day- yikes!

You can find other Friday Fill-ins participants and the weekly prompts here...

Wordless Wednesdays #16- Dada's Hat Is More Comfy...

If you would like, you can visit other Wordless Wednesday participants HERE.

**end wordless wednesday post**

PS: This is my 98th post. 100 is up and coming... Any good suggestions? Anything you'd like to see? I think it's a little late to do the 100 question thing, but feel free to ask me anything you'd like to know now and I will tell all in that post. Course there probably won't be many questions by then, but, eh, whatevs. :)

ROCK That Runway, Ruggle!

Many of you don't know this, but my Mom works in media and as of late has been intensely involved in (and mostly in charge of) the development of a new upscale magazine out of North Andover, Massachusetts called- what else?- The Andovers. It's a great resource for people living in the area to get in the know on what's going on, who's hot (like in the Andover's hottest bachelor contest!), and even get fresh ideas for dinners, decor, and de-stressing. So guess how excited I was when she asked me if the Ruggle could pose for some pics in the magazine this coming spring??

That's right.

SuperexcitedyesofcourseshewouldlovetoandIwouldloveherto! heh.

You heard it here first. You are now watching the making of a mini-model.

So what else could she do but begin to practice? I mean, she changes her clothes all the time anyway... granted it's usually because she spilled some kind of something on herself, or she leaked splody poops on her pants... but still... still...

Okay, really, it's just another great big excuse to show off some new pics of the girl. Humor me please, and leave comments about how darned cute she is and how she will someday be famous and take care of her mummy who loved her and coddled her and made her head big and took way too many pics of her when she was young.

Note: These aren't the pics from the photo shoot for the mag. We haven't done that yet, but I'll be sure to let you know when we do.

****************************

The room is dark. Your chair is uncomfortable. You hear the crunching of secret chocolate wrappers stashed in purses, snuck into the no-food-ever venue by PMS'ing photogs and buyers for name brands. A strobe rises up and a hush falls over the crowd as the famous Bendy Ruggles is revealed in silhouette:

You never thought you would actually get to be thisclose to a real, live, up and coming model, now did you?
It's okay, feel free to gasp. Also, feel free to rearrange your buttcheeks on the seat if it's too hard. God knows Bendy loves her some wiggling. In fact, just the other day, she wiggled her own self right off the edge of her seat. No joke. So don't feel like you need to remain in humble quietude for her benefit. She'd prefer you **get your sillies out** just as you normally would in your own home. Oh, better hush up, here she comes on her first jaunt down that runway!

Uh-oh, better focus that camera! Don't want to miss any more important shots. Too bad you missed that one in her fuzzy jacket and hat. It was cute. Really cute.


Here she comes again, modeling the latest and greatest in puffy-jacket outerwear for the 2009 season! Every girl needs a truly warm coat, wouldn't you agree? According to the toddler digest, green and purple are. seriously. in. this. year.

Whoops, looks like she found someone's stash when they snuck out to change their tampon! Now you know... Even models need chocolate breaks. I think the choco-face goes perfectly well with the multi-colored polka dot outfit.

HEY! You! YES, YOU! No flash photography backstage! Now GIT OUTTA HERE! Before I have to unleash my faithful furry friend on you...

Now comes the nationally acclaimed Bendy Ruggles in her signature Abby Cadabby pantsuit with skirt attached! Of course, one could pair it with nothing LESS than knockoff Uggs. Puh-lease, people. You didn't know this was the new trend?

Back on the runway in a stunning cherry dress with matching shirt and heart-embellished tights, it's BEEEEEEENNNNDDDDYYYY RUUUGGGGLLLEEEESS! Notice that she has realized the beaded rainbow bracelet does NOT match and has tossed it to the side. But the sippy, that matches. Sippies match with everything, right?


Ignore the legs in the background, please. That's just the janitor, come to clean a spill... SOMEone got chocolate all over the runway. And yes, men's winter outerwear is also making an appearance on the toddler fashion circuit this year.

Remember this face, for one day it will grace magazines far and wide. Or at least as wide as North Shore, Mass. Which is essentially the same thing, right?

Thank you for joining us tonight for the first ever Bendy Ruggles fashion show! Please help yourself to the buffet of leftover nuggets and de-crusted PB&J sandwiches on the way out, and don't forget to enter the raffle..........

....for.......
a brand-new.........

POTTY seat!
That's right! You, too, could be the proud owner of a cushioned ducky seat by the end of the night! Don't miss out!

Any media inquiries about the Ruggle must be directed to Mama Ruggle at the Ruggle agency, inc. Thanks!