A Meme

I got tagged! I have done this before, but I think it is a great Meme, so I would be happy to do it again. Thanks again Sweetassbabs!

1. I love facials, getting my nails done and being girly. Dressing in dresses, make-up, and all the works. These thing don't get to happen too often now, with the economy and me having a baby, but I still love them with all my heart!

2. With that said, I am probably the biggest tom-boy you will meet. I could shoot the sh*t about football (especially the NY Giants) for hours. I am the one that will turn on Sportscenter, watch Cold Pizza in the morning, and tivo all the NFL games. I think I can thank my dad for this, and my awesome, football loving relatives, all over the country.

3. Lavendar Aromatherapy is really the only way I can relax. It is the only way I know how to unwind. So my favorite past time (besides watching the Giants) is taking a bath, reading a book, and soaking in the scent of Lavender.

4. Playing with B is my new favorite past time. It is true that when you have a child your world changes, and mine certainly has with the addition of Mr Man. Life just wouldn't be the same if he wasn't a part of it!

5. Family is the most important thing in my life. If I could live in a city with all my family, I would sell everything and move there tomorrow.

6. I have always wanted to sell everything and move to Italy. Hubs (at one point) was on board for this idea, until we bought a house, had a baby, and have built in babysitters. Maybe, one day, I will be able to convince him to take the plunge.

7. The only weird thing about me... is I can curl my tongue in a 3 leaf clover. Yes it is weird, but kind of intruiging when you see it in person. Oh, that, and I can juggle pretty well. I have mastered about 4 balls.

* Everyone I know has done this, but if you haven't feel free. It is pretty fun!

A 6 Word Tag!!!

Yipppeee! - I’ve been tagged by Clueless Cat (this is what she came up with) to write my
6-word memoir. After some thought, actually a ton of thought (this is harder than it looks) this is mine:

Careening through life with reckless abandon.

I don’t know who’s done this already, so if I tag you and you’ve already done it, ignore me - but love me!

Lady Luck
Rachel
Katelin
Jelli Pants
Elise
Martini

Rules:
1. Write your own six word story.
2. Post it on your blog
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post (me) and to the original post if possible
4. Tag at least five others with links
5. Don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

Have fun and have a good Friday!

A Life in Pictures

Got this great idea from Tortious (love her!)



Go to http://photobucket.com.
Type in your answer to each question in the search box.
Use only the first page.
Copy the html and paste for the answer.
Let the games begin!

1. What is your relationship status?

2. Who is your celebrity crush?

God... I love that man!

3. Who is your favorite band? Hmm... that is a tough one! Probably our band: MY MISTRESS

4. What is your favorite movie?

5. What kind of pet do you have?

6. Where do you live?

7. Where do you work?

8. What do you look like?

9. What do you drive?

10. What's your favorite TV show?

11. Describe yourself.

12. What's your name?

Anakalia - in Hawaiian (sp??)

13. What's your favorite candy?

Play along! Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday!


PS If you want an amazing fish recipe, or the easiest spinach dip ever... check out my food blog!

http://www.cookingintexas.blogspot.com/

Holiday Hoopla!!

So my dear blogging friend at Jelli pants has tagged me for Holiday Meme.

Here are the rules:

1. List 12 random things about yourself that have to do with Christmas

2. Please refer to it as a 'hoopla' and not the dreaded 'm'-word

3. You have to specifically tag people when you're done. None of this "if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged" stuff is allowed.

4. Please try and do it as quickly as possible. The Christmas season will be over before we know it... OK... Got the rules?

P.S. God... if you read this blog... if you could give my friend Jelli Pants a beautiful baby in her tummy, sometime soon, I would certainly appreicate it! Thanks.

Here is my list ;-)

1. Every year, when I was little, my parents and I used to go pick out a Christmas tree, and drink hot cocoa on the drive over. It was one of my most favorite holiday events!!

2. Although, I love decorating, I believe tree's should be a trip down memory lane! All my ornaments (well, since we have only been married 3 years - together 5 - there aren't that many) and my rents ornaments have special meaning! My baby bro and I made a lot of them, there are places we have been and hand made ones from Nona!

3. This year, all I want are stuff for Brady, a vacuum (actually a Dyson), and a camera (to take pics of Brady, of course!)

4. I always by the hubs the best presents!! He can never figure them out, but that is what happens when you love a person so much, you know them better than themselves!

5. I got our first Baby Brady gifts last night. One is the pic above - an it's a boy ornament - from my mother-in-law, and the other was from a dear family friend of one blue and one blue and white striped onesie (sp?) with a light blue hat. It was PRICELESS! Can't wait to see my man, struttin' his stuff in that!

6. My favorite day is Christmas Eve. In the Italian culture (maybe Roman Catholic - who knows - it all merges in my mind) you don't eat meat Christmas Eve. Only Christmas day! So my daddy always prepares an amazing 6-8 course meal for Christmas eve. There is always a soup, shrimp scampi, scungili salad, olive and celery salad, and of course, the piece de resistance... Pasta with Walnuts. Don't worry, most recipes will be on my food blog after Christmas!

7. Christmas songs make me happy! Plus, I think I am a 1940's blues singer, reincarnated, so I love all Rosemary Clooney songs, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennet, and of course the Godfather... Old Blue eyes... Frank Sinatra!! Especially during the holidays!

8. I could be the worst wrapper of presents, in the history of wrapping presents. I always use one wrapping paper and I love making those bows out of the scrap paper :) Hee hee!

9. This is the last Christmas there will be just hubs and I. Next year, we'll be lucky if we get some socks, with Brady hanging around :) I just can't wait!!

10. I wish I had more money, so everyone I loved could get a gift!

11. I have never spent a holiday alone... knock on wood, Thank you GOD!

12. Midnight Mass (on Christmas eve) when we go to NY always makes me cry. We go to the church my grandparents were married in and it is always snowing, something we rarely get in TX. Midnight Mass is really what Christmas is about, and that make me happy.

Ok, now I guess I tag, Pink Ditz, BB, and Clueless Cat - if your into it... do it! If not, have a fabulous Christmas!!

This Year in Review

Got this idea from Pink Ditz at Twenty Something Bloggers

The year in review.

Post the first sentences/thought from each month. See what was going on. See how random you are each month and see how far you've come.

*Let me prefice this with saying, I didn't start blogging (on here) until June, so the other months are just random thoughts I wrote down :)

January - Italy here I come. (At this point in my life, I wanted to sell everything and move to Italy)

Feb. & March - I didn't write anything, but I know I was starting my company and trying to get used to not working 70+hours a week. I was starting to work from home and it was a huge adjustment!

April - So, as I sit here on this cold, Good Friday, I wonder why people like Country music. It's supposed to reach your soul I guess? Not necessarily my thing, but I guess as you get older, wiser, all your friends start getting married, and having babies. I think maybe their right. Maybe Country music does touch your soul. Here's to all you country lovers and all you country haters. (This one was for my little bro - who is an avid country music fan - and who introduced me to 1 good country song.

May - I died my hair pink and black (simply b/c I worked out of my house and for myself) Then I got pregnant for the first time! We told both sets of parents on mother's day. We got them little baby chew toys. My mother-in-law was speechelss (for once) and my mother started screaming in the middle of this fancy restaurant. Then my dad ordered champagne, and everyone but me got to drink it... hee hee! Not to mention both my birthday and my hubs birthday are in this month, so it was a month long PARTAY!! Then... the last week of May, we no longer had a baby.

June - Let's see. I don't know how to sum this up. I had surgery, died, came back, and ended up with a scar from hell, while I sat in my house trying to heal. (Read More)

July - A new chapter began. My Best guy friend (& my hubs BF for that matter) left for Med School. My Mistress ended (b/c he was also the drummer) and I was just so thankful to be alive, I couldn't contain my excitement.

Aug. - (LOTS went on this month!) First, I tried out for American Idol Dallas. My reviews were good - but I didn't get through. But, because the judges said I had an amazing voice, "I just needed to work on my stage presence," my mom and husband decided to fly my ass to SC to try again. I didn't make it their either, but I got to hang out with my baby bro and my granddad and go to the beach! A personal fav!! Not to mention they still didn't know why I died, so I blogged my favorite post.

Sept - Hubs and I celebrated our 3 yr anniversary! I found out I was preggo... AGAIN. Got extremely worried b/c my scar still hadn't come close to healing and now it was going to be stressed, AND went through my first trimester... week BY week!

Oct - My 2lb bump started showing... finally. I didn't feel AS sick (some of the time.) I got a sonogram. Had a job dilema, and told the world how to nail an interveiw! Also, I got to hang out with the fam and cook them my new favorite dishes and we went and bought Baby, Hubs and I punkin's. Not to mention, my BFF, came over for Halloween with her darling little boy!

Nov - NaBloPoMo! I was one day shy of completing this task. Overall, Hubs and I cooked Thanksgiving at our house. Had both sides of the fam! And it was fun. My belly started showing, so I took a pic! My hair wouldn't dye the right color cuz I am preggo. I got extensions, took a picture and put up Christmas lights. Not to mention my other BFF, Michelle, had a 1yr old birthday party for her gorgeous daughter Grace!!

Dec - Obviously the most exciting news of this month.... we found out we are having a boy. We got a DVD sonogram so the world could see our little man, and I really started showing. Then the first day of the month, I celebrated a very special birthday!! Considering the month isn't over... I guess we'll leave this one with a little more room.

Google This!

Since everyone and their cousin is writing this blog, I thought it would be funny to do it myself. Since I do not own an ipod... I take that back, I own an ipod shuffle, that I have about 3 cd's on (and never use) I can't do the cute shuffle thingy. Yes I know... I live in the dark ages!

So here goes, thanks to Google Analytics!

10. Andrea is fat - ok really! People that is NOT PC. I am pregnant, and YES, I have gained some weight, I would hope you would be kind enough not to search on if I am fat! ;-)

9. Acne 80's - I am sorry... WHAT?? I wrote (read full version here) about having acne and having hair like an 80's rock band, back in my first trimester. I am happy to report, however, that my hair is fab (thanks to extensions) and I have the preggo glow (according to my very kind friends!!)

8. Acne Hot Pocket - again... WHAT?? I don't even want to venture to know what that is, but apparently acne is a huge problem for google readers and I am sorry for those that suffer. Try ProActive. It worked wonders for me!

7. 2 Fat Italian girls - you would think that people would not really want to see 2 FAT Italian girls but apparently that is a very common search? I don't know what you want to do with them, but I say... ewwww!

6. Curly hair + Pregnancy + Sex of Baby = My blog! Yes, I have curly hair, yes I am preggo, and no I do not know the sex of the baby, and really couldn't give you any insight on this. However, I can tell you that when I was born, I had curly hair, then my mom gave me my first haircut (b/c I had hair down to butt at 9 months old) and it grew back straight. THEN... my dad hated my straight hair and permed it in the 8th grade and I have had curly hair ever since. Now, google that!! Hee hee!

5. Fat Italian - again people... what is the weird obsession with fat Italian's?? If you have ever go to Italy, you would quickly realize this is only portrayed in movies. Most Italians are tall, skinny and have IMPECCABLE fashion sense!

4. Italian curly hair - Really, why? Better yet, why is it automatically transported to my blog? Damn those guys and their curly hair fetishes!

3. Androgynous figurine four legs - alrighty then, yes, I did put this on the blog. Why over 20 people are searching on this, I have no idea. Just go buy the book, Eat Pray Love, will ya!

2. Size of Baby 15 weeks - well thank you for considering me such an expert, however, each week I get an email from babycenter telling me exactly what is happening in that week of pregnancy. If your pregnant it is really fun to get those emails!

And the final.... most searched request... that has made you read my blog... drumroll please...

1. Fat Mistress - thank you, thank you. I am not a mistress, however I am a lead singer of a band that is called My Mistress, and once again people, I am not FAT, I am pregnant, get it through your head ;-)

A Martini Always Helps

This was so fun, I thought I would copy it ;-) Single+Cats=Sad gave me this great blog idea for a Fun Friday!

Considering this is the last day of NaBloPoMo (I am almost sad to see it go... ALMOST) I thought I would do something fun!

Rules: You must type the answer to each question into a Google Image search, then pick an image from the first page of results.

1. Age at Next Birthday: 27

2. Place I would like to travel: Italia (I have been, but it would be nice to go back with hubs)

3. My favorite place: Rome! (everytime I have gone, there has been someone getting married so I thought this was apropriate!)

4. My favorite objects: Furla purses and accessories

5. My favorite food: Spinach... weird I know!

6. My favorite color: Pink :)

7. My nickname: Drea (like Matteo, but I am certianly not that pretty or tall...love her!)

8. The place I was born: Reston, VA



9. Ideal Date: The opera and a good bottle of wine

10. Where you hope to be in 5 years: 1 child and twin girls. Living financially comfortably in a beautiful house with hubs. (1 down, twins to go)

Hope you all had a wonderful NaBloPoMo!

Yippeee... I got tagged

D-Blogged has been kind enough to tag me for a meme - woopie! Seriously, just the other day I was thinking how cool it would be for some random blogger friend to tag me, and there you go... prayer answered. YES!

So I guess the rules are I have to name 7 random things about myself, that most people don't know. Which, now that I think about it, is going to be kinda hard, because I am sort of an open book. I think most people know pretty much everything about me???

Then I have to tag 7 more bloggers and leave a comment to let 'em know.

First and foremost - 7 random things:

1. I studied French and Italian opera for 9 years of my life. that is how I learned to sing.

2. I learned to count in French before English and I only studied French in school, even though I am, OBVIOUSLY, Italian

3. I speak no Italian. I only know the cusswords they use in NY.

4. I was born in VA, not NY. Right outside of Washington DC actually, but I graduated highschool in CO.

5. I was a gymnast for most of my life.

6. I am only 5" tall. Nothing more, nothing less.


7. I have wanted to move to Italy since I was 5yrs old. I almost bought a run down olive oil mill in Tuscany (before we bought this house) but somehow it didn't work *one tear*



That was probably pretty boring to read, but hey, that is me. Boring and as Elysa would say, bizarre ;)



OK... onto 7 people I want to tag...

1. Elysa at genpink - she was my first blogging friend and the one that got me addicted. I owe it all to you E!!

2. At Home in Rome - one my serious fav's. I am so jealous of her Roman lifestyle

3. Sassy at eye heart internet - freaking hysterical!

4. Nanette at Say it, Don't Spray it

5. Tina Vaziri at the Adventures of Tina and Mr Bee. Hysterical and amazing illustrations, plus she is a fellow Texan ;-)

6. Sognatrice at Bleeding Espresso - nothing but Italian love!

7. CDP at tortious - truly touching!

I'm off to tag my picks. Enjoy the reads. they are great!