HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Oh That Mr. Draper...

While watching Mad Men tonight I decided that I need to have Betty Draper's entire wardrobe..genius.

Mike has been an eager participant in the "device rep" (much like pharm drug reps but for surgery related devices, more $$$) dinners through his department at work and it involves many dinners and cocktails of the Mad Men variety. Another night, another expensive dinner in Beverly Hills on someone else's tab.

I would be more jealous about these wonderful outings but for every one he attends he reciprocates by taking me on an equally nice date:)

Me Too, Iguana

Ah, nostalgia. While Mike has been away in Fresno I have spent WAY too much time bidding on vintage toys on Ebay. I can't believe some of the stuff that's on there. My favorite collection of books as a child was this series called Sweet Pickles. I remember the day my mom ordered them and also the day I received them in the mail-it was pure joy. My favorite book was called Me Too, Iguana because it involved an iguana that wanted to do everything that other kids were doing and such was the case with me and my older sisters. "I wanna be with the older kids!" As I would cry and pound my fists on the front door.

Over the years the condition of my childhood treasures deteriorated or got lost or thrown away. This included a hefty collection of second edition Strawberry Shortcake dolls complete with pets (I had every one including Strawberry's nemeses Sour Grapes and Purple Pie Man), the Pickles books and of course, Cabbage Patch Kids. Oh and I also had an impressive collection of stickers as well.

The money that people are getting for these items on Ebay is redonkulous. The complete set of Pickles books is going for $250!! Yikes. I'm sure some of my now vintage artifacts are lying around in my dad's basement but the day I actually go through and look, well, that's another story.

What a Life

You know we have reached a new low when during a game of Candyland with Elise Mike says "you know, Princess Frostine is hot." To which I reply, "yeah, she really kind of is."

just for smiles

tear jerker

Last night we made the mistake of watching Marley & Me-thinking it was a comedy. While Mike rolled his eyes through most of it (that heartless man) I found myself sobbing for a good hour. I went to bed with puffy eyes and red streaks on my face, Mike just looked at me with pity. For anyone who has seen it, how sad is the part where the little girl gives the dog her lamby? I was pretty much game over after that scene.

We had a nice weekend. Mike didn't get called into work which was a plus and we headed out to dinner two nights in a row (Elise included). We also got some new games and finally introduced Elise to Operation. Somehow, I can't help thinking Mike has an edge-someone who does interventional neurosurgery isn't exactly a fair opponent. Anyway, I still hate the game as much as I did when I was eight and I still scream and jump just as far out of my chair as I did back then when that stupid buzzer goes off.

I'm slowly getting used to my new computer (switching to a mac isn't very difficult but there is a slight learning curve) It is a beautiful computer and as soon as I get all my pictures and music in working order I will be able to do some pretty cool things...

Hope everyone had a nice weekend:-) LA is COLD..brrrrrr we had to light (turn on) the fireplace!

realization

uttered with significant disappointment earlier today:

Elise: "well, I guess I only have one mom."

Dance Party

We Froehlers love our Saturday night Safety Dance Party on First Wave...

check out her fierce moves:

Elise is such a music lover and it makes us so happy (particularly mom). She has her likes and dislikes and is now in control of the satellite radio on the way to school. "no mom, i don't like it. ok, this is good"...etc.

Tonight she heard Letter To Elise by The Cure and promptly went to her playroom, wrote her name on a piece of paper, put it in an envelope and brought it to us saying, "this is a letter to me." We thought it was very cute...

Reunion and trip to New England

Elise and mom just returned from a trip to Massachusetts to see family and friends. It was a relatively quiet and relaxing vacation. The highlight for me was the pseudo mini-reunion with the gals I went to high school (and some elementary) with. We met up for a night of dinner, drinks and laughs. It was so good to see what everyone has been up to and how their lives have played out. There was a lot of reminiscing, belly laughs and passing around pictures of everyone's children. I was very lazy with the camera so I don't have many pictures but there were a few...

girls' night out:

The highlight of Elise's vacation was playing with all of her cousins and causing mischief with Vikki's sons Aaron and Jack. We also took a trip to the apple orchard which turned out to be more of a small carnival than anything else. Elise took a ride on the cow train which was pulled by a tractor. She even got to sit in "Elsie" so close to her name..it was meant to be.

The weather was beautiful for most of the time we were there..perfect autumn New England weather. We had a great time but we are very happy to be back home on our side of the world:)