Everybody Loves a Slide Show

We Like Free Chocolate 

Me and my sister are standing outside Chocolate World in Hershey, PA. It wasn't quite what we'd hoped but we still got free chocolate at the end of the tour. It was a free tour...and you could go as many times as you wanted...heh heh.
Don't worry, we made up for it at the gift shop and the bakery.

Hershey Cocoa

Smells Like Chocolate 

This is right next to the large Herchey factory smoke (?) stacks. It smelled like chocolate here too. Yum.

The Center of the Universe

Where Oompa Loompas Live 

Oompa Loompas probebly don't live *here*. They probebly live at the factory.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter: Book 6 

So here's another peak into the madness of Chez Lynne. Atleast my sister and I weren't the only ones to dress up this time...or should I say the only *adults* to dress up this time. (Not like for the 5th book) My sister is the tall one and I'm the one next to her kissing the book. My lame attempt to be clever.

But the party was fun and the book was excellent so I kind of don't care that I'm a total freak. Kind of...

Hershey, PA

Hershey Factory 

This is the actual Hershey factory and the place where it actually smelled like chocolate outside. So, needless to say, we spent quite a few minutes here with our noses in the air like beagles while townfolk drove past us giving us dirty looks. You'd think they'd be used to it by now. You'd also think they'd be in better moods with all the chocolate around.

A Trip to Meijer Gardens

Big Horse 

In addition to visiting the Petra exhibition in Grand Rapids, MI, my sister also took me to visit the Meijer Gardens which, as you can see, has a GINORMOUS statue of a horse that was based of a design created by Leonardo da Vinci.

I wanted to pose as a lump underneath the horses bum but my mom (who was taking the picture) thought it might be a little inappropriate. I still think it would have been funny...

Hell of a Night

Literally.

We had horrible storms yesterday here in the DC area and of course the power went out. Which would usually be nice and romantic with the darkness and the candels and such if it had not been a million degrees outside.

The power went out at about 6:30 pm and didn't come back on until 2 am. It was so hot in our apartment I had to...well...sleep in the nude. So maybe this doesn't seem like a big deal to some of you but I hate not wearing pjs. It seems so wrong. So in addition to being in an uncomfortable heat I was also uncomfortable being naked. I'm a prude. I'm okay with it.

I'm Back!

Whew! What a trip.
Here's an update of my past week without blogs:

1. Michigan is hot. Especially since my sister doesn't have air conditioning. Yuck.

2. Biking 9 miles will make anyone's butt sore... but especially my fat ass.

3. I finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in 24 hours. If you haven't jumped on the Harry Potter bandwagon I suggest you do so. Even though they're written for kids the books are bloody brilliant.

4. Too much Harry Potter and BBC Bargain Hunters will cause anyone to speak in a bad fake british accent for a week... but especially my fat ass.

5. I need a digital camera so I can post pictures quicker. Until then you'll have to wait until I get my film developed.

6. I want to go to the real lost city of Petra. The exhibition was awesome.

7. Hershey was a bit of a disappointment. It was crowded with unattended kids and old people and it only smelled like chocolate on the corner of Chocolate and Cocoa Avenues. I will have to return when I can actually get the Chocolate bath and spa wrap. But Hershey chocolate does tase better when it's fresh.

8. I will never fly out of Dulles International again. United has this new rule that they will not check your bag onto a plane if you check in less than 45 minutes before your flight. This probebly would'nt be a problem if they had enough employees to check everyone in a timely manner. After waiting in line for 30 minutes I got in just under the wire. The poor lady next to me was no so lucky. Total bullshit if you ask me.
Then it took me about 20 minutes to get through the security screening and about 15 minutes to take a cramped shuttle to my gate. I just made it to my plane and that was with an extra hour and a half before take off.

9. I missed blogging. I'm going to try to catch up on my blog reading but I'm not making any promises.

We interupt this blog to bring you a...break from this blog

I'm taking a trip to Michigan to visit my sister tomorrow so, sadly, that means I might not be able to Blog for about a week. I know, I know...but you'll just have to try and get along without me for a bit. I'll pine for you all, I promise.

It should be a fun week. We already have tons of stuff planned:

1. Harry Potter Book 6 Midnight Realease Party!
You know what this means, folks. There will be lots of insane pictures of me dressed like a Harry Potter character for your enjoyment and/or extortion plans.

2. A garage sale!
Yup. I'm finally selling my acid wash jeans and old Stephan King books. I'll let you know if I can retire early...

3. A trip to Calvin College to see a new exhibition based on the Lost City of Petra.
So I'm a Geek for being super excited for this but...shut up, it's cool.

4. All the fun that just naturally comes along with visitng my sister!

5. A trip to Hershey, PA!
Sorry Jen, I was going to wait for you but...well...they have chocolate baths and streets paved with sweet chocolately goodness so I know you'll understand my having to go without you.

I'm sure I'll have lots of stuff to blog about upon my return. I promise I'll make up for my absence with about 30 new sposts of fun and embarassing Michigan moments.

Stupid Fruit

Why does fruit have calories? It just doesn't make sense.
I've been watching my calorie intake and trying to eat healthier and I hate the fact that fruit can actually have a lot of calories.
Nectarines are my new favorties but they have about 80 calories per peice. Same for apples, bananas, oranges...Stupid fruit.
Don't I just burn that off naturally anyways? Fruits and vegitables should be freebies. I should be able to eat as much of it as I want with no worries. I guess it's still better than eating unlimited amounts of cookies and candies but still.
I'm a little disgruntled about this.

Bwwaaa Haaaaaa Haaaaa (evil laugh)

Another person has just become addicted to blogging like the rest of us...my very good friend, Diane. I have a feeling she'll end up blogging instead of doing work like me. I'm such an evil enabler!

But you should check her out!
She's so cool that she's one of the reason's I wasn't sad to move back to DC.

Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My...Rice, Flour, and Canned Goods

It rained really hard last night so of course that means Zak and I were startled awake at 6AM this morning by the neighbors below informing us that water was dripping in their kitchen. This happens once or twice every year. And it's never as simple as perhpas me accidentally letting the bathtub or kitchen sink overflow...No. It has to be some major plumbing debacle or a huge leak in the roof.
And, even though it's not my fault (it's just our crapity ass apartment), I always feel so guitly whenever this happens because the neighbors are always so accusatory and just stand in the hallway staring at you even after you tell them it's not your fault-I'm going to start shooing them away with a broom.

This time, upon further investigation I found that I too had a huge leak in the bathroom ceiling and behind my cupoboards in the kitchen. And, of course, it had to be the cupboard that holds all our sundries. So the morning consisted of drying off boxes of rice, bags of flour, and the mysterious can of apricots that I don't even know who purchased.

This also means that I'm worried to take a shower (just in case that's part of the leak problem) and I'm all gross. For some reason I'm totally fine with hanging out in my pjs the whole day if it's of my own accord but when something else keeps me from taking a shower I can't stand it.

I might risk it anyways since people always seem to stop by when I lounge in my pjs all day, unshowered and unshaven. Like the time my landlord stopped by to bring me some lease paperwork. Is there anything more uncomfotable than standing in a tank top and bottoms with blue cats all over them in front of a 40 year old man you barely know? Ah yes, that actually is less embarassing than the time I lounged around all day and two young Morman gentlemen stopped by. I felt especially uncomfortable that time since I was wearing a too tight shirt and no bra. I think keeping my arms crossed in front of my boobs only drew more attention to the problem.

You would think I've learned my lesson...and yet...I obviously haven't. These cat pajamas are just so dang comfy!

Mmmmmm...surveys

I got this from ab's blog who got it from Christine. Seemed like a good think to do. Plus, MIT told me to...I'll pretty much do anything that MIT says.

Uneventful Independence Day Weekend

I didn't do much this weekend-but that was kind of nice.

Saturday: Lounged around the apartment.
Did some scrapebooking. (My cat now has an entire book devoted to her.)
Went to Olive Garden for a late lunch/early dinner.
Rented "Team America" and "After the Sunset".

Sunday: Lounged around the apartment.
Went to see "War of the Worlds". (It was okay. I'm reading the book now-I should have read it first. I didn't like the ending but oh well...it reminded me of that Simpsons Episode were they satire "The Lord of the Flies" and at the end the voice over comes on and says, "and they were all saved by...let's say...uh...Moe.")
Bought some stuff at Target.
Went out to dinner at our favorite Greek place.

Monday: Prepared a nice Carpet Picnic. (Complete with blanket to sit on and wild life-Sprout was relentless. It was yummy, though. We had lots of snacks I hadn't had in forever! Hotdogs, Potato Chips, Pop, Dip, Blueberry Muffins, and Fruit Salad.)
Lounged around the apartment and tried to decide if we were going to go downtown to see the fireworks. (We'd gone down to the Capitol for the 4th a couple years ago and, even though it was beautiful, it was a huge hassel.)
Read half of "War of the Worlds" and the entire "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants". (I'm a fast fiction reader.)
Decided to stay in and play board games and watch "Die Hard" on televeision.

From the description one might think it was a pretty lame weekend but it was really the best.