Adventures in Moving aka Forsaken in the Desert

I arrived on Saturday, June 2nd. My landlord was waiting with the wrong keys and some cleaning supplies to clean up a little. (He had known I was moving for a month and a half). So Jess, me, Nate, and Josh took off to IKEA to look around at that big adventure store while landlord got things put together. I think I was pretty out of it because nothing really seemed to sink in about the store. It looked cool, but I may have been a little burnt from 18 hours of driving. (Although the driving was fun...Josh and I scared Nate & Jess a little 'cause they thought we were going to wreck the moving truck from kissing so much. Silly them...)

We did spill red paint, though. Or should it say it spilled itself...on the moving truck floor. And on my bookshelf, the leg of my couch, and my canvasses that I so lovingly painted for our Boise dining room. It was a rough night.

Everyone left me alone on Sunday. Why on earth anybody lives on their own I have no idea. I kind of cried. Until Josh left. Then I had to buck up. So I did. But this is how I felt inside...

LIKE A DESERT

Why on earth was I left alone in the desert? Why do people live in a desert? My AC does not work in my house and I am sweating and lonely and holy crap I don't know a soul in this town and do you know how many people live here?? 3 million. Do I know where I am? Nope. Don't have a map. Don't have the internet.
All I see is brown walls everywhere. Tempe is mostly brown walls. It's like no one wants to see each other and nobody zoned the town, so it's like store, brown-walled subdivision, store, brown-walled subdivision. Crazy. Sad. Lonely.

Best Moving Truck Company: Penske. Their little 12' truck was awesome and drove so good and they were cheap and had nice people working there.

Hola From Arizona!!

Hi everyone! (That means Jessica and Emily mostly). So I'm still keeping up my little flickr photo album (flickr.com/photos/christinlife), which is much more exciting, but for those who would like to share my thoughts and concerns about living in arizona, including those items for which no pictures are available, here you go:

Best Fish in the World

I used to think it was Mahi Mahi. But now I am convinced it is Artic Char. I love this fish. It is kind of like salmon without the fishy salmony flavor. It is from Iceland, and it is to die for. I had it tonight pan-seared with fennel and grapefruit and black olives and olive oil on it and heaven...just heaven.

WOW

So Apple ipods are taking over the world. This I know. And they don't really need any more publicity, but even though I lost my little ipod shuffle, I loved it. To death. If you get it off the apple website, you don't even have to pay shipping and you can get a whole line of stuff engraved on it for free. And they come in 5 different colors. I think orange is the most motivating for exercise. Perfect perfect perfect.

YOU TUbe

I'm starting to really like you tube. There's this girl Natalie who is Asian with an English accent and who is beautiful and so funny. Her username is communitychannel. haha. I have one video, but it is not the best thing on youtube and I won't waste your time.
:o)
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Best Justification for This Blog

I just finished presenting a book report on "The Tipping Point" which I would highly recommend. It is a quite fascinating look at the world and what little things affect us in big ways. Like some people's personalities. Turns out I am called an "Information Maven," which means I tell people how to get a good deal on something or the best way to do something simply for the pure joy it brings me to help you. And has nothing to do with my own personal benefit. This is also why I tell people at the grocery store on the aisle next to me which cereal is best, which ice cream is best, and let the cashier know that the Organic Strawberries this week are divine. And why I have written Haagen Daaz to tell them how horrible it is that they discontinued Hazelnut Gelato and the Jell-o company to let them know how much I miss the Jell-o popsicles of my childhood. Oh, and the username HotStuffCarbiener does not really mean I'm full of myself, it just means my roommates and I thought it would be funny.
Have a nice day,
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Strawberry Mojito

Best thing to do with strawberries:

Get some little bowls.
Put honey in one.
Put lime juice in one.
Put "Sugar in the Raw" in one
Put chopped up mint leaves in one.
Dip strawberries into the bowls in this order.

SO GOOD!

Best Drink in the Whole Wide World

Or in Idaho. There's a lot of the world I haven't seen yet.

It's IZZE Sparkling Grapefruit and it's wonderful.
So it Walleby Banana Vanilla yogurt. Better than you think it's going to be. Yes it is.

Best Way to Get Freaked Out That You Are Becoming A Grown-up

1. Turn 27. This is the beginning of adulthood. Yes it is. Yes it is.

2. Get your first job that actually uses your degree. Not the first degree. Not the one you just look at on the wall. The one you are going to use.

3. Get some good money. This part hasn't happened yet. I'm looking forward to it, however.

Twilight Zone

Hey, so guess what. I haven't even looked at this blog in a year and turns out the last time I posted on it was 363 days ago. Almost exactly a year. I could have started again in 3 days and you'd have to look hard to know it was even a different year. Do you ever think maybe our lives just go in cycles and the reason we don't remember is because a year is too long. Like maybe last year on this day I went grocery shopping too and worked out twice because I felt like a slacker. Creeps me out, actually. Anyways, I'm back. For now. :o)

Best Magazine for Feeling Informed and Entertained

This is a little post to Glamour for the "It's Ok" lists, the "15 moments" lists, the articles on the bills to contact your Congressman about, and the "How to be a Hero in 5 minutes or less" where you pay $10 to save like 5 people. Glamour is a good mix. Very good.
Later!
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Best Knee Remedy

I wish I knew it. The back of my knee hurts from treadmill running if anybody wants to offer suggestions. I have ten miles to run in early June. ahhh!
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Best Little Baggie Clips

Are at the dollar store. I really hate dollar stores to tell you the truth, but they have these cute little clippies that are better than the $5.99 ones at Fred Meyer. It's the truth. Take it or leave it.
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I Love the BR

A little Banana Republic story for you: Once upon a time, I tried to talk myself into buying a cheap shirt for work instead of going to BR. I looked around and couldn't find any black button-downs. So I went to BR and asked. Did they have them? Yes. They had two kinds- one for busty girls that didn't pull apart at the boobs and one for the less busty. I love you Banana Republic, I do. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
(Please don't tell me that BR shouldn't make their clothes in the countries they do. Clothes are hard to find that my mom doesn't comment poorly on.)
Happy days.
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Best Perfume That No One Wears

Ralph Lauren Blue. Not Ralph Lauren Ralph. Seriously, no one wears it, and I get very nice comments on it all the time. Every body's different, but it's one to try. Fab roommate Jessica is going to try RL Hot, the new one. Will report.
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Best Snack

Slice an apple, a pear, and an orange. Arrange on a plate. Melt Dove Dark chocolate pieces in the microwave for about a minute and a half. Drizzle on fruit.
Delicious, healthy, and sexy!
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Best MP3 List for workouts

This is (of course) my list. And I like the old school. (As in early 90's old school)
Usher- You Make Me Wanna
Montell Jordon- This is How we Do It
Britney Spears- Hit me Baby one More Time
Christina Aguilara- Fighter
Destiny's Child- Survivor
Matchbox 20- Push
Janet Jackson- Together Again
The overplayed OutKast songs of 2004

Good Times!
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A bit of a Slacker

My friend Emily started reading immediately preceding my extended vacation for which I apologize. My brother is home from a mission. He is fantastic and my niece is darling.
Now- for the thing I learned today:
Best time to make out with a good makeout buddy:
when the maintenance guys are at your apartment and you are trying to pretend you're home alone.
Tee hee.

School Started

Best Pens in The World. (Office Depot; don't worry; I wouldn't leave you hangin')
Pilot "The Better Retractable" Fine Point. Blue. Have a good semester!! cc

Cotton Balls

The Best cotton balls in the world are made by Swisspers. And they are freakin' hard to find sometimes. The ShopKo in Meridian is clearancing them and I'm livid. They also don't have any left because I bought them all. Every one.
UPDATE!! You can get them on mothernature.com
Love ya!