For Christmas, Sean and I are taking a trip down to Ocean City to see the “Festival of Lights”. We went last year and they were pretty busy. Instead of going on a Saturday night we’re planning on going earlier in the week. There’s also an Italian restaurant down there that I’m interested in trying. There aren’t any good places in Delaware so maybe Maryland would give me something to look forward to. We do hope to take another road trip though, I’m actually considering going up to Washington DC, it isn’t really that far from here, I’m just dreading going over the bay bridge in order to get there.

I’ve always wanted to completely submerge into all of the attractions that D.C. has to offer. Walking the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial. Going to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum even the International Spy Museum. I’d also love to go to the top of the Washington Monument and look at everything from a birds-eye view. Maybe even head to Capitol Hill to shop at the Eastern Market or visit Union Station. There are just so many endless possibilities.

I’ve just recently signed up for the Trusted Travel eNewsletter. They give you information on all of your destination spots from around the USA. Destinations from Atlanta to Washington DC, even Tampa and New York, the possibilities are endless.

Driving home last night was pretty difficult. It was a bit chilly and the rain didn’t help very much either. I started thinking about how nice it would be to get back to the house so I can curl under my comforter and just drift off to sleep. This weekend was a bit exhausting, even though I got more sleep in the last three days then I have in the last three weeks – but I guess that’s besides the point. It was more than likely the depression from losing money that was taking it’s toll on me, sleeping it off was the only option last night.

Sean and I were talking about taking another vacation in the future though. I’ve been poking around the net in search of a warmer vacation spot. While I absolutely love the cold, it’s nice having warm weather at some point in time as well. I actually got pretty lucky though, I found this place called Amelia Island in Florida and they’re having a Lodging Special. If you stay for two nights you’re given the third one for free. This is good for either a Hotel or even a Bed and Breakfast, it just depends on who’s participating in the offer. Supposedly Amelia Island was voted one of the top 10 islands in America. There’s golf courses and shopping plus a lot of activities as well. The offer they’re running right now is valid until the end of February – we were looking to take a vacation for Valentines Day so I want to say that this place is moving towards the top of the list – that’s for sure.

I’ve been searching the ‘net for Christmas ideas so I can figure out what to give my grandmother. It’s hard to shop for her because she has specific taste and while she appreciates everything she receives, that doesn’t mean she’ll actually find a use for it. So to avoid getting her the typical and traditional gifts of clothing or knick-knacks to keep around the house, I’ve actually been looking into grandfather clocks. She recently got rid of one that she’d had for years, while it was worth quite a bit of money – it was also in poor condition so she decided to bite the bullet and say goodbye to it. So I figure I’ll poke around for different clocks and I came across Howard Miller clocks, they’re gorgeous quality clocks that really make a statement in every room they’re in. I wouldn’t want to replace the mantel clocks though, the areas surrounding her fireplaces are typically done in a very traditional Italian style that everyone could appreciate. But after that, I’m unsure of what route to take. Home decor could always be an interesting gift but you have to make sure it matches the rest of the decor in the house or there really is no point in buying something for her.

So I started thinking outside of the box and realized that she was going to be redoing her deck this upcoming spring while they’re fixing her underground pool. She always has it decorated nicely out there so naturally she’s always in search of gorgeous accessories to create the whole look and feel of the backyard. So I figured I’d look into an Indoor/Outdoor Pool Clock. It’s water-resistant and can be mounted to a solid surface. It’s battery operated but I think it’d be cooler if there were a solar powered option, but that’s the “green” side of me kicking in. Either way I’ve been doing my homework before buying a clock for my grandmother so hopefully I’ll be able to find something interesting.

It’s obvious that people in Hollywood are running out of ideas, so naturally when they turn an old play, or even a comic book for that matter, into a movie – I tend to not really pay much attention to it. However, when it’s a play that I’ve enjoyed both reading, and seeing, I have to say that it’ll spark my interest pretty quickly. On December 21st, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” will be in theaters and I have to say, I’m excited about it. I’ve read the play quite a few times, I was even on the lighting crew when my high school preformed this play a few years ago. With the amount of fun I had behind the scenes, it’s no surprise that I see the movie itself as something of great interest to me.

Johnny Depp plays Benjamin Barker (aka: Sweeney Todd) and as the story goes he returns to London after being deported on trumped-up charges to Botany Bay prison. Upon his return, he learns that his wife and child were brutally murdered by Judge Turpin. He learns this information from Nellie Lovett, the widow baker and someone who’s always had a crush on Todd. She tells him about what happened and it sends Todd into a rage of madness which is consumed by the thirst for revenge against Turpin. Ever-practical, with the possibility of murder and mayhem, Mrs. Lovett thinks of a fiendishly clever way that they can both make a killing – literally. Those whom Todd murders are baked into the mince-meat pies that Lovett serves in her bakery.

Now, this is a rather morbid story but when you really pay close attention there is a very interesting story line that isn’t filled with blood. This particular installment was directed by Tim Burton who has been known for making things much darker than they actually are. I’ll just use “Willy Wonka” as a key example right now, even though he based it more off of the book than Mel Stuart did in his rendition back in the 70’s – but I digress.

So there are a few easy ways to learn some more about the movie. You can visit the official Sweeney Todd movie site, or you can heady over and visit Sweeney Todd on MySpace. I’m going to say that bringing anyone under the age of 13 to see this movie would be absolutely stupid considering how morbid the story line is but if you know that your kid can handle it, knock yourself out.

In search of “free” advertising, I came across buildasign.com.¬† They offer the ability to get everything from custom banners to car magnets and real estate signs.¬† Sean and I have been thinking about investing in some bumper stickers to get some free advertising out there for the business so handing out a magnet to random people wouldn’t be such a bad idea.¬† I’m sure that there’s someone out there that needs a programmer or a web designer to take on one of their projects.¬† We should have thought of it sooner though, with all of the businesses down here and the HORRIBLE sites that most of them have, we could have made a killing.

The thing I like about them is the customization process.¬† I could design something in Photoshop and send it over to them, no need to use their existing templates at all.¬† I’m sure I could if I really wanted to but custom is always the way to go, heh.

I’m behind on a lot of things, mainly email but that’s because I’ve had to slack off today in preparation for a few things. I did manage to get through the important ones this evening, but the ones that really don’t require an immediate response were put on hold, I’ll get around to them after I’ve been able to sit back and relax for a little while, hopefully that’ll be after I get my laundry done and finish packing.¬† We’re leaving pretty early (I hope) so who knows how much time I’ll have on the PC tomorrow once I get up to NY.¬† Family is a little more important to me at the moment anyway.

I’ve been helping my friend get her new business ventures off the ground.¬† She’s with a new advertising agency and they’re looking to expand, so she’s asked for my help in both the design and hosting fields – she’s an amazing graphics artist but unsure of everything code based.¬† She also didn’t know where to go when it came to hosting her domain, she knows that she doesn’t want a dedicated server, so I pointed her in the direction of VPS Hosting.¬† She needs ample space and a fairly decent amount of bandwidth, spending the money on a shared account isn’t really worth it to her boss at the moment.¬† I’ve heard some good reviews on NetworkSolutions so I pointed her over to them.¬† I hope she’s able to get everything she’s looking for.

While I’m not exactly vocal about it, something not many people know about me is that I’m into the stock market. When my grandmother passed away she left me with quite a bit of her stock in AT&T and a few other companies. The money has fallen and ballooned over the past 10 years and while the number is great, I don’t plan on selling or cashing out anytime soon. I want to say this is the case for all of the shares that I own, but the smaller unknown stocks really didn’t do very well at all, thank god for the iPhone, right?

In any event, today I came across MyWallSt.net, it’s a social networking site for those interested in investing. You can learn about investing, trade ideas with other members, and trade virtual money with real stocks as well. I like this idea based on the fact that there are many people out there who don’t quite understand the process, so by investing fake money into a stock that you follow for your own enjoyment, you can learn about how things rise and fall at any given time. If you then grow confident enough to the point that you’d put in your own money then that’s exactly what this site is for. Helping you during every step of the way. Through this site you’re given the ability to get in touch with numerous members both in stocks and learning through trial and error themselves. You can get financial decisions, with a focus on stock picks to help you. You just create a profile, like you would on many other social networking sites and then go from there.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been putting together a pretty large list of bookmarks for household items that I want and need for the new place. Everything from pots and pans to small appliances, this list is beyond full at this point. With all of the baking that I do, having the proper mixing equipment is important to me as well. I’ve found a few that interest me. The Eclectrics¬Æ Mixer comes in numerous color and is just about large enough to handle everything I need to do. Heck, this thing can handle up to 9-dozen cookies which would make my Christmas baking an absolute breeze. I’ve always been a big fan of the Hamilton Beach¬Æ Mixer. I know that my aunt has been through a few of the in the past 10 years or so. She’s got two of them in her kitchen, but she also does a lot of baking. My grandmother is the women to go to for dinner, my aunt is the one to go to for all kinds of baking – including Theme Cakes – she’s famous for those. So when I happened to come across the Hamilton Beach¬Æ Stand Mixer I knew that it had to go on my list. I think I’m going to get the Black one so it matches the theme of the kitchen, but in that regard the Apple one would work just fine as well considering the theme of the house itself is going to be in the Mint Chocolate category.

More shopping to do!

Millions of people have made some kind of money by selling products on the Internet. Whether it be selling off a few house-hold items on eBay to pick up extra cash, or designing bracelets that you sell in bulk off your own site. The possibilities of making some money online are borderline endless. Just recently I came across www.StoresOnlinePro.com. With this site you can run your own personalized eCommerce store online. It’s also easy to use. You get some of your content together, design your website, publish your products and then the rest kind of does itself. There’s no guarantee that you’ll be making millions of dollars but that also depends on what kind of products you’re selling as well.¬† If you’re looking to start up your own eCommerce business, then this may be the route for you to take.

With the move we’re going to have to transfer the insurance over to whatever is available out in Ohio. So I’ve been poking around looking for a Car Insurance Quote that will better suit our needs. Luckily, Sean has a pretty clean driving record so his insurance shouldn’t be TOO high, the fact that he’s under 25 will play a role in things but I’m sure we’ll be able to figure something out. His brother has a pretty bad record and even he has full coverage for about $90 a month on two brand new cars. We’re not quite sure as to how that’s possible but that doesn’t mean we won’t be able to find something just as good, if not better considering there will only be one car under the insurance from the get go.

Once we’ve settled in and have some money being put aside after all the bills have been paid, we’re considering purchasing a second car. For now we’re both content with the one we have but having another one for when I wish to run errands without having to use his wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I’m thinking more along the size of the car, as opposed to the price. Yes, naturally I’m interested in getting a good deal on the car, don’t get me wrong, but knowing that his car really isn’t large enough to handle the trips to the grocery store without filling up the trunk and the back seat – getting something a bit larger is the route I’m interested in taking. I’ve been considering a CR-V for quite some time now, my aunt owns one and it’s one of the most comfortable cars I’ve ever driven in. She has more than enough room to do everything she needs to do and when you’re traveling long distances, you aren’t concerned about sitting on top of someone the way you would be in the Baretta. Extra room means more comfy trips for all involved.