Welcome to Chez Coserossi!

That name may not stick...

Here is a quick tour of our place!  The picture quality may not be great, but I think you'll get the idea:

What do you think?  Not bad huh..

It will definitely improve after the maintenance being done today and Thursday.  This morning our place was bombed for roaches (take THAT you creepy crawly bastards).  Except since the bombing (10 minutes ago) I have already killed 2 big homeless ones and I'm afraid to go into the kitchen to find more.  Apparently activity will increase as they die/leave the apartment.  Ugh.  So I will be escaping to...somewhere else for a while.

Another issue we had that was resolved today was the mystery smell.  There is the most disgusting smell coming from somewhere near/above/around our apartment.  It smells like hot garbage and Matt and I could not find the source.  We were going to complain to maintenance today, but someone else beat us to it.  After checking our apartment, maintenance found that our neighbor (who has been on vacation for several weeks) had left his refrigerator unplugged.  The 3 guys who went into that apartment came out dry-heaving.  Poor guys.  However: Mystery Solved!!  Woo hoo!

Thursday? The AC filter is getting cleaned.  Boring, but good.

Saturday Matt and I finally cooked our Thanksgiving Dinner:

Yum!

Sunday we went to the Swap Meet at Aloha Stadium.  It was really fun!  It's all local vendors selling touristy stuff and fresh produce.  As you walked along the inner rings of the tent set-ups, it became more and more sketchy, though. 3 tents in, all I kept thinking was, "Whose car was this stolen from?"  Matt and I tried a ton of jams (strawberry-guava, pineapple pepper, coconut) and some good BBQ sauce.  We finally bought:

Ahi Jerky (Spicy and Original) and Dried Mango Slices

Reeeeaally good BBQ Sauce.  A big Samoan guy and his wife were selling it and the guy was calling out "Get some zing zing with your bling bling!!"  He could have sold me anything with a pitch like that.

Matt also got 7 shirts for $20 and I got a sweet kimono-style robe which I have been wearing non-stop.



Hopefully this weekend, we'll get to go to Hanauma Bay to snorkel and/or hike Koko Head and then up to the North Shore for the surf competition.  It depends on the surf, though.  We'll see!

And, finally:

 I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

That one hits way too close to home.  Zing!

PS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Battle: Walmart

So we're here!  We have a place with furniture in it (an ordeal in itself and unbloggable because it was so awful.  Here are some words to sum it up: late, movers, angry, security, hole, in, our, wall, cockroaches).   As you may remember from my last post, Matt and I had recently acquired a [free] 13.88 lb turkey.

(one more time)

However, after the Great Move-In of 2011, Matt and I may have had furniture, toilet paper, and an awesome pool, but we did not have anything with which to cook a turkey (or anything else).  The solution?  Walmart's Black Thursday Night Sale at 10:00.  They advertised most of what we needed (pans, towels, vacuum, etc) at very low prices and we were drawn in.

So while many of you were planning lovely Thanksgiving Dinners and sending me pictures of your deliciously taunting Thanksgiving Dinners, Matt and I were planning our Assault on Walmart.  This is the account of our day:

0800 - We wake up and dress for recon operation.

0900 - We arrive at Walmart to scout out our primary and secondary targets and to establish starting and rendezvous points.  I will be placed strategically between the 2-inch memory foam mattress pad (primary) and 600-thread count sheets (secondary).  Matt will be poised at the Paula Dean Pots and Pans Set (primary) and will grab a queen comforter set (secondary) on his way to Rendezvous Point A (20-pc Pyrex Storage Set)

1100 - Work out at our fitness center (preparation for later)

1300 - Hang out at our pool.  [Note: While there we saw a double rainbow and ran upstairs to take a picture.  One broke up, but here's what I got of the other one from our lanai:

]

1600 - We kill some time until 2030 - wander around Honolulu looking for a Chinese place that has crab rangoon, fail, eat a fancy Thanksgiving Dinner of Jack-In-The-Box Takeout, watch some Misfits.

2030 - PLAN BEGINS!  We park the car down the block and around the corner from Walmart, facing home.  We walk into Walmart and behold the beginning of mayhem.  People are everywhere, walking into other people and ramming things with their carts.  All of the advertised specials are in the middle of the main lanes, cling-wrapped so people can't access them until the sale starts.  I start to get nervous.  I don't even like grocery shopping.  I want to abort the mission.  Matt tells me to grow up and the mission is still on.

2100 - I take my position at the corner of the pallet of memory foam mattresses. 

2102 - I realize that I am in the coveted position of the inner circle [read: closest to the stuff].  Friendships and alliances are attempted, people start bargaining with me and offering trades for pillows and other things.  I keep my eye on the prize.  Queen sized 2-inch memory foam mattress pad.

2110 - This sucks.

2120 - Only TEN MINUTES have gone by??

2130 - The seasoned veteran to my left takes out her box cutter in preparation.

2140 - A wave of hysteria runs through the store as the sale starts 20-minutes early.  The veteran with the box cutter cuts enough of the plastic to take her 2 foam toppers and escapes.  I get pushed to the floor as people around me scrabble at the plastic wrap, on the floor I see the queen pad I'm looking for.  I wait for people to do the heavy lifting around me then grab it.  I AM AWESOME.  Inspired by my first success I move to my secondary target.  I AM AWESOME AGAIN.  Matt and I rendezvous at the sheets and I see that he too has been DOUBLY AWESOME.  I go on a successful solo mission for the Pyrex and we make our way through the mob of people to the checkout.

2150 - Matt and I arrive at the checkout.  Third in line.  We realize that we have 10 minutes until they will start checking people out.  Fueled by adrenaline, I rush back into the fray and emerge victorious with a Bissel Vacuum.

This is a fraction of the crowd at checkout:

Here are our spoils:

My leg wound:

2203 - Matt and I are checked out and walking back to the car.  We walk by at least 500 people waiting to get into Walmart.  The line of people continues around the block and people keep adding to it.  As we are walking with our spoils, people in the line are whispering jealously "The pyrex...he got the pyrex" and "Bisselllll....".  Very creepy.  We walk faster to the car and hope we don't get mugged.

2210 - We don't get mugged.  We successfully make it to the car.

2220 - We are safe at home, celebrating our WIN at Battle: Walmart.

In other news, this is what Matt drives at work:

(hehehe)

Here are some beautiful flowers outside of our place:

Here is a better picture of our view from our lanai:

Finally, your bad joke of the post:  I went for a job as a gold prospector, but it didn't pan out..

What I've Got

I've got:

                                                              a great guy

                                        a beautiful silk dress from my great guy

                      a wonderful view from our room at the Hilton Hawaiian Village

 

           a 13.88 lb turkey slowly-but-surely defrosting in the mini-fridge in our hotel room

 

                                        a huge gift tray from my amazing parents

                                           some penguins here at the village

                                                        also some 'mingos

                                a hot date with the sun at the lagoon (get it?!)

aaaaaaand a RENTAL AGREEMENT TO SIGN!

That's right!  Matt and I have finally settled on an apartment in Honolulu.  It's a 2-bed, 2-bath apartment with 24-hour security/doorman, a pool area, fitness center, tennis courts, and BBQ areas.  It is in a more local area of the city, but still only a 20-minute walk to the center of Waikiki.  Everything is very accessible...the beach and Ala Moana park are only 2 blocks away!  There are also 5 schools within a mile from our place so I will hopefully be able to find employment at one of those.

Tomorrow is a pretty big day - Matt is going to work and dropping me off at our *new* place to meet with our landlord for 8am.  Then, I get to sign papers, inspect the place, and wait for a huge Rent-A-Center delivery between 1 and 5 PM.  Ugh.

In other news, I'm looking forward to a Wednesday night dinner with my Aunt MaryAnn at her Vegetarian Club and a home-cooked Thanksgiving Dinner with Matt on Thursday.  So far our Thursday night menu consists of...our 13.88 lb turkey. 
(I had to throw this picture in again)

How we will cook it and what will accompany it remains to be seen...but we WILL have turkey dammit!

I will have plenty of time on Tuesday to take pictures of our place so I will post them and more news as soon as I can. 

For now, I'll leave you with this bad joke (inspired by Richie's request for more puns):

 

There was a mathematician who frequently sunbathed and often strayed from the topic of conversation. He was a real tan gent.

 

Har Har Har

Flight and Mission 1

In the last 6 months it feels like my life has been kicked into hyperdrive.  I've gotten my masters,

had a European Adventure with my awesome sister: 

had an Australian Adventure with my awesome boyfriend (not pictured):

 during an awesome family vacation in Lake George, became engaged

(this is the spot, too)

and, now, Matt and I are on a Hawaiian Adventure.. 2 Rogue Islanders - get it?!

Response from Mariann: Is this blog going to be about bad puns?

Answer: Yes, but I'll try to keep it to a minimum.

So Matt and I left RI on a 6 am flight and arrived in Honolulu at around 3 pm.  Worst part of the flight: the showing of Inside the Actors Studio with Jennifer Aniston.  Really, United?  It was painful.  Best part of the flight (aside from our amazing seats - thanks Dad!): the pilot had to take us along an alternative flight path because of the departing APEC dignitaries.  That meant that we got a mini tour of Oahu - we flew along the North Shore and the West Coast and then into Honolulu.  The pilot really worked the tour guide persona - he pointed out several landmarks including where Lost was filmed.  (Pictures to come)

Since landing, Matt and I have been working on Mission 1: Find a Freakin' Place to Live.  We have two main options:

Option 1 - Waikiki:

In short, there is SO MUCH to do.  From restaurants, to street performers, to weekly fireworks there is always somewhere to go or something to see.  You also get a really unique mix of crazy city life and serene beach life.  While walking along this beach, you don't hear any city noises - it's really nice.  There are also several parks and a very pretty canal.  This will be high-rise living which means 24-hr security (a huge plus).  The major cons? This area (unsurprisingly) can get a bit touristy. There is also a lot of homelessness.

Option 2 - Lanikai:

This area is STUNNING!  The drive from Waikiki to Lanikai is like going through a time warp.  You leave the high rises, drive through a mountain, and come out to expansive paradise.  This is laid-back, suburban living.  Based on the drive-through of this area, this would be my first choice.  However, there is a LOT of crime in this area.  Nothing violent, but from what I've heard of others' experiences here, there is a huge risk of people breaking into your home and stealing most of your things.  There is no security outside of gated communities.  That said, we have one gated-living option that we are waiting to hear back from.  The Wild Card.

90% of our time here has been spent contacting realtors and walking all over the city looking at apartments.  We have a couple contenders are hoping to have a decision by Monday so that we can be settled by Dec 1.  The rest of our time has been spent at the Embassy Suite's Manager's Reception (Read - free drinks and snacks with live music)

Well, folks, there will definitely be more to come.  I haven't been able to take too many pictures but that will be remedied as soon as we are settled.  While we are having a blast here, Matt and I already miss you guys at home!