Pictures

I have not finished the trip report yet, but here are links to the pics for now....which pretty much explain what i did on the trip, right?

Galapagos Portion of Trip, click here.

Quito Portion of Trip, click here.

I will post the trip report prob tomorrow.

Eek

So glad I did not have Internet access on the yacht, as i would have refrained from snorkeling with so many sharks, LOL.

Read this.

Almost 700+

We are waiting in Chicago for our flight to Detroit. It has been a LONG day of travelling and I will be thrilled to be home to see the pugs and Bugsy. We had to get up at 415 a.m. and flew from Quito to Miami to Chicago and soon to Detroit, if we are not delayed. No delays yet, but I guess Chicago and american airlines are known for that.....

We had an amazing time in Galapagos. I have not downloaded anything yet, but I think I took about 700+ pictures. I actually filled one memory card, which I have never done. I had another one though, so it was fine. I spent a lot of time in the water, which is rare for me since Kurt does not like water stuff, and I loved it. I could snorkel for hours and not get tired of it.

I will leave you with a couple highlights and lowlights of the trip, until I get home and can download pics and do a trip report.

Highlights:

1. Snorkeling with penguins, sharks, and sting rays. oh, and a snake eel!
2. The guides and crew on the ship
3. The amazing hikes where we saw so much wildlife, none of which was scared of us. I love baby sea lions.

Lowlights:

1. Food. The food was OK. enough where I did not go hungry, but nothing to rave about.
2. Constantly being around PEOPLE. I think that's part of the reason I don't like cruises, is you almost always have to be social unless you stay in your room.
3. The layovers on the flights. UGH.

Merry Christmas everyone! Or Happy Holidays! :). Hope everyone had a nice holiday.

Bienvenidos a Miami

So, we are in Miami. I guess I forgot we had a fairly long layover here. The flight from Detroit to Miami was good, a tiny amount of turbulence, but nothing major. We got here, had a little bit of breakfast (I had an awesome everything bagel and Kurt had pizza (healthy breakfast, Kurt....LOL). Aunt Karen had already eaten something on the plane that I missed, because I slept the majority of the flight. Kurt did too, which is shocking........Now we are sitting here, after paying the $7.95 to surf the net (well worth it since we have a layover from 9:00 a.m. until like 235 p.m.......

Went to bed last night at like 900 p.m., but had to get up at 300 a.m. Ugh. So, technically got 6 hours of sleep, but I always sleep restlessly before early morning flights, because I am type A and thinking I will miss a flight or an alarm. Never had, but my mind works kinda crazy like that......

All of us have used the net, I called the office twice, called my Mom, called my Dad, Aunt Karen called Grama.....We keep hearing flights leaving to kewl places and we are all ready to get out of here and jump on those....There have been flights to Liberia, Belize City, Panama City......hehe.

Oh, and the Miami airport? Sucks. Every time I come here, which seems like a lot since it is the main layover airport (it and Houston) for Central America, I wonder why Miami does not have a more modern, upscale airport. the food selection sucks. Beside Au Bon Pain where I got my bagel, everything else is totally unhealthy and horrible and they have no sit down restaurants, at least in the layover area we are in. And it's ugly. And they barely have any plugs to recharge your stuff. But, i am excited to get out of here soon and to Quito and the turtles! :).

Privacy

My private thoughts.....

Can't hardly Wait

Took the pugs for their baths and nail trims last night. They were all supposedly, really good! Which is great, because they all hate getting their nails trimmed. They use the "grinder" now, so many that made a difference. Who knows.

Soooooo, we are all packed. Waited until late afternoon, which is pretty normal for us, LOL, but we are packed. Each of us packed our hiking backpacks, my camera backpack is ready, the computer bag is ready, and one extra plane bag is ready, and the toiletries bag. I am shocked Kurt fit everything in his backpack, as he brought a TON of stuff into the kitchen to throw in, and I thought there was no way in hell he was fitting in in there, LOL. Somehow, he did.

Oh, and I did all my Xmas cards this afternoon, after getting home from work. I wrote out 120. I should have bought more, because I did not have enough to send them to everyone I wanted to. Close enough though. Kory is going to mail them for me at the office tomorrow. I am shocked I got them done before we left, so yay! Now, I dont have to write them all out when I get back! :).

Our travel agent called for a last minute check-in today, although I did not really need anymore info.....She has been so on top of everything, I would recommend her agency to anyone, but since they only do Galapagos, Peru, etc., most people prob woudl not be able to use her. They were the most organized, informative place I have ever dealt with.

Anyway, everyone, have an awesome holiday season. Talk to you when I get back....

Final Countdown

So, we leave Monday morning at 6:00 a.m.! Crazy, eh? I can't freaking wait. It will be so weird having no internet access and email for the majority of the trip. I may have withdrawals, but I think I will be OK. I am going to take my computer anyway, as the hotel in Quito has wireless for the two days we are there, and I can log my trip report each night on the boat as well so I don't forget anything. I think I will come back to like 2000 emails, LOL.

Yesterday was my and Kurt's 7th wedding anniversary. :). We have been together 12 years, and really count our dating anniversary moreso than our wedding, but still, it was our anniversary! Happy Anniversary to us! We spent the day in court and working, but went to dinner last night for sushi. Yum. I got EXHAUSTED at the end of dinner--I think the insanity of this week finally hit me. The office was pretty crazy with the 30 hearings we had as well as a lot of people coming in and things just needing to be set before our vacay. So, we came home and chilled and just went to bed. I put some laundry in and cleaned up the kitchen some, but I had no energy for anything else.

This morning, we went into the office for 3 hours, had two apppointments with new people and I filed 8 bankruptcies. That was time consuming, as I usually, at the most, file 3 at a time. I really wanted to get all of them sitting there filed before we left for vacay left. Only have three more to do, which I may try and do tomorrow when we go in. I also did a few things with family law, went through the Saturday mail and distributed, wrote out checks for all our bills due while we are gone............Came home and decided to run to Kohls and Kmart. I had a 15% off coupon for Kohl's, and both kurt and I really needed some new gloves. We have issues with gloves and knowing where they are......So, I got some great deals at Kohls. Bought two t-shirts (for vacay), one long sleeve dress shirt at work, a photo album for our recent Costa Rica trip, gloves for Kurt, gloves for me....All for under $70. Went to Kmart, I was looking for these cotton shorts I like for hiking. They did not have those, but I bought two throw blankets for $5 each. Throw blankets are another item that seen to disappear at our house, but I think they are in Kory's room......The pugs have appointments to get baths and nail trims at Petsmart at 5, and we need to pick up food for them and Bugsy for when we are gone......Oh, we stopped today and bought a life jacket for Kurt too. I guess the ones on the yacht are really bulky and hard to use while snorkeling, so we bought him a more compact one. Hopefully, it works well so he can see stuff in the water.

More later......

Awarded

I won an award! Yay for me! Thanks, Katie, for awarding me! :). And thanks to Mel for designing it initially (she is super talented).

Here are the rules:

1. Post the award on your blog.

2. Link me for giving it to you. (see above)

3. Link the originating post here. (thanks Mel).

4. Pass the award on to five more deserving people.

5. Post these rules for your recipients.

I am going to try and list blogs below that I know have not yet received the award, so here goes....

1. Sarah at Cold Hard Bitch

2. Julia at Adventures in Dating

3. Shannon at My View on Things

4. Nicole at Williams Family

5. Jennifer at Cardinal Red

Bitch

Secret Snarkiness for You.

Rambling Like Rory

I felt like I was running around all day like a chicken with my head cut off. Except I don't really like that image (being a vegetarian and all), so let's just go with I was way too freaking busy, thanks to Kurt scheduling 30+ hearings for us this week, to try and "get everything done before we leave for vacation". Ugh. My husband is insane. But, i have known that for some time....

Had two family law hearings this morning. One got a good result, the other settled the case with almost exactly what my client wants. Came back to the office, and had to turn around and go back downtown almost immediately for another hearing, which I may secret blog about. It was exasperating, but the case ended up settling. Don't like to public blog about annoying legal stuff and people, so the secret blog it may be.

So, I was only in the office a total of MAYBE an hour today. While there, i returned about 6 phone calls, made amendments to a Judgment of Divorce, checked my email, printed relevant emails, made changes to a Consent Order, talked to a client who stopped in, sent a couple emails to clients, drank half a Diet Cherry Coke, talked to my paralegal and secretary some, and bitched to Kurt about this attorney I had to deal with today who is horrible. Yea, I can do a lot in a short time period. I may be the ultimate multi-tasker. Ha.

Came home and made dinner. Wanted to use the leftover to die for cheesy potatoes, so I heated up those and made tuna patty melts, which were pretty good. I think I could add something to give them that something extra, but not sure what. Maybe some onion salt? Kurt liked them though, which is good. Worked out, watched The Gilmore Girls.......

Finally talked to my Mom today too. We keep missing each other, and she said it reminded her of that episode of The Gilmore Girls when rory is at Yale and her and her Mom keep leaving each other messages and end up not talking for like a week. Seriously, if you watch The Gilmore Girls and have seen a lot of the episodes, a LOT of things in life relate to that show. Kurt has been watching a TINY bit while working out with me, but he calls it a "girl show". I told him tonight the reason I like the name Luke is because of the show, and then I asked him if we could name our first kids Luke and Lorelei. I think he buys Luke, but for sure not Lorelei. And yea, he hates the name rory even more. Boo on him. And Patti and Babette did not get me anywhere either. HAHA. He wanted to know if anyone on the show has a normal name, and I said YES! Dean, Emily, Richard.........I am on Season 5 now, Rory's second year at Yale. Love this show. I am going to cry when I get done with them all. I truly don't think anything can measure up. It's classic.

So tomorrow, my goal is to get a LOT of paperwork done. I have no court, and very few appointments in the office. Assuming the phone behaves itself, and people stopping in remains calm, I have a very good chance.

Kurt's new Keens were delivered today. My new Eccos came last week, so I think everything is here for the trip. Whoot! Now, I have to make everything suddenly appear in my luggage. That will most likely happen on Sunday. I amm thrilled that Kurt's super huge Merrell hiking boots will not have to make this trip. That takes about 20 pounds out of his backpack. He will thank me, even though he called his Keens "gay". Kory thinks they are kewl though, so too bad Kurt, you are wearing them and liking it! :). Seriously though, he will thank me when he can jump off the dinghy, into the water and not continually change his shoes or walk around in wet hiking boots.

Yum

Tonight, after working late (ugh), and running a school boardd errand, I decided to make dinner, which turned out awesome. I made two recipes I found online, the first being Parmesean Cod and the second a Cheesy Potato Casserole, which I modified slighly. With the potato recipe, I substitued Morningstar Bacon, low fat sour cream, low fat cheese, and with the choice of soup, I used cream of potato. Both meals were AWESOME. The potatoes were incredible. Kory had already eaten and could not resist eating some. The meal was nice too, because I could fit a workout in while everything cooked. The potaoes took 60 minutes, then I put the fish in and worked out another 10 minutes. Perfecto! :). And, we have another half pan of the potatoes left.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night, not feeling well. But stomach was really bothering me, and I sat up for a while in bed, unable to sleep. But, after getting up and walking around a bit, I felt slightly better and went to sleep. But, it meant being exhausted today. Ugh. And the phone was insane at the office. So, I am pretty zonked now at the end of the day.

My pictures came in the mail today from our Osa trip over Labor Day. They came out really good. I need to order an album for them now. :). Also, all my books for the trip came in the mail the past couple days. Yay.

Off to bed......

Holiday Survey

Stolen from Mindy...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Gift Bags. I despise wrapping gifts.

2. Real tree or Artificial?

Artificial.

3. When do you put up the tree?

I have not in many years, but usually after Thanksgiving, that weekend.

4. When do you take the tree down?

After Xmas, as soon as possible.

5. Do you like eggnog?

No.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?

my Grampa made me a dollhouse as a kid, I loved that. Real carpet. Really wood. Gorgeous.

7. Hardest person to buy for?

my Grama.

8. Easiest person to buy for?

My Aunt Karen.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?

Yes.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?

Mail.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

Beef Jerky

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?

Home Alone

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

After Xmas, weirdly enough. I am usually out of town for about two weeks, right around Xmas.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

NO. This is totally tacky.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Cookies. Mashed potatoes. If I am at home, anyone. Usually, we are out of the country, and I like to eat local cuisine.

16. Lights on the tree?

Duh. Yes. Cobalt blue, please.

17. Favorite Christmas song?

Santa Baby.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?

Travel.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?

Yep.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?

Star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?

Morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

how materalistic I realize this country truly is.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?

Cobalt Blue and Silver

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?

Like I said, we are usually out of the country, so local cuisine.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?

to be on vacation, which I am getting.

26. Lights, blinking or always on? always on.

Cooking and Working

Hmm, since Thursday.

Made a yummy cajun swordfish on Thursday night, with scalloped potatoes (leftover) and rice for dinner. I don't know how long this cooking thing will last, but I am really enjoying it. My Mom says it will come and go (she thinks it's hereditary, LOL). My Mom is an amazing cook though, so it I end up anything like her, I will be awesome! :). I am getting quite the selection of spices and such from following these recipes. For this one, I had to buy thyme and oregano.

Friday night, we went out for sushi, and they had taken my fav appetizer off the menu! I about died! But, they still had some there, so the sushi chef made it for me. They also said that since I was so devastated, they would keep some there just for me! Unnecessary, but nice just the same. I love the shrimp wontons.

Saturday and Sunday, we worked both days. So fun. Ugh. Necessary to prepare for vacay though. We have to leave caught up entirely. We were supposed to go to Misty's surprise 30th bday party on Saturday night, but Kory had the flu, Kurt was feeling exhausted, and my cold flared up again AND the weather was blizzard like at the ranch. So, stayed in and I pretty much slept the entire night, then made dinner. Fetticini Alfredo with veggies and Boca sausage.

I have been looking up kewl cooking accessories online, to expand my kitchen. I really need to get a nice knife set (my knife block was just a lower end Target set I got years ago as a wedding gift). I was also looking at a really kewl potato masher tonight online, and I would love a panini press/grill. I keep adding stuff to my Kaboodle list, so I can remember them. I really want a kitchen scale too. I found this recipe to make, which requires 1.5 pounds of cod, and I have no idea how to figure that out without a scale. I found a kewl one online, but will only buy stuff with the 20% off coupons at Bed Bath and Beyond.......

Other than that, not much going on. Have a ton to do before we leave in about a week! Would like to get my Xmas cards out (but no idea on if that will happen or not), need to pack, have a board meeting, work, etc. Plus, our court schedule is insane this week.......

The weather here has been atrocious though, and I can't wait to be in gorgeous weather for a while. :).

Choices

Choices.

Where Did I Go?

I think I have officially gone batty.

OK, maybe not, but i have been doing some strange things lately.

Today, Rebecca, I got out my Kitchenaid Mixer! The one you said was really nice, but I have literally not touched since I fawned over it at my wedding shower in 2001? Yea, that one. I think I pretty much wanted it because it was cobalt blue (my fav color), and a must have item on a registry. We all know I do not spend much time baking or cooking in the kitchen. Tonight, I made Peanut Crisps. Yummy. And the mixer makes things SOOO much easier. Seriously, what was I thinking not using this beautiful machine before? Makes everything so much easier.

Last night, I made Kurt grilled halibut with an onion parsley sauce that I made from a recipe as well. These were super yummy too, but not from scratch. Found the potatoes at the grocery store in the frozen food section. Yum.

Seriously though, being sick and all, I have no idea what is going on with me, but I guess Kurt is benefitting from it, LOL.

Ordered the pics from our Labor Day Costa Rica trip today. Need to buy an album now. Also ordered two pairs of shoes for our upcoming trip. I did not want to lug around Kurt's Merrell hiking boots, so I ordered him some Keen hiking sandals and myself some new ones too by Ecco. I have one pair that the lovely Rebecca gave me, but I wanted one more so I can have two pairs on vacation.

Anyway, off to try to sleep off some more of this stupid cold. Sunday night, I started to feel sick, and by Monday, full fledged cold. Ugh. Hopefully it clears up soon. AARGH.

Holiday Weekend

So, one would think with my lack of working this weekend I would have had time to post daily? Yea, you already know that did not happen, but I will try to catch everyone up here.

Thanksgiving we got up and headed to Bay City to spend time with Kurty's Mom. We picked her up at the hospital where Kurt's Grama is, so we got to see her as well. She seemed SOOO much better, and they are thinking she will be released soon. Which is fab. We went to eat then at a place I had found online. Ironically, even though Kurt's Mom rarely ventures out of Pinconning, she had just eaten there two weeks prior for an anniversary party for a good friend of her's. Even more strangely, NONE of us had turkey. So, we were part of the 10% of the country who did not eat turkey on Thanksgiving. Kurt and his Mom had fish and chips, and I had a shrimp alfredo, all of which was very good. started out with salad and ended up some tiramisu. Decided to head back to Pinconning after that. On the way, we stopped and looked at the outside of his sister's new house that they just bought (on 20 acres), and to see his grama's renovations on her house. While she has been in the hospital, her kids and grandkids have been doing some major work on her house. It looks awesome. Spent the rest of the day at Kurt's Mom's house, talking and looking through old picture slides. Kurt was looking for one particular picture, which he could not find, but I did find a bunch I would like to get made into pics. Now I just need to figure out how to do that. Anybody know?

Friday, we stopped into the office, very shortly, to check on Amanda and give her some things to do for the day. After that, came home and cleaned. A lot. I love my house, but, with three dogs, Kory's dog, a cat, and my work schedule, it is REALLY hard to stay on top of things. I read online about how much other people clean and I feel like a slob, but when I told Kurt this, he reminded me that most people work normal work weeks and have a lot more time at home. Anyway, we got a lot done, which was nice. Fixed a couple things too, like the main light in the kitchen which has been driving me nuts. Friday night, we went to dinner at Vaquereo's, then stopped at Kroger's for some more cleaning supplies, and stayed in the rest of the night. No Black Friday shopping for me! :).

Saturday, I kept the cleaning thing going. I cleaned out the entire refrigerator, removing everything as well as the shelving units and scrubbed it. The frig looks brand new, it's kinda scary. Also organized the freezer (which was pretty clean really). I then removed everything from the kitchen cupboards to reorganize, which was great. I now know where all my sauce pans, fry pans, baking goods, etc., are. I removed the ugly ass liners from the cupboards and drawers that I have always hated (the old owner like "country" style, which I detest). Also mopped some and Kurt did a lot too. That night, headed to Sterling Heights to pick up Julia and Tony for dinner. They are visiting from Cali, and she is pretty much one of the only people that could get Kurt to drive to Macomb County. SOOO much traffic there. Went to dinner at a local Italian place where Jamie met up with us too (julia's sister), and had a fabulous time. It was awesome to see them and catch up. I miss her tons. :(. I don't blame anyone for wanting to leave this hell state, but at the same time, I hate how far away she is!

Today, went grocery shopping, then made my mac and cheese for Thanksgiving at my Aunt's. Headed over there, and it started to turn into blizzard weather. Nice. Got there, and had an awesome dinner. My mac and cheese was a hit! :). Well, I should say Martha's mac and cheese, but I am calling it mine. It was nice to sese everyone, and now we are home. :).

So, it was nice to not work for 4 days. It went by much too quickly, but, not too long now until we leave for Galapagos. Kurt has been researching new places for us to go, and now he wants to go to Guyana and Gabon. I think he has an infatuation with places that start with the letter G? haha. Flights seem really cheap right now. He was looking up flights over Memorial Day, and to fly to San Jose, Costa Rica, or Panama, it's umder $300, which is crazy good. Guyana, which is by Brazil, was only $400 something...........

oh, I almost forgot! I was feeling domestic this weekend, maybe all the cleaning.....I made Kurt breakfast TWICE (which is totally rare). Morning one he got french toast, which sadly, I have never made. I revised a recipe online I found and added cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg and salt to the mix. Turned out fabulous. Then I made him cheesy scrambled eggs (which I added some onions to) with fake sausage and tator tots in the deep fryer. Looked awesome.............Kurt is way spoiled.

Anyway, hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! :).

The Day Before

Work was actually really nice today! Our trial this morning was settled, so we had NO court today, which is totally rare. Anyway, I got the chance to get a LOT of paperwork done. It's still not all done, but I plowed through more than half of it, and I was thrilled. Sometimes the small stuff just starts to add up and annoys me. Am glad to get it all off my desk. We took Amanda and Misty to lunch for Amanda's birthday, which was yesterday. It was nice. We went to Mexican Gardens. Next week is Misty's 30th, so we will prob go out again!

It totally felt like Friday today, so we went out for sushi tonight. It was super yummy, as usual. They were pretty busy, so we could not get seating in the bar area where we like to sit and were put in the dining room. RIGHT next to a couple with a screaming child. And the kid was not screaming in a crying kinda way. It was a high pitched noise or "MOOOOOOOOOOMY" kinda thing, like "pay attention to me" cry. AAARRRRGH. I am sorry, but why do people bring their 2 year olds to upscale restaurants? I know this kid must act this way on a regular basis. You could tell from her behavior that she was used to being spoiled and the center of attention. There were other kids there, quiet as a mouse. I just think when your kids start acting like that, you should get up and either leave entirely, or go outside. I would be soooo embarassed if that were me, and my child was ruining a lot of people's meals. On the other hand, if I had a kid that age, I would be going to more appropriate places for my child to enjoy and for me to not worry as much about their behavior. Anyway, we finally asked to be moved because I could not even concentrate on what kurt was saying. Every time either one of us would speak, we were interrupted with "AHHHH, MOOOOOOOMMMYYY" and we could not hear anything. It was SOOOOO much nicer in the bar. The waitress told us, after we moved, that the couple had been sitting there for two hours and the kid had not stopped doing that the ENTIRE night. Wow.

Stopped at Target after dinner because I wanted to look for Travel Scrabble. I saw a version of it in my Restoration Hardware catalog, and was thinking it might be cheaper elsewhere, and I was right! Found it! Also bought this glass pan with a carrier since I am making mac and cheese for this weekend, and I have nothing to transport it in. Picked up a new dog toy for the pugs (which Vito is hounding) and a new alarm clock, since ours recently died.

Anyway, we will be gone a lot of the day tomorrow, so I wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! :). I am going to type the first 20 things that come to my head that I am thankful for this year.

1. My awesome husband and amazing marriage.
2. My "babies", i.e. Gretel, bugsy, Vito and Oscar
3. My Mom and how she can be both my Mom and one of my best friends
4. The time my Mom gets to spend with my new nephew, Nick
5. My thriving law practice, despite the bad economy
6. My camera
7. The ability to take the vacations I want
8. Obama winning for President (and in turn, keeping Sarah Palin out of the VP seat)
9. Emma Lynn, Kerry's new baby
10. My Saab
11. XM Radio
12. Rebecca
13. Apple stock
14. My iPhone
15. Sephora and Ulta
16. All my friends and online blogging friends
17. My uncoming trip to the Galapagos
18. The new superintendent working out well so far at the school
19. My new haircut
20. The rest of my family.

The Bronx

Had dinner with my Aunt tonight and saw A Bronx Tale at the Fisher Theatre. It was a one man show, and really good! The restaurant was good too....There is this restaurant in the Fisher, and I swear, it changes ownership, type of food, and name like once a year. I think the place does not do well during non-theatre season, because it's in an area of Detroit that is not busy unless there are plays going on. Anyway, it is not a pizza place, and they also serve other entrees during shows. We both ended up getting salad and pizza. I got mine with crab, and cajun crust, which was super yummy. I have never had cajun pizza crust. I highly recommend it though.

Today was crazy at the office, and I am dealing with a client who is kinda a loon. Thrilling. I will secret blog about that though, and I have another case to update you on......

Thanks for the Suggestions!

So, I ended up placing a Half.com order and got the following:

Love the One You're With

Second Wives Club

Gold Diggers

Daddy's Girls

I don't really want to bring more than that because of luggage restrictions......Hope they are all good!

Book Suggestions

OK, girls! I need suggestions! I am not very knowledgable about authors, books, etc., mostly because I never have time to really read.

I need help.

I am leaving for vacay on Dec 15 and will gone until Dec 25. I am going to have several flights, and a yacht, to read on. So, I need to buy a few books to take with me. I hate buying at the airport, because it's so much cheaper online.

Here is what I tend to gravitate towards: I do not like intellectual reading. I do that ALL DAY at my office, and when I want to relax, I don't want to "think" or analyze or whatever. I like fiction. I LOVE Jackie Collins. She is prob my fav author. So the "beach sex girlie novel" is kinda what I am looking for. I have read some other authors as well, such as Danielle Steele, etc., but am looking for something new. Oh, and I loved the Sophie Kinsella (sp?) series.

Any suggestions? :). Thanks in advance.