Hawaiiangirl

I am a stay at home mom after working in the financial markets in downtown Chicago for 19 years. I have a daughter named Elizabeth who will be 5 in April, and I'm pretty happy with just one child. I have been married for 5 1/2 years; my husband is from Russia and has been here in the US for 13 years. And I can't believe I just turned 42--I still feel like I'm 25--most of the time!!!

I've been palling for over 12 years now (love llp's), enjoy cats (currently have one) and can't wait to someday have the time--and patience--to raise a Pomeranian or a Golden Retreiver. Poms are adorable and Goldens are beautiful! I also enjoy reading (both books and magazines--I go crazy over bookstores), shopping, the summertime, and traveling to anyplace tropical.

My favorite places in the world are Hawaii and San Diego. I've been to Hawaii seven times and I would love to live there someday. San Diego has been working its way to the top of my list, though--it is awesome there and is a little more realistic.

I am registered on ebay (my name there is honestseller001) and have a 100% positive rating. I am quite interested in the cultures of other parts of the world, especially Scandinavia, Russia and Hawaii. I still need to get to Russia, as well as Iceland and Denmark, and can't wait till my daughter is old enough so I can get back to Disney World!!!

I love all things Partylite, Princess House and Tastefully Simple. I am currently an Avon representative, and you can go visit my website at www.youravon.com/lgvozdev anytime.

Some things I like receiving are stickers, candles, bath and body products, stationery pads and foods and candies that I can't get here. I am a sincere long letter writer and swapper as well--I love sending and receiving goodies in the mail--and I love sending extra goodies when I can. I ALWAYS send out my swaps, and, of course, I always have room for another pen pal!!! :)

I love Big Hair Bands and Classic Rock--music from the 70's and 80's. My husband and I just saw AC/DC in concert and it was awesome!!! I love the "oldies" station too--kind of odd for someone my age, but I guess that's what I grew up with. I also love such artists as Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, Linda Ronstadt and John Denver--and yes, my husband rips on me all the time about this.

I used to love books by Stephen King and Dean Koontz, but I got tired of reading a really good story only to find out that the whole thing was due to a huge spider living in the town's sewer or something crazy like that... I am currently reading all the books by Anita Shreve and Jodi Picoult. I start getting nervous when my stack of unread books starts to get low. I also recently joined paperbackswap.com; in my opinion it is great! (If you decide to join at all, please let me know, so you can out my name down as a reference.) :)

I like comedies--some of my favorites are the goofier ones--Dumb and Dumber, Joe Dirt, Borat, 40 Year Old Virgin, Vegas Vacation, Knocked Up, Shrek. Romantic comedies like Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail are good ones too. I always look forward to the new "scary" movies, but am usually disappointed in them. I'm also a big fan of the 80's "classics"--Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, etc. (At least those of us who were in our teens in the 80's consider them to be classics!!!) :)

Seinfeld and The Office are my favorites of all time--I finally have all the DVD's and can watch them over and over--but I also enjoy House, American Idol, Reno 911, The King of Queens, Family Guy, The Brady Bunch and The Simpsons. (My goal in life is to have a Brady Bunch house someday, and I really did hope to marry someone with the last name Simpson, so I truly could have been Lisa Simpson. Got one of those last names with millions of consonants in it instead.)

My daughter, Lizzie, turns five in April. Her favorite colors are purple and pink, and her absolute favorite is Hannah Montanna. She also loves Hello Kitty, Disney Princesses and Barbie. She loves jewelry and makeup and is a very opinionated young person!!!

Likes--anything with pineapples or palm trees on it, anything tropical or Hawaiian, candies and snacks and souvenirs from other parts of the country or world, paper bookmarks (the kind without the tassle), things with the old fashioned travel motif on them, anything Hawaiian Disney or vintage style Disney, vintage style holiday cards and decorations, notepads (the non-sticky kind), goodies and trinkets from The Cracker Barrel, stuff from The Stupid Factory, Avon, Clinique, Pomeranian or Golden stuff, Mary Engelbreit, Sanrio (I just recently found out there's a lot more to it than just Hello Kitty), Happy Bunny, stickers, writing paper/stationery pads, candles, deep hair conditioners, bath and body stuff. Things I can use as compared to knick-knacky stuff.

Dislikes--anything cheap looking or smelling (believe me, I do love WalMart and the dollar stores--you can find some really neat things there, but you can also find a lot of crap there too), neon colors, religious stuff, kiddish stuff (Sanrio and Happy Bunny are exceptions), knee or crazy colored socks (little white socks with or without a design at the ankle are good, though!) Don't get into glittery or crazy colored makeup or nail polish. (Have to say I'm not into glitter anything--glitter is kind of like a phobia to me!!!) Not really fond of single notecards or single sheets of writing paper. Not really into handmade, ATC's, postcards, crafts, scrapbooking or knick-knacky stuff.

Foodwise, my favorite fruit flavor is probably raspberry. Chocolate is always great, and so is coffee. Have been getting into tea a bit lately. I'm willing to try pretty much anything though, especially if it's something I can't get here!!! One major dislike though, is black liquorice. I don't know how people eat that stuff. And not too fond of ginger, either. Would like to try some real red liquorice.

Scentwise, a few scents I don't like are: peach, maple, rose, spice, mango, pumpkin and patchouli. And I am pretty picky on coconut--a lot of coconut I find smells like car wax to me.

I like peppermint scented candles and bath and body things a lot, and have been looking for orange-vanilla scented things lately but haven't had much luck finding any.

And even though I love scented soaps and shower gels, I like unscented body lotions rather than scented ones.

And this will really sound picky, but when it comes down to it, I prefer quality over quantity. I'd rather receive a couple of nice bigger things as compared to lots of tiny little things. Believe me, it will be appreciated! :)

Unflavored coffees and dark chocolates--the first thing my husband asks me when he sees I've received a new package is "any new candy?"

Norwegian/Swedish/Finnish bath and body products;

One of those Japanese figurines (the kitty or the round head guy)--when you put it in the sunlight, its head moves from side to side;

Ultra fine Sharpie in fuschia or aqua;

Unfllavored lip balms--in tubes, not tubs;

Anything from Russia or Scandinavia;

Writing paper from around the world, especially from hippopotamus (a Norwegian company);

Anything from Aune Publishers (if you are from Europe you know this company);

Anything Hawaiian;

Anything I can't find here in Chicago or in the US.

I take being flaked on very seriously and very personally!!!

janeengland--12/20/10--sweets tag (angelled by traceyk--thank you!!!)

TwistedHorloge--sweets tag

misscharlotte--Random Envie Swap rating