The Bargain Blonde

Miracle Red Wine Stain Remover

2013-04-11T05:16:00.000-07:00

I have slowly but surely been trying to decorate my new apartment. I guess it's not so new anymore, but that's neither here nor there. After I moved in, I searched high and low for a living a room rug. And by high and low, I mean I scoured the internet for months. I finally decided on a rug I wanted from Overstock when low and behold, the one I had my eye on sold out. Your standard first world problems.

Defeated, I put my rug search on the back burner. That was until I stumbled across exactly what I had been looking for the entire time at Target for only $79. Yes, this Maple Fretwork 5X7 rug was only $79. Here she is:

Ignore the atrocious balcony blinds please.

It was love at first sight and exactly what I had my eye on. I'll have to tell y'all about my TV stand purchase and assembly in another post because that is a new too. Naturally, I spilled RED wine on my brand new rug a few weeks later. Would you expect anything less? I tired everything to get it out, but to no avail. I wanted to cry and I almost considered buying a new rug. I mean, who am I?

I can't remember who told me to try Wine Away, but someone did and I need to send them a thank you gift. I bought the 12 oz bottle because it was only a few more dollars than the 2 oz. I sprayed the solution on my several weeks old stain (bescause yes, I'm lazy, and it took me that long to buy it) and the red wine literally started disappearing in no time. I didn't even have to really blot it. I'm telling you, the stuff was magic.
The red wine was on the CREAM pattern and on the beige and you would never know. Do you see a red wine stain? I don't.

I purchased mine at Total Wine, but you can totes buy online. Linked in the paragraph above.

Everybody knows you use Wine Away to get out red wine stains. Duh. Get ya some and thank me later.

[RECIPE] Mock Mashed Potatoes Using Cauliflower

2013-04-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

I typically don't get home from my Skyrobics trampoline class until almost 9PM at night. I go straight from work to make it to the 7PM class. Since I am getting home so late these days, I am trying to limit my carb intake so at dinner, which resulted in me finally trying this dupe for mashed potatoes.

I saw Laura from Laura Must Lose Weight vlog her recipe and I was still skeptical when I watched it a few months ago. And if you've never tried this, then I'm sure you're going to still be skeptical after I tell you how great it was. I don't blame you. But I'll also tell you that you are missing out. This stuff is legit. I Instagrammed a photo of the mashed cauliflowers and I had a few requests for the recipe, so here you go. It's super easy to make.

You need:

A head of cauliflower, chopped
One ziploc steam bag (can be found where the oven bags are)
1/2 C of cottage cheese
1 clove of garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Put chopped cauliflower in ziplock steam bag and steam for 5 to 6 minutues or until soft
Mix all ingredients in a blender and blend untill smooth
Enjoy!

I served mine with zesty tilpia and sauteed mushrooms (I use a slight variation of that recipe). I didn't use oil for any of this, just fresh lemon and lime juice, salt, pepper and mrs. dash original seasoning. BAM.

I can't sleep so I'll blog about the time I got lost hiking

2013-04-07T00:38:00.001-07:00

So it's Saturday night, well technically it is now Sunday at 12AM, and I cannot sleep. I can't be 100% sure, but it may have something to do with the 3 naps I took today on accident and a Starbucks energy drink I had at 8PM. Never mind the fact I am supposed to be up at 5:45AM for a 5K. Yah, I don't know who I am either. I don't run. Like at all.

Lately I've been obsessed with this workout class called Skyrobics. It's an hour long cardio and toning class at my local trampoline park and as an ex-gymnast, it is right up my ally and actually a workout I look forward to. Not to mention it is super low impact on my joints and we all know I don't have the best ankles. Last I left you guys, I was going to hike Red Rock Canyon here in Vegas.

By the way, if you want more regular updates on my life out here in the Wild, Wild West, then make sure you follow me on Instagram (@thebargainblonde). I certainly update that much more frequently than my blog these days.

Anyway, I survived hiking Red Rock but not without some hiccups. Our 1.5 mile hike turned into 8 miles. Yes, 8 miles. And no, that was not intentional. Trust. The trails aren't marked so somehow, someway, we ended up off course and 4 miles out from our starting point. That meant we had no choice but to hike the 4 miles back to our cars. I have never been so happy to see my car in my life. The views were gorgeous and I can't complain about the exercise, so I chalk it up as a successful outing getting lost and all.

Do you guys ever go hiking? Before moving here, i never realized how gorgeous the mountains are in Las Vegas. I never, ever get tired of looking at them every morning and every night. It's one of my favorite things about this city. See people, there is more to Vegas than The Strip. So there. I miss you guys (as usual).

January/February 2013 Recap via Instagram

2013-03-01T06:20:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I filled you in on what I've been up to. I just realized I have not really done any sort of life update since my Christmas recap. With March (yes, March) upon us already, I thought I'd do a brief January/February recap. Not only for you, but I like to be able to look back on my blog and remember what I did and where I've been. But mainly for you, of course. Is anyone even still out there?? I feel like I completely fell out of the blogging universe.

January began with New Year's Eve. I swear I passed out before midnight. Yes, my first New Year's Eve in Vegas and I was in bed before midnight with Nyquil and Reese's teddy he left behind at Christmas.

If this isn't an attractive NYE look, I don't know what is

I've enjoyed my new owl coffee mugs from West Elm that I got for Christmas.

I've perfected at home soak off of gel nails without ruining your nails. Tutorial anyone?

essie marshmallow topped with sally hansen shall we dance

I think after 6 months of living here, I've officially learned how to navigate my way around the Las Vegas Strip.

stuck in morning traffic

It's been a while, but you may remember that since I moved here, I was using my coffee table as a TV stand, I finally bought a TV stand from Joss & Main a month of so ago and I was very proud of myself for putting the entire thing together all by my lonely.

Do we approve?

Have a few FaceTime sessions with the nephew:

Finally put pictures in picture frames in my room 3 months later.

Saw George Strait in concert at the MGM when an old college roomie was in town.

pre hair trim. Can't even fit my hair in the picture it was so long. #michelleduggarhair

Decided it was finally time to trim my hair. If you know me at all IRL, you know I am psycho when it comes to my hair. I've had several traumatic experiences throughout the years and finally found an amazing hair stylist who I've been going to for the past 6 years in Dallas. Well, I could not wait any longer, so I went to a new person here. I was not traumatized from new hair cut, but let's just say I'll be flying back to Dallas for my next one. No pics, sorry. Maybe soon. Don't love it. Actually, that experience could be it's own post.
I'm in the stages of planning a baby shower for my bestie who lives here. She's due very soon. I just sent invites out a few weeks ago. Here I am watching The Bachelor (don't love any of the girls this season) and addressing the invites:

Have come to the conclusion, no where is off limits for gambling or boozing in Vegas. When I was getting my prescription filled on Valentine's Day, I had to shake my head when I saw this while I waited to check out in line at my neighborhood CVS.

Only in Vegas

And most recently, I spent last weekend relaxing. I made an enormous omlette on accident, went to the grocery store, painted my nails and made my slow cooker beef stroganoff, which I've every night since Sunday except last night because we had a work dinner. (single girls who live alone problems)

Mushroom, onion and bacon omelette with a side of freah Whole Foods salsa

Essie Strawberry Shortcake

As much as I love this recipe, after 4 days in a row of it for dinner ... I'm ready for something else

That about sums up January and February. Like I said, it's not too exciting. I leave you with a pretty picture of the sunset from my balcony this past Sunday night. I love the mountain sunsets here. One thing you cannot get in Texas.

The pictures don't come close to doing justice

TGIF. Everyone have a great weekend! I'm going hiking at one of those gorgeous montains Saturday afternoon for the first time. Wish me luck, and please have the paramedics on standby. Thank you.

I'm sure I'll be the only one blogging about the Oscars

2013-02-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

I feel like I just wasted 3 hours of my life watching the Oscars. And to erase that mess from my memory, I am now watching another mess of a show: Mob Wives. But gosh darn it, I love me some Mob Wives. That, and I have no shame when it comes to reality TV trash.

The majority of the Oscars were a total snooze fest, but I do have a few highlights:

Jen Lawrence winning then tripping on the stairs (bless her heart). I've been a fan of her since Hunger Games and to be quite honest, Silver Linings Playbook was THE only movie I saw that was nominated. I'm just bummed my boo, B Coop didn't win.
Ben Affleck's acceptance speech. I totes teared up when his wife was choking up as he thanked her. Presh.
Realizing Adele is the same age as Tay Swift. Let that sink in.
K Stew's arm bruise. I just don't understand how she can give so little of a care. No one forced you to be at the Oscars sweetie.

Legit, that's about all I took away from the Oscars. Oh yah, and these ladies, who are my top 5 best dressed:

Stacy Keibler giving us a flapper vibe in this Naeem Kahn dress (styled by the fabulous Brad Goreski #major)

J Law in Dior Haute Couture. Even though she tripped in this dress, I still love it. I loved her dainty necklace even more.

Naomi Watts in Armani. That cut out is fierce.

Sandy in a fully embroidered Elie Saab. She's fabulous and lives in Texas. Love her.

Jessica Chastain's Old Hollywood glamour Armani beaded gown. Not a color I'd think someone with fair skin could pulll off, but she totes did.

That's all folks. And that's 3 hours of my life I'll never get back. Who were your best (and worst) dressed??

A new favorite: Sonia Kashuk dual ended foundation brush

2013-02-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday, y'all! Me again. Can you even believe it? Two posts two days in a row ... say it isn't so. You just wait. You're in for a treat this week.

Obviously I've been MIA since I moved to Vegas five months ago. I'd be lying if I told you I haven't thought about shutting the ole blog down more times than I can count. Ultimately, I just couldn't bring myself to do it and I didn't want to. I really do miss you guys and I miss this blogging community. I have definitely felt like something was missing from my life without it. So what I'm saying is I just can't quit you guys, OK? And since we basically have five months of catching up to do and I don't really know where to begin, I'll just start with a beauty review because who doesn't love a beauty review?

And I'll kick off the first of a few upcoming beauty reviews with the Sonia Kashuk Complexion Perfector dual sided foundation brush since it seemed to spark the most interest when I Instagrammed a picture of my bathroom counter after getting read a few weeks ago.

The brush looks like this upclose and I bought mine at Target, my home away from home.

$18.99 online

Before this brush, I used to apply foundation with the elf stipple brush which I've reviewed and then I blended with just a plain make up sponge wedge. I still love the elf stipple, but dare I say I love this Sonia Kashuk more? I dare.

If you're looking to switch things up in the foundation application department, I highly recommend giving this brush a whirl. What I do is put about a dime size amount of foundation on the back of my hand. Then, I take the brush end and dab a bit of the foundation and apply to one section of my face at a time until it's applied all over. Then, use the sponge end to blend to a flawless look.

Since I bought this brush, I have not switched back to any of my old foundaton brushes and i literally use it every day. I look creepy here - I manage to do that any time i try to take a "selfie" as I see they're calling it these days - but here is my skin after using the dual ended brush for applcation. Keep in mind I'm in natural light, "#nofilter" and absolutely zero self tanner. I think the brush does a fairly good job of covering imperfections. Because trust, my skin has plenty.

SIde note: That lip gloss sitch is just awful. Please disregard.

Has anyone tried this brush? What's your favorite application method for foundation?

My Valentine's Day @ Urgent Care

2013-02-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

I know I said I'd be back to blogging regularly in the new year, but I'm obviously a liar. I'll believe it when I see it too, so since I've clearly failed at that New Years resolution, I'll just resolve to not make any more promises. How about that?

My Valentine, Mr. Reesey!

I hope y'all had a good Valentine's Day. As if being single isn't annoying enough of Valentine's Day, I spent my Valentines Day morning at Urgent Care which was an experience in itself. Mumbling dude behind me in line hacking? Check. Old grandpa rolling in with pj pants and a robe? Check. 2 month old baby screaming his head off? Check. All you would expect in an urgent care waiting room on Valentine's Day and more.

After not waiting too long in the waiting room, I was relieved to be taken back to a room to wait on a doctor. But it wasn't a doctor who came in to see me, but a medical student. Seemed legit. Sike. Then after she examined me, the real doctor came in who had on a SARS mask, sounded sicker than me and told me, "not to worry because she wouldn't breathe on me." Um ok. What. the. fuzz? There are some professions you should know when to stay home if you are sick. A DOCTOR is one of them.

So that happened. Don't worry, I survived. I just had a virus which you basically can't do anything for except rest, drink lots of fluids and take codeine cough syrup to ease the pain. I already feel a lot better after 2 days glued to my bed and DVR. Happy Valentine's Day to me!

The whole point of this story is that since I've had some down time, I've been able to write some blog posts and scheduled them. YAY! Have a great week friends. I miss y'all.

Coffee, cats, candy, cards and ... body wash? Single girl probs.

The Power of Words

2013-01-09T11:35:00.002-08:00

What I'd tell ya? I'm back and I'm fo' real this time. Today's post is really short but it's really moving.

Watch this short video (less than 2 mins) about the power of words. It gives you something to think about as we kick-off a brand new year.

Yesterday is today. Today is your life. Stop waiting on tomorrow. Happy 2013!

Christmas in Vegas

2013-01-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

The people have spoken. After a few tweets begging for my blogging return, your wish is my command. I promised last night on The Twitter that I'd blog and since I'm a girl of my word (sometimes) ... here I am. Today I blog.

One of my New Year's goals is to blog like the old days and that starts today with a recap of Christmas. As you know, my family came to Vegas for Christmas including this little fellow Reesey. We had a great time and I loved being able to spend time with them. Get ready for picture overload courtesy of my one true love, Instagram.

Reese's first night here! When I picked them up from the airport he said to me, "Aunt Lindsey will you come back on the plane with me and never, ever come back here again?" Dagger to my heart!!!

Baby bed head

Ice skating with Daddy

Roasting marshmallows and skating!

"Santa in the shipwreck" @ Mandalay Bay

Petting dem stingrays

That shark scare me!

Up to no good hanging out with me

Christmas Eve dinner with tamales my Grandma brought frozen from San Antonio. So good!

'twas the night before Christmas ....

I showed Reese this picture of him and he told me, "That's me as the Hulk when I got mad. You don't want to see me mad." I cannot handle the stuff that comes out of his mouth. Melt my heart.

Get in my belly.

This is the magical winter wonderland that is Mt. Charleston and only 30 miles from my house. It's a dream. We headed there Christmas Day for lunch at the Lodge.

Like I said, magical.

The Lodge where we had lunch.

Merry Christmas from 7,650 feet

My favorite gift of all: My Christmas Tree skirt my grandma has spent years working on for me. Some of the appliques my Great Grandma who I never got to meet made. I love it and cherish it.

And then the day I dread arrived, it was time to put Christmas away. The only thing that made it slightly enjoyable was this label maker I bought.

Christmas all packed up. See ya again in 11 months. I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season. I already miss it terribly.

Elf workshop in full effect

2012-12-18T23:28:00.001-08:00

My family starts arriving in town tomorrow so I decided it was about time to tackle all of this:

Thirty minutes later this was the scene in my living room:

And thennnnn .... I decided to call it quits after my mom called and said she'd help tomorrow. And Ike that, the elf workshop closed shop for the evening. Don't just love Moms? Happy one week to Christmas!!!

P.S. I finally decided to check my mail and put up my Christmas Cards. Like my DIY Christmas card holder? If your answer is yes, here's my tutorial. It's easy, I promise. Good night, I'm off to watch Ashley and JP's wedding on ABC. Cue the tears I'm sure.

A Very Vegas Christmas

2012-12-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hi! I miss y'all. We're down to the single digits until my family comes to Vegas. In preparation for their arrival, I've added a little Christmas cheer to my humble abode. Like I mentioned in my last post, (which was oh, I dunno ... about 10 years ago), I was looking forward to getting my Christmas tree. It still excites me to come home everyday after work, plug it in and just stare at from my couch. My life truly is that exciting.
Let it be known I got this tree at Home Depot, drove home without it rolling off the hood of my car, got it off the top of my car, put it in a tree stand and drug it into my apartment ALL BY MY LONELY. Let me tell you, it was not easy and I don't recommend doing it yourself, but it can be done. Single girl probs.

OK, so the kind gent at Home Depot helped me tie it to the top of my car, but once I drove out of the parking lot I was all on my own.

Before/After

Angel tree topper

The view of the tree from my couch

I get an ornament every year from my Mamma bear and this is 2012 from Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah, GA

So my tree stood nicely in one corner of my living room until last week when I got the bright idea to buy a new chair for my living room so I had to find a new spot for my tree. I moved it twice before it ended up in this spot:

Dragging a tree across your living room is surprisingly easier than I thought.

I don't have a fireplace, so I got this stocking hanger from Kirkland's on sale. Pretty nifty, huh? Did I just really use the word nifty?

Since I moved my tree, this has found a new home as well.

Christmas tablescape

And last but not least, we have Santa at the top of my stairs:

Ho, Ho, Ho

That about sums up the Christmas cheer in my abode. Now, my Christmas shopping? I literally have not bought one present yet. Hopefully I can get most of my shopping done this weekend. Wish me luck because I need it. I do this to myself every year. I'll never learn.

I survived my first Turkey Day away from home

2012-11-23T10:40:00.002-08:00

Turkey latte art from last weekend

Welp, I survived my first official holiday without the fam. Yesterday didn't really feel like Thanksgiving to me, though. Not sure if you've noticed, but casinos are a 24/7, 365 day a year kind of operation - we don't get holidays. I haven't been here long enough to be able to take vacation, so I woke up, set the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to record and headed my happy ass to work. Our office was dead since most people I work were on PTO (personal time off), so it was nice to be able to work in silence and not have to run off to a meeting every other hour.

After work, I headed home to make macaroni and cheese and to get ready for Thanksgiving Dinner at my BFF Kristina's house (the one I lived with when I first moved here). I also made a strawberry pretzel dessert per her request. Shout out to fellow bloggess Brooke from Tales of My Fairytale for sharing this recipe with me. It was a hit.

If I were to make it again (for my own personal preference), I'd use graham crackers instead of pretzels to make the crust. If you love a salty, sweet combo than this recipe is for you. If you like all sweet, then I suggest a graham cracker crust.

The turkey, which was phenom might I add. If I had to made a turkey, I wouldn't even know where to begin.

All the fooooood.

Get in my belly.

Me eating (not really):

So that about sums up my Thanksgiving. I came home after dinner and a game of Apples to Apples, finished watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade I recorded and fell asleep.

Thanksgiving was great and all, but what I'm really looking forward to is CHRISTMAS! My most favorite time of year. I personally don't believe in decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving. I don't know why I don't, I just don't. I feel like it kinda ruins Thanksgiving. Enjoy Thanksgiving THEN soak up everything Christmas.

Anyway ...

My family (including REESE) is coming to VEGAS FOR CHRISTMAS! Excited does not even begin to describe it. Speaking of Reese, I leave you with this video message from him to me. Melt my heart, why don't you?

Happenings as of late [via Instagram]

2012-11-19T23:54:00.000-08:00

For starters, I got my Internet installed in my apartment last Wednesday. Cue the angels. This will hopefully make blogging a little more convenient.

I couldn't stop laughing when I got this text from my mother who was traveling for work and just boarded a plane. I seriously laughed by myself for a good 5 minutes just picturing this.

I spent a Saturday evening on the couch watching The Vow, lusting over the sexiest man alive and crying for a good hour. Have y'all seen this movie? Feel free to judge me.

My obsession with the Robertsons has continued to grow and I'm very upset there isn't a single brother left who isn't wifed up. Even Si has a lady friend. FML. Oh and please excuse my ghetto current living room setup. I am on the hunt for a new TV stand, so my coffee table is sufficing as one for now. Yep.

I spent the first part of my Sunday at my now favorite coffee shop oohing and awing over the latte art. This week I got a tulip. Oh, and that is a Lorraine quiche that was melt in your mouth good in case you were wondering.

Last but not least, I had a special blogger visitor this weekend, which I'll post about ASAP. I'm not making any concrete promises on when because clearly since moving to Vegas, I've been completely lackadaisical with my blog.

At this point there is no sense in even wasting my time apologizing about being MIA. I'm just really busy during the week so my blog has unfortunately had to take a back burner and that is all there is to it. Lets hope I can't get it together soon.

And one last thing for my fellow reality TV lovers ... I loved the movie Catfish so naturally i am obsessing over the TV version that premiered on MTV last Monday. However, can we talk about last night's episode? The dude's name was Scorpio. Really, mam? If the name "scorpio" isn't a red flag, I don't know what is. And don't get me started on Sunny from last week. D.U.M.B.

But more about TV talk later. For now, it's bed time for this west coast girl. It's still so bizarre being in this time zone. Bargain Blonde outie.

What's cookin' good lookin'?

2012-11-10T15:22:00.001-08:00

Remember back a few weeks ago when I told you I couldn't stop pinning recipes even though it was pointless since I didn't even have a kitchen to cook them in? Well, now that I am all moved into my apartment and have my very own kitchen again, you should know all those pins have not gone to waste.

In fact, last Saturday I whipped up a Paula Deen hash brown quiche and Sunday night I delved into my first Pioneer Woman recipe: chili for Frito Pie. To this day it still baffles me that not every single one of you grew-up indulging the Texas delicacy of Frito Pie. Check out this vintage BB post if you don't know what I'm talking about.

I would have blogged about my culinary adventures last week, but my life got crazy busy yet again and now it's 2 pm on a Saturday afternoon here on the west coast and I'm sitting in a bustling "hipster" coffee shop called Sambalatte using their wifi since I am waiting for a modem to be delivered to me. It's a long story that's neither here nor there, but I don't have Internet in my apartment at the moment.

So here I am in this coffee shop with live music and lots of people a lot cooler than me and one of my dreams just came true: I got a cappuccino with one of those "fancy" designs.

That's actually my second cup in the picture above. I drank my first one before I took a pic:

I realize this makes me seem like a stereotypical uncultured southerner, but I can assure you I'm not that uncultured. It has just always been my routine to drive through a Starbucks and order my regular.

But with the start of a new beginning comes lots of new firsts; like spending my Saturday afternoon in a hipster coffee shop complete with a live Latin songstress. In line after ordering, I also struck up convo with a stranger who, as it turns out, also just moved here two months ago for a job and knows virtually no one. We exchanged numbers and promised to hang out soon. See what I mean about firsts? In Texas I would have never spent my Saturday in a coffee shop and I would have never made a potential new friend.

Enough about the new introspective me. I started this post to share two recipes: a quiche and chili. Both are easy, I promise. If the list of ingredients and directions look daunting, I'm out on that. Basically if I can do it, then so can you.

Don't think for one second I'd miss an opportunity to drink out of my Paula Deen coffee mug while whipping up a Paula Deen quiche.

Got this mug at her restaurant when I visited Savannah this past summer.

The evolution of the quiche.

First, brown your hash browns, which forms the crust for your quiche:

I really like fresh ground pepper.

While your crust is browning you whisk eggs with half and half, ham, cheese and green onions. Next time I think I'll cut out the green onions altogether, but that's based on personal preference. I found them to be a bit overwhelming.

Poor egg mixture over your hashbrown crust, bake and you're done. It's easy as quiche ... I mean, pie.

For the complete quiche recipe and directions, click here.

And last but not least, I present to you the best chili recipe for frito pie. It's the best because its super thick so it doesn't make your fritos soggy. Pioneer Woman's secret? Masa. Go here for the recipe. It was easy to make, made plenty for me to freeze and tasted really good. A win-win.

Ok, the Latin songstress is now belting out Stand By Me. I'm in heaven and officially declare this coffee shop my new favorite place. As Paula Deen (and I) would say, enjoy the rest of your weekend, y'all.

Friday Faves! Better late than never.

2012-11-09T10:59:00.001-08:00

I'm a little late on Friday Faves, but I'm just happy to post a blog period these days so whatevs. I only have two faves that I can think of, so its going to be short and sweet today.

Favorite TV Show

Season 2 of Duck Dynasty recently started on A&E and my life is pretty much now complete. I somehow missed the bus on season 1 but luckily they play old episodes all the time so I have got myself all caught up with Phil and gang. If wanting to marry Si is wrong, I don't want to be right. Ok, it is wrong (the man is missing a few teeth), but seriously ... this show makes me happy, happy, happy.

Favorite Bargain Discovery

As if we need another reason to shop at Target, but I recently discovered that Spanx has a budget-friendly line of shape wear at Target called Assets. Um, what? How did I miss the memo Sara Blakely? I bought a pair of Assets black tights for my Halloween costume and have been wearing them on the reg since. I wouldn't say they suck you in as much as the original Spanx line, but they definitely will help a sister out by slimming your midsection plenty. Your wallet will also thank you.

So what are your faves from the week? Do tell.

Get your VOTE on today!

2012-11-06T10:53:00.003-08:00

Blue dress, red nails. Not even planned. #patriotic

Friday Favorites: The RE-Resurrection!

2012-11-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Friday. Hall-e-lu-yer! And what better way to start our Friday than with a little Friday Faves action?

Up first is my most favorite and only favorite from the week: I FINALLY GOT ALL OF MY BELONGINGS FROM DALLAS! (And then moved them into my Vegas apartment.) Double yay.

Have I ever mention that I have the best Mom in the history of Moms? I'll tell you why. She flew from Raleigh, NC (where she lives) to Dallas to pick up a moving truck that I reserved from Penske. Then she and my brother proceeded to load it with all of my boxes, furniture, etc.

Moving truck halfway packed.

Then ... are you ready for this? She drove that 16 foot truck from Dallas to Las Vegas all by herself. That's a 20 hour drive with a moving truck by herself. Mom of the year, I know. Wouldn't you agree?

I'm not even close to being done unpacking, but I hope to be by the end of this weekend. To tide you over, here are a few photos of the view from the balcony of my new place:

I suppose I could show you my front door:

Any inside pictures will have to wait because I still have a lot of boxes to unload and things to put away. I've actually finished my kitchen and dining room, but I want to wait to do one big post of pictures from the interior. MMM K?

So I'd say that is a pretty big Friday Favorite so I rest my case. I have nothing else to trump it. Now you tell me what your favorites are from the week and link-up below!

I'm RE-resurrecting Fri Faves tomorrow!

2012-11-01T11:57:00.001-07:00

I kind of did better blogging this week, right? Tomorrow I'll be hosting Friday Favorites again! It will publish at midnight CT so link-up if you can. I promise to make it more routine and start posting it every Friday like the "old days" aka before I moved here.

I had fun passing out candy last night, but I learned I should not guess little kid costumes when I answer the door because I am way out of touch with what is "hip" these days.

"CUTE! Are you a troll?!" - me

"No, I'm Jimmy Neutron." - little girl

Um, should I know who Jimmy Neutron is? I'm officially that old person. All I know I learned from Reese and he's all about superheroes so that's the extent of my hip little kid knowledge.

I went to a co-worker's Halloween party Saturday and of course, I waited until the last minute to pick out a costume. I ended up going as a pirate wench.

AAARRR!

See you guys back here tomorrow for Friday Favorites!! Who is going to link-up!?? HTML code for the FF button in case you need it:

"The Best" rolled sugar cookies with icing

2012-10-31T12:11:00.002-07:00

Happy Halloween goblins! In the spirit of the holiday, I made some homemade Halloween sugar cookies with icing last night to take to work. I Googled "best sugar cookie" and was directed to allrecipes.com, which had a recipe for The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies. I also found this Sugar Cookie Icing recipe, which was legit. Actually, both recipes were legit, so I'm sharing them with you today.

The Bargain Blonde's adventures in baking:

Do you love the breast cancer awareness eggs?

Bats, pumpkins and boo! shapes, oh my

Halloween Cookiepalooza

If you don't own a silicone slipmat and you ever plan on baking, I'm telling you right now that you need one in your life. They make baking so much easier. The bottom of cookies turn out perfectly every time and are so easy to transfer to cooling racks.

I baked mine for exactly 6 minutes at 400 degrees F and transferred them to cooling racks immediately after taking them out of the oven. They were the perfect chewiness. Ice after cooled. Full recipes below:

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies

1.5 cups butter, softened

2 cups white sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Sugar Cookie Icing

1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 teaspoons milk

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Food coloring (Orange = 4 drops red + 2 drops yellow)

Anyone have any fun Halloween plans? Since I live in an apartment, I am going to my bestie Kristina's house to pass out candy because I want to see all the kiddos in their costumes.

Speaking of kiddos ... how cute is Reese in his costume for preschool on Monday? This is his "Captain America pose" he said:

Ugh, he's the cutest ever. My heart can't handle it.

Anthropologie owl copy cat for only $11!

2012-10-29T23:41:00.001-07:00

Popping in really quick to tell you about this amaze copy cat owl for waaaaaay less than you'll pay at Anthropology. Let's face it, Anthro is seriously overpriced. Case in point: Anthro's owl cookie jar that is $88 dollars. Um, no thanks. But yes, please, to the Kirkland's almost identical ceramic owl that is on clearance right now for $11.99. The only difference is Kirkland's version is not a cookie jar and is about 2 inches shorter in height. Let's be real, I'm not Holly Homemaker. I have no use for a cookie jar because I definitely don't whip up baked goods on the reg. Kirkland's version will suffice just fine.

So basically what I'm saying is you better hurry to a Kirkland's near you because they are sold out online. I found mine last night in the clearance section in the back of the store and there were quite a few left. Hopefully you'll have the same luck as me. Here is my owl in my NEW kitchen (I will update you on my move sometime this week):

I am so incredibly tired I am literally publishing this post, washing my face, brushing my teeth and passing out in my bed. Can't wait to update y'all on the move!!! Loving my new place. Good night.

Remember when I used to blog on the reg?

2012-10-17T11:33:00.001-07:00

Yah, me too. Then I moved to Las Vegas and my blog went up in flames.

By the time I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is think so instead of writing, I get on Pinterest and pin for hours. Kristina's husband Josh even said to me the other day, "I have never in my life seen someone on a computer as much as you." Guilty! I told him I was busy running a blog empire but in reality all I do these days is pin. I pin stuff like apartment décor inspiration ....

Funny someecards that make me laugh because they describe me perfectly:

Touching pics like this soldier and his pup, who reminds me of Bear:

~~Dumb~~, I mean, awesome stuff like a company that makes you a stuffed animal to resemble your dog:

Totally need a Bear stuffed animal now. Someone make this happen for me, please.

Cute updos I have no use for in life:

But more than anything, I can't stop pinning recipes:

If you follow me on Pinterest, I'm sure you've seen the outrageous amount of recipes I've pinned to my Food & Drank board recently. The absurd part is I don't even have a kitchen right now! But I. can't. stop. I think I'm addicted to Pinterest, and I need to be addicted to blogging.

When I think of a blog topic idea, I write it down so that I don't forget it. I now have a long list of things I want to blog about so there really is no excuse for me to be blog MIA. You know it's bad when people stop even asking when you are going to blog again.

I am going to try to get back into the swing of things this week. I really do love and miss blogging. It's just been a struggle to find the time and energy these days because my job is so much more demanding. Yaknow???? It's not you blog, it's me. Anywho, wish me luck!

P.S. I move into my apartment this Saturday! My Mom is going to Dallas Wednesday to load up my moving truck and driving it to Vegas Thursday. I cannot wait to have all my things again. It's been 6 weeks since I moved here and it feels like so much longer, doesn't it? It's been such a whirlwind but I really love it here. I think once I get settled in my place, it will start to feel more like home and my life will feel a little more normal.

What's new with y'all? Oh, and I get made fun of for saying y'all here. What can I say? I'm a Texas girl born and raised. You can take the girl out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the girl. Yes, I just said that. Oh, and I need this shirt. Yet another one of my Pinterest finds.

Pretending it's FALL

2012-10-07T23:50:00.001-07:00

1 / 2 / 3 / 4

While it doesn't exactly feel like Fall here in Las Vegas yet, I can pretend it is 70 degrees, the trees are losing their leaves and light jackets and scarves are required, right?

Unfortunately, my reality is that it's going to be in the upper 80s most of the week, the only trees I see are of the palm variety and a light jacket and scarf would have me breaking out in a sweat in a few minutes flat.

Regardless of my reality, I still had chili for dinner last night. See what I mean by pretending?

Kristina whipped this up last night. It was delicious.

I can live in denial all I want, but the truth is that I have been very jealous seeing all of you northerners Instagraming photos of your boots, leggings, sweaters and scarves. While I certainly don't envy your bitter winters, I do envy the fact that you get a legit Fall and its happening already.

Since life isn't fair and I can't actually wear all those sweaters, scarves and boots like some of you, I have done the next best thing and pinned Fall clothes like crazy. These outfits need to get in my closet right now:

All photos via my fashion pin board

I want all of those looks. Fall, please get here quickly so I can stop pretending. I like reality better.

Is it Fall where you are? Do you love this season as much as me? I, for one, live for it.

Friday Faves: The Resurrection!

2012-10-04T21:34:00.000-07:00

Guess who's back? Back again. Friday Faves is back. Tell a friend.

... Too much? I know.

The day has finally arrived. Friday Faves has been resurrected from its temporary blogger death. Its been too long so I'm just going to get right down to business. Here is what I've been loving lately:

McCafe Vanilla Iced Coffee

I hate trying something that's been around forever, loving it and then knowing I have missed out on it for that long. That's exactly the case with the deliciousness that is McDonald's McCafe Vanilla Iced Coffee. The best part? It's only $2.50 for a Large coffee and 270 calories. Not too shabby.

Francesca's tops for work

I love this top but mine is light blue

This was $34 but on sale for 30% off in the store.

The shirts above are two tops I got this weekend using my winnings from craps (a perk of living in Vegas). I was lusting all of their tops for the office and all of their full price tops and dresses are now buy one, get one 50% off in the store. If you don't have a Francesca's by you, check out their merchandise online here. Love this store.

Parenthood and Glee

Parenthood and Glee are back on the telly! I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you aren't watching Parenthood then you are seriously missing out. Best. Show. On. TV. Period. I have yet to watch an episode without crying. The characters are so relatable and I need Adam Braverman to be my husband in a bad way. He's perfection. And Glee, well, how can you not love Glee? It's unconstitutional not to.

And last, but not least, this shirt:

During the transition from Dallas to Vegas, I went a month without a paycheck. An entire month y'all. Needless to say, I was checking the couch cushions for pennies until last Friday when I finallllllly got paid. Hallelu-yer. My most favorite thing of all: this bish has money in the bank again.
What are your Friday Faves? Join the revival!

Remedies for desert dry skin

2012-10-02T04:00:00.000-07:00

Before I thoroughly disgust you with my alligator skin tales, I want to announce the official return of FRIDAY FAVORITES this week! I would love for anyone who would like to help "celebrate" the return of Friday Faves to link-up and share your faves from the week (or past few weeks if you've been Fri Faves MIA like me).

Moving right along ...

Imagine my disgust when I looked down at my feet last week after a long day at work and saw skin only suitable for a reptile. To say I was horrified is an understatement and I could not get my scaly self to the Target lotion aisle fast enough.

You see, I rarely wore or needed lotion in Dallas because of the climate. I just used my favorite moisturizing body wash at night and did not look like I slathered my legs in baby powder by morn. Le sigh ... Those were the days.

Lately, however, my scaly skin and lips have been completely parched on the reg. I'm obviously not OK with this reality so I turned where any serious researcher would turn: the Internet. Now, I know a lot of you obviously don't live in the desert, but since winter is right around the corner for all of us, I thought I would share some of the dry skin remedies I found.

1. Refrain from showering with really hot water and lotion up immediately after you get out of the shower while skin is still damp to lock in moisture. Who knew?

Currently loving the feel and scent of Dove Cream Oil Intensive Body Lotion

True Life: what I look like while typing blog posts after working all day. Hash tag not cute.

2. Butter and olive oil ... Huh?

According to a post in the "kichen beautician" series on Lauren Conrad's Beauty Department blog (how clever is that series name btw), a good DIY moisturizer is a mash of 2 tsp of coconut butter and 10 drops of EVOO. She said the butter/oil concoction can be used on dry lips, elbows, knees, etc. a few times a week to combat extra dry skin.

I've never heard of this, but the benefits of coconut butter and EVOO, which you can read about here, sound worth a try.

3. This is a no brainier, but find a good moisturizing lip balm for you lips and make sure you have one everywhere: night stand, purse, desk, etc. I've just recently made sure I had my favorite mint e.o.s. lip balm handy at all times.

4. Last, but not least, apparently I should drink lots of water. I always go through water drinking phases and I really need to get back into the phase where I drink a lot of it. But coffee and diet coke are so good. OKKKKK, fine, pass me the Fiji. FML.

If you live in a dry climate, what are your glowing skin secrets? Do spill.

I found my Vegas apartment!

2012-09-30T21:36:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday and Happy October! I managed to write 2 blog posts last week. I'm shooting for 4 this week, so cross your fingers.

I would normally do a weekend wrap-up on a Monday post but I didn't really do anything productive this weekend. I did gamble for the first time since being in Vegas Friday night and "played craps" for the first time in my life.

I use quote marks because I really had no idea what I was doing. I just rolled the dice and somehow ended up making $200. But reaalllllly, I only profited $100 because I lost $100 playing roulette before I lost my craps virginity. All I know about craps, I learned from Friends. Remember when they went to Vegas? I loved that episode.

So, in place of a weekend wrap-up, today I tell you about my new apt.

Right now I'm living with my BFF Kristina and her hubs, Josh. If you recall, I was in Vegas in Feb for their wedding and last October for her bachelorette party.

The entire wedding party.

This is their pup, Maxwell. I miss Bear, so Max is my new buddy for now. I bet Bear has already forgotten who I was. Sad face.

Maxwell wearing my Stella and Dot pearls. He's not pleased.

The lease on my townhouse in Dallas isn't up until the end of October, so Kristina and Josh have been kind enough to let me stay with them until then so that I don't have to pay two rents at once.

Last Saturday Kristina and I went apartment hunting and I found the one! I move in at the end of October and I'm very excited about decorating a new place and getting settled in Vegas. I still can't believe that I legit live in Las Vegas.

Here is my floorplan. The only difference in my apartment and this 3-D rendering is that the wood floors extend into the dining room and that closet you see to the left of the living room is actually a staircase that leads down to my front door.

I decided on this apartment because it had a fully upgraded kitchen:

But the main selling point for me was an attached garage. I need it for storage and its a good safety feature too. I don't have to worry about walking to my door late night. I can just pull into my garage.

There she is. Can't wait to get settled and to start having visitors!