Lately, I have been ON TOP of things.  This is rarity as I usually swing between being really fucking amazingly organized and complete slothlike and naval gazing.  But these past few weeks – just checking stuff off the list like crazy.  I’m organized at work, I’ve got the home front covered and have even been able to get all of my cleaning done during the week so I can use weekends for other productive stuff – like fun outings or house projects.  I’m even getting my online life organized and have cleaned up things on this site and added content to others.

It feels good! Except …

Well, except for the fact that there seems like no time to just, well, naval gaze.  Or be lazy.  The one thing I haven’t really been able to keep up on are my hobbies – watching my shows and reading my books and magazines.  And I love doing both but when I sit down and just chill out, my mind races to five million other things that I could be doing with my time.

I couldn’t imagine if we had kids.  I barely have enough time these days to get home from work, make dinner, clean up after dinner, pick up the house a bit, maybe start a load of laundry then before I know it, it’s bedtime.  Sometimes, the most tiring thing about adulthood is the neverending cycle of stuff that needs to be done.

Clean the house it gets dirty again.  Pay the bills then do it next month.  Wash the laundry and another load is ready.  I love the accomplished feeling of a clean house and tasks complete but even when they’re all done, they’re never done.

That being said, I’m in a good place right now.  I’ve always had a hard time proceeding with projects if other stuff isn’t done – I work much better with a clean slate, an organized house and mind.  I’m more inspired, more creative – my brain just seems to make more sense of the world.

But I’ve gotten a lot of things done that aren’t on repeat.  Steve and I have done some projects on the house – installed gutters, replaced porch posts, put up screens on the patio door and some windows (which makes the breeze blow through the house beautifully).  I’ve organized a lot of things on my Internet sites that I use – and added some features on this site.

I’ve got a HUGE list of blog entry ideas that I’ve just been saving up.  I’ve been inspired.  Now I just need to get it out in some coherent thoughts.

So I’m going to make a concerted effort to be more active here and online.  Now that I’ve got things cleaned up and organized the way I want them, for the most part, I feel like I can concentrate on this site better.  It may not get back to what it used to be because frankly, the blogosphere is no where near what it was when I was started this place.  But maybe I can get at least get back to some of the cataloging of my life because for me that is the most valuable part about keeping this place.  That and the readers who have still stuck around and those whom I have met and become friends with through this site.

This week I’m concentrating on A Week in the Life.  It’s a little project I decided to spontaneously pick up this week.  I’m not sure if I’ll be posting everyday like they plan but I’m at least going to do it offline then post it cumulatively when I’m done.  I think it’s perfect to do this week because Friday is my 29th birthday and I think it might be something neat to look back on, particularly if I can keep it up each year.

I’m not going to say it’s a revival, I’m not going to say I’m back.  Because I’ve learned in the past that I’m not all that good at keeping promises.  However, I feel like I’ve got stuff together so maybe I’ll surprise even myself.

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Post tags: internet, life, organization, tasks, writing

I’m sick of my DVD’s telling me my DVD’s aren’t good enough!

- Steve, while watching a Bluray promotion before a movie

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Post tags: advertising, dvd, funny, movies

I don’t feel like getting real ice cream. That’s too much work. I’ll just stick with the ice cream sandwiches. They’re much easier.

- Steve, basically admitting he is too lazy to fix real ice cream.

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It really seems like December just flew by and I’m sure that’s not uncommon, since it always seems like we wait all year for Christmas then before we know it, we blink and it’s gone.  But December was busy for us because we had quite a few parties to go to and we had our trip to Pennsylvania to prepare for.  I also have family here and family in North Carolina so when you’re trying to split the holidays up among everyone, it gets really busy and overwhelming.

Pennsylvania

Our trip to Pennsylvania this year was A LOT of fun and was really relaxing, which is exactly how I like my holidays to be.  The only snag we hit is that we left Friday afternoon, the 18th and that just so happened to be the day that Mother Nature decided to dump buckets of snow on the entire East Coast pretty much.  For those of you not following me on Twitter, it basically went like this: it was raining heavily when we left South Carolina around 3pm on Friday and we knew we were in for bad weather but being seasoned Northerners, we just assumed that, as always, the weathermen were predicting way more than anyone would get.  We were making good time until we hit freezing rain and sleet at the NC/Virginia state line about 9pm.  That rain and sleet turned to outright snow that just kept falling and falling fast heavy.  We didn’t get to Richmond until after midnight when we technically should have been there around 10pm.  And then it just snowed and snowed some more.  And we didn’t want to stop because we knew we lose about two days because the snow was supposed to continue until Sunday.  So we just kept on, driving 35 mph on I-95 and after nineteen hours on the road, we finally reached Steve’s parents house (the trip is supposed to take us about 11 hours).

Other than that, we had an excellent time (and even the snow wasn’t all that bad because it had been years since we’d seen a good storm and we looked at it as an adventure).  We ate a lot of food – ham, spaghetti and meatballs, cheesesteaks – and we got to go to Wawa everyday.  We spent time with Steve’s parents and grandmother and aunt and brother and his family.  I played in the snow with my niece and we went out drinking with some friends.  We had Christmas Eve at Steve’s parents and Christmas Day at his brothers.  We watched a lot of movies and shopped and spent time in our pajamas and went to visit our old jobs.  We just had a really, really nice time and I’m so happy that we made it safely up there and back and I can’t wait to do it again next year, albeit with less snow and at a faster rate of speed!

(And a special shot out goes to my love for his patience and safe driving – it’s because of him that we got there when we did and as safely as we did!  Love ya baby!)

Jersey Shore

OH-EM-GEE! How could you not love this show for being so awfully awesome!?  Seriously, I thought this was going to be just bad and painful to watch but it’s so bad that it’s fun to watch.  I think the thing I like most about this is that on most other shows like this, I feel like people are really playing up the character they want to portray whereas I’m fairly certain that every single person in this house is exactly the same way in person as they are on TV.  For those of you have never been to the Jersey Shore, these people are exactly the type of people you will find there.  And just to make my sister-in-law happy, these people are not FROM the Jersey Shore, which is why they show them getting a lot of shit from the locals.  These people are from the other tri-state areas and they descend on the Shore like locusts bringing their hair gel and their sparkly shirts and spray on tans.  But they are hysterical and I can’t get over how awesome this show really is to watch.  For the record, I love me some Snooki and Pauly D and Jwoww (because seriously, you have to be afraid of not liking Jwoww since I’m pretty sure she’d kick your ass) but I cannot stand Mike.  For the sole reason that he has a stupid nickname and I’m pretty sure he gave it to himself and who gives themselves such a stupid nickname??  But anyway, this gets a five thumbs up from me! GTL baby!

Teen Mom

On the other hand, I am captivated by MTV’s Teen Mom.  I watched 16 and Pregnant when it was on and by proxy, I was thoroughly interested to see what happened to these girls afterwards.  I think MTV might have gotten it a bit right with this one though they are clearly painting each girl into a character.  But I find Maci to be absolutely endearing, watching how responsible she is and how, even though it’s rough being responsible for another life when you’re that young she takes it all in stride and tries to make the best of the situation.  And her son, Bentley is absolutely adorable!  It’s heartbreaking to watch Catelynn and Tyler deal with the aftermath of giving up their daughter for adoption.  On one hand they are absolutely amazing for the choice they made but on the other hand it’s sad to see them struggling to deal with this very grown up decision in such a choatic environment when you see traces of how young they really are.  Farrah I cannot stand because she’s clearly on the show to further her “modeling” career and really doesn’t get it about how to raise a kid, since she expects her parents help.  She treats her daughter more like a little sister than her kid.  And Amber and Gary are just kind of sad.  I think they have so many major issues that they should deal with outside of the show.  Overall, I like this show because it seems fairly realistic and most of the characters are likeable.  It’s something to pass the nights at least!

Sprite Zero

One of my goals in December was to stop drinking so much Diet Dr Pepper, mostly because I was spending a lot of money on it.  I was drinking 3 20 ounce bottles a day at work only to come home to have one or two more glasses at night.  That was A LOT of soda to buy.  The final straw was that I realized I was sleeping like shit, tossing and turning and not feeling like I was getting any rest.  So when I finally ran out of 2-liters at work and home, I bought one 12-pack of cans and vowed only to drink once can of Diet Dr Pepper in the morning and drink water for the rest of the day.  I had to wean myself off the caffeine.  To be honest, it actually wasn’t all that hard.  But I did miss the soda so as a substitute I started drinking Sprite Zero and now, I’m hooked on that.  I don’t drink nearly as much of it as I used to drink the Dr Pepper but it’s a nice alternative when I want some fizzy soda and it has like nothing in it – no calories, no caffeine, minimal sodium.  I think the aspartame is the only really bad part.  My ideal goal is to quit soda all together but for now, Sprite Zero really breaks up the water and the milk drinking (I usually stay away from juices and stuff too because they’re full of sugar).

Avatar

I have to admit that when I first started reading about Avatar, I wasn’t all that interested in seeing it.  But when Steve’s brother offered to take us a Christmas present, I went along because I’m always down for the movies and I was BLOWN AWAY!  I loved it! LOVED IT! Visually, it was mesmerizing and beautiful.  The characters were so real and so well-developed.  The storyline was good and the acting was wonderful.  I loved this movie so much that I took my little brother to see it a few weeks ago.  This is one of those I could watch over and over again.  I really would have to say that hands down, it’s the best movie of the year.  If you haven’t seen it yet, you should go, right now.  Definitely see it in 3-D too because the world Cameron has created is so beautiful it hurts – if I had an 1/8 of the talent that man has, I’d be happy

Apple iPhone 3Gs

My final love for December is the Christmas present I got from Steve – an iPhone 3Gs.  I LOVE my phone! Love it. And it looks exactly like the one above because I got that Speck case in the same colors (I also got the Zagg shield for the screen which is hands down the best screen protector out there – I put it on EVERY gadget that I own).  After having the red Blackberry for so long, I wanted something a bit girlier.  And I can’t sing the praises of this phone.  Sure, there are things the Blackberry did that the iPhone doesn’t do or does differently but having 3G, being able to use tons of apps, surf the web the way it’s supposed to look – I could go on and on about the awesome features that I love about this phone but that would be a whole post in itself.  Let’s just leave it at the fact that this phone is like an extension of me now.  I feel naked without it.  I want to have it’s babies! LOL

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Post tags: Anywhere But Here, apple, avatar, iphone, jersey shore, movies, mtv, Pennsylvania, sprite, techonlogy, teen mom, television

November is always a fun month for us because it means the holidays are approaching and we are usually gearing up for a trip to Pennsylvania.  It also means cooler weather and Thanksgiving and the fair.  We had a great November but it was also busy for me as well.  That didn’t stop me from finding tons of things to love.

Coastal Carolina Fair

I love when the fair comes around.  I’m not a huge fan of the rides.  I’ll ride them but I don’t go to the fair for the rides.  I go for the food.  And the exhibits.  And the people watching.  And the food.  I love the food.  Funnel cakes, french fries, teriyaki chicken on a stick, deep fried cheese, deep fried milky way, deep fried anything.  And I was especially excited this year because I could bring my camera and actually try and take some nice shots.  A bunch of friends and I headed out on a Sunday night the first weekend in November and just spent the evening walking around, eating the food, looking at the local exhibits (they have art and flowers and livestock and photography and pretty much anything you can think of craft wise) and just checking out all the people walking by.  The thing I love about our fair is that it is huge compared to the ones that we had in Pennsylvania.  Back home, they set the rides up in the mall parking lot.  Here, we have a fairgrounds and it takes you at least an hour or so to walk all the way around the concourses.  So overall, we had a great night filled with laughs and delicious food and fun times.

Camping in North Carolina

The first weekend of November, I went camping with Steve and four other guys in the mountains of North Carolina.  We stayed at the Davidson River Campground near Brevard and we had a blast!  We did normal tent camping.  There were bathhouses there and a water pump that we could use to wash dishes (but couldn’t drink out of) but other than that, we were pretty much roughing it.  It was COLD the first night so that was difficult getting used to so we headed into town the next day and I got some hunting socks, which are just really thick insulated socks and they helped a lot the next night.  We went on about a three mile hike.  We cooked breakfast and dinner over a campfire – eggs, sausage and bacon for breakfast and shish-kebobs and macaroni and cheese for dinner.  We drank some beer and ate S’mores.  We told stories and laughed and chatted.  It was a really, really fun weekend and it was a nice break from civilization (and I’ll tell you, the eggs we made were the best damn eggs I’ve ever tasted in my life!)

Mom’s Surprise Party

Most of the reason that November was a busy month for me was because my dad and I spent the majority of the month planning a surprise party for my Mom for her 50th birthday.  We had a task on our hands because she was trying to plan her own party and in the process, was kind of undoing everything we were planning.  But it actually turned out really well.  We had a Hawaiian luau theme and my dad ordered a bunch of decorations that.  We flew my younger brother in from New Jersey and rented out the clubhouse in her subdivision.  I made pulled pork and seven-layer taco dip and pineapple wrapped ham as appetizers.  We had a friend bake a cake in the shape of a hula lady.  We had a lot of alcohol.  And a bunch of our family friends came out and celebrated with us and all in all, it was a fabulous evening and definitely worth a lot of the work we put into.  (And the pulled pork was fantabulous!  Seriously, get a Boston Butt, some sea salt and some liquid smoke, throw it in a crock pot and let it cook for 20 hours and you have heaven in your mouth!)

Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker & Taste of Home Cookbook

I cannot sing enough praises about my slow cooker.  Seriously, this is like the lazy person’s route to cooking.  Now, most of the stuff that I make out of it isn’t exactly gourmet or five-star but it’s usually pretty satisfying and downright delicious and it only takes a little bit of prep the night before or the morning of and then I come home to a wonderful smelling house and a hot and ready meal.  I actually have two slow cookers – an older, smaller one with no bells and whistles and the Hamilton Beach one shown above.  I love them both because of their varying size and uses.  The Hamilton Beach has a timer and a lid, so I can use it for food prep for parties and such.  The other one is smaller so it’s easier for weeknight dishes.  Both of them are like my best friend in the kitchen.  And when I use them to make recipes in this Taste of Home cookbook, then I am a happy happy person.  See the problem I have with most cookbooks is that the recipes usually all contain odd enough ingredients that we won’t eat but that I can’t really substitute anything in for.  So I end up being able to use maybe an 1/8 or a quarter of the cookbook.  But this one actually has a ton of stuff that I am super-excited to try and stuff that we both will actually eat.  It has helped me expand my slow cooker use beyond what I was typically doing and now I’m making soups and entrees and even desserts.  It definitely one of the better cookbooks I have purchased.

Sons of Anarchy

I sang the praises of Sons of Anarchy when it first started in 2008 and after the second season started in 2009, I will continue to sing it loud from the rooftops.  This is hands down my favorite shows on television right now, even after it has long completed its second season.  This is one of those shows where I wish everyone I knew watched so I could talk about its greatness after each episode.  The story centers on Jax Teller, the vice-president of the Sons of Anarchy motorcycle club in California.  Jax is at that point in life where he begins to question who he is and where his place in the world is, particularly in regards to the club.  He battles between the criminal, gangster lifestyle the club currently embodies, running guns and taking no prisoners, or a more idealistic life and idea of how the club should exist, particularly because he has a newborn son to care for.  I cannot say enough about this series – from the compelling storylines to the phenomenal acting and character development (of everyone, even the supporting characters) to the beautiful way that they gravitate between nonstop action to poignant thought provoking scenes.  This past season really proved how beautiful and wonderful this show is and I believe everyone should start watching it so I can have someone to talk about it with!

Bath & Body Works Fireside

I talked about the Firewood candle back in January of last year and this is pretty much the same scent, only it’s marketed by Bath and Body Works Slatkin & Co instead of Henri Bendel.  It looks like it might be a Christmas only scent which is fine because it wouldn’t fit in at any other time of the year.  But I refer to it as the “Hot Man” candle because as I said before, the first thing I think of it when I smell it is a hot, muscular shirtless man like outside chopping wood near a campfire.  It’s actually a really nice smell and the key to it is, even though I think it smells like a hot man, it’s actually a masculine enough scent where Steve doesn’t complain that it smells like flowers in here.  I love it and I hope they keep it around for a long time (I have four candles and wallflowers for it in all rooms of the house except the kitchen).

John Mayer

I’m probably so late to the John Mayer bandwagon but I really don’t care.  And just to be clear, this is not a fangirl, John Mayer is so hot mention.  I think he’s cute and from what I hear he’s kind of a tool, but what I love is his music.  I downloaded all of his CD’s because when I heard them playing  Who Says? on the commercial for Rhapsody, I thought, I really kind of like that song.  Then I heard all of his music and fell in love with it.  Now I see why women swoon because he’s got a beautiful voice and can play a mean guitar.  And if there’s an epitome of chill music, it’s him.  I wish I would have discovered him earlier.  I have been playing him nonstop for months and I don’t see myself getting sick of it anytime soon.

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Post tags: bath and body works, birthday, camping, candles, coastal carolina, cookbook, fair, fireside, john mayer, Nom! Nom!, party, recipes, slow cooker, sons of anarchy

October was a really fun month for me!  I had a lot of good times with friends, some local and some that I had to drive to see.  I started some more habits that really helped me feel like I had a handle on my life.  I watched some good TV and a few good movies.  And I got to spend some quality time with Steve in the beautiful autumn Charleston weather.  Overall, there were quite a few things I loved about October.

Wilmington, NC

A few months back, I caught up with one of my closest high school friends on Facebook and suggested that we plan a girls trip somewhere.  I didn’t think it would all come to fruition because I’m usually the one planning things like this and I had been so busy that I couldn’t plan anything.  As it turns out, she is a true planner and before I knew, she had planned a weekend trip to Wilmington, NC for us, completely with hotels booked and an itinerary all planned out.  So the weekend of the 17th, I said goodbye to Steve and Sammy and drove three hours to meet her in Wilmington and had a BLAST!  I was so disappointed to leave on Sunday.  On Friday night, we went on a walking ghost tour that was really interesting, in part thanks to our fabulous tour guide.  On Saturday, we got up early and grabbed Chick-Fil-A for breakfast then headed out to do another walking tour of Wilmington, this time focusing on movies locations, since Wilmington is a huge place to film TV shows (Dawson’s Creek, One Tree Hill) and movies (Empire Records, Cape Fear, A Walk to Remember, Nights in Rodanthe).  We then headed off to Screen Gem Studios, where One Tree Hill and Eastbound and Down is filmed.  Chrissy is a huge One Tree Hill fan so she was elated to see all of the live sets from the show.  I thought it was neat to just see how they make the sets and how they pay attention to every detail.  Saturday night we stayed in and watched TV and ate dinner and just gossiped and laughed and caught up on good times.  And Sunday, our last day, was probably the best day there because, while we intended to go on another trolley tour of the city, it was no where to be found so instead, we found this little pottery studio and decided, since we’d never done it, to go ahead and give it a try.  From there, we spent close to five hours, hanging out in this adorable shop, painting pottery and listening to relaxing music and just enjoying a great time.  I cannot explain how great of an afternoon we had in that little shop and I would highly recommend you check it out if you’re ever in the area.  All in all, it was a great weekend and I cannot wait to go back, if only to check out the shop again.

Halloween & Geocaching

Two other things we had this month was Halloween, which as most of you know, is one of my favorite holidays.  We spent it rather low key, heading over to a friends house for a party.  Everybody came in costume and we all sort of hung out and drank and played some beer pong.  Steve and I dressed as a cholo/chola for the party, which alludes to an inside joke that we have with our friends, and I thought we were rather convincing.

Steve also introduced me to geocaching, which he got into when he got his iPhone.  We spent a few weekends in October wandering around Charleston looking for geocaches and I found that it was a great hobby for the two of us because not only did we get to spend a lot of time together but we also got to see a bunch of beautiful areas in Charleston that we hadn’t seen before.  So it’s definitely something I think we will keep doing into the New Year because it’s a great bonding experience and we get to find all sorts of treasures, both in the landscape and in the geocache boxes!

Zombieland

Zombieland was easily one of the funniest movies all year.  Steve and I had been anticipating it for months and it did not disappoint us.  All of the cast was superb but Woody Harrelson really shined as Tallahassee, the redneck zombie-killing machine and Jesse Eisenberg’s nerdy, insecureness was a perfect balance against him.  Also, Bill Murray had a cameo in it that had to have been the awesomest cameo I’ve seen in years.  This one of those movies I could watch over and over again because it’s just so much fun.

The Office: Jim & Pam’s Wedding

Hands down, one of the best Office episodes ever!  Seriously, this episode was so phenomenal that I think I watched it at least three times the week after it aired.  This episode exhibited why this is one of the better shows on TV and it handled the sweetness along with the humor so successfully.  From Dwight’s wolf t-shirt and kicking the bridesmaid in the face, to Michael’s awfully uncomfortable toast at the rehearsal dinner to every isolated sweet moment that Jim and Pam shared throughout the episode, I was blown away at how phenomenal the writers and the actors are on this show.  Of course, it has its flat moments, like any show does but when it succeeds, it blows everything out of the water.  The final ten minutes were hands down one of the best moments I’ve seen on TV in a long time, especially if, like me, you’ve been following Jim and Pam’s romance from the beginning.  Even now, watching it three months later, I still love it!

The Vampire Diaries

I will admit that I hated this show before it even came out.  Because the original author of these novels, LJ Smith, was hands down my favorite author when I was young.  I had every one of her books and had read them numerous times.  We had an online fan club and she is the reason “Kalluria” exists and that I’m friends with all of the girls hosted and have been friends with them for so long.  And I knew they were going to take my beloved series and Twilight it up and make all these girls think it was a rip-off of the popular, lame series.  And they made Elena a brunette! Which she is not and never will be.

But the longer I watched the show, the more it started to grow on me.  Stefan or Damon are no where near what I had imagined them to be when I read the book, but they are better.  I prefer the series’ Stefan to the wimpier one I had imagined in my head.  And the series Damon, Ian Somerhalder, *swoon*!  He is everything I should have imagined Damon to be and more.  And sure they took liberties with the series to make it more interesting, because nothing ever translates well if taken directly from book.  But as long as I look at it as a TV series loosely based off my beloved novels, then I am definitely ok with it because it is actually interesting and well written with actors who can actually carry their characters well.

I just don’t like having to defend it to the Twihards that it’s not a ripoff of the series, that it was actually around before hand and if anyone ripped anything off, it’s that hack Stephenie Meyer.  (Wonder how many teenage girls that will bring to this site to bitch at me for talking shit about Twilight!)

Herbal Essences Hydralicious Reconditiong Shampoo & Conditioner

I always wrote Herbal Essences off as something you used in high school – that transition between using what your mom used and finding your own favorite hair product.  Mostly because I used it in high school.  And it was a lot different back then compared to now.  But then I read about the Hydralicious Reconditioning line somewhere on the web and how it really helps with damaged and dry hair and how everyone loved it when they used it so I figured I’d give it a try.  Plus I’m always game for a new shampoo.  And well, from the first time, I was hooked!  Seriously, I’ve mentioned a lot of shampoos on the site since I’ve been doing this category and this is hands down, the best one, because it’s cheap and it makes my hair come out soft and silky and smooth.  And that helps alot, especially because I’ve been using my flat iron and hairdryer a lot since I got my latest hair cut (all one length and bangs don’t really air dry well).  On top of that, it smells sweet and pretty and the smell lingers long enough to catch a whiff of it here and there without it being overpowering.  I’m still using it and it’s easily become one of my favorites.

Romano’s Macaroni Grill Restaurant Favorites

I have always been a huge fan of the Macaroni Grill but we don’t have any close to us.  So when I saw these Restaurant Favorites at the grocery store, they seemed easy enough and looked delicious so I thought I’d give it a go.  It basically includes everything you need to make a homemade pasta meal with the exception of whatever protein you want to add.  Typically, it calls for chicken and that’s what we add but I imagine you could get away with shrimp and maybe some Italian Sausage as well.  Our favorite is the Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken & Pasta.  We also like the Chicken Piccata.  We’ve tried the alfredo and that’s the only one I wasn’t too impressed about but alfredo is alfredo, so I wasn’t expecting much.  However, these are so quick and easy and delicious and not all that bad for  you so we have added it to our daily repertoire of meals and we eat it at least once every two weeks or so.

That’s about it for October.  Steve got a new truck that month, a 2003 Ford F-150 which I quickly fell in love with.  It’s the first car he’s had that’s automatic which means I can drive it so that really helps when I can drive both vehicles.  Plus, I love driving that thing because it’s so big and manly.  Makes me feel invincible!  I also got a better handle on budgeting my funds in the month of October and created a daily cleaning routine for myself.  Both of these really helped me feel like life was a little easier because I was planning out things beforehand and I didn’t have to worry as much about money and I was cleaning during the week so I didn’t spend all weekend busting my ass to clean the house.  It was all gradual changes but they really started to help in the long run.

It was all about baby steps and October was a very productive month for quite a few things. I was leading into a very productive winter.

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© Kristy for kallure.com, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: beauty, conditioner, geocaching, girls weekend, halloween, herbal essences, macaroni grill, shampoo, television, the office, the vampire diaries, trips, wilmington, zombieland

I’m well aware that it’s January of 2010, four months after this post should have been put up. For some reason, I let even this drop off, at least the writing of it. I at least made lists over the past few months of what I wanted to write about it, so while I’m playing catch up on everything else in my life, I figured I might as well start with this category.

September was a month of new beginnings – football started, both professional and high school, which we attend a lot of because my brother plays. All the shows had their premieres and we got a break from summer TV. We had a lovely weekend for Steve’s birthday which we spent having dinner with friends on his actual birthday then heading back to Rioz, our favorite restaurant (all you can eat meat? Yes, please!). These events, among other things, made the month really fun and enjoyable.

Football

As I said, football started in September, both professional and high school.  My brother plays offensive lineman for his high school B-team so we try to go to as many games as we can.  Since they’re on Thursday nights at 6pm, we sometimes have a hard time making it to the away games but since his school is local to where we work, we typically go to all the home games.  The team was really good this year – I believe they only lost two games out of twelve or thirteen and it’s really fun just cheering the team on and watching my brother get into the game and improve his skills over the years (he’s the kid in the far right of the picture above, leaping onto the kid in the purple jersey – number 55).  Plus, Steve and I spend some time with my family and we get Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and watch the sun go down over the stadium and enjoy the cool autumn breeze.

College football is real big here in the South but I can’t get into it much.  I much prefer professional football, especially if the Eagles are playing.  But regardless, watching the game on TV or in person is one of the things I find most enjoyable about fall.

Fall TV

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year as far as entertainment goes because that’s when all the new shows premiere and all of my old favorites start back up again.  I actually read into what the new shows are about and decide which ones I’m going to give a shot and which ones I want to pass on.  I map out a calendar to make sure some of my favorites don’t overlap with new ones.  I was especially excited this season for some of my favorites to return this fall: Sons of Anarchy, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Dexter. And I was excited for some of the new shows to start: Community and Modern Family, as well as The Vampire Diaries, which for anyone who hasn’t been following along all the years, is the fulfillment of one of my dreams because it’s based on a series by probably my most favorite author from my childhood.

Weeds

After Steve and I finished watching Dexter on Netflix, we were a little lost and wondering what new show we needed to start watching.  I had heard quite a few good things about Weeds and thought we’d give it a shot and, well, I’m glad we did.  I LOVE this show – love, love, love it!  We’ve only watched up until the fourth season and are waiting until the fifth comes out on DVD, but I can say I’m mostly happy with how things are progressing.  The fourth season was probably a bit weaker than the others but it’s still much better than anything you’d find on normal TV.  It basically revolves around suburban soccer mom Nancy Botwin (played by Mary-Louise Parker, who is phenomenal in the role!) who is recently windowed and attempting to maintain her comfortable life with her two kids, Silas and Shane, by selling weed to all of the soccer moms and yuppies in her neighborhood.  The series follows the hysterical trials and tribulations as Nancy finds herself constantly trying to balance right and wrong.  Part of the appeal of this series is the supporting characters.  Kevin Nealon is absolutely genius as Nancy’s pot-smoking town councilmen friend and business partner and Elizabeth Perkins is superb as Nancy’s “friend” whom she loves to hate.  All in all, this is a great show and if you have a few hours over the weekend, you should definitely catch it (and it’s only half an hour so it’s easy to fly through).

Method Granite Cleaner

I had seen this cleaner at Target every time I went shopping for household cleaners and thought about trying it because it was the only thing I had seen that was specifically available for “granite” countertops (at least, at my Target and I hadn’t checked other stores).  I had been cleaning the countertops with Windex all-purpose cleaner and I always noticed there was a slight haze on them.  So, in an effort to try something else, I picked this up one day and well, I’m pretty glad I did.  This virtually eliminated the haze on the counters and it smells really fresh and clean and not at all chemical.  It’s now my go to cleaner for the countertops and is completely worth the extra bucks I spend on it (12 ounces is about $6).

Neutrogena Healthy Hands

I have been a long time user of this lotion but up until this fall, it was rather sporadic.  However, with fall weather comes drier air and since I wash my hands a lot in the morning (putting on makeup, etc.), I would go into work and find them to be really dry.  Since I always keep this at my desk, I would rub some on before getting to work and it was only after I was doing it on a daily basis that I realized how phenomenal this stuff really is.  The lotion is a rather heavy, Vaseline type lotion but it’s not greasy at all.  There is minimal scent to the lotion and once it goes on, it’s almost like your hands are waterproof for a good few hours, but not in a cumbersome way.  I also noticed that it contributed greatly to healthy nail growth and now, within a few weeks, my nails are almost ridiculously long and get in the way.  I love this lotion and always will and if you have any problems with dry hands, you should definitely give it a shot.

Evernote

Evernote!  Oh, Evernote, I don’t know how I ever lived without it.  I don’t exactly remember where I found it on the web but I started using this back in September as a catch all for everything from recipes to my to-do lists to ideas for blogs and the website.  It’s so easy to use – you can create various notebooks and within each notebook, you can create different notes.  It has a tagging system so you can easily find things.  You can also share notebooks, which helped greatly when I was planning my mom’s birthday party because I was able to send my notes to my dad.  I use this as a cookbook – I have a Loved Recipes notebook, where I keep ones that are our favorites, that I use over and over again and a To Try Recipes notebook, where I copy and paste recipes that I see around the web.  I use this as an article storage system where I drop various things from my Google Reader for later reference (I star them and then input them every few weeks).  The most wonderful thing about Evernote is the various ways you can access it – there’s a desktop application which is installed on my laptop – I use this for when I’m bulk entering articles and things I’ve saved from Google Reader (because it’s faster).  There’s a web interface and a Firefox clipper plugin, both of which I use at work when I’m editing my lists and ideas or when I’m browsing the web and come across something I want to save (the clipper lets you select exactly what you want to save and click an icon which automatically inserts it into Evernote) and, best of all, an iPhone app, which lets me access my lists when I’m in the store (I use it for shopping lists) or lets me access my recipes when I’m cooking, so I don’t have to lug my laptop into the kitchen.  Overall, this has helped me greatly organize my life and I use it so much that I’m probably going to have to upgrade to a paid account soon (it would be well worth it)!

So overall, September was a really good month!  I felt like we had a lot of new beginnings and I got started on a great track to organizing my life.  It was definitely a good month of new discoveries and good times.

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© Kristy for kallure.com, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: beauty, cleaner, cleaning, evernote, football, household, lotion, organizaton, tv, Wasting Time

To start off, I found this meme over at Jenn’s that I figured I’d start out with.  I usually try to do one of these each year and can’t believe I missed last year (then again, I had a lot of things going on).  So let’s start with this as something to reflect on last year and move into the new one.

1.What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Pay off my car – I have had loans on three cars and this is the first one I ever paid off.

2.Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I’m pretty sure I didn’t make any resolutions because I never do.

3.Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope.  We haven’t had too many births in quite awhile, come to think of it.

4.Did anyone close to you die?
Not this year, thank god.

5.What countries did you visit?
None.  I travel quite a bit but in the good ol’ United States.

6.What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
More balance in my life and a better financial grip on things.  (And maybe a new laptop!)

7.What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
May 25th – the day I paid off my car.  June 24th – the day they told me the clots were gone and I was “healed”.  June 25th – the day Michael Jackson died.  Dec 18th – driving to PA in a blizzard.  Mar 17th – the day my boss left and I knew things would change drastically (and I was right).

8.What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Cutting back on my caffeine intake and paying off my car, among other debts that I had.

9.What was your biggest failure?
Jacking my cards back up after paying them off.  They cut overtime and I was desperately trying to rework my entire budget.

10.Did you suffer illness or injury?
I was still recovering from the blood clots.  And among the various other klutzy injuries, I dropped the slate tile on my toe in June and had to have the nail aspirated.

11.What was the best thing you bought?
My iPhone 3Gs, hands down.

12.Whose behavior merited celebration?
Steve’s, for so many reasons.

13.Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I’d rather keep this to myself.

14.Where did most of your money go?
Bills, as always.  And entertainment.

15.What events did you get really, really, really excited about?
Pinks in April, Myrtle Beach in July, Savannah/staycation in August.

16.What song will always remind you of 2009?
If I had to pick based on what I heard over and over, probably a Black Eyed Peas song or “Party in the USA” by Miley or anything by Taylor Swift (which is funny, because last December I was playing her on rotation).  But I personally loved “Run This Town” by Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye (barf!) and anything by John Mayer.

17.Compared to this time last year, are you:
i.happier or sadder? Happier.
ii.thinner or fatter? I think I might be a bit thinner.
iii.richer or poorer? Poorer in the long term sense.

18.What do you wish you’d done more of?
Spend quality time with Steve and Sammy and actively pursue some of my hobbies

19.What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worry less about money and the house

20.How will you be spending Christmas?
I spent Christmas is PA with Steve’s family

21.Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
Probably my mother, if only because she’s the only one I talk to most (everyone else is text, email or Facebook)

22.Did you fall in love in 2009?
I always fall in love with Steve.

23. How many one-night stands?
Zero.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Sons of Anarchy.  Dexter.  Weeds.  The Office.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nope, it’s pretty much about the same (I hate very few people)

26. What was the best book you read?
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

27. What was your greatest musical discovery or rediscovery?
John Mayer – I am so late to that party, it’s not even funny.

28. What did you want and get?
An iPhone – thanks baby!

29. What did you want and not get?
Nothing I couldn’t live without.

30. What were your favorite films of this year?
There were SOOOO many – but Star Trek, The Hangover, Transformers, Zombieland, and Avatar were hands down my favorites.

31.What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Steve made me a cake and dinner and surprised me by wrapping the iPod touch he got me into a box of Nutty Bars.  We had a quiet night in.  I turned 28.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying
Not losing my overtime at work (or at least having them compensate me a bit more after losing it)

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
As always, comfortable and easy.  I like soft and loose clothing.

34. What kept you sane?
Steve and my friends.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most/least?
Gerard Butler.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Nothing I’ll speak about.  I like to keep those opinions to myself.

37. Whom did you miss?
Our family, the ones who are far away.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
A couple of new friends, who never fail to make me laugh.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
Keep calm and carry on.  I’m still trying to embrace this one but I need to learn to live by it.

40. Do you have any lost feelings of others.
I don’t quite understand this one.

41.Quote a song that sums up your year:
Life’s a game but it’s not fair
I break the rules so I don’t care
So I keep doin’ my own thing
Walkin’ tall against the rain
Victory’s within the mile
Almost there, don’t give up now
Only thing that’s on my mind
Is who’s gonna run this town tonight

I guess 2009 was a rather low key year for me.  Maybe 2010 will be more exciting.  Perhaps that should be one of my resolutions!

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© Kristy for kallure.com, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 2009, recap, yearly

As it stands we are wrapping up first Christmas which was spectacular save for the blizzard that hit the East Coast and threw a ginormous monkey wrench into my life (more about that later). As it stands I’m currently typing this entry from my brand new, bitchin’ iPhone 3Gs that my lovely boyfriend, Santa Steve, bestowed upon me. Having been dubbed the LadyPhone by Steve’s brother because of it’s pink and purple case, I don’t remember life without it.

So in a few more days I hope to rewind and recenter and get on some sort of regular posting schedule. For now, I’ll just leave this little meme up as a bittersweet remembrance of the holidays before it’s time to usher in a new year and reflect on an old one (generally a nice way of saying I’m late in wishing everyone a Merry Christmas as always, so hope you had a Happy Christmas and Merry Holidays and all that jazz).

Eggnog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate, hands down. Though I’m not a huge fan of it, I hate eggnog. And I have tried quite a few times so I’m not snarling my nose up for the sake of it. It’s just the egg part. Too much egg, not enough nog. But overall, give me a few glasses of Cabernet and I’m a holly, jolly girl.

Does Santa wrap the presents or leave them open under the tree? Both. There were a few years he unwrapped and assembled them and a few where everything was wrapped. Steve and I dont have kids so everything is wrapped because it’s from us. But seeing my brothers and nieces stash makes me realize we would probably wrap the boxes. Less time to assemble stuff and night and cutting back on chances of little eyes peeking.

Colored lights on a tree or white? Alternate. Whatever mood I’m in that year, which is why I’d never really buy a pre-lit tree. But I usually lean toward colored inside and white outside.

Do you hang mistletoe? We did when I was little but have t in years. Might have to revive the tradition.

When do you put your decorations up? If were traveling for Christmas we don’t put any up. If were home I have them up as early in December as possible. Only because I’m type-A like that.

What is your favorite holiday dish? Ham. Ham, ham, ham. Love it. Have been eating it all week. That and this broccoli- cheese-Ritz cracker casserole my mom has always made.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? One. It’s usually pajamas, or at least has been the past few years. Love doing that.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Random mish mash of sentimental and meaningful ornaments. I don’t do ” theme” trees. I prefer memories.

Snow: love it or hate it? Love the first few hours ofnew fallen snow when the world is quiet and you can almost hear the flakes falling. After this season, do not love driving in it and remembered why I hate it a week later – dirty, black four foot mounds of ice.

Can you ice skate? Hahahahahaha! I can’t even walk most of the time.

What is your favorite holiday dessert? Not the biggest on sweets these days but I’ll rarely turn down a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie.

What is your favorite holiday tradition? The Festival of Lights and visting family.

Candy canes: yum or yuck? Like candy corn, I’ll have enough to satisfy the holiday urges but when I’m done, I’m done.

Favorite Christmas show? Elf. A Christmas Story. And Christmas Vacation. I will watch all three at least five times during the season.

So just like that another holiday season has passed and I’m anxious to move into a new year. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!

love it!? hate it!? eh!?

© Kristy for kallure.com, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: christmas, holidays, meme

If I had stuck to my normal Monday evening routine from the past couple of weeks, I’d probably just be winding down from dinner and cleaning the back of the house (bedrooms, bathrooms, hallway).  As it is, I’m sitting in my bed in soft flannel pajamas, mindlessly surfing the Internet and writing this post and that’s about all I’ve accomplished tonight. And I don’t feel a bit guilty about it.

The past few weeks have been filled with copious amounts of lists and planning for a surprise party we threw for my mom’s 50th birthday this past Saturday night and since I go into whirlwind type-A geek mode for those things, I was all about the party and, with the exception of my daily and weekly chores, everything else fell to the wayside.

(Seriously, I geeked the hell out for it.  I had a clipboard and lists!  And I made posters – with glue and cutout letters and facts about 1959 and Hawaii – it was a luau theme – and a collage board of pictures.  I cooked food and planned menus and OH EM GEE was it FREAKIN’ FUN but OH SO TIRING!  It may be quite awhile before I try to pull of a feat like that again!)

Obviously, since it was a surprise, I couldn’t mention it here on the off chance that my mom stumble over and read about the plans we had in store but it has passed and all went well, for the most part.  Surprises are always tricky and it’s amazing how one kink in the schedule can create a domino effect that comes close to pretty much ruining weeks and weeks of planning and trickery.

The lesson learned over the past month or so and with planning this party is that I am much more effective if I take my life one week at a time.  I was notorious for overwhelming myself with attempts to plan weeks and months out and I don’t know when or where it clicked that hey, shit happens, no matter how much you plan, something, somewhere is going to change.  And hey, it would be much easier if you took it one week at a time and dealt with things as they come.

And gosh darn it, that works!

Granted, I still try to do my meal plans for a few weeks and bigger events certainly get penciled in but, for instance, (and it makes so much sense writing it that I want to smack myself in the head), there is no way I could concentrate on Thanksgiving while I was planning this party.  And there is no way I can concentrate on Christmas until Thanksgiving is over.  (Although, I do have most of Christmas planned, it’s just getting it done and putting it into effect that I won’t do until after Thanksgiving.) (Also, I’m not even doing much for Thanksgiving but it’s an EVENT so it has to be treated as so in my time line of events and planning.)

AND THANKSGIVING! OMG THANKSGIVING!  I don’t know why I’m so excited about it except maybe that I’ve been so busy these past couple of months that a day of gorging on all that deliciousness and collapsing in front of the TV in cozy sweatpants just seems right up my alley now (despite half of that being quite a few weekends this year).  I LOVE me some turkey and REAL mashed potatoes (I will eat instant in an emergency but do NOT come near me with them on Thanksgiving!) and stuffing and corn and this broccoli/cauliflower/Ritz cracker casserole my mom makes.  And pie.  Lots and lots of pie!  Dutch apple for me, thanks.

But seriously, normally, Thanksgiving is just a delicious treat in between Halloween (pretty much my favorite) and Christmas (a close second).  This year, I didn’t do ANYTHING at home for Halloween.  We got dressed up and went to a party at a friends house but I just had no spirit this year and my house was devoid of anything autumn or Halloween, save for a few pumpkin candles here and there.  I have yet to even decide if I will decorate for Christmas this year as it seems a bit of a waste when we will be out of town.  But we didn’t do much last year because I was sick and the year before we had just moved into the house and were going out of town so we skipped decorations then as well.  (Who knows – I can say this now but in a few weeks I’ll be bouncing around here like a freak, still eating leftover turkey and demanding Steve haul out the Christmas decorations.)

But I am excited for Thanksgiving this year.  I want food.   Delicious, yummy, pants-unbuttoning, falling asleep while watching football, food.

I am also off Wednesday and Friday and will actually be using that to do some side projects that I’ve been wanting to concentrate on.  There’s some house stuff and some Internet stuff and some general organization of things.  I really want to sit down and make a list of things I’d like to do during the holidays.  Like experiences – build a gingerbread house, do the Festival of Lights, stuff like that.  So maybe I can get in the Christmas spirit and enjoy the season without feeling like I was rushed through it in nothing but chaos and traveling and clouds of wrapping paper.

I’m hoping to find a clean and pretty layout to put up here with some sort of jQuery featured slider but I haven’t found anything that has overly appealed to me yet.  I’m quite finicky though so it’s a neverending quest.  But part of the plans are cleanup on all of my projects so I’ll feel super accomplished if I can get those done.

So that’s life in a nutshell.  Just humming along as usual here, curiously upbeat and optimistic.  I like how I’m managing things now because it makes me feel like I have more time to enjoy life instead of manage it.  I just seriously hope I can maintain it.  I figure if I can keep it through this busy holiday season, then I pretty much can’t fail afterwards.  If not, well, then I’m doomed to live a life of squalor and excess and laziness …..

Hmmm, that doesn’t sound too bad after all! LOL

Hope everyone is having a great week and if you don’t see me before then, have a wonderful and delicious Thanksgiving!

(On a side note and probably TMI but who cares – I feel awful because earlier I told Steve he could join me in my sloth and laziness of lounging in bed because I wanted his company and I guess he incurred that I wanted some “quality time” together and I never reciprocated.  And he kind of went back in to play video games with his friends saying “I’ll go play with people who want to hang out with me”.  I know he was joking and I know he doesn’t hold a grudge but damn, do I feel awful that it didn’t even OCCUR to me …. am I stupid or just a girl?? Hahaha!)

love it!? hate it!? eh!?

© Kristy for kallure.com, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: christmas, halloween, holiday, organization, routine, schedule, thanksgiving