Beauty Find

I suck at skin care. I think it's partially because I'm lazy and partially because I've never found anything that I liked enough to use daily. I'm great about sunscreen, bad at cleanser (that sounds gross)! I don't know why I'm like that, I go to sleep in makeup ALL the time and usually just let the hot water of the shower wash my face. I guess I figure I'm already washing my hair and my body, who wants to deal with another step? Anyway, the point of this post is that I've spent money on Aveda, Clinique and Mary Kay, and I've been cheap and bought Noxema, Clean and Clear etc. But guess what I found that makes my face feel baby soft and breakout free, no moisturizer needed?

I bought it on a fluke and aside from really liking the results there are two great things about it. The first is that it reminds me of my childhood because it's the soap we always had in the bath when we were little so the smell takes me back. The other is that it's .99 for 3 bars!! How's that for economical skin care?

New Look!

How fun is my new blogger design? I still have no idea how to use blogger other than posting so some of the links are probably off, I'll work on that.

In other news, I'm definitely in love with my kitchenaid mixer. I went back and forth on whether or not it was worth the money and ended up justifying it because it was refurbished, therefore way cheaper and had free shipping (I love Amazon Prime). Also, I don't have a hand mixer so with moving in a few weeks I'd have to invest in that eventually anyway. I'm really glad I decided to go for it!

So far I've made banana bread, chocolate mousse for a pie, and cupcakes with homemade buttercream icing. My coworkers are really getting a good deal with this purchase since I bring them my baked goods!

I know I promised pictures, they're on the way! I'm waiting to get my Arizona pictures from Lin (sister) so that I can do an Allie's Travels post.

Fall

It’s rainy, and dark, and chilly but I don’t mind. Sure I’d rather be curled up on my couch with a blanket and a good book or a Lifetime movie (one of my favorite rainy day indulgences) but I’m content to be at work. There are a whole 6 people in the office today I think so it’s a ghost town. The reason I am fine with all of this is because… it’s finally fall! I actually don’t like the cold weather, but early fall weather is great. Every morning, the air smells like the first day of school. Does that make sense? And every evening feels like a high school football game. I feel like I should be shopping for pumpkins and sweaters and I just love it.

A lot is happening this fall that I’m looking forward to as well. My mom’s birthday is tomorrow, so I’ll be shopping at lunch today looking for the perfect purse for her. She knows she’s getting that because she asked for it but I’m going to put a little something extra inside that I won’t write about on the off chance she reads this! Then on Sunday I’m off to my cousins’ (that’s right there are two) baby shower. They are both having boys about one month apart!

My parents’ 28th wedding anniversary is Saturday the 11th so I’m still trying to come up with a great present for them. I’m also very excited to see Jess T and Rach on the 12th for the pumpkin patch! (Thanks for the invite Jess!) I don’t think you can get a more fall activity than that, plus I’m excited to see the kids. Then on the 13th I get the keys to my new place!! I’m off that day so I’ll be in there hauling clothes to my closet and setting up the kitchen. Then once Sean gets off work we’ll start painting. I CANNOT wait! Some of the guys from the fire station are helping us move the heavy stuff on the 18th after which we will have beer and pizza as a thank you and the first “hang out” in our new home!

Oh! One other thing that I’m super excited about today is that I bought a Kitchenaid mixer finally and it is coming today!! I cannot wait to make banana bread tonight with the bananas I’ve been saving for its arrival. I have been very thrifty lately which if you know me you know is so unlike me. I cannot bring myself to spend money on anything now! And it’s not the economy because luckily, I really haven’t noticed a difference yet. I think I am just being more responsible which is great. I haven’t used a credit card in MONTHS and I have money in the bank so I guess it’s paying off. Anyway, I did a really good job on getting good deals for things I needed in the apartment and didn’t buy extra stuff that was unnecessary. Seriously, I’d fill a cart at Target of things I did actually need, and then put it all back because I didn’t want to buy anything. So when it came time to buy a hand mixer, I said to myself, you know what? Get that stand mixer you’ve wanted for years, now is the best time to do it. So I found a factory refurbished one on Amazon for a great deal and it’s on the way! I am determined to get tons of use out of it so that it was worth the money.

Well, I’ll post my Bermuda pictures this weekend, we had a FABULOUS time. I’ll write all about it in my next post!

Seriously?

Every post I write starts with something along the lines of "Wow I'm a terrible blogger!" or "So it's been forever since I posted", and clearly this is no different. Usually I say that there just isn't anything new to report but I've waited so long to post this time that my entire life has changed! Luckily, my readership is very limited, mostly to people I talk to on the phone or in person anyway so they know all that has gone on. And here is where I say I'm going to be a more frequent blogger/commenter, and I really will try! I have been reading religiously though!

So, what's new. In April I got a big promotion at work. I'm now the Meeting and Events Manager for my company so I'm in charge of booking hotel/meeting space, negotiating contracts, arranging travel and running our conferences. I also get to travel about every other month, usually out west. I love it!

Speaking of travel, I have been a travelin' lady this year. I started with my trip to Kansas in February to see Jess and family. Then I was in Vegas in April, Savannah and Charleston at the beginning of June, Anaheim at the end of June, Scottsdale in August (I'll post a funny pic later), and I'm going to Bermuda next week and back to Vegas in December! Whew!

So on to the biggest news which wasn't good at first but ended up being the best. I was supposed to be getting married on September 20 as you may know. Well that's not happening anymore. He turned out to be someone that I wasn't willing to spend my life with. We basically ended up having a lot of problems, one of them being cheating on his part and I'm just not willing to settle. It was pretty shocking when I found out (end of May), but I made my decision that night and the next day I moved back to my parents' house and haven't looked back. I'm still dealing with him finishing out our lease that we had and all that stuff but I am so much happier and really feel relieved that I got the information when I did. I am so thankful that things happened the way they did. So, no new men to report on now but I'm in a really good place. I'm happy without a man and I'm also open to meeting a good one so all around I can't complain. My friend Donni and I decided to go on a cruise to Bermuda instead of being at my wedding so that will be wonderful as well!

The last news brings me to my latest news. I am moving out of my parents' house on October 13th! I am so excited!! My good friend Sean and I found an awesome apartment in our town that we are moving into. I can't wait to get in there and decorate! This is the best roommate situation I could've asked for, and anyone who knows this area knows you need a husband or a roommate pretty much! He might as well be my brother so we get along great (100% platonically), he has a great girlfriend who I love dearly (I call her my mini me) who will visit from Tech on many weekends, he really needs a woman to take care of him (mostly cooking really) and I really love taking care of men, he's quiet and laid back and likes the history channel, and he's a firefighter so he's gone a couple nights a week giving me my very own apartment. How perfect is that?

Well I think that is all I have to report for now. I'll really try to post more often (I know, I know). Hope everyone is doing well and loving life!

A