Lazy Lazy Weekend

This may in fact be the laziest weekend I've ever had! Aside from bathing and unloading and reloading the dishwasher, I have done absolutely nothing productive! I've napped, and read (the girl bachelor series by Laura Lee Guhrke - thanks Jess!) and watched tv. I did go over to my parents house for Champagne Friday with Mama and Lin and then on Saturday for more girl bonding time but other than that...NADA! I usually feel so guilty when I feel fine and and am not being productive. I don't know why. I beat myself up over not being over productive and doing things that could stand to be done. There are 2 loads of laundry to be folded and a hamper full of dirty clothes strewn about my bedroom floor, but you know what? I don't care! They'll still be there tomorrow. Our office is closed tomorrow so I decided that I would take a full weekend to do absolutely nothing and tomorrow I will resume the usual. Return some things to the library, fill my gas tank, grocery shop, fold laundry, do more laundry, clean the fridge and make dinner. Then I'll relax watching the Bachelor with Donni and head to bed!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Amazing!

I have a new favorite website. It's www.mint.com. I read about it in Real Simple I think and I heard about it on one of those "big spender" shows. You load your financial information in and it tracks your spending, shows you spending trends, let's you set a budget and keeps track of it. It's amazing! It also lets you know your credit card balances and emails you when you have a bill due, or your bank account gets low, any of those alerts. I'm not entirely sure how safe it is, I know it's reputable. Basically I think it's as safe as any internet transactions can be. I read up a bit on it and that seems to be the consensus. It's definitely holding me accountable for my money and is a huge wake up call to see what you're spending your money on. I spend WAY too much on restaurants!! My shameful admission that I was blissfully unaware of: in the past 4 months I have spent $189 at Sweetwater Tavern!! One restaurant alone!!!

Anyway, I made a budget and since I don't have to type in anything I will definitely track my spending and hopefully stick with it! I'll be in tip top financial shape if I do!

Today I was a windshield

Have you ever heard the saying: "Some days you're the windshield, some days you're the bug"? Well today was a windshield day! Work was a bit slow but very productive. The weather was gross but I stayed nice and warm with my space heater under my desk and hot coffee. Nothing extraordinary happened but everything went according to plan. I remembered to plan and prepare my breakfast and lunch so I ate healthy ALL day! After work I went to the grocery store to pick up some fresh food before the ice set in. I came home, watched tv with Sean and Jessie, washed and dryed my hair, cooked grilled chicken on my George Forman grill (my inaugural run, I'm in LOVE) made some brown rice and a big salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, avacado and artichokes. I made an extra salad for lunch tomorrow to have with a pita pizza that I'll make in our toaster oven so that got prepared as well. Then I indulged in the new 90210 and an episode of Chelsea Lately. I have a clean kitchen, dishwasher running, empty trash can, meals prepared, blogs checked and now I'm going to crochet for 30 min, read for an hour and go to sleep! Whew! I love when I'm organized and on top of things! Oh and for 2009 I decided to write down every single purchase I make, at least that holds me accountable for my spending!

PS- Jess T: I will come decorate with you ANYTIME, I love it! :)

Updates, Gifts and Apartment, Oh My!

Okay, here's the big unveiling of my new apartment! I know these pictures were a long time coming but I'm about as good at getting pictures uploaded as I am at blogging ;). Before the pics below, a quick update.

I had a fabulous Christmas! I was off the whole week because of some comp time from my conferences and I spent tons of time with the family. It was great to go home and have a delicious home cooked meal every night! We also were rich with tradition such as watching the Muppet Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve. I even spent the night on Christmas Eve just to stick with the tradition on waking up Christmas morning and opening presents right away (this was a little silly because I live 7 minutes away!). My favorite present I received was my "travel package" from my parents. My mom is big into themes for our big gift and I travel a lot for work and fun so this was great! In my present I got a new Dell Inspiron Mini (its screen is 8.9 inches and weighs 2 pounds!), a Chi flat iron and blow dryer travel set (they're so cute and little without losing any heat or power), and an Anne Taintor luggage tag and medicine case/change purse. My favorite present I gave was tickets to Legally Blonde the Musical to my sister. We had been hooked on the stupid reality show on MTV over the summer where they were looking to recast the role of Elle. Through the show we got to see bits and pieces of the musical and wanted to go see it. Well I happened to find out that they were on tour and that they were coming to DC, unbeknownst to her, so I bought tickets (we went today, it was great!) and put them in a box under some tissue paper. On top of the tissue paper I had a digital voice recorder where I had rewritten a verse of one of the songs in the show telling her that we were going to see it. I sang her present, is that love or what? She was so shocked and excited and even said I sounded really good so it was a major win on the gift giving front.

The other fun news I have is that I bought a plane ticket to see Jess G and family in February! I went last year around that time and had so much fun that I really wanted to go back. So I decided I only live once, just find the money and do it, so I did! Thanks for letting me come Jess, I can't wait!

Okay now for the pics!

This is my living room decorated for Christmas, real tree and all!

Another living room shot (I made the decorations on the mantle)

Living Room again (the frames say J,O,Y I made that too)

My dining area, to the left is a built in desk and to the right is the kitchen pass through.

My bedroom, I just love all of its girly goodness, I like to call it "Antique Chic"

A closer up version, you can see my steamer trunk better and the details in the chair and headboard.

Tagged

In what I believe was a clever attempt to get me to blog, Jess has tagged me for a 7 weird things about me post so here goes:

1. I LOVE hydrogen peroxide. If I find someone with an open wound who will let me pour peroxide on them, I get very excited, it's just so fun!

2. When I set my sleep timer on my television at night, I can't fall asleep unless I set it for 45 minutes. Even if I know I want to watch for an hour or 5 minutes, if i don't set it for 45 I toss and turn until I set it for 45, and I don't have OCD so it really is random.

3. I'm obsessed with all things organizing (Real Simple magazine and website, Container Store, hgtv shows) but I am so not organized. I pretend to be, but I'm always a work in progress. My dream is to be as cool as the Barefoot Contessa.

4. The only foreign language I speak is German, but it's also one of the only accents that I can't do (unless I'm speaking it).

5. At one point or another, I have had every color in the rainbow in my hair except green.

6. My favorite song in Kindergarten was "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and my parents called me Allie P. Keaton.

7. Currently in my purse (among other things) are: a copy of Pride and Predjudice, my NRA range card, and a pink cell phone. Apparently this is an odd combination, someone asked me if I was Oprah, Toby Keith, or Paris Hilton, I don't think I should have to choose :)

A little of this, a little of that

Just thought I'd check in. Work is CRAZY!! We have our big conference coming up the first week of December and nothing fuels me with love for my job like crunch time before a conference! I'm also in full planning mode for Q1 of next year so there is no rest for this chica! I can't wait to be on site though in Vegas with my awesome coworkers, it's what makes everything worth it.

I'm still getting this darn apartment together. My kitchen is spotless and organized to my specifications and it's really just a matter of getting some books on the shelves, unpacking a few bags and a little clean up. But I'm so lazy and I just want to enjoy my space! My mess isn't going anywhere. It is keeping me from my video tour though! I MUST step up my game!

I finished my first crochet project!!! I made my sister Lindsay a scarf for her birthday to go with the coat I bought her. She loved it and thought it was from the store! I'd say that's progress. I'm trying to finish the first scarf I started now for myself. It's slow going, so many more fun things to do.

I'm getting my hair done on Friday, it's currently blondish with brown lowlights (well it's really brown with blonde highlights but the highlights have taken over). I'm thinking that I'm going to bring some more darkness in (poor Donni must be getting sick of me because I'm a root fanatic!) and I might add some red too. We'll see. Suggestions?

I've been better about cooking too (thanks Jess for the recipes, I want more, I'm so greedy!!). I was fairly lazy and made sloppy joes tonight which made roomie happy and wasn't paying to go out. I made my first homemade from scratch apple pie too and it's delicious! I also have vegetable soup in the crockpot as we speak, I'm about to add some mini shells to it. Something about Fall and soup.

I had a brief love affair with couponing. I was all about it after I found a blog where a single mom has a YEARLY budget of $800 for groceries, toiletries and dining out. It's craziness. She does it by cutting coupons, watching sales and only buying what's basically free with her coupons. Why I thought I could be her protege, heavens knows. I joined http://www.thegrocerygame.com/ and signed up for the Sunday paper and got on http://www.coupons.com/. I had grand visions of saving so much money and always having what I needed on hand. I'm so over it. The idea of finding coupons and getting something for free still delights me but I don't want to work for it. I also REFUSE to stockpile things, which you kinda have to do if you want to be hardcore about it. I hate extras. I love that I have cabinets with nothing in them. So I'm still committed to cutting coupons I'm going to use, but I'm not going to buy (and use) things just cause they're on sale. I would if I had to, but I don't so I'll just be regular cheap and not uber-crafty cheap.

I went with Lin to the photo studio at her school to be her model (I'll keep my day job!) for a lighting project. It was fun, there are some good pics, some funny ones and some terrible ones! I'll post some of the highlights when she gets them loaded.

Well that's about it. I better go to bed (9:30, lame) so I can get my booty into work for another day of delicious craziness!! I'm a maniac under pressure, I LOVE IT!!!

Thankful Thursday

I am taking this from Tiburon because it's a great idea and a beautiful graphic. I wish my blog looked like this actually. Speaking of blog, it's a way that I might be held accountable to blog at least weekly. I always sucked at diaries when I was younger too. So on to the thanks...

-I am always the most thankful for my family and friends. I know that's a generic "thankful" but this is my first thankful post so I figured I'd put it in there. Also I REALLY REALLY like my family (and friends of course but that's obvious since you choose your friends). Most people love their family but I actually like them. Which leads me to a related thankful thing, that I live so close to my parents and sister. I can easily have Lin (sis) over for Bones on Wednesdays, go over to their house for Champagne Friday with Mama and Lin, and Sunday dinner with the whole fam followed by Forensic Files with Daddy. SO thankful for that.

-Tying in with family (can you tell I'm very family-centric?) I am so thankful that I've actively gotten to know my grandma (Nana) over the past few years. She's super healthy and a very young 81 (on Dec 6) but obviously I don't have forever with her. I've made it a huge point to spend as much time with her as possible even if it's just riding together out to Tysons for lunch at Silver Diner or going to Target. I just like enjoying her company. I've also made it a point to ask her tons of questions about her life growing up and about our family and have gotten tons of irreplacable anecdotes that I'll carry forever and pass on to my grandkids. Being the planner that I am, I always try to appreciate people and experiences and to let them know how I feel about them, not just think it. So I am thankful that I'm content that I really know her, and that we really enjoy each other, and that she really knows how much I love her. Okay enough morbid thinking!!

-My job, I don't make tons of money but I'm doing a job that people with WAY more experience don't get the opportunity to have, I feel like I'm helping people and I LOVE my coworkers.

-My apartment. It's fabulous, and way more than I need but I love it and it's beautiful and it's mine and I earn the right to live here by working hard! I swear I'll post something about it but it's not up to perfection and I am REALLY bad about wanting people to see only perfection. I'll work on that.

-My recent plummit of materialistic wants. I have been SO good! I don't even want that much stuff! I know that sounds silly but I used to just love "things". Not for any good reason. I'm definitely appreciating a more clutter free approach and a nicer bank account. And I'm siding with the philosophy that I'd rather spend money on experiences than items. Hence my Bermuda cruise I was able to take.

-My country. Even though the election didn't go the way I had hoped, I am so thankful to live in a place that I have the right to vote, and I'm so thankful for our troops who put their lives on the line every day for us to protect all the freedom that we hold dear but often take for granted.

I guess that's it for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend! Maybe I'll get cleaned and organized and have an apartment post for Monday!

Halloween

Happy (late) Halloween everyone! I hope that you all had a lot of fun. I'll be back with more posting later but thought I'd leave my costume pic below. You know I love my history!

Random

I really didn't feel like cooking (who feels like cooking on Friday?) and I didn't want to go out or order in so I ended up with a random dinner. I had a veggie burger without a bun, feta stuffed olives, an apple (ginger gold, Jess!) and pinot grigio. It was pretty good actually.

I'm currently charging my third replacement phone. I haven't bought a new one (I'm still on my thrifty refuse to buy things kick), I've just been finding our old phones and putting my sim card in them. LG should have my phone by Tuesday so we'll see if they can fix it. I'd rather put a little money into fixing an existing phone than to buy a whole new one. The LG was my first attempt at a replacement, then I tried my mom's old motorola. That phone was broken too. I didn't know that was the case until I went to the AT&T store to get a new sim card and realized that it wasn't the sim card and that both actual phones were indeed broken. SO, back to square one, well not really because I've got plans in the works. So I rounded up Lindsay's old Nokia phone and that's charging right now. Third times the charm right? I decided if this phone works and they can't fix my LG, I'm just going to keep the Nokia. I have a computer for email and a camera for a camera so I just need a phone to call.

This weekend is going to be full. I have to get packin tomorrow and I'm going to check out the apartment. Then Sunday is the pumpkin patch with Jess T and Rach and families!!! I'm so excited to catch up!!! The whole weekend is supposed to be beautiful so I'm sure it will turn out to be just wonderful. I get to start moving on Monday but won't move all the heavy stuff until next Saturday. Either way, apartment pics are on the way! Have a great weekend everyone!

Amazing!

I have been a long time allergy sufferer. Basically, my nose is stuffy about 85% of the time. My friend Jessy told me about the neti pot to clear my nose. If you don't know what that is (it was on Oprah apparently so I think you might) it's a teapot looking thing that you fill with salt water and pour up your nose and it clears everything out. Gross I know, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Instead of buying a neti pot, I used a paper cup (so you can bend it into a spout) and regular salt in tepid water (1/4 tsp. per 8oz.). I tilted sideways over the sink and low and behold, a miracle!! My nose is completely clear and dried up!! I don't know how that worked so well or how I survived before I found this!! People do swear by it who use it and I'm a new believer. I'll be adding this to my daily routine and hopefully I'll stay clear. Sorry if I'm over sharing with the nose stuff but most of you have kids so I'm sure you've dealt with grosser. :)

Grrr Phone!

I'm currently annoyed right now because my phone decided to randomly not work. Said phone is also 1 month out of warranty which means to replace it, I have to pay retail for a new one. My only hope is my old phone that has a broken speaker (I know, I'm cursed). I sent that one in to LG to hopefully be fixed for less money than a new phone would cost. We'll see. I really don't care about what kind of phone I have. I don't use fancy features but I do want to be able to call and receive calls. Picky picky right?

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

Brave, not beige.

Have you seen that Ikea commercial with that "Be brave not beige" song? I am notoriously beige and my sister and friend Jessy thought that commercial was just hilarious and thought I should listen to that girl's message! Well I managed to "out beige" myself. My bedroom was ridiculous. EVERYTHING was some shade of brown or cream. And not in a peaceful monochromatic way. So I took a stand and decided to be brave and introduce beautiful (and spring worthy) orange and green! I have to say my mood is lighter and happier already! I also brought in bamboo for Justin, he's very zen and has been dying to get some in the house. Let me know what you think!

The new room

Below are 2 pictures I found at Tarjay that are painted silk

Here's my dresser arrangement, it's next to a big floor lamp which looks nice but I wanted to get the detail of the dried, bold flowers.

A close up look at my bamboo display

I did it!

I've been credit card use free for over 2 months now and I am SO happy about it! I was able to pay off the majority of them, close and destroy. Evidence below :)

7 Random Things About Me

I was tagged by Jess for this post (very clever way to get me to blog!!) so here we go. I'm sure I can come up with many more than 7 but I'll shoot for 7 semi-entertaining ones.

1) I am a compulsive list maker. I get a thrill from making lists about ANYTHING. And sometimes, I'll add things to a list that I've already done so that I have more things to cross off right away!

2) I LOVE to sing. Anything. If I'm in the car or in the shower or even laying in bed with a good song in my head, I'm singing. In fact, if I don't like what's on the radio, I'll turn it off and be my own jukebox.

3) Everything has to be symmetrical for me. If something isn't, it will drive me crazy until I fix it. I also very much prefer squares to circles. I have no idea why. Abstract art has no place with me.

4) I wish I owned a monkey but only if it wouldn't throw poop at me. :)

5) When people disrespect my country (America of course) I get filled with rage. Like actual rage where I want terrible things to happen to them (like moving to a communist country). I'm like a "love is blind" wife who would defend any and all actions to the death right or wrong. I'm just that loyal. I even well up when I hear the national anthem. I'm just so appreciative of all the sacrifices people have made so that I can be lucky enough to live here. Okay this last one is a little embarrassing!

6) 75% of the time I cannot WAIT to be a mother and feel it is what I've always been meant to do and the other 25% of the time I wonder if I really want to have kids at all because you cannot change your mind and I really love freedom and sleep. I'm assuming that when I actually have kids that I won't mind the lack of freedom and sleep, at least not enough to trade them in.

7) I would love to live in NYC for one year, and then move to a sleepy southern town near the beach and open a bookstore and live a Nora Roberts novel worthy life.

8) (thought of one more) For a silly talent one, I can do a very good Britney Spears impression, and I love to do different accents. The only one I can't do is German, which happens to be the only foreign language I speak!

There's my random facts! I am going to tag (and you may have done this already so sorry!) Ruhiyyih, Steph (if your sickness has passed, if not you can have a break) and RachD. You are all very interesting girls so I am interested to learn more!

I'm not in Kansas anymore :(

I had such a wonderful time visiting Jess and her beautiful family! Ella is gorgeous and so funny and sweet and Gabriel is a living angel. Seriously, I have NEVER seen such a sweet, snuggly and content baby. And I have seen a lot of babies. Here's a pic of me and the gang, Ella is far too energetic to pause for a pic :)

All of the pictures I tried to get of Ella are blurry because she is constantly in action! I told Jess that I would vouch for her that she is NOT exaggerating on her blog, Ella has more energy than 3 toddlers combined! Luckily this is countered with extreme sweetness and hilarity. She was not shy at all and instantly became my buddy. I even got in on the rotation of the "I need..." whomever she thought she could sucker into some attention when she was supposed to be doing something else. Needless to say, I was a sucker everytime. I didn't even mind the early morning "Allie! Where are you?!" Too cute.

My favorite Ella moment of my trip was actually after I was supposed to have left. I said my goodbyes and she knew I was going on a trip on an airplane. Well, my plane ended up being really delayed so Bob brought me back to the house. When Ella saw me walk in the door she said "Allie!! I missed you!!" haha! I hadn't even been on my trip yet. :)

Gabriel is a dream baby with his cues. Within an hour I could tell what he needed when. Basically, if he's crying at all, he's either hungry or gassy. If he's just slightly fussy, you give him his pacifier and he's fine. If he gets his old man squishy face he has gas and you just switch his position to where he's upright against your chest and he's fine. If he's crying and making an "o" shape with his mouth, you hand him to mommy to eat and he's fine. Simple right??

It was so great to get to visit with my friend! We were amazed at how long we've known each other and how much our lives have changed. We were so young, I was just out of high school and she was just married and here we are now, 2 kids later for her and I'm planning my wedding! Who knew on that first day of a way too early English class that one day her daughter would be my flower girl? We did escape for a girls' night to go see a movie. It was fun to do an old time Allie and Jess activity, as she was one of my main movie buddies when she lived here. It was really a great trip overall, it just flew by too quickly.

I'm glad to be back to my normal routine, but I'm sad that I don't get to see Jess and the kids until May. I miss them all so much already!

Thanks Jess for a wonderful trip, I had so much fun enjoying your family and catching up with you!

De-Cluttering/ Limited Consumption

I've said it before and it seems I'm saying it again. I'm sick of stuff!! Why oh why do I feel it necessary to bring in more and more stuff into my house? I have a lovely little home but you couldn't tell it from looking at my kitchen, bathroom or bedroom (my family room is the one saving grace, it stays pretty beautiful). I am seriously going to turn a new leaf. I don't need all of my things. I don't even overtly feel that my happiness is at all related to things, nor do I even value them that much. So here goes. I'm going to be ruthless and go through my closet and dressers and give tons of clothing to people who actually would benefit from my stuff. On the same note, I am not going to go crazy as the season changes and new beautiful colored items hit the racks. And I'll save gas by not even driving to the mall which is probably the only way that I'll be able to avoid such purchases! I am also not going to purchase any new products (house, toiletries etc.) until what I have has been used. I've already gotten better about this with hair products (when I worked at the salon it was ridiculous!). One other good step I've made is I've been buying less groceries and getting creative to use what's already in my pantry. This is a great space saver! Also, I HATE to waste so I've only been buying produce and fresh ingredients that I KNOW I'll use before they spoil.

On a different note, is anyone else really ready for spring? I was walking through the produce department tonight (buying limited things) and found myself longing for the farmers market. Oh how I cannot wait for some sweet cherries and a ripe tomato and mozzarella salad with fresh basil. I am so excited to pick out flowers and herbs to grow on my modest little patio since I managed to not kill anything last summer! I'm also on the lookout for a cute patio set so I'll be combing the yard sales once they get going.

Another nod to less consumption and a happy thing for me is that I got a new car!! It's a small Hyundai Accent, not a glamorous, high class name but I could not care less. It's brand new, runs like a dream, has really great trunk space and the best part is: I've cut my gas consumption in HALF! This means I'm saving way more money a month all while being a little nicer to the environment. Can't beat that!

Another unrelated note: I bought my dress!!!! My mom and I went looking today and the second one I tried on was simply beautiful. I initially chose it for a try on because I wanted to get an idea of all different styles and I knew my mom loved the style of the skirt. It was a little "poufier" than I thought I wanted but when I walked out, I not only felt like a bride but I felt like I was supposed to be that bride. And it made me look the skinniest :). The best part? No alterations needed! I did have to special order it to get it in ivory and to nix the train (I hate trains) but that was all for no extra cost. I'm psyched! More wedding details to come as I get them!