Random

TGIF! I can’t believe it’s Friday…this week sort of flew by!

• Since the DietBet ended, I’ve been splurging just a tad too much lately. Oops. I just had one of those weeks where I just had craving after craving after craving. Don’t you just hate that? I notice if I go back to eating junk food, all I crave is, well…more junk food. It’s taken a lot to get back on track, but here I am. I guess I just needed a little break. :-

• When we moved into this house a couple of years ago, the garden was really nothing but a bunch of irises, amaryllises and a huge crape myrtle right dab in front of the window of our house. I ended up digging up all the bulbs, and moving them to different parts of the garden in clusters to make room for shrubs and annuals. H ended up cutting down and digging up the crape myrtle too. This was about a year or so ago, and as of this week, they finally bloomed. OMG…they’re gorgeous! I have an amaryllis about to bloom as well. 🙂 Love all of the color in the garden right now, and just how nice it looks in general since we gave it an overhaul last Fall. 🙂

• Last week was Sherwin Williams’ big 40% off sale. We’ve been wanting to paint a few rooms in the house, and so we bought a couple of gallons to do that. The chips that are pulled are for our kitchen and guest bathroom (whatever we use in our guest will eventually be painted in the master as well…we’re just doing this a little at a time). 🙂 I know the kitchen color may look a TAD drastic…I promise it really brightens the room. I can’t wait to take some pictures to show y’all how it looks now!

• I’ve had my eye on this particular shirt for quite some time, telling myself that I’d only buy it if I fit in the female cut of this shirt. This shirt just screams New Orleans to me…Winter = Mardi Gras ladder, Spring = crawfish season, Summer = snoball season and Fall = FOOTBALL! They had a flash sale on this particular shirt earlier this week (50% off OMG), and I had to scoop it up! However, when trying it on last night, I didn’t realize how small American Apparel shirts run. I think the shirt will look a lot better on me in about 10-20 lbs. It’s a bit snug. 🙁 Oh well…motivation, right?

• I can’t believe we’re almost in May now. February seemed to drag, and March/April have just flown by! I am super excited about May though, because Food Blog Forum is in 3 short weeks! I can’t wait to meet a bunch of food bloggers that I’ve been following for years, and get my hands on a Dole Whip! (What? Priorities, people!) May also is our anniversary month…can’t believe we’re approaching our 4th year anniversary. Crazy how time flies!

• HAPPY DAY! My DietBet officially ended yesterday, and while the goal was to lose 10 lbs., I’m so happy to say that I lost 13 lbs.! The only thing I changed since the new year was joining a gym (finally) and adding strength training to my workout routine. Crazy how the pounds are just melting away. I’m addicted! I will be doing another DietBet that starts next Monday…at this rate, I could hit “Onederland” by this summer. How AMAZING would that be?!

• I received a package from Influenster a couple of weeks ago that contained dish soap. Specifically, Palmolive Fresh Infusions. You know you’re officially old when you get excited about fancy smelling dish soap, y’all….but seriously, the Lime Basil scent (on the left) smells SO fresh and light. I’m in love…I even wash my hands with it instead of my Bath and Body Works stuff. It also works really well, so now I think I’m spoiled as far as dish soap is concerned.

• I’ve been staring at size charts for a while now, and realized I’m 6 inches (in my waist, that is) away from fitting in my favorite regular sized clothing store (I can’t say favorite by the fit, but I can say favorite by the looks of the clothes and the fact there’s an outlet for them not very far from my house).

•  The last time I was in the New Orleans area, I had to stop here. My favorite king cake place ever, and if you find yourself in New Orleans during king cake season, find one of these cakes. Wait in the line, no matter how long it is (it moves fast). You won’t regret it. I sliced it up in small pieces and froze them immediately so they can be a small splurge for me every now and then. So worth it!

• I can’t believe it’s time for this, again. I started jalapenos, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes and a ton of basil for the next growing season. Cannot.wait.

• And a random picture. I refuse to buy new sweaters this season, so I’ve been wearing mine from last winter. It’s a bit ridiculous that these were tight on me last year. They look entirely too loose on me, but it’s a bit of a self esteem booster to see progress every time I look in the mirror. 🙂

• If you wear make-up, you need to try this foundation. I got a sample the last time I went to Sephora, and oh man, this stuff is good. You don’t feel it on your skin at all throughout the day, and it blends so easily. Yup. I’m pretty sure that’s gonna be part of the 20% reward, which is about 3 lbs. away!

• On a weight loss note, I’m so surprised by how much leaner I look. I’m not skinny, but I look at pictures of me, and I’m in disbelief at how much smaller I am. Left picture was from February; right from two days ago.

• I’m challenging myself the entire month of November to wear make-up to work. I prefer my sleep in the morning, but I find when I wear make-up on the weekends, I have a little more pep in my step. So far, I’ve only missed one day (just completely slipped my mind), but I do like how polished I look with a little bit of foundation/powder/mascara/lipgloss.

• I’m working on making Christmas stockings for H, the dog and I. I’ve been posting progress pictures on my Instagram profile, if you’re interested. Stocking #2 is almost done…hoping to finish that one today, actually!

• Blue Bell has a holiday flavor out called Gingerbread House. I can’t buy a container of it…I just can’t, but oh man….I REALLY wanna!

• I love me some Williams Sonoma, but y’all….this.is.FUNNY!

• I realized this is one of the few weekends I have left that won’t be too busy before the holidays, so I’m hoping/planning to make all of the cookie dough needed for coworker/neighbor gifts this year. After doing the math, I’m going to need to make 11 batches of cookies. Guess I should stock up on butter at Sam’s, eh?

Side note: Thanksgiving is exactly a week away. Wasn’t it just July or something?

• This woman is amazing. AMAZING. Enough is enough….obese people are people too. We’re definitely more than a number on the scale.

• I really want to make these hats for a couple of holiday gifts. Problem is, I knit. I have no idea how to crochet. Any crochet-ers want to chime in and let me know if this is a feasible project for a beginner or am I absolutely NUTS? It won’t hurt my feelings if you tell me I’m crazy.

• I went for a run last week (I haven’t run since, because the weather change made me pretty darn sick…ugh), and the weather was much less humid than usual, so I just jogged at the pace that felt right without staring at the RunKeeper app. Three minutes later, I looked at my pace and it said 12 minutes/mile. The minute I saw that, I got super excited. Then, my mind got to me and I felt tired and had to slow down…I shouldn’t have even looked at the app. 12 min/mile is a CRAZY pace for me. It makes me excited to see how my pace will improve with the weather feeling cooler and cooler.

• Wholly Guacamole sent me a prize pack of their products last weekend (lucky me!), and now, my latest snack addiction are these. I need to find a healthier dipper option besides tortilla chips, though. 140 calories for 7 chips? UGH. It really makes me wonder how many calories I used to consume in a tex-mex restaurant when they’d bring out basket after basket of chips. 🙁

• I’m so glad that Pumpkin Spice Fraps are back. The light version (grande size) is less than 200 calories, and I only get one when I go grocery shopping at Target. It makes that annoying errand (moreso because of rude shoppers) a little more pleasant.

• We decorated our house for Halloween two weekends ago, and when I went to take out the fall wreath, I was super bummed to find out that most of the decor fell off of the wreath. 🙁 NOTHING bums me out more when I have to make a trip to Michaels (ha!). I think the wreath looks adorable now…I wanted to go for a more rustic/nature feel with this one.

• I FINALLY finished a quilt…this quilt. I can’t wait to give it to the person I made it for. 🙂 I think between the wreath and the quilt, I got the craft bug back. Since it’s the fall, though, I couldn’t help but fork out the knitting needles. 🙂

• I have a slight problem with lip gloss. I probably have about 5-6 lip glosses in my purse, and probably 10 more in my make-up organizer. It’s a bit crazy, but I love gloss much more than lipstick. I recently bought this lip gloss (Buxom is seriously my favorite brand of gloss, y’all) in Clair. Yeah, it’s crazy sparkly in the tube, but on my lips, it looks fab. I don’t look like I made out with a jar of glitter, I swear.  Please don’t tell me I’m alone here…there has to be other lip gloss lovers, right?!

• Ok, so this is something silly about dogs. Do you ever do work-outs at home with your dog right there? My dog will just sit and chill for most of the work-outs until it’s floor exercise time. The minute my back hits the ground, Millie will run to me, get in my face and lick me like crazy. Does your dog do this? It’s adorable, but dangit, how am I supposed to do a crunch like that?!

• So, this stuff is addictive. I’ve seen is all around the food blogs, and thought that perhaps Biscoff was just paying a bunch of bloggers to say nice things about their cookie butter. I decided to buy a jar and try a spoonful. OMG…don’t buy this if you’re on a diet y’all. It’s just so good. SO good. I prefer the crunchy (with cookie bits)  over the creamy, personally. They sell it at World Market, in case you’re curious. 

• Supposedly, New Orleans is having some unseasonably impossible weather. Chance of snow in JUNE? 😛 Womp wah..

  

• So, I took Millie to the groomer last week. I got her pretty shaved down for the summer, but I kept her tail long (typical Border Collie grooming, I think). This is the first time a groomer has ever put fuzzy PONYTAIL HOLDERS on my dog’s tail. Do you guys remember those things from childhood? So hilarious…I had to take those things off since Millie was biting at them. She looked so 80s. 😛 (Don’t mind the vacuum cord in the background there…)

• Does anyone love Figment as much as I do? When I was super young, my parents brought the family to Disney World, and they took video. I was infatuated with Figment apparently. My grandma even told me I used to cuddle with a stuffed Figment all the time. So, when my good friend went to Disney, she got me this. How thoughtful is that? IMAAAAAAAAAAGINATIONNN! 😀

• This weekend is going to be one of those weekends where I hope to pass time, because I’m secretly jealous. BlogHer Food is this weekend. Couldn’t go last year, because my little sister was graduating that weekend, and this year, well…Seattle is just way too far. Please BlogHer Food planners, have BlogHer Food in the South again next year? 🙂

• I have a weird self-conscious confession. I really want to go to a local running store to get fitted properly for a pair of shoes, but at my weight, I’m afraid of getting stares in a store where mostly fit people go. I know you’re thinking…shut up, stupid, things will be fine, but I’m very self-conscious. Ugh. Now, I did just buy a nice pair of Saucony shoes on RueLaLa, but I’m wondering if there’s a better shoe out there since I tend to walk on the outside of my feet (if that makes sense) looking at the way my shoes wear out.

• On a rare make-up note, I finally found some lip butters at the Walgreens near my house. Since I’ve been reading raving reviews about “The Balm” on various blogs, I bought two of them, one in pink satin and one in nourishing nude. Since I don’t like too much color on my lips, I absolutely LOVE these lip butters. LOVE. I also saw Revlon’s Lip Butters at the store, but I’m waiting for them to go on sale. L’Oreal’s were BOGO 50% off this week, so that’s why it was easy to take the plunge and buy two. 🙂 (cheap cheap)

• My husband decided to start calorie counting with me this week. Things are going a lot better for me since he’s also on board. There’s no junk in our house anymore, and so far this week, I’ve cooked every night. Wanna be jealous? Two days after starting calorie counting, the husband lost 2 lbs. Lucky duck.

• I’m super stoked that JoAnn’s is finally opening a store in Baton Rouge. Since we moved to the other side of town, it takes me a good 20 minutes to get to the nearest craft store. When JoAnn’s opens, they will be 10 minutes away from our house and also easily convenient to go to on the way home from work. This is awesome and bad.

• We’re getting a tax refund this year, and I secretly just want to splurge it. However, since I’m an adult (or something like that), the only responsible thing to do is to throw it in the ol’ savings account. ::sigh::

• Since the other house sold, we’re slowly starting to work on projects we want to do with our current house. We’re getting gutters on Friday, and also hired a contractor to vent our kitchen outside. Since our kitchen is against the brick outside, this should be seamless/easy. A couple of small changes, but all awesome! There’s also a couple more projects in the works, but they aren’t anything major. Since our house is only 5 years old, so there really isn’t much to do.

• I’d currently like to eat a pint of cake batter ice cream. I won’t buy it, but a girl can dream, right?

• Just to note: I’m attempting NaBloPoMo again this year, since last year was so fun. I loved how it motivated me to share more on the blog, and I hope that I can do it this year! With the new house and holidays approaching again, I’m sure I have a ton to blog about! 🙂 If you want to sign up for it, the site has changed over to BlogHer’s site and you can sign up there. 🙂

• We held a crap dump garage sale on Saturday. I had to laugh when one of my friends mentioned to me that we have a lot of garage sales. Totally didn’t realize that, but we usually have 2 per year. We really buy too much junk and need to seriously get a handle on that. My brain fart of the week is that in ALL of the ads that we posted/paid for, the date said Saturday, August 29th. And before you ask, yes, I had people proof it…guess we’re all having brain farts. Fortunately, I was able to correct 2 of the ads. It seemed like people who read the newspaper classifieds translated August 29th to October 29th, though. 🙂
  

• As you might already know, our old house is for sale. We’re trying the for sale by owner route to save 6%. Some of you may think we’re cheap, but 6% of our asking price is about $8400. That’s a lot of moolah, y’all! So, fingers crossed that this house sells. We’ve gotten quite a few calls and have done one showing so far. I’d love to have this house sold by Christmas, but I’m sure not many families house hunt during the holiday season. 🙁

• I’m back on the weight loss wagon. I’ve been counting calories for 2 weeks, and I’m starting C25K this week (tomorrow actually). The number on the scale made me cry two weeks ago, and I never want to see that number again. EVER. I’ll eventually share it with you guys, but it’s really embarrassing.

• The new house is ::almost:: unpacked. There’s just a bunch of little things now, so we’re in the home stretch, for sure! Unbelievably, our house warming party is this weekend (time flies!) so the boxes need to be gone by then. 🙂 Can’t wait for our families/friends to see the new digs. 🙂

• I can’t believe we’re closing on our new house in 4 short days. It’s a strange to think that we’ll be in a new house in a couple of weeks. It’s even stranger to think that our Christmas tree won’t be blocking the front door this year like it has in the past. Ah, small house problems. 😛

• I’m joining a new weight loss challenge online. I know I can do this, but if you’ve read a while, I’ve said this multiple times and failed. Ugh. Anyway…I have to do this…I will do this…I need to get healthier! If anyone wants to join me in the weight loss challenge, here’s the link!

• I’m way too excited about Fall Weather. I’m in the mood to go on a pumpkin buying binge and bake pumpkin-y treats all day. I also can’t wait until we’re in the new house so I can decorate the house and outdoors for the Fall, as well. 🙂

• Most of my crafty items are all packed away in boxes. Pinterest is making me want to unpack everything. I keep trying to tell myself that everything will be unpacked and done in one month. Maybe I should take this time to learn how to crochet? I mean, those supplies fit in a tote bag! 😛

• I don’t understand the fuss over Missoni for Target. I went to my store and looked over everything, and just thought it looks way too loud for everyday wear or home decor for that matter. Not a fan.

• Did you know it’s 97 days until Christmas? Yeah…crazy. I wrote a blog series two years about surviving the holidays if you would like to read up on budgeting, edible gifts, DIY decor and paying it forward!