Last couple of days

The biggest thing that happened this week is that tiny baby Levi had to go in for heart surgery. :( Levi is my cousin Sara's baby and he is only 3 months old. They recently discovered that he has a condition called ALCAPA, which Sara says when she searched it online she mainly came up with pictures of llamas...haha. I do think I will have to find Levi a stuffed Alpaca now.

Ugh, he's so stinkin cute!! 

Anyway, the surgery was yesterday afternoon and it sounds like it went very well. I'm sure there are hurdles to jump over after the surgery, but it sounds like they're past the biggest hump. Go Levi!!

Had some time off between Tuesday and Wednesday, so I did some relaxing and cooked up a storm to get us through the rest of the week. Almost time for grocery shopping again...

And after almost a week and a half of a $0 balance in our checking account (SCARY!), we are finally starting to see some money! *whew!* Trevor will get his first paycheck from his apprenticeship next week, he's getting his last Home Depot check this week, and I will finally get paid from a couple of my jobs in a few days. Honestly, all we do is work! How have we not seen money in so long?! (Ok, I know how, it's called "Vacation + Job Changes for Both Spouses = Financial Confusion")

Seriously, you guys, I am pumped for the school year to start for so many reasons (first long-term sub job, get to start out the school year, it will be FALL{!!}) but I really need to get on top of looking through some of those books that Erika gave me... Maybe I need to take a roadtrip for a day (like to the beach), find a really great spot and read all day. Doesn't that sound like a great incentive?? Hmmm...

And finally, I have been trying to work out and eat well for a couple weeks now. It's going pretty well (although we won't talk about last night's dinner from Wendy's. I was tired, ok?!) and I feel good! I found a great list of free online Pilates videos that I love, and I've been swimming laps after lessons AND using the fitness room at work on my lunches. Yesterday, however, I forgot my workout shoes...

...so those are my work flats. It was fine because I was just on the elliptical, but there were other people who saw me and probably were wondering what my deal was.

Looking forward to another semi-weekend (where I work but no one else does), and this time with a little cash! I'm trying to convince Trevor to take me on a date. :)

-B❤

Semi-Weekend

(*Note* - This was supposed to post on Sunday night, July 21, but I just realized that it didn't publish. Lame. So here it is!)

*sigh*  Just finishing up a nice semi-weekend (I worked yesterday and today, but the evenings still feel like weekends because everyone else wants to hang out). Friday night we enjoyed our John Mayer concert. I just love him... He may be a douche in the tabloids, but he is so talented on the guitar, his lyrics always seem to strike a chord in me, and he honestly seems like a cool, funny person. He used to have a show years ago on vh1 that was only a few episodes long, but it was hilarious! 

Anyway, it was my first time watching (not working) a concert at the Amphitheater and I have to say, I don't think I would ever buy tickets for the lawn again. We got a great deal ($20), but the stage was soooo far away. 

...see?  NO! YOU CAN'T! 

So, since we know people, we were able to pull a few strings and trade our tickets for the 101 section about halfway through the show. :)

Last night we met Nick and Mary for a few beers at their place, and then again tonight for pizza and movies. And this morning we all went to JC Penney where we took advantage of some sales and Mary's employee discount! New sheets, baby!! 

One big full day of work tomorrow and then a day and a half off! I need to find a way to make it a little more fun and productive and little less...well...last week.

-B❤

Sharing time!!

Totally random little things:

Exhibit A) One of our maintenance guys brought in these gorgeous roses and I was obsessed.

Exhibit B) $4 SHOOOOES!!

Exhibit C) My cat is insane. This was at 6am. I was wounded (you know, as you would expect to be if you were a Storm Chaser and you got a little too close to a tornado).

http://instagram.com/p/cHEcXbu_sF/

Looking for a Pilates video online for this morning, THEN off to a coffee date with good ol' Stacy!

-B❤

Workin on my fitness

Decided to work out on my lunch break today, which I haven't really done before. But honestly, exercising during or right after work seems to really be working for me because it somehow makes it feel like a reward! 

"Oh yay! Lunchtime is here! I get to go run around outside and listen to music!" 

Or "Yes, swim lessons are over! Now I can swim around in the pool by myself and not worry about kids!"

Aaaand there are a ton of great workout spots around here! A huge hill with stairs (and an awesome view at the top):

And some workout equipment along the pathway on the way down:

And there's also a cute little park with a grassy area where I did some crunches, lunges, yadda yadda.

I was pretty sweaty and gross when I got back... Next time I should bring a washcloth to dry off with, and definitely some makeup to touch up...

There's also a fitness room here which I may take advantage of next time.

Go me! Six pack is comin on... I can feel it!

-B❤

It makes me put a title? Otherwise it says "No Title". Just leave it blank, for goodness sake!

What a boring day...

Although this happened:

I call it The Deal Breaker. It involves a bagel, butter, Nutella, sprinkling of sea salt and mini chocolate chips. This is what happens when I'm bored. Trouble.

But the bagel was whole wheat and, let's face it, Nutella is basically a health food with all those hazelnuts and huge amounts of calcium that they advertise. So...we'll go with that.

I did manage to get my workout in by swimming after teaching lessons. I even ended it by swimming a 500 and finished in under 10 minutes, which isn't too bad considering a) I wasn't going all-out, b) I had a couple of small interruptions, and c) it's been years since I've swam that event. 

And other than The Deal Breaker, I ate pretty well today. I'm obsessed with grapefruit lately. Just a half of one with a little bit of honey... Lovely.

Otherwise, I stalked my own cats today...

...and I painted my nails.

And now I'm watching Sixteen Candles! Apparently I'm in a retro chick flick mood.

-B❤

As if!

Clueless is verging on brilliant. It's a parody of its own generation! And in a weird way, in it's attempt to be All Things 90's, is oddly timeless. It still completely reflects our current teenage generation (minus a few wardrobe adjustments). Just had to watch it tonight.

OH! And I made steak and potatoes for Trevor, Jackson, Lindsey and Addy tonight. I pan seared the steaks and then put them in the oven for a bit and they came out great! And then I found a recipe for roasted Parmesan potatoes that were wonderful, so I have to post the recipe. Yum!

Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

Yield: Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 pounds potatoes, about 6 to 8 medium red or gold potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/-nch cubes
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried leaf thyme
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, about 4 ounces

Preparation:

Line a large jelly roll pan or roasting pan with foil. Lightly oil the foil. Heat oven to 400°.

In a plastic food storage bag or large bowl combine the potatoes with oil, seasonings, thyme, and Parmesan. Toss to coat thoroughly.

Spread out in the prepared baking pan and roast for 55 to 60 minutes (mine cooked about 45 minutes and were perfect), until nicely browned, turning 3 or 4 times throughout the roasting time (I didn't turn them at all; they stuck a bit to the foil but the beauty of foil is the you can peel it back and they come right off!)

So Domestic!

Since I dramatically increased the size of my wardrobe last week, and am also planning on hemming up a dress I bought, I decided to look through the old "Someday I'll Fix This" Basket.  I found a pair of great work pants, a cute summery top I have never worn, and a little flowy feather-printed shrug thing. All they needed were buttons sewn back on so I actually DID IT and am so happy to add them to my rotation! I even wore the pants and top to work today and feel very cute. :). Yay for productivity and new/old clothes!

Thrift Shop (whut-whut, whut, whut?)

Now that I have this wonderful platform to "post whatever the eff I want", I have been wanting to brag so hard the last couple of days about my A.M.A.Z.I.N.G thrift shopping trip last week! I'm getting pretty good at this bargain-hunting thing, I'm not gonna lie.

A few days ahead of time I asked my fellow cheapanista, Caity, to join me. We got most of our loot at Value Village, which is definitely my favorite just because they have SO MUCH STUFF. And then (after a sushi lunch that I had been craving for weeks) we went to my other favorite consignment boutique where I picked out a couple of more "expensive"-but-worth-it items. In the end, I spent $60 on clothes and $40 on a spurge-worthy purse. Here, in annoyingly adorable collage format, is only a portion of my haul:

And of course my new favorite Betsey Johnson bag (which I will admit I don't know a lot about brand name anything and this may totally be a knock-off but I still think its great):

And that's not even everything! I am quite pleased with myself. :)

Besides my thrift shopping, I have friends who I regularly swap clothes with (mainly Mary and Lindsey, but we're always accepting new swappers!). So a lot of my clothes I have procured for FREE! And Mary and Lindsey will be happy to know that I have just added to our shareable closet.

I leave you with this:

-B❤

Journaling

I'm deciding that I would like to have a place to freely write down thoughts and stories and post photos without feeling like I'm being obnoxious or polluting Facebook with stuff people don't care about. I really censor myself on Facebook with my sense of humor and not wanting to post things that some people might think is lame and not worth reading. That might sound dumb, but I actually have people on my friends list that I just breeze by because they either post too often or the things that they post are generally things I'm not interested in.

I also want something that can serve more of a journalesque and photo album purpose. I've always wanted to someday give my daughter my old journals from growing up and I really wish I was better about keeping up with them. I was when I was younger, and it's never too late to start again. But how great to have an autobiography of sorts from your parent? I would have loved that. Maybe I should ask my mom if she kept a journal...

SO! I think the blog is a good outlet for me because because I can post whatever the eff I want and YOU CHOSE to come look at it! :D And I thank you for that! But now you don't have to see all my crap on your news feed every day.  Maybe just every other day... ;)

And here we are. Glad you're here. Just remember, it's your fault if you think it's crap because you chose to be here. :)

Out.

- B❤