Wednesday Confessions

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I do love the Wednesday Confessions but like I mentioned earlier this week, I think I'm getting in a little blogging rut and constantly talking about the same old things.

Today I'm going to keep with the confessions theme and going to talk about something that's been bothering me for a while. My appearance. I'm not hating on my body or these pesky 10 pounds, it's been my hair.

A few months ago, right before I started my job search, I went to the salon and asked them to cut off about 3 inches and give me lots of layers. In theory a great idea but it just did not work with my hair. It's strange, my hair has always, and I do mean always, been absolutely straight. Until the last few years when it started to get a little wave to it. It's not a nice wave, it's a pain in the ass, have to do something with it everyday or it looks frizzy wave. I can't even begin to explain how annoying it is. I can't wake up and just go. I seriously envy people with was and go hair because that's not, and will never be me.

There's something about this new cut that just makes my hair look stringy and gross. The only way around it is to curl it. every. single. day. I have a nice straightening iron and it never looks right. The weird layers don't translate into straight. In fact, I don't know how she even styled it. I'm not meant to have layers, they're for other people.

I can't make them grow out faster and I have no desire to cut my hair shorter to even out the layers so I have to try and figure out how to diminish the frizz (I'm sure the humidity isn't helping.)

Instead I headed to Ulta to get some new products.

I ended up with a no-frizz serum for curly hair (even though mine isn't really), a new mousse and some heat protecterant. Thank you Ulta for your bogo sale and your $3.50 off $10 coupon. Let's see how this goes and if it calms down the frizz. Seriously though, any suggestion on what to do with my hair would be greatly appreciated.

I've also been unhappy with my make-up. I bought a full container of the Smashbox BB cream but I need a setting powder on top of it, if not, I can feel it on my skin all day which is annoying. The Smashbox sample powder was great but the price for a full sized container is $50. Um, no. I've also been out of my favorite blush for a while. I've been using a $3 elf one which is fine, but it's just not cutting it for me.

Friday after the gym I made a detour to the mall. MAC Studio Fix is the best powder ever and it was time to bring it back into my life.

The last few times I went to the MAC counter / store they were stupid busy and no one was able to help. Apparently Friday night is the time to go. After the MAC store, over to Sephora to get the last NARS blush in Orgasm. It really is the best blush ever, a perfect color for just about everyone. 

On top of all of that, I re-cut my bangs. I'd been letting them grow out and they were pretty long, they just looked dumb. 

So, operation reclaim my face and hair is back in full swing. Hopefully my hair behaves or else it's back to the drawing board.

Don't forget to check out my giveaway!

Linking with these awesome ladies:

Have you ever gotten into a rut with your hair and make-up? What did you do?

How do you get through a bad hair cut?

$25 Gift Card Give Away!

Hey everyone!

Last week was a really great week, I received some amazing news that was a direct result of this little ole blog. I've only been doing this for a little over 3 months and it's been just fantastic, I love having an avenue to share my ramblings and random thoughts and I just can't believe that people actually want to read them.

Thanks to the blogerverse I've met some fantastic people. Every day I look forward to your comments and can't wait to read their blogs. I'm so glad I took the plunge and decided to start blogging again.

I've gained so much, that I wanted to give a little something back to you. I'm giving away a $25 gift card for Landry's Inc. The great thing is the number of restaurants you can use it at, like McCormick and Schmicks, Bubba Gump, Rain Forrest Cafe and my personal favorite, Morton's Steakhouse. Check out this link to see all of their restaurants.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks everyone for being so awesome!

Disclaimer - Landry's doesn't know my blog or that I exist, this one is all me. :)

Random Thoughts

Happy Labor Day!

I hope you're all enjoying your 3 day weekend! If not, I'm sorry and I'll try not to gloat. I'll warn you all in advance though that I will be gloating on both Columbus and Veterans Day as I enjoy those 3 day weekends. LOVE BANK HOLIDAYS!!! SO HAPPY TO BE BACK IN BANKING!!!

This post is going to be a random collections of thoughts so, yeah. I realized I was getting into a little rut with lists and similar types of posts and I'm gonna make a conscious effort to break out of that.

Check out the link on my sidebar! I'm a Swirlgear Ambassador! I just love this company and their snazzy gear. I love being able to show my personality in the clothes I wear and now I can do it with my work out clothes! Check them out here or by clicking the link on my blog!.

So, I'm sitting here writing this, drinking red wine while Kev is having rehearsal at the house. I haven't mentioned yet but Kev is in a super-awesome vocal jazz group, Avante. If you're into accapella and vocal jazz, definitely check them out! Their CD is available on the website and soon on iTunes. Every few weeks they have a potluck and rehearse at the house. Tonight was pizza night, and wine, because there's always wine. I might be a little dehydrated after my work out and this wine is delicious.

Has anyone seen Drunk History yet? I LOVE IT. I also think I would be FANTASTIC on the show. A martini and an half in and I must say, I'm brilliant. I just need something historical to talk about. I wanted to tell the story of how Celine Dion started her career but Kev said no one cares about that. He's probably right. I need a good historical topic to talk about. If someone has a good one, let me know and I promise I'll drink some martinis, record it and post on the blog. But really, it has to be a GOOD one. Annnnnnnnd go.

Kev asked me to make something for the potluck and thankfully I usually have supplies to always make cookies, a cake or some sort of dip. Today I pulled out a beer bread mix from Tastefully Simple, added Parmesan cheese, oregano, garlic powder and basil and baked it. When it came out, I sliced it, brushed with butter, added more garlic powder, Parmesan cheese and shredded mozzarella cheese and put it under the broiler. It was amazing, but really anything with warm butter, cheese and carbs is stupid good. Annnnd I have a stomach ache.

I need to start half marathon training this week and I've been waiting for a decent day to run outside, instead it's been 90+ degrees with 89% humidity the last two days. Grrrr.... I'm ready to run dammit. After grocery shopping, I broke down and faced my nemesis, the treadmill. I don't know when I started hating the treadmill so much, I did Couch to 5k exclusively on the treadmill and most of the training for my first half was on the treadmill as well. Now, I avoid it like the plague. I was planning on going to Body Pump class at 3:15 and that gave me 35 minutes for the treadmill. I did 2 miles and have to say, it wasn't awful. Don't get  me wrong, I was bored as heck but I made it through. I was watching some cartoon about a horse on Netflix and it was OK, I needed to put on some Supernatural, which is a GREAT treadmill distraction. So's any Rocky movie and any movie about running. Spirit of the Marathon is my jam. 

I feel really good coming into the fall season. I've ran more over the summer than I have in the past and unlike last year, I'm not injured. I'm doing the North Hills 5k next weekend and I feel much better about it than past years. When I did it last year I hadn't ran in 4 months and had no business being there. It's a great race with a big-ass hill in the middle but the best part is the shirt. Hands down the BEST RACE SHIRT EVER. I'm actually wearing last year's right now. I'm a little paranoid that they changed the shirt this year and I might cry if they did. 

Can't heading over to recruitment afterwards

Last year I head no business doing the Bull City Race Fest. I did the 5 miler and didn't run at all leading up to it. I thought I was going to die and barely made it to the end. The WORST part though was the course. The 5 milers ended over by Duke and the half marathoners continued on to finish where we started. Our finish was 2 miles away from the start (and my car) and ever though there were supposed to be buses, I never saw a single one. So after trudging through 5 mile I had to walk 2 more back to my car. I'm still salty about that one. Nope, not doing it this year.

On a happy note, Kev and I FINALLY saw Expendables 3 last night because I LOVE Stallone. Like love love love love me some Stallone. I know he writes all of these movies and sometimes he does and awesome job, like Expendables 2, and sometimes I think he craps out something. 3 wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing. I think it really needed an unexpected cameo, like from Jesse the Body Ventura or Steven Seagal, (but I think Steven Seagal is a little out of action hero shape, if you know what I mean). The one thing it was missing that I also really wanted was a training montage. It would have been AMAZING if the old team did a training montage where they got into better fighting shape, and then Dolph Lundgren should have been running on a treadmill with the incline getting steeper and steeper and I would have screamed with happiness. (If you get that reference, you're my new best friend)

(Don't care, it was still better than 95% of the action movies out there today)

Alright folks! Have a great Labor Day! Picnic if you are, enjoy your 3 day weekend and wear all the white pants! Boots and leggings are coming!!

By the way, don't forget to stop by tomorrow! I have a great give away starting!!

Linking up with these awesome ladies!

Five Thing Friday

Well, I have been keeping with the theme of not posting anything this week until the middle of the afternoon. Go me. I'm sure this is one of those terrible blogger no nos. NEVER BLOG AFTER 3pm! OMG!!!

Well, it's Friday and I have a belly full of meatballs, so all is good in the world. I even had some one on ones today and spread some love. I WAS going to order some cookies from Insomniac Cookies but they stop delivering a mile away from my office. I could go to the ghetto at the edge of their deliver area and wait for them, but I won't. Not that there's anything wrong with the ghetto. heck, they can get cookies delivered and I can't.

So, 5 thing that are going on this week.

Creeper Job Seeker Guy - I posted an open position on LinkedIn and this guy InMailed me. It was fine and I sent his info to the recruiter. Here's the creepy part. HE CALLED MY DESK. Someone, somewhere gave him my work number and he called me. I don't even know my work phone number. I haven't written it down anywhere or put it on the interwebs. The only place I've distributed it was in the fishbowl for free bagels at Breuggers. So unless he pulled my card out of the bagel drawing, I have no idea how he found me. I'm a little freaked out and needless to say, I won't be offering him an interview.

The cleaning lady follows me and closes the bathroom when I really have to pee. - EVERY DAMN DAY. I swear she follows me and knows some secret cleaning lady short-cut that lets her enter the bathroom seconds before I do. The I have to do the pee dance down the hallway to the other bathroom.

My Dog still hates you - Sorry folks, I know she's cute but Cleo doesn't like you. We were in the car Sunday after the dog park and Kev and I stopped for bagels. I was waiting for the lady in the car next to me to get into her car. She saw Cleo and started baby-talking to her. "Ooooo look at the baby, I didn't know you had a baby in the backseat." (The door was closed and the window rolled up) and I heard her start to growl. Then Cleo gave her best Cujo imitation. The lady jumped back and nearly peed herself. Kev and I apologized, she's just really protective. (and apparently hates baby talk)

Pumpkin Spice is the new Christmas carol. Every year my mom would complain that they would put out the Christmas stuff earlier and earlier. Instead of being after Thanksgiving, you would get Christmas carols and decorations the first week of November. Basically everything after Halloween is fair game for Christmas. Now we're getting pumpkin spice everything earlier and earlier. Starbucks started with the PSL this week and this morning I went to Dunkin Donuts for my coffee and was surprised to see that all the pumpkin was out. Well, not really, but I swear we used to enjoy the summer through Labor Day, THEN all things pumpkin came out. I love fall as much as the next gal but come on now.

Salted Caramel Blue Diamond Almonds - EAT THESE! EAT ALL OF THESE. I stopped at Target Monday and picked these up along with some other work snacks. They're seriously amazing and I can't stop eating them. Do yourself a favor and get some!

If you have it off, enjoy your long weekend! I know I will!

Linking up with:

Wednesday Confessions

I've been in training class the last few days and super busy at night this week. Needless to say, ye olde blog has gotten a little neglected. However, I LOVE Wednesday confessions and the blog hop and I have to fire off a one on my lunch.

Before we get started, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY KEV!!!! I can't believe it's been 8 years. I really can't believe that someone could live with me and my... quirks for that long. :) LOVE YOU!

Confession - I don't like to take no for an answer. Some people might look at it as being aggressive, some people call it stubborn, I call it persistence. Case in point. I went to Earth Fair to get some meat and decided on a bacon wrapped, Greek marinated Turkey medallion skewer. (Yes, it's delicious)

Here's my convo with the Meat Counter Man:

Me - So how do I cook this?
MCM - There's instructions on the sticker.
Me - Cool
MCM - You can grill it.
Me - No Bueno, I don't work the grill by myself. Can I put it in the oven?
MCM - I guess.
Me - How long would I cook them?
MCM - Ehhhhh, until the juices run clear
Me - How long is that?
MCM - You should check it
Me - How long? In an hour, 5 minutes?
MCM - Check it often.
Me - What temperature should I cook it?
MCM - Until it reaches 165 degrees inside.
Me - OK, what should I set the oven to?
MCM - Medium
Me - MEDIUM? Set the oven to MEDIUM?
MCM - Or Medium High
Me - OK, to recap, I should set the OVEN to medium, leave them in there for an undetermined amount of time, anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour and check them periodically until the juices run clear, whenever that happens.
MCM - Looks scared and nods.

In my defense, I'm not trying to be aggressive, I just want instructions on how to cook the damn meat. You are wearing a white jacket and a paper hat, I assume you know more about meat than I do. I rely on your expertise to guide me towards a delicious meal that won't give me food poisoning. Is that really too much to ask???

Confession - I'm loud. I really don't think this is a confession to anyone who's ever met me. I'm not the shy quiet flower type. Kev swears that my voice carries at a different frequency than the rest of the population, that's why it stands out over everyone else. And I'm not sorry about it. I'm not sorry for being me.

 

 

Confession - I'm not really the "nurturing" type. Kev called me out on this after like our 4th date. Thankfully he didn't run away screaming afterwards. I care about the people and things I care about but I don't get upset by things happening in the world. It sucks and is terrible but I don't really have 'feelings" about them. If you've ever taken the Myers Briggs test, I'm a text-book ENTJ. Thinking over feeling, I just don't have the feels gene. Don't get me wrong, I can tear up with the best of them (OMG, when Clara answered the phone and it was #11?!?!?! So many feels, damn you Moffat.)

 

I also don't know what to do when people cry in front of me. I really don't. When I have to have tough conversations with people I bring a box of tissues so I can awkwardly push them across the table when someone starts to sob. I can try a one-armed hug but we're both going to feel worse afterwards. 

 

 

That's all for me today! Don't forget to head over to Fitness Blondie and Vodka and Soda for the blog hops!

 



Outlet trip

So, it's Tuesday and my PC is off with Compucom. Blah, blah HDMI port died on my laptop. It's lunch time during training and no PC means no catching up on emails, but it does mean blogging from my phone! Yay for you.

Since I have "clothes" in the title of my blog, it's about time I do some clothes posts. In hindsight, it probably should be cookies, cardio and coffee. Side note,

one day, at my old job, we planned a "fun day" where we gave put random things that started with a C and didn't tell them why. It started with cereal and chocolate milk, we did candy cigarettes, cap guns, Chinese finger traps, chicken fingers and Creed CDs. There was talk of clymedia but thankfully no one had that to give.

Alright, what did I get at the outlet mall? Let me tell you, I LOVE when people post pictures of their hauls. Either on Black Friday or from the grocery store, I seriously love it. 

As I was taking my poorly lit bedroom pictures, I was proud that stripes only made an appearance twice but I've apparently gravitated towards green this season. Huh, I'm usually more mustard this time if year.

I was pretty successful at Loft, Talbots and NY and Co. It was odd, I usual strike out at NY and Co and Banana didn't have anything. I always have a hard time walking out of Banana Republic empty handed, not this day.

First up, this sweater - top from Loft. It's a pretty real color and the arms and back are sweater material and the front isn't. Hard to explain but really cute on. I think I'm going to pair with a black skirt or pants.

This was $20 off and I got a Medium

I wandered into Talbots on a whim and found this dress marked down on the 60% rack. I think it ended up being $32. I got this one in an 8 petite which I'm definitely not. Talbots sizes things for people built like Bea Arthur and their regular skirts come mid calf on me. They're also generous in their sizing (and this dress stretches). I'm wearing it now with a black cardigan and a chunky black necklace. BTW, I'm on the lookout for a chunky sparkly necklace. If anyone has a suggestion, let me know.

Navy pants from Talbots because I've been looking for a pair for WEEKS. Got these in a 10-curvy (which I am) and they were also 60% off. Yay!

Super cute polka dot skirt from NY and Co. I'm not usually a fan of pencil skirts but Kev said this was a yes. I got the 10 because it's a pencil and this gal has hips.

Kev wasn't a fan of this shell but I think it'll be super cute with black pants and a 

Black cardi. Or some other neutral colors. I ended up with a Large in this one and I think it was 40% off.

I have a love hate relationship with the Loft right now. They vanity size and I know and ignore that fact. I can buy 8s there and keep up the facade. However, I'm looking at more blouse-type shirts and everywhere else I need a large. Not here. At the Loft I'm swimming in a large and the mediums are tight in the hips. Grrrr. I know, lose those 10 pounds and it won't be an issue. 

This top I did end up with the medium and it was 25% off. Cute colors for the fall.

NY and Co had a special on cardis, $19. I ended up with the emerald green one in a Medium.

Finally, the blouse I got from the Limited last week. It's black and blush strips and there are tiny polka dots all over it. Super cute and 40% off. I also got $25 in Limited Cash to use later. :)

That's all for me as my haul! 

Have a great Tuesday!

Outlets, yay or nay?

Love or hate vanity sizing?

Scenes from the Weekend

I'm not sure if anyone really cares about what I did on the weekend, but the over-sharer that I am can't help herself.

So, what did I do this weekend? Saturday I slept in and it was glorious. So lovely. Kev woke me up wanting to go to breakfast, and since I talked him into a trip to the outlet mall, I hopped out of bed and got ready. We decided to go to the Smithfield outlets which are south of us which meant we had a reason to go into downtown Raleigh for breakfast.

We went to Big Ed's, a Raleigh staple. They're only open until noon, so you can't roll in late. We got there and the line was out the door but thankfully it moved pretty quickly. 

They have all sorts of old farmy equipment hanging from the ceiling. It's cool, but I keep thinking of a horror movie where all of those things start flying off the wall and impale me. I have issues...

We got to sit at Big Ed's table. I guess he already came in that day.

I ordered one pancake. Apparently if you order and eat 3 of these bad boys, you get a t-shirt. It was delicious but I barely made it through half. I ate all of my bacon though, because that's how I roll.

After I carb-loaded like I was running a marathon, off to the we went. I had quite a bit of success at Loft, NY and Co and Surprisingly, Talbots. I was trying to convince Kev that my new job needed new, more professional clothes. He slightly agreed. :)

I think I'll do another post of what I got since this one is getting pretty lenghty. :)

On the way home, we stopped at Smithfield BBQ for lunch. I continued my carb loading and ate all the fries. Because I love fries. Fries and salt. om nom nom... I did eat the pork off my sandwich and tossed the bum. I forgot I could just get a pile of pork and fries.

After we got home it was a quick turn around to Walnut Creek Amphitheater to see... REO Speedwagon and Chicago. OH YES, WE DID.

I'm gonna be completely honest. I had low expectations for the show. It was $20 for lawn seats and Kev hadn't ever seen Chicago, so we figured, why not? Let me tell you, those old dudes ROCKED for like 3 hours. REO Speedwagon was really good! I was thoroughly impressed by how they hadn't lost it. 60+ years old and they put on a great show. Then Chciacgo came out and they KILLED IT too! Their horn players are 70 years old and amazing. I couldn't believe how good they were. We saw Def Leppard and Kiss a few weeks ago and it was just sad, Chicago more than made up for it.

Sunday morning I woke up, made pancakes and then it was time for....

 

YESSSS!!!!!!!! New Doctor Who!! OK, Like everyone, I'm wary of this new Doctor. I think he'll be OK, but I'm not sure, I mean it took me a while to warm up to Matt Smith, and he was OK, but I'm definitely a David Tennant gal. So, what did you think?? It was a pretty good first episode for a new Doctor but I found the plot lacking. And I didn't understand why Clara was so freaked out that he was old, she's seen all of his incarnations, this shouldn't be a surprise.

After my Doctor Who watching, it was time for a run. The weather was fantastic Sunday, a lovely, overcast 70 degrees, how could I not head out? Kev dropped me at Whole Foods and he took Cleo to the dog park. I ran there to meet them. By the time he drives there and I run, she's had about enough of the other dogs.

I was really happy with my time. It feels good to run in the mid-tens... for like a mile, then my lings disagree. I just have to get back into running shape. good news is I actually WANT to run. Last year I kept putting it off and off until I'd lost far too much speed and endurance. Not this year. I have my eyes on a sub 30 5k and a sub 2:30 half. This is the year!

WHAT WHAT??? NEGATIVE SPLITS!

I ended the evening with a trip to NCSU to talk about the alcohol policy. Good times. (It actually was, they were really happy with the changes)

Alright, off to another busy week! Hence the 9pm post.

What did you do last weekend??

Linking up!