Fill in the Blank Friday...again

Over at Lauren's blog she has been doing this Fill in the blank Friday thing. I did it last week and liked it, so here it goes again...


1. I am hoping my Valentine's day this year includes, some downtime to get some stuff done around the house and maybe going to see the movie Valentine's Day.

2. My biggest guilty pleasure are sweets! I'm thinking about giving them up for Lent.

3. I am most proud of my dog...he's smart!

4. If I could choose one outfit to live in it would be jeans, a cute comfy cotton top, and my rainbows.

5. People are annoying somtimes.

6. I would rather take a yearly vacation, than waste my money on stuff here at home.

7. I love possibilities more than reality.

40 Before 40

I only have 6 months to finish my 30 Before 30 List. I don't know if I will get everything done. I really don't. But I guess I am okay with that because I will just add them to my ever growing 40 Before 40 list.

That's right. I have slowly been making my next list. This one will be much better because I am giving myself 10 years instead of 2 to accomplish the things on the list. Do you know that if I make a list for every decade of my life from 30-70 and only accomplish 50% of the things on the list, I will have accomplished 125 things before I am 70. I think that is pretty good.

I mean if I didn't make this 30 Before 30 list I probably wouldn't have swam with a dolphin. I know I wouldn't have ever sang kareoke. I would have never bought a designer purse or the diamond earings I wear everyday (by the way, I think these purchases have actually saved me money!). I would still be avioding babies like the plauge.

I like the list concept. It makes you always keep your goals in mind and keeps you from just wasting your life away.

Here are the things I have on my next list already:
-Take a cooking class
-Learn to play golf
-Get a house with a garage and a front porch
-Host a dinner party
-Take a hot air balloon ride
-Visit all 50 states
-Ride a mortorcycle
-Visit all the NC lighthouses
-Get laser eye surgery
-Get married
-Have kids
-Get a facial
-Get a pair of Louboutins
-Learn the Thriller dance
-See a UNC/Duke men's basketball game live

That's all I've got so far. What do you think?

Have you done any of these?

Any suggestions to add to the list?

What are you reading?

So today you should head over to my Bookshelf Blog to read my latest reviews of the things I've been reading.

In case you're too lazy for that, here is the Twitter version:


Dear John: still heart Nicholas Sparks...true love ain't always easy


Flashbang: Hilarious! and I learned something!


The Story of Edgar Swatelle: made me cuddle Cam a little more each night, but the ending was not what I was hoping for.

Have you read any of these? What are your thoughts?

What are you reading?

Materialistic Monday

One of the blogs I have been reading forever - Life in Pink - has brought back Materialistic Mondays (one of my favorite things about her blog!) and has asked her readers to join in, so I thought I'd share some of my Wish List wants today. My Wish List has grown to over 50 items so needless to say I am "wanting" a lot of stuff. Here are just a few items on the list...







Eureka71b Hand Held Vacuum- $39 on Amazon.com



This is supposedly great for dog hair (which has taken over my house!


Miss Dior Che'rie Perfume- $75 at Sephora.com

I need a new signature scent and this just might be it!

Rachel Ray 6 piece tool set- $30 at JCPenney.com

I've seen the spoonula in action and it is a must have now!

Waverly Damask Curtains- out of stock at Target

These would look great in my living room.

Wii Fit

I played this at a friends house and loved it. Of course this would require getting a Wii, the Balance Board, and the game. But seriously lots of fun. The Hula Hoop game is Freaking Hilarious!!

What are your Materialistic Monday wants?

Fill in the Blank Friday

Over at Lauren's blog she has been doing this Fill in the blank Friday thing and today I thought...why not?...I've got a little time.



1. If I had two hours to myself today, I'd sleep or go see Dear John.


2. If I could travel anywhere today, I would go to St. Thomas.


3. Getting my first car is my happiest memory.


4. Sometimes you're reaching for the stars other times you're just surviving.


5. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder .


6. I would be embarrassed if anyone knew how much I weigh .


7. Love at first sight is possible.

Shine your SINK!

I’m so glad you guys are so interested in the cleaning post! I’m going to try to write about all the topics next week, but for now let’s talk clean…

At the beginning of January I discovered FlyLady.net and since I am always in a constant battle with the clutter, dust, and dog hair in my house, I figured I would give this a try. I SUCK at cleaning. I have wanted a maid for the past five years and if I ever get rich, it would be the first thing I splurge on. But that is not going to happen anytime soon, so I have to figure out a way to keep my house under control on my own. It is important because I find that when my house is out of control I am miserable thinking about the task of getting it clean and frustrated with the state it is in.

When I first discovered FlyLady, I just signed up for her emails. I will warn you, it is a lot of email! But I would read through the testimonials and missions and just doing that everyday started to get her system ingrained in me.

Last month’s mission was to Shine you SINK! People really raved about how much of a difference this one step made for them so after putting it off a few weeks, I finally did it. It is really easy…

1.Fill your sink (one side at a time) with hot water to the brim and add a cup of bleach. Let this sit for 2 hours.

2. Use a pair of tongs to pull the stopper and drain the sink and rinse.

3. Repeat on the other side of your sink (if you have 2 sides)

4. Use an abrasive cleaner like Comet to scrub your sink. Make sure to get around the faucet and the grimy build-up where your dish soap and sponge sits.

5. Take a sharp object or a toothbrush and clean out the crevices like where your sink meets the counter and in between the corners of the faucet. (kind of like cleaning under your fingernails)

6. Rinse the Comet from your sink REALLY well.

7. Finally spray some Windex in your sink and wipe it down dry.

It really made a huge difference and my sink has stayed shiny ever since! Keeping your sink shiny almost forces you to keep your whole kitchen clean. You can’t leave dirty dishes around…they must go right in the dishwasher and since you have to have room for new dishes, you must put away the clean ones right away. The key to keeping your sink shiny though is to wipe it dry with a dish towel every time you use it. It really isn’t hard to do and does make a big difference throughout the entire kitchen.

The other habit I have adopted is the Swish and Swipe. She has this as one of the morning habits, but mornings are too crazy for me so I do it before bed each night. The Swish and Swipe just consists of Swiping down your counters and mirrors in your bathroom everyday and Swishing your toilet clean. First I had to clean off my counters. I couldn’t even get to all the toothpaste splashes on the mirror because I had so many lotions, hair products, and other bottles on my sink. So I cleaned off everything except my toothpaste, mouthwash, contact solution, face moisturizer, and one hair product. I got rid of any knick knacks. I put my make-up bag, glasses case, deodorant and hair brushes in a drawer. Everything else went under the sink. But my staightner and hair dryer still took up a lot of room. So I left them plugged in but hid the cords along the wall and put them in a drawer. Now I can actually see my counter tops! I keep a container of antibacterial wipes under the sink and every night after I get ready for bed I wipe everything down. For the toilet swish, I got a brush that came with a container and a lid. I put soap in the bottom of the container so the brush is just touching it. Each night I pull out the brush and swish the toilet bowl whether it needs it or not! It’s really easy and keeps the bathroom looking neat and clean.

I’m slow with this. I should have more habits down, but some of them like doing laundry everyday just don’t make sense for me. But just those 2 changes have made a big difference. I hope to get in the habit of making my bed everyday and de-cluttering for 15 minutes each day. I also want to get into her ZONE cleaning routines, but to keep from getting overwhelmed I am keeping the pace slow.

Go check out her site and let me know what you think. Start with the Beginner Baby Steps. She also has some good products for sale on her site. I bought the feather duster and I LOVE it! I always thought feather dusters just push the dust around and had used Swiffer dusters. But those things are expensive and sometimes can’t handle all the dust in my house. This feather duster sucks up the dust into the feathers and is so easy. When you are done dusting you just take it outside and shake the dust out of it.

What cleaning routines help you keep your house in order?

What should I write about?

I have a lot of post ideas floating around in my head, but I can't seem to sit down and get them all out on paper. I am going to commit to writing one good post this week though. But I need your help deciding the topic:

1. DREAMS: I've been having really weird dreams lately...I could tell you all some of them and try to look up what they mean.

2. CLEANING: I found this FlyLady website through a blog and she has this program to get you on track with keeping your home clean and your life in order. I have been trying to follow it for a month and I could tell you about some new tips and tricks that have worked for me.

3. DATING: I have been DYING to write about the dilemmas in my on again off again relationship, but this blog is not private and I know it would make witty guy mad, but gosh I want to write about it so bad. Should I just do it anyway or stick to my "keep relationship things private" policy?

4. WANTS: I have been compiling a list of things I want. A wish list that just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I could share some of that.

5. STYLE: Lately I have been wishing I was trendy...just a rant about how I stick to comfy and easy instead of bringing out the creative like I want to in my wardrobe.

6. WEDDINGS: I spent a lot of time watching the WE channel this weekend. I am convinced WE stands for Wedding Entertainment. This would just be a post about how we have become a wedding obsessed culture and how I have even fallen into that trap.

So what is your vote?