Friday Night Lights

I have a new obsession:

Back on Black Friday I noticed Target had the DVDs of each season for just $7/ea.  I had heard this was a great show so I bought the entire series!  I planned on watching them while I ran on my treadmill during these cold winter months.  I don't have cable or anything in my spare room but do have a DVD player and old TV.  So I figured this series would entertain me and make the time go by quicker and maybe motivate me too.

It worked!  I am about 7 episodes in now and I WANT to run on the treadmill everyday just so I can see the next episode!

And there are so many familiar faces from some of my current favorite shows!

The star quarterback is now one of my favorites on Heart of Dixie!

The coach's wife is now one of my favorites on Nashville!

There was even a guest appearance in one episode from this guy...

He is one of my favorites now on the show Suits on USA.

And I totally have a huge crush on this guy...

For some reason I just love coach Taylor!  He is the kind of man I would love to be married to.  I love his character so much!  And I see that he is going to be in Zero Dark Thirty!  Which I wanted to see anyway, but now I have made it a priority and will probably be going to see tonight!

I cannot express how much I love this show!  I was a cheerleader in high school in a small southern town.  It wasn't quite as big of a deal as it is in the show, but that certainly was what my fall season's revolved around.

And I have always loved guys that played sports.  My junior/senior year I dated the captain of the soccer team.  The fall of my senior year he was killed in a car wreck (read more about that here) and watching what the star of this show goes though after his accident (he ends up being paralyzed) has really brought back a lot of emotions around that.  I think about how much it would have hurt him if he had survived but was paralyzed or something and how that could have torn us apart.  It kind of gives me a little peace about it now and makes me realize how selfish of me it was to want him to have survived that crash at any cost so he could be with me now.  God's grace in that situation was probably him taking him so he wouldn't have to endure that.

Anyway I know I am really behind on this, but I love it and had to share!

Any other amazing old TV series that I should look into getting next once I finish this one?

How I spent my Christmas Money & Bonus

For Christmas the only thing I got was money, but that is a-okay with me because then I can pick out what I want.  I also get a portion of my yearly bonus in December and since I have such a small family and not many Christmas presents to buy, that meant I had a lot of extra cash burning a hole in my pocket.

I know I should save this money. But I had to splurge on a few things for myself.

I had been contemplating getting an e-reader for years!  Like ever since the very first Kindle came out.  But I kept putting it off.  I also had iPad envy ever since they first came out, but resisted because I thought "why do I need an iPad when I have my iPhone and a small, very portable laptop?"

Last summer I bought a Lenovo A1 tablet because I work there and they were having a awesome sale.  So combine that with my employee discount, and I was able to get it for like $100.  But sadly after just a week I decided to return it.  It's an Android operating system and I didn't want to have to re-buy all these apps I had already bought on my phone.  And it was a little bit too heavy to use for long time periods as an e-reader.

For months I was contemplating a Nook.  I almost bought the Nook with Glow Light a couple times.  Then the Kindle Paperwhite came out and I was considering that.  Then I heard they were coming out with an iPad mini, so I decided to just wait to see if I liked that better because it would be the best of both worlds and I wouldn't have to buy an iPad and a separate e-reader.

Well Sunday I had to take my iPhone to the Apple store because it was randomly losing connection to Wifi and/or 4G at least once a day and I had to hard re-set it every time it did it which got super annoying.  (For those of you who think Apple products never have issues like all other electronics, you must have never tried to visit the Genius Bar on a weekend.  That shizz was cray-cray!)  I had made an appointment for 3:30, but between parking hell and then waiting in line to check in, it ended up being 3:43 when I made it to the front of the line.  Well, their system cancels your appointment after 5 minutes so I had to wait for the next available appointment which wasn't until 6:10!!

I went and ran some more errands but there was no way I was going to lose my appointment again so I got there at 5:45 to check in.  This gave me plenty of time to get sucked in to "i want" land.  I of course went to check out the iPad mini.  I spent about 15 minutes playing with it and comparing the specs and finally decided this was the device for me.  So I finally caved in and bought one.

I did not get the AppleCare+ Protection though and now I am second guessing that decision.  After meeting with the guy about my phone (which they ended up just replacing with a new one) I am scared that I may have made the wrong decision.  Those of you with iPads...did you get the AppleCare+ Protection?  Do you think it is worth $99 for an extra year warranty and accidental damage protection?  (You still have to pay $49 to fix accidental damage and are limited to only 2 accidental claims.)

The other thing I splurged on:

Not one but two new Coach purses!  Now before you go judging me I got both of these purses with tax and shipping and handling for just $205!  A few years ago I either stumbled across or was invited to this Coach outlet site.  Every few days they invite you to these secret sales.  They usually have pretty decent deals but this was an amazing deal so I just had to get both.  

Earlier this year I got this awesome messenger bag for my work laptop for just $100.  I love it so much!  It is just big enough to fit the essentials and I love the pop of pink on the inside.

If you want an invite to the Coach Outlet site just send me your email address and I will send you an invite.  It took a few months for my other friends to regularly get invited to sales (apparently not everyone is invited to every sale and you can't access the sale if you are not invited.)  But now they get regular weekly or bi-weekly invites like I do.

Do you guys splurge on non-necessities when you have extra cash or are you more diligent about saving it?

30 Days of Thanks- Days 27-30

Remind me not to do this again next year.  Yes, it is good to look for things to be thankful for everyday, but dang it gets boring around here on this blog and there are so many other things I want to talk about, but only have time to type out a post here and there.  So I'm finally finishing up this 30 Days of Thanks and will hopefully get back to more interesting content on here ASAP.

Day 27 I was thankful for...
My Bible Study

I think I have already been thankful for this, but honestly I am so thankful for them that they deserve two mentions!  If you aren't in a Bible Study, you should get in one.  But it probably won't be as legit and awesome as ours!

Day 28 I was thankful for...
Loaded Tater Tot Burgers

(and someone to split them with!)  We went to eat at The Busy Bee in downtown Raleigh and they are famous for their loaded tater tots.  Apparently they are so famous they put them on a burger.  Umm yum!  And luckily my friend was cool with splitting it with me so I didn't do so much damage to ever expanding thighs and waistline.

Day 29 I was thankful for...
The Target Clearance Rack

I got a little sweater dress from the Target Clearance Rack last year and wore it today and got tons of compliments on it today!  Sometimes you can find real gems!

And tomorrow on Day 30 I will be thankful to...
Have a 1/2 Day off Work

I have some vacation time saved up so I am looking forward to 1/2 day Fridays for the next 3 weeks, having a random Tuesday off, and the whole week of Christmas off!  Thank God for vacation days!

30 Days of Thanks- Days 20-26

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 20 I was thankful for...
My iPhone

I know it is silly, but I rely on that thing so much.  I forgot it at home that day when I went to work and I felt like I was missing my arm.  I can hardly remember what life was like before it.  But it has it's flaws too.  Lately it has been losing connection to 3G or Wifi and I have to reset it.  And I have been dropping a lot of calls lately.  #firstworldproblems

Day 21 I was thankful for...
Happy Hours

I was supposed to have off on Wednesday and go to my moms.  But I ended up having to work to make sure everything was ok for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  I am about to kill one of my vendors today because the app we had ready for Cyber Monday is still not live.  If I would have known they wouldn't have it live I wouldn't have worked all day dang it!  Anyway, after work it was nice to go have a beer with co-workers to decompress from the day.

Day 22 I was thankful for...
My Mom

She has done so much for me and even though it is pretty much just me and her in our tiny little family, I am so thankful.  I don't know what I would do without her.

Day 23 I was thankful for...
My Black Friday Tradition with Meredith

Really I was thankful for this on the 22nd, since apparently Black Friday has crept into Thanksgiving Thursday.  One of my best friend's Meredith and I have been doing Black Friday together for years!  I'm so glad she likes this tradition too because we get some good deals even if we don't have a specific item we are going for.  This year I didn't really have a specific item I was going for except my Asics running shoes.  We went to see Twilight (I loved the ending on this one!) and then hit up Target right after at about 9:30.  I was contemplating getting their $49 Nook, but it was sold out already.  There were way more people shopping than in years past.  We hit up Dick's Sporting Goods at midnight and then went to the mall.  We were all done by 1-1:30 am.  I also scored some pretty sweet deals online at Old Navy and The Limited that night.

Day 24 I was thankful for...
Dance Parties with 3 year olds

I don't dance unless I am wasted...or apparently if I am around 3 year olds.  3 year olds don't judge you and they've got even more crazy dance moves than you do.  And sometimes you just need to dance.

Day 25 I was thankful for...
A day off

I was going to clean and put up my Christmas stuff on Sunday, but instead I went over to a friend's house for lunch, went to the grocery store, walked on my treadmill, and watched some TV.  The weekend went by way too fast and I needed a day of nothing.  I can't wait to have more days like this during the week of Christmas!

Day 26 I'm thankful for...
My Health

A few weeks ago I fell while I was running.  I tore the skin off my palm and it is finally almost healed.  During these weeks of being limited to using just one hand for some things, it has made me realize how much I take it for granted.  And this weekend I slept funny and hurt my neck really bad.  Saturday I couldn't turn my head at all.  It is slowly getting better, but it was another reminder of how much I take my body and my health for granted!

Books, eBooks, CD Books?

I just posted two reviews on my bookshelf blog:

A Dog's Purpose- 5 out of 5 stars! Loved it!

The Story of Beautiful Girl- 4 out of 5 stars- Beautiful Story!

Right now I am currently reading this for fun:

And listening to this on my daily commute and while driving around town:

And I am reading this one for Bible Study:

That's a lot of books huh?  It's been a while since I listened to one on CD, but I enjoy doing that because my "to-read" list is so long I would never get to them all if I didn't listen to a few.  I've been thinking about listening to books during my runs this winter too, but I am afraid it won't be as upbeat as I need it to be to keep going!  What do you think?  Do you listen to books?

I've also been wanted to give in and get some sort of eReader.  It is between these 3:

Nook Simple Touch with Glow Light- $119

Kindle Paperwhite- $119

iPad or possibly the iPad Mini- ??

Do you guys use an eReader?  Do you like it?  If you have an iPad, do you use it as an eReader too?  Any recommendations are welcome!

Summer Beauty Box

A few months ago I saw a lot of bloggers posting pics on instagram of some goodies they got from @Influenster.  I signed up too but didn't hear anything for a long time.  Then out of the blue I got an email that I had been selected to get a Summer Beauty Box. I was so excited to get my box and it had a lot of good stuff in it!

I tried out everything and liked it all.  Here is what was included and my thoughts:

1. HAWAIIAN TROPIC SILK HYDRATION LOTION SUNSCREEN- I finally got to try this out at the beach last weekend.  And I was so glad I had it!  The day before I had used my typical Coppertone Spray SPF 15 sunscreen and I got burned!  In weird ways where I guess I had not sprayed well.  It was gross and I looked like I had a disease.  So the next day I slathered the Hawaiian Tropic SPF 30 on before we even went out.  It was think, moisturizing, not greasy, and smelled really good!  And best of all I didn't get burned but did get a little color!  This might be my new go to sunscreen!

2. TAMPAX & ALWAYS RADIANT COLLECTION- Tampons aren't the most exciting thing in the world.  I have been a pretty loyal Tampax user for years.  I like the Pearl and Compact ones.  These were really cool though because the pouch they come in is discreet, cute, and re-seal-able which I liked.  I wish they would make this in the compact variety and it would be perfect!  They also gave us a little pink pouch that I guess you are supposed to carry them in?  It was a little big to carry around everyday though so I just have it in a basket in my bathroom in case I ever need a small pouch for something.

3. SALLY HANSEN MAGNETIC NAIL COLOR- So the first time I tried this color I didn't understand the magnetic effects part and I just painted my nails with it like normal and thought it was a good, shimmery purple polish.  Well then I saw pictures of what it was supposed to look like.  I had to google it to find instructions on how to do it.  Basically you hold the magnetic top over the polish while it is wet and it creates this wave effect.  It was really cool!  I just wish they included some instructions or something!

4. QUAKER SOFT BAKED BARS BANANA NUT BREAD- I eat a granola bar almost every day of the world for breakfast.  And I love banana bread, so I was excited to try this!  It was really yummy!  I haven't checked it out in the grocery store to see how much they are, but if they are cheap enough, they will be added to my regular rotation!

5. SALLY HANSEN NAILS AND CUTICLES HAND CREME- This was probably one of my most favorite things in the box.  I use it every time I paint my nails now.  It has a good subtle scent, moisturizes my hands and nails, and softens my cuticles.  I really like it!

6. CLEAR SCALP & HAIR SHAMPOO & CONDITIONER- I admit sometimes I have a dry, itchy scalp.  I use Head & Shoulders once a week and spray a tea tree oil spritz on my head when I get out of the shower every day.  I used these when I went to San Diego last month and again at the beach last weekend.  I didn't even need my tea tree oil and my scalp felt fine and my hair looked and felt pretty good despite the humid beachy air!

So there you have it!  Go sign up for influenster!  They have all kinds of different "boxes" and it was fun to try out all these new things.  I hope I get selected for another one soon!

Lenovo Pinterest Challenge!

My Pinterest Challenge for work is finally live!  It launched a few weeks ago and runs through August 17th.  You guys should go enter!  You can win a new computer and three accessories to go with it and trust me your chances are probably better than just about any other contest you could enter to win a computer in!

Let me tell you...those people who say do what you love, I don't know how working on something you love doesn't ruin the enjoyment of it a little for you.  Working on this Pinterest Challenge definitely made me hate Pinterest a little.  I was so sick of hearing about it, worrying about it, trying to make sure everything was ready and in place, pulling the metrics on it...it was very stressful.  I used to check Pinterest and pin everyday and now I am lucky to get on there once a week!

Some of it was fun though.  I threw a Pinterest Party for my co-workers to get them excited about the contest.  Everyone brought something to eat that they had found on Pinterest (well, most everyone.  There were some moochers.)  It was fun to try everything.  My favorite by far were these cookies:

Source: hotpolkadot.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

I hope at the end of all this, the contest is a success. It's a great prize! I have been trying to win a computer at various internal contests at Lenovo for two years, but unfortunately I am one of the most unlucky people I know.

I finally gave in and bought a new computer a few weeks ago and I love it. It's different, and cute, and light enough to take anywhere. It is just perfect for me! It is last year's ultrabook and I got it on our outlet site a few weeks before our new ultabooks launched. The new ones are super stylish too!

 Here are a few pics of mine:

So go enter the Pinterest Challenge and win one for me!  If I could enter here are the items I would pick:

This thing is so cool! 27" touchscreen and folds completely flat!  Although I would take one of the ultrabooks too!

Everyone needs Microsoft Office!

I think these little speakers are so cute

This multimedia mouse/remote thing is really cool!

What would you pick?  Go check out the other options you can win HERE!

And no, you don't have to be a student or going back to school to enter or win!

And if you don't win, but want to buy a new computer, email me and I will give you my employee discount!

Friday Letters

Dear Target-

You are a genius.  You knew I would never sign up for a stinking credit card, so you came up with The Red Card.  Now I can save 5% on all my purchases AND get free shipping on my target.com orders??  Thank you and I hate you for making it so easy to spend all my money on you.  I just can't quit you!

Dear Mother Nature-

I am really not looking forward to this heat wave.  A whole week of 100 degree+ days?  In June?  Gross.  I can't wait to see what you have in store for July and August.  NOT.

Dear Cam-

I love your stinking cute face.  But I hate that you can not keep your face out of my face all freaking night.  Can you please just lay down for an hour so I can have some TV time?  Is this punishment for the bad haircut I gave you this week?  Or maybe you are pissed because the heat wave is going to prevent us from taking our daily runs.  Either way, you need to take a chill pill and let me have some relaxation time.

Dear Pool-

I am so glad we have gotten to spend some quality time together this summer thanks to my summer hour Fridays.  I love you and will see you in a few.

Dear California-
I'm so freaking excited I finally get to meet you!  San Diego I will see you soon!

Dear Readers-
I'm so sorry I have sucked at blogging.  I'm going to be back to normal posting with some awesome stuff next week.  Thanks for sticking with me through this quiet period!  Hope you have a freaking fabulous weekend!!

Obsessed with Coconut!

It all started when Amber tweeted about being obsessed with these coconut popsicles.  I LOVE coconut and they sounded heavenly so I asked her what kind.  Ladies and gentlemen...these are awesome!

They are only 120 calories and so yummy!  I also love the strawberry ones Edy's makes too and those are only 80 calories.  I tried the Pineapple too but was not a fan of those.

I also have been rushing to work the past couple days and got lazy and stopped at Dunkin' Donuts 4 times in the past 2 weeks.  Big mistake.  I always get the same thing- a medium caramel iced coffee and a toasted coconut doughnut.  The stupid doughnut has 300 calories and the iced coffee is 260 calories!  Ouch!  I don't even want to know how much sugar that lovely breakfast has.  I need to rule out the Dunkin Donuts stops ASAP!

At home, I put some coconut air fresheners in my wallflowers and I swear for the first 2 weeks it smelled like walking in to a tropical vacation every time I walked in to my house.  I can't remember if they were the Island Colada or the Vanilla Coconut ones from Bath and Body Works so I just ordered both because they were on sale for their Semi-Annual sale!

I also got 3 different kinds of coconut shower gel and a coconut air freshener for my car!  Along with some other stuff.  I got 14 things for about $50!  Awesome sale!  You should check it out!

Are you loving coconut too this summer?  What other coconut things should I know about?

Weekend of shopping

I have been so busy!  At work, at home.  I'm so busy I can't focus.  I need to focus.

Luckily I only have one more work day this week.  Thursday I am leaving for a mini-beach vacation for a wedding of two of my good friends at the beach.  They have been dating for like over 10 years so this is a long time in the making.  I am excited to finally get to see them tie the knot!

This weekend I had to find shoes, a dress, and accessories.  It was a full shopping weekend and I was exhausted.  I discovered I love a lot of Jessica Simpson dresses.  Who knew!? I couldn't find a picture of the one I ended up getting, but here are two of the runner-ups:

And guess what?  I found the Khol's shoes I love!  I will be wearing one of these.  I haven't decided which yet:

Source: kohls.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

I still don't know what I am going to do for a purse yet.  I have some options but haven't decided yet.

I also bought some new nail polish and a new comforter for my bed (random I know! but it was an awesome deal- only $60 for the whole set!)

I need your help though web sleuths!  So many of you were able to find some of the items I couldn't find on Pinterest, so I figured I'd ask for your help with this one.

A few years ago I got this Furla wallet in Dubai.  I LOVE it because it has these cool accordion style credit card slots that make finding and getting my cards in and out so easy.

But I can not find one like this anywhere!  I really want a new one because I got nail polish on this one this weekend, freaked out, and wiped it with a nail polish remover pad.  Yeah, not good on leather.  Plus as you can see the one I have is white and is getting very dirty anyway.  I was wondering if any of you super sleuths would have better luck than me.  If you find it, please send me the link!  I'll owe you BIG time!

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- Pinterest Frustrations

You guys know I love Pinterest.  I use it daily.  I pin items I am inspired by, quotes I like, ideas for if I ever get married (ladies there is NOTHING wrong with having a wedding board on pinterest- you are just saving ideas, not planning your wedding and I think you will be MUCH more prepared and less stressed when you actually do have to plan your wedding)...ok rant over...I use it for recipes I want to try, ideas for if I'm ever a parent (again, I see nothing wrong with this), ideas for the holidays, ideas for planning parties, and many other things.

If you haven't already...  

I have 23 boards right now.  Is that excessive?  One of my boards is called "i want" I pin things here that I am considering buying in the near future (not "oh someday ideas").  Over the last two weeks I have had two items I've pinned sell out before I could go back and buy them!

Source: oldnavy.gap.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Would have been sooo cute!

Source: kohls.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Why did everyone else have to love these as much as me?

I was so sad.  I guess I will have to remember if I see a lot of people re-pinning something that is a sign to not delay and buy it now or else it will be gone!

I also have a problem pinning things and then never being able to find them for sale.  Like these:

Source: pictureperfectbodywerkit.tumblr.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Source: loftinsoho.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Or things that end up being WAYYYY out of my price range.  I have learned to pin all clothing and home ideas onto separate "inspiration" boards because most of the stuff I like is sooo expensive and I need to just find similar items to pull off the "look".  Like these:

Source: polyvore.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Yeah...That yellow "top" is actually a dress and the bag is over $700.  Also I pinned this twice!  I hate when I do that!

And finally I hate people that just pin images...not a link to a page with more info.  Like this:

Source: i1121.photobucket.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

And if it is something I want to buy, I also hate "uploaded by user" pins.  


Do you guys have any similar experiences?   What are your Pinterest frustrations?

Clearly Fresh Bags really do work!

A month or so ago someone from Clearly Fresh Bags emailed me and asked if I would be willing to write a review of their product.  I get these kind of emails from time to time and I only say yes if it is something I think you guys will be truly interested in.  Since I have a problem with buying fruits and veggies and have them go bad before I ever get around to eating them, I thought some of you might too.

I am VERY skeptical and when I got these bags I was thinking they wouldn't make a noticeable difference.  I was impressed with them though.  The packaging was nice.  I got a good amount of bags to try out and the bags were large enough to store a lot.

I've tried them out with a variety of things: apples, bananas, cucumbers, peppers, and lettuce.

My favorite was the lettuce.  I am a sucker for the salad bags at the grocery store.  But I decided just to get a head of lettuce and tear it into salad size pieces and keep it in the Clearly Fresh Bag.  It lasted sooo long!  And it was easier to use because of the zip lock top!  I did notice a difference in everything I used it for though. It was great!

My only question is if the bags are reusable.  If I wash them out can I re-use them?  There website reccommended not washing them because the Breatheway patch won't work if it is submerged in water.  But what if I just rinse the inside out and try not to get that part wet?  Maybe I will just try it.

Either way I highly recommend these and will probably be buying more myself in the future!

Disclaimer~I received a package of Clearly Fresh Bags in order to provide this review. The opinions are my own.

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- Shopping

I have been in a shopping mood lately.  On Friday I went to Target just to pick up some things like trash bags and diet coke.  But then I wandered into the shoe section and I bought 2 pairs of shoes and then as I was walking to the check out I saw a bag I really liked and I ended up getting it too!

Right now my tiny ultraportable work laptop fits in this bag, but tomorrow I have to upgrade to a new computer.  Yes, I want a bigger hard drive (mine is completely full) and a faster processor, but this new computer is not one of our ultraportable ones.  Now only VP level and above can request those.  So I am getting the standard business computer- the ThinkPad T420.  It is a 14" and not as thin as my 13" X301 that I currently have so today is the last day I will be able to use this bag as my work laptop bag.  Oh well, I'm sure I will find another use for it.

I've also bought 3 pairs of ski pants!  We went to the outlet malls Saturday morning and the Columbia store was having an awesome sale!  I got a pair of ski boots (learned my lesson that rain boots will keep your feet dry but not warm) and two pairs of ski pants for $25 each!  The boots and one pair of pants were both originally over $120!  How could I pass up a deal like that.  And then Monday I went to Dick's Sporting Goods to see if the pink pair of ski pants I was coveting for this year's ski trip was on sale.  They didn't have a sale tag on them, but I took them up to the front to check and I am so glad I did!  I got the $140 pants for less than $40!!  Now I just have to wait until next year's trip to use all this stuff!

Speaking of ski trip, my friend Heather just posted an awesome summary of our trip with lots of pics on her blog.  Check it out here!

I am going to leave you today with a collection of things I am coveting from Pinterest.  Hopefully some of these will be in my possession soon!

Source: pshiiit.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Must have this and other neon nail colors for summer!  I can't wait to have a tan too!

Source: shop.nordstrom.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

My Rainbows are crappy now.  I need new ones and now that I've seen these, I MUST have them!

Source: pictureperfectbodywerkit.tumblr.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

If someone can find this shirt I will send you a reward.  I cannot find it anywhere but REALLY want it!