a list of things

1. We had another uneventful weekend, hanging around the apartment with the exception of Ross's grandmother's birthday party. We go crazy on the weekends, obviously.

2. I HATE GOING TO THE DENTIST. Finally had an appointment today, and let's just say I walked out with a long list of crap-that's-wrong-with-my-teeth and thoughts of "maybe I should sell my car to pay for all of this." Oh happy day!!!

3. On chapter 7 of Mockingjay - love it so far! I now have a library card, so I'm hoping to find some good (and free) post-Hunger Games reads for my Nook. And yes, I'm still reading Wuthering Heights (it kind of got shelved after I started HG).

4. Declared this week to be "healthy eating/cooking week." So far, so good. I've made two meals this week that I found via pinterest, and they both turned out great! Bubble Up Enchiladas and Lemon Garlic Tuna Burgers if you're interested.

5. Some thoughts on grocery shopping:
• I could not find anything on my list at Earth Fare. I thought I'd do my entire shopping trip there...either I am severely challenged when it comes to navigating that store, or they sell nothing I need. I only plan on going back for meat & produce, but honestly, who wants to go to two grocery stores??
• I'm done with making grocery lists on my iphone. Somehow, I accidentally check off items without realizing it, and then when I get home I end up in that "I'm so pissed off HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT" kind of mood. so I'm sticking with a paper and pen from now on.

6. (Healthy continued) I downloaded the "My Fitness Pal" app and it's helping in the calorie-counting arena. Eating less calories is important if you are trying to lose weight, but I wonder how much it's actually helping me. I'm an instant-results kind of person, obviously, since I'm asking that question after two days of cutting calories. Back to the app - I'm pretty impressed with how easy it is to find items. Tonight, I easily found the calorie information specifically for the tuna burgers from the exact blog where I got the recipe. Exciting, right?

7. There are two shows I am really liking right now: The Ricky Gervais Show on HBO, and Workaholics.

Current fave song:



Happy May, y'all!

Updates and my birthday!

Well, it's been over a month...and I wish I could say that was because I've been super busy doing all kinds of exciting things, but it's not. I've been working. Spring is our busiest time of the year, and it is not fun. But I'm surviving.

That doesn't mean I don't have a few exciting things to share, though. I'm 27 as of Monday, and we celebrated my husband's birthday in March! The only significance 27 really has is that it's three years away from 30.

As always, I decided it was best for me to buy my own gift from my husband rather than him getting me anything...aka taking a birthday shopping trip! It was all spent at Hobby Lobby on things for our apartment. I am not a decorator, so I always end up in a bland state of nothingness in-between holidays. Luckily, almost everything at Hobby Lobby was 50% off!

New lamp and mini-clock

I took Friday off, went shopping, then Ross and I ate dinner at one of my favorite steakhouses in Charlotte, Beef and Bottle. Saturday, I met up with a few friends at Cajun Canvas and created a masterpiece!

It's "Paris in the Rain," and if you look close enough, you can see the couple dancing under a red umbrella on a sidewalk covered in reflective puddles. So, that was the idea. It was my first "wine and paint" experience and certainly won't be the last! We had a lot of fun. Sunday, Ross and I had a great birthday lunch with my fam, so it was definitely a very good pre-birthday weekend!

On a side note: finally started reading The Hunger Games. Finished Catching Fire last week, and hope to start Mockingjay tonight! I've been a little distracted with our shiny new cable tv upgrade...HBO fo free (for a couple months, anyway)!

a wedding & our mini vacay

Well, February is over and I spent the first weekend of March laying around the apartment and then cleaning (have I mentioned I hate cleaning??). We kicked the weekend off with a bang and watched two new (to us) movies. We watched Bridesmaids- LOVED it...and loved Chris O'Dowd. Kristin Wiig and Maya Rudolph are also two of my faves right now. Next, we watched "Take Me Home Tonight" (with Topher Grace) on netflix. The movie was a little lackluster as far as a storyline goes, but I enjoyed the whole 80's theme. Demetri Martin also made a few very brief appearances, but he was hilarious in the small role he played.

Onto the wedding... it was fabulous. Everything went smoothly, and I think everyone loved the small/laid back vibe.

 at the reception

in front of Barley's - if you look close enough, you can see my sister and her husband dancing/making funny faces at the camera :)

The reception was held at Barley's in Spindale, NC. They have amazing pizza, seriously. and good beer. That's a recipe for a great wedding reception...who knew? I know I promised a picture of my $35 dress, but of course I neglected to get a full length shot. Guess I'll have to wait until my sister gets her pictures.

Our trip to Myrtle Beach (immediately following the wedding) with Ross's family was a much-needed winter break. We spent most our time hanging out, shopping and eating. Ross's brother, who recently moved to New Mexico, was also able to go with us, so it was just a good time all around with the whole fam!

Sadly, I didn't get around to any reading while we were there. At this point, I'm trying to decide what to take up next (even thought I am STILL reading Wuthering Heights). The Hunger Games or The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo?? Or something else?

I am counting to down to whenever/wherever it is we go on vacation this summer...

a shiny, brand new year!

Happy 2012 to you all! Hope everyone had a very relaxing and stress-free holiday. Ours felt crazy busy...four family get-togethers. Thanks, marriage. I do love every second of it, though. I managed to squeeze in a few days away at my grandparents' mountain home. Definitely needed that, but it wasn't long enough (it never is).

Christmas in the mountains

Those few days away gave me time to enjoy my new Nook, which I actually AM using. Currently reading Wuthering Heights and loving it. It was actually kind of witty here and there in the first few chapters, which was a bit of an unexpected surprise. I'm only on chapter ten, so I have a ways to go. Not sure what book is next...so many choices!

Other Christmas gifts I'm enjoying include

my Minnetonka Moccasins/slippers, and my new pink Snuggie, for starters. The pink was a welcomed replacement for my camo one. Somehow I always manage to wind up with Snuggies after Chinese Christmas/Dirty Santa/whatever-you-want-to-call-it games.

Now for my Minnetonka mini-advertisement (can I get paid for this?). The moccasins have lived on my feet for the past four-ish days because they are amazing. They are toasty warm, soft enough to be bedroom slippers but durable enough to wear out, and they molded to the shape of my feet after a few wears. Five stars.

And...I jumped on the Keurig bandwagon! Didn't feel like that warranted a picture. It really just made sense, especially since my husband is not a coffee drinker. Best part...I don't have to wash the darn thing out everyday. I know, how lazy is that? But for real.

As for New Year's resolutions, I'm still thinking about those. Really, if I had any, they'd mostly be things I've been trying to do all along. Come up with a cleaning routine, wake up earlier, go to bed earlier (obviously I'm trying real hard), eat healthier, the norm. Maybe it would help if I set goals. Well, resolutions or no resolutions, last year was wonderful and I hope this year is even better. 

last update before the holiday madness begins

We have been busy since not long after Thanksgiving. Busy, and I've been tired. Not that ten+ days without a post is a rare thing around here. Between work and getting ready for Christmas, there hasn't been much time.

I did really well this Christmas in terms of shopping. Really well considering I'm usually a day-before-Christmas marathon shopper. With work and an hour-long commute home at the end of the day, I realized there would definitely not be time for that. I wouldn't say I started early, but it's one step closer, so maybe next year I'll have most of it finished before December 1!

Speaking of December, I cannot believe tomorrow is the first day of winter and it's supposed to be 70 degrees here. This is ridiculous, and I hate it. Honestly, ever since I moved back from Boone, there have been several heavy sweaters I can't even wear because it just doesn't get that cold. I like the seasons, winter included, and I at least want to be able to comfortably wear a sweater and a cute scarf or something without burning up. Snow would be nice, too, but I realize the chances are slim.

The next item on my list of things to talk about is: Merry early Christmas to me, I have a Nook! I bought it yesterday. Just the Nook Simple Touch. I really like the Kindle Fire, but I don't want to feel like I'm staring at another computer screen after I've stared at one all day. I like that the basic e-readers look so much like book pages, and I'm kind of disappointed that the Fire, etc don't have an option to somehow switch display modes. Someone get on that.

I guess if I decide I want a tablet, I'll spring for an iPad. I got some funny looks from everyone some people (namely my husband) when I told them I wanted a Nook, because I'm not big into reading. But maybe now I will be? Seemed like good logic for purchasing one. Haha. In all seriousness, there are a lot of books I want to read, and this just makes them way more accessible. First on my list is (free, of course) Wuthering Heights. Don't ask me why, because I realize it's kind of random. I'm also excited to get into this whole library thing, I guess I need to get a library card so I can borrow via my Nook. Yay reading!

This weekend (and beginning of next week) is going to be a whirlwind of traveling and family get-togethers, and I'm excited to see everyone and spend a few days in the mountains. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!! I'll leave you with our we-didn't-send-out-Christmas-cards-so-I-posted-a-picture-on-facebook picture:

ps. our bow is red, not pink. (it kind of looks pink in this picture, doesn't it?)

Dumbledore is not gay.

So umm...Dumbledore is gay?? J.K. Rowling supposedly "outed" him recently when she made some kind of appearance at Carnegie Hall. Uh, really? Seriously? Completely regardless of where you stand on the issue of homosexuality, that is the most retarded thing ever. It would be different if she had really hinted at it throughout the series, or said it earlier before the books were finished. But after it's all said and done, books have been written, movies have been made...and she's like, "Oh, by the way, Dumbledore, that major wizard character in my books- yeah, he's gay." Either she is telling the truth and he really was a gay character, or it's a publicity stunt. I'm leaning towards the latter. Like I said, it would be different if had it been something she gradually brought into the series or announced before she was finished with series. But all the sudden she decides he's gay? It would be like a Disney writer going back and saying Captain Hook was a cross dresser. It just doesn't make sense. I do not believe for a second that J.K. Rowling went into the HP series with intentions of having Dumbledore be a gay character. But obviously, I am not her. I think it's just something she all the sudden decided after writing the series. Makes no sense to me. Now I'm going to get back to watching The Chamber of Secrets. I'm attempting to pick up any hints from Dumbledore's character that would imply he was gay, and so far I'm getting none.