2012 in review

So 2012 has been ... well a lot has happened in the past 366 days. (It was a leap year after all!)

Highlights & Lowlights

January. Hubby and I attended a giant Scottish Festival. We're not Scottish, Hubby is Irish (and English) but Hubby got a chance to play his Irish/Gaelic sport, Hurling. I got a chance to hang out with my best friend from college and eat fun (fried) foods all day! 

source: Scottish-American Society of Central Florida

February. Hubby ruined didn't do well for Valentine's day, as usual. He offered to "pay for 1/2 of those Toms flats you wanted. Buy them and just use half of the money from my part of the money in our [joint] account." Yeah that wasn't what any girl wants to hear. Worst part I never did get those shoes (even after my Mom offered to buy them for me), they never got them in stock in my size.

These did not wind up in my closet, despite my best efforts

Source: google images via meohmydesign

March. I don't know when but Hubby and I joined a cross training gym the beginning of 2012. For a while we kept it up, Hubby more than me, and we were both really happy about it. So I was totally working out around this time. Yay! (Boo that it didn't last)
April. Hubby got health insurance for the first time in over 8 years! (Thank you Hubs for working for a company that will pay for insurance. That's why I don't want you to leave!) He also promptly used it the day it became effective. And we wound up having to take him to ER and that bill was insane. But he's healthy! And covered. The next day was my birthday, I'm a big oldie and turned 26, I'm over a quarter of a century old now! 
May. Hubby's Dad (aka my father-in-law) was assaulted and seriously injured, he had his jaw and soft pallet broken. We were lucky that it happened on a random weekend we were in town visiting them and were able to stay a few extra days to try to help out. He's doing a lot better but without insurance or funds to pay for anything else himself he didn't follow through with the neurologist again like he should have. Fingers crossed nothing comes up again over this. The stupid drunk and horrible person that did this was never caught (he ran from town) so charges were never able to be officially be brought up. But he (my father-in-law) acts like it never happened, he's such an optimistic guy.  
June/July. We went to Atlanta! Neither of us had been before and it was a blast. (Besides killing a tire after hitting a curb at 12:30 in the morning on the drive in and the hours it took the next afternoon to replace the broken wheel hub/cover/rim. Of course they couldn't get the same part in time before we drove back so I had to buy a different kind so my car looks ghetto with one different than the rest.) We went to the Aquarium, the Coke museum, a Trader Joes (twice, I'm in love) and overall had a ton of fun. 

Personal photo. 

Hubby's car died, as in stalled out in the middle of an intersection in traffic at rush hour. Several times. We were doing the one car thing but it was killing us. We used our wedding present money for a down payment and bought Hubby the truck of his dreams. I don't dream about those payments but it's so nice to have a reliable second vehicle. And that photo, that's from the first weekend we owned it and I drove that thing myself! Thank you back up camera for the parking job. Oh and Hubby turned 26 that month as well!
September. I saw my Mom for the first time in months (since November of 2011, at the wedding). It was so incredibly nice to have her. Even though she just flew in for the weekend. It was frivolous but fabulous. 

We discovered this sign was exactly where we had to leave our grill in the middle of moving. oops!

Personal photo.

October. We moved! We were getting bored of our old house (even if it worked well for us) but we were forced out when it went into the final stages of foreclosure. Even though our rent paid their mortgage and we paid our rent every month of the 3 1/2 years we lived there. That was an adventure. But we're enjoying our new place and having neighbors that are nice. And we're actually friends with our neighbors now, it's awesome! Oh I celebrated three years at my office, that's a big deal!  
November. We celebrated our first wedding anniversary. Year old cake tasted amazing! We also made a trip to visit both of our families over Thanksgiving weekend and we drove down in the truck! While it was exhausting we had a great time.  (Hubby had to work late Wednesday so we arrived in Miami around 2:30 AM Thanksgiving morning. We also drove over 1,110 miles in long weekend.) I also got to sneak in an anniversary photo shoot at the park where we were married. We also got pictures of Zoe with us. And I got pictures of my Mom and I. The pictures have finally come back in and they're amazing. I'm going to share some soon, promise! But now I've convinced Hubby that we can get those taken each year something big happens (pregnancy/new baby, big anniversary, etc.) Totally win win!
December. We threw a holiday cookie exchange party at the new house. It was the first official party I've ever thrown at my house as an adult. We spent crazy money to get everything anyone might possibly need but everyone had a blast and it was great to accomplish everything I set out to! (Plenty adult beverage options, decorations, food, and party favors! I planned and cooked and baked my you know what off!) Oh yeah and we also had all the other holidays to celebrate this month. I made a crazy amount of latkes and shared that Chanukah traditional treat with friends and then we had a Christmas full of love and helped out a friend.

it's beginning to look a lot like ... a blog

So I can't say I get the technical side of blogging yet. Despite my best hopes (dreams) no one magically reached out to me and explained what was going on, what I was doing wrong, and what I'm actually supposed to be doing. That said I am kind of handy able to do the basics with PhotoShop so at least I can attempt to work on making this thing look pretty. And you know, like a real blog. Since I got my hands on our laptop today I made it happen. So if you're reading this, let me know what you think of the updates. Actually most of the updates are pictures. So if you have something negative to say about how I look keep it to yourself. Now if you think I'm pretty, or this is the prettiest blog you've ever seen, or something else amazing then feel free to let me know!

high five for friday

A 3 day work week. I got Monday and Tuesday off because my office is amazing with holidays off.
Presents. Hello, it's great to give but it's a lot of fun to get! *
Being a good person. Hubby's friend was without a car and all by himself in his apartment over the holiday. Hubby being the amazing person he is invited him to be with us when he made this discovery about said friend. (After sweetly double checking with me first) While our plans were drastically changed to accommodate him (aka I spent the entire time with two men acting like boys/bachelors, of which only one was, and then cooking for them the entire time) it was nice to make someone else feel loved and included over the holidays.
Crappy 3 days of work. That's right, the downside of a short work weeks is that without fail those few days you have left to work are terrible, horrible, extremely bad. They were.
Another 4 day weekend and 3 day work week! The best cure for a bad work week, a long weekend! Whoo I get Monday and Tuesday off next week, yay for a nice long weekend!

* Presents, the extended version. You'd think I'm an exercise junky off of the presents Hubby got me. I got a set of 2.5 and 5 pound weights to go on a bar, you know what you use to life weights, whatever that's called. I got exercise gloves, sporty hat to wear while exercising, workout top, workout jacket, and workout pants.

Old Navy Women's Active Compression Bermudas 

Source: via my Pinterest via Old Navy

Old Navy Women's Active Compression Jackets

Source: Old Navy

Of all of that above I only requested one (hint: work out bottoms). The pictures above are of my two favorites. (And also the only ones I know where he got them from that I could find pictures of them then.) He was very sweet and said this will help with my plans to loose weight. And will suit me well with our cold weather, I can exercise outside now! (Yay! That was sarcasm) It was VERY sweet. Still not exactly what I had in my mind of gifts he was going to get me. 

But he did get one "good" one: a curling iron! (It was the one thing I really, really, really wanted and hoped upon a shooting star he actually got me.) But as we work out (aka how Hubby is the worst at gifting me things) he got a 1 1/2" curling iron instead of the 1 1/4" I asked for.  

Hot Tools 1 1/2" curling iron

Source: Amazon

I should have asked for this had I known it existed before (seriously a purple curling iron!?!)

Hot Tools Ceramic Titanium 1 1/2 inch Professional Curling Iron 

Source: Amazon

 
I also have no clue how to use the thing so I burned the you know what out of my hands/ear and hair and did not have curls and instead had burnt hair in right angles. (I tried to do my hair Christmas day, that was an utter hair fail. I had to pull it back in braids to hide that insanity that was my hair after my attempts.)

My Mom on the other hand is the best at gifts for me. (I do admit that my Mom has had a) had 26 years to perfect it, b) a woman, and c) well she's my Mom.) She decided I needed a new hair dryer (after using mine and declaring it was the worst and she'd get me a new, better one this year).

per Kate at TheSmallThingsBlog's suggestion, my future (hopefully) favorite blow dryer ever

Source: Rusk Speed Freak Dryer at Amazon

 

 It's now been ordered and on it's merry way to my excited little hands. (I told my Mom I wouldn't order it until after Christmas because there was no use in battling with holiday mail.) And now to begin the post holiday buzz cool down to adjust back to normal life. Ugh!

battle of wills: dog vs. human

Hair cuts for Zoe are a several day ordeal, because I do her hair cuts myself. It's a battle of wills and there's only so much either of us can take of the other. So it takes a few days. I split it up over several "sessions" and they last for as long as I can still accomplishing something with her, then a break, and then whenever another window of opportunity comes around another "session".  Needless to say I put haircuts off for a while simply because no one wants to deal with something like that if they can avoid it. But I mustered my patience and decided it was time. I'm never really able to finish her cut 100%, it's more like 80-90% and no final finishing. But I'm still going to call this a success!

 

My torture grooming tools 

 

 

 Where by the looks of it someone was murdered Where the battles took place

{Insert imaginary pic of Zoe with cute hair}

Finished pretty princess! 

Note: I actually wrote this post months ago, yeah as in the last time I went to cut Zoe's hair. I never got a completed picture of her from that cut. 

Anyway, this weekend I decided while I had several days off I should try to give the princess a hair cut. So she got a bath and some hair was cut, but I wouldn't go so far as to say she got a hair cut. Also, this time I cut her hair in the middle of the living room but the torture tools remained the same even if the location changed. Doing it out in the open wasn't a smart plan because given my slightest hesitation Zoe darted out of my reach and ran for "safety". It took a lot of treats to even get what little hair was cut. 

I'd say one day I'd get good pictures of all of this, but the whole thing is such chaos I know that will never happen. What battles do you encounter in your lives? Anything as menacing as me battle Zoe for a hair cut?

My present to you

My most embarrassing Christmas/holiday memory. That should make a really great gift this holiday season to my readers. Don't mind me as I'm turning red and trying to hide in the virtual corner as I imagine everyone on the interwebs reading this.

I was living the dream childhood as a kid. I woke up, ate my breakfast, and watched cartoons before heading off for pre-school or school. (I can't exactly remember how old I was when this happened so I'm not sure which it'd have been.) My favorite thing to watch before leaving was Ninja Turtles. I loved them. Seriously loved them. 

A friend had a birthday party at Pizza Hut where we made our own ninja turtle felt puppets. It was the coolest thing ever. I couldn't believe how cool Jared was to have that as his birthday party. (Yes that was his name, I totally remember his name but can't remember what year/how old I was.) I had to make the purple one. Yeah for loving them I don't think I actually knew their names, just the colors. Well and Splinter of course, because he was the coolest of all of them! Back to the story. 

Anyway, I woke up Christmas morning (like all little kids do) at the crack of dawn, which meant I was allowed to open presents since it was finally Christmas. I'm tearing through my gifts (okay actually I nicely unwrapped everything and left the wrapping paper as intact as I could, I was that kind of kid) and one stands out. 

 Source: image via google images via MTV News

I got ninja turtle action figures. And I was DEVASTATED. "Well you love ninja turtles," my parents must have said, "Why don't you like them?" I screamed at them "Because they're BOY toys and I'm a girl, how could Santa do this!?! They're boy toys!!!!" My poor young brain was so put off over the prospect of having a boy toy (action figures are not girl toys, Poly Pockets and Care Bears and Barbies are girl dolls) I was besides myself. I probably would have loved them but I couldn't let myself enjoy them and I don't think I ever played with them. Simply because they were boy toys.

It's hard not to laugh when even just thinking about it now but at the time it was the worst thing to have happened to me ever. (Or so I thought) And for a while I had this mistrust in Santa because of this horrible horrible horrible let down. I hope I never disappoint my future children with such horrible misjudgements of gifts. But if I do hopefully it'll be as ludicrous and silly as my Christmas breakdown/temper tantrum was.

high five for friday

There's no place like home. That's kind of how it feels being back to blogging and participating in h54f again.  Here's been my week this week...

Buzzed from gifting. So I mentioned this but I was a bit buzzed from the thrill of buying and gifting things to people I care about.
Pointless Meetings. Not exactly something I'm happy about, I was mandated to attend a work meeting where I was told to be at 45 minutes early, when my boss didn't show up until 5 minutes after it was supposed to start, and where I was told I wasn't supposed to say anything but just be there. But I got flex time from that so my weekend's come early today!
Laser Hair Removal. I just bought myself a discounted package to have my underarm hairs lasered off. That's right, in several months after 5 more treatments I will never have to shave my armpits again!!!! (I was entirely too excited for this first appointment to start this. Still entirely too excited for all my future appointments for this too!)
Back to blogging, hopefully. The home computer situation hasn't really been worked out yet. But I've missed blogging (even if I haven't found my direction and haven't figured out my technical difficulties in formatting this thing). So I'm sneaking time at my work computer to try to get back into blogging.
We're alive/The end of the world didn't happen. So yeah, that didn't happen. Glad to still be around!

Because I'm in a giving mood (more like because I just saw this and wanted to share it with others in the hope that you'll laugh like I did), here's a little something:

 Source: via someecards via someone's facebook

linked up to Lauren/frommygreydeskblog's High Five For Friday

 

it's the end of the world as we know it....

So the world is going to end tomorrow, well that's what some people are saying.

Credit: via google images via wnd.com

 "Stormy Smith here with your weather. It'll be rainy and cool this week, then we'll all die and the earth will burn up Friday. No need to predict what the weather will be like Saturday since no one will be around!"

Credit: Via google images via this tumblr 

 Queen and the apocalypse, makes you laugh and cry all at once. 

Why it's okay if the world ends tomorrow
- I'll have ended my last day having happy hour with Hubby and his friends. Laughter and yummy bar food appetizers. That's okay by me.
- I didn't have to wait until I was using my walker with tennis balls on it walking down the hallway of my nursing home to find my husband. (I totally was afraid of that scenario as a child.)
- I did my nails last night so I'll have pretty, well manicured finger nails. 
- Tonight I'll go to bed snuggled with my cutie pie angel face puppy, Zoe, and my amazing Hubby. I'll sleep well, even if I'm woken up by fire and brimstone coming to announce the world is ending.
- I won't have to worry about being a "fattie" and loosing weight anymore. (We'll all be our ideal weights in heaven, right?!)

credit: via someecards.com

Sad but true, why I'd not survive the apocalypse.

Disclaimer: I do not believe the world will actually be ending. This is all supposed to be in good fun, not meant to actually scare or worry anyone. Kind of like the whole Y2K thing, or you know any of the gazillion times people have proclaimed the rapture was going to come. 

No lie to combat all the question NASA's been asked about end of the world issues they've created an FAQ page on all of them! Go visit NASA's website if you need real science based reasons why there's no need to really freak out.

 

Linking up (for the first time) to It's Okay Thursdays at A Complete Waste of Makeup

 

gifting thrill

Saturday I shopped until I dropped. Seriously. I was wearing cute yet comfortable clothes/shoes and I was dead on my feet by the time I got home. I was out all day shopping for the hubby. Like a spoiled 7 year old he presented me a long list of gift ideas. 

I'd had car troubles last week so I hadn't been able to start shopping off his list yet. Saturday I told him I loved him but Santa's elf needed to get down to business and from 10 AM until 7:30 PM were did our own things. 

Let me tell you Hubby is one lucky man. The things I didn't gift him, my parents decided to. He's getting just about everything on his list. Seriously. I'm trying to think of things he didn't tell me about to add underneath the tree! I just can't help myself, I want to make him happy. I love this season, passing it forward to those you care about (and those you don't know if you partake in a random act of kindness). There's that special type of happiness you get out of it. 

Tonight I've got to handle all the (good) ladies in my office this year. Sadly several would deserve the proverbial lump of coal but the others were good and will get something sweet for their kindness. 

Have any of you caught the gifting happiness bug?

week wrap-up

1. Holiday party at a stranger's house. That's right, I not only went to a party where I knew I'd know no one (hubby doesn't count, the couple who invited us I'd met briefly one before) and I just went with it. If you knew me, you'd know that's a huge step out of my comfort zone. And know what? I had a good time. Except for the fact that the one thing that made them all friends (their mutual church) is something that'd never be something I have in common with them.
2. It's Chanukkah. I haven't really been able to celebrate this year yet but I'm going to try. And thankfully this bad boy is 8 nights so I have a little time left to celebrate. Last night I did make latkes and it was a pain because I only have baby potatoes but it was soooooo worth it, they're delicious!
3. Bringing Willpower Back. At my office we get a lot of gifted holiday treats, desserts and sweets like crazy in December. Monday we got a box of cookies. I ate a piece of some fruit bar looking thing, decided it wasn't worth it and threw the rest out. Wednesday we got a tub of cookies from Costco (that I know firsthand are amazing) and Thursday we got containers of cinnamon buns. I didn't eat any of those! 
4. Apples. I love apples, I love fruit. But apples I have a love hate relationship with. I'll be all about them and then get tired of them. And then I'll eat another and remember how much I love them. I'm back to loving them right now. (Because I left one in my office fridge ages ago and when I ran out of snacks it was still there, still good, and yummy!)

5. Food, we need to talk. (aka I have a problem). That's the first step to recovery right? Somehow me and food don't yet have a healthy working relationship, 26 years and still no luck. I've eaten way too little and lost weight, but not happy with eating how I had as a lifestyle. So then I'll rebounding and try to eat more "normal". For the past few months I've tried the "normal" with a few splurges thing and it's clearly not worked. I gained 18 pounds this past year (with minor losses and gains in-between, I gained at least 3 pounds since Thanksgiving!). I wish I could say I ate everything I wanted this past year (and it was worth it) but that's not true. That was me half assed trying! So I'm going to try with more purpose and planning and see what happens. Because I'm not happy right now.



Linked up to High Five For Friday (even though this isn't a celebrate the week kind of post).

 

Premium channels I love thee!

So Comcast is more fun than Dish because of OnDemand. But then agian they're less fun because it took them almost 2 1/2 months to get our TV right and I think it's "fixed" totally by accident now. But Comcast is also fun because we got HBO for free for 3 months for starting with them and then Showtime for free for 3 months because they messed up. So I've got movie channels, for the first time in FOUR years. I'm so freaking happy over this it's sad. (When facing financial difficulties it takes almost financial ruin for me to consider giving up cable, it's a necessity for me, I know that's bad but I know it is and work around it.) 

I've gone premium channel happy. I've literally watched two entire series. 

The Newsroom, which I really enjoyed. I don't agree with the bad reviews it got, but all the same it's enjoyable to watch!

Source: google images via The Hollywood Reporter

And Homeland, which is addicting! I can't wait for the season finale of Homeland, what is going to happen!?!!

Source: google images via ScreenInvasion


I caught up on the entire last season of True Blood, that was ... interesting. And I've also been watching movies in between all of this. (In addition to regular tv) I've been able to OnDemand or DVR several movies these last few weeks. The ones I wanted to see when they came out but I was too busy, cheap and/or lazy to go out and see? Yeah I've seen a bunch of those. Reel Steel (not so great even with hunky Hugh Jackman, but still okay) and In Time (so bad I couldn't believe but still we watched the whole thing) are the first two to come to mind. I've got DVR timers set for at least a few more coming up in the next few days. You better believe I'm going to use this free programing as much as I can! The worst part, I'm almost seriously considering keeping one channel when the free trial ends (but can't decide which one and how I'll reason spending for it).

boots update

My Mom is amazing. Okay that's out of the way. 

I told her I was thinking about a pair of BP Nordstrom boots she rushed out to the store (even with pre-Thanksgiving shopping mess) at one of the busiest malls in the entire state of Florida just to get them for me. And then took pictures of them on her own feet to double check I was still interested. Anyway, the sad news is that as pretty as they were my calves are simply too big. They zipped, barely (I did totally hold my breath and hope that somehow that'd mean I wouldn't zip my actual leg) and certainly not with enough room to tuck any pants into them. And isn't that 80% the point of owning boots!?! So those were a no go, I'm just not sure what pair to try next. Oh and looking at the measurements of the three boots on my boots hit list the Steve Madden and Nine West are two small for me! The Aerosoles are too tall, shortie here can't wear boots that are meant to be over the knee for regular sized people!

Boot body count: 2 tried on, 5 no goes

Minor Update

So after spending WAY too much money and several days of changing responses I've got two working computers, so of, not really. The desktop is too old to do anything else more to. In fact the new plan is to wipe it clean and try to sell it, because apparently it's only good for surfing the internet now. We've got a working laptop but Hubby keeps needing it which means I haven't really used it since it came back into our house working again.

Which means we're getting closer to resolving our technical issues but not entirely there.

I'm still reading and loving all the other blogs out there that inspired me to try one of my own. And while it's fun to read what everyone is saying and up to it makes me feel less motivated for my own. I'm still not entirely sure what this blog will be/is all about. Without a concrete direction I'm floundering (forgetting technically issues preventing me from posting lately). And if I don't know what I want how am I to expect anyone out there on the interwebs to want to visit (let alone come back again)!? These are all my stupid first world struggles right now. I'll try to work through it and just wing it and get back to trying when things settle back out with the laptop.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving. The holiday season is officially upon us. From me (and my family) to you and your family: Happy Holidays!

technical difficulties

Seriously, I know that sounds so lame, but that's the best way to describe what's currently going on. 

Point A. Any time I try to insert a picture (either myself or using code/tag/whatever from another website) my formatting goes wonky and I cannot fix it no matter how hard I try. 

Pint B. Our home computers are broken. My laptop is 8 years old, so technically is runs but about as fast as a snail and loading two tabs on the internet is more than it's capable of. Hubby's laptop (all of 2 years old) no longer recognizes the internet. As in it says "No there's no internet to connect to" even when an ethernet cord is plugged directly into it! And our desktop, sturdy old boy he is, is spazing out and won't let you open the internet or any other program after you've passed the approximately 15 minute mark from when you last turned it off/on. 

Points A and B cause me difficulty (at best) to blog. (This may or may not have been written on my work computer...) 

So I haven't forgotten about you, interwebs. If I somehow I actually accidentally managed to lure anyone into being interested in my blog this includes you, you aren't forgotten! I'm working on fixing things (aka trying to see if we can pull savings to buy a new computer or how much it'd cost to fix one of the three) and I'll be back as soon as I can!

our second big adventure

Last November I married my wonderful husband and the very next day we left for our honeymoon. He had never left the country before (despite having gone to Alaska he flew from the US into Alaska, who does that!?) so I was determined to make that happen for our honeymoon. Which is how we found ourselves aboard the (at least at that time) largest cruise ship in the world, the Allure of the Seas, for 7 days while we visited exciting and exotic Caribbean locations. 
 

I figured I'd share a bit of what I was doing, roughly around this time, last year: wedding and honeymoon!

 

Life is a constant adventure. Some of our adventures are more exciting or life changing than others. But even those small adventures, those "blips" in your day or week, add up. Those small moments that seem insignificant add up to become the real force of change and growth in your life.

First stop the Bahamas! After a crazy adventure of last minute booking our excursion (that's the fancy name for what cruises call planned trips) then following what it said and then finding out we'd in fact missed the only bus to take us to our excursion by several hours we finally made it to Atlantis which is on Paradise Island. It really was very beautiful, minus our inability to enter the waters on the beach due to red flags. We bought a crazy overpriced drink in a coconut shell, that was truly AMAZING. I fought my husband over those meager 3 ounces (maybe not much of an exaggeration, truth being told) because they were pure gold! The aquariums were really great as well, we went for the unguided tour (saved good money for an already expensive excursion just simply for the Atlantis entrance fee) but were able to skim around other tours going on to get the fun info!

Onto the US Virgin Islands, St. Thomas to be exact. Our excursion (this time we cheated the system and booked it ourselves with a private company not through the ship and saved a bundle! thank you interwebs!) was a guided bus tour through the islands, a few hours shopping in the city downtown, and a few hours on a world renowned beach. Whenever you go on a cruise to a Caribbean island all the locals think you must be crazy loaded. It's fun to play a game of playing tourist, of a crazy rich tourist like they all think you are! "Oh no honey, I'm not sure about this {$80,000} necklace. You did say I could get one treat this trip but I'm just not sure this is it." I know it's a bit cruel to the salesmen thinking they may have scored a great deal for a sucker from the states but it's still a fun game to play! And suffice it to say we bought nothing crazy, just trinkets and magnets. But the view from the mountain top was amazing and so was the view on the beach at Magen's Bay. As we came in the morning it'd rained and it scared most of the other tourists away. Which turned out great because the beach only had a few hundred people, instead of thousands, like it would have had. 

Even though we'd had a day at sea by the time we reached the French/Dutch St. Martin/St. Maarten we were too exhausted to do an entire day entire island adventure like we'd had planned. So instead we totally ditched the excursion and rolled off the ship when we felt like it, walked to the nearest city, and just rambled through the town. It really was a beautiful island but the heat was oppressive and it wasn't even an unusually hot day (for them at least). And this is coming from the girl that grew up in Miami! Anyway after looking around the many shops, taking a break for some tropical drinks (so yummy!), we were ready to go back to the ship, but too lazy to walk the mile back. So we took a boat taxi! 

Not to be outdone by any one destination we had two more days aboard the boat before our honeymoon ended. And that ship is a vacation all on it's own! We ate on the Johnny Rockets on the ship (yes it seriously has one) and my husband, ever the go-go-go always busy guy, was almost always on the sports deck playing something. Each time he competed and was first or second place he'd get a gold or silver metal. He got a lot of gold medals. And since the sports deck was next to the pool deck where our table mates for dinner would spend their days (sunbathing and getting crazy drunk) we'd always pass by them when he got another medal. The last night one of the guys had made the kids station give him craft supplies and he made that award medal for my husband. The smaller award he made for me, it says "side kick" since most of the time I was just sitting on the sidelines watching. (Napping or reading or just watching in the shade was so much more fun!) Most of the craziness wasn't documented, we were having too much fun to take a picture. So things not captured: there's a rock climbing wall, zip line across the ship, water theatre (think Cirque du Solei), Broadway equivalent theatre, ice skating rink, surf simulator, mini golf, and so much more! Then we finally came back to reality, sort of. 

We spent the next week with my parents on our extended vacation since Thanksgiving was that week. So much build up to the wedding and then such a great long honeymoon/vacation afterwards. It was so incredibly hard to drive the 8 hours back home and return to work and real life! 

these boots were made for walking

This was originally just about boots but I decided to change it to "Friday Faves".

Part 1. My current craving: boots! Anyway, here are a few pairs that are making me most especially want to take them home and make them mine:

Baking Sota Boots by Aersoles @ Macy's, picture via thestylecure

Watermelon Tall Boots by Nine West @ Macy's, picture via Macy's.com

Inspirre Tall Boots by Steven by Steve Madden @ Macy's, image via Macy's.co

 What do you think of these beauties? Love them? Hate them? Have an even better suggestion? (Know of a crazy sale or deal that'd get me any these for el cheapo?)

Part 2. This song/performance. I cannot get enough of it!

Bruno Mars "Locked Out of Heaven" performed on SNL

high five for friday

With the whole lead up and resolution (so to speak) with the election this week it's kind of hard to think of anything else that happened!

Why!?! Two pollsters came to my house, separately. Both wanted me to answer their questions which were crazy and something like "Besides the economy and foreign policy and everything else concerning, which of these topics most matters to you?" The second one didn't believe me when I said less than an hour before someone for that same campaign did this entire thing with me. She seriously didn't believe me! And it made me kind of mad I'd voted for their person. Sort of. But he lost anyway. Whick means this might be true for them. via someecards

Four. Not to get all political, I think enough has been said and I don't want to force my opinions on anyone, but I'm really happy things turned out the way they did. Four more years! That's all I'm going to say on that. (I am a total bleeding heart crazy conservative social worker after all.) via stuff.co.nz

Hair. It's now officially been a week since I cut my hair. I think I like it. Well I don't hate it. It being shorter is something I'm still getting used to. But even "eh" different is different, keeping things interesting. (Oh yeah, it was an Aveda salon I went to. So my hair wasn't the best but it smelled great!) via aveda

One week down. So this happened. Again I refuse to actually admit this occurred or that I plan to try to follow through on this (as I don't feel trust worthy enough to comit all the way to this, especially with winter starting here).  personal photo

linked up to Lauren/frommygreydeskblog's High Five For Friday

 

hair drama

I've had a bad track record with my hair and hair cuts. Throughout my childhood my Mom cut my hair. Then I'd go to Super Cuts with her and get my hair cut and she'd "trim" my bangs in between. When I went to college and (tried to) come into my own I decided I was going to grow my bangs out. I also got tired of dealing with my bangs (that got dirty before the rest of my hair did and always needed trimming to stay out of my eyes). 

via google images

 It wasn't fun (it wasn't horrible either, but then again it was years ago so it's kind of fuzzy) but I did it. And I vowed that I was never getting bangs again. And then every celebrity since then seems to have gone with the long swept bangs that look amazing. I stayed strong and kept my no bangs policy. 

I had a fabulous hair cut shortly after this. I'm not sure why but everything went perfect. It was a new girl, new place for me, got an amazing hair cut, my hair looked amazing for DAYS (I didn't wash it for fear of ruining my new hair beauty), nothing I did affected how great it looked. I went back to her again, each time I asked for the same cut and got different results. Never bad but never "omg that's fabulous!" again. 

So began my hunt to find a new hair dresser. And so also began my hair cut mis-adventures. 

I let my sister-in-law cut my hair. She had graduated from beauty school a few months prior to our visit. It was the first time I'd met her and when she offered I didn't think to say another other than "yes". Of course silly me thought that if she got her beauty license she must know what she's doing. Yeah, no, not at all. She gave me a very long mullet. Seriously, about where my neck is was a straight layer she cut there and then I had the rest of the length of my hair hanging beneath it trying to hide and pretend that wasn't what was going on. 

I felt like this little girl, all day every day, and my hair cut was all done! via here

When it grew out (mostly) from that I decided it was time to try another hair cut. (Not with her, though I'm sure years later she's got to be better.) I tried a new salon my new co-worker raved about. I spent CRAZY money: cut, treatment, products, and had an "eh" cut at best. I found out after the fact that place is only good for color, not cuts! (WTF why didn't she tell me that!?!) Enough time passed and I decided to try another cut. I went back to that first great salon and tried someone else, it was another "eh". 

I never had a cut this bad, but a bad on still makes you feel this way! via here

Then I got engaged. I was so incredibly afraid of another bad hair cut I was  simply too fearful to get another hair cut, from anyone! Over a year later, after the wedding, I decided since no more huge life events that will be documented and photographed for perpetuity would be going on I could risk trying another cut. I googled, I yelped, I tried whatever reviews I could access. A hip looking place downtown had good reviews. I called and asked for one of their best stylists, I had an appointment scheduled right before Christmas and I was excited for this new potential good hair. I went and it was a fabulous experience. The salon looked like something out of a TV show, like what something looks like after Tabitha comes in and takes over. Anyway, the hairdresser said she'd do the cut I wanted and I'd love it and in another visit or two she'd get me comfortable enough to do something different and drastic. Then she styled my hair in curls since my natural hair is straight to give me something different. I LOVED it. My hair looked amazing, I was so happy. 

Not an actual picture of me, I wish! But I totally felt like I was as pretty as her when I left that day! via here

I tried to style it as she showed me to get the same look: total fail. Much of that holiday season I tried and failed. It looked good, sometimes, but nothing like how she did it. Then it as my birthday and I decided I was going to legally to change my name to my married name. I decided my hair had to be just right so I set up an appointment with her and went straight from there to the DMV. My hair looked .... well it was good, but not fabulous and light years from the great first cut from her. My license picture doesn't look that great. She styled my hair in big curls and in the small picture on my license it looks, well it looks like I woke up and didn't brush my hair and rolled into the DMV.

I knew I had to try someone else. No one I knew could recommend anyone. Just so happens a friend of mine had a party and her friend that came (who I'd met once or twice before) is a hair stylist. Well she seemed nice enough, her hair was great, and she was slightly more than I'd paid the previous girls but still not crazy priced enough I wasn't willing to try her out. It was a TOTAL DISASTER. I went in and told her an abbreviated version of my hair history. I did tell her I was kind of getting bored with how I'd had my hair and was interested in maybe eventually something different. I said cutting the dead ends were fine, a few inches would be okay. She suggested a hair treatment, she swore it'd be different than what I'd tried before and it was great. So I went for it. She said it included a complimentary head massage, I was excited. (Even though I realized in the back of my head that was included with my cut in the first place) The "massage" was more like three quick wooshes of her hands in my head, the end. And then she cut my hair and blow dried it. She dried it in what I can only call a lazy manner. No brush, just her hands and the dryer randomly trying to get my hair dry, no technique (I could see) involved. 'Okay, she'll style it after she dries it.' Then she says "My next customer is here but your hair needs more time. I should have washed out that treatment more I guess, I don't want you leaving like this." {My head looked GREASY like I'd literally poured oil in my hair or hadn't washed it in two weeks. Gee thanks for not wanting me to walk out like this.} She informed me another "consultant" would re wash it and dry it for me. I never had any contact with her again, she went on her business (literally) with her next customer (a guy, they don't need much time for a cut and he totally could have waited!) . This new girl, well all I can say is I hope she just got her license because she seemed almost afraid of me and my hair. I was this close to saying "Ok hand me the brush and blower I'll do this myself". I walked out an hour and a half after walking in, with my hair cut, not styled at all, no pampering, and no apologies. I was a cash cow, I was prepared to buy all kinds of products that day and they blew that opportunity.  Around 8 that night the girl called me and checked on my hair and if that last wash fixed it, I told her I think so but I wasn't sure. She offered that if it wasn't okay to come in and they'd do a detox, complimentary of course, to fix it. 

via this

I shouldn't have gone to someone I vaguely knew. I should have complained. I shouldn't have let all of that happen. I don't hate my hair cut. I'm just not in love with it. I'm guessing the experience didn't help anything either. My hair is short (for me), I cut off something around 4+ inches. To me it seems ... so totally different. It's short, it's got layers but some are smooth and great and others seem really chunky. "Is this a whole chunky section of layers/hair here!?!" 

And so now I'm not sure what to do. Try her again? Try someone else? Who!?! Oh and in the coming weeks, what do I do with my hair? I'm having pictures taken with Hubby over Thanksgiving as part of our anniversary celebration. What the heck do I do with my hair then!?!

Weekend Update/I Wore Yoga Pants

So there's this blog, the name itself is hilarious but the blog is also pretty amazing. 

Anyway, she does this thing (weekend update) so I figured I would be that cool too I would try it myself.

Greek Food Festival. I shouldn't have to say anymore, those 3 words alone should be enough for you to know the wonderful, amazing, fabulous thing that took place this weekend. And yes I was a big enough fattie that I went for lunch Friday and Saturday. Hubby explained it wasn't just a fattie move, it was a moneybags move. Since it's so freaking expensive (but good). You know since it's $7 a gyro and we must have at least one each. We just chalked it up to supporting our local Greek Orthodox Church. And being fatties foodies. 

Pinterest Crafting (Fail). So we're doing this gallery wall. Still a work in progress. Namely waiting on hubby to hang it all. Well that and for me to do one little thing. Make a freaking letter for the wall. Because Hobby Lobby letters are too freaking small and I can't find anywhere else with larger letters. And I'm stupid enough to try it myself. For several hours I sat in the living, on the floor, with The Voice knockout rounds playing, cutting out cardboard (and cursing) trying to make my own 3D letter. To eventually be painted, a silvery something color. Eventually. Maybe. (It's still in pieces, with the fronts, top and bottom cut. No sides and I still haven't figured out how to cut and do the inside part of this A.)

Pot Pie Soup. Yes it's a thing, thanks to Skinnytaste.com and it's amazing. I went crazy grocery shopping, we're talking THREE different stores people! And yet I made this dish last night instead of something harder more complex when I realized hubby was out working (on call) all night. And yet it still took me way too long to finish the recipe, considering it's easy not that complex and I've made it a bunch before. 

Homeland. Thanks to Comcast messing up our tv (still not fixed, but that's on me since I haven't felt like waiting for 30 minutes Saturday morning at the store before they open just to be helped in a timely fashion and I'm pretty sure swapping out our dvr won't even fix things anyway!). Anyway, I've got Showtime for free for 2 more months. And this show is amazing! I'm totally addicted, but now that I'm caught up I have to wait (what!?!) for new episodes to air!

Visit Whitney at I Wore Yoga Pants

Weekend Update via Sami's Shenanigans

P.S. I'm having serious technical difficulties. Blogger makes it seem super easy to have your own blog. With the HTML stuff being optional. But it's not proving to be easy or cooperative. Trying to link to things (as good bloggers do) makes my words get all funky. Images move all over with my mouse even when I'm not clicking them or try to move them. I get 5 of that same pesky image. And the formatting goes crazy. So bare with me, I'm sorry. I've tried more times than I can count to fix this (in this post alone) and it seems like the harder I try to fix it the worse the problem gets. So if anyone has any suggestions/tutorials I'm all ears!

high five for friday

Happy Birthday Mom. Tuesday was my Mom's birthday. Happy birthday to the best Mom EVER! (I told her as much, several times)
c25k. I may be starting this. The jury is out whether I'm officially admitting this (depending on it I stick with it or not) I will say that if I were to be starting this I may be about as out of shape as a person can be because the Week 1 Day 1 program may or may not have been too hard for me to complete as is.
Zoe's Halloween Outfit. And this isn't even one of her costumes! This is just one of the most cutest doggie outfits ever that's just perfect for and this holiday!

Friends that are funny. Response from my friend from Japan about what she wants to do with my parents (and me) when she visits over Thanksgiving. She's hysterical. Sadly to hide the identity of the innocent most of her humor is lost in what I can share.
Voting. I'd jokingly say vote early and vote often. But seriously, vote. Take advantage of early voting if you want or make it out to the polls on November 6th. Either way, make your voice count and go out and vote!

linked up to Lauren/frommygreydeskblog's High Five For Friday