Belated Blog Birthday...

- Apparently my 1 year anniversary of blogging was on Sunday. I missed it.

- It is fricken cold here. This means that I will be cold 100% of the time between now and June. Frick.

- I made chicken and rice soup last night. It is delicious.

- My new coat is a no go. I will be returning it on Friday. Boo.

- I am really excited for our Halloween party on Friday.

- I need to find a pair of skinny jeans that actually look decent tucked into boots. All of the jeans I have pucker funny around the knees.

- I found the cutest pair of slipper boots at GAP. I need them.

- TJ ate the gauzy stuff on the bottom of a chicken package last night. The entire thing. SICK.

- I ended up buying the Wayfarer sunglasses that I wanted.

- I also bought some Lincoln Park After Dark nail polish.

- I am loving the song Spinning by Keane.

Ugh...

Yesterday afternoon my computer kept freezing up and E and I tried everything to get it to work. Unfortunately nothing did and I ended up having to start from scratch. So. Irritating. I am really starting to hate Windows Vista.

Anyway, I mentioned yesterday that I ended up purchasing some new tops and a coat. I also made a wish list of stuff that I still want from American Eagle. I think that I am going to ask for one of their gift cards for Christmas.

Stuff I want

Stuff I Bought

Stuff...

I bought the 4th book of the Twilight series today. I thought that I had all of them except that one. Wrong. I still need to get the 3rd one.

I bought some new stuff from American Eagle today. I got a sweater, two cute tanks to wear under my boyfriend cardigans and a new winter coat. Yay! I finally found one that I like.

I am really thinking about buying a pair of Wayfarers. I have some fakies from Target right now, but I really want a pair of real ones.

I also want to get a pair of Hunter boots before winter. I have searched some sites to price them, but they seem really expensive and I can't pull the trigger.

I have day off of work today. I was supposed to go to a doctor's appointment but I ended up having to reschedule. I ended up doing some chores around the house etc. I also started my vision board for our upstairs living room. So far it is composed 100% of Ikea products. It is starting to come together though.

I am pissed that it is 5 pm and it is already half dark. Boo. Boo Urns.

I am happy that the weekend is almost here! I am going to my hometown on Saturday to get new tires, hang out with my family and hopefully hit up the outlet mall for some fall clothes. E and I also have some plans to finish getting our outdoors ready for winter. : ( Not so fun, but it is stuff that needs to be done.

I Did It...

I have been putting this off as long as I could. I bought the books during the summer, and hid them. I had read other people's comments on how amazing they were and I didn't want to dive in right away. After all of the recent comments I have read though I decided to bite the bullet last night and start reading. That's right, I held off as long as I could, but I started reading the Twilight series last night and let me tell you, I didn't fall asleep until 5 AM, I am exhausted and I am in love. I am over halfway through the 1st book and I love it. That book is seriously one of those books that you want to read a bit at a time because you will be sad when you get to the end, but at the same time you don't want to stop reading because you want to know what happens immediately.

I don't know why but I am fascinated by stories about vampires. I love that they are scary yet fascinating at the same time.

Hopefully I am not up all night again reading, but I will probably pick up the book again as soon as I get home from work. I want to get through the first and second books before the movie comes out. Speaking of the movie, I really hope it doesn't disappoint.

If anyone else is reading/has read these books and wants to discuss let me know! (I am such a nerd)

Oh, I also made the appointment for the thyroid test. I know that a lot of people have had trouble getting that diagnosis when they go to see their doctor so I just told them that was why I wanted the appointment.

Hello...

This weekend was pretty fabulous. We spent the day outside yesterday planting tulip and daffodil bulbs, we picked the rest of our tomatoes and carrots and had some friends over to grill fajitas. E and his friends ended up playing some card game so I got caught up on the show The Ex-List. Love.It.

Has anyone else used the new feature on iTunes called Genius? I used it for the first time today and it is awesome! All you have to do is click on a song in your library and iTunes makes a playlist of other songs based on that song selection. A few of them were terrible, but I saved quite a few lists that look promising.

I am seriously considering going to the doctor to get my thyroid checked. With the amount of calories I am eating I should be losing weight quicker than I am. I mean really, 15 lbs since June? That seems a little ridiculous. There are other reasons I want to get it checked too. I have been incessantly tired, no exhausted for weeks now. I am also having some other issues that I won't go into. I think it just makes sense to get everything checked out and make sure that nothing is wrong.

I really hope that this work week passes by quickly. Work has been putting me in a really bad mood lately and I hate feeling like that. I am also looking forward to Saturday since I am going to visit my family (and get new tires for my car) My sweet little brother is giving me 4 brand new tires for $250.00! Ridic! I am also going to hang out with my dad since his 72 birthday is on Halloween. Speaking of Halloween, that also means that our little party is coming up. We are going to have a bunch of appetizers for dinner and then hopefully play the new Guitar Hero game. I know that my friend J is really looking forward to that. (I made sure to pre-order it this time)

Other than that, not much is going on. The weather was abnormally warm for this time of year which is great. Hopefully it stays warm through next Sunday at least so E and I can get our 170 crocus bulbs in the ground without freezing our butts off. I am hoping it stays nice through Halloween so we can spend some time outdoors during our party.

Oh, I almost forgot! Did you guys all notice my new header? It got it from Delicious Design Studio. I love it!

Trying, Loving, Hating, Wishing...

I am trying really hard not to get sick. SO HARD! I felt a scratch in my throat last night, my ears started hurting etc. I used some Zicam as soon as I got home and hit the hay early. I managed to sleep in too so that helped. I really REALLY don't want to get sick right now.

I am loving my fall wardrobe. Mainly these, these and these.

I am seriously hating my job right now. Not so much the job but the people I have to talk to on a daily basis, getting yelled at by people over and over and over again and not currently liking a handful of my co-workers. Overall I am just unhappy there at the moment. I do actually like my job most of the time.

I am wishing the weekend were here and that it lasted longer. I need a break. It is Wednesday and I am already burnt out! I only have to wait until the 31st and then I have another long weekend planned. Hopefully the time goes by fast.

Ugh...

E and I had N and J over for dinner and drinks last night. Dinner was really fun and tasty. We grilled some chicken, peppers, onions and potatoes for fajitas. (Potatoes were the side dish) After we ate J mentioned playing Cups. I hadn't played in a long time so I was game. Someone a few games turned into lots of games and me drinking too much yet again. For some reason I can't handle drinks the way I used to. I had maybe 5 or 6 beers all night but man did they kill me today. I ended up doing nothing today which was actually ok with me.

Tomorrow is back to business as usual. Hopefully this week goes by quickly.

Perfect Day...

E and I both took today off so we could spend a long weekend together. We had a pretty lazy day which was great. It was nice not having any plans, not having to entertain anyone and just do whatever I we wanted to do. We pretty much chilled all day, but tonight I made some yummy soup for dinner since it is a bit chilly outside today. I thought I would share the recipe with all of you since it was so good. Tomorrow and we are going to do housework and junk.

Chunky Potato-Crab Chowder

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 garlic clove, minced
3 1/2 cups (1-inch) cubed red potato (about 1 pound)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon grated whole nutmeg
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
8 ounces lump crabmeat, shell pieces removed
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt

Preparation

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic; sauté 4 minutes. Add potato; sauté 1 minute. Sprinkle with flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in milk, thyme, pepper, nutmeg, corn, and broth. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in crab, parsley, and salt; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

(Recipe from Cooking Light Magazine)

Dream Jobs...

I keep getting spam emails with a subject line of "do you want to be a CSI?" How did they know?

I think that I have spectacular investigative skills and would be an awesome crime scene investigator.

You know what other job I would love to have? (Well, other than a professional coffee taster, a professional shopper, or a professional TV watcher?) A medical examiner. I think that would be the coolest job in the world. Unless it was in a really small town where nothing happened. Then, it would be boring.

Instead I will settle for being a mortgage rep that will soon have a BS in Urban Studies. AWES!

Also, completely unrelated I am really happy that Kenley (Project Runway) is going to show at Bryant Park. I actually asked Erik if we could get married just so I could wear the wedding dress she made. He of course said yes. (Actually he said how can I say no to that face and then laughed.) Her bridesmaid dress was really cute too. I will take both please.

P.S. I am suffering from a lack of sleep, too much caffeine and not enough food.
P.P.S. Tidbits...

Updates...

I guess it has been awhile since I posted huh? I have been busy with work and such. Things in my life have been pretty much the same. Work, eat, sleep etc. Occasional TV watching but that is about it. I have a lot of random odds and ends to talk about so guess what? Yep. Bullets.

• I have kind of fallen off the WW wagon. I have started back up this week and things have been going well. I didn't gain any weight back which is good. After the whole excessive drinking debacle two weekends ago I didn't eat so well for a few days.

• I really need a new winter coat. The two coats I have right now are way too big. They hang on me and look like crap and since they are so loose the wind will blow right through them. I don't want to spend a ton on a new one though because I know I will just have to get a new one next year or even later this winter.

• Work has been going really well lately which is good. I was getting worried not making as much money. Financial stress isn't fun.

• I emailed the advisor for my major at the U and found out what I need to do to avoid taking (failing) Italian yet again. I have to take 3 additional classes for that but two of them over lap which is awesome. I then have to do an internship and write a thesis (which they won't charge me for) which all seems pretty easy and also pretty awesome. I know what everyone is thinking, I won't get to go to Italy since I am not taking Italian anymore, but E said that if I finished all of the classes I need to, he will still take me! So, I will be enrolling in the first class this summer more than likely. I am going to actually shoot for Spring, but I need to save save save.

• I am really loving the new Christina song. Really good. I also really like the new Bed Folds song with Regina Spektor called "You Don't Know Me." I am also still listening to the Kings of Leon album, the new Jack's Mannequin and am anxiously awaiting the new Killers album.

• We are FINALLY going to start painting this weekend. I am really excited to get that done. I have been planning/putting it off forever.

Other than that is about it. I didn't really do anything other than work over the weekend. I had planned on making another batch of soup, but that didn't happen. I was also hoping to get some laundry, grocery shopping, and cleaning done, but none of that happened either. I am hopefully going to get the shopping done this week, but I am not sure if that is going to happen.

Think Pink...

October is Breast Cancer Month. Breast Cancer Awareness is very close to my heart and I donate to the cause each year. Even when I was a broke college student I would at least collect the tops from Yoplait and mail them in.

When I was a Junior in High School my oldest sister Tammy was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. It was a long hard battle for her and our entire family, but thankfully she is a survivor. She has been cancer free for almost 10 years.

This year I have a list of some products that I love that also give back. I am sure that I will see more and more products throughout magazines, blogs etc that I love as well.

This watch from one of my favorite stores ever. Sure the price is a little steep, but they are giving $100.00 from each purchase to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. (This is my favorite product so far.)

This candle sounds amazing. Peony's are one of my favorite flowers so it is perfect.

This isn't a product obviously, but it is something that everyone can do to raise awareness.

This bracelet is also really great. Again, kinda steep in the price, but worth it.

Anyway, you get the picture.