It really seems like December just flew by and I'm sure that's not uncommon, since it always seems like we wait all year for Christmas then before we know it, we blink and it's gone. But December was busy for us because we had quite a few parties to go to and we had our trip to Pennsylvania to prepare for. I also have family here and family in North Carolina so when you're trying to split the holidays up among everyone, it gets really busy and overwhelming.
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November is always a fun month for us because it means the holidays are approaching and we are usually gearing up for a trip to Pennsylvania. It also means cooler weather and Thanksgiving and the fair. We had a great November but it was also busy for me as well. That didn't stop me from finding tons of things to love.
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October was a really fun month for me! I had a lot of good times with friends, some local and some that I had to drive to see. I started some more habits that really helped me feel like I had a handle on my life. I watched some good TV and a few good movies. And I got to spend some quality time with Steve in the beautiful autumn Charleston weather. Overall, there were quite a few things I loved about October.
Wilmington, NC
A few months back, I caught up with one of my closest high school friends on Facebook and suggested that we plan a girls trip somewhere. I didn’t think it would all come to fruition because I’m usually the one planning things like this and I had been so busy that I couldn’t plan anything. As it turns out, she is a true planner and before I knew, she had planned a weekend trip to Wilmington, NC for us, completely with hotels booked and an itinerary all planned out. So the weekend of the 17th, I said goodbye to Steve and Sammy and drove three hours to meet her in Wilmington and had a BLAST! I was so disappointed to leave on Sunday. On Friday night, we went on a walking ghost tour that was really interesting, in part thanks to our fabulous tour guide. On Saturday, we got up early and grabbed Chick-Fil-A for breakfast then headed out to do another walking tour of Wilmington, this time focusing on movies locations, since Wilmington is a huge place to film TV shows (Dawson’s Creek, One Tree Hill) and movies (Empire Records, Cape Fear, A Walk to Remember, Nights in Rodanthe). We then headed off to Screen Gem Studios, where One Tree Hill and Eastbound and Down is filmed. Chrissy is a huge One Tree Hill fan so she was elated to see all of the live sets from the show. I thought it was neat to just see how they make the sets and how they pay attention to every detail. Saturday night we stayed in and watched TV and ate dinner and just gossiped and laughed and caught up on good times. And Sunday, our last day, was probably the best day there because, while we intended to go on another trolley tour of the city, it was no where to be found so instead, we found this little pottery studio and decided, since we’d never done it, to go ahead and give it a try. From there, we spent close to five hours, hanging out in this adorable shop, painting pottery and listening to relaxing music and just enjoying a great time. I cannot explain how great of an afternoon we had in that little shop and I would highly recommend you check it out if you’re ever in the area. All in all, it was a great weekend and I cannot wait to go back, if only to check out the shop again.
Halloween & Geocaching
Two other things we had this month was Halloween, which as most of you know, is one of my favorite holidays. We spent it rather low key, heading over to a friends house for a party. Everybody came in costume and we all sort of hung out and drank and played some beer pong. Steve and I dressed as a cholo/chola for the party, which alludes to an inside joke that we have with our friends, and I thought we were rather convincing.
Steve also introduced me to geocaching, which he got into when he got his iPhone. We spent a few weekends in October wandering around Charleston looking for geocaches and I found that it was a great hobby for the two of us because not only did we get to spend a lot of time together but we also got to see a bunch of beautiful areas in Charleston that we hadn’t seen before. So it’s definitely something I think we will keep doing into the New Year because it’s a great bonding experience and we get to find all sorts of treasures, both in the landscape and in the geocache boxes!
Zombieland
Zombieland was easily one of the funniest movies all year. Steve and I had been anticipating it for months and it did not disappoint us. All of the cast was superb but Woody Harrelson really shined as Tallahassee, the redneck zombie-killing machine and Jesse Eisenberg’s nerdy, insecureness was a perfect balance against him. Also, Bill Murray had a cameo in it that had to have been the awesomest cameo I’ve seen in years. This one of those movies I could watch over and over again because it’s just so much fun.
The Office: Jim & Pam’s Wedding
Hands down, one of the best Office episodes ever! Seriously, this episode was so phenomenal that I think I watched it at least three times the week after it aired. This episode exhibited why this is one of the better shows on TV and it handled the sweetness along with the humor so successfully. From Dwight’s wolf t-shirt and kicking the bridesmaid in the face, to Michael’s awfully uncomfortable toast at the rehearsal dinner to every isolated sweet moment that Jim and Pam shared throughout the episode, I was blown away at how phenomenal the writers and the actors are on this show. Of course, it has its flat moments, like any show does but when it succeeds, it blows everything out of the water. The final ten minutes were hands down one of the best moments I’ve seen on TV in a long time, especially if, like me, you’ve been following Jim and Pam’s romance from the beginning. Even now, watching it three months later, I still love it!
The Vampire Diaries
I will admit that I hated this show before it even came out. Because the original author of these novels, LJ Smith, was hands down my favorite author when I was young. I had every one of her books and had read them numerous times. We had an online fan club and she is the reason “Kalluria” exists and that I’m friends with all of the girls hosted and have been friends with them for so long. And I knew they were going to take my beloved series and Twilight it up and make all these girls think it was a rip-off of the popular, lame series. And they made Elena a brunette! Which she is not and never will be.
But the longer I watched the show, the more it started to grow on me. Stefan or Damon are no where near what I had imagined them to be when I read the book, but they are better. I prefer the series’ Stefan to the wimpier one I had imagined in my head. And the series Damon, Ian Somerhalder, *swoon*! He is everything I should have imagined Damon to be and more. And sure they took liberties with the series to make it more interesting, because nothing ever translates well if taken directly from book. But as long as I look at it as a TV series loosely based off my beloved novels, then I am definitely ok with it because it is actually interesting and well written with actors who can actually carry their characters well.
I just don’t like having to defend it to the Twihards that it’s not a ripoff of the series, that it was actually around before hand and if anyone ripped anything off, it’s that hack Stephenie Meyer. (Wonder how many teenage girls that will bring to this site to bitch at me for talking shit about Twilight!)
Herbal Essences Hydralicious Reconditiong Shampoo & Conditioner
I always wrote Herbal Essences off as something you used in high school – that transition between using what your mom used and finding your own favorite hair product. Mostly because I used it in high school. And it was a lot different back then compared to now. But then I read about the Hydralicious Reconditioning line somewhere on the web and how it really helps with damaged and dry hair and how everyone loved it when they used it so I figured I’d give it a try. Plus I’m always game for a new shampoo. And well, from the first time, I was hooked! Seriously, I’ve mentioned a lot of shampoos on the site since I’ve been doing this category and this is hands down, the best one, because it’s cheap and it makes my hair come out soft and silky and smooth. And that helps alot, especially because I’ve been using my flat iron and hairdryer a lot since I got my latest hair cut (all one length and bangs don’t really air dry well). On top of that, it smells sweet and pretty and the smell lingers long enough to catch a whiff of it here and there without it being overpowering. I’m still using it and it’s easily become one of my favorites.
Romano’s Macaroni Grill Restaurant Favorites
I have always been a huge fan of the Macaroni Grill but we don’t have any close to us. So when I saw these Restaurant Favorites at the grocery store, they seemed easy enough and looked delicious so I thought I’d give it a go. It basically includes everything you need to make a homemade pasta meal with the exception of whatever protein you want to add. Typically, it calls for chicken and that’s what we add but I imagine you could get away with shrimp and maybe some Italian Sausage as well. Our favorite is the Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken & Pasta. We also like the Chicken Piccata. We’ve tried the alfredo and that’s the only one I wasn’t too impressed about but alfredo is alfredo, so I wasn’t expecting much. However, these are so quick and easy and delicious and not all that bad for you so we have added it to our daily repertoire of meals and we eat it at least once every two weeks or so.
That’s about it for October. Steve got a new truck that month, a 2003 Ford F-150 which I quickly fell in love with. It’s the first car he’s had that’s automatic which means I can drive it so that really helps when I can drive both vehicles. Plus, I love driving that thing because it’s so big and manly. Makes me feel invincible! I also got a better handle on budgeting my funds in the month of October and created a daily cleaning routine for myself. Both of these really helped me feel like life was a little easier because I was planning out things beforehand and I didn’t have to worry as much about money and I was cleaning during the week so I didn’t spend all weekend busting my ass to clean the house. It was all gradual changes but they really started to help in the long run.
It was all about baby steps and October was a very productive month for quite a few things. I was leading into a very productive winter.
I’m well aware that it’s January of 2010, four months after this post should have been put up. For some reason, I let even this drop off, at least the writing of it. I at least made lists over the past few months of what I wanted to write about it, so while I’m playing catch up on everything else in my life, I figured I might as well start with this category.
September was a month of new beginnings – football started, both professional and high school, which we attend a lot of because my brother plays. All the shows had their premieres and we got a break from summer TV. We had a lovely weekend for Steve’s birthday which we spent having dinner with friends on his actual birthday then heading back to Rioz, our favorite restaurant (all you can eat meat? Yes, please!). These events, among other things, made the month really fun and enjoyable.
Football
As I said, football started in September, both professional and high school. My brother plays offensive lineman for his high school B-team so we try to go to as many games as we can. Since they’re on Thursday nights at 6pm, we sometimes have a hard time making it to the away games but since his school is local to where we work, we typically go to all the home games. The team was really good this year – I believe they only lost two games out of twelve or thirteen and it’s really fun just cheering the team on and watching my brother get into the game and improve his skills over the years (he’s the kid in the far right of the picture above, leaping onto the kid in the purple jersey – number 55). Plus, Steve and I spend some time with my family and we get Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and watch the sun go down over the stadium and enjoy the cool autumn breeze.
College football is real big here in the South but I can’t get into it much. I much prefer professional football, especially if the Eagles are playing. But regardless, watching the game on TV or in person is one of the things I find most enjoyable about fall.
Fall TV
Fall is one of my favorite times of the year as far as entertainment goes because that’s when all the new shows premiere and all of my old favorites start back up again. I actually read into what the new shows are about and decide which ones I’m going to give a shot and which ones I want to pass on. I map out a calendar to make sure some of my favorites don’t overlap with new ones. I was especially excited this season for some of my favorites to return this fall: Sons of Anarchy, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Dexter. And I was excited for some of the new shows to start: Community and Modern Family, as well as The Vampire Diaries, which for anyone who hasn’t been following along all the years, is the fulfillment of one of my dreams because it’s based on a series by probably my most favorite author from my childhood.
Weeds
After Steve and I finished watching Dexter on Netflix, we were a little lost and wondering what new show we needed to start watching. I had heard quite a few good things about Weeds and thought we’d give it a shot and, well, I’m glad we did. I LOVE this show – love, love, love it! We’ve only watched up until the fourth season and are waiting until the fifth comes out on DVD, but I can say I’m mostly happy with how things are progressing. The fourth season was probably a bit weaker than the others but it’s still much better than anything you’d find on normal TV. It basically revolves around suburban soccer mom Nancy Botwin (played by Mary-Louise Parker, who is phenomenal in the role!) who is recently windowed and attempting to maintain her comfortable life with her two kids, Silas and Shane, by selling weed to all of the soccer moms and yuppies in her neighborhood. The series follows the hysterical trials and tribulations as Nancy finds herself constantly trying to balance right and wrong. Part of the appeal of this series is the supporting characters. Kevin Nealon is absolutely genius as Nancy’s pot-smoking town councilmen friend and business partner and Elizabeth Perkins is superb as Nancy’s “friend” whom she loves to hate. All in all, this is a great show and if you have a few hours over the weekend, you should definitely catch it (and it’s only half an hour so it’s easy to fly through).
Method Granite Cleaner
I had seen this cleaner at Target every time I went shopping for household cleaners and thought about trying it because it was the only thing I had seen that was specifically available for “granite” countertops (at least, at my Target and I hadn’t checked other stores). I had been cleaning the countertops with Windex all-purpose cleaner and I always noticed there was a slight haze on them. So, in an effort to try something else, I picked this up one day and well, I’m pretty glad I did. This virtually eliminated the haze on the counters and it smells really fresh and clean and not at all chemical. It’s now my go to cleaner for the countertops and is completely worth the extra bucks I spend on it (12 ounces is about $6).
Neutrogena Healthy Hands
I have been a long time user of this lotion but up until this fall, it was rather sporadic. However, with fall weather comes drier air and since I wash my hands a lot in the morning (putting on makeup, etc.), I would go into work and find them to be really dry. Since I always keep this at my desk, I would rub some on before getting to work and it was only after I was doing it on a daily basis that I realized how phenomenal this stuff really is. The lotion is a rather heavy, Vaseline type lotion but it’s not greasy at all. There is minimal scent to the lotion and once it goes on, it’s almost like your hands are waterproof for a good few hours, but not in a cumbersome way. I also noticed that it contributed greatly to healthy nail growth and now, within a few weeks, my nails are almost ridiculously long and get in the way. I love this lotion and always will and if you have any problems with dry hands, you should definitely give it a shot.
Evernote
Evernote! Oh, Evernote, I don’t know how I ever lived without it. I don’t exactly remember where I found it on the web but I started using this back in September as a catch all for everything from recipes to my to-do lists to ideas for blogs and the website. It’s so easy to use – you can create various notebooks and within each notebook, you can create different notes. It has a tagging system so you can easily find things. You can also share notebooks, which helped greatly when I was planning my mom’s birthday party because I was able to send my notes to my dad. I use this as a cookbook – I have a Loved Recipes notebook, where I keep ones that are our favorites, that I use over and over again and a To Try Recipes notebook, where I copy and paste recipes that I see around the web. I use this as an article storage system where I drop various things from my Google Reader for later reference (I star them and then input them every few weeks). The most wonderful thing about Evernote is the various ways you can access it – there’s a desktop application which is installed on my laptop – I use this for when I’m bulk entering articles and things I’ve saved from Google Reader (because it’s faster). There’s a web interface and a Firefox clipper plugin, both of which I use at work when I’m editing my lists and ideas or when I’m browsing the web and come across something I want to save (the clipper lets you select exactly what you want to save and click an icon which automatically inserts it into Evernote) and, best of all, an iPhone app, which lets me access my lists when I’m in the store (I use it for shopping lists) or lets me access my recipes when I’m cooking, so I don’t have to lug my laptop into the kitchen. Overall, this has helped me greatly organize my life and I use it so much that I’m probably going to have to upgrade to a paid account soon (it would be well worth it)!
So overall, September was a really good month! I felt like we had a lot of new beginnings and I got started on a great track to organizing my life. It was definitely a good month of new discoveries and good times.
I’ve been rather reflective the past few days, looking through old pictures and writings. I cannot believe another decade has passed! They always say how the years just fly by as you get older and when you’re in your teens and 20s, you can’t even believe it. But here I am, on the downhill slope to thirty and can’t even remember where all the time went.
To start off, I found this meme over at Jenn’s that I figured I’d start out with. I usually try to do one of these each year and can’t believe I missed last year (then again, I had a lot of things going on). So let’s start with this as something to reflect on last year and move into the new one.
1.What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Pay off my car – I have had loans on three cars and this is the first one I ever paid off.
2.Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I’m pretty sure I didn’t make any resolutions because I never do.
3.Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope. We haven’t had too many births in quite awhile, come to think of it.
4.Did anyone close to you die?
Not this year, thank god.
5.What countries did you visit?
None. I travel quite a bit but in the good ol’ United States.
6.What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
More balance in my life and a better financial grip on things. (And maybe a new laptop!)
7.What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
May 25th – the day I paid off my car. June 24th – the day they told me the clots were gone and I was “healed”. June 25th – the day Michael Jackson died. Dec 18th – driving to PA in a blizzard. Mar 17th – the day my boss left and I knew things would change drastically (and I was right).
8.What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Cutting back on my caffeine intake and paying off my car, among other debts that I had.
9.What was your biggest failure?
Jacking my cards back up after paying them off. They cut overtime and I was desperately trying to rework my entire budget.
10.Did you suffer illness or injury?
I was still recovering from the blood clots. And among the various other klutzy injuries, I dropped the slate tile on my toe in June and had to have the nail aspirated.
11.What was the best thing you bought?
My iPhone 3Gs, hands down.
12.Whose behavior merited celebration?
Steve’s, for so many reasons.
13.Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I’d rather keep this to myself.
14.Where did most of your money go?
Bills, as always. And entertainment.
15.What events did you get really, really, really excited about?
Pinks in April, Myrtle Beach in July, Savannah/staycation in August.
16.What song will always remind you of 2009?
If I had to pick based on what I heard over and over, probably a Black Eyed Peas song or “Party in the USA” by Miley or anything by Taylor Swift (which is funny, because last December I was playing her on rotation). But I personally loved “Run This Town” by Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye (barf!) and anything by John Mayer.
17.Compared to this time last year, are you:
i.happier or sadder? Happier.
ii.thinner or fatter? I think I might be a bit thinner.
iii.richer or poorer? Poorer in the long term sense.
18.What do you wish you’d done more of?
Spend quality time with Steve and Sammy and actively pursue some of my hobbies
19.What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worry less about money and the house
20.How will you be spending Christmas?
I spent Christmas is PA with Steve’s family
21.Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
Probably my mother, if only because she’s the only one I talk to most (everyone else is text, email or Facebook)
22.Did you fall in love in 2009?
I always fall in love with Steve.
23. How many one-night stands?
Zero.
24. What was your favorite TV program?
Sons of Anarchy. Dexter. Weeds. The Office.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nope, it’s pretty much about the same (I hate very few people)
26. What was the best book you read?
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
27. What was your greatest musical discovery or rediscovery?
John Mayer – I am so late to that party, it’s not even funny.
28. What did you want and get?
An iPhone – thanks baby!
29. What did you want and not get?
Nothing I couldn’t live without.
30. What were your favorite films of this year?
There were SOOOO many – but Star Trek, The Hangover, Transformers, Zombieland, and Avatar were hands down my favorites.
31.What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Steve made me a cake and dinner and surprised me by wrapping the iPod touch he got me into a box of Nutty Bars. We had a quiet night in. I turned 28.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying
Not losing my overtime at work (or at least having them compensate me a bit more after losing it)
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
As always, comfortable and easy. I like soft and loose clothing.
34. What kept you sane?
Steve and my friends.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most/least?
Gerard Butler.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Nothing I’ll speak about. I like to keep those opinions to myself.
37. Whom did you miss?
Our family, the ones who are far away.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
A couple of new friends, who never fail to make me laugh.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
Keep calm and carry on. I’m still trying to embrace this one but I need to learn to live by it.
40. Do you have any lost feelings of others.
I don’t quite understand this one.
41.Quote a song that sums up your year:
Life’s a game but it’s not fair
I break the rules so I don’t care
So I keep doin’ my own thing
Walkin’ tall against the rain
Victory’s within the mile
Almost there, don’t give up now
Only thing that’s on my mind
Is who’s gonna run this town tonight
I guess 2009 was a rather low key year for me. Maybe 2010 will be more exciting. Perhaps that should be one of my resolutions!
