Thursday ramblings

Hey hey its Thursday!



~ a supposed "friend" started asking me about my new CR-V yesterday that turned into a full blown "why the heck don't you have a kid yet" argument.  I met this girl via Keith and she's one of those you really don't listen to what she has to say because she's always thought the world of herself.  She's just turned 34, just got married a year ago and wasn't able to conceive due to both of their DNA so they had to do it via IVF.  She pretty much told me she didn't know why we were waiting, there's never a good time to have a kid; that I'm getting to be too old to have kids (I'm only 32); apparently since I'm 32 I won't be able to enjoy grandkids cause I'm old already; then since I'm not pregnant yet I will most likely have issues getting pregnant then once pregnant my kids are going to have downs because I'm old.  It took all my willpower not to go off on her, I literally just closed the box out until she was off her rant.

~ I really really really dislike people like the above.  I'm sorry, I'm not a bandwagon girl who is going to have a kid just because the people around me are having one.  Trust me, I have too many people in my life who are like that, I am not.  They aren't going to pay for it, raise it, take care of it are they??  If they are, they can have a say but until then we will have one, if we choose to have one, when the time is right for us.

~ Mardi Gras is this weekend in St. Louis.  I'm super excited yet not because of the weather.  We'll go if the weather holds out so hopefully it does.  Can't wait to get my beads!

~ Impromtu date night with my hubby tonight for the Ambush soccer game.  Very excited to be off of my PT job.

~ Keith's birthday is March 10th.  Gotta get him a birthday present, any ideas for me?

~ I'm excited that the Olympics are over so all my regular shows can air again.  I just wasn't into this year's Olympics, don't know why.

~ I think we've decided on our summer vacation...think being the word!


Have a great Thursday!

UGLee pens review

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

I am a pen hog!

My biggest requirements for a pen are comfort and how nice it looks once the ink is on the paper.  I'm a big fan of my writing looking nice so a good pen is a must.  Being in the education field, it requires a lot of writing, documentation, etc so comfort is a must.

That's when I was introduced to the UGLee Pen.

Its an ergonomic pen that makes writing comfortable.  It has groves that your fingertips can easily slide into for whatever your writing assignment may be.  It comes in 3 different colors (red, yellow & green) and you can refill it whenever you run out of ink, which you will as you love the comfort.

If you are into comfort, you should check out the UGLee pen on their website, their Facebook page and their Twitter page.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Wastin' away in Margaritaville

I was super excited to learn that Saturday was National Margarita Day:

Perfect reason to get friends together to celebrate.  I'm not a big drinker but when I do, this is my drink of choice, frozen with sugar or salt on the rim.

A bunch of us gathered and headed to Chevy's for $2.50 margaritas and friend time.  It was much fun!

We had a big table of 12, but I forgot to have the waitress take our picture.  I'm also one of those that you'd better believe that if I'm in a town where there's a Margaritaville, I'm totally there.  I wish St. Louis had one!

What a fun, impromtu night out with friends!!

The Great American Race

A few of the greatest words one can hear:

"Drivers, start your engines!"

I grew up in a racing family.  My Dad loves racing, and use to race his Jeeps professionally and that love was passed along to all of us.  Sundays are always for watching NASCAR and my favorite driver Dale Jr.

I've been blessed to have seen a race at Kansas Speedway, a race at the Indianapolis Speedway, a race at Charlotte Motor Speedway & have done hot laps in Jr's car at Charlotte (not with him, though).  Talk about a thrill, if you ever get a chance to participate, you will love it!

February we celebrate two holidays, Valentine's Day & the Daytona 500 that leads into the NASCAR season.  Luckily Keith has picked up on the excitement and he's gone to a race at Kansas with me and loves to watch with everyone.  So of course the proud fan I am of Dale Jr, he won the Daytona 500:

He totally deserves the win.

Way to go JR!

I can't wait to see you at Kansas again in October - yep, we're going!!

Artichoke's Heart

I'm all caught up on my book club reviews...which means I'm not reading enough!

This week I'm reviewing:



Goodreads says:
Blubber meets Steel Magnolias in this funny and honest story about body image and family.

Rosemary Goode is smart and funny and loyal and the best eyebrow waxer in Spring Hill, Tennessee. But only one thing seems to matter to anyone, including Rosemary: her weight. And when your mom runs the most successful (and gossipy) beauty shop in town, it can be hard to keep a low profile. Rosemary resolves to lose the weight, but her journey turns out to be about everything but the scale. Her life-changing, waist-shrinking year is captured with brutal honesty and humor, topped with an extralarge helping of Southern charm. A truly uncommon novel about an increasingly common problem.

I say:
I really liked this book!  Rosemary is a sweet girl who is battling with her weight, just like all of America.  By being herself she makes an unusual friend, and gets a boyfriend, and realizes that you don't have to be super skinny (like many would like people to think) to achieve in life.

I gave it 5 stars on my Goodreads list.

What are you reading this week?

PW Pizza

A few weekends ago, Keith and I went to the last Blues game before they took a hiatus due to the Olympics.

We are on a new restaurant kick still, so we did some research and decided to try PW Pizza.

If you're familiar with STL, its in the same building as Vin de Set & Moulin.  A mere 5 miles from where Blues play so we were able to get there before the crowds hit.  The Blues won and we were ready to try the new to use establishment.

Very very good!

We started off with their signature spinach salad and we both instantly said simultaneously "we need to re-create this at home"

Their pizza comes on 3 options of crusts - original, gluten free & honey wheat - we chose honey wheat and got their specialty The Wolf.  It takes some time to get it to you as you see them actually making the crust, and spinning it in the air but its well worth the wait:

Keith got tired of me taking pictures and grabbed a few slices before I could say another word.  Needless to say the pizza disappeared and we were quite happy because the Blues won and because we really enjoyed our dinner.

If you're looking for a healthier pizza option, try PW Pizza, you won't be disappointed!

Sprinkles

Who doesn't love a party?

Etiquette states that usually baby showers are thrown for first babies, first time having that sex of baby or when there's a big gap between the ages of the kids...or if you just want to have a party!

Becky's mom & sister love to throw parties so we got an invite last week for a sprinkle for Baby H, who is set to arrive anytime between now and March 17th.  This is Becky's 2nd and actually the first sprinkle I've been to.

Jamie, Becky, Sam & I

It was a great Sunday afternoon, catching up with the girls and celebrating yet another baby entering our lives.  They served us a yummy lunch of lasagna, salad, bread and desserts galore:

It was then game time.  The first game was how well do you know Becky and various things with this pregnancy.  I didn't do so hot on that one but then we played a game where you listed things related to a baby from A-Z.  I was able to fill out all but the letters V (later found out Vaseline would have been perfect) and the letter Y (still clueless on that one):

I guess I know my baby stuff!

Baby H's gender is unknown.  I want her to have a boy, then she'll have one of each, but I think it will be a girl and soon we will find out when they make their appearance.  Can't wait to meet Baby H!

Back to the grind...sorta!

I hope everyone had a good weekend!

I enjoyed 4 glorious days off from my PT job, 3 from teaching and spent all of it with Keith.  We don't get to do that much anymore and I loved it!!  I can't wait until March 7th when I get to do that again!!

Friday was Valentine's Day and we got reservations at McCormick & Schmick's.  Because of the low lighting and the holiday, I didn't take any pictures of our night but it was delish!  They did great with the meals and the wait staff.  Keith got me a gift card to NY&Co and I got him a gift card to Van Heusen.  Great minds think alike!  St. Louis got an ice storm that night too so we trekked home after dinner and watched some movies on the comfort of the couch.  Great night!

Saturday was a homecoming for my CR-V.  I will post about it this week but it was in a hit & run and I had a rental for two weeks.  I gladly returned the rental and got my car back.  I missed her!  The rest of the day we did nada.  Got caught up on laundry, went to the gym, it was good!

Sunday was a sprinkle for my friend, come back later this week, it was quite cute.

Monday was doctor appointment day.  You know the routine, if you're a teacher, you schedule all your appointments on the days school is out.  Well not every district was making up a snow day on this day so I had no sub jobs and got my appointments in.  I'm happy to say that my kidney issue from October is cleared up, thank goodness!  I have to have one more xray but then I should be good for awhile!

We decided to do happy hour at El Maguey as we never get to do that and that wrapped up our 4 days together.

Keep fingers crossed for me this week, I have the next big step in what I hope happens for the fall on Thursday so send the good luck my way!

Have a great week! :)

Silver Girl

This week I'm reviewing:

 

Goodreads says:
Meredith Martin Delinn just lost everything: her friends, her homes, her social standing - because her husband Freddy cheated rich investors out of billions of dollars.

Desperate and facing homelessness, Meredith receives a call from her old best friend, Constance Flute. Connie's had recent worries of her own, and the two depart for a summer on Nantucket in an attempt to heal. But the island can't offer complete escape, and they're plagued by new and old troubles alike. When Connie's brother Toby - Meredith's high school boyfriend - arrives, Meredith must reconcile the differences between the life she is leading and the life she could have had. 

Set against the backdrop of a Nantucket summer, Elin Hilderbrand delivers a suspenseful story of the power of friendship, the pull of love, and the beauty of forgiveness.

I say:
This book was long but once I finished, I'm glad I read it.  It touches base with what is going on in America in its own way.  It shows that some innocent people can be taken down in the heat of someone else trying to get ahead of the game.  Meredith does her best to live her life, try to move on and builds her friendship that deteriorated due to many issues.  You can overcome trials of life, and this book shows it.

I gave it 4 stars on my Goodreads list.

What are you reading this week?

Sweetheart Swap

I love swaps, esp with the holidays, so I was excited when Kristin & Meg decided to host a Sweetheart Swap.

I was paired with Amanda, who blogs over at Manda Loves.  It was fun getting to know her, being a regular visitor now at her blog and seeing all the fun things she likes to cook.

It was fun creating her package and of course I was super excited to see what she had sent me:

Amanda really did well with my love for Disney.  You see that hand in the picture?  Yeah, that's Keith who was ready to break into all the sweets she included.  Needless to say some of that only lasted a few hours once he saw it.  I can't wait to make the cupcakes that are in the cute box.

I had fun making her box, and of course her valentine:

What a great time!

Thank you to Meg & Kristin for hosting.

Half way there!

~ my body is exhausted...and I wish it were because of working out but no, because of back to back all week is killing me!

~ my workouts have sucked lately but its life.  I thought I was getting back on track then this week hit and well today is the only day I'll get one in until the weekend.  Better than none huh?

~ I am going to go pamper myself a bit today.  I need eyebrows done and my hair is starting to knot up, which means time for a trim.  Hopefully the lady I like is at the place to do it.

~ I need some good vibes.  I got a great opportunity next Thursday that could give me my dream in the fall so keep fingers crossed ;)

~ The impala I've been driving as a rental car is crap!  Yesterday the dashboard lights up in the middle of highway 40 telling me that all my tires are at 10%.  I figured it might be because of the cold but go to fill them up that night before my other work.  I then get it filled up and low and behold they ended up not needing them because they all are at like 50% now.  Ugh!  Then in the middle of figuring out the tires, I find out they gave me a car with 10% oil.  Lovely!  I am going to complain to them when my car is done because this is outrageous.

~ My family, aka parents and sister, leave for the Tahoe area on Saturday to ski for a week.  Quite jealous but its okay, we'll go another year!

~ I am off from both jobs for 4 days this weekend because of President's Day - yay!

Have a great Wednesday!!

32 while 32 update

32 while 32

1)  Scrapbook Disney & Mexico vacations
2)  Buy a new car - completed Oct 2013

3)  Run/walk in some walk that is in St. Louis during this next year

4)  Get my own classroom again

5)  Visit Hermann, MO aka wine country

6)  Make christmas cookies - completed December 2013

7)  Get a massage

8)  Take a cooking class

9)  Travel out of town for a hockey game - completed October 2013

10)  Make/create 5 things from Pinterest
No Bake Cookies in Cream bars - attempted but big recipe fail

11)  Read 1/2 of the books on my "to-read" list on Goodreads

12)  Go to a Mizzou football game

13)  Go to a Rams game - completed Dec 2013

14)  Go to Eckerts to pick something other than apples (blackberries, blueberries, etc)

15)  Have girls nights with my sisters more

16)  Say adios to the people who continuously put me down in life
17)  Eat at 5 new-to-us restaurants - completed October 2013

   

18)  Buy a new suit

19)  Make the authentic New Orleans beignets from Cafe Du Monde that Keith brought home - completed Dec 2013

20)  Maintain goal weight

21)  Visit either the new Ikea opening in Kansas City OR the Ikeas in Bolingbrook or Schaumburg, IL

22)  Do something spontaneous

23)  Purchase a new SEMO alumni shirt for the next football game

24)  Plan a vacation for 2014

25)  Go to a concert or a play

26)  Go camping

27)  Do something new for Valentine's Day or any holiday

28)  Watch Breaking Bad on Netflix to see what the big deal was all about

29)  Burn candles in my condo more and actually use one up the entire way!

30)  Decorate at least my front door with items for the season it is

31)  Donate the clothes in my closet that I absolutely do not wear anymore

32)  Blog more...and make more bloggy friends


6/32 - I better get cracking!