I Wish I Were Walking on Sunshine

I planned to talk about my car accident today, since I've been wanting to get it off my chest, but honestly this week has been heart-wrenching enough that I just cannot relive that right now on top of it all. So when I saw Whitney at McKenzie Wild had nominated me for a Sunshine Award, it was definitely needed to brighten my day. Thanks Whitney!

1. If you could pick a color to describe your personality, what would it be and why? Hmm I'd say pink, because it's my favorite and I am pretty girly so yea.

2. If you had to pick one clothing designer or store to shop in for the rest of your life what would you choose? TARGET no doubt.

3. Why did you start blogging? Honestly, I wanted a hobby and to meet new people in different walks of life. I've been reading blogs for years, so it was time to start my own.

4. What is your favorite movie or book? My favorite book is probably Emma by Jane Austen. Did you know the movie Clueless was based on this book?! 

5. The best day you have had to date, describe! The best day will be the day I pass the bar exam! (less than 3 weeks til results, fingers crossed *nervous face*)

6. Your LEAST favorite word? Retard/retarded. It is so insulting and hurts real people. Get educated. Stop using this word.

7. What is one thing you have always wanted to do but have yet to accomplish? Nothing big, but probably knitting my first project. I can tell you right now, I am not going to accomplish my September Goal; knitting is hard guys.

8. What is your biggest fear? Spiders. They are truly the most disgusting things in the whole world, and you can't convince me otherwise.

9. Who is your best friend and why? Brian. He has always been there for me through thick and thin and I love him for that (and many other reasons).

10. What makes you "walk" on sunshine?! These bloggers that I am going to nominate for the Sunshine Award (if you've already been nominated that I know of, I won't nominate you again so you don't have to do it twice-- here's looking at you Kelli, Amanda and Whitney, haha):  

• Miranda at Young and In Progress
• Lauren at Going Green: Our Army Adventure
• Stacie at Happiness in Bloom
• Codi at The Art of Balance
• Rachel at Sunshine and Sinatra
• and anyone else who wants to be nominated because all of YOU bring me sunshine.. thanks so much for reading my blog guys, it really does make me happy

The "Rules":

1. Link back to my sunshine award blog
2. Include the sunshine logo in your blog (see above) 
3. Answer the following 10 questions
4. Nominate blogs / bloggers who add a touch of sunshine to your day!

My questions: 

1. What is your favorite dessert?
2. If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
3. If there is one annoying blogger habit you could eliminate, what would it be?
4. What is your favorite season and why? 
5. What is your favorite sports team?
6. When was your favorite birthday party and what did you do?
7. What Harry Potter character do you want to be?
8. If you could have any pet in the world, what animal would you choose?
9. If you could have one wish, what would it be?
10. What's your favorite pizza topping?

Lions and Tigers and Bears

Oh my. I hope you all had a great weekend. Weekend recap time, here goes.

Friday night Mitch was over at our house and wrote that on our chalk wall. In case you can't read it, it says "I don't work on days that end in Y and I still get paid." I don't know where he gets this stuff. Saturday morning I got up early and went to Mitch's soccer game. Then Brian and I went to the market and had a yummy lunch. In the afternoon, we saw the Wizard of Oz in IMAX 3D and it was awesome. I just love that movie and how universal it is that kids and adults alike can watch and love it. Some of my favorite quotes:

Saturday night I spend baking and we watched some movies and QVC Christmas. On Sunday, Schnitzel got himself stuck in the duvet cover (it was hilarious), and my Mom had a Mary Martha (it used to be called Blessings Unlimited) Party, and it was 15 woman talking and eating and spending money on quality and meaningful stuff, I love it. 

Have a happy Monday!

“But I read that soda kills you and Jesus saves”

Whew finally Friday!! So last night Brian and I were supposed to go to trivia at a sports bar called Aroogas with my friend Stephie and her husband but it was cancelled on account of Thursday Night Football which is sad because I love trivia! But we went to Aroogas anyways and ate yummy food. I'm not sure what the point of this story was, except to say I hate when trivia is cancelled!

Anyways, I have a few little life tips for you today that may or may not make your life easier! They're pretty random, but they are just little tips and shortcuts I find helpful in my everyday life.

One. When you're pinning back some hair off your face (like your bangs), put the bobby pin in backwards (push it towards your face) and it will stay all day! This has been a life-changer. 

Two. Ice cubes make great non-fat and free dog treats! Brian first gave them to Hansel and Schnitzel when they were puppies and now we can't even get a glass of water without them running in wanting ice cubes. You'd think we were giving them steak or something!

Three. Putting a paper towel in a sealed bowl of lettuce will keep it fresh for days longer than it otherwise would.

Four. Use foil to get off that stubborn glitter nail polish-- Soak a cotton ball or paper towel in nail makeup remover, then put that on your finger/toe, wrap foil tightly around to hold it in place, then wait. Grip tightly and yank off with a twisting motion, and most should come off. The advice I've seen online is wait 5 minutes, but mine was really stubborn and I had to wait up to 30 minutes for some of my toes, and you may have to do it a few times, but it does actually work.

Five. If you are nauseous or have heartburn, drink some ginger ale. It usually helps!

Six. When in doubt, about anything, watch Gilmore Girls. I swear, that show has all the answers. 

Figured out a way to not lose all those bobby pins? Know how to lose weight and eat whatever you want? Got any other good life tips? Have a great weekend! Linking up with Whitney.

What's in my Makeup Bag?- Hair Edition

Welcome to the 3rd edition of What's in my Makeup Bag? This week, I'm going to talk about hair products I like. Last week I talked about products I like that are specifically for your face, and the week before that I talked about products I like for eyes. Next week is the last week of this mini-series, and I will be talking about moisturizers and other body products. *By the way, all pictures were taken by me, that way you know I have actually tried out and used these products! This is not a sponsored post, just wanted to share some stuff I've tried! These are merely my opinions and should not be taken as fact.*

Shampoo and conditioner. Honestly, I've tried it all. Salon brands, cheap brands, drug store brands, and the jury is still out for me. I have never found any I truly love. If you have any recommendations (I have oily hair but I try to keep the ends moisturized), please let me know! :-)

Dry Shampoo. Again, I've tried it all, expensive brands and drug store brands, and I always come back to baby powder. Obviously this won't work for everybody, but it does for those of us with light hair. It is ultra cheap and so easy to use, I've been using it since high school! I just sprinkle a little in my brush (or straight in my hair if it's really oily), then I brush it through and voila, my hair isn't oily anymore! If I need something a little stronger, this Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo Spray is the best I've come across(just the plain kind, not the keratin kind). It is less than $3 (!!) and works better than any other brand I've tried (and believe me, I tried LOTS!).

Heat Protectant. I have only ever tried this L'oreal Paris Color Vibrancy Dual Protect Spray and I've had no issues with it. I spray it on when my hair is still damp, and I feel like it has protected my hair from damage when I straighten it. I will probably buy it again as long as it keeps doing its job!

Repair Serum. I found this at the store one day when I was looking for something to repair the damage to the ends of my hair when I still had my perm (yuck!). I really like this stuff, and use it about once a week. You just put it on the ends of your hair before you go to bed. It's not greasy at all and doesn't leave residue all over your pillow, and it makes your hair really soft!

If you have any questions about anything I said, please comment or shoot me an email :-)

What are your favorite hair products? Have you used any of these with different results? Let me know in the comments! Check back next week for What's in my Makeup Bag?- Body Edition!

This or That? aka Hump Day hates me

So I woke up late for Schnitzel's grooming appt, because I got it confused with my interview time for tomorrow (!!). Then I hit 4 one-lane/one-way roads in the 5 mile drive to the groomer (thanks PA, you are ridiculous). Then I realized [when I threw up] that I took my antibiotic this morning on an empty stomach this morning, and while I was doing that, Hansel ate my granola bar! C'mon Hump Day, I thought we were friends! Anyways when I saw Erin and Whitney were doing a this or that linkup, it was exactly what I needed.


Vacationing in Florida or vacationing in NYC: Depends on the time of year. NYC is close enough though that it doesn't need to be a technical vacay, and we are going to Florida twice in the next 9 months for 2 of Brian's cousins weddings, so I guess I don't need to choose.
iPhone or Droid: iPhone! I am not updating to iOS 7 til tomorrow afternoon tho when the craziness in my life dies down, because the last thing I need is my phone out of commission right now!
NSYNC or Backstreet Boys: If this was 15 years ago I totally would have picked BSB.
Being forced to delete Facebook or being forced to delete Twitter: Facebook
Fireball or Miller Lite: Miller Lite because my tummy hates spicy alcohol, yuck!
Full House or Family Matters: Considering I grew up calling Full House "The Michelle Show," I'd def say Full House!

Dumbledore or Gandalf: Dumbledore, obvi
Dying Easter eggs or Carving pumpkins: I can't pick! Egg dying is less messy, but carving pumpkins has the benefit of pumpkin seeds to eat!
NFL or NCAAF: NFL.. what even is NCAAF?
A hangover forever or sobriety forever: sobriety forever, hands down.
January or July: January. I hate summer heat!
Hannah Montana or Miley Cyrus: Hannah Montana! I miss that show!
Shark Week or Fashion Week: I couldn't care less about either.
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or Saved by the Bell: Saved by the Bell, even tho looking back, both are pretty sexist dumb
Britney or Christina: Brit Brit, no question.
Burrito or Burrito Bowl: Burrito, yum I love mexican food, I've eaten it at least 7 meals a week for the past who knows how long!
Reading blogs on your phone or reading blogs on your computer: I prefer computer but ain't nobody got time for that (at least, not that often). 
Angelina or Jennifer: Jenn forever. Angelina is ick.
Doug Funny or The Rugrats: Doug! I just love that show.
An open mouth chewer or a heavy breather: Heavy breather. I don't need to see your almost-digested food.
Here's to hoping everyone's Hump Days improve from here on out!

It's okay, it's just a fart

So I grew up in a small town near Aberdeen, Maryland, which is where I went to high school (my town didn't have a high school). Cal Ripken Jr. actually attended my high school, and so did the Henderson brothers who play/played for the Minnesota Vikings. 

Aberdeen Proving Ground is a military base on the edge of town, where they test a lot of explosives. You could often hear and feel them testing explosives even in my town 8 miles away. As a kid, I was freaked out by it all, so my Mom explained the testing to me, and I found this reassuring. Eventually whenever I heard the noise, I'd comfort myself by saying "it's okay, it's just Aberdeen."

Well my aunt, uncle, and cousins were over our house one day. My cousin Ryan (who was always a bit gassy and obnoxious) farted pretty loudly, and innocent little me, not realizing it was a fart, tried to reassure myself and everyone around by saying "it's okay guys, it's just Aberdeen."

*Buh-dump-bump-chhh*

"Monday, Monday, Can't Trust That Day.."

Haha we sang the Monday, Monday song at my 4th grade 60s and 70s chorus concert, along with a lot of other greats. I definitely need to do a post on that concert, because it rocked. Anyways, all weekend I suffered from my terrible allergies, and don't feel so hot this morning, so I'm going to make this short and sweet with a quick picture recap. I'm actually guest posting today over at Yammering Yankee so stop by if you want to find out what Kate Middleton and Jay Z have in common!

Friday night we had ice cream for dinner and went to bed at 9 (#headacheproblems). Saturday we went to my little brother's soccer game where I enjoyed a hot apple cider from Dunkin Donuts, made homemade chex mix, I got to wear one of my new pairs of boots, and Schnitzel played peek-a-boo.

Saturday night we met up with some friends, one of whom I hadn't seen since law school ended (and she brought me Hermione Granger's wand!!), at a yummy Irish pub where I had awesome potato soup and "Blarney Bread," and Brian had Shepard's Pie. Yesterday I literally laid on the couch all day because allergies suck. I hope your Monday is as painless as possible!