Just a few fascinating tidbits to start your week off right.
1. I know I said Fashion Week was over, but apparently you just can't stop this train:
I got MUSTARD-COLORED tights this weekend!! I know, right?? Too fabulous for words. I was really hoping that they'd look MUSTARD once I put them on and not just...oh, does she have leg-jaundice? I think they turned out just fine. Also, took me like an hour to figure out what to wear them with. But I care not. MUSTARD TIGHTS! How fun. However-- major disappointment, this taking-a-picture-in-the-bathroom-at-work. Compared to last week, anyway. At least I still managed to chop my head off!
2. We located our long lost child!!! The one you probably never knew was missing. So back in October when Matt started reading Les Mis and I busted out my old soundtracks so that we could start prepping for the new movie, we could never find Disc 2. Disc 1: exactly where I knew it would be. Disc 2: MIA. I looked everywhere. How does Disc 2 get separated from its mate? I have no idea. It was very tragic. So literally, the only time Matt has heard the whole second half of the musical was AT the movie theater. SO tragic. We have been meaning to buy a new set (1987 Original Broadway Cast version is my fave, BTW), or at least download the songs from the second disc, but haven't gotten around to it. Eventually I convinced myself that the second disc must have been IN the CD player in the Pathfinder when I got in my last wreck. It was the only plausible explanation. Anyway. Yesterday afternoon, we were about to hit "order" on our Amazon purchase of the set when I decided we should look just one more time. "Don't we have a CD case that looks like ____ somewhere?" I asked Matt. "Ummm...I think so..." "Well, where is that one? I can't find that case at all," I told him. "Is it in your car?" He decided to go look, and lo and behold, way in the back of his trunk was the missing CD case. WITH THE MISSING CD. Hallelujah. It was a happy reunion and we didn't spend $18. YAY DISC 2!!!
3. On Saturday, after I was able to move again and happily doped up on prescription meds, we made a quick Target run (to buy REGULAR, non-prescription meds that we had run out of). Naturally, that meant spending an hour looking at everything in the entire store-- maybe I was a little too excited about leaving the bed/house. Anyway. I ended up locating a rack of OPI nail polish red-stickered for $4.50/each! (Half price, for those of you not in the nail-polish-pricing-know). There were a great selection of colors, both trendy and classic. I spent a long time debating and finally got a plum-y purple, which is fabulous. Approximately 20 minutes after arriving back home, I started realizing what were you thinking, only getting ONE??! You are going to hate yourself later!!! because I have some sort of compulsive nail polish buying/collecting habit going on. I mentioned this to Matt, and he was like "yeah, I was wondering why you spent so long looking and only picked one...I thought you would get more." I can only blame the drugs I was on. Clearly I was not thinking. Matt suggested we go to the Target in Athens (not the Target I'd gone to on Saturday) yesterday after church and get some more colors. (DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT TRYING TO STEAL MY HUSBAND. YES, HE IS THE BEST.) What do you know-- they don't have ANY marked down. All the same exact colors (including the one I'd bought)...full price. It was heartbreaking. Hopefully I'll get a chance to go back to the other Target before they run out. Stupid drugs, causing bad decision-making...
4. We made a 9x13 cake pan's worth of Rice Krispie Treats on Saturday afternoon, theoretically to be a "Super Bowl snack" on Sunday. They were 80% gone by bedtime on Saturday night and 100% gone before the Super Bowl ever started. I would like to blame this primarily on Matt, but that would be incredibly untrue. Whatever. I have no regrets. They were gluten-free, if that helps?
I think that's enough from me. Happy mustard-tights-Monday!!
We just spent an exciting Saturday night preparing and filing our taxes-- woohoo!! Actually, it was insanely exciting compared to how we spent the rest of the day. Maybe I'll fill you in on that later. But for now, what's truly important is this:
We're getting a higher-than-normal return this year, primarily because we were able to itemize our medical expenses. Yeah, thanks so much hospital visits, millions of trips to the RE in Atlanta, and surgeries 1 & 2, you were freakin' expensive and freakin' stupid and WAY MORE than 7.5% of our AGI or whatever. But that's all water under the bridge (or under the plane!), because now we're looking ahead to the positive things in life: getting money back. And what do you think we're gonna do when we get that money back? Money that I see as a personal gift for dealing with crappy medical problems all year/life? (Sure, a bunch of it is probably from boring stuff like interest paid on our mortgage and charitable donations, but those don't bother me. MEDICAL CRAP BOTHERS ME.)
MEXICO, BABY!!!!
I was gonna give you three guesses, but you probably knew where this story was going before I even started, right? I mean...a fabulous vacation is a pretty good runner-up prize for a year of crappy and so-far-pointless medical expenses that did not even result in a baby, right?
Did I ever see myself as the kind of person who would get to go on Caribbean vacations two years in a row? No. But I also didn't see myself as a person that would go without children for five years in a row, either, so...life isn't always what you expect. As I learned last year-- planning a fabulous vacation makes life SO MUCH BETTER because you have something concrete to look forward to. So let the giddiness begin! Let the anticipation begin! Let the working out with a PURPOSE begin! Let the government hurry up and direct-deposit my refund so that we can actually BOOK the vacation...ha.
Unlike last year, I am not debating where to go. I am not reinventing the wheel. We are going to go exactly where we went last year (but for one extra night!). It was perfect and amazing and I can wholeheartedly look forward to it, rather than wondering whether I made a good choice, whether wherever we pick will measure up to last year, whether the food will be good, etc. Let's not let ANY unnecessary stress enter the equation!
So YAY!
I especially needed something like this (discovering the return would be good enough to almost entirely fund a vacation) because the first part of today SUCKED MAJORLY.
See this?
It's me doubling up on heating pads. Apparently six months was as long as my body could make it from surgery before deciding to freak the freak out again to announce the arrival of my period. If I'd had three heating pads, I would have used them all. I felt like I was in labor. Absolutely unbelievable cramps in my abdomen, back/booty, and thighs. I've heard tales of these infamous thigh cramps that some endo girls get to experience, but had never felt it myself. Well today must have been my lucky day. It was unbelievable. Thank God for prescription painkillers, wonderful husbands, and two heating pads (plus I used my hot laptop on my thighs as a makeshift third heating pad). At one point when I was like howling in pain, I informed Matt that "MOST WOMEN GET AN EPIDURAL FOR THIS KIND OF PAIN!!! AND A BABY!!!!!!" So, yeah. Not one of my more graceful mornings, but that's (my) life.
Let's refocus. I'm GOING BACK TO MEXICO, so eff endometriosis and infertility and everything else that sucks. I WIN.
And THIS TIME I know in advance about the unlimited cotton candy, and if you think I'm not already dreaming about how much freakin cotton candy I'm going to slam...you're wrong. It's gonna be insaaaaaaane!!
I survived (self-imposed) Fashion Week!! Hip hip hooray! But one cannot actually consider Fashion Week to be over until they blog their very, very, very fashionable pictures, so...here we go!
If the arch-nemesis of Monday and Tuesday was the awkwardness, then the arch-nemesis of Wednesday through Friday would have to be the elements. As in, the weather. Here's the rundown: Wednesday it was 70 degrees and we were dodging torrential downpours and tornadoes. Thursday and Friday it was 35 degrees with 3000mph winds. Incidentally, none of these are ideal photo-taking-situations, but we're nothing if not dedicated to Blogger Fashion Week. So we persevered, come what may. Yeah. You're welcome.
Wednesday (pouring rain, humidity, tornado watches)
Since my research revealed that most fashion bloggers prefer posing with their handbags (or other hand-held accessory items), I decided to follow suit. But only for one day, because I carry the same purse every day, so photographing it more than one day would be ridiculous.
Thursday (freezing cold, windy)
NAME DROPPING MOMENT!!! These are the J. Crew boots (WHAT WHAT, HOW TRENDY AM I) that I got at a yard sale last summer (wait, what, she's not rich??) for $4!!!! Best score ever. Unfortunately they are half a size too small, therefore they hurt my feet and I never wear them. But I decided to tough it out JUST for you for this day. Also, they are very 'clicky' when I walk, and that makes me feel powerful. Just a side note.
I must say- I'm a huge fan of the contrast in the boots and leggings. I normally wear (comfy) black flat boots with this outfit. It's gonna be sad (but comfy) to go back to that.
Since all the above pictures are in the uber-trendy 'head chopped off' fashion, I felt like I should include a few dorky-but-very-'me' shots of what it's actually like doing a Fashion Shoot with me.
Mainly I act cheesy and waste time and risk hypothermia by climbing into gardens and smelling lovely pink flowers.
Friday (OMG even colder and windier than Thursday. This whole shoot took about 4 minutes. We did not mess around or change any camera settings or use manual focus. We got it done FAST!!!)
Yeah, I was severely underdressed (HAHA I just wrote 'undressed'...) for the temperature. SEVERELY. Please take note of the thin turtleneck and no socks. Who thought that was a good idea??
Despite the freezing weather and lickety-split nature of the shoot today, I must say that these are some of my favorite pictures out of the whole week! Also, I really think I need some kind of statement necklace with this outfit. Since I couldn't find a good one, I went with the statement earrings (??) instead. They're some of my faaaaaavorites. Also, Matt calls this hairstyle my "princess hair." Just thought you should know.
And thus concludes Blogger Fashion Week. As awkward and uncomfortable (and COLD!) as it was at times, it was actually really fun. Actually POSTING the pictures still feels really weird, but I guess it's good to do stuff out of your comfort zone now and then, right? Diana and I decided to do Fashion Week again when it's a new season (read: warmer and calling for different wardrobe choices)...maybe I'll give you more than a five-minute heads up next time and everyone can play along! Or maybe I'll do Gym Fashion week. That's actually way more my style. Ha.
Have a great weekend! Join me in hoping that the groundhog does NOT see his shadow...I'm juuuust about done with this cold stuff!
Last week my new blog-friend Christen (she's awesome, yall should check her out) did a great post where she 'scored' different things that had occurred during the month so that she could give the month an overall...well, score. How many times can I use the same word in a sentence? Anyway. So basically you review things that happened during the month and arbitrarily assign points (positive or negative) to each event, then add 'em up, and voila. Your month's score. I suppose if you did it every month, then you could have a scientific way of comparing months. I can't make that kind of commitment, but her January's Score post definitely entertained me enough to want to straight-up copy her.
So let's take a minute to review the spectacular month of January 2013.
First of all, it was January. I don't like the idea of January that much: -3 pts.
I ripped out my eyelashes. Ugly and traumatizing: -5 pts.
Started my new job: + 5 pts.
Had to say good-bye to my old job/co-workers: -2 pts.
Started the Bird Food Diet: +1 pts. (I'd break that down by giving -3 for missing out on bacon, waffles, and cookies, but +4 for feeling healthier, making good choices, and discovering new foods/recipes)
Beat Matt at foosball a bunch of times: +2 pts.
Lost my ability to sleep through the night: -10 pts.
Discovered a disgusting-but-natural remedy for the insomnia: +5 pts.
Got a lot of new makeup: +3 pts.
Got to hang out with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law and eat Mexican food!: +4 pts.
Took a cool picture of me and Matt's feet: +1 pt.
Worked out 13 times (yes, I keep track): +13 pts.
Had 24/7 chapped lips and itchy skin: -5 pts.
Got mentioned on Stirrup Queens: +2 pts.
Haven't died yet of embarrassment due to Fashion Week: +3 pts.
Starting participating in the Bachelor phenomenon: + 2 pts.
Alright! I'm out of time, so that means my list is done! Let's all pull out our TI-83s and do some advanced calculus here, 'aight? One moment, please!!
And January's total score IS....16!!!!!!!!!!
Not bad, not bad at all, right? I mean, since I have nothing to compare it to, I'll have to say- way to go, January! Way to beat my expectations. I never thought you'd top an 11.
And now I'm off to join some of my favorite ladies for (most likely non-BFD-approved) Mexican (which will seriously be worth at least 3 more points, but oh well)...how was your January? Feel free to give your month a completely arbitrary point-total with no justifications whatsoever, because that's how we roll here.
