This is where the water is coming in from - this is the door frame between my bathroom and bedroom.
These are the buckets that are down. Look at the clear bucket at the top and you can see that the water isn't clear - so gross:
Monday, February 28, 2011
House Blues
I was enjoying my relaxing working from home day, when I walked into my bathroom and noticed the ground was wet. At first I thought it was just still wet from when I had showered, but then I realized that it was the roof that was leaking. This is not the first time this has happened, but last time it leaked it was during a torrential downpour. Although it has been raining today, it has been more of a light drizzle type of rain. It's supposed to keep raining for the next 6 hours, which worries me. Hopefully my landlord will bring in a roofer very very soon to come out and look at this.
This is where the water is coming in from - this is the door frame between my bathroom and bedroom.
These are the buckets that are down. Look at the clear bucket at the top and you can see that the water isn't clear - so gross:
This is where the water is coming in from - this is the door frame between my bathroom and bedroom.
These are the buckets that are down. Look at the clear bucket at the top and you can see that the water isn't clear - so gross:
I Got Cankered
The end of last week my throat started hurting a bit. As it turned into the weekend, the lymph node on the left side of my throat started getting bigger and bigger. I began worrying that I was coming down with something, but thought it was strange that it was only one part of my throat that was hurting. I also thought I had bitten the very back corner of my tongue.
Saturday morning, when I was getting ready to brush my teeth, I realized that the whole back of my throat was really red and irritated. I immediately freaked out, thought I was dying, and ran to grab a flashlight so the boyfriend could inspect. He saw that in the middle of all the redness was actually a white sore spot that he said was just a canker sore. I felt so relieved finally knowing what was wrong with me, and that it wasn't anything serious (and that I wasn't dying). I've been salt water swishing twice a day now, and it's already feeling much better. Hopefully it will be gone in a few days.
Saturday morning, when I was getting ready to brush my teeth, I realized that the whole back of my throat was really red and irritated. I immediately freaked out, thought I was dying, and ran to grab a flashlight so the boyfriend could inspect. He saw that in the middle of all the redness was actually a white sore spot that he said was just a canker sore. I felt so relieved finally knowing what was wrong with me, and that it wasn't anything serious (and that I wasn't dying). I've been salt water swishing twice a day now, and it's already feeling much better. Hopefully it will be gone in a few days.
Weekend Recap
This weekend flew by, I can't believe its already Monday. Friday was very relaxing - after leaving work, I went home and relaxed after a long week. The boyfriend came over a bit later and we stayed in, relaxed, and watched movies on TV. Such a fun time.
Saturday I ran some errands with the car my sister let me borrow. I went grocery shopping and took the car to the dealer to look up this code that you need to type in
to make the radio work (don't ask). I came home and made this amazing Lemon Bundt Cake for dinner. My roommate had made this last week, and after tasting how delicious it was, I thought it would be perfect to make for the dinner party. The cake itself has a lemon flavor, but then there is the lemon glaze that you pour over it, which just gives it an extra touch of deliciousness.
After baking, the boyfriend and I had to go and get ready for the dinner party. My old co-worker Emily, her husband Marc, and her mother invited us over for dinner. My other old co-worker Tiffany and her boyfriend Ryan joined as well. Dinner was absolutely delicious and it was so nice to catch up with both of them. Unfortunately we had to leave early because the boyfriend was not feeling very well, but other than that it was an amazing time.
Sunday was busy, busy, busy. We went to go watch the Arsenal game - they were playing in the finals of the Carling Cup versus Birmingham. Unfortunately they lost right in the last few minutes and it was heartbreaking. But we didn't have long to linger on the loss because the boyfriend had a soccer game. The weather was great so I went to spectate and cheer them on. They won 2-1 and the boyfriend had a goal and an assist, so he basically kicked butt. Way to go! We came home, stopped by the neighbors to buy some girl scout cookies, and then decided to go shopping. After that, we dropped the car off, got some Chipotle, and then had a romantic walk home. Once we got home, we relaxed and watched the Oscars with the roommates.
Saturday I ran some errands with the car my sister let me borrow. I went grocery shopping and took the car to the dealer to look up this code that you need to type in
to make the radio work (don't ask). I came home and made this amazing Lemon Bundt Cake for dinner. My roommate had made this last week, and after tasting how delicious it was, I thought it would be perfect to make for the dinner party. The cake itself has a lemon flavor, but then there is the lemon glaze that you pour over it, which just gives it an extra touch of deliciousness. After baking, the boyfriend and I had to go and get ready for the dinner party. My old co-worker Emily, her husband Marc, and her mother invited us over for dinner. My other old co-worker Tiffany and her boyfriend Ryan joined as well. Dinner was absolutely delicious and it was so nice to catch up with both of them. Unfortunately we had to leave early because the boyfriend was not feeling very well, but other than that it was an amazing time.
Sunday was busy, busy, busy. We went to go watch the Arsenal game - they were playing in the finals of the Carling Cup versus Birmingham. Unfortunately they lost right in the last few minutes and it was heartbreaking. But we didn't have long to linger on the loss because the boyfriend had a soccer game. The weather was great so I went to spectate and cheer them on. They won 2-1 and the boyfriend had a goal and an assist, so he basically kicked butt. Way to go! We came home, stopped by the neighbors to buy some girl scout cookies, and then decided to go shopping. After that, we dropped the car off, got some Chipotle, and then had a romantic walk home. Once we got home, we relaxed and watched the Oscars with the roommates.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Finance Tip
I have been reading some finance blogs (my favorite of which is Get Rich Slowly), and have decided that I shouldn't let my vast knowledge of Finance go to waste, so here comes a Finance Tip:
401ks: A 401k is a special type of saving account where you can save money for retirement. Most companies should offer at least a 401k plan, and some companies offer matching (more on this below). The reason that 401ks are so valuable are that you can put your money into an account tax free. The taxes are deducted when you withdraw from the account, which assuming you don't withdraw the money until you retire, and if you are retired you probably are making very minimal income, your taxes on the money will be very minimal, as opposed to now when you are in a much higher tax bracket because of the money you are earning.
The key to a successful 401k plan is that you do not withdraw the funds until you need them, preferably when you retire. If you decide to withdraw the money, you will incur a penalty fee for doing so, AND you will have to pay the taxes on the money was well. This is not a wise choice. The IRS have made a few concessions to let people withdraw the funds penalty-free (but you will still have to pay the taxes) for things such as buying a home, if you or a family member get sick with something like cancer, etc.
I mentioned above that some companies offering matching to a 401k plan. Each company's matching program works differently, but let's say your company offers matching up to 3%, this means that if you put 3% of your revenues into your 401k plan, your company will MATCH that 3% that you put away. Did you get that - that's free money! When the recession hit, I know a lot of companies (mine included) took away the matching feature, but that's doesn't mean that you shouldn't utilize the 401k plan if there is no matching. Also, at the very bare minimum, you NEED TO at the very least be invested whatever you company is matching. If you don't then you are simply throwing away free money.
Another thing to note about retirement saving in general is that many people think that being in your 20s means that you don't have to think about saving for your
retirement, that this is something you think about when you in your 40s or 50s. But this is exactly the time to be saving for your future. There is something called compound interest, called "the greatest force in the universe" by Albert Einstein, means that you are earning interest on the interest from the money you have in there now. I won't bore you with boring calculations, but basically it boils down to the fact that if you invest just a little in your 20s for your retirement, you will have a lot more money at retirement time than someone who invests substantially more but waits until their 40s to start For more information on this, read this.
For those of you who aren't already investing if a 401k plan, DO IT NOW. For those of you who already are, see if you could invest more. If you are not taking of advantage for your company's matching, DO IT NOW. Lastly, if your company does not offer a 401k plan, there are other alternatives such a Roth IRA or a 403b.
Hope you all learned something, and look forward to more Finance Tips!
401ks: A 401k is a special type of saving account where you can save money for retirement. Most companies should offer at least a 401k plan, and some companies offer matching (more on this below). The reason that 401ks are so valuable are that you can put your money into an account tax free. The taxes are deducted when you withdraw from the account, which assuming you don't withdraw the money until you retire, and if you are retired you probably are making very minimal income, your taxes on the money will be very minimal, as opposed to now when you are in a much higher tax bracket because of the money you are earning.
The key to a successful 401k plan is that you do not withdraw the funds until you need them, preferably when you retire. If you decide to withdraw the money, you will incur a penalty fee for doing so, AND you will have to pay the taxes on the money was well. This is not a wise choice. The IRS have made a few concessions to let people withdraw the funds penalty-free (but you will still have to pay the taxes) for things such as buying a home, if you or a family member get sick with something like cancer, etc. I mentioned above that some companies offering matching to a 401k plan. Each company's matching program works differently, but let's say your company offers matching up to 3%, this means that if you put 3% of your revenues into your 401k plan, your company will MATCH that 3% that you put away. Did you get that - that's free money! When the recession hit, I know a lot of companies (mine included) took away the matching feature, but that's doesn't mean that you shouldn't utilize the 401k plan if there is no matching. Also, at the very bare minimum, you NEED TO at the very least be invested whatever you company is matching. If you don't then you are simply throwing away free money.
Another thing to note about retirement saving in general is that many people think that being in your 20s means that you don't have to think about saving for your
retirement, that this is something you think about when you in your 40s or 50s. But this is exactly the time to be saving for your future. There is something called compound interest, called "the greatest force in the universe" by Albert Einstein, means that you are earning interest on the interest from the money you have in there now. I won't bore you with boring calculations, but basically it boils down to the fact that if you invest just a little in your 20s for your retirement, you will have a lot more money at retirement time than someone who invests substantially more but waits until their 40s to start For more information on this, read this. For those of you who aren't already investing if a 401k plan, DO IT NOW. For those of you who already are, see if you could invest more. If you are not taking of advantage for your company's matching, DO IT NOW. Lastly, if your company does not offer a 401k plan, there are other alternatives such a Roth IRA or a 403b.
Hope you all learned something, and look forward to more Finance Tips!
Productive Day at Work
So it's Friday afternoon and I'm sitting here counting down the hours and minutes until I can leave work and have the glorious weekend begin. My sister is out of town and she let me borrow her car, so now I have all this freedom at my fingertips!
First, let me start with some celebratory news - I got a raise at work! They love me so much over here! Hooray! It was effective Jan 1, so this paycheck included all my retro-active pay so my paycheck was extra happy this time!
Speaking of paychecks, I was thinking about how much money I pay in rent, and I calculated it out that I pay about 32% of my take-home pay to rent. Now, this number is skewed a lot because I am basing it off of my paycheck amount, which includes my deductions for things like flexible spending and my 401k - which I try to put a lot into, but more on that later.
Anyways, I got to thinking - what is a normal percentage of my take-home pay to spend on rent for a 20something? I think 50% is way too much, especially if you are one of those people who are never home. I also think it's always a good thing to live well below your means, but what is the norm?
First, let me start with some celebratory news - I got a raise at work! They love me so much over here! Hooray! It was effective Jan 1, so this paycheck included all my retro-active pay so my paycheck was extra happy this time!
Speaking of paychecks, I was thinking about how much money I pay in rent, and I calculated it out that I pay about 32% of my take-home pay to rent. Now, this number is skewed a lot because I am basing it off of my paycheck amount, which includes my deductions for things like flexible spending and my 401k - which I try to put a lot into, but more on that later.
Anyways, I got to thinking - what is a normal percentage of my take-home pay to spend on rent for a 20something? I think 50% is way too much, especially if you are one of those people who are never home. I also think it's always a good thing to live well below your means, but what is the norm?
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Is it Friday Yet?
Even though this week was a short week (I had Monday off for President's Day), I feel like it's been dragging on and on and on. I had soccer last night, all the way out in the middle of nowhere (I got a ride and it took us an hour and 15 minutes to get there, and I ran onto the field seconds before the game started). Even though it's a Wednesday night league, we have a game tonight to make up for a missed game due to snow. Tonight is our last game (unless we make the playoffs, which seems unlikely), and these back-to-back games (we had the same thing last week) are killer. I'm excited to have 2 weeks off before the Spring season starts (when I signed up for both a Wednesday night league and a Sunday league).
Monday, February 21, 2011
Racing
Last Sunday, I ran a Valentine's Day race called "Love the Run You're With". My sister ran it with me and pushed me the entire way. The boyfriend, who ran and finished before me, jumped in with us for the last 100 feet or so and we finished together. The pictures were finally posted, and here they are (I have on the red shorts, sister has on the gray shirt, and the boyfriend has on the white shorts):
Weekend Recap - 3Day Edition
This LONG weekend was great! Friday I got off work early, and the weather was amazing - 70 and sunny. The boyfriend came over and we just chilled at home with my roommates. Saturday we hung out with my old roommate and her husband, met their new cat, and had a nice time catching up. Sunday we went to the American basketball game (the boyfriend's neighbor works for AU and got us free tickets). The game was very intense, came down to the last minute, and American won! But more importantly it was bobble head night, so we made sure to get there early to get ours. Monday I had off for President's Day and I was in super clean / re-organize / de-clutter mode. I donated 2 huge boxes of stuff to Goodwill (and thanks to my roommate for taking me there) and I feel so much better. I did all my laundry and everything has a place, which is such a nice feeling. See below for some pictures:
The middle shelf had been full of my hardcover books, which I moved out to the unused bookshelf in the family room. Now the bookshelf looks a lot less cluttered:
I re-organized my entire closet:
The boyfriend and I at the AU basketball game:
The middle shelf had been full of my hardcover books, which I moved out to the unused bookshelf in the family room. Now the bookshelf looks a lot less cluttered:
I re-organized my entire closet:
The boyfriend and I at the AU basketball game:
Friday, February 18, 2011
TGIF
So today is Friday and this weekend is a long weekend! Hooray! I could not be more excited. I don't really have much in the way of plans, but am excited for all the relaxing and nice weather.
Office is closing early today - hooray!
Office is closing early today - hooray!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Happy Valentine's Day - Update
Last night was so much fun, even though we didn't do hardly anything we had planned. I got over to the boyfriends place around 8 was just having a bad day for absolutely no reason. I was hungry and crabby and we decided to forgo the cooking and just go out to eat instead. We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant, which was surprisingly not crowded at all, and had a very nice romantic dinner. After dinner, we headed back to his place and he gave me my present.
Before I tell you my present, I need to fill you in on the story of how we met. My co-worker Jesica double-booked me and the now-boyfriend for lunch one day (May 13, 2009). Jesica and I had brought food to eat, and it was really nice outside, so we decided to eat out on the Navy Memorial, which was only a block away from our office at the time. The now-boyfriend works just a few blocks up from there, so he walked down and met us. We hung out as friends for about 2 months afterwards, and had our first real date in July, and have been happily together ever since
Needless to say, the Navy Memorial now holds a very special place in my heart. The boyfriend surprised me with a gorgeous, stunning, amazing picture collage of the Navy Memorial and Archives in a floating frame. He took a bunch of different pictures of the scene at different times of the day, and put them together into a collage.
I just want to preface the pictures below with the fact that they do not do it justice, the collage looks way more amazing in real life and it was hard to photograph because it was so reflective:
Before I tell you my present, I need to fill you in on the story of how we met. My co-worker Jesica double-booked me and the now-boyfriend for lunch one day (May 13, 2009). Jesica and I had brought food to eat, and it was really nice outside, so we decided to eat out on the Navy Memorial, which was only a block away from our office at the time. The now-boyfriend works just a few blocks up from there, so he walked down and met us. We hung out as friends for about 2 months afterwards, and had our first real date in July, and have been happily together ever since
Needless to say, the Navy Memorial now holds a very special place in my heart. The boyfriend surprised me with a gorgeous, stunning, amazing picture collage of the Navy Memorial and Archives in a floating frame. He took a bunch of different pictures of the scene at different times of the day, and put them together into a collage.
I just want to preface the pictures below with the fact that they do not do it justice, the collage looks way more amazing in real life and it was hard to photograph because it was so reflective:
Monday, February 14, 2011
No Heat
Yesterday my roommate was home and smelled gas in the house. She called our gas company and they came out to inspect. They found that there was nothing wrong with our gas, but that our furnace was emitting high levels of carbon monoxide. The technician placed a "Danger- Hazardous Condition" tag on the unit and said that the heat may absolutely not be used until someone comes out to fix it. This means that since yesterday afternoon we have had no heat.
After not getting back to us all day yesterday, our landlord finally got in touch with us today and had the heating people come out to the house to look at the furnace. Apparently now the entire furnace needs to be replaced, meaning it will be at least a few days before we get our heat back on. Thankfully it is not freezing like it was last week, and despite the highs being in the 50s this week, it still is getting down to the 30s at night.
I have never been so happy to go to work before, seeing as our heat actually works there. Hopefully this will get taken care of soon, otherwise I will be staying at the boyfriends place for a few days.
After not getting back to us all day yesterday, our landlord finally got in touch with us today and had the heating people come out to the house to look at the furnace. Apparently now the entire furnace needs to be replaced, meaning it will be at least a few days before we get our heat back on. Thankfully it is not freezing like it was last week, and despite the highs being in the 50s this week, it still is getting down to the 30s at night.
I have never been so happy to go to work before, seeing as our heat actually works there. Hopefully this will get taken care of soon, otherwise I will be staying at the boyfriends place for a few days.
Happy Valentine's Day
Happy Valentine's Day to all you out there reading this! Have anything special planned? The boyfriend and I decided to cook dinner together tonight. On the menu so far is broiled scallops, asparagus, hummus with veggies, and the treats I made him for dessert
. In addition to the desserts I made him, I also got the boyfriend an early Valentine's Day gift of slippers for him to wear around the house when he's at my place (our wooden floors are old and falling apart a bit, plus the floors not always the cleanest).Tonight I will be receiving my Valentine's Day gift. I have absolutely no clue what this secret project is that the boyfriend has been working on. He has given me numerous hints about the present, but none of them make any sense. When I showed up semi-unannounced at his place, there was a rectangle-shaped box that he said contained something that was shipped to him as part of the gift. He also had gotten
some pictures he had taken developed, and I thought it was strange of him to get pictures developed (he loves photography but in the entire time I've known him, he hasn't gotten a single picture hes taken developed yet). My guess was he was either making some sort of picture collage or a scrapbook. He said both guesses were wrong, and even followed it up with "do I seem like the scrapbooking kind of guy". I am very intrigued as to what I am getting, and hope that it's blog-worthy. It better be after keeping me in suspense all week!
Weekend Recap
Happy Valentines Day to all of you reading this! 
My weekend was so busy - it started off with me taking the boyfriend out to dinner. Earlier in the week I had bought a LivingSocial deal to Brasserie Beck, so I decided that we should go to dinner on Friday because it was our anniversary (19 months!). I got all dressed up and told him to meet me downtown, but wouldn't tell him where we were going. He had never been to where we ate out, and I think he enjoyed being surprised. All in all it was a great night.
Saturday morning my sister Amy and her 2 friends came over and made brunch and then
made Valentine's Day treats for our significant others. We made chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered oranges, chocolate covered oreos, and chocolate covered cherries (are you noticing a theme here). It was so much fun, and I was very impressed with our skills. This is what the final presentation looked like:
Needless to say, the boyfriend loved the treats we made, and thanks again to Amy for organizing it all and for getting all the materials. After the cooking fest, my sister let me borrow the car (isn't she the best) and the boyfriend and I went to Target. I hadn't been shopping in so long, so I went all out - I got workout clothes, DVDs, groceries, and tons of other stuff. Did I mention how much I love Target - all you need in one place. I was able to stock up thanks to me having the car, and don't need to go shopping again for a very long while.
Sunday morning the boyfriend and I signed up for a 5k Valentines Day run. My sister Amy and her boyfriend also ran the race, and Amy decided to run with me. It was fun
sister bonding time, and she really helped push me throughout the race. I was very happy with my time, and had so much fun! Pictures aren't up yet, but once available I'll post. After the race, we all had brunch which was fun, and then I took a nap. I'm still sore from the race, but it was worth it. Also, my sister Amy's boyfriend got 16th place overall in the race! Very impressive! He won this mug for doing so great. And of course, thanks to Amy for running with me, and congratulations to the boyfriend for doing amazing, like always!
My weekend was so busy - it started off with me taking the boyfriend out to dinner. Earlier in the week I had bought a LivingSocial deal to Brasserie Beck, so I decided that we should go to dinner on Friday because it was our anniversary (19 months!). I got all dressed up and told him to meet me downtown, but wouldn't tell him where we were going. He had never been to where we ate out, and I think he enjoyed being surprised. All in all it was a great night.Saturday morning my sister Amy and her 2 friends came over and made brunch and then
made Valentine's Day treats for our significant others. We made chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered oranges, chocolate covered oreos, and chocolate covered cherries (are you noticing a theme here). It was so much fun, and I was very impressed with our skills. This is what the final presentation looked like:
Needless to say, the boyfriend loved the treats we made, and thanks again to Amy for organizing it all and for getting all the materials. After the cooking fest, my sister let me borrow the car (isn't she the best) and the boyfriend and I went to Target. I hadn't been shopping in so long, so I went all out - I got workout clothes, DVDs, groceries, and tons of other stuff. Did I mention how much I love Target - all you need in one place. I was able to stock up thanks to me having the car, and don't need to go shopping again for a very long while.
Sunday morning the boyfriend and I signed up for a 5k Valentines Day run. My sister Amy and her boyfriend also ran the race, and Amy decided to run with me. It was fun
sister bonding time, and she really helped push me throughout the race. I was very happy with my time, and had so much fun! Pictures aren't up yet, but once available I'll post. After the race, we all had brunch which was fun, and then I took a nap. I'm still sore from the race, but it was worth it. Also, my sister Amy's boyfriend got 16th place overall in the race! Very impressive! He won this mug for doing so great. And of course, thanks to Amy for running with me, and congratulations to the boyfriend for doing amazing, like always!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Painting
Here is the latest happenings with the painting for above my bed:
It actually looks way better in this picture than it does in real life. I'm sure that you're sitting there thinking "I could never do that" but in actuality, it's not nearly as difficult as you think. The first step is to come up with a concept of what you want to do. This can either be a vague idea of what you want to do, a picture of something you want to paint, or just an idea in your head. My concept was "a giant red flower". I'm not sure what it is but I love painting flowers, and I love painting with the color red. Red easily mixes with other colors to bring out the highlights and shadows making it my favorite color to work with.
After I came up with my concept, I got out some red paint and my giant paint brush and sketched out the center circle of the flower along with the different petals. I filled in the petals with just plain red and called it a night. A few days later, I came back to the painting and decided to tackle one petal at a time. I like to do each petal at a time so that each one looks different, just like how a real flower would look. I mixed the red with some combination of orange, light green, blue and dark green. I just swipe the paint brush in the red, and then just dab the brush in one or more of the accent colors, and then just fill in the petal. Along the edges I try to make it darker so that you can tell the distinction between the petals better, and because a flower would usually be more shadowed there.
If I mess up by making the filling bigger than what I had outlined, then I just go with it. I try not to think too much about what its "supposed" to look like (ie where an actual shadow would go, where a highlight would go), and just kind of let it happen on the canvas. Then, I step back and see if something looks off and then fix it. This is where I left off, and will fill you in on the steps as I progress. Hope you enjoyed the painting tutorial.
It actually looks way better in this picture than it does in real life. I'm sure that you're sitting there thinking "I could never do that" but in actuality, it's not nearly as difficult as you think. The first step is to come up with a concept of what you want to do. This can either be a vague idea of what you want to do, a picture of something you want to paint, or just an idea in your head. My concept was "a giant red flower". I'm not sure what it is but I love painting flowers, and I love painting with the color red. Red easily mixes with other colors to bring out the highlights and shadows making it my favorite color to work with.
After I came up with my concept, I got out some red paint and my giant paint brush and sketched out the center circle of the flower along with the different petals. I filled in the petals with just plain red and called it a night. A few days later, I came back to the painting and decided to tackle one petal at a time. I like to do each petal at a time so that each one looks different, just like how a real flower would look. I mixed the red with some combination of orange, light green, blue and dark green. I just swipe the paint brush in the red, and then just dab the brush in one or more of the accent colors, and then just fill in the petal. Along the edges I try to make it darker so that you can tell the distinction between the petals better, and because a flower would usually be more shadowed there.
If I mess up by making the filling bigger than what I had outlined, then I just go with it. I try not to think too much about what its "supposed" to look like (ie where an actual shadow would go, where a highlight would go), and just kind of let it happen on the canvas. Then, I step back and see if something looks off and then fix it. This is where I left off, and will fill you in on the steps as I progress. Hope you enjoyed the painting tutorial.
Superbowl Squares - Update
For the Superbowl, the boyfriend and I decided to make a whole platter of junk food and gorge out while watching it together at his place. It was fun and relaxing and just how I wanted to watch the game - lounged out on the couch in my sweats.
Also, I won the 3rd quarter of Superbowl Squares! I seem to be getting lucky with these office games. Although I didn't take him the big prize, I did win $25. I put in $10 for my 2 squares, so I netted a whopping $15! Woohoo, go me!
Also, I won the 3rd quarter of Superbowl Squares! I seem to be getting lucky with these office games. Although I didn't take him the big prize, I did win $25. I put in $10 for my 2 squares, so I netted a whopping $15! Woohoo, go me!
Weekend Recap
Even though it's already Wednesday, I have been slacking and need to update everyone on the latest happenings in my life. This weekend the boyfriend and I went to the Auto Show, which was so much fun we had to jump for joy.
We met Gheorghe Mureşan there (George Muresan for you Americans), who is 7'7" and used to play in the NBA. Not only is
he ridiculously tall, his hands were ridiculously big. Each finger alone was like 3 of my fingers. He was also super nice, friendly, and seemed genuinely happy to be there. He struck up a conversation with us about the cars at the show. I was nervous so I didn't say anything, but the boyfriend was chatting away. For the record, Gheorghe said he would only drive an electric car.
Another recent happening is that I finally got around to ordering myself some kickboxing gloves. I no longer have to borrow the icky, smelly, gross ones from the gym. I went with red, cause it's classic, and bought these on Amazon while using my $10 for $20 LivingSocial deal I bought a few weeks back.
We met Gheorghe Mureşan there (George Muresan for you Americans), who is 7'7" and used to play in the NBA. Not only is
he ridiculously tall, his hands were ridiculously big. Each finger alone was like 3 of my fingers. He was also super nice, friendly, and seemed genuinely happy to be there. He struck up a conversation with us about the cars at the show. I was nervous so I didn't say anything, but the boyfriend was chatting away. For the record, Gheorghe said he would only drive an electric car.Another recent happening is that I finally got around to ordering myself some kickboxing gloves. I no longer have to borrow the icky, smelly, gross ones from the gym. I went with red, cause it's classic, and bought these on Amazon while using my $10 for $20 LivingSocial deal I bought a few weeks back.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Superbowl Squares
My office decided to play a game for the Superbowl called Superbowl Squares. For those of you who don't know what it is, you buy a square in a grid. The grid has one team along the top and their opponent along the side. Each square has a number from 0-9 for each team, representing the last digit of the score. The numbers are randomly assigned to the squares after all the squares have been assigned. If that doesn't make any sense, just keep reading.
Today at 3pm our office had a drawing, where people would pick the number from a bowl to determine what order the 0-9 numbers appear. For whatever reason, that meant that there had to be refreshments for the participants. And the only acceptable refreshments for anything related to the Super Bowl would be beer - Bud Light to be exact. Yes, this really is the place that I work. So, at 3pm on a Friday at work, my co-workers are throwing back multiple beers.
Back to the actual topic at hand, my superbowl squares picks are:
Steelers 7 - Packers 1 and Steelers 6 - Packers 0, so let's hope I win! I think I actually got pretty good numbers. Speaking of winning, there's some serious cash to be made: 1st quarter $25, Halftime $50, 3rd quarter $25, and Game $400.
Today at 3pm our office had a drawing, where people would pick the number from a bowl to determine what order the 0-9 numbers appear. For whatever reason, that meant that there had to be refreshments for the participants. And the only acceptable refreshments for anything related to the Super Bowl would be beer - Bud Light to be exact. Yes, this really is the place that I work. So, at 3pm on a Friday at work, my co-workers are throwing back multiple beers.
Back to the actual topic at hand, my superbowl squares picks are:
Steelers 7 - Packers 1 and Steelers 6 - Packers 0, so let's hope I win! I think I actually got pretty good numbers. Speaking of winning, there's some serious cash to be made: 1st quarter $25, Halftime $50, 3rd quarter $25, and Game $400.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
De-Cluttering
After working from home the other day, I was feeling very energized and motivated to de-clutter my bathroom. It all started because I purchased the jumbo pack of toilet paper. I usually like to buy the jumbo sized pack because it's cheaper and if I buy the 4-pack, I feel like I ran out too quickly. I usually just kept the jumbo pack of toilet paper right next to the toilet, but was getting tired of having stuff out everywhere, so I decided to store it under the bathroom sink. This sounded like a great plan, except that under my bathroom sink looked like this:
Thus began the great de-cluttering! I realized that I had a lot of stuff hidden back there that I didn't even know I had, and pulled out things that I either don't use anymore or didn't want anymore. This is what I had left (after my one of my roommates took a few things):
Next, I re-organized how I was storing things, and made the things that I use most often in the front. I was able to put ALL of the toilet paper underneath, and not only does everything fit, it is now neater and more organized:
Now I just have to keep it looking like this...
Thus began the great de-cluttering! I realized that I had a lot of stuff hidden back there that I didn't even know I had, and pulled out things that I either don't use anymore or didn't want anymore. This is what I had left (after my one of my roommates took a few things):
Next, I re-organized how I was storing things, and made the things that I use most often in the front. I was able to put ALL of the toilet paper underneath, and not only does everything fit, it is now neater and more organized:
Now I just have to keep it looking like this...
All Fired Up (Update)
For those of you who have been anxiously awaiting, my awesome roommate picked up my Elephant Bank yesterday for me from All Fired Up (thanks again). She informed me after she picked it up that I made the prestigious "Wall of Fame" at the store, which is where they put the pieces out on display for everyone to see. I was so excited, this totally made my day! Below are "after" pictures of the piece and the "award".
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