gift guide

Are you like me and love the smell of Play-Doh? I don't know. Reminds me of all things fun from my childhood.  I'm weird I guess. But not weird enough to wear it as a cologne. But then I read the description, "Meant for highly-creative people, who seek a whimsical scent reminiscent of their childhood." Ha! Sounds like me. O dear.

THEY have all kinds of interesting sniffs. From crayon to marshmallow to bacon to lobster. Yes, lobster. Ewe stinky smell! I love THIS site for random fun things for the fun human that has everything. Here's a fun Valentine's Day gift guide based on a few things that caught my eye in only a few minutes on the site. I could have spent a lot more time. Some of that just makes you smile.

ombre hair

Leaning towards a hair color change. Seriously considering taking my highlights to a blonde ombre. Dun dun dunnnnnn.

weekend deets

The weather is amaze balls today! I even opt out of trouser socks and hose this morning. This feel good warm weather gets me excited about what spring will bring! Yeehaw!

My sweet parents spent the night with me on Friday. We went to dinner before getting up Saturday to shop all day. I scored a few great deals on skinnies for work but I was more excited about the products I got from Ulta. I have been hearing incredible reviews about the AG Color Care poo and cond'ner. The small bottle is $15 and the large bottle is regually $40 but was on sale for $15.99 so I snagged one of each. Heck of a deal! I plan to use it once a week. I used them both this morning and a girl at work asked if I got my hair done over the weekend because it looked brighter. I kid you not. It def brought my highlights back out that were starting to fade.

I got the It's a 10 with Keretin leave in conditioner too. Obsessed. I combed the product through my hair and then used some morrocan oil on my ends and left for work. My hair dried frizz free straight as a board by the time I got to work. (45 min commute)

Kristin picked me up on Saturday night and then we stopped by Kimberly's house to kidnap her for dinner. We treated her to a birthday meal and it just happened to be my favorite place to dine. HeeHeeHee...It was great fun to girl talk about anything and everything. Nothing is off topic when we get together. Nothing. Ha! When we took Kimberly home, she showed us the FINAL floorplans for the home they're building. I am sooooo excited because I've been asked to moodboard the whole shebang. Shut.Up.I.Know. I'm excited!

Happy Monday, Y'all! Here are the flowers not quite in bloom that Lee sent me last week that I forgot to share with you.

Insanity Day 24

bought art

Art.com is having a 35% off sale on framed art today! I had a bird framed like this and I'm imagining him on a grayish navy wall one day. Or navy grass cloth wallpaper. O how yummy that would be...

I've been wanting the White American Pelican piece since seeing this powder room.

vacay

Lee and I have been exploring places we should visit on vacation. I came across an image that directed me to Pinterest and discovered it is located in Dublin, Ireland. It's all across the internet labeled, "Dublin Island Castle House".

I knew immediately upon seeing the pic that I needed find this place to take a picture of it myself to build my portfolio. After doing further research to see what we needed to do to get there., I discovered it's Photoshop fake. Careful what you see on Pinterest! Tricky Tricky! Checkout this Photoshop genius breakdown:

reality

Last night I was scrolling through Facebook and I came across a comment that had 500+ likes. It was the widow of a local Soldier KIA the week after Lee received his deployment orders. This Soldier trained with Lee during early phases of OCS (Officer Candidate School) and then they parted ways after selecting different training schedules. I try not to think about how easily Lee could have chosen the other schedule. My heart breaks for this family. I'm beyond blessed that Lee is nearing the end of his deployment and will be in my arms again.

genie in afghanistan

I forgot that I haven't shared the "genie" lamp Lee sent me. I swear I look at it and think Aladdin's genie will pop out at any moment. Don't think I didn't try rubbing it 3 times to encourage his exit either! What a great new conversation piece for our home, no?!

weekend deets

Insanity Check-in: Still going strong. Feeling great. Day 21 and it's my OFF day. Woot Woot!

Army Wife of a Deployed Soldier Check-in: Stronger than I ever knew I could be. Feeling tired. Haven't slept much in months. Sleep patterns are cray cray. On some days I rely on power naps in my car during the work week on my lunch hour. Absurd, I know. Nonetheless, I'm more than excited that my spreadsheet countdown for the end of this deployment is in the 30th percentile. I can hardly believe it. Such a wave of emotions in this check-in, eh? Yeh, tell me about it...

I worked out, paid bills and got horizontal on the couch for the most of Friday night

I had to gather certified mail on Saturday. My work commute doesn't allow me to have time during the week to do anything at our local post office. Something about Lee's military student loan reimbursement. They marked a page incomplete by borrower but in fine print it says to be "completed by office only". Crikey. Going back to sender!

I stopped by the mall to search for a new cure for my under eye circles. See the no sleep reference in the above check-in. If you follow my blog you 1, know that I LOVE makeup and 2, know that I'm constantly looking for the best circle coverage ever. I couldn't find anything I like that does anything different than what I already own at home but I did get some new foundation and brow pencil from Chanel. I adored the Pro Lumiere foundation and was bummed to see that it was replaced with Perfection Lumiere. Still, I matched myself with the PERFECT color. The color name rose beige scared me but it really was the perfect match for my fair complexion with pink undertones. I bought it but after wearing it all day yesterday and after working hard to do a perfect application this morning (by using an eye cream, moisturizer and primer), I can conclude that it isn't for combination skin. I tend to be dry in the morning and a bit oily in my T-zone in the afternoon. Meh...back to my Makeup Forever foundation. Nothing is wrong with but I like to try new things to see if I like one better. I tend to be more oily in the Summer so if I'm still fair I may use the Perfection Lumiere then.

I've been using my Chanel brow duo for years but not daily. I've only recently started noticing the impact a good brow can make in your finished makeup look. I once read that Carrie Underwood uses Chanel's brow pencil so I thought I'd give it a try and I loved it so much that I bought one. I figured if it's good for that blonde then it's good for this one too.

As I mosied back to may car I got distracted by a sweater in the window at Forever 21. So I bought it.

And then I spotted another sweater and faux leather black skirt that I have on today. I already have one faux leather skirt I scored from BCBG but it's more of a straight mini making it too short for work and my hips love a cute a-line skirt so I couldn't resist this one.

I got home, jumped in the shower and then met my buddy Kristin for dinner and a movie. I gave her book back to her that I had borrowed and she gave ME a book that she and Kimberly had got for me. They went to a local event where this book was being sold and thought of me when they saw it. So sweet!

Kristin and I saw Lincoln and it was really a great movie. The acting was incredible. It's no wonder Daniel Day-Lewis earned  himself a Best Actor Golden Globe!

I had brunch with Jacob, Taylor and her dad on Sunday. Gosh, I love breakfast food. I swear this place has the best banana french toast. I also ate bacon, eggs and hash browns...really healthy, huh? It's OK, after stopping by the grocery store I went back home, took a nap and broke a sweat working out.

HELLO, MONDAY!

Insanity Day 16

updates

And I'm back! Again.

Last night was my 2nd Insanity Fit Test and I amazed myself with how many more repetitions I can do now. I have improved big time. I have passed the grunt feeling and now look forward to my workout everyday. Cheers! I also look forward to my off day too. Ha!

Last night I had THIS salad for dinner. I used apple instead of pear. I also bought an assortment of nuts combined with dried cranberries instead of buying them individually. I love this salad recipe. I buy the exact same dressing brands too. I've tried others just because it's hard to find them at some grocery stores but always end up going out of my way to buy these brands because they simply taste better.

I'm helping host a bridal shower for a friend of mine in the spring. I'm getting started on decor ideas early so I'm not rushing around last minute because I know by that time I'll be in an absolute frenzy preparing for Lee's homecoming.

I'm getting stuff this week to make a present table backdrop, tassel garland and a Mr. & Mrs. banner! I'm excited to get crafty. Here's my inspiration but I'll be putting my own spin on them all.

Lee and I have been discussing some exciting things for when he returns. The mental and emotional growth through a deployment is incredible. We most certainly don't have the same priorities and ambitions that we had a year ago.

wknd deets

Wowzers. I've been having some major issues with my blog. I keep getting some crazy error message. I  pretty much had to delete all my widgets and software programs to get back to my blogger running smoothly. Hopefully that fixed the problem and the error won't come back!

I haven't been able to update you since Insanity Day 9 but I'm still plugging away on the program! Today is my off day. Praise the Lord! I had my first Pure Cardio + Cardio Abs workout yesterday and that wore me out! BUT nothing motivates me more than a new pair of tennies and some cute new sport bras.

I've really had to work hard to squeeze in my workout the last few days. I had a funeral to attend in my hometown and a jam-packed weekend with friends. I ordered my bridesmaid dress for Chelsie's wedding and my bestie Mallory flew into town! She had a baby shower to attend and then spent the night with me! We chowed on Mexican food and then got cozy in sweats in front of the television. It got super cold outside so it was nice to cuddle up under some blankets and have girl talk. Mallory makes me laugh so hard. AND look at this super cute soap she brought me! Looks like Cooper, no?!

Call me crazy but it's taken me more than half of this deployment to own up to the fact that I need to create a routine that doesn't involve Lee. And that means getting rid of his now expired pickles. Ha! (I'm not a fan of pickles and picante.) And taking his clothes to the dry cleaner. For some reason putting those little things off helped me think that he'd be home sooner instead of 12+ months later. Whatever helps, right?!

Happy Monday! Fingers crossed my blogger keeps working sans error messages!

Insanity Day 9

Insanity Day 8

awesomesauce

Yesterday was Day 7 of Insanity = Day of Rest!!! And I needed it.

I received flowers at work yesterday from Lee. I don't know if the yellow bow was intentional but I think of our troops every time I see one.

And speaking of flowers, I'm kinda obsessing over these pretty babies and I'm determined to recreate them. It was an arrangement at a baby shower a year ago and I've had it saved in my brain's memory file ever since. #let'sdothis

And speaking of pretty...one of my buddies from college got to rub elbows with George Clooney last night. Blurry pic but it was posted on FB last night. So jelly...Awesome.

Insanity day 5 & 6

insanity day 4

Vlog from last night!

i vlogged

I vlogged last night!

ouch

I completed Day 2 of Insanity! I was sore from my fit test so I was a little concerned about how an actual fullout workout would be. Not going to lie. There were moments when I laid on the floor like a squished bug but I somehow managed to get up and keep going after chugging a lot of water. This workout is cray cray. But not too terribly bad to keep me from completing day 3 tonight! I'm even more sore today but slowly getting my momentum and I can't help but be excited to see what other insane moves will be thrown at me in the next video.
Doing a workout for the first time is a bit like the first day of dance class when you want to stand in the back before you get the gist of all the moves, ya know? Ha! I know I looked ridiculous.
I'm tossing around the idea of vlogging about my Insanity journey too. I think a video journal after my workouts will keep me accountable and give other curious peeps something to watch because I know I have watched a ton of Insanity YouTube videos and transformations. Something for me to ponder.
And speaking of squished bug, I saw this image and thought it was really funny.

Here's one of the many videos I watched on YouTube that inspired me to give the insane workout a shot.

drop it like it's hot

I started the Insanity workout. I didn't have to buy it so that made the decision to try it a lot easier! Fit Test and measurements on Day 1 yesterday. OMG I am out of shape but really excited. I have a couple of friends that have done and continue to do the workout and they look amaze balls. They said to cry through the first week or two and then it'll get easier. Ha!

It's a 60 day program so that has my final Fit Test on March 4th. I'm telling you in hopes of keeping me accountable since the whole world knows now-no going back!

I'm not changing my diet that much. Just adding exercise to my routine. It's really hard to cook for one person but I'm learning. Last night I had a chicken kiev, mashed taters and green beans for dinner and it was yummy:

I think watching me buzz around the house wore Cooper out because I found him wearing his pj's snuggled in bed before I had even started thinking about bedtime.

Lee and I are in the serious talks about where to go on vacay when he gets back. I'm pushing for Greece...And I want to look smokin' when he gets home!

happy new year

2013, it's ever so lovely to see you. Deployment is 62% done!