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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Artsy Day

My friend Steph gave me a Groupon for an art class at a local arts center for my birthday.  I was going to do it last week, but then had to change at the last minute because they switched the schedule.  The timing wouldn't have been great because I had yard sale plans already!  Thankfully, they were able to switch it for me to today, which was the last day that I could use the Groupon (whew!).

I chose the "Mud and Merlot: Vase" class, not for the merlot, but because I haven't done pottery since probably middle school and the vase would be a functional piece in my house.  The instructor gave us a demo on how to add pieces and texture to our pre-thrown vases and then we were let loose to do whatever we wanted.  It would have been interesting to learn how to do the vases, but that would definitely have taken more time than the 2.5 hours we were allowed.
I saw the fish and the color options for glaze and I went straight for a fish/water scene.  I didn't want to spend too much time designing and figuring out what I wanted to do because that could take ages.  I use molds to get the fish image (I made 2, one for each side), glazed the vase and fish separately, and then adhered the fish to the vase.  I was the first one done with my vase.  Other people were chatting and eating the snacks provided.  I was focused on getting my project done and moving on to the next thing of my day.  The vases will be fired in the kiln and we can pick them up in about 2 weeks.
Before I went to the class, I got a bunch of things off my to-do list: buy cat food, printer ink and a new cell phone cover to replace the one that broke recently (cry cry cry).  The new one is blue and kinda glittery with a leopard print.  They had a hot pink one, but I wanted to switch it up a little since my previous case was pink.
After the class, I went to my boss's boss's house to water his outdoor plants.  My payment was cookies that his wife baked (I had a preview of them at the office on Friday)...some chocolate and coconut cookies.  Yum!  I shared them with Julie when I stopped by my parents' house.  These cookies will not last long at all!

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Yard Sale Haul

Here's what I got this morning!  At the yard sale where I bought the DVDs and Wii games, I'm so glad that I checked the DVDs soon after I bought them because one of the cases was empty!  I eventually went back to the house to get my money back.

I was so excited to see the Stampin' Up stamps and ink pads at the second yard sale I went to.  Each SU item was $0.50!  I was thinking, "Is this a joke?  There must be some mistake.  Who would sell these sets for only 50 cents?!  Doesn't she know that these are worth much more than that?!"  I confirmed the price with the lady and she said yep.  She explained that she was moving and didn't want to take the stuff with her.  Lucky for me!  Bah ha ha!

Friday, June 28, 2013

Peacock Card

At the office: Because it was the last Friday of the month, we got breakfast at the office.  I have been missing these breakfasts the last few months because Fridays are my work-from-home days and I usually go to the gym on Friday mornings.  However, it was my department's turn to sponsor breakfast, so I couldn't skip out on that.  Breakfast was very filling: eggs, sausage, French toast, and potatoes.  The big boss also left some cookies that his wife made in the kitchen.  They were chocolate-y and chewy and had coconut in them.  I eventually lost count on how many I ate.  I'm going to be watering his plants the next week or so while he's out of town, so he sent me an email saying that he left cookies in the fridge for me.  Oh yes.  Payment in food is definitely a-ok in my book!  If it's the cookies that I ate today, that'd be awesome!

Card: I needed to take a crafty break after doing that large recent card order for the office.  Today is the first step to getting back into the groove of things.  I wanted to use some new stamps that I got from the crafty yard sale last week.  I love love LOVE the peacock stamp.  It's so pretty!
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Dark Peony and Charcoal
Stamp: Stampin' Up- World Treasures Peacock, A Word For You
Paper: Die Cuts with a View- Mango Frost
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Upper Crest border punch,

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Day Off

Day off!: I was looking at my work calendar this week and noticed I didn't have anything on my calendar for today.  I put in a request for a day off, woot woot.

Step 1: Sleep in.

Step 2: Go to Sears to check out their beauty sale (as reported on NouveauCheap).  Having the lower prices makes me more adventurous to try something out of my comfort zone.  I figured that since I'm not really investing too much money in these items, it's not a financial burden if I don't like the product(s).  Well, let me back up.  The mascara was the only one that was really new to me.  The other products that I got, I already had it in a different color at home, but I liked it so much that I wanted to branch out.

The cosmetics section was really picked through, but there were some goodies still left.  I picked out:
  • a Maybelline Falsies mascara
  • a Maybelline Master Drama eyeliner in Vibrant Violet (I have Sapphire Strength and love it!)
  • a Maybelline Color Tattoo eyeshadow in Audacious Asphalt (Bad to the Bronze has been my go-to recently)
  • a Revlon lip butter in Pink Truffle (I own and love the one in Sugar Plum)
All these items were 50% off, whee (total: $15.52)!  I tried the Falsies right when I got home.  I suppose I could have tried it on in the car, but it was hot outside and I wanted to seek shelter in my air conditioned home.  BAM!  Those lashes were quite dramatic.  I'm going to have to enjoy playing with all this make-up because in about a month, I'm going to be working full-time from home for approximately 4 months.  Is it worth putting on make-up if you're going to be in your pajamas all day?  Eh, I dunno yet.

Step 3: Reorganize closet.  The bi-fold closet door that hid my washer and drier came off not too long after I moved in TWO YEARS AGO.  My aunt was opening the door, and it basically came off and I tried to put it back, but that was difficult, so I ended up just putting the bi-fold door in my walk-in closet.  I decided to trash it this week on trash day.  Geeze, I should have done that a long time ago.  I have so much more space now!  Lesson learned.

Step 4: Hang up birdhouse art piece in living room.  I will repaint the frame a different color at some point.  Right now, it's the same color as the paint on the wall so I feel like it gets kinda lost.  Easily fixable.

Step 5: Clean makeup brushes and makeup container.  An icky, but necessary step.

Step 6: Take nap on couch :)

Neighbor Update: I'm not sure what was going on last night, but around 11 PM, as I was getting ready to go to bed, I heard some banging outside and "Mommy, I'll behave.  I'll behave, Mommy!" and some crying.  WTH?!  I wondered if this was a result of what happened earlier in the day yesterday with the neighbor's kid and me telling his dad about him playing with my AC unit.  What happened to some peace and quiet?

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Kiddy Problems and a Blast from the Past

Kiddy Problems: I was watching the news after I got home from work and I saw the kid next door was playing around near my ac unit outside. Like leaning against it, his hands near the fan. This was not the first time either.  I'm scared that he'll stick something in there and get hurt (or break my almost brand new unit!). I went outside to talk to him. "(kid's name), I told you several times to not play with my AC. Where are your parents?" "I dunno." His dad was on the second floor of their house and probably heard the whole thing through the open window. I told him that I was concerned that his son was playing with the ac and might stick something in there. He came down to get his kid and scold him.

Ugh!  I'm so over this! I'm so tired of looking over and seeing this kid in my stuff!  Maybe his parents should keep a better eye on him? WTH?!

Gym Freebie: The gym has been giving away some samples recently.  A few weeks ago, it was shampoo and conditioner.  Most recently, it's been these wipes.  I like them.  They have a gritter texture to them whereas the Up&Up Target brand is softer.  I think the rougher texture helps get the make up off easier, but I'm not sure that's the best for your skin.  I might consider purchasing them once my Up&Up ones are gone.
Blast from the Past: My work had a recycling event yesterday where you could bring in your old electronics to be safely recycled.  I dug out my old laptop from college and moved some files over to a flash drive.  Hello, blast from the past.  This computer had a diskette A drive.  Do they even make those disks anymore?  And it didn't have a wireless connection.  And I dunno what's up with the symbols.  It was funny to look over old pictures and instant messenger conversations and college papers and college job applications/resumes.  It's been 8 years since I graduated.  That's nuts!

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Rough Morning

I had some weird dreams last night and didn't sleep so well.  I dreamt that Dad ate some food in the fridge that I labeled as mine and I got upset at him.  It's never a good idea to get between me and my food, especially when it's labeled.  This has happened before in real life, so I felt very disoriented when I woke up.  But I don't live at home anymore, so this scenario wasn't possible.  Whew.

Today wasn't as successful as yesterday yard sale wise...as in not successful at all. I went to a multi-family yard sale near my gym in the rain this morning, but it just wasn't fun because of the weather and it looked like many families backed out because of the rain, and people put stuff under tarps so you couldn't really see what they were selling unless you lifted it up. I drove around for about an hour and then gave up and went home.  In retrospect, it would have been a better idea to go to spin class instead.  The weather did clear up this afternoon, but by then I didn't feel like going out again. Instead, I did laundry, cleaned, and worked on the office card order.  Oh well.  I saved money for another day...no harm in that!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Good Yard Sale Day

I was a busy bee this morning!  Since my Saturdays have been kinda busy lately (craft fair last week, CrossFit Games the Saturday before that, work meeting the Saturday before that!), I haven't been able to go to any yard sales recently.  The lady that has the office next door to me...she was telling me about the stuff that she bought last week and I was thinking "bummer, wish I went!"  However, I made money at the craft show (money that I was planning to spend today), so it worked out.

First stop: crafty yard sale at a Stampin' Up demonstrator's house.  She was getting rid of many of the retired items.  I went last year and got a bunch of things.  I didn't get as many things this year, but I'm still pleased with the things that I got, especially since I got some new stamp sets that I could resell for a profit (a lesson that I learned last year).  She extended the sale until Tuesday, so I'm considering going back tomorrow.

The next place I went was a huge multi-family yard sale that was taking place at a city hall's parking lot.  In contrast to the crafty yard sale, I was not as pleased with this one because many of the vendors were selling stuff like Avon or other direct selling businesses.  Lame-o.  I did find some good stuff though: a birdhouse art piece for $3 and (an even better find!) a brand new Stampin' Up birdhouse stamp set (c. 1996) for $1.  I'm keeping the birdhouse art piece and going to try to sell the stamps.

While it might take some time to sell the stamps that I got today, I know it can be done and that there are buyers out there because I've been able to sell 2 sets in my Etsy store. Fingers crossed.

My last yard sale was primarily jewelry.  I went to this one last year as well, so I kinda knew what to expect.  I got 3 beaded necklaces for $15 total.  The family there was selling stuff at 1/2 the wholesale price.  Not too bad!

Friday, June 21, 2013

A New Dress, Nails, and RJ's Vet Appointment

At the office: Whew, the HR girl approved of the card samples that I made last night.  Now I can use this weekend to focus on putting a dent in the order.

I wore this bright yellow lace dress to the office yesterday and got several compliments on it, even some random lady on the street.  You know you look good when strangers are dishing out nice words.  I suppressed a laugh because I got it at Target in the clearance rack.  Tee hee.
Nails: I painted my nails last night and used some new metallic nail polish and washi tape to add some gold accents.  2 coats of Wet 'N Wild in I Need a Refresh-mint.  1 coat of Maybelline Color Show in Bold Gold.  I'm not sure how I feel about the gold polish.  It was a little goopy. 
RJ: Today was RJ's regular check-up at the vet.  He voluntarily went into the carrier, but once we got in the car...WAIL!  He was a very unhappy kitty.  When he got in the exam room, he was searching for a way out.  Fortunately, we weren't there for long.  Eyes, ears, teeth, heartrate, breathing...done!  The vet technician kept commenting on how big a boy he is.  Yep.  A little over 15 pounds.  Apparently he's lost some weight, but I don't know how that's possible since he's a lazy butt.

"This is what I think of the vet," says RJ.  I actually think she's really nice.
In the neighborhood: I went to get gas for my car this evening, and my neighbor was outside looking at her flowers. We made some small talk. Not too long after I went inside, I heard the doorbell. It was the same lady. She had some banana bread to share. Aw, that was nice. I felt kinda bad on the inside that I was not too happy with her kid, but I still think they need to keep a better eye on him.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

June Office Card Order, Take 2

Office Card Order: I sent pictures of the two cards that I made last night to HR to get their feedback and here's what they said:
The anniversary one looks great but I’m not too sure about the birthday card. I like the colorful leaf but the brown background doesn’t look cheery enough for a birthday card.
Ok, I totally get it.  After looking at the samples again, I totally agreed with what she said about the birthday card.  And frankly, I didn't really like the anniversary card, so basically I was back to the drawing board tonight.  No biggie.  Here's Round 2. I hope the HR girl likes these more because it'd be nice to have a project to work on while my sister is in Haiti for a week (she left today) and my best friends are out of town this weekend. 
Crazy Happenings: In other news, I'm really annoyed about the kid next door. I saw him blowing bubbles and sticking the wand or dropping the bubble solution in my AC fan outside. I opened the door to scold him and he just looked at me and slowly walked away. I don't want to me the b*tchy lady next door, but those neighbors need to keep a better eye on their child. I caught the same kid hitting my roses a while back. Seriously, what is the deal??

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

June Office Card Order

At the office: There's a crafty yard sale going on this Saturday that I'm so excited about.  I went last year and got a bunch of goodies.  However, with the recent car purchase, I was wondering if it'd be financially responsible to go.  Someone must have been reading my thoughts because I had an email from HR waiting for me when I got to the office asking if they could order some more birthday and anniversary cards.  Of course!  Duh!  Here are the two samples that I bring to HR tomorrow for approval.  I like the birthday one more than the anniversary one.  The anniversary one needs some umph, but I can't figure out what to do with it.  I do want to stick to the idea of using a positive image and then the negative in another one so that I can maximize all my supplies.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Fall-To Layout #245

Free food: The pizza next door is opening for business tomorrow.  As a preview, they invited folks to come and try out their food.  I was a little overwhelmed by the choices.  When I got to the cashier, I said that I wanted to try their sausage and mushroom pizza and he replied with "Do you want slices or a whole pizza?"  You're willing to give me a whole pizza for free?  Ummm.  I almost took him up on the offer, but since I was going to be eating with my coworkers, that might have been kinda weird.  What I thought I was a total pig?  I suppose they could also go in the "Why didn't I think of that?" direction.  Since I had sausage and mushroom pizza yesterday, I figured 2 slices would be enough.  I left my phone back at my office, so I wasn't able to take a picture of the food that I got.  The pizza was good, but I wouldn't say that it was better than the Domino's that I had last night.  The grease pooled a little bit, so that was kinda a turn off but not enough to make me not eat it.  I heard that the lasagna was good too.

Card: Here's a birthday card that I made using Fall-To Layout #245 as inspiration.

Card Specs:
Paper: My Mind's Eye Honey Cake, American Crafts- Enchanted
Rub-On: Stampin' Up- Chit Chat (sentiment)
Floral stickers: Basic Grey Bloomers- Hopscotch collection
White Gel Pen: Uni-Ball Signo Broad White Gel Pen

Monday, June 17, 2013

Hansel and Gretel

"At the office": I had a rough time getting out of bed this morning, so when I woke up, I emailed my boss a work from home request.  I had a lot of data to check as well as some leadership program applications to review.  There wasn't anything that I HAD to do at the office.  Working from home always gives me a pang of jealousy when I look over and see this...

What a life!

Sister Bonding Time: Julie came over to share a sausage/mushroom pizza and watch Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters that I got on Redbox.  Jeremy Renner was the selling point for me.  The movie was alright...nothing that I'd buy on DVD or watch again.  It was a little gory for my taste.  Some parts were predictable.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Bye-Bye, Civic

Civic: Today was a bittersweet day.  Today's the day that I handed off my green Civic to my youngest cousin.  This was the plan all along: the Civic would be handed off and I'd buy a new car.  And don't get me wrong, I love my Civic, but my cousin needed a more reliable vehicle and I had been thinking of upgrading my car anyway.  After going to spin class, I went to my parents' house to tell Dad Happy Father's Day and also do a serious vacuum job on the inside of the car.  There was a debate on if I should take the car to the car wash, and the family poll resulted in a "no."

While I was outside cleaning my car, I noticed that there was a little girl sitting outside across the street.  Ah ha.  She must be one of the new neighbors.  I introduced myself and she did the same.  She must be in late elementary school or early middle school.  Mom said that she's been sitting outside a lot because she's mentioned that she has no friends in the area.  Aw. :(  I'd be her friend...except I'm not sure we have anything in common to talk about.

Anyway, back to the Civic, it was tough to see my cousin drive it out of my parking lot, like watching a kid growing up and leaving or something.  I know, kinda weird.  We've been driving together for about 8 years!  Our relationship didn't start out too strong when Dad first bought it.  I accidentally backed it into a neighbor's car.  Oops.  Heh, but things after that got better.  At least my cousin will feel safer driving to work and will not have to worry that his car will break down and become a Flintstones kind of car, the kind that you have to move using your feet to the street.

He gave me a box of Godiva chocolates as a symbol of his appreciation.  Oh, someone trained this boy well!  And I just ran out of chocolate recently so this was great timing!  He also gave me some money for the cards that I made him.
Target: The money didn't even get a chance to get warm in my hot little hand before I zoomed off to do some grocery shopping and then my favorite place in the whole world...Target.  I came armed with coupons, both from the Sunday ads as well as from the Target website.  I bought a dark pink lace skirt on clearance (and I used a $3 coupon), some chocolate (used a Target coupon and a Sunday ad coupon, some Target make up wipes (used a Target coupon), and some string cheese (because I was running out at home.  Woot.  Since I sold 3 dresses from my closet recently, I felt like I could justify buying the new skirt, heh.

Summer Craft Fair #3

Today's craft fair was a financial success in that I make some extra money after I made up my table fee.  However, there were some things that kinda annoyed me:

There was a blues festival that was happening at the same time diagonally from my table.  I thought this would be great because I thought I'd get more customers from the people coming to the concert.  Instead, many concert views stood right in front of my table, so anyone walking by had to go behind me.  I had to be assertive tell several people to not block my table, and while I want everyone to have a good time at the market, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for some space.  The market coordinator had to come by a few times and ask that the concert viewers didn't block the vendors and one guy kinda got fresh with her.  Ok, jerk.

Some lady took 4 pieces of candy from my craft fair booth without making eye contact or saying thank you. AND, if that wasn't bad enough, the lady came back to ask if I brought other types of candy and took a few more pieces. o_0  WTH?! I kept watching her to see if she was on her way back to my table for a third time. Thankfully, she didn't, because I would have to put the brakes on that pronto. Some little girl asked if any of the stuff on my table was free (yes, the candy is free). Can I have one? (Sure.) Can I have another one for my sister? (Ok, sure. I figured she got points for sharing with a sibling). Can I have another one? (Eh, no, sorry, we're going to have to save the rest for other potential customers).

I said good-bye to the market coordinator when I got everything packed up.  She apologized for the blues festival getting in the way and I told her it was kinda out of her control.  She asked if I was coming back and I told her that I'd check my calendar.  Sitting out in the sun in the humid DC weather is never fun, but I'd be open to coming back in September or October.  We shall see!
Julie came by after dinner. I lured her in with the leftover Starburst candy I had from the craft fair.  I don't care that she takes more than 3 pieces of candy...unlike some people.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Summer Storms

Eww: As my coworker and I crossed the street this morning to our building, we noticed the yellow caution tape around it.  As we got closer, I read the sign that was attached: "Do not cross. Raw sewage."  Yuck, gross.  We hopped around looking for clean sidewalk so that we could get to our door.  I talked to one of the maintenance guys this afternoon when I noticed that the caution tape was removed.  It sounded like a truck dumped or spilled the sewage, but they came back to clean it up.  Hello, public health disaster.  How exactly do you clean it up?  Plus, the rain today probably spread things out a little more. ACK!

Ugh: I went to the post office today to mail off the dresses that sold on Poshmark yesterday.  I got all the way down the hill and I noticed a sign on the door.  Effective May 31, the post office moved!  Oh well.  I went to another post office that was nearby (not walking distance though) to drop off the package after work. 

Also, my mosquito bites that I acquired yesterday itch so baddddd!  Wahhhh!  If given a choice, I prefer cold weather over hot.  The bugs get me every summer :(

Weather: We were in for some bad storms today, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The clouds got really dark around 10 and it rained for a litle bit, cleared up and then started up all over again around 3:30 pm. OPM said that we could do unscheduled telework but since I didn't have my work computer with me at home, I had to go to the office. It all worked out in the end.  (Sorry for the glare in the window.)

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Summer Bugs, ICK!

Poshmark: On a brighter note, I sold 2 more dresses this afternoon.  It was to the same person that bought the navy blue polka dot dress not too long ago.  Repeat buyers?  Yes, please.  Any buyers are welcome!

Mosquitos, RAWR: The greenery outside my house was getting out of control, so I trimmed them down this evening after getting some gas for the car.  I was only outside for 15 minutes, and when I came inside, I counted 4 mosquito bites on my legs.  Not cool, Mother Nature.  >:'(
Laziest housemate ever.  Although he did find a gross bug today...which I promptly killed with a vacuum cleaner.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

New Recipe and Nails

At the office: For months, we've known that the office will be doing a renovation very soon.  We want to be able to have a space that will accommodate 2 offices worth of staff.  The main building will be modified and staff that need to work at headquarters will have to move to my building.  Many people will be working from home during this time because of the space restrictions, myself included.  An email from the COO went out today, saying that if everything goes as planned, the renovation will start on August 1 and will take about 3-4 months.  I suppose this is best case scenario.  It'll be weird to not see my co-workers on a regular basis.  It's nice to have a date...I've been operating on "summer/fall" thus far, and that's way too vague.

Car: When I came home from spin class, my neighbor was parking in the lot too.  We exchanged pleasantries and he asked me if I was planning to sell my Civic.  I explained that it was going to my cousin.  He must have noticed that I wasn't driving it as much these days.  He said something to the effect of how he made a mental note to ask me about the car.  Sorry, dude. 

Recipe #6 of 2013: I saw this Italian Wonderpot recipe on Budget Bytes recently and wanted to try it out tonight.  I had all the ingredients handy in my fridge and kitchen so it was easy to put together.  And now I won't have to think too much about what I'll have for lunch and dinner the next few days.  The only things I modified in the recipe was adding chicken and not putting in feta cheese. 
Nails: I experienced some major chipping with the blue polish that I put on last Friday, so it had to go tonight.  I put on some bright pink polish that I purchased recently.  This is 2 coats of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Fuchsia Flare. I almost didn't buy it because it looked very similar to Presto Pink, but this one is brighter.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Fall-To Layout #243

Wake-Up Call: I got woken up very abruptly this morning at 7 AM.  I had the windows open last night, so that probably made the loud banging noise that I heard this morning even louder.  The noise was persistent for about 5 minutes.  I thought someone was banging on my door, so I put some shorts on and went to check the peephole in my door.  No one was there.  In retrospect, that was silly because I have a doorbell.  Any smart person would have just rang that instead.  I looked out the window and two women were banging on my neighbor's door to get someone's attention and get them outside.  The banging kept going.  They called out this person's name and banged on any available surface to get their attention.  I was so close to saying something like "Would you mind not making so much noise?  You're going to wake the whole neighborhood."  I wouldn't have minded if it was like 9 AM, but 7 AM on a Sunday?  I'm sure people are still asleep.  In the words of Michelle Tanner, "How rude."

Hibachi: I went to spin class this morning and it was so refreshing because I haven't been able to go in more than a week due to work travel.  When I got home, I finished the card order that my cousin put in and then showered really quickly so that I could meet up with my friend Beth for lunch at the hibachi place.  I met up with her around 12, but we found out that the place didn't open until 12:30 PM.  We went to Ulta to pass the time, and I made it out of there without buying anything.  The other thing that we found out was that they don't do their lunch pricing on Sundays, so we had to go with the regular priced hibachi (womp).  I got the same thing I got last time, which was the steak and scallop.  I asked for double noodles, instead of the noodle and fried rice, but the chef forgot and gave me rice anyway.  I ended up with double noodles AND fried rice.  I had so much food on my plate, whew.  I had about 2 meals worth of leftovers, so I went over to my parents' house to share a portion of it.  The chef asked me questions, like where I was from and what languages I spoke.  When people ask me that, I'm half tempted to tell them "Maryland" to joke around, even though I know that's not the answer they're looking for.  What they really want to know is what kind of Asian I am.  Beth whispered in my ear, "I think he likes you."  Yeah, I was getting that vibe.  Too bad I'm not attracted to Asian guys. :(


On the way home from my parents' place, I stopped by Target because I saw that their Sally Hansen nail polishes were on sale.  I ended up not buying any, but instead picked up a Maybelline Color Tattoo eye shadow in Bad to the Bronze and Maybelline gold nail polish (I had a coupon).
 
Card: I know a few people that have birthdays in June, so I decided to make one using Fall-To Layout #243 as inspiration.  I had a card base already made from when I was working on my cousin's order, so it was just a matter of putting the other elements together.

Card Specs: 
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan. Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Antique Linen
Paper: American Crafts- Abode, Letterbox
Stamp: Studio G, Hero Arts- Envelope Pattern
Punch: Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Other: Brown Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker
Brad: Making Memories Brad Value Pack- Chelsea's Place collection

Saturday, June 8, 2013

CrossFit Games, Day 2

Today was the second day of the CrossFit Games (Day 1 recap).  I thought we were supposed to get there as early as we went yesterday (7 AM), but when we got there, the parking lot was rather empty.  We decided to stay in the car a little longer until we saw more people.  We were assigned to social media again, so we had to look for split times, time completed, and how teams were doing overall.  The event today was the following for individual women and men.  If you were on a team, each member of the 6 person team (3 men and 3 women) had to complete 30 of the following, kinda like a relay.  Ugh, grueling.  None of the women competed individually even finished...one lady was close though (Christy Phillips).
  • 100 Wall balls (20/14 lbs to a 10’ target
  • 100 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups
  • 100 One-legged squats, alternating
  • 100 One-arm dumbbell snatches, alternating (70/50 lbs)

Derrick from Road Rules (and a few of the Real World/Road Rules Challenge shows).
Nails: A few months ago, I bought this nail polish at CVS for something like $1.50 or $1.99.  I was looking for an alternative to navy since that's more of a fall color.  Maybe I'll do a July 4th manicure at some point with this blue.  It's beautiful.  2 coats of Wet 'N Wild Fastdry in Saved by the Blue.
Cards: My cousin texted me the other day asking for some thank you cards.  He's going to be interviewing at dental schools soon and he wanted to have thank you cards ready to give to the interview committees.  The card below was my first attempt.  Julie said that it was too girly, so I went back and did the one with the trees.  Too bad I already made 7 of the red/brown cards.  Oh well.  At least I'll have some thank you cards to use whenever I need them!

Friday, June 7, 2013

CrossFit Games, Day 1

File today under #outofmyelement.

My sister, who's really into CrossFit, mentioned something a while ago about the regional games and possibly volunteering at the event. I decided to join in, since I had a comp day from working the Annual Meeting. 

It was an early morning (alarm went off at 5:30 am). Julie and I left the house around 6:15 am and headed the games. We knew that we had media volunteer assignments, but it wasn't clear to me in the emails that we received what that actually meant.

Julie and I waited around as other volunteers were given their assignments. I chatted with another volunteer and it turns out that she was from Raleigh. I told her that that's where I had just been for work. I recapped all the good restaurants I ate at and she agreed that they were yummy. She was at the Busy Bee Cafe on Wednesday too. It's possible we could have crossed paths.

After talking to the coordinators, we got assigned to social media. Our job was to watch the events and keep track of who was in the lead and their times so that they could be broadcasted via social media. 

The event that we watched was called the "Jackie"- 1000 meter row, 45 pound Thruster- 50 reps, 30 pull-ups (yikes!). As the start got closer, the energy was palpable. People were definitely getting amped up. In the first team heat, a woman passed out from exhaustion and had to be carried away by the medics. That was scary, and I hoped that wasn't an ominous sign of things to come.  Fortunately no one else got hurt during the rest of the time we were there.

Watching the athletes was intense.  And the times were especially close for the men's heats.  Whew, I got exhausted just watching!  I noticed that one of the guys in the team event was Derrick from Road Rules.
Bright and early morning!
Row, row, row your boat...oh, wait.
Volunteers got a free lunch, so this is the one that I got.  Julie got the same thing.  I gravitated towards it because I love pulled pork, but I ended up not really liking it and giving Julie the rest.
RJ- "Can I have some?"  Julie's watching a Supernatural marathon on TV.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Hooray, I'm Home!

Raleigh, you treated me so well with all the food that you had to offer, but I was so ready to go home today.  I checked out at 9:30 AM along with 3 of my co-workers and we marched down to the Amtrak station to wait for our train.  Ben and Terry had business class, but Sadira and I had coach seats.  The ride back home was a little more noisy than the trip down and I had to share a seat for most of the way.  I could hear someone snoring for a quite a while.  I'm glad that the train had Wi-Fi so that I could do some work email.  For the rest of the time, I listened to my iPhone and looked out the window.  There was too much activity going on around me that I couldn't really get a good nap in. Sadira watched my copy of Skyfall on her computer to keep herself occupied.  We got to Union Station on time (even though we were a little late leaving Raleigh), got our bags and headed for the Metro.  I suppose if I was feeling ambitious, I could have gone to spin class, but I'm just not feeling it tonight.  I'll get back to my regular schedule next week. 

Check out this statue that I saw in North Carolina.  At a quick glance, you'd think that it was a real person, but it's not.  It looked like her jacket and dress were made of little colored stones pieced together.  I thought it was cool and slightly creepy at the same time.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Raleigh, Day 5

Hooray, it's almost time to go home! Not that I didn't enjoy being here in Raleigh and being around the members and my co-workers, but I'm ready to get back to my routine at home, like my two C's: cat and (new) car.

The meeting today was only a half-day, so around noon, I have as many good-bye hugs as I could and headed out to lunch with my boss and 2 co-workers and a member. We picked up a member along the way...my boss affectionately said "Off the street." We headed to the Busy Bee Cafe where I had mac and cheese with bacon and loaded tater tots for lunch. I didn't think I would have to eat ever again. I was so full!  But the food was amazing!
My co-worker and I parted ways with the group so that we could make a CVS run for tomorrow's train ride snacks. I pretty much passed out for the rest of the afternoon until it was time for dinner. NCIS reruns kept me entertained. 

For dinner, my coworkers and I went to Beasley's, which is known for their fried chicken and waffles. Many people left after the meeting but since the last train for today has already left, I have to wait for the train tomorrow. Fortunately I'm not the only one. 

Anyway, I didn't have any room for a big meal, so I went with a side of biscuits and peanut butter pie (as recommended by my co-worker Jennifer earlier in the day). I also got a grapefruit flavored cocktail. Again, everything there was delicious and my diet will start promptly tomorrow.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Raleigh, Day 4

Not much to report from today except for my food fail.  I walked around Raleigh in search of something to eat for dinner.  I walked by Bolt and I remembered that a co-worker mentioned that they had some yummy lobster mac and cheese.  The hostess sat me down and offered me a menu.  The waiter that came by soon after that (he had some big holes in his ears.  Very alternative looking.  It totally caught me off guard) and explained that it was restaurant week and they were doing their 3 course meal for $30.  Uh no.  I'm not interested in a large meal.  I explained that I was there for the lobster mac and cheese.

There was a flicker of something in his face.

Oh, no.

"We actually don't have any lobster mac and cheese.  We ran out."

Nooooooo.  Ok, ok.  Maybe I'll get a drink.  What?  $10 for a cocktail.  Mmmyeahno.  I politely said thank you for his time and bolted out of there.  I went across the street to CVS, but wasn't really feeling anything over there.  I even went down the make up aisle, but didn't feel like buying anything.  I walked back to the hotel and remembered that there was a Chick-Fil-A nearby.  I approached it and saw on the front door that they were closed at 2:30 PM.  WAH!  I gave up and went back to the hotel and ate the other half of my sandwich from lunch.

I guess you can't have a good food day every day.

One good thing from today was that my committee was able to meet and sit together at lunch today.  We haven't had an in-person committee meeting in a year and with budget constraints, it's still up in the air if we'll have one this year.  We took a group picture at the end, and I hope I can get my hands on it from the official conference photographer at some point.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Raleigh, Day 3

I went to The Pit for the third time in three days. I got the meatloaf with mashed potatoes and Mac and cheese, and washed it down with a blackberry smash.  I shared the banana pudding with some co-workers. Again, the food was amazing!  I wished the picture turned out better, but I had to use flash because the place was a little dim.
In other news, I sold my first thing on Poshmark today.  My navy polka dot dress is going to a new home when I get back. While I won't make a lot of money from it, at least it'll get out of my closet and someone else will enjoy it.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Raleigh, Day 2

Today started out early with a 7:30 AM meeting. I suppose I could have gone at 8, but 7:30 was when they were going to serve breakfast and I did want to eat. The meeting went by pretty quickly, and I was thankful that it was only 3 hours whereas it was a full day in previous years. Afterwards, I had a little break and was able to watch some of the Ironman competition outside my hotel window.
I went to some sessions in the afternoon and the reception in the early evening. I was about to go up to my room and crash for the rest of the evening, but I saw some of my committee members (2 committee members and a committee member's husband) in the lobby. They were thinking of going to The Pit for dinner. I went anyway in the spirit of being social, even though I went last night and am going tomorrow. I only got a blackberry drink, since I ate stuff at the reception. The four of us saw some other meeting folks (mostly CDC) at the restaurant so we merged the tables together.

The conversion at dinner was funny. The husband asked one of the CDC folks if he was married and/or had children. The guy said no, but he had 2 cats. My committee chair turns to me, "Oh, Tina has a cat!" Have you been talking to my boss? Are you guys trying to set me up with someone at this meeting?! Maybe if he was my type and wasn't long distance, I'd be like "Sign me up!" But in this case, mmmyeahno.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Raleigh, Day 1

Hello, Raleigh! It was kinda a journey to get down here. I came via Amtrak with two of my coworkers (it's nice to have travel buddies). The train ride was about 6 hours, but that mode of transportation was so much better than flying or driving because it was comfortable (I had 2 seats to myself for most of the ride) and there was wi-fi available too.
After getting settled at the hotel, I went with some coworkers to a place called The Pit. They are known for their BBQ. I had the pulled pork, mashed potatoes and mac and cheese. It was amazing food and I wish I had a fridge and microwave in my room so that I could enjoy leftovers. But alas, I had to eat what I could while I was there. Some people got the banana pudding for the table to share, so of course I had to try it. Everything there was excellent! I am going back on Monday. :)
Food is always better with friends, don't you agree?