Life By Nadine Lynn - Page 195 of 339

Weekend Shenanigans

Oh hey there last week of August! We have one more weekend left before football season dominates our ~~lives~~ weekends. This weekend was fabulous. We had a day of activities and a day of laying on the couch doing absolutely nothing.

Friday night when I came home, Chris surprised me with the Fitbit HR! He had it all wrapped up in a gift bag and even had a sweet card and said it was a just because I love you present. So sweet! So far, I am loving it!!!

Saturday started off with a great work out cutting grass. My fitbit said that I walked nearly 3.5 miles cutting the grass. Hells yes! After that, it was time for a well deserved lunch! We met some friends at Chuy’s and this deliciousness was to be had…

One of my favorite things about Chuy’s is all the dips! So many choices, what is a tortilla chip to do?

While we were leaving Chuy’s, we decided to head over to Toys R Us. Chris found his next car…

And I found mine…

I mean come on, you could play real life Mario Kart with that sweet ride!!!

When we were leaving Toys R Us, there was all this candy up front. We started to get all nostalgic on how awesome it was to go to candy stores when we were little and pick out exactly what you loved. Then we were like hmmmm are there any candy stores around here??? Our friend Josh took to Google and found one in Crestline Village so we headed over there to Sugar! So appropriately named, right?

It was like heaven. We were as happy as kids in a candy store!!! Literally!!! We filled up on all the sweets and then went to play some life size chess.

It was humid as fuck outside, as you can see from my hair. So we did what needed to be done, we headed to the adult candy store, World of Beer! Duh! Do you even know me?

While we were there, we planned to have a get together at our house that evening. We had the most guests over that we have ever had since we lived in this house! It was nice having everyone over….and not having to drive 30 minutes to an hour back home when we all parted ways. Chris and I cleaned up the snacks and walked to our bedroom. It was fabulous!!!

Sunday started off with grocery shopping before the rain. We grabbed some Moe’s BBQ on the way home and parked ourselves in front of the TV for a Once Upon a Time Marathon. We are well in to season 2 now! My Fitbit only say about 5,100 steps yesterday compared to over 15,000 on Saturday. Oops.

Kristen talked me in to doing Snapchat on Friday. I am still trying to learn my way around it. I am such a newb. So you know…maybe add me if you are in to that! 🙂 LifebyNadine

I hope that everyone had a fabulous weekend. I am linking up with Biana!

August 24, 2015 by Nadine

friday favorites

Friday Favorites

Favorite Song:Go ahead and turn up your volume for this one! Everything by Buckcherry. This song is certainly not new, but it has been on repeat in the mornings for me. I just love his voice and this is such a great song. Give it a listen!

Favorite Moment: Hanging out with Laura last night!!!! She took me out for my birthday and we ended up at Five Points Public House Oyster Bar and you guys….it was AMAZING!!! Obviously, in her company everything is awesome. But the food. OMG. Party in my mouth. Birmingham peeps, get over there NOW!

We started off with the beer battered cheese curds with jalalpeno aoili. I have never had the chance to try cheese curds before, and since Laura is from WI she was super excited to see these on the menu. DELICIOUS!!!!

For my main course, I had the Chicharron Burger which was aged hereford beef, queso poblano, jalapeno relish, chicharrones on a brioche bun with house fries. And they make their own ketchup which was divine!

In the background you can see Laura’s chicken and biscuit sandwich with a white cheddar biscuit, fried chicken, bourbon maple butter, pickles and a side of succotash. We each cut off a little piece of our food for each other to try, because that is what ~~bloggers~~ foodies do!

Then….Laura basically forced this fried double doozie cookie with some kind of heavenly cream chocolate alcohol sauce down my throat. Holy geez you guys. It was freaking amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean look at that cream center…

Best. Meal. Ever. Sorry not sorry about the food porn. Also, I clearly ~~cried during my~~ run this morning.

Favorite Tea:Country Peach Passion by Celestial. This tea is amazing!!!! A definite new favorite of mine. I really enjoy this one because the peach flavor is real, but this tea in general is not overpowering. I love TAZO, I really do. But sometimes the flavor is so strong I am like WHOA! This one is much more delicate but full of flavor. If that makes sense?

Favorite Hair Product: I bought this brush a few months ago at TJ Maxx and it is the best $5.99 I have ever spent in my life!!! I don’t recall the brand name or anything, but it is quite obvious when you are looking at brushes which one this is compared to others. It is the best detangler I have ever used! My hair is super fine and tangles so easily. Combing my hair out after a shower used to be so painful, even after I sprayed ~~children’s~~ detangler on it. With this brush? NO PROBLEMS!!! I think wizards made this or something. If you have tangled hair, do yourself a favor and run do not walk and grab yourself one!

Favorite Links:

—I took this quiz to see what state my heart belongs to. Wouldn’t you know I got Georgia? Funny since I lived there longer than any other state, right?? Let me know which one you got!

You are kind-hearted, welcoming, and caring. You love entertaining people and making sure they’re cared for – the perfect Southern hospitality example! Your heart belongs to Georgia.

—10 Ways Target is Robbing You – I literally could not stop laughing. Perhaps because every damn one of these is true!!! DAMN YOU TARGET!

—Kristen shared a quiz to see how much she relates to her astrological sign. I decided to take a quiz to see how Leo I am. You can just google your sign with quiz and several sites will pop up. I used horoscope.com. This was my results:

Are you a true Leo?

Result: Somewhat Leo.

If you’re a sucker for the colors of autumn, you’re somewhat Leo. Like the Lion, you’re a social animal, but you’d rather spend time with your core group instead of expanding your circle. Maybe you can’t be bothered with going that extra mile, or maybe you’re afraid of what you’ll find when you get there. As much as you enjoy your work, you won’t let it rule your life if a better offer comes along. And even when you have a lot to give, there are limits to your generosity. What if you can’t replace what you just gave away?

Favorite Outfit: My birthday outfit! I got the dress at the Loft last year, the short sleeve cardigan at the Loft this year, the necklace from Groupdeals for $3.99 because hollla!!! and those shoes from Nordstrom Rack which was a present from my mommy 🙂

Favorite Funnies:

Me basically all of the time

After a work out

At work

Basically my life…

I am linking up with the beautiful Amanda today! I hope you all have the most fabulous weekend!

August 21, 2015 by Nadine

about me, currently

Currently

Reading: I started Then You Were Gone this week but to be honest…I am having a hard time getting in to it. I think Before We Were Strangers was so good I am having a hard time moving on. I hate when that happens!

Listening: Yesterday I started listening to The Boy Who Dared on audiobook. Jury is still out on my thoughts with this one. It takes place during WWII and I am starting to identify with the young boy the story is based on.

Watching: We are still trying to get in to Once Upon a Time. I am enjoying it but I get confused on what is going on sometimes. It does make me wanted to look in to the fairy tale books though like Cinder. Thoughts on those??

Lusting: All of the fall things!!! Mainly booties, like these ones from Target.

Or these from Nordstrom

Or something super fun like these…

Pinning: How to wear boots! There are so many great ways to pair them.

Eating: All of the healthy things, with the exception of tonight. We have had salad for dinner two nights this week and pork chops on Monday. For lunches I have had greek quinoa salad, edamame and nectarines. A shit ton of water and tea too!

Thinking:

Enjoying: Daily chats with my mom. Every two weeks she works days for two weeks and I get to call her on my way home from work. I enjoy that so much!!!! Sometimes we talk about whats going on in our lives, sometimes we reminisce about when we were younger and sometimes we talk about a TV show we are in to. Every single one of those conversations is much needed! Moms are the best, you know??

Throwing Back: To when Mac was a little puppy!!! He turned 5 on the 10th and I was a bad puppy mom and totally let that slip by. One of my friends has a birthday that same day and I just knew there was someone else I was missing!!!

Mac’s first contact with Gracie:

Gracie looks amused here, right?

Happy Birthday Mac!!!!!!!!!!!!

Excited: For a drink with Laura!!! It has been far too long since I have seen her beautiful face.

Happy Friday Eve!!!!!

August 20, 2015 by Nadine

about me

What’s Your Sign

Today is the day folks, and I am so excited!!! It is the What’s Your Sign link up with Laura and I!!!! Grab the button and let’s learn something new about each other and our astrological signs!

I am really interested in astrology and knowing what my sign is. It doesn’t always mean that I agree or relate 100% to it, but I certainly think there is something to it. I am not one that reads my horoscope though and I don’t buy in to all that woowoo business. I feel that our destiny in life can’t be figured out by reading the daily horoscope, you know? But the moon? The older I get, the more I notice that peoples moods are more often than not revolving around the moon. If your spouse is extra cranky, go see if it is a full moon. I bet it is!

Anyways, I thought it would be fun to go through some characteristics of the Leo and confess as to whether or not I identify as such!

Leo’s Strengths – Loyal, confident, ambitious, generous, encouraging, warm-hearted, cheerful, humorous, broad-minded

I am very loyal, faithful and trustworthy. I am hard working and generous and am a natural people pleaser. I do what I can to help out other people. For the most part, I remain cheerful and upbeat about things, and I think I am hilarious. (You know you think I am too!!!) Confidence is something that I am on the fence with. I am confident in myself in that I believe I am fully capable to achieve things that I put my mind to. I am, however, afraid of failure and sometimes that holds me back. I had a friend tell me that she saw me as the confident one in our group, and that surprised me and made me laugh.

It says that Leos are broad-minded and intolerant of small-minded people. Oh, how that couldn’t be more true for me! I appreciate other people’s beliefs and thoughts and that we are all allowed to have our own. I cannot stand someone that is so small-minded that they are intolerant of other’s just because of their beliefs and thought processes.

Leo’s Weaknesses – Pretentious, egoistic, domineering, melodramatic, stubborn, self-centered, inflexible

When I think of pretentious, I think of people who think they are better than everyone else and care a whole lot about money and status. I care nothing of those things and have never acted better than anyone.

I will admit that I can be dramatic at times, even though in general I don’t really care for drama. If you make me mad or upset and I cross that line from a cool cucumber to angry Nadine…cue the dramatics. I can be stubborn, but I am not inflexible! I am the most easy going person when it comes to plans. That is the people pleaser in me. I am egotistic in that I easily have my feelings hurt. (I hate that about myself.) I might be a people pleaser but I am not an ass kisser and I do not like to be disrespected.

Domineering just made me laugh. But it is partly true. I do not try to control others in the least bit, but I do like to have control over myself. So much so, that it is a rarity that you ever see me have more than just a few drinks. I like to be in control of my actions and thoughts so being drunk is not enjoyable for me. I can admit that I make a bad passenger in the car because I am not in control of it either. And the bad weather freaks me out because of the unknown.

Leo Likes – Speculative ventures, lavish living, children, drama

Leo Dislikes – Doing things safely, ordinary day to day living, small minded people, penny pinching and mean spiritedness

While I do like the finer things in life and don’t have a problem with kids (as long as they aren’t out of control)….I am a huge fan of doing things safely and having a routine. BUT I hate small minded people, penny pinching and mean spiritedness. So I would say that these are half way accurate. Perhaps being OCD isn’t a usual trait for a Leo since it says that Leo’s don’t like routine or doing things safely…but I thrive in those things.

What’s your sign?? Do you relate to it or do you think it is total crap? Please link up with Laura and I and let us know!!! I left the link up opened for a few days so that you still have time to get your posts ready! I can’t wait to learn more about you all through this.

[inlinkz_linkup id=555716 mode=1]

August 18, 2015 by Nadine

book review, books

Before We Were Strangers

When Matt sees Grace on the F train in New York City after 15 years, his past comes rushing back. He sees her a minute too late, though! He writes a letter to her in the missed connections section of Craigslist in hopes that she will find it.

This book changes POV between Matt and Grace in different chapters and was easy to follow because at the start of each chapter, it literally had the name of whose point of view it was. I really enjoyed getting both of their perspectives of everything. After the book sets up the current day seen, it jumps back to Matt and Grace’s stint their senior year of college. It shows you how they met and how their relationship develops. The book then jumps back to current day.

This is a book about second chance romance that seemed so real and raw. I was hooked from the first chapter and I loved how it wasn’t always perfect. You get to see a silly college friendship build in to something deeper. I feel like Gracie and Matt could have been people I hung out with in school. I loved the other characters in the book as well, like their friends Tatiana and Brandon and I instantly fell in love with Matt’s mom too. Grace is a cellist and Matt is a photographer, so you get some music and art talk which was lovely.

I haven’t read anything by Renee Carlino before, but I am seriously going to have to check out more of her work now. This book should most definitely get added to your to-read list! It gave me all the feels and I was left smiling and wishing it wasn’t over so soon! You can add it to your Goodread’s list here!

I was provided a copy of this book (Before We Were Strangers) by the publisher and author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I also wanted to join in with Pamela on the Share the Love link up! Today I want you to meet Lindsay! She blogs over at Bourbon, Lipstick and Stilettos. If the blog name alone doesn’t get you….but who are we kidding, you know it does…her content will!!! Not only does Lindsay posts great reviews and thoughts on different beauty products, she talks about real life stuff. You will also find some posts on stuff that some people would be afraid to hit publish on. I love how genuine she is and the variety of things that she shares!

Don’t forget to link up tomorrow with Laura and I for What’s Your Sign!!!! Any zodiac talk goes. I cannot wait to read all of your posts!!!!!!

August 18, 2015 by Nadine

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