This weekend went by so quick! I only have two days of work this week (today and Wednesday), but they are going to be VERY busy days!!! I have a lot due and I have no clue how in the hell I am going to squeeze it all in?!

Friday – We spent the night in on Friday. I got some cleaning done and we watched TV and had cheese tortellini for dinner. It was much needed down time!

Saturday – I finished cleaning and took Olivia to the vet for her second round of shots. The vet said she was looking very healthy. The vet tech told me that Olivia had big paws. Uh oh. I wonder if she is going to be a big kitty?! My guess is she will be bigger than Mac, haha. Poor Mac, he already has little dog syndrome. Livy is teething right now and has lost two kitten teeth.

Saturday afternoon we headed over to Bargain Hunt to look around, then off to World of Beer. We hung out there for awhile enjoying a few beverages and some shrimp. They have the best shrimp!

After a few delicious beverages, I switched over to Diet Coke. Destiny (we are on a first name basis with most of the Saturday staff) brought it out in a mason jar, so of course I had to snap a picture! Mason jars remind me of my childhood, I remember always drinking out of them when I was little, before it was “a thing.” Does that make me hipster? Maybe.

After WOB, we decided to head to Jack Brown’s Beer and Burgers for dinner. I mean, we can get a delicious dinner and drink for under $30 there…so it is hard to beat! I ordered the Danny Laruso this time. It had cream cheese and jalapeno jelly. It was so good!!! I really liked the flavoring of the cream cheese with it, and the jalapeno jelly added a little kick… something completely different. Their pickles are so good too!

Sunday – I made breakfast Sunday morning, then headed outside to cut the grass. I was a grass cutting machine and did the entire front and back yard! It was so hot and humid, and I was sweating buckets after an hour and a half…but I got it done!

I got the meal planning and shopping done for the week, took inventory on all of our sunscreen and after sun potions for the beach next weekend, cleaned out Gracie’s ears, and did a few loads of laundry.

Poor Gracie. She is a walking chronic ear infection. When I took Livy to the vet, I asked if there was anything else I could do for Gracie. I clean out her ears several times a week, give her baths with special shampoo, we switched her food so she is grain free. I am at a loss with her allergies! The vet suggested that I give her fish oil capsules daily. Gracie is really good about taking medicines, I just dip the capsule in peanut butter and she is good to go. I hope this helps! Do any of you have pets with allergies that could offer suggestions? Some nights I have to drug her with Benedryl so she can have relief. The vet said it is certainly a pug thing with the ears…but it just isn’t her ears. She is constantly chewing at her feet and her belly is always itchy.

We started binge watching The Mindy Project yesterday afternoon. We stayed up way too late last night watching it! (As in I was up past 11 when I am usually in bed by 10. Oops!) I really like the show and I think it will become part of our regular watches.

I have a feeling blog land will be a little scarce this week, especially towards the end with the 4th coming up. I haven’t decided if I will have pre-scheduled posts every day or not. I am sure I will have a few. Tomorrow I am heading to Atlanta with my mom. My mom’s best friend/my Godmother is coming in to town from Pittsburgh today. I am taking them to the aquarium, Ikea, Atlantic Station and some good restaurants. I can’t wait!

Oh snap! It is Friday up in this bitch! This week went surprisingly fast!

Favorite moment: Hanging out with blogging friends turned IRL friends! Last night was the Birmingham Bloggers meet up at Pale Eddie’s. Meegan and I met up early so I could grab some grub at Moe’s BBQ then headed over to the meet up. On our way back to her car, we had to stop and take pictures at the light tunnel. Because, light tunnel!

Yes, that is a homeless man sleeping on the side walk behind us.

What else did we learn? Meegan is way more fun in her picture than me!

This was the glass that my beer came in? LOL. Keep it classy Mississippi. The other side was a logo from a brewery in Jackson, MS.

Favorite Song: No Mediocre – TI and Iggy – Basically…I want to be Iggy when I grow up.

Favorite Purchase: I mentioned that I hit up Sephora last weekend. I have had a week to play with my new foundation and bronzer. I freaking love both and have nothing but good things to say!

Make Up Forever Matte Velvet Foundation (I am #25, surprisingly not the lightest one, SCORE!) I had used HD in the past but it was never quite right. It looked amazing in pictures but not so great in person. That matte velvet looks great in both ways!

Too Faced Chocolate Bronzer – You guys, this stuff actually smells like chocolate! Also, I like that it looks natural against my pale, vampire like skin. It adds a little color and contours my face into not so chubby. Win win.

Favorite pictures of Olivia:

A tisket a tasket a kitty in a basket!

I shall call her Spider Kitty.

Friday Funnies:

My motto in life:

I hate when I am cracka lackin

I freaking loved this segment in All That!!! You guys remember this?

My sister is the younger sister they talk about. Don’t mess with Tracy!

To the random people I acknowledge in my building:

It’s Friday, would you expect less:

Go link up with the wonderful Amanda and tell us your favorites. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!!

Well. summer is officially here and in full swing…and has been down south! I sort of forgot about my spring goals towards the end of the season because I hit it hard out the gate and accomplished several things quickly. While I didn’t complete everything, I feel I did pretty well. Let’s take a look.

Mind

1. Read at least two books. The Longest Ride, The Best of Me, Attachments, One For the Money, Two For the Dough, Three to Get Deadly – I really have been on a reading kick lately and it makes me so happy to be back!!!

2. Watch at least three new to me movies. The Wolf on Wall Street, Anchorman 2 – I only watched two new ones. Oops.

3. Study and research different nutrition and healthy lifestyles. I have read up a lot on the Whole 30 diet and some information on the Paleo lifestyle.  I also did some research on essential oils, as I would like to get back more on a holistic path with some natural remedies.

Body

1. Make an eye doctor appointment to get prescription sunglasses. – Yeah didn’t happen. I hate having my eyes dilated so I keep putting this off.

2. Complete T25 and start a new work out program. (I am currently on week 4 of Beta with T25) I finished the first two months of T25, both Alpha and Beta cycles. I decided that instead of moving into Gamma, I wanted to try another program. I started Body Beast and am currently on the last phase!

3. Incorporate more work outs than just my morning  work out program Monday – Friday. On the days that I have shorter strength training, I do an extra work out of cardio, which usually is a T25 work out from Alpha. I have also been fitting in random reps of crunches when I think about it.

4. Complete both the 1800 minute challenge and the 90 days til summer challenge. I know I worked out more than 1800 minutes in the challenge, and I have kept up with my work out part of the 90 days challenge. 

Home

1. Turn the dog room into more than just the dog room/storage room. Make it functional and organized. – Yeah…I still haven’t finished this. I did work in the room for a little bit but I think my motivation isn’t there because I need some type of pretty desk or something to work around.

2. Clean the garage and get rid of EVERYTHING that we do not need. – I did start this, and unboxed a few boxes, swept and got rid of some stuff. I did not go through everything though.

3. Start collecting items for the gallery wall. – I’ve got nothing.

Food

1. Try a new food that I wasn’t willing to try before. I tried brussesl sprouts for the first time as an adult. I don’t hate them. I have added some sliced brussels sprouts into my salads and have actually enjoyed it.

2. Eat at two new to me restaurants. Jack Brown’s Beer and Burgers and Ocarrs. I have been to both two times now! Also, I tried Side Bar for lunch with a friend shortly after they opened, but they no longer serve food…but it still counts!

3. Try three new recipes. Sweet Potato Chips, Salsa Rice, Cheesy Chicken Potatoes, Spicy Chicken Rigatoni, Blue Cheese Chips, Bean Soup (recipe to come)

Money

1. Continue with staying in more on the weekends than going out. We spent a few weekends on our deck. We had my sister and her family over for dinner one weekend. There were a few weekends when we only left the house for maybe one meal on a Saturday. We have been certainly not going out and spending as much money in the entertainment area as we have in the past.

2. Cut any excess spending. (services that aren’t being used, etc.) Participated in the Wallet Watch for April. With Chris’s research -We changed our cell phone plan to save money as well as went to a cheaper package with Direct TV as we don’t watch 90% of the channels that we had. Chris also took inventory on several services that we pay for and realized that we were being over charged and we received two great refund checks! Score!

3. Come up with a savings plan goal. Chris came up with a budget for us and it includes moving some money into savings every month. Now we actually have to start following said budget!

Well, I didn’t make my eye appointment again this time around. If you remember, that was a goal that carried over form winter. Like I said, I freaking hate going but I REALLY need to go soon! I also failed on all the home goals, and I only watched 2 new movies. Which, let’s face it…I spend a lot of time in front of the TV….so missing a movie is no big deal.

For summer, I am going to keep it simple.

1. Make an eye dr appointment and get prescription sunglasses.

2. Finish Body Beast and start another work out program.

3. Continue to add in extra work outs on top of whatever program I am following.

4. Cut cheat eating down to one or two meals a week and not an entire weekend.

5. Try three new recipes

6. Try three new restaurants.

7. Read 2-3 books per month.

8 Visit Atlanta at least twice, make sure to see friends both times.

9. Start collecting stuff for my gallery wall.

10 Research stuff for fall gardening.

I think ten things is plenty for the summer! Anything else I do that is productive will just be an added bonus! I want to relax and enjoy the season. (The best that one can when it is hot as balls outside.)

Do you have any summer goals?

Time to link up with Kathy and spill all the secrets. Let’s do it!

–Sometimes when I am working on an appraisal in a metro area that a blogger friend lives, I wonder how close they are to the building we are appraising. Hashtag creeper status.

–Last Wednesday I had my lunch packed, A co-worker asked me to try the new burger place with him, Jack Brown’s Beer and Burgers. I was all “but I brought my lunch.” He was all “Please don’t make me eat out by myself.” And “cheeseburger.” He really pulled my arm, so I went.

–Speaking of cheeseburgers. I stepped on the scale this morning for the first time in quite awhile. It wasn’t pretty. I am prettttty sure I am not going to have a cheat day meal this weekend. Like, at all. Damn scale. I just want all the bad things because it is summer and it’s fun! Ok, fine…I say the same thing in winter too.

–I took an age test to earn some Swagbucks the other day. (Side note, if you don’t know what Swagbucks is…for the love of money..go visit Stephanie and she will tell you!) Anyways, you all know I am 30 with the old lady habits of a 60 year old most days. Well let me tell you friends, that old lady status is going to keep me young! They said my “actual age” was 27! Hell yeah. Three years younger? I am walking around like this now:

–I still give zero shits about the world cup. Like, how is it still going? Just end already!

–Super excited about the Birmingham Blogger meet up tomorrow! I am so glad there is an active blogging group in this city, obviously we needed one. And one that meets outside of “normal work hours” because hello, full time job!

Confessions in ecard:

Now go link up with Kathy and Liz because that is what all the cool kids are doing!

Kristen tagged me in this post and the questions are fun and different, so I figure…why not have a little fun! Plus, my original plan for today was to share a 175 calorie bean soup recipe because I am trying to be healthy this week and undo the burgers and beer from the weekend…and who wants soup when it is 90 degrees with 34958% humidity other than me? Probably no one.

Also, if you don’t already know Kristen, then I am not quite sure what you are doing with your life…but go check her out now! I am pretty sure that if she lived closer, we would kick it on the regular. Girl cracks me up!

1. What is a nickname only your family calls you?

When I was younger, my Grandma Jerry used to call me Deenie. She is really the only person I would let call me anything other than Nadine. When I was a little older, sometimes my dad would call me Dino…like the dinosaur from the Flintstones. During “senior week” in high school, there is a night the parents come in and decorate the seniors lockers. My dad was a smart ass and drew Dino in a graduation gown and put a picture of my horrific car accident on my locker that I was still recovering from. Anyway to embarrass me.

2. What’s a weird habit of  yours?

Hmmm. Probably all of my habits? I am OCD so I have to check a million times a few times each to make sure that the doors are locked, the straightener is unplugged, the thermastat is set at what it needs to be, when I pull away I look back about 10 times to ensure the garage door is shut. I have turned around, even when running late, to make sure the straightener is unplugged because I remember walking in to check but I don’t remember seeing it unplugged. Ridiculous!

3. Do you have any weird phobias?

I am a scardy cat. I am afraid of bugs of any kind, heights, and bad weather. I am not one to ride roller coasters or be standing outside when there is a tornado warning thinking I was cool.

When I was younger, I had this horrible fear that something was going to happen to my family if I wasn’t there so I hated spending the night at other people’s houses and often times told my mom to say I wasn’t allowed so that my friends didn’t think I was weird.

4. What’s one of your biggest pet peeves?

Just one? I hate bad manners. Chewing with your mouth open, smacking your food, talking on the phone when you are supposed to be checking out or talking to someone in person. People that drive slow in the fast lane.

5. What’s one of your nervous habits?

When I am nervous, I don’t know what to do with my hands or what to say sometimes. I will play with my hair, fidget, mess around on my phone, talk too much or too fast. It happens.

6. What side of the bed do you sleep on?

If you are standing at the foot of the bed and look at the bed, the right side. I used to sleep on the left, but that was Chris’s side too….so I compromised. Marriage. 😛

7. What was your first stuffed animal and what was it’s name?

My very first stuffed animal was a koala bear that my godmother brought to the hospital when I was born. I don’t think I had a name for it, but I still have it. I have also spoken about my love and connection to my Care Bear Love-a-Lot in the past.

8. What is the drink you always order at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts?

My go to at Starbucks is an Iced Non-Fat Caramel Macchiatto and for DD it is an Iced Caramel Coffee with cream and sugar. I often stray at Starbucks, but at DD it is ALWAYS the same thing!

9. Which way do you face in the shower?

Most of my shower I am facing with my back to the water unless I am rinsing off or washing my face.

10. Do you have any weird body skills?

Not really a skill but when I get angry, nervous or sad…I start breaking out in hives. I get red splotchy spots that start on my chest and if I am really upset….my whole body gets red splotchy and hot. I hate it because if I am just a little bit upset and trying to hide it…EVERYONE knows it. Or if I am nervous about something like an interview or meeting someone…it shows on my chest so I try to remember to wear higher cut necks on those days!

11. What is your favorite comfort that is bad for you but you eat it anyways?

Everything that is bad is my favorite! I allow myself to splurge on the weekends, but try to eat as healthy and clean as I can during the week. Usually my go to bad food is a cheeseburger and fries. I can always eat a cheeseburger. Unfortunately.

12. What is a phrase or exclamation you always say?

I have lots of phrases I say often. I say “seriously” or “really” a lot. Also, I have been saying “like” since elementary school and apparently I will never grow out of it.

Meegan shared a link not too long ago about people who say “like.” I found it very interesting and it made me feel better!

13. What do you wear when you go to sleep?

Usually it is a tshirt and underwear. I HATE sleeping in bottoms. I can’t get comfortable if I have shorts or pants on. I like to be cold when I sleep, so you will never find me all bundled up unless the electric is out or something.

14. What did you use to wear that you thought was cool but now you realize it wasn’t?

Probably everything I wore in elementary and middle school LOL! Weren’t we all dated and awkward then? I don’t know though, I am pretty sure I rocked the 80’s.

Rocking the velour sweat suits.

And the “futuristic” sunglasses like a damn movie star.

It was very cool to have a perm and wear Disney apparel in 6th grade, apparently.

Feeling like a bad ass in my Nike jacket. If you didn’y wear Nike or Starter, then you were nobody!

See the Starter logo on the sleeve?

And let’s not forget the over tanning in college.

I am not going to tag anyone specific, I would love for any of you to answer these questions in your own post! Make sure you let me know you did it and I will check it out!