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Deck the halls
The other day I received a Big Lots ad. I normally trash them straight away but the subject caught my eye. Christmas stuff was on sale. I’m looking for a new tree so I decided to check out the ad. While I didn’t see any trees I felt would work, I did see a pair of 4.5 foot lighted trees in urns for $35.00. Umm sold! I called the Big Lots near my office but they were out so I called the store closest to my house and they still had some in stock. I ran to Big Lots after work and picked up my new trees.
I got home and put them together and got them fluffed and ready for outside. Then Matt asks how I plan to light them. Umm, I don’t know. He’s the outside light guy! Since our timer only had one additional plug and the cords on the trees weren’t long enough I was unable to immediately plug them in. I ran to Lowes on Saturday and found a cool split plug. It’s a little bigger than we needed but I’m sure it will come in handy. I now have the icicle lights, and both trees plugged into the timer. YAY!
That left my wreath. I guess sitting in the garage for a year didn’t do much for the lights because when Matt plugged it in a few weeks ago it didn’t work. I picked up more lights and I told Matt I’d redo them yesterday. About 3 pm he grabs the wreath and starts trying to take the lights off only to realize they were clipped in place. He spent the next half hour or so taking them off while I took a quick nap. I woke to find new, working, lights on the wreath. I fluffed and secured a few of the new lights before reattaching the bow and adding a few Christmas ornaments. It’s not my best Christmas wreath by far but it will do. So now I think I have all of my Christmas stuff up and in place. With the exception of the table. I think I want to do a little more with it but I’m not sure what. I feel like table settings are my weakness.
~k
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SEC Champ to National Title
Saturday was the SEC Championship game. Third ranked Auburn played #5 Mizzou. I thought this was kind of cool considering both teams were at the bottom of their divisions last year. Both had improved and kicked ass. I’m not gonna lie, I was nervous. Mizzou is tough and I was scared the game might not go Auburn’s way. The score was back and forth and by the end of the first half, it was the highest scoring first half ever for an SEC championship game.
My Tigers hung in there and were able to pull away from Mizzou in the second half and secure the win. Then I got really nervous. One of 3 things needed to happen for Auburn to go to the National Title game: # 2 Ohio State needed to lose to #10 Michigan State, #1 Florida State needed to lose to #20-something Duke, or Ohio State AND Florida State needed to lose. Florida State losing was pretty improbable. Both Ohio State and Florida State losing also seemed never impossible so that left Ohio State losing.
Auburn had clearly played and beaten more and higher ranked teams than Ohio State (so really Auburn should have been #2 but the only way for Auburn to leapfrog OSU was to have them lose at this point.) So when the Ohio State v. Michigan State game started Matt and I were rooting for good ol’ Sparty! It was a close game but in the end Michigan State pulled out the win. Matt and I were ecstatic! This meant Auburn was going to Pasadena to play the National Title game at the Rose Bowl. It also meant Michigan State was playing Stanford at the Rose Bowl. (Just something else I thought was neat.)
Auburn has had a miraculous season. A season I never dreamed possible. After such a disappointing season last year I was just hoping for a few more wins than losses this year. Never did I believe we would end up back at the Title game. Actually it never even crossed my mind, at least not till the very end of the season.
WAR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~k
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Stila, stila, stila’n my heart
I’m clever. HAHA!
Obviously I’ve been looking for a new foundation. After watching countless Youtube makeup tutorials I’ve decided not to settle for “just okay” makeup. I’m going to at least try and be fancy. 🙂 Matt and I took Monday off and ran errands, mostly buying Christmas presents. While we were out I made Matt drop me off at Ulta. My plan had been to get a few samples to try. However, once I got to Ulta, I quickly realized NO ONE was going to help me. I wandered around aimlessly for a few minutes before I started trying different foundations on my hand. Nothing really caught my attention until I came to the Stila display. One of the foundations I picked up, the Stay All Day Foundation, was nice and creamy. Aahh ha! I like the texture and feel but at $44.00 it was a little pricey. I looked around a little more and finally decided to just try the Stila. On the plus side, the Stila included a concealer. So that kind of made up for the price.
I went to the counter to pay and asked about the return policy. Sixty days with a receipt. Sold!
Later in the day I finally decided I really really needed to try this stuff out. I washed my face and grabbed my new Stila foundation. The foundation went on smooth and the concealer really smoothed out nicely and didn’t get cakey, not something I normally find. Much to my surprise, it really made my skin look radiant. Guys, seriously, I do not have good skin. It’s always had a rudey tone to it so when I put this on and it made my skin look nice and clear I was in Heaven! It added just the right amount of highlight too. This could also be because I’m pale right now so the color is pretty light but regardless it makes my skin look luminous.
The only downside to this, besides the price, is the little “wand” thingy in the top. I feel like the packaging could be better but as one reviewer pointed out, this makes it easier to get every last bit out of the bottle. So we’ll see.
I’m only a few days in but so far I like this much better than the gross Clinique I was using and I also find it better than the Bobbi Brown. It seems to last all day where the Bobbi Brown didn’t. I hope this continues to do well with my skin because so far so good.
~k
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I’m not sold
A couple weeks ago while getting my haircut I asked my stylist about makeup. She does hair and makeup on the side so I figured she would be a good person to talk to about foundation. I told her what I was looking for and she hands down recommended Bobbi Brown. I went to the Bobbi Brown website and found her Skin Foundation. With almost 600 reviews and a 4.7 star rating I knew I had to try this. The downside? The price. At $47.00 a bottle I knew Matt would flip. I also knew it would need to WOW me. Blow me away!
I ran to the mall over the weekend and went to the Bobbi Brown counter. I told the lady about my skin and what I was looking for. She sat me down to do a color match. Once happy with the color, she proceeded to redo the makeup on my cheeks, nose, and chin. When she was finished she handed me a mirror. I was definitely “blown away” and a little bit horrified. I’m not sure I contained my shock well. She had caked this makeup on my face. My first thought was OMG I still have to go to Lowes. I mentioned it was kind of shiny and she said I would need to finish it with powder. No shit lady. I asked for a sample and also signed up to see one of their professional makeup artists in a few weeks.
By the time I got home I couldn’t deal with the grossness on my face and washed it off. The next day I decided to give it another shot with me doing my own makeup. Night and day people, night and day. (I don’t know that anyone would buy anything from the lady that did my makeup.) The foundation has a bit of a matte finish, which is nice, it also goes on very smooth and is not streaky. All pluses. However, I’m still not sold. I don’t feel like my makeup still looks fresh even a few hours after it’s been applied. It has decent coverage and the color is nice and a little seems to go a long way. It almost doesn’t seem to get oily throughout the day but I don’t see what the hype is all about. And honestly I’m disappointed. I really hoped it would be a miracle in a bottle.
I’m planning to run to Ulta soon and see if they can help me find what I’m looking for. I want something with a medium coverage, maybe a whipped type formula. Something that will add glow (not oil) to my skin and look natural. My inspiration is Emily Thorne from Revenge. Her make up always looks amazingly beautiful and natural even though I’m sure she has a ton on.
I’m totally over the Clinique Even Better foundation at this point. It’s crap. I don’t know if they changed or I changed but I took the new bottle I had back. So now the hunt for awesome foundation continues.
~k
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The Iron Bowl
If you saw yesterday’s post then today’s should be no surprise. So what is the Iron Bowl you ask? It’s only THE biggest game of the year between Auburn and Alabama. It is a very long and deep seated rivalry. Obviously they are much better when Auburn is victorious! 😉
Last year Alabama rolled over what was possibly the WORST Auburn team in history. No seriously, we sucked! I think our record was 2-8.
After a rough season, our coach was fired and a new one hired. Gus Malzahn was the offensive coordinator when Auburn won the National Title a few years back. Gus was brought back to revive the team. At the start of the season I really didn’t have high hopes. I figured we might go 7-3 possibly 8-2. Not great but anything is better than last year.
We started the season okay with an unfortunate loss to LSU but kept moving. When the day came for the Texas A&M game I told Matt, “I just want to score points.” And then something happened. Auburn pulled out the win in the last minutes of the game. Holy cow! We WON! Then came the Georgia game. The AU/UGA game is also a rivalry game. I was on a work call that afternoon and barely paying attention. I didn’t figure Auburn would win. Then a miracle happened. A long pass down field…..to UGA…..they tipped the ball……right into the hands on and Auburn player! TOUCHDOWN AUBURN!!!!!!! Matt and I were jumping up and down screaming! It was just so unbelievable!
Auburn headed to the Iron Bowl ranked #4 at 10-1, Bama ranked #1 at 10-0. Damn! Again I told Matt, “I just want to score points.” The game was close going back and forth. For some reason I had a feeling Auburn was going to win even though the score was tied with a minute left. I didn’t feel like going to overtime but Bama had the ball. A play was run and the runner out of bounds. Bama fought to get one second put back on the clock and bought out the field goal unit. Mind you, Bama hadn’t made a field goal the whole day. At an impossible 56 yards, they send out a freshman kicker. And then it happened…………..He missed!!!! Oh wait, the Auburn guy in the end zone caught it……….and he runs, right up the field. TOUCHDOWN AUBURN!!!!!!!!!!! Holy shit! We just won on an even more unbelievable play than against UGA!
After numerous screams, fb updates, and texts we got ready for dinner. I was still shaking for almost an hour after. The. game. of. the year! By far.
And that my friends it the glory of the Iron Bowl. (My heart rate may be slightly elevated just thinking about it. :))
That was my Saturday!
~k
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Happy Thanksgiving
In the spirit of the holidays I’m going to *try* to blog more. I won’t say work has settled down yet but I’m hoping it will.
Mom and dad moved into their new house about 2 weeks ago. When they found it, I told mom they were having Thanksgiving if they were in by then. They were, so we did. Mom invited Matt’s parents as well so we had a nice family Thanksgiving.
Thursday morning Matt helped me pack my car with all the things I would need to cook my dishes – mac & cheese, corn casserole, and homemade rolls. Mom picked up the rest of the items I would need for sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes. I got to their house around 10:30 and we started cooking. Well actually we walked around the house and mom showed me what she’d been up to with decorating. Then
weI started cooking. We cooked, watched TV and talked, cooked a little more and by 3:00 almost everything was ready to be put in the oven. Matt and his parent’s arrived and the ladies finished up the last of the cooking. Dad had to work till 3:00 so he fried the turkey on Wednesday however, it worked out well because we weren’t trying to cook while he was trying to cook/fry/cut a turkey.Around 5:00 everything was hot and ready to go. We had a nice dinner. After we sat around and watched football for a while. Finally around 8:30 Matt and I and his parents headed back to our house. We threw in a movie and I proceeded to pass out. Talk about tired.
Friday his parents left and I convinced Matt to run to Garden Ridge to look for a new taller Christmas tree. Little did I know, they don’t do black Friday deals! BOOO! I knew it didn’t look crazy busy when we drove up. Anyway, we found something we needed for a gift but came away empty handed on the Christmas tree.
I think Saturday needs it’s own post. 😉 If you know me you know why! WAR EAGLE!
~k
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Crusty Bread (aka the easiest bread)
Several months ago, when I was on a big Pinterest kick, I ran across a crusty bread recipe. It seemed easy enough for a non-bread maker. Four ingredients, three of which I had on hand. Matt and I ran to Costco a few days later and I found my missing ingredient, yeast.
With my all the ingredients, I began making my first batch of crusty bread. OMG, this stuff is seriously the EASIEST to make! Not to mention it’s delicious. I’ve made several batches so far and every time it turns out amazing!
Here’s what you’ll need:
1/2 tsp Yeast (I use active dry yeast)
1 3/4 tsp Salt (I like kosher)
3 c. Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 c. Warm Water
Cast Iron Pot
Mix 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour with 1 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp of yeast in a glass bowl. Whisk together and add 1 1/2 cups of warm water. I like to use a fork for mixing since it will get gooey. Cover the mix and let it sit for 12 hours. Do not refrigerate.
It will get kind of bubbly and rise. Once it’s sat for at least 12 hours (I’ve let mine sit for up to 18 before and it was fine) preheat your oven to 450*. When your oven is preheated put your empty cast iron pot in the oven for 30 mins. I’ve never tried it with anything other than cast iron so you’ve been warned.
About 5 mins before the timer goes off I will take my dough and flour it. Just throw some flour on the counter and cover the dough. You can be generous with this.
Carefully remove the pot lid and put your dough inside. I just dump it in. No need for oil. I bake mine for 20 mins covered and 10 uncovered. The recipe from my pin says 3o and 20. That was too long for me and my oven. I also like my bread a little more moist and it was little too dry at 30 mins.
Once the bread has browned to your liking remove it from the pot and let it sit on a wire cooling rack. It’s best not to cut while it’s hot. Trust me, it’s a bad idea. You will end up with smushed bread.
***I don’t normally post recipes so I apologize for the roughness of this post.
~k
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A New Fave
You know I love mascara right? Well I do! I’ve always had pretty eyelashes and I want my mascara to make them look even better. For months now, Loreal’s Power Volume Collagen mascara has been my go to. You can find my review here. A few weeks ago mom and I were out shopping and we ran to Ulta. She wanted something to make her eyelashes grow and in the process we found Revlon’s Lash Potion mascara. I grabbed a tube of this and she bought the Revlon Grow formula. I normally buy mascara and then regret my decision and switch back to the Loreal but OMG! This stuff is amazing! It hardly clumps and it adds a ton of volume to my lashes. I think I’m most impressed with the fact that I don’t have to do multiple heavy coats to create volume. It only takes a few light coats to really plump them up. (When I say a few light coats I mean layering 1 good coat I guess. I don’t let it dry and add more if that helps.)
I’ve been using this mascara for a few weeks now and I am still impressed. Normally I either like mascara’s at the beginning or near the end of the tube once it’s dried out a bit. I tend to get mascara all over my eyes so if they are too “wet” it’s just a mess but tends to get better after a few weeks. I have problems with this even with the Loreal but not nearly as much with the Lash Potion. For $8.00 a tube this is a must try especially if you are a mascara lover like me!
~k
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So this happened!
For about 6 years now, since I got my foot tattooed, I’ve wanted one on my wrist. Two years ago when Matt and I went to New York I decided it would be a really cool idea to do it there. I knew it would be much more expensive but part of that was the experience. We got to NYC and I chickened out. You have bones and veins in your wrist and that has to hurt right? It probably didn’t help that I really had no idea what I wanted.
Fast forward a year and a half and I finally found what I wanted a few weeks ago. As soon as I found it I knew so I contacted VanNess and Fellows, a local studio for a guy I found on IG. Unfortunately he was booked for like 6 months out but he had a guest artist that weekend. I made an appt for Saturday and drug Matt with me. We ran to lunch downtown and I grabbed a glass of wine. Then we headed to the studio. I say studio because this was hands down THE NICEST place ever!
Ten minutes later I had a cute little heart and anchor tattoo on the inside of my wrist. It’s not quite complete yet but I’ll have to wait to finish it.
The tattoo itself was uncomfortable and a little painful once or twice but overall not bad enough that I wouldn’t do it again. The painful part came the next day. Man my wrist was sore and achey.
I think I will probably need a touch up but I was told this up front. The artist, Scottie, told me just to let the studio know and they would get it set up. It hasn’t fully healed yet so I don’t want to call. Scottie also works at a studio in Wilmington so it would have to be done at a later date when he’s in town. Till then I think it will be fine. Plus like I said, it’s not quite complete so I’m hoping that I might can get both done.
~k
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Check In
It’s been a few weeks now and my project at work is still running into road block after road block. This is partially our fault for not setting the necessary (or correct) parameters. However, this thing was just built like crap and now we are having issues trying to make a not fully complete or functional product work. Not to mention very little support. I should add I’m talking about software.
For the past 2 months or so I’ve spent many, many hours sitting in rooms hashing out details and testing. Oh my god the testing! I am currently sitting at my desk doing more tests. Tests I’ve done hundreds of times (it feels like hundreds anyway!) Every time we get one thing working something else seems to break. It’s like that scene in Poltergeist when JoBeth Williams is running down the hallway. She can see the door but she can’t get there. That’s what I feel like right now too!
I’m hoping we will actually get this process launched next week and life can move on. (I’m also hoping I can move on to a new position! I’ve put in a lot of time and work on this and I hope it yields some reward!)
Next week I hope to return to blogging on a regular basis so watch out!
~k