Twenty-Eight is Great???

Let's face it. I'm never really excited to celebrate my birthday. Although aging is inevitable, I just don't like the fact that I'm turning another year older. I mean, come on, TWENTY EIGHT! (Gosh, that sounds old!) But I'm trying to realize it's just a number (it's hard, but I'm trying)! So, I'll put away the wrinkle cream for now...and embrass the fact that I'm 28 but feel 23.
(And hopefully look 23 too!)

My birthday weekend started on a great note. Speaking of notes, this was on my desk on Friday morning: birthday donuts with a little note from my coworker. Thanks G!

A few donuts were taken before I snapped this photo...

Then on Saturday, I receive a little birthday package on my front door step from my friend Jeremy B! A box? From JB??? I was really excited to find out what was inside!

A jar of Potbelly Hot Peppers and 5 Free Potbelly Sandwiches! Oh boy! (For those that don't know my love for Potbelly turkey sandwiches with extra hot peppers, it's intense!) What a great gift, (especially since the last time I saw him I made fun of him for tucking in his shirt, and then in return he made fun of my scarf! Haha)...Thanks turd! :)

And ofcourse the birthday included a dinner at my favorite Mexican joint with CV and two of our friends. You can't celebrate a birthday without a nice jumbo margarita (and a shot of tequila), right??? Speaking of tequila, I only like my tequila mixed in a stawberry slush I call a margarita, not in a shot glass garnished with lime and salt. Ick.

Then, I did some present opening. CV got me some smell good perfume from Victoria Secrets, gorgeous flowers, a (much needed) one-hour professional massage, and a cute little card! As well as, breakfasts and dinners! Isn't he wonderful?? Thanks lover!!!

And not to mention the 75 (and counting) "Happy Birthday" messages I received on Facebook and numerous text messages!! Thanks friends, I definitely feel the love!!

......maybe twenty-eight IS great????

Blog Tutorial: "Grab My Button"

It seems as though a lot of my blog-friends had their blogs professionally designed for them (which is great because they all look fabulous....and I completely understand anyone who does NOT want to deal with HTML codes!) But why spend the extra money when you can DIY? Well, this posting is for you, my DIY blogger friends. Want to add a "grab my button" widget on your blog. Well, now you can (without professional help!)

A lot of blogs have a "button" that they share that links back to their page, so I decided to make one myself too. Do you likey??

Step One: Create your button. Begin with a picture or logo...you can use paint, photo applications, etc. Make sure your picture is smaller than 150 x 150 pixels. (Why? Because most sidebars are 200 pixels wide, so any larger and your logo will be cut off.)

Step Two: Host your picture. Upload your picture to a photo hosting site (photobucket, flickr, etc) And copy the html code they provide.

Step Three: Place the button in your sidebar. In blogger, go to your "Design" page and "Add a Gadget" and chose "HTML". Use the following code and replace YOUR IMAGE URL with the html code from your image and replace YOUR BLOG URL with the direct link to your blog.

[center][a href="http://YOUR WEB ADDRESS/" target="_blank" title="BLOG TITLE"][img alt="BLOG TITLE" src=http://YOUR IMAGE URL/][/a][center]

[/center]

[center][textarea id="code-source" rows="3" name="code-source"][center][a href="http://YOUR BLOG URL/"][img border="0" src=http://YOUR IMAGE URL/][/a][/center][/textarea][/center]

All of the front brackets [ will need to be replaced with < and all of the back brackets ] will need to be replaced with >

 Step Four: Save and preview your blog. Make sure your button shows up on the sidebar and the link works. (Test it by adding it to your own page and clicking on it. It should open a new window for your page.)

VOILA!! You now have a button for others to post on their blog! Here is a screen shot from my home page. What do you think???

Four easy steps...easy as cake! So, with that being said, good luck and.....Grab. My. Button. Baby. :) I'd love to know if you put my button on your blog, so leave me a comment if you do!

More blog tutorials to come...

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm loving...that I am going to The Melting Pot for my birthday dinner next week! It's my favorite restaurant of all time so I'm probably going to fondue myself silly! Has anyone had their dessert?? It is 2-DIE-4!

I'm loving...that I was supposed to take the dreaded CTP exam today but my boss let me postpone it until the June testing window. Shew!! I was NOT ready to take it. (But I'm not loving...that I have to study for the next six months!)

Remember on a previous WILW when I mentioned another person who was pregnant. Well, it's public now so I can spread the news. I'm loving...that my sister is pregnant with #2!! I'm so excited about having another niece/nephew on the way! I hope the next one is as cute as Madelyn (and I also hope the next one is a boy!)

My niece & sister

And I'm loving...that January is almost over. No offense January, but you are much too cold and snowy for me.

What are you loving today? Click here to play along.

Burn the Floor, Not the Kitchen

I went to the Arnoff Center this weekend to watch the Burn the Floor play with my friend Elizabeth. (Thanks for the extra ticket, doll!) It was kind of like watching an episode of Dancing with the Stars, except with faster footwork, littler outfits and more provocative dance moves...and no celebrities.

Does anyone watch So You Think You Can Dance? (I love that show!) Remembered the married couple on the show, Ashleigh and Ryan? They were in this play and very very good!

A couple that dances together, stays together!?!

Speaking of burning things, I actually did quite the opposite when baking this Blackberry Cobbler recipe from Keeping up with the Joneses. I baked it for 45 minutes but it wasn't enough...it probably should have gone in for another 10 minutes. Sure it was underbaked, but it was delicious nonetheless. CV & I still ate the entire thing...and NO we did not get sick.
(Although he did have a nightmare that night and tried to blame it on the undercooked cobbler. NICE TRY honey!!) :)



 The rest of the weekend was good:  ate sushi (as every weekend), went shopping, went to an engagement party, ate mexican along with the largest frozen strawberry margarita ever (it was freezing, but worth it), and ofcourse watched some football and the Premier of Kourtney & Kim Take New York!

I'm so glad the Kardashians are back on the tube!! Did anyone else watch it?? Am I the only one who wanted Kim's striped/heart pajamas!??

Shove It!

As if I didn't already have a list of reasons on why I hate strongly dislike Cincinnati winters. Number 281 on my list is shoveling snow. I guess I've been quite lucky that in the four winters I've lived here I've never had to shovel my driveway. (Gotta love male neighbors!) But yesterday, I took over. Big. Big. Mistake.

First. My driveway is three times longer than the picture shown above. Not exactly the shortest driveway. Second. I have no idea what I'm doing. Third. I shoveled around 1pm, so by the time it was 8pm another 4 inches of snow came down which meant that all my hard work went unnoticed, literally since it was covered with more snow. (Good thing I have this picture for proof!) Fourth. Due to "having no idea what I'm doing" I think I pulled a muscle in my back. It hurts. A lot.

Good thing CV came over later and shoveled the driveway again for me. (Teamwork, since I sprinkled the salt and brushed the snow off his car!) But I don't think I will attempt snow shoveling the driveway for a while. I think I'll just ask for a snow mobile for my birthday and get around on that! :)

Hope everyone is staying warm. NINE DEGREES IN CINCINNATI TODAY. YIKES! :)

A Three Day Weekend

I must say, I didn't utilize my three day weekend as well as I could have. I could have traveled somewhere exciting and visited one of my non-cincinnati-friends....but instead I caught up on some sleep, did some shopping, ran some errands, went out to eat, watched a few movies and caught up with some friends. Pretty relaxing yet kinda boring weekend all around.

I did buy a few cute things this weekend. I shopped the Express Sale and snagged these items:

(The first one I bought in Olive Green.) And then I headed to DSW with my "birthday coupon" and got these amazing Nine West shoes...on sale, might I add!

My movie rentals included:  Easy A (It's at Redbox for $1) I definitely don't give it an A...more like a C+. It was good but it was one of those movies I would only want to watch when I'm in bed sick. Does that make sense? Maybe if I were still in high school I would have liked it more.

The Town (Sadly, not at Redbox) I'm not usually a fan of Ben Affleck or any of his movies, but this one was pretty good. I'd watch it again (sick or not)!

I also spent some time with friends: lunch with Jen, shopping with Sara, and Couples Pizza Night with CV, Matt & Donna and Chris & Elizabeth! And ofcourse spent a lot of time with my sweetie...mostly eating: El Toro for Mexican, Ichiban for Sushi, The Original Pancake House for pancakes & sausage and ofcourse made brownies too!! (Atleast if we gain weight, we will gain weight together!) :)

I hope everyone had a great weekend and Martin Luther King day.

And...in the words of MLK Jr:

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."

Get Shredded

I finally started my fitness DVD of Julian Michael's 30 Day Shred this week. Let me just say: Julian is a machine!! How am I STILL sore from my workout on Wednesday??? (my TWENTY MINUTE workout, might I add) I'm seriously just as sore from those 20 minutes as I am after spending TWO HOURS at the gym. Sooooo, guess it's a reason to get off the couch and do more home workouts now.

Dear Julian - Will my body look like yours in 30 days? I sure hope so.

I started the workout on Wednesday, took yesterday off, but I'm back on "The Shred" tonight. I bought new hand weights last night too, so I can't wait to use them for Day 2! :)

Anyone else doing this? Did you see any results?

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Is it Wednesday already?? It feels like I just posted about what "I'm loving"....ooooh right, that's because I've only posted once in the past week. (Oops!)

This week I'm loving...cute little ice sculptures that are randomly found in my neighborhood. Now, don't get me wrong, I am NOT loving the snow, nor the cold. But I do however love ice sculptures. They are fascinating! Seriously, who is that talented?

I'm loving....on Monday my boss came to work with a bottle of RUM in hand....FOR ME....for no reason!! However, it kinda killed my buzz when he said "you might need this after this crazy month is over".

I'm loving...that I sold my old dining room table on craigslist! I bought my new one this summer. (See here). It took me about 7 months to get rid of the old one...but it's gone! Out of my basement! Out of my life! (And I sold it for $20 less than I bought it for! ka-ching!) And I'm loving...that the person who bought my dining room table was not the "Craigslist Killer". Shew!

I'm loving...this picture of me & my Paisley. And if you look close, you can see that she's sticking out her tongue, as she does in almost every picture. Aren't we adorable? :)

What are you loving today??? Visit This Kind of Love to play along!

Top 2 Tuesday: Strange Addictions

My Top Two Strange Addictions


The only addictions I can really think of aren't really THAT strange....or are they?


1. Chapstick - As I previously mentioned my addiction in this post, I'm completely addicted to applying and reapplying chapstick at all hours of the day. I usually carry 2 tubs in my purse, I have one in my desk at work, and I carry one from room-to-room when I'm at my house.  Am I turning into Napolean Dynamite?

Napoleon: Well, will you do me a favor then? Can you bring me my chapstick?
Kip: No, Napoleon.
Napoleon: But my lips hurt REAL bad!

2. Bone popping - I loooove having my back cracked! (Just ask CV, as I ask him to pop my back atleast 3 times a day!) I also pop my neck, shoulders, wrists, fingers, hips, ankles, toes and butt bone. Yeah...I am going to be in a wheelchair by the time I'm 40, aren't I?  Should I go ahead and look up cures for arthritis???

What are your strange addictions? Visit The Undomestic Momma to play along! :)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Happy Hump Day, everyone!
This week I'm loving...that my friend Ashley is preggers!! I'm soooo excited that I will soon have a friend in Cincinnati that has a lil baby I can play with!! Congratulations dollface! :)

I'm loving...that my friend Natalie is preggers too!! (With Number THREE!!) I just hope I can make it to Memphis as soon afterwards as possible so I can meet the little one!

And again I'm loving...that another special someone is preggers too!! (But it's not completely public yet, so an update on that will come later!) (DON'T WORRY, IT'S NOT ME!!!)

I'm loving...the NEW TELEVISION I bought myself on New Years Day. I received an award and bonus through work last month (for being the most awesome employee ever) so I figured I deserved to buy myself something nice with the extra money. So here it is! (And it was pretty funny that a strange man stopped me & CV as we were walking out of the store and noted that I had the BIGGEST smile on my face ever! Ha. I bet I did.)

Welcome home, Big Phil! Ha!
What are you loving today? Visit Jamie's page to play along!

The Night of the Eve

Well, I put on my sparkly dress, sparkly earrings, curled my hair (or atleast TRIED to curl my hair) and went out to party the year away. Our first stop, The Wine Guy, a new wine bar in Rookwood that actually has a pretty amazing menu and flights of wine for reasonable prices. I got the "sweet wine flight" and it was pretty delish! :)

Me & The Birthday Boy

Riesling is one of my favorites!

We had dinner/drinks with a few friends and then....the debauchary began. Good thing I have pictures to piece together the evening. (But too bad I refuse to post the silly ones.) :)

Just adding a little fun to the picture! :)

A little pregaming at K&M's before the ball drop!

Cheers-ing to 2011 on Oakley Square.

It was a pretty fun NYE....until ofcourse I woke up with a horrible hangover...
...BUT then I remembered I made an oh-so-delicious birthday cake for my sweetie, so I stuffed my face with chocolate and my hangover slowly faded away! Ha.

Two Layer Triple Chocolate Fudge with Dark Chocolate Icing. Yum.

As you can see "stop drinking" and "stay away from sweets" were NOT one of my New Years Resolutions. Womp. Womp. : )
Happy Twenty Eleven Everyone!

A Snapshot of January

A New Year. A New Month. A New Day. A New Attitude. A New Perspective. New Dreams. New Agendas. New Goals. A New...ME.  Ahhhh, so glad the new year is finally here!

Hopefully, this month I can start a new workout routine! I took off during the holidays and I really need to hit the gym hard this month (along with all the other New Years Resolution-ers). And the rest of my month will be dedicated to studying, as my CTP exam is on the 26th and I am way way way behind in the studying department. (That means less blogs from me too, sorry readers!) That's all I really have to look forward to January...getting healthier and keeping my nose in my study books. Wish me luck!!!

Oh, and I turn TWENTY-EIGHT at the end of this month. YIKES!!! Where-oh-where is my time machine when I need it??? I want to be 24 again. :(