Happy Baseball Season

Baseball Season Starts...TODAY! (cue the jumping up and down!!)

My favorite thing about this city is Major League Baseball, and with the 81 Home Games I'm sure I will be a happy girl until October!

*Want to go somewhere after work instead of heading home? *Bored now that The Jersey Shore is over on Thursday nights (even though this season sucked big time)? *Wanna do something different for your date nights? *Want to have a sunday funday with your friends? *Wanna take your visitors somewhere fun when they come visit? *Craving a HOT DOG? (I actually did twice last year and bought a ticket just to get in and eat a hot dog, watch an hour of the game, and go back to work!) Baseball is the answer to all these questions!

So, there you have it. Baseball solves most problems (and solves the winter blues caused by our long, fridgid cold winter, too.) Is baseball a big deal in your city??? I can't even imagine living in a city with no baseball team, it's definitely a spring/summer sunny-day-must!!

So, if you want to join me, grab your baseball hat and buy a ticket....and find me at the ball park!
(I've got infield tickets for today's game! Yippee!! Hopefully, I'll be able to take some good pictures so I can post about it tomorrow!)

Wanna read my Happy Opening Day post from last year!? Nobody's here to stop you.
Battteerrrrr-up! GO REDS!!! :)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm loving...that BASEBALL SEASON starts tomorrow!!!! And I'm loving...that I get to leave work early for adult beverages & parade watching! And I'm loving...that I have amazing tickets to the game!! (But I'm not loving that there is a chance of rain and that I'll probably be wearing a coat during the game due to the cold weather!)

I'm loving...the giveaway I won from Ciara Obscura (as I mentioned last week). What wonderful earrings, hair pins, clips, etc. And I loved her packaging too. So vintage. So classy!

I'm loving...that it's Spring Cleaning time. I dropped off my two bags of clothes to Goodwill yesterday...and then I got started on another closet and found atleast another two bags worth of stuff! It feels good to get rid of things I'm not using, but I'm seriously not going to have any clothes left when I'm done cleaning!

I'm loving...that my lent resolution (is that what you call it?) is still in tact! I gave up Chick-fil-a, which sounds ridiculous, I know. But I seriously ate it for lunch at least twice a week. I'm in love with it and wish I had a spicy chicken sandy...IN.MY.FACE.RIGHT.NOW. I'm counting down the days!!!

Yes, I love them so much I even take photos with them! (along with Jake, the cutest kid ever!)

I'm loving...that its HUMP DAY and the week is half over! :)

What are you LOVING today??? Visit Jamie to play along!

Pretty Paper Money

CV sent me a little email with some interesting origami that I had to share...and all are done with one or two dollar bills. Is anyone as impressed as I am?

I can barely make a paper airplane with a large sheet of paper, more less a scorpion with a small one dollar bill! So, congrats Mr. Origami Maker Man, you win this round.

Unclutter My Closet

Although it may not feel like spring (with our 30 degree temps) I still decided to dive into some spring cleaning this weekend. And ofcourse what better to tackle first than the closets. I've actually been trying to tackle this nagging task for a few months now, a little here, a little there, and finally I have two huge garbage bags worth of clothes to take to goodwill this week.
Ahhh, it feels so good to get rid of stuff, doesn't it? (And it also feels good to check things off my 101 list! #41. Clean out closets and donate clothes to charity!)

Some goodwill shoppers are going to be very happy, because let's face it, I have great fashion sense! Here's what I'm giving away:

• SIX Pairs of Jeans
• EIGHT Pairs of Pants
• THIRTEEN Sweaters
• THREE Suit Jackets
• TWO Scarves
• NINE Tee Shirts
• TWENTY SEVEN Tops
• TWO Slips (do people even wear slips anymore?)
• THREE Pairs of Shorts
• SIX Button Down Work Shirts
• ONE Belt
• ONE Bra (It's never worn with the tags still on, come on, I'm not that gross!)

= A TOTAL OF 81 ITEMS!

= TWO STUFFED GARBAGE BAGS!

Now, if I said I was finished cleaning out my closets, that would be a lie. I'm actually still NOT done. I've got plenty of items in the closet I havent worn in years (or at all) so next weekend I plan to go through the rest, maybe have another bag of clothes for goodwill, maybe try to sell them on ebay, or maybe have a closet blog sale? Would anyone be interested??? I saved the best clothes for last!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm loving...my new Nike Air Pegasus+ 27 running shoes! And not only do I love the shoes but I love the price I paid for them! They are $90 on Nike.com, but they were only $84.95 at DWS with an extra 30% off. Then, I had a coupon for $20 off...and another coupon for $10 off. Which brought my total down to $32!!
Is anyone jealous about all the great shoe deals I've been finding lately? Especially, the ones I got last weekend?

I'm loving...that I won a giveaway!! Meghan at Little Girl in the Big World was giving away this amazing necklace from Stella and Dot and I won! (cue the kartwheels) I can't wait to get it in the mail & show it off! Thanks Meghan!

I'm loving...that I won another giveaway! Yeah, I know, I got lucky last week! (Luck of the Irish???) Catherine Masi the designer of Ciara Obscura was giving away a little goodie bag! I'm not sure what to expect in mine, but she hinted it would be something like this:

Or this:

Speaking of the Irish, I'm loving...my St. Patricks Day outing with CV and friends last week.

And as always, I'm loving...my little stinker, Paisley.

What are you loving today? Visit Jamie's blog & tell us!

Top 2 Tuesday: Dream Rooms

Top Two Dream Rooms:

1. According to me, a closet should be it's own separate room. (And shoes should be displayed on shelves and not thrown on the floor!) Oh, it would be a dream to have Mariah Carey or Christina Aguilera's closet. Swoon!

2. The entryway is the homes first impression. (Okay, really the first impression is your lawn & front porch...but it's important nonetheless!) I'm in love with grand staircases! So classy (well, until I challenge my visitors to a race up and down the steps).

What are your dream rooms? Visit The Undomestic Momma to link up!

Love for Japan

And for my fellow Forever 21 shoppers, 100% of every dollar you spend online TODAY will go toward the relief efforts in Japan. Start Shopping.

Kiss Me, I'm Irish

Top o' the morning to ya!
Don't you just LOVE St. Patricks Day? I know I do, but I unfortuntately did not have the luxury of taking the day off work this year to eat/drink"kegs&eggs" or "beer&biscuits" with the rest of the party-goers for an all-day-celebration. BUT I will drink my fair share when the clock strikes 5pm and I am not on the company clock for the rest of the day!

Does anyone have any exciting plans? It's a little too late to travel, but here are some options for next year: (I see Chicago in my future for next year!)

TEN BEST ST. PATRICKS DAY FESTIVALS

1. Chicago:

2. Boston (Who starts partying a week before St. Patricks Day!)

3. Washington DC

4. New York City

5. St. Louis

6. Savannah, GA

7. San Francisco

8. Philadelphia

9. Kansas City, MO

10. Dublin, OH

I'm surprised New Orleans didn't make the list, considering they have a huge parade, home of Pat O's and they throw cabbage in the streets from the balconys! (I went there in college for Paddy's day! SO. MUCH. FUN)

Put on your green. grab a green beer. and get lucky, tonight! :)

Top 2 Tuesday: Random Facts About Jax

I'm been slacking on my Top 2 Tuesdays. Oops. Did you miss me?

Two Random Facts About Me:

1. I was in an armed robbery. Ya know, the kind where a scary man in a face mask puts a big scary gun to the back of your head and takes all your money. (And in my case, he sticks you in a freezer!) Yeah, been there. done that.

2. I don't put milk in my cereal. I eat a bowl of dry cereal every morning (M-F) for breakfast at my desk at work. [Keyword: dry] I know there are a lot of people out there that don't mind soggy (a.k.a. nasty) cereal, but I am NOT one of them! Hold the milk, please!!

Wanna play along? Visit The Undomestic Momma!

Gap Secret

Okay Cincinnatians, why haven't you told me about the Gap Warehouse? I've lived here for over three years and I've never heard of this magical place until this weekend. (Shame on everyone who knew and didn't tell me about it!) So ofcourse, right when I heard about it I had to check it out.

On Saturday, my friend Sara and I went out for lunch & made the trip! And to my surprise, not only do they have Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic, but since they own the Piperlime company they also have Marc Jacobs, Jessica Simpson, Kensie, Nine West, BCBG, etc. etc. Oh joy!

I didn't have the patience to sift through the clothing racks, so I just stuck to what I know best:

Shoes and jewelry

Steve Madden Tipper Shoes (or as CV calls them "Cleopatra shoes"): Originally $89.00.

I BOUGHT FOR $4.99!

Coconuts By Matise Women's Olympic Sandals: Originally $68.99
I BOUGHT FOR $4.99!

And Banana Republic Trio Stacked Rings: Originally $24.99
I bought for 6.99!

A grand total of $17.99 on my credit card! Holy moly! Did I do good or what?
I think I'm gonna add this store on my monthly rotation!
So Cincinnatians, what ELSE aren't you telling me??? :)

Natural Disaster Devastation

If the devastation in Japan doesn't make you appreciate the small things in life and teach you how not to take life for granted.............I don't know what will.

My thoughts & prayers are with Japan, Hawaii, and everyone affected by this tragedy.

Merry Mardi Gras!

Mardi Gras is tomorrow!!!! And as promised in a previous post, I have lots of photos to share with you of my journey to New Orleans two years ago to celebrate Mardi Gras! I didn't have a blog two years ago to talk about my trip, so I'm glad I can look back now and share the story with all of you.

My Mardi Gras Girls!

First, my mini-vacation started out horribly. I had a 6am flight out of Dayton, which meant I was up before 4am so I could get ready, drive an hour+ to the airport, then wait for an hour to board. Ugh. Then, when I got there something is wrong with the flight (ofcourse) and I have to wait another 2 hours just to board my flight to Chicago. Double Ugh.  Then, when I get to Chicago there were no more seats to New Orleans so I flew standby on two flights but didn't get on either of them. Triple Ugh. THEN, they put me on a flight to DENVER to connect to another flight to New Orleans. Ugh Times Four. FINALLY, I get to Denver, run to my connecting flight, sit on yet another plane ride...and arrive in the Big Easy. (Not. So. Easy.)

Trying to catch beads!

I was supposed to arrive at 12pm (along with all my friends who were meeting me there) and instead I arrived at 12AM.....TWELVE HOURS AFTER. And by the time I got there all my ladies were drunk (I was sober and pissed. Haha.) Ugh Times A Hundred.

Friends from those college days!

Regardless of my horrible first day of "vacation", I woke up in great spirits and enjoyed day numero two. Basically, the day consisted of: drinking. beads. old friends. new friends. drunk friends. limbo. awkward conversation. good conversation. group singing. boobs. parades. peeing in port-o-lets. floats. bad food. more beads. and more drinking.

There is a "short-joke" somewhere in this picture.

Partying: from sun up to sun down.

Beads. Beads. Beads.

And the night ended with a 2am pizza and a bunch of people passed out in our hotel/townhouse. (The best hotel EVER!) 

Three people crashed on the bed. One in a snuggie. ha.

Day Three, consisted of the same as day two but with a different (equally as fun) group of friends. Old and New. And the fact I was soooo sick on day three. Must have been the endless hours I spent at an airport trying to get there. (Should have taken airbourne.) But I was still a trooper and attended more Mardi Gras festivities.

You can't even tell we are hungover!

Yes, we got on some strangers motorcycle. Dontaskwhy. :)

And the parades definiltey did not get old (until I got lugged in the face with a bag of beads!!)

Catching more beads!

Lots of hugs are given out at Mardi!

We racked up on so many beads that by the end of the weekend our entire hotel room floor was covered in colorful beads. (What carpet??) Along with stuffed animals, cups, koozies, and other give-a-ways. Pretty fun!

So....if you've never been to New Orleans during Mardi Gras season, then add it to your bucket list. It's definitely worth doing at least once (or 8) times....even if you feel like this afterwards.

Hopefully, I'll be able to make it back to New Orleans again...maybe next year?!?
Happy Mardi Gras Everyone!