I'm Selling Stuff!

It's time to get rid of many purses I've had laying around and a couple dresses I've never worn. I'm hoping that the stuff I sell can go towards our wedding fund. :)

Take a peek at the items and click on the link(s) if you're interested, and bid away!

Dooney & Bourke 1975 - Black Suede Handbag

{This purse is really gorgeous in person!}

Dooney & Bourke - Brown Tassel Tote

Dooney & Bourke - Small black purse

Coach Wristlet - Black and gray

Coach Small Hobo Buckle Purse - Black

Coach Medium Hobo Purse - Black

Forever21 Burgundy Dress

EXPRESS Animal Print Business Dress

She's Gone.

My phone, that is.

Let me break down this story for you.

Yesterday I stayed home sick from work (and I also stayed home sick today, as well). I get a little edgy when I'm home all day though, so I decided that since I had to deposit a check anyways, I'd just stop by Borders and pick out a new read. Well, Michael's Craft Store is right next to the bookstore, so I stopped in at Michael's to just browse.

I saw something that Maygan had told me about for her wedding and I texted her, and instead of putting my phone back in my purse after said text, I held onto it so it would be easier to just read her response right away, instead of trying to dig around in my purse for my phone. So I continue to walk around Michael's, with phone in hand. I stop in the calligraphy aisle, then I make my way to the bridal section. I go to buy a small calligraphy set, then make my way to Borders.

While at Borders I peruse all the reading material and think to myself "Self, you should post on Twitter how you could spend hours on end at the bookstore." So I reach for my phone in my purse to post said Tweet, and she's not there. No biggy. Sometimes I leave her in the cup holder of my car. So I proceed to purchase my book, and I also get some tea at the Seattle's Best coffee shop in Borders since I'm sick and I feel like it'd make me feel a little better. I get to my car and...

My phone is not there.

Panic sets in.

I search my entire car, and she's not there. So I calm myself and say that I must've laid her down in Michael's when I looked at calligraphy and wedding stuff. So I drive back to Michael's, all the while praying "God, please, please, please let my phone be there." I go running through Michael's like a mad woman, retracing all my steps that I can think of. And nothing. I ask the cashier and she radioed all the other workers and no one has turned in a phone with a purple case.

Crushed.

So I head back to Borders in case just by chance it fell out of my purse or something there. Nothing.

Now I cry (in my car, not in Borders). I have to go drive to Kevin's office and ask him to use his phone so I can go back to Michael's and Borders and call my phone and text it. Mind you, I'm sick, crying, snotty, no makeup and my hair is a full-on mess. Luckily, when I showed up at Kevin's office he was right at the front door so I didn't have to face all his co-workers as my messy and crying beautiful self. He was surprised and as supportive as he could be in that moment.

So I went back to both stores, and couldn't find her. Went back home and stopped service on my phone. Once Kevin got home from work he went back with me to Michael's so I could have a second pair of eyes. Nothing. And I never got a call from either store that my phone had been turned in.

I'm heartbroken.

NOW, I KNOW SHE'S JUST A PHONE! And I could really care less about the phone, herself. What really breaks my heart and makes me sick is that Kevin got that for me for my birthday no less than 29 days ago. I hadn't even had it for an entire month! And I'm always overly so careful with my belongings. I double, and triple, check things all the time. But this one time I let my mind slip and I lost a really nice gift. And that's what bothers me the most. And you know what else bothers me?? That someone would actually snag it! If I found a phone in a store I'd return it.

So now Kevin will order a new phone through work (he's due for an upgrade through work anyways) and I'll get his iPhone 3GS. I'm grateful that I'll still get to use a good phone, but I'm still sick, and so mad at myself for doing that. I take my personal belongings very seriously, especially ones that are gifts, and when something happens to them, it really bothers me.

But, they are items. They're not real people. You can never replace a real person or someone special in your life. So I have to remind myself that she was just a phone, and eventually she can be replaced.

And as Kevin said, it could have been worse. I could have lost my ring! Lord, I hope that will never happen!!!

So my lessons learned from yesterday: 1) I should not leave the house when I'm sick; and 2) It's now apparent that I need to quadruple check things.

Crushed and phone-less,

Things I'm Loving

1. Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Products
Love this stuff. Mom told me about it and when I used the hand soap she bought, I fell in love. I believe there are a few different scents: lemon, lavender, basil and geranium. I prefer the lavender. What makes these products special is that there aren't any harsh chemicals used - great for those of you who have kiddos around and are concerned about that. They're earth friendly, cruelty-free and not tested on animals. I currently use the hand soap and the all purpose cleaner. The cleaner works wonders on our granite counter tops. :) They have a ton of other products like laundry detergent, dish soap, surface scrubs, surface wipes, window cleaner and a whole bunch of other goodies. I'm sure they're available at a lot more places now (I got my products when they first started coming out). I know for sure they're at Bed, Bath and Beyond, but it's pricey there (in my opinion). TJ Maxx carries these products for a much cheaper price. Check out the Mrs. Meyer's website if you want to find out more about it.

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2. LISTERINE Total Care Plus Whitening mouthwash
I know there are a lot of people who loathe LISTERINE, but I like it. Kevin brought this one home from the store a while ago and I love it! It doesn't have the nasty taste that the original one does. It pretty much doesn't have a taste at all. But it stings like a mother! But I like that - makes me feel like my mouth is getting clean and I'm getting rid of all those germies in there. It also really does help get - and keep - your teeth white. I *heart* white teeth.

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3. TaxACT
Okay...I know there are about a bagillion different tax companies and programs out there that can do your taxes for you. Usually, we use TurboTax but it costs an arm-and-a-leg to buy the program each year. So because I didn't feel like spending that kind of money, and because I wanted to submit my taxes early so I could see if I was getting any type of refund (which I'm getting a big one, thank you Jesus!), I did a little searching and came across TaxACT. It's free to file federal and $14.95 to file your state. It was so easy to use and super quick; I did the whole thing online. Now, I'm no tax expert or accountant, but if you have just a W-2 to enter, then this service is great. If you have a whole bunch of other stuff to enter (like for school loans, mortgage, stocks, etc.) you might want to use a professional or TurboTax. But for something quick, this works great!

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4. LIPTON Pyramid Tea
I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but I love me some tea. I usually drink a cup of tea each morning when I get into work. My favorite right now is the LIPTON Pyramid Tea. The tea bags are shaped like a pyramid and made out of some sort of clear mesh material. The tea seems to steep a lot faster than a regular tea bag, and since I'm such an impatient person this is perfect for me. ;) They're available in a BUNCH of different flavors and Safeway usually has them on sale.

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5. Freeze It hairspray
I am really liking this hairspray. With the way my hair is cut and the bangs I have I pretty much use a lot little hairspray every day; and a ton lot more when I curl my hair. Before, I was using John Frieda's Frizz-Ease but it started to dry my hair out and it would leave kind of a light, white film on my hair (not good for us brunettes). So I thought I'd give Freeze It a try and I like it so much better. It's also cheaper than John Frieda's. Ha!

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6. I'm also loving this little squirt! But you can't have her, because she's all mine. ;)

Kahlua at 10 weeks old, weighing a little over 1 pound and about the size of your hand *awwww*

What are you loving on this fine Wednesday?

Currently, I'm...

"Borrowing" this post topic from K at Two Adults, One Brown Baby. :)

Reading: The book that you see to the right. Good so far. Quick read.

Looking forward to: Getting to meet my (soon to be) baby second cousin in-law next weekend. Make sense? It's Kevin's second cousin, and he's about five months old. Love me some babies!

Stressing about: Money. Ugh!

Craving: McDonald's French Fries

Proud of myself for: Continuing to stay in touch with friends

Wearing: All black

Avoiding: Exercise

Sick of: Waiting on people

Learning: How to be patient

Suffering from: Wanting to bite my nails so bad

Struggling with: The fact that my black top isn't the same color black as my black pants

Overcoming: The tendency to worry about if we'll be able to move to where we want to

Hoping to: Be a mommy next year

Excited for: My baccalaureate party in July!!!

Relieved by: A hopefully good, tax return

Splurging on: Sleep, and it bothers Kevin. He thinks there's something wrong with me because I want to sleep in until 10 or 11 on the weekends, and take naps as well. I just have to kindly remind him that I'm trying to get as much sleep as I can before we ever have kids. Ha!



Happy Tuesday!

A FulFILLING Weekend

I was having some issues last week. I was. stressed. out! So when Friday came along I felt like I had weights in my shoes and was moving pretty slow that day. I was able to get off early since I had to meet a contractor at a property, and I was home by 3 and took a two hour nap. PTL! I felt like a new woman when I woke up. :)

Friday night Kev and I went to the Warriors/Kings basketball game. He found some pretty decent tickets on Craigslist the day before that we got for a great price.

The game went into one overtime, and it was pretty close, but the Kings lost as usual. Fiancé wasn't in the best of moods on our way back home that night.

I know this is such a "girl thing" to say, but my favorite part of a basketball game are the cheerleaders/dancers. I used to be a cheerleader and a dancer and I love seeing their routines. And the hair! They all seem to have fabulous hair! I took a video of one of their routines (which is probably a little bit illegal to have done, but whatevs.)

[For best viewing, open up to full screen since the video is cut off by my blog template.]

Oh! And there was the cutest little boy sitting in front of us that was a Kings fan. I just love kids. He had his Kings jersey on and was so into the game. He must've been seven or eight years old. I promise I don't go around taking pictures of random children. Ha!

Saturday morning I got a text from Maygan asking if I'd like to join her and her girlfriends from high school for dinner at The Melting Pot. Umm....YES PLEASE! So that night I drove out to meet them and probably had the best. dinner. ev-er! I've never been to The Melting Pot so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Can I just say, that it was divine!?!?! And the company was splendid too! :)

This was some amazing cheese fondue. It involved Parmesan, garlic, herbs and deliciousness all melted into one!

Maygan and these great girls all went to high school together and have remained good friends after all these years. Each year they make it a point to get together for a weekend. Isn't that great!? So this year they headed to San Francisco; near my neck of the woods.

For some reason when I take a picture with my iPhone using the flash, it makes the photos blue-ish. Sorry.

Nicole, Randi and Jenny

Amy, Maygan and Me

DESSERT

And then there was dessert. Oh my heart be still! This stuff was slap your mama, good! We had chocolate and peanut butter in one pot, and S'mores in the other and all sorts of goodness to dip in them (i.e. brownies, rice krispies, marshmallows, cheesecake, bananas, strawberries and pound cake). I'm still drooling thinking about this dessert today.

I loved this place so much that I'm going to tell Kevin every single day how good it is until he takes me there. Ha!

Sunday consisted of a lot of football watching and eating. We had chicken wings, fries, seven layer dip and I made peanut butter brownies (I was trying to channel the chocolate fondue amazingness that I had the night before, but it just was not the same). We ended the night watching The Prestige. What a great movie! It ended up being a little disturbing in the end, but it was still good.

As you can see, the weekend was a FULL one and I was so FULL by the end of it!

And the winner is...

According to Random.org....



Stephanie from Me. !!!! I'll be in contact with you Stephanie, via email.

Thank you so much to everyone who entered this giveaway. You all picked some really cute pieces and if I was wealthy, I'd buy them for you all! ;) If you liked it enough, you should hint to your special someone to get it for you for Valentine's Day! It'd be perfect.

Since I had such a great response from you all for this giveaway, I definitely want to do another one again soon.

Have a great weekend!

While I have a second...

I want to fill you in on some things.

1. If you haven't done so already, don't forget to enter my fabulous giveaway HERE! It ends Saturday evening.

2. My good friend, Alicia, is doing the 365-day picture project. You should head on over to her blog, Fun in the Sun, and show her some L-O-V-E!

3. The Lord has been trying to teach me the virtue of PATIENCE this week; like I've never known before. And I'm struggling. 'Nuff said.

4. Kelly, over at Kelly's Korner, is doing her Show Us Your Life project today, and the topic is "Show Us Your Single Guys/Girls." It is so neat! When she did this link-up last year, there were three couples that became of the project; and two of those couples are now engaged! Soooo...if you're single and looking for your special someone, I highly suggest you head on over to Kelly's Korner and check out the links that people are posting, and/or post one for yourself! And if you're not single, it's still fun to read all of the posts. :)

5. Tomorrow night Kevin and I are going to the Warriors/Kings basketball game. I'm not really a basketball fan, but Kevin's team is the Kings, so I'm going to support him when the Kings lose. Ha! I kid...I kid!

6. You see that button on my sidebar that says "Pray for Joanne?" Well, Joanne had a stroke about a week ago and her daughter found her unconscious on the treadmill. Joanne's been in a medically-induced coma since then to try and keep her brain from swelling. If you feel led to do so, head on over to her blog because her sweet husband has been updating it about her progress and say a little prayer for her and her family.

7. I've decided that I'm going to try and read at least one book a month (on top of planning a wedding, a high school reunion, a baby shower, bridal showers, taking a class for work and just regular life). The past six months or so I kind of hit a dry spell of reading and hadn't read a thing. But I'm back on the wagon again. So, what I'm going to do is post on my sidebar what I'm reading for that particular month in case you need some new reading material. I'm always looking for different types of authors and stories to read!

8. I haven't worked out in over a week and I'm feeling guilty about it. I hate that. At least I'm still eating well. That has to count for something, right?

9. Next Saturday I'm going to pick up my wedding dress, for the second time. When I got it the first time there were some thing that I was NOT too pleased with. And I'm also not very pleased with this dress company. I'll leave the company anonymous for now, but when I get it back next weekend and if I'm still disappointed, I am going to be VENTING about it and you'll soon know which company it is. But for now, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

10. Yesterday I curled my hair, wore a dress, nylons and heels to work. Two different people told me that they hardly recognized me. Thanks...I guess???

That is all.

Discombobulated

Happy Hump Day! Don't forget to go here to enter my giveaway. You could win a perfect [FREE!] gift for yourself just in time for Valentine's Day! :)

Thankfully this week is flying by because I am feeling all sorts of discombobulated lately. I just feel like I can't quite keep up with things - both at home and at work. I hate that feeling. On Monday (since I had the day off) I cleaned the house. It hadn't been cleaned since before Christmas. So needless to say I'm still trying to recover from the holidays. And I have 5000 loads of laundry to do. I don't understand how it piles up because it's just the two of us. But somehow it does, and I'm still trying to finish it.

On top of this I have some things coming up that need a lot of preparation and planning - not to mention my own wedding! So I guess I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed at the moment. I am über Type A, so these things coming up that aren't yet finalized make me so anxious. I am someone who wants to know, and I want to know RIGHT NOW! Never mind that it may be months away. It all has to be confirmed ASAP (in my mind). A tad impatient and anal? Yes. Am I ever under-prepared? Definitely not! And I hate waiting on people. I obviously have some issues I need to work on. ;)

I think the full moon may have something to do with how I'm feeling. Just a little out of whack and not in control, whatsoever! Is anyone else experiencing some out-of-sorts-ness lately? Yesterday I said to myself "Self, you really need to take a chill pill." Kevin even told me last night that he wished I had an 'off' button sometimes. Nice!

Last night I planned out our budget all the way through August. All I have to say is: lets hope we get some big tax returns coming in! Ha!

And to end this post on a happy note, here is a video of Mom and Dad's dog, Hattie. I don't think this dog is quite right in the head. She does some bizarre things. Most of the time she does some pretty cute things, though. This being an example (This video may be partially cut off on my blog. If you want to see the whole screen, you can open it up in a different window, I think. I really don't know how these things work.):


Peace out!

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!!

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend (and long weekend for those of you, like me, who had yesterday off). :)

Today is the day of my first blog giveaway. So pay close attention because I really want you to win. ;)

When I first got engaged, BFF Maygan, got me this incredibly adorable charm necklace from a shop on Etsy as an engagement gift. I immediately fell in love with it and wear it all the time. It goes great with pretty much anything, so it's easy to accessorize with outfits. This is a picture of Maygan's necklace. Isn't it cute?! It has the beads that are the color of her wedding, her name and her fiance's name, the year they will be getting married, a letter for their last name initial and a whole bunch of other cuteness!

{Etsy Shop}

I don't have a picture of mine, but it's essentially the same but has a red bead and our names.

Since I loved this necklace so much I wanted to have you join in on this! Here are the rules:

1.) You must be a follower of my blog. If you're currently anonymous, go ahead and switch on over to public. And if you're currently not following, follow away!

2.) Head on over to MyBebesBoutique's Etsy shop and browse through all the products she makes. Choose a necklace up to a $30 value, and come on back and let me know which one you'd like in the comments, should you win this giveaway. Oh, and please leave your email in the comment so I know how to get a hold of you should you win so I can get customization details and your shipping address.

Easy peasy!

This giveaway will end on Saturday evening (1/22).

Some of my favorites are:

Hand Stamped Madison Style Initial Necklace in Sterling Silver

Hand Stamped 2011 New Years Resolution BE Necklace in a Mixed Metal

2 Treasures w/LOVE in a MIxed Metal

Im a Survivor Necklace in Mixed Metal

Fleur de lis Necklace in an Antique Brass

Have fun shopping! :)

Announcements and Cleo

I have an important announcement to make, everyone. My BFF, Maygan, has joined the blog world today! Please check out her blog MaygieSue's Life Anew. If you enjoy my blog, you should definitely follow hers. She's such a crack up and describes things so well when she's telling you a story, that you can totally imagine yourself there with her.

Another announcement: the second hint for my giveaway that's coming up on Monday is -- the item has a number of pieces to it. The end.


Okay, now that I've gotten that business out of the way, on to less important things... ;)


This week we've had my parents' dog, Cleo, staying with us. They're other dog, Hattie, is a psycho puppy and needs a lot of one-on-one time and training. Plus, Hattie tortures and bugs Cleo. So when I was at my parents' last weekend, we decided I'd take Cleo back home with me so she could relax and be her own dog again (we treat our dogs like humans, if you haven't noticed).

Mom is having some Cleo-withdrawals so I thought I'd update her with some pictures from this week. ;)

Cleo has this orange ball that she is OBSESSED with! We call it her paci. She even falls asleep with it in her mouth! She has to have it near her at. all. times. Evidence:

She somehow manages to wedge her thick, little body into Kahlua's mini dog bed...



Kahlua and Cleo aren't exactly BFF's. Neither of them really like other dogs all that much. But these two tolerate each other pretty well and I like to think they enjoy each other's company.

Pretty much my favorite picture EVER, at the moment!

It's been great having Cleo visit because Kahlua doesn't have to be alone all day while we're at work. And Cleo is a really good dog and extremely calm for a Jack Russell. But one thing I will not miss are the bazillion little white dog hairs all over my house. The thought of it makes me want to gnaw on my shoulder right now. No doubt I will be cleaning the house like crazy this weekend once Cleo is gone.

Happy Friday and I hope you all have a great weekend. I get Monday off in observance of MLK Jr. Day! Woo hoo! :)

You Say It's Your Birthday?!

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That's right folks! Today marks one year since I started this blog. When I first started I never really thought I'd stick with it. But then I started reading other blogs and I just got sucked right in! I also started making bloggy friends and that made this whole experience all the better.

When I started out I thought I was going to make this blog about really deep topics and try to be as witty as possible. But then that took too much time and effort. Haha! I kid...I kid. But seriously, that wasn't really me. I tend to like to talk about random stuff more than the serious stuff. I will (and have) posted about some serious and sentimental things, but for the most part I like to keep things lighthearted on here. Also, my first posts were incredibly long! I've shortened them up a bit since then. You're welcome. ;)

Mom, me, Dad and Brother - Dad's birthday about three or four years ago.

In addition to my bloggy birthday, it is also Dad's 56th birthday today. Happy birthday, Dad! (He doesn't read this, but it's the thought that counts, right?) I got Dad some iTunes gift cards. That way he can update his song selection to a more current genre - like Tupac. Ha! Kevin introduced my dad to Tupac over our vacation in September, and apparently my dad is a fan. Who knew!?

Speaking of gifts - I will be doing my first official giveaway starting next week as a thank you to all my readers! Part of the requirement for this giveaway is that you have to be a follower of this here blog, so follow along people if you want to win this cuu-uute giveaway! A little hint...it's something you wear. Do I have you interested yet? No? Well, I'll give you another hint tomorrow; so stay tuned!

Happy One-Year Birthday To The Blog That Is "Chasers of Kaysers!"