Confessions...

I'm linking up with Confessions of a Northern Belle today.

I confess...I'm glad KB's plants took off well, but I'm ready for them to be out of my house.  It's been too cold to put them out yet so they are living on my kitchen table, floor, tables in our house...anywhere there is room.

I confess...I just started my job 3 months ago, but I'm ready for a vacation.  It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I'm so busy now that sometimes I can hardly see straight.  I want a good week somewhere tropical now (not in September).

I confess....I've eaten way too much Easter candy.  My mother in law loves to make Easter baskets even though her children are full grown adults.

I confess...I picked a bunch of flowers from my neighbor's yard when he wasn't home.  He's a bachelor that doesn't take care of his yard at all and has the cutest little grape hyacinths everywhere.....so I took a bunch.

I confess...I have watched Roadhouse 3 times in the past week.  I was around when KB was watching it last weekend, it was on again earlier that week and then we watched it (like sat down and actually paid attention to it) last night.  It's not even that great of a movie.  I mean...Patrick Swayze rips some guy's throat out.  Unbelievable.

Randoms

I've been doing lots of fun projects around the house, but I'm too lazy right now to take pictures of them. Updates coming soon with lots of ginger jars (who knew Goodwill was the best source around for ginger jars), really masculine paint colors, a big framed deer painting and much more.

So what if I've watched Pretty Woman two nights in a row. KB has been gone dealing with dramaz and it's a cute movie. Also, hello Richard Gere? I know you are old, but you look real good in that suit and I love me some Wall Street types. Just about nothin' is better than powerful men that know how to handle money and wear suits almost everyday. Rawr.

Something in our master bathroom is leaking into our laundry room ceiling.  There is a huge wet spot and we're probably going to have to rip out some drywall once we see what's leaking.  Of course KB isn't here to deal with it.  He just told me to shut the toilet off and he'd deal with it later.  Awesome.

I've been ramping it up on the treadmill recently.  I did an interval workout earlier today that was an hour and a half long.  It really wasn't that bad.  It looked terrible on paper and I thought I would give up pretty early on, but I stuck with it and it ended up going by really fast.

This show....let's discuss.

I love me some rednecks.  I married into a family that has a bunch of them (luckily KB is only a part time redneck when convenient).  I watched the first two episodes yesterday and they were hilarious.  It's super staged and you can tell that most of these kids have got some money from somewhere because of the sheer amount of 4 Wheelers and pick ups, but I really like it.  It's sort of like hanging out with my brother in law and his redneck friends over the summer - it's fun while you're doing it, but you're pretty glad you're not like that all the time.  One of the funniest people on there is Shain.  It goes without saying that my redneck brother in law shares the name, the weird stache, the accent where sometimes you need subtitles and the constant dip in the mouth.

We're  I'm in the process of choosing paint colors for our house.  Whyyyy is this so hardddd?  I got some samples today and painted a little bit, but it's so hard to figure out how it's going to look on a major scale.   I'm going for a dark green exterior, with an antique white trim and dark brown porch.  That's way harder to find than it sounds.

Inspiration

KB and I had a little date night on Friday to see this bad boy:

I love all James Bond films and try to look like a Bond girl on a daily basis (except for maybe Grace Jones in A View to Kill - yikes!) but the whole "looking like a normal human being at work" thing always gets in the way.

Needless to say I got quite a bit of outfit/makeup inspiration from this one.

I've already purchased the following:

Oxblood lipstick

How awesome is that lip color???  I saw it and was immediately in love.  I cheaped out and bought this one:

I haven't worn it yet, but I'm planning on debuting it tomorrow.  I wore it around the house on Saturday when I first got it and it lasted for a really long time.

Trench Coat

I was just talking earlier in the day on Friday about how I needed a trench coat and then I saw all of the amazing outwear in the movie and knew it was meant to be.  Once again, I cheaped out and got this one:

I'm also planning on debuting it tomorrow (whew it's going to be a big day).  I'm planning on pairing it with black everything (black pencil skirt, turtleneck, tights and heels).

I'm also still really interested in trying to recreate this outfit in a more feminine way (and without the janked up blonde hair and gun).

I can see some cheap Wellington boots in my future!

Currently....

I decided to do a little post ala Katie Perk.


Listening...SkyFall by Adele.  I love me some James Bond movies and songs.  This one sounds especially 60s esque.

Eating...a pear with a sharp cheddar cheese stick.  Perfection. 
Drinking...red antioxidant green tea with strawberries and hibiscus.  Fancy.
Wearing.....brown dress pants and flats, a white t shirt, blue pashmina and fun cameo necklace from the Shabby Apple.
Feeling... Confused.  My wedding ring broke in half and I lost some of the diamonds.  I'm trying to figure out whether to fix or it just start over.  I'm meeting with a jeweler later today.
Weather.....Chilly, but sunny.
Needing...a haircut.  I'm still trying to grow my hair out to be really long, but it's getting skanky looking.  I feel like I look like Trishelle from the Real World with black hair.
Wanting...to leave work now.  Mitt Romney is speaking right next door to our office.  I'm leaving at lunch, but I'm sure the crazies (on both sides) will be out in force by then.  I got stuck in traffic when Joe Biden was here last week for over an hour.  Seriously people, Asheville is one of the most liberal towns in the nation - I think we all know who's going to carry it.
Thinking....that my husband is very cute.  KB is such a super hottie.  I'm a very lucky lady.
Enjoying....that I'm going to get a lot of errands ran this afternoon before leaving work.  I have to stop by the library, the jeweler, the tax office and the post office.  Luckily I work downtown and can walk to all of these.

Pinteresting Wednesday

Link up with The Vintage Apple to play along.

Here are my favorite Pins of the week....

Source: stephaniecooks.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: iowagirleats.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: instyle-decor.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: gojane.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: tastingtable.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: tjstestkitchen.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

What are your favorite Pins this week???

Thoughts on a Thursday

It's been another hellacious week this week, so there's lots of thoughts in my mind, they're probably just really  boring to you!

Here are some non-boring thoughts:

- I'm so ready to be here:

Work has been crazy busy and stressful for the past few weeks and I can't wait to be on a lovely little island with just my favorite people.  We pushed our trip out about a month this year and it is draggginnnggg.  Only a couple more weeks!

-I'm thinking about doing a really crazy fun manicure/pedicure for the beach.  I want a crazy neon color.  What are some good options?  I've been looking at OPI's neon collection, but I don't know if I want to go that crazy.

- I've been zoning out to lots of mindless TV recently.  This is a recent fave...

-I've been drinking lots of this.  It's probably terrible for you, but it tastes amazing and only costs 60 cents for a whole bottle.

-I really want to see this movie when it comes out.  I always think movies about drugs are so interesting.  Drugs, Inc is one of the most interesting shows on TV.  It's just crazy to see how huge drug cartels work.  I'm also really liking Salma Hayek's character in this movie - she looks pretty badass.

What are your thoughts this Thursday???

Weekly Work It Out

I'm still on the fit train and am happy to say that I have worked out everyday for the past 3 weeks.  Most days I have worked out for about 15 minutes in the morning and then another 30-45 minutes in the evenings.  Some days I get lazy and sleep instead of working out.

This week I hope to keep it up!  I ended up not getting this workout last week and instead got the worst Ryan Gosling movie of all time (don't watch Blue Valentine....just don't).

I'll also be getting this....

I seriously cannot profess my love enough for the 10 Minute Solutions workouts.  They are challenging without being too crazy.  I like to do them in the mornings because while I feel like I get a good workout in I don't get all sweaty and nasty before going to work.

What workouts will you be up to this week???

Thoughts on a Thursday

It's time for Thoughts on a Thursday!  Link up with Carolyn to play along.

• I've recently gotten into herbal teas.  I've always been a tea drinker, but normally it was fun things like lemon zinger or apple cinnamon.  This year I'm bringing out the big guns.  I've been drinking 3 cups of green tea every day so far along with another herbal tea at night.  So far I've tried these two and while they don't taste exactly the best, I feel pretty good.

• It's almost Valentine's day and I really want to make some type of fun goodie, but we still have so many sweets left over from Christmas, New Years and birthdays.  KB's birthday is the week after Valentine's so I'm sure we'll get goodies from that too.  Maybe I'll look into something heart shaped that isn't chocolate or candy.  These heart shaped hot dogs seem more our speed.

• I've gotten a few Ulta gift cards from my birthday and Christmas and I'm looking into getting some really good shampoo.  In the past couple of months I haven't really been loving my hair, but I don't want to get it cut.  I'm hoping with some good shampoo it will just be smooth and silky and not nasty and frizzy.  Any suggestions?

• I got this movie in my Netflix today.  I've heard that people either love it or hate it.  I'm actually not a huge Ryan Gosling fan.  He's okay, but I don't have Pinterest boards devoted to him.

What are your Thoughts on a Thursday???

Weekly Work It Out

I'm proud to say I did pretty well with my weekly work it out last week.  I got up early and worked out every morning except for Friday.  Rosie was sick and I got about 3 hours of sleep.

I didn't stick to my laid out workout plan though, because I got my hands on this:

It was an awesome workout DVD with 5 different workouts that I did in the evenings.  I'm sad to give it back, but I always get bored with DVDs if I actually buy them.

This week will be really similar to last week - the 10 Minute Solutions pilates and cardio workouts in the mornings and then stuff I can instant stream on Netflix and the Cardio Cheer DVD.  Due to weird Netflix issues, I just now got the movie I was supposed to get the day before Thanksgiving.  Thanks US Postal Service.

I weighed myself this morning and lost a pound and a half last week, so I'm definitely motivated for this week.  According to my Wii Fit, I've lost 25 pounds since Chirstmas before last.  Yesterday we had an anniversary party to go to and a random person asked KB if he had gotten divorced and remarried, because he now had a "skinny wife".  Go me!

Randomo Saturday

There's a lot of random things going on this Saturday.....

We watched this last night.

No wonder Mark Zuckerberg was so pissed off when this came out - he's a complete ahole in the movie.  I felt really sorry for Eduardo.  I hope he made lots of money in his "undisclosed settlement".  KB seemed to really like it - especially the Winklevoss twins.  KB is pretty much as un-Winklevoss as you can be so that was a shocker.

I finally ordered our Christmas cards this morning.  I couldn't find a really good picture and I felt bad leaving Pancho and Rosie off, but I felt like it didn't really make sense to list them if they weren't in the picture.  If you want one leave me a comment - we don't have enough real life friends to use up the 25 I got free.

Aren't we sweet?  Uhhh not really.

Little Rosie is sick again and I've spent all weekend cleaning up nasty unmentionables from my carpet.  She has an "upset stomach" again, which she gets it seems like every other week now.  She's feeling better now that we've pumped her full of some antibiotics and cooked chicken cubes.  Luckily my sister has a carpet cleaner or I'd be screwed.

We're going to a 50th anniversary party today for KB's great aunt and uncle.  50 years is over twice as long as I've been alive.  Hopefully KB and I can sustain this for 50 years:

Monday Musings

I missed Thoughts on a Thursday last week, so I thought I'd have a randomo post today.

-I had a great weekend with this stud....

Super mushy moment alert, but he is pretty much awesome and I love him lots.

-We watched this movie:

It was pretty good.  KB is a big fan of the "Wall Street" movies.  He's a super nerd when it comes to the stock market, but that has a lot to do with his job so I guess he kinda has to be.  He was jealous that the traders in the movies had 6 trading screens instead of his 4.  I'm not even really sure what that means.

-I wore a really awesome outfit to work today and got lots of compliments on it.  It involved lots of grey leopard print, a black pencil skirt, grey patent pumps and a large statement necklace.  It's amazing how much better the day is when I like what I'm wearing.

-There has been a new recurring visitor to our bird feeders.  This little guy (or gal) has been paying us a visit recently:

It's really loud so I can always tell when it's on the feeders.  This is one of my grandma's favorite birds so it always reminds me of her.

Withdrawals

Since when did Katy Perry get so funny? Maybe because the radio in my car has been broken for a week and I haven't been able to listen to cheesy pop songs, but I'm seriously loving this video.  I'm in annoying, repetitive pop withdrawal!

Thoughts on a Thursday

It's time for this week's thoughts on a Thursday.

Link up with Carolyn to play along!

• Today is my Friday!  I'm off work tommorrow to go to my cousin's wedding in Virginia.

• I'm debuting my hat at the wedding.  I have 2 options, but I'm pretty sure which one I will wear.  The dress is still up in the air.

• I'm so over all the technical issues I've had this week.  Blogger hasn't worked, my Internet has been screwy.  I'm OVER technology.

• I haven't worked out hardly at all this week.  I normally get workout DVDs through NetFlix.  I got a movie for my lovely sister that she's had for 2 weeks and refuses to send back.  I'm thinking about just reporting it missing so I can finally get a new one.

What are your thoughts on a Thursday???

Workout Review: Biggest Loser Cardio Max Weight Loss

You lied Bob Harper!

While the cover would have you believe that this will be the best cardio session of your life, good ole Bob does not deliver.  Most of this DVD consists of strength training with short cardio bursts.  Like most of the Biggest Loser DVDs, this is supposed to be done over 8 weeks.  There are 3 workouts, a warm up and a cool down.

I ended up doing all of the workouts together (it lasts about an hour).  Most of the cardio consists of jumping jacks or jumping rope.  While some of the strength training it good, it mostly is just push ups (gross).

One of the main reasons why I pretty much hated this workout is this lady:

For some reason every time I do a workout with her on it I end up being really mad by the end.  She puts off this vibe of "I'mbetterthanyoubecauseIusedtobefatbutnowI'mbeautiful" I just want to yell at her.  I can't help it I didn't start off weighing 300 lbs.

Rant is over now....

Good Reading

I've gotten quite a few books read these past few months.  I'm trying to get back into reading at night before bed instead of watching television.  Growing up and in high school I read for pleasure (that's a naughty sounding term!) often, but during college I was kind of over reading.  I'm trying to get back in the habit.  A few of my favorites that I've read recently are:

 This book took a while to get started, but once I got into it I couldn't put it down.  I've put the movie version on my Netflix.  It'll be interesting to see if it's as good as the book.

 This was a last resort read.  I didn't make it to the library and the only actual books we have in the house are leftovers from college.  KB (being your average peace, war and defense major) had this on hand and told me that I "probably wouldn't hate it".  It took me a long time to read, but it was a really moving story.

I'm really loving the Hunger Games books right now.  I read the original Hunger Games around Christmas and couldn't wait to read the sequel.  These books go by so fast because they are well written and are a really interesting story.  I'm waiting on the final book to become available at the library.

What good books have read recently?  Are you on GoodReads?  If so, feel free to add me (REBrown).

Thoughts on a Thursday

Link up!

My thoughts:

I'm super excited to make an antipasto pizza tonight.  I love all things antipasto and all things pizza....this can only be good!

KB has band practice tonight, so it's just me and the puppies.  I like being here alone sometimes and just doing my own thing.

All day I thought today was Friday and all day on Tuesday I thought it was Wendesday.  I'm going to be so disappointed tomorrow when I have to go to work.

We're going to the movies tomorrow for the first time in a really long time.  I think the last movie we saw together was the last Batman movie.  I'm not sure what we're going to see (probably True Grit even though I'm not a big Western fan).  We're also going to go out to eat.  The town we work in has lots of good restaurants, so there's no shortage there.  We haven't been out on a date in a long time.

These are my thoughts on a Thursday!

Guilty Pleasure

I'm not a huge movie watcher.  I normally just wait until something comes out on Netflix and even then sometimes I'll wait a while to watch something.  One type of movie that I can't get enough of and watch as soon as I get.......the Scary Movie remakes.

I got this from Netflix yesterday and couldn't wait to bust it out last night.  I even like Twilight, but I love watching people make fun of it.  Whether it's the real Scary Movie, Teen Movie, Date Movie.....I love them all.

What types of movies are you afraid to admit you watch?

Guilty Pleasure

When I saw this on Netflix the other day I just couldn't stop myself.




This combines all things that I love.....cheesy 80s metal.....Mark Wahlberg.....guys with long and crazy hair....crazy 80s groupie clothes....leather pants.....Zakk Wylde (if you don't know him you should)...and KB.

Now even though KB isn't in this movie, if it was up to him and not our bank account, future mortgage, kids, job, etc, he would be a member of a rockin' 80s band like Steel Dragon instead of working as a 401k investor.  I often wake up to him doing his 80s frontman screech and catch him doing his Axl Rose dance while waiting in line for something.  I'm just waiting on the day he wears a pair of leather pants and a jacket with no shirt!

Movie Looks I'm Lovin'

This past weekend was spent catching up with our Netflix.  We've had Netflix for our Wii for a while now, but with the holidays and working alot we hadn't really watched it that much.  Needless to say, I think this weekend made up for it.  While watching countless, mindless hours of TV, I did find some looks that I am loving!

I'm lovin' Anne Hathaway in Alice in Wonderland.  She makes me fall in love with dark lips and nails all over again....the white hair may be a little farther off!

I'm lovin' Susan Sarandon in The Lovely Bones.  This movie was pretty sad, but she is everything that this circa 1975 middle aged housewife trapped inside a 20 year old wants to be!  Her hair is voluminous and her outfits are delightfully tacky....I love it.

I'm lovin' some vintage Ursula Andress from Dr. No.  I have a soft spot for old James Bond movies, so when I saw a marathon on some random cable channel I just couldn't stop myself.  In a dream world with lots of hairstylists and makeup artists I would be able to look like her everyday!

What are your favorite movie inspired looks?

Movie Time

KB got some free movie tickets at work last friday and we have to use them before the 15th.  Too bad they are only for one theater in town and all the movies out kinda suck right now.  I've narrowed down our choices to two.  What do you think we should go see?





I don't get the stock market. KB deals with it everyday. I'm not sure if either of us would like it...

Or...



I like owls. They are the coolest birds, but I'm not so sure I want to sit for 2 hours and watch cartoon owls.

Do you know of anything coming out before the 15th that we should wait for?