Thanksgiving

Having a very hard time finding reasons to be thankful this year. I am not sure why. I have every girl's ideal husband, one wonderful kitty, another shitty kitty who is the sweetest cat you could ask for and can't stay mad at, no matter how much poop she tracks, the sweetest guinea pig ever, and some really nice toys (Vespa, Fiat, and Geo, Apple iStuff).

But right now, I seem to be dwelling on the negative. Most people say, well you have your health, a job, a roof over your head, and food for your belly. Yes, I am still able to walk and breathe (mostly), but I am not "healthy". I have some fairly serious mental illness. I am so far beyond exhausted every day. I know, I know, you are all thinking quit yer bitchin' and do something about it! Well, that whole laziness and mental health and name change are kinda making it a lot harder than it should be.

Speaking of the name change, if you didn't know, I got married at the end of October. I guess it's pretty sad that I have yet to do a blog entry about it. After all it is supposed to be such a happy day. It all went smooth. We had a very nice honeymoon at the Mountain View Grand. I'll use the excuse of I was waiting for the professional photos from Samantha Ruth Photography (which btw, came out beautifully), but that's just an excuse. The name change has been a major issue for me. I know I should change my last name to his, however I just don't like it. I have tried for the insurance and the bank, but I am just not happy with it. It is definitely a source of friction. I guess it's just the growing pains of becoming an adult. As everyone says, I  need to grow up and deal with it. :/ I just don;t cope well with major changes.

I have a job. And a decent paying one at that. But I never feel appreciated there, I will be losing all the shifts I like at the end of the year, and the new schedule is not looking promising for replacement of those said shifts. I have to learn a route I don't care for to be able to get something for hours. I don't get the ADA shifts I used to to boost the paycheck. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't get so sleepy early in the morning and have to avoid shifts that start before 6am due to the sheer fear of having an accident.

I do have to admit I have a very nice roof over my head. I am thankful for that. I also have plenty of food. Ok, so that is half of the typical thankful items. I do love my vehicles, but those are just inanimate objects.

I am thankful for the troops who keep our country safe.

A busy couple months....

I was on a bus to NYC last weekend. Spending the night in NJ. Unfortunately, it was just too damn hot to go back to the city, so we stayed at the hotel and went to the large Walmart down the street, just to see what was different. I have been in a lot of Walmarts in NH....almost all of them in fact. Don't ask, it just happens, not planned. I was shocked at my experience in the NJ one. First of it was packed. Ugh, crowds are annoying, or at least that is what I was expecting. My experience was quite the opposite. People were actually nice and polite. They weren't pushy and rude like they are in NH. That was a major curveball. Despite the store being packed, it was actually one of the most pleasant Walmart shopping experiences I have encountered.

This weekend was my first ever yard sale. I had never been to one, or been a seller at one. But my fiancé and I wanted to get more room in our apartment. I was sick of all my clutter (which was generally well hidden, but still there). He had some things he wanted to get rid of. When the local Facebook Online Yard Sale Group decided to do a group sale, we jumped on the opportunity. And i am glad we did! We made nearly $200 selling "junk". Whatever didn't sell, went into the donate pile. I jokingly referred to the large pile that lived in the living room for a week as "the Hoard". As you may or may not know, I am a Hoarders: Buried Alive, and Hoarding TV show addict. Those shows make me want to purge everything that we do not use. I have to admit, I seem to finally have my spending addiction under control. I no longer want to buy things that will take up room. :-) Finally, a step in the right direction for my debt control.

Next weekend, we will be in North Carolina visiting his family. Hopefully the weather will be decent. We want to get out to Raleigh and go to our favorite restaurant (Tir Na Nog). Because I am awesome, I was able to get us a $25 certificate for $2. Restaurant.com did an awesome Black Friday sale where you could purchase a $25 credit for $2. So I picked one up. There are a bunch of restaurants that participate. Even on a daily basis, $25 certificates are $10 or less. Check it out, after you finish reading my blog, of course.

Keith Urban is coming to Meadowbrook in September and we have tickets, the first weekend I think....

In October, we are getting married (unless we decide to push it up and forego the ceremony all together and just do the paperwork). Our honeymoon is booked at the Mountain View Grand. Ideally we would have been going to The Hideout, a dude ranch in Wyoming, but that was not financially feasible this year. So we will stay local this year, and save up for next year!

As excited as I am for all this traveling and adventure, I can't help but be worried about my Kalikat. She has FIP (feline infectious peritonitis) and is on medication daily to help sorta maintain her. The disease makes her have a lot of diarrhea. She's 14 and underweight due to her condition. I worry about the stress and her weakened immune system. Luckily I am boarding her at her veterinarian, so if anything does happen, she will be treated promptly; and she does handle change better than Hobo.

Hopefully there will be plenty of time for rest and recharging. I have been exhausted.

The Wild West

My current Netflix addiction is Heartland . A great TV show about a teenage horse whisperer who lost her mom and is living with her sister and grandfather. It takes place and this gorgeous farm in a state or province like Montana.

My neighbor goes to Montana every year, and would always show me her pictures from her trips. It looks like heaven. Wide open spaces exploring on horseback. Absolutely gorgeous views of the mountains. Perfection.

I would love to go and spend the entire day on horseback. Leave out the camping part...I am a little too attached to indoor plumbing...a nice lodge with a jacuzzi in the room and good homestyle food is a much better idea.

I think it would be fun to do some cattle herding as well, moving large quantities of cows across the countryside. And one of these days, I will ride a mechanical bull...

It's been a while...

As the title says, it's been a while. What have I been up to during this time?

I took my first ever trip to New York City. It was an almost 5 hour bus ride on the bus my fiancé was driving. Luckily I had the nice front single seat and my iPad to keep me sane.

When we got out of the subway, the sheer size of the buildings was overwhelming. Coming from nice little NH, there is nothing that even compares to the size. Even Boston looks small!

 It was a very busy day, and of course the first place I wanted to go was the local Vespa dealer in Soho, as they sold the brand of jacket I would really like to purchase (Corazzo). We then headed to Grand Central Station as we both have a fascination with transportation. WOW, what an amazingly huge and beautiful place.

After that we went for a carriage ride through Central Park, well a corner of Central Park, I never realized the sheer size of that place! It was beautiful though. Very unexpected for the center of a huge city.

After a visit to FAO Schwarz, we headed to Times Square. Wow. It is like an entirely different place/atmosphere than anywhere else we had been that day. There were screens that took up entire sides of buildings. The masses of people was insane.

Of course, I had to pick the silly chain restaurant for dinner, but OMG, it was one of the most delicious dinners ever. The whole atmosphere in Red Lobster was not at all like the ones that are stand alones elsewhere in the country. This was upscale dining.

In the dark, Times Square was even more amazing. All the signs and lights and billboards added a whole new dimension.

 Besides being completely exhausting, it was an excellent trip. We are going back in 2 weeks to explore a different section of the city!

The next weekend was part of Laconia Motorcycle Week. Me, being a little odd, decided to take my Vespa up there. It was a long ride, but I was actually a lot more comfortable and less sore after riding the Vespa than I was after riding my motorcycle after the same amount of time. The sustained 55mph speed limit was a bit taxing on me, so next time we will take an easier route. It will take longer, but thats ok, I love that silly little red scooter!

So here's to more fun adventures over the summer.

Follow up Influenster Vox Box: Sally Hansen Salon Effects`

It's been about a week with the Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish strips I received from Influenster. They lasted surprisingly well with very minimal chipping. I have soft nails, so there was some cracking, but it wasn't very noticeable up close. I was also pleasantly surprised with how easily they were removed with acetone nail polish remover. They came off clean and did not leave any color residue like regular polish does. 

I will be purchasing these again, and would definitely recommend them to anyone not wanting to spend the money or time to go to a nail salon.  :-)

Influenster VoxBox Review #1: Sally Hansen Salon Effects

It is a hot summer day here in NH, and while most people are out enjoying the sunshine and heat this holiday weekend, I am better suited for staying in the nice cool AC. So what better thing to do than to work on my VoxBox reviews?!

I tried the Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips. The pic does not show the color I used, but you get the idea! In the future, I will take a pic of the actual product.

But anyways, I had been wanting to try these for a while but couldn't justify the price ($8-$10). Lucky for me, when my Influenster VoxBox arrived, I had a set inside.

At first it seemed like a lot of work, you have to shape and buff your nails (they include a multi use mini nail file and cuticle stick). Then, one of the most important steps, is to wipe down your nails with polish remover to remove oils and residue from the buffing. This made perfect sense  to me after restoring a car. I don't really have much for nails as I am a bit of a nail biter :-\ so the process was quick and easy for me. The directions included are very clear and simple to follow.

I have to say, I am very pleased with the results! There is no dry time and no mess other than the assorted bits of paper and plastic film used to protect the strips in the box. See the results for yourself!

I apologize for my hideous hands, for being only 27, I have the hands of someone much older. Yuck. But anyways, back to topic. As you can see they are a nice fit. Overall, I did feel like they took longer to apply than traditional nail polish, however, factor in the dry time and I was ready to go a lot sooner. 

Now, to see if they last, especially as I am not a "girly" girl....

I still have plenty more items to review, and I will update on these the next time...

Influenster

In my hours and hours of perusing the internet, and more specifically Pinterest, I stumbled upon a site called Influenster. You sign up for it and complete survey-like questionnaires about as many aspects of your life as you want. I did that. Then kinda forgot about the site until I got an email in my inbox saying that I had been chosen to receive a VoxBox. What is a VoxBox you may ask? Well it is a delightful box mailed to your residence chock full of goodies!! When it came, I just let it sit  on the table for a day, thinking that it will be useless stuff I don't want or use, much less something I want to blog about. But, then I decided to open it and was pleasantly surprised. I had received a nice shipment of goodies.

It included:

• Sheer Cover Duo Concealer
• Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Body Wash
• Chapstick lip SHIELD 365
• Sally Hansen Salon Effects Polish strips
• Bath and Body Works Fine Fragrance Mist
• SOYJOY bar
• Dr Scholls for Her ball of foot massaging gel 

My initial impressions are:

• Concealer...eh, I don't wear makeup, so I need to figure out what to do with it so I can try it! But I would like to try it as my face is icky. 
• Body Wash....I like Aveeno. I hope it will help my dry skin. Nothing seems to help me. 
• Chapstick....absolutely perfect for my scooter bag! My lips are dry anyways, and the sun protection is a major plus. 
• Nail polish. I will never turn down free nail polish! Now, to find the time to figure out who to apply it. 
• Body mist....what a very nice scent! Sweet Pea. It is one of the scents I like! 
• SOYJOY bar. I have had them in the past and they were decent. Unfortunately they sent me blueberry and I don;t like blueberry flavored stuff. My fiancé quite enjoyed it though, and wants to buy more for a healthy snack/meal.
• Insoles....they are made for high heels, but as I don't wear those, I will try them in some flats instead. 

I will write a more complete review after I have chance to try the products! (Plus this is kinda part of the deal of them sending me free stuff, lol) If I want more free stuff I have to be an active member! Oh well, I'll take it!