February 2016 – Not Content to Crawl

Filet O Fish & Dyed Hair

Posted onFebruary 22, 2016

Saturday afternoon we stopped at Target. Remember the beach bag I almost purchased the other day? We ended up getting it because Joe liked it just as much as I did.

We also stopped at the evil Best Buy so I could look at a Chromebook in person since Target had them on sale starting Sunday. I don’t think they are right for me because they run Android which drives me nuts. So maybe I will just upgrade my iPad sometime this year. Mine is seriously slow and it irks me I have to replace something that isn’t broken just because the processor can’t handle the newest iOS and apps.

We wanted to go to Savers as well but the car wash right next door was causing a huge backup onto the street so you couldn’t even get into the parking lot. It was insane!

Saturday night we were watching TV when a McDonald’s commercial came on. Despite having lasagna leftovers in the fridge, we suddenly had a craving for a filet o fish sandwich so we went through the drive-thru to get our dinner. It was soooooo disappointing! What the hell happened? We used to love McDonald’s filet o fish but they were small and tasteless, not to to mention expensive at $3.79 each. Ick, never again!

Sunday we did some grocery shopping in the morning and then Joe dyed my hair. Apparently I had purchased two bottles of a color last time we dyed my hair so we used that. It came out kinda bright orange-blondish. I would almost say strawberry blonde but more toward the orange side. I don’t love it, but it looks ok. Next time I’m going dark brown or something. It had been over three years since he last dyed my hair so the plastic gloves and application container were rather warped so when he was done we threw them away. Will have to buy new supplies before he does my hair again.

Chicago Auto Show 2016

Posted onFebruary 22, 2016February 22, 2016

Soooo… our second Auto Show experience wasn’t nearly as good as our first one in 2014.

First off, we got confused at the exit and ended up on Lake Shore Dr. and had to get off and turn around. Coming from the North we couldn’t figure out how to find parking Lot A; Lot B was unappealing due to being outside and a decent walk from the venue. Somehow we ended up at some weird loading dock for McCormick Place because the person manning the booth into what I assume was a restricted area didn’t give a crap. Needless to say, we ended up parking in Lot B but were able to catch a free shuttle to the entrance so that part wasn’t bad at all.

We arrived shortly after the 9 am opening but it was already super crowded. On top of that, the two huge showrooms were set up differently than before so they were equally crowded and full of so many kids! It was super annoying how many times I couldn’t explore the inside a car I was interested in (because I’m in the market for a new vehicle) due to an eight year old sitting behind the wheel. Ugh! We agreed that next time we’ll go during the week since kids should be in school.

I did take a decent amount of photos with my new wide angle lens but I wasn’t really feeling it due to the crowds. We didn’t end up going on any of the “test rides” and only snagged two Ford reusable bags.

We left right before noon and had lunch at Golden Thai in University Village. Their food was so good that I’m sure we’ll be back there again one day.

Note: This cracked me up.

Target Friday

Posted onFebruary 19, 2016

So far today has felt hectic even though I haven’t done that much.

I slept in until 8:30 am. Thank you, Xanax; I only take one about every two weeks and it’s only .25 mg but it helps when I wake up and have trouble falling back to sleep which typically happens on Fridays. My sweet spot for sleep is from 11 pm to 8 am but I rarely get to do that because of work and wanting to go places on the weekends.

I decided to take a quick bath and spray some dry shampoo in my hair so I could give it a break and get ready quicker. Then I went to Target with my shopping list in hand. I was tempted to buy a really cute beach bag I spotted but $10 seemed kind of high since we got one from Walmart last year for only $5. Although now that I look at that one, the Target one is much nicer, and we could use two especially when we go to a waterpark or Indiana Beach again. Maybe we’ll get it tomorrow since I totally forgot to use the $3 off anything Target coupon I have that expires tomorrow. That is what happens when I don’t have my shopping sidekick (Joe) with me!

For the most part I stuck to my list except for a $3 pink wire vase I plan to use for fake flowers when I decorate for Easter. I also ended up buying another Caboodles acrylic makeup organizer (name = Center Stage) ($13 after a $2 iBotta rebate) for the bathroom vanity. I spent well over an hour reorganizing all my beauty products when I got home, including putting all the samples I won’t be using now in the hall closet. I keep a bag of travel/sample products so I can shop my own stash whenever we go out of town. Most of the time I don’t end up having to buy anything.

Thanks to my Birchbox and Ipsy subscriptions, I have way too much stuff but I don’t want to cancel either one because I really enjoy getting the samples every month. I managed to put together a box of stuff I don’t plan on ever using, but I’m not sure what to do with it. I have absolutely zero women in my life who wear makeup (and no female coworkers I’m close enough with to be like “hey, want my rejects?”) other than my cousin who lives out in Indiana and who I rarely see. Although now that I just typed that someone did pop up in my mind, so I’ll contact her to see if she wants the stuff. I hate throwing out perfectly good products (they are unused because I could tell just by looking at them they wouldn’t work for me).

I also reorganized our freezer a little bit to cram in my new grocery purchases. If only we had room for a free-standing freezer in the garage. When we buy a house a basement is on my wish list so I can have a huge freezer, not to mention more space to store decorations and stuff instead of in the garage.

Speaking of houses, I had a very strange dream this morning that we bought a house, but as I was walking through it for the first time since moving in, I started feeling sick over the idea we’d be living there. The layout was terrible, it wasn’t open concept at all, and it was very dark inside. Plus it was fully furnished but not in our style at all. Right before I woke up I said to Joe, “I think we made a mistake buying this house”. I was so happy once I realized it was only a dream. Other than the shared walls, lack of yard, and lack of basement, I really like our townhome. The layout works perfectly and we get a ton of light on the main floor.

I’m finishing up a second load of laundry and once that’s done I’m heading to the library and then to check in on the kitties I’m cat-sitting. I want to be back home before 4 pm so I can start working on the lasagna I’m making for dinner. We reserved The Martian from Redbox for only 75 cents thanks to a coupon. I’m looking forward to a nice relaxing evening.

Deadpool

Posted onFebruary 17, 2016

Saturday Joe had to work. He went in at 4 am and he didn’t get home until midnight. Yep, he worked nearly 20 hours straight!

Needless to say, we didn’t end up going to the Chicago Auto Show on Sunday as we had originally planned. Instead we slept in, stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast, and went to a matinee showing of Deadpool which was awesome! From the beginning of the credits all the way through the two after-credits scenes we were laughing. I give it 4.5 stars. Ryan Reynolds is perfect for the character. I’ve always liked him, but even more so after the Ryanville commercial during the Superbowl and seeing him as Deadpool.

We also wanted to see Zoolander 2 when it was first announced, but the more we saw trailers for it, the less enthused we felt about it. None of the trailer scenes were really funny, so could you imagine how terrible the movie must be? Trailers usually have the best scenes! I do want to see it eventually, but I think we’ll just wait for the DVD release.

We stopped at Chipotle for a free lunch courtesy of the free entree promotion they were running earlier in the week when they shut down all the restaurants for two hours to go over food safety. I joked with Joe that if for some reason we contracted food poisoning at least I’d lose some weight.

So that was our romantic Valentine’s Day. We had already agreed weeks ago not to exchange gifts or do anything special this year. The holiday kinda sneaked up on me anyway and I didn’t even bother putting up my VD decor since by the time I had the opportunity to do so it was the day before. At that point why even bother?

BINGO, Bar, Meetup & Chocolate Expo

Posted onFebruary 8, 2016February 19, 2016

What a busy weekend! It was fun busy, though!

Friday night we met up with friends at Portillo’s followed by BINGO at the nearby church. One of the girls won $15 and the other won $500! She wanted to celebrate so we went to a bar where she bought us all a round. I tried a new drink my other friend ordered for me which tasted like a slurpee. I think it had blue vodka in it but I really don’t remember what it was called. We didn’t end up going home until 1 am. It was a great time. I love this group of people and wish we could get together more often.

Instead of checking out a craft show Saturday morning as planned we decided to sleep in and make breakfast burritos. Then we did a little grocery shopping, including Costco where I bought this delicious dark chocolate.

The bag was $10 but ounce for ounce it’s cheaper than Ghiradelli and light years more delicious.

Saturday evening we attended our second ever Meetup for a game night at a pizza place in Villa Park. We already had pizza the night before (Joe got the munchies at the bar and ordered a large pizza at the place next door since they deliver to the bar) so we ate a little lighter. Joe got a salad and I had a grilled chicken sandwich, both of which were good. The evening started out a little awkward (the host wasn’t that great about introducing people) but once everyone was finished eating and started playing games the conversation flowed more easily.

There was this one girl sitting to my right who I tried making conversation with but she’d answer me without making eye contact and not do anything to keep the conversation flowing. I thought maybe it was her first meetup and she was nervous, but she said no, so I’m not sure if she has a hard time socially or she just didn’t like me. I gave up after multiple attempts to be friendly with her. I’m the kind of person who will only make so much effort before my attitude is f you.

There were two women who sat at the end of the table to my left who were much friendlier so we ended up forming a group with them and another guy and girl to play Rummikub and Sequence before personally deciding to call it a night at 9 pm. The meetup space was reserved until 11 pm but I was just too tired from the night before and couldn’t stop yawning! I was in bed by 10:30.

Sunday morning we ate a quick breakfast at McDonald’s before checking out the Chocolate Expo at the arboretum.

We ended up buying a chocolate covered Twinkie which was delicious, as well as a chocolate covered jalapeÃ±o, a peanut butter cup, and a mini bundt cake.

I ate the twinkie last night and it was delicious. The rest of the snacks will probably be eaten after dinner tonight.

Recently I purchased a few new shirts on clearance at Target, including a rather clingy cowl neck thin sweater.

I sent a photo of me wearing it to my cousin.

I paired it with a pair of fleece lined black leggings I got at Walmart for $9 and my knee high black boots and wore the outfit to the Expo. Needless to say, Joe couldn’t keep his eyes, or hands, off me. We ended up going out for some boneless wings for lunch just so he could stare at me longer since he knew once we were home for the rest of the day I’d end up changing into my pajamas (e.g. my fleece Star Wars pants I can’t stop wearing). I love how after 15 years he still makes me feel sexy.

Sunday evening, as everyone knows, was the Super Bowl. I couldn’t care less about football but I joined Joe on the couch to catch the commercials and half time show. My fave commercial was Ryanville, although I did miss some so I’ll have to check YouTube. I made jalapeÃ±o poppers, toasted ravioli, and guacamole to snack on. I didn’t eat much since I was still full from the wings I had for lunch.

I also tried to watch the Puppy Bowl (muted) via the Xfinity app on my iPad but that was an exercise in futility. First I realized that despite scheduling it to record on the DVR several days prior, there wasn’t any evidence of it on the DVR. I only missed the first half hour so I started the recording, waited another half hour, and attempted to watch it but it froze up and crashed multiple times so I gave up. I swear the Xfinity app is such garbage! I often pull up an episode of Dateline or 20/20 when I’m cleaning on Mondays so I can listen and not once has the experience been seamless. The show will randomly pause and I have to stop what I’m doing to press play which is annoying since the iPad will be in a different room than the Bluetooth speaker I keep with me while I clean.