Photos – Page 21 – Not Content to Crawl

Last Weekend

Posted onJune 27, 2015

(Behind on posts once again…)

Friday I spent most of the day in bed resting since I had come down with a head cold.

Saturday we took a trip to the Aurora outlet mall to return some bras to the Hanes store that I had ordered online (I had ordered six and decided to keep three). The place was a madhouse due to construction so we didn’t spend much time there. I did stop in the New York & Company outlet and ended up getting two necklaces, a purple t-shirt, and a pair of sunglasses for $25 total.

Had I known how comfy that $5 vneck was going to be, I would have gotten several colors! I’m really loving the new $6 sunglasses too. I usually shy away from over-sized sunglasses (which is hard given how small my head is – they are all oversized) but decided to go with something different for a change.

We also stopped at Kohls (we’ve been shopping there a LOT in the past month, so much so that I signed up for their rewards account and already spent enough to earn money back) to look at these shoes Joe wanted since I had secured two coupons we could stack. I ended up buying two expensive bras for $26 each but they are so damn comfortable I don’t even care. Warner’s makes the best bras. Hanes’ $12 bras are more affordable, but they also are largely uncomfortable in comparison, so you get what you pay for!

Sunday E was dropped off in the morning to spend Father’s Day with us. We had waffles for breakfast and then went to see Jurassic World. The movie was more entertaining than I was expecting which was a plus. Plus Chris Pratt isn’t bad on the eyes either. ;)

After the movie we spent a little time at the pool, although I didn’t go in because by the time we got there the sun had disappeared and it was cloudy the rest of the day.

Monday was a lazy day due to the rain. E and I both slept in. By the time we were ready to eat it was lunch time so we had soup and sandwiches. Then Joe and E played some video games while I got ready. I also had a little time so I cleaned all my makeup brushes.

Late afternoon Monday we dropped E off at home after stopping for something to eat, then stopped at Target before heading home.

Samsung 4K UHD TV

Posted onJune 27, 2015

We finally decided to replace our ten and half year old 42″ Panasonic 480p plasma with a 55″ Samsung 4k Ultra High Definition TV we purchased from Costco for $1097 (before tax). We weren’t 100% sure we were ready to upgrade since the plasma’s picture is still quite good, but with Costco’s awesome return policy (90 days to try it and return it for a full refund), there was no risk in giving it a try.

What’s amazing is that we paid nearly twice that for the plasma. Honestly, though, I’m pretty bummed that plasma lost the HDTV wars even though they are a superior technology. Too bad Panasonic did nothing to promote it and allowed the inferior LCDs to win.

And while the new TV is impressive, it has its drawbacks, such as dark corners (which all LCDs/LEDs suffer from) as well as only being 60hz. But the only technology that is superior to plasma, OLED, is way too expensive right now, and will probably be out of our price range for several years. So our choice was to make due with the plasma for even longer, or make the new TV work.

The first few days with the new TV were rough and we were considering returning it. The picture was actually too crisp and life-like. I don’t want to feel like the actors are in the room with me – that’s creepy! Plus everyone’s movements were strange. We read some articles and played with the settings and now things are much better because we got rid of what is known as the soap opera effect. I could not see trying to watch anything larger than 55″, though. The room is just not big enough. As it is, it took some getting used to the screen. I felt like when you’re at the movie theater and get stuck in the first few rows and everything is overwhelming your senses.

I’m happy we were able to adjust to the new TV because it’s nice having four HDMI ports – all our devices can remain plugged in at once unlike before. Plus streaming from Amazon, Netflix and YouTube is so quick and easy. No more need for the Chromecast downstairs either. In fact, E and Joe moved the plasma into our master bedroom and we moved the LCD into E’s room and plugged the spare Chromecast in there. He loves being able to watch YouTube videos in there at night. And we love our new TV – in just nine days we watched all three seasons of Orphan Black. What a great show!

Festival Saturday

Posted onJune 13, 2015

We woke up to overcast skies this morning and checked the forecast which was calling for rain. This was a real bummer because we had plans to go to the Pride of the Fox Riverfest in St. Charles. We decided to hedge our bets anyway and drove down. We wanted to try a new restaurant for breakfast called Abby’s Breakfast & Lunch. We very rarely eat out for breakfast but I’m glad we tried this place because our waiter was great and the food was delicious. I had their Hawaiian Eggs Benedict which is the best eggs benedict I’ve ever eaten. Everything about them was perfect.

The accompanying hash browns were lightly seasoned which really made them taste better than pretty much any other hashbrowns I’ve had. Needless to say, I enjoyed the meal immensely and wasn’t too upset about the resulting $38 bill (in addition to our entrees, that included Joe’s $8 bloody mary and $2.50 for coffee, plus tax and tip).

After filling our bellies we walked around the festival grounds and quickly got sweaty. The forecast was for the mid 60’s but it felt more like the 80’s! And it wasn’t overcast anymore which made the heat and humidity even more intense. I bought a little $5 necklace to show my Blackhawks love since I don’t own any t-shirts.

One company was giving out waterguns so we had some fun shooting each other.

It felt good too since it was so hot!

After the fest we headed over to Kohls (a different one than we shopped at last weekend). I wanted to see if they had the black river sandals I had ordered. When mine were delivered I noticed a spot on the sandals that wasn’t as smooth as the rest of the shoe. It doesn’t affect their fit, but I’m rather picky and while it’s not a deal breaker, I’d prefer to have a better-made pair. Unfortunately, there weren’t any in my size so I’ll just deal with the ones I have. It’s not like anyone is going to notice (except me).

I couldn’t resist trying on some clothes and shoes, though, and ended up getting a strapless bra ($8) which will be great now that I’ve been looking at summer dresses. I also got these super cute fuscia sandals for under $20 (regularly $60) with my 15% off coupon. They are so comfy!

I guess I lied before about not spending any more money. I’m trying not to go overboard, though. I did end up ordering a bunch of bras from Hanes last weekend but I haven’t gotten them yet. I hope they all fit nicely because my total was $57 for 6 bras (3 regular, 2 sports, and 1 strapless). That’s a great deal if they end up fitting. If not, I will need to take them back to the Hanes outlet to avoid paying shipping.

Shopaholic

Posted onJune 8, 2015June 8, 2015

I don’t know what it is about the warm weather that turns me into little miss shopaholic. Friday I hit Walmart to look for a comfy wire-free bra and lucked upon two. I also grabbed a few other things, as pictured below (I later returned the black tank top for being too big).

Then on Sunday during our regular Target shopping trip I bought a new pair of sunglasses since they were buy one get one 50% off. Of course I couldn’t find another pair I liked, so Joe got a pair. Mine are pictured below. They are the over-sized style, although with my unusually small head it feels like ALL sunglasses are over-sized! Plus I’m super picky and have a hard time finding a pair that are comfy, which is why I buy a pair once every five years or something. I just take really good care of them so they don’t break on me.

We went to the mall Sunday afternoon and I got an $8 pair ($10 before my coupon) of taupe canvas shoes at Payless.

I also got a pair of what are referred to as river sandals from Kohl’s.

The size I wanted in black weren’t in stock, though, so I ordered them from the kiosk in store (apparently doing this gives you free shipping whereas ordering from their website does not). I also used a coupon code from the Retail Me Not app and got them even cheaper. They were on sale for $23 (normally $60) and my grand total after tax was $19.40. The funny thing is when I pulled up my confirmation email after we left the store, I realized I ordered the wrong style. I don’t know why when I searched their kiosk for river sandals the first result was sports sandals, but I chose those by mistake because they look very much alike aside from the toe area. Luckily I was able to call customer service and since I had placed the order less than a half hour before calling, they were able to cancel the order and re-do it with the correct shoes so I would still get the free shipping and discount. Whew! Lesson learned – pay more attention next time.

We also came upon a store in the mall called Rue 21 and even though it didn’t look like my kind of place I decided to browse and came upon these super cute tank tops. They sell for $10 each but the sale gave you the second one for only $3 so it wasn’t bad.

They are bit clingy to my unwanted rolls (I’ve been working out and watching my eating and yet no weight loss yet), but they are so super soft I had to have them. For now they were be at-home only tanks until I can get back into shape.

Today I returned the Walmart tank top and ended up buying four more regular tanks because at $4 each I couldn’t resist. Tank tops, as everyone knows, is my jam! Although these are also clingy, but I got them because they are nice and long and I love that look where you have them peaking out at the bottom of a tshirt. So that’s their purpose (well, except for the one on the far right which was just too cute to pass up).

Then I went to Target to get a few things. I got free samples of the L’Oreal shampoo and conditioner in my Walmart beauty box and really love how my hair looks after using them. My total was just over $20 before I exercised my mad couponing skills and brought it down to $9.68. Woot!

Total spent on non-essential items this weekend was: $125.00 or so when you include tax. Yikes! And I’m not finished just yet. I plan on ordering some bras from Hanes’ website since I don’t come along comfortable ones often and they are having a nice sale right now. Walmart’s selection leaves a lot to be desired so they didn’t have any other colors I needed in the style I liked.

Fermilab & Pratt’s Wayne Woods

Posted onMay 25, 2015May 25, 2015

Saturday we decided to take advantage of the only dry-weather day the weekend was planning to offer. Our original plan was to visit the Chicago Botanic Garden since their butterfly tent was opening, but when I visited their site to check the times it said due to the cold weather the number of butterflies would be limited. So we decided to postpone that visit. We ended up driving over to Fermilab instead since I see one woman who I follow on Flickr posting photos of birds taken there.

Our visit did not disappoint – I got shots of a duck with her ducklings, a red-winged blackbird, and a killdeer.

It was perplexing to me why as I approached the killdeer she wasn’t moving and started squawking at me until I got home and took a close look at the photo. She was protecting her eggs!

After that encounter we located the bison that I had read about and I got to see a couple of the babies.

After that we were a bit bored so we drove over to Pratt’s Wayne Woods forest preserve to see what we could spot there. Not too many birds, but there were a ton of very large tadpoles about the size of golf balls.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch we had packed and just relaxed for a bit taking in the beautiful day.

Right before leaving we stopped to use the restroom where we spotted this robins nest.

It was another fantastic day with my hubby!