Weekly Recap: 04/19-04/21

Thought you’d like to know that the homemade pizza we made on Monday came out awesome. We tried to make a copycat version of MOD Pizza‘s Lucy Sunshine which has garlic and artichokes with dollops of red sauce. While ours wasn’t an exact replica, it was yummy enough that we’d definitely make it again. It cost approximately $7 to make and was larger than the 11″ pizza MOD sells for almost $8.

The work week was rather uneventful other than how positively sore I was on Thursday from weight lifting on Monday. I really didn’t think I pushed myself that hard so I was surprised how much my triceps were hurting. They didn’t bother me too much on Tuesday or Wednesday so that came as a shock. They hurt pretty bad on Friday too and finally started feeling normal again on Saturday.

Weekend Recap: 04/15-04/18

Happy Tax Day! Hope you remembered to file them on time. In the past when we were owed a refund we’d be all over it but we waited until mid March since we had to pay. Still waiting to get our money back from Illinois, however. Not surprised they are taking so long either. SMH at this state.

Friday after the Cubs game we stopped at Chipotle to pick up dinner. We used the coupons they sent us in the mail so the total for two burrito bowls plus chips & salsa was $7 which was covered by a Chipotle gift card. Shortly after eating we drove down to see Joe’s son in a music competition at his school.

Saturday morning we did a little shopping at Target and since we have $50 of credit on our Starbucks card thanks to Groupons (gotta love the $10 of credit for only $5 offers) we stopped for a little treat too. Joe had a coffee and I tried one of their shaken iced teas since it was 10% off in the Cartwheel app.

Green Tea with Lemonade

I chose the green tea with lemonade flavor in the smallest size possible since I wasn’t sure if I’d like it. Turns out it was delicious! But $3? Come on. Seems pretty steep (pun intended) for half a glass of tea since the rest was ice.

A little rant – Target needs to get their shit together with their signage. See this little gem?

Target Sign

Guess what? NONE of the Lays chips they sell fall within those size parameters. Luckily I decided to check the Cartwheel app and the size range was different than the sign posted because I was getting very frustrated thinking they’d offer 40% off non-existent chips. Sheesh.

When we got back from the store I wrapped Brother #1’s birthday gifts while doing some laundry.

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Yes, my brother is turning 37 next week, what of it? LOL. We also got him a shelf from IKEA to store his overflowing DVDs and video games that were piling up on his bedroom floor due to lack of storage.

We arrived at my parents’ house around 5:30 pm. Brother #2 was already there and Joe put the shelf together while my brothers played video games. It didn’t take long because IKEA makes it simple and you don’t even need more than a hammer which is nice. Once Brother #2’s girlfriend arrived we had dinner which was Dominos pizza, meatloaf, mashed potatos, mac & cheese and some other stuff. We played some games my mom put together where the prizes were $1 bills and lotto scratchers. She’s really into that lately.

After dinner we played Cards Against Humanity and then had cake.

Cake

My brother wanted a purple theme but the pink & purple letters look girlier than the cake my mom had for my birthday!

At some point prior to the CAH Brother #2 brought out glow bracelets and the one he was shaking up had a hole in it so blue glow particles ended up everywhere on the floor, his shirt, and the table. Luckily the cake was covered or it would have been ruined!

We brought our Bears cornhole set with us at Brother #2’s request but didn’t get around to playing since Brother #1 isn’t into it and it didn’t seem right to play something he wasn’t going to participate in at his birthday party.

We ended up staying until a little after 11 pm because that hour drive home is a bitch.

Sunday we went to a craft show at Lisle High School where we ended up paying $14 for this soy candle.

Aloe Candle

It smells soooo good though and it burns for 60 hours so I don’t think it’s too bad. The woman makes them in her kitchen so I didn’t mind spending a little money to help someone with their own business.

We also grabbed two steak tacos (one for each of us) from a booth set up at the show from a place called Taco Diner. I’m always worried about trying a new place since good steak tacos are hard to come by but these were delicious. They had the perfect flavor, no fatty/chewy pieces, and the tacos were stuffed with meat so they were very filling. We took them outside and sat enjoying the nice day. When we were finished we walked around the park that borders the high school.

On the way home we drove through the arboretum to see how the trees are coming along. I want to make sure to catch them in bloom but they haven’t started flowering yet.

We made sure to get home before 2 pm so Joe could watch the Hawks game. I worked out on the elliptical a little and then installed a game on my iPad. I’m completely addicted to Disney’s Tsum Tsum game. Joe alerted me to its existence on Saturday and I haven’t been able to get enough of it. Since you only earn one game play every 15 minutes I had to install it on my iPad so I can play it more often. Puzzle games always get me and this one is super cute on top of it.

Today we went to Cosley Zoo in the morning just so we could enjoy the nice weather. It was way more crowded than I expected for 10:30 am on a Monday. The main parking lot was full and there was only one spot left in the secondary lot. I took a lot of photos and we just sat at one of the tables people-watching. By 11:30 it was half as busy as before so note to self – go closer to lunchtime during the week.

Coyote
More Cosley Zoo photos here

On the way home we stopped to get some food for the meals Joe plans to make this week. I must say, I’ve adapted quite well to him being home. I don’t even miss my alone time as much as I thought I would and I like not having to worry about cooking and cleaning. It’s going to be a rude awakening for yours truly once he goes back to work.

I joined Joe for his weight lifting today and my arms are sore even though I didn’t do much. I wanted to add weights to my routine since all I’ve been doing is cardio, plus right now it’s difficult to go on the elliptical because it’s too warm in the house. Loving this time of year where we don’t have to run the heat or air conditioning, though!

Now I have to get going – we’re making homemade pizza for dinner.

Adjusting

It’s funny how quickly you adjust to changes in life’s circumstances. When I first realized Joe would be home ALL THE TIME I was kinda freaked out because I was used to have Mondays and Fridays to myself. But now that he isn’t a stressed out crankypants I don’t mind him being around all the time.

I’ve been looking at this no unnecessary spending thing as a challenge to keep me from feeling bummed. So far it’s working. I’ve also been doing more surveys and stuff to earn points toward gift cards so if we want to buy something from Amazon it won’t come out of pocket. On top of that, I have so many samples from my Birchbox and Ipsy subscriptions that it’s going to take me awhile before I get through everything. And the bonus to that is I won’t be accumulating even more stuff in the meantime. I’m so tired of stuff! We are working on gathering up a lot of the stuff we aren’t using and plan on having a garage sale later this year.

Even not being able to go out like we used to isn’t bothering me as much as I expected. I think it’s because we’ve always be on the frugal side regardless of our income anyway. I will say, however, that I’m looking forward to warmer weather so we can get out more without spending any money. One can only spend so many hours at the library after all. We spent two hours there on Friday and Saturday as it is. Interestingly enough, it was more crowded on a Friday morning than a Saturday one, mostly with adults of all ages. Are they all unemployed too?

This afternoon I went to all the nearby towns’ park district websites and a site where they list festivals and added a bunch of upcoming events to our calendar. As long as we eat beforehand or pack a lunch to bring along we won’t spend any money since we only go to festivals that offer free admission. Between those events, E coming over, and us visiting my parents, we have something to do every weekend for the next few months.

We aren’t eliminating dining out entirely, just cutting back. We plan to use coupons from Chipotle and Qboba we received in the mail since they reduce the price per meal to something more in line with what you’d pay if you made the meal yourself. And we have gift cards purchased through Discover’s cashback rewards so we can still go out occasionally. And we have another $200 in rewards we haven’t even redeemed yet! I think that will go a long way toward helping us not feel deprived.

Plus it’s not like we don’t have money in the bank – I would just like to keep as much of it in there as possible. In fact, I went over our finances and with Joe’s last check which included all the vacation time he had banked and hadn’t used, we won’t have to start withdrawing from savings until the beginning of June even with factoring in paying our taxes (we intentionally claim more exemptions so the government can’t keep our money interest free).

In other words, things could be worse. My biggest concern right now is how we can continue to feed our backyard birds without breaking the bank. They are greedy little things and even with the seed on sale we can easily drop $40 buying regular seed, thistle (for the goldfinches) and suet (for the woodpeckers). I guess we could just stop feeding them but that makes me sad.

Joe Can Cook

Since Joe has taken over the cooking duties I’ve learned that he can in fact cook. In the past if he said he’d make dinner I knew it would either be grilled cheese, quesadillas, or perhaps his delicious chicken noodle soup. Now that his secret is out he can’t pretend to be inept anymore.

Some dishes he’s prepared recently:

Cajun shrimp linguine
Sloppy Joes (homemade, not with Manwich)
General TSO chicken with rice
Salmon with pesto

He even made the corned beef and cabbage with potatoes and carrots in the crockpot on St. Patrick’s Day.

Other than the shrimp in the Cajun dish, I thoroughly enjoyed everything, and I think the shrimp was just not great quality since I normally like shrimp. The actual dish otherwise was very good so he plans on making it again with chicken or perhaps meatless.

What surprised me the most was the salmon. I’m not much of a fish eater but when we were at Costco last weekend they had their frozen salmon at one of the free sample kiosks so we were able to try it and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Joe ended up making it the same way Costco did by putting a generous helping of their pesto on top before baking it in the oven. It was delicious! I haven’t enjoyed a piece of fish that much since our trip to Georgia in 2011 where I had salmon at a place called Boneheads.

Speaking of Costco, other than their apple pie, pretty much everything we’ve tried there is delicious – rotisserie chicken, frozen Italian meatballs, Italian-stuffed ravioli, and Jack’s Special Salsa which is by far the best salsa we’ve ever had.

Filet O Fish & Dyed Hair

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.

Beach Bag

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.