Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

This week I decided to knock a non-fiction humor book off my list that I've been wanting to read for a long time.

I am a huge fan of The Office and thought Mindy Kaling did an amazing job playing her character Kelly throughout the show. I picked up this book hoping to read a few inside stories about the office and enjoy Mindy's humor. There weren't a ton of stories about The Office, a good portion of the book was about her childhood. Mindy had parents with serious professions and was brought up in a strict but loving household. She grew up with only a few friends (but had some great friends along the way) and spent a great deal of time learning all about humor.

The stories about her career were my favorite part of the novel. I loved hearing about Steve Carell, Rain Wilson and the other members of The Office crew. I didn't realize that Mindy was mostly a writer on The Office but she spoke quite a bit about it. Of course everything Mindy wrote was in humor and there were times I found myself laughing out loud at what she had written. I would definitely recommend this book if you're looking for a quick, easy read that will give you a couple of laughs!

I also want to mention that I've been spending my lunch breaks at work reading outside! Yes, you read that right! It is finally warm enough to be outside.

Sitting in my car during lunch with the windows open drinking my coffee is also something that is making me giddy lately!

Yesterday it was so beautiful that I took a walk during my lunch break to the river nearby...

I saw a little turtle sunbathing on a piece of trash. It was sad, but it was nice to see him enjoying the sun nevertheless!

Now tonight I have big plans!

Yes, I am cuddling with Roxy and watching a Law and Order SVU marathon. Big plans =)

Enjoy your Friday tomorrow everyone!

Life Lately

Hello all!

I've been all over the place lately- trying to keep up with work and day to day life. It is quite a busy time! So this blog post is going to be a little bit all over the place so bear with me- I just am going to try to update you on as much as possible.

Last weekend  spent Easter with my family in Stonington Borough and it was a windy but beautiful day.

 
  

I've been spending a lot of time loving on this little girl. She is such a sweetie and has kidney stones right now. She also is completely blind- but is still the sweetest girl around! 

So my work had a March Madness pool and I won! It was so exciting and I walked away with $200 which was great since I am able to put it towards my car! I will be paying off my car entirely this week and am so excited that in just under 5 years I have completely paid off my car and it is allllll mine!

One of the things I have been obsessed with using Coconut Oil on my hair. I read that Blake Lively does this regularly and as we all know she has the most gorgeous hair around so I will do anything that she says is good for your hair =)

I wet my hair in the shower and then put this all over the ends of my hair before shampooing. That way you aren't cleaning the ends of your hair when that part of your hair needs the oil and moisture.

Yesterday we tore down the deck outside in preparation for building an addition. It was really hard work and we were all exhausted when the day was over. (I fell asleep at 8pm!) 12,000 steps later my body was done!

Today started with a CardioSculpt workout-which was very intense! Then I spent some time cleaning and organizing before checking in here. Next I'm off to a bridal shower as you can see I have my gift all ready to go!

How has your life been lately? Are your days busy busy or are you relaxing lately? Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Spring Cleaning: More Sentimental Items and Random Places

Happy Easter everybody! I hope you enjoyed a wonderful day with family and friends. I had a lovely brunch this morning with my family, followed by a walk around downtown Stonington Borough which was chilly but nice. 

Even though it's still not feeling like spring here in Rhode Island, I have been doing some major spring cleaning of even MORE sentimental items. Earlier this season I cleaned out a great deal of recent greeting cards that had been claiming residence in my closet for far too long- but I knew that wasn't my only issue. There were definitely more sentimental items cluttering my life.

In the words of Eminem, "Tonight, I'm cleaning out my closet"

This was my closet of choice- although it's more of a nook then a closet since it doesn't have a door- which means i need it to stay looking neat so people don't think I'm a disaster when they enter my room.

I quickly managed to pull out a ton of things I knew I didn't really need....

There were a ton of old magazines I was holding onto (such as a final episode of Friends magazine... seriously! I was holding onto it as if it was a collectors item, what on earth was it still doing hanging around?!) I had both of my graduation caps (high school and college) and I really don't need them! I kept the tassels, but there is no need to keep the caps as well. I also decided to part with my ticket stubs (seriously, am I a hoarder?), my graduation book, old dance competition books, and old dance teacher notes.

Then I decided while I was in that area to go through my current magazine stash (ones I haven't read)...

I only get magazines in the mail that I get for free so some I do have duplicate copies of. I brought all the ones I didn't want to work and placed them in the waiting room so other people can enjoy them and ended up with only these....

I love the Storage Solutions magazine and buy this every year. I also love reading Cosmo so I kept that so I can finish reading the magazine.

It's amazing what you're able to donate and people will be thrilled to have/use/read when you aren't enjoying them at all!

I also went through some more sentimental items...

I had so many certificates and programs from awards ceremonies I participated in. Do I really need a certificate that reminds me of my fourth grade honor roll status? No! Would I want my future children burdened by having to sort through all this in the future? No! So into the recycling bin these went.

I also sorted through my paperwork- papers from old vacations, receipts from more expensive purchases I insisted on holding onto. Papers from old jobs, papers from old events, papers that are just old. These were all from my file cabinet, and you can see my shredder in the top right corner because that's where all of these went. I highly recommend sorting through your file cabinet regularly because it's amazing what you manage to stuff in there.

Next I tackled photos...

I didn't throw away too many- only ones that were of people I don't speak to anymore- because honestly why do I need them? I want to take all my hard copy pictures and scan them into my computer and get rid of all the hard copies (or at least put the hard copies into albums). At some point I would like to go through all my albums- but that is a project for another day!

I already feel lighter and better about where my spring cleaning is heading. I am making my life simpler and that is always a good thing.

Have you been doing any spring cleaning? What kinds of things are you getting rid of?

March Birchbox (And Review!)

Oh my I am running far behind this month! I am just getting around to posting about what I received in my March Birchbox...whoops! Since I'm so delayed I'm just going to share my review in this post as well. This may be something I do every month from now on, instead of a post where I show what I received and then one with a review I'm thinking I may just combine them from now on!

The Cover FX BB Gel is pretty much a BB cream and is a light coverage foundation. It matches my skin well and feels very light on my skin. I don't mind it at all- but it's definitely not my favorite. I wouldn't purchase it in the future but I will continue to use up the sample.

Sincerely by Harvey Prince isn't as horrible as the Harvey Prince Ageless I received last month but it is certainly not my favorite. This scent is described as sweet and spicy but I think it smells a little like a gross cleaning product...not what I want to smell like! I have been trying to use it up and have a couple more uses in my little sample- but this is going on a list of items I never want to purchase.

Oh my goodness. I am not a lipstick girl. At all. But man, this is a gorgeous lipstick! This color is mostly nude but adds a bit of shimmer and a tad bit of pink. Not only do I think it looks nice- it feels great which is more important. I have worn this out a few times recently and I'm a huge fan! I would honestly consider purchasing this in the future!

Another loved product! I have been using this Amika Blowout Spray before blowdrying my hair and it works great! I feel like my hair is protected and it smells fabulous. I would purchase a full size of this in the future for sure.

The N4 Clarifying Shampoo and Reconstructing Maque made my hair feel like crap. These products dried my hair out beyond belief and I would never use this again. I don't know how a reconstructing masque could possibly dry my hair out- but it did! Never again!

That's what I received in my Birchbox this month- what did you get? Any products you loved? Any you hated?

Friday Night Couponing!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Tonight before my Zumba class I headed into CVS to grab a few couponing items so I wanted to share these deals with you so you could go grab them before the sale week ends!

4 Purex Ultrapacks @ $6.79 each, $27.16 total.

buy one get one free

Paid $13.58 for all four

2 Softsoap Body Washes @ $2.99 each, $5.98 total.

used $1 off 2 coupon

Paid $4.98 and got $1 back in ECB, making them $1.99 each!

Sure Deodorant @ $2

used $1 coupon

Paid $1, and got $1 back in ECB, making it free!

Seche Nail Polish Top Coat

Paid $9.99 (no deal I just wanted to try this!)

I also used a $5 off $25 coupon in this transaction.

I paid $26.41 after tax and coupon deductions and received $2 back in ECB. Not my best trip by far but not horrible either at a 51% savings.

Did you do any couponing this week? I have depleted my stockpile quite a bit so I am trying to get back into couponing and build it back up!

Have a great weekend!

Things I'm Loving Lately

Happy Tuesday Everybody!

Today I thought I would share with you all some of the things I am absolutely loving lately.

The first involves a little haul from Bath and Body Works...

I am loving the Bath and Body Works Hawaii line! I picked up two candles and three hand lotions and all the scents are absolutely fantastic. I am a huge fan of fruity, summer scents and these are all getting me in the mood for warmer weather!

I picked up this statement necklace at Kohls a month or so ago and I am loving how it transforms simple outfits into exciting ones! In this picture it looks black but in real life it's a deep blue color and I think it's absolutely gorgeous! I usually go for longer necklaces but I think I will need to give shorter statement necklaces more of a try.

I am looking forward to warmer weather, however I am loving my cozy sweaters lately. This is just a collection of three outfits I have worn over the past couple of weeks involving cozy sweaters. They make fashion so comfortable!

I always love the beach but lately I've been trying to channel summer by stopping by a few times each week. Ignore the snow in the bottom right corner, we are still working on getting rid of that mess...

Other things I've been loving lately?

• On TV: Once Upon A Time, Revenge, The Middle, The Amazing Race, Hart of Dixie, and Pretty Little Liars
• March Madness Brackets
• Spring Cleaning
• Movies: Cinderella and Insurgent (I saw both and loved them!)

What have you been loving lately?