Thursday, February 28, 2013

Writer's Block

I'm really enjoying this blogging thing. I've been reading A LOT of other blogs and I enjoy that they consistently post and I always have something to read! So I'm trying veryyy hard to consistently post (and I'v even been pre-planning and scheduling posts when I have spare time). But then Wednesday night rolls around and I always hit a wall about what I want to talk about on Thursday. I think it's because it's my busiest day of the week so my brain is just fried at this point. So I peruse blogs and search for inspiration. Usually, I still can't come up with anything and I don't post on Thursdays and save it for the weekend. But, tonight, I stumbled upon a blogger's old post about their love of tattoos and I thought I'd share the story of mine! 

SO, the story of my tattoo is very personal and I'm not really comfortable going into the full details surrounding it, but I can tell enough that you'll understand how meaningful it is to me! 


Here I am directly after getting it done with my super cheesy "strength" pose and my really pale face since I felt like I was going to pass out. 

As you can see, I have "Strength" on my ribs. It's in honor of my Dad. The past few years, he and my family have been through something that is pretty horrific and absolutely unimaginable for most people.  It al started in September 2010 and got even worse in January 2011. Luckily, it has all ended finally (in October 2012) and we are slowly moving forward. 

I had always wanted a tattoo but I can't stand needles and I pass out when I get shots and blood drawn. So no one ever believed I would actually go through with it. Then these two ladies came to visit two summers ago and I did it. We have promised each other we will be present with each other whenever one of us gets a tattoo. 

Terrible, terrible picture. And my hair is SO red. 
I made an appointment and tried not to pass out all day leading up to it. I had it designed and printed up how I wanted and off we went to the tattoo parlor. And some hilarious pictures ensued:

SO SCARED.

Oh god why am I doing this??

TOUCHDOWN!

Holy shit. 

Terrible decision.

LOVE. 

I adore it. It's simple and it's perfect. It's not done, though. The original plan was to have it finished when everything ended for my family. Unfortunately, I am short on money right now and I'm waiting until this summer to finish it. I'm adding 4 black sparrows flying around it to symbolize each person in my family and how strong we've been. Sparrows symbolize a safe trip home which is the perfect analogy for what we've been through. I'm so excited to finish it and I'm already planning more. It's true when they say tattoos are addictive (even if you're deathly afraid of needles)!

Do you have any tattoos? Or do you want any?





Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Hump Day Happies!

Good grief, it's already Wednesday?! I've been so busy this week that I think it's just flown on by. This is definitely my hell week and I couldn't be more ready for Friday! So without further stalling, here's some happies for this week:


  1. I have a job. No, I still don't want it but it's there and I know everything will work out. 
  2. I have other opportunities. Today is the JobFest on campus and tonight I have a Meet and Greet with a company. I have an interview with this company Friday morning. Thursday is another Career Fair. So as long as I stay focused and dedicated to the hunt, I'm confident the right thing will find me. 
  3. Spring Break is 8 days away. And I only have to spend 6 of those in classes. 
  4. I have decided (or at least I think I have) to quit the Barrel at the end of March. There are so many benefits to this: 5 days home for Easter break, a whole month to be a college student with no (okay, less) responsibilities, more time with Christian, more time to get a 4.0 this semester, etc. The only downfall is the lack of money I'll be getting which may get tricky, but I've already started budgeting so hopefully it won't be. 
  5. On Sunday March 10, I get to reunited with my best friend and we will both have our boyfriends there and it is going to be EPIC.
I realize as I do these each week that a lot are countdowns and not current things going on. I think that's just a side effect of being a college senior, 73 days away from graduation with the majority of my friends off in the real world. As much as I know I'll miss Boone and App, I'm ready for the next step to start!

How's your week going?

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Trendy, Trendy.

I love clothes. Seriously, right now I have two full closets, two full laundry hampers (one clean, one dirty) and 3 or 4 bags of clothes under my bed full of my off-season clothes. I wasn't kidding when I said I loved clothes. A persons sense of style is all up to them and I do my best not to judge, but sometimes it's impossible for me not to just go "WHAT?". And I also realize that to each their own, and all that jazz, but here are a few trends you will never catch me in.


1. To start us off, the most controversial of all: Leggings. As. Pants. I'm sorry ladies, but leggings are not pants. They are thin and they do not keep everything covered. I do not need to see your lime green undies or your your lady-business because you won't wear a long shirt or short dress with your leggings. This is by far my biggest "fashion" pet peeve and I could definitely go on forever about it. But, I'll stop at cover your business and if you want to wear a t-shirt, invest in some yoga pants. 


Seriously, I don't wanna see that.

2. Printed/floral pants. I've seen some people pull this off flawlessly and good for them! But, I cannot. Nor do I want to spend the money to do so. I also know my boyfriend would refuse to be seen in public with me if I were to wear something like this. 


Sure, they work it. I would look ridiculous. 


3. Crazy sneakers. This ranges from those high top, fluorescent Nike things to whatever this weird heeled tennis shoe thing is. Nope. Nope. Nope. Not gonna happen. I love a good pair of brightly colored Chucks or Vans, but there really is no need for fluffy high tops and heels. 

Seriously...

4. Really dark lipstick. It just stresses me out. I love playing with lip colors, but I stick to the coral, pink and bright red families and shy away from those scary burgundies. I just know that if I was guy, I wouldn't want to kiss that and I like when my boyfriend wants to kiss me ;)

She looks fine. But, us normal people struggle with this one.

Theses are just my opinions and you may be able to pull some of these of magnificently (although I do suggest everyone take a look at their typical legging usage...). But I would just look ridiculous in all of these. 

Are there any trends you just don't get or can't stand?

Monday, February 25, 2013

I wish I was famous.

I mean, come on. You know you wish you were too! They get to wear the most phenomenal things in the world that we only dream of during award shows. Here's a few of my favorites from the Oscars Sunday night:

Naomi Watts
Um. Gorgeous. I LOVE that neckline.
Reese Witherspoon
I adore her and that color is just fabulous on her. 
Charlize Theron
I found this dress breathtaking. It amazes me how gorgeous someone can be with no hair. 

Kelly Osbourne
She's usually not my fave and I don't like the hair, but I adore this dress.


Amanda Seyfried 
This is by FAR my favorite. She is flawless, the dress is flawless, the hair is flawless, the make up is flawless. You get it, she's my girl crush for sure. 

Honorable Mentions


Jennifer Lawrence

I adore Jennifer. I'm obsessed with everything she does. This color was great, but I think the skirt was a liiiiiiittle too much. And I think she probably wishes she'd gone a bit smaller after that fall up the stairs. 

Jessica Chastain
Gorgeous color. 


Jennifer Hudson
I love the dress shape and color buuuut I kind of dislike the circle thing. Somewhat reminds me of a fish. But she is awesome and her body is rockin'.

What were you thinking?


Nicole Kidman

No. 

Kristen Stewart
Why was she even at the Oscars?! And does her hair do anything else?? 


Melissa McCarthy
Okay, so I love this woman to pieces and I have ever since  Gilmore Girls. But this just makes her look bigger than she really is. Last years look was much better!

Anne Hathaway
She is one of my favorite actresses in the world and it pains me to put this here. But this was TERRIBLE. JUST TERRIBLE. The color doesn't work on her skin tone. It doesn't flatter her body at all. And let's talk about those seams... NO. That is just not flattering to anyone. At any function.



Saturday, February 23, 2013

Some changes!

First things first, I have a new name! With a side of chocolate. This just describes me perfectly. It came to me last night while I was eating popcorn and snowcaps ( yes, in the same bowl) and realized I pretty much eat some form of chocolate everyday. I don't think I could survive without chocolate. I considered titling it "Life with a side of chocolate" Or "Love with a side of chocolate". But, I decided simple was better, so here ya go! The URL also changed with it since I decided I wanted to take my name out of my URL.

I also did a little redesigning around here. I'm obviously not that savvy on blog designs, hence the pretty standard Blogger updates. I'm sure one day I will get someone to make me a gorgeous blog design that I'm obsessed with, but for now this cute little thing will do!

I'm still deciding what I'm wanting to get out of blogging. So far, I love sharing my thoughts and I really enjoy getting to write more. But I know many bloggers make money off their blogs, and that seems great (I'm always up for some extra cash lying around) but I'm not sure if I'm wanting to dedicate all that time to blogging. As I've mentioned, I'm definitely stretched thin right now. For now, blogging is just about sharing part of myself and maybe sharing some tips on life from my experiences and a few cute outfits for me.

And as a thanks for reading that pointless post, here's a gorgeous and completely unrelated picture of where I live taken by my talented roommate!

Price Lake

Happy Saturday, everyone!





Friday, February 22, 2013

Overworked.

Friday. Aren't Fridays supposed to be that "whew" feeling at the end of the week? Like you're done with school/work for 2 days and you just get to enjoy your days with friends, family, boyfriends, husbands, etc. I haven't felt that in over a year. I haven't had a single weekend to just relax and only relax. I work Wednesday-Sunday at the Barrel. I tutor Monday-Wednesday and I go to class Monday-Thursday. There is just no break.

Plus, I'm a senior so my classes are HARD. They require tons of reading, studying, researching, project-ing, etc. I'm just feeling so overwhelmed and overworked. I though senior year was supposed to be fun (once you found a job) and you got to go out a lot and be with your friends. Apparently that's not the case. Every day when I look at my schedule and I just want to cry.


Like, really?? Why is this happening?? I tried to be less busy this semester and that just didn't happen obviously. 

Also, I accepted that job that I didn't really want yesterday. I need to know that I have something lined up when I graduate. That was definitely a huge relief but also added another kind of stress. I've got my JobFest and Career Fairs next week with some interviews/meet and greets lined up so let's all keep our fingers crossed that something works out!

So basically, this random ramble about stress is to just whine a bit and see maybe how you guys deal with being this busy/stressed/overwhelmed? Are there some tips you have to de-stress quickly?

Help a girl out! Oh, and Happy Weekend! :)

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Hump Day Happies!

Some weeks, these posts are kind of tough to do. I've got so much going on this week and most of it isn't fun: tests, tough decisions, work "drama" for some unknown reason thanks to a new girl, and just the general stress of being as busy as I am nowadays.

My list is pretty scarce this week, but here we go:
  • Christian. Christian is always the highlight of my week. Long distance sucks but the highlight of every day is about 9:50p when my phone lights up because he's calling. Some nights we may get annoyed with each other and some nights we just laugh for 30 minutes. But either way, my day ends hearing "I love you" from my sweet guy is the best. 
  • Even though I may be worried about the job and the idea of working 60+ hours a week makes me want to cry, I'm so lucky to have a job lined up and I don't have to spend any time stressing after graduation. 
  • My kitty is so cute. 
  • 16 days until Spring Break.
  • 23 days til the Bachelorette Weekend in Wilmington, NC with these ladies. 

  • 72 days until my last day of work (I hope!)
  • 73 days until my 22nd birthday! 
  • And finally, 81 days until GRADUATION!
I currently have a slight obsession with countdowns... Whoops. 

How's your week going so far?

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Big Decision Time

As I've mentioned before, I'm job hunting. I have only been looking for a few weeks but there have already been some challenges. And now I'm faced with another:

Do I accept the job?

OK, now I'll backtrack. Last Monday, I had the final job interview. It involved a test, simulation, two job shadows, an interview with the recruiter and an interview with the manager. It was a longggggg 3 hours, that's for sure. I left liking the atmosphere and all of the people I met. I also feel decently confident that I could do the job well and make decent money doing so. 

But, I had some reservations. The first is the hours (which has always been the biggest issue). I was told during the process it would be about 60 hours a week, Saturdays included. Once I talked to the guys I shadowed, I learned that they work more than that a lot of the times. After hearing this information, I started paying attention and noticed that no one was wearing a wedding ring. No one had pictures of significant others in their cubicles. 

This really got to me, because I'm moving to Charlotte to be with Christian and start a life together. Many of my best friends are living in Charlotte and I'm trying to get my other two to move there too. Having a social life and a solid relationship is very important to me and I don't know if it's worth throwing that away in a few years to make some money. Especially when there are other jobs out there that I can get the same or better pay and benefits. 

Now I have until Thursday afternoon to decide if I want to take it. Many people have been telling me to take it for now but keep looking. Then, if I don't find something else, I have a job lined up for after graduation. The next few days will be very confusing.. 

I'd love to hear your opinions on my little predicament here!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Weekend Update!

So this weekend was fun... As I'm sure you saw, I had such a fun Thursday night/Friday morning. I needed some serious recuperation this weekend. So there was a lot of sleeping.

Friday was spent in my bed. I watched A LOT of Say Yes to the Dress (I'm seriously obsessed with this show and I'm not ashamed). Then I obviously had trouble sleeping since I slept til 3pm and then didn't leave my bed. So the vicious cycle of sleeping in too long happened again Saturday morning.

But Saturday afternoon, my roommate, her boyfriend and I headed to the human society. This is seriously one of my favorite things to do up here. There are so many animals up for adoption and I would do anything to take home a kitty or 12 or maybe a puppy or 8. Saturday night was lazy and awesome and involved Panera bread and I adore Panera.

Sadly, today was not fun or relaxing whatsoever. I had to be up by 6am so I could defrost and scrape my car off before work at 7am. Then I get to work and discover I'm working with the girl that I mentioned in the previous post about the overnight shift. And after discovering she "tattled" on my co-worker Emily and I for "being mean" to her and "not helping her". ALL of which is false and I got pretty upset. It's sad to me that someone who is a grown adult can't take responsibility for her own actions.

Then, I come home to relax and the power goes out. So the roommate, her boyfriend and I head off to the library for the rest of the day. So, yes I was productive like I needed to be but the couch is so much more comfortable than the library. And trashy E! TV is so much better than 10 page long study guides and studying for tests.

How was your weekend? More exciting I hope!

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Well, that was awful.

I'm going to take a small second to rant. I'm sure my friends and boyfriend are tired of hearing about this because it's all I've talked about all day (and by all day I mean since I woke up at 3pm, you'll see..).

So Thursday night, I worked an overnight at work. I had never done this before and all week I was somewhat excited for it because I was working with a great friend and hard-working co-worker and I was looking forward to wearing yoga pants to work. I am SO over that friggin apron, khakis and Oxford shirt.

Thursday morning rolled around and I realized what I had to do and I immediately regretted the decision. Emily (the co-worker) and I spend all day dreading it and buying supplies to keep us awake all night. Once, we go there, wrote our list and ate some pizza, we became pretty confident that we could get everything done by 5am with no problem whatsoever.

Slight backtracking: Emily and I have worked at the Barrel since before we opened and we are PAR 3 (those stars on the aprons - you can only get 4, so having 3 is a big deal) and we are Skill Trainers. I'm also in development to become a Sales Lead/Shift Leader. So basically, we know what we're doing and we can get it done quick and right. Our manager scheduled a brand new associate to work overnight with us that has never put together a display and has only been working there for about 2 weeks and is very timid.

Our task was to literally re-do the entire store. We have approx. 10 displays and we moved 8 of them. Plus, the closing associate did not do any of her closing duties and she didn't change the prices like we do every Thursday night so we had to do all that too. Still, we weren't worried since Emily and I work quickly and well together and we had 3 people to do it all.

After about an hour of work, we assign the new girl one display to do. We explain exactly how to do it step by step and exactly what she needs to accomplish it. We tell her to ask us any questions she comes across and if she gets confused that we will step in and help. VERY long night made short:

  • She never asked for help although we continually offered
  • She kept looking like she was working but after about an hour and a half she only had 3 items on the display
  • We told her again how to go about building a display and she didn't listen 
  • She basically refused to do anything but kept acting like she was working
  • She lied when we asked her a direct question about if she had done something
She took OVER SEVEN HOURS to do ONE DISPLAY. And she didn't even finish it because when the opening manager got to work at 5am (when we were supposed to be done and going home) we realized she wasn't even done and we had to finish her display and clean the entire store (which was a MESS due to all the boxes we had to open) by the time we opened at 6am.

I cannot for the life of me figure out what she was doing for 7 hours. She always looked like she was working but apparently she wasn't. By about 3am, Emily and I had lost our patience and weren't as nice as we had been all night and I think she got offended. I got a text later in the day from a co-worker informing me the opening manager wants me to train the girl again and that she had talked to the manager about Emily and I. Not quite sure what she had to say since we worked our asses off for over 7 hours and re-set an entire store without any help from her.

I'm sorry, this got a little longer that I planned but it really frustrates me that I was forced to stay at work during an overnight shift because of someone else's incompetence. It also makes me livid that we tried all night to help and she refused to take any help from us and then she has the nerve to complain about us.

And of course I'm cranky because I'm sleep deprived and now my schedule is all wanky. I've gotta get my sleep schedule back to normal tomorrow since I open at work Sunday (where I apparently have to re-train her). Thank God for my kitten on days like today.

Does anyone else have some terrible co-worker/work experience?

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Ohhhh Valentine's Day

Apparently, it's Valentine's Day. WHO KNEW? Just kidding, but for real every holiday we all start posting about it on every social media site we have just in case someone forgets, I assume? I'm definitely guilty today, too.

Sadly, I don't get to spend today with my guy. Although I did wake up with sweet text message from him. I have spent the day in class and doing homework. Now, it's more homework and napping for awhile because I get to work 9p - 5a. Aren't I a lucky gal today?!

Since my day was set to be awful, I wanted to make myself feel better by wearing a cute and slightly festive outfit. So I dug out my favorite fall trend: oxblood jeans. Almost red but not shouting out "IT'S VALENTINE'S DAY". I bought a new chambray shirt this weekend at the GAP outlet, so this is not the exact shirt I'm wearing but close enough! I also had to wear all my pearls since Christian has given me a necklace, bracelet, earrings and most recently, my ring!


Day of Love



Happy Valentine's Day! I hope everyone has a great day!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

New Adventures

This semester, I've taken on a new adventure, per se. I'm tutoring. My friend's husband is the tutor lab manager on campus and around Christmastime at the Barrel, her and I were discussing quitting. She suggested we both start tutoring instead and told me all about it. Her husband then found out that I got an A in Accounting II and asked if I would be willing to tutor that since they are always short Accounting tutors since it's such a hard class and required for every business major.

At first, I said no due to the whole 20 hour semester thing but when I dropped 7 hours, I decided to do it. I was told I probably wouldn't have too many tutees and it was be good to make a little extra money. Well. That's not the case as it turns out.

I am now tutoring Accounting II as well as Production and Operations Management and Organizational Behavior. I may also end up tutoring some Marketing courses (since it's my major and all) if they get a request for the class. Each session can also hold up to 3 people so ideally, I could be tutoring 24 people this semester but fingers crossed that doesn't happen!

Today, I had my first two sessions and they went okay. Accounting was a little bit harder than I remembered but I promised them I would read the chapters and be better prepared for our sessions next week so I can actually help them for their test! This week, it's been a little overwhelming but I'm proud of myself for trying something new and I kind of wish I had started this sooner. It also doesn't hurt that I'm making some extra money so I can save more for the Big Move.

The point of this ramble was to point out that it's a good idea to get out of your comfort zone sometimes and to get involved. I told my two tutees that today too because getting involved makes college a much more enjoyable experience and you find and build those friendships that will last a lifetime!

Anyone else trying something new this semester?

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Weekend Fun

After such a terrible week last week, I needed a fun weekend. Unfortunately, the weekend started off just as stressful as my week. I was stuck late at work Thursday night knowing that I needed to come home and clean the apartment but I was so exhausted when I got home, I just crashed. So I woke up early Friday morning to try to clean and get the kitten to the boarder because my landlord was coming Saturday morning. Pulling into the boarder, my boyfriend calls and says to bring him with me to Charlotte. So I run errands and rush back home to get ready for work. Then he calls back telling me he's coming up to Boone instead. BUT I hadn't boarded Zuko and I didn't have time to anymore.

Turns out, his mom changed her mind and said no kitten: cue the awful fight between them and him coming to Boone. Very sweet of him but my stress level sky rocketed trying to figure out how to deal with Zuko and being a little sad we missed out on a couples massage in Charlotte. Christian ended up driving around with Zuko for almost 4 hours Saturday morning while my landlord was in and out of the apartment.

After the stress, the weekend got exponentially better. We had lunch and hung out with my friend and her husband. He hadn't met them yet but everyone got along wonderfully and liked each other! Then we came home to watch some TV and play with Zuko. We decided on Arby's for dinner (because we're cheap like that) and I FINALLY convinced him to see Silver Linings Playbook and it was phenomenal. I highly recommend it to everyone, but it's definitely serious and a little sad.

Sunday we slept til noon. I never sleep in. Ever. I have class all week and work all weekend so having the weekend off and being able to lay in bed until whenever I wanted was insane. AND Zuko slept the whole time too without waking us up. Then we had lunch at a little diner and headed down the mountain to Charlotte. But not without me dragging him to the outlets first to pick out a suit at Banana Republic for my job interview. He's such a trooper.

Sunday night was spent hanging out with my grandparents and watching the Grammy's (their reactions were hysterical) and preparing for my job interview. I also got an amazing homemade dinner of lamb chops, green beans, baked potatoes, and tomatoes. That might've been one of the best parts of the weekend, honestly.

Did everyone else have a great weekend?

Friday, February 8, 2013

Hallelujah, it's Friday!

Luckily, my first shift of the day was cancelled due to my boss' boss being here and causing mayhem. I am so thankful for this extra 4 hours in my day because I have SO much to do. Then, I'm working til 6 and headed down the mountain to spend the weekend with my man. And after this week, it's definitely needed. 

Have you ever had one of those weeks where everything just piles on?? It wasn't even mainly schoolwork; it was every other aspect of my life: money, my baby Zuko, the apartment, my family, work at the Barrel and tutoring. It's also one of those overwhelmed feelings where I just don't want to move. I even considered not going to Charlotte just so I could stay in my bed. Obviously, the boyfriend said that wasn't allowed since he had already bought me some Cokes and all. 

I also have this serious problem with confrontation: I hate it. I never want anyone to be mad so I let whatever is bothering me just eat away at me and pile up. This greatly adds to my feelings of being overwhelmed, too. I really, really need to work on this since I'm pretty sure there will always be issues in life that need addressing. 

For now, I will just try to focus on one issues at time and try to relieve some stress. 

Happy Weekend everyone!

Valentine's Day

What an interesting holiday. IF it even is a holiday. I've always thought Valentine's was a little lame since in my opinion you can just tell the person you love that you love them any ole time you want. But, at the same time, it is nice to have an excuse to do something a little special on that day.

I thought I would do a little recap of the last 2 V-day's I've had and look forward to this year, while giving some fun tips on things to do single and in a relationship!

Two years ago. 

Christian and I had been dating about 4 months and he was a little hesitant still at this point (one day I'll get around to the story of us), so I didn't want to freak him out by demanding some huge thing for the night. That night he shows up at my apartment with 2 bottles of wine (white and red because he "didn't know which I wanted.. cutie) and a case of Yeungling (one of my favorites!). Then we went to Subway and grabbed a Redbox. Now, this could seem weird but it was perfect for us. We are so calm and laid back that we just really enjoyed forgetting the rest of the world and snuggling all night.

Last year. 

Sadly, actual Valentine's Day was spent doing homework and studying for a test the next day. But we dedicated the entire weekend before to just being us. We paid for a couples massage and it was the most glorious experience. We got a free hot candle wax upgrade and roses and it was only $40 each! After all that relaxation it was time for cuddling and an early bed time. The next day we did absolutely nothing. Not a thing. Then we went to dinner  and I got a steak (as I've mentioned before, this is my favorite food). The weekend was so lazy and perfect and I loved that we just did something together instead of trying to buy each other presents and spend money on a fancy dinner and all that.

This year. 

 I have no idea what we're doing. I have to work all next weekend because my boss will be out of town. Therefore, I'm headed to Charlotte tomorrow night and he's been told to plan something fun. Then, in 2 weeks he's coming to Boone and I'm in charge of planning something fun. I'm considering a picnic if it's not snowing...which it probably will be ha.

Ideas for you.


  • I'm a huge fan of the couples massage. Christian is too. If you live in a city with Groupon or LivingSocial, they have a TON of deals out right now to get a reasonable price!
  • If you're normally a couple that goes out, stay in! Make dinner, order Chinese or a pizza, watch a movie, watch an entire season of a great show. Just spend time together. 
  • If you normally stay in, go out! Go to a fancy dinner or a not-so-fancy dinner. Just do something different!
  • Picnics are awesome if it's not freezing and snowy like it is here. 
  • Ice skating. I really wanted to do this over Christmas so maybe I can convince him now ;)
  • Go to the zoo. Or aquarium. 


Every other Valentine's Ever. 

 I've always been single on Valentine's Day. Honestly, I think I cared way more about Valentine's when I was single than I do now. But I always ended up having fun. So if you do happen to be single this year, don't fret! There is tons of fun to be had!


  • Girl's night anyone? I once had one that involved every uncooked batter you can think of. 
  • Throw a party! A fun idea is that everyone you invite must bring a single friend that they're not interested in. Then everyone can mix and mingle without worrying about annoying couples being mushy gushy. And you just might find a new special someone. 
  • Homework. Let's be real, it's on a Thursday night. College professors don't care that it's Valentine's Day. 
  • Chick flicks. Go on and bask in your singleness. Boyfriends usually disapprove and don't watch chick flicks so do it while you can! You can do this by yourself or with friends ( I kinda prefer the sappy movies alone). 
Do you guys have any fun plans or ideas to add?

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Hump Day Happies!

It's that time of the week again: Hump Day! I used to always hate when my mom woke me up on Wednesdays by shouting "GET UP! GET UP! IT'S HUMP DAY!" For some reason it just freaked me out... Anyways, this week has been crazy busy so far and it's just going to get worse  but there are some good things going on:


  • My little baby was away for the weekend because my landlord came to inspect. Luckily we passed the "inspection". I say "inspection" because he stood in our kitchen for 90 seconds, commented on the weather and then left. So glad I spent $60 to board Zuko for nothing. Oh, well at least he wasn't found and he's home now :)
  • I get to go to Charlotte Friday night after work to see the boyfriend. I have to work a ton the weekend of Valentine's Day because my boss will be out of town, so we are doing something this weekend and the weekend after Valentine's. 
  • After making plans to go to Charlotte, I got the call yesterday to set up a final in person interview with that job I'm a little unsure about. I'm pretty proud of myself for getting to the third round but it's going to be intense and I'm worried. But luckily, I will already be in Charlotte, so I scheduled the interview for Monday morning. 
  • I have my first tutoring appointment today. My friend's husband is the lab manager on campus and he found out I got an A in Accounting II and asked me to tutor this semester. I'm excited for some extra money but I'm a wee bit nervous since it's been 2 years since I've taken Accounting. 
How's your week going so far? 

Monday, February 4, 2013

I love my crockpot.

And if you don't have a crockpot, I suggest you go out and get one right this second. 

Anyways, today I thought I would share a my favorite recipe for the crockpot right now. I combined about 3 recipes I found on Pinterest to make my own little concoction that is great for one or two people and leaves you with some leftovers for later! 

Cheesy Chicken and Rice (or pasta)!

1 package plain cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cheddar soup
2-3 chicken breasts (I use frozen ones)
1 package Good Seasons Zesty Italian dry dressing mix
Rice or pasta

If the breasts are frozen, lay the chicken in the crockpot and turn it on high. Then, melt the cream cheese in a pot and add the soups and zesty Italian mix. Stir it all together. Pour the mixture over the chicken and cook on high for 3-4 hours. 

If the breasts aren't frozen, just wait and put everything together. 

Once the chicken is done, I shred it using a fork while the pasta or rice is cooking on the stove. Once the pasta/rice is ready, pour it into the crockpot and stir everything together. 

I've always used rice, but I didn't have any today so I used pasta and I liked it just as much! So whatever sounds good to you, try it! 

Do you have a great recipe you swear by in your crockpot?

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Weekend Recap!

Wow. My weekend was boring and tiring so there's really not much to say here...

Friday

I worked all day and then my sweet friend from work invited me over for dinner with her and her husband. We had an absolute blast eating and joking around all night. They also live in a GORGEOUS house overlooking Boone. Even though I was risking my life driving there since it's atop a mountain and we had floods on Wednesday and a mini blizzard Thursday (and the rest of the weekend). We're awaiting the locusts currently.

Saturday

Oh look, that was spent at work too! Who would've thought?? It was snowy and very slow so I spent some time staring out the window at this awesome view (this was taken a few weeks ago, but the view didn't change much except for more snow). My night was spent watching Big Bang Theory and New Girl and eating way too much.

Look at the great view...

Crazy Saturday night
Sunday

I got to wake up at 6a for work and dig my car out of 6 inches of snow at 6:45 in the morning... that's always a fun time. Thankfully, we've got that giant fireplace to dry off by when I get to work.

Toasty warm

Then, almost every single employee called out today which left us with only one cook. This meant the managers had to get on the grill and couldn't do much managing. This meant I was pretty much managing the retail side of the store. Cashiers and retail associates called out and I spent about 2 hours calling every single person multiple times to get someone to come in. It was ridiculous because either people answered and said no or ignored the calls because they saw it was work calling.

Thankfully, I was home by 1p and able to take a nap and get some errands done. Then the roomie and I watched the Super Bowl game commercials and halftime show and I had some awesome snacks.

How was everyone else's weekend??

Saturday, February 2, 2013

February is all about LOVE.

Okay, so to be honest, I don't really believe that. I've never gotten that excited for Valentine's Day and I   definitely don't think we should dedicate a whole month to one holiday. But, I do want to talk about loving yourself and all your flaws for a minute.

Scene: Cracker Barrel after the lunch rush today.

17 year old hostess: LESLIE! Come here! I have to tell you something!! It's important!!
Me: (under the impression there's a work emergency): Yes?
Hostess: I have a love handle. A love handle.

Cue my utter disbelief that this was what she wanted to discuss. 

I tried convincing her that this is part of being a woman and she is getting older (granted, she's still a baby). But she continued to rant about how she was "getting fat" and next time someone hugged her all they would feel was her "huge fat rolls". I told her that as the males around her mature, they will appreciate the curves and all that jazz. Honestly, though, this girl is tall and thin and I was shocked that she felt this way about her.

Once, I started thinking about it, I was the same way my junior and senior year of high school. I had cheered from middle school through the end of sophomore year and once I quit cheering, I grew 5 inches and gained probably 20 pounds. This is something that my body desperately needed (before I was 4'11" and approx. 80 pounds). But, I saw this weight and thought I was fat. Which brought me to Freshman year of college.

Freshman year I probably lost about 20 pounds. I wasn't working out or being healthy either. I just stopped eating. I was definitely not suffering from an eating disorder, I was just going through a rough time and was too stressed to eat. Most of the time, I would fill a plate full of food and then end up eating 3 bites while my best friend yelled at me for not eating. Although, I wasn't doing this on purpose, I secretly liked the weight loss because I thought I was more attractive. It wasn't until I saw a picture of myself from the side and noticed that I was about to disappear.

On the far left. Even in stripes I look like I'm about to disappear. 


After this, I realized being that skinny was unhealthy (it's also when my face started breaking out a TON). After moving to Boone, I gained the weight back and found me a nice boy. Now, this boy is the sweetest and he would probably dump me if I lost a bunch of weight because girls are curvy. Not every girl, of course. And I am in no way bashing on girls who are naturally skinny (because I'm definitely skinny by birth, haha). Everyone is built a certain way and we need to learn to love and accept ourselves just as we are.

I know this isn't easy and I struggle with it every day just like most girls. But I want everyone to spend some time each day appreciating the good things about their body. Think about what our bodies are made for! The idea that our bodies can grow another human being has always baffled and amazed me. So, I'm just asking you to love yourself and try to help your friends love themselves. As girls, we have to support each other in this mean ole world we live in.

What's your favorite thing about yourself?