Weekend To Do List

1. Unpack and set-up office.

We've been back in our condo since March 27th and still haven't unpacked the office. It's a disaster and has become the "collecting point" for all our crap. More about moving back home at a later time.

2. Greek Festival!!

B&I spent the first half of our honeymoon in Greece (Santorini and Athens) and have FELL IN LOVE with the greek cultrual, food, and people. I saw today online that there is a greek festival at Saint George Greek Orthodox Church in Bethesda this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I'm already dreaming of gyros, Mythos, octopus (hope they have it), and baklava. I'm drooling on my desk as we speak.

3. Dog Park

Hopefully we'll have nice enough weather that Mabel can play down in the stream.

4. Clean, Clean, Clean

My house needs a thorough cleaning from top to bottom.

5. Home Decorating Shopping

Since we've back home, I still haven't gotten any area rugs for our new hardwood floors or hung anything on the walls, or decorated in general. What is wrong with me?! I think I just don't want to do it because I just don't know what to buy. I've picked out some lamps already (pottery barn) and some rugs, but I'm having a real hard time making decisions. B&I are not good at making decisions. period.

6. Plan my anniversary gift

Sorry can't tell you. It's a secret! :) But I should know by noon today if my Plan A is going to work out. If not, then we'll go to Plan B. But I'm really pulling for Plan A.

New York without the New

Going home this weekend and taking Squirt aka Mabel with me. Mabel and I are heading to my parent's house this weekend for my niece, Chloe's baptism. And I've been able to fit a cut and color in on Saturday with my favorite stylist, Katrina @ Salon Nouveau. I'm excited to the see the fam, but honestly really excited to finally get a cut and color. I've been feeling the winter doldrums really hard the past couple of weeks mainly because I'm pasty white and because my hair is heavy and dull. But all of that will be rectified come Saturday afternoon. New highlights coupled with a tan-from-a-can and all will right again with the world.

Now let's just hope Mabel doesn't destroy Mimi's house! And Dad, how about this time you skip the, "what's wrong with your dog" comments. I know she's "special" but I love her anyway. :)

Revitalizing Old Denim

What if I told you there was a way to repair the holes in your $180 jeans? Instead of spending $180 on a pair and having to break them in, why not get your existing jeans fixed? Well kids, there's a way to do it! And I've done it! :)

I'm a huge fan of Paige Premium Denim. Her jeans fit my curvy body perfectly. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with amount of stretch in each pair and a slightly higher rise than say, Citizens. BTW here's PSA for all the Citizen jean wearers out there; don't wear low-rise unless you're a size 24-26. And even if you do, we don't want to see your crack.

Anyway, last year right at this time actually I was started to freak out because my favorite pair of Paige's were starting to get some pretty noticeable holes in the crotch area. Every Friday when I wore them to work for "dress down Friday's," I was always worried I was going to have a crotch blow-out. And that's just not a place where you want to have a blow-out!!! And to make matters worse my best friend Anne snapped a picture of me pointing to my holey crotch on my bachelorette party and of course posted it on Facebook. Love you Anne!

So I set out to find someone to repair my favorite pair. And low and behold, I found a company who does just that; repair designer denim. Denim Therapy.

Here's how it works. You contact them through their website about the specifics of your denim repair, they send you a quote for the repairs and an order number, and you mail them your jeans. And a few weeks later, voila! Your jeans are back to new. Well sort of. The repair weaving does leave some itchy-scratchy backing on the inside of your jeans. And since my repairs were to the crotch area, my jeans are as comfortable as they were before. But I can wear them to work without fear of being fired.

Unfortunately, I no longer have my emails from them so I can't tell you what it cost me, but I definitely know it wasn't more than $40 for the repairs and the shipping (which is WAY less than the cost of a new pair). Denim Therapy estimates on their website $7/inch for repairs. I will say though, you have to be patient. It took about a month to get my jeans back. But it was well worth it to have my Paige's back safe and sound and they're no longer a hazard to my co-workers!

So Cool!

I've been reading various blogs since I moved to Northern Virginia in the Summer of 2004 for an internship. While interning at a local technology conglamerate headuartered in Dulles, VA (name not needed), I found reading blogs as a way to fill my afternoons with something to do. Over the years, I have found blogs by linking to bloggers favorite blogs (i.e. blogs they're reading). A few months ago I came across Project Beltway and keep coming back for her On the Street series. And to see what the rich, famous, and fashionable wear in DC. :)


While perusing through Project Beltway I noticed she had posted a little giveaway for Kiehl's mascara and an Alchimie at home facial kit. I thought, what the hell, I'll enter. Who knows, maybe one of these days I'll actually win something!! Plus I've always heard amazing things about Kiehl's various products, but never have actually tried them. To win, all I had to do was comment on my fav beauty tricks. Of course I raved about Trish products and moroccan oil (more about that later). And low and behold, I got an email this morning from Rachel at Project Beltway that i had won!!! How exciting! And what a way to start my Thursday! :)

So, without further ado, here's my newly acquired loot thanks to the blogging world and Project Beltway!

I'll be sure to report back on their performances! :)

Kind Of, But Not Really

Eventhough I don't really seem like it most days, I'm a pretty low-maintenace gal. I don't use a lot of beauty or hair products and I don't spend a lot of time getting ready (with the exception of my blow drying...my hair takes FOREVER to dry). But the products that I have come to rely on, I can't live without. Trust me, I have tried! I have tried to replace every single one of my Trish McEvoy products with either a drug store find or another department store product. And nothing compares.

The first, and most important item in my beauty aresenal is my mascara. It's the one thing I always wear. Whether I'm working in the field, heading to the gym, or running errands, I will always wear mascara. And the best of all the ones I've tried has been hands down Trish McEvoy's Lash Curling Mascara.

Many other's have tried to replicate the technology in this little tube, but have failed! I've tried Blinc's Kiss Me (sold at my hair salon) and Loreal's Beauty Tubes (picked it up at the Wal-Mart in Paris, TN!) Both come fairly close (I actually wore Blinc's Kiss Me on my wedding day), but neither hits the nail on the head.

What's so amazing about Trish's mascara is that the liquid forms a sort of rubber tube on each lash. Resulting in absolutely no smudging or flaking throughout the day. When I've tried other brands, by the end of the day, I have black mascara flakes under my eyes. But not with Trish! :) And when you get to wash your face, all you have to do it wet your lashed and gently pull the tubes off. So when Summer finally gets here and I jump in the pool, all I have to do is pull my mascara off. No more black smudges under my eyes!!

It's fabulous stuff!! I know it's not the most economical beauty tool at $28 a tube (unfortunately, none of Trish's products are very economical...but they are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G), but it's the perfect thing to use for a night on the town, Sunday brunch, or any other special occastion. Substitute Loreal's version on your errand running or work days. Because unless you have a hotty in the cube next to you, who really cares what you look like at work! :)

Mabel's Jungle Gym

Billy and his parent's are in Florida this week on vacation. Did I say vacation? I meant on business. Sorry. They're schmoozing with clients this week in West Palm Beach. Golfing by day and eating by night. So what does that mean for me...I'm the dog sitter!!

You may be wondering since you don't know me very well yet, "what kind of dogs are they?" Well, Billy and I have a corgi/basset mix named Mabel. Mabel was adopted from A Forever Home in Chantilly, VA. We spent months try to adopt a puppy here in NoVa. I swear trying to get a puppy is harder than trying to get a kid!! She came to us when she was 2 months old and absolutely adorable (not that she isn't now)!! I love her to pieces, but she's got some serious baggage! Separation anxiety. Couldn't be crate trained. CHEWED ALL MY SHOES. Barks at everything and everyone who comes near our house! And did i say separation anxiety? But I love her anyway and I can't imagine my life without her.

Here's her in the snow this past winter.

And trick-or-treating in Old Town.

Enough about my little munchkin. Here's what is living in my house all week. My house as in an 1,100-square foot condo.

Babe. She's 140 pounds. Slimmed down from about 160. She's my in-laws St. Bernard. She's super sweet, loves all people, and couldn't hurt a fly; but she's huge! And coming to my house is like boot camp for her. So she's mad at me right now. I get the evil eye and she grunts at me. She gets no people in my house (she eats any and all things at my in-laws including pickled herring) and is NOT allowed to sleep on my bed. But she gives Mabel something to do all day while I'm work besides looking to get into trouble, so it's great having her around.

The real hard part about having these two in the house by myself though is walking them. Babe strolls along at about a snails pace. While Mabel is more like a jack rabbit. Running back and forth and back forth all the mean while tangling the leases while I'm desperately trying to scoop up Babe's horse poop. It was especially a lovely morning for me yesterday as I'm trying to navigate two leashes, two piles of poop (one so big I need two hands to scoop it up), and an umbrella in the pouring rain before heading to work.

The weird part about Mabel's and Babe's relationship is, is that Mabel is WAY MORE dominant. She's constantly jumping on her, gnawing at her ears, neck, face, and legs, sitting on her head, and occasionally has gotten caught humping her. She's about 1/4 of Babe's size, but dominates the girl!!! I'm just waiting for Mabel to catch one of those giant paws across the head when Babe finally hits Mabel saturation. Until that point, I guess she's just going to be Mabel's jungle gym. I refer to her as Mabel's Bestie. Like BFF.

Here are some more pics of the pups together.

p.s. sorry if the format is a bit messed up. i'm just learning how to use blogger and having trouble formatting pics.

Trip Number Who Knows What

I travel a lot. I travel for business mostly and not for pleasure; although, I do try to travel as much for fun as I can (but with only 10 vacation days a year, it's a bit tough). I'm an environmental consultant and 99% of the clients are work with are not in the DC Metro Area. I mostly conduct Phase I environmental site assessments, due diligence assessments, and environmental compliance audits, but I also do field work such as soil and groundwater sampling when the need arises. Mostly I travel to small industrial towns up and down the east coast, throughout the mid-west, and the south, but I do occasionally get to go to NYC and other destinations outside of the U.S.

To give you an idea about my travels here's a list of where I've been since the start of 2009:
- Dayton, Ohio
- Rochester, New York
- Honeoye Falls, New York
- York, PA (my hometown)
- Michigan City, Indiana
- Detroit, MI
- Orlando, FL
- New York, NY
- Rainsville, AL
- Marshalltown, IA
- Paris, Tennessee

I won't bore you with all the details of those trips, so I'll just start with my most recent trip and go forward from there. But I'd be happy to answer any and all questions you might have about all these exciting, happenin', and popular destinations!! :)

So last night (LATE last night) I got back from Paris, Tennessee. Did you know that not only is there a Paris in the States, but that there's also an Eiffell Tower there?!! Yeah, me either! I guess I wouldn't expect most of you to know that considering Paris is a staggering 2 hours northwest of Nashville. But since Paris hosts the World's Biggest Fish Fry in April (we missed it by one week darn it!) and might have one of the best lunch spots EVER, you might find yourself there one day. Oh and I can't forget to mention that beers average $1.95 in Paris. And no, that's not Happy Hour prices!

And I can't forget to mention Paris has ties to Hollywood! Cherry Jones, who plays the President on 24 is from Paris and is a local celebrity. Her picture is on every store front windown in downtown Paris.

And who doesn't love a small town feel? I'm not kidding, even the local fire department came out to the vacant site we were working at to see what we were doing.

Gotta' love small town America!! I'll post some pics when I get them from RNP. We have some great ones of a larger-than-life catfish, a man announcing his political opinions (clearly a far-far-far-right Republican), our camo hip waders, and a very fashionable PFD (personal flotation device).

Oh and I can't finish this post without a shout-out to Pauline's. Pauline's is the most amazing lunch spot!! Everyday they have home-made quiche, soups, gooey-buttery-warm rolls (brought home 3 in my suitcase), and an entire case full of homemade pies, cakes, and puddings (new ones each and every day!). We love Pauline's and hope to see her again one day....well maybe.

My 1st Post

I've been wanting to start a blog for a long time, but I guess was just too lazy to start one. And while I was working this past week, I finally decided I needed to bite the bullet and do this. I really love to share findings with friends and frankly anyone who will listen (now that I travel a lot by myself, I've become one of those people who will talk your ear off about shopping and random things if you let me). I definitely don't think I'm what you would call a smart person (I got good grades in school, but found it really difficult), but I will toot my horn in saying that I'm really observant, have a good memory, and really like current events (does celebrity and fashion news count as current events?). So I thought this would be a great outlet for me to share simple stories of my life, my travels, my little findings and advice, and just weird stuff (and bad luck stuff) that happens to me ALL THE TIME!

I would wager that no one but a few friends, co-workers, my Mom, and my mother-in-law will read this, but that's okay. I feel just a little bit cooler saying, "hey, check out my blog! You might laugh at what I have to say or maybe just at me!"

Enjoy!

p.s. Oh and I can't forget that this whole blog thing came up while low-flow groundwater sampling in Tennessee with RNP. Thanks for pushing me to finally do it! :)