Me... at 30

I know, it's been a while... but life has been hectic lately. Just two months into living at our new house we were victims to a burglary! Luckily we were not home and nothing was stolen, as our alarm scared off the d-bag who kicked down our back door (the door was on the FLOOR!) presumably in search of some crack money.

Aside from the paranoia at every bump in the night, the other reasons I've been neglecting my blog are happy ones...

I was busy interviewing for what promises to be an amazing new job - and I start next week! It is a rapidly growing company in an industry poised for explosion. The company a really entrepreneurial work environment and lots of advancement potential. Oh, and I will have a prestigious new title and much better salary - wins all around! I will miss all the amazing people and fun environment at my old job, but I am super stoked about this opportunity.

Aaaand last week I turned 30! So happy birthday to me with an awesome new career ahead - can't think of a better birthday gift to myself (since I can now afford more shoes, of course!).

I had been really dreading this milestone birthday all year, but now that it's happened, it doesn't seem so depressing anymore.

Maybe turning 30 didn't seem so bad because I had such a great time doing it! Since this birthday meant becoming a real adult to me, I thought it would be fun to celebrate in an adult-oriented but silly way. So I chose to celebrate at an adults-only, touristy dinner show (hey, when in Orlando...) called Treasure Tavern. It was such a great time! It was a variety show with contortionists, comedians, illusionists, dancers, singers, and lots of silly, in-your-face interaction with the audience. The food was pretty decent, too! Here's a pic of me with one of the cast - when I commented that we were both wearing pink, he corrected me on his attire - "It's salmon." After we took this pic on my iPhone, one of the other cast members grabbed my phone and posted a status update for me on my Facebook!

After the dinner show, we went downtown to Church Street to dance and count down to my birthday at midnight. It was really nice having Dustin, my mom, and some awesome friends, old and new, there to celebrate my official foray into old fogey-dom with some drinks and lots of dancing! :)

But the real reason turning 30 wasn't so bad, after all, is because I realized I'm not as far behind in life as I thought. All year long I felt the pressure of not being where I wanted to be in my career and not feeling anywhere close to ready to having kids when my Facebook feed full of photos of newborn babies and weddings is sending my biological clock into a tailspin. But now that I've arrived at the dreaded number, that's all it is, and I feel OK.

So many amazing things happened this year - in addition to landing a sweet new gig that will propel my career, 2012 marked a few other big feats - from getting engaged, to becoming a landlord, to running my first 5k (a small feat perhaps, but I loathed running my whole life until now)! All before I turned 30 - all in all, I would say it has been a productive year - and a great setup for me to kick off the next decade of my life!

Sugar: My Dark Passenger

As I sit at home tweeting my life away and half-watching Sunday night football in anticipation of tonight's episode of Dexter, it occurred to me that, like the show's namesake character, I have a dark passenger, too.

An evil addiction that seems to take control of my body and force me to indulge in bad behavior despite my conscious efforts to subscribe to a life contrary.

A craving that finds me sneaking out in the middle of the night sometimes to quiet that inner voice... the one that whispers darkly...

"Chocolate... cookies... candy... ice cream...

SUGAR!! GIVE ME SUGAR!!!"

OK, so maybe likening my sugar cravings to Dexter's bloodthirsty dark passenger is a bit over-dramatic, but I really feel sometimes like I have a little angel on one shoulder guiding me towards Whole Foods, and a little devil on the other taunting me with the fact that there's a Dairy Queen open till 2 a.m. just down the street from my new house.

Seriously, though, I have been striving increasingly over the last few years to embrace a healthy lifestyle - buying organic as much as I can afford, eating lots of fresh fruits and veggies, and avoiding processed foods and ingredients I can't pronounce. But every now and then I am overcome with an overwhelming desire for sweets - especially chocolate - and I never seem to be satisfied by a little taste.

Once I start, I tend to continue binging on whatever treat is in front of me until I feel physically nauseated or just disgusted with myself. I've been known to down whole tubes of raw chocolate chip cookie dough before ever getting to bake a single cookie. Just this evening, after doing my weekly grocery shopping and coming home with all of these wonderfully healthy items...

And ended up eating these not-so-healthy items (but man, they were soooo yummy - pretzels, Oreos, and potato chips dipped in chocolate!)...

 

I know sugar leads to a host of health problems (including quite possibly this annoying mystery forehead rash that keeps coming and going - more on that sometime later) - not just obesity and diabetes, but, as more recent research suggests, even heart problems, inflammation and brain impairment! I definitely feel the difference the next day at the gym when I'm dragging because I ate a ton of candy the night before instead of fruits for dessert. 

I truly enjoy eating healthy, and I feel so good when I do. There are so many delightful healthy dishes that I love to cook and love eating even more, so why do I still get and give into those cravings when I know they are so bad for me? It's an ongoing battle, and I eat much healthier most of the time than I used to, but sometimes I swear it's an alter ego taking over and reaching for that bag of M&Ms, not Heather.

I try not to keep unhealthy foods in the house, as I have no capability to ration them into reasonable portions and end up gobbling them up all at once, but I still end up making special trips to satisfy a craving when a piece of fruit won't curb the urge for sweets.

If anyone has any suggestions for how to kick the sugar habit, please let me know! 

I guess it's justified that I indulged in these sweet, fattening treats today, of all days - it is, after all, National Dessert Day! Isn't there always an excuse?  ;)

What's YOUR dark passenger? Is it a sweet tooth like mine, or (gulp) something worse? Maybe I shouldn't ask... feel free to comment anonymously if your comment is more Dexter than Willy Wonka. 

Fantasy Football FAIL

After enduring four football seasons at Dustin's side, passing the time getting lost in the depths of the internet in some endless Google conquest or or painting my toenails while he would drink beer and yell at the TV all day, I decided to finally give myself a reason to (kinda) pay attention to football. This year, I joined Dustin's Fantasy Football league.

I'm the lone girl in a league of 12, but I was lucky enough to get third pick in the draft. With the rankings (and Dustin) as my guide, I ended up with a lineup to make all of Dustin's friends jealous - Aaron Rodgers, Adrian Peterson, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, and a bunch of other guys I have a hard time remembering but who are apparently pretty bad-ass as well. Beyond my lucky picks, though, I am a complete dolt with this Fantasy Football stuff. It's a bit more involved than I had expected.

I thought once I picked my team in the draft that the "work" was over, that I was all set and would be able to just sit back and watch all my players do their victory dance for the next four months. That is, until Dustin sent me some frantic texts on the first day of Week 1 that I needed to set my lineup. My what?! I had to scramble to download the app to my prehistoric iPhone 3GS (iPhone 5 delivers in mere hours, baby!! woohoo!) and rearrange all my players to ensure the ones projected to score the most points were starting for me. 

During Week 1 I tried to diligently keep up with Adrian Peterson's health situation as his name had a big red "Q" next to it all weekend, and it still did as of Sunday morning, so I kept him on my bench. Of course I wasn't paying attention when he decided to play at the last minute, and I missed out on his incredible 20-point performance. 

But the real goof-up came tonight at the start of Week 3 starting. I had a kicker who was projected to make very few points this week so Dustin suggested I drop him and pick up a free agent. Now, I had only one kicker on my team to begin with so he was my starter by default. I went ahead and dropped him to pick up a kicker with a better projection, and I assumed that he would automatically be plunked down into the same starting spot where my castoff kicker had been. I then got distracted by the 13 other tabs I had open on Chrome (is there a Hoarders for internet surfing?) and continued browsing for window treatments and eye shadows.

Later on tonight I checked the score and noticed that I had less playtime left than my opponent, yet none of my players were in play. Hmmm.. that seems peculiar... so then I looked back at my lineup and saw a big fat NOTHING in my kicker spot!!

I scrolled down to the bottom of the page, and there he was, on my bench! And of course this kicker, Lawrence Tynes, was the only player on my team who was playing this evening instead of Sunday or Monday, so it was too late for me to move him into the starting spot - and too late for me to capture the TWENTY points that he scored (which I hear is pretty freakin' amazing for a kicker).  

I think it all boils down to the fact that the girly girl in me really just doesn't care all that much about football, so I haven't paid enough attention to really learn the Fantasy application or the minute-by-minute status of my players. The boys are starting to prey on my naivete, too - one of Dustin's best friends sent me a trade proposal tonight which I immediately forwarded to Dustin, who scoffed at the apparently ridiculous offer and sent his friend a snarky rejection text on my behalf. 

Despite my halfhearted interest in the game, I must admit it is fun to talk smack with the boys, since a lot of Fantasy Football success is determined by luck and I still have a decent chance at kicking their butts no matter how versed they are in scoring stats. And yelling at the TV is pretty fun, too!  :)

Produce Market Discovery - Dragon Fruit!

Every day since we moved into our house a few weeks ago, I've  driven by a market called Clemons Produce in our new neighborhood, but it's never open on Sunday evenings when I normally do my grocery shopping. I decided to stop in on my way home Saturday afternoon, just to see what the place was all about.

It's the cutest little market, with friendly staff and fresh, reasonably priced fruits and veggies from local farms and some other interesting snacks. What an amazing assortment of produce! I saw lots of exotic items I rarely find at the supermarket, and for much better prices. I had walked in without a basket, not really planning to do much shopping, but by the time I had walked all the aisles I was struggling to balance armfuls of assorted produce, Amish deli meats and cheeses (why has no one ever introduced me to kettle chicken before?! I can't wait to have my sandwich at work tomorrow), German spaetzle, and old-fashioned birch beer to take to the register.

As the cashier started ringing up my items, I noticed a sign that read "Cash or Checks Only." Uh oh! I only had $20 on me, and my deli items alone were going to cost me about $10. I had to sheepishly apologize and ask the cashier to cancel a couple fruits and the spaetzle, but I still managed to walk away with a couple full bags of fresh and healthy treats.

The most interesting discovery from my trip to Clemons was the curious looking dragon fruit! From the outside, it looks like some type of hot pink dinosaur egg meets alien plant - perhaps a cousin of the one from Little Shop of Horrors fame. I had tried some "dragon fruit" flavored candies before but had never seen a whole dragon fruit before. I just had to take one home, especially because it was pink!

Curious about the origin of this strange fruit (and clueless as to how to go about consuming it), I searched online for "dragon fruit" and came across the Wikipedia page for pitaya, which is the proper name. Apparently the pitaya grows on a species of cactus and is native to Mexico and South and Central America. The fruit is rich in Vitamin C and antioxidants as well as fiber. 

I followed the simple directions on Wikipedia and it easily sliced in half to reveal dalmation-esque flesh! The fruit inside is soft and white, with tons of tiny black seeds. The inside resembles a kiwi, but not green, and with lots more seeds.

I was able to effortlessly scoop the fruit out of each half and slice into cubes.

Then I returned the pieces to the little fuchsia "bowls" from which they came, and here I had a beautiful and nutritious dessert for two! The flavor is mildly sweet, like a melon, and the texture is just like that of a kiwi. 

What a funky fruit! I just love black and white polka dots, and combined with pink it's a winning style combo any day - I find it fascinating that this strikingly fashionable food occurs in nature! This would be wonderful to serve to company - it provides a gorgeous presentation all on its own and would make for an interesting conversation starter.

Proud (and exhausted) homeowners x2!!

This post is looooong overdue, but the last few weeks have been insanely hectic. I've been dragging my feet about writing this post because I'm just so freakin' tired all the time. August was a crazy but productive month. We closed on our second property, found tenants to lease our condo, moved out and cleaned up the condo in a whirlwind of a weekend, and moved (or at least dropped all our stuff in boxes all over the place) into our new home!

We are now officially landlords and legit real estate investors!

After many months stalking the MLS and even making a few offers sight-unseen, we finally achieved our goal to buy another piece of real estate. We are trying to buy at least one per year - let's see if we can keep it up!

I hesitated to mention this home purchase until after closing because you never know when a deal might fall through at the last second. This actually happened to us a few months ago, but it ended up working out to our benefit.  We were fully approved and a week away from closing on a cute downtown bungalow when the termite inspector literally told us "Don't buy this house." He looked at us like the house was about to fall down. We immediately backed out and lost some money from the inspections and appraisal. Disappointed and desperate to buy something, I was then on the home-buying rebound, ready to pounce on any listing I could afford. Luckily I had Dustin around to veto my interest in any less-than-stellar deals.

Finally in July we found a helluva deal on a 3/2 in the cozy Conway neighborhood, just south of downtown Orlando. Because we had already completed the underwriting process for the termite-infested house, we were fully approved (versus the typical pre-approved) for our mortgage, which made our offer on the house a slam dunk - much more attractive to the seller because we can close quickly.

It's a bank-owned home, so we were able to purchase it well below the price per square foot of other recent comparable sales in the area. The house is a solid 1960s home with real, original wood floors and updates to the rest of the interior (except a tacky green and yellow guest bathroom that does not deserve to be pictured). It's in a quiet, well-maintained area within the desirable Boone High School district... no, we are not planning on staying in this house THAT long - we just know that a house in a great school district will be an attractive rental or resale when we're ready to move out!

Here are some pics of the house:

Cute front porch

Huge living room

Updated but basic kitchen

Hey, pretty little house! You're mine!

Nice yard with lots of shade

Tiny master bathroom, but we'll make it work :(

TACKY guest bathroom - was the original owner an old Packers fan?!

It's 1,500 square feet, not including the huge laundry room, and has a carport and spacious backyard. After cramming into 1-bedroom condos for the last few years, we don't know what to do with all this space!

The house is in excellent condition overall, but it does need some work. We are anxiously awaiting our new windows (which are super expensive, BTW! waaah) so that we can finally close all of them properly and not run up the utility bill as our A/C works overtime during the hottest time of the year. Other than that we need some minor repairs here and there, and to give that hideous bathroom a modern makeover.

Oh, and we must keep lurking on Craigslist for furniture to fill all this empty space, since we spent all our cash on closing costs and windows!

I'll keep posting on the progress with the house and hope to be sharing some wedding plans soon... I promise to keep up on the blog more now that we're somewhat settled and finally have internet!

Eloping sounds so nice right now...

I think I’m missing the wedding planning gene.

You know, that inherent trait most girls have that gets them excited about throwing tea parties to get girlfriends together to create handmade party favors and invitations and other such crafty items. Or that makes them care about or want to scrutinize over the type of flowers or fabric of the table cloths. Or that programs them to think spending around $27,000 (the average cost of an American wedding!) on a single day of their lives is acceptable.

I find all of this terrifying, even nauseating.

I cringe at the notion of resurrecting arts and crafts class into adult form to make doilies or centerpieces – I can barely cut a straight line in a piece of paper and have no patience for gluing ribbons onto cardstock.
And I truly do not care whether the flowers perfectly match the place settings or the bridesmaid gowns.

I don’t even want to make these decisions or stress over them! All I really care about is having a fun, stress-free day with my hubby-to-be and our family and friends. And, of course, feeling gorgeous in a glamorous wedding gown! I am afraid that getting mired in the details will only set me up for disappointment when some of them inevitably fall short.

But what really turns my stomach is the cost. The thought of all the other ways I could productively use the money that's currently direct depositing into our "wedding fund" each week is unsettling and makes me question our sanity. Let's see... we could spend thousands of dollars to throw a big party for ONE night, or we could apply that money toward student loans, paying off my car, a down payment on an investment property, or even a future baby fund!

A couple of my friends are also engaged and well ahead of me in planning their weddings... they also gripe about the expenses and how scary it is, yet they didn't hesitate to book their venues and submit a hefty deposit. How are they able to calmly sign their savings away? When my travel agent sends me quotes for the different all-inclusive resorts we're considering for our proposed destination wedding, I keep finding ways to stall her and delay putting any money down. By the time I do come around, the date I have in mind will probably be taken.

Perhaps it would be a bit less daunting if the wedding costs among the various resorts were easier to compare. It's not even apples to oranges - it's like comparing apples to eggs to shredded cheese!

Part of the reason we're leaning toward a destination wedding is to avoid getting caught up in the details of planning. But just choosing a resort requires a lot of thought, as all of the resorts charge for their wedding packages in VERY different ways. Some packages include almost everything you need, while others offer more of a cafeteria style selection, in which you have to choose among different levels of service or luxury. Then you need calculate how many guests above the wedding package limit you plan to bring, for whom you'll need to pay extra per plate, plus the cost of each table which seats 8 at one resort but only 6 at another, plus liquor fees per person per hour (wait - I thought these were "all-inclusive" resorts?!)... but then you can subtract some of these costs if you have enough guests to book a certain number of room nights, which seems impossible to calculate when I don't know who's coming and in what room arrangements... and the list of fees, upgrades, and complex formulas goes on...

I aced AP Calculus, but all this math is making me dizzy! I tried to compile a spreadsheet to compare what the wedding would cost us based on scenarios of different numbers of guests and the different packages and perks associated with each of the resorts. Instead of helping me to feel more organized, this exercise triggered a mini meltdown! I became so overwhelmed, poring over the confusing wording of the brochures, unclear whether certain items are included, extra, or even necessary - the clarification of which could mean a difference of a few thousand dollars here and there!

I gave up and cried to Dustin that I didn't even want a stupid wedding anymore. But once I got over my tantrum and the sticker shock, I thought back to why I wanted a wedding in the first place - to celebrate our love with those closest to us. And our love is pretty awesome - definitely worth celebrating, in my opinion.

So maybe devoting one very expensive day to making it official isn't so silly, after all...

Homemade birthday treats for my baby!

Dustin's birthday was Monday. I love when his birthday comes around, not only because it means he and I are the same age for a little while (I'm 8 months older), but also because I get to have fun shopping for him and making him yummy treats! 

This year, since we're saving up for our wedding and also in the process of buying a house (Yes! I think we are actually about to seal the deal, but I won't get too excited till the closing date is set), we decided to scale back a bit on the presents. I bought him something small, but I felt like it wasn't enough to honor my favorite boy on his special day, so I decided to cook up a smorgasbord of birthday treats that didn't cost much but made for a very happy fiance.

First, I surprised Dustin when he arrived home from his vacation with some Birthday Cake Oreo bark! It was sooo easy to make and even more delicious. 

Birthday Cake Oreo Bark

All you need to make some Oreo bark is about 9-10 oz. of white chocolate, parchment paper, and a box of Oreos - in this case, the limited edition Birthday Cake flavor. Be sure to buy real white chocolate that contains cocoa butter, not that fake "white candy confection" crap! Quality matters when it comes to my candy! I chose Baker's Premium White Chocolate squares from the baking aisle. 

1. Chop up all the Oreos into quarters, and then randomly chop again to get smaller pieces of random sizes. 
2. Line an 8x8 in. pan or baking dish with parchment paper.
3. Melt the white chocolate in a medium saucepan over low heat. It's easier to melt if you break the chocolate into smaller pieces before putting it over the heat.
4. Once the white chocolate is liquefied, remove from heat, and stir in 80% of the Oreo bits.
5. Pour the delicious mixture into the parchment-lined pan, and try not to lick the spoon!
6. Sprinkle the remaining 20% of Oreos on top of the mixture. 
7. Optional - if you have some rainbow sprinkles handy, add these on top for a pop of fun color.
8. Chill the pan of Oreo bark in the fridge for at least an hour or until hardened. 
9. To serve, simply stab the Oreo bark with a fork to break it up into snack-size pieces, and place into a pretty candy dish of your choice!

Notice the little flecks of color - that's from the "Birthday Cake" Oreo filling! Yum!

I found a cute and colorful little Happy Birthday box at Dollar Tree that made a perfect container for my Birthday Cake Oreo bark!

All of this cost me about $10 - not bad when you consider that one small piece of Oreo bark at Godiva can run you about $6! 

In addition to the Oreo bark, I also cooked Dustin a romantic birthday breakfast and a fancy dinner that cost me very little as well! Here are the recipes I used, FTW!

Breakfast - Eggs in a Basket - just like the ones in V for Vendetta

I followed the recipe but added my own loving twist by cutting heart shapes out of the bread instead of plain old circles. I free-styled it, so my hearts came out a little funny looking, but full of love nonetheless. I served on a plate with lots of halved strawberries to add to the heart effect. The lightness of the strawberries also made a nice, healthy contrast to the buttery eggs and toast versus the usual bacon we eat on the side! This dish was cheap to make - organic strawberries were on sale for $3.99 and I used only half of them. I used a total of 4 slices of whole wheat bread and 4 cage-free organic eggs, so that must add up to maybe $0.75 worth, right?  Add some fresh squeezed OJ and it was about a $5 breakfast for two when you factor in all the leftover ingredients I was able to use later in the week.

Dinner - Cornish Game Hens with Garlic and Rosemary

This recipe is super delish and surprisingly easy to make, considering how tasty and impressive it is! The recipe is simple with just a few ingredients, but the combination of the garlic, lemon, and rosemary provides a burst of robust flavor that enhances the chicken and goes great with a mild side like rice or potatoes.

It also makes for a pretty cheap dinner - the cornish hens were 2 for $7, and I already had garlic and lemon on hand. I bought some rosemary for $2, and some white/wild rice for $1.50. I served with some salad on the side, which I always keep around the house.

In total I'd say it was about $12 for a fancy dinner at home for two. Add a bottle of cheap white wine and you're dining big at home for $20.

Overall, it was a successful birthday full of delicious food, savings, and one satisfied hubby-to-be!

 

Chocolate Therapy?! Yes, Please!

What happens when a hungry Heather goes to Target with a shopping list full of non-food items? She comes away with maybe half the items on her list, plus an assortment of half-opened, usually sugary snacks that couldn't wait till checkout to be sampled. Oh, fudge!

I really ought to keep a healthy snack on me at all times, or ban myself from going to the store right before dinnertime. I always end up buying all kinds of junk that is soooo not part of my regular healthy eating regimen (which I've all but abandoned since Dustin's been out of town), even though I am conscious that I'm not possibly going to want all of this stuff tonight... well maybe if I skip dinner...

There seemed to be a plethora of intriguing and tempting new chocolate concoctions beckoning me from the shelves of Target this evening. Maybe it's because Dustin is out of town and I've had a stressful week, but all the chocolatey products really seemed to call out to me today. Chocolate is my favorite comfort food!

As I strolled down the aisles, I discovered a whole bunch of new products tonight - not sure if they are all that new, but they are now on my to-devour list.

First, I encountered Jet-Puffed MALLOW BITES in three chocolatey flavors! Chocolate Mint, Chocolate Royale, and German Chocolate Cake. The German Chocolate Cake ones sounded the yummiest, especially because it has coconut flakes on the outside, so I decided to take only that flavor home - for less than $2, how could I resist?

Then, a bit further down the aisle, I spotted new hot cocoa from Starbucks in fancy flavors like Toasted Marshmallow, Salted Caramel, and Double Chocolate. That Salted Caramel sounded really tempting, but at $5.99 a box I decided to pass. I'll wait till I find a coupon for this one.

I kept prancing down the aisles, completely oblivious to the rest of the items on my shopping list, adding sweet treats to my cart instead of things I needed. At one point I had all of these items pictured ready for purchase.

Hmmm... a bit excessive... I eventually ditched the Magnum bars (which I have yet to try, but they seem heavenly in those commercials with Rachel Bilson chasing down the truck) and the Cookies n Cream Goldfish. I kept the Vanilla Cupcake Goldfish, the Mallow Bites, and the new Ben & Jerry's CHOCOLATE THERAPY ice cream! 

Chocolate Therapy was just what I needed tonight! This new release from our favorite ice cream guys in Vermont contains chocolate ice cream with chocolate cookies and chocolate pudding. All three are delicious on their own, and rolled together they make one hell of a fix for a chocoholic like me. It has made the perfect accompaniment to my summer reading.... hehe....

Oh, just another night at home, sans fiance

Yes, I finally did pick up a copy of 50 Shades of Grey. I'm about 150 pages in so far, and I must say the book is entertaining, but in my opinion this Chocolate Therapy is far more satisfying. 

I'll reserve any further opinions on the book until I'm done with it... now, back to my chocolate!

Attack of the creepy critters!

We live in Florida, and with the subtropical climate and disproportionate number of beach days per year come insects - lots of insects. I don't know why I am so squeamish around them, having grown up here, but I am. It's completely irrational and annoyingly girly of me, but I have a huge phobia of bugs - particularly cockroaches. It's one thing to see them outside, but I feel violated when they make their way into my home.

When I see a roach, I am like those silly elephants in Dumbo, scurrying atop chairs and climbing poles to get away from a "terrifying" little mouse - I could totally crush that little bugger, but I have some deep-rooted fear (mixed with disgust) that this roach could very well do me bodily harm... somehow...

Got this cute image from  http://www.shopzeus.com/product.php?sku=zeusd1-KIMR-1228966 

Anyway, whenever something bigger than an ant comes crawling or flying into my territory, which is pretty seldom, I always run the other way and frantically implore Dustin to do the dirty work of squashing/flushing/etc. So how is it that we rarely see any creepy crawlies in our 4th floor condo, but since Dustin went out of town 3 days ago, I have been "greeted" by 3 different types of bugs?!

It's like they were just waiting in their dark, damp crevices, plotting to pounce as soon as I dropped Dustin off at the airport.

First, I was doing laundry on Thursday night and started to pick a towel up off the floor only to see a huge roach scurry out from under it! I immediately dropped the towel back onto the offender and began to fret about the house, wondering what to do next. I needed to get something big and heavy to squash it, a notion that thoroughly grosses me out.

After pacing the house squeamishly, I identified my weapons of choice:

A dustpan and a tap shoe. Makes sense, right?

I returned gingerly to the battleground, using both of my weapons as makeshift tongs to carefully lift the towel again, and... the bug was gone! It must have snuck under the dryer, or back behind the walls where he snuck in from in the first place (ugh... makes me shudder). I slammed the tap shoe down on the floor a bunch of times hoping it would stir the critter back out into the open, but it never returned... today I am still wary of entering the bathroom (where our washer/dryer are located) - I tiptoe through every time I enter since I saw it a few days ago.

And since then, a spider with long skinny legs has shown up, as well as a few really tiny little flying bugs that keep buzzing in my face! They look kinda like fruit flies but I have no fruit sitting out, so I have no idea why they've taken residence here. I think the BUG-opalypse has descended upon me! :(

But these are mere nuisances compared to the big one that is lurking inside the bathroom somewhere... I just hope it doesn't rear its ugly little head again until Dustin is back to take care of it for me!

And I'll eat all the chocolate... today, 'cause you're not around

Dropped Dustin off at the airport this morning, for his 10-DAY vacation without me. That lucky duck gets twice as many vacay days as I do, plus all those bank holidays that non-bank corporations rarely recognize. But does he really have to use them all?

I know, I know, he's attending a close friend's wedding and then visiting his parents, and I'm staying here to conserve not only vacation time but money since we've got our own wedding to plan. It makes sense for me to stay home, but it sucks!!

So here I am at home, wondering what to do for the next week and a half... I've gotten so used to doing just about everything with him, especially since we're new to Orlando and don't have many friends here yet.

Is anybody else frustrated with how hard it is to make new friends once you're out of school? We're starting to wonder if we're really that boring... I mean, we do spend most of our nights serial-watching borderline-pornographic dramas on HBO (really, the rampant sex on Game of Thrones has become a bit ridiculous!) or walking our dog around Lake Eola in our sweatpants after dinner as the rest of the 20-somethings are gearing up to hit the nightclubs on Church Street - but isn't that what most long-term couples do? Umm... yeah, I guess we are pretty lame.

But I'm perfectly content - and super comfortable - with our lameness, because we are happily lame together. So when Dustin just up and leaves on me for several days, I panic just a little. I love coming home to his big hugs and cheerful "Hey babe!" every evening after work. It's going to be a lonely night tonight without having him around to cuddle (perhaps a call to the Snuggery is in order... totally kidding!).

Who will be there to steal the yummiest bite of dinner from my plate that I was saving for last on purpose? And who will be there to tune the TV to Sportscenter on sleep timer right before we go to bed, and then turn it right back on as soon as we open our eyes the next morning? Hell, I really don't even know how to use the remote control anymore, since Dustin always monopolizes the TV for his sports!

Hmm... maybe this won't be so bad, after all... there's lots of stuff I can do that I never seem to get around to when Dustin's here. Like shopping the latest sales on Gilt, painting my nails, watching Clueless for the 7000th time. Putting on that mud mask that makes me sooo not sexy. Eating ALL those Birthday Cake Oreos I bought today. Indulging in a Say Yes to the Dress marathon. Maybe I'll finally catch up with the rest of you girls and read 50 Shades of Grey. 

It's a ME retreat!

What do YOU like to do when your significant other is away?

P.S. - If you recognized that my headline was from a No Doubt song called "Panic" and not just me fiending for chocolate (which wouldn't be all that unlikely), you rock!

"Today is going to be easy
Today 'cause you're not around
I'll leave off my make up
I'll sleep in my bed
To pass all the time by
Today 'cause you're not around"
-Gwen Stefani

P.P.S. - I miss you already, babe. Bring on the ESPN!

Settle Down! No Doubt is back on the airwaves

I'm so excited! No Doubt, my favorite band in the whole world, is finally releasing a new album for the first time in 11 years!

No Doubt provided the soundtrack to my adolescence - it's hard to believe it's been 16 years since I first discovered their eclectic brand of ska-pop-rock and became a lifetime devotee to Gwen's spunky fashion sense. I'm stoked that Gwen, Tony, Tom, and Adrian returned to the studio after getting married and having babies to produce some new tunes!

The band's new single, "Settle Down," debuted today on iTunes. It totally rocks! It evokes a throwback to the group's old-school punky Tragic Kingdom era style blended with the reggaeton beats of their last album, Rock Steady, infused with a fresh, international vibe I can't quite put a finger on and Gwen's signature undulating vocals. It's still pop-sugary and radio-friendly but definitely more rockin' than, say, "Hey Baby" or any of Gwen's solo songs.

The music video premieres tonight on E! at 8 p.m., on a special hosted by Ryan Seacrest. I can't wait!

You can listen to the new single on the official No Doubt website. 

What do you think of the new song and video? Leave your comments below!

Here’s to blogging - just because!

Let’s try this blog bit one more time…

I’m back, for no particular reason, and it feels great! Let me explain…  A pained perfectionist to the core, I have a debilitating tendency to NOT do anything until or unless I feel 100% confident in it. This is what has kept me from blogging (and accomplishing many other items on my bucket list, but we’ll save that self analysis for another day), despite my love for writing, for all these years…

Here I am, on the wrong side of 29 years old and still a mere infant here on the blogosphere. It’s not like blogging never crossed my mind – it has many times over the years, demonstrated by the dozens of unrealized blog ideas wasting away on a list buried somewhere in My Documents  – but I always wanted my blog to have a unique and meaningful theme. I wanted my blog to contribute something to the world, or at least make its own tiny mark on pop culture.

Me in pink among the pink flora at the Bablyon Park Rose Garden in San Diego, May 2012 :)

A true “light bulb” idea never struck me, but I was still stuck on the idea of having a theme. I decided to go with something lighthearted and fun, and very… well… ME. So last year, I finally started a blog – “Glimmer in Pink,” a playful tribute to my favorite girly things in the girliest of hues – but abandoned it after only a couple months. I was going through some stressful life events at the time, and constantly searching for pink stuff to write about became trivial to me, not to mention exhausting!

A return to blogging has been on the tip of my typing fingers for quite some time now, but to give myself a better chance of success I’ve decided to do a little rebranding and let loose on the theme. As of today, “Glimmer in Pink” is now “Practical and Pink” – which is actually a good way to describe me: down-to-earth most of the time, but a girly girl all of the time. A bargain hunter and glamazon rolled into one.

On this blog, you’ll find posts about life with my fiancé, Dustin, and random musings about becoming a real grownup – along with my opinions on fashion, beauty, health, and saving money. Probably nothing groundbreaking, but hopefully something relatable.

Most importantly, today I begin blogging again with a new attitude – So what? So what if my blog doesn’t change the world? So what if there are already tons of personal blogs out there?  I’m just here to be me. That’s all! If you find my posts amusing, that’s awesome. If not, no big deal – this blog is really for me!

So... welcome, and happy reading!