She’s gone country

The drive to Indiana started out ok.

I got my traditional breakfast of Dunkin Donuts egg white turkey sausage flatbread along with a cup of joe (but with an extra shot of espresso)

And I gotta say, not a fan of their flatbread they’ve been using recently. I noticed they changed it in the past year. The bread now seems tougher and lacks the flavor of the previously one used. Thank God, Lincoln was the only one in the car with me while eating this because it was one of the unsexiest things I’ve devoured. I was practically gnawing at the sandwich just trying to get one bite. I must write DD soon and voice my opinion because unsexy flatbreads aren’t good for anyone.

Homeboy looks confused why I am trying so hard for a little bite of food.

So, I drove. The drive heading west into Tennessee moved very slow due to the rain in the mountains but once we went across the TN border, it turned into a gorgeous and peaceful  day.

Until I turned on the radio.

All country, all the time. Ok, I lie, all country and Christian rock music. These Christian rock folk are sneaky too. I would be jammin to the song then all of a sudden I listen to the lyrics and hearing about sacrificing, loving Jesus, etc. I am all for the J man but not with music. Especially when I was listening to Nine Inch Nails “Closer” a half hour before. So the country came on and  I listened Mostly because I was too lazy to grab a cd or turn on Pandora. I like torturing myself like that. Then “Strawberry Wine” by Deanna Carter came on. I haven’t heard that song in ages and wore out the cd “Did I Shave My Legs For This?” when I was in high school. I actually still use that saying whenever I have a bad date. I’m not a country music gal at all but I did go through a small stage in high school and time after college where it’s all I listened to. I blame this on working at Roadhouse Grill as a hostess and dating a guy from Texas, respectively. I listened to the country station after that and heard a song and thought it was cute. I was thinking to myself “Please don’t be Taylor Swift, please don’t be Taylor Swift” and yeah, it turned out to be “Mean” by the Swift bunny. Grrr. I don’t like that girl. I don’t know if it’s because she is so tall, lanky, looks like an evil bunny rabbit (I affectionately call her Donnie Darko), that we share the same birthday or that she does the love sign with her hands all the time when I was doing it way before her but I just don’t like her. Yet, I was jammin to her song and contemplated downloading the song.

Maybe I can get on board with country music?

Not only was the music a let down, the snack department was disappointing. I grabbed this Oikos greek yogurt from the fridge since I  could always use a container of protein loving

I think I’ve been spoiled by Chobani because no other greek yogurt comes even close to theirs. Like the Yoplait yogurt I tried a few weeks ago, I wasn’t a fan of the Oikos.

I brought a coconut water with me

Nasty as well. I struggled just to choke down 1/3 of this and poured the remainder out at a rest stop. It wasn’t overly sweet or tart, it was just nasty and not like other coconut water I’ve tried. I will be staying away from the passion fruit flavor in the future.

In true Frugal Friday fashion, lunch was free! When in Kentucky, I stopped for gas and when I went in to go pay for a Diet Coke, I saw this sign

Oh, it was on. Gas station pizza may not be the best option for lunch but I’m not one to turn down pizza.

Look at those mini puddles of grease sitting on the pepperoni, yum.After a few blots of a napkin, Lincoln and I shared the piece then went on our way through Kentucky.

The drivers in Kentucky were crazy—the speed limit was 70 mph and I was going 80 mph but I felt like everyone else was going at least 90mph. I kept getting over in the right hand lane to let people pass and I’m not going to go off on a rant but some people out there really need to learn that the left lane is passing lane. You don’t just sit there and hang out. If someone is behind you, move over and let them go. I cannot stand the coasters.

I was getting a bit worried because I had a coupon for Chick Fil A that I wanted to use for a free dinner but didn’t see any in the state.

I kept thinking to myself “What is Kentuckys beef with Chick Fil A?” and then bam-I saw a billboard for it. And the angels were watching over me because I saw there was a Starbucks at the same exit and believe I raised my hands in the air while exiting saying “Praise Jesus” which I never say. I blame this on Melissa from Real Housewives of New Jersey and her Jesus talk. I got my salad to go, along with a cup of ice to keep it cold since I wouldn’t be eating it until later then got some caffeination.

For those of you who want to see what Louisville looks like, here you go:

 

 

That cup of ice that I got at Chick Fil A came in handy big time. When I was an hour south of Indianapolis, traffic came to a dead stop and went to one lane then slowly started to move again and went back to two lanes. Why not do construction on a major road leading to Indianapolis on not only Memorial Day Wknd but Race Wknd as well (Indy 500 is on Sunday) So, we were back at two lanes but 20 minutes went by and we didn’t move at all. I start to get a little agitated with this, not only do I have to pee, my butt was asleep and there was a creepy trucker next to me waiving at me. I looked up traffic online and turns out that there was a big rig carrying hazardous materials heading south on I-65 that overturned and went into the northbound lane, so northbound was completely shut down. We sat there for another hour before traffic returned to normal and I could do the minimum speed again. All I could do was stare at Lincoln and wish that I could have someone driving me around (and that I had a furry bed like his)

I got to my sisters house and took a bubble then enjoyed my salad.

 

I was disappointed with the salad. The lettuce didn’t taste fresh and it was meh at best. And don’t think just because I was on the road I didn’t score some condiment loving

 

 

 

I leave you with two items that I can’t wait to try:

 

Do you like country music?

What do you do to pass time when you’re stuck in traffic?

Bark for Life

I like dogs and hate cancer so on Saturday, Lincoln and I woke up early to do the American Cancer Society Bark for Life walk. The walk was being held to raise money for cancer and until the day of, I wasn’t sure if it was for doggie cancer or human cancer but regardless, raising money for any kind of cancer is a good thing. You could register as part of team or individually, which I did since I didn’t know anyone else who was doing it.

We were one of the first ones to arrive, which gave us a lot of time to check our the different sponsors and vendors plus get some swag!

My first time trying Cake Batter fro yo–amazing!

You can bet your sweet butt, I stuffed as many as I could in my purse then took a couple of trips to my car to drop off!

Soon, the area filled up with all kinds of dogs

There were big dogs

…..and small dogs

….and even dressed up dogs!

I thought of my favorite dachshund Basil when I saw these dolled up pups

Lincoln wasn’t doing too well with the outrageous number of dogs and people there, he can be a bit skiddish at times

But once I grabbed him in my arms and carried him around like a baby he was fin

Dog has me wrapped around his finger paw I tell you.

Soon, we were off walking, the walk was a 1.57 mile walk around Uptown Charlotte starting across the street from Bank of America stadium

(source)

When I took this picture, I had to stop myself from laughing. All the dogs were going crazy sniffing everything in sight. I pictures one of e dogs finding a human hand or foot and cue in the Law and Order music–it reminded of a situation that would kick off an episode. Anyone else? No? Just me? Ok.

It was the perfect day for a walk! There were a lot of bitches for Lincoln to hit on, sights to see such as the Carolina Panthers practice field, skyline of Uptown Charlotte and Bank of America Stadium, where the Panthers play when they decide to show up.

Frugal Friday-And we’re back!

After a (not so) Frugal Friday last week, the savings are back!

*When I stopped in Summersville, WV on Wednesday, the Bob Evans had a sweet 75% off sale on their Christmas goodies

 

literally, it was sweet

Four items for $3-nothing wrong with that!

Tip: You never know where you will find sales. Always be on the lookout!

*I Wrote So Delicious a few weeks ago to tell them how much I loved their coconut milk. I straight up asked if they had any coupons they could send me since I am a thrifty girl and my wish was granted….tons and tons of coupons for their products!

I got a half-gallon of their coconut milk for $1.99 after the coupon

Tip: If you like a product, write a letter to the company and let them know! Companies get so many negative letters they are happy to see positive words and will most likely send you coupons if you ask for them.

*I checked my mail the other day and it looked like a bunch of junk but turns out, it was coupon heaven for different places in the area like Smoothie King, Burger King, Einstein’s, McDonald’s and Bruegger’s

I also found this coupon from Chick-Fil-A in the mail and redeemed it for lunch on Thursday.

Instead of buying a side, I brought some Terra Chips to the office with me and had a free lunch! I also snagged some extra buffalo sauces from Chick-Fil-A.  I sometimes show some skin to the Chick-Fil-A guy in exchange for a good number of  fat-free honey mustard dressings but this time around, I kept my scarf and coat on! Hooray for not pimping myself out for condiments!

Tip: Looks can be deceiving! Always check your mail to see what deals could be hidden inside.

*I stopped at Big Lots while in Pittsburgh and found a ton of cheap finds! I could go to my Big Lots in Charlotte or South Carolina but you never know what another Big Lots is going to have and I didn’t mind toting everything back home.

Seriously had to stop myself from buying 10 bags of each

Tip: Don’t fear the Big Lots, love and embrace the Big Lots…..just be sure to check the expiration dates!

*When I checked my mail, I saw that my gas bill had come. I dread opening up the gas bill because it has been ridiculously expensive the past few months. I used to pay for energy only and didn’t have to worry about the gas bill so you can be sure the next place I look to live at will be energy only no separate bills for gas and energy.

I opened the bill while wincing away and saw this beautiful number:

Can I get a woot woot??!! March was a bit warmer but I live in an older house that just doesn’t want to warm up so I was stoked to see that I cut down on my bill by 55%

Tip: Turn down the heat! I started to turn the thermostat down to 63  when I left for work then turned it up to 66 or 67 degrees when I got home. I usually walk around in a t-shirt and yoga pants but would have on a long-sleeved shirt, sweatshirt, pants and socks to stay warm. Plus having a portable space heater like Lincoln doesn’t hurt either!

Some freebies I found this wk:

*Get a free pouch of Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice

*Click here for a free sample of  FiberChoice.

*Like Aveeno? Check out their site for a free shampoo and conditioner sample!

What do you do to keep your gas bill low ?

Anyone else show some skin for condiments or am I the only one?

Happy savings!

Frugal Friday-Random savings!

Happy Friday all! This week has been a hectic one and am sure happy to sit back and relax. Oops, hold on, I won’t be relaxing….at all. I have an out-of-town baby shower to go to tomorrow, have to go into work on Sunday morning since I am off three days next week and then an eye appointment on Sunday afternoon. I am hoping I get a few hours to kick back on Sunday but that’s up in the air right now. Enough boring, busy talk–let’s talk savings!

*Ulta coupon–$3,50 off of a $10 purchase

I went to Ulta for eyeliner and mascara and saw that there was a sale on Loreal products–Buy One, Get One 50%. I’m not a huge fan of the BOGO 50% off because I feel like I see it more often now as opposed to the BOGO free that I love so much but I will take any kind of discount. I got an eyeliner and a mascara and when I went to check out, the lady told me I could get $4 off from my Ulta Rewards points. 

 I got the $3.50 off then another $4 which resulted in a total of $6.23 for two items–not too shabby!

*Mani and Pedi for $25

Thanks to Groupon of course!

This Groupon was set to expire soon and I had to use it up and Wednesday night was the only time they could fit me in. Fine with me but I was kinda freaking out since I called in sick on Wednesday. If I ran into someone from work, my excuse was going to be they give killer hand and foot massages at the salon.

I heard about OPI Shattered on A Girl & Her Mutt and have been intrigued ever since. I mentioned it to the nail tech and she said that one of the girls brought in a bottle and that she would put it over my color. I got red and you know what?

My nails matched my purse. Why try to find shoes that match when your nails match?

*Target coupon book

I love Target so much but the fact they send me coupon books in the mail makes me love them even more. The great thing is that these are store coupons so I can use manufacturer coupons as well for extra savings!

*Free Spicy Chicken Biscuit at Chick-Fil-A

I got this text from Chick Fil A on Wednesday and was stoked. I am festive and planned on wearing green anyways so be festive plus get a free breakfast? Sign me up!

*CVS Extra Bucks

I love CVS Extra Bucks. If you don’t know, it works like this: You buy your item at the normal price then if they are offering Extra Bucks for purchasing it, you get that amount back on your receipt for your next visit. The offer I saw was for CVS brand night-time cream so I paid $15.99 for it and got $5 to use during another visit to CVS.

*Food Network Magazine

I got the subscription for free  with my Coke Rewards I’ve been collected. Often I forget that I have magazine subscriptions so when I get it in the mail, it’s a nice little surprise!

*Muse CD

I love Muse but recently realized I have most of their cd’s except for The Resistance. Being the frugal girl I am, I went onto my library’s website to see if they had it, requested and two days later it was ready for me. Our library lets you check out the cd’s for four weeks so you get a good bit of time. It’s a great way to find new music and get music for free!

What savings have you come across this week?

Do you check out books, cd’s or movies at your library?

Happy savings!

Frugal Friday–Deals, deals and more deals

Hey everyone–happy frickin Friday! Why does it seem like when I have a short week, it goes so much slower than a normal week? Maybe I am the only one like this? Who knows, it sucks so I’m stoked Friday is here! Thanks everyone for putting in your two cents on how you keep things organized–I got alot of good tips and ideas out of it!

Some of my deals from this past week….

 *Chick Fil A yogurt parfait +Dasani water for free thanks to my snazzy Chick Fil A calendar

It was a good size but I was expecting more than just one fruit, like some blueberries as well

And I finally got a chance to check out their new ketchup packaging!

I had to snag some for the road

Also, be sure to check out Chick Fil A’s Fry Day next Friday March 4th!

*Free dog treats

Ok, so Lincoln barks his non existent balls off anytime someone is near my front door or knocks on it. And I guess this applies to when my mailman/woman visits each day. He or she puts dog treats on top of my mailbox for Lincoln since I guess they can hear him everyday. At first I had no clue what these were and naturally thought I had a stalker since I am so awesome but I finally took one, sniffed it and realized they were dog treats. How sweet is that?

*Double coupons at Harris Teeter

I found the following:

Silk Pure Almond Milk – $.50

Minute  Brown Rice-$.55

Yo Crunch Fruit Parfait-free!

These are yummy but so tiny they end up being only four spoonfuls

*Sabra Hummus-$2

Athenos Greek Yogurt-$.65 each

Two packs of chicken breasts $7.88

 

Old El Paso tortillas $1

*Free dinner from Earthfare

I signed up for Earthfare’s email club and got this free dinner coupon. You spend $10 and you get a bag of baby carrots, mashed potatoes and either whole chicken or veggie burgers for free!

I spent $12 on the following

Vegan nuggets

Carolina Slaw

Bigelow White Chocolate Kisses hot tea

Yogi Bar

then got all of this for free

The vegan nuggets were absolutely terrific–just like chicken taste and consistency wise-win!

This was a fantastic value and worked out to about four to five meals!

What deals have you found this week?

Interested in guest posting for Frugal Friday on how you save money? Let me know–simplyshaka@gmail.com

Happy Savings!

Is it so wrong?

To buy tempeh on sale for $2 yet have no idea what to do with it?

I made tempeh once and it was meh. I am willing to give it another shot sooooooo, if you have suggestions on how to cook up this bad boy–let me know!

To think that the idea of public restrooms are nasty? When you think about it, you’re within arms reach of another person doing one of three things (hopefully that’s all), it’s kinda nasty when I think about. Even with all the advances that modern-day bathrooms have made, it just doesn’t sit well with me knowing someone is right there and I can reach out to them if need me. And what’s up with people taking the stall right next to you when there are tons of other stalls open? Don’t worry, no pictures here.

To think that Chick-Fil-A’s new Spicy Chicken Biscuit isn’t even that spicy?

They really need to kick it up a notch since I threw buffalo sauce on there and was without a mouth on fire.

To have no plans for dinner? I whipped up a bowl of brown rice with a Laughing Cow wedge, bbq tofu and green onions and it was one of the most simple and fantastic things I’ve made yet.

To get sushi from Harris Teeter after seeing it made right in front of me even though I swore off their sushi after a bad experience?

Who cares if I’m not sticking to my guns–it was fantastic!

To like Jennifer Hudson chunkier? I think she looks so ordinary now and I don’t think I could spot her out of a crowd. Now that I think about it-add Drew Carey to the list.

(source)

(source)

To be proud of myself for not choosing fast food as drunk food? I went out for drinks with some of my old co-workers on Friday night after work to catch up on things. One of the guys bought me a Red Bull + vodka (which I haven’t had in ages) and enjoyed some $1 beers and it felt good to unwind since I never really do happy hour anymore. McDonald’s or Wendy’s would be my usual go to for drunk food but instead I went to Nothing But Noodles to use my last Groupon I had for it (they had an offer for $10 worth of food for $5 so I bought three last summer).

The noodles weren’t singing to me but I soon found out Nothing But Noodles is a bunch of liars because they did offer items other than noodles, who knew? Trying to be a healthy drunk, I ordered pot stickers and the Asian chopped salad and got a Diet Coke. I only had to pay $1.50 for all of that so I was a happy gal and was on my merry way to go scarf it down at home.

To still be unsure as to whether this was an orange or grapefruit?

It had qualities of both fruits and yes, while it was tasty, I don’t like how I couldn’t determine what it was.

To take a ridiculous amount of pictures of Lincoln just for shits and giggles?

That’s when he is looking at me that is. Most nights, this is my view of him

 

To dress like a homeless person all wrapped up at home so I don’t have to crank up the heat and drink wine straight out of the bottle?

Wait, don’t answer that one.

(Almost) Free Eats

Thanks everyone for the kind words regarding the new job! I am so excited to be moving into something different and am very much looking forward to it. Many of you know I have been wanting to get out for a while so this is long overdue and I am a little nervous about starting something new but also excited, like in a first day of school kind of way!

Lunch was on the cheap today. I didn’t make anything ahead of time but had two coupons sitting in my wallet, one for Chick Fil A and the other for Einsteins

The Einsteins Coupon was for free Pretzel Poppers with a beverage purchase. I only paid $1.87 for the drunk which made me smile since saving money has that effect on me.

Excuse my man hands in the picture—they look ginorm! These babies were really awesome—they came with a dijon honey mustard dipping sauce and were so soft and scrumptious! The only down side was that they had WAY too much salt for my liking but it was easy to brush off.

Chick Fil A is next door to Einsteins so I went there to redeem my “Free Fruit Cup and Water” coupon. I didn’t think pretzel poppers and fruit would be a substantial meal so I got an order of chicken nuggets when I was there. Luckily, the guy who likes to give me free fat free honey mustard was there and he hooked me up with a packet of that and then some. Never hurts to shake your tail feather for free sauce.

Christina would be proud!! I love Chick Fil A but I am not in her league regarding the eat more chickun establishment.

All of this for $4.90-nothing wrong with that!

This morning they made the announcement in our weekly meeting that I would be leaving and everyone was freaking out. Happy for me yet freaking out. Is it wrong that all of that made me happy? They were all like “Oh my god, what are we going to do without you?” and word caught on fast and soon I was being bombarded with IM’s, emails and calls asking if  it were really true. Business partners kept telling me again, how happy they were for me yet how was our team going to operate without me (I try to tell you all how big of a deal I am but no one wants to believe me! Ha!) and how I am their favorite person to work with. Again, it made me smile. It’s nice to know that I appreciated and will be missed.

Damn you leftover baby shower cupcakes. How cute is this??

I got out of work a little early for a change and walked over to Roly Poly where I had a coupon for a free sandwich. I’ve never been there before so I was excited to try something new! I got the Turkey Applejack-Turkey breast, melted jack cheese, apple butter, bacon, onion, mushrooms, fresh basil mayo, with a side of spicy honey mustard

O

M

G

Fan-flippin-tabulous. I wasn’t sure if I would go there again since their prices are a bit high for my taste but after tasting this, my vote has changed!

I paired up with peach bites and pretzel sticks

Modern Family is back! Modern Family is back! Modern Family is back! 

Did you know that Modern Family is back tonight? I am fully aware and went for a 3 mile walk right after dinner so I would be able to watch it without being lethargic from the big dinner. I’m happy to know I burned off the cupcake I inhaled earlier.

I was only going to go for a mile walk but just kept going. I went on a new route that was longer AND hillier than expected. I never noticed these hills before while driving but I would be steadily be walking then started to slow down a bit, get to the top of the hill, get excited because I was going downhill and then what do you know-another hill. This got my heart rate up there and it was nice to mix it up a bit.

 

Nothing like some frozen banana soft serve after a workout!

Also, I haven’t been tracking my food lately and I’m ok with that. I’ve been tracking on Livestrong.com for the past three years and it hasnt been working lately. I would get a tad neurotic if I didn’t track every single thing in and be bummed if I went over my calorie count for the day. I am still trying to stay aware of all that I eat but feel alot better mentally that I’m not tracking my food. We’ll see how this little experiment goes……

What some free food for yourself? For all my Mexican food lovers, click here to get a BOGO coupon at Qdoba, must use by 9.24

Happy hump day all!!

That’s What She Said

Thursday breakfast, I ate like a queen! I recently bought these Pops Mix It Strawberries flavored cereal. I am not much of a cereal person and if I do indulge, will have the healthy kind like Kashi Go Lean. Fruity Pebbles will forever be my favorite kind of sugary cereal —mostly because the milk gets a stained glass look afterwards and that’s just fun! But I never buy the Fruity Pebbles and only bought this kind since it was $1 for the bag.

 

It tasted good but didn’t keep me full at all.  When I got to work, I had plans to meet up with an old co-worker of mine for coffee. We went to Einsteins and when I got there I remembered that a coupon for free hash browns and free coffee when buying an order of Chicken Mini’s at Chick Fil A. If you don’t get their calendar and love the Chick Fil A, you need to get on that around Christmas time. It’s become tradition that my parents get me that every year and that’s fine with me b/c I am easy like that (that’s what she said). Tip—if you buy a $25 gift card, you get the calendar for free. The Chick Fil A near me takes expired coupons as well so I am still using some from last years calendar.

 

Chick Fil A was also the highlight of my lunch on Thursday with their fat free honey mustard dressing.

I love you Chick Fil A..

Has anyone out there heard about the Denny’s Fried Cheese Melt?

 source

I know this is a heart attack waiting to happen but I am going to try it. One of my sorority sisters will be in next wknd and she is crashing with me and we have made plans to make a late night trip to Denny’s (sober unfortunately) and have a go at it. We talked about splitting it but who knows if that will happen. All I know is I am so excited!!! And I am going to enjoy every last bite of it since I love all things cheese. The fact that it’s only $4 doesn’t hurt either.

Thursday night I made a Taco Casserole for dinner with macaroni, ground turkey, black beans, mushrooms, jalapenos, shredded cheddar, onions and sour cream. Wow, that’s a mouth full right there (that’s what she said). I’ve never made this before but it seemed like a really good recipe to try since I had all the items on hand and could mix everything all together and save for later.

I added some cayenne pepper, garlic and Tabasco to it for a little kick and kept me full for hours.

 

Pretty 

Dirty

 I made the mistake of watching Dexter Season 4 Thursday night. I was sleep deprived since the sugar from my adult drinks kept me the night before but needed to watch it.  I always tell myself I am going to only watch one or two episodes but five episodes later I was on the season finale and wow. That’s all I can say. Such an amazing show, I love the story lines, the dark humor and the character development.

I got up at 530A on Friday only to find I was out of coffee. No bueno. I need to jump on that asap b.c me in a house with no caffeine is just not right. At least was up with me…….well, kind of.

I made yet another egg and cheese sandwich topped with ketchup and green onions but got a little creative with the presentation

 

I am so happy I am a 30 yr old woman with the mentality of a 14 year old boy

I missed my bus but had Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang to keep me company. I just love her so, she is just so crass. My dream lunch (or happy hour) would be with her and Kathy Griffin, I just know we would be besties!!

Friday was unbearably slow. By 945A I was done with all my catch up work and had nothing to do. Thankfully, I remembered the hippies were outside and took a break to go read some more Chelsea and get some hippie loving.

 

All of this for $8. I love hippies long time. I got green tomatoes and of course am going to make fried green tomatoes. I’ve had them before and they were delish and can’t wait to make them this wknd! I asked how long they are going to be out this year because they usually go away in September but she said they are going to be there as long as they can with their winter produce available. That made me happy.

 

Lunch was leftover enchiladas, just as good the second time around!!

 

Then one of my co-workers brought me over a piece of her carrot cake she had from the night before. It was so yummy, I thought it was Cheesecake Factory quality but turns out it was Food Lion, go figure.

Does anyone remember the Pizzeria potato chips from the 90’s? They looked like Doritos and has different flavors like Pepperoni, Supreme, etc. These Wheat Thins taste so much like them its freaky!! I wish I could find Pizzeria’s on-line but don’t think they exists anyone, sadness.

I was itching to get out of work since I had happy hour plans after work and had a little overtime this week so I got to leave a little earlier than normal. I got out a little early and was waiting at the Charlotte Transportation Center (AKA Blvd of Broken Dreams) and I feel uneasy whenever I’m there. Someone is always smoking something, I get eyed like I’m a fried pork chop and I feel like a riot is about to break out. I was just sitting there with my ipod and big sunglasses not making eye contact with anyone and waiting for the bus to get there. The bus never showed up and I thought I was going crazy but turns out it was 15 minutes late which was cutting into my happy hour prep time. I don’t like that.

I started with some Abita Light. I never tried this beer before but love their Purple Haze so thought I would give it a go. It was a decent beer and kind of had a nutty flavor to it.

Then we went to Piccaso’s Sports Bar for drinks and grub. They claim to have the best wings in Charlotte so I had to give them a go. I got the Hot BBQ wings

Mmmmm, look how messy they look! I devoured these babies and they definitely lived up to the claim. I was still hungry afterwards and may have had some of my friends onion rings. Good times had by all.

Again, I woke up this morning with no coffee. But I did have food so I made a slammin cheese and green onion omelet topped with avocado and tomato

Hope everyones weekend is off to a great start!

Do you want the real answer or the fake one?

Today was yet another hellacious day at work. We had three people off and it’s month end, which is always the busiest day of the month for us. My phone was ringing non stop, my email box was never empty and I was just struggling to stay on top of everything all day along with helping others on my team. People would call me and ask how I was doing since they knew about our understaffed team for the day and I would just reply “Do you want the real answer or the fake one?” Of course everyone wanted both answers

Fake answer- “I’m super fabulous!”

Real answer- “I want to crawl into a fetal position with a bottle of wine”

But it’s all over with (for now) and I can go in this wknd and catch up on things. Okay and get some time and a half-pay in the meantime (which will be going towards Lincoln’s boarding in a few wks when I go to Phoenix or some snazzy digs for me!)

The day started off questionable, I slept in late (yay!) but woke up to a text from my ex boyfriend from college (boo!)

I found my “Keep Austin Weird” mug that I got four years ago when I visited for a weekend. I loved Austin so much and would love to go back. Sso if any of you ever want to me to stay with you, let me know, will be over ASAP and I will bring Trader Joe’s goodies since you have the Whole Foods mothership!

I think I was going for overeasy eggs but it was kind of a fail in that aspect but still tasty.

I mixed it up (pun intended) with a Venti shaken Iced Green Tea.Lemonade with two splendas—tasty as well! I didn’t know refills of these were only $.55, when did that happen??

As busy as it as this morning (understatement of the year), I forced myself to take a short lunch break and visit my hippies and stop by Chick Fil A to buy a pakcet of their Fat Free Honey Mustard. This stuff is laced with southern goodness crack. I wish they would start selling it in stores because I will walk to Chick Fil A and offer to buy a few packets but they give it to me for free. Then I feel bad about it since they are always so nice about it and say “My pleasure”, which is what I totally to say to people at work when I am super busy and it’s more in a facetious tone

All that produce for $6, I love my hippies!

With that, I had a BIG salad for lunch with romaine, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, ham, onion and tuna salad with my beloved fat free honey mustard. Seriously, if you haven’t tried their FF honey mustard, please do-it’s out of this world!

Anyone remember that tv show? I used to love watching it and dearly miss the fashion of the late 80’s

A late afternoon sugar rush is always necessary on a bad day. Swedish fish are the bane of my existence.

By the time I got off work, I had zero mental energy. I just wanted to get home, change into my comfy clothes and zone out. After reading Monique’s post about having home-made take out the other night, I knew that was going to be the meal plan for the night!

My favorite Trader Joe’s product of ALL time—Mandarin Orange Chicken. If you haven’t tried this, it really does taste like something you would get when eating out (if not better)

While that was baking, I cooked up some quinoa and red pepper, onion and zucchini…..and voila—home made take out!

Hope everyone’s weekend is off to a great start! I took a huge nap after dinner so I am all out of whack time wise right now.

why I don’t trust men with a lot of hair

John Edwards is just a dirty dog! So he cheats on his cancer stricken wife, fathers another woman’s baby and now there is a sex tape coming out?  Meh. This guy just sickens me. Poor Elizabeth Edwards. Maybe this is why I go for bald men?

 Mr. Clean could totally kick John Edwards  a** any day of the wk….and leave with a clean kitchen!  

 I am happy to say I did NOT have Greek Yogurt for breakfast! Every year my parents get me a Chick Fil A calendar, which has coupons for each month. Since this month is almost over (don’t even get me started on that topic!) I decided to stop there before work this AM and get my free Chicken Biscuit. It was so wonderful! However check out these stats……1,310 mg sodium!!!! Good lord, that’s about half of what I have one day. How did I used to eat this stuff all the time? It rang in 450 calories however the only bright point (besides being delicious) was the 19g of protein it has. I wanted to switch up breakfast for once but not that much!

 

I have no work to do at all. This morning I did my taxes (nice refund, cha ching!!), looked online for a new digital camera, flipped through recipes for meals next wk and such. At one point, I was about to fall asleep as my desk. I hate days like this, I just can’t sit here and be bored. I have told my boss this several times and one of the many reasons I want a new job. Yes I am good at my desk but a trained monkey could do it and I am not challenged at all. Plus my degree is in Journalism-Public Relations and I work in Debt Finance so yeah……surprise that I am not interested in my work. The problem is they keep giving me raises ( I know this doesn’t sound like a problem but when you are trying to think of reasons why you are unhappy with your job and want to leave, this is a HUGE roadblock). So really with that, there is nothing keeping me in Charlotte and I am miserable here. I don’t like the people, haven’t made friends that will be lasting relationships, hate my job, the guys here suck and the list goes on. Definitely time to start moving on. Sorry for the rant, it’s just been something that’s been heavily weighing on my mind. I need to get out of here, that’s all I know.

 I bring my lunch almost every day to work and today was one of those. But then one of my coworkers (Mr. Sighs A lot) walked by with something fried from Showmars . The girl who sits across from me looked over at me because we complain to each other about what he has for lunch because it smells so good and we always bring something from home. We then decided we needed to walk over to Showmars and today was my favorite special—Chicken Salad Pita with fries

 

 

This just made my day a little better!

 

The afternoon turned out to be a little more exciting than this morning. I took a nice 30 min walk around Uptown (absolutely gorgeous today-60 degrees and sunny!) and just passed time until 445P