Friday Pic Dump

AKA my week in really crappy phone pictures

My week started off with a new phone (iPhone 5C!) and I played with the camera settings that my old phone didn't have and got all scary looking.

Then I took this chipper gal out to a late breakfast on Monday. She wasn't actually as grumpy as she looks here, I'm not sure what the problem was.

 Tuesday I discovered this amazing awesome thing... it's a Teavana Shaken Iced Blackberry Mojito Tea Lemonade. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to say so many words at the Starbucks drive-thru? Totally worth it though-- get an extra shot of blackberry flavor if you decide to try it.

I got to spend Wednesday evening with my favorite.. we went out to dinner (okay, it was just Moe's but we NEVER go out and sit down anywhere when it's just the two of us!), and then he made me laugh forever, which is the best way to spend a weeknight. 

Andddd my Friday rounded out the week with a broken e-cig battery (hint: The piece that is bent should not be unattached at all....) and the dog ate the rest of Mike's peanut M&Ms because he got the office door open while I was gone.... *deep sigh* I hope it's just a little hiccup, and that our weekend is awesome and relaxing. 

What are you doing this weekend? 

Wednesday Wants!

The things I currently want, but do not have:
Books: I had to put myself on a book restriction, and I'm not allowed to buy any of these books/ebooks until I read a list of books I already have. I'm working on it, because I REALLY want to read these books. 

        

So, Friendship doesn't even come out until July 1st... I'm hoping to be closer to my goal by then so that I can pick it up to read on my holiday weekend + the following week off. It just seems like a book I will love... I'll let you know if/when I get to read it. 

The Vacationers has been all over everywhere for the last few weeks... some people love it, some people hate it... the summary sounds like a fun vacation read (ha!) even if the story ends up being not awesome. 

The Matchmaker is one of those books I have *almost* picked up 3 or 4 different times, either in a store or through my Nook. I'm torn though, because people seem to love it... but they're all the same people who were recently raving about The One & Only and I've never enjoyed any Emily Giffin book I picked up. It will probably be something I pick up at some point this summer just because it keeps catching my eye, but it's rated at the bottom of my "things I want" list for now. 

Beauty Products:

I know, I know... who *doesn't* want a Naked palette or 3? I don't have one though, and I've recently decided I NEED Naked 2 in my life. *dreamy sigh*

Other things:

I don't actually wear much jewelry, but I saw this necklace through something I found on Book Riot once and I saved the link and I really want it. My cat's name is Boo Radley, and I feel like he'd really appreciate it if I wore his name all the time. 

If/when I do get any of these things, I'll be sure to let you know if I like them or not. What do you wish you had today? 

-Sarah 

Media Monday

Netflix binging generally happens on the weekend for me. I'm not much of a television watcher, but I do read a lot and I listen to music, AND I can Internet like you've never seen. I'm going to use this spot on Mondays to give updates on these things.

First up! Orange Is the New Black.  I actually finished binging season 2 back on the 9th, but so many of my friends weren't caught up yet that I couldn't talk about it. Do you know how hard it is to not be able to talk about these things???   Fair warning, if you haven't finished both seasons of the show, you probably shouldn't read the next paragraph. Spoiler tags are for fancier bloggers. 

Obviously, to start with, Vee was just the WORST wasn't she? Between her seducing her foster son and her causing chaos with my favorite prisoners in Litchfield, I was so happy that the final scene of the season was her death. Bye Vee, you weren't welcome here anyway! 
I really enjoyed this season, but not as much as season 1. There was more character development for sure, and I liked that. Season 1 had me and my daughter sobbing in our living room with Tricia's death, and I just didn't find that kind of emotional investment in this season. I read that they're already starting to film season 3, so hopefully it takes what worked from the first two seasons and combines them for one awesome 13-hour chunk of my life.
Things that stood out to me:

• Larry and Polly are obnoxious and I hate them.
• I'm so glad Fig is gone.
• I just don't care about Piper and Alex. They should both get out of prison and disappear. 
• I thought Lorna was going to commit suicide in Christopher's bathtub and I was so nervous. She's as crazy as they come and I love her shocking backstory.
• I did not expect Rosa to be so awesome. I'm sad that she won't be around next year.  

Does anyone else watch Catfish? It's something we DVR and then Mike and I watch an episode every now and then while we joke about how we catfished each other (we did initially meet online)... and then we talk about how certain we are that Neve and Max are more than friends. During the last episode we watched, there was a commercial for the show in which Neve is doing yoga in a towel and they're joking about how it's "not helping the rumors", so I guess they know. 
The show always leaves me feeling a little bit uncomfortable, but I can't stop watching it. I don't understand why so many people fail to Google the person they're talking to, ESPECIALLY when they are sending them money. I also don't understand how so many people feel okay with just lying. Not even little lies, flat out lying about who they are and how they feel. If you like the anonymity of the Internet there are plenty of places to do that, why would you go on Facebook or whatever and just toy with another person's emotions and trust? Ugh. I guess I just won't ever understand the people who "catfish" others. 

Anyway, that's all for this post... What are you watching? If you watch OITNB or Catfish, what do you think of the new seasons? 

Friday Pic Dump

Some things from my phone camera roll this week... 

I'm fond of something I call "Door notes"... these are notes I tape to the door as reminders to my daughter (usually it's her) to do things. She developed a habit this summer of just LEAVING. She'll tell me she has plans with a friend later and go downstairs to watch TV. An hour later I'll realize she left at some point without telling me that she was going. Sooooo this is our current "door note". Her friends think it's hilarious, and she thinks it's fun to be obnoxious and tell me every time she runs out to get something from the car/mailbox/etc. 

I call this look "How do I liquid eyeliner?" It's the sparkly green eyeliner I got from Ipsy this month, and I apparently need an instruction manual. This is why I stick with pencil eyeliner, sigh. Urban Decay 24/7 4 LIFE. 

Last but not least... if you are my friend on Facebook or follow me on Instagram, you saw this picture Thursday. We got Mike some socks as part of his Father's Day gift, and we picked up this 2-pair package because of the mustache socks that were in the front. These were the 2nd pair and I THOUGHT they were just striped. He came home from work last night and changed out of his khakis and shoes into a pair of shorts and came into the office with THESE on his feet. I laughed for an hour, every time I glanced over and saw the stupid smiles on his feet.

I'm STILL giggling. Happy Friday, y'all!  

Thursday Things

Wow, I'm a terrible blogger. 17 months since I started this blog and not one post yet? I'm going to try to be better. 

I'm going to start with a pretty standard list of my current favorite things. Maybe this will be a recurring Thursday thing? We'll see.

Books:

Jodi Picoult's The Storyteller I went through a phase a few years ago after reading Mercy where I went and picked up every Jodi Picoult book I could find. I quickly regretted this decision, as her formula gets tiring after 3 or so books in a row. There's always a moral dilemma... some crisis happens, your heartstrings are tugged, you hate everyone in the story for being a selfish jackass, you question what you would do in the situation, and then you wrap it up with a bit more heartstring-tugging. That said, after a break from her books, this was a great book to read on a rainy summer weekend. There's a lot of bread. A Nazi war criminal or two. I finished the book two weeks ago and found myself thinking about Josef last night while I was washing dishes. If you like fiction, and if you've liked a Picoult novel in the past, you should pick this one up. 

Jess Walter's Beautiful Ruins I picked this book up based entirely on the cover alone. I don't care what anyone says, sometimes that's a good way to judge things. The story is set in Hollywood and Italy and umm.. Idaho I think it was? and it spans 50 years and has several main characters and it just came together so beautifully and I wish I hadn't read it so that I could read it again for the first time. 

Food:

This chicken with mustard cream sauce is everything. It's from the Pioneer Woman and while she suggests serving it with a simple salad, my guy does not eat salad so I like to steam broccoli and cook up some jasmine rice to serve with it. I've served it to guests, made it for quick last-minute dinner, and EVERYONE loves it. And if you don't like mustard, you should still try it, because Mike was certain he'd hate it as much as he hates mustard on anything else but he was so, so wrong. I didn't take a picture of it any time I cooked it, and I'm not sure what the protocol is for stealing the picture straight from the PW, so just click the link and go to her page if you want to see what it looks like ;) 

Beauty products:

This Lorac Lustre Lip gloss in Ruby. I received it in a limited edition Hautelook lip bag, and I love it. I am NOT a red lipstick/ lip gloss girl, I'm more into berry pinks and sheer shimmery colors, but this is SO universally flattering that I've already helped one friend find it at Ulta and ordered one for my daughter so she'd quit stealing mine.

So I've been looking for a great night cream for my stupid skin. I'm 32 with and starting to see the smallest signs of loss of elasticity in my skin and it's always dry because I live inside with the air conditioner. I get hormonal acne AND as an added bonus I have eczema and ridiculous skin allergies. I don't even like to TRY new lotions because I might look like a leper for a week while my skin recovers from the reaction.
I've never looked at Olay products in the store because, to me, it's for *old* ladies. That said, I got this lotion in an Influenster box, and my current night cream was just not cutting it. I opened up this jar and the consistency seemed to be exactly what I was looking for... so for the last 4 nights I've slathered this onto my (clean) face and neck every night before bed. It smells way better than the Tea Tree lotion I had been using, leaves me waking up without dry patches, AND I haven't broken out from it (yet)!

Anyway, those are the things I'm raving about this week. I'll try to check in again before 2015! 


-Sarah

I have a lot of opinions. I plan to put them here.

Hi there. My name is Sarah, I'm 31 years old, and I like to share my opinions on things.

One of my obsessions this past year has been sample subscriptions. I've tried out 5 or 6 different ones, and I have a whole list of other ones I plan on trying out. I plan on reviewing the ones I've tried, as well as any I try out in the future. I have a teenage daughter who also tries out some of the products (or steals them from me) so I'll let you know how she likes the things we've both tried.

I also have opinions on other things! Makeup! Books! TV shows! Household products! Parenting! I'm going to put them all here and you can read them, or not read them, or whatever. Stay tuned!