Thursday, October 18, 2012

Broken Lamp

J and I went out to Bajio for dinner; it's located in the shopping center by our house. They were having a special on nachos. For $7 we had a nice little dinner for two - nachos covered in cheese, pork, corn, beans, and who knows what else. After a delicious and affordable dinner we got in the car and J asked if I needed to go anywhere else while we were out. I looked longingly at my TJ Maxx but said no. J turned toward TJ Maxx.

I freaking love him.

I found some awesome boots. Then I wandered over to the home section and looked at the lamps. We only have one bedside lamp in our bedroom. I found it for $20 at Bed, Bath and Beyond and have been looking for another one but without success.

I am cheap and refuse to pay $30-50 for a lamp. And I just haven't liked the cheap ones I've found. I've also tried going to Goodwill and trying to imagine them transformed - maybe a little spray paint? I hadn't had any luck.

Until this trip. I found one I liked on sale for $14.


 $14!! Woot! I plugged it in, put in a light bulb...


And it's broken. If I jiggled the switch the light would turn on, but it was obviously shorted.

Dang. Should I take back my $14 lamp?

No way.

I went to Lowe's, bought a $3.80 socket, and fixed it.


$18 lamp! Woot!!

J helped. It wasn't as easy as all the YouTube videos would have you believe. The cord did not want to come up and then it didn't want to come down; it was in there pretty tight. He is my muscles.


Look at all that hotness. Yep, you just can't stop looking at that lamp, can you?

Sunday, October 14, 2012

The Weekend

Ah, the weekend. That magical time that flies so quickly.

Friday I got up ridiculously early so that I could get off work early so that we could meet my family at the fair. I checked the website, and reminded my sisters that we needed to get there before five in order to get the $1 tickets.

It didn't really work out that well.

J and I got there at 4:30. There was a reaaaaaaaally long line in front but we walked past everyone standing in line (rude, I know) and found a shorter line. I called Kristi and asked where they were? They were split up into two different cars and were almost there. I asked if they wanted us to buy their tickets? Could they be there before five? Kristi said go ahead and buy 9 tickets.

And then they got stuck behind a train.

J and I went ahead and entered the fair, got a hand stamp and left. After some frantic phone calls and running around, we were able to meet up with Kristi, Breezy, and Steph from the first car. It was 5:30. I told them that I bet there was a certain window where they still let people in after 5 - I told them to walk up, hand over the ticket, and keep walking like they owned the place.

It worked. They got their hands stamped and we went to track down the second group. Jennifer, Mike, Austin and Matt finally showed up. It was 5:40. I told them the plan and we headed toward the front. Kristi directed them toward a specific line because certain people were already turning away the $1 tickets. Jen got through. Austin got through. Mike got through. Matt was stopped. We tried asking nicely, we tried pleading, but they said no more $1 tickets. Matt had to go buy a $10 ticket, but when you think of all the people who got in after 5 and shouldn't have, it was still a good deal.

Mike, J, Matt, Austin in front, Kristi, Jen, Breezy in front, Steph.






Even though there was a rough start, the fair was a lot of fun. It was nice to spend some time with my family.


Saturday morning I went to a Super Saturday craft day with Kristi at her church.



Then I had to run errands. I got my oil changed where they informed me that I had a nail in my tire. Luckily I purchased the warranty when I bought the tires in May, so I went and sat at Discount Tire. Errands don't make for a fun weekend, but they must be done.

I heard on the radio that there was a big pet adoption event at the Petsmart near our house. I have been wanting a dog for awhile now but I've been really afraid of how our cats would react. When we watched my mom's two dogs while she was getting her floor done, it was a big problem. We went to look around and asked some of the volunteers about a few of the dogs. We expressed our concerns about our cats. They had one little dog, Micah, up front with them because all of the activity was making him nervous. They said some employees would take him home and he had been fostered before, and he was a really sweet dog who just ignored cats, so they thought he would be a good fit. The only problem was that he was old, 10 years, and he had a heart murmur. They said it was hard to place older dogs with medical problems. One of the ladies was really attached to him, and you could tell he really was attached to her.

We spent some time with Micah, and I told the people we wanted to think about it and left. I had wanted a medium or large dog and was kind of disappointed with a little dog. But I kind of liked that he was old - I wanted to adopt a dog who needed a good home. I asked J what we would do about the cats? He suggested putting their food and litter box in the guest bedroom and getting a baby gate. I told him if we went to Savers and there was a baby gate there, we could take it as a sign.

$15 for a baby gate from Savers and $25 for the dog later, we have a new member of the family.



Lilly is hilarious because she sneaks up on him and then growls. He just ignores her. Marley has been pretty relaxed about the whole thing. As long as he leaves her alone she doesn't seem to care. I hope it works out. I think once you get a pet it should be a forever pet.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Celebrate!

I had a rocking awesome anniversary. And then I had an equally awesome birthday.

I made J promise when we got married that my birthday and anniversary wouldn't be combined. He has kept his promise so far. And one of the things I love about this guy is that he is an AWESOME present giver.

Exhibit A: The massage table.


I realized after I texted this photo to friends and posted it to facebook that there is a bra in the photo. Whoops. Although no one said anything - they were too busy making comments about massages and pregnancy.
Ha. Ha. Soooo clever. Psh.

J told me the first three massages are free, but after that I am going to have to work for it.

For our anniversary we do what we always do - enjoy Arizona Restaurant Week. We tried Capital Grill this year and it was a great experience - wonderful food and the staff was really nice. A three course meal (dessert included) and the bill was reduced. What more could you ask for?

For my birthday I had a massage and facial I bought from Groupon. I came home and J took me out to lunch. Then he asked me what I wanted to do. I wanted to put the hardware on my cabinets. He told me he thought I was crazy but he obliged. The kitchen post is coming - once the new countertops are on. Might be a little while. You're just going to have to wait.

Saturday night I went out dancing. I have a single friend who prefers to do girls' nights only and J isn't wild about dancing, so girls' night it was.


Lottie kept gushing how gorgeous I look here. I asked her if it was because half of my face is missing.



But seriously, I looked pretty hot. All my friends are hot too. That's how I roll. Katelyn and HP couldn't make it for different reasons. And Keeley is in NC. But Deni came, even though she had just gotten back - at 7:00 THAT MORNING - from HI. I really appreciated that.


This card actually dances. 


My sister Kristi made the card on the left and Keeley made the card on the right. Keeley wasn't intending it to be Halloween themed - she just knows I am crazy about pumpkins. Keeley wanted to send me a gift card to my favorite pretzel place, but since she's in NC she couldn't get the right one. So she sent me cash instead, but it was wrapped in paper with the pretzel logo on it. I loved it!


And Kristi got me a MERMAID costume!



Deni brought me back presents from HI. Chocolate covered nuts, a Hawaiian bookmark, massage oil, and a cute dress/swimsuit cover up.

In addition to the massage and facial, Joseph got me the Whose Line is it Anyway DVDs. I had mentioned that I couldn't find them on Netflix so I wanted to buy the DVDs because that show is hilarious. He actually listened and remembered!

I really felt loved.

My Mom and Dad got me cash, which is equally appreciated. It is currently safe in my underwear drawer, waiting to be spent. Probably on clothes. Or shoes. Maybe a giraffe statue for above my kitchen cabinets. To be determined.