Loooove it!

So I've heard everyone and their mom talk about Etsy. I never knew much about it and really had been way too busy to check it out.

But awhile ago, I thought of something I needed and checked it out. Then today, went OVERBOARD buying gifts (birthdays, mothers/fathers days are coming up and this was a super simple way of finding neat stuff!) for other people.

Next on my agenda is to scour Etsy for things for myself :) There's a lot I like and find totally adorable.

Have you shopped Etsy lately?! If not, seriously check it out.

Products I'm semi-in love with (if you like 'em, I provided the links just click on the descriptions):

Vintage inspired apron
Retro striped/polka dot apron
Lilly orange clutch
Made-to-order recipe card box
Fleur de lys messenger bag
Dachshund pot holders

Oh man, sorry, told you I went a little crazy looking through that site :)

Currently reading

Michelle and I started reading Devil in the White City last month, well I guess that was in February, and honestly, I barely had time to finish it. I'm terrible at this "book club." Well, we've grown by two thanks to Michelle! Our guilty read of the month is Chelsea Handler's My Horizontal Life. Yes, it's as dirty as it sounds and yes, it's HYSTERICAL. Again, I'm struggling finding time to read it but it goes by quick and easy - much like Chelsea's self-depiction in this book (duh-duh, chhhhh).

Interestingly enough, I can post here that I'm reading it, but I'm way too nervous to read it in public! You'd think the six-to-seven hour bus rides on our baseball trips would suffice, but being the only female in a party of 40, I REFUSE to let them see me reading this one!!!

I'm loving her prose by the way. She's soooo tongue-in-cheek and sarcastic it's ridiculous. I find myself thinking that I could write like this because it's my exact humor (though my stories aren't even close to hers). I tried dabbling in David Sedaris, but he never really caught my interest. I'm fairly certain that she's found a life-long fan and I'll continue with her other books. I even caught Chelsea on the Rachel Ray Show and DIED laughing, so great.

Anyways, if you're interested in joining (I'm only 30 pages in) some of us blog about it and we all have joined a book club group on Good Reads. Always looking for more people to engage, motivate me to read and bring new suggestions/ideas!

And now, I'm hoping to go buy some frozen yogurt down the street and get back to reading my trash novel. And YES, I will be blogging about it, so parental guidance suggested in future entries ;)

Ugh why are girls so dumb?

I apologize for the headline, seeing as how 95% of my readership is female (and, clearly, so am I).

But sometimes I really hate being a girl and I hate having that stupid gene that makes me want to buy things I don't need so often! Well, usually I don't like going to malls, etc. If I'm really in need of something, I will buy it. While generally I am fairly cheap, I'll spend a bit more on an item if it's of decent quality or is something I cannot live without (ie., I'm in need of a new black bra ... sorry for sharing, but I need a new one asap!).

And yes, I usually don't go shopping often. I'll usually wait until I get paid, or I'm always talking myself out of buying things. Plus, I'm really trying to save money so I can buy a car sometime next year. And I'm looking to hit that mark pretty well. But, I stumbled across something I've been avoiding for months now, that I really couldn't resist any longer.

As a member of my bank, they introduced a new program a few months ago called Add It Up. Which basically means if you buy things online from certain partnering companies and use your bank debit/credit card, you'll get a percentage of your purchase put back into your checking account later. And it's ridiculous, places like Barnes & Noble, ShutterFly, Target, iTunes, Wal-Mart, Under Armour, and Victoria Secret (plus a billion other companies) are all in on this!!!!

WHY?!??!!?!?!?!?

So I gave in. And since we all know I hate shopping in person, I just clicked around a billion times in 30 minutes and spent over $70. On stupid things at VS like underwear and a sweet new clearance bathing suit.

But hey.... I got $2.35 back into my checking account for using Add It Up. So that makes it worthwhile, right?

Right????

New hair

You know how when you have a hairstyle in mind, and the stylist pulls it off, you can't EVER recreate it at home??

Yeah, that's where I'm at right now.

Yesterday I went into my local Aveda Salon (love that place) and brought in this picture of Carrie Underwood (disregard the deodorant gooeyness) for my stylist:


I had hair a little bit longer than that and my layers were way mangled from going over five months without a cut/trim.

As soon as my stylist saw this picture she told me, "Yeah, we aren't going to be able to do that to you. And I think she has a lot of fake hair involved in that style."

Ugggh!

Basically, in order to achieve layers that dramatic, my hair would look as thin as a midlife balding male. And yes, I do concede that a lot of what I like about this look is done by styling and not the cut itself.

For me to get that look, she said she could cut off some of the length and maybe it could grow into that look. But instead, it ended up turning out like this (which I can't really recreate on my own, it's just kind of blah):


I wish I had more chunky layers and less feathery blending going on. Gosh, being a girl's frustrating! ...At least the style only cost me $25, including a scalp/neck/hand massage and a sweet herbal wrap after they washed my hair.

I told you I love Aveda.

(P.S. Get ready for January. It's the NaBloPoMo's continuation month. November is National Blog Posting Month, so January is like a challenge for the new year: blog every day. Since I failed so miserably at that last time, I'm up for the challenge in 2010. Especially with a "book club" [and I say that in the very loosest sense of the word] coming up on Jan. 1! Bring it on, year!)