Eviction Notice

Dear April,

I hope you have enjoyed your lengthy stay here in the Midwest, however I am compelled to remind you that your lease is up effective midnight tonight. Friday is the official start of May and I expect some d*mn good flowers after your 30-day shower festival.

Sincerely,
Sara

Happy 100

{image via Buzz Sugar}

Tonight is the 100th episode of the best hour of prime time television, LOST. We find out what happened to Desmond after his beat down of Bad Boy Ben, plus we finally get Faraday's back story. Danny-Boy is clearly a big piece of the LOST puzzle and after watching him hang around all mysterious-like for two full seasons, I can't wait to find out all about him.

Sad to say but there are only three more episodes before this season is over! In my humble opinion, this has been the best season thus far. So many fantastic episodes, amazingly sharp dialogue, a healthy dose of answers and ever more intriguing questions. LOST at its very best!

Tuesdays at the Table

It seems kind of ridiculous for me to participate this week, seeing as how I have managed to avoid cooking dinner for the last five evenings. Perhaps I should write a post about my ingenious ability to shirk kitchen duty....

The moment I imagine you have all been waiting for since last Tuesday's amazingly yummy post....drum roll, please....

What's that? The drum roll is too much? You haven't been waiting with bated breath for today's installment?

Ahem, well. This is embarrassing. I must hide my face in shame now. I am pretty sure I am too mortified to cook dinner tonight. (See how I did that there? Cue Night #6 with no kitchen slave labor!)

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Beef and Cucumber Stir-fry

Ingredients:
1 pound beef steak (sirloin, top loin or rump)
2 tablespoons honey2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 cucumber
1 red bell pepper (if you don’t like red bell pepper, substitute snow peas)
4 scallions
3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons oil

Directions:

Slice the beef into strips ¼ inch wide and 3 inches long, trimming away all the fat.

In a large bowl, mix the honey, soy sauce and chili powder. Add the beef strips and stir. Set aside while preparing vegetables.

Peel the cucumber and slice lengthwise. Scrape out and discard the seeds. Cut into strip ¼ inch wide and 2 inches long. Wash the bell pepper and cut it in half. Remove and discard the stem and seeds. Then slice the pepper into strips ¼ inch wide and 2 inches long. Wash the scallions. Cut of the root tips and top 2 inches of the green ends and discard them. Cut the remaining white and green parts into ½ inch pieces. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Set the vegetables aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok or frying pan over high heat. Remove the steak strips from the bowl, keeping any remaining liquid (marinade) in the bowl, and add the steak to the wok. Stir-fry for 1 minute. When the meat is no longer pink, return to the bowl containing the marinade.

Wipe out the wok so that any remaining honey does not burn. Heat the remaining oil in the wok over high heat and stir-fry cucumber, bell pepper, scallions and garlic for about 2 minutes, or until the vegetables just begin to soften. They should stay fairly crisp. Quickly return the steak and any remaining marinade to the wok and heat for 1 minute, or just until the steak gets hot and the liquid boils. Serve over rice.

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I got this super easy recipe from a cookbook my grandmother gave me at a wedding shower. It's called Help! My Apartment has a Kitchen! Too funny, right? And so totally me.

The (Short) Story of Us

The lovely Cole from All the Small Stuff has bestowed upon me the Honest Scrap Award. Thanks, girl!

I must list 10 honest things about myself. But I talk about myself a lot here already, so in honor of the ninth anniversary of our first date (!), I am going to let you in on 10 honest things about my love and I.

1. No, I am not that girl. You know, the one who remembers and celebrates every.single.tiny anniversary. (We've been together 9 years. We barely celebrate the actual anniversary. ) It's more like I have a lot of time on my hands and was looking through old scrapbooks while I was organizing. Made me a little nostalgic.

2. We met at an assembly on my first day at college. I vividly recall every detail of that day. He'd been there two weeks already which might explain why he has absolutely no memory of meeting me that day.

3. We had a class together that first semester but I didn't start crushing on him until around Thanksgiving. He broke my heart when he came back from Christmas break with a girlfriend.

4. While he was dating said girlfriend and I was secretly pining away for him, he tried to set me up with his best friend. This did not go over well.

5. I basically begged him to go on our first date. He asked me to the Spring Fling at 2:00am the morning of the dance. Desperate much? (For the record, I had never behaved that way over a boy in my life.)

6. I managed to fall asleep in the car on the way home from the much longed for first date. He kissed me goodnight anyway.

7. The proposal two years later involved another school dance, a Secret Society, poison ivy, a midnight walk in the winter woods and 2,000 twinkling Christmas lights.

8. We took our vows very seriously. Especially that little 'in sickness or health' bit. Nate got sick at the wedding reception and I got food poisoning on the honeymoon. Love me, love my stomach ailments.

9. Nate has a habit of bestowing nicknames on his nearest and dearest. I got mine second semester of college. Nine years later, it still gives me a little thrill to hear him say it.

10. I love to watch Nate play soccer. I spent many Saturday afternoons cheering him on in college and watching him play now always brings back good memories. It doesn't hurt that he looks damn sexy in soccer shorts. I swoon.

Waste o' my time

Today is the one-month 'anniversary' of my unemployment. So to 'celebrate' I went to a job fair downtown today. It's been advertised all over the radio, the newspaper and CareerBuilder for weeks, so I pre-registered, printed up my resume and made the 45 minute drive down there.

Job fairs are not what they used to be.

In case you have not had the privilege of attending one recently, here is a little guide to the new world of job fairs:

1. It is now acceptable to not shower before attending a job fair.
2. Good news! Bare midriffs are no longer taboo! Just make sure to wear your blingest belly button ring.
3. Double points if you show muffin top while sporting a midriff baring shirt and belly ring.
4. Baseball caps, spaghetti straps, and cargo shorts are all totally acceptable interview attire.
5. Can't find a babysitter? No problem! Bring the little one along. Nothing says 'dependable' like someone who can't find childcare for a 3-hour job fair.

I have never seen anything like it in my life. Over 2/3 of the companies advertised didn't even show up. There were a grand total of 7 'companies' represented - two of them were military recruiters, two were universities trolling for students, Pampered Chef advertising 'own your own business' crap, one staffing agency and one actual honest-to-goodness company.

I stood in line for 45 minutes to sign my name and check a box that said I pre-registered online. Um, hello? What was the point of registering then?

Then I stood in line another 45 minutes to talk to the one company actual company with a booth. All for this:

______________________________________________

Recruiter: You have a good resume here. You would qualify for job #343. You can apply for it online.

Me: I've been watching your website for a few months. What is the title for job #343?

Recruiter: Contract specialist. Just watch for it online and then apply.

Me: I've done that half a dozen times in the last three months. Any suggestions for actually getting an interview?

Recruiter: Not really. Just apply online.

______________________________________________

Seriously?

Butt Hole....or why I just don't understand men

After five years of marriage, I have learned that there are many fundamental differences in the way men and women think:

1. No matter how old they get, men will always think burping, farting and other bodily noises are hilarious.
2. His idea of helping with dinner involves moving the take out from a plastic wrapper to an actual plate.
3. A man will never learn how to load the dishwasher, no matter how many times you show him.
4. A man will never understand why you do not consider it fun to play video games with him. You will never get 'better at it' so long as he continues to shoot you in the back as you are running away unarmed.

These few things I know. This is the thing that continues to baffle and amaze me:

I walked into the bedroom the other night to see a fist-size hole in the back of Nate's boxer shorts. He is actually wearing them around the bedroom like this.

_______________________________________________

Me: You putting on a little peepshow for me?

Him: What are you talking about?

Me: There is a hole the size of the Grand Canyon in your boxer shorts.

Him: Oh.

He continues to get ready for bed as if the whole conversation never happened...

Me: Um, aren't you going to change?

Him: Why?

Me: You can't possibly wear those to bed.

Him: Why not?

Me: Hello? Your entire left cheek is hanging out!

Him: Who cares?

Me: Seriously? You're going to keep wearing those?

Him: (staring at me blankly like I have lost my mind)

Me: No. I can't sleep knowing you're wearing those. Please throw them away.

He heads towards the closet and I head to the shower. Five minutes later, I emerge, noting happily that he has indeed changed shorts and I am victorious....for about 30 seconds, until I spy the nasty, ratty, hole-y shorts on the top of the dirty clothes pile.

Me: Oh, no you didn't.

Him (all innocent): What?

_______________________________________________

What is it with men and their complete inability to judge when clothes are no longer appropriate to wear? Socks with holes, underwear with holes, t-shirts with holes. It's not as though you can't buy them 5 for $10 at Wal-mart. Heck, he doesn't even have to buy them! All he has to say is, "Honey, I need new boxer shorts." and they magically appear in his drawer by the weekend. What's so freaking hard about that?

I just don't understand. Men.

Ain't life funny

So the job interview yesterday went well...I think. It's always so dang hard to tell. Sigh.

There were two people interviewing me at once, so that added a little bit of challenge, trying to make eye contact with both of them equally. My biggest challenge in this whole job search is making sure I talk myself up enough. I always feel so self-conscious saying how great I am, but I know that's the only way I'm going to get anywhere. I had to rate myself on a bunch of characteristics (time management, volunteer management, creativity, productivity, etc). That is like the worst thing you could do to me in an interview. I'm good at all that stuff but I feel like I can't give myself 10's on everything. But on the flip side, if I didn't rock the skill set you need, then I wouldn't be sitting here interviewing with you, would I?

I need to just STEP AWAY from obsessively replaying that hour in my head and trust that God has a plan. So I wait.

And whilst I am waiting on that, I am also waiting on a new possibility! I got a call from a recruiter while I was in my interview. Hello?! Anyone else see the irony in that? I've been unemployed for four weeks. 28 days. 672 hours. And the recruiter picks the one hour when I have a job interview to call me. Life's funny like that.

Anyway, I had a good talk with him. He is looking for a buyer for a national company based here in Indy. He had 168 applications for the position - insane, right? But guess who is his first submission for the job? Did you guess moi? Ding, ding, ding! You got it. He said some very complimentary things about my cover letter, so even if nothing else comes of it, at least I got a little boost to my confidence. He forwarded my deets to the hiring manager and now I just wait to see if they call for an interview.

Wait. Cross fingers. Wait. Check email. Wait. Say a prayer. Wait. Obsess over interview. Wait. Check voicemail. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Blech.

U-G-L-Y...you ain't got no alibi....

...you UGLY....you UGLY....

{image via Baker's Shoes}

I mean, seriously, who's supposed to wear these? A cross-dressing Bozo the Clown?

Baby Birdie Mama Drama

Notice anything new at our house?


Look carefully. One of these windows is not like the others. See it now?

We have a bird's nest in our window! At first I was horrified when I rolled up last week to discover a pile of crap on the upstairs window ledge. But upon further inspection, I saw it was a tiny bird's nest, perfectly round and perched precariously on the narrow ledge. It was so beautiful that I didn't have the heart to knock it off and destroy it.

It sat empty all weekend and I was sure the birds had upgraded to a birdie condo in some nearby bush. But lo and behold, this morning Birdie Mama was sitting on her nest, all plump and smug like she owned the joint.


If you look closely you can kind of see her head above the nest. I keep trying to sneak up on her from inside the house but no dice. She must already be a mama cuz she's obviously got eyes in the back of her head!

There are four little blue eggs in the nest! So cute!


I wonder how long it will take them to hatch? And how the heck will four baby birds fit in that teeny, tiny nest?

To Be Continued....

Rikki Tikki Techie

{image via racineweb}

We've had a little makeover here at Unwrap Life, so if you're reading through Google Reader, click on through to check out my new Three Column Layout. It took a little trial and error but I finally figured out how to add the third column.

I've added a new goal to my Unemployment To Do list: learn HTML coding. I've picked up a little bit here and there over the last few months but I'd really like to learn how to do my own layouts and buttons. It would also be a marketable skill I could add to my resume.

Do any of you know HTML coding basics? Have any good websites or tutorials you've used to teach yourself?

Tuesdays at the Table

Sadly, my current condition makes it impossible for me to bend down and unearth my sorely neglected cookbooks from the bottom shelf of a kitchen cabinet so my options for this post are limited to the few two recipes that I can remember off the top of my head. Seeing as how you have already seen my favorite one, here is the other one.

This recipe holds some very strange and mixed memories for me. I learned it from an aunt (by marriage) who definitely had a few screws loose. Let's just say that this recipe is one of the very few happy memories I have of her time with the family.

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Burrito Bake

Ingredients:
Ground beef
Taco seasoning
Tortillas
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup sour cream
1 package cheddar cheese or mexican cheese


Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 baking pan.
Brown and drain ground beef. Add taco seasoning according to package instructions.
Spoon ground beef into tortilla shells. Roll tortillas and place in baking pan.
In a small bowl, mix the cream of mushroom soup and sour cream. Pour over tortillas in pan.
Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake for 20 or 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

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This is one of my favorite meals. Although the whole thing takes about an hour, you only actually have to cook for 20 minutes. I usually serve with refried beans for a yummy mexican themed meal.

Make sure to check out today's other yummy recipes at My Chihuahua Bites.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I've got all kinds of randomness floating around in my head today. Guess that's what very little sleep, a truckload of Aleve, and 36 straight hours of captivity on the couch will do to you.

So here are my thoughts in all their random, drug-induced glory.

1. The Good - I have a job interview! Woot, woot! It's a part-time marketing assistant position. I struggled a bit with whether or not to apply for something that was only part-time and requires a huge pay cut, but in the end it sounds like a really fun, interesting job so I went for it. Keep your fingers crossed for me on Thursday.

2. The Bad - I woke up yesterday in some major pain. I had a back injury four years ago that knocked me flat on my butt (literally) and required three weeks in a back brace and months of chiropractic care. I've gone nearly two years without a flare up but it appears my good luck has run out. I have been laying around on the couch with my heating pad for nearly two full days know but I still can't stand up straight. Moving from standing to sitting or sitting to laying is the worst. The chiro can't get me in until tomorrow so I am stuck like this for at least another day. I've seriously been considering this as an option for the better part of the afternoon:


3. The Ugly - To keep myself entertained I have been catching up on all the blog reading and random internet surfing that I missed last week while my sister was in town.

Wonder how many hours it took to put Lady Gaga in these hideous, skankalicious boots?

{image via perezhilton}

Prayers for Stellan

{image via Stellan's Name Gallery}

I know you've all heard me mention this sweet little guy before, but tonight and tomorrow he needs our prayers more than ever. Baby Stellan is scheduled for a very risky heart operation tomorrow (Tuesday) at 8:30am EST. Things this evening are not going well and his surgery may be moved up even sooner if they can't get his heart rhythms under control soon.

Would you pray with me for sweet baby Stellan? Pray specifically that:

1. The Great Physician will guide his earthly physician's hands.
2. No new issues as a result of the surgery. The list of possible complications is long and scary.
3. Peace for Stellan's mom, who is in Boston with him, and for his dad, who is at home with the family's other small children.
4. That God would be glorified in whatever the outcome may be.

If you've ever wondered if a single life can truly make an impact on the world, go spend some time at MckMama's blog. Even at a time when no one could fault her for screaming and railing at God, this woman still manages to put us all towards Him who can do immeasurably more than we could ever think or imagine.

Vanity, you are a cruel mistress ......or the things we do for sisters

{image via the brow stop}

If you ever hear me talk about getting threaded again, please remind me that it feels like death by a thousand facial paper cuts.

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I will freely admit that I have let some things go a bit since I began working from home two years ago. I don't wear make up every day, I am the queen of the messy ponytail, and I have a ridiculously large collection of yoga pants for someone who has only done yoga maybe twice in her entire life.

Since moving into the new house, I have neglected to hang my magnifying beauty mirror in the bathroom, in part because I loathe putting holes in my lovely virgin walls, but mostly I avoid it out of self-preservation. Magnifying mirrors were clearly invented by a man, because no woman in her right mind would have created an instrument whose sole purpose is to point out every new crow's foot, random mole hairs and pores the size of the Grand Canyon.

As a result of my efforts to deny the aging process going on all over my face, my usually well maintained eyebrows have suffered tremendously. I simply do not have the patience to lean over the sink each morning while squinting (hello, crow's feet!) owlishly with tweezers in hand.

I made the mistake of mentioning this to my sister on her first night here, casually dropping that I was considering 'threading' to get my caterpillars brows back under control. Mind you, I have been 'considering' this for several months, passing the brow place every time I visit the mall (read: often). But I know from past experience just how painful it is, so 'considering' was as far as I'd made it.

Bad move - she thought it was a great idea! A new experience! Fun sister bonding! Note to self: In the future, keep your big fat mouth shut.

And so we went on Thursday for a little self-induced torture landscaping. Eye brow threading is an ancient Indian beauty ritual where the technician uses thread to pluck, shape and thin your brows. It is really amazing to watch, faster than plucking and more accurate than waxing. Unfortunately it hurts so bad you want to slap your mama. Suddenly that magnifying mirror's not looking so bad....

I will admit, though, my brows do look better than they have in months and it was indeed fun sister bonding. Especially when her torture took twice as long. Serves her right!

Mimosa, anyone?

Having company is a good excuse for drinking in the morning.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow....

You're only a day away!

I used to sing that song (from the musical Annie) every April 14. Well, I guess technically, I still sing it every year on April 14. Good memories there.

In honor of the twenty-eighth anniversary of my magnificent birth a few good companies are giving away some freebies. Wait, wha? The freebies aren't because of my birthday? It's Tax day? Who wants to celebrate that?

Well then, in celebration of Tax Day, these companies are giving you poor working folks a break. Those of us who loaf around on our arses all day, well, we get 'em too, probably before you since we don't have to work until 5pm. Don't hate, you know you're jealous.

All deals are for Wednesday, April 15th only.

Totally Free Stuff:

Cinnabon - Free Cinnabon bites from 5-8pm.
Maggie Moo's Ice Cream - Free scoop of ice cream all day! They are calling 'E-cone-nomics'. Cute, right?
HydroMassage - Free massage all day but you need to make an appointment.


Rebate Stuff:
PF Chang's - One of my all time favorite restaurants is giving 15% off your bill.
TGI Friday's - Spend $15-$25 and receive a $5 gift card. Spend more than $25 and get a $10 gift card.
Chick-fil-a - Now this one I am not for sure is true but I read it a couple of different places, so I am hedging a bet that it's true. Make any purchase on April 15, then bring back the receipt any time during the rest of April and get the exact same meal free.

It's just too bad there are only 24-hours and three meals in a day, or I'd hit 'em all up. After all, what's better than your birthday? Getting FREE STUFF on your birthday.

Let the celebrating commence....

Nate kicked off my birthday celebration a few hours early by bringing home these beautiful flowers and offering a trip to Starbucks after dinner.

Both gifts were a wonderful surprise...but I have a sneaking suspicion that the Starbucks trip was more about cruising in his new ride than celebrating the birth of his darling wife....

Stack 'em high

Believe it or not, I am entering my third week of unemployment and I have yet to crack open a book. Hard to believe, since I normally average a book or two a week.

I have been so desperate to keep myself busy, to prove that I can still be productive, that I have barely taken any time to actually enjoy my time off. This weekend I finally scratched the last item off my Unemployment To Do list, so maybe now I can spend a little more time doing things I enjoy - like plowing through this stack of books I got today at Half Price Books.

I swore up and down I was going to consign my little box of books and get the heck out of Dodge, but alas the line was long and the clearance section was calling my name. I need more books like I need another hole in my head, but how could I resist some of my all time favorite authors and every book just $1?

At that price I'm lucky I didn't walk out with more books than I came in with!

The Reason and the Truth

{image via google images}

This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. - John 3:16-18 (The Message Bible version)

Let me upgrade ya....

Look at me, busting out the song lyrics for two posts in a row! Perhaps I should consider a new career path as a lounge singer?

I digress.

We had a major upgrade at our house today. This one has been a long time coming and I couldn't be happier about it. We got a new baby!

No, not that kind of baby.

This kind....


Doesn't he look handsome? And the guy in the brown jacket's not half bad, either....

That's right, we finally took the plunge and bought Nate a new car. For as long as we've been married, he's been drooling over the Ford Mustang. First we were waiting for him to finish grad school, then we moved twice, then we bought the house. There was always some reason to keep putting it off. Meanwhile he was driving this....



Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is duct tape holding up the window. Any good Southerner knows that duct tape is the solution for everything.

Nate had mentioned a couple of times how much he was digging the Dodge Challenger but I never in a million years imagined him with anything other than a black Mustang. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he rolled up from his test drive in a fire-engine-red Challenger.


The grin on his face said he was already a goner. So we got our stuff in order and headed back to the dealership to do the deed.


Five hours later we were cruising back home with the sunroof open and the bass thumping. Men were breaking their necks to get a look at this baby on the road. And Nate was loving every minute of it. I was afraid I wasn't going to fit in the car with Nate and the big fat smile on his handsome face.


I hope you enjoy every minute of it, baby. You deserve it.

And they call it....puppy lo-ove

That's me doing my best Donnie Osmond, Puppy Love imitation. What, you'd like an encore? Oh you make me blush. Maybe later.

Jennifer over at Pour l'Amour De tagged me with this special request - a picture of me, however I am, right at this very moment. Thank the good Lord she posted it in the afternoon, otherwise you poor readers would have been subjected to Sara: the Raw Morning version. Not a pretty sight.

Rules:
Take a picture of yourself right now.
No primping or preparing.
Just snap a picture.
Load the picture onto your blog.


I was cuddling Lola while catching up on my Reader so I let her make a guest appearance in my picture.

Hello, Old Friends

Pulling out my summer clothes is like Christmas, my birthday and a family reunion, all rolled into one.

Hello, old friends, so nice to see you again.

Magic in a bottle

{image via resolve}

This stuff is MAGIC.

We had our first incident on the carpet today. I know I should be grateful that we've gone six months in the new house without one, but mostly I was just pissed because, well....we went six months in the new house without one. These two are lucky I don't know who threw up on my carpet because the culprit would have been banished to the laundry room until their tummy troubles were settled.


At least whoever it was had the decency to do it toward the edge of the room behind a table rather than in the middle of the floor. As soon as I saw it, I went dashing for the bottle of Resolve Triple Action. I read a review on it many moons ago and bought it before we even closed on the house (I knew this day would eventually come!).

I sprayed the spot, let it sit for five minutes and when I came back....MAGIC! The spot was gone before I even scrubbed it. Of course, I still scrubbed it a bit to soak up the wet spot, but you can't tell a bit. If you have pets or children or happen to be really clumsy when holding beverages, I highly recommend this stuff. It's magic in a bottle.

with much love, wangy

{Living it up in Jamaica last summer for our 5th anniversary}

I must start with my apologies to my handsome husband. Yesterday was his birthday and I fully intended to post something about it but the day got away from me. Although I don't think he's complaining because it was a pretty darn good birthday.

On the bright side, I finally, finally, finally surprised him with a gift. Go, me! The man always seems to know what he's getting - usually in three guesses or less. It could be the most random gift on the planet and he will somehow intuit what's in the box before he opens it (hello, year of the watch). But yesterday, I totally got him. He's had an ipod shuffle for a few years and has mentioned in passing several times that he wishes he could have play lists for his runs. But every time I mention getting a new ipod he shrugs it off, saying his is just fine. But birthdays are meant for getting stuff you don't need, right? So he is now the proud and very surprised owner of a new ipod nano. Shock and awe, baby, shock and awe! Score.

I love you, Nate! Happy (one day late) birthday!

Whodunit?

Curses on whoever brought the Necco Malted Milk Eggs into my house.


Oh, wait. Dang, that was me.....well, then, uh....

Curses on my complete lack of impulse control when in the Wal-mart Easter candy aisle.

One-armed, er, sleeved bandit

{image via fug girls}

Don't get me wrong, I love me some Carrie Underwood and I was thrilled to see her take home Entertainer of the Year at the CMA's last night, but seriously, honey....this is what you choose to wear? Don't you have a stylist? Yes? Well then she should be shot. No? Then I'd invest in one, pronto.

I'm sure people are always telling you, 'You're so pretty, you'd look good in a potato sack', but darlin', it's just a metaphor. They didn't really mean that you should dress in a potato sack (or pillowcase as the, uh, case may be). And what's up with that hideous sleeve-that-they-forgot-to-attach-to-the-dress-so-we-just-hooked-it-to-my-necklace-instead? Sleeves are not accessories. Sweetie pie, less is more.

Better luck next time. Bless your heart.

Homesick

It's days like today that make me miss home the most.

The tax man cometh

Every year on January 1st I promise myself that I will get our taxes done the minute we have both our W-2's. And every year it's somehow April 1st before I get around to even thinking about it.

Guess what is sitting on the desk in front of me, staring ever so rudely while I try to read blogs, check email, procrastinate as long as humanly possible and catch up on Facebook? Stupid W-2's.

This is the first year since we've been married that I am going to attempt to do them on my own. Every other year we've had some reason or another to pay someone else to just do it for us. I tried that this year, but the guy at H&R Block kind of skeeved me out and honestly, I'm a little bit embarrassed to even call last year's guy so late in the tax season. Surely this can't be too hard, right?

At this point, I think I'd prefer this to spending the next two hours trying to figure out if I should subtract Line 452.b.ii from Line 987.g.vii, or was that Line 987.d.iii?

{image via active rain}

Just in the nick of time

Who has the best parents in the whole entire world?

Me, me, me! That's who.

Not only did they get me exactly what I wanted for my birthday, but they somehow knew I was not going to make it another two weeks until my birthday before I bought it for myself.

I am now the proud owner of a year-long subscription to Netflix! Suh-weet!

Thanks, Mom and Dad! You're the best whole world.

Fare thee well

{image via google}

I just boohooed my way through the 2-hour series finale of ER. I was 13 when the show first started and I begged my mom to let me stay up until 11 so I could watch it with her. That was a big freaking deal to stay up that late back then.

I have watched every season since. Even when it got slow, or campy, or a little bit mundane. I must say, this last season did not disappoint. I thought they got the final episode just right too - just enough sappiness but mostly the business of County General still goes on.

Man, I'm going to miss this show.

{image via nbc.com}

My tastebuds thank you

{image via Godiva}

Dear Godiva Chocolates,

Thank you for creating the milk chocolate cheesecake truffle. It is a little bite of heaven wrapped in chocolate. I thank you even more for having the presence of mind to sell it only four weeks out of the year, so that I do not blow up like a Macy's Thanksgiving Parade float.

Blissfully yours,
Sara

Hey, hey, it's my birthday....

Speaking of birthdays.....wait, what? We weren't speaking of birthdays? Well, it's my blog, so we are now.

Happy first day of April and welcome to the month-long celebration of my birth. The way I see it, your birthday is the perfect excuse to get away with bad behavior live it up, so why limit yourself to just one day?

Let's say I just happen to find myself wandering through the mall when I come upon a pair of fabulous purple heels. But I am unemployed, so I should save my moolah and keep moving, right? Unless...it happens to be my birthday, then I could buy them as a birthday gift to myself, right? But this only works on a single day each year. Hence, the birthday month. Instead of a single day, I get 30 whole days to use the birthday excuse. Genius!

Note: The birthday month excuse also works well for indulging in cake (Well, it is my birthday!), getting out of cleaning the house (But, honey, it's my birthday!) and other impulsive behaviors for which you need an excuse (What can I say, it's my birthday!).

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A few of the items on my birthday wish list. Oh, don't pretend like you don't have one too!


1. A subscription to Netflix. I am totally obsessed with Netflix lately. It's only $8.99 a month for unlimited rentals. Um, hello?! You can't rent two movies at Blockbuster for that price. This will happen, I'm just giving Nate the opportunity to call it a birthday gift.



2. I've been stalking this dress from Victoria's Secret since last spring, but it absolutely refuses to go on sale. I don't need it, so I can't bring myself to spend $75 on it. But that's kind of what birthdays are for, right? I feel a birthday month excuse coming on....

{image via sincerely, kristin}

3. A month of Bootcamp. Because trying on my bathing suits the other day was a rude awakening. Enough said.

{image via google images}

4. A giraffe print purse. Love it. Sigh.



5. A Tempur-Pedic Pillow. My sister has one and I am insanely jealous every time I see it. I would just steal it, but she will know immediately that it was me. Wonder if the birthday excuse would get me out of that one?