April Goals: How Did I Do?

1. Go to the dentist!
Went today!

    2. Read more.
        Joined PaperBack Swap and got a new book. Still reading "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."

    3. Be more creative.
        Still participating in 30 in 30 and working on my own personal Home-maker's Guide.

    4. Remove clutter from my life.
        Done: washing all our throw blankets AND put in a vacuum bag for storage. And cleaned out closet!
        And started selling my stuff on Smashion! And updated my iPod! And organized pics on computer!
       ::Phew!::

    5. Figure out my future.
         I updated my resume, answered agencies that reached out wanting to know what I was up to, and  
         attended an events planning class. My next steps will be looking into some graduate programs, but I 
         think I made some good headway here.

X     6. Eat out less.
        I think I did this a little bit, but not to the extent that I wanted. Oh wells.

X    7. Open a High Yield Savings Account.
       I did my research and found a place to park my money for the trip. However, I have decided to just
       keep this money for now, and will put additional savings in this account when I'm ready.

X    8. Make a Budget (and stick to it).
       I didn't get to this in April, but I did it for May!

May Budget & Goals, and Where'd My Money Go?!

I finally done it- I've created a monthly budget! Let's see if this keeps me on track better! I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out, being that I've never officially created one before!

Bills
Rent: $834.00
Cable: $211.11
Phone: $84.00
Transportation: $300
Loan Repayment: $310.00
Groceries: $400
Netflix: $5.34

Savings: $400.00 (If I can do this, I will be a mere $250 away from being able to afford the flight to India for my bff's wedding...eeeeee!!)


Other
Wedding Gifts: $200 (2 weddings)
Other Gifts: $150.00 (5 presents, Mother's Day and 2 birthdays)
Wedding Attire: $150.00
Dentist: $5.00
Hotel in Florida: $220
Spending Money for Florida: $150
Miscellany: $150.00

Total: $3559.45
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Week of 4/25

Bills
$834 - rent
$300 - transportation
$15 - Credit Report (seriously need to cancel this- arrgghh!)
Total: $1233.00

Entertainment
$64.50 - went to dinner/drinks with a friend I haven't seen on awhile

Shopping
$140 - bought my sari for May 31 wedding! (temporary- my mom is giving me back this money as she wants to buy the sari for me. Thanks mom!

Other
$6.50 - Metrocard: went to see mom for sari window shopping, and going on Friday night after dinner
$5.00 - Burger King
Total: $215.00

Grand Total: $1365.00

Being that this was mostly spent on bills, I think I did pretty well!

Random Thoughts

*My bf, C, was quoted in the local newspaper! They had an article about the Top 10 Fake Royal Wedding Headlines, and he is quoted at #9 saying "Crumpet shortage in England. Crumpet workers plan to have a giant inflatable rat outside of Buckingham Palace." Haha!

* I just switched to Google Chrome (from Internet Explorer) and ohemgeee. It is sooo much better! I can actually read my blogs now! I was having issues following some of my favorite reads because they wouldn't open! I kept getting this message that said "Internet Explorer failed to open site [insert website address here]. Operation aborted." It even did it with Facebook, which was the last straw! But I talked to an IT guy/student at work (the perks of working at a college!) and he just said to switch browsers...so I did. And it's awesome.

* I didn't really like the movie The Other Guys the first time I saw it. Kinda like The Hangover. But I don't know, something about watching these movies repeatedly makes them funnier. Or maybe I'm just really tired. Jury's out.

* I really like the April issue of Glamour magazine. I like the articles, I like the fashion, heck, I even like the ads! But I really like the articles- I actually read them for the first time in awhile. And I may have found my newest girl crush...

Frieda Pinto.

Cute, pretty, sexy. Love her!

* I am loving the Victoria's Secret Pink PHILLIES clothes! How did I not find out they had a MLB line before?! And I've been wanting a shirt! C is a huge huge Phillies phan (season ticket holder!), and though I am a more recent convert, I would like at least one shirt! And I love that it has '83 on it, cause that's the year I was born! 

love.all.of.it.

* C made a kinda good point the other day. He said though I'm good at saving when spending, I still spend. I find stupid things that I may not necessarily need to spend money on. And I don't put enough aside (in savings). So...I'm going on break. Two weeks- no clothes shopping. Or jewelry (though I haven't bought jewelry in a long time, but I feel it should be added). I know it doesn't seem like a long time, and maybe I'll update later, but let's start small. Baby steps.

Annnd....GO!
Happy Friday lovelies!

April Goals Update #2 and Where'd My Money Go?

(To see my original April Goals post, please go here. To see my last update, please go here.)

Updates:

1. Go to the dentist!
Made an appointment for Monday, May 2 at 9:30AM.

2. Read more.
Joined PaperBack Swap. Receiving a book this week, and just sent three out. Still reading "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."

3. Be more creative.
Still participating in 30 in 30. That counts right?
4. Remove clutter from my life.
Done: washing all our throw blankets AND put in a vacuum bag for storage. And cleaned out closet! And started selling my stuff on Smashion! And updated my iPod! And organized pics on computer! ::Phew!::

5. Figure out my future.
Received a random phone call from an egency I used to work with regarding a Special Events Coordinator position! Gave me just the push I needed to update my resume, and answer a few other agencies that reached out wanting to know what I was up to. Very random, but made me reconsider this career choice.
6. Eat out less.
I think I did this- I don't really remember what I ate or where last week. I think I ate out with mom twice.
7. Open a High Yield Savings Account.
Found a place I want to save at! Now I just have to transfer/deposit the funds...

8. Make a Budget (and stick to it).
Ummmmm....oops.
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Where'd My Money Go?!

Bills
$0

Entertainment
$0 - went to the movies with my mom for Easter using the BuyWithMe tickets I bought earlier this month!

Shopping
$10.00 - Living Social deal for $50.00 worth of Vistaprint products
$7.50 - Easter flowers
$13.00 - CVS trip; Easter cards, 2 sodas + candy for the movies
$3.00 - 2 Snapples and a Chunky candybar
$20.00 - C's dinner + Starbucks cake pops, red velvet whoopie pie, and PB cupcake
Total: $53.50

Other
$20.00 - post office; sent books for Paperback Swap
$10.00 - extra train ticket to see mom for Easter
$8.50 - Metrocard
$30.00 - train tickets (I forgot my train pass one day. Eep!)
Total: $58.50

Grand Total: $122.00

Some unnecessary expenditures, but not too bad.

So What /Semi Wordless /Wandering Wednesday

First off, this is one of, if not the, coolest wedding invitations I've seen!! Love the antique look, and the fact that it's best off of the real Life magazine cover from 1963!


http://www.orange-and-apples.com/

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This week I'm saying SO WHAT if...

...I wear jeans at least 2-3 times between each wash. I just don't think my jeans get dirty enough to wash after every wear. Please don't think I'm gross!

Also, I only wash my hair every 2 days. It's very thick and quite long and it really does look better the second or third day. And overwashing dries out my hair.

...I don't understand spray tanning. It could be because of my naturally tan complexion an so I've enever even considered using it. I love The Jersey Shore as much as the next person, but I just don't see why anyone would want to be orange.

...It's the 27th and I just changed my calendar at work from March to April. I don't actually use that calendar, it's just up for the pretty pictures.

...I only do the 30 in 30 Remix Challenge Monday-Friday. I consider it work to remix that many outfits, and like my weekend free to wear anything my little heart desires!

What are you saying "So What" to this week?

Dress Help Please!!

I may have mentioned that I have a wedding coming up in mid-May. It's a beach wedding in sunny Florida. I had originally bought the Anthropologie dress below. I love it, and it's the first Anthro piece I've ever owned. (And it was marked down from $148!) But it was still almost $80. And then momma dearest bought me shoes to go with it- gorgeous Jessica Simpson white peeptoe platform heels.

But I just saw this dress over at Charleston Girl's blog. Ain't it pretty?? And at a quarter of the price! And I already have perfect nude slingbacks that could go with it (another momma dearest purchase- shoe post coming soon!).

So I need some help. Because I like both dresses, but I am also trying to save for a MAJOR 2 week vacation/wedding. Not to mention, I have to buy at least one Indian wedding outfit, and I'm finding that they cost upwards of $150...And returning the dress+shoes would be about $150.

What would you do?!?

Forever 21 $22.80

Anthropologie $79.95

Help!!

This BEE a Situation

Hope you all had a lovely Easter! Mine was spent trekking to NYC to visit with mom, having brunch, and watching "Water for Elephants" (review later this week!).

Lucky for me, I had a vacation day today- woot woot 4 day weekend! I didn't have anything special planned, just needed a breather from work. I think the cold, rainy weather (when I waes expecting Spring) along with new projects at work (meaning more stress) and coworkers being major drama queens have been dragging me down a bit.

via

So this morning, I woke up late, and went outside on our 10x3 piece of concrete that our apartment complex calls a patio. At least there's room for a 3 chairs. So I was just sitting, sipping my coffee, and enjoy the warm weather, when I heard it:

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Bzzzz Bzzzzzzzzz....



Yup. Bees. All over the beautiful white flowering tree about a foot away from my "patio." I really don't like bees. And *knock on wood!* I've never been stung. But when they come flying near, I have a tendency to... move to say the least. So my peaceful early afternoon was interrupted by me continuously jumping up our of my seat and away from approaching bees. I was staring at them, because I wanted to sit down, and I was waiting for them to leave. And then I noticed...they were entering a little hole right behind my seat and into the plastic frame of our patio window!!!

So I called C over (he had off today too, another incentive for me to take off!). "The BEES! They are entering our apartmeeeeent!" I loud-whispered. "Look!!" as another bee entered the hole. So he ductaped the hole. "But now we're gonna have dead bees in the frame of our window. And what if there's a hive? And what if they actually burrow into our apartment?!" (I realize that last one is highly unlikely, but still worth mentioning.) "Just let me know if you see an escape route" was his only reply.

Luckily he was still out there when I saw a bee entering another hole in the plastic frame. "BAM!" I yelled, and pointed.

C: Bam? Really??

Yes. Really. I don't like bees okaaaay?! Sheesh. So he duct taped that one too. And then found a maintenance guy who said he had to "call somebody." Whatever that means. But for the time being, at least the holes are blocked. This didn't help me any, however. Because other bees knew where they were supposed to go, so they kept coming back to where the holes were. And they kept buzzing around there trying to get in.

I didn't get to enjoy my morning coffee to say the least. Hmph.

 Join the Mingle Monday by clicking on the icon! This week Meg asks what your fave mascara is. Right now, I'm loving L'Oreal Full and Soft, but I just received a free sample from Clinique so I'll let you all know how I like it! Do you have a fave masacara?