Friday Favorites

Happy Friday friends! You know what's really weird? When you get a LinkedIn request from someone who you knew and were close with once upon a time but now you're not (not even on FB), are not frenemies,... in fact might be enemies if you cared enough about them or thought about them at all. Like- why are you requesting me? I don't want to be in your network. I don't want to be in your "squad." I don't want to coexist in the the same world as you because you're a pretty scummy person but we're cool since we don't interact and I never have to see you.  Let's just keep it that way, yes? #Denied. It's almost as weird as getting a friend request from your ex's mom. Almost.  /rant. Let's get this weekend started with Amanda and some favorites from this week! Oh, and don't forget to "spring forward" on Sunday! Yay to more daylight hours!

Favorite Song: This song is all over the radio these days an I'm sure I'll get tired of it sooner rather than later, but it's so damn catchy! Megan Trainor- No

Favorite Cocktail: In case you missed it yesterday, I shared this amazing Rumchata Hot Chocolate recipe I got from Monica before it gets too warm out to drink it!

Favorite Find: I just learned about Litcube from Brittany during the Show Us Your Books linkup, and I'm so glad I did! I just signed up for one of their Limited Edition Gilmore Girls Boxes!

Favorite Links:

• Did you know there's going to be a new addition (literally) to the Bridget Jones' series? I just found out that "Bridget Jones' Baby" is coming out this September!

• The topic of blogging, "How to Blog" posts, blogging solely for money and/or followers came up in length during my blate last weekend. There seems to be a growing lack of personality in Blogland today: the rants, the daily life posts, the opinions, the everything in-between posts. The lack of creativity. Lindsay posted about it this week and hit the nail on the head. 

• It sucks when friendships end. Sometimes it's gradual, sometimes it's not. Some people just ghost as daily life takes its toll and you grow apart, while others need to have a straightforward "break up talk." Cat wrote about it in a clear way that really struck a chord with me. 

• I think I've seen this before but I can't remember for sure so I'm sharing it again, just in time for St. Patty's Day. Because who wouldn't want to receive a mystery potato or glitter bomb?! 

Favorite Lust: This is adorable, inexpensive, and useful.

{Available here}

Favorite Funnies:

Stuff and Things from the Weekend

Oh hey, it's Thursday and I'm just now posting about the weekend. My bad. Normally I would skip it altogether, but I hung out with my favorite bloggy peeps and cooked things and "it didn't happen unless there are pics" or something. So...

On Friday night, I went out with Blue's family because her niece was on break from college, and we went to our favorite pizza place, Patsy's Tavern. This place is tucked away on some non-descript back street in Paterson, NJ. Honestly, you wouldn't notice it unless you already knew about it. These types of hidden gems are my absolute favorite. Patsy's has been around for at least 70 years, as Blue and her sister mentioned that their parents used to go there when they were teenagers. It' old-school Italian and though I'm sure all of their food is delicious (telling from the aromas and the smiles on my fellow patrons' faces), I can personally attest to their ridiculously good mussels marinara and bar pies (pizza). Everything comes out piping hot, the cheese is all gooey, and they don't skip on sauce or serving sizes. 

We planned poorly on Saturday. We decided it was a good idea to go to Costco in the middle of a Saturday. (I actually questioned this plan on the Wednesday before, but we couldn't think of a more suitable time to go). DO NOT DO THIS. After several rounds of shopping cart roulette and snaking through the aisles trying desperately to avoid other people's carts and screaming children, we got out somewhat successfully. Also, the customer service people were awesome and took back my too-big Hunter boots that I ordered online without any issues. So yay for that. 

Saturday Night I met up with Alyssa, Michael, and Jenn for pottery painting and dinner at Doin' Dishes and Casa Piquin, respectively. I of course forgot to take pics of the pottery-ness, because I was way too focused on trying to find a  suitable piece to pain and then actually attempting to paint it, but Jenn took some. I'm sure my piece looks like crap (it's still being fired) but it was fun to catch up and do something creative nonetheless. Thing I learned this weekend: I do not like fried ice cream. Everyone ordered it so I sampled Jenn's, and... I think it's a texture thing. I didn't like the crunchy coating. I also thought the coating tasted like coconut which I hate, so that may have had something to do with it. 

This week was Blue's turn to choose Sunday dinner, so we kept it super simple with chicken strips and "dem wedges" (potato wedges). They are seriously so tasty and so easy. Cut your potatoes in quarters (we left the skin on), throw them in a Ziploc baggy with a bunch of spices and shake, and pop them in the oven for 45 minutes. Boom. (I also love the recipe comic format in the above link- so much more fun!)

On Sunday nights we have a few neighbors over to watch The Walking Dead. Usually someone makes a warm cocktail, so I decided to try this recipe for Rumchata Hot Chocolate. Again, ease is the name of the game. Chop up some Andes candies, throw a bunch of dairy products and Rumchata in the crock pot on high for 2 hours, and you're done. And it's delicious. Sidenote: it was Blue's first time trying Rumchata and she guzzled two glasses on the rocks before we even started. I've created a rum-onster. 

Linking up with Kristin and Joey for Stuff and Things! 

Show Us Your Books: February Edition

It's time again for my favorite link-up of the month! This month's reads were all courtesy of Netgalley. A quick note about Netgalley though- they change up the archive dates on a whim and never let you know. As a slow reader, I write the archive dates down to keep track. I read in order of the soonest archive date initially listed and review in the same order.And then sometimes I go back to post the review, only to find that it has already been archived. You have to keep checking to make sure they didn't move it up which is kind of a pain. Anyone else experience this? Just curious. Anyway- onward with this month's reading! 

Missing Pieces- Heather Gudenkauf: 4 Stars

Overall, I liked the pace of this book. I had a good idea of "whodunit" about halfway through, which would normally make me give a lower rating, however there were enough additions and twists to keep me on my toes and second guess myself, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Another aspect that kept me guessing and added a layer of mystery were the emails featuring the nursery rhyme with a twist. They were dark and creepy and definitely made me nervous for Sarah, even though she shook them off. I didn't particularly like Sarah because her questions came across as accusations rather than morbid curiosity or concern, and her timing seemed very inappropriate and inconsiderate considering the nature of her trip there. Also, her motives were insincere. She wanted to know for herself, not to clear anyone's name or find justice. I also didn't love her relationship with Jack. They certainly didn't act or talk like they were married for 20 years. They didn't seem to have sort of intimacy, trust, or comfort in one another. What DID Sarah know about his past? And why would he shut down every single time she tried to talk to him about... well, anything really? They just came across as very awkward. (view spoiler)

The Girl in the Maze-  R.K. Jackson: 2 Stars

I wanted to love this book, and it started off promising, but I lost some interest along the way. There were a lot of extraneous characters introduced in the beginning that served no real purpose and just confused me with all of the names. Also, there were a lot of ideas that seemed unfinished. I got a serious chill factor from certain imagery, but the stories and questions associated with them were never explained.

I loved the descriptions of Shell Heap in the beginning. The lush forests, the pristine dunes, the village where the people lived- I saw it and felt like I was there. I also really liked learning about the Geechee people and some aspects of their culture and wish there was more of that. I was surprised by the ending though, which is why I'm giving it two stars.

The Passenger- Lisa Lutz: 4 Stars

Everything I could possibly ask for in a psychological thriller!
It had me guessing until the very last sentence. And I still don't know what to think of Blue!

Lutz spends a good bit of time introducing us to Tanya and had me asking questions from early on, but I instantly liked Tanya. Even though she picks up and runs as soon as her husband dies, you can tell she's pretty new to all this by the sheer number of mistakes she makes, which make her all the more likable. I really like the emails between "Jo" and "Ryan" as well, as they gave tiny snippets of what the big secret from her past might be. A fast-paced, well-thought-out, page-turner that certainly kept me on my toes!

(I still don't really know why it's titled The Passenger though. )


Anything For You- Kristan Higgins: 4 Stars

First of all, I've only read one other work by Higgins, The Best Man, and that was a long time ago. I remembered some of the characters and were happy to see them here again.

I really liked how Higgins started with the proposal and then took us into the past leading up to that point, and then brought us back to the present. It instantly drew me into the story. It also made me realize why Jessica declined and seemed so flippant about the whole situation. I instantly despised her attitude, but once I saw how they got to that point, I actually felt for her and even began to genuinely like her.

I loved Connor from the beginning. His fumbling attempts to try to win her over, even though she had said no to him, were endearing. Though he tried to go on a few (unsuccessful) dates, he kept her in his periphery. He cared about her enough to take things slowly, and even attempted to "fix" the one thing that Jessica kept using as an excuse as to why they couldn't be together.

Also, I also thought that Connor's sister and her husband were hilarious, and a breath of fresh air from the back and forth between Connor and Jessica's on-again, off-again relationship.

The Restaurant Critic's Wife- Elizabeth La Ban: 3 stars

I liked the story for the most part, but I felt like the reader was beaten over the head with the idea that Lila was bored, deprived of friendships and normal adult socialization, and wanted to get back to work, at least part time. Also, the side story with Lila and Sebastian and Lila and Tom didn't really pan out; they seemed underdeveloped and a bit forced.

Friday Favorites- Marching Right In

Happy Friday friends! I'm super excited to eat some of the best pizza around and see some of my favorite bloggers this weekend! What are you up to? Linking up today with my favorites of the week and Amanda!

Favorite Song: The beat drop at the 1 min mark hooked me. Don't Let Me Down- Chainsmokers ft. Daya

Favorite Moments:
Winning a giveaway!I won the book "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" from The Misfit Librarian.
Donating 10 dresses to a high school for their prom.

Favorite Pic: 
Blue and I went for for a walk at the newly reopened Great Falls Park in Paterson, NJ.

Favorite Lust: 

As a Kimmy Schmidt/Tituss fan, I'm seriously so excited for this and am totally buying a bottle (or 5... for gifts...maybe)

Favorite Reads:

• You guys. I have a new favorite website. Have you checked out PureWow? I love it. And it all started with this list of 9 Things to Be Excited About This March.
• Did you guys see the new one-size-doesn't-fit-all Barbies? Apparently they came out this week with tall, petite, and curvy versions. I say, about damn time!
• Can't find time to exercise and take care of laundry? Well this is certainly one way to accomplish two things at once! 
• Um, how did I not know beer spas were a thing? Do they exist in the U.S.? That would be my jam! 

Favorite Funnies: 

Happy weekend! 

February Goals: Revisited

Today I'm sharing how I did on one of my February goals- The Wallet Watch. Fails are in red, passes in green. You can see my parameters with notes over here. Though I wasn't particularly successful at not spending, I did pay closer attention to what I was spending on and I kept my grocery budget below $60! Even I was surprised with that one! 

The Wallet Watch: Wallet watch lasts from February 1 - February 29. If you wanna know more about it, go here. These are my parameters: 

- No more than $50 on take-out/food out, period: Fail. Over by $51.08

Date of Infraction: 2/1/16 (off to an amazing start, no?!)
Location: Coffee shop at work

Item: Coffee

Cost: $2.25

Notes: I forgot my travelers mug of glorious coffee on my kitchen counter at home. My train was delayed by 50 minutes. It was a Monday. Need I say more? It was also some of the worst coffee I've ever tasted, which made it that much worse. Ugh.

Date of Infraction: 2/5/16
Location: Blockheads
Item(s): Dinner/drinks
Cost: $41.00
Notes: My friend came into town unexpectedly for work. Obviously we needed to go out!

Those two would have been okay, but then...

Date of Infraction:2/12/16
Location: Mariachi Grill
Item(s): Dinner for 3
Cost: $57.83
Notes: My old neighbor/friend wanted to come over for dinner after work one night, and Blue was coming over as well. I didn't feel like cooking. She took a TV, an Easy Bake Oven, and a laptop bag with her though, so it was definitely worth it.

- Check the checking account for fees, and change banks if necessary: Check!
 I found that my bank charges me $7 in monthly fees. And I considered changing banks, but then I remembered that I just got a bunch of checks for this account, and ordering more checks would cost more than what I would be saving, so I guess I'm going to stay for now. 

- Open savings account: Check
Calling this a pass because I'm going tonight. 

- Grocery budget $60: Check!!!
I think this is the one I was most proud of. I only went tot he grocery store once, and the total was $84.62. HOWEVER, this was the day before our Superbowl party, and a lot of items were purchased solely for the party. So I deducted those things from the total, and found I only spent $40. 64 on actual groceries for myself! Adding in a few items I picked up at CVS (see below, 2/27) and the Dollar Store, I spent 56.64 on groceries this month! BOOM!

- Get taxes done: Check! 

- Check my credit score: Fail. 
Isn't there a way to do this for free somewhere? I forgot and didn't want to get charged, or lower my score by checking. 

- Talk to those pesky student loan peeps: Check! 

- Revisit and readjust the budget: Fail
I didn't see the point of doing this before the Wallet Watch. It made more sense in my head to revisit and readjust afterwards. 

- No unapproved spending of any kind, for anything. Approved Spending: Valentine's day gift for Blue, Mom's birthday present, Boss going away present. Fail. 

Date of Infraction: 2/11/16
Location: Rite Aid
Item(s): Part of this was Blue's Valentine's Day present (don't judge me, they had a Star Wars mug), but as for the rest ???
Cost: $47.11
Notes: I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED.

Date of Infraction:2/12/16
Location: PetValu
Item(s): cat toys/treats
Cost: $14.96
Notes: I decided that Keebler (Blue's cat) needed Valentine's day love too. Whatever, it was totally worth it.

the cat who won Valentine's Day

Date of Infraction: 2/22/16
Location: online, Club W
Item(s): wine subscription
Cost: $26.75
Notes: Because, wine.

Date of Infraction: 2/27/16
Location: CVS
Item(s): Passport pics, toothbrush, lipsticks, 2/$5 chips, Pepto
Cost: $47.89 (-$11 grocery)= $36.89
Notes: I had a 20% off coupon and needed to take my passport pics. Blue needed to replace her toothbrush and lipstick which was B1G1 50% off, and we were paying together. So not all my fault!

Date of Infraction: 2/29/16
Location: online, BonTon
Item(s): a Star Wars traveler's mug and 3 pack of K-Cups
Cost: $46.08
Notes: I was weak. I looked at Brad's Deals. Forgive me.

Total Infraction Costs (including the $51.08 from eating out): $222.87

Have you done a no-spend month or Wallet Watch? How did you do? 

Confessions- The First of March

It's Wednesday and on Wednesdays we confess, so let's get right to it, shall we? I'm keeping it short this round because sometimes 10 confessions is too much, and I shared a bunch yesterday. Anyway... confessions! 

I ate meat the last two Fridays. The first time, we were originally supposed to go for pizza before a concert but weren't hungry at the time, so we waited until we got inside and the only vendor that was even remotely close to out seats was "Chicken and Fries" so that's what we had. It was damn good too. And last Friday I felt like death and the thought of more pizza seemed nauseating, so we got the ultimate (delivery) comfort food- Chinese. I got shrimp and broccoli, but then had Wonton soup. Sorry Jesus. 

I didn't participate in #nationalmargaritaday because I don't like margaritas of any kind. I've tried slushy and uh, non-slushy, and it's just not my thing. I've learned (through extensive research) that tequila and I are not friends. I'll stick to my Kentucky Mules and whiskey, thanks.

It took me a few minutes to figure out how to spell "whiskey" because it can be spelled without the "e" and still be correct. Why is the English language so confusing sometimes? No wonder foreigners don't like it.

Blue and I have a shared Google calendar to stay abreast of each other's appointments/girls nights out/dates. But sometimes we just don't want to go to certain events. For instance, I was invited to a bridal shower 45 min away with a bunch of people I didn't know (besides the bride) and/or didn't like, so I declined, making up some excuse. We add these on the calendar as "No Social Media" days so we won't get caught.

Blue reads my blog on the regular, which I love. I could bet any amount of money that she is chuckling at "abreast" above. I'm curious- does your significant other read your blog? How do you feel about it?

Currently: March

Reading: Still deciding. I finished "Missing Pieces" by Heather Gudenkauf last night (review next Tuesday for Show Us Your Books!). Whenever I finish a book it takes me a day or two to pick a new one (as long as I don't have a Netgalley archive date approaching!). 

Listening to: Switching between Alyssa's Spotify playlist (which she made public- have a listen!) and Piper Chapman's Spotify playlist. Good stuff all around. 

Planning: a trip to the Obgyn. Last Friday I felt so sick, I actually had to leave work early. I could barely make it from my desk to the bathroom without doubling over in pain from cramps, and I had to talk myself out of physically getting ill because someone else was in the bathroom (doing their hair for crying out loud- I was thisclose to asking them to GTFO), and I didn't want to make a scene. This is not okay. I was on the Pill for awhile which REALLY helped with the pain and regulation, but I had zero sex drive (sorry if that's TMI). I need to try a different medication. 

Watching: I was so sad to find out that CBS cancelled Angel From Hell after a mere 5 episodes. I really liked it! Le sigh. Currently watching The Walking Dead (anyone wanna talk about it? Please?!), end of S2 of Grey's Anatomy (I started from the beginning, but also watching current season, which is HELLA confusing), S3 of Catfish, and the end of S1 and current seasons of Married at First Sight. Oh, and current season of Top Chef and Big Bang Theory. 

Organizing: My student loan paperwork. Apparently there was some "glitch" where my student loan lenders didn't realize I was exempt from paying them because I was in grad school part-time last year. It's been a major pain in my ass for the last month or so when I noticed I was getting all these "delinquent" notices and was like "WHAT now??" 

Smelling: my dying flowers, which are actually still quite fragrant. 

Wishing: That my tax return would come in, even though I just went to file last week, and even though it's less than it was last year. 

Craving: Even I'm sick of hearing it, but vacation. A real, week-long one with a flight involved. 

Wearing: black pants, maroon long sleeve top, gray tie cardigan. 

Going:  To my friend's wedding in Williamsburg, VA. We're heading down on St. Patty's Day, and stopping in DC for a few hours before continuing on to VA. All those "colonial Williamsburg" commercials actually paid off, especially since Busch Gardens doesn't open until the following weekend! Argh! I've never been!  But I'm sure it'll be fun nonetheless. 

Learning: Patience. I hear it's a virtue, and one I need to work on.


What's currently up with you? Linking up with Jenna , Anne, Christy, Kristen and Gretchen!