'Cause You Know, Things Will Change, If Ya Hold On For One More Day

 I'm not going to lie, things are not super in my world right now.  First -- work has been incredibly stressful.  We had a RIF (Reduction In Force, I think? Maybe?) about two weeks ago and the girl that sits across from me was let go among other people I knew.  I still have the sadz about it all.  And, let's face it. As a person riddled with general anxiety throw in the fact that I really don't have much job security right now because I am pretty sure my lovely, small insurance company that I work for (and love!) is going under has really, really, increased my anxiety. Work didn't get any better last week when we had a rep out sick on my team on the two busiest days of the week.  I am still trying to get my head above water. I have been getting to work at 7 a.m. and either working through my lunch break (not that my customers appreciate any of this) and staying late, too. 

So, networking is basically in full force a) because of my New Year's Resolution and b) because at the end of the day, I have to feed Hogan Muffin and pay his rent.  This uses a lot of energy and brain power I don't always have after I come home from work which is causing me a lot of frustration.   I don't want to have to rent my house and move back in with my parents if I fall on super hard times. Even though they are awesome and would let me. (See, I am already at a worst-case-scenario in my mind!)

You want more stress? I got it.  I am working super hard with The Housewife and other bridesmaids to host a bridal shower for Little A and plan her Bachelorette (Because these events Must. Be. Perfect. for my dear friend).  And, surely the world and Little Baby Jesus know I should be devoting all my time to this and not worrying about work.  Lucky for me, The Housewife must have been a party planner in another life.  She routinely talks me off the ledge just about every day about something I am freaking out about.   I am sure I am annoying her because everything is probably really in order and I just make it stressful on myself by worrying too much.  Like having anxiety about the postage I put on the shower invites because the envelope was a weird shape.  No seriously, this stuff keeps me awake at night. 

I've also gained 5 lbs since Christmas. FIVE. WTH.  

I've also seen 3 Putt a bit. Again.  Ok, a lot. Since before Christmas. WTH. 

Y'all -- I can't even get any sleep lately.  I had an awful time sleeping this past weekend and last night I think I barely slept at all.  I am a scary, mean, nasty person when I don't get enough sleep.  

Not on purpose.  It's just that I am So. Damn. Tired. 

I promise to check back in soon.  If you follow on Twitter you know I have a dinner date I've been semi-waiting on for almost 2 years now. More on this after I get some real sleep. Or buy some Tylenol PM to medically induce the sleep I can't have. 

Love you. Mean it. 

~psycho, sleepless, Single Gal~

Monday Dude Obsessions

I thought I would do some Monday "dude" obsessions because Turtle's birthday was last week. So I took #1 out for a training day at the mall.

First stop is Banana Republic; for the second time in less than a week. Turtle ripped his last pair of nice jeans and he will only wear this particular pair of jeans from BR.  The Turtle is a big fan of the Straight leg jeans, not to be confused with the Vintage Straight leg which is too tapered at the ankle for his tastes. He needs new jeans because he tore the knee of the one pair he likes to wear and must have a specific wash color in them- Indigo. (I will not call him a diva. I will not call him a diva. DIVA.) Long story short, I went Sunday and they didn't have the size in the wash I needed. Go back Friday, and after searching again, speaking with associate at the store and we still couldn't find them (same as Sunday) even though their computer said the store had one pair of what I needed. She finally found them on a mannequin and ripped them off for me. Score one for the actual pants and score two because they were 30% off.

 

Turtle really enjoys watching Netflix on his iPad. He has been using some old headphones (probably from like the 80s) that his grandfather had given to him. He has been checking out Dr. Dre Beats for a long time and I decided to surprise him with them. Normally I would have just done some online shopping via my Amazon Prime account but I didn't have time to wait on the two day shipping once I had actually decided to get them. I ended up getting mine from Brookstone for convenience sakes. Nothing irritates me more than needed three things all from different stores requiring me to get #1 in and out of her car seat a bajillion trillion million times. lkasdflkhasglkjsgljh!!!!  The Beats are compatible with the iPhone and iPad and apparently you can speak to them and they do certain things on command......sort of like a dog?  Or maybe it's just Siri's sister in there? 

And last but not least, what guy doesn't want their favorite beer (which their wife has deemed too expensive to buy on a regular basis since she stays at home now) waiting for them in the fridge? 

*As always we clearly have no sponsors and no one is paying us to promote any of these items. It's just simply stuff we like.

The Housewife

Feeding Frenzy

This is not a post about my woes of #1 not eating or refusing to eat certain things. She's a little person and they go through phases and likes and dislikes just like we do. I loathe meal time for one main reason and that is because it MESSY.  No matter how well you clean things there is always some crusted macaroni noodle or a banana slice glued to the floor, even if you have a 3 x 5 floor mat to catch said food. It's even worse because #1 likes to clean her tray off when she is "all done." This means she takes her hand and puts anything that is still on the tray onto the floor. Yay.

I'm also having a high chair problem. At first, we had the space saver high chair because my kitchen is not vast and expansive so in the effort to "save space" we registered for one of those. I have no complaints about the space saver and really liked it....that is until #1 would rock herself back and forth with all her might annoying the ever living shit out of me while I slaved over a stove to cook her a grilled cheese sandwich. It made me want to throw my dining chair with the space saver through my kitchen windows (not with the baby in it in case you were concerned). So I bought an old school wooden high chair off craigslist and painted it pink. It is sturdy and she doesn't do all that rocking bullshit. But I can't get all the crusted food junk off the wooden high chair very well. So I've been researching and I'm convinced this will change my life:

This is an Oxo Tot Sprout Baby high chair and it is $250. "Wow, Housewife that is a lot of money for some stupid chair when you already have a high chair," is what you're probably thinking. Guess what? I don't care how ridiculous it seems. I'm a woman; it's only in our nature to complain and insist THIS is what we need in order to survive the cold, cruel world. Good thing Turtle does not need much convincing to spend money.  This is probably going to come live with us in the very near future.....maybe even this weekend. It's an extended use high chair and you can use it through five years. Although my prediction is it will be used by #1 for the foreseeable future and perhaps a #2 might come along one day and use it as well. I don't think kids like being in a high chair very long once they can sit in a booster seat.

If you need me I will be scraping old banana mush off the floor mat with a butter knife and then clorox-ing the crap out of it. And if this high chair is a big piece of junk.........I'll never admit it to any of you.

The Housewife

Monday Obsession: Dry Bar

Recently I have been talking with some of my girlfriends about wanting to try Dry Bar since they have been open in Atlanta.  I mean, what's not to love about a $35 blow out??! I also recently saw that Atlanta blogger Clemson Girl and the Coach also went as well.  Her blog is super cute and so is she so I was definitely sold.  

I finally  got together with one of my besties, Elise and we both scheduled appointments since we were long overdue for one of our 6 hour Sunday brunch/shopping dates.  Y'all -- Dry Bar did not disappoint! I had a wonderful mimosa (they even know how to make them right--lots of champagne and a splash of OJ), got my hair did, and chatted with Elise while chick flicks were playing on a TV. They have a menu of different hairstyles (!) to choose from and the service was fabulous! 

They only sad part is that it had basically been raining in Atlanta for well over 24 hours by the time I arrived and the bad weather wasn't slated to let up anytime soon.  So, since my hair isn't super at holding any curl on a good day a lot of my "Miss America" look disappeared by the time I even drove to Phipps Plaza for lunch/the Tory Burch President's Day sale.  Le sigh.  But, I guess it's a great excuse to go back! 

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

Paradise

I hope they aren't running computer reports today at work, because I never blog at work but I am today. But if anyone asks, it took me less than 5 minutes, I'm on my lunchbreak, and it's nothing offensive.

I found this quote today and I think it may be the sweetest thing I've ever seen, and if I were ever to get married, I would be happy forever if my husband said this about me.

"This morning, with her, having coffee."

~Johnny Cash, when asked for his definition of paradise.~

Love you. Mean it.

~the single gal~

Monday Obsession: Warby Parker

If you do take the time to read our blog, you will know that in December Hogan Muffin chewed my glasses up when I dared to leave him to go to a Christmas party.  As a Single Gal, the budget is always a little tight so this was a major set back for me.  Especially since I a) really loved the glasses I already had and didn’t need new ones and b) glasses are really expensive and I like to use my insurance allotment for contacts.  I had a really old pair of glasses to get me by but I was super bummed about the fact that new ones were really going to break the bank. If I ever found the money to get some new ones.  Except they didn’t.  

Enter -- Warby Parker.  While I am aware a lot of people already know about Warby Parker I first read about them in Matchbook Magazine and I couldn’t help but to devote some more time to this company with a post, especially after my wonderful shopping experience.  This is a company dedicated to providing affordable, yet fashionable eyewear for the general masses.  And -- on top of this, they donate a pair of glasses for every pair they sell.  I completely adore and appreciate this because when I was in 7th grade my mother was too poor to buy me frames and lenses when we discovered I needed glasses.  Kwoww worked for Delta Airlines for about 30 years and someone happened to leave their glasses unclaimed on a flight and guess what peeps -- those were the frames I had to use. And I wasn’t allowed to get contacts until I wore them for a year. If I could show you a pitiful photo from 7th grade I would, but I don’t even know where to find one. Just pity me appropriately without the visual mmmmk?

All Warby Parker frames + lenses are $95.  Seriously. That’s all I paid.  I don’t even think I paid shipping.  Their customer service was stellar.  I randomly woke up on a Saturday morning at 6 a.m. after getting paid and practically ran downstairs to make coffee and order mine. In my complete excitement to order, I put the wrong color frames in my virtual shopping cart and failed to notice after I reviewed my order twice. So, I immediately emailed them to let them know what an idiot I was.  I got an immediate response on Monday and they didn’t hasell me at all.  Also, they said it would be at least 10 days to make & ship them (understandable) except they shipped on Wednesday and I got them on my doorstep on Friday. Less than a week.

A few other things I loved:

- You have the option of having them mail you 5 different pairs of frames to try out before purchasing. Or, you can use your web cam and virtually try on a lot of frames.

- My doctor never put down my “PD” measurement for how far apart my pupils are from each other. Warby Parker has this crazy cool feature where you use your web cam and a debit card and it measures it for you.  And then emails your results to them.  Super neat!

-The case and the box my frames came in are gorgeous. They make you feel like you bought a $400 pair of frames.

I snagged the Huxley frames in my attempt to embrace geek chic and pretend I model for JCrew.

I took an awkward self-portrait the day I got them as well. I really adore them. And, they were so affordable, I can't wait to order another pair!

Love you. Mean it.
~the single gal~

Wu Who?

So I was curious about this big to do about another designer fashion line coming to Target (a.k.a. the white chick mecca). I know the hype about the Missoni stuff was crashing their servers Die Hard 2 style when it became available for purchase. I came upon an article that was explaining in order to avoid that same debacle Target released the items for sale at 12 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. which was the expected/announced time. Some Target stores *supposedly* had  a two-piece per style limit because many people come in to buy it only to re-sell it later on e-bay.

Word is (as per above article) that Target will re-stock only select items online and nothing in the actual stores. Does anyone else not understand this? If it is selling so well, why don't they just manufacture plenty for all or most of us? I'm sure only limited things would be left on the sale rack like every other line they carry in the store. I went to one area store to scope things out and they had maybe six or eight items left and that was it besides a few of his handbags.

And with further research there are almost 11,000 Jason Wu for Target items on e-bay and here is a you-tube video of a couple in a Miami store who were allowed to buy their ENTIRE stock of merchandise. Some people estimated this to be $7K.

As you can see these two jerk faces have a lot of shit in their carts. I'm shocked no one requested a manager to inquire about this and I would certainly be getting the district and regional managers information and speaking with Target's home office if I was in that store hoping to buy something. I hope no one buys any of this stuff on e-bay. Maybe if Target wouldn't offer it in such limited amounts this wouldn't be so prevalent. It's more like boo-hoo for many fans and customers.

Butter Really Does Make Everything Better

Just because the holidays have come and gone doesn't mean that my baking frenzy is over! I came yesterday and it was a very rainy afternoon. I had a migraine and thought my whole evening after work was completely done for, but I was cruising Pinterest after taking some meds and was suddenly feeling better and feeling inspired.  

Let's talk about the best part of this recipe -- I had all the ingredients measured out and practically had them all mixed together by the time my oven was pre-heated! What's better than a super easy bread recipe that takes next to no time and involves a beer? I used a leftover Guinness that was in the fridge since I had to buy them to make a beef stew a few weeks ago {that I never ended up blogging about}.  

I have linked the recipe to credit the person who came up with this delicious and easy bread, but you can also just read it below. 

~Honey Beer Bread~

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp honey or agave nectar
• 1 12 oz bottle of beer
• 4 Tbsp butter, melted (you can double if you want)

Yield: 1 Loaf

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9"x 5" x 3" loaf pan

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer and honey into the dry ingredients until just mixed.  Tip -- put the honey into the microwave for a bit to make it easier to mix!

Pour half the melted butter into the loaf pan. Spoon batter into pan, then pour the rest of the butter on top. 

Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Serve immediately. 

Smells good!!! 

Butter really did make my day better. And beer.  And bread. 

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~