Right Now...

Hello Blog World!

Not much going on at the moment. I put my usual weekly posts on hold a bit while I enjoy the calm before the storm. Things are pretty quiet this week so I'm taking a break because next week the craziness of ACM starts and you won't be able to get rid of me! I have a whole lot planned for the next couple months so it's nice to just chill a bit. Hope everyone is doing well!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Sunday Social

1. What are the top 3 things you can't go a day without doing?
Checking my phone.
Checking WoW. Even just on my phone. That auction house is like shopping for me.
Listening to music. It just doesn't happen.

2. What are 3 things that scare you the most?
I really don't like spiders. Gross.
Heights.
Airplanes. 

3. What are 3 places you want to see before you kick the bucket?
I want to go to Australia! 
At some point, I should go to China.
I also really think I should go to Japan.

4. What are 3 movies you will always love?
Love, Actually. So funny.
Zombieland. Preferably with Twinkies in hand.
Shaun of the Dead.

5. What are your 3 favorite current songs?
Downtown by Lady Antebellum
It'z Just What We Do by Florida Georgia Line
The Trailer Song by Kacey Musgraves

Take Me Downtown Tour Part 2!

Happy Saturday everyone!

I am completely exhausted today as I sit and type this on a work break. 

Last night was the Vegas stop on the Take Me Downtown Tour and though I bought myself the worst possible seat I could get (fun experience lol), it didn't even matter, since the night was already perfect

I picked up my backstage instructions right after work and at the meet time, we were escorted by security downstairs and backstage. The tour staff gave us all wristbands and then told us which rooms to go to. I was under the impression we were all getting a quick meet and greet but apparently I was wrong; the band was doing a surprise private set for us. WHAT? I chatted with Hilary, Charles, and Dave for a bit (about ping pong lol) and then headed into the private room. They did a few songs, a Q&A, and hung out for a while and it was so much fun. More casual than the VIP set-up in Salt Lake but just as awesome.

Sorry for the sad show pics. I forgot the memory card in my camera AGAIN (WHY), not that it would have made a HUGE difference since my seat was kind of behind the stage anyway (but kind of neat since I got to see what goes on backstage).

Random Redneck Moments of the Week- Week 12

1. Caught myself getting way too excited about camo capri pants.

2. Realized I have amassed an entire wardrobe to coordinate with my cowboy boots.

3. Got really excited when Marc decided to retell old hunting stories cuz they're funny and awesome. 

Happy Friday guys! Hope you all have a great weekend (even if you're working it like me). Have some awesome plans tonight and cannot wait to share on the blog next week (or tomorrow).

Throwback Thursdays Vacation Edition- Week 11

These photos were taken on my 24th birthday when my friend Jade and I went to Knott's Berry Farm. I'd been when I was really really young but didn't remember much except for Snoopy. We got really lucky; my friend overslept and we didn't leave Vegas until noon. By the time we got to the park, we only had about three hours to wander and explore so we booked it around the whole park fueled on sugar and caffeine. It was really pretty seeing all the park Christmas lights on at night and after all the racing around, we stopped at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant before heading back to the park hotel for the night. The whole package for the room and tickets and breakfast the next morning was under $150. Such a steal! Worked out that we went that first night because the next day, it poured and the park was closed. 

  

 

Packing Diaries

I'm not too skilled in the art of packing. I've learned things by doing but I've become pretty good at taking only a carry-on size suitcase just about everywhere. Sometimes I'm really diligent and start months in advance so that I can take my time pulling it apart and putting it back together (yeah, like Tetris). Smetimes I throw random crap into a large shopping bag and then forget to actually put it in my suitcase until the night before (since I wasn't planning on sleeping much anyway). Here are random things I've learned through my packing and traveling adventures.

• One of my fave organizers in the whole world is this handy purse organizer. I got it on Ebay from a shop in China (it took a while to ship) but it has come in handy more times than I can count. I use it every single day and it's really useful for all those little random travel items I keep on trips.
• I love love love any kind of Japanese discount store. They always have the best cheap little travel things from bottles and tubes to travel slippers and individual paper masks. Daiso is my absolute favorite. Everyone in my family loves it including my dad who cringed at the cute pink J-pop look the first time I brought him to one of their stores. About 30 minutes and $20 in the electronics section later, he was converted. One of the best things about these stores is the fact that the cosmetics are dirt cheap and designed for Asians so I have less trouble color matching.
• I have three different methods of packing for different accomodations. When I stay at hotels, I usually don't bother with shampoo, conditioner, or body wash. My hair is relatively resilient when it comes to washes so as long as I bring my usual styling products (Orofluido and Bumble & Blumble Straight Blow Dry) and a round brush, my hair dries fast and stays about the same. When I visit friends and am staying at someone's house, I bring my handy little Bliss Sinkside set with me since it has everything in a nice coordinating pack. Everywhere I go, I like to bring a mini face treatment with me like Bliss That's Incredi-Peel packs and Kate Somerville's Exfolikate. When I'm visiting Marc, I just pack my basic cosmetics since I left full size toiletries on the boat. This makes life so easy!
• I love packing bright lipsticks and eyeliners for trips. They change looks or match outfits without adding a ton of bulk to my make-up bag. That and scarves. I'm addicted to scarves.
• I'm obsessed with Ebay. No joke. At least a couple weeks before trips, I scour Ebay for great travel size items. I've found so many amazing deals from eyeliners to masks and Chanel creams. Such a gold mine! And I've found some of the cutest eye masks here too.

Today I'm linking up with A Compass Rose and Semi-Charmed Life!

Sunday Social

1. How much time do you spend on Social Media a day?...be honest
I'm logged into most round the clock but I probably only check it a few times a day.

2. How long were you reading blogs before you started a blog?
I'd read a few that I liked but I hadn't really gotten into the community at all, I just branched out more once I started my own.

3. What is your favorite kind of cupcake?
There's a cupcake place in Vegas called Mad Hatter Cupcakes and their banana fudge is my fave. It's like moist banana bread with a fudge frosting and filling. To die for.

4. Do you eat fast food? If so whats your favorite?
Not often but I really love Chipotle.

5. What is the most random thing someone would find in your purse?
Toilet seat covers. I always like to have a few since I'm a germaphobe!

6. What is the weirdest TV show you watch?
Depends on what you consider weird! Maybe Archer. lol

Random Redneck Moments of the Week- Week 11

Hello everyone!! And welcome new followers! I'm so happy to have you!!! :-)

1. I have a stuffed possum named George Jones. 

2. I am planning a big fat road trip hopefully for next year and I'm redirecting it around one stop- 

West Monroe. 

3. I also plan to stop at every giant cowboy I can find and take pictures of it (I read something about an Eiffel Tower with a cowboy hat… that's on the list too).

Throwback Thursdays Vacation Edition- Week 10

I totally forgot today is Thursday!

This pic was taken in Uruguay when I was 17. I had a great great love for penguins. What's not to love about those cute little birds wearing tuxedos and looking all classy?

They bite. That's what.

We visited this amazing penguin sanctuary where the penguins are so used to people that they just run around everywhere. As far as the eye could see was fields and penguins dotting those fields. They'd run past us like nothing.

Unfortunately, some of those penguins were molting. Uh oh. We were all very careful not to TOUCH any of the penguins or get too close but apparently they didn't get that memo since this gorgeous little guy tried to reach up and bite my nose off my face. Right after I took this picture. Guess that explains the sneaky little look on his face...

It's Monday...

Good morning Blog World!!!

I'm not crazy about Mondays even though they're usually my "Thursdays". Add to that the fact that we lost that hour yesterday (I tried to go to bed an hour early to compensate but I was stuck on WoW so it didn't happen) and I'm just super tired. Here are a few updates:

1. I've been on Weight Watchers for over a week now. And drinking water like I'm living in the desert (oh, wait... I am). Trying to get in shape for swimsuit season which in Vegas starts in like two weeks. lol

2. I get to see Marc in a couple months! I'm so excited!!! I'm already trying to figure out what to wear. :-)

3. I just booked a really exciting trip that I cannot wait to tell you all about!!!

4. I am obsessed with these fabulous Yes to Tomatoes towelettes. After having bangs for almost a year and being really bad at remembering to wash my face (yikes), I was getting really oily. I've taken to using these everyday in the afternoon as a kind of tune-up and my skin is clearing up so much! More balanced and the blackheads and clogged pores are going away. Hurray!

5. ACM keeps adding more awesome events for their awards weekend so now I've got five nights of shows to go to and then Tim McGraw and Faith Hill at the end of the next week! April is going to be crazy!!!

P.S. What do you guys think of the new blog look? :-)

Sunday Social

1. What is your favorite outfit pin?

From Pinterest found on travelfashiongirl.com

Ok, this technically isn't an "outfit" but I love getting ideas for trips and right now this is a great idea for my cruise later this year.
 

2. What is your favorite food pin?

Found on Pinterest via Shine Yahoo!
I always like to look at stove top recipes since Marc doesn't have an oven on the boat and sometimes I just don't feel like baking. I also really love cobbler.

3. What is your favorite wedding pin?

 From Pinterest Found on jaggerphotographyblog.com

If I ever get married, I want to do my wedding portraits in front of an airstream. Preferably in the woods though and with a tacky pink flamingo and weird lawn chairs. Not sure why.

4. What is your favorite DIY/craft pin?

From Pinterest Via Kirsten Lockenour
I'm really into finger knitting and I'm dying to try this scarf with arm knitting.

5. What is your favorite quote/verse/lyric pin?
I don't have one. 

6. Share one more random pin you love.

Found on Pinterest found on thewindowshopper.org
I just love packing lists and since all my trips are usually around 2-3 days, this one is really cool.

Random Redneck Moments of the Week- Week 10

I made it to week 10!!! I've never really managed ten weeks of anything. Except pilates and TRX because my trainer was a Hungarian body builder and she kind of terrified me (or would have if she wasn't awesome). Anyway, welcome to week 10!!!

1. Just told a story about how we used to use our fireplace to smoke out squirrels who were living in it.

2. Reminisced about my fave childhood dinner place called Dinner Deck. There was a sherbet bar, bench tables, and really good fried catfish.

3. And then reminisced about family afternoons at Bass Pro Shops. Sometimes I go there just because it reminds me of home.

Throwback Thursday Vacation Edition- Week 9

I went 25 years without ever seeing a panda. Crazy!

Granted now I see them all the time in WoW and I'm kind of tired of them. But at the time, I just thought it was sad. When my mom and I planned out our trip, we decided to go to Ocean Park. I'd never been there before and it's one of the top tourist attractions in Hong Kong. And yes, there were pandas. So many pandas. To be honest, I'm far more interested in their red cousins cuz they're cute and fluffy and small. We enjoyed watching feeding time and seeing them run around. The only other time I had seen a red panda was in Boise (of all places) and he was in a huge enclosure sitting in a corner napping. These red pandas were over active and running around like big red squirrels. It was awesome. The giant pandas were lazy and hiding and seemed to have trouble finding anything to do. Still very cute but kind of weird. Lazy bums.

SFO 2014- Part 3

I don't like to veg out in a hotel room when there are so many things to do around the city, but after all that walking, it was pretty necessary. We took a few hours to shower, change, read, and get ready for our night on the town. I got a really great Travelzoo special for dinner at a nice restaurant not too far from the hotel. Since Melissa had never been to San Francisco, I wanted to make sure she got to see all the great views around town. Before dinner, we stopped at Top of the Mark and got there right as the sun started setting. Amazing view! After drinks, we grabbed a delicious dinner nearby. Such a great end to the first day of our vacation!!!

SFO 2014- Part 2

After our harbor cruise, we were pretty awake and ready to explore. From Pier 39 we walked down to Fisherman's Wharf and explored a bit. Here we walked up (and I mean UP) to Lombard Street for pictures and a fabulous view (last time I walked down and it really is a HUGE difference). By now our legs were KILLING us and we decided to avoid walking uphill for the rest of the day. We walked down to Ghirardelli which was PACKED since it was President's Day. Eek! We found the one parlour that wasn't full and by the time we had ordered and gotten our sundae, it was packed there too. After our ice cream break, we walked to the Powell Hyde cable car turn and waited about an hour for the ride back.

Today I'm linking up with Travel Tuesday!

SFO 2014- Part 1

Hello all!!!

So once again, I made the trip out to San Francisco. This time I got to bring my best friend with me; we've been talking about taking our girl trip together for YEARS but life got in the way and we didn't get to do it until now. So much fun!

I got a pretty good deal on Expedia at about $375 per person for roundtrip airfare on Virgin America and two nights at Hotel Triton. Super cute place! I love Kimpton hotels and this one was also awesome. 

After collecting our Muni passports and taking BART into town, we were completely energized (running on empty) for the day. We took a bus down to Pier 39 and caught the Blue and Gold Fleet's Escape From the Rock cruise (Groupon deal). We snagged seats on the top deck outside and thankfully, it wasn't freezing or too windy at all. It was also pretty sunny. We got some amazing pics of downtown, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz. Such a fun way to start the trip!

Since these are rather heavy photo posts, I'm splitting them into several. Hope you guys don't mind. :-)

Sunday Social

1. What was your biggest middle school fashion mistake?
Bike shorts. I was too lazy to change for gym. Oh and skater jeans. So gross.

2. Who were your best friends in high school? Pics?
Daniel, Christine, and Lisa.

3. What was a typical weekend like for you in high school?
Sleeping in. Scrapbooking. Catching movies with Christine.

4. Did you have any boyfriends/girlfriends? Tell us about that.
Just one. :-)

5. Did you have any secret codes with your friends? Spill your secrets!
Nope, we are not that cool.

6. If you could relive one day/moment/experience from middle school or high school, what would it be?
The day I met Marc. :-)