Nostalgic Late Night w/ Husband

Last night after work, I was hyper and wound-up.  I was so energetic, in fact, that before I knew it, it was 11 o'clock and Matt and I were just hanging out in the kitchen watching the top 100 songs of the nineties re-run on VH1.  That was so fun. We were laughing at the comedians' commentary of the songs and critiquing the order of the list.

Before I knew it, M slipped downstairs and returned with a large black binder case.  Enclosed in the case were all of his old cds.  He asked me if I wanted to laugh at him and placed a stack of strategically pulled mix cds in front of me to listen to.  I love nothing more than a good mix.  In fact, playlist crafting is an art of mine. I enthusiastically accepted his offering of cds.

One by one, we popped the cds into my computer and laughed and bonded over all the old tunes.  The best part was when a song reminded me of fun times I had during my junior year of high school and he simply responded, "I was in the middle of college...think about how much fun I had with that song."  Guess that's a fair response to get as I was trying to play the "you're-older-than-me" card.

We sat around in our pajamas for hours listening to these mix cds...until 2AM, to be exact.  I got to interject some of my old music into the conversation, as well.  It was so fun, and to top it all off, I now have some new old tunes to import today.

I know you're dying to hear some titles we came across.  Maybe they will make you smile, too.
They included but were not limited to:

Chemicals Between Us Bush
What's My Age Again Blink 182
Show Me Love Robyn
Da Rain Missy Misdemeanor Elliot (Remember this crazy video?)
Goodies Ciara
Seven Days Craig David
Mr. Jones Counting Crows
Deep Inside of You Third Eye Blind
Inside Out Eve 6
Butterfly Crazy Town
Beautiful Snoop and Pharell (sp?)
You Give Love a Bad Name Bon Jovi
Groove is in the Heart Dee-Lite
Ruff Ryders' Anthem DMX (Worth mentioning here that M says this was his "main jam".  I have never heard him use the term "jam" to describe anything before...)
Get F*&^ed Up Iconz
Informer Snow
All Mixed Up 311
Slide Goo Goo Dolls
It's Gonna Be Me N Sync
Jerk It Out Caesars
Turn Off Light Nelly Furtado
Hear it From You Gin Blossoms
Change Clothes Jay Z
Put It On Me Ja Rule (Who in fact, I forgot existed)
Hey Pretty Poe
Everywhere Michelle Branch (in my husband's collection, not mine!)
Shine Collective Soul
Tom's Diner Suzanne Vega (I like Luka better personally)
Shake it Like a Salt Shaker Ying Yang Twins
Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover Sophie B. Hawkins
Weapon of Choice Moby
Clint Eastwood Gorillaz
Fat Lip Sum 41
Ride Wit Me Nelly
Rearrange Limp Bizkit
Days Go By Dirty Vegas


XOXO,

Tuesday Morning Ramblings

I dropped the ball on my typical all-across-the-board Monday AM post.  I had several little errands to run yesterday morning and just didn't get it done. Not to mention we had a killer weekend at the restaurant and I have been stowing myself away in recovery.

1.  Fab Fall Findings
I went back to school shopping Friday with my Mom and bro.  That was way too fun.  We got Lance hooked up with nearly everything he is going to need for his freshman year of college and first run-in with dorm living.  I ended up coming away with 5 button down shirts (of different styles and varieties), 3 cardigans, 2 tops, 2 pairs of slacks and a pair of flats to jump start my professional wardrobe.  It was a great day and I didn't feel flustered trying things on because I wasn't fixating on size numbers, just the progress I've made.  I do need to get my pants tailored, but that shouldn't be too big of a deal.  I feel ready to start.

2. Reason #451928 Matt Osborne Rocks
Last night, we went bowling with Matt's work friends.  Typically, I lack skill in a big way in the bowling department.  Then my performance anxieties soared when my husband's colleagues were whipping out their own personal bowling shoes and their own balls, I thought for sure I was going to be making a huge a out of myself in front of his friends. And I did, but not at first. 
We had a few beers and lo and behold, the first game, I kicked Matt's ass!  I got several 9s (victories) and even a spare or two.  I beat some of the other owners of balls and shoes with which we were playing.  I was unashamedly overly excited about my mediocre play.  However, game two was not as fruitful, friends.  Consistency is not a strong point for me.  I went up to bowl bound and determined to get a strike and powerfully released the ball...into the gutter... and THEN... it spun out of the gutter and into the neighboring lane.  Then it proceeded to roll down that gutter, affecting one of the hardcores we were with's score (which was not easily fixed, btw).  Mortified doesn't begin to cover the emotion I felt.  Completely and totally.  Thank God my husband loves to laugh at me!  Reason #451928 Matt Osborne rocks?  His laughing at my idiocy, giving others permission to laugh as well, thus alleviating the competitive nature of it all.  If he hadn't laughed at me, I'm pretty sure some people would be pissed his lush wife gave that guy a 0, which his awesome bowling skills would NOT have afforded him.

3.  Time to Re-focus
I have two and a half weeks until I weigh in next, and I need to recapture my hardcoreness.  I feel like I am in the same place as I was last time when I went to weigh in.  I may have spent too much time being overly confident about that last weigh-in, that I let myself lose focus.  The workouts haven't been a problem in the least.  I am still hooked on how working out makes me feel and I have remained consistent and faithful.  However in my dieting life, I am starting to let myself do a few forbidden things here and there, which is a huge red flag for me.  For example, I had a Diet Coke yesterday.  I had lots of beer last night, which at the time, I rationalized was okay because I didn't have dinner (which is a stupid, novice way of rationalizing that, given that the lack of dinner hugely impacted my already record-low tolerance).  I need to re-focus.  Okay now that I have typed it out, I think I can!

4. Dentist Dilemmas
I hate the dentist.  So much in fact, that I haven't been in...wellllll, let's just say a little longer than the recommended time.  I now am the proud owner of  Delta Dental individual dental insurance policy... meaning I am running out of excuses to put off going to the dentist.  But guys this anxiety is way worse than I can illustrate to you.  Thinking about the sounds in the dentist office make me nauseous.  I could literally vom right now.  The drill... I hate.  That suck-all-the-water-out-of-your-mouth thingy is awful.  I wish I could be completely sedated during a dentist visit, even a check-up.  One of the waitresses at the restaurant recommended this place in Salem. http://www.carolinewallacedds.com/services.html (See below as to why)



5. "Emotional Hoarding"
The Today Show is currently talking about something called "emotional hoarding" which is a psyched out term for professional grudge holder.  I think I probably am one.


XOXO,

Dollars and Sense

I found this great article on thenest.com (a newlywed staple):

4 Smart Spending Tips for Couples

As you all might know, Matt and I merged into the world of joint checking back in March and have been somewhat successful thus far in communicating with one another about money.  I liked this article a lot because it highlights one of our favorite ways to stop from spending money... packing a lunch instead of having meals out.  Matt and I both have individual amounts of "fun money" we are budgeted to spend each month.  Let's not talk about how I have $5 left for May and am def going to be going over my allowed amount (isn't moisturizer a grocery item??).  My point is, the majority of Matt's fun money goes toward lunches out.  Then at the end of the month, he's like "where did all my fun money go?"  Meals out are typically the culprit.  I have tried to be more conscious of having deli meats, breads, cheeses etc. and the kind of apples he will eat (only golden delicious, which I do not enjoy) on hand at all times so he can actually pack lunch.  By my estimation, this has really made a difference.

Seems like a small change, but definitely one worth making!

Shoo, Jimmy Choo!

Matt and I have spent many hours in the past two days talking about our finances.  What a drag, right?

Financial speak and I have not always had the most fruitful of relationships.  Let me put it to you this way... I consider myself to be a pretty good student, yet found Family Financial Management at Tech to be one of the most difficult courses of my undergrad career.  Not kidding.  Money market mutual funds, compounding interest, blah blah blah...  Maybe it had something to do with it being on a Friday morning, too...

The dreadful course aside, I finally found the book at Barnes and Noble that is speaking to me in all the right ways.  It is called Shoo, Jimmy Choo: The Modern Girl's Guide to Spending Less and Saving More by Catey Hill.  This book gives easy to understand instructions for those of us who didn't major in finance on how to lessen/eliminate debt, save money and stay our fabulous selves.  It emphasizes the importance of giving yourself little allowances in spending.  However, it also helps you identify why you spend and seeks to teach you how to sacrifice a little.

Why buy this book?

Because, I'm sorry, I'm not scrimping on skin care and drinks out.  But at the same time, it is very important to my family of two to start growing, rather than just sustaining ourselves pay period to pay period.

So I put my big girl panties on and made my first real budget with my husband.  $100/month of fun money... do you think I can do it?

XOXO,

Aud