Rachel Roy Booties

I recently went shopping and I wanted to share my favorite purchase with you. These amazing Rachel Roy "Roye" suede booties:

They were on the top shelf of the clearance rack. I saw them and picked them up, you know, "just to look". From the front, I had expected a stilletto heel, but when I saw they were wedges, I gasped and had to try them on! They were half a size smaller than what I normally wear, but they happened to fit perfectly! Ok, they are a little snug, but they certainly zip up with no problems. It feels like there is some extra cushion in the sole so they are super comfortable. These babies ended up being half off and I knew that it was a sign from the Shopping Gods! Done deal, they are mine. Amazing, right?!

If I was skinny, my ideal way to wear these beauties would be with a pair of black or jewel-toned tights and a short bubble skirt or even a tight patterend skirt. Sadly, for now, they remain covered up under a pair of slacks.

My Favorite Day of the Week!

TGIF, people! And welcome to Breast Cancer Awareness month. In honor of this cause, I am wearing my obligatory pink. Are you?

Fridays really are the best days of the week. Ok, maybe Saturdays are, but it is going to be a beautiful (and certainly unusual for this time of year) 75 degrees today!

In keeping with the whole pink theme, here is a beautiful pair of shoes that I have been lusting after for the last year or so:

Marc by March Jacobs Almarc Pump

Retailing at a little over $300, these babies fall under the category of My-Broke-A$$-Can't-Afford. But oh how pretty!!! A rounded toe! Patent pink! A bow! Oh be still my heart, Mr. Jacobs - you really had me in mind for this one!

On another note, I have made a huge declaration: I will only go out to eat once a week!

Ok, for most of you, that isn't anything unusual. But if you personally know me, you know that I go out to eat pretty much everyday for lunch. I am killing two birds with one stone with this declaration of mine. First, I will lose weight because I don't always make the best decisions when I go out to eat. Second, I will save money because I am pretty sure that a good 50%-75% of my paycheck goes to the neighboring restaurants.

Can I do it? I really have no choice. I must.

Proud New Owner Of...

That's right! I got a Kindle for Mother's Day for being such an awesome mama! I was so excited that I cried! Actual tears of joy streaming down my face. I was a bit embarrassed by my reaction because I hate to seem so materialistic! But John did really good this year.

John knew I was interested in a Kindle after a co-worker brought hers in and I fell in love with it. Then I told him about how I was juggling a hardcopy of the The Luxe, by Anna Godbersen, on the elliptical at the gym, and a girl got on a machine next to me, placed her super slim Kindle on the machine and put her hands on the handles and started booking it on the machine. Meanwhile, I am only using my legs to power the machine because my hands were busy holding this huge (433 pages to be exact!) book open. I knew right then and there that I would need to invest in some kind of a digital reader if I was planning on continuing my quest to be a gym rat.

So thank you to John for always making Mother's Day so special! Hmm, now how am I supposed to top this on Father's Day?

And thank you to my absolutely gorgeous little girl, Bella! Because without her existence, I wouldn't have been one of the lucky celebrated people yesterday.

Stuff I Love

First, let me share with you a wonderful new blogger - my bestie, Germaine! When I first started my blog, I suggested that she start one herself because she is just a funny gal. So I am super excited that she actually decided to start one! She has some posts up and it is already looking to be very promising!

Next subject: SHOPPING!

If any of you know about this new find of mine and never told me about it, then I am not sure that we can be friends anymore. I had to hear about from TMZ (she says as she drops her head down in shame). If you haven't met yet, let me introduce you to Mod Cloth. Sadly, I am still livin' too large to fit in their clothing, but their shoes and accessories will work just fine!

I have been told that I am only allowed to wear bows for another two years (oh! the pain of turning 30!), so I am pretty sure I need this:

And I am positive that I absolutely NEED this beauty!

 

Now if only I could convince the money fairy that I need an extra $129.99 for Rainbow Bright shoes. Does anyone have her number?

Trampoline Fiend!

Dull workout routine? Try something outside the box.

We have found the funnest workout EVER! Trampoline AIRobics! Sky High Sports in Bellevue is a trampoline arena. You need to seriously check out the gallery on their website and you might understand how much fun I had last night. It was an hour long class of sweat, laughter, some pain, and pure childhood fun.

I haven't been on a trampoline for at least the last fifteen years. I am a scaredy cat, which is why I have never done any sports or ever been athletic. I am afraid of basketballs, baseballs, footballs, soccer balls ... you get the picture: No team sports for me.

But OMG, this was such a fun time and anyone can do it! Well, at least anyone 10-years-old or older. But you don't have to be an athlete in any way, shape, or form. The moment that I stepped onto the trampoline, I was stiff and scared. I couldn't do the simple jump, land on your bottom, push up with your hands, then land on your feet. I watched my two friends, Lauren and Germaine, have no issues with this routine. I paused and watched them to see how I could emulate their movements. The major difference I noticed was that they were relaxed and not stiff. The second difference I noticed was that they were full on landing on their bottoms. I was too scared to land on my bum that I would angle forward instead of back, causing me to land first with my heels, then legs, then finally bottom. By the time I had landed, there wasn't any momentum left to land back up on my feet. So I wiggled out the stiffness and I went for it, and I did it! It was a small feat at the time, but it really helped me for the duration of the class. The key was really to relax and just jump with abandon!

There were two breaks during the class. By the time the first break came around, I had sweat dripping down my face! That hasn't happened in forever either. On the days that I go to the gym, I always end up doing an hour of the elliptical, the cross-trainer, or a bike/treadmill combination. Since no one is pushing me to go! go! go!, I tend to do just enough to keep my heart rate up. Plus, let's face it, an hour of the same machine is monotonous and B-O-R-I-N-G. But AIRobics was awesome because I was working out harder than I do at the gym without even noticing it. My mentality was that I was playing, not doing cardio.

Hopefully you can find something like this in your area, because it is really worth it!

Step 1: Become a Walker!

How fabulous are these rain boots?!

They can be purchased here and I am hoping these will fit because my calves currently hold the record for largest circumference in the Guinness Book of World Records; therefore, I have the hardest time finding knee high or mid-calf boots. It runs in my family.

I recently met two other receptionists that work at another building who have inspired me. They walk every single day during their lunch. Even in the winter of 2008, when Washington State had huge snowfall, they still went trudging around. The only time they don’t go is when it is windy and rainy, because at that point, nothing you do will keep you dry. But if it is just rain, they walk. Just wind, they walk. Just snow, they walk. I  actually enjoy walking around outside so I have decided to become a walker. But I am ill prepared for life outdoors in the Seattle area and need to stock up on weather appropriate shoes and coats. I know, living here, I really should have every piece of rain proof wear out there, but I don't. I am more of an indoor cat. Was more of an indoor cat.  

The "Why"

First things first: Welcome to December! I love December because Christmas is coming up as well as my baby's birthday. I also hate December because Christmas is coming up as well as my baby's birthday. Not because I don't like to celebrate these two occasions, but because it is super busy for me and a big expense month. So this is a debt drawback month.

However, I do believe it is all about attitude, so I am now officially getting into the spirit of things. So, again, "Welcome to December!"

My holiday movie suggestion of the week is Love, Actually. I watch this movie every holiday season. I warn you: I am one of those that watches the Sound of Music every year too. So just be careful about how seriously you take my movie suggestions.

The reason that I chose Love, Actually as my movie suggestion of the week is because I am *gettingthisclose* to posting my book on this here blog. My book is a total chick lit book, filled with humor and that all-encompasing emotion of love. I consider the one and only book I have written as my second child, so no novel bashing or I will delete your comments with my blog administrative powers from above!

Before I start posting my book, I figure that I give you a bit of background as to why I wrote a book when the most writing I had done since high school were Christmas cards.

Ok, here goes.

Two years ago I read a book. I hated this book. The reason I bought the book was because I really enjoyed the first book written by the same person(s). I am not going to say who the author(s) are/is because karma might bite me in the ass when everyone else reads my novel.

So I hated this book. I kept rewriting parts of the book in my head to make it more to my liking. The ending was so obnoxious that I mentally rewrote the ending too. I started thinking that I should just write my own book so that I won't have to alter this beautifully packaged and published book.

Write my own book? Hmm, ok. Why not? I shall write my own book.

In February-ish of 2008 I picked up my lap top, opened a word document, centered the first line and typed the words "Chapter 1".

I wrote the first fourteen pages in that moment. This was the longest I had ever written in one sitting. My high school papers were never more than seven pages long, nor were the papers I wrote in my short community college career.

With such great momentum going, I thought my book would be done within the month. Not so much.

Fast forward to December 2008. Washington is hit with some pretty bad snow storms and I am stuck indoors all day. I started and finished the last three books from the Twilight series, but I am still only fourteen pages into my own book that I have titled "Mix Tape", because for all of my creativity I cannot come up with a better title.

I start writing again and the pages just keep coming. By the end of January 2009, I have a completed manuscript.

Ta-da! A 75,000-ish worded novel randomly written by someone who hasn't written a paper since her tinkerings in community college.

There you have it: how I randomly wrote a book.

And now for a couple of disclosures:

1.) Mix Tape is full-on chick lit. If you hate gushy, lovey-dovey (but oh so humerous!) books, then just skip the posts with pieces of my book in it.

2.) Keep in mind that this is just a brain candy piece of work. It will not make you ponder the meaning of life. It is pure fun.

3.) By posting my book on my blog, I am not disagreeing with the literary agents that have rejected me. I am just showing off my Ugly Baby.

Ok, this post is a book in itself. I shall stop now.

Tomorrow, the query letter! Dun, dun, dunnnnnnnn!