This is Why I Love Trader Joes!

The goods:
2 pounds ground Beef
1 pear
Tortillas
Dozen Eggs
1/2 gal. milk
Corn chips
Mushrooms
Sliced turkey
Pizza Dough
Horseradish Hummus
Crackers

All that for a grand total of $28!!! Seriously, I love this place! Such great food and great prices! If I were to go to my local, huge, chain supermarket this would have cost me at least $40. Booya for delicious and well priced food!

My First Love...Coffee

I feel like I could talk about coffee all day long. I know I could drink it all day. There is nothing more comforting to me that making a pot of coffee and drinking it all morning long, or taking my coffee to the park and watch the boats pass by on the Hudson. I am not normal until I have had my first cup in the morning. Coffee is glorious. Need I really say more?

Inspiration!!

Whoa, I am feeling overwhelmed with inspiration lately and loving it! I will admit that Pinterest has the majority of my attention in the inspiration department, but I am okay with that. So much to see, dream about creating and a lot of "I wish I had that or could have come up with that on my own"... Oh well, that is the idea of inspiration, right? Here is my continually growing list of inspirations:

• Crafts. I have always thought of myself as crafty, but not CRAFTY. My sister Kim is crafty with a capital C for sure, she continually inspires me with her gift to create amazingness! I basically just want to dominate everything craft-like and make my own everything at this point: clothes, curtains, artwork. I realize this is a little ambitious as I do not even own or know how to use a sewing machine. But, I want to take a class in the very near future and see where that takes me!
  

• Blog 2.0. My second and most furious inspiration right now is starting a second blog. I have thought about this a lot and think it will be great. I want it to be more geared towards fashion, home design/decor and posts about the awesome deals I find shopping for my wardrobe and home! I am pretty excited about it and just want to get started, but I am waiting for the perfect name to jump out at me. I already picked several names which I thought were unique and they were taken. Boo. I have been seriously slacking with this blog (this one right here, yeah this one) lately, but have been reading some older posts and remember how much fun I have writing on here! I will still have this blog, just keep them separate I guess, that is the plan. We'll see how it goes, but for now, let's take it up a notch!

• The Gym. My third and constantly challenging inspiration is the gym. Since I have had pneumonia (and still recovering), it is has been really difficult for me to go back to the gym, physically. All I want to do is go back full force, but my lungs are not there yet, so yoga and pilates and walks for me for a while:) But, when I am there, I am so inspired at the gym, I feel like I can do anything! I do realize that alot of that inspiration can be mistaken for competition, but I am okay with that. If I have to compete with the girl next to me on the treadmill to get inspired, I'll do it! (And I will win that race, obviously)
  

• Yellow. I am currently OBSESSED with yellow. Up until about a year ago I would shy away from yellow as I found it drowned me out when I wore it and was just obnoxious. Wow, I was mistaken. Now I want all the pale yellow I can get my hands on! Yellow makes me want to smile and be way more crafty using anything yellow:) I am slowly redecorating my kitchen in pale yellow and find it much less angry than the red I have flowing now and I love yellow on me now, who knew?
  

• Color-blocking. Love everything about it! What is it you say? Example: bright blue pants, neon yellow top and bright pink shoes:) It inspires me to be super daring in my wardrobe! I love me some bright color, get it all out there!
  

Overall, life is just really inspiring right now and I am soaking it all in! Now, let me get off of here and go "pin":)

Just another Random Thursday...

A few random thoughts for this beautiful 75 degree Spring day:)

1. I love blogging. I need to get a grip and post more often!
2. I love that today is supposed to hit at least 75 degrees! Yay for March heat waves!
3. I have only seen one 1/2 of a Glee episode, but I found it highly annoying and I am confused as to the following. Maybe it is one of those, "you have to watch from the beginning" shows.
4. I wish I could hold my newest little niece in Alaska right now:(
5. "Drive" is amazing, why is Ryan Gosling so precious?
6. I think I am going to start a second blog...
7. I am craving summer activities: camping, hiking, Yankee games, road trips, the beach.
8. I need a damn haircut!

Bring on Summer!!

What is happening? Is this Winter?

Last year in New York we were pummeled with snow by 3 major back to back snow storms and this year it is January and not a flake on the ground. Although, we did have that random, unseasonably early October snow storm the scared everyone including the trees (which still had leaves on them so they were all broken all over the place... not good) and loss of power that led to me missing 2 days of work (I wasn't too disappointed). I guess I am just confused and mostly excited.

I love the snow. No, really, I do. I just don't like having to drudge through it everyday or shovel my car out or shovel at all, really. I mean, I get real tired of having the bottom of my pants tucked into boots or the "whoopsie, my pant legs fell out of my boots and now they are wet half way up my leg" anxiety. But, I would like to feel cozy. Snow is cozy. I am not sure why, but all I want to do is drink coffee, wine and hot cocoa all at the same time and sit in front of the fire place just thinking about how cozy I am in my jimmy jams and fuzzy slippers. Doesn't that sound delightful? Last week it was 60 degrees. Ok, I agree with you, that is ridiculous. But, I loved it and took full advantage of wearing a cute outfit that did not have to be hidden under my usual insanely adorable (but bulky) winter coat.

I would be alright with one more snowfall this "winter", but don't get ahead of yourself mother nature. I said ONE. A friend said to me last night, "you have New York skin now". I am pretty sure that is true seeing as I barely went outside when I was home in Alaska over Christmas and really wasn't jazzed about doing any outdoor activity. Alaska is in winter to the max right now and I am happy for those who love it, but I am happy I am not in the middle of it! Spring, is that you right around the corner?

Must see...

I don't know how it took me so long to post about this! A while ago I saw Crazy Stupid Love. Being as how I did not have t.v. or internet at the time, I had no idea what this movie was about. Let me just tell you... WOW! I LOVED this movie so freaking much I cannot even handle it! I think Lis explained this movie the best, "I have never been more attracted to mens clothing." haha. It's true! Ryan Gosling is outrageously well dressed in the movie and just so suave, adorable and hilarious all at the same time! I like that it is not just a classic rom-com. It's a story of love, life and giving in to discovering parts of yourself you never knew existed. I will definitely be buying this the second it comes out!

Is It Really Fall?!?

Wow, how is it already September? I mean, come on! I had such big plans for this summer: the Jersey Shore, DC trip, Rockland Lake and camping to name a few. Ugh... none of those were accomplished. The weeks just got away from me. I found myself continually saying "It's ok, I'll do it next weekend." That weekend turns into 2 weekends from now, yada yada, you never do it. Story of my life. One fantastic thing about New York? A long Fall. In Alaska, Fall literally lasts about 2 weeks and its nothing exciting or that pretty. Mainly yellow leaves, real cold and then all you have to look forward to is snow. Well, welcome to an East Coast Fall: red/orange/yellow leaves, crisp 70 degree weather, maybe a little 60s or 80s mixed in as well, several weeks long, no snow expected until November or December (Booya!), perfect hiking and camping weather and you've got the perfect Fall!!! I'm excited to not suffocate from humidity when I walk out of my house, but I really would have been happier going into Fall with a better tan...oh well. Here's to a crisp, glorious Fall filled with camping and lots of hiking!