High Five for Friday

To be honest, there is nothing high five worthy about this Friday. You see, my 12 day vacation from work has finally come to an end and I must give up my full-time housewife duties and return to my job as a slave nurse tonight. Three night shifts is how I will be spending my weekend and to say that I would rather poke out my own eyeballs than go to work would not be a lie. I have come to the conclusion that I need a new job, one that I actually don't hate, so I am currently in the process of completing my grad school application. Mind you, it will take me four years to finish it as I can only go to school part-time (need the full-time job to pay the bills) but at least it's an escape route a plan. So while you are all rejoicing and screaming TGIF, I'm begging for Monday morning. In the meantime, here are five photos that highlight this past week. They all involve food and clothing, otherwise known as happier times.

 
A local franchise named Wing'n It just opened up in our town and to say I am excited would be the biggest understatement of the year. I was obsessed with the restaurant when I lived in the city (I mean, they have over 90 flavours of wings!) and I have missed it tremendously since I left. Luckily, my cousin is working at the new restaurant which gave us access to the Friends and Family soft opening on Monday night (no lineups and 25% off, yes please!). Anyway, the point.. I ordered my favourite "Mayday" wings which are a combination of caesar dressing and parmesan cheese, as well as creamy parmesan fries. Clearly, my diet walked out the front door that night. It was so delicious though, and I had enough left over to eat for lunch the next day!

 
I headed to the city on Tuesday evening with my momma for some retail therapy. After my diet got up and left the room, my shopping budget wanted to join it. I have been searching for the perfect navy gingham button-up shirt forever and sadly, this option from Old Navy did not fit the bill (or rather, it did not fit me). I also couldn't resist trying on this hot pink vest which was on sale for a mere $9, but ultimately I left without it. It looks cute in the photo but sadly I didn't feel cute in reality. Plus, I bought a vest from Old Navy earlier this year and it has yet to leave my closet. I have yet to figure out which weather is vest weather. To me, if it's cold enough to wear a vest, I should be wearing a jacket. And if it's too warm for a jacket, then I don't need a vest.

 
Since the last time I visited the city, Victoria's Secret and PINK have opened stores in the mall. Naturally, I had to check it out! I tried on a couple of swimsuits, regretted eating all that food on Monday night (just kidding, it was too good to regret) and left empty-handed. I love that they actually carry swimsuits in the store, though, and I have a feeling that I will be investing in a few before the summer, especially if the weather is as warm as it was last year!

 
The damage from my trip to the city. As you can see, I like lace and gingham, plus there is a gorgeous wool fairisle sweater hiding to the right of the photo. I will include a full review of my January purchases at the end of the month, so expect to see more elaboration on this photo later. P.S. Found that elusive perfect navy gingham shirt at Gap.. on sale! Score!

 
And finally, my J. Crew order from the beginning of the month finally arrived! I'm not entirely sure why I continue buying cardigans from J. Crew considering that they all end up developing holes long before they should, but anyway.. these are to replace those with holes. And they were 40% off so it's okay, right? Again, expect more detail later in the month.

 Now excuse me while I pray to the lottery gods that I will win $50 million tonight.

Pinspiration, Volume 1

What do you people with blogs talk about all the time? Gosh, I only just started and I'm already out of ideas. I'm on my holidays at work so the most that I have been doing is housewife duties (otherwise known as cursing on this apartment and dreaming about a house), reading, and watching Netflix.

Yesterday was Matt's birthday and his parents came up for supper, which was delicious. I made a Toblerone Cheesecake which was less than delicious, thanks to our stove which Noah clearly brought over on the ark. Seriously, it's ancient. We gave him some gifts. No pictures were taken (#bloggerfail). My mom met his parents when she dropped off his birthday card. Today I made soup (Beef Barley, in case you were wondering).

Honestly, worst blogger ever. I thought about doing a "My Favourites of 2013" post but it seems a bit too late for that now. Feel free to tell me otherwise though.

How about a little…

Also known as "If Pinterest were my real life" or "What I've Pinned Lately".

(via 1, 2 unknown)

I'm not entirely sure why, but I am kind of obsessed with grey lately. Loving grey and purple with silver or grey and red with black for a bathroom!

(via)

I've been on the hunt for the perfect navy nail polish ever since my bottle of China Glaze "First Mate" mysteriously disappeared. I thought that Essie "After School Boy Blazer" would be my replacement until I found this Zoya "Sailor" at my hair salon.

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If my holidays had a mantra, this would be it.

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Can we just talk about the perfection that is this ombré wedding dress? If I had a ring on my finger right now, you better believe this wedding dress would be in my closet.

 

(via 1, 2)

Loving pops of pink for winter! Definitely brightens up this bleak weather.

(via 1, 2)

I'm also loving colorful plaid scarves! I picked one up at Old Navy early in the winter and I wear it all the time.

I hope you enjoyed my Pinspiration! It turned out to be a bigger chore than I thought (before making a pretty header, I had to download a pretty font, then I had to work with Gimp, which I hate..) but you can expect to see a lot more of these on lazy days, #sorrynotsorry. Feel free to link up below and show me your recent Pinspiration!

The Sunday Currently

Well, what an end to the week it has been. First we were hit by a blizzard, and then we lost our power for over a day. I know, I shouldn't complain about a day but we really were not prepared for it! I was working nights, so at least I have power and heat at work, but Matt had to leave our apartment and stay at our friends' house because it was too cold. Thankfully, our power came back on this morning and we have settled back into our own place. I took down the Christmas decorations today which was saddening but I'm happy to have more space here again.

Other than that, I don't have much to say, so I figured I would link up with The Sunday Currently over at Siddathornton. Enjoy! 

R E A D I N G "The Husband's Secret" by Liane Mortiary, which is the January book club selection over at Life of Bon. I am over halfway through and really enjoying it thus far.

W R I T I N G A grocery list of items to pick up tomorrow. I had to throw out a bunch of food that spoiled while we were away for Christmas. Such a waste! Also on the list: supplies and ingredients to make Toblerone Cheesecake for Matt's birthday.

L I S T E N I N G To CSI: Miami on the TV and Matt talking to me.

T H I N K I N G I wish I knew why I am always in such a bad mood these days! What is wrong with me?

S M E L L I N G Nothing in particular at the moment.

W I S H I N G I was in a better mood. I'm trying to think positive and be positive since I don't actually have a reason to be unhappy.

H O P I N G That the grocery stores aren't out of food tomorrow, after this blizzard and lack of power that we have been experiencing the past couple of days.

W E A R I N G Pyjama pants and a white 3/4 sleeve shirt with gold sequin polka dots from Old Navy. I was wearing plum jeggings earlier but changed into something more comfortable after supper.

L O V I  N G Reading lifestyle blogs, how tidy the apartment looks after taking down the Christmas tree today, rewatching season one of New Girl, and the fact that I am off work until the 17th of January.

W A N T I N G A house to call my own.. with a fireplace. And a cat and a dog.

N E E D I N G To wash dishes and fold clothes, but it may just have to wait until tomorrow. I am feeling particularly lazy tonight after working three night shifts in a row and not sleeping a lot during the day.

F E E L I N G A headache, unfortunately.

C L I C K I N G On two new blogs that I have discovered this week, Couture Girl and A Girl Awake (from whom I stole these questions!).

2014

(via Oh So Pretty)

The great thing about having a blog that no one reads is that you can disappear for a couple of weeks to enjoy your Christmas holidays and not have to feel bad about it.  Between working, visiting my family and Matt's, as well as our friends, wrapping and delivering gifts, writing out Christmas cards, baking goodies, decorating our apartment and last-minute shopping, there was no extra time to spend here. I spent my entire holidays feeling exhausted and making a vow to myself to not leave everything to the last minute this coming year. Rather than putting off buying and wrapping gifts and sending out cards until December (when the holiday feelings are in full force), I want to do it in November and actually take the time to relax and enjoy my holidays.

Luckily, I had a week off work after Boxing Day to do just that. I have completely caught up on all my blogs, started reading a new book, watched countless episodes of The Biggest Loser and Gossip Girl and spent quality time with family and friends. I'm back to work tonight for three shifts, then I have two weeks off work again (thank you, winter holidays) to take down the tree and get back to the daily grind. It still feels too early to completely tuck away Christmas just yet.

For those who didn't see my Instagram/Facebook post, I have officially moved in with Matt! Love having our own little (literally) place and being less than 5 minutes away from work is a definite bonus, but moving has its own downside: paying rent. As a result, I have to be extra careful with my spending this year, especially because we are trying to save for a house. And this leads me to my "resolutions" for 2014.

SAVE, SAVE, SAVE | Number one this year is to save my money and build a house. Between the two of us, we actually have enough money saved for a down payment but a) I would like to be together longer before we take that step, and b) I do not want to blow all of our savings on a down payment. Ideally, I would like to have at least an extra $10,000 in the bank in case of emergency as well as to pay for lawyers fees, furniture, etc. I created an account on Mint today to keep track of my spending. I've also allotted myself a $150/month clothing budget which I will hold accountable by posting my spending on here.

GET HEALTHY | I know, the most stereotypical resolution of all. However, I literally have 10lbs of holiday goodness on my body right now, and I am not okay with that. I generally keep my weight around 105-110lbs purely by eating in moderation, which is something that I failed to do over the holidays. Not to mention that I have been eating less healthy than usual since moving in with Matt due to the fact that he is a picky eater and I generally just eat what he eats (in other words, nothing healthy). I also hate exercising and cannot bring myself to do it, especially if it involves leaving the house. Thankfully my job requires a lot of walking! However, I did buy the Jillian Michaels: 30 Day Shred DVD as well as the Zumba Fitness Exhilarate Body Shaping System DVD. I have done Zumba before and loved it, so I'm hoping that I will at least have the motivation to do that a couple times each week. I've also been trying to increase my water intake at home. I tend to drink a lot at work, but at home I often drink soda. Lately I have been drinking only water, with the exception of juice for breakfast.

Honestly, those are the two big resolutions for this year. However, I also want to make a list of "14 in 2014" because let's face it, it seems like a fun idea. Plus, it's an opportunity to choose more specific goals to work towards!

1. Buy and/or build a house (we are planning to build, but anything could change)

2. Get a cat and/or a dog (dependent upon goal #1 as we are not allowed to have pets in our apartment)

3. Take a trip

4. Read at least one book per month

5. Take a photography course

6. Take more photos

7. Smile more often

8. Floss every day

9. Document my life (whether it is here on the blog or in a journal, I love having my memories written down to look back on)

10. Try at least one new recipe each month

11. Complete a DIY project

12. Take 20 minutes each day to tidy

13. Stick to a clothing budget of $150/month

14. Visit with friends at least once a week

That was actually a lot harder than I expected! In any event, I am looking forward to a new year and a fresh start. It may only be another day and certainly you can start a goal any day of the year, but something about the turn of the calendar is just so much more invigorating.

Ending the entry with this graphic that I found on Pinterest (source unknown, but please contact me if it is yours and I will credit accordingly). Love the broad statements with the collection of quotes that can apply to just about everyone.