High Five for Friday (Vol. 20)

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I can't believe I've been doing this link up for 5 months now!  I love linking up with all these other amazing bloggers and seeing what big things are happening in their lives!  I also love that I've added a few link ups over the past month or so, especially Fresh Faces!  Some of my new favorite blogs were found through that link up.  I strongly suggest that you check out the other bloggers who post to these communities!

That being said- I had a pretty fantastic week!  I spent the weekend with my parents (I posted a little bit about that yesterday and plan on posting more about that in the coming days) and I had a decent week at work.  My new department is very dysfunctional and a bit stressful but I've found that 3 ladies in particular are my saving grace.  They're funny and fun and we get along so well.  Their laughter helps keep me sane when other people in the office are bringing me down.  We're having a girls night on Sunday and I cannot wait!

Music has also been a saving grace for me.  I tend to find a song or a few songs that I listen to on repeat.  They make me happy, they help me relax, and sometimes that is the best "medicine" for a bad day.  So this week I'd like to share the 5 songs that I've had on repeat lately, especially on Friday and Sunday night when I was enduring the 90+minute trip to and from my parents house! 

1. Bastille- Pompeii
2. Imagine Dragons- On Top of the World
3. The 1975- Chocolate
4. American Authors- Best Day of my Life
5. Sara Bareilles- Brave (Of course I had to get a girl in there!)

Has anyone else noticed that there are lot of songs out with an 80's feel to them lately?  I love it!  They get me excited, I can't help singing along and dancing.  It's awesome for keeping me awake on long car rides and dancing around the house while cleaning or cooking!

What songs have been on your mind lately?  Do you have a "soundtrack" or playlist that you are living by lately?

Hope you all had a fantastic week and have an even better weekend!

Linking up with Lauren, Jennie, and The Northeast Bloggers.

Easter Egg {Pinterest} FAIL

This weekend I visited my parents in PA.  I've definitely inherited my mom's love for crafting and she wanted to work on a project with me.  She had seen an Easter egg tutorial on Pinterest and wanted to try it out.  She already had the eggs, the mod podge, and the twine, of course, I was in!

We set everything out on the kitchen table and got to work!

The idea is to cover the egg in mod podge, and wrap it with twine.  The tutorial she had found is different than the one I found, but it had told her that the best idea was to start in the middle of the egg and work to one end, then go back to the middle and work to the other end.  Boy oh boy, do I wish we had found the tutorial listed above before we tried making these.  Looking back it makes sense to start at the top and make your way down, because all we did was struggle!  It was hard to keep the lines of twine tight together and they kept slipping apart because of the shape of the eggs. 

We got more glue on our fingers than on the eggs and quite a few curses were exchanged.  At first, the struggle was only on my side but soon my mom was understanding my frustrations as well.  It took us about 15 minutes to do one egg each and we were so frazzled by the experience that we wrapped everything up and went to watch TV instead. 

(Our pitiful, finished products)

I'd like to give it another shot but for now this was definitely a pinterest FAIL.  I'm glad we tried, and I will try the new way, eventually, but even just writing this (nearly 5 days later) I can feel myself getting frustrated. 

Have any of you tried to make these eggs?
Do you have any suggestions for Easter related crafts that are helpful/do work?

Who would you have lunch with?

Today is my first time participating in this link up and I'm so excited to be a part of it!  Here is this weeks questions:

If you could have lunch with any blogger, celebrity, or public figure, who would you choose? Why?


Great question!  It's definitely a toss up!  I can't choose just one blogger so I'm going to list 2.  There is so much I could learn from both of these ladies that I really can't decide on just one!

1. Kate from The Small Things Blog.  She's funny, intelligent, and talented.  She's taken a small blog and made it a business.  Her hair and makeup tutorials are my favorite out there.  I love reading about her little family, how she's handling changes in life, but most of all I love trying out her beauty tips.  To have lunch with her and pick her brain about where she comes up with her ideas and how she grew her blog would be such an honor.  I'd probably be a bit star struck!

2. Mandy from Biblical Homemaking.  Another intelligent and talented blogger.  I'd love to sit with her for the same reasons as Kate but also I'd love to chat with her about God, the Bible, and spirituality.  I'm fascinated by the way she lives her life and trusts in God.  It would be a dream come true to learn from her and even follow in her footsteps.

Since I'm double dipping on the blogger option I'd also like to note which celebrity I'd like to have lunch with! 

Bethenny Frankel! 

Weird choice, I know, but I have my reasons.  1. She's immensely successful.  2. She's had to start over several times in her life, and at least from the outside, it would seem that every time gets better and better.  3.  Again, I'd love to pick her brain about how she found success- how did she rise from the bottom?  4.  Not gonna lie, I love RHONYC and would love to find out what it was like to be on the show.  5.  Her talk show is my favorite, where does she come up with these ideas? 

Most of all, I love how bold and strong she is.  I wish I could stand on my own the way that she does.  Heck, if I were half as strong as her I can only imagine the things I could do.  What's it like to be in her shoes?  I'd just sit there and be fascinated by her the whole time, I probably wouldn't even eat!  I would definitely have a Skinny Girl Margarita or 2!

This was so much fun!  I hope to make this a regular post on my blog.  If you'd like to see more thoughts on this question from other bloggers, hop on over to the link up and check out what they had to say!

Wow

Here's a quick little post because I'm excited to say that yesterday my "sweet" little blog hit 10,000 hits/page views!  I cannot believe it's been viewed by anyone besides people I know direclty, let alone viewed that many times!  And I know they're not views from me because I have those filtered out.

So... thank you!  Thank you for reading.  Thank you for following along.  It's been a very bumpy few months and things are changing a lot.  Thank you for hanging in there and keeping with me, for supporting me, and believing in me.  Thank you!

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Also!  Thank you to Melissa of Grace and Josie for the new social media buttons! 

Let's connect!

High Five for Friday (Vol. 19)

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Happy Friday!  This week I had the pleasure of encountering several new (and rediscovering a few old) products.  So much pleasure that they're what I'm High 5-ing about this week!

1. Aristry Microdermabrasion Kit- Back in the day, like 5+ years ago,  I was an Amway IBO, I loved their products but working the business just wasn't for me.  My best friends are still IBOS and they're actually very successful at it, because of that I'm still a lover of the quality products they have to offer.  This week I rediscovered this kit!  It left my dull wintery skin so soft and smooth, I felt and looked more refreshed than I have in forever.  The price is reasonable and it lasts forever.  If you're looking to try an at home microdermabrasion kit, try this one!

2. Torrid Jeans- I've shopped at Torrid on and off for years.  I love that they have a more youthful selection of clothes as compared to Lane Bryant, but they're not so youthful that I look like I'm trying too hard.  However, they're super expensive, so unless I'm given a gift card I don't shop there and I've never bought their jeans.  For Christmas, I was given 2 blouses that just didn't fit me correctly and Sunday was my first trip to the mall since before the holidays.  I returned the blouses and bought my very first pair of Torrid Skinny jeans.  Holy cow are they worth the prize.  They fit perfectly!  They're made beautifully.  I truely believe I'll have these jeans for quite a while.  If you're a plus sized girl and need a good, solid pair of jeans, go to Torrid, now!  (I suck at taking pictures of myself so here is a pic from their site.)

3.  Olay In-Shower Body Lotion- I've been so dry this winter, as I'm sure you all have been too!  I needed something more than a moisturizing body wash and body lotion regimine.  While flipping through websites I came across an old article from Cosmo (I'm sorry I didn't save the link) which recommended this product.  I tried it and I've never been happier.  I'm still dry, nothing is an instant fix, but my skin has improved so much in a very short period of time.  My elbows have improved the most, they were literally cracking open before! 

4. Limited Edition Oreos- Jim texted me this picture and I almost left work early I was so excited to try the new flavors of Oreos.  I must admit the cookie dough was good but a bit too sweet, however the marshmellow was spot on.  So, so yummy!  Do yourself a favor and go get yourself as many packs as you can find now, before they're gone!

5. Gluten Free Cake mixes! I was responsible for my boss's birthday cake this week at work.  About half of our office is gluten free for medical reasons so I had to make sure the cake was something everyone could enjoy.  I found these beauties at the local grocery store and it was delicious!  I made chocolate mousse as the filling and frosting, winning!!!!  If you need to be gluten free or you just want to check it out, get to your grocery store and buy this, you will not be disappointed. 

Have you tried anything new that you're in love with? 
Have you rediscovered any old favorites lately?

Linking up with Lauren, Jennie, The Northeast Bloggers, and

  Have a fantastic weekend!

(*disclaimer* these are all products that I found and love. I have not been paid by any of these companies, and I have not reached out to any of these companies to let them know about these reviews.)

Rutgers Sweatshirts

Do you read the Wall Street Journal?

Are you interested in getting a Rutgers University hoody?
Would you like to help out this blogger?



To help makes end meet I took on a second job working for a marketing company that has a contract with the Wall Street Journal to sell subscriptions at the Rutgers men's basketball games.

Tonight I'll be heading back down to the Louis Brown Athletic Center to cheer on the boys and also get the word out about the paper, and figured why not spread the word in today's post?

Here's the deal:

• Sign up for a subscription, $12 for 12 weeks (essentially $1 a week)
• Get a Rutgers hoody sweatshirt as a sign up bonus (here is a close up of the shirt and a pic of my best friends wearing theirs.) 

(I get paid per subscription I sell, and that is all I'm paid for, it's completely commission based.)

That's it!  It's super simple and super easy, you can cancel anytime (I did it!)  They email you with a confirmation as well as a reminder when your subscription is close to the end so that you can either cancel or renew (renewing price goes up to $27 a month!)

I have a booth at the stadium where people can fill out the form on a tablet and we immediately hand them a sweatshirt. 

If you, or anyone you know, is ever at the game, please come over to say hi and sign up! 

If you're interested in helping me out, getting the paper, and/or getting a sweatshirt please sign up here.  (It would be a huge help to me to get some extra subscriptions!  I get that not many people want the Wall Street Journal, but if you sign up I'll get credit, you'll get a sweatshirt, and you really can cancel anytime.)  Once you've filled out the form, I will need you to email me a screen shot of the confirmation page (put WSJ Subscription as the subject) so I can show my boss proof that you signed up (see example below, sorry it's all blacked out, didn't want to broadcast my friends home address.)  Please include what size sweatshirt you would like and I will send it out first thing tomorrow morning.

Thank you so much for signing up!  It is more appreciated than you know! 

Hope you enjoy your new sweatshirt as much as I do!

The Comment Promise Link Up!

I'm so excited to be cohosting this hop!  Here is what our founder, Rachel, has to say about it-

The Comment Promise Hop is back, and better than ever!  This month I have added three co-hosts to expand the hop and make it even bigger!  Here's what it's all about:

How many times have you posted your blog to a link up and just done the old "link and run"?  I know I am guilty of this and I'm sure some of you are, too!  And have you ever done that and then wondered why no one from that hop commented on your post either?  I know I have done this and gotten upset and then realized, oh wait, I didn't comment on anyone's post from this hop either!

Well that's what the Comment Promise is all about!  Link up a post that you wish you had more comments on, any post you want (no time limit)!  The only catch?  You must promise to comment on a least 5 other blogs from this hop!  The hop will be open for 5 days so be sure to check back after more people have linked up so you can fulfill your Comment Promise!

The Comment Promise is hosted by:

Rachel of Can't Google Everything,

Natalie of Finding My Voice,

Jessica of Stumbling Along,

and AnnaBelle of The Anna Belle Blog.

Are you game?  Take the Comment Promise and link up below!

It's not required, but we would love it if you would take a button and post it on your blog to help spread the word!

Please forgive the technical difficulties on the button html, when you jump to the link up you'll be able to get the code there!  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

and breath....

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Today has just been one of those days... I am writing this from my desk, it's not 3:30 pm and I have yet to take a lunch break or anything firmly resembling a break since I walked into the office at 9:30 this morning.  I suppose after days and days of boredom due to so many clients being closed down because of snow, I should be happy, but really I feel like I don't have a chance to breath!  My nerves are shot and every time I hear someone say my name, I cringe!  What are they going to ask of me next?  I can't take anymore at this point.  So I'm forcing myself to take a break, to write this so I can get it off my chest, and also to head to my favorite happy place, (besides buzzfeed) pinterest.

Here is what I'm thinking I'll be enjoying tonight:

A relaxation yoga session.

A spa treatment bath.

And a Cookie Dough Vodka hot chocolate. (Omg this flavor by Pinnacle is my favorite!)

I'm already looking forward to it!  I need a longer break, but the phone is ringer and my coworkers are looking over my shoulder.  (I'll be dreaming of you my sweet vodka treat.)


What do you do to unwind after a stressful day? 

Have any special tricks?

The Buzzfeed Time Suck

Has anyone else fallen prey to these buzzfeed quizzes that everyone seems to be posting to facebook?  I completely lose track of time and just keep clicking, like I'm completely mesmerized by the silliness and intrigue of how buzzfeed can some how tell so much about my personality from measuring my answers to 10-20 questions.

That being said, come join me on the dark side and enjoy my top 5 favorite buzzfeed quizzes. 

Which girl scout cookie are you?

Ummm... I'm the complete opposite of this!

Who's your Disney best friend?

This one I'll take!

Which Jane Austen heroine are you?

Spot on!

Which Muppet are you?

Never heard of these before, but I love them!

Which decade do you belong in?

What???  I totally would have thought the 50's or the 40's!  But apparently I'm right where I'm supposed to be... interesting....

Hope you enjoy the quizzes as much as I do!  Now that I see them in bulk like this I see even more how silly they are but it's a nice to be silly and have a good laugh!



High Five for Friday (Vol. 18)

Happy Friday and most of all happy Valentine's Day!

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I realize that many people think this is an overrated, "card company" holiday, but I love it!  I think any excuse to add a little extra love and romance to your life is a good thing.  So, instead of high 5-ing about my favorite moments of the past week, I've decided today's post will be my top 5 favorite love quotes! 

Best ending to a movie, ever!  Who wouldn't fall for a man who feels like this?

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I've sadly never read this entire book but I love the movie and love this quote.

(found in a google search)

Who would have thought that this would be such a romantic movie? 

I can't get enough of Groundhog Day!

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This movie kills me every time!  Everything he gave up for her and it's just lost in a single moment of stupidity (sorry that's a bit harsh!) 

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While we're at it, may I recommend my top 5 favorite romantic movies.

I plan on watching at least 1 of these today as my only "celebration" of the day.

When Harry Met Sally

500 Days of Summer

P.S. I love you

A Bed of Roses

10 Things I Hate About You

It's a link up frenzy today!

Linking up with Lauren and Jennie!

Mouth Watering Pork Roast

This is the most delicious pork roast I have ever made!  It's also super easy, the proof of that is that I made it wrong and it still turned out to be super juicy and tastey!

The original recipe was found here but this is how I did it:

What you'll need:
Pork roast
Apple cider or apple juice
1 tbsp olive oil

For the dry rub:
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp black peper
1 tbsp oregano

How it's done:

1. Mix together all of the dry rub ingredients.
2. Rub the roast with the olive oil then rub in the dry ingredients.  Since I cook for 2 I had a smaller roast and ended up with extra rub, I just put in tupperware and left in the fridge til I made it again, no need to waste!

3. Wrap the roast up and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours.
4. Place the roast on a rack in a roasting pan, this way the roast won't get soggy by sitting in it's drippings, plus we'll be putting some juices in the pan later. Cook for 15 minutes on 450 degrees so it can get a nice sear to it.

5. Pour the cider or juice into the pain, cover the roast in a tin foil tent and let us cook on 250 for 60-90 minutes or until you reach a center temperature of 145 degrees.

6. Let sit for about 10 minutes before carving into it.

It's got a bit of a kick to it, thanks to the paprika (I can't believe the original recipe calls for a 1/2 cup of it) but it's super juicy, tender, and delicious!  I accidenttally read the instructions wrong and used apple cider vinegar in my pan.  It was still amazing but the house smelled and my eyes burned when I first took it out, so I strongly recommend NOT doing that!

This is more of a weekend meal since it's time consuming but it's absolutely worth it.  Try it out this weekend!