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Friday, August 29, 2014

5 Things I'm Loving This FRIDAY

It's FINALLY Friday.. can I get a hallelujah?! I'm so excited to have a 3 day weekend! This has been a long and CRAZY week. Long story short.. work has shorted me half my paycheck due to a 401K error last month. That does NOT make me happy and I'll be even more glad to see the beach and a drink come this afternoon!

BTW- Thank you so much for the advice yesterday on the shoes. I'll let you know what I decide. :)

Now onto 5 Things I'm Loving Right Now..

1- My new Lilly scarf. I scored this little beauty for $29 at the Lily sale. I can't wait for come cooler temps because I'm definitely going to be wearing this!

2- My Crockpot. I seriously love the crockpot. It makes dinners and my life so much easier. I made ribs this week and they were yummy as always! I just throw in the ribs, minced onion, and sweet baby Ray's. It's that simple!




3- My George Foreman. My cousin and his beautiful wife gifted me this when I bought my first house. I love this thing! I'm obsessed with these salmon pinwheels from Fresh Market. All you do is toss this on the George Foreman for about 5 minutes and you're ready to eat!



4- My new Dyson. I know I posted about this earlier but I'm seriously in love with the vaccum cleaner. And anyone that knows me knows that says a lot. I've even vaccumed more than once this week. The true test will be how long I keep this up! :)



5- These Tory Burch beauties! Now if money was no object these would seriously be mine right now! I'm obsessed. They are leopard but not the traditional leopard. They have a hint of metallic and are well.. just perfection! They are also available in gold.

Tory Burch Reva Ballet Flat


Have a fabulous Labor Day weekend Lovies!

Linking up with Leslie.

Linking up with Amy and Karli.


Thursday, August 28, 2014

Thoughts for Thursday.. Shopping and $$

Happy Thursday Lovies!

Can I just say this quote is the story of my life..



Shopping is my happy place! Paying bills especially credit card bills are a far cry from my happy place. I swear every year I get older the less "fun" money I have. I miss the days where my entire allowance/paycheck was fun money! And the less money I have to spend on fun things the more fun things I find I want! Figures.. We're still trying to decorate and furnish our house. Overall I feel pretty accomplished in what we have done in just one year. On the other hand, we're so close now that I just want to be done so I can focus on more important things like shoes, purses, clothes and jewelry! Ha! Adding Christmas shopping on top of that.. stressed out! I also have no self control when things are on sale. I act like I've never seen a sale before. I get home then have buyer's remorse. Thank goodness I usually buy most things from places I can return. I think I get so caught up on I've been soo good and I just really want to treat myself to one thing and there is sale so I'm technically getting 2-3 things for the price one right?! LOL.. I swear I end up wearing the same 10 things ALL the time. The Hubs doesn't understand. He has a closet full of nice clothes and he's done. He could careless about getting anything else unless a hole rips into them or a stain. I stand in my closet in a daze saying I have nothing to wear and he thinks I've lost my mind. It also doesn't help that any normal day I wait until the last possible minute to get ready. I'm then running around like a chicken with it's head cut off throwing together the first thing I see. If I planned more carefully this might also help me but it's just easier to buy new stuff than think too much! See I really need help!

I bought these shoes at Target.
They look just as cute as the TOMS. I dared to officially try on the TOMS today at Nordstrom.. OMG TOMS are a million times more comfortable!
TOMS 'Desert' Wedge Bootie (Women)
Granted they are $50 more but I think that's worth it in comfort. Decisions.. decisions.. I should have NEVER tried on the TOMS! Anyone have any thoughts on what I should do? Stay with the Target ones or splurge on the TOMS?

Thoughts for Thursday
Linking up with Natalie and Annie.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Dyson

Happy Tuesday Lovies!

We've been procrastinating buying a new vaccum cleaner for awhile now. Last year when I took my 30 something year old Rainbow to be serviced, the guy told me it was on it's last leg. I had noticed it wasn't picking up as good as it used to. This Rainbow lasted through my mother and me and I figured it has been put to good use. I had added a new vaccum to my Christmas wish list, so sad I know! We really don't have the extra cash right now but Target has all their Dyson's on sale right now. Check them out here. I broke down and just bought one. I'll kick myself for spending the money later but I used this just on our rugs last night oh my goodness! I don't know whether to be excited or disgusted because our rugs look brand new and geez there was a ton of stuff in that thing. Now I want to clean everything! Maybe this will be some motivation. :) We went with the multifloor version since downstairs is all hardwoods.


Have a good Tuesday!

Monday, August 25, 2014

Weekend Recap.. Paddleboarding!

Happy Monday Lovies!

As usual my weekend was over in a blink of an eye! I was blessed with a 3 day weekend and it still felt short. I haven't decided if the weekends actually feel short or if I enjoy my time off that I just don't want them to end. Maybe both..

Thursday night I headed to Topsail Beach with my in laws. Friday morning my FIL and I had paddleboarding lessons scheduled at 9am. Let me just say that I was glad it was early because it was a muggy hot day! As for paddleboarding.. I LOVED IT!! I'm so ready to try this again. I was shocked how I picked it up. It's definitely a workout but something new and fun!

After our lesson we headed to breakfast. I found a new favorite spot, Sears Landing. The view, the mimosas, and the omlette was amazing! I definitely recommend this spot.



The rest of the day was spent on the beach or the couch. It was crazy hot outside. And I waited for my Hubs to arrive.

Saturday we got up and my wonderful MIL made us breakfast. It started to rain- BOO! So we made it a lazy couch day for the most part. We decided to try Quartermaster's for dinner. The atmosphere and food were great! We started off with crab dip, sorry I didn't take a picture of that one.






After dinner we all said we were full but I successfully convinced everyone to stop for some ice cream!


Sunday was gorgeous! Figures since we needed to head home. We did manage to get about 2 hours of beach time in before having to pack it up and head home. The Hubs couldn't leave without trying his favorite spot, Max's Pizza. Sorry I don't have any pictures but the food was good. The Hubs' is obsessed with the house special pizza.

I hope you had a good weekend!!

Thursday, August 21, 2014

About Me- Thoughts for Thursday

Happy Thursday Lovies!

I'm excited today is my Friday! I'll be back on Monday for a weekend recap. I've seen Natasha and Natalie do this little questionaire last week so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon too!

Name/Location/Age
I'm Megan. I go by Megan although I will answer to Meg or Megan Arnold (college days!) as well. I have sooo many friends named Megan that sometimes we have to mix it up. My Dad used to cringe and quickly correct people when they called me Meg but it never bothered me. I could definitely be called worse.. hahaha! I'm 31 (I seriously cringed when typing this!). Every day over 29 has been kinda hard to swallow. I just thought at 30 that I'd have this amazing career, married for longer, have a ton of kids.. you know that whole picturesque life. My life is pretty great, don't get me wrong but I just thought 30 was well.. OLD! I have my days I feel old but just nothing like I thought it would be. I live in Holly Springs, North Carolina. I've lived in North Carolina my entire life. I grew up about an hour North of Raleigh in Franklin County. I moved to Raleigh for college. I briefly moved back to my small town but had to get back closer to the city. After my office closed and moved to Cary, getting engaged and married to my now husband I moved to New Hill, NC for a small time. We moved to Holly Springs about a year ago. We love it here!

Work
I work for a bank as a credit analyst in the commercial real estate section. I've been here 8 years! I say it that way because I never had any intentions of staying here this long. We've also been through a lot of reorganizations and lay offs and some how I survived all of these. I'm grateful but I'm still on the fence if this is something I want to do for the long haul.

Family
Husband- The Hubs- I call him this because doesn't like being on the blog. In fact he was against me starting this at all. Once I got started he's lightened up a bit and has been really supportive. I just try to keep him off as much as I can.
Kids- None. I still feel like we're newlyweds. That's what happens when you get married, sell 2 houses and build 1 all within your first year of marriage. We will be married 2 years this year on December 1.
Pets- Kasey, 12 year old yellow lab. She was the Hub's dog and I still call her that. She doesn't listen to me unless I have a treat or a bud light in my hand. Hahaha.
This picture is from our Christmas card last year. My MIL took these at our brand new house. This was taken before we actually moved in. 
Hobbies
Blogging, Shopping, Attempting to Cook, Attempting to Garden, Attempting to Work Out, Attempting DIY Projects, Decorating (especially for the holidays!), and Sitting on the Beach (not sure if it's a hobby but I'm going with it!)

What You'll Find on this Blog
-My life.. the good, the bad, and the crazy!
-Recipes
-My shopping finds, wishlists, bucket lists
-Whatever I'm in the mood for that day
-I hope to include more of our house at some point- I'm attempting to decorate it

Favorite Movie
The Help

Favorite Music
I like it all! I grew up on only country from my parents. I took dance so I was exposed to show much more. High school I was really into rap. College I really got into beach music. Now I will definitely flip stations a lot. I do still lean more to country but my ipod is a smorgasboard!

Drinks
I love the smell of coffee but loathe the taste of it! I don't drink anything with caffeine at all.. ever.. I have a heart condition so that's a no go. I gave up soft drinks one year for lent and I haven't looked back. I also gave up sweet tea one year for lent and went from a nalgene bottle a day to not being able to stand it now. So my days are usually H20. Once in awhile you'll see a chocolate milk. I love beer, red wine and mojitos.

Favorite Food
Seafood/Sushi.. I could get sushi every day of my life!

Favorite Places to Shop
Target, Homegoods, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Belk, Nordstrom, Banana Republic, Saks

Bedtime and Wake Up Time
Bed around 10 pm ( I know I'm old and I need my beauty sleep!) and wake up around 7am, I usually hit snooze a couple of times though!

Biggest Pet Peeve
People that waste food.

Five Things I Can't Live Without
1- TV- I'm addicted to reality TV- The Kardashians!
2- My Phone- I feel lost without that thing.
3- Jewelry- I'm a creature of habit I feel naked without my earrings, watch, wedding rings, college ring, and bracelets.
4-Chocolate.. I have a serious sweet tooth!
5-Contacts- I'm blind as a bat per the Hubs and I loathe wearing glasses.

Other
Feel free to ask anything. Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Wednesday Rambling and some lanterns

Happy Hump Day Lovies!

I have I don't have anything specific to talk about so this is going to be all over the place! :)

Last night I attended my first circle meeting at our church. I'm excited to have some where to organize some volunteer activities for me. I'm not in the Junior Women's club anymore after 4 or 5 years and 2 clubs. I feel kinda lost sometimes without some of those things on my calendar. I'm excited to try something new!

I'm heading to my girls dinner with my college friends tonight. I so look forward to these dinners. I'm even more excited that sushi was picked! And to top it off Iwa has red oak hummingbird beer on draft. Yes please!

One my besties is gifting me 2 lanterns. She had tenants move out and leave several. You know you're old when you are over the moon for these kind of things! I've already been checking out pinterest and places on ways to decorate these for fall. I'm thinking something like this for our front porch. YAY for fall!



I'm also working on my Christmas wishlist. I'm sure the Hubs and family will be thrilled to see this.. Hahaha. Hey- at least I make it easy for them to shop for me! :)

Happy a Fabulous Hump Day!

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Where did they day go?

Happy Tuesday Lovies!

Yesterday was such a whirlwind that I seriously wondered where the day went. I ran so many errands (grocery store, carolina pottery, walmart, eye doctor, dry cleaners, allergy doctor for shot, Target) that I barely felt like I was at work. I had an eye doctor appointment for my annual visit and supply of contacts that seemed to take forever. YAY! for no change in my vision. That's the first time it hasn't gotten worse in almost 5 years.. I'll take it! I got home to make a quick dinner. We did chicken stir fry again. I swear this is one of the quick and easiest meals ever. 3 loads of laundry from the weekend and dinner clean up. Yes- I did actually work some of the day.. Hahaha.

I'm again on the search for barstools. I had found these and was ready to pull the trigger. The Hubs wasn't on board. He wants something with a cushion attached. I told him we could buy cushions but he wasn't excited about this so it's back to the drawing board. These are actually the updated verison that matches our dining room table that we found. I just hate to pay $150 each (I need 3) to then turn around and strip the fabric off to replace with mine and paint these. I thought about a unfinished furniture store. Decisions.. decisions.. Anyone seen anything like my first link with cushions? I'm open to suggestions at this point.

I'm counting down the days until I get to try my hand at paddleboarding. Anyone that knows me knows that this will probably be one hot mess but I'm excited to check something off my bucket list. I'm sure my MIL will have videos and pictures. The Hubs will be at work and join us Friday night so he has demanded that his Mom capture every embarassing moment possible. So if nothing else I'm sure everyone will get a good laugh!

I hope everyone is having a good week!

Monday, August 18, 2014

Weekend Recap and Lilly Pulitzer Sale

Happy Monday Lovies!

We had a beach weekend with Nick's Dad, Step Mom and family at Topsail Beach. We didn't make it down until Friday night after dinner. Friday night we stopped at this little place to eat called Meadow. It's country cooking. It's buffet style and the food is ok but let me tell you the dessert bar is AMAZING! The desserts are all homemade and to die for! See my dessert plate below!



Saturday we were on the beach all day. We had some rain but luckily we had a tent and it passed by quickly. Here are some randoms of the family.






Saturday night after dinner we all decided to play some putt putt!

Sunday was packing up and heading home. It was a good weekend but always too short!

I was challenged to do the ALS ice bucket. I accepted the challenge and did it last night. I challenged my hubby as well. Hey- it's all for a good cause! Check out my video on Facebook. :)

This morning I hit up the Lilly Pulitzer Sale. Let me tell you that I lost 2 Elsa tops because I kept debating which color. I did score a cute scarf for $29!!! So my advice, decide quickly before everything is gone! I'm not good at deciding last minute especially knowing that they aren't returnable but believe me I'm mad at myself right now.

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Friday, August 15, 2014

Friday's List

Happy Friday Lovies!

The Hubs and I are headed to North Topsail beach for a family weekend with his Dad and step Mom. Hopefully we'll have some nice weather. Now to my 5 confessions/obsessions this week..

1- I confess that I'm deeply sadden by the death of Robin Williams. I hope this sheds on light and helps others struggling with depression. My heart goes out to his family and everyone that loved him. Since hearing the news, I've really wanted to re-watch "Patch Adams", "License to Wed", and "Mrs.Doubtfire" (my favorites).  RIP Robin Williams


2- I confess that I'm obsessed with Charlie's soap. We had an issue when we first bought our washer and dryer and the repair guy swore by this stuff. He says it helps clean out the machine and keep in clean conditon. It's great for allergy sufferers and chemical free. I actually love the smell too.. Not too much but just enough clean smell. Added bonus it's reasonably priced. I bought this tub at The Fresh Market for $14 and it lasted us at least 6 months (I'm not kidding!).


3- I confess I broke down and bought myself some shoes. I've been obsessing over these for awhile. I wanted to kick myself last year for not buying them. So I had them on my list for this year. I'm rough on shoes and I should never pay a lot for them. I know I shouldn't buy them but I didn't think the TOMs were that bad of a price. Well I was in Target (gotta love me and Target) and ran across these beauties! I had to bring them home. My feet are very narrow and I have a hard time wearing any booties. I actually think the Target ones will work out better because they won't stretch out as much since I don't have to untie them. The Hubs actually wasn't mad considering these were only $35 versus the $90 I would have spent on the TOMs. :)



4- I confess I'm ready for fall. I was dreaming about fall/Halloween decor last week. I even started to look to see when mums are available for purchase. This year has flown by so I'm sure they'll be available before I know it!

5- I confess that I finally bought my first Christmas present. I'm behind on my normal standards but I'm excited to get the ball rolling. Only 19 more Fridays until Christmas.. you're welcome!

Christmas Shopping
Have a Fabulous Weekend Lovies!


Linking with up Leslie.
Linking up with Amy and Karlie.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

The Help and Drinks

Is anyone else obsessed with the movie "The Help"? I have probably watched this movie 50 times or maybe more. Friday night The Hubs was playing golf. I was sitting around enjoying my wine and decided to watch my favorite movie again. The Hubs has just started to laugh at me and can even quote the movie.. LOL! I love the fashion, the decorating, and houses in that movie. I think I'm so obsessed because Elizabeth's house reminds me sooo much of my god-grandparents house. It's kinda scary how much they are alike. The fashion back then and my goodness those hairstyles! I also love looking at the decor- paintings, furniture, bookshelving, I love it all. It's a beautiful movie with meaning but I barely listen because I'm too busy staring at what else I can see this time that I haven't eyed before.


The Help (2011) Poster
I'm debating on reading the book soon. I've been slack on my reading but think that since I love the movie so much the book will be good too. Anyone read the book? Thoughts?

A neighbor introduced me to Hummin' Bird HeLLes by Red Oak. Let me just say- I'm hooked! I was beyond excited to find this at Harris Teeter yesterday. Needless to say I had a beer last night after my walk. I'm also a little obsessed because it's pure meaning zero perservatives or chemicals. I was shocked to read all the additives that only the US allows in food/beer. If you like light ctirusy beer, give this one a try!


As I was walking yesterday I looked at my flowers. I'm still in shock that these haven't died yet. I seriously don't have a green thumb. Some of the reds ones have struggled but the purple petunias have done wonderfully. Thanks for the suggestions on my trail gardener post, I have some ideas of what to try next year. Excuse the mess below, the Hubs was edging.


What's your favorite movie? What's your favorite after work drink?
Thoughts for Thursday
Linking up with Nat and Annie.