Smile!

Finally had my dental appointment this morning (#24)... no cavities!  In fact, the dentist said everything looked great and that I should keep on doing whatever I'm doing.  Wahoo!!  And not even a word about needing to floss.  See, this is another one of those times when the anticipation of something is about a thousand times worse than the actual thing itself.  But now I'm wondering... how badly do I really need to floss (#57)???

Fizzy up the Girl

In case you don't get the title reference, I was just listening to the Goo Goo Dolls.  And I drank a Coke today!  For the first time in a month (#46).  Wow, was that sweet!  (in the syrupy sugar-high kind of way)  And so refreshing!  It also left kind of a gross film in my mouth that made me feel like I needed to brush my teeth.  Interesting.  I actually didn't really notice any difference in how the sugar or caffeine made me feel afterward, but I can't say that I wanted to rush right out and drink another one.  So I think was a good task, because it did definitely break my cycle of drinking waaaay too much pop.  Hopefully I can keep it to a minimum for a while.  But if not... well, I have to do this two more times!

I got the last of all my CDs onto my computer last week (#40).  It turned out to be a good project for my day off, because I needed to keep my knee up and give it a rest.  I actually really loved going through all my CDs, because I kept seeing things I had forgotten about, and now I am very excited about getting some of the "oldies but goodies" back into my listening rotation.  It also made me realize that I need to make a more concerted effort to find my stereo and my cassette tapes, because I have a lot of really good music in there somewhere!!  I was kind of late jumping on the CD bandwagon, so all the music from my college days and for quite a while after that are on tape.  I need my music!  I have also downloaded a few more CDs from Amazon (#45) from artists I haven't normally listened to before.  In fact, I've spent the last hour or so previewing some new albums!

So that's it.  Not too much else going on other than trying to make it through work and gearing up for my best friend's 40th birthday celebration in Vegas.  (counting the days, hours, and minutes!)

Eyes and Ears

After several trips to the eye doctor to get the prescription just right, my contact lenses are ready to be picked up (#28)!  So what next?  Get rid of the huge and horrible dark circles that my glasses had been masking.  Sephora was having one of their give aways with purchase of a box of deluxe samples, so this seemed like a perfect time to go by and get a make-up lesson (#88).  I was amazed at how well Sara was able to blend in the dark puffy areas.  I already loved Benefit's eye products, and now I have two more to love... Boi-ing and Lemon Aid!  The eye shadows were fun and geared toward more of a party look.  She used Urban Decay's Deluxe Shadow Box and a Laura Mercier liner pencil.  She was also able to recommend another Urban Decay product to help counteract the redness on the rest of my face, so it was a pretty productive trip!

Dark and sparkly eye shadows.  And wow do my lashes look great!



Not sure that I would actually do this again, but it gives me ideas to play around with.  And look... no dark circles!


Something else I've been focusing on lately has been music.  I really have been wanting to find new things to listen to (#45), I suppose partially because I have felt a little bored with what's on the radio all the time.  So my first plan has been to just be more conscious of what I'm hearing.  Things like movies and TV shows (thank you So You Think You Can Dance for including the artist and title for all the songs used on the show!) really help, so I've been making sure to write down when I find things I like.  Also, I discovered that Amazon.com has free daily song downloads and loads of $5 album downloads, so I've been keeping an eye on those and am slowly expanding my collection!  Which leads into getting all that music organized (#40).  I finally got all my CDs unpacked and organized, so now I'm working on getting them all downloaded to my computer.  Once that's all done the next order or business will be making sure to back it up on a jump drive or something else, so I don't accidentally lose it all!  I want to make some playlists... things I can take to work or put on my phone for travel.  I'm about half-way through all the CDs, so good progress there. 

But that does lead into the update on my phone.  I really do like my cell phone (it's an HTC Touch Pro 2), and I have been looking forward to figuring out all the ins and outs and really using it to its full potential (#70).  I've only had it for two years, after all.  (ha-ha!)  But starting at the beginning of July, it's been giving me fits, and I'm actually on my second replacement phone (the screen went out on the original, and the sound kept going out on the second one.  hopefully, third time's the charm).  But from everything the Sprint people keep telling me, these phones were only designed to last about two years, and I'm likely going to end up getting an entirely new phone sometime in the not too distant future.  So, unfortunately, this item will not exactly fulfill its original intent, but I promise to apply it to whatever phone I end up with.  I'm hoping to find one that uses a mini SD card, since that's what I bought to use with my current phone to hold all the music that I'm organizing!

One more week 'til I can drink pop!  Next time I do this, I am definitely not doing it during the summertime!!

Quick catch-up

I finished reading Anne of Green Gables, which was one of my designated books to read, a few days ago (#66).  I found it a little tedious in the beginning because of all the fanciful language she uses, but once I got into it, I really enjoyed the stories.  I always thought of this as a children's book, but with all of the big words, it's really not.  The main character reminds me a lot of Pollyanna with her perpetually cheery attitude and implausible adventures.  I expect that I'll probably pick up the sequels at the library at some point.

I've been doing well without drinking pop (#46).  One of the hardest times was over the weekend when I was out running errands.  I have realized that I often go out without regard for what time it is, so I usually end up running through a drive-through and picking up a snack and a drink.  Bad on two counts.  Plus, it has been sooo hot here that a Coke sounded like the most refreshing thing possible!  But I resisted.  Unfortunately, I did get some sort of stomach bug on Sunday, and I gave in and got a Pepsi on Monday when I was at work, because my stomach felt so bad and drinking water was actually making it worse.  Thankfully, that did the trick, and I'm back on the wagon.  I'm not going to count the one Pepsi as a failure, though, since I consider that an extenuating circumstance. 

If you read my comment on the last post, you know that I failed miserably on the "no fast food" front (#9).  I laugh every time I think about it!  So that will be saved for some other time.  *sigh*  hee-hee!

That's about it for now.  Otherwise, I'm just trying to keep cool in the ridiculous heat and getting ready for my friend's 40th birthday celebration in Las Vegas next month!  Can't wait!!

Fizzling out

So I decided last Sunday that I would give up pop for a month (#46).  I always seem to make these snap decisions and then start regretting them immediately!  Although maybe it's for the best, because then I can't overthink it and wonder if this is a good time or should I wait for a better time or why am I even doing this at all?  Normally I don't drink much pop at home, although I have gotten in a bad habit of drinking Pepsi whenever I get my lunch in the cafeteria.  It's the good fountain kind, and it's soo crisp and sweet and tasty!  I almost drink at least two 22 ounce cups of water when I'm at work, and I usually drink milk or water when I'm at home, so it's not as if I'm not getting plenty of other liquids.  But lately... first I had stocked up on 12-packs when all the grocery stores had them on sale back before Memorial Day, and then CVS kept putting 2-liter Cokes on sale for 69 cents.  69 cents!  That's less than half of what they usually cost!!  And with all my recent couponing, I was in CVS at least once a week and picking up two or three 2-liters each time.  Gads!  Hi, my name is Kristina and I'm a Coke-aholic.  (Hello, Kristina)  So, on Sunday, as I drained the last syrupy, fizzy goodness out of yet another bottle, I decided this would be a really good time to stop.  I've always said that I'm not addicted to the caffeine (because, believe me, I love them all equally... Coke, 7-Up, root beer); I'm addicted to the fizz!!  Pop just quenches the thirst like water can't sometimes.  But it's on the list.  And not just once.  I said I would do this three times!!  I seriously question my own sanity sometimes.  And while I'm at it?  Giving up fast food, too (#9).  You might want to give me a wide berth for the next 24 days.

End of an Era

Image via WB



Thursday night I went to the midnight premiere of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" (#10).  Now I'm not a crazy Harry Potter fan, but I have read all the books and seen all the movies in the theatre as well as multiple times at home.  I don't have any idea what other movies might come out in the next three years with midnight premieres, but the more I thought about it, the more this seemed like a good choice.  The first book was published in the US in 1998 followed by the movie in 2001, so this franchise has ruled for more than a decade now!

The crazy part of all of this was not that I went to a midnight premiere or the movie I chose.  The crazy part was that I worked all this week, meaning that I got off work Thursday at 6pm, went to the movie at midnight, got home around 2:30ish am, and was at work at 7am on Friday!  Miraculously I stayed awake for all of it, although I do admit to taking a 3-hour nap when I got home from work Friday afternoon.  And the movie?  The movie was good!  A fitting end to an era.

Ahhh, relaxation!

One thing I absolutely wanted to finish this summer was getting my porch finished (#63).  The screened porch was one of my favorite features when I bought this house, but it needed to be repainted and some of the screens needed to be replaced.  I had all the intentions of having this done last summer, but, as my mother always says, life is what happens when you're making other plans!  When my mother and her husband first visited me last year after I bought this house, they brought a porch swing which my step-father had bought and painted for me and a glider chair which my mother had refinished and recovered the cushions for (aren't they so nice!).  We originally hung the swing on the hooks where the previous owners had their swing, and a month later on the day the movers moved all my furniture in, I was sitting on the swing and one end fell down.  Apparently they didn't have it in a stud, and the fact that I was swinging in circles loosened the screw just enough.  And that was the end of the swing for last year, because I didn't see any point in trying to rehang it before the ceiling was redone.  So here's what all got done... ugly paper ceiling tiles removed and replaced with beadboard, new beadboard ceiling painted, screen door replaced, all trim and brick wall repainted, light replaced with ceiling fan, and swing rehung.

View from the outside  Amazing how the fresh coat of white paint really makes the trim pop agains the brick!



It's a good size... about 8 x 16



One of these days I'll repaint the front door, too, but I think it's going to have to be stripped and painted from scratch.  Plus, I'll have to pick a color, and that could take forever!  (note the comfy striped chair that my mother refinished)



This gives a nice shot of the ceiling fan and my pretty, pretty blue beadboard ceiling!  I like the industrial look of the light on the fan; initially, I didn't like the color of the blades (still can't figure out why they're such a light color compared to the dark metal finish), but it bothers me much less now that it's actually up.  I agonized for literally weeks last summer trying to find just the right shade of blue for the ceiling (Behr's Niagra Falls), and I have to say that I think it turned out  just perfectly!



This is my view toward the street from my favorite place to sit -- the striped chair.  I like being able to watch people going by walking their dogs and riding bicycles.



This is my K-Mart Martha Stewart table and chair set that I've had since Denver... much as she annoys me, I have to say that the quality of her stuff is always good.  I usually like to prop my feet up on one of the chairs when I'm lounging.  Beyond that is my neighbor's tulip tree, which I love for the shade it provides, but hate for all the twigs, blossoms, and leaves that it drops.



My neigbor's house on this side sits on a double lot, so we have their whole yard between us.  It really makes it feel open and green, which is nice for sitting outside.



This is the swing that my step-father painted for me, along with my Target clearance cushions and a cute little metal Ikea table in the foreground.

 I love sitting out on this porch, especially in the evenings.  One of the things I really wanted when I was looking for a house was a neighborhood where people got out and about, and that is definitely the case here, so I enjoy seeing everyone going by and waving to my neighbors.  Now that I have the ceiling fan, it's pleasant out here, even when it's hot outside.  It is so relaxing to come out here with a book and listen to all the birds (and we seem to have lots of very loud ones!) and enjoy all the greenery.  And my favorite time of day is dusk, when the fireflies are out and it has started to cool down some.  This ended up costing much, much more than I had originally budgeted, but it has already been well worth it.