You know you want it - VIII

I really like these round coffee tables.
Room & Board - Mingshi Round

I saw some little white bird statues in my BH&G magazine and they said they were from Target. Well I didn't find them, but I found these cute little bird vases

Target - Bird Vase - White

Become a wine pro - Domino magazine featured an article on how to become a wine pro after reading their article. They had some tricks. For instance, cheaty trick #1 - You can divide all wine into two categories. Old World wines are from lands where people have been crafting them for about 2,000 years (Italy, Spain, France, etc.). This are usually delicate, earthy, minerally, chalky and layered. New World wines are the latecomers to the global market (from the U.S., Australia, South Africa, Chile, etc.). These wines - cultivated in warmer climes with modern technology - are generally bolder, fruitier and sweeter than their Old World counterparts, and usually smack you with a jolt of flavor. Cheaty trick #2 - You only need to know six types. There may be lots of flavors, but once you learn the the six most common grapes, you've covered most of the wine you'll normally encounter. Below is a little chart they had in their magazine. You'll have to click on it to see it better.

These are so cool and perfect for the lunch box - a reusable, lightweight stainless steel water bottle- in 6 different colors
Kleen Kanteen 12 oz. reusable bottle


This wicker sofa would look great in a sun room or on a back patio

Loggia Sofa with cushions

I absolutely LOVE this mirror!

Ochre - large circular mirror with convex glass

Now this is just gross. I saw this in my magazine and thought...who would wear a retainer around their neck?

Areaware

Now, purple is my favorite color, but for some reason I don't really decorate with it. I'm loving this little fainting sofa though!

Antoinette Fainting Sofa - Aubergine

And here's another awesome piece of purple furniture

Lazboy Karli Chair

These seagrass chairs would look nice in any room - maybe an office chair or a vanity seat

Pottery Barn Seagrass Chair

Black Friday Deals

So for the past few years I've gone out on Black Friday with my mom. We're not one of those people that get up at 4 a.m. for the doorbuster bargains, but we usually get some good deals. I always end up getting a bunch of stuff for myself and this year was no different. I did get some gifts for other people so it wasn't all about me, but I'll still share what I got.

At Old Navy I got two of these sweaters since they were only $10. I got one in orange and one in brown.

Then I got one of these fleece pullovers (in this color) since they're so comfy and it was only $7.50.

One of the main things I was looking for was a new coat. I have a black wool coat now which is fine, but I can't handle all the lint and pet hair it attracts. I need to carry a lint roller with me everywhere I go. I found this jacket at Macy's for $50.

And then we were pretty much done shopping, but decided to stop in at a local department store, Parisian. At this point I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, but I came across this jacket.

I've always wanted a cute little leather jacket, but never wanted to pay the price it came with. Well I got this leather jacket for $64 which was normally $218! Isn't that crazy! There was no way I was passing it up. Needless to say, my shopping ended for the day after that.

It was a good day.

My Our new car!

So we did it...we bought a new car! We picked it up the day before Thanksgiving. We ended up getting a brand new 2008 Ford Edge Limited AWD. I couldn't be happier. At first I didn't want black, silver, white or red, but after sitting down in this fully loaded beauty, I didn't care that it was black. We have the panoramic vista roof, heated seats (which I've never had before), the Sync option which is great, and more! I've been slowly playing around with everything in it, but there's still so much more to discover. Happy Thanksgiving to us!

Ain't she purty??

Camera purchase on hold

But that's okay because we might be using the money to go towards a new car. I've wanted a DSLR forever, but I think a new car might be a better purchase for us right now. Yes we have our truck back, but I don't think it will ever be problem free again. And with it being our only vehicle, I can't help but be a little nervous that I may end up stranded somewhere. So that being said, we're interested in a Ford Edge.

We went to a dealership this past Monday, but found out that new rebates/cash back opportunities were going to be available starting yesterday. So we'll go back next Monday and try again.

You know you want it - VII

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For all your furry woes
Scotch Fur Fighter

This coffee table is so cool - plus you can order it in a multitude of colors
Maine Cottage

How to recycle anything, from A-Z


And here's a way to get your digital photos custom framed
Real Memories

How about a bunch of recipes for all of that fall produce?

No truck again

Ugh...seriously?? As I mentioned in a previous post, an issue popped up while driving our truck home. Well yesterday after work I drove it back up to our friends' shop so now more waiting. I just want the damn thing back a new car already!!

I own 68 pairs of shoes

That's right! And I was just browsing the DSW website...I think I have a problem...lol.

The other day I was cleaning out my closet and decided to count all the pairs. Now, this 68 pairs includes multiple pairs of flip flops and work boots and whatnot, but that's still a lot of shoes!

Whirlyball = so much fun!

So last night Jim and I joined a bunch of other people for a thrilling night of Whirlyball. According to the website,

"Whirlyball, dubbed “the world’s only totally mechanized team sport”, is best described as a combination of Basketball, Hockey and Jai-Alai played while riding an electrically powered machine, similar to a bumper car, called a WhirlyBug. Although the WhirlyBug resembles a bumper car, it is a far superior machine. Quicker, stronger and far more maneuverable, the WhirlyBug powers you and your team down court in a five on five game".

It was so much fun! I even scored a goal which is SO not easy! I do have a few battle wounds from the seat belt digging into me during one of the multiple head-on collisions, and the steering rod being jammed into my leg from another collision, but I would totally do it again.

Here's a few pics - not the best, but you get the idea.

One of my faves as you can see the #27 car occupant get thrown forward during a collision.

home sweet truck

So I'm back from my work training in Grand Rapids. It was good...got to play with some fun gadgets so that's always a good time. AND, I got to spend some time with Elena! She was a bridesmaid in my wedding,

but since she lives on the other side of the state, we really don't get to see each other very often. I did take some pics of her cute pets. Of course they are crappy cell phone pics, but you can still make out the cuteness.

This is Rupert

and this is Beren - mid-lick/yawn

Yeah it was funny, my non-smoking hotel room smelled like it used to be a smoking room, my rental car smelled like a clean hotel room and B.O., and the place where my training was held smelled like crap...but that probably had something to do with the classes being held at a waste water treatment plant...lol.

So Thursday night I drove back and Jim picked me up and brought me flowers!! All together now, awwwwwwwwwwwww. So sweet!

Then it was back to work on Friday. The good news was that we were FINALLY going to be able to pick up our truck. Now remember - this was a friends shop, so even though it was taking so long, we knew we were saving in costs in the long run.

So last night we show up at the shop to pick up our "ready to go" truck and our friend isn't even there! Jim is getting pretty mad at this point. So he calls him and it turns out there were still a few things that needed to be done on the truck...like put the intake and hood back on!! So Jim pretty much tells him we're not leaving without the truck and to get his ass up there and finish it! So our friend gets there, probably around 6:30, puts the intake on, adds the necessary fluids and starts it up. Well after some listening and prodding, it was found that the wrong coolant temperature sensor was put on. UGH!! Needless to say, we didn't end up leaving there until almost 10:30!! But she's back and I'm so happy. But...driving home last night, Jim was having some issues with the service engine light flashing, which we've never seen before, so he's trying to figure out what that's all about today. If he can fix it, great. If not, then we can't take the expressway to our Whirlyball adventure tonight and that will turn our 47 mile - 47 minute ride into a 45 mile – 1 hour and 21 min ride. I really hope he figures it out!

Got some awesome deals today!

I was checking in over on thenest.com like I do pretty much everyday and came across a post with some awesome promo codes to use at Victoria'sSecret.com. I was able to get 2 bras and a pair of panties for $16 which included shipping! How awesome is that?

Then later on I went shopping with my mom and hit up DSW. She had a coupon for $20 of a $50 purchase and wasn't going to use it, so of course I wanted it! My $50 purchase were these Skechers

And then they had 80% off all of their sandals. I got these red ones for $8.99 regular $40,

and these awesome yellow ones for $11.99, regular $60!

Seriously...how awesome of a deal is that? Of course I have to wait until next summer to wear them, but oh well.

Then when I got home Jim and I went grocery shopping. Our total was $180, but after bottle returns and coupons the total dropped down to $115. Yeah...we had A LOT of cans/bottles to take back. We hadn't taken any back all summer.

Anyway, I was just super excited about my deals today and I had to share.

I'm headed to some training for work this week, and while I have my work laptop, I'm not totally sure that the Internet works on it. It works at work, but I don't think the wireless connection is working nor is a connection with an Ethernet cord. (Okay and how many times did I just use the word work??) So I may not be posting until I get back...not like I post anything all that exciting anyway...lol.

We paid it off!!

Almost 5 years ago when Jim and I bought our condo (I can't believe it's already been 5 years!) we had a bunch of credit card debt. We each had two cards with three of them having balances anywhere from $3000 - $7000 but one had like $20,000!! I pretty much freaked out thinking we'd never get out of credit card debt. We paid off the small ones, but last year at this time we still had the big one with something like $17,000 still left on it. For the past 6 or 7 months we've been putting $1500/month towards it and I just made the last payment a few days ago! So excited to have that gone!!!

I got a lot of great tips over on the nest, specifically the Money Matters board. I learned of a person named Dave Ramsey and we used his debt snowball plan to pay them off. Worked like a charm!

Our plan is to start saving for a house, but first I'm going to purchase the DSLR camera I've been lusting over that I've mentioned before.

I'm just so excited to have it paid off!