Simple Valentine's Day Ideas

It's that time of year again.  Love it or hate it Valentine's day is around the corner so I thought I'd put together some simple low cost gift ideas for him.  My husband pretty much hates Valentine's Day but he acknowledges it for my sake.  We have fun with it, or maybe I should say I do, but we definitely keep it simple and inexpensive. 

I love this coupon idea.  It's simple, sweet and doesn't cost a lot of money.  You can make a personalized Valentine Coupon for anything you want at Treat.  Also, check out tinyprints for all kinds of really cute Valentine's cards or for any other occasion. Both are part of Shutterfly, the company I used to make my wedding album.

I found this cute little picnic set at World Market.  It might be too chilly to do this outside but who says a picnic has to be outdoors?  Your living room is perfect.  Just add champagne or wine and some candles and you're all set.  You could add to one that's already put together or make one up yourself.  It's something fun to enjoy together.

This one is perfect for the home brewer or just a guy that really likes beer.  Get him a 4 pack of personalized beer glasses at Red Envelope.

Or, you could just ignore the entire day altogether and save these gift ideas for a real holiday like your Anniversary or a Birthday.  Who needs a commercialized holiday to show love for your significant other when you already do that anyways?  I agree.  You don't, but I still think it's fun to do a little something anyways.

 

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Beyonce Bowl

I'm not a football fan.  Never have been.  I want to be because all of America is so obsessed with it and I tried but I just can't really get into it.  Five years ago I had no clue what a down was or what the hell they were throwing the ball and tumbling all over each other for.   I made it a point to figure it out so I could at least follow along.  It was that year the Patriots won like every game except the super bowl and because Tom Brady kept throwing the ball from down to down it finally clicked for me what was supposed to be happening.  For me Super Bowl Sunday is less about the game and more about watching the commercials, what gathering I'm going to and what food will be there.  Mj and I got invited to my girl friend's house where she had a nice spread of junky party food for me to stuff my face with.  There was that awesome zero calorie margarita mix that I mixed with Tequila.  Yes, zero calorie!  But I ate so many chips that even that couldn't save me.  I'll be paying for it at the gym tonight.  I sat there and watched the whole first half of the game but after that I got distracted.

[Pic Source:  via google images Getty Images/Christopher Polk]

I loved Jennifer Hudson's performance of America the Beautiful and Alicia Keys and her piano definitely did the National Anthem justice.  Beyonce's performance was AMAZING.  I wish I could move like her but all I got is the two step.  She dances and tosses that big hair around like no other.  The way she struts, that fierce look in her eye, that big voice and the way she rocks a leather leotard is mesmerizing.  She is so pretty and so talented that when I'm watching her I kinda wish I could be her for just a second to see what that feels like.  She puts her whole heart into a performance.  I've seem her perform live once and she's incredible.  I thought it was cool that she had Kelly and Michelle perform with her because I'm guessing she really didn't have to share the spotlight with them.  I loved hearing those old Destiny's Child songs and then she did Halo which is one of my all time fav love songs.  All those women stole the show. 

Then the power went out.  After this a lot of the girls at the party checked out.  My friend is totally obsessed with Beyonce.  The only reason she wanted a super bowl party in the first place was so she could watch the half time show with her friends so girls outnumbered the guys.  She made up all these Beyonce themed challenges so we could compete against each other for Mardi Gras beads.  The guys were like, WTF is going on, but I thought it was fun.  We were having a good old time chatting and carrying on for most of the 2nd half.  I understand that the 49ers did a good job of coming back and that it turned out to be a pretty exciting game.  Not that I saw a lot of it.  I was rooting for the Ravens to win because I wanted Ray Lewis to go out with a ring.  It doesn't bother me that he cries a lot before and after the game.  I think it's sexy that a big strong football player isn't afraid to show his emotions like that.  I'm glad they won but what I'll remember most about this superbowl is the awesomeness that is Beyonce and how bizarre it was that the power went out.

Confession Time

I confess that I'm not sure I get this whole Vine thing.  It's like YouTube but not?   It's like Instagram but not? And I keep hearing things about porn.  What's the point?  I mean, how many more social media outlets do we need?  I think there are already too many as it is.

I confess that I was really excited to reach 200 followers this week.  That's pretty much my benchmark for blogger success and I can blog happily ever after now that I finally reached it.  I officially no longer qualify for the damn Liebster award! 200 is a really nice number to run a giveaway for but since I just did two I'll wait until 250 which may or may not happen....but either way I'll be doing another 'cause they are so much fun.  Thank you to all my wonderful readers.  You are appreciated!

I confess that I got all excited about seeing my face on the cover of a magazine.  So what if it's fake!  It looks sort of real and sometimes we have to take what we can get.  C'mon, you know you want to!  Click here to live out your very own cover girl fantasy.  If you do one I'd love to see it.  Shoot.  I just might do it again!

Link up with Leslie @A Blonde Ambition

I confess that I'm terrified to do a legit outfit post.  How do those fashion bloggers and lifestyle/fashion bloggers do it?  Who is taking their picture?  How do they make it look so good even when they use their i phone?  I feel like an idiot when Mj takes my pic and it looks terrible when I try to do it myself.  And this from someone who has been paid to have her picture taken before.  I've got to find that confidence!  I'm slowly working my way up to it.  We'll see how long that takes.

4 lbs of creamy goodness

I confess that I bought a 4 lb tub of Peanut Butter for our family of 2 adults.  I LOVE Peanut Butter and I get anxious when we don't have any in the house.  We love PBJ's and love it on crackers.  So good! Mj is very heavy handed with it on his PBJ's.  It's expensive so I went generic and large because I know this store brand is good.  It was more economical to spend $9.99 on Von's brand then $5 on a small Skippy that we'd run out of next week.

I don't know about you but January felt very looong.  I kept checking my calendar in disbelief that it wasn't February yet.  Well, now it finally is and we have the Super Bowl, Valentines Day and President's Day to look forward to.  Have a great weekend everyone!!

Teen Mom 2 Dish

As if the girls of Teen Mom 2 hadn't already caused my jaw to drop enough there was a crazy discovery on this week's episode.  We already know that Jenelle's undying love obsession for Ke$ha means that she'd rather do long term jail time then miss her concert.  She'd also prefer to go to jail then quit smoking pot but since she got hauled into jail by her probation officer after failing a urine test she seems to be on the straight and narrow.  She's gone through about 2 roommates in as many months.  Three if you count her mom.

Source: mtv.com via CeCe on Pinterest

  Chelsea crying black mascara streaked tears
Poor Chelsea's little dog got attacked and killed by the neighbor's dog so she had to up and move.  She already has a replacement dog. She just took her last GED test and has been keeping her distance from her horrible ex but for the most part is chronically incapable of getting over him even though he treats her like crap.   I can't be the only one that's wondering what is going on with her shaggy poof of bleached blonde hair.  It looks like ramen noodles.  She also wears a TON of make up and should probably give the tanning a rest.  She's turning Orange.

Let's see...Kailyn cheated on a really great guy to try rekindling things with her baby's daddy.  That didn't work out.  She got lonely and somehow managed to get her ex to take her back then turned around and dumped him because she needed space.  Huh?  She's not allowed to move and take the baby to Florida so she moved into a new house instead.

Leah takes the cake for the most foolish one of all right now.  Will she ever learn?  She married the father of her twins only to be divorced within 6 months.  She was the one who cheated so she begged Corey to take her back and try again.  He refused.  After going on and on about how she rushed everything from getting pregnant, to moving in together to getting married and how she would never ever do that again she moved in with and is engaged to a man she's been dating for about 2 months.  The kicker however, is that she's already pregnant!!!  Oh, and after going on about how much she wanted to provide for her girls and have a career she dropped out of Nursing school.  Thank goodness she moved out of that awful trailer.  She actually wears more mascara then Chelsea.  It's really weird how they all picked up and moved at about the same time.

I liked the original Teen Mom group so much better.  Not that they didn't drive me nuts too.  Farrah annoyed me the most and Amber made me want to scream 90% of the time but I really liked Macy and Catelynn.  There is something about every single one of this new batch of girls and the horrible decisions they make that is very hard to watch.  Season one was good but I'm really sort of over season 2.  Mj stopped watching it a while ago and part of me wants to stop too but for some reason I can't.  A lot of people have claimed that this show glamorizes teen pregnancy but I personally do not see how.  With the exception of Amber the nightmare from Teen Mom 1 and Jenelle I'd say all of them have been really good mom's but their lives are total train wrecks!  They show how incredibly hard it is to balance school, work, relationships and life in general after having a child so young.  I'm not ready for a child at my age let alone theirs and there is nothing glamorous or fun about the crap these girls are dealing with.  Anyone else out there with a love hate relationship with this crazy show or is it just me? 

More Sick People

My weekend in a nutshell brought to you by Instagram

Mj took such good care of me on Wednesday that I guess he figured it was only fair that I return the favor so he woke up sick on Saturday.  Well, it's actually not his fault or his choice for that matter.  I'm the one who got him sick and I do feel bad about it.   There was more sick people food to be made and more medicine to be taken.  First thing Saturday morning I went to the grocery store for OJ, cough drops and other very important things like Peanut Butter and Fat Free Pringles and after that I didn't leave the house again all weekend.  It was grey and dreary, I had a sick husband at home and was still recovering myself so that was fine with me.  It worked out perfectly that we didn't have a single thing planned.

This might be one of the first weekends I can remember in a very long time that Mj didn't do anything.  It's no thing for me to spend a weekend at home but he is such a busy body that even if he has no plans he has to run errands or SOMETHING just to get out but not this weekend.  His Saturday morning flag football was rained out which was a good thing because he was too sick to play.  Plus, it meant he  gave that broken pinky a rest.  He broke it weeks ago but refuses to stop playing.  As for me, I did a lot of laying around on the couch twittering, reading blogs, watching TV and generally being lazy.  It was the perfect weekend for it because I don't think the sun came out once so I was perfectly content to stay inside.  I did get laundry done and that was probably the only productive activity of the weekend.

Mj had to call in sick today but hopefully he'll be back to 100% soon too.  It's Monday.  Back to work.  Back to the gym.  Back to the grind.  The sun is shining and I haven't felt this rested on a Monday in a while.  All that laying around paid off.  What with MLK day and calling in sick twice I only worked two days last week and now I've got a lovely long five day work week ahead of me.  It only took me four days to kick that cold's butt and I only had about 2 really awful days.  I can't help but think about all the people in the world who are chronically ill and still hoping for the day that they get better and it makes me so appreciative of my good health.  I'll have to remember this thankful feeling when I'm wrenching myself out of bed on Friday morning for work and spending 3 hours cleaning house on Saturday.  As much as I whine about it I do realize I should consider myself lucky that I'm physically able to do them both.

Korean Honey Citron Tea

The idea of laying around all day half comatose and sleeping instead of going to work sounds really good but when you feel terrible it's no fun at all and oddly enough you'd rather be at work.  Well, that was me Wednesday.  It's been exactly a year since I had so much as a cold and I've never had a flu shot but I can't remember when I ever had the flu.  I never get sick.  Famous last words.

Sick people food // Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese and OJ

Monday night I felt it coming on.  Uh, oh I think I might be getting sick.
Tuesday I tried to fight it with Emergen-C.  I still attempted my 1 hour cardio routine as normal but couldn't finish and spent the last half walking.  Something about the dry air going in and out of my nose was too painful.
Wednesday I called in sick to work after a mostly sleepless night and didn't get out of bed until 11am.  I dragged my achy body downstairs where Mj had lunch waiting.  He is so sweet.  He stayed home so he could take care of me.  Either that or he just really didn't want to go to work but either way I was glad to have him there. Sick or not I had to make my hair appointment that night.  I looked in the mirror and saw a hot mess staring back at me.  How sad that my husband had to look at this all day.  Honey Citron tea and a hot shower made me feel half way human.  I had a good hour or two before I would revert to total uselessness but it was enough for me to make it there and back.
Thursday I went back to work.  On the way there with my eye balls all heavy in my head I wondered why I ever thought it was a good idea.  My brain was foggy and everything I did that day felt like slow motion.
Today I stayed home.  I feel better then I did on Wednesday but it's one of those gray rainy days that makes you want to never get out of bed and so I didn't.  I'm sick and I have a plethora of sick hours so I might as well use them.  I expect to be back to 100% by Monday at the latest if not sooner.   It's just a cold so I guess I can't complain too much.

So getting back to that Honey Citron Tea.  Mj drank it all the time when he was stationed in Korea and he re discovered it here at a local Korean market called H Mart.  I'm not a tea drinker at all.  I normally have to add loads of sweetener to make it taste half way decent but I don't need to add a thing to this.  It has the same consistency of jelly and I only use one spoonful for an average sized mug.  It tastes so good and when you get to the bottom there is a little citrus surprise to nibble on.  It's really good when you are sick because it's full of Vitamin C.  They have other flavors but I only like this one.  Best tea ever.  You should try it.  Don't wait until you are sick.

*****

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