I need serious help folks..

So right now I am still on my semi-vacation (hence the lack of blogging)! I miss you all and I look forward to getting back into the swing of things when I get back to NJ! However, I need your help with something while I am in my home town…

You see I am the most indecisive person ever…really…it’s pathetic! Usually when I am visiting my parents I take advantage of the fact that my generous mom pays for me to get my hair done (thanks mom you’re the best!). Lately I have just been getting the same color and just a trim in an effort to let the locks grow. But now I am totally sick of my hair!! The hubs (who usually doesn’t give me a ton of input into what I should do with my hair) thinks it would be cute if I chopped it above the shoulder :0 At first I was like..”Oh, I have been growing it out and if I cut it I will regret it” but after thinking a lot about it Now I think I want to cut it (really in need of a change) but I am still so unsure because I have been growing it out for a while (since the last time I chopped it)!

I don’t know if I should wait it out and let it grow longer or cut it?!

This is where I need your help…what do you think I should do?

Here are some visuals to help…

My current hair style (I’m on the right)

My hair worn a la natural (curly/wavy)

Okay so now here are some of the styles i’m looking at..

(the hairstyle on the left)

I am looking at something like a long bob (lob) that I can wear straight or curly and that rests just above my shoulders.

HELP! Any suggestions, advise, tips, etc. would be extremely appreciated!!

Have a great day!!

PS I’ll be sure to let you all know the final decision!

Breaking News: Fab scarf swap!

Hi all! Well i’m reporting right now directly from Las Vegas..whoo whoo! I am having a fabulous time but I had to step away from all the excitement to feature a very special person and event I recently took part in!

Recently the totally cute and oh so entertaining Katie over at Loves of Life  hosted a fall scarf swap. Now anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with scarves and the are basically an extension of any outfit I wear, no matter what the season is (thank goodness for the summer scarves that are so popular now)! I call them my security blanket because I love how they can hide my midsection.

One of the neat aspects of this swap besides getting a totally cute scarf, is the fact that I got to meet a really really awesome gal! If you haven’t checked out Shaina over at Post Smith..well you are totally missing out and you need to go now! She is one of the funniest and sweetest girls and we just clicked right away. One of the requirements for the swap was to describe what styles, colors, and patterns you are currently obsessed with (my words) this season and then Katie used that to match us up. And boy oh boy did she do a good job! When I received Shaina’s likes list I say there and thought…"wait is this the one that I wrote?”!

I had such a blast getting to know Shaina via email and experiencing those moments of “oh my gosh is this my twin separated at birth?!”

I have to admit that when Shaina sent the email that she had mailed my scarf with the promise that I would like it I waited by the door like a kid on Christmas morning! I almost screamed when I saw that brown envelope sitting outside my door and ran inside to rip it open as fast I as could! What awaited me was more than I had ever hoped or imagined..

um yeah I totally fell in love! Thank you thank you Shaina..you are seriously the best!! I had been eyeing this scarf a lot lately so I was ecstatic to now have it in my possession! Oh and she didn’t even know it, but I have a tremendous obsession with candy corn…like I seriously need help!

If you haven’t taken part in a scarf swap I totally recommend it..or any type of swap..so fun! and you get the extreme pleasure and opportunity to meet another totally amazing blogger!

P,S. to show how much Shaina and I think a like…when I went to pick out her scarf I bought the Pumpkin Pie candy corn featured in the pics to send to her but then my curiosity won out and I had to try them (see I have a problem)! Then I went back and bought the smores flavor to send but the hubby begged me to open them too! So finally I went back and got the toffee featured in the pics above too and sent them with her scarf! I was totally cracking up when I received my package and she had sent those with my scarf too!

Have a lovely wednesday and I promise to post more soon (the internet is scarce around here)!

Next stop Vegas baby!!

On no your eyes are not deceiving you…that’s right in 1.5 days I will be on a plane, soaring through the clouds headed to Vegas! Can you tell i’m a little excited :)

The Hubs has a work conference and I get to tag along! Oh wait but there is more good news..

My FIL is also part of the conference so him and my MIL will be there too..so fun! We get to stay in the Rio on the governments $$ and I get to gallivant around Vegas when the Hubs is doing his conferencey things during the day! But wait it gets even better..

My Dad, Mom and sis are also coming to Vegas to get their party on with us! Watch out..when the Thomas (my maiden name) girls are let out together..well let’s just say we are not responsible for anything that happens..beware :)

I haven’t been to Vegas for a really long time and I am so looking forward to it..oh and the Hubs has never been! I am also really excited to have most of our family in one spot for a few days…par-ty!! Oh and i’m totally eating my way through Vegas…it’s how the Thomas’ (and now Reno’s) roll!

And if you couldn’t handle all this excitement…well my best friend is also meeting us there later that week and then I am heading back to Bako with the family and getting to spend another week in my home town! whoo whoo!

So I don’t know how much I will be able to blog in the next few weeks! I will miss you all terribly but just know that I have not forgotten about you! I also know many of my fellow SITS will be partying it up in Vegas the week after I do on the annual SITS-cation (so wish I could have stayed for that)!

Don’t worry I will try and take many pics to share with you all when I get back! Have a wonderful week(s)!

Charles and The Puppy Mill :0

So sometimes I’m amazed at how unsuspecting I can be! Probably by now all you lovely bloggers have caught on to how crazy The Charles can be! I mean all dogs have their moments but sometimes I wonder if he was dropped on his head during birth! Seriously people, there are little crazy quirks that our animals all possess and then there are just plain WEIRD ones that make you wonder what happened to them in the first month of their life before you brought them home?!

We purchased The Charles from a local puppy store by the base. I didn’t really think anything of it. I mean he wasn’t even a month old, the place seemed reputable and they guaranteed that we could get his papers stating he was a purebred. From the beginning he seemed happy and well adjusted and we have loved to watch his personality grow and shine (oh and boy does it)! However, there are just some things that freak him out and I have no idea where this fear comes from.

I never put it together until the other day…and boy was I shocked! I was talking to my boss about her volunteer work with the local SPCA. I was telling her how I would love to get a kitten but the Hubs is deathly afraid of them and refuses to let me (long story..remind me to tell you later). I went on to tell her that we would also love to get another dog for The Charles but right now we can’t afford the extra expense. I inserted the comment that when we get another dog though, we are getting a rescue one and not paying an arm and a leg like we did for The Charles at the store. Her next comment stopped me dead in my tracks…

“Oh no! you didn’t get him there..those are puppy mill dogs!” What! I mean …What?! But that couldn’t be possible..could it? That’s when it hit me..all of his crazy weird reactions might be for a reason. I proceeded to tell her how whenever we put a blanket or sheet over our normally wild dog he will play dead (literally he doesn’t move, even with the offer of a cookie); how he is fine going down normal steps but he was scared to death of going down the basement steps; and how he has really bad separation anxiety and will vomit every morning and not eat when it happens. My boss told me that it is typical puppy mill behavior..oh no! But he was so young when we got him, what could have happened to him during that first month to cause this? Apparently sometimes just having the mommy dog being over bred causes these weird reactions in their puppies (it can make them mentally weird)!

Let me tell you…I was devastated. I mean, not my poor little perfect (forget all his past faults) little Charles! How could he have gone through this terrifying experience?! I rushed home and informed the Hubs of this terrible thing that our pup has endured. He then was like “well, that makes sense he did come from a “farm” in Pennsylvania” .. which is apparently infamous for being full of puppy mills…again what!

Now whenever The Charles does something really strange or bad we just blame it on him being a puppy mill pup!  This is seriously disturbing me though..it makes me so sad to think about all of those poor dogs being over bred and the puppies that suffer from it..not cool!

The Hubs said that we rescued him..yeah too bad we had to pay SO much..but at least he’s safe :)

Down with Puppy Mills…

Try’em out Tuesday (or Wednesday) – Costco edition..

Costco is literally one of the happiest places on earth! For those of you who don’t regularly experience this wonderland..well your missing out! I can honestly say that even amidst all the crowds of fellow costcoers, trying to weave the massive carts through all the crazy bulk buying consumers, when I enter Costco I feel a surge of energy I can’t explain. Maybe it’s the free food you get to indulge in while shopping or the crazy amounts of toilet paper you can buy at one time..whatever it is I can’t stay away!

As a child I loved going to this huge warehouse place full of tons and tons of treasures…with hugely tall shelves (hey I was under 5ft everything was huge)! As I got older and was able to drive I soon became the official costco runner of the family! you want to know the best part of that gig…well i’ll tell you..I could buy all this cool stuff with my parents money (cha ching)!

When I got married I didn’t feel like a complete adult until I got my first costco membership with the hubs (thanks to the generous giving of my Gram)! One of the things I really enjoy about Costco is the fact that although they each one is a little different, when inside it is hard to tell the difference between the Bakersfield, CA costco and the Mt. Laurel, NJ costco. It makes me feel closer to home (except that now i’m pay for the fun treasures..but hey at least I get free food)!

Along with having a lot of good priced bulk deals, costco also carries it’s own line of products called Kirkland. I have used a lot of the Kirkland brand it have been very pleased. Now I would like to introduce to all you lovely bloggers heck of a deal produced by Kirkland…

That’s right ladies, i’m talking makeup here! This Natural beauty mineral color collection comes complete with a loose powder foundation and foundation brush, bronzer and bronzer brush, three loose eye powders, eyeliner, eye shadow base, and two eye shadow brushes. Oh and don’t let me forget the best part .. in the store it retails for about $25.00! Now where else can you get all that makeup for that price?!

So I know what you are all thinking…yeah that’s a good price but how well does it work?

I have the answer to that too! After using numerous loose powder eye shadows and powders such as bare minerals and benefit, I can honestly say that this performs right up there with them (for a fraction of the cost)! It comes in light and medium, I use the light and with a very fair complexion it matches just right. The  loose powder blends really well and it has lasted me for over two months so far. I give this product an A!

Costco once again you prove why I love you! Go check it out ladies and for gosh sake go eat some free samples!

Have a great tuesday/wednesday!

The most magical fair on earth...

One of the biggest things I miss about my hometown is the Kern County Fair. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the greater Bakersfield CA area allow me to enlighten you.

 

Now this is no ordinary fair..it is a magical time that happens the last week of september into the first week of october. As a young girl I have many fond memories of getting to take our annual trip with the neighborhood to this magical place. It is funny how an empty and downright ugly plot of land takes on a surge of life during these magical weeks.

It has everything your little heart desires…warm gooey cinnamon rolls, deep fired foods, pizza, the most amazing caramel corn and of course the most wonderful smell of hay and dirt (normally those smells aren’t appealing but at the fair it is totally different)! Oh and who couldn’t forget the deep fired snickers and twinkies (have to admit I never tried them). There are always fun concerts to attend, rides to ride and exhibits to browse. It may seem like any normal (and not even grand) fair to all you non bakersfieldians but for us its like no other!

As I got older the fair started to take on different roles in my life. In high school I was really involved in the FFA program (Future Farmers of America) and therefore raised two lambs and two pigs to show and sell at this glorious event. And oh how much fun that was! I basically got to live at the fairgrounds during those few weeks, but I never left the fair without the tears of saying goodbye to my beloved animals. I loved every bit of it though! And yes I do know that most people enter the animal area and wrinkles their noses at the umm well stench they seem to produce, but for me it is a smell full of memories (please don’t judge). Oh how I miss those days! Those joyfilled times of animals and cheerleading competitions.

P.S. Remind me to tell you guys about the time the little piggy jumped over the gate and I had to chase him all over the fair..soap suds and all!

Anyways, once I graduated from High School I no longer had the privilege of living in the animal pens of the fair :) However, I still did love going to the fair.

Sidenote..i’m always skeptical of the rides though…I mean seriously how sturdy can these rides be when they are put up and taken down so often?!

In college I got to help out and work in the City Firefighter booth selling all the yummy fair goodies (like fried burritos..yummm) with my dad (by the way he’s a firefighter)!

No matter what I am doing there I always come alive when entering between those golden gates of the fairgrounds! So therefore it has been hard to be away and not get to participate in this annual magical time. It has been probably 3-4 years since I have been able to attend and they say each year gets easier..well their wrong!

And why oh why do all you fellow facebookers have to torment me with all this talk and bragging of your fair trips this year..so not nice!

Maybe one day i’ll get to return to my beloved fair :)

And for you viewing pleasure..

Do any of you lovely bloggers have local fairs that you love?

Rescuing a damsel in distress..

So since I was a horrible wife and neglected to post anything in honor of the hubs birthday (which was on Thursday) I am going to brag about him a little now!

One of the biggest things that I had to get used to when we moved on base was always having my ID with me. You see, I have this problem..well I have many but this one affects my ID! Anyways, for some reason I never put my cards (ID, credit, debit) in the right place. I own a wallet yet it has been sitting doormat in my purse for a really long time now! I have admitted this problem and know that try as I might the wallet thing doesn’t work for me :) So instead I stick them in the middle pocket of my purse (hopefully none of you are pickpocketers and if so I didn’t just reveal that) and it seems to work..well most of the time!

You see the big problem comes in the fact that a lot of times I will also stick my cards in the pocket of what I am wearing that day (ie, jacket, jeans, etc.)! I have been known to be caught without my credit cards while making a purchase for this very reason!  Also because of this known fact about myself I have been very good lately about making sure I have said cards (especially the ID) with me when I leave the house!

Yesterday unfortunately my efforts fell short! Do you ever have those days where you just feel scatterbrained and it’s like you thinking is one (or five) steps behind your actions..well that was me! I had to make it to the doctor before 10 am and as I left my house (running late) I knew that I had my debit card and assumed I had my ID. I had so much else swirling around my mind, I needed to get air in the tire and the air on base was broken, I was running late and I had to make it on time!

As I reached the Dr’s with a few minutes to spare I realized that I had forgot to fill out my insurance form but luckily I had it in the car with me. As I go to search for my Info and ID I freeze! I tear apart my purse (and yes there is a lot of trash in there) but no ID! Oh no! Seriously guys I freaked out, this hasn’t happened to me yet (only in my nightmares) since we have lived on base.

I put in a frantic call to the Hubs asking for his social and what I should do! And let me tell you, the Hubs handled it really well! I know that he gets frustrated with me that I don’t use my wallet like a normal person but he didn’t even have a hint of irritation towards me as I explained to him my dilemma. He calmly explained to me a few options and told me to call him when I needed him..hubs you are my hero!

It all ended up working out fine, I was able to meet him outside of the gate and he vouched my on. When I got home the first thing I did was ran upstairs and what do you know…the ID was in my jacket pocket from yesterday..ayaya!

Hopefully I learned my lesson…well probably not but at least I will be more aware for the next few weeks :)

Have a great day!