Girls weekend Recap

So, I got back from the Girls weekend and it turns out I did a pretty good job of packing!  Snaps for me!

Turns out we never went out on Saturday night (the night I had two outfit options for) so that was the only thing I packed that didn't end up getting used.  Well, that and my blow dryer because there was one in the hotel bathroom to use.

I did, however, return with more than I left with.  Once we got there we needed to buy things to mix our alcohol with and food to munch on while drinking.  So, all of that had to find its way home, too.

Nonetheless we had a good time seeing each other.  And it was a cheap weekend, too.  I took out $140 in cash hoping not to use a credit card for the weekend and it worked!  I still have $15 left over and that is after paying for my share of the hotel and gas money!  Got to love $12 (including tip) meals all weekend long and a nice hotel price split five ways to keep costs down.

How was your weekend?  Did you do anything fun??

Weekend with the Girls

This weekend a group of my college friends and I are meeting in another city for a reunion of sorts.  Four of the five of us live within 30 minutes of each other with the fifth friend living 7 hours away in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  Rather than making 4 of us drive 7 hours or one of us drive 7 hours, we decide to meet (relatively) in the middle and descend on Green Bay for the weekend.  Yes, that Green Bay where the Packers play and where this fine specimen of a man plays football when he isn't dancing:

Isn't Peta's face hilariously scary here?

P.S. My God, the muscle he has!

Back to my weekend, I am about to start packing and it is well known I am an overpacker.  We will be just hanging out in the hotel room/pool the first night and then on Saturday we plan to hit up the mall, maybe get over to Lambeau Field, eat some delicious meals before heading out to the bars for a night of drinking.  I love to have options in my clothing so I cannot pack a few things that layer well with one another for a whole weekend like TONS of websites/blogs suggest to ease and lessen packing.

No, I have outfits, with coordinating shoes and jewelry that I thought of in advance that will not be forgotten or changed just to downsize my weekend bag.  Plus, one never knows what exactly the weekend might contain so I have to be prepared for alternative outfits. God, I sound so high maintenance!  Perhaps I am, but only when it comes to packing, I swear!

This picture depicts basically everything I am packing. Let's start at the top left corner:

1. Maxi dress for shopping on Saturday afternoon.

2. Shirt Option #1 for Saturday Night

Row 2:

1. My brown purse (overflow stuff could go in here)

2. A long sleeve and short sleeve shirt for PJs/lounging in the hotel room

3. Black PJ pants

4. A brown belt to wear with the maxi dress

5. Chong, my cat, who refused to move/thinks he's getting packed as well.

Row 3:

The piece of luggage I will be using

Row 3a(upper):

1. Heels for Saturday night

2. Toiletries bag

3. Underwear

4. Bras

5. Sandals to wear with the maxi dress

Row 3b (lower):

1. Tank top to sleep in

2. Swimsuit

3. Socks for sleeping/lounging in hotel

4. Option #2 for Saturday night along with the pants I will wear that night

(Not pictured: Beach towel; book, the clothes I will wear for traveling (same outfit most likely) and an extra pair of jeans, blow dryer,  curling iron, flat iron, two bottles of booze!)

The extra stuff (book, hair accessories) will either go in the luggage and I'll take the toiletries bag in my purse or vice versa.  Yes, it all fit in that small piece of luggage with the exception of the maxi dress and gold shirt which I kept on hangers to transport laying flat so as not to wrinkle them.  Once I learned to roll clothing when packing I was able to pack more and more strategically.  The booze will end up in a small plastic bag and shoved in the trunk, I'm sure.

When M and I travel together for a weekend we take the biggest suitcase we have (fits at least twice the stuff as the piece of luggage I am taking in this picture) and put everything in there for the two of us minus anything that needs to hang.  This has never not worked for us and since I am the only one traveling this weekend, I think I will get away with the smallest luggage we have which is typically the "carry on" piece of luggage.  I love it because it has wheels and therefore makes it easier for transport. 

I wish I was one of those ladies who could buy a super cute "weekend" bag (seen above) but that would just never cut it with me.  Yes, inevitably a few pieces of clothes I bring for a weekend will not be used and therefore constitute overpacking but like I said before, I need my options.  According to Real Simple's "Did You Overpack?" quiz I am a good packer but in all fairness some of the options included in the quiz did not cover an answer I would have liked so I picked the closest of the options given.

Are you an overpacker like me or do you like to minimize clothing to a few pieces of clothing that all coordinate so you have numerous options?  I'll try and do a post on Sunday night/Monday that gives an overview on what was and wasn't used for the weekend.  I hope you have a great weekend!

Star Light, Star Bright

A funny thing happened on the way home from the casino the other night.  I realized what a bonehead I am.

I was in the passenger seat and looking up to the sky watching the stars as M drove. 

The stars are always so beautiful to me and I like to look up to them whenever I see them.  As I gazed up to them I realized, there are only a few constellations that I recognize/ can identify.

My favorite has always been Orion with his arrow pointing to the North Star.  Perhaps I like him so much because he is the easiet to find with his belt made of three nearly perfectly alligned stars.  I love Orion so much that everytime I look to the sky and find him, I say, "Good evening, Orion.  Nice to see you again."  Being that I live in the US, Orion is only visible to me during the late fall and winter whereas he is visible in the Southern Hemisphere during their winter (our summer).  He can be seen all around the world but at different times.

This got M and me to talking about how of the numerous constellations out there, I can really only identify three, Orion, the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper.  However, we were hard pressed to differentiate the Big Dipper from the Little Dipper.  I know the tip of the handle of the Big Dipper is the North Star, but where exactly is the Little Dipper?

So, I came home and did some research and found out I am way off in my "known" constellations.  Turns out, the Big Dipper isn't, in and of itself, a constellation but an asterism or "small easily recognizable formation of stars that is usually part of a larger constellation." Source 

The Big Dipper is actually part of Ursa Major (or Big Bear) which of course I've heard of but never really knew that the two were part of each other.  And, as it turns out, the North Star (Polaris) is not in the Big Dipper.  Within the Big Dipper are "pointer stars" that point to Polaris when a line is drawn through them.  (See above)

Seen here, I NOW know that the North Star (Polaris) is actually at the "tail" of the Little Dipper, another asterism, that is part of the larger constellation, Ursa Minor (Small Bear). It can be seen in the same sky as Ursa Major if one knows where to look.  Use the above guide picture to help locate the two.  Source  And all this time I thought Polaris was in the Big Dipper, how silly of me!
As I was researching these known constellations, I was showing M these same pitures I uoloaded here and we were both astonished at our own stupidity.  Neither of us knew that the Dippers were asterisms and both of us had heard of Ursa Major/Minor but never knew that the Dippers were part of those constellations.

I know the constellation Cassiopeia is supposed to be easy to spot, as is The Seven Sisters, but I have no idea where they really are in the night sky.  Thanks again to this Source I know have this handy dandy little map to help me figure out some new constellations.  I know where to find Polaris so I should be able to figure out these other constellations quite easily.

Now, I just need a clear night and this map to help me learn some new constellations to greet with a "Good Evening" the same way I do with Orion.

Do you have a favorite constellation?  Did you know the difference between the Little and Big Dipper? Did you know they were in fact parts of Ursa Minor/Major? 

Cake and marshmellows in a bottle!

Truth be told, I am not a big drinker.  And when I do drink, I am much more of a sweet drinks drinker than anything that burns going down.  I'm looking at your tequilla, whiskey and scotch, you know you burn like hell going down.

So, being as behind the times as I am, I just recently tried Three Olives Cake vodka and Smirnoff Fluffed.  Cake vodka tastes, and smells, like cake.  M and I tried a shot of each just to see what it tasted like before adding in mixers.  Cake was delicious and not at all alcohol-y if you know what I mean.  This is both great for me and quite dangerous.  When I can't taste the alcohol, and it is 70 proof so it does have a kick, I tend to drink more.  The one small "shot" I took on an empty stomach hit me in less than three minutes.

The Fluffed didn't taste as good on its own to me, but I bought it just to mix with my hot cocoa mix for a nice warm (on a few different levels) night time treat.  Tonight I mixed it with some orange juice in an attempt to get a creamsicle effect but I found this would be better if a small amount of vanilla extract were to be added in.  But, looking at the recipe, it calls for Whipped (Whip cream flavored vodka) and not Fluffed so it would be unnecessary to add in the vanilla if using the correct ingredients.

Have you tried flavored vodkas and found a good drink mix with them?  Here are some recipes I found for Pinnacle Cake vodka, but they all sound pretty damn tasty so I think I'll have to try them. 

Reading a Classic for the first time?

Do you ever feel like your reading options are dictated by what movie is going to be coming out soon?  If you're like me, you like to read the book before seeing a movie based on a book because as we all know, the book is always better.  I have found I even like to avoid finding out who is playing which part because this helps me develop the character in my head as I normally would as opposed to seeing an actor in my head personifying a role before I've had a chance to imagine the character.

However, when I saw The Great Gatsby was going to be made into a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and one of my favorites, Carey Mulligan, I knew I had to read it. I know Carey plays Daisy, but I don't know who Leo is playing and I like that.  Thing is, I can't remember if I've read this book before.  Did I read it in high school?  I can't remember but I know I didn't read it in college. 

 I don't even think I've seen the movie with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow.  How is this even possible?  This picture depicts some of the fashion seen in the adaptation of the novel.  The costume designer won an Academy Award for the movie.

Back when we watched Midnight in Paris I remember becoming interested in reading The Great Gatsby after seeing F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald personified. Then I read the book was being remade and well, I thought, no time like the present, Barsola, go get it from the library!  I found numerous copies at the library, but I chose a paperback (I like those more than hardcover) and smiled on my way out the door.

Are there any classic novels that you've never read that you are interested in reading? 

I am debating on if I should get Cliff's Notes to read with the book since I won't have someone teaching the novel to me or if I should just read it and interrupt on my own.  I think when I read To Kill a Mockingbird (a few years ago) I did get the notes but didn't really read too much of them as I did feel it distracted from, rather than add to, my enjoyment of the book. 

Have you ever gotten Cliff's Notes when reading a classic?

Intimate sleeping?

Do you share a bed with someone?

If you do, do you cuddle sleep or are you on your separate sides of the bed when sleeping?

I found this webpage: What Does Your Sleeping Position Say About Your Relationship? and it got me thinking about how we sleep.

Here is a good visual and description of each position:

The Spoon: “Semi-foetal, genitals against buttocks”, this position provides both of you with maximum physical closeness and is the most common sleep position for the first three to five years of a long term relationship.

The Honeymoon Hug: A position for the early months of a relationship “when you’re so deeply enamoured you wish you could fuse, or just after lovemaking”. Or it could indicate the couple are “overly enmeshed” and “too dependent on each other to sleep apart.”

Shingles: An attempt to focus total attention on a partner, even in sleep. Whoever’s head rests on the others shoulder is the more dependent and compliant partner. Or just shorter.

Sweetheart’s Cradle: A nurturing position when you are “literally being brought in under the wing” and a more intimate position than the Shingles because the partner is being held, like a vertical cuddle.

Loosely Tethered: Five or so years into marriage, many couples feel secure enough to allow a bit more space and comfort into their bed. The emotional current is sustained by a touching hand, knee or foot.

Leg Hug: Establishing physical contact indirectly. Such casual contact could imply that the couple are ambivalent about expressing affection or intentionally withholding it, maybe after a fight. It may also speak of healthy camaraderie.

Pursuit: If a partner turns his/her back and retreats to the far side of the bed this is known as a “freeze manoeuvre”. If one party then pursues and pushes up against the other partner while sleeping, that’s called “Illegal Spooning”. But it also may be that the partner who distances may actually want to be pursued. His or her distancing becomes an invitation – “a dance of the spoons”.

Zen Style: This position is usually pre-empted by buying a larger beds to accommodate one or both partners’ need for space. “Touching buttocks allows for large-surface contact and private connection, but without clinging. “Like two circles, separate but overlapping, this position is a perfect definition of interdependence.” Like a Venn Diagram.

The Cliff Hanger: This retreating may be a rejection or it could be the partner just needs a good nights sleep. Maybe the partner who creates the distance is finally comfortable enough to admit they’d rather get a good night’s sleep away from you than cuddle up together, listening to you snore. The experts however, do recommend a “heart-to-heart to find out what’s really going on.”

The Crab: You can tell this position is trouble just by looking at it. “As if to escape from each other or as if you’re travelling in different directions.” This position may be “acting out an unacknowledged need to pull away from each other, from the marriage”. Or he/she could simply be a creative sleeper.

While sometimes I like a good cuddle, most days when we get to bed, we are exhausted and just fall asleep on our sides of the bed.  We both always alternate between sides and back but I typically fall asleep in what this website calls the "Foetus" position.  It appears to be the fetus position.  I've always fallen asleep this way as long as I can remember.

I don't know that I agree that if you sleep back to back, you're lacking intimacy in your relationship.  For me, I tend to fall asleep on my right said and my husband sleeps best when he's on his left.  It just so turns out that those coincide with our sides of the bed. 

Does your sleeping position really need to be decoded?  Thought this post might generate a good topic of conversation so please comment below!

Does anyone cuddle when they sleep?  I always see commercials where people are "sleeping" and all cuddled up and I often think, how can you sleep with someone all on you??  I need my space when I sleep and it doesn't mean I am cold, or lack intimacy or mean, it is just most comfortable for me to sleep on my side of the bed by myself.  And isn't that what sleep is for, comfort and rest?  I love knowing he is there beside me in bed, but I don't need him to be touching me for me to know he is there.

His snoring accomplishes that just fine.

Body and Style

I love fashion.  I love making outfits. I love developing my own style.  Did you know there are lots of style books out there?  I picked up about 7 at the library yesterday just to see what they said about my body and what would look best on me.

As it turns out, I've been pretty much doing everything right.  Lots of v-necks will deemphasize my chest and attempts at drawing the eye downward have been in my style for awhile.

Lots of the books recommended having boots in both a heel and a flat.  Being that the winter season is all but done here, and that means great deals on fashion, I figured I should be on the look for great flat boots.

I have seen a couple I like and even if the boot is all real leather, I just can justify $150+ on a pair of boots.  Most of the times I found the boots, too, I wasn't wearing I should have been to try them on.  You see, I have large calves so even if I can zipper the boots over my bare leg, if there isn't enough space between me and the boot, it just won't work with my skinny jeans.

Today I happened to have on boots and skinny jeans while shopping.  I got a compliment on the boots (from a man!) and thanked him.  The boots I have get so many compliments (I have them in black and cognac) I began to wonder if I even needed a pair of flat boots.  After walking around the mall, and scoring an AWESOME deal on a Banana Republic red winter coat (see below) I decided to head over to DSW to see what shoes/boots were in.

I got a great pair of flat sandals to wear with my maxi dresses:

I found a cute pair of boots, too. Holy crap I can even try them on with pants I would wear them with!  But, nope, too tight around the calf and since they were flats, and my jeans were inside the boots, my foot looked GIGANTIC since there was no heel to offset the longness of my size 10 foot.  Lesson learned, try on all fashion attempts recommended by a magazine/book first before purchasing.

I had fun looking for boots but in the end it wasn't meant to be.  I've been looking for white bootcut jeans for summer and it only took me about 5 stores to find a pair I liked.  We women are nothing if not persistent in pursuit of fashion.  I even found a suit jacket at Banana that seriously made me reconsider my ban on gray since it always makes me look so washed out. I guess it's my hourglass figure but I swear my body was made for suits.  I make suits look good and when I look good I feel good and there is no better accessory for a woman than confidence.