Happiness is ...

 ... Sunday night bubble baths.

Messy buns

A good Happy Hour 

A clean kitchen

Mexican Food

a sweet puppy with a floppy ear

Cupcake wine

Best Friends in Vegas

A grown-up Zac Efron

Bravo (or any reality) TV:

New dresses (all bought on sale):

Cereal for lunch

Getting lost in good books

and of course, my precious nephew.

 What makes YOU happy?

Getting to know the Bargain Blonde: Part 2

Ello bargainistas!    Hold on to yer britches cause this post is very long.  My apologies, but I am long winded and I wanted to be thorough with my answers.   In part 2 I'm covering your personal, diet & fitness and random questions.   I'm going to devote and entire post to answering your questions about blogging, so look-out for that sometime this week.  Let's get personal ...

 
Chelsea asked, "If you could give one word of advice to us single ladies, what would it be?"

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Yikes.  I could go on for days about this topic.  I see it like this: There are relationship girls and there are single girls.  I've always been a single girl minus the Lucifer era.  I haven't mentioned Lucifer in a while so for any newbie followers: Lucifer and I dated for 4 years, but prior to that, I never got super serious with a boy.

We broke up in February 2010 and our break-up was traumatic to say the least.  I've never told the Lucifer/Lindsey story, but maybe one day I will.  Since our break-up, I've really tried to not live my life worrying about the future, which is the advice I would give other single girls. 

I don't hold the belief that once I'm in a relationship, I'll magically have life and myself all figured out.  Because trust me, just because your in relationship, it doesn't mean you're happy. I don't think that once I have a wedding, all will be right in the world. 

If you live in the future, you'll never appreciate the now.  I try to enjoy the fact that as a "single lady" I get to do whatever I want when I want.   If you let it, being single allows you the time and space you need to figure yourself out.  I honestly think if you don't know how to be happily single and or how to be independent, then you shouldn't be in a relationship.  Be content with you before you give yourself to someone else.

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Amen Carrie.

Jess asked, "What is something that we your readers would be surprised to know about you?" 

and

"What is your favorite guilty pleasure?"

Jess is back with another good question.  Hmmm ... what would you be surprised to know about me?  I feel like I'm a pretty open book, so this is tough.  You might be surprised to know that I won a cartwheel-a-thon in elementary school??  I really thought for days about this and I can't come up with anything good.  I suck.

My favorite guilty pleasure has pretty much already been revealed via this post: I'm a reality TV addict.  Although, I have no guilt about it. I own it!  Being a wine-o probably comes in a close second.


Ashleigh asked, "If you could marry any celebrity (including married ones), who would you pick and why?"

I would TOTALLY let Bill Rancic or Jason Hoppy wife me up in a second.  They are both funny, give their ladies a hard time (in a good way), are successful, tall, handsome, thoughtful and loving.  I'm so jealous of Guiliana and Bethenny, but I'll find my Bill or Jason one day.  Any man that will dress as a panda with his wife and baby is a winner in my book. 

Lauren asked, "What school did you almost go to other than Texas Tech University.  No I don't expect you to say OU, but I think it's cool to see how different things could have been especially since you are so hardcore TTU."

Oh Lauren!  Definitely not OU, but I am not an OU hater.  I save my animosity for all the bandwagon UT fans who never stepped foot in a college classroom.  But that's another post for another day.  Believe it or not, I almost went to my Mom's Alma Mater, Texas A&M. 

I only applied to TTU and A&M, and I am so glad I picked Tech because A&M's Journalism school ended up shutting down.  Not to mention, I love being a Red Raider, I love Lubbock and most of all, I love all my best friends I met during the best 4 years of my life.  Get your guns up!

and Lauren also asked,"You just had twins. A boy and a girl.  What are their names?"

I have a plethora of baby names picked out for my future babies that don't exist.  You know you do too.  My names change frequently, but if I popped some out today, I'd go with these names:

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Erica aka Young & Fab asked, "If you were someone else, would you be friends with yourself?"

Yes, I think I would.  While no one is perfect, I do think I'm a very loyal friend and even provide a few good laughs every now and again. I'd totally give myself a BFF bracelet. 

JennyBeth said, "I'm a fan of knowing people's daily routines."

I'm a scumbag, so try not to judge.  I'm so NOT that girl that wakes up hours early, has some freshly brewed coffee and a hearty breakfast, spends time meticulously curling her hair and painting on a face of make-up.  That being said, here is my routine as of late.

I absolute hate mornings.  Despise them.  I've never been a morning person and I never will.  So in order to sleep in as long as possible, I shower the night before, and I put my wet hair in a big messy bun on the top of my head.

I set my alarm for 7 a.m. now that I live 2 miles from work.  I typically press snooze until around 7:15 a.m. or 7:20 a.m.  When I'm half awake laying in bed during the snooze period, I think about what I'm going to wear for the day.  I force myself out of bed cursing the morning in my head.  I pee (TMI?), wash my face and brush my teeth. 

Next I do my hurr.  I take down the big messy bun and my hair is still damp and very wavy.  I try to tame it, add mousse to it and pin back pieces with bobby pins.  Or, if it looks unsalvagable, I will put it back in a low messy bun leaving pieces to fall around my face.  I will back curl these pieces with a 1.5 inch curling iron.

At this point I only have a few minutes to get dressed, so I scurry around my room trying to find all the pieces I need.  Normally I won't be able to find the cami I need or the right cardigan, so I've grown accustomed to the playing hide-and-seek with my clothes.  Eventually I'll throw the outfit together I picked out while half asleep. 

Before grabbing my pink briefcase (yes, mam) and my purse, I put eyeliner and mascara on at the very least.  If I have time I will do an entire face of make-up, but this rarely happens. 

I am in the car by 7:50 or 7:55 and put my shoes on in the car.  I work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Now that I'm so close to work I come home for lunch every day, which is seriously heavenly.

I am home from work between 5:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. at which point I eat a small meal or snack before getting changed for boot camp.  My friend Courtney and I are in boot camp together, so we car pool.  We leave around 6 p.m. for boot camp. 

Boot camp lasts until 7:30 p.m. so I am home by 8 p.m.  I eat another small snack or meal before showering (depending on how many Weight Watchers points I have left).  After I shower, I watch a few of my shows, get on my computer to read blogs and/or write a post.  I fall asleep between 11 a.m. and midnight normally.  Sometimes later, but never earlier. Then I do the whole thing over again.  It's an exciting life I lead.  Are you jealous?

B asked, "What is your go to weight loss and workout routines?"

I was a competitive gymnast for 14 years, which meant 4 hour practices every day after school and 6 hour, 2-a-day practices in the summer.  Gymnasts don't have an off-season, so growing up I was always in shape.  However, I have never been a stick thin girl.  I have a very muscular, athletic build.  Even at my smallest, I will never be a size 0 or 2, which took years for me to accept.  Another story for another day.

So college was the first time in my life I didn't have to be at practice every single day.  I didn't know what to do with myself.  It was so strange not having an obligation to work out and I took full advantage of my new found freedom.  I'd go on work-out kicks now and then, but nothing serious until my senior year.   After 3.5 years, I had put on way more than the "Freshman 15" and it was time to get rid of it.  I remember when I decided to get back in shape, I told myself one day at a time is all you can do.

I started getting serious about working out and dieting January of my senior year.  By August when I graduated, I was almost back to my high school weight.  I hate to disappoint you, but I did it the old fashion way: working out and eating healthy.

I worked out about 5 days a week at our rec.  When I worked out, I did a high-intensity, 60 minute step aerobics class.  A few months into step class, I added interval training on the treadmill walking on the incline as high as it would go mixed with sprints on no incline.  I would spend about 20 to 30 minutes on the treadmill before step class.  I was hardcore, but it worked. 

I also was very strict with my diet eating mostly only lean meats, vegetables, fruit, egg whites and turkey bacon.  But trust me, I'd splurge, too.  I would eat something "bad" at least once a week, and I think it's important to do that.  You can't completely deprive yourself or else you'll end up binging.  

So that is what I did and I ended up losing about 40 lbs in 8 months.  You just have to be committed to changing your lifestyle and you have to recognize that you won't get in shape over night.  It takes time, it's certainly not easy, but if you stick to it, it will pay off. I remember when my old "fat" jeans started falling off me and I had to get rid of them.  Best. feeling. ever.  It was crazy to think that at one point they were so tight I could barely button them.  And for anyone who has ever lost a considerable amount of weight, you know that compliments are the best drug.  That's when I knew what I was doing was paying off, when every one around me started to notice. 

Chelsea asked, "Since you're in boot camp, what would The Bargain Blonde's go-to workout outfit look like? Favorite places to show for that attire?"

Probably no surprise here, but I don't get fancy to work out.  I wear boot-cut black spandex pants or spandex capris and a t-shirt.  Once I lose some lbs, I'll start wearing work-out tanks again.  I love Nike and won't wear any other brand of running shoes.  I buy all my athletic gear at Old Navy or for brand name gear, TJ Maxx is a must.

A few of you asked, "What boot camp to you go to?"

The boot camp is called Fit 30 and they have several locations in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.  Fit in 30 days ... get it!?  We bought a Groupon for 16 sessions of this boot camp for $39.99.  I really do love it even though I complain about it.  It's a great way to get my big badonk back in gear and our trainer is very encouraging, but not annoying.  He does not yell at all.  He just pushes you, and that's exactly what I need.

Sweet (and Sour) Lou Lou asked, "What do you despise worst: working out or dieting?"

I'm not going to sugar coat this.  I hate the thought of actually going to work-out, but once I'm there, I love it (for the most part).  I'd say getting into the swing of working out is much more challenging than dieting, but the feeling you get after working out is the best.  Dieting isn't easy by any means, but I probably despise working out more. 

Leave it to Raven and Lauren to ask the random questions.  Raven wants to know if I will wash her hair when I come to visit her.  Yes Raven, I'll wash your hair, you weirdo.  You know I mean that in the most loving way possible. 

And Lauren asked what my favorite zoo animal was.  Well to answer your very crucial question, I think I'm going to have to go with penguins.  I love when they dive into the water and slide down the ice.  Plus, I absolutely love Happy Feet.  Cutest little guy ever:

Was this post long enough for you?  I'm out of breath just reading it. Happy Tuesday!

Closet Organization Inspiration

As I mentioned last week, I'm reading The Happiness Project (still not entirely done with it, but I get the concept), which is as author Gretchen Rubin describes it: "an approach to changing your life." I don't necessarily want to "change my life", but it's a way to focus on what brings you joy and reminds you to nurture the things in life that make you the happiest.

Each month she focuses on a different set of resolutions: to get more sleep, clean her closets, quit complaining, sing in the morning to her daughters, start a blog, etc. What worked for her was committing to a resolution in writing and then she tracked her progress.

"Frequently reviewing your resolutions keeps them uppermost in your mind, and scoring yourself gives you visible feedback," says Rubin on her blog. "One suggestion: by framing a resolution as a concrete action ("Rent a movie once a week") instead of an abstract goal ("Have more fun") and by holding yourself accountable, you're more likely to make progress."

I have decided that this month I'm going to focus on cleaning my closets and drawers. I only have a few weeks left in January, so I better get moving.

My bedroom closet isn't what I'd call a complete disaster, but in the past year it's started to cause some anxiety for me. A little over a year ago, I moved and purged my closet. I took a HUGE box of clothes to Goodwill and felt so good after I cleared out my unnecessary "stuff".

Well, fast forward to a year later and I'm back to where I was. My drawers barely shut and my closet is packed the brim. I mean seriously, how many tank tops and camis does a girl need? If you saw my tank top/cami drawer, apparently I need 50 plus. I don't even wear half of them, so why do I have them cluttering up my space?

My mission for the rest of the month is to purge my closet, drawers, outdoor storage closet and last but not least, tackle my Tupperware cabinet. It's the one cabinet that I hate to open in my kitchen. Without fail, something will come flying at me when I open it. I need to finish what I started with when I organized on the cheap. For some reason I forgot about the dreaded Tupperware or my mind just subconsciously blocked it out.

Of course I'll be organizing on the cheap still. I'm going to utilize the 99 Cent Store storage baskets and bins and Ikea. I'll post some pictures of the befores and afters in the next few weeks.

For now, here are some inspiration pictures I've found to keep me motivated:

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Oh happy day

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I know I just talked about my new found happiness in a post yesterday, but there is no such thing as "too much" happiness in your life, right?

Well I'm only 80 pages into it, but I just started reading The Happiness Project and I'm really identifying with it.

New York Times bestselling author Gretchen Rubin writes about her 12 month long quest to become happier, which has inspired me to start my own happiness project. To find out more about this, just check out her blog. (I don't want to regurgitate details you can just read for yourself.)

This got me thinking that maybe I'll just have to share my own happiness project journey here, but I think I should just focus on finishing the book first, don't 'cha think? To be continued!

"When you're dreaming with a broken heart ...

... the waking up is the hardest part." - John Mayer

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I thought about doing this post a while ago, but eventually decided against it because I wasn't sure I wanted to get too personal on here. But after spending time with some of my best girlfriends this weekend, and after they made a toast to me “finally being back”, I thought maybe I should write this since I’m at a completely different place in my life than I was last year.

This past year was quite a transition for me, and I can truly say now that I’m so thankful for all the changes. I started this blog a few months ago, which I'm loving writing and I got a new job that I'm enjoying and see lots of opportunities for growth in my new position, but the beginning of 2010 didn't start out so great for me.

At this time last year almost exactly to the day, I felt like my world had completely crashed down on me because of a break-up with my first love. It sounds so dramatic and I never thought I’d be that girl, but there I was. I was that pathetic, heartbroken girl who couldn’t stop crying and dwelling over a guy.  I didn’t want to be around anyone because I didn’t want to talk about it, but the isolation made the sadness so much heavier. Break-ups are like a death - you have to grieve. And grieve I did.

I could never have imagined saying this then, but I look back now and I’m truly beyond grateful for the heartbreak I endured. Without it, I would most likely be living a lifetime of regret eventually marrying a man who was the complete epitome of everything I did NOT want in a spouse. Now it is so easy for me to say, “WHAT WAS I THINKING???” (And I still ask myself this all the time) One of my favorite quotes is, “The more you loved someone, the less sense anything made.” Seriously, this couldn’t be truer for me.

Supposedly “time heals all wounds”, but I don’t know if I believe that. I think it’s what you do with that time that determines if your wounds are going to heal or not. There are a lot of things in life we are predisposed to which are out of our control, but there is so much we do have power over. I’m a firm believer that you can’t blame your life circumstances on who you are or let it hold you back from what you are capable of becoming.

I had been hurt pretty badly by an important person in my life several years before this break-up, and I had a choice to use it as a clutch in life or I could let it make me a stronger person. Admittedly it took a while and a lot of “why me?”, but eventually I decided that even though I couldn’t control this person’s actions, I could control mine.

I came to this realization again this year, and this philosophy of controlling your own destiny gave me my power back. It’s nothing I didn’t already know, but sometimes we have to remind ourselves of it. With the help of amazing best friends, my loving family and a lot of self-reflection, the pain began to subside a little bit every day. Before I knew it, I was back to my happy place.

Of course I’m not perfect and everyone has good and bad days, but I'm what my friends said, “Finally back”. I’m back to the old Lindsey Lee. The pale, blonde girl with a splotchy sunless tan who is obsessed with reality TV and loves wine with the girls. I can’t say I would want to go through last year again, but I’m glad I did and I can’t wait to see what 2011 has in store.

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Thankful Thursday

I'm copying a couple of others I saw do a "Thankful Thursday" post today since Thanksgiving is looming on the horizon.

We don't always take time to acknowledge what means the most to us, so here are 7 things I'm thankful for:


1. My ridiculously cute and amazing 3-year-old nephew, Reese, who has blessed my life in more ways than I could ever imagine. I always say he is the light of my life, which sounds so cheesy, but it's so true. I sometimes wonder if I will love my own kids as much as him because I can't imagine loving anything more.

2. My mom who I don't know what I'd do without. Seriously, I've alerted my family and friends that if God forbid something ever happens to my mom that someone better check me into the nearest mental institution immediately because there is a good chance I'd off myself. Now you know too.

3. My two DVRs. It's safe to say I have an addiction to TV. How many people do you know that live alone and have 2 DVRS for themselves? Exactly.

4. Some sweet nectar a.k.a. booze after a long day at work. My go-to drink: Relax Riesling. Very affordable and refreshing. In college I discovered Relax Riesling during a wine tasting while at a conference in New Orleans and it was the first wine I ever liked. To this day it's still my fave.

5. Having a job because I know how fortunate I am. When I decided to start looking for a new job in communications back in June, it only took a couple of weeks and I know that is definitely not the norm. The unknown is always scary for me and leaving a job of 4 years was a hard decision, but I knew it was time. I am so lucky it all worked out and I'm happier than ever with my new position.

6. Relatively good health. I very rarely get sick with the exception of the swine flu I somehow caught last year the week before I moved. I would say it happened at the worst timing ever but since I was bedridden, my mom and brother got the exciting task of packing up my place up for me. Of course I waited until the last possible moment to pack, so when I got sick I only had about 2 boxes packed. Whoopsies, sorry guys.

7. And last but not least, in honor of Veteran's Day, I'm thankful for our military heroes. It still blows my mind that someone is willing to risk their life for my freedom and safety. We had a Veteran's Day celebration at work and hearing the stories about their service was such a great reminder of the sacrifice so many men and women selflessly make.

{Image via mtsofan}