January/February 2013 Recap via Instagram

It's been a long time since I filled you in on what I've been up to. I just realized I have not really done any sort of life update since my Christmas recap. With March (yes, March) upon us already, I thought I'd do a brief January/February recap. Not only for you, but I like to be able to look back on my blog and remember what I did and where I've been. But mainly for you, of course. Is anyone even still out there?? I feel like I completely fell out of the blogging universe.

January began with New Year's Eve. I swear I passed out before midnight. Yes, my first New Year's Eve in Vegas and I was in bed before midnight with Nyquil and Reese's teddy he left behind at Christmas.

If this isn't an attractive NYE look, I don't know what is

I've enjoyed my new owl coffee mugs from West Elm that I got for Christmas.

I've perfected at home soak off of gel nails without ruining your nails. Tutorial anyone?

essie marshmallow topped with sally hansen shall we dance

I think after 6 months of living here, I've officially learned how to navigate my way around the Las Vegas Strip.

stuck in morning traffic

It's been a while, but you may remember that since I moved here, I was using my coffee table as a TV stand, I finally bought a TV stand from Joss & Main a month of so ago and I was very proud of myself for putting the entire thing together all by my lonely.

Do we approve?

Have a few FaceTime sessions with the nephew:

Finally put pictures in picture frames in my room 3 months later.

Saw George Strait in concert at the MGM when an old college roomie was in town.

pre hair trim. Can't even fit my hair in the picture it was so long. #michelleduggarhair

Decided it was finally time to trim my hair. If you know me at all IRL, you know I am psycho when it comes to my hair. I've had several traumatic experiences throughout the years and finally found an amazing hair stylist who I've been going to for the past 6 years in Dallas. Well, I could not wait any longer, so I went to a new person here. I was not traumatized from new hair cut, but let's just say I'll be flying back to Dallas for my next one. No pics, sorry. Maybe soon. Don't love it. Actually, that experience could be it's own post.
I'm in the stages of planning a baby shower for my bestie who lives here. She's due very soon. I just sent invites out a few weeks ago. Here I am watching The Bachelor (don't love any of the girls this season) and addressing the invites:

Have come to the conclusion, no where is off limits for gambling or boozing in Vegas. When I was getting my prescription filled on Valentine's Day, I had to shake my head when I saw this while I waited to check out in line at my neighborhood CVS.

Only in Vegas

And most recently, I spent last weekend relaxing. I made an enormous omlette on accident, went to the grocery store, painted my nails and made my slow cooker beef stroganoff, which I've every night since Sunday except last night because we had a work dinner. (single girls who live alone problems)

Mushroom, onion and bacon omelette with a side of freah Whole Foods salsa

Essie Strawberry Shortcake

As much as I love this recipe, after 4 days in a row of it for dinner ... I'm ready for something else

That about sums up January and February. Like I said, it's not too exciting. I leave you with a pretty picture of the sunset from my balcony this past Sunday night. I love the mountain sunsets here. One thing you cannot get in Texas.

The pictures don't come close to doing justice

TGIF. Everyone have a great weekend! I'm going hiking at one of those gorgeous montains Saturday afternoon for the first time. Wish me luck, and please have the paramedics on standby. Thank you.

Happenings as of late [via Instagram]

For starters, I got my Internet installed in my apartment last Wednesday. Cue the angels. This will hopefully make blogging a little more convenient.

 

I couldn't stop laughing when I got this text from my mother who was traveling for work and just boarded a plane. I seriously laughed by myself for a good 5 minutes just picturing this.

I spent a Saturday evening on the couch watching The Vow, lusting over the sexiest man alive and crying for a good hour. Have y'all seen this movie? Feel free to judge me.

My obsession with the Robertsons has continued to grow and I'm very upset there isn't a single brother left who isn't wifed up. Even Si has a lady friend. FML. Oh and please excuse my ghetto current living room setup. I am on the hunt for a new TV stand, so my coffee table is sufficing as one for now. Yep.

I spent the first part of my Sunday at my now favorite coffee shop oohing and awing over the latte art. This week I got a tulip. Oh, and that is a Lorraine quiche that was melt in your mouth good in case you were wondering.

Last but not least, I had a special blogger visitor this weekend, which I'll post about ASAP. I'm not making any concrete promises on when because clearly since moving to Vegas, I've been completely lackadaisical with my blog.

At this point there is no sense in even wasting my time apologizing about being MIA. I'm just really busy during the week so my blog has unfortunately had to take a back burner and that is all there is to it. Lets hope I can't get it together soon.

And one last thing for my fellow reality TV lovers ... I loved the movie Catfish so naturally i am obsessing over the TV version that premiered on MTV last Monday. However, can we talk about last night's episode? The dude's name was Scorpio. Really, mam? If the name "scorpio" isn't a red flag, I don't know what is. And don't get me started on Sunny from last week. D.U.M.B.

But more about TV talk later. For now, it's bed time for this west coast girl. It's still so bizarre being in this time zone. Bargain Blonde outie.

The Bargain Blonde is back bishes!

Did you miss me? Because I've missed all of you terribly! My life has just not been complete without blogging. Not only have I obviously not been writing blog posts, but I also have not read any of your blogs either. Three weeks was a long time to be blog world MIA but the time away was much needed. You know, since I moved 3 states away and started a new job (which I LOVE by the way).

I don't really even know where to begin. I kind of feel like I'm going to need more than one post to catch all of you up, so I guess I'll just get to it and start at the beginning.

Last you heard from me, I was in Albuquerque halfway through my drive from Dallas to Las Vegas. Well, I'm sure you gathered that I made it here in one piece. The 20 hour drive was not as bad as you might imagine. I listened to a lot of Miranda Lambert and Zac Brown Band, which made the time go by a lot faster. This was my favorite song from the trip. It really resonated with me and all the emotions I was digesting. 

I got in town on a Friday night and my first day at my new job was the following Monday. I didn't do much that weekend but unpack my clothes at my BFFs house (where I'm staying until the end of October) and obvi shop for my first day of work outfit! It seriously felt like the first day of school. I was scared to be the "new girl" but I had nothing to be scared about. Everyone I work with has been so welcoming, which has made this transition a smooth one. 

I've only had one really hard day, which was last Monday. I probably cried for five hours straight. It was my nephew Reese's fifth birthday and I was just so upset that I had to miss it. I will post more about Reesey and my last few weeks before i moved in a separate post because I want to keep this post upbeat.

Other than Reese's birthday, I've been absolutely loving my job, my new coworkers, the city and playing roomie with Kristina (the gracious BFF who is letting me shack up in their guest room). Hi Kristina! In fact, we just got done watching Breaking Amish, a new show on TLC. Super fascinating and I highly suggest you watch. Also, we watched certified cray Teresa Guidice and gang on the RHNJ finale. Goodness gracious, I can't wait for that reunion ... It looks like a real doozy. God bless Andy Cohen and the rest of the masterminds over at Bravo for turning out some seriously amazeballs television.

Speaking of TV, like blogging, I've had zero time to watch my outrageous amount of shows. Again, so much to get caught up on. I did get an iPad, which is what I'm typing this blog post on (can't figure out how to add photos). I got Hulu+ on here too, but it doesn't have most of my favorite shows. It does, however, have a Korean Drama TV category. Annoying. I need American reality. Heeellllloooo. 

OK, I've rambled on for long enough. I am so happy to be back blogging and I cant wait to get caught up with you ladies. I feel like I'm probably leaving a lot of important things off this post, so leave any questions in the comments. We've got this whole week to play catch-up! Also, someone please let me know how to add photos to a blog post using an iPad. I don't want to read a blog post without pictures so I know you don't want to. Help meeeeee.

My 8 Road Trip Essentials

In T-Minus seven days, I embark on the 20 hour drive from Dallas to Las Vegas. Yes, 20 hour drive. When I graduated college, I drove 24 hours from Lubbock, Texas to Raleigh, North Carolina so this ain't my first rodeo.  And when I moved to Dallas a few months later, I drove the 19 hours from Raleigh to Dallas. Me and my ass are not really looking forward to being in a car that long, but I am kind of excited about having that time to clear my mind and just think by myself. 

I started thinking yesterday about what I needed for the trip, so naturally, I made a blog post out of it. Here are my eight road trip essentials:

And my essentials explained:

I leave you with two questions:

1. Did I leave anything crucial off my list?

And more importantly,

2. What songs should I put on my playlist? ♪♪

Packing, movies and my "modeling" days

I literally only left my house this weekend three times: once for packing supplies, once for Starbucks and once for Buffalo Wild Wings. Throughout the course of packing, I watched a lot of movies: American Reunion, Hangover 2, Bridesmaids, Crazy Stupid Love, What's Your Number and The Change Up.

Thank you HBO for  making packing a little more bearable. I liked all of the movies, but Crazy Stupid Love was definitely my favorite of the bunch. Hello shirtless Ryan Gosling. Can anyone explain to me why Ryan Gosling and Ryan Reynolds were not cast in Magic Mike? I'd like to speak with the casting director about this.

Bear wants to come with me.  Bear is technically my nephew's dog, so he will be staying in Texas.
Who wants to help me puppy shop in Las Vegas? 

Taking a break during Crazy Stupid Love

I wish I had more exciting weekend shenanigans to share with you, but I don't. I'm done packing my living room and kitchen. Hallelu-jer! However the the garage and my bedroom (i.e. closet) are going to be the hardest to pack and that is what I shall tackle this week. I should have taken a picture of my garage so you can see its hoarders status. I'm seriously petrified of a rat scurrying out from behind something. Lord help my heart if that happens.

My BFF Liz came over Friday night to help me pack, but we ended up ordering pizza, watching movies and digging through old middle school and high school pictures. It wouldn't be right if I didn't share these two gems with you, so you are welcome.

work it

Rocking my Tommy Hilfiger tankini 

I know. I don't have words either.

Kristina (the BFF in Vegas), Liz and I met in middle school and have been BFFs since. One of our favorite pastimes was to have "modeling shoots" at the neighborhood pool and/or our bedrooms (paging Chris Hansen) with our trusty disposable cameras. I can't make this shit up. Oh, to be 13 again.

Linking up with the Sami, Dana and Leeann! 

And then there were two ...

Two regions left!   It's not Chi-town as many of you guessed.  Tomorrow I will mark off the last region and reveal where I'm moving and what I'll be doing at this dream job of mine!

Now, all it comes down to this:

West vs. East

While I am so so so so (did I say so?) excited for my new job, I'm not excited about moving.  There is nothing I hate more than packing and moving and unpacking.  Kill. Me. Now.

I moved last October and I have not recovered from that yet.  In fact, our garage looks like an episode of hoarders.  Not only do I get to pack up my house, I have to unpack what I just threw in our garage when we moved in.  Andddd, I have a week and a half to get it all done.  No big deal.

I found these free downloadable packing labels via pinterest that I thought I would share with you ladies in case any of you are also moving.

via

I am going to use them to label the contents of my boxes.  Wish me luck!  Any packing/moving tips are greatly appreciated.  I know some of you have recently made a big move.  I need all the help I can get.

See you ladies back here tomorrow for Friday Faves/My big reveal!

Where I'm NOT moving + G Wear Giveaway Winner!

The G Wear by Carly Patterson giveaway closed last Thursday when I was on vacation, and today I have the winner for you!

Lucky number 23, step right up ...Jamie from Handling With Grace! 

I'll get in touch with you so we can get you your free T-shirt. I can't think of anyone more deserving!


And in other news, today I mark off the first region I am not moving too! And it just so happens to be the region that most of you guessed.  Good bye region 4 and so long to the South!

I can't wait to spill all the deets with y'all Friday!! XOXO  Thanks for all the sweet congrats yesterday.  I love my readers!

p.s. No one has guessed it yet!  Wuahahaha (rubs hands together)

I've decided to meal plan and I hate thieves.

In an attempt to be more organized, eat out less and save money, I've decided to give this whole meal planning thing a whirl.  I make no promises, but I am going to give it the ole' college try this week and see how my checking account and waist line like it.

Here is what is on the menu at Casa de Bargain Blonde this week.

Monday (yesterday) - Chicken and Rice Casserole

This is my absolute favorite meal in the whole wide world and only 4 ingredients (rice, chicken, cream of mushroom, black olives). Sounds sick, but it's my fave.  

Tuesday  - Baked Mushroom Pork Chops 

Recipe adapted from All Recipes

Wednesday - Texan Ranch Casserole

via Taste of Home

Thursday - Lia Joy's Chicken Spaghetti

via Lia Joy's blog Life is aMAYESing - However, I plan on using reduced fat cheese and using it sparingly. Still trying to lose weight, folks.

Friday - Leftovers

Let's not kid ourselves completely. I highly doubt I'll be cooking meals on Friday nights, so leftovers it is. Any avid meal planners out there that can share their tricks of the trade?  Please leave any meal planning advice in the comments. 

In some shocking and sad news, I got a call from my Mom this morning who is away on business telling me burglars broke into her house last night.  My first question was, "Where is Nicky (my cat)?"  Turns out, he has yet to be located which breaks my heart.  I really, really, really hope he is hiding in a closet or under the bed because if not ... well, I don't even want to think about it.  

The police were at her house last I checked taking finger prints and the likes. The scumbags who broke in stole some electronics, a box of my blank checks (awesome), etc.  I really don't understand people. Why would someone do this? Get a job and don't steal from people who work hard for their money. 

FIND NICKY!

My cat, Nicky, and a baby Reesey.  Melt my heart. 

Please keep Nicky in your thoughts. I want him home safe.

My Weekend via Instagram

Like I tweeted this morning ....

I mean, is there anything worse than a Monday?  Yes, actually there are a lot of things that are much worse, but Mondays are certainly not on the top of my list of favorite things and if I could, I'd wear this shirt to work every Monday.  Unfortunately, I think I'd be sent home immediately. 

I stole this pic from my girl K_Stets from Only In Vegas 

If you follow me on Instagram (@TheBargainBlonde), then sorry for the replay because I pretty much post my every move on there.  I actually think I've developed a bit of an Instagram addiction and I am seriously considering starting a Insta-detox.  In fact, my friend Beth tweeted me this picture below last week and I could not stop laughing. This is so me. 

Except insert Bear in place of the cat.

Exhibit A: 

Bear and my Subway sandwich Friday night. 

Friday night I actually did nothing. Well, I fell asleep after work and slept until 10 p.m. if that counts as something. Those "you can sleep when your dead" folks have never had a good nap. I love me some naps.

Saturday I woke up refreshed and a Stella and Dot delivery was sitting on my porch. 

Left to right: Leona Pendant (on sale)  /  Signature Clover Necklace (as seen in Cosmopolitan)  /  Capri Chandelier Earrings (as seen on Emily Maynard)  /  Foundation Bracelet Red  /  Foundation Bracelet Turquoise  

Saturday morning I took Bear to the dog park and then cleaned my house.  Here he is passed out after running around in 100 degree temps / My Emi-Jay Hair tie, which def works and did not leave creases in my hair.

Saturday I went to dinner at an Italian restaurant called Patrizios with a few girls.  I wore my new clover necklace and definitely splurged and had Eggplant Parm, my fave. 

Sunday my friend Kathryn and her husband had a BBQ at their house, so I made cupcakes to bring.  Her favorite colors are orange and green, so orange and green cupcakes she received. 

Snaps from the BBQ:

They smoked ribs and brisket. Oh my word, the meat was sooo good.  They season their meat with a dry rub that they created and now sell.  It's called Chimy's Rub that they named after their pup.  All of our friends are addicted to it, and if you want to try it out, just use the "contact us" link on their Web site and e-mail Kathryn telling her The Bargain Blonde told you to try their rub. She can give you pricing. 

That about sums up my weekend.  How was yours?  

p.s. Tomorrow I'm posting the DIY video that you voted on a few weeks ago! Get excited.

p.p.s. Linking up with the ladies of Weekend Update!