Random snaps

I have some snaps from life so far in February that I thought I'd share today.  

First up we have the many faces of my nephew Reese during Taco Thursday last week. You can get a glimpse into his little personality here.

The fixins:

Can you believe how big our new pup Bear is already?  Reese and Bear chillin with Aunt Lindsey in the Starbucks line.

My mom was in town this weekend and we had some mexican food and skinny girl margs Friday night:

Sunday I had 3 cups of this maple pecan coffee and felt like I was on crack.

Blueberry muffins and turkey bacon. Yum in my tum. 

I thought I'd also show you how my room is coming along.  Well, my bed and vanity area anyway.

This isn't the best picture, but here is where I get pretty. That is an earring holder sans my earrings on the wall. 

Last but not least, here I am looking real rough on Super Bowl Sunday. Forehead wrinkles in the house.   

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!

Getting to know the Bargain Blonde, Part 1

Hello class. Today we are covering my favorite subject: me.

I keed, I keed.  But I am in the "hot seat" as they call it on The View and as promised, I'm answering all of your burning questions.  

For easier reading, I've broken them up into the following categories: beauty, money, diet & fitness, blogging, personal and last but not least, random.  I want to answer ALL of your questions, which would have made this post entirely too long, so I'm breaking this up into 2 posts.   Today I'm covering beauty and money, so here we go ...

Katie H asked, "Since I'm a fellow white girl (aka 2 minutes of sunlight and I am burnt), do you use tanner on your face or just on your bod?"

Both! As Katie mentioned, I am white and have been pale my entire life.  And not just white, but ghastly white. I'm a naturally very fair-skinned person with naturally blonde hair.  Most real blondes cannot tan, which would be the case with me.  I use self-tanner all over and even more so on my face since it gets washed more frequently than the rest of me.

I have a Mystic Tanning membership, so I am able to get unlimited spray tans monthly.  I also have an arsenal of self-tanning products, but the truth is I'm normally too lazy to put them on.  Typically, I head to the salon, get sprayed and I'm done with it.  Since my face fades quicker, I use the Mystic or Versa sunless spray and spray my face in between trips to the salon. 

These are a little pricey, but contain the same solution as what you get at the salons, so they are worth it IMHO.  My salon runs specials so I only buy them when I can get them discounted. I usually end up paying around $15 for each can.

My other sunless tanning products I like for my face are: Hawaiian Tropic Island Radiance, Banana Boat Summer Color and Lancome Flash Bronzer.

When all else fails, slather that bronzer on.  I could go on for days about sunless tanning, but I'll save that for its own post. I've got a lot more questions to get through.

Sarmin asks, "Would you ever go brunette?"

Hell to the no.  I wish I could, but I look dis-gust with brown hair. And I know this because I had a brown wig for my 26th Jersey Shore birthday party.   As my mother said when she saw the pic, "Ew, tell me that's not real."  I'll never have brown hair, I can promise you that.  It was fun getting my JWoww on for a night, but I must say blondes really do have more fun! Muahahaha

Jess (Pretty Physicist) asked, "What is one thing you won't skimp on cost-wise and one thing you will always skimp on?"

The one area I will not skimp on is my hair cut. Until I found my fab-o hair guy 5 years ago, I cried almost every single time I got my hair cut.  Hair cuts were traumatizing for me and I'm not exaggerating.  There was a time in college I burst into tears in the chair, went home and locked myself in my room for hours and wouldn't answer my phone.   Sounds dramatic, but my hair is very important to me as I'm sure it is to you, which is why I don't skimp when it comes to who is cutting it regardless of price.

I won't tell you exactly how much my cut (no color) cost me, but I'll tell you with tip it's more than double digits.  Since finding my guy, I trust him completely and have never left the salon unhappy.  He's seriously worth every penny to me, so this is my one splurge.  Every girl needs one.

Ironically, the one thing I'll always skimp on is shampoo and conditioner, which ties into the next question so I'll explain more below. 

Jess (The Kentucky Priss) asked, "Name something expensive you've splurged on that ultimately wish you had not."

This was a good one!  I don't make big purchases with out some serious thought and major research, so I was having a hard time thinking of one.  Then it dawned on me. One time I got conned into buying this bottle of Keratase shampoo for $40 because the lady at the salon SWORE to me it would work wonders on my oily hair.  One thing to say to her: "You LIIIAAAR!"

You see, I have to wash my hair every day or else it'll look like an oil slick and my head gets itchy.  Yummy.  I was skeptical because I swear by drug store shampoo and conditioners, but against my better judgment, I got it.  The Keratase made absolutely no difference and every time I spot that stupid bottle in my shower, I get angry. 

My $5 Dove Intensive Repair and TRESemme Color Protection work perfectly, and the one thing I get complimented most on is my hair.  No weave here girls, but you judge for yourself what you think of my "cheap" shampoo and conditioner results:

Your thoughts?

This concludes Part 1 of getting to know me and yes, I started off a little tame.  The juicier questions are Monday, so stay tuned and have a fantastic Halloweenie weekend.  I can't wait to see every one's costumes next week!  TGIF times 10 and boo!