The Suburban Life

Today was the first day that I realized I'm officially domesticated. I spent my entire Saturday working on my yard. I know, I was shocked too. I was wondering what happened to city living Holli. I now live in the 'burbs and it's starting to rub off on me. What's next? Will I stop liking dive bars and trendy restaurants? Will I start listening to country music? Not that country music is bad but if you know me you will understand. The day I start listening to country music is the day you should be worried. 

Anyways Rob and I worked for hours working on our front yard.  Ever since we moved here it has looked terrible. We originally pulled all the old plants and weeds. It looked better but not good enough. 

Look past the Halloween decorations to the jungle behind it. 

We decided since it was going to be in the 80's all weekend it would be the perfect time to tackle the yard. We bought new bushes and mulch and got to work. First we had to dig up all the dirt and weeds and get rid of it all. Then we put weed killer down and planted ourf new bushes. We decided on Holly bushes because they looked nice. Also Rob has a thing for Holli's. We also got some Lavender plants to add some color. After a few hours we were finally finished. I must say I was surprised at how good we did on our first try. Now we just have to wait for our bushes to grow a little. 

After a hard days work we decided we deserved a nice cold margarita. It was delicious. Now time for some more suburban life with movies and yoga pants. 

Cookies Cure Everything

Finally after being sick since Thursday I'm feeling better. I actually got off of the couch, took a shower and put on a bra. I slept more in the last few days than I probably have all month. Anyways, since I'm feeling better I wanted to bake something for my husband. He took care of me all weekend and cleaned the house. If you are married you know when he cleans the house he's a keeper. I also wanted some cookies myself. So I decided to make his favorite cookies. 

Now I can't take any credit for this recipe. I got it from the Alton Brown Good Eats cook book. You can also find it here http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-chewy-recipe/index.html

These are one of the best chocolate chip cookie recipes I've made. They are also really easy to make. When I made them I accidentally used the scoop I use to make cupcakes. So half way through baking them I realized we would be eating monster cookies. I'm not complaining! The bigger the cookie the better. 

They look normal sized here

I've made these a ton of times. The first time I made them I thought I burnt them. I quickly realized that they just come out a little darker. This is probably because you use brown sugar along with white sugar. This also makes them super chewy and delicious. 

Giganto cookies

Next time you are craving cookies I highly suggest you give these a try.  Let me know what you think.  I will be enjoying these with a hot cup of tea and The Real Housewives of Atlanta. 

Let Me Introduce My Kids

As I sit here dealing with being sick...again,  I realized I haven't wrote a blog post in a few weeks. Honestly, I've been incredibly boring lately. Between fighting off sicknesses and working I've been quite the homebody. Who am I kidding I'm always a homebody. So then I realized I haven't written a blog post about my two furry kids. 

If you follow me on one of the many social media sites I'm on you have noticed I LOVE my dogs. It's sad when 98% of the photos on your phone and camera are of your dogs. What can I say I love my kids. Yes I'm one of those people who refers to my dogs as my kids. Deal with it. 

Lets start with the oldest and sassiest. Cosmo is my little Shih-tzu/ Maltese mix. He is 9 years old and acts like a grouchy old man. He is the only dog I've owned that talks back. Yes, he barks back if he doesn't like what you tell him to do. If you look up momma's boy in the dictionary you would find his picture. He is indestructible with an iron stomach. He has eaten an entire box of Oreos, a chocolate blizzard, lots of garbage and has never gotten sick. I think he's secretly a cat and has 9 lives.  He thinks he is a model and loves the camera. 

Talking back

Aspiring model

My cuddle bug Bender is almost 8 years old. He is an Irish Jack Russell. We got him shortly after Cosmo turned 1. He was lonely and needed a buddy. Insert Bender the cutest perma-puppy ever. He still has the same puppy face he had when we got him. Bender is the sweetest, most playful dog around. He will literally play ball until he passes out. He is a daddy's boy. Look it up, you'll find his picture. I've never met a dog that loves to cuddle more than Bender. Aside from being cute he is crazy smart. If he wants something he will figure out a way to get it. Cosmo helps a little but Bender is the brains of the operation.  He loves to sun bathe any chance he gets. 

Cuddle w/ Dad

Playing outside

So hopefully you understand why I am so obsessed with these guys. They are seriously the best dogs ever. So I apologize for blowing up Instagram with dog pictures, but just wait until I have a kid. Then you will get baby/dog photos all the time. 

The Year of Change

This year is going to be the year of change in our household. You're probably thinking "Change? Didn't you just move from California to Texas?" Why yes we did. We moved so that we could start making the changes I'm about to talk about. 

So we have decided this is the year we are going to start adding to our family.  You know what that means. Babies! Or baby. Yes we do have two furry kids but I think it's time for some human ones. We've decided that after eight wonderful years together we are ready for some kids. Also I'm not getting any younger, so if we want to do this we better start soon. Oh and that stupid biological clock is ticking very loudly in my ears. I just started my last round of birth control and then I'm going to let nature takes it's course. Let the adventure begin! 

This will be my first purchase 

The big reason we moved to Texas was to buy a house. Right now we are renting a house, which is ok, but we really want to buy a house. We found out how much of a down payment we will need. Let's just say "Ouch". Now we just have to budget. Which is a new word in our house. Part of budgeting is saving money on rent. The house we have right now is way to big for us and a little too much for rent. We have decided to find a smaller and cheaper house to rent until we have our down payment saved up. Also it gives us a chance to live in another part of town for a while. 

So let the fun begin. I love a challenge and these will be the ultimate challenges for sure. 

My Gym Rant

So as you know I am a bit of a gym rat. As of lately I've been going six days a week. It sounds like a lot but the results are worth it. Anyways, I hear lots of different conversations during my many hours at the gym. Yes I'm a women, therefore I eavesdrop. Oh and I also judge so beware. I would never make it at Planet Fitness. 

So Rob and I were over in the "stretching" area of the gym stretching after a workout. There were two girls stretching as well. This one girl starts complaining about how every time she moves a body parts falls out. Mind you this girl was wearing a low cut tank top and a pair of tiny shorts. Duh! Of course everything is going to fall out. Stupid girl. I learned my lesson about this once. It was when I started really lifting with free weights. I was wearing a v-neck tee and yoga pants. Well I bent over to do some deadlifts and HELLO there you could see right down my sports bra. Never again. Maybe she was trying to get attention or maybe she's just dumb. I would think she would put two and two together and think oh maybe I should actually wear clothes to the gym. Problem solved! Also she would of avoided getting the "REALLY?" look from me. 

REALLY?

Another wardrobe pet peeve of mine is sports bras. I am a large chested girl. The first time I tried to run it was very apparent how much that sucks. I learned that if I didn't want to end up with two black eyes I needed to 1. buy a really good sports bra or 2. wear two at one time. So it bugs the crap out of me to see girls running in tiny tank tops and their boobs are flopping all over the place. I know they probably think the guys think its hot, but they look down right stupid to me. Not to mention how painful it looks. 

So next time you go to the gym make sure your parts are covered and strapped in.

Goodbye Birchbox, Hello High End Makeup

So I'm stuck home sick today. I figure while I lay on the couch all day I might as well write a blog post. Since I have started my makeup journey I have dropped Birchbox and hopped on the Ipsy bag wagon. Thanks to my friend Michelle over at michellebellebright.blogspot.com she taught me about the Ipsy bag. Let me just say I am so happy I dumped Birchbox. I got tired of getting hairspray and granola bars. Ipsy is the same price and you get at least 2 full sized products and they are things I will use. 

I recently decided to spend a little more money and buy higher end makeup. No more drugstore makeup for this girl. The extra money is well worth it. My first big purchase was a new concealer for my ugly under eye circles. I have had the hardest time finding something that will cover them. Finally, I found Erase Paste by Benefit. It's amazing! The best part is a little goes a long way so you get your money's worth.  

Well as you all know I had a birthday recently. Well if you are part of Sephora's reward program you get a free birthday gift. What I got was awesome. It was a combo pack from wait for it....Benefit. My new favorite brand. I got a mascara which I've been wanting to try forever and a highlighter. The mascara is they're Real. It is the BEST mascara I've used so far. It makes my lashes look fake. 

Last but not least I got a new eye shadow pallet. I've been eyeballing the Naked pallet by Urban Decay but I didn't want to pay $50 for eye shadow. Especially since I only really liked half the colors. So I finally found the Natural Eye pallet by Too Faced. I love the colors and a little bonus is that I comes with guides on how to apply each color. Another little bonus is they gave a free sample of primer which I'm interested in.  Rob even complimented my makeup after I put it on. He said I didn't look like I was wearing makeup but that I was just refreshed.  That's all I need since without makeup I look like I never sleep. 

So if you have been thinking of taking the plunge to high end makeup, do it! It is so worth it. Take it from the cheapest person you will ever know. 

Happy Birthday. You're Getting Old.

Well my birthday is tomorrow. I'll be 27. I'm not that old but the idea that 30 isn't far feels weird.  I feel a quarter life crisis coming on. Maybe I'll go out and buy a sports car or something. That's what you're supposed to do right? 

My awesome husband always knows what to get me even when I don't know. He listens to stuff I say I want and buys them. I have a pretty bad memory so I'm always surprised. Well I've been saying for a while I wanted an apple corer, but I didn't want the one that cuts the apple into slices. I've also wanted a makeup mirror now that I am a makeup pro and all. So today I get a package from Amazon. He says "Happy Birthday!"  I open it and there are two things I forgot I wanted! Now I can successfully put on makeup and make my apple breakfast slices I found on Pinterest. 

The best mirror ever

My fancy apple corer

So of course I had to try out my new mirror. It has one of those flip mirrors with one side that is magnified. Well I haven't done my eyebrows in a while. I thought I would try the mirror out. Let me say if you don't have a makeup mirror I suggest you get one. So as I'm plucking my eyebrows I see something I've never seen before. I have a grey eyebrow! GREY!!! Talk about a birthday present that screams you are getting older. Of course I got rid of as fast as possible. I probably have grey hairs on my head too but I dye my hair so often that I don't get a chance to see them. 

Anyways thanks to my fancy mirror I have the best looking eyebrows on the block! 

Oh and while we were at the store today we found these fancy brownies topped with sea salt. I decided that is what I wanted instead of a birthday cake. 

 I plan on having a low key birthday where I don't get dressed and I watch movies all day. Oh and eat brownies. I can't think of a better way to spend my day.