NEW and FUN Things Ahead!

I've showed up (sorta) to the blog every day this week. JUST FOR YOU, GUYS.
Now, don't except this kind of special treatment every week. Keep your expectations LOW, people. Low expectations are KEY.

Except, guess what else? I also replied to every comment I received this week. Big steps. Big, big steps, people! If I didn't, then that means you're a no-reply blogger and for the thousandth time you need to fix that situation right now.

That being said, I've decided to celebrate. Mostly because I'll use any excuse to celebrate and bake cookies and drink champagne. So..

I spent some serious time last night (hours) making some big bloggy decisions. I even had an important phone call with an important person about making blog decisions. I love this little slice of internet and I couldn't imagine giving it up.

I still very much consider this a hobby and I currently have no intentions of trying to take this blog any further than that. I like not having constrictions on the things I write and I love that I can still write about nothing and I don't have to feel truly guilty. That being said, yesterday someone offered me a pretty cool opportunity and gave me some really great advice, sprinkled with her very honest opinion.

It inspired me and lit a damn fire underneath my ass!

I've decided to take some blogging risks I wouldn't have normally taken and to take a little pride in this time-consuming hobby of mine! Mostly I've decided I want to help build this community back up. Blogging has gotten a bad reputation lately and I think that is incredibly unfortunate!

I'm not 100% sure I'm the right person to head this revolution, but I'm hoping that I can inspire someone  else to be the revolution leader!

My first gesture is to re-vamp my sponsorship situation!
Not necessarily changing anything, because I still love all of my original concepts, but more of a reorganizing kind of thing! I made approximately 63 Word and Excel documents last night organizing and planning fun sponsorship things! When I initially decided to start offering sponsorships, holy wow, I was not prepared. I also didn't think the whole situation through.

Now I'm all grown up (lol) and I've ripped the band aid off and I AM READY. Are you?
Want a code for 50% off all sponsorships options? That is good until NEXT Friday?

CELEBRATION50 is the ONE! 

For 50% off ALL OF THEM! 

If you've sponsored me in the past and think I did a mediocre job, well #1, I don't blame you. I did do a mediocre job - and that's being generous. #2, send me a nasty email and I shall be giving you a fancy code to get a free sponsorship. A sponsorship where I will actually be doing all of the things I claimed I was going to do. Novel concept, I know. #3, I really and truly am sorry. No excuse, even though I have a hundred.

Last Words?
There is always going to be a blogger that is better than me.
And there is always going to be a blog that is bigger than mine.
But I often wonder if making a small difference in the world could spark a big difference.
Ya know?

I'm Not As Good As I Once Was

I thought about tweeting this until I realized I wouldn't be able to fit all of my thoughts into 140 characters. Then I thought about just explaining this in tomorrow's post, but by then it'd be old news.

So here's a post about why there's no post today.

Just go with it.

Yesterday one of my best friends turned 25!

ignore the "bae", we were making fun of the young kids

She had clinical 7am-3:30pm and then she had to work 4pm-7:30pm. That's a 12hr day full of not fun stuff on your birthday. So one of my other friends and I decided we were going to take her out for dinner and a drinks last night. On a Wednesday..

I feel like I need to say that the birthday girl is the same girl that I used to stay out with until 3am on nights I had to be at work at 6am the next morning. #Responsible. Oh to be 21 and 22 again!

#tbt

Anyway last night I was home by midnight, BUT I had a ton of responsible adult things I had to take care of before I could go to bed. So it quickly turned into a late night. Then my alarm went off this morning at 5:30am so I could work out and I quickly vetoed that idea and reset my alarm to go off at 7:30am and then I hit snooze for AN HOUR. So that didn't make for a hectic morning at all…

I usually write blog posts the night before or early in the morning before work and clearly neither of those were going to happen. Because we are officially old ladies and we can't hang like we used to.

That's the reason you aren't going to have a real post today. Apologies.

3 Weird Things About Me

I went to a baseball game with a friend last night and somehow we got to talking about some of the weird things we do or weird things about each other and well, it sounded like a blog post. So, I made it into one.

#1. I used to HATE pineapple. I always picked it out of any mixed fruit kind of thing and my grandma always left it off of a few pieces of fruit pizza so that I wouldn't have to pick it off myself. But then I turned 21 and I started going to the bars and all of sudden we were ALWAYS ordering vodka with a pineapple chaser. ALWAYS.

It's embarrassing the number of different pictures I have with us with shots of vodka and a pineapple chaser. Embarrassing. Anyway, all of a sudden, I started to like the pineapple juice and now I love pineapple. So that's a weird way to start liking a food.

#2. I can not, CAN NOT, put makeup on while I'm chewing gum. I know it's weird that I even know that, because honestly, who chews gum and puts makeup on, but I've tried it on more than one occasion and I can't.

#3. I read the end of books before I read Chapter 2. I wouldn't say I do this 100% of the time, but I'd definitely say 75% of the time I do this. I'll read Chapter 1, then I'll read the last few pages of the book, and then I'll jump back to Chapter 2. There are 2 things I want to say about this:

1. Knowing the ending ruins NOTHING for me. I frequently will miss a TV episode and read the recap the next day and then watch the episode later. I don't get bothered at all when someone tells me the entire plot line and the big climatic, surprise ending of a movie before I watch it. That kind of thing just doesn't bother me and it doesn't ruin anything for me. I'm also the same person who re-reads books constantly and I have no problems watching the exact same movie 30 times in a row. It doesn't matter how many times I've seen the One Tree Hill episode where Nathan and Haley kiss in the rain for the first time and guess what? I'll watch it a hundred times more! 
2. Also my mother does this too and a really, really long time ago she said that she did it because if she died in the middle of reading a book, then at least she'd know the ending. So I do it too. I know that makes no sense, but I'm weird and it works for me.

So.. THE MORE YOU KNOW. 

#Twitter Makes Me #LOL

I thought having 2 award shows air 2 nights in a row would be awesome. Turns out, I was wrong. #ItHappensOccasionally #VeryRare Instead it made me tired and unable to get anything productive done.

The VMAs are the #worst. I don't know how I even managed to watch the first hour. Sheer will power, I think. Of course, I went to bed after that (#zzzzz #beautyrest #sotired) and then I woke up the next morning and found out I missed the only part worth watching - Beyonce's performance. #ImAnIdiot

Thankfully the internet was able to recreate every single moment for me, so by the time I actually got to watch a full clip, I didn't need to because I already knew every. single. thing. that happened. Internet, you the man. Or woman. #Feminist Wink. Wink.

Now the Emmy's I was pretty excited for because I love TV. I. Love. TV. #LoveIt
All of you money savvy people out there cutting out cable and only watching Netflix and Hulu Plus, I applaud you, but I'd cry. #tears. My DVR is like a little piece of me. I'm also very attached to Netflix and Hulu Plus. So that's my life. #TheMoreYouKnow

Unfortunately I hadn't seen most of the mini-series that were nominated for Emmy awards, so that was upsetting. But I knew most of the people, so that was okay. Also #JessicaLange4Life
OH, also Weird Al's "performance" was hilarious. I laughed stupid hard. #LOL
Also, also - AARON PAUL. #inlovewithhim #imissbreakingbadalittle

Anyway, while I was watching both award shows, I was also surfing Twitter. #BasicWhiteGirl. I usually do though while watching things like this, because I'm always, always amused by the things people tweet during award shows or major sporting events, etc. Some of it is just… Ridiculous.

Which brings me to what I wanted to talk about today - Hashtags. I love them and I love to hate on them. #Hater. Approximately 95% of the time when you see me using a hashtag, I'm usually making fun of myself and that hashtag. I truly don't care if anyone else thinks they're funny, because I do. #EasilyAmused. Well, because I spent a lot of time on Twitter the last 2 nights, I've gotten to see tweeters at their absolute best.

So I jotted down a few for you:
#dontlickyourbrother
#idtapthat
#icantevenwiththishomeworkrightnow
#ihateeveryone
#TwitterTrolls
#lovemybae
#adickisjustapenis
#hidefromthefeds
#alcoholmakesmevomit

Sometimes it's not the hashtag, it's the combination of hashtags that make it gold:
#mymomishot #idbangher
#beyonce? #beytwice!
#myfriendsaretheworst #hopetheydontseethis
#ilovebritishaccents #johnnydepp ---> This had me ROLLING with laughter, because Johnny Depp is from Kentucky, soooo..

This entire blog post has taught me one thing - I need to step up my game.
#MustHashtagMore

Ew, Those Weekend Recap Posts Are The Worst…

Ew, yea.. I know everyone hates those darn "weekend recap" posts, but I had a really busy weekend full of lots of stuff and by golly *insert foot stomp* I'm going to share it.

There was a Hoosier Tailgate with my stepdad, little brother, and his best friend. It. Was. Hot.

There was an ALS ice bucket challenge nomination and two 13 year old boys completed the challenge with me.
Yes, we did, in fact, donate. ALSA.org/donate

There was some Farmer's Market fun.

I sometimes wish that the Farmer's Market was every day. I love it. I also came home with this (see below) and it makes me ridiculously happy.

There was also some WEDDING FUN.

One of my best friends was the Maid Of Honor at her little sister's wedding and it was absolutely beautiful and so, so much fun! I love weddings.

There was a quick trip to Target and Sam's Club on Sunday and I saw this at Target and was torn between being amused and being annoyed. Anyone else see it? You're not foolin' me, Target!

That's all I'm sharing today, because ugh, I know how annoying these posts are.
Thank you for suffering through it with me.
Better content tomorrow? We'll see.
Holding your breath would be unwise.

Essential Football Links For The #FBLover

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5 Ways To Suck At Blogging

Don't Blog
Just don't show up to your blog for days and days at a time, even after you said you were going to. This is my go-to when I want to really suck at blogging.

Don't Do What You Said You Were Going To Do
That's exactly what it sounds like. "I'll be back tomorrow with a post about blahblahblah" and don't come back. "I'll tweet out your blog post links" and don't tweet them out. People love this.

Don't Reply To Comments
Someone comments on your blog and you get a nifty little email, making it ridiculously easy to reply to them. But don't. Just don't. Just read the email, put it in the folder labeled "COMMENTS" with the intention of going back and emptying that folder later and moving things into the sub-folder called "REPLIED", and simply ignore those comments for forever. This one is a crowd pleaser.

Don't Read Any Other Blogs
Because if you're really serious about this whole "sucking at blogging" thing, then you obviously don't want to read about how awesome everyone else is at blogging. Obviously.

Provide Nothing Of Substance Upon Your Return
When you do decide you're going to come back to Blogland and you're going to write a post, make sure, MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE that you don't provide the people with anything worth actually reading. This is essential. Practically Bad Blogger 101 stuff here, people.


That's it. Five simple ways to suck at this whole blogging thing. No need to thank me for this wisdom, it was my pleasure, really.

*disclaimer: the only blogger i'm referring to in this post is myself and only myself, so no need to get your panties in a twist*

21 Day Fix Thoughts & Review

Yesterday was the official conclusion of my 21 Day Fix that I mentioned I was doing (21 days ago..) and I promised that I'd give you guys an honest review since I'm not getting paid or perked or anything.

I've got a lot to say, so here's your warning.

My Official Results
So, in full disclosure, I have to tell you that I did NOT stick to the 21 Day Fix program throughout the entire 21 days. I'll talk more about this later, but there it is. So, I was actually pleasantly surprised by my results. In the 21 days I lost 3 lbs, which is absolutely ridiculous because I should have gained 3 lbs, not lost. I have no way to explain that 3 lb loss.

Sticking To The Program
As I mentioned, I did not stick to the program throughout the 21 days. Honestly, we chose a very poor time of the year for us to do this and my sister and our friend, who did it with me, quit before the first week was up. There's a lot, A LOT, of planning involved and there isn't a lot of wiggle room to have mistakes, so you've got to make the time to stick with this.

I did really, really well the first 6 days, but the other 15 days were sporadic, to say the least. I tried to stick with it and I might have 1 perfect day, but I'd follow that up with 2 or 3 half-assed days. Life and previous commitments kept interfering, which I know is a poor excuse.

Exercise While On The 21 Day Fix
Whomp Whomp. My exercise has been laughable the last 2 months. Laughable. The first 6 days, while I was sticking closely to the program, I was also getting back into regular workouts and I felt really, really good. I think the foods you have to eat and the amounts and the exercise all added together was a wonderful thing. So I recommend exercising hard during the 21 days. I'd imagine your results would be amazing.

What I Learned
I don't know if I've made it clear yet, but I love this program. I really love it and I'm a little obsessed with it. Probably not for the reasons everyone else is though. I love it because of what I learned from it. So let's break that down.

I was not eating enough vegetables. Not even close to enough. I also learned that when I'm forced to, I can actually eat a lot in one day and I'm not 100% miserable. I usually don't want to eat that many veggies, but I CAN and I NEED to.

I really enjoy fresh fruit. I always knew this and I've never had a problem eating fruit, but I'm usually too lazy to deal with the washing and the cutting and all that jazz. Now, I'm making a hugely conscious effort to not be lazy and do all of that because man, a nice fresh pineapple just can't be beat.

I'm addicted to sauces. I actually already knew this, but this program definitely drew attention to my problem. On the program I couldn't really indulge in my sauce addiction, so I started to miss them more and more, which is sad and a little pathetic.

Portion control! The same reason everyone loves Weight Watchers. This program teaches you portion control in a nice way. I don't know a better way to explain it than that. It's almost like they were accidentally teaching you, because it wasn't something I realized I was learning right away.

What I Didn't Like
On one hand I loved the semi-rigid eating plan and on the other hand, I hated it. There are plenty of healthy things that I couldn't eat because I couldn't fit them into my program. Which, was super annoying to me. Which is the same reason I kept going off of the program. I hated that even if I wanted to eat something that I knew to be healthy, I couldn't eat it. Frustrating as hell.

Also, the measuring and the planning got to be really tedious, which meant that it got to be really annoying. Nothing I couldn't get used to if I stuck with it, but also very annoying.

My Official 21 Day Fix Opinion
I love this program. I honestly don't see how anyone who sticks to the program and works out wouldn't lose weight. However, the best thing about the program, in my opinion, is that is changes your eating habits. I barely followed the program for the whole 21 days and yet, I can tell that the way I eat and especially the way I grocery shop has been changed. All for the better.

So that's that.
I'm definitely going to try the 21 Day Fix again and hopefully complete the entire 21 days. Regardless, I plan on incorporating the 21 Day Fix into my every day life. I'm excited.
See you tomorrow for Total Social with Sarah and Helene. Whoop! #GuiltyTotalSocial

Secrets On Top Of Secrets

I had to take the day off from the internet yesterday because things got a little heated on Wednesday and I needed some space. Truthfully, I didn't have time to internet surf anyway. I've been keeping some secrets that have kept me a little preoccupied and busy as of late. Yes, secrets. Some fairly large ones.. That I can't tell you about. Listen, I'm not being mean, but I can't tell you because most of the people in my real life don't know either. Secrets are fun.. And stressful.. And time consuming. I think I finally know how those pretty little liars feel.

*to be clear, no one is trying to kill me or sending me ominous text messages*

Anyway, I now know why bloggers who are trying to hide their pregnancy have trouble blogging until they can let the cat out of the bag. When you have one thing that you can't blog about, it becomes the only thing you want to blog about.

*to be clear, I'm not pregnant.. Or engaged.*

So on Wednesday Juliette borrowed an idea from Allie who borrowed an idea from Kalyn and now I'm going to borrow it from Juliette. Follow?
I needed something to blog about and these ladies are pretty great, so following in their footsteps doesn't seem like a bad place to be. Here we go..

What/When Was The Last…

..recipe I made? Errr.. I haven't followed a recipe to cook something in MONTHS. I've been incredibly focused on making things as incredibly easy to cook as possible and as plain as possible. Lifestyle changes and all that. So unless you count like stir fry, which I don't because I don't follow a recipe, then I don't have a good answer for this.

..good decision I made? 1 - My secret. Feeling so good about things. 2 - Rereading Harry Potter. I've just started Book 5, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix and I am going to have a whole post dedicated to my #HPsummerReRead because I am so, so glad I've made time to do this!

..cool place I went? Vegas. Hands down.

..show I watched? Speaking of Pretty Little Liars, my friend and I watch the show together and we were SIX episodes behind! So she came over last night and we watched 3 episodes to get us closer to being totally caught up. Those girls.. I actually hate that damn show now, but I can't quit it! It's so infuriating!

..awesome thing that happened? Hmm, hard to answer. Actually, I got to spend the whole weekend last weekend with some of my best friends, acting like we were 21 again to help my sister celebrating being 21, and it was so much fun. I mean, Sunday I spent half the day on my couch in misery, but Friday and Saturday night were worth it. Love those girls and glad to have them around!

..thing I bought for myself? A cranberry Nerds slushie from Sonic. Have you guys had those Nerd slushies? HEAVEN. Pure sugar and a total and complete party in my mouth. I always think I'm going to go into a diabetic shock after I'm done, but at least I'll die happy.

..good photo of me? Love this photo of my sista and me.

..bad decision I made? Probably announcing that I have a secret that I haven't told my parents about. That should go over well.

..time I was really excited? I'm pretty excited for my friend, who has her own little secret, and last night we discussed it for the 2nd time and I'm still just so excited for her! My friends being happy makes me happy!

..time I had a free weekend? I'm not really sure what that means exactly. Free with no plans? Like I just sat around and watched Netflix all weekend? Because the answer to that is it's been A WHILE. Probably approximately February when I was snowed in for the weekend or something. No.. There's no joke here.

i'm so depressed by this picture. like instant bad mood. i regret including it in this post.

And now we're here at the end and I don't know how to wrap this up..
Errr..

OH, a little PSA to everyone leaving me comments - Please, PLEASE make sure you aren't a no-reply blogger!! I can't respond to your comments through emails if you are and that makes it really difficult and really, really depressing. Lately I've noticed that so many of you are and it's totally upsetting and I hate it and I want you to fix it right this darn minute. So, follow Sarah's instructions and then we can all live a happy life.

P.S. Go buy a Nerds slushie from Sonic.