Birthday Well Spent

I had a pretty uneventful birthday as I knew I would. Sunday we went shopping and got a ton of things including hot new bras, a baking pan for my new cooking projects, a new comfy pair of shorts, a lotion I'd been wanting for a while that smells heavenly (Johnson's melt away stress dream night cream, I have the matching body oil), a new teapot, 4 new towels that I love for that shower luxury and a few other odds and ends.

On Monday, my actual birthday, Matt and I went to late lunch/early supper with Mom and Jeff at Chili's. Mom gave me $50 and we bought a new tent with it. I also got to take a nap and a bath on the day and did as I said having candles and soft blankets around at all times. Mom also brought me some lilacs that she picked and those are now on the shelf above the headboard and are divine to smell all through the night. I did a little bit of reading and I watched some One Tree Hill which was great. It's not the best way to spend my birthday and I hope that this is the worst birthday I'll ever have even thought it was still pretty damn great.

Luxury for my Birthday

This year for my birthday I've decided that I want things that feel luxurious to me. I will be burning my favorite candles all over the house to get that yummy smell, sleeping on my favorite sheets and blankets, taking a bath with my favorite bubble bath and perfume combo. I plan on reading my favorite magazines and starting a new book. I want to enjoy the sunshine and take a walk outside. I'll be wearing my favorite clothes and doing my makeup in my favorite way. These will all make me feel beautiful and happy on my birthday. This year instead of presents I will be going shopping with my hubby and buying until my hearts content. I didn't want presents that I can't use this year. I'm really looking forward to redecorating my house and wanted to buy some items for that. I'm going to buy some of my favorite things and a few new articles of clothing that make me look hot. The day really is going to be all about me. I'll hopefully be in my clean home and just enjoying all of my preferred scents, textures, tastes and looks. I'm going to enjoy the day for what it is and continue to enjoy my days as much as possible for the rest of my 23rd year as well. There is no point living a life that you do not enjoy on a regular basis. Enjoy every day and every emotion and sensation. That is how I want to live my life from now on and really savor every moment.

One Tree Hill

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a huge fan of the CW show One Tree Hill. I've watched the show faithfully since it started 5 seasons ago. The characters are amazing and the show inspires me every week. I always find myself in tears at the end of the show. If you haven't seen it yet get thee to the store and buy a season of the show. I promise you will be hooked. The gorgeous cast makes this show amazing. Sophia Bush is so talented and gorgeous. She was once married to co-star Chad Michael Murray and is now rumored to be dating her other male co-star James Lafferty. I hope those two are together because they would be the cutest couple. The season finale ended in a way all CW shows do, dramatically. I can't wait to see what they come up with next year for the amazing show.
I truly hope that other people get the same messages that I do out of this show. One of the major messages in each episode is to go after what you want and not let anything get in your way. Another is that friendship and love are the most important things in your life. No matter what happens on this show these friends are always there for each other in a way that no friend has ever been there for me. They inspire me to be a better friend.

Days Like These

Oh how I love day's like these. The days when you spend most of the day just relaxing and forgetting the real world. I love watching TV and movies, eating good food and cuddling with my husband and kitty. Those are the best kind of days to get closer to the ones you love. Even better it's nice to have those days on the rainy cold days where cuddling entails laying under covers to stay warm. So relaxing and comforting.

My birthday is coming up in a few days. I plan to spend it doing something that I love that I can't do often enough, traveling. We will be going to Vermont, a place neither of us have been. We're on a mission to spend a night in every state together over the course of our marriage. More time to relax, watch some TV, sleep in, visit the pool, and enjoy nature. Vermont is a beautiful state and we are going to see as much nature as we possibly can and enjoy the sunshine and warm weather. Not sure what days we will be going quite yet but it will be to celebrate my birthday which is on Monday.

I can't wait to spend some time in an unfamiliar place and experience new things. To do all the same things in a new place and it just feels different. It's refreshing. Traveling also allows me the opportunity to reflect on things in my life and gain new perspective on them. I have a lot of things to think over and decide on my future. Things need to be decided or explored more and finally allow some kind of progress in my life which has taken a backseat to everything and everyone. Decisions aren't easy to come by and I'm hoping time away will help me to clarify things in my mind.

My 11pm guilty pleasure

Wow! I must admit I really don't like to watch the news since it's so damn depressing. I'm truly hoping that I can avoid it if my brother ever ends up in the middle East. I just couldn't do that to myself. The only reason I have ever watched the news was for the weather report. Just knowing what the weather was supposed to be like creates all kinds of dreams for outdoor activities. Since about Christmas time I've been watching my local channel 5 weather religiously just to catch a glimpse at the sexiest thing ever to grace my tv set. If you don't believe me take a look here.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdmhqmh3O8Y (He disabled the embedding link). Yummy!

Speaking of yummy Matt and I made the most delicious burgers last night for dinner. In anticipation of the Sex and the City Movie coming out in 11 days we made Chris Noth's Special Burgers aka Mr. Big Burgers. These suckers have bacon, pepperjack cheese and a special sauce made up of mayo, sour cream, avocado and chopped chile peppers. These are amazing if slightly messy.

The perfect ending to my beautiful day yesterday was reading the June issue of InStyle. I can't believe I missed out on that magazine for so long. If you haven't read it you must check it out ASAP.

My Fascinations

I have always been fascinated with certain things. For as long as I can remember I've loved cooking and baking, interior design and makeup. I've always had fun spending my time with these hobbies. There isn't a day that goes by that one of these things is not on my mind. I also enjoy blogs and spending time online, reading (especially magazines), writing, listening to rock music, watching a few shows on TV religiously and spending time pampering myself. I love to live my life creatively and actively pursue things that allow me to be creative and have a good time. I have the ability to make anything I do fun and hope that this is something that all of my friends and family would say about me. Living on my tiny budget has allowed me to become more creative with my favorite things. I've learned to make some pretty incredible meals with not a lot of money. I shop at Wal-mart and Target for my beauty supplies and have been incredibly lucky to find some great products that work wonders and don't cost so much that they are out of reach. I'm slowly decorating my house with the money that I do have and have learned to really make things I enjoy take control in my decorating. I love spending time reading through entire blogs on everything from decorating to baking to makeup and beauty. These blogs get my creative juices flowing and allow me to see how other people in similar situations make things work for them. I'm amazed by the things other people are able to do and it inspires me to do things I didn't think I would be able to do and see things in a different way that I wouldn't have noticed before. If this blog does one thing I hope that it allows me to put my thoughts out there and inspires me to do great things that I can share with the world.