Monday Edition: My Favorite Things

My last post was about my sweet little fur baby, Scout. Thank you for all your sweet comments and well wishes. Her eye is looking better, but it has not healed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and sending up prayers that her little eye will be all better soon (and that she can avoid surgery).

Scout is not my only fur baby. I have two more! They are my big boys. I have Porter who is a Chocolate Lab, and I also have Boone. Boone is a Golden Retriever mix, but you would never know it. He is very tall and very skinny and has a slick, black coat.

Having three fur babies is very rewarding and entertaining, but it can also be very expensive. That is why I was thrilled when I found PetCareRx. For my big boys, a six month supply of heart worm preventative is usually $100 at my vet. Recently, I was able to purchase the same medicine at less than half the cost. PetCareRx even contacted my vet to obtain the prescription, which saved me an awkward call.

PetCareRx is a little slow on shipping, but usually offers free shipping and has other great coupons scattered across the web. If you are in need of heart worm preventative, flea control or any other necessities for your fur baby, make sure to check PetCareRx. I think you will be pleased with their low prices!

Oh, and here are a few pictures of my fur babies. The first picture is of Porter and the second picture is Scout and Boone sitting in my lap. Boone weighs 90 lbs, but he insists on being a lap dog!

A Cherry in her Eye

Look at that sweet little face! This is my cocker spaniel, Scout. She is the most precious puppy, and the best little fur baby ever.



On Wednesday I took her to the groomers for a bath and a hair cut. When I picked her up from her "spa day", I noticed something red in her eye. The groomer told me it was called cherry eye, and that is was nothing to worry about. After reading about cherry eye on the internet, I knew that is was nothing to panic over, but I did need to take her to the vet.

Yesterday, we visited the vet. The vet gave me some drops to put in her eye to reduce the swelling and hopefully get rid of the cherry eye, but she gave me little hope that the drops would work. If the drops do not work, Scout has to have surgery to fix her eye. The surgery is $500. Holy cow! Oh, and the best part is that it could happen again and require another surgery.

Now this is my sweet baby, and you better bet that if she needs surgery she will get surgery. However $500 seems a little extreme. I am going to call around to a few other vet clinics to see what they charge for this type of surgery. Before Wednesday, I had never, ever even heard of cherry eye. I was hoping that maybe some of you had experience with cherry eye. Has your dog ever had cherry eye? If so, what did your vet do?

Thanks for your help! I have been sick with worry over my sweet little Scout this week.

Before I go, I couldn't resist adding another picture. She is just so cute. I love that little squishy face, her sweet freckles and her big furry Chewbacca paws!

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I Blame it on the Lack of Calories!

It's been a few days since I have posted. I am usually more present in the blog world than I have been this week. I apologize for my absence, but I blame it on my lack of calories.

The past few months I have been following Weight Watchers and going to the gym daily like it was my new religion. All hail the treadmill and the Lean Cuisine! I bet you are wondering how much weight I lost! Are you ready for it? I lost 0 pounds. That's right. None, zero zilch! Instead, I gained 3. I do grant that I did adopt a healthier lifestyle, but come on- with all the effort I put toward losing weight I should look like a string bean instead of a squash or an eggplant.

Sensing that I needed a change (in the direction that the scale was going), I signed up for a new diet program that a local doctor conducts. The diet basically is to eat 6 small meals a day instead of 3 large meals. There is more to it than that, but that is the basic idea. When I was handed my meal plan, I couldn't help but scoff at the tiny amounts of food you were allowed.

That night at home armed with my new diet plan, my sweet and supportive husband asked what my diet was called. I quickly quipped "STARVATION".

Don't panic! The starvation answer was only a joke. A really funny one at the time! I promise I am not starving myself! I actually haven't been hungry at all on this diet, but so far I have been very successful on my diet.

Okay, so you caught me. I eat plenty of calories on my new diet, so I can't blame my absence of blogging on that. I just thought that excuse would be much more interesting than my normal answer of "Wow! It's been a busy week!". Maybe I should have went with my abducted by aliens excuse. :)

P.S.-A few of you wonderful bloggers out there have tagged me and given me awards. Thank you so much! I am so honored, and I promise to post them soon.

Monday Edition: My Favorite Things

Sometimes analyzing your spending and sticking to a budget can really put a damper on things. My eyes almost popped out of my head when I realized how much I was spending on body wash, soap, and shampoo. Since I am not a trust fund baby (although I vow to be one in my next life), I decided that I immediately had to cut spending in this area.

I refused to give up my glorious shampoo and conditioner, so the search was on for a new body wash. I not only found a cheaper body wash, but I actually found a body wash that I like better than my original. Let me introduce you to Softsoap Nutri Serums.


Softsoap Nutri Serums come in two varieties-Restoring with Vitamin E and Moisture Retaining with Omegas 3&6. I have tried them both and love them both. Although, I do think I am partial to the moisture retaining serum since I have a tendency to have dry skin.

Softsoap Nutri Serums have a light, pleasant scent. They leave your skin feeling clean and soft. Oh, and did I mention that they retail for $3.50 ($4.50 at some stores)! $3.50 for 15 oz. of soapy goodness. You definitely can't beat that! If you are in the market for a new body wash or need to cut your budget in the body wash department, definitely give Nutri Serums a try!

There's Another Man...

...and my husband knows about him. That's right! You heard me correctly! I have a boyfriend! In fact, I have several boyfriends. Scandalous I know, but before you start giving me names of divorce lawyers or therapy groups keep reading! :)

The other men came into my life because my husband is a sports fanatic. He loves all sports (except Nascar). If watching paint dry was a sport, he would watch it on television, comment on it, and yell at the paint if it did not dry fast enough. He love sports!

I am not a huge sports fan. Don't get me wrong-I do like sports, but I am just not that into them. I do enjoy attending sporting events because of the social aspect, and the wonderful people watching. Oh the people watching! However, I would rather watch a Lifetime movie than a football game on television.

In order to be a supportive wife (or a wife that doesn't kill her husband over the remote control), I decided that somehow I needed to make watching sports a little more fun for me. That's when I decided that I would have sports boyfriends. I picked out a few players that I really liked, I deemed them my boyfriends, and now I have someone to cheer for when sporting events are constantly playing on our television.

I choose my boyfriends based on many things, but the most important characteristic in my sports boyfriends is sportsmanship. I want my boyfriend to be one of those guys who seems to know how lucky he is to play a sport that he loves for a living and to get paid a lot of money for it. I don't want a cocky athlete who thinks they can't be touched andwho believes the "game" is lucky to have him play and not that he is lucky to play the "game".

Andruw Jones used to be my baseball boyfriend. However when the Braves traded him, I had to find a new one. Sorry Andruw! I do still care about you though. I often ask my husband how you are doing and get him to check your stats for me. Brian McCann is my current baseball boyfriend! He is a great player and seems to be an all around good guy!

My college football boyfriend-well I went for a coach! Coach Mark Richt is the head coach for The University of Georgia, and he couldn't be any more precious! He is a nice Christian man and a great coach!

I am actually changing professional football boyfriends this year, and I have not picked a new one. I am also taking applications for basketball boyfriends. Any suggestions?

Having a sports boyfriend is fun! It gives me someone to look for and cheer for during a game. It also gives me the opportunity to giggle at the shocked expressions on people's face when my husband or friends ask me how my boyfriends are doing! :)

I leave you this picture of me and Coach Richt! I had the opportunity to meet him one time and made a compete idiot of myself, but at least I got a picture!

Laundry Sheets

Okay, so this post is going to be a little boring, but I just have to pass this info along. A month or so ago a blogger posted a question about laundry sheets and if they worked. Several bloggers commented that they had not tried them because they were a little on the expensive side.

Currently, CVS has Purex Complete 3-n-1 Laundry sheets (and regular liquid Purex) buy one get one free. This offer is good until Saturday. Also, if you go here you can download a dollar off coupon and learn more about the product.


I have used the Purex Laundry Sheets. In fact, I just washed a load of clothes with a Purex Laundry Sheet. I like them and would recommend them, but I don't find them any better or more convenient than the conventional way of doing laundry.

However, they are perfect for college students who don't have a lot of room to store laundry supplies or anyone who is short on laundry storage space. They are great for someone who has to do laundry at the laundromat (no more lugging a big jug of laundry detergent around). The laundry sheets are also wonderful to take on vacation if you are renting a place with laundry facilities.

If you want to give them a try this week is the perfect week to test them out! You could also win Purex products. For more information on winning Purex products visit this site.

!!!WINNER!!!

A big thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway and to Living Rooms Direct for sponsoring it! The winner is Polka Dots and Protein Bars. Congratulations!!! Please e-mail me at jenniferthepinkchick@yahoo.com with your name, address, and phone number.


Oh, and if you are wondering how I picked a winner. I took your comments and assigned everyone numbers. Everyone was assigned 1-3 numbers depending on if you are a follower and if you posted about the giveaway. Then, I used the random integer generator to choose a number.

Thanks again to everyone who entered and congratulations to the winner!!!

Monday Edition: My Favorite Things

Sometimes you find really cute things in unlikely places. For example, I was in Coldwater Creek the other day, and I just happened upon the cutest shirt. Don't get me wrong. Coldwater Creek has beautiful clothes, but the clothes are mostly geared toward women who are slightly older than I am. I love shopping in the store for my Mom.

While shopping for a gift for my Mom, I found what I now deem my favorite shirt. It fits just right, looks really cute, and the quality is outstanding. The picture below doesn't do the shirt justice. It is much cuter on. I bought it in dark purple. It is so pretty and so flattering. You can find it here. It is currently on sale for $16.99, but they only have two colors left-ivory and papaya.




The next time you are searching for some great basics or you just happen to be near a Coldwater Creek-stop in! You might find a present for your Mom or something cute for yourself!

Don't Forget to Enter!!!

Tomorrow is the last day for my give away so be sure to enter! If you want to win these-


all you have to do is go here and leave a comment!

Eye Make-Up 101

Image found here

I love make-up, but I have to admit that I have never been great at applying it. I have always struggled with my eye make-up. From eye liner to eye shadow, I just really had no clue. My eye make-up application had two extremes-I either looked like I was wearing no eye make-up at all or I looked like I was getting ready to turn a few tricks.

When I deemed this my summer of make-overs, I resolved to learn how to better apply eye make-up. Yesterday, my wonderful Mary Kay consultant came over and gave me a great lesson on applying eye shadow and eye liner. I purchased several fun new eye shadow shades, and I couldn't be more pleased with my results. Even my husband commented on how pretty my eye make-up looked this morning! Yipeee! I'm finally getting the hang of this!

Mary Kay has a great tutorial on-line if you need an eye make-up lesson. You just choose the type of eyes you have (mine are hooded) and follow the tutorial. Also, Carmindy, from What Not to Wear, has a great website with a lot of make-up tips and tutorial videos. She even has an eye shadow tutorial video.

On another note, don't forget to enter my give-away! You could win these ultra cute bowls!!!! Hurry! The deadline is Tuesday! Have a wonderful weekend!!!

P.S.-Blogger is still not cooperating with me, so I am still unable to comment on your posts! I hope this will be resolved soon! Until then, please know that I am still reading!

Three Years of Wedded Bliss

Today Michael and I are celebrating three years of marriage, and I can honestly say that these have been three of the best years of my life. It started with a blind date, and it continues with a happily ever after.

Author's Note: I interrupt this lovely, gushy post to let you know that blogger officially hates me. My computer and blogger have joined their evil forces and will not let me comment on your posts. I am still reading your posts, but for some reason I can't comment. I hope that by tomorrow these evil forces are defeated, and I can continue with leaving comments. Until then, I apologize for my silence.

GiveAway sponsored by Living Rooms Direct

Living Rooms Direct recently contacted me and asked me to partner with them for a giveaway! Of course I said yes! They really have some of the cutest things!! If you are in need of living room furniture or cute accessories, you should definitely check out their web-site. Here are some of my favorites!

I'm in love with these armless chairs!

This tv stand would be a perfect addition to our rec room or "man den" as I refer to it!


They have adorable accessories like these glasses.

And these fun and funky pillows.


And these precious mixing bowls-which are the giveaway item! Enter the giveaway to win these ultra cute bowls!

Here's how to enter:

• Comment on this post telling me one of your favorite items from Living Rooms Direct. Make sure to browse through the notNeutral section. It is one of my favorites!
• For additional entries, be a follower and/or blog about the giveaway. The maximum number of entries is 3.
  
• In your comment, please let me know if you are a follower and/or if you posted about the giveaway.
• The giveaway ends Tuesday, August 18th at midnight EST.
  

Monday Edition: My Favorite Things

I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend! My weekend was fantastic! This weekend I had the opportunity to spend some time with a fellow blogger, Amanda from Adventures in J Land. I knew of Amanda before blogging but through blogging we have formed a great friendship. This weekend was the first time I have been able to meet her since we bonded over our blogs. She is such a beautiful person inside and out! I had a fabulous time talking to her and getting to know her better!

During our conversation, we talked about "My Favorite Things" posts. She told me she tried one of the products and loved it, so in honor of my blog friend I thought I would re-post my product review.


Re-Post:
I must take a minute to brag on myself. Now, I am not usually one to toot my own horn, but even I must admit that I have many unique talents. One of my most unique talents is my ability to get deodorant on my clothing! Clearly you are jealous! No one can put those beautiful white streaks on dark clothing quite like I can! :)

There are many solutions to removing these unsightly streaks from your clothing. Unfortunately none have worked for me and if they did work they didn't work very well. However, I have found the solution for my deodorant dilemma (and no it is not to go without deodorant-what kind of girl do you think I am?). It is a little product called "Gal Pal". "Gal Pal" is simply two little round sponges in a cute package that will remove deodorant marks like magic. I found mine in a little boutique in downtown Athens. If your not in Athens, you can order yours online at http://www.gal-pal.com/. (Amanda told me that she found them at Stein Mart). They are a little pricey at $10.00 for the pair, but they last forever and have saved me from changing outfits or looking like a doofus on countless occasions.

P.S.-At first, I was a little hesitant to pick them up in the store. I wasn't sure what it was, and I was afraid it was something a little naughty. I guess it was something about the packaging. I thought it might be some kind of bachelorette party trinket. Anybody else get that vibe from the packaging or is my mind in the gutter?

Show Us Your Life:Reception And Honeymoon

In this installment of Show Us Your Life from Kelly's Korner, I get to show you our reception and honeymoon!

Our reception took place directly after the wedding in The Galleria. The Galleria is a beautiful window-filled building directly adjacent to the wedding site. Along with The Galleria, we also had a tent that held the DJ and dance floor.

Here is a view of the gazebo and tent. The Galleria is just beyond the tent.


Below is a picture of the inside of The Galleria.


Here are our cakes.


Our first dance.


For our honeymoon we went to St. Lucia and stayed at the Jalousie Plantation near Soufriere. The town of Soufriere is pictured below.

We enjoyed relaxing on the beach with a beautiful view of the Pitons.

We drank lots of yummy Piton Beer.

While in St. Lucia, we also visited beautiful waterfalls, the botanical gardens, and the sulfur volcano. Michael enjoyed scuba diving and we both enjoyed snorkeling!

Our favorite places to eat were Cafe Bang (located at Jalousie Plantation) and Dasheene (located at Ladera resort). Here's a picture of us at Dasheene.

Here's a picture of the view from Dasheene.

I have such fond memories of our honeymoon. I hope that one day we will be able to go back to St. Lucia. If you are searching for a honeymoon destination, St. Lucia is a great one!

I hope you enjoyed this installment of Show Us Your Life. I can't wait to see all the other receptions and honeymoons out there!!! Thanks again for letting me share!

Show Us Your Life: Wedding Party and Flowers/Ceremony

Due to vacation, I missed out on last week's Show Us Your Life series from Kelly's Korner, so I thought I would use today to catch up. This segment of the series asks for bloggers to share their wedding party and ceremony.

Michael and I got married on August 12th, 2006. Our wedding was held at Gin Creek near Moultrie, GA. I didn't grow up in Moultrie, but grew up in a neighboring town.

The ceremony was held in a beautiful gazebo by the lake.

The aisle was lined with with kissing balls. I have to admit that was my favorite addition to the wedding.
The music was provided by a trio.

My two sisters and a few of my close friends served as bridesmaids.

Michael's Dad (not pictured here), Brother, and friends were groomsmen.

My two nieces were Jr. Bridesmaids and my nephews were ring bearers.

I arrived to the ceremony in a horse and carriage. I was not thrilled about this. I don't like horses that much, but my mother insisted on the horse and carriage. I ended up liking it, so I am glad she talked me into it.


Michael and I also left the ceremony via horse and carriage.


I don't have very many pictures of the flowers, but my florist did an excellent job. My only directions were for him to make it look pretty, and he took it from there! He was amazing. Here is a great picture of the bridesmaids bouquet. They were exquisite in person. Pictures really don't do them justice.I don't have a good picture of my bouquet. This is the best one I could find. Plus this is one of my favorite pictures. I hope you enjoyed my wedding ceremony in review. I appreciate you letting me share it with you. It is so fun to reminisce about our wedding day especially since our three year anniversary is right around the corner.

My New Office Mates!

I'm such a dork for even blogging about this, but I love the new addition to my office! I have 3 new office mates-2 male dwarf frogs and 1 snail! They live in a 4 inch x 4 inch cube on my desk that I refer to as "The Bachelor Pad". Sorry! I can't resist a good pun!

Their names are Mr. Augustus Littlehopper, Sir Magnus Puddlejumper, and Mr. Norman Slimetrail, Junior. Heather helped me name them! Mr. Normal Slimetrail Senior sadly passed away and received a burial at sea yesterday.

This is what "The Bachelor Pad" looks like. I will try to add pictures of the actual "Bachelor Pad" tomorrow.

If you want your own ecoaquarium, you can purchase it from Wild Creations. The tank only has to be cleaned twice a year, and the frogs are only have to be fed twice a week. It is very low maintenance and highly entertaining!

A Really Great Give Away Alert!

One of my very favorite blog friends is having an absolutely fabulous give away to celebrate her 200th post! Go visit The Tale of A Southern Belle and enter! She is giving away a 1.75 bottle of L de Lolita Lempicka Eau de Parfum, Coach pencils and a Coach journal, Crabtree and Evelyn Lotion, Essie French Manicure Set, a delightful scented candle, some wonderful hair products, a cute magnet, and a glamourous sticky note pad! I told you it was fabulous!

My Favorite Things

Monday is when I usually share a new favorite thing with you, but since my schedule is a little off due to vacation I thought I would go ahead a share my favorite thing today.

I have very thick, medium length hair. I wash and dry it every morning. I absolutely hate drying my hair, so I am always trying to find ways to make that task faster or easier. I once purchased a turby twist (from an infomerical) in hopes it would magically absorb away all the excess water in my hair making drying a breeze. Needless to say, it didn't work.

However, on a recent trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, I found a product that did work! Introducing the Aquis Super Absorbent Hair Towel! It ranges in price from $17.99 for the hair turban to $21.99 for the large hair towel. Also, Bed, Bath, and Beyond always has 20% off or $5 off coupons.


Does it cut my hair drying time in half? Well, no. Oh how I wish! Does it shorten the time in takes to dry my hair? Yes! A shorter hair drying time leads to healthier hair and a happier me!

Wild and Wonderful!

I'm happy to be back from my blog vacation and a real vacation. Michael and I spent the week visiting his grandparents in West Virginia. We stayed in Canaan Valley and filled our days with hikes, canoe trips, and general vacation activities (site seeing, sleeping late, playing cards, etc...). I can't wait to tell you all about the trip. I also am looking forward to catching up on my blog reading! I have missed my blog friends! Until then, I will leave you with a picture from one of the hikes we took. It is a poor quality picture because I took it with my phone, but it will give you an idea of the beautiful views we enjoyed all week! I'm headed home for some much needed rest! I will be back to normal blogging tomorrow!