Shopping!

If you know me, you'll know I rarely buy anything for myself. I always tend to buy for my children but I guess try to live pretty frugally. With two kids in daycare costing us about $1400/month, we just don't have the extra play money that we may want. Plus- I always tend to go shopping when I have the money to spend and never find anything. I always tend to see everything I want when I don't have the money. Murphy's Law- right? Or- I'll buy items and they look awful on me so return they go. I just returned 2 pairs of Nine West boots I got through an awesome sale because they just didn't look right and a sweater from Old Navy because I felt frumpy.

So- on Monday- I met my sister out for some lunch and shopping. I brought the babies to daycare and Hunter and I met her at the Cheesecake Factory. I had a really good shrimp pasta and Hunter a cheeseburger (go figure) and my sister got salmon. We were all too full for the cheesecake. We went to the mall right afterwards and immediately I started not feeling well. We looked at Nordstrom's nothing. Looked at Limited- nothing. Express- nothing. Again, not feeling well, I was ready to call it a day. Until I saw the 40% off everything sign at Ann Taylor. I started feeling a little better so decided to go in. I got two really cute cashmere sweaters for only $42 each. So excited... And- they were a light pink and a light grey. I tend to wear a ton of black- and also grey- but I was proud of myself for even looking at different colors. We then went to Banana Republic because again we saw a sale sign. Hunter wanted to go into Banana as well as a jacket he got from his dad had the same label. I found the cutest green (yes green) sweater and had to have it- again- only $40. yay! I also got Hunter a shirt that he liked. So funny that he and I are now shopping at the same stores. When did that happen!

My sister found a sweater that day too. It was so nice spending all the time with her this weekend. I wish she lived closer so we could do those things more often, and also so she could see my kids more. It's nice that, as different as we are, we're more the same than we may think (though still quite different). haha.

Let It Snow

So- where we live, you expect to get snow on the East Side...I moved from the East side to the south side of town thinking I was getting away from the snow... um no. I moved to the secondary snow belt. Little did I know, downtown would sometimes get hit as well. Major snowstorm yesterday afternoon/evening.

Getting out of downtown was a nightmare... luckily, I dont work downtown, but Sean does. And from what he experienced getting home from work, I'm glad I wasn't a part of it. The only bad part was that we missed this:

We had floor seats (yes Floor Seats) to the Cavs game and we didn't go. I was so disappointed... but, the weather wasn't worth the attempt. So, instead of cancelling our babysitter, we decided to stay local and venture a little further south to do some Christmas shopping.

We spent an eternity at Dick's Sporting Goods but walked out with a new winter coat for Hunter. We bought it big (an adult M) so here's hoping this kid doesnt have a huge growth spurt. Those North Face coats are EXPENSIVE. We then went to Toys R Us...guess who we ran into?

I wonder how many people take pictures with him like us losers did last night? Oh TRU- the trickery! We got a few items for Owen and Quinlin and some PS3 games for Hunter. The Holiday shopping is now done for our three kids, my niece and future nephew... we're getting there!

After TRU, we went to a little local bar and grille we have been wanting to try. Total dive looking place on the outside but we had heard good things about it (Muskateers for you locals). It was really good. It was late so we didnt order much, but we had an order of wings and a gyro and watched the end of the Cavs game (they lost). Got home about 10pm and that was our night. Nice to have a date night every once in a while... a shame the weather affected it a little bit. 



Make-Up

Want to know what I did this weekend? I shopped... for make-up. I could have bought something of substance (purse, shoes, clothes, etc), but instead, spent a whole lot of money on makeup. Yikes! But- I think I am happy with my purchases. Want to see what $230 gets you? For starters, I bought the foundation I had been wearing and ran out of- Make Up Forever HD Foundation- color 120. I also grabbed the nars concealer after the kind makeup gal told me about the dark circles under my eyes... I guess I'm an easy sell (picture below).

I was supposed to buy powder but figured I would hold off until my next trip (must remember to get color 220 next time for that). I then walked away with concealer, eye shadow, blush, eye liner, eye primer...eek!

Here is my eye liner- I absolutely love the Lancome liquid eyeliner in noir. I then went and purchased a eye lash curler. I never curl my lashes and wanted to start so purchased what they recommended...

I needed a new blush so went with Nars powder in the color sin. I love it- though the first time I tried it, I didnt realize how much grabbed to my brush and it went on a little dark. But- I finally had cheeks! or cheekbones I should say.

I wanted to start working on my eyes a little more so purchased a primer. I didn't realize that you needed a seperate primer for eye shadow in addition to the face. So- me, still in sticker shock for knowing what I was about to purchase, decided to choose one and buy the other another time. So- I bought the nars smudge proof eyebase. Totally makes a difference. My eyeshadow and liner finally lasted all day! After deciding on the base, I went with some eye shadows as well. Nars abyssinia and duo kalahari (not these purple colors shown- ha). I then finished the eyes off with the bad gal mascara. I already knew I was a fan of that one after trying it one day when I was unimpressed with diorshow.

All in all, a fun trip to the mall. a lot of money spent on makeup. I must find the comparable items for cheaper... help? Our shopping trip ended with me accidentally hitting the straw from my chic-fil-a cup onto the ceiling of my car only for it to burst through the bottom. I drove him in a coca-cola nightmare. I'm still finding sticky spots I missed when cleaning it up. Yuck. Thought it was entirely my fault, I blame chick-fil-a.

Weekend Recap

We had such a great weekend. Friday, Sean took a half day from work and went fishing since the weather was beautiful. I somehow remember a conversation during ice fishing season that had to do with Sean having to get on the ice because once the ice melted, he'd be done fishing for the year. he didnt anticipate fishing in the spring/summer... I think he forgot the conversation. That's ok though. I picked up the kids from school/daycare and grabbed us Burger King since I didnt feel like cooking. The grilled chicken sandwich is so perfect for Owen. So, we ate dinner and I whisked the kids outside to enjoy the sunshine. I strapped Owen and Quinlin in for a walk and dragged Hunter along with me. It's nice to have some quiet time with him. We walked through the development, past the playground and into the walking trails. I missed that stuff so its nice to be able to do it. Afterwards, Owen started playing with Adam, the little boy two doors down, so I had a nice time hanging out with Matt and Kerri watching the boys play. Sean came home and about 10 minutes later, Quinlin threw up. Not sure why. a bug maybe?

Saturday, she was fine so we made a plan for the day. Because Sean fished, he said he was all mine the rest of the weekend, so what did I have in mind? shopping! We packed up the kids and went to Old Navy, Target and the Mall. I thoroughly enjoyed my shopping trip. I splurged on an outfit to wear to the bar mitzvah at Ann Taylor. I am so excited!!! though, never would pay $158 for shoes. but i couldnt help it. Arent they gorgeous??? I just had to have them.

Plus, I bought a matching belt to go with them that

I will wear with a black dress. The dress is the one pictured only in black. The only problem though is that the weather outlook for the weekend does not look good at all. Yikes!

After our shopping trip, we came home, babies napped, Sean and Hunter got haircuts and I did laundry. We then had our sitter come over and went out to a new restaurant, La Boca. It was very good! Bad neighborhood but delicious none the less. We met out Jimmy and Tanya, Sawsan and Mike, Megan and Mitch, and Jimmy's brother Kevin and his wife Kelly. Had a great time, salsa danced a bit (they had lessons. Alcohol and lessons, bad combo)

Sunday, we ran some errands out in Mentor and grabbed Hunter after his hebrew run through. He's very ready for the bar mitzvah to be over! He really is doing great!

I went to work on Monday and then had an appointment with a new gastroenterologist. My old doctor moved to Nebraska so the clinic suggested someone new. I explained my symptoms and he's starting me out with tests to figure out what is the cause to all my stomach issues. I'm excited to see if I can get a real diagnosis... for now, had blood work done and waiting on the results. He wants to rule out dairy or wheat allergies. I dont think I have those, but I'll go along with it to determine a diagnosis and make my quality of life better. Fingers crossed!