Vacation was amazing...

Here are a few highlights. More details to come. Must get ready for a long day at work tomorrow (bleh).

Crossing over again.

I really did not want to have to get Time Warner cable and internet at my new place. But, Cincinnati Bell's new Fioptic tv (or whatever it's called) isn't available where I'm living and I can't get a satellite.

*Sigh* So it looks like Time Warner wins again. If only there was a television service that offered basic cable + the Food Network. I'd be set.
Vacation in T-one day.

Be careful what you write...

Interesting article about how divorce attorneys are now using the spouse's Facebook page (and Twitter accounts, etc.) during divorce cases. Yikes. I've never really understood how or why people use public avenues like those to "air one's dirty laundry" as they might say.

But, we all know people (and probably have "friends" on our facebook accounts) who do just this. Interesting...

Anywho, the day after tomorrow we'll be driving to the beach, yessssssssss. Much much work to do in the meantime...

TGIF

I adore casual Fridays. There is something wonderful about being able to slip on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt instead of rummaging through my drawer trying to find a pair of pantyhose without a run in them. I woke up nearly an hour late (6:15am instead of 5:15am) and still made it to work on time. Fantastic!

And there is just so much to look forward to-weekend at a lake with friends (and little cell phone service-yay!), leaving for the beach in 6 days, and moving to a new townhouse in 28 days! Wow.

It's going to be a great day...even if I did call in for a conference call 5 hours earlier than it is actually scheduled to take place. Ooops!

An oxymoron of sorts.

I have two recommendations to share with you today. And they are polar opposites of each other.

First, I'd recommend The 30 Day Shred DVD by Jillian Michaels. I am almost done with all 30 days and yikes, it's still hard. I don't do fancy choreographed workouts and this DVD is no nonsense. You will sweat (a lot) and do a lot of old school exercises (jumpjacks and pushups, anyone?) and do a ridiculous amount of plyometrics. But, hey, they work! The best part is the DVD is less than 30 minutes long. Anyone can workout for 20 minutes. I added it to my morning run, and I definitely can feel a difference in my strength. I know I've lost a few pounds too, but I don't monitor closely enough to know the exact amount.

Second, I'd recommend the Barefoot Contessa's peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies. YUM. If you like a reece's peanut butter cup, you will love these. I'm thinking I would get more toned from The Shred if I stopped making baked goods. Oh well. Recipe follows!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies, recipe courtesy Barefoot Contessa's book Parties!

Ingredients

1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature

1.5 Cups light brown sugar, packed

3/4 Cup granulated sugar

2 extra-large eggs at room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 Cup good smooth peanut butter (I used Kroger brand, not sure if that qualifies as "good")

2.5 Cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 pound good semisweet chocolate chunks (c'mon splurge on the ghiradelli, it will taste that much better)

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Directions

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla and peanut butter, and mix. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the batter, mixing only until combined. I never sift my dry ingredients. I'm sure you should though! ;)

Fold in the chocolate chunks. Drop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, using either a 1-3/4-inch ice cream scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Dampen your hands, flatten the dough lightly, then press the tines of a wet fork in both directions. Bake for exactly 17 minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Do not overbake. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

I had a smaller ice cream scoop (believe it is 1.5 inches) and I baked mine 15 minutes and they were perfect.

I should've known.

I pulled out a pair of pants this morning from my closet I haven't worn in a very long time. They are cute and I asked myself "why have you not worn these?!"

I found out the answer when I arrived at work and remembered these are the pants that have the zipper that doesn't stay up and slides down periodically. Wonderful.

Oh well, I don't think anyone will notice. I'm guessing they will instead notice that my pants are soaking wet from the knee down from walking into work during the thunderstorm this morning.

Every time I have to walk to the office in rain, I more seriously consider purchasing a pair of wellies. What do you think? Cute or ugly?

Near Death Experience #2

My first near-death experience took place when I worked at a video store and we were robbed one night. Scary. I was like 19 years old.

This morning, my second near death experience occurred while I was traveling down 75 South on my way into work. I was just about to my exit, yapping away on my cell phone when the car in front of me made a noise that seriously sounded like a gun shot. There was a big cloud of black smoke and I noticed tire treads hitting my windshield. (Which is great when you are driving 60mph.) I slammed on my breaks and somehow managed to avoid hitting this man. Somehow the car-missing an entire tire-managed to cut across 3 lanes of traffic without hitting anyone.

Yikes. My heart is still beating so fast.

time flies.

I love this comic. So true. If it gets cut off (which it probably will because I have no idea how to properly format things on this blog), just click the picture to expand OR click here.

Advice Requested!

I'm going through one of those hair phases where my hair literally looks sick every day. Or maybe I am just bored with it. But, yeesh. It seems so blah. So, what should I do? I could:

a. Cut it short (see pic below)

b. Leave it and let it continue growing-maybe get some new clips/headbands

c. Get highlights (this is very unlikely. I've never colored my hair and while I'm not opposed to it when I start going gray, I know I won't want to spend the $ to maintain it...)

So, which do you like better-short or long? (Sorry for the terrible picture choices, I'm limited at what I have on this computer!)

Or I could always revert to the younger years...

Awww how cute...

Fi is afraid of thunderstorms. To assuage her fear, she barks her head off at lightning and thunder. Oh wait, that isn't cute at all.

Last night, she had a near death experience at my hands. Seriously, I was ready to let that dog out the front door and lock it twice. Ok, now that I've written that, it seems very mean-but I am not operating on a full night's sleep! I've tried the following during thunderstorms:

1. Shutting her in my bedroom and ignoring the barking. Definitely does not work-still barked. I would've used her crate, but it was out in my car.
2. Leashing her and popping her collar every time she barks. My shoulder is sore today from doing this, and I can only image how her neck must feel this morning. Failure!
3. Forcing her to lay on the ground and hold a "stay" position. Riiiight.
4. Squirting her with water every time she barks. She looked like she had a bath and my bed was so wet I thought maybe she had peed on it. Failure!

I'm thinking of trying the next two things:
1. Citronella collar that squirts her when she barks. These make me nervous, though. I know it's not painful, but it still seems kind of weird to use.
2. "doggie downers"-or some other kind of mild sedative when I know a storm is coming. I've asked my vet about these before and while he discourages their use, he does use them on occasion. Lucky for me, I am going to the vet next Tuesday.

Thoughts? What am I doing wrong? Have you ever used a citronella collar??

I NEED CESAR!!!!!!!!

For your viewing pleasure

Busy day today including a little test I must take! In the meantime, enjoy this picture from the zoo when Steve and I went a few weekends ago...he bears a striking resemblance to Steve, right? 

he he.

whew.

The ticker on the right is a bit misleading. We're not actually leaving for vacation until the 18th of June (I think I wasn't sure back when I created that ticker and now it won't let me change it). In 17 short, sweet days I'll be reading a fantastic novel, watching the waves, and smelling salty beach air. I am, quite honestly, consumed with excitement.

Until then, though, I will literally feel like a chicken with its head cut off. I have a ton to get done before I actually hop in the car and jet down to the Outer Banks. Including: take (and hopefully pass) the federal bar exam, clear out my work stuff for the time I am out of town, begin packing for moving on July 1 (yikes)...and basically my next two weekends are completely booked-which means this all must get done after work during the week. Riiiiight... ;)

It makes me tired just thinking about all that--better go make some coffee!

Smells like summer.

Oh yes. I am brewing Green Mountain's coconut coffee in my office as we speak! Smells like summer!

Love it.

Save a buck, you're in luck.

I am not a thrifty person. I don't count my pennies the way I should. But, I've recently come to the conclusion that I need to be more disciplined about how I spend money (um see previous post on Bally's debacle where I didn't even realize they'd be charging me for months).

I'm also not rich. I make enough money that I am not living paycheck to paycheck; but, not enough that I don't feel the pinch sometimes. So, I've made, and am in the process of making, a few changes to my "way of budgeting"-which isn't really a way at all-and thought I'd share. While I'll never be the coupon guru that Sean is (or Jana is learning to be), there are some easy ways to shave a few bucks off the monthly budget. Here's what I'm doing-remember I'm not perfect and can't go from paying no attention to my budget to being a freak about it overnight.

Lizzie's Baby Steps to Budgeting

1. Stop buying bagged lettuce. This tip came from my sister. In my quest to get thin before the beach, I've been eating a lot of salads. I usually buy bagged lettuce because it's already cut and cleaned. It's also super expensive. Last weekend I purchased a head of romaine and a head of red lettuce leaves (do not buy iceberg-what is the point? No nutrition!) for $1.97 total. I have had salads every day this week and still have enough lettuce for 3 more salads. I washed and cut it all on Monday afternoon. Salad bags are usually on sale for 2/$4 or 2/$5. I would need 4-5 bags to equate this amount of lettuce. You do the math.

2. Buy bags of apples instead of giant ones individually. Again, I eat a lot of produce during the week which gets expensive. A bag of smaller (properly portioned!) apples is way cheaper than buying 4 nearly 1lb. apples. Now they have nearly ever variety of apple available in the bags-it's worth it and they last a long time.

3. Pack your lunch. Working downtown it's very easy to slip into the habit of buying lunch every day. But even a salad at ingredients will cost me $6-$8 dollars depending on what's in it. This is kind of a "duh" one.

4. Buy cans of pop. I went through a period where I'd buy a Sprite Zero from the vending machine almost daily. That is $1/day. Yikes. I have shifted to buying 12 packs of the pop I like (currently Fresca and Diet Ice Tea with Lemon are in the rotation). Even if you are paying $3 for a 12-pack it's WAY cheaper than hitting up the vending machine for a carbonated afternoon beverage. I know-this is so obvious, but I had to start somewhere!

5. Sell stuff. I have some designer bags/purses and clothes that have never been used or worn. And some that are very gently used. If I haven't worn or used it in the last 6 months, odds are I never will again. I put some items on eBay last night and already sold one! I am ashamed at the amount of stuff that I have that I can list as "new with tags." The first step is admitting you have a problem, right? Even if it sells for $5, it's out of my closet and money in my pocket.

6. Online coupons. I wouldn't be honest with myself if I said I would clip coupons and get a huge binder and do all that business every week. I'd just end up buying stuff I don't need. BUT, there are three websites where you can load coupons right onto your Kroger Plus Card. I mean, why wouldn't you? It's easy and ridiculous not to. The websites are:
cellfire.com
shortcuts.com
http://www.pgesaver.com/Sites/PG_eSAVER/Page/HomePage
All you have to do is enter your card number or phone number and click to add coupons. Um, it could not be easier.

7. Do not ever pay for online shipping. Check dealcatcher.com or run a simple google search like "Jcrew free shipping code" and 9 times out of 10 you will find one. I haven't paid for shipping in a long time.

8. Use cash. I just started this one this week. Um, this makes a HUGE difference. I can swipe my debit card like nobody's business, but I hate shelling out $20 for anything. I must get more diligent about using cash if I really want to save money.

9. Plan ahead. I have a long list of furniture I want to buy in July for my new place. Instead of doing what I usually would do (go out and buy it all at once and panic that I have no money), I'm going to plan and do things now so that I easily have the funds available then. And, when I'm going out to eat or for drinks, I need to set limits on what I will get and stick to it.

10. Make goals. There are budgeting techniques I need to master-like using cash more and actually monitoring my accounts to see what is going out and in. I will actually need help figuring out how to do my budget (i.e. how much cash should I allot for groceries and gas, etc.). My goal is to figure out how to do this over the summer so by the time fall rolls around I am a budgeting machine! We'll see. ;)

a bad equation

Strawberry chip Graeter's (delicious by the way) + slow-grilled Ribs + lots of wine + buttery corn on the cob + hot fudge sundae from Mr. Freeze (!) + amazing warm cinnamon vanilla bagel from Barry's (smothered in butter of course) = pretty good chance I gained back the 4 lbs I lost last week in 3 days this weekend.

Grrrrreat. And the beach is right around the corner. I'm pretty sure I heard my bikini laughing at me when I looked at it this morning.

But what a fantastic weekend!

C'est chique.

I know it might not be stylish, but I think it'd be sweet if they started making suits with elbow patches. I noticed my black suit jacket is wearing pretty thin in the elbows because I sit kind of propped up all day.

And maybe it would carry over to items like sweaters? Almost all the sweaters I wear to work are nearly worn in the elbows. What the heck!

What do you think-stylish or sick?

(This was the only picture I could find of a woman with a jacket with elbow patches. I'm thinking they are sick, not stylish. Too bad!)

Scuzzbag out of jail.

Well it seems Michael Vick gets to leave prison today to serve out the rest of his 23 month sentence confined to his million dollar mansion. Tough life.

This man literally makes me sick. Debates are going around whether he should be permitted back into the NFL. Do these people realize what he has done? He's electrocuted dogs. He participated in hanging dogs and shooting them. We're not talking about swatting Fido with a newspaper because he won't stop barking. We're talking about torture.

I'll tell you this-I will not support the NFL if they welcome him back into their sport. I will not buy Steelers' t-shirts or pay for expensive cable to watch their games. It's WRONG. And it's a shame our laws don't protect domesticated animals (treating them as personal property like a DVD player, rather than like the living creatures they are).

Bleh. I never should've opened up cnn.com today. Michael Vick leaves a sick taste in my mouth.

In more positive news, you should watch the tv series Dogtown on National Geographic. They work on rehabilitating dogs of all kinds, but mostly of dogs engaged in the horrible world of dogfighting.

Sun.

It's a busy week and I don't have much to write about. I just wish I were outside enjoying this fantasticly perfect weather instead of inside staring at a computer screen.

Oh the beach is so close I can almost taste it! I am scheduling a massage to be performed in a gazebo overlooking the water-jealous?? :-)

Read the fine print.

I learned a valuable lesson this weekend. A lesson that, as an attorney, I should already know. You see, nearly three years ago, when I was still living in Dayton, I signed a contract for a membership with a Bally Total Fitness. The contract was for two years. When I moved to Cincinnati in 2007, I couldn't cancel the membership because there was another location within 25 miles (I think it was something like 19 miles away-SWEET!). I understood and continued paying every month through the end of the contract. The contract ended this past December of 2008.

Or so I thought.

Over the weekend, I visited my sister and came across a piece of mail delivered to me at her house from good old Bally's advising that I needed to get a new debit card on file because my old one expired. Strange, I thought. Then I did a little investigating on my bank account and discovered that each month since January, Bally's has been withdrawing $14.99 (half of my original monthly rate) despite the fact that my contract expired in December of 2008. The only reason it didn't charge me for April was because my card number had changed.

Irate, I called this morning to find out what the heck was going on. After 95 minutes on hold (I am not kidding, I literally had to go through 4 automated prompts to sit on hold for 95 minutes), I finally got through to a gentleman who sounded anything but American. I'm pretty sure Bally's outsources its customer service.

I explained the situation and said two things: 1. I want to cancel this contract immediately and 2. I want to be refunded the 14.99 you've charged my account three times. He then had the nerve to ask me why I wanted to cancel and if I wanted to possibly transfer my membership to a family member or friend. Why yes, your customer service is so helpful and your company is so non-deceptive, I'd love to rope one of my friends into the same kind of horrid contract.

Finally, after 20 minutes of explaining that "to cancel" really means "to cancel" as in FOREVER, he said my account was cancelled, but that unfortunately he could not refund me the $60 Bally's stole.

And here is where the lesson is learned. Apparently, the contract states in little bitty print that if you do not cancel with 60 days notice (wow), you are charged on a monthly basis until you do cancel. Nice. So, I signed the contract and I'm bound-fine I get it. I'm just glad to be out of that mess.

So, we should all read what we sign. Every word. Be it a car loan, mortgage, a lease, or a freaking gym membership. It's your money. And while I have a few choice words for Bally's (which will be going in a letter to their customer service department), ultimately, I am the one responsible for not knowing to what I was agreeing before I signed the document.

I guess I learned two lessons, the second being to keep better track of my bank account. Yikes.

Perfection

I've found it. The latte has too much milk in it. The cappuccino is too frothy. The regular cup of coffee is not strong enough some mornings (like today).

Enter-Cafe Americano. Espresso + water + shot of sugar free hazelnut syrup = deliciousness, without the stomach ache that comes with all that milk in a latte.

Love it. And it's way cheaper than a latte, too! The perfect drink when one feels like indulging in a caffeinated treat.