An Icy Valentine's Weekend Including Introducing DJ Roddy-Rod and My #1 Weakness: Shoes.

Happy VDay! I love Valentine's Day mostly because we get to celebrate something that I feel isn't celebrated enough... LOVE! Seriously, people, we should be celebrating love every single day. And not just romantic love, either, but bff love, family love, neighbor love, baby love, shoe love... whoops... that one just slipped out.



This past weekend, Andrew and I romantically drove 16 hours in 3 days for a little weekend getaway to Niagara Falls (Why, oh why do I always almost say Viagra?? Kudos to the drug's marketing team.). Yes, it was a short trip. And yes, it was 5 degrees cold. We went for a military marriage conference that was quite unentertaining. Actually, we have gone to these in the past and they WERE entertaining thanks to two awesome folk musicians who wrote songs that correlated with topics on the power point presentation... "Don't fight but taaaaaAAAALLKKKK it ouuuuut insteeeeeaaad, la la laaaaa la." Did I mention that one of them was blind? And the other had a particularly deep Willie- Nelson-like voice? Seriously, I'd pay to see them again. Unfortunately, they no longer gig with the military. So we were left with hours of power point slides and free mints. HOWEVER, we had ample alone time and spent it trekking to the falls, playing penny slots, and stuffing our faces at the casino buffet.

Andrew thought I was channeling Zooey Deschanel from New Girl with this outfit. Two coats and I was still numb when we got back.

Did you know that according to the hotel pamphlet, 20% of America's drinking water

rides over the falls?? That's enough to make me thirsty!

Neither Andrew or I are gamblers. However, it IS fun when you win. Did you know casinos will give you free money to play if you sign up for their club card? 10 bucks each, baby! The first night we made $33 playing penny slots using only the free money they gave us. We felt so lucky we went back the next night and stupidly spent $32 of it. Hey, we still walked out with one dollar more than we went in with and technically didn't spend any of our own money. Technically. Yeah, I know that's how they get you... But it was cheap fun that included free drinks, entertainment, risk, and complimentary second-hand smoke.

On to more current events...

Because today is 'errand day Tuesday' (one of my days off) and because Andrew is visiting his family in Colorado, I did what I do best on these lonely types of days.... complete all my errands shop. We have the coolest mall within a block from our house. And by cool I mean that it's the type that is never really busy and is virtually a huge Starbucks-style atmosphere... places to relax and sit and drink your latte. My favorite time at the mall is in the evening. It has big skylights in the ceiling that provide natural light and when the sun goes down these blue ceiling lamps light up providing an almost iridescent, comforting glow. Anyways, I spend tons of time there browsing Anthro and Gap. Today I saw this dress in Anthro and fell in love.

 Come now, doesn't it make you just want to twirl??

 Too bad I'm not willing to spend almost $200 on it!

On a brighter note, I've been eyeing these shoes at Gap for months now and was waiting until the best deal came along. Originally $49.95... I bought them for less than ten dollars and they weren't even on sale! I know, I know, I know how to work the frequent shoppers cards!

While I was taking photos of shoes, I decided to show you a few of my more recent shoe steals...

Not shoes exactly, more like slippers. But each of those was less than three bucks from Old Navy. The gray furry ones are so comfy that I've accidentally worn them in public a few times! Whoopsy.

I always seem to not be able to resist buying shoes find deals on shoes. But I believe I will leave those experiences for another day.

I've been looking for a good jewelry box to hide my treasures and I think I may have found exactly what I was looking for today.

Again, just like the dress, it is from Anthro and out of my league (hundreds). HOWEVER, I CAN make it myself with some Goodwill finds and some strong glue. So Carly, I will be on the lookout for cheap drawers/boxes and will eventually reveal the final product. Course, it may take years to complete. And if you look close, you can even see my reflection in it! Coolio!

AND ON THE FINAL NOTE, two of my adorable nephews had their first Jersey experience last weekend... lucky them. But it WAS fun. Anthony is 9 and Rodney (AKA DJ Roddy-Rod) is 7. We hit golf balls on the driving range, threw rocks at beehives, went to the movies, played Uno, and well... this video sums up the rest and I think shows each of their unique personas quite well.

 ---Be sure to turn the volume to the max so you can hear DJ Roddy-Rod's beat---

. . .

.with hope.

.with love.

(m)