Hmm

I'm getting really bad at blogging regularly. Bad Lindsey. I really have to work on that. I guess I just don't have much to blog about lately.

Here are the highlights of my past week.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

Yes, I'm a big Harry Potter fan. I loved the books and the movies, and I finally saw the last movie with a friend Friday night. I loved the movie! I saw it in 3D (my first 3D movie!), and it was fantastic. Made me want to read the books all over again.

Catching Fire

Alright, you've probably figured out by now that I'm a fan of young adult fic, but sometimes a girl just needs something a little lighter to read and a bit of an escape. Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series is definitely an escape from reality (if not quite light reading). I started the second book in the series, Catching Fire, today, and I can hardly put it down. I went ahead and ordered the third and final book, Mockingjay, this morning so I can read that too. If you're looking for an excellent series to read, I highly recommend picking this one up.

And that's about it. There was work, work, and more work. Hopefully this upcoming week goes a little more smoothly, but for now, I'm going back to reading and vegging on the couch.

Better

Friday was the first day at work that I felt in control of things and like I actually knew what I was doing. Yay! I know not every day will be like that and that I just have to give this transition time, but I finally feel like I'm moving in the right direction. I know there will be frustrating moments/events/people, but that's life, right?

This weekend I watched the movie Convicted starring Connie Nielsen, Aidan Quinn, Kelly Preston, and Tim Daly.

The movie is about Charlotte Cory (Nielsen), a convicted murderer/kidnapper on death row in Oklahoma. Frank (Quinn) is a disbarred, criminal defense attorney who has taken the habit of writing various death row inmates, befriending them, and selling their letters to newspapers upon their deaths. Frank and Charlotte have been writing one another (Frank posing as an old friend of her father's and not telling her the real reason behind his writing), and Frank ends up going to Oklahoma to visit Charlotte the week of her execution. While there, Frank (along with her defense attorney played by Preston) realizes things are not as they seem, and an innocent woman might have been convicted.

The movie is fantastic. It's not one of those death row-political agenda movies. It's just a simple 'did she or didn't she' kind of movie. The twists are extremely interesting and numerous, and the movie's never dull. I give it 4 1/2 stars out of 5.

I also finished reading Lauren Groff's The Monsters of Templeton this weekend. I'd heard of the book but didn't know much about it (okay - I didn't know anything about it) when I picked up on a whim at the library last week.

This is one book I would LOVE to see made into a movie. The characters and storylines are just that good. The book is about a young woman (Willie) searching for herself in her hometown after a disastrous affair with her college professor. Willie arrives home at the same time that a 'monster' is found dead in the town's lake. While the scientific community tries to sort out what the 'monster' is, Willie searches through her own family's past to discover who her biological father is after her mother reveals that her real father is a current resident of the town. The book goes back and forth between the current day with Willie and chapters told from the perspective of Willie's ancestors, giving us insight into what research Willie actually finds. It's a very original book full of scandal and endearing characters. I suggest you pick it up for a weekend read.

Frustration kicking in...

Frustration is just a part of life, right? I know we all deal with it, and you just have to keep going but today was just one of those days where you feel like you take one step forward and three steps back. I keep trying though. That's all I can do. The transition from defense attorney back to briefing attorney has been much harder than I expected, but I'm sticking with it. I'm determined to make this career move work for me.

On a lighter note, Twenties Girl was an excellent read. The book is about a young woman named Lara (who is also facing plenty of frustration of her own) who is haunted by her recently deceased, great-aunt Sadie. Sadie passed away at the age of 105, but she went back to her 23 year old self, a crazy, free-spirited, 1920s girl.

Sadie has one last request before she moves on, for Lara to locate Sadie's beloved dragonfly necklace. The request turns out to be anything but simple. The book is full of humor and life lessons and will having you smiling throughout. I highly recommend it.

Here's hoping the rest of the week lightens up for me. You might hear me yelling if it doesn't. =)

Been Away...

So it's been awhile since I've blogged. What can I say? Life's been crazy. It's been tough adjusting to my new job. I definitely like it, but it's just been a big change. I've been practicing only criminal law so I've been having to switch mindsets working with criminal, civil, and family cases now. But I'm getting there.

I finally bought some bookshelves for my apartment but not enough. Perhaps I have too many books, but is that really possible?

I've been reading Sophie Kinsella's Twenties Girl.

I've always liked Kinsella's books, but I haven't heard very good things about this one. Despite the reviews I've read, I'm loving the book so far. I'll have a full review when I finish.

Well, just wanted to check in and let you all know that I'm still alive. =)

First Day

I started my new job today and to celebrate I decided to buy myself a beautiful, new pair of shoes. Yesterday on my way home from spending Father's Day with my parents, I stopped at DSW to see what I could find. For anyone who doesn't know, DSW is an amazing store that any shoe lover can appreciate and must check out. DSW has great deals and an awesome selection of shoes. Yesterday I found these beauties.

I adore Nine West purses, and I love Nine West shoes. I now have three pairs of Nine West heels, and they're the most comfortable brand of heels I've ever worn. They never give me blisters, they're always stylish, and they're made to last. My feet felt as great at the end of the day as they did at the beginning, and any high heel wearer knows that's a very big deal.

Library Drama

Yesterday I went to the library to drop off some books and pick up some new ones. As tired as I was after getting back from Austin and as anxious as I am about starting my new job on Monday, I knew I wanted this to be a quiet weekend full of Law and Order episodes (my current addiction) and reading. Thanks to my DVR and TNT, I had/have plenty of L&O episodes to keep me busy this weekend, but the trip to the library was necessary if I was going to read this weekend. 

I love going to the library. I love being surrounded by books and can wander around in a library and bookstore for hours. Usually the experience is relaxing to me. Yesterday not so much thanks to a rude librarian and her stupid wooden goose. That's right. A wooden goose ruined my library experience yesterday. 

I walked into the library and set my books on the return counter just like normal. The librarian was even standing there when I set them down. As I started to walk away and head over to the books to look around, the woman turns around and tells me I should have set the books on the other side of the computer at the counter. I replied that maybe they need to put up a sign explaining that if that's where they want the books. The woman proceeded to tell me that's what the wooden goose on the counter is for. Not a sign or anything with words, but a wooden goose. 

Apparently I missed something in all of my years of education and living in the real world. Apparently someone forgot to tell me along the way that a wooden goose translates to 'place your books here'. Are you kidding me? Puh-leeze. 

Annoyed by the woman and her wooden goose, I went on to tell her that no normal person would know her wooden goose is a signal to place books next to the goose and walked away. Maybe I shouldn't have said that, but I didn't appreciate being treated like the crazy one in the situation. She's the fruitcake talking with wooden animal cutouts, not me. 

Anyways, I got my books and feel much better after venting. I'm reading Deborah Harkness' A Discovery of Witches right now and enjoying it very much. 

Maybe I won't see crazy goose lady when I go back to return it. 

Getting back in the swing of things...

Being gone for an entire week was much more draining than I expected and much less of the vacation I had hoped for. Don't get me wrong, I had fun, but it was a long week. If I had just been doing vacation things and things I wanted, that would be one thing, but I was in class every day from 8:30-4:30 and did not sleep well at all. You know something's wrong when you can't fall asleep on a hotel's "heavenly" bed.

The best parts of my week were getting to catch up with my college roommate one night, getting to know the other coordinators from my county better, and all the great dinners I had, which are thankfully being reimbursed by the conference group (yay!). Monday I had amazing Thai food, Tuesday I had dinner at Kerbey Lane with my roomie (gingerbread pancakes), Wednesday I had an insanely good burger with the other ladies at the Daily Grill (and it needed to be good for the $14 they charged for it?!?!), and Thursday I had awesome sushi with one of the girls. Being on a budget, it was nice to get to go out every night and know it'd be taken care of. I definitely enjoyed it while I could.

The hotel was very nice and relaxing (even if I couldn't sleep), and I loved the room and the bathroom.

Nice, right?

It was nice to get home though Friday afternoon. This weekend I'm all about relaxing and gearing up for my first day of work on Monday. I'm super excited about starting my new job and this new phase in my life. I know it's going to be great.

A Week Off

Since I'm not taking my laptop with me, there won't be any blogging from me until I get back next Saturday from Austin. I'm looking forward to the break. It's definitely a working vacation and just what I need before I start my new job. Once I get back and start at work, I know it's going to be crazy so I'm going to enjoy every second of this week away.

I never know what to pack when I'm going somewhere. I always pack too much, but I'd rather be prepared. Originally I planned on just bringing a hanging bag and a laptop bag (minus the laptop) for the paperwork I have to bring to the conference, but that's impossible for 5 days out of town. I'm still bringing way too much with me, but I'll feel better knowing I have too much instead of missing something I really need.

Besides packing today, I caught up on all the Real Housewives of New York episodes on my DVR. I don't even know where to begin about the ladies' Morocco trip. It wore me out just watching.

Tonight my plan's to get a good night's sleep, to finish reading Many Bloody Returns (a book of vampire short stories by the best vampire writers in the business, including Charlaine Harris and Rachel Caine), and to watch a little basketball. Go Mavs! Hope you all have a great week.

My Not So Great Choices

Apparently this is my weekend for confusing things and crappy entertainment choices. Books, movies. Maybe someone was trying to tell me something.

First, I stayed up Friday night and watched Good with Viggo Mortensen. 

Good is about a German literature professor (Viggo) in Nazi Germany. The professor is a "good" man, hence the title of the movie. He writes a novel advocating compassionate euthanasia, and the Nazis use the book as a tool to push their own agenda. The professor gets swept up in the Nazi madness, leading to devastating events. The movie was alright but very confusing. The message the movie was trying to teach, that good people can get caught up in and by bad things, was interesting, but the movie was so abrupt and choppy that it was hard to follow. Unless you're a big Viggo fan, I'd skip this one. 

Second, Saturday I finished reading Brunonia Barry's The Lace Reader. The book started off well enough, but it turned into a confusing, frustrating, dull read that just irritated me and made me wish I hadn't wasted my time. Bad books drive me nuts. I have little enough time to read as it is so I hate wasting my time on crappy reads. This one just had a twist that was unforgivable and enough to turn me away from Barry's other books.

After finishing The Lace Reader, I decided it was time to watch another movie. I'm a sucker for horror movies, even the really bad ones. I decided to watch Dark House from the Fright Fest collection. 

Dark House is about a woman who witnessed the mass murder of foster children in a house as a child herself. The woman returns to the house as a college student to film a horror movie and face her fears as the house is reopened as a new horror attraction, but she's not alone as the ghost of the women who killed the kids also returns. 

And it's just as stupid as you'd expect. So much for my "great" entertainment choices this weekend. Maybe tomorrow I'll do better.

Last Day

Last night I watched Hall Pass, one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it.

Starring Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, and Jenna Fischer, we're talking laugh out loud funny for the majority of the movie. I haven't seen Hangover 2 yet, but Hall Pass is definitely as funny as The Hangover. And after a long, emotional week, laugh out loud funny was exactly what I needed last night. The movie's basically about a married man who gets a hall pass from his wife, granting him a week off from marriage and a chance to do whatever he wants for the week with no consequences. Things obviously don't go as planned, but they also don't happen like you'd expect either. I thought the movie was going to be stupid, but it was actually really, really good and I'm glad I stopped and watched it. 

So today was my last day of work at my current firm. It was sad, but it went much better than I expected. Other than dealing with a very crude defendant (why wouldn't my last client be over the top rude and crazy???) and a fellow lawyer who doesn't seem to have a filter from his brain to his mouth (and can't seem to shut his mouth to save his life and doesn't mind telling everyone everyone else's business no matter what it is), I'd say the day went pretty smoothly and quickly. 

And so I close the door on one thing and open the next one. And I can't wait to see where it takes me.

Almost There

Tomorrow's my last day of work! Crazy. I've gone back and forth between feeling sad, excited, nervous, anxious, thrilled, and so many more emotions all week. It's just hard to believe I'm really leaving. I'm really going to miss working there.

 

Monday is my official start date with the court, but I'll be spending Monday-Friday in Austin at a Professional Development conference learning about court administration things. I'm sure I'm going to learn a lot of great things, but I'm really looking forward to staying in a nice hotel all week and being away from a computer for an entire week. I've decided not to take my laptop with me (I'll have my iPhone though) so I'll be a little disconnected from the world. A little disconnection sounds VERY good right now.

 

I finished reading Lauren Weisberger's Last Night at Chateau Marmont and was kind of disappointed. I've always loved her books (The Devil Wears Prada, Everyone Worth Knowing, Chasing Harry Winston), but this one was weak. The main character Brooke was a complete pushover and just when you think she's finally going to do the right thing for herself, she goes right back to being a weak, silly girl. Usually Lauren's characters are refreshing and women you can identify with or want to be friends with but not this main character. All I wanted to do was slap her!

 

Next I'm reading Brunonia Barry's The Lace Reader, a book about a woman who is able to read the future by looking at patterns of lace. So far, so good, and very unique. 

Countdown to a new world...

So this is going to be a hard week for me. My last week at my law firm. Last week was hard enough with telling everyone my big news and that I was leaving my current job so I can't even imagine how emotional (and long) this week is going to be for me. I still haven't told everyone actually, just my family, friends, and co-workers. Gossip travels quickly around the courthouse so I'm sure everyone else will know soon enough.

Everyone I've told about my new job has been absolutely shocked. No one saw me making a career change at this point (in fact neither did I until the offer came up), but I know it's a good move and decision for me. This new job will open a lot of doors for me, doors that probably won't ever open with my current position. My boss has been incredibly supportive and agrees that it's a great move for me. That's helped a lot. I was so nervous telling him that I was leaving, but he said he'd support any decision I made. That's the kind of boss I have.

One of the hardest parts has been explaining to some people that yes, I'll still be an attorney, I'll still be maintaining my license, I just can't practice privately while I work for the court. So yes, I'll still be a lawyer. I'll just be a lawyer working for a judge, and I'm very excited about that.

Changes

Things always have a way of working out. They also have a way of hitting you when you least expect them. When things are tough and feel like they've been tough for a very long time, it can be hard to believe and trust that in the end everything will work out like it should, but it's true. Eventually things always work out for the best. 

It's not easy being a baby lawyer. Law school does not prepare you to BE a lawyer. They just prep you on how to think like a lawyer, and trust me, these are two very different things. You can't survive in the legal field without both. Learning to think like a lawyer is huge, but without the practical aspects and understanding of how to actually practice law, it can be very frustrating and draining while you learn the ropes. Baby lawyers also aren't rolling in the dough so before you say 'yeah, I'm really going to feel sorry for a lawyer', just remember how you felt when you first started your career, whatever your career might be. We all start out at the bottom. 

Luckily for me, after taking graduating from law school and taking the bar exam I started out with an amazing boss who has been a wonderful teacher and mentor. He immediately took me under his wing and has taught me so much. I couldn't have started out with a nicer, more helpful boss. I've been blessed, and I know it. 

But it's time for me to move on. I gave my two week notice to my boss today after accepting a new position with a district court. I'm going from criminal defense attorney to court personnel. It's going to be a big change, but I'm looking forward to the new challenges ahead of me. I'm a little sad to be leaving my office and all the great people that I work with, but I know what I'm doing is going to be the best for me in the long run and will open many doors. I've learned a lot of important lessons in the last nine months, and I'll be taking those lessons and memories with me. I'm sad but excited and can't wait to see what my future holds.

Dress for Less

If you're looking for a good deal for fashionable clothes, cute accessories, or trendy housewares, Ross is a great store to shop at. You have to be willing to look through the racks and up and down the aisles, but the deals are there to be found. 


I have my best friend Jennifer to thank for introducing me to Ross. After I graduated from college, I took a year off before law school to work and put some money away. I ended up working for a temp agency and being placed at a company where I met my best friend of the last four years. We'd make trips to Ross on our lunch breaks and found plenty of good deals (probably more than we should have). 

Sunday I stopped in and walked away with two purchases, an adorable shirt ($12 down from $40) and a great storage box ($5).

What can I say? I love bargains. I'm all about adding to my wardrobe little by little with reasonably priced pieces that will last and can be worn in lots of different ways. 

So glad this is a three day weekend...

Three day weekends are wonderful things, especially when you can just chill and relax which is exactly what I've been doing during this one. Sometimes a little rest and relaxation is the best you can hope for and your best gift to yourself. I've definitely hit one of those times.

Friday night I watched an old Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster movie, Run Silent, Run Deep. I'd never heard of it, but it was pretty good. Gable's a sub commander during World War II chasing down the Japanese ship that sunk his first sub, and Lancaster is the young, captain waiting in the wings. It was a good movie, and both men were not too bad to look at.

Saturday I decided to go to the library. I hadn't been there in forever, but I decided to renew my card (and save some money since I'll be more selective about my book purchases for now). I picked up a few books for the long weekend - Crank, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, Last Night at Chateau Marmont, and The Radleys. And remember, I'm still looking for good book recommendations.

I finished reading Dead in the Family today, and I loved it. The last few Sookie Stackhouse books had been kind of 'bleh' to me, but this book was really good. I know I'll be going to Target this week to buy the Season 3 True Blood DVDs. Target is going to have special edition covers for the Season 3 DVDs so you get to pick up a cover with your favorite character or the whole cast. I'll definitely be going for the Bill cover.

Oh, well. Back to reading for me. Next on my reading list is Ellen Hopkins' Crank. I'm already 250 pages in, and I'm hooked. I should have picked up one of her books sooner.

Page Turners

This week I skipped my usual Wednesday night movie night. Nothing really caught my attention so I decided to read instead. It's been a long week and by Wednesday night, my attention span was all but gone. My attention span's been gone all week if I'm being honest. It's hard to explain why. I'm just really ready for the long weekend, but who isn't?


I've been reading a lot lately. I'm an avid reader, and usually I'd rather read than watch TV or a movie but lately I've been striking out on the book front. Everything I've read has been okay or just alright but nothing special. Then I picked up Erik Larson's In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin. I'd read Larson's Devil in the White City a few years ago and loved it. In the Garden was just as good, and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next. 

I was a history major at the University of Texas, and I've always been interested in history, especially World War II. My grandmother grew up in Germany during World War II, and that always made me very curious about that time period. My grandmother's never really been one to want to talk about that time in her life, and I've never pushed. I'd love to know more about her life back then, but I'm afraid I'll never hear those stories. I've never been to Germany, but I'd love to travel there one day and find out more on my own. 

Larson's book is about the story of the American ambassador to Germany prior to WWII and at the beginning of Hitler's reign over Germany, Ambassador Dodd. The cast of characters are interesting, and the stories and little insights into that world are eye-opening and jaw-dropping at times. I highly recommend picking it up. 

But don't think I'm just some brainiac, my next book is less than educational and just proves how varied my reading tastes are. 

That's right. I love the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris as well as True Blood, the HBO series based on the books. This is the 10th book in the series, and I plan on spending my Memorial Day weekend blazing through it and getting sucked into Sookie's crazy, vampire-filled life. I'm more of a Bill-girl than an Eric lover myself, but that's for another post. 

Time for a little retail therapy...

Today I went to lunch in Willis with my boss' wife and one of our paralegals and visited an adorable antique store, Yesterday's Treasures Antiques and Gifts. They had tons of cute gifts and decorating items, and I immediately fell in love with this. 

It's a magnetic board that's going in my kitchen right away. It just stuck out to me, and I absolutely love the saying on it.

And because it's been a stressful week, more retail therapy was in order today so I stopped by Target after work. Target always has good deals, but I recently discovered that Target also has it's own set of coupons. Who knew? This just made me love Target even more. 

Today's Target purchases were half fun/half much needed stress relievers. 

Here's to hoping the rest of my week calms down.

Little Miss Movie Reviewer

This week I did two movie nights. First I watched Boondock Saints. I'd never seen it, but I'd heard so many people raving about it that I decided to give it a chance when I saw it was on IFC Wednesday night. 

I can't help it. I like mobster movies and TV shows. The Godfather. Goodfellas. Mob Wives (Bet you weren't expecting me to list that one!). Overall I liked Boondock Saints, and I'd watch the sequel. I suppose you could say it's a dark comedy, and I was totally in the mood for that. It was just one of those nights Wednesday. 

Thursday I went for something a little scarier, The Resident with Hilary Swank and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. 

Talk about messed up (and a little boring if I'm being honest), The Resident is about a young, single woman who moves into an apartment rented from Morgan's character after a being cheated on by her ex. The landlord develops a crazy obsession over the woman and stalks her endlessly. Probably not the best choice for me to watch since I'm a young, single woman on her own, but it wasn't too scary. In fact, I kept hoping it'd get a little scarier but it never happened. It was creepier than anything and creepy in a way that you saw coming all along. =/

Movie Night

I had an absolutely wonderful vacation. After not having gotten away for a weekend since September, I was in desperate need of a few days of r&r, and Austin is always good for that. I went to an interesting continuing legal education class on mental health issues and then spent the rest of the weekend relaxing. I did a lot of shopping at the San Marcos outlet mall and ended up leaving with a beautiful Coach purse that I'm absolutely in love with courtesy of my aunt. 

Pretty, right???

So Austin was good, and I can't wait to go back but back to the real world for now. 

Work is crazy, and Wednesday nights I can never find anything to watch on TV so I've been having movie nights at my apartment every Wednesday night lately. I haven't decided what tonight's movie is yet, but I'll be back later this week with my pick (and hopefully a good review). 

Vacation Time

Tomorrow I leave for Austin, and I cannot wait. I've felt absolutely drained at work lately, and a little getaway is just what I need. I'm actually really looking forward to the legal seminar I'm going to, and I always love visiting Austin. As you can guess from the title of my blog, I'm a very proud Longhorn, and I'm always happy to return to my college town. I had a great four years there, and I'd love to move back one day.

In honor of my Austin trip, I'm counting down five of my favorite places to visit in Austin.

5. Kerbey Lane 

Kerbey Lane is my favorite breakfast stop in Austin. The food is awesome, and the atmosphere is always relaxing. The Saturday and Sunday morning wait can be crazy, but it's well worth it. The restaurant uses all natural ingredients and definitely fits the health-conscious Austin lifestyle. I recommend the gingerbread pancakes.

4. 5th and 6th Street

Who hasn't heard of 6th Street? 5th and 6th Street provide an amazing array of music and fun. Walk up and down 5th and 6th Streets, and you can find any type of music, any night of the week.

3. The Driskill Hotel 

The Driskill Hotel is in my opinion, the most beautiful and romantic hotel in Austin. I love staying here! The hotel is said to be quite haunted, and I have to admit that's always intrigued me.

2. Chuy's

Chuy's is all my all-time favorite Mexican food. It's so Austin and a must visit!

1. The University of Texas

=)

My Slow Weekend

Knowing that I'm going to have a busy (but fun) weekend next weekend, I wanted a slow, quiet weekend this week, and that's exactly what I got.

Next weekend I'll be in Austin, attending a legal seminar on mental health issues. It sounds like it'll be a very interesting seminar, and I'm definitely looking forward to getting away for a weekend. I haven't had a weekend getaway since last September (I only realized today just how long it's been). My seminar is all day Friday, and then I'll have the rest of the weekend for fun, shopping, and unwinding. It's much needed.

This weekend though was nice and slow. My Saturday night was all for me.

The Buitoni ravioli was excellent, this particular Arbor Mist was so-so, and the movie was fantastic. If you haven't seen The King's Speech, go and rent it! After seeing this movie, I absolutely agree that it deserved the Academy Award for Best Picture. The acting was superb, but more than that, I loved the scenery and the colors. It was a beautiful movie, and the history major in me adored it. It was just the touching, warming movie I needed after a long, hard week of work.

I'm trying to watch more movies so if there's a movie you think I must see, please leave me a comment. I'll watch anything but sci-fi movies. This week I also watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Abandon. I think we all remember the Indiana Jones movie, but you might not remember Abandon.

Abandon was a 2002, pre-Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes' thriller that is definitely worth watching. Katie plays smart college senior, Catherine Burke, a young woman on the brink of graduating and landing the job of her dreams. Benjamin Bratt plays a newly sober detective called in to investigate the disappearance two years before of Catherine's boyfriend, Embry, a wild, egotistical art student. You'll never see the end coming, and you'll be glad you watched. I'd forgotten just how good Abandon really is.

Well, I should get back to doing laundry and reading. Hope everyone has a nice week!

Freebies

It's been a very long work week so I was very much in need of a nice surprise. And voila, I get this in the mail (and yes, this was the actual package I received - it was just shrink-wrapped with a mailing label on it).

Cute, right? How creative to send an actual usable coffee cup containing goodies inside to a coffee lover.  This particular freebie came from International Coffee House and Vocalpoint (a consumer survey/rating website). Inside were plenty surprises, including a coupon for a free pint of International Coffee House's Creme Breve creamer, which I'm already a big fan of.

I especially loved the desktop "clock" included. I think we could all use it. I know I could this week.

Witness

Normally I'm use to talking to witnesses to crimes. As a criminal defense attorney, witnesses can be key to my cases and clients. I'm use to working with witnesses. I'm not use to being a witness, at least not until last night.

Last night was memorable for several reason. I had my first girls' night at my new place and had a wonderful time catching up with good friends. Before that though, things got a little crazy. When my first guest arrived, I went outside to meet her, but as I walked into the parking lot, I saw a man chasing his wife to her car, screaming at her, grab her, and pull his fist back to punch her in the face. There was a toddler screaming on the balcony, and another baby already in the car.

So what do you do? Ignore it, reassuring yourself that it's not your problem, that you don't even know these people? Or get involved? I chose to get involved. I started yelling at the man to let go of the woman or I was calling the police. The man let go and took off into his apartment. I walked over to the woman to see if she was hurt or wanted me to call the cops. That's when the man came back, got in my face, and started yelling at me. I really thought at that point that he was going to hit me. He was irate and threatening, but I didn't back down and the big coward did (luckily for me).

In a way, I shocked myself, but I couldn't just stand there, do nothing, and watch a woman get abused. I never would have forgiven myself. And while I'm a little shaken (and scared), I know I did the right thing, and I hope someone would do the same for me if I was ever in that situation.

Real Housewives

I'm a huge Real Housewives fan. I watch them all - Orange County, New York, New Jersey, Beverly Hills, and Atlanta. I watched Miami and DC, but I don't like them so much and am very glad DC has been cancelled (those women couldn't have been more annoying and boring if they tried). The more I watch the franchise the more I wonder if these women do anything but attend parties, have fancy lunches, shop, and vacation. Must be nice. 


Except it doesn't seem to be so nice at all. Very few of these women seem to have real friends, seem honestly happy, or could make it in the real world. They really seem petty, desperate, and sad. Watching them doesn't make me jealous, it makes me feel much better about my life. I might not have all the money they do, but I definitely have more class and happiness than they ever will.


There are a few exceptions. Bethenny (formerly of RHONY) seems to have it all. Now with her own spin-off show, Bethenny has left RH behind and is one of the few who doesn't appear to have let the series consume and transform her into an egotistical, entitled bitch. Lisa from Beverly Hills is another exception to the rule. Lisa is who she is, and as over the top as she may seem (let's face it, anyone who wears that many diamonds all the time is over the top), that appears to just be who Lisa is. 


Generally though, it just seems to me that these women are struggling to find themselves and making asses of themselves for our entertainment. They really do seem to believe that they're God's gifts to the earth and that everyone else agrees. They won't look in the mirror, and we're not forcing them to. I don't think they'd like what they saw if they were really honest with themselves, but I also don't think they'll ever really see themselves the way the rest of us do.


Real Housewives is a hot mess, but I love it and will continue to watch. What can I say? It's a train wreck, but I can't turn away.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I hope everyone had as nice of a day as I did. I hosted my first Easter lunch (my first holiday event period), and it went very well. The slow-cooked cranberry pork loin I made was a hit, and the ricotta cake I baked was an even bigger hit. Both were delicious, but the cake was especially good. So here's the recipe and a few pics. 


Ricotta Cake


Ingredients:

One 18-1/4 ounce package yellow cake mix

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 eggs

2 pounds ricotta

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease oblong 13 x 9 baking pan. Mix ricotta, sugar, eggs and vanilla in large bowl. Add yellow cake mix. Mix well. Bake 55 minutes to an hour. Cool and invert. And voila!

It's a moist cake that's very filling. I'll definitely be making it again. 

Btw, my car was an easy fix. Thank God for small miracles. 

I'm pretty sure my car hates me.

Being without a car has made for a very long six days. Car problems suck and mine just keep going. I don't like relying on other people so having to ask for rides to and from work has driven me absolutely crazy. Luckily for me, I have some very nice co-workers and a great boss who have all helped me out. But unfortunately, my car keeps acting up. I picked it up this afternoon, and things seemed to be going well. And then I saw smoke. This time instead of overheating, it appears that my brakes are locking. So tomorrow I'll be taking my car back to the shop to see what's going on. Considering that they just put new brake parts in my car, I'm hoping it's an easy fix. I'm also not holding my breath.

 

I'm hosting Easter lunch/dinner this year at my apartment. Being without my car has meant that I haven't been able to do the grocery shopping I need to do or go to Target to pick up the Easter-related things I need yet. So far I have my menu planned, and nothing I've picked seems to be too complicated (and yes, I know I totally just jinxed myself again. You'd think I'd learn my lesson this week). I'm making a slow-cooker cranberry pork loin, mashed potatoes, crescent rolls, and a ricotta cake. My mom's bringing green bean casserole. I'm excited (and a little anxious) about cooking for everyone, but I think it'll be fun. At least I hope it is. Keep your fingers crossed for me. If all goes well, I'll post the recipes here Sunday or Monday.

 

I'm so glad this is a short week. My firm is closing for Good Friday. Yay! Let's just hoping I'm going to get my car back tomorrow and that I'll be able to run my Easter errands and to get everything together for Sunday. 

Extreme... Couponing?!?!

For starters, my car has issues with it that I don't understand, but I'll have it back tomorrow. I do not understand cars at all so the explanation of what's wrong with my car went in one ear and out the other. I'll just be happy to have my car back and not be relying on rides to and from work. 

Since moving out on my own, I'm all about coupons. I check coupon websites once or twice a week, and I even have a coupon app on my iPhone. I thought I was doing pretty good at couponing until I caught the show Extreme Couponing the other night. I'm not sure whether I'm horrified or jealous of the people on there. One couple I saw purchased $300+ worth of groceries and spent $0.29 total with all of their coupons.  

It seems too good to be true, and maybe it is. Couponing has consumed these people's lives. Couponing IS their life. I'm not dedicated enough for that. Not that that's a bad thing. These people have a sickness in my opinion. It sounds silly, but I think couponing is a dangerous addiction for them, just as bad as hoarding is for others. Several of them talked about thinking about coupons every minute of the day and not being able to sleep because they might miss a deal. Coupons are wonderful, but like everything else in life, there has to be a balance. 

Before grocery shopping, I go through all my coupons and make notes on my shopping list of things I need or want that I have coupons for, but I don't let coupons dictate my entire shopping trip. Some of the people on Extreme Couponing talked about going to the grocery store at the crack of dawn just to score a deal. That will never happen with me. Heck, I won't even get up that early for Black Friday shopping, and I hate grocery shopping with a passion. Unless someone is giving me hundreds of dollars of groceries for free just for showing up at the grocery store before daylight, I'm not going to be there. 

Because I don't get the paper delivered to me and only get a few coupons (mostly pizza related) in the mail, I do my couponing on the web. Two of my favorite sites for coupons are Coupons.Smartsource.com and Redplum. They're free and easy to print out. I'm just not cut out for hours of couponing like the Extreme Couponing people. 

And while I will not be showing up on Extreme Couponing anytime soon, I will continue to save a few dollars here and there on my grocery trips. I use to think that couponing was uncool for someone in their 20s and maybe it is, but I could care less. The savings add up here and there, and these days, every dollar counts.