LOL Fri

Crazy week for me and I'm so glad it's the weekend! Here are some things that are keeping me LOL'ing. 

 This peanut butter cup squirrel.

This ginormous pan we bought in NYC at a restaurant supply store. It's bigger than we thought.

Silly kitty face close ups (he only has 1 tooth so his lip is curled up sometimes)

I definitely need to link up with Whitney  to get this weekend started! This is what I'm doing all weekend!

Liebster- is that German?

Twu of my favorite blogs Champagne-n-Pizza and The Party Girls Guide nominated moi for a Liebster. I have to admit I didn't really know what it was, but I am honored to be nominated for any award, and after a little Google research, I am really honored!

 

  The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. So, what is a Liebster?  The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. Isn't that sweet? Blogging is about building a community and it's a great way to connect with other bloggers and help spread the word about newer bloggers/blogs.

So here are the rules:

Tell 11 facts about yourself

1. My mom was born in Austria, so I’m “exotic” and “European” by default 
2. I was born in NY, but grew up in Knoxville, TN (Go Vols)
3. I work for the Federal Gov in DC, but am not really supposed to say where exactly ;)
4. I met my hubs when we both worked at the Gap in TN
5. I love to bake, but not cook (meat grosses me out)
6. My vice is sugar (see above)
7. We just bought our first house in Maryland
8. Eight is my lucky number (like I’m freakishly into it, my first, last, and maiden name all have 8 letters)
9. I like to give things/ people silly names- my car is the “Taur-dogg”, the hubs is “Easy-Beasy”, my brothers are “G” and “P-Dizzle”
10. I am double jointed and can do weird things with my shoulders and feet. 
11. I read everyday and my favorite book is White Oleander or The Pillars of the Earth.

Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger created.

From Party Girls Guide

1. If you could bang any celebrity who would it be? Married ladies don’t think about such things, BUT in the spirit of things, I don't think Joe Manganiello is that bad looking :)
2. What is the coolest place you have ever traveled? Holland
3. What's the funniest thing that has happened to you this month? I sent an email about something I drafted and it auto corrected to farted.
4. Coke or Pepsi? Coke
5. Favorite TV show? True Blood (or Dexter, or Downton Abby, or Workaholics)
6. Describe your personal style? Girly and the dreaded comfortable on the weekends  
7.  What's your idea of the perfect night out? Dinner & a walk with ice cream somewhere quaint 
8.  The perfect weekend? Read by the pool all day & do no chores
9. What type of dog is the cutest in all the land (other than Fred) Golden Retrievers!
10. How did you lose your virginity? Just kidding...how many shots do you usually take on a Friday night? 0, I prefer wine & not to embarrass myself.
11. What do you like best about where you live? The street festivals, walking around the tidal basin, museums, cultural restaurants

From Champagne & Pizza

1. How'd you decide to name your blog? My hubs calls my random thoughts “brain droppings” and I love pink, so little & pink  sound like a nicer way to describe what is otherwise known as rabbit turds.
2. What is your favorite thing to do when you get home? Put on comfy (read: ugly) sweat pants
3. First word that comes to mind in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... go! dog
4. Never have you ever... held a gun
5. Weirdest place you've... eaten. On a ferry boat to Martha’s Vineyard
6. Favorite food to eat?  (You must eat it tonight now.) Ice cream!
7.  What will you name your first child or next animal (if you don't want a kid)? Boy: Connor , Girl: Juliana
8. Hot button issue:  gifboom or A Beautiful Mess.  Which app do you like more?  (If you don't have either, feel free to download them and thank me for letting you know about them.  Now that you have them, what do you think?) hahah- I’m terrible, I have neither, but will be getting them!
9. If you were to take me on a blate (blate= blogger date), where would we go? To the first lady dress exhibit at the American History Museum or a cool street festival and then to my fav BierGarten Haus for their pretzel balls, brats, and beer!
10. What is the most interesting thing you know about Texas? Thanks to my girl, a lot! Their flower is the bluebonnet & a possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road (j/k I made that second one up).

List 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers that you believe deserve some recognition.

Well, I'm terrible. I can't nominate the blogs that nominated me and apparent all the other blogs I read have more than 200 readers, sooo I have a new goal to support more of these blogs!

Post 11 questions for them to answer.

Um, see above, I'm passing :)

Cheap Shizz I Do

I am so honored my girls at Champagne-n-Pizza and The Party Girls Guide nominated me for a Liebster. I promise I will do my homework soon!

Anyhoo, I’ll be doing that later since I have a busy day today. I am doing a focus group on cat food. And they’re paying me $200 bones. That’s right my friends, of all the focus groups available, I get picked for one on cat food.(I've submitted for hair care, shopping, banking, etc.)

If you’re in the DC area you can sign up to participate in focus groups here: http://www.shugollresearch.com/

It got me thinking about some of my other money makin' & money savin' schemes:

•  I also secret shop. Hey, I got a free oil change this month. https://www.shopperscritique.com/
•  I use coupons, and
•  sometimes if I see coupons on the top of the recycler, I take them!
•  I’ll get a $50 gift card on eBay for $48
•  I get free filtered water (in a cup) at Starbucks (we also get a ton of coffee there, so I think that’s fair 
•  I scout Travel Zoo for hotel deals for a fun trips (like to NYC this weekend)
•  I sneak snacks into the movies in my purse 
• When the laundry detergent is almost out, I turn it upside down and for good measure, I swirl washing machine water around in it & dump what little remains into the load. 

What schemes do you have to save or make money?