March Goals

I got a lot done this month, but still had a few things leftover that have to be pushed to March... most notably my TAXES, which I usually do at the end of January. I STILL haven't received my W-2. :( I have to call the HR office again on Monday and see what's going on... I want my refund already!

All month

  1. Continue exercising daily: 30 day Shred, tennis, ddr, gym or yoga
  2. Continue doing sit-ups for 10 mins/day and 8 lb weights for 10 mins/day
  3. Continue eating healthier
  4. Continue writing my fiction novel
  5. Continue keeping the house clean and smelling good
Week of March 1 - DONE with everything :)

Week of March 8 - DONE with everything :)

Week of March 15 - DONE with everything :)

Week of March 22 - DONE with everything
Week of March 29
  1. Work on proofreader site (get dreamweaver?)
  2. Optimize Google Adsense
  3. Sell some purses
  4. Review notes for all classes
  5. Enjoy Spring Break!!

DVD Winner

The winner of the Family Guy DVD is commenter #5 (as chosen by the random number generator)... Leanna! :) Could you please email me at debtchronicles@hotmail.com with your address?

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Focusing

I've been craving both shopping and sweets lately! I smell spring in the air, and that's causing me stress. Spring = graduation and the beginning of bar prep. When I have big events looming in the distance, I have the worst habit of fretting way too much over them, and putting the rest of my life on hold. I can still function and do what's minimally necessary, but other things fall by the wayside. Things like tracking my budget, exercising, eating healthy...

Graduation is 3 months away, but I have other, smaller events that I'm also fretting over. In 2 weeks I have to pay for my cap and gown and take the MPRE (because I made the mistake of not taking it last August). Then I'm going with friends' to our school's annual ball (yeah, it's supposed to be fun, but I still have to think about makeup, hair, dresses - and how fat I may look in them :P). And a month after that I have to pay my bar prep course in full.

But the fretting really needs to stop. I'm over thinking. Instead I need to focus on self-improvement, in the little time that I have left to truly 100% focus on it. I told myself that that (and my 16 units) was the reason I needed to quit my job. I need to get something out of these 3 months besides just passing my classes. I need to get back on top of my life.

DVD Giveaway

I know it's still February, but I've been bitten by the spring cleaning bug! And while cleaning, I found something that I need to get rid of - Family Guy's Empire Strikes Back spoof Something Something Darkside!

We have two copies, and that's because we bought 1 copy for us and then a 2nd we intended to give to M's dad for Christmas... but M's little brother beat us to it. And then M forgot to return it to Amazon... and now it's just sitting around.

Anyway, if you're interested, please leave a comment! I'll pick a winner at random next Thursday, February 25th @ noon PST! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love Valentine's Day - and always have, whether single or coupled! I've mentioned before that the warm fuzzies the holiday brings is due in large part to my mom, who made it a point to make the day special while I was growing up.

This is the 6th V-Day I've spent with M. We're keeping it low-key today (still recuperating from last weekend's trip!), and doing a lot of lounging. We might take a walk down the beach later, before getting dressed up and heading to dinner at an Italian place. (That's one of our traditions - a new restaurant every year!)

We started the day a little bit differently than all those other years - M sent me on a treasure hunt to find my present! :) It was the cutest thing EVER... and in the end, I discovered a large framed compilation of all the photos of the two of us from the last 5 years (with the outline of a heart in the middle of it) I teared up, and I'm tearing up now just thinking about it!!

My other V-day present was the ring we discovered in a NYC jewelry shop last weekend. I don't want to gush, but... I love, love, love it! The fact that M hates diamonds so much, and he said he wouldn't get me a ring, and yet he was so happy to buy it for me... Yeah. I'm a lucky girl. :)

ANYWAY... that's enough out of me. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, everyone! :) Love and hugs and chocolate!

Pearbudget and UPrinting Giveaway!

Revanche at A Gai Shan Life is giving away a one year free subscription to PearBudget AND 500 business cards from UPrinting!

I've been really terrible about keeping track of my budget the last couple months, and I'm in need of business cards for networking events, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I win both! ;) So nobody's allowed to enter!! (just kidding... ;))

Check out her site for more details!

My Shoe Closet

Taking a cue from Revanche and Kystal, here's my shoe closet...

I love my shoes (and hell, I just love shoes, in general), but yes, I have a lot, and yes, I probably have spent too much on them. ("No wonder she has credit card debt!" :P) I've collected these over a 5 year period (approximately).

At my old workplaces, closed-toe dressy shoes (usually heels) were the norm. Likely my new workplaces will be the same. So the number of those I have is (somewhat) justified. ;)


The flats















The heels














The boots















Missing are the running shoes (3 pairs), 2 pairs of Uggs and the flip-flops (maybe 10 pairs? with about 4 being $3 ones from CVS).

I remember approximately how much I spent on each and every pair, so if someone is interested in an itemized breakdown, I'm willing to provide it.

My shoe philosophy? Stylish and comfortable. My only wants are a pair of tennis shoes (I play in my running shoes, but I know I leave marks on the court and it makes me feel guilty) and red flats. Otherwise, very happy with what I have. :)

New York City

M and I had a fantastic time over the weekend. :) Sure, the temperature was a little rough on our thin Californian skins (nevermind that M is British; his shivering convinced me he's a true Californian now ;)), but seeing frozen lakes and piles of snow was exciting! It's too bad new snow didn't fall on Saturday... at the same time, I'm glad we didn't get snowed in like nearby states!

We arrived (very) late night on Thursday, so wasn't much to do other than order pizza and snuggle under the covers.

On Friday, we woke up around noon (9am our time! We tried to stay on our normal schedule) and headed over to Battery Park to catch the ferry to Liberty Island. We had tickets to the crown, but we missed the time frame. We still had fun walking around the island.

That night, we went to a cuban restaurant, then saw Phantom of the Opera - we were in the 3rd row, courtesy of M's dad! The cast's voices were amazing - and I've always loved the music! The plot was, uh, a little convoluted. But we still had fun. :)

On Saturday, we went to the Museum of Modern Art and saw the Tim Burton exhibit. At first I thought we wouldn't be able to get in (our window was from 12-12:30 and we got there around 2), but it turned out to not be a problem. And we were both thrilled, because the exhibit was the best part of the museum!

From there, we headed to Central Park. We stopped by the zoo right before it closed. I loooved the rainforest room! All those exotic birds uncaged! (I guess I was lucky they didn't poop on my head :p)

We walked all the way to the Met, and got lost inside for about an hour. Admittedly, part of that time was spent sitting on a bench. We needed time to defrost and give our poor feet a break! Neither of us were too excited by the museum, but I felt like we didn't give it enough of a chance. M kept insisting that the museums in London were much nicer.

We grabbed a cab to Rockefeller Center afterwards. We considered going ice skating, but the blast of frigid air emanating from the rink scared us off. I had tickets to the Empire State Building, but the Top of the Rock was right in front of us, so we opted to go for that.

We walked around for a bit before going up, and I asked M to come into the jewelry store with me. I suppose I had an ulterior motive - I knew M was still hunting for a Valentine's Day present. But I was also pretty sure that jewelry was something he didn't want to get me (see my ring incident :p). After a couple of minutes of browsing, I spotted a reeally pretty ring. I asked to try it on, and as it sparkled on my finger, even M admitted it was lovely. ....And next thing I knew, he was buying it for me. ;) He's a sweetheart!!

That night we went to Ben and Jack's Steakhouse, where M had, and I quote "the best steak of [his] life!" Great steaks, and great service too.

Sunday was our last day. It was beautiful and sunny, so we made the most of it by walking around Times Square for a bit. I had read on Yelp that Amy's Bread was fantastic, so we grabbed a cab and headed over. I got the no nut brownie, the almond brioche bread, the chocolate croissant, a cinnamon knot (can't remember exactly what it was called)... and Yelp did NOT let me down! Everything was soo yummy!

So all in all, we had a really wonderful time. It's a fantastic city. And I can't wait to go back! :)

February Goals

All month

  1. Continue exercising daily: 30 day Shred, tennis, ddr, gym or yoga
  2. Continue doing sit-ups for 10 mins/day and 8 lb weights for 10 mins/day
  3. Continue eating healthier
  4. Continue writing my fiction novel
  5. Continue keeping the house clean and smelling good
Week of Feb 22
  1. Do quiz and answer forum q by 2/28
  2. Continue working on paper - draft due March 26th
  3. Make dr appointments: derm, gyno
  4. File Taxes
  5. Review notes for all classes
  6. Go to derm appt on 2/26
  7. Sell all old law books
  8. Sell some purses
  9. Start working on paper
  10. Work on proofreader site (get dreamweaver?)
  11. Optimize Google Adsense

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