I love the lottery.

In the beginning of this week, I had no clue (really, no clue) about how the lottery works. I mean, okay, I had some clues. I knew that you win money. I knew that numbers are picked. I just didn't understand a few other things.
Luckily, with the help of Paul and Shannon and through listening to other people talk about it, I gathered many clues and actually understood how this lottery thing works. Just in time to buy a ticket on Friday night at 8:30pm - for the first time ever!  I walked out of the liquor store (where wine was bought, of course - typical Friday night) and yelled (not kidding) that I had the winning ticket in my hand. I thought it was hilarious to say this because obviously everyone says they have the winning ticket and no one actually does.
So, 11:00pm rolled around and I sat in my bed in my Snuggie with my best friend and immediately thought to myself and said, "I'm not going to win." Hahahaha. I didn't win. Imagine that!

All week the news was talking to everyone and asking, "What would you do if you won $640 million (or whatever the amount was at the time of the interview)?" 

Here's what I would do:

1. Pay off my student loans - oh, my education. So expensive.
2. Pay off Lola - Lola's my car. She's new-ish. 
3. Pay for my sister's education - she is going to be transferring in a little bit. I know how important picking a school was to me. If I could pay with my millions of dollars, she could go wherever in the world without all of the same worrying I went through with paying for school and that would make me really happy.
4. Give a big chunk to my parents, Paul and his family, Shannon and her family, etc. 
5. Donate some to the Maryland SPCA. 
6. Buy all of the baking supplies in the world so I can bake all the time - lately, I don't bake anything because I don't feel like I have the money to go buy some of the ingredients, etc. 
7. Buy a new comforter - the one I have now is almost the worst. Down comforter with mini teeny tiny holes in it. Feathers. Everywhere.
8. Clone Sasha - this is good for her, not just me. She'd have a buddy. I'd buy them both all the treats ever. 
9. Go on a lot of trips - Disney World? DisneyLAND? Boston!? Hahaha Boston, mostly. My weird obsession with Boston will NEVER stop until I finally get a chance to go there.
10. Buy all of the different wines that are good. Wine wine wine wine wine. 
11. And this is a bonus one...I'd buy all the clothes I want. I like to put clothes into my virtual "shopping cart" online and let them sit there and then never buy them because I don't think I have the money. So, if I had money, I'd be able to virtually check out and virtually (or really) buy them. So much dresses, so much v-necks. 

I love Philadelphia.

I haven’t been to many cities outside of Baltimore. In fact, the only cities I have been to (and spent a decent amount of time in – more than a few hours) are Philadelphia and New York City. I blame my lack of city life experiences for my “I need to go to so many cities right now” obsession.

Even though I have been to Philly before, it was a few years ago and I feel like I didn’t get to see the whole city because it was only a day trip. I feel like I need to go back for at least a weekend! Or maybe just another day so in my entire life, I would have spent a total weekend (or two days, total) in the city.

Here are a few spots I want to hit up if I get a chance to go back:

1. Philadelphia Muesem of Art - Museums can be a blast almost always and they remind me of field trips in elementary school and that's fun.
2. Urban Outfitters - I'm serious. When I went last time (or the only time) I was there, it was amazing. I have good memories of it. Mostly because I got a cute dress for $15 and how often do you get a cute dress from Urban Outfitters for only $15? Maybe that happens a lot to you but it has happened to me since I went to the one in Philly.
3. Please Touch Museum - Is this place only for small children? Probably. 
4. The Liberty Bell - I can't remember if I ever got to see it in elementary/middle school but I'm 100% sure that I didn't. So, I'd like to see that if at all possible.

The best part about Philly, to me, is that it’s so close. It’s close enough that I don’t mind driving, yet far enough away that I feel like I’m in another city? Makes sense, right? It does? Okay, good. I want to go there. Soon. 

I love weekends.

 

This weekend I:

• Played a little bit of basketball with Paul since it was like 80 degrees out on Friday. Magical.
• Went to Jams' Open House and hung out with Paul + company and ate some nachos.
• Went to Recher Theatre for a show benefitting the Nikki Perlow Foundation. 
• Hung out at Rec Room for the first time ever. Not even kidding, I've been wanting to go there for a long time and just never had a chance/reason to. I'm glad I got to go this weekend! It was great.
• Looked like a creepy floating head in a group picture (look above). Typical life.
• Found out my car insurance payments went down like $20 - wahoo! 
• Got awesome feedback about this lil baby (aka this blog) via real life. It makes me really happy that people are reading it! :)

I love fun.

A year or two ago, I downloaded the fun. EP “Aim and Ignite." I mean, I definitely paid for except that I didn’t because I was a poor college student at the time and I couldn’t afford to buy anything that wasn’t textbooks or food or gas. I was really excited because I had been a fan of The Format for a long time and I knew that Nate was singing for fun. as well so I thought it would be The Format Pt. 2.  It was a good CD and I didn’t know that anything else was really going to be coming out from them for a while.

Suddenly (or probably not actually suddenly, haha. It had been a while),  "We Are Young" becomes super huge (that’s what she said). It’s on the radio everywhere and everyone is listening to it and of course I think it’s a good song but I can’t listen to it without cringing. 

In situations like these, I fight it. I fight the urge to like the song on the radio (even though I love it) because I’m that person. It turns into this thing where I think that because I liked Nate’s voice and work prior to now (The Format + fun.) and no one appreciated it this much before, I have the right to get stubborn and bitter. I can’t enjoy the song for myself just because everyone else is enjoying it. (Side note: I don't dislike anyone who does like the song - there isn't any bitterness there. Just wanted to clear that up!)

On Friday, after a month or two of fighting, I decided to stop and truly enjoy the song for what it is. Like I said, of course I love it. I just had to get over my stubbornness. Since then, life’s been awesome. The end.

Moral of the story: I shouldn't be stubborn about these kinds of things because in the end, I'm only making myself miserable/less happy. 

I love weekends + holidays.

This weekend I:

• Drank too much wine and watched Pretty Little Liars with best friend and sister. Best show ever and best wine ever. I'm seriously going to freak out at the season finale. I'm also going to freak out when I have to live without the show for the next few months.
• Watched a lot of college basketball and got anxious and worried about my bracket(s). What is life, Mizzou + Duke? For now, my Final Four(s) are still alive!
• Baked goodies for St. Patrick's Day - recipe here. They were a hit and super easy to make! Salty + sweet, yum!
• Celebrated St. Patrick's Day with friends - food, football, games, and more food! 

I love the March for the Animals!

I'm participating in the SPCA March of the Animals on April 29th! Please donate any little bit of money that you can ($1, $5, $10, etc.) at the link below so I can reach my tiny goal of $250! 

My Donation Page 

I love weekends.

I thought this weekend was going to be so boring. I expected it to be filled with me sitting on my bed watching old Daily Grace videos and maybe going to Target by myself at some point.

Luckily, it turned into a really fun and sort of eventful weekend! 

This weekend I:

• Went to the new Starbucks in town with Shannon. There are rumors that it's the biggest one in the world (I'm not kidding) and I really don't believe it. I just don't! It can't be true. I like to say it's the biggest Starbucks in Eldersburg. 
• Saw a house that was all decorated for St. Patrick's Day. What is life?
• Ate a very early dinner at Chili's where I also got an e-mail from Chili's...while I was at Chili's. Things like this really excite me. 
• Went to Target (aka heaven) and got new nail polish that is kind of blue and kind of green. Which is it? I'm pretending it's green this week in honor of St. Patrick's Day.
• Bought a shirt for St. Patrick's Day! Let's hope it comes before Saturday so it wasn't a waste of money!

I love boy bands.

Last night, my sister and I bought Big Time Rush tickets, haha. I'm obviously 12 years old but tickets were only $25. I couldn't help myself. I'm really excited! Here are the top 10 reasons why it's going to be awesome:

1. They're cute boys. Aw, so cute. I'm 12. 
2. They can dance really good.
3. My sister, her friend and I can hang out with tons of actual 12 year olds that are screaming at the top of their lungs over these cute boys that can dance really good.
4. There's probably going to be good food at the venue.
5. I was going to say I can get a beer (I don't drink beer but I like to pretend I will) but I'll be driving. So...that's probably not true.
6. I can get a Big Time Rush shirt that has tour dates on the back. I haven't had a shirt like that since I was actually 12. I probably won't get one. But again, I like to pretend I will.
7. Cody Simpson is opening up for them. I don't care about him but isn't he British? That's cool. I think he's actually 12. 
8. Remember when I met them a few years ago at a signing? Yeah, same. James and I had some great chemistry. 
9. They're guys my age getting paid millions of dollars to sing songs about love and dance really good. That's something worth witnessing via real life.
10. I haven't gone to an actual concert in years. This is going to be great.

I love luckythirteen design.

I have a mild obsession with Etsy and checking it everyday and liking everything I see (which leads to me having so many "favorites" that it takes hours go to through all of them). Lately I've been wanting to buy a new print for my room/desk. I'm definitely going to get one of these three prints from luckythirteen design - I just need to figure out which one! They're all so bright and designed so differently than a lot of the other prints I see on Etsy. Not only that, but they're also great quotes (especially the Barney Stinson one). 

I love(d) February.

If I had to name my least favorite month, it'd probably be February. By the time February comes around, I'm usually sick of the cold + the snow + the wind + the darkness all the time. Surprisingly, this February was actually really awesome. Here are my five favorite things from February:


1. I became a crazy coupon lady. 
Now that I'm making real money, I have to buy a lot of my own groceries, deodorant, and other fun stuff like that. If you know me, you know that I'm a weirdo about spending money. Even now that I am actually making it, I try to save it as much as I can. Therefore, when I see a pile coupons sitting on the counter on a Saturday morning, I freak out and cut as many as I can (and probably get too excited about it). I've started trying new things that I normally wouldn't buy, simply because I have a coupon for it. For example, these little bars are amazing and I wouldn't have ever tried them without my little $1.00 off coupon, hahaha:

2. I started a new job.
Which means I also became a commuting adult who commutes to work and complains about traffic. The commuting thing may not seem like a good thing but it kind of has been. I have a lot of time to think about things (and listen to my music really loud) when I'm driving home from work in the evenings. It's nice. Plus, most importantly, my job is nice, too. I'm really happy.


3. I got to see a lot of sunsets.
Driving home from work has also allowed me to see some of the best sunsets ever that I probably wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't driving home between 5:45 and 6:00 on Liberty Road. I'm not usually one to take 500 pictures of the sunset but I couldn't help myself this month. I took so many!

4. Valentine's Day.
I don't remember (typical, I have an awful memory) what I thought about Valentine's Day before I was with Paul, but I'm pretty sure I still kind of liked it. Even if I was lame and didn't have a valentine before him, I still kind of enjoyed it. I'm sure I was negative about it a handful of times but now that I'm older, I'd like to think I'd like it even if I didn't have a valentine. Anyways, this Valentine's Day was enjoyable.


5. New appreciation for my family + home. 
The few weeks after I graduated felt a lot longer than they actually were. I felt like I was always at home which kind of led me to not enjoy being home as much as I would have before. But now, being away from home from 7:30am until 6:00pm has really made appreciate my family and being home. :)

I love Lauren Conrad.

Every day I just wonder why I'm not Lauren Conrad. I need to know why I don't have her life.