Weight Loss Wednesday

I've been slacking a little bit in the blogging department lately, sorry. This week feels like it's going by so slow knowing that we are only a few sleeps away from seeing the most amazing woman on the planet (Miranda, of course!). I hope the rest of the week flies by! Anyway, back to weight loss. I'm at 25 pounds down and I feel great. I finally purchased some new pants and bikinis for the summer and compared them to my old ones, boy what a difference! My first pair of skinny jeans that I bought from Old Navy were a 14. I just bought a pair of 8's the other day, along with 10's in the colored ones (I think the colored ones run smaller than the regular jean ones). My bikinis from our honeymoon cruise were XL women's bottoms and large tops (mind you, I am pretty flat chested also...) from Target, now I'm in a medium bottom (in juniors!) and a small top. Now if only this belly flab will go away, I'll be happy.

this is my happiest moment, seeing the difference.

I recently got H to run with me after work. I don't know what came over him but he said he would run with me and I definitely loved the idea. Well, he might not run often but he certainly isn't slow. But he also was always fit, me on the other hand, have never been fit. I asked him if he would do the Color Run with me and my sister this summer and he said he would so I hope he's serious!

This past weekend was a fun one for the hubby and I. We had a few good meals out, did a little shopping together and watched a few movies at home. The crazy weather forecasts really put a damper on things because we were expecting some heavy snow so we didn't want to go too far from home just incase we had to go out plowing. Well, the snow was mostly rain and what little snow we got wasn't really worth plowing. But we still had a good weekend regardless. We went out Saturday for lunch, Sunday for breakfast and Monday for dinner. And I only cheated a little bit :) (Never knew the 99 had such great drinks, mango mai tai's are where it's at!) It was nice to have a few days off in the kitchen.

Now the tough part of my week is this... I went back to the mall today to go to Forever 21 because I knew I'd be in there forever (haha!) and didn't want the hubby to suffer while I searched for the perfect shirt for the concert this weekend. Well, I ended up walking out of there with 4 new tank tops and a few necklaces but all for $80 so I thought that was good... Then, I walked by Tilley's. We just got a Tilley's here in MA so as I walked by, a shirt caught my eye so I decided to go check it out.. Well, after trying on atleast 5 other shirts, I fell in love with this tank top with pistols and daisies on it. Well, now I have two shirts I'm very torn over. I feel like I should rock the pistol one because it just screams Miranda but at the same time, I love the other one just as much. Ah, the choices, the choices. Hopefully the hubby can help me out. But serious, Forever 21 is killin' it with the 'Merica stuff right now. And I also got myself a red sundress for Kip Moore next month ;)

When the air and BS get too thick..

Not only am I making one post today, I'm making two. O-M-G! Let's just start off by saying, these past couple days have been fantastic here in New England. I can't believe the wonderful weather we are getting this early in the year. It hit 70 degrees yesterday, that has to be a record of some sort. Since H is working during the day for a few more weeks, we've been enjoying our last couple nights to do what we want in the beautiful weather. Starting with, cleaning our vehicles this weekend. Mind you, I HATE cleaning out my car. I would rather clean my whole house before cleaning my car. I should probably start liking it more or H won't let me get a new car next month. (Which we decided will be a brand new Equinox since I love mine so much) I love the way my car smells now, so I should be happy but boy was it a lot of work. And yes, H made me wax the damn thing too. Ugh. But his truck sure looks mighty sexy.

Monday night, we washed the dirt bike, cleaned our yard (FINALLY! hell-o slackers we've only been here for over 4 months) and started to clean out the back porch. We even busted out the little weber grill and made some steak and south african braai brokkies (sp?) which are basically a grilled cheese and tomato just with shredded cheese instead and toasted on the grill or in south africa, a braai over an open flame. Man, these things are to die for. This is my prepping for the BBQ... mmm.

Last night, another gorgeous night we started playing a little Tiger Woods on the xbox before dinner was finished then took a drive down to the beach with all the dogs. It was amazing how it was almost 10 degrees colder near the water than it was at our house, 10 minutes away. We weren't quite prepared for that so we headed back home where it was warmer and played with the dogs for a bit. They all love being outside, it's so cute. And while sitting on the couch watching tv with H, I said I wish we had a thunderstorm to end this perfect night and sure enough, in the middle of the night, I awoke in a panic attack thinking our house was collapsing. Thanks mother nature, I wanted the thunderstorm but you could've made it a little more subtle.

I also have been embracing my bargainista in me by spending a lot of time at TJMaxx/Marshall's lately. I scored a gorgeous leopard print scarf, originally from Express for only $5! Last time I found a leopard print scarf I wanted from Express, it was $25! What a steal. Then I got a cool gear cup for my iced coffees for only $4 when they are $8 at Wal-Mart right now. Annnnnd, I got an Abercrombie plaid button up shirt for only $15. We all know how expensive Abercrombie is! I don't even shop there but the plaid was too cute to pass up. It's amazing how much of a deal you can get on stuff if you really look around. I'm proud to say I've finally turned into a bargain hunter.

 (Yes, that is my breakfast today. Coffee and Apple Pie yogurt, mmm)

Now for Wednesday Link - Up.. yay :0)

I feel like it's been forever since I've been on here.

Has it not?

Ok, maybe I'm crazy.

Our taxes came in yesterday!

HOOOO-RAY!

Which means . . . 

RETAIL THERAPY! :)

 

I went to Target yesterday and found these gorgeous boots for only $11.84! I certainly needed another pair of boots after discovering that. They are very comfortable as well.

 

I also bought nude pumps and nude skinny belt to wear with my LBD that I bought prior to this shopping trip. I can't even express how much I love this dress as it's so versatile and you can do so much with it just by adding a belt or different colored shoes.

I hate how all Targets near me are having a "construction" moment. I don't know what they are doing, but there was absolutely nothing in the make-up section. I wanted new nail polish and there was none! The shelves were completely wiped out. Maybe they are rearranging it all but I wasn't very happy :(

I also went to Old Navy to look for a scarf that I had seen online, which of course they don't carry in the store. But, I found this adorable red cotton dress to wear with my boots! Yes, I was singing Something Bout A Truck when I bought the red dress. "Somethin bout a girl, in a red sun dress "  Hey, it happens. The dress was on clearance for $11 also. It's not on clearance online either so that made my day as I've been eyeing it for a little while! 

 

I also paid off our credit card so we have that in case of emergencies again. It feels good to get things paid off. I have a few bills to mail out and things are good. Now, I just need to venture out in the snow to get envelopes. Yes, we are finally getting snow! It hasn't accumulated to much near me, but it's snowing none-the-less. It's so beautiful outside. 

{Recap} St. Maarten!

Day 2 of our cruise was a stop in Phillipsburg, St. Maarten. Let's just say, H and I are already planning our next vacation back. This island is AMAZING. This place comes alive when there's 6 or 7 cruise ships in port, haha. We started off our day with a snorkeling excursion that was called Tiki Hut Snorkel. It was at your own leisure and offered a small pool to practice if you were uncomfortable. We took a water taxi from the port to the little floating Tiki Hut and had a brief explanation of what was around the area to see underwater and off we went. There was a sunken helicopter! Not just part of it, a whole one! Also, there was part of the old fort that was washed away during a hurricane. We saw a lot of fish and even a small jelly fish. *insert Kayla squealing like a little girl and swimming for her dear life* We tried their guava berry pina colada, which wasn't bad but definitely strong and had a hot dog for lunch right there on the deck. We went back into the water for a little longer then hopped on the next water taxi back to the port. We strolled around the few stores that were in the port, took a picture in front of the huge Welcome to St. Maarten sign and then hopped on another water taxi over to the rest of the shopping. This place was heaven. We started at a jewelry store that we had coupons for a free gift from our cruise planner. Then, it was to the Hard Rock to buy my step-dad a guitar pin (he collects them) and I got myself an adorable pair of shorts. We continued to walk the beach and H was checking out all the jet ski rentals again. We decided to turn around and walk to the other end of the strip and stopped at a little bar and restaurant called Bottoms Up. We saw a sign for 2 rum punches for $10 so that's what we got. Our bartender was awesome! He immediately knew H was from another country and come to find out, the bartender was actually in South Africa for over a year and could speak Afrikaans (for those of you that don't know, H is from South Africa and has been here for almost 9 years now and Afrikaans is the language they speak in South Africa). We had a few more drinks and just enjoyed our surroundings. There was music playing, friendly people all around.. just an incredible place. They even bring you drinks out on the beach if you'd like. Right there, at that little table on the beach strip, we decided our next vacation would be back to St. Maarten. Once we finished our drinks, we headed back down the beach to the jet ski rentals. We bartered the price to $50 since that's what we wanted to spend and head out on the water. This time, since the water was much calmer where we were than in Puerto Rico, it wasn't so abusive to the passenger in the back. H let me drive and of course, I rolled it in the middle of the ocean. We tipped it back over and I decided my driving days were over on the ocean. It's a lot harder to drive on the ocean with the waves turning you the way they want, than driving on a calm lake. We finished our time and caught a water taxi back to the port so we could get ready for dinner and to leave port. We didn't even want to leave. If you have never been to St. Maarten, go book a trip ASAP or go on a cruise with a stop on this island. They call it the Friendly Island for a reason and once those cruise ships port, the place just livens up!

 Honeymooners on the water taxi

 The oldest fort in the caribbean

 the gorgeous view from the boat

The tiki hut where we went snorkeling

Snorkeling! This is the only picture that came out from our underwater camera :(

Welcome to St. Maarten.. they will definitely see us again!

 Shopping!

 H at Bottoms Up!

 Me at Bottoms Up!

Where we went jetskiing, taken from the water taxi ride back to the port

Cruise Shopping!

Our family friends were so generous to give us the gift of going on a cruise with them and many work friends for our honeymoon, since we couldn't afford one. We are leaving January 27 to stay in Puerto Rico for 2 days then we set sail on the 29th on Royal Carribbean Adventure of the Seas. We went on a cruise with them before 2 years ago and we had a blast. I can't wait to have some wildberry lava flows in the sunny weather by the pool :) So, I didn't buy a lot of summer clothes last year since we were saving for our wedding -- which meant it was time to do some serious shopping for 9 days in the carribbean! I ordered a lot of stuff online and also bought some stuff in the stores. Here's what I got/ordered for me so far --

Express (love this top, the color is much brighter in person)

AE

AE

AE

American Eagle

Target (these look great with a top I purchased at Charolette Russe years ago and never wore) 

Target

Target

Target (I think this is so cute for setting sail.. so sailor like)

Charolette Russe (It's layers of lace, so cute)

Charolette Russe

 

VS (got to have lounge shorts, even if it's just to sleep in!)

Abercrombie

Famous Footwear

Macy's

I also have a gorgeous formal gown that I bought from Macy's that was originally $169 on sale for $86 plus an additional 15% off so I got it for $75 but it is no longer on the website. It's a deep purple color and I can't wait to wear it. Of course, not a lot of summer or spring clothes are out just yet so I had to start early but ordering some online and if anything doesn't work out, I'll have to try again at the mall. They're slowly starting to get some brighter colors in the stores now. Target atleast had their bathing suits out which was great because I hate ordering bathing suits online. The bottoms that went with the tops I purchased were ugly so I could swap them out for a basic black bottom which I love much better. I also got a cute cover up dress from Target that's not on their website yet that is pink, black, purple and blue. I can not wait for this cruise.. only 25 more days to go..