Just my cupa' tea

Some of the key ingredients to a perfect day, Whitney style:
Sleeping in.  Check.
A gray/rainy day.  Check.
Home made pancakes. You betcha!!
Crossing things off my to-do list. Mmmhmm.

And then here is where it starts to get good....

Sitting down and finishing the rest of the first season of

Downton Abbey

via

all the while drinking cup after cup of one of my favorite teas

Ding! Ding! We have a winner!
But seriously?! I'm a little obsessed with this BBC drama.
I love the house (aka Abbey), I love the clothes, and I even love most of the characters.
I have always felt that I was born in the wrong period of time and I should've been in a situation a lot like Downton Abbey.  But then I realized that if I was?
I probably would have been a servant.
And that is why I live vicariously through this show!
Have a good one all!  I'm on to season 2!!!

To: Aaron

It's been a while since I've posted a song I can't wait to listen to over

and over

and over again...

This is one of them:

Sometimes, when it feels like things are tough and my little world is falling down all around me, it's nice to know that I will always have someone who won't give up on me.

No bake cookies

Aaron has mentioned several times this month that he would like some cookies.  I would always agree but would do nothing.....that is until tonight.

I have felt oh so lazy lately and didn't feel like starting a cookie that took longer than 10 minutes from the start to the tasty end. That's why these cookies popped into my mind.

I've always really liked "No-bake cookies" when friends have made them but never made any of my own.  Now that I know how little effort goes into them?  I super love them.

I did a quick search on the Internet and found a recipe that had all of the ingredients I had at home. 

In case you don't want to follow that link (trust me you do to see all of her other goodies) here is the recipe.  The reason I really like this one is that it only makes 12 cookies- just right for 2 little people.

They aren't pretty but they are pretty good....bahaaha!

No bake cookies (makes 12)

3 tbsp butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 tbsp cocoa

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp milk

1/2 cup creamy PB

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups quick oats

1. Melt the butter then remove from the heat
2. Stir in the cocoa, sugar and salt until well blended then stir in the milk.  Bring the mix to a boil and remove from the heat.
3. Stir in the peanut butter, vanilla and quick oats.
4. Then drop the mix by the spoonful onto a cookies sheet
5. Place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes
6. Enjoy!

15 days and counting....

     Dear Shopping,

     I miss you.  Do you miss me? Have you thought about me?  I think about you . A. Whole. Lot.  Probably more than the healthy amount one should think about shopping, or anything for that matter.  Am I saying too much?  Now I'm a little embarrassed.  No I'm not.

     Well Shopping, I'm writing you today to let you know we will be together in 15 short days (that's 2 weeks and one day- psh...not like I'm counting or anything though.....)  Reunited, and it will feel so good (that sounds dirty but I don't mean any dirty business in saying that....this is a wholesome, unadulterated love shopping and I.AM. COMMITTED.  Or maybe should be committed?

     But I digress.  Shopping?!  Are you still reading this?  I'm sorry I took you for granted at times, but I really enjoyed our times spent together.  You were the one ran to for stress relief (HELLO blessed retail therapy!)  I miss you and I really feel like I learned my lesson.  I know now I need to treat you with respect and only call when I really need something...not because I'm bored or had a bad day.  No good comes of that.  At the end of the day, no one wants your emotional hand-me-downs, do they?

     So I just had to tell you how I really feel.  I wanted to let you know I'm a changed woman-girl and I look forward to seeing you soon!

                                            Sincerely,

                                                    Crazy,crazy Whitney

And next on a very special episode of "Hoarders"....

When is the accumulation of "stuff" too much?  And is too much of a good thing a bad thing?
Really, what is too much?!

These are questions I've been contemplating as I continue to try my hardest to simplify my life like a guy.
Lately I've been going through every room and cabinet in the house looking for stuff to get rid of.  But for me the act of getting rid of something is not always easy.
I'm a self diagnosed, class 1 hoarder.  What is that you may ask?
I think that means I have a fair amount of stuff but I'm not foraging paths with a shovel through my house...just yet.
Yeah, I have clothes in my closet from 8 years ago.....some of it not even touched for that long.  But they are cute.  They may fit again.  I already own it.
I only just realized today that 50% of girls don't even keep their clothes for 8 months
(I totally made up that stat...but it could be true?)
You see, I have things tucked in every corner of the house that I may need some day.
I even found, as I was cleaning out my "crap room" the little rustic wood boxes that gift packages of jam come in.  I remember thinking in the past it would be "cute to do something with?" and just now I thought to myself: get over it.  It's only a box.
However, while it hasn't always been easy,it has also been liberating as I've managed to let go of stuff and even make a little money off of some of it (always a plus!!)
My dark little rooms and cupboards are already looking larger....
And this my friends??  This is what's been going on with me lately and this is why posts have been scarce!
It is bleak.

Only 22 days left.....

in this forsaken 100-no-shopping-challenge( I joke, I joke....a little bit) and I.Can't.Wait.To.Shop

(even if it is just a little bit...like a scarf or something)

I even pushed the envelope a bit and walked into an Old Navy with a friend.

It may be a bit like bringing a recovering alcoholic to a bar, not the best choice.

But I didn't cave!!  I was strong!

Afterwards I got back in the car where Aaron was waiting and said:

"Oh my goodness!  I want to buy SO much here!"

But then I was reminded just how many clothes I already own.

Case in point:



The upper right corner does not hold my clothes.....that's it.



So I'm trying to remind myself to stay content, to make new and exciting outfit combos

(although tough when things don't fit so well....)

I'll keep ya' posted if I pull this thing off!

What a good day looks like

The first thing I saw when I walked in the door and down the hall to the break room at work was this:

The only difference in what you are seeing and what I saw was that,at the time, the light was off.

Because I was not sure what was going on, I yelled down the hall to a co-worker "can I go in here?"

She cracked up and told me to open the door.

Then I walked in and saw this hanging from the ceiling:

(something I jokingly said yesterday)

 then this:

and then this:

I finally realized that something was up

(hey, I'm not the most alert in the morning....)

It turned out to be 'National Dental Assistant' week.

(FYI: if you don't know already, I'm a dental assistant)

So this turned out to be a delightful surprise!

The girls I work with set up our break room with quotes from earlier seasons of "the Office"

then piled delicious flavored popcorn on the table for a "popcorn party" and then gave us dental assistants our own individual bags full of goodies.

 It was so fun and a huge surprise!

I LOVE SURPRISES!

Here are a few of the other hilarious quotes from "the Office" hung around the break room:

I'm allergic to dairy....love these girl's sense of humor!!

The only other quote I somehow missed taking a picture of that was hanging in another door way was this one, from the 'Diversity Day' episode:
"This is an environment of welcoming and you should just get the hell out of here."
Too funny!
Hope you had just as much fun reading these as I did!

Zebra-Whitney is back!

In a previous post I noticed my eye had been wandering to the "other print" otherwise known as cheetah.

While I did finally track down a cheetah print cardigan, that is as far as I got into the print.

I could never leave my first love: zebra print.

Here's the proof:



Cardigan: J.Crew; Tank: Old Navy; Skirt: J.Crew
Tights:??; Shoes: Ross

P.S. I kind of blend with my couch in the background.

See? I love zebra print!!

The "simplify-like-a-guy" project

For quite some time, I've felt wasteful, greedy and stressed in my every day life as a result of buying or receiving more than I've really needed.
In the past I only noticed these feelings as I would collect bags of clothes I no longer wanted/liked and take them to goodwill.

But now I've become even more aware of this guilt since I've been doing the 100 day "retail-detox."
(for those not familiar: no shopping of any kind for clothes or accessories) 

Not only is my closet full of "unnecessary" (but still equally adored) clothes, but the more I looked around I realized: my house harbors a lot of "unnecessary".  So does my life for that matter.
The truth is I didn't really need most of what I have now.

Because of this startling revelation, I've decided to baby-step-it-backwards, if you will, to the goal of having less possessions....not more.
I realize I may be the only person in this country trying to do this right now, but it's something I have to do for me.
I want to such things as use up all of the skin/hair/body/makeup products I have before buying/trying any more. As a result I want to end up with a core of favorite products. Simple.
Is it really that difficult to only have and use one shampoo, one conditioner and one shaving cream?
I don't think so anymore and I'm guessing most of the men in our life wouldn't think so either.  After all,  they only use shampoo, soap and toothpaste to get ready in the morning.
Thus the idea to simplify like a guy.
I also plan on cleaning out my "crap room" and the rest of my house and ridding the entire thing of clutter.
I'm hoping what's left over will be used more and be turned in to necessities.
I realize this is going to be a long-term project but I'm feeling it's more than necessary right now.
Join me as I drop the added weight from my life...


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