Turning 25!

This weekend I had a GRAND weekend.

Friday night I had an actual birthday party with friends. For the last 4 years I have only had my family birthday party (which is always wonderful) complete with Aubrey and Haley. This year Haley convinced me to have a birthday party and so I did, and I am so glad that I did.

The party started at La Nop at 7:00 and ended at our house around 2:40. Guest List:

Kyle

Haley

Aubrey

Josh H.

Kyle L.

Emiley

Dave

Allison

Autumn

Raf

Jonathan G.

April

Jonathan A.

Chelsea

Brooke (Unable to Attend)

Cameron (Unable to attend)

I haven't seen a lot of these people in a while so I will make it my new years resolution to continue hanging out with everyone!

Then Saturday I had my family birthday party which was made complete with Haley. Outback then White Chocolate Raspberry Cake made by Chuck Anno (a.k.a. Dad). Everything was amazing.

Thanks to all my family and friends who help make my life enjoyable to live! I love you all!!!

New Skirt

So, after I made the post last night, I impulsively made a new skirt, which I am wearing today and I LOVE IT! It's going down in my Favorite's Book. I started this skirt at 9:30PM and finished around 12:30AM. I also made the sash too.

Update... Sewing, House, etc...

Because I haven't updated this in a while this post will be a picture blog.

First, here are my sewing projects!

I made this skirt and I love it! I'm about to make a version of this in zebra print, with hot pink accents! I cannot wait!

This is the purse I made for my friend's birthday. I forgot to take a picture of the actual purse, however, hopefully I'll get a picture of it because she promised that she would take one for me. But, the actual purse is just as wonderful as this picture.

Here is my kitchen after the tile, remember my last post about blowing the $800. Well, it was well worth it, and anyways, who can live off of $800 a month anyways.

This is my floor before, and this is AFTER (plus, notice the new refrigerator and dishwasher)!


And finally, I have started a "charity" called the Pink Closet, well for those who would like to see, here is the Pink Closet!

Well, I'll try to be better at posting stuff on here. Thanks for all my faithful readers, and I know you two by name. :)

So, There Goes $800.00

Well, Kyle and I have been doing really well not spending much money until today. Right now, we are at $500.00 on the credit card. However, we have spent money for very good reason. We were wanting to save up money to put tile down in our kitchen/foyer area because the person we were going to use only took cash/check. Then, we were talking to him the other day and we can charge it or pay him in installments over the next 2 months. Well, to make a long story short, we are getting tile tomorrow! I am so excited to get rid of our "beautiful" country blue diamond vinyl flooring. We shouldn't pass this offer up. The guy is laying the tile for $3.00 a sq.ft.

Here a few pictures for your enjoyment:

Here is a sample of our new tile and layout!

My $0.70 Day

Boy, Kyle and I had a great day, and a rather cheap one. To start out I woke up, and started the finishing process for my guest bathroom. It's been a long time coming, however, right now my cabinet doors are about to make me lose my faith. Anyways, here we go with the breakdown:

Lunch: Chick-Fil-A, cost $0.00. How you ask? Well, my mom went to the Chick-fil-A on JTB last Saturday. They were having a thing where if you bring your receipt you can get the exact same thing for free. So, Kyle and I got the exact same thing for $0.00

Lowes: 10 White Outlets, Plugs and covers, and 4 light bulbs for $0.20. How you ask? We had $34.08 in returns which we exchanged out for $34.28 in new purchases.

Hallmark for Officer J.L. Gray's Police Academy Graduation Party. -$9.50. Why? $14.50 in returns and a $4.99 card. Then, with the purchase of 2 free doughnuts because of National Doughnut Day and a $10.00 gift card to Krispy Kreme for our Police Officer.

Bringing in a grand total of $0.70. Way to go Erica!

Day 3 And I Have Done Well

So, I haven't purchased anything yet. Congratulations to Erica! However, for an update Kyle has purchased:
Gas: $45.00
Lunch: $7.69
Munchies: $4.04
_____________
Total: $56.73

For a total on our credit card of: $458.00

I'm not sure we'll be able to make the cut this month, but I'm still hoping. Today I do plan on buying a zipper = $3.00 and a tank of gas = $40.00 for a new grand total of: $501.00.

I have faith. Kyle and I can do it. Only 22 days left in this billing period! We can do it!!!

It's only 9:00AM

It's only 9:00AM and I have something that I want to buy that I know I just can't live without. But, I have to resist until the first of July, I shouldn't buy it this month. However, it's an Ionic Breeze and it's an air purifier, which Kyle and I need. Every morning when we wake up our heads are so stuffed up, and this morning I heard my poor husband weezing.

However, I know that we can make it without an Ionic Breeze until July. I mean, we have been living in this house for almost a year without one. Come on Erica, you can do it! Don't buy it, don't buy it!!!

Well, we will see how my will power is later today. Wish me luck.

STOP SPENDING MONEY!

So, I have decided to resort to my blog to hold me accountable for the money I spend. I'm needing to do this because I really want to get tile put down in my kitchen and foyer and I want to pay cash for it. So, here I go. My goal is to keep our credit card bill at $800 +/- $100. Just for people who are reading this, our credit card is our only form of payment for food, gas, entertainment and stuff. We don't use our debit card at all. We pay it off every month but if we (I) can do this then we can get our floors in no time.

Just to let you know, these blogs might get tedious, and I will need support, so if you can comment any suggestions or encouragement that would be great! Thanks!

Erica

I really shouldn't wait so long to write blogs

Where to start:

I'll start with last Saturday. What a great day. Kyle and I took our niece for a nice birthday party at a skating rink. Great idea, everybody loves to go to the skating rink... except when... half the invited population doesn't know how to skate. For some of these 8 year olds it was their first time on roller skates. So, great idea! Then to add to our beginner skaters we have this pain in the butt middle schoolers who are so cool that they are on the hockey team, which means they skate as fast as they possibly can. They zip and zoom right past these speed bumps, I mean fallen kids, on the rink. And then, don't get me started on all the weaving in and out. If you accidently find yourself in the middle of the rink, well, God help you to get out of it. I feel like I'm in European Vacation, in the round about that is impossible to get out of.

Boy, another thing about skating rink birthday parties, is the party plans do not include adults AT ALL. So, we're going to throw a birthday party from 12 - 3, but this only includes 1 slice of pizza for the children. Did I mention that you aren't allowed to bring your own food in. What a joke! Also, it cost Kyle and I $18.00 to go to a little boys birthday party. WHAT?!?! Oh, well, it was all good in the end because Zoe is learning to skate. It looked like a painful process but she's working on it. We'll be doing this again!

After our party, we got to go see Saltimbanco by Cirque du Soliel. It was a great show. I first had a passion for them in Orlando at La Numba. Great show for anyone who goes down there. Well worth the money.

THEN: My SEWING PROJECTS

So, here is the much anticipated pictures of my wonderful purse:

Outside
Inside

And then for a BONUS! I made an apron, and I am now in the process of making my skirt and another apron, because I figure if I have 5 aprons then I have one to wear every night when I cook, because like every good house wife I cook 5 times a week. J/K, you're lucky if I'm in the kitchen once a week.
and now: MEMORIAL DAY (in pictures, since I know you're tired of reading)

The Bread, which I stacked so neatly

The Meat

The Extras

Trent Enjoying his Ice Cream, and saving plenty for later

Zoe Enjoying her Ice Cream

Kyle with his Niece and Nephew

Dad, Trent and Zoe

Nana June, April (my mother-in-law) & Aunt Sandy
My flowers from the back yard. I think it was every flower they could find.

So Many "Exciting" Things Have Happened!

For Starters let me talk American Idol (AI). YAY for Kris Allen. I'm so glad that he won and I can't wait for his first album. (From now on I'm going to be on a first name basis with these boys.) Kris and Adam were both great singers. Adam I know still has a career, maybe not one I'll listen too, but nonetheless he'll be popular. Kris however, I can't wait to hear his CD.

A while ago my mom had put a card into the drawing bowl for a Girlfriends' Party at Bare Escentials. I'm excited to report that she won. So, Tuesday, May 19 we scheduled our party. It was me, Mom, Ellen and Haley that were in attendance, which B.E. should be thankful for because the weather was horrible! Anyways, we ate at Mimi's in our before makeover make-up. It was very tasty. I had the Balsamic Vinegarette Chicken and Pistachio Salad. It was delicious and will be getting that again next time I go.


After dinner we went to the Bare Escentials store and had our make-up done. I explored summer colors (I ended up with green), my mom explored summer colors that were good for her (she ended up with mauvish colors), Haley and Ellen got the basic concepts and techniques for using Bare Escentials, since they were B.E. virgins. We had a great time, and this is the final pictures:

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

There was finally another sewing class. We are making a purse and learning to use a pattern. I'm very excited. So, far my purse is looking good, but all I have done is cut out the pattern. Tonight I get to sew it. YAY! Come back tomorrow for pictures.

Also, I bought a skirt that I need to learn to sew.

My New Hobby!

So, I have discovered a new hobby, which so far, I really enjoy. It's SEWING! I know, finally I'll be officially receiving my M.R.S. in domestic engineering, thanks to Kyle's aunt who has a doctorate in this field.

I took my first sewing class about a month ago, and I made my first pillow. I loved the fabrics, but the pillow turned out okay. Here it is:


After that first sewing class I decided that I wanted a sewing machine. So, I bought one and I love it! It fits who I am so perfectly!

I got it yesterday. Now I'm one of the elite with the pink project runway limited edition sewing machine. Okay, so what do you do with a new sewing machine, and the knowledge of making one thing? You make that one thing and try to make it better. So, I made another pillow, but this time with straight lines and plenty of stuffing.

Front

Back
Side View

I'm very happy with my new sewing machine and pillow.

And Here's another pillow that actually matches my room. (I can now bang out these pillows in less than an hour!)

Front
Back
Side View

A Night Without(ish) Technology

Tonight Kyle and I decided to spice things up in our comfortable life, we decided to forgo watching TV and playing on the computer for a night. Kyle was sick and tired of watching countless episodes of Two and a Half Men back-to-back because that show comes on every 30 minutes and our DVR catches it every time!

So, the question is, "What do two relatively newlyweds do without TV or Computer?"... We clean! We cleaned our kitchen really well and our living room and we did 2 loads of laundry, on a weeknight. Oh, the thrill of mixing things up.

Not only did we clean, but I also cooked and then cleaned up afterwords! So, what else can you get done? Well, we have to leave your minds to a little imagination, come on!

All-in-all the night was a complete success and we enjoyed each other's company. This will have to start becoming a regular occurrence in our household. It was wonderful.

Pictures of our clean house to follow shortly!

What A Great Weekend!

I love weekends. This weekend was another great one.

The Beach... The Anno Family Way

Kyle and I left on Thursday evening to go the the beach house out in Fernandina Beach. This has become a yearly ritual for my side of the family. This is how 4 pale people go to the beach. You go to a house right on the beach, and open the windows, just to make sure that the beach is still there. Then, you sit on the couch and watch countless hours of TV and then eat, then watch more TV, look outside to see if the beach is still there then you go back in and wait till the sun goes down. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if I go out in the sun will I begin to glow like diamonds (This is a shout out for all the Twilight fans). When the sun goes down we come out of our little cottage and walk the beach finally. We had a great time at the beach house, but then we had to leave before we got to go to the annual Shrimp Festival where they have an amazing Shrimp Pie. If you haven't had it then you need to go next year.

It's Great to be 8, our Niece's Birthday!
We had to leave because our niece was turning 8. (Now it's time for recollection).

I cannot believe that she is already 8. When I first was introduced to her she had just turned 1. She would show me her little scrunchy nose bunny face. Now, she is way too cool for that. She has a lot of friends, who wear 2 pieces, and little boys that are "mean". I just don't want her to grow up anymore. Her birthday party theme was Frogs, and there was a giant blow-up water slide that of course I partook of after the party was done. I wish I had pictures but my camera's battery was exhausted. Well, that was our Saturday, hanging out with our amazing niece and our nephew was there too.

Sunday!
Kyle and I skipped church today, I know, my parents aren't there so we take the opportunity to guilt free skip. We went and saw the new X-Men movie. The whole synopsis of this movie in the words of Kyle, "It was good." That's my man, to the point, and that's why I love him.

Well, tomorrow is a Manic Monday. Boy, I can't wait.

The Office

I think the show, "THE OFFICE" is such a fabulous show. My favorite thing about it is it's relevance to real life work. I don't think that there is a moment that goes by that I don't quote it, or because I'm terrible at story telling paraphrase a specific episode. Michael Scott - "World's Best Boss" His that's what she said quotes have revolutionized our work experience at the Law Office. Thanks to the beautiful, clever and good listeners, Haley and Jess we have a whole little fun life in here.

I have also been thinking of a day when we could have an office "Office" party. What we would do:
1.) We would have a meeting in the conference room
2.) The PPC (party planning committee) would have to come together and discuss how to have a fabulous party for only $15.00.
3.) After the PPC meeting we would have a game, it's a game I call, Sensitivity Training. It's where we go around and put cards on our forehead and we have to pretend like we are talking to that person, and we have to talk to them sterotypically because everybody knows that's how you learn sensitivity.
4.) Then we watch an episode of "The Office", however, I feel that looking around on the second floor of this building is the same thing.

-Have I told you, "It's a Fabulous Life"