Monday Cheer

Hi Everyone,
 I decided for today's post to talk about beauty because well it's Monday and I don't know about you but a good lip gloss and nail polish can lift my mood!
So I've gotten back into Shellac manicures. For those of you who haven't tried it, its awesome! It's basically a gel nail polish that they put on your natural nails that sets with a UV light and it won't chip for 2 weeks! It's better for your nails than acrylics and looks more natural too!
As a Monday pick me up I stopped by the salon today to get this! Feeling better already!

Now I bought this product awhile ago...
I don't usually like to wear lipstick but I found this amazing lipstick/balm.

It's super moisturizing and adds just the right amount of color. I have it in Whole Lotta Honey which is a great tint that's brings out the natural color of my lips.
Anyone else feeling a little more cheerful?
Another product I am really liking is a work-out top I wore for the first time last week. Since starting personal training I've been bulking up my workout wardrobe and have all kinds of fancy workout tops but I've found that I like the most basic one the best!
This Nike Dri-Fit Cotton Tank Top is the most comfortable, best fitting top I've tried so far.

I hope you all had a good Monday!!

Yours Truly,
 Amanda

Country

Well everyone, I'm not sure how it happened but I now like country music...must be this whole living in the South thing. I was getting bored with the same old songs on the radio and since I'm in the car going to and from work a lot I needed a little change so I started listening to the country station down here so appropriately called Gator Country. I now know the words to most songs and my sisters make fun of me for it!
Some of my favorite songs right now are:

God Gave Me You by Blake Shelton
Take A Back Road by Rodney Atkins
Remind Me by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood
You and Tequila by Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter
Made in America by Toby Keith
Don't You Wanna Stay by Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson
Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not by Thompson Square

So if you're looking for some good country check out those songs :-)

This weekend my family went up to visit my sister at USF for family weekend. We tailgated the football game which is always a good time. USF is ranked in the top 25 in the nation but it wasn't the most exciting game since they ended up winning 52 to 24, but it's always fun to watch the band, cheerleaders and dance team. Makes me wish I was back on dance team!

Now I'm just getting everything together for the work week to start yet again :-(
I did book a trip to Indy today in a couple weeks which I'm very excited about! Already counting down the days!
A new show called Pan Am is starting tonight which I've been looking forward to since seeing the previews. Speaking of TV I'm glad that all the shows are back. As usual there are way too many I want to watch. So far I'm enjoying Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, Revenge, New Girl, Ringer, The Rachel Zoe Project, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Giuliana and Bill, and I'm sure there are more I can't think of at the moment! What shows are you currently watching?


I hope you all had a great weekend! Have a good Sunday night!

Yours Truly,
 Amanda

Liebster Blog Award

Hey everyone!
 Yesterday Hilliary from Happily Ever Healthy awarded me the Liebster Blog award! So nice of her! She has a great blog where she has tons of great recipes, healthy tips, snippets of inspiration and stories of her personal life. She's a very fun, exciting person with a great blog to read!

Here are the rules for accepting the Liebster Blog Award:

1- Accept the Award and Thank the Blogger who gave it to you.

2-Pass it to 3-5 bloggers with less then 200 followers, and let them know they received it.

3- Link back to the person who gave it to you!

 

I would like to pass this on to:

Kate at My Little White Pill

She has a fun blog about her post-grad life in Indiana. Kate is a very kind, thoughtful, smart person and I love keeping up with her through her blog!

Taylor at Like You For Always

She may actually have more than 200 followers but I'm not sure! She has a great blog about being a new mom which I find to be very interesting as I haven't gotten to that point in my life yet! She's a really great writer!

Well I need to start reading more blogs because I don't have a third award to give! Stay tuned for a post tonight about my weekend!

Yours Truly,

 Amanda

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

I cannot believe it is Sunday evening once again. I had a really great vacation with John and I'm so sad it has come to an end and he's already back in Indy :-(
However I am excited to share a summary of our trip!

John got down here on Wednesday evening and we just hung around Ft. Myers. Then on Thursday morning we played a game of golf, went home showered, packed and got on the road for Miami! We stayed at a great hotel called The Betsy right in the heart of South Beach. It was a gorgeous hotel with great service and a great location!

On Thursday we went into downtown Miami for some authentic Cuban cuisine at a place my friend Ashley suggested. We really liked everything we had there especially the mojitos! After that we decided to check out a part of Miami Beach that has a lot of shopping and restaurants for a drink.

The next morning we got up and walked down the block for some breakfast. We then went to the beach! With our hotel stay we got two comfy beach chairs and an umbrella all set up for us. It was so relaxing and beautiful out there.

There was one problem...

It's jellyfish season!! Which means I didn't get in the water...however John braved it out and swam a bit.

After the beach we went back into downtown Miami to walk around the city a bit. We found a cool little market place on the water with all kinds of shops and bars right on the water. We stopped for some yummy gelato! Also while we were downtown we checked out my friend Ashley's family's department store which was really cool!

Later that evening we went back to South Beach and went to check out a nearby art museum called the Wolfsonian. We then headed to a restaurant called AltaMare for an amazing seafood dinner.

Lastly we headed to a bar on South Beach for some drinks and dancing!  In the morning we grabbed some yummy breakfast at the hotel and checked out. On our way back to Fort Myers we decided to stop in the Everglades for an airboat tour!

We saw a lot of these!

Once we got back to Fort Myers we went to get some pizza on the beach with my sister and her boyfriend and watched the sunset on the water.

That pretty much sums it up! It was a such a great vacation but boy did it go by fast!
Now I have to get back to the real world and work tomorrow :-(

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Yours Truly,
 Amanda

SO much to write about!

Hey everyone!
 I have so much to write about in this post!
First of all I have to start on a sad note...I've been meaning to write about this for awhile but I get too sad thinking about it to write about it. About a month ago our family dog Sally passed away at the age of 15 years old. I'm tearing up just writing this. She was the only dog we've ever had and we loved her so much. I know she's in doggie heaven but we miss her a lot.

We couldn't live without having a dog around for long, so this past weekend we got a puppy!
Her name is Abby and she's a 4 month old Schnoodle.

The first few days she was very calm. Now she's a pretty hyper little puppy. She loves playing fetch and running around. She's pretty much the cutest thing ever. The only problem is that our cat Toby is very scared of her, we're hoping they get used to each other soon.

Now let's turn to the subject of shopping. John will be here later today and we are going to Miami tomorrow for a few days. This means I needed to go do a little shopping for the trip! ;-)
My two favorite purchases of the day were

These Michael Kors espadrilles, which are perfect for dressing up or down.

And I finally got a cross the body bag!

Marc by Marc Jacobs in pewter!

Now I just have a haircut and manicure appointment later today and I'm ready for vacation!

As for an update on my personal training, I'm still sore. Haha. It's going well and I'm proud that I've stuck with it for a month already!

Also as for an update on work, it's okay. I really liked the store I worked at yesterday, probably because its brand new and not busy at all. I felt like I could actually talk to patients and help them. I also did my first two flu shots! I was nervous, but it went fine. I was lucky to be at that store my first time. I also got my flu shot once the other pharmacist was there. You should all get yours at Walgreens! :-)

I told you I had a lot to write about!
 Expect a recap of my vacation after this weekend!
 I hope you all have a great rest of your week!

Yours Truly,
 Amanda

First and Foremost

Hello everyone,
 I have a lot to write about but today I think it's most important to write about 9/11. I can't believe it's been ten years. I  vividly remember sitting in freshman algebra when the principal announced that the attack had happened. To be honest I didn't know what the World Trade Center was that day until I saw the video. In every class for the rest of the day there was discussion of what this meant for us and for America as a whole. Our country and world has changed a lot since that day. There have been all kinds of stories on TV and in the news about 9/11 today but I wanted to share this one, because I feel like it really puts things into perspective. It's kind of long to put the whole thing in this post so here is the link:

Remembering 9/11: A warrior's unexpected gift to America

It's inspiring isn't it?

I hope you all had a good Sunday and are as thankful as I am for my family, friends, and those service men and women who risk their lives for us everyday. May all those affected by 9/11 find peace.

Yours Truly, Amanda

Constant State of Soreness

Hi everyone!
 Well ever since I started personal training at the gym I have been in a constant state of soreness. You see that's actually the point, but it hurts!  There were a few nights when laying down even hurt! haha. I'm into my third week of training. I think it's been going really well. I'm definitely still at the bottom though as far as weights go, I feel so little and weak sometimes but I looking forward to seeing results, I just wish it happened quicker!
 I've had a great 3 days off of work that have consisted of working out, a little shopping, some reading, golf and hanging out with my family. I go back tomorrow to a 12 hour shift which I haven't done as a pharmacist yet. I hope the day goes by quickly for me! After that I just work 6.5 hours on Friday and have the weekend off! Next week I have vacation Wednesday through Sunday so John is coming to visit! I'm so excited!! We are going to go to Miami for a few days for a little mini-vacation.

 I can't wait, that will definitely get me through work for the next few days!

It sounds like everyone up north is starting to feel fall weather. I've always liked fall, wearing sweaters, football, etc. But when I was walking out of the gym today and it was 85 degrees and sunny with the palm trees swaying, I thought I can get used to this fall weather :-)
I will however miss changing leaves, they're so beautiful!

Lastly, I'm trying to start to get my finances in order. I jumped on Mint.com yesterday for the first time and it was actually pretty cool. (The picture isn't of my finances, lol just an example from the website)

They bring all of your accounts together and you can actually see what you're spending money on each month  and can make savings goals among other things. I really want to save as much as I can now when I don't have many expenses since I'm living with my parents and all. I have some lofty goals, its kind of intimidating to think about all this grown up stuff!!




Here's a Tiffany Tip to leave you with, it's appropriate for this post about finances!

^No. 12

Talk About Money.

About saving. Debt. Past behavior.

Expectations, confrontations and tribulations.

Put it all on the table now

so it won’t be a nuisance later.

Yours Truly,
 Amanda

My weekend starts!

Hi Everyone!
 I'm finally done working for the week! This weekend was pretty slow at the pharmacy so it felt like I was there forever! There hasn't been a whole lot going on here. I've been working and working out with a few other things thrown in there. Some things I want to focus more on is getting involved in church maybe with a bible study, also getting involved in the Tri Delta alumni chapter down here. I also want to practice more golf especially since the weather will be getting really nice here in the fall.  Those are on my to-do list.

On another note I went with my mom to this great store the other night called Total Wine. It is huge! They have any type of wine/beer/alcohol that you could possibly want in any price range. It was fun to walk around and check everything out! I ended up picking out this cabernet. It was a really good price so I hope it tastes just as good! I may just have to try it tonight!

We're having fish tonight and I'm in charge of making it while my mom is going to make the sides. I'm getting hungry so I better go get started on that. I hope you all have a nice Sunday night and a great Labor day!

Yours Truly,
 Amanda