Moving!!

Okay not the moving you are thinking of, but equally important.

For some time I have been really really thinking about moving over my blog to a different site.

not because WordPress hasn’t been kind, because it certainly has been super kind.

but I have been reading more and more blogs within the Tumblr community

and I am hooked.

On the outside looking in it just looked too fabulous to not partake, but I have been hesitant

any kind of move can be risky

but the appeal of “liking” a blog, reblogging a post, following blogs, and just being part of the Tumblr community

has been just too tempting to not take a leap of faith and head to a new site!

I wrote a few posts just to get some of the kinks out and try it without an audience

and I have to say I LOVEEEEE IT and I hope you love reading it over at my new site…

same material, just different blog site

oh and a different blog name: Sweet Sweet Nothings

** So head over www.rennsnest.tumblr.com **

Foto Friday!

we may not be perfect, but together we make the perfect family <3

What’s for dinner??

reason #2543 why I am the cook in the family

and no I didn’t turn our chicken into greasy KFC. {to the dismay of the hubs}

What is this interwebs we speak of?

um, this was only from 1994?

you know, when beepers were popular

i was 12 years old

thats right people middle school

what is the internet? really? 1994?

it just cracks me up and seriously I can’t believe this was only a short time ago!

i can only wonder what youtube clip i will be laughing at in 2020?

perhaps tweets because i still don’t get the hoopla around twitter

via surburbabble

SAG Awards

I didn’t get to watch the SAG awards, but I was able to get a look at the fashion statements at the show. 

Lets start with the bad and end with the great…

hair bad/dress bad/makeup bad/shoes okay

hair awful/dress awful/makeup awful/everything awful

hair bad/dress too bright? or belt too black? can’t put my finger on it. not awful but not good/jewelry okay

dress awful/hair nice/jewelry none/makeup nice

hair really bad/dress bad/purse bad/makeup bad/jewelry okay but not for dress

dress badddd/makeup great/hair good/purse good

dress too promish/hair okay/jewelry pretty/makeup okay

hair good/dress good/jewelry good/purse good

dress nice but doesn’t drape well on her/not loving she wore white/hair good/jewelry okay/purse good

dress good/belt bad/hair great/makeup great/jewerly okay

And my top 3 best looks of the night…

#3 favorite look and only because of that smashing dress….

dress awesome/hair okay/makeup okay/jewelry okay

#2 favorite look of the night….

dress loveeeee/hair really likeee/makeup really like/jewelry good

and my #1 favorite of the night…

loved the dress so beautiful yet simple, the hair was great and pulled back and put together, makeup was flawless, jewelry was perfect, and the purse and shoes black to do a black a white theme was fantastic! LOVED IT ALL!!

Overall, I don’t think people really nailed the SAG awards in the fashion department.  I really enjoyed the Golden Globe fashion {that I never recapped} and so I had high hopes on the SAG awards as they are the one before the big Oscar night! I am hoping that people fire their stylists and get some good help by the Oscars!!!

What do people think? Have a different favorite then mine? Do you love the awards for the fashion or for the actual awards??

And the winner is…

{everyone who knows me on FB this is totally un-suspenseful…}

So we have a winner on the car over the weekend and tonight I get to pick it up and drive it home {a car without rattles?? GET.OUT.OF.TOWN.}

and just in time for a big doozy of a storm too.

We almost didn’t go out as they were saying snow in our area but I woke up really early {well for me on a weekend} and was PUMPED to find us a car.  I am the planner of the family and although the hubs absolutely hands down knows more about cars and finds the process wayyyy more exciting then I do…I am totally the planner of where we would go, what order, and the logistics of finding a car.  I love planning so I was all over this part!!

Here are a couple things that I learned with going out trying to find a car…

#1 Having technology is key.  My iphone was so awesome being able to look up blue book prices on exact cars we were getting, looking up dealers in the area, and of course addresses.  This can all be done prior to leaving the house for the most part and I did have a map planned out of the day but it was still great to use my Iphone as a resource.

#2 Know your shitzznat! Know what you want, what you don’t because man will they try to sell you a boat when you are looking for a car! They tried to show us really late models 2005/2006 when our cut off was 2007, ridiculous amount of miles on cars, etc.  We just steared clear to the way under our price range flashy yellow signs and knew we would back here looking for another car earlier than we wanted. 

#3 I brought stock numbers on cars I definately wanted to see.  This was uber helpful as I was really really able to pinpoint what we were looking for and they then knew we kinda meant business. Yea we didn’t walk off the street to gaze at cars we wanted to BUY one! Plus once they knew one stock number they were able to show us others in that same price range, same category, same model, etc.

#4 Don’t sit in cars you can’t afford. Don’t test drive cars you can’t afford {or willing to budge on price}.  Don’t even look in the direction of a car that you can’t afford with a salemen near you. My husband sat in a 2011 version of the car we bought and well I had to talk him off the ledge of buying a new car because in his words not mind the car was SAAWWWWEETTTT and totally pimped out. oh boy that was a fun 15 minutes.

#5 It is a long day. Eat before you go, bring snacks and really plan on spending your entire day there.  We did not do this well and man was I feeling it at 2pm where I was getting grouchy, I was starving, and exhausted from the entire process. 

#6 If you are a sappy person you may get emotional about the car process.  For the hubs he got attached to cars, but for me I got attached to my salesperson! The first place we went they were awesome, our person was awesome and I wanted to give him my business. We ended up going with a better model car at another dealership and I struggled in buying the car because I was giving my business to a salesman I didn’t care for as much.  IT WAS SO HARD!!! The hubs helped me off that ledge for a good 30 minutes plus about we aren’t buying the salesman but we are buying the car! HAHA. Who knew?

#7 Plan nothing for after you spend all day car shopping {whether you buy or not}. I had to go to a hockey game and the in laws were coming and I barely mustered up enough strength to talk in complete sentences.  All i wanted to do was curl up on the couch and do nothing. seriously nothing.  I also didn’t want to make a decision for my life after the experience. We had to buy face wash and the hubs asked which kind I wanted and I freaked “i can’t make any more decisions today! you decide!” It is completely draining and make sure you don’t have major plans after the experience. 

#8 Yes you just spent a crap ton of money. So be ready for the buyers remorse.  Mine only lasted about 15 minutes in the car after I signed all the paperwork and I just looked at the hubs blankly and said “did we make the right decision in there…” Probably not what he wanted to hear after we just gave them a lump sum of money–but it didn’t last long.  I know it is safer, more reliable, better for the snow and New England weather and just better for our family all around.  Don’t feel too guilty for too long because you did a ton of research you test drove the cars, compared, shopped around and made a logical decision—go with your decision after you sign the dotted line.

Okay so now you know what I learned  let me recap what we needed in a car {or at least HOPED for…}.  I didn’t state this in the last post but we were looking for a car that was no more than in the teens price wise {$15,000-$19,999}.  Something about going into the 20somethings scared us as we felt we needed some sort of cut off point because honestly we are a sucker for high end luxury cars.  We didn’t want to fall into the trap of well if we are at 21,000 why not do 24,000 for higher end of a SUV or different year. 

{items in bold is what we got in the SUV we purchased}

So to break it down:

-High Safety ratings (lots of red stars in the book)

-Automatic Car

-AWD OR four wheel drive

-Looking for a mid size SUV

-One with 30-40k miles

-Will not go over 50k on a car no matter the emotional attachment (hehe)

-Big ole’ trunk

-Prefer a 2008 or 2009

-Certified would be fabulous, but don’t think necessary (need to check with the hubs on this point)

-No red color car

-A/V jack preferred but not necessary

So as you can see we got EVERYTHING WE WANTED in a car except for one minor fact…IT IS RED.  Seriously I am not joking the one color I was not too keen on as I had a hot cherry tomato red car for so long and our car is stinkin’ red!! Now let me say it is RED ROCK NOT CHERRY RED and this made a huge difference in me signing on the dotted line.  It is definately way more muted than I imagined a red SUV and it goes really well with the type of car we got and I love the interior colors and so it balanced each other out.  Plus it had so much we wanted and MORE that really I couldn’t let color be the deal breaker. 

AND SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADOOOOO…HERE IS THE CAR WE PICKED…

2008 Grand Cherokee Laredo {X package} -not our car in picture

Are you looking for a car? Here are other SUVs we looked (last one is the SUV we puchased):

-2008 Hyndai Sante Fe

• pros: really low mileage (10,000), high safety ratings, 23 miles per hour for gas, easy ride, not too large, good trunk size, safe, automatic, good on gas, great warranty, great colors we looked at, 1 owner on cars, bff really loves driving hers and finds it very reliable.
• cons: cream interior, no ipod jack, rattled a bit on the highway, felt more like a car then SUV to us, no cup holders in the back (that I saw), pricey when low mileage, in our price range when we looked at some with 50,000+ miles, fake wood trim inside

-2007 Grand Cherokee Laredo

• Pros: felt very sturdy, felt very safe in car, ran very smoothly, high safety ratings in our price range, 20 miles per hour on gas, great color, big trunk, heated cloth seats, heat vents in the back seat, sunroof, cupholders in the back, nice color outside, lower mileage (32,000), elderly lady used car very rarely-well taken care of, great interior colors, driver seat was power adjustable
• Cons: not a certified car, would need to add on a warranty (but still but us in our price range), would be a 3rd party warranty though, first place we went so wanted to shop around before deciding, had cup holders placement of them was “okay”, no A/V jack, –we really liked this car not many cons

2008 Ford Rogue

• Pros: very cute car–girly for me, loved the style shape of car, loved the color outside, interior was great, co-worker who loves it and finds it very reliable
• Cons: trunk very very smaill, inside small, realized we didn’t want a compact SUV and more of a mid size car.  didn’t test drive the car because it was smaller on our end. Only checked this one out briefly so can’t give much on it.

2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee {X package}

• Pros: similar to the 2007 pros-sturdy, reliable, great interior colors, large trunk, ran smoothly, felt safe. 21 miles per hour in gas, heated seats but leather on this car, both driver and passenger car seats were power adjusted, pedals power adjusted, sun roof, remoter starter, steering wheel radio controls, fog lights {i could care less but hubs was impressed}, the ipod jack (YESSS!), certified car.
• Cons: red rock red, higher end of our budget but at least still in our budget {with adding bumper to bumper warranty), cupholders in same place as on 2007 model, had to add bumper to bumper warranty it just wasn’t included

We loved the Jeep Grand Cherokee SO MUCH after test driving that we focused our search on the Jeep ( parents have a Jeep Liberty and Jeep Wrangler and LOVE them both!) and so we went to a Jeep dealership nearby to compare prices, look at 2008/2009 models and other packages on the Jeep to see which one we loved the most.  Limited was just out of our price range, we loved the Rocky Mountain edition as well which the 2007 had (heated fabric, sun roof, etc), the Laredo was a little basic and once we saw the Rocky Mountain with the heated seats we were kinda sold on getting a Rocky Mountain Edition.  The X package is right in between the Limited and Rocky Mountain edition and we weren’t even looking for a Laredo X and got lucky by having on on the lot! Was in our price range and gave us the luxury we were looking for!

Friday Foto!

it is friday and EVERYONE should feel like this when it is friday!!!

wait, you don’t do the sound a music with a hot pink feather boa with your friends???

 

I am one of those girls.

yea one of those girls that I try not to be, but ultimately my true self shine through 

one of those girls who watches The Bachelor {GASP!} if you didn’t know from this post

i know i know I try to tell myself it isn’t real, only a few actually make it in the end, and once again IT IS FAKE.

But man, every season I just really get sucked into the drama, the love triangles, the crazy girls, and of course wait impatiently to find out who is ultimately the one.  {at least the one on the show}

I give the same CAUTION: if you hate the bachelor/bachelorette show then this isn’t the post for you…but like before you can go to THIS and get your laugh on. {this was a real news story (which is equally hilarious) and they put the news to autotune.} Oh and it is on itunes and the guy made so much money he is out of the projects and bought a house for his mom…crazy right??

Go check it out–totally worth it. No really it is, I’ll wait for you to come back from that youtube video.

 

 

Okay so if you are back from laughing at the youtube video we will get back to the Bachelor! I’ll give some background of The Bachlor before I talk about this season because some people are crazy  normal and have never seen The Bachelor ( I still think this is impossible but true). 

**SPOILERS BELOW**

Okay so The Bacheor is a show where it is one man {sometimes famous/sometimes not} but normally a very pretty man and he has to choose out of 24 ladies who will be his wife {or at least propose to one of them at the end of the season}.  Each episode he gives out roses at a rose ceremony and sometimes a lot of girls go and some times a few girls go.  As it hits about 10 ladies to choose from it goes down to multiple people leaving to only one person leaving.  Around when he has 4 people to choose from they go to exotic lands, with 3 people to go to they meet the familes, and with 2 people to go they spend a lot of time together before the last rose ceremony. 

So with that being said there is a lot of build up to the last rose ceremony.  Here are some highlights of past rose ceremonies….

probably the most infamous bachelor he picked one girl and then on the final rose special {all the ladies come back and the bachelor with his new fiance come on the show to explain when wedding plans will happen, how they are, etc).  Well he dumped the girl he chose because he was really in love with the last girl he sent home!! OMG what drama! What a season!

left is the girl he dumped on national TV. right is the girl he ended up marrying.

The girl on the right was on the The Bachelor and she was a finalist for The Bachelor’s heart but she didn’t get chosen.  But America LOVED her and so she was the first Bachelorette (spin off show of The Bachelor) and she met her love on the show and actually has two children! They are one of the sucess stories!

This was the first bachelor (2002) and he was the one who did not pick Trista.  He actually didn’t propose to his girl and said lets see where things take us in the last rose ceremony.  It took them NO WHERE and they broke up.

This was my favorite bachelor Andrew Firestone (2003) and my hubs is big into wine and to me was a celebrity as he has an amazing vineyard and amazing wine.  He chose the girl I wanted him to but in a big breakup they didn’t end up together! I was devastated (fo reals!) but it all ended great for both parties as he is married and has a baby and Jenn the person he picked his married and just had a baby girl!

Okay so there are more in between that I loved to watch but to get to this year’s season a little faster I will fast forward to 2007.

At the end of his season (one of the most shocking rose ceremonies) he didn’t pick ANYONE!!! No fo reals girls were ready to give them everything and he didn’t choose anyone.  Oh my gawd. people hated him!!! I didn’t hate him as I was like well you are being honest and you didn’t find love–but he did kinda play/act like he did throughout the season which is why it was sooo shocking!

Both these ladies REJECTED. OUCH!!!!

More bachelors have come and gone since 2007 until this year…HE IS BACK!!

He is back and ready to find love…again. He has done a lot of work on himself and is really trying to be open and honest with the girls.  Although at times there can be a ton of cheese in the show I still am sucked into it!

Here are my top 3 as of right now:

Sweet as Pie Emily. She is a southern belle if I ever saw one and so cute and tiny and just has a genuine heart.  She is so nice you wonder if people can actually be THIS nice but time and time again she has been one classy lady.  I think Brad sees that in her too although she has a trauma filled past as her fianced died on an airplane and then 4 days later she found out she was pregnant. super sad but she is super sweet and I am in her corner to find love!

Ashley S. had a great first impression with him and there was a ton of chemistry and I do believe in going on those first reactions to a person to be real.  They haven’t had a ton of alone time to see more of the chemistry of what they felt at the beginning but he still looks at her in that special way and I think he really cares for her and I am in her corner too!

Chantal I really love because she is the firecraker! Puts her heart on her sleeve, emotional, but true to herself.  She reminds me a bit of my personality and I could totally see us being friends–I think she is pretty awesome and so does Brad.  She isn’t has dainty as the other ladies and has a fire and confidence in her that I really like but also can be vulnerable. 

OH and it wouldn’t be a Bachelor recap without talking about the TRAIN WRECK!!! Normally the train wreck looks like a train wreck but she doesn’t actually!! She looks exotic and pretty but she is PSYCHO!!! Brad I know you already made your choice but for the love of anything let it please not be MICHELLE! Anyone with me on this? She is crazy bananas and thinks Brad is her own and no one elses and has these psycho eyes and I could see getting violent with the ladies if they tried to take her man.  I can’t wait for the day he rejects her because there is going to be a battle for sure!!  Yea she looks sweet and innocent…but she is not!!! She sure does make watching it that much more entertaining!!! Oh and speaking of entertaining she is actually an actress so you know she is there trying to get famous and not really there for loveeeee.

and if you don’t want to watch the Bachelor but want to see some of her antics…here is a little youtube clip

 

Oh and there was someone on The Bachelor this season who was from Boston {Woot!} Nice to see Mass represented until you meet her and you are like classsyyyyyy….way to represent us Stacey from Boston! Who wears chains to a rose ceremony???? The exact dress she wore from the ceremony….

 

Did I convince you?? If so you can find all of the first 3 episodes on hulu! And if you are just laughing at me and being like PUHLLEASEEE I would rather eat dirt then watch The Bachelor that is okay too because I am totally okay with being one of those girls since 2002…HAHAHAHA!!!

{this is the type of post you are bound to get when a girl has too much free time from half a snow day!}

Dance Class: Zumba

#45 Take a Dance Class

Over winter break there were Zumba dance classes being held at my gym {which is right across the street from my apartment} and so I really had no excuse and so I decided to try it out. 

If people are wondering if they would like Zumba and what is this Zumba dance class I speak of check out this youtube video of the type of class it would be:

So my review of Zumba class: Even though I never did a Zumba class I was able to pick up the moves pretty quickly because even though the moves can sometimes be quick they are also repetitve.  Just as there is a chorus that repeats in a song there are dance moves that are repeated througout the entire song.  Also I really loved that a song lasts about 3-4 minutes and so you get this burst of energy and working out and moving your body but then you get about a 30sec-1 minute break before you go into the next song.  As someone who loves to dance and just let loose this dance class is AWESOME for me.  It keeps me entertained during the entire hour I am doing the class and I never feel bored.  There are all shapes and sizes that come to workout to Zumba so if you don’t think you can keep up you can moderate the dance moves or not do them as “strong” or “full out” when you need a break–the point is to keep moving! I also like that my instructor starts out with some medium intensity songs then half way through the class gives us about 2-3 hard songs to get through and then brings it back down to medium intensity.  I love that I can sometimes sing to the songs and really get into the dance moves! I am in love with this workout and if you get the chance to try it out you will really be surprised by the type of workout you get from this class. 

Now I have gone twice (last week it was canceled due to snow).  The first time I was a bit awkward but kept with it and felt a lot of it in my arms and a bit in my legs and definately in my core I felt stronger.  The second time I went I had the same instructor and she had a couple of the same songs and a few new ones to the mix.  Since I was more comfortable with what she was asking of me and my body I felt like I could do the moves a lot better and stronger and really push it.  What a difference! The second class was by far harder as now I was not only learning the moves but really putting my all into the steps! My abs were sore, my quads were burning, and OMG my arms were burning like crazy all night long and I woke up with really sore arms and legs.  Not the “I can’t get out of bed” feeling I sometimes get when I do something new–but more of my arms and legs and core had a great workout.  I think as I keep going to these dance classes my body will get stronger and respond to this type of exercise. 

Overall, if you get the change to take a Zumba class–DO IT! SO FUN!!! You will not regret it!!! Anyone else love Zumba? Other classes you love to take at your gym?

Books Review!

Gosh, what a slump 2010 was for book reading for me! YIKES! I didn’t want to start off 2011 with a book reading slump and I was trying to get through Girl with a Dragon Tattoo and it was moving fast…slow…fast…slow… and I was really looking for something to really get me back into reading because I vaguely remembered from 2009 I loved doing it…

SO when I got back from vacation I had two emails from my local library sent to me back to back telling me the two books I had on reserve were mine!! I was completely excited as I thought these two books might be the turning point of my reading!

AND I WAS RIGHT!!

2 books in 1 week.

Since it has been forever since I reviewed a book here are ratings:

 0-4 star rating.  {0} = oh gosh I didn’t finish the book it was THAT bad. {1} I finished the book, but not before it took a piece of my soul! HA! {2} average book and it was somewhat enjoyable. plot, characters, or ending could have been better. {3} really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to someone looking for a new book to read {4} blew my socks off! Couldn’t put the book down and probably didn’t speak to my husband or go to bed until it was finished! fabulous!

I gave it a 4 because I gave all the others in this series a rating of 4.  All 4 books were fantastic and although I am not sure blew my socks off is the best words for this book as it wasn’t mind blowing.  It did have the qualities of a 4 because I read this book in ONE DAY.  After a year slump like I had this is amazing feat and I am so thankful for Nora Roberts for giving me the love of books back into my life.  It felt so good to be swept away with characters and staying up late to read and going to my happy reading place that I missed so much.  If you love weddings, romance, and a quick read this quartet is for you!! This is the last book so I would recommend the Vision in White book to start off with.  This book ended the quartet well and I was really pleased with the ending.  SO GOOD!!

To keep up with my reading I went directly into another book…Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi

I gave this a 4 star and it really did knock my socks off.  I have always been interested in body image articles, movies, books, etc. and so I was really interested to see her struggle and her recovery.  She didn’t dissapoint! It was one of the first times I really understood what bulemia and anorexia and really how it impacts a person, a family, etc.  She was very graphic and as a person who struggles with dieting, weight gain, calorie counting I could really relate (but in a different way) about the struggles with weight.  I also was amazed by the book because I watched Ally McBeal and remember one episode where she is standing in the bathroom with just lingerie on and remember thinking “gosh if I could only look like THAT she is so beautiful” and in the book she talks about this episode and how she really felt in that moment.  It really blew my mind and gave me the AHA moment! The book was mostly based around that era of her being on Ally McBeal which I could really relate to since I watched the show.  It was a really great book and I stayed up to read the book and to me that is a sign of a really really great book. 

As for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo…I love the premise of the book and thought I would fly by it because whenever this is a mystery of sorts to a book I JUST NEED TO KNOWWWWW but this book is kinda strange to me. I can’t get as swept up as I normally do and when I am really I am totally into the book and I feel it is a page turner BUT as soon as put it down to do something or go somewhere I don’t have the desire to pick the book back up.  SO it is going fast when I read, slow when I put it down…I am never like this with a book so it will be interesting to rate this book once completed.  I haven’t given up on it but it is slow going…