10 things I am liking right now

1. Conan O'Brien's Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour and the awesome I'm with Coco T-shirt I got.  Even though it took us 5 hours to see him in Uncasville, CT it was well worth it.  At first I was not loving the beard Conan is now sporting, but by the end of the show I was totally digging it.  What a talented guy he is.  I felt like I was at a concert.  He played guitar and sang a lot of his skits.

2. Shark Navigator Vacuum.  I was going to do a review on it in a separate entry, but i figure this would be as good as place as any to review this awesome product.  We have been through several vacuums in the last couple of years.  No one should go through as many vacuums in a short amount of time as we have.  We have one cat who sheds a lot and her litter gets everywhere when she jumps out of her box.  If you saw the amount of fur she loses you would swear she had bald patches (she does not however, she is a very plush kitty).  Anyway, after having one vacuum that conked out on us and another that just pushed the debris around the floor, I did a lot of research and found the Shark Navigator to have some great reviews.  It is compared to the Dyson but half the price.  It is a very lightweight vacuum and the design of the cup that collects the dirt empties from the bottom so you don't have to touch a dirty cup at all.  Just press the button on the side and releases all the debris.  It switches from floors to carpet with a flick of a switch.  The attachments are amazing regarding picking up fur and hair from the furniture.  It is a great vacuum which makes me actually enjoy vacuuming!

3. That it is my favorite season....SUMMER.  I wish I could press pause and just bask in the time of year where things seem to be a little more light-hearted and not so hectic.  If I could live somewhere where it is summer all year I would do it in a heartbeat (provided I didn't have to worry about money or finding a new job).  Today is not exactly the picture perfect poster day of a summer day, but knowing there are days where I wear flip flops and a tank top and let the sun pour down on me.  Those are the days I long for.  And driving at dusk with the windows down, watching the sunset and turning the sky into a beautiful watercolor painting.

4. Marathon Grill in Philadelphia.  This was a place we stumbled across while my mom was in the hospital in Philly.  It has great ambiance (slightly industrial but intimate at the same time).  The food there was amazing.  I had this burger that was to die for.  I am not a big meat person, but based on the description of the burger: marathon burger 8oz.
Vermont cheddar, caramelized onions, apple wood smoked bacon,
homemade bbq sauce on brioche bun 11.
or choose up to three toppings:
swiss, sharp provolone, vermont cheddar, sautéed mushrooms,
caramelized onions, roasted peppers, homemade bbq sauce, spicy mayo,
blue cheese dressing, applewood smoked bacon.

I had it without the carmelized onions.  It was smokey and juicy and the cheese was just full of flavor.  One night I had the hand cut fries with it and I swear they where the best fries I have ever had.  They are also one of the few places to serve TeaNY teas.  TeaNY teas are made by Moby.  They are awesome.  I had white tea with pomegranate.  If you are in the Philly area make sure you put this on your list as a restaurant to eat at.

5. Decorating blogs.  I love perusing decorating blogs.  Since having a house now to decorate I feel somewhat decor challenged.  With the opportunities endless how to decorate it makes it so much harder. Picking the right paint color, the right window treatments, rugs, carpet, counter tops.  I guess there is no right or wrong but preference on taste.  I have always attempted something only to learn after the fact I don't like it and need to try something else.  Which is great in some things, but concerning household decor could become rather expensive.  Checking out The Nest I have found a lot of links to decorating blogs.  Some of my favorites are: Apartment Therapy (even though it is geared for apartment living, there are great ideas for small spaces and decorating), Young, House, Love, Better After, and The DIY Showoff.  These are all very helpful giving ideas for home decorating, organizing and giving new life to your space.

6. TV. I know not the most healthiest activities, but always a great way to "get away" for a little bit.  I love The Middle.  If you have not seen this show, you really have to give it a chance!  It is on ABC on Wednesday's with Patricia Heaton and Janitor from Scrubs (another one of my fav shows...RIP).  The whole ensemble of the cast is really incredible.  There is there youngest son Brick, who has a bit of a social awkwardness about him.  Whenever he is nervous he will whisper a word to himself {himself}.  This usually causes no harm until he is one of the last contestants left for the spelling bee.  He whispers the last letter to himself, which disqualifies him as the winner.  Then there is Sue who is the middle child who just seems to have everything go wrong, but still has the most upbeat spirit about her.  Finally there is Axl who is their teenage son who sounds like Napoleon Dynamite and never seems to wear clothes (only his underwear).  This is probably one of the few shows I pretty much try to see every episode of.  Also Being Erica.  This a dramedy on SoapNET.  Love this station for its reruns of Beverly Hills 90210, One Tree Hill, The OC.  Being Erica is a Canadian show that airs on this channel.  It is about a 30something who is single and still trying to find her place in the world.  She sees a therapist who gives a different dose of therapy.  Dr. Tom is able to send her back to her past to learn from her mistakes.  It is a show  that even though can't happen in real life, is a show you can relate to. 

7. My hair.  I recently got my haircut from this lady my coworker recommended to me.  I had just moved to this area and my old hairstylist is now about an hour away.  And that hasn't stopped me in the past to go the distance for a haircut, but i have decided, I am probably going to live here for a while, I might as well start finding services a little closer to home.  This lady that my coworker recommended actually comes to your house to cut and color your hair.   She is pretty reasonable as well.  I mean you are not getting the 5 star treatment of a luxury spa (you have to wash your hair yourself in the kitchen sink) but it is definitely a great cut and color for the price.  My hair has been very blah the past few years.  I haven't been very daring.  Getting a trim, long layers and that is about it.  I figured if I am going to experiment this is the lady to do it with (ok after reading this, could be taken out of context, but I am talking hair people!!!!)  So I told her I wanted something different.  I asked if bangs would be a good look, she said NO.  She hates bangs, loathes them.  Thinks people with small foreheads such as myself will drown in bangs.  Fine I say do something to spice up my hair.  Well she gave me very short side swept bangs (they are really bangs if you ask me). At first I thought what did i just agree to.  What have I done?  But a few days later, I am loving the bangs.  It softens up my look a lot. I feel they are fun and flirty.  Found my go to haircut!

8. That I am getting up earlier than I used to.  Trust me, I like my sleep, but I also like for the day to last longer (speaking more of the weekend days as opposed to weekdays).  I am finally feeling like an adult and getting up early on the weekends.  And it is nice to have been up for a few hours already accomplished a lot and for it to be only 11am.  I am very happy that is now coming more natural to me then it used to.

9. Freebies.  I love utilizing sites like Ebates, E-rewards, Swagbucks, MyPoints, My Coke Rewards, and getting gift cards for free from my credit cards.  And yes they are free to me since I always pay my balance off every month.  I am the customer credit card companies hate.  I love getting $50 gift cards to Target or to my favorite restaurant.  Ebates you get a rebate on stuff you buy online if you go through their site.  E-rewards are surveys sent to you where you accumulate E-reward money you can use towards free magazines, etc.  Swagbucks is a search engine where random things you search for may win you "SwagBucks" that you can redeem for gift cards or magazines.  MyPoints is an email you get daily and if you just click on it you get points.  After you accumulate a certain amount of points you can trade them in for gift cards.  And My Coke Rewards is collecting points on Coke products.  I always trade mine in for magazines as well.  I have fully researched all of these and all are completely legit.  I just recommend setting up a separate email account for stuff like this (even for other promotions on websites, etc.) for spam purposes.

10. Getting back in touch with people I have "lost" touch with.  I have found some people through facebook that I haven't spoken to since elementary school.  I had this really great friend in elementary school who moved away and I was so unhappy about it.  Back then we didn't have the tools we have today to keep in touch, so I never saw or heard from her again.  Well a few weeks ago I thought let me look her up on facebook.  I found her!  I sent her a message ( I always try to send a message to someone I "friend" on facebook, I feel it is more personal then just sending a friend request), and she wrote back about her life and everything.  It was so exciting to talk to her after all these years.  She doesn't live too far away and we plan on meeting up.  I would love that.  She too says she is looking for more "girl friends" to hang with.  She is a met fan I see but I think I can get over that :)  There has been a lot of my friends over the years I have gotten back in touch with and are closer now then ever.  I had reconnected with a few people at my high school reunion.  I really like connecting with people and broadening my circle of friends.