Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Day 211

This weather sucks.  It was actually hailing on my drive home!  Hail!  April is only 2 days away!

So to distract myself from that, I'll think about happy goal related news: Nikki moved her wedding up, so vendor selection is coming much sooner :)

And the Knot called me the other day asking me to advertise.  It's really expensive so I probably won't right now, but if they found me, other people can too!  Or at least I keep telling myself that.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Day 207

So I've been a bad blogger this month :(  I'm sorry.

It's hard to get motivated about much of anything in March, I think.  The weather drives you nuts and makes you sick (this up down up down thing is NOT cutting it for me).  Last weekend (technically winter!) it was 70, and this weekend (technically spring) it's supposed to snow.  DISLIKE.

My apartment is messy.  Again.  Sigh.

I need warm weather.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Day 201

Happy Spring!!!  I love saying good-bye to winter :)

Today was a good day on the goal front!

7. Make a scrapbook
7. Make a scrapbook

and!

39. Completely clean the walk-in closet
39. Completely clean the walk-in closet

Thanks to the Groupon, I went to Shutterfly and made a photobook of our honeymoon.  I don't really have a lot of stuff from the honeymoon, but I wanted to make an album.  It's perfect!  I also cleaned out the closet... completely!  I've been working on it for a while, organizing things and cleaning, and today you can actually see the freshly vacuumed carpet.  It's so nice.

I'm really happy to get 2 out of the way today... I hadn't finished any in March so far :/

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Day 200

Here we go, the every-hundreth-day post!

The last hundred days were extremely productive.  I finished 16 goals!  Goal 2, I read 3 books in under 3 months.  Goal 8, I complimented 10 strangers.  Goal 15, I hosted a holiday.  Goal 21, I truly surprised John.  Goal 25, I held a $500 safety bubble in my bank account for 2 months.  Goal 26, I saved 4 digits in my savings account.  Goal 42, I kept fresh flowers in my home for a month.  Goal 46, I made a perfect pot roast.  Goal 51, I made a perfect Jack and Coke.  Goal 56, I mailed Christmas cards before Christmas.  Goal 57, I cleaned the kitchen without John saying anything.  Goal 62, Trevor learned how to shake hands.  Goal 64, Trevor and Darcy lay down quietly through dinner, no begging.  Goal 68, I launched infinitejoyweddings.com.  Goal 84, I went to Mexico.  Goal 101, my chiropractic treatment has fixed me!

I am incredibly pleased with how well this is going.  At day 200, I've completed 21 goals, which puts me exactly on target with where I wanted to be.  In fact, it puts me a little bit ahead.  I am so proud of Trevor's paw-shaking progress (he was so scared of having his paws touched before).  I'm incredibly pleased with my pot roast.  My savings have saved my butt lately, and they'll be really helpful as we save for a house and a baby.  And infinitejoyweddings.com is looking really good.

I also think that I made really good progress from my stated goals on Day 100.  While I didn't keep my apartment clean for a month (working on it!) or invite my grandparents over to talk about their parents (goals 5, 19, 22 and 23) or start advertising Infinite Joy Weddings (goal 69) I did complete all the other goals I had listed and then some.

So looking forward to the next 100 days!  I'm going to get my scrapbook done (goal 7).  Since it's getting warmer, I'll give an afternoon to an animal rescue (goal 9).  I'm also planning to try the grandparents complete circuit (5, 19, 22, 23).  April will bring a maxing of my 401K (goal 28) and maybe a profit on our Roths (goal 32).  Maybe spring cleaning will be kind to us and allow for a cleaning of the closet, a cleaning of all the random papers, and a clean apartment for a month (39, 43, 38).  I plan to get to know 3 of my sisters (goal 83) and advertise Infinite Joy Weddings (goal 69).  I'll also either go to New York and visit Auntie and Uncle Henri or go to a VA B&B (goal 86 or 87) since my birthday is in the next 100 days.

I'm pretty pumped.  200 days down, 801 to go.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Day 199

I just wanted to post a plug for a charity dear to my heart.

IMPS (Internet Miniature Pinscher Service) is currently running an adoption special to place older dogs.  For a limited time, not only is the adoption fee waived for any dog over the age of 10, they'll pay 50% of their routine medical bills for the rest of their lives.  Min Pins have a life span of about 17 years.  So if you're looking for a fantastic dog, please check out this site:

http://www.minpinrescue.org/seniors.html

Thanks.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Day 198

So now that I have the photobook Groupon, I've decided to make a scrapbook of our honeymoon.  We always meant to do something with those pictures and we never did.  But I want to put all those pictures into one gorgeous, funny book... and how could you not with a picture like this?


Scrapbook first, return to Jamaica next :)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Day 196

Five points today.

1. I got into a car accident on the way to work today.  Wonderful.  It appears that it's just little scratches though on both ends.  Blah.

2.  It's my 1 year anniversary with my company!  Hooray!

3. In honor of my 1 year, I submitted to maximize my 401K contributions.  This is made easier by my raise, which went into effect yesterday.

4.  I just bought a groupon for a Snapfish scrapbook.  We'll have another one scratched off soon!

5.  My TV appearance was yesterday!  I showed up at the WETA studio at 7:30, where they took us back for training.  We went through our script, and then went into the live TV studio at 8:10.  There were 2 hosts, who mostly just interacted with one another.  Even though there were 4 cameras I barely noticed them... the cameramen were pretty good about only putting the camera on you when you were taking a pledge and were too engrossed in that to notice.  I watched after on DVR, I didn't look weird or awkward, awesome!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Day 194

So following up on the hinted at "pretty darned cool news" from yesterday...

DC Area readers, have you ever thought to yourself, "Catherine would be pretty awesome on TV"?  Wait, don't answer that.  Anyway, if for some reason the answer to that was yes, your dreams are coming true!

WETA is holding their annual pledge drive tomorrow, Monday, 3/14 from 8-9 PM and I'll be answering phones!  So watch for the blonde in ZTA letters (I got the opportunity from my alumnae chapter, so I'm wearing letters to represent!)

So remember: WETA (Channel 26). 8-9 PM. Monday, 3/14. Support public television :)

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Day 193

Wow, I've been lazy so far this month on my goals.

I'm working on advertising for Infinite Joy Weddings, but it's going in a different direction than I originally planned.  Not that it's bad, just different.  I'd originally planned to post more Craigs List ads and such, but I've actually entered into a silent auction and a ZTA vendor show, and I've got another silent auction lined up.  I'm hoping that this more turns into a word of mouth/philanthropic thing, because right now all of my advertising is related to charity.  I really like that.  It might take longer to set up than I originally planned, but I'm ok with that.

I saw the slate for next year's Zeta officers, and I'm holding onto my committee chair position.  So I'm not scratching off the elected officer goal this year.  And you know what?  I'm actually pretty happy about it.  I like where I am right now, and I don't need to be in a bigger, more important position.  I'll keep planning the wine tastings and happy hours and leave the paperwork alone this year :)

Also, my apartment is still relatively clean.  I'll take it.

And... stay tuned to the blog for pretty darned cool news, probably tomorrow :)

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Day 190

Oh, Lent.

I'm fasting today and I'm cranky.  I'm also using Lent as an excuse to knock off my bad habits of messiness and picking at my eyebrows... the eyebrow thing is going rather poorly so far.

We cleaned the apartment yesterday since my sister Carlin was coming over.  I made Swedish meatballs and spinach salad... yum.  So our apartment is clean and if my Lenten sacrifice of messiness works out I might have a clean apartment for a month.  Yeah, I know you've heard that one before.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Day 187

John and I had a date night last night!  It was really nice.  We had gift cards to Royal Theaters, and so we decided to see the King's Speech.  We had to drive like, 25 miles to see it though, since the one less than a mile from our apartment isn't showing it anymore (grrr).  So we got there and the 7:00 sold out just as we got to the ticket window... grr.

So we had dinner while we waited for the 9:50 showing.  Best crab ragoon I've ever had.  We were at the restaurant for like, 2.5 hours, then were able to get into the theater early enough to get great seats.

The movie was fantastic... I see why it got Best Picture.  I love British humor.

Now I just have to compose a date night in to fufill a goal :)

By the way, speaking of goals... Check out my ads!

Wedding party planning

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Day 183

My shoes came in!  I love them just as much as I thought I would.  The Mary Janes make me look soooo tall, and the blue strap is so cute.  And the black pumps have... get this... reflective bottoms!  Yeah, I can see myself on the bottom of my shoe.  I know that will end the moment I wear them outside, but I'm revelling in it for now.

I got a manicure today from a Living Social deal... there's nothing that makes you feel quite as nice as a good manicure.  It's a nice clean pampered feeling :)

Back to goals tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Day 182

It's March!  Which means I've been doing this list/blog for 6 months now... I'm just going to pause to pat myself on the back :)

*Pat pat*

Ok!  Looking forward.  This month I'm going to try to get my advertising campaign for Infinite Joy Weddings underway, and maybe do some massive spring cleaning... we'll see!