Brandy – undrinkable Brandy

stocking stuffer ideas

December 14, 2019

The holiday season is here! It snuck up on me somehow, and we haven’t had a ton of snow so far, which is really throwing me off. We decided to book another trip in February with my best friend and her husband instead of spending a lot on gifts (plus we have a trip booked to Hawaii in June and a bougie suite on Carnival’s Mardi Gras ship in 2021!), but I still love searching for gifts and stocking stuffers! What do you all do for stockings? What kind of stockings do you have? I ...

clothing, makeup

fall wishlist 2019

September 23, 2019

This time of year is my favorite. Not just in a basic witch, pumpkin spice kind of way, but I feel connected to fall, more myself. Cooler weather, sweatshirts and sweaters, curling up under a blanket with a hot drink, making soups, burning fall-themed candles, it just feels right. Maybe it’s because my birthday and my favorite holiday are this time of year (let’s ignore that it’s currently 80-something degrees and disgustingly humid, there are HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS in ...

home stuff, kitchen, remodel

kitchen remodel

May 26, 2019

Wow, it’s been a while, and so much has changed in our lives. If you follow me on IG, I’ve been posting stuff there, otherwise in a nutshell: put down our dog, Ike (cancer), adopted two new dogs (Lea and Maeve), tons and tons of yardwork/gardening, got married and had an amazing honeymoon, and we both got huge promotions. These promotions are going to put us back where we were financially before we lost our jobs in 2016, but on a much better career track, and finally allow us to ...

getting to know me, life, WoW

welcome, 2018

January 1, 2018

Hey. It’s been a minute. I know I’m not the only one giving the finger to 2017, so let’s just move on from that. I want to talk about some things and do a little reflecting, you know, the normal, cheesy, New Year-type post that everyone does. 2017 started out pretty garbage. Al and I were both unemployed and depressed. I’ve been laid off several times, and it never gets easier, but we made it through. I started a great job at an amazing company (seriously, you guys, ...

health, life

let’s talk about mental health

May 15, 2017

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so I’m coming out of my lack of inspiration (among other things) to join other bloggers in discussing mental health. I have dealt with anxiety and depression since I was a child. (I later learned that everyone in my family does to some extent; my uncle gave me books about writing as a kid to try to help me, although I was kind of a jerk at that age and didn’t really understand or appreciate it. Thanks, Uncle J.) I actually didn’t know ...

life, work, yasss

I got a job!

February 26, 2017

I promised more on IG, so since I’m up way early on a Sunday, here I am. I got a job! I actually started last week, but it’s been a pretty exhausting few days. I can’t give too many details due to security/privacy, but I basically work tech support for a bank, supporting a business product. No, it’s not HR, but even after all of the HR positions I applied to/interviewed for, this one met almost all of my other musts and then some, in no particular order: within my ...

food

perfect crockpot chili

January 13, 2017

I’ll update on some personal stuff in a bit, but today we’re going to talk about thick, rich, crockpot chili. It’s relatively healthy, quick to prep, and can be done for relatively little money. Throw it together the night before or the morning of, dump it in the crockpot, set it to low, and enjoy in the evening. I do the bulk of our grocery shopping at Aldi, and you can get every ingredient in this recipe there–even the ground turkey–for so much cheaper than ...

life

thankful

November 24, 2016

It’s been a while. I’m still working on editing our trip photos–but hey, I put up a new layout, so there’s that. If you aren’t a Facebook friend of mine, you haven’t heard that both Alan and I lost our jobs, him right before the cruise and me at the end of October (just in time for my favorite holiday and my birthday, as if being unemployed wasn’t depressing enough). I honestly can’t say that I’m surprised, as things at the studio ...

home stuff, life

the finish line (we bought a house!)

June 23, 2016

Finally remembered to take a picture, and yes the lawn will be mowed tomorrow. So here we are, homeowners (well, as of like two weeks ago, but it was hot and we’re exhausted/busy/still working, so here we are). Can I just say how much of a pain in the ass buying a house is? Getting your paperwork together for the bank, going to see a million houses that you forget the second you walk out the door, trying to negotiate with stubborn sellers, juggling texts, emails, and phone calls with ...

home stuff, life

three big updates

April 5, 2016

So there have been lots of things happening here lately. First: back in January, we had an announcement at work that threw everything on its head. It was the opposite of what we thought we’d hear, and threw me into a depression because I was suddenly faced with having no idea what was going to happen with the future. There was a very large possibility of moving to the west coast, where I would make roughly the same amount of money as I do here, but be facing housing costs three to ...