The Friday Five – With a Twist!

It’s the usual Friday Five post, but with some new categories!

1. What I’m Reading:

• Garden & Gun’s Southern Food Bracket. I’m not a huge fan of Southern food (at all), but here are my final four: fried green tomatoes, cornbread (Yankee style, sweet), banana pudding, and tomato pie.
• Daily Candy’s Top Snacks. Remember when I reviewed Charleston’s very own Sweeteeth Chocolate? They made the list! Go, CHS, go!
• Scientists discover blue strawberries? They’re freakishly cute! Would you eat them?

2. What I’m Buying: Blog reader Lisa tweeted me about this towel. Within 5 minutes, I was entering my credit card information on Target’s site.

And I quote: “And it’s GREEN!” Thanks, Lisa!

3. Where I’m Running: Daniel Island! At approximately 5 p.m. yesterday afternoon, I stood up from my seat at work and announced to my coworker, Dane, that I refused to go to the gym in this glorious, 80-degree weather. We decided to go for run on the island instead. We completed 6 miles in 48:38. Not too shabby.

View from the trail:

Our route:

We started and returned at Blackbaud, and when I walked inside, in, I wanted to jump straight into the fountain.

4. Apps I’m Downloading: Still loving Draw Something. Putting my username on the blog was not my smartest move – I currently have 28 games open. Sorry if I’m slow you guys!

Grocery IQ. This app helps you organize your shopping list. You can even  scan bar codes on empty boxes at home that you need to restock.

Droid Libs. Adlibs on your phone!

5. What I’m Listening to: Although Enrique Iglesias kind of irks me, I love his new single with Dev. This had me bouncing in my chair all day.

HAPPY WEEKEND!!

What I’m Loving Wednesday

1. The other day I told my coworker/cube mate Rachel that I thought peanut butter & jelly sandwiches were so much better when someone else made them for you. A couple days later, she brought some in for us!

This made my entire day. Love her!!

2. Greeting cards:

I’m not sure that they’re appropriate, but I love them anyway.

3. The bakers at the Daniel Island Publix are either blind or crazy. I know St. Patrick’s Day is coming, but really? Shouldn’t they have renamed this?

4. Tweet tweet.

5. On the row machine at my gym, there is a fishing game. The fish swims up when you pull, and sinks when you stop. You have to eat the baby fish while avoiding sharks. I was immediately obsessed and couldn’t stop playing. I’ll be so sore in the morning.

Also at the gym, I noticed that I wear entirely too much green and purple. My Longchamp tote, Camelbak bottle, socks, sneakers, and headphones are all in those two colors. Are there any sports teams who wear green and purple? If so, I love them.

6. Spring nail colors. My favorite hues:

Essie’s Lilacism.

O.P.I.’s Bubble Bath. (Giada wears this on her show!)

China Glaze’s For Audrey (Tiffany & Co. Blue)

China Glaze is definitely my favorite nail polish. Some bottles of O.P.I . are too thick, and some bottles of Essie peel too easily. DO NOT waste your time with Essie’s top coat. The best top coat is Seche Vite!

7. New apps. Words With Friends is out. Draw Something is in. I just started playing last night. Here are two drawings that made me happy:

#1 - I have no idea who you are, but thanks!

#2 – The answer is ketchup. Hi Courtney! :)

If you want to play, my username is Christaleena.

Currently…

It’s Saturday survey time thanks to Laura & Laura…

Current book:
Um. I’m still on Chapter 3 of The Hunger Games. I have to read it by Tuesday for our Book Club meeting. They are going to kill me if I don’t finish…

Current playlist:
Ellie Goulding’s newest album

And Selena Gomez’s. DO NOT MAKE FUN OF ME.

Current food:

I haven’t found this new PopChips flavor yet, but I NEED TO NOW.

Color:
Green. Always.

Current favorite show(s):

I started watching Parks & Recreation again. I want to marry Aziz Ansari. He’s from SC!

Current needs:
I need my knee pain to go away. I need to foam roll.

Current triumphs:
I made it through my second Barre class at Pure Barre. I really love this studio and the type of workout. My butt, excuse me, “seat” loves it too.

Current #1 blessing:
Everything around me is a blessing! 

Current outfit:

• Green & blue yoga tank
• Black cropped yoga pants (I wear these very single day after work/at the gym.)
• Grey Victoria’s Secret sparkly hoodie
• Polka dots socks

Can I get any more comfortable right now?

Current excitement:
I’m excited about meeting friends at Bin 152 wine bar and then possibly dancing/breaking an ankle.

Current favorite quote or verse:


Current favorite app:
First and foremost, Twitter. Duh. But for a new app, I like Wine Free. I use it to keep track of wines that I try.

Current favorite product:
Honestly?

Dork.

HAPPY SATURDAY!

Questions I Need Answered by YOU!

Warning: This will be random.

1. Where can I good, inexpensive yoga pants? I currently wear ones from Victoria’s Secret  and Target. I like them, but I want more!

I know you all want to say Lululemon, but I’d rather spend my moolah on…

2. What’s the best mascara? I don’t need a lengthening one – my lashes already touch my eyebrows and it tickles! I want one that volumizes them so they look like fans for my face! haha. Could be helpful at the gym when I get really hot, right? Here’s what I currently use:

3. What’s your favorite cell phone app? I can’t get enough of Words with Friends.

Please don’t say Angry Birds – I refuse to download that!

4. Does anyone celebrate half birthdays? I just realized mine is today. I didn’t need another reason to celebrate, but now I have one. YAY. 27 1/2, here we go.

5. Are you going to say 2012 as “Two thousand twelve” or “Twenty twelve"? Major life decision right there.

Weekend Recap

Friday afternoon: Boding and I were gchatting about my new phone (he also has an android phone) and he asked about my weekend plans.

Boding: What are you up to tonight/weekend? I want to nerd out with you.
Me: omg i know.
Boding: Technology is fun!!!!
Me: it really is.

So basically we’re huge nerds. After work, I picked up my 14-year-old brother so he could could spend the night/hang out with Boding and me. Boding met us at Pearle Vision so I could finally pick out a pair of glasses using the Charleston Savvy Shopper Deal I bought last week. I spent about 5 minutes choosing between a ton of glasses – I honestly have never made a decision so fast in my life. I narrowed it down to two pairs, then made Boding, my brother, and the girl helping me give me their opinions. In the end, I went with the DKNY tortoise shell pair that I blogged about last week.

I think they are so much cuter on in real life than in that webcam photo I took, so I’ll be sure to take another picture for y’all.

After the glasses purchase, the three of us went home to hang out. I got a text from Jonathan, the chef of Mustard Seed saying, “I made you sushi and fried pickles because you made me feel bad for not being here yesterday. You can come pick it up if you’re hungry.” What, what!! I was so excited even though I really did not mean to make him feel bad. I went to Mustard Seed later that night and Jonathan gave me a huge plate of sushi:

 

He also sent me home with fried pickle spears with a saffron aioli!

Saturday: Jake and I hung out by the pool all day and made a stop by the library for this book:
I started it while at the pool and it is so good. I’m excited the movie is coming out soon! Has anyone read this yet?

I dropped Jake off that afternoon and then headed over to the house where Mariah was housesitting. I brought over the sushi and frickles for our dinner. The frickles were awesome. It was the first time I had tried fried spears. Jonathan used cornmeal and panko crumbs so they were extra crunchy! Now y’all know why I love Mustard Seed so much – Jonathan is thoughtful and creative.

We made ourselves some big girl drinks (sweet tea vodka + water) and sat on the porch with this wonderful view:

 

We also found a really interesting contraption in the living room. Anyone know what this thing might be used for?

Look, again, no pupils!

Sunday: I went to church today! I hadn’t been in almost a year, and it was so nice to be back. I went to a contemporary service at East Cooper Baptist which was completely different than the traditional services I went to growing up. The music was so lively – I caught myself tapping my feet as I was singing.

After church, an old friend and I had brunch at Red Drum. I ordered the Huevos Rancheros – two fried eggs, ranchero sauce, cotija cheese, and refried beans over corn tortillas. Delish.

I spent the rest of the day at the pool. It had to be about 95* today. Scorcher!

My birthday is in 11 days!!!!!! Hope everyone has a great week!

What I’m Loving Wednesday Version 2.0

…killing my bank account, that’s what I’m loving.

1. Pinckney’s Produce CSA Bucket #9:

In the box:

• Banana Peppers
• Beets – I think I have gotten beets every week. So lucky!
• Carrots
• Eggplant
• Green Peppers – ew, I traded so fast
• New Potatoes
• Pattypan Squash
• Slicer Tomatoes
• Sweet Corn
• Yellow Squash
• Zucchini

I’m loving how colorful this box is. Thank you, Pinckney’s!

2. This new bikini I ordered from Victoria’s Secret:

In case you can’t see, the bottom pattern is coral and yellow sea horses! All I need are those tatas to go with it.

3. Today’s Charleston Savvy Shopper deal:

First, I love that my city paper has it’s own deal program. Second, could this not have come in better timing? What’s the best deal you’ve gotten from all these daily deal sites? Most of mine have been food or jewelry-related purchases, so this one’s a big one for me!

4. I’m having a giveaway soon! Here’s a sneak peek at what I’m giving away:

Yes, that is a jump rope. Stay tuned! I’ll either post the giveaway tomorrow or Friday, so be ready!

5. The new phone I’m getting today! Meet the HTC Sensation. Nerd alert! I have been anticipating this purchase for several weeks and it was released today! The only sad thing is that I’m giving up my Blackberry. I know, this is crazy for me. I’ve had two different Blackberrys (Blackberries?) over the course of 3 years, but it’s time to let them go. They just aren’t keeping up with the times…and I really want an android phone so I can play Words With Friends!! Again, nerd alert. Who else has an android phone? What are the must-have apps?