Diary of a Simple Life

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Tasty Tuesday: Black Eyed Peas & Ham

Today I'm just going to share a link to one of my favorite crock pot recipes. Black Eye Peas are a Southern staple. I love them, especially with sausage or ham. Its also no secret that I love my crock pot, and Gina's skinny recipes. I have yet to make something that disappoints from that site!

So here's the link! Everyone go make these! They are delish! I make them pretty regularly.

source

Slow Cooked Black Eyed Peas with Ham
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 8 • Serving Size: 1 cup • Old Points: 3 pts • Points+: 4 pts
Calories: 161.4 • Fat: 1.6 g • Protein: 9.3 g • Carb: 29.2 g • Fiber: 6.7 g

Have a great day everyone!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Wardrobe Wednesday: OOTD

Happy Wednesday!
Today I'm wearing what's as close to PJ's to work as possible. I think I may have injured my knee in the gym yesterday, doing lunges. Something popped, but it didn't hurt. So I finished my entire routine. Then later in the day it kept popping and feels like something is pulling whenever I straighten it. I've been wearing flats for 2 days, and I have to take the elevator in my building. I'm so mad because I feel like I just found my groove. I had a good routine down that I really liked. Now this happens!!! Hopefully it's nothing serious. But its still bothering me this morning.

Anyway, I'm wearing my Daisy Fuentes skinnies that I posted about in my recent purchases post Monday.

Shirt- Gap $12
Skinnes- Daisy Fuentes via Kohl's $23
shoes- Steve Madden via Plato's Closet $9.99
These pants feel like a really thick legging. They have an elastic waist. So you just pull them on. But they're not tight like leggings. They are looser like a regular pant, and they have pockets in the back so it looks like pants. I probably wouldn't wear them with anything other than a looser shirt though.
I picked up this shirt of the clearance rack at Gap a while back. This is my first time wearing it. I really like the back of it!!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Mixed Up Monday: Recent Purchases

Happy Halloween! I'm lazy and boring and didn't do anything for Halloween nor am I dressing up. Husband has too much studying to do to break away. And I just hate to spend money on a costume, and I'm too lazy to make one.

Saturday I had a facial from my best friend. She's an Esthetician, and owns a spa in our hometown. My skin has been looking so dull lately no matter how many times I exfoliate. Plus, it has been a year since I had one.

Then afterward I tagged along with a friend while she shopped and we ate sushi for lunch. We spent 6 hours shopping! It was so fun though. By the time I came home at 7 that night I was exhausted.

I did pick up a few things on Saturday. I really wanted to take advantage of the 20% off coupon from Ulta since there were no exclusions. There were some things I knew I would buy eventually. So why not stock up when you can get it on sale? I also went to Loft because they were having a 40% off everything sale.

So here's what I picked up:

LOFT: 40% OFF ENTIRE STORE

Loft skinny patent belt

Loft Boatneck Cable Poncho

Loft Striped Long Sleeve Scoop Neck Tee

ULTA: USED 20% OFF ENTIRE ORDER COUPON
A lot of these items were things I wouldn't normally buy all at once being the frugal person that I am. But they were all things I've had on my wish list for a long time. And since the Ulta coupon was a one-time thing, and you can normally not use their coupons on any of this stuff... I figured this was the best time to buy everything- while I can get it cheaper. I can either buy things later when I need them or buy things before I need them at a discount. I follow the same rule for my groceries and household products... "Buy at the lowest price possible if you are going to use it."

Philosophy Microdelivery & Philosophy Great Skin Is In Kit

I've been needing and wanting a new skin care set lately. Normally I use a drugstore brand, usually Olay because I always have coupons. But some of the drugstore brands can be pretty pricey when you add up an entire line of products. Since I really needed everything I figured I'd give this kit a try, and I added in the microdermabrasion cleanser also . I wouldn't have normally bought it or paid full price for it. I really just tried it because of the coupon. But I've been using it since Saturday night and I love it. But I also just had a facial so we'll see how long that lasts.

Benefit High Beam

I've been dying to try this for a while. I tried ELF's version, the shimmering facial whip in lilac petal. But I really didn't care for the consistency of it. It was EXTREMELY runny. I made a mess every time I used it. Since ELF's is only $1 I bought 2 different bottles of it. Because I thought maybe the first one I bought was old. But they both did it. I think that's the first ELF product I didn't really like!

Benefit They're Real Mascara

This stuff is AH-Mazing! I've been on a crazy mascara kick lately. My sister actually bought this stuff and I tried it. I had to have it. I was going to wait until I ran out of ELF Mineral Infused Mascara to buy some more. But I figured I could either buy it in a month or two or buy it now for 20% less.

Naked Palette

I already have one of these and I'm completely obsessed. But I picked this one up for my mom. She tried mine a few weeks ago and fell in love. Is there anyone out there that doesn't like this thing?!

KOHL'S

I've been dying for some skinny black pants that I can wear to work. I have black jeans, but I can't wear jeans. And I'm funny about leggings so I won't wear leggings to work. I found these at Kohl's. They are the material of sleeping pants. But they aren't too tight and have pockets in the back. So they look like regular pants. They are great quality. These were originally $48. But the Daisy Fuentes brand was 40% off and I had a 15% off coupon I printed. So I think I paid about $26 with tax.

Daisy Fuentes Skinny Ponte Pants

source

Anyone else do any shopping this weekend?

XO-Heather

weekend shopping

weekend shopping by hbaham featuring a stripe t shirt

LOFT poncho top
$70 - loft.com

LOFT stripe t shirt
$25 - loft.com

Belt
$17 - bardot.com.au

Friday, October 28, 2011

FRUGAL FRIDAY: CHEAP DATE NIGHT

Happy Friday everyone!
So since this week was our anniversary I thought it would be fun to share some quick tips for cheap date nights. I'm really easy to please when it comes to going out to dinner or a date night. I don't like expensive restaurants because it's not worth it to me, and I'm 100% ok with pizza and beer for a date night!
So here's my tips for cheap dates:

I put this #1 because it is the best tip I have. For our anniversary we got a coupon for a free dinner at Texas de Brazil (at $50 value), a free pizza at Rotolos, a free appetizer at Lone Star Steakhouse, free chocolate covered strawberries at The Melting Pot, and a few other offers. A lot of restaurants will send you an initial offer and something on your b-day and/or anniversary. Use these coupons! We are saving the Texas de Brazil because it's good until November. But last Saturday night we went to Rotolos, ordered a pizza, drank and hung out for a few hours for $15!!!

They always have great offers for things to do in every area. I always buy the Fandango tickets when they are like $12 for 2. If you go to the movies it is $18. So that is a $6 savings. I keep the codes in my email. Then when we have nothing to do I check out the movie times and use one of my codes for Fandango I already bought!
My top sites are: google offers, groupon, daily deals, screamin' daily deals, & living social

Use restaurants.com

You can do a search for restaurants in your area and buy $25 gift certificates for $2!!!!
Read the fine print and make sure there are no restrictions.

Hip2Save.com does a Weekend Restaurant Round-up every Friday to let everyone know of the deals at restaurants for the weekend.

She also does a weekend retail round-up for shopping

Go to a restaurant a little early for happy hour to get cheap drinks and appetizers
Check out local wineries and breweries.

Sometimes they give free tours and samples

Cook at home together

I put this last because I cook during the week everyday so it's not my ideal thing to do for a fun night. Plus, my kitchen is small so it's hard for us to do this. But other people may enjoy this!

If you start signing up for all these email lists I would create a separate email account for them to go to. This way it isn't clogging up your inbox. Check it a few times a week or every other day.

And just for fun here are a few of my favorite pics from my wedding- since it is my anniversary week!!! I had the easiest best experience planning my wedding. We had a small wedding, and it was SO SO fun!