Black Friday Haul and NYX Lippie Countdown Day One

If you follow me on twitter you'll see that I may or may not have gotten pissed at FedEx and UPS because packages scheduled for delivery on November 30th were not delivered by 10:00pm. FedEx stayed in contact with me and delivered at 11:00pm. That driver deserves recognition for going above and beyond. I also have to give the FedEx social media team credit for being immediately responsive and polite. UPS on the other hand didn't deliver until December 1st, didn't ever update their package tracking, and was only responsive on social media after I called them out for being MIA. If I had to pick a delivery service for my Christmas gifts based off the way they responded to the late deliveries FedEx would win hands down.

Anyways, onto my Black Friday haul. Asics had an amazing sale on running shoes and I was able to snag two pairs of GT-2000 for under $100.00! I love the GT line and these are no exception. My last pair of running shoes has made it through 3 half marathons and almost a year (possible over a year) of runs. They are well overdue for a well deserved retirement.

As you've probably figured out, I'm addicted to makeup. If they could my friends would probably throw me into rehab for this addiction. But they can't and my local Ulta would probably be confused if I didn't show up for every other new release. So, once again I went and ordered a ton of makeup on Black Friday. In my defense, this should be my main stock for the year along with the Fundays sale and the Cyber Monday sale.

The first Ulta item is the Clinique Party Favours set. This set includes trial sizes of the Quickliner for Eyes Intense, High Impact Mascara, All About Eyes, Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Color Balm Take the Day Off Makeup Remover, Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief, Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion, and City Block Purifying Charcoal Cleansing Gel. Some of these items I've tried before, like the Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion. Other items like the City Block Cleansing Gel are new to me.

The second Ulta item is the Ecotools Highlight & Glow Brush Set. I saw that this set included a spoolie for eyebrows and jumped on it. Currently, the only eyebrow brush I have is included with my eyebrow gel so a dedicated dry brush will be nice The other brushes will honestly be a surprise for me after I open the box. 

The next item is the Laura Geller New York Gilded Goddess collection. Last year I received a baked highlighter from Laura Geller and fell in love with it. When I saw that this set includes a baked highlighter and an illuminating stick I knew I had to have it! 

The fourth item from Ulta is the Origins Skin Bests Black Friday Set. This set includes a travel size of the Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash, and Ginzing Energy-Boosting Gel Moisturizer. I've eyed the Origins line for awhile and was excited to see this set, it should be a nice intro to Origins and help me decided if it's worth splurging on. 

The fifth item is Julep Stars of the Show set. Julep is another brand that I've been interested in but haven't made the jump to try yet. This set includes a nail treatment, gel eyeliner, and lip mousse. All three products are full size which is better than the standard holiday set! 

The final paid Ulta item is the NYX Lippie Countdown Advent Calendar. Last year I bought the NYX Advent Calendar with the Lingerie collection and loved it! So I knew when I saw this calendar that I had to have it!

Opening up the Calendar you see the 24 boxes all nicely lined up. This year instead of doing random spaces each day is in order. This makes the organizational freak in me happy because there's little thought that will need to go into where the next day is and it means that the sides will be even. 

As you can see, each day is nicely nested in the associated day which creates a nice display when you open it. 

The first day includes the NYX Matte Lipstick in Eden. 

Eden is a nice blue toned red that is soft enough for day wear but would transfer nicely to a night look depending on the eye. When I went to wash off the swatch on my hand this didn't budge or smudge. It took two rounds with soap and water to wash off Eden. Because I received the Ulta package so late I was unable to wear Eden during the day, but after seeing how hard it was to wash off I would bet that this is a good half day lipstick. I look forward to wearing this for a full day and playing around with this color. 

The final items in the Ulta box are the freebies that I love to get during these sales. The first two are from the standard skincare sample that I always select. They included Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Foaming Mask, and the Bliss Fabulous Drench 'n' Quench Cream-To-Water Lock-In Moisturizer. I'm excited to try the Foaming Mask, but a bit freaked out about the idea of a Cream-To-Water Moisturizer. 

Like most years, this Black Friday sale included the option of a gift with purchase. I selected the Fringe bag in Bone because it seemed like the most neutral color. 

This bag included all Ulta branded makeup which I have recently come to appreciate. There was a double ended eyeliner in Blackout and Plum, a Tinted Eye Primer, a sharpener, and an eyeshadow kit in Sunshine, Plum Drop, Desire, Say What, Buzzword, and Fearless. 

This bag also included a blush brush lip gloss, Matte Lip Crayon, and highlighter kit in Warm, Radiant Diamond, and Translucent. 

Pre-Thanksgiving Ulta Haul

It's no secret that I'm a makeup addict. I love playing with different types of makeup and experimenting with different looks. So, every year around Thanksgiving I take advantage of the Ulta Pre-Thanksgiving, and Black Friday sales. This is my time of year to stock up on makeup and treat myself to more expensive brands. This year I might have taken advantage of two different days of sales before Thanksgiving (then the Black Friday sale)!

Day 1:
The first sale was my smallest order for the year. The Urban Decay Nocturnal Shadow Box was on a pre-sale for the Cyber Fundays event. Ulta discounted the Shadow Box to $17.00 from the regular price of $34.00. I debated about skipping this offer and seeing with the Cyber Fundays price would be but ultimately decided to go with this sale. After seeing the slightly more expensive price on the Cyber Fundays event I'm glad I went with the pre-sale.

The second item that was in this order was NYX Beyond Basic Look Set in 18. I saw this set and thought it would be fun to add some red eye shadow to my collection. For the Latin Music concert I just performed in I would have loved to have access to red eye shadow to do a dramatic, sassy, tango type look. This set looked like it would cover all my criteria and add in another fun lip color to my collection. The addition of a matte liquid eye liner helped convince me that I needed this set.

The third and final item in this order was a simple sharpener from the cheap item section. I have needed a large sharpener for one of my highlighters and at $2 I figured this would be a good investment. There isn't a picture of this sharpener partially because I'm not sure if I actually like it or if it's pure trash.

Day 2:
Day 2 was the Cyber Fundays event. I was curious how much the Shadow Box would be, and what other items might be discounted or offered.

The first item was the NYX Meet the Metallics Vault, which includes 12 different lip creams. There are 6 metallics and 6 matte versions of the metallics. I'm super excited to try the metallics and glad that they're small in case they look horrible. Just glancing at the box I can already tell that two colors, Dubai and Rome won't be good shades for my skin tone.

The second item is actually once I forgot I ordered until I saw opened the box today. It's the bareMinerals Naturals Eyeshadow Kit. This includes 14 different eye shadows and one double-ended eye brush. I typically love the bareMinerals line and was happy to see a kit with mostly natural type colors. I'm excited to try this kit and use the style guide that was included.

The next three items have been staples in my routine for a few years. They are the Plump for Joy Thickening Shampoo and Conditioner, and the In A Heartbeat Blow Dry Accelerator Spray from Not Your Mother's. Because these were all on sale and things that I'm currently out of I decided that they were worth including in my order.

The final two items in this order were from Clinique. They are the Luminous Glow Kit, and a travel size of the Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. The Luminous Glow Kit includes a Foundation Buff Brush and Chubby Stick Sculpting Highlight stick. I've recently fallen in love with highlighting and figured that the Chubby Stick would be a nice upgrade from my typical powder highlighters. The Moisturizing Gel was honestly purchased to bump my Clinique order from $39 to $40 so I could get the Clinique gift.

Freebies:

I am a sucker for freebies. As seen above in my Clinique purchase I have no issues bumping a purchase slightly to ensure that I get the freebie. These two orders included a satisfying about of freebies that will be fun to try out!

The first freebie is the above referenced Clinique bag. This included a travel size Take The Day Off Makeup Remover, a travel size All About Eyes cream, a travel size High Impact Mascara in Black, and a Quickliner for Eyes Intense in Intense Ebony.

 Both orders included the usual Ulta sample of which I elected to choose skincare. I'm not a huge fan of fragrance samples partially because I usually end up spilling them when opening. The skincare samples I got were for the Benefit Porefessional, Olay Tone Perfecting Cream, Skin & Co Whipped Cleansing Cream, and Skin & Co Facial Oil. These are super small samples but should each have enough to give me one application of the product. 

The rest of the freebies came from the Candle Light Beauty Bag. This was an item that was included because my second order reached a specific purchase value. To break up the samples easier I have divided them into a few different pictures.

Included in the Candle Light bag was  small tube of Origins GinZing Peel-off mask, a packet of Bliss Lemon+Sage Body Butter, a packet of Vitabath Cool Spearmint & Thyme Body Wash, and a packet of Nyakio Red Ginseng Line Smoothing Eye & Lip Cream.

There were two primer samples in the bag. One primer was the Smashbox Photo Finish Primerizer, which I've wanted to try for awhile, and the second was the Too Faced Hangoverx 3 in 1. The Too Faced primer advertises itself as a Primer and Setting Spray, that can also be used o refresh skin during the day.

 Two highlighters were included, one Ulta band and one Tarte. The Ulta highlighter is the Liquid Illuminator Starlight which appears to be a cream or gel highlighter. The Tarte is the Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Highligher in Stunner. I love the Amazonian Clay products by Tarte so I'm super excited to try out this highlighter. It looks like it's highly pigmented with a ton of shine.

The bag included two face creams, the Perricone D Multi-Action Overnight Treatment, and the CliniqueFit Post-Wokout Mattifying Moisturizer. Also included in this picture is the Alterna Haircare Caviar Cream because I just saw CC Cream and didn't bother to actually read the package. 

The only foundation sample was for the Urban Decay All Nighter Liquid Foundation. This sample includes 6 little pods of foundation. I would consider this more of a "find your match" kit as opposed to a true sample. 

In addition to the Caviar Cream there were also four additional hair samples. These include a bottle of the It's a 10 Miracle Silk Leave-In, KMS Hair Play Molding Paste, Phyto Paris Phytoelixir Intense Nutrition Mask, and the NIA114 Technology StriVectin Hair Max Volume Shampoo and Conditioner. 

Much to the dismay of my carpet, there were also three fragrance samples included. These consist of Gucci Bamboo, Sweet Like Candy by Ariana Grande, and Versace Man Eau Fraiche. The Versace will most likely end up as part of my brother's Christmas gift. 

Finally there were two coupons included. One for $5 off a $15 purchase from the Ulta Beauty Collection, and another for $15 off an online purchase of $75 or more. 

Overall, I am very pleased with my pre-Thanksgiving haul for this year. The freebies are pleasant and my purchases will be extremely fun to play with! 

No-Stirrup November

It’s that time of year again. Leaves are falling, Starbucks holiday cups have just been released, Thanksgiving plans are being made, and equestrians everywhere are cringing while the trainers rub their hands together like praying mantis. It’s No-Stirrup November. That dreaded month where stirrups go missing or are neglected at the order of the trainers.

Thankfully, my trainer has had me work with only the vaulting saddle for the past few months. Something about me depending too much on my stirrups for posting and not having enough core support. Hopefully, this means that NSN won’t be as painful for me as it will for others. But like every exercise NSN comes with goals that need to be achieved.

1) Canter in the vaulting saddle.

I can walk, sitting trot, and posting trot well in the vaulting saddle. But I have yet to try cantering. We were going to attempt it last week but I conviently had on a girth that was too loose so that idea was dropped in the interest of safety. I fear cantering without my stirrups, and the comfort of my saddle, but I know I need to do it. So my goal is to do at the minimum the long side of the jumping arena in the vaulting saddle at the canter. Without turning into a potato...

2) Posting trot in my saddle.

I can sort of do this one but the slickness of my saddle is a bit of a deterrent. My saddle is “sticky” when I clean and condition it but that’s been neglected because I’m lazy. This goal is simple and I know I can do it. I just need to drop the whole “saddle is slippery so I’m going to die”.

3) Two point/half seat without stirrups.

This is another one that I can sort of do but I need to get better at it.

I’m thankful that Cupid and I have the ability to work with the vaulting saddle and that my trainer has been having me slowly build up strength. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t recommend doing stirrupless work for entire lessons but we’ve become so adjusted to riding without stirrups (or a saddle) that it’s been more comfortable for me to just ride in the vaulting saddle.

Cupid telling me what she thinks of our work with the vaulting saddle 

 So equestrians, who is doing No-Stirrup November and how are you doing it? Vaulting saddle? Bareback pad? Taking off or crossing your stirrups? My plan is a mix of both vaulting saddle and crossing my stirrups.

Celebration Rotary Club 19th Annual Pancake Run Recap

Occasionally, I do things without reading the fine print. Like signing up for the 2018 Princess Half without realizing that my good proof of time won't work this time around. Cue the panic of being in the last corral when I realized this around June. (Yay for not taking races seriously since I moved!) I quickly checked all the local races for a 10k, 15k, or half that would help me get a new proof of time and discovered the Celebration Rotary Club's Pancake Run. It looked like a nice, easy course, and it was cheap. So I signed up and started to train!

The race took place in Celebration with the start and finish line by the Fire Station. I was worried about parking so I arrived at Celebration at 6:00 and was pleased to see parking at a church next to the fire station. From there I went to get my packet, which was easy to find but a bit strange. Usually I have to show ID to receive my packet but this time I just needed to give them my first and last name. Once I had my packet I went back to my car to nap for a bit until 7:15 when I planned on warming up.

When 7:15 rolled around I headed to the start and stretched. The race organizers did have a woman leading Zumba as a warm up but I didn't like the idea of changing my usual warm up.

There wasn't much warning before the starting gun went off but when it did my phone decided to stop speaking with my wireless headphones. I updated my phone during the last Apple update and it's given me issues with connecting to FitBit and my wireless headphones. Thankfully the interval timer I use vibrates strong enough so I can feel it through my arm band.

The first mile of the race is pretty unremarkable, honestly for someone who runs through Celebration weekly the whole race is pretty unremarkable. I was able to settle into a nice comfortable pace and pulled off a 9'07", well below my target pace of 9'40" for the first mile.

The second mile I pulled off a 9'52" as I settled into my intervals. This was below where I planned on being but I felt comfortable so I worked on maintaining it.

Miles 3-6 evened out into 10'11", 10'17", 10'14", and 10'16" respectfully. For the final 0.2 miles I could see the finish line and decided to give it everything I had left. There was a girl who I had been trading places with for the majority of the race and I had it in my head that I couldn't let her finish in front of me. Honestly, I feel like she felt the same way because once I passed her I felt like I could see her try to match my pace.

I finished in 1:05:06 which was slower than my goal of 1:00:00 but faster than my PR of 1:14:46. I'm pleased with my time and how I did, but it's been irritating me how close I was to getting that 1:00 10k. At the minimum I fully plan on going at or under 1:00 for the Pancake Run next year.

Overall, I enjoyed the race. It was a basic, cheap, local race that was fairly organized and on a flat course. The biggest issues I had were that there were no parking instructions given prior to the race, you couldn't hear the announcer/DJ if you were close to the starting line, and traffic wasn't completely blocked from entering the course.

Michael Todd Soniclear Elite Review

It's no secret that I have really, really bad skin. I've dealt with horrible acne since I was in middle school, and have tried almost everything on the market to treat it. One item I've lusted after but haven't been able to justify the cost was a Clarisonic. On July 13th Good Morning America had the Michael Todd Soniclear on the daily deal for $49.99, regular $149.00. I did some quick research and decided that this brush wasn't a cheap knockoff of the Clarisonic and put in my order for a Soniclear Elite in the Leopard Me Purple pattern (because nothing beats animal print!). I also added a Sonic Infuser Head, Shower Caddy in white, and the C35x Retinol Serum because they were all on sale.

Box of Goodies!

When I finally received my order I dove right into the box. I was happy to see that everything was packed securely with plenty of padding. The Retinol Serum was wrapped in bubble wrap and sealed to prevent it from leaking onto anything if it had opened. The box with the Soniclear was wrapped in plastic so if the box had gotten rained on it wouldn't have gotten damaged. Overall, I was pleased with how everything arrived.

Unboxing the Soniclear

Once I opened the Soniclear box I was excited to see that there was an instruction manual included. This manual is on good quality paper and should be able to withstand being referenced heavily while I learn all the features of the brush. The charger is simple to set up and took me only a few seconds to figure out how to charge the brush. One item to note is that I don't believe the brush is extremely secure in the charging cradle. If you were to bump the counter it seems like the brush could slip out of the cradle.

Charging

After using the brush for a few months I can officially say that I don't know how I survived without having a face brush is my daily routine. My skin is clearer, and I feel like I'm actually cleaning my face completely when I wash it. The first three weeks were rough. I didn't see any difference in my skin for the first week, then the next two were full of breakouts. My poor face broke out in areas that hadn't had issues in years, but thankfully these went away quickly. On the fourth week my face settled down and seemed better than normal. I contributed this to hormones and thought about throwing away the brush but couldn't justify just throwing away the money I had spent.

Body Brush, Serum, and Infuser Head

As weeks five and six went on my face surprisingly looked good. There were no new major breakouts and my skin looked brighter. I actually went a few days without foundation which is something I never do during the work week. On week 7 I changed my cleanser and noticed a world of difference. Since then I have only had minor breakouts (which is a huge improvement) and they don't last long. I contribute this improvement to both the new cleanser and the Soniclear brush! I spent the last week without foundation and concealer because I feel like my skin looks great! I would highly recommend the Soniclear to anyone looking to take their beauty routine one step further.

The wonder soap that made all the difference

Pros:

• Skin feels extremely clean
• Beeps to let you know when to move to a new section
• Has multiple speeds so you can customize the cleaning to your current skin condition
• Includes a body brush that is larger
• Antibacterial head so you don't have to worry about it getting "nasty" 
• Easy to clean
• Waterproof so you can use it in the shower
• Has several different heads for different skin situations that you can buy. 

Cons:

• Expensive
• Difficult to tell when the battery is low
• Not a miracle worker. You need to find the right combination of cleanser and brush speed. 

Overall: I would 100% recommend this to my friends and anyone looking to improve their skin!

8 Steps To Buying A Home In Your 20s

Since I closed on my house last year it feels like all my friends are asking if they should buy a house. The more I listen to my friends and watch them navigate the process, the more I realize that most of us don't have any idea what buying a house entails. I'm not claiming to be a home buying expert but the following steps are a bit of what I've learned during my process.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1) Get prequalified. 

The first step I recommend to all my friends is to get prequalified by the bank you think you're going to use for your mortgage. Getting prequalified gives you a great idea of what you can afford and any requirements the bank will need to complete your loan. To get prequalified you can either go into the bank and speak with a lender, call a local lender, or apply online. I called a local lender at my bank and spent 30 minutes on the phone with him. Expect to be asked what your income is, where you're planning on looking, and if you consent to the bank pulling your credit score. From this info the bank should be able to give you the maximum amount they'll be willing to lend to you. I would ask the lender what documentation they will need for the loan to be completed, and if they think you'll need a co-signer. Once you have your prequalification letter you're ready to move onto the next step.

2) Find a realtor.

Ask friends for a recommendation, ask coworkers, or go through the phone book and call various realtors until you find someone you like. Your realtor should be someone you're comfortable with and is driven to work towards helping you purchase the home of your dreams. My realtor was absolutely amazing and actually ended up working with my parents to buy their property. He took the time to walk me through the whole home buying process, explain everything to me, and help me stay realistic about the houses we were looking at. Always remember that your realtor is working for you and not the seller. 

3) Look at houses. 

Drive through neighborhoods, search online, look through community newspapers, and make a list of all the houses you want to look at in person. Fall in love with the first house you see or fall in love with the twentieth house you see. Just get out there and look at houses. Once you find that house you love and is meant for you, you'll know it. 

4) Put in an offer. 

Let your realtor guide you but don't be afraid to speak up during the offer period. Put in an offer for a price you're comfortable with, provide your offer letter to your realtor, sign a bunch of pages for the offer letter, and submit your offer to the seller. But be sure to read the entire offer letter and speak up if there are any items you want to see changed. 

5) Wait.

Wait for a response from the seller. It'll feel like it takes them forever and I can guarantee you'll be stressed by it. 

6) Receive the sellers response. 

Celebrate if they accept your initial offer!!! Congrats! You're buying a house!!! 

If they counter or reject your offer then try again. Adjust your offer and return to step 4. Don't lose hope. Everything happens for a reason and if you've got a great realtor they'll be able to guide you.

7) Welcome to mortgage hell. 

If you though waiting for the offer was bad just wait until you have to wait for closing. In between having your offer accepted and sitting at the closing table you'll have to jump through more hoops than an agility dog. You'll need to attend the home inspection, have an appraisal and flood determination completed, provide a ton of documentation to your lender, and locate a home insurance provider. Make sure to request copies of your inspection, survey, appraisal, and flood determination to keep for your records. All of these items will come in handy eventually, even if it's just to help you sell the home in the future. Request the names of the utility companies from your lender and use this time to arrange utilities. You should also research your HOA (if buying into an HOA community) to make sure you understand what the dues will include. 

8) Closing. 

Welcome to the closing table. Your title agent will sit with you, your realtor, and possibly your lender and the sellers realtor. Each document will be explained to you and you'll have to sign everything. Don't be afraid to read each document and ask questions. This is a huge purchase and you have to be sure that you understand what you're signing.

Congrats! Once you walk away from this table you're officially a home owner! Now go celebrate! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It seems easy, eight simple steps and you've got a place of your own, but there are three items you need to consider. 

1) Is this the best financial move for you?

If you're in an apartment and the payments become too much you can quickly move to another place, after paying the lease break fee. If you own a house you can't walk away or move away quickly. You have to take the time to properly sell the house all while continuing to make your mortgage payments. You should never put yourself in financial danger just because you want a house. 

On the other hand, if you've got the resources to purchase a home and your mortgage payments will be equal to or less than rent then go purchase that house! 

One important item to remember is to play below your means. Your prequalification shows the maximum you can receive for a loan. I would strongly caution everyone to purchase below that amount. It's better to stay safe than to fall into debt that you can't repay. 

2) Do you have enough for the down payment?

Several of my friends have pursued 100% loans. I do not recommend this. Putting yourself in the position of a 100% loan means that you have no financial hold in the house and possibly purchased above your means. Take some time to save up and put a down payment on the home. There are programs such as the FHA loans that will allow you do a small down payment which is better than nothing. 

3) Do you want a house or do you want a house because everyone else is buying?

Right after I closed on my house one of my friends started looking for their own. They later sat down with me and admitted that they weren't in a position to buy but they saw how much fun I was having with my home and wanted that for themselves. This friend ended up continuing their rental and is having a blast with it. Like he recently admitted, it's nice having a landlord take care of all the issues that arise with the property. (This was admitted as I was fixing my water heater because it was making the hot water smell like rotten eggs. Thanks buddy.)  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buying a house is a huge decision that shouldn't be made lightly. Take the time to review your reasons for buying and if they add up to you buying because you're in a financial position to buy and because you want it for yourself then go buy that home! There's no shame in admitting you need to wait or want to wait. There will always be homes for sale and time to buy.

Leave a comment and let me know what your favorite part of the home buying process was! Mine was sitting around the closing table gossiping with my realtor and title agent about the issues that had occurred the week before closing.

August Goals

Like many of you I try to set individual goals for each month. While scrolling through the various blogs I follow, I realized that many of them share their monthly goals. It dawned on me that this would be a great way to hold myself accountable, so here are my 5 goals for August!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August Goals
1) Canter through the water.
Thanks to all the rains Florida has been having there is a small section of the arena that's flooded. Now Cupid is 'Little Miss Prissy Pants' and hates getting her feet wet. Our recent goal has been to walk through this puddle without issues, and we've managed to trot through it without a major break in gait. My goal for August, if the puddle sticks around, is to canter her through the puddle. Because I would love to take her cross-country schooling and to a hunter pace, she's going to need to adjust to going through water.

2) Practice the flute for 2 hours a week.
Central Florida Community Arts Orchestra rehearsal has started again and this time I need to really dedicate myself to the music. I would love to play for the Christmas concert so I need to make sure that I give this whole season 110%. The upcoming concert consists of music that is from Spain and Latin America which are pieces that I'm not really familiar with but have proven to be extremely fun to play!

3) Read 3 books.
I would love to start working through some of the books on my GoodReads "Want To Read" list, but first I've got to read through the 100 books that are currently on my Kindles! (Yes, I've got two of them)

4) Workout 3 times a week.
It's no secret. I've gained weight. I hate it so I've got to do something about it. I'm going to be checking out a training program through a local running store but until then I've got to start rebuilding my strength.

5) Paint office.
I've got this room in my house that has sat and done nothing for the past year. It started as a guest room, then went to my office, then started to gather stuff that I didn't know what to do with. I honestly didn't know what I wanted to do with this room and what my goal was for it. But now I've settled on a basic plan and just need to talk with my mom about swapping furniture. In the meantime I've picked out my paint color for the room and need to get it painted before bringing the heavy antique furniture into it.

See. It's in need of a makeover.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now for the fun part; seeing if I can achieve these goals! I'll be using my planner to track what I've accomplished, and when, so I will have an accurate record of what I've done.