Which do we like better- the grey sheets or the white sheets?
I switched them around the other day because the white ones started looking dingy (even though I washed them in various Pinterest recipes). Any tips of getting them clean again?
Included also are close-ups of my wall decorations. I love them so.
Making your own sushi is really easy. Maybe I should write a post about it- it’s way cheaper than going out for sushi, you can put whatever you want in the rolls, and did I mention that it’s super easy?!
I paired some baked avocado fries with my sweet potato fries at lunch the other day! They were tasty, but would have been better with some avocado ranch.
Located in the Uptown 23rd neighborhood of OKC, Back Door Barbecue is another soon-to-be staple of my diet. I can’t express how delicious this food was. Bye bye, Norman Rudy’s. This is true love because I am abandoning a TEXAS restaurant for you, Back Door BBQ. Understand this Texas native’s sacrifice.
Pictured above is my order, the one meat plate (pulled pork) with two sides, the slaw, which wasn’t overly creamy and had cilantro and bell pepper (exciting!), and the fried pickled okra, which I can’t stop talking about. I am getting really good at working fried pickled okra into my everyday conversations.
Here’s B with his Q-ban, which he added the house mustard sauce to, claiming it took the sandwich “to the next level”. It was pretty fantastic. He also got the fries, which were obviously homemade and tasty, especially with all of the sauces that we tried liberal amounts of. Can you have too much BBQ sauce? I think not.
Even though I was so full, I couldn’t leave without trying a pie-in-a-jar. I mean, check out that adorable deliciousness! This was their coconut + banana cream pie, which was pretty amazing. I would have liked more crust, but we all know I’m a carb addict that likes crust better than filling in every pie. Warning to not-coconut-lovers: this puppy has a ton of coconut, do NOT order. Also, why are you so weird, coconut hater?!
Final verdict: I plan on eating here so often they memorize my order.
I can hear all of you saying “But, Sydney, you love sales! Literally every time I see you, you are talking about something awesome you got on sale!”.
To that I say: “Whoa, some of you I have never seen before, be right back while I go into Witness Protection.”
But I digress. If you’ve never met me before, I can assure you that I am usually blabbering on about something that I got at a ridiculously good deal. A $10 J. Crew sweater, a $300 iPad (a lot of cash money, but that’s actually a lot off the list price), a $6 iPhone case (also thanks to the Crew that I love so much) are some of my spoils. But there’s a problem with loving sales so much.
Beautiful heart shirt that I love so much, I would never have you if I didn’t tear myself from the sale section!
It came to me in a J. Crew Factory store, of course. I was there with K (I think) and I tried on all of these things that lived on the sale rack. Truth be told, I was only looking at these items because of their low price. Which explains why I wasn’t really satisfied with any of these things. I was about to settle for something that I only halfway liked but wouldn’t break the bank when I saw it…the above shirt.
Silky smooth and riddled with a fun heart pattern, it cried out to me from the full-price section. (Actually, I didn’t even end up paying full-price for it thanks to my student discount, but it was still far more expensive than anything on the sale rack.) I was so torn. I tried it on and loved it, of course, but it was slightly out of my usual price range. I wouldn’t go hungry if I bought it, but it would make me feel awkward to plunk down my plastic for such a big ticket item.
But you know what? I shoved those not-“me” clothes right back onto the sale rack and bought the Heart Shirt. And I am so happy I did! I wear this shirt once a week almost. It looks great with army green jeans and riding books for class and with black slacks for work.
If I had bought the sale items, they would have ended up on the floor of my closet, not being worn. That’s a waste of money, plain and simple. So, really, buying the more expensive item that I wear ALL OF THE TIME was the better economic decision.
Too bad they never gave me word problems like this in my high school econ class.
I’ve been reading a lot of Young House Love lately, and that combined with my latest furniture purchase has left me feeling a bit inspired. So here’s a mood board for what I’m hoping my big girl living room will look like. Most items are from Ikea or West Elm. The West Elm pretties are DEFINITELY a reach in the $$$ department, but I’ve found a couple DIY tutorials on how to craft my own mirrored table and create my own copper light fixture.
Check it out, and let me know what you think! I can hear my mama in my ear now, “It’s so contemporary!”.
I was inspired by Meghann’s recap of how much it cost her to train for an Ironman, so I composed this little recap of my spending over the past year on my tiny running habit. While I’m not an Ironman by any means, I did drop a pretty penny for a college student!
Race entries (Oklahoma City Half Marathon, Route 66 Half Marathon, and about 6 5ks- some of which were free): $260
Hotel costs for out-of-driving-distance races: $225
Food while traveling to races: $30
New shoes (I replace mine yearly): $120
Running gear that was purchased this year: $75
Miscellaneous racing stuff (fuel beans, Nuun, fuel belt): $50
Extras (race shirts): $50
TOTAL: $810
Close to $1000 spent on running last year! Oof. Luckily, some of these costs were covered by my family (shoes by my parents, a hotel room by my aunt). I still included them, however, to present a more accurate picture of the cost.
What do you think? Too much spent on a little hobby? I honestly thought it might be more, but I’m okay with spending this amount on something that brings me so much happiness. $1000 sounds like a lot, but it obviously wasn’t all at once and I save up for a while before I blow cash on large items like half-marathon entries or a new jacket. Do you have a hobby that costs you some serious cash?
To cure boredom during my last long Christmas break, I’ve been perusing Craigslist to find furniture for the apartment I will (hopefully!) be moving into in May. When hunting, I usually search direct store names that I’m hoping to find goods from, like “Ikea”, “West Elm”, or “Pottery Barn”.
So, I popped in “Ikea”, and this popped out….
Two Ikea EKTORP TULLSTA chairs for $50?!?!
I quickly emailed the seller because this was just too good to be true. For reference, the Ikea website lists them as retailing…
….$129 A PIECE!
Yes, kids, that’s a savings of over $100 a chair. This was a deal I just couldn’t pass up! The seller lived a mere 20 minutes down the road, so my stepmom and I drove our little SUV up there to fetch these two beauties.
I was scared that the seller would be some creepy serial killer because CRAIGSLIST, but he was totally nice and normal! The chairs were pristine and pretty darn comfy for Ikea products. We carted them home and I now walk into the spare bedroom twice daily to sit in them and admire them.
I plan on reviewing these chairs soon, so keep your eyes peeled!
It’s gotten quite chilly outside the past few days, so let’s travel back in time to another cold couple of days…the weekend B, K, and I drove to Tulsa so that I could run the Route 66 Half Marathon.
We made the quick 2 hour trek from Norman to Tulsa and drove straight to the race expo. It was much smaller than the OKC expo, but it got the job done with much less waiting-in-line time. We perused the things for sale (and I promised K a 0.0 sticker for her Kia- still want one, bby?), made some inspirational race signs, then skedaddled to our hotel.
That night I crammed in a nervous Mexican dinner with B, K, and our friend Beth who lives in Tulsa. Seems like I always eat Mexican food before races?! Maybe they help me run faster. Who knows? We got home and I laid out all of my clothes for the next morning, pinned my bib to my pants, and strapped on my timing chip. I was as ready as I could be…but super nervous. I tried to go to bed at 10 pm, but I was so nervous that it took me forever to fall asleep and I woke up many times throughout the evening. At one point, I remember just praying that the morning would go ahead and come so I could stop pretending to get any semblance of rest.
Race day was COOOOOLD. Something like 12 degrees. We all layered up, B ran and got a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts (more on that later), we posed for cute pictures, and then, all too soon, it was time to hit the road.
Parking was a hairy situation, but we managed to park about 4 blocks from the start. And that little walk was INTENSE. The cold was mind-numbing. I sincerely started to doubt if I could run 13.1 miles in that weather. We waited (probably illegally) in the lobby of the Mayo Hotel until about half an hour before the race started— that’s when B and K ditched me to go post up with their signs near the 2.5/5 mile marker at Woodward Park.
Waiting in that corral alone yet surrounded by thousands of people was incredibly difficult. I couldn’t feel my fingers or my toes. My scarf wouldn’t hang right on my neck. This race was starting to seem like a dumb idea. Then the gun went off, and I started running.
And 5 minutes into the race, I was actively thinking “Where can I meet B and K in order for me to drop out of this race?”
I’m evil, so that’s where I leave you until the next chapter!
Since 2012’s year in review post was pretty popular, I decided to make one for 2013 as well. It’s a really nice way of looking back on everything I accomplished over the year— most of the time I don’t feel like I really do much of anything.
But this year, I did all of this…
Registered for my first half marathon.
Planned my fashion for my spring break trip abroad.
Felt things about the Boston Marathon bombing, and then wrote about these feelings (and also graffiti-ed my new shoes a bit).
Wrote out all of the things I’ve learned about half-marathon training so far.
Ran my first half-marathon, the Oklahoma City Memorial Half (a double post epic).
Felt things about the May 20 Moore tornado, and then wrote about these feelings.
Felt things about having dreams and goals, and then wrote about these feelings.
Moved into my own apartment, and began cooking + trying to save money at the grocery store.
Made my own no-sew curtains (that still look rather fetching).
Registered and trained for my second half-marathon. Was less of a humblebragger about this one.
Made my own Katniss Everdeen costume for Halloween.
Ran my second half-marathon, the Route 66 Half (full recap coming soon, I swear!).
Revisited couponing + how I grocery shop six months after.
Thanks to everyone who has read Cuppycakes throughout 2013. Whether you’re a loyal follower or this is the first post you’ve ever read, I’m pleased as punch that you’re here. I hope I can bring a little color, excitement, or even just a unique thought to your web browser throughout 2014.