Friday Things

1. A day that starts with a complimentary mimosa and basket of scones is bound to be a good one, right?

2. I recently found a new-to-me hair and makeup blog which I love – The Beauty Department. I’ve never been one of those girls who is a natural at putting everything together when it comes to makeup and hair (or clothes and accessories, for that matter); I need some help and guidance. This blog has it all from step-by-step tutorials to product recommendations. I love it!

3. This past week, my best friend and I went to the New Kids on the Block // Boyz II Men // 98 Degrees concert. Indulge me for a minute while I tell you that it was all kinds of awesome and way, way better than I anticipated.

It was 3½ hours (yes, you read that right!) of boy band mania. Boyz II Men led off the show and put on a great performance – totally took me back to 8th grade dances! They were followed up by 98 Degrees, who were popular when I was already in college, so I only remembered a couple of their songs. Then, NKOTB performed for two solid hours with a mix of all of their old favorites and a ton of their new stuff. I admittedly hadn’t listened to anything off of their new album, but it was fun dance music. We had a great time; if you were ever a fan of any of those bands and the tour is coming to your city, I highly recommend going! (Michelle of BurghBaby was also at the show and brought her dSLR camera. She snagged some amazing shots; if you’re interested, check out her set on Flickr!)

4. I’m not going to lie, it was a little depressing to be at Consol Energy Center the week of the Stanley Cup Finals and not be staring at a sheet of ice. Ah well. I’m pulling for the Bruins in this one… each team has a Pittsburgh kid, so that’s a wash. Jaromir Jagr is our tie breaker ;-)

5. Last week, we had the wiring completed for the surround sound in our family room and we also splurged on a neat little system for our master bedroom and bathroom. The bedroom already had built-in speakers in the walls; we added one in the master bathroom and power them both through a receiver and a piece of equipment called Sonos, which is mind-bogglingly cool. You connect to it through a smartphone or iPad app and can play any music on any device on your home network, Pandora, Sirius, or more than a dozen other Internet radio apps, all controlled from the Sonos app. Definitely check it out if you’re in the market for a sound system!

6. Remember last week when I told you a container of Graeter’s ice cream had shown up at my door? We’ve blown through almost all of those pints; I can’t wait to go to the store and try some more flavors! I think the Peanut Butter Chip and Buckeye Blitz are going to be next on my list.

7. While I’ve been enjoying the ice cream, I must say that I’m missing soft serve ice cream since our move. I haven’t found any neighborhood soft serve stands around here that aren’t a chain. A little bit of a bummer, but that just means we’ll have to stock our freezer full of yummy ice cream.

8. I may be officially addicted to The Container Store. Send help… or coupons.

9. I still haven’t gotten around to planting my patio pots (time is flying!). That is one of my goals for this weekend; I’m planning basil, parsley, mint and jalapeño peppers for sure. I’m waffling on tomatoes; I’ve never done them in a pot. Any suggestions for plants that do well with container gardening?

10. TGIF! Time to catch up on some sleep!

Source: Golden Retriever Facebook page