I am in trouble

My local Shoppers Drug Mart just renovated their store. It finally has a beauty boutique which is hard enough to resist but I also noticed they had the most gorgeous purses there.

The brand is called Suede & Co. Never heard of them but since and did Shoppers carry purses? Either way I totally wanted one of these bad boys. Made me wish I didn't redeem my points earlier and waited till they reopened my store so I could have splurged on a purse & not had to pay for it.

woo, I just won $10

So I do Hotspex surveys every once in a while when I have free time. You take surveys and in exchange they give you points that you can redeem for stuff.

I like their surveys because it's actually semi entertaining and I can use their points to convert to esso points & get a free car wash. Well I was doing one of their surveys a few days ago & won $10. Totally not expecting $10 and happy with the points that I'd have gotten instead, it was nice little surprise. It's not much but that's me eating fast food or getting snacks.

Yoga - Seated Forward Bend

I can finally say that I've gotten to the point where I can do the seated forward bend & get my nose to touch my knees! Feels good to finally be able to do this. I've been so close for the last few months & finally it's been clicking.

Seated Forward Bend down, head stand here I come....

I might have blogged about this before but my yoga goal for 2009 is to be able to do a head stand without any assistance (i.e. wall).

Haircuts

I am due for a haircut & am not sure which route I want to go. Expensive salon route or school route (i.e. get my hair cut by a student at the Aveda institute). I've done both & have had instances where I was completely satisfied & then instances where I almost left crying because I hated my haircut.

I have crazy hair --> Thick semi-curly, wavy hair that I've grown to love. However not all hairstylists know how to work with my hair or give me a haircut that works with my hair & face.

A haircut at the local salon I'd go to is about $40. If I went to Aveda, I could pay as little as $10 I think. I don't completely remember how much I paid last time. To be honest though, I don't mind paying the extra buck if I got a good hair cut. I truly think if I found a wonderful hairdresser that every single time without fail had me leave the salon with fabulous hair, I would definitely pay $50 or more for the haircut.

However with all that being said and my upcoming trip expenditures, I think I am going to go the cheap route and book an appointment at Aveda.

Why is it that

when you can't wait for the week to be over, it takes forever & when you just don't have enough hours in the day, the week flys by. I have so many things to get done at work and at home but it seems like as much running around as I do, I still have lots left on my plate to do.

Went out for drinks last night

And as a result I am over in my food budget for March. I made dinner at home and went out just for drinks thinking I'd be good. However the place that we went to was a little on the pricier side and I had such a great time talking to my friend that one drink turned into 2.

Sunday is a lazy day as are most Sundays. Planning on doing some grocery shopping today so I can make some food for the week. Since I am still a little under in my food budget, I want to try being adventurous and try a new recipe. Also planning on cleaning up my place a little and testing out some new things I got at shoppers drug mart yesterday!

off to google recipes....

I heart Shoppers Drug Mart....most of the time

I know they are generally pricier than your local Wal-Mart & whatnot but I do love their point system especially when I get to redeem my points and splurge on whatever I want for $200 on their bonus days. Today was that day & I bought myself things I needed & things I did not. Things I needed included a hair dryer, food, ect. Things I did not include a curling iron & makeup. I wish I could say I feel guilty but I feel happy. I am a materialistic girl, what can I say.

I owe the tax man money

Here I was thinking I would get a return & turns out I owe some money! I didn't contribute anything to my rrsp so that certainly didn't help my case.

I am definitely planning on starting my rrsp contributions this year. I've been pushing it off for the past two years because I needed to settle down into a normal life after uni, pay off loans, build an emergency fund cushion, buy a car and all that other jazz. Now that that's outta the way, I feel like I am in an OK position to start my RRSPs.

Work Dilemma

What would you do if for the most part you enjoyed what you do at work but felt you were being underpaid. Like by at least $10k underpaid. Also there is abso-positively no way you could get a raise at work.

This is my current situation. I have days where I dread going into work but I think overall I enjoy what I do. I also feel like I should be making more. I've brought this up with my manager and there is absolutely nothing that can be done in this area. So here I am debating if I should work for the enjoyment of work or seek employment elsewhere. Is it even a good idea with the economy right now? The last thing I'd want is to quit my current job to start elsewhere only to find out the new company is doing cuts and I am one of those cuts.

I am at a point in my life where I am still single with no dependents and no loans. This means that I can get by on what I make and save a little. Only I feel like I could be saving more if I was at a different company doing my exact same job. Stupid 'what ifs'.

I said for the most part I like work but if given the choice of working or staying at home to watch t.v., I would pick the second. I see work as an ends to a means right now. That means is buying things like a house & eventually retiring and I am all for getting there sooner rather than later.

I've decided to get back to updating my resume & try putting it out there. Doesn't hurt to see if I have any other options.

I did something out of character

I am a natural introvert. I can fake being social but really I'd rather be at home cocooned under the sheets watching tv. Social events scare me. The idea of meeting new people or putting myself out there with folks I don't know make me hyperventilate. Ok hyperventilateing is a bit much but when I have something to do with folks I don't know, I almost try & find any excuse not to go. So when there was a going away lunch for a friend at work, I wanted to go because I really do like this girl & will miss her. The idea of sitting with complete strangers however scared me.

I talked myself into going by saying, I would just say I had to cut lunch short to get a presentation done which was partially true.

The best and most surprising part was that not only did I stay the whole lunch but I also enjoyed the lunch. I was impressed by my ability to handle all the awkardness & fit in.

Score one for me!

Freebie Fridays

I received this a few weeks ago but I've taken my sweet time getting around to uploading the pics. I must say this is one of the better freebies I've received. Look at how pretty-ly it was packaged!

Matchstick.ca is doing a lovely Herbal Essences campaign for their Hydralicious line. As a result I get to test drive 3 new shampoos & conditioners! Not that I need anymore shampoos or conditioners in my collection but I don't feel guilty because I didn't go out & purchase these. I've already tried out the purple one & I definitely like it. Love the shampoo, not sure I am as in love with their conditioner. I want to try & put up a decent review once I try all 3 of them out.

Also didn't factor in customs

So that order from Coastalscents.com. Well not only did I not factor in the US to CAN conversion, I also assumed I wouldn't have to pay customs. I purchased $100 worth of items. I've purchased more than that before & have never been charged customs. Well today I got the Canada Post slip to go pick up the parcel & looks like I am going to have to pay ~$20! Bahh. If I knew that, I'd just have bought everything I needed from MAC. Would have been cheaper than trying to go online for the palettes.

Quiet Weekend

It's been a quiet weekend of staying in. Cleaned up the place which makes me feel so accomplished. I am sure it will only take a week or do before I undo everything that's been done. I normally let things get messy to a point where I can't take it anymore & then I go to town and clean anything & everything leaving nothing untouched.

Quiet weekend also means low key on the spending.

This weekend I also tried to prep myself to do the taxes but no dice.

What do you do

when a coworker asks you if you're coming out for drinks the following week with other coworkers? Except the only issue is I was never invited to this soiree. AWKWARD! In an attempt to not sound like a loser, I claimed I had a previous engagement & wouldn't be able to make it even I had been invited. Watching Lost is a previous engagement alright. Sometimes I feel like I am in highschool all over again.

Doh!

So I ended up buying a bunch of things from costalscents.com not taking into account that all the prices were in USD. So as a result I spent way more than I originally thought I was spending. Probably would have been a good idea for me to just buy the palettes and other things from a Canadian retailer or even directly from mac.

Upcoming expenditures

So that trip I talked about a while back. Well I am going! Which means I've started making a list of things I want to take with me &/or purchase for the trip.

One thing is a makeup palette. Either one from MAC or perhaps coastal scents since it fits the same sized shadows. This way I can depot all my shadows into one compact, travel friendly case instead of carrying a bunch of single ones. If I go with Coastal Scents, I am also going to get this 88 colour palette because I would never buy all those colours & I've wanted to get it for over a year. I know quality doesn't compare but, oh colours! So I am going to up my clothes & beauty budget for the month taking away from the eating out category.