Penny pinching

I'm getting a new mattress delivered tomorrow (for free - perks that came with the boyfriend) and I decided I needed to buy some new bedding. I bought a new down comforter and a duvet cover from Overstock.com. But being as indecisive as I am about bedding for some reason, I bought them in two separate installments, a couple of hours apart. The shipping is only $1 for each item, but I decided to try and get both delivered for $1. Why? I'm not sure...maybe I need help. Nonetheless, I thought it was pretty funny and so did the boyf. It really wasn't very hard at all. Here's the online chat convo I had with a customer service rep:

Nancy: Hi, my name is Nancy. How may I help you?  
Aki: hi nancy 
Aki: i just made two orders today 
Aki: within a span of couple hours 
Aki: maybe less 
Aki: just wondering if i could package them together and pay shipping for both 
Aki: instead of separately 
Nancy: I am sorry, we cannot make any changes to an existing order. 
Aki: really? 
Aki: u cant refund me $1? 
Nancy: I will see what best can be done about this. 
Nancy: For security purposes, could you please verify the full name and billing address, including the city, state and zip code? 
Aki: ____
Nancy: Thank you. 
Aki: you're welcome 
Nancy: As we value your business, we will issue the shipping fee of $1 to your payment method used once the order is processed. 
Aki: thank you!! 
Aki: I appreciate that! 
Nancy: You are most welcome. 
Nancy: Once refund is issued, you will receive an email confirmation to your email address on file. Nancy: Any other concerns?

This is where I got distracted making this blog post due to encouragement from the boyfriend. 

Nancy: I’ll remain available for another minute or two if you need further assistance. 
Aki: oh no that's it 
Aki: thank you!

I'm a penny pincher, what can I say?

9.11.01 - Remembrance

Sept. 11th Memorial - www.911memorial.com

The saddest day I've ever experienced.

Saturday Morning Breakfast and my Diet

I always make my Saturday morning breakfasts a bit special since during the week I only get to have cereal. This is what I had yesterday:

 

I am also currently on a diet. Ive been using this website called www.activetrax.com available through my local gym (the YMCA) to keep track of my my exercise regimen and my food! If you have this available at your gym, you should definitely do it (you can check if you do here)! It counts my calories for me and depending on the amount of exercise I've done (or not) that day, gives me the total number of calories I should eat to still keep track of my goal of losing 1lb a week. It also keeps track of my nutrition and tells me if I've had too much cholesterol and not enough protein, etc. My total goal is to lose 8lbs but I'm more concerned with toning my body to the point that I'm satisfied than the number of pounds I lose. 

Yesterday, I worked out for an hour at the gym so I had 1400 calories to spend (today, since I didn't go to the gym, I have 1175 calories to spend). So, this is what I had for breakfast on Saturday!

Breakfast (approximations):

One scrambled egg with onions: 100 cal

One 8 grain tortilla heated: 100 cal

A few sauteed potatoes w/cumin seeds, red chilli powder, salt and pepper (DELICIOUS btw): 100 cal

1 cup of skim milk: 90 cal

1 banana: 100 cal

TOTAL: 490 calories

That was about a third of my daily allowance, so I still had 2 meals to go! Also, they say breakfast should be your biggest meal of the day, then lunch, and finally dinner should be the lightest. Counting calories can be a bit difficult to keep up and it requires discipline but it keeps me from overeating (which I do a lot) and even eating for no reason or out of boredom (which I also do a lot).

What do you guys do to keep fit and healthy?

Happy Labor Day!

Hope everyone's enjoying the 3-day weekend (if you have one)! I know I am. 2nd best part of 3-day weekends? 4-day weeks. Yessss. 3rd best part? The sales. I did some shopping this weekend. Did you?

I tried to find some business outfits I could wear to clinical meetings and patient interactions which is at least once a week. Here is some inspiration I have found on pinterest (these are all in my "Clothes" board). LOVE pinterest, btw.

From thecheapgirl.com

From style.com

From bourbonandpearls.tumblr.com

from http://bees-knees.tumblr.com/

From anntaylor.com

From http://apartment34.blogspot.com/

From jcrew.com

Aren't they gorgeous? I wish I could afford all those direct from the source! But these are my inspiration and I will strive for them!

Saturday Morning Breakfast

Fried eggs, toast, and tea. Real simple, real yummy.

Current obsession

Since this past year I have taken a keen interest in buying nail polish and painting my nails. Two years ago, I didn't care about my nails and I didn't really own very many bottles of nail polish. I had gotten a $7 manicure in Manhattan a couple of times when I lived there but other than that I don't think I felt like I had the time! However, last year, during my difficult and at times miserable year in grad school when all I did was study, I felt like I needed a little pampering. So, I started painting my nails! It was a great way to chill out and make myself feel polished and pretty at the same time. I couldn't afford to go get a manicure regularly so I did it myself at home. This is my current nail polish collection to date:

As you can see, most of my collection is made up of the NYC brand. This is probably the cheapest nail polish out there and for me it works quite well. You can get them for under $1 at Target most of the time. For a girl like me, who's on a budget, they are perfect and a lot of the brighter colors are quite trendy right now too.  The Revlon nail polish on the far left is probably my most expensive (around $4) and my momma bought that one for me =).

This is the color I'm wearing today, NYC's Times Square Tangerine Creme. It's a bright reddish orange:

It's really fun and summery and totally trendy right now. Seeing how summer is officially over after this weekend, I decided to wear this color to prolong it as long as possible!!

What's your favorite brand of nail polish? What's your favorite color?

Thrifting Fail + What I left behind

I went thrifting yesterday for the first time in a few weeks (since school started) and I found diddly squat. It was disappointing but still great to get out and back into a thrift store! I actually enjoyed it a lot. I did find these two items which caught my eye (I left them behind) but I have no idea what they are! I'm guessing some kind of accounting/billing thing? Anyone want to enlighten me?

They look pretty awesome don't they? Would you have bought one or both???

Happy September!

Aki