[ entertainment ] :: friday fun!

It's been a while since The Hubs and I went on a proper date, so I informed him that I would be taking him out for a night on the town. But, knowing me, it has to involve a Groupon and a deal of some sort.

First, I made reservations for an early dinner at Haiku Sushi & Steakhouse in Alpharetta. It's near where we used to live and was formerly called Yamato. We ate there all the darn time. For $32.99, I scored a Hibachi dinner for two with wine (a $62 value).

Then, I got us two Groupons to go see Thor. The Hubs wanted to go see it even though he hates Natalie Portman with a burning passion (he blames her for ruining Star Wars...sorry, Natalie Portman...I still love you!).

The Groupon tickets are just $5 now at Studio Movie Grill in Duluth and Alpharetta. The tickets are normally $10.50 - that's 52% savings! (Check out my post the other day about the tickets.)

So, The Hubs and I will enjoy our big night out on the town for just $55 (including tax + tip at dinner) and will probably have enough Hibachi dinner leftover to feed a slew of small children. Can you say, "lunch tomorrow?" What would a big Hibachi dinner, wine, and a movie normally cost? About $95!

What do you think - good deal? Or waste of money?

- Maggie White

[ entertainment ] :: sunday funday

The Hubs and I made a startling discovery this morning: movie tickets at Studio Movie Grill are just $6 each before 11:00am! Guess when we'll be going to the movies from now on...

Well, that isn't entirely true. We are having a big "movie day" together! This morning we went to go see Ender's Game and ate lunch at the theater.

Then tonight, we're going to see Bad Grandpa. Unfortunately, they don't play that one at 11:00 am. The Hubs has been dying to see both of these movies but we haven't been able to find time to go to the theater...so why not go twice in the same day?

We're also clipping coupons (me), playing video games (The Hubs), and working around the house. It's kind of destroyed after my Friday-night painting marathon!

- Maggie White

[ entertainment ] :: i done lost my damn mind again

Whew! I'm posting about Friday's activities on Saturday. I bet you're thinking, "I bet she had one wild and crazy night!" Well, I did. What's my idea of Friday fun, you ask?

Painting touch-ups and cleaning grout. Until 4:00 am. The Hubs played his new Assassin's Creed video game and I happily sang along to music and drank way-too-much coffee while I played Cinderella with a toothbrush and my grout.

Left: cleaned with baking soda
Right: recolored and sealed grout

Why the hell did I ever start cleaning it? I should have just left it dirty. My next project is resealing it, and then I'll take my handy dandy toothbrush to my window sills. 

In other news: one year and nine months later, the chalkboard in my kitchen is complete. Hah! I also painted the trim in the kitchen, hallway, and dining room since I don't think I ever completely finished painting it! There were little slivers of the old orange (yes, Auburn orange) and red (yes, bright red) paint showing so I bit the bullet and repainted it all.

Teeny tiny awkward wall?
Now it's a chalkboard!

I am also itching to repaint the half-bath vanity downstairs. Lord, have mercy.

The vanity is navy-ish-gray. Hmm...

I finally admit it - I'm nuts.

- Maggie White

[ entertainment ] :: sunday funday!

Where have I been all weekend? A horse show!

Yay ponies!
 

I got second place in huntseat equitation and two first places in western horsemanship. Woot!

Yep, but that's about it. I'm dog-tired.

Signing out,

- Maggie White

[ entertainment ] :: sunday funday!

Did anyone notice that I didn't post a "Sunday Funday" post last week? No? Me either.

We went to go visit my family at their lake house and didn't get home until late Sunday night. We lounged around all weekend and did absolutely nothing. It was heavenly.

But today? We're totally lame. Completely lame. I've been doing some more organizing in the upstairs of our house. The more I organize, the messier it gets! Ugh! I didn't realize how much crap we had until I pulled it all out and started sorting it. On the plus side, I did put together four bags of clothes to donate to Goodwill.

But look! There are shelves now. Still completely unorganized and kind of ugly, but there are shelves!

Yes, that is a dancing Caddy Shack gopher on top of the bookcase. And samauri swords. *sigh* Boys. And we made a makeshift bed in The Hubs' office for when family members get drunk and can't drive home visit.

Woot! Now I just have to prettify it all. We're having houseguests twice and hosting three parties in November and December. Lord have mercy. "Freaking out" does not begin to cover it!

Other than that, I made one of my favorite dinners - Corn & Chicken Chili (adapted from Skinny Taste). Oh, and the in-laws came over and brought beer and pizza. My second dinner was almost as good as the first. Hah!

- Maggie White

[ entertainment ] :: friday fun!

I had the day off today (yay Fall Break!) so I spent my afternoon re-organizing my master closet. Sweet Baby Jesus, I made a big mess. [Not shown: the epic dysfunction on my bathroom floor and pile of white plastic hangers on the floor.]

Anyone have organization tips for my closet? Help! I may have to make a trip to the store tomorrow to get some storage baskets.

The Hubs and I are staying home and watching TV, and maybe rent a movie. We're thinking we'll see This Is The End...since The Hubs loves likes James Franco.

- Maggie White

[ entertainment ] :: friday fun!

Hmm...The Hubs backed out of going to Food Truck Friday with me again this week. Sad.

We ate pizza and wings last night, so he didn't think his tummy could handle another day of eating poorly.

Bahahahaha! We ended up eating chicken tenders and fries for dinner. I thought we were going to stay in and have a lazy evening...boy, was I wrong.

I got into a horrendous mood today after work, only made worse when Walgreens didn't have the only Dial bar soap that The Hubs will use. It was on sale, I had coupons, and I would have gotten 5 free 8-packs of soap after buying just one. But no, the coupon crazies struck again and I was left with a harsh reminder of why I do not shop in drugstores anymore. Sorry Wags - I love you for my prescriptions and my flu shot, but not for sales.

Instead, we went couponing at Target where I spent a whopping $2.94 (with a gift card, of course) and returned a purchase I made last week, then went to dinner and a movie. Yeah...like a real date without coupons. The Hubs had to placate me somehow.


We went to go see Captain Phillips featuring my favorite actor of all time, Tom Hanks. You must go see it. It's definitely suspenseful (or at least it was for me, then I cried at the end like a big baby), so I suggest actually reading about the true story of Captain Philips before going to the theater.

Happy Friday!

- Maggie White

[ entertainment ] :: sunday funday!

The Hubs and I took the Demon Dogs to the Chattapoochee Pet Fest to wear them out get some fresh air. Have I mentioned lately how awesome our city is? Not only do they have amazing Fall Festivals and Food Truck Fridays, they are incredibly dog-friendly and have an entire dog festival to celebrate!

The dogs flipped out when we pulled up to the park - they knew it was something for them! We let them run loose in the fenced-in area, then made a bee-line for the food vendors. Typical.

First, we got some hand-made burgers and raw beef bones from the Patton's Meat Market tent. I was really impressed by the quality of the burger...as was Emma. 

The Demon Dogs were perfectly content to sit in the shade and gnaw on their bones for a while. Emma has a very dainty approach to chewing. She lays down in one place and methodically chews until the bone is picked clean.

Norman, on the other hand, gets a little more primal and goes wild on his bone...I'm glad they were too big for him to swallow whole.

 And gets himself into some weird chewing positions. Like this:

Someone please explain the logic here.

So, we ate, and ate, and ate some more...

...and checked out the vendor tents as we walked back to the dog park area. The darndest thing we saw all day was this pot-bellied pig! Surprisingly, the dogs left the pig alone and only one pup barked at it when he realized that this was not a canine. It was so adorable and rolled in the grass surrounding the dog fountain.

The Demon Dogs didn't mind the pig much...until it tried to play with them. We were on our way out of the park when the pig and the dogs exchanged some sniffs. All was well, until the little swine tried to play - he started nipping at Norman's legs and obviously wanted to play wrestle!

Needless to say, Norm was not pleased and decided that he was not into playing with pigs. When his hair stood on end, I looked at The Hubs and said, "uh, it's time to go!"

Of course, that was the pig's cue to turn to Emma and gnaw on her hip a little.

She was as equally unsettled as Norman was, so when I said, "run, Emma!" she and I hauled-butt across the yard to the gate. I wish we had a video, because that pig kept up with her, nipping at her heels (I had no idea pigs were so fast).

That was probably the funniest thing I have ever seen.

- Maggie White

[ entertainment ] :: friday fun!

Alright people - if you live near Duluth then you have to check out Food Truck Friday. Why? They have a ring of food trucks, live music, a beer garden, and inflatable jumpy-houses (sadly, for kids only). We went yesterday and had a blast! It's about as expensive as going out for dinner and drinks (we spent about $30 on food, and $14 on 6 craft beers...that's actually a deal!) but a much better experience and we got to support local businesses.

The food was out of this world. First we split a crepe and salad.

The Hubs: What's a crepe?

Mags: It's like a French quesadilla.

The Hubs: Why would I want that?

Mags: It has all your favorite things...prosciutto, brie, caramelized onions, grain mustard, and arugula.

The Hubs: That sounds okay. [ as he high-tails it over to the food truck ]

I had him at prosciutto. This delicious crepe is 'The David' from The French Truck. If you ever see them around the Atlanta area, you have to check them out. As cheap as I am, I would pay $9 again for this...in another favorite cafe of mine, you could expect to pay $12-$13 for this meal. I wish I took a picture of how fat this crepe was - every bite was loaded with the salty-goodness of the prosciutto and delicious creaminess of the melted brie.

Not pictured: the foodgasm that followed.

Then, I let The Hubs pick (he claims this first one was my pick), and he chose a burger truck called Mix Dup (I think that's how you spell it, I couldn't find them online). Holy cow. Their hand-formed 100% beef burgers were just $7 and came on a freshly baked brioche bun. We also got buffalo fries, which featured shoestring fries smothered in buffalo sauce and their chipotle-ranch dressing.


I chose the Rockin' Hero - a lamb burger with lettuce and tomato, smothered in tzatziki sauce. It was the BEST burger I have ever had outside of home. Amazing. Again, worth the money.

Let me blow this picture up real big so you can see all the delicious.

Overall, The Hubs and I were impressed by the quality of food at Food Truck Friday, as well as the live entertainment. There were people of all ages (we sat with a cute, but racist, lovey-dovey elderly couple and a family with young children) and even some hipsters. Yes, real life hipsters. That's how cool Duluth is.

Note: if you go, you must stop by Best of Brews and get a jug of "Midnight Train to Duluth," an amazing craft-brewed lager that they have made especially for them. They also have a vendor's tent in The Beer Garden. The Hubs got super excited over this. It was full of dads. The beer is $3 or $4, and fresh-made margaritas are $5 from Pure Taqueria.

If you lose your hubs, this is where he has gone. They also sell pie.

Enjoy! We're definitely going again, since they will have different trucks and entertainment. They had two guys playing guitar, and they covered everything from country to rock, and Avicii to Outkast (The Hubs was a fan of the 'Hey Ya!' cover).

I hope they have a movie on the town green again soon - free movie? Food trucks? Craft beer? Yes! Update: There is an art walk and a movie - Letters to Juliet. Think I can get The Hubs to go?

- Maggie White

P.S. - I'm sure we sound like a bunch of lushes, but The Hubs and I really don't drink that often. We just get overly excited over high-quality craft beer! The last time we had it, it around The Hubs' birthday in June.

[ entertainment ] :: fall festival + movie + more festival

Alrighty - so Gillybean, our friend (and horse show buddy) Heaphers*, and I were done showing around 2:30. Even though we were exhausted, Gillybean and I drank chugged a pot of coffee and gabbed about boys before I showered and met up with Heaphers at the Duluth Fall Festival.

I was skeptical that it would be fun, but holy cow - there was food, tons of vendors, a used book sale, awesome live music, more food, beer, and a carnival!

I found this little gem at the book sale...had to buy it. I love Judge Judy.

Heaphers and I split a funnel cake (The Hubs and I ate one on Sunday). Holy cow, they are amazing. Fried dough + sugar = heaven.

Finally, Heaphers and I got some delicious pumpkin craft beer. I was super excited! And looking super duper tired.

 

Yay beer! Our local growler store was selling beer in these little jugs and you could walk around with an open container for the festival. 24 oz of good beer for $6! My favorite craft beer of the weekend was the Abita Pecan.

As if that wasn't enough fun for the day, The Hubs and I met up at a taco place for a quick snack before going to see Don Jon at the movie theater. Disclaimer: no matter who you go see that movie with, it will be uncomfortable but very entertaining. Adults - Check out the plot synopsis before you head to the theater...I could imagine that this movie isn't for everyone. Even though the plot starts out a bit superficial, there is great (and unexpected) character development and sparked some interesting dialog between myself and The Hubs.

We woke up bright and early at 10:00 am on Sunday (I definitely needed the sleep!) and took our Demon Dogs to the festival with us. Y'all - people kept commenting on how good our dogs were (and how so-and-so's beagle is supposed to be lean like ours). Hah! We made the mistake of walking them through the food vending area and Norman almost imploded from all of the food smells. Seriously, he looked like his head would explode and he was sniffing everything so frantically that he was shaking. Emma walked around like a total pro (she can navigate a crowd and doesn't get overwhelmed), but poor Norm kept walking into people. It was kind of hilarious, but kind of sad...what a special dog he is!

The Hubs and I got even more beer and sat at the amphitheater and listened to music for a while with the dogs. The pups got a lot of attention from kids and Norman even got some corn on the cob from one lady.

We dropped the dogs back off at home and headed back to the carnival. For $20 we went on 3 rides. I usually don't go on rides, but I have to admit they were really fun! The Hubs had never been to a fair or carnival (in the U.S. at least, he went to one in Belgium but everyone knows European fairs are more classy and have tasty beer).

Like any manly man would do, The Hubs bought me a stuffed frog for $10. The carnival guy was totally skeezy and gross, and the frog had holes in it, but Norman loves that stinkin' thing.

"It's a frog pillow!" he says.

And then we ate funnel cake and deep fried oreos until I was going to barf. Worth it.

Duluth is pretty much the coolest little city. I was really impressed with the festival and we will definitely be going to other community events soon! They're pretty cheap and a ton of fun.

- Maggie White

*Sorry - that's your incognito name on my blog for now. :)

[ entertainment ] :: it's horse show day!!!

So what was I up to this past weekend? A bunch of stuff.

To start, Gillybean spent the night on Friday and we woke up at the butt-crack of dawn (5:00 am) on Saturday to get dolled up for the first horse show of the season! I'm sure you're thinking, "Wait, aren't horse shows expensive?" Why yes, they are - unless you still ride with the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA)! We both rode with the IHSA as undergraduates so we are still eligible to show.

Instead of shelling out hundreds of dollars on show fees, and bunches of money on a horse, we register for the show ahead of time, pay a $20-$25 fee, draw a horse's name out of a hat, get on it, and show. We typically don't know the horse (we just watch them warm up prior to the show start) and don't get to practice. It's pretty fun, but there are a lot of factors you can't control...like if your strange new horse woke up on the wrong side of the stall that morning. We basically have 10 minutes to show the judge how well we can control the horse, and how well we adapt to the new situation. You can read about it here.

We had two shows on Saturday. Here's my first horse...of course, I had to Instagram at least one picture.

Next show! Can you tell that I was kind of in love with this horse? What a good boy! (And as a note: I have no clue why he has a bandage on his leg, but he moved just fine! I assume he had some kind of boo-boo under there that needed to stay clean.)

 

Our next show is in a few weeks, and we're busy getting ready for it! More on my weekend adventures tomorrow. :)

- Maggie White

[ entertainment ] :: sunday funday!

The Hubs and I switched it up and went out for lunch today at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants - $5 Speedy Gonzalez lunch special? Yes please! I'm feeling a little spent-out since we ate at Studio Movie Grill last night, but we were both so tired from waking up at 6 am yesterday morning we just didn't care.

We did a little couponing at Publix ($2.97 for $15 in groceries) and then hit up The Hubs' favorite shopping destinations:

The store was mostly cleaned out, but The Hubs managed to get two really nice ties for $2.92 each (retail value $79.50 each). That's $6 for $159 worth of tie. He was quite pleased with himself!

Before watching the Falcons game, we did some work in the garden and finished off the second garden bed. I'll probably pick up the dirt for it tomorrow afternoon so my broccoli seedlings have a place to live!

'scuse the mess!

I also picked some veggies today. The first round of bush beans were ready to be picked (and eaten!) and I went ahead and plucked some peppers. It's been in the 70's overnight and my banana peppers and jalapenos are not loving it. What finicky, spoiled plants they are!


- Maggie White

[ entertainment ] :: friday fun!

Woo hoo! It's taco night!

I haven't shown you my epic Publix haul this week (The Hubs and I went there 5 times...seriously), but we got a ton of Old El Paso foods. I'm talking taco shells, tortillas, seasoning, enchilada sauce, and taco sauce. The Hubs didn't mind that I got a ton of this stuff since he loves homemade tacos with all the fixins'. We will make a taco out of pretty much anything...turkey, beef, chicken, pork, beans...so it was definitely a good buy for us.

We have also picked out a movie for tonight: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I've never seen it so I'm pretty excited! We'll probably throw on our PJ's, make some popcorn, and enjoy a $3 bottle of wine. I don't know about you, but that's my idea of fun. Maybe it will get chilly tonight and we can make a fire inside, too.

Oh, and do laundry. I've promised The Hubs I would finally get around to it!

- Maggie White

[ entertainment ] :: sunday funday!

Today was a "football day" - The Hubs spent his time in his recliner drinking Sam Adams Oktoberfest (his favorite beer) while I clipped coupons and prepared for the online class I'm teaching tonight. Fun times! Maybe I'll get to have a beer one I'm finished with my teaching.

Other than that, we have been lazy, lazy people this weekend. I did want to go ahead and share part of my shopping trip for the week. I normally post these on Saturday, but this Publix deal is so good you have to go get it before it ends on Wednesday!

Once the Atlanta Falcons football game was over, I dragged The Hubs to Kroger and Publix to do some coupon shopping. We got FREE toothpaste at Kroger (read about my favorite weekly deals here) and a bunch of good stuff at Publix.

All in all, we got $30.42 worth of Pantene Pro-V products for $9.45. Yes. You read that right!

6 shampoos, 1 conditioner, 1 styling product

Here's how I did it:

Publix is having a sale on Pantene products: Buy 3 (at $3.49), Get 1 Free. This includes shampoo, conditioner, and styling products. Most of the styling products are normally $5.99. This means that without coupons, you're only paying $2.61 per product.

Next, I had coupons. We split our transaction into two parts. Cashiers are totally cool with this - just give them a "heads up" and say that you'll be doing two transactions. Or bring a coupon buddy. I brought The Hubs. That man is a saint.

First Transaction: I used my P&G (Proctor & Gample) newspaper coupons and an online coupon.

$3.00 off 3 Pantene products (newspaper)
$1.00 off 1 Pantene styling product (online)
Buy 1 Pantene Shampoo or Conditioner, get 1 Pantene Styling Product FREE (newspaper)

These coupons made this first transaction total $2.98, or $0.75 per product!

My coupons

Second Transaction: The Hubs used two online coupons.

(2) $2.00 off 2 Pantene products (online)

These coupons made the second transaction total $6.47, or $1.61 per product!

The Hubs' coupons

The online coupons can be found on Coupons.com. This is a great website for finding coupons to print. You can usually print 2 coupons per computer, so I usually print two from my laptop and two from The Hubs' desktop.

You can buy P&G coupon inserts, or individual coupons, on eBay if you missed them in the paper. They arrive in the first Sunday paper of the month.

- Maggie White

[ entertainment ] :: friday fun!

Ok, so my Friday isn't super fun. One of my classes had a test today, so it looks like I'll be grading this evening! At least this class is small. My class earlier this week was torturous time-consuming to grade...but look at what The Hubs brought me to help with my grading!

So this is how it all went down: I sent The Hubs to Aldi for some Greek yogurt and he brought me two hazelnut chocolate bars. (If you have not tried Aldi's $0.99 chocolate, then you have not lived. I mean seriously - it's a buck!) He comes home with his purchases, including two "meat sticks" for $0.89 each, set down his bags and says,

"I felt really bad for you earlier. I thought about buying you flowers, but I realized you would yell at me for spending $8. Here's some chocolate."

Music to my ears. I love that man. 

Besides repaying The Hubs for his kind gesture (don't be perverted, I'm making him bacon-wrapped shrimp), we will probably be staying in, watching a movie, and sharing a bottle of wine. Cheap wine, of course.

Update: change of plan! We will NOT be watching a movie! 

We will be watching every episode of Star Trek ever made. Thanks, Amazon Prime! I might even dress up in my Starfleet uniform to watch. Warning: I will completely nerd-out.

Live long and prosper!

- Maggie White