MMM: Maine Edition

First of all, thank you to everyone who has asked about the absence of Mall Madness Monday posts. All two of you really made me feel special that you felt there was a void in your life by missing out on pictures of things that I don't need/can't afford.

For those of you that have no idea what is about to happen, prepare yourselves. 

I decided to do a special edition of MMM this week in honor of Steve and my little getaway Maine trip. If you are dying to know about all the exciting things we discovered in towns like Brunswick and Bath (and let's face it, that is at the top of your priority list) you can visit this post, and then this one too.

We actually spent quite a bit of time shopping on this trip. Now before you get all excited for me, know that it wasn't exactly my kind of shopping. I mean there wasn't a Forever 21 in sight. Ironically, when I finally convinced Steve to take me to the J. Crew outlet, he was the one that came out with a purchase. What a jerk. 

Here are some things I found particularly intriguing on this trip. Keep in mind that they're all pretty much from LL Bean or a crazy antique mall.

deconstructed signs are totally in right now. steve hates when i
say stuff like that, but he really can't get mad at me because i
learned it from all of his pawn picker antiques roadshow programs.

i may have mentioned that i'm obsessed with vintage typewriters.
also pillows.

this game is exactly what it sounds like. it's just a series of cards
with facts about different authors & kids have to guess who it is.
how this enthralling game has ended up on the bottom shelf in
an antique mall blows my mind. i mean there is just so much fun
to be had. 

this is the one thing i actually like about antique stores: vintage
postcards. they had a bajillion of them here, all divided by states
& themes & such. somehow i spent $38 on postcards. it's an addiction.

ugh. i died a little over this one. ll bean suede riding boots, at the
outlet, on clearance. and yet, i couldn't convince steve to let me buy
them. it may have had something to do with the fact that i was
wearing black boots at the time, so he didn't see the necessity. oh,
also i had packed two other pairs as well. note to self- no one will
ever buy you new boots if they had to help you pack three pairs for a
three day trip. 

steve & i are nowhere near home ownership, but we decided that
when we are, we need lamps like this for our front door. except
we both agreed that $395 is a little pricey for a single lamp.
point, marriage.

i'm not sure what occasion a boot card is appropriate for, but i find
these adorable none the less.

i want all the vintage jewels. all of them. 

no, this is not an antique. these are dice stools (or end tables?) from
the ll bean home store. obviously i need this to match my S&P shakers.

So what items did I actually cross the border with? Besides an exorbitant amount of vintage postcards, I also picked up an "L" necklace made from an old typewriter key (see? Again with the typewriters). Oh, and I may have accidentally purchased a $40 lobster charm. I'm definitely going to be paying for that one for a long time. Steve has mentioned it to me at least once a day since we've been home, and that was a week ago. 

~L

Some Folks Like to Get Away Pt. 2

When we last left our heroine, Lindsay was barely still standing after a rousing three hour tour of the Maine Maritime Museum. After starting to show sign of extreme hangriness (for those that aren't medical professionals, being "hangry" is an affliction caused by hunger that leads to anger), Steve finally recognized that she needed nourishment and human interaction. 

Ugh, my apologies for all the third person narrative. Even I can't pretend I'm okay with that. 

We set off for one of the "Maine" attractions (GET IT?!) on our getaway:

cue the hallelujah chorus. for steve anyway.

I would just like to say despite the fact that I am not very outdoorsy, I actually like going to the Freeport L.L. Bean. It's really amazing. It's basically the Disney of the outdoors world... you know, besides actually being outdoors. 

Of course, I had to dress appropriately. That calls for flannel.

But like the museum, whatever slight interest I have is by no means any comparison to what Steve feels for it down in the depths of his soul. I mean, just imagine if you finally felt like you returned home:

is that not the face of man overwhelmed by sheer happiness?

I was actually really excited, because like the Girl Scouts and Fenway Park, the Bean is also celebrating it's 100th anniversary this year. They had tons of cute celebratory things. 

wait, they sell food here too?

tiny boots

Steve had also been waiting to finally see the Signature collection in person. And let's just say, he was pretty excited.

money can buy happiness. for $250.

They even turned a section into a kind of pop up museum. Obviously this is where we spent a large portion of our time. 

joy.

Despite the fact this store is open twenty four hours a day, we were not there long enough for Steve to actually decide what he was going to purchase. I can see how that would be difficult when you have to choose between forty pairs of boots with the slightest variations. Which meant...

We were coming back the next day. 

this is the closest to us getting a picture together this whole time.

We checked out of our hotel and headed straight to The Wild Oats Bakery for lunch, because we were so overwhelmed by the amount of food options the day before that we knew we had to return. We still had trouble deciding... so we just got everything.

you haven't really lived if you've never had a grilled goat cheese sandwich.

I had learned from the previous days that I needed to load up on carbs whenever I had the opportunity, because day trips with Steve sometimes means five hours without a solid meal. 

Before making our last Bean stop, we had a slight detour. That somehow involved the biggest indoor flea market I had ever seen. 

Okay, I guess it's called "antiquing." Or as I know it "finding dirty old things that make me sneeze."

I'm half kidding. I actually found some cool things. But everything was so dusty and I couldn't breathe and again, we were there for a solid three hours. But more on that tomorrow. 

Back to the Bean. After much deliberation, Steve finally picked out his perfect pair of boots:

all mine, baby.

These aren't just any boots, though. These are the 100th Anniversary special edition Bean boot. You know they're special because they have red soles. You know, just like Louboutins. 

It was love at first sight.

is this love that i'm feeling...

And me? I met this bird. We developed a very special bond.

Just kidding. It was a good time. But I really did take like twenty pictures of that bird. 

~L

Some Folks Like to Get Away

Remember a few weeks back how I said that Steve and I don't have regular schedules, therefore rarely spend time together other than having dinner at 10:00 pm? We agreed it was high time to fix that and decided to go away for a weekend. Which for us, meant Sunday-Tuesday. 

We decided to get away for a few days somewhere cheap (thank you, Groupon, for allowing poor folk everywhere to get hotel rooms and go out to dinner for pennies while making us feel fancy), close (because it doesn't matter how inexpensive the room is if you can't afford the gas to get there) and with the perfect mix of activities (for him, obviously) and relaxation (for this girl right here). 

So of course, we went to Maine! 

Now Steve and I have very different ideas of what a Maine getaway should be. I grew up going to Old Orchard and York Beach, so I have an affinity for boardwalks, day trips to outlet malls, and as my mother calls it, "honkey tonk."

Steve prefers places that claim to be part of "America" but are really moonlighting as Canada. 

So we met in the middle/wherever Groupon would guide us. Which was Brunswick. 

We arrived first at the lovely Captain Daniel Stone Inn. You're going to have to take my word for it, because I didn't take a single picture of the hotel room, because the second I opened my suitcase it exploded and the room looked like a disaster until 10:59 Tuesday morning. I did appreciate the fact that they were rocking it old school giving us an actual key. When was the last time you even saw one of these at a hotel?!

Later, we called my friend Amy and basically invited ourselves over for dinner, which she and her husband were totally fine with because we hadn't seen them since their wedding last October. You may remember their nuptials because it inspired the only episode I've ever suffered of a fear related exercise routine in order to fit into a certain bridesmaid dress for their wedding. 

The next day, we embarked on our Maine adventure. It began in what I guess you would call the "downtown" area of Brunswick where we discovered our new obsession: The Wild Oats Bakery. In case you were wondering, myfitnesspal was not invited on this vacation. Because everywhere we looked, we saw this:

And this:

Also, this:

I was in a food coma and I hadn't even eaten anything yet. We quickly decided that we would enjoy breakfast that day, come back for lunch tomorrow and also get desserts for the ride home. Hello, vacation.

I settled on a cinnamon bun the size of my head. I also fed my brain with some classic 80's Trivial Pursuit that they provided on every table.  

From there we continued on to... Bath. Yes, this is an actual town. Actually, it reminds me more of a village. I can tell the difference, as I went to college in a village for a year and a half (shoutout, Cazenovia!). Remember Stars Hollow, the beloved fake town that provided the perfect setting for a plethora of mother/daughter shenanigans on Gilmore Girls? It was like but without all the teen mothers. At least I assume so. It was cold and rainy, so Main Street wasn't exactly teeming with locals. It was cute though, so I took advantage of all the quaint photo ops. 

Bath is known for making boats and iron working. So of course they had their very own Maine Maritime Museum. At first, I was totally gung-ho for this because believe it or not, I actually do like history. Not like, Steve's level of history, but it was one of my favorite subjects in high school. Plus, I could only imagine the sheer amount of nautical artifacts. 

This may have been a mistake. Steve warned me that he couldn't just go into a museum like a normal person. I already knew this, but I figured it couldn't hurt to throw a little culture into this trip. 

Three hours, one hundred and twenty eight pictures and one very grumbly stomach later, we finally left. There were some things that were really cool. You know, if you like fish and boats and stuff.

if only.

signed by two presidents. fo real.

that thing on the right is from the front of an actual boat. also it probably has a real name.

steve said he wants this above our bed. like i can handle that after the ship wheel.

But there was also a lot of reading. And wandering. I tried really hard be a historically supportive wife. I tried for every store I've ever dragged him to, for every Reese Witherspoon movie I made him take me to see in the theater. But after a while I sort of gave up on the exhibits and just started taking pictures of nautical elements that could someday be framed to compliment a certain couple's bedroom. Or something. 

While part of me died and went to nautical heaven, Steve was the one who was really in all his glory. 

But his excitement didn't end there. Up next- our excursion to the motherland:

L.L. Bean.

Stay tuned! I may have even donned some flannel for the occasion. 

~L

I Keep on Fallin'

So a few weeks ago, the Friday's Fancies theme was asking everyone to put together their fall wish lists. I thought "this is perfect!" because I had been compiling a list in my head for a month of things that I'm pretty sure I need even though Steve won't let me buy them. You know, essentials for the cool weather, like colored jeans or fake leather jackets. 

But did I compile my list to link up first thing that Friday morning? No. Because that would be timely and make sense. And I normally do not do either of those things. But I still want things! Things I want to share with all of you. So I give you...

blazer/jeans/heels/belt/dress/necklace/nail polish/blouse

So let's call it like it is and say that I'm a little obsessed at the moment with leopard accents and black & white contrast detailing. Also, I clearly don't need a $548 black dress, but I'm so infatuated with Peter Pan collars, and even more so when they are jeweled. Everything is better with sparkles on it. Don't quote me on that, someone famous may have said that first, like Marilyn Monroe or Honey Boo Boo. I'm relatively crafty though, and I'm considering doing a little DIY jeweled collar action on an old Oxford. I'm sure I'll let you know what happens. 

Sigh. Is it so pathetic that I still haven't invested in a pair of colored jeans? I'm so afraid of things I spend money on going out of style that I can't commit. I think colored jeans now think that I'm just not that into them, but I am! It was only weeks ago that I posted about my love for mustard yellow, and now I'm starting to flirt with red. I'm definitely looking for a pair that could be transitioned through the seasons, which is why I'm thinking these because they can work from fall (the color of apples!) to winter (Christmas worthy color) and then spring-summer (when nautical strikes again). 

You may have noticed a sassy lady that snuck into this montage that is clearly not a model. That's yours truly working a brown pleather jacket at Macys that I spied for $69. I'm aware that that's a great price for a jacket (even if it is faux!) but I barely even mentioned my desire for this coat and was immediately brought back down to Earth by not only my husband but also my mother. Apparently I have an outerwear problem (among other things) and have been banned from ever purchasing another jacket/cape/pea coat/parka/rain slicker/poncho sweater. Which just makes me want this all the more. Also I couldn't for the life of me remember the brand, hence why I couldn't locate the actual photo and had to use this charming iPhone pic. I just know it was $69 at the Manchester Macys and I can't stop thinking about it. We're in love.

~L

Ain't Nobody Got Time for That (App)

Are you looking for a way to realize that everything you’ve been putting into your body is grossly above the recommended daily intake for a healthy human being and leaves you  wondering why you haven’t had a heart attack or ballooned up to the size of a sumo wrestler?

Well lucky for you, there’s an app for that. 

I know, because I downloaded yesterday. And it’s taken over my life.

You all know that I don’t care much for exercise. I know, it’s good for you, but it also sucks and it’s boring and I hate it. Any time I work out I always think of at least 37 other things that I could be doing. But a few weeks ago when the iOS 6 update popped up on my iPhone, I took the opportunity to check out some new apps. I hadn't downloaded any in forever and who knows what life changing little button was just waiting for me? 

Not too life changing though, because I only download the free ones. 99 cents is just too much to pay for convenience.

It was there I discovered the myfitnesspal app. I had heard of such maniacal things, as a few weeks ago my sister-in-law decided to start a cleanse and proceeded to eat her way through every leafy vegetable when we went out to dinner as I polished off an entire plate of pasta and a glass of "adult" pink lemonade. Every time she consumed something, she would immediately add it to her calorie counter. In the end she practically ended up asleep at the table because she only had 860 calories that day. 

I thought nothing of this little deviant of technology until I found the app and figured what the heck. Was I going on a diet? No, not exactly, but I had recently discovered because I finally went to an actual doctor that some pounds that weren't there before had crept up on me. This tends to happen when you don't exercise, don't own a scale, and enjoyed shredded mozzarella cheese on occasion as a snack. I informed Steve that I was thinking about losing "some pounds," because I wasn't ready to commit to an actual number. 

I hear things about calories, but I'm still confused about what they are and whether they are good or bad and I certainly have no idea how many of them I'm actually eating on a daily basis. 

So yesterday I gave it a whirl. Upon signing on, I was asked to create a username and to upload a photo. This is fun, I thought. It's like Facebook for food! Then they wanted to know my current weight and goal weight. I made up a number that I'm convinced a 5'3 woman is supposed to be, but what the hell do I know. Then I was asked for my activity level. I was shocked to find that my particular lifestyle was not even mentioned, as these were my options: 

I mean, there was no mention of a doll hair stylist. What gives?

Next, I had to determine my exercise goals:

Uh... is this a serious question? I feel like it's too early in our relationship to start lying to myfitnesspal. I mean, after all, we are pals now. I chose twice a week because "once a month or on random days where I all of a sudden feel fat" was not one of the options. 

And finally, I had to determine a weight loss goal. This was a load of crap, because the highest amount you could select was two pounds per week. Two pounds?! If there's anything I've learned from watching The Biggest Loser, it's that a person can lose like 27 pounds a week when Jillian Michaels is screaming in their face. I chose one just because it seemed like the normal healthy choice for someone not on a weight loss competition reality show. So according to myfitnesspal, I should reach my goal by... November. Well that's useless, because by then I'll be chilling out in bulky sweaters.

Just for the sake of my health, I decided to take the calorie count into consideration. For me to reach my made up goal, I should only have 1230 a day. I didn't know if that was high or low; I mean, it sounds like way less than what I heard Phelps eats but like, more than Jennifer Aniston. So I figured I'd be fine.

WRONG. I was so wrong. By 5:00 pm yesterday, I had consumed all of my calories for that day. ALL OF THEM. And by all, I mean I actually ate 193 more calories than I was supposed to. 

Determined to keep up with something for once in my life, I didn't consume anything else that night. Well except for like five candy corn pumpkins, but I don't think there's even an option for that on the counter because everything is in "serving sizes." Finally, at 12:09, I gave in and had an English muffin. I justified this because it was technically the next day. 

So I began today at like a 165 calorie deficit for the muffin. What a way to start the day, right?

But the weirdest thing happened. When I woke up, I actually felt like... I wanted to go the gym.

Yes. Voluntarily. Steve wasn't even here to make me feel guilty about it. I just woke up and felt the urge to go to the gym. I don't know what came over me. I guess this is what exercise guilt feels like. 

I actually ended my day today with 200 calories to spare. So I got to have wine. Victory.

In conclusion... myfitnesspal actually works. Because seeing those extra calories on your body apparently isn't as frightening as seeing them recorded in app form. 

Download this immediately. You will lose weight but also gain shame. You're welcome. 

~L