Well...

Isn't this awkward? The last post I wrote went on and on about forgetting to write for about... well anything really, for about 6 months and here I am. The end of July. And haven't written anything since January.

How many months is that Joanne? 7 months? Well, I'd say you just beat your record.

Anywho. Let's get on to business.

I've decided that this blog/forum/call-it-what-you-wish will be dedicated to my hauling. Anything and everything I buy will be recorded and reviewed on here. I'm not really much of a beauty person, I'm just recently getting into it myself. And I'm not that fashion-savvy (though I wish to God I was, and am currently working towards getting better). So it's not really my place to preach about that. Also, I'm not much of a cooker, though I can hold my own when it comes to baking (if supplied with a detailed recipe equipped with play-by-play pictures.

But I for damn sure buy a lot of things (bit of a problem really). Whether it's new products/items or something I've repurchased time and time again, it will be written here.

Then I can rave about all the things I've bought in the proper places, rather than by talking and raving about them to my mirror. Not that I actually do that. That'd be weird.

But my most recent purchase was clothes. We had gone to AC, spur of the moment trip, two days ago. My mom was interested in seeing the new casino--Revel--that was recently open to the public and let me tell you. It was fabulous. I watched a few videos about the casino and there were a lot of people in the comments section talking about how the modern decor made it feel cold and uninviting.

Well I call hogwash.

It looked FABULOUS. I loved the clean lines and floor to ceiling windows, the white floors and high ceilings. When I walked into the casino/lobby/hotel floor, it looked white. It looked CLEAN. And to a OCD germaphobe, it was heaven. I loved it.

It looked expensive and fabulous. My mom and dad agreed to staying there overnight and I'm excited about that. But I worry about if there are any kids at all there. It is in AC and I know it's a casino hotel, but we've stayed at Harrahs, Borgata, Taj, no problem. But this one. I don't know. Plus when I checked  for rooms to make a reservation, the only options for occupancy were up to 3 adults. There was no option for children. Then again my sister and I get mistaken for identical twins, when we're sisters, six years apart and I'm 20. So I guess she can pass for an adult.

Interesting anecdote: It's become a joke in the family about my sister and I really being twins. If-you-can't beat-them and all that. So now we just accept it. But when we first started getting asked if we were twins, my sister would get frustrated and say that we were sisters, not twins. And when those people were prompted into guessing which one was the oldest, they would always assume I'm the youngest. At the time my sister was 12 (so by deduction I was 18) and you can imagine the frustration my sister felt. Frankly I don't see where the twin thing comes from or how they figure that I'm the youngest, but everyone thinks differently. To this day, my sister get so upset, thinking that there are people out there that think my sister is older than she really is. 

But I'm digressing. Anyway, after we checked out the hotel/casino, my dad asked if I wanted to walk the boardwalk and go to the beach. To which I swiftly denied him. I'm not much of a beach goer. I've got flabby thighs, arm fat, and a belly that just won't lay flat. So no. I do not enjoy the beach season.

Since the boardwalk/beach idea was nixed. We chose to do my favorite thing. Visit the outlet. In AC there's an outlet called Tanger Outlet and it has a nice selection of stores to shop from. And since my mother was in that shopping mood, we made some nice purchases.

First off, after dinner, we went to Old Navy. My sister is off to high school this coming fall, and because she graduated from a catholic middle school, the majority of her closet consisted of uniforms and church-appropriate clothes. She then bought several shirts, and since she needed new clothes more than me (however much it pains me to say that), I only bought a white tee.

I don't know about you, but Old Navy has the best v-neck tees. They're soft, they don't shrink and they fit my chest tautly while skimming over my belly nicely. That was my only Old Navy purchase. While I used to love their graphic tees, they just aren't my thing anymore. I much prefer I solid color tee than anything that has writing on it.

After that we happened to split up because my parents got left behind at the crosswalk and so my sister and I went to Starbucks to get our dessert and my parents went off to do something. Afterwards, when we went to find them they were in a watch store.

Now to give you a bit of a back story... My mom's recently been into finding a family watch. My parents almost every 2 years or so they get a set of matching watches. And now that my sister and I have recently started wearing watches on a daily basis, my mom is convinced that we should get four of the same watches. A family watch. So for the past few months, we're been looking at watches. And we had actually found a watch that we all agreed on. It's a watch by Skagen, a danish company, and it's a titanium wrist band and a steel and something face. It's incredibly light and sleek. I love it. But the places we've gone previously, the watch had been $100+, so we've passed on the watch those days. And since then I've been lusting after that watch. Hoping against hope that my parents wouldn't nix that particular watch and choose something else. 

So imagine my gratitude and surprise that they found the watch in AC for a significant bargain. Both for less than $50. So naturally my parents bought them, where else could we find watches for less than 50% off, there was no way we were passing those up. Hell, we were buying four watches, so it had to be discounted some. I'm really excited to own it. It's incredibly light, and when I wore it yesterday, there were honestly times when I forgot I was wearing it.

Now I'm not at home, otherwise I'd take a picture and insert it here. So no picture. Maybe in the next post. If I remember to write again before 7 months pass.

After the watches, we went walking, seeing if there were any other stores we wanted to pass through. We ended up in Banana Republic, a store that I was surprised that we walked into. It's slightly outside of our normal price range, so you can imagine my surprise. Anyway, we walked in and walking through, I didn't see anything so I was following my mother, and while she was looking at something, I saw cardigans for sale. It was nothing special, it was just a black cardigan with 3/4 sleeves but I can never find cardigans that fit me right. Usually, the arms are tight and the body fits fine or the arms are baggy while the body is tight. But this fit perfectly. I was so incredibly happy to find it.

That just about concludes my most recent set of purchases. It's a little boring, a little basic. But I needed all those things. And since classes are starting up again soon I'd like to buy new clothes for school.

Well, now that just about concludes this post.

Until next time friends,
      Joanne