Banks

Bank failures are totally fascinating to me (nerd, I know). In the work I do, we think about them a lot. And of course living in Georgia, the bank failure capital of the country, you hear about them a lot. This morning I was clicking through the front page of MSN and came across an article talking about the opposite--the safest banks in the country. Very interesting! Its kind of nice to think about the flip side sometimes.

I know I ocassionally post things referencing finance or money management, but I'm thinking of starting a weekly post on the topic. Either some good advice I've heard or a helpful article I've found. Hopefully this is interesting to someone besides just me!

Peachtree Road Race 2012

Happy belated 4th of July to everyone! Yesterday, John and I spent the morning doing the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta. Its the biggest 10k in the world (somewhere between 60,000 and 70,000 people participate), and it was so much fun! Considering my major lack of training (practically none in the past few weeks), I was really proud of myself! I finished in 1 hour, 24 minutes...much faster than I thought considering I was expecting to walk almost the entire thing. I ended up running way more than I thought I would. The atmosphere and people watching were pretty motivating! John did great too--he ran the whole thing in just over an hour. So awesome.

We did it! Any of you who know me personally know it is completely unlike me to do a 10k, but I'm so glad I did and so proud of myself. Can't wait to do it again!

Beach!

John and I had an amazing time at the beach in Destin, Florida last week. We didn't let a little thing like Tropical Storm Debby get in our way. Luckily, she only came by for one day, which we spent at the outlet mall and sitting in the hot tub through the drizzle. Here are some photos to enjoy:

Lots of sun, free happy hour drinks and seafood was had by all :)

Made it!

Finally made it through two long awaited meetings yesterday and another cubicle move, and it's my Friday off! There's nothing better than a three day weekend when you really need it. And not only have I just made it to the weekend, I made it to my Nashville trip that I've been looking forward to for so long! I'm hoping next week in Nashvegas with my work bestie will make up for a lot of the crap we've been dealing with for so long at work!

No big plans this weekend. Maybe doing a little shopping, a massage and a haircut, and going down to Augusta for a night. Actually, now that I think about it, that's a lot of good stuff going on!

Hope y'all have a great weekend too! Xoxo

Financial Advice

One of my biggest work-related passions is financial literacy. I know that I am fortunate enough to have a finance degree and a natural interest in money matters, but so many people do not--especially our generation of 20-somethings. So I always love when friends ask me for financial advice, and I love giving it! I espcially love when I can help someone understand something that they thought was so daunting and out of reach, and explain it in "real person" terms--not something out of a textbook.

I found this great article on MSN Money this morning that gives advice about some really easy things that everyone can incorporate into their daily lives, and save tons of money over time! Please read it if you have any financial goals that you aren't sure how to get started on, I thought it was really helpful!

Things

1. I find that I'm much happier when I have music on in the evenings (usually a Ben Folds Pandora station) instead of the tv in the background. Must do this more often.
2. There is nothing much better than a freshly vacuumed floor.
3. I feel infinitely more productive when I do at least one household chore in the evenings instead of saving them all up for the weekend. Tonight I washed dishes and put away laundry and I feel great!
4. I'm a little ashamed at how excited I am for the return of Pretty Little Liars tomorrow night on ABC Family. Just a little :)
5. The lovely Jenn notified me today that Lilly Pulitzer is sponsoring the Thursday night Botanical Gardens cocktails in the garden every Thursday night in June. If you show up wearing Lilly you get a special gift bag! This also excites me to no end.
6. Getting more giddy by the minute about my (work) trip to Nashville next week. Thank goodness for good (work) friends and getaways. Heaven knows we deserve it after the last few months!
7. I've lost 2 more pounds recently! There's nothing like seeing a little bit of progress on the scale to motivate a person. I'm happy that my extra effort has been paying off a little lately. Now just to get back on track for the Peachtree. Someone remind me why I signed up again?

Obviously that was a bunch of randomness, but that's what's going on here these days. Hope y'all had a great weekend and a happy Monday. I'm happy now that mind is over :)

The Longest Weeks

My coworkers and I all agree that the shortest weeks always drag on for the longest time. That's how I've felt this week, anyway. I loved having Monday off--the weekend at home was fantastic and everything that I had hoped it would be. There was friend and family time, lots of eating and mostly tons of relaxing. I can't tell you how long I sat out on my parents' screened in porch reading a real book! I had a little bit of a tv and ipad detox weekend, and it was great. I need to do that more often.

This week hasn't been too bad, its just been dragging for me. I cannot wait to leave the office today and start the weekend. Working on Fridays can be great for productivity, but the day seems long because its so quiet. All I want to do is escape and go to the mall and grocery store and run all of my errands and have some fun! Today in particular, I want to get home to my dog friend who has been staying with me for the week! She's the cutest.

So basically, if I wasn't in the office I'd be either at the Nordstrom semi-annual sale, I'd be out by the pool or I'd be hanging out with cute Dessa. All of those options sound pretty great, right?

Happy weekend! I hope you all have something fabulous planned! xoxo