Back up

Sorry about my lack of posts this weekend. Friday afternoon, my computer hard drive completely died. I was using it fine one minute and the next I had the spinning beach ball of doom. You know the one. Anyway, this wasn't super unusual. I just restarted my computer but it would not restart. Being the moderate computer geek that I am, I rebooted it to the disk utility and ran some diagnostics and I had a hard drive error that I couldn't fix running disk repair. Ugh! I knew this was not good news and I had a sinking suspicion that my hard drive had died.

After school I took my laptop straight to my college's tech people. They verified my fears and added on the worst news any college student could ever receive. They could not recover ANYTHING from my hard drive! Lucky for me I back up my computer somewhat regularly to an external hard drive. The crew at the tech office told me that 99% of the people that come into their office don't back up at all!

Anyway even though I'm kicking myself for not backing up the past month, at least I avoided a serious disaster of losing everything I've ever done for the last 5 years. So, I ordered a new hard drive which will be here on Tuesday and hopefully putting everything back onto my computer goes smoothly.

So, let this be a lesson to anyone out there reading this. Back up your computer and do it regularly! Seriously, it is not that expensive to buy an external hard drive. And if you have a Mac like I do, it is so easy to set up back ups using Time Machine. Your computer will literally do all of the work for you!

There are also several cloud options that will automatically back up for you for a small monthly price.

Anyway I will not be able to post much until my computer is back up and running. I'm currently working on an ancient loaner computer which takes forever to do anything. Photoshop? Forget about it! So, hopefully everything goes according to plan and I'll be back Tuesday or Wednesday.

Does anyone have a good system for backing up their computer?

Waxed Jacket

So the last few years, slouchy barn coats have been all the rage. At first I wasn't that into them, because thats the kind of coat my mom wears when she's doing yard work. Not exactly a glamorous fashion trend. It didn't take long for me to change my mind. I mentioned in this post that I love the Barbour Beadnell Wax Jacket. Unfortunately at almost $400 that is never gonna happen. I mean seriously, is it made out of waxed gold instead of waxed cotton!?

Anyway, I mentioned last year that I got a barn jacket on sale for like $30 and its made me happy. That doesn't mean that I've stopped searching for a Barbour alternative. The other day I was on the L.L. Bean site contemplating a new peacoat when I noticed that they have a waxed barn coat for sale!  At $119 its still pretty pricy, but much more doable than $400. I think this is a pretty good dupe for the Barbour version.

Pretty similar right?! The only big difference I notice is the one from L.L. Bean does not have a zipper, only snaps. But I find it hard to imagine that would be a deal breaker for anyone. 

Here's how I would style a L.L. Bean waxed jacket for those cold, damp fall days. Cozy sweater, Hunter wellies and my favorite Smartwool socks of course! 

Waxed Jacket | Rain Boots | Socks | Sweater | Jeans 

Well now that I've picked out how to wear it I need to buy it... right? This jacket is definitely on my wish list. 

What do you think of the barn coat trend?

Cosmic Blue

Sorry I haven't been posting much the last two weeks, I have just been so busy. With student teaching about to end, I have a lot of loose ends to tie up. Anyway, I figured I would write a quick post about the nail polish I'm wearing this week since I don't have time to write a huge long post.

This week's polish of choice is Cosmic Blue by Avon. I have always been a big fan of Avon products, they are pretty good quality and relatively cheap. I especially like their nail polishes. They last about as long as their more expensive counterparts and they are only $6. Plus if you wait to strike Avon usually has some pretty killer sales. I always have tons of Avon products because my mom has a friend who sells it so I can usually expect a nail polish or fun colored eye liner in my care packages or Christmas stocking.

I really love this color, to be honest I forgot I had it. It got pushed to the bottom of my nail polish bag and it just resurfaced this week. I essentially just grabbed whatever my hand grabbed first and I was super excited. Cosmic Blue is a super pretty bluish-purple color. Its just shimmery enough to look fun but not obnoxious. I think it might make its way back into my rotation. Unfortunately this color is discontinued, I think. I couldn't find it on their website, but it might still be listed in their catalogues. 

Rescued

Alright, so I've written about my (boyfriend's) puppy Bella several times on my blog but I wanted to be sure I told her story. Bella was a rescue, we got her when she was really little, like 8 weeks old. We're not totally sure how old she was because she was found by the road with all her puppy siblings. 

Bella is the most lovable, cuddly, energetic creature on the whole planet (I might be a bit biased because I'm her mama). Don't get me wrong, she gets herself in plenty of trouble chewing sticks in the house, stealing from the garbage, and escaping the fence in the back yard to name a few, but I would change and of the challenges for anything. 

We believe that Bella is also part Pitt Bull, which could be the reason she was left on the side of the road. Our best guess is that she is a Lab/Pitt mix, and boy is she a cutie. I have always believed that a dog is how you raise it not the breed. Bella has just confirmed this. 

Anyway I'm on this whole tangent because there are plenty of puppies out there that need loving homes. So, before you go out shopping or a designer breed check out your local ASPCA. We had originally been looking at golden doodles and went to look at Bella on a whim. The second her foster mom put Bella into my arms I knew she had to come home with us and there was no looking back. Now I think I'm a Lab/Pitt girl for life. 

Now for some cute baby pictures of Bella. 

Driving home for the first time

Just being a model for her puppy photo shoot. 

Sorry the top picture is the only one I can find from when she was a little baby pup. I'll have to look around and post some more later. 

Have you ever rescued a puppy? What kind? 

Under the Weather

So I have been fighting a cold all week, and I think it has finally caught up to me. My throat hurts and I feel exhausted and achy.

Also, I just had a crumby day in general. It was pouring as I walked to my car this morning (about 10 mins across campus). My rain jacket didn't really help much, I was soaked through. It gets worse, I get into my car and when I go to turn on my wipers I realize its no longer raining!

So, I'm tired and wet and sick all day. When the last bell rings I'm just ready to get out of there and I realize I have a parent-teacher conference I have to go to. It lasts literally an hour and a half! So, as soon as I get home I have to go straight to my next meeting. I didn't have time for the nap I'd been dreaming about all day, I didn't even have time to change out of my teacher clothes.

After I got back from dinner, there was no way I was doing anything social. So, I'm spending my night grading papers in bed and drinking plenty of tea. I'm crossing my fingers that if I just relax tonight and get plenty of sleep it will not develop into a full blown knock me on my butt cold/flu.

Every time I get sick at college, I always just want to be home. There are so many sick day things that just never work out at college. So, tonight I'll be wishing I could have some of these wonderful home remedies.

 First tea with honey to make my sore throat feel better. I know you're supposed to add lemon too, but I don't think it tastes good and when I'm sick, I'm not eating or drinking anything I don't like, no way!

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Next up, homemade chicken noodle soup. Sure the canned stuff is good, but nothing beats homemade.

You can find the recipe for this soup here, obviously this strategy works best if you have someone who loves you enough to make homemade soup...or at least will splurge the extra dollar for the can with big noodles and real carrots. 

Step three, a hot bath. I don't know about anyone else but I never really have a desire to take a bath until I'm sick. There is something about a nice hot back that makes all the aches go away and the steam clears out your sinuses and you finally feel normal again (at least until you get out of the bath). 

These homemade bath bombs look amazing! You can add essential oils like eucalyptus or camomile to make you feel better, plus that fizzy feeling is just wonderful. Its like making your bath do double duty. I definitely need to make a big batch to keep on hand in my bathroom. 

Finally, someone to cuddle. 

Preferably my little Bella. She's the perfect cuddle companion because she loves to get right under the covers and be as close to you as possible. I feel like just that would be enough to make even the sickest patient better. 

Hopefully, by tomorrow morning I'll be feeling better. I feel like the biggest part of the problem is going all week without enough sleep. 

What remedies do you swear by?