DSW Coupon

I got this really great coupon from DSW in my email today and I'd like to share it with everybody. It's for $10 off and purchase of $49 online only. Don't forget to use your Ebates account to get some cash back as well. I went on their site today to look for some boots and I saw sooo many I liked. Enjoy!

Here's just a taste of some of the boots they have right now that sparked my interest.

♥ Erin

Catching you up...again!

I thought the summer was supposed to be the busiest time of year, but it wasn't for me. The fall has been CRAZY! I'm blaming it on the Phillies being in the post season, but I'm not complaining by any means. I've seen a couple of the blogs I follow take a little break right now as well, so I'm glad I'm not the only one. When I'm not screaming at my TV at the Phils, I'm catching up on all my other crap I have to do i.e. laundry, housework, trying to fit in my shows, etc. Plus the last two weekends have been nuts and it's not stopping any time soon. We had a friend visit two weeks ago, we went home to Philly this past weekend, we have another friend coming this weekend and for the last weekend in October (Halloween) we're back up in Philly. I really would feel overwhelmed ignoring my blog for 2 weeks straight so I'm going to slowly chip away at all the things we've been doing. Starting with last weekend when my friend Jane visited. We went to Reston's Oktoberfest which was really neat and we went to a Haunted Forest by our house and it was so scary and awesome! Here are some pics from that weekend.

Reston Sunset at Oktoberfest

Vanessa & Jenny

Jane & I

My favorite picture from the night

This past weekend I think I put way too many miles on my car! I drove back and forth to the city every night to go to two outstanding concerts. Friday night was Ryan Gosling's band Dead Man's Bones and Saturday night was Paramore. I had such a great time at both concerts. I got to see Ryan Gosling up close (I walked right by him and he grazed my shoulder!) and saw one of my favorite bands perform live. The opening bands for Paramore were The Swellers who were ok, but not my type of music and Paper Route who is my new favorite band. I will be doing an artist spotlight on them the next time I do my Current Playlist Vol. 3 hopefully sometime soon. They were amazing! Here are the pics from last weekend.

I love Ryan Gosling

The Swellers

Paper Route

Paramore

Hayley

I took a lot of video from these shows so when I get a little more time I'll try and post them.

♥ Erin

Last chance to enter!

Hurry guys, time is running out to buy a raffle ticket to win that great custom Phillies tote at Prep-E Girl. Remember the ticket is a $5 donation and it supports Puppies Behind Bars. You have until Saturday to donate to a great cause and maybe win something that will show your support for the Fightin' Phils! Click here to check out the tote and purchase your raffle ticket now!

♥ Erin

Catching you up

Wow, what a busy few weeks! I hope everyone saw my post yesterday. I've got plenty of stuff lined up, but it's just about having the time to post it all. I'm going to start by overwhelming you with my crazy but awesome week. Hope you guys can handle it all!

Well to start my week off, I won one of the Hot 99.5 purses from their Pick A Purse contest. They start the week off with 20 bags and give them away to the 99th caller 4 times a day. They've been doing it for a few weeks now. My girlfriend won an $800 Gucci bag which she sold this week for $600. They have so many bags: Gucci, D&G, Kate Spade, & so many more. I couldn't believe it, but I got through this week and won a beautiful white Marc Jacobs bag (pictured below). I'm going to pick it up some time today and I can't wait. Plus I get a chance to win a Mini Cooper in a couple weeks! If you live in the DC area tune in to Hot 99.5 to try and get a great purse. Staring tomorrow they're giving away one every hour!


Next up...I finally got my iPhone fixed. I don't think I posted about it, but ever since the June update my iPhone has been a hot mess. It got even worse after the picture messaging update a couple weeks ago so I finally called my closest Apple store (thank God they opened one in Reston) and made an appointment. It took me 2 appointments, countless hours of restoring and replacing, and some minor complaining when they finally gave me a brand new phone. I can't even begin to tell you all the problems I was encountering so they gave me a brand new phone with everything already pre-loaded so I didn't have to do anymore updates! Hopefully my phone will go back to the way it was before June, which it looks like it has. Thank you Apple Store Reston!

While I was trying to win a purse all week, I was also trying to win tickets to see Paramore's sold out show at the Electric Factory in Philly October 17th. After my morning show in DC, I immediately switch it over to Radio 104.5 for the rest of the day (boy do I love internet radio). All week they have been giving away tickets to the show if you're the 104th texter when you hear certain Paramore songs throughout the day. Well wouldn't you know, that was me today! I was screaming and jumping up and down in my office. My boss was like, "You won something again"! Everyone has been getting a kick out of my "lucky streak". I have to call the promotions assistant back tomorrow to get all the details and I'll update everybody. I'm worried about picking up the tickets since I can't get there during normal business hours. Hopefully I can get them at will call or have them shipped. Tim is convinced that I should play the lottery and place a couple sports bets which I might be doing to see how long this lasts.



What has really been keeping me busy this week has been the start of baseball's postseason. The Fightin' Phils are traveling today to Colorado to face the Rockies in game 3 of the NLDS. The Phils won an amazing game 1 5-1 with Cliff Lee at the helm. Yesterday's game didn't go their way, they lost 5-4. It was a close won yesterday and at one point I really thought they were coming back, but it was just too little too late. So tonight I get a breather to gear up for the game tomorrow where they're calling for 29 degree weather in Colorado. Yikes!! More importantly the games have been starting at 2:30 while I'm at work where I can't get the game, then I go to my car where I listen to it on 570AM (while screaming and clapping loudly and looking like a crazy woman in my car) to finally my house where I refuse to move from the same spot on my couch until it's over. It's been a rough couple of days, let's just say that.

Hopefully my luck hasn't run out yet because I entered this great giveaway/raffle that Prep-E Girl has going on right now. It's not free, you have to pay $5/ticket(donation) and the proceeds go to a charity called Puppies Behind Bars. Come on guys it's a great cause and you could win a custom made Phillies tote filled with goodies. Click here to check it out. The raffle is going on until 10/10 so hurry up and get your ticket!

Well guys you're officially caught up. I've got a busy weekend ahead and I can't wait to post about it next week. My friend Jane is coming into town and we have a fun filled weekend planned. Tonight we're going to a haunted woods by our house, Saturday we'll either visit a local winery or head into DC, and on Sunday we're going to Oktoberfest in Reston. I can't wait. I hope everyone has a great weekend and GO PHILS!

♥ Erin

Sorry for the hiatus!

Hey guys, just wanted to leave a note letting you know I'm not dead...just super busy. October is a really busy month for us. Last weekend we had my mom and her friend in town from South Carolina and at the same time Tim's boss was here as well because they had a conference in Bristow, VA. This weekend my friend Jane will be in and we have a jam packed weekend to entertain her! Every weekend this month we're either out of town or having people visit. Just this past Monday we had dinner with an old high school friend that was in town. Yes...I'm pretty much spent and it's only the 7th of October. On top of it all the Phillies started Game 1 of the NLDS against the Rockies and they won!! I finally have a bunch of stuff to post, it's just finding the time. Here's just a hint of what's to come: I got some great new fall clothes from Old Navy, won something fantastic from my local radio station, entered a great giveaway I'm super excited about (thanks to Christina), got my phone fixed, and in between all of that there will be plenty of Phillies updates. Let's put it this way, I didn't get to watch OTH and Gossip Girl until tonight (and you all know how I love those shows on Monday). So stay put, stay tuned, and I'll talk to you all soon! Hope everyone is having a great week.

♥ Erin

New Music Tuesday

Yeah yeah I know, it's Thursday! Sorry I slacked last night. After I downloaded a bunch of the music I'm going to tell you about, I was sick of the computer and put this post off until today. My bad! Anyway, Tuesday was an awesome day for new music! I have so much stuff for my next current playlist vol. 3 post, whenever that may be. Check out some great new music that released this week, I recommend going to Billboard or iTunes to get the latest news.

I didn't even know B. Spears was releasing a new song. She has been a busy little bee (no pun intended) finishing up her tour, getting her bod back in shape, running after her little boys, and watching the media tear up K. Fat...I mean Fed. This new single titled "3" will be on her new album called The Singles Collection due out in November 24th. The album will be sold in 2 sets, the standard and the ultimate fan set. The standard set will include 17 of her biggest hits. The ultimate fan box set will contain all 29 of Spears' singles individually packaged in slip sleeves with their original artwork and B-sides or remixes. The box set will also include a DVD with all of Brit's videos from past to present and a photo booklet with various photos spanning her career. You can listen to it here on her website. The single will be released October 6th if you want to get it from iTunes. I friggin' love this damn song and have been rocking out to it since I got it.

I have been a fan of Paramore even before they were popular. In all these years of being a fan of them, I have never liked any of their entire albums...until now. This album is straight up amazing! I love every song and can listen to it straight through, no skipping songs here! This is a must buy for any Paramore fan.

In other music news, they released the New Moon Soundtrack tracklist. I'm not quite sure what to think since you can only buy Anya Marina's Satellite Heart which wasn't a bad song. I may hear a song, not like it, then hear it in the movie and because of the the element of the scene fall in love with it. The soundtrack releases October 10th and you can preorder here. If you preorder the album, you can instantly download Satellite Heart. I can't tell you what I'm going to do yet. I'll probably check out the songs and download the ones I like off the bat, but after I see the movie I'm sure I'll want more. Who knows, I might just suck it up and buy the album (off of iTunes of course, what are CD's again?) the day it comes out. We'll see what happens, I'll keep you posted. I really thought with Paramore's album coming out just a couple weeks before the soundtrack that I would see a song of theirs on it, but there's not. Oh well, I'm not in charge. Here is the official tracklist:

1. Death Cab For Cutie – Meet Me On The Equinox
2. Band Of Skulls – Friends
3. Thom Yorke – Hearing Damage
4. Lykke Li – Possibility
5. The Killers – A White Demon Love Song
6. Anya Marina – Satellite Heart
7. Muse – I Belong To You (New Moon Remix)
8. Bon Iver & St. Vincent – Rosyln
9. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Done All Wrong
10. Hurricane Bells – Monsters
11. Sea Wolf – The Violet Hour
12. OK Go – Shooting The Moon
13. Grizzly Bear (with Victoria Legrand) – Slow Life
14. Editors – No Sound But The Wind
15. Alexandre Desplat – New Moon (The Meadow)
BONUS:
16. Lupe Fiasco – Solar Midnite
17. The Magic Numbers And Amadou & Mariam – All I Believe In
18. APM Orchestra. – Die Fledermaus – Duettino: Ach, ich darf nicht hin zu dir
19. Death Cab For Cutie – Meet Me On The Equinox (Music Video)
20. Ulf Bastlein – Wandrers Nachtlied II, Op. 96, No. 3, D.768 (preorder only)

November 10th is the release of Switchfoot's new album Hello Hurricane, but they released "Mess of Me" was released this week. It's got a different sound than what I'm used to from the band and I can't wait to hear the rest of the album. This one is totally on my list.

Honorable Mention:

One Republic's sophomore album will be released November 7th. I have been looking forward to this for over a year! I saw them twice in concert and they are amazing! Can't wait to get this album.

♥ Erin

Recent Recipes

This weekend I tried out 3 new recipes from the Taste of Home magazine I posted about the other week. Since Sunday was football day, I decided to make a ton of food that we could munch on throughout the day. Some I'd recommend, some I won't. I will tell you that I love trying new recipes even if they don't turn out so well. Below are some of the recipes I tried out, let me know what you think!

Dijon-Bacon Pretzel Dip
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup real bacon bits or crumbled cooked bacon
1 to 3 teaspoons prepared horseradish
Pretzels
Directions: In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, bacon and horseradish. Cover and chill until serving. Serve with pretzels.
*I started the day off with this dip and I was not impressed. I felt like it was missing an ingredient like sour cream or cream cheese. Just having the mayo isn't enough to combat the mustard and horseradish flavor. Plus, the bacon doesn't even add to the flavor either. I won't make this again.

Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta
8 ounces uncooked penne pasta
1 pound ground beef
6 bacon strips, diced
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed tomato soup, undiluted
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
Barbecue sauce and prepared mustard, optional
Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain and set aside.
In the same skillet, cook bacon until crisp; remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels. Discard drippings. Drain pasta; add to the skillet. Stir in the soup, beef and bacon; heat through. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with cheese. Cover and let stand for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Serve with barbecue sauce and mustard if desired.
*Tim and I loved this recipe! It was so easy to make and was also good the next day as left overs for lunch. I used whole wheat pasta since it isn't a very healthy dish and added some crushed red pepper for extra spice as well. Depending on how much pasta is used you should think about using more than 1 can of soup or add a little bit of milk to sauce it up a little more. I definitely recommend this dish!

Peanut Butter S'more Bars
1 tube (16-1/2 ounces) refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough
3-1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
2 teaspoons shortening
1-1/2 cups milk chocolate M&M's
Directions:
Let dough stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften. Cut into 24 slices; arrange side by side in an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Pat together to close gaps. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned and edges are firm. Sprinkle with marshmallows; bake 2-3 minutes longer or until marshmallows are puffy. In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Sprinkle M&M's over marshmallow layer; drizzle with melted chocolate. Chill until set before cutting.
*The minute I saw the picture of this dessert in the magazine, I knew I had to make it! It was extremely tasty, easy to make, and involves all of my fave sweet foods! I can't wait to make it again for my next party.

♥ Erin

N.L. East Champs!

Congrats to the Philadelphia Phillies who clinched their 3rd straight N.L. East Division last night! The Fightin' Phils defeated the Astros 10-3 to advance into the playoffs. October is my favorite time of year. Since we moved to DC, we don't get to watch them all that often. When the playoffs start we get to see every game! The madness begins next Wednesday, October 7th.

♥ Erin