Spending More Money: The Groupon Phenomenon

So everyday I get tons of emails from Groupon, Travelzoo, LivingSocial, GroopDealz, and probably more that I can't even remember offhand. I have purchased a few deals since signing up for all of these sites and have come to one big revelation: they are costing me a LOT of money! Why is that? Well, you wind up buying things that you would have never thought to spend your money on before. If an activity normally costs $50 you can think to yourself "nah, I don't want to spend the $50" and walk away, spending $0. Then Groupon dooms you by sending a "Wait a minute, now you can get that activity for $25!" and you think to yourself "Ooo, how can I resist?" Therefore Groupon just cost you $25 you wouldn't have spent otherwise. I have a perfect example for this. Last year I purchased a LivingSocial deal for a group to go bowling ($60) and plans kept falling through so it never quite worked out before the 'deal' expired. Since there was no return option I had to basically take the $60 I spent and throw it right down the drain. It hurt. Will this prevent me from buying future deals? No, because I am a sucker. Just like reality tv and my IPhone, the Groupon phenomenon has sucked me into its allure of good deals and new activities. Oy vey.

Other States on TV, please!

So I must admit it, I am addicted to reality television. I am not proud of this, but at the end of a work day I really look forward to mindless entertainment. Here's the issue, however, that SO many shows are obsessed with what is the armpit of America...New Jersey. Now, before you call me mean, please know that as a native Baltimorian (or Baltimoron) it is my civic duty to hate all that is New Jersey. The smell, the people, the roads, etc etc. At the same time, I find myself hooked on all of these shows...its like that train wreck you can't turn away from even though you know you should.

First off, there's The Jersey Shore, a classic example of New Jersey folks at their finest. Jerseylicious is another one I tune into often to catch all the catfights that happen in public. Perhaps its so intriguing to me because I would never seriously get into a fight with anyone in public, and it captures my attention as if I'm watching a wild animal to see what it will do next. One show I refuse to watch is "Mama's Boys of the Bronx" because I have dated some serious Mama's boys in the past and do not see the need to retorture (is retorture a word?) myself by bringing back those memories.

New Jersey, even though I hate you, I love to see you represented so accurately on tv.

By the way, I googled "Person from New Jersey" and this picture was in the top results. Clearly, Google hates you too.

Silly Kitty

Since I have gotten my baby (oops, I mean cat) in August, I have definitely become a crazy cat lady. Yes, I am one of those people who treats my pet like a child, and I won't apologize for it! Here are a few photos and stories for crazy pet owners like me:

1. She was born with a 'hook' at the end of her tail that is permanently crooked. I have named this her 'crook hook'. Her she is showing it off:

2. I thought cats were supposed to dislike water, but mine requests it constantly. Even though she has her own pet fountain (I told you she's spoiled) she ignores it and crawls into the sink every day, dunking her head under the fountain while trying to drink at the same time.

3. I pride myself in comfort, so my place has tons of comfortable spots for her to sleep. Instead, she chooses the most obsure places possible. Here she is sleeping with her head in a plastic bag:

Oscar Who?

Last night was the most important and spectacular event of the year, the beloved Academy Awards. While most blogs, articles, and etc will be posting about the awards today I will choose the high road of posting about why I didn't watch the Oscars this year and why I'm glad I chose not to.

First off, I turned on the radio this morning to learn that the biggest Google search thusfar, post Oscars, was Angelina Jolie's right leg. Really? Like we have never seen that before? What about Tombraider? Mr. & Mrs. Smith? I'm sure there are many others...that leg gets around, big deal.

I also heard that the movie rightfully entitled for Best Picture of the Year, Best Director, and Best Actor, was unfairfully ignored. That movie is of course The Muppets. Yes, I'm serious. That was the best movie of 2011.

Instead of the Oscars I chose to be classy and tune into Celebrity Apprentice to see who was on the show. While I recognized some faces on the men's team (Penn from Penn & Teller, Clay Aiken), there was only one face I recognized from the women's team...Theresa from the Real Housewives of New Jersey. This season is packed full of reality TV 'stars' and since I don't have time to watch every single reality show, I guess I will remain confused as to how these women became famous. Especially this woman, who I could tell thinks she is attractive but infact looks like a model for plastic surgey gone wrong.

The "Big" Game

Don't know if you've noticed, but saying "S.B." is strictly forbidden in advertising. Yes, radio, tv, and etc can say things like "The Big Game" but they cannot utter the title of what is happening this Sunday. Also, they can only say that New York and New England are playing but can't name the teams. This, to me, is utterly hilarious. Being a Ravens fan, you can't expect me to look forward to Sunday or call it a Big game at all. Infact, I expect record low ratings for the game. As for who I'm rooting for, well, Go GIANTS! Not because I like the Giants...but because I hate the Patriots! Even though I must admit that my favorite moment during the Ravens/Patriots game was when Brady got upset and put his hands on his hips and moved his head back and forth, just like a scorned woman.

I knew he had the rep for being feminine, but I had never witnessed it firsthand before that day. I did teach my cat how to sit like him...

As for the Ravens, well I heard we aren't getting a new kicker. I guess in some way I have to respect Billy Cundiff for being brave enough to stay in a city where everyone hates him. Especially Baltimore, since 1 in 5 people (or more?) carry weapons.

Mio Attack

Since one of my New Years resolutions is to eat better and not waste too much money by going out to lunch (I used to go out every day!), I decided to try out the Mio Liquid to add to water since we have free bottled water available near my office. Well, trying to squeeze it led to a 'Mio attack'...it shot out everywhere on my desk, staining a piece of paper on my desk and staining my hand! The fact that it stains skin made me think "hm, what does it do to your stomach?" I figured I would jump on here and share my experience to let other consumers know that Mio is some kind of toxic skin staining chemical...so be weary of drinking it! I purchased the Sweet Tea flavor.