Oh snap.. its July?! That means..

..its my birthday month (Q Day lands July 29th aka the big 2-6).

Now there's one thing that I love just as much as birthday presents.. and that's BIRTHDAY COUPONS!!

So far, its July 2nd and I've already gotten.. (all of which I have to use during this month only)

• $5.00 coupon from DSW Shoes (must spend $19.99- talk about stingy bday coup!)
• $10.00 coupon from Victoria's Secret (must use Angels Credit Card)
• One free entree from Fiorella's in Newton
• $10.00 coupon from Lemon Tree Paperie

A few freebies that I THINK should get sent to me in the month of July:

Mac Lipglass

Vineyard Vines Tote
A Day where Cesar Milan (aka Dog Whisperer) comes to the apartment and turns Rocco & Lexie into the most well behaved Mutts on the planet! *btw if i don't call you for awhile, its because lil Lex chewed up my phone charger. But it could have been worse- it could have been my hair iron.
The lead singer of Fall Out Boy (i dont even know his name) to sing in a small concert in my backyard.. LOL cos I think he's dreamy. And last but not least.. CENTRAL AIR to be put in every single room I step foot in during the summertime. In my apartment, at my office, everywhere.
Hmmm there's still 29 days left in the month. It could totally happen.

BUI is a serious offense..

JQ Lounge correspondant Lisa W sent me the most ridiculously fabulous article.. on Drunk Internet Shopping. BUI (buying under the influence) as they like to call it! I love how Lisa said "This was very JQ Lounge-esque". HA that made my day.

involves people (mostly women) getting real wasted, blacking out and going on online retail benders, typically blowing hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars on clothes and shoes and rings and crap. The weirdest thing was, most of them don't regret it. In fact, one woman referred to this kind of sloppy shopping as "the only thing you can do after a few drinks and not have any regrets." This is presumably because you can return most purchases. But what if you're a cheapo drunk shopper and you buy things on sale? Then you're just screwed? The terror. [source]

I admit I've hit Sephora.com and splurged on a few goodies after a couple glasses of wine. You don't get the guilty "hmmmm I won't be getting paid til next week" butterflies in the stomach. And all you have to do is shut the MacBook if the hubs walks into the room so he can't see what's going on. But now that I think about it.. iridescent purple eyeshadow and bright pink lip gloss is something I probably would've ordered only when I was buzzed..

I KNOW a few of the JQ Loungers have done this... so spill!!!!! I'm such a nosy neighbor..

Currently..

• chucking all my sweaters and jackets down to the basement.. 80 degrees yesterday! When I sat outside by the Charles River for lunch, I told my coworker this was NICER than Mexico cos there was no humidity!!
• trying to justify why I spent $32 on 2 small pads of stationery (pictured above from their website). Boatman Geller has THE CUTEST designs, and c'mon.. pink and green alligators with my very own name on it? Could be the coolest damn thing ever.. very preppy. At least I found a 10% promotion code online so the $8 ground shipping didn't made me that angry. Maybe Boatman Geller will feature me on their blog that talks about celebrity clientele?
  
• wondering what to use as my defense when my mom reads the last bullet and immediately calls me to tell me why I shouldn't be buying $32 on 150 small sheets of paper..
• questioning why I still watch the hills.. there I said it. The show is horrible. Brody Jenner hasn't been on lately. Lauren and Heidi make me cringe. They should get rid of those two and let Audrina, Whitney, Justin Bobby, and Stephanie Pratt hang out. OH and bring back Elodie. Obvi.... Lauren looks/acts like she's been defeated by life, she's in defense, angry scorned lover mode 24/7 and is just reaching out for followers to live by her Laurenisms.. And Heidi and Spencer? Great acting, they almost pass for people who don't date and aren't living together! um.... nope
• counting down the hours to NEW LOST TONITE! Plus The Office! lkjasdkjldasf
  
• Getting super excited for the new job that starts Monday!!!!!!!!!!!! I wonder if my alligator stationery will get delivered by then?! If that doesn't say business woman.. I dont know what will!

Lego my Luggage!

Wow I finally feel like a grownup.

Did I buy a house you ask? Um.. no. Have you seen affordable housing in MA?
Did you attend a book club and actually read the book? Nada
Did you host Thanksgiving Dinner? Ha ha ha. Maybe in 4-6 years.

I bought nice LUGGAGE for my trip coming up in less than 3 weeks! Usually I rock some random bags that are probably from the late eighties topped off with some duck tape when I travel. But thanks to Marshalls, I spotted the coolest bags ever.. and I got a Bargain! (pronounced Bah-gain to show my use of the Boston accent in special circumstances like such)

Note- that big random circle on the big one is just my camera being whack..

I opted for Diane von Furstenberg, because she was a little more laid back than the Betsey Johnson collection. AND I didn't buy pink bags, so the hubs can use it b/c he travels more than I do.. The big one was $79 and the carry on was $59.. super cheap considering it says $400 and $300 on their "original" tags (gotta love designer markup)

Now I just gotta break out the summer clothes and start packing!

defeated.

WARNING: This is a big pity party post.. due to hunger, pain and exhaustionWorst. weekend. ever. Wisdom teeth surgery itself actually went great, I ended up getting full anesthesia so I don't think I even saw the doctor once! Its just been the following 48 hrs that have been horrible. My face didn't puff up until Saturday morning, and now I look like a freak show. I had even planned on posting a picture thinking it'd be funny to look back on, but I lose respect for myself every time I look in the mirror.

To sum it up, I look like:
Shallow Hal meets J-Lo pregnant with Quadruplets meets Charlize Theron from Monster..

Painkillers do not seem to be working, my face is still numb, I've had a fever and an ear-ache, and I think half of my lip has fallen off from being chapped. Have NO CLUE how I'm going to go back to work tomorrow, unless a surgeon from Extreme Makeover makes a house call and figures out how to drain some puffiness out of my face.

Alright enough with the depressing complaining.

Instead I'd like to do some pretend online shopping in my head and think about what I SHOULD'VE spent $1,000 on this weekend, instead of electing oral surgery!
Makeup: Hmmm I dropped $330 at MAC on wedding makeup 2 yrs ago and that only managed to fill up 2 small bags. So doing the math, I would buy 4 small bags worth of MACness.
Shoes: Instead of saying I'd buy 1.5 pairs of Jimmy Choos, I'd probably just go to DSW and pick about 12 pairs of shoes instead.. cos I like to have a lot of options for shoesie woosies in the morning. And knowing my luck, I'd break my Jimmy Choo heel within 1 week walking some Boston Cobblestone.

Luggage: I've been searching online for some cute luggage (because I think if you have just plain black luggage, the odds go up that the airline will totally LOSE it!) and unfortunately Gus will not agree to let me buy Betseyville Luggage (from Betsey Johnson). "Julie, you really think I'm going to take that hot pink thing as a carry on when I go on a business trip!?"

Clothes: J.Crew spring collection. SO up my alley. (minus the hat, I'm not THAT cool)

Donate to the MSPCA (Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals): They sent me the cutest address labels last week, and I made a small donation, but I'd love to make a bigger one.

Hope you all had a better weekend than me.. I'll think up a shiny happy post soon.

Isn't that...

So, sorry I have been a Debbie Downer Blogger this week. I'm getting my wisdom teeth out later on this morning, and pretty much all week I've been running around trying to get stuff done, since I'm probably going to be a dazed, puffy faced, sore jawed Julie Q for the next few days. Either painkillers = awesomely amazing blogging to come, or it means that I'll be watching every single HBO on-demand movie with a package of frozen peas on both sides of my face screaming for Nurse Rocco to get me some more apple sauce with cinnamon sprinkled on top.

But fear not, Boston.com posted my favorite thing ever.. Celebrity look-alikes!!! A few favorites.. I was surprised that only 1 girl made the cut for my favorites.The Ben Stiller one was pushing it- but I would totally think the guy looked like his brother or something if I saw him walking down the street.

Also- I was checking out Instyle.com and found some very Pretty Paper websites. I think I'm going to order some wicked lovely post-its on galison.com for only $9.50. I'm such a post-it whore at work, I think its the equivalent to a doctor's prescription pad for me, shelling out useless advice/info to myself and others..I showed a girl at work the link and the first thing she said was "I wouldn't want to write on them! It'd ruin the pretty paper" Loves it...Too bad I will have no wisdom to write on said post-its... omg I hope I don't lose my puns after oral surgery! Enjoy your weekend..

Beep Beep! Whose got the keys to my..

Bought a new car over the weekend (well.. new to me)! While it was sad to say goodbye to the Kia Sportage I bought when I was broke right out of college... I practically chucked my old keys at the dealer! The new JQ mobile is a '05 VW Passat Wagon. Gus joked that it was a MILF mobile, but I like to think of it as a Soccer Mom luxury vehicle (HA). Leather heated seats and a sunroof was basically all I told the dealer I wanted in a car. Yay! Too bad its raining and I have the day off. Sounds like it'll be a gym, window shopping and movie day for moi.

Enjoy your holiday, and take a 2 hr lunch if your stuck in the office today.

mac attack!

Why does 2 small bags worth of makeup (probably weighing in at half a pound) cost $100? Blerg. So worth it though.. i'll just skip getting an Au Bon Pain soup for lunch this week.. totally even

Contain Yourself!

Made my first trip to The Container Store today with my mom, Debbie Q. Basically if you have a jones for organization, this place is your wonderland. And was it ever! While I wasn't on a hunt for too many items, I knew I had to do something about my summer shoes.. they were all just messing up the bottom of my closet. Have no fear, rolling shoe storer is here. At the whopping price of $14.99, this mobile shoe rack solves EVERYTHING. Plus.. it has wheels!!! Unfortunately it did not fit ALL of my summer sandals, but c'mon... it has wheels.

A few more impulse buys consisted of a corner shelf to place some of my makeup & cute little heart shaped Chinese takeout boxes, perfect for giving yummy cookies to friends and hubbys on their way to work [all featured in the first picture of this post]. We then hit up Target & Home Goods where I found some picture frames, a Yankee Candle and the cutest Green jacket. I have a problem with buying green jackets whenever I see them, but this is PERFECT for spring, when its a lot warmer. And it fit awesome-o.

And yes, I already put a picture of Red Sox hottie Mike Lowell in one of my new picture frames b/c a coworker had taken that pic for me at Fenway Park since it was well known around my old office that I was a little obsessed.. Thanks Wendel!

Next up tomorrow, Julie spends some giftcards at Sephora and then brings the rest of her makeup allowance $$ to MAC. mwahahahahaha stay tuned.

How would you like that gift wrapped?

I think I'm the only person in the world who finds absolutely nothing wrong with gift cards. "Ohhh they're sssooo impersonal", "It's like you're saying you don't even know the person, or care about them". I think its quite the opposite actually. I think its that you love that person SO MUCH you want to allow them to buy whatever makes them happy! That's true love right there. Well Brian Williams caused my perfect view of gift cards to be a tad tainted. Apparently we waste 8 billion dollars in frickin unused gift cards. WHAT? That definitely doesn't count my household, because you bet your gonads I will be in that store within2-3 weeks spending all of that money- and obviously a few extra bucks.

Click here for Brian Williams Nightly News story on this.

Do you like/love/despise GC's?

Really Oprah?

I was clicking through Oprah's Favorite things and came across something that made me do a huge double-take. For the low low price of over $300, you can lounge around like Oprah... in this!
Couldn't she find some cute Juicy Couture sweats? Who the heck would buy something like this? And you'd think Oprah would like them because they magically make you look 40 lbs lighter.. but do they? do they really?

One of these days i'm going to shock you all with my Julie's Favorite things post. And you bet your ass one of those things is Wii. Update: so far i've beaten Super Mario Bros 3, (okay so i watched Gus kill Koomba during the last fight), and have moved onto Super Mario World (super nes edition). Still no cure for the Mario Thumb though.

Black Friday

Will be spent at work. Not at the mall.

I might sneak out to the Cambridgeside Galleria during lunch. Are you hittin' up the mall today? If so- spill the beans on what you bought. I'm nosy and shopping deprived today.