October 2013 - Meredith Rines

Month: October 2013

Pause for a Wedding

Posted on October 29, 2013October 29, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

I have a very good excuse for not having a post ready for today. I promise, it’s a good one.

J and I are getting married Saturday. We will be headed to the town that we will become Mr. and Mrs. in. We will spend time with our closest family today while finalizing all the details for our perfect day. I am counting my blessings that we hired a wedding coordinator to help us with all the small details. Normally, I am on the ball and thrive with small details, but I have my heads in the clouds today.

I told you I had a good reason for the lack of post. And this reason will stay for the rest of the week. Sorry!

Cheers!

What I Would Do Differently As A College Student

Posted on October 28, 2013October 25, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

In college you have friends, professors, advisors and mentors that you follow and look up to. With all of that help and guidance it’s hard to say that you ‘missed’ anything. But for me there a few things that I wish I could have done differently. Now that I am older and maybe a little wiser I would like to pass down that infinite wisdom to other college students. I wrote a letter to incoming freshmen a few months ago, but there are always new areas to learn from.

First, take more pictures. Back in my day I didn’t start college off with some fancy iPhone that could snap video and pictures with a click of a button. Nope, I had to carry around a digital camera in my clutch. Sometimes that oversized wristlet did not go with my outfit and I wasn’t about to leave my ID, money or phone at home so the camera was left behind. Man, if I could go back to some of my favorite memories and just have a camera in my hands – that would be awesome! I would love to have documentation of those crazy, awesome, never happening again moments. Mainly for proof that it actually happened and then secondly so that I don’t forget 30 years from now.

Second, intern more. I had one real intern throughout college. It was for a local advertising firm. I liked it just fine. It was not what I dreamed of, which is probably why I am not pursuing advertising today. I learned the hard way, real fast about office politics and why Ms. Big Client’s kid got all of the good assignments even though they were a complete screw up and had no idea what responsibility was. While I sat at the front desk answering calls and designing the boss’ personal Christmas party invite.

If I could go back, I would have found an internship each semester to do and possibly a second one during the summer months. I would have not worked so much at a job I no longer have so that I could have experienced more in fields I was interested in. I could have built my resume to be pretty strong and made a lot of connections in the real world.

That’s it. Two simple pieces of advice for today’s college students. Read it, learn it, and then go do it. Don’t regret your actions so that you can not move forward, but simply learn from others so that you can better yourself.

Cheers!

My Guilty Pleasures

Posted on October 25, 2013October 18, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

I have several guilty pleasures that I partake in from time to time. Some are a lot more embarrassing than others, but nonetheless they are indulgences.

Painting My Nails – I love having my nails nicely filed and painted. Most days I would prefer to leave the house with my hair looking like a hot mess as long as my nails are nicely done.

Oreos – I read an article stating that Oreos could have the same effect on people’s minds as cocaine does… Who am I to argue with science?

Ghost Adventures – I almost labeled this next section as “trashy tv,” but that would be a lie. I think I have great taste in tv shows and Ghost Adventures is one of a kind. I’ve seen every episode and may or may not tweet live during the weekly premiere.
Cuddling with my dogs – the best feeling in the world is when my two pups decide to sit on my lap over J’s or on their own couch. No, the dogs don’t have their own couch, but we have 3 pieces of sitting furniture in our family room and since it’s just J and I, usually there are just 2 seats taken.

Dog and Beth On The Hunt – this is another questionable quality TV show that I am obsessed with. I used to watch Dog The Bounty Hunter on A&E and was devastated when it was cancelled a couple of years ago. I don’t miss an episode of the new show and to ensure that I don’t – my DVR is set to record each new episode.

Baking – I have to limit my baking because I will eat every.single.bite and that’s not good for a girl getting married in a few weeks.

Cheers!

Bachelorette Party – NOLA Style

Posted on October 24, 2013October 18, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

It has taken me a full week to recover from my amazingly awesome bachelorette party down in New Orleans. I am pretty sure that most of us left parts of our liver down on Bourbon Street.

I have to admit that I have some of the world’s best friends out there. I mean, no offense to your friends or anything, I’m sure they are great. But my friends are top-notch. We headed to NOLA on Friday and after a 2 hour delay at the Dallas airport we finally landed.

bachelorette party - new orleans — sisters!

We drank our way through Bourbon Street on Friday night, went on a historical ghost tour on Saturday night and then went down to Magazine Street and Lafayette Cemetery on Sunday. It was a crazy, wild trip and it took me until Thursday to not feel exhausted and also to rehydrate.
Then we headed to a Burlesque show. The woman singing was outstanding! She blew the dancers performances out the window!

Oh and New Orleans is so cool for weddings. Apparently, the bride and groom get to march down the street with a band behind them and their family and friends waiving white handkerchiefs (napkins?) in the air. So stinkin’ cool!
Oh and there are these romeo spikes on the columns for old-time homes. They were the system to keep horny teenage boys out of their daughters’ windows late at night. Genius!

Cheers!

Our Home Tour

Posted on October 22, 2013October 17, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

It’s been a full two months since we moved into our new home. We have unpacked all of the boxes, hung some pictures in the main rooms, found a place for everything, and have even had some friends over for a BBQ. This little place of ours has finally started to feel like home. Even Maggie and Tiny are comfortable, which is apparent by the destroyed toys all over the house, their hiding spots from one another, and the obstacle course to go to the bedroom … er, I mean stairs.
Slowly I will give a little preview of our house. Our office is more of a wedding storage room at the moment from all of the items that we have to take for the wedding and the wonderful gifts that we have received from our friends and family. That room is going to take us some time to get it back into office shape.

I think the next room up will be the guest bedroom. I do have a few more projects to get through in there and then it will be ready. I love the idea of having a tranquil room for friends and family to stay when the visit. I want people to visit us and I think the best way to do that is having a space ready for them at a moment’s notice.
Sometimes it’s nice to sit back and just enjoy the present.

Cheers!

8 Reasons I Hate Halloween

Posted on October 21, 2013October 17, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Is it bad luck to start off a post with words like “I hate”? Perhaps. I mean, hate is a very strong word and I was always taught to never say it unless you could live without that person/event/situation/shirt for the rest of your life. Let’s just say if Halloween disappeared off a calendar I would be none the wiser. Halloween has never been a favorite holiday. Christmas, now that’s a holiday I can get behind and get fired up about. Halloween is one that I would prefer to keep my front porch light off and go to bed early.

My top 8 reasons why Halloween can just fade away:

1) masks, face paint, wigs… Basically, I have a paralyzing fear of all things that disguise one’s appearance. Last time I checked that was a main part of Halloween.

2) excuses that I can tell myself to gorge on candy

3) scary movies that seem to be on every TV station for the month

4) obnoxious downtown bar scenes that have too many people and too long of lines to get drinks

5) random strangers knocking on my door until late. Mostly kids, but you never know who is knocking on that door and when I lived alone I prefered not to know

6) crazy animatronic creatures that go off at the grocery store causing me to scream, jump and then drop everything in my hands

7) oddly shaped food. Who wants to head a pretzel that looks like a finger with a nail? I don’t! I made them for a party once and absolutely could not force one down – my imagination was running too wild, and I’m the one that made them!
8) having to come up with a costume each year. Since I do not like masks, face paint, or wigs it’s hard to come up with a costume for the years I do go out. I think I have been a hippie every since high school. Once my friends and I went as Captain Planet and the Planeteers, that was pretty fun

I might be a bit cynical, but I am okay with that. Now if only I could hold my breath long enough for Halloween to be over and Thanksgiving to be on its way.

Cheers!

Going to the Dogs

Posted on October 18, 2013October 10, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Yet, another post dedicated to the fur balls that I treat like children. The ones that I like more than most people in this world. The ones that can dig through the trash and then melt my heart seconds later.

Yep. If there was a dog lovers anonymous for people like me then I would probably … not join because I think there is nothing wrong. This past week the pups had their first vet appointment at the new place in our new town. They both got rave reviews. Even little Miss Tiny who is supposedly terrified of everyone got praised for her temperament. Could be because the nice ladies were feeding her treats.

Love these dogs!

Cheers!

The Magic of Being Alone

Posted on October 17, 2013October 10, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Every once in awhile I get in one of those moods that I just can’t shake off. It’s frustration mixed with sadness, a sense of being overwhelmed, and desperation. Usually the onset of these type of moods comes from a couple of hard days at work where I just can’t seem to do anything right, too much time at home, not enough time at home, or too much to do and not enough time to do it.

Here we go, my complaints:

I work from home most days. I have an office that I can go to, but most days it’s just easier to stay home with the pups. So there are a lot of weeks that I am spending too much time at home.

Then I travel a lot. A lot for our wedding and a lot for work. I have to travel back to our old town every other week and stay for 2 days each time. It gets hard being on the road for 12+ hours a month just for work and then add road trips to see family on top of that.

It’s hard to be diligent with every moment of my work day when I am not in the office with the file in my hands and little distractions.
With this wedding less than 20 days away there is a lot to get done, crafts to finish, lists to make, packing to do, and making sure that I fit into my wedding dress. It’s a lot to get done.

What I have to tell myself on days like these:

Although, I feel that I am not accomplishing as much as I was in the office, but I know that it’s little difference and my work quality is improving because I feel that I can take more time to complete each task.

The wedding is a celebration of J and I. All that matters is that our friends and family are by our sides and we party the night away. That does not require crafts or extra time organizing – it’s been taken care of and is ready to go.

I have an office and the days that I feel like I am not getting a lot done then I need to head over there and force myself to stay. It’s nice there, quiet and doesn’t have 2 dogs that need attention.

The travel is temporary. Work will not always have this much traveling and the wedding traveling will be over the moment on November 3rd when we walk through our front door.

Small thoughts that are totally “duh!” moments, but nonetheless they are necessary to repeat to myself. The feeling typically does not last long and requires a quite moment by myself to snap out of. I find that being myself with things that I enjoy doing help. Like tonight, I packed for my next trip, watch the game on TV, went tanning (I know, I know not good for me. But sometimes you just need a jolt of UV rays to make you feel whole again.), and worked on my blog. J is out with friends, doing his thing. The house is quiet and the dogs are sleeping. It’s peaceful.

Cheers!

Our Wedding Invitations

Posted on October 15, 2013October 10, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

The moment I saw our invitations sitting outside our front door, I may have jumped a little. I was so pumped that they came, they made it to our new address!

First thing I did was bring them inside and grab the camera, because that is normal, right? The dogs were just as excited as I was or maybe just the box smelled… I am not sure.

We opted for the simple Seal ‘N Send invites for several reasons: 1) they fit in perfect with what I wanted. 2) seemed easier for my friends to have a pull-off postcard to send back. There was no envelope stuffing for our friends – so easy! 3) cost less to send and if you remember my save the dates I like saving money on postage.

Cheers!

Transforming Your Home to Fall: Budgeting Decorating Ideas

Posted on October 14, 2013October 8, 2013 by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

It’s that time of year where the leaves start falling, pumpkin decorations make their grand appearance and I get an excuse to wear over sized sweaters on a daily basis. Fall is my favorite time of the year. The weather is still nice enough to go out and do things with friends but the temperatures are cooler so that you can actually enjoy being outside without sweating. One of my favorite things to do is attend festivals around St. Louis, my favorite is the Apple Butter Festival in Kimmswick.

Fall is about that time that I transition our house look. I like to add some deeper colors to the decorations, blankets with some texture that yearn for someone to cuddle up with, and autumn spice candles. There are some inexpensive and quick ways to add a touch of fall to your home:

1) Faux fur throws. I found mine about 2 years ago at Big Lots. I had a coupon and it was on sale, so overall it cost me about $10. It’s small enough that it folds up nicely on the couch and is light enough that you can throw it on while the air is running.

2) Fall decor. I usually find clearance pumpkins, horns of plenty, and other fall-like decorations at the end of each season at Wal-Mart or craft stores. Typically you can combine clearance items with coupons and get items pretty cheap, which always makes me happy. However, if you are just starting out this fall and don’t want to wait until next year to decorate then hit up some local garage sales or flea markets. Most people purge a lot of items during the summer months and while the temperature is still nice they will continue hosting garage sales for the first few weeks of fall.

Making Your Home Ready for Fall — Source

3) Candles. I love candles. Maybe it’s because we have 2 dogs and I always have a fear that our house smells, but candles are the best. I typically buy mine at Big Lots or the Dollar Tree. They won’t last for 200+ hours like the expensive ones will. Butthey will last me most of the fall season and that’s really all that matters to me.

That’s it. 3 simple steps and your home will be easily transformed from cool, light summer to warm and cozy for fall.

Cheers!

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