The True Love Expert of The Entire World Is…...

The votes are in!  I can now announce on this epic Valentine's Day who the winner of the first annual True Love Is Valentine's Day Contest is:

Rachel from The Random Writings!

Her winning entry was:"True love is cooking a meal you don't even like that much just because its the other person's favorite, and washing the dishes afterwards."

As a picky eater I have to tell you that I agree.

Congratulations Rachel on your win, you can slap this picture on your blog with pride and buy yourself something fancy!

To all the other contestants good job.  I had no idea that true love involved so many bodily functions!

Happy Valentine's Day to you all and know that you are loved!

I Love Me! A Single Girl's Guide for Valentine's Day

You don't have a valentine be your own valentine.

Hi friends!  I am so happy to be celebrating Valentine's today with my students.  I am even happier that I do not have to teach them on the actual Valentin's Day.  Something about all the sugar highs and coursing hormones just is gross.

One of the things that bums me out about VDay is that too many single ladies let it get to them that they are single.  I am so single that single is  synonym for my name.  JK, but I am not seeing anyone and there is no one interesting around.  Most days that is totally fine, today I had to log off of Facebook because like three friends announced they were pregnant and I just couldn't anymore.

Although it would be cool to have a little, actually tall, manfriend to lavish me with gifts and take me to dinner I have found that I am in control of my own happiness.  If having gifts and nice dinner on February 14th would make me happy then dang it I will be my own Valentine, because I love me!  It is true I really love myself and think I am a real treat.  Because of this I will be kind to myself and treat myself a bit.

I had the epiphany that I could be my own Valentine about 6 years ago.  I wanted to get a new computer and couldn't totally justify getting one.  Then came Valentine's day and I knew I wanted to get it because I love me! So I did.  Every time I used it I thought about why I bought it and it made me happy. Apple MacBook Pro MD101LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop (NEWEST VERSION)

Last year I was on the search for a cute pair of cowboy boots.  Again it was around February and I was having a hard time spending about $200 on a pair of boots to wear for fashion.  I decided it would be my VDay gift for myself and I have never felt guilty about the purchase.  Rather I feel hot and super awesome.

Ariat Women's Heritage Western R Toe Boot

This year I really wanted to get some nice skin care products.  I had heard incredible things about Philosophy and decided that it was time to make an investment for me.  I also really wanted to buy a Clarisonic for some time and decided this Valentine's Day I would buy it to complete my skin care needs.




Philosophy Purity Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleanser, 8 Ounce - Philosophy Hope in a Jar Daily Moisturizer, All Skin Types, 2 Ounce - Clarisonic Mia Sonic Skin Cleansing System, Pink

I figured this was a great post to link up with Nicole for Treat Yo Self Thursdays!

 

So ladies I really encourage you to find something that will make you happy for days/years to come.  Instead of being sad make yourself happy and buy something nice, go somewhere fun, buy candy for a friend, or just be kind because chances are someone else is having a hard day too.

If you were to buy something for yourself this year what is the item that you would love to have?

If you haven't done so yet do not forget to vote for your choice in the Ultimate Valentine's Day Contest! 

PS - if you refuse to find something to be happy about here is my playlist for terribly realistic break up songs.  You can just listen and soak up the melancholy.

Can I also count this as part of Helene and Sarah's link up?  It is tomorrow so let this serve as a reminder!

A Valentine's Fail

I have a rather unfortunate, yet funny Valentine's story to share with you today.

Welp another Tuesday is upon us and I am three days away from a four day weekend! Thank you Presidents!

With Valentine's Day just three days away I was thinking about what I was going to do and what I have done in the past.

Looking back on my little life I have really had eventful Valentine's, but not in the romantic, soul mate kind of way.  Rather in the "did that really happen to me?" kind of a way.

My first Valentine's fail came when I was just a wee little lass in Arizona.  I looked a little like this:

ust kidding I looked a lot like this excepted I didn't wear the arm puffs to school.  This was my photo when I won LIttle Miss Chili Pepper at the Rodeo so I think I was looking my best!

I was a wee little lass and it was Valentine's Day.  I went to a super small school (there were like 13 kids in K-4th grade).  We gave each other cards, I think… I actually have no memory of this, and we went to lunch. I came back to the classroom to get something and I noticed a heart shaped box on my desk.

I was so excited and ran over to see what it was.  I looked for a card to indicate who it was from.

There was no card.  Clearly, I had a secret admirer who loved me so much they bought me a box of Reese's Peanut Butter cups.  I didn't know it then but Peanut Butter cups are totally the bomb diggity.

I was so happy I went around to all my classmates and offered them my prize candy.  I was bragging about my secret lover and basking in the gold tin foil glow of far too many eaten candy wrappers.

And then tragedy hit.  The scene: precious child Erica, empty box of peanut butter cups, a classroom full of 13 children, my teacher and her husband.

My teacher's husband came into the classroom looking for something.  He then asked if anyone saw his box of chocolates that he bought our teacher.  I was still unaware of what happened and I held my box and started to search the room for my teacher's gift.  While I was searching he saw the box he had bought and tried to give it to his wife.  The only problem was that he thought my gift was his box.  That is a lie.  My box was indeed the box he bought for his wife.

It turns out that when he came in to give it to her he just set it down on any old desk and walked out of the room, no card, no heads up, just left a box of candy on a 7 year old girl's desk.  Causing a life time struggle with binge eating Reese's in fears that someone will take them away from me.

This was probably my most eventful Valentine's Day to date… other than that time my friend Laura and I hung out and her car was towed and we were locked out of her house for two hours.  But that is a story for another day.

-------------------

My first Valentine with a secret admirer was a total bust, but my friend Christina from Route Bliss is not a bust at all.  read about her below and send her a box of candy from a secret admirer for Valentine's Day

Why did you start blogging?

Well, way back in 2001 when I first started blogging, it was a way to keep friends off at college as well as penpals updated on what was going on in my life at the time. Over time, its changed a bit as I now blog less about my personal life and more about the things I love.

Do you have a furry baby? If so tell us about him or her. 

I have one canine companion who answers to Tater and sometimes Bad Dog or Destructo Dog! He's half Beagle and half Blue Heeler and who, despite being a very smart dog who loves when Brown or FedEx come to visit (the drivers give him treats), loves destroying things. Like his house. And a 80+ year old tree I have loved for years that he tunneled under and as a result, is now dying :( I adopted him on March 20, 2010 -- I think he wasn't so sure about this whole 'I have a human of my own now' thing seeing as the next day (the first day of spring), it snowed and I made him pose for photos in that cold white stuff ;-)

If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go and why?

New Zealand and Iceland. I fell in love with both countries the first time I saw photos of them. There's so many places I want to explore ... but those two are the ones I must see before I take my last breath

What is your favorite way to stay active?

Currently strength training although I need to get back into running after a couple months off. Both are great stress relievers, especially with work being chaotic lately!

You are given a free day and $100 what would you do?

Hmm ... seeing as I'm trying to not spend any money on non essentials this month, that's a hard decision! If it were fall, I'd probably drive to Dallas and go to the State Fair. By the time I paid for parking and admission and bought food tickets to hit up all the deep fried food vendor booths, the $100 would probably be gone!

Where are you from and what is your favorite thing to do there?

I'm from a small town in East Texas that's known for three things -- its the home of the hamburger, the Black Eyed Pea Capital, and our local junior college women's' basketball team has won several NJCAA championships over the years. As for my favorite thing to do here, well, its becoming more of a retirement community (its even 'certified'), so there's not a lot for 20 and 30 somethings to do! I do enjoy spending the occasional weekend afternoon at a local deli hogging their WiFi and slowly eating their yummy salads.

Make sure you follow Christina o Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!

True Love is - Time To Vote

It is officially time to vote for the winner of True Love is… A Valentine's Day Contest.

Your task is to read the entries below and vote for your top two favorites.

Voting lasts until Thursday night at 8 pm PST.

If you are nominated feel free to tell your friends to come and vote for you.

Just a reminder of what the winner will receive:

$25 Victoria's Secret gift card

And the title True Love Expert of the Whole World

True Love Is... A Valentine's Day Contest

Wow it is already February 6th!  Where have the first five weeks of the year gone?  In case you couldn't tell by all the blogs dedicated to buying the perfect gift for your spouse, significant other, pet or yourself, Valentine's Day is just a short 8 days away.

I went shopping at the Brea Mall last weekend when I had the most genius thought for a Valentine's Day contest on my blog.

The thought struck me as I was walking through the food court yearning for a Cinnabon, which I resisted thank you very much!  There is a Mongolian BBQ stand and I thought to myself:

I really love Mongolian BBQ

Why don't I eat Mongolian BBQ more often?

Whoever takes me to Mongolian BBQ really will have to love me because my noodle to meat ratio is not normal. Erica loves her carbs and veggies!

True love is when a strapping young man when he takes me to Mongolian BBQ and does not judge my noodle to meat ratio.

And so was born the True Love is.... contest.  The truth is love is different to every person and we all experience love differently. Shout out to the love languages book!

I thought it would be fun to hear what you think True Love is and then make you compete for a prize to determine the best completion of the phrase True Love is...

How it works. 

- For the next three days (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) complete the sentence True Love is...  in the comment section of the post.

- You can write something sassy, something sweet, something quirky, something that will make us cry.  Whatever you think is true love or is true love according to you.

- It can be about romantic love, love for a child, a pet, a friend, a country, a movie the sky's the limit.

- Keep your entry to 1-2 sentences in length.

- One entry per person/blog

- You can tweet your answer to @ericajacquline or leave it in the comments of my instagram post @ericajacquline

- I will compile the whole list and a link to the blog of the person who entered it and you can vote for your favorite on Monday - Thursday next week.

- I will count the votes (actually a Google form will count the votes) and I will announce the winner on Valentine's Day!

What you could win:

- A $25 gift card to Victoria's Secret because true love is buying five pairs of new panties, a new pair of PINK Sweatpants, or I guess the other things they sell there too.

- A button to put on your blog so everyone can know you are the True Love Expert of the world.

And now Pink will sing us off, really I could have just listened to this song and had the same idea.



Comment below for your chance to be entered in the contest to win the $25 Gift Card to Victoria's Secret.

The Things I've Done For Like

It is Monday and the Seahawks are the new champions of the world, or just of football for one year.

The photos above are of the fine folks I watched the game with.  Laura and Adam are some of my dear friends from all the way back in college.  Adam is from Seattle and turned 30 yesterday.  Pretty much the best day of his life, other than getting engaged to Laura.

Well friends this weekend marked some very important things, Lunar New Year, Super Bowl, The Month of Love (ya know cause of Valentine's Day), my momma's birthday.  It is seriously a busy month y'all.

I want to preface this month of love and love related posts by letting you know where I stand on this whole relationship situation.  I am single and I am honestly happy.  My students think otherwise.  Whenever a topic turns to relationships, it happens a lot in Psychology class, they say things like "Don't worry Ms. T.  Someone will love you."  Kids these days!

Last week I was teaching my Psychology class about love and how the brain responds to love.  I said something about how we do stupid things because we are in love.  Then I said "heck I've done stupid things for like!" Which totally intrigued my class and caused about a minute derail as I told them one of the stories that I will share here right now!

 

Drove to Rialto 

Now if you are not from Southern California this means little to you.  If you are from Southern California, I think you know that driving to Rialto for a boy is silly.  His neighborhood was so sketch that I had to call him when I was close to his house so he could meet me on the sidewalk and walk me to his apartment safely.  He was managing an apartment building there which was why he lived there.   He wasn't scary, just unable to come to my house to hang out.  This was during college. I am pretty sure that I would never even consider a relationship if I had to drive 45 minutes to see a guy in the ghetto.

Let a boy wear my UGGS

A few years back a guy I liked and maybe went on a date with asked me if he could borrow my UGG boots for a silly costume party.  I grew up as an only child and I am not used to people wearing my clothes or shoes.  I also do not shop at thrift stores because it just creeps me out.  I let go of my neuroses and gladly handed over my boots.  We quit hanging out shortly after this party and I could never wear the boots again.

Quit being a vegetarian 

For about two years I was a vegetarian.  I have never loved meat and I only eat it like 3 times a week.  I started to date a guy at church and he knew that I was a vegetarian.  He invited me to his parent's house for dinner and I accepted.  I arrived at their home and was given my dinner: Chicken tacos.  My date's mom really did not make anything else.  No beans or rice or anything else I could fill the tortilla with just chicken.  When I explained that I did not eat meat a battle broke out.  I am the least confrontational person and to make some peace I just ate the chicken.

Used a product he was pushing 

No I didn't do drugs!  I liked a boy in college who started to sell some skin care product with his sister.  It was like Avon but not Avon.  Anyway, after class one day he asked me if I could do a favor for him.  Of course I said yes and followed him to his car to retrieve what I would need to do the favor.  It was try out some face wash and then see if I wanted to order it.  I already knew I didn't want it though.  I have really sensitive skin and only a few things do not make me break out.  Long story short I tried it, and had a face full of pimples to prove it.  I am pretty sure that helped him like me more, not!

I know that there are plenty more things I have done that are even more ridiculous or silly, but that is all I can think of right now.  Perhaps a part two will be in order one day.

What are some things you have done for like or love?  I am sure you have some juicy stories to share.