Rachael Ray 10-Piece Porcelain Enamel Non-Stick Cookware Set $28.99 (Regularly $125.99!)

I'm back to couponing. My first deal of the day is a Rachael Ray 10-Piece Porcelain Enamel Non-Stick Cookware Set at Walmart. It’s on sale for $28.97 which is a darn good deal. The key is that you must do in-store pick up. If you enter your zip code and your store doesn't have it, enter a different local zip code. Keep playing around until you find it. Visit walmart.com or click here. Enjoy!

Bitchslap Heard Around the World

I come across some funny stuff on the world wide web. I'm a quasi email hoarder, which means I save EVERYTHING. Today in an vague attempt to clean my inbox out, I came across this video.

I hope you laughed as hard as I did. No man should ever get bitch slapped like this. Especially on video where people like me can continue sharing until the end of time.

Things that Grind my Gears

This post is homage to one of my favorite TV shows Family Guy, where Peter has a segment on the local news titled "Grinds my Gears" (http://youtu.be/dHtRnOXXZ0w). Here are a few things that grinds Ally's gears:

1. Chicks with chest tattoos. You know the kind that go across the top of your boobs. So not sexy.

2. Chicks who wear racer back shirts with regular bras. You look foolish and a hot mess. Invest in the right bra and stop doing gross injustice to those clothes.

3. Chicks who wear halter tops with regular bras.  See number 2.

4. Men in skinny/tight/high water pants. I think its unflattering to a man's build.

5. Bad teeth! If you have a paying job with dental benefits there are no excuses as to why you are walking around here looking like a damn piranha. Invest in your dental hygiene. Your mouth is one of the first things people notice about you. Make sure its memorable *snickers*.

6. People who use speaker phone on public transportation. I loathe these people. They are imbeciles who fit every negative stereotype I can think of. Uncouth individuals who are happy being lifetime welfare recipients and menaces to society (can u tell how much I dislike them?). This happened on a recent bus trip to New York. Thank god for earphones to tune these jerks out.

7. Men who wear cornrows. Listen fellas, there comes a time in ones life where your hair shouldn't be as long OR longer as the woman in your life. Also, you look like a damn fool.  No man should have the same hair routine as I (wash, blow dry and braid). You need to be at the barber in the chair, not at the African braid shop.

That's it for now. There will be subsequent posts about things that grind my gears. In the meantime what are some things that grind your gears?

Random thoughts

It's been awhile since I wrote something. When I first started this blog I had a ton of ideas and topics I wanted to blog about. I've learned that I suffer from a serious case of writers block. I need to set an entire mood to write a blog posts. I need the right lighting, either a good tv show on or the right music. A bunch of sh!t that really shouldn't matter. But I'm posting today, so enjoy.

VACATION
I just got back from a lovely vacation in Aruba.

It was a much needed, long overdue vacation. We rented out a 6 bedroom, 5 bathroom villa and had a blast.  It was off da chain. We were the real world Aruba.

EXERCISE
Since I've returned from Aruba, I have fallen hard off the wagon. I cannot seem to get back into the routine. I picked the wrong damn time to lose my motivation. Its the beginning of summer. I'm going to regain my mojo quick fast and in a hurry. I need to preserve my sexy.

WORK
I am having a mid life crisis. I need a career change asap. I don't know what I want to do, but I want to stop what I'm doing now. I'm on a 1 year plan to find a new career. I cannot spend the rest of my life doing something I absolutely don't care about. I need to be doing something that I'm passionate about. Not just collecting a check. Don't get me wrong, collecting a check is nice. But collecting a check doing something you lover is nicer.


Stay tuned for my rantings.

When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong

Yesterday, I returned to work after a short weekend getaway to visit friends in Florida. I was a little tired, but for the most part rested.  I had an early morning meeting to discuss our volunteer groups.  Some of the volunteers are a little persnickety. It comes with the territory.  However, I still have a job to do. I have goals to meet, projects to be completed, deadlines that must be met.  One thing I’ve learned through my therapy is that I get really agitated when people don’t let me get my thoughts out; or if someone doesn’t let me complete my sentence and cut me off. Unfortunately, some people at my organization seem to think that behavior is acceptable. Quite frankly, I think they’re a bunch of pricks who weren’t raised well.  A bunch of rude f*ckers.  But I digress.   In the meeting yesterday, I was soliciting feedback from my peers on how they’ve dealt with a variety of situations and I was continually cut off and overheard.  Listen folks, I can only take so much of that before I burst, and that’s what I did.

 The moment I was cut off, I kept it a little too real. I said some things to the effect of “well forget it, I’m done”, “what’s the point”, “nah I won’t be doing that” and the cru de gra was “I’m not a clown in someone’s circus and will not be jumping through any hoops for no one.”  That folks is when keeping it real goes wrong.

At that point the meeting was over for me. I shut down.  I was not receptive to anything else anyone was saying to me.  However, I immediately knew I needed to address this.   I sent a follow up email apologizing for my outburst and said I would do the best I could with the situation.  I had a heart-to-heart with my colleague about my concerns and we outlined next steps that I felt comfortable with. 

In the end I walked away with some lessons learned.

1. No meltdowns at work
2.  Follow up immediately acknowledging your actions and what you will do to address the problem in the future
3. Take a walk! Get out of the office to cool down. 

There are some things I look back on and wish I could have done differently. But I can't. All I can do know is realize it happened, move on and learn from my mistakes.

Anger Management 101

I've always been a little on the "high strung" side, but not until recently did I acknowledge my lack of anger management.  I liken myself to Bruce Banner when he goes from 0-60 seconds and turns into the Hulk. Or the little Tasmanian devil that tears up anything and everyone feelings in my path. TOTAL INSANITY. Not until recently did I recognize how my anger caused stress with building relationships and decided to change that.

2012 is the year of change. I've taken positive and necessary steps to work on my anger management and learning patience. It is not a cake walk. Everyday I'm being tested. Between the cocksuckers I work with, ex-boyfriend and even my dad, I feel like I'm always on edge and ready to explode. It takes a big person to walk away, and I commend those people who are able to do it easily. I hope to be there soon. Therefore during my anger management travels, work with me not against me. Notice the positive change I'm trying to make and embrace it. Its a humbling experience to acknowledge your faults in order to grow stronger and become a better person.

Peace, Love and Happiness.

Manicure Mania

My nail polish addiction has grown into another OCD hobby of mine. Just like couponing, I'm always on the look for the next fabulous nail polish. I follow several beauty/make-up blogs and often try to duplicate their works of art. As of November 2011, I own over 200 bottles of nail polish. Since then I've added more. I'll list out the brands in another post. For now, here are some pictures of my works of art.

I love yellow. And against this orange and my beautiful brown skin, its just pops.

Lately, I've been wearing the Sally Hansen Salon Effects. They are nail polish strips that come in a variety of cute designs. I'm finally getting use to applying them. These will probably be my go to for vacations. 

GLITTER! I love it I love it I love it! I used a base ruby red coat of red and applied some glitter on top. POW! I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

Splatter nails, I talked about this in My Addiction to Nail Polish post 

 Leopard nails. This was an experiment. I need to purchase nail pens to get the right effect. But that neon yellow still made them stand out.

Newspaper nails. This is done by using real newspaper. Its quick and easy to do. I found the How To on Lipglossipings blog. I think I'll do this again and try adding some color.

Cancer Is a Helluva Disease

A few weeks ago, I found out my grandpa had cancer - Stage 4 terminal cancer. It was a shock and a lot to handle. He had surgery, they removed a massive tumor and the outlook wasn't very positive.  Well this week at a follow up appointment, the doctor informed my family that his prognosis had changed. After being able to take a closer look at the tumor, they informed us he doesn't have stage 4 terminal cancer!!!  God is good. The cancer did not spread and if he has chemotherapy for a year, he'll be fine.

I want to thank everyone for their prayers. They were answered.

My Mom and Her Adopted Kids

In the past few years my mother has filled her empty nest with new children: Sam, Dave and Ginger. She spoils them more than she ever did my brother and I. I guess she's gotten soft in her golden years. I don't harbor any resentment or anger. As a matter of fact, I'm concerned. She talks, treats and clothes these kids like they understand her. I'm trying not to judge but its a little disconcerting.

Let me introduce you to the kids:

SAM aka Sammy. He's my favorite. Such a fun loving dog. He truly is mans best friend. What dog sleep under a blanket?

Sam is an old man trapped in a young dog body.

 
For some reason, Sam likes to *in my Evelyn Braxton voice* "Lay it low and spread it wide". LMAO!! The moment you start rubbing his chest, he falls into this position. It is very perverted.

DAVE is what I call a divo - a male diva. He is special and very spoiled, something akin to a mommas boy. He owns some of the most trendiest items in dog fashion. Check out his hoodie.

 And what about this puff coat?

Last but not least, Ginger aka The Queen Bee

Don't let this innocent look fool you, this "bitch" is a terror. She is hella sneaky. Don't leave any food, snacks, candy etc around because she will find it and eat it. She is smart and conniving. Last Christmas, she pissed on my new holiday purchases. I always have my eye on her.

Here is a Halloween picture of the kids.

Sam and Dave hanging out

I might talk about the dogs, but I love them to death. They make my visits home so fun. However, I told my mom if she gets anymore dogs, she will be officially titled "the crazy lady on the block with all the dogs".

Sh!t I See In West Virginia

My dad lives in West Virginia. My eyes come across some of the funniest, strangest, blank stare, WTF were they thinking...stuff ever when I visit. And sometimes my dad is the culprit. But this right here takes the cake.

A dead deer riding dirty on the back of car. How do you put a full grown DEAD deer on the back of your Honda Pilot and ride through town? I felt like the deer was looking at me saying "Help Me". My aunt and I did a double take when this car drove past us. We thought our eyes were deceiving us. But they weren't. I guess its deer hunting season folks. Happy Holidays

Black Friday Deals & Steals...How Do You Prepare?

How many of you go out in the melee called BLACK FRIDAY? I'm an avid Black Friday participant. It's bad enough I'm a couponer, couple that with Black Friday and i'm like Scrooge McDuck diving into his gold.

I seriously prep for this monumental day. I'm like a drill sergeant instructing marines through boot camp. I'm methodical and tenacious. It doesn't start on Thanksgiving with the daily newspaper. It starts late October, early November when BlackFriday.net starts posting sales ads and sneak peaks of whats to come. The excitement starts to build with each email I get. And, as the date gets closer and I can review the full page leaked ads, I'm nervous and excited like a hooker in church.

Black Friday isn't just a regular day. It's a day to get great prices on  high end products (i.e. TV and blu ray players). However it is not for the faint of heart. You need to be prepared for the large masses of people and extremely long lines. You need a plan of action. Here are 5 tips to tackle Black Friday.

1. Be prepared. Review the sales ads and make your lists. Check doorbusters versus all day sales. See if you can get these items online. Many stores also have the Black Friday prices available online.
2. Have a budget. Make a budget and stick to it. You will need to invoke will power like never before to stop any and all temptation. Especially if you are an impulse buyer. Black Friday can be like the black hole and suck all your money out of you.
3. Take a friend. If you have a friend, take them with you. Having a friend makes it easy to divide and conquer. You can split up the lists and get more items.
4. Dress comfortably. Over here on the east coast, its usually cold. So we're bundled up pretty good to withstand standing outside. That becomes a pain in the ass once your in the store sweating like a pig in sh*t. Wear comfortable shoes that can be worn for hours without hurting your feet. Wear clothes that can accommodate cold temperatures and in-store temps. You'll thank me later.
5. Relax and Enjoy the experience. Shopping on Black Friday can be overwhelming. Enjoy the adrenaline rush and know that at the end of the day you've probably finished your Christmas shopping in one day.



Are you going to do Black Friday shopping? Have you ever done Black Friday shopping before? When do you do your Christmas Shopping? Do you think Black Friday shoppers are nuts? Share your thoughts I'd like to know.


image credit: http://www.cartoonaday.com 

Extreme Couponing

My name is Allyson and I love to cut, clip and organize coupons.


I am not an extreme couponer, those folks are hoarders. But I do stockpile and I never buy anything without a coupon. I've been clipping coupons since college, but in the past 3 years I became serious.


Exhibit A, my coupon binder
A 3 inch binder that houses 36 different product categories. From household goods to groceries.

My coupon categories are separated by dividers.  It may look overwhelming, but its quite organized and easy to locate specific coupons when needed.

And for the big kahuna....my coupons. This is like my own personal a pot of gold. This is money in the bank,  non-currency form of course. I keep them organized using baseball card holders.

People always ask me if I carry this big binder to the stores when I shop. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. It all depends on the amount of prep work I did. I'll start talking about my coupon adventures in future posts. This is just me coming out *giggles* #nohomo.


Do you coupon? Have you used coupons before? Are you interested in learning how to coupon?

Back for the first time

I'm back snitches!!!!Yeah, I posted a few times and I was gone. At the time I wasn't sure what I wanted to talk about. I have a few new ideas, a new perspective and I'm ready to try this again.

WELCOME TO ALLYWOOD

My Addiction to Nail Polish

Hi, my name is Allywood and I'm addicted to nail polish, painting my nails, reading blogs about nail polish collections....anything related to my NAILS. This addiction started about a year or so ago and I've never looked back. Your nails can make a statement about who you are, your personality and your artistic side.

The other day while reading Clumps of Mascara, I came across a fabulous nail technique: splattering. She saw it on Once Bitten who saw it on Getcha Nails Did who saw it on the PolishAholic. (PHEW). I immediately went to each site and read each review and post. PolishAholic has a step by step tutorial and thus I tried .

Take a look at my splatter nails.

These are the different polishes I used. I used white as the base polish. I don't have the names of the other polishes but I can post those later.

Next up this newspaper nails that Lipglossiping posted about. This should be sweet.

My Social Experiment Day 5

It Friday and the final day of my social experiment *tears of joy*. Since Fridays are casual at my job, the guy was back in his comfort zone. Blue jeans and a white button up. But my eyes twinkled with glee when he selected these shoes. Ooooh weeee these shoes are FIYAH! And that's exactly what my feet felt like after wearing them for 2 hours. But I digress...

Here is the final outfit

I had fun with my social experiment. Here are some things I learned:
1) The guy is a little bit on the conservative. I now understand why he gives me the side eye on my choices of outfits.
2) We have two distinct views on being sexy.
3) He loves button up shirts.
4) I need to purchase more skirts.
5) When it came to accessories, he was out of his element. A dear in headlights.
6) How to communicate my thoughts on things he's uncomfortable with.


What do you think of his collection? Would you be willing to let your signature dress you for a week?

My Social Experiment Day 4

****BREAKING NEWS: THE GUY DID NOT DRESS ME TODAY****

I was going to a networking event after work and I didn't want to play russian roulette with the guy. It was for the best.

I attended Cocktails with Belle at The Park hosted by Essence magazine relationship blogger Demetria L. Lucas. She currently traveling the country promoting her book "A Belle in Brooklyn: Your Go-to-Girl for Advice on Living Your Gest Single Life". Check out her blogs on Essence and her website. She is a breathe of fresh air from the naysayers who constantly want to paint black woman as the...woe is me I can't find a man because I'm too successful...box.  I discovered her blog through my fellow California State University, Long Beach alumni girlfriends Angel & Sennie of CruxNY (check out their jewelry website www.cruxny.com).

I had a great evening filled with tasty spirits and food.

My Social Experiment Day 3

Like Ice Cube said "Today was a good day". The selection process went very smooth. The guy must've woke up feeling himself channeling his inner Soulja Boy "Jump out of bed turn my swag on", because he was on it. He bought me a skirt, which was a female version of something he would wear. It was a cargo-esk skirt. Nevertheless, I loved it. I didn't have to do any coaching today. He was on it like white on rice. He was running late to work, so he left me to select the shoes. He gave me a few options to choose from and I chose neither. I was going for comfort today and he felt a certain kind of way about that. I probably would've been stunting if I wore the shoes he selected #kanyeshrug. My twitter followers gave him thumbs up. They said he finally stepped out of the "safe" mode and gave me a little flavor. We have a khaki cargo skirt, with a green shirt, silver hoops and necklace, with white sandals. What do you think? Did he do me justice? Are his personal stylist skills improving? Would you let him dress you?

My Social Experiment - Day 2

For Day 2 my guy and I had to get creative. He had to choose the outfit via video conference using the Tango app. (this is a great app - when its working correctly). My goal was to keep the momentum going AND to not let him off the hook of my social experiment.  I don't think he's as entertained as I am with my random and hair-brained ideas, but I'm happy he goes along, albeit reluctantly. Although he told me my closet was a mess, he was quasi familiar enough to navigate me to the specific section that he wanted to look at. However, this time around I gave him a little challenge.  I let him know the feedback I received on Twitter when I tweeted the Day 1 outfit.  Most felt he played it safe, but did a great job (as did I); and they thought it was easy because black goes with anything. They wanted to see some color and patterns. He didn't let them down.

It was pretty warm this day and he REALLY...REALLY...REALLY wanted to put me in a skirt. So he chose this cream and brown a-line skirt with a pair of shoes I haven't worn since Michael Jackson (RIP) was black.To be truthful, I totally forgot I even had the shoes. Whats even better, he got rave reviews for the shoes from some of my twitter follows. #fistpump. To top it off, he opted for a pair of rose colored earrings that matched the flower in the skirt. How do you think he did for Day 2? Did he step his game up? Or did he play it safe?

My Social Experiment - Day 1

A few weeks ago I was reading an article on Yahoo about a woman who let her boyfriend pick her clothes out for one week. I was thoroughly amused by the article and the clothes he ended up selecting (click here to read), and decided to give it a try. My goal was to give my guy carte blanche to choose my  clothes, shoes and accessories for one week. Hair wasn't an option since I currently have braids. If he could have his way, he probably would've taken them down.  

Day 1:

I think he did a good job. He played it safe and kept it simple. A green button up shirt with a pair of black slacks, black heels and blue earrings. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and the outfit was complete. The difficult part was having him get on board with my social experiment. I don't think he was comfortable with the idea BUT he did it anyway. He also pointed out a glaring void in my wardrobe...I didn't have any summer skirts *YIKES*. At first, I thought he was telling a fib. But when I went looking in my closet, he was right. Now I know what items I need to start purchasing. So what do you think of his outfit? Did he do a good job? Does he have what it takes to be a personal stylist? LOL