This was a weekend full of shopping, lunch dates, tornado warnings, hiking and Seamus cuddles. A perfect combination of everything. So let’s get to it so it doesn’t get too long!
Friday: If you remember my Birthday Wish List post these two items were on that list, and since my birthday is over I purchased them and they came in on Friday. Seamus was a cuddly bug, okay I made him cuddle but he was a good sport and those faces. I just melt!
How was your weekend?
Aside from the fact that this month of September is the hardest and most stressful month of the year at work the last few days have been hard.
Tuesday night my wireless stopped working and I didn’t have internet all night except on my phone. I know first world problems. Well I bought a new router on Wednesday after work, went to the gym then came home to install it. Brought my laptop upstairs and my battery died in 10 minutes and even plugged in, it wouldn’t charge. Off to Best Buy I went to hit the Geek Squad. I was prepared to replace the battery or bite the bullet and get a new laptop but luckily it was only the charger. I may have ugly cried if I had to get a new laptop so I am glad it didn’t go that far. Needless to say I am very glad it is Friday. So let’s get to it!
Favorite Song: Even though Sam Hunt is technically country his new song Ex to See is very pop-esque. I love the beat of this song, it’s been on repeat lately.
Favorite Challenge: Steph from Life According to Steph and Steph from Not Entirely Perfect are doing a choose your own adventure Challenge with this month’s theme being Fitness. For more information on the challenge click here. I will post my results on October 2nd.
Favorite Thing to Swap: I am a total mug junkie, and what better way to get a new one than a swap. Well Girl Meets Camera is hosting a mug swap. Head on over to her place for the sign up info. You have till Friday September 12th to sign up. Please only commit if you are actually going to send a mug.
Favorite Quote: Never ever give up on you!
I am thinking of getting my hair cut and cutting my bangs again but I don’t know this is totally me.
Contouring, seems legit.
Seamus has totally done this to me before.
Am I right?
This weekend was so lazy and I couldn’t be more happy about it. I really needed it, and it really helped me feel a little more ready for this coming week. Though I didn’t open my laptop until really late on Monday night so I have some catching up to do again. When will I learn. Oh well. Let me tell you the bullet points of my weekend since I don’t want to bore you too much.
Thursday: I went over to Maddie’s in-laws to wish her well for her trip to Italy. I also am guest posting over at her blog today with my Bacon Bourbon Apple Fritters with Bourbon Sugar Glaze so go check it out.
Friday: After work I headed over to the Natick Mall and even though I went to 8 stores I only ended up with $8 of glasses from Crate and Barrel. Total shopping fail. I did get a cake made of flowers from my Mom with Chocolates and a gift from Amanda. Everything she picked was so perfect and thoughtful.
Sunday: I pretty much didn’t leave my house but to take Seamus for a walk. All other moments were spent reading, doing laundry, and taking naps. Yes, plural as in two naps.
Monday: I spent more time reading. Did I mention I have like 18 ebooks on my downloaded list. Yeah lots to catch up on. So I at least finished 3 this weekend. Then I worked on cleaning and organizing my office. I tossed a large trash bag of stuff out. I very rarely get sick so I went through my medicine bucket and threw a lot of expired stuff. I also came across my old triathlon bibs. So nostalgic.
The rest of the night was all about playing catch up while watching the Bachelor Pad.
Linking up with Leeann from Join the Gossip and Biana from B Loved Boston.
Well we made it, it’s finally Friday. It is also my Birthday Weekend which just happens to be Labor Day Weekend. Tell me which is more important. If you said me then we can still be friends. 😉 I want this weekend to be really low-key since I haven’t really slowed down lately so getting my house and my life more balanced will be the goal. Lunch with my family is happening on Saturday so that will be fun. Anyhoodle let’s get on with the Friday favorites so we can get this workday started and over.
Favorite Song: This song by Earshot Tongue Tied is one of my favorites lately and plays a lot when I workout.
Favorite Outfit Inspiration: I am a big believer in not chasing the summer away with the love of Fall but it is getting colder here already so I have broken out a few light pieces.
Favorite Quote: So beautiful and so true!
Favorite Recipe: I love Butterscotch so being able to make something from scratch is a win!
This just made me chuckle!
My birthday is on Saturday and the one dessert I request is the low-carb cheesecake from The Cheesecake factory. When I was thinking about my birthday plans, this mix came to me. The mix of the caramel and coconut topping with the cheesecake filling is perfection.
This version is not even close to being low-carb or even healthy for that matter. It is really rich, so I would recommend your serving sizes to be really small. I used wine glasses but think more like shot glasses. A little goes a long way with this one.
Crust: 2 cups graham cracker crumbs ~ 2 tablespoons butter, melted ~ 1 teaspoon sugar
Filling: 1 cup heavy cream ~ 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar ~ 2 tablespoons granulated sugar ~ 1 package (8 ounces) of cream cheese, softened, and whipped smooth ~ 1 TSP Vanilla Extract
Topping: 1 cups shredded sweetened coconut ~ 6 oz of caramel bits (approx. 1 cup) ~ 3 Tablespoons milk (I used Almond Milk) ~ 1/4 teaspoon salt Optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips and splash of milk
Directions:
For the Topping: In a saucepan, add the caramels, milk and salt heating on medium and stirring constantly so as not to burn. Once the caramel mixture is smooth, remove from heat and mix in the coconut. Spoon on top of the cheesecake mixture.
Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Optional: Mix chocolate chips and milk and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds or until melted and spread on top.
Serve and devour!
Today is Monday but I am not at work. I am actually watching my nieces for the day. I will be popping in from time to time though but bear with me if it takes me a bit to respond back. Getting to spend the day with them will be sure to be entertaining. Either way it is Monday and so my weekend shenanigan’s are here.
Friday: I decided to get some shopping down on Friday night so I could keep my weekend free. I started at Bed Bath and Beyond, then to the Christmas Tree Shop, then Ulta, then Old Navy, then Lowe’s. To say I was exhausted by the end would have been an understatement.
I love the neighborhood since there are a lot of little farms. This one happened to have horses, cows, goats, sheep and even a water fountain. I really need to move to the country, that kind of landscape speaks to my soul. After the hike I went to Trader Joe’s for some pretty flowers thanks to Bianna for telling us about their flower selection.
Sunday: It was a pretty laid back day filled with laundry and lots of baking. I made a few more egg sandwiches with ground Chorizo. Then I cooked some bacon in preparation for some recipe testing for a guest post. I made Bacon Bourbon Apple Fritters with a Bourbon Sugar glaze. It was a sweet treat and no way healthy so I had a banana for dinner! Haha! I of course had to make a recipe for this week for my blog so to make this an unofficial fat day I made Samoas Cheesecake.
I spent the night blogging and watching You’ve Got Mail. Perfect way to end the night.
How was your weekend?
Did you have a cheat meal this weekend? Tell me so I feel less guilty.
I can’t tell you how excited I am for this weekend. It is the first in the longest while that I have no plans and can do nothing. I do have plans to go shopping at Ulta, go hiking, read, and recipe testing. Let me tell you it will be equal parts productive and equal parts lazy. Did you really expect anything less?!
Favorite Links: I don’t have kids at the moment but if and when I do Jana’s 12 Things I Don’t Do as a Parent would be my guide.The “every kid is a winner” and overly attentive helicopter parenting that too many parents have adopted would not be my style. Worth the read! Also with the world seeming to fall apart every other day, and social media seeming to be the place where everyone shares their opinion good, bad or ignorant Steph shared her take on the recent news stories like the Ice Bucket Challenge, Suicide/Depression and Ferguson Missouri. Very well written,
Favorite Song: Seriously I am becoming a country girl, I don’t know what it is but the boys are lulling me into the dark side. Never mind that they are pretty hot. This one features Billy Currington without a shirt on for most of the song. You’re welcome.
Favorite Recipe: For the last few weeks I have been having the Special K Bacon, Egg and Cheese flatbread sandwiches for breakfast. Then the other day Melzie posted this sandwich to make at home. Duh?! Why haven’t I thought of this same money, and less calories too. Click on the picture for the post.
EVERY.TIME!!
Irony at it’s best!
After flipping through the Taste of Home magazine I came across Curried Beef Pita Pockets and it looked so good I just had to make it. I of course modified it a little bit to suit my tastes. The filling was where I made the most changes and I think it really worked. It was simple to put together and would hold up for leftovers too. As a side note if you can handle tacos you can handle this recipe. If you like more spice add some hot sauce to the filling.
Ingredients:
Filling: 1 Pound Ground Beef (I used 85% lean) ~ 1/2 cup diced onion ~ 1 cup corn ~ 1 TBSP Taco Seasoning 1/4 TSP Salt ~ Pita Pockets
Sauce: 1 cup Greek Yogurt ~ 1 cup Diced Cucumber ~ 1 TBS Minced Garlic ~ 1 TSP Dill ~ 2 TSP Lemon Juice ~ 1/4 TSP Salt
Directions:
Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate up to 30 minutes before serving.
Brown the ground beef and onion in a saute pan.
This weekend I got to enjoy spending time with my family so it was a win. It was a small family reunion with my cousins and my Aunt held at my brother’s house. The girls got to have fun and play together while the adults got to catch up. My brother and sister-in-law cooked some amazing food on the grill.
Sisterly love:
I also help a stray pit bull who happened to find it’s way to my brother’s driveway. I walked it a couple of house down to return it back home. Good dead done for the day. It was an all day event since I left home at 1pm and I didn’t really get home until 7:30pm so it was an early night for me. After taking Seamus for a walk I read for a bit before heading to bed.
Sunday was a really lazy day. I wasn’t feeling all that well and in between walks with Seamus and grocery shopping I took two naps. I also read a lot since I didn’t feel like moving much but it was really good so I didn’t mind.
After trying out some new recipes it was a blogging kinda night while watching Witches of East End. Here’s to hoping this week goes by quickly since I finally have a whole weekend at home next weekend.
How was your weekend?
This has been quite a week! It has been trying, busy, stressful….but like they say I’m too blessed to be stressed. Among the chaos I got some really great news, received an early birthday gift and got to laugh with friends either via text, email or on the phone. I also got a deal for $3.99 for a 24 pack of Sharpie markets, this sharpie addict is pleased. Let’s bring on the weekend with some favorites.
Favorite Happy Tears Moment: Remember when I talked about how someone nominated me for a grant for my Be The Change series. Well the person revealed themselves and not just that, she let me know I won!! I can’t thank Tori enough for thinking of me and for going through the process of submitting me for the grant. It warms my heart so much that she thought I deserved it enough to enter me in the contest. So look forward to some more Random Acts come late September. I have a lot of ideas already.
Favorite Man Candy: As if Joe Manganiello isn’t the hottest guy ever this post comes out about his relationship with Sofia Vergara and how “He waits on her hand and foot.” *Cue all the ladies swooning* – For the full article click here.
Favorite Mail Day: I got home on Wednesday to a package, and I knew I didn’t order anything. When I opened it I got the best items. A new notebook for all my lists, some Washi tape (that Kathy is going to have to help me figure out how to use), and a headband which can be worn many ways. Shipping from Canada no less, it got here early because of unpredictable Canada postal service, but that makes it even more surprising. I meant the world to me Kathy, so thank you very much!
How I have been feeling lately after vacation, getting back to working out has been rough. Though I didn’t gain on vacation I do feel soft and smooshie.
