Girls Reunion Weekend

What an amazing weekend spent with my college besties! We certainly can still party like we're 21.... Lots of stories, laughing, drinking and eating was had on Sat and Sun.

On Friday, K and I ordered dinner and stayed in to watch a movie. We got Spring Breakers from RedBox and it turned out to be a lot crazier than we expected. I don't recommend it :-P

Saturday:

~ On Sunday, I made breakfast for K and I and then headed out to a hair appointment.

 ~ I got my highlights touched up and added in some burgundy foils, which I love!

~ Met up with two of my college besties to start our reunion weekend to celebrate the life of our friend that passed away last year.

~ After lunch we hopped around downtown Orlando to some of our favorite spots.

~ Several fireball shots were had.

~ Later that night we went back to my friend's house and told stories around the fire.

~ We walked to a late night bar for one last fireball shot to end our Saturday night.

Sunday:

~ On Sunday I met back up with the girls for Brunch at this cute local spot downtown Orlando.

~ I got to try chicken and waffles for the first time and it was AMAZING! We also had the largest pineapple mimosas. Ever.

~ Afer brunch we went to a sports bar to play some skee ball and test out a few different beers. 

- My friend bought a Pizza flavored beer and I tried out a Bannana Bread flavlored beer along with several pumpkin beers and other seasonals. 

~ We had some photobooth fun and did some catching up over beers and finally called it a night since Monday tends to come way too quickly.

I was an awesome sunday funday and reunion weekend with my college girls!

Joining Sami for Weekend Shenanigans.

Hope you had a great weekend too :-)

High Five For Friday!

SO happy Friday is finally here! Unfortunately, I can't say it's going to be a relaxing weekend but nevertheless it should be fun cause I get to see some of my besties from college...

We are having a reunion to celebrate the life & birthday of one of our girl friends that passed last year July.

1. Pretty sunsets from my backyard.

2. Since I got a keratin treatment done two weekends ago, I'm loving how silky and frizz-free my hair has been. My color & highlights have also held up really well although my roots are in a need of a touch up asap.

3. K and I both ordered the new iPhone 5s from Target which should be arriving this week. I was able to trade my 4s in for $173 at Target.

4. Got spoiled with some Cuban food this week (#cheatmeal). Baked chicken, plantains, rice & bean, and salad. It was delicious!

5. K and I are now 5 months into the health and wellness challenge that my company is putting on for employees and their spouses. K has already hit his 6-month goal of losing 20 lbs and I have lost the extra weight but now working on gaining some muscle. We're excited about the new lifestyle change we've taken on and hope to be able to maintain it moving forward.

Joining Lauren for H54F and Darcie for Five on Friday.

Hope you ladies have a good weekend!

A Familiar Face on "The Voice"

Congrats to Tessanne Chin who killed it on The Voice on Tuesday night!

 Let's just say as a fellow islander, I have been following her music for many many years. She has an amazing voice and we all knew she had the potential to become mainstream one day. I think she might have just gotten her big break!

  

K and I went to a Reggae Love Fest a few years ago and were blown away by her voice. (We almost chose one of her songs for the first dance at our wedding, no kidding!)

Very proud of you Tessanne and everyone in the Caribbean is rooting for you!!

Weekend Celebrations

On Friday, K and I did our usual dinner date and then we picked up some Pumpkin beer to enjoy at home. 

On Saturday, I went to the gym and did some errands before going to a friend's 30th birthday pool party.

- New seasonal pumpkin beers at ABC. We decided to buy Shocktop Pumpkin Wheat which was delicious!

- K got spoiled with breakfast in bed on Saturday morning,

- We went out and to get some raw oysters for lunch since we were both craving it.

-K and I at our friend's pool party.

- Loved the 30th birthday cake which was in the shape of a burger.

- K and friends playing flip cup. 

- The pool party was a blast with lots of cold drinks, BBQ and dacing

- September birthday boys.

- Chinese take out was on the menu for Sunday. Perfect for a lazy day at home watching movies and football.

Joining Sami today for Weekend Shenanigans. 

Hope you had a good weekend too!

Weekly Friday Review

TGIF ladies! I'm excited to entertain some friends visiting this weekend and enjoy the sunny weather here in Florida. It certainly doesn't feel like fall here and I'm lovin' it. Here's a quick review of my week...

1. I've been enjoying new Fall coffee flavors at the office this week.

2. Express package arrived with some goodies - new jeans and black pants for work along with a black/silver wristlet.

3. I've been pretty good lately keeping up with regular manicures and trying new color combinations.

4. Put together a care package this week for a homeless lady that I've seen for years sitting on a park bench downtown.

5. My Tory Burch beauties arrive yesterday - I'm excited to finally own a good pair of sunglasses.

Joining Lauren for H54F and Darcie for Five on Friday.

 

Have a great weekend!

Our Backyard Makeover

I love the house that K and I purchased over two years ago, but as first-time home buyers we missed a few important features that we've spent some time figuring out how to solve.

One of the BIG things was that we didn't have an outside area to entertain friends & family. When we had parties everyone would end up hanging out in the kitchen.

Our backyard could only fit two chairs and then it was just grass so everyone would just stay inside. So a few months ago we made the decision to build a screened in patio and deck to entertain and have BBQs.

Everything was finally completed last week and I love our newest home addition! Time to throw more parties...you're invited!

Weekend Happenings

On Friday, K and I had a dinner and movie date night.
We went to Red Lobster so I could use a coupon they sent me (love the coconut shrimp) and then we headed over to the movies to see We're The Millers which was really funny.

And, yes, we snuck mini vodkas and fireball into the movies to make things more interesting.  haha. After the movie we went to check out a new Tap Room/Bar that has an amazing variety of beer on tap. So we tried out a couple different beers and then called it a night.

On Saturday, we had brunch at home and then I went to the hairdresser to get a Keratin treatment done to my hair which takes almost 4 hours. (The wine helped!)

After the hairdresser, we met up with some friends at a sports bar to watch some college football and got a nice win for our alma mater, UCF.

On Saturday night, I made us some homemade dirty martinis with blue cheese olives and we relaxed at home.

Sunday was a nice lazy day cleaning, laundry, cooking/grilling burgers and watching football. 

Joining Sami for Weekend Shenanigans.

 

Have a great week!

New iPhone 5 Out this Week!

I'm finally due for an upgrade with AT&T so I'm excited for the release of the new 5c and 5s this week. 

But where's the best place to buy it from? A friend told me about Target's Trade-in Program and I can literally sell my old phone (iPhone 4s) for $180. 

So if I buy a new iPhone 5s for $299 (minus $180), I only have to fork out about $120 for a brand new phone. Sweet deal!

I think I've decided on getting the Gold 5s. The 5c's are a bit too colorful for me and don't have all the new features.

Count down til they're relased on Friday at Target. 

Have a good weekend!

Friday Finds & Favorites

YAY the weekend is right around the corner! I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend after several back-to-back weekends of traveling out of town, birthday celebrations, and non-stop drinking ;-P

Joining Lauren today for H54F and Darcie for Five on Friday.

1. Ulta has their eye shadows, lip glosses and eyeliners going for $4. I love their neutral eyeshadow colors for everyday use/work makeup so I bought a few this week.

2. I've been eyeing these beautiful Tory Burch sunglasses online. I should really wait until my birthday in December but it's sooo tempting not to get them asap.

3. My new favorite iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts. I think it tastes so much better (and is cheaper) than Starbucks and most other iced coffee I've tried.

4. New favorite beer of the season - Redd's Strawberry Ale is soo delicious. I bought a 12-pack last weekend and they're almost all gone. *lush*

5. Healthy dinners at home cooked by K - baked tilapia topped with shrimp & capers, with steamed brocolli & carrots on the side.  Lucky to have a man that wants to can cook.

Have a great weekend!

Home Sweet Home Again

Our house is finally back together and renovated after the flood we had over a month ago and I have to say it looks even better than it did before. Although the whole situation was very stressful, it was nice getting to pick out new floors and carpet and be able to afford a couple upgrades.

Living Room 

After the Flood

Renovated & Looking pretty

 Hallway

Carpet torn up from flood

New Wood floors

TV Room

Carpets torn up from the flood

Kitchen

We were also finally able to afford a backsplash in the kitchen .

It's my home sweet home again!

Vitamin C Berry Boost Smoothie

 I've been feeling under the weather this week and was looking for a delicious way to get a Vitamin C fix without having to chug down one of those gross fizzy drinks. I ran across a berry smoothie recipe online yesterday and changed it up to fit my preferences - I didn't use milk or extra sweeteners. 

I didn't realize that blueberries were so high in Vitamin C, Vitamin E and other healthy nutrients.   

Ingredients:

~ 1 cup frozen blueberries

~ 1 cup frozen blackberries

~ 2 cups fat-free vanilla yogurt or soy milk

~ 3/4 cup organge juice

~ 1 cup ice

Optional:

~ 1 banana for thicker smoothies

~ 1 tbsp honey if you want a sweeter smoothie

Blend all ingredients.

This made enough for about 4 smoothies so I put some in to-go cups to take for K and I to take to work. 

How do you get your Vitamin C fix?

Weekend Celebrations

This girl is having a case of the Mondays after a weekend full of festivities for K's birthday. 

- Dinner date with K for his birthday downtown Orlando.

- Delicious shrimp from our favorite Spanish Tapas restaurant

- My latest wine kick is this cheap box of Pinot Grigio that costs less than $10. I'm far from high maintenance when it comes to wine.

- Cheese plate I made for K's BBQ party we threw on Saturday.

- New cornhole set I bought for the hubby.

- Fireball shots were had on Saturday.

- Our new deck and screened in patio were finished just in time to throw a party on Sat.

- Delicious cake designed with his favorite NFL team.

Joining Sami for Weekend Shenanigans.

Cheers to a new week!

Weekly Friday Wrap-up

It's been a busy busy week and I'm so happy it's finally Friday! We have some fun celebrations planned for this weekend and I'd also like to sleep beyond 7am for a change ;-)

Joining Lauren today for H54F and Darcie for Five on Friday.

1. Labor day weekend was spent lounging on Treasure Island/ St Pete beach with friends. 

2. K's birthday was yesterday and I surprised him with a custom designed UCF Knights corn-hole set.

3. Gifts and more gifts for K's birthday. He never buys himself new clothes so I usually have to stock him up for his birthday and Christmas or he'd wear the same old thing over and over. 

4. Mojitos at dinner last night. We went to one of our favorite Spanish Tapas restaraunts that have the best Mojitos in town.

5. Our new backyard patio is getting finished today just in time for K's birthday BBQ party that we're throwing tomorrow. I'm excited to host a party at our newly renovated house :-)

Have a great weekend!