Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts

August Fun & Favorites


This week was like any other except a hurricane was heading toward Florida and we really weren't sure how bad it would affect Orlando. Either way I failed to adequately prepare but luckily we only had some heavy rain and the winds felt like I was sitting on a beachfront property. Unfortunately other areas in FL weren't so lucky and I'm just catching up on the news myself.

Since my blogging has been few and far between these days, I figured a recap of August happenings was due. Still can't believe we're already in September!


At the beginning of August I had some relaxing weekends after returning home from a family trip to Montego Bay for my cousin's wedding. 

We still found time to go out to celebrate some special occasions ~ baby's 1st birthday, dinner & drinks for my girl friends birthday, and K's fantasy football draft party.



And of course being home meant lots of time spent with my love bug Lola. Her 2nd birthday is this weekend so we're spoiling her rotten tonight with some doggie treats and a new bed. 

 

My family reunion picnic that happens every 5 years was at the end of August so I made my way up to Toronto for a quick weekend trip.
 

With all the different family events scheduled for that weekend, I only had Sunday to explore/shop/do whatever I want so my sister, cousin, and I went to the Distillery District downtown Toronto to walk through the market and check out some cute boutique shops. The weather was perfect and a nice break from the sauna heat in Florida.
 
 
And of course, I made sure to get some Tim Hortons coffee and snacks which is a must (for me) when in Canada!

 
When it comes to shopping, the only thing I fell victim to was this MAC Look in a Box Lip & Eye Kit. They have a few different color combos good for different skin tones but I went with the more neutral nude pink set plus I've had that mascara before and it's amazing!


That's a wrap for August! I have some fun things lined up for this month so I can't wait to share.


Enjoy the long weekend and be safe my friends!

Weekend Happenings


The dog days of Summer in Florida are a bit unbearable with the 100+ heat index and unpredictable thunderstorms which were both forecasted for the weekend so I made no big plans. It was a relaxing and productive one, which I do appreciate from time to time.

On Friday night, K and I had some Thai food for dinner and watched 'How to be Single' from Redbox. The movie was funnier than I expected especially because Rebel Wilson is such a riot.


On Saturday K and I went out to get a bunch of errands and shopping done despite it feeling like a sauna outside. We stopped off for some lunch at Graffiti Junktion and the heavens decided to come crashing down with 40 mph winds so we ordered another drink and waited it out while catching up on some Olympics action on TV.


After the rain let up, we went to stock up on groceries for the week and I picked up a new beer to try - Shipyard MelonHead - which is so good and not too sweet.

Sunday was a 'pajamas all day' type of day with lots of relaxing and getting things organized around the house. In the evening, I went to the nail salon to get some pampering. OPI's Congeniality is my Middle Name is such a pretty color with a slight shimmer!


So that's all I have for today! Hope this week treats you well!

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

Life Lately & Some Faves

The weekend is here, what a relief!

I'm looking forward to a weekend with zero plans so I can relax and catch up on things. It's been really hard finding time to schedule posts and read all the blogs I love out there. I love my job but I seriously have a never-ending list of things to do so I often lose track of time at the office and eventually have to pull myself away from the computer when I look at the clock and realize everyone left an hour ago. Then that 45 minute commute home...

So this week was busy but it was a good one! Except on Tuesday. I woke up with hives on my legs that were itching and spreading by the minute. Instead of going to work, I went straight to Urgent Care and they were able to give me some meds that completely stopped the allergic reaction. I don't think I've ever had an allergic reaction in my life so this was just weird. After racking my brain about what could have caused this, I found the unfortunate culprit.


      For the record, I've never been allergic to any Tide products and it's one of my favorite detergents but for some reason the Tide 3-in-1 PODS are the devil on my skin. So unfortunate!

Ok so time for some positivity in this post because that's what we need to start the weekend right?!

ONE
I've been planning Kate's Baby Shower next month and the details are so exciting but it's a surprise so I can't wait to share after it's all said and done!


TWO
I'm still dreaming of Jamaica and hoping I can get all my photos organized this weekend since it's supposed to be a relaxing one.


THREE
I'm making my way to Canada next week for a family reunion that happens every 5 years. I don't see my extended family often enough but coincidentally we just got to spend time in Jamaica together so we get to reunite twice in one year. I love my cousins!


FOUR
Lola loves her pink Kong Rubber Bone and I love how much it keeps her occupied when I'm trying to get things done or even watch TV. She even poses for pictures with her pink bone! lol


FIVE
This quote......



Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Another Relaxing One


As much as I love traveling and keeping busy, I definitely appreciate the relaxing weekends in between and that's exactly what my past couple weekends have been looking like. K and I usually go out for dinner on Friday nights but I was so tired after getting home from work, the only sensible option was to order Chinese food and watch the Olympics Opening Ceremonies at home. I actually know two guys who made it to the Olympics this year (both siblings of longtime friends I know from Trinidad) so I'm looking forward to following their progress.


On Saturday morning lots of relaxing happened before heading to a friend's baby's 1st birthday party for a few hours. It was very cute watching him dig into his smash cake and make a mess (which is never fun for the parents to clean up).



After the party we met up with some friends for dinner at The Chef's Table & Tasting Room which is a new-to-us restaurant and a serious hidden gem.


The four of us shared several small plates (like the Creole shrimp & grits and the fig & prosciutto flatbread in the photo below). Everything we tried was amazing and I'm already wanting to go back even though it's not very close to home! Catching up with friends along with fun cocktails and live music made it a great Saturday night.


Sunday was all about relaxing, getting stuff organized around the house, and grilling out for dinner. Oh and giving Lola all the attention she requires.


The good news is I feel super rested and ready to tackle this week!


Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

The Good-to-be-Home Weekend


Wow, I can't believe it's August already! This year has been zipping by but I guess time flies when you're having fun although we really need to slow down the clock for getting older!

I had a pretty low key weekend which was perfect after returning home from our family vacation in Jamaica last week. Other than catching up on some sleep, my days were spent unpacking, doing tons of laundry, and getting things organized around the house.

We ventured out on Saturday night to celebrate my good friend's birthday at Tapa Toro for dinner, which is a new Spanish Tapas restaurant right below the Orlando Eye. The food was delicious and the company was even better. We stayed out for a few hours to celebrate the birthday girl and then called it a night. 



On Sunday K and I made spent the morning relaxing at home and giving Lola all the attention. We missed her while on vacation.


We went out to grab some groceries and lunch and can I just say my new favorite guilty pleasure are Brie Bites. I may have to try making a baked version of these at home since I'm a huge fan of brie cheese.


That's all I have for today! I hope this week treats you well...I'm praying the heat in Florida eases up for us soon since it's been unbearably sauna-like hot. The weather was much more comfortable in Jamaica!


Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

Weekend Whereabouts


This weekend was the perfect break to recharge those batteries. Of course it's never long enough but I had no big plans so I took advantage of sleeping in and being productive around the house. On Friday night K decided to play chef and cooked up a nice dinner at home so it was a relaxing night.



Saturday morning was spent cleaning and organizing the house before heading out to Target, Home Goods, and a few more stops to get some last minute shopping done for our trip this week. I love all the pride clothing that Target is now carrying.


 I didn't go too crazy shopping but I did get a gorgeous pair of rose gold sling-back sandals along with a matching crystal headband and a Stila Lip Gloss in Rose Quartz for my cousin's beach wedding on Saturday.


We all know shopping builds up an appetite so K and I went to Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen for some lunch and shared this delicious cocktail called a painkiller. I don't usually drink rum but all of the other ingredients hid the rum taste and it was so good!


I also bought these super comfortable dupe Michael Kors Espadrille wedges from Target that I've been eyeing for months now. They were 30% off so it was finally time to pull the trigger.


Before heading home for the evening, we stopped off at Publix to stock up on some groceries and I stumbled on this new blueberry beer from Abita. I always rave about Abita's Strawberry beer and this one was equally as good. Strawberry and blueberry happen to be my favorite flavors when it comes to pretty much anything. 


Sunday was another relaxing day. K left for a work trip around 6 am so Lola and I slept in a bit. Well more so her than me!


Then it was time for some breakfast, coffee and, blogging. I also got laundry and cleaning done, food prepped for the week, and put together this Jamaican Curry Chicken recipe in the crockpot to let dinner cook itself.

If you've been following my blog, you might already know that I recently bought a new house and posted that our previous house was sold pretty quickly. Well I spoke too soon and things ended up falling through with those buyers so life has been a little crazy trying to get it sold asap. Nobody wants two mortgages! Well not me at least!


We've had to put decorating and fully furnishing our new home on hold until we can get it sold which explains why I haven't posted many house photos. I'm praying that will change soon!

There's always the good, the bad and the ugly in life but the weekend was a good one and I'm counting down to our little vacay,

Have a great week!


Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekend linkup.

Life Lately


Hello friends and happy Monday! I know I've said this before but life has been so busy lately that I can't seem to find much free time for blogging. I've settled into my new job and pretty much settled into our new house yet my days seem to be packed full. Quiet Sundays at home have been my saving grace for getting caught up and organized for the week ahead.

I love my new job and the people that I work with. I have the cutest, bubbly intern that cracks me up and the projects that I'm working on are so much more fulfilling than anything before. Last week Wednesday the CEO of our company got tickets to a private event at the Amway Center for the Orlando Pro Summer League so I got to tag along and network with local business people which was really fun.


Since the shootings at Pulse Nightclub, Orlando has really come together as a community and it makes me happy to see all the signs of support and little reminders as I make my way around town.


On Friday evening I made it home from work feeling more than exhausted but agreed to go out for dinner with K to try a new restaurant close to home.

 

I'm so happy we decided to try Canvas because the food and lakefront atmosphere was amazing plus we caught a beautiful sunset while eating dinner. I can't wait to go back to try their brunch.




It started storming as we were leaving the restaurant so we just headed home to have a quiet night. This is how we were greeted by Lola when we got home and, honestly, I couldn't wait to join her! lol
 

Most of Saturday was spent getting errands done and cleaning up around the house. In the evening we entertained some friends and made Fresh Watermelon Martinis with cucumber infused vodka (a copycat recipe from Bonefish Grill) which were so light and refreshing.


Our guests brought us this amazing basket of goodies for a housewarming gift which was so thoughtful and unexpected.

 
The four of us then headed out for dinner at 310 Nona and spent the evening chatting and catching up over a nice meal.




 Sunday was spent relaxing at home and getting all the things in the land organized which was a great end to the weekend. Lola got her tan on in the backyard while I hid in the shade from the unbearable 100 degree heat we've been experiencing.



The countdown is on for our trip to Jamaica - 11 days to go!


Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.