The Weekend with Hurricane Matthew

With Hurricane Matthew approaching us on Thursday afternoon and a mandatory curfew set until Saturday at 7 am, we planned to spend the 3-day weekend at home and just pray we didn't get hit too hard from the storm.

The anticipation of a Category 4 hurricane heading towards us was quite scary so we stocked up on supplies last week and prepared for the worst.  I can't speak for other parts of the country but we got very lucky with no major damage to our house and didn't lose electricity either. The curfew was lifted sooner than expected on Friday afternoon so we headed out for some dinner at Outback.

Most of Saturday was spent cleaning and doing errands before taking Lola out to enjoy the beautiful weather at a lakeside restaurant and market.

Sunday was another gorgeous day although I managed to be a coach potato for most of it watching TV and blogging. Lola was worn out from all the fun on Saturday.

For Sunday dinner, I tried my hand at making Eggplant Parmesan Lasagna, which turned out amazing (recipe coming soon). I enjoyed all the relaxing and I'm thankful the hurricane has fizzled instead of looping back around and hitting Florida a second time as initially predicted.


Joining the lovely Biana for some weekend whereabouts.

Weekend Plans Cancelled

I was supposed to leave today for a 3-day cruise to the Bahamas but Hurricane Matthew has threatened the east coast of Florida so the cruise was officially cancelled yesterday. I'm not hugely disappointed because I've been on this cruise ship twice before and really didn't want to chance getting on a boat knowing a huge storm is lurking nearby. Safety first and I'll gladly take a quiet weekend at home. I'm just praying Matthew doesn't cause too much devastation which I know it's already caused in Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas.

We are supposed to be hit the hardest at 8 am today so I'm not sure if I'll have electricity or internet. The uncertainties of a natural disaster are the worst feeling to experience because you just don't know what exactly to prepare for. The gas stations have been out of gas since Wednesday and the shelves were empty when I went to Target this week but I managed to get some essentials.

Since I already had a few things lined up to share today, I'll stick with the program...

I finally jumped on the Audiobooks train after procrastinating for way too long and decided to get started with Amy Schumer's new book The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo. I've been listening to it every day this week on my commute to and from work and I've been really enjoying it. It's raw and uncensored and I like her take on life.

On Wednesday, I shared some cute swimwear options that offer a little more coverage. The cruise this weekend was supposed to be a company event so I wanted some less skimpy swimsuits to take on the trip and I found some really fun suits at Target and Express.

I just received my semi-annual Ulta haul (I just made that up but it seems to be every 6 months). Lots of products were repurchases of my favorite products but I did add in some new products such as the Benefit Eye Brightening set and Lip Crayon.

POREfessional Pore Minimizing & Eye Brightening Set  //   Gimme Brow Fiber Gel
Tarte Amazonian Full Coverage Foundation  //   ULTA Matte Lip Crayon - Carnival

This cute Benefit makeup bag also came as a free gift with my Benefit Cosmetics purchase.

We finally purchased a dining room table for the new house. Something so simple to be excited about but it means we're getting closer to fully furnishing our house.

Since we've been working on getting settled into our new house, I just hope this hurricane doesn't set us back and have to fork out money for repairs instead of interior decorating and furnishings.

Enjoy the weekend break and I'll catch you next week with an update on Hurricane Matthew.

Weekend Happenings

I love when the season of pumpkin everything and fall colors rolls around even though the weather takes a while to get the memo in Florida. This weekend was actually quite low key with no major happenings since I was recovering from a nagging cold and didn't have a ton of energy.

Last week was a mad rush preparing for a seminar we hosted on Thursday and Friday so by the time 5 o'clock on Friday hit, I was exhausted and ready to relax. All the hard work paid off as we got really great feedback from our attendees and speakers!

My newest pumpkin candle burned throughout the house over the weekend. This is one of Bath & Body Works newer scents so I wanted to try it. While I love the scent of berries, it doesn't blend perfectly well with Pumpkin so it's not my favorite but it's not terrible either.

Most of Saturday was spent cleaning around the house and doing laundry before some of K's friends came over to hang out. We grilled up some Bratwurst hotdogs for lunch and they watched football while I tried to get some blogging done.

On Saturday night we had Magical Dining reservations with some friends but unfortunately had to cancel because I still wasn't feeling too great.  I'm not sure if other cities run this type of special but every year Orlando has magical dining month where several popular restaurants offer prix fixe dinners (usually 3-6 course meals) for $33/person. Unfortunately this was the last weekend to take advantage of the special so I'll just have to wait until next year.

On Sunday morning, we relaxed at home and K put on Saturday Night Live's skit of the Presidential Debate which is absolutely hilarious.

I got to catch up with a couple friends from back home over the phone and then ventured out of the house for the first time to do some shopping and a grocery store run. The rest of Sunday was spent blogging, food prepping and more laundry! So not the most exciting weekend but I welcomed all the relaxing before some busier weekends ahead with travel plans and my SIL's wedding.


Joining the lovely Biana.

Weekend Celebrations

Another weekend come and gone way too quickly but it was a great one spent in and around town before more traveling this weekend. K and I also booked a little weekend getaway for my birthday in December so I'm looking forward to that!

On Friday night, we actually made it out of the house for dinner and Outback it was since we have very limited restaurant options close to home. We had some dirty martinis and delicious meals before heading home for a relaxing night.

On Saturday we went furniture shopping and finally found a dining room table after going through four different furniture stores. We still need a guest bedroom set, couch, and a few other things for the new house so I walked around taking mental notes. Our previous house still hasn't officially sold yet so I'm waiting til then to fully furnish our new house.

That night we had a birthday dinner to attend and our sushi fix was definitely taken care of with several delicious rolls and some tuna sashimi.

Sunday morning was Kate's baby shower which a few of us girls had been planning for months now. We decided on a travel-themed Sunday brunch shower which was super fun coming up with ideas for games, decor, and the menu items.

It was a huge success and I can't wait to share all the details later this week when I have time to compile the pictures. I was super happy with how my Mimosa Bar turned out along with so many other cute & personalized details the "shower planning team" put together.



Cheers to another week and is it really mid-September already?

Joining the lovely Biana.

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.

via

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.

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.