Weekend: Happy Hour & Productivity

Hi everyone! Hope the weekend treated you well and you're feeling recharged on this Monday. 

I don't have many exciting things to share from the weekend because it was spent being productive around the house in preparation for my guests this week. I did manage to fit some relaxation and girl time in there.

On Friday evening after work, I met up with a girl friend downtown for some happy hour drinks. We had a drink at World of Beer and then hopped over to a cute Hawaiian bar for a delicious lavender cocktail. 

On Saturday morning K and I watched the movie Blue Jasmine which was pretty interesting but I don't particularly like abrupt endings. I then went to a much-needed facial appointment and I have to say my face feels amazing! It's always great to get pampered and give your face a good clean especially for people like me that wear makeup on a regular basis.

The rest of the Saturday was spent Spring/Summer cleaning followed by grilling some steaks for dinner and finally settling down late night to watch Taken 3.

*Some random scenes from the weekend*

Sunday consisted of more cleaning, weekly food prep, and blogging. I made pesto shrimp alfredo with whole wheat fettuccine for lunch and then headed out to get some quick home shopping done since we desperately need to upgrade some of our mats and throw pillows.

I have to say it was great to get some downtime from my typically busy schedule.

** Our Recipe Swap will be back tomorrow so feel free to linkup your latest recipes **

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

Some of My Favorite Things

Happy Friday!

This week was draining. There's a lot going on that I'm trying to deal with. Some things in my control and others beyond my control. Either way, I'm taking one day at a time...

Yesterday evening was delightful though. I met up with some of my favorite ladies who brought some sunshine into my life. We had fun catching up over a couple glasses of vino/sangria on the patio.

That brings me right into my favorite things for Amanda's Friday linkup.

Happy hour + girl time with Kate, Pamela and Kerri is definitely a favorite thing!

Favorite Nails:
Purple and Sparkly always makes me happy.

Favorite Hairstyle:
Wispy, loose waves with twisted braid.

Favorite Recipe:
Kerry's Paleo Apple Date Chicken Salad looks delish!

Favorite Fashion Finds:
Just stumbled upon Three Bird Nest via Pinterest and I love their Boho-chic clothing line.

Pamela, you need this Mermaid one! lol

Enjoy your weekend and sorry for the Debby-downer post! Tomorrow is another day...

Catch you next week :-)

Weekend with the Bestie

Hey everyone! Hope you had a fun and relaxing weekend. I'm sad it's

 over because Crystal leaves today. We had such a blast shopping for her wedding and spending time together. 

We spent Friday driving all over town wedding shopping.

 

On Friday night, K took us out to an indoor skydiving place which was so much fun. I don't consider myself an adrenaline junkie especially because I'm afraid of heights but Crystal loves that sort of thing so we tried out some simulated skydiving.  

After the adrenaline rush, we headed to Taverna Opa for some Greek dinner and drinks. This place is always a good time with dancing on tables and celebrating Greek style.

Saturday: More shopping happened and of course I bought stuff unplanned.

 

Saturday night we headed downtown to my favorite sushi place for some dinner and drinks. Shari Sushi Lounge has $4.25 rolls and drinks everyday from 5-7pm which you seriously can't beat.

  

The Come Out With Pride parade was also going on downtown so we went to check it out and walk around the lake since it was a beautiful night. 

On Sunday, we cooked some brunch at home and relaxed after running around & shopping like crazy people for the past few days. Eggs Benedict and pineapple mimosas were on the menu.

Joining Biana for Weekending and Leeann for Monday Morning Gossip. 

Long Weekend Lounging

The long weekend was perfectly relaxing. It was much needed to keep quiet before we head to Chicago this week for another long weekend vacation to celebrate K's birthday.

On Friday night, K and I went to dinner at High Tide Harry's. I wasn't impressed with the seafood and the service sucked but glad we at least got to try it out.

After dinner we stopped at a sports bar to hang out for a bit and ended up having these pineapple upside down cake shots which were really good. 

 On Saturday I caved and ended up giving K his birthday gifts early since we'll be rushing to the airport on his actual birthday this week. I think all (or at least most) men could do with a lifeproof case to protect their phones. You can find them at Marshall's for half the price.

I scored some beachy coach flip flips for $28. I think that's a steal and they're very comfortable.

On Sunday, we did some quick shopping for our upcoming trip and then went to a friend's pool party. The weather wasn't ideal but it cleared up and we had a good time hanging out with friends.

 

Monday was like my typical Sunday spent doing laundry, cooking, blogging and just lounging before another crazy work week. Hope you enjoyed the extra day away from work!

Joining Biana for Weekending.

Let the Long Weekend Begin

I couldn't be more excited about this 3-day weekend. Labor day weekend last year was spent with friends at a beach condo lounging on Florida's west coast.  This year I've opted for a go-with-the-flow kind of weekend with hopefully lots of R&R.

 

So what's been going on with me this week? 

Well our bank account got compromised. That's always fun, right? On Sunday, I went online to check our balance to see what damage was done over the weekend and also figure out a budget for the upcoming week. I noticed a charge on our account that didn't look familiar but since K and I share the account, I don't always know what's being spent 100% of the time. K didn't seem to recognize the charge but I went along with my day thinking I was just going crazy and forgetting something. A few hours later, I signed back into my account so I can rack my brain a little more about this charge but instead I saw some more charges being racked up over the past few hours. We hadn't even left the house on Sunday. Something was definitely wrong because both of our cards were safely in our wallets! We called the bank to report the charges and found out someone an hour away was swiping our card away on a little shopping spree...that would be a fake card with our info. The most recent charge was $85 at a sushi restaurant but got declined because they had pretty much drained the account. This person has some f#ing nerve! Anyways, our bank was really helpful and worked with us and we should be getting back the money in a week or so. Thankfully! It's really quite scary how easily these people can just hijack your bank account and access your money.

On to some better things and joining Amanda and Lauren for their Friday Linkups.

Oh technology! Ordering lunch and paying the tab via an iPad at Carmel Cafe. This almost eliminates communicating with a server except for ordering drinks/water and the server running the food to your table. Not sure how I feel about technology replacing jobs but I do like seeing photos of menu items to help with the ordering process.

Outfits that transition from work to happy hour. I actually wore this several weeks ago when I met up with Kate and Pam for happy hour.

I caved and bought the Alex and Ani bracelet of the month. The seahorse bangle was calling my name and I wanted to get the $5 discount before they discontinued the offer. Having an A&A store a few blocks from my office is proving to be trouble.

Favorite funny: 
I am guilty of this and having zero patience on the road.

Happy hour beer is calling my name so 5pm needs to hurry it up! Two of my favorite beers this week are Sea Dog Blueberry and Kona Island Lager.

Enjoy the long weekend!!!

Friday's Flashback

Happy Friday!

I have no big plans for the weekend and I'm pretty damn excited about it. After a busy week at work, sometimes you need the weekend to recoup and relax. I do welcome some fun with friends but I prefer to run on a non-schedule.

I was excited to participate in Helene's Blog Auction yesterday and think it went pretty well. Thank you for those that placed a bid on my large ad space to advertise for 4 months straight on Martinis & Bikinis. I'm excited to find out who will be featured on my blog for the next several months :-)

This was me on Monday. I did some workouts at home over the weekend and never knew I was capable of kicking my own ass. I was sore and in pain all week but Monday and Tuesday were pretty bad. 

 

The ladies met up after work on Tuesday at a new spot in town called The Porch for some happy hour cocktails and appetizers. It was fun catching and planning a girls trips we want to do next year.

Another Ebates check arrived in the mail. I think it's pretty fabulous getting paid to shop. I signed up earlier this year and have already racked up about $115 in cash back.

Some goodies I scored from the Kate Spade sale last week. I had my eye on a few items and finally decided on a crossover purse (perfect for traveling) and the silver huggie earrings, which look so much better in person.

Lastly, this is so me specifically in the wine department.

Have a relaxing and fun weekend everyone!

Joining Amanda and Lauren today for their weekly Friday linkups.

Heavy Hearts & Hectic Days

If you happen to follow me on instagram, you might have seen a photo of Skyh I posted earlier this week because she hasn't been feeling well. Skyh passed away yesterday. She was my fur-child for 6 years and K has had her for 12 years so she was his baby first. You never really hear of men having cats but he loved her to pieces.

Skyh's favorite things in life were to eat and sleep (and sometimes get into mischief) so when we noticed that she wasn't eating a few weeks ago, we got very worried and took her to the vet. All blood work tests came back fine and we were given some medicine and special food. However, nothing seemed to be getting better over the days. She was refusing water and food so becoming very weak. We had a follow up appointment set for today to do further tests and scans but she didn't make it and has gone to kitty heaven. Unfortunately we're entering another hectic weekend with heavy hearts.

Also, in the wake of the loss of Robin Williams earlier this week, I find this quote fitting. 

Joining Amanda for her weekly Friday Favorites linkup.

In better and brighter news...

I ordered my bridesmaid dress for one of the 3 weddings I'm a bridesmaid in next year. It's one of those cool wrap dresses where you can choose your own style. I'm curious to see how it will look.

New towels make me happy especially when they're fresh out the wash & smell like Gain or Tide. Same goes for my bedsheets and comforter.

The highlight of my week was meeting up with two pretty bloggers yesterday for happy hour ~ Pam and Kate. I had a great time and look forward to doing it again!

I think we picked the best happy hour spot in town. You seriously can't go wrong with $5 martinis and $4 wine and small plates.

Have a great weekend everyone!