Friday Favorites + Coconut Rum Giveaway

Just another week that crawled by... but when I look at the big picture, it's like how the hell is October almost over already?

On Monday night, K and I celebrated the anniversary of when we met 6 years ago. He cooked up some surf and turf and I experimented making ravioli with sun-dried tomatoes (recipe to come next week). This was probably the fanciest thing we've cooked, ever!

Pretty excited I won a $100 gift certificate for Drugstore.com.  Has anyone every shopped on this site? Looks like an online Walgreen's but with a much bigger selection. Can't wait to do some "free" shopping for makeup and toiletries this weekend.

I'm also currently hosting a giveaway for 1 bottle of Blue Char Bay Coconut Spiced rum. I made a tropical martini over the weekend which was delish.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway is only open to US residents who are 21 years old or older. 

Favorite Funnies: 

Happy Friday lovelies!

Joining Amanda and Lauren today for their weekly Friday linkups.

Pinktober + Friday Faves

This week just crawled by and I had to re-adjust to a quiet household after having guests for the last three weeks. It's always sad when your house goes from busy and noisy to dead silent (other than K's football on the TV) but I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

Last Sunday, the bestie and I had fun making bloody marys at home after cooking up some brunch and just hung out before she flew out on Monday. It was really sad to drop her off at the airport knowing that I won't see her for a while.

We celebrated Pinktober at work on Tuesday and donated a certain amount for every employee that wore pink. Pink Ribbon bagels from Panera Bread were served for breakfast, which we've done for the past several years.

It's always fun checking how much cash back I'm racking up from Ebates.  So far I've racked up $70 in the last two months. Almost any (major) website/company uses Ebates so make sure to earn the rewards while you're at it! With the holidays coming up, it's really going to pay off since I do most of my shopping online.

Wednesday was ladies night out for some sushi and wine. Yes, I went to the same sushi spot on Saturday night but no harm in going twice a week, right?

Favorite Cute Stuff/Funnies:

This reminds me of Skyh

I don't have kids but will be using this if and when that time comes. 

Happy weekend!

Joining Amanda and Lauren today for their weekly Friday linkups.

Friday Favorites & Weekly Recap

Happy Friday!

I was a busy, busy bumblebee this week at work and then taking care of the sick parents at home. All is good and I'm only working half day today so we can hit the road and drive over to Florida's west coast for a quick beach vacay.

Favorite Shopping Finds:
These Pixie pants from Old Navy for $25 a piece. They come in a variety of colors/patterns and are perfect for work or going out and about. They also come in ankle length or full length.

Favorite Recipe:

This butternut squash soup made by Chels @ Red Velvet Rooster looks amazing!

Favorite Celebrity: 

Boo - the cutest Pomeranian ever. I've been following his page on Facebook for a while now and can't get enough of photos like this one. Yup this is my definition of a celebrity. I mean he has almost 16 million followers on Facebook.

Favorite Seasonal Beer (of the week):

Wilhelm Scream from Magic Hat Brewing Company. I admit I've been going a bit overboard with pumpkin flavored food and drinks recently but it's honestly one of my favorite seasons for both.

And speaking of pumpkin food...I bought these from Trader Joe's for my mom but had to steal a bite. Yumm!

Favorite Funnies/Cute Stuff:

Hey, Halloween is coming up. Why not find a cute costume for your fur child? 

Favorite Quotes & Inspiration:

Praying for sunny days this weekend because most of the week looked like this...

Before I get yelled at: I was at a full stop waiting at a flooded intersection so not guilty of texting taking photos while driving ;-)

Any plans for the weekend? 

Joining Amanda and Lauren today for their weekly Friday linkups.

Friday's Favorites: Weekly Recap

Happy Friday! 

Although it was a short work week for me, it's been tough trying to get back into the swing of things after our Chicago trip and I'm also running on little sleep so definitely looking forward to the weekend.
 
Did you hear that U2's new album, Songs of Innocence, is now available for download for free from iTunes? I heard about it on the radio and sure enough all of the songs were sitting in my iCloud. I haven't listened to any songs yet but what do you think of this? Some people are pissed because they don't want the album. I'm totally cool with free music and how terrible can U2 be?  Anyways, if you want to find out how to get the songs over to your iTunes from iCloud, click here.

 

Image via

Favorite Buys:

All my souvenirs from Chicago. I think I made out pretty good.

Favorite Quote:
Get it? I think it really applies more so to my professional life and the business person in me ;-)

Favorite Recipe:

A healthier version of Indian butter chicken from the ladies over at Bump & Run. 

Favorites from Chicago:

Fun with friends at Wrigley Field (Cubs vs Pirates) and drinks in Wrigleyville after the game.

And of course all the great restaurants we visited...

Favorite Funny:

Have a great weekend!

Joining Amanda and Lauren today for their weekly Friday linkups.

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!