Friday Favorites

We made it over that hump and I'm crashing right into the weekend. Lots of relaxing, a beach day, and hopefully more relaxing is in store. This week was super busy at work. I worked until 10pm some nights leaving no time for relaxing or family time. I envision tonight looking like what you see below...except with a glass of wine in hand (of course) and maybe a side smile.

I loved having two of my favorite girls visit me recently and I spent most of the week missing them after they left and I returned to my mundane (yet crazy busy) schedule.

Joining Amanda for some favorites on this Friday....

Favorite Article:
I stumbled upon the Wandering Mon and her article about 11 Things You Learn Living on an Island. Let me tell you, she knows what she's talking about. It made me miss home but not really in some other aspects.

My additional two cents is that Coconut water cures everything. Not the crap you get here in the store. Real coconut water from a coconut, nothing added. I truly believe it cures most of my ailments.. stomach troubles, headaches, lethargy, hangovers...you name it.

Favorite Shopping Finds:

I'm loving all of the cute swimsuit coverups I posted about yesterday. I think I made my decision to purchase this Lattice-Back Cover Up by Jessica Simpson for our summer Vegas trip since we plan to spend the day at the pool for 4th of July.

Favorite Recipe:

I need to make these Slow Cooker Tacos Al Pastor asap. Sounds like a great Sunday night dinner.  

Lola's Favorites: 
Treats of course! She can't get enough of the Wellness Core Grain-Free Protein Bars from Chewy.com. We got two types to try but her favorite were the Chicken & Turkey with Sweet Potatoes.


   
"Mom... I'm sitting, now where's my treat?" ~ Lola

That's all I have for today...

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Long Weekend Excitement

Happy Friday!
I feel so relieved the long weekend is here. What a difference one extra day of relaxation can make especially since we (in the US) get to skip over that dreaded Monday.

This week consisted of me going back and forth via email with Bloglovin's a-hole support staff who tried to place the blame on me for my feed not working. I would have possibly believed them if there wasn't several other bloggers complaining about the same issue. It's fixed. For now. Only took a week.

Other than that BS, the orange sunset from my backyard wasn't too shabby on Wednesday night.

So let's get right into some weekly faves and joining the newly turned Mrs. Amanda for her Friday Favorites linkup. Hoping she's enjoying her honeymoon in European paradise!

Favorite Fashion Finds:
Some Memorial Day-themed outfit ideas. Keeping it casual of course. I especially like the Marilyn Monroe top and the sunnies.

Favorite Hair Inspiration:

This Relaxed Half-up Braid looks pretty and easy to recreate.

Favorite Recipe
Skinny Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Skinnytaste.com seriously has the best recipes. I would post their recipes every week if it wasn't for other great recipes on Pinterest and, of course, from other bloggers I follow.

Favorite Funnies:

I think this is my first thought almost every morning when the alarm goes off...

Cheers to the weekend!

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Friday's Favorites

Happy Friday loves! So glad the weekend is here...

This week was fairly uneventful with my regular work routine. No afternoon happy hours or celebratory lunches/dinners but that's okay with me. Quiet and routine was nice for a change.

~ K and I started a 10-day herbal cleanse earlier this week. I've been interested in trying one but I didn't seek it out. K is friendly with a Rep from Advocare who somehow convinced him to buy us the cleanse kits. Ta da! Today is day 4 and I feel fine and it's really not hard to keep up with. Nothing crazy otherwise to report. I will let you know if it made any difference after 10 days. 

~ Buddha's quote "Be where you are. Otherwise, you will miss your life" sits on my desk at work with his smiling statue. It's something to think about especially with the distraction of technology and social media. Sometimes we must enjoy the moment instead. It's something I always need to remind myself especially as a blogger.

~ Afternoon walks with Lola around the neighborhood and apparently rest breaks too. 

~ Our low-carb dinner meal plan for the week was a success. My favorite is making a Mexican chicken fiesta salad, which reminds me of Chipotle's salad but with lighter ingredients (the sour cream and dressing). So good! 

Now on to some more favorites and joining the lovely Amanda for her weekly linkup.

Favorite Fashion Find:

Cute Maxi Dresses for the spring.

Favorite Recipe:

Jessica's Mahi Tacos with Chipotle Mayo look delish!

Favorite Fashion Quote: 
Wouldn't it be nice to have it all at the same time...

Finally, don't forget to enter our giveaway for a chance to win $200 big ones to Lululemon!

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Have a fabulous weekend!

Great Week, Good Friday

Happy Friday lovelies!

I'm so relieved we have Good Friday off of work today. Otherwise I would be a zombie at work after arriving home late last night after 5 nights in San Francisco. It was an awesome and extremely busy trip. I'm talking 11-hour work days but thankfully I had some time to squeeze in some site-seeing and meet up with friends.

I posted about my trip out to Sonoma Wine Country last weekend which was such a great experience.

Other than work, I...

* Visited The View Lounge with coworkers to enjoy some views of downtown San Francisco.

* Went to Haight Street for $2 beer night with a friend (like the good old colleges day). Truthfully, I prefer dive bars than a fancy digs to relax and unwind after busy, business/formal days.

* Did more shopping than I had planned and had to buy an extra duffel bag to bring stuff home. (My hotel was in the heart of the shopping district which is just bad news.)

* Got kicked out a taxi because the taxi driver said we were touching the back of his neck (my friend and I were in full conversation in the back of the taxi not even paying attention or "touching" him). Taxi dude clearly showed up for work high on some sort of drug. Best we get kicked out, right?

* Went to Bask Tapas restaurant with friends followed by walking around Little Italy and a few more drinks before calling it a night.

* Flew home bright and early yesterday morning. With several delays and a layover in St. Louis, I made it home in about 12 hours. Not to mention the 3 hour time difference which totally screws you more so flying back to the east coast. I'm so, so happy to have the weekend to readjust and get back to reality.

Happy weekend to everyone and hope you enjoy Easter!

Joining the lovely Amanda for Friday Favorites.

Friday's Favorites & Weekly Recap

Happy Friday!

So happy to be finally adjusted to the time change and, better yet, the weekend is here! I have some fun plans for tomorrow and I'm always looking forward to catching up on some sleep. This week consisted of:

~ adjusting to the "spring forward" BS time change

~ lunch date with a girl friend at our favorite Thai restaurant
~ planning out the schedule for my upcoming trip and, not to mention vacation, back to Trinidad

~ sticking to our meal plan and healthy dinners at home

~ the ongoing struggle to keep my head above water with the life/work/blogging/sleep balance
~ happy hour yesterday with Kerri for $5 martinis and small plates. So fun catching up!

I'm sure some of you are gearing up to celebrate St Patrick's day this weekend. I will be out of town next week and don't feel the need to drink my weight in guinness and harp. Don't get me wrong, I love a good St Patty's celebration (see here and here) but this year, there's just too much going on.

Joining the lovely Amanda for her Friday Favorites linkup. 

Fun Nails for St Patty's Day
Love this green color with the gold sparkly accent nail.

Image credit

Favorite Fashion Find:
This Kate Spade Gold Plated Cuff. Not to mention they have a 40% of sale on everything going on now with code EXTRA40.

Favorite Beauty Product:
Body Shop's Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash

St Patty's Recipes:
Loving this Irish Coffee recipe from ladies at The Sequin Notebook.

If you're looking for some party food ideas, I made this Spinach Crescent Bites recipe last year which was a party pleaser and perfect for St. Patrick's Day celebrations.

Favorite Funny:

Have a lovely weekend!

Friday's Quick Recap & Favorites

This week has been draining. Starting off Monday at 4:30 am to head to the airport to fly back to Orlando is not my idea of fun. I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend and some QT with my bed and of course K and Lola. Evidently it becomes harder to bounce back from all the fun and traveling as you get older.

Nevertheless, the exhaustion is well worth it because the wedding last weekend was magnificent and being able to witness my best friend getting married is a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

Joining Amanda for her Friday's Favorites linkup and Congrats to her for becoming a Mrs last weekend as well!

Favorite Hair Color:
I love this mix of hair colors. I recently did a test run with one purple streak which didn't come out this nice but if I build up the courage, I would love to experiment with some burgundy in my blonde hair.

Favorite Purchase: 

I know it's no longer the holidays and sparkles are dying down but this Sequin Cami Dress was 50% off at Express and sparkly dresses are always acceptable for weddings right?

Favorite Recipe:

This Vegetable Turkey Sausage Stir-Fry recipe from Kristin @ Miss Southern looks amazing!

Favorite Funnies:

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Friday Recap & Weekly Favorites

Happy Friday 13th!

I've never been superstitious about Friday the 13th. I'm actually born on December 13th so I think of it as a lucky day, if anything. This week seemed to crawl by as they all seem to do...

~ K came home with girl scout cookies from a coworker. Gah! My two favorite types - Caramel deLites & Thin Mints...I'm hiding them until after my trip to Trinidad next weekend.

~ Received a cute Valentine's note and scratch-off lottery ticket from a coworker. Didn't win shit but it was very thoughtful of her.

~ The job threw a lunch party yesterday. Who doesn't love free lunch?

~ Said lunch party also had several raffle prizes and I won a $25 Brio gift card. I see happy hour and wine happening in the near future.

Favorite Valentine's Cocktail Recipe:
Blue Chair Bay's Island Mimosa sounds like the perfect adult beverage for Valentine's day or Sunday brunch this weekend.
 

Favorite Shopping Finds: 

I posted about my love for peplum tops yesterday. These are the two that I picked up over the weekend from Express.

 Aztec Sequin Peplum Tank

Zip Back Peplum Tank

I also picked up these two tops for work which are super comfy and the material is soft & silky.

Mixed Texture Zip Front Tee

Zip Back Peplum Tank

Favorite Recipe: 
Nadine's Asian Zoodles recipe looks phenomenal! Let's be honest, a low-carb alternative to a tasty Asian dish is a must try!

 

Favorite Funny:
Featuring the mischievous yet loving Lola...



I'm counting down the days until my sunny getaway to the Caribbean for my best friend's wedding...

Have a fun and safe weekend loves!

Joining Amanda and Tif for their Friday linkups.

$150 Valentine's Giveaway + Friday Favorites

We meet again on this fabulous Friday and today this group of lovely ladies & myself have teamed up to offer you a fun giveaway! How perfect will it be to win $150 smackaroos to spend at Victoria's Secret just in time for Valentine's day?

Hosted by: The Sequin Notebook, Jessi's Design, Martinis and Bikinis, A Little Glitter, Martin Manifesto, The Kari Diaries, Pink and Fabulous, Make Me Up Mia, Green Fashionista and Meet @ the Barre

a Rafflecopter giveaway 
This giveaway runs from today (Feb 6th) until Feb 13th at 6am EST and the winner will be chosen at random. 

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Joining the lovely Amanda for Friday's Favorites.

Favorite Shopping Find:
The Heart Back Cut-Out Fit And Flare Dress from Express is sexy and sleek for Valentine's celebrations next weekend or any fun occasion.

Favorite Accessories: 
My Alex & Ani collection is almost complete. I think I've raved enough about A&A here on the blog but my most recent addition is this Tinkerbell bangle from Magic Kingdom. I still have a gift card from Christmas to purchase one more but I really need to slow my roll after that.

Favorite Recipe: 

Kerry from Till Then Smile Often always come up with such fun and creative recipes. Her Buffalo Spinach Hummus recipe posted earlier this week looks like the perfect snack if you're looking for something healthy, delicious and paleo-friendly.

Favorite Funny:
Have you heard of #FloridaMan? If you don't already know, Florida is full of crazies and it seems like most news stories coming from our wacky southern state sound something like this:

"Florida man caught with active meth lab in his pants"
"Florida man offers police officer $3 and chicken dinner for sex"
"Florida man arrested for smoking pot in hospital maternity ward"

There's now a documentary out called Florida Man that solidifies my theory/observation and something I've actually been meaning to post about because the stories are just that unbelievable and sometimes downright funny.

Of course, I love living in Florida but how can one not poke fun at these ridiculous stories that make it to the news? I really need to start posting more about these absurdities as they arise (which I've been meaning to do). Hopefully, one day, people around here won't be so coo coo for cocoa puffs.

 I leave you on that note...

Enjoy the weekend! Stay warm, safe and avoid the crazies out there!