Thursty Thursday Dirty Martinis

Hey everyone! Today I'm joining Kristin as the co-host for her Thursty Thursday linkup. 

Of course, my signature drink recipe is my all time favorite...Dirty martinis with blue cheese stuffed olives

Serving size: 2 Martinis

Ingredients:

5 shots vodka

1 shot dry vermouth

1 shot olive juice (for extra dirty)

Blue cheese stuffed olives

 What To Do:

 Shake ingredients in a shaker with ice and serve chilled.

 

1. Follow Hopelessly Ever After and Martinis & Bikinis via GFC or Bloglovin'.
2. Write about your favorite DRANK (alcoholic beverage).
3. Grab a button from below or Kristin's sidebar and put it in your post. 4. Come back here and link up!!!
5. Get some new recipes or drink ideas for the weekend and make a new friend!!

6. Send a tweet with #ThurstyThursday and include @leggs532 and @TriniEmz  so we can see it!!

Anyone interested in co-hosting next week email Kristin at: hopelessly_ever_after@yahoo.com

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Weekend of Charity Events & Giving Back

I had a great weekend and thankfully got to catch up on some sleep and relaxation although our nights were booked solid. 

On Friday night we went out to a charity event for a 5 year old girl who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. K used to work with Emma's mom, who has had to give up her career to care for this vibrant little girl. The fundraiser was at an indoor golfing place and tons of families with kids showed up to support her cause. 

There were lots of activities for the kids such as magicians and Disney characters along with indoor golf (of course) and several silent auctions.

I won a Pamper Package gift certificate from the silent auction which includes a wash, blow-dry, cut and style, manicure and pedicure, facial and makeup. Sounds like a full day of pampering for me which I'm excited to use! 

After the fundraiser, we went for a late dinner at Seasons 52 Grill which was SO good and a great atmosphere for date night. It was our first time trying out this restaurant and we were impressed with the service and food.

On Saturday night, we went to another charity event for the Special Olympics. We've been going to this event for the past 4 years and it's always a good time for a great cause. The night consisted of black jack, silent auctions, live music, food tasting from some of the best local restaurants, mingling and drinks.

After the charity event, we went to a new speakeasy lounge in town with some coworkers. Several martinis and laughs were enjoyed ;-)

 Such a fun weekend but so happy I also got to catch up on some sleep and get some stuff around the house.

Hope yours was fun and relaxing!

Joining Biana for Weekending and Leeann for Monday Morning Gossip. 

Tropical Bikini Martini

Perfect name for my specialty martini and the good news it's delicious and super easy to concoct.

Serving size: 2 martinis

Ingredients:

1 fluid oz Blue Chair Bay's Coconut Spiced Rum

1 fluid oz raspberry vodka

1 fluid oz pineapple juice

1 tbsp grenadine syrup

1 cup crushed ice

Optional garnishes: 

 Pineapple chunks

Lemon/lime slices

Cocktail cherries

What To Do:

Mix all ingredients with ice in shaker and pour into martini glasses.

Enjoy!

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1. Follow Kate and myself via GFC and Bloglovin. 

2. Link up your favorite recipes or food-related posts.

3. Grab our Recipe Swap button and link back to our blogs.

Weekending with the Parents

It was a fun weekend spending time with my parents but unfortunately my mom came down with fever so we had to cancel most of our plans and stay close to home.

On Friday, I went out with my work team for a team building day out of the office. We had lunch and then went to a new bowling alley. I'm awful at bowling to say the least so I just play to laugh at myself and be a good sport. Bowling has never been my forte.

We played a few rounds of bowling and then I left to meet up with my parents. We hung out at home for a bit then headed out for dinner at Carrabbas which never disappoints

On Saturday, I got a bunch of errands done and picked up the movie Squatters from Redbox. K also surprised me with all the ingredients to make dirty martinis so we finally cracked open the Chicago Absolut vodka we bought on our trip a few weeks ago. We spent Saturday night hanging out at home to keep an eye on my mom while she slept.

The movie was actually pretty good and I really enjoyed the storyline. It starts off slow but escalates quickly and turned out to be worth renting, compared to most Redbox movies these days.

On Sunday we took my parents for a drive around town and had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.  The rest of the day was spent hanging out at home and getting things organized for the week. Glad my mom made it out the house for lunch but was back to bed as soon as we got home.

Back to work today and hoping my mom feels better as the days go by.

FYI:
The final hours of our giveaway is happening today so don't forget to enter to win a $100 Amazon gift card plus $45 in beauty and fashion goodies. The winner will be randomly selected and announced this week.

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Joining Biana for Weekending and Leeann for Monday Morning Gossip. 

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!