2015 Year Recap: Part 1

January:

Rang in the new year with good friends.

February:

Traveled to Trinidad to attend my best friend's wedding and got to catch up with all my girls at brunch before heading home.

 

 

March:

Traveled back to the Caribbean for another girl friend's wedding in Tobago. Both weddings I was a bridesmaid so let's just say the beginning of the year was expensive!

Soon after returning home from Trinidad, I flew to San Francisco for work. While I was there, I made some time to spend with friends and we headed over to Sonoma Wine Country to explore

April:

Hosted an Easter dinner party for friends at our house.

Went to Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival to celebrate a friends' birthday.

May:
We to my first Orlando City Soccer game with Kerri.

Attended Kate's summer BBQ pool party.

Went to Siesta Key beach for Memorial weekend.

June:
One of my best friend's from high school and her boyfriend came to visit us for the weekend and we had an amazing Sunday brunch downtown at Spice.

Went to Cocoa Beach with friends to celebrate another birthday and had dinner at Rusty's waterfront seafood restaurant.

Clearly I kept myself very busy in the first half of 2015 and definitely had a great time doing so!

Part 2 coming next week.

Broccoli Salad

Kate and I are going to be ending the Recipe Swap after this week, but we've had so much fun hosting this link up the past two years and loved having so many of you join us! Thank you all!

 

I made this recipe for a potluck at work (I doubled the recipe to feed more people) and there was not one scrap leftover so that leads me to believe everyone enjoyed it thoroughly. My recipe was adapted from this Creamy Broccoli Salad recipe which is very similar.

Ingredients:
1 head of fresh broccoli, cut into small pieces
1 small red onion
1/2 cup crumbled bacon
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sunflower seed kernels
2 tbsp. white vinegar
1 cup mayonnaise
 1/2 cup sugar

What To Do:
Mix together mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar in a bowl. In a separate larger bowl toss broccoli with cranberries, onions, bacon and sunflower kernels. Finally add the dressing over the broccoli mixture and toss well. Place in refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours before serving. Toss one final time before serving.

Enjoy!

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Weekend Happenings

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and is ready for Christmas this week (if you celebrate it). Either way it's a nice time of year to reconnect with family and to celebrate another successful year come and gone.

Friday night was low key around here. Lola and I went to the airport to pick up the hubs after he was gone for a couple weeks and we had a relaxing night at home. We had some wine and watched the movie "Amy" about the life story of Amy Winehouse (thanks to Katie for recommending it). 

On Saturday I did a bunch of last minute Christmas shopping and errands before getting dressed to celebrate my birthday (late) with K and some friends including Kate and her hubs. We started off at Tin Roof for a quick beverage and then we went on the new Orlando Eye Observation Wheel that was built earlier this year to catch a beautiful sunset and views of the city we live in.

 

After the "Eye" we headed to Yard House for some dinner and drinks to cap off the night.

On Sunday morning I finished wrapping all of my Christmas gifts and then we went to Max's 1st birthday party...the cutest and sweetest mannered boy around. 

 

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup. 

Five on Friday

Not only is it Friday but it's the last full work week for the year so that's pretty exciting! I'm also relieved my husband is finally returning home tonight after being gone for two weeks for his new job. It's been slightly stressful holding down the fort 100% solo. Other than that, I have some fun things to share from this week.

ONE:

Monday can actually be classified as a fave (for the first time ever) because I took the morning off to relax after all the birthday and holiday party celebrations over the weekend (here and here). I got into work after lunch to find the sweetest birthday card and Kohl's gift card from my team. 

My company also gifted every employee with a new Apple TVs for the holidays. Who knew a Monday could be that good? Just need to figure out how to work the thing.

TWO:

My birthday on Sunday was such a treat with the girls and I love all the goodies I raked in including a Rocksbox membership, Alex & Ani bangles, a 'happy birthday' stemless wine glass and this amazing Marc Jacobs Decadence perfume that K gave me.

THREE:

Some pretty holiday/NYE party dresses I stumbled about while browsing LuLu's website.

one  /  two  /  three

FOUR:
I've been enjoying my Christmas tree at night all lit up along with all the small decorations throughout the house and our outdoor lights. I'm excited for Christmas next week to say the least.

FIVE:
I'm thankful and loving all the Christmas cards I've received from blogger friends near and far. Thank you ladies! xoxo

Bonus Fave:

If you love testing and reviewing free products, I recommend signing up for Influenster. They send out free boxes of goodies depending on your interests and profile and I've gotten some great things to test such as makeup, cosmetics, protein bars and other nutrition products.

Joining Amanda for her Friday Favorites linkup. 

Rebecca Minkoff Statement Rings

When I started holiday shopping around Black Friday, I stumbled upon Rebecca Minkoff's jewelry and immediately fell in love with all of her chunky and bold rings. I've always loved her purses but didn't think to check out her line of accessories. Statement necklaces have always been my thing but now I've opened up a new love for statement rings because of her collection. I bought myself this dual stone ring in silver as an early birthday gift and thought I'd share some of her other beauties.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

Hope everyone has gotten most of their holiday git shopping done but, if not, maybe these rings might appeal to some of the spumky ladies on your list.

Happy Holidays!

Long Weekend Part 2: Birthday Celebrations

On Sunday was my birthday which meant it was time for some brunch with the girls. I was a little sad K was missing my birthday this year because of work but my girl friends more than made up for it. Kate planned a ladies brunch downtown at one of our favorite spots and we all had a blast catching up. I posted about the rest of my weekend yesterday here.

Kasa Restaurant & Bar has one of the best brunches in downtown Orlando which includes a full buffet, unlimited champagne and mimosas, and a make-your-own bloody mary bar. Their brunch menu is very eclectic and never disappoints so it was the perfect spot for celebrating my 32nd.

Post brunch selfie with the girls.

I got so spoiled with brunch, bubbles and lots of gifts from the girls but I'm loving my birthday goodies from Kate.

I also love all the birthday shout-outs and throwback tributes that I got from my girl friends on social media. That and the brunch with the ladies made for an amazing birthday this year!

K and I will be doing a late birthday celebration this weekend so I'm looking forward to that and him returning home from work travels.

Cheers to another year!