Easter Weekend Entertaining

Hi everyone! 

Hope you enjoyed the weekend and Easter Sunday yesterday however you decided to spend it. 

Friday was a wash for me after returning home late on Thursday night from a work trip. Thankfully my job gives us Good Friday off so I was able to rest a bit before going grocery shopping and organizing our house for Easter entertaining. 

We hosted an Easter open-house party and potluck for friends on Saturday which was a fun and busy day. We baked a ham, fried a turkey and had a bunch of other appetizers and sides.

Kerri and Kate both came to celebrate and it was so fun hanging out with them. 

I hosted the same Easter party last year and hope to continue the tradition as it's the one holiday we get to entertain friends and cook up a big meal. Thanksgiving and Christmas are usually spent with family out of town.

Sunday was perfectly lazy which was much needed. I had plans to go for brunch but decided against it and stayed home to relax before the busy work week.

How was your Easter weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup. 

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.

Easter Dinner Party Planning

Every year we host an Easter dinner for our friends since many of us don't have family that live close by. We always bake a ham and fry turkey but I'm always looking for new ideas for sides, desserts, and cocktails.

Deviled Eggs

Sparkling pineapple lemonade

Crockpot Maple Brown Sugar Ham

Easter Bunny Rolls

Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries

Sweet Corn Casserole

Glazed Orange Carrots

Strawberry lime moscato punch

Carrot Cheesecake


What's on your Easter dinner menu?

Sonoma Wine Country

On Sunday I drove out to Sonoma from San Francisco with some friends who live in the city. What we didn't know is that most of the wineries require reservations ahead of time so we weren't able to get into the first one we stopped at. They recommended we go to Cline Cellars Vineyard which is open to the public and we weren't disappointed. It was beautiful there and every wine we tried was amazing! They also don't charge for wine tastings like most of the others do. 

We had a wine and cheese picnic is the garden and enjoyed the sunny yet cool weather.

After our picnic we headed into downtown Sonoma which is cute and quaint. We walked around the farmer's market and checked out a few shops finally settling at The Girl and The Fig for a drink and some appetizers. Once again, amazing food and drinks here! 

So glad I got to cross Sonoma off my bucket list. Wine country is truly breathtaking!

Snow Pea Stir-Fry in Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has so many health benefits for your immune system, digestion, weight loss and even your skin. It's an excellent replacement for oil and butter and doesn't disappoint in taste.

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped, 

1 80 oz. pack sliced white mushrooms

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/2 lb. fresh snow peas

Cooking time: 12 minutes

Serving size: 4

What To Do: 

1. Wash all veggies and prepare (dice/chop according to ingredients list). 

2. Cut the ends off the snow peas. 

3. Heat wok or pan on medium heat and add coconut oil.

4. Add the green and red peppers and cook for approximately 4 minutes.

5. Add the onion and snow peas and cook for 6 minutes.

6. Finally add mushrooms and cook for additional 2 minutes. 

Enjoy!

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Weekend on the West Coast

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I'm in San Francisco for most of this week for a work conference. I flew in on Saturday and have been adjusting to the time difference but definitely enjoying some new scenery. 

On Friday night, K and I went out to a new Korean BBQ place which was amazing! We cooked different meats on the grill in the middle of the table and the dinner also came with a cold bar which had sushi, edamame, cocktail shrimp and lots of other things. It was a great date night and perfect way to spend some time together before I flew out.

I headed to the airport bright and early on Saturday morning and spent most of day traveling over to the the west coast with a quick layover in St. Louis, Missouri. Saw some pretty views from the plane and snow in Colorado. As I always say, snow is pretty from AFAR.

 I landed in San Fran on Saturday afternoon and got settled before heading out to explore the city and do some window shopping (which turned into actual shopping). What can I say. lol

I walked around and did some site-seeing in the night and then stopped off at a restaurant to have some Prosseco overlooking the Bay Bridge.

On Sunday, some friends picked me up and we drove out to Sonoma to check out some wineries and have lunch in wine country. It was a gorgeous day! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Joining Biana for her Weekending linkup. 

Looking Back

Happy Friday!
That day of the week has come which brings happiness and excitement to have a break from the repetitive work schedule. At least, that's the case for me! But did I tell you that I leave for a work trip tomorrow? My life has been crazy but I see relaxing days ahead...

K and I returned home from vacation on Monday and rushed to pick up Lola from the vet where she was boarded and spay while we were gone. I was really hoping the sutures and cone would be off since we were gone for a week but no such luck. Little conehead came running around the corner to greet her mom and dad. Thankfully, she's all healed up and today is the day she gets to remove the intrusive cone.

After doing the #TravelStoke map of states I've visited in the US, I realized that I really haven't covered much ground despite the fact that it seems I'm always traveling. Kristin posted about it earlier this week and she definitely blew me out the water. 

Loving the decorative tattoos and earrings we were gifted from the bride to wear at the wedding last weekend. 

Missing this scenery...

And this baby...
So happy to be posing with Mommy's beer and NO we didn't let her drink any so don't yell at me!

Back to eating healthy dinners at home this week which feels great. 

And I leave you with my favorite funny. I need this recipe asap!

Have an awesome weekend!

Joining Amanda for Friday Favorites.