Orlando City + New Travel Linkup

Hope everyone had a fun and relaxing weekend! Mine was the perfect mixture of both. 

On Friday night Kerri and I went to the Orlando City vs New England soccer game at the Citrus Bowl which was the first game for the both of us since Orlando City Soccer Club is fairly new. Thousands of people came out that night and it was a cool experience although neither one of us are huge soccer fans.





After the game we headed downtown to meet up with some friends and have a few beverages before heading home. 


Saturday was a relaxing day at home catching up on some blogging, food prepping and stuff around the house. 

On Sunday, K and I headed out to the east coast to finally get our first beach day of the year. The weather was perfect and it was a great day of lounging in the sun.



**Announcement**
Kate, Kerri and I are starting a new travel linkup this week which will run the second Wednesday of every month so get your travel posts ready for our new Wanderlust Wednesdays!! Feel free to link up new and old travel recaps or places on your destination wish list. Looking forward to sharing and reading your wanderlust adventures!

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.


Friday Favorites

Happy Friday lovelies!

I'm looking forward to a fairly low-key weekend and hopefully lots of sleep. This work week was crazy busy so I wasn't able to keep up with reading blogs as much as I usually do BUT the weekend is here and hopefully that will all change...


So let's talk about Cinco de Mayo on Tuesday. Honestly, my days are over for heavy drinking on a work night but I did make it a point to go for lunch with coworkers at one of my favorite hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurants. Their fajitas are to die for and Cinco de Mayo was the perfect excuse for a calorie splurge.


Now on to sharing some of my weekly faves and joining Amanda for Fridays Favorites.

Favorite Spring Nail Color:
These are not my nails but I love this color and would to find out what the name of the color is.


Favorite Purchase:
Is this City Triangles Blouson Dress not perfect for a night out in Vegas?
I'm counting down the days for our trip out there for 4th of July weekend. I don't dress up often (other than for weddings) but I figured I would need one nice "night-out" dress and keep the rest of the trip pretty casual. 



Favorite Recipe:
Found this Pesto Grilled Shrimp recipe on Pinterest and looks like a must try especially since we love cooking with pesto.


Favorite Article:
I definitely condone splurging on special occasions (like I did for Cinco de Mayo) but I like to make my overall eating habits healthy. This article is a good guide to figure out how to create healthy cooking and eating patterns.


Have a fabulous weekend and don't forget to enter our giveaway to win a $125 Amazon gift card!

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Mother's Day Gift Guide


When you think about it, who are the mothers out there? My mom fits one demographic while there are also so many mothers out there around my age (give or take 10+ years). My point is that finding a gift for "Mom" is not a one-size-fits-all deal. This guide is probably more geared toward younger mothers but I know my mom would love a few things on the list so I guess it really depends on her interests. Everything is under $100 and I've also included a few more fun activities and ideas to make your mom feel special. 




Other Fun Ideas for Mother's Day:
~ Shopping/walking around your local Farmer's Market
~ A group painting or cooking class
~ Girls day out for manis & pedis
~ Brunch with the immediate family
~ Gift card for a massage or full day at the spa
~ 1-year subscription to something she loves (Amazon Prime, her favorite magazine, a beauty box)
~ Helping out with a home project while she relaxes
~ Going out for lunch and then a movie of her choice 
~ A box of macaroons or chocolate covered strawberries


Here's to all the fabulous Moms out there and hoping you enjoy your day this coming Sunday! 


$125 Amazon Giftcard Giveaway

Happy hump day! We're half way there ladies and I have to say this week is going so much better than last week.

I've teamed up with an awesome group of ladies to offer you a $125 Amazon gift card to celebrate The Sequin Notebook's 2nd Blogiversary! Enter the Rafflecopter below anytime from now until May 12th for a chance to win some extra Amazon cash!

I have a slight addiction to shopping on Amazon with my Prime membership because the possibilities are endless and well *free 2-day shipping*. Anywho, good luck lovelies!


B & M from The Sequin Notebook // Pamela from A Little Glitter // Marie from Twin Living
Tif from Bright on a Budget // Amanda from Kids & Cabernet // Meghan from Champagne + Suburbs
Carissa from Carissa Jaded // Christina from The New Mrs. // Emily from Martinis and Bikinis

7-Layer Mexican Dip



Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Kate and I have discontinued our recipe swap on a weekly basis (it will now be every other week) but I had a recipe ready for today's Mexican holiday.

The ladies over at The Sequin Notebook made a similar recipe a while back and I decided to try it out for a party I recently went to. 

Ingredients:
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 jar of mild salsa
1 small can mild Rotel diced tomatoes
1.5 lb. lean ground beef
1 tbsp. olive oil
8 oz. Mexican blend cheese
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 package taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
2 cups of light sour cream
Hot sauce, to taste


What To Do:
1. Mix cream cheese with 1/2 of the package of taco seasoning and layer onto the bottom of a greased baking dish.


2. Sautee onions in olive oil and add ground beef and the remaining of the taco seasoning. Add a dash of hot sauce and then cook well until the meat is no longer pink. Layer the beef mixture on top of the cream cheese layer. 


3. Heat up refried beans in microwave for 2 minutes and then layer beans on top of the beef layer. 

4. Top refried beans with salsa and then layer salsa with sour cream. The final step is to layer sour cream with shredded cheese and then sprinkle diced tomatoes on top of the cheese.


5. Bake on 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until cheese has melted. 


Enjoy!

Weekend Recharge

Thank you everyone for the well wishes on Friday! I really appreciate the sweet messages and positive energy sent my way. Times like this make you realize how amazing the blogging community is. This weekend was the perfect break to relax and recharge. 

K and I went downtown after work to have some patio drinks with a beautiful view of the lake. It was the perfect place to clear my mind and just breathe.  


After hanging out by the lake, we went for dinner at my favorite sushi spot downtown (Shari Sushi Lounge) which has $4.25 rolls everyday from 5-7pm. Dinner consisted of garlic edamame, tuna sashimi and a few different sushi rolls. It was the perfect date night and way to spend Friday night!


On Saturday morning I headed to the hairdresser for some pampering and then did some quick shopping at Petco, Total Wine and a few other errands. 

It was a beautiful, sunny day so we took Lola for a walk around the neighborhood and had a relaxing rest of the day at home. We watched the Kentucky Derby and I got to catch up on some blogging and more importantly R&R after a stressful week. 



On Sunday, we cooked up some brunch at home. On the menu was Eggs Benedict and pineapple mimosas.

Also got to spend lots of QT with my honey who now thinks she's an acrobat.



And then headed to our neighborhood pool to catch some rays and take a dip in the pool.


I feel recharged and I'm ready to take on this new week. Things are looking up! 

How was your weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup. 

Some of My Favorite Things

Happy Friday!

This week was draining. There's a lot going on that I'm trying to deal with. Some things in my control and others beyond my control. Either way, I'm taking one day at a time...

Yesterday evening was delightful though. I met up with some of my favorite ladies who brought some sunshine into my life. We had fun catching up over a couple glasses of vino/sangria on the patio.


That brings me right into my favorite things for Amanda's Friday linkup.

Happy hour + girl time with Kate, Pamela and Kerri is definitely a favorite thing!


Favorite Nails:
Purple and Sparkly always makes me happy.


Favorite Hairstyle:
Wispy, loose waves with twisted braid.



Favorite Recipe:
Kerry's Paleo Apple Date Chicken Salad looks delish!


Favorite Fashion Finds:
Just stumbled upon Three Bird Nest via Pinterest and I love their Boho-chic clothing line.



Pamela, you need this Mermaid one! lol


Enjoy your weekend and sorry for the Debby-downer post! Tomorrow is another day...

Catch you next week :-)

The Royal Wedding


hello hello martinis and bikinis readers!! i am so excited to take over emily's blog today! i am lauren and i blog over at lot 48!! at my blog, you can find incredibly random things, from jobs i would hate and a 'you are beautiful' linkup to promote self love and healthy positive self image! you will not find recipes (well, rarely) DIY projects, fitness, or fashion posts.  not my jam.  i just like to have fun and write about things that will hopefully make you smile. 

with the anticipation of princess kate having her second baby, i wanted to talk tell you the story of me attending the royal wedding!! 

i was on a study abroad in london and a junior in college.  i was on the brink of turning 21 and had been in london for 3 days. the second (or first, i don't remember) day we were in london, we went to westminster abbey and there was a bunch of paparazzi because i guess there was a rehearsal going on for the wedding!! and we saw harry, but not the couple coming out of the abbey (or church?). 

we were all soooooo excited that we were in london for the wedding!! we could imagine anything better!! we felt so lucky that we picked 2011 to go on a study abroad! i felt like a dream had come true.  some girls decided to make the crazy decision to camp out all night long on the grounds of buckingham palace.  they wanted to see all the commotion in the morning and hopefully get a glimpse of kate.  but in order to get close enough to see her, they knew they had to go the night before.  i think there were 8 of them that went and sat on the gross across from the huge statue/fountain.  it was quite the adventure for them!!  they stayed up all night watching movies on their ipad and talking to drunk men and made a few friends, that we later hung out with in brighton beach.  

but i wanted my sleep!! so i opted to go across the street from our flat to kensington gardens to watch the wedding on huge screens with the rest of london.  


it was PACKED.  




haha i was so young!! i was a baby!! i miss london so much, even to this day.  i was very excited to be there, as you can see. 


it was a very surreal moment to watch the royal wedding, knowing that the wedding was happening in the double digits away from me, and that i was watching it with the brits.  it was amazing and so special.  it literally was a dream come true. 



i LOVE her wedding dress, don't you?  my wedding dress kind of looked like it.  i'm kind of obsessed with her.  my mom and my sisters are too.  and my grandma. the other day i was visiting my grandma and she said "i hope someone calls me when kate has her baby and tells me the sex." she was so concerned about it.  hahaha.  my mom's side of the family is extremely english.  my great grandmother was fully english, had tea at 4 pm every day, had the accent and my grandma and my mom were raised with english pride and english manners.  after living in london, i understood my mom so much better. :) 

what is a english wedding without hats?? it was a royal and very special occasion after all!!  as we walked to the park, we passed a car that had people in it that were clearly guests of the wedding.  they had the coolest hats i have ever seen.  


not everyone wore hats, but everyone was decked out in some way!! 


and some were even dressed as brides!! 

{i'm the one in the middle!!}

going to the royal wedding was one of the best experiences of my life.  i loved every second of my time in london and miss it every day.  i am aching to go back, and i am sure i will someday.  my husband lived there for 2 years, so it's calling both our names.  

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thanks for reading! xoxo