Friday's Best

Happy Friday!

I've been having some serious wanderlust since we traveled to so many amazing places in 2015 and it seems we've now come to a hiatus after the busy holidays. With K being in a new job, he doesn't feel comfortable taking too much time off of work so I've been figuring out how we can squeeze some long weekend trips in for the very few holiday weekends we get in the US and then one international trip to Jamaica for my cousin's wedding. #ThatTravelItchTho

In other news...

Super Bowl Sunday:
So with the Super Bowl being this weekend, I was looking for some healthy recipes and found this Honey Mustard Baked Chicken Wings recipe which looks amazing.

Things I Love:
This mug. I recently stumbled upon LookHuman.com and posted about the Mascara & Mimosas clothing line they have. Kate bought the sweatshirt and I bought the tank top which are perfect for our Sunday brunches. They even have some funny and sarcastic Valentine's gifts.

Best Smelling Award:
 Goes to Bath & Body Works' Wild Honeysuckle hand soap. I just recently did another haul from B&BW and I can't stop smelling my hands after using this soap. That probably sounds weird but it's true.

Favorite Reads:
Amanda's (Meet @ The Barre) photography guides found here, here & here offer great tips for professional/fashion photography. I did an online photography class late last year and learned all the technical details but honestly haven't had time to practice. These guides have convinced me to spend some time this weekend really figuring out what is what.

Lola Says:
"I love my Merrick's Cowboy Cookout treats gifted to me from Chewy.com."

I swear she loves treats more than life itself. As soon as I open the pantry where I store her treats, she coming running like a bowling ball.

Genius Award:

Goes to Publix for this Ice Cube Tray Sushi recipe. Sorry to feature two recipes in one post but I think the sushi lovers out there might just love the concept.

Have a fabulous weekend! 

2015 Amazon Purchases

I became an Amazon Prime member exactly a year ago and I don't think I could go any other way. The wide variety of things that I buy from Amazon plus two-day shipping makes the annual fee well worth it. And when I say wide variety, I mean I really purchase the most random things. Let's take a look (titles are clickable):

FYI: If you download the Amazon App you can get an instant $5 credit.

#Tweet Mug
I bought this mug for a white elephant gift exchange at work around Christmas last year. I figured it was office appropriate and well-suited since I work in the digital marketing department. 

Makeup Organizer
This is a space-saver compared to the organizer I had before and it fits all of my makeup beautifully. Blogger blame for this purchase goes to Biana from BLovedBoston.

Tan Towels
I used to use self-tanning lotions which can be a huge mess until Kerri recommended Tan Towels so these have been a major repeat purchase to keep a slight tan throughout the year.

Pink Flamingo Pool Float
I bought this pool floatie as a birthday gift for Kate since she has a pool in her backyard and was looking for something different from the norm.

Solar Garden Lights
Another really random purchase but we needed some lighting for the walkway in the front of my house and instead of venturing to Home Depot, I browsed online on Amazon and found exactly what I wanted with free shipping.

Doggie Dental Treats
Lola absolutely loves these and I try to give her a toothbrush treat once a week usually on the weekends. Of course I like the fact it's good for her gums and teeth.

iPhone Case
This case is more pretty than it is protective but I bought it anyways because I thought it would compliment my rose gold phone nicely. Well I somehow purchased the 6 Plus size when I actually own the regular size 6S phone so I ended up giving it away to a coworker but it was still a purchase nonetheless.

I ended up purchasing a more durable and protective sparkly iPhone case which is also clear so you can see through to the rose gold. I'm jealous it's now on sale for 54% off from what I initially paid.

Mac 'Flat Out Fabulous' Lipstick
This lip color is just gorgeous and lasts a long time because of it's matte texture. Just being able to buy good quality, name-brand cosmetics from Amazon Prime is so convenient.




Blog Planner
I bought this planner as a Christmas gift for myself and, admittedly I haven't used it to it's full potential as yet but it's certainly a good way to stay organized and plan your blog posts ahead.




What are your favorite products to purchase from Amazon?

A Different Mimosa

I cooked up Sunday brunch at home recently for K and myself and decided to experiment with the ingredients I had at home to make mimosas. I used Pinot Grigio wine instead of champagne along with some strawberries for garnish and we loved how they tasted.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chilled white wine

1/3 cup ginger ale

1/4 cup chilled orange juice

Frozen strawberry halves

Makes 1  Mimosa cocktail

What To Do: 

Combine all liquid ingredients and use a cocktail stirrer to mix the flavors.  Add frozen strawberries to the top so they help keep the cocktail cool while also providing a hint of strawberry flavor.

Sip and enjoy!

Weekend Whereabouts

I can't believe it's already February. The whole month of January just zipped by, didn't it?

We had a fun Friday night out to celebrate a friend's birthday at Cafe Tu Tu Tango which has amazing tapas and sangria. It's an artsy restaurant that features local artwork on the walls along with belly-dancers, magicians, and artists painting right in front of you. Definitely one of my favorite restaurants in Orlando.

After dinner we went to Tin Roof for a couple drinks and some live music and got this gem of a picture with the birthday guy.

It was a fun night out catching up with Kate and the girls.

On Saturday, K and I went car shopping browsing because I'm almost due for a new car and I think I found the one I want. We still have a few more dealerships to check out but the Mazda CX-5 seems to be the best fit for me so far.

After hours of car dealerships, we met up with some friends downtown to celebrate another birthday with some drinks and then eventually dinner before settling at home for a quiet night. I was in bed by 9:30 pm. Talk about being old.

Sunday was all about Lola snuggles, food prepping for the week, and blogging. I made two different types of quiches for breakfast this week and a pot roast in the crockpot for dinner.

How was your weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

Cold Weather Favorites

The cold weather has hit us in Florida and there's some major essentials I've had to add back to my wardrobe and routine to keep warm and comfortable in this weather.

Faux Sherpa Vest  * UGG Slippers

Infinity Scarf  * Vaseline Lip Therapy

Military Wool Peacoat * Knee High Slippers

eos Body Lotion * Mossimo Shearling Style Boots

My lips and skin especially become dried out with the cold weather so I have to walk around lip balm and hand moisturizer in my purse to apply every few hours. The Vaseline Rosy Lips sent to me from Influenster has quickly become my favorite because it works wonders to heal my dried lips and smells good too.

Purse Essentials:
Sunglasses * Perfume Rollerball * Hand Sanitizer * Lip Balm * Hand Lotion * Lip Gloss

I received the Vaseline Lip Therapy from Influenster for testing purposes. My review above is my true and honest opinion.

Resolutions Essentials Giveaway

Meg from Borrowed Heaven came up with the great idea of hosting a giveaway that would help others achieve their new year's resolutions which typically is centered around fitness and eating healthier. Myself and a group of lovely ladies have come together to offer you the chance to win a Fitbit 'Charge' Wireless Wristband plus a few goodies from ban.do that will help make it easier to achieve your fitness goals.

Enter via the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win these goodies!

Borrowed Heaven ||| To Travel & Beyond ||| Christina Lea Loves ||| Martinis & Bikinis

Green Fashionista ||| Vero Says

A Southern Twenty-Five ||| Eat, Drink, & Be Mary ||| Radiating Sunshine ||| Jess Loves This Life

Lowcountry Mama ||| Carly Blogs ||| The Peacock Roost ||| Make.Up.HER
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  This giveaway ends on Monday, February 1st at midnight.

Good luck to all that enter!

10 Best Recipes from 2015

Over the years I've picked up the love of cooking new recipes. Sometimes I go to a restaurant and try something amazing and have to recreate it at home. I also get a peace of mind knowing what ingredients go into the meals that I eat and try to use less saturated fat, sodium, and other unhealthy ingredients when I can. I also use so many herbs and spices that salt is never added to my recipes and I prefer to use coconut oil and anti-oxidizing ingredients such as garlic to give my recipes flavor.

These are some of my favorite recipes that I made in 2015 and shared on the blog:

Baked Pesto Salmon & Balsamic Salad

Cheesy Artichoke Dip

Turkey Fajita Stuffed Peppers

  

Spicy Shrimp Diablos

Jalapeno & Swiss Stuffed Chicken

Crockpot Chicken Low Mein

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

Easy Chinese Fried Rice

Ground Turkey & Pumpkin Chili

Broccoli Salad

Weekending & New Blog Design

Another Monday is upon us but let's decide to be happy and beautiful together. Life is better that way, right? I hope the snow and blizzards up north weren't too detrimental and hopefully cleared up a bit by now. We had the coldest weekend for the year in Central Florida but no snow.

I had a relaxing Friday evening at home with some Thai food for dinner from Sea Thai, which has been voted best Thai restaurant in Orlando year over year. I picked up K from the airport and we just hung out at home with Lola.

On Saturday I went to the hairdresser to get some highlights done and got my hair curled. Luckily the curls lasted up until today even with the cold weather.

On Saturday night the Central Florida girls (Kate, Kerri, Pamela and myself) had a blogger meet up with Ashley from Wandering Weekenders and her husband visiting from Texas. We had dinner at The Cowfish, a sushi and burger restaurant in Universal's City Walk.

After dinner we headed over to Red Coconut for a drink ~ moscow mules were the drink of the night for myself and some of the girls. As you can see we were all bundled up in winter clothes because the low was in the 30's which is deathly cold for our Florida and Texas blood. LOL

It was so fun meeting Ashley and her husband! I hope to visit them in Texas sometime later this year.

Most of Sunday was spent figuring out how to redesign my blog and having a mini panic attack while doing so after almost crashing the whole site. I'm super happy with how it turned out considering I have zero design or HTML skills...well now I have a little of both. It's not 100% complete but that's all my patience could handle in one day. I'll also be re-branding my blog with a different (but similar) name in the next week or two since I bought a new domain. If you run into any errors while visiting my blog, please let me know!

How was your weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.