September Goals

Okay so this might be more of a to-do list but there's also a few goals in there. I can't believe it's September already. This year has been flying by quickly, probably because I've been keeping myself very busy on the weekends and the work week is usually packed to the brim.

1. Celebrate Lola's 1st birthday this week. Oh gosh, she's turning one and deserves a little fun tonight before we leave for the long weekend.

2. Tour New Orleans for Labor Day weekend (K's birthday trip) and try all the food. Some places on our list are Coop's Place, Acme Oyster House, Mr B's and a few others. I'm still looking around for a good brunch spot for Sunday. 

3. Attend Helene's free webinar to learn ways to monetize your blog which was last night. (DONE)

4. Get started on the 17-module online photography class that I just signed up for to become a certified photographer. I'm not sure I'll be able to complete it in one month so my goal is to be done and certified by the end of October. 

5. Pack more healthy lunches and fruits for breakfast. Eat out less. Spend less. 

6. Finally make it out to Wekiva Island one weekend. 

7. Pressure wash our house and driveway. Well, pay someone to do it because I don't own a pressure washer and have no desire to get on a ladder or roof.

8. Go shopping at Ikea for a new living room rug and outdoor walkway lights. I've had my eye on shag rugs like this grey one but I'm not sure how well they hold up. 

9. Weekend trip to Ft Lauderdale to visit a friend and her kids who all just moved to Florida from Trinidad. 

10. Celebrate with friends for a joint bachelor/bachelorette party at a local resort's lazy river pool.

Tobago Love: A Tropical Wedding

This is a not a wedding guide of any sort.  It's more like a mini gallery since the professional photos from my girl friend's wedding back in February just became available. It was also the most gorgeous wedding I've attended so I thought the details shown in the photos could be helpful to future brides out there looking for ideas and inspiration. 

The venue was in the backyard of an oceanfront villa that sits on the coast of Tobago in the southern Caribbean.  Tobago is the sister island of Trinidad where I grew up and a lot of my family and friends still live there. 

Photography by: Dos Imagery

Multiway Bridesmaid dresses: In One Clothing

The bride gifted her girls with these cute kimono robes from Etsy along with some gorgeous angel wing earrings made with white bone and shiny tattoo jewelry.

 

 

  

  

The sand ceremony included sand from Denmark (groom) and Trinidad (bride).

 

Pesto Brie Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I own a panini press so that's what I used to make it but you can also heat up some butter in a pan and grill the sandwich on the stove top over medium heat, flipping every 5 minutes until the bread is browned and the cheese has melted

Ingredients: 

Bread of your choice

Deli chicken, sliced

Pesto

Brie cheese, sliced

Light mayonnaise

Cooking spray

What To Do:

Mix the light mayonnaise with pesto in a small bowl and spread onto the slices of bread, layer with deli sliced chicken and slices of brie cheese. Assemble sandwich and cook in a panini press or in a pan with some butter.

The pesto brie grilled cheese sandwich/panini would pair really well with the tomato basil soup I recently made.

The Draft Weekend

I got home from work on Friday to a baffling piece of mail. A card addressed to me and the return address was also my home address. So I opened the card and it was signed with my husband's name so I laughed and said "why did you mail me this?" Not realizing that it wasn't even K's handwriting. Anyways let's just say his friends are joksters. And football season is important. Like rules their life important! I got the memo anonymous sender (Ahem... MJ!).

K and I then headed out to Ale House for some dinner and spent the rest of the night relaxing at home which was perfect after a crazy busy week.

Saturday was all about K's live fantasy football draft which the guys do every year. They come from near and far to set up their football teams for the season. It's a big deal for them and the ladies come to help out and hang out.

I'm not a football lover. Probably because I didn't grow up in the US and wasn't raised with it all around so it's not something that's in my blood but I'm married to an extreme football lover and appreciate it for what it is. Plus beer and good food, right? I'll never be a party pooper and have always enjoyed football parties even though I don't sit on the couch watching it myself.

 

 

 It was a fun day catching up with the girls and all the new babies while the guys focused on building their teams.

On Sunday we met up with some friends for lunch at Twin Peaks which is right across from the Orlando Eye on International Drive. It's a cool spot to watch sports and have a couple beers.

After lunch we stopped at World of Beer on the way home to take a friend visiting from San Francisco out for a drink. I tried a flight of wheat beers and waited for the rainstorm to pass.

The rest of Sunday was spent at home doing my usual blogging, laundry, and food prep routine plus entertaining our visitor. We just grilled some steaks and corn on the cob for dinner and hung out.

How was your weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

That Feel-Good Day

Friday is always a feel-good day that brings some light at end of the tunnel knowing that relaxing days are ahead. With it being the end of the month, I've been swamped at work so my energy has been low for everything else but hopefully the weekend will be a good recharge.

We've had our eye on tropical storm Erika which could be hitting Florida by Monday but I'm hoping it turns out to be nothing too serious. A work-from-home day would be nice though. Nobody wants to be driving in 75 mph winds/rain.

I've been on SnapChat for a couple months now but failed to actually use it. I'm terrible with keeping up with ALL the social media out there. I can't even keep up with Twitter which is terrible for a blogger, I know. Anyways I finally got around to doing my first SnapChat post this week. Let's just say it was a test run.

 #WTFfortunecookie (and it was stale too so I'm calling this prediction null and void.) Feel free to follow me - emilyalisonb - and hopefully I'll get the hang of it in time for NOLA next weekend.

I also posted this photo of Lola on Instagram earlier this week not knowing it was National Dog Day on Wednesday. I didn't bother to post another photo on Wednesday cause this one was cute enough to last the week. 

Favorite Recipe:

I shared this Shrimp Scampi Zoodle recipe on Tuesday. A light and healthy meal for summer.

Favorite Funny:

Favorite Giveaway:
Enter the Rafflecopter below to win a $25 Jamberry Gift Certificate so you can try out some fun and fabulous nail designs.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Enjoy the weekend!