Happy Friday from NYC

I'm a tourist in New York exploring this big, wonderful city for the first time so here's a quick High Five For Friday post to get the weekend started:

1. Recieved a Starbucks gift card in the mail for filling out a random online survey.

2. Lunch with my coworkers - Grilled chicken & pesto sandwich with Caeser salad.

3.  Patio happy hour drinks last Friday - Sea Dog Blueberry beer is one of my favorite.

4. Got my new office all set up this week and I've been training a new hire to support my team.

5. My car got a nice bathe by K on Sunday and then it started to rain :-/

Enjoy your weekend! 

xx

Summer '13 Bucket List

Hi everyone! 

I'm off to New York tomorrow so I actually get to cross #1 off my bucket list. Eeee!

Soo excited to explore The City for the first time, visit the Statue of Liberty and 9/11 Memorial, and try all the amazing food that I hear NYC has to offer.

 

I also wrote my "lifelong" Bucket list a few months ago which includes everything I hope to accomplish at some point in my life. Big dreams over here ;-)

What's #1 on your bucket list?

xx

 

Weekend Fun in FL

As I always say, Monday came way too quickly but I had a great weekend hanging around locally and getting some stuff done before our trip to NYC....4 more days!!

- I got my hair done on Saturday. Love my new highlights and lowlights!

- We went to Red Lobster for dinner on Saturday night bc I had a $4 off coupon. I had a dirty martini with dinner, of course.

- After dinner we met up with some friends at the bowling alley to hang out.

- On Sunday, I dragged K out of the house to Target to get some last minute stuff for our trip to NYC. We stopped at our favourite hole in the wall place to get fresh oysters for lunch (it was an easy bribe to get K to come to Target with me).

- When we got home, we put on our swimsuits and headed to our neighborhood pool to get some last-minute sun before the weekend was over. Sunday evenings can be depressing but a cold drink by the pool makes it all better ;-)

Joining Sami's Weekend Shenanigans Linkup.

 

How was your weekend?

 

High Five For Friday....and Vodka

Happy Friday!

I feel like a bus ran over me from this week at work so I'm counting down the hours until I can relax with a martini tonight and sleep in til whenever I want tomorrow. Those are the simple things in life that I love the most :-)

1. The boys grilling in the rain last Sunday at Kate's house. It's been a rainy week in Florida.

2. New comfy flats from Express.

3. Got our visitor passes for 9/11 Memorial next weekend in NYC.

4. Vietnamese spring rolls = the best cheat meal ever!

5.  Vodka, club soda & a squirt of pomegranate Mio is a delicious little cocktail without the added calories & sugar.

Joining Lauren for High Five For Friday.

 

Have a great weekend lovelies!

Health Challenge Update

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we are doing a health challenge at work and my company is paying for everyone to see a Nutritionist. My goal is to tone up & replace any fat with muscle. K is also doing the program and we've both come a long way in a month with learning how to eat healthier and making better choices at the grocery store and at restaurants.

We're now in Phase 2 of the program which consists of a high protein, low carb & low sugar diet along with exercising (at least 25-30 mins of cardio per day + weights, in my case, to build muscle). This is an example of how the diet/lifestyle works if anyone is interested in trying it out.

Breakfast:  

1 hard boiled egg
Protein shake (My favorite is the EAS Carb Control shake in Cafe Caramel flavor)

Morning Snack: 

2 fiber gummies   or
1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese

Lunch:

3-5 oz cooked protein (chicken, lean turkey, tuna, etc.)
2 cups salad with light dressing (max 2 g sugar)

Afternoon Snack: 

 (Up to 100 Calories)

 Sea Salt Almonds  or
String cheese        

Dinner:

3-5 oz. cooked protein (chicken, salmon, tilapia, pork, etc.)

2 cups of green vegetables

More to come on recommended supplements and vitamins.

I'm half way to my goal weight and steadily working to increase the intensity of my workouts and decrease my cravings for unhealthy snacks and food.

Weekend Dishes & Doings

Hi everyone!  

Sad that Monday came so quickly but the countdown has officially started for our NYC trip - 11 more days!  I had another fun weekend hanging out with friends and grilling outdoors.

Sat: 

We cleaned our house from top to bottom and then I went to the nail salon to get a lil pampering.  Later that evening we went over to a friend's house for a BBQ. They smoked a chicken and had these amazing bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers. 

Sun:

I made chicken kabobs and we headed over to Kate and her husband's house to hang out and grill at their new pool.  We got to lay around on floaties sipping on some cold drinks for a few hours until it started to storm. Perfect way to spend a Sunday!

Linking up with Sami for Weekend Shenanigans.

What did you get into this weekend?

H54F: June Already?

Happy Friday everyone! 

WOW, we're almost half way through 2013 already....

I'm swamped at work so just doing a quick Linkup with Lauren for High Five For Friday.

#1 - Healthy dinners at home - Baked Tilapia and Steamed Broccoli.

#2 - K and I went looking at new construction houses last weekend and ran across our dream pool. Timeline to achieve this is prob over 5 years but a girl can dream, right?

#3 - New flip flips from Express bought on sale.

#4 - We got our NY passes in the mail for our trip in 2 weeks. I'm super excited because I've never been to New York before. We decided to purchase the NY Pass because it gets you into over 70+ of the main attractions including a Cruise around the Statue of Liberty, 9/11 Memorial, Top of the Rock, Madame Tussauds Wax Museums (and all the main museums), and much more.

#5 - Cheese is my weakness - Brie, Havarti, Gouda, you name it....These cute Babybel cheeses are the perfect snack and all under 100 calories.

I hope everyone has a fab weekend!

A Healthy Twist

I experimented with this Mashed Cauliflower recipe over the weekend and it's a keeper to replace mashed potatoes. We've been trying to cut our carbs especially at dinner time so this is the perfect substitution. K also loves it because it seriously tastes almost just like the real deal carb-loaded mashed potatoes.

I found several recipes online that said to add a ton of butter, cheese, breadcrumbs etc. but honestly I only added a little bit of the following and it tasted great.

My Mashed Cauliflower recipe:

1 head Cauliflower, cut into florets

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup grated cheese

Garlic powder to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Steam cauliflower florets for 10 minutes or until tender.

Use a potato masher to mash caulfilower (you can use a hand mixer or food processor)

Add all ingredients and blend. 

It's really that easy and takes less than 20 minutes.

We served it with Steak Kabobs on Memorial Day and it was delicious!

Memorial Weekend Sunshine & Festivities

What a fun weekend with beautiful weather here in FL! It's obviously never long enough and going back to work is like torture but at least we made lots of good memories :-)

On Friday night, K and I did our usual dinner and date night so we went to see the Hangover 3. We both thought it was funny and worth seeing in the cinema although the first Hangover is probably still the best of the three.

On Saturday we went to a friend's birthday BBQ & pool party, which was lots of fun with tons of good food, desserts, dancing and cold drinks. Roxy the English bulldog was a great host ;-)

On Sunday a group of friends headed out to the beach which was packed full of people. I guess everyone else had the same idea as us but either way, I was just happy to finally get to lay out and relax near the water.

  On Sunday, K and I did some errands and then went to our neighborhood pool to enjoy the final hours of our long weekend. We drank some mini bud lights and grilled steak kabobs to celebrate Memorial Day!

How did you spend your memorial weekend?

Linking up with Sami for Weekend Shenanigans.

Happy Tuesday! 

High Five For The Long Weekend!

How excited are you for the 3-day weekend??

I'm pretty stoked to finally be in the sun and working on my tan ;-)

Joining Lauren today for High Five For Friday.

#1 - My favorite things - sunshine, friends, beach, cold drinks.

#2 - My new turquoise fringe bikini top arrived just in time for the weekend.

#3 - A cute Tervis Tumbler cup is perfect to keep your drinks cold at the beach or pool.

#4 - New summer outfits - online retail therapy/damage done last week.

#5 - Have you tried Mio yet? This liquid water enhancer is amazing with zero calories, zero sugar etc. I also use it to spruce up my vodka & soda drinks on the weekend. So far I'm loving the Berry Pomegranate flavor. 

What's your plans for the long weekend?

Have a fun one!!

#TBT Memorial Weekend '12

Memorial weekend in Florida is one of my favorite long weekends. It's that time of year to head out to the beach or pull out the grill and lay by the pool with friends. We plan on doing all of the above this weekend! 

Last year a big group of us headed out to Cocoa Beach and had a great time for the holiday weekend.

As our Cocoa beach tradition goes, the girls must sneak off to the bar and do some shots. We then must buy some frozen drinks topped with a shot of 151. Good decisions?

For anyone visiting Cocoa beach, you must try the "Pain in the Ass" frozen drink. Ingredients: 1/2 Daiquiri, 1/2 Pina Colada with a shot of 151...yummy but strong!

Linking up today for Throwback Thursday.

 

Counting down til the weekend!

Summer Must-Haves

With the holiday weekend in just a few days, I wanted to share some of my summer must-haves and fave products for 2013.

#1 - Mix and match bikini tops & bottoms from VS.

#2 - Banana Boat Sport Performance Sunscreen - I swear by this sunscreen and have spent 5+ hours in the sun without burning.

#3 - A Nice Big Beach Bag - I got this one for free after spending $70 at VS. It looks small in the photo but it fits everything I need - 2 towels, a change of clothes, snacks/water bottles and everything else you need to take with you to the beach or pool.

#4 - Waterproof Mascara - I use Maybelline Volume Express Turbo Boost and it works great.

#5 - A Cute Hat - I found this Straw Fedora for only $9.99 from Charlotte Russe.

#6 - Self Tanning Lotion - I've been using ULTA brand (and Jergens Glow in the past) to get a little head start. It doesn't make you look like Snooky. Promise.

Joining the Wildcard Wednesday Linkup today for the first time...

What's your must-haves for fun outdoors in the sun?

Weekend Whereabouts

Hope everyone is having a great day so far!  My Monday hasn't been too shabby which is usually unheard of in these parts ;-)

Linking up with Sami today for Weekend Shenanigans.

On Friday night, K and I just went for our usual dinner and drinks. We decided to go to Outback because neither of us had been there in years. I tried their new Blackberry Sangria from the drinks menu which was delicious!

On Saturday morning , I went to get a facial which I got for free for voting for this specific spa in some local awards. They of course upcharged me $20 for the facial mask (which I didn't ask for). Ah well, when is anything really free?

After I met up with K at the gym and we worked out together and then went for a quick lunch.

On Saturday night, we headed out to the movies. We were hoping to see The Great Gatsby but it ended up being sold out, so our second choice was The Peeples. The movie got some bad reviews but both K and I thought it was pretty funny :-)

On Sunday, I met up with some ladies at a new brunch spot downtown. They had a delicious brunch spread with bottomless mimosas and sangria. It was a nice little get-together with good food, drinks and company.

 

Have a great week everyone!