And I'm Off To Vegas

Happy Friday everyone!

 I'm on a flight heading over to Vegas for the few days. I'm going for a work convention but I'll have some time to play and tour the strip. I got some great advice from friends on must dos and must sees.

Here's some things on my list:

• The rollercoaster at New York, NY
• The Eiffel tower at Paris hotel
• The ice rink at Caesar's Palace
• The wildlife atrium at the Flamingo hotel
• The Volcano at the Mirage
• The fountains at Bellagio
• Tour Freemont St
• Eat at one buffet
• See one show

 Am I missing anything??

A friend also recommended that we check out the Tix4Tonight.com booths on the strip that sell discounted and 1/2 price show tickets on the day of the event. So we plan to got to a show on Sat night but it depends what's available. Tickets for everything in Vegas are so pricey so we're hoping to score a good deal on either a comedy, magic or production show.

Hope you have a great weekend!

What I'm Loving: Shopping Finds

I only just landed back into reality on Friday from my vacation in Trinidad & Tobago and I'm off again to Vegas this weekend for a work convention. This is my first time going to Vegas so I'm super excited to finally cross this off my bucket list!

Have any fun Vegas tips or recommendations for me?

Anyways, here's some of my favorite finds for the year so far:

Victoria's Secret Sweats & Hoodies · MICHAEL Michael Kors Tech Accessories · Hot Tools Hair Styling Tools

Stella & Dot iPad case 

Thierry Mugler Angel Perfume 

I've loved this scent since college but decided to ask for Marc Jacobs instead for Christmas. My recent trip to Ulta reminded me how awesome it smells but the bottle is just a bit pricey. 

Hot Tools curling iron

LOFT furry scarf
I love furry scarves and throw blankets. Not to mention, I'd love to finally own a pair of boots wit da fur. (haha!) 

Michael Kors iPhone case

JLO booties

Love the color and style of these booties at an affordable price. 

Candies baby blue dress

For when it finally warms up. 

Victoria Secret's hoodie 

The VS semi annual sale is going on now. I just bought a similar one for $34.99 marked down from $68. 

Not Your Mother's Clean Freak dry shampoo

 I use dry shampoo on a regular basis to prolong the "clean" look of my hair. I simply don't have the time to wash my hair everyday so this is the perfect product for people with busy schedules and also for those that work out. I haven't had much luck finding a dry shampoo sent that I like but NYM's Clean Freak dry shampoo smells great and you can go wrong for only $2.99 at Ulta.

 This dry shampoo can was sent to me complimentary by Influenster to test. All opinions are based on my experience with the product.

What are you loving today?

Tasty Recipes: Turkey & Spinach Lasagna

I tried my hand at making lasagna over the weekend using a few healthier options than the traditional Italian lasagna - lean ground turkey, wheat pasta, veggies and low-fat cheeses.

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground turkey

 Whole wheat lasagna pasta

1/2 white onion, chopped

5 cups fresh spinach

1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped

3-4 cups tomato/pasta sauce

2 cups low-fat ricotta cheese 

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (low-fat)

1/2 grated Parmesan
2 eggs

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tsp olive oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the lasagna noodles for approx 10 minutes. Wash noodles off in cool water.

Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat. Add onion & garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the ground turkey and use your spoon or spatula to break turkey into smaller pieces. Cook for approx 6 minutes until no loner pink. 

Pour the tomato sauce into the pan, along with mushrooms and seasonings. Simmer for about 3 minutes.

Beat eggs and mix with Ricotta, Parmesan cheese & 1 cup Mozzarella cheese in a bowl.

 

 Assemble:

Spread 1/4 turkey & sauce mixture at the bottom of the baking dish and then layer with lasagna noodles lengthwise. Top with another 1/4 sauce mixture, then 1/3 ricotta cheese mixture & layer with spinach leaves. Top with lasagna noodles, sauce, ricotta mixture, spinach. Repeat ending with turkey mixture on top.

Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes. Remove from oven and add the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese to the top layer and bake uncovered for 20 minutes.

Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Joining Ashley and Jessica for Taste of Tuesday.

 

Enjoy!

Back To Reality: Travel Adventures for the Holidays

I'm home! I'm back! Hi everyone!

It's always sad when your vacation comes to an end but I was happy to be back home on Friday and had the weekend to relax and catch up on my blogs before going back to work today.

K and I traveled to Trinidad & Tobago for a week to visit family & friends for a late Christmas and to ring in 2014 in the sunny Caribbean.  We spent the first 3 days in Trinidad.

~ Ocean view from my grandmother's backyard
~ K and I drinking coconut water
~ Quality time with my sister and cousins
~ View of Port of Spain (the capital of Trinidad) from a lookout
 ~  Dinner & drinks with the girls
~ Ziplining the next morning with my cousins and family
~ My cousin returning on the zipline
~ K and I enjoying some Carib beer on the way to the beach
~ Beautiful Maracas beach

We then flew to Tobago with my parents and sister and spent 3 days enjoying the beautiful beaches, touring the island, seeing friends and ringing in the new year.

View from the plane leaving Trinidad and landing in Tobago.

Tobago Adventures...

~ View from our hotel in Tobago

~ K and I enjoying the beautiful weather and views

~ We went to a casino one night and K won some money on the black jack table

~ drinking Caribbean Rum Punch at lunch

~ View of Blue Waters Bay 

~ Met up with some girl friends on the beach

~ Fireworks on NYE night

~ Local food - curry conch and dumplings

~ New Year's day was spent relaxing on this beautiful beach

We flew back to Trinidad and went out with my girls for one last hurrah before catching our flight the next day back to Florida. I'm seriously going to miss my family and besties until we visit again.

Happy New Year everyone and thank you to the lovely ladies that guest posted for me while I was gone!

How did you ring in 2014?

Joining Bella and Lisa for the Weekend Recap Linkup.

2013: A Year in Review

This girl's brain can hardly remember what I did yesterday so thankfully for FB, I was able to go through each month's events and photos to compile this post. 2013 has been a great year filled with travel, a promotion at work, and fun celebrations with friends. I think you can call that a good year!

January

Rang in the new year with friends at a Masquerade party.

 

February

Traveled to Trinidad for Carnival (the most amazing street parade you will ever experience). You get to dress in beautiful costumes and dance on the streets for two days. Lots of drinking, musical performances, and crazy shenanigans with friends.

 

 March

Celebrated St. Patrick's Day with friends.

 

April

Went to see Taylor Swift in concert. More about the concert here and how we got scammed from someone selling tickets on StubHub.

 

May

We went to the Slightly Stoopid concert in St Pete, FL with friends and stayed out there for the weekend. More about this trip here.

 

June

 K and I traveled to NYC to celebrate our anniversary. It was my first time visiting the city and I fell in love!

 

July

 Celebrated 4th of July with friends.

August 

Weekend trip with friends to St Pete Beach to celebrate two birthdays on the beach.

Celebrated Kate's 30th birthday at a pool party & BBQ at their house.

 

September

 Rented a beach condo with friends in Treasure Island, FL to spend Memorial long weekend and celebrate K's birthday

   

October 

My parents came to visit us for two weeks and we rented a beach condo in Cocoa beach for a couple days.

 

November

 We celebrated Thanksgiving with family and had a Friendsgiving dinner with friends.

We also went to a company event at the Gaylord Palms and got to stay the night at the hotel for free.

 

 

 

December

December is always the busiest month and lots of celebrations. We went to several holiday parties at friends houses and my work company party at Epcot & Disney.

Visited Savannah, GA for my 30th Birthday.

Dirty Thirty birthday dinner and celebrations with friends.

And lastly, Christmas & NYE was spent with family.

Looking forward to what 2014 has in store!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Just a quick post to wish everyone a Happy New Year! 

I've been on vacation for the past week visiting family and friends in Trinidad & Tobago. NYE was spent touring the beautiful beaches of Tobago during the day and then ringing in 2014 with friends later in the night. I'll be back to the bloggy world/reality next week with a full update.

Hope your 2014 is filled with lots of love and laughter!

Xoxo

Green Fashionista's New Year's Eve Celebrations

Can you believe 2013 has already come to an end? I definitely can't but it's been a great year and I'm excited to see what 2014 will bring...

As you might already know, I'm traveling for the holidays and spending NYE tonight with friends from back home so the awesome Kate @ Green Fashionista is entertaining today. Kate knows how to have a good time so enjoy her NYE celebrations over the years!

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Who else is just a tad bit jealous that Emily is ringing in the New Year in Trinidad & Tobago? I mean don't get me wrong, living life in Florida now is much more fabulous than growing up in Connecticut, but come on... girlfriend is in the Caribbean! So, I'll be filling in for her today, and you can find me over at Green Fashionista rambling about my recent purchases, house projects, recipes, and weekend escapades.

While Emily is ringing in the New Year soaking up the sun and partying on the beach, I'll be walking down the street to our neighbor's house for their fabulous NYE party. Last year, they had a dj, full bar (with a bartender!), and I dropped it like it was hot in the soul train line.

In college, my girls and I would dress up in our sluttiest finest sparkles and head out downtown to leave a trail of glitter and champagne bottles. Unfortunately, I can't relive NYE's of years past as I wasn't much of a picture taker until around the time I started dating my husband and it's been hit or miss ever since due to illnesses that liked to strike right around this time of year.

2008 - Sadly, our first NYE together was spent on the couch since he had mono, and we missed out on our friend's party. I was the good girlfriend who nursed him back to health and stayed home to be with him.

2009 - We rented a party bus with friends and we went up to Mohegan Sun to ring in 2010.

2010 - our first NYE in Florida, and I was recovering from labyrinthitis so needless to say I wasn't up to ringing in 2011. Another NYE on the couch....

2011 - we went to a club downtown with friends and reserved a VIP table with bottle service. It was supposed to be an amazing night, but way more people were invited than originally planned and it was chaos trying to get a seat or a drink. From that point on, I was all set with the downtown/club thing on NYE. I must be getting old...

2012 - We were mad men and tried to juggle 2 parties... we went to our friend's masquerade party where Emily and K were also ringing in the new year, but left before midnight to make it back home to ring in 2013 at our neighbor's house.

DJ? - Check

Bartender for fully stocked bar? - Check and check

Soul train line to end all soul train lines? - Check

Not having to worry about driving home or others on the road after midnight? - CHECK!

Can't wait to see what ringing in 2014 brings... Happy New Year!

Don't forget to come see me over at Green Fashionista and you can keep up with my NYE Shenanigans by following me on Twitter and Instagram.

NYE Party Ideas by Love Always, Nancy J

I have the lovely Jordan entertaining for me today while I'm in Trinidad & Tobago for the holidays. Jordan recently got married and I've loved following her journey from wedding planning into the newlywed life.
 I'll let her take it from here...
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Hey y'all! My name is Jordon and I am the lady spilling out my guts over at Love Always, Nancy J.
I am so excited to be guest posting for Emily while she is away!
Isn't she a doll?

We are hosting our annual NYE party this year and while I am excited, this party also skyrockets my anxiety.

 Two years ago someone dumped a bottle of champagne on my kitchen floor and last year someone tackled my mini Christmas tree.Needless to say, I have really great friends.

Every year I find all these fascinating ideas on Pinterest and I never bring them to life.

This year will likely end with the same sad story, but a girl can dream, right?

Here are some of my favorites!

Is it obvious I love all things gold and black?

Those may or may not have been our wedding colors ;)..

I hope everyone has the best of New Year's and Make sure to stop by and say hello!!