Beach Style: Swimsuit Cover Ups

Tossed Greek Salad & Homemade Dressing

Serving size: 8

Ingredients:

1 head of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped

20 small grape tomatoes, cut in half

1 cucumber, cut into small cubes

15 greek Kalamata olives

1/4 red onion, sliced into thin rings

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Dressing: 

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

lemon juice from 1 lemon

2 tbsp chopped parsely

1 tsp dried oregano or Italian seasoning

Black pepper to taste

What To Do:

1. Whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, parsley and seasonings in a measuring cup or small bowl. 

2. Mix the lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cucumber, olives and feta together in large bowl. Pour the dressing over the top of the salad and toss together all the ingredients.

 

3. Chill in the fridge for a few hours or serve immediately. 

Enjoy!

 

 1. Follow Kate and myself via GFC and Bloglovin. 

2. Link up your favorite recipes or food-related posts.

3. Grab our Recipe Swap button and link back to our blogs.

Disney Dinner Blate & Sunday Brunching

Monday meets us again way too soon but hope everyone had a great weekend!

On Friday night I met up with Kate, Bella and Deborah for a dinner blate at an Italian restaurant in Downtown Disney. It was such a great time getting to know these ladies and chatting about blogging and our lives.

On Saturday, K and I spent the day together getting some errands done and then had a sushi lunch date.

Florida is hot, hot, hot! We got in the car after lunch and the temperature outside was over 100 degrees.

We picked up some Banana Bread beer to try out and the "Guilt Trip" movie from Redbox and had a chill Saturday night at home.

On Sunday, I met up with some friends downtown for brunch to celebrate one of my besties 32nd birthday. Lord knows brunching is one of my favorite "past-times". It was a great time catching up with friends as usual.

We hopped around downtown Orlando and ended at Aku Aku (Hawaiian Tiki Bar) for some "Tiger Fuckers". So glad I got to see my girls and spend the end of my weekend with great friends!

How was your weekend? 

Joining Molly for Funday Monday and Biana for Weekending.

Friday Favorites: Golden Skies

#1: Pretty Sunsets

I looked into my backyard on Tuesday night and the sky was glowing with different shades of yellow and orange. I found out there was a double rainbow that evening in Central Florida and I must have been very close to the pot of gold. This picture doesn't really do justice for how crazy/beautiful the sky looked (iPhone camera).

#2: Healthy Dinners

We're pretty good at making healthy dinners all week at home and then treating ourselves on the weekends to eating out. One of my favorite dinners is baked pesto salmon which is actually a recipe K made up and it's super delicious. The pesto gives the salmon so much flavor and it goes great with asparagus or broccoli. I posted the recipe here several months ago.

#3: Bows

I don't how it happened exactly but all of a sudden I'm slightly obsessed with bows. Bow earrings, bow hair clips & accessories, Kate Spade bow sandals and my latest purchase: this bow white top.

#4: Three-Buck-Chuck

I cracked open my $2.99 bottle of Pinot Grigio from Trader Joe's and had a few glasses this week. Not too bad for the price.

#5: Steals & Deals

Don't forget to check out Nordstrom's Fall 2014 sale starting today until Aug 4th. Amanda from Meet @ the Barre posted a complete preview of the sale here earlier this week. I'm hoping to snag a couple pretty items before the stocks run out.

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Joining Lauren for H54F and Amanda for Friday's Favorites.

Beauty & Skincare Wishlist

Naked 3 Palette  |  XXL Plumping Powder  |   Too Faced Lip Cream

Agent Zero Shine  |  Miracle Worker Overnight  |  Airbrush Legs

Patent-Gel Top & Tails  |  Smashbox Liquid Halo  |  Girls Summer Bath Gels

I've had my eye on the Naked 3 palette for a while now but only recently ran across most of the other products and would love to take them for a whirl. Butter London's at-home gel nails to save money instead of going to the salon, Batiste's plumping hair powder for more hair volume and Benefit's zero shine agent to prevent a shiny face all sound pretty amazing!

Also, having recently hit 30, I think it's time to try out a good nighttime face moisturizer to start firming and avoiding wrinkles from now. Lastly, bright lips, tanned legs and sweet smelling scents are a must for the summer.

Have you tried any of these products and would you recommend any of them?

Recipe Swap: Spicy Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 large sweet potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 tbsp Olive oil

1 tbsp Honey (or maple syrup)

1 tbsp Sriracha sauce

1 tbsp butter

 1/3 tsp Red cayenne pepper

1/3 tsp Garlic powder

Black pepper to taste

Serving size: 4

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and spray 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and arrange into the baking dish.

3. Bake for15 minutes & remove from oven to stir. Bake for another 15 to 20 minutes,

Enjoy!

 

 1. Follow Kate and myself via GFC and Bloglovin. 

2. Link up your favorite recipes or food-related posts.

3. Grab our Recipe Swap button and link back to our blogs.

Weekend Whereabouts

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

K and I had a dinner date at Bahama Breeze on Friday night then met up with some friends at Firkin & Kegler bowling alley to do some bowling and catch up over some drinks.

On Saturday, I did some errands before we headed over to a friend's birthday BBQ/pool party.

Sunday was a nice lazy day at home.

Joining Bella for Weekend Recap, Molly for Funday Monday & Biana for Weekending.

Friday's Update: Weekly Highs & Lows

The weekend is here and that's definitely something to be thankful for!

This was the first week in a long time that I didn't feel exhausted (from traveling) despite having a seriously demanding week at work. Getting out of bed wasn't a challenge and I was able to keep up with my workload although I fell a bit behind with reading blogs.

One:

Trader Joe's has finally come to Central Florida and the herds have been flocking in. It took 15 minutes to get a parking spot but I finally got in and saw what all the hype was about. Everything is so cheap and I love all the stuff you can't find at our local grocery store including the famous "three buck chuck" (wine). I'll definitely be back for more of that $3 goodness!

Two: 

I wrote a meal plan for dinner this week and stuck to it.

Mon: Chicken & veggie stir-fry

Tues: Pork chops w/ carrots & zucchini

Wed: Shrimp & Chicken Southwest salad

Thurs: Chicken fajitas

We eat stir-frys and most of the other meals above on a regular basis but it was my first attempt at making Southwest salad and it was amazing! We even had enough to bring to work for lunch the next day. I'll be adding this to our ongoing meal plan.

Three:

I got invited to a friend's baby shower and thought this was a really cute idea to insert in the invitation. I've already purchased my book for baby Harper.

 

Four:

Yesterday was the anniversary of the passing of my college roommate and one of my best friends.  Cancer sucks! July 10th will always be a day of mourning for me. Miss you SLH!

Five:

I failed at making it to the gym this week but stuck to eating healthy breakfasts whether it was a boiled egg, low-carb shake or some fruit. With all the traveling, I've been seriously slacking at the gym and need to show my face tomorrow to get the ball rolling. No more traveling for a while so I can focus on my health/fitness, date nights with K, cleaning the house, healthy meals and catching up on everything else I've been neglecting.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Joining Lauren for H54F and Amanda for Friday's Favorites.

Summer Dresses & Accessories

Oh, hey looks who's blogging about summer again! This time I'm sharing some of my recent fashion finds and pretty summer dresses.

I've been to a ton of weddings and different events recently which means I've had to shop for new outfits & matching accessories at an affordable price. Admittedly, I'm no model and I really don't like posing for photos but these are some of my favorites for the year.

 Lily Rose Geometric Maxi Dress: similar, similar
 Patterned Stretch Long Skirt: similar, similar, similar

Hi-Lo Summer Dress: similar, similar

Blue Avenue Swing Dancer Dress: here

Trixxi Strapless Dress: similar, similar 

Target Printed Strapless Dress: similar, similar, similar

Accessories:

What's in my Beach Bag & Summer Favorites

It's no secret my ideal weekend is spent either lounging at the pool or hanging out at the beach. My pool/beach bag remains packed at all times and ready to grab when we head out on the weekends.

Hat ~ Sunglasses ~ Chapstick ~ Kleenex ~ Hand Sanitizer ~ Towel ~ Sunblock ~ Tanning Oil ~ Dry Oil ~ Sunblock for the face ~ Beer koozies ~ iPod Speakers ~ Snacks

Some other summer essentials that may not be able to fit in my bag:

Always remember to load up on sunblock and drink lots of water!

What's your summertime favorites?