Tradewinds Island Resorts on St Pete Beach

If you're ever looking for a relaxing beach getaway, I have the perfect place to recommend. St Pete Beach is one of my favorite beaches on the west coast of Florida and Tradewinds is a beachfront resort that offers lots of great amenities including beach & water sports, pools, beach cabanas, mini golf, paddleboats, spas, and several restaurants to choose from. They have two different properties along the same beach for either an adults-only or family-friendly vacation. The resort is also pet-friendly so your fur-babies are welcome to join the fun.
 
I've stayed at Tradewinds on three different occasions; the first time was many years ago for a friend's beach wedding, then K and I went for a "mini-moon" after our wedding in 2012 and most recently we stayed 3 nights this past June for my company's annual vacation. I posted a trip recap but I wanted to share more details about the resort itself.

This isn't a sponsored post of any sort. I just truly love this resort as a vacation spot.

The Guy Harvey Outpost is one of the two properties with a great restaurant onsite called the RumFish Grill. The restaurant has a fine dining side and a sports restaurant/bar side along with a huge aquarium and a Guy Harvey store.

We stayed at the Island Grand property, which I failed to get many photos of. The rooms came equipped with a mini kitchen and were comfortable (a little older but good enough for the price). Our balcony overlooked the paddle boat river. Typically I would choose a beach view but my company organized this trip and I had no say in the matter.

We spent our days lounging in the beach cabanas, which you have to book the night before as they fill up quickly. When the beach got too hot (June in Florida), we headed to the pool area to cool off. I didn't opt to do any water sports on this trip but I did go down the huge water slide on the beach.

Finally many beach cocktails were had at Salty's Tiki bar.The mojitos were the best!

And here's me in vacation mode....

As the Tradewinds resort slogan goes, Just Let Go.....


Tory Burch & Kate Spade Surprise Sales

Two of my favorite designers have popped up with surprise sales this week. How could they do this to me in the same week?!  With such huge savings it's quite impossible to completely avoid browsing the sales. I've already done some "window shopping" online and thankfully I don't see anything I really want or need from TB but did spot a few cute things from the KS sale that don't cost an arm and a leg.  

The Tory Burch private sale is offering savings up to 70% sale now through Friday, August 15th.

Although I think Tory Burch regular priced purses and sandals are over priced, if you can get them on sale or at the outlets then sometimes it's worth it

I recently snagged this pair of TB Tora sandals from Neiman Marcus for $10 off (for signing up to their mailing list) plus free shipping and returns. I like this pewter color and think it will match and go well with most of my outfits.


The Kate Spade surprise sale is offering savings up to 75% off now until Thursday, August 14th at midnight with $5 shipping throughout the US.

I have my eye on a few small items that are pretty affordable compared to their larger purses. 

$39 (down from $78)


$29 (down from $78)


$76 (down from $178)


What do you think of these picks?

Do you prefer the wristlet or crossbody purse? 


Broccoli & Cauliflower Casserole


Ingredients:
1 head of broccoli, chopped into florets
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
1/4 yellow onion, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 pack Ritz crackers, crushed
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt & black pepper to taste

Serving size: 8-10

What To Do:
1. Steam broccoli and cauliflower florets on high for 10 minutes.

2. In a large saucepan, saute chopped onion in 1 tbsp butter for approximately 6-8 minutes.  Add cream of chicken soup, milk, garlic powder, salt & pepper and whisk together ingredients.

3. Grease 9x13 baking dish. Layer bottom of the dish with cooked broccoli and cauliflower. Pour cream of chicken mixture from the saucepan over the broccoli and cauliflower.

4. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

5. In a small bowl, mix crushed Ritz crackers with 1-2 tbsp melted butter.

6. Remove from oven and layer remainder of shredded cheese on top of casserole and then sprinkle crushed Ritz crackers over cheese topping.

7. Place dish back in oven for another 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and cracker topping is golden brown.

7. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes and serve. This is a great side dish for holiday dinners such as Thanksgiving and Easter.

Enjoy!
Martinis & Bikinis 
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Celebrating Things To Come

As I mentioned on Friday, I've been needing a "my Netflix and my snacks" kind of weekend but this weekend had different plans for me. Friday night was pretty chill though, thankfully!

After going to dinner and drinks with my team on Thursday, we all arrived to work feeling rough on Friday. Very professional, I know, but sometimes we have to entertain clients and new hires that come into town and if they want to go out drinking then that's what we have do. We sent our new hire with a nice hangover on her flight back to the Netherlands on Friday.

K and I were supposed to go to a winery on Friday night that had live music and food trucks but I could barely keep my eyes open when I got home from work. We settled for a quiet dinner at Bonefish Grill and headed home after that. I've said this before but I'm obsessed with the bang bang shrimp at Bonefish. It's a must have when we go there! 

On Saturday we headed to K's hometown 2 hours away for a friend's co-ed baby shower. Baby Harper will be here next month and she got some wonderful gifts from their family and friends. 

After the shower we went out with some friends to catch up at the guys' favorite watering hole and then spent the night at my in-laws house.

On Sunday we headed back into town for one of my best friend's gender reveal party to find out whether their baby is a boy or a girl. Hence, the name of this post as we celebrated two babies coming soon.

The hosts asked everyone to wear either pink or blue depending what you thought the baby is going to be. I thought it was going to be a girl so I showed up in pink and K went in blue. They had a cute monkey pinata which the grandma-to-be was given the stick to hit and reveal the surprise. After many attempts out came a flood of blue candy. It was a really cute way to reveal the gender. 

As you can see based on the two teams below, the majority had a feeling it was going to be a boy. I was on the losing team but so excited for the soon-to-be parents and I'm looking forward to planning her baby shower.


How was your weekend?

Joining Biana for Weekending.
Weekending

Never A Dull Moment in Summer

It might not only happen in the summer but my weekends have been packed with non-stop things to do ~ work events, birthdays, weddings, beach trips, baby showers, gender reveal parties... you name it.  There's rarely a weekend that I'm not obligated or at least invited to do something. I welcome the ones where I don't need to show up on time or bring a dish/gift/bottle of wine. Sometimes my couch needs attention too, you feel me?

Anyways, we made it to Friday and that's good enough.

Unfortunately my netflix and my snacks won't be happening this weekend as I've got things to do and people to see on Saturday and Sunday. Joining Amanda today for Friday's Favorites.

Favorite Photo:

Favorite Accessory: 
I built up enough points with Best Buy to get a Lifeproof case for my iPhone for free! I still don't own a professional camera so my iPhone comes with me to the beach and all over in my travel adventures to take photos so the least I can do is protect it from water and other damages.

Favorite Deal:
The cupcake bakery near to my office has $2 cupcakes on Tuesdays so I finally caved this week and picked up this carrot cake goodness to find out what the hype was about.

Favorite Purchases:
A #Selfie shirt has now been added to my WTF coverup collection. I'm loving these "social media-esque" shirts.

Have a great weekend!


Summer Rompers Under $25

The summer days are blazing here in Florida and rompers are perfect if you're looking for a light and breathable outfit. I've found so many cute yet affordable styles under $25 for those shopping on a budget, cause I know I'm always looking for great deals on clothing.

Rompers can also be dressed down with flats for casual day or dressed up with fancy accessories and heels for a night out.

I'm loving these comfy looks for summer days.


Recipe Swap: Tuna Casserole


Ingredients:
2 cans chunk light tuna (drain water)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup 2% milk
2 cups frozen green peas
1 pack egg noodles or whole wheat pasta
1/4 yellow onion, diced
1 cup shredded cheese
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Black pepper to taste

Serving size: 8-10

What To Do:
1. Boil pasta according to instructions on packet (approximately 10 minutes)

2. Saute onion with olive oil in large sauce pan for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add milk, cream of mushroom, green peas, tuna, 1/2 cup shredded cheese, black pepper to sauce pan and stir well.

3. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and add remainder of shredded cheese. Bake for another 15 minutes until cheese is melted.

 4. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!
Martinis & Bikinis 
 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 Sunshine & Birthday Celebrations

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

On Friday night we went out to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday at a Sushi restaurant I've been dying to try out. We had a fun night catching up with friends over sushi, wine and some birthday dessert.

On Saturday we headed to the beach to celebrate another friend's birthday. The weather is sweltering hot in Florida so we got some frozen drinks to cool us down at Coconuts beach bar and spent the day lounging in the sun.

Sunday was a nice lazy day at home just as I like it these day.

In other news, K and I have been on a kick recently trying out new "fancy" beers every week for our happy hour on the patio. This past week we tried Blue Moon's Pumpkin Ale which was really good. I actually prefer it to the original Blue Moon. I was also surprised Pumpkin beer is already out on the shelves.

And my steals and deals of the week...I snagged a pair of silver sandals, a pretty lilac top and the most comfortable "WTF" beach coverup for $10 a piece from Express's sale.

How was your weekend?

Joining Molly for Funday Monday and Biana for Weekending.
still being [molly]Weekending