Always Welcoming the Weekend

Happy Friday lovelies!

Other than busting my ass at work, this week was pretty uneventful but I guess that's not a bad thing. I actually feel well-rested despite increased work hours + unruly cute puppy that's potty training + rain & fog causing my commute to almost double (don't even get me started on stupid drivers). Either way, this weekend will be used to sleep in and de-stress with a small chance of productivity.

I'm know I'm late to the party but I signed up for a free trial of Amazon Prime this week. I've obviously been in the dark about everything this membership comes with (other than 2-day shipping). I'm still figuring out all the perks but I'd love to hear from those that use it, mainly:

(1) What do I need to take advantage of during this 30-day trial?
(2) What really makes continuing with the $99 membership worth it?

 Joining the lovely Amanda and Tif for their Friday linkups. 

Favorite Accessories:

My growing Alex and Ani bangle collection. It's been fun customizing my collection around the things I love and being gifted some new beauties from K & friends.

Favorite Recipe:

This healthy Chicken Chickpea Salad from Ambitious Kitchen looks amazing!

Favorite Fashion & Hair Looks:

Favorite Funnies:

 

Have a great weekend!!

Sushi Hot Spots in Orlando

Shari Sushi Lounge
621 E Central Blvd
Orlando, FL 32801

Shari is my #1 pick for sushi restaurants in Orlando. I've been frequenting Shari for over 5 years and it's a great spot for girls night out or even date night. Their rolls are delicious and the best part is they have happy hour 7 days a week from 5 to 7 pm offering their specialty rolls for only $4.25 along with select wines and cocktails. The volcano roll and JB roll are a must try!

Sushi Pop
310 W Mitchell Hammock Rd
Oviedo, FL 32765

Image credit

Kabooki Sushi
3122 E Colonial Dr

Orlando, FL 32803

Image credit

Amura Japanese
55 W Church St
Orlando, FL 32801

Image credit

Seito Sushi

4898 New Broad St
Orlando, FL 32814

Image credit

Izziban

1700 Sand Lake Rd
Orlando, FL 32809

Image credit

Sushiology

6400 International Dr, Ste 130
Orlando, FL 32819

Image credit

Giveaway Winner: Bose Headphones + iTunes Gift Card

Sarah and I are excited to announce the winner of our Bose SoundTrue Headphones + $25 iTunes Gift Card Giveaway randomly selected by the Rafflecopter below...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We will be in touch with the winner today to get your prizes on the way! You will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be selected.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

 

Crockpot Skinny Chicken Pot Pie

Skinny Mom posted this Slow Cooker Pot Pie recipe late last year and I just had to try it. I love making use of my crockpot plus finding ways to cut calories in hearty recipes such as this one is always a win. I made a few small changes to the original recipe but overall I give this recipe 5 stars for being super delicious, fairly healthy (other than the biscuits) and easy to whip together.

Ingredients:
3-4 boneless skinless, boneless chicken breasts
7 red potatoes, peeled (optional) and cubed
1 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup chicken stock/broth
1 small yellow onion
2 cans Campbell's 98% Fat Free Cream of Chicken Soup
1 bag Birds Eye Frozen Mixed Vegetables
1 cup celery, diced
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp dried parsley
Black pepper (to taste)
Red Cayenne pepper (to taste)
1 can Pillsbury Flaky Biscuits (optional)

What To Do:

1. Place the cubed potatoes at the bottom of crockpot and layer chicken breasts on top.
2.  Evenly layer diced onion, celery and minced garlic over chicken.

3.  In a bowl, mix together the soup, milk, water and chicken stock. Stir in spices and seasonings and pour over the celery, onions, chicken and potatoes. 

4.  Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours (or high for 4 hours).

5. 30 minutes before serving, remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and shred with fork. Return to crockpot and stir in mixed  frozen vegetables. Cook for an additional 30 minutes.
6. Optional: Make biscuits according to directions on the package.

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.

January Weekending

After the busyness of the holidays, quiet weekends in January are always welcomed. Time to take the holiday decorations down and snuggle up at home to unwind. 

On Friday night, K and I went to Bonefish Grill for some dinner and drinks. Eating out on Fridays is something I always look forward to since we cook healthy dinners at home during the week.

On Saturday, we took Lola to her first puppy training class which went well. She learned different commands and caught on quickly but she was definitely the most rambunctious in her class which had a pitbull and two miniature collies.

We went for lunch after training at a dog-friendly restaurant and enjoyed sitting outside on the patio in the sunny 60-something weather.

Saturday night was spent at home watching Taken 2 and snuggling with Lola. Since Taken 3 just came out, I wanted to get up to speed before we go see the newest movie.

On Sunday, we headed to a friend's baby shower to celebrate the soon arrival of her son. It was a fun afternoon spent with friends and showering the mom-to-be.

The baby shower had a Dr. Seuss theme with green eggs & ham and lots of Dr. Seuss food and decorations and of course, she got tons of amazing gifts. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

Weekly Roundup and Friday's Favorites

Happy Friday!

I have a fairly low key weekend lined up and looking forward to taking Lola to her first puppy training class tomorrow. My toes and furniture will thank me later!

Last night K and I went to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate his promotion at work. The manager came over and ended up comping our dinner since their restaurant and K's company do business together. Win win!

Late photo recap of NYE night because I just received these photos from a friend's camera. We're a classy but more so, a crazy bunch. 

Linking up with the lovely Amanda for Friday's Favorites.

Favorite Recipe:

Chicken and Asparagus Stirfry

Favorite Gift:

Kate gave me this cute bulldog magnet as a birthday gift and it's now up on my fridge. I definitely agree life has been better since we got Lola!

Favorite Seasonal Beer:

Blue Moon Mountain Abbey Ale

Favorite Giveaway:
Mine & Sarah's of course! Enter now and daily (until next Wednesday) for additional chances to win an awesome set of Bose headphones and a $25 iTunes gift card so you can load up on your favorite tunes for 2015.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Favorite Funnies:

 

 Also linking up with Tif, Caitlin, Katie and Della for their new High Five for Friday linkup.

 

Giveaway: Bose SoundTrue™ Headphones + $25 iTunes Gift Card

Sarah from Coffee & Glitter and I have teamed up to offer our lovely readers a chance to win 1 pair of Bose SoundTrue™ Headphones ($179 retail value) plus a $25 iTunes Gift Card!

The giveaway will run from today until next Wednesday, January 14th at which time one winner will be selected at random. Enter now and stop by each day for additional chances to enter.

Good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The winner will be announced within 7 days of the closing day. Once the winner is chosen, they will relieve an email from me and will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be randomly selected.

All entries will be verified and reviewed at the discretion of the giveaway hosts. Any falsified entries will be disqualified. Please note this giveaway is open to US residents only.

Spiced Butternut Squash Soup

This soup was amazing! I looked up several different pumpkin and butternut squash soups online and kind of just adjusted the ingredients to my liking. You can use less seasonings & spices for a milder soup but I like mine with a little kick.

Ingredients:

3 lb. butternut squash, cut in cubes

3 tbsp butter

3/4 yellow onion, diced

2 tbsp minced garlic

1 1/2 cup chicken stock

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp minced ginger

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup sour cream

Black pepper to taste

What To Do:

1. In a skillet, melt butter and saute chopped onions and garlic for 5 minutes on medium heat. 

2. Add cubed squash along with chicken broth and sprinkle with black pepper.

3. Cover and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes or until squash is soft enough to mash.

4. Add mashed squash to blender or food processor and puree. Return to pot. 

5. Heat stove to low/medium heat and add all remaining seasonings along with the whipping cream and sour cream. Stir all ingredients until well blended and heat for another 10 minutes.

6. Serve and 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 Lounging & Epcot Adventures

I'm thankful things are starting to quiet down after the holidays although I always seem to find a way to make plans for the weekends so it's never 100% relaxing.

I did get some relaxation on Friday night. We watched the movie Let's Be Cops, which was pretty funny. Definitely a Redbox quality movie, if you know what I mean, but good enough for a quiet night at home.

On Saturday morning we met up with a couple friends at Epcot and went on some rides including Soarin' (my favorite) which is such a cool simulated ride where you fly above California in what seems like a helicopter but with your feet dangling below. 

After the rides we had some beer in Germany and some wine in Italy before heading to Morocco's Tangierine Cafe for a quick lunch/dinner.

Sunday was spent at home taking down some Christmas decorations, getting back on track with my recipes and of course spending time with K and Lola.

I love how she sleeps with her tongue sticking out.  haha

How was your weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for weekending.

NYE Recap & Friday's Favorites

Happy New Year!

This week has been weird with NYE being smack dab in the middle of the week, no work yesterday but then right back to work today. Let's just say I'm ready for the weekend already and so happy it's Friday!

We went to a NYE party at a friend's house and it was a fun night with good friends, jello shots & delish food. But after working a long & stressful day I was ready to go home after the ball dropped and spend the rest of the night with Lola.

Joining the lovely Amanda for Friday's Favorites.

Favorite Sites: 
I'm loving that the weather has been in the 70s with beautiful sunsets at night. It must be a record high because wearing flip flops and shorts on Christmas day is not the norm!!

Favorite Recipe

Pumpkin soup by Sarah from Coffee & Glitter (recipe found here). Im a sucker for a good soup and might even attempt to make it this weekend if I have some extra time.

Favorite Product & Shopping Finds

These are some of my favorite items I scored in 2014 -- 50% off Bath & Body Works 3-wick candles this week (I've already stocked up) --  MK purse (in grey) -- TB sunglasses for my birthday -- Versace Bright Crystal (smells amazing) -- VS lace undies -- TRESemme Keratin Smooth hair products to control frizz and tame hair -- Smashbox concealer -- Tarte foundation (both provide excellent coverage) -- comfy PJs for lounging at home. 

Favorite Funny:

And of course my favorite baby girl, Lola.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone has a great NYE night and I'm looking forward to making many more bloggy friendships in the new year!