Long Weekend Excitement

Happy Friday!
I feel so relieved the long weekend is here. What a difference one extra day of relaxation can make especially since we (in the US) get to skip over that dreaded Monday.

This week consisted of me going back and forth via email with Bloglovin's a-hole support staff who tried to place the blame on me for my feed not working. I would have possibly believed them if there wasn't several other bloggers complaining about the same issue. It's fixed. For now. Only took a week.

Other than that BS, the orange sunset from my backyard wasn't too shabby on Wednesday night.

So let's get right into some weekly faves and joining the newly turned Mrs. Amanda for her Friday Favorites linkup. Hoping she's enjoying her honeymoon in European paradise!

Favorite Fashion Finds:
Some Memorial Day-themed outfit ideas. Keeping it casual of course. I especially like the Marilyn Monroe top and the sunnies.

Favorite Hair Inspiration:

This Relaxed Half-up Braid looks pretty and easy to recreate.

Favorite Recipe
Skinny Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Skinnytaste.com seriously has the best recipes. I would post their recipes every week if it wasn't for other great recipes on Pinterest and, of course, from other bloggers I follow.

Favorite Funnies:

I think this is my first thought almost every morning when the alarm goes off...

Cheers to the weekend!

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Siesta Key, Florida

I couldn't be more excited to finally make it out to one of my favorite beaches in the world this coming weekend. The sand at Siesta Key feels like white powder, the water is crystal clear, and the overall vibe is soothing.

If you've never heard of Siesta Key Beach, it's located on Florida's west coast close to the city of Sarasota, which is where K grew up and my in-laws live so we try to make it out to the beach when we're in town visiting family. 

Ever since Siesta Key was ranked #1 beach in the US by Trip Advisor (in 2011), it's popularity has grown quite a bit causing certain weekends to be crowded and making parking a stalking game but once I'm settled on a beach chair near to the water it's literally my definition of heaven on earth. 

Things you may or may not see at Siesta Key beach:
~ tons of colorful beach umbrellas and tents. (guaranteed)
~ lots of beach activities including volleyball, ladderball, casual football and lots more.
~ NYC's famous Naked Cowboy and his female sidekick (yes that did happen)
~ Policemen on horses patrolling through the crowds (maybe)

After laying out in the sun for a few hours and taking a dip in the ocean, we always head over to the Siesta Key Village for a cold daiquiri at Daiquiri Deck and some seafood lunch at Siesta Key Oyster Deck (SKOB).

Blinged Out Pet: Rhinestone Dog Collars

My personal friend owns BlingedOutPet.com and since Lola already outgrew her puppy collar, I needed to get her a new everyday collar and then decided a sparkly collar would be great for special occasions. Yes, I am that pet mom. Every girl needs a casual outfit and then one for fancy occasions so why not our furbabies?

I reached out to Laura to get one of her rhinestone collars made for Lola. The crystals are sewn and glued on to the collar for stability and she includes extra crystals in case any need to be replaced. The collars also come in a variety of sizes and colors. 

I picked a pink medium-sized collar with 4-rows of rhinestones which is so pretty and gets tons of compliments. These collars are perfect for show dogs or just spoilt ones like Lola.

After telling Laura about my blog and that I was thinking of posting a review on her collars, she generously offered the coupon code EMILY to give my readers 20% off the retail price.

You can check out more of their rhinestone collars on BlingedOutPet.com and on their Facebook.

Spicy Jalapeno Coleslaw

This is a great side dish for Summer BBQ's and coleslaw is ridiculously easy to make when you buy the already prepared dried coleslaw because seriously why would I torture myself any other way. 

Ingredients:

8 oz. dry coleslaw

1 cup light mayonnaise

1-2 jalapeños, minced and deseeded

1 tsp white vinegar

Black pepper to taste

What To Do:

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well. (I only ended up using 1 jalapeño because I found it to be spicy enough)

2. Ready to serve immediately or can be refrigerated for a couple hours before serving. 

I paired this side item with Kristen's Crockpot BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches to create a delicious weekend meals for the husband and I.

Enjoy!

Weekend Whereabouts

Hey pretties!
We meet again on this Monday morning (which came too soon) but I'm ready to tackle this week after a fun weekend spent celebrating with friends.

On Friday night we went out to a local sports bar/restaurant for a friend's going away party and to have some dinner and drinks. They had a huge turnout out to send the newly wed couple off for their move to Tampa.
 

On Saturday morning, I got a bunch of errands done including some shopping and lunch with the hubs before we went to Kate's house for her BBQ/pool party. I made my Cranberry Cream Cheese Pinwheels to add to the spread. Kerri and Pamela also came out so we had fun catching up and playing Cards Against Humanity which is always a riot.

On Sunday I slept in until 10 am before getting up to do some laundry, food prepping and blogging. K and I then took Lola out downtown to Vanbarry's dog-friendly restaurant for lunch with some friends.

How was your weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

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