Five on Friday

 I'm looking forward to having no big plans this weekend and going where the wind takes me, preferably to the couch and my bed...although we'll be out and about on Sunday for a local festival. I'm volunteering at the Hunger Project for Feeding Children Everywhere today with some coworkers so the day should go by quickly.

ONE:
Last night I attended a charity event held by our local Victim Service Center (for victims of sexual assault). My company has sponsored the organization for the past few years so the event was held in appreciation of sponsors and community partners. We mingled at a new restaurant downtown and enjoyed some appetizers and wine.

TWO:

Lola cracked her rear molar last week from chewing on something unknown to us and had to get the tooth extracted which meant unforeseen vets bills right before our trip so now I'm seriously considering pet insurance. Does anyone have advice or experience with insurance for dogs and if it's worth it? I've heard mixed reviews. Otherwise she's one the mend and feeling good with her pain meds.

About time for a new doggie bed? She fits like a pig in a blanket. lol

THREE:
Kate Spade's Champagne at midnight watch makes me super excited my birthday is coming up. My wishlist-making has been begun, and while I'm at it, the Champagne bottle iphone case will be added too. 

FOUR:

I didn't mention it in my weekend recap of our trip to Barbados but two adorable cats adopted us while on vacation. I say adopted us, because they would just wonder into our apartment and make themselves comfortable every morning while we had coffee and breakfast. They were very sweet cats and never traveled without each other. I also tried to feed them a slice of bread (limited options okay?!) but I guess cats don't like bread, well at least these two smelled it and walked away.

FIVE:

Martinis & Bikinis' 3rd anniversary is this weekend and I can't believe I've reached this milestone. It's been a fun time slowly growing my space and meeting some amazing ladies while I'm at it. I usually try to throw a giveaway for my blogiversay but time got away from me this year with all the traveling.

 

Luckily I'm already co-hosting an awesome giveaway for Tif's birthday and we're giving away some gorgeous Kendra Scott statement earrings plus a $105 Sephora gift card so don't forget to enter!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Enjoy the weekend!

Joining Amanda for her Friday Favorites linkup.

Kendra Scott & Sephora Giveaway

How about a little mid-week giveaway with some gorgeous Kendra Scott earrings and $105 worth of Sephora goodies! I personally love the color of those earrings!

I've teamed up with these lovely ladies to celebrate Tif from Bright on a Budget's birthday and bring you this awesome giveaway so enter now for a chance to win!

HOSTS

Bright on a Budget | The Lady Lawyer |  Come Home for Comfort | BYBMG

Martinis & Bikinis | Green Fashionista | Della Devoted | The Sequin Notebook

Doused in Pink | Cup of Tea | Legal Lee Blonde | Garay Treasures

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER.  By entering, you are certifying that you are at least 18 years old, a resident and you acknowledge that the promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with, Kendra Scott or Sephora.     Contest is only open to residents of the forty-eight (48) contiguous states of the United States.  Winner must respond to notification of winning the prize within twenty-four (24) hours of another winner will be selected.  FOR FULL TERMS & CONDITIONS, PLEASE SEE the Terms & Conditions.

Good luck!

Wedding Weekend in Barbados

Hi everyone! I'm officially back in action after spending the past several days in Barbados for a friend's wedding. We had an amazing trip and I plan to post a "Guide to Barbados" next week. Just a little late but I'm joining Biana for her Weekending linkup to recap our (long) weekend trip.

K and I arrived in Barbados late on Wednesday night so we had just enough time to grab some dinner and hit the sack before waking up super early on Thursday to head to the marina where we took a catamaran cruise around the island. We enjoyed the crystal blue waters around Barbados' coast and went snorkeling where we saw a ship wreck, tons of beautiful fish, and also swam with some friendly turtles. I wish I owned an underwater camera to capture our snorkeling adventures.

Thursday night was girls night with the bride-to-be, her bridesmaids, mom and other ladies in the family. The bridesmaids cooked up a local fish dinner, and we had some wine and just hung out since we had to be up bright and early on Friday to start the hair and makeup process. 

Friday morning came quickly and we got started at 8am at the wedding venue which was a beautiful villa that sits on Barbados' west coast. The girls spent the day getting prepped and hanging out with the bride.

It was then time for the ceremony, which was at a beautiful church cathedral and the reception was back at the villa. It was one of the most beautiful weddings I've attended to date and the bride looked stunning!

On Saturday, a friend of mine who lives in Barbados took us on our own private tour of the island. We stopped off at The Crane resort which looks like something out of a magazine to have lunch and check out the amazing views.

We drove around the east coast and checked out a few other beaches and lookout points. Barbados is definitely in my top 5 list of most beautiful Caribbean islands. The color of the ocean and scenery is incredible.

On Sunday we hit the beach by our hotel super early for one last swim and lounge on the beach before meeting up with some family for breakfast/brunch and then packing up to head to the airport.

As I always say after vacation - it was way too short!! But we packed our days and nights full so we didn't waste a minute of Barbados' beauty and spending time with family and friends.

I'm looking forward to catching up on some blog reading this week and getting back into my regular routine.

Five Friday Faves

Happy Friday everyone! I'm in shock that October has already come to an end. This year is zipping by and in only two months it will be 2016. Crazy!

As I mentioned on Wednesday, I'm in Barbados for a friend's wedding and today is the big day so I'm up and at it super early today to start the hair and makeup process. It's going to be a LONG day but I'm so excited the day is finally here! I've been fairly distracted this week so I'm going to get right into some of my favorites for the week. 

ONE:

Wrap-style bridesmaid dresses. This is the second wedding I'm in that I'll be wearing a wrap dress which can be styled over 15 different ways depending on your preference. I love the versatility and the color options for these dresses.

TWO: 

This Fall Turkey Chili with Pumpkin from Trader Joe's looks amazing and I like that it has pumpkin in it. I don't cook things with pumpkin often enough. 

THREE:

I love these Doe Eyed Deer costumes and makeup for Halloween. I found a deer makeup video tutorial to recreate the makeup and another DIY tutorial to make the deer antler floral headband.

FOUR:
Comfortable and casual airport outfit ideas. Of course comfortable walking shoes are a must but also the plane is usually freezing so layering up is a good idea.

FIVE:

Amanda from Voyage of the Mee Mee posted about the Which Golden Girl Are You? buzzfeed quiz earlier this week and I was curious to see which Golden Girl best matched my personality and surprisingly I got Rose. I personally think I have qualities from all four of them but I'll take Rose even though she's on the ditzy side of the fence. I've always loved her because she reminds me of my late grandmother (because she's super sweet not ditzy)!

Enjoy Halloween weekend safely and I look forward to catching up with everyone next week!!
xoxo

Island Time

I'm traveling to Barbados today for one of my best friend's weddings on Friday so I will be unplugging for a few days and focusing on bridesmaid responsibilities + relaxing on the beach when time allows me to do that.  Learning from past trips, I really need to live in the moment instead of worrying about online things and work emails which stress me out. Feel free to follow my adventures on Instagram when I happen to get some Wi-Fi access!!

Other than the wedding festivities, we have plans to swim with the turtles, drive around the entire island (which takes 3 hours) and spend Halloween night out and about with friends. I look forward to reading everyone's Halloween/weekend whereabouts next week.

Happy hump day my pretty friends! I hope Friday gets here quickly for you! xoxo

Chicken & Broccoli Rice Casserole

This is one of the more complicated recipes I've made recently only because it requires several different moving parts and pans to cook the chicken, broccoli and rice separately before assembling the casserole but it's worth the few extra dishes. Chicken & Broccoli Rice casserole it a great recipe for the Fall and can feed 8 to 10 people.



Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, cooked & chopped
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 head of broccoli
1.5 cups cooked rice
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup of milk
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
2 eggs, beaten
1.5 cups shredded cheese
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper, to taste

What To Do:
1. Boil chicken breasts with poultry seasoning for 15 minutes or until cooked fully. Once chicken has cooled, cut into small bite-size pieces.
2. Cook rice according to directions on the package. I used instant brown rice to speed up the process a bit.
3. Cut broccoli florets off the stem and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Pour 1/2 cup water evenly over the broccoli and cook in microwave for 4 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 9x13 backing dish with nonstick spray.

5.  In a medium skillet, melt butter and add chopped onion and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add cream of chicken soup and whisk in the milk, flour, and eggs. Finally add 3/4 cup of shredded cheese along with salt and pepper and whisk together until smooth. Cook for another 5 minutes or until thickened.
6. In a large mixing bowl, combine cooked chicken, rice, broccoli and soup mixture and mix well with a spoon.
7. Pour mixture into baking dish, top with remainder of shredded cheese and then sprinkle panko breadcrumbs over cheese.
 8. Bake on 350 for 35 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.

Enjoy!

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Low Key Weekend

The weekend was fairly quiet so nothing crazy to write about. We are traveling later in the week for the 3rd wedding I'm a bridesmaid in for the year so most of the weekend was spent shopping for odds and ends (sunblock, swimsuits, gifts for the bride) and organizing what to pack.

One of the things I bought the bride-to-be was this Soft Cotton Bride Sleepwear Set for under $25. I put together a whole gift bag for her with lingerie, perfumes, sleepwear and other bridal things.

On Friday I went to happy hour with some coworkers and then just relaxed at home for the rest of the evening with K and Lola, which was much needed!

On Saturday, K and I headed out to do some shopping and then had some empanadas for lunch at a small Colombian restaurant close to home.

On Saturday night I went to a charity event for the Special Olympics of Florida which I've attended for the past 5 years. The event included live music, Black Jack table games (with funny money), silent auctions, and food tastings from some of the best local restaurants. It was fun walking from tent to tent trying different tapas and I also got black jack on one my hands so I won a gift card to a local sports restaurant. It was a really fun night out with K and some of my coworkers.

 

Sunday was spent relaxing, blogging, food prepping and packing for our trip. I also tried out this Triple Cream Brie with Wild Mushrooms from Trader Joe's which is amazing with pita chips! If you like mushrooms and brie cheese then I definitely recommend it.

How was your weekend? Linking up with the lovely Biana.