Weekend Whereabouts

How is it Monday already? The weekends are just never long enough. This weekend was full of celebrations and time spent with friends.

On Friday after work I met up with K and Lola downtown for happy hour and then dinner at Dexter's on the outside patio.

On Saturday I did a bunch of errands before heading to Sea Dog Brewing Co. for an early dinner and blogger date with Meg from Borrowed Heaven and Kate. Meg was in town visiting from Charleston with her husband and we had a nice time chatting over some drinks and dinner.

 

After dinner Kate and I headed downtown to celebrate a good friend's "F*ck Cancer" party since she's finally free of cancer after a year long battle. We are so happy she can live her life normally again because she really is the most sweetest and genuine girl that deserves a healthy life.

On Sunday we went out to celebrate the 1st birthday of little Landyn at their lakefront house. It's ridiculous that it was almost 80 degrees during "winter" in Florida but I'll take that over snow and frigid temps.

 

 

I loved spending time with friends, babies and fur babies this weekend.

 
Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

Friday Faves

I had a fairly uneventful week. K was traveling for work so I had my hands full with Lola bear who woke me up 2 hours early every morning. Needless to say, I'm relieved the weekend is here and that K is back home so we can catch up on some rest mixed with some fun out with friends. I did manage to celebrate National Drink Wine Day last night with some Sauvignon Blanc ($2.99 at Trader Joe's) and caught up on some TV shows while snuggling with the bear.

Favorite Scents:

All things Bath & Body Works. It was that time of year for another haul and these are the products that made the cut. Lots of liquid hand soap since we go through those quickly and I love the travel size hand sanitizers to keep in my purse, car, office desk, and pretty much everywhere I can store one.

Favorite Photo:

I snapped this photo last weekend when K and I went to College Park to explore before our Valentine's dinner. I'm amazed at how this simple unedited iPhone photo (only edit was iPhone brightener feature) captured such a beautiful day in Florida during "winter". 

Favorite Purchase:
These black and gold Kendra Scott Danielle earrings were my latest target. I received them from Rocksbox and instantly fell in love when I wore them this week so I opted to purchase them at a discounted rate. Also black and gold are my Alma mater colors so I figured they would be perfect for game day.

Recipe of the Week:

I've been experimenting with different type of salads for dinner. This week I made an Asian inspired salad with grilled chicken, edamame, sesame seeds, romaine and spicy peanut vinaigrette. Next on my list is this Avocado Caprese Chicken Salad with Balsamic vinaigrette.

Favorite Tech Style:

My new sparkly laptop skin from CaseApp is gorgeous and brings that girly touch to one of my favorite tech toys.

I've seen several people with all sorts of custom iPhone cases so when CaseApp reached out to me, I decided to go with a laptop skin because I like the protective iPhone case that I have now. The process of purchasing was seamless although it was a tough decision choosing which design I wanted to go with. Of course I went with sparkles!!

If you're interested in decorating your iPhone or laptop with a pretty skin you can use the code MARTINIS20 to get 20% off from CaseApp.com

Have a great weekend everyone!

Joining the lovely Amanda for her Friday Favorites linkup.

Peacock Home Decor Inspiraton

I adore the exuberant colors of a peacock. If I had Pinterest when I was planning my wedding, I'm sure I would have been tempted to incorporate some of those colors into my wedding color scheme. When it comes to home decor though, I typically keep it very neutral (I did a home tour of mi casa here). When I saw this peacock style bedding set come out a few years from the Jennifer Lopez collection, I knew I had to have it. With the husband's approval, because he would not want anything too girly (although I managed to throw some sparkly throw pillows in there), I made the purchase to finally add some color to our home decor.

When it comes to peacock-colored decor, we can probably all agree there's a fine line between gaudy and practical/stylish so I was thinking of some subtle ways one can incorporate the colors of a peacock into their home decor (especially a neutral home like mine). Here's what I came up with:

Peacock Mosaic Votive Holders

Laundry Basket Hamper (similar)

Glittery Peacock Feather Cushion

Peacock Feather Shower Curtain

Emerald Green Bath Towel Set

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Bite Me Dip

This is my mother in law's recipe which makes an appearance every year at our family gatherings for Christmas, Easter & Thanksgiving. "Bite me" dip is one of the staple appetizers we share while dinner is cooking and it goes extremely quickly because of how delicious it is. The ingredients are also very random but they blend together nicely to make a cheesy dip that has lots of flavor and a little bit of kick.

I decided to try my hand at making my MIL's famous dip to bring to Kate's annual holiday party back in December hence the festive serving dish. It's a great appetizer to feed about 15-20 people.

Ingredients:
8 oz. sour cream
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 jar sliced jalapeños, chopped
16 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
1 small can chopped olives
1/2 cup chopped deli ham (not shown in photo above)
1 round loaf of sourdough bread

What To Do:
Hollow out bread to1 inch thickness and keep pieces for dipping. Combine all other ingredients. Mix well and put into bread. Wrap in foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Serve with torn bread pieces, tortilla chips, crackers or bagel chips. 

 Enjoy!

Weekend of Love

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We stayed local and enjoyed some time out with friends along with some delicious food and drinks.

On Friday after work K and I met up with a good friend for dinner at Yamasan Sushi & Grill which has an amazing deal on sushi and drinks during happy hour. You can't beat $4 sushi rolls and wine so we splurged and picked six different rolls to share.

After dinner we went next door to Brass Tap to try some of their beers and hang out for a bit before calling it a night.

On Saturday, I did some damage at the grocery store and relaxed at home before getting dressed to celebrate Valentine's with K. We started off with some drinks in College Park. I tried some strawberry shortcake beer which was so delish!

We then headed over to Two Chefs Oyster & Seafood restaurant for dinner. It was our first time eating there and we really enjoyed the oysters for an appetizer. For entrees, I had blackened grouper and K had scallops and we shared some brussels sprouts and lobster mashed potatoes. Service was exceptional and we were in and out of there in less than an hour.

On Sunday I caught up on The People vs OJ Simpson and had a relaxing Valentine's day at home with K and Lola. We all made out with some gifts too.

K and I made some shrimp fondue to finish off the weekend of love and spent the rest of the evening planning our upcoming trip to Denver, CO!

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

January Beauty Haul

I was finally in need of a good beauty haul from ULTA last month to repurchase some of my favorite basics and try a couple new items recommended by friends and my esthetician.

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Repurchases:

I received a sample size of the Better Than Sex Mascara almost a year ago and it's just about to be done so I decided to get the full size since it's one of my favorite mascaras. I do still love the less expensive Maybelline Falsies Mascara for everyday wear so I mainly use the Better Than Sex Mascara for nighttime wear or special events such as weddings.

This is my third tube of Tarte Amazonian Foundation because I love the full coverage it provides and the variety of skin tones it caters for. I reviewed this foundation in greater detail here but if you're looking for full coverage, this foundation is on point.

I bought this same EcoTools Bamboo Brush Set about 5 years ago and although I cleaned my brushes often, I decided it was definitely time for a new set. I use the bronzer brush on a daily basis and the price tag is very affordable for such amazing quality brushes.

The Clarisonic Radiance Brush Heads are a self explanatory purchase but I did decide to go with the 'radiance' brush heads instead of the 'normal' this time around to see how they differ. I don't notice a huge difference but they are both soft and gentle on the skin which is ideal.

I used to buy expensive toners until I found the SO Totally Clean Facial Toner. The smell isn't harsh and it works just as effectively as the expensive toners except with a $5.99 price tag at Ulta.

NYX Butter Lip Glosses are a repeat purchase times a million. When you find the perfect texture lip gloss (not sticky) that comes in a variety of pretty colors and is 1/4 the price of expensive cosmetics it warrants a repeat purchase for life.

New:

The Murad Facial Moisturizer was recommended to me by my esthetician recently when I went for a facial. I expressed to her that my combination skin often results in a slightly shiny forehead later in the day yet the lower half of my face seems to be on the dry side. She recommended the Murad moisturizer because of it's matte finish for oily skin and I've noticed a remarkable difference.  

Essie Gel-Setter Nail Polish - The set includes a colored nail polish + a gel-setter top coat and no lamp is needed to set the polish. I chose the color Watermelon which is very pretty in person and I thought it would be perfect for Spring and Summer. Admittedly I haven't used this set yet because my nails are currently the shortest they've ever been so I'm working on growing them out before prettying them up.

Well, that was a mouth full of a post. If you made it this far, thanks for reading my reviews and feel free to share any of your favorite beauty products that are a must try!