Weekend!

I got to hang out with my two nieces (and SIL) this weekend and I can't wait to tell y'all about it!  Stay tuned!

Five on Friday - Observation Style

ONE:
My nieces and SIL are coming to stay with us this weekend and I'm SO excited!  We are going to have such a fun weekend!

TWO:
Phones and email accounts work both ways.  They send and receive!  

THREE:
Got great news from three of my girlfriends lately and I'm so happy for them!  Two got amazing promotions at work and one is pregnant!  Girl power!

FOUR:
I think OPI nail polish goes on and stays on better than Essie.  My MIL gave me two new OPI colors last weekend and I love them both!

FIVE:
Friday morning FlyBarre class is the key to beginning Fridays.  It makes me get through the day so much easier!  Thank you Tara for getting me to go with you!

Quinoa Recipe

Megan has been trying to get me to try Quinoa for the longest time and last week when Kevin wasn't here was the perfect opportunity.  I had no clue what to put in it so I winged it and it came out SO GOOD, if I do say so myself! ;)

Quinoa Annie Style
1 cup quinoa
1 14oz. can of vegetable broth
1 14oz. can petite diced tomatoes (drained)
1 14 oz. can garbanzo beans (drained)
4 TB reduced fat feta
3 TB parsley (dried) - or fresh would be better
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:  Cook the quinoa according to instructions (1 cup quinoa to 2 parts broth - combine on medium heat and cover for 15 minutes).  Take it off the heat and add everything else.  That's it, enjoy!  I'm going to have it for lunch today.  I think it's good hot or cold.  This made 3 portions if you are using it as a meal.  I bet it'd be good if I had added shrimp too!

So yes Megan, it was so good like you promised and I have no clue why it took me this long to have it for the first time!  :)  And thank you also to my friends for helping me learn how to say quinoa - prounounced: keen-wah!

Lilly Picks

Some seasons of Lilly I don't love.  But I like a lot of the patterns this year!

I LOVE this dress with those cut out small white beads.  And I may have gotten this dress for an event coming up! ;)

This print is so cute but I'm not sure how much it'll do for me.  For you skinny minnies - love it!

Wouldn't this one be perfect for a cool evening night out?

I can't do cap sleeve but I love this anyway!  Tried it on at the store and it runs big.

I may need this one!

Recipes for a Cookout

On Saturday night we had Kevin's parents, brother, sister-in-law and niece over for an easy cookout!

I made the brie dip for an easy appetizer.  This recipe is courtesy of my SIL Emily.  I take the rind off the brie (8 oz) and wrap it in reduced fat crescent roll triangles.  Pam the dish and set the brie in there.  Brush with a bit of butter and cook on 350 for 16 minutes or until crescent rolls are light brown.  When it comes out, put raspberry jelly on it and walnuts.  I served with wheat thins.  

I made The Pioneer Woman Layered Salad.  I made it earlier in the day and put the dressing on last minute.  It was much higher in the bowl when I made it then it kind sunk as it sat in the fridge - next time I'll chop everything ahead of time but not place it in the bowl until last minute.  And I did cut some corners - bought pre-shredded lettuce, didn't do the bacon, used grape tomatoes cut in half and used pre-shredded cheese.  Why not?!  

Two huge bunches of asparagus on the grill with salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Fruit salad.  I might have cheated and just bought this pre-made from Teeter.  Sometimes I think it is even cheaper to do this by the time you buy many different fruits.  Plus, we wanted it to be an easy dinner, not spend all day cutting fruit!

And my cousin's Cab Burgers.  The best!  If you've never made these, you're missing out on life.  Please make them, you'll be glad you did!  I don't serve with tomato and lettuce and we use onion buns per my Cousin Chef Laura's suggestion.  

Easy cookout.  Now the Farmer's Markets need to open so we can have good corn and also tomato slices!

Fun Weekend

Kevin was supposed to take a red eye back from Vegas on Friday night and get home Saturday morning but he ended up coming home late Friday night instead.  That was a nice surprise.

After work Tara and I went to the Adidas Clearance event at the Park Expo.  This is the 3rd year in a row we have gone.  We got the dry fit shirts for $6/each.  Steal of a deal!  It's also our tradition to try a new place in the Plaza Midwood area after the sale.  Mariel's husband suggested we go to Pint Central and he was right!  So good...we started with avocado fries and calamari.  We each had mahi mahi for dinner - hers was over vegetables and mine was over a BLT salad.  Yum.  I went directly to the airport to pick up a tired husband.

Saturday I went to the store and prepped all of the food for a cookout with our fam.  Recipes coming tomorrow!

Brad and Shauna stopped by and we had some wine and champagne and got to catch up.

We hadn't hung out since their wedding in Mexico in October.  It had been too long!  Shauna also just started a blog that I think you all will enjoy!  Click here to visit and tell her hi!

Lil Mills played ALL day on Saturday.  He literally was outside until 11:30pm playing.  Crazy boy.

This is pretty much what we did yesterday.  We did go to church with Kevin's parents and lunch afterwards at their club.  It was a treat for them to ask us to spend the morning with them.  

Today starts a good week!  Let it commence!

Five on Friday - Dresses

ONE:

I love this Elizabeth McKay dress.  Verrrrry tempting my friends!

TWO:

I got a text from a very dear friend last Sunday and it just was the sweetest thing.  She just told me she wished we lived closer and that she missed me.  SO kind and really made me happy.  I need to do those things more often.  

THREE:

I'm on the hunt for three kinds of dresses:

 - 3/4 sleeve dresses for cooler weather

 - professional sleeveless dresses that I can wear with a cardigan 

 - dresses for evenings out in Vegas with work people (so no low cut or short but still fun)

Anyone have any website suggestions?  You all know that I only know of a few websites ha!

FOUR:

This time last year we were so wedding involved and overwhelmed with what needed to be done to our house that planting flowers was the last thing on my list.  This year, I really want to make our yard springy-fied!

FIVE:

I have been home all of this week and what a joy that has been.  I planned out my travel so I could be here and be a single parent to Mills.  Kevin has been in Vegas for a work conference...don't feel too badly for him...Journey played for them on Wednesday night and they had some other amazing band on Tuesday night at their fancy dinners.  It's been SO weird to have been here all week AND to have been home alone!  Thankfully Kevin is returning home momentarily!

Mills at School

This lil boy need a lesson on how to COME when I call him.  So, he went to school for a private lesson with Edie.

And I made sure he had zero activity yesterday because I wanted him to be wound up so that instructor had the time of her life with him!a

So here it is...he was NOT happy about going into Petsmart.  I think he associated it with his haircut he got there which he did not like.  Anyway I had to lure the poor pooch with goodies.  He shook for the first 20 minutes.

He learned the command Touch which is basically like Come.  The instructor gave him a graduation cap to wear for pictures but I'm not so sure ole Millsy graduated yet.

He was thinking, "get me out of here and get this stupid hat off of me!"

So he got a good nights sleep.

Today he is at Camp to play for the day!  He's had a big week!

Aveda

I've used Aveda shampoo and conditioner for the past 10 years and I'm addicted.  So much that I buy the big bottles and only have to get shampoo once a year.  Yes it's a pretty penny when I do crank out $60 for a bottle but that's for all year long.  Not terrible!

I use very little conditioner so it takes me about as long to go through a small tube of that.

And I use this light elements smoothing balm after my hair is dry.  I know I should use it when it's wet to protect it from the heat, but I don't.  I like how it smooths it when dry...gives it a more finished look.

And Charlotte girls - whenever Modern does their deals on gift cards (like buy a $200 gift card, get an extra $50 free) get them!  I use them for my haircuts and these products so it's like getting everything 20% off!

Favorite Nail Polishes

These are my favorite nail polishes right now!  

Essie Fiji

OPI Elephantastic Pink - usually on my toes

My all time fav ever since Emily Maynard wore it on The Bachelorette - OPI Sweetheart.

Essie Tart Deco

Tell me your favorite!

(All images from Google)

St. Patty's Day Weekend

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all!

We had a big time this weekend.  Lil fun and a lil chill.  Friday night we had an early dinner with Kevin's parents, brother and niece at Rippington's!  

Saturday we didn't plan to do anything but we ended up taking Uber to Southend to meet friends at some breweries.  It was really fun!  Someone in my family sent me this shirt.  This is not my last name or my old last name but if you know us, then you know it has something to do with our crowd! ;)  

Little Mills had to partake in St. Patty's Day with some of his namesake - Miller Lite!  Usually he licks it off the driveway or patio, this time he was inside so he drank like a proper puppy would!

 

Michael, Emily, Koren, Me, Lauren, Andrew, Kathryn, Justin and Kevin.  This is at Lenny Boy.  We started at Triple C, then went to Good Bottle Company, Mac's for lunch, Lenny Boy then Tyber Creek.  Big day!

When we got home, pizza was necessary and we just ate out back and played fetch with our buddy.

Sunday the highlight was lunch with my friend Sarah at 131 Main and the rest of the day I steamed a lot of Kevin's shirts and pants.  Congrats to Virginia for winning the ACC Championship!

Five on Friday - West Virginia!

It's Friday!  

ONE:

We got our crape myrtle's cut back this week and a bunch of other yard work done.  Stay tuned for those photos.  Our yard needs a lot of help.

TWO: 

We have dinner at this place in Parkersburg, WV when I travel up there for work and it's in an old historic hotel.  Wednesday night I had salmon with a poached egg on top that had been poached in red wine.  And jalapeno mashed potatoes.  Yum.

THREE:

And after dinner, we always go to this bar called The Bankshot Pub.  It's quite the West Virginia establishment.  I think I've mentioned this place before.  Cash only.  We stick out like crazy.  Everyone stares at us when we walk it.  Mullets.  Spray painted shirts.  Guess tank tops with glitter.  It's fabulous.

FOUR:

I loved this girl's shirt.  You all know that commercial.

FIVE:

The sign of a successful site tour -- many miles on windy, hilly, dirt roads, backwoods WV/OH and even more realization of just how fortunate we all are!

Special shout out to my favorite real estate rep on her upcoming move to Colorado!  She got a promotion in her company and accepted a position to move back to where she grew up.  More power to ya sista!  We'll miss you but know we will see you often!

Happy Weekend!