Random Likings This Week

Well here are my random likings... errrr lovings at the moment that I thought were worth sharing with you all...

J&I will FOR ABSO-FREAKIN-LUTELY be having a date night like this... but not star gazing but drive-in-ing (if there is such a word). There is a drive in outside of Dallas on the other side, and we.are.doing.it. PERIOD.

Perfect gifty for the hubs? I agree

UGH.... Do yall remember this post? I have been **almost** reinspired to get my shred on... her posts crack me up... they are all so true... you almost DIE doing this video anyone interested in doing it with me/keeping me accountable?!

How amazing is this? Not exactly necessary; however handy?

I love this kitchen. Thats all!

Trees!!! Whats not to love?

Who wants to start this book club with me?????

Obsessed with these. must.have.at.party.soon.

These are sooooo our eggs for this year!

Been LUH-VING planning Miss JB & P's engagement party with the girls... I cant share too much but just think the below.... ooooooooweeeee :)

Can yall believe we have almost been married a year??? Planning our anniversary weekend... looking forward to every minute of it!

This dress is fantastic!

We are not close to baby time; but whenever that day does come, can I have one of these???? Please & thanks!

I mean thats really it for my lovings this week - Happy Tuesday peeps!

Love is..

Holy Yum!

I was never really a crock-pot kinda girl, but J loves him food out the crock-pot. My picky eater has claimed that anything out of the crock-pot is delicious (this can make for some fun for me in the future - ha!)

Any way, I am a sucker for a baked potato. I'm nearly sure that my freshman year in college I lived off of them - and the mean croissant sammie from the Hullabaloo!

So this recipe from my sweet friend over at Chocolate Broccoli was perfect for us.

BBQ Chicken Baked Potatoes

INGREDIENTS
6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
one medium red onion, sliced into rings
1 (16 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's Honey)
1 cup Zesty Italian salad dressing
1/2 cup Cider Vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Liquid Smoke
2 tablespoons garlic powder
6 medium baking potatoes


DIRECTIONS
Place frozen chicken in a slow cooker. Layer onion rings over top of the chicken breasts and sprinkle with the garlic powder. In a bowl, mix the barbeque sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, liquid smoke, cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.

Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred. Place shredded chicken back into slow cooker with the sauce.

During last hour for cooking the chicken, wrap potatoes in foil and bake at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes. Split potatoes and add your choice of various toppings..

J used butter, chives, and mexican cheese. I used butter, lite sour cream, roasted garlic, and chives.

Overall - SO delish. The chicken could be used in just about anything - our house smelled amazing and J gave it "2 thumbs up" and said he would "give it 3 if he had another one".

Enjoy!

Birchbox Evny

The other night J came in and asked if I had gotten the mail.. the answer was clearly no.. I had already received my Rachael Ray magazine and Cooking Light.. what more was I waiting for this month?

He came back inside with the beloved Birchbox...

This month's contents you ask?

Colorscience pro: Glow & Go Travel Puff- Powder filled puffs to keep your skin shine-free and luminous while you are out on the town.

Eye Rock: Designer Liner- Stick on eye-liner strips... this scares me as I dont get crazy with eye-liner EVER, but maybe I'll find something I like that I was unaware of!

Kiehl's: Clarity Corrective Dark Spot Solution- Brightening serum to help even out skin tone will be great for the summer and my crazy freckle face

Juice Beauty: Green Apple Peel Sensitive- a facial peel that leaves skin glowing with vitamins and fruit acids I need to ask Jenna if I am allowed to use this... even though it says "sensitive" my skin is ULTRA sensitive!

Chuao Chocolatier: Spicy Maya ChocoPod- Spicy & Sweet chocolate treat

Obviously all things are exciting... until I read the Tapellagram...

We got a few of the same things but I'm super jelly of some of the things Jacqueline got!

•Orofluido - Beauty Elixir for you Hair: Remarkable silkiness, lightness and shine. It is an oil, you add a few drops to wet or dry hair. I have a few of these in different brands, love them.
•WEI Chinese Rose - Foaming Facial Cleanser: self explanatory
•Jouer - luminizing moisture tint, spf 20, bronze: I am way excited about this one, tried a bit on my hand, looks like it will make my face have a little glow, great for summer and I love anything with an spf.


::SIGH::

And then I made the mistake of reading The Small Things Blog .. well then I
was extra envious..

I've been using a brush for about a year now... I have surpassed the finger technique, but now I am overly compelled to try this... I.MUST.HAVE....NOW.

I had no idea that everyone got different things every month. Now I am sad that I'm missing out on things... sad day, huh? #whitegirlproblems

So Sorry

I have been completely failing at this whole blog thing.. I was on such a roll at the end of last year, but then, well.. work happen and life happen... So here we go on getting back into the groove of things:

Everyone knows our love of pizza. We eat it all the time - homemade, mini pizzas, Dominos.. I will try any new pizza place.. (yummm this is making me want pizza, rather than the taco salad my husband has convinced me to make tonight...) Anywho, last Friday, J&I tried a new lunch spot by our offices Pie Five Pizza. I must say I was a bit skeptical - fast food pizza? They guarantee your pizza in 5 minutes or less.. and it was really good! I highly suggest trying it - we will defi be visiting again soon!

I just realized that where I was actually going with the whole pizza story was not actually about the pizza, but really about the fact that J&I went out to lunch (geez, can we say ADHD?! Or maybe just an obsession with Pizza.. either way, sorry for deriving from my story) At lunch they had on sportscenter. Typical place, typical TV, but then I looked up to see the Top 10 Michael Jordan Top 10 Buzzer Beaters ::swoon:: Immediately J realized I wasnt listening any more and he looks up and starts laughing. We both start talking about what the number 1 will be; J chose the game against the Utah Jazz where MJ jumps with a fist pump. I personally selected the MJ against Utah Jazz (years later) where he stands with his hand in his follow through pose... (of course I was physically doing this in the resturant as we argued about it..)

BOOYA!!!!!

I loved every moment of schooling my husband in this trivia - although unfair, as you all know, it still was awesome. And dont think I wasnt bragging like a 13 year old boy, because I was... while holding my arm in the signature pose... dont judge me!

See my pizza story was awesome, but the real story was even better!

What else do I have for you guys... Oh! As you read last week, I had some girls in town for Kate's Birthday. Well Miss Kelsey is probably the most mannered guest I have every had - I LOVE snail-mail!

Friday night we got our favs together (Heather& Steven, Jenna&Philip) and had dinner and drinks.



I had a rough afternoon Friday and we didnt eat until late... so explains the rest of the evening:

When you wake up the next day and ask your husband if we had Dance Party after looking at your camera with zero recollection.. you look like this.

And all of your BIG plans for Saturday, dont happen.

Dear Ashley,

You are no longer 23. You should not consume vodka like you are. Especially since you do not drink nearly like you did back then.

With Love,

Your Smarter, Wiser, Self

Sunday was family day. Lunch with Bob& Marianne. Afternoon spent with this lady (who is doing amazing!) and Dins with Scott&Deb.

Thats about all I have at the moment.. but so happy to be home and to be normal. Yesterday was the first time I have gotten to meal plan in at least a month (yes, for some of you this is a chore, for me its a hobby). Hope to have some yummy recipe to share!

Have a great week!

Love is..

Celebrating

This weekend we celebrated Kate's 28th birthday ~ she and 2 of her friends (Kristin & Kelsey - whom I ADORE) came up for the weekend. They arrived Friday afternoon and not a moment later we popped the bubbly in celebration.

Every celebration deserves a little decoration:

Thanks JoJo for helping with the banner!

We intended on a lazy Friday, cooking in and movies - it was fabulous. Saturday we went to the nail salon, where Kelsey made fast friends and everyone in the salon that was there to relax, was annoyed by our continuous laughter - it was amazing. Saturday night we had planned on going out to dinner and bar hopping/dancing... buuuuuuut we ended up back on the couch with more movies and pizzas. Definitely not complaining - I saw more movies in 2 days than I have seen in 2 years - kid you not (One Day, Kings Speech, March of Ides, Crazy Stupid Love, Friends with Benefits)

And my sweet husband tolerated 4 screaming, laughing girls for 2 FULL days - he's such a trooper!

Sunday, we headed to Grapevine where we ate lunch - Weinberger's Deli ... I am pretty sure I have raved about this place before on our blog, but truly this is the ONLY place I can get my Chicago fix - beef sammies, gyros, hot dogs, ruebens... selections are endless. And dont forget the root beer. Cant have Chicago styled food without the root beer..... already ready to go back!

And then we met the Tapellas and Cabreras for the Grapevine Wine Trail!

With everyone's schedules, we opted for this as our February Supper Club, but we were missing the Masseys.... which is why I only have 3 pictures from the entire day! We needed you Miss Amber!

It was a great day with a ton of laughs... and for the record, my feet still hurt!

Monday I spent the entire day with Nana - she is doing so great. Still aches and pains, but she is looking fabulous and is up and  moving. It was so fun to just chat with her and hang out... J&I will need to spend some time over there this week/weekend!

Lots of love this week - Happy Valentines Day!

Love is..

Quickie

Another crazy busy week for me...

I was in my favorite city late last week and through the weekend.. I'm already itching to go back - I positively adore San Fran!

Nana is doing great and off to a speedy recovery! She gets to go home this week, maybe even Wednesday. A big thanks to everyone for your love, thoughts and prayers - its working!


Also... This: exactly how our living room was meant to be :)

Busy working a program in Dallas Wednesday then a few days off/working from home.. Girls weekend to celebrate Miss Kate's birthday.. Can't wait!

Have a great week!!

Love is...

San Francisco this week/weekend... text kisses will have to do!

Have a Minute?

If you know me well, you know my mom (The Debs) is my best friend and by far the number one lady in my life... but what you may not know is that a close second to Debs is my Nana (nah-knee)...

At our rehearsal dinner (please note she is wearing my wedding colors - love her!)

I have a million zillion amazing memories with her through my childhood until now.. Disney movies, fun late night sleep overs, ice cream sundaes, making t-shirts with puff paint, shopping (lots n lots of shopping), picking out my wedding dress, Sunday night dinners... goodness there are countless others.

We are so fortunate that she and Papa moved here to Texas and are so close to us. Although with my schedule I do not see them as much as I would like, I love them being a jump down the street.

Nana hasnt been feeling well for a while, and after an angiogram on Monday, the doctors found blockage and that one of her valves isnt working properly..

So early early Friday morning she will have heart surgery... Unfortunately I am in San Fran as of today on program, so J&I went to see her last night. We had lots of laughs, but I sure do wish that I was spending the night with Nana and my mom tonight at the hospital... all of the boys (Zak, Uncle Arty, and Papa) are staying at my house with J since it is just minutes from the hospital.

So if you have a spare minute, or room in your prayers - please send a little note up above for this amazing, courageous, and awnry lady. I know she is going to do fabulous and her recovery will be quick, but a few extra thoughts and prayers never hurt anybody...

I love you, Nana and cant wait to see you Sunday when I get home.

A Mix of Favs

J would love to eat anything Mexican every day, twice a day.

I would love to eat any pasta every day, three times a day. (Yes, I seriously just one-upped J's eating preferences in my own blog)

Anywho.. lets get back on course here..

I was browsing good old pinterest and came across this recipe.. and coincidentally enough, my girl over at Chocolate Broccoli, posted this bad boy of a recipe... Best of both worlds: Mexican Pasta!

So I mix and matched what I liked from each recipe and came up with this..

Ingredients:
Jumbo Pasta Shells
Lean Ground Sirloin
Chopped Yellow Onion
Chopped Red Bell Pepper
Cilantro
Garlic
Taco Seasoning (I made my own to hopefully reduce sodium.. see here)
1 can Enchilada Sauce
4 oz. Cream Cheese
Mexican Shredded Cheese
Toppings: Sour Cream, Sliced Avocados, Taco Sauce

Directions:
Cook noodles as directed on the package. Preheat oven to 350*.

Brown the ground sirloin in olive oil and garlic, remove grease, add taco seasoning. Sautee onions and red bell peppers until tender. Add a handful of cilantro and cilantro. Warm until cheese is melted and thoroughly integrated with the meat mixture.

Place a few tablespoons of enchilada sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Spoon each noodle with the meat mixture, add mexican shredded cheese and top with enchilada sauce. Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove and serve with additional toppings (avocado, sour cream, taco sauce) and a side salad.

Enjoy!