She Wore an Itsy Bitys Teeny Weeny...

Sweet little ruffled bikini! Of course I'm talking about my favorite little girl and she completely rocked it this Memorial Day weekend! 

{Seriously though, aren't her little rolls the best?!}

Our long weekend was one of the best and most relaxing our little family has had in a long time. It was complete with garage sales, bike rides, relaxing by the pool, great food and lots of family time! We're feeling refreshed and excited for the summer festivities we have planned!!

She's got it made in the shade!

 `

Heavenly Dreams

I just wanted to share this little tip with you today, in case you are looking for a fresh way to bring Spring to your home. I recently tried a version of it and was really pleased with the results.

To bring a lovely hint of lavender into your bedroom, simply launder your sheets with Meyers lavender detergent and then throw in a lavender sachet or two when you transfer them to the dryer. Voila! It's as simple as that and I bet you sleep like a baby!

I only included the lavender sachets when my sheets went in the dryer because I have a brand new bottle of the detergent we currently use and did not want to spend money on something I didn't need. The results were still a welcome hint of relaxation as my head hit the pillow, and I'm sure including step number one would only increase the luxurious aroma.

Happy Spring cleaning!

image/via

Restful Weekend

Happy Friday! What are you up to this fine weekend? On my agenda: shopping for new jeans, diving into the heaps of laundry that have piled up and hopefully catching a matinee with my hubby. It should be the perfect opportunity to catch up on sleep and squeeze in some R&R. Have a good one!

This Weekend I...

{Saturday}...
-Slept in until 10 am. Chris actually woke up before me, which NEVER happens!
-Stayed in my pajamas ALL day, and I must confess, it was absolutely glorious!
-Started many projects and didn't finish a single one...such is life:)
-Took a 2 hour nap while Chris watched the Raiders kick some butt. Apparently I needed to catch up on my beauty sleep!

{Sunday}...
-Had breakfast at Awful Annie's with some good friends.
-Attended Pottery Barn's "The Art of Organizing" class. The class was so-so, but turned out to be a great time spent with my friend Nicole!
-Browsed Crate and Barrels new Fall collection and purchased this adorable, retro looking kitchen towel.
-Finished almost every project I started Saturday.
-Played with the pups!
-Made a delicious grilled pizza for dinner using some amazing heirloom tomatoes.
-Relaxed with my hubby and watched Pirates of the Caribbean.

All in all, a much needed, refreshing few days!

And based on everything we used from our Farm Fresh to You box this weekend, we have decided it is pretty much the best thing EVER!

Hope you too had a lovely weekend!

image/apartmenttherapy

Lounge Lizard

For the first time in weeks I felt rested upon waking up this morning! A big part of that may have to do with how I spent a good chunk of the weekend...

Yummy snacks,


catching up on good reads,


and just the right amount of fruity cocktails, complete with tiny umbrella!


It was the perfect way to kick off summer! And not to mention Saturday morning farmers market, dinner with the fam where I made this yummy and seasonal Apricot Almond Tart from Tartlette and coffee with Emily, who was in town for a very short weekend! All the right things to leave me rejuvenated and ready to start a new week!

I hope your weekend was equally marvelous!

The Hurrier I Go, The Behinder I Get

...that is exactly how the past few weeks have felt! Things are going at such a rapid pace and I can't seem to catch up with life. A little too much work and not enough play! But thank goodness for the sweet pleasures in life like a 3-day weekend EXACTLY when you need one!

On the agenda for the holiday weekend: sleeping in, delicious food, laying out, dinner with good friends, baking lemon bars, cooking out with family, sewing, training a few clients Monday morning, lots of yoga (though this is nothing new lately!) and possibly seeing the new SATC movie!

I can't wait to take a deep breath and enjoy the sunshine, which will be a nice change from the crazy rainy weather we've been having!

Have a lovely and festive Memorial Day weekend!

Kicking My Feet Up

Take a guess at what I'm doing today? NOTHING! I can cross one thing off my list because I took today off and have absolutely nothing planned. Well, I am getting my hair done but that hardly counts as doing something:) I am relishing that I slept in past 7 and don't have a million things to get done today!

When I asked my boss for the day off he was like, "Do you have a dentist appt or something?", and then laughed when I said there was no real reason. "Who takes a Wednesday off instead of a Friday or Monday?" he said. To which I responded that Wednesdays are like a best kept secret as you get a glorious reprieve in the middle of the week. It truly is wonderful! You should try it out sometime!

Well, I should get back to my oatmeal and coffee and dream up what I would like to do (or not do) today! Though I definitely have my heart set on heading to the park and getting a good chunk through my new book!

Have a splendid day!

Refreshing Weekend!

Happy Friday dear readers! Don't hate me for saying I feel really refreshed today. In fact, for the first time in several weeks, I felt totally relaxed and "together" all week! The credit must be given to a little plan of action Chris and I took to be more organized.

Lately it seems like I barely scrape by to get through the week and save all the cleaning, organizing and house chores for the weekend. But who wants to spend their weekends doing that? I certainly don't! So we came up with a manageable way to tackle a little bit each day and it has worked brilliantly!

This weekend, instead of stressing about getting it all finished, I can actually relax with my husband, finish painting and recovering my green chairs via this inspiration , enjoy a lovely date night at The Melting Pot and take a trip to Crate and Barrel to purchase some of the Normandy bakers from yesterday's post! And given my deep desire to bake lately, it might also be neccessary to use the overripe bananas sitting on my counter to whip up some of our favorite banana bread!

Wishing you a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

Simple Weekends

As much as I love fun, lively and activity-filled weekends, I also relish the simple ones. A few days of taking things as they come and leisurely breakfasts that include a full pot of coffee are always welcome in my book!

The only real plans we have for the weekend are to attend a Dinner Auction tomorrow night to help raise money for a youth missions trip to Mexico, which should be quite fun! And of course, there are always those early morning workouts. I know it sounds crazy, but weekend mornings have become my favorite sweat sessions. Not only are there no time constraints put on me, but my husband enjoys sleeping in so it works out nicely for both of us. By the time he is waking up, I have already started a yummy breakfast for the two of us. It's quite perfect, really!

Have a delightful weekend and enjoy the last few days of February!

Mental Health Friday

Even though this week was a short one, I most definitely needed a "mental health day" today. Since I am still working my full time job in addition to building my training clientele, I've been a tad bit exhausted the past few weeks and needed a little breather from my 4am alarm. Thank goodness this is only a temporary situation until I have enough regular clients to just train, which doesn't even feel like work to me!

The day is already off to a magnificent start! After I finish my yummy breakfast, I think I'll take Abby for a walk to the park and then maybe to Starbucks for a soy chai...yum!

Tonight I'm whipping up a Chicago style pizza for dinner (from Clean Eating) complete with a bottle of wine and a few candles to set the mood! I predict it to be quite a lovely evening!

As for the rest of the weekend, we have not a care in the world. We spent yesterday afternoon talking about fun things we could do and sadly, a day trip to San Francisco is out because it's raining there all weekend. But I feel sure whatever we come up with will be wonderful, even if it's just hanging out at home together!

Happy Friday! Hope your weekend is lovely!

Relaxing Weekend!

Happy Friday! I am very much looking forward to a relaxing weekend. After work I am treating myself to a much needed manicure (and possibly a pedicure!) before date night. Love!

While the rest of the weekend holds yoga, breakfast at Awful Annie's, finally making these adorable snack bags and lots of lounging in our sweats! Can't wait!

Have a lovely weekend!

Happy Weekend!

It's Friday and I am definitely ready for the weekend! We have an engagement party on Saturday which should be fabulous because this family knows how to throw a party!! Other than that it's going to be pretty low-key so I should have no problem getting my 10 miles of running in and hopefully a yoga class or two along with a much needed pedicure! I may even try the Clean Eating Crockpot Porridge I've been wanting to make!

Have a lovely weekend!

Apple Hill and Roasted Tomatoes & Garlic

This weekend we took our much anticipated trip to Apple Hill! We decided to go without our pup this year. It turned out to be a wonderful 78 degree and very busy day! We made our way to our two favorite places and brought home 8lbs. of apples, Chris' all-time favorite apple juice (unpasteurized, of course), apple butter and their famous apple pie! We also purchased a Christmas ornament, a seemingly new tradition of ours:)

I am so stoked about the apples we picked out this year. As always, I got several Granny Smiths for baked apples (my favorite!), caramel apples and other baking needs, a few Gravenstein apples for homemade apple sauce and Chris threw in some other less known red varieties for snacking:)




Sunday night was incredibly relaxing for us. As usual, I was a busy little bee after church, getting the house put together, Chris watched football and then we went for a run together. For dinner I gave into a craving I've had for several days: roasted tomatoes and garlic! I simply tossed them into whole wheat linguini and added freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano. It was nothing short of delicious!



And Chris felt like celebrating, so we popped open a bottle of Chandon's Brut and paired with a delightful slice of warm apple pie!


Definitely a fabulous weekend!

Productive with a Twist of Fun

Well happy Monday dear friends! And most unusually, I am feeling very good and rested today! Don't hate me yet, the day has only begun:)

I hope your weekend had you hoping it might last a few more days. Mine definitely did, but don't they always?!

Allow me to divulge a few highlights~

*Several hours of our Saturday were spent wine tasting in Amador Couty. The very best thing about wine tasting there is the tastings are complimentary. I know it seems ALL wine tastings should be free, after all, they are wanting you to buy their wine so they should let you taste it. However, many wineries in well known places like Napa usually charge between $10-$40 a tasting. Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! Maybe too much as we came home with five bottles of wine...Our motto is: when you find a wine you like, you should buy it! At least we have a good stock going into the holiday season:)


The first winery we stopped at had picnic grounds so we enjoyed our Whole Foods lunch at a pretty little spot with a pretty little view!


Enjoying his almond filled cannoli:)


Our view!



What we came home with:)


*Chris decided to go to the Raiders game on Sunday because it was blacked out. I was more than happy to have him go as I had a lot of studying to catch up on and he has been known to be a very good distraction to me:) I knew if he was home I wouldn't get it all done.

*My Sunday was very productive. And not just a little productive, but the kind where you actually check everything off your to-do list! It went a little something like this:

workout: check
pumpkin pancakes: check (YUM!)
grocery store: check
fold laundry: check
vaccuum: check
clean pantry and fridge: check
study 4 chapters: CHECK!!
pack lunches: check

Remember the Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes I talked about Friday? They were so yummy!!



And I still managed to make this INCREDIBLE Grilled Corn and Potato Chowder while I watched a few episodes of Friends!


By the time Chris got home from the game I was feeling so relaxed and accomplished! We had a wonderful night and enjoyed dinner and a bottle of wine we bought Saturday. Might I add, it was fabulous!

I feel ready to take on this week!

Much Love!

Gift That Keeps on Giving

Hello Friday! You know, three day weekends really are amazing because not only do you get a longer weekend, but you also get the added pleasure of a shortened work week. It's like the gift that keeps on giving!

The upcoming weekend has me really excited because we are working on some projects around the house! My plan is to paint this console table a rustic orange...I think. I'm still looking at some color options. I'm really excited though! And Chris is either going to work on his new fish tank (no, it's still not done!) or finish painting our extra dining table chairs:)

With yoga tomorrow morning, a trip to Joann's to find this fabric, and some time spent at Lowe's, this weekend is shaping up to be a very good one!

Looking for a quick dinner for the weekend? You may want to try out this delicious Apricot Glazed Grilled Chicken I made last night! It is super easy and brings a wonderful flair of fruity succelance to the dinner table. We enjoyed it with some wild and brown rice and a simple herbed salad:)

*I also substituted boneless skinless chicken breast for the drumsticks and thighs used in this recipe, which obviously shortens the grilling time. The cook time is about 4 minutes per side, while continually basting it in the apricot glaze.

Hope your weekend is filled with this much relaxation!

One Whole Year

If you were to check out the archives, you would see that one year ago today I entered into this blogging world as a naive little blogger with absolutely no idea what I was doing. So, this post is a dedication to YOU! After all, without your encouragement, I would have given up a long time ago! Thanks to our friends, family and those we only know through the web, for staying tuned into our lives by means of our humble little webspace! We love and appreciate all of you. This blog has been a great way for us to stay connected even though many you live so far away! And let's be honest, the recipes are good too, right? ;)

And I just want you to know, even though my darling husband seldom contributes to these posts, he definitely reads them and all of your comments. What can I say, he's busy with his other sports blogs:)

I truly hope you had a fabulous long weekend! Ours was wonderful and relaxing. Of course a pedicure, some garage sales and a delicious meal with family and friends were thrown in there, but I think the best part was that my friend Lael and her sister Elise got here yesterday afternoon. Our evening was accompanied by gluten free homemade pizza and lots of catching up, but sadly they are leaving this morning and continuing their road trip that gets them closer and closer to New Zealand!! It was a short visit, but a great one!

I am a bit green with envy this morning because Chris took the day off to get some things done (one being the DMV, eww!). I wish I could have taken off too, but at least I can look forward to October 16, when we will be on our way to Indiana for a mini-vacation!!

Wishing you a happy and productive Tuesday!

Mastering the Art of Cozy

Well happy Saturday!

This long weekend is already off to a great start...

When I got to work yesterday morning, I was greeted with the best kind of email and it went something like this:

"We decided to close up early today and get a head start on the long weekend! We are closing at 2, but because you come in early you can leave at noon."

Wahoo! And not only did I get to leave early, but my boss bought us Chipotle for lunch and even went to get it early for me. Talk about a nice surprise!!

So what did I do with the few extra hours? Well, I went home, got in my comfies, grabbed my all-time favorite book, Jane Eyre, and snuggled with Abby for over 3 hours! It was glorious!!


The only thing that could have made my afternoon better is if I would have had this:

Republic of Tea Pumpkin Chai Red Tea


Absolutely beautiful and fragrant! I bought it this morning at Crate and Barrel and am already brewing my second cup:) So happy I found it as I was in search of a new Fall tea!

And to complete the beginning of this already wonderful weekend, I am delighting in the thoughtful surprise my husband brought me yesterday:)

I was greeted with a kiss and these flowers when he got home! Yep, he's the best!



Enjoy your weekend!

Botanicals Anybody?

What a wonderfully refreshing weekend we had!

Our original plans for this weekend were a bit altered, but it gave us a much needed break, as we are about to plunge into a very event filled month:) You may not have a sports crazed man living in your house, but if you do, you know that baseball season is in full swing, which means my husband has been dying to go to a Giants game! We had decided to catch a game this Saturday, but seeing that the weather forecast was wet and stormy, we opted to hold off on the game until next month. So instead, we were afforded the luxury of sleeping in and lounging around ALL day Saturday! What a glorious way to spend a rainy Saturday:) Although, I must say, we were surprisingly productive for the amount of relaxing we did! We actually went grocery shopping, finished laundry and worked out, all before lunch time:) And yet, I still somehow managed to watch an entire marathon of What I Like About You...You've gotta love DVR!

While the second half of the weekend wasn't spent much at home, we definitely enjoyed ourselves! For some reason, I woke up at 6am:) It was probably the rain and how relaxed my body was from Saturday, but it was wonderful! I even made myself the best healthy french toast and drank 3 cups of coffee. Now that is a great start to the day! Later that morning, I was off with my Mom to attend a free class at Pottery Barn where we learned how to decorate with various vases, flowers and fillers! We have always talked about attending one of these classes (and the ones at Williams Sonoma!) and last weekend we finally decided to sign up. It was fun and we got 10% off of our purchase for the day!! I am always a fan of learning new things...and discounts:) Look what I learned...



After a little shopping and coffee with my Mom, I met up with my hubby and we headed to his Papa's house for lunch with some of the family. Great food and fun times! And on our way there, Chris stopped at Shane Co. so we could get our wedding rings cleaned:) How sweet is he?!

And to top off an already great weekend, our Sunday dinner was Asian-inspired and delicious! I mean, who can resist edamame, grilled flank steak with soba noodles and green tea ice cream?! Yum!! We ended our evening with taking our pup for a walk and watching Ace Ventura Pet Detective (one of Chris' favs!).





I am SOO ready to take on this week!

Merry Monday!