What I Love About the Weekend

Happy Friday lovelies! We have many fun things planned for this weekend.

First of all February is just around the corner and we have several birthdays coming up! Not only do two of my closest friends have a birthday, but 3 of my 4 siblings do as well! Needless to say, I have a little shopping/mailing to take care of! Lucky me that I love to buy gifts!

And tomorrow night I have a date with mom and dad! Chris will be at another Kings game with his friend Brad (that lucky boy!) so my parents and I get to spend some time together (hopefully having dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant..hint, hint!).

And what would the weekend be without a delicious breakfast? I am already excited about the buckwheat banana pancaked I have planned for tomorrow! Great way to replenish after a hard workout! I just love the nutty, hearty goodness of buckwheat!

Just a few short hours and the weekend can begin! We are starting it by having dinner at BJ's with Chris' Dad and Grandma!

I hope you all have an exceptionally wonderful weekend!

Spoiled, But in a Good Way!

Well, the birthday celebrations have gone wonderfully so far! I thought it would be nice to let the birthday boy sleep in this morning, so after a trip to the gym and a stop at Starbucks with our Moms and my Aunt Judy to discuss last minute party details, I came home to fix my husband his favorite breakfast!

Although he has pretty neutral feelings toward most breakfast foods, he is a total sucker for blueberry anything, but specifically blueberry pancakes. I decided to include bacon with breakfast (an occurrence he is lucky to experience maybe once a year at our house!). But in the interest of spoiling him rotten, I make concessions:)

His birthday breakfast...!




And I want to share a little tip on blueberry pancakes I learned this morning. Usually, after the batter is mixed, I gently fold in the berries. Today I discovered that if you hold out on the berries until just after you spoon the batter onto your griddle and then sprinkle them on, the pancakes set up a little better and they all have an even amount of berries! Best pancakes I've made yet!

Happy weekend!

Relief

I don't think I realized how roomy our living room was until we had an extra couch smack dab in the middle of it..for a MONTH! We finally sold it on Friday and now feel like we have a HUGE apartment:) What a relief!! We also sold Chris' video game rocker, which is completely useless to us since he no longer has any video games! Man, I love Craig's List:)

Speaking of relief, we bought new pillows yesterday. I made a big mistake when I bought cheap pillows last summer. Little did I know how quickly they would wear out or how painful no neck support could be! After a week of waking up with a stiff neck, Chris told me to buy new ones. Well, it was a splurge I highly recommend!! I can not believe how amazing I feel today thanks to my new alternative microfiber pillow:)

In fact, I felt so good this morning, I decided to surprise Chris with a yummy little treat...



Pretty cute, huh?

Okay, now for an update on my training. I am officially in my 3rd week and loving it! Seriously, I ran five miles today and felt amazing. I must say, I am ridiculously impressed with the body's ability to adapt so quickly! My only complaint would be that one of my toenails was a bit too long and I finished my run with a completely bloody sock and shoe:( Huge bummer! Otherwise, I am feeling great!

I hope you too had a fabulous weekend!

P.S. ~ Don't forget St. Patty's Day is this Tuesday:)

Festivities and a Sunny California Day!

Since I was little, birthdays have been a huge ordeal in my family. Well, mostly to my Mom. She always makes sure that my birthday is as wonderful as it can possibly be. It is no surprise that I have inherited her desire to celebrate those I love on their birthday.

While Chris and I have been together for his last five birthdays, I have only been with him on 2! For some reason or another, I have been away for the others. This year was my year to make up for my previous absences. I had been planning exactly how I would make it special for weeks!

These pictures are a peak into His day:)







The day was complete with blueberry pancakes (his favorite breakfast food), the Braun Pulsonic shaver he has been talking about for weeks, and dinner at Johnny Garlic's with those we love!

There was only one glitch...we were suppose to go up to the the snow today with some of his Auntie's and a bunch of cousins, but, well, we are having an unusually warm week and there is no snow!! Ha! Oh well, we will have to go in a few weeks when it gets colder and actually snows! We still had an incredible day. The weather was amazing today! We ran some errands and drove around with the windows down. There is simply nothing like the relief of the warm sun shining down on you!

While at Whole Foods today, we decided to make panini's for dinner. We got some amazing ingredients and enjoyed a delicious meal! To accompany our Italian sandwiches, I made a Tuscan Chickpea and Tomato soup. What a divine combination!

Just a warning, you may get very hungry and drool just a tiny bit while looking at these pictures. Approach with caution:)






We also tried out our popcorn maker tonight for a treat while we watched Swing Vote. Chris flavored his with an array of Southwestern spices and I stuck with Cinnamon and a touch of brown sugar! Look at that goodness!





Ah, two more days to savor until we go back to work. Thank you Mr. King!