Happy Friday!

Hello lovelies! What are you up to this weekend?

Chris and I are going to see the new Alice in Wonderland tonight! I'm looking forward to the weird and cooky Tim Burton version of the childhood classic. And a plus, I heard good things about it from people who saw a sneak peek.

And while Chris spends Saturday helping his parents paint his Mom's spa, I think I'll get to work on my first apron! I've been quite busy and haven't had a chance to pull out my sewing machine in a few weeks and what better time than a rainy Saturday afternoon? I'm hoping to have a finished product to show you next week!

Oh, and I'm excited to pick up a dessert tea I recently read about from Tea Forte called Coco Truffle. Have any of you heard of/tried it? I'm on a temporary hiatus from sweets/desserts and it's been suprisingly manageable for the most part, but when Chris busted out a box of my favorite Girl Scout cookies last week I almost melted! So I'm looking for a calorie-free treat and this seems to fit the bill!

Doesn't it look delightful?!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Feeling Unmotivated?

Over four years ago, on a road trip home for Christmas, I picked up a copy of Oxygen magazines Fat Loss special issue. I think I read that thing cover-to-cover...at least three times (while Chris was driving, of course)! Since that day, I have been a devout reader of Oxygen. As a personal trainer and fitness enthusiast I think it is important to note that Oxygen is unlike every other cheesy, trendy "fitness" magazine, which is why I choose to make it a part of my regular reads.

The message is simple: eat clean, wholesome food and exercise regularly. They make it very clear that fad diets or miracle workouts are not realistic.

As much as I love and know about fitness, at times I find myself getting unmotivated and bored with a routine. But Oxygen is like my workout buddy who alway re-energizes me and gives me great tips to keep my workouts fresh!

If you are feeling in a fitness rut or maybe you just don't know where to begin, I encourage you to pick up a copy today!

My Vintage Obsession

During the summer months my family loves to garage sale! And now that Chris and I are settled nicely into our home, we aren't usually looking for anything in particular, just browsing. This was the case last summer, while going through a messy table of kitchen stuff I came across a green Pyrex mixing bowl that I instantly fell in love with. It was the cutest shade of green with a little white daisy pattern and had an adorable retro flair. My Mom actually laughed at me because apparently her Mom or grandma had the exact same mixing bowls and she was never really in to them.

Well, at $.50 I knew I was getting a great deal and was pleased when it suited my kitchen perfectly! A few weeks later I came across this white casserole dish with the very same daisy pattern, except the pattern was green. It felt like I had struck gold finding a matching piece, and for only $.25 (pictured below)!


Perfectly content with my two Pyrex throwbacks (which I use all the time!), I was curious to see if Etsy carried any of this pattern in their vintage section. After typing in "green Pyrex" and having 10+ pages pop up, I was awakened to a whole new world where my garage sale finds were worth something! I just knew they were worth more than the $.75 I paid for both pieces!

Of course now I am obsessed with a few pieces that I am determined to find this summer!

For instance, these coffee cups!

And I would love to find a set of these mixing bowls! The one I have has a spout, which is perfect for scrambling eggs. But these would also be ideal for all my baking needs!

I can't wait for garage sale season because really, finding them unexpectedly is so much more fun than buying them online (and cheaper)!

An Inspired Solution to Yummy

A few years ago, I discovered an immense love for poached eggs! When we go to our favorite breakfast place, if I'm not splurging on their remarkably delicious banana pecan waffle, I order poached eggs. They are perfect over dry toast and sprinkled with a touch of salt and pepper!

When Chris and I were first married and I was only working eight hours a week, I had a lot of free time to do things like attempt my own poached eggs (those were the days!). To my dismay, they were more difficult than I expected and I deemed them not worth cooking at home, which meant they were only an occassinal treat.

Given how much I love them, I recently decided it was time to find an easier at-home method. When I first came across these poach pods, I wrote them off as another useless gadget. After all, I tried to poach an egg and it couldn't be as easy as these pods made it look! Except while doing some research (yes, I am a geek!) I stumbled on several positive reviews claiming they were indeed as easy as they looked. I was hopeful.

So last Friday I picked some up for myself and wouldn't you know, they worked! My poached eggs were fantastic and super simple! No fussing with broken yokes or worrying about them coming dismembered, just neat, perfectly poached eggs. And this weekend we enjoyed them over a toasted english muffin and a tasty slice of Canadian bacon, yum! And I suspect we will be enjoying them much more frequently.

ps ~ I found these poach pods both at Crate and Barrel and Bed Bath and Beyond.

Happy poaching!

Classy and Fabulous!

"A woman should be two things: Classy and fabulous."

Coco Chanel

Last night we watched Coco Before Chanel, the story of Coco Chanel's life. Can I just say, I love, love, LOVED it! It is a wonderfully inspiring story of the french designer who completely revolutionized women's fashion! I love her idea that less is more and her simple elegance. The movie captures her extraordinary journey and the obstacles she overcame to become the timeless symbol of acheivement she is today. The movie was very well made and the acting was great! Just be prepared to read subtitles since the whole movie is in French.

I hope you had a delightful weekend! Happy first day of March!!

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!

Shabby Apple

I just came across this super cute dress from Shabby Apple that would be perfect for a sunny day of wine tasting! It might also make a wonderful birthday dress for someone who is turning 24 in seven weeks...