The Friday Five: 3/29/13

1. Easter Weekend: As I was driving to work this morning I was confused by not hitting any traffic. Until of course I realized it was Good Friday and most working Americans have today off work. Oh well, I’m just ready to hit the road to my Grandma’s house tonight and meet up with my family for the weekend. Williams (where my mom grew up) is one of my happy places. It is the definition of “Small Town USA” and I just love it. You unplug, relax and just spend time with family. I can’t wait to get down there for the weekend.
2.  Answered Prayers: Speaking of my Grandma we definitely have so much to be thankful for this Easter holiday. My Grandma had to go through a procedure last week that we were all worried about. But everything went wonderfully and today was her checkup appointment and she is on the road to recovery. A Good Friday indeed!
3. New Rug: So I bought a new rug a few weekends ago which I LOVE but I’m not loving how much it is shedding! Any way to get rid of that besides time? I’m also now debating on new curtains. I would love something to balance out the yellowish walls with the blue and brown furniture. Thoughts??
4. Spring: Where are you spring??? This weather is killing me!! But as I was saying to somebody at work today, before we know it we will be complaining about the 105 degree weather and 100% humidity so better enjoy the cooler weather now.
5. NOLA: The countdown to our New Orleans trip is ON! We are going down for a friend’s wedding with a big group of friends. This is my first trip down there so it should be a great time. Pass along any suggestions for while we are there!

Well, that's all for now. Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter Weekend with family and friends!

"Real" Food

One of my best friends sent me this blog the other day and I haven't been able to stop looking through it and reading the posts. It's called 100 Days of Real Food and talks about a family's journey to eating only natural and un-processed foods. She goes through her own reasons for cutting out processed foods and it has really made me think, could we do the "real food" challenge??

There is the 100 Day Pledge and the 10 Day Pledge... for obvious reasons we would try the 10 Day first. Baby steps people.

Both follow the same set of "rules":
What you CAN eat:
1. Whole foods
2. Fruits and Vegetables
3. Dairy Products
4. 100% Whole Wheat and Whole Grains
5. Seafood
6. Locally Raised Meats
7. Water, naturally sweatened tea or coffee and all natural juices
8. Snacks like dried fruit, nuts, seeds and popcorn
9. All Natural Sweetners

What you can NOT eat:
1. No refined grains
2. No refined sweetners
3. Nothing out of a box that has more than 5 ingredients
4. No deep fried foods
5. No "fast foods"

It's an interesting concept and one you should check out. We will see if we can buckle down and try out the challenge and will let you know. It's a good read nontheless and gets you thinking!

Weekend Recap: 3.25.13

This weekend was a busy one but so worth it! It really started Thursday night when Brett and I went and saw Les Mis in town. I had seen it at least 3 times before and it was just as good as it always has been. The sets had changed since the last time I saw it so it was almost like seeing a new show which was fun.

Then on Friday morning I woke up early and hit the road to Lake Lure, NC (I took the day off work). Some of my best friends from college were getting together for a girl's weekend which I couldn't miss out on! We had 1 girl come from Dallas, 2 from DC, 1 from Charleston and 1 from Charlotte so we don't get to see each other very often but we always pick up right where we left off when we get together. It was so great to see everyone and catch up... even if it were just for the night.

Lauren, Emily and Anna-Marie

Me, Caroline and Jennifer

Watching Babysitter's Club by the fire... perfect Girl's Weekend.

Saturday, I left the lake and headed back to Columbia for a night I'd been waiting on... the Taylor Swift concert. I am a total Teeny-Bopper and am not afraid to admit it. One of my mom's friends has a daughter who works on the tour (can we say dream job?) so she was able to get us amazing seats - 6th row right beside the stage. It was incredible! I took probably 100 pictures on my phone so it was very hard to pick the best ones.

Think I was the only person there with their mom who was over the age of 13. :)

Me and Amy

Needless to say by Sunday afternoon after church I was beat and spent most of the day watching tv and cleaning up around the house. Now, if I can just get through this cold, dreary Monday! Where is Spring???

Best Friend's Birthday!

Today is my best friend, Brooke's 29th Birthday! Here's to your last year in your 20s! I'm sure it will be the best one yet!

I'm so thankful to have a best friend who I've literally known my entire life. We are more like sisters than we are best friends... our parents are best friends, we call each other's parent's "Aunt" and "Uncle", we spend holidays together, grew up taking every family vacation together and celebrate every special occasion together. I couldn't imagine my life without her and her family in it. Here's to many more special times together!

LOVE YOU!

Tasty Tuesday: Spaghetti Squash

We went on a limb and tried this and well... sort of conquered. From last week's post, this is the recipe we went with:

Skinny Spaghetti Squash Alfredo

We had to make a second grocery stop at Fresh Market to find the spaghetti squash and I found it to be rather expensive (at $10) but we were on a mission and wanted to try this out. We decided to go with the "poke holes in squash and bake before cutting" method and popped that baby into the oven for about and hour then pulled it out and let it cool for about 30 minutes while we made the sauce. The sauce was simple to make and we just followed the directions. Then we cut the squash open, scooped out the seeds (they look just like pumpkin seeds) and used a fork to pull the "spaghetti strands" out. We then poured the sauce into each half and coated the strands. It made a TON and could have easily been shared with 4-5-6 people.

Overall verdict: The sauce was a bit overpowering and too rich for me but the spaghetti squash itself had a good flavor. We decided that we would try it again but maybe do just a simple garlic or marinara sauce next time.

House Updates!

A few months back I posted our agressive list for our house updates. We've gotten more accomplished and a few things that weren't even on the original list so figured I'd update you guys with where we are... are to keep myself accountable with items I need to get done! We are so close to having everything inside the house done so this Spring/Summer we will really focus on outside the house.

To Purchase:
- Buy fabric and cover chair in sunroom
- Curtains for guestroom
- Curtains for office
- Rug for kitchen
- Rug for hallway
- Pick out paint color for Bathroom
- Shop for bathroom: curtain, towels, mat, etc.
- New rug for living room*
- New Curtains for living room*
*We rearranged the furniture in our living room to give us a lot more space but now the rug we have in there is a bit small. So... if we need a new rug, we might as well get some new curtains to go with it. :)
- Frame painting from Puerto Rico (for bedroom)
- Hall decor (frames, vase, etc.)

Small Fix-it Jobs:
- Replace/Fix garbage disposal
- Fix door to laundry
- Fix leak in kitchen sink
- Replace blinds in office
- Fix cracked tile in kitchen (or replace the floors...see below)
- Install flooring in laundry
- Repaint laundry
- Paint trim in kitchen
- Repaint kitchen (then the whole house will have been painted!!)
- Fix squeaky doors (bedroom/bathroom)
- Paint Hallway
- Paint Bathroom
- Touch up trim in hallway
- Organize desk/office closet
- Rearrange office furniture
- Clean out/organize pantry
- Put stuff up in attic
- Drop off items to Goodwill
- Yard work
- Fix fence

Our "If we win the lottery list":
- Landscape front yard* (working towards doing this in the spring!)
- Replace fence
- Redo brick patio
- Paint exterior of house
- Add bathroom/master closet
- Reno kitchen

Tasty Tuesday: Spaghetti Squash

Has anybody ever cook with spaghetti squash before? This seems like such an interesting concept to me and I've been wanting to try it out for awhile now and think I might take the plunge after finding these 2 recipes. Basically, if you bake the squash then cut it open, the insides can be scooped out to resemble spaghetti but a much healthier alternative to pasta.

Here are 2 recipes I've found - let me know if you have any others you have tried that were successful!


Skinny Spaghetti Squash Alfredo

Baked Spaghetti Squash with Creamy White Sauce



Weekend Update: Reunions!

Who doesn't love a great weekend?? And boy this one did not disappoint with lots of little reunions of sorts!

First, we finally got reunited with this little guy after over 2 weeks away. He got very spoiled this weekend with lots of special treats and snuggles. Our house finally feels back to normal!

I will also be reunited with T-Swift for another concert in a few weeks and just got the tickets for. We have seats right next to the stage too! Yes, I'm a 12 year old in a 29 year old's body. Judge all you want.

Then Saturday we hosted a shower for one of my good friends from High School, Nick and his fiance, Sallie. They are such a special couple and so perfect for each other. We cannot wait to celebrate the wedding in May!! The shower was a blast and I always love being able to spend time with my friends in Greenville whenever I get the chance!

Me and my bestie, Brooke

The precious flower arrangements my mom did with "his" and "hers" items

The gift table

Thank you Etsy!

The happy couple!

All the loot!

Again, what did we do before Etsy?

And on Sunday after we got hom in Columbia, we had 2 very special visitors stop by and say hey as they were driving through town, Morgan and her son Bennett. Morgan and I worked together in Greenville and got to be great friends and I just love snuggling with her little man!

Me and Mr. Bennett!

The love of a dog.

It's been 2 full weeks since I've snuggled with my pup - that is 14 days, 336 hours, 20,160 minutes... ok you get the picture. My parents kept Brinkley while we were on vacation and since we knew we would be heading to Greenville this weekend anyways, they just kept him through the week until we could get him. Call me crazy but boy do I miss this furry face!! I just can't wait until tonight when we head to Greenville to be reunited. I may be one of those crazy dog ladies but there just really isn't anything more special than the love of a dog.

My Month via Instagram: February

With our vacation last week I really feel like February was a short month... even more so than it already is.

So here we go - this is what I was up to this month through my iPhone...

Our month started out by hosting a Super Bowl Party where I made these delicous little creations.

We then celebrated my grandmother's 83rd birthday!

And suprisingly enough, saw some snow in Greenville! (even if it were just for a few minutes)

Then the big 1-year anniversary happened!

And we ate this frozen goodness!

Before we escaped the cold weather!

And got to spend a week looking at this view!

and this view...

And these views (Old San Juan)

and had to order one of these before we left.

We will miss you Puerto Rico!

A little less going-ons in February but a few pretty big ones at that! March is looking to be rather busy with some showers, concerts, plays, etc. Should be a good one!!

Puerto Rico Anniversary Trip

We are BACK from a blissful week in paradise! Puerto Rico was such an amazing place that I highly recommend to anybody. We stayed in Rio Grande which was about 30 minutes from Old San Juan and we were able to rent a car and drive wherever we wanted to go without any trouble at all. But enough with the talk - since pictures speak a thousand words, I will let them do (most) of the talking...

Resort - St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort

Where we spent most of our time.

Outside our room. All the rooms where in these separate buildings connected by boardwalks.

The resort had this boat house where you could do dinner water activities so we did a little kayaking one day.

Pool area

pool

There were a ton of iguanas around the resort.

Nothing says tropical paradise quite like a drink out of a coconut.

The entrance to the lobby area.

View from breakfast the last day.

Entrance to our room's building.

Old San Juan - We spent an entire day exploring around Old San Juan. It was the neatest little city! So beautiful with all the colorful buildings and cobalt streets!

Puerto Rican cuisine - creole chicken and yellow rice.

The big fort in Old San Juan surrounds the city with this wall. We may have gone the wrong way to the fort and ended up walking an extra few miles the wrong direction. But it gave us some great views!

View of the city from the fort.

LOVED the buildings!

Visited the place where pina coladas were created.

El Yunque Rain Forest - Another day we traveled to the only rain forest in the US National Forest System. Some more beautiful views!

And of course no trip would be complete for Brett and I without some random exploring!

In a nearby town (Luquillo) they have these famous food Kiosks which we had to try.

 

Leaving our mark at the food kiosk.

It really was an amazing trip to celebrate our first year of marriage! Now... off to plan the next adventure!