Friday's Letters

Happy Friday!!! 

Dear Brian... Thank you for being the amazing man that you are. You have turned my life around and I thank you every day for this. It's such a great feeling to look at you and feel so much love in my heart. Dear Amy Schumer... your stand-up is HILARIOUS, however, your show "Inside Amy Schumer" has disappointed us a little. You better be awesome tonight! Dear Taylor Swift... I cannot wait to "dance like I'm 22" at your concert tomorrow. For the most part, I have loved you since "Tim McGraw". You lost me there for a little while, but your newest album "Red" is amazing! Dear Bachelor/Bachelorette... why must you wait until next January to be on again?!? I'm certainly going to miss Monday night wine/Bachelor date nights. Dear weekend... you're gonna be a busy one. Here's hoping I can find some time to relax.  Also, if you have the chance please got here and vote for Tanya. I've known this family most of my life. They are an amazing family and have endured many hardships and losses. Tanya definitely deserves this vacation. It only takes a minute of your time. Thanks! 

Doggie Vacation

Happy Friday!!! 
Brian and I are leaving early tomorrow morning to go to Atlanta. Brian has work meetings there, so I figured I would go along for the ride. More on that next week, this is about Peanut's vacation. 
Anyway, I had been stressing out trying to decide what we were going to do with Peanut. He's a little spoiled and has never been boarded. He usually stays with family or friends when we go out of town. I just can't imagine dropping him off somewhere not knowing if he's going to get much affection and playtime and possibly be in a crate most of the time. This dog has been like my child since I got him 5 years ago, I just couldn't do that to the little guy. Since we didn't really have anywhere else to take him, I reluctantly started looking at boarding places. All of the boarding places that I thought seemed decent were ridiculously expensive. I was getting really upset about the whole boarding thing when I came across a website called DogVacay. You put in your location and the dates you will be leaving your dog and it pulls up a list of dog sitters that will watch your dog in their home during that time. I was a little skeptic of this at first, but the more I thought about it I liked this idea WAY better than boarding. The sitters talk a little about themselves and how your dog will be spending its time there. I searched through quite a few listings and finally found someone who got glowing reviews, was available this weekend and only takes dogs under 25 pounds. We emailed back and forth a few times and I finally felt comfortable enough to go ahead and make the reservation. We drop Peanut off this evening and drop him off Tuesday evening. His sitter has a dog of her own and will be watching two other dogs, so it will be a little puppy party for Peanut. I'm so nervous leaving him with someone I don't know, but I am confident that he will be in good hands. 
His sitter asked for a list of some things about Peanut and this is what I made to give to her. 

Peanut

Chocolate Miniature Dachshund

5 years old

Mommy: Lindsay 

Daddy: Brian 

Brother: Chance (Schipperke mix)

Food: ¼ cup twice per day

Potty breaks: Morning, late afternoon and before bed

1.)   Peanut LOVES to cuddle. He’s definitely a lap dog and is happiest curled up right beside you under a blanket.

2.)   He is very affectionate and LOVES giving kisses!

3.)    His favorite game is fetch. He will chase the ball as long as you keep throwing it to him.

4.)   He might be a little guy, but he will make it his mission to get the squeaker out of a toy in 15 minutes or less.

5.)   He’s very friendly and loves playing with other dogs.

6.)   He is a little explorer. He loves to sniff and mark every tree, flower, piece of grass, etc that you come across.

7.)   He loves mommy and daddy and will probably sit at the door for a little while waiting for them to come back.

8.)   He likes to work on his tan in the morning. He will find any little sliver of sunlight he can to lay in.

9.)   He is protective and gives a little growl and barks when he hears doors open, knocking, doorbells, etc. We tell him “no barking”, so feel free to let him know it’s not ok to bark.

10.) He loves treats and can sit up and roll over if he knows a treat is coming his way. He’s not too good with “sit” though.

11.) One of his favorite things is having his head scratched.

This is our first time ever leaving Peanut with someone we don’t know, but we know he’s going to have a great time with you and the rest of the pups. Thank you so much for opening up your home and taking the time to care for him. We are confident that he will be in good hands and might not even want to come home when we pick him up. Thanks again for letting Peanut join the puppy party!!! We will be back to Tuesday evening to pick him up from his vacation. 

Happy weekend!!! I'll be back next week with a full recap of our (and Peanut's) mini-vacay!

Weekend Update

Is it really Monday again already?! Boooooo!!!! 

This weekend was such a great weekend! I am so sad it had to end!!! 
Friday, we went to Wasabi Cafe with some of our favorite people, Sheyla and Brian. We filled ourselves full of sushi and thai food, drank way too much a little wine and toasted to Maash Boutique having over 300 followers on FB. Speaking of Maash Boutique, if you don't like this boutique on FB you totally should! Such cute stuff and very affordable!  We always have such a great time with Sheyla and Brian and always look forward to the next time we all get to hang out. 

 It's a Bri-mance

Love her!!! 
Saturday, I stopped by Maash to do a little shopping then Brian and I headed to Costco to pick up some things. That night, we made a seafood feast of lobster, shrimp, scallops and veggies. It was soooooo good and less than half the price we would have spent going to a restaurant (thank you Costco). I love date nights at home!!! 

Sunday, we went to Brian's nephews 11th birthday party. It was supposed to be a pool party, but Mother Nature decided it should only be about 65. Of course, the kids still got in the pool and had a blast. I, on the other hand, pretended I was 10 years old again and had too much fun doing back handsprings and tucks on the trampoline. Note to self: You are not 10 years old anymore, you will be VERY sore the next day!!! 

I hope you all had a great weekend too!!! 

Friday... Oh how I love thee

Friday... I seriously love you! Where have you been all my life?! 

For some reason, I have been over this work week since Monday. It's been a busy week and I'm exhausted!!! 
Monday, I went to my first Chicago White Sox game. We lost, but it was still really fun! At least the two runs we scored were home runs, so I got to see some fireworks (and we had great seats). 

Tuesday, we went to Goose Island brewpub for dinner and drinks with Brian's sisters and their significant others. It was a great time! We are quite the rowdy bunch! At one point, Brian threw his sister's sock across the room. Yes, we are those people! 
Wednesday, I had a work happy hour at ZED451. I am pretty much in love with that place now! The ambiance was so cool, the appetizers were amazing and the drinks were delicious! Also, I have the best co-workers, so it was really fun getting to hang out with them outside of the office. 
Thursday, I was very productive after work. I cleaned the apartment, went to a super fun fitness class called WERQ and did laundry. 
Tonight, we have dinner with one of our favorite couples at Wasabi Cafe. It's All You Can Eat sushi for $20.95 and BYOB, what more can you ask for? 
I've been super motivated to workout since getting my Polar FT4 watch, but more on that next week! 
How was your week?  What are your plans for the weekend? 

Cinco de Drinko Weekend!!!

We Americans use any excuse we can find to drink. I'm certainly not complaining though! Especially when the drink of choice is margaritas. 

Instead of going out this weekend and spending WAY too much money, Brian and I decided to stay home and make our own margaritas and tacos. Friday night, I made strawberry and strawberry-banana margaritas and we played canasta and watched Roxanne and Soul Man (we love 80's comedies). Saturday, we took the dogs for a long walk since the weather was so nice. Saturday night, we watched the Bulls game and made tacos and raspberry margaritas. Sunday, we cooked breakfast, went for a walk and then made mixed berry margaritas. We were really on a margarita kick!!! It was a nice, relaxing weekend. 

The Perfect Frozen Margarita Recipe

Fill blender with ice to about the 4-5 cup line
Add about one cup of your favorite frozen or fresh fruit
2 shots of tequila
1 1/2 shots triple sec
1 shot club soda
1 shot sweet n sour mix
1/2 shot simple syrup
juice of half lime
blend 

So easy and sooooo good!


Have a great week!

Friday's Letters

Dear Boyfriend... Thank you for always being there for me! Thank you for making me feel like such a great person. 

Dear Weekend... Thank you for being here and for giving me two full days to spend with my love. 

Dear Target... Stop making such cute clothes! Don't you know, I can't afford them right now!

Dear Mother Nature... Get it together! It's Spring... not Summer or Winter! Seriously, 88 one day and 48 the next?! 

Dear Finch's Beer.... Thank you for making my favorite beer right now, Fascist Pig.

Dear Bloggy Friends... Thank you for always supporting me. 

Happy Weekend Friends!!! 

A little bit of this and that...

October has been a pretty busy month, so my blog has been getting neglected. Poor little blog is starting to feel lonely! This week is a busy week getting ready for my friend Melissa's wedding, so this poor little blog will probably be on the back burner for one more week. 

A few things I've been up to over the last week... 

Filled out my ballot while having a glass of wine

 Went to Target to get Taylor Swift's new album, Red. It's been on repeat since Wednesday. Love it!!! Thanks Shanna for telling me to go buy it. :)

Before going to get my hair done. 

After getting my hair done. Long layers and bangs!!! 

Took a trip to the pumpkin patch. 

   Got a rare picture of this pretty kitty that usually lives under the bed. 

Also, went to lunch with my friend, Lacey, for her 30th birthday. Planned and successfully pulled off a surprise birthday dinner (more on that tomorrow). And went to the most fun 2 year olds birthday party. 

What have you all been up to?

Weekend full of movies

Jeremy was out of town this weekend, so I spent pretty much the entire weekend watching movies. 

Friday night, I went to my friend Katrina's and we made the MOST delicious Fall adult beverage called Spiced Caramel Apple.  I would not be a good blog friend if I did not share this recipe. 

Spiced Caramel Apple

2 oz ginger liqueur

1 oz caramel vodka 

2 1/2 oz apple cider

Rim martini glass with cinnamon and sugar and set aside. Add ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into martini glass. 

Easy peasy and oh so delicious!!! We tried it with both regular apple cider and spice cider and decided we liked the spiced cider better. And after a drink or two, we started mixing equal parts ginger liqueur and caramel vodka, oops! 

While consuming our yummy drinks, we decided to watch What to Expect When You're Expecting. I thought this was a great movie! It was funny when needed, but also a little sad at times. After the movie, we thought it would be a brilliant idea to walk to a local dive bar. Trina's husband was a little worried and thought we were crazy, but we assured him that with a couple of Maglites no one would mess with us. It was a great night! 

Saturday, I was nursing a terrible hangover headache. What better to do when you've got a terrible headache than lay on the couch and watch movies all day. I watched Eclipse, Field of Dreams, She's the One and Cry-Baby. Cry-Baby might just be one of the cheesiest movies ever, but my cousins and I used to watch it when we were younger and loved it. 

Sunday, my MIL and I went to see Pitch Perfect. I love love LOVED this movie. I'm a huge fan of musicals, so this was right up my alley. We laughed so hard and decided that it was just a great movie all around! Unless you just completely hate music, I highly recommend this movie.

After the movie, we decided we might as well rent a couple more movies. So we rented The Five Year Engagement and Katy Perry: The Movie. I'm not ashamed to say that I loved the Katy Perry movie. It was fascinating hearing her back story and also seeing behind the scenes of the concerts. Russell Brand is a douche! The Fiver Year Engagement was good, but not great in my book. MIL and I agreed that the first 30-45 minutes and the last 30 minutes were great, but they just drug out the middle too long.

It was a super relaxing weekend!!! I'm not sure I've watched that many movies in the past month! 

What did y'all do this weekend? 

Update

Hello blog world!!! It's been awhile! I may be sporadically posting for awhile my mom is here. We've been having some fun times already and have three more weeks of fun times ahead!!! Here's a day-by-day update of the fun we've been having! 

Tuesday: I ran a bunch of last minute errands to get ready for mom's arrival. While I was in the car listening to the radio, I heard they were giving away tickets to see Rascal Flatts, Little Big Town, Eli Young Band and Eden's Edge. I NEVER win these things, but I thought I might as well give it a try and make the call. The first time I dialed the number it was busy. The second time they answered!!! I won two tickets to the concert! My mom and I both LOVE Little Big Town. I may or may not have seen them in concert five times already. So, I went to the radio station and picked up the tickets and then Jeremy and I headed to the airport to pick mom up. Boy was she surprised when I showed her the concert tickets. We headed to In-n-Out Burger for dinner and then came home to relax and have a glass of wine. 

Wednesday: Mom and I hung out around the house most of the day. That evening, we went across the street for pizza and beer to celebrate our anniversary. 

Thursday: We decided to go to our local grocery store Raley's for wine night. Every Thursday, they have a wine tasting for $3. For $3 you get to try a bunch of different wines and they have appetizers. This week, they threw a bridal shower for one of the employees I'm friends with. It was really fun! 

Friday: Mom and I headed to Trader Joe's to pick up some flowers for my friend Lacey for her last day of work. We stopped at Starbucks and got Lacey and Dianna a fun drink. Lacey was super surprised! Then mom and I headed to Olive Garden for a yummy lunch! Friday evening, we lounged around the house and geared up for our BBQ on Saturday.

Saturday: I baked cookies and made deviled eggs to get ready for our BBQ. My in-laws came over around 5 and I made pina coladas for everyone. Around 6, Lacey and Jorge got here and the guys started the BBQ. Dianna and Julio got here just in time to eat. After dinner, us girls set around chatting and the guys played poker. Somehow we decided to play flip cup and that definitely got the party started. After that, we played three man. We stayed up until 3 AM. I think we all thought we were in college again. It sure was a blast!!!

Sunday: We all slept in and then got up and headed to Santa Rosa to try out Five Guys. It was delicious! We went to Costco and CVS and then came home and lounged. We were all tuckered out from Saturday's activities. 

It has been a great almost week and I'm looking forward to the next three weeks! 

Friday Funnies #2

Yay for Friday! Last Friday, I shared some of my favorite "funnies" and this week I decided to make it a Friday ritual. 

First up, a hilarious letter a friend sent me the link to "Amusingly pissed off letter to Continental Airlines about a seat by the lavatory". I love the little drawings the guy adds!

Happy Friday! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Friday Funnies

Cheers to Friday! I don't know about you, but I like to start my weekend off right. Since it's only 1:00 PM here, I should probably NOT start it off with a drink. Instead, I will start it off with a good laugh. 

Yesterday, my cousin posted this link to my fb wall. 

"The Fart That (Almost) Altered My Destiny"

I sat there almost crying I was laughing so hard. It's kind of a long read, but I assure you it is totally worth it. If you haven't clicked the link yet, go ahead and do it now. You will be sorry if you don't! I also love the fact that I'm the first person my cousin thought of to send this to. 

Happy weekend twat waffles (I assure you that's a term of endearment)!!! 

Don't forget to enter the custom canvas, $20 shop credit to adie's lovelies and green and purple pattern makeup/jewelry pouch here.

Weekend Update

Who else is sad the weekend is already over? We had a great weekend! Friday night, we had Z Pizza, drank a few beers and watched Mirror, Mirror and This Means War. It was the perfect start to the weekend. Saturday, we decided we should do something that we've never done before. So, we decided to go to the little town of Point Reyes Station for lunch and then head on to the Point Reyes lighthouse. It was ridiculously foggy out, so you could barely even see the bay. Even with all the fog, the lighthouse was still beautiful. There is something so magical and intriguing about lighthouses. Jeremy and I have decided to make a list of all the lighthouses on the west coast and try to go to every one (we've been to two so far). Saturday night, we had a couple glasses of wine and watched Safe House. All the movies we watched this weekend were very good! Sunday, we hung out with Jeremy's parents and played Rook. It was such a wonderful weekend! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!