Friday Faves

Man, Friday came quick this week and I am 100% ok with it!! I'm with everyone else that 3-day weekends should be a mandatory thing--where do I sign that petition??

Since it's somehow already the last weekend of May (seriously, where is the time going??), I've got some faves for you as we head into it, before we kick off June.

Friday Favorites // Friday Favorites // Oh Hey Friday// 5 on Friday

{1} Our basement

I know I've talked about our basement a lot, and I'm sorry...a little. But I am SO happy with how everything turned out and all of the love and awesome comments I got on my post about it just solidifies that it's not just me who things it's great. MG and I have been hanging up some pictures and other art down there which has made it feel even more homey, even without furniture haha.

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{2} Watermelon

Yes, watermelon has been a HUGE favorite this week. I love this time of year because you can get a great watermelon that's so sweet and juicy. We bought one last weekend, MG cut it up and we've been enjoying it all week. There is something so refreshing about it. We will definitely be getting another one this weekend and perhaps making MG's infamous watermelon adult bevies!

{3} Weekend Plans

Tomorrow I have plans to meet up with a group of ladies I used to work with when I first started working in the school system. We all recently caught up at a friends' baby shower and made plans to meet up. It'll be good to see all of my old coworkers/friends for a bit and relax on Saturday. We also have a double date night dinner planned with another couple, too, which is always a good time :)

{4} Funnies

{via} Amen!

{via} And now the song is playing in my head....:)

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{5}-Just Because
Yesterday MG walked in the door after work with these pretties in his hand, just because:

 He totally brightened up my day :)

Before I go, I wanted to send a birthday shout out to one of my besties, Trish! Happy 21st (how many times have we celebrated your 21st now?? ;) Love you to pieces!!

I hope your week ends on a bight note and that you have an awesome weekend!! Catch you on Monday, lovies!

Bachelorette Thoughts

It's about that time, friends. Time to dissect the Bachelorette, but today we're gonna do a run down of the guys, because I have comments. Lots and lots of comments!

So let's hit the ground running!

Daniel--he's a fashion designer, who resembles Edward Norton. It's the first thing I think every time I see him. Do you see it?

JJ-he's a self-proclaimed, divorcee with a kid, who lives in his parents' basement. He's also "smarter than 90% of people" (apparently).

And, he's also our resident douche for the season. Who needs to go home, immediately.

Hi, douche...I mean, JJ!

Joe--he's from Tennessee, and sweet as some Southern Sweet tea (read that with a Southern accent). I like him. He just needs to cut the hedgehog-like hair a little bit. No one wants to date Sonic.

I mean, seriously, his forehead and hair take up half his face!

Meet Shawn. He is basically Ryan Gosling reincarnated (even tho Ryan G isn't dead--thank goodness). He doesn't really look like him in his Bachelorette photo, but my word, my heart skipped a little beat when I saw him and immediately pictured running into his shirtless body with outstretched arms like in Crazy Stupid Love.

Not sure where he was this past week tho.

Hello Ry-...err....Shawn!

And then there was Tony. Tony who showed up on the first night with an unexplained black eye. He also likes to speak in circles about love and light and a whole bunch of other hippie-dippy stuff. And he doesn't remember Kaitlyn's name, but he wants to make sure she is available to meet his needs in love. 

First requirement--remember your love interest's name. Namaste.

*all photos in this post were from ABC.com

There are plenty of other guys, and most of them seem to be normal--normal enough that I don't have any witty commentary about them....yet. There are also a bunch who I have no idea who they are when I looked at their pictures on the Bachelorette website. So I'm guessing they are low-flyers, at least for now.

I can't wait for the rest of the season to unfold, and for the rest of the commentary that will inevitably come with it!

Catch ya in the rose garden!

Basement Reveal

Even though we are definitely by no means done with the basement (we have no furniture in there, no decorations, etc), and it will likely be a bit before it's all "done" so I wanted to show you just how awesome of a transformation has taken place down there so far!

We have about 800 square feet in our basement, so it's a HUGE space. When we bought the house, it had a lovely (insert sarcasm here) mauve carpet circa 1990.

It was actually nice carpet, but the color was atrocious. In addition to the trim being off-white (as it was throughout the majority of the rest of our house). 

So, here are the before pictures--before we painted the walls, the fireplace and got the carpet installed--after we'd painted the trim and doors (don't mind the junk down there...this was really a storage area before for us):

We said "Bye Felicia" to the 90's carpet!

And the after:

The carpet on the stairs was just installed yesterday--it is SO soft !

{Floors: Mohawk in Midday Mocha Oak;
Walls: Behr Gentle Rain}
You guys. I am SO in love with this space!!! It feels even bigger than it did before. The walls look light, clean and fresh, and the baseboards are so pretty and add that nice contrast between the walls and floors (they also match the baseboards in the rest of the house now).

I can't wait to decorate this space and make it even more homey and cozy. 

And....throw a big old party in our house!!!

What do you think about the difference? 

{Recipe Files}:Sesame Zoodles with Shrimp

I saw this recipe on Pinterest (via Cookies and Cups) and decided to add shrimp to it, to add in a little extra protein. So, this recipe can be made with or without the shrimp.

What You Need:

I only used 3 zucchini. We did not have leftovers.

For the sauce:

-1/4 Cup Soy sauce (low sodium)

-2 Tbsp rice vinegar

-2 tsp sriracha sauce

-1 Tbsp creamy peanut butter

-2 cloves minced garlic (or 1 tsp from jar)

-2 Tbsp sesame oil *(you can use olive oil instead)

-4-5 medium zucchini (if you want leftovers)

-1 Tbsp olive oil

-3/4 lb shrimp, peeled, tail off (we used pre-cooked)

-Optional: sesame seeds

What You Do:

1. Use a spiralizer on your zucchini. Use a large bowl to collect the zoodles in.

2. In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients together for the sauce with a whisk. Set aside.

3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the shrimp and cook until heated through (I added in a bit of garlic as well).

4. Add in the zoodles and saute for about 3-4 minutes, until slightly soft. There may be some excess liquid that comes out of the zoodles when cooking. If so, drain it.

5. Add in the sauce and toss to combine.

6. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and enjoy!

This is by far my favorite zoodle recipe that I've tried thus far. It is so rich in flavor, but still light so you don't feel gross and stuffed afterwards. I will absolutely be making this dish again because it is SO good!

Check out some of my other recipes in my Recipes Page.

Weekend Highlights (so far)

Happy Monday, everyone--and I really mean it because this Monday there's no alarms waking us up and no work! It's amazing what that extra day of the weekend does for your soul!

This weekend has been great so far. My weekend highlights included:

~Friday dinner and a movie date night with MG to see Avengers

~Watched an amazing episode of Vice about new cures for cancer (highly recommend the docu-series on HBO!)

~Woke up to a beautiful morning on Saturday--perfect for getting chores done in and around the house

~Freshly washed cars courtesy of the hubs

~Went furniture shopping for the basement

~Made plans for a summer beach vacay! 

~Bought a 65" tv and sound bar for the basement (holy crap it's awesome!)

~Cook out at our friends Dave and Emily's place where there was all kinds of delicious food and drink, including this cute flag made of short cake and berries (part way eaten)

~Sunday morning errands

~Lunch double date with my friend Natalie and her husband where I tried Indian food for the first time (it was yummy!)

~More furniture shopping where MG and I finally settled on a nice long power-reclining couch and a side chair (omg this couch is sooooo comfy!)

it comfortably seats 4, even though it only looks like two in this photo

~Homemade tacos, dining al fresco

~Relaxing night in on the couch

And today we're getting the floors installed in the basement! I am so excited to see it all come together!!

Now that I look back, I took a lot of pictures of food this weekend (and furniture, but you don't want to see everything we looked at). 

I'm so glad that we have today to enjoy...and at the end of it, our downstairs space is going to be totally transformed!

I hope your Memorial Day weekend has been awesome, too!

Linking up with these pretties today:

5 on Friday!

Happy Friday and happy long weekend ahead! It has been a super trying week for me at work, so I am more than thrilled that this weekend is finally here, and that I get an extra day to just relax.

Even though this week was a stress-pool for me, I've still got some favorites for ya!

Friday Favorites // Friday Favorites // Oh Hey Friday// 5 on Friday

{1}-400 Followers!!

I hit the 400 follower mark through blogger (there may be more because of bloglovin). I was incredibly excited as I saw the number jump to 400 on Wednesday!! Love to each of you!

{2} Floors

We are getting the floors installed in our basement on Monday morning! I can't wait for that entire space to be totally transformed and show you all the before and afters! Fingers crossed the floors turn out how we've hoped!
A sneak peak at what we ordered:

{3} Back in Stock!

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I was perusing the internet a while back to get a new comforter set for our basement guest room (since it's getting a facelift in addition to the basement family room). I found a set that I loved, that had good reviews, but it was out of stock in the size I needed. Until this week when I got a notice that it was back! I bought this pretty for $65 (for the King size--yes if you ever came to sleep over, you'd get to sleep in a King--nothing but luxury at our house ;). I can't wait til it gets here and I can show you that complete room too--it's the same one that has this chandelier hung in it from a few weeks ago!)

{4}Funnies
After any week, but especially a stressful one, you just need some laughter.

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For my fellow book lovers:

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{5}Memorial Day

This weekend, we get Monday off and we'll likely be with friend/family, some BBQ's, the beach or somewhere else. But please remember to take a minute and thank the service members, past and present, for their service. Without them, we wouldn't have the freedoms that we do. Don't let Memorial Day's true meaning get lost this weekend, so take a second and remember those who have fallen and those who sacrifice (service members and their families) every day for the greater good of our country.

I hope you have a fabulous Friday, and a wonderful long weekend!!

ABC's of ME

The ABC's of me:

A- Available: Nope--happily married!
B- Biggest Fear: Drowning
C- Crushing On: Channing Tatum in Magic Mike XXL (drool)

{via} or all of them....

D- Drink You Had Last: Adult drink? Sauvignon Blanc
E- Easiest Person To Talk To: Genna
F- Favorite Song: Right now, I love  Bright by Echosmith

G- Grossest Memory: I really can't think of one. Maybe it was so gross that I blocked it out?
H- Hometown: Rockville, MD
I- In Love With: my husband! and cheese. I love cheese, too.
J- Jealous Of: anyone going to the beach for Memorial Day weekend
K- Killed Someone: never!
L- Longest Relationship: 6 years; working on longer than that now tho ;)
M- Middle Name: Ann
N- Number Of Siblings: zero by blood, two sisters by marriage who I love, and two brother-in-laws who entertain me to no end :)

O- One Wish: For work to go a little more smoothly and be a little less stressful

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P- Person Who You Called Last: Genna
Q- Question You're Always Asked: "Can you.....?"
R- Reason To Smile: Cooper's snuggles and tail wiggles

that face!

S- Song You Last Sang: Summer by Maroon 5
T- Time You Woke Up: 6:20 am
U- Unsure Of?: How much longer I'll work in the school system

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V- Violent Moment You Had: I was violently ill once....

W- Worst Habit: Worrying/Overthinking
X- Number Of X-Rays You've Had: I think 2
Z- Zodiac Sign: Pisces

Looking Back

At the end of a very trying day yesterday at work, I was closing all of my open windows on my computer, getting ready to shut down to head home, and I stopped for a second.

I have a few pictures as the background on my computer at work that cycle through. This one was the one that was up when everything was closed, before I shut down:

I stopped for a minute and just looked at it, smiling, remembering that day, and those crazy intense happy feelings.

And somehow the stupidity and stresses of the day were a little less.

It's crazy to think that 2 years ago this weekend (Memorial Day weekend), this happened. The man I'd been looking for and thinking about all my life asked me to marry him. 

Sometimes you just need to take a second to smell the roses....or stare at a picture to realize the important stuff in life and let the other stuff go.