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.

I Love

....a nice day with no humidity

......driving with my sunroof open and windows down

.....watching Cooper wiggle himself crazy when I walk in the door

.....when MG does the dishes

....having delicious leftovers to look forward to the next day

.....making vacation plans

......learning how to do something new 

......getting compliments on something that was inexpensive

.....working with parents who are laid back, kind, and respectful

.....Chipotle chips with the perfect amount of salt on them

....waking up without an alarm

.....eating nachos for dinner every once in a while

....being silly. With MG, with friends, with kids....

.....taking a minute to think about the little things that make every day better and brighter

Weekend Highlights

Happy Monday, loves! I hope your day's already off to a great start after the weekend!

This was a busy one, but super productive for us. Amazing how much easier it is to get stuff done when you're not laid up sick for the whole weekend!

My weekend highlights included:

~Friday afternoon work out

~Friday date night with MG at our favorite pizza spot

~Watching the sun set on the deck with MG and a glass of wine after dinner

these chairs are seriously the best thing ever

~Up early. Spent the day painting the rest of the basement, guest bedroom down there and stairwell.

That's not even all of the outlet plates we needed....

~Could have been part of a meme about how you end up in a hospital from jerry-rigging silly stuff at home, with how we ended up painting the area above the stairs (luckily we didn't end up there tho!)

~Did a Costco run and some other errands and stopped by YardHouse for dinner.

~Got the last two seats at the bar when the wait for a table was over an hour and 15 minutes #winning

~After so much good food, some blueberry wheat beers and a long day of painting, slept for over 10 hours

~Sunday morning, MG went golfing and I went shopping

~Started reading The Girl on the Train (really good so far!)

~Painted the fireplace in the basement (buhbye off-white!)

a small sneak peek at what we've been up to....(the carpet is going back to the 90s,--or the trash can--where it belongs, soon!)

~Got some news that a good friend of mine at work is leaving at the end of the school year :(

~Had Chipotle for dinner (yummies!), watched Game of Thrones and recorded the last Mad Men to watch tonight!

Linking up with these pretties today:

Hope your weekend was fab!

Hooray it's Friday!

Whooop! It's Friday! And only 5 more Fridays left of the school year!

I'm ready for a weekend, hopefully sickness free (altho I'm still getting over the cold I came down with last weekend).

In the meantime, let's talk about some faves this week!

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

{1}-Favorite Clothes (Navy/White)
I've been obsessed lately with pairing navy and white together. These are some inspirations that I love (and need in my closet)

{2} Favorite Colors (House)

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In thinking about redoing rooms and such, I've been pinning a lot of home decor ideas. This pin is one of my favorites for color combinations lately--especially since we are painting our basement a light gray like in this pic. I definitely see some yellow accents coming to rooms in our house!

{3} Favorite Funnies

How I feel at work sometimes! {via}

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{4}-Weekend Plans-House Updates

We purchased the floors for our basement this week and will be getting them installed sometime in the near future. This weekend MG and I will be painting our little hearts out in the basement to get all of the walls nice and pretty and ready for floor and baseboard install. We started painting yesterday, only intending to do the biggest main wall, but ended up painting the whole room (all 700 square feet of it!) since we were on a roll--pun not intended :). I'm even more hopeful that we can knock it out this weekend!

We also changed our mind on the paint color. Again. It looks good so far though! :)

{5}-Favorite reward

MG and I rewarded ourselves last night for painting the first coat of the entire basement (without planning to initially), by trying out a Mexican restaurant near us that we'd heard good things about. Nothing beats chips and salsa, a Dos Equis and enchiladas as a reward for hard work!

I hope your weekend is super productive and fun!

Two Book Reviews in One!

Today I'm bringing you two book reviews in this post!

These are the other 2 books I read on our anniversary trip over a month ago (bring me back to the beach!!!)

The first one was The Way We Fall by Cassia Leo. It's the first book in a series. Of how many, I'm not sure.

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Here is the Goodreads synopsis:

"Houston has kept a devastating secret from Rory since the day he took her into his home. But the tragic circumstances that brought them together left wounds too deep to heal.

Five years after the breakup, Houston and Rory are thrust together by forces beyond their control. And all the resentments and passion return with more intensity than ever.

Once again, Houston is left with a choice between the truth and the only girl he’s ever loved."

This book had a rating of over 4. And after reading it, I have NO idea why. The story sounds like something a teenage girl might right about--someone who has NO idea what a healthy relationship is. At first I read it and kept it in my mind that this was likely more of a "light, easy, fluffy read"--not great literature. I was intrigued with what the big secret was and how the relationship came together and eventually fell apart to come together again (classic love story situation, right?).

I found neither of the main characters likeable. Rory is lame, boring, and kind of whiny, and Houston is a jerk. A muscly jerk.

I don't want to ruin anything for anybody, but there is a moment in the book that made me despise Houston (instead of just disliking him) and think that Rory was even more of a moron than I originally thought. I had no respect for either of the characters by the time the book finishes.

You're left off on a cliff hanger at the end. And frankly, I don't want to know how their toxic relationship ends.

I gave it 2 stars on Goodreads only because I was interested in the beginning, but over it by the end.

The other book I read, I downloaded on a whim because it had good reviews and sounded like it would be cute.

Ghostly Paws by Leighann Dobbs

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The Goodreads synopsis:

"Middle age can be murder ... 

At least that’s how it seems to former crime journalist, Wilhelmina Chance, whose near-fatal accident has given her a strange side effect ... she sees ghosts. 

After a messy divorce sends her fleeing back to her hometown of Mystic Notch, nestled in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Willa finds herself haunted by the tenacious ghost of the town librarian who insists Willa solve her murder."

It sounds a little hokey, but I've read other murder mystery books where a cat is involved (usually the pet of the person solving the mystery--as it was in this case) and they were actually good. This one had 3.77 reviews on Goodreads so I figured, why not?

The story was ok. The main character came off as more of a flighty 20 year old than a middle aged woman. And the way the author wrote in the interaction with the ghost was just cheesy. It really was hokey.

It certainly wasn't a good murder mystery, and by the end I could have cared less who did what.

Maybe it was because I'd just read an awesome mystery by Harlan Coben that wasn't cheesy. Either way, I gave this one 2 stars. I liked it enough to finish it, but would never read another book by this author again.

I guess today's book review is my DO NOT READ list.

Not all of them can be winners, right?

My next book review will have a better book, I promise!

Travel Wanderlust

I'm linking up today with the Fabulous Emily and Kate for Wanderlust Wednesday.

Today I'm sharing my top places that I WANT to visit, instead of places that I've visited already.

Greece: Athens, Mykonos, Santorini.... (so envious that you're going Amanda!)

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The Maldives/Bora Bora (because, this:

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Barcelona/Spain in general

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Costa Rica

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Obviously a lot of my places are beach-y vacay type places, but they also have historical or other sight-seeing/adventure stuff to do, which to me, is the perfect blend for a vacation.

I'm also posting a bunch of these places likely because I am jonesing for a vacation right now since I am in the height of busy stuff at work right now and any of these places looks like a dream get away on a regular day, but especially when things are hectic.
(Don't mind me as I stare at all of these pictures instead of doing the work that I need to be getting done...lol)

There are a TON of other places both here in the US and elsewhere that I want to go, but this was my beach wanderlust list :)

What are some of your top places to go explore/visit?

{Recipe Files}: Zoodles with Avocado Pesto

This will not be the last time you hear the word 'zoodle' around here, or see a picture of those green strands of deliciousness!

As promised, I'm bringing you one of the zoodle recipes I found online and made a few weeks ago--the best part is, it comes together in a matter of minutes!

What You Need:

-3 medium zucchini

-2 cups fresh basil leaves

-1/3 pine nuts (toasted: optional)

-1 avocado

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

-1 lemon (juice)

-sea salt to taste

-1 can chickpeas, drained

-sun-dried tomatoes (original recipe says for garnish. I added about 5-6 Tablespoons of julienne cut sun-dried tomatoes from the jar and highly recommend)

What You Do:

1. Use your spiralizer and zoodle-ize (yeah I made that up) your noodles into a large bowl.

(If you've never done this before, just cut off the end of the zucchini and spin it around in your spiralizer)

2. In a food processor (thank you, wedding gift!), combine the basil leaves, pine nuts (mine were not toasted), avocado, garlic, lemon juice, and sea salt. Pulse/process until it's smooth. 

Taste test it and add any additional things you may need to get it to taste how you'd like.

3. Toss the pesto with your zoodles. Add in the chickpeas and sun-dried tomatoes, and toss.

Voila! Simple, easy and tasty!

*I sprinkled a little bit of Parmesan cheese on top of mine, because....cheese. It was delicious :)*

I will warn you, that this makes enough for leftovers, and leftovers were good, BUT since it's avocado based, it turned color a little over night, and the zoodles were a little less crisp, so it didn't look as appetizing the next day. It still TASTED good, but upon first glance wasn't the most appealing to look at. Just be forewarned.

Stay tuned for my next zoodle recipe, which was even better than this one!

Check out some more of my recipes on my Recipes Page