Husband surprised me the other night with a sa-weet (well, more like spa-icyyy) asian-inspired dish. He even served it to me in our new china serving bowl. He wouldn't let me near the kitchen while he was preparing it and it smelt so good from upstairs. It tasted even better. Did I mention he even cleaned up the entire kitchen? Love that guy.
Sidenote: After showering (I had been at the gym), since hubs was surprising me with dinner, I thought I'd surprise him with a look that didn't involve sweatpants (what!? It was like, 7pm). This 'look' involved black leggings, a black top and a black sweater. Oh, and I threw on big hoop earrings because he loves those. However, no make-up was used in this look because that would just be too much effort (and I had just given myself a facial) - so yes, here it is folks, first time ever on this blog, me, make-up-less.
Dayyyyyum
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Super easy summery salad. The last time I made this was for Canada Day celebrations and since we are experiencing Daylight Savings now, what better way then to post about something summery? I can almost feel the warm breeze blowing past... oh wait, I actually can as I'm still on vacation in Florida.
What you need:
* 2 pears
* a pint of strawberries
* a package of leafy stuff (I used mixed greens)
* feta cheese
* walnuts
Dressing:
* olive oil
* 1 lemon (for the juice)
Chop everything up, throw it in a big bowl & enjoy.
For the dressing, it's kind of a trial & error. I like to use a Mason jar; squeeze a lemon (or lime) into the jar, add even more olive oil and shake it up. You might need more of both, pour over salad right before serving & toss.
I even put some of the salad on my buger! Get creative.
Even though I already own these in grey, I've been eying the black ones since purchasing mine and realizing how awesome they feel on my feet. Do I really need another pair of black wedges? No. Do I really need another pair of cut-out black heels? No. Do I really want these anyways? Yes.
"A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in." ~Robert Orben
That quote pretty much describes the first few days of a vacation for me. I'm always rearing to go, go, go and forget that now is the time to just relax. However, I find it hard to come down from the bustle of life, myself always on the go, always doing something, filling every spare minute of my time with an activity or what you may have. After a few days though, I get into the groove of a vacation and realize that sitting still is acceptable and I don't always have to be doing something... and it's quite nice.
So I've been in Florida since Monday night and it's been great. I'm staying with my parents at a condo on the beach, and while it's not glamourous (I've been sleeping on an air mattress in the living room of the one-bedroom condo) it certainly is appreciated. We are right on the beach (literally steps away) and there is no snow (at home, there is about five feet of snow).
We've been eating out every day, some good experiences, some bad (Applebees), and also had meals 'at home' (toasted tomato, avocado sandwiches, breakfasts, and lots of peanut butter m&m's). Tonight we are going to Chili's to celebrate my birthday (coming up this Tuesday) as it's my favourite restaurant and we don't have it in Canada. I'm going to wear my new AA double-u dress/top. On my real birthday (typically when we celebrate any birthday in my family), my parents won't be around and I'll be celebrating with my in-laws instead (yipee!).
For the first time in my life, I actually packed workout clothes (and shoes) for my vacation. I never do this. I don't work out on my holidays (hell-o, I'm on holidays) and honestly, I don't even want to work out when I'm not on holidays (but I do). However, I figured since hubs isn't here with me on this holiday (first time for everything), I might get the chance (or make the chance) to get some physical activity in (which should cancel out all the ice cream, cool latta's, peanut butter m&m's and other delicious food I've been eating without giving a second though, right?) - and I have! I have gone running on the beach twice (and wow is it ever different to run outside, I'm definitly a treadmill girl, and on sand is even harder - however, running beside the ocean is pretty awesome) and done a power walk (in my bikini, no less) with my mom.
Of course I have to tell you all about the lovely experience I had called, 'Amanda's Luggage Gets Lost'. I had a connecting flight in DC and my flight there was delayed (first it was delayed, then we taxied to the runway only to taxi back because something about maintenance), and when we finally taxied back, we took off. The plane was tiny. Two seats, an aisle, and one seat. The ceiling of the plane was so low, I had to duck to walk back to my seat (I'm 5'11, but still) - regardless, the worst part was that they wouldn't let me bring my carry-on into the plane, they said it was too big (it was a small rolly-suitcase). So I pulled my book (Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus) out and left my bag (which was annoying because obviously you pack your carry-on full of stuff you want to use on the plane, or at least I do, things such as earphones, camera, magazines, etc.).
When we arrived in DC, we had to wait outside the plane for them to pull all our 'carry-on' bags off before going inside to get to our connecting flights. We waited about eight minutes on the tarmack before they wheeled over a big trolley. I grabbed my bag and ran (seriously, ran) into the airport. I discovered that not only might I miss my connecting flight, but my gate was the furthest gate away (f-bomb). Fortunately, there was a 'shuttle' (like a bus) that took you from where I was, to the furthest gate, and it was leaving in three minutes (I just made it). Once I got there, I ran towards my gate and the ticket guy at the gate yelled out to me, 'Are you going to Orlando?!' I yelled back that I was, made it there, they took my ticket and I ran onto the plane - the second-last person to board. Phew. Just made it. We took off within minutes (and it was a bigger plane, three seats, an aisle and three seats with first class) and I eventually ended up chatting with the guy next to me who was from Sweden and learned all about his country and his profession (Sky-Dive instructor). Oh, and again, they wouldn't let me bring my carry-on onto the plane (I honestly don't know why as there was clearly enough room under the seat for my bag, grrr) but I did bring my book and before I knew it, we were landing in Orlando.
Upon arrival, I was worried my luggage didn't make it since my connection was so tight (under 15 minutes), and sadly, I was right. My carry-on came out, but my check luggage didn't (aka all my clothes). Packed in my carry-on: six pairs of shoes (I figured, what's worse? Losing all my clothes or six of my favourite shoes? - exactly), two bikinis, my make-up and jewelery. They (the airline people) told me to fill out some computer 'paper-work' and that hopefully my luggage would be delivered to me the next day. I had a dream that night that my suitcase came but half my clothes were missing (my mom said, 'That's not a dream, that's a nightmare!' hehe). However, sure enough, just after noon the next day, a delivery van brought my suitcase here and we've been living in harmony ever since.
Since being here, a ton of shopping has gone down. I was itching to go to the (Premium) outlets in Orlando as I've been twice and it's only grown since being there two and three years ago, and of course Target (since we don't have this in Canada). Those were my only two pre-requisits for shopping, however, we've also hit up TJ Maxx and Ross, which were both very successful. I've come out with a new purse, two pairs of shoes (BCBG & Carlos Santana), several tops, lots of jewelery, several dresses and a couple pairs of pants. I'd never heard of Ross before and a friend of my parents (who lives here) mentioned it and I'm so glad she did - that.store.is.awesome. So cheap, it was unreal (for all you Americans you're probably saying, 'What's the big deal, it's Ross,' right?). My mom and I had a hayday in there (we were literally in the place for three hours). Target, on the other hand (which I was so excited for), was a big dissappointment. I didn't buy any clothing but did pick up some Suave Dry Shampoo (thanks to Veronika's review), self-tanner ($10 cheaper than in Canada) and some Elf make-up. I'm pretty much shopped-out... okay, that's not true, despite my feet and legs being very sore from all the walking and shopping we've done, I could obviously shop some more... however, my credit card begs to differ.
And what's on the agenda for today, you ask? Well, I'm currently drinking a Dunkin' Donuts coffee (did you know, 'America runs on Dunkin'?), blogging and getting ready to head outside into the sunshine. The weather hasn't been super warm (except Tuesday, when I spent the day at the beach) and considering I packed several binkinis, I've only worn one so far) but I'll take dry pavement and sunshine any day over mounds of wet white stuff (snow).
Lastly, more photos to come, but I'm restricted to this for now. I don't have my own computer (using my mom's) down here with me and cannot upload any photos to twitter as I don't have roaming/data (it's super expensive and not worth it to add a US package to my phone plan for one week). Hope you are all well and I'm checking blogs every now and again but need to take advantage of the sun (and can't bring the laptop outside with me - the wireless is tempearmental) so will catch up with you all when I'm back.
See what I packed for my holdiays here.
I love napkin rings and I find myself drawn to them everytime I go into Pier 1 (or any other store that sells them, for that matter), however, I really don't use them that often. Typically, just when we have guests for dinner because I'm not exactly breakin' 'em out for a dinner for two on a daily basis. However, they are nice to have for special or 'infrequent' occassions. I wanted to make my own, and these in fact were given as a housewarming gift to a friend. If you can't find any cheap napkin rings in store, I suggest checking out various thrift stores as they often have them for cheap. Let's get started.
What you need:
* napkin rings (I used six)
* burlap
* ribbon
* a stone or bead (something decorative)
* hot glue gun
* Measure out your burlap and cut it into strips about twice the width of the napkin ring and long enough that it will wrap around plus a little more
* Put a dab of hot glue on the napkin ring
* Press the end of the burlap strip into the hot glue
* Put a dab of hot glue inside the napking ring and press the burlap on the sides into it (they should overlap)
* Add a line of hot glue around the napkin ring and wrap the burlap around
* Put a dab of hot glue inside the napkin ring and fold the burlap inside towards the glue. Hold for a few seconds and you're done covering the napking ring (repeaton the remaining napkin rings)
* Cut out a piece of ribbon wide enough to wrap around one side of the napkin ring
* Put a dab of glue inside the napking ring (on the burlap) and wrap your ribbon around and hold
* To get even fancier, I used a second ribbon on top of the inital ribbon (just follow the steps above)
* Once the ribbon is attached, glue on your decorative stone or bead on top & you're done
Bon appetit!
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