Vacation Interrupted

The last two days have been a nightmare.  I guess not a total nightmare because hubby and I were together but this has been one of those trips that we will laugh about one day... or so we keep saying.  And we really hope it's true.

It all started on Sunday when (and yes this is entirely our fault) we woke up hungover beyond belief.  My company party the night before had erupted into a cascade of tequila shots and the results were not pretty.  We had to drive two hours to a nearby airport to catch an afternoon flight. And it was snowing.  Snowing a lot. So we dragged ourselves out of bed and headed out totally clueless about what was coming, all we could focus on was getting to the sun in Palm Springs!

We arrived at the small airport to find people and luggage left and right and heard that so far no flights had left at all that day, and the snow was still coming down.  Long story short, we stood in line for 45 minutes as they cancelled every flight except ours... We went through security and found a corner to sit in and wait... Until we finally got word that all flights were officially cancelled.  With no news on what would happen to our trip except being told there would be no refund.  Or a hotel/ meal voucher.  We debated driving home but without knowing when (if) we would be scheduled to fly out and being as exhausted (hung) as we were, we checked into a Motel 6 and passed out.  We surfaced long enough to eat dinner and finally find out that our flight had been rescheduled for Monday... At 8pm.  

Monday morning from our motel room... Half the snow had disappeared

Our lovely room...

We will never forget room 112:

We arrived at the airport at 6pm Monday and encountered the longest check-in line I had ever seen.  I guess this is to be expected when a tiny airport has to reschedule all cancelled flights in addition to the day's scheduled flights, and with only 1/3 of their staff as the rest were unable to make it due to snow. (FYI snow is NOT unknown to these parts!) We stood in the check-in line for 2 hours, then sat in the gate area for 1.5 hours, and then sat on the plane for another hour and 15 minutes before finally taking off at 10:45pm.  We landed at 1:30am and my poor father-in-law had to drive 30 minutes to pick us up. We completely lost one day of our vacation and got to bed at 3:00am.  

The line went all the way to baggage claim...

You can't even see this gong show in the above photo:

Alcohol was necessary (and we were so late there was no chance we could pick up our rental car so no need to stay sober!)

Newly discovered deliciousness... Sweet though so 2 is perfect, 3 is just over the edge.

Trying to escape the nightmare...

But we finally made it!! And I now intend to eat, drink, lay poolside and shop my ass off until hubby has to drag me back to the airport... pretty sure I deserve it!

P.S. any recommendations for an iPad app besides blogger?  The blogger app is brutal!  I can't centre or add captions to my photos...

#backthatazzup Friday: Holiday!

This week has been so crazy for me and all I can do is focus on getting myself on the plane Sunday to head to sun and relaxation.  And with that in mind I am linking up with Whitney for #backthatazzup and have chosen one of my Madonna favourites, Holiday, as I am continuously looping it in my head!

 

Random fact: In 1907, an ad campaign for Kellogg's Corn Flakes offered a free box of cereal to any woman who would wink at her grocer.

 

I will back next week with some actual content, have an awesome Friday!

 



 

       

Win Money!

That's right friends, I am taking part in my first group giveaway and the prize is cold hard cash (in the form of Paypal money)! I am a sponsor for the first time on the lovely Jen's blog Boone & Owl.  As soon as I saw Jen's profile pic I instantly knew I wanted to be on her space.  It's all S's - sassy and sexy with some shy thrown in.  Check it out for yourself! Anyway Jen threw together this giveaway and I'm so happy to be part of it alongside some other amazing blogs.  So please do the other ladies and me a favor and enter ok?  

In other news I finished my training course tonight and after a solid 3 days (29 hours) I am now a certified internal auditor.  I actually work in marketing and my company offered the opportunity and apparently I like to keep piling things on my plate.  So I did it and I enjoyed it but I am now brain tired... my dinner consisted of two kraft cheese slices and two glasses of wine, and I can't wait to pass out.  I will be up again bright and early to head into the office and spend the next two days frantically catching up on everything that I missed and also preparing to be away all next week.  Oh Palm Springs you can't come soon enough!

And because at this point I can barely string two intelligent sentences together, I thought I would share with you all what is currently playing in my Netflix cue.  If you're new to these parts let me just tell you that me and my Netflix are two peas in a pod and the hubby is frequently jealous but I just reassure him he's my number two one when needed.

I am currently rotating between 3 shows depending on my mood.

Party of Five came on the air two months after my father died and it just fit.  Granted it was a group of kids who lost both their parents but it still felt comforting to have some of what I was dealing with happen on TV.  I felt a lot of the same feelings and they addressed issues that I could identify with.  I am re-watching the series from start to finish and am nearing the final one so have almost subconsciously slowed down and am spreading out the episodes.

I love country music but I might love Connie Britton as an actress even more.  One if the first TV series that I watched on Netflix was Friday Night Lights and I fell hook line and sinker in love with Connie Britton!  So when I heard she was on Nashville I started watching but my bad, I missed the first season but was so excited I jumped right into the second.  Then I realized that season one was on Netflix and I have 4 new episodes burning up space on the PVR so I jumped right in.  After some quality couch time last weekend I am halfway and see no problem finishing it up in the next week.

The Good Wife.  Ahhh I love to hate you.  I keep hearing how amazing this show is and yes, it's good, but I'm not totally hooked yet.  I really have to be in the mood  for this and it can't be while I'm drinking or doing stuff in the kitchen.  I will get caught up but it will take me some time.

Basically what I'm watching these days... Does anyone have any suggestions for when I'm done with Party of Five and Nashville?  I need something fun and lighthearted (I - kind of shockingly - loved Raising Hope)... 

So to sum up, my brain is already on vacation and can't come up with anything super entertaining so your stuck with a glimpse into my oh so (not) glamorous life.  Oh and ENTER TO WIN MONEY!! 



 

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Leaving on a Jet Plane

We booked our flights to Palm Springs!  I won't lie, I was fairly certain hubby was going to call off our trip but I was wrong and as of Sunday I will be in vacay and enjoying heat and sun!  
Hubby's business kicks back into full-time gear on Monday, March 3rd and he wasn't sure he wanted to leave town the week before.  He is a worrier and constantly thinking about work and this is our last opportunity to go away for a week until next November.  Our summer trips are generally long weekends so I was really looking forward to having this time together.   Hubby is also a planner and I have happily obliged his need for a plan: I will either be laying by the pool, wandering the aisles of Target, partaking in happy hours and eating whatever I want whenever I want.  Oh and we will be throwing in a visit to the Living Desert at some point.  My plan for this vacay is to RELAX. 
I am still in a bit of shock that in 5 more sleeps I will be in paradise:

   Not the actual view but pretty damn close to the one from the patio

View from my floatie in the pool... Heaven...

Not that I want anything to take away from my vacay buzz, but does anyone have any must sees we should check out?  For some reason (that I LOVE) I only ever seem to lounge by or in the pool with cocktails, do the odd bit of shopping and then go back to the pool for more cocktails... But back to real life... tomorrow is the last day of my training seminar and it ends with an exam so wish me luck.  Seriously, please wish me luck, this shit is intense, detailed and veeeery boring!

Weekend Recap: Friends, Family and Wine!

This weekend was filled with food, wine, friends and of course some good quality time with Milo.  It was pretty quiet because the hubby was sick and not really up for doing much.

Friday night I was stuck at work later than usual preparing to be away from the office this week and since hubby was sick we ended up canceling our dinner reservation.  I finally got home, we ordered Chinese, I cracked a bottle of Riesling and we watched a movie.  

Poor hubby was sick so Jinx kept him company

On Saturday I had plans to take Milo out for a walk with a good friend and her dog.  Milo and Buddy met for the first time and hit it off right away!  The rain held off for most of the morning and we went to one of the local dog walk trails and we all had a blast.  Milo had a mid-morning appointment at the groomer so I let him get nice and dirty then dropped him off, a win-win for both of us! Then we met up with our other friend and her dog and went for another walk and grabbed a coffee.  We headed home when the drizzle started and I was able to pick milo up and grab a couple crafty items before the wind and rain really picked up.  I figured this was the perfect time for an afternoon nap... And then we had another chill evening watching TV (and I of course enjoyed some nice chilled wine). 

Milo and his new friend Buddy

Milo before the groomer...

And with a fresh haircut!

Sunday was spent close to home, a bit of a sleep in and then lounging in bed before I headed out to grocery shop.  Then I had the oh so exciting tasks of cleaning the kitchen, prepping my breakfast smoothies, some of our lunches, fresh veggies for snacking and whatever dinner prep I did for the week.

Someone really their lazy Sunday in a couch bed

Remember Sunday's Chili Pasta Bake from the dinner menu? Well it turned out to be amazing cheesy goodness!  Score another dinner winner for me!!  

                                         

Linking up with Showered With Design and Dateless in Dallas for Weekend Recap.

Also linking up with Alyssa!

Next weekend will be a busy one for us... we have a big party on Saturday for my work and then crossing my fingers that our plan for Sunday come together, we will know on Tuesday!

Dinner Menu: Pasta Anyone?

Happy Sunday!  The sun is actually shining through the clouds and into our bedroom window as Milo and lounge in bed watching one of my current TV addictions, Switched at Birth.  I am pretty sure I will never outgrow these types of shows, I love the drama too much. 

Look it's the sun!!



As usual I have been a bit lazy with the menu planning, and we haven't even grocery shopped yet.  There is a long list of tasks waiting for my butt to climb out of bed but first things first (i.e. coffee and tv in bed) and this gives me time to plan our dinners for the week.  I am at a training seminar for work Monday through Wednesday and on top of being 45 minutes away from my house (in good traffic) the days are long, starting at 7:45am and ending at 5:20pm.  So in order to not eat takeout for the next 3 nights, I need to do a bit of prep work.  Below is what I have come up with and yes it's quite pasta heavy but frankly I'm too lazy to give it a lot more thought! 



Sunday: chili pasta bake - I found this recipe on Pinterest and it combines two of hubby's favorites, chili and pasta.  Oh and cheese.  Can we really go wrong?

Monday: Dinner out for my mother-in-law's birthday 

Tuesday: lasagna roll-ups - we love this recipe that I found on Megan's blog and I plan to cook it all today and then hubby can throw it in the oven while I make the long trek home.

Wednesday: scrambled eggs and hashbrowns (perogies for the hubby too!) this is something I can throw together quickly when I get home 

Thursday: Cheese and bacon breaded baked chicken with asparagus and rice

Friday: dinner out!

Why is it that easy dinners usually come with a lot of calories?  Salads are the exception but there is no way my husband would be full... If anyone has some suggestions please share!



Hump Day Comfort Food

Generally speaking easy is good, and when it came to dinner tonight easy was the name of the game. Wednesday is usually the day when I get lazy and try to flake out on making dinner, so when I was planning this week's dinner menu, I wanted something super easy and super tasty for hump day.  We decided on tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches.  And again, EASY was my goal.
I recently discovered this tomato soup at Trader Joe's and it has the best flavor, kicks Campbell's ass.  

My new favourite tomato soup!

  For the grilled cheese sandwiches we used fresh baked sourdough and Kraft singles.  I'm not down with all the fancy grilled cheeses that are showing up, for me it is and always will be Kraft singles and some sort of white/sourdough bread.  I do have one exception, last summer my mother-in-law put bacon in grilled cheese and it was one of the best things I have ever eaten... I haven't tried it myself though because with my addictive personality that would be major trouble and major cholesterol.  
So we heated up some tomato soup and grilled up some grilled cheese sandwiches, all in about 5 minutes.  It was perfect and easy (love that magic word!).
  

A simple tasty dinner with someone waiting to scoop up any fallen soldiers (there weren't any!)

I briefly considered making a salad but as you can see that didn't happen.  I don't feel too guilty with my smoothie breakfast and salad lunch but dinners like this might be why I am not actually losing weight, but at least I'm not gaining!  (I'm a glass half full kinda gal)

To recap, looking for something tasty? Tomato soup and grilled cheese, hump day comfort food.

 

One more sleep til Love Day!  What are your plans?  I am hoping to surprise my hubby with breakfast in bed but he somehow always catches me... cross your fingers!

My Lazy Go-To Face Cleanser

I am at the point in my life where I don't really want to spend (and let's be honest, can't afford) a huge amount of money on makeup but skin care is a bit different and I have found a couple products that are reasonable.  I am pretty lucky and have fairly nice yet sensitive skin, and although it took me a few tries to find something that didn't irritate my skin, I now use Aveeno's foam cleanser for sensitive skin.  It works really well and feels nice and soft on my skin and doesn't irritate it.  

But washing my face at night is a pain in the ass.  I always get water around the sink and never quite manage to wash it out of my hairline, or sometimes I take a bath and use the shower attachment which actually works well.  But again, because I'm lazy a lot of the time I just want to pass out crawl into bed, so when disposable face cloths hit the market I was beyond excited.  Just wipe my face a couple times and close my eyes?  Now that's what I call a gift for lazy people!  

As this was a bandwagon I wanted to jump on immediately, I started trying out brands that claimed they were perfect for sensitive skin.  They were not and in fact, my face was on fire and the majority of them felt almost like sandpaper.  I gave up hope and for a not so short time washing my face at night when I was just too damn lazy. 
 
And then about a year ago some random chick introduced me to Lise Watier cleansing face cloths and I haven't looked back.  I don't use these every day but I keep them by my bed and use them A LOT on weekends.  They are soft, cooling and very gentle on my skin.  If you have sensitive skin - or even if you don't and just want to be extra kind to your face - check these out!  They aren't cheap (approx. $25) but I don't them every day and they last awhile. 

Lisa Watier facial cleansing wipes

 

My only complaint is that I wish they sold a container for them.  I just don't believe that they will all stay fresh in that sealable plastic pouch.  So LW if you're reading this, pretty please make a container for these bad boys, preferably a purple one, thanks :)

Now if I can only find a cheaper night cream that feels as good as L'Occitane's I will be one happy camper person who stays in hotels!

 

L'Occitane Immortelle Precious Night Cream

 

Can anyone recommend an amazing and well-priced night cream?

Long & Tasty Weekend Recap

Oh weekend, how I love thee... parting is such sweet sorrow.  Thank the wine fairy that we will be together again in only 3 sleeps!  But before I get too ahead of myself let's check out the fun that was this weekend and for me, a long weekend.   Friday night was date night in with grilled cheese, fries and gravy and of course a big glass of red wine.  The Opening Ceremonies were on at some point but I was really focused on my wine dinner and not really paying attention.    

I also gave this guy a bath and he was chilly so I wrapped him
up in a bathrobe.  He slept in it all night!

  Saturday the sun came out and a couple friends and I went out for brunch (aka my favorite meal of all time) at a new restaurant down on the water so the views were amazing.  They have a wicked brunch menu including feature sparkling cocktails on Saturdays; lucky me they are about 6 blocks from my house so I envision getting to know the place quite well.  I forgot my phone (talk about torture) so had to get my friend to take a photo of the deliciousness that was my meal.  

Smoked salmon & cream cheese benny YUMMY!

  Saturday evening was craft night at K's.  We ate appies, drank wine, watched a couple rom-coms and did actually do some crafting.  I found a DIY project on Pinterest and was excited to try it, and full disclosure that the only reason I was successful with the centering and lining up of the words was due to K's math.  Once we figured out what we were doing it was pretty easy and I am really happy with the way it turned out.

Being crafty!

  Sunday was a purely lazy indulgent day.  We hung around the house doing the odd chore but mostly chilling.  I watched all 9 episodes of Parenthood that I had banked, can you say TV binge?  I also managed to watch 3 episodes of Bones and 2 episodes of Nashville.  There was a nap in there somewhere but basically I watched TV, drank a bottle of champagne (with oj in the morning, I'm not a total animal) and then switched to tequila and Crystal Light margarita mix.  Lunch was leftover pizza and dinner was a bag of popcorn with white cheddar seasoning.  

Hubby had to run out and surprised me with the most perfect rose!



Breakfast: pizza & mimosa
 

 

Dinner: popcorn & tequila margarita

I slept in on Monday (doesn't that always feel amazing??) and then spent the day doing mindless wandering with my mom.  We did a bit of shopping and hung out and then I was supposed to make dinner when I got home and was thisclose to ordering something but the hubby stepped in and kept us on track.  It looked and smelled so amazing that I started eating before remembering to take a photo!  So easy, fairly healthy and DELICIOUS!

Cheese & bacon breaded chicken with
asparagus and roasted potatoes

Linking up with Showered With Design and Dateless in Dallas for Weekend Recap. 

 

 

 

Can't wait to read about everyone else's weekend! 

 

Evening Sustenance Plan

The best thing about having a three day weekend is the extra time and if you're someone like me you get super excited and plan to do a bunch of stuff around the house but end up spending the day on the couch drinking cocktails and eating tasty food.  On and my regular weekend chores didn't even get done.  But I still have tomorrow!  After I sleep in, hang out with my mom and have a couple more cocktails and eat some more tasty food... I'll have time after that.  Maybe.  We'll see how it goes.  We are so screwed when/if we have kids.

I was planning to post our weekly dinner menu and even wanted to spruce my little graphic up a bit (I really envy peeps with design skills!) but for some reason my laptop hates me and refuses to do anything so I have to do everythung on my ipad and don't have a graphic.  But I do have a mimosa-fueled dinner plan :-)

DINNER MENU:

Sunday: tonight we had leftover pizza from last night (DELISH!)

Monday: shake-baked chicken with asparagus and roasted potatoes (I got a 3 cheese and bacon breadcrumb mix that's looks amazeballs)

Tuesday: tacos! (This one took a lot of brainpower, we use the taco kit and serve with fresh veggies)

Wednesday: tomato soup & grilled cheese sandwiches 

Thursday: chicken lasagna roll-ups (if you haven't tried Megan's recipe you need to!)

Friday: Valentine's Day Greek Feast on date night!

It seems like the majority of people I know either don't care about Valentine's Day or really dislike it, but I love it.  We have never really celebrated in a big way, we exchange cards and I get flowers but we don't ever really do anything super special.  Well this year we are married and my family basically told him to step up and so he made reservations at my favorite Greek restaurant and I am so excited!  Pretty sure it was meant to be because I was offered a free makeover before dinner, gotta love a little pampering!

And I have been thinking, I really want to surprise him with a tasty breakfast but I do have to work and I hate mornings and basically getting out of bed (again, future spawn issues) so I am trying to figure out something quick bit delicious - any suggestions??

Quotes of Life

Friday is here and I could not be happier.  This has been a tough week at work and also a rough one emotionally.  I have been feeling blah and down and really wanted to spend the week hidden in bed under the duvet cover.  The good news is we have a long weekend and I plan to thoroughly enjoy the next three days!

I am linking up with Darci and friends for or 5 on Friday and thought I would some quotes that I am feeling particularly fond of right now.

 



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1) There is nothing better than cracking a bottle of wine with a good friend or a group of friends, and all the laughter that ensues.  Or singing!  K and I crank up Pitch Perfect every couple months and belt out the songs at the top of our lungs.  I could not be more off key but it feels great!

 

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2) Do I love what I do? No.  Do I enjoy the people I work with and am satisfied with what I do? Yes. But is that enough?  At this point it has to be because I'm not too sure that I would love to get out of bed for anything that requires me to wake up at a certain time and hang out at a desk all day.  But I have a good job, good benefits and job security (for right now anyway)... as a wife and partner I don't feel like I can roll the dice at this point in our lives.  And even if I did, what the heck would I do? How do you figure it out?  If anyone knows please tell me!

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3)This isn't so much a quote as a description of my husband every day when I get home from work. He is always hungry!  I always get home later and want to relax (throw on comfy clothes and bury my face in my ipad) but I can only fend him off for so long on my nights to cook.  



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4) My little sister is 4 years younger than me and we were not close in our teenage years but now she is my best friend.  And I miss her so much.  Last Fall she relocated because her fiancé got into law school... YAY! for him but BOO! for me :(   I know it's only temporary but it really sucks being so far away from her.  Thank goodness for Facetime!!  As far as I know we won't see each other (in person) until August.  

 

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5) I hope and pray that I am a strong person because I am currently fighting the hardest battle of my life and I need to win.

Only a few more hours left until my LONG weekend officially begins! 

Have a great weekend everyone!