Weekend Recap: Family Love

This weekend was all about family. More specifically, celebrating my little sister B's upcoming wedding. The wedding isn't until the end of August but because she and her fiancé live in Saskatchewan (stupid law school, counting down the days/months til she moves back) we are celebrating as she makes it home for visits. And this weekend was the first time that both my sisters and I were all in town together in at least a year. I think. However long it has been doesn't matter because it has been a loooong time and because we were all here we (meaning mom) decided to have her wedding shower.

Friday night we had a big family dinner at mom's house and caught up over lasagna and pie. On Saturday we did some shopping and then went for pedicures - hello Spring! I conveniently forgot my flip flops and got to wear some awesome flippers into the nearby florist where we went after to discuss wedding flowers. Fun times. But actually it really was fun times. I love spending time with my sisters.



My sisters and mom getting pampered



My finished toes and really cool flippers... on the wrong feet



I have only ever wanted two gnomes in my life and this is #2. I love him. I wonder if I will
break down and actually give him a new home



This is the tree in front of the florist and we thought it looked pretty

Sunday was Shower Day. My mom and older sister G nailed the decorations (not my forte) and we had quite the spread. I was in charge of the cake and punch so obviously spent some time on Pinterest. We ate, played games, ate, drank, opened gifts, ate and then nibbled a bit more as we packed up the leftovers. Total success! All my pics are on my real camera (not that this means they are any good) but I plan on doing a more in depth post just on her shower.



Here is a sneak peak of the cake I made for the shower!

 I hope you had amazing weekend B💜



 
 

Linking up with:

Manic Monday | Monday Morning Gossip | Weekend Recap

 

 

 



Weekend Recap: Wedding Fun

Wow, hello September... you really snuck up on me!  And our last weekend flew by but it was a good one filled with family and friends.
We started the weekend with a family wedding on Saturday and we had a blast, the bride and groom basically wanted a big party to celebrate with everyone and they definitely achieved it.  From the officiant they picked, the groomsmen's orange converse shoes, the photo booth, the caricature artist, the amazing speeches including a song sung by the (married to each other so it was even more adorable) maid of honour and best man, a popcorn bar (I mixed caramel and cheddar jalapeño to make a killer Chicago blend!) to the newlyweds recreating 'Time of My Life' from Dirty Dancing, the Mr. and I had so. much. fun.  And I barely touched on all the amazing details that made the wedding so representative of the bride and groom and the amazing life they share together.
I don't know the bride very well but I do know that she is so sweet and thoughtful and always puts her friends and family before anything else.  And I actually experienced this first hand at her wedding.  In the midst of this amazing celebration for her and the love of her life, she did something so thoughtful for my husband and me that I burst into (happy) tears and was able to get the Mr. out on the dance floor.  You see, our wedding reception was held outside at my husband's family's orchard property and due to a noise complaint, the police put a kibosh on the dj and essentially shut it down two hours early.  There was so much more dancing that was supposed to happen but unfortunately we had no choice.  So just over one year later, this gorgeous and utterly selfless bride remembered and requested Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin', our last dance song.  It was the highlight of an already amazing night and I can't thank her enough.  And I hope that I do get to know her better.
My phone is on its last legs and my battery lasts for like 10 minutes so I barely got any photos... but I will share the ones I took!
 

The beautiful K and and our adorable niece and flower girl

Me and my handsome hubby

These bright colours were all over and GORGEOUS!

Blurry table selfie

The head  table

I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up on Sunday because I didn't feel like death.  I wasn't running a marathon or anything but I made us breakfast, did some laundry, and leaned up around the kitchen until it was time to head to my mom's for a family BBQ.  We left my mom's and headed to the grocery store where we proceeded to buy way more food than we need but I didn't get around to doing a meal plan so it was kind of a gong show.  We went home, watched Big Brother and then crawled into bed where he fell asleep and I watched the Veronica Mars movie.  You know, I liked it and (spoiler alert) was always Team Logan. 

On Monday I got the house all to myself because the Mr. had to work.  I slept in a bit and then enjoyed a lazy morning watching Sex and the City reruns and drinking Baileys coffee.  Then I finished up the laundry, cleaned out the fridge and made chili for dinner.  And then I returned to the couch... oh long weekends, how I love thee...

Sex and the City Reruns

How did you celebrate the end of summer?

 

Linking up with Bella and Lisa!

The Honeymoon is Over!

As I was cruising Pinterest last night (I am so addicted and it’s the first thing I do when hubby falls asleep!) I found a photo of Lauren Conrad and I. love. it.  She is a beautiful woman, wears gorgeous clothes that I know I never would and of course I watched her on Laguna Beach and The Hills and think she’s very classy and wish we could be friends.  But this picture?  I love it.  I love the outfit, the relaxed yet looks totally put-together look complete with brown boots (I love my brown boots, I feel sexy in my brown boots).  Normally I think she’s gorgeous but know I would never wear the same type of outfit but this one I would.  I don’t know why this picture speaks to me so much except I feel like it’s telling me that I need a change.



I love this outfit, the makeup, everything!!

Hubby and I have settled into a pretty good routine following the year of chaos joy of being engaged and planning a destination wedding (side note: most destination weddings come as a package and yes, you make some decisions but you have someone there who organizes all the details… I didn’t and did everything by phone and email!  Not that I didn't have help because I did!).  There are two major pitfalls of our routine: I eat whatever I want whenever I want and I don’t exercise enough at all.  It’s as if I got married and went PHEW, it’s over!  And sat on the couch with a bag of chips and a chocolate bar.

I have never been an avid exerciser but I understand the benefits of it and yes, I do actually feel better when I do it.  I did a ‘learn to run’ program a couple years ago with a friend and did really well although I realized I do not like running for long periods of time.  It’s just not fun to me.  Around that time I also tried Weight Watchers and did quite well on that but I never went to the meetings so didn’t really see the point in paying the monthly fee for someone to simply weigh me.  But I lost weight. And I had more energy.

Before the wedding I was going for 50-60 minute walks on my lunch break and really watching what I ate, counting calories.  Every once in a while I would do a Jillian Michaels video and of course I took Milo for walks with our friend and her dog, he loved this because he got walks AND he got to play.

Now the only time I do anything is when I take Milo out for a walk but those have gotten shorter and I’m doing them solo because they are not part of our newlywed routine.

And food… food is the devil.  I like it.  Actually I love it.  If it’s fried and covered in cheese then I will most likely devour it.  Croissants with butter and jam? Yes please!  Chocolate chip muffins?  Watch out!  I am horrible.  My only saving grace is the spinach and fruit smoothie I have every morning Monday through Friday.  But my jeans are getting a bit tight.

 

So basically, I need to get my shit together because this newlywed’s honeymoon is over!  Well not the newlywed and honeymoon parts exactly, just the extreme lack of exercise and not caring what I eat.

My plan so far:

• I downloaded an app called C25K (couch to 5km run program) and am starting it tonight… of course I read about this on Yoga Pants


• I am going to dig out my Weight Watchers calculator and start counting points again


• I am going to start bringing salads to work again and be active 3 lunches per week


• I am going to limit wine/alcohol to weekends only

Do you have any advice for me?  What helps you stay motivated?  And if you have any tried and true recipes for hearty/tasty meals and snacks please share!!

Sxxo.