Celebrating My Mom(s)

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, Mom #2 (my MIL), my sister and sister-in-laws who are moms as well as all the moms to be!  And furbaby moms!  When I was planning our Mother's Day lunch, my mom's only request was to go somewhere near the water, and seeing as we live in a huge port one would think that would be easy.  Not so much.  There are plenty of restaurants with water views, but only two that get you really close to the water. One has a huge amazing patio but the worst service (because of their patio they are always really busy and always have been) but the other restaurant has been open a year and is fabulous.  We lucked out with amazing weather and sat right on the outside edge of the patio with a view of the water.  It was perfect.

Hubby and his mom

This celebration called for Prosecco!

The best woman I know, love you Mom

My man enjoying the view

We had a great time, lots of chatting and laughing, and enjoying the delicious food... I loved my eggs benny with cream cheese so much that I didn't even think about taking a photo, I just wanted it in my mouth!  So I didn't take a single food photo, sorry, but we are definitely going back so there will be another chance.

Hubby and I are both so lucky to have these amazing women in our lives, who love and support us always.  I feel especially lucky because not only do I have my mom, who I can never thank enough for all she has done for me and my sisters and the strength she had after my dad died, but I have also been blessed with a wonderful mother-in-law who welcomed me into the family with open arms.  I am thankful that were able to celebrate with our Moms on this special day.

I hope everyone had wonderful day as well! 

Hair Help Needed!

Can we talk about hair for a second? It's no secret - I love my hair.  It's long and has a wicked natural wave after being in a bun for a while.  Honestly I could do more with my hair, it ends up in a blah bun at the base of my neck way too often, but as long as I have the length I basically couldn't care less. 

My favorite wedding pictures show off my hair:

Ok I may just have really loved my wedding and take advantage of any opportunity to go through the pictures...

But I really do have a hair crisis!  I cannot find a shampoo that doesn't leave my hair super greasy the morning of day two!  I don't wash my hair every day and I don't want to.  I have nothing against dry shampoo and in fact I have a pretty decent stash of it but when not even dry shampoo can help on day 2, we have a problem.

These brands have both failed me recently:

So I need suggestions please and I would rather not break the bank.  And I'm not going to lie, I am seriously considering Suave Natural because I think it's pretty damn affordable and Kristin Cavalari uses it  and I love all her hair pins on Pinterest. Anyone tried it?

Weekend Recap

Welcome all to the recap of a tasty food, wine and fun filled weekend!  Oh and TWO naps!  If you know me at all you know how much I love my naps and I literally schedule them into my Saturdays if possible.

The fun started on Friday night when our book club got together for K's birthday dinner celebration.  It was only a month late but it’s the thought that counts right?  Unfortunately Coco wasn’t able to join us but she was there in spirit… and her absence also means that K has to wait just a little while longer for her present but I think it will be worth it.

We met at a funky restaurant downtown and immediately ordered what I think is their signature appetizer, fried chickpea dip (a fancy name for hummus) and crisps, with an extra side of baked crispy chicken skin.  Yes, you read correctly: baked crispy chicken skin.  And of course I loved it.  Oh and I should correct my earlier statement – we obviously ordered wine immediately but the appy was pretty ordered pretty darn quickly after.

The restaurant is famous for its rotisserie chicken and I was lucky enough to share with K, because my albacore tuna was beautifully plated but was pretty blah.  It was odd because it was coated in a spice mixture but there was basically no flavor.  The chicken however was amazeballs so they should definitely keep their focus on it!

The dessert was also delicious… chocolate pudding topped with cocoa nibs and honeycomb.  Need I say more?

On Saturday I had a lazy morning and then took Milo for a long walk during a break in the rain which started falling again the moment we got into the car… thankfully there was no wrestling in the bathtub with a muddy dog!  And because it was so wet and gloomy outside, climbing into bed for a nap was just so appealing so I cuddled right up into a ball and fell asleep for two hours.

Hubby finally woke me up and we headed out for an afternoon “date” with a pit stop to check out the MacBook Air laptops.  I am getting the 13”, decision finally made.  (The decision was between a new iPad or my first ever MacBook).  And then onto our date of beers and appetizers.  I only managed to get a photo of the beer and me holding the beer – shocking hey?

We then returned home and K came over to drink wine and watch movies with me including Pitch Perfect (we fast forwarded to all the singing parts), an awesomely lazy evening.

Sunday consisted of sleeping in, laundry, grocery shopping, another nap and then a tasty lasagne dinner courtesy of my mother-in-law.  A great way to end the weekend!

What did you get up to?

Meal Plan Monday - Take 2!

Well here we are, another Monday and another meal plan for the week.  I managed to put off grocery shopping until Sunday afternoon and even though I was fully prepared to go alone, hubby came with me.  This is surprising because it was a gross rainy weekend and we both enjoyed our fair share of beverages on Saturday (and hubby was out working by 7am for a few hours) so I figured he would be quite happy to chill on the couch and avoid the nastiness outside but I was wrong. Thankfully we didn't need much so it was a quick stop.  

And we may or may not have picked up cheeseburgers on our way home... Why does grease always help with the pain??

As usual we were making our plan on the fly and chose from our usual roster of dinners.  We really need to get more inventive.

So here is what we're eating this week:

Sunday: my MIL spoiled us and made her own version of 'take away' meal! She literally packed us a box with a lasagna, all the fixings for Caesar salad and French bread... we enjoyed quite the feast!

A delicious Sunday Dinner (sorry for the blurry photo!)

Monday: chicken gyoza appetizers (I buy them pre-made and then pan fry them) followed by tortellini pasta in tomato vegetable sauce for him and a big salad for me.

Tuesday: Tacos! We have prime rib ground beef and cook it up, add our own spices to make it tasty and then serve the usual fixings of tomato, avocado and shredded cheese.  He eats soft taco shells and I will wrap mine in lettuce leaves :)

Wednesday: breakfast for dinner... Hump day can be a tough one and breakfast is so easy and so delicious 

Thursday: homemade chicken strips baked in a cheesy bacon crust served with home fries and salad (we didn't end up making this last week)

Friday: I am home on Friday Date Night for the first time in 3 weeks!  I am thinking Greek or Sushi... Totally leaning towards Greek!

What do you have planned for meals this week?

So Happy to Announce…

I FINALLY found a new purse!  You didn’t think there was anything else I would announce did you? Hehe ;)

I have a slight purse obsession and had a great string of luck with gorgeous finds at wicked prices but it seemed to dry up after finding a black leather Kate Spade bag for a quarter of the original price about two years ago.  I haven’t been able to find anything lately! 

I knew what I really wanted to find in Palm Springs was a new purse and I was immediately on the hunt but finding nothing.  And I didn’t want to pay full price, I am looking for a wicked deal from an outlet or something, and when I get a beautiful bag that I love for a screaming deal it’s that much more of a rush… plus I’m trying to be more responsible ;)

So there I was on my last full day in Palm Springs after finding nothing on any of the previous 6 days’ worth of shopping (including the outlets!) and I had to give it one more chance.  I jumped into my mother-in-law’s little car (thanks Mom!) and headed to areas I had never been to before.  No luck.  And then it was getting close to 4pm and I was losing my last afternoon/evening at the pool (I had a bunch of wine and tequila to finish off!) and I knew I had to make one last stop.  One place I hadn’t checked and had never actually found anything there… TJ Maxx.  I drove 10 minutes in the opposite direction of home, acutely aware of the sun I was losing and the precious minutes ticking by, and I parked and ran into the store. 

TJ Maxx groups purses by colour or by collection and I found myself first faced with about 20 white bags.  I love white but I am totally my mother’s daughter, meaning that I frequently spill something on me or my surroundings, and white would never last.  Right after the white I came to the clearance section and that was when I saw a dark green leather bag hiding in the back.  A beautiful colour, leather and my current obsession Michael Kors??  On CLEARANCE??  So meant to be!

 

   

Meal Plan Monday

After getting home from Palm Springs at 1:30am Sunday morning and collapsing into bed, getting woken up at 7:30am (at least I know I was missed) and then going all day and evening, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and take a quick trip to Dreamland.  Hence the lack of Sunday meal planning... But I'm quite enjoying the title Meal plan Monday so we'll see what happens next week.

We weren't feeling adventurous at all and fast was the theme of the week, not to mention a quick grocery shop, so below is what we're cooking up in the kitchen this week:

Sunday: dinner out :) Once a year hubby's dad and stepmom have us all for an amazing buffet dinner at one of the golf clubs.  There is lots of wine, lots of food and family to catch up with.  I even got a private performance of my two nieces' 'Let It Go' routine, loved it.

Monday: homemade burgers and fries with a side of sautéed mushrooms and salad.  Hubby made burger patties from scratch and they were delish.

Tuesday: baked chicken, wild rice and roasted broccoli

Wednesday: BFD (scrambled eggs, perogies and turkey bacon with fruit salad)

Thursday: homemade chicken strips (tossed in a bacon and cheese breaking mixture) and scalloped potatoes with salad

Friday: dinner out again! I am meeting my book club downtown for dinner and hubby is on his own again. 

I also have a few things planned to keep me busy this week including...

  - picking out flowers to plant in our front garden

  - transplant my vegetable seedlings into bigger pots

  - looking at Macbooks (my company has an interest free purchase program and I think I'm going to finally    

    bite the bullet!)

  - laundry, laundry, laundry and maybe some more laundry (it never ends and we don't even have kids! 

    Landscapers have SO MUCH LAUNDRY!!)

  - try out a vegetable soup with orzo... A new recipe, cross your fingers!

And now it's time for sleep, sweet dreams everyone!

Life Lately

Wow I have really missed this little space of mine!  I have also missed reading all the great blogs I have found along the way, but I'm back baby!  I spent the last two weeks living and breathing a 5 day seminar I planned for work and I am so happy to say that it was a HUGE success!  The prep and planning was intense and exhausting and then the seminar itself was intense and even more exhausting.  Twenty two people from all over North America, Europe and Asia were under my watch and I loved it.  I loved them! Everyone was amazing and so friendly.  I got the loudest applause at our farewell dinner on the last night and I kind of teared up... I'm sure the wine the didn't help;)

And lucky for me I was given another opportunity for a vacation in Palm Springs (aka my second favorite place in the world) and so here I am spending 8 amazing days in paradise.  Unfortunately the hubby is stuck at home but I am here with two book club friends.  It's a repeat of last year and actually the one year anniversary of our book club! We are currently reading my first pick, The Night Circus, and I'm only 42 pages in but already really enjoying it.  The book and I will be spending a lot of quality time together in the pool this week.

We don't have much planned for the week besides a lot of time at the pool (I need some major colour, I am so pale!), a bit of shopping (we're actually heading to the outlets this afternoon, hoping for a good find or two) and of course, wining and dining.  And by wining and dining I mean raiding the $10 wine selection at Target and making chicken strips with fries and gravy.  I also plan to re-enter the blog world because I have been MIA for far too long!

Good morning from Palm Springs!