(Almost Picture-less) Weekend Recap (Sorry!)

Our weekend started with a bang on Friday and I have to admit it - I was one lucky lady!  I could have been shut in Saturday-Sunday and it still would have been amazing (but thankfully I wasn't).  
I left work on Friday and met up with my hubby to get me golf clubs.  Why the sudden need for golf clubs?  Well it started last weekend when we were out at one of the local pubs having a couple beers and watching the hockey playoffs and we decided we need a husband/wife sport hobby.  My husband is smart enough to know that any sport I partake in on the weekends would have to involve alcohol and he is quite a fan of golf.  Golf and booze go really well together so it was kind of a no-brainer.  I mentioned that a friend of ours had her set for sale on Facebook so we inquired and made a deal.  When I saw them on Friday I noticed the purple accents right away - can you say meant to be? After picking up my new clubs we went and bought my new laptop.  It's awesome.  It's definitely a learning curve!
Saturday was a big day - hubby's grandma turned 95! The whole family got together and we surprised her for lunch at one of her favourite restaurants.  I admit that I was nervous - a surprise party at 95? - but she loved it.  The look on her face was adorable!

Surprise!  Isn't Grandma the cutest??

My husband with his brothers

Hubby and me with the birthday girl

After the birthday celebrations we headed to the driving range to try our new hobby and my bag has the perfect pocket for road pops.  We had a blast and are even thinking of taking lessons.  And I guess I get to start collecting a golf wardrobe, hello shopping, my other favorite sport ;)  We stopped for dinner and drinks and then headed back to carry on at home.

Since the weather was so nice I took Milo out to a park near the water, funny think about our pooch is that he gets really excited and runs straight into the water... and stops when he gets 3-4 inches in and won't dare go any further.  He will never be a swimmer.  

I downloaded a couple more photos from the driving range and my walk with Milo but I have no idea where I put them.  Definitely a learning curve on this new toy of mine!  I promise to figure it out soon :-)

Meal Plan Monday

Oh Monday here you are again and it seems like just yesterday it  was Friday.  Well I guess that was two yesterdays ago but still you just arrive too damn quick.  At the same time, you seem to go away pretty quick and bring me that much closer to Friday again.  The never-ending cycle that is life.
So I am officially back in the blogging game - and I am a sponsor this month on Boone+Owl so go check it out!  Jen is taking part in a Canon Rebel T3i so head on over and enter to win!!  Or don't because then I have a better chance of winning ;)
We had a pretty eventful weekend and I am planning to do a recap but honestly I just haven't had time  but will get to it tomorrow.  I will tell you that I finally got a MacBook Air on Friday and I am soooo in love with it!  In. Love. Completely. Obsessed.  And it was on my shiny new MacBook that I get to play pretend designer with our meal plan for this week:

As you may remember we have been in a dinner menu rut.  It has to be quick and it has to be tasty... and so it tended to be super boring and the same 5-6 dishes every week.  I'm a boring eater and I was bored.  Anyway a friend of mine recommended a cookbook and I am trying two new recipes this week!
Sunday: We were planning to have tuna stuffed pitas but I actually wasn't feeling that great and the only thing that didn't turn my stomach was the classic comfort food KD mac 'n cheese.  
Monday: tonight we're having chicken baked in a mixture of salsa, peanut sauce and fresh basil... this is one of those new recipes and it sounds weird to me but comes highly recommended... I'm going to serve the chicken on rice with a green salad on the side.
Tuesday: Marinated flank steak with sautéed mushrooms, roasted green beans and coleslaw.
Wednesday: Tuna stuffed pita shells... basically tuna salad with lots of veggies stuffed in whole wheat pita shells.
Thursday: BFD - I found bacon on super sale this weekend so bacon and eggs are a must!
Friday: Dinner out :)

What are you eating this week?

The Story of My Life

I take her home, I drive all night to keep her warm... Yes, I am singing (well writing) a One Direction song.  And I'm not completely ashamed of it!  A colleague was saying he didn't know any One Direction songs and so I turned to my phone because of course I have not only one but two 1D tunes rocking in my playlist.  And you know what?  'Story of my Life' is my favorite.  I especially enjoy belting it out in my backyard by the fire after a bottle of wine or three.  Ahhh good (drunken) times.

But I did actually come across the story of my life... Or at least the perfect quote for it:

source

I am in love with my bed (how many times have I mentioned naps here?) and I have the perfect amount of pillows (3) and they are all the perfect consistency.  But my alarm clock does come between us, so much so that I turned the alarm off on my phone.  But this is real life and I'm not independently wealthy so I do have a job, but my husband is now my alarm clock and he is a total morning person. So as cheesy as it sounds, it's almost bearable to wake up to him kissing my cheek, smoothing my hair off my face or lightly rubbing my back.  Almost... If I had the choice to ignore him and snuggle back in I would;). Thankfully one of us is a morning person!

What quote tells the story of your life?

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?