Category Archives: Friday Lovin’

Friday Lovin’

Posted on by

26

Happy TGIF everyone!!! First off, I want to say how much I enjoyed reading your “I Give Myself Permission To…” comments – it really warmed my heart and I loved hearing all that you give yourself permission to do. (And if you haven’t yet read the comments I suggest you do  – they’re a lovely read by some awesome ladies) ;)

And I think we should especially keep that “I Give Myself Permission To…” mentality in mind when there are days that are tough and we feel especially anxious or stressed – I think it’s ok to remind yourself to say “I Give Myself Permission To…relax, do a fun exercise class, grab a treat, get a pedicure, etc. Do whatever you need to do to bring happiness back into yourself/your life so that you can enjoy everyday to the fullest :)

I also want to say thank you so much for your feedback about my iPad conundrum on whether or not a) I should get one? and b) if they’re compatible for blogging? After reviewing your advice and especially great tips from the lovely Sarah and talking about it more with my parents, we decided that they’ll all get me gift cards to Best Buy. I think that’s the perfect option so that I can weigh my choices at the store and compare the iPad (they sell them now at Best Buy) to all the other laptops and see what will work best for me. I’ll definitely post about it once I make my purchase :)

****

Anyway, most of you follow me on twitter so I think a lot of you knew what I was up to…

So yeah, that’s pretty much the only excuse as to why you haven’t seen blog posts from me this whole week. And to be honest, I just needed a break and I’ve just had an emotional week – last weekend was an emotional one for me in regard to some personal stuff…

Although there was a bright light in that I had the most amazing day with my friend. You know those friendships where you can pick up right where you left off and like no time has passed? I think it’s been about a year since I’ve last seen her and every time I do it’s simply amazing. We actually mentioned to each other that we never feel any anxiety or nervousness upon seeing each other – I’m always so relaxed with this girl and am laughing non-stop with her. She’s got the most awesome sense of humor and personality – there was a reason why we’ve been such great friends since Kindergarten and Girl Scouts, we just have a great connection. I love her dearly and can’t wait for our next get together :)

And I think this photo speaks for itself of just how much we can have when we’re together…

My mom is simply awesome – she got her groove thing on at our wedding ;)

So back to the other parts of my weekend, it was an emotional one and it’s stuff I won’t discuss here, but will say that I just didn’t want to force a “happy go lucky” post when I wasn’t feeling in that mood at all this week. All I felt like doing was focusing on work and tackling my Christmas shopping – which always makes me happy – love buying gifts for my family and friends :) And, I’m happy to say I got every person done, yipeee! Except for Todd…still thinking about that one! Above all else – today is Friday, I woke up on the right side of the bed, I got a fun night planned for tonight, and I’m ready to make this weekend a better one.

So with that, it’s Friday and I love my Friday Lovin’ posts because it just simply gives me a chance to tell you all what I’ve been loving lately. Like more delicious holiday finds from Trader Joe’s…

Delicious is all I can say – trust me

And we got our mini Christmas trees decorated!!!

They look kinda funky, but cute, haha! We weren’t about to do real trees again this year – we did that once and it was such a mess (p.s. we have hardwood floors!). Don’t get me wrong, I do love them and our family got real trees throughout my childhood, but it’s just not for Todd and I. We have plans to buy a fake one once they go on sale after Xmas to use for next year!

More penguin decorations…

When you turn him on he changes colors from blue to green to yellow to red – too cute

Papa penguin

And these lovelies…

(source)

Here I have the shaft unfolded all the way up

It’s hard to see in the pics just how lovely these boots are – and super comfy!

I bought them last Saturday with my friend and I couldn’t pass them up. Regular price $150 and got them on sale for $112…I think that’s a pretty great deal, don’t cha think? ;)

And I’ve updated my blog theme to “Bouquet”…I can’t stop changing the look of my blog and I think I’m really loving this one…

And my lovely coworker got me on to this great new holiday feature for your blog – in the Settings you can choose “Show falling snow on my blog until January 4th” – in the pic above you can kind of see the white dots – that’s the snow. I love it – super cute and festive

And the other day, I got a shipment of this deliciousness…

That there on the left is a magnum bottle – whoo hoo!

In which I’ll be enjoying with these lovelies…

And then it’s off to here (our fav spot!) for some more shenanigans and good times :)

I’ll give you a hint as to what we’ll be indulging in…

Yes pleaseee!!! ;)

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday and a wonderful weekend! I know I sure will…tomorrow I’m meeting up with this wonderful friend to bake up some delicious pecan pie cookies – never tried them before and I definitely can’t wait for our baking extravaganza :)

Questions:
Any fun plans for tonight or this weekend?!
If you shop at Trader Joe’s, what’s your favorite holiday treat right now? Mine is the Cookie Butter!!!

Friday Lovin’

Posted on by

6

Happy Friday everyone!! Well I’m back from the living dead ;) This whole week I’ve felt absolutely awful – this cold is one heck of a beast. My whole office is infected (everyone is out sick today), and now Todd has it – eek! So let’s just say this weekend will be spent holed up inside, with lots of blankets, hot cocoa, movies, and baking chocolate chip cookies to feed our colds :) So that’s why I’ve been MIA the past few days, I just have not had it in me to write, my head is in the clouds, and let’s just say I’ve had some very “blonde” moments – my brain just hasn’t been with it, very frustrating! So this post is going to be short and sweet and hopefully by next Monday I’ll be good as new and back to my regular blogging schedule :)

****

There have been some yummy eats I’ve been wanting to share with you all but didn’t since I took a break due to my cold, so I’ll share them today for Friday Lovin’!

* Chevy’s

I find this place to be a hit or miss, but lately we’ve gotten some really great service (especially if you sit at the bar) and the food has been pretty descent lately. And I’m never let down when ordering my tried and true favorite grilled fajita chicken salad – it satisfies my love of warm foods :)

It doesn’t look anything special here but all the goodies were hiding down below – in it was pepita seeds, cheese, avocado, grilled veggies, chicken, and tortilla strips, and I got the dressing on the side

Todd got fish tacos…

Super good as well and I ate all his sweet corn tamalito – love that stuff!

And we went through two  rounds of these…I can’t be controlled around chips and salsa!!

* Fro Yo

Last weekend I happily consumed frozen yogurt two days in a row – U Love on Saturday, and Miyo Yogurt on Sunday…

Peanut butter fro yo with an assortment of chocolate candies (can’t remember them all!), strawberries, mango, and banana

I never ever get fruit on my frozen yogurt, I always figure why get something healthy on something so indulgent and splurge on the candy? But for some reason with the warm weather I was really craving fruit and went with it, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it and it really was delicious. I’ll always be a chocolate/candy toppings girl at heart on my fro yo, but this was a nice change :)

*The Bay Area

Wednesday I took the day off from work because I felt like complete death, but as the day rolled on I started to feel better and was itching to get inside from being cooped up all day long. So I went out for a nice, leisurely walk and it was such a beautiful day that I had to snap some pics of this great walking trail and the view we have from it…(sorry for the icky Blackberry photos!)

Straight ahead is the skyline of San Francisco

And then once I walk up the hill I have this view…

To the left is the trail I walked…

And then if you look real close, across the way is my office building!

On the top of the hill I took some time to just sit, relax, and appreciate what a beautiful city we live in and how thankful and lucky I am to have so many blessings and greatness in my life…it was so peaceful and a beautiful spot to reflect on everything. It made me think how I need to get outside more often and not be holed up in the gym…I think for some reason I have this fear of exercising outside by myself – is that weird? I don’t know where it comes from but I’d really like to get outside more – although not sure how that will pan out seeing that we’re finally getting some fall weather and rain here in the Bay Area!

* Casseroles

I am still absolutely loving making casserole dishes lately. They’re so easy to make, delicious, and make for the perfect leftovers for Todd to take to work for his lunches. With that, I have another great casserole recipe to share with you all that I made this week. It’s super easy and it comes from my mom, not sure where she got it from but since day one of her making it we’ve called it “Sherri’s Surprise”. Now if you try it, you can just add in your own name and you can say you invented this dish yourself…don’t worry I won’t tell anyone ;)

“Sherri’s Surprise”
Ingredients:
* 3 cups Rotini pasta
* 1 cup chopped/shredded tuna/chicken/turkey – whichever “meat” you prefer, you could even use tofu to make it vegetarian. Here to make it easy, I just bought the ready made rotisserie chickens at Safeway and shredded 1 1/2 breasts which equaled to a little more than a cup.
* 1 tbsp. minced onion
* 1 tbsp. butter
* 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup, or Cream of Mushroom Soup to make it vegetarian
* 1/3 cup milk
* 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Directions:
* Preheat oven to 350 degrees
* Cook pasta for about 7 minutes – until al dente and you still want a bit of bite to it since it will go in the oven
* In the meantime, melt 1 tbsp. butter and add the minced onion. Cook until onion is browned – about 5 min.
* In the same pan, stir in can of Cream of Chicken Soup, 1/3 cup milk, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, and your cup of “meat” – stir until well combined
* Once pasta is finished cooking, drain and add pasta into the pan with the meat mixture and stir until well combined
* Place into a casserole dish and sprinkle the top with the remaining 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
* Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes

Tada!

Here’s an inside look of it…

It’s delicious and super easy. I hope you try it sometime! :)

* 2% Fage

I do love my 0% Fage, but there really isn’t anything better than having Greek yogurt with some fat in it. It’s absolutely creamy, luscious, and packed full of healthy fats and protein. Lately for my 2nd breakfast after my workout, I’ve been enjoying 2% Fage yogurt with chia seeds, sliced frozen banana, and some Kashi Go Lean Crisp…

* Trader Joe’s Garlic Bread

We’ve had this bread sitting in our freezer forever, finally Thursday night we broke it our to have with our soup (that’s been our dinners all week long to fight off our colds) and it was pretty darn fantastic…

*Another Trader Joe’s find…

The Pistachio Chevre is especially amazing – you gotta try it!

*Daylight Savings

Remember everyone to turn back (“fall back” as I like to say) your clocks this Sunday…that means one extra hour of sleep, whoo hoo! ;)

So that’s it for today! Hope you all are having a fabulous Friday so far and stay healthy and sick-free! ;)

P.S. Did any of you guys get trick-or-treaters?! I for sure thought we’d a least have a couple, but nope, nothing! Now we’ve had this starting back at us for the past 4 days…

Any of you guys wanna take it off our hands??!! ;)

Questions:
Are you a fruit or chocolate/candy toppings person for your frozen yogurt?
What’s your favorite Mexican restaurant to go to? What’s your favorite dish to order?
Are any of you attending the Foodbuzz Festival in San Francisco this weekend?! I’m super bummed I’m not going or at least meeting up with any bloggers – I’m just to sick to go out :( Hopefully next year!

Friday Lovin’

Posted on by

10

Happy Friday and Halloween weekend everyone!! I hope you’re all having a great day so far and gearing up for the weekend…I know I am and can’t wait for it to begin! :)

Usually once Friday rolls around, the buzz in our office building starts dying down, people start leaving work early to get a head start on their weekend, emails stop trickling in, and my brain starts to turn off…which is why I love my Friday Lovin’ posts – a recap where I get to just tell you all about what I’ve been loving lately – not a bad way to enjoy a Friday ;)

* Delicious eats

Yesterday I went out to lunch with a wonderful coworker of mine to BJ’s Brewhouse. I have to admit the calorie counts for these menu items are quite frightening – even salads are in the 1,000 calorie range! So I went with one of my old standbys that deems fairly healthy and above all, super delicious. The Thai Shrimp Lettuce Wraps…

And dinner was another old standby, but is a winner and delicious every time…

Fried egg and turkey sandwich on sourdough bread with a laughing cow cheese spread

Along with some crunch factor…

Cheddar crackers with Sabra Roasted Pine Nut Hummus
Now after looking at my dinner I realized I didn’t have one veggie – told ya my taste buds change once fall/winter rolls around ;)

*Maca Powder

Have any of you heard of this?

I’ve been enjoying this in my smoothies ever since a lovely reader of mine (Hi Heather!) told me that Maca is great for fertility and balancing out your hormones, and it worked wonders for her. And Laury from The Fitness Dish shared with me as well that she used it all the time while they were trying to get pregnant. I hope it works jsut as well for me and I’m definitely going to get some recipes from Laury’s blog for more ways to use Maca! Thanks so much ladies!! xoxo

* Fro yo and Pedis

Tomorrow I have a fun filled day planned with my best friend and wonderful, beautiful sister…

We have big plans for lunch, pedicures, and fro yo!! Weeeeeee can’t wait! :)

* B Street and Vine

After our girlie day we’re then gonna let the boys come out and play with us and we’re going to the delicious and fun B Street and Vine – a wine bar with the most amazing and delicious bruschetta…

I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures to capture all the fun we’ll have ;)

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and if you’re celebrating Halloween, have fun and be safe out there! :)

Questions:
Any fun plans for Halloween? Are you dressing up and if so, as what?!
Have you tried Maca Powder before?
What are you looking forward to most this weekend?

Friday Lovin’

Posted on by

14

Hi everyone and happy Friday :)

First I have to say how very much I appreciate all of you amazing, wonderful readers. In fact, I don’t think the term “readers” suffices here anymore, you are all truly great (internet) friends and it really does make me so happy to know you all through this community. Your sweet and encouraging words yesterday brought strength, hope, and happy tears to me…this community really is so wonderful and I can’t thank you enough for your support and touching comments. I really do appreciate it and love you all so very much, thank you <3

****

Yipeee for Friday! Is anyone else so happy the weekend is (almost) finally upon us?! I have a lot of things I’ve been loving lately, so without further ado, here are the things I’ve been enjoying this week and am looking forward to…

* Breakfast for dinner

Yesterday I had noticed that we had a couple of eggs that were about to expire, coupled with no meat in the fridge and not wanting to go to the grocery store, I knew what would be on tap for dinner…

To me, there’s nothing more comforting than having eggs and toast (breakfast) for dinner. This was 1 egg with 2 egg whites, scrambled, with 2 pieces of sourdough bread, laughing cow cheese spread,  and 3 slices of cajun turkey. I also had an unpictured side salad and a handful of Wheat Thins.

* Kashi Go Lean Crisp – Toasted Berry Crumble

Have any of you tried this cereal…

Love, love it. It has a great berry flavor and a nice airy crispyness to it. I actually find the Kashi Go Lean Crunch to be too crunchy and hard on the teeth, but this has the perfect texture and it’s a lot lighter with big chucks of crispy goodness :)

I made another cereal combo bowl this morning a la Courtney (best idea ever, thanks girl!…I’ve seen this on her blog since I started reading years ago and I (finally) decided to make them to have as my pre-workout breakfast and have been enjoying them for the past couple weeks…I love having a combination of cereals together to excite the taste buds ;) )

This morning I paired the Kashi Go Lean Crisp with Original Kashi Go Lean…

*Chia Seeds

I’ve expressed before how much I love chia seeds but had forgotten how much I enjoy them in my smoothies…well, this week I brought them back to my post-workout morning breakfast and now I remember why I love them so much…

Look at that thickness! Chia seeds have a way of bulking up your liquids like yogurt, oatmeal, overnight oats, and smoothies. So delicious and gives a great crunch factor too. I know some bloggers sprinkle them on top of smoothies, but this was put into the blender and blended with everything together, and I think that lends to a thicker smoothie…that and xanthan gum, can’t forget about that little gem :)

* Holiday Creamers

Every year when fall and winter rolls around I look forward to all the holiday inspired treats that come out…one of which being the limited edition holiday creamers…

Can’t wait to try it tomorrow morning!! And after this, next on my list is the Peppermint White Chocolate that was displayed right next to it…I wanted to buy both but thought I better be good and not get too carried away ;)

* Halo ProBars

Have any of you tried these bars?….

I found them at Whole Foods and they’re pretty good…not as good as I imagined them to be with names like Nutty Marshmallow and S’Mores…but they were decent. However I don’t think I’d buy them again.

*Flavored Water

I can’t remember if I’ve admitted this here yet, but I’m horrible at drinking water. Horrible. And I know drinking plain water is best for you, but I think getting water in me no matter what it takes is better than nothing, so I’ve been flavoring my water with this…

MiO! Have any of you heard of or tried this? Todd actually got me onto this and it’s actually really good. What’s neat is instead of the powdered kind like Crystal Light, this is liquid and you just squeeze it into your glass or bottle and you’re good to go! The Mango Peach flavor is (surprisingly) just ok, I thought it would be better, so my fav flavor so far is the Berry Pomegranate.

* Comforting foods

I’ve been enjoying many lately, and I meant to blog about this the other day but forgot…

Chili!! It was another perfect hearty meal for the hubby…and I packed it up as leftovers for him to enjoy throughout the week…however you know I snagged one bowl for myself to enjoy too ;)

* My Uncle’s 70th Birthday Party tomorrow

We’ll be in Discovery Bay to celebrate his birthday and the weather looks to be fantastic and sunny…and that means I get to spend quality time with these peeps too…

*Fro Yo

Hoping this weekend to squeeze in another yogurt trip to U Love…assuming I can convince the hubby ;)

And that’s about it! Hope you’re all having a wonderful Friday and a great start to your weekend :)

Questions:
Do you like Kashi Cereal? What’s your favorite kind?
Are you good about drinking water? Do you flavor it or drink it plain?
What holiday inspired treats are you enjoying lately?
What are you looking forward to most today or this weekend?

Friday Lovin’

Posted on by

14

Happy TGIF everyone! Hope you’re all having a great start to your Friday :)

I loved hearing all your seasonal cravings from Wednesday’s post…seems like we’re all in the same boat of having cravings for certain foods during each season. Right now, the majority of everyone’s cravings during the fall/winter seasons are warm comforting foods such as oatmeal, chili, soup, and stews…and seasonal fruits and vegetables such as squashes, apples, and the one and only, pumpkin!!! :)

First and foremost, I have to give a big, warm, heartfelt birthday wish to give to my lovely and amazing mother-in-law…HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHEILA!! <3

So there are a couple of things I’m loving today…last night I made another epic cheese and egg sandwich for the hubby and I…

With a lil of this action going on in the background…

I <3 Jorge…

Sadly they lost, boooo. And I think Todd woke up with a sore throat this morning with all the yelling he was doing at the T.V. ;)

I’m also lovin’ this new cereal I picked up recently from Safeway…

Along with this new milk I spotted there too…I love getting any chance I can to get in more Omega 3′s and DHA in my diet…

It’s a bit on the pricey side but I recommend getting it not only for the nutrients, but the flavor has a slight sweetness to it that is really delicious :)

I incorporated both those new items in this mornings first breakfast…at the ungodly hour of 4:30am…at least having this breakfast to look forward to makes it all worth it…

After the gym this morning (30 min. elliptical, 30 min. strength training session), I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few essentials and right when I walked in these beauties caught my eye…

I love buying flowers for myself…just looking at them makes me happy :)

And I had to pick up this lil guy too…ain’t he cute?!

This morning as I was getting ready for the gym I really started craving overnight oats to have for after my workout, and with these cooler temps, I knew I would feel like something more heartier than my usual smoothie…so with me realizing this at 5am and knowing my second breakfast would be at 9am, I gave the “overnight oats” a try with only 3.5 hours in the fridge…

And you know what…it worked!

1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup 2% milk, 1/3 cup 2% Fage Greek Yogurt, 1 tsp. Chia Seeds, 1 tbsp. Sunflower Butter, 1 sliced banana, and handful Peanut Butter Puffins

They were just as perfect as the real deal…so if you ever get a hankering for overnight oats the day of, know you can still create them with only 3 (maybe even less?) hours in the fridge :)

I’m also still lovin’ that it’s finally boot season and my fall pieces are back in my weekly rotation – leggings, boots, and oversize sweaters…other days I’ll do sweater dresses :)

Sweater – Forever 21; Leggings – H&M; Slouchy Boots – Via Spiga

And last but certainly not least…I am absolutely lovin’ and excited for tomorrow…it’s Part 2 of our Anniversary celebration in which we’ll be on the Hornblower Cruise hosted by Chandon, all while viewing the Fleet Week Blue Angels show…

And here’s a fun clip of the show from last year’s event…be sure to watch at 1:27 and onward – amazing!!

Questions:
Any fun plans for today or this weekend?!
Have you ever been on a Hornblower Cruise before?
Do you like to buy flowers for yourself to brighten your day?
Does your S.O. ever yell at the television like they’re able to hear? ;)