The Weekend I Barely Stopped Moving

Good morning friends and happy LEAP DAY! I'll be honest with you, I find 2/29 a very strange day. I can't imagine having my birthday disappear can you? So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all your leap babies, make sure you enjoy your day!

Moving on to the weekend, phew, this was a doozy of a two days, y'all. It was a weekend of stuff after things after events after workouts and soccer games. Thankfully I was able to chill out a bit Sunday evening and get everything ready for my 6am BODYPUMP class. I'm super excited for early bedtime tonight after we have family dinner for Sportyspice's birthday [gimmeallthehibachi].

This weekend I…

… took the evening off from the gym [after taking a lunch class] and baked these adorable cookies for Sportyspice. She gave up chocolate for Lent and I wanted to bring her a cute treat for her 30th. #minionsrock

… rocked my faux fur vest for the last time this season. LOVE THIS LOOK.

… tried to keep a good attitude after the restaurant made us wait an HOUR for our reservation. Trust, me I get it when things run late, but they let three five tops take our room 30 minutes before the time we reserved. Thankfully we were comped appetizers but it was tough keeping Sportyspice's head up as the minutes ticked away.

… bucked up the birthday girl and had a wonderful time celebrating my favorite middles sister joining the 30 club. It was a fabulous evening full of friends, family, drinks and lots of fun conversations.

… realized I need to square my shoulders in pictures. #hugarm #notthatboxyinrealife

… stayed out way past my bedtime and indulged in one too many whiskey on the rocks. 

… woke up Saturday morning and started rocking it out. Since I knew it was a busy weekend I did a lot of my Sunday prep on Saturday morning. Prepped meat, salads and sweet potato chips for the week and then ate breakfast. 

… went to my 2nd GRIT class and rocked it out once again. #hiitisawesome

… drove to my parent's house and got ready for the baking bonanza with Babyspice. 

… spent four hours baking test cupcakes for Sportyspice's bridal shower. #cerealcupcakesforthewin

… woke up late Sunday morning and scrambled to make it to church on time. #workissuedidnothelp

… sprinted home after church to change into workout gear. Attended my second BODYCOMBAT class to help a fellow instructor tape her assessment video. Lots of workouts in the weekend make the muscles pop. #likemyworkoutearrings #forgottotakethemoffafterchurch

… came home, made food finally, did some stretching and drank pickle juice to loosen up a knot in my calf.

YES, I drank the juice and YES it works.

… played in an early soccer game where we won and I ran around like crazy.

… came home and relaxed for a bit which felt amazing.

… cooked dinner, did some more planning, prepped the rest of my lunch for Monday and put the final touches on Monday morning's BODYPUMP playlist. #gottakeepitfresh

How was your weekend? Were you running around as crazy as me? Make today awesome!

Linking up with these beautiful ladies whoop 

Friday Favorites {The One With a Great Quote and Sissy Birthday}

Morning and happy Friday, loves! Cheers to making it to the weekend y'all! It's been a bit of a doozy this week at work and in life and I'm quite ready for the next few days of relaxation. This weekend brings birthday celebrations, baking fun time and of course working out and soccer. Let's get this party started, shall we?

Favorite quote of the week: I am so grateful for my inner circle and my village. #luckyandblessed

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Favorite Video of the Week:  A dramatic reading, by EVA LONGORIA!

Favorite Birthday of the Week: Sportyspice turns the big THREE - OH today and it is oh so surreal. I remember my 30th birthday like it was yesterday and I can not FATHOM that sweet lil sissybear is now part of the 30 club. We are celebrating her birthday with dinner tonight and then going out for a few drinks. Happy BIRTHDAY sissyboo, I hope you have the bestestestest day! I love you so much and can't wait to see what 30 brings you! #happybirthdaysissy #antondaforever

Favorite Links of the Week: Hope you enjoy and learn something!

13 things you didn't know about Five Guys.

How to ruin your life without even noticing.

Couple weds mid flight so mom can witness ceremony.

The six least toxic items you can buy at the dollar store.

Gilmore Girls fans unite! #oywiththepiechartsalready

Five things you need to know about cage free eggs.

Favorite Funnies of the Week: Have a laugh on me!

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Have a fantastic day and wonderful weekend. I'll catch you bright and early on Monday < 3!

**linking up  Here  here , here, here and, this week**

Confessions of a Silly Girl

|| Blog friends keep me sane and I HONESTLY don't know where I'd be without you. #textconvosmakemesmile

||Remember those peanut butter M&Ms I posted about on Monday? Yeah, Le Husband and I killed a single bag in one evening together. TWICE. Can you believe he'd never had them before? #yesabaganight #twice

|| I wish I had written this article. We all need to get rid of the SHOULDs and just live!

|| Because of my job I was able to watch the WHOLE season of Downton Abbey in December and I LOVE LOVE LOVE what they did with the show. I'm not giving anything away, I promise, however I think most people will be happy with how everything wraps up.

|| I'm now sad because I don't want to DA to go away, boo!

|| Last week I was THAT GIRL with her car. I let my gas drop a lil tooooooo low and was praying to the car gods on my drive home. Somehow I dropped from 20 miles to --- miles in four miles. #oops #sorrydad 

|| I find myself way to interested in Scout Ponder's instagram account. I can't help it, the baby is so witty and cute.

|| Yesterday I guest posted on my friend Nikki's blog and totally forgot to tell you about it. Head over to her blog and check out my favorite travel spot recaps. #iloveguestpostingandtraveling

|| I am no fashion blogger but I think I can dress myself on occasion. Love this outfit I wore yesterday because of the sparkles and the cardigan. #tryingtobringthespringwiththefashion #sparklesmakemesmile

Jeans: Kut by Kloth || Flats: Sam Edleman || Sweater: Loft {old} || Cardigan: Eva Mendes Collection {old}

What do you confess today?

linking up with  Natalie & Kristin

What I'm Up To {February}

Another month, another linkup with Shay. I've missed the past few months but finally got back on track. I think it's such a fun way to look back on each month and see where life has taken us. #bloggingforthejournalwin

What We're Eating: Oh boy, it's been mostly bad and delicious food which is no good. February was not the best food wise which kind of makes me laugh because LAST February was my first foray into Whole30. I need to get back on the healthy train stat, my body is not happy with me right now. #backonthecleantrain #eatrightgetright

Valentine's day cupcake, 'golden snitch' from Harry Potter movieathon, Buckeye cake, get healthy Yogi tea, steak wraps w/a half sweet potato, PB M&Ms, CHAMPS, Menchies and banana with almond butter.

What I'm Reminiscing About: Nothing and everything. This will be a paragraph next month, ha!

What I'm Loving: The small pops of spring weather. I can't wait for winter to be over and spring to arrive.

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What I'm Dreading: A meeting with my boss today. It's annual review time and I'm not worried at all about how that will go. In my line of work it's pretty easy to tell how we are doing [awesome] and all I really wanna know is the bonus and raise number. I'm DREADING the part afterwards, where I get to share, it's gonna get sticky.  

What I'm Working On:  BODYPUMP choreography, bridal shower planning, and listsonlistsonlists.

What We've Been Up To: Getting our ducks in a row, purchasing tickets, planning, planning and more planning.

What I'm Excited About: April and May!

What I'm Watching/Reading:  We are watching all the normal shows and I'm in the middle of a bunch of awesome books. I honestly can't wait to review them for y'all next month, 99% of them were AMAZING. Teaser alert: go get 'Little Princes' and start reading books written by Laura Lippman.
 
What I'm Listening To: All the BODYPUMP music, all day errrrday. Being a  new instructor means learning past release so classes aren't boring and we JUST received the newest release which is only list for next week. I'm learning the chorey pretty quickly now so hopefully it won't take me as long to learn 97 as it did 96. #enjoyedteachingittofamilyonthecruise

What I'm Wearing: February has been a mishmash of outfits due to the weather. During the cold weeks I rocked leggings and sweaters and when it warmed up I pulled out the long skirts and boots. Of course no month would be complete without me rocking my FAVORITE plaid shirt. #wearitallthetime #almostspringwardrobetime #bringonthedressesandflips

What I'm Doing this Weekend: Celebrating Sportyspice's 30th birthday on Friday night! We are going out to dinner and then to a pub in the area which should be a fun time. Saturday Babyspice and I are having a day of testing recipes for Sportyspice's bridal shower and I'm super stoked for my cupcake idea. Fingers crossed they all turn out fabulously.
 
What I'm Looking Forward To About Next Month: Getting things streamlined, purging things I don't need, meet ups with friends and reveling in the day to day. Lots of changes means soaking up all the good.

What Else Is New: Big changes are coming in pinkland [no, no babies, yet] and I am super excited to share everything next month. No, I'm not click baiting, I just can't share anything quite yet. Once everything is more set, you'll know.

What is Your Favorite Easter Tradition: Visiting the living cross for family pictures and Easter brunch/dinner. We tend to mix it up between going out and cooking every year or so but I just love being around those I love as we celebrate Christ.

What were you up to in February?!

linking up *here* *here* *here* 

My Kitchen Must Haves {High & Low End}

I love to cook. I am no Julia Child, but I love chopping, cutting and trying new recipes in the kitchen. While I may not be the best, I am all for recipes with multiples steps and rarely take the easy way out. Fresh ingredients are the way to go and Le Husband and I try to keep our cooking as unprocessed as possible. We've tried a lot of products throughout our cooking journey [I claim NO CHEF status] and below are some of my must haves for the kitchen.

Good knives are a must have when you're chopping almost every day. Le Husband bought an incredible set before we met and we've added one here and there over the years. Make sure you sharpen your knives, sometimes a few quick swipes all bring NEW LIFE.

We like to use our plastic cutting boards for meats [since they can go in the dishwasher] and save our wooden cutting boards for fruits, veggies and on the random occasion bread. I recommend using two cutting boards to cut down on contamination, but if you don't have the space go for the plastic, it's easier to clean up in my opinion.

Most people would consider mason jars, a zester and an herb cutter non essential gadgets but I truly don't. Mason jars are fabulous for storing coffee and shaking up a dressing or spice rub and they just look super cute. I've used a grater in the past for zesting [ I mean, I'd never turn down a good recipe, no zester be damned] however I find a zester gets just that much more out of the ingredients. I don't remember HOW I ever chopped herbs before I had this handy gadget, seriously, my chopping time and precision has gone down immensely. We bought ours in Alaska so it's extra special when we use it.

When we were registering before our wedding I was so excited to register for Pyrex. Does that make me weird? I love the pretty clear bowls and the fact I can just pop a lid on each for easy travel and storage. And they've come in super handy when blogging recipes.

Two of the newest additions to our kitchen are our spiralizer and pasta attachments. We found ours at BB&B but I've also seen it at Target or inn Amazon. Once we have more space I'd love to upgrade to a bigger standup version, but for now this one does the trick. I bought Le Husband the pasta attachments for his birthday last year and we probably use it every month when we aren't eaten Whole30. Once you try homemade noodles, you'll NEVER go back to store bought. And trust me, it isn't nearly as hard as you think.

Not pictured: a meat thermometer. Seriously, this is a MUST if you don't want to over cook your meat [I can probably quote you the temperatures if you need them, haha].  I'm a medium rare/medium girl so this lil gadget is a must to keep my meat from getting over cooked. I also like it that extra check on chicken and pork.

What are your kitchen musts? What am I missing?

{affilate links used}
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A Restful & Productive Weekend Indeed

Morning, kit kats. How you doing today? Hopefully your weekend was restful and wonderful, but if not know that  I am sending you some extra cheer on your Monday. Get after it and make it lovely!

This weekend I…

… ended my Friday at work with a delicious and inspirational cup of tea. 

… made a delicious and healthy dinner, watched some shows then crushed all the Menchies. #mywafflecone

… slept for ten glorious hours. #gimmeallthesleep

… tried out LES MILLS GRIT STRENGTH and LOVED the new class. It is a 25 minutes HIIT class, with weights, done circuit style and is AMAZING. Might be my next certification, hay hay!

… played with a darling lil 10 month old while her mama helped Sportyspice with wedding planning. She was my wedding planner and a wealth of knowledge. Oh, and her daughter is just the cutest thing in the world. 

… sipped on some English tea and ate some London biscuits with the ladies. #soposhrightnow

… drove all Saturday with the sunroof open. It was a glorious 60+ degrees and I LOVED it!

… celebrated the beautiful weather with a delicious cup of bubbly. #isitsummeryet

… indulged in these tasty babies for dessert.  

… caught up on ALL our shows, started a new book and then went to bed. 

… popped away earlier than expected so spent a lil extra time getting ready for church. #makeupisfun

… spent the rest of Sunday being uber productive around the apartment. I'm talking laundry, vacuuming, dusting, reorganizing, cleaning and food prepping.

… practiced some new BODYPUMP chorey for classes this week.

… played in a soccer game, prepped gear for Monday morning's class and hit the hay early. #5amgomesearly

Hope today is fabulous and starts your week of great! < 3

Linking up with these beautiful ladies whoop 

The Return of True Friday Faves

Morning and happy Friday, ladies! I hope your week wasn't too long or crazy pants. Mine was kind of all over the place with the weather and being sick so I am super stoked for the weekend. Okay, no dancing around, let's get down to Friday Faves!

Favorite quote of the week: Breathe in, breathe out and BE!

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Favorite moment of the week: Rocking my Thursday BODYPUMP class after being insanely sick on Wednesday. I brought the extra energy and felt like I really connected to my students. CHEERS for continuing to get better at this teaching thing. #BODYPUMPSTRONG! #learningasigo #woohoo #wemakeitbounce

Favorite decor picture of the week: Le sigh. If only Le Husband would let me.

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Favorite links of the week: Learn something new!

WW2 Vet begins journey to reunite with wartime girlfriend, so sweet right?

My how childhood has changed!

Coolest mother/daughter workout video. #momgoalsoneday

Disney princesses singing in their native languages. 

12 people you should never unfriend on Facebook.

She gave up her smart phone and actually makes it sound like the best decision ever.

Favorite funnies of the week: LAUGH IT OUT!

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Hope y'all have a fabulous weekend. Catch you here on Monday < 3!

**linking up  Here  here , here, here and, this week**

These Are My Confessssiiiiooooonnnnssss

|| I was too lazy to blog about my weekend for the first time in forever. We had quite a lovely weekend of working out together, a girlie Harry Potter viewing party {thanks Babyspice} a FABULOUS couples Valentine's day dinner {so much good food} and then a new workout class on Sunday followed by a winning soccer game. #weekendupdate

|| I felt like this lil pup all weekend. It was soooo cold outside.

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|| I am more than a little excited for the autoship of our newest BODYPUMP release. Sadly the East coast is the last coast to received so I'm just sitting here waiting and refreshing my email like a stalker.

|| The GIFs in my post yesterday made me laugh more than I thought they would. #housewivesforthewin

|| There was a sigh of relief when no one showed up for my class 6am Monday morning. I was hurting more than expected from my first BODYCOMBAT class and the thought of doing squats at teaching weight was not something I was looking forward to at all.

|| I do NOT like Ronda Rousey and was so happy when Holly Holm kicked her tail. I am all about being confident in your craft and who you are but her cocky attitude is not something I think young girls and women need to emulate. Props to her for staying relevant after she lost, but I'll be cheering against her when she finally schedules her rematch.

|| Nothing makes me smile more than the Carlton. Except the Carlton with JT.


|| My locks were more than overdue for a visit with my stylist. Thankfully she didn't judge too much. #feelingfresh

|| I've eaten my weight in popcorn the past three days. #popcornonster #whattheheck

|| I ate a whole sleeve of Saltine crackers yesterday while I was home sick. #ooops

|| Yesterday was my engageversary and it makes me smile every year. #threeyearsstrong

linking up with  Natalie & Kristin