Coming home, coming home....

Tell the world WE'RE COMING HOME!

Yes, friends, the European adventure is at an end. Our thirty days of gallivanting through Italy, France and Greece are over and we are currently flying home. 

If I tried to find the words to describe the past month I'll end up in tears because it was truly the adventure of a lifetime and I'm so thankful I was able to experience it with my best friend. 

Au Revior and Arrivederci, we hope to be back one day soon! 

Mouth Watering Springtime Salad { Guest Post: Katie Elizabeth }

Hey everyone!    I'm Katie from the Katie Elizabeth blog, where I write about a variety of topics including - but not limited to! - life with my husband, Golden Retriever puppy and baby girl on the way here in Michigan, my favorite beauty products and my love for online shopping (it's a real addiction ;)).  I'm so excited to be here on P!nk Persistence today!
Totally beyond jealous of the amazing trip Pinky is on right now and I can only imagine all of the mouth watering, drool worthy food she is feasting on.  Today I thought I'd share with you guys one of my favorite spring time recipes.  It is so delicious, healthy and easy - my three requirements for a weeknight dinner.  Not pictured is the balsamic vinaigrette dressing which I highly recommend making yourself because it's that good (and easy, too!).  
Enjoy! Salad Ingredients 4 cups spring mix salad 2 hard boiled eggs, diced 1 chicken breast 1 avocado, diced 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 1/2 cup mozzarella balls (we love to use Feta instead, too) Salt and pepper
Balsamic Vinaigrette Ingredients 1 garlic clove, minced 1 tbsp dijon mustard 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp dry basil 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 1/3 cup olive oil Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions 1.  Mix garlic, mustard, lemon juice, basil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Slowly stir in olive oil, whisking until oil and vinegar are combined.  Set aside. 2.  Coat raw chicken with salt and pepper and any other additional seasonings. 3.  Grill chicken 5-6 minutes on each side until cooked through, 170 degrees. 4.  Divide spring mix, eggs, avocado, tomatoes, mozzarella and sliced grilled chicken into two bowls. 5.  Top with balsamic vinaigrette.
Thanks so much to Pinky for having me - hope you all have a fabulous day and stop over and say hi sometime! :) Oh my yum, this looks DELICIOUS, Katie. Just the thing I'll need to munch on after over indulging the past 30 days. Thank you so much for guest posting, sweet friend!

Disney Tag You're Favorites

I saw this post on Emily's blog awhile ago and had it sitting in my drafts for way too long. Figured today would be a great day to share a lil more about me and my love of Disney! #betsomeofmyanswerswillsurpriseyou

[Source]

Favorite Disney film: There are soooo many, mostly princess movies, but hands down UP. It's my family's FAVORITE, we quote it ALLL the time and any time I see it on TV I watch it. SQUIRREL!

Favorite Disney Characters: How long do you want to be here?

Favorite Disney Princess: When I was younger Sleeping Beauty because I thought she was the MOST beautiful princess in the world. Now I think I'd like a lil bit of a mix of Sleeping Beauty, Merida, Mulan and Jasmine.

Favorite Disney Sidekick: Mushu from Mulan. He is fabulously hilarious and wildy witty. "Get the bags cricket, let's move it heifer"; "It's porridge and it's happy to see you"; "Did you see those guys, they popped out of the snow, like daisies"!

Favorite Disney Song: Oh man, I can't pick, I seriously love to sing them alllllll!

Which Disney character would be your best friend? Merida. Tomboy princess, hellllllo PINKY!

Who would be your Disney pet? Gus-Gus, I mean he's just so cuuuuuuuuuuuute!

Have you ever been to Disneyland? Yes, twice but the first time doesn't count. My parents packed all three kids up in the car when I was maybe four and drove us from Montery to Disneyland and wouldn't you know, the park was closed unexpectedly. CAN.YOU.IMAGINE!?! No Internet or Apps to check on, just drive up to the park to find it closed. My poor, poor parents. We went later that summer though, phew!

You is your favorite Disney Villain? BOOOO on all the villains, they are the worst. I have to pick two Scar from the Lion King and Goob from Meet the Robinsons.

Do you collect anything special? No, not really. We used to collect the VHS [haha] and DVDs but now it's only if we LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the movie. Can't wait to snatch the ones we have at my parent's house when kids start making their appearance.

What Disney film would you star in if you could? Meet the Robinsons so I could use my inventions to jump into ALL the other Disney movies. But for real, I think I would like to star in the Princess and the Frog, LOVE NOLA and the music and dancing in the movie is my favorite.

How old were you when you watched your first Disney Movie? I believe three of four. My parents took me to see Snow White when it was relaunched in theaters. I'm sure I was a model child.

Who is your favorite Disney couple? Karl and Ellie. I know we don't get a lot of time with them but they just seem to be the sweetest couple in the world and I love the love they share with each other.

Have you done this Disney tag? Who are some of your favorites?

Cruising the Western Mediterranean {Guest Post: Kate}

Good Morning Pink Persistence readers! My name is Kate, and you can find me blogging over at Green Fashionista. I'm excited to be filling in for the fabulous Pinky while she's taking the trip of a lifetime across the pond. I thought it would be fun to share the Mediterranean cruise I took during my first trip across the pond a few years ago.

Our first stop on our European adventure was in Barcelona, and then it was time to board the Norwegian Epic for a 3 night Mediterranean cruise with stops in Marseille, France and Palma de Mallorca, Spain before finishing off our trip in Lisbon, Portugal. Cruising the Mediterranean was absolutely surreal, such an amazing experience!

Other than Royal Caribbean's Oasis and Allure of the Seas, the Norwegian Epic is the largest ship on the water. It was massive!

Room 10128 ~ Once you go balcony you can't go back!

*Ready to set sail on the Mediterranean*

*1st drinks of the cruise - of course I got the souvenir cup*

*Svedka Ice Bar ~ $20 admission which includes 2 vodka mixed ice drinks*

*Amazing to look out the window and see the beautiful Mediterranean Sea*

*Main Dining Room*

*Casino Bar*

*H winning us some money at roulette*

*One of my favorite things about cruises is all the food*

So much amazing entertainment on this ship! Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil dinner shows in the Spiegel Tent, comedy club, piano bar, Irish pub, jazz club, night club, and dance parties under the stars.

Now if only I could rewind back time for my countdown to look like this...

Make sure to join Kerri, Emily, and I every second Wednesday of the month for Wanderlust Wednesday to link up your favorite travel recaps and wishlists. 

Kate, I totally agree with you, once you go balcony there is no going back. Right now we're enjoying our balcony view on our Eastern Mediterranean cruise, but I think we might need to check out the Western cruise on our next big trip. Thanks so much for guest posting, beautiful! 

Super Quick Snapshot of Venice and Greece

Hi, loves! Wifi here is really hit or miss so I'm just gonna upload a few pictures for my post today. We are sitting in a cafe at our third stop in Greece and finally have some sun, woohoo! Venice was beautiful and our Holland America cruise ship is fantastic! Miss y'all!

21 Questions

I saw this on Nikki's blog awhile back and thought it would be a PERFECT lil post while I am away. I personally LOVE learning more about my blog friends and hope you enjoy learning more about me.

1. Are you named after anyone? Yes, I feel honored to be my father's namesake. #nonotpinky

2. When was the last time you cried? Oh goodness, last night after birthday dinner. So many changes are coming my way and the enormity of everything hit me like a brick wall.

3. Do you have kids? Nope, but God willing possibly next year, eeek! #didijustwritethat

4. If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself? Le duh, I'm awesome. No seriously, I think I exuded a warm personality and believe myself to be extremely supportive and fun. Let me know if you think otherwise.

5. Do you use sarcasm a lot? NAH D'OH!!!!! Sarcasm is my third foreign language.

6. Will you ever bungee jump? If the opportunity arose I wouldn't say no, but I won't seek the opportunity out myself.

7. What is your favorite cereal? This is tough so here are my top three: Lucky Charms, Frosted Flakes, Life.

8. What's the first thing you notice about people? Eyes and figure... are you in better shape than me ;)?

9.  What is your eye color? Hazel/Green. I love that they change with my clothing.

10. Scary movie or happy ending? Have you met me? Happy ending ONLY ALL THE TIME!

11. Favorite smells? Vanilla, evergreens, sugar cookies, jasmine,

12. Computer or television? I'm gonna computer because you can watch shows on it and play on the interwebs.

13. What's the furthest you've been from home? In high school my father was stationed in South Korea for a year and we visited him for two weeks in the summer. Despite the circumstances it was one of the most amazing trips.

14. Do you have any special talents? I don't think anything special.

15. Where were you born? The GREAT state of Texas.

16. What are your hobbies? Sports, lifting, teaching BODYPUMP, cooking, baking, eating [nom nom nom], sewing [doing a lil crossstich what what], reading, writing, blogging and of course, KICKBALL!

17. Summer or winter? SUMMA, SUMMA, SUMMATIIIIIIIIIIME! All the time, errrreeeeytime.

18. Do you have any pets? Not now, but had two dogs growing up and a gerbil.

19. Favorite movie? Can't pick one so here are my top six Frequency, UP [and anything Disney or Pixar], The Negotiator, Enemy of the State, League of Their Own, Field of Dreams.

20. Do you have any siblings? Yes, two fabulous lil sissys who are my bestest friends.

21. What do you want to be when you grow up? Good night moon, this has changed so many times. When I was younger I wanted to be the President, a veterinarian and a ballerina all at once. Hmmm, how many of those did I check off? Yeah, about that, haha. Anyway now? I honestly would LOVE to work in the fitness industry. My dream job, as of this moment, would be gaining the knowledge and expertise to work for Les Mills as an elite instructor so I could lead Quarterly's and Releases. That and I'd love to work in a bakery!