What we're eating this week: I decided to start off the year by trying out some meal kit subscription services and I am trying Blue Apron first. In the past week I have had a roasted broccoli dish, a salmon dish and a fabulous beet pasta dish. I am going to do a review of each meal delivery service next month.
What I'm reminiscing about: I am reminiscing about my fabulous trip to Disney World that I just took with my parents and one of my sisters. We missed my husband and my other sister but had a wonderful time. I guess it is time to plan my next trip to Disneyland!
What I'm loving: I am loving that after a busy couple of weeks I am home for the next few weeks just enjoying the down time. I have a few little plans and some big plans for cleaning but am staying close to home.
What we've been up to: I met up with a friend of mine last Friday for dinner and candle making. There is a place nearby where you get to design and make your own candle and it is tons of fun. The margaritas after dinner weren't too bad either. I made a purple candle with stars on it and my friend made a rainbow one. I love how hers turned out!
What I'm dreading: I am not really dreading anything at the moment though I am always dreading cleaning my house since no matter how many times I clean it it just doesn't stay clean.
What I'm working on: I am working on eating healthy and continuing to go to the gym consistently now that my foot has pretty much healed. I am in a weight loss challenge at the gym and one at work. I probably won't win either one but they are fun anyway.
What I'm excited about: I am excited that I have a couple of weekend trips coming up in the next few months. We are going to Universal Studios with my husband's family at the end of February and we are going to Hearst Castle just the two of us at the end of March. I have been wanting to take my husband to Hearst Castle for a while so this is my birthday present from him.
What I'm watching/reading: My husband and I are finally just about caught up on the Walking Dead and are on the current season. Still very bloody but I like this season better than the previous season.
What I'm listening to: Mostly whatever comes on my Pandora which is usually a mix of country and a random mix of 90s-00s pop music. Everyone needs some Britney in their life every once in a while.
What I'm wearing: I have bought a few new things at The Loft recently that I love but the weather here has been so wet and cold that most of the time my cute clothes are hidden under a jacket.
This shirt hasn't actually arrived in the mail yet but I can't wait to wear it when it does. I have this skirt in navy blue that I think will look great with the shirt in addition to being able to wear it with jeans.
This is one of those dresses that can either look really good or really frumpy due to the floral pattern. I am glad to report this dress is adorable on.
What I'm doing this weekend: A whole lot of nothing. Also known as running errands, doing laundry and other general house things. Not a super exciting weekend but quiet weekends are oh so necessary.
There are somethings that I find I definitely don't need to spend a lot of money on and then there are other things that I just have to accept that the money is worth it and spend the money.
One of the things that I have found worth spending money on is undergarments. I have found that good bras are worth their money in gold. This applies not only to every day bras but sports bras too. This is something that I wear all day everyday so it makes sense that this is something I spend money on. I have tried cheaper bras and they just don't fit as well or don't last.
The other part of undergarments are underwear and while I know some people can't imagine spending $20 on a pair of underwear I have never found anything that fit as well and last as long as Hanky Panky so I spend the money. While they are no means cheap they are cheaper at around $14 during the Nordstrom Anniversary sale in July so I try to stock up then for the whole year. My husband laughs when I tell him I am going shopping for a years worth of underwear but he knows it is true.
While I tend to spend money on undergarments I don't then to spend too much money on my everyday clothes. Not so say I don't spend money on some of my clothes especially things that are classic or that I know I will wear a ton but in general my closet is made up of things I got on sale. I love keeping my eyes out for cute pieces and then wait for them to go on sale to buy them. One of the best places to buy things on sale is The Loft. I don't think I ever buy something full price there because they have sales pretty much every other week.
I have had my eye on this boatneck shirt for a while so when I saw it on sale over the weekend I ordered it. It looks so cute on the model so I hope it looks as cute on me.
I bought this dress a few months ago but I wore it for the first time today. The weather here has been cold and rainy for weeks so this fun flowered dress seemed like the perfect way to counteract the weather. The colors are so pretty and for less than $30 I couldn't resist it.
Can't wait to see what others splurge on and find some new steals with Show and Tell Tuesday.
Last weekend I took advantage of the long weekend and met my parents and sister in Florida to go to Disney World!
I left Thursday night on a red-eye flight. The older I get the more I realize my body isn't made for staying up all night. For this reason I decided it was definitely worth it to upgrade to first class to make myself as comfortable as possible. Margaritas and trashy magazines make for a good start to the trip.
On Friday after a little nap a the hotel my dad and I headed out to meet my sister and my mom at the Animal Kingdom. I didn't get to do all the shows but I think we managed to ride most of the rides. We saw lots of cute baby animals on the safari ride and were able to go on the Expedition Everest ride twice in a row so I call that a successful day.
Animal Kingdom is always the park that closes and it closes even earlier in the winter so we were back at the hotel fairly early. My parents decided to relax at the hotel have dinner but my sister and I decided to venture out to Disney Springs for dinner. We toasted a successful first day with margaritas.
Our second day we headed to Epcot. I had to stop and take a picture with the "golf ball" since that is always the first thing I think of when I think of Epcot. We managed to to most of the rides in Future World except for Soarin' which had a massive line. We knew it tended to have a massive line so we had a Fastpass for later that evening.
My sister hadn't been feeling well so she stayed at the hotel for the morning. We went back to the hotel around lunch time to check on her and I stopped to get some cuban food in Disney Springs. Yum!
My sister still wasn't feeling well so my mom decided to stay back at the hotel with her while my dad and I went back to Epcot. We met up with a couple of friends of my dad who happen to live in the area and have annual passes. As we were walking around World Showcase they mentioned there was a grapefruit beer in Germany that was really good. After that glowing recommendation I had to have one! It deserves its reputation because it was fantastic. It wasn't particularly hot while we were there but it would be super refreshing on a hot day.
While we were in Epcot they were having a Festival of the Arts. We watched a fun concert staring some Broadway stars singing Disney songs which was very good but my favorite part was taking pictures in paintings. I think I pretty much rocked "The Scream" here! They also had the Mona Lisa background but I didn't like that one as much.
We had dinner reservations at the British restaurant which turned out to have an added bonus. Our reservations were a little after 7 and since we didn't rush through dinner we were still sitting there when the fireworks started at 9. We were sitting on the patio so we have a front row unobstructed view of the whole thing!
The next day we headed to the Magic Kingdom and the whole day I kept calling it Disneyland. Habits die hard I guess!
We had lunch reservations at Be Our Guest, the Beauty and the Beast restaurant. This lunch reservation at Be Our Guest was the only reservation there the entire trip. The food wasn't bad but also wasn't amazing but the atmosphere was great. We ate in the west wing where we could see the rose throughout our lunch.
Later that afternoon my sister and I went to see Enchanted Tale with Belle. It is sort of aimed at kids so we weren't sure what to expect but actually it was fabulous. Super cute and lots of people got to participate in the story not just the little kids. I got to be the wardrobe!
The Carousel of Progress is one of my favorite rides but is has long been taken out at Disneyland. Disney World still has it so we had to ride it twice to make up for the fact that we can't ride it in California.
We went back to Epcot on Monday morning since my sister hadn't gotten to go when we went on Saturday. We rode lots of rides and then found a Degas painting to pose it on our way to catch the boat to Hollywood Studios. We had a fun afternoon in Hollywood Studios riding Tower of Terror twice but managed to not take any pictures.
Thanks to my Fitbit I know that I walked between 15,000 and 25,000 steps a day while exploring Disney World with my family. Knowing that I had broken my food in October I was a little worried about how my feet would do with all that walking but they actually did pretty well.
Part of the reason my feet held up so well was I was using my sample of Sole Patches. They stuck right into my tennis shoes and stayed put the whole trip. Apparently you can also stick them right to your feet but that just sounded weird so I stuck to wearing them in my shoes.
I have been saying for months (ok maybe like a year) that I am going to try a whole bunch of meal kit subscriptions since I love to cook but I feel like I end up cooking the same types of things over and over again (hello soups).
I live in an area that is filled with these companies target demographics so there are lots to chose from. Each of these companies has a discounted introductory offer and can be put on hold at any point so I am going to try a different company each month and see how it goes. So far I have found 5 different companies to try so this taste test is going to take at least half the year.
I am going to try Hello Fresh, Sun Basket, Marley Spoon and Plated in the coming months but this month I am trying out Blue Apron. Even though most of the introductory offers are only for the first week I am thinking I need to try each company for at least 2 to 3 weeks to really get a feel for each company.
If anyone has more suggestions about more companies to try please let me know. The more to try the better!
I got my second Blue Apron box today so I will be giving my official opinion of it at the end of the month so come back then.
Like many people do when a new year starts I tend to look back at the year that is ending and evaluate how it went but then look forward to the new year and see what I could do better or what needs to change.
From the time I joined Orangetheory in March of last year until I broke my foot in October I was very consistent in hitting the gym multiple times a week. During the week I go to a gym class that starts at 6:10 AM so I am very happy the I found something that can get me up at a very early hour of the day. I couldn't go to the gym for over two months due to my foot but I got the all clear from the doctor to carefully (with a couple of restrictions/modifications) go back to the gym. I plan to keep up my gym routine this year and hope to continue to get stronger and faster.
Lots of people make a resolution to lose weight and while I am currently trying to lose a bit of weight my overall goal for the year is just to focus on eating more healthy foods. Losing weight may not be a reasonable thing for me this year as I am hoping to be pregnant at some point this year. Pregnancy and losing weight don't really go together but eating better foods and pregnancy definitely go together.
The other thing that I want to do more of this year is reading. I love to read but too often end up on my computer or watching TV instead of reading when I am at home. I am going on a trip later this week so that plane ride should be a great time to get into a good book. Once I get into a book I am better about making time to read since I want to know what happens next.
This something I have actually done pretty well the last few years but I always want to make time to go on at least a few little trips this year. I don't have any big international trips planned this year but I do have a quick trip to Disney World planned later this week along with a birthday present trip to Heart Castle with my husband.
I am hopping on a red-eye Thursday night to meet my parents and one of my sisters in Florida to go to Disney World! I am so excited because I have not been to Disney World in at least 5 years.
I have been to Disneyland multiple times a year for the last few years so I have my favorites and go to rides/restaurants down pact. There are a lot of the same rides in Disney World but also a ton of different things to do too! I love any type of ride so any tips on what rides to ride and when would be welcome.
This trip was a bit of a last minute trip so we did not prebook any of our FastPasses and are planning to make a few when we get there if we can.
We are eating at Be Our Guest one day for lunch (the only time I could get a reservation the whole trip) and we are having dinner at the German buffet in Epcot one day but other than that we don't have any dining plans. Any restaurant recommendations (or ones to avoid) would be welcome since I know there are some great places to eat.
While we may not have a ton of plans for what we do or where we eat I have no shortage of Disney clothing and accessories to wear on the trip!
I am so excited to be on my way and off to all things Disney!
When I got my Stitch Fix box last month I was super excited about it. Most of the items looked like they had potential. Not all of it ended up working out but I was happy with the box anyway.
The one piece that I actually ended up keeping was this super comfy shirt. I am always a fan of stripes and the redish pink detailing just gives this shirt a little pop. This shirt is just fitted enough that I might be able to dress it up enough to wear to work but so far I have just worn it on weekends.
This black lacy dress looked great in the box but it just didn't quite fit me correctly. I had strangely large armholes so that didn't quite work for me.
I almost ended up keeping this asymmetrical maroon jacket but I couldn't quite spend the money on something I didn't know how often I would actually wear. I liked it a lot but didn't have that much in my wardrobe I could picture wearing it with.
This was the one piece that I knew I wouldn't be keeping the minute I pulled it out of the box. I am just not a fan of ombre in general but especially not on me.
The print on this dress was fabulous and I am sad the dress didn't fit better. The waist actually fit in the correct place (shocking I know) but the chest was just a little bit too tight on me so I had to send it back.
You can get your own box here and let me know how you like it.
What we've been up to: I met up with a friend of mine last Friday for dinner and candle making. There is a place nearby where you get to design and make your own candle and it is tons of fun. The margaritas after dinner weren't too bad either. I made a purple candle with stars on it and my friend made a rainbow one. I love how hers turned out!
