Some Easter Decorations

With Easter coming up this weekend I am enjoying my bunnies and eggs for one more week before I switch over to some spring decorations.

I got some flowering branches in the dollar section of Target and used them decorate our side table.  The flowers are kind of a funny foam but unless you get up close (or touch them) you can't really tell.

I am pretty sure this stone bunny is meant as an outdoor decoration but I have always used her as part of my Easter table decorations.

I love how colorful Easter decorations are! Other than the little egg tree I am going to leave these pretty decorations up all spring.  I love how fresh flowers always make any space look more fancy and festive.

I put a few eggs up around my house.  Easter grass always makes such a mess while putting it out but the eggs look weird without it so I always end up dealing with the mess.  I will just try not disturb any of it when removing the eggs and replacing them with spring flowers.

Happy Easter!

Favorite Foods at the California Adventure Food and Wine Festival

A couple of weeks ago I flew down Disneyland for the weekend. It was the first weekend of the California Adventure Food and Wine Festival so of course I took full advantage of it.  There were 13 food and beverage booths to choose from. Some of them were the same as last year but there will also a lot of new booths with new things to try.  

As an Annual Passholder I was able to buy a Sip and Savor pass for $45. It came with 8 tabs that are good for food at the booths but can't be used for alcohol. Any food item that cost more than about $5.75 was worth using a tab for. There were a couple of food items (and most of the non-alcoholic drinks) that were less than that but most of the food was $6-$7 a plate.

I started out my first day (I arrived around noon) with a Jalepeno Margarita and some Jalepeno Popper Mac & Cheese from the Peppers Cali-Ente booth.  The margarita was not bad but also nothing special so let's ignore the margarita for now because this is about my favorite foods at the festival not the ones that are just okay.

The mac and cheese was the star of this meal.  It was nice and creamy, had bacon on top of it and the jalepeno pieced gave it a nice kick too it. Pretty much all things that make it hard to go wrong. It wasn't super spicy but if you are sensitive to spice it might be too much for you. 

The first day I was there it was rainy and actually quite cold so I was quite happy to eat this White Cheddar Lager Soup from the California Craft Brews booth in the middle of the afternoon to warm me up a little bit. I came in a mini bread bowl so while there wasn't a ton of soup because of the bread it was really quite filling. They had some sort of cheese and beer soup last year that was also really good so I was glad to see this type of item back this year.

Last year hidden away at the LA Style booth in Hollywood Land there was this delicious Strawberry Pineapple float drink with popping pearls that I discovered on my last day and it was amazing. When I saw that LA Style was one of the booths returning to the festival I had my fingers crossed that this drink would also be returning.

Crossing my fingers must have worked because the Strawberry Pineapple Float is back! It is not at the LA Style booth this year but at the even more appropriate Strawberry Patch booth. It is just as good as I remembered it and it is joined by "Frushi" which sounds a bit odd but is actually quite delicious.  Between these two dishes I had my quota of sugar for the day but it was worth it!

Later on to counteract my sugar high I stopped by the Garlic Kissed booth to try my second type of macaroni and cheese of the festival.  The Creamy Mac & Cheese with garlic bread crumble was super creamy and delicious.  I would recommend getting both kinds of mac and cheese but if you absolutely have to only get one kind (though I have no idea why) I would get the Jalapeno Popper Mac and Cheese only because it is more unique than this one.  But really just get both!

Last of my favorite foods from the Food and Wine Festival that I want to share today is another return winner from last years festival. I enjoyed it last year so I didn't want to skip it this year so on my last day I stopped by the Off the Cob booth to get some Sweet Corn Nuggets with beef chili.  The combination of the sweet nuggets and the salty savory chili is a winning combination.

I used my Sip and Savor Pass for all the foods in this post except for the Frushi which only cost $4. The California Adventure Food and Wine Festival is still going through the 12th of April so if you are in the area make sure to stop by and get some of the delicious food. Come back next week for the rest of the food and drinks I tried at the festival and which one are worth a try and which ones to skip completely.

Weekend Wrap-Up

After being gone last weekend (Disneyland posts coming soon) I had fun and productive weekend at home this weekend.

Friday night I met up with a friend at an Italian restaurant for a murder mystery dinner. The food was served family style and the appetizers and the desserts were good but the main dishes were kind of meh. There were three murders though the course of the night and we were able to figure out who committed one of them.  Even though we were not able to solve all the murders we had fun trying!

Saturday morning I went to the gym and then ran a bunch of errands. Not always the funnest way to spend a Saturday but necessary.  While at Trader Joe's I bought a bunch of daffodils to brighten up our house.

Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning I did lots and lots of cooking.  I made a casserole, a chicken dish and a bunch of calzones.  I put all of it in the freezer so that we would have easy things to grab for lunch or to make for dinner when we don't feel like cooking.

Sunday afternoon my husband and I to see Black Panther.  It was soo good!  The movie was so pretty from the scenery to the costumes. After cooking all weekend I didn't feel like cooking Sunday night so we grabbed some burgers at Five Guys on our way home.  A perfect end to the weekend.

Stitch Fix #31

For this month's Stitch Fix box I asked for some comfy lounge clothing so that is mostly what I got.

This grey hoodie was very cute and fit really well but I didn't end up keeping it because it had a really strange chemical smell to it.  It may have washed out but I have had other clothes with this chemical smell that the smell never went away so I decided to err on the side of caution and send it back.

I was unsure about this shorts romper when I first pulled it out of the box but once I put it on I was sold. It is not a color I have a ton of in my closet but the color looked good on me. The fit is great and this will be comfy weekend wear this summer.

This 3/4 sleeved shirt was just kind of blah so I sent it back.

I always like a good cardigan but this one just didn't fit well. It hit at a weird place on my hips and was just not flattering on me so it had to go back.

I was looking for comfy loungewear so this could have great for that but it wasn't. They technically fit but they were about an inch too short to be full length pants and a couple of inches too shot to be capri length. 

What's Up Wednesday

It is time for a What's Up Wednesday.

What we're eating this week:  I only get them a couple of times a month but this week was one of the weeks I got a meal prep delivery box.  I had Korean Chicken Tacos that were very good and this a fried rice bowl thing that was also very good.

What I'm reminiscing about: I have been working on figuring out which photos from our honeymoon to print and put on the walls so it is only fitting that I am reminiscing about the wonderful time we had in Europe. I can't wait until we can take another trip like this but I think it is going to be at least a few years.

What I'm loving: I am loving that after a quiet weekend at home our living areas are all clean and decorated for St. Patrick's Day.  My husband even swept all the leaves off of our patio. Even though our new place is only a few hundred square feet bigger than our previous condo it feels so much more spacious and organized because we have a garage to store things in.

What we've been up to: A couple of weeks ago my husband and I headed down to Monterey for the CSUMB Have a Heart for Students Auction. We don't get too many chances to get all dressed up and I always love seeing my husband all fancy so it was a very fun night. Despite the fact that it is still winter I decided to wear more of a spring floral dress instead.

What I'm dreading: I have had a bunch of doctor's appointments recently and been on some medication recently so I am hoping all of this comes to an end soon. Sorry to be vague but more on this topic at a later time. Nothing life threatening but still no fun.

What I'm working on: I am working on eating healthy and continuing to go to the gym consistently. I am in a weight loss challenge at work. I probably won't win but it would be great if I did. I got a couple of new workout pieces in the mail yesterday but haven't had a chance to try take pictures in them.  I always love the high waisted Zella leggings so when I saw this pair on sale I needed them and I am always on the lookout for a good comfy hoodie and this one fit the bill

What I'm excited about: I am leaving on Friday for a little trip to Disneyland. I have an annual pass and I probably won't renew it when it expires so I am taking advantage of it while I have it. During March and April there is a food and wine festival at California Adventure that is really fun so I am excited to go during the festival. Last year the cheddar ale soup was one of my favorites so I can't wait to see what food they have this year. The festival starts Friday so the menu should be released any day now.

What I'm watching/reading: My husband and I are caught up on the current season of Walking Dead and have also started to watch Peaky Blinders. A few weeks ago all 15 seasons of ER showed up on Hulu so I am slowly working my way thorough that. I have seen some whole seasons and others episodes as reruns but have never watched the whole thing in chronological order. I am all the way through season 4 and just started season 5.

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 got these fabulous shoes for Christmas and have been enjoying adding a little glitter to my outfits this month. Mine are rose gold but they come in all kinds of other glittery colors too.

In preparation for my trip to Disneyland (and for the gym) I got a new pair of gym shoes last week and have been breaking them in.  I have worn them to the gym 3 or 4 times and I think they are going to be perfectly comfy for walking miles and miles around Disneyland.

What I'm doing this weekend: My grand plans are to hop on a plane and fly down to Orange County to visit the Happiest Place on Earth. Disneyland!

Happy Wednesday!

St Patrick's Day Decorations

Now that we are all done with Valentine's Day and the season of reds and pinks I have outfitted my house in green in preparation for St. Patrick's Day.

Since it is only a couple of weeks until St. Patrick's Day I decided to just put up a few decorations in our living room.  I have a hook that the previous occupants left in our kitchen so I put up this little leprechaun. 

I have grand plans for putting a long vertical picture frame on this wall but have yet to find the perfect frame (or print the photos I plan to use) so in the meantime I threw this sign up there.

I put a couple of shamrock accessories on our TV stand. Gotta love the Target Dollar Spot for holiday decorations.

I left the wine corks and silver balls that I put up for Valentine's and added a little leprechaun and a green sparkly quote. I have always loved this quote.

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to put on this table but I ended up just putting a wooden shamrock and draping some green garland.  Usually I put this garland in a vase as filler but I needed something to fill the space on the table because the shamrock looked kind of lonely on its own. 

I am going to enjoy the splashes of green around my house for the next few weeks before it is time to put up some Easter and some spring decorations! It is so tempting to buy new decorations since I have a whole new (larger) place to decorate but I didn't buy anything this time.

Valentine's/Weekend Wrap-up

Since Valentine's Day fell on a Wednesday this year we decided to have a low key dinner at home.  Ok in all reality even if it had fallen on a weekend we probably still would have opted for a low key dinner at home. I made twice baked potatoes and roasted some asparagus and then my husband made us some steaks to go with it. Not pictured are the delicious chocolate lava cakes that I got at Costco for dessert. 

I got my husband some fun candy, a card and wrapped all the beer cans in the refrigerator with valentine's messages of love.  He knows me well and got me a card, a big ole Reese's heart and a gorgeous bunch of flowers. There were so many flowers that in addition to this vase of flowers I also had to use a little one to hold all the flowers.

This weekend we went down to Monterey County to attend a charity auction at CSUMB that my mom is the chairperson of. We headed down early in the morning so that we could help her (and the rest of the committee) with the set up for the silent auction and help decorate the tables.

We finished helping set up around lunchtime so on the way to my parents house to relax for the afternoon before getting ready for the auction we stopped at Tarpy's for lunch. I took my husband there a couple of years ago and he fell in love with it and he has declared it his favorite nicer lunch spot in Monterey County. I had the macadamia crusted mahi mahi with fingerling potatoes, tropical salsa and a beet vinaigrette. It was so vibrant and absolutely delicious. My husband had a smoked brisket sandwich with potato salad which was also absolutely delicious.

After relaxing at my parent's house for a couple of hours we got all dressed up to attend the auction. Even though it is still winter I decided to wear a new floral dress and I accessorized with some new gold hoops and my gold tassel necklace.

Once we got to the auction I couldn't resist taking a few pictures to document how cute my husband looked all dressed up in his new green dress shirt that looks at bit more teal in the picture than it is in real life.  We were there right at the beginning so we had time for pictures before it got too crowded.

I also snuck in a few pictures with my mom before the auction really got going.  My dad was there too but he managed to escape the camera this time.

After the silent auction portion was over we headed to our table for dinner and the live auction portion of the evening. The theme of the auction is Have a Heart for Students so it was fitting that the decorations were hearts and roses.  The party favors were a little bag of chocolates from my uncle's Dilettante Chocolate company.

I had the vegetarian dish for dinner while my husband had the filet minion. Mine was good but his was amazing.  While we did bid on some things in the silent auction the live auction is a little beyond our budget at this point.  We had fun watching other people bid on some fabulous things.

The only thing we went home with was a case of Martinelli's but we were happy about it.  Sunday we slept in at my parent's house and then grabbed a quick lunch Fosters Freeze before heading home. Since we hit no traffic going home we got to spent the rest of the afternoon just relaxing at home.

I hit the gym Monday morning before heading out to lunch with my husband and running a few errands.  A nice way to end a three day weekend!