Accessorize me.

Recently, I picked up some cute accessories on the cheap.  Now, some of you may be thinking "I thought she said she wasn't going to shop for 3 months." Well, that's not what I said, what I did say was that I am not going to buy any clothes for 3 months - clothes and accessories are two completely different things in my book. 

I purchased this Missoni scarf from ShopBop.  I think it's sold out - sorry! The colors look so much better in person and at $62.45 it was a steal!

I purchased this JCrew inspired bracelet from Winter Lennon.  She has really cute items at inexpensive prices.  Also, she holds auctions to get rid of low inventory items - I bid on this item and paid $15.

Finally, I purchased this aztec print scarf from Winter Lennon during the same auction for $13.

Have you purchased any cute accessories lately?

xoxo,

M

The Last 5.

I'm addicted to Pinterest. I go to Pinterest whenever I need a little mini break, whenever I'm bored, whenever I'm eating lunch at my desk....basically, I visit Pinterest many times a day.  So, I've decided that I will pick a day every week to post my last 5 pins. Maybe you will want to pin them too?

As of the date and time of this post, here are the last 5:

#5 - Chicken salad made by mixing avocado, cilantro, salt, and lime juice with the chicken. No mayo.

#4 - Weekly cleaning schedule

#3 - room-by-room approach to organizing and storage

#2 - Linen, Lace, & Love: DIY: Clare Vivier Inspired Clutch

#1 - loafers. $23. love these.

What have you pinned lately?

xoxo,

M

Wedding Planning - It will make you CrAzY!

Last night I ran into an acquaintance who recently got engaged.  This bride-to-be knew that I recently got married and after asking how my wedding went, she quickly started asking me whether (1) I dealt with family issues about the wedding - check; (2) whether I thought about eloping - check; (3) whether I cried while wedding planning - check, check, and a multitude of other questions.  After calming her down by telling her that I experienced all of the above and much more, and that for the most part, it was normal, and that in the end it's all worth it, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her (and happy for myself that I no longer was in her situation).  Dude, wedding planning ain't easy and it made me certificably CRAZY and, unfortunately, I knew this bride-to-be was running down the crazy path as well.  I guess in some regards it's a right of passage and most brides experience the craziness and it makes you enjoy your special day all the more.  Honestly, I don't think that I could have gone one more day stressing, worrying, planning, or making something for our wedding - I was at the edge of the cliff and if I had to go one more day, I would have jumped! I don't think that I rised to the level of Bridezilla...but, I'm pretty sure I was knocking at the door! Seriously, I do not miss wedding planning AT ALL!

xoxo,
M

Benefit Products I am lovin' these days!

I know I've blogged about this before: 

the Benefit play stick and I how much I love it.  Well, recently, I've tried out some other Benefit products and my love for the brand has grown to include the following:

This:

Benefit cha cha tint - amazing peach color for your cheeks that lasts throughout the day! You can also use it on your lips.  It's about $29 - but, one bottle should get you through 3-4 months.

This:

Benefit CORALista - a great compliment to the cha cha tint. It's a coral/pink color and I apply it on top of the cha cha tint.  It's $28, but, once again, it should last 3-4 months.

This:

Benefit One Hot Minute - a rose/gold powder that I wear alone when I don't want to use any foundation or put on a full face of make-up.  It gives you a nice glow, basically, it's a miracle worker.  It's $30 - mine only lasted 2-3 months because I used it ALL THE TIME!

and, this:

Ok, ok, technically, he's not a Benefit product - but, I am lovin' on him these days:

Happy Monday, friends!xoxo,
M 

Randomness.

Random thoughts and things from this week:

1. I just drank a 40oz Pineapple Pleasure smoothie from Smoothie King in one sitting.
2. I saw a man at Walgreens who was 65+ buying caseloads of 5 Hour Energy - What could he possibly be doing with them? Why would he need them? I really had to restrain myself from asking him these questions.
3. I'm on a mission to limit the amount of personal emails I receive everyday.  I have been unsubscribing from emails as they come in left and right. It feels good!
4. I am going to try to refrain from buying any clothing for 3 months.  May not seem like a long time to you...but, for me that's an eternity.
5. I kind of want to buy Hot Buns...what can I say, I like a good bun.
6. Oh, and a Forever Lazy. I mean it even has convenient zippers for you to go to the bathroom.
7. I am super excited about the new show "The Carrie Diaries." It's a show about the young Carrie Bradshaw...I will definitely be watching that show over much objection by the Husband.
8. I'm not really digging the first book chosen for my Book Club.  I'm hoping there's a lot more wine drinking than book talking at this month's meeting.
9. I just watched Ella pee in a bag of trash in the middle of the Florida room. At least she stopped peeing on the couches. I'll take a bag of trash any day.
10. Here's hoping the local honey I picked up at the Farmers Market today helps with my sinuses - sinus headaches are no bueno!

xoxo,

M

Playing Catch-Up (Part III) - The Bachelorette Par-tay.

Myself and 8 of my girlfriends traveled down to Key West for a long weekend.  5 of us took the Key West Express (boat) down to the Keys and the other 3 flew in.  We stayed at the Casa Marina, a Waldorf Astoria property, and we had such a fun weekend! The hotel was great - it had 2 swimming pools and a private beach.  The first night, my BFF for-eva, Brittany, arranged for us to have dinner on the beach, it was so beautiful! Then we ventured out to a locals bar and we ended up taking over the music and the dance floor, it was such a fun night! Saturday we had lunch at Caroline's on Duval Street - there was a chicken that roamed around the entire time and caused a lot of havoc with the patrons, especially one of the girls on the trip (love ya, Mere!).  We then hit the Keno store for a little shopping.  Most of us were feeling a little rough from the night before, so headed back to the hotel for a little rest and relaxation.  Brittany and I headed to the hammocks on the beach and had such a relaxing time drinking some drinks and talking. Saturday night we headed to a tapas restaurant named Santiago's  Bordega - the food was amazing! After that we headed to The Green Parrot for some live music; unfortunately, the FSU game was on the TV at TGP and I ended up watching that and cursing at the tv,  more than I did enjoying the music - boo!  Finally, we ended up on Duval Street and did some bar hopping. Sunday we relaxed and headed back home. I had such a great time and was a perfect weekend to celebrate my upcoming nuptials! 

Here are a few pics from the weekend:

xoxo,

M

Do you Spaghetti Squash?

Thanks to Pinterest, I found out about spaghetti squash and then became obsessed with trying it as a pasta substitute.  Justin and I are not huge pasta eaters, but, I've been trying to mix up our weekly dinners and I knew that so long as I added meat to it, Justin would give it a try.  So, last week at Publix I finally found spaghetti squash and quickly put it in my cart.  I found this recipe from Michael Chiarelloon on the FoodNetwork.com website:

Ingredients

• 2 whole spaghetti squash
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Gray salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups prepared (jarred) marinara sauce

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Split the squashes in half and scrape out seeds. Line an oven tray with aluminum foil. Season the spaghetti squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place flesh side down and roast for 30 to 40 minutes until fully cooked. Remove from the oven and let rest until cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile heat the marinara sauce in a large saute pan.

When squash is cool enough to handle, using a large kitchen spoon scrape the strands of squash from the inside of the skin. Toss the spaghetti squash in the pan with the hot marinara for just long enough to get hot. Serve and enjoy.

Changes I made:

(1) I only used one spaghetti squash;

(2) I used coconut oil instead of olive oil;

(3) I used sea salt instead of gray salt (I don't even know what the hell gray salt is); and,

(4) I added grass fed beef to the sauce.

Verdict: It was very good - even Justin thought so.  It is definitely making it into our dinner rotation.  However, I wouldn't go as far as to say that you wouldn't know you weren't eating pasta...you can definitely tell it wasn't pasta.  Oh, and, fyi, one spaghetti squash made a lot of "faux-sta" (ha!).  Justin and I both ate dinner and I had enough leftover for 2 lunchs for me.

Are there any new foods you've tried lately?

xoxo,

M