Weekend Recap (including PB replenishment)

Monday!! Can I have a confession moment right now? I like Mondays. I like weekends, but I think the weekends wouldn't be enjoyable without Mondays, so why hate on Monday? It brings us back to life, work, school, and home! 

This weekend was kind of low-key, which was great since I was battling a head-sinus issue all weekend. I felt like I was under water, with my ears popped and everything. Awful.

But you know what else is awful? 

THIS! The end of the peanut butter jar! But, do not fear, peanut butter has been replenished! :)

Saturday, still feeling a little crumby, we went on a run (6 miles) and it made me feel better! I could breathe normal the entire time. 

Are those matching workout pants not the cutest?! They are from Target! (What DOESN'T Target have?! Geesh!)

When we got back, Sophia wanted to show us her running skills, so we did some sprint work up and down the neighborhood. 

Go girl go!

Play time continued outside until we had to get ready for the Fish Fry at a friend's house. We ate lots of shrimp and fish! I could barely hear people the entire party, with my ears feeling like they needed to be popped, so we didn't stay too long. 

Sunday morning I made the Fitnessista's 2 minute Double Chocolate Protein Muffin. These are always a win in my book. Quick, easy, and so delicious! If you haven't tried one, it's a must do!

The rest of our Sunday was spent running errands, siging up for the Gasparilla 8K and Half-marathon!, and having friends over to watch football and eat chicken wings.

I hope your weekend was wonderful & restful! Back to the grind!

What did you do this weekend?

What are you favorite quick breakfast options?

XOXO

The Poop Emoji Shirt & Other Friday Faves

We made it! It's Friday and its cold and well...it's Friday so who cares if it's cold?!

Here is a list of a few things I'm diggin' this week:

I made a marinara sauce for my zucchini noodles and pasta the other day. Something about a pot of homemade pasta sauce simmering on the stove makes me smile. 

Those giant basil leaves make me smile too!

This mad cool carrot, yo.

Pita Pockets! 

I've been obsessed this week with these things. The possibilities are endless! Stuff em' & eat em'!

This shirt using the poop emoji in the pattern. (EliteDaily.com)

This meme I made from pictures of Sophia looking at herself on my phone camera. 

Babies in winter gear! Nothing is cuter! 

Yesterday my mom got out all her scarves and mittens to put on before we went to play in the backyard. Yes, it is 60 degrees outside and Floridians are bundling up hard!

Nut Exactly Snack Bites.These have been my snack all week. 

Starbucks rolled out with a new creation called "Flat White". I'm intrigued.

Have you been obsessing over a particular thing this week? Let me know!
Are you going to try the new Flat White at Starbucks?

XOXO

The Andy Cohen Diaries

One of my goals in 2015 is to read more books. 

My plan to  achieve this goal is to fade out the mindless Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest scrolling. Is there really anything on there that we need to go on multiple times a day to check?! NO! (Unless you run your business through there.)

I do promote my business on social media, so I know it can't be totally exiled. But, when I'm bored in car line, on a road trip, or sitting in bed, I plan to put down my phone and pick up my Kindle more often.

With that being said, I have finished my first book of the year. The Andy Cohen Diaries. 

If you're looking for a tell-all with juicy stories about housewives or other "Bravo Celebrity", unfortunately you're not going to get much. He did say some things that were like "OMG!", but he didn't give names, so you're just sitting there thinking, "Damn I wonder who that was!!?" I guess that's what left me hanging on for more, but I never got it. 

It goes through his dating life (nothing sexual), his many trips to Sag Harbor, and how he became a father (but shouldn't be celebrated on Father's Day) to his rescue pup, Wacha. 

This book is exactly what the title implies. It's a diary. Andy goes day by day for an entire year and writes about his feelings/vacations/dates/job/etc. It's more about him, and not about anyone else. Maybe because he's just so horrible with names and remembering people? I mean, he doesn't even remember the name of some of the housewives he runs into on the street. Didn't he hire them?!

Through out the book, Andy spends a lot of time with people I know nothing about and calls them by their first name. How am I supposed to know who Bruce and Liza are? Maybe they were introduced in his first book, which I'm contemplating if I should even read or not. Based on this book, it's at the end of my Must Reads. 

What I enjoyed about The Andy Cohen Diaries:  His conversations with his parents made me laugh and smile. His memories of Natasha Richardson made me wish she was still here and acting. And his name dropping of restaurants let me know where to go eat next time I'm in NYC. 

What I wanted more of from The Andy Cohen Diaries: More of his conversations with people like Kelly Ripa, Jerry Seinfeld, and Jimmy Fallon. Less of "I went here and we talked about this". I want details because that's where the laughs come in!

Now it's on to the next book.. I just bought The Glitter Plan: How We Started Juicy Couture for $200 and Turned It into a Global Brand and am about 100 pages in. A total business advice book, good stuff. Hopefully I learn something for WeTheYoung! ;)

XOXO

Cold Weather brings Zuppa de Toscana Pollo

Happy Wednesday! It's a cool 51 degrees here in town and I gotta say, it's a little cold for me. If I have pants and a jacket on and I'm still cold, it's TOO cold. 

A friend and I were talking about Floridians (ourselves) and how people up North poke fun at us for bundling up and acting like we're in Alaska if the temp dips under 60 degrees. She went to Wisconsin over the Christmas break and her family up there was giving her crap about needing to turn the heat on at night, even though the temperature was getting below 60 inside. Then, I was telling her how we went to NYC in December one year and didn't get to enjoy the city because it was 2 degrees outside. Ain't nobody got time for that! We barely wanted to leave the hotel room.

Maybe we just don't have the right gear? Who knows...but listen people, if you live in Florida your entire life, anything under 60 degrees is cold! I don't care what you think! :)

Along with the weather, this week itself has been a shock to the system. Trying to get back to the "normal" routine has been tough and great at the same time. Although getting up to an alarm clock is never really fun, it feels good to have structure back in our lives. The holidays really screw with us, right?! Physically (weight gain/sugar addiction) and mentally (party after party after party).

So here it is, Wednesday, and I'm finally feeling back to "normal". The holiday junk food has been thrown out, our workouts and running have been consistent, and cooking healthy meals has returned. Ahhh, my life is back.

Last night I made a soup for dinner. I don't know why but every time the weather gets colder, I cook soup. Its just the right thing to do.

I wanted to make a copy cat recipe of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana. I used to eat that soup ALOT when I worked at a doctor's office and Olive Garden was one of the few choices close by when ordering take out. It's a creamy soup with spicy sausage, kale, and russet potatoes. But instead, I made it with ingredients I had available: chicken, kale, and sweet potatoes. I'll call this one, Zuppa de Toscana Pollo. 

Zuppa de Toscana Pollo

What you’ll need:

2 large chicken breasts
2 tbsp EVOO
4 bunches fresh kale, stems removed and chopped
2 sweet potatoes, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 tbsp garlic, minced
6-8 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup half & half
Salt & Pepper


What you do:

Cook chicken however you prefer. I used FlavorGod Garlic Everything Seasoning and sautéed the chicken in a large frying pan.
Once chicken is fully cooked, chop into bite size pieces and set aside.
In a large soup pot, add EVOO over medium high heat.
Add onions and celery to pot and sautee for 5 minutes.
Add garlic, potatoes, kale, chicken, and chicken broth to pot. Stir and make sure potatoes are covered in the broth.
Bring to boil, reduce to a summer, and let cook until potatoes are tender. This should be no less than 30 minutes. (I let mine simmer for 2 hours)
Add salt, pepper to taste
Take off heat and stir in half&half.

Enjoy!

XOXO

Mondays in 2015 kinda look the same

Hey Hey! It's the first Monday of 2015 and it is an absolute wreck! So, just a normal Monday, huh? :)

Sophia is out of school today (her school starts back up tomorrow...hallelujah!) so with no reason to wake up, I rolled out of bed around 8 am, obviously milking this no alarm clock thing one more day. 

I make breakfast (2 eggs and a piece of toast), get my coffee, and get settled into my office for a day of productivity. I really need to get through all the accounting and close out 2014!! It's on the to-do list that seems to be 100 items long.

My breakfast...the calm before the Monday storm.

But, oh how plans change so quickly...I get a text at 9 am from our Realtor asking if it was OK for some people to come have a showing of our house at Noon. Our cleaning lady, Nell, comes every Monday and doesn't get done until around 1 so I asked if they could push it until then. They agreed and I went into panic mode. 

I mean, our Christmas stuff was piled up in our laundry room, a bare Christmas tree was still standing in our living room, our dining room looked like WeTheYoung exploded all over it, you could barely see the floor of Sophia's bedroom, there was a laundry basket overflowing in our master, and every single Christmas present was scattered all around the toy room/office. Team work make the dream work...I was decluttering everything while Nell cleaned for the next 4 hours. 

I ran out of the house at 12:55 dragging our Christmas tree behind me to put in my truck, to take back to our office where we have a storage area. I'm pretty sure the people coming to see the house saw me: frazzled hair, baby in arm, toddler running behind me, dragging a Christmas tree, and struggling to put it inside my car. I'm sure that all looked real attractive. So there I am, no shower, glasses still on, yoga pants (because I live in them), baggy shirt, neon green flipflops...and going into public. 

Yep, sounds like a Monday, right? It's been looking up through, after that mad rush to get the house "show ready" it's been pretty easy sailing, well, about as easy sailing it can be with two divas. :) 

I wouldn't trade it for the world...

XOXO

Saying Goodbye to 2014

Its January 3rd and officially time (probably overdue) to say BYE FELICIA to 2014 with a Year Recap.

Here are some fun things that happened in 2014!

Miami trip to see Lebron & the Heat play one of their last games together. 

Lots of boat outings over the summer! 

Started a new Fourth Of July tradition in Siesta Key. 

Sophia learned to swim!

Sophia turned THREE! 

Nelpe turned ONE!

Sophia had her first soccer team!

Sophia started see the magic that is Disney World!

There were so many AMAZING parts of 2014. 

2015 has some big shoes to fill!

XOXO

This Year: 2015

Fitness:

• Run
2015 miles in 2015! This is being split by Angelo & I, so it equals 1007.5
miles each. 





• Try
some fitness "trends“.  I would
really like to try an Orange Theory or Crossfit
class, just to see what the rage is about. I will not to sucked in. 





• Join
a running group. I am apart of 3 running groups on Facebook but don't ever go
to the scheduled weekly runs. I think joining will help me accomplish my
running goals and make new friends! Always fun.





• Run
at least 1 race a month.





• Run 4
half marathons (one every quarter). 





• Ride our bikes more often, I'm going to say once a month. 





• Try new sports. I want to try paddle boarding (is that a sport?) and golf this year. 


Career:

• Increase
blog readers to 500/day. I started back at blogging in August 2014 with about 0-5 readers a day. Gotta
start somewhere right?  Right now I'm at
60-100 per day. With consistency I feel like 500 is a reachable goal.



• Improve
photography skills. I got a new neat camera (Canon Rebel t5) for Christmas. I
use photography for both my blog and children's clothing boutique so I would
like to be able to use my camera to its full potential, which will benefit both
of my businesses.



• Continue
building my children's clothing line and brand. I need to write a plan on this and do it. I'm kinda in a
"what's the next step" phase right now.


•  Get
started on a project I feel will be amazing for our entire community. Sorry
this is vague but I'm hoping I can start talking about it within the next
few months! I want it to be in full force come 2016! Baby steps... 

Personal: 

• Reduce stress & anxiety. I know I have a problem with both of these. Not all the time, but enough for it to effect my sleep some nights. 

• Be a better wife, mother, daughter, aunt, and friend. I want to show everyone in my life the BEST version of me this year. That means being more positive, putting my phone down more often and engaging with the people in front of my face, and not letting others have an impact my mood.

• Read more. My new Kindle will help and I'm already almost through my first book of 2015 and it's Jan 3rd!

• Meditate more. I have a couple different daily devotions I really like. I get in the groove for a week or two then always slip out of it for weeks. I want to make this a daily priority and will have to wake up an extra 15 minutes during the week to achieve this goal. 

What are you goals for this year? 

XOXO