Five on Friday: Things I'm Loving Lately

It's been a few weeks since I've linked up for Five on Friday, so I'm excited to be back at it!  This week I'm sharing five things I've been loving lately.

Linking up with Christina, Darci, April, and Natasha and you should too!

ONE.  I made Shredded Chicken-Bacon Sandwiches with Ranch Slaw for lunch last weekend and they were DELICIOUS.  I got the recipe from Ashley at Perfectly Scrubbed.  You can find the recipe HERE.  You should make them, because they are easy and tasty.  Kevin even told me I need to make them again, so you KNOW it had to be good.  We ate ours on pretzel buns...basically the only way to eat a sandwich in our house.

TWO.  Keeping on the food trend, have you tried the new Fiber One Meal Bars?  Since I'm a BzzAgent, I was able to try a box of the Chocolate Peanut Butter and the Strawberry Greek Yogurt ones for free.  And again, these did not disappoint!  Both boxes are gone already, because Kevin and I loved them so much.  They were the perfect mid morning snack for me, and I loved the fact that they were healthy too (lots of protein and fiber).  I've been trying to eat healthier and these were a great way to keep me on track.  And again, my husband even liked them--he ate them voluntarily--so you gotta trust that they were good!

THREE.  Thanks again to BzzAgent, I was able to try this new Tone body wash for free, and again, I loved it!  The smell was the first thing I noticed and it was amazing.  I love "flowery" smells and the petal soft scent was just enough, without being too strong.  This body wash even has spa-inspired ingredients like cocoa butter, white clay, and alpha-hydroxy fruit acids that help keep your skin moisturized and nourished.  If you're anything like me in these cold, dry winter months, anything to keep your skin moisturized is a must!

FOUR.  Speaking of winter...as much as I hate this cold, snowy weather we've been having for the past five years months (as of yesterday, this is the 2nd snowiest winter EVER in my city-we have recieved 107.8 inches of snow so far), I do love being cuddled up on the couch under a blanket.  I'm busy crocheting a couple of baby blankets for a couple of my pregnant friends, and something about cold/snowy weather makes me want to curl up and crochet at night.  Here's a little preview of the blanket I'm working on right now:

It's actually more of a coral color, it's not that bright in person.

FIVE.  I posted a link on Facebook the other day of 22 Adorable Before and After Pictures of Animals Growing Up.  Take two minutes out of your day to check it out--you won't regret it.  Super cute photos that will leave you smiling today :)

Wedding Q&A

Hi there!  Today I'm over at Showered With Design doing a little Wedding Q&A.  Make sure you head over to Lisa's blog to check it out!  It's a great wedding series that she is doing with past & future brides.  You can even link up a post for her Bridal Talk Tuesday linkup today! You can read my Q&A session HERE.

photo by McKensie anne Photography

Weekend Recap: Jason Aldean, Flordia Georgia Line, & Tyler Farr!

The only thing worth mentioning that we did over the weekend was watch some movies that we rented (Last Vegas and Alex Cross), and we watched the Michigan v Michigan State basketball game with some friends (go blue).  

However, on Thursday night, I went to the Jason Aldean concert with my mom and my friend Kaleena and we had a blast!  Tyler Farr (sings Redneck Crazy) and Florida Georgia Line opened for Jason Aldean.  Flordia Georgia Line rocked it!!  I thought Jason Aldean was good--he sang almost all of his hit songs, but I wasn't overly impressed like I was when we saw Keith Urban last month.  But it was still a great concert and we had such a good time singing and dancing all night!

 Hope you had a great weekend...happy Monday!

Linking up with Lisa and Bella.

The Intentional Project

A couple of weeks ago I talked about The Intentional Life Project (first post here) that Bre and Ginny started.  The "theme" for this month was health related and my goal was to drink two home made smoothies and/or juices per week.

So far I've been meeting my goal and I'm proud of myself for keeping up with it.  I've only made one juice recipe so far and I didn't really like it that much.  I think the vegetable taste was too strong for me.  I have a few other recipes I want to try though, so hopefully I'll make another one this weekend.

recipe found here

Even though my juice recipe wasn't a hit, I am LOVING the green smoothies I've been making.  I love making them for breakfast.  My favorite combination is a handful of spinach, small scoop of vanilla whey protein powder, 1 banana, a few strawberries, handful of blueberries, about 1/4 cup of almond milk, and a big scoop of ice.  That's what I usually make because that's just what I have at home.  I've found some different recipes that I want to try to change it up a little bit.

I love the idea of The Intentional Life Project and can't wait to see what next month's theme is!

Our Weekend in Chicago

Kevin, his mom, and I headed to Chicago on Friday night after work.  We arrived at our hotel downtown around 10:00 p.m.  Kevin's brother and his wife were already there, along with Kevin's cousin Drew, who lives in Chicago.  We grabbed a drink from the bar in the hotel lobby and just sat around talking for a few hours before heading to bed.

*I totally forgot my camera so all you get are iphone pictures*

View from our hotel on Saturday morning - beautiful!

On Saturday morning we headed to The Field Museum.  I had never been there before so I was pretty excited to check it out.  We spent about three hours there, but could have spent three days walking through all of the exhibits!  So cool--I would definitely recommend visiting this museum, specially if you have kids.

After the museum, we headed to Giordano's for lunch.  Drew's girlfriend met up with us at this point, and we had fun spending time with her too.  Chicago style pizza was definitely on the menu for our weekend :)

We went to a late afternoon comedy show at Up Comedy Club.  It was called What The Tour Guide Didn't Tell You: A Chicago Revue.  It was soooo funny and so much fun.  I took a picture before the show started, and then I realized you aren't allowed to take pictures.  Opps.

After the comedy show, we had some time to kill before dinner, so we headed to Drew's apartment for a little bit.  I got to cuddle with his dog, Murphy.  He's such a sweet heart!  

Then we headed to dinner at Big Bowl.  They serve Chinese and Thai food.  The food and atmosphere were great.  After dinner we just went back to the hotel and hung out for a few more hours before heading to bed.

Sunday morning we went to the movie theater that was right next to our hotel and saw Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, before heading to lunch at Corner Bakery Cafe.  It reminded me of Panera, and I really enjoyed my soup and sandwich.

It was time for us all to head home after lunch, so we said our good-byes and hit the road.  We had such a great time with great people!  The weather was decent...it was cold, but it didn't snow much and the sun was out most of the time, which made it a lot better.

Have you been to Chicago?  What are some of your favorite things to do, places to eat, etc. in Chicago?

Instagram Hop

Today I'm co-hosting a fun Instagram hop--be sure to check it out and link up below!

As most of you know we LOVE Instagram so we decided to create a weekly hop for you to link up and meet new instafriends! Follow the simple steps below and have fun!

———-

Please read carefully over the rules for the hop! And don’t forget to link up your Instagram web profile below!!

1.) Follow your host and co-hosts

HOSTS:

Liz - Instagram @lizmariegalvan

Blog - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest

Emily - Instagram @everythingemilyblog

Blog - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest

Bre - Instagram @peacoatsandplaid

Blog – Facebook - Twitter – Pinterest

CO-HOSTS:

Jillian  – Instagram
Shop – Facebook – Twitter

Ericka - Instagram
Blog - Pinterest - Twitter 

Danielle - Instagram
Blog - Facebook - Pinterest - Twitter

INTERESTED IN CO-HOSTING?

send us an email!

2.) Link up your Instagram webprofile

You can link up your instagram profile using Instagram.com/yourusername With this option you will have to upload a photo from your computer:

Or.. you can use web.stagram.com which will allow you to use a photo directly from your instagram. This option is easier! Simply go to web.stagram.com click “login” then click “my photos” & copy and paste that url like shown & choose a photo and you are done…

 

3.) Hop around! Browse other Instagram profiles and meet some new friends!

4.) Spread the word! Feel free to share the hop on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, ect!

LINK UP:

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!  Or Happy anti-Valentine's Day if that's more your thing :)  Either way, happy Friday!  Kevin and I are leaving tonight for Chicago for the weekend.  No, it's not a romantic getaway.  Kevin's cousin lives in Chicago, so we are going to visit him and his girlfriend.  Kevin's brother and his wife are meeting us there, and Kevin's mom is going with us too.

We have tickets to a show at the Second City while we are there, and I'm really excited to check it out!  I'm sure we'll stop at Giordano's for pizza at some point, and I know that there is some shopping on the agenda for us girls.  It should be a fun weekend...hopefully the weather cooperates.

Pizzas from Giordano's the last time we were in Chicago.  The best.

Kevin and I do not celebrate Valentine's Day in a big way.  He did get me flowers last year and I heard a rumor there are some coming this year too :)  I got him some chocolates and a card.  Nothing fancy...and that's how we like it.

I'm looking forward to a fun weekend in Chicago...what are your Valentine's Day plans?

Admiral's Different "Styles"

Kevin and I are going to Chicago for the weekend, so my parents are watching Admiral for us.  They are also dropping him off at the groomer’s for a much needed bath and hair cut while we are gone.  This got me thinking about all of the different “looks” Admiral has had over the past few years.

Admiral is a Goldendoodle, and he doesn’t shed (it’s amazing), but we do get him groomed about every 2-3 months.  It took us about a year to figure out the right grooming schedule.  When his hair gets too long, it gets matted very easily.  Even if we brush him, it still happens.  I’m at the point where I can just tell when he needs a cut.  We take him to this great little place near our hometown and it’s $50 for a bath and cut (haven’t found it cheaper anywhere else) and we LOVE the place.  They love on Admiral like he is their own, and when he’s done with his grooming, he gets to just hang out until we pick him up (doesn’t get put in a crate).

Anyway, like I said, he’s had some interesting cuts.  The earlier ones are the most interesting, because it’s when we were still figuring out the whole grooming schedule thing.  Sometimes we would take him for his hair cut and he would be so matted that parts of his body had to be cut shorter than others.  We don’t make that mistake anymore.  But it sure is fun looking back at the pictures at all of his different styles!

When he was a puppy, his fur wasn't long, so no worries.  We just gave him a bath and brushed him at home as needed.

As he started getting bigger, his fur started growing.  We'd have to brush him a lot, and I would trim the hair around his eyes so he could see.

This is on the way home from his first bath and brush at a groomers (Petsmart).

This is after a bad hair cut (not at our current groomer), which is probably my fault.  He was so matted on his "chin" that they had to cut all of that hair really short...so his "beard" was gone and he looked so funny!  And they cut his ears really short, and I like them long.



This is his first "big boy" hair cut at the groomer we currently go to.  They actually used him in a grooming competition they attended in Chicago, because he behaves so well when they cut his hair :)  This was the style they did for the competition.  Like his bell-bottoms?

Photo from Sitting Pretty Pet Spa and Boutique

Another fresh hair cut.  His hair is always so soft and straight after a grooming session.

And of course, long and shaggy :)  Which is about what he looks like right now.  His fur being this long in the winter is hard...even though it keeps him warm, the snow gets stuck in it really easily, so he gets little snowballs that take a long time to melt.

I'll leave you with one final picture...this is my mother-in-law's dog with his Lion hair cut (he's actually Admiral's brother, just from a different litter).  Isn't that awesome?

Photo from Sitting Pretty Pet Spa and Boutique

Do you take your dog to a groomer?  Have they ever had any interesting hair cuts?