Five on Friday │ the salad edition

It seem like every other pin I make on Pinterest these days are salads, I guess I'm totally ready for fresh veggie season. I wanted to share some of the recent ones that I am super excited to try in case you too are a salad lover.

1. Avocado and Heirloom Summer Salad from What's Gaby Cooking. The presentation alone is what drew me in to this yummy salad. I love the idea of serving a salad on a board and not in a bowl. This is high on my list to try very soon.
2. Sriracha Lime Chicken Chopped Salad from Lexi's Clean Kitchen. One of my friends shared this recipe on Facebook a few weeks ago so I had to make sure to save it. I love a good chopped salad and the spice of the Sriracha sounded delish, I mean it has grilled pineapple on it! 
3. Avocado Caprese Chicken and Avocado Salad from Joyful Healthy Eats. I love a good Caprese Salad and the addition of the Avocado and Chicken sounds delicious as does the dressing recipe to go with it.
4. Parmesan Zucchini and Corn from Damn Delicious. While this might not be a traditional salad, I would totally serve this as a salad/side dish at my next BBQ.
5. Cranberry Almond Spinach Salad from Cooking Classy. I always love spinach salads and the orange poppyseed dressing in this recipe sounds delish. I'm not a huge feta cheese fan so I'll probably switch this out for another cheese but I'm excited to try this one.

I have way more than five new salad recipes on my Garden Fresh Pinterest Board so if you want to pin these that I have shown here and see some others you can click here and start pinning away.

(Note: all images shown above are from the original websites that I have linked too, all the credit goes to those original authors for such appetizing photos)

Here's to salad season!

Five on Friday

1. LOVE this sweatshirt, I mean every Gilmore Girls fan needs this in her wardrobe. Its the perfect thing to wear while bingeing on the past episodes now that they are streaming on Netflix. This is totally going on my birthday wishlist.
2. Planning on making this Salted Caramel Bailey's milkshake ASAP. It's one of the many recent pins to my Yummy Beverage Pinterest Board.
3. Spotted this sign while at the movies this past week. I CANNOT WAIT. Watch the trailer here #acaawesome 
4. I just finished this book. I was a bit afraid of how it might end based on a few snippets of reviews I saw on Goodreads. Have you read it? It was tough but so, so well done.
5. Super late to the party but my husband and I are loving Breaking Bad. Averaging about two episodes a night and knee deep in season 3. While googling to find and image to add I found this one. Its perfect and you can even get it on a tshirt which is super awesome.

Have a great weekend!

Five of Friday

Have you seen that list of outrageous pumpkin products online, its basically mocking those that love all things pumpkin and while I would happily purchase some of them, some are just ridiculous. Until some of these are a real thing (hello pumpkin vodka) I thought I would share all things pumpkin and caramel (tossed in for good measure) that I am loving right now. I mean is fall, if you can't do it now when can you!

1. If you haven't trip Project 7 gum yet, you should its really yummy. They came out with this seasonal flavor that I ordered direct from them because I couldn't find it in a store near me. Its really good!
2. This is hands down the best yogurt I have ever had and I feel like I'm making even more trips to Target than normal because that's the only place you can get this flavor. I sure hope they keep this on the shelf at least thru November. I'm Obsessed!
3. I heart Bath and Body Works and they do the seasonal scents exceptionally well and this one doesn't disappoint.
4. Okay so I saw someone post these online so I had to try them. They are yummy but super sweet. One and your done kind of sweet, so thankfully they are small. 
5. Even my husband who never likes anything flavored likes this granola. That must mean its really good and I suppose I need to stock pile it while I still can.

Five on Friday

1. My Christmas just got made with this little announcement and with Sofia Coppola no less. I'm quite certain some sort of party will be planned around the airing of this special. I'm giddy in anticipation of the air date, just giddy!
2. My friend Shanna Noel just announced another class with Studio Calico. Gratitude Documented it's the perfect way to focus on all that is good in your life as the holiday season approaches. Make sure you take a look at the materials she has designed, they are so, so cool.
3. We are embarking on quite the adventure this Halloween, we have never been this time of year so being there to Trick or Treat will be a big treat (LOL) for all of us. Our costumes are almost ready, well my daughters is. The adult costumes still need to be finished, and they aren't really costumes but they compliment hers so it should still be cute for pictures. I'll be sure to share as soon as they are done. We're pretty excited to see what's in store for us.
4. I have found the perfect shade of red lipstick for anyone who like me has a lot of red in your hair real or manufactured. It's the loveliest brick red shade and I just love it, I plan on wearing it a lot the next few months.
5. I went ahead and purchased Ali Edwards December Daily kit again this year. I really love what I saw in the mock ups and I love having a kit to use. I picked the off white album because I did red last year and that was the only other option. However, I am seriously considering using the new Linen Handbook from Studio Calico. I just love the texture and I think it will be lovely with something gold or silver on the front cover. I'm excited to get both of these items in my hands and to start planning out what I'm going to do with them.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Five on Friday

Just wanted to pop in and share a few things as we end the week;

1. It was national pot pie day on Tuesday so I made one on Wednesday...I know a day late but it was the first National Day on our Bucket List and I didn't want to miss out. I blame our big late lunch on Tuesday for causing the delay but I had this recipe picked out and I really wanted to try it.  I'm so glad I did because it was amazing! I used carrots, mushrooms and green beans and tossed in some chopped cooked bacon. If you're a pot pie fan, make this one!
2. I'm officially addicted to Outlander, love the show and I'm reading the first book right now.  I wonder how much a ticket to Scotland costs....
3. A friend mentioned on Facebook the the other night that he set up a personal hotspot from his iPhone to his laptop and my mind was blown, I had no idea this was possible. A quick google search and I had the info. This will come in so handy when I'm in a hotel and don't want to pay for wifi in order to use my ipad.
4. My girl lost her 5th tooth on Wednesday with an awesome assist (yank) from Dad! Yay!
5. Trying to find the perfect thing to wear to Hello Kitty Con next month, I love this but I'm still looking for options but I know nothing will be as cute as Simone's dress, sold out in the US but you can see it there.

Okay well I'm off but I'll be back tomorrow for reveal day.

Five on Friday

1. Happy almost Easter! We got ahead of the game a bit and dyed our eggs earlier this week.  I always loved dyeing eggs and Simone seems to love it too.  She was a super big help in counting out the precise number of drops we needed of the food coloring we used to dye our eggs. 

2. Does the Easter Bunny hide real eggs at your house?  Our Easter Bunny always hides the plastic ones that are filled with money and little toys. I think I need to contact the Easter Bunny and make sure he also hides some of the real ones too.  Its kind of not the same if you aren't hunting for the real deal and then worrying if you found them all.

3. We made this burger the other night for dinner and then had the leftovers for lunch the next day.  They were SO good, I mean look at these.  

4. A Charming Charlie just opened in my town, my inner fashionista is super, duper happy about it!

5. A friend shared this video on Facebook the other day and I immediately shared it as well.  Would you apply for this job?

I hope you have a lovely weekend!

Five on Friday

1. If you've been here long enough you know that I love anything related to sparkle and I love neon. These super sized 3D sequins that I cut out on my Cameo and hung up above my desk are making me all kinds of happy right now.  You can find the cut file here, it seriously rocks! The paper I used is all from Michael's, the gold foil is a specialty paper and the neon was in a multi pack of other neon colors.
2. So I painted my nails this past Saturday using this tutorial from A Beautiful Mess and I must say, its held up super well.  I didn't use the polish they recommended I used this one instead.  I think I'll try it with one of the brands they suggested to see if I get even better results.
3. Did you see the new launch of Studio Calico's latest mid-release South of Market, so awesome! Its just perfect for this time of year when all I want to do is eat yummy fruits and vegetables.
4. Speaking of yummy vegetables, we have been making this salad a lot lately, two times this past week in fact.  Its delicious and so easy.  My dressing was just olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar, several shakes of Penzy's Italian Herb Mix, salt and pepper.
5. Because we have had amazing weather to go along with all of the fresh fruit and veggies we had a little s'mores party outside in our backyard on Tuesday night. There really is nothing better than a hot s'more on a beautiful night.  The only thing that would have made them better is if I could have found these. I've searched lots of stores but have had no luck yet.  I had a s'more made with them recently and they were delicious.  I must widen my search territory I guess.

Have a great weekend! 

Five on Friday

1. Our vacation road trip seems like a lifetime ago and I'm super eager to relive it all as I make a mini album for our trip.  As soon as Simone goes back to school its game on!
2. My husband and I have become a bit obsessed with the $1.29 movie rentals from the automated box at the grocery store.  We have watched American Hustle, Nebraska, 12 Years a Slave, Wolf of Wall Street and The Dallas Buyers Club in the last ten days.  Love catching up on all the movies we have missed at rock bottom prices!
3. Loving this super sweet live rendition of Do You Want to Build a Snowman, I mean how adorable is Kristen Bell. 
4. Loving this nail color right now and anything yellow these days, especially if it has a hint of neon.
5. Contemplating planting some succulents for the first time, gathering ideas on my Pinterest board as we speak.  If you have any tips, hook me up please!

Have a great weekend!

Five on Friday

1.  Well how was your 4th...?  Ours was super low key, I mean super low key.  We had a super small group (us 3 and my MIL, SIL, BIL) but it was nice just hanging out and relaxing.  We spent some time in the pool, had some BBQ and lit off some safe and sane (i.e. super small and lackluster but still fun) fireworks.  Here are some photos from the day

Me messing around with photo apps.

Simone wanted to display the fireworks so I could take a picture

She was a bit afraid at first but towards the end totally got into the sparklers.

The three of us at the end of the night because I didn't take any other shots of us.

2.  I saw this at the grocery store the other day and picked it up.  Simone and I both like it, super yummy and portion controlled.

3.  I snuck away yesterday to see this.  I loved it, plus the glasses were super cute!

4.  Becky Higgins wrote about this brush on her blog recently so I ordered two.  If you have a girl like mine who hates having her hair brushed buy this you won't be sorry, it works on wet and dry hair and glides right through.  It's also good for adults and boys too.  Seriously the best thing ever!

5.  I filled my last two CM albums today with the layouts I recently had printed.  I'm thinking of moving on to ring binder albums but its tough for me, I've used these for so long but the cost is just getting too high.  I'll keep you posted on what I move too.

We have a really great weekend ahead, Larry's son is coming to visit this weekend.  Can't wait to see him!  Hope you have an awesome weekend too!

Five on Friday

Friday already, this week is flying by.

1.  Our amazing hot, swim weather has been exchanged for windy cool mid-70's which I realize for some is hot but for us, its rather cool. Especially this time of year and especially on the first day of summer this past Thursday.

2.  I made my first mess on my new work space this past Tuesday and I loved it.  Standing and working was awesome, so much easier that sitting cramped in a tiny bit of desk space.

3.  Shocking but somehow I've managed to acquire 200 followers on Instagram.  Thanks everyone for wanting to look at my pictures.

4.  My stupid printer has broken for the 2nd time in a year and my fairly new mouse and keyboard have also crapped out.  I'm using the keyboard and mouse right now to write this post and its totally annoying.  I have to repair the wireless connection after about every 2nd sentence.  Stupid thing!  Thankfully the printer came with a 5 year warranty so they can keep sending me printers every time it breaks and the keyboard and mouse came with a 3 year warranty, Crazy!  Replacements for both are en route and will be here next week.

5. I stopped by Nothing Bundt Cake yesterday when I was in Roseville.  They have a seasonal Lemon Cake right now that we love.  This ought to keep us busy for the weekend!

Enjoy your weekend everyone!  We'll be hanging in doors it appears.

Five on Friday

I don't know about you but it feels like this week has been dragging....so slow!  Perhaps its the weather, perhaps its because its the start of summer and things are slowing down but either way I'm feeling antsy and need to get out of the house!

1.  We had the most amazing clouds this past Tuesday.  I actually stopped in the middle of the street when I was driving to pick Simone up from school to snap this shot.  It totally reminds me of the Simpson's!

2.  Larry was busy Monday and Tuesday working on his car with a friend so it was just me and Simone hanging out.  Monday since it was gloomy and we had rain we ended up on the couch with a movie and popcorn.  We did the same on Tuesday, so on Wednesday I got her a treat, Jiffy Pop.  What fun we had popping that up!  I don't think I've ever popped one of those myself, it was a hoot.

3.  Someones sunflowers are coming along nicely.  Here they are on Wednesday

and today

4.  Yesterday after we dropped Simone off at school Larry and I set off on a little bike ride.  It was nice to be back on two wheels!

5.  I'm not one to judge and I love bacon just as much as the next guy but seriously, I think this bacon craze has gone far enough!  Spotted at World Market, in the well defined "Bacon" section.

I mean really, what a bacon latte?

On that inspired note, I bid you all a happy and wonderful weekend!  Maybe you'll have some bacon...?

Five on Friday

I cannot believe its already Friday, this week totally flew by.

1.  A friend posted this article on Facebook and I read it and I wanted to cry.  Guilty, guilty, guilty.  I needed to see this, I needed to feel it and I need to make some changes.  I've already started and if you are a lover of all things tech and have kids, you need to read this too.

2.  One of the photo prompts this past week for the photo a day challenge was "a scent you adore."  I initially planned on snapping a shot of my favorite perfume Coco Mademoiselle but when another person I follow snapped that shot I thought maybe I could do something else.  My birthday is in February and the flower for that month is violet.  I've always loved violet's but have never had any luck caring for them and getting them to bloom.  I thought about the old jar of Avon Violet solid perfume that I found at my grandmother's house when were were moving her out so many years ago.  The jar was practically empty but when you open the lid it still smells.  I loved that scent so much when I was little.  I saved that jar from her house and dug it out.  I realized I had a few more violet scented items too so that was my photo for the day.  It's not a very common scent but if you look you can find some things out there.  This Marc Jacobs perfume was a limited edition release that I got a few years ago for Christmas and the candle was also a limited release from Illuminations which shut its doors years ago.  As you can see I'm savoring these items because I don't want to use them up.  Crazy I know.  What about you do you have a favorite scent from childhood that you still love?

3.  We are becoming a bit neon obsessed in this house.  It all started with a shirt I picked up for Simone from Old Navy.  It has polka dots and some of the dots are neon.  I loved the pattern so much and started looking for neon ink pads so I could replicate it but nope couldn't find any.  I did however find some neon embossing powder so I will be embossing everything in neon shades now.  Simone is also digging the neon and has a few pieces in her wardrobe including some cute new neon headbands we picked up at Target and this super cute dress from Kohls.

4.  I seriously need to figure out how to replicate these Pizza Bell twisters at home.  They are so yummy!

5.  We celebrated Mother's Day at preschool yesterday.  All the mom's were invited back to class for the last hour.  When we arrived all the kids were seated on the carpet and we had special places set for us at the tables.  They sang songs for us, we read a story together, they decorated cookies for us and even gave us a massage.  It was seriously the best time.  The kids were so excited and it was a really special day.

I hope all you Mom's out there have an equally special Mother's Day on Sunday.  It's supposed to be in the 90's here so we will be celebrating pool side.

Five on Friday

I'm really starting to dig this format for Friday so here we go;

1. I'm sitting on the couch writing this post this morning using an iPad app called Blogsy. I'm hoping this will work well for on the road blogging. I have a trip planned in the next few weeks and would like to keep up with my schedule. So far I haven't been able to figure out how to add links so if there aren't any this week you'll know why.

2. So that was fun, sitting here comfy on the couch drinking my coffe and guess who fell off her chair and spilled her breakfast all over the floor...?

3. I had a long overdue eye appointment on Wednesday, I went early so I could pick out new specs while I could still see. I thought for sure she would dilate my eyes but she didn't. I picked out these new glasses and a pair of prescription sunglasses too. I like them a lot.

4. Yesterday Simone's class got a water safety demonstration parents were invited to attend so Larry went. You'll never guess who volunteered for the demo...I'm so glad he snapped photos.

 

5. This weekend is the big Western Festival here in town. I missed it last year because I was out of town but Larry and Simone went. We hope to make it down there tomorrow. They always do a nice job at these events. I'm just hoping the wind dies down, the allergies have been out of control this year. I don't think our eyes and sinus' can take much more.

Have a great weekend everyone. Oh and it looks like I figured out the links so that good. But boy was there a ton of formatting glitches. I hope it doesn't look to wonky when I hit publish....

 

Five on Friday

Okay, I'm so late, I almost totally forgot to post today, here's another edition of Five on Friday

1.  I subbed twice this past week at preschool, one day for the 4 year olds and one day in Simone's class.  The four year olds are all so cute and since this is the third time I've been in their class they know me now so they are super friendly and lots of fun to be around.  I happened to be in Simone's class for Share Day.  It was a blast listening to them them talk about the item they brought in.  It's also really fun watching Simone interact with her friends and be a 4 year old.

2.  I got a super cool new app called GifRus, it works great with Instagram.

3.  I bought a new book this week, it's supposed to be super funny.  Can't wait to start it.  I may wait for a trip I'm taking next month but we'll see.

4.  Making sock puppets is super fun.

5.  So is Red Velvet Ice Cream.

Five on Friday

I realized I had a few things to talk about today so I'm trying something new.  But before I do and because I can't have a post without a photo.  Here's a shot of some serious hail we had last night.

Here are the five things I wanted to share today;

1. I found this recipe on Pinterest awhile back and just made it for the first time this past week.  It was seriously one of the best dishes I've ever made from Pinterest.  Try it, you will love it.  My husband bought Mini Hawaiian Sub rolls and they worked perfectly.  My roast was only 2.46lb. so smaller than the recipe called for but it still fed 8 people.  I cooked mine on low and it needed the full 10 hours before it would shred.  I kept the rest of the recipe measurements the same and didn't change anything.  I really can't wait to make this again it was that good.  I think I'll try cooking it on high next time.
2. I'm traveling down to Berkeley tomorrow for two classes with Kelly Purkey.  I haven't been to Scrapbook Territory in awhile so I'm really excited for some crafty good times.  I need to get up and out the door pretty early since the first class starts at 10:00am.  After the two classes I'm meeting a friend for dinner before I drive home.
3. As I mentioned in my Project Life pages this past week I read this book recently.  I ended up staying up until 2:30am reading it because a) I didn't feel tired and b) I really couldn't put it down.  It's a lovely book about the birth of a child that unexpectedly had Down Syndrome.  I'm not gonna lie, I had a box of Kleenex at the ready and used quite a few.  Like I mentioned to the author the book moved me in places I never knew I had.  I count my blessings everyday for a healthy child and have to hope that presented with the same challenges I would face it with as much grace and love as she has.
4. Totally cannot get enough of this song lately.  It's got a super cool retro sound that I just love and he sounds a bit like Bowie to me.
5. Totally want to get one of these so I can make these in the very near future.

I hope you have a fantastic weekend!  Looks like the rain, thunder and lightening will be clearing out and we'll be in the 70's this weekend!  Hooray!