Wrapping Up the Week

Thank goodness it's finally Friday! It's been one of those weeks where each work day feels longer than it should and each evening feels too short. I've really been lacking in blog inspiration lately and I'm sure I've bored many of you to tears with my lackluster posts. I promise to try to be better. Hopefully summer will bring fun times, good stories, and more pictures. Of course nothing will top last year's two-week vacation to Hawaii, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try!

Highlights of my week:

On Monday I re-discovered foodgawker.com, which led me to an unbelievably delicious (and easy) pizza recipe. All you need to make it: store bought pizza dough (we prefer Trader Joe's whole wheat), store bought pesto, frozen uncooked shrimp, and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Delicious!

picture & recipe credit

On Tuesday, I got my fry bread on! Don't know what fry bread is? I didn't either until I had Auntie's Fry Bread and now my world has been changed! According to their website, fry bread is a Native American style bread that is light, fluffy, and delicious (true, true, & true!). If you are in the Los Angeles area, I highly recommend finding the Auntie's Fry Bread food truck and trying it for yourself.

the hunter: slow cooked bbq topped with coleslaw

On Wednesday, I hit 200 miles on my bike! I also realized that I've lost around 2.5 pounds since last week and I'm pretty sure I owe it all to riding my bike.

riding into the sunset after a long day!

On Thursday, I made The Pioneer Woman's strawberry shortcake cake. Strawberries are pretty much my favorite fruit and I'm so happy they are in season. I have been on a cake kick lately and this was definitely not a disappointment. I would have added my own picture, but let's face it, hers turned out much prettier than mine!

recipe & photo credit

And now it's Friday! The weekend is so close I can reach out and touch it! I'm looking forward to sleeping in, riding bikes with C, seeing Hangover II, and having an extra day off!

Have a lovely long weekend friends!

PS - Fun fact: I haven't driven my car in a week! In fact, I haven't even been out to the parking lot since Sunday. Maybe I should go check to make sure it's still there...

Will You Accept this Rose? Vol 1

Ashley is looking for love...

on this season of The Bachelorette!

I'll just be honest with you.

I stopped watching The Bachelor after Andrew Firestone.

I only watched the first season of The Bachelorette with Trista.

But for some reason, I'm excited about this season.

I know that many of you were less than thrilled

that Ashley was chosen as the new bachelorette.

I did watch the last 4 episodes of last season with

bachelor Brad, so I do know a little bit about Ashley.

I think she was LUCKY to be eliminated by Brad.

Who in their right mind would want to be with him?

We mainly watched the show last season just to

see how d-baggy Brad was and to make fun of him.

But anywayyyyy....

I thought I'd share my thoughts about the guys that

stood out to me last night, and who I think

Ashley should keep around and get rid of....

ps - I DO NOT read spoilers so don't tell me

what Reality Steve is saying please.

On first impression, my favorite guys are:

J.P. - I thought their time alone was cute,

and the cupcake connection was funny.

Loved Ben F. from the first minute he was on,

talking about his parents and his winery.

I thought it was awesome that he brought

wine (that he made) to share with Ashley.

I also liked Constantine's gimmick of

tying dental floss on Ashley's finger.

Plus, he is from Cumming, GA (woot woot)

so I want to support him :)

Total duds in my book:

Jeff (the mask guy)...like the concept of getting

to know a person without the face,

but thought it might have been slightly creepy.

Bentley...what a JERK.

Ashley, he isn't even attractive!!!

From the previews, he seems to cause her

a lot of heartbreak. But honestly, she was

warned, and I think that messed with her head.

From first impression, I also liked William,

but changed my mind as soon as he said

he wants to "be a kid" forever....

that's never a good thing to hear.

Others that stood out to me,

but I don't really feel one way or the other about them...

West - liked his opening gimmick of giving Ashley a broken compass

Ben C. - thought his idea of using signs to get Ashley's attention was cute

Ames - this guy seems nice! (and looks like a combination

of Harry Connick Jr. & Brendan Fraser)

Ryan P. - got the first impression rose, but from my first

impression it seemed like he just talked about himself

and his success the entire time with Ashley

And finally, does anyone else think that Ryan P.

looks like Robert Buckley?

Ashley seems to think that everything and everyone is

GREAT!,

AMAZING!,

SWEET!!

Let me know your thoughts on the premiere

and who you think is going to go far

and who needs to go far away!

click here for ashley's blog

and here for chris harrison's blog

and all pics from abc,

except last which is from google

Weekend Recap

It's Monday. Boo! But I had a good weekend so I can't complain too much :)

So this weekend, I:

made a yummy fruit salad for breakfast! I love all of the fresh fruit that is in season now.

Had my nails re-painted, using Harmony's up in the blue. The color in the picture is coming out much brighter than it actually is. I've used three different brands of gel (OPI, Shellac, Harmony), but this is my favorite by far. My least favorite was the Shellac brand.

Laughed my butt off while watching Bridesmaids! This movie is hilarious! Go see it!

and the SNL season finale with

Justin Timberlake was so funny too!

Did a 42 mile bike ride!!

This is my longest bike ride to date!

Watched the Tour of California. The last stage was in Thousand Oaks, which is only about 20 minutes from my house! I love that 40 year old Chris Horner won the tour, and his teammate Levi Leipheimer came in 2nd. I'm hoping this is a good sign for Team RadioShack at Tour de France!!

Found Lilly Pulitzer animal crackers at my local grocery store for 99 cents!

How was your weekend?

ps -can you let me know in the comments if you can see all of the pictures? i'm trying to make my pictures larger than the standard blogger upload size, but want to be sure that everyone is seeing what i'm seeing....thank you!!

late friday post.

My favorite magazine has to be People Style Watch! It's the one magazine that always manages to find it's way into my cart at the checkout line.

A few of my favorite items in the June issue (sorry for the pictures of pictures...):

I love this Old Navy ad. It just looks so fun & happy.

As much as I like to dream about designer clothes, the reality

is that ON is a great place to get more bang for your buck!

Unfortunately, none of the things in the ad are on the actual website yet!

From L-R: Striped Tube Dress ($34.94);

Chiffon Ruffle-trim Top ($24.94);

Ikat-print Skirt ($32.94)

This ad for Essie's summer line just screams fun in the sun!

I'm seeing a lot of orange this summer, which has me a little

worried because it's a terrible color for me!

I might have to try it on my nails though,

Surprisingly, I'm drawn to the braziliant color.

Lilly got some love in this issue too!

Here:

and here:

(FYI - Style Watch is giving away 5 pairs of these LP sunglasses!

Click here to enter - no purchase necessary!!)

After reading the latest Style Watch issue I am definitely ready for summer! What are you most looking forward to? I think for me it's sundresses, pedicures, and beach/pool time! I could do without the scorching temperatures that are sure to hit us come June, but the other things make it worth the sweating (I mean glistening because we ladies don't sweat, right?!). Have a great weekend!

currently.

I'm joining in with Jen from Perfectly Imperfect, who I found from Janna at Happiness is a Journey to share what's on my "currently...." list. Thanks Jen for letting us play along!

Current Book(s):

Still trying to finish Water for Elephants.

Current Playlist:

21 - Adele

Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

The Dutchess - Fergie

Current Color:

Mint Candy Apple - Essie

(yes, it's old but I still love it!!)

Current Drink:

It's always water!

Current Food:

Quaker Oats Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal

Current Favorite Show:

Since most of my favorite shows are on hiatus right now,

I'd say Top Chef: Masters and Real World: Las Vegas

Current Wishlist:

Sandals for Summer!

Current Needs:

$$$$$$$$$$$

(who doesn't need more?!)

Current Triumphs:

Consistently riding my bike and enjoying it!

Current Banes of my Existence:

People that run red lights as I'm getting

on the crosswalks...bad drivers in general

(you know, the ones that don't pay attention

to a bike on the road and almost kill me!)

Current Celebrity Crush:

Colin Egglesfield

Current #1 Blessing:

Living & Breathing (and having a job!)

Current Indulgence:

Pinterest

Find me here.

Current Outfit:

Green tank from Gap

Striped Boyfriend Cardigan from Old Navy

Skinnies

Sandals from Francesca's

Current Excitement:

Payday is tomorrow!

A 30+ mile bike ride this weekend with C!

Movie date to see Bridesmaids on Sunday!

Current Mood:

Happy!

Feel free to play along with Jenn and link up here.

Wednesday Happies

Happy Wednesday! Congrats on making it halfway through the week. Only 2 more days until the weekend and payday...surely that would make anyone smile!

First of all, I'm so excited because I achieved a personal goal I set for myself on May 7, the day I bought my new bike, and that was to ride 100 miles the first week. The great thing is that C also has a road bike so we are able to do longer rides on the weekends together. I conquered my first ride with "hills" although they were more like mountains....pretty pumped about that!

♥ bike love ♥

Last week, Coastal Contacts was giving away free glasses to the first 10,000 new customers to order. I was a little skeptical because hello, that's an awesome deal. I got on their website, found a pair of glasses I liked, and placed my order. Using the coupon code, I only had to pay $16 (in shipping and handling fees) for a $100+ pair of Nicole Miller frames. Coastal Contacts gave me an estimated ship date of May 26. But they arrived on Monday, May 16! I love love love them. It's very hard to pick out a pair of frames online, but luckily they worked out (if they hadn't, CC has a great exchange policy)!

If you are looking to order a pair of glasses, I can send you a referral e-mail that will include a code for a discount off of your first order. Let me know if you'd like it!

These are the glasses I chose:

And here is me in them:

(Sorry for the dorky self-portrait,

just pay attention to the glasses!)

ETA: Coastal Contacts is doing another free glasses promotion, starting today at 12 pm EDT. Visit their facebook page, like them, and click on the FREE GLASSES tab to get the coupon code. I can't stress enough how happy I am with the quality, service, and price of my new glasses and CC!

Other things making me happy this week:

two buck chuck

enough said.

the nba playoffs

did you see the AMAZING one-handed dunk (off of a rebound!!)

by Taj Gibson in the last seconds of the 4th on Sunday?

season finales

like hawaii five-0,

nikita,

and survivor: redemption island!

sad to see my favorite shows go for the summer,

but can't wait to see what happens next season.

So even though it's raining outside, I'd say my mood is sunny! What is making you happy today?

Adele

C recently bought me Adele's newest cd, 21! I love her music!

Adele

How can you not love Adele? She is incredibly talented and unique. She was also on Dancing with the Stars last Monday and gave a great performance! Listening to Adele made me think of other female artists that I love. I can't think of them all, but here are a few favorites:

Brandi Carlile

Imogen Heap

Regina Spektor

Ingrid Michaelson

Ingrid Michaelson - "Breakable" by originalsignaltsm

Some of these songs seriously got listened to on repeat for days (or months!) on end. Especially the entire Brandi Carlile cd from 2007, The Story....love it. I remember walking through the streets of New York on a foggy summer morning with it blasting out of my headphones. Good times! And I bought Regina Spektor's Begin to Hope during my FIRST EVER trip to Los Angeles, and listened to it in the car the entire weekend, while sightseeing and driving all around my soon to be home...so crazy.

Who are some of your favorite female artists?

my new bike

While I was devastated that my beach cruiser was stolen a couple of weeks ago, I knew that it was actually going to turn out to be a good thing. See, riding a beach cruiser anywhere other than the beach isn't very ideal. Who would have thought, right??! It's heavy, only has a 5 gear shifter, and is really hard to maneuver up hills or slight inclines. But still, I had ridden it to and from work most days last spring and summer. It was fun, but I longed for a real road bike that would help improve my speed and agility.

On Saturday, I finally bought the bike I had been looking at for over a year and I couldn't be happier (or is it more happy? either way, that's what i am)! Yes, it was a little on the pricey side (for me at least), but I definitely consider it an investment. With gas prices climbing the way they are, I am saving money by riding to work instead of driving. With a gym membership costing me $50 a month, I'm getting my fitness in with every bike ride and I get to be outside breathing in fresh air instead of inside a stinky gym.

I've already ridden 40 miles, and I've had the bike less than 3 full days. I'm going to keep up with my mileage on the sidebar of my blog because once I've hit 1,430 miles, I will have paid for my bike with gas savings. Haha! That's a lot of miles, but I want to challenge myself to make it there someday.

Anyway, here she is...

And here I am, all suited up for my first ride on Saturday...

And my PSA of the day:

This is a good time to brush up on your bicycle and auto etiquette. In the warmer months, you will see many more bike riders out there, and it's important that drivers of both bicycles and cars know the law. I always wear a helmet and try to take roads with bike lanes. If I'm not in a bike lane, I pray that those car drivers around me know how to pass me safely and how to read my hand signals for turning or crossing a lane. The laws vary from state to state, but you can google "bicycle and auto etiquette" for your own city or state to find out more. If you are in Los Angeles, here is a link to that information.

I hope all of you are having a great Monday!

goin' to the chapel....as a bridesmaid :)

My best friend in the entire world just got engaged! I was ecstatic to hear the news last weekend! Jenny is honestly the most loving and deserving lady I know and I'm so happy that she has met her Prince Charming. Back in December when she first started dating her fiancée, I predicted that she would be engaged in 6 months or less. She laughed it off, but somehow I just knew that it would turn out true!

isn't her ring just beyond gorgeous??!

Yesterday she called and asked me to be a bridesmaid! Of course I accepted right away, and I'm so honored to be a part of her big day! The only thing I know so far is that the wedding will be in October. I requested that she please not make me wear an orange dress because that has to be the least flattering color on my skin tone (half joking with my request, but mostly serious). Thankfully, she is leaning towards a gold/champagne color palette which I think will be absolutely beautiful. I'm very excited to see what she has planned for the wedding, she's so creative and talented so I'm sure it's going to be amazing!

I think this is my 6th time being a bridesmaid or maid of honor. Each time is special, and I feel blessed to have had friends that want me to be a part of their wedding!

I'd love to send her a "congratulations on your engagement" present, but I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for. So I'm asking all of you engaged/married ladies out there, what was a gift that you received during your engagement that was special or meaningful? Maybe something unique from Etsy!

Thank you for your help!

ps - the mamapedia deal for $30 worth of ProFlowers for $15 ends soon but you still have a little time to take advantage of this great deal!

Mother's Day Deal!

I normally don't do too many posts like this, but I came across this great deal and knew I had to share!

With the growing popularity of sites like Groupon and Living Social, I find it hard to pay full price for anything anymore. Add another coupon site to the list: Mamapedia. I think most of the deals on this site are mommy-related, but currently there is a national deal that anyone will enjoy!

Mother's Day is this Sunday. If you're like me and don't live close enough to take your Mom out for dinner, then sending flowers is the next best thing.

What Mom doesn't love to receive a bouquet of fresh, beautiful flowers? With today's Mamapedia national deal, you can take advantage of saving money and sending Mom the perfect gift to show her how special she is! By clicking the link, you will get $30 worth of flowers from ProFlowers for $15!! After purchasing, you will receive a unique code to enter when making your purchase at ProFlowers. It can even be used towards shipping!

Still not convinced?

The first 1,000 new buyers can enter coupon code MOMFLOWERS to get an additional 10% off this deal (enter code on the checkout page AT Mamapedia - look closely, it can be easy to miss where to put it - there will be a box you can check that says something like "apply coupon code" and a place to enter the code right beside it). This means $30 worth of flowers for only $13.50!

$29.99

$29.99

$24.99

What are you waiting for? This great deal ends soon so get it while you can. I've already purchased mine, and am now no longer stressing about what to do for Mom this Mother's Day!

ETA - you don't have to use this for Mother's Day. The coupon code will expire June 30. If you do want to use it for Mother's Day, just place your order by 1 pm EST on May 7 (but the longer you wait, the more you will pay in shipping fees).

ETA - You can't use your Ebates account for additional cash back on this order. Sorry about that, I didn't realize it until after I posted.

Giveaway Winner

I'm sorry that this post is a day later than promised. I had so much fun celebrating my birthday with all of you, and I wish that I could send each of you a present. Before I announce the winner, I should probably share the prize!

The general theme of this giveaway was summer accessories!

Included in the prize package:

Row 1:

ivory flower pin

zebra print gold and silver sequin wallet (snaps shut)

Row 2:

silver sequin sunglass case (sunnies not included, those are mine!)

coral and gold statement ring with adjustable band

brown and turquoise waterfall necklace

Row 3:

purple bow "bling" bracelet (SOOOOO preptastic!!)

pink, brown and white scarf

white watch with gold accents

(ps - inanimate objects are really

hard to take a good picture of...)

I used random.org to pick the winner and the lucky comment is #65 (out of 242!!!).

Congratulations Jules! I hope you enjoy these new accessories this summer!

PS -If you want to pick up any of these items for yourself, they all were purchased (by me) at Charming Charlie. Click here to find a location near you.