Weekend To Do List

Happy Sunday Funday, kids! Did you spend your entire weekend eating delicious foods? I did! I have a birthday coming up, which for me is an excuse to just stuff my face. 

1. I was up bright and early on Friday morning (seriously -- alarm went off at 3:30) to fly to New York for a long weekend. I was home by 10am and set up a makeshift office in my childhood bedroom for a full day of work. It was a loooonnggg day, but I made it through and headed out for Birthday Dinner #1, a cozy little dinner with my family. We went to Toast, a great little restaurant near my parents' house. It's everyone's favorite breakfast spot by day and perfect spot for drinks and dessert by night. Their dinner menu includes entrees, tapas-style sharing dishes, and cheese plates -- we ordered a bunch of things and shared some tasty bites. The food was great, but I wanted to save plenty of room for dessert: chocolate fondue. We ordered the milk chocolate fondue, which came with an enormous platter of fruit, cookies, marshmallows, rice krispy treats, and an entire funnel cake. Perfection.

2. I spent Saturday in the city, soaking up the gorgeous fall weather and catching up with friends. It is weird to feel a little bit like a tourist in a city that has been home to me for most of my adult life, but it's been more than 2 years since I was a resident and New York is a city that changes every single day. Being in NYC means being surrounded by the familiar (never get tired of walking through Bryant Park on a sunny Saturday) and the unfamilar (there's a third H&M on 34th Street now?!?). Happily, my subway game is still strong -- got a seat on each ride, and knew which car would be closest to the exit at my destination station.

High on my to-do list was the John Singer Sargent exhibit at The Met. My undergrad and graduate degrees are in art history and my master's thesis was on Sargent portraits, so this was a treat. I met my best friend Sara on the museum steps on a perfect fall afternoon for some serious art-ing. It was a gorgeous show, and then we did a lap of some of our favorite permanent galleries -- photography! Egyptian carvings! Impressionists! It was like speed dating for fine art. I wish we'd had more time, but stop number two was equally important: lunch. Last year we discovered the best Cobb salads in New York City hiding in fun, low-key little Mexican restaurant and it's our favorite lunch spot whenever we get together. The key is that they are SO generous with the good stuff: chicken, bacon, avocado. Yum.

3. If you're a regular reader, you've probably figured out I'm not the kind of girl who can live on salad alone (even if had about half an avocado on it -- seriously, SO generous). I am proud to say I completed the NYC street food hat trick while running around all day: a hot dog (procured from a cart in front of The Met, because we needed a little sustenance before art-ing), a giant pretzel (scarfed down after elbowing a ton of tourists in H&M). and a Mr. Softee cone (as a reward for a great day). Those are the street foods I am always craving, so why not knock them out in one day? I didn't wear my Fitbit, but I'm pretty sure I walked at least a million steps over the course of the day and easily burned it all off.

4. After lunch, Sara and I did a little power shopping. We hit some of our favorite spots, and even though I might have said something to the effect of "I'm just going to browse...", I left with a few gems. My favorite is this gorgeous little top from H&M. It a really rich, sophisticated shade of green with delicate detailing at the neck and sweet little gossamer ruffles at the sleeves. Perfect on its own, great under a blazer. You'll see the rest of my purchases in Monday's September budget roundup.

5. And today, more eating, more celebrating. I started with brunch with extended family at one of our favorite spots that offers an enormous buffet of Mediterranean dishes and classic breakfast foods. The mimosas are a great touch and always lead to some silly conversations. Everyone leaves with big smiles and full bellies. 

After a nice nap, I was ready for Birthday Dinner #2 with one of my oldest friends and her five (yes, 5?) kids. Christy and I have been friends since 5th grade and I love catching up with her when I'm home. We took a picnic dinner to a local playground (and enjoyed a little adult conversation while the little ones climbed, swung, and slid) and then headed to a carnival. I kind of love carnival games, and I had a blast watching the kids ride all of the stomach churning rides they could handle. Ah, to be young and stupid and willing and able to be spun around like a top over and over again.

Going to bed with a happy heart and happy belly -- it's so nice to be home and be with some of my favorite people on earth. I have a few more days in New York, including a few more birthday dinners (and CAKE!!!!). This week I'll begin a brand new year on this earth, and I'm sure it is going to be a great one.

Weekend To Do

Hey, it's the return of the Weekend To Do list. Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I did things on those few weekends I skipped, just didn't get my act together to document them. But there were awesome times, trust.

Anyway, here we go...

1. Very smart of me to restart this on a fairly boring weekend. I kicked Friday off with a bang by...staying in and cuddling my couch and my dog. I did laundry and a little cleaning and watched a couple of episodes of Empire (totally late to that game -- it's silly but fun, and I'm trying to get through the first season before season two gets underway). Not exciting, but I'll be out of town later this week and wanted to get my house in order (literally) before taking off.

Also, the above is not my laundry bag, but it is the chicest laundry bag I've ever seen. It also costs over $1,000. In other words, perfect for holding my Target skivvies and my sweaty running clothes, right?

2. Saturday morning I was up early for a long run, kicking off my half marathon training season (I'm running the Princess Half Marathon in Disney World next February). It was a little too hot, and I'm a little too out of shape, but I got it done. The best part of running is when it's over, and that's true whether you have a bad run or a great one. I dragged my sweaty self over to Chipotle for a burrito bowl to refuel and enjoyed a nice hour chowing down and catching up on blogs.

3. Honestly, I kind of wanted to spend Saturday night laying on the couch watching Dateline NBC, but I can't give into my hermit-like tendencies all the time. I headed out to a new-ish nightspot in town, a touristy but fun bar on Disney property called Trader Sam's. There's not a lot in the way of nightlife in my little family-friendly section of town, so having a local spot for evening shenanigans is kind of exciting. It's a fun place that has the right mix of adult fun and Disney magic. My drink was basically rum with a Dole Whip in it, and it was delightful. I could have sucked down three of them (though thanks to some very Disney prices, I exercised moderation).

4. My Sunday was pretty free, so I indulged in more than a bit of shopping. I had a GREAT day (which was fun, since I really haven't done much shopping lately):

I made a Target run to take advantage of their sale on accessories (buy one get one 50% off), and I picked up these shoes, which I've been eyeing for a few weeks. Traditional penny loafers are a little too preppy for me, but these crazy girls are like loafers on steroids. They're ridiculous and fun (and comfy to walk in!). Since the BOGO deal was mix and match, I headed to the bag selection to see if there was anything appealing but as usual, found myself pretty underwhelmed. Target bags just look cheap (and their prices really aren't). So I scooted over to the jewelry section and found this beauty. If you're a regular reader, you know how much I've been lusting after a chunky gold watch with a black dial. I was thinking about splurging on this one for my birthday, but I picked up Target's version instead and saved myself almost $300. Target does it again.

I also picked up a bottle of this Pixi Glow Tonic, which is just recently available in the US and comes with some pretty rave reviews from across the pond. I'm not usually one to jump on that great new skincare item and I don't usually use a toner, but I'm willing to take a chance on a fairly inexpensive potential miracle.

Then I hit TJ Maxx on a whim - I know the secret to getting great scores at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods is just making regular visits, so I made a quick dash in when I passed my favorite one. I'd done the same last week and walked out empty handed, so I didn't even get a cart. Ha. So naive. Cut to me waiting in an endless checkout line, both arms loaded down with goodies. So. many. treasures...

First, a fistful of Essie polishes. I'm exclusively an Essie girl. I love the vibrant colors, and I think the polish is great quality. I am not adventurous when it comes to polish colors -- I like a few classics and use those over and over again. My two all-time favorites are Mademoiselle (classic ballet pink) and Capri (summery orange-red). So imagine my joy when I plucked both from the shelf at just $4 a pop. I was feeling giddy and grabbed two other fun shades -- Madison Ave Hue (great bright pink, perfect for fingers and toes) and Nude Beach (a pale iridescent pink, when I'm really feeling crazy). 

I walked just a few feet further into the store and stumbled on this adorable pair of classic Dr. Scholl's sandals. I've actually always wanted a pair, and the navy and white stripes are just adorable. 

As with any good TJ Maxx haul, the rest of my purchases were a bit random -- a great rug, cute birthday cards, yummy fall-scented candles, treats for my dog, etc. At the register I spotted bottles of Dr. Bonner's Castille Soap, which was a nice surprise -- I grabbed the sweet almond and peppermint scents, my favorite. This is a great all-purpose body wash, shampoo, laundry soap, and more, and the crunchy granola side of me loves that this soap doesn't have those scary ingredients that I should probably be more vigilant about avoiding. 

Next was my local outlet mall. Sadly, I was there to return the tipped linen blazer I was excited about last month. When the jacket finally arrived in the mail, I was a bit disappointed by the color -- I wanted a clean ivory, and this had a pinkish hue that bothered me. It was also a little long, so I figured I'd get my $45 back. After the sales associate processed the return, she mentioned that it would go to clearance and that the current selling price would be $26. Tempting, right? 

It was a lovely jacket and a fantastic value at that price, even if I only wore it a few times. I considered rebuying it, but ultimately decided to pass -- it isn't what I want, and I thought I'd let someone else enjoy the thrill of a fantastic bargain. Sometimes you just pay it forward. I did score a cute sweater at Banana Republic -- a star-speckled intarsia sweater that looks quite a lot like this one, for about 1% of the price.

5. Finally, I'm spending Sunday evening with the Emmys and a couple of slices of veggie pizza. I missed the red carpet so I'm more interested in the audience shots than some of the boring categories, but so far it's been fun.

Monday, get ready for us!

Weekend To-Do

Another weekend - yay! Pretty routine stuff, but lovely nevertheless. Here's what was on my list:

1. My second Summer Friday got off to an unceremonious start -- a massive thunderstorm only Florida can whip up. This happens almost daily this time of year, but Friday's was particularly violent and slow moving, so I decided it would be a good night to cuddle on the couch with Netflix and takeout. I'm cruising through season one of Mad Men and it is as wonderful as everyone says. Such a great show to binge watch -- the pace is deliberate and slow, so it is satisfying to gulp down 2 and 3 episodes at a time and still be able to delight in all of those juicy details. So many smart women, so many thick men -- it is frustrating and satisfying and the same time. And the makeup is everything. Note to self: figure out how to wear red lipstick without looking like a clown.

2. Saturday morning got off to a good, sweaty start (I'm letting Shawn T kick my ass these days) and then headed out for a few hours to catch up with friends. We ate and shopped, which was perfect. I was happy to find quite a few gems without putting much of a dent in my June budget -- I loved this sweet t-shirt with a relaxed 'endless summer' vibe, a surprising Kohl's find.

3. I spent Saturday night having some grown-up fun at the Orlando Science Center -- they host a regular "Science Night Live" event. Basically you can run around the center and play with all of the exhibits while enjoying some tasty food and adult beverages. Just some good nerdy fun. #orlandodoesntsuck

4. Finally, Sunday was spent doing mostly un-fun grown-up things. I've been slacking on housework lately and I'm embarrassed to admit that things were getting a little crusty en la casa. I spent a few hours getting things sparkling clean -- a few loads of laundry, tons of dishes, vacuuming dog fur from every crevice of the sofa, and a little elbow grease and things are feeling much better. I'm not a neat freak, but since I work from home I have to look at the dust bunnies all day long and I can't really relax when things are out of order. 

And now I've got the Tony Awards on while relaxing in bed. Not a bad way to end the weekend...be kind to us, Monday.

Weekend To-Do List

It was a good weekend around these parts, hope for you as well! Here's how it went down..

1. There are two words that bring a bit of joy to the hearts of NYC's grumpiest office drones: Summer Fridays. My office observes this happy little tradition, and for us it means that as long as your work is done, you can end your workday at 3pm on Fridays. Nice, right?

I used the time to take care of a few personal items (booked some appointments, gave myself a fresh pedicure) and just let myself ease into the weekend. Soon enough it was ready to get freshened up to meet a friend for a perfect Friday girls' night: dinner and a movie. We saw Pitch Perfect 2 (yes, this was my second time) -- I actually liked it a bit better on second viewing, and we had fun singing along to some of the better musical numbers. Dinner was at Sweet Tomatoes, one of my favorite quick and healthy spots in town. It's basically a giant soup and salad buffet, and it is awesome. We both had to be up early the next morning, so we kept it low-key but had plenty of silly laughs.

2. Saturday morning I was on the road by 7am heading to my favorite place -- I had a shift serving breakfast at Give Kids The World. I got to help fill the tummies of some seriously cute kids and their families -- I love any shift that has a lot of interaction with families and this is a great one. I spent the rest of the day running errands and then finished out an unusually mild evening with drinks and dinner outside. Unbelievably it is still very spring-like here in Orlando. Summer, be kind to us.

3. Not that we're hurting for entertainment, but just a few weeks ago we welcomed the arrival of the Orlando Eye, one of those enormous ferris wheel that gives you spectacular city views. It was fascinating watching it being built, and while it is a bit of an eyesore (just like in any other city), it's not going anywhere soon so we're just going to have to learn to love it. Sunday was a such a pretty day, so I grabbed a few adventurous friends to check it out. It was fun! And terrifying!

4. The rest of the day was just a bit of this and that. I took care of a few chores, went to the gym, made a Target run (bought nothing - scandalous!), spent some quality time with the cutest dog in the world (the tiny dachshund above, who looks damn good in a sweater), got sucked into a Jurassic Park marathon, and did some cooking. I had gotten out of the habit of doing food prep for the coming week, but it is SUCH a big help and an important way to stay on track with good eating habits. I made a big salad, steamed a bag of broccoli, and cut up some veggies so I'll have some easy ways to get green stuff on my plate. I also roasted a pan of garlic chicken legs that are great as a snack right out of the fridge or easily heated up for a quick dinner.

I have just enough time for an episode or two of Mad Men (making my way quickly through season one) and then time for bed. I managed to log more than 17,000 steps on the FitBit today and I am feeling it.

Hope your weekend was everything you wanted it to be -- time to get our Monday game faces on!

(Holiday) Weekend To-Do List

Happy Memorial Day weekend to all! Hope everyone enjoyed a bit of summer fun on this holiday weekend (and also took a moment, or several, to reflect on the meaning of this day -- to veterans and to those who have lost loved ones, it is so very important).

My weekend seemed to fly by rather quickly, a good mix of silly fun and downtime:

1. Now that Mad Men has completely wrapped up (I've been avoiding spoilers, but I guess people liked the finale?), I decided to see what all the fuss is about. I've been looking for a good juicy summer binge series, and this seemed as good as any. And hopefully I'll finish it quickly enough that people will still humor me while I dissect all of the details (if not, there's always Tom and Lorenzo). I'm only a couple of episodes in but so far, so good.

2. This weekend I decided to give myself a little tough love about my eating and exercise habits of late (too much of one, not enough of the other). Last year I really worked hard to make eating better and working out consistently a priority, and by the time I ran my first half-marathon in January, I felt better than I ever had in my life. Unfortunately, the past few months have seen me getting a liiiiittttle lazy -- not a complete backslide into bad habits, but enough "I should treat myself" and "I think I need sleep more than a gym session this morning" that I can feel (and see) some extra pounds. I've been getting my workouts in and eating clean for the past few days and I can already feel a difference (even if it is just losing a little water weight, it is awesome motivation to keep going). Whew.

3. I had a pretty fantastic day shopping at the Orlando Premium Outlets on Sunday (following all of my rules from last week's post). I didn't buy too much (my favorite purchase, a super cheap J. Crew Factory School Boy Blazer, turned out to be a bust -- it had some damage I didn't notice when I was in the store, so back it goes), but I had lots of fun checking out the sales and people-watching. The play-by-play (including favorite and least favorite finds) is on Instagram -- check it out if you like shopping and humor, and shopping-related humor.

4. It wouldn't be a holiday without a barbecue, and I got to enjoy a classic holiday weekend shindig with friends. My apartment community has a gorgeous (and rarely used) outdoor summer kitchen, so we grilled some tasty chicken and steaks and had a bit of a potluck. I was a bit annoyed to find some brats in the complex damaged our fire pit, preventing us from making my favorite summer dessert (S'MORES!), so I decided to bake these adorable s'mores cupcakes instead (some people are just so damn creative in the kitchen -- definitely need to try out more recipes from The Baker Upstairs!)  -- mine were almost as cute and very tasty.

Note: for some reason, whenever I decide I need to clean up my diet I have this urge to start baking all kinds of goodies for others. I'd like to think it's because I'm a nice person, but part of me thinks it is a way of testing my own willpower -- sometimes I just make it so damn hard for myself. I had a bite of a cupcake just to make sure I wasn't serving my guests garbage but let them finish off the batch and sat there feeling just a tiny bit smug that I wasn't eating dessert (so dumb, right?). I have food issues, y'all -- anyone else do weird stuff like that sometimes?

And suddenly, it is Monday night again. Sigh. I could use one more day because you'll notice I didn't mention a damn thing about doing any laundry, cleaning, or anything useful around the house. Whoops.