Anniversary Weekend!

Hello blogland!  Yes, it's Tuesday & I'm just now getting around to recapping the weekend. Whoops! Yesterday was eventful & requires a post of it's own :)

However, today is just perfect!  The weather outside is definitely frightful, very cold & rainy slushy out, but inside I'm baking, the tree is glowing & Michael Buble Chrismas is playing on Spotify!!

We had a wonderful anniversary weekend!  It's so nice to set aside some time to be together & to celebrate another year!!  It started with these bad boys I picked up Friday afternoon…

Gluten Free Salted Caramel & Wedding Cake cupcakes from Gigi's Cupcakes!  So tasty & worth every calorie ;)  We snuggled this guy on the couch & watched some TV…

Saturday morning started early with a special WOD made by one of our members & former marine as a tribute to the Marine Corps for their recent birthday.  Hopefully I'll get around to making the video of their workout one of these days…

I just watched & then worked out with the 830 class, but the guys did an awesome job!!  After classes, B & I headed off for a little spa day!

We got a couples massage & mani/pedi's at a little spa near uptown.  It was still nice & very relaxing, but definitely not the nicest massage we've ever had.  Afterwards we stopped for a red cup & then did a little bit of shopping…

I told B it wouldn't be a date unless we took a car selfie ;)  And red cups must be documented! {Please excuse my hair in all these pictures!  Ughh, too. long.  I finally had an appointment with my favorite hair girl ever on Sunday & she worked her magic, as always!}  We had a little while until dinner so we stopped a World of Beer for a Tour of Thanksgiving…

So good!  We also tried a Blueberry Cobbler beer, so yummy!

We ate at Sullivan's & it was excellent!!  Great service & an even better steak!  On the way home we stopped off & got our Christmas tree!  We sure picked a beauty, so full & now our house smells amazing!  We did most of the decorating Saturday night & finished up Sunday.  This is our finished product…

It feels very cozy & I'm so pleased!  I still need a new tree skirt, but it took me 18 months to get curtains in our bedroom, so ya know.  Hopefully I'll snag one down in Georgia or at least before Christmas is over :)

For some reason, we like to punish ourselves & endure ridiculously long workout sessions on Sundays, so I went to Flywheel with a friend & B worked out with Warren, then we met them at the box for more weightlifting!  I left B home alone Sunday night & ended the day with a delish dinner & even better conversation at CowFish with Ashley & Rachel.  Love getting together with them!  We always just pick up right where we left off!  Down to earth people are my kind :)

It was a great weekend!  We were sad we couldn't work out a trip away this year to celebrate our anniversary.  But we work for ourselves & we're growing a business, so there's great work to be done & we wouldn't trade it for anything.  I'm just grateful to be celebrating another year with B!!  Here's to many, many more!

Five on Friday

Happy Friday!!

5 on Friday is definitely my favorite link up, so I'm glad to back to blogging my Friday 5 & linking up with April & Christina!

Here we go!

1 - I am now the proud owner of this functional beauty...

Longchamp via

Seriously, I love this bag!  I carry all of the things in my bag all the time!  If you opened it right now, you'd find my iPad, a snack bag of Berkley's dog food, a shaker bottle, protein bar and a pair of socks in addition to all the normal stuff, ie my wallet & chapstick!  I'm back & forth to the gym so much, this bag is the perfect size to function as my purse & my catch all bag!!

I love the black & brown, it goes with everything!  A bff of mine & my cousin swear by this bag, so I knew it needed to be my next purse purchase.  I see a long, loving relationship budding between Longchamp & me ;)

2 - I had my first Flywheel experience this past Sunday morning!  My friend Jackie is a Flywheel addict & I was finally able to go with her!  She is also a CrossFit/Weightlifting addict (my kinda gal ;) ) so we left Flywheel & bee-lined it to the gym for 2 hours of weightlifting!  This was my face after....

Legs were complete jello for the rest of the day!  Whoa nelly!  Flywheel was definitely fun & an awesome cardio workout!  I can see myself throwing it in to my workout mix for a little variety (and leg killing) on occasion :)

3 - Speaking of working out....I am in my very first CrossFit competition this weekend!!!  I'm only slightly nervous, anxious, excited & terrified all at once ;)

I'm competing in the SuperFit Games tomorrow(!) at CrossFit Steele Creek!  There are 3 workouts, all partner style, that day!  My partner & I are competing in the scaled division (read - not as hard!) & our team name is the FRANtastics!  Our heat times are 10:43, 1:21, and 4:39.

Brandon & Warren are competing also, in the RX division because they are beasts!  It kind of came about last minute (a week ago!) that I'd be competing!  My partner Meagan is a friend of a friend & when her partner dropped out, our friend thought of me to partner up with her.  So here we are!

Tomorrow's the day!!  It will be a full but very fun & exciting day!!  The top 5 teams from each division (male rx or scaled, female rx or scaled, male/female rx or scaled) will go on to the final WOD & we have high hopes that Brandon & Warren go all the way!

4 - So much in this photo that I'm loving!

I love some sparkle on my nails, that makes any day better!  And how can you not love these cute earrings?! Calorie free cupcakes are the way to go!

5 - Nina's Paleo Pumpkin Spice Granola!

This was my very first attempt at homemade granola & I'm sold!  It was so easy & so delicious! Brandon & I (ok mostly me since B is gone most of the week.  Oops!) have already eaten through an entire batch that I made Sunday night!  It's that good.

I'll be making more very soon & can't wait to share over Thanksgiving & Christmas with our families!  Yum!!

That's all I have for you!  Hope over to April & Christina's blogs to read more 5 on Friday posts!  Happy weekend!  :)

Dirty 30 Mustache Bash Cake Tutorial

These 2 boys turned the big 3-0 about 6 weeks apart from each other this fall, so I threw them a Dirty 30 Mustache Bash at the box!

The morning of their party they celebrated with a Dirty 30 Birthday WOD, and as you can see, Brandon really embraced the mustache theme!  He creeped me out all weekend long, ha!

I did a terrible job of taking pictures of all the party details, since, ya know, I wasn't really blogging then.  Ughh.  But if you ever throw a mustache themed event (gender reveal, boy baby shower, kid birthday party, etc.), feel free to ask away about the details, I'm happy to share!

I knew I needed a mustache cake for this party!  It was a must!!  I saw this pin on Pinterest a while ago & my inner baker felt inspired!

The link from this pin is broken :(

Basically, you cut a yin-yang in a circle cake, flip one half and match the larger circles to form a mustache, ice & voila!

A few weeks prior I made a trial run cake.  I needed to perfect my craft & of course sample the recipe.  Had to make sure it was good! :)

My trial run was a success!  The recipe was a keeper & the shape turned out pretty well for being free handed.  I needed a way to fool-proof cutting the yin-yang, though, so it would be exact!  I finally realized I could print one out, cut it, and trace it while cutting the cake.  I was able to blow up the yin-yang to 9 inches in a Microsoft document, print, cut and trace & it worked like a charm!!

Here is the final Mustache Bash double layer Mustache Cake!  I was quite impressed with myself, to be honest!

The cake was definitely a hit at the party!!  Everyone thought it was adorable & they couldn't believe I made it!  Every last slice was eaten, so it's safe to say it was delish!  I, of course, turned to Elana's Pantry to find a gluten free cake and icing recipe.  Obviously, the recipes did not disappoint! Happy baking!!

Vanilla Cupcakes

1/2 c coconut flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

6 eggs

1/2 c grapeseed oil

1/2 c agave nectar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Blend wet ingredients in a small bowl.  Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients with a mixer or hand blender until smooth.  Pour batter into well oiled 12 cup muffin pan (or 9 in cake pan) and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Cool completely before icing.

**Back off the oven temp to 300 and bake for 1 1/2 the time (30 minutes) in order to have a flatter cake for layering, mustache creating and icing.

Vegan Chocolate Frosting

1 c dark chocolate chunks

1/2 c grapeseed oil

2 tbsp agave nectar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

pinch of sea salt

Melt chocolate & grapeseed oil over very low heat in a saucepan.  Stir in agave, vanilla & salt. Place frosting in freezer to chill and thicken for 15 minutes.  Remove from freezer & whip with hand blender until smooth & fluffy.  (I totally forgot this step & I think it would've been helpful!  Whoops!) Frost over cake.

First Weekend as a Homeowner

We christened out first weekend as homeowners with 2 different trips....

to Lowe's!! :)

The first of many trips I'm sure!  Friday night after our workout, we drove just over the border into SC & picked up a whole lotta things!  A rake, inside broom, outside broom, ladder, paint supplies, floor cleaner, and too much to even recall.  The good news - it was all FREE!!

The downside of B's job is the crazy amount of traveling he does...but that traveling provides us a lot of perks truthfully.  He stays in hotels typically 3 nights a week & those stays = mad hotel points!!  So last weekend, B traded a hefty amount of points for 2 $200 Lowe's gift cards!  How fantastic is that!?!

So every Lowe's purchase we've made thus far, has been F, R, double E!  Including this...

Our new rug!

Whatcha think??  I love the pattern, I'm just wondering if it's too small for the space.  It's a 5'x7'.  Our friends who came over Saturday seemed to like it and think it was a good size, especially whenever we get a chair for that corner.  So for now I'll definitely leave it, but what is your opinion?

Saturday we slept in a bit and then got our workout on!  I ran a bit at the gym, then ran home (about a mile) to do my P90 video while B finished his workout at the gym.  We originally thought it would be a pool day, but the weather changed a bit and was slightly chilly & overcast - so we did some house things & ran a bunch of errands.

I made a target run while B mowed {why can't everything from Target be free!?  Ughh...that place gets so much of my money!!} and then we dropped off our keys to our apartment so now it's really, really official, we're all moved out!  We also picked up my car from getting an oil change & 2 new tires - spending more money.  Yuck!

Friday night I made Lemon Drop Cupcakes, so I finally got around to frosting them after all our errands Saturday.  

Yum!!  They are SO good!  Unfortunately, not so good for you, so please, someone - come eat the leftovers!!

Saturday night we had a few friends over to grill & hang out.  It was, as always, a good time and we, of course, love having every one see the house!  :)

Sunday we slept in a good bit - so needed!  I made Carolina Charm's Breakfast Sandwiches and we watched a little Dexter (Shocking end to season 4 btw!!! Whoa!) before attempting to lay out on our patio.  B made me a shirley temple and I read some magazines...but it was just so dang hot!  And no pool to jump in, ha.

B and I set out for a run in our new 'hood and found a nice 3 mile loop.  When I'm feeling brave, I'll definitely attempt that loop twice to get a good 6 miles in!  Maybe this week...

Then we headed back to good ol' SC for our 2nd Lowe's trip of the weekend!  I got some gloves so I can weed our flower beds (yay! Insert sarcasm), a hose, some car wash supplies, and some paint samples!!

So these are the options for the kitchen...

The lighting in these pics isn't the greatest so bare with me...but the top is a gray, 2nd is a mocha brownish, 3rd down is called universal khaki - kinda brown, kinda gray and the color in our downstairs bath, and the bottom one is too light so don't look at it!

What's your pick??  Tell me yours & I'll tell you mine ;)

The rest of our Sunday was lazy, just the way we like it!  And today was back to the work week...bleh.  But the good new friends, we're already a day down!!

Happy almost Tuesday, y'all!

2 truths and a lie

I workout.....so I can eat!  More!

This is an absolute truth.  I have terrible will power, my friends, but I come by it honestly! My will power stops at the grocery store.

If I buy it, I WILL eat it.  Hands down.

Ice cream for example.  If I were to buy ice cream....I would eat 5-7 (or 10-20, whatever) bites a night.  I would surely not scoop out a bowl of ice cream, because therefore I would be having a bowl of ice cream!  But I would eat it. every. day. until the carton was empty.

So I don't buy ice cream :`(  <---- sad weeping crying face as ice cream is my FAVORITE!

Whenever I cave and buy some chocolate or we do actually have sweets in the house....

ie cupcakes for B's birthday a few weeks ago, some homemade chocolate chip cookies, a pack of m&ms from the register

.....my motto tends to be "well I might as well hurry up and eat it all so it's gone!"

m&m packs last a good 4 minutes before they're gone and the half uneaten cupcake in the fridge screams at me all night cause it misses the other half already in my belly!

Once it's gone though, it is no longer a temptation :)  Good motto, right!?!

I also possess little self control when delicious foods are available.  Staff meetings when the PTA provides snacks, wedding showers, baby showers, etc. If it's out, I'm gonna need a little of it all....and I might go back for seconds.

But then, I go to the gym and I run my a$$ off!!  I know my limitations, my temptations, and my metabolism.  I know what to do to lose and maintain, so I do it.  (More so just the maintain part actually, I often give up on the things required to lose :) but I know what they are!)

Whatev...

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I'm also on steroids.

Another truth!  Topical steroids that is.  I suffer from eczema, which in my older age has become very mild and is largely under control!

Except my itchy, itchy legs.  I end up using my cream (gosh, I sound 80! ha) about once a week to keep the itch away.

Otherwise, Brandon will awake to scratching at 2:37 am and tell me to "quit it!" and my legs will look like Benson used them as a scratching post.

Attractive right?

However, I don't encourage nor do I agree with the use of steroids!  And I strongly dislike the fact that I use said cream.  I feel using a topical steroid once a week for a prolonged time period cannot be a good thing, right!?

I really need to look into some natural remedies....any suggestions??

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just love bugs!

Not!  This would be the lie.

I strongly dislike bugs....of any kind really.  Obviously there are unmentionable bugs that I just don't do and don't want to even speak their name.

But I don't even like little bugs....ants, or bees, or creepy crawly anything!

I jump up with cat like reflexes at the pool just hearing some form of bug fly by and promptly run, flail my arms, and scream like a little girl if any bug flies by more than once, is crawling on me, or even near me for that matter!

This being said.....I'm SUPER excited to go camping in a few weekends!! Seriously!  No sarcasm was intended for that sentence.

But my fear of the nasty little boogers that mother nature may allow into my tent and/or heaven forbid my sleeping bag is already giving me the heebie jeebies!!!

I think I'm gonna bring lots of bug spray!

My week in Instagram

I've seen many blogs do this lately so I thought I'd hop on board!  Instagram is one of my most favorite iPhone apps so I'm happy to share :)  It allows you to apply fun different filters to your photos and then share them through their website and your fav social media websites.

*Disclaimer - If you follow me on Facebook or twitter, chances are you've probably already seen most of these!  Most people take pictures of their children or very artsy things...I mostly take pictures of my cat and attempt to make non-artsy things artsy!  Ha

A little family froyo on Father's Day!  Just chillin' with the uncle

My snuggle bunny during the week!

He looks harmless, but he likes to jump up and knock around that picture!

Why can't he always be this cute!?

Or this cute!?

Best part of babysitting - being a kid yourself!  Just swinging in the back yard :)

Super Connor!

One of my most favorite flowers

Heaven.  Oh my word!  Probably the best afternoon snack ever!  But not the healthiest :/  oops!

Lemon Drop Cupcakes!!  I have no words....SO GOOD!!

One last Benny pic.  He loves grocery days :)

If you need a weekend activity in the kitchen, go check out Jennifer's blog and get the recipe for Lemon Drop Cupcakes!  They will rock your world!  But if you're pregnant and not ready to be in labor, don't eat them!  Apparently they are labor inducing so "they" say!!  I just made them cause they looked UH-may-ZING!

And I'm taking them to a bachelorette party this weekend!  This is my friend Dana and I a few weeks ago at our friend Alex's Bachelorette Party and now it's her turn!!!  Dana's getting married next month and I'm so, so excited!!  Her fiance proposed right after our wedding reception :)  So I'm off to work out and pack for a weekend in the mountains!!

Happy weekend y'all!!

short & sweet

2. more. days. y'all.  Just in case you lost track :)

Our spring break plans took a turn for the better a few weeks ago.  Brandon realized he had more PTO than he originally thought.  His PTO doesn't roll over, so in this case, if you don't use it, you do lose it!  ;)  So now B has the WHOLE week off and we're headed to Cocoa Beach for 3 days before heading to Orlando and Universal!  Since we're so looking forward to this....

and lots of this....

we've decided that we're going to wake up early Monday morning....early as in 2am....and head for Florida!  That way, we can most likely be on the beach by noon(ish) and snoozing while getting bronzed shortly thereafter!  We're thinking Brandon can down one of these....

and when it starts to wear off, we can pull off and I'll get one of these....

and take over driving!  I'm already a little tired thinking about it, but we can sleep in all week and nap on the beach :)  I think it will be well worth it.  Also, I recently read an article from The Nest titled "15 things to Do Before Kids" and road trips as well as spontaneity were part of that list!!  So, further confirmation that embarking on a 9 hour drive at 230 am is a good plan, ha!  (Although since we're planning this, does it count as spontaneity?  I think so!)

Tomorrow, my team at school is throwing a wedding shower for another teacher on our team getting married this weekend!  She's having a small wedding and then a bigger reception in August.  She and her hubby-to-be will be blending their families, making a combined total of 4 kiddos ages 4-10!  She insisted over and over she didn't want a shower or a big deal made, but she was so sweet and planned my school shower and she deserves one!  So, we decided to keep it small and have anyone from school who wanted to, donate to her gift.

Even a small shower needs food right?!?  I ordered cupcakes from one of my favorite local bakeries.

I got a couple different flavors, couldn't pick just one!  And that way everyone has some options.

Walking in the bake shop today it smelled HEAVENLY!!!  Oh my goodness.  It took every ounce of my being to take my shower cupcakes, head to the door, and walk away without picking out another cupcake from the display case to eat on my way out!  But I did it!  I'll get to eat one tomorrow and I can't ruin my pre - spring break diet (haha, insert sarcasm!).

Hope y'all made it over the hump today, goodnight and have a pleasant tomorrow!