The Aloha Surfer - Fun & Frozen

When we were in Hawaii last summer, I stumbled upon this yummy concoction.  It's super easy and sooo refreshing. 

Ingredients:

1 can frozen lemonade (regular or pink)

1 cup citrus vodka

6 cups ice cubes

splash of Sprite/7-Up

Instructions:

Get out your blender

Dump in everything except Sprite/7-Up
Blend until ice chunks are gone
Pour into glass until 2/3 full
Top with splash of Spite/7-Up

Garnish with something fun - little umbrellas, lemon/lime wedges, etc.
Enjoy!

Each batch makes about 4 servings.

Wipeout

Husbie and I submitted our applications for Wipeout yesterday.  Our preference would be to be on Couples Wipeout.  We would be AWESOME.  Really, we would.  And, it has been a lifelong (okay, maybe just the last 2 years of our life) dream of ours to be on Wipeout.  Together.  Here that, ABC?  Pick us!

Here's hoping we get picked and don't end up like this chick.  But, maybe that would be okay if I came out at the end with $50K.  That would be a lot of shoes...

A Day of Blogging Silence In Honor of Baby Cohen

Blue Eyed Bride posted today about a day of blogging silence in honor of sweet baby Cohen.  Most readers of my blog are probably familiar with the Marshall's story, but in case you aren't you can visit Megan's blog here and the Send Love to Cohen blog here to learn more about their story. 

Here are the details: 

What: Moment of Silence for Cohen

When: Thursday July 1st from midnight to 11:59 pm.

How: Bloggers participating will post the Cohen banner below or simply post Cohen’s name in large letters on their blog.

Why: July 1st Megan and Brent will be holding Cohen’s memorial service.  The moment of silence is an opportunity for Megan’s blog community to stand behind her and support her on this difficult day.  Linking up will give Megan a chance to see the support at a glance.

Participating bloggers can Link Up on July 1st at Send Love To Cohen. 

Will you join me?

Best Friends Forever - Not the Best Read Ever

I finally finished my most recent read, Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner.  I have never read any of her books, so I felt very proud of myself for venturing out of my normal author circle, comprised of Sophie Kinsella, Madeline Wickham (actually Sophie Kinsella)and Lauren Weisberger. 

At the beginning, I really thought I would like the book.  The premise is that our protagonist, Adie, has lost touch of her best friend from childhood.  In the first several pages, best friend, Val, is introduced as she bursts back into Adie's life after having committing a 'crime' at their high school reunion, which Adie did not attend.  This is were Jennifer Weiner starts losing me.

What follows is chapter after chapter of slow dialogue and thinking aloud by our characters.  I can't figure out if there were just too many 3rd person omniscient characters, or that the writing was just unimaginative.  I found myself scanning pages, instead of reading them, trying to get to the good part.  The problem is, I never found it.  The ending was anti-climatic.  I was never on the edge of my seat with suspense.  I didn't really get that many laughs out of it.  Maybe a small chuckle every now and then, but that's about it.

Reviews on amazon.com and Facebook Visual Bookshelf are mixed.  Best Friends Forever got 3/5 stars on Amazon and 2/5 on Facebook.  Based on this, I'm not sure if I'll try another one of her books or not.

I am disappointed, I was hoping I had found a new light girlie read writer, but the search must continue.  Anyone else have any other authors they enjoy for this type of reading?  I have Emily Griffin on my list and think I may try The Heart of the Matter next.  I asked Winston, but it didn't seem like he was concearned, other than me wrapping up so I could play catch with him.  :)

Would I recommend this book to a friend?  Absolutely not!


My book reviews are meant to give readers a snapshot of the book premise/storyline and not to give away any spoilers.

Little Buckets of Low Carb Goodness

I have recently found myself in a birthday food bender and swimsuit season  induced carb desert.  This is not fun, but neither is gaining 5 lbs due to traveling almost the entire month of May and eating out for a week straight during my birthday time.  Low/no carb really works for me when I'm trying to get back down to my regular weight, so, for the past week, I have been in a carb desert.  It sucks.  I like carbs - mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, you name it.  It's summer, so I also like ice cream/froyo a lot.  I recently found these little buckets of low carb goodness.  I always like Skinny Cow stuff, and these are no exception.  Each little bucket only has around (the flavors differ) 150 calories, 2 grams of fat and 29 grams of carbs.  I try to only eat half of one each day, just to get a little taste.  And if I do lose self control (which is bound to happen at least a couple of days a week), it's still not that bad.

Here are my personal flavor reviews:

• Dulce de Leche - I am not a fan.  I usually like dulce de leche flavored things, but the ice cream, not so much.
• Cookies 'n' Cream - Really good.  I wouldn't pick it as my #1, because I have never had a cookies 'n' cream obsession.  If you like cookies 'n' cream regular ice cream, you will really like this one.
• Chocolate Fudge Brownie - AWESOME!  I love chocolate, and I love brownies, so this is perfect. 
• Strawberry Cheesecake - Tastes a little diet-like in the aftertaste.  I'm not sure that I will buy this one again.
• Carmel Cone - The only reason I know this one exists is because it tells me on the package.  I would really like to try this one, and am hoping that I can find it at another grocery store.

Does anyone else have any low-carb diet favs?  Please share!
 

Hug your Puppies

Everyone hug your puppies today in memory of this sweet baby.  Bella has been my sister's dog for the last 5 1/2 years.  She had a 'love for life' as one of her trainers called it, really meaning that she was spaztastic around people because she just loved everyone so much.  Bella was diagnosed with a brain tumor yesterday and will be laid to rest today.  My heart is breaking for my sister, and for Bella.  So love your furbabies as much as you can while they are here!  Their little, sweet lives are much shorter than ours.  


Bella - we all love you SO much.  You will be missed terribly!

Birthday Weekend Recap

This comes WAY late - but here's my birthday week recap!  Really, instead of birthday week it should be called food bender.  It kicked off Thursday (6/3) night with me coming home from work and husbie suggested we do my birthday dinner with his mom that night, since she was already at our house (and I suspect that he didn't want to cook dinner. Yes, I said 'he')  Anyway, I had a meeting scheduled with the Board VP I am replacing in my women's league at 7:30, so this meant our only option, pretty much, was Chili's.  I have never been a Chili's fan, but the one up by us had a good run for a year.  We keep remembering that one good year, which is why we keep going.  Then we had a horrible experience there on Easter Sunday, after which we swore we would never go back.  Well, we did.  Dumb.  Dumb.  Dumb.  They were so ssssssllllllllloooooooowwwww, food was not amazing (not to mention I can never find anything healthy there that I like, and the stuff that is bad for you is SO bad).  I had to leave early *note - we had been there for an hour at this point* to head to my meeting.  Good times.

I was off work on Friday and putted around the house with Ava, then headed up to Haley's last day of school party, like the good little room mom I am.  It was HOT.  We've decided next year's party theme should be an 'every event involves water' one.  The kiddos had a good time and after we headed over to Sonic to get Sparkling Lemonades.  If you haven't had one, go get one.  Now.  They are yummy!  Here's Haley's class at the party.  She's the one on the left in the white shorts.

Friday night I headed down to Northpark to have a dinner and movie date with my sister, her best friend and her daughter who, incidentally, is my age and her birthday is 4 days before mine.  I hadn't seen Rachel & Robin in forever, so it was fun to catch up.  We had dinner at Luna - MUCH better birthday dining choice.  Yummy margaritas, salsa, soup, etc.  We headed up to the movie theater and saw Sex & The City 2.  Movie was good, I liked that it was WAY less stressful than the first.  Carrie's first outfit out was amazing - my sis said she heard it was a $100K ensemble, by the time you added the Loubouton's, jewelry, etc.  And that diamond, don't get me started.  Gorgeous!  I actually gasped.  I would be perfectly fine toting that little baby around on my ring finger!

Saturday morning we lounged around and took the girlies to the pool.  My fav thing about our neighborhood is that we have an awesome pool!  The girls love it and we love it, mainly because there is an upper section that is shallow with lounge chairs in it.  We sit in the chairs, Ava swims around in front of us, and Haley swims in the big pool.  There are always a ton of Haley's friends there, too, so she doesn't have to stick around with A in the baby pool.  Saturday night we took them over to my mom's who kept them while we went to Benihana.  Yum yum yum!  I got the standard - hibachi fillet - and a peach sake sangria.  It was delish and I would almost go back to just sit at the bar and have a few of these little glasses of heaven.  *Note to self - I must learn how to make these!*  Here we are when I got my birthday ice cream and songs.  Yes, we are a little scorched from our earlier pool time. 

Sunday morning, we met the girls and my mom at church, then headed over to Mattito's for their brunch buffet.  This has become a favorite birthday tradition of mine.  Mimosas and all of the yummy Tex-Mex you can get.  Yes, please!  More swimming and a nap followed.

I took off work on Monday (my actual birthday) and headed over to the gym for my very favorite dance class.  Sadly, our teacher is moving to Austin at the end of the month and our last class is on the 28th.  :(  So, I'm trying to get in as many classes as I can between now and then!  Afterward, we took the girls swimming there, they have an enormous waterpark.  Here are the girls lounging in the kiddo area.  By the time Monday night rolled around, I was SO sick of eating out that husbie grilled some fillets and we picked up some ready-to-go twice-baked potatoes from the store.  He also got me a small cake and some ice cream.

Much of Monday, I spent thinking about this little guy.  He was born to Megan and Brent at 8:55AM on the 7th.  Lucky for him, he got the best birthday on the planet - shared with me, and Prince.  Lol!  He is such an amazing little fighter.  Prayers are still needed for him, though!  Check out the Send Love to Cohen blog and his facebook page to stay up-to-date and see what kinds of specific prayers are needed for his healing.

Lastly, I got a nook for my birthday!  I really love it.  I love to read but have been slacking off lately in lieu of pointless reality television.  I'm hoping this will help with it.  From now until the end of  June, Barnes & Noble is giving $50 gift cards with the purchase of a nook.  Basically, this pays for a cover (highly recommended) and a light (not mandatory, but a good idea).  They will let you split your transactions so that you can use your gift card at the same time as when you buy the nook.  I plan on doing some book reviews on my blog and should have one ready to go over the weekend.  I'm currently reading Best Friends Forever: A Novel.  The jury is still out on this one, so stay tuned.

All in all, it was a great way to spend my birthday weekend!  Lots of family time and WAY too much food.  :)

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Embracing the Tankini

I love my girls and I wouldn't trade them for the world, but I do not like what they have done to my body, namely my skin.  I have horrible stretch marks on my tummy and my hips.  It sucks.  Really sucks.  The most sucky of all is that I gained a ton of weight with both of them (cue where husbie says it wasn't them that made me have the stretch marks, it was Taco Bueno and Sonic) - 60lbs with Haley, 80lbs with Haley.  Yes, it was not healthy.  I get that.  I have always been soooo strict on a diet (since the age of 12 - I was a dancer) that I kind of took being pregnant as a 'get out of jail free' card.  With Haley I learned to LOVE food, I mean really love it.  Something I had never done before.  I was a size 0 weighing in at a whopping 110 lbs.  I still remember waking up with the first stretch mark.  I cried for hours.  Then the next day I had six.  The day after that I probably had 30.  After I had her, I lost most all of the weight and got down to a much healthier 2/4 at 120 lbs.  

Then came Ava.  I had a pretty stressful pregnancy with her - which I'll save for another post - and I ate my feelings through my entire preganacy.  Mashed potatoes - check!  Sonic Brownie Blast - check!  Chips/Salsa/Queso/Guacamole - check check check check!  I had a great arrangement worked out with my OB's medical assistant involving her not telling me my weight, unless it became a problem.  Damn digital scale!  If only I could have heard the clunk as it moved to 200lbs.  I think my OB stayed off my back about it because she didn't want me stressed about anything else.  Once again, after I had her I worked my butt off and got all the weight off.  So now, the weight is gone, but the stretch marks remain.

I have tried numerous different stretch mark creams, like Strivectin-sd Stretch Mark Cream 6 Oz (worked pretty well, but SUPER expensive) and Avon ANEW CLINICAL Professional Stretch Mark Smoother (actually seemed to make some level of difference).  

Up until this summer, I have still worn a bikini and felt awful in it.  Husbie says I look fine and that they aren't that noticeable.  I don't believe him.  So, to combat this, I have decided to embrace the tankini.

I never thought this would happen, but it did.  I have found a few really cute tankinis and one-pieces and have picked up a handful.  It is nice because I feel so much better in them.  I won't lie, there are still times when I feel a bit to mom-ish, but I am a mom, so I need to get over that.  Here are a few I have found:

Cute one piece from Target.  Here's a link to it on the website.  Funny enough, it looks just like this one from Victoria Secret which is 3x more expensive:

Just give the Target model a spray tan and a boob job and presto!  Same swimsuit.  Face it, most of us aren't going to look like the Victoria Secret model anyway.  If you do, I hate you.  Speaking of Victoria Secret swimsuits, I did order this one from them and you got it, I do NOT look like the chick in the picture, but it is pretty cute:

Here's a link to the product page on the VS website.  The thing I love the most about VS swimsuits is that they always come in tons of different colors.  The combination above is what I went with.  Warning - the bottom runs SMALL but the top runs normal.  I will be shipping my bottoms back so that I can eliminate the muffin that is popping up over the top.  Not cute.  

Lastly, I got a cute Converse tankini at Target.  They don't have the exact one I got on the website, so I'll have to take a picture of me in it (after I get my spray tan on) and post it.  Here's the style, but the one I got is solid army green with ties that are a small floral pattern.  I like it because of the ruching on the sides, you can customize how long you want the top to be.  It also has a belt in the same floral pattern as the ties.

Does anyone have any other cute tankini or one piece suggestions?  I see so many cute ones on the mommies at the pool, I think I just need to start asking them where they shop!  I am a bit el cheapo when it comes to swimsuits & I really don't like spending more than $60ish - hence all of the Target shopping.  :)

Baby Cohen

I've been neglecting my blog this week - I have much to post about, but no words to use.  Everything seems so trivial compared to what another family, just miles away from here, is going through.  As many in the blogging world know, sweet baby Cohen came into the world on Monday, June 7, my birthday.  I feel so honored to share a birthday with this little fighter.  He has been through so much in his first week of life, as has his parents, Megan and Brent.  I do not know Megan personally, but I have kept up with her blog since I started mine and am constantly amazed by her grace and strength.  If you aren't familiar with the Marshall family, check out Megan's blog here, In This Wonderful Life...  You can also stay updated by clicking on the 'Send Love to Cohen' button on my sidebar, along with ways to help his family.

Everytime I see a blog, facebook post, or Tweet about baby Cohen and those praying for him, it makes me realize what a powerful thing this blogging world can be.  I know hundreds of people are praying for Cohen and his family.  I pray that God will hear our loud voices and heal Cohen and give peace to his family.  If you have a few moments, say a prayer or two for them...

O Holy St. Anthony, gentlest of Saints, your love for God and Charity for His creatures, made you worthy, when on earth, to possess miraculous powers. Encouraged by this thought, I implore you to obtain healing for baby Cohen. O gentle and loving St. Anthony, whose heart was ever full of human sympathy, whisper my petition into the ears of the sweet Infant Jesus, who loved to be folded in your arms; and the gratitude of my heart will ever be yours. Amen. 

 

Don't Blink, Or You'll Miss It

I feel like I should start this video with the disclaimer that the woman in this video is FINE - not hurt - obviously soooo stinking drunk that she didn't even know what was happening.  Enjoy!  

The news story is available by clicking here.  The tile says it all!

Happiness Is...

Just a random post for today.  These are just a few of the things that are making me happy today...

Writing work notes on purple paper with purple pen

Having an unexpected lunch with my husbie

Knowing husbie and I worked through a rough spot and are better than ever

Finding out one of my bloggy friends got very happy news & shared it today

My little furbaby throwing his ball to me when I am making my coffee

Ava waking me up with a smooch, a'la Sleeping Beauty

Haley's upcoming dance recital - there's nothing I love more than 2 hours of watching little kiddos prance around in sequins and tutu's!

Ordering a super cute bathing suit from Victoria's Secret.  I want it to get here NOW!  :)
My Pandora radio station playing Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch just when I started to get a case of writer's block

SUMMER!!!

Hope you are having a great day, too!

Catching Up... SO MIA!

I have been SO completely MIA from my blog!  I knew May would be crazy, I just underestimated how completely crazy it would be.  I zig-zagged across the country all month long and I couldn't have been happier to be home the entire Memorial Day weekend!  

In the midst of everything, I also caddied for my dad in the Byron Nelson Pro-Am and attended the tournament the rest of the week.  Here we are a couple of years ago (I forgot my camera this year.  Oops!):

Here I am with Vijay Singh, who my dad's team was paired with:

A couple of weeks ago we had the bachelorette party for one of my girlfriends.  I did wear the cute little romper/jumpsuit I picked up at Express before my Vegas trip.  It worked perfectly!  The only thing that is not-so-great is when you have to go to the restroom.  Having to almost completely take your outfit off in a bar bathroom is not so fun.  

Before we went out, all the girls went to a lap dancing class at The Girls' Room in Dallas.  I'm not sure what I thought of the class - I was pretty excited going in.  I expected it to be learning sexy dance moves for my husband.  What I didn't realize is that we would be practicing on each other.  Yep, that's right, grinding on your friends.  I would have been much more comfortable with a dummy, as Austin suggested.  Here's the bride getting demonstrated on by the teacher:

There were polls in the private room we were in, which all the girls wanted to give a quick little swing on - no reason not to channel your inner stripper, I suppose.  I can tell you right now that I would make a crappy stripper!  No upper arm strength.  A few of the girls might do well, if they ever lose their day jobs!  Here's the teacher demo-ing the move we were supposed to try.  I got no where near close to this position.

All-in-all, we had a really great time.  It was fun to have a girls' night, which I hope to do more often!  It gets so easy to get caught up in suburbia with the husband, kids, dog, house, yard, etc, etc, etc, that I forget to have me time with the girls.

There's lots to catch up on, which I will be trying to do this week!  My June schedule is nice-and-easy.  I think our only big events are Haley's last day of school, her recital, and a quick weekend trip to Hot Springs for Father's Day weekend.

I hope everyone had a great memorial day weekend and has a great (and short) week!