Friday Five: Fall Favorites

The weather this week has been nuts!
Monday night it was so humid at barre class that the floor was all wet!
It meant things were super slippery and we were all dripping in sweat!
On the bright side I burnt at least 600 calories in that hour class :)
The rest of this week has been amazing with temps in the low 70's!
I am seriously so ready for Fall!

Free printable found here.

Here some my favorite things I am looking forward to this Fall...

{one}
Comfy cute weekend clothes...no shorts or sandals allowed!
I can't wait wear jeans every weekend with a tee or sweatshirt, throw on a hat, and some boots or converse.
It is the perfect season for puffer vests and cozy sweaters while sitting outside :)
Apparently, I like a lot of neutrals!

{two}
Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks :)

This cup of liquid heaven just announced it will be officially returning on August 25th!
I.Can't.Wait!!!!!
Expect to see lots of instagram photos of this delicious drink from all of your friends :)


{three}
Football
High School, College, and NFL! Oh My!
I love it all!
Heck, I even like flag football!
Crossing my fingers X will love the game as much as I do :)

My High School~Brookside/Mic's High School~Lexington
Georgia/Cleveland



{four}
Apples & Pumpkins
They are two of my favorite foods, scents, pies to bake, and things to pick! lol!
We have a local apple orchard that I plan on bringing X to for some fun pictures. And I really hope we can make a trip to a pumpkin patch too!
And I know for a fact I will be picking up more of Bath & Body Works Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin lotion (maybe Orchard too!) :)

{five}
Halloween
It comes in a super close second to being my favorite holiday (Christmas is #1 obviously!).
I love the colors, the costumes, the parties. I love it all!
Well, maybe not the scary part but the rest of it is magnificent!
See my Pinterest Halloween board here and my Fall treats board here.
I have totally been slacking this year on what X is going to be dressed up as :( Hoping to finalize that soon!
And how much fun would a Halloween party be?!?!
My mind is already planning it! lol!
Wouldn't these make a cute treats for the moms?

 Or how about these for the kiddos?

What are you looking forward to this Fall?
Do you take your kiddos to the pumpkin patch or apple orchard?
Do you attend a Halloween party?
What are you kiddos dressing up as this year?

Linking up on this fine Friday with the following ladies

Karli/Amy

Erika/Narci/Andrea

The Weekend & Favorite Things

Linking up with Bella and Lisa today for

This weekend was filled with lots of movie watching with X.

To be more specific...

we watched Cars and Cars 2 all three days!

Over and over!

He cried when it was time for bed and he couldn't watch anymore.

He was worried for McQueen when he was in last place in the race.

And I swear I heard some "vroom, vrooms" from him while he was sleeping :)

In between all that movie watching I had barre class on Saturday morning, 

followed by an outdoor session of couple's yoga on Saturday night.

Afterwards, we all enjoyed some good food and drinks at The Wishmaker House again.

It was another night of good friends, good stories, lots of laughs, and making more memories :)

My in-laws kept X for the night, meaning this mommy was finally able to get a good night of sleep!

And sleep I did!

We stayed out pretty late (for us) on Saturday night, so by the time we went to bed it was after 2am!

I probably could have slept all day Sunday if able.

We woke up at 10:15am on Sunday!

I can't tell you the last time I slept in!!!!!

It was glorious!

This having X sleep over at Grammy and Grampy's house is great! lol!

Of course once we picked X up and brought him home we were right back to watching Cars! :)

It wasn't super warm out, but it was nice enough to make dinner on the grill.

We enjoyed some yummy ribs, corn, and watermelon for dinner and then called it night :)

What did you do this weekend?

Now onto Part 2!

Time to link up with Andrea & Erika for the Favorite Things Party!

One of my absolute favorite things this past month is the the Merona tanks from Target!

They come in a variety of colors (20 different solids & 3 striped versions), long and lean look, no ribbing, and wash and wear over and over really well!

Oh yeah, and they are only $7 online right now!

I have picked them at the store on sale 3 for $24.

On top of that they were on my Target Cartwheel app for an additional savings (I believe 10%), and then I used my Target red card to get another 5% off!

If you are looking for a great tank for the summer at a really great price, check out Target today!

You won't be sorry :)

What is your favorite item under $10 these days?

*These are my own opinions. I was not contacted or compensated by Target or Merona to write this post.

The Friday Five

We have reached another fantastic Friday!

This week definitely had its ups and downs, but I am looking forward to another fun weekend with friends :)

1. We had such an amazing time at couple's yoga (read about it here) that I already signed us up for the April class! Weather permitting it is scheduled to be held outside near a lake/reservoir. It should be interesting and cool! 
Can't wait! 

2. On Monday we celebrated St. Patrick's Day by wearing green and eating lots of green foods....celery, grapes, spinach dip (spinach is green ;), green drinks, and of course Skyline Chili with green pasta!

 3. On Wednesday 2 wonderful things happened!

First, I was browsing through instagram and saw that the top I wanted so badly for this Spring/Summer was back at Hippie Chick Boutique! Actually, when I saw the post they had found one left and it was in my size so I flew to the website and snatched it up! I can't wait to receive it! And the only reason I found this wonderful little shop located in Texas is because Andrea @ Momfessionals blogs about their clothes that she wears! 
So Thank you Andrea!!!

4. The next wonderful thing about Wednesday was that I finally made it back to a Booty Barre class! 

I seriously have not been to a class since Labor Day weekend!!!

I so needed that class!

However, my body could barely keep up!

I felt like a first timer all over again :(

And the class has really taken off since I was last there!

You now have to reserve a spot for each class, and they fill up fast! I was technically on a wait list for the this one, but thankfully bumped up and was able to go. I immediately signed up for future classes to make sure I would have a spot. And to get my butt back in shape for the summer!

5. We are continuing our St. Patrick's Day celebration with a small group dinner this weekend with some local friends. This is the first small group we are hosting and I really hope it takes off :) Mic and I have so many great friends that we really just wanted to bring them together and get to enjoy them all! Can't wait to recap the get together for Monday!

A sneak peek of the kid table :)

Unfortunately, this week also had a few down moments...

My car stopped running (thankfully is easily fixable),

and X basically declared war on me :( My head is still hurting from all the hair pulling! 

Each day is a new day though :)

Linking up with Lauren for High Five for Friday and these lovely ladies below for Five on Friday

How was your week?

What are your plans for the weekend?

Weekend recap & a Favorite Things Link up

Let's start today with a couple lovely ladies :)

Linking up with Erika & Andrea for

I have two things for you today that I am currently loving and are both under $10!

Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies might just be my absolute favorite cookie of all time! Even over those oh so good chocolate chip ones! Each box was only $4 a piece and worth every penny :) Click here to see where you can purchase some of these little pieces of heaven before they are all gone!

They even have an app you can use!!!

And because I love Thin Mints so much I had to pick up Coffee Mate's Thin Mint creamer for my coffee!

I believe I picked it up at Kroger for under $3!

It is the perfect addition to my morning coffee :)

What are your favorite finds under $10?

Make sure to link up with the ladies above!

Now on to our weekend!

First of all, I made Shay's Baked Pizza Pasta Casserole for dinner on Thursday evening and plenty left over for dinner on Friday night! I think it was even better the next day! It was delicious!!

Thanks Shay!

Then we decided to make a quick run to Target...my happy place :)

The only moment this child sat in the cart!

He loved running all around the store, looking at bikes, playing with the pillows etc.

His parents on the other hand could not get out of the store fast enough!

We enjoyed a nice big bowl of fresh popped "pop pop" before bed. This kid eats it by the handful!!

Saturday was all about cleaning up the house, getting laundry done, etc.

But Saturday night Mic and I had a workout date!

We went to a couple's yoga class with some friends and followed it up with some cocktails at a local bed & breakfast (that is opening this weekend). If you are looking for a place to stay when traveling through Ohio, check out the Wishmaker House! It is gorgeous, priced really well, and they make their own wine!

We had so much fun and so many laughs!!!

I really wish I could have taken pictures of the craziness that was going on during the class, but I was a bit tied up.

(Tomorrow's post with explain the class more in detail.)

So you get a before shot :)

Doesn't he look thrilled?!

He actually enjoyed himself at the class and despite some downward dog issues, he did really well!

We had such a fun evening with everyone and even made some new friends :)

Sunday, was again cleaning and running errands.

Why does cleaning or running errands feel so good when the weather is getting nicer? I don't know, but I will take it!

Since we will have to work on Monday and X has his first dentist visit, we celebrated with some green food all weekend.

Green pancakes, green milk, green ish pasta, etc!

I have always loved going all out for each holiday, but now that we have X it truly brings me so much joy :)

We even had green red mashed potatoes on top of our Shepherd's Pie!

No weekend is complete with a few selfies ;)

Silly faces are my favorite :)

So what did you do this weekend?

Did you celebrate St. Patrick's Day early?

Are you sporting some green today?

Also linking up with Bella & Lisa for

Healthy Life

I told you all that I joined an online group through Dietbet here.

The group was hosted by Brooke at Skinnymom.

The idea was to lose 4% of your starting weight during a certain time frame 
(January 5th-February 1st). 

I am proud to report that after a couple weeks of sickness, super busy at work, and just trying to handle every day life I was able to still eat healthy and workout most of the time.

Meaning = I hit my 4% goal!!!!

I submitted my weigh in photos and final weight yesterday 
and was verified that I am in fact a winner (lol)!

I should know within 24 hours how much money I actually won based on how many other winners there are.

If you are having a hard time sticking to a workout plan or just eating healthier to lose weight, Dietbet was great!

Betting on myself was a huge motivator to keep up the good work. 
And winning my money (and then some) back was a good motivator too!

You can join any of the groups on Dietbet or create your own group to keep you and others motivated. You can even set the time frame....1 month, 6 months, etc.

I am super excited and happy about being in a bit better shape, feeling good, and seeing a smaller # on the scale doesn't hurt either :) I am focused on keeping up with the working out, eating healthy, and feeling better about myself! I may even join another Dietbet along the way:)

Now onto the healthy recipes for the day!

I posted a few photos last week that we enjoyed some super yummy Chipotle burritos for dinner and a few of you commented on it. I am here today with some healthy items that you can make at home ($ saver) that are super similar to the real thing at Chipotle...just skinnier for you :)

Cilantro Lime Rice

Can you say YUM?
I have made this rice at home a few times now and my mom even thinks it is better than getting it at Chipotle!
I use Basmati white rice, but I am sure you could use brown rice as well to make it a bit healthier.

Skinny Black Bean & Corn Salsa

What an easy way to add your corn salsa and black beans!

No burrito is complete for me without Chicken!



Just put ingredients into a bowl or rolled into a whole grain tortilla with your favorite veggies, sour cream, etc. and enjoy!


What do you like to order at Chipotle?
Are you a bowl or a burrito person?
Have you made any other copycat recipes?

Friday at last!

I really didn't feel like posting today, but after a quick stop at Starbucks this morning I am good to go!

Linking up with Lauren for High Five for Friday

and

Started rockin' out to Christmas music and sporting Christmas socks this week :)

Mic and I had to go to Erie, PA for a work meeting so we made an evening of it and stopped in at Molly Brannigans for dinner. We enjoyed some adult seasonal cider drinks too!

Caramel Apple & Warm Apple Pie = YUMMY!!!!

We stopped at a local cookie shop for some treats for our ride back home :)

X was stompin' in his Air Force Ones :)

My Friday morning pick me up :)

PSL I love you!

How was your week?

Any big weekend plans?

 

Remember to link up with me every Thursday in the month of November for

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