Food for Thought

Knowing that I'll be in a swimsuit next to an army ranger and his super fit girlfriend for a week straight in Hawaii (...can we say "killer bodies"..."both of them"....) I figured I should probably shape up, stop binge eating on the weekends and get it together. For example: no more chips and salsa and quesadillas followed by a cupcake.

Seriously-what have I been thinking?!

Anyways, that being said, I remembered to take pictures of my food for today to give you a better idea as to what I'll be eating for the next 40 days...(not that I'm counting or anything.)

Typically, I'll have a snack between breakfast and lunch...

...and then again before I workout.

No dinner pics (sorry!) but I can tell ya what's on the menu:

Monday:
Hamburger patties on the grill (sans bun)
Black Beans
Steamed broccoli

Tuesday:
Spaghetti (once again, sans noodles)
*Recipe below!

Easy peasy recipesy:
Ground turkey
Spaghetti sauce
Spaghetti squash (this will be your noodles)

Found next to regular squash-looks like so...

Preheat oven to 375*
Cut spaghetti squash in half (longways)
Take out seeds
Lay cut sides down on a baking sheet
Let bake for 45-55 minutes

While that's baking, brown turkey meat and add sauce.

Check on squash
Once tender, scrape out insides with fork
And voila! ...you have just made your noodles!
Mix in sauce and turkey and there you have it!
*Should make enough for at least 2 meals per person!

Wednesday:
Taco Wraps (you guessed it-sans shells)
*use iceberg or romaine lettuce leaves instead

Thursday:
Dinner @ Petroleum Club :)
I usually get the avocado & crab salad w/ fruit
Vodka soda on the side, duh.

Friday:
Whatever we can find-ha!
(Please tell me y'all have nights like this too...)

Here's to hoping I can look like this chick in this swimsuit:
(clearly, I'll still be lacking in the boob department)

Anyways, everything I've listed is yeast free!
You're welcome.

My Date With Strangers

Well-there was no secret handshake involved nor was I hazed (can you tell I'm an ex-sorority girl??) but I somehow finagled my way into meeting a few local bloggers last night for drinks & didn't get kidnapped!

Let me set the stage:

Tuesday AM:
Tweet from Jenny in regards to #Htownbloggers followed
by a little researching to see what it was all about...

Tuesday PM:
Sporadic happy hour planned w/ strangers
No big deal.
Wednesday AM:
(Standing in my closet) What the hell will I wear?!

Wednesday Lunch:
(conversation b/t Beau & I)
Beau: "How will you know who they are? Do you have their numbers?"
Me: "I'll message them on twitter" (with a confident "DUH" demeanor)

Wednesday PM: Tweet from Megan
5pm hit and I was outta there (after I changed, combed my rat-tastic hair and touched up the face, of course). Girlfrand needed a drink! So I park, get out and make my way to the bar. I turned the corner and realized a few butterflies in my stomach and thought "Oh my gosh. What if these 'girls' aren't who they said they were? What if they're creepy old men pretending to be these cute lil' bloggers and they try to steal me?" Here I am going to meet complete strangers and this thought crosses my mind as I'm walking up...(Damnit, Stephanie. Get with it.)

Rest assured...that didn't stop me.
I mean, I had my cell phone in hand just in case a lil' 911 action needed to happen.

Anywho-I get to Yardhouse, turn to the left, wondered past a couple booths packed with creepy old business men (not gonna lie...for a second I thought to myself "Ummm should I just turn around now?") but once again, that didn't stop me. I walked to the next booth and there they were! Sure enough-sitting at a huge booth to the left! (Note to self: glad I told them what I was wearing so they would recognize me, too. How awkward would it be to walk up to a huge booth of girls and it NOT be the right ones??)

Without further adieu-here we is!

Lindsay, Savanah, Megan, Meg, Me
Savanah-I'll take that tan of yours. Thanks! ;)

Megan, Meg & Me

Lindsay & Savanah

Apparently I was the booze hound of the group-no surprise there- but I had so much fun and am excited to get to know this great group of girls!

I still can't believe I am just now finding out about this gang...better late than never, right?!

Who Knew??!!

Perhaps I'm a leetle behind here but I woke up this morning to see this little tweet from Jenny @ The Road to Bliss (& don't lie-you know you check your Twitter feed first thing every morning too... #obsessed):
So of course...I had to see what it was all about. Yes-sitting in my closet (because all the cool people do their makeup in their closet...) I put down the makeup brush, put down the mascara and flat did a little research on #Htownbloggers.

Lo and behold I came across this little gem: H-Town Blogger Hotties...or what I'd like to refer to from here on out as "B.A." (Bloggers Anonymous). An entire group of girls from my very own hometown, obsessed with blogging, who get together on a monthly basis to stuff their faces and partake in adult beverages! If these girls are anything like me, I'm sure they're in for the full 12 step program, too!

This may be borderline stalker but I already found a member from UH so I just know it's gotta be a good group of women!

Why, you ask, am I SO excited about this?! Because Houston bloggers are slim to none...or so I've felt...with the exceptions of Kristen, Jenny & Annamarie--so, girls, this is HUGE!

Anywho...feeling a little left out I'm off to see how I can go about squirming my way in! I wonder if there's a secret handshake or password? ;) Either way-I'm down.

In the meantime, & because we all need another reason to max out our credit cards, you must visit this fabulous swimsuit website. Talk about every girls dream! Beau somehow found this link yesterday (perhaps he was creepin' on the purtty girls but that's neither here nor there) but I've got my eye on this precious swimmy suit (under the "Minimal Coverage" section. Standard.) :

I'll take the suit, the boobs & the abs. Thanks.
Next lil' bonus check...she's all minez!

Happy Tuesday ladayz!
xoxo

My Only Girl Cave

CONFESSION:

I have ONE complaint about this whole married life thing...

NO MORE GIRLY SHIZZ??

WHAA??

Although I've been able to sneak in a little red here and a little zebra there with Beau's approval...the Howard household is pretty much all blue and brown and "neutral" and oh-consists of dead animals on the walls, too!

...((you know you're jealous))

What can I say?! A girl starts to miss her pink & bling & fluff soooo

what better thing to do than to bring it alllll to the office? Right?!

Right!!

In honor of my 2 year work anniversary (which is today, by the way!) I hope you're prepared for a little sneak peak into the only girl cave I have left!

I "organized" (aka stuffed crap underneath) right

before I took this-consider yourselves lucky

Apparently it's supposed to help your core while you work but I'm pretty sure sitting Indian style on it all day totally defeats the purpose. ((And yes-that takes practice, my friends)) By the way-the only reason I have the "Jane Fonda" ball is because I got it for a total steal at Tar-jay...6 bucks girls! I'm not ashamed...

And onto the desk decor:

(yes-I'll pretend my work comp is a Mac.)

My "Oh-that looks like a good spot for it!" board...

One might think I have very important documents in these drawers of mine..

WRONG.

...More like a mini Ulta/Grocery store...
Ok-maybe this stuff is a leeetle important...
Please tell me y'all have one of these drawers too...

& if you don't have one of these-YOU SHOULD!

The only part of my office that ever stays "neat"...

PS-is anyone else obsessed with decorating their office or am I just that lame?! ;)

Out with the old. In with the new.

Well, hey there!

It's Monday morning, and pretty typical of me to be on Blogger this early on a Monday but not so typical that I'm off today!! Can I get an amen?

Anywho, I woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning because, well...

1.) no worky for me today ((which means a 3.5 day work week!))

2) the house is somewhat clean I don't have to spend my day off participating in maidly duties

3) The Bachelorette is on tonight and...

4) I have a full day to hang out with my babay...and by "babay", I don't mean Beau...

I'm talkin' about this pretty lil' girl...

Don't you just love the big red bow?

So dramatic!

If you've followed my blog for quite some time, you've heard about my luck with cars...or lack thereof. [[If not, you can read about my pity party here and here.]]

From totaling my first car (the Celica) to driving a brand spankin' new Yukon that had everything except the kitchen sink, to a POS Mazda that crapped out on me after 10 months, to an 10 year old, rickety Lexus IS300, which, by the way, is still a fantastic little ride....FINALLY...I feel like I'm in my car.

Since the day I stepped foot (or butt?) into that little old IS300, I knew I would own another one. First of all, they're gorgeous cars (ok, so maybe I'm a little biased), they hold their resale value like no other and they last for-freaking-ever!! (hopefully, anyways...)

Beau made a deal with me that if I got him an appointment with a really big potential client he would buy me a new car. Also the fact that I have not been in a good quality, reliable vehicle for a little over two years now, we both decided it was time. But it couldn't be just any car...he knows I've had my eye on this puppy for quite some time now...and let's be honest...he has too...

Let's just say I came through and so did he!! :))

After conversing back and forth with the sweet, sweet sales girl (who, by the way, we drove absolutely nuts with 4,6,35 phone calls, emails and texts...), Friday afternoon we packed up and headed to Dallas. I knew I wanted the Starfire Pearl color and I just had to buy my next vehicle from a Sewell dealership. Since their only Lexus dealership is in Dallas...we had to take a mini road trip!

Sidenote: If you're from Texas and are considering a new vehicle, I'm telling you-go to Sewell. I've read their book and know their background and I'm more than willing to give my money to a good business with good ethics and outstanding customer service. Just trust me on this one.

Anywho-so we arrived about an hour before they closed, took a little spin and fell in love. I signed my life away, drove her home the next morning and could not be any happier. There's just something about being in a really pretty, extremely reliable little car that makes me feel all giddy inside!

And that new car smell?? Yep! It's there!

So anyways...I really don't have much planned for the day but I'm sure I can find a good reason to take her out for a spin! ;)

Porn for Women

Lez chat. Shall we?

You've heard all the buzz by now.
You're wondering in that little noggin of yours, "What the hell is it?"
and you're getting more and more interested by the day....

...or should I say more and more "Pinterested" by the day...

We're visual beings.
Shizz is addicting.
Forreal.

Comparable to porn...but for women.
Get it?

I can't really do it any justice by trying to explain exactly
what it is so I won't. I'll show you...

From weddings, to food, to travel, to babies,
to DIY ideas, to good ol' home decor....

Welcome to my little Pinterest world...




Seriously-a girl could spend hours on [[here]]...(& I do.)

The gist: find pins (pictures) you like or are interested in, and either repin them to your "board/s", comment or "like" them! You follow other "Pinteresters" and they follow you back. Easy peasy. (& highly addictive)

Happy Pinning! :)

Oh. And girls-by the way-there's an app for that!

Making life easier...

...one sock bun curl at a time...

((Said 12 year old can be found here.))

And since I didn't wanna wake up my lil' honeybee to do a video
this a.m.you're stuck with pics...

There ya go girls! It's that easy!

Sock + water + no heat = voila!

Although I must admit, I had my first sock bun curl #fail yesterday morning. I think it was too wet...Lame.

Anyways, I'm pretty sure longer, thicker hair would look even better but I got the short end of the stick in that department so I'll just make due with what I gotz...

Happy sock bunning! :)

Monday, Mail & Monograms

Well ladies-it's Monday.

Need I say more?

I think I got a whole 4 hours of sleep last night and woke up to a failed attempt at sock bun curls. (Damn) Guess I'll try again tonight and hopefully get it on video for all you fancypants so you can sport them too! :)

On a brighter note, I got mail today. I don't know what it is about getting mail but it makes me really, really, really happy. Like-really happy. And this mail wasn't even specifically for me! I swear I shop online just so I can track it every 5 minutes until it's in my hands...I then proceed by running down the hallway to find that little key in our drop box...sighhhh...

You see...I'm all about personalization.

And I'm always on the lookout for that perfect gift. You know...something you can't find anywhere else.

Whether it's a birthday, or a shower, or just because...

There's just something about seeing your very own initials on something that makes it "yours".

My very best friend turned 26 yesterday and I just so happened to stumble upon this on Pinterest just a few days before. (Which, by the way, if I haven't already said it...I'm pretty much obsessed...)

Well...Julz is pretty lucky she's my best and since she's newly engaged I just had to get this for her.
Did you just hear those angels sing?

J [heart] J
::for Julie & Jake::

Is that not the most precious little gem everrrr??

Well-you'll loves me 'cuz you can find your very own right here on Etsy!

Lauren does GREAT work, she got it to me in a week and the best part...it was only 40 buckaroos! Heck to the yea.

Since my birthday already came and went, you still have time to get one for me for Christmas. (Preferably with an S [heart] B).

Or either of these will work too...

I'll look forward to receiving them in the mail. ;)

Just checkin' in

Yes, indeed, I am alive and well in the beautiful Colorado Springs! (Thanks for worrying about me guys-that's so sweet!)

This is what I've been waking up to every morning...


I mean, a girl really could get used to this...

Did I mention there's NO humidity here?? Being from Texas, I never thought this was possible!

Anyways-so I'm here for work...our company is hosting a hospitality suite for the player and attendees at the US Women's Open. So-it's work but it's fun work!

Fact: Stephy don't know the first thing about women's golf or any of the players. Pretty sure I've walked through small groups of famous chicks in the locker room and had no idea. It's a damn shame.

But nonetheless...I'm pretty legit around here.


And a past Saints owner we've been schmoozing let me sport her Superbowl ring. #badass


So ya-It's long days and late fun nights but being a marketeer, it's just whatcha gotta do!

Room service just arrived with breakfast-gotta run! Hope y'all have a great weekend!!

Xoxo

What do a keg stand, a jock strap & a game warden all have in common?

My weekend.

Which was spent on the Frio w/ family & friends (standard)!

Lessons learned this weekend:

1. We may be "old" (as in "not 18")

but we can still hang with the best of 'em...

My husband makes me so proud...
(ps-check out those guns. Just sayin'...)

"Pink Pong" anyone?

2. Never, and I mean never, pass out on the river.

3. A red bandana and pit bull are sure signs you'll be chased down and arrested by the TX Game Warden. Classy dude...

and

4. Todd has a weird fascination with old, algae-infested jock straps and throwing them at you...

Well, looks like I'm home for tonight and tomorrow then off the beautiful Broadmoor in Colorado Springs for the U.S. Women's Open! Cannot wait to be at this beautiful resort!

Maybe I'll try to convince Beau to do a guest post while I'm gone...

Hmmmm...it's worth a shot.

Oh! And I almost forgot!!

Ladies, guess who's giving away FREE food ALL week long in honor of Customer Appreciation??

One clue:

You're welcome.