if i had a theme song....

It’s been an emotionally taxing week, to say the least. I started with a new therapist, and, while she is rad and I know for sure I’m on the right path, it’s hard work doing a whole re-wire of all your brains. Also, the boss has returned to work full time…he’s a good friend of ours outside of work, so it’s cool, but he’s still the boss at work and my nerves are a tad frayed….to say the least….

That said, this song makes me happy…and I always imagine that if I had a theme song that played whenever I walked into anywhere…or, you know, out of the bullpen and on to the pitcher’s mound (?) this would be it…..

But then I also feel that way about this song sometimes when I’m feeling less…hyper. Which is kind of right now. Cuz we’re having some torrential downpour and it’s freezing cold and dreary and like I said, I am emotionally maxed out. I’m pretty sure Shawn Mullins wrote this song for me, even though I’ve never met him….

So that’s all I’ve got, but it’s Friday, and this is enough, darnit.

If you had a theme song, what would it be? Also, please send wine.

noms noms noms!

I know I was a bit of a bragger last night on the social media….I whipped up a dinner that was pretty freakin’ amazing, if I do say so myself….and these days? That doesn’t happen too often.

Just ask my husband.

Poor thing.

Anyway, while we were out gallivanting at the petting zoo last Sunday, I found the most gorgeous tomato at the farm stand, and $3.99/lb be damned, I snatched that baby right up. By no small miracle, I had an avocado that was perfectly ripe and I brainstormed up this little number…some days I have it all together, and most days I SO do not…..

I didn’t know what I was going to do with the shrimp, but I knew I wanted it so I rooted around in my cupboard and found a packet of my new favorite, sodium filled lifesaver, the McCormick’s Marinades.

You know, I can’t make everything from scratch. I have such a complex about that….

Here’s what happened next….

And if you make this? Consider yourself warned: you will pretty much want this to be the only thing you will ever eat again forever and you’ll want it every day all day cuz DAMN.

Citrus Grilled Shrimp & Avocado Tomato Salad
with Roasted Garlic, Lemon & Honey Dressing.

For the Shrimp:

1 lb. raw, jumbo shrimp, peeled & deveined

1 packet of McCormick’s Baja Citrus Marinade

1 TBS honey

¼ cup vegetable oil

2 TBS vinegar

2 TBS water

Heat grill to medium high.

Prepare marinade in a gallon size ziplock bag according to directions on the packet, adding 1 TBS of honey. Add shrimp and marinate in the fridge for 15-30 minutes.

Skewer shrimp and grill 2 minutes per side or until firm, opaque and charred. Careful not to overcook!!

For the Salad:

1 large, perfectly rip avocado (yum!), sliced

1 large, gorgeous beefsteak tomato, sliced

¼ of a small red onion, thinly sliced into half circles

10-15 pitted kalamata olives, chopped

Crumbled feta

Assemble the tomato and avocado slices all pretty on a platter. Sprinkle with onion slivers, olives and feta.

For the Dressing:

Juice of 1 juice lemon

2-4 roasted garlic cloves

(I got mine in the olive bar section of the grocery store. If you want to roast your own, go for it, but I think you’re crazy)

2 TBS honey

3-4 TBS olive oil

¼ tsp kosher salt

Add everything except the oil to a food processor or blender and process to a smooth consistency. Add the oil and process for a few seconds to incorporate.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad, lay the shrimp skewers artistically on the side of the plate, take a picture and promptly upload to every social media outlet, brag about how fabulous you are, take a bow and kiss yourself.

MWAH!

brain vomit

I’m always inspired by my friend Kim to delve deeper, feel more, think harder, write truer….the truth is, today (and any day, actually) I really don’t want to do that. Because I’m lazy. And I’m tired. And I wish I had either brought breakfast or had enough cash on me to get some breakfast because now I’m crabby and unsatisfied with my whole lineup of food (or lack thereof) for the rest of the day and that’s no way to face 9am.

I know I don’t blog anymore. I hate that. I got so caught up in “the blogging world” that I lost sight of why I even started to blog in the first place and then going back to my roots just seemed like so much WORK and frankly, I do enough work. It is easier just to link up and trampoline of other bloggers ideas and throw out some honest love and shoutouts from time to time.

This blog is about me. And about Bennett. It’s not about how many followers I can get or what the drama is with Google Reader or sponsorship or feeling like the outcast who has to sit by herself in the corner of the lunch room eating a stinky plate of cabbage and onions or something. I never intended to feel like that on my own blog, but I do sometimes. And that doesn’t feel good. So I just don’t blog. And then I read Kim, and she makes me WANT to be authentic, and put blinders on, and write what I feel even if I don’t have a perfectly edited and PicMonkey’d photo to add to it.

Such angst. Blog angst. Have you ever heard of anything so dumb?

Tuesday Thoughts…

I’m having problems with my nose. Can I talk about boogers for a second? It’s my blog, I can talk about whatever I want….I don’t know if I need a humidifier or what will solve this but I am making more boogers lately than ever before. And they are the kind that stick to the side of my nose and HURT. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

I want a Polar FT4 HRM and a new pair of Asics but I don’t want to exercise. Dumb.

If I am still this fat on my birthday this year, I will jump off the 59^th street bridge.

I finally started a savings account to take Benny on a Disney cruise for his 5^th birthday. This is seriously bringing me more joy than I’ve felt in a long time.

Went to see P!NK at the Izod Center Saturday….it absolutely blew my mind. She is amazing….seriously, if you have the chance, it’s a must see show. I am basically in love with her.

Aaaand my brain just quit on me. guess it’s time to go…..

But first...since I apparently just cannot allow myself to post without a picture, here is my freakishly adorable kid. eating a PB&J. I could swallow him whole.

(yes, it's been PicMonkey'd. Just a little though. I can't stop.)

everything you never wanted to know....

about my makeup & skincare routine.... 

First things first. Let's address the elephant in the room, shall we?

I’m not gonna lie… this whole Bloglovin’ transition is really throwing me for a loop, and I was in enough of a funkydunk before this all happened. I don’t even really know WHAT happened, but I know I’m caught up in the propaganda of it all and you know what? I’m not such a fan of change. I mean, I like to change where I live. That’s fun. Run away to where nobody knows my name or my face and I can be whoever I want to be, start from scratch? That’s my bag. But taking away my google reader and moving me to Bloglovin’ is messing with my comfort zone and I’m kind of all screwed up about it. and I have PMS. And it’s still effing snowing. So you can imagine the mood I am in, yes?

So instead of anything meaningful, this morning, I was staring down in a zombie-like trace at my basket of makeup thinking ‘you know what would be interesting? If I wrote a blog post about my makeup.” Cuz in a zombie trance, That really did seem like it might be interesting. If it’s not, forgive me. I’m a little off kilter these days….

I wash my face every morning & every night. It doesn’t matter if I am exhausted, drunk, sick, didn’t wear makeup all day…doesn’t matter. Face gets washed twice a day. It is my religion. At night I use Origins Checks & Balances because it takes off my mascara well & I am way too lazy to add the extra step of eye makeup remover. Also, it lathers awesome and smells like clean trees and eucalyptus or something. In the morning, I use either something gentle like Neutrogena or a couple times a week, I use this amazing exfoliating cleanser I got in my Birchbox one month called Vasanti Brighten Up, and it’s the best exfoliator ever.

To moisturize, for daytime I use Clinique All About Eyes & Estee Lauder Daywear + SPF. It smells like cucumbers & does a fine job. Plus, Scott gets a discount cuz he works for EL, so everybody wins.

At night, I use Rapid Lash like it’s my job, moisturize with Pond’s dry skin cream (cuz that’s what my momma always did and it smells amazing) and then I use Ceramide Herbal Eye Cream by Mario Badescu. I have a deep love for Mario.

That’s my skincare routine…it’s subject to change, but that’s what’s working for me lately….

Here are more links to the stuff I use on the daily….and please share your faves with me too! I love hearing about what everybody else does to get pretty!!!

1. Garnier BB Cream (I used to love this like whoa, but I am starting to stray. I recently fell in love with a CC Cream from my Birchbox and I think that's going to be my new love....see #4)

2. Chanel Glossimer glosses. I had a real habit there for awhile. They are on the sticky side, but soooo sparkly......

3. Elf blush in Pink Passion I was a little afraid of this when I first bought it, but it is the greatest, perky shade of happy pink & it stays on all day when my Chanel blush is rubbed off my 10am.

4. Juice Beauty CC Cream - I am obsessed. This stuff is amazing.

5. Too Faced Sun Bunny Bronzer - this stuff ain't cheap, but it will last forever. I've gone a little heavy handed once or twice and it's easy to get your Snooki on with this, but if you exercise caution, it's the perfect brozer.

6. That's my Rapid Lash right there...I live for this stuff. My lashes were sad and piddly. Now I get compliments. #Boom. The End.

7. More Glossimer. I have a problem.

8. MAC shadows in Vapour, Cork & Naked Lunch. I also use both Urban Decay Naked Palattes all the time.

9. My mascara routine consists of four steps. First, I curl the lashes, then I put on Origins Underwear for Lashes (#11), then a coat of Diorshow in black, then Estee Lauder Zero-Smudge Double Wear. Yes, I'm exhausted.

10. Revlon Eyelash Curler. I used to have a fancy one but it broke.

11. Origins Underwear for Lashes

12. MAC Concealer in NC20. I don't love this, and I ran out of my YSL Touche Eclat and cannot afford a replacement. Srsly, that shiz is expensive. So I use this. It's just ok for me, dawg.

13. All of my brushes & pencils....mostly, I use MAC liners in Teddy & Smolder and lip pencil in Stone & Subculture.

14. Vasanti Brighten Up Exfoliator

it's just a little crush...

I’m a sucker for a good crush….

I’ve pretty much got one crush or another running at all times, whether it is a crush on some rock star (I use the term loosly) like David Cook or some loser like Adam Richman or some once-was-a-rockstar-but-now-is-an-english-teacher friend of ours named John Hampson…

I’m even prone to the Girl Crush, not in a Katy Perry, I Kissed a Girl & I liked It way, but in a 100% non-sexual yet still 100% swoon-worthy way. It usually has to do with their beautiful hair or perfect skin or incredibly enviable sense of effortless style or their easy, breezy humor or their wit and charm or their talent with words….

It seems I’m not alone.

Miss Erin over at Living in Yellow had this great idea to do a sort of blogger confesh sesh where we all just come clean about those bloggers we’re crushing on for one reason or another….

I wear my heart on my sleeve, so the fact that I’m crushing on these lovelies probably won’t come as a surprise to you or to them, but here they are….my blog crushes. Go visit them. I bet you’ll fall in love, just like I am…

Kim from Typical Kim

This girl. This girl is as real as it gets. From the very first time I read her words, I knew she was special. She is one of my people. You know what I mean, when you just find one of your own. It’s a “home” sort of feeling. It’s rare and it’s awesome. She’s crazy smart and crazy cute and she has a really awesome dog that she loves to death. When I read her blog, I never want to stop….like I want her to write books, so I can read 500 pages in a sitting. So, I sent her cheese and she sent me cupcakes and we’ve been in love ever since. I feel very lucky I found this one…She is amazing.

Beth Anne from OK, BA!

This is one of those rockstar crushes like I talked about up there, cuz to me? Miss BA is a rockstar. She hardly knows I exist. I sort of feel like I felt in the 7^th grade when I was head over heels in love with Marc Horton who was OMGGGG gorgeouuuus except, I was sort of a nerd, or I thought I was anyway, I was probably awesome…anyway, I loved him. Like, hard. And I never spoke to him the entire year. Not one word. But the whole school new I loved him and I wrote “I love Marc” all over everything, because I did…love him…my little 12 year old heart loved him like no other…and on the last day of school, my best friend took him my yearbook and asked him to sign it and do you know what he wrote? “Bug off! Marc”.

Actually, this is not like that at all, but I am glad I got that off my chest. No, BA is the opposite of that. She is….ready? To me, she is BRAVE, strong, smart, determined, motivated, FUNNY, real, honest, vulnerable, loving, gentle…she is an amazing mother with a love for her boy that is so strong I can feel it through her words and the relationship she has with her husband inspires me and just fills me with awe. She’s one cool lady. I want to be her best friend. But like I said, she barely knows I exist, so I’m probably bordering on creepy right now...I better move on…

Amber from Bugs, Barbies & Wedded Bliss

(Amber, love, I'm sorry. I had to use this picture. I stalked your IG feed for it. I love it.)

This bish is my homegirl. Lets start with the obvious….girlfriend is drop dead gorgeous. Forget it. She’s perfect. Like, could I even go out to happy hour lunch with her without a bag over my head?  But besides that, she is my SAHM hero. She mothers those beautiful babies of hers with a heart unlike any other and her love is deep and pure and awesome. I can tell she loves her babes with the same heart my momma had and that, my friends, is a beautiful thing. You know who else she loves? Her husband, that lucky dog. Miss Amber does everything, and she’s honest when it overwhelms her and she tells the truth always and she’s funny….like seriously hysterical. andplusalso, my girl can hastag #LikeABOSS. I love this one with my heart.

Ashley from Hudson’s Happenings

My sweet, beautiful Ashley. Is she gorgeous or what? She is so gentle. She is the epitome of what a classy lady should be. She’s all please and thank you and southern charm and her eyelashes are the mose beautiful eyelashes I’ve ever seen….SHE is the most beautiful I have ever seen, inside and out. Her heart is just genuine and full and she is humble and thankful and….I love her. She was my very first blog crush, if we’re doing true confessions. Before we ever emailed, I’d read her blog and lost hours pouring over her beautiful photography, her adorable family, her daring and genius outfits, her touching words and her beautiful smile. Ashley is the real thing in the most delicate, ladylike, stunning package.

Now go pay them a visit and try not to fall in love…..betcha can’t help it!

the plague...i haz it....

Or yellow fever…or typhoid flu or something. There is something terribly unwell with me…and I really hate to complain because….well, I’d rather you save your tolerance of my complaining for insignificant crap like when I’m all “waaaah I don’t have anything to wear to see my imaginary boyfriend in this band Friday night!” or “waaaaahhhh I’m fat but I am too lazy to fix it” or even “wahhhhhhhhhhh if it snows one more single friggin’ second I am going to jump off the roof.” Sympathy for being sick is, like, obligatory or something.

Anyway, I feel myself veering off on a tangent. I’m only here to say that I really, really want to participate in Erin’s Blogger Crush link up today, cuz I have some fierce love for my favorite ladies, but the fact is, I am a zombie…..and I can’t think….let alone, put together a cohesive post with links and pictures and ohhhh my head. Really. this might be the flu. I hope it’s not the flu, cuz I almost made it out of winter flu-free but dang y’all, I feel like HELL.

I am going to do it, I just have to pick my face up off the carpet first. Tomorrow maybe? Please pray to the god of NyQuil for me.

In the meantime, here is a picture of the sweetest boy you ever will see…because he is perfect. Perfect, I tell you.

weekend shenannigans...

Here is what we were up to this weekend…

Friday night I met up with the boys after work at Dave & Busters and spent some time fine tuning Benny’s skee-ball game. Kid’s really got it down, yo…

 

We followed that up with some filthy dinner and cheap wine and a cleansing conversation that needed to be had….

Deep breaths…

Saturday I was up with the birds to make a crumb cake for my buddy’s 15^th birthday because crumb cake is what he loves and I aim to please. It turned out awesome, but of course, I am a drip and didn’t take a picture….birthday festivities ensued and good times were had by all. CAKE!

Sunday was a day of rest & recovery, pancake making from scratch, a therapy session-slash-lunch date with my good friend Noreen and grocery shopping with my baby at Whole Foods.

I found this PERFECT pancake recipe and have never gone back to using mix ever since. Sometimes I add blueberries…if I’m feeling naughty, I throw in some chocolate chips, but if you never trust another word I say, trust that these are THE best pancakes you will ever eat. Make them. Sunday. You’re welcome. (I’m serious.)

 

Buttermilk Pancakes

3 cups all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons white sugar 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 3 cups buttermilk 1/2 cup milk 3 eggs 1/3 cup butter, melted In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together buttermilk, milk, eggs and melted butter. Keep the two mixtures separate until you are ready to cook. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, using a wooden spoon or fork to blend. Stir until it's just blended together. Scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot with lots of better and syrup. Yum!