Best Friend's Bachelorette

This weekend 10 of us ventured out to wine country in Temecula to help Katie celebrate & have one last "hoorah" before becoming a Mrs. (still so crazy to me!) We rented a beautiful house that was only about 10 minutes drive to all the wineries. Most of us have been friends for over 10 years and been through the good, bad, crazy, hard and best times...and along the way have seen Katie evolve into the amazing woman she is today. Needless to say, we had a blast celebrating the bride-to-be. I'm so excited for Katie and Beau's big day and this weekend was the perfect way to kick of the festivities!

River Trip 2013

This past weekend we headed to the CA/AZ border to the River in Parker. This is our third year going, and as always it proved to be a total blast! We stayed at a new resort, Pirate's Den, that had a really neat bar and restaurant within walking distance. The days were spent lounging lakeside, boating up and down the river, sipping on yummy cocktails, playing cornhole, delish dinners with the entire crew and just relaxing. We're already looking forward to next years trip!

Our entertaining centerpiece for each meal!

There was the perfect space for the corn hole boards right on our camp site!

                         

The sunsets were beautiful!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

In my mind this weekend is the official start to summer (even though actual Summer is more than 1 month away). Thursday night we're heading out to the river, and when I checked the weather this morning, this is what I saw:

As you can see, it's going to be HOT! Luckily, we're staying right on the river, so it will be easy to hop in and cool down. I'm so excited to basque in the sun, go on the boat and just relax with this beautiful view

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Today I'm trying to find some good recipes, it's going to be hot so we will definitely want something refreshing, but as we all know it's not too easy to cook while "camping". Here's a couple things I'm thinking of:

Macaroni Salad, Puppy Chow

I found this yummy looking pasta salad recipe on my go-to for recipe blog, Skinny Taste, I've yet to find a recipe I don't love on her site, so I'm sure this one will be equally as great. And puppy chow is a simple and delish snack that keeps well and is always a crowd pleaser--there are a ton of recipes out there but I usually go with one similar to this. And lastly, I can't head to the scorching heat without my favorite mixer San Pellegrino, orange flavor!

Now just need to get through this work week...sigh.

Mid-Week Shenannigans

Although I wish I could say i absolutely love running - I don't.  I do love how it helps clear my head and gives me some "thinking time". And I love the feeling it gives you after you finish your run, but during is difficult, and the build-up thinking about it is even more difficult. I make Alex go with me, even though he "despises' running. But, neither of us can really complain because we have probably one of the best run routes you could ask for, beautiful flowers, amazing looking homes and of course the beach line our route.

It's a good way to help us get through the week and get over the Wednesday hump!  

Upcoming Fun.

Thank goodness it's Friday! I can't help but be giddy today because I have so much to look forward to in the coming weeks. I love little weekend getaways and this month is full of them.

Two weeks from today Alex & I are heading to the River with my sissy, Easton, Tucker and his family and I can't wait! This is the third year in a row we are heading out there and every year it is such a blast. I can't wait to relax and get on the boat, especially since this guy is making his first river debut (can you tell he is a natural born chiller, sure to fit right in at the river):

pic courtesy of his mama's blog [check it out!]

As if that trip isn't enough to look forward to, three weeks from today is my best friend's bachelorette party! We have an amazing weekend planned wine tasting in Temecula. We rented a gorgeous house with a pool & hot tub, needless to say I can't wait for this weekend, wine and some best friends celebrating the first wedding of our high school group-- what more could I ask for!

Although I scored a super cute suit from Nordie's TopShop line already [see here] I'm still on the hunt for another cute top, since I have so many bathing suit ocassions ahead of me! I'm loving this simple black one, but thinking I need to venture away from my black obsession--we'll see!

Via 

After these two weekends there is even more to get excited about, with weddings, country concerts and birthdays, and just pure summer bliss, ah. And of course I'm ecstatic it's Friday and we have some nice Spring weather to look forward to this weekend. Happy Weekend my friends!

Crock Pot Carnitas

With Cinco de Mayo right around the corner, we were craving some yummy Mexican food. We normally make simple chicken, or fish, tacos so this time we wanted something different. I decided to make Carnitas in the crock pot and to my surprise the meat was super cheap [on sale for only about $7]. I slightly modified a recipe I found on Food Network [here]...I omitted the jalapeno just because we didn't have one and I used little cuties instead of an orange, again because that's what we had on hand. The crock pot has become my best friend in the kitchen, so nice to come home from work and have the majority of the cooking already done!

We served it with some Mexican rice, and a refreshing salad with lime, avocado, purple onion and a homemade Creamy Cilantro dressing, again from Food Network [here]...yum, yum, yum.