Weekend Recap

Hello all!  I cannot believe it's Monday already :/  We had the most amazing, do nothing but relax weekend and it was unbelievably awesome :)

2nd year of snow in our home! We were so excited to have snow on Thursday and super pumped for all the snow to come!

I made Drizzle Me Skinny's Buffalo Chicken Pasta Thursday and it was delish!  None of this went to waste :)  It's a great low Weight Watchers point dish and still so yummy!  She has lots of great recipes with the points already calculated if any of you are on WW like me!

(LOVE my new Gap tunic found here!)

On Friday, my office closed & Jared was sick so we were both unexpectedly home!  What a nice surprise :)  Hated that he felt bad but so excited for surprise quality time together!

One happy girl in the snow :)

(Love my Blardigan!)

On Saturday, I visited my grandfather for his 80th birthday and then trekked to MC with Lauren to go sledding with the fam!  Jared stayed behind so he wouldn't get to feeling worse.  I made a quick trip over to get some sledding in (haven't done that in years!) and then returned home to hang out with my sweet husband. 

Snow bunny.

Daddy's girl for sure :)

So much fun!

We had sleds but got out our old kneeboard from the river to use too and holy cow was that a good idea my dad had!  That was the best sled and went SO fast!

Such a perfect day (just so wish Jared had felt better and could have come)!

After sledding, it was a lot of Netflix & Panera takeout at our house.

Hot Chocolate was just what we both needed :)

Sunday brought relaxing around the house all day.  We were the definition of Netflix & chill this weekend!  Blue Bloods all day & more takeout for dinner.  Back to cooking at home this week!

Yes, Netflix....we're still watching!  

What a relaxing and cozy weekend :)  Here's to a week of my hubby on the mend and hopefully lots more relaxing nights of cooking at home and spending time together.

Today is the last day to enter to win my Valentine's Day giveaway!!  Winner will be announced on the blog tomorrow :)

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Hope everyone has a great week!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!

It has been a cold & snowy week around here but I love it :)  Yes, I am one of those weird people who hope for lots & lots of snow!  It's so pretty, makes great blog photos (always a plus) and is so much fun to play in!

Before we get started on our cozy, snow-filled weekend, it's time to share my Friday Favorites with you guys!

Also, don't forget to enter my Valentine's Day giveaway to win these goodies using the Rafflecopter below!

1. Crockpot Beefy Cheesy Tortellini

We love crockpot meals!  They are very price reasonable to make and it's so nice to just throw something in the crockpot in the morning and know dinner is ready when you come home at night.  These have really helped us save money because we know dinner is ready instead of going with the impulse to grab dinner out.  See my tortellini recipe here.

2. Valentine's Day Gift Ideas for Her

3. Snow

My favorite snow bunny! Can't wait to go sledding this weekend : )

4. Early Christmas Shopping

Okay, it's not really looking like Christmas (well maybe it is since all I see is snow outside)!  I am one of those crazy people who Christmas shops all year ; )  There are such amazing deals going on in January at a lot of stores so I haven't definitely taken advantage and have picked up about 10 Christmas gifts for this year so far.  I don't go out searching like crazy to find them or anything but throughout the year when I see deals on things I know people will love and be perfect for Christmas I  go ahead and grab them.  This makes our lives and budgeting so much easier when Christmas time gets here!  I can focus on the real reason for the season and enjoy my decorated home & all the festivities  with my husband knowing all I have to do is wrap the gifts I already have and just pick up a few finishing pieces!  

5. Favorite Sales

All of these great items from Nordstrom are currently on sale!  I own the first four and would recommend each one!  I'm debating ordering the plaid shirt and the North Face jacket seems to be a pretty good deal if you want that color.  (Click on the images to find that item)

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Hope everyone has a great weekend!  We have hopefully a lot of relaxing with maybe some fun in the snow on our agenda :)

Valentine's Day Gift Ideas for Her + {Valentine's Day GIVEAWAY}

Monogrammed Trinket Dish | Hunter Boots (on sale) | BP Pendant | Kate Spade Glitter Studs | Kate Spade Dot Tumbler | VS Body Mist | Anne Klein Purse | Lush Karli Shift Dress | Kate Spade Book

With Valentine's Day coming up soon, I thought it was a perfect time to share some Valentine's Day ideas for her!  These are all great gift ideas in different price ranges depending on your budget.  I LOVE my BP pendant, body mist, and Kate Spade coffee table book!  I also own that purse in crème and it's my favorite purse I've ever owned.  It's the perfect size for what I need and my life planner!  I wore that shift dress in wine for our anniversary photos and love it! 

In honor of Valentine's Day, I am also hosting a giveaway!

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter to win these Valentine's Day goodies!  A V-Day envelope full of fun socks, straws, BP crystal studs, notecards, Essie polish, CoverGirl lip gloss, Kleenex, & cookie cutters!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Crockpot Beefy Cheesy Tortellini

If you're looking for something easy to throw in the crockpot that's yummy & definitely a comfort food - this dish is for you!

Ingredients

1 lb browned ground beef

1 24oz jar marinara sauce

1 9oz package cheese tortellini

1 can Italian style diced tomatoes

Garlic powder

Shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese

Directions

Brown ground beef in skillet.

Combine ground beef, marinara sauce, tomatoes and garlic powder to taste in your crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours.

Mix tortellini in with the sauce about 10-15 minutes before you want to eat and sprinkle mozzarella and cheddar cheese on top.

Dinner is served :)

Weekend Recap

A big thank you to my brother for helping me hang this gallery wall!  We hung all the frames before Christmas but with the hustle & bustle of the holiday season, I decided to put off putting in any pictures until the new year.  I'm working on getting those printed and hung and can't wait to show you all the final product!  (Those chairs and table are actually returning to the living room now that the tree is gone. I'm debating doing something similar in this space or maybe adding a chaise lounge?  Thoughts?)

When no one feels like cooking and you can't agree on takeout...anyone else do this?!  O'Charley's for my husband & Olive Garden for me :)

I had some free time on Saturday so I curled my short hair for the first time!  It turned out better than I expected :)

Saturday brought lots of errand running for me!  I needed to pick up a few things plus I'm preparing to do a few blog giveaways and had to pick up some goodies for those :)  I may or may not have bought another Christmas present (#andhave8moreathomealready)!  I promise I do not Christmas shop all the time but there are so many good deals this time of the year that I normally pick up a few gifts I know I'll still love to give come December when I see them while I'm out!  You can get such good gifts for good prices this way.

Starbucks & Target.  Basic?  Maybe, but in my world it's called Saturday perfection.

Jared had to work Saturday night so dinner with my family & a sleepover at their house was just what the doctor ordered for this girl :)  Thanks for taking good care of me!

Sunday was filled with church, lots of errand running for my new project (more on that below) and a whole lot of relaxing and Blue Bloods!

Okay, first time homeowner problem here.  When we purchased our home, the main bathroom was brown.  I'm not a brown fan anyway but we're not talking a pretty brown.  It HAD to go!  First, we went with yellow.  I love yellow but the rest of our house was blue & gray and it 1) didn't fit in, 2) almost looked fluorescent with the lighting for some reason and 3) when both of our families were at our house and I announced I wanted help changing it again and had plenty of volunteers I realized we all hated it!  So, we went with the green you can see in this photo.  This is the green we used in the guest bedroom which actually looks really good in there so we used it in the bathroom too.  I liked it okay and it wasn't brown or yellow so at that point #winning.

Confession: I now hate the green.  Grrr!!  It just doesn't flow with that area of the house, I don't like how it blends with the countertop, etc and it just doesn't give me the tranquil feeling I think a girls bathroom should give.  So now I am going to repaint the bathroom.  Again.  I'm leaning towards the color on the right.  It's not super bright but it's dark enough it will not show wear and tear a lot and blue is very relaxing to me.  I'm hoping to tackle this sometime this week!  Stay tuned for a bathroom blog post showing the transformation from brown to hopefully a pretty blue in a bathroom I will finally decorate once I like the paint color :)

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!!

I've been so sick this week that I'm so thankful it's almost the weekend!  Fingers crossed it stays that way, but I'm finally feeling somewhat better :) 

Now, on to Friday Favorites!

1. Blue Bloods

We are currently obsessed with binge watching Blue Bloods!  It really is such a good show. 

2. Chicken Noodle Soup

My chicken noodle soup is a great meal when you're sick, cold, in a hurry etc.!  So quick, yummy & healthy!  See my recipe here.

3. Fujifilm Polaroid

My family got me this fun camera for my birthday!  I love polaroids and it's so fun to have!

4. Sick Day Essentials

Yesterday I posted about my sick day essentials.  See those here!

5. Republican Debate

Since I pretty much didn't move from the couch last night, it was a good night for me to watch the debate.  I'm very interested to see how the rest of this election year goes!  I think I have a personal favorite but I'm still watching & deciding!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!