Friday Favorites {1.31.20}

Well here we are, the last day of the month that seemed to be never ending! I don't know why this month has felt so long, but it has and I'm ready to see it go!


{ONE}

I am obsessed with these Whisps!! it's so bad, I could eat the whole bag in one sitting (which isn't hard to do!)




{TWO}

with the big game on Sunday, these would be so cute to make!!

{THREE}

I saw this self tanner went on a big price drop and grabbed it! does anyone use this?? I hope I like it!

{FOUR}

I didn't get around to do a weekend recap, but we saw Disney on Ice last week (me and the girls, my sister and nephew) and it was definitely a favorite!! The kids' faces were lit up the entire time which made it that much more amazing!!!

{FIVE}


After watching You, I decided to go back and watch Dexter.  I can't believe I never watched this! I'm almost to season 7 (jeez there are alot of episodes!!) and I think I cringe every time I watch waiting for him to get caught! definitely been a favorite of mine lately!





That's a wrap - our weekend should be a fun one! We have a Girl Scout field trip later today, kids' basketball games tomorrow, as well as a Mommy/Daddy night out, and Sunday Super Bowl with friends!! Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

xo,
Lizzie


*linking up with A Little Bit of Everything

Friday Favorites {1.23.20}

Woohoo, here we are, another Friday!! We have a fun night planned - I'm taking the girls to Disney on Ice and Rick & Brayden are doing a dad/son night. the weather is going to be awful though so that won't be fun - mix of snow/rain. I would much rather just have snow!

On to the favorites of the week:

{ONE}

I ordered this top last week and am loving it!! Its super soft and since I'm a shorty I can easily wear with leggings too! it's still part of a 40% off promo so go get it!!



{TWO}

I'm trying to eat low-er carb in an effort to drop some holiday lbs that are still hanging around. I have never been one to truly diet, but I do know the one time I did lowish carbs I lost some weight. Anyway, I'm on the hunt for tons of yummy low carb recipes - I made this one this week and it was delish! - if you have any good low carb dishes, send my way please!!

{THREE} 

It was snowing all day yesterday and I was stuck at home with a plumber replacing our pressure tank - we had no water for several hours so there wasn't much I could do (laundry, dishes, etc) so I just binged some Dexter and worked in my group - this was the scene out the window, it was so pretty! (although I can't wait to get back into our pool this summer!)




{FOUR}

We are patiently waiting for the Ice Castles to open so we can go check them out! they are in the next state but it's a short drive so we'll do it on the weekend - has anyone ever been??





{FIVE}

I saw this meme floating around and laughed out loud - for some reason January is really feeling long this time around!!

Have a great weekend!

Weekend Recap 1.20.20

Happy Tuesday! We had an extra long weekend with MLK day yesterday so I'm here today to recap it all.

We picked the kids up from school early on Friday and headed a couple hours away to a cute town for a friends/ski weekend! the plan for Friday was go out to dinner and relax at the rental house but once we arrived in town the snow was coming down so hard. We decided instead of driving into town for our reservation we went to the clubhouse in the neighborhood for dinner - all together there were 17 of us and it was a little chaotic at times but fun too!

After dinner, we went back to the house and all hung out and we probably let the kids stay up way too late




Saturday morning it was up early to get moving to the ski mountain. the kids had ski school and we had to get them all set up and dropped off around 8:30 - once that was done I went to get my rental equipment and headed off to a lesson. I've only been on skis twice and never had a formal lesson so I was glad to do one.




After my lesson I met up with Rick and the rest of our friends and we skied for a while then went into the restaurant and grabbed a drink before we had to get the kids from their lesson.





We all had lunch then we took the kids back out for a little, but the weather took a turn for the worse and a crazy wind storm came in so decided to call it for the day - we were all EXHAUSTED. I was incredibly proud of our kids for giving their all in their lesson - it was a long time to be away and learning something new but they did great!!!!






We ordered in some dinner later on and played some games and got the kids to bed at a decent hour without any pushback on their end (they were all so tired!) the adults stayed up a while playing this fun game then we needed sleep.

Sunday was a nice big breakfast then cleaned up and headed home. We relaxed the rest of the day which was so nice.





Yesterday since the kids were off and we had snow, a bunch of us went sledding. the kids lasted over 2 hours and would have kept going! we took them to lunch then home for more play in the snow!



Phew, looking forward to a scheduled rest of the week!

Friday Favorites {1.17.20}

Another week has flown by! Seriously, where are these weeks going!? anyway, we are leaving early today for a ski weekend with some friends and I can't wait! It's even suppose to snow so that will make it that much better! I've only been on skis twice, and the kids once, but we're all taking lessons (except Rick, he's good at everything)

I rounded up my favorites of the week:

{ONE}

I ordered this coat since it's a knock off version of the more expensive Amazon one (how funny there are knock offs of Amazon) - anyway, it's SO GOOD! and perfect for Chicago weather which is just now starting to drop and be FREEZING! It comes in other colors too but I'm happy with the grey!

{TWO}

I bought these knot headbands this week and love them!! such an easy way to make any outfit a little extra! I also found this bin that holds them perfectly!



{THREE}

I'm really trying to eat better and also low-ish carbs - I can't commit to something completely like Keto or crazy low carb, but I do know if I cut carbs, I will lose weight. It's the only thing that has ever worked for me. I just need to drop 5 holiday pounds and if I can do that, it will be a miracle because I love food and wine so much. Anyway, I made this recipe recently and it was a huge hit! The hubs ate it on a bun but I just loaded mine with cheese, jalapenos, ketchup & mustard and paired it with zoodles from Trader Joes - soooo yummy!!

{FOUR}

I mentioned we are going skiing this weekend and last time we went, none of has goggles so I decided to order some for this trip - I was so happy to see this 3pk for a great price! perfect for the kiddos then I ordered Rick & myself some cheap ones too 

{FIVE}

I recapped our NYE earlier this week, if you missed it, you can read about it here

I'm off to get last minute things together for our little getaway - here's to hoping I don't break anything while skiing - not sure learning to ski at my age is the best idea - maybe I'll just hang out in the chalet drinking wine and people watch😂😂

NYE 2019 Recap

Happy Monday friends! We had such a low-key weekend that was very welcomed! It was suppose to snow a ton but we only got like an inch, womp womp. We still managed to get out sledding with the kids which was fun!

Now to recap our NYE - we had such a fun night!! We decided to host at our house and had my sisters family over and 2 friends' families. We had our new ping pong table set up in the garage and brought our dartboard from the basement and had another fun game in there, it was almost like a bar set up LOL

I made a saran wrap ball game for the kiddos and we played this really fun horse racing game

We managed to all stay up to midnight and then some! the next day was so nice just laying around and watching movies - then we all got hit with the stomach bug so that was no fun - thankfully it's all gone now!

How was your NYE?

*linking up with Lindsay's Sweet World for Hello Monday

Friday Favorites - 1.10.20

Happy Friday! Are Friday Favorites still a thing in blogland? It's been a while but I'm back with my favorites for the week! Today I'm sharing 5 shows I am LOVING

{ONE} You

I think everyone is as obsessed with this show as me - it is SO GOOD! I binged the entire 2nd season in 2 days over winter break. I think I probably negated too many of my Mom/Wife duties during that time, but I didn't care, it was that good.

{TWO} Don't F**K with Cats

OMG....after I finished You, I heard I should check this out on Netflix. So messed up! At first, I wasn't so sure, but as soon as the first episode ended, I was in.



{THREE} Single Parents

This has been a favorite of mine since it debuted. The cast is so funny and I am just waiting for Will & Angie to get together!!





{FOUR} Last Man Standing

I was so sad when this show ended but then so happy when Fox picked it back up!!! So so funny!!!

{FIVE} Mom

This is another I have watched from the beginning. It's changed a little over time, but my gosh is it funny!! At the same time, it's really heartfelt most of the time too

What show are you loving?? Watch any of these??

Hope everyone has a great Friday - I'm off to volunteer at the kids' school followed by a pizza/game night with the fam!

Christmas 2019 Recap

While Christmas is still fresh in my head, I need to recap it! We had such a nice Christmas and the kids truly were so happy and thankful for everything they got. They even said it was the best Christmas ever - umm, I'll take it!!

Christmas Eve the kids woke up to a goodbye letter from Twinkles, they were so sad he had to leave that night. It's crazy the magic of the elf, but again, I'll take it. It's so innocent and sweet.

We got our house all ready for my mom and sister's family to come over. We had such a nice time celebrating with them and the kids loved everything they got - the girls especially loved their new Barbie Camper!

 

 

My family left around 6 and while they were headed to my aunts house (we chose to stay home this year and start a new tradition) we feasted on our yummy dinner. It was our first time making prime rib and it was delish! After dinner, we let the kids open 1 present that was addressed to the entire family and it was matching pj's for all! This was the first year we did this and we all loved it!

Rick purchased a new tripod this year so we set up for a photo in front of the tree.

Then it was time to watch a Christmas movie,  Christmas Vacation was voted and I was not going to oblige since I love that movie and we hadn't watched it all month yet. After the movie, we set out milk & cookies & carrots then went outside to sprinkle the reindeer food on the lawn.

Rick read Twas the Night Before Christmas and the kids were off to sleep.


Earlier in the month I had already assembled the Barbie Dream House which was a combo gift for the girls from us and it was hiding in the garage. I was so happy I didn't leave that to do until Christmas Eve.  Rick on the other hand, had to assemble the ping pong table we got for Brayden #sucker 😜

We were up pretty late moving presents around making sure the kids were in fact asleep and I think we finally went to bed by midnight.

Christmas morning the kids were sleeping in actually! All but Ella, she's always the first one up. We actually had to wake Avery around 8am!  The best part of the morning is always sitting back with a cup of coffee watching the joy in the kids' faces. It really is the best!

 

 

After our slow morning, we had our homemade cinnamin rolls that the kids ask for every year and I love making. We headed to church around 1 then to my in-laws around 3. It was a fun-filled day and I love looking back and seeing all the happiness that was around!!

I'll be back next week to recap NYE which was also a great time!

xo,
Lizzie

Crescent Cranberry Brie Bites

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I shared this recipe in my group a month or so back and thought it would fit perfectly to share here too!! This may be more of a holiday app but really, I would be happy to eat these any time of the year!

Crescent Cranberry & Brie Bites
(makes 24)

You’ll need:
❄️ I package of crescents
❄️ a jar of cranberry sauce
❄️ a wheel of Brie (I used about half)
❄️ optional: walnuts or pecans for the topping

Roll out the crescents and push together the seams to connect - cut 24 squares (about 1” or so) put the square crescents in a mini muffin tin (I LOVE my silicone ones —> https://amzn.to/38H89Ca (ad) )

Cut the Brie into 24 little pieces, place on top of crescents, add a little bit of cranberry sauce and top with nuts if desired.

Bake at 350 for 15 min and that’s it!!! Sooo yummy! 😋😋😋

XO,

Lizzie