Friday Favorites

The excitement is starting to set in!  One week and I’ll be getting ready for an epic “hen party” with 8 of my favorite ladies.  And in three weeks I’ll be getting ready for a bridesmaid luncheon and a weekend full of wedding bliss.  I honestly can’t focus on many things without my mind wandering to something wedding-related. But can you blame me?  It seems like yesterday we were 6 months away..

Here are some of my [random] favorites of the week!

Favorite DYI project:  Like I said, I have my upcoming girl’s weekend on my mind.  How awesome is this glittered champagne bottle?  I’ve gotta find a reason to do this.

pop the bubbly

Favorite non-Big Guy dinner:  Big Guy might not like salmon but I adore it.  I’ve seen this salmon recipe in my Self magazine, on Pinterest and a friend posted it on Instagram.  Basically, I gotta try Salmon with Sriracha Sauce and Lime.

Salmon with Sriracha Sauce and Lime

Favorite Stripes:  This dress is summer perfection.

s-t-r-i-p-e-s

Favorite Grilled Cheese:  In case you aren’t aware, it’s National Grilled Cheese month.  The thought of a grilled goat cheese sandwich with honey-roasted grapes and walnuts makes my mouth water.

grilled cheese, please!

Favorite Wear to Work:  I’m loving these red pants and stripes.  And that gold chunky necklace?  Amazingly perfect.

red + stripes + gold

Favorite Date-Night Idea:  Create a food passport!  Write down all the restaurants you want to visit  in a small notebook.  Throughout the year, when you can’t decide what to do, visit one of the restaurants and write down the date you went.

food passport

Favorite Honeymoon Essential:  I’ve pretty much bought/gotten everything I need for our honeymoon.  But how gorgeous is this bathing suit?

bathing beauty

Favorite Cocktails:  Every edition of “Friday Favorites” needs a cocktail…How about Pear & Bubbles?

pear&bubbles

Favorite Bedtime Ritual:  These face wipes are the best!  Not only do they take off all my makeup but their affordable (cheap) and easy to find!  Oh, and they smell amazing.

essential

Favorite Salad:  So light, so refreshing, so…avocados are involved!

Grilled Shrimp Avocado Fennel and Orange Salad

Happy Friday!  I hope the weather is warming up wherever you are so that you can enjoy the weekend outside!  I’ll be on the hunt for a LWD all day Saturday…wish me luck!

Detox Smoothie

Wedding Month is here!  And there’s no April Fool’s about that.   I hope everyone had a lovely Easter weekend.  I got to spend lots of time with Baby Haines and I savored every moment!  That little  monster bunny has such a personality these days.  I can’t wait to (hopefully) see her in two weeks!

In addition to kissing Haines to death, we went to our favorite bar for a drink before dinner on Saturday.

It’s 5 o’clock somewhere!

This cocktail had me dreaming of our honeymoon!

After dinner on Saturday, we dyed Easter eggs.  A tradition that will never stop!

Easter eggs!

We also came home to discover that our asparagus had grown.

Spring asparagus

And I can’t think of any better end to an Easter weekend (other than Monday off work) than a mini bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs.  My absolute favorite Easter candy!

Easter favorite

This morning, I woke up ready to tackle the week (thanks to a 8:15pm bedtime)!  After my morning trip to the gym, I knew that a green smoothie was just what I needed.

This detox smoothie recipe came from the latest issue of Self magazine.

green breakfast

In the blender: 1 cup almond milk (instead of skim milk), 1/2 banana (frozen), 1/2 pear (chopped), 2 handfuls spinach (instead of kale), 2 tablespoons pistachios, sprinkle of ground ginger and 1 tablespoon flax seed.  Blend until creamy!

 

Friday Favorites!

Can you believe Monday is April 1st?  Can you believe this weekend is Easter?  I have a fun weekend (hopefully relaxing, too) planned with our families.  I will get to see my entire family and I’m simply tickled pink.  I told Big Guy this morning that the most important task today is to find an Easter egg kit that simply lights my world on fire.  I live to dye eggs.  I’m serious.  I hope you enjoy your (hopefully) 3-day weekend and I’ll see y’all back here in April!

Favorite Chicken on the Grill: Ummm, wine in my marinade?  Yes, please.

Favorite Corner:  Simply put, My name is Emily and I adore bar carts.

Favorite Color Palette:  The planning of my wedding may be coming to an end but that doesn’t mean I can’t brainstorm for other people.

Favorite Side Item:  Fruit and Nut Slaw.  Perhaps someone will let me put this on the table Saturday night.  (Though, I’d use feta or goat cheese instead of blue.)

Favorite Cocktail:  This will probably be “my” drink of 2013:  Coconut Lime Mojito.

Favorite LWD:  I’m on the hunt for a LWD (little white dress) for my hen party coming up (read: in TWO weeks!!!!!!!!!) and I wish I could find one that looks this good on me.

Favorite Workout to Try:  This will be in the rotation next week!

One Month

One month (31 days) from today Big Guy and I will say “I do.”  Can you believe it?  Most of the planning is done and now it’s just a matter of tying up loose ends and just enjoying this last month of our engagement.  I’m going to be a married lady in a matter of weeks.  Craziness.

To Do List:

• Finalize the ceremony programs and have them printed.
• Marriage license!!!
• Final dress fitting.
• Wrap all the gifts for our wedding party.
• Call the guests that didn’t RSVP.
• Confirm honeymoon travel plans.

Now there are obviously a other little things that need to be done but those are the main things.  This is real, y’all!!!!

Fiesta!

KP and Adam

On Saturday night we celebrated those two love birds!  In June, they’ll tie the know in Cincinnati and we (four couples total hosted this shin-dig) wanted to make sure they had a proper NC celebration.  Fiesta style!  There were margaritas, tacos, tequila shots, laughs and most importantly, amazing friends!  Here are a few photos (I took over 110 – let’s just say, we had a good time):

Taco Bar

margarita bar

Margarita Cupcakes and Sombrero Cookies

tequila bar

Me and KP – OLE!

The Bride-to-Be!

tequila time

amigas

pinata!

 

Small Bites

Like I mentioned Wednesday, this past weekend I had the most perfect bridal shower I could ever imagine.  But today, let’s focus on the food.  The food was incredible (and all gluten-free!).

the spread

The hostesses totally out-did themselves.  I wanted to share the small bites because most of them come together in no time at all and I think they’d be perfect for any Spring gathering (it is officially Spring now…despite this cold weather).

apricot and brie bites

Daphne was responsible for these addicting nuggets.  From what I can tell, dried apricots (TJs has some fantastic ones) were cut in half and stuffed with brie, an almond and a sprig of thyme.  Quite the perfect bite.

skewers

Maggie was in charge of these pretty skewers.  On the left, there are skewers with pepperoni, olives and mozzarella.  On the right, skewers of grape tomatoes, mozzarella and basil.  Super easy and delicious.

avocado salsa

Daphne made this dish, too.  I know for a fact that it has avocados, tomatoes, feta and cilantro.  Whatever it is, it’s divine.  Daphne – can you share a link or exact ingredients in the comment section?  I think she originally found the recipe off Pinterest and it’s amazing.

There was also a platter of fresh fruit kabobs,  a cheese plate and some gluten free spinach ball with marinara sauce (from Pinterest) that were awesome.  Like I said, all the food was delicious.

Now go enjoy appy hour!

mimosa bar

32

And I’m not talking days until I get married.

Happy Anniversary to my parents!!!!!!!!!!!!

Momma and Dadom -
You two have shown me what a marriage should be.  I know your marriage isn’t perfect because y’all aren’t perfect.  But then again, who is?  But you do love each other and all of us kids (plus the additions) more than anything in the world.  There is no way that I will ever be able to show you how much I appreciate and thank you both – but I’m hoping that by mirroring your marriage I’ll show you the respect your deserve.  I hear it takes a lot of work to make a marriage last (and I believe it) but I also think that at the end of the day you have to remember why you fell in love in the first place.
Thank you.
I love you more than Moon Pies and Mountain Dew.
And that’s a lot.

And since I haven’t posted a recipe in awhile, here’s what I made Momma on Tuesday night.

Not only is it delicious and healthy but there are only 6 ingredients (not counting S&P and EVOO) and it was ready in about 20 minutes.  Spinach, balsamic vinegar, chicken breasts, avocado (optional – Momma went without), mozzarella and pre-made Trader Joe’s (or any other brand) bruschetta.  Here’s the link to the recipe for Avocado, Mozzarella and Bruschetta Chicken.

Wedding Wednesday, My Kitchen Shower

38 days now

I cannot even begin to explain how much fun I had on Saturday.  Daphne (my aunt), Maggie (my sister and MOH), Momma Bell and Rachel (my cousin) outdid themselves!

kitchen cake

How amazing is that cake that my Momma put together?  I swear she’s Superwoman.

Yummy cupcakes!

Bride and MOH

How awesome are those wine glass markers?

lovely ladies

It was such a treat to have so many special ladies in my life under the same roof.  We laughed, played games and just enjoyed each others company.

me and Daphne, the gorgeous hostess

 

spice game!

the Bell women

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful Momma and sister.

future MIL

It was such a special day and I’ll never forget it.  A HUGE thank you to everyone that drove many miles to be there and who really went out of their way to make it amazing and memorable !

Friday Favorites, Spring Edition.

I am so ready for Spring I can’t stand it.  I’m over these cold mornings and wind that slices through you like a knife.  Be gone!  I heard crickets the other evening and it made me smile.  Since Spring will officially be here next week, what better way to welcome it than a Spring Edition of Friday Favorites.  No more cords, no more Frye boots.  I want my sundresses and Jack Rogers.

Favorite Cover-Up:  Is this not fantastic?  Such a classic look but totally not boring.  I could see myself wearing this on the honeymoon (not to rub it in) while grabbing lunch poolside.

Favorite Use of Hard Boiled Eggs:  I still dye Easter eggs.  Big Guy dyes them now, too.  It’s a tradition.  But what to do with all the leftover eggs.  I usually make egg salad but this year, I think I’m making this twist on the deviled egg.

Favorite Cocktail:  This reminds me of my favorite sangria at Cantina 18 in Raleigh.  I want a pitcher of this Sour Apple and Pear Sangria on my back deck on the first day of 80 degree weather.

Favorite Sandal:  I love this strappy sandal.  You could pair it with white jeans (ohhhh, white jeans!) or a fun dress for date night.  Adore.

Favorite Spring Bag:  This sunny striped Michael Kors bag screams spring.  I would rock it all season long.

Favorite Side Item:  I love Spring time because that means I don’t have to cook inside on the weekends.  You can take it outside.  (I must note, we grill year round, but in the Spring it’s more fun because I can annoy Big Guy and sit on the deck with a cocktail while he’s grilling.)  Take your veggies outside and throw them on the grill!

Favorite Workout:  Walking in around those strappy sandals above means you gotta keep those legs lookin’ lean.  I plan on trying out this leg strengthening workout Saturday AM.

Favorite Thing (no matter the season):  Champs!!!!

Happy, happy weekend!!!!!

Tequila Lime Flank Steak Salad with Copycat Chipotle Corn Salsa

I’ve always said “salads aren’t boring” and this salad only further proves that statement.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that on Sunday I was putting a recipe to the test that involved limes.  Lots of limes.  Well now I’m here to tell you that the tequila lime marinade for the flank steak is worth making twice.  I was working on picking out a marinade for the flank steak that Big Guy will be grilling up next weekend for a party we’re helping to host for one of our favorite couples, Kristen and Adam (heeeey, KP!).  Well, this will be the marinade we use.  No need to try any others.  It’s easy and doesn’t have a long ingredient list which is awesome when you’re cooking for 40 people.

We threw our tequila lime flank steak on a salad along with a healthy helping of Copycat Chipotle Corn Salsa.  This salsa will also be making an appearance at the par-tay.

Y’all – this stuff is insanely delicious.  Forget needing a chip, I could eat this stuff straight from a spoon (or fork).

On top of my not-boring salad:  flank steak (cooked to perfection by Big Guy), avocado, grilled bell peppers, corn salsa and drizzle of the chile lime vinaigrette.  (For the dressing, I used red pepper rice vinegar instead of the red pepper oil – why?  Because it’s cheaper.  Just keepin’ it real, y’all.)

I can’t get over how good this salad was.  So many textures.  So many flavors.  A little heat – but not too much.  Tons of freshness from the corn salsa and the creamy avocado.  I’m sure that cheese, black beans and chips would be an awesome addition but I didn’t miss ‘em.