Friday Favorites

Some things that made me smile this week ::

With the cooler temps and the feel of fall in the air, my mind and my taste buds have gone pumpkin. Two of my favorite Fall treats are here.

1) The Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. Of course!

2) And the Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses. Love.

3) I saw this YouTube video on Good Morning America yesterday morning and thought it was so incredibly cute and totally put a smile on my face.

4) I am reading a book right now called Life is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, Live Intentionally by Patti Digh.

From the paper it is written on, to the pictures shown and the stories told; this book is beautiful. There are different writing exercises, movements and actions that encourage you to tell your story and live more intentionally. I am really enjoying this book right now.

5) Something that put a big smile on my face this week was when Pete told me he thought I should makeover our guest bedroom into a office/sitting room for me. My very own office! It was so sweet of him to suggest that and has now gotten my mind going with all the possibilities. :) So I have been pouring over Pinterest and the Ikea catalog for inspiration. I am so excited to get started! :)

Happy Friday!!

Friday favorites

Some things that have made me smile this past week:

1) A cruiser bike

Is this not the cutest ever! I found this one on the Walmart website at a great price! I think that it would be so fun tooling around on this!

2) And I would totally add a little basket on the front. Love.

3) This is my new favorite ice cream treat.

I have tried several of the other items from Skinny Cow and my usual buy is the fudge bars. Which are also really good. But last time that I was getting groceries, Target was out of the fudge bars, so I grabbed this box. Oh my word! And only 100 calaries!

4) We have been enjoying lots of different music this summer and one of my favorite's right now is Adele.

She is coming in concert later this month and Pete surprised me with tickets!! I am beyond excited!
(And a bonus is that this concert is actually inside, so we won't be dealing with extreme heat or downpoars of rain!)  :)

5) This salsa recipe from Pioneer Woman.

This is an easy recipe using canned tomatoes... which makes it an easy recipe to make year round.

Happy Friday!

Friday Favorites

This week just flew by and it is Friday again. This summer is flying by and I am so hoping that the weather makes a turn and catches up with the date on the calender. It has been a cold and rainy spring and summer and I think I know we are all ready for some nice summer weather!

Some things that made me smile these past couple of weeks (since I missed doing this post last week):

1)  Pinterest
I have gotten lost on this virtual pinboard sight for hours. It is very addictive but so much fun and a great place to find pretty things and to 'catalog the things you love'. 
Go HERE to see what it is all about.

2)  Lake Harriet (and the other lakes in the chain of lakes).
This is one of my favorite summer activities. I love taking the dog down to one of the lakes and heading out on one of the awesome walking paths. Always great scenery, fun people watching, and a fun way to get in a little exercise. (Plus, it always brings back fun memories from high school cross country. We spent many hours running these lakes.)

3)  Fruit Pizza
A great summer dessert and always a favorite in our house!

Recipe:
1 package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 (8 ounces) cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Assorted fresh fruit, such as strawberries, blueberries. kiwi, etc. cut into pieces

Place rolled out dough on baking sheet or baking stone. Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.
For topping, combine cream cheese, vanilla and sugar and spread over cookie dough. Then place on the fruit.


4) A new outfit from Chico's
I found an outfit in the June catalog that I just fell in love with. I kept that catalog open to that page on my kitchen island for a couple of weeks and would randomly say to any of the 4 boys in my house "isn't this outfit so cute, and wouldn't it look adorable on me?"  :) I got a lot of "sure Mom" and "ya's" but they were just not as excited as I was about it. :) Anyway, Pete surprised me one day last week with lunch out at Mall of America and then a little shopping trip to to get this outfit!! He even patiently waited while I tried the outfit on! So sweet!

5)  Homemade pesto
Made with fresh basil from my herb garden. I made a batch of this last night for dinner. I love the smell of fresh basil!

Recipe:
2 cups packed basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup olive oil
kosher salt and pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Combine basil, garlic and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the olive oil and process until fully mixed and smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in Parmesan cheese. And it is ready to serve. {This freezes well.}

Friday Favorites

Here is some favorite things that put a smile on my face this week.

•  I recently found this website called bubblesnaps.com   This site lets you upload pictures from your computer or from flickr and then you can play around with adding captions. What is kind of cool and different about this is that you can add multiple captions and the captions scroll on the picture. You can email the finished photo or even blog it. Here is a photo of Ty and Jake when they were much littler, that I had fun with. (Click the blue arrow to start the captions.)

• The Thai Chopped Chicken salad from Panera Bread is a-m-a-z-i-n-g! And the calories and fat grams are pretty good too! (I actually had this for lunch today!)

• The farmers market is another favorite. One of my favorite spring and summer treats is is to head out to one of the many great farmer's markets and see what can be found. I love strolling around with a coffee in hand, and seeing and smelling all of the amazing bounty. It is always fun to watch how the market changes as the season progresses. Last weekend we found rhubarb, asparagus, potted flowers and herbs.

• Another thing that put a smile on my face this week was my new little bistro table that I found at Kohl's and it was on sale. I have been wanting a little table for my deck and have already been enjoying it with my morning cup of coffee, a quiet lunch or an evening glass of wine. It is a perfect little spot that I am loving!

• Watching my boy play baseball also puts a smile on my face. I love sitting out on a nice summer evening and watching Drew playing a sport he loves.

• Pennies from heaven.

I have 'found' a penny every day this week just laying on the ground in different locations. I really didn't think too much about it until today when I spotted another penny in the gym parking lot. It must be a very lucky week. :)

"Pennies From Heaven" by Billie Holiday
A long time ago
A million years BC
The best things in life
Were absolutely free.
But no one appreciated
A sky that was always blue.
And no one congratulated
A moon that was always new.
So it was planned that they would vanish now and then
And you must pay before you get them back again.
That's what storms were made for
And you shouldn't be afraid for
Every time it rains it rains
Pennies from heaven.
Don't you know each cloud contains
Pennies from heaven.
You'll find your fortune falling
All over town.
Be sure that your umbrella is upside down.
Trade them for a package of sunshine and flowers.
If you want the things you love
You must have showers.
So when you hear it thunder
Don't run under a tree.
There'll be pennies from heaven for you and me.




I am so looking forward to this weekend and the weather is actually suppose to be really nice on Saturday and Sunday so I am planning on taking advantage of that and hopefully find some more favorite things!

Happy Friday!

Friday favorites

I am starting a new weekly post about some of my favorite things. This will include just random things that make me smile, make my life easier, or things I am loving at the moment.

• The first thing that caught my eye this week is this cute iPhone case by Kate Spade.

and this one is cute too. I would love either one of these to add some color to my iPhone!

• Lilacs!!

I love this time of year when the lilacs are in bloom. The beautiful smell and color make this flower my very favorite! I just wish they were in bloom all summer! Love.

• This ice cream is amazing!

The Samoa Girl Scout cookie is my favorite and so I knew I would love this ice cream! But what makes this even better is that it is a lower fat ice cream and so I don't need to feel too guilty indulging in this treat! :) But it is probably a good thing that it is a limited edition flavor!

• I am loving this app called Evernote

It is a great way to for saving ideas and things I see online or in person. What is really neat about this is that you can sync your phone and your computer and all your notes are in one spot.  And it works with most computers and phones. I have used this so much!!

• And my last favorite thing this week is a recent restaurant find: The Happy Gnome.

This is in a great little neighborhood in St.Paul. The bar area has a great atmosphere with brick walls and just a cozy feel. A cute little touch was that there were little gnomes tucked all around the bar/restaurant. The beer list is very extensive and the food was great. I had the:: Vegetable Smörgåsbord  hummus, bruschetta, baba ganoush, pita, sourdough:: for dinner and it was amazing! We can't wait to go back!

Happy Friday!!