Weekending

Once again, I couldn't get my act together on Sunday and write a weekend update. I blame the weather for my lack of motivation. Remember how I said I wanted a bunch of snow? Well, that wish came true. I guess I should have said I wanted snow in the mountains. We are getting quite a bit of snow in the valley and it is causing havoc on our commutes and makes us have to stay indoors all weekend. Boo.

Anyways, we had a pretty good weekend. Pretty relaxing, but we were stuck inside most of it. This next weekend, we have a lot going on, so I always welcome an easy weekend.

Friday, we had to work all day due to the holiday. Once we got off work, we headed to the girls school to pick them up. After hanging out at home, we decided to take the girls to dinner and enjoy some happy hour (for Rory and I). We were at the restaurant for quite awhile, so by the time we got home, we relaxed a bit and then started the bedtime routine for the girls. After they went to sleep, we started watching The Deuce again.

Saturday morning we took the girls to Holey Schmidt donuts again. This time I got the caramel macchiato donut and a fruity pebbles donut for the next day. Rory got a snickers donut and a minty mint donut for his second day. The girls chose chocolate on chocolate donuts and some milk. They had a pink cake donut the next day.

After filling our bellies up with donuts, we headed to Target to get some birthday presents for all the parties we have this upcoming weekend. We wanted to take the girls to the park, but it was 24 degrees and very windy, so we headed home and built a fire instead.

We spent the day relaxing by the fire, giving the girls a bath, watching some Mickey, playing with baby dolls and trying to fight off the crazy toddlers who were aching to get outside.

Even after a bath, this girl still has staticky hair

I was supposed to head to happy hour with a friend of mine, but she bailed, so we adjusted our plans. Instead we got some pizza, hung out by the fire and caught up on more of The Deuce.

Sunday morning we had a princess tea party to attend. My twin mom friend was having a princess tea party at her house and myself and the girls were invited. We dressed the girls in one of their princess dresses (the ones with less glitter and were a bit warmer) and headed over. We had an absolute blast. She plans to do this yearly and we can't wait.

She had the cutest set up for the table.

There was finger sandwiches (peanut butter and jelly and cheddar and turkey), two kinds of cupcakes, french macaroons, carrots and ranch, yogurt with granola and fruit, cookies, cheeses and salami, mini naan and dip, fruit salad, pretzels with another pepper dip and then a variety of drinks including milk, juice, tea, champagne, wine, sparkling cider, water, etc.

She played Disney princess music the entire time. The girls dined on yummy food, danced to princess songs and ran around playing. My girls were very interested in my friends daughter who was 7 months old. They had to hold her and feed her her bottle. So cute. They seriously love babies and want one. Ha.

As I said, we had a blast and were sad to leave due to the girls nap time. But we have plans for a play date coming up.

I took the girls home and put them down for a nap. Too bad Avery woke up early and woke her sister up. Ugh. I cherish nap time and hate that it has only been an hour or so lately. After naps, we watched some of the basketball game that Rory was at. The girls were looking for them, but we didn't see him. Nevada won which means they won their conference, are in the championship and might move up a few spots from #20. Hoping for a nice seed in March Madness.

Rory came home and took the girls on their scooters (even though it was only about 45 degrees) while I went grocery shopping. I came home and painted the girls nails and then made dinner. We all had salad and stuffed shells. After dinner, I cleaned up and then we watched some more basketball and then got ready for the bedtime routine. After the girls were in bed, we settled in for the Women Tell All and then headed to bed right after.

How was your weekend?

Friday Favorites

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It's Friday. Even though this was a short week, it still felt like a normal full week. We don't have many plans this weekend which is totally fine by me. I really hope that I can have an evening with my girlfriends. I haven't seen them in forever. Between being gone for work (when I traveled to England and Ireland) and being sick with bronchitis, it has been over a month since I have seen them. Brunch, please.

Onto my Friday favorites and happenings.

ONE. This week, Lindsay from Lindsay's Sweet World posted about her husband turning 40. This reminded me that I need to get my butt in gear with finalizing plans for Rory's 40th birthday. See Rory never wants a big to do for his birthday, but this year is different. He is letting me plan a party for him. He doesn't know any details except the date. I also asked him for a guest list (but I added more) just to make sure I included everyone because I don't know some of his Bay Area friends.

Well I made plans for the venue awhile ago, but since it is a month away, I needed to send out invites. I had no idea what to do. Either I could send out formal invites in the mail (costly and I would have to track down all the addresses), send out a FB invite (again, not everyone is on FB), email them or text them. I didn't think of texting them until my lash girl suggested it.

So this week I created the cutest invite (on canva), which I can't share just yet because Rory sometimes reads my blog and texted and/or emailed it out to all of our friends and family. I have gotten so many responses and I can't wait for his party.

I will say this because I had to ok it with Rory first. We are doing a 90's themed birthday where you come dressed in your favorite/best 90's attire. I have some ideas in mind, but please send me all your fun ideas.

TWO. Summer is fast approaching (not fast enough) and I can't get my mind off the cutest sandals EVER. I want them in every color, but at the ouchie price of $110 per pair, I just can't wrap my mind around it. So I am asking you all if you can help a girl out and find some sandals that are similar. Kind of like the Splurge/Save concept. Here are the original beauties. And maybe I will buy one pair. Maybe.

Midsummer Sandals

THREE. Monday is my parents 35th Anniversary. How crazy is that? They are leaving on a jet plane on Sunday to sunny Florida. I am super jealous as I want to be in the sunshine. Only 50 days until my Mexico vacation.

Anyways, I want to wish my mom and dad a very Happy Anniversary. You two totally rock and I love seeing the foundation you two have built over the years. I definitely look to you guys when I think of happiness, stability, fun, love and hard work in marriage.

FOUR. I just purchased more of my favorite tees. I actually have two favorite tees and I got one of each. I love Lush Raw Edge Side Slit tees. I two in medium and I got another in medium. I like the looser fit, but I definitely could go down to a size small and still have a loose fit. My other favorite tee is by Madewell. It is their Whisper Cotton V-Neck tee. I also get this one in a medium for a looser fit. This time I got the pink (Sunset). Last year I asked for recommendations on tees and I got a lot of feedback. I bought a few of the shirts and these are my favorite. They hold up after many washes and are soooo comfortable. I just wish the Lush one came in more colors. Basically, if you are looking for a cute, plain, comfy and well made tee, I recommend both of these.

FIVE. Do you know how hard it is to shop for gray/silver shoes that will match your dress just perfectly? It is hard. It is even harder when you just put screen shots next to each other and try to visualize if it will look good. That is what I did this week. I have been looking for shoes to match my bridesmaids dress and I kind of need to find them now, so that I can order my dress (custom sizing). Yep, I still haven't ordered it. But I am hoping these beauties will be comfortable, I can wear them again and are cute in person. Plus since they are wedges, I think my feet will be thanking me at the end of the evening. Plus I have to walk through grass at the ceremony, so I didn't want stilettos. What do you think of these? If I don't like them when I receive them Saturday, I can return for my back up pair.

Kate Spade

I hope you all have a great weekend! See you on Monday.

I am linking up with April, A Little Bit of Everything, Meet @ the Barre and Cup of Tea.

Dublin, Ireland Part 1

Where do I even begin with my Ireland and England trip? I have sooooo many photos and recommendations. I am not sure how many posts this will take to say it all, but I plan on writing until it seems long enough and then I will do the same with the rest of the photos/trips.

Let me rewind to the start of my trip. I left on a Tuesday afternoon with a stop in LA, a three hour layover in London and another flight into Dublin.

This was the amazing sky on my flight from London to Dublin

We arrived in Dublin around 5 pm (on Wednesday) which means we hit traffic on the way to our hotel. Once I arrived, I showered, unpacked a bit and got ready to go out to dinner. Since we were exhausted, we opted for a pub. I didn't take any photos, but it was a decent meal for our first night in. I got a play off of Shepherd's Pie and a Kearney's Pale/Blonde Ale. This was in the Temple Bar area which is such a fun spot to hang out in. Plus our hotel was across the river (a 5 minute walk).

Thursday we had work and then explored. Our first stop was Trinity College. This college is similar to our Harvard. I bought the girls shirts from the school store. The campus was soooo beautiful. Plus it holds the Book of Kells, which we took that tour. Totally worth it.

 Trinity College

Trinity College

Tickets to the Book of Kells tour were 13 Euros. We purchased our tickets and took the self guided tour. You will read all about the Book of Kells, tour the old Library where the Book of Kells is housed and you can see two of the four volumes (no pictures allowed in the Book of Kells room). The Book of Kells is in Latin and color and it is truly beautiful. 

After you look at the Book of Kells, you go into the Long Room. This area houses over 20,000 books, and so many of them are covered in cobwebs and falling apart. There are also many other books on display. I would definitely visit if you are going to be in Dublin.

Once you are finished, you can go to the gift shop or leave and walk through the Trinity College Campus.

From the campus, we made our way to the Kilmainham Gaol Jail and Museum. We got there and the tour had already started, so we went to the museum after purchasing our tickets (9 Euros). The museum is about three stories and it has so much history. You can read about many prisoners, see handwritten letters, uniforms, listen to stories and get a feel of how life was in prison. 

From there, we went back to the main building to check in for our tour. First, we went into the court area.

People did sit on top of the table in the chair for their hearing/sentencing.

From there, we walked to an altar to watch a short video on the jail.

From here, we went into the oldest part of the jail. This area was cold. There were no closed windows, just bars. Also, each jail cell could house 10 or more people. They crowded people in this wing. Even children were in this prison

As we made our way through, the tour guide tells you about infamous prisoners, which cells they were housed in and what eventually happens to each of them.

From there, we made our way to the newer wing. You may have seen this area in movies such as In the Name of the Father and The Escapist.

After leaving the jail cells area, you go outside and learn about the execution areas and some very sad stories. The tour was amazing and again, I would recommend it.

After the jail tour, we headed back to our hotel and then out to dinner to O'Neills Pub and Kitchen. Our taxi driver recommended this. It was super busy, but so much fun. It is cafeteria style, but you can order from the pub menu and have it brought out to your table as well. This place was huge. Two stories and the food was really good. We had a couple beers here, but then walked around Temple Bar area to walk off our food and see more of the night life and area.

And that is where I will leave off until next time.

Weekending

I can't believe the weekend is gone just like that. Maybe it's because it was the first weekend in a long time that I have felt decent. Yes, only decent, but I am slowly but surely healing. Bronchitis sucks. But we made the most of our weekend. And we got some snow, finally.

But let me back up to Friday. I worked most of the day since I had taken so much sick leave last week. After work, we grabbed some lunch and then headed over to Target to get something to organize the girls bath toys, some toiletries and some snacks. We went home and took Walter for a walk before picking up the girls. Meanwhile, at school, it was spirit day and the girls rocked their Wolf Pack jerseys, which may have helped the Pack win this weekend and now are ranked #20 in the AP Polls. So happy for the basketball team.

I made dinner at home, gave the girls a bath and then put them to bed. Once they were asleep, we started watching American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. So good. We are all caught up and it is soooo fascinating, but Andrew (the person who killed Versace) is sooooo creepy. The actor does an amazing job.

Saturday morning we got up and headed to the grand opening of a donut shop in town. I have been looking forward to this place opening for months. My hairstylist told me about it and I have been counting down the days. They have specialty donuts that looked amazing. So we got ready and headed down there. There was a line, but it wasn't too bad. We just took in the shop, people watched and waited for our donuts.

 A window for behind the scenes look into how they make and decorate their donuts.

Peanut butter chocolate donuts (Rory got one and LOVED it)

We got a half dozen donuts. The girls wanted a chocolate bar and we also got two Coco Puff donuts, a salted caramel donut, the peanut butter chocolate donut and a blueberry glazed donut. We saved one Coco Puff, the peanut butter chocolate and blueberry glazed for the next morning which were still amazing. We will definitely be going back because there are soooo many donuts we wanted to try.

After donuts, we took the girls to the park and it was super crowded because it was 62 degrees outside. Heavenly Spring like weather. The girls played while we chatted with our boss (he was there with his grandson) and then one of Rory's college friends who brought his sons there. 

After the park, we went to get some dog food and then made a stop at the Chick-fil-a drive thru for some lunch to take home. I got the cobb salad which I never had before, but I loved it. I usually get nuggets, but this was really good and a new favorite. I hear their soups are amazing as well. 

After lunch, the girls napped and I did some laundry. Once they got up, we went for a walk with Walter. After some playtime, we headed out to Mexican food. We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant and it did not disappoint. The girls loved it,  but the star of the show was an older gentleman who brought in his dog into the restaurant (the patio). 

We headed home and put the girls to bed and watched two more episodes of American Crime Story.

Sunday morning we got up and made bacon and pancakes (protein pancakes). The storm had finally rolled in and it was cold and very windy. Rory built a fire and we pretty much snuggled all morning watching college basketball. Just before lunch, I headed to the grocery store right before it started to snow. I got back and the girls had just went down for their naps, so I spent their nap time unloading groceries and cleaning the house. 

When the girls got up, it really started snowing, so they got in their snow pants and jackets and went outside to build a snowman with Rory.

Avery had no interest being in the pictures.

The girls played in the snow for awhile, but got cold and wanted to come back inside with the fire. We spent the afternoon playing, cleaning up our toys and watching the snow fall. I made our favorite Spring pasta for dinner and everyone loved it. After the girls went to bed, we watched the last episode of American Crime Story and then some trashy reality tv before going to bed.

Monday morning we got up and took the girls to breakfast before taking them to school. Their daycare is open on President's Day and since we pay so much money for them to go there, we brought them in, but they were in late.

Rory and I were going to go snowboarding, but I am still getting over bronchitis, so we decided to take a walk/hike in the snow. It was beautiful, but it was a little rough on me when we had to hike up small hills. But we went for almost seven miles in the crisp, cool air. 

A little snow covered bridge along the way.

Looking out towards Mt Rose ski resort (where we snowboard)

After our walk/hike we grabbed some coffee and headed home. Rory had an appointment and I just cuddled with Walter. Once he was done, we picked up the girls and came home to make homemade pizzas. The girls loved watching me roll out the dough and put the pizzas together. They were very adamant that I only do pepperoni and cheese on their part.

After dinner, we gave the girls a bath, did some laundry and then put them down to bed. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and fell asleep early since we are back at work today.

How was your weekend?

Friday Favorites

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It's Friday and I am so thankful the week is over. I am so ready for the weekend. Let's hope no one else gets sick and things calm down around here.

Let's get onto Friday Favorites and Happenings.

ONE. My trip to Mexico is less than two months away. That means I really need to work this bootay off to wear a bikini. I am also shopping for new bathing suits as you can never have too many. Can I just say I am still sad that VS no longer sells bathing suits? They were my go to for bathing suit shopping. They never disappointed and I had so many suits. Now, I have to go in stores to try on bathing suits which is never a good thing. The lighting in dressing rooms makes you just look so blah and ugly. Am I right?

But occasionally, I shop online and make sure they do returns just in case it doesn't fit me. This week, I ordered a new top from a shop called Orchid Boutique. I found them after searching for mom bikinis on Pinterest. Yep, I went there. But I am crossing my fingers that this top fits, is cute and flattering. I have tons of bottoms that still fit, but definitely needing more bikini tops.

Maylana Top

TWO. So I got a lot of feedback over the thermometer question and recommendation I asked for last week. I have been sick, so I decided to bite the bullet and get one asap. I went off of reviews on amazon (I read soooooo many per thermometer) and it arrived the day after I ordered it. As soon as I got it, I started playing with it checking my own temperature and Rory's. I checked the forehead version and the ear version and they were always very close together.

I am so glad I got the new thermometer when I did because I started spiking a fever Saturday and have had one off and on until Wednesday. I even checked Avery's temperature several times Wednesday because she was sent home with pink eye (I don't think she has pink eye, but they had to be safe).

Basically, I am loving my new thermometer and would recommend it. If it lasts three years like my last one did, I would call that a win.

Metene Thermometer

THREE. Remember last week I posted some cute Tom's bow flats? Well Mandy found some that are velvet and are super cute as well. They come in blue and pink and now I want these ones too. Plus these ones are on sale for $42.99.

Tom's Bow Classics

FOUR. Does anyone have food aversions that stayed with you long after pregnancy? I do. I have a hard time with chicken. I still eat it, but leftovers with chicken ick me out and I can't smell or touch raw chicken. I know, pathetic, but it makes me gag. It started a few months into pregnancy and it still gets to me. This week I made a Copycat Panera Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. I used a rotisserie chicken that my husband shredded (bless his heart for dealing with me over this dumb issue) and it tasted really good. It makes a ton, so we decided to have it for lunch the next day. Well when I went to pack our lunches in the morning, I opened the fridge and about threw up. The smell was so bad. But I still brought it to work and put it in my mini fridge (that I got when I was pumping breastmilk) and the smell was awful anytime I opened my fridge. You guys, I just can't with leftover chicken. Rory ate the leftovers and I had a salad.

But seriously, if you love Panera's Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, make this. It was really good....freshly made.

FIVE. I am finally writing my Ireland and England recaps. Between being sick and then Avery being sent home due to pink eye, I feel like I have fallen so far behind in blogging. But I have two posts coming to you all next week. Plus I didn't want to forget the details, places and recommendations to share.

I am linking up with April, A Little Bit of Everything, Meet @ the Barre and Cup of Tea.

Girl Chat - Ways to Stay Organized

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It's time for another round of Girl Chat. This month we are talking about Ways To Stay Organized. Grab the button below and come back here to link up.

I always thought I was pretty organized until I had to write this post. That is when I realized that I am not as organized as I thought. Sure I have organized to some extent because you have to be with twins, but I definitely could improve. I have organization goals like Lindsay from Lindsay's Sweet World. She recently became a stay at home mom and has tackled organizing and purging in her house and she has done an amazing job. #goals

Anyways, there are some things that I do to stay organized. My main way of staying organized has to do with my phone. I use the Notes and Calendar apps on my iPhone. These save my life.

I use my notes app for everything. From writing my grocery list to keeping track of the girls height/weight to blog ideas, I write it all down in my notes app. Blogging ideas come to me at random times (especially sitting in doctor's offices) and I open up my notes app and add it to my ongoing blog ideas note. I currently have 43 notes in my notes app. I seriously use it all the time.

I also use my Calendar app for everything. I set reminders to do something, like blog, pick up a prescription, pick up juice and goodies for the girls Valentine's Day party, etc. I also add in all my daily activities, appointments, basketball games that Rory attends (to not double book), birthdays and everything in between. I feel like this is the only way to stay up to date with everything and make sure that I don't miss anything.

To stay organized in the home, I do a seasonal purge of clothes (for the girls and myself). I usually separate the clothes into two piles: one for donation and one for selling. I will admit that I haven't done my winter/spring purge yet, but I have done it for the girls.

Another way I stay organized in the home, is buying simple things like a shoe organizer. I never realized how many shoes my girls had until this last weekend when I vacuumed the house. I used to keep their shoes tucked under their dresser, so they could grab them easier. But this weekend, I realized that their shoes were overflowing to both sides of the dresser as well. So I headed out and bought the girls a behind the door shoe organizer. Total old school, but amazing for saving space.

Shoe Organizer

Now in order to become more organized like Lindsay, I need to buy some folders for the girls art work. I want to keep the special ones, take photos of the ones that I will recycle (thank you Lindsay for that idea) and give some to the grandparents.

I also have a few other things that I want to implement around the house. How do you stay organized? I can't wait to read everyone's and get some ideas!

To link up - just grab our graphic, link up, and let's getting to chatting!  Make sure to stop by a few others linked up for an extra bit of girl chat! 

Danielle / Sparkles and Lattes - Bloglovin' - Pinterest - Instagram
Emily / A Little Bit of Emily - Bloglovin' - Pinterest - Instagram
Lindsay / Lindsay's Sweet World - Pinterest - Facebook - Instagram - Twitter
Lizzie / This Happy Life -  Bloglovin' - Pinterest - Facebook - Instagram
Sierra / Beautifully Candid - Bloglovin' - Pinterest - Instagram - Twitter