Friday Favorites

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How are we already half way through April? I feel like it will be Christmas before we know it. Time needs to slow down a bit. Am I right? Also, Happy Friday the 13th!!!

Let's get onto Friday Favorites.

ONE. Remember about a month ago when I did the 30 day trial of Third Love (here)? Well it has been over 30 days and I am happy to say that I kept the bra. If you remember, I got the Classic T-shirt Bra. I did the quiz to find my perfect fit. When I first took it out of the box, it looked huge. Ha. But after wearing it for a day, I liked it. After the first few times of wearing it, I made a few adjustments. For me, the underwire was hitting in a weird spot and felt like it was digging into my rib cage. I think it was because the bra straps needed to be tightened more. I did that and it has been amazing. Seriously, so comfortable.

I got it in the nude first because I can wear it with almost any shirt. You can't see the bra when I wear a tighter shirt which is amazing. The band fits very well and doesn't leave marks on me when I take it off after wearing it all day. It isn't the most sexy bra, but they do have the T-shirt bra with lace on it. I think I will order one of those as well.

Third Love Bras

The bras come in around $68 a piece, so I would suggest doing the 30 day trial to see if you love it. If not, send it back and try a new one. But these bras are amazing and feel great. I definitely recommend this bra. I wasn't paid or compensated for this review at all. I just love the bra and wanted to share it with you all.

TWO. Remember how last weekend I went shopping and bought some shoes for the girls and myself? Well I finally caved and bought the Shoreline Converse shoes that I have wanted for quite awhile. These shoes are awesome because they slip on, stay on (the scrunched back) and are classics for summer. I got the white ones since I already have a pair of the classic black ones.

Converse

THREE. I was reading Brandi Little's blog this week and she talked about a kitchen update to her daughter's playset. We have the same kitchen, but in pink. But what I noticed was the cute mixer, coffee machine and toaster that she added. Seriously, so cute. I showed them to Rory and he said it was too many items for their already cluttered kitchen. Plus the girls already have a toaster for their kitchen. But really caught my eye was the coffee machine. The girls love "making" coffee for us. They know how bad my coffee addiction is. Anytime we pass the coffee shop by our house, they ask, "mommy needs coffee?" Yep, I always need all the coffee. So I started looking for play coffee makers and found two that had good reviews. Does anyone have any of these? What do you think about them?

 Hape Kid's Coffee Maker

Melissa and Doug Coffee Maker

FOUR. Vacation life. I will be gone all next week, but I have several posts lined up. I have been writing all week and have a post lined up for everyday except Tuesday!

And don't worry, we have someone at our house all week with Walter, so I know our house and pup are in good hands. Normally, I wouldn't share when we are gone for fear of someone coming to my house unexpectedly, but we have people staying at our house. Thank you to our amazing friends and family for helping out!!!

FIVE. Has anyone used Moroccanoil Root Booster? I have seen a few people talk about it and I am very interested in it. I already use Bumble and Bumble Thickening Mousse and love it, but I heard Moroccanoil is even better. I have very fine hair and need the volume boost to it.

MoroccanOil

SIX. Don't forget, next Thursday is our monthly Girl Chat link up. This month's theme is Guilty Pleasures. I love this topic and had so much fun sharing my guilty pleasures. Some of them are a bit embarrassing, but so good. Grab an image below and be sure to come back here next Thursday and link up.

I hope you all have a good weekend!!!

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

DIY Cool Whip Dyed Easter Eggs

I know Easter is over, but I wanted to share my experience with dyeing Easter eggs using the Cool Whip method. I have seen a lot of people complain that they did not get the results that I did or that their color completely wiped off.

What you need:

White distilled vinegar
12 large eggs
Food coloring
2 containers of Cool Whip
Disposable pan
Paper towels
Toothpicks
Disposable gloves

I made my hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot and they came out perfect. I used Skinny Taste's recipe and they were cooked perfectly, though 3 cracked.

Do it:

1. Soak your eggs in a bowl filled with the distilled white vinegar for 20 minutes.

2. While your eggs soak, put your Cool Whip into the disposable container. Side note: I get my disposable aluminum pans at Costco. You get about 30 pans for $6. Total steal and they are good quality.

3. Using the food coloring of your choice, add several drops to one side of your pan. Then you can add a second color in if you desire. Repeat this for the other side using other colors.

This isn't enough food coloring, but I just kept adding more after I swirled it until I was satisfied.

4. Using a toothpick or knife, swirl your food coloring in. Make sure it gets swirled in deep into the Cool Whip.

5. Put on your gloves. Take out an egg and pat it dry using a paper towel. Then put your egg in the Cool Whip mixture. Make sure you turn it a couple times allowing the Cool Whip to cover your egg. Leave the egg in the mixture. Let the eggs set for 20 minutes.

6. Rinse off your gloves or get a new pair. Fill a bowl with water and take an egg out of the mixture. Gently place it in the bowl, rolling it around to get off all the Cool Whip. Do NOT run the egg under water. I would do a few eggs and then change the water out.

7. Take the egg out of the water and pat dry with a paper towel. 

8. Store in your egg carton.

Weekending

This weekend was pretty easy going minus some toddler tantrums, but I will take the good with the bad.

Friday after work, we grabbed some lunch and then took Walter to his vet appointment. I always get nervous when we take him in because I am always worried they will find something or say that we don't brush his teeth enough. We do brush his teeth often, but I know we can be better. Anyways, his appointment went well. He got his vaccinations and a heart worm test which came back negative! He did have to have a little bandage from the blood draw. Doesn't he look so cute?

After his vet visit, we took him to the pet store to get him some wet food and some treats. Then we dropped him off at home, changed over a load of laundry and then picked the girls up from daycare.

I had to run to the store to get something for dinner, which we chose Roasted Veggie Pitas with Avocado Dip. This is one of our favorite vegetarian dishes. After dinner, we hung out and let the girls watch an episode of Mickey Mouse Club House.

Saturday morning we got up and after getting ready, we headed to an old favorite bagel shop. We used to go to this bagel shop all the time when the girls were in the NICU as it is only a mile away. After bagels, we headed to Target to get stuff for our upcoming trip and things for the grandparents houses. We may have also stopped at the Vans and Converse stores and bought some shoes. Oops.

Then we took the girls to Chick-fil-a since it was in the same shopping center. We ate and then let the girls burn off some energy in the playground. On the way home, Avery told us she was tired. We got home and they went down for naps quickly and earlier than normal. While they slept, I headed back out to the grocery store to get groceries for the week.

The next few hours were spent trying to calm down Sutton as she got woken up by her sister early from her nap. They spent the evening fighting, sitting on each other, hitting each other and just acting unruly. Ha. I blame it on the rainy weather and them being cooped up.

I made dinner and after the girls went to bed, we watched Game Over Man. It is the movie with the guys from Workaholics. So weird, but funny and definitely not for kids.

Sunday morning I got up and grabbed some coffees and coffee cake to go and we hung out watching the Masters and enjoying our breakfast. While the girls played, we did a bunch of cleaning. We cleaned all the bathrooms, the floors, vacuumed and cleaned the windows. Am I the only one who does a major cleaning before going on vacation? My sister will be at my house all week with Walter, but I still wanted the house to be clean.

At 11, I headed out to go shopping for wedding shoes and accessories shopping with my mom and sister. We were out for about 4 hours and it was so much fun. I love watching my sister go through wedding planning and be a part of it. Plus I got some pretty awesome stuff while I was out courtesy of my mom. Thanks mom!!!

I stopped at Whole Foods to grab some Sperlonga bread (doesn't Whole Foods have the best bread?) and then headed home. The girls were still napping! They napped about 2 hours which is normal for Sutton, but Avery has only been taking 30 minute naps. It was beautiful out, so once the girls got up, we got them ready to go outside.

We came into their room and they were sharing a bed.

We hung up some racks in the garage and then took the girls out on their scooters and then out in their Jeeps.

If you follow me on IG, then you saw this last photo. Sutton stopped driving her Jeep to fix her hair. She didn't have a hair tie, so she just held her hair up and started driving around. I think Sutton will be a very distracted driver. Not only does she do her hair while driving, but she is rarely ever looking forward. Ha.

After Jeeps, we went home and the girls continued to play outside for a bit and then came inside to watch me make dinner. I made Baked Ziti. I got it off of Pinterest this week and it was really good. The only thing I would change, is to let the sauce simmer for a bit before putting it all together. I paired it with the sperlonga bread I picked up earlier that day.

After dinner, it was bath time and getting ready for the week. Then we hung out and finished the Masters. After the girls went to bed, we caught up on the Americans and Silicon Valley and then it was bedtime. 

Avery was up many different times last night, so I am exhausted. 

Hope you have a good week!!!

Friday Favorites

*This post contains affiliate links.

And just like that, we have our first Friday of April. I feel like this month is going to be more relaxing (hint: Mexico).

Onto Friday Favorites and Happenings.

ONE. Wednesday was my mom's birthday. To celebrate, she got a phone call from the girls, a wedding dress fitting with my sister and myself and then an amazing dinner at my favorite steakhouse in town with Rory, my dad and myself! It was pretty awesome to celebrate my mom and have an adult dinner with my parents. I don't remember the last time that happened. The girls were hanging out with my in-laws and happy as can be.

TWO. Walter has his annual vet visit today. We got a notice in the mail for his annual shots and with the pet flu being rampant, I didn't want to bring him in. Also, the vet said to wait until the flu wasn't so crazy. So he is going in today. I always fear these appointments because you just never know. Walter is a pretty healthy dude, but I know we need to brush his teeth more often. But that dude is spoiled, so I hope he checks out just fine. 

When we take him to the vet, he also gets a heartworm test and another year of meds, or treats as Walter thinks they are. We do this because we take him to California and other areas for camping and heartworm is an issue in those places. So we get him tested and keep him on a monthly med for it. April is heartworm testing month, so please get your pet tested.

THREE. I have been trying to be more mindful of drinking water. When I was pregnant with the girls, I drank so much water. Even when I was pumping and breastfeeding, but after I stopped, I wasn't that great about it. I have noticed that I get dehydrated more often now and knew I needed to up my water game. So I went to REI last weekend and bought myself a Hydro Flask with the silicone cover for the bottom of my bottle. I had a 20% off member coupon plus my yearly membership dividend, so it came out to around $15.

Hydro Flask 32 oz

Hydro Flask Boot

I have been using my water bottle at work all week and have definitely noticed a difference. I fill it up at home with ice and water and then bring it to work. I try to drink the entire bottle before lunch and then refill it after lunch since I am part of our work water fund (basically $3 to $4 per month for unlimited filtered water). Total game changer. I guess I just needed a fancy water bottle (that keeps cold all day) to help kickstart me again.

FOUR. So I want to cut my girls hair. I always said I would allow it to grow and grow, but they were blessed with my hair. Very fine and crazy hair. Plus they sleep heavy and thrash around a bit which gives them the most epic beadhead.

Case in point

I use Honest Company Hair Detangler on them every morning. Even after a fresh bath the night before. I typically have cut their bangs every so often so they can see, but we have only taken them for one haircut. That was when they were almost 2 years old (I kept their hair for their baby books). I am really wanting to cut their hair in a bob style, so it is easier to style and will look not so "rag-a-muffin". That is what my parents called me when I was a kid and my hair was crazy.

So what do you think? Cut their hair into cut bobs when we get back from Mexico or let it grow? 

FIVE. I am currently wanting this shirt, but they are out of my size in the color I want. But I hear it is very flattering on everyone. I am hoping it comes back in stock in my size soon. Seriously, how cute is this?

Peplum Tee

Have a great weekend!

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

Things to do in Puerto Vallarta

So what do you do (fun wise) when you have been on vacation to the same place over and over? You research and figure out new things to do. As I have mentioned, we are going to Puerto Vallarta again. We have been going for the last 9 years (Rory has been going for a lot longer), almost every year, so we have done a lot there. We have been zip lining, to Yelapa (small town), atving, snorkeling, on a catamaran, to Sayulita (a favorite), spent many hours at the pool and ocean and have eaten our way through the Romantica area of PV.

I love our trips to Mexico, and love how we shared the last two years in Mexico with the girls. But this time, we are setting out by ourselves. This means we can do a lot more exploring and try things we haven't done before.

So this is what is on our agenda so far.

A Tequila Tour. I am not the biggest tequila fan, but every time we have been in Mexico, I drink of all the margs and have even had shots and sipping tequila and I really liked it. So this time, we are setting out to go on a tequila tour.

I looked at Trip Advisor for suggestions. I found two that are the most interesting. The first one (Vallarta Tequila Tastings) takes place in PV, which means it is not at a distillery. But this one has amazing reviews and everyone loves the tequila. The second one (Rancho Verano) is in the outskirts of PV at a distillery. This one also has amazing reviews, but gets knocked down a bit for the expensive food.

Food Tours. If you have been following my blog for any amount of time, you probably know that we love food....especially trying new foods. So after looking at things to do in PV, I came upon a food tour. Now we have eaten at some of the best restaurants in PV. We know the little hole in the wall places that are cheap, but amazing. We have had fine dining in PV. We have gone to so many restaurants. Each year we go, we go to our favorites and then try a bunch of new places.

When I saw Vallarta Food Tours, I read the reviews and people who had been coming for years, still learned so much about PV foods and restaurants. There are many tours you can take, one in downtown, a street taco experience, a Pitillal tour (smaller town that's part of PV), a bike and bites tour, etc. We are not sure which tour we are going to take, but we have decided between the street taco (we haven't eaten at many street taco places) and the Pitillal tour.

Adrenaline Tours. We have been zip lining, atving and snorkeling, but we haven't done a whole day package. We are going to do the Ocean Mania tour with Vallarta Adventures. This is a tour which includes a jetboat experience (we see this from our balcony all the time), zip lining by the ocean, marine life encounter, ocean waterslide, the blob (the bag you jump into that propels you up and into the water), pendulum experience and snorkeling.

And then I am trying to talk Rory into doing a Cooking Class. I love Mexican food, even more so in Mexico (because it is just soooooo good there) and I want to learn how to cook more traditional foods. There is a place that offers several cooking classes like tamales, mole, seafood, pork taco feast, and chiles rellenos. I would love to go to each class, but hoping I can talk him into one class.

Easter Weekend

How was your Easter weekend? Ours was pretty good. We were busy, but that seems to be the story of our lives lately.

Friday after work, Rory and I headed up to Mt. Rose to get a Spring skiing day in. It was 72 in Reno which meant it was in the mid 50s to low 60s on the mountain. The snow was slushy and a good time was had by all. We even stopped half way through for a glass of wine for me and a bloody mary for Rory.

 Looking out to the Chutes

My view while enjoying a glass of wine

We left around 4 pm even though I could have went longer. They were open until 7 pm for a ski and wine event, but we had to pick up the girls before the daycare closed. 

We picked up the girls, went home to take a quick shower and then went out to grab some take-out pizza for dinner. Rory took the girls out on their scooters while I was out and then we ate dinner, watched the rest of Frozen and then the girls went to bed. We went to bed pretty early that night since we were exhausted from the day.

Saturday morning we got up, got ready and headed to our favorite donut shop. This has been happening a lot on weekends and I could totally get used to it because these are the best donuts. We sipped on our lattes while the girls played in the kids play area.

After donuts, we headed to Costco for some essentials and then over to REI to get me a new water bottle for work. Then we headed down to the south part of town to take the girls to their favorite park. The girls played for about an hour to hour and a half before we headed home to eat leftover pizza for lunch. While we were eating, I made hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot. The girls went down for a nap and I headed out to Whole Foods for groceries for the week. 

Once I got home, the girls and I dyed eggs using the cool whip method which worked out pretty well. The girls weren't that interested in getting their hands dirty, so I did most of the work, while they watched. After I got my hands dyed from the food coloring, they had no interest in touching the cool whip. Avery also tried the cool whip and hated it. What kid hates whipped cream? Ha. 

As I finished up the eggs, the girls went outside to help Rory do some yard work. I started prepping dinner which was a lemon garlic butter seared salmon dish that was soooo good. I paired it with artichokes. 

After dinner, I gave the girls a bath and a trim on their bangs as they were getting in their eyes. We did the whole bedtime routine and then I walked Walter since it was so beautiful outside. I also went outside to make bunny foot prints for the girls.

I also put the girls Easter baskets together and hide eggs. I filled plastic eggs with candy, coins and some were empty.

We watched some Silicon Valley to round out the evening and went to bed.

Sunday morning I got up early and showered and started getting ready since the girls slept in until 7 am. This never happens and I hope it becomes the norm. Once the girls got up, we told them the Easter bunny came and there were some surprises out in the living room and dining room. They ran to the living room and grabbed two buckets (that they received last year) and we told them to go find the Easter eggs. At first they were not sure what to do but once they found one egg, they found all 24 eggs in no time. Then we told them there was another surprise somewhere and they started looking. They found their baskets in the teepee and started going through them. They loved everything.

The girls proceeded to eat all of their chocolate and play with all their goodies. Then we finished getting ready and went to brunch with my in-laws. We were able to sit outside since it was beautiful and warm out.

After breakfast, we went home where the girls opened some gifts from my in-laws and played with them until noon when we put them down for an early nap. While they napped, I went to the grocery store again for a few other items that Whole Foods didn't have. Then I came home and made the brown butter sage bread crumbs for my dish that I was bringing to Easter dinner. The girls only slept about an hour, so we got them ready and headed to my parents house for Easter dinner. 

We had lots of family over at my parents house, so we all chatted, did some egg hunting and made dinner. I finished my green beans which we had with bbq chicken, ham, salad, pasta salad, deviled eggs, baked beans and potatoes au gratin. Then we had homemade funfetti cake with lemon frosting. So good and so filling.

 The girls wore their Easter outfits that I mentioned here.

After eating it was getting close to 8 pm which is past the girls bedtime, so we headed home. The girls were exhausted and kept asking to go to bed. Once we got home, we put them down and got everything ready for the week ahead.

How was your Easter weekend?

TBB Asks - Spring

It's time for the monthly link up of TBB Asks. This month is all about Spring. Grab the graphic and go link up at TBB.

1. What 3 colors remind you most of Spring? Pink, purple and yellow.

2. What is the first thing you’d add to your wardrobe in Spring? A cute pair of sandal.

3. What is the first wardrobe item you ditch in Spring? Big bulky sweaters.

4. Who mows the grass where you live? My husband. I try to, but I don't mow it in the pattern that he likes.

5. What’s Spring Like where you live? It is a mix of sunny days and snowy days. I am all for the 60 degree plus weather because then we get the beautiful Spring blossoms.

6. What’s Your favorite thing about Spring? The Spring blossoms. I love how beautiful and colorful everything looks.

7. Are you a Spring Cleaner? I try to be. We have been Spring cleaning already. I used to set aside a full day to Spring clean, but now with toddlers, I just do it when I can.

8. Are you a Baseball Fan? Of course. Giants baby. Little unknown: Avery's middle name is Madison. I have always loved that name, but the year she was born, the Giants won the World Series with Madison Bumgartner. It was fate.

9. Tulips or Daffodils? Tulips.

10. Favorite Outdoor Spring Activity? Going on walks, gardening and Spring snowboarding.

11. Flowers in the Ground or in Pots? Both. We have flower beds, planter boxes and pots.

12. Favorite Bird? Ummm, I guess I never really thought of this, but I will go with hummingbird.

13. Car Wash or Wash Vehicles at Home? Car Wash. I used to wash my car at home, but now I don't have the supplies and the amount of water that I waste, oiy!

14. When Do You pull out Your sandals? Usually in April unless we have a nice 70 degree weather before that.