Its Friday (woohoo!) and I have a lot of things to ramble about today.
1. Scored a private restaurant reservation! This summer we have a lot of fun things planned, one of them is we finally have reservations at a private/membership restaurant in St. Louis! I happened to be looking at our checking account and I noticed a deduction for something called Blood and Sand. Umm, isn’t that sort of a gross name for a restaurant? My little mind went ‘hmmmm’ and so I asked Brian, what is this? Well, apparently he has had a membership with this private restaurant since before we got married and we just haven’t been able to go, because our membership only includes weekday reservations. The kids keep us busy on weekdays with all of their extracurricular… anyway, we are also on a list to get on their ‘weekends’ membership program, but we haven’t gotten on it yet as its full. All I am thinking is, if we have been paying a monthly fee for this place just to see if we can get on their weekend membership list, it better be DELICIOUS. Anyway, summer has arrived and SURPRISE, SURPRISE we have a reservation and its before seeing Les Miserables at the Muny. Yes, yes… its a weekday reservation, but I am so excited to check this place out. Stay tuned for a blog post and for some photos! If its good, we plan to invite some of my family with us next time and if its not good, I guess we’ll be canceling our membership!
2. Super Summer Challenge. So, as most of you know… my workouts consist mainly of runs. I do try to get a couple of workouts with upper body weights in each week, too. However, I have been following Cassie’s Back to her Roots blog ever since I did Warrior Dash last Fall and I have decided to participate in her Super Summer Challenge this summer. The challenge has you earn daily points in Body and Mind categories… some of these categories are ones she has given you and others you can make up on your own. Once you reach a mid level and the top level, you are supposed to award yourself with a little prize of your choice. This could be a hot stone massage, a new yoga mat, etc. What I love about this challenge is that it focuses not only on your body, but your mind, too! And, she has made several cute printables for you to use during the challenge. My body goals in this challenge is to try other workouts besides just running… for instance, I have NEVER done a plank, so I guess I’ll be trying one soon! I also want to try to eat healthier. For my mind, I want to try to relax more and to incorporate more ME activities into my life. I am doing this challenge mainly for fun, I am not dead set on it. I just want to have fun with it this summer.
3. Food and Recipes. I have been into baking and trying out new recipes lately. One thing that I do after we go strawberry picking is that I always try out one or two new recipes that use strawberries in them. This year I decided to try a Cool and Easy Strawberry pie. Oh my, make this pie RIGHT NOW I tell ya! It is THAT good. Autumn helped me make it and I swear she loved it so much she wanted to eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Heck, I wanted to, too! The homemade graham cracker crust is to die for too!
Saturday night, Brian and I are going to go to the Shakespeare (Twelfth Night) play in Forest Park and we are going to pack a picnic dinner with a bottle of our favorite red wine (Mark West Pinot Noir). He has been put in charge of sausage and cheese and I am going to make a couple of foodies I pinned… Chicken Enchilada Dip Roll-Ups to snack on and Lemon Bars for a dessert. I am trying to get us back stage passes before the show starts, but haven’t lucked out yet. The weather is beautiful and I can’t wait to snuggle with my honey with some good munchies under the stars in my favorite park in STL!
4. Summer Trips. You will probably see a lot of upcoming Disney posts as our trip is almost here. I plan to do a post about what the kids will be wearing at each theme park, what I will be wearing, Mickey Mail and perhaps our must sees at each park. We’ll see which posts I actually get to before we leave! Brian and I are also planning a trip to Chicago around my birthday in August. I haven’t been to Chicago in 10 years! This will be sans kids, but I do hope to take the kids to Chicago when they get a little older. We want to see a ball game while there, eat some deep dish pizza (and eat, eat, eat PERIOD), see a show and do a little shopping. I have done the museums in Chicago, so not sure if we’ll do all that this time. AND, we are already talking about our summer trip for next year, at first we were thinking a relaxing beach trip to Gulf Shores… but, now we are considering taking the kids to Disneyland and Legoland in California! I have never been to California OR Disneyland nor have the kids…. Brian has been to California, but just for work.
5. Upcoming Blog Posts: My blog has really grown in readership in the last couple of months… I have been blogging since 2009, but it was mainly a baby journal and lately I have wanted to take the next step and expand my blog so it is about me and the kids. I am going to start looking at designers starting in July for a blog redesign. So, stay tuned. Here are some upcoming blog posts that you will see soon:
– More Fashion Posts. I am not a fashion blogger by any means, but I love a bit of fashion! I plan to share my membership with Stitch Fix and I’ll wear and share the 5 outfits they send me each month. I also plan to do some ‘everyday’ wear fashion posts, jewelry and of course I’ll still be doing the weekly Trendy Tot with Nathan and Autumn.
– Exercise and Health/Mind. I plan to continue to blog about my runs and how I am working on making them easier and faster. I am working on a blog post about my kettle bell workouts. I also plan to do a post on how to go about updating your exercise wardrobe to be more attractive. I will also share my experiences with The Super Summer Challenge as I try out some new ways to workout and any tips and tricks I learn about eating cleaner. I also want to share with you the qbuddy package I am receiving this Monday, which is filled with some interesting snacks.
I hope to share some of the things I enjoy doing to relax. One thing I make time for is a biweekly bath with a glass of wine and a nice book on my Kindle Fire. I am addicted to LUSH baths and I hope to share my addiction with you.
Brian and I are also thinking of joining a weekly run and dine group through a local running store this summer. We’ll see if we actually do it.
– Crafts/Home Decor. I plan to add more craft posts, I was doing good with this until crazy busy May hit. I am actually working on a home craft this weekend that I hope to share next week with you. Some other things I am working on is finishing decorating my Master Bathroom, a gallery wall in the Family Room and a chalkboard wall in the kitchen. I also plan to share some ways to organize the home this summer. I am also having some friends over later this month for a CRAFT night. I have never done this before with friends, so it should be fun. I am thinking about doing either a cute wooden plank sign or some sort of wine cork themed craft.
Well, that is all for now! Hope you all have a nice weekend, mine will be spent at t-ball games and I hope to finally plant some annuals in my garden… I am so late on that!
