Honey, it's Date Night Smoothie!

 

I love what I do! I feel like I say it all the time! But, really... I feel so blessed to have a successful business that allows me to be home, create and be my own boss. This morning as my husband and I started to roll out of bed, he looked at me and said, "Why don't you reset your alarm and just go back to bed?" ...It did sound nice, although - even though I am sure I could take advantage of that luxury, I do have responsiblity to customers who are relying on me to get their orders out on time! So, I stumble out of bed, make our coffees and then get to work...which never really feels like work!

A typical day for me starts with getting up, making coffees and Andrews lunch (sometimes I am a bad wife and make him make it! HA!), then I jump on the computer, turn on some music (mostly worship or christian music) and get to checking emails and writing down my To-Do list for the day! Then its stamping, constantly checking messages to respond promptly to customers, and then the daily post office run! After I have completed what I have to do, I go for a run or swim!!

Wednesdays are special though. Why are they special? Well, IT'S DATE NIGHT!!! Andrew and I go to a restaurant not too far from where we are living called Thai Place. They have the BEST lemongrass chicken dish and crab rangoons that we have ever had. In fact, we order the SAME THING, every Wednesday! Yes, it's THAT good! :) On Wednesday, I normally try to eat light for lunch since we normally stuff ourselves silly with the yummy food!

Today I decided to make a smoothie. As I was making it, I thought it looked really neat with the different colors of fruit, so I took a picture. Then, I thought... "hmmm, if this is really good, I will want to remember it and maybe share the recipe!!" Now, dont hold me to it... but I personally thought it was REALLY GOOD! I put some honey in it and every so often I would get a little honey in the straw...MMmm!! <3

Add Fruit - 1 Mango, 1 Banana, and 3 Strawberries

Add about 1/2 cup of Milk, a splash or two of cream, a handful of ice, and drizzle some
honey over the top of everything to give it some natural sweetness!

I drizzled some honey along the sides of the cup before I poured in the smoothie so that
I could have some sips of honey drops in there too!!!

And I now present before you....

Now, I do not claim to be a food stylist by any means! I am sure some food stylist could have walked in and presented this smoothie to you in a much more eloquent way. However, it looked good to me and I drank every last drop!! :)

I felt this smoothie was a light and delightful way to have a lunch in preparation for date night tonight, therefore, this recipe will forever be named "Honey It's Date Night Smoothie".

You can tweek it anyway you wish. My husband is the smoothie maker in the family and his smoothies are TO DIE FOR! I do my best... and today, I felt that I had made one of my best. Let me know if you try this one out, if you like it, and how you may have made it better. Smoothies are one of my favorites, so feel free to share some good recipes with me if you have any!!

Thats all for now!!! <3 Thanks for reading!

Vacation's Over : Back to work!!

 

Today was my first day REALLY back to work here at the shop! We got back from our last day in CA on the 30th and we had a wedding on the 1st! I will be blogging about that one in a few days. I put together a little DIY gift for the Bride & Groom to go along with their Beach Lobster/Clam Bake Wedding! It came out pretty cute (at least I think so) that I took pictures to share!! 

I realized that I never updated about the LAST day of our trip! So here is a little recap with pictures...

We went to an Olive Oil tour and tasting in Napa valley

We drove up to see the Golden Gate bridge and found some cool little places to take some pictures

We then finished off the night with a stroll down Sausalito, CA streets and a lovely meal at the Plate Shop!

We stayed at a really nice hotel on the last night. The bed litetally felt like a cloud! We got a great night sleep before the 6 hour plane ride back to Massachusetts! Such an amazing trip and so many  memories. I feel closer to Andrew than ever before and it was a great one year trip for us!! I love this man!! :)

Its been a tough transition from the 3 hour time difference. Tougher than we thought! Andrew got sick soon after we got back and we both have been accidently sleeping in a little too late! Try NOON on Saturday!! My oh My!

This morning I started off the day right with some honey nut cheerios, strawberries and blueberries and a much needed Ice Coffee!! I love stirring in my LOVE (aka: caramel) into the cup with one of my newer additions to the shop!!! What do you like in your ice coffee?? Caramel ALL THE WAY for me.... and LOTS of it!!

MMmmmm!!! It was delish!!! I may have added a bit too much caramel as I was taking these shots!! I'll have to put it a little bit of a longer run today!! OOOps!! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Day 10: Jelly Beans + Giveaway

  

Our roadtrip is slowing down to more low key and relaxing days. Its a good way to end it as the beginning was filled with A TON of hiking and walking. Today we slept in and did a little shopping near sacramento, then we stopped to have lunch at Chipolte (one of Andrews favorites). After lunch, we headed over to the Jelly Belly Factory, which was our only real plan for the day! They didnt allow pictures in the factory, but we took a few in the lobby. It was fun to see how Jelly Belly's were made and where they started. Who knew there was such a process to them!

We each got ourselves some bags of jelly belly's filled with our favorites. Below is our bags...can you guess whose is whose???

It should'nt be too hard to tell!! :) And its kind of neat to see the difference between us!

Do you have a favorite flavor?? Let me know in the comments!! :)

We ended the night with some more shopping and then a low key meal at Chic-fil-a! Ohhh it was good!! I wish someone would open up one back home!

Tomorrow we head to Napa Valley to go on an Olive Oil tour and drive by all the vineyards! Tomorrow will be our last full day and our last night in California! I just can't believe that this wonderful trip is almost over...

GIVEAWAY GIVEAWAY GIVEAWAY!!!! Yes, A GIVEAWAY! I am participating in a giveaway with The Posh Daisy! Its her birthday and she has put together a nice little giveaway to kick it off!! Happy Birthday to her and GOOD LUCK to you! Go check out her page and enter to win! There are a bunch of prizes from a bundle of different vendors, including ME! I am including a $20.00 shop credit with FREE SHIPPING!! WOO HOO!! Ready, Set, GO!! Click Here and Good Luck!!!

See you tomorrow for my last post of our vacation...I will be reopening the shop on June 1st!

Day 9: Relaxation + Old Sacramento

Today was the first day that we really relaxed and did nothing for the first half of the day. I woke up at about 8am to make my appointment for a manicure and pedicure, and then went down to the fitness center to TRY to work off some of all the GREAT food we have been having while Andrew slept in! After the work out, we headed on over to the breakfast buffet, which was incredible. All sorts of things from fruits and yogurt parfaits, to custom made omelets, to waffles and pancakes, bagels and pastries, bread pudding and other delicious special breakfast items... this buffet was high class! I will be honest... I tried just about everything! I ate breakfast like a Queen! 

After breakfast we went back and put on our bathing suits... which, might I add, was a struggle after eating so much! ha! We then headed down and spent some time in the hot tub and lounged by the pool in our luxiourious robes! I think I wore my robe almost 90% of the time we were there!

After the pool time, we went back to our room to get ready for the day and check out of our room. We loaded up the car with our suitcases and then Andrew sat by the fire at the resort lounge and I headed down to go get pampered!

Bye Bye wonderful Resort in Olympic Valley (The Squaw Valley Resort)!!

After that, it was off to Sacramento. Andrew had purchased a Groupon for a nice little bistro that we had reservations to. It was called Vanilla Bean Bistro. Delish!! Homemade pita bread that they made fresh only minutes before they served it to you and all their ingredients tasted like they were picked fresh off the branches! Their specialty was using fruits and vegetables to enhance all their dishes!

A delighful dinner was follow by a delightful stroll down Old Sacramento. They had a music fesitval going on there, so it was pretty packed with people, but a nice feel none the less!

We saw a neat little shop that peaked our interest, so we decided to check it out. Inside we found some jewlery that was very unique. The woman who makes them uses vintage wax stamps, vintage buttons, or a molds taken from found objects to imprint into pure silver to make charms! When Andrew had asked me to be his girlfriend and later his wife, he used a wax seal to close the letter he gave me (You can read the story of us here!) . We found a pair of earrings, that we will be making into two seperate necklaces. One for me and one for him, so that they will match. They are gender neutral enough that we can both wear them! The imprint is of a hand with a heart in the palm of it with the words "truth" and "love" in small writing along the sides. Truth and love are two key components to any relationship...especially a marriage. Not only will this charm be a great memory of our anniversary trip, but it will also be a reminder of where we need to be grounded and always resolve back to no matter what.

Truth and Love.

Back at the hotel now unwinding and trying to soak in the moments as well as the memories, as our trip will be coming to a close in only a few short days. I wish it never had to end... I feel like I am having the time of my life!

Day 8: Murphys, CA to Lake Tahoe

After a restful sleep at the Victoria Inn, we spent the early afternoon walking around the town and eating at one of the local bakeries for lunch. The town was adorable and had a great feeling to it! It was packed, since it was the beginning of Memorial Day weekend, so we only got a few pictures, but none that truly could depict what it really looked liked.

We then headed towards Lake Tahoe. It was about a 4 hour drive and as we headed through the mountains...we hit SNOW! MORE SNOW!!! This time, it was a lot more than before and the fog was so dense, we could barely see off the sides of the cliffs beside us!

and I was wearing sandals!!!

We started to come out of the snow a bit, but it still was flurrying and foggy!

Then, all of a sudden, we drove around a bend... and IT WAS SUNNY!! Weirdest weather ever! HA! We also got another beautiful shot of a rainbow!

After about an hour or so of driving through the sunshine, we arrived at our destination for the night. The resort is amazing!! We had some of the best food that we have had on this trip so far... wish we had our camera to take a picture of the plates set before us. UNREAL! Everything is gorgeous and luxurious... 

down to the robes we were given to stroll on down to the pool in!

We are staying up in the glass building at the end of the little shop area in the picture above. AND!!! tomorrow... Andrew is letting me go to the spa at the resort and get a 1 hour and 45 minute "Paradise Manicure and Pedicure" with massage!! I am SO excited!!! We are finishing off the night watching "We Bought a Zoo" in our robes with the fireplace going... This trip...is unreal!

Day 7: Last Day in Yosemite

 

Today we spent our last day/afternoon in Yosemite. Today was a lot colder! Yesterday was a high of 81 and today as we left the Park it was a windy 39 and beginning to snow!! The lowest temperature we saw as we drove out of the mountains was 34 degrees! Andrew loved today as he thinks the low light and clouds makes the pictures better. 

Heres a few pictures as we recap the day!

He didn't want to leave the park... he literally was in his paradise!

This picture above is one of our favorite pictures of todays adventure!!

This is the snow that we hit on the way out of the park!

Ahhhhh! We made it to the Victoria Inn, Murphys, CA. Time for some good food at the bar & grille right underneath our room, and some good sleep for our 4 hour drive to Tahoe tomorrow!! Andrew tells me we are staying in a really nice resort! Excited to see it!

This trip so far has been unreal. I absolutely love to drive and roadtrips are my one of my favorites. I adore staying in a different hotel each night and keeping things spotanteous and unknown! So thankful for a husband who enjoys doing research and planning things out! Without him, this trip would not have happened, as he spent weeks and weeks planning the very trip we are on right now!!

BLESSED!!!

Day 5 + 6: Yosemite National Park

There is so much to talk about and show you... I don't even know where to start! Andrew and I have been taking hundreds of pictures between the both of us! We are enjoying going through all our pictures at the end of the day and picking out the best ones to share! Between yesterday and today, it has taken quite a while. However, I think that the ones I will be posting will give a good overview. Andrew and I have both agreed that most of the view and scenes we have been blessed to see just can't be captured by cameras. I would reccommend this trip to anyone... its beautiful here.

The drive up was breath-taking. We finally arrived at our next destination where we would spend the night in a tent. Not the greatest night sleep for me... but I still had plenty of energy for our long day of hiking ahead! We had to put all of our food in the green bear box in the picture below and there were reminders EVERYWHERE to not leave food out!

Before we went on our hike.. we took a raft down the river. SO FUN!!

On our hike, we saw some deer... although, they are EVERYWHERE!! I got so close to them...

Then.... We saw a BEAR!!! and because I wanted a good picture... I got closer to it than I was
suppose to...good thing there were no park rangers around. ;)

We did a little bit more hiking up to Mirror Lake...

THEN! Andrew motivated me to trek up the 2.5 mile uphill hike to Vernal Falls. This hike consists of a very steep trail, that turns into a STEEP 600 staircase hike.... did I mention steep??!! Once you hit the stairs, it also starts to pour down mist from the Falls (really its like rain because you get completely soaked)!! Good thing Andrews camera is waterproof, as we got some awesome pictures...its hard to pick out the highlight pictures... there are SO many! I suppose I got my workout in for the next year or so!!! The first picture was me before he mentioned going up to the Falls... I was perfectly content with looking from afar... but in the end was THRILLED to have made it to the top!! It was amazing!!! AMAZING!!!??

Can you tell I was a little bit wet here? The rainbow was even more dazzling in real life!!

We made it to the top!!??? The pictures dont do the waterfall or the height of it justice!

And after a little break and some snacks, we started back down to the bottom.
This was the scariest part in my opinion!

Since we were already soaking wet, pictures for our fellow trekkers was in order! Its been so nice to have people around to take pictures of the both of us!

Andrew always has a good eye for the best shots! He took one of me and then told me where to stand to get the picture of him the same way! Such neat memories...

As you can see, the trip down the side of the waterfall was steep and very wet! Such an amazing experience though and I would do it again in a heartbeat!!

Thats an overview of our day 5 + 6! More to come for Day 7 as we have a little bit more time in Yosemite and then head to Murphy, CA to stay in the Victoria Inn.

Check back later for more! Don't forget you can follow my blog via google connect on the right, so you will never miss a post! :)