Melt my Heart + Easy Peasy Mac n' Cheesy

Good morning!

Soy lattes for myself and a coworker. After my early start to the morning on Friday, I was thankful that I made mine a triple! I must say that those little green sticks to put in the drink spout on cups is one of Starbucks' most brilliant ideas ever. 

(source)

Well, that is after the Pumpkin Spice Latte...which is coming back soon! I think it usually arrives after Labor Day--correct me if I'm wrong! 

Another Wedding Weekend

This weekend was jam-packed with wedding festivities! Friday night, Andy and I headed out to look at a potential townhouse. It was okay but the kitchen was set up super awkwardly (the fridge door touched the stove when you opened it...?), and the master bedroom was painted such an obnoxious color.

Luckily, Andy scoped out another place this weekend and we went to view it last night. As soon as we walked in the front door, I was sold! I really, really hope we get this one! It is exactly our style!

Saturday was my first bridal shower, and then on Sunday we met with our musicians to go over ceremony music! I also found my bridesmaids gifts so I can check that off my list as well! Things are really coming together and I am so thankful that Andy has been so helpful with all of this. What a keeper!

Back to Monday

It's hard to believe it's already Monday again! Yikes! I'm sure this week will fly by since it's Andy's birthday week and the start of the fair!

On Saturday morning, before heading to the gym, I checked my mailbox and a huge smile spread across my face when I found these two brightly colored envelopes sitting in my box. 

I immediately flipped them over to open them. Check out the cute stickers! haha

Inside were two of the cutest homemade cards ever! My cousins had made them especially for me--with my name and initial on the front! 

Melt my heart!

My two cousins mean so much to me and I am so excited to have them in my wedding as flower girls! They are actually my only cousins, so they mean that much more to me! It has been so much fun watching them grow up over the years and spending time with them doing crafts, going to the park, and playing outside. It's funny because now they're the age I was when they were born! 

Easy Peasy Mac n' Cheesy

The other day I was stumped about what to make for lunch. I desperately needed groceries (and still do! Hopefully heading over there tomorrow night!) and nothing really sounded good. I opened my fridge and saw that I had a tupperware of cooked pasta from the day before. Hmm...maybe I could make some mac n' cheese. However, that sounded like a lot of work, so I improvised. 

I dug around in my fridge until I came across this little gem! Lately I've been loving this cheese on wraps and with crackers--so why not give it a whirl with pasta? I plopped two wedges into a bowl, added a splash of milk, and microwaved it in increments of 10 seconds--stirring each time. I then heated up my pasta, poured the cheese on top and stirred it up! I also added in some fresh basil and olives to jazz it up a bit.

The verdict? It was actually really good! The flavored Laughing Cow Cheese gave it a nice kick and it really hit the spot! I'll definitely be making this again! 

While I was home this weekend for my bridal shower, my dad had stopped at a local bagel bakery. Hello, toasted chocolate chip bagels with butter. I forgot how much I love these things! Paired with some fruit and a homemade iced coffee--it was delicious!

Off to work I go! I've got another huge website project to dive into this week--it's for a real estate company, so it should be fun for something different!

By the way, are anyone else's trees turning colors way too early? It's only August and my tree is half red, half green! Not that I'm complaining....

Alright, have a great day! 

Are your trees changing colors yet?

How many cousins do you have?

Ever made up a recipe on the spot and loved it?

Bags, Boot Camp, & Bagels

Good morning!

This morning I woke up with my contacts in and makeup still on--yikes! I must have fallen asleep while catching up on Grey's last night. Luckily I woke up feeling well-rested and ready to start this Friday!

So, once in awhile I check my blog stats just for the heck of it. I was amused to learn that this week someone found my blog by searching "butter biscuit designs?" Awesome. They might not have found what they were looking for, but hopefully they had fun visiting!

I forgot all about Starbucks' Treat Receipts in the summer! A coworker gave me hers on Tuesday morning and I was so excited to swing by Starbucks before heading to pre-marital counseling for an afternoon pick-me-up. The treat receipts let you purchase any grande cold drink after 2pm for only $2.00! Normally I stick with my tried and true iced coffee, but this time I cashed in the blue slip for a delicious iced soy latte--one of my favorites! 

Does anyone else feel like they always have a million bags to carry out in the morning? Usually I try to stash my gym bag in the car the night before to avoid carrying it in the morning, but still! A lunch, purse, and bag of toast gets hard to juggle while walking down steps in high heels! Maybe I should try putting my lunch in my purse...

After work on Wednesday, I had some time to kill before I met up with my friend, Danielle. Since there was a gym nearby, I decided to head in for a workout and shower before grabbing coffee with her. I was surprised to find that this particular gym had a track inside! After completing a strength-training session, I ran laps on the track while blasting the iPod and before I knew it, I was sweating like crazy! Almost ready to call it a day with working out, I glanced at the clock and decided to take a class since I still had an hour an a half before I had to shower and head over to Starbucks.

I saw that there was a boot camp class starting in 10 minutes and thought I'd give it a whirl. I told myself that if I didn't like it, I could leave. I figured it would be fun--jumping through tires and doing push ups...

This class was no joke and completely kicked my butt. We lifted this huge brick things and as we were lifting, the instructor walked around and added more weight to them! Ahhh. I wanted to die in the first 15 minutes of the class haha.

After the lifting, we headed outside and ran to a nearby elementary school. We used their playground, track, and parking lot to complete and hour and a half of insane exercises. Pull-ups, push-ups, sprints, running with resistance bands on our ankles, crunches, and running up hill while a partner put a rope around your waist and pulled backwards to make it harder. 

OH. MY. GOSH.

I thought I was somewhat "in-shape"....

Apparently not, as I left that class sweaty and exhausted! Since I wasn't planning on going to a class in the first place, I didn't even have a water bottle on me! Yikes!

After showering, I swung by my favorite bagel place to grab dinner before meeting with Danielle to catch up. Whole wheat toasted with peanut butter is one of my favorite combos! You'd better believe I chugged the water and iced tea that I ordered as soon as we arrived! 

Danielle and I go way back--we attended the same church when we were younger and were in the same dance class for a couple of years. She's married now and has two adorable little boys and a little dog! It was so much fun catching up with her and reminiscing over past memories. I'd definitely looking forward to seeing her again this Fall at my wedding! 

Lately I can't seem to get moving in the morning and breakfast has been enjoyed either in route to the office or at my desk. Lots of smoothies make it possible to get enough nutrients in the morning to start my day. I love bringing my cups home and reusing them for portable smoothies. I can just toss them when I'm done and there's no dirty cups to wash! 

Favorite snack as of lately? These cinnamon raisin pretzels are amazing! They taste just like a cinnamon raisin bagel! If you have not yet tried these, you are missing out! They're so delicious! 

With that, I'm off! I'm heading in early to proof a flyer that I got back from the printer yesterday and then wrapping up a website that is due on Monday! I'll be in and out on the blog this weekend--I've got my first bridal shower tomorrow morning! 

Favorite snack as of lately? 
Do you ever have to go into work early or stay late?
Favorite bagel flavor or combo?
Ever taken a boot camp class?

Tuesday 3's

Hello bloggers!

I'm so excited to report that my friend Krystine was offered the position at the office where I work! She's starting out as a production artist with some copywriting mixed in for good measure! She just started this week and I'm so excited to have her as a coworker! This means I won't have to spend my lunch breaks alone at my desk anymore.

Here come the Tuesday 3's!

1. 90% of the time, I write in all caps. This is something I've done since my senior year of highschool and I only started doing it because a girl at the gym that I worked at did it and I thought it looked really neat, so I practiced writing like her before developing a similar style all my own.

2. A lot of the music on my iPod is actually pretty embarrassing but that doesn't stop me from blasting it during a workout. Some of my favorite artists that I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I turn up the volume when their songs come on include:

• Miley Cyrus
• Nicki Minaj
• Kesha
• Katy Perry
• A-Teens
• Backstreet Boys
• Jump5
• ZOEgirl
• Plus One
• Aqua Aquarium

3. Fall is my all-time favorite season. I love everything about it: the bold colors, changing leaves, pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks, pumpkin-flavored everything, Thanksgiving, apple orchards, long walks while wearing gloves, hoodies + jeans, cute jackets, scarves, anticipation of the holidays, crisp air, soup for dinner, and carving pumpkins with Andy. Sure, summer is great and all, but Minnesota is hot, sticky, and muggy. You step outside and can hardly breathe. Definitely not my cup of tea...luckily September is right around the corner!

Alright, off to pre-marital counseling we go! Have a great night!

Do you anticipate Fall?
What embarrassing music do you enjoy?
Does your handwriting stay the same all the time or do you switch things up?

Seventeen Point Six

Good morning and happy Monday!

This weekend flew by super fast! We sent out our invitations and we are so excited to find out who can make it to the wedding! It will be great to have so many family members and friends celebrate with us on that special day.

Can you guess what Andy received as an early birthday gift?

After hitting up the gym on Saturday, I texted Andy "Bikes, Bikes, Bikes!" and he responded back with the a-okay! As soon as he arrived at my place, we jumped in the car and headed to Target to pick up our bikes! Purchasing bikes is something that we have been talking about all summer long and we finally decided to bite the bullet and choose some. We actually ended up getting the ones that we had been eyeing earlier in the summer!

His and hers, respectively. 

The verdict? We absolutely love them! We went for a short ride on Saturday evening after stopping off at my brother-in-law's house to drop off a wedding invitation for him and his new wife. They live across the street from me! It was fun to catch up with them since we don't see them very often even though we are neighbors.

After leaving Tory's house, we set out to test drive our bikes. We headed down to the lake, stopped at McDonald's for a milkshake and a movie, and then rode around a smaller lake before heading back home. It was so fun to ride together since we got to be active and spend time together (two of my favorite things).

Our little bear wanted to come too

After our ride, I was so tired since I had already worked out that morning at the gym. On Sunday morning, I didn't wake up until 10:30am! That is unheard of for me since I'm usually up and at 'em around 6am even on weekends.

Yesterday, Andy came over for a taco lunch before we headed out for the bike trails. We ended up covering 17.6 miles over the course of the afternoon. The weather was perfect and so was the ride! We stumbled across some fun neighborhoods with big, fancy houses along with some smooth, scenic bike trails.

We stopped on the way home to take a few pictures of these pretty trees that we passed by! Can you tell that we're both photography lovers?

The weather was cool but we were sweaty when we finished riding!

We were both exhausted by the time we arrived home and crashed on the couch while watching a movie and eating some dinner. As I made dinner, Andy pulled up Google Earth to plot our route and figure out how far we went. Looks like we ended up covering over 17.6 miles! Not bad for our 2nd ride on the new bikes!

Off to work I go! Have a great day!

Does your butt get sore from bike riding? We got gel seats but ow....I'm still feeling the burn!
Do you have a bike?
Favorite milkshake flavor? I like chocolate best!