Let the games begin!
I love the Olympics! Everything about them! You will find me on my couch tonight, glued to the Opening Ceremonies, most likely with Cafe Rio and a nice glass of Chardonnay!
The events I'm most excited to watch are:
Who am I kidding? I'm excited to watch every event!
Question for you: Do you watch the Olympics? What is your favorite event to watch?
Ali
Chloe / Family / Food and Drink / Health & Fitness / Holidays / Me
Happy Wednesday, Friends!
I was able to cross another item off my 2012 Summer Bucket List yesterday! I'm on a roll!
Yesterday was Pioneer Day (our official state holiday) or Pie and Beer Day! Depending on how you choose to celebrate the day! Luckily, I had the day off! Poor Carl had to work. Madi and Tyson, both had the day off too, and Madi even came over Monday night to stay the night. Love when she does that!
My day began with Madison and I going to a super fun Zumba class, and then heading over to Keva Juice for some post workout smoothies!
I ran home to relax for about 20 minutes, then headed out with Tyson for workout #2 of the day at our favorite gym GPP Fitness for this THIS crazy workout. I didn't do very many double-unders, but I am making progress! My max for front squats was 75lbs, but Tyson busted out 5 reps at 255 lbs. That boy is crazy strong!
I spent the rest of the afternoon putting together a picnic dinner to take to the park, when Carl finally got off work!
We went to the same park that we went to on Sunday, for Chloe's day out. It's a gorgeous park!
See how happy Chloe was to be back at the park?
Tyson stopped by for some food on his way out with friends. Chloe is wondering where the food is!
Kisses from Chloe! Such a cutie!
On the menu for the night: Shrimp Crostini, Fresh Fruit, yummy chips and salsa from Rico, and chicken caprese sandwhiches (recipe coming soon!). So good!
It was such a great night. Lot's of dogs wanting to play with Chloe (she's still not too brave) and good food and company! One more item off the Bucket List!
We skipped all the firework shows in town, since Chloe is skeeered of the loud booms, and we were home relaxing by 8:00 pm! We really know how to celebrate, right?
If you live in Utah and have the chance to visit Memory Grove Park, you really should! It is gorgeous! And it is also dog friendly!
Question for you: Have you ever had a picnic at the park? Where is your FAVORITE park?
This is was our first picnic at the park in YEARS! And my new favorite park is Memory Grove!
Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by!
Ali
On Sunday, I was able to cross another item off my Summer 2012 Bucket List, by taking Chloe to the dog park at Memory Grove. Chloe absolutely LOVE IT!
In the car on the way to the park:
Chloe was so excited in the car! She has only been to a dog park a few times, and most of them were just fenced in areas with BIG dogs. This dog park was in a wooded park and included a large "off leash" area. Since Chloe is so small, we weren't sure how she would do if she ran in to some big dogs!
She couldn't wait to get going! She had the leash pulled tight, all way to the "off leash" area!
There was a large creek running along the trail that was so nice! Chloe is generally afraid of water, so we weren't sure she would dip her feet in, or not.
She didn't seem to mind the water at all! So refreshing!
Watching the big dogs getting washed off:
She did have a few run-ins with some big dogs that had her running in the opposite direction with the tail between her legs. They big dogs only wanted to play, but Chloe was too nervous!
Chloe's happy face:
I think Chloe really loved her day at the park! Carl and I got in a nice little walk/hike as well!
Chloe's reward after the park:
Ice cold water, and a doggie bagel from Einstein Brothers.
What a great day! I really recommend this dog park if you are in the Salt Lake Area. The trail is large and wide (room for multiple dogs and people) and the creek running along side the trail is really nice. The trail is mostly shaded as well, which was really nice on such a hot day. Everyone we came in contact with, was so nice and respectful of the area and the other dogs. I think this may become a Sunday afternoon tradition!
Question for you: Do you have a dog? Do you regularly go to dog parks?
Ali
Family / Me / Weekend Wrap Up
A quick Weekend Wrap up!
Our weekend was jam packed, mostly with a wedding celebration that was so amazing! (more about that in a later post)
As usual, my weekend started when I got off work on Friday afternoon. Carl, Tyson and I headed to our favorite gym GPP for THIS workout. Oh my! I love any work out that is OTC = On Trainer’s Count, and this one did not disappoint. But, my arms are weak! Specifically my triceps! I really struggled with the skull crushers! Someday, I’m going to own those!
After the gym, we quickly ran to Kohl’s to pick up a suit for Tyson. He needed something to wear to my brother’s wedding the next day, as well as a suit to wear for interviews. We got a smokin’ deal, and he looked so handsome!
Saturday was my brother’s wedding at Log Haven. It was gorgeous, and I had to give a speech! EEEEK!
I’m going to do a separate wedding post, because it deserves it’s own post!
Sunday, I was able to cross another item off my Summer 2012 Bucket List, by taking Chloe to the dog park! Once again, another post on this, because it was such a huge success. Chloe is a Mal-Shi ( and a really small one) so hanging at the off-leash dog park with the big dogs, was pretty scary for her! But, she loved it!
The rest of he day was spent catching up on our summer guilty pleasure DVR'd episodes of Big Brother and getting Chinese take out.
All in all, another great weekend! I can’t wait to share my brother’s wedding with you! It was so much fun!
Question for you: How was your weekend? What was the highlight for you?
For me, it was definitely the wedding!
Ali
Madison and I had such a fun night at Nailed in Salt Lake City, last night. My brother Chris, who lost his high school sweetheart and wife over 13 years ago, is getting married on Saturday. I couldn't be happier for him! He and his daughter Erin are combining families with Heidi and her cute kids, Hunter and Brighton. We love them!
Heidi treated all the girls in the family to mani/pedi's last night! Sooo much fun! She rented out the salon and even had some great food (and wine) for us all! I forgot my good camera, so please suffer through my horrid cell phone pics!
The Bride to be:
Mother of the Groom, and Mother of the Bride:
Madison and I:
Cousins, Erin and Madison:
Heidi's niece Rainey, and daughter Brighton:
What a fun night!
Now, I need to get busy and write my "sister of the groom" speech/toast! Yikes! I'm scared to death of this!
Question for you: Have you had a girl's night out recently? Or been to the nail salon? Do you prefer manicures, or pedicures? Or both?
Last night was my first manicue (weird I know!) but, I love getting pedicures!
Happy Friday, friends!
Ali
Cooking / Food and Drink / Recipes
I had a large zucchini left over from my Bountiful Basket a few weeks ago, that needed to be dealt with. I thought making zucchini bread might be the perfect way to use it. I searched the internet for a low fat recipe and came up with this ONE. I actually had all the ingredients on hand, which NEVER happens!
The only change I made was to double the amount of yogurt I used, as the dough seemed a little dry. It came out perfectl! So good and really moist! I especially loved the hint of lemon from the zest! Delish!
Question for you: Have you every made Zucchini Bread? Do you have a fave bread recipe? Feel free to share in the comments!
HAPPY WEDNESDAY!
Ali
Food and Drink / Health & Fitness / Me / Weekend Wrap Up
Happy Monday, Friends!
I hope you all had a FABULOUS weekend! My weekend started out on Friday night at a church social with some awesome women, that went way too late and involved too much wine! It was a great time!
What a great group of women we have in our parish!
Saturday, Madison and I spent a good part of the afternoon shopping for dresses to wear to my brother's wedding this Saturday. We were lucky and both found dresses pretty quickly. LOVE when that happens! We grabbed a quick bite at the Nordstrom Cafe Bistro before heading out to the 2News Health Expo for a Zumba class with Teresa!
Dinner: Madi's Margharita Pizza, and my Shirmp Salad
The class was AWESOME! We had such a great time, and I love my BZC (Bountiful Zumba Crew) friends! Great way to finish off the night on Saturday! Hot and sweaty!
Sunday, I spend the day relaxing, cooking and hanging out with Carl and the kids. Both Tyson and Madi were home for dinner, which I loved.
I also made a super yummy low-fat lemon zucchini bread, which I will share with you tomorrow. It was really good, and pretty healthy!
All in all, a great weekend. The weather was a bit sketchy, but we need the rain here in Utah!
Question for you:
What was the highlight of your weekend?
Ali
Just a quick update on my Summer Bucket List progress.
Things aren't going so good!
Of the 20 items on my Bucket List, I've only managed to check off 3!
1. Iced Coffee (I haven't really perfected it, but I drink it everyday and it's delish!)
2. Farmers Market (I've been once, but plan on going several more times this summer)
3. Fireworks (We saw fireworks on July 3rd, nothing on the 4th due to a ban in Park City – one more chance on the 24th of July, our state holiday)
I've had plans to check off several of the other items, but others plans came up, or the weather didn't cooperate. I've got some things going on this weekend, and then my brother's wedding next weekend, so hoping to get more things checked off soon!
How are you doing on your Summer Bucket List? Making any progress?
Question for you:
If you could pick one thing to accomplish this summer what would it be?
Ali
So, I have this super cute friend named Traci, that I met through Zumba. She is seriously, one of the most thoughtful girls I know! I truly feel blessed to call her my friend! She is the one that gave me the awesome gift bag in THIS post during HELLTH Week.
Well, Traci did it again! After Zumba on Monday night she gave me this cute bag:
The bag was full of all this CUTE orange stuff!
An orange notepad, orange glass, orange slices, orange flower, orange vitamin water and more! This was her take on a cute idea she saw on Pinterest!
She also included this:
Her sweet, thoughtful gift totally made my week! Thanks so much Traci! You are the best!
And YES, I'm glad we're friends!
Happy Wednesday y'all!
Ali
So, in the spirit of keeping it real around here on the blog….I'm going to post a picture of my super, fabulous jewelry organization:
Pretty super, fabulous, huh? Don't judge, please!
We had a tall, skinny dresser that was in the spare bedroom, that become Tyson's room when he came home after graduation from college. He didn't need the dresser, so it was moved in to my craft room, which did NOT have room for it. We have a so-so sized walk in closet, but it is packed to the gills with clothes. I've gone through my closet many times and gotten rid of a ton of stuff. My problem, is that I like to be able to see my clothes. I don't like them hidden away in drawers where I can't see what I have. So a lof of my clothes live in the closet. We had a spot at the end of the closet that I thought might be perfect for the dresser. I could put all of my work out clothing in the dresser and organize my jewerly on top!
Madi had an old bulletiin board in her room that she didn't take with her when she moved out. I thought it would be awesome to hang my necklaces from! And it was! So without further ado, here is my "for reals" jewelry organization:
Sorry for the crappy lighting! It's hard to get good photos in a dark closet without any natural light!
Anyway, what do you think? It's only been 3 days, but so far, so good! I'm lovin' it!
Question for you:
How do you organize your jewelry? In a box? In a drawer? In a pretty display?
Let me know!
Ali
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