Ulta, Errands

I had many errands to do today! I ventured into Bed Bath & Beyond for a wedding gift and to my pleasant surprise it was on sale! I walked over to Ulta because Ive been in desperate need of a new face wash. Before going in, I printed out a $3.50 off any $10.00 purchase. I also read reviews and noted in my phone which products I was interested in getting. I narrowed it down to : Formula 10.0.6 Best Face Forward Cleanser, Basis Face Wash, Alpha Hydrox Nourishing Cleaner. They only had one of the Formula face wash and somebody had tampered with the bottle so that was out of the question. The only Alpha Hydrox I found seemed pretty harsh. So ultimately I decided on the Basis and I paired it with Formula 10.0.6 So Totally Clean Deep Pore Cleanser. My total with my coupon was $8! And the face wash is amazing, it gently removed ALL my makeup, and some accidentally got in my mouth and it tasted sweet! This will be my new go to face wash.

I snapped a pic while in line. What really sold me on the Basis was its soap free. And I will say while washing with it, I thought this is so gentle, my face is going to be full of makeup. I looked in the mirror and was shocked to find it washed off. I used the astringent after, but it'll take a week or two to see how I like it. I don't suffer from break outs or acne, but my pores I feel are getting too large.

For dinner I made one of my favorite meals but with a new recipe! I found this recipe on Kraft that was amazing! Its called Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff. I can not tell you enough how great it was. Some of my family eating who are not Beef Stroganoff fans went for seconds! I followed the recipe, except no paprika, no parsley, and no mustard. And I did add 1/2 tbsp whipped cream cheese and 1tsp Worcestershire sauce. 

8 months old, Walmart

Today my little one is 8months old! Time has flown by so fast, now he can crawl, stand up on his own, and feed himself. Its amazing to see. Also very sad =( I never wrote on the walker. It finally did arrive, and its amazing! It arrived while he was napping (a week ago) so I was able to put it together while he was sleeping. 

He LOVES it, and I'm extremely happy with it. Every toy makes a noise and lights up, and theres 3 different musical settings and 2 different volume levels. He loves following the dogs around, and walking to the tv when he hears his favorite show start lol!

We went to Walmart today to pick up a few grocery items, I swear Walmart is really starting to impress me! Theyve re-done the store, and with the opening of the Super Walmart, this one is never crowded. Best deal on diapers too. And I have been searching everywhere for a Journey necklace and they had 2 in store (for those who dont know Walmart and Zales buy from the same distributor, for some items they even use the same stock photos online). I think next time we buy diapers, daddy needs to get me one!

I tried another recipe today from Big Oven that I put together in the morning and then baked in the afternoon after Walmart. I didn't care for this recipe too much, I made Chicken Enchiladas. I usually love chicken enchiladas, but these left me feeling a little gross after, I even cut out the salt completely and used significantly less shredded cheese and incorporated vege jack cheese. I dont think I'll make this again.

Vertigo, Another rainy day

I woke up this morning feeling great, despite the rainy day once again. However, once 11am rolled around I was struck with awful vertigo. I actually found out I wasn't the only one suffering from vertigo today! Seems maybe its something in the air. The baby was extraordinary today, its like he sensed mommy isn't feeling good and had a blast playing with toys in his play yard and watching some nick jr. He even took a TWO HOUR nap with me later in the afternoon! He never takes such long naps.

Since I wasn't feeling well not much was accomplished today. But I still managed to make dinner! And do my hair.

My original plan for dinner was to make chicken enchiladas, but I just could not do that much work. So instead I made one of my go to dinners that I ALWAYS have ingredients for. Sausage & pepper pasta! Its an easy one skillet dish. I cut the sausage (I use johnsonville smoked beef, I also keep this in my freezer) in fours, saute in a tbsp olive oil, then I add 1/4cup chopped frozen onions & 1/4 chopped frozen green peppers($1 EACH in frozen food aisle, and saves a ton of work! I always have these in my freezer). I then add 1/4cup tomato sauce, some garlic powder & pepper, and parmesan cheese once the burner is off. Toss with ziti and perfecto! A quick yummy dinner!

My hair has also gotten so incredibly long! Ive never had it this long in my life. Much more work to take care of then short hair, thats for certain.

Seasonal Beers, Rainy Days

Yesterday afternoon me and my boyfriend decided to check out the new local wine and more. I've always been a huge fan of pumpkin beers. I'm by no means a beer expert or know much about it, but I do know a sweet cinnamon beer tastes great with an autumn meal. The new location is great, huge wine selection, I know for my next nice dinner or occasion where to pick up a great bottle.

I tried the Post Road today, and it was AWFUL! Absolutely no pumpkin taste, what a disappointment. Next weekend on to another! As much as I'd love to try them all in one day, the calories would be way too much. My favorite part about most of these beers is the alcohol content average 4.5%. Theres one non-seasonal beer in the picture my boyfriend picked up. He hasnt tried any of his choices yet!

Today was an incredibly rainy day, we originally had plans go to Pinecrest Gardens with our little one. They have a Sunday market going on which seemed great, and we looked forward to checking out the space as a potential 1st birthday location. But, the rain had other plans!

Instead we stayed in! My boyfriend picked up some pastries from our favorite bakery Ricky Bakery for breakfast. And we enjoyed watching movies all day.

 I hadn't had plans on making dinner today since we were planning on going out to dinner after the gardens, so I took the opportunity to try out a new recipe from Big Oven! I decided on the the Easy Pineapple Chicken. It was in fact extremely easy! I've never made any asian food before because the few times I've tried its never been a success, but this was a one pan meal and it was great. My mother enjoyed dinner with us, and she is not a fan of any asian style cooking at all and she loved it! Even taking some extra for tomorrow. This is definitely a meal I will make more then once, especially since I usually have all the ingredients in my kitchen.

Simmering in the pan, the sauce GREATLY decreased, and thickened up very very nicely. I mixed in some fresh pineapple along with the canned that the recipe asked for.

I served it over rice that was cooked with low-sodium soy sauce. I sprinkled mine with a little cayenne pepper.

Maybe next Sunday we'll make it out to the gardens!

Organization

I'm a huge fan of keeping things very organized, if you have things organized then you don't need to search for everything. Even my kitchen cabinets are organized by meal of the day. The baby food included! 

However, I think the two most important things to keep organized are your purse and diaper bag. For example my purse :

In the pocket I keep things I need to reach easily, anti-bacterial and mints. In the back is my burberry makeup bag where I keep my makeup! Body splash and lotion as well. Then moving forward I keep my receipts in the DB wristlet. Then moving forward again, I keep my IDs, health insurance cards, credit cards, and cash in my brown lv wallet. Lastly, my little pink LV key chain holds my coupons and  keys! 

When youre out with a baby the last thing you want to do is be fumbling for things you need. And invest in a good bag, my every day purse is a Louis Vuitton Speedy that I bought maybe 8years ago, and it has lasted through everything and still looks great! Quality not quantity is what I live by!

Traffic, Doctors Appointment, Beer

I had to take my little one to the doctor today, and unfortunately we hit bumper to bumper traffic because of a broken water main. Thankfully we were right on schedule though and saw the pediatrician promptly. Just a routine flu shot! Be sure to get your flu shots today, you can get them from your doctor or even the pharmacy at CVS/Walgreens/Winn-Dixie. No excuses, get out there and protect yourself from spreading the flu!

After that whole thing, I treated myself to a cheap autumn treat! A caramel apple sundae at McDonalds, the manager at the one I went to is the father of one of my moms co-workers, and since I was with her she decided we should grab something to go! Only $1.49 but I've yet to look up what calories this inexpensive little treat has added to my daily intake!

After wards tonight for dinner I made a new recipe from once again, Big Oven. The recipe I picked seemed quick and easy, but hearty Easy Cream of Mushroom Chicken! The main reason for picking it is because I cooked double the rice yesterday to save for tonights dinner. It came out very good, I followed the recipe almost exactly but I added 4teaspoons parmesan cheese while it was simmering for the last 10minutes. I also cut my chicken into strips. This will be added to my make again list.

I also colored my roots in, finally! I had no idea how horrible my hair was looking. It was quick and easy, I actually did it on Saturday myself. Unfortunately, right after putting the color in I had to go on a beer run for the guys while they were fixing the garage. Wearing a hoodie at a grocery store buying a case of Presidente, I looked like a hoodlum! I'd say my girl friend with me though looked crazier then I by being seen with me. And after all that, they complained I picked Presidente! It was on sale $9.99 for a 12pack! How could I not?

I am also tempted to try Shocktop Pumpkin Wheat beer, since its a more accessible beer, then my usual autumn favorite Shipyard Pumpkin head. I'm also on a mission to find someone to go with me on a yelp pub crawl! I would really enjoy a night to have one to many libations. 

New Walker, New Recipe

Today I decided to try a new recipe from a recipe site that was recommended to me by a friend Big Oven, yesterday I picked out a few recipes that I had the majority of the ingredients for at home, and bought the rest of the items at the grocery store. For tonight I decided to do the 3 Envelope Roast, I had the protein for it that I bought on sale at Winn-Dixie for Buy One Get One Free and already had it cut and frozen in my freezer. So, all I had to buy at the store were the 3 envelopes! I put this in my crock pot on low at 10am. I chose to add veges (carrots and potatoes) that I had left over from chicken noodle soup I made the previous day, I added the veges at 2pm though so they would hold their texture. By 6pm dinner was ready! I served this over white rice and it was a hit.

Also today, my son was expected to receive his new walker from Diapers.com but unfortunately, Fed Ex damaged the packaging while en route and sent it back. I can only assume it was badly damaged because they didnt even bring it to my house! So now he will have to wait till Friday to get his new walker. Diapers.com didn't offer overnight shipping, but they did give me a $5 credit. The walker we chose is by Chicco, lots of research took into deciding and this one seems to fit our needs best. Currently it is available everywhere for $69.99 but Diapers.com has it on sale for $59.95 and $10 off for new customers and free shipping on items over $49, so with the total at $49.95 you get to save gas and get the walker for cheaper then anywhere else in Miami.