My Holiday Wish List!

Merry Christmas y'all!! I figured since we only have 12 days until Christmas, that I better go ahead and share my Christmas Wish List!

1. Plaid Blanket Scarf- I couldn't locate this exact one, but they have similar ones at Madewell

2. LL Bean Monogrammed Bag- (image via thecollegeprepster) I love these bags for travel & you can never have too many!

3. Joules Wellies- oh my gosh, how cute are these wellies? Honestly, it rains so much where I live that I would wear these a LOT!

4. Whiskey soy candle- I only use soy candles in my home and this one looks amazing! I love anything from Etsy!

5. Starbucks Gift Card- perfect for stocking stuffers!

6. Ugg oversize knit blanket- I'm always cold + I am currently obsessed with these!

7. Onyx Ring- I am obsessed with the uniqueness of this onyz ring- how gorgeous!!

8. Starbucks Verismo Pods- I am always buying these online for my Espresso machine. My favorites are the espresso pods!

What is on your Christmas Wish List?

I survived Thanksgiving week!

Wow, this Thanksgiving week has been INSANE, you guys! The holidays always wear me out with so much work to do before the new year + cooking, shopping & decorating for the holidays. So much more reason to look forward to this upcoming vacay!! I did enjoy our Thanksgiving with my family, so much so that we ended up at my Mom's for almost 5 hours. I slept in this morning after such a hectic week, which was nice.

Most of our weekend consisted of shopping for three days online and one day shopping in store.  We have purchased so much that I am thinking of waiting next year to get the new TV and camera. Shopping is extremely time consuming for me because I do so much research in reading reviews & trying to find the best quality product until it takes me an entire day to buy one item!

In between shopping, I was able to get some other things done during the week:

>> Made Christmas Wreath for front door
>> Put out lighted Christmas trees on deck
>> Picked up our Frasier fir Christmas tree & decorated it that same night!
>> Wrapped more Christmas gifts
>> Joined more Blog FB groups
>> Emailed companies to collaborate with for Blog
>> Applied for some Blog campaigns
>> Finished several SoFab University classes
>> Updated Twitter, Pinterest to reflect my Blog instead of Business
>> Designed a new Twitter header
>> Did my first sponsored post with Groupon!
>> Posted some items on Swap + Shop
>> Made some larabars + home-made chili + 2 broccoli casseroles for the week
>> Ordered some more kcups
>> Ordered a Cuisinart 6 slice toaster & convection oven from Kohl's (excited for this!)
>> Went to TJ Maxx Members Event
>> Finished food shopping for the week
>> Had hubby's glasses repaired
>> Bought a couple of groupon deals (Starbucks + hair salon)
>> Created some social media graphics
>> Finished all client work
>> Had pallets delivered to get ready to DIY our garage walls next year (or end of this year)
>> Finished sorting dirt pile & filling up driveway + flowerbeds
>> Painted flower pot for citrus tree
>> Re-stained deck chairs & side table
>> Spot-cleaned patio cushions
>> Planted Rosemary Christmas Tree
>> Hubby pressure-washed deck
>> Finished our retaining wall + flower beds!
>> Hubby unclogged sink drain (I have never been so happy!)
>> Washed all sheet, bedspread covers
>> Reserved parking for our upcoming trip

I'm exhausted just from typing all of this! Later this week, I plan on doing some more VA job research, wash the car, cut the hubby's hair, going shopping with my MIL & having a spa day! I'm just glad that I got through Thanksgiving & most of my Christmas shopping!

What was your most favorite part about Thanksgiving?

Fall is my favorite time of the year!

Happy November Y'all!! The last week has been full of fun Fall things- Fall costume parties, baking yummy treats, soups, new Fall boots and lots of raking + landscaping. I love this time of year!

The hubby and I made pumpkin shaped cheese straws together

 My fail at a cute Fall photo

 Turmeric Ginger Latte- my new favorite drink!

Lentil soup with carrots, celery & onions

  I signed up for ShoeDazzle and ordered these boots + another pair!

We also renewed our Costco Membership & picked up some healthy eats

Target run + Starbucks is always necessary!

We also have been working so much on landscaping- planting crepe myrtle trees, fruit trees, blueberry and blackberry bushes. I am so excited to have a fruit orchard! Today I am going to work on raking pine-straw to put in the beds and cleaning up the concrete from pouring our drive + well house. This weekend we are planning to have a huge bonfire + hot cocoa, so I'm really looking forward to that!

Lately, I have  been making lots of things from scratch- coconut milk, almond milk, almond flour, larabars & chocolate chips. There are so many additives in processed foods, that I prefer making my own foods at home, even though it takes more work. I just ordered more cacao along with some other health items, so hopefully it comes in soon so I can make the hubby chocolate chip cookies.

What fun things do you do in the Fall?

Happy Fall Y'all!!

Oh my gosh, you guys, I'm so excited because today is officially Fall!! I love everything about Fall and I look forward to it every year. I will be breaking out my sweaters, plaid, boots and scarves today! I will be doing a Fall Fashion Blog post coming up soon, featuring my favorite Fall fashion items.

This Fall I'm Looking forward to:
Starbucks Holiday drinks
Picking out Pumpkins!
Hot Cocoa + Movie nights
Making Chili
Baking Cookies + Pumpkin Bread
Bonfires + S'mores
Reading books
Spending time with family
Fun Festivals
Apple Picking

What is your favorite thing about Fall?

Our Weekend Beach Trip!

Saturday morning we finally were on our way to Destin by 7:30! We stopped and picked up Chick Fil A for the hubby for breakfast and I had my banana + organic granola bar.

I used my DD free drink credit to get a iced coffee + shot of caramel

At the Destin Harbor

I had purchased a Groupon for the Destin Love Shack so we decided to give a try!

The Destin Love Shack reminded me of those cute local eateries in the Bahamas and Caribbean.

I forgot to take photos of our food but it was amazing!! I had the Caribbean Chicken and the hubby had the grass fed steak kabobs- both were amazing! We had a mango tango smoothie to go which was really yummy.

   We hadn't been to the Surf Hut since last year, so we figured it was due time for a visit.

 We went to Surf Hut for Dinner and made it just in time for Happy Hour! We immediately ordered two of the $3 Margaritas.

 The margaritas were pretty strong, so we only had one each.

  We ordered the most expensive (& the largest) Captains Platter that came with a cup of Gumbo- we couldn't finish it all so we packed it up for the hotel for some late night snacking :)

 Sunday, for lunch we decided to go to our favorite spot- Osaka Japanese Steakhouse!

 We both had the Bay Crab Roll, tempura style with eel sauce and fish eggs on top- so good!!

 We picked up some oysters on the half shell & shrimp for the hubby to grill later this week.

We had the best time on our weekend beach trip! We went shopping at Destin Commons, Silver Sands Premium Outlets and I was even able to return a swimsuit top from Old Navy and redeem my $30 Gap coupon. I also redeemed a $20 voucher from Charming Charlie's that I purchased online and bought two gorgeous handbags.

I picked up a cute basket for our coffee kcups + two more boxes of the Seattle's Best kcups from Home goods with my $20 voucher that I earned. We also went to Ross and found an audio cable for the hubby's phone so that he could play music from Sound cloud.

We visited both Miramar beach on Saturday and then Grayton beach on Sunday. It was an awesome weekend filled with lots of good food, shopping, catching up on some reading and enjoying the beach- the perfect beach trip in my book! I'm thinking maybe another beach trip in the next 4-6 weeks sounds good!

What is your favorite thing to do on beach trips?

A Peek Inside my Healthy Fridge!

I don't know about you, but I love peeking inside of healthy fridges!! Since I have a lot going on this week, I thought I would do a short & sweet post showing you what's inside my fridge. Are you ready?!

 I'm trying to drink less dairy so I stocked up on coconut creamer. Target had it on sale for $1.90 plus I had a $1 off coupon when you buy three. I'm not that great with coupons but I try!

 This cauliflower "rice" has been so amazing to help kick my rice addiction!!

 Publix had the Udis pizza on sale for 2 for $10 this week!

 Grass fed Butter for Bulletproof coffee!

 Pete and Gerry's Organic Eggs are on sale at Publix this week for $3.99- I bought 3 cartons!

 Organic fruit

All of the grains pictured are for the hubby since he is still eating grains. Sadly, I can't have any of those but honestly, I don't miss them quite as much as I did in the beginning. I also picked up some organic chicken, ground sausage, grass-fed steaks and beef.

Like I mentioned in my last post, I am back on the Ketogenic Diet which makes me feel amazing! What I love about eating this way is that I have tons of energy and also that I don't have to limit what I eat. I'm also seeing results from my HIIT daily workouts. I am on week two and this week, my sister, Becky is now joining me in getting healthy and toned! Right now we are doing mostly burpees, jump squats, planks, high knees, etc. and we are definitely feeling the burn!

We are planning on doing a girl's shopping + Starbucks day once we both get to our goal weight. Shopping is definitely the best way to get me motivated! 

What type of eating plan do you prefer?