Happy Memorial Weekend!

This is a little bit of a belated post, but I hope everyone had a lovely extended weekend!  Shockingly, I went into the weekend with no plans to speak of and no travel plans, but I still ended up doing something fun every day.

Saturday I waffled between driving to Iowa to take my mom out for lunch or driving an hour north to the outlet mall in Albertville.  The outlet mall won out; sorry, Mom!   Eric and I had lunch at Boston's Gourmet Pizza in Maple Grove (wine and cranberry pecan salad for me) and then we hit Nordstrom Rack where I scored a cute pair of flip flops and some Pink Sugar perfume at half price!  Half price I tell you!   Last week, I paid full price at the regular Nordstrom, so from now on I think I need to check Nordstrom Rack although I am not sure that they always carry Pink Sugar. 

Then we proceeded on to the outlet mall where Eric bought me a really cute black skirt embellished at the hem with a black & white polka dot flower.  It is really cute!  Then we did some boring guy shopping at the Levi Store and the Nike Store  - yawn!!  :-) 

At Bath and Body Works I found a couple of very adorable car air fresheners shaped like turtles. I got a yellow one for Buttercup and a purple one for Daisy. The yellow is a peach bellini fragrance and the purple one is coconut.   Also some strawberry anti-bacterial soap, small enough for my purse, and then a bottle of Coconut shower gel. 



I also got a couple of peanut butter oatmeal cookies at Mrs. Fields.  It was a successful outlet mall shopping day!

Sunday, Eric had golf so I met my friend Sara at Starbucks at the Galleria in Edina and we talked FOREVER.  I had Tazo Tea Lemonade in Passion Fruit.  2 of them.  It was good to catch up with Sara.

Then Monday I went to see "Bridesmaids" with my friend, Donna and her younger sister, Megan.  We saw it at the West End in St. Louis Park where we had VIP seating.  I had white wine and chips and onion dip.  The movie was really pretty funny, made more so by the two glasses of wine, I think.   I highly recommend seeing all movies at the West End in VIP!

I also planted some things to remember two of my best friends who are no longer with me.  I like to do this every Memorial Day to remember my dad and my cat, Chloe.  This year I planted an orange geranium in memory of my dad and for Chloe, catnip, of course!

So that's it for my weekend--it was lovely.  Now back at the office on a Tuesday, but it seems like a Monday, but thank goodness it is not! 

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My Summer Reading List

Summer is upon us and it has come to my attention that there are a couple of classics that I have never read.  It is shocking, I know!  The first one is To Kill A Mockingbird.

I started to read this book when I was younger because growing up it was in our house, but then I didn't. Now I am going to!

The second book is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

I recently uploaded this book to my Nook Color and now I am determined to read it.

I can't believe I let these classics pass me by.  Have you read one or both?  Did you enjoy them?  Comment please!!


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Good Old-Fashioned Midwest Salads

I stopped by my pal, Margaret's wonderful blog and I saw her recipe for Strawberry Salad.  I hope she doesn't mind if I share it here with you!  It got me to thinking about "salads" in the Midwest and the particular kind that we make with Cool Whip and cream cheese and Jell-o.  I think those types of dessert-y  salads could be particularly indigenous to the Midwest.  I have lived in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin my whole life and I think so!

Here is Margaret's recipe:

STRAWBERRY SALAD

8oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar

20oz can crushed pineapple, very well drained
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup nuts - I used pecans
10oz frozen strawberries, thawed
Cool Whip - about 2 cups

Cream sugar and cream cheese.  Add pineapple, bananas, and berries.  Stir in nuts.  Fold in Cool Whip.  Freeze in a 9x9 pan.  Remove from the freezer 20-30 minutes before servings. 



And then I was also reminded of a salad that I like to make called Snickers Salad or Caramel Apple Salad

SNICKERS SALAD

For that you will need

One package of instant vanilla pudding
8 ounces of Cool Whip
6 Snickers candy bars
6-8 green apples

Follow the directions to make the vanilla pudding and then add the Cool Whip and blend.  Core (obviously!) and chop up the apples, and also cut the Snickers into bite size pieces and blend into the pudding mixture. 

Voila!  Salad!

Do you have any recipes for your region?  Share with this Midwestern girl!











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Words With Friends!

I am addicted to playing Words With Friends on my iPhone. If you play, please find me. I am at Leslialison.

Thank you!!



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Something Borrowed!

I saw "Something Borrowed" twice this past weekend & it is easily my favorite chick flick of the year so far! 

I read the orignal book by Emily Giffin when it first came out, but when was that?  2003?  2004?  2005?  But it has been awhile.   Therefore, I cannot tell you for sure how much the movie followed the book, but I am sure they took some liberties with the story.  Nevertheless, I loved it! 

Target has the book so I might want to re-read it.  Here is the story in a nutshell without giving anything way!

It is about 2 best friends, Rachel and Darcy.  Rachel is the serious brunette who went to law school and Darcy is the bubbly blonde and the one for whom things always seem to be perfect.  She always gets what she wants.  She is not as serious or as smart as Rachel.  Darcy is engaged to Dex whom Rachel went to law school with.

Two BFFs played by Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin (who is adorable!)

Rachel had a crush on Dex in law school and he on her, too--but neither one knew how the other felt (although the chemistry was undeniable!), and Rachel never felt beautiful enough for Dex.  So it was Darcy who ended up with Dex.

Fast forward to present day and Darcy is throwing Rachel a surprise 30th birthday party...and that is when things between Dex and Rachel start to heat up again! 

Anyhow I won't spoil anything for you.  It is a lovely movie & a delightful way to spend a few hours--although my husband might not agree with that!










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Happy Mother's Day!

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Ten On Tuesday

Yes, I know it is Thursday and this is from a couple of weeks ago even, but nevertheless--here are my Ten On Tuesday....on Thursday. 

1. How many blogs do you read every day and what are they? (I’m talking the ones you NEVER miss)


I read many, many blogs so don’t feel slighted if I leave you out. It doesn’t mean I don’t read your blog! These are just my few “go-to” blogs whose addresses I have memorized and who I do check on every day.



The Chloe Conspiracy

Glammed If You Do, Glammed If You Don’t

Slice of Pink

A Little Pink in the Cornfields

Crazy Aunt Purl

Pretty In The City

(I completely plan to go back and insert links--I just wanted to get this out there!)

As I said, there are many, many more; these are just the first ones I like to check on first thing every morning!

2. How many “best friends” do you have? Do you have different “besties” for different areas of your life?

This may sound like a cop-out but my best friends at the moment are my husband and my dog. I have many, many, MANY girlfriends in my personal life and at the office and also through blogging, but I don’t have a best girlfriend anymore which kind of makes me sad. But there is not just that one female friend who I do everything with and share everything with. Maybe that just comes from getting older and being married and growing apart from certain people.

3. What’s your daily make up routine?

Philosophy’s Hope In A Jar moisturizer with sunscreen, then a primer—I like either a Sephora primer, a primer by Smashbox , or a really good primer by L’Oreal that just smoothes my skin and gets it ready for foundation. My foundation of choice and my newest favorite right now is L’Oreal’s Magic Souffle—I just put a little on and it blends right in and makes my skin really smooth. Then I use a little Maybelline illuminator powder on my cheekbones, bridge of my nose, forehead (making a W shape) and then sometimes a little on my chin. Followed by a plum colored blush by Cover Girl. As far as eyes, I curl my lashes and then put on several coats of Cover Girl Lash Blast in black, eyeliner pencil (I like blue), and sometimes a little highlighter on my brown bone. The highlighter is from Sephora & the shade is Aspen. For lips, I like Lip Venom lip plumper, Philosophy Red Velvet lip gloss (sadly this has been discontinued!), and sometimes a little Revlon lipstick in raisin or plum shades. And that’s it. I can do it all in under 10 minutes. But reading this, it sounds like a lot!

4. What is your ideal girl’s night?

Dinner and girl talk over glasses of wine. It is also fun just to sit around in sweats or pjs and watch movies and eat junk food—but I haven’t done that in ages. Maybe I should!



5. Do you keep up with your nails/toenails or are they au natural?

I get a pedicure every 3-4 weeks, more in the summer and I generally do my own finger nails. I like color, no naked nails! I am lucky in that we have someone come to our office every other Tuesday for manicures & pedicures.



6. What’s your best roommate story (assuming you had a roommate at some point in your life)?

I once had two male roommates; I would not recommend this to anyone – they were both complete slobs. On the other hand, when I had female roommates, it completely ruined our friendships—one permanently and the other one temporarily. I don’t recommend moving in with girlfriends either. Yikes! In my memory, roommates involved arguments over boyfriends, food in the fridge, cleaning, borrowed clothes, etc., etc. Not fun. Before marriage, my best years were when I had my OWN place!

7. What’s your “go to” outfit that you wear more than anything else?

Jeans, heels (because I am short!), cute top, cute scarf to tie everything together.


8. Do you have a beauty secret?

I really believe the two best things you can do for your skin and keep yourself looking young is a) exfoliate (sugar makes a great scrub and I love anything by Olay), and b) stay out of the sun and, if you are going to be in the sun, wear sunscreen. Oh, and one more thing and this is so true—a smile is your best accessory!  (Cheesy, I know!)

9. Did you read Seventeen magazine growing up?

I loved it!


10. How did you learn to put on makeup?

Self taught. I often “played” with my mom’s makeup. I started wearing mascara occasionally when I was 13; by the time I was 15 I was wearing more & more makeup and sometime around 16 I discovered eyeliner. I wouldn’t say I always wore it well but I had fun.



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Update * Update * Update

I updated ONE of my blogs. Not this one though--ha ha! Stay tuned tomorrow (perhaps!). In the meantime, stop by Daisy, Chloe....and read my update!

Happy Wednesday!!
xoxo



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