27 things before 27.

I'm a fan of lists.  They help me think, and they are hella fun to cross off. In lieu of turning 26, here's a list of 27 things I'd like to do before my next b-day.  In no particular order.... :)

1. Take one (at least!) picture each day.

2. Watch a movie my husband loves that I've never seen.  i.e. Star Wars, Harry Potter... 

3. Declutter my email inbox.

4. More date nights.

5. Write a letter. or two.

6. Make something from scratch for a week.

7. Clean out the garage.

8. Keep up the blog.

9. Go on a road trip with J.

10. Read 5 books.

11. Bake a layered cake.

12. Eat from my garden.

13. Deep clean the entire house.

14. Run a 1/2 marathon.

15. Run a marathon.  (dream big, right?)

16. Write and follow a more specific budget.

17. Random acts of kindess.

18. Reunion with my college sorority friends.

19. Cook at home for two weeks straight.

20. Drink 10 or less Diet Coke's.

21. Write in a journal.

22. Give compliments each day.

23. Make my bed for 2 weeks straight. 

24. Run 500 miles.

25. Go computer free for 5 days. (that sounds impossible!)

26. Give more charity.

27. Say thank you more often.

This post was extremely helpful in creating this list.  Good one to keep bookmarked :)

-m

April Birchbox.

This month's Birchbox came full of Earth-friendly products.  Good stuff!

What I'm Loving Lately.

1. Mint Jeans.  I don't have any, but I kinda want some :) 

photos via

2. This blog.  It's full of wonderful "pick-me-ups" during the week.

via

3. These earphone clips.  How genius is this?  Clips for the iPhone earbuds... and they actually work!  I can finally say goodbye to my gigantic mega earphones I've been sporting when running.  It's bad when even my student's comment on how giant my earphones are...  "Hey, Mrs. G! I saw you running... You have huge earphones!"... yeah, kid... i know.  No more!

4. This chapstick.  It's cute, tasty, and has SPF.  Bonus points for not having to stick your finger in the sticky pot.

5.  Hydrangeas.  All flowers, really.  I have yet to buy a bouquet, but now that I'm thinking about it, I think it's worth the splurge.  How nice would it be to smell flowers at work when I never see the sunlight!  I'm thinking about making a hydrangea wreath for spring, too.  We'll see if that ever happens.

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Anything you've been loving lately?

-m

I love weekends.

Not to boast, but my weekend has been great!  One for the record books-- and so I don't forget, here's a rundown of the awesomeness:

:: Phone convo with a great gal :)

:: Cookies from my hubby.  Not for me, but for a party I went to... and just another reason he's the best.

:: Saturday morning run. 14 miles. BOOM.  I can't walk, and I won't do that again for a while... or maybe ever.  But I knew I could do it, and so I did.

:: Farmer's Market.  Got me some spinach, tomatoes and asparagus. Organics, yo.

  

 :: American Reunion.  Hilarious.

:: Laundry done.

:: Firepit date with J (and Sadie) --s'mores included.

:: Garage sales.  Stopped at ONE garage sale.  It was at a church, and it was about to close, so they had $4 bag sale.  I bought about 15 BIG ball jars, some other odds and ends dishes, and managed to fit it all to ONE bag.

:: Lunch: Sweet potato with cheese, spinach and tomato.  Weirdly tasty.

I'm thinking I'll round it out tonight with a good book.  And pinterest.

Hope your weekend was great, too!

-m

Well, at least I tried?

Sadie is a beloved member of our family.  She's warm and cuddly and adorable and the closest thing we've got to a baby.  She's our BABY!  She's also got lots of hair.  My hair got cut last month, and so Sadie's haircut got put on the back burner.  Before we made an appointment with the groomer, J and I decided to give it a whirl trimming her ourselves.

HA!

I set up shop in the garage with our $15 clippers (might be part of the problem right there!).  After about an hour, there was a lot of fur on the ground, but still a very furry dog.

Now I know why we pay them the big bucks.  We've got an appointment next week.  Until then, at least she can see now :)

Food.

We've been trying some new recipes up in this house.

1. Cilantro Pasta Salad.

• 1/2 Bag Bowtie Pasta, cooked
• 2 cups spinach
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 cucumber, chopped
• 1/2 bottle Cilantro Dressing (Trader Joe's)
• 4 chicken breasts, boiled, shredded
• 1/2 cup gorgonzolla cheese crumbles
• salt and pepper to taste

2. Peanut Butter Cranberry Granola.

• 10 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups honey
• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 cups coconut
• 1/2 cup flax seed
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

3. Spinach Meatball Pizza.

• Trader Joe's Spinach and Garlic Pre-Made Pizza Dough
• Marinara
• Trader Joe's Sundried Tomato Chicken Meatballs 
• 1 cup spinach
• 1 cup mushrooms, cooked
• 1 TBS sundried tomatos
• 1 8oz. package of fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced

Enjoy! 

-m