Even Better

Everyone knows that I'm not particularly fond of leftovers.  There's just something about it that bothers me - I guess I just like my food fresh! :) I made an exception to my no-leftover rule tonight because I just had to have more of my Crock Pot Lasagna Soup! I was pleasantly surprised when I thought it was EVEN BETTER than it was on Sunday when I made it!  It had less liquid because the lasagna noodles had absorbed a lot of the broth, but boy-oh-boy was it scrumptious! 

I decided to make more of that tasty garlic bread too, since I had the other half of the loaf still in the freezer! :)

 I remembered to take a picture this time!!! :)

I also paired our dinner with another colorful salad! :) I love salad!

 Ha, it's identical to Sunday's meal! :)
Ha, yes, the garlic bread we split is 
on a paper plate... Don't judge.

Another big reason we did leftovers was because we needed to finish up our registries since my Buffalo Bridal Shower has officially been scheduled for Saturday March 17th!  I'm so excited!!!  But before we headed to Target, we made a pit stop at one of my most favorite places..

YOGURT MOUNTAIN!!!! :)

NEW FLAVOR ~ Snickerdoodle Cookie Batter! :)

It was amaaaaaaazing.  I topped it off with some peanuts! Delish! 

After we stuffed our faces with fro-yo (The Fiance had the same thing but had chocolate chips instead of peanuts.  He said it tasted better with the peanuts!), we headed to Target where we picked out lots of fun stuff! :)  I can't wait until my shower! Ahh!!! :)  I also got a few new articles of clothing, including a super cute dress that he bought for me! :) He treats me like such a princess! ha! 

Now I'm off to catch up on Sunday's episode of Kim and Kourtney Take New York... such drama! :)

Have a great night!

Sweet Hugs,

Lauren

What Happened?

All of a sudden, I've gone from getting over this cold to feeling like someone body-slammed me against a cement wall! :(  My head is pounding, the pressure over my eyes is almost unbearable, and my throat feels less than stellar. 

I woke up this morning and knew I wouldn't be able to work out - laying in bed for an extra hour was the only feasible option.  Thank goodness I made that decision to stay in bed a little longer!  I forgot to snap a picture, but my breakfast today was a bowl of warm oatmeal - Quaker Instant Oatmeal - Apples and Cinnamon.  It was delicious and surely makes my classroom smell yummy! :)

After school today, I had my small-group tutoring session with my kiddos.  They are awesome! They may all be on different reading levels, but I have it planned perfectly so they all get the 1:1 attention and they are getting exactly what they need! :) Score one for Ms. Lauren! 

Make that score two, because my kiddos today were AMAZING.  I started a new ticket-reward system and we had by far one of the best days we've had all year.  I truly have been blessed with such a wonderful group of first graders.  Add my intern Brittany to the mix, and my days are just perfect! :) Well, except for the fact that I still feel icky-sicky.  Ha, speaking of icky-sicky....  I thought that since I'm teaching about specific details in writing, I would write about being sick over the weekend.  The kids LOVED that I used "icky-sicky" in my writing.  I told them it's not a real word, but I always use it to describe how I'm feeling when I'm sick! :) 

Tonight's dinner was turkey tacos/turkey taco salad because I didn't have the energy to cook anything more than that! :) It was pretty delicious! 

Taco Salad - Romaine Lettuce, grape tomatoes, ground turkey, 

yellow rice, black bean salsa, light sour cream, 

and 1 crispy taco shell! :) Yummy!

Usually when I'm feeling sick all I want is soup.  However, although my head feels like it's going to explode, turkey tacos sounded quite yummy! :)  It hit the spot!  And the Dove Dark Chocolate I'm eating right now is even better!!!

I'm off to continue lesson planning for this week - I may be up to my eyeballs in schoolwork, but if given a day like today, I will plan for hours! :) I love my job!

Have an awesome night!

Sweet Hugs,

Lauren

Best Yet!

So tonight's Crock Pot Lasagna Soup may be one of my best recipes yet.  The Fiance and I couldn't stop saying how good it was while we were eating it!  It had the perfect lasagna flavor without having to burn your hands layering hot lasagna noodles!  Shaun and I are lasagna lovers, but I rarely make it because for one, it's so much work layering everything and two, because Matty won't eat the ricotta cheese.  I've made "lazy" lasagna before, but even that is a lot of work. ha! 

Well, this Crock Pot Lasagna Recipe is quite simple!  I chopped up a white onion and a green pepper and put into a bowl.  I then minced about 4 cloves of fresh garlic. 

The green pepper I used was ginormous, but the white onion 

was a medium sized onion.

I then gathered all of the dried ingredients and canned goods I knew I would need for the recipe.

I poured the chicken broth into the crock pot and then pulled out a separate bowl for all the other good stuff.  In the bowl, I combined the tomato sauce, tomato paste, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, and all the spices - basil, crushed red pepper, oregano, and fresh ground black pepper.  I gave it a stir before I threw it into the crock pot.

mmm... tomato deliciousness!!!

I knew I wanted to add some sort of protein, but I didn't want to spend the time browning ground beef, so I opted for chicken sausage!  You could use regular sausage, but you'd have to brown it first.  I just so happened to have a package of chicken sausage handy for today's recipe!

Shaun and I agreed that the "Mozzarella Basil" chicken sausage 

would be even better in this recipe!

The package has 4 links, but I felt 3 would be enough.  I sliced them horizontally and then sliced them into smaller bite-sized pieces. 

Yumm-O!!!!

I then threw the bowl of chopped sausage into the crock pot, set that baby on low and hit the timer for 8 hours.  

You have NO idea how good our apartment STILL smells!!! :)

When there was 30 minutes left, I broke up 5 whole-wheat lasagna noodles and threw them in.  Of course, stir everything together too! :)

Woohoo! It's done!!! :)

While the noodles were cooking, I whipped up a garlic base for some whole-wheat bread we had in the freezer.  I melted 1 tablespoon of I Can't Believe it's Not Butter and added a dash of paprika, basil, garlic powder, and fresh ground black pepper.  I brushed it onto 2 pieces and threw it in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Oops, I forgot to take a picture of the finished garlic bread!

This is before it went into the oven. Sorry!

I topped the lasagna soup with some reduced-fat mozzarella cheese and put it into the oven for about 5 minutes to get all melty.  Yummy! 

Lasagna deliciousness in a bowl!

Of course, ya'll know presentation is key, so here's what everything looked like:

It was seriously amazing!  I can't take complete credit for it though because I loosely followed another recipe that I found online.  However, the recipe that I followed online made it on the stove top and I decided it's much more fun to use the crock pot!  The recipe I loosely followed can be found here!

For dessert, we opted for strawberry shortcake!  It is strawberry season here in Florida so we're crazy for berries right now!

:) Such a pretty dessert! :)

Now that my tummy is completely stuffed (I don't know the last time I ate this much food), I'm off to do more lesson planning for this week!  It's going to be a busy week in room 408! :)

Have a nice and relaxing Sunday night folks! :)

Crock Pot Lasagna Soup

1 white onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 32-oz carton chicken broth

2 8-oz cans of tomato sauce

1 small can of tomato pasta

1 15-oz can of fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon oregano

1/2 tablespoon basil

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

3-4 chicken sausage links

5 uncooked lasagna noodles (I used whole wheat)

reduced fat mozzarella cheese

1. Chop up the white onion and green pepper.  Mince 4 cloves of garlic.

2. Pour chicken broth into crockpot.  

3. In separate bowl, mix together all the other ingredients.  Then pour into the crockpot.

4. Chop up the chicken sausage into bite sized pieces and put into crock pot.

5. Cook on low for 8 hours.

6. When there are 30 minutes left, break up the lasagna noodles and toss into the crock pot.  Stir baby stir! :)

7. Pour into oven-safe bowls, top with mozzarella cheese, and bake in oven until the cheese is melty! :)

8. ENJOY!  Beware - it's going to be HOT, so don't burn your mouth! :)

Sweet Hugs,

Lauren

 

Feeling MUCH better! :)

Much to my surprise, I woke up this morning feeling way better than I did yesterday.  We decided to follow Dr. Mom's advice and just skip Disney today.  I think I would have been find to go, but it probably would have made me exhausted, which would in return make me feel worse again.  

I woke up after a refreshing 9 hours of sleep (usually I can function just fine on 6-7 hours) and had a delicious bowl of Rice Krispies with almond milk.  Oh boy, I'm already obsessed with it! It made for n awesome breakfast, paired with a bowl of fresh blueberries and strawberries.  After enjoying a few cups of Timmy Ho's coffee (My mom already has plans to mail us some in our Valentine's Day care package, thank goodness!), I got crackin' on today's delicious new recipe - Crock Pot Lasagna Soup!

It turns out the recipe that I was talking about in yesterday's post isn't a crock pot recipe, so I kinda ended up just doing my own thing.  Hopefully it'll turn out! It was very simple to put together and our apartment already smells wonderful!  Here's a sneak peak of what I'm thinking is going to be a pretty amazing dinner! 

I cannot wait to try this tonight!!! :)

Lunch today was my usual - peanut butter and raspberry preserves on a whole wheat sandwich thin, with a side of berries (can you tell it's berry season here in Florida!?!?), and a light mozzarella string cheese stick! Yummy!

I recently started using raspberry preserves on 

my sandwich and it is so so so good!!!!

Now we're off to run some errands, which includes stopping by Barnes and Nobles, one of my most favorite stores.  This Thursday is Groundhog Day, so I ordered a great book for a read-aloud on Thursday! :)  I can't wait to do some of the Groundhog Day activities I found on Pinterest! We also have plans to stop at Fresh Market, which always results in unnecessary purchases of beautiful flowers and healthy snacks! :)

I'll be back later tonight with my Crock Pot Lasagna Soup recipe! 

Catch ya later! ;)

Sweet Hugs,

Lauren

Broken Dreams...

Total sadness.  Our dreams of heading to Epcot tomorrow to bask in the beautiful Florida sunshine has been ripped out of our hands.  I'm still feeling totally under the weather, so Dr. Mom has advised me to stay home and relax.  Totally makes sense though right?

After I drank what seemed to be too much coffee this morning, I got a random burst of energy so I made a stop to Target for the essentials needed when you're not feeling well.

The only thing missing is my mom's 

homemade chicken noodle soup.

I pretty much spent the entire day on the couch watching television.  It seriously drives me nuts to sit around all day, even when I'm not feeling well.  I just get tired of watching television and there's only so much Facebook/Pinterest a girl can do in one day!  I did work on organizing my Pinterest boards because they were a complete disaster.  

As I was organizing the boards, I came across the Lasagna Soup recipe, so get ready kids because I will be making that tomorrow!  I'm super excited because it appears to be such a simple recipe, plus it's cooked in a crock pot! Awesomeness!!! Since I'm doing a crock pot recipe, I told The Fiance that we'll have to go grocery shopping tonight so tomorrow morning I can throw everything together without having the run to the store.  I don't think he's pleased, but at least dinner will be delicious tomorrow (or at least I hope!).  

Tonight's dinner was courtesy of Panera - their chicken noodle soup.  The boys grilled pork chops marinated in Chivetta's.  With me feeling less than stellar, I need comfort food and chicken noodle soup was the way to go.  I regret not making it myself, but whatever.  It hit the spot though!  I was slightly bummed when I got home and realized that they substituted my whole grain baguette for just a slice of whole grain bread.  That is just cheap! ha! They must have ran out! Lameness! 

Chicken noodle soup and whole grain bread = comfort food in my belly!

Earlier in the day, The Fiance asked me if I needed anything and I said "Yes, something sweet"... so he came home with this lovely baby:

What's inside you ask!?! A yummy carrot cake cupcake!  It was slightly on the large size, so I cut it in half and will definitely be having the other half tomorrow! Isn't The Fiance a doll for letting me have the whole thing!?!? :)

Of course I waited until after I took

the picture to cut it in half! :)

So for now, we're off to Publix to get our shopping done for the week.  I promised the boys I'd do a better job with cooking this week.  I was a complete slacker last week!

Have a great night!

Sweet Hugs,

Lauren

Finally tried it! :)

For weeks I've been wanting to give Almond Milk a try.  I'm not a fan of regular milk.  I usually add a pathetic amount of it to my bowl of cereal and other than that, I don't drink it.  Even growing up, I was never into milk.  Chocolate milk, of course, is delicious.  But a glass of white milk was always gross to me.  

So many of my friends on Facebook suggested that I try Almond Milk and last week it was on sale at Publix, so I snagged a carton.  This morning was the morning I finally got to try it! 

I opted for Silk Pure Almond - Regular!

It is DELICIOUS!  So delicious, I might be able to tolerate a glass of this every now and then!  It's creamier than regular milk and it went perfect with my Peanut Butter Cheerios this morning!

There is milk in there, somewhere! I told you, 

I use a very small amount!

My breakfast this morning was quite scrumptious and exactly what I needed! 

Coffee in my new Disney mug, a bowl of berries and 

cantaloupe, and my PB Cheerios!

I don't have much planned for today, other than relaxing a lot since I seem to have caught a yucky bug.  I'm all stuffed up, my head hurts, I'm achy, and tired.  Resting on the couch today with a bunch of DVR'd shows sounds pretty darn amazing!  Not doing much is important because I need to gain enough energy for tomorrow - we're headed to Disney again!  

I'm off to enjoy my second cup of vanilla mint coffee and watch some television! 

Have a great day! 

Sweet Hugs,

Lauren

You have to try it!!!!

I'm talking about this...

O.M.G.  Seriously, this is deliciousness in a box!!!  I noticed this at WalMart a few weeks ago and snagged a box.  We had a bunch of other cereal we had to finish up first, so I've been patiently waiting.  Today was the big day and boy was it worth the wait!!! 

I brought some to work this morning as my breakfast and WOW, was it a GREAT way to start the day! :)

Yes, it's a snowman napkin.  I'm a teacher, I'm allowed

to have cheesy things like that!

I nearly wanted to go back home and grab more because I couldn't get enough of the yumminess!  There was a perfect amount of peanut butter flavor and sweetness.  I'm pretty sure it would be HEAVEN if it was consumed with chocolate milk!  :)  I can't wait to have another bowl tomorrow!  :)

For some reason, the idea of cooking this week has been less than appealing, so The Fiance agreed to try out a restaurant that we've been eyeing for months...

Last night, we looked at the menu online and I had pretty much decided on the Black Bean Burger and a side of sweet potatoes fries.  When we got there, I perused the menu and couldn't decide between the Black Bean Burger and the turkey burger...  the Black Bean Burger won.  

And it was a good decision on my part!  It was wonderful!  I love black beans, so throw it into a burger form and serve on a wheat bun and I'm in!  

Yes, the burger is hidden underneath that ginormous roll!

I give the Black Bean Burger 9/10 stars... only because the roll was much too big!  I ended up leaving a lot of the bun behind because it was simply overpowering.  When I bite into a burger, I want the burger, not just roll! ha! :)  The sweet potato fries were good, but too salty.  They get a 5/10.  But the Thai Ketchup gets a 10/10.  The flavor was perfect and had a nice kick to it!  

The Fiance ordered the BBQ Burger and I couldn't take a picture because while I was inside grabbing the condiments, he had already started eating it.  But I did manage to get a picture of his delicious drink!

A root beer float! :) So yummy!

We decided that next time we go there, we're each going to order a burger and give each other 1/2 of it.  That way we can try 2 burgers at once!  Yep, we're little piggies! haha!  Oh, and he ordered regular fries with his burger and those babies get a 7/10.  I think the fact that they are shoestring fries has something to do with my poor review! I like bigger fries! :)

On tonight's schedule: planning a thematic unit on polar bears and penguins! :)  I love that Pinterest has already done most of the work for me (and my fabulous team!)

I'm off to do some work!  :) Have a great night!

Sweet Hugs,

Lauren

Sloppy, but Yummy!

Tonight's dinner was sloppy.  Sloppy on purpose!  :)  Last night, I asked the guys what they wanted for dinner and sloppy joe's came up!  I love sloppy joe's but I always forget about it when I'm coming up with ideas for dinner! It's pretty easy and quick, which makes for a nice mid-week meal!  I followed a recipe from a fellow food-blogger (Gina's Skinny Recipes), so I can't take the credit on this one!  You can find the recipe here!

I just browned some lean ground beef with 3/4 of a while onion.  I drained it and then added about 1/4 of a red bell pepper (finely chopped) and 1 medium sized carrot (finely chopped) as well as throwing in 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce as well as 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar.  I let that cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.  I then added 2 cups of tomato sauce and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste (both were no-salt added).  To spice things up, I added crushed red pepper flakes and garlic powder.  I should have used fresh garlic, but I wasn't that motivated when I got home from work! :)  I let that simmer for about 10 minutes and dinner was ready! (Right before it was done, I threw an Arnold's Sandwich Thin in the toaster oven to warm it up!)

In the meantime, I had also thrown together some roasted red potatoes with rosemary! Yummy!  Just quarter some red potatoes, drizzle on some extra virgin olive oil, throw in some rosemary (I used dried), and topped it off with some sprinkles of paprika.  Put it in a 350 degrees oven and let it roast for 35-45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes!

On the side, I popped a bag of steamed peas in the microwave and 4 minutes later, dinner was ready!

Pretty easy mid-week meal! :)

Are you impressed that I didn't opt for a sweet potato tonight!?!? haha! I forgot how tasty those little red potatoes are!!!

Now it's off to watch American Idol and enjoy some pieces of Dove Dark Chocolate... apparently it's becoming part of my nightly routine!

Goodnight!!

Sweet Hugs,

Lauren

Healthy obsession?

I think I'm obsessed with sweet potatoes!  I cannot believe I waited 27 years to experience all the deliciousness that a sweet potato has to offer!  What's even better is that I don't need it loaded up with brown sugar, marshmallows, and butter! I simply bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour and a half, and then I top it off with a few sprays of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, freshly ground black pepper, and a few shakes of nutmeg.  Now, don't get me wrong - my aunt makes a delicious sweet potato casserole at Christmas time which is amazing.... but if we have that all the time, it won't be a special holiday treat.  So, plain sweet potatoes it is!  I'm looking forward to experimenting with a sweet potato chili next weekend!  Look for the recipe... unless it's another kitchen misfire! ha! :)

Back to what I was saying though - is it okay to be obsessed with food?  I know anything is fine in moderation (Why is it so easy for me to say that here, but I cannot follow my own advice!?!?).  I know many people who can't live without particular foods - peanut butter, hummus, granola, etc.  Are any of you obsessed with any foods?  I find comfort in having a food that I cannot live without - right now I seem to be gravitating towards an unhealthy obsession with Dove Dark Chocolate! :) But, when does it become unhealthy? I should also note that I'm also loving cheese sticks, especially string cheese! I have one every day at lunch! :)

Tonight's dinner was total randomness.  I love pulling spices right off the rack and throwing them together into a marinade, hoping for yumminess.  Tonight was no exception to that! I whipped up a quick white wine herb marinade, threw some chicken breasts into a bag, and let the magic happen in the refrigerator for about an hour. 

I love how in 99% of my pictures, there 

is a sweet potato. ha! :)

For a side, I opted for a baked sweet potato, sauteed white onion, and mixed veggies that were leftover from Sunday's dinner.  The chicken was perfectly moist and quite flavorful!  The sweet potato was very good as usual and the mixed veggies were okay... ya'll know I hate leftovers!!!  

Here's the recipe:

White Wine and Herb Chicken

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 c white wine (cooking wine, or Chardonnay) 

1/2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp fennel seed

Mix the wine, olive oil, and herbs and spices.  Pour over chicken.  Let the marinade work it's magic for at least an hour.  Throw into a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes!  :)  Enjoy!

Now I'm off to have more of my cherry angel food cake as a dessert.  No worries, the Dove Dark Chocolate will be making an appearance later, as I spend the rest of the evening doing a serious amount of schoolwork.  Is it spring break yet!?! :)

Enjoy your evening everyone!

Sweet Hugs,

Lauren

I think it's delicious!

If you read yesterday's post, you know I had a mishap in the kitchen.  My cherry angel food cake was a hot mess.  After I baked it and it cooled, I cut it into squares, told Shaun to take some to work, and put the rest in a container for Matty and I to eat this week.  I ate some warm crumbles of it yesterday and I thought it was good, it was just ugly.

After dinner tonight, I pulled a piece out and ate it and forget what Shaun says - I think it's delicious!

Told you it's ugly, but it tastes quite yummy!

All you need is a can of pie filling (apparently any flavor works) and a box of angel food cake mix.  Mix the two ingredients together and bake in a 9x13 baking dish at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  I baked mine for almost 28 because the middle was jiggly! I think part of the problem was that I used a glass pan instead of a cake pan.  Again, here's some pictures.... be warned, it's not pretty!

yep... didn't let it cool all the way before I turned

it upside down... therefore, disaster ensued!!!

Again, I think it's yummy.  Next time I make it (oh there will definitely be a next time), I will puree the cherries because I think Shaun will like it if there aren't cherry chunks!

Tonight's dinner was Subway - Shaun is at school working on his final project and Matty gets out too late.  I love my usual turkey sub on wheat! :) I may have had a piece of the cherry angel food cake after dinner, but tonight's sweet treat will come later when I have my fixing of chocolate - Dove Dark! :)  I am obsessed with them! 

Oh, side note - I tried Cobani's Apple Cinnamon Greek Yogurt for my pre-workout snack.... OMG ~ AMAZING!!! Look for a full review of it later this week!  Also, I tried a new flavor of Muscle Milk after my intense 45-minute cardio session after tutoring this afternoon - Cafe Latte - DELICIOUS!!!!! It tasted like an iced coffee drink! Perfect! :)

I'm loving that I'm getting the protein I need in 

such a wonderful tasting drink!

Now I'm off to catch up on celebrity news, by way of Entertainment Tonight.  This weekend was jam-packed of celeb news - baby announcements, break-ups, and the sad news that Etta James passed away! 

Hopefully I'll have a new chicken recipe for you tomorrow!

Have a terrific night!

Sweet Hugs,

Lauren

Baking Disaster = No motivation for experimentation!

Oh dear.  I've had my first baking misfire.  I attempted to make the angel food cake dessert with pie-filling that I pinned on Pinterest forever ago.  Epic fail.  I used "light" cherry pie filling instead of lemon because I wasn't in the lemon mood this afternoon.  I had read online that the recipe will work with any pie filling, but clearly I did something wrong.  It's messy.  And ugly.  But I think it tastes good.  The Fiance however, wants no part of it.  In fact, he offered to take it to work tomorrow for his coworkers. haha.  He mentioned that he doesn't like cherry pie filling.  Who knew.  

Due to this baking disaster (okay, so I'm slightly exaggerating, but still...) I'm not doing anything exciting for dinner.  I was going to make a new soup with chicken sausage, beans, and veggies, but no way.  We're grilling the sausages instead.  I'm thinking I can't screw that up! ha! 

I guess it worked out better this way, since I'm exhausted from yesterday's fabulous trip to Disney's Hollywood Studios!

Can you tell I'm excited to be there!?!?!

We had an amazing time - the weather was perfect, the park wasn't all that crowded, and we enjoyed spending the day away from our hectic schedules!

This may be one of my most favorite pics... haha. 

That was a child's hat! hahaha! :)

Everyone knows that the food at Disney is less than healthy.  I opted for a veggie burger and fries for lunch.... I ate the whole burger and most of the fries, but the roll was kinda soggy, so I ended up just eating the burger.  It was scrumptious. 

haha, sorry for the after-bite picture... I forgot to snap it

before I started stuffing my face!

Really, I was saving all my calories for dinner and dessert - we had big plans to hit up Terrace 390 in Downtown Orlando.  Luckily after maneuvering around serious traffic issues, we made our 6:30 reservation.  The food was delicious!  

I opted for the grilled chicken with fingerling potatoes 

and green beans. Amazing!!!

Shaun ordered the special, which was a wasabi tuna with risotto. 

He wasn't all that impressed.

  He wasn't aware how rare the tuna would be! 

The service at the restaurant was bad.  Our waitress was atrocious.  Luckily, the waiter that was assigned to the table next to ours was on top of things and occasionally stopped by our table to ask if we needed anything.  Shaun gave his meal a 5/10, I rated mine a 8.5/10, only because of the pathetic amount of potatoes I got.  We both agreed though that the presentation of food was a 10/10.  

We left and I was ready for what we were anxiously awaiting...

Carrot Cake from The Dessert Lady! :)

Oh me, oh my....  words cannot even describe this deliciousness.  It was perfect.  So perfect, we ate the entire thing in record time (except we did leave some frosting... too much of a good thing is bad!). We both decided that if Tampa had The Dessert Lady, we'd both be in BIG trouble! haha! 

Well, now that I've filled you in on what went down this weekend, it's time for me to catch up on some DVR'd shows before I start dinner.  Fingers crossed that there are no disasters while grilling the sausages and baking a sweet potato.  Easy right!?!? :)

Have an amazing night!

Sweet Hugs,

Lauren

Can't Wait

This weekend is going to be GREAT!  It's hard to believe, but this weekend hits the "6-months-until-our-wedding" mark!  It feels like just yesterday that I came home from work only to find roses everywhere, beautiful music playing, and Shaun down on his knee, ready to propose to me.  Sigh.  It still gives me butterflies!  I guess that's LOVE! ;)

We have BIG plans this weekend - Orlando! We plan on spending Saturday at Hollywood Studios, followed by dinner and dessert in Downtown Orlando (not Downtown Disney).  I'm also looking forward to stopping by the Vera Bradley outlet store on our way back to Tampa on Sunday morning! Joy!!! I'm in need of a spring lunch bag! :)  And maybe a new tote! Oh boy.... I can already guess it's going to be harsh on the wallet!  I deserve it though! A girl needs a few presents every now and then right!?!?

I already told Shaun we need to get Fast-Passes immediately for Rockin' Roller-coaster and Toy Story Mania.  Last time we went, Rockin' Roller-coaster was closed due to maintenance issues.  Total bummer!  Hopefully the weather will be as fantastic as it was today - sunny, blue skies, and a perfect temperature in the mid-70's!  

I wanted to share that I have a new breakfast I'm obsessed with - Quaker Instant Oatmeal (Lower-Sugar) Apples & Cinnamon.  One packet is JUST the right amount for breakfast and it's perfect on chilly mornings here in Tampa! (And by chilly, I mean 60 degrees.... haaaa!!!).  I don't eat this everyday, I still go back and forth between hot and cold cereal.  I can't eat the exact same breakfast every morning which is weird because I eat the same lunch everyday! 

 

It's so yummy! :)
 

I wasn't able to wake up early enough to go to the gym this morning before work (wayyy to cozy under those covers! ha!) and now I'm too tired to go, so it looks like today and tomorrow are my "rest" days for the week!  Good thing I kept at it all week! :) 


Now I'm off to watch some of my DVR'd TV shows from this week - I'm thinking The Bachelor.  Then it's off to dreamland for me - we have to get up early so we're on the road at 7:30!

Catch ya on Sunday.... with a new pasta recipe! :)  I'm thinking lean-ground beef pasta bake with veggies.  That may change though! 

Sweet Hugs,

Lauren