Currently Enjoying

Yesterday was my birthday and my husband surprised me with this gorgeous ring. He has such great taste in jewelry and always finds unique pieces.

I just received this yummy treat from a friend. I love me some dark chocolate and salted caramel!

As our summer days are coming to an end, I will enjoy a few more glasses of my go-to warm weather wine (I typically like a good red Malbec in the winter). Umberto Fiore is my favorite brand of Moscato. 

I'm loving these nail polishes from Essie. I need to decide which color I want to use while on vacation. The grey is perfect for fall but since we are headed to the beach the coral and turquoise are calling to me. It is ok to ride these last few days of summer out, right? Do you have a favorite nail polish you're wearing right now?

Terrible Two's

Ain't this the truth!

Drool-Worthy Diaper Bags

While I'm in the midst of trying to spruce up my wardrobe with fun fall items and accessories I have to come to terms with the fact that I'm not in the market for cute little clutches and handbags. I am stuck with toting around large and bulky diaper bags. But who says they can't be fun and stylish?

My Sister in Law just bought this Black and White Chevron Bag. It is on sale at Amazon right now. I love it!

These are super cute as well:

                                                          1. Potter Barn Kids $149.00

                                                          2. Etsy $59.00

                                                          3. Zappos $159.99

                                                          4. Zappos Couture $418.00

Do you have a favorite diaper bag?

Recipe: Balsamic Chicken

I really do enjoy cooking but I prefer to cook fancy meals when my husband is home and is available to keep the kiddos entertained. When Mike is at work and we are running from playgroup to playgroup I usually end up making our meals in our handy little Crockpot. When I ran across this recipe for Balsamic Chicken (first seen here) I just new that I had to try it out. The recipe mentions adding it to pasta but I paired it with some yummy veggies and it was delicious!

Ingredients:

• 4-6 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (about 40 ounces)
• 2 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 medium onion thinly sliced (Not chopped)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp each: dried oregano, basil, and rosemary
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• ground black pepper and salt to taste

Directions:

Pour the olive oil on bottom of slow cooker, add chicken breasts, salt and pepper each breast, put sliced onion on top of chicken then put in all the dried herbs and garlic cloves. Pour in vinegar and top with tomatoes. Cook on high 4 hours. 

Friday Random Roundup

I haven't been on top of the blog this week as I've been dealing with two little sick girls. It is such a heartbreaking and helpless feeling to watch my daughters suffer through runny noses, croupy coughs, fevers, and a lack of appetite. Fortunately, we were able to rule out Strep after a visit to the doctor. They are both on medicine now and I'm hoping we are on the upswing.

I just tried the Peanut Butter Cookie LARABAR this week and loved it! All natural ingredients and super delicious! Do you have a favorite snack bar or LARABAR?

I always wear my Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor while working out. It is a great form of motivation as I'm always trying to burn more calories with each new workout. Monday I burned 569 calories between a cardio and cardio abs video!

I'm so excited about the arrival of my Madewell Chambray shirt  first seen here on the Designer Bags and Dirty Diapers blog. This is one of my favorite sites. I love Natalie's style so when she recommended this shirt I knew I had to get one for myself.

Below is a picture of my first attempt at making cake pops (or as my daughter calls them Pop Sticks).  My friend Kim from Busy Mom From Southern Maryland brought over a large bouquet of them after I gave birth to C. They were delicious and super adorable! I just had to try making them myself.

I hope you all have a fun weekend planned! We are going to hit up the annual Artfest in our area, if the girls are feeling up to it, that is.

Currently Craving - Necklaces

I'm currently loving these necklaces from A-Thread, INPINK and Target. They are all very affordable. I can't wait to get my hands on some of them! 

        1/2/3/4/5/6/7

What fun jewelry finds are you currently obsessing over?

Tough Mudder? Not Nearly Tough Enough.

Saturday we took the girls to stay in Frederick, MD for the night so that my hubby, Mike, could participate in the  Tough Mudder Mid-Atlantic event with some of his co-workers. If you haven't heard of this event it is a grueling 10+ mile race filled with crazy obstacles like swimming in ice water, running through fire, army crawling through mud under barbed wire, you know...that sort of thing.

We had dinner Saturday night with his fellow co-workers and their significant others at the Macaroni Grill just down the street from our hotel. We then headed back to the hotel to get a good night sleep before the race. Unfortunately, we woke up to an onslaught of texts and emails telling us that the race had been canceled. I felt awful for Mike because I know how excited he was but I also felt relief from having to take my 2 year old and 2 month old daughters to this all day event. Apparently, it took some of the racers from the day before hours just to go half of a mile. That paired with sitting out in the sun for 5 or more hours and then having to fight our way back home through the traffic wasn't sounding very appealing.

The next morning we met up for breakfast with the rest of the crew and then we parted ways. Instead of heading home, we chose to go shopping at the nearby outlet mall. I scored some great sweaters from JCrew while we were there but oddly enough I think my husband had better luck and as always...so did my girls.

 It was kind of an expensive way of going out to dinner with friends but, all in all, it turned out to be a nice weekend away.