High Five for Friday!

Have you ever heard someone say, "Damnit, it's Friday already." Yeah, me neither. I feel like these posts always start out with a "Yay!" or a "Wow this week went by quickly!" so I thought I would get your attention by saying, "Stupid Friday, you came too quickly and I hate the weekends."

Except, I don't. At all.

After all the excitement last week with the in-laws hanging out with us, I was completely solo all week with lil' H as daddy had to travel for work. The quiet was actually rather nice after a super busy last week. Here's what we were up to:

1) If you checked out Wednesday's post, you saw I cooked. And then I cooked again! This time I made pan seared salmon with spicy blanched green beans. It turned out AWESOME! Between the salmon, walnuts on the green beans and avocado in the homemade "tartar sauce" I'm fairly certain we cured any heart disease we may have had with the influx of Omega3's.

What this photo fails to show is me dropping the baby monitor (you know, the big ones with a screen) directly on the rim of my wine glass, shattering it and sending wine and glass everywhere. Watch out for those sneaky, slippery baby monitors!

2) Henry is consistently sleeping 4-6 hours straight at night. No further explanation necessary on how &$^%*&! amazing that is.

3) My new phone case arrived! Nordstrom, you have some work to do on your shipping. I ordered my J Crew dress and the phone case at the same time, and it took a full week longer to get the case... Just sayin'! But, it's super cute, and a fun change from the brightly colored case I used to have on my iPhone.

I'm so fancy... You already knowwwww. Yup, that song will be stuck in your head all day long now! Muhahaha

4) It was a social media EXPLOSION for An Uncomplicated Life Blog, which was not only great to see, but made my week seriously fun. All the comments, likes, emails and TWO Liebster Awards made this week one of the best yet, and made me so excited to watch my little baby blog grow! Thanks to YOU, dear readers :)

5) Our doggies came home! As I said, Kirk was traveling all week for work, and that means I have four people/critters depending on me for food, bathroom needs, baths... Which gets excessive. So we board our doggies when he's going to be gone all week to get that number down to two (me and H). But I miss these guys when they're not here! Also, my floors are filthy because I spill about 52% of my food and no dogs means there's nobody there to clean up after me...

Littlest doggie, Otis Beaufort

I hope you all go and enjoy yourselves this weekend! Be sure to stop by these other kicka$$ bloggers I link up with every Friday, too:

 

 

 

 

 

The Liebster Award

WOW! Two, yes two, Liebster Blog Award nominations this week! I'm so honored. Seriously!

Kendall over at Simply Kendall Rose nominated me for a Liebster Award, and then Samantha over at My Legendary Style hooked up the nomination! It's an award passed from blogger to blogger, and provides a way for bloggers to show each other some love and for readers to get to know their bloggers better. So here's how it works. I tell 11 random facts about myself, then I answer the 11 questions Kendall has provided me. Lastly, I pass it on to 11 more bloggers and ask them 11 questions that I have come up with! 

 

11 Random facts about me:
one - I hate shopping. All forms of shopping, from clothes to groceries. What a waste of time! I'm a buyer, not a shopper. I only head out when I plan on dropping cash.

two - I've had just about every hair color under the sun. (Except black. Nobody should dye their hair black. Just don't. Nope.) 

three - My natural hair color is a dark blonde. I think. It's been since I was in Jr. High that my hair was my God-given color!

four - I'm an extreme extrovert. I strike up conversations with everyone, everywhere I go.

five - I need alone time daily, or I get crabby. Strange for an extrovert, right? Yup.

six - I never call my family or closest friends by their real names. I come up with nicknames for everyone!

seven - I love to cook. 

eight - I hate to bake. Man, I'm a terrible baker! Who wants to follow all those rules in recipes anyway? Not this girl!

nine -  I think feet are really gross. Except baby feet, those are adorable. 

ten - I love dogs, but only small dogs. That don't bark excessively. And are potty trained. And don't shed. I'm a terrible animal lover, aren't I?! So many qualifications for my love...

eleven - I LOVE living in the South. I hope I never have to live north of the Mason-Dixon again. The weather, the food, the culture, the manners... I could go on and on about how great it is!

Here are Kendall's questions for me: 

1. Why did you start your blog?
I started An Uncomplicated Life Blog because I LOVE to write! I was giving up my job as a director of grants to become a stay at home mom, and wanted something to engage my brain. We also have family and friends ALL over the country, so this was a great way to keep people in the loop of what we're up to in Texas.

2. What is your favorite TV show and why?
This is so embarrassing... I love trashy TV. I mean, I'm educated with a Master's degree, am nearly 30 years old and my favorite TV shows are Teen Mom 2, Girl Code, and anything on Bravo. Whaaaaat? It's true.

3. If you had to choose from not eating sweets for a month or not going shopping for a week, which would you choose?
HA! I don't do either of these, so neither would be a problem to give up. Don't touch my wine, though.

4. What is your favorite holiday?
Halloween!

5. Name a time you did something you were scared to do and it turned out for your benefit.
I was scared to move across the country to go to grad school when I was 24. Turns out, I made some of the best friends of my life through that experience!

6. What is your biggest pet peeve?
People who never shut their mouths. Not, like, people who talk a lot. I'm talking about the people who sit there silently with their mouths open, just breathing. Or eating. Why is your mouth open?! Shut it. Please.

7. Do you collect anything? If so, what? If not, what would you want to collect?
Designer handbags. Outside of those, I regularly purge EVERYTHING because I hate stuff sitting around.

8. What is your go-to accessory?
I wear my beautiful wedding set everyday, does that count?! Other than that, my hubs got me a pair of gold studs from Tiffany's a few years ago for my birthday. I wear those all the time!

9. Do you have a favorite book? Or any good suggestions?
I have the attention span of a peanut, so I rarely read books. I stick to magazines, newspapers and blogs!

10. Where are you from?
Minneapolis; the coldest urban metropolis on earth.

11. What is your favorite workout?
Ohhhh, this is a toughie! I LOVE ballet barre classes. I also love me some yoga. And finally, a half marathon is also up there. Do all three, and you'll be in amazing shape!

These are the ladies I nominate for Liebster Awards:

Jaelan at Making Mrs. M
Kayla at Mississippi Mrs.
Crystal at Hall Around Texas
Kriss at Sneakers and Sequins
Kat at Lemonade Linings
Monica at Jersey Girl, Texan Heart
Deb at Seeking Lavender Lane
Madi at And So I Did
Ashley at A Cute Angle
Alysse at A Southernly Belle Vie
Jordon at Darling Truly 

Ok, so here are the 11 questions for my chosen bloggers:
1) What's your favorite part about blogging?
2) What football team will you be cheering on this fall?
3) If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
4) What's the best piece of blogging advice you have for new bloggers?
5) Best season: Fall, Summer, Spring or Winter?
6) Are you guilty of texting and driving? Don't lie!
7) If you were 18 and in college again, and know what you know now, what would you major in?
8) Have you, or do you aspire to ever run a full marathon?
9) What's your favorite beverage?
10) What was your biggest blogging mistake?
11) Your house is on fire and you have time to grab three things - what are they?


Happy Liebster Blogging, girls!

Seriously, Eat This

I made mention in last Monday's post that we had hit up the Dallas farmer's market, and picked up a boat load of fresh, local veggies.

The thing about fresh veggies is that they don't last very long. Because they're fresh. And not loaded with pesticides and preservatives. Crazy concept, eh?

It has been a hot minute since I spent some time in the kitchen, subjecting my beer and burger loving hubby to my healthy, organic and often vegetarian ways. All these veggies were a great excuse to break out some of the awesome pots and pans we received as wedding gifts and force-feed my family some nutritious food!

I went with a quinoa salad, because I love quinoa. LOVE it.

And this is the best one I've made yet! It's super simple and easy to throw together, too. The hardest part was chopping all the veggies!

- 2 C quinoa
- 4 C veggie or chicken stock
- A boat load of fresh veggies, cut into bite sized pieces (I used zucchini, asparagus, sweet peppers and red onion)
- 1-2 T turmeric
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or pushed through a press
- olive oil
- salt and pepper

Chop those veggies, and chop up a lot of them!

Put the broth in a large pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the quinoa and a teaspoon or so of salt, and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Simmer covered until the liquid is gone, about 25 minutes. Remove the lid and let the quinoa sit to evaporate any excess liquid or steam.

Cover a large frying pan with a good amount of olive oil (probably four tablespoons or so. Don't skimp on the oil, this is flavor and your body needs healthy fats!) I added the red onion first to cook for a bit. Once translucent, I added the zucchini. At this point, I added the turmeric so that the spice could get the heat of the pan and mix with the oil to deepen the flavor. After a few minutes, I added the peppers. Finally, I added the asparagus and the garlic. Mushy asparagus is just as nasty as burnt garlic, so add these last! Add salt and pepper to taste.

Turmeric turns everything a pretty yellow color but beware! If you like to eat from the pan like I do, it will turn your fingernails yellow for a good three days!

Once the veggies and the quinoa are done, add the veggies to the quinoa and stir. Boom! Dinner is served. You can add some nuts (almonds or walnuts were both equally good in this) for some texture. If you wanted it tangy-er (since there's no vinegar in it) some goat cheese would be great.

This dish is bursting with protein, vitamins and minerals. Also, have you read about the health benefits of turmeric? What a powerful spice! Now go practice some yoga, and your mind, body, soul and tummy will be one big happy, connected camper!

Linking up with Good Food Fridays to share all sorts of deliciousness.

Mommy Monday: This Might Save Me

I mentioned last Friday that my in-laws came to meet lil' H. This is their fourth grandbaby, and the other three lived in the same town as they do - all the way up until this past May, anyway. Regardless, because of that, my MIL knows quite a bit more about baby gadgets and trends than I do as a new mom!

One night we were enjoying a glass of wine together when she mentioned a baby swing that my SIL has that pretty much allows her to get stuff done around the house by keeping her baby occupied and happy. We have the rock n' play, which vibrates but you have to manually rock it. I'm also no a baby-gadget-hoarder, so I had avoided swings as something that would just take up space and be excessive.

However, it's been really challenging to get anything done around the house, since about one minute and thirty seconds after I put Henry in the rock n' play, he screams. And screams. And screams, until I pick him back up. My MIL mentioned this swing, and how great it was, and before I knew it, she headed off to Target to get it.

It's a bit blurry, but that's because Henry can't be in it without the movement. As long as it's rockin', he's in good shape!

The Fisher-Price swing is F-A-N-C-Y! The bucket can rotate for side-to-side or front to back motion. I think there's something like six speeds to choose from. It has a mobile that plays music, rotates little stuffed animals around, and has a mirror to get the baby's attention. We have the monkey version of the swing (there are many animals and colors to choose from) and there's a button for jungle noises. JUNGLE NOISES. It plugs into the wall so that you don't run out of battery power in a moment of crisis.

I don't remember anything so fancy when I was a babysitter back in the late 90's and early 2000's. So far, Henry really likes it. Calms him right down. I'm excited to see if this little swing will keep my son chilled out for just a few extra minutes so mommy can get the laundry done and keep the kitchen clean... And maybe time to eat a sandwich, although I won't be greedy here. Psssh, who needs sandwiches, anyway, right? Certainly not a new mom...

Here's to hoping!

High Five for Friday!

Cheers to the weekend, y'all!

Kirk's folks flew into town this week to meet their fourth grandbaby, so there are likely some fun times in store for all of us together, and hopefully a date night in store for me and the hubs! And if I'm super lucky, I'll have someone to watch Henry while I sneak away for a yoga or barre class, too.

Anyhoo, here were the top five moments of the week:

1) I went shopping (brick and mortar, not e-commerce! Yeah, say whuuuuut) with Henry. I was actually trying to exchange some clothes we got as a gift that already don't fit him. The exchange was unsuccessful (major GRRR!) but since we were out and he was being so good... I picked him up some 6mo sizes. And then I saw this: FOX outfit. It happened. How could I not put my son in this?!

It was 108 degrees out, so this didn't stay on long, but c'mon! FOX HAT! I died.

Fox onesie! Fox-footie-pajama! Fox fox fox!

2) That J Crew Factory dress I picked up online? Came the next day! Oh, 'Crew, I'm always impressed with you. Also? It's cute, and has two slits up the sides that will make a maxi dress bearable for the Texas triple-digit heat.

I put on the dress when I got it mid-afternoon... Then as I got Henry ready for bed, I realized I put him in navy stripes, too. Tuesday was stripes day around here!

3) My father-in-law did a lot of weeding and mulching and yard work around the house for us while they were in town this week! Which is perf, because I hate to garden. Aint nobody got time fo dat! I'm also amazed at what he was able to accomplish, since it was 110 everyday...

4) I made an awesome dish with all the veggies we got at the Dallas farmer's market last weekend. I have a post about it coming next week!

5) I was able to confirm that I have exactly three weeks until lil' H is old enough for the daycare at my gym. They'll take him for two hours, which means I get an hour workout AND an undisturbed shower. Like, there won't be a baby screaming in the other room. I mean, y'all! I might actually do my hair again! I'll be able to regularly get out of the house! This was me as I left the gym after that conversation:

Have a joyous weekend and make sure to check out these other lovely ladies I link up with every Friday!

 

 

Time For A Little Effort Follow-Up

Last week, I posted about feeling eight shades of frumpy as a new mom.

Instead of just complaining about it {man, I can't stand people who only complain and don't act, yaknow?!}I also told y'all what I was going to do to attempt to fix it: Get myself made up every single day for a week.

And now, the burning question: Did it work?!

Kind of.

The thing is, I don't have the time between baby screams to take a legit 15 minute shower, spend 15 mins on my makeup, and another 20 on my hair. I just simply don't. So I took seven to ten minute showers, nic'd myself while shaving so hastily, and spent ten minutes on my makeup and hair combined. While the left me not completely gross, it doesn't leave me very glamorous either.

This is effort, friends. Hey, there's blush, mascara and a necklace! And also, half-air-dryed-hair. Oops.

Dang! What else can I do to de-frump myself?!

The majority of the blogs I follow all raved and went on and on about the Nordstom sale. I figured, "say now! While I'm working on not being a disgusting frumpy SAHM, why don't I shop a little for some new clothes that, oh I don't know, don't make me frumpy!" I pulled up the sale and my fellow bloggers were quite right; there were some amazing deals out there!

Uno problemo: I have absolutely NO IDEA what size I am. None. All I can tell you is that I'm not my former size and I'm way too small for maternity. And that's quite a range of potential sizes. And designers all seem to size differently. Boo. What's the solution to that? Buy accessories! So I picked up a cute new Kate Spade phone cover. Then I headed over to my beloved J Crew and bought a dress, since I DO know what dress size I am at the 'Crew, and dresses work well with a post-baby-in-transtion-body.

I'm hoping that with some shiny new accessories and a few more clothing options that are easy to wear and not frumpy, I'll successfully address my de-frump debacle!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm currently in pink running shorts and a purple Athleta hoodie post-run (hey, I got sweaty and had to take off what I actually ran in and had to do it quickly - Henry was hungry!) so I need to heed my own advice and, errr... De-frump myself today. Or just match. I'd take matching clothes at this point.

I wasn't kidding.

Mommy Monday: Getting Out!

This past weekend marked a first for us as a family: We got out of the house every single day! All of us together, not a baby-hand off situation while the other went and did something.

I know that seems crazy, but if you've ever had a newborn, you understand. It's a production to leave home-base. You need to pack up a lot of stuff, and pack up the baby, and pack up yourself, and time it right in between feedings to {attempt to} avoid meltdowns. Basically, it's a huge amount of effort for something that might end up to be more stressful than it's worth.

So, you end up hanging in. A lot. And you develop cabin fever.

Well, cabin fever struck me this past weekend. I've had enough of the view from my couch. I'm tired of reading about all the cool things going on this summer that we're missing out on. So we packed up little Henry and got OUT.

Friday we went to a seafood joint (I don't even remember the name) for shrimp and grits and po'boys. Of course we went early so that we could be home and to get the baby ready for bed by 7:30. The funny thing is, the restaurant was full of other couples doing the same thing with their babies! Six o'clock supper is apparently baby hour at even non-family style restaurants. Someone should have told me, I'd have joined this party weeks ago!

Saturday was insanely cool here in Dallas. Like, only 80 degrees - sweater weather! So we headed downtown to a park where there's tons of food trucks, kids playing, a bar, and tables set up. It was great to walk around in the cool air with some adult beverages and people watch! We did fail to bring a bottle, which made for a loud car ride home. Note to self: ALWAYS pack a bottle. Always.

Then on Sunday, we continued our trend by going to the Dallas farmer's market. I thought this could be a bad situation with a stroller and the crowds, but Dallas is a strange place. Nobody does anything until noon on Sunday. We got to the market around 10am, so not only did we get a great parking spot, we were able to navigate the stroller through the stands without a problem. Plus, the storage under the stroller came in super handy for all the fruits and veggies we picked up!

The thing about becoming new parents is that you have to learn the routine of the "leave the house production." After you get it down, it's not too hard to get out! The faster you start to get out of the house, the quicker you regain your sanity. Now... If only this cool spell would last all summer, we'd be able to get out every weekend!