Health Fair 2013

Yesterday we had our first annual health fair at work. It included a free health screening, food vendors and workout places. Oh...and I might have signed up for a free Crossfit class this Saturday...I'm scared!! Anyways...the best part of yesterday...coming in to a goody bag full of fun things sitting on my desk!!

You've got your stress pig, mirror with floss on the back, health booklet, fancy water bottle, wet wipes, chap stick, pill box, magnet of what foods give you energy, emergency kit (not pictured) and "hand" hand sanitizer.

Oh yeah...the hand sanitizer is in a hand shaped bottle! Hilarious!!! Overall, it was a pretty good day!

Art Work or Cakes??

This past weekend I went to my very first bridal show with my brother's fiancé, her mom and her aunt. It was interesting to say the least. I had the most fun looking at all the crazy cakes they can come up with! These are just the few I remembered to take a picture of.

Book Review: Holly's Inbox and Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City

{sources} Holly's Inbox and Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City 

I'm drawing a blank right now to where I first heard about these books, but to the person/blog that recommended them...thank you.

These were such easy and light reads (took me one week and three days to finish both)! When you look at the thickness of the books, it might scare you...Holly's Inbox is over 600 pages and Holly's Inbox:Scandal in the City is over 500...but both are written in e-mail format so really it's like only reading half a page.

It's no secret I like me a good British Chick Lit type book...I mean I did read all of the books in the Shopaholic series...and these two books were very similar to that series. Even though Holly wasn't a shopaholic (heck she kept talking about how broke she was), she still gets herself into some interesting situations at work and real life...ha ha.

These were the perfect beginning of summer books to read. Also, these kept my mind off the book I'm anxiously waiting to be released...the third installment of the Divergent series...come on October...ha ha.

Despicable Me 2

{Source}

When the first movie came out, I thought it looked cute so off to the movies I went. When the movie was over I was absolutely in love! Ha ha. Ok...maybe just with the minions. So when I heard they were making a second Despicable Me, I jumped on my couch like Tom Cruise (oh yeah I went there).

I am happy to report that the second one did not let me down! It was just as cute and there were even more minions :) Also, Gru trying to keep his "daughter" from dating...hilarious! If you haven't seen this movie, go check it out!

Also if you haven't figured out my love for minions yet...both of the tanks below are on my birthday wish list...ha ha...I'd be happy with either one...plus then I will be able to alternate between my Aca-cuse me tank and a minion tank :) Oh how the little things make me so happy!

Nutella Brownies

Monday afternoon my friend sent me two recipes for Nutella brownies. One of them was only 3 ingredients and the other was eggless. Upon reviewing these recipes, I decided one of us needed to try out a recipe. Then I had a great idea! I told her since her birthday was Wednesday, I would make her a batch of Nutella brownies...luckily she picked the 3 ingredient one!!

**both recipes came from Kirbie's Cravings and I made her Easy 3 Ingredient Nutella Brownies**

This was probably my favorite part of making these brownies...leftover Nutella in the measuring cup! I didn't want to use my finger and my tongue wasn't long enough, so I got a piece of bread and wiped the remaining Nutella out!
 It was ahhh-mazing!

Please check out Kirbie's Cravings for more details about this recipe.

A few notes...

1. The batter will be thick

2. Her recipe says bake for 15 minutes. However, after 15 minutes the brownies were far from done. I ended up baking them for another 5 minutes adding up to 20 minutes total.

3. These came out with nice crispy edges and a really gooey middle...yum!! However, if you prefer your brownies more on the cake-like side I would suggest baking them even longer.

Come one Come all toThe Greatest Show on Earth

This past weekend B and I decided to be kids again and went to the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus! This year's theme is dragons, which is not the reason I went and frankly could care less about...all I wanted to see were the elephants!!!! Without further ado, I present to you my slightly blurry photos from the circus!



Where everything, including a dragon, came out

First elephant sighting!!!! Makes me happy. And yes I might have been taking pics during the national anthem...my bad.

Everyone and everything out on the floor for the opening. I was trying to get a picture of the baby elephant (second to last) but either the rude people in front of me kept getting up or a stupid "dragon dancer" got in the way...grrr

Second favorite part of the show! This guy is crazy...I wouldn't be in a cage with that many lions and tigers!!

I think he was getting a kiss from the King of the Jungle.

The Ring Master

I tried so hard to clear this up and this is the best I could get.

I love the little guy sitting to the right...he he...really I love them all.

Seriously...I'm dying over their cuteness!

Ending number. That big cage in the middle was for the motorcycle riders...they fit 8 in there! Can you say crazy?!?!

So let's talk about a couple of things for a minute, shall we?

1. If you are planning on going to the circus, you can get there 90 mins before and go look at the animals. We, however, didn't get ready fast enough Sunday to do that...ha ha.

2. Going to the circus you expect a lot of kids. And we expected to encounter some little brats. But you know what? They weren't the problem...the parents were. The people sitting further down in our row and the people sitting in the row in front of us not only got there late, but got up several times during the show! I understand if you need to take your child to the restroom, but to go get popcorn and then a hot dog and then nachos...come on now! Wait until intermission!! Because I know your kid, who looks maybe 1, isn't eating all that.

We definitely enjoyed the show, but wished the elephant part was a little longer...ha ha. We love watching elephants! Also, clowns these days are wayyyy different than I remember. They kind of look like normal people now ha ha. One last thing, remember this is not cirque du solei...it's just a regular circus...ha ha. From what I could tell, all the kids around us really enjoyed the show. So if you have little ones of your own, it could be a fun family outing...and don't worry they do sell adult beverages if you are in need of that...ha ha.

Book Review - The Expats

Feels like forever and day since I reviewed a book. The last book I read was Safe Haven back at the beginning of this year. I borrowed this book from Elizabeth per her recommendation. She did not disappoint. While it may have taken me a while to finish it (my shows come first ha ha), I really did enjoy this book.

I think you would classify it as a spy novel. It pretty much follows the life of one woman who is skeptical about everything and everyone because that was her job in the past. She finds out some interesting tid bits through old contacts and things happen from there.

I feel like this book could be turned into a really good movie, if they do it the right way.