Trader Joe's Tuesday

a hit, a miss, and a home run

 

*hit* 

last week i threw a small party in my backyard

we were celebrating my uncle's birthday while he was in town, from florida, for the week

the man loves beer so i stocked up on every kind of local brew i could get my hands on

but, my grandparents and my nephew don't like (or don't get to have, as the case may be) beer

so i grabbed one of my favorite non-alcoholic party beverages...trader joe's french lemonade

i love their sparkling lemonade for parties because it is fancy and pretty enough for a party
 without tasting too fancy or party ready, if you know what i mean?

i stand by my love of their lemonade but it needs to come with a much better warning label

about an hour before the party i was filling my drink tub so that everything would be good and ice cold upon my guests arrival...when i went to put the room temp (not hot) bottle into the drink tub i immediately thought i'd been shot and, for an instant, i thought i had been shot! after coming to my senses i realized the lid of the lemonade had popped off from the pressure and hit me in the chest

when i calmed down i was glad it was my chest and not my eye

 and i was thankful it had happened to me and not SG

i do recommend the lemonade but i strongly recommend using caution because contents are most definitely under pressure, like for reals

 

 

*miss*

i love kale. i love kale chips. i love nacho cheese.

i figured these were everything i never knew i always wanted

instead? they were gross

 

 

*home run*

brie & pepper jelly on a water cracker

 

 

i like everything about this combination. these are great for a party or just a midnight snack

 

 

 



Apple Picking Festival

on the first day of fall i jumped online to check out what kind of activities we could take SG to this year. last year i spent a lot of time saying "i wish i'd known about that festival/fair/event" so this year i wanted to do a better job of getting out and enjoying all this city has to offer the toddler crowd

goodness knows i'm familiar with what this city has to offer single gals and childless couples

when i found out that the "apple picking festival" up in julian was this past weekend

i knew we had to go. turns out by october 6 apple picking season is practically over! who knew?

so even though it meant missing lots of badass football we packed up up the minivan and hit the road towards the mountains

 

(SG and her daddy took a quick pregame trip to get bagels and coffee)

 

the festival was absolutely packed so we decided to stop by the apple orchard first and were delighted to find that, for the most part, we had the place to ourselves. SG absolutely loved running wild through the trees, picking apples, and eating them (core and all)

 

her feet aren't even touching the ground

 

 

i had to improvise with a reusable bag i had on hand to collect the apples we'd bring home because SG sorta hijacked the ($10) paper one from the orchard and insisted on only gathering rotting apples from off the ground. i figure it's good practice for her next egg hunt?

 

 

(her adorable outfit is from here)

 

at one point i was able to get her to slow down long enough to actually pick some apples off the tree instead of the ground. this little girl could have ran through the orchard all day long but mama knew there was a winery nearby so that was our next stop...

 

 Menghini Winery

(gas prices are insane right now)

 

we ended up having brisket and pulled pork plates, julian hard cider, and menghini sauvignon blanc at the festival. unfortunately, SG was still a little young to enjoy most of their games and rides but i would definitely take her back next year for the pony rides and live music. she loves live music.

 

 

it was a nice weekend

but i ate way too much junk and now i feel so sluggish

time to detox and get back in the gym

 

 



TGIF

this week

has kicked

my ass

 

one.hundred.push.ups

if you had told me a month ago

that i'd be talking about doing a push up challenge

i would have thought you'd been snorting kitty litter

but it was about a month ago that i joined a gym

for exactly the millionth time

and this time, for whatever reason, i fell in love

i love kickboxing & body pump

pilates & yoga

and even zumba

but something my pilates instructor said in class last week really stuck with me

she said that if you only do one exercise the rest of your life, do push ups

they help with posture and they work your chest, abs, and arms

you can do them anywhere and at any age

she said they will keep you from becoming invisible as you get older

(there is an 86 year old man who whips my butt at push ups every week)

as i was leaving class i remembered a post my friend Candace did a few years ago

on a push up challenge she was doing

 so i asked her about it and she said she i should give it a try

and so i'm going to start this weekend

 

http://www.hundredpushups.com/index.html

 

 

wish me luck!

 

 



Trader Joe's Tuesday

this should actually be called

trader darwin's tuesday

because i'm not talking about food today

i'm talking about  my second favorite kind of sleeping pills

*sorry for the fuzzy cell phone picture*

 

i don't normally like melatonin

it gives me crazy dreams and not the good kind of crazy

i think it's because these are chewable that they really help you fall asleep quick!  my husband will even take these and he hates taking pills for anything... what's even better is that since they are peppermint flavored they also moonlight as a bedtime breath mint

 



Gator Girl

 

hey little Gator Girl! what's not to smile about?

you're wearing an adorable shirt

you spent the weekend running wild at your grandparent's house

and your Gators beat Kentucky 38-0

(i know your mama is smiling!)