Five on Friday

I'm so glad it's Friday! After over a year in school I finally get to learn how to suture today! Unfortunately that means I must make the hour long trek to school, but I think I can get over that one today. Let's get down to business then…

1. Irrelephant: this blog is chock full of some great hairstyles. One of my favorites is the one below. It's a different take on the classic french braid and I love it!

Irrelephant | French Braid Twist

2. Alexandra Cooks: I am obsessed with this blog. I pinned at least 8 recipes yesterday. First on my list?  Ches Panisse Eggplant + Carmelized Onion + Tomato

Alexandra Cooks | Chez Pains

3. Rhinestone Zara dress: If you are a bride and need a great white dress for a shower, or other occasion I implore you to buy this! 

Zara | Rhinestone Dress

4. OAK73: Clearly I am thinking of spring with all this white, but you must admit these pants are fabulous. I think they're an understated fun and would love to them to my closet. Oh the outfits these could inspire!

OAK73 | MULTI SKINNY PANTS

5. Bikini weather: Judging by the forecast this weekend, I can finally break out my bikinis! I actually wore one last weekend, but it didn't last long due to the fact that we were on the boat and going way too fast. This weekend, however, is supposed to be 70º and this girl couldn't be happier!

Thanks again to the lovely ladies Natasha, Darci, Christina and April for hosting!


Also linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for High Five for Friday.

Follow along

GFC :: Bloglovin :: Instagram :: Twitter

Perky Prints

I love a good classic shirt or blouse, but every now and then you need one with some fun prints. I'm not a huge fan of Forever 21, but it's the perfect place to find some trendy pieces for less. I hate to spend a chunk of money on something that I may not wear in a few months. Here are some of my favorite printed pieces.

GFC :: Bloglovin :: Instagram :: Twitter

Chicken Parmesan

I found this pretty Galletti pasta at Target and couldn't resist. I had no idea what I would make with it, but I would definitely make something delicious. When I arrive home, I realized I had some chicken breasts and decided that it would pair perfectly with this pretty pasta. 

Chicken

1 cup Panko crumbs

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese {Mama Francesca is my favorite}

about 1/3 package of Ranch seasoning

a bit of extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 300F. Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir together. Lightly spread some EVOO on the chicken breasts and toss in the dry mix until coated well. Once the chicken is coated, bake in the oven for 35 minutes. Once the chicken is cooked well, I broiled it for about 3 minutes to crisp the tops. 

Sauce

1 can of tomato sauce

1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Italian seasoning

Minced garlic

Basil

Oregano

Salt & pepper 

Diced onions

EVOO

Sautee garlic, EVOO, and onions on medium heat until onions turn clear. Add the can of tomato sauce and reduce heat to low. Mix in the remaining seasonings until the desired taste is achieved {so scientific, I know. I just add a dash here and there until it tastes good}. Allow the sauce to simmer while  boiling the pasta. The longer it simmers, the better the sauce will be. Drain the pasta and toss with 1 tbs of EVOO or butter. Voila! It's ready to serve!

GFC :: Bloglovin :: Instagram :: Twitter

Weekend Recap

Saturday morning I attempted to study for my test on monday, this is what actually happened.

For some reason, 7:30 Saturday morning is when they want all the attention. After realizing I there would be no studying I headed to Starbucks and Chick-fil-a for breakfast and loaded the pups in the car with me. After arriving home, I promptly spilled my entire coffee on the driveway. I wish I was kidding. Hubby and I headed out on the boat later on to try and catch a fish or two. We failed miserably, but we did enjoy some time on the water which we haven't really done yet this year. 

We ended our night watching movies with the pups. After church on Sunday, we spent some time putting around the house. I did end up studying a little bit, but mostly watching movies and cleaning up a bit. Looking back at it our weekend was rather boring, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

GFC :: Bloglovin :: Instagram :: Twitter

Five on Friday

It's Friday! You know what that means, Five on Friday fun! 

1. Sugarfina sweets: You must go check these out! They have all kinds of adorable candies, my personal favorite is the Champagne Bears

Confetti Dolci

2. This entire porch its perfectly styled bar. Actually this whole website is a new favorite of mine. 

3. Chobani Greek Yogurt: I've been mixing mine with Bear Naked fruit granola for breakfast. It's delicious and filling. I also love the Chobani flips {Peach and dark chocolate}.

4. This quote

5. This bikini: If all goes as planned, hubs, sister, brother-in-law and I will be headed to the beautiful St. John in 113 days. Not that I'm counting or anything. This bikini would be lovely for our tropical retreat.

Baku Bikini

Happy weekend y'all!

GFC :: Bloglovin :: Instagram :: Twitter

Modcloth

Amy over at Modcloth contacted me last week and asked if I would like to participate in their weekly Polyvore contest. Combining my love for Modcloth and my obsession for Polyvore… Of course I said yes! Each week they have a featured garment to style. This weeks is the beautiful Classic Stunner Dress in Floral. This dress is exactly the type of dress I love to wear, and I couldn't help but add a dash of navy accents.

I'm also seriously considering this gorgeous dress for an upcoming trip I have. How perfect is this for a tropical dinner?

Classy Dress of Its Own

This one is the perfect dress for any occasion; weddings, dinner, parties, you name it!

Cause for Applause

Loving these and want to see more? Go check out ModCloth and find the perfect dress for your occasion.

Easy Spaghetti & Meatballs

My husband loves pasta. He could eat it every meal. I like it, but there are a lot of other foods I would rather eat. What I do love about it is the ease of preparing pasta on a busy weeknight. I grew up eating sauce that had beef mixed in, but Hubs loves italian sausage meatballs. I have since learned some easy ways to make these happen without too much effort. 

Meatballs

Links of italian sausage {I also use seasoned chicken sausage} 

Important note: it's easier if it's in the casing

Since the meat we use is already seasoned, all I do to prepare them is divide the link of sausage in thirds with my hand and twist the meat out of the case. This leaves you with the perfect portion for a meatball and you don't have to do much rolling to get it round. This will literally take me a minute to make 15 meatballs. It doesn't get easier.

Sauce

1 16oz. can of tomato sauce 

1 yellow onion chopped

2 tbs minced garlic

Optional mushrooms

Optional peppers

a spot of EVOO

Basil*

Oregano*

salt & pepper*

1 tsp Cocoa powder

*I'm terrible at measuring, just toss it in until it tastes good

Combine the garlic, EVOO, onions and peppers in a pan on low/medium. Sauté until the onions are slightly clear. I usually throw in the meatballs and some Basil and Oregano and allow it to simmer for 5-10 minutes. Once the meatballs are greyed and cooked on the outside, add the tomato sauce and allow the sauce to simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. I love using my grease splatter cover to keep the popping sauce from covering the stovetop. I also taste the sauce often and add more oregano, basil or salt and pepper as I feel needed. Once the sauce has simmered for a bit, add 1 tsp cocoa powder. It seems counterproductive, but it gives the sauce more depth. Trust me. I usually turn the sauce on low after 30 minutes or so and start cooking the noodles. Simmering for longer periods of time marries the spices and really brings the dish an amazing flavor.

 All in all, this usually takes 45 minutes form start to finish. I don't consider that a bad deal for such a yummy meal. Oh and if you haven't tried them, the Giada Fusilli col Buco pasta is the funnest pasta I've ever had. Adding food coloring to the boiling water before adding pasta gives it a fun color for special occasions. I added pink for our Valentine's Day dinner as shown above. 

SEWE recap

We had a wonderful time in Charleston, as always. We stayed at the gorgeous Charleston Place in the center of downtown. We arrived around 4:30 Saturday night because I had a scrub class at the hospital in Savannah that morning. 

This is one of the views from the hotel.

Saturday evening we had the pleasure of browsing through the fine art exhibit after it was technically closed. It was such a different experience seeing the art without the noise and crowd. 

I decided that I really needed this painting, if only it were a little more affordable.

I never tire of the Charleston skyline, steeples everywhere.

We explored a little downtown on Sunday morning before it got really busy.

We also had brunch at a restaurant on Market Street. It's definitely one of those tourist places, but they took reservations and we didn't have time to wait. 

French toast: A big winner. 

Pancakes: perfectly crisp with a gooey center.

After brunch we headed to Marion Square for the Expo exhibits. Thankfully the weather cooperated and it was sunny and dry. After we putted around the different venues, we headed home to pick up our fur babies. Overall we had a great weekend, even if it was a little short. 

Top {Fenn Wright Mason TJMaxx} Jeans {Factory J.Crew} Boots {Corso Como via Nordstrom}

On another note, my new camera arrives today! I can't wait to start learning how to use it and getting much better pictures in the future. Happy Monday!