What I have been up to...

Enjoying lots of summer sunets on the lake on my new...

Boat! :)

I currently live about .5 miles from 3 lakes and figured I would get a lot of use out of a boat... I haven't even had it for a week yet and we have been on it like crazy!!!

I have wanted a boat for quite some time and have been looking the past 2 summers here and there at boats on craigslist. Now that I am living so close to the lakes and have more room to store it - I jumped on the first great deal that I found.... and I am in love with soaking up the sun, family and friend time and everything else that comes along with having a boat.

I have been terribly sore from tubing for 2 days straight.... so sore I can barely lift up my arms. That has really put a damper on my work outs :(

Garden is in and doing fairly well - my camera is still MISSING so please excuse the cell phone pictures!

Dealing with a sick puppy (his eyes were swollen)... I think he had an allergic reaction to a bug, possibly a spider or bee that he ate? He loves to eat bugs... silly little pup.

Stayed at Hotel Rome in the Wisconsin Dells, and enjoyed some R & R rollercoasters, wave pools, and go karts for 2 days straight. I was more tired when I got home from the mini vacay.

Margarita's on the rocks always hit the spot after a long day or sunbathing :)

Kujo is better now and after a vet visit and some meds - he is back to his old self :)

Kaiya is my tanning buddy - she loves to lay in the sun and soak it up right next to me! :)

Hope you are enjoying your summer!!!

Giving into cravings.

I have been looking forward to Spinach + Strawberry salads all winter long. I am finally enjoying them daily. nightly.. for lunch + dinner to be more specific.

The real craving hit when I was at Good Harvest Market and I saw goat cheese... how wonderful would that be with my spinach + strawberry salad = it was phenom. :)

I also have been wanting to make some BBQ tofu for awhile.... I have some I needed to use up before my trip out of town this weekend, so use it up I did.

BBQ Tofu in the upper left hand of plate. I used a bottle of Annie's Organics Smoked Maple BBQ Sauce to marinate after pressing the tofu overnight. I sliced 1/2 small sweet onion and placed it on some foil along with the tofu and cooked on top the grill for about 10 minutes on each side or so.

It turned out delightful. Hit the spot! Speaking of using the produce up in my fridge I made some zucchini noodles and mushrooms with marinara sauce. This was fabulous and a very healthy option if you wanted to give into your craving of spaghetti!

I sliced my mushrooms and spiralized my zucchini.

Tossed it into a pan coated with 1 T of olive oil and 1/2 sweet onion.

Cook on med-high stirring often. I didn't want the "pasta" to get mushy - I wanted a bit of warmth but not hot.

I added in 1/2 jar of leftover marinara sauce to the mix and cooked a couple minutes until warm.

Top with a little NOOCH and serve! I really enjoyed this and see myself making it this summer quite a bit. I think I am going to try a raw version as well... should be interesting. :)

Friday is almost here! :)

Nichole

Milwaukee Brewers in First Place!!!!

I know this isn't a sports blog. I have to show my home team's some support!! The Green Bay Packers won the superbowl and now my Milwaukee Brewers are in first place with the Cardinals sweep! I was happy to be able to go to the Saturday game this weekend and root for my home team!

Too many beers/long island's might make you cut your friends out of your pictures.

Just sayin'.

Let's keep it up Brew Crew!!!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was wonderful... lots of dancing, sport watching and eating. My weekends are meant for play. Sometimes I forgot about the workouts. Dancing counts though, right?

This was my super scrumptious dinner yesterday evening. I had a grilled veggie burger with sauteed onions and mushrooms (in vegetable broth) + spinach and strawberry salad with sliced almonds. Light, fresh and filling. Perfection on a summer night!!! I love using my grill.

Fashion for today:

Express shirt and skirt

Fergilicious heels

Have a great Tuesday!

I am looking forward to updating you on my garden progress!!

Nichole

Catching Up

Sorry I have been so M.I.A. lately. I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post. I was SO busy getting ready for our Memorial Day party last weekend that I didn't post and then a whole week went by!

I STILL haven't gotten my garden planted because the tiller I had on hand is not working. Bummer. A couple of my green bean plants are wilting but I still have quite a few to work with at least. I am hoping the BF gets the tiller working soon because we don't have much time left at all. :(

So what have I been up to? I spent a lovely and hot Saturday boating with my mother :)

We soaked up some sun and maybe some Bicardi ;)

((See that lovely necklace my mom is wearing? She hand makes the beads & makes the necklaces herself. She has a ton right now and I am trying to get her going on selling them because they are amazing))

And I may have lost my waterproof point + shoot camera...unless the boat ate it -- which then I am hoping we still find it somewhere :(

Saturday night I ventured out on the town with some friends..

I didn't last very long... I was so tired from boating all day (and no nap in between... waaaahhh) that I just couldn't hang like my normal self. I stayed out until about 11pm and then headed home for some much needed rest.

Sunday I went back to Roots Restaurant for brunch ~ I reviewed the dinner I had back in April here.

So sorrrrry... but I forgot to bust out the camera phone. They had a lovely Cream of Asparagus Soup... simply delish. I ordered a tofu scramble, which had tofu + asparagus and some other fixings - it was good but not as good as their dinner. The bloody mary I had was phenom.

After the lovely brunch,  I visited my aunt to see her new house she just bought a couple weeks ago and while on that side of town and before venturing back towards home I stopped at Outpost Natural Foods --  I so miss this place! I used to have one 5 minutes from my old house :( sad face. I stocked up on a lot of goodies!!! I got home around 5pm and it was still gorgeous - I played with the pups outside, opened up all the windows to air out the house and started cooking up Emily's awesomely delicious recipe for Mexican Quinoa.

I even ate leftovers for lunch today :) So much protein and I am fulllllllllllllllll. :)

I enjoyed this while watching the MTV Movie Awards... anyone else watch?? Anyone else sick of Twilight winning in every category? Don't get me wrong, I loved the books, enjoyed the movies but don't think the acting is THAT great.... Robert Pattinson is awkard in real life he is no Edward... I prefer some werewolf Taylor Lautner instead. Yup.

Seksi.

What I have been loving lately:

Chia Seed Pudding w/ Blondie Bar

I honestly could drink chia seed pudding with vanilla almond milk after letting it sit for only 5 minutes... love Love LOVE <3!!!!!!!!!!

Massaged Kale Salad

Ever since seeing this on Jessica's blog I have seriously been obsessed. Perfect summer salad - just make sure it make it fresh - since avacado tends to go back quickly and that can make a yucky salad :P

I may know from experience :/

Cheers to a fantastic and warm weather week!!!

** Please pray for me... that my mom finds my camera in her boat... ***sigh****

xoxo

Nichole