New Hair Do!

On Saturday I made a special trip to one of my favorite places in Charlotte, the Re Salon and Med Spa. I discovered Re a couple of month’s ago and I am in love! Their salon is in the old fire house building off South Blvd. Everyone is super friendly and the salon is so posh! The best part is they serve wine! I am in love with the exposed brick walls and the white shell salon stations. Elizabeth is amazing and my go to expert on my brows and skin, and Andrew is fabulous in the salon. Not to mention they sell Obagi, Jane Iredale, and carry the Phyto line.

Re Salon and Med Spa

Jane Iredale, Obagi Nu-Derm, & Phyto

I have been toying with the thought of changing my hair. I love my length, so I decide to add some color. This was a big decision for me; I have only added color to my hair three times in my entire life. So I stopped in to see Andrew on Thursday for a consult and he suggested two options. One was ombre. This is the new rage in Hollywood with the celebrities; they have dark roots and lighter ends. The second option was to highlight a section just underneath the top of my first layer. This way the color would show through, but my roots would not be apparent. I chose option two! I like the change. It is not super obvious. It shows up more when my hair is curly rather than straight.  Maybe next time I will go with a little color on top. What do you think?

The last couple of weeks have been super busy!

The girls (Nola and Molly) and I designed our first Easter wreath!
I love the way it turned out! I used all the eggs and almost all the glue! I promise the eggs are not falling off anytime soon.

My Little Helper, Nola

Paul and I put in an electric fence for the kiddos. They keep running into our neighbor’s yard to meet and greet, so last Sunday Dad got mad and tried to put an end to this issue.They both got shocked and I screamed when it happened to Molly. She did a back flip and landed in the neighbor’s yard. It was awful. Thank goodness Paul came to her rescue and removed the collar. They both survived, but are skittish of the collars and will hardly step off the patio when wearing them.

We had a quite St. Patrick’s Day this year. We joined a kickball team with all of our friends from college! We lost and Paul couldn’t make it due to work, but it was a blast and I now look forward to our Thursday night games! Molly had a fun St. Patrick’s Day evening and even got in the spirit her self.

Kiss Me I am Irish

I am so ready for this weekend! It is suppose to be sunny and decently warm.

Plans include the following:
1. Putting our house back together. We recently got hardwoods floors downstairs and I have to felt the bottom of all our chairs and tables. Also I have to put the rubber mats under our rugs.

Speaking of rugs, I can’t find exactly what I want. The problem is I have an internal battle going on, do I want contemporary or do I stay with my traditional theme. Paul likes our new rug, thank you Lowe’s, but I really want something simple but with a splash of contemporary. If you know of any great places, please let me know.

2. Blinds – We are putting up new faux wood blinds downstairs so we can avoid all pepping Toms. Paul has this constant freak-ish feeling that people can see in our house. When we sit down for dinner, he closes all the curtains to make sure no one can see him eat. It’s the same in the bedroom, it’s hilarious. I take advantage of making him feel exposed every moment I get. I love to open all the windows to let the natural sunlight in! My favorite is opening the windows in the bedroom while he is in the shower; get’s him going every time!

3. Car Services, my poor brakes need updating! Thank goodness for my maintenance package!

4. Making Easter Decorations! Last week while scouting out Michael’s I came across their Easter section and got a burst of creativity! I am going to tackle it this weekend by making an Easter wreath for my front door! Here are a couple photos of inspiration.

Via Delish

Via Souther~Charmz

5. Reconstructing my favorite new drink! Last weekend while out celebrating Paul’s birthday I discovered an organic agave nectar margarita! It is delicious.

Via PF Chang's Bar

• 2 oz or Patron
• 1.5 oz fresh lime juice
• 1 oz Copas Agave Nectar
• Salt rim glass. Combine all ingredients in a martini shaker. Shake and strain in to glass. Add a wedge of lime!

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Happy Birthday to My Amazing Husband

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Just think only a couple more weeks of tax season and then we can relax and day dream of somewhere warm like PC.

Something New and Blue for my office

I am so excited to share with you all a photo of my new office addition! I have been patiently waiting a whole week. Drum Roll………………………………………………………

My New Custom Fit Balance Ball Chair from Gaiam!

I have always thought of myself as somewhat active, Paul may say otherwise, but since I have been working a desk job for the last three years, every night I leave noticing my poor posture, tense shoulders, and that my backside continues to grow/flatten. I am going down hill quick. I am worried I will start to look like the little elderly lady with the hump back in no time.

At my previous employment I was always up and down the stairs or running around a race track, so I was able to be active. Now my daily activities include getting up to go to the printer, bathroom, or the lunchroom! The only true activity I get when working is when I am going through the airport security and running to catch my flight.

After researching and sitting in another colleague’s balance ball chair I decided that I too would make the transition. Thanks to my great friend at Gaiam, I am now the proud mother to my very own Gaiam Custom Fit Balance Ball Chair!

I do admit that I have had to change the way I sit completely, but so far I love it! I can tell a big difference in my posture. It forces you to sit straight, the correct way. The chair will help relieve stress on the spine, prevents health issue related to poor posture, and has little exercises you can do while in your office. I am also hoping the chair will help prevent me from growing an office butt (where your butt starts to spread wide and looses all resemblance to J-Lo or Kim Kardashian).

Anyways — anyone who sits at a desk all day, I highly recommend visiting the web and purchasing your own balance ball chair! Here is another photo via Barnes & Noble


Via Barnes & Noble



Sick

This week has not been any fun. I have been so sick. Hopefully with two different types of antibiotics I will be back to health very soon!

PS Chicago is freezing... I can't wait to get back to 70 degree weather!

Weekend Recap(s)

With June 1st around the corner and tax season in full swing, my husband has been MIA working and studying for the CFA. Although I enjoy the alone time to relax or clean house, I usually end up missing my playmate and calling him several times during the day just to chat. From now until June 1st I have made Saturday evenings, mandatory date night!  The last two weekends have been great.

Last weekend Paul got off work early – 4 to meet me at one of my favorite furniture stores in Charlotte to pick up our new bed. We have been in our house for over 3 years and still had not purchase a bed. We have our hearts set on this beauty from Ethan Allen, but a couple months ago I fell in love with fabric headboards. So last Saturday when I was window shopping I found a king size fabric/nail head headboard for the perfect price! Here is a photo after we set it up, I will update later with a finished picture of our Master Suite.



Thanks to Rodney at The Furniture Connector!


After relaxing Saturday night, we got started on dinner! A couple months ago we decided to introduce one vegetarian meal a week in our diet. While on my trip to SLC I came across a recipe for Egggplant Parmesan. What makes this recipe special is frying is not in the directions! We normally fry our eggplant, which makes it super unhealthy. It was very delicious and will more than likely become part of our monthly menu.

Recipe:
1 medium eggplant, sliced into 1/4 in rounds
1/2 tea kosher salt (I used regular)
2 tea olive oil
3/4 cup of whole-wheat panko crumbs
6 tbsp of parmesan
3/4 tea garlic powder
1/2 tea dried basil
1/2 tea dried oregano
1/8 tea blk pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups of marinara sauce
2 ounces (1/2 cup) mozzarella


Slice eggplant, sprinkle with salt. Lay eggplant on paper towels and place your glass baking dish on top to draw out moisture. (let sit 30 minutes)
While eggplant is resting, heat olive oil in nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add panko stirring often till golden. Transfer to smaller dish, cool for 5 minutes. Add 3 tbsp of parmesan and the rest of the spices and salts - toss. Arrange in separate bowls, egg white and flour. Preheat oven to 425. Take eggplant, brush off salt and blot with paper towel. Dredge slices on one side in first the flour (dust off excess), then egg white then crumbs. Place crumb-side up, on two foil-lined baking sheets. Spritz with cooking spray. Bake 15 minutes or until tender.
Spoon 1/4 cup of marinara over the bottom on an 8 in square pan. Add half the eggplant slices. Pour another 1/2 cup marinara over the eggplant; top with remaining 3 tbsp parmesan. Dot the final 1/2 cup marinara; sprinkle mozzarella over the top. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted. Serve and enjoy with your favorite wine!

This weekend we were on the move. On Saturday, Mom and I went to Hickory to celebrate Valentine’s Day early with a pedicure. Paul got off work early and we took a quick trip to the mall to return some makeup. I recently purchased a wonderful foundation from Dior, but after a couple of weeks I notice that my skin started to get very irritated. After a quick trip to the Nordstrom Laura Mercier counter I learned the Dior foundation I had purchased was very hydrating – I have oily skin, so it wasn’t a good fit for me. So now I have a new foundation by Laura and I am super excited!

After the mall we met up with Casey and Blair for dinner in Gastonia. We decide to give Olive Garden a try, but with an hour and forty-five minute wait we moved on to the next option a new Italian restaurant. Our wine was delicious, but the meal not so much. Paul and Blair ordered a wedge salad! When it showed up at the table, I kid you not it was a half of head of iceberg lettuce, two slices of tomatoes on the side and that was it, no bacon, no cheese! We all had a good laugh and vowed never to return!

Sunday Paul and I skipped Church and Sunday school “we missed everyone though” to celebrate my grandmother’s 95th Birthday…yes 95. She looks absolutely amazing and hardly has a wrinkle on her face! We all met at K&W and celebrated her Birthday, so all of her friends could stop by for a visit. Here are two photos from the luncheon. 

Baby Hunter and Naomi