Weekend Shenanigans & THE Green Smoothie

We just got back from a fun-filled weekend in McCall, Idaho. Actually the weather was a little blah, so it made it the perfect weekend to do nothing. We bummed around with friends, ate late breakfasts, read books, chased Kess (a lot) & stayed up too late watching TV. A lazy weekend in a beautiful place! 

We actually lived in McCall for a few months while Kess was teeny tiny. We moved there in September of last year and moved back home in March of this year. So Kess spent about 7 months of her life traveling back & forth from McCall to Nampa, so we could be with Daddy while he was working & we drove back to Nampa so Mommy could work. It was a wild ride, but we are oh so glad we did it. 

We obviously ate way too much junk while we were weekending. We have actually had some unhealthy food habits going on for a few weeks now between bring home that giant chocolate Costco cake, to birthday celebrations, to fair food, to weekend getaways... we have been bad. I'm pretty sure even Kess could use a juice cleanse at this point! ;) 

My favorite way to make sure I'm getting some good nutrients is to make a green smoothie. Now, there are a million different green smoothie recipes. I've tried quite a few and could never find one I actually liked, until this one. My sister got this recipe from a good friend, and loved it, so I gave it a try. So good. Kess even loves it, which is awesome because sometimes babies aren't the easiest of eaters, so this insures that she gets some good healthy food in that cute little belly of hers.

3/4 Cup Frozen Blueberries

3/4 Cup Nonfat Greek Yogurt (I use vanilla, because I hate plain)

1 frozen banana

a few handfuls of spinach

1 T of Chia Seeds 

1 Cup of Orange Juice.

I would have never thought to freeze the banana, but it helps keep the smoothie from going weirdly frothy. Bonus. 

It's super easy to "smoothie prep" with this smoothie. I slice up the bananas, place them in plastic bags, and put them in the freezer. They are easy to grab quickly and easy to blend because they are in smaller slices. I recently decided to be "pinteresty" & blend my spinach because it would go bad before I could use it all. I added some water and handfuls of spinach into my blender & blended until it was all liquefied

, poured it into an ice tray and froze it. After it was fully frozen I broke it up into pieces and put them in a plastic bag in my freezer, they are easy to throw into the blender.

I found Kess a few tiny tumblers to drink her smoothie from. She loves them, but the only tricky thing with tumblers is that she can pull the straw almost all the way out, they get caught at the bottom which is nice, but it still makes quite the mess. I grabbed a rubber band and wrapped it around the straw at point that hits under the tumbler top. Then she can't pull it out at all. It makes for a much easier clean up! :)

Do you have a favorite green smoothie recipe? I would love to give it a try!

Happy Monday, my friends! Have a great week! 

Fair 2015

#BEbucketlist #15

I love the fair! Mostly, I love the food! OK, all I love is the food! We didn't go last year because Kess was so teeny tiny, so I was really looking forward to a corn dog this year! ;)

We celebrated my momma's birthday at the fair!! So we threw caution to the wind and ate 4,753 calories.

Kess is just like me when it comes to animals... she likes to look, not touch!

We tried to take the babies on a few family rides, but they were too little, even with us riding with them. So we walked around played a few games. I was dying to go on the swings, so my parents watched Kess for a bit and Matt and I hopped in line for the carousal swings. I must be getting old, because I basically paid $10 to feel nauseated haha! At one point I looked back at Matt and he asked how I was doing, "Only okay!" "Same here!!" Yep, not quiet the adventurers we used to be.

Matt loves to look at the art in the expo building, so we wandered around. Kess really wanted to push her stroller so I let Matt look around & we found an open area to "stroll."

We (again) grabbed a bit more food. Kess got to eat grandma's ice cream potato, which she loved. This babe woofed down half a corn dog, a good amount of lemonade, more sips of Pepsi that we intended & got a snocone. Don't worry, we actually feed her healthy food from time to time ;)

The babies were officially done & ready for bed, so we took off & washed the fair off of Kess & got that girl to bed. My parents came by & we played a round of Klondike Rummy. At that point I was delirious because it was so late (11:00pm)... We wrapped up cards, I lost, and went to bed! Such a fun weekend! I love when we get a chance to do something we wouldn't normally do. Most of our weekends are filled with yard work, house work, or other little odds and ends, so when we get a chance to play in Boise, or go to the fair - it's a great weekend! :)

Cost Per Use

Ok, let me preface this post by saying that I feel kinda goobery for posting things that I've purchased. I feel like I'm bragging about things I bought, but I had some people wondering what I snagged while shopping in SLC.

We had saved up for my SLC getaway for a quite while. I wanted to be able to shop without remorse. Well, that's just not in my personality. I feel buyer's remorse for everything. It's the dumbest thing, really. Can't get over it, no matter how I try. I have come to terms with the fact that it's a good thing; it keeps me from over spending.

I was determined to buy things I needed, but I wanted to buy a few things I had been eyeing on a few fashion blogs I follow, too. So, I decided to make a list of the things I needed, buck up, get over my shopping guilt and enjoy!

I actually rarely shop - we don't budget for it. I don't even have a monthly "fun" allowance. We have some financial goals that keep getting in the way of fun ;) I get birthday money & Christmas money. I try to make it last as long as possible. My birthday is in June, so if I plan well, I can stretch my birthday money all the way until Christmas & a wonderful cycle ensues.

I never know if something I buy is going to be worth the money or not. Fashion bloggers always seem to be snagging the most expensive stuff & swearing by it. Well ya - it better be worth it if it costs that much. I always seem to be looking for a "dupe" of whatever product I'm on the hunt for. Sometimes that pays off, but sometimes you end up needing to "invest" in the more expensive product. When needing to invest, I take on a "Cost Per Use" mentality when shopping. How much is this product going to cost me each time I use it? Will I get my money's worth?

I recently bought a pair of jeans that were super inexpensive. I caught a good sale & had a store coupon. I liked them for about a month, then they lost their shape and I always felt like they were saggy around my but, unless I was washing them after each use. Not cute. So, during my Utah shopping trip I was determined to find a great, long-lasting, comfortable pair of jeans. And I wanted jeans, not jeggings, not lots of stretch. Well, I found some on sale! Thank you, #nsale. Thankfully they were not the original $225, but still. (insert heartbroken emoji here.) After much convincing from my sister in the dressing room and one hesitant swipe of my card later... I'm the proud owner of these beauts! I know, kinda cringe-worthy. But, I have zero buyer's remorse. Really. If I break these down with my "cost per use" tool, I actually don't end up "spending" much per wear. I constantly wear skinny jeans. Almost everyday, actually, even in the summer. I'm most comfortable in them, and I think they are flattering. Even if I wear these for 1/2 of the year, my cost per use is under $1/day. I can justify this because I know it is a fact that I will wear these until they die. That's what I do.

How do you justify expensive clothing? Do you just go for it? Do you debate back and forth like I do? Or do you veto expensive clothing and continually buy less expensive (a choice I often make)?

Here are a few more staple items I bought while in SLC -
Caslon Pencil Skirt - purchased in black and navy for church. I like to look "dressed up" at church. I typically stray away from a casual look, but I am chasing Kess around now, so that changes my church attire. These skirts are durable, comfortable, flattering and on sale! Bonus!
Pleione Pleat Back Woven Top - Blouses were one of the top things on my shopping list and I snagged these on sale as well. I bought 2, because they were 2 for $60, and they still are if you're in need of a great blouse! I would normally cringe at a $30-$40 shirt, but these were comfortable, super flattering and could be worn with my new pencil skirt, or my new jeans... #winwin. I bought Cream (which is actually more white than cream) and the Blue Mazarine. There are actually more colors online than there were in store, which tempted me to purchase 2 extra colors (Pink Hush & Purple) I am a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl and I'm trying to feel less frumpy, more put-together and these are the perfect blouses for that.

I hope this was helpful for those of you trying to decide if something you want is going to be worth it.. plug in "cost per use" ;)

I snagged a few things from Lush that I am loving as well! If that sounds interesting, let me know & I'll share a few of my favorites!

Happy Wednesday! xoxo