Four Things: Fourth of July Fun

I can hardly believe it, but July 4th will be here tomorrow! Growing up Didn't the 4th always feel like the "middle" of summer? This year is just flying by.  My Dad's Birthday is July 4th, so my 4th is usually focused on celebrating him and America!

This year I'm unable to be with him, but I'm certainly looking forward to having the day off to relax and celebrate the USA here in the nation's capital. 

The four things I looking forward to this year are 1. Fireworks. 2. Yummy treats. 3. Fun Americana nail art and 4. Fresh berries.  Is there anything better? If you're heading out of town this weekend stay safe and have fun! I have to work on Friday, so I'm sticking around, but the DC countdown is on so I'm definitely going to try and get out and enjoy the city. 

Good Morning

Where do the weekends go? I never know. They seem to speed by much faster than the work week though. 

So I don't know if y'all have seen all the ads but I picked this stuff up at the grocery store the other day and OMG is it good. I highly recommend the B&J's greek yogurt. It's a little tangy and super creamy. It comes in a whole bunch of flavors, but this one in particular caught my eye.

Also, I was BEYOND excited when I won Julie's giveaway a few weeks ago. Well my beautiful earrings were delivered on Saturday, and they did not disappoint. They are the drop bling in hazel from JoJo Loves You. They are seriously gorgeous. Thank y'all!

I woke up ridiculously early on Saturday, so I wend for a walk in the hood and found this little joy. so gross.

and sipped on this beauty. amazing.

Sunday I partook in a more fun beverage (bloody mary at the boundary stone)

I'm also trying to get going on my 25 before 25. I tackled a pinterest project/ idea. I love pinning makeup ideas, and this one was beyond amazing. I tried it saturday night and of course forgot to take any good pictures, but I used my nyx smokey palette and the naked palette, and it turned out pretty close. 

exciting weekend. I know. 

Do you know what is exciting? my newest giveaway with Rogue & Co. go here to enter 

{Recipe: The Taco Heart}

Obviously I have had way too much time on my hands lately, because I've been scouring pinterest for party ideas. Remember our Cinco de Mayo fiesta a few weeks ago? We had the tissue pom-poms, banners, mustaches, and not to mention lots of tequila. I love Mexican food, and when I saw this I knew it was a must.  It's called a taco ring, but in the waining twenty minutes before a party, running around with your head cut off one doesn't have a ton of time to artfully craft a perfect circle. So, a taco ring quickly turns into a misshapen taco heart.

this is what it was supposed to look like

This was such a surprising hit, and was really easy to make. You can pull everything together in just a few minutes, and if you put in a little more time than I did you can probably make it a lot prettier. This is the inspiration site, but I modified it slightly.

You will need

• 2 cans of crescent rolls
• 1 cup Mexican Cheese
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• diced onion (I used about .25 cups but that was because I ran out of onions so I would definitely use more next time)
• 1.3 lbs Ground Turkey

All easy enough, right? I browned the turkey and added the taco seasoning an hour or so ahead of time.  Then on a large pizza pan or cookie sheet, lay out your crescent rolls into whatever shape you want (since I did a heart shape I used 1 whole can). Spoon the taco meat over the rolls, then cover with either the extra dough or do what I did, and cover completely with the remaining can. I promise this tastes so good, your friends wont care what it looks like.

P.S. I have my first GIVEAWAY COMING TOMORROW. Get excited people!

Happy Monday

So... I'm still trying to figure out what to talk about on this blog. Should I do make up Mondays? or just talk about what I did all weekend? oh.. or maybe a recipe? I'm still not sure, but for today I'm going to give you a weekend recap, because it was pretty awesome.

Friday I got to leave work a little early (a whole 45 minutes) and went to a MARCH MADNESS party with some of my old co-workers. It was pretty awesome, but probably would have been better had I had any allegiance to the teams playing (Missouri and Norfolk St.), but it was an epic game, and the beginning of a series of major upsets that killed my bracket (Kentucky is my final pick, go SEC!). After a few complimentary beverages I headed home to get ready to hit the town. My roommie KJ had a few friends visiting her for the weekend so once they got home and dropped their stuff we headed out for dinner and a few cocktails at Oyamel. If you have ever met me you know that I am obsessed with Top Chef. Honestly, one of my favorite things about living in DC is being able to hit up all the restaurants of the Top Chef Alum. Jose Andres is a former Top Chef Master's contestant, frequent Judge on Top Chef and employer of sever Top Chef Alum. He's the 2011 James Beard Award Winner for best chef, and his from Spain so I love him. Jose Andres owns several of DC's finest restaurants Oyamel being one of the best. It was my first time there, but I am sure to return.

On St. Patty's Day I had the highlight of my weekend (not really but it is my favorite thing to do ever) and stayed in bed until NOON. It was wonderful. I spent the rest of the day outside eating lunch, playing in the garden, etc. Then it was time for the real festivities to begin. I met a few friends at Lola's, my new favorite bar. We quickly be-friended the wonderful bartenders David and Adam, and drank Black and Tan's, Guinness and Jameson for the rest of the night. Sorry I didn't take more pictures... but it's probably better that I don't put any incriminating evidence of my debaucherous ways on the Internet.

Sunday I played in the garden some more (It's still a work in progress so I'll do a post later). Did some spring cleaning, and drank one GIANT diet coke to kill the Guinness headache.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend, I just hope these mild spring temps continue. How was your weekend? Get into anything fun on St. Patty's Day?