Friday Five

Stealing this idea from Laura’s blog!

 

1. What I’m Reading:

As mentioned in this post, I’m on this weird mission to read all of the Time Magazine’s 100 Best Novels. Dear God, why am I such a nutcase? I just started this one:

Next week, I will start this for book club:

“Mary McCarthy's The Group rose to the top of the New York Times bestseller list for fiction in 1963 then remained there for almost two years. A sharply written page-turner about eight Vassar graduates and their lives in NYC and beyond, the novel tackled such then-taboos as extramarital affairs, premarital sex, homosexuality, contraception, abortion, and psychoanalysis in a style noted for its bluntness as well as its wit. The New York Times hailed McCarthy's works for its "miraculous precision" and "believable clarity" in portraying Manhattan Bohemia, while Time Magazine noted that "for the first time, highbrow readers who have long acknowledged an athletic and logical brain will meet those who prefer the fictional products of female temperament."

Wow, yeah. Thanks Jess!! I’m excited about that one.

2. What I’m Listening To:

Cannot get enough.

3. What I’m Watching:

Eh, nothing new. Just my girls.

4. What I’m Eating:

How about what I will be eating, as soon as I find one:

5. What I’m Pinning:

I only use Pinterest sporadically, but here are some:

Good Lord, his shorts are hot.

Love her hair, but I can’t pull off that blonde:

GIVE ME THIS DOG!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

xoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxxxxxxxxxx

Whoa, I drank way too much coffee.

Some E-Cards

Do you guys read the cards on www.someecards.com? Oh my god, if you don’t already, you better start now. They are witty, hilarious, and blunt. I love reading them, sending them, and plastering them on friends’ facebook walls. Matt and I send more e-cards to each other than a real couple would send greeting cards. Here are some of my favorites:

This one sums up how I feel on the weekends:

And then:

True story:

This one sums up how I feel every Monday morning after my weekend binges:

This one sums up every single day of my life:

This one could not be more true. Early morning workouts aren’t my thing. Let’s be honest.

This is probably how most people feel:

Or:

STORY OF MY LIFE:

Every weekend for my girlfriends and me:

And:

And this just makes me laugh over and over:

Do you have a favorite e-card? Share!

Also, what’s your favorite humorous website?

Chick-fil-A Lovers!

A while back I asked you guys to send me pics of you with your Chick-fil-A! It’s been fun receiving all your responses! Here they are:

Abbi sent me her favorite lunch: Chargrilled chicken sandwich, diet lemonade and a carrot & raisin salad.

Aaron sent me a picture of Chick-fil-A in Birmingham, AL.

Kevin sent me a picture of a lunch buffet from when he volunteered for the Bridge Run. A while back, Maria sent me an email with some pictures. “I was browsing the Facebook page of my wedding cake baker and I came across something amazing. Something that only you and I could appreciate. That would a be Chick-fil-A CAKE! I think I screamed. Then I thought of you. Enjoy.”

Brittany sent me her picture with nuggets…and another picture of her food with a bib from a half-marathon she did!

While Rachel was vacationing in Florida, she spotted a Chick-fil-A and made her husband stop and take a picture!

Chelsey tweeted me a picture of her lunch and a picture of her with the cow sign.

Trista sent me this picture from the Chick-fil-A bowl on New Year’s Eve.

Tiffany stopped in Chick-fil-A for lunch and made her coworkers snap a pic.

Santo sent me a picture of his sandwich sans pickle. No pickles?! He’s nuts.

Caroline sent me a picture of herself with an IceDream cone! Yum yum. She let me know that “if you sit long enough Mr. Norman will bring you free ice cream!” (Hwy 17 Mt. Pleasant location)

She also sent me the best Chick-fil-A picture yet: a picture of her as a baby eating waffle fries! I love this so much.

Thanks for all the pictures guys. I pray you send more! Haha.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

Luck of the Irish Cranberry Banana Oatmeal Cookies (Vegan!)

I feel like I’m either baking or thinking about what I’m baking next. This doesn’t seem to be a problem for anyone around me….except Lucy. My sweetheart roommate is allergic to dairy, so she can’t eat the majority of what I bake. I checked Bethenny Frankel’s website for  vegan recipes. I stumbled upon Cranberry Banana Oatmeal Cookies and immediately made them.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups oat flour
• 3/4 cup Irish steel oats
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup raw sugar
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1 tsp. canola oil
• 1/3 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup banana puree (1 medium-size banana)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375 °.
2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. Combine all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together until well combined.
4. Use a medium-size ice cream scoop or a large spoon to scoop batter onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper.
5. Bake for 12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking, or bake until the edges of the cookies are light brown.

The batch made 16 small cookies, at around 112 calories each. The texture if very different than your typical cookie. It’s not a bad thing, just different. I think they’re muffin-like. Bethenny has a few other recipes I’d like to try, including her Wheat-Free Vegan Double Chocolate Chip Cookies and Boo Boo Banana Bread.

Speaking of banana bread, when I got home last night, Lucy told me that there was a brown bag at the door when she came home from the gym. Praying it wasn’t another love letter (true story), I approached the bag like it might be a bomb.

Obviously it wasn’t a bomb, or else I wouldn’t be typing this…but it was banana bread!! Joey had left a couple of slices of a recipe he made last night. This bread is ridiculous. If you’re interested in a loaf that contains enough sugar to give you diabetes in one slice but tastes like heaven, you should make this. Here is the recipe he emailed me:

“Glad you liked it. I actually just improvised with the walnuts, raisins, & blueberries, but here it is from memory.

Melt 1/3 cup butter

Combine with 3-4 mashed (ripened bananas)

Mix in 1 egg

1 tsp. Van Extract

1 tsp. Salt

1 Cup Sugar

Then, add 1.5 cups all purpose flour or whole wheat flour if you choose.

I then just added 2 oz. chopped walnuts, handful or raisins and a handful of blueberries.

Bake on 350 for an hour, and you should let it cool before you cut it. I didn’t which is why your piece wasn’t a perfect slice (impatient haha)”

I really appreciate the manly writing style of this recipe. So caveman like. “Melt this. Mix that.” Ha.

. . .

I just noticed that I have reached over 400 Google followers. I feel like it happened overnight! Thanks guys!!! I’m really curious though – I know all of you who comment, but the rest of you…where are you? Please leave a comment stating who you are, where you’re from, and if you have a blog. And click here to follow if you haven’t already. GRACIAS!

The Most Rando Post Ever / Photo Day #12

Photo Day #12: A picture of something you love. You guys already know I adore people, the gym, cookies, and hula hoops, but I also really love TIGHT JEANS. Pulling up a pair of tight jeans is one of the best feelings. My favorite pair? The Stilt by Adriano Goldschmied. I bought my first pair in 2009 and had to scour the internet for hours to find a second pair in my size last December. Very worth it.

When I’m not wedging myself in those, I don’t mind Banana Republic’s dark wash skinny  jeans:

 

Because it’s Friday, I’m going to say screw it, and just be random, ok?

There have been questions as to whether or not Matt smiles. Out of the 38 tagged pictures of us on facebook, he is smiling in 11. 28.9% isn’t bad! Here’s one from September 2008:

One day I’ll explain my outfit.

Holly actually asked me what kind of flowers I wanted in my wedding. Isn’t she cute thinking I might have a clue. Um. Orchids? My favorite flowers are lilacs, but we don’t have them in SC. It’s devastating. If a man ever gave me these, I’d probably propose to him.

And now for some blogger love! Here are 3 girls who I’m currently crushing on:

1. Carissa, from Carissa Explains It All:

This girl is off-the-wall funny. She goes where most bloggers are too afraid to go because she is bursting with confidence. Whether or not she is professing her love for Justin Bieber, showing us her exotic dance moves, or posting fitness-related pics, Carissa will have you laughing to tears! We became such fast blogger friends that we are now fb friends, and text each other all day long about our mischievous activities. Ha!

 

 

 

2. Nuha, from Habibi:

I randomly stumbled upon Nuha’s blog and lurked because I thought she was one of the most beautiful people I had ever seen! No joke! Her blog topics range from home decorating, to fashion, to recipes. She makes beautiful cakes and I envy her sense of style!

 

 

3. Claire, from Dine and Dash:

After stalking each other’s facebook profiles one evening, Claire and I quickly realized that we are twins. She is such a fun, sweet, positive girl! Her blog contains recipes, exercises, and details about her upcoming wedding. She is doing the 30 Day Photo Challenge, too!

 

 

HAPPY FRIDAY!