Saturday was my youngest brother’s 21st birthday, and we made sure to celebrate it properly!  He got the nickname “Timmy Tip Toes” when he was a little baby, because if he would hear music, he’d get excited and dance on his tip toes.  We thought it was cute when he did that, so the family would all sing “Timmy Tip Toes, Timmy Tip Toes”.  As he got older, he outgrew the name, but now we brought it back, since he totally loves being called that (not!)!!! 

Since Tim had friends coming in, my mom decided to throw together a last minute cook-out, so we could all have a nice big meal in our bellies, before a night out on the town, drinking.

I started with my mom’s pasta salad (I could honestly eat pound after pound of this, and never get tired of it!) 

Two other favorites of mine – “Sausage Beans” – spicy sausage with several different beans, basically like a spicy, meaty chili, and “Delicious Potatoes” – cheesey potatoes topped with buttery Corn Flakes.  Neither of which is low cal, but both are insanely delicious! 

After a few drinks on the back porch (it was BEAUTIFUL out on Saturday) – we headed up to McGinty’s – for Strongbow drafts, and other birthday beverages! 

My 3 most favorite boys in the whole wide world, Mike, my brother Matt, and brother Timmy:

On top of everything going else going on this weekend, our friends Cheryl and Johnny came to visit (they live in Pennsylvania, Canada – remember them?) 

Don’t I look like a creepy floating head between the two of them? 

It was so great to see them again!!!

The Birthday Boy had quite a blast, and was home and in bed before 11pm 

In the morning, I had “brunch” plans with my friend Meghan – so I got to try out First Watch for the first time ever!  I ordered the Veg’d Out Omlette, and went with the hashbrowns since all the different drinks the night before had left me feeling sort of queasy. 

This was AWESOME! The broccoli in the omlette was actually florets, and all the other veggies were cut into nice tiny pieces!  Great experience, I’ll definitely be going to First Watch more often! 

Last night I went to a fabulous Wine Party – I’m working on getting that recap up for you as soon as possible! 

Hiya Piyas! 

How’s the holiday weekend treating everyone?   Mine has been great, but super, insanely, busy! 

Friday, after work – I went to hang out with my aunt and her friends Kelly and John (I seriously have a cool family). 

Even Lando was invited, which was perfect! We hung outside drinking some fabulous summer beverages, while Lando got to play with two new pupper friends!

Wonderful, salty delicious spread – I’m a sucker for Tostitos “Hint of Lime”!

White wine spritzer with Sauv Blanc and Diet Sprite:

Lando, LOVIN’ the fenced in yard and new friends! 

Lando’s new friend, Ella – look at that sweet, sweet face!

I didn’t get a picture of the other dog, Monk, a beautiful black lab.  He was the “Grandpa” of the group, a little bit older, and very chill.  He let the two young ones run around like maniacs, while he just took it easy.  So adorable! 

Kelly made me a specialty drink, with a special sort of rum (“John’s” something, I can’t remember, I should have taken a pic of the bottle!), and cream soda, with lime.  So amazingly refreshing and delicious!  I’ll definitely try making this the next night we decide on “fun drink”. 

After watching the awesome Cavs comeback/win – we went up to a bar, to celebrate my little brother Timmy turning 21 (we had to wait until midnight since his birthday was the 23rd).  We got a round of shots:

Had a few more drinks, and then headed home!  Here’s the birthday boy, with his girlfriend:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIMMY!!!!!!!!!!

A pretty low key night, but that was because we had plenty planned for Saturday.  More birthday recap to come!  

I never liked that Beyonce song, but it definitely got stuck in my head all the time!

I tried out a super fab new food item yesterday, I’m officially in love:

I’d see the “Heart Thrive” brand pop up on several other blogs, so when I saw they were offering these at Liquid Planet the other day, I jumped at the chance to try them out – not to mention – LEMON POPPYSEED! – HELLO! – YUM!!!

Each cookie heart is 154 calories – which I really didn’t think was bad considering the size of the cookie.  It’s large AND thick (that’s what she said – oh man, that’s dirty).

Verdict – bliss!  It had a great natural lemon poppyseed flavor and was just the consistency/texture.  It had a nice “chew” to it, and was super filling.  When I was done eating it, I felt stuffed!  I HIGHLY recommend these!

Yesterday’s lunch was more of the same LAMENESS you’ve seen all week due to be continually putting off my Aldi trip.

Lame-o tiny salad! 

I did get to have  another fun treat yesterday - Edamame Hummus from TJs!

I was really pretty sure this stuff would taste a little too dirty “earthy” the first time I saw it, but then my friend brought it in to work to show it to me – and “forced” me to t ry it.  I loved it so much, I ran to TJ’s Wednesday and bought some. 

Snack action – apple and Chocolate PB!

Last night I got so much cleaning done! We moved most of our bedroom set upstairs (yes, we’ve lived in the house for almost 2 years, and we are just now moving into the master bedroom), and then I went through ALL of my clothes, shoes, and miscellaneous drawers to make “keep” and “give to charity” piles.  I’m getting rid of a good amount of stuff, and now have room to actually shut my drawers again.

By the time I was done cleaning, and we’d taken Landiclese (that’s a new one, right?!), it was after 8pm before we ate dinner!  I threw in a TJ’s whole wheat pizza dough crust, and topped it with my fav – chick peas.

Basically – once I’d finished dinner – it was time for bed because I had to get up at 5 again today to have my ass thoroughly kicked by ladies that I’m pretty sure are over 50 for bootcamp.  It was another doozie of a morning.  I really do love having such a hard workout finished by 6:45 though – that’s seriously awesome! 

This morning – more “sad” spicy oats. Now I’m out of eggs, so this container looked practically empty.

And apparently all the food wanted to go to the left (hence my lame title – see how my mind works?) 

Lunch today was another “cookout day” (need I remind you, I LOVE my job!) 

Look at this spread!!!  Veggie burger with M&K, and sliced tomatoes, salad, veggies, and pretzels (with a cheeseball!) 

MMM, MMM, GOOD!!!

I’ve got crazy plans this weekend, some wine drinking scheduled tonight, tomorrow is my brother’s 21st birthday AND we have friends coming in from out of town, and Sunday I have a wine party!  Crazy!  For a laugh, I’ll leave you with a picture message I received today, titled “Lando Butt”:

She’s funny, no?