Recovery Week Three

Today marks three weeks since surgery.  I have to admit I am feeling kind of blah and frustrated.  It is hard to not be able to do everything you want to do, like stretch to reach things from high shelves, bend over easily, run to the grocery store, walk the dog, and pick up stuff without assistance.  I know I shouldn't be complaining.  I am in a great position with wonderful support and this is a temporary thing...I am lucky.  There are some people things like this are not temporary for and I shouldn't complain.  So there you go, pity party over.  Shifting focus now.  Oh, I know...flowers!

I mentioned in last week's recovery post that I was on my last bouquet of flowers.  Well, the mom drove me up to Trader Joe's on Monday and I found these daffodils for five bucks.  Yes, please and thank you.  I like them here next to my kitchen window and cute yellow bird the sister gave me.

Birds and flowers are so spring, I love spring.  It is one of my most favorite seasons.  The fact that everything is in bloom here, like my azaleas was probably one of my motivators to redo my blog header.

Speaking of which, what do you think of the new header?  I like it, but I did like the old one too.  :)  In spring cleaning fashion I also updated my About Me page.  I definitely like it much better now.

I also embellished my door bucket for Easter.  You might remember from this post that I had gotten some new flowers for my door bucket back in February that I added hearts to for Valentine's Day.  Well, I found some sparkly Easter eggs at Hobby Lobby a while back (pre-surgery) and transitioned it perfectly to Easter.

While we are on the Easter subject, here is my Easter mantel.

Yes, of course there is an Easter mantel.

I love these bunnies.  I picked them up at Pier 1 back in February.

Along with these Easter eggs.

 

I think it makes up a fun and simple Easter mantel.  I do hope to pick up a few more bunnies on clearance after Easter.  Who doesn't need extra bunnies?

The husband hung a bird feeder in the backyard for me last weekend.  The sparrows are loving it.  Trixie is enjoying the view.

I know we are not the only ones who are loving the weather and flowers here in Houston.

I hope you have a fantastic day friends!!

Insta-Friday #14

The husband is such a sweet valentine.

He brought me beautiful red roses yesterday and yellow ones for my mom who is in town with us right now.

My mom was very surprised and touched.  I think she even got a little teary eyed.  Good work husband.  Thanks for being awesome.

I have to tell you that I love Texas winters.  You know weather that feels like spring during the day and then evenings that are cool enough for a fire.  Love it.  You can keep your snow, I am not interested.  I much prefer my blooming flowers and fire pit on my deck.

Lovely.  Yes, I am spoiled rotten.

This week I finally found a frame for the print I bought for my office.

I like it.  A very happy print.

And I discovered  Trader Joe's raspberry sorbet.  It is delicious.

Sammy agrees.

We have made it to Friday friends, good work.



Enjoy your weekend!!

Tasty Tuesday

My weekend finds this week were all food related.  I had a hungry weekend or I just made a trip to Trader Joe's.  Hmmm.

I will start with the healthiest eats from this weekend, a Green Monster smoothie.

I originally heard about these from Caitlin over at Healthy Tipping Point...she makes them all the time.  Her recipe came from this site: Green Monster Movement and my recipe is an adaptation of some of the recipes I read.

Green Monster:

• 1 banana
• 1 Tbsp Justin's chocolate hazelnut butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 cups spinach
• 7 ice cubes

Throw all the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.  Enjoy!

Don't let the color fool you, it is very tasty.  Try it...you won't be sorry.

I mentioned in yesterday's post that the husband and I hit Trader Joe's on Sunday for some super bowl snacks.  We found some very yummy new things.

(source)

My pick...these tiny pizzas.  They are delicious.  I added green olives to mine, but they were good without them too.  The serving size is 3 of the little pizzas for160 calories.  Yum.

(source)

The husband's pick...mini chicken tacos.  Also very good, but not as low in calories.  I served them with fat free Greek yogurt (great sour cream substitute) and salsa.

We also picked up some spinach and kale Greek yogurt dip and mini pita crackers.  It was a tasty game day.

What kinds of football snacks did you enjoy this weekend?

I did pick up one not edible item at TJ's.

Have a wonderful day!

Weekend Recap

We had lots of fun this weekend.  The weather was beautiful here in Houston and Saturday evening we headed out to our friends' house for some grilling and hot tubbing.

Kasey and Jack have a beautiful home and I love how Kasey has decorated their great room.  It really feels like a vacation to be at their house.

I want to bring this sofa table home with me.

Love

The mantel has this wonderful tall frame to it.  I think Kasey has done a great job with embracing this unique feature and really making it stand out.

And it's no wonder we are such BFFs...she has a Valentine's day mantel tool.  :)

On Sunday we ran a couple of errands and I made a Valentine's day door bucket to replace my new year wreath.

Michael's had a 40% off sale going on their florals.  A perfect time to fill a door bucket.

Pretty.  I am pleased how this turned out.  The bonus?  I'm so glad you asked...

After Valentine's day all I have to do is pull the hearts back out and I am ready for spring.

Speaking of the spring, the husband and I are starting on the outside of the house in the spring.  I am ready...we need a coat of paint outside...or at least a power washing.  :)

In the evening, the husband and I layed low for the super bowl.  We ran to Trader Joe's and picked up some snacks.  I watched the game from the sofa in my pj pants.  I am not ashamed.

Mini chicken tacos, mini pita pizzas and olives.

Mini pita crackers, greek yogurt spinach and kale dip, salsa and greek yogurt for the mini tacos.

Yummy.  I love Trader Joe's.

I hope you had a fantastic weekend!  Any decorating or game day snacks to share?

Oh My Gyoza

It is such a beautiful morning here in Houston!  Okay, it is not.  I lied.  It is crazy foggy and I don't like it, so I don't want to talk about it.  Instead I will tell you about dinner last night.

Crazy Good

Last night for dinner I made these Thai Vegetable Gyoza from Trader Joe's.  I was a little intimidated by their preparation instructions, but it turned out to be really easy.  I put a tiny bit of olive oil in a non-stick pan (about a teaspoon) and spread them out frozen, flat side down, and let them cook for about 5 minutes on a medium-high heat.  Then I added 4 tablespoons of water and covered them and steamed them for about 5 minutes more.  They were delicious, crispy on the bottom and hot and steaming in the middle.  Very tasty stuff.

I made a yummy soy dipping sauce to go with them that I was impressed with because I made it up on the fly.  I mixed together:

• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 2 garlic pods, minced
• 1 green onion, sliced thin
• sprinkle of ginger powder 

Yes, sprinkle is a precise measurement.  I also steamed up some brown rice and roasted some broccoli.

I put my dipping sauce on my rice.  It was a very tasty dinner.  Go to Trader Joe's, get dumplings...they are good.

Have a fantastic Wednesday!!!

Weekend Recap

I love long weekends.  It makes for short work weeks.  I know you feel the same way.

I had a very nice relaxing weekend.  It started Friday night on the deck around the fire pit with the husband and sister-in-law.

It was cozy.  We talked and had a couple of cocktails.

Saturday evening was girls night in at my friend Rebecca's house.  How cute are her pups?

Leo and Ava

Sunday I got a massage (yay!) and then I spent some time with my friend Stacey which was nice because I hadn't seen her in a while.  Sunday evening the husband and I went to the movies.  We saw Jack Reacher.  Anyone else seen it?  I didn't have high hopes for the movie because I am not a very big Tom Cruise fan, but it was good.  I would recommend seeing it.

Monday the husband had to work, but I had the day off.  I had a great day.  Sammy's day did not start out very well.

Brave Sam hiding at the vet's office.

It was time for Sam to visit the doctor and get shots.  She cannot stand the vet's office, it petrifies her.  Poor girl.

After the trip to the vet I was off for some retail therapy with the rest of my Christmas gift cards.  The first stop Pier 1!  Weird, I know.

New wall art.

It spoke to me.  Get it?  Sorry, I will stop.

And Valentine's Day mantel complete!

I might like having a mantel too much...but look at this cute owl!

I had to have him.  The garland, owl and hearts in the hurricane all came from Pier 1 and in total cost around 21 bucks.  Factoring in my 10 dollar coupon and my 50 dollar gift certificate the Valentine decorations came to about 11 dollars with the coupon.  I like this kind of math.  The white candle holder I have had forever and the be mine sign I picked up at Walgreen's for 3 bucks.  Total cost for the mantel...14 bucks.  Out of my pocket only 3 dollars, since the rest came out of my gift card that also paid for my new wall art.  Bonus.

After Pier 1, I stopped at Trader Joe's.  I was so excited when I found red shrimp in their frozen food section.

We vacation in Gulf Shores, AL a lot and we always have royal reds there.  They are also red shrimp and taste very much like lobster.  Excellent.  We haven't been to Gulf Shores in a couple of years, so this was a real treat to find and they were a great price...thank you Trader Joe's.

I sauteed them up for dinner in little garlic butter and served them over rice with some broccoli slaw.

The verdict: they are not as good as I remember the royal reds being, but they were a delicious close second that I will definitely have again.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  Was yours a long weekend too or were you unlucky like the husband and had to work yesterday?