Energy Boost!

I don't know if it's just me, but I find myself feeling sluggish throughout the day.  It may be that I'm with two kids all day long, or the fact that I don't exercise, or that I go to bed too late.  Either way, I need a boost of energy.  There are a lot of things that I should be doing differently so that I feel more energized and ready to tackle my days.  I found this chart on Pinterest and I'm going to try putting these tips along with some others to practice.

Another few things I need to do are: 

Drink more water -- I'm terrible at getting eight glasses a day.  I get maybe 4-5 and I'm sure that has to do with my energy levels.

Vitamins -- I'm always hit or miss with taking them, it's terrible.  I'm not quite sure why it's so hard for me to remember to take them.

Go to bed earlier -- I so cherish my quiet time at night to blog, watch tv, and just vegetate since I'm always on the go with the kiddos during the day.  I cherish my time so much that I go to bed at midnight almost every night, and then J is up by 6-6:30 every morning ready to party.  I need to try getting at least an hour more sleep.

Exercise -- I never do this, I'm terrible!  I need to at least incorporate stretching to my days.

What do you do to feel more energized?

Weekend + Wino Wednesday Linkup

Good morning!

This weekend flew by, it was a fun one!  On Friday I had my sister-in-law and brother-in-law over and made this chicken with 40 cloves of garlic.  Yes I said 40 cloves ;)  the cloves are whole so it gives the broth a nice garlicky taste, but not overpowering at all.  My only complaint was that the recipe called for the chicken with the skin on and I felt that it left the broth too oily, so next time I'm going to try it with skinless chicken.

Saturday we met up again with my sister and brother-in-law, this time at Wal-Mart to buy the kids a bike. They've been wanting to buy the kids bikes for a while now, and we finally met up.  My babies looked so cute on their new bikes with their helmets on.  Now we just need to practice riding them so that they get the hang of it.

Sunday we headed to my mom's for a barbecue.  There was so much good food!  Food always tastes extra yummy when it's grilled (or fried) and we had her famous carrot cake for dessert.  It was nice to eat, talk and of course have some wine.

Speaking of wine, I want to share with you all a little project I've been working on.  As you all know about once a month I do a Wino Wednesday post where I talk about a wine that I've tried, liked and then I write what the winemakers notes are on the wine and what I paired it with that day.  I am by no means a wine connoisseur, but I enjoy trying new wines and I think that some people are intimidated with wine because they're not sure which are good, or which to pick so this will help other's out.

I've been getting a lot of positive feedback from my posts and have even had a couple people ask to join in on the fun, so I thought why not create a linkup and open it up to all of my wino bloggers?!  I think it would be pretty awesome for all of us wine lovers to link up once a month and get recommendations from other wino's and see what wine they have enjoyed.  It will be like a virtual wine tasting!!

The linkup will go live every first Wednesday of the month, so this gives you all a little over a week to pick out a wine that you love and want to review.  It can be on any wine you like: red, white, rose, champagne, procecco - anything!  You can even share a yummy cocktail recipe that has wine in it.  Again, this is for fun and it doesn't matter how much you know about wine!

I would love for you all to join me next Wednesday, May 7th!


Have a great day!

Five On Friday!!

Well, the week has come and gone and it's that time again to link up for Five On Friday.  Here are the things that have been on my mind or I'm itching to try...

one:  While doing our landscaping our rake broke, I was going to throw it away but my friend reminded me of a pin that has you turn a rake head into a wine glass holder - genius!  So I plan to do this very soon, I just don't know whether to leave the rusty parts or spray paint the rake.  Thoughts?

{via}

two:  There is something about a blue and while color scheme that gets me every time.  Look how beautiful this mood board is!

three:  How delicious do these zucchini fritters look?  I need to make these ASAP!

four:  I love this quote that was on Elise's blog yesterday, such a great thing to keep in mind

 five: Ugh, this picture makes me want to have another baby, it's so sweet!

Have a great weekend friends!

*also linking up with High Five for Friday , Friday Favorites, Rebecca and Casey 

Brown Sugar Crusted Salmon

The wait is over friends.... we finally made the Brown Sugar Crusted Salmon and I'm excited to share the recipe with you all since so many of you asked for it in this post.  This salmon is super easy to make and so tasty, I even think that those who aren't fish lovers would like this recipe because the sugar really gives this fish a nice sweetness.

Ingredients:

Black pepper

Garlic powder

Lawry's Season Salt

Brown sugar

• Sprinkle black pepper, garlic powder, and season salt on fish first to taste
• After fish is seasoned with the above add brown sugar - you want enough brown sugar to make a light crust on the fish
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20 min

That's it!  It's so easy and SO good.  The fish has a light crispy sweet crust.  You can pair the salmon with anything you want.  We always do a vegetable and a starch with dinner, last night we did green beans, baked corn and rice.  Another favorite pairing of mine is sauteed garlicky spinach with yellow rice.

Another plus about this recipe?  It's kid approved!

Have a great day!

A Night Out With My Mom

Yesterday my mom and I had a mother/daughter date to see John Legend.  Although I see my mom all of the time, I don't remember the last time she and I did anything fun alone.  It was such a fun evening and John Legend has the most BEAUTIFUL voice, and it doesn't hurt that he's handsome too ;)

The concert was so amazing and romantic - I wish JZ and I would've gone together because I'm sure he would've loved it too even though he doesn't know too many of his songs. He sang my two favorite songs from him which are Ordinary People and All Of Me and also sang a song from Bruce Springsteen song Dancing In The Dark, but sang it slow and it was just beautiful!  If you are a fan of him and he's coming to your area I highly recommend you seeing him.  Here are the few pictures I took

A snip-bit of John singing All Of Me

A night out also called for me to try my new Naked3 Palette!  I tried recreating this look since it was a bit bold and I thought it would go well with my dress.

Here's a  horrible selfie of me trying to show you how it looked - I couldn't get a good close up :( but you get the gist. 

It was such a fun evening with my mom and I'm happy that we live so close and are able to do things like this together and create memories.

Have a great Wednesday!

  

Naked3 Palette

Good Morning!  I hope you had a great weekend!  We spent lots of time outside enjoying the new play set and spent time with friends we went to Fudruckers with the kids and walked around an outdoor mall, it was such a beautiful day yesterday so it was great to be outdoors and get some fresh air.

My sweet sister-in-law gifted me the Naked3 Palette!  I've been wanting it for so long so needless to say I was super excited when she surprised me with it.  The colors in this palette are more rosy than the other Naked paletts which is very pretty and I think great for summer.  Of course with my new palette comes going on Pinterest and seeing which looks I love and what I can try to recreate.

Here are the ones I'm loving:

Rosy smoky eye:

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I like this one for a casual day out, it's a light and fresh look:

{via}

This look would be great for a night out, it's dramatic and pretty!

While on Pinterest I found a link for 10 Quick and Easy Naked3 Tutorials that I'll also be looking at to get a few ideas.

Do any of you have the Naked3 Palette, if so what are your favorite combinations?

Have a great day! Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft are having 50% off their entire site, I'll be on there doing some damage today - I can't give up a 50% sale!!

Also, in case some of you missed it, I guest posted on Believe in the Sparks on Friday and talked about my wedding and honeymoon - I can't believe this year will be TEN years that we're married!!

Have a good one!

Five On Friday!

Happy Friday to you all.  It's been a fun (and very rainy) week for us which has been nice.  It's always good to have those weeks where things go pretty smoothly and the family has fun together.

I'm linking up for Five on Friday today

one:  This Cucumber Cooler looks like the perfect summer drink cucumber, gin, lime and mint?!  I'm in!

two: I know I'm probably late to the Espadrille trend, but I'm loving them.  I'm a sucker for stripes and these are so cute!

three:  We finally finished our playset this week and the kids are so excited.  Now if only it would stop raining so they can play with it a bit.

four:  I saw this 10 Tips For Better Living on Pinterest and I thought it was an interesting thing to try and go by daily.  The only thing that will be hard for me is going to bed 10 p.m.  That's so early and I so cherish my alone time at night, although the extra couple hours of sleep would be nice!

five:

{via}

Have a great weekend everyone!!  By the way, I'm guest posting today at Believe In The Sparks talking about my oh so exciting hurricane wedding and honeymoon.  I'd love for you to pop over and say hi!

*also linking up with High Five for Friday , Friday Favorites, Rebecca and Casey 

Sweet Moments....

I'm linking up with Katie Elizabeth for Thankful Thursday.  Here are a few moments the past week or two that have warmed my heart and made me feel extra thankful for my little family....

The kids holding hands on their way upstairs for baths and bed... the cutest thing ever!

A selfie with my little man

Looking cute driving her car around the neighborhood

JZ brought me home flowers and wine, in total chick fashion this made me very happy 

Sibling love

Spending time with the kiddies at the park.  I love how free they are!

I always love looking back at pictures and seeing the sweet moments!

Interview With JZ (My Husband, Not The Rapper)

So  I had to join the bandwagon of interviewing my husband.  I was loving all of the husband's responses I was reading on other blogs and wanted to see what my hubby would say if I asked him these questions.

Hope you enjoy his responses as much as I did!

Me: What is the name of my blog?

JZ:  Kids and Cabernet


Me: What do I typically write about?

JZ:  Wine, home decorations, what you wanna buy on Etsy or whatever the heck that website is called and Pinterest



Me: What’s a popular fashion item for women right now?

JZ: A popular fashion item for women... hmm.. I know this one... flats???



Me: What’s the best place to shop for women?

JZ: Victoria's Secret



Me: What do you know about Pinterest?

JZ:  People put things on there if you like it you pin it like recipes, pictures, whatever



Me: What’s a Hunter wellie?

JZ:  I have no clue



Me: What does OOTD stand for?

JZ:  Out On The Dock?  Out Of The Dark?

(I didn't even tell him what that stood for because he would've thought it was ridiculous haha men will never understand)

Me: What is our favorite thing to do together?

JZ:  ( Pauses, smirks and says something)
Me:  I'm not typing that!
JZ:  Ok fine, watch Parenthood



Me: Am I good about staying on budget?

JZ:  We're not really budget people, but I guess you do



Me: What’s the Pantone color of the year for 2014?
JZ:  Purple?
Me:  It's radiant orchid
JZ:  Huh?



Me: What do women keep in their purse?
JZ:  One thing or a bunch?
Me:  A bunch
JZ:  Makeup, wallet, gum, makeup bags, maxi pads



Me: What do I do when I’m home alone?
JZ:  Heh, watch TV and drink wine



Me: And what do you do when you’re home alone?
JZ:  It depends, take a nap I guess



Me: What’s my favorite accessory?
JZ:  I don't know, your purse??



Me: What’s an acceptable amount to spend on a makeup item?
JZ:  Psh, In my opinion
Me:  Yeah!
JZ:  $20
(actually not too shabby, I'll have to remember that ;))




Me: What jewelry do I wear every day?
JZ:  earrings, wedding ring and J&A necklace




Me: What is your favorite trait about me, not physical?
JZ:  What's a trait?  Hmm.... (long pause)  the way you take care of the kids



Me: What’s my favorite TV show?
JZ:  Like that's on right now?
Me:  What comes to mind when I say my favorite TV show?
JZ:  Friends



Me: Any thing else you’d like to say?
JZ:  Like what?


I must say, he knew the answer to a lot of the questions (weirdly) and it was fun to sit down and ask him these questions.  I was smiling and laughing most of the time, and I think he liked that he was being "interviewed" for my blog haha.

Weekend In Review

This weekend was pretty relaxing.  Not too many plans happened, on Friday we started building the new playset we got for the kids and when I say we, I mean my husband haha.  It's coming along awesome and it should be finished today (yay!)

Saturday my dad his wife, my step brother and half sister came over.  My half sister is 6 so E always gets excited when she comes along because they play the whole time.  They spent the day playing and watching Frozen.  J brought out his lightsabers and all of his Star Wars toys and played with my dad and step brother and did the manly bonding thing ;)

Yesterday it POURED here the whole day.  It was crazy rain!  My sister-in-law and brother-in-law came over and we had some wine that I will have to review for you all, it was delicious!  Candy Land was also played with E and it's so cute to see her get excited about winning the game.  She'd throw her hands up in the air when she would be ahead of her dad and uncle.

That was our weekend.  Nothing too exciting, but it was spent with family and sometimes that's better than any plans you can have.


Oh and for fun -- this is what happens when you're aunt who's inexperienced with diapers changes a diaper:

This my kid-less friends is a backwards diaper ;)

Have an awesome Monday!