Easily Storing Grocery Bags!!

I am all about saving grocery bags to reuse, and I know that I'm not the only person, because I see all these crazy contraptions to hold and organize them! I'm sorry, but I'm not about to stuff my bags into an old, empty Lysol wipe dispenser. 

Too much hassle, and with my luck it probably wouldn't work anyways.

I recently figured out a way to store my bags in a really efficient, organized way and I'm just too excited to keep it to myself.

This is a before shot of the drawer that I kept my baggies in: 

Underneath are paper bags too. Its pretty disgraceful if I do say so myself. 

Here is after:

Gahh, it's so pleasing to my eyes. Oh, the plastic bags are out of sight in the small Nordstroms bag.

Here is how I did it:

   P.S. sorry the pictures are so small, I intended them to be bigger. 

There you have it! It takes a minute or two which my mother would say is absurd, but I think it is a minute or two well spent. 

Organize away my pretties, and have a wonderful week!

75 Fresh Date Ideas

I know, I know, it's been a whole week since Valentine's day, and I am just now getting to a recap. 

We had a great date night in.

The menu was fettuccine alfredo, garden salad, roasted garlic bread, and peanut butter blossoms for dessert. Everything was a huge hit! (he insisted of taking a picture of the spread)

As for my gift to Alex, my friend gave me this idea that her boyfriend did for her a few years ago. He came up with a lot of date ideas, and made a date jar.  I tried to keep mine from being typical or cheezy. You can let me know if I hit my mark!

So here you have it: 

75 Fresh Date Ideas

For Starters

~ Jacuzzi night

~ Make a gourmet Dessert together

~ Play scrabble

~ Go to a public place to people watch

~ Have a fondue night

~ Go to the park

~ Make a fort and have a game night

~ Make cookies together

~ Pretend to be strangers in public

~ Random act of kindness

~ Wii game night

~ Find a local open mic

~ Take a stroll down memory lane ..visit places that you went when you were first dating

~ Take your nephews out ..if you don't have kids, take some beloved cousins/nephews out for the day! The best part is you can give them back after the day is done! 

~ Have a photoshoot

~ Pretend to go house hunting

~ Make a video ..ask him questions and record it. Have him ask you questions and record it. Edit later, and you have something that you will look back on forever.

~ Detail your car

~ Go antiquing

~ Volunteer Day

~ Line Dancing

~ Make bucket lists

He'll Love You For It

~ Go fishing

~ Go for a hike

~ Batting cages

~ Test drive a dream car

~ Video game night

~ His choice of a home cooked meal

~ Go rock climbing

~ Laser tag

~ Shooting range

~ Go Golfing

Get Some Fresh Air

~Fly Kites

~ Paddle boarding

~ Take the dogs to the beach

~ Ride bikes

~ Feed the ducks

~ Geocaching

~ Beach day

~ See a play

~ Tide Pools

 ~ Rollerblading 

~ Farmer's Market

~ Horseback Riding

~ Go to the Zoo

~ Watch a sunset

~ Star gazing night

Not Completely Free...

~ Drive-In movies

~ Make your own pizzas

~ Go thrifting

~ Go restaurant hopping

~ Find a local restaurant on yelp

~ Hot air balloon ride

~ Go to a local sporting event

~ Couples massage

~ Have a groupon date

~ Eat takeout by candlelight

~ Go bowling

~ Movie and ice cream

~ Take a cooking class

~ Go on a harbor cruise

~ Sneak chinese food into a movie

~ Dinner in Little Italy

~ Try a yoga class

~ Touristing in Coronado 

~ Paint your own pottery

~ Mini Golfing

Especially for San Diego Natives

~ Drive to Julian for a day ..Mom's apple pie, apple cider, adorable little town, what's not to love?

~ Picnic at Point Loma lighthouse

~ Tourist day at Balboa Park

~ Kayaking at La Jolla Cove

~ Snorkeling at La Jolla Cove

Real Talk Tuesday: Kindness is Free

Have you ever thought that if someone could just be inside your mind, they would be in for a crazy time? I've definitely wished for that a few times. 

Yesterday I became aware of the significance of a kind word. Someone I have one or two classes with ran into me in the hallway and told me that she thought I was pretty. I don't know her name and I don't think she knows mine. She didn't want anything from me, just to pay me a compliment. 

And let me tell you, it made my day! 

Later I was at target, and I saw this older woman with beautiful hair. It was long and white and looked soo soft. Let's just say I would be so happy if I had hair like that when I'm in my 70s. But that was all and I went on with my day. But as I was browsing the chex cereal, I had a thought. Why didn't I tell that woman that her hair was beautiful? 

Because I'm shy.

Because I'm busy.

Because she probably already know it and that's why it was down to her butt....

When it comes right down to it, there is no valid reason. Why wouldn't I take the opportunity to make someone's day? Why should I keep my positive thoughts to myself, instead of sharing them?? It doesn't cost me anything.

So I'm challenging myself, and I'm challenging you. 

Don't keep your thoughts to yourself! 

The next time I think someone is pretty, or they have a cute outfit, or a nice smile, I'm going to step outside my little awkward bubble and make their day. 

I know this post isn't anything that you've never heard before. I know I've heard it preached my entire life from my mom or middle school seminars, it's not my intention to bring something new to the table.

I just want to remind you of the importance of a kind word.

Let's be encouragers of each other, and make someone smile today. 

Valentine's Night In

Valentine's day is just around the corner! 

Pink, hearts, and love quotes are three of my all time favorite things, so naturally this is one of my favorite days to celebrate!

This year Alex and I will be going the conservative route and having a romantic night in.

Here are some ideas that I am playing with to make the night special:

I love these ideas from The Glitter Guide:

 Floor length table cloth, all you need is a quick trip to the fabric shop!

Cute dinner menu made easy with pink card stock. 

Strawberry champaign from Carolina Charm

A corny invitation for a movie night from Pink Pistachio

What are your favorite valentines traditions?

Awkward/Awesome

I've been wanting to do an awkward/awesome post for a really long time now. But I have never been able to remember all the things that have happened to me in a week. This week was just an abnormally eventful week so I deemed it appropriate to finally fulfill this dream of mine.

Awkward:

~ Here is the scene: My theology professor thinks that it is okay to assign mandatory reading, that he makes clear will not be referenced ever again in class. So of course, nobody does it. The first exam rolls around, and at the very end we see this: 

Thanks to this curveball, I got a 78% on the test. Sweeeeeeeet

~ I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I am currently working in the athletic training room at my school. As you could imagine, we have plenty of awkward moments in there from wrapping a basketball player's groin, to massaging the coach's shin splints, to icing a sweaty shoulder (and having to walk under the 7 foot Aussie's armpit in the process). But never in a million years would I expect this: A soccer player comes in, bloody and walking stiff legged. We can't figure out where the blood is coming from, until he turns around and drops his pants. Someway, somehow, he jumped, hit the fence, and on the way down it caught and gave him a nice, deep, fleshy cut down the crack of his gluteus maximus. 

Having to clean and dress a grown man's behind? Up there in the top ten most awkward moments of my life. Probably in his too.

 I totally would have taken a picture for you guys, but because of confidentiality laws, I can't. I've probably said too much already. But it's so worth it.

 I painted you a picture so you can get an idea of what it was like. Hope it's not too graphic.

~ I have this lizard family that lives in my front yard. I used to like them. I would see them scurry around when I drove up, and it would make me really happy that they are thriving in my yard.

 I'm not gonna lie I've even thought about making a house for them with food in it. 

That thought didn't last long.. 

Anyways, I was walking into my house yesterday and maybe it was the opening of the screen door, or my neighbor's dog barking, but the big daddy of my lizard family, literally FLEW onto me. I thought I was going to die. And what made it worse is that he would not get off no matter how much I screamed or flailed or made a complete idiot of myself. Needless to say the house with food is not an option any more.

Sidenote to that story: I'm a little nervous at my neighbor's reaction..which was nothing. Good to know that if a serial killer ever breaks into my house, my screams will go unnoticed.

Awesome:

~Having my best friend from high school come over spontaneously and make black bean burgers with me. Remind me to share the recipe soon, they were delish. 

~Making baby steps towards becoming organized! This week: Folded my paper and plastic bags, and put all my loose pantry clutter into mason jars. Productive? I think yes.

~Watching an episode of bones on Netflix and seeing the baby face version of one of my best friends from high school. And I never knew he was such a celebrity. Had I known, I feel like I could have capitalized on that friendship...

Just kidding I'm not like that. 

~ Tomorrow is the weekend!!!! Gah I love life.

Happy Friday loved ones!

Cut The Bloat

Happy Monday my lovely friends!!
I hope your superbowl weekend was a blast!! I know mine was and I'm soooo feeling in this morning.

After all the chips and guac, chicken wings, and pizza I just know that everyone is rocking the elastic waistband today!
I want to share with you my secret to cutting that bloat. It's weird, brace yourself..but it's been proven and I can tell you from personal experience it works! I've got my mom and best friend doing it now and  they will tell you it works too. Ready?

Apple cider vinegar.

What I do is before a meal, take a glass of water and mix in 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.
Weird right? On a scale of 1-10 on how gnarly it tastes, I give it a 4. Definitely tolerable.

Curious about the science behind it? Here is the basic idea:
The acidic environment in your stomach helps you break down food efficiently, but sometimes your stomach isn't as acidic as it needs to be. Drinking this right before a meal creates an ideal pH for a ton awesome results! So here is the break down:

ACV..

• Cuts that bloated feeling after eating
• Helps you digest your food better
• Helps your body will absorb more nutrients from your meal
• Helps your body use fats instead of storing them
• Maintains a healthy pH level
• Makes you a little fuller, so you won't eat as much (portion control!!)

Make sure that if you're going to do this that you buy the raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar. It has the most nutrients and you will get max benefits out of it. I like the brand Bragg and also Trader Joe's has a good one.

Try it, and let me know. After one week of this I saw drastic changes to my midsection.

Do you have any tricks I should try?? I'm always looking for something new :)