Happy Friday!!! Okay, I swore I’d be better about blogging once the kids went back to school & have failed miserably….already! Life here at our house has been crazier & more stressful than normal and I’m trying to “deal.” Please bear with me/us…..
That said, I DO have a few favorites to share this week….
- FASHION (1 of 2): How cute are these shoes? If you know me, you also know that I pretty much live in things that are black, white, gray, beige, denim, blush and olive. In fact, pretty much any other “color” scares the crap out of me! On any given day, you are bound to find me in a gray tank (of some sort), beige cardigan & denim. My other staple combo is a black tank, grey or blush cardi & denim. That said, these shoes would be a PERFECT addition to my fall wardrobe – they’d go with EVERYTHING (I wear)! Plus, they’d be perfect for working at school! I sure hope they’re comfy! Fellow bloggers, as well as Nordstrom’s site, say to “size up,” so I’m doing just that!
(2 of 2) – Also loving this twist hem top by Bobeau! I have something similar from Jane.com, but I have a feeling this one is much more lightweight & would be perfect transitioning into fall (worn with denim & the above mentioned shoes)! I actually tried this on a few weeks ago (when it wasn’t on sale), and it DOES run a little big, so def. size down! 
- FITNESS: It’s hard to believe that I’m moving into week 3 of my “month of barre!” I’m still loving the classes I’m taking at the new studio (B Present)! These classes definitely challenge me AND allow me to focus on areas I knew needed a little extra “help” (mainly my midsection…abs/core). Do I miss lifting heavy weights? Yep, I kind of do – I admit it. In barre the weights are 3lbs & usually END UP feeling like 10lbs by the end of a set of exercises, but I DO miss some good old 15lb bicep curls and heavy weighted squats. It’s hard to say what I’ll continue to do once my month is “up.” Until then, however, I will definitely keep on enjoying how barre has challenged me AND changed me. Not to mention, the instructors (or “bartenders”) at B Present have been AMAZING! What an incredible group of women supporting women! This week I took 5 classes & my goodness I was feeling it today! If you’re interested in giving B Present a whirl, they are still offering incredible grand opening specials – you should REALLY take advantage of them!!!
- Foodie: Did you guys see the pic of my sheet pan nachos on Tuesday evening? See, I had originally planned on having a “Taco Tuesday,” but when I took an inventory on our taco supplies, I realized we were missing shells! Whoops! No problem, though – I whipped those ingredients into quick & easy TURKEY sheet pan nachos!
Probably not the HEALTHIEST sheet pan meal I could have made for our family, but I DID make my kiddies eat carrots and applesauce with it! The hubs and I had our own side with some extra fixings (as you can see from the pic above). All you need to do to make this QUICK and EASY snack and/or meal is: 1. Brown lean turkey with fresh garlic & taco seasoning (I used Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Seasoning with some extra chili powder & cumin). 2. Spread tortilla chips of your choice on a sheet pan. 3. Top with the ground turkey. 4. Add any shredded cheese that floats your boat (we used Colby Jack & Mexican Blend). Make sure you use plenty! 5. Add chopped tomatoes, black olives, jalapenos, red onion and fresh cilantro. 6. Bake at 400 until cheese melts and starts to brown. 7. Enjoy! We served ours with sides of sour cream and salsa for dipping. - Fun / Family: I went back to substitute teaching at my kiddie’s school this week! My first day back was a 1/2 day in kindergarten & I had forgotten how much I enjoy being at school! Wow! It was a blast! Now, don’t get me wrong, new kindy friends are definitely challenging, but I swear it’s the great people I get to work with and be around that makes it all worth it! My kids are blessed with a building FULL of fabulous teachers! Not to mention, I always go home with some really entertaining stories to share with my hubby! He just can’t even imagine doing what I do – !! Every day is certainly VERY different! Subbing has allowed me to stick close to my kids, make my own “work” schedule AND really feel like I am in the know about what is going on at their school. I think I’d be totally clueless if I wasn’t at school so much! I’d hate that! So here’s to another entertaining year of elementary school!
With that….it’s time to start our Friday Night Pizza prep here – Luke Bryan is playing & it’s about time for a glass of wine! I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! More next week….
xoxo – Jamie
(2 of 2): We finally tried a new ice cream shop in our town – 
I’m a FIRM believer in changing up your workouts….frequently. In fact, I just made a huge change to my routine by taking a break from my usual Les Mills group fitness classes (including Body Pump + Body Step) & committing to a solid month of intense barre classes. If you know anything about these types of group fitness classes, you also know how DIFFERENT they are! It’s a BIG change! As I’ve mentioned MANY times since last December, I haven’t quite fallen back in love with heavy weight lifting. I know….shocking! I took some time away, then had that lovely hernia surgery (the hernia a direct result of heavy lifting in some capacity) & I haven’t quite gotten back into it. That said, I do believe weight lifting is 100% beneficial for women & trust me, these arms NEED weights, but maybe just not as heavy as I was lifting pre-surgeries. Fast forward to that AWESOME new barre studio (
It’s from 
Fitness: Group Fitness / New Things / Workout Buddies
Foodie:
Fun / Family: Summer Rocks at 
Sooo, that’s about it — I’d appreciate any prayers and positive thoughts sent our way in the upcoming weeks! I know this is all part of a greater plan, not particularly OUR plan, but we’ll remain faithful & hopeful (or try our best to at least)!!! Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! More coming your way next week!
Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Picks: I decided against doing a separate post about the sale & my picks. I will, however, give you a little sampling of some of my favorite items (that may have made their way into my shopping cart):
Mac had been to this particular condo twice before (when he was 6 months & then again when he was 1.5 yrs), but Parker had never been! How could you NOT love this incredible view? 
I mean, this is from our balcony!!! THIS VIEW every morning, everyday, every night! Just incredible! 
Our condo is one of the only beachfront condos with (easy) beach access – as in the pool deck view was the ocean/beach. It was a two step drop down to the beach from the pool deck area & that makes this condo EXTRA special! The kids went between swimming in the pool & ocean ALL DAY LONG! They were so busy & truly swam their little hearts out daily! We took a few excursions while Mimi was with us – one to the outlet malls which were located just south of the Ft. Myers airport (rainy day trip) & then another down to the Everglades for an airboat ride / alligator watching! I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Parker was truly impressed with the airboat ride, but Mac and I loved it! It was amazing how fast those boats go & how swift they can turn & even go over marshy areas! Plus, seeing the gators out and about in their natural habitat was pretty incredible! (There are many different airboat companies south of Naples, but we chose 
In addition to all of our swimming, pooling & beach exploring we also ATE amazingly too! I can honestly say that I didn’t have a single meal I didn’t absolutely love while in Florida! Between picking up fresh food to prepare in our condo (I mean, why not with that view, right?) or going out – we had some incredible food! 
A few of our fave restaurants? There are several:
So, when we weren’t eating (and drinking), we were enjoying the beach AND pool. Like I mentioned earlier, the kids swam almost constantly from the time we got to Florida. Once the hubs arrived he picked up a bunch of fishing gear for his week! We had so much fun watching him! I loved that he was up early enjoying one of his favorite past times! Evenings on the beach were amazing (and better for fishing)! Once the sun would go down, we’d just chill on the beach. It was gorgeous! 
I mean….those views, that sunset! Could it get better than that? I’m at home day dreaming about it right now! It truly was a perfect family vacation. We are SO grateful we were able to spend that time together. We’ll cherish the memories we made forever! God is SO good!
P.P.S Did we shop? Again – of course, but nothing too crazy! My suitcase was heavy enough COMING to Florida – I didn’t need to add more weight to it! We hit my favorite outdoor shopping area (
Parker loved browsing through the 
We also checked out the Nordstrom Rack in another super cute outdoor shopping area – 
We had no problems getting up early on Saturday as we were both excited to get to Ohio & get out on the course. We knew we had a gorgeous, but very warm day ahead of us (so thankful for NO RAIN)!!! We made it to Dublin in under 3 hours with our one 
We celebrated by finding the “Golden Bear Club” (another perk of our tickets) & picked up 2 cocktails (Bloody Mary for the mister & a mimosa for the lady)! Oh, and look who else I quickly found inside the Golden Bear Club – – Tiger! A photo opportunity I could not pass up! (Note, too, how I am wearing my traditional golf tournament outfit: black tank, white shorts & camo Havianas flip flops!) 
While I am super directionally challenged, I did manage to marry my own personal compass, so Chris and I hit all the good spots on the course in no time! We caught up with Phil on the driving range:
The 
We trekked, watched & enjoyed the tournament for over 5 hours, during which we walked over 7 miles! Phew! It’s safe to say that by 3pm, we were both exhausted…..and starving. I forgot to mention that my hubby is back on his ever-reliable low carb diet, so picking something to eat while at the course was definitely challenging. We picked up a (very) overpriced bag of mixed nuts, and that was it! Eeek! We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Dublin & once we were back at the hotel, we vegged for a bit while trying to decide where to go for dinner Saturday night (I told you we were starving)!!! After lots of searching we decided on a cute place called 
(Oh, before I forget….in the pic above I’m sporting a new romper from 
We were up early on Sunday morning & quickly rushed through the freebie breakfast at the hotel because…..coffee, of course! Wouldn’t you know, too, we bumped into another golfer while at breakfast –
Directly related to my Tanwise talk – my 
Looking for perfect “dinner on the deck” music? Here at our house we go between requesting Sam Hunt or Luke Bryan to be played by our girl Alexa! If it wasn’t for the fact that we are leaving at the crack of dawn (see next fave) tomorrow morning, you bet we’d be attending Sam Hunt’s concert here in Indy. Since we’re not (insert sad, sad face), you can bet his voice will be heard here all day! He’s SO good! 
Lastly….it’s also not a secret that we LOVE attending professional golf tournaments. We’ve been talking about going to the 
A huge THANK YOU (in advance) to my brother & lovely sis-in-law for watching our kiddies this weekend so that we can attend the tournament! I’ll gladly accept any and all outfit suggestions, although it’s quite possible the one in the pic above will be it….haha! I’m so predictable! Black tank? YES! White shorts? YES! Hat? YES! Don’t get me started on shoes….I’ll most likely tell you about the 