What's Up Wednesday! February 2016

How is it already What's Up Wednesday!? I know that February is shorter than the other months… but seriously… that flew by!! For those new around here… I'm linking up with The Larson Lingo, Mix & Match Family and Pinterest Told Me To the last Wednesday of every month!!! To read my January What's Up Wednesday…

What's Up Wednesday! January 2016

 

And the Bonus Question this month… What's your favorite Easter tradition?

What We're Eating this Week…
This past weekend we had some friends come in to the city to celebrate my boyfriends birthday (a little late). We wanted to try something new and while driving down Magazine street, stumbled on The Red Dog Diner. I think we totally missed out on what looked like a fantastic breakfast menu… but instead had a (probably) equally fantastic dinner menu. The "diner" (I put it in quotes because the typical diner setting doesn't really work here as it is more like a restaurant) was super casual and the prices were fair. I ended up getting the "Strip Streak Au Poivre" with twice baked potatoes and glazed carrots (they let me substitute the brussels sprouts). Complete YUM! I wish I had leftovers! 

What I'm Reminiscing About…
My favorite animal is the sea turtle… and apparently it always has been!! My mom was going through some old photos and found pictures from my 2 year old birthday and apparently I had a turtle cake! Unfortunately you can't really see the cake in these pictures… at least you can at least see how happy it made 2 year old me! So I guess I am reminiscing about my moms super crafty cake baking skills! 

What I'm Loving…
Gahhh I loveee my two new cookbooks! I mentioned these in my most recent Friday Favorite (2.19.16) but they are worth a second mention! One of my favorite bloggers (who I am actually What's Up Wednesday linked up with), Shay Shull from Mix & Match Family is the author of the two books and yes.. I'm slightly obsessed with them! 

The Meal Planner book has 2 weekly shopping lists (divided out for each season) and makes tons of awesome and yummy meals! The Cakes book (also divided by season) has sooo many awesome cake ideas that I can't wait to try… The Oreo and Cadbury Cream Egg Cakes are just two examples! Cant wait to use both of my new cook books!!! … I may have gone through them and tagged my favorite pages!! heehee

You can check out the Meal Planner book here

You can check out the Cakes book here

 

What We've Been Up To…
Birthday dinners. Breaking lent with cake. Tornados. The flu. Book reading. TV watching. The usual. Exactly how I like it! Never dull! 

What I'm Dreading…
**Sigh** Moving next month. I definitely mentioned this in last months What's Up Wednesday… I'm just really dreading the move! Since I have lived in Louisiana (only 2 years), we have moved 4 times and it is so exhausting. I don't know anyone who actually enjoys moving… but I for one am dreading it. Hopefully by next months What's Up Wednesday I will be settled in and less stressed! Trying to be optimistic… look how cute my future floor plan is!! Love how the living area surrounds the kitchen! Open floor plans are the best! 

 

What I'm Working on…
My goal last month was a silly but effective one! I wanted to eat more veggies. I believe I have succeeded! Lent has helped with that - no desserts or cheese allowed so I have to fill up on more veggies during my meals! 

For this month I am working on contacting my long-distance friends and family! My goal for the month is to reach out to all of the people I love that I maybe haven't spoken to in a while. I might even be ambitious and write letters because who doesn't love getting mail! 

What I'm Excited About…
The other day my boyfriend and I were discussing whether or not we should continue to pay for cable or not… then we had the best realization!! The Olympics are this summer!! I love the Olympics! The Olympics are on basically 24-7 during the season because I'm basically obsessed with it! I've already decided to throw an Opening Ceremony party!! I know I still have a while to go but I really am very excited for it already! You will not be hearing the end of this…! heehee

What I'm Watching/Reading…
Ahh! This time of the year is the WORST! Why you ask?! Because there is sooo much good stuff on TV right now and not enough time to watch it all!!! So what I am watching… 

The Bachelor… for those who are also watching… Prediction: I think Ben is going to pick Lauren… next Bachelorette… I am thinking (at least hoping) Caila. 

The Walking Dead… gosh this has been a kick-ass season so far!

Downtown Abbey… I'm so sad this is the last season!!! 

I am also a huge Shondaland fan... aka Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder (which I don't love as much as Grey's and Scandal)… But with all of the other awesome stuff on tv right now I have been falling behind with my Shondaland shows!! Sigh… one rainy day I'll catch up! 

And for reading I just finished the book ROOM by Emma Donoghue. I did an entire post about it! You can read about it… here! I am looking for another good novel to snuggle up with! Any recommendations?? In the meantime I am still chugging along with the Harry Potter series! Update: I am on book 6 now (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince). 

  

What I'm Listening to…
Every single morning on my drive to work I listen to the radio station Voodoo 104.1 and enjoy my daily dose of the Johnjay and Rich morning show (on any I Heart Radio station so if you live outside of Louisiana you can listen to them too). Kyle is also on the show to help mellow the ridiculous Johnjay and Rich… and to add some femininity to the show. These guys crack me up. It's crazy how invested you get in their lives having listened to them almost everyday for a couple years! Confession: I even follow Johnjay and Kyle on instagram! 

What I'm Wearing…
Work clothes. The past couple of weeks have been super busy with work and I have lived in work clothes until it's time to switch to pajamas. I work in cancer clinical trials and we are eventually moving away from work clothes and shifting to scrubs… oh man comfort level will increase expenentially when that happens! Trade in my heels for comfy tennis shoes! Can't wait!   

What I wish I was wearing… these skirts I mentioned Monday from Anthropologie! You can check out that post and where you can get these skirts … here! 

   

What I'm Doing This Weekend…
By boyfriends parents (for his birthday) gave the both of us a pass to go to to all of the Audubon Nature Institute sites. This includes: the Zoo, IMAX theatre, Aquarium and Insectarium. We went to the Zoo, IMAX and Aquarium this past weekend and we plan to go to the Insectarium this coming weekend! I will write a mini review on the 4 places once we check out the bugs and butterflies this weekend! 

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month…

• Easter! Can't wait for the long weekend and spending some quality holiday time with my boy! 
• Moving! Yes I am dreading it... but I also hate the anticipation just as much! Can't wait to be settled in and redecorating! 
• Friends visiting! In a couple weeks some old family friends will be visiting NOLA and I haven't seen them in years! It'll be fun to catch up!

What Else is New…
I took this really bizarre angled photo of my fluffy bunny. I find it equally silly and adorable! 

BONUS: What's Your favorite Easter Tradition…
My family is super Lithuanian and one of the traditions we do every Easter is crack hard-boiled eggs. One person holds an egg and the other person tries to use their egg to crack the other. The winner is the egg that doesn't break! Love this tradition. My little cousins spend the week leading up to Easter decorating eggs and we all spend hours on Easter trying to see who is the Easter egg champion!! When my cousin and I were little we used to sneak off and paint our eggs with glue to try and create an industrial egg… aka cheat!… for the record it never worked! I'm bummed that this year I will not be home for Easter and get to see all of the festivities.    

Hope everyone is having a great Hump Day!! <3 WC