Just because it’s relevant…

Whitney Houston’s funeral was over the weekend. This was obviously a huge talking point online on all social media channels. It’s often a best practice on social media to be talking about “hot topics” and current events even if it isn’t 100% relevant. However, there is a line. I think it’s safe to say that line was crossed with Waffle House:

Tweets as shared by happyplace.com by someecards

This is just…too…random. It’s OK that Waffle House talked about something other than waffles. It’s not only odd they chose to talk about Whitney Houston’s funeral, but it’sreally odd that they then tagged it with #wafflehouse.

Just because it’s relevant, it doesn’t mean you have to tweet it.

Miami!

I found out I’ll be going to Miami next week for work and I couldn’t be more excited. Miami? In March? Yes, please.

Not only will I be in Miami, but I’ll be working on an event for our Fitness line and the entire weekend will be composed of different types of workouts with celebrity trainers. How perfect is that?

I leave on March 2nd. Right now, it looks like the weather will be in the 80s and sunny. I’m crossing my fingers that’s still what it is when I’m there.

Stay tuned: when I’m back I’ll have a full recap. ; )

Valentine’s Day at Tico

Call me cliché but I will always like going out to dinner on Valentine’s Day. This year Sean and I decided to try a restaurant we hadn’t been to before, Tico. It’s the sister restaurant of Radius, which we’ve been to a few times and really like.

Tico is tapas restaurant with food that is a delicious mixture of America, Spanish and Mexican. Overall the food was really good. I ordered the BBQ shrimp with mango salad and grilled brussel sprouts with bacon, grilled cumquats and pickled onion. Normally I’m not a bacon fan, but with the rest of the dish it was perfect and not overpowering. Sean ordered calamari and chorizo risotto with pasilla chiles, scallion and parmigiano. Delicious all around. I think the most flavorful calamari I’ve ever had. We also shared mini lobster avocado tacos. Also delicious.

Lobster Avocado Tacos

The service overall was good and the waitstaff attentive. I also appreciated that they didn’t jam too many tables into the dining room considering the holiday, like some places do (I don’t name names…).

After dinner we went to my favorite dessert spot: Max Brenner’s, where I promptly ordered a DELICIOUS chocolate martini. So. Good. We also ordered a dessert, which took a really long time to get to the table, but the bartenders were really proactive and apologized and even comped one of our drinks. That’s always helpful, right? For the record, this was our third or fourth trip to Max Brenner’s and this was the first time there was any sort of issue (which wasn’t even a big deal – I was busy enjoying my drink).

Chocolate Martini at Max Brenner's

Overall it was a fun evening – I would recommend both Tico and Max Brenner’s to anyone. Enjoy. : )

COACH Arrivals

It didn’t take long for my purchases from the recent COACH Sale to arrive. Not long at all. They arrived as a lovely Valentine’s Day gift to me.

Coach Signature swing pack and SOHO leather slim wallet

I bought a new cross-body swing pack for summer and a new wallet, meaning I can finally retire my wristlet. Start to finish, this was definitely a great shopping experience.

 

COACH Sale

I worked at COACH when I was in college and racked up quite a collection (obviously). Since then, I haven’t made many COACH purchases. I think after spending some time working in a retail store, the novelty of the product starts to wear off. Don’t get me wrong, I still like the product, but when you’re getting something at a discount it seems less appealing when you suddenly have to pay full price again. Follow retail alum out there, don’t you agree?

My COACH dry spell ended yesterday with an online Factory sale. Besides the huge assortment of product available, I have to say the sale itself was executed EXTREMELY well. First, I received an email on Wednesday night telling me about the sale and letting me know I would receive an additional email with the link to the sale “no later than 4pm EST.” That immediately made me think the sale links would be released in waves, which can be both good and bad for the consumer. “Good” because then there wouldn’t be 1 million people flooding the site at the same time and crashing it, and “bad” because there is the potential for a lot of products to be sold out if you’re in a later email wave. Regardless, I saw this as a good thing.

Th sale email announcement. I liked seeing some prices and inclusion of different styles.

I received my email a little before noon on Thursday. With promises of sales at up to 70% off, I couldn’t help but jump on it. When I went to the site, I saw a MUCH wider selection of products than I anticipated. I spent some time looking around – I had a few types of items I was looking for specifically so I made sure to not waste time looking at things I knew I wasn’t going to purchase. One I had my choices in my cart, I went to check-out, terrified someone could have snagged my goods before I had the chance to. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had 30 minutes – essentially oodles of time – to keep them in my cart without being penalized. Amazing.

I made my purchases and received a notice saying because of the large volume of sales, it may take 8-12 hours to get an email confirmation. This, again, made me nervous in case I wasn’t actually getting what I thought I was. Nonetheless, I received an email a few hours later confirming my order. Even better? I received ANOTHER one this morning saying my items have shipped. Kudos, COACH. That’s exactly how you should run your Factory sales.

I purchased a wallet and cross-body swing pack. Since it’s already in the mail, I should be able to show you pictures next week. : )

 

Kate Spade Mittens: Hi 5!

Somehow I lost my favorite pair of mittens during our move. They were super warm, simple, black mittens. And they’re gone. I’ve been using a different pair this winter but they are nowhere near as warm as my original pair! I’ve been trying to find a replacement for a while and finally did. Thank you Kate Spade sale.

Kate Spade Mittens

Not as plain as the pair I lost, but I couldn’t resist the “Hi 5″ decals in the stitching…or the sale price. And, they’re warmer than the other pair I have, which is the point in the first place.

Jason Wu for Target

Jason Wu for Target just launched and stores sold out almost immediately. Even the online options are virtually completely unavailable.

Jason Wu for Target

The collection of just over 50 items features whimsical dresses and skirts, with lots of floral patterns and striped details.

The summer bags feature classic lines and lots of straw – like this straw clutch.

Jason Wu for Target Straw Clutch

Jason Wu for Target Straw Scarf

This is one of the many successful Target collaborations lately, with items all priced at or under $50. Looking forward to seeing what’s next.

SUPER BOWL

Super Bowl time again! Sean is making his delicious homemade chili, I’m making desserts, we’ll have chips and salsa, hummus and veggies for, well, me and anyone else who wants to snack and still be healthy, pigs in a blanket and other Super Bowl staples. Go Patriots!

Super Bowl!

Chewy Cranberry Banana Oatmeal Cookies

One of my favorite recipe blogs, We Are Not Martha, recently posted a recipe for Banana Maple Cranberry cookies. They sounded amazing, so I decided to give them a try. I changed the recipe a bit (mostly to suit Sean’s taste) and came up with Chewy Cranberry Banana Oatmeal cookies. They’re really easy to make and, as far as cookies go, are on the healthier side.

Chewy Cranberry Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Prep time: 10 -15 minutes
Bake time: 15 – 18 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 large ripe bananas
• 3 C rolled oats
• 1/3 C unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 C brown sugar
• 2 T cinnamon
• 2 T maple syrup
• 3/4 C dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Mash bananas together in a medium-large bowl. Tip: first slice the bananas and then use a masher.
• Mix in oats, trying to make the mixture as even as possible
• Add all additional ingredients, mix thoroughly
• Place balls of dough onto lightly greased, non-stick baking sheet. The cookies do not spread out while baking, so you may want to push them down in the middle to give them more of a “cookie” look and less like a ball.
• Bake for 15 – 18 minutes

The end result, as the name implies, is a chewy cookie. Less banana and more oats would change the texture to suit less-chewy cookies, if that’s what you like.

The recipe in general is extremely forgiving because of the nature of the ingredients. I made a few “test” cookies before coming up with the final recipe. I decided to make these an addition to our Super Bowl spread this year.

Enjoy!

Denim Dress

I’ve been searching for a denim shirt dress and finally found one to my liking. Gilt is having a 7 for All Mankind sale featuring an adorable denim shirt dress. I’m a happy girl.

7 for All Mankind Dress

Need an invite to Gilt? Well today is your lucky day; here you go. Gilt Invite.

UPDATE: The dress arrived extremely quickly – I had it within a few days, BUT, to my dismay it was way too big. I considered getting it tailored, but decided it would probably be more of a hassle and cost too much to take it in on the sides and arms, and am sending it back. Oh well. Kudos for the fast shipping, Gilt.