today = refreshing

so i am much grateful for the fact that it's friday! 

(aren't i always? hmm) 

seriously though, this day has been filled with so many blessings and of course, it's a "cheers to happiness" type of day! so in honor of such happy times, here are a few things that have started my weekend off right & a few things that i'm look forward to, as well :) 

1. a long awaited bonus showing up unexpectedly in my bank account

2. a stress free work day 

3. early morning & lunch time play time with Oakley 

4. free starbucks refresher at lunch time...YUMM-O

5. chickfila for lunch, duh! 

6.afternoon run

7. dinner double date night & margaritas

8. surprise date night adventure tomorrow

9. hair cut tomorrow 

10. enchiladas at grandma's on sunday

hope your weekend is refreshing! 

xoxo

progresso y mexico

about a week ago, my life consisted of nothing but sunshine & fruity drinks, deliciously authentic mexican food, historic strolls, hot sunshine, clear oceans, and palm trees. oh how i miss that hot sun that gave me a good tan to make me look like the mexican i really am (even if i don't speak spanish fluently... !) i am seriously so thankful to have gone on a vacation that separated me from the rest of the realities of this world and forced me to step away from the cell phone & e-mails that seemed to clog up my daily routine. being a person that needs to have some sort of purpose in my day, i gave myself one task of documenting this awesome week via photos. i'm usually one of those people who set out to take a million pictures on vacation and then end up leaving my camera in the room because i'd rather not carry it around everywhere i go. so i'd say i'm pretty proud of myself for actually doing what i set out to do! and because i'm such a nice person, i'd thought i'd share a few of the snapshots from our vaction. 

So ... enjoy! 

insta-weekend

although i have been a little gloomy on here the past few days and have probably led you to believe that i've actually spent my weekend hiding under my cozy light-weight feather down comforter, but i promise that i did plenty summer living over the weekend and even brought in a little evidence of my activities from my adventures. 

enjoy! 

left to right: marc broussard at the ft. worth botannical gardens, my lovely date and i,  monthly cooking night in with my girls, some southern style dessert: peach cobbler/vanilla ice cream, visited a new church, spent some ME time in Galations, random & unexpected skype session with the brother, sunday evening bedtime reading. 

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christinaelyse

                                                         

random thoughts on a monday night

1. can't believe it's summer already!
2. excited for pool parties, weddings, and vacations that these next few months bring
3. currently enjoying runs; although tonight's mile was a lot harder than the 3 miles i ran thursday
4. regret the decision i made to not do laundry yesterday
5. hoping that my 'sweet dreams' consist of creative wardrobe ideas as said laundry is not done

6. hatfields & mccoys feud on the history channel is extremely intriguing. seriously. watch it. now!
7. excited about the 88 keys from a gutted piano to make art with for a good friend of mine
8. crossing my fingers that i have not mysteriously acquired strep throat
9. wishing that i would have taken more photos from my weekend at the zoo & joe t garcia's
10. thankful for a comfy bed & snuggly puppy to look forward to

night, night.

tina

photo cred: michael :)

a holiday & southwest turkey burgers

my heart is filled with happiness as this weekend has provided much rest and enjoyment of foods such as the picture above. if you know me, you know that i get pretty pumped up about a good cookout with great foods, family & friends, and the perfect musical background (aka rodrigo y gabriela pandora radio, if you really want to picture my weekend!)

 since such holidays have actually given me time to sit here and blog i thought i'd share a new recipe we are trying out this weekend. now, i know i know i know that turkey burgers do NOT sound appeasing to such burger fanatics, but trust me, a good turkey burger is worth trying, and again, if you know me, you know how much i love my beef!

here is the recipe we found via food.com!
you'll be sorry if you don't try it... :)

ingredients:

• 8 slices turkey bacon or turkey bacon with black pepper or applewood smoked bacon
• 1 1/3 pounds ground turkey breast, the average weight of 1 package
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large shallot or 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves, optional - parsley may be substituted
• 1/2 small bell pepper, green, red or yellow, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 serrano or jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons, 2/3 palm full, ground cumin
• 1 to 2 teaspoons cayenne hot sauce, several drops (recommended: Tabasco)
• 2 teaspoons grill seasoning blend (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
• Vegetable oil or olive oil, for drizzling
• 1/2 pound deli sliced pepper jack cheese

instructions: 

Chop your garlic and veggies.

Combine turkey meat, garlic, shallot or onion, thyme, cilantro or parsley, bell pepper, serrano or jalapeno pepper, cumin, hot pepper sauce, grill seasoning or salt and pepper. Divide mixture into 4 equal mounds then form meat into patties. Drizzle patties with vegetable oil to coat. Cook in skillet over medium high heat for 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Place sliced cheese over the patties in the last 2 minutes of cooking, use 1 or 2 slices for each patty, as you like.

happy summer food days! 

Christina 

favorite {summer} things

it's friday! and i couldn't be more excited about the coming weekend and the chance to have several hours of doing nothing but enjoying the sunshine and some quality rest time. and what a better way to end the work week than to have a little time with the boyfriend cooking a homemade meal and tasting the fruits of our labor? in the event of such cooking, of course, comes the scavenger hunt of ingredients at our local Whole Foods store... And call me crazy, BUT, i absolutely love grocery shopping and discovering new foods and drinks to dive in and try. and while i am no photography expert, i love nothing more than snapping a few shots of some of these things that i have found a new love for. 

looking forward to shoving more of the items below in my face this summer

 minus the happy puppy...unless we are talking kisses :)  

happy weekend, 

<3 tina