can i just tell you something? i’m REALLY looking forward to this weekend. not that i don’t look forward to every weekend, but this one in particular is set to be pretty darn awesome. tomorrow a group of high school friends are getting together for dinner with our significant others and then S and i are going up to temecula wine country for a little tasting adventure on sunday, so like i said, this weekend should be a lot of fun. i hope yours is, too. but before you go, the six things i loved this week:

one || keen on quinoa. i felt like a proud momma when S shared this quinoa tabbouleh salad recipe last week. “can we make this?” yes, 1000 times yes. when your boyfriend says he’s willing to eat quinoa, you don’t ask questions, you just go to the store immediately and buy the ingredients before he can change his mind. i made the quinoa and sliced the tomatoes while S chopped the cucumbers and handled the chicken we eventually put on top of it for an extra protein boost. we DEVOURED our bowls handily and S even went back for a second helping. it’s the perfect dish to keep you on track if you’re hoping to eat more healthily in the new year or if you’re simply looking for an easy, make-ahead-and-eat-all-week meal to freshen up your regular repertoire. bon appetit!

 

 

two || minature pony? no just a little hoarse. so i’ve been nursing a nasty little cough all week. the annoying thing (or maybe the positive thing?) is that there are no other symptoms, just a troublesome tickle in the back of my throat and not enough ricola lozenges to soothe it. if i’ve found any humor in the situation, it’s the fact that most mornings i wake up sounding like marcel the shell and most evenings after yelling a mean final 10 to my sweet little (barre) tuckers, i sound like an old man who has been smoking for years. or like phoebe from that friends episode when she gets her “sexy voice” after contracting a cold from monica.

 

three || that’s doggone adorable. maybe second to the movie boyhood who not only won the golden globe for best dramatic picture of the year, but who also got its fair share of oscar nods, videos of puppies doing adorable things are having the best week ever. from a french bull dog going bananas over a ball pit to an english bull dog puppy having a standoff with a plastic water bottle, to a golden retriever puppy’s first bubble bath, the internet paid it forward this week with an abundance of heart-exploding film.

 

 

four || high school reunion. one of my dearest high school (and college!) friends is coming into town with her husband for the martin luther king, jr. holiday weekend and a few of our san diego-based high school friends and their plus ones are getting together for a mini reunion of sorts. the last time most of us were together was at the traveling couple’s wedding two septembers ago (crazy how time flies!) so it’ll be fun to reconvene and catch up (and of course, to introduce S to the tight-knit SFC fam). here is a photo of four of the seven girls that will be there on saturday night.

 

 

five || pottery barn hack. after building my sawhorse desk, S decided that he’d like to build one of his own. so we began scouring the web for inspiration. it didn’t take long for us to land on the pottery barn website and its vast array of pretty (yet terribly overpriced) office furniture. we soon fell in love with a rustic yet functional piece, just not with the price tag. but a quick google search later and we found a DIY blog with plans for an exact replica of the dawson large desk. so last weekend while i was getting primped, he spent the day shopping and cutting and nailing and sanding and in a matter of 24 hours, this found its way into my garage (my garage has a lot more space than his).

 

he’s kind of a talented, no?

six || booze, boots & betting. this weekend’s sunday funday will be brought to you by the letter B. -one B for booze (we’re heading to temecula for a little wine tasting),  another B for boots (we’re stopping by boot barn to see if we can’t snag a pair of legit cowboy boots), and the last B for betting (we’ll round out the day with a little visit to pechanga casino to try our luck at black jack, video poker, and where i’ll probably camp out -the slots). it’s a bit ambitious to fit so many activities into one little sunday, but i think S and i are up for the challenge. besides one of us is lucky enough to have MLK day off to recuperate. hint: that one of us does not have a blog.

 

 

have a great weekend, loves!

xo

image via a beautiful mess

3