Happy Friday Everyone!
Hey everyone! Somehow we have made it to the end of April. We had a pretty busy April with my half marathon in Springfield, Autumn’s Spring theater of Little Women, my dad’s 84th birthday and a bunch of other stuff!
One – A Wonderful Easter!
We had a wonderful Easter weekend. I had a collaboration with Drury Hotels and the St. Louis Zoo, so we got to partake in that on Friday (I’ll be sharing a post soon!). Then, Sunday we went to church and had lunch at a restaurant with my mom. We had some BEAUTIFUL weather on Friday, but then rain and storms off and on the rest of the weekend. It has been a STORMY and wet spring here in St. Louis and I am not a happy camper when some of my favorite trails are flooded! Oh, and my Easter dress was a last minute outlet find at Ann Taylor Outlet. The sleeves are flowy and have huge slits in them and I’ve the midi length of the skirt (perfect for this time of year when it is a little cool and a little hot throughout the day).
I received the SWEETEST gifts for my Easter basket from Brian (with Autumn’s help) that I just had to post about them. Autumn knows I love bows and she saw an ad or something with a bow ring and bow earrings from Pandora and she told Brian to get them for me. So sweet of her to think of me! Then she also goes to this baby store to look for jelly cats (they are stuffed animals that are SUPER trendy right now) and she found me a coffee keychain one AND she got me a really nice lemon journal (I collect lemon stuff). Of course, I also got a lot of Cadbury eggs, which are my favorite Easter candy. Yay!
Then my friend Jessica brought me by some farm fresh eggs (she got new chickens!) and she knows I love bows too and got me a really cute bow tumbler charm. She is so sweet! Then I did a little sewing (I am not good at it, friends!) with a bunny craft I got in my April Monthly TreatBox (I’ll share the entire box with y’all below).
Two – Easy Peasy Lunch Recipe
Ok, so I only have ONE recipe for you today. I made this Caprese Bean Salad for lunch for an entire week and it was really good! I usually pair it with one of those Thomas Light English Muffins (8 grams of fiber!) and a bowl of fresh berries. This is so easy to prepare on Monday and it made about 4 servings/lunches for me that week.
Caprese Bean Salad
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
5 oz package baby spinach
15 oz can no-salt-added white beans, rinsed
10 oz container cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup mozzarella pearls
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
Directions: Whisk vinegar, oil, mustard, salt and pepper together in a large bowl. Add spinach, beans, tomatoes, mozzarella and basil; toss to combine.
Three – Latest Happenings
Nathan was accepted into the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society in college and Autumn was accepted into the National Honor Society at her high school. So proud of them, they both work so hard while juggling multiple activities.
Autumn has been SUPER busy being dance captain again for the Spring Musical at school. They did Little Women and it was wonderfully done!! We were lucky enough to be able to see two of the four shows, even though it fell on my half marathon weekend. I just love to see my girl dance!
I’m still working my way through an audio book this month, but I did binge watch ALL 3 seasons of The White Lotus. OH, wow! This is a naughty one… definitely not for anyone looking for a mild, feel good show. It’s dark (VERY dark!), a little gory, incest… gosh, what doesn’t it have?! But, aside from that… I REALLY enjoyed it. It is about The White Lotus resort and each season is placed in a different exotic location. You follow the storyline of the hotel manager, workers and guests. A couple actors/actresses come back in the next seasons, but it is mostly a fresh cast each episode. I think episode 1 was my absolute favorite of them all. If you’ve watched it, what was your favorite episode? And now that I have a MAX subscription, I am going to watch ALL the Harry Potter movies!! I’ve never read the books and I doubt I’ll ever do that now, so I thought it’d be fun to watch all eight movies. I’ve heard that Harry Potter is going to be coming to HBO as a new series and each episode is going to cover one of the books. So, it’ll be fun to wrap up these movies in time to watch the new series!!
Five – Latest Finds
Fuel Goods is a subscription box for runners that comes bimonthly. I just got my most recent box and yet again, it was a GOOD one!! I REALLY love the Fitzels Protein Pretzels that were in the box! I still have some items I need to try, I was waiting to finish my half marathon before trying anything new while running. But, I’ve heard great things about the Noogs and I can’t wait to try them!
So, I’m sharing my March Monthly Treatbox a little late, because a few items fell out of the damaged box that I received. So, they shipped the items with my April Monthly Treatbox. So, I’m sharing box boxes with you today! The March box had a spa theme and I received a plush headband, face sheet mask, foot soak, hair mask, self care cards and popcorn. Such a good box!
The April Monthy Treatbox was REALLY fun too! I got lavender chamomile epsom salts, a bunny sewing crafty, seeds, socks, a notepad and chamomile tea. I’m really enjoying these boxes, I just hope the shipping issues get a little easier.
While at the outlet mall, I stopped in Francesca’s and found the CUTEST white and blue bow necklace and earrings.
My brother was recently in Dubai for work!! Of course, we demanded (haha, nicely) that he bring us back some authentic Dubai chocolate. Dubai chocolate is ALL the rage right now, especially the kind with the pistachio filling. If you’re not going to be in Dubai anytime soon, THIS Dubai Pistachio Bar on Amazon is trending on TikTok. I bought Autumn one of them and it was SOOO good… a little pricey though!
Better Days sent me some of their caffeinated greens packets to try and they’re pretty tasty! Plus, it is a good way to get an all natural energy boost in the morning without grabbing a coffee. The flavors I tried and LOVE are Peach Limeade, Strawberry Pineapple and Watermelon Lime. They have a ton of other flavors for you to pick from. Use coupon code CARRIE10 for 10% off! If you’re looking for a non-caffeinated option, click HERE.
I hope everyone is having a good April! Next month it’ll be gardening time!!
