High Five for Friday - What I Love About Summer

Happy Friday! TGIF and welcome to the last long weekend of the summer. You know how I love my long weekends. I am ready to be done with this workday and home with 3 long luxurious days off ahead. Since it's the last Friday of what I consider to be the summer, I thought I'd focus my High Five for Friday on some of my favourite things from this summer. I am going to go a wee bit went a lot crazy on this one and am well over 5, but I have a feeling you'll forgive me!

Do you like the whole High Five for Friday theme? Check out what other bloggers have been loving by clicking here to visit Lauren's link party.

First and foremost, I'd have to say that my garden has been the absolute best. Are you sick of hearing about it yet?! I thought I would be sick-to-death of going there by now, but I'm not in the least! It changes so much over the course of a few days and I've had so much success that I think I may have caught the gardening bug. I'm also loving all the fresh produce; I'm saving a ton of money at the grocery store and I am enjoying the freshest of fresh veggies on a daily basis. I'm already thinking about how I will plan everything out next year, so that I can fit more stuff in my small plot of dirt.

The Toby Keith at Rogers Bayfest 2012 was another highligh of our summer. So. Much. Fun. This is the only concert that we've had time to get to. Outdoor concerts are the best and I'm hopeful that we'll be able to make it to a couple more before the weather gets too chilly.

 

You gotta have a red solo cup at a Toby Keith concert!!

Lifting weights is another love that I've developed over the past couple of months. It all started with Jamie Eason's LiveFit trainer and even though I'm only loosely following it right now as my schedule permits, I've discovered that I love working my large muscle groups with weights. I had to step WAY out of my comfort zone to even enter the free weights area just a few short weeks ago and now I try to incorporate some sort of a weights routine into every workout. Who would've ever thought?! I'm so excited to see how my body transforms over the coming months :-)

Source: Pinterest via Amy Smith

Another thing I've totally been loving is shellac manicures. I am a nail biter in situations where I'm tense, anxious or bored. I love the look of painted nails that have a little length and the shellac manicures have helped keep my nails strong (and bite free) so that I could grow them out. Having fingernails painted for 2 to 3 weeks without so much as a chip is awesome ---- I won't do it all the time because the acetone can wreak havoc on your nails and cuticles, but it is absolutely perfect for vacations or special events! This is the manicure I had done at LimeBlu last Saturday.

And finally, I've have some link love for some of my fave posts of the summer ~

Favourite Summer of 2012 Recipes
Bananarama Protein Pancakes
Raspberry Cheesecake Protein Pops
Jenn's Triple Bean Veggie Burgers
Sommer's Vegan Garden Style Chili
Brittany's Garlicky Kale
Courtney's Light & Tasty Zucchini Casserole
Janetha's Slow Cooked Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats 

Favourite Summer of 2012 Posts
Negative Thoughts Are Wasted Space by Lindsay of The Lean Green Bean
9 Ways to Have a Productive Work Day by Angela at Oh She Glows
In 2011 I Had $3 in My Pocket by Kris at i heart wellness
Lucky to Be Able to Run by Theodora at Losing Weight in the City

Whew! Now that's what I call a post to cap off the summer.

What is one your most favourite things/memories from this summer?

Have a wonderful long weekend!

Andrea
xoxo

High Five for Friday

Howdy folks! Welcome to Friday. We made it --- another work week is almost complete.

High five to that!

So, what's been making you grin from ear-to-ear this week?

Here are a few things that have sent me to my 'happy place' ~

okay, that kinda sounds dirty, or maybe it's just me & my dirty l'il mind....
anywho, you know what I mean!

Jack's Special Medium Salsa from Garden Fresh Gourmet.
This salsa is the best! It is so fresh.  I got it at Costco for under $5.

My new fave breakfast: slow cooker steel cut oats

I made my first batch yesterday - apple cinnamon oats to be exact -  and I've been daydreaming about all sorts of new combos that I'm going to try --- I'm thinking peaches & cream and then a savoury version are in my very immediate future.

My Husband

We've been through good times and hard times, stressful times and joyful times.
No one said life was easy, but it is so much better when I'm with my man!

Life has been crazy and hectic and we've barely had time to say hello as we've passed
each other in the door --- I felt like he deserved a little love this week ~ xo




Sunflowers

My favourite flower as Fall approaches. I love a bouquet of sunflowers in the kitchen this time of year.


Source: Pinterest via Suzanne Freitas

This DIY tutorial for a racerback tank.

I did it, I loved it, I'm gonna do it again!

If I can do it, anyone can because I don't have a crafty bone in my body!

When I workout, I want to be a schweaty mess when I'm done. I don't need to spend $50 on a tank for that --- this homemade version is awesome! I'm planning to pull out some old vintage rockband tees and turn them into something fun (& useful!)


Check out the tutorial here from Blogilates.

So these are just a few things that are making me smile this week. I was lucky because I've had a really good week and there were lots of things I could have shared today!

Thanks to Lauren for continuing to host this weekly link-up party!

What are some of your high five highlights from the week?

Have an excellent day and a most fabulous weekend!

Ciao for now,

Andrea
xoxo

High Five for Friday

TGIF everybody!

This week flew by and as usual I am welcoming the weekend with open arms. Tomorrow I have plans to meet my friend Krista for yoga and hopefully coffee afterwards and that is absolutely it! The feeling of having an open schedule for the next two days feels freakin' fantastic!!!

I'm hoping I'll find some time to tinker around in my garden, start on the vision board I've been talking about for months, perhaps try my very first vlog (?!), do a little meal planning and hopefully squeeze in a little snuggle time with my sweeties!

Derek hates having no plans (opposites definitely attract in our case!), so I can see that there may be an impromptu barbecue or bonfire in the works as well, which works for me on this last weekend of July --- crazy, right?!

Do you have anything exciting planned for the weekend?

To start this weekend off right, I'm going to share my five faves of the week.

#1

My Garden!!! I love, love, love seeing everything grow and change from day to day!

We had a great rain Wednesday night and Thursday, so I am really excited to see the changes this week!

#2

This was posted on the Fitfluential Facebook page yesterday. I <3 it!

#3

Perfect workout for a gorgeous day that can be done in your own backyard or at a local park.

(I've done Booty Camp before ~ it's a challenging, boo-tay kicking workout!)

#4
One of the keywords searched that attracted the most traffic to my blog this week was...

"Channing Tatum naked"  what?! ....LOL

This totally cracked me up. I recently talked about the movie Magic Mike, which is how this must have come about, but sadly you won't find any naked pics on this here site!
I think some people might have been disappointed haha!


#5
Words to live by.


Source: Pinterest via Whitney Hardin

 

Thanks as always to Lauren for hosting this weekly shindig.

Have a great day and an even greater weekend!

Andrea

xoxo

High Five for Friday

Oh happy day---- this short week has flown by and I am really looking forward to having a fun, relaxing weekend!! As far as I'm concerned, summer = happy, so it's really easy to put together a post of smile-inducing things today.

 

Here are a few of the highlights from my week:

LOL:

~ courtesy of Kris at iheartwellness.

This is for all you nut butter lovers out there!

Fave Sandwich Combo:

Sprouted 16 grain bread, smashed avocado, tomato and tempeh bacon.

This is definitely going to be my summer 'go to'.

'Must-Have':

I'd really like to get my rotties a Varsity Ball. These claim to be indestructible and if I can find something to stand up to my 120 lb rottweiler then I am sold!  If these can stand up to lions

& tigers, I'm thinking it just might stand up to our guy!

Motivation:

Jamie Eason and her LiveFit Trainer are motivating me to meet my fitness goals.

Source: Pinterest via LauraAnn Hanson

Anticipation:

Now this may be a little premature because we're not going to see Magic Mike until tomorrow, but I've heard good things and I am really excited to check out a half-naked Channing Tatum this fabulous movie with my girlfriends tomorrow!

 

What's making you smile today?

Have a great weekend!

Andrea

xoxo