Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a wonderful and restful weekend (and if you’re lucky enough to have the day off from work, I trust you’re enjoying yourself)!

On Friday, Justin and I celebrated Valentine’s Day a little bit late. We had reservations at one of our favorite restaurants: Season’s 52. From the wine to the food to the ambiance, it is always a wonderful experience. Another thing I love about Season’s 52 is the fact that every item on the menu is under 475 calories. Talk about guilt-free!

On this visit, the chef was kind enough to visit our table to deliver an amuse bouche: shrimp with pico de gallo:

Our appetizer for the evening was one of the weekly specials: artichoke, onion, tomato, and goat cheese! The flatbreads are cracker-thin and have just the right amount of ingredients…and are so delicious!

Justin ordered the shrimp penne pasta for his dinner (and seriously…it’s under 475 calories?!?! Amazing.): it features a bevvy of fresh vegetables as well…

As for me, I was absolutely unable to resist one of the weekly specials for my entree. It was grilled mahi mahi over a bed of spinach, black beans, corn, tomatoes, and green beans. It also featured a generous scoop of guacamole on top:

Isn’t it gorgeous?!?! It tasted even better than it looked…we’ve dined at Season’s 52 a number of times in the past, but I can say with 100% confidence that this meal was my absolute, all-time favorite. I am still thinking about it today.

Sadly, there were no leftovers…I pretty much licked my plate clean.

On another note, this weekend Justin and I started looking into couches. The current couch in our home I’ve had since 2007 (and I purchased it used)…so it’s quite old. We are VERY ready for a replacement, so we wanted to start shopping around to see what we like. So far, we’ve found 2 options to look into: turns out we like couches with deep seats, and sectionals featuring a chaise lounge option are appealing. Crate & Barrel’s Lounge sectional is our current favorite: it comes in a durable woven fabric (I’m a fan of the Chinchilla hue: it’s a dark gray color…the couch pictured below is a shade darker) and the cushions are so soft and comfortable.

The other option we were fans of came from Haverty’s…it’s a bit less plush, but the fabric is somewhat similar to the one at Crate & Barrel. The sectional offers a configuration with a couch and chaise, and it comes in a color called “graphite” which is reminiscent of the chinchilla hue.

Right now, I still love the Crate & Barrel sofa the most, but we’ve only just started shopping around. I’ve at least been able to determine the type of fabric I’m interested in (absolutely CANNOT have a microfiber/plush/velvety fabric: I’d go insane trying to wipe the fabric to run in the same direction so there aren’t streaks) and the style of couch I like. Now…if only we had a bigger place to live so we can accommodate a larger sofa! Oops.

What were you up to this weekend? Also – have you purchased a new couch recently? How hard was it to find a style you like/what stores/brands drew your interest?

So, the Superbowl was last night. I can honestly say that I watched the commercials only…

P.S. did anyone else think that the Chevy apocalypse commercial would have been THE BEST commercial ever if the guy holding the Twinkie box would have been Woody Harrelson? Just saying…

Anyway, the big excitement for me on Sunday was the release of the Jason Wu for Target collection. I was pretty nervous about what the response would be: after the madness of the Missoni event, I was worried that old ladies would be breaking down the doors and shoving everything in sight into their carts to resell on Ebay. Well…my mom and I were the only people standing outside of our Target on Sunday morning, which was great for me (I was able to try on every item in the line that the store had in stock).

I ended up selecting only one piece from the collection: the blush pink tie blouse. The details were so lovely: the triple pleats/tucks on the sleeves and the contrasting white tie on the blouse sold me. The XS fit me across the shoulders just right, which did not happen for a lot of the other items. If more of the blouses/dresses had fit me properly, I definitely would have been in trouble. I’m really excited to wear the shirt soon!

I also managed to pick up a few items for the gym on Sunday afternoon. I have had the same pair of gym shoes since late 2007: I’ve been itching to update them. Thankfully, with a 20% off coupon and a gift card for Sports Authority, Justin and I picked up some wrap for his tennis racket, a cover for his driver, some new gloves for weightlifting for me, and a new pair of shoes: all for $55 total out of pocket!

I can’t wait to wear my new Nike InSeason trainers at the gym. I seriously have not experienced gym shoes as comfortable before…they feature an extremely thick gel insole. I’m not kidding: it’s like my feet are on a memory foam mattress! Check it out: look how much indention there is when I press down on the insole! I’m so impressed.

Finally, it was time for the Superbowl. Justin and I spent the evening at my parents’ house eating appetizers and watching the commercials (yeah, I don’t watch the game. Sorry, football: baseball is my sport of choice). We dug into a roasted salsa with goat cheese dip, guacamole, mini turkey meatballs, and a vegetable tray. So so yummy! Every once in a while  you need an excuse to splurge, right?

So, how was your weekend? Did you get anything from the Jason Wu collection? What did you eat during the Superbowl?

It’s hard to take a family photo when Lucia is around. We tried to do so recently and look what happened: total photobomb. As soon as the family assembled, she just HAD to stick her head in (check out the bottom left corner). Oh, and apparently we were channeling the high school prom poses? I have no idea how this happened.

I can’t blame Lucia: she’s part of our family, so shouldn’t she be in the photo too? Stuart, Theodore, Ari, and Kona apparently couldn’t care less about the photo opp though!

Sometimes it is better to just go with it and let our little furbaby ham it up to her heart’s content…

That’s better…

Do your pets make appearances in your family photos?

Happy Monday!

This weekend was filled with food (as always) and a little bit of shopping. On Friday, Justin and I met up with my parents at a local Italian restaurant, Positano’s. They recently installed a new wood fired pizza oven, so we were all tempted to sample them; overall, they were very well done! The crust was thin with a nice crunch to it, and the addition of olive oil and sea salt definitely added a punch. The sizing was generous as well (about the size of a dinner plate: I had leftovers, but I was the only one for some reason).

Dad selected the pizza featuring sweet Italian sausage, caramelized onions, tomato sauce, onions, fontina, sea salt, and olive oil:

My mom opted for the Margherita Extra:

Justin’s selection was the a pizza featuring mushrooms, pancetta, and fontina cheese:

Finally, my pizza included ricotta, fresh spinach, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, and roasted garlic. It was a delicious combination, but it took me a while to put my finger on what was missing…tomatoes or sauce! If I were to order this pizza again in the future, I’d ask for one of those two options to be added. I ate my leftovers yesterday, and I added sliced cherry tomatoes before baking…it definitely was an improvement!

On Saturday, we met up with my mom for a trip to a local resale shop. It was my first experience at a store like that; there were definitely some interesting items…as well as a few treasures! If I had a place to put this phone, I totally would want it…

I did take one item home with me: a cool gold candlestick! It was only $2.99…how was I supposed to resist? I still need to buy a taper candle to put in it, but right now I’m just balancing a tea light on top…

Also: I made fondue on Saturday. Because I could. Seriously though, is there anything better than angel food cake dipped in melted chocolate? I think not.

So…what were YOU up to this weekend?

One of my favorite things about blogging is hearing from others; I love getting opinions, thoughts, and the like!

I thought it might be fun to pose some thought provoking (or, well…just random) questions every once in a while, and I want to hear your answers! Of course, I’ll be sharing mine as well!

So, let’s start:

What was the last thing you regret buying?

I almost hate to admit this, because it’s a piece of clothing. Typically, I have a 2 week rule when I purchase new clothing: if I don’t wear something in 2 weeks, I return it. However, I ran into some problems this year with the strange Florida winter. You see, it never did get cold here! Usually we experience cold weather that requires pants, boots, and coats…but in the past 2 months we have only had a very small number of those days. Heck…it was 80 degrees outside yesterday…in January! Something is wrong with this picture.

Anyway, in the fall I went shopping at GAP. They were selling some lovely, soft, stretchy corduroy leggings. The taupe color was calling my name, and the fit was spot on. I really wanted them, and they happened to be on sale. I couldn’t resist, and I was sure that I would need to wear them once the weather got a bit chilly (and they’d be a nice change from just wearing jeans with boots).

Well, time passed. The 2 week window went by, and I hadn’t worn them…but I gave them a special exception to the rule due to the weather. And guess what? The weather stayed in the 80s. Christmas came, and I was wearing a tank top outside! Ridiculous. It is now January and I haven’t had the opportunity to wear the darn things yet. I am SO mad at myself for breaking my 2 week rule, and now I’m filled with regret because I can’t return them. It isn’t that I don’t like the pants, because I do! It’s just that I don’t see many opportunities to don them coming up in the near future. I hope I still fit into them when that time does come around…I WILL wear them, dang it!

So tell me, what was the last thing YOU regret buying?