Watson Wednesday

Just posing on the porch - as you do....

Wild Daughter(s) & Wine

The final weekend of July - where in the world did this month go? I feel like it was only the first weekend in July and I spent half of that in the bathroom hugging the toilet. Yikes! Thankfully the first and last weekends of July were not similar in that respect but my younger sister was home and so that was much the same. 

The family drove into DC on Friday night to pick her up at Dulles; we stopped in at an Irish Pub for dinner, and while the meal was fine - I think I prefer our local Irish Pub because the food there is absolutely to die for. After a late night of Friday night, I slept in and then my sister and I pulled on our Wild Daughter t-shirts hoping to illicit some kind of response from our parents - but y'all, they barely noticed. 

We got an early lunch at the Alamo Drafthouse while we were seeing The Lion King (it was fine) and then spent the afternoon relaxing around the house and we had a delicious dinner of kebabs on the grill. Saturday was a really lovely day on the whole and the weather was actually not blazing hot - thank goodness. 

Sunday after church we had Brunch at Regions 117 that was divine - as always. The food at Regions never disappoints and I always love eating there. We snapped a family photo on the back deck of the restaurant before heading home - the incredibly warm weather returned in full force on Sunday and made outdoor activities a moot point. 

Case in point - my sister and I met up with my friend Katie at our favorite winery - Fox Meadow with the plans to pass the afternoon drinking wine on the back deck and catching up. We ended up sitting inside the tasting room, drinking wine and catching up because after 15 minutes on the deck (even under an umbrella) our chocolate was melting, our wine glasses were sweating and so were we! 

We spent almost three hours sipping wine and catching up, laughing and sharing chocolate and a charcuterie board with our glasses of wine. Thank goodness for the indoor seating because we'd have melted on the deck - but I do love Fox Meadow and I am looking forward to heading back when it's a bit cooler - I'm sure the Autumn views off the deck are absolutely stunning! 

The weekend ended with a rather lazy Sunday evening with pizza and doing a whole lot of nothing. It was a lovely weekend and the perfect start to a week of "staycation". 

Five on Friday

One. The Four Horsemen - The Nationals have been on a pretty fierce tilt lately and I noticed the other evening that apparently four of our five starting pitchers are now going by the nickname "The Four Horsemen". It's nice to see my team really finding their "oomph" and playing like they mean it.

I'm headed to Nationals Park on Wednesday to take in a mid-day game with my Mom and younger sister. Here's hoping we'll see an awesome match-up and the Nationals will get the W!

Two. Cashew Sheet Pan Chicken - This recipe was 100% a Pinterest win! A friend recommended it to me and I made it earlier this week and it went over so well with everyone! It will definitely be a repeat meal and so I thought I'd share the recipe!

You'll Need

- 6 tablespoons soy sauce

- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

- 3/4 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

- 2 tablespoons honey

- 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger

- 2 cloves minced garlic

- 2 tablespoons cornstarch

- 1/2 cup water

- 2 medium skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into cubes

- salt & pepper to taste

- 1 1/2 cups broccoli florets

- 1 red bell pepper cut in chunks

- 1/2 green bell pepper cut into chunks

- 2/3 cup roasted cashews 

What To Do 

- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together soy sauce, hoisin sauce, vinegar, honey, garlic, ginger, cornstarch & water. Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat and set aside. 

- Preheat oven to 400 & line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or foil. Set aside.

- Season chicken with salt & pepper, then drizzle spoonfuls of sauce over chicken, coating well on both sides. Reserve at least half of the sauce for later. 

- Cook chicken in preheated oven for 8 minutes, then remove pan. 

- Arrange the broccoli, bell peppers & cashews in a single layer around the chicken. Season the vegetables with salt & pepper & drizzle spoonfuls of the sauce. Toss everything to coat. Return to the oven and cook for another 12 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. 

- Serve over rice or quinoa & garnish with green onions & sesame seeds, if desired. 

Three. Blue Light Glasses - I grew up needing glasses and once I finally got contacts, I was pretty convinced that I would never willingly wear glasses again because I hated how I looked in them. However, I sit in front of a computer screen for almost 9 hours every day and sometimes my poor almost blind eyes bother me. So - I purchased some really well reviewed blue light glasses from Amazon. 

My specific pair can be found here - I have really found that they help with eye strain and I think I also actually have less headaches. Plus, my co-workers have said they think the glasses look cute - so who knows? Maybe I'll become a fan of wearing glasses?

Four. You Know I Have Memes - It wouldn't be a Five on Friday post if I didn't have amazing memes to share! Some of these were sent back & forth between friends this week and prompted plenty of laughter. 

That last one could not be more true. I mean - okay, I actually change into exercise clothes when I get home but once that's all said & done, the clothes I lounge around in are pretty ratty. But hey - that's what makes them comfortable, right?

Five. Staycation - I am mere hours from nine days off and I could not be more thrilled! It's been March since I've had longer than a day or two off and so I'm thoroughly thrilled for a week of "staycation". My younger sister is coming to visit and we have plenty planned for while she is here. 

We are seeing The Lion King, going to brunch, having sister time at one of my favorite wineries, we are going to see Queen in concert (y'all - I cannot - I am SO EXCITED), taking in a Nationals game, getting pedicures, probably doing a little hiking and who knows what else. And also - sleeping in and just being lazy. I cannot wait! 

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Y'all have a good weekend - I plan to have a good weekend.. and a good week... and another good weekend. Yahoo!

Watson Wednesday

Just a few little snapshots from the couch - my sweet snuggly guy.

Ice Cream & Heat Waves

The past weekend was the hottest of the entire Summer - it was absolutely blazing out, with temperatures hovering around 98 and the heat index elevating that to around 105. Suffice it to say, when the sun was out it was almost painful to be outside and when the sun went down it was only mildly better. *sigh* 

After dinner at the local Mexican restaurant - which is always delicious - we headed back to the house for a bit, with the intentions of watching some Outlander but discovered the power was out. The power actually went out across the entire neighborhood - fuses at the substation were fused together due to overuse because of... the heat! Once the power came back on, we went out to get ice cream...

 

My pup was thrilled to be invited along and he sat so patiently and waited for some licks of key lime and cheesecake ice cream - just sitting on the bench at the picnic table, waiting. I think he was just thrilled (as always) to be brought along on an adventure. When we got home, I spent the rest of the evening reading on my couch - and my sweet pup borrowed my arm as his arm rest and slept. 

Saturday was a pretty low key day - there just wasn't a lot to be done when it felt like it was 100 degrees outside. After coffee and exercise, we grabbed a late lunch at Mission BBQ and then popped into a couple of shops before heading home so my Dad could binge watch more Outlander... I ended up reading some, watching bits and pieces of episodes and taking the dog on very short walks out in the blazing heat!

Sunday morning arrived with the singing of my alarm and after having some coffee, I got myself together and ready for church. I snapped a picture of my clothes because I was able to slip into a pair of Warp & Weft jeans that are a size smaller - always worth celebrating! I've been fairly consistently exercising since January and while I've had some misses and missteps along the way, for the most part I've been keeping with it - maybe one day I'll post the calendar pictures of my daily tracking?

After church and a so/so lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings, I enjoyed relaxing at the house and discovering a couple dresses that are a size smaller and now fit me - so that was fun! Around 3:15 we headed to West Virginia for our family friend's daughter Amelia's fifth birthday. I tell Amelia all the time that we arrived in Virginia at almost the same time - I moved in June and she was born in July - so we're special Virginia buddies. She is such a mess!

 

Of course, the birthday girl was the center of attention and too busy to spend too much time with one person but her little Evelyn was far more snuggly than she's been before and so we became best buddies all over again. We ate our hot dogs together and I snuggled her after she played in the pool and I even taught her how to take the patented tongue out picture that I take with her big sister. 

 

We sang to the birthday girl - all dressed in her new Belle ball gown and crown from my parents - and shared cupcakes before we snapped our traditional tongues out picture! It was a fun way to spend an afternoon: we were able to catch up with friends and the girls always make me laugh. It wasn't as fun that our friends AC was broken... on the hottest day of the year... but we prevailed and lived to tell the tale.

 

We headed home as a cold front (thank the Lord) was moving through and after some wind and rain, it was blessedly much cooler outside. My Mom and I watched the finale of Big Little Lies second season (only okay - in my opinion) and then I read before calling it a night. A good weekend - no doubt about it!

Five on Friday

One. Heat Wave - It's warm ya'll. In fact, saying that it's warm is a bit of an understatement because it's downright blazing outside. Whatever plans for this weekend that might have involved outdoor activities have been shelved because the temperature tomorrow is supposed to get up to 98 and I haven't even mentioned heat index yet...

I'm not actually sure what I'll be getting up to this weekend - but I think whatever it is, I'll be making sure that it takes place inside. I've had heat exhaustion once and that was enough.

Two. New Artwork - I think it's well established that I am a die hard fan of Game of Thrones and once the show was over, I grabbed three of the sixteen (that's so many) collector's covers Entertainment Weekly did + the final cover with the Stark kids and took them to Hobby Lobby to be framed. 

Brienne & Jaime!

Jon Snow & the Stark Children!

I was so incredibly pleased with how the framing turned out - Hobby Lobby absolutely has never let me down where framing is concerned and the two week wait to see the finished products just drug on, ha-ha!

Once I got them home, I decided to hang them in the entry to my little home - some of my favorite things are highlighted on the table in my entry: love of traveling, Nationals baseball and now there is some Game of Thrones love there too. 

Three. Think Pink - Perfectly Posh is all about the Pink right now with their two newest products and you can help yourself to them! Dragonfruit is the epic pink ingredient in the awesome Chunk bath bar and body scrub that are available now on my Perfectly Posh site!

Dragonfruit brightens skin and both the Chunk and the body scrub have kiwi seeds to exfoliate skin! I'm patiently waiting for my Chunk to arrive and the body scrub was just released today - both of them are limited quantity though, so if you're interested head over to: http://NatalieSummerlin.po.sh and grab yours!

Four. A Snacking Win - I discovered a Pinterest win in the snacking column this week and I thought I'd share it with you! If you like bananas, peanut butter, cinnamon and pecans - you're in for a treat! We had some bananas that were perhaps handled a little too roughly and so before they ended up beat up and pathetic, I figured I'd give this treat a whirl. 

You preheat the oven to 350, split the banana down the middle and place it in a little cradle of tinfoil. Stuff the middle of the banana with peanut butter (or almond butter) and sprinkle it with cinnamon and pecan pieces. Bake the banana at 350 for ten minutes and you're good to go! It's so tasty!

Five. This About Sums it Up - A friend posted this earlier this week and it couldn't be more accurate. I do love The Office; it's such a classic and everything about this meme cracks me up!

Y'all have a good weekend - I plan to - at least indoors, ha-ha!

Watson Wednesday - The Weekend of Watson

The past weekend was essentially the weekend of Watson - I got off work early on Friday and beyond going to get my hair done on Saturday and going to see Spider-Man Far From Home on Saturday afternoon - I spent the weekend with my little dog. It wasn't exactly a riveting weekend but it was enjoyable and peaceful...and I never once got sick - so I'm calling that a win. 

Friday afternoon sunbathing....

Saturday morning breakfast beggar....

Have you ever seen such a sweet face?

Sunday morning porch panting...

Sunday afternoon ride along...

So - there you have it. The past weekend was the Weekend of Watson! He's such a mess!