Scenes from the Weekend

Here's a few snapshots of what I was up to this weekend...

Spending time in D.C with friends

Baked up a batch of Chocolate Hazelnut Oatmeal Cookies, recipe courtesy of Girl Meets Life

Enjoyed my favorite guilty pleasure

Loving Anthropologie's  necklace and charm display

Call me a sucker but this weekend I got absolutely hooked onto this show and managed to complete the first season, accomplishment or just pathetic I'll let you decide.

Spent last night at a great dueling piano bar in Baltimore!

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend

Plans for the Weekend!

Happy Friday Dolls!!

I am beyond excited to get this weekend started but know it will come to end before I know it (not so exciting.) This week was pretty low key and consisted of work, going home and that's about it! I did however go out last night for drinks with one of my best friends- Jenna! It was a great night and we went to a local bar in Annapolis called Sly Fox!

I was a great place to catch up over a few one glass of wine!

As for this weekend here are a couple things on my To Do list:

- tonight I will be going out in this fabulous city and spending time with some of my sorority sisters!

 I could not be more excited and think a girls night out in D.C is  just what the doctor ordered!

- Saturday will be spent lounging around and relaxing until I head out for another fun filled night in this other great city...

I will be heading to Baltimore's Inner Harbour on Saturday night to celebrate Jenna's birthday!

-Sunday will be filled with LOTS and LOTS of water and recuperating and obviously getting way too excited for Bachelor on Monday. I am planning on dedicating Monday's post to the Bachelor so stay tuned for that!

As for Friday favorites, being that I am having 2 girls nights this weekend- my friday favorites will include some great outfits I found as inspiration!

Super cute paired with some nude pumps!

With black leggings and booties...too cute

Love black and gold

I hope everyone has a fabulous Friday and a great weekend!



A New Day, A New Attitude

Hello Dolls, anyone notice anything different? Yay for a new blog template! I am very excited about the new look of Eloquently Emily and hope you all enjoy it!

Yesterday I did a check in with my resolutions and afterwards was totally down on myself about how I have been keeping up with them. Resolutions and the New Year is supposed to make you feel good about yourself, not frustrated and discouraged. While I was feeling down I was also perusing through a few of my usual blog reads and stumbled upon a post of one of my favorite blogs, Girl Meets Life. Gracie over at Girl Meets Life has been one of my favorite blogs for as long as I can remember but for some reason I had never read her post of resolutions. I'll let you check it out for yourself but afterwards I felt much better!

My new take on resolutions is rather than have them set in stone of things you want to work on, take it each day at a time and focus on making that one day better than yesterday. While this does not mean I will not throw my resolutions out the window, I will however not be so hard on myself and realize the only thing to do is pick myself up and take each day by day and making it the best day it can be. Anyone else with me?

Here's a little inspiration for today...

I hope everyone has a great day, almost Wednesday and halfway through the week!


 

Sometimes ya just need a swift kick in the...

I know I wanted to do a few posts every now and then on how my resolutions are going but to be honest I have not wanted to because I have been horrible about keeping up with them! Ok, not horrible but definitely not keeping up with them as I should. Lets check in shall we...

Resolution 1- Being more considerate. This is something that I have been conscious of and feel that I am right on track with. I have been cooking a lot for my family and even treated them to take out Chinese over the weekend! I've also been trying to help out around the house in taking care of dishes, laundry, and of course taking care of Corduroy!

Resolution 2- Be more conscious of my finances. This is also another one that I am doing good with! I just got my first paycheck on Friday and although I could have thought of  a bunch of things I wanted to buy with it, I chose to treat myself to one new shirt that I have been pinning over for weeks at Nordstrom Rack. I have yet to buy my lunch on my lunch break and have been good about packing lunches.

Resolution 3- Portion Control and Healthy Eating. I'm doing OK with this resolution but it could definitely use improvement. Over the weekend I had a sweet tooth and decided to make a batch of brownies the weigh watchers way using a can of diet coke in substitute for the eggs and oil. The brownies unfortunately did not turn out the greatest but I guess that's to be expected when making something with only .5 grams of fat in each serving.

Resolution 4- Incorporate more exercise into workouts. Well this would be going great if I was exercising AT ALL!. Y'all I have been absolutely HORRENDOUS about working out and I am so mad at myself! I feel gross and know that I need a swift kick in the rear to get me back on track. Anyone have any advice for getting yourself out of a rut? I'm sure everyone has heard the excuses but I feel like by the time I get off and am home around 5:30 I'm exhausted from being with my toddlers all day that the last thing I want to do is hop on a treadmill or go to the gym. But you know what they say- exercise gives you more energy and this is absolutely something I believe in from past experience! I would also love to hear from those that workout and work- when is the best time for you, in the morning before work or after you get off?

So dolls, there you have it. I'm not doing absolutely horrible with my resolutions but I could use a bit of work. Any advice?



Easy Like Sunday morning

Words cant even begin to describe how relaxing this weekend was! I did absolutely close to nothing... and loved every second of it!

My weekend included...

-staying in Friday AND Saturday

- having a great breakfast Saturday and Sunday morning

(homemade oatmeal on Saturday and pancakes on Sunday)

- spending far too much time on pinterest

- found some amazing new blogs to follow

-had Chinese take out

- found one of my favorite beers at a local liquor store

(Wells Banana Bread Beer, if you haven't tried it- please do, its amazing!)

- and best of all getting to spend some time with my family!

I would say that's a pretty amazing weekend!

I also did some jammin all weekend to these songs, none of them are new but they were the playlist to my very relaxing weekend and I wanted to share!

Ray LaMontagne- You are the Best Thing

Etta James- Sunday Kind of Love

Kings of Leon- Pyro

Amos Lee- Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight

Mumford and Sons- Winter Winds



Keep it simple...

Have a great "simplistic" Saturday dolls!

Friday favorites and plans for the weekend!

Hello Dolls! Thank goodness it is Friday! Here are a couple of my favorite things on this particular day...

- For the first time in I can't even think how long I will be receiving a pay check! Though it will not be a large amount... its still a pay check and I am more than grateful for it. ( if you didn't know- I was an unpaid intern for 5 months...talk about rough times)

- I have no plans for this weekend but to relax and enjoy it! However a few things that I would love to do...

-Try out this product that I have heard great things about!

-Finally purchase this blush that I have been drooling over for months!

Nars Blush in Orgasm

-Possibly finish the book I am reading

-Do some cooking! I would love to make a few good meals this weekend- including my favorite breakfast dish

Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon!

 

and of course....

I hope everyone has a fabulous Friday!

Running shoe advice...HELP!

I have been saying for quite some time now that I am getting new running shoes... however it has yet to happen. Good news- it will absolutely happen this weekend. I can't wait to get a new pair of running shoes and I am hoping it will cause me to give running a bit more effort. In conclusion- I would love any one's advice on running shoes and what they recommend.

Here's a little background on my feet- I am incredibly flat footed and have almost no arch so finding a shoe with good support is important! I do have orthotics that have been especially for my flat feet and I do intend to use those as well.

Here are a few shoes that have caught my eye but I am always open to new suggestions!

Asics Gel Evolution- 6

Brooks Vapor-10

Nike Zoom Vomero

Nike Free Run

Mizuno Wave Inspire

I'm sure all these brands and models are great but I would love to hear what other people use or what they have heard is best, especially those with flat feet!



What I'm Loving...

Hey Dolls today I decided to get back to What I'm Loving Wednesday... Prints edition! I think all of these prints would look adorable hung in difference rooms of my future house!

Hope everyone had a wonderful day, only two more days until the weekend!



Catching up

Anyone else feel like that long weekend went by faster then a regular weekend?! I certainly was not prepared for this week when my alarm went off this morning! On Saturday I ended up crossing everything off my to do list including to make a tailgating dish for Sunday! I even whipped up some of my famous sangria, recipe below!

I ended up making Chicken with cream cheese, jalapenos, wrapped in turkey bacon- it was hit and so easy to make!

(not my picture but they looked exactly the same)

I also made a batch of sangria, a recipe that I have perfected over the years and finally think I've gotten it just right!

There isn't an exact measurement, I do mine to taste but the recipe could be easily adapted to your own liking! Start with a bottle of red wine, I used a double bottle to make more and used Yellow Tail Merlot

Next add the following ingredients, again I do mine to taste

-orange juice

-cranberry juice

-sugar

-peach schnapps

-brandy

-slices of oranges and lemons ( or any fruit you like)

Sunday was spent tailgating for the Ravens game and bar hopping around Baltimore! It was an extremely long day that left me even tired today! However I was very excited to get back to work today and see my kids. I'm also blogging while on my break, which I've decided will be a great time for posting!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!



Surviving this week and plans for this weekend..

I am very excited to say that I have survived my first week as a toddler teacher! What a week it was! I am blessed to have a great group of children that I honestly look forward to seeing everyday! Sure, their runny noses are comparable to faucets, and they haven't quite grasped covering their mouth when they cough or sneeze, and often speak in tongues of a language I don't understand but they all seem to but at the end of the day- they are perfect and I love them!

Wish I could say I had big plans this weekend, but my Friday night has included the following...

a glass of Shiraz

Sex and The City

Making a To Do list for this weekend!

Here are a couple things on the list for tomorrow:

- return a few things at the mall

- try to catch a hot yoga class at 8 ( I may choose sleeping in over attending)

- Nordstroms to pick up a makeup purchase (I'll share later!)

- Target to get new makeup brushes

- possibly use my Express gift card on a new pair of jeans?

- get eyebrows threaded. (I'm allergic to wax and was beyond excited when threading came out, I've been doing it for years now and LOVE it)

- make a tailgating dish for Sunday's game, Go Ravens!!

Hope everyone had a great week!



Beauty help asap!

Hey dolls, hope everyone had a great day! I am super tired from my long day but wanted to post because I have serious advice I need from everyone! I'm not sure if the stress of my new job, something in the air, or what but for whatever reason my face is breaking out all of the sudden!

I did just recently start using a new Clinique product- their facewash, toner, and lotion but I really did not think it would affect my skin as much as it has. I have used Clinique products before and absolutely loved them and really hope that is not whats irritating my skin!

Another possible culprit could be the facial primer I just started using a couple days ago. Anyone use a primer that doesn't irritate their skin? I'm currently using the Sephora brand but will definitely be taking a break to see if thats the cause.

Now everyone knows that tomorrow is Friday and like everyone else I would like to be able to go out and be seen in the public eye without wearing a bag on my head or wear a ton of makeup.

(sorry I had to)

 Does anyone have any quick tricks they use or products to recommend?

Sorry if this grossed anyone out, I assure you my face is not as bad as I'm making it out to be but I'm sure we can all agree that breakouts are not fun and annoying!

What I'm loving about this wednesday...

What I'm loving today...

1. It is Wednesday and therefore halfway through the week! These toddlers are kicking my butt and I have come home ever day completely exhausted!

2. Homeland! I'm not sure if any of you watch Homeland, if not I highly suggest you check it out! I started watching it over the weekend at a friend of mines and became instantly hooked. I'm a little behind on the show but have been watching 1-2 episodes every night to try and catch up!

3. Homemade Chipotle style bowls for dinner! After finding out that my work is only about 5 minutes from a Chipotle I have been craving a chicken bowl ever since! Last night I decided to make an at home version that tasted just as good if not better!

4. Today on my lunch break I headed to the library to pick up some books for my kids and next weeks circle times and to read before nap times! Here are a few I picked up

Tomorrow is a super long day for me, I am working my typical 8-5 but staying for a workshop from 6-9! Talk about a long day!

Hope everyone had a great day!