Playing with colors

I recently decided to get a new 'do and play with some colors. And why not? I don't work during the summer and I won't have any parents looking at me weird for having crazy hair. I haven't colored my hair in over a decade, so I figured, it's time to try something new. And so I went a little wild and followed these pins for inspiration.

I really wanted to go for blue streaks, rather than purple, but I couldn't really find any blue streaks on Pinterest for me to show my stylist. She finally told me, that the blue would end up fading into green and she suggested to go for purple instead. Despite her suggestion, I still pushed blue streaks for my hair. Therefore, we compromised and she added both fashion colors to the blonde streaks she had to create on my hair in order to strip it of color.

She and I couldn't be any more happy with the results as she even took me outside to take pics to add to her Instagram!

And below, are my selfies. It's hard to appear inconspicuous when the neighborhood gardeners keep driving by.

Alhough I probably should've listened to her because two weeks later, my blue streaks are now beginning to fade into green. C'est la vie!

I totally love my new 'do and can't wait to wear it out and about....as long as its not hot, humid, nor raining. Then the color will bleed, I will begin to sweat, and the locks will turn into poof balls. 

Have you tried anything new lately?

Weekend photo dump: St. Augustine, FL

I've had a pretty good weekend even if my friend Claudia had to twist my arm to go with her. I wanted to save some money before leaving to Peru in a few weeks and she assured me we'd keep the budget low!

I had always wanted to visit St. Augustine. The oldest city in the United States. The idea was to leave early on Friday so we could walk around the city a bit and then watch the fireworks while sitting next to the Castillo de San Marcos. I will leave you with some pics taken on my iPhone, but I'll introduce you to my cannon photos in the near future!

Little did we know it would be HOT as BALLS in a brick oven! 

Luckily, this helped me sweat off all of the calories I ingested!

We ended up at the Mill Top restaurant for lunch since it was the only restaurant with covered seating for the six of us. And it was good!

Too bad we didn't see the list of drinks until after we had ordered! My favorite one was "Sand In Your Butt!"

We cheered on and cried for Colombia while they played against Brazil. All in all, it was a great game! 

That night, we watched one of the top most beautiful fireworks displays in Florida! 

I saw letters, stars, and stripes light up the sky!

 On our second day we did some more walking around in hot and humid weather. 

Below is proof that I got him on Love Lockdown!

We continued our stroll through St. Augustine the following day and stopped for some chicken wings and beer.

I had the most amazing Lasagna pizza here at Pizza Time!

Had some coffee and ate the most delicious desserts at "The Chocolate Turtle". The cafe shop is named after the dessert on the bottom right. SCRUMPTIOUS!!

But then the rain came and we just wished for it to go away so that we could enjoy a calm stroll through the rest of the city.

Where did you go on your most recent vacation?

Refreshing Mango Chicken Recipe

I am lucky enough to have a robust mango tree in my backyard and for the past month or so, I have been picking mangoes from the tree or picking up those that fall on the ground. And now, I am surrounded by mangoes, they are in my fridge, in my freezer, and in bags ready to get sent to my friends' homes!

Considering my lovely mango tree, I needed to incorporate these into my easy cooking recipes. This recipe serves 4 people and was very savory and refreshing!

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. dried thyme

1 pinch ground nutmeg 

1 pinch cayenne pepper

1 pinch cinnamon

Olive Oil Cooking Spray

4 boneless skinless chicken breast strips, about 1 lb

2 teaspoons of light margarine

1 ripe, but firm mango, peeled and cut into chunks

2 green onions, thinly sliced

Salt (to taste)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Lime juice (to taste)

Directions:
In a small dish, stir together the spices. Feel free to add a just a tad bit more to crank up the taste. Lightly spray cooking spray on the chicken breasts. I used Olive Oil cooking spray. Sprinkle and cover both sides of chicken breasts with spice mixture. Allow these to sit for in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. When ready, begin by heating margarine in a large nonstick frypan over medium high heat. Add chicken breast strips and cook, turning occasionally, until both sides are deep golden brown and chicken is no longer pink inside, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add mango and green onions. Cook, stirring, just until heated through, for about 1 minute. Remove chicken from heat. Sprinkle with salt, cilantro, and squeeze lime over the chicken. Serve immediately over a bed of rice with a side of broccoli.

I'll admit, I'm not the best cook, but surprisingly enough, hubby loved it! And did I also mention he is not a mango lover?

Comic Book Bar Display and Remodel

We've had a lot of fun and headaches in remodeling and filling up our new home. And there are many parts of our home I have yet to show you. So I'll begin with this room in our house.

So this is how the previous owners left the house. I wasn't too into the chair rails and the two-toned green. But before the handymen took over, we made this our dining room.

However, soon after, we noticed that the pool/ping-pong table the previous owners had left behind could not survive outdoors in the Miami humidity. Therefore we brought it back inside. We painted the walls of the room a blueish gray. And we were lucky enough to inherit 4 barstool chairs from a TV studio from my brother-in-law's job.

We wanted to dress up our bar area and hubby a million and one ideas for his comic book and card collection. Instead of allowing him to take over one of the walls in the main living room, we agreed on dressing up the play room/bar area. 

So for this Comic Book Display, we decided to take to Ikea to get our ideas started! 

We purchased three 21in RIBBA Picture Ledges for $9.99/each in addition to several RIBBA Picture Frames size 81/2 x 11in at $4.99/each. I also bought some black construction paper since the frames are slightly bigger than the comic books and the paper would allow for a black backing for them. 

I have to say our little project was fun for both of us. He got to go down memory lane and pick his favorite cards and comic books. And I utilized my overly annoying perfectionism in measuring and placing the ledges and frames on the walls. ha! Now that I am looking at this picture, I think we will add another set of frames to the left side of the window too. What do you think?

We are also in the search for some cool window treatments because we have two large sliding doors and one window that we need to dress up pretty. But, in the meantime...we will enjoy some fun in the pool. 

Would you like to join us?

Red, White, and Blue fun!

I will be joining my friends for some beach, fireworks, and old time charm in St. Augustine, FL this weekend. It is the oldest town in the United States! 

I think last time I visited I went with a friend and her father while in college. I don't remember much since it was a quick day trip. But this time, I'll be taking my hubby and my trusty old Cannon.

I hope to get some beautiful pictures while in the beautiful beach town with the fireworks! 

In the meantime, I wanted to leave you with a few fun projects you could be doing for your fabulous 4th of July festivities!

All You

The Decorated Cookie

Summer Fun

Ginger Snaps Crafts

Home Goods

Product Review: New Gym Motivation!

I was super excited when Influenster gave me a chance to be a Victoria's Secret Sport Tester and review Incredible, a Victoria's Secret Sport Bra. Not only did they send me a cool sport bra, but also a VS Sport Water Bottle which I have been using during my workouts.

I encountered a little hiccup when I went to exchange that size since the bra I received was a bit tight. The salespersons weren't too willing to help me out and left me in limbo for almost 10 minutes. I tried on the Incredible style in a different color and size. Then I jumped around in the dressing room like a fool. I immediately noticed that that the bra gave support and also made my girls look pretty sexy and curvy! This is why I bought an additional Incredible VS Sport Bra in addition to the one I exchanged.

However, the big test was during my HIIT exercise session. I was actually running full force and jumping around while doing burpees. So yes, the #VSSportBra withstood the real test! Although I wish I could've adjusted the shoulder straps a bit, I did feel that it gave me more than enough support throughout my work out.

I certainly did not expect to find such a great sport bra from Victoria's Secret! I loved the color selection, the fit, the support, and most of all, how great it made me feel when I looked in the mirror.

I'll admit, I felt a little Wonder Woman-ish! I certainly sang "To the left, to the left," to my old sport bras! This little product has really motivated me to get my butt out to the gym...like a boss!

I think I am ready to go back to try on and possibly purchase another sport bra soon! The semi-annual sale is almost over so maybe you should run and try on one of their VS Sport products so that you also feel like Super Woman (obvi...Wonder Woman is taken =!)

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored blog post. Influenster provided me with complimentary Victoria's Secret products to test and review as part of a contest. 
All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.