Tuesday, April 17, 2012

weekendrandosmoothies

This post may be a little all over the place!
Let's start out with the weekend.  As I posted on Friday, Brandon and I went to Greensboro, Georgia for a family reunion to celebrate my grandfather's 80th birthday.  Grandpa just moved to this little town and I must say, I could totally live there.  It's in an isolated location.  Quiet, beautiful, old, yet up and coming.  My grandpa lives on a huge plot of land that overlooks Lake Oconee.  He has wispy grass that ripples when the wind blows & glistens with the sun shines down.  They have horses that greet you when you turn down their (long, gravel) driveway.  The town has an old, historic district that is the cutest thing you've ever seen.  Right out of a storybook.  Beautiful churches and huge, southern homes.  They don't have but one grocery store that I saw, but there's a big farmer's market downtown that has fish, flowers, fruits, veggies, breads, etc.  The "new" part of town is quite ritzy.  Doggy day spas, painting studios, nice salons, etc.  Then drive a mile and you're back to isolation -on the pretty land that overlooks the lake.  No Target or large supercenters in sight ...but I love that.  Their town is about an hour and a half away from Atlanta --so it's close enough if you need to get some major shopping done.  Can you tell I liked it?

Here are some iPhone photos from the weekend.  Some taken by me and some stolen from my cousin, Chrissy!  
My Aunt Kathleen (dad's sister), and my cousins Sloane, Chrissy, Caroline, Meredith ...and then me!  We were eating Grandpa's birthday cake :) YUM.
My cousin, Caroline, and I after hiking a state park on Saturday morning
Here are more photos of weekend happenings:
 ...and here's a backyard view:

My aunt took a lot of photos on a nice camera... those might have to be posted later when I can get my hands on them!

Now for the randoms:
Packing tip I learned from Brandon's mom.  Put your shoes in shower caps!  A lot of hotels will give them away for free to their guests, along with the other toiletries they leave on the bathroom counters.  It's the perfect way to keep the germs from the bottoms of your shoes away from the rest of the items in your suitcase! 

While we were in the car, I painted my nails with Essie ______ (I'm sorry, I completely cannot remember the name!  Will edit this post with the color soon!)

On the way home, Brandon pulled over on the side of the road and jumped out of the car.  I said shouted, "What's wrong!!?"  Well,  turns out that we had this HUGE stinkbug in the back of the car.  Brandon got him out (thank goodness) and he flew up to the tops of the trees. 

I really ate a lot of junk this past weekend, so I'm trying to make an effort to eat cleaner this week.  Yesterday, for a snack, I had this juice.  I know it can be purchased at Bi-Lo.  It's completely natural.  This flavor tastes amazing, surprisingly.  I am so not one to drink wheatgrass juice, but the passion fruit makes it very refreshing.

...and I want to share this because I think it's hilarious.  I found a group of photos online that were taken at the finish line of the Cooper River Bridge Run.  You know-- when we ran almost 6.5 miles a couple weeks ago (a.k.a. our first run over a mile ...EVER). 
In this photo, Brandon and I had JUST stepped over the finish line.  I was ready for more.  Brandon...not so much.  We had volunteered early that morning and I had suddenly sprung it on him that we would run the race, too.  He was so mad at me for making him do it.  Poor guy.  He finished it like a champ though :)
Hee hee!

That's all I've got for today.
Oh, does anyone have any recommendations for a great blender for making smoothies?  I need one that can crush ice like nobody's business.
Xo-M

19 comments:

  1. Sounds like you had an amazing weekend for your grandfathers birthday!!! I never thought about using the shower caps for my shoes what a great idea!!!!

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  2. The Vitamix! It's a little on the pricey side but it can blend ANYTHING.

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  3. Looks like an awesome weekend! I am definatly going to use that shower cap tip! I love Brandon's face in the picture, hilarious!! haha

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  4. Looks like you had a great weekend!

    Purchase a Ninja...it's a blender, chopper, and processor all in one. I promise you won't be disappointed! I got mine as a wedding gift and LOVE it. You can get them from BBB and use a 20% off coupon. SCORE!

    http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=17480391

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  5. I LOVE my magic bullet. And I know you aren't quite there yet, but it's great for making baby food, too!

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  6. love that nail color! looks like you had so much fun :)

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  7. I was wondering if you were talking about the Lake Oconee in Georgia when you posted last week!! I've been going out on that lake my whole life. I LOVE the newer part of Greensboro..we keep our boat at Reynolds Plantation, right behind the Publix ;) Glad you enjoyed it xO

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  8. I love the Ninja that we got for our wedding. It comes with different blades and sizes of canisters. It does smoothies, frozen fun drinks, food processing for sauces/pestos, etc. and its a fairly decent price!

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  9. Love all the photos honey! You are adorable! Have a great day honey! Kori xoxo

    www.blondeepisodes.com

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  10. I got mine from Kroger and it perfectly blends frozen fruit for smoothies, ice, etc.
    http://www.oster.com/myblend/
    And it's PINK! ;)

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  11. I am saving up for a Vitamix - I want to be able to make soups, etc along with smoothies, plus it can take the entire fruit/vegt. Essie polishes are the best, love the color! Congrats on the race!
    - allthatsgoldglitters.blogspot.com

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  12. I use the Ninja to make smoothies. It is awesome!!!

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  13. We have a Ninja and that thing is AMAZING! It will chop anything you put in it. I use it as a blender and a food processor! :)

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  14. That is such an awesome tip about the shower caps!! I am always weary of the bottom of my shoes touching clean stuff in my suitcase. Thanks for sharing!!

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  15. Love that polish! Is it Lady Like? It looks very familiar!

    I make a protein smoothie for breakfast every morning. I use a Cuisinart immersion blender. Its super inexpensive (like under $30) and does a great job blending ice, frozen berries, and frozen yogurt cubes so that your smoothie is well, smooth without damaging the blade. Immersion blenders are awesome for when you're in a hurry because you blend right in the cup then do a super quick handwash and you're out the door almost immediately with your blender already clean for the next smoothie.

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  16. I love this post... and that last picture is absolutely hilarious. he he :)

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  17. The Ninja is great! I make protein shakes everyday for lunch and use the Ninja. Plus, its priced well.

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  18. I tried that RAAW juice after the bridge run and was totally surprised how much I liked it! Good to know it's sold at bi-lo.... I'll be picking some up asap! As for the blender, I have a Ninja blender (on sale from bed bath and beyond) and it is incredible! It also doubles as a food processor for me-- highly recommend!

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  19. Absolutely, positively, without a doubt get the Ninja! Nothing else even compares!

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