five on friday

Happy Friday lovelies!!  Today I'm joining some of my fav bloggin' ladies for the weekly Five on Friday link-up.  I'm thinking it will be a great way to share my own blog while finding fabulous new blogs out there as well-- super exciting!

{one}

This southern girl has invested in a new curling iron.  After reading lots of reviews, scouring blog hair tutorials to see what equipment those gals are using, and consulting the Beauty Bibles (namely InStyle), I settled on a Hot Tools 1 1/4 inch iron.  

I may or not be tracking this delivery like it's my J-O-B and cannot wait to try it out tomorrow night (date night, whoop whoop!).  

Sidenote: Living in Boston, I feel like big hair is something that I must maintain in honor of all southern girls living north of the Mason-Dixon line.  This past weekend we were with friends and everyone was getting ready to go out.  Armed with my teasing comb and hair spray, I set to work on my hair.  The MA ladies were joking about the amount of hair spray I was using, to which I responded "Girls, you've got to tease it to Jesus!" 

"Tease it to please him?" 

"No... to Jesus.  You know-- the bigger the hair, the closer to God?" 

Blank stares.

Our southern hair chatter is apparently a thing these Yanks will just never understand.

{two} 

Come this Labor Day weekend, I will be HOME SWEET HOME!

Since I've only been at my new job for a month, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to go home this summer at all, and that was just TOO MUCH for this girl to handle.  So I chatted with my manager and agreed on me taking a long Labor Day weekend holiday!  I cannot wait!!  I haven't been home since LAST Christmas and won't go home again until THIS Christmas, so this is a much-needed little trip home.  It'll be just me-- I love going home with Brian, but some one-on-one time with the family and girlfriends is just needed sometimes!  Queso, HEB and Chick-fil-A, here I come!

{three} 

Two words: DATE. NIGHT.  We have been busy for the past FIVE weekends and it is high time for a date night with my man.  Saturdays are always our nights, and unless plans come up with friends, we keep that reserved as our date night.  Six years since our first date and I'm still every bit the believer that it is muy importante to take that time for each other.  Depending on the week, I'll either cook a nicer dinner than a typical weeknight meal, we try a new spot for take-out, or we go out.  I like a good wine-on-the-couch night together as much as anyone else, but sometimes you just need to get all dressed up and hit the town, which is our plan for tomorrow, particularly since it's our big night out to celebrate The Big Six!  

I'm already picturing it, and the picture is fabulous-- getting ready with my dressing drink (or, you know, a good glass of wine) while I curl my hairs with my new curling iron, then heading out with my handsome honey-- perfection!

{four} 

Since we've been so non-stop busy, I haven't had time for a good mani/pedi in weeks, so I have allotted a full two hours of Just Me Time tomorrow morning to remedy this situation.  'Tis shameful, especially if you were to see the shape that my nails are in right now.  I plan to have myself waiting in the parking lot when they open at 9am so I can get first pick of the polishes!  

Is it just me, or does it drive you nuts when you go to a salon midday and approximately 72% of the bottles are at the various nail stations, so you have to act all stealthy and eye the bottles as you walk past to see if there are colors you can swap out with the one you settled on?  Drives me crazy!

{five} 

Summer is always one of my favorite times due to all of the little farmers markets that pop up in my area.  Seriously-- I come home with mammoth tomatoes, zucchini, fresh cheese and bread... I could go on for days.  A lot of our dinners have started to revolve around what beauties I pick up over the weekends, which I just love.  Early in the summer, I found myself with three enormous zucchini and we were both craving a light but filling pasta dish, so I got to Googling and searching my fav foodie blogs for a solution.  Enter our summer obsession: Crispy Gnocchi with Zucchini, Sweet Corn and Basil from the lovely Kristin at Iowa Girl Eats.

Seriously, drop everything that you're doing, get these ingredients in your kitchen, and make this dish happen.  I've made it for dinner guests, gave the recipe for a bridal shower recipe book... I could not possibly rave about it any more.  The dish comes together super quick, it makes more than enough for leftovers, and it's just so fresh and delish!  We either have it as a main dish or as a side with grilled chicken-- either way, you cannot go wrong.  And I honestly don't think that you can mess it up.  If you try it out, let me know if you love it as much as we have!  Kudos to you, Kristin!

Cheers to the weekend!