What's Up Wednesday :: May 2015

It's the last Wednesday of the month, that means it's time for our What's Up Wednesday Link Up!

Link up with  me, Sheaffer & Shay the LAST Wednesday of each month so we can read about What's Up with YOU!

Here we go!

What We’re Eating this week.....

Tacos, Tacos & more Tacos!
For Kevin's 40th Fiesta on Sunday, I had a Taco Truck at the party for 2 hours.
After the 2 hours was up, they gave me all the leftover food!!!!
Tortiallas, Rice, Beans, Chicken, Steak, Carnitas & Al Pastor.
I got my money's worth! We have so much leftover food!
On Monday, our court watched the Warriors game together, so I brought out all the extra food.
I still have a ton left.
Sunday - Kevin's 40th Fiesta - Taco Truck
Monday- Leftover Tacos
Tuesday- Leftover Tacos
Wednesday- Taking a break from Tacos...making Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan:
 
Thursday - Leftover Tacos...maybe I will make a burrito!
Friday- Friday Night Pizza Night!
Saturday- It's my birthday!! Going out to dinner...somewhere besides Mexican food ;)

I also like to bake something each week. We have some brown bananas,  so because we have brown bananas & it's the perfect after school snack...  Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

What I'm Reminiscing about.....

The weekend! It was fun-filled....we had our 3rd wedding in 5 weeks & it was one of of my cousins getting married.

 

 

 I was just *slightly* obessed with taking pics of the white lights/lanterns that were hanging. So pretty!

What I'm loving.....

I'm loving using my "big girl" camera for the first time in a long time!
Last week I took my niece Olivia's 1 year photos!
I have "retired" from my side photography business, but my sister wanted me to snap a couple pics of Olivia since she just turned 1.

Isn't she a cutie?

 Can't believe Livvie is ONE!

It felt good being behind the camera again, I have missed it!
(I don't miss the time I spend editing pics!)

What We've been up to.....

May was a busy, busy month. I can't believe it is almost over!
The month started out with Common Core testing for my students which was interesting.
Then we had Mother's Day weekend and were tourists in San Francisco!

Then I had a weekend away in Tahoe & Kevin and the girls had their Father Daughter Dance:

This past weekend we had my cousin's wedding & Kevin's Surprise 40th Fiesta.
Kate finished softball and we are full swing into swim team.
We have all the end of the year activities going on like Open House & end of year parties!
Phew! May was a busy month & a fun month...no slowing down!

What I'm Dreading.....
Moving Luke to a big boy bed! But, I know we need to do that soon.
Last week he insisted on sleeping on the floor of his room & not his crib, so I let him do that one night and he stayed there pretty much the whole night.

 Getting rid of the crib is the end of an era for us....plus since we started using the crib tent, Luke is nice and safe in his crib. I don't like the idea of him being in a bed & able to wander around the house at night. But, I know this summer we will switch him over to a big boy bed. *sigh*

What I'm Working On.....

Finishing up all my grading....2 weeks from tomorrow and it's SUMMER!
Once Summer is here I have a big to-do list of things that I want to get done & organized in our house, but for the next 2 weeks I am focused on getting my grades done!

What I'm Excited About.....

I am excited about the trip to Lake Tahoe I just got back from!
The weekend before last, I earned a free trip to Lake Tahoe with our Rodan + Fields team. It was a Level 5 retreat & it was a blast!

We got spoiled by our team leader the whole weekend!

Lots of gifts, massages, awesome training, amazing food & great memories with our team!

I am excited for everything I learned last weekend, but mostly I am thankful for the opportunities I have had because of Rodan + Fields. Direct Sales is something I said I would NEVER do.
I am a teacher & mom of 3 young kids, I had no sales experience at all. I am so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone a year and a half ago and decided to do this very part time..just a few hours a week!
Maybe you are looking for a fun opportunity to earn some extra income in VERY part time hours that is flexible around your schedule! If you are looking for something like this, I would love to chat with you more. I have girls in all different parts of the US and Canada on my team and would love to chat with you about it if have questions!
Send me an email:
melissa_larson17@yahoo.com

I am excited about the May Specials we have going on for Skin Cancer Awareness Month.
More details are on THIS post, any one who joins me in business this month will receive $100 cash back off their business kit!
If you are not interested in the business, but want products for the month of May, I have a special going on for all new Preferred Customers!

Get $20 cash back, 10% off your order, Free Shipping AND a FREE Rodan + Fields item that has SPF in it, including one of these items:

 Top row: Essentials SPF 30 Body Sunscreen, SPF 20 Mineral Powder with Peptides, 2 pack of our SPF 25 lip shield.
Bottom row: Unblemish Oil Control SPF 20 Sunscreen, Soothe SPF 25 Sensitive Skin Mineral Sunscreen, Reverse SPF 50 Sunscreen.

To find out what products are best for your skin, you can take this quick 1 minute survey HERE.

Email me to place an order OR email me if you have any questions about the business or products!

melissa_larson17{at}yahoo.com

What I'm Watching........

Since it's May that means all the  shows have had their season finales and we have wait until Fall for new episodes.

We are all caught up on Scandal (!!!!!)

Our next show is going to be House of Cards, 

 We haven't gotten into it yet because we are too busy watching the Warriors in the NBA playoffs!

And, we had to watch the Letterman finale last week.

It was on my bucket list to go see a taping of his show....that never happened.

I got SO close when I was in NYC 12 years ago....there was a standby list for tickets and they ran out...I was the next person! AHHHH!!!! I haven't gotten over that yet 

#bitter ;)

Thanks for the memories, Letterman. Kevin & I used to watch EVERY SINGLE night, but then we had kids & didn't watch it as much and then, let's be honest...Jimmy Fallon busted onto the Late night scene & he is way funnier!

Of course, the Bachelorette just started so I am watching that also. Still not sure what to think about this season. Meh.

What I'm Reading.....

I am in the middle of the Shopahollic Series.
I just finished book 4....Shopaholic & Baby:

{HERE}

I am now reading Book 5...Mini Shopaholic

{HERE}

When I am done, I will read Book 6...Shopaholic to the Stars

{HERE}

What I'm Listening to.....

I love "Shut up and Dance" It gets me in the mood to dance@

What I'm Wearing.....
We have had a chilly May! So, it's all about the light layers!

Jacket // Pants // Shirt // Shoes // Bracelet // Necklace (Stella & Dot)

For a more casual look:

Hoodie // Jeans // Converse

  
What I’m doing this weekend.....

It's my birthday on Saturday! I will be in Napa for a baby shower, can't wait!
Then Saturday night we will go out to dinner to celebrate my birthday & Sunday I am hopefully getting a mani/pedi...and possibly hit up the Nordstrom Half Yearly Sale :)

What I'm Looking Forward to next month.....

SUMMER!!!!!!!!!
Last day of school is June 11th.

 Sleeping in, swimming, lazy days & staying up late.
No packing lunches, doing homework or grading tests!
Most importantly, hanging will all 3 of my kids all day everyday!
I can't WAIT!!!!!!!

What else is new..... 

Luke's new obsession....wearing this yellow bucket on his head and calling himself Handy Manny.

He cracks me up!

What is your favorite thing to Grill/BBQ?

During the Summer months we BBQ pretty much every night!
My favorite things to grill are Tri Tip Steak, Salmon,  Chicken Apple Sausages, Burgers, BBQ Chicken Sandwiches...yum! I love summer food!
We rotate those meats we grill and we also grill veggies from our garden on the BBQ, like zucchini, squash & corn or I make a big fruit salad or a fresh salad with home grown lettuce & tomatoes. 

 Here are some of my favorite Summer Salads in my recipe box {HERE}

Love this Broccoli Bacon Salad:

And my Strawberry Spinach Salad
I am making this with Kale from my garden this weekend. Yum!
My lettuce & kale is growing like crazy right now:

I LOVE Gardening! This is my 5th summer having a backyard garden. You can find my gardening tips {HERE}
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If you are new to my blog, thanks for stopping by!

Feel free to follow along! 

You can find me on Bloglovin, Facebook & Instagram

Can't wait to read about What's up with all of YOU!

Cuarenta de Kevin :: Kevin's Surprise 40th Fiesta

Last week Kevin turned the Big 4-0.
On Sunday I threw him a Surprise 40th Birthday Party.
Kevin thought we were having a Memorial Day Block Party with our neighbors, but instead it was actually a little surprise 40th birthday for him. 

On Sunday evening, we were setting up for the block party & all our neighbors were out on the court, and then right at 6pm, I had a Taco Truck drive down the court & we all said "Surprise" to Kevin.

We told him it wasn't just a block party, it was Kevin's 40th Fiesta.

(He wasn't totally surprised...he had a feeling something was going on)

But the fun part was Kevin didn't realize that I invited our families & a couple of his close friends, so after the Taco Truck pulled up, the rest of the guests came walking down our court.

THAT surprised him, so that was really fun :)

 I designed a shirt for him to wear...the front was a Taco Truck & it said "Cuarenta de Kevin" which means Kevin's 40th.

The back had his nick name & a 40:

 I love how it turned out :)

The Taco Truck was amazing. 3 years ago for Teacher Appreciataion Week, our PTA had this Taco Truck come to our school for lunch one day & it was so good! I asked them for their business card because I knew I wanted to throw Kevin a 40th Fiesta. So glad I kept that business card!
It was 2 hours of all you can eat Tacos! And, they set up this table in front of the Taco Truck with fruit salad, chips, guac, salsa, rice, beans and Agua Fresca (we had lemonade flavor & starwberry...I had tequila & vodka for people to mix in if they wanted!
I also had beer!

People had the choice of 4 types of meat for their tacos: Steak, Chicken, Carnitas (shredded pork) & Al Pastor (seasoned pork....so good!) I had 1 of each!

It was so fun, we would walk up to the window of the Taco Truck & they took our order & they would cook it right there for us.

Me & the Birthday Boy!

Because this party was completely outside & in our court, I didn't have very many decorations.
Just a few colorful touches:

 I also had this sign made from Oriental Trading:

 Kevin loves cornhole, so we had a cornhole tournament going on during the party.

I made 2 of Kevin's favorite cupcakes....my chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes (recipe HERE) 

 And, Salted Caramel Heath Bar Cupcakes:

 Luckily, I am the one who always makes desserts/cupcakes for our court block parties, so Kevin wasn't suspicious when I was making cupcakes earlier in the day...I just added the cupcake toppers during the party :)

Bringing out the cupcakes:

Blowing out all 40 candles:

 We had cupcakes & continued hanging out & playing cornhole.
We have had a chilly May, so once the sun went down it was cold, thankful for our neighbors who brought out their heat lamps!
And, I can't forget about the favors.
Hot Tamales are one of Kevin's favorite candies (and they just so happen to go with my Fiesta theme!)
I made a tag that I added to the box of candy:
It was such a fun night celebrating Kevin.
I totally didn't get photos of everyone there #fail
I was having too much fun eating tacos & playing cornhole!
I am glad it is over....keeping a secret was hard & stressful!
This might be the last Surprise Party I throw...it was stressful keeping that secret & being sneaky!
 I also need to give props to my neighbors who helped me pull this off and who let me keep chairs, cases of beer & party supplies in their garages.
I also loved having a Taco Truck at the party...it was SO easy....I didn't have to do any food prep (besides the cupakes!), the food was amazing & everything was outside so my house stayed clean.
Win-Win!
They also gave me all the left over food, we will be having Mexican food all week for dinner ;)

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And, don't forget to link up this Wednesday: 

Here are the questions:

Plus, the question of the month is:

What is your favorite thing to grill/BBQ?