Farewell, toes.

Goodbye toes...won't be seeing you for much longer!

Oh what? Did you think I was cutting off my feet? Well, not exactly. This is my view of my feet as of today, when my stomach suddenly decided to pop out even further. I'm only 22 weeks! I don't remember this happening that quickly with my last pregnancy?! *sigh* Oh well, at least I can still tell what color my toenail polish is... :)

things i'm loving this week...

1. Pinterest (is that surprising?) - I find more ideas, recipes, tips, etc. on Pinterest than anywhere else on the internet. I've been trying to convince my bestie (that's best friend, folks) to sign up for Pinterest for MONTHS, and she hasn't. Not gonna lie, it kinda makes me feel like we have nothing to talk about or can't be best friends...kidding, kidding, but seirously, sometimes that's how I feel.

2. printables - BEFORE Pinterest, I really didn't know what printables were or that there were so many free printables available online. But AFTER Pinterest, I've learned that I can pretty much find a free printable for A-N-Y-THANG. (This Sunday is Father's Day - search for "Father's Day printable" on Pinterest and you will get lots of great gift ideas & printables!)

3. cold water - yes, I'm loving cold water. Why? Because I learned that after painting your nails, dip them in a bowl of cold water for about 30 seconds and...BOOM! You have dry nails. Amazing, right?! Especially when you never seem to have the time to actually wait for your nails to dry. (Speaking of, I just painted my nails and used this trick - they are totally dry, but of course I messed up one finger while trying to turn on my laptop...grrr...)

4. random commercials - like the one I recently saw for Poise pantiliners or whatever they are, with Kirstie Alley as the spokeswoman. All I really remember about the commercial was the tagline "Don't be freakin' cuz you're leakin'!" Thanks, Kirstie, I'll remember that next time I contemplate buying adult diapers.

5. TJ Miller - he's a comedian, he's on Chelsea Lately a lot, and he's just funny. (See video below - it's random humor, but still humor!)
Trust me, I used to be a lot of candles.

6. being pregnant - besides the obvious reasons, I like having an excuse for the reason as to why I was wearing my pants inside out...which I didn't do purposely...and discovered while in the middle of cooking a lovely Father's Day dinner for my fiance...yeah, it's because I'm pregnant. Right????

7. copycat recipes - ever since I first tasted Cheesecake Factory's avocado egg rolls (with AMAZING dipping sauce), I've said that I would request those if I were on death row and had to choose a last meal. (I'm being 100% serious here - I've said that exact thing MANY TIMES.) So when a strong craving hit for avocado egg rolls, and I realized the nearest Cheesecake Factory was about 630 miles from where I live, I decided to search online for a copycat recipe. And what did I find?! Just what I was looking for, obvi. They turned out DELICIOUS. Recipe & pix to follow - if you've never had them, you MUST MAKE THIS RECIPE. And beware of other restaurants that are trying to copy the OG avocado egg rolls!

I'm sure there is more that I'm loving this week, but right now, I'm loving that it's 10:10PM and I'm about to go to bed! SAWEEEEEET. :)

it's time...

...to break out the maternity jeans! I'll be 20 weeks tomorrow, and it seems like my belly just popped out overnight...yikes. I don't remember when this happened with my first pregnancy, but this seems a little soon, no?!

Does anyone REALLY have legs like this when pregnant? Jealous...

Besides the fact that I can now barely see my feet, I'm having the WEIRDEST pregnancy dreams - EVERY NIGHT. If I wasn't so exhausted by bedtime, I'd probably be scared to go to sleep...anyway...just wanted to share. :)

Grandma's vinaigrette

Maybe it's because I'm pregnant, or maybe it's because I just really like food, but I can't stop thinking about recipes!

This is a simple vinaigrette that my grandma has always made, and she usually keeps a jar of it in the fridge. I was lucky enough to spend 2 weeks with her recently, and I CRAVED this stuff. It's so simple, but so good, and I'm tempted to never buy another store bought salad dressing again!

Red wine vinegar...in case you don't know what it looks like, apparently?!

Grandma's vinaigrette

3/4 canola oil or vegetable oil
1/4 red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp mayo
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients and whisk vigorously. Place in fridge for at least 1 hour to chill and let the flavors mingle. (I like to save glass food jars and their lids for this purpose.)

Mmmmm...just thinking about this makes me want some salad! (That's a good thing, isn't it?) My fave is a salad of butter lettuce or mixed greens, avocado, celery, carrots, and green onions with this dressing on it - YUM!

Hope you guys try it and love it as much as I do! :) Now I have to go make the most of my little guy's nap time by finishing up some laundry...yuck...

YUMMY & easy side dish: zucchini coins

Growing up, this was one of the only ways my mom could get me to eat zucchini. (Sound familiar? Apparently I didn't like much that was green, so my mom had to think of ways to cook veggies.) As an adult, I actually LOVE zucchini, but it's not my fiance or my son's favorite, so I make this as a side dish. And they LOVE it as much as I do! It's super quick & easy, and really delicious.

Serves approx. 4 (as a side dish)

3-4 medium sized zucchini
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 Tbsp olive oil

Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling

In a medium saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion to the pan and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes.
Slice zucchini in 1/4 inch thick "coins", discarding the ends. Add the zucchini to the pan and cook, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic to the zucchini mixture and heat through.
Remove zucchini from the heat and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

There you go - one of my favorite side dishes with very few ingredients and lots of flavor!!

Pregnancy cravings, oh my.

Cheesy Gordita Crunch from Taco Bell

See: above. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Don't know how long they've been around, but I have never had the desire to try one until recently, when I wanted something soft and crunchy (oxymoron, but ok...). I browsed the menu at Taco Bell, and VOILA! The Cheesy Gordita Crunch popped out at me.
And. It. Was. Delicious.
I wish I had one now. Except, I kinda don't. Something about that Taco Bell "meat" grosses me out...

Also interesting news...according to my last doctor's appointment (which was 3 days ago), I'd lost SIX POUNDS. Excuse me, WHAAAA?? I'd like to pretend that I've been doing prenatal yoga and eating wonderfully, but I haven't. Usually my meals are leftovers that my son didn't eat, and my only form of exercise these days is chasing this little guy around, which often feels like a marathon must feel like.

I'm out from under my Pinterest cloud!

Excuse me while I dust myself off and stretch for a bit. I've been hibernating in my Pinterest cave of ideas, recipes, crafts, and all things creative! What do I have to show for it? Not a whole lot, yet. Whoopsie.

WARNING: Feel free to skip this post entirely if you don't want to listen to me complain and rant about my stressful week. :)

So...to fill you in...if you didn't leave already...

Mother's Day - we took a little day trip to the Redwoods National Park and had a picnic lunch by the beach and took a little hike (which was impromptu and led by our VERY active 1 1/2 year old...). We finished the night off by getting engaged, and having a nice candlelit homemade dinner. That's right! We got ENGAGED! :) He couldn't have planned it better being that it happened on Mother's Day <3

Threw a 60th Surprise Birthday Party for my AMAZING Mom - this was a few months in the works, and it was planned by me and my mom's best friend. The trick for this party is that I live a 12 hour drive away from my mom, and I was going to surprise her by being in OC with my son for the party! (Cue: lots of white lies, gas station pit stops, and temper tantrums by said son.)

After this party, my crazy eventful 2 week "vacation" without my fiance (SO WEIRD to say that word!) began...lots of late nights, early mornings, temper tantrums, and exhausted mom/Grandma/Great Grandma/Grandpa later...we survived and returned back home to our little casa in the mountains.

Did I mention my crazy eventful 2 weeks? Oh yeah. Let me begin with my car. Decided it was time for new tires, but what did I know? I'm just a GIRL...so I made the appointment and took my car in to get spiffy new tires. Picked up my car, drove it home, and noticed a MASSIVE crack in the windshield. GRRRRUMPH. Because of the Memorial Day weekend, the tire store had (conveniently) closed, and I couldn't reach my car insurance company due to the holiday. Meanwhile, I had noticed a mole on my chest that had suddenly changed. (Note: I am EXTREMELY fair skinned, have reddish hair, freckles, and my dad had melanoma about a year ago.) I was able to get an appointment with my mom's dermatologist only because someone had canceled (THANK YOU PERSON!)...after lots of tears and freak outs (probably due to my crazy pregnancy hormones) I found out that all my moles were good, for now.
So back to the car...eventually I noticed the tires looked TINY on my SUV, and I thought they'd put the wrong size on...had to make ANOTHER appointment to get them checked out only to find that no, they were not the wrong size, and I could have just checked the owner's manual for the size and compared it to the size that is printed on the tires. (Well, I'm a girl, DUH!)
Back to the windshield - was able to make an appointment to have someone come to me to replace the windshield (and by this time, the crack had almost tripled in size and my entire windshield was in danger of shattering at any second). I waited patiently for the nice man to come on my appointment day, and when he showed up, what did I hear?! Just that he didn't have the right size windshield, and would have to return the next day between 8AM AND 5PM!? What?! In the midst of all this, my son developed a fever (which he's NEVER had), I had a POUNDING headache, and my fiance and I were in the middle of a crazy irrational "disagreement" with his parents because we had informed them we were planning to move back to Southern California prior to the arrival of our second baby! Talk about STRESS OVERLOAD.

So...car fixed. Fever & headache gone. Had a fun day at the park with my son and my dad - until some kid ran into me with his skateboard and tore the skin off my left heel! (Shoutout thanks to the kids that informed the skateboarder that there is NO SKATEBOARDS ALLOWED at this particular park...good lookin' out!) :)

Next, spent a day with my mom and drove about 1.5 hours to the apartment complex we are looking to move to...only to have the leasing office be CLOSED. For NO REASON! GRRRR. (I guess I'll give myself a tour of the complex, thankyouverymuch.)

Ended up having to cut my trip short because I realized I had scheduled my doctor's appointment the same day I was supposed to return home...tried to complete a charity walk with my son, only to have him decide that that was the morning he would want to sleep in and be cranky once I woke him up to go walk! We got about 500 feet before having to quit... embarassing, much?!

OK...seriously, that was a pathetic post. But I HAD to get it out! So many more things went wrong this past week, it started to become comical. Among them, I broke my toe with a baguette (Yes, the bread), I had to pay for a night at the hotel I was staying at that I didn't even use, I drove 20 minutes out of my way to get food I was craving - and the restaurant was closed for construction. BOO.

It probably doesn't sound like it, but there was LOTS of good times with family and friends!

Alrighty...moving along to happier and better posts... :)

Giveaway update...

WELP, no one entered the giveaway, so, no winners to announce! We'll try it again later, once more items are posted into Perfectly Peacock's store. No hard feelings!! :)

And I promise, more posts are coming soon, and with more regularity! Been a crazy last few weeks I tell ya...