Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Take me out with the crowd!
Monday Evening I enjoyed my first ever Twins game at the Beautiful Target Field!

I mean this field is amazing, I feel like it is just something you have to see!

 Hello Target Field!

The game Monday brought out a huge crowd and I can see why!  We had the most perfect weather, just a light breeze and clear sunny skies!  Perfect!

Minnesota is beautiful in the Spring time! 

The Twins played the Cleveland Indians.  And while the Twins didn't come out with a win I still had fun seeing the Stadium for the first time!  Being outside in the fresh air just made me all excited for summer!   I could get used to walking to Twins games over the summer!  I mean Target field is right in my back yard!! 

Do you enjoy going to baseball games in the summer?

Who is your favorite team?

For The First Time

Why Hello Monday, your here already?

The weekend went a little to quickly for my liking! 

I had a blast this past weekend.  

Friday nights outing to WineFest No. 17 was a blast! 

The event was huge! There were over 400 wine varieties to taste, and several signature dishes to try from top restaurants around The Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St Paul)!  Cafe Latte was there with amazing cake! 

I am pretty sure I have mentioned Cafe Latte's Turtle cake before on the blog! 

It was great to get out and do something on the town, not to mention fun to hang out with old and new friends! 

Saturday morning  I was up and ready for the day!  A good workout, breakfast and some errands left me ready to see my parents!  As soon as my parents got here we were out on the town, shopping that is! 

I scored this Red Dress from Banana Republic to wear to my upcoming wedding in New Orleans!  I thought the color and cut were perfect! 

I am thinking of pairing the dress with nude heels, and gold jewelry!  I think the black is a bit to much for summer! 

I also invested in some great white pants for summer!  This is going out on a limb for me, I am always scared I will sit in something or spill something all over white pants! 

After a little shopping my parents and I headed over to Broders Pasta Bar for an amazing pasta dinner!  I mentioned Broders in this post. We ended up sitting outside while we waited for our table!  The weather was beautiful, a perfect Minnesota evening!  My parents really enjoyed Broders, everything was delicious!  I decided to try a new pasta this time around and went on the recommendation of our waiter, he highly recommended the Pasta with Lemon, Spring Peas and Trout.  His recommendation did not disappoint!  

Sunday I got up early and made my mom's favorite bread, and waited for everyone else to get up!  We went to a wonderful church service, and then headed to a wonderful brunch to celebrate Mothers Day! 

We went to French Meadow Bakery, which serves all organic food.  Very healthy, and delicious!  Right up my brunch alley!  We ordered two pancakes for the table, and I swear they were the size of my head!  One was a wild rice with cinnamon apples, and the other was a blueberry corn pancake!  Both were delicious, I also sampled the granola!  I will be going back to this place!  The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging around, and prepping for the week!!

In other big and exciting news, tonight I am heading to my first ever Twins game! 

I am super excited, I need to go get a Twins shirt!  Time to cheer on the Twins as they take on the Cleveland Indians!  Lets hope they win!  The stadium can be seen from my apartment windows, I can't wait to finally see inside of it! 

So tell me, what did you do this weekend?

How did you celebrate mothers day?

A Week of Yum!

Hello Friday! Man am I glad to see you again! 

Did anyone else feel like this week was a little slow?

Maybe the week went slow because I have a lot to look forward to this weekend! 

Tonight I am heading to WineFest No. 17 with my friend Katie!  It is a huge event here in Minneapolis that raises money for Children's Health Research!  I am very excited to attend! 

(Source, this painting is done by this years Wine Fest feature Artist Jimmy Ragaen)

Saturday I plan on going for a nice run around the lakes followed by some brunch!  My parents might also be coming up for the night!  It feels weird that I have not seen them in almost a month!  I see our Saturday consisting of good food, maybe some shopping and exploring!  And Sunday will be filled with relaxing, and celebrating Mother's Day! 

Sounds like a great weekend to me! 

The title of this post pretty much sums up this weeks recipes!  

I enjoyed every single one of them! 

Starting of this delicious line up of recipes was the Quinoa Meatballs! 

I was a bit skeptical at first.  

I had no idea if these "meatballs" would hold together as they baked.  Smothered in marinara sauce, and served up with a leafy green salad equals a perfect meatless meal! 

Moving right along to vegetable stuffed peppers! 

I have made a lot of stuffed peppers on this blog.  I thought this recipe was good, next time I would add some sort of protein though!  Maybe black beans! 

And finally onto Spiced Chicken and Barely. 

This meal was delicious.  Instead of barely I used a mixture of quinoa and rice!  The dish did not take as long as I thought it would to cook!  The leftovers were great for lunch, and I loved the combination of spices!  This recipe will for sure be made again! 

Still on the list to make this week is the Polenta Vegetable Bake, and the Blacked Eyed Pea Salad with Corn and Peppers!  I see lots of cooking happening these next few days!  

Well my dears thats all I have for you today!  Have a fabulous weekend and I will see you all Monday! Remember to tell your Mommies Happy Mother's Day!  Remember to spoil them a little bit, and give them extra love! 

Happy Hump Day!

I was thinking to myself last night about how quick these weeks seem to be going!  I mean we are already in our second week of May, and I am half way through my 4th week of training at work!  That is crazy to me, where is the time going?  

Since its Wednesday you know what that means! 

A list of things I am loving right at this moment! 

I am loving that in a few weeks I will be boarding a plane to New Orleans for my lovely sorority sisters wedding! 

It is going to be a huge reunion, and I am so excited I can hardly contain it! 

I am loving that I am able to run again! 

I have been running around Lake Calhoun, Lake Harriet and trials all around downtown Minneapolis!  I love it!  

I am loving that in July I will be running my first ever 5k race! 

The Color Run! 

This was one of my New Years Resolutions! 

And finally I am loving my early morning workouts! 

I love getting up and working out first thing in the morning!  My workouts leave me energized and ready to take on the day! 

What are you loving this fine Wednesday morning? 

Sucked In

Hello there Tuesday! 

Last night I successfully killed about an hour and a half on Pinterest!  Pinterest once again sucked me in!  What started out as gathering my weekly recipes, turned into about 2 hours of random searches on Pinterest!   I found way to many mouth watering recipes, one to many DIY for my apartment, and about a million outfit ideas that I just need to recreate!  

But for you all, I have 5 new delectable recipes that I am going to test out this week! 

I went for easy this week, along with recipes I know I will love to take for lunch! 

Lets get started!

1) Quinoa "Meatballs"

Source: onceuponasmallbostonkitchen.blogspot.com via Hilliary @ Brunch and Cupcakes on Pinterest

To me these look perfect!   Serve them up with a side salad and you have a complete meal!

2) Vegetable Stuffed Peppers, from Better Homes and Gardens!

Source: bhg.com via Hilliary @ Brunch and Cupcakes on Pinterest

I think this may or may not be the 3rd or 4th stuffed pepper recipe I have tried out on the blog! 

3) Blacked Eyed Pea Salad with Corn and Peppers from Peas and Thank You!

Source: peasandthankyou.com via Hilliary @ Brunch and Cupcakes on Pinterest

Love her cookbook and her recipes, this is going to be delicious! 

4) Polenta and Veggie Bake from Eating Well. 

Source: fitnessmagazine.com via Hilliary @ Brunch and Cupcakes on Pinterest

All the fresh veggies had me sold!

5) Spiced Chicken and Barely

Source: kitchenmouse.rozentali.com via Hilliary @ Brunch and Cupcakes on Pinterest

I have pulled this recipe up week after week, I figured I should finally make it! 

And finally if there is time this week! 

Red and Green Lentil Enchilada's from Peas and Thank You!

I think this week is going to be successful, hopefully no duds!
I am hoping in the next few weeks to do some grilling, the warm weather has me craving grilled food!  What about you?  What is something warm weather has you craving food wise?

Recap of the Weekend!

Happy Monday Lovlies!

How was everyones weekend?  Did you enjoy some Cinco De Mayo festivities?

I know we did! 

I had a full weekend, but a good one! 

Friday was low key.  I met up with some friends for drinks at a local downtown bar.  

It was nice to just sit and enjoy each others company! 

Saturday I enjoyed a very lazy morning.  The weather was overcast and left me wanting to sit in bed with a cup of coffee!  And that is exactly what I did!  I did manage to hang a few pictures!  I also ran my first 4 mile run since recovering from my ankle stress fracture!  The run felt amazing! We decided to run downtown instead of driving out to the lakes, and the trails around downton Minneapolis were perfect!  I enjoyed being able to see Minneapolis in a whole new way!  We ran down by Target Field where the Minnesota Twins play, 

(source, This picture was painted by a local artist Michael Birawer)

and ran by my old Ballet School! 

The run brought back a lot of memories, and made me fall even more in love with my city! 

An afternoon Margarita at Crave kicked off or Cinco De Mayo celebration and had me ready for our Cinco De Mayo get together! 

On our Cinco de Mayo Menu:

These Cranberry Pomegranate Margaritas! 

Source: mylifeasamrs.com via Kimberley on Pinterest

I ended up making just a straight pomegranate margarita, and boy were they good! 

We also enjoyed these chicken burritos! 

Source: zoomyummy.com via Hilliary @ Brunch and Cupcakes on Pinterest

Instead of sautéing the chicken, we grilled the chicken! 

The results were amazing!   I picked up spinach tortilla's from Trader Joe's and thought they complimented the flavor well!  I will for sure be making those chicken burritos again! 

Dessert was a Banana Fosters Chimichanga!

Delicious!
It was a perfect evening full of food, laughter, drinks, friends and games!  Great Saturday night!
Sunday was low key with church and a very very lazy afternoon!  But sometimes you just need one of those days!

So tell me how was your weekend?  Do anything fun to Celebrate Cinco De Mayo, or the Kentucky Derby?

I have this weeks menu/pin challenge coming to you tomorrow!  Stay tuned!

Thats A Wrap

I love Saturday mornings that start with a good cup of coffee in my Pj's.  Those mornings where you can slowly start your day and not worry about where you have to be!  Those are the best!  That is exactly the type of morning I am having right now, and if I could have some Mango Waffles from Victor's I would be one happy camper! 

(Source)

Did everyone have a good week?  Have fun plans for this fine Saturday?

My week seemed to fly by!  I feel like since moving the weeks seem to pass with the blink of an eye!  I guess that means I am just enjoying my life and the city!  They say time flies when your having fun !

I wanted to wrap up this weeks pin challenge and share some highlights with you from this week!  A major highlight this week was it was casual dress all week!  Since my company turns 50 this year we have a total of 50 casual dress days!  I see a lot of shopping in my near future!   Another highlight of the week was getting to see Nora Jones perform... at my office!!  Nora Jones came and put on a private concert for my company this past Tuesday! 

How cool is that!  It was hard to see with so many people but still cool that I get to see Nora Jones performed at my office! 

And finally check out this neon pink dress I found yesterday shopping!  I am completely obsessed with this dress, I just love the neon pink color!  

(Source)

The picture does not do it justice for how bright/cute it is thats why I am sharing this lovely picture with you !

Please excuse my awkward facial expression...

I plan on belting the dress and wearing this dress today for Cinco De Mayo!  The color is perfect bright and fun! 

Alright now we can focus on some recipes!   

Lets start with the alright and work our way to the best! 

These Italian Chicken Wraps were a bit of a bummer! 

Source: tasteofhome.com via Hilliary @ Brunch and Cupcakes on Pinterest

(This is the picture from Taste of Home, my pictures of wraps never turn out well)!

I had high hopes for them.  They just did not have the flavor I desired.  The filling to be honest got a little lost in the tortilla!  I even added extra spices.  I am now on the hunt to find an amazing wrap recipe!  

Next up the Black bean and Guacamole Burrito! 

Source: naturallyella.com via Hilliary @ Brunch and Cupcakes on Pinterest

Delicious!  I have been obsessed with avocados lately, I could eat them every day!  This was such an easy dinner to make, I actually had it two nights in a row it was that good!  I did not make guacamole though, I simply just mashed avocado and a bit of salsa together!  Still tasty though! 

And finally we come to a veggie packed flat bread!  

3 Cheese Spinach Flat Bread!

Mine seriously looked like a  salad on a tortilla, but man was it good! I added some fresh cilantro into the spinach, and left the parmesan cheese off!  This little flat bread would be a great week night dinner because it is quick!  I am thinking next time I will add some beans or chicken for a little protein kick! 

Overall I thought it was a good week for recipes!  

You have to have a dud recipe every now and then, right?

Now if you will excuse me I have some party prepping to do! 

I hear one of these calling my name! 

Source: mylifeasamrs.com via Kimberley on Pinterest

Happy Saturday/Cinco De Mayo! 

Have a fabulous day, and I highly recommend enjoying at least one margarita!