Monday Morning Perk Up

Mondays are hard. Let's start the week off on a sunny note with some fun favorites!

Food We've Been Loving:
Renee: I've been meal prepping most of our food on Sundays lately. It's great since work has been so crazy. My recent favorites?

• I prepped this crockpot beef stew when I had a friend coming over for dinner. She brought poppyseed bread that we didn't dip into the stew, but was a great side to this dish! Plus leftovers are a big thumbs up.
• These banana chia seed muffins will make all the dense muffin lovers super happy :)
• I can't get over how indulgently amazing these funfetti buttercreams look! I haven't made them yet, but they'd be the perfect party dessert! 

Lauren: I have not been practicing the fine art of meal prepping lately, but I have found a few winners when I've taken the time to get into the kitchen.  

• Like this Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage and Kale.  Would i get sick of it if I had it for dinner every night this week?   Maybe, but I'd be willing to take that chance!  It's so delicious and easier to make than you'd think.  Bonus: the leftovers heat up great for lunch the next day!
•  Fluffernutter Rice Krispie Treats.  In the infamous words of Ina: how bad could that be? These sold out fast at a work bake sale - and the few extras I kept at home didn't stick around too long either.

Things We Can't Wait for:

Tacolandia! I've partnered up with Houston Press to help promote their upcoming event. One ticket will get you access to try out a boatload of Houston's best tacos! What's not to love about that?! I'm especially excited for Velvet Taco and Tacos a Go-Go, two of my go-to taco joints. And I can't wait to try El Real, I've been wanting to go there for a while now!

If you're in the Houston area this Saturday, be sure to check it out! Tickets can be bought at the event, but you'll save $10 a ticket if you go here.

I (sadly) won't be able to make the trek to Houston to stuff my face with gourmet tacos, but I do have a bright foodie spot in my future: the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival at Walt Disney World!  On my list to try are Brazil's crispy pork belly with black beans and Belgium's waffles with berry compote.  Oh, and a few ciders, champs, and chocolates (hot, that is) will probably find their way into my hands as well!  I've been known to come home and try to recreate items we eat on vacations, so if any of those are successful, you might see some recipes show up here. 

Random Favorites:

• I've been really into my ClassPass workout classes lately! The thought of joining others for a morning workout is what I need to get myself out of bed before the sun. Some recent favorites have been this Tabata class, this spin/HIIT combo class, and I love this spin class! 
• Cooler weather means I get to break out my leather jackets! Love this edgy city look. And that jacket? I die.
• I bought these Frye Marissa Oxford Booties from Nordstrom Rack (in cognac) recently, and as the weather has turned cooler I've started to work them into more outfits.  Totally cute and very comfortable - I can see them being a staple in the coming months! 
• Audio books are a godsend for those with a long commute.  And I've been loving the celeb autobiographies lately!  Two books that I blazed through were Holly Madison's Down the Rabbit Hole (as soon as I finished it, I went right back to the beginning to listen again!)  and Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me?  If you've got any suggestions for me, leave them in the comments below!    

Til next time, have a fabulous week!