Thursday, February 28, 2013

Spinach Dip

This Spinach Dip is by far one of my favorite party recipes, every time I make it I can’t stop eating it and guests always gobble it up. And like the majority of my favorite recipes, it’s so easy to make!


Here is what you need:


Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix
16 oz sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 package frozen chopped spinach
1 bunch green onions

Cook the frozen chopped spinach your preferred way; I just pop the package in the microwave for about 8 minutes, stirring half way thru and again when finished.

While the spinach is “cooking,” chop up the green onions. Place the green onions in a food processor to really cut them into small pieces.


Once the spinach is finished, drain the juice.


In a large bowl combine the sour cream, mayo, spinach and Knorr vegetable mix. I then add the green onions to taste. I personally like a lot of green onions, but others might not. So mix in how ever many you prefer. Stir until all ingredients are completely mixed.


Pop the bowl in the fridge (not the microwave like I originally said - that would just be gross!) for at least an hour to thicken up.

Serve in a bread bowl and enjoy. You can serve this with bread and/or crackers, either way the dip will be a hit!


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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Wore: Colored Tights


I love to wear tights and skirts for so many reasons. Of course being a very girly girl, I love to dress up and play around with different tights and accessories to create numerous outfits. But I also wear tights and skirts/dresses for a practical reason – during my pregnancy I’m just more comfortable in them instead of jeans or pants. I sit for quite a long time while at work, so skirts and dresses leave me as comfortable as I can be (and I know I’m probably way more comfortable now at almost 21 weeks than I will be in a couple months!).


One look I love is colored tights. But I have to be careful and not look like I’m five years old dressing up for church. I’ve had these pink tights for awhile and kind of forgot I had them. I pulled them out and decided it was time to bring them back into rotation with my wardrobe.


I paired the pink tights with my favorite boots to try and cover them up slightly so I didn’t scream “it’s a Valentine’s Day dance and I’m ready to swap notes.” By just giving the slightest peek at the pink, I still get the look I love and actually look my age.


And I must share, these tights are very comfortable and soft. Target is where it’s at! I have bought a few other colors from Target and love them all. In fact, I think I get almost all of my tights from Target because they have so many options, the tights are very durable and fit just right and as I said they are so soft. Go check them out!

Tights/Boots: Target. Skirt: LOFT. Sweater: Gap: Scarf: H&M.
I’m linking up with Style Elxir for Style Sessions and The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesdays.

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Two Tips Tuesday


I’m back with Two Tips Tuesday! I hope you are able to put my “sage wisdom” to good use.

Tip #1:
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Like getting free gift cards just for doing some other online shopping? If you answer no to that question, I’m pretty sure my husband would like me to meet you! But for everyone else, you must check out MyPoints.com. This is a program that rewards you for shopping at sites within the MyPoints network – and there are tons of stores to choose from and all of them are mainstream stores (Gap, Target and iTunes are the sites I choose rewards from the most)!

It’s so simple, whenever you have some online shopping to do, just sign into your MyPoints account first, find the store that you are looking for and click thru from the MyPoints site. Then make your purchase like you would any other time, only now you are racking up points for every dollar spent. And once you have accumulated enough points, you can trade those points in for gift cards, travel miles or cash back. Who doesn’t love that? MyPoints offers a few other ways to earn points: filling out surveys, reading e-mails and clicking through to their network sites, printing coupons, booking your travel, playing games and searching the web – all things that don’t take up any extra time! And you earn points for free stuff! It really is a no brainer.

Here’s how to get signed up: click on MyPoints.com and create an account. But to earn even more points, send me your e-mail address and when you make a $20 purchase we BOTH earn points. So if you want to be invited by me, send me an e-mail at lindsay [at] pursuitofpink [dot] com and I will send an invite your way. But no matter what, check it out! You have nothing to lose and some serious gift cards to gain.
 

Tip #2:

The best advice I could ever give you…do NOT follow this girl’s recommendation on how to curl your hair. Seriously even before you get to the really funny part (which I won’t give away), I was already chuckling because she just seems so bored explaining what she does. But even if you don’t take her advice, just watch the whole video because it is the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. I seriously have watched it at least 20 times and still cry because I’m laughing so hard. Enjoy! 

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Monday, February 25, 2013

Gender Reveal

I know I teased everyone on Friday by saying that we found out the gender of our baby, so I am ready to spill the beans…Tolar and I are having a GIRL!!!! The name of my blog seems even more appropriate than ever now.

You can't see much, at least I can't and I suppose that's the point. :)
We are absolutely thrilled and it was so incredibly sweet to see Tolar cry some proud papa tears when he heard the news. I of course shouted out a huge yay and squeezed Tolar’s hand. This is perfect for me because I really only know girls, boys are such foreign beings to me. My nephew is certainly training me on the ways of boys, but I’ve still got A LOT to learn.

My mother-in-law was here to visit us over the weekend and we took advantage of having her in town during the excitement of our baby girl news. We hit the baby stores and outlet malls and got some pretty decent loot for our little girl.  We also registered for baby girl and that process was quite overwhelming, yet fun, but COMPLETELY exhausting. This pregnant lady can’t shop as long as she used to! We had barely known that we were having a girl for 24 hours and already picked up everything you see below!


Nope, this baby girl won’t be spoiled at all. :)

With each new milestone, everything just gets more and more exciting. While we were shopping I still couldn’t grasp that I was buying clothes for MY baby girl. Sometimes I don’t think that I am even old enough to be married, let alone be someone’s mother. The whole thing is completely surreal to me. But I’m so excited. I’ve wanted to be a mother my entire life; I felt it deep within my soul that God put me on this earth to be a mother and to love children unconditionally. And I plan to do just that. This baby girl has no clue what is waiting for her on the “outside,” but when she arrives she is going to be showered with so much love. She already has so many people praying for her and I can’t think of a way to love people any better than that.

(And if you are looking for some extra cash, head over to Heart Shaped Sweat where I am participating in a VISA gift card giveaway for $250!!!)
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Friday, February 22, 2013

High Five For Fridays

High Five! Its Friday! I wish you all the happiest of Fridays, so let’s get right to my top five moments from the week.

1.) We had some awesome friends come stay with us for a few days and had a blast taking them around D.C. (including the Exorcist stairs in Georgetown), playing games and eating yummy food. Come back soon Marc and Connor.

2.) Tolar, JoJo and I had the privilege of keeping our friends’ dog Riley while they were at the hospital welcoming their new baby. Riley was the best dog to have around and she definitely brought huge smiles to our faces. Here she is, not realizing that she and JoJo can’t quite fit in the same size of bed.



3.) Our master bathroom renovation is almost complete, here is a sneak peak of our new floor! I’m loving it!!! Check back soon for the final reveal.



4.) My dear friend Kristina and I are leading a young married women’s group through our church (DC Metro Church) called Girls with Swords and we are reading through Lisa Bevere’s book with the same name. We had our first meeting on Wednesday night and had a total of 17 women there. I’m so excited to bond with these ladies and see God move in all of our lives.



5.) I am 20 weeks pregnant today and Tolar and I went for our gender reveal sonogram. I realize I’m totally teasing with you this mention, so check back next week to find out the results.



Have a great weekend everyone! And be sure to stop by From My Grey Desk, Lauren has so many other fab women link up for her High Five For Friday post.

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

Life Changing Brownies

Ok, maybe these brownies won't change your life, but they will make you feel better. And that's pretty cool, right?

Below is an awesome tip to take your brownies from "tasting pretty good" to "I think I'm going to eat the whole batch in one sitting." I took these brownies to book club one night and my friend Vanessa was having a really bad day and felt totally overwhelmed. She had one of these amazing brownies and immediately felt better. I'm telling you, there is pure magic in these!

The recipe is so simple, but the rewards are so awesome. You only need brownie mix (plus the eggs, oil and water) and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Here is what you do:
1.) Prepare your favorite brownie mix according to the box directions (unless you're uber cool and make your brownies from scratch, then make 'em that way).

2.) Pop the brownies in the over for 4 minutes less than originally called for.

3.) While the brownies are baking, you create the magic. Unwrap Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and cut them into fourths. I know Reese's also has a mini version, but I prefer the cups, because you get more peanut butter. (You could really use any kind of meltable candy like York Peppermint Patties or something, but I'm a huge peanut fan!)


4.) Once the brownies are finished baking (minus four minutes!) take them out of the oven and sprinkle the cut up Reese's all over the top of the chocolate goodness.

5.) Pop the brownies back in the over to bake/melt for the final 4 minutes.

6.) Take the brownies out of the oven and, using a spatula, smear the melted Reese's Peanut Butter Cups all over the top of the brownies.

7.) Allow to cool

8.) See if your brownies can even make it out of the pan and onto a plate, because trust me - you will be ready to devour them.


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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Wore: Eyewear Edition

Have you heard of the online eyewear shop called Firmoo? Well get your little butts over there now and check them out.
(check out the bottom photo of this post, you can see the baby bump!)
Firmoo is an online eyeglasses store with quite a large selection and very competitive prices. And according to their website they are the world’s most popular online eyeglasses store and I can see why. Any style of glasses or sunglasses that you are looking for, they probably have it – with tons of options. They carry both prescription and non-prescription and since this chick has excellent vision I was looking for some non-prescription sunglasses. I ended up creating my own by selecting a pair of regular glasses and then choosing dark lenses at 80%, pretty genius if I do say so myself.


The people at Firmoo are so easy to work with. They answered all of my questions either via e-mail or with my online order form and they are prompt. No waiting around for weeks and weeks wondering when you are going to receive your glasses, nope, I got mine in about a week and a half.

And one super cool feature of their website, you can select a face that matches your face shape and virtually “try them on.” It was so cool to see if a certain type of style would look good on my nice round face (thanks for that Dad!).

With every pair of glasses you purchase from Firmoo, you receive an awesome and very durable case, cleaning cloth and a repair kit. Tolar has been in need of a repair kit in the past (I may or may not have kneed him in the face on accident, knocking his glasses off) and we had to go buy a repair kit. Well, if only we had used Firmoo before, we would have already had our own. I love when company’s go the extra mile to ensure that their product remains just as it was when they shipped it to you.


I really encourage you to check out Firmoo’s website, you won’t be disappointed. They answer every question you can think of on their HELP page and make the ordering process super easy. Plus, they have a Free glasses program where they offer the first pair free for new customers. So go check out their site right now, for all of your glasses needs.

Striped Shirt: H&M. Cardigan: JCPenney. Boots: Target. Bracelet and Earrings: Silpada. Sunnies: c/o Firmoo.
(Full disclosure: I was sent the sunglasses from Firmoo free of charge, but all opinions about the website and online shop are completely my own.)



I'm linking up with Style Elixir for Style Sessions and The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesdays
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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Two Tips Tuesday


Welcome to my weekly post, Two Tips Tuesday. I hope you are enjoying the tips; I’m certainly loving all of your comments and your own tips.

Tip #1:
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Remember this post where I told you about Caroline G ? Well this is your friendly reminder to go check out the online shop if you haven’t already. Also remember that if you enter code lindsay at checkout you will receive 15% off your order. While you are at it, I recommend checking out the Caroline G facebook page because there are all sorts of awesome deals available there. An amazing deal started yesterday where you can score a FREE 3-stone necklace. So get your cute self over to facebook and see for yourself. And be sure to mention that Lindsay from Pursuit of Pink sent you over there.

Tip #2:
[via]
Looking for a quick dry solution to your nail polish? I have found an excellent quick dry top coat: Essie Good to Go Fast Dry Top Coat. This polish finish does just what it says, it dries super fast. One of the main reasons I don’t paint my nails as much as I would like to is because I don’t have time to sit around and wait to let my nails completely dry for 20 minutes. But I have discovered my new secret weapon in this magic fast dry top coat from Essie. I paint my nails, apply the top coat and about 3 minutes later I can touch my nails and no smudges happen, they feel as smooth as can be because they are completely dry. I highly recommend you try this product if you are looking for a quick fix manicure. 
And to give you a little bonus for this tip, check out another awesome fast drying nail product here.






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I linked up this post with Northern Belle Diaries for her Just Because link up!

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Monday, February 18, 2013

February Birchbox


It’s that magical time of the month when I open my mailbox and see a glorious pink box sitting there waiting for me to discover the goodies inside.


Before I get into what was included in my box this month, I want to answer a few questions I've received about my Birchbox subscription.

1.) How do I sign up for Birchbox?
Just click this link here which will take you to the Birchbox website to get your name added to the list. There is a slight waiting period depending on demand, but I got my confirmation e-mail in a few short weeks.

2.) Is it worth paying $10 a month?
In a word? ABSOLUTELY! Quite often I receive full size products in my monthly boxes which makes the subscription pay for itself and then some. Plus, if you are a beauty junkie like me and love trying new products, I highly recommend you sign up. I have been introduced to products I might never normally try simply because I didn't know they exist.

3.) What do you do with the samples you don’t use?
I try to use everything at least once just to test it out and see if there is a new product I want to add to my beauty routine. If I end up not using a sample, I will either save it for a gift box I am putting together or offer the samples to friends who I think might be interested. Another thought is to set them out for your guests to try (I put some beauty samples in the medicine cabinet in my guest bathroom for my guests to test out).



Now on to what came in this month’s box:

1.) Ghirardelli Chocolate with Carmel – Nice move Birchbox, it is awesome getting a little chocolate surprise in my monthly box.
2.) Jouer Matte Moisture Tint – I have received one of these samples before and I really liked it. The tinted moisturizer gives my skin tone an even color and leaves my skin feeling super smooth.
3.) WEI Pomegranate Buffing Beads – Such a neat product! You just add these buffing beads to your cleanser and instantly turn it into a scrub. This is a great way to slough off all of those dead skin cells.
4.) TIGI Catwalk Session Series Transforming Dry Shampoo – It is no secret I’m all about some dry shampoo, so I’m excited to receive such a decent size sample to test out and see how the TIGI brand compares to my normal brand.
5.) WEI Golden Root Purifying Mud Mask – Masks are terrific and I haven’t used one in awhile; what a great way to get rid of the dirt and oil that is deep in your pores. Your face will feel so clean after a mask treatment.
6.) Juicy Couture scent, Couture LaLa – I’ve gotta be honest, I’m not crazy about the scent. It kind of smells like baby powder, so I might not be using this scent often.

There you go, beauty in a box. If you are interested in signing up with Birchbox after reading all of this, click here to sign up for your own subscription. And if you have any questions about a Birchbox subscription, just leave a comment below.


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Linking this post up for #YOLOMondays with Lipgloss and Crayons and still being Molly.
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Friday, February 15, 2013

High Five For Friday


Hope everyone had a great week and that you are all ready for another three day weekend (what a great thing!!!). Linking up with Lauren over at From My GreyDesk for High Five For Friday.

1.) Tolar and I went to go see comedian Myq Kaplan and had an awesome time (even though I was super tired). We love to laugh and always enjoy ourselves whenever we go to the Arlington Drafthouse.
Don't mind the empty plate - it was some delicious peanut butter pie. That's how we roll.
2.) I finally started reading Gone Girl and I’m loving it. Extra special treat, Barnes and Noble printed off a receipt with recommendations for other, similar books I might like.

 3.) Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday was this week and I decided to bring back a childhood tradition and made pancakes for dinner. Super yummy.

 4.) Everyone’s favorite holiday (I kid) was yesterday and my Valentine showered me with love, even though I was the one planning our festivities this year. These are just a few of the gifts he gave me. Tolar seriously spoiled me.

5.) And finally, the winner of the Bestie giveaway is…. Caitlin from Crossroads of the Heart!
Congrats Caitlin, thanks so much for entering and following along on Pursuit of Pink and Looking to the Stars.


Well that sums up my week pretty well. And since it’s the most awesome day of the week, with a long weekend ahead of us, gimme a high five! Woohoo!

See ya Monday!

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