Important question for you guys – remember to check the end of the post!
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My friend Kayte and I made plans to hang out Sunday afternoon.
FIrst on the agenda – eats!
We hit up The Flying Biscuit. Luckily the wait wasn’t too long.
I decided to order something new-ish. I usually get the High Flyer, but I wasn’t feeling the oatmeal pancake. So, I got the Bacon and Eggs breakfast instead. I love the turkey bacon in the Southern Scramble, but turkey bacon by itself usually tastes weird to me solo. I think next time I’ll either get the chicken sausage or soysage.
After brunch, we went shopping! I’m in the market for cross body totes. I’d like one dressy one (for going out) and one casual one (for everyday as well as use on trips – needs to fit my DSLR, though!). We looked at a few gorgey bags in Nordstrom. I especially liked this Marc by Marc Jacobs.
We also swung by Neiman Marcus where I promptly fell in love with a Chanel quilted, patent leather wallet/cross-body purse. *le sigh* A girl can dream, right?
And to finish our fun afternoon – froyo!
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Fashion Blogging
So some of you guys know that I used to run a fashion blog called Shopaholics Anonymous. I’ve really been missing fashion blogging (which I actually did before I even started The Chic Life), so I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to start doing fashion blog posts again. I’m thinking of either putting them here on TCL and making it easier for you guys to sort those in/out depending on if you’re interested. I’ve also considered just restarting Shopaholics Anonymous and picking up where I left off. Thoughts? Would you be interested in seeing fashion/shopping/outfit posts here on TCL or would you rather I link to an external blog?
Hubby enlisted my help this weekend to whip up a bunch of tasty eats for his guy friends who were coming over for a fantasy draft, followed by poker night.
I’m used to preparing eats for a bunch of food blogger (girl) friends who mostly eat vegetarian, so this was a little challenge for me. I spent most of last week staying up till the wee hours of the night trying to get organized (after returning from HLS after 11pm Sunday night), blogging, and taking care of other to-dos. Late nights + another busy week at work = me feeling pretty drained by the weekend. So, I decided to try to keep the food prep as easy as possible.
I like to cook most of the food when we entertain, but I always try to do at least one or two things (usually more like 25%, so actual count depending on the number of dishes and number of people being served) pre-prepared from the grocery store.
We decided on…
Store bought chips and salsa
Fresh cut veggies (from the produce section, not a pre-prepared veggie tray) plus homemade dill sauce.
And hubby picked up Great Harvest rolls to go with…
Eat Live Run’s Famous Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken.
I had asked my twitter and Facebook friends for slow cooker suggestions (since slow cookers are wonderful life savers for entertaining), BBQ chicken was a popular suggestion. Thank you all again for your wonderful tips! We almost went with the taco bar many of you suggested, but hubby wasn’t feeling tacos this weekend.
Anywho, the BBQ chicken was a real winner. The chicken became uber tender and came apart easily with a couple of forks. The sauce was just the right amount and on the sweet side, which I actually like. 
I only wish I made a double batch!
I also made an experiment – Creamy Spinach Polenta Bites.
Hubby told me guys don’t like polenta, so I almost didn’t make the experiment dish. But, I asked my twitter friends about this theory and found out lots of guys like polenta. So there! 
Anywho, I basically sliced a tube of polenta (taking another short cut) into roughly 1/3″ rounds, baked the polenta and then topped the polenta pieces with a homemade creamy spinach topping. Mmm. The creamy spinach would also be a fantastic dip! I just need to play around with the recipe a bit more, and then it’s sharing time!
We also made two flatbreads with store bought pizza dough, pesto (store bought), fresh mozzarella, and tomatoes. I totally chopped up fresh basil from my garden to put on top of this and then forgot. Doh!
The boys attached the food like a pack of locusts.
And they said everything was really good. Even the polenta.
After the swarm. 
Reader question #1: Do you think guys like polenta?
Reader question #2: What are your tips/tricks for feeding a bunch of guys?
Bailey’s fourth birthday was last week!
Bailey actually really likes unwrapping gifts, and he took much pleasure in ripping the gift wrap off of his presents.
Look at that smile!
To celebrate his birthday, hubby and I headed out to Noda.
The sky was a little weird looking – I was guessing from the hurricane off in the distance.
We hit up Revolution Pizza, since they have good food and let Bailey dine with us outdoors.
Beer for hubby, a cucumber mojito for moi.
Bruschetta.
And we shared a small pizza with spinach, caramelized onions, and oven-dried tomatoes.
Then it was time for Bailey’s real party to begin. We took him to the dog bar!
And a birthday party wouldn’t be complete without birthday cake. Yup, a local shop bakes treats just for your furry friends.
Bailey was spoiled with a couple slices of cake.
But there were plenty of pieces left to share with the other dogs at the bar.
And finally, we swung by Amelie’s for human treats.
Macarons for me! I had a raspberry and a pistachio macaron. Nom!
I’d really like to try to make macarons some time. Are they difficult?
How do you celebrate your pet’s birthday?
If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be going to a Britney Spears concert, I would have called you crazy. If you had told my sister 10 years ago that I was going to a Britney Spears concert, she not only would have agreed that you were crazy, she would have also been uber jealous. My how things change with time.
When Britney first hit MTV, it was my sister who was infatuated with the pop princess (she loved all the boy bands, too, of course). Meanwhile, I thought the whole sugar-y pop thing was silly, and I pretty much couldn’t stand the music. I may or may not have teased her for her love of Britney, the Backstreet Boys, and let’s not forget…the Spice Girls.
Fast forward to present day, and I’m such a Britney fan, while my sister isn’t! I could jam to Britney any day of the week, while my sister could care less to hear her music. So, as a Britney fan, I was super excited to hear she was coming to town. You’d think that I would have spent some time putting together a fun outfit for the concert (you guys know I love costumes), but things have been so busy, a costume was the last of my concerns.
My first choice was the Slave 4 U pink outfit, but that required too much DIY for my schedule. I tried throwing some last minute outfits with clothes I had in my closet, but to no avail. I had a close version of her Everytime outfit, but the white shirts weren’t the right size. I actually threw together a decent Gimme More outfit (I posted a photo on my Facebook – click to view), but I deemed it too scandalous for the night. An interesting decision given my choice of costume for Lady Gaga. Guess I wasn’t in the mood for pushing my age-appropriate dressing to the utmost limits. I ended up just wearing leggings, a loose tank top, and my Zumba shoes.
I went out with a fun group of girls for the concert – lots of my Zumba peeps.
The show opened with DJ Pauly D, but not Nicki Minaj. Not sure why she didn’t make it. I admit I watch the Jersey Shore, but I wasn’t there for Pauly. I didn’t really miss Nicki Minaj either. I was there for the main attraction.
Femme Fatale – moments before starting.
Show time!
The concert was super fun and I loved hearing some different remixes of her songs. She did a lot of her new songs, some old school faves, and of course her current #1s.
Swoon!
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Random fashion/celebrity thought: Does anyone else think Kim Kardashian’s wedding look (click) was a little too Red Sonja (click) does bridal? I didn’t love the headpiece. What did you think of it? I must admit, I didn’t watch or read any of the wedding coverage. I’ve only seen a couple photos pop up via fashion blogs in my Google Reader. So, maybe the look made more sense if you saw the whole thing? Please discuss!
Side note: I’ve read via various sources that the headpiece is a nod to Kim’s Armenian ancestry. Apparently, the headpiece was supposed to resemble a crown (though a couple google image searches yielded no similar results to what Kim wore)? I won’t even pretend to understand Armenian tradition, so if you’re Armenian, please educate us. I’m all about a cultural nod, so learning that alone makes me dislike it less.
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Reader question: Tell me the truth – do you (or did you) love pop music – especially bubbly girl and guy groups and performers? Which one is/was your favorite?
