Our Weekend

Our weekend was slightly uneventful, mostly because I worked most of it putting together a last minute presentation for work. Well - scratch that - two presentations.

So since we didn't have a ton going on, I thought....why not throw out some randoms from the last couple of days. Good? Good.

The weekend started on a great note. I booked myself a 9pm massage on Thursday night and boy was it much needed. I will tell you one thing. Businesses that have accessible hours are the best. I ended up working late that night and went straight there, however, how easy would it be for a working parent or a stay at home one to make a 9pm appointment, while still getting to put their kiddo to bed beforehand? Genius.

On Friday, we had already planned to go out and had a new sitter lined up. Dinner and the comedy club was fantastic, but even better Nick's cousin watched Cruz for the first time and did so great. I'm hoping we've found ourselves a someone to watch little man.

I spent basically the entire weekend wearing this jacket.  And I'm loving it. I don't often buy Lulu, but when I do, I buy jackets.

There you have it. Headed to KC tomorrow for the week. Thankfully my parents were able to take Cruz man to the farm this week, so I know he's having the best time while I'm gone.

And being that it is my little bro's two year anniversary, here is a little look back at his wedding weekend back home. Seriously, I love my siblings. We may have had a little fun. And Tess and I may have spent a little time in the tanning bed....don't judge.

And just look at little Cruz! He had just learned to really walk the week before the wedding. Awww... =)

Linking up with Miss B.

2014 Travel

If there is one thing I love to do, it's travel.

Discovering new places, relaxing, trying new foods, cocktails by the pool, spending time with people I love, flying, the anticipation, the packing (def, not the unpacking)...I just love everything about it.

Fortunately Mr. Mango does as well and traveling is something we love to do together (and lucky me because he's quite the travel planner), but it's also something we love to do apart. It's good for both of us to get some time with our friends on great trips away.

I was reminiscing this weekend and going through old photo albums and it made me think of just how fortunate I've been to take some amazing trips and 2014 definitely was one of the best years for travel as far as I'm concerned.

So I figured if I liked looking at all the pics, then surely you would, right? Sure.

{Scottsdale}

In January, three of my favorite gal pals and I headed for our somewhat annual trip to Scottsdale...one of my favorite places to get away to. Champagne was the name of the game that weekend and we made sure to consume as much of it as possible. Just a relaxing weekend catching up with girlfriends who no longer live in Omaha was a great way to kick off the new year.

(Check it out here)

{Mexico}

In March, the hubs and I took somewhat of a last minute beach vacay to Play del Carmen.  Just us. An early five year anniversary celebration. It was seriously one of the best - if not THE best - vacation we've had.  We golfed, we rode ATVs & ziplined through the jungle, we drank loads of cocktails by the pool, we had couples massages on the beach, we dove into a cenote, we people watched on the streets of Playa's famous 5th avenue and I slept/napped more than I ever have in my life. It was just what we needed.

(Read more about it here & here)

{Bahamas Cruise}

We found out last minute that I was taking a group of customers on a cruise in April, so of course I had to invite my best guy along. He has great perks, doesn't he? It was our first cruise and, while I can't say we are big cruise fans, it was still amazing. Three nights/four days in and out of the Bahamas. We definitely managed to have some fun...and reinvigorate our tans from our Mexico trip.

(A short recap here)

{Las Vegas}

Work called once again and drug us to Vegas. Well it was originally just a work trip, but we tacked on a couple of days so Nick and I could sneak in a little personal time. We finally got to see the new Linq and High Roller - I actually got a really great tour via a break out group from one of our meetings that week. And then we had a cocktail reception at the newly open Giada at The Cromwell as well as dinner there the following night where I was lucky enough to stalk meet her.

The best part, though, about a long week away? Coming home to this guy. And this sign he was holding for me at the airport.

{Kansas City}

The following weekend, we planned a little family getaway to KC for Father's Day. Swimming at the hotel pool, a day at Schliterbahn Water Park, a trip to Lego Land and spending some time at the Plaza was a perfectly packed weekend.

{Virginia Beach}

In July we took an amazing beach vacay with our Manganaro-Gardner side of the family. Major blogging fail because I have yet to recap this one, but I'm going to. We rented a house right on the beach and had no agenda. It was such a great time away...and all I can say is that I got pretty lucky on the in-law side of things and for a group this size to get along as well as we all do is pretty impressive. Plus, it was little man's first time in the ocean. He wasn't a fan at first (there may have been some girly screaming) but he got the hang of things and totally wowed us with his swimming skills in our pool at the house....especially his "canyon" ball. =)

{Austin - Part One}

In September, I headed to Austin to meet my bestie for a million years and all of her friends from Houston for a weekend of debauchery for her bachelorette party. Although, I'm not sure you can count being in by 11pm the first night and not even leaving the apartment the second night, following a day full of drinking on a wine tour through the Dripping Springs Wine Trail, a debauchery though. Who knew Texas grapes were so delish.

(More about this trip here)

{New Orleans}

Yet again, I had a trip for work and this time it took me to NoLa in October. I had never been and was hoping for some free time to check out the city. We had some amazing work dinners at Palace Cafe, Restaurant Revolution and attended the opening of Johnny Sanchez, where we got to meet both John Besh and Aaron Sanchez. If you are Food Network fans, as I am, you might recognize them from the Next Iron Chef. The food didn't stop there - one of our meeting break out groups was a cooking class at Langlois, which was phenomenal. And someone might have forced me to Bourbon Street to take the obligatory jello shot...in a massive syringe. At least I didn't bring home beads. =)

via

{Austin - Part Two}

In October, our little fam and my mom headed back to Austin for the wedding of the year. My bestie since 6th grade was getting married and I got to stand next to her on her special day. The wedding and reception were held at Duchman Winery and it was a gorgeous backdrop for an even more gorgeous couple. Ahhh...it was beautiful.

(More on the wedding here)

{Chicago}

In December, we rounded out yet another one of my work trips with a little weekend getaway for just Nick and I. We had a great weekend eating and drinking our way through the city - we took in a Bulls game, went to a Second City performance and did loads of shopping. I even got to eat a deep dish pizza in bed. Mmmm pizza and red wine in bed, how can you beat that??

(Check out the recap here)

There you have it, a year of travel for the Mangos. Seeing this all typed out, I'm feeling pretty lucky to have gotten to hit up so many great places this year and check some new locations off my bucket list.

Ok, so it's almost embarrassing (not really because who cares?) but I think this tank made it into almost all of our vacation pics this year. It's so versatile and I guess you could say I like it. And obviously bought it in almost every color. =)

And sorry for the quality of some of these iPhone pics. It's vacay...I wasn't going to pulling out the fancy DSLR in the middle of all of our fun.

Now looking at where we need to travel in 2015 - any recommendations of places we need to visit?

Linking up with Miss Biana.

Five Things Right Now

Ahhh, this week is finally coming to an end. It was a long one of scrambling between Nick and I to share stay-at-home parenting duties with our little bubble boy. Yep, Cruz had the flu, but fortunately I think he is finally on the tail end. Phew. And just in time for the weekend.

{ONE}

Speaking of Cruz, he has been super affectionate this week, so you know I'm not complaining.  I can't even count how many times he said, "mama, I have to tell you somthin'. Do you know what?" (me: what?) "I just love you. You're my favorite mommy. You know that?"

Or it was "mommy, guess who is my favorite mommy?" (me: who?) "you! You're the best mommy." (And god forbid if after the 1,517th time he said it, that I would immediately say "aww thanks buddy" or something like that...he would get pretty pissed and make me ask "who?" every.single.time.)

And then tonight when I was putting him down for bed, he rolled over and looked at me with those big, blue eyes of his and said,

"Mama, would you hold my hand? Holding your hand is my favorite." Ahh seriously, I died. And then I realized that he had just suckered me into staying in his room until he fell asleep, which I'm pretty certain was all just a part of his plan from the get go. And I walked right into that one...happily.

{TWO}

There are a couple of things I love: 

I love to shop.

I love to shop online from the comfort of my couch.

And I really love deals. 

If you follow me on Facebook, you have seen that I like to share some of my favorite deals and steals when I come across them. I mean, why do I have to be the only one having all the fun?

And one of my favorite places for the best deals on some of my favorite brands - and brands I didn't yet know were my favorite - is Zulily. I credit it for helping me discover some of our favorite pieces of clothing for Cruz.  Like this shirt little man wears to work out in, well, not really...but it is currently on sale. I mean this whole outfit is in major rotation these days.

And in the interest of naps, I just found this shirt (it's still on there!) and I'm pretty sure Cruz man will be rocking it for Valentine's day, because who doesn't love love and who doesn't love naps. Besides me. I'm not much of a nap fan, unless it's my kid taking one, so I can get things done and not feel guilty. Mom guilt. #thestruggleisreal  =)

And if you haven't yet checked out Zulily...run, fast. Seriously you need to see what you've been missing. And if you click the link and end up buying something, I actually get a credit to the store, which means more shopping for me, more posting of deals & steals for you and more of me asking you to check Zulily out in future posts. See, it's basically just a vicious little cycle. =)

{THREE}

I don't generally post about celebs, instead I just usually stalk them via social media and the pages of my Us Weekly magazine. But come on? Seriously, could Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds be any cuter? And now they have a little lady of their own who will undoubtedly be the most adorable thing in the world. And this is her preggo look? Ah-may-zing. To all you ladies who haven't had a kiddo yet, I'm sorry to burst your bubble BUT there is a chance you may not look exactly like this when you get knocked up. I hate to break the news, but I feel it's important to paint an accurate picture.

Now has anyone heard their baby name? I'm dying to find out.

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{FOUR}

It's no surprise I love Shark Tank. Not only would I die to have an idea good enough to be on it someday, but I just love seeing hard working people landing deals for their amazing inventions. And, not only that, but I also love discovering new must-have products and throwing some business their way. One that I was an immediate fan of was Groovebook. The concept is pretty easy. Once you download the app, you upload your pics from your phone and then they ship you a cute little booklet of all your pics. They send you an email reminder to upload your pics by XX day, you can upload up to 100 pics and they will turn around and send you a booklet full of all your pics, with perforated edges so you can pluck out any photos you want to frame or keep them all in the handy book.

Disclaimer: I will say that your IG images will sometimes come up slightly fuzzy (if you use a lot of filters, etc) and if you let your three year old flip through the book, pictures might fall out relatively easy because he doesn't handle your stuff with care, but as an overall I love having actual pictures and the fact that it's so easy to upload to the app and then I just sit and wait for them to arrive on my doorstep? Genius. Oh, and they send you a reminder to remember to upload. And all of this for $2.99 a month.

{FIVE}
Ok so I need some help. I'm in desperate need for some new trainers and can't decide between these. Which is your fave? Just tell me. I will probably go with it...seeing as I'm highly impressionable.

1 // 2 // 3 // 4

You think I like yellow, black and gray? Just a little bit =)

So have a great weekend. If you need me, I will probably be lounging with Cruz and watching The Croods for the one millionth time. =)


Linking up with Karli, Amanda and Natasha.

New Year, Brighter Focus

Happy New Year! Wow, hard to believe it's already 2015....if I had a penny for everyone who has said that, I would have loads of pennies. You know what I mean?

What is it about every year we get older, the faster those years seem to fly? I seriously feel like 2014 started only like a few months ago.

While I'm not one to make hard core resolutions - I mean, come on, I'm not going to follow them anyway - I still like to set some goals and try to attain them. Or get as close to possible. So that is what is going on here. Goals for the new year.

{Shop smarter}

Let's be honest, budgets and I don't get along, so saying I'm going to shop smarter is a much more realistic goal for me. Like waiting for sales on things I want. Trying out that cartwheel thingy for Target - I mean, I just got me the Target debit card and can't believe I didn't have it sooner. Saving 5% off every Target purchase and it comes right out of our bank account. Duh. And trying to refrain from knee jerk purchases. Like adding things to my online shopping cart or actual shopping cart and then walking away. If I keep thinking about it, it probably means I should have it.

And I could say shopping less. But seriously, we know me. That is just never going to happen.  So why would I set myself up for failure right out of the gate. (Don't tell Nick, because I might've told him I would try...)

{Run more}

I love running - it's my time to think, relax and just do something for me -  but for some reason I got away from it. I wasn't much of a runner in my 20s, but got into it ironically the year I got pregnant. I found a place I loved to run and found myself a love for running. The year after having Cruz, I ran my first (and only) half marathon - it was at that time I was in the best shape I'm pretty sure I've ever been in. I credit a lot of that to running (and of course diet) and I really think that if I bring running back into my life and couple it with my new found love for TRX and the pilates classes I've been doing, that I can get back to that place.

Which brings me to the reason the above may not exactly happen as I hope...

{Get knocked up}

Yep. We are working away at this one. I won't gross you out with the details, but we are hoping 2015 is the year we give little man a sibling. Cruz & Nick are hoping for a boy and while I could see myself being a boy mom, I also would love a little girl. If anything, just because I need an ally in the house. These boys just love to gang up on me.

{Spend more time with Cruz and the old ball & chain}

Being that this is one of my favorite past times, it should be easy, but that isn't always the case. I need to put down the laptop at night and put my focus on my guys. When Cruz is awake, I need to be in the moment with him. No more "just let me finish this email." I truly love the time I get with him, so why am I always pushing it away to get work done or blog or online shop. 

And when Cruz is asleep, I should be more in the moment with Nick. We used to have nights when we would just chill together and watch our favorite TV show or movie and that is few and far between these days. This needs to change, because surprise, surprise - I actually do like spending time with him.

{Travel}

Of course I have to have travel as a goal. I love to travel and thankfully Nick does to. However, sometimes it seems we actually do more traveling apart than together...but , hey, you do your own thing to help keep the spark alive, am I right? Plus I really love girl trips and fortunately have a kick ass group of gal pals, including my sister T, to travel with.

Don't get me wrong, I love traveling with Nick too. And we do plenty of it each year, but I think trips away with your best girls are, well, the best.

And then there's this...

{Do something for me}

I've got another little goal and I'm thinking 2015 will be the year I finally do something about it. More to come, hopefully in the very near future.  Nothing like being vague, right? I'm such an a-hole. =)

So, happy new year (not 'new years,' for heaven's sake) to you and yours, from me and mine!

Shirt // Jeans (similar here) // Shoes // Marquee Light

Linking up with miss Tawyna for Saturday Spotlight.