Hi friends!

How were your post-July 4th weeks? Mine just felt weird. It felt so sluggish yesterday and today while I was at work but at the same time, it feels like the weekend has come unnaturally fast!

On July 4th, my sister and I had some serious shopping planned. Independence Day sales are no joke – especially at an outlet! We went out hard at Jersey Shore Premium Outlets, but unfortunately, didn’t come home with as much as we wanted. I didn’t find much I liked or in my size and my sister already has so many clothes that she was afraid of incurring the wrath of my mother if she bought more.

Photo op while in Tommy Hilfiger:

Later on, my parents wanted to go to Applebee’s, so we popped over for an early dinner. To start, my dad had the Sam Adams summer ale, I ordered the berry sangria, my sister had the mango lemonade, and my mom wanted to join in on the photo with her glass of water.

For apps, we went with the spinach artichoke dip (Steph’s very favorite) and the classic buffalo wings. Both were good!

I ordered the seasonal berry and spinach salad, which is similar to my summer salad with strawberries, but with grilled chickens and without the avocado. It was exactly what I wanted after having heavier chicken tenders for lunch and hit the spot!

My mom had the 7 oz house sirloin, which she enjoyed. I thought it was cooked perfectly! The waitress asked her to cut into it before she left to make sure, hence the butchered-looking steak and the knife on the plate.

My sister ordered the bourbon street chicken and shrimp, which came on a sizzling plate. I tried a bit of the chicken and it had way too much seasoning on top in my opinion – super salty! Then again, I season very lightly and consider a lot of things oversalted.

I don’t remember exactly what my dad had but I think it was the grilled shrimp and island rice. I love roasted vegetables so I was stealing that zucchini off his plate! No shame here.

As for the past two days, I’ve had two of what I’ve now decided officially qualify on my favorite foods list. I can’t decide what I like better!

Vegan chocolate mousse which claims to be only 42 calories but tastes like heaven?

Or authentic tzatzki filled pitas from Mamoun’s Falafel in Hoboken? Hmmm. Quite the food toss up!

My half eaten falafel hummus pita. Yum!

My sister’s visiting this weekend and tomorrow (or rather later today!) we’ll be doing the pool dive portion of the PADI open water diver certification! I convinced (okay, bullied, just a little) her into doing this with me and we both just passed the test online about an hour ago. She’s excited after getting our gear at the scuba shop today. I can’t wait to get certified so we can go diving together in Hawaii at the end of the month. Yay!

Have a lovely weekend!

T-shirt: Ann Taylor
Skirt: Ann Taylor
Blazer: Ann Taylor
Pumps: BCBG Max Azria
Bracelet: Forever 21
Cameo necklace: Vintage

This is a pretty standard warm weather work outfit for me. Whenever it’s warm out and I can’t decide what to wear, I reach for a top, pencil skirt, and blazer! It’s flattering on me, easy, and always looks pulled together.

And as evidenced by this outfit, I love me some Ann Taylor! They have some awesome work clothes.

From What Should We Call Me:
How true is this?! There’s something about going home to my parents’ house that just makes me want to eat! And here’s some of the terrible stuff I’ve been eating:

Tangy buffalo wing Doritos

Those make my mouth burn! And…

Dark chocolate acai with blueberry

These are delicious and probably aren’t actually that bad for you… in moderation. Maybe not so much when you eat about an eighth of the huge bag at a time. Whoops!

I think one of the other things that triggers my desire to eat, eat, eat at my parents’ house is the fact that they don’t have much health food. I eat peanut butter pretty much every day, but all they have is Skippy, which I refuse to touch because of all the added sugar. No thanks!

Another thing I always do when at my parents’ house is go shopping! Having a car there and two nice malls within thirty minutes just makes it too easy to spend my money. Anyway, my sister and I went shoe shopping today! I really need a comfy pair of flats I can walk in for my commute to and from work. I considered this pair found at Lord & Taylor:

Tahari Valerie flats

How hideous is their carpet?! Horrible carpets seem like a prerequisite of all department stores. Anyway, I also found this pair at DSW (sorry for the washed out feet!):

Tahari Villa flats

Both were cute and on sale for around $50, which I thought was reasonable. But I just didn’t love either of them. The first were really comfortable, but I wasn’t crazy about the huge flower embellishment on them. The second had a patent strip at the back, right at the heel, which made them a little stiffer. They seemed like they’d require some breaking in, which I hate. So sadly, passed on both. I’ll have to keep looking!