Wednesday, May 1, 2019

April City Life 2019- Springtime In The City + Instagram GIVEAWAY Details + Spring Easter Table Setting + City Adventures Hauls Candle Review


Despite having been extremely sick for almost three weeks out of this month once I felt better I had a great time and I also was on a completely "regular" sleep schedule; which meant I could go to more daytime events. I try to make the most of living in South Tampa and go to the beach as much as I can in the cooler months. Unfortunately, a lot of times it is overcast, but some days we get beautiful sunsets like this day. This was my first time going to Fort Desoto Park and its so beautiful and secluded there was very little ambient light after the sun set. If you are not familiar with this area it is on the far end of St. Pete (Beach) and there is not a lot of stuff over there so it literally is pitch black at night.








This year I opted for an inexpensive Easter table from Pier 1.

Saucers: Pier 1
Chargers: Pier 1
Easter Bunny: Pier 1
Napkin rings (not shown- they ended up being back ordered) Crate & Barrel

The rest of the items are from other tables from the past:
-The collectable eggs are from last years table: Williams Sonoma
-The napkins: Crate & Barrel
-The wine glasses: Crate & Barrel, not available
-Center piece bowl: Crate & Barrel
-Napkin rings: Crate & Barrel






Just yesterday I had a chance to announce my Instagram giveaway on my blog and on my Instagram page. I am very happy to say I was one of the bloggers/Tampa Influencers that was chosen to represent Tampa and cover the Fifth Annual River Fest at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park this weekend. This giveaway is super easy so don't miss out on the opportunity to win two free VIP tickets which include so much detailed here.

Even if you don't enter or choose to come by on Saturday maybe we will bump into each other lol the event is free to the public, VIP tickets are $50.00 each.




Bath and Body Works has a new scent called Gingham and it is quite lovely. I have not had a chance to go to the mall to buy more candles since Candle Day in November so I was so excited to do a huge haul. The Gingham scent is fresh and it reminds me of Burberry.



I also went on ahead and purchased the Rose moisture set because it has been my favorite scent for over a year now. What sold me was this foaming oil, you don't have to use a lot and it leaves the skin soft and not sticky with a little bit of shine that won't transfer on your clothes.



Items C/O Juno Woman







Spring is in the air! I am an orchid lover and it took me a long long time to learn to be patient with them. I killed so many orchids (all phals) and gave up for a while. It wasn't until I started practicing yoga that I gained the patience and respect to care for an orchid. They are slow blooming. Some only bloom once a year and then its only in bloom for a week. I have never had a phal re-bloom ever, but my Dendrobiums have been blooming, my fire dancing lady re-bloomed, and low and behold the Vanda I thought I killed now has blooms on it! The Vanda is the last photo and unfortunately I killed three- or at least they look dead. I was shocked when I came outside and saw the small orange blooms and I just thought, it has re-bloomed in spite of me lol.




IN THE CITY






DOWNTOWN


BEACH DRIVE





Sacred Pepper Wine paring event








BELLA BRAVA







HALL ON FRANKLIN 




Mise En Place







Copper Shaker






Osteria
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GLUTEN FREE ITEMS COOKED BY MYSELF-
 RECIPES AVAILABLE BY REQUEST


Pan seared steak with sautéed green beans and onions

Mine is the same, but I have vegetable basmati rice additionally

This month was a pretty tough month for me health wise because I got glutened at the end of March. I had no choice but to keep all of my dinners, breakfasts, and lunches simplistic because my stomach was so enflamed as a response to having ingested wheat. The pan seared steak is not something we do often, in all the years I have been married we have done it now three times. Its simple and easy to do. We bought a thick steak that my husband cut in half because the grocery store did not have any thin cut steaks already cut. I just added 1 tablespoon of butter in the cast iron and let that heat up on high heat. Cook the steak for three minutes on each side and then let it sit on the plate while you sauté the veggies.

Roasted salmon with white rice and French cut green beans



One skillet roast leg quarters with green beans and 2 fingerling potatoes for myself, Brussel sprouts for hubs to stay keto

Keto plate

My plate

Chicken club salad
I personally love big salads and eat them everyday. Every few weeks I switch hub's meal prep from meat, to fish, to salads to keep his diet rounded. I have been trying to tell him for almost a year now that he can be Keto, but he needs to add more veggies and more salads. He is plenty hard headed and instead of listening to me he indulged on bacon, processed meats, cheese, butter, avocados, and every other high fat food he could find for the first eight months of his Keto diet.

I explained to him that the Keto diet isn't all that different than just being gluten free with exception to carbs and sugar, but for me I will do carbs, but I am not big on sugars or even anything sweet. So I advised him he needs to have a cleaner diet and low and behold once I started doing big salad meal prep for him the salads were making him sick.

Now, after some research he realized there is a thing called "Dirty Keto" which is exactly what he was doing indulging on too many high fat foods. So, here are two of the big salads that I made this month. Usually for him he gets more meat than me- I eat on average 4 ounces of meat a day or less (sometimes I don't eat meat at all or I eat Seafood).

For this salad I bought chicken tenders and cooked them in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes seasoned lightly with salt and pepper. I added all the things we like in the salad and his had avocado.

The second salad I had this month was the albacore tuna salad (my favorite). This was the first time I have ever had albacore tuna packed in oil- my husband bought it by mistake. It has so much more flavor than tuna packed in water! The caveat is that is is not as healthy because it is higher in cholesterol and saturated fat, but it does have health benefits that tuna packed in water doesn't have. I eat tuna maybe once every few months so for me I guess having it packed in oil once or twice a year won't be that big of a deal.











              

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