Succulent Terrarium

It all started with my need for some heat resistant plants on my front porch.  So my trip to Lowes and Home Depot ended up with a basket of beautiful succulents and some pebbles!  Of course I used my pin from Pinterest that I featured on my Pins of the Week to help me create my beautiful terrarium and succulent planters.

   

I've had this super tall vase but other than Christmas I never use it.  So I was so excited to see this pin on Pinterest and I had to make my own beautiful terrarium.

I filled the bottom with about 2 inches of 1 inch rocks to provide drainage for the garden.

 Then I placed my three plants in and filled it in with potting soil.

It's sitting in my front entry to welcome guests into our home.

Sizzlin' Summer Treadmill Burn + Goals LinkUp

How is everyone doing with the Squat Challenge?  I'm doing terrible, I feel off the wagon.  I hate to admit it but I'm going to try again in June to start over and complete it for that great bikini hiney.  Well, now that I've come clean, it's time to share how I've been sweating it out at the gym.

Seriously, this will make you sweat!  I love that I can read my US Weekly while I climb the incline and I get my limbs pumping fast with the mile.  It gives you time to warm up and sweat it out.

If you are interested in my Squat Challenge, here's my pic.  And I will for sure be doing the repeat next month!

Goals LinkUp

Literary Junkies Co-Host

I'm so excited to co-host this awesome book club with my fabulous hostesses Taylor from Pink Heels Pink Truck and Lesley from By the Porchlight.  Thanks so much for the opportunity and the chance to bond over books!

Follow Taylor  |  Follow Lesley  |  Follow Sara

This month's questions:

1) What are you currently reading? Tell us about it.

I just finished the Hunger Games Trilogy and I tried picking up The Great Gatsby and quickly lost interest.  I'm heading to Barnes and Noble today to pick up some good reads because the kiddos will be in school so I stroll the bookstore at my leisure.  The Silver Linings Playbook is a possibility and so it the second book in Ken Follet's most current trilogy Winter of the World.  I'm sort of in that "after reading an intense series" shock of What-do-I-do-NOW?

2) Summer is just ahead and my fav thing to fantasize is laying in a hammock with a good book. What are your top 3 fav "summer" reads?

I like fast reads during the summer.  So Candace Bushnell, Lauren Weisburger, and the like.  Last summer I loved the Fifty Shades series.  And I love historical fictions, especially Philipa Gregory.

3) What are your top 3 summer "to-reads"?

1.  Third book in Deborah Harkness's will hopefully come out

2. The second and third books in Ken Follet's current series

3.  The Strong-Willed Child by Dr. James Dobson, my 15 month old is quite strong-willed, to put it nicely

4) What book do you wish they'd make it a movie of?

All of Philipa Gregory's books!  Oh, and Roma by Steven Saylor

5) Has your favorite author published a book lately or going to publish a book soon? Tell us about it.

The White Princess by Philippa Gregory is coming out this summer!  I am so enchanted by the royal courts of the Medieval Era and her stories are so engaging!

Bulu Box Fav of the Month

Last month's Bulu Box had a whole bunch of different products.  I liked the Barre bar and the CocoaVia packets but my fav was definitely the Neo-Chill tablets.

Check out Bulu Box and try them for yourself.  I liked how they took the edge off at the end of a stressful day with making me feel out of it or "drunk".  I just felt calm.

Menu Plan

Lucky me, I'm only cooking three days this week because...I'm going on vacation next weekend!  Woohoo!  I.  Am.  So.  Excited.  My hubs and I haven't gotten away in almost two years and I was pregnant then when we went to NYC.  But the last time we really got away just the two of us was 6 months before I got pregnant with my almost 4 year old!  It's been too long!

• MONDAY:  Chicken Parmeasan.  I love the already prepared (you have to cook it) parm chicken from Target on a bed of pasta and marinara and smothered in cheese.
• TUESDAY:  Pork Loin Chopped Salad.  This was so good last week I think I'm going to get a few more ingredients to toss in and see how yummo it turns out!
• WEDNESDAY:  Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken with brown rice

Weekly Recap

Sorry for the last post...again!  My hubs and I were up late watching the Hunger Games last night and my son had his last soccer game this morning so we are a bit backed up.  I was so proud of my little guy because he's really not gotten into the whole soccer thing but today he played a goalie-like position and he had two big stops!

As for the recap, I've been all over the place.  I guess my mind is already on vacation so I've been out of it!

• MONDAY:  Sweet Tea Social
• TUESDAY:  Pins of the Week
• WEDNESDAY:  Flipbelt giveaway and Goals LinkUp
• THURSDAY:  Cherries!  I'm working on my third bag this week.
• FRIDAY:  Pork Loin Chopped Salad.  Seriously, so good!

Pork Loin Chop Salad

Last night I surprised my meat lover of a hubs with a salad for dinner.  To say the least, he wasn't too pleased at the thought of having a salad for dinner but...he LOVED it!  And he kept saying later in the evening how surprised he was to still be full from it.  It was so yummy!

Pork Loin Chop Salad

• 1/2 avocado
• 1/2 tomato
• 1/2 cucumber
• Pork Loin cooked in the crockpot for 4 hours in 1 cup water (drain when done cooking)
• Romaine lettuce
• Feta Cheese (to liking)
• 1 tsp - 1 tbsp Cardini's Fat Free Caesar Dressing

Through it all in the bowl and mix and EAT!  Yummy!