yum!!!

i don't know about you but i am slightly obsessed with skinny taste website!

tonight i made skinny coconut shrimp! it turned out fabulous! you can get the recipe here.

i started off gathering everything i needed.

of course, i couldn't find the apricot preserves. so i did what any good wife would do, sent my husband to the store for the apricot preserves. lol!

next up deveining the shrimp, i left the tail on this time.

then i dipped the shrimp in a little flour, egg and then the coconut/panko mix:

i have to tell you the skinny taste website was dead on! i bought (24) 26/30 count sized shrimp and check it out....nothing wasted!

then into the oven at 425 degrees for 16 mins. i did flip them after 10 minutes, as directed.

sixteen minutes later the skinny coconut shrimp is ready to eat!

all that was left was to make the dipping sauce and bon appetite!

if you haven't tried any of the recipes you should! i made the banging good shrimp earlier this week, it was delicious! next up i want to try the thai curry shrimp? i think that's what it's called!

are you a fan of skinny taste? if so, what are some of your favorite recipes?

thanks to pinterest for introducing me to skinny taste! feel free to follow me on  pinterest:

http://pinterest.com/preppylittled/

oh well, tomorrow we should (hopefully) here back about our best and final offer on a foreclosure! ...FINGERS CROSSED!!! 

although, my husband was pissed that i went almost $16,000 on the foreclosure listing price! hey, there were other offers and i really wanted this place! so much potential! so much for being a buyers market around chicago, lol!

hopefully, in my next post i will have some good news! if not, it's back to the drawing board! argh!!!!!!!!

no excuse!

another week since i last posted on my blog, shame on me!

sorry about that, things have still been really busy around here! so happy to report that we have FINALLY made the decision to purchase another home! YES!!!!!! 

we've been looking for about a month now, saw a place we really liked last friday but by the time i met with the loan officer it was too late!

i can't tell you how excited i am about this!

 in case you haven't been following me for the past 3+ years that i have been blogging under this blog and PREPPY LITTLE DRESS, we own a house back in grosse pointe, michigan, which we have leased since 2007! never in my mind did i image i'd become a landlord!

anyway, after 4.5 years of renting ourselves we have decided it's time to buy something....ABOUT DAMN TIME!

i can't tell you how anxious i am to paint and decorate again! so tired of having half of my belongings in boxes for the past 4. 5 years, UGH!!!

so needless to say, since we have been pre-approved for a home my shopping has sort of come to a halt!NOOOO! LOL!

that's okay, once we have a found a home and a mortgage in place ...let the shopping, decorating, painting begin!!!!! can't wait!

therefore, i've been spending most of my time searching for places to buy, dreaming on pinterest and keeping up with my juicing. what a life, lol!

oh, that reminds me...a number of you have inquired about what kind of juicer i use? to tell you the truth, it's a CHEAP juicer from Aldi! yup, i was going through the Aldi ad and saw it on sale for $35.99 - something like that! it's been great!

the best part, my mom read my last post and asked if i wanted their juicer that they bought that they don't use! HELLO!!!! of course they spent a few hundred dollars on theirs, can't wait! thanks mom!!! ;)

i don't really have a favorite drink....yet!!!

each day it's something new!

however, i love using kale, cucumbers, carrots, celery, apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries, beets, etc. as soon as i have a favorite combo, i will be sure to post it on my blog!

oh well, i promise not to be a strange but if you don't hear from me you will know why! wish me luck in our house hunt, lol! ;)

one last thing, i am thinking about purchasing a KINDLE FIRE to take with me to florida. i think it would be a lot easier to travel with than my laptop. however, i can't decided between the KINDLE FIRE and the NOOK TABLET. any thoughts???

current obsession...

greetings!

i feel like i haven't posted in forever! sorry about that, things have been really busy around here. anyway, i wanted to share with you my latest obsession....MY JUICER!

needless to say, we're off to a healthy start this year!

i just love the little green bag totes i bought at bloomingales! surprisingly, these totes can really carry a lot!

so far, so good..lol!  we've been busy experimenting with the juicer, creating new recipes and thanks to PINTEREST, found a few i'm dying to try out!

are you into juicing?

if so, do you have any favorite recipes? if so, feel free to post them below. i'm up for trying anything! kale, carrots, apples, orange, blueberries, strawberries, mangoes, beets, celery, lemon and bananas are a few of our favorites.

looking back, i can't believe i didn't register for a juicer back when i got married! ha! ha!

it's here...

happy new year!

anyone watching the rose parade?  i love watching this parade every year. this year i'm enjoying it with a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice with pureed strawberries!

yum, we got the idea years ago from egg harbor. egg harbor is a popular local breakfast chain with many locations around chicagoland.

i have to admit, it's strange watching it the day after new year's day, but whatever! i wish michigan state was playing in the rose bowl, but no wisconsin beat them at the big ten championship game. whatever!

it was a bitter loss for sure, considering my husband is a diehard wisconsin fan! ugh! yup, we traveled down to indianapolis for the big ten championship game.

that's okay, michigan state is taking on georgia today at the outback bowl!

go michigan state!

back to the rose parade, anyone have a favorite float or entry? so far my favorite is the arizona mini mystique! those miniature horses are so darn cute!

have a great day!

...and i'm back!!!

sorry it's been forever since my last post!

if you follow me on twitter you probably know why. last week my husband went in for a physical. turns out one of the tests the doctor performed was a test for colon cancer. unfortunately, a few days before christmas he got the results and tested positive for colon cancer.

normally colon cancer isn't tested until you are around 50! well, thankfully this doctor checks well before!

needless to say, for about a week we were on pins & needles! the "unknown" was killing me! 

to make a long story short he had a colonoscopy yesterday and it turns out he had 3 small polyps and a few hemroids. the doctor is going to do a biopsy on the polyps but he's pretty sure they will be pre-cancerous! Thank God!

apparently, all the anti-inflamatory meds he's been taking for his knees are probably the culpurts for the postitive colon cancer test results! ugh!!!!!! sorry boy, tylenol from here on out!

of course, you can only imagine what a going through my head over the past week! so thankful, this story has a positive ending! thankfully, we bite the bullet this time!

christmas on the other hand, wasn't so joyous considering the circumstances. yeah, it was pretty much just a blur! 

now that we have answers, i feel up to posting again! with that said, below are two of my favorite presents! i got the concord mariner watch [which i picked out, of course! sorry, i'm not one for surprises!] and a matching GUCCI vintage web wallet to go with my GUCCI vintage web hobo!

i don't know about you, but my wallet and purse must match! ha! ha!

oh well, after christmas i stopped over at bloomingdales and actually found the TORY BURCH Christopher Radko ornament i wanted for 1/2 off, plus a few LITTLE GREEN BAG totes. 

today i stopped over a HOBBY LOBBY! why, i really need to stay away from that place! anyway, i found these adorable urns to go with my 2 vases - one shown in the picture below.

so cute!!!

yeah, funny that everything in the photos above has blue in it! lol! what can i say i have a thing for navy blue!

UPDATE: just stopped over at rue la la and saw this adorable silver hampton's leather tote from jack rogers! fyi...rue la la also has it available in gold, stellar deal too!!

wouldn't this hampton's leather tote look perfect with my silver jack rogers! so cute!! so tempted to order this tote! ugh, as if i need another tote! lol!

not a member of rue la la? no problem, click here for your personal link. the sale is located under the rue associate sample sale link. sales are PRIVATE! membership is FREE!

okay, i'll try and post before new year's, but if not i hope you all have a save and happy new year! later!

don't miss this post!

hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! we spent saturday night up in lake geneva, wisconsin and then yesterday afternoon i decided to head over to michigan avenue. surprisingly, michigan avenue was not packed!

here's the tree inside 900 n. michigan. don't you just love the floors of bloomingdales in the background!

here's a view of michigan ave. i thought for sure the sunday before christmas that the stores would be packed! nope!

having lived in chicago for about 13 years, i still enjoy looking up at all the skyscrapers. especially the john hancock, which holds a place in my heart. after all, the signature room on the 95th is where my husband proposed to me.

oh, in case you haven't heard filene's basement is going out of business. i decided to venture up the escalator for one last trip.

i wonder what will go in place of filene's? hmmmm!

oh well, back to lake geneva. it was a so nice to get away. we stayed at the geneva inn, which is right on geneva lake. here are some photos from our visit:

the geneva inn did a fabulous job decorating the outside.

here's a view from the lakeside looking back up at the inn:

and of course a view of geneva lake:

while wondering the shops i came across a few cute items. of course i fell in love with this nautical themed tree. so cute!

here's a close up of a few of the ornaments, so cute!

how about this beautiful topiary...LOVE!

this bucket was really cute too! perfect to keep in the foyer during the holidays to hold misc. gloves, scarves, earmuffs, etc.

needless to say, it was a fabulous weekend!

also, if you happen to be in the lake geneva area at all during the holiday, you MUST drive through the grand geneva resort & spa. they have a spectacular lighting display, def. worth checking out!

the WINNER is....

as promised, the winner of the Wire-O-Notebook Refillable Journal with Snap from GRAPHIC IMAGE is...

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

The City Boy

...congratulations!

let me know what color you would like and if you would like to have it monogrammed. the Wire-O-Notebook Refillable Journal with Snap is available in the following three colors: Orange, Taupe and Fuchsia:

in case you missed entering this fabulous giveaway, be sure and check out GRAPHIC IMAGE's new GIGI NEW YORK line:

http://www.graphicimage.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=gigi+new+york

hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! we spent the evening up in lake geneva, wisconsin, which i will post about tomorrow.

have a great evening!