Book Club, Spa Day, Grilling Out

Happy Sunday! Hope you're having a good weekend - so glad to have one more day of relaxation! Friday I worked, worked through lunch, then headed over to my sister's for Book Club! Great group - Monica, Stacy, Emily, Danielle, Stephanie, Jackie, Kate -and of course Dev. Devon's outdoor area was set up so cute with little lights, cozy chairs and a big umbrella - we ended up spending the evening out there! Great, nonstop conversation, general consensus that Chevy Stevens' Still Missing was a great page-turner (although some weren't huge fans of the ending) and just so much fun. Before we knew it, it was midnight - time flies! So I headed home to the family (Austin had gone to a Braves game!) and got some rest!

Saturday I woke up early and headed down to the Salon 11 Studios for a massage and facial. The massage was amazing - relaxing, falling in and out of sleep, fluid, just the right amount of pressure, etc. Will definitely be going back to Desy. The facial was great too - very efficient i'd say. Some treat it more like a 'face massage'- while she did massage and even did a parraffin dip for my hands during it, she wasn't scared to do what needed to be done - unclog my pores. Mariam was great - I even added on an eyebrow wax and she did an excellent job. So yes, I'd LOVE to go back to both, probably wouldn't do same day though (kind of took away from each one you know? Didn't enjoy the facial as much as i'd just come from a massage) but definitely had a great, relaxing experience. Now they just need to update their website with these new services they're offering! Best/cost-saving part: I used a groupon - $50 for 2 services. SO, each was only $25 where normally they're $90 and $80. It's worth the $170 but WOW for $50, they've definitely made a new client out of me which, I'm sure, was the goal of the groupon!

Afterwards, I came home, took a long nap, showered, and then made a pasta salad side for grilling out at Mel & Jon's! We headed over there around 6 and had so much fun catching up with them and their buds, and eating yummy food (grilled skirt steak, roasted potatoes, grilled asparagus, scallops and brownies - awesome!). We also got to see their little Madison - SUCH a cutie. Can't believe she turns 2 this year! Great, chill evening - love hanging out with them.

Today is probably just going to be a little cooking and reading, a little laundry, an errand or two and the gym - yay! Before heading out, I have a new recipe to share - Creamy Taco Mac!

One serving

Creamy Taco Mac
Adapted from Annie’s Eats
Makes 4 Servings

Nutritional Information: 457 calories, 58 carbs, 7 fat grams and 34 protein grams.

Creamy is right - the sour cream/cream cheese mixture made the red sauce a lighter color -  it was so creamy! I loved it with the pasta shells - it was really like Mexican Mac and Cheese! Big fan.This is a great recipe and makes HUGE servings - I couldn't even eat the whole thing! We'll definitely put this one in the rotation. The recipe is over at Healthified Kitchen!

Whole pan!

Q: Do you like any Mac & Cheese variations? Lately I've been seeing a lot of different ones - Bacon Mac & Cheese, Buffalo Mac & Cheese, etc. I love the ideas!


Q: Are you a massage or facial person? If so, do you get them regularly?


Q: Are you a Groupon person? I rarely use them, but have been known to get them for stores I shop at a lot (i.e. Fabrik boutique) and think it's a great way to try out new places. I mean, it would suck to pay $100 for a bad massage. But for $25, I now know that Desy is DEFINITELY worth the money.