Happy Friday!

It's the first day of spring, yet here we are prepping for a snowstorm later today. To say that I am over it is an understatement of the highest degree. Tonight, I plan to settle in with some wine and take out and catch up on Justified. We have a few things going on this weekend, but mostly I plan to just take it easy and (hopefully!) catch up on sleep! I hope you have a great weekend ahead, filled with relaxing time, lattes and loved ones!

Here are some of my favorite things I read this week in case you are in need of some Friday distractions:

crushing hard on these pistachio pudding cupcakes. aren't they a gorgeous spring treat?

how well do you know these game of thrones characters?

5 things I wish for my children in elementary school. yes to all.

12 best kept secrets of successful business people

these 4 ingredient dessert recipes are genius

one of my favorite foods: perfect sweet potato fries. can't wait to try this version!

have you seen these hug your city selfies?

i adore these french toast skewers for a spring brunch

a live action fraggle rock movie with joseph gordon levitt? yes please!

the wine that you may or may not be drinking may or may not have all the poison

would you rather your kids try marijuana or alcohol? a pediatrician weighs in and i'd have to agree (though obviously the right answer is neither! ha!)

10 things to know about coconut oil

and finally, how serial is changing the classroom

have a great weekend! and also:

yep, even Penelope doesn't get this whole 'spring has arrived' thing.

The Book of Mormon

Last night I saw The Book of Mormon!

I really enjoyed this show. I laughed through the entire thing, from start to finish. The cast was so so good and I loved that the show didn't hold back from making fun of pretty much everyone. Note: if you are offended by poking fun at religion, copious curse words and sexual innuendos, or upset by the plight of those less fortunate, then this is probably not the show for you.

I've been wanting to see it since it came out but tickets were hard to come by and also cost a small fortune. This show is infamous for its high priced ticket, but we found a decent enough deal and bought the tickets in a frenzy a couple of months ago in order to get the deal. Shaun and I joined my parents, sisters and future BIL for the occasion.

I did think that this show was a bit overrated. While I thought it was hilarious, I think we all left scratching our heads wondering how it won the Tony for Best Musical. I feel like perhaps because it was such a shocker when it opened? And we are a little late to the party so it's been so very hyped up by now. Don't get me wrong, the music was great, the show was funny and the cast was wonderful, but the story was not fantastic. I'm glad we got a deal on the tickets for sure, and if we are comparing similar envelope-pushing shows, I don't think this has anything on Avenue Q!

In the end, it was just really fun to go to the theater with the family and have a grown-ups night out in Manhattan. There is nothing like it! Shaun and I are going to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch next month, and I feel as though that will be a very different show indeed! I'm also in the midst of finding a fun restaurant for us to go to after that one!

Have you seen any shows, plays or musicals lately? What are your favorites?

What I Ate: St. P Edition

Welcome to Wednesday! I'm rounding up my St. Patty's Day eats today for What I Ate Wednesday and linking up over at Clean Eats, Fast Feets. I've really been loving these posts because it's fun to look back on and also forces me to up my game a little bit on what I'm eating. By the looks of it, I'm not getting nearly enough green veggies, so my plan is to work on that for next week! Yesterday was great because we also managed to eat dinner together as a family, something we've been working on. It's a work in progress, but when it all comes together and happens, it feels really special. Let's get to it!

breakfast: oat bran w/water, sweetener, 2 tbsp PB2 & 1/2 sliced banana. there's really just no way to make this look pretty.

mid-morning snack: the remaining half of banana from breakfast

lunch: penelope and i made this awesome lemon chicken orzo soup on sunday and so i brought some leftovers. i wish i had some greens in this soup, but i didn't have any at home to throw in. next week for sure!

snack: someone brought in these amazing nougat treats for the office and so i had half of one. then i went back for the other half.

dinner: beer braised corned beef in the slow cooker + carrots + cabbage (ok so a tiny bit of green!)

snack: irish soda bread!

So all in all, not a terrible day of eating - everything was delicious! Looking back, I wish I had incorporating a bit more healthy veg, but all in all, I'm happy that I meal prepped on Sunday so that I had plenty of goodies for the week!

What have you been eating lately?