Bites of My Life

Round of applause for Spotlight!!! I hadn't seen any Oscar nominated movies until Saturday night when one of my roommates and I went to see Spotlight. I was bias with it being the only movie I saw, but I felt like it deserved a clean sweep of wins for every category it was nominated in. Even with only one win, best picture trumps all. Rachel McAdams one best dressed in my book so it was more like two wins for Spotlight. 

After getting over a little allergy bug and what felt like an extra long work week, it was nice to end it with a low maintenance weekend, time with my new puppy brother and a full fledge Oscar watch party. Now it's off to a barre class to counteract all the puppy chow and hummus from last night...  

-A taste of paradise with the recreation of this shrimp wrap and zesty cocktail sauce I had in Arizona.
-Red velvet should be eaten as a cake, not a flavor for yogurt...
-Spring scouting with Scout bags.
-Hello pretty friends!
-Cannot wait to share the recipe for these thai cashew lettuce wraps, coming to TAB tomorrow!
-GNO + rosé + tiramisu. 
-Granny smiths and almond butter never gets old.
-Sippin' on Saturday.
-My second Taste the World box arrived full of goodies from Thailand!
-Spicy grits with pulled pork, green chili sauce and two poached eggs, kudos 501. 
-Churro puppy chow, brown sugar sriracha sesame popcorn, edamame hummus, stuffed mushrooms, cheese and crackers, and grapefruit cocktails. It was a super bowl kind of spread for our Oscar watch party.
-Sips and scores. Only 9 out of 24 for me.

Annie

Countdown to the Oscars

It's finally Oscar time! I love a good award show, but you can't deny the glamour and prestige that the Oscars hold. I barely saw any of the movies up for awards, but I still can't miss it. I've made plans to catch a showing of The Big Short tomorrow night so hopefully I'll be a little more educated. 

brown sugar sriracha sesame popcorn // rocky road milkshake // oscar ballot

I fully plan to be staked out on my couch for most of Sunday. You have to start early to see all the red carpet action (the real reason we watch the Oscars). Fancy popcorn, milkshakes and most likely a glass of wine will all be attendance! Make sure and print out your Oscar ballot too! It's the Super Bowl of award shows.

Annie

Spring Scouting

Hi spring! You are welcomed here with open arms. If you are like me you are so ready for some fresh new spring clothes and products. I'm at that point where I wake up to get ready and everything in my closet is so tired and blah. I'm ready for bright spring colors to come back into my life. A few ways I'm copying with my dreary winter duds is by adding a little color through my bags and accessories. My dear friends at Scout are fueling this fire with their bright and stylish spring line. 

If you know me or have read this blog at all over the past few years, you know my love for Scout and how I spent a summer interning for them. Cue my D.C. Diary posts if you need a recap. They recently launched their new spring collection and I am falling hard for it. The styles are perfectly crafted and the designs are chic as ever. 

My absolute favorite bag/pattern from the new collection is the Golden Girl Grande in Diamond Ink. It has been toted all around town with me the past couple weeks. It's the perfect bag for happy hour drinks or a night out, but casual enough for breakfast with friends. I love a good clutch because you can always throw it into your larger bag and still have everything you need with out having to switch from bag to bag. 

I rounded up more of my favorite styles in my favorite new patterns. Click through to start scouting out your new spring pieces! Take a minute or two to notice each pattern name and bag description. The crew at Scout HQ is insanely witty! They kill me with their punny names such as Fleetwood Black and Reef Witherspoon.  

The BJ Bag // Duffy //  3-Way // Sprit Chillah // Original Deano // Golden Girl Grande // Golden Girl Medio // Pleasure Chest // Trash Cache // Carry'All Bin // Big Draw // Bacall // Nooner // Hang-10 // Two Plate Special // Junque Trunk

Scout is constantly creating and designing more and more functional bags to fit every nitch of your life. From the office to the gym, to your lunch hour to backyard cookouts, to moving to a new house to just taking a weekend trip. When I think they've done it all, they do it again. Hence why my collection is ever growing. Below is just a glimpse at my personal collection, junque trunks, trash cache, deano, 3-way and hang-10 not pictured... #scoutbags #myscoutbag #SCOUTern.

Annie

Shrimp Wrap with Zesty Cocktail Sauce

Last weekend while in Scottsdale, we landed right around lunchtime. After arriving at the resort, we dropped our bags and joined friends who had already arrived at a lunch spot on the property. Traveling puts me in a constant state of hunger. I was in a must-eat-now kind of mission that anything would suffice. I ordered a shrimp wrap that came with sweet potato tots. Yes sweet potato tots...pause for salivation.

Besides the tots the wrap was full of crisp lettuce, avocado, and shrimp. It was fantastic, I can't quit get across how good it was. My mom and sister ordered the shrimp cocktail that came with this amazing salsa/cocktail sauce combo. I could eat it with a spoon it was so good. I asked the waiter for my own little serving and proceeded to dip my wrap into it. I've recently really become a sauce person, so just go with me on this one. 

Not only did this lunch suffice, but left me craving it everyday since. I made quick note to recreate it as soon as I got home. Recreated it, loved it, and have pretty much eaten it everyday since. Looks like my plan worked! A few tweaks here and there and my own version of the salsa/cocktail sauce amazingness makes me feel like I am back in Paradise Valley. Now if only I can recreate those sweet potato tots... 

Shrimp Wrap with Zest Cocktail Sauce
yields 1 wrap

Ingredients:
1 Flatout wrap Light Original
1 Tbsp. dijon mustard
handful of spinach
1/2 roma tomato, chopped
1/4 avocado, chopped
thinly sliced red onion
handful of frozen salad shrimp, thawed

Zesty cocktail sauce:
2 Tbsp. your favorite cocktail sauce
2 Tbsp. your favorite salsa

Directions:
Thaw your shrimp according to package directions. Salad shrimp are the little baby kind that are super easy to thaw and super easy to cook. In a small pan over medium, heat a teaspoon of olive oil. Add the shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes until bright pink and slightly roasted. This gives the shrimp a little extra flavor. 

Heat your Flatout wrap in the microwave for 10 seconds. This will make it more pliable when rolling your wrap up. Spread the dijon mustard over the whole surface. Top with spinach, then layer on tomatoes, red onion, avocado and shrimp. Starting from the short length end, begin rolling, tucking in all your components as you roll so things aren't spilling out. No need to fold in the sides with these wraps. Once you get it all rolled, place two toothpicks through to keep it in place while you slice it down the middle. 

Mix the cocktail sauce and salsa in a small bowl. Serve the wrap alongside and eat up!

This is a quick meal that comes together easily for lunch. I made it yesterday while having the day off and also made an extra, wrapped it in foil, and packed for my lunch at work today. My lunch break just went from 0 to 100 quick. Enjoy! 

Annie

Bites of My Life

Hello spring, hello allergies! Nothing is better than getting a few peeks at spring weather, except when that means the inflow of torturous spring allergies. I had been un-anxiously awaiting their arrival and low and behold I woke up Friday morning to a bite from the allergy bug. I was joking with my mom that I knew I was going to get sick soon because as a kid I always had to miss the Valentine's Day party at school because of allergies.

Sneezing, coughing and sore throats aside, last week was a good one.  I think my January/winter depression has finally made its way out the door. Things are looking up up up. In my personal and work life things are pointing north. The new addition to the Tucker family isn't making anything hard either. If you follow me on Instagram you have already met #GabeTheBabe. My parents finally pulled the plug and brought a new puppy home. We are completely smitten and I'm having a hard time letting him out of my site. I'm going to be his most popular babysitter/dognapper...

-Homemade red sauce and spaghetti squash happened three nights in a row last week.
-New breakfast alert: Almond milk, frozen berries and granola. Amaze!
-My days at work are split between planning events and being the resident barista. Our new office coffee machine is sliiiiiightly distracting. 
-Not to toot my own horn, but I can make a mean bowl of guacamole.
-Visions of green after a pit stop at The Fit Pig for a Vim + Vigor juice and the new RXBar.
-After the allergies swooped in, my diet consisted of hot tea, cough drops and chicken noodle soup. Have y'all seen these new Campbell's Soup Keurig pods? Not bad.
-First meeting with my new puppy brother. I swore I would never be that obsessed dog person...oops!
-Doctors orders called for froyo.
-#GabeTheBabe getting his daily modeling in.
-Sundays, sniffles and steel cut oats. Power of three I suppose?
-Unexpected quickie visit from one I miss the most!
-Craving for vanilla wafers = make homemade vanilla wafers.

Annie