Marvelously Surprising

Hey guys!

I hope you all had a great weekend and your weeks are off to a good start! I’ll admit, my weekend wasn’t the best. I didn’t get a lot of sleep and like I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately. Baaaaa-HUT thanks to the lovely Katie, I’m ready to make the MOST out of this Monday with a fresh start and a look back to all the marvelous things that DID happen this weekend!

Marvelous things like…

Me

Getting all dolled up for a night out with the besties!

Boots

Rockin’ leggings and boots all weekend long!

Seriously guys, I put on jeans Friday morning to go run errands and could not WAIT to get home to get those constricting bastages off! And the best part about these leggings? They’re lined with fleece! The man-friend bought them for me last year, but I didn’t get a chance to wear them until now. Yep, definitely gonna be picking me up about 50 more of these babies! πŸ˜€

Me & The Man-Friend

The man-friend coming to ME!

Recycled pic, but still! The man-friend had something he had to tend to in Clarksville on Saturday afternoon, so afterward, he came over and we spent the rest of the day together. I typically drive to Nashville every weekend to see him so it was nice to change it up a bit!

Panera Bread Harvest Wheatberry Salad & Autumn Squash Soup

Incredible soup & salad!

It’s been forever since I’ve been to Panera so when the man-friend said he was in the mood for soup on Saturday, I knew exactly where we needed to go. I ordered the Turkey Harvest Wheat Berry Salad and the Autumn Squash Soup! While the soup was a little sweeter than I would have liked, the salad was great!

Panera Bread Spinach Power Salad & Chicken Wild Rice StewNinja bites!

The man-friend ordered the Spinach Power Salad and the Chicken & Wild Rice Stew and of course I helped myself to a bite of each! That salad is where it’s AT people…crispy onions, mushrooms, and an amazing onion vinaigrette!

Panera Bread Chocolate Babka Dessert

Dessert for two!

They were also running a little special so we got a dessert from the bakery for only 99 cents! We chose the chocolate babka and were both really impressed with it…not overly sweet and perfectly doughy…like a cinnamon roll only with chocolate!

Big Lots Art

Retail therapy!

After finishing up with lunch THE MAN-FRIEND suggested we go to Big Lots and well, since I always try to be a good woman-friend, I willingly obliged! πŸ˜‰ After a good hour and a half of roaming all the aisles at least 2-3 times, I came out with a few foodie items and THESE awesome geometric prints! And guess what! They rang up for HALF OFF!

*happy dance*

Caterpiller

A fuzzy friend!

Luckily it warmed up a bit outside yesterday and I was able to knock something off the to-do list by finally getting the yard mowed!Β I popped in my headphones and got to work and as I got sucked into the music, I was reminded how much I actually LIKE mowing the grass! Afterwards, I was sweeping off the porch and I happened upon this little guy!
Ain’t he cute?!

Unexpected insight!

While I was working in the yard, this song came on Pandora and after one line literally stopped me in my tracks, I started listening to the rest of the lyrics and I just had to share some of my favorites…

We ain’t picture perfect but we worth the picture still.
…No need to fix what God already put his paint brush on.
You keep falling victim cause you’re insecure
And when I tell you that you’re beautiful you can’t be sure.
So all you see is what you lacking, not what you packing.
…Cause what’s real is something that the eyes can’t see.

I’ll admit, much of my bad weekend was just me being in my head and bringing myself down. I really needed to hear these words to remind me that I’m the same girl who was Β flashing her ASS-ets all over this blog just a week ago. And speaking of…

MIMM

The MOST marvelous thing from this weekend was finally getting a chance to read through all of your wonderful comments on last Sunday’s post! It warmed my heart to see you guys loving and appreciating your bodies and really helped to pick me up when I was feeling down.Β Seriously, THIS is why I blog…I love you guys SO much!

What’s the most marvelous thing from your weekend?

What’s your favorite chocolate dessert?

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47 Responses to Marvelously Surprising

  1. I so want them to open a Panera in Australia, NOW NOW NOW!! (ok child like tantrum over), but seriously those photos of that food drool worthy.

    Whenever I hear babka I immediately think of Seinfeld with the Cinnamon Babka, hopefully you know what I am on about?

    Glad the manfriend made the trek down to you, you are totally worth it.

    Very inspiring song and lyrics, good that you heard it when you needed it too.

    Most marvelous thing from my weekend was pushing through my fear and going to a health and wellbeing ‘networking event’. I was a scaredy cat as I went alone and knew I wasn’t going to know anyone there but I am glad I went and got to meet a lot of like minded people.

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Omg, I thought I had seen every episode of Seinfield (the BEST!), but I think I missed that one! I just Googled it though and found a little clip…hilarious! Ha! Now I’m thinking I might ask Santa for the DVDs for Christmas! πŸ˜€

      I know I already told you (but am SERIOUSLY behind in responding to comments) but I’m still SO proud of you for going to that event! Networking can be scary, especially when you’re alone and on the shy side (totally me), but it sounded like it was totally worth taking the “plunge”!

  2. I just stopped and stared at that desert for a solid minute. LOL! My favorite chocolate dessert is a flourless chocolate cake with sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Mmmm… dessert…

    It still blows my mind that you like mowing the lawn…

  3. So much of our own unhappy stems from choosing to be unhappy! I make that choice wayyyyy too often. I actually really love weekend recaps on my blog because they force me to look for the good in my life. And let’s be honest, neither of us has to look very hard because we really are incredibly fortunate! And I WILL find out the identity of man-friend! Time to dust-up on my Harriet the Spy skills…please tell me you love this moving as much as I do. You have to cause you’re my TWIN!!!

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      “So much of our own unhappy stems from choosing to be unhappy!” <- So true! We just have to make that conscious effort to CHOOSE happiness! And umm...er...please excuse me while I CHOOSE to frantically search the nearest video store...I'm not sure how (especially since I love Michelle Trachtenberg), but I've never seen that movie! 😯

  4. Oh I know, our brains….they can literally RUIN our days!!! Still, it’s a good thing to know that this is ‘only’ our brain, cause there is a HUGE chance that we can change it RIGHT NOW! As you did when mowing the grass and listening to that cool song. Changing attitude takes time, oh, tell me about it.
    But hey, you have Panera there to cheer you up, I have Ovomaltine Crack to do the same. It’s all good, right? Happy Monday Beautiful!

  5. That is an awesome thing about MIMM: even when we think our weekend wasn’t that great, it forces us to review and appreciate all the good stuff that happened.
    Favourite chocolate dessert? Umm…everything? As long as it has chocolate I’m usually pretty happy πŸ˜‰ That babka looks like something I would approve of!

  6. Those leggings sound AMAZING! Yes to never wearing jeans!

  7. I was in a funk of my own last week, and holy.wow did it ever help to blog about some of the things that I was loving about my life. I’m a firm believer that happiness is a choice, and that we choose to be unhappy by ignoring all of our blessings and indulging in our bad moods. Sure, sometimes it’s a lot harder than others, but aren’t those the times where we just have to try harder? Yes. Yes they are :mrgreen:

    Hope your week is off to a marvellous start, m’dear!

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      “…we choose to be unhappy by ignoring all of our blessings and indulging in our bad moods” <- A to the freakin' MEN!!! Couldn't have said it better myself! Love you!

  8. calee says:

    how did I not realize you and your man-friend were long distance? how long is the drive? (hours, not miles, please, I’m from the midwest. πŸ˜‰

    happy monday!

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      “hours, not miles, please, I’m from the midwest.” <- Omg, I always think the SAME thing when people tell me a distance in miles! I'm like, annnnnnnd how long does that take! Haha! It's typically only an hour drive, but depending on traffic, it's been known to take double that! Then, you have to figure in the amount of time it takes me to get out of bitch mode after that! Haha!

  9. It seems that’s a theme lately, and I am no exception. For me I am feeling down for two either or reasons; it’s that time of the month or it’s the change in season. But I love this time of year, so who knows. Hope you feel better soon πŸ˜€

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Thank you, Chloe! I’ll admit, I think part of my mood dips as of late have been due to the weather…we get a lot of grey/depressing colored skies when the temps drop around here. They’re coming earlier this year so I think I’m gonna have to sit down and come up with a plan of defense so I don’t end up being a Scrooge over the holidays! I hope you feel better too, hon!

  10. Chrystal says:

    Right now my favorite chocolate dessert is homemade chocolate ice cream made from frozen bananas. It’s to die for and I find myself purposely not eating all of my bananas just so I have some to freeze. Since moving from OK to MI 6 years ago I haven’t been to Panera. Boo. πŸ™

  11. I love love love panera bread!!! I crave that soup in the winter!! Especially the broccoli cheddar soup!

  12. I have leggings like that too! So freaking comfortable. I practically wore them all winter over here. I need more pairs πŸ™‚

    Most marvelous thing from my weekend? Got to spend time with some of the hubbys friends and we carved pumpkins. it was a crazy busy weekend and a long drive to the city to see them, but worth it.

    i’m slowly becoming a fan of Panera. their pumpkin bagel is delicious.

    hope you have a lovely day dahlin’!

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      The pumpkin bagel is definitely on my list of things to drool over try…especially since I’ve heard so many people rave about it! πŸ˜‰ Oh I’m so jealous of your weekend! It’s been FOREVER since I’ve carved a pumpkin! I actually stumbled over some old pics today of the first/last one I carved SEVEN years ago! I about cut my finger off at least half a dozen times, but it was so cute when I was done that it was totally worth it! Haha!

      PS, I love that you called me “dahlin'” πŸ˜‰

  13. i am so happy you were able to see the sunshine in your weekend after not feeling SO happy πŸ™‚ i am proud of you for doing that. always focus on the positives, my love! isn’t it worth it!? thank goodness for marvelous monday πŸ˜‰ that spinach salad looks so good! <3 love you babes can't wait to chat soon xo

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      So true! Love starting the week off on a positive note and MIMM always helps me perk up a bit if I’m feeling down! πŸ™‚

  14. Kat says:

    WOOT WOOT to getting your hot self all dolled up!! Sometimes all it takes is a night out with some good friends to shake out of a funk. Ive actually only had Panera once, and I don’t even remember what I got it was so long ago. I hear nothing but good things about the place though!
    And your new fuzzy friend is quite adorable. Im pretty sure my puppy would to eat err… I mean play with him πŸ˜‰

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Oh girl, I know you’re right there with me on the bread addiction…I’m surprised you haven’t been there more. The next thing on my list of things to try is their pumpkin bagel…I hear it’s pretty life changing! #thingsonlyafoodiewouldsay πŸ˜‰

  15. As soon as I saw those bowls, I knew it was Panera. I haven’t been there in forever, but I do like me some soup. Retail therapy doesn’t hurt either. I hope you get a chance to catch up on those zzzz’s and get your head back to right. Try a kitchen dance party. They always help me.

  16. Hope things are on the up for you, my friend- glad to see that you spent some quality time with the OTHER man in your life (sorry, couldn’t help it :p).

    Favourite chocolate desert- has to be a really rich cake where you feel sick after 2 bites..but eat it anyway then resemble a man going through pregnancy for the forthcoming 24 hours. Worth it.

    Have a great start to the week πŸ™‚

  17. Too funny because I just saw a furry little caterpillar yesterday as well… Now I wish I had taken a picture to prove it! Darn it.

    Sounds like some fun with the man friend went down! Good choices at Panera. And uh… and even better choice with those cinnamon rolls πŸ™‚

  18. Shelly says:

    My husband and I also went to Panera this weekend. We stared down that chocolate babka, but we didn’t end up getting it. Now I’m bummed after hearing how good it was! I might need to make another Panera trip this week…

  19. I love rocking leggings and boots in the fall too. That’s one of the reasons I look forward to weekends so much, because I can actually wear leggings! I have a pair lined with fleece lying around somewhere too… I need to dig those out for winter!

    Those chocolate babkas look so good! I’ve actually never heard of a babka before though. My favourite chocolate dessert would probably be a really fudgy brownie. Although, let’s be honest, I’m not going to turn any kind of chocolate dessert down. πŸ˜‰

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Mmm, fudgy brownies are the best. I’ve never been a fan of the cakey ones. This was a new-to-me dessert too, and definitely one that I will be going back for in the future…especially since I’ve now got this mad craving for chili in a bread bowl! Haha!

      Yay for pants-less weekends! I mean…uh! πŸ˜‰

  20. Sometimes all it takes is for us to get outside our own minds to get a little perspective as an instant mood-booster. Here’s to a great week! (Does plain old raw chocolate by the truckload count as my favorite chocolate desert…?) πŸ˜‰

  21. Oh I love panera! I would never turn it down if it was suggested, the soup and salad combo is always a great option!

  22. Chrystal says:

    I forgot to tell you my most marvelous thing from the weekend – I downloaded the book Intuitive Eating ! Thank you for the heads up on this from the post a few weeks back. I am going to take my time with it and really work through it.

  23. Hi Heather. I’d tackle you for those boots! πŸ™‚

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      ROZZZZZZZZZ!!!! Omg, I was JUST thinking about you the other day!! I was wondering where you’d been and was planning on checking your blog…and then somewhere along the line, my ADD kicked in and I forgot! 😯 How the heck have you been, lady?!

  24. Cassie says:

    The most marvelous part of my weekend was spending Saturday with one of my friends… treated her to brunch & mani/pedis as her birthday present! So fun!

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Aww, that sounds great, Cassie! Oh gosh, I can’t even remember the last time I had a mani or pedi! Hmm, my birthday’s coming up next month…wanna come for a visit! πŸ˜‰

  25. Khushboo says:

    Ohhh my lawd- that dessert looks incredible…YUM! I know portion control is the way to go (yaddy yada yada) but I’m not sure I could’ve gone halvsie’s with that one ;)! Believe it or not, I actually am not a fan of chocolate-based desserts. I LOVE chocolate bars but in dessert/ice cream form, I find it way too intense. Vanilla & fruit-based desserts are more up my alley. Greeeat it’s 10 am and now I’m debating if I prefer vanilla ice cream or cheesecake. Thanks Heather…thanks a lot ;)!

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Seriously laughing out loud over this! And funny you should mention it, because I’m the same way…I’ve NEVER been a fan of chocolate desserts. I mean I’m only just now starting to like chocolate bars, but cake/pie/baked goods, I would MUCH rather have in vanilla…bonus if it involves cinnamon, of course! πŸ˜‰

  26. I’m convinced the man friend is an A-list celeb, and that’s why we never get to see his face ;).

    Such a cute little caterpillar! Although I probably would have screamed and/or pissed my pants if I ever saw that. Bugs… blech.

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      You got me…Channing left his toned, sexy, more rhythm than I have in my pinky wife…shhh, our little secret mmmkay? πŸ˜‰

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