leaving las vegas

all you need is LOVE <3

Happy thursday...man this week is flying by. who is pumped for halloween?! everyone have their costumes in order? I had so many great ones for this year, and luckily one of my friends is going to save the day and fly down for two nights since the hubby is working! so, it looks like you will get to see 2 of my original 4 costumes. and I will give you a hint about one of them.... if you watched GG this past week, lets just say that they were reading my mind. :)

here we have another vegas outfit. this one had to be a little more classy since it was for my mom's actual birthday dinner. we went to onga at the mirage for some de-lish Italian food. we are pasta girls at heart, what can I say? so obviously when I think classy, I think, black an white, with some gorgeous pearls and a pop of red thrown in the mix.

the dress is from Macy's, all the pearls are family heirlooms from my grandmother (fashionistas run in the fam!), and this adorable, retro hand purse is from good will. what?! no srsly. it was 2 dollars! I was so excited. I love it, though it was difficult to fit all of my stuff in it. boo.

my cute black, ruffle peep toes. this red I am rockin is my fav. its an OPI shade that took me years to find. I believe I may have gone through about 100 different reds before finding this one some time ago. Its called "vodka and caviar". ahh it even has a rockin name. I bought about 10 bottles of it because I'm not sure if they make it anymore! yikes, must use sparingly.


after dinner we all went to see the cirque du soleil show "The Beatles LOVE". I am a HUGE Beatles fanatic, and we actually saw this show for my 21st birthday when it first came out. it is absolutely AMAZING. if you are in vegas and have the opportunity I recommend it above all the other shows.




so, anyone gone to any great halloween events yet?

happy almost friday!

xoxo

Poker Face

Quick little post today for you ladies! and if you haven't checked out my favorite sequin dress in the post below, make sure you do! I can't wait to wear that one again.

so this outfit is a bit more casual for going out at 2 am! going out after the clubs to go gamble the night away in the Treasure Island casino. I'm not a gambler, but the hubby and the boys on the trip love those poker and black jack tables. So I made sure to bring my luck, my smile, and my poker face. duh. :)

hope everyone is having the best week. thanks for all your support with everything going on with my hubby, you all are amazing. Also I wanted to thank the wonderful Amy of The Bargain Hunter Extraordinaire.

for gifting me with the "Beautiful Blogger Award"! yay! She is such a sweet, caring, and of course fashionable girl and I just adore her. So I will be sure to be passing the award around to some other FABULOUS ladies later in the week. Thanks girl!

xoxo

thats what you get for waking up in vegas :)

Hi everyone! I'm back and have lots of lovely outfit posts for you this week! Vegas was a blast and we ended up staying 2 days longer than we had originally planned for. It was kind of our last hoorah. While we were there, my hubby got his new assignment and new schedule for the next 2 months and.... its NOT good. He is only getting some Tuesdays and Wednesdays off through January, and is working from about 2 in the afternoon all through the night. This of course means no dinners together, no movie nights, no going to the dog park together, no weekend trips, no going out for a date, or with friends. nothing. Can you tell I'm not doing so well with this? If I haven't mentioned before, the hubby is a federal agent, and with the government you really don't have a say in much of anything. So as of now, NO Halloween, NO Thanksgiving, NO Christmas, and NO New Years together. We are going to have to celebrate on whatever days he has off. Such a bummer. But at least he has a job that he loves and we are lucky to be able to say that for the moment.

But on to the outfit! Love me some Vegas. Its the perfect place to wear whatever and it all works there! I stepped it up with glamorous ensembles all weekend and had a blast. This was my absolute favorite from the trip so I am posting it first...

The 22 of us on the trip all went to dinner at Paris that night at the beautiful Mon Ami Gabi restaurant. Seriously I loved this place, they did a fantastic job of giving it an authentic French feel. And of course I had one of my favorite dishes, some de-lish escargot. I remember eating this even as a little girl! My mama always made sure I tried all sorts of interesting food. I don't often get access to some great French cuisine, so I was beyond excited.

So in my mind this is the PERFECT Vegas outfit. Dress consisting entirely of sequins. the best part was that it changed color in each different light that we were in! I paired it with my new faux leather, over the knee boots and chandelier earrings. It was such a fun outfit to wear all around Vegas. Got lots of comments on it from everyone! Drunk people wandering the strip plus shiny dress equals all sorts of hilarious madness.


and of course my gorgeous mama and snapped a picture in front of the Venetian because it reminds us of Venice! Our favorite! My poor mama had all of her luggage lost on the way there, and had none of her planned outfits, I felt so bad. Thanks United.

tres joli!


and yes we did get the giant margaritas in the Eiffel tower glasses. such fun.

glad to be back and not have as much crazy work as last week! thanks for bearing with me. Can't wait to get home and have a look at every one's blog and see what you have been up to. and maybe see some Halloween activities and costume ideas!

xoxo

yummy stuff

getting back from Vegas tonight and I am getting all my outfits ready to post starting tomorrow! So exciting! for today though, enjoy this healthy post. :)

Hey everyone! So I'm putting this post up for some of the girls that were inquiring after some healthy recipe ideas so I thought I would start posting some up over here. :)

Before I dive into the recipes, I want to say first that they are all incredibly easy. The main thing that I've learned is that you can still eat the same things, but you just need to learn to substitute the important stuff. Every little bit will make a difference. Instead of white rice, use brown rice or couscous, instead of regular pasta use whole wheat or multi grain, instead of butter use some olive oil, instead of cheddar cheese use some low fat ricotta, and instead of white bread use rye or wheat. and of course always go with the low sodium options! Just a few pointers. There are great low fat substitutes you can learn for most everything. :)

This week I have been craving fish, so two of these recipes are sea food centric, but I promise there will be others without for the next post. I know not everyone loves this stuff, but I have found a real passion for it. It is so de-lish, so low in cal, and just over all so good for you. The omega oils work for your hair, and your skin, and its better than eating a giant chunk of red meat.

The first dinner dish we have here is teriyaki grilled salmon topped with pan seared green peppers, red peppers, and onions with a broccoli and spinach salad on the side.


super easy ladies. before you head off to work for the day, grab your two 6 ounce pieces of salmon (mine are from safeway), and put them into some zip locks and add some soy sauce and some low sodium teriyaki sauce and toss them in the fridge to marinate for the day. If you only have an hour that will work, but the flavor is better the longer you can leave them in there. When your ready to cook, grab your grill (mine is a George Foreman yay!) and toss the salmon on there, skin side up. Add some more soy sauce as you are grilling, and toss on some seasoning. I use Mrs. Dash (low sodium and found at all grocery stores).

While that is cooking grab your veggies ( carrots, broccoli, and peas.... I use the frozen kind for this recipe, so easy ) and put them in the pot to boil. Usually its about 3 cups of water for the bag of veggies, and it takes about 20 minutes at a medium boil for them to be soft. While that is working, grab your spinach and toss it in the salad bowl, and add your choice of dressing ( I go for the low fat, low carb honey soy from eating right). The salmon should be ready to flip after about 10 minutes. Go ahead and flip, and add a little more soy sauce. For the last 10 minutes while the salmon cooks, head over to the stove and heat up a skillet or pan. drizzle a little olive oil on it while it warms. Go ahead and chop your onion, green pepper, and red pepper and toss onto the pan. Let saute for about 5 minutes.

Your salmon should be ready to go, so grab it and put it on your plate. Then drain your veggies and toss them into your salad. Once the onions and crew are ready toss them on top of your salmon, and you are ready to dig in! yum! The whole ordeal takes about 30 minutes to prepare. not bad!

This one is even easier. This is one of my favorite lunch recipes, and I recently shared it with Christen the other day and she loved it as well! These are mini pesto pizzas. but how can pizza be healthy? well, have a look...


The first step is deciding what you would like to use for your dough. I go back and forth between two very healthy options. The first (seen above) is low carb pita bread. It comes in packs of 10, and has only 50 calories per pita! score! The second if you are a mushroom lover, is to use the large mushroom caps. so yummy and also a legitimate choice.

So you take your pita bread or mushroom cap and place it on a cookie sheet and set your oven to 415. Sprinkle a dab of low fat pesto onto the bread and spread around. I then add some fresh sliced up tomatoes, and my choice of toppings which include chopped mushrooms, onions, spinach, and a tiny bit of prosciutto. Top with some fresh mozzarella and ricotta cheese, not too much though! Toss in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes and your good to go. So de-lish!

Here is a favorite snack of mine at the moment. very simple. I take a flavor of yoplait low fat yogurt (below are raspberry and lemon) and add a spoonful of sugar free jello pudding, and top with the fruit of the day! Here I used pineapple, but strawberries, banana, and mango also work. Did you know that pineapple (like celery) is a negative calorie food? It takes our bodies more energy to digest it, so we are burning calories! But, we still have to watch it, because it is high in sugar. :) and another fun thing to add here is some granola, but I was all out that day. sad megan face.


ok, so one final recipe for the night. another sea food one. Here I give you spicy sauteed scallops over oven baked veggies and Thai noodles.

First you are going to get your pan ready by warming it up to a medium temp and adding some olive oil. Toss the baby scallops on, and then add some seasoning. For my scallops I use taco seasoning! You can grab the little packets at safeway, and they are great for adding that spicy flavor. I also topped these with a little soy sauce to give them that extra oomph. these should only take about 15 minutes to cook, just keep an eye on them and make sure to stir them frequently.

For my veggies, I learned this little trick from my mom and its the best. So now I will share it with you. :)

I don't know why but this way of cooking them makes them taste 100 percent better. I can't figure it out, but I know I down them like they are going out of style. You would think I was eating chocolate chip cookies and not veggies. fersure.

Set your oven at 400 and grab your cookie sheets. For mine, I use my cupcake sheets. I like to section off the veggies so that they can cook better this way. Pour a little olive oil on the top of them and throw on some salt and pepper. Toss in the oven for 10 minutes. Each oven is different, so check them to make sure they are looking crispy before you take them out. You will love them. You are getting a personal Megan guarantee!

While all this is happening, grab your past pot and add a few cups of water, and add some multi grain Thai noodles. I found mine at Safeway, of course, in the same aisle as the pasta. Let them boil until soft.

Once everything is ready, put the noodles, veggies, and scallops in a bowl and mix together for a delicious meal.


I hope I have given you some good ideas, and I have TONS more! Let me know if you like these ones, and if you would like some other ones next week!

xoxo

M

jack, the pumpkin king

While I'm out and about in Vegas today, I've left this post for you girls with our pumpkin patch exploits from last weekend. Enjoy!

Cute hubby? check

pumpkin spice latte? check.

gorgeous little pumpkin patch? check.

outfit inspired by jack the pumpkin king? check.

happy saturday loves!

xoxo

its a jungle out there.

Hello, you've reached Megan's voice-blog. I'm not here right now, I'm still busy living large in VEGAS. So if you need me try looking at the black jack tables, at the pool cabanas, or dancing it up all over the town. If you love the casual post I've left for you on this lovely friday, please leave a message after the beep. BEEP. :)

here is a quick friday post to keep you entertained. just an easy outfit, but if you know me, this is sort of outside my box! JEANS? what? Megan doesn't wear jeans! well usually no, but since the hubby was treating me it was his request. Jeans are his favorite thing on me, and my least favorite thing to wear. It always kills me how everyone and their mom says that they are so comfy. Am I just missing it? my jeans are always hideously uncomfortable. not that I think they don't look good on most girls, I just can't stand how they feel.




On another quick note, I was tagged by the lovely and awesome Ash of Forever Ash
in Honest Scrap. Woo thanks love! So here goes, ten things about moi.

1. I am completely obsessed with Broadway musicals. They pretty much fill up my entire ipod. And I absolutely must listen to them when I clean my house. There is something so cathartic for me about cleaning and singing show tunes. weird? you bet. I also secretly hope that one day I will wake up and my life will have turned into a musical, complete with spontaneous song numbers and choreographed dance routines. Cause what isn't more fun when your singing and dancing about it? nothing, thats what. Go watch GLEE right now, and tell me you don't want your life to be like that. srsly.

2. One of my great passions in life is working with animals. kind of goes against the whole fashionista thing, but I don't care. My husband calls me his own personal dog whisperer. Stray animals always seem to find me, not the other way around. He will always try to stop to help, but they run away from him. Where ever we are, animals seem to run over to me, on the street, the park, where ever. He says its my aura. We have 2 dogs of our own, and are always fostering another. Before I moved, I used to volunteer at my favorite shelter twice a month. It was 3 hours away in a really rural area of Lake County Ca, that needed lots of help. Anyways, if you are looking for a pet, PLEASE ADOPT FROM YOUR LOCAL SHELTER. and SPAY AND NEUTER. so important.

3. Here's a shorter one. I have 4 tattoos. 1 across my lower back that I drew myself (flower, vines, pretty stuff), 1 on my side (the Kanji symbol for friendship, gotten with besties in high school), 1 on my wrist (Kanji symbol for true love, thanks hunny!), and 1 on my hip (in honor of John Lennon, the word "imagine" with a shooting star. that man is a genius).

4. Though I have been to so many wonderful places in the world, I will always believe that Chicago is the best city on earth. I love me some San Francisco, some London, some Venice, and some Paris. But Chicago is the best. Seriously New York, don't even talk to me, Chicago kicks your butt. Its such a fantastic city and it will always be home to me.

5. On a similar note, I would sell just about everything I own to see the Chicago Cubs win the World Series. Seriously all my clothes, my car, my dogs, my husband.... just kidding. or maybe not. lol

6. I have a secret stash of reduced fat oreos for my bad days. They are hidden from my husband and dogs. yes its bad. and no I don't resort to them that often. and no, you can't have any.

7. My favorite TV show is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. weird? um ya. I own all 7 seasons on DVD, its the best.

8. I studied English and Theater in college, and have a deep love for the classically studied writers: Austen, Bronte, Ibsen, Kafka, Chekov, Wilde, Shakespeare, Albee, Orwell, oh the list goes on and on. Can you tell I'm a big reader? Anyways, the secret here is that while I am a total literary snob, on the down low I really enjoy reading trashy teen novels. seriously, love me some YA section at the book store. Yes, I did read all the gossip girl books poolside. Yes I did wait in line for each and every Harry Potter book. and Yes I do love Twilight. and Yes I did make tshirts with my friends and go to the midnight showing last year. and Yes I am going to do it again this year. sigh. and Yes, I am a huge nerd.

9. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. problem? yeah.

10. I have a top 10 list of my favorite movies of all time. While some are constantly changing and rotating, the one that always seems to be on there is..... Hook. lol does anyone remember that movie. The one about Peter Pan? My brother and I were OBSESSED with this movie as children. and we still talk about how much we love it. other childhood favs.... Homeward Bound, and the Nightmare Before Christmas. Do yourself a favor and check them out.

jeeeeez my list was long. Sorry I am so long winded and narcissistic! lol


Hope you all have a fabulous weekend. leave me a note and let me know all about it!

xoxo

leaving on a jet plane

Well as you are reading this, I am jetting off for the weekend. If you know me, then you know how excited I am to get out of Tucson. I am going stir crazy here! In California there were so many little weekend trips that my friends and I used to take. Drive to the city for the night, grab a beach day down in Santa Cruz at the boardwalk, head to Tahoe for some snowboarding in the winter or boating in the summer, or even hit the wine country in Napa or Sonoma for some tasting. The possibilities of the Bay Area were endless. In Tucson, they are less than endless. More like non-existent. Tucson is like a desert oasis (not the good kind of oasis) that is just literally in the middle of nowhere. So again, I can't wait for a quick trip.

took these outfit pics last night during the packing process. this is my traveling outfit for the flight. I layered two ridiculously comfortable jersey dresses to get an interesting mix of color, and to coordinate with my scarf. As a big traveler, I have a set of rules that I go by for travel, and wearing dark colors is one of them. You don't want to get caught with some spill or stain while you are traveling. I'm also a big fan of looking stylish when you travel. I can't understand people that rock their pajamas and slippers in the airport. It is still a public place, and it still looks kind of awkward. Agree? I mean would you wear your PJ's to a concert? to a book store? I don't know I guess I just love every opportunity to showcase my personal fashion, and I feel like rockin my jammies is a waste of an opportunity. With this outfit I have managed to be comfortable, simple, practical, and stylish. You know that I do like to arrive in style. :)

to finish it off, here is a close up of my lovely scarf. I picked this beauty up in Venice a few months ago. They have the most beautiful scarfs there! anyways, can't wait to hear all about every one's weekend stories when I get back. Anyone doing any fun Halloween activities? Getting your costumes in order? I would LOVE to hear your ideas!


xoxo