My Lucky Week

This week was not too shabby. Not too shabby, indeed.

1. It's official. I am in love with mint. Don't tell, B.
2. My BFF and MOH (same person) got me this awesome scratch off map for my birthday and I finally hung it up. Now B and I have to go to Russia, China, and Brazil to really make this map look like we have been places.
3. Our favorite meal this week were the beef skewers from our eMeals meal plan.
4. Save the dates were officially sent!! Wahoo!
5. Thursday was cold and rainy. As my big "F*** you, Weather!" I decided to wear every pastel color in my closet. I am sooo ready for Spring, even if that means I am dressing like rainbow sherbert.


Some other happies from the week:

• I found out one of my good friends is pregnant!! I am so excited for her and she will be an awesome mom. 
• I won not 1, but 2 giveaways this week!! Both were ad space giveaways so now you will probably see my little ad all over some awesome blogs!
• The Baylor Men's Basketball won the NIT tournament!
• RGIII's twitter rant about the Lady Bears and Brittney Griner made me happy!
• Um...the Gap tweeted to tell me I looked good in the sweater. 

Some crappies from the week:

• While I am so glad the save the dates are out, the guest list is been a huge thorn in my side. I am glad that it has been finalized...much to our parents chagrin.
• North Korea....amIright???

Linking up with Happies and Crappies,  H54F and That Friday Blog Hop

Ricotta Cheesecake

For Easter, we went over to a friends house for dinner and I wanted to bring over something special. I immediately thought of cheesecake, since it is a family specialty. But since B isn't a huge cream cheese fan, and thus doesn't like my mom's cheesecake recipe, I decided to try out a ricotta cheesecake.

I took my mom's cheesecake recipe and basically just replaced the cream cheese with ricotta cheese. I also did some research on some traditional Italian ricotta cheesecake recipes and adapted it even further. Then I added my own spin on things, like adding an almond biscotti crust.

In the end, this cheesecake was heavenly. It doesn't have that strong cream cheese flavor, but it is still rich and creamy. I thought the almond crust was delicious, but not necessary. A graham cracker crust, or no crust, would work just fine.

Ricotta Cheesecake
Ingredients
6 eggs, separated
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon zest
30 oz. whole milk ricotta (2 small containers or 1 large)
6 oz. plain Greek yogurt (1 small personal container)

3 cups cookie crumbs
2 tbsp butter, melted

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, mix the cookie crumbs and butter. Dump into a spring form pan and press along the bottom of the pan with your hands or the bottom of a glass. Blind bake the crust for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place the egg yolks in a large bowl and the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the egg whites on high until it forms soft peaks. About 5-10 minutes.
4. In the large bowl with the yolks, add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
5. Add the ricotta, vanilla, lemon zest and Greek yogurt and beat until combined.
6. When the egg whites are ready, fold them into the ricotta mixture, until just combined.
7. Pour the mixture into the spring form pan. Gently shake to evenly disburse the batter.
8. Bake the cheesecake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 325 degrees and bake for an additional 60 minutes. If the top starts to brown, cover with tin foil and continue baking.
9. Let the cheesecake cool completely. Ideally overnight. Store in the refrigerator and keep chilled until ready to serve.

Linking up with Pinterest Power Party, The Bloglovin Collective, and Thursday Thoughts

What I Wore for Easter Sunday

 

Sweater: Gap, Skirt: LOFT, Belt: Ann Taylor, Shoes: Banana Republic, Watch: Kate Spade, Necklaces: H&M, Nordstrom Rack

I know what you are thinking. And, yes, I am that pale. I know. I was pretty shocked at first, too. My legs haven't seen the light of day in AGES!

I don't know about you, but I really love this outfit. I was pretty proud of myself for putting this together. Fortunately, the weather was warm enough to wear a skirt. But let's be honest, I would have worn it even if it was 30 degrees outside.

Linking up for What I Wore Wednesday, Random Wednesday, Wildcard Wednesday

My New Best Friend

This thing is seriously my new best friend!

If you don't know what it is, it is a foam roller. You might have seen some version of this before at your local gym.

So, why is it my new best friend? Well, to make a short story long, I wore shorts for the first time the other day. I am not a huge fan of shorts because I'm not a huge fan of my legs. You see, like most women, I got some cellulite going on. At this point in my life, I have accepted it and realize there isn't much I can do about except stop eating. And that's NOT going to happen.

On Saturday, I put on my shorts, and I didn't see any cellulite. Don't worry, upon closer inspection and some pinching and prodding, it's still there. But so much less noticeable! And trust me, I'm pale as a ghost right now, so if it were going to show up, it would be now.

So I tried to think what I have done different lately. My diet and exercise regime hasn't really changed. Then I realized, it was the foam roller!!

Via

I initially bought the foam roller last year when I tried out P90X2, but didn't use it regularly. Since my lower back has been bothering me, I broke it out again and have been rolling out my back and legs a couple times a week. 

I remembered my friend, who is a physical therapist, telling me that the foam roller can help with cellulite, but I didn't actually think it would work!

www.healthandcare.co.uk

 So here is how the foam roller helps reduce the appearance of cellulite: "Foam roller exercises help to massage areas and break up the interwoven fat fibers. They increase the flow of nutrient rich blood to these areas. It also helps to stretch connective tissues and improve circulation." - FitDay.com

Other than the whole cellulite thing, its just a great piece of equipment to help work out sore muscles. Rolling my back over it is like getting a massage. 

Here are some of my favorite moves:

Gypsy Fit

Travis Sawyer

Now get rolling!!

**I am not a personal trainer, doctor, or health expert. The opinions expressed in this post are strictly based on my own experiences. Your experiences may be different.

Linking up with Google Friend Conect, Just Beacause Tuesday

Blog Madness Standings

Well, this weekend saw some more exciting games and some more upsets. Honestly, this has to be the craziest tournament I have seen in a long time. Only 1 #1 seed, 2 #4 seeds, and a #9 seed? What?!

We basically have 2 brackets battling it out to win it all. Emily's Little Country Blonde bracket and Alex's Everthing Under the Sun bracket are neck and neck. They both have the same picks for the finals, so it will come down to the final score.

Good luck, girls!!

Oh yeah...that's me. WAAAAAAAAY down at the bottom. I sure know how to pick 'em, don't I?

Disappointing Ending

Sorry for the depressing post title. I am writing this after the very disappointing end to the Baylor-Louisville women's basketball game. In case you don't pay attention to women's basketball, Baylor - my alma mater, defending National Champions, and favorites to win it again this year - lost by 1 point to Louisville. Granted, Baylor was down by as much as 19 points and really didn't play like they wanted to win, but I am disappointing and heartbroken nonetheless. If you are a Louisville fan, I apologize. I probably said some mean things about your players in the heat of the moment. But you guys definitely deserve the W, and congrats!

Anywho...the rest of the weekend was much less disappointing. 

1-3. Friday I printed off our save the date cards, and with the help of a little wine and ice cream, we got them all cut and stuffed.

4. Saturday, I braved blinding the world with my pasty white legs and broke out the shorts!
5. B and I went for a walk around town and found ourselves at the Mint Museum. We felt so cultured.
6. We found the inspiration for the art we bought a couple weeks ago.
7. After our walk around town, I ended the day, at 4pm, with a mimosa.

8. Sunday we celebrated Easter by going to Church in the morning and having dinner at a friend's house.
9. I really loved my Easter outfit. More on that on Wednesday.
10. For the Easter dinner, I made a ricotta cheesecake, which was delicious! I will post the recipe later this week, as well!

How was your Easter weekend?

Linking up for Weekend Shenanigans, This Weekend I, The GFC Collective

March Foodie Pen Pal

This was my very first Foodie Pen Pal, and I had so much fun!! I loved curating some fun items to send and getting a fun foodie surprises in return. And on my birthday, no less!

My foodie pen pal for the month was Megan who hails from Walla Walla, Washington. She sent me some pretty awesome treats from from some local places, which was awesome.

Here was my loot. I use past tense, because about half of this box was consumed THE DAY I got it.

So the caramel corn was gone within 48 hours. I am pretty sure that calories don't count on your birthday, so I didn't worry about it. I had the granola for breakfast one day with some Greek yogurt, and it was wonderful. The chocolates made for some sweet treats during the week. I mean, you can never go wrong with chocolate! B found the Goldfish in the pantry and I haven't seen them since. He loves Goldfish. He also tried the mustard on a sandwich this weekend and said it was really good, I have yet to try it, so I will take his word for it.

If you want to see what I sent, check out Stephanie's blog for the break down!

Did you participate in the March's Foodie Pen Pals? If so, I want to hear about what you got!!