Let's Catch Up....Rehearsal Time

 Seriously.....It's been way tooooooo LONG!!! 

Since we last met up, you guessed it.....we got MARRIED!!
I swear life has been like a whirlwind since October and it just hasn't stopped since.
I'm not going to bore you with everything you missed from Sept until the wedding.
Let's just get to the good stuff!

October 19th all the way through to the end of October was by far my most memorable time EVER.
One of my brothers from Florida flew in for the wedding and I LEGIT have not laughed so much. 
He definitely kicked off Wedding Week for us.

After my brother's arrival, the rest of the out of towners made their debut. 

(ya know aunt, uncle, bestie)

These people were some of the most important life lines and VITAL to this grandiose event going off without a hitch.

Our wedding and rehearsal were WORK. 

Absolutely STUNNING, absolutely PERFECT, but 

WORK!

My brother's words 'I'm going back to Florida like I just did the Strong Man Competition'

No freaking KIDDING!

We were soooo lucky to have had our family and friends step in the way they did.

We are forever grateful and love all of you sooo much!

I'm just going to give you the Rehearsal Night recap on this post because it was the 

start of a f**#%g FABULOUSLY fun weekend!

Obviously we started rehearsal at the venue. 

(AZ Hops & Vines is where we got married)

We had some laughs, nailed our timing of walking and singing down.

(no, not me singing...are you peeps crazy?! One of our absolute favorite past students, turned family sang 2 songs for our ceremony) 

She is AMAZING. 

(follow her on social because girlfriend is definitely going places! I will link her deets at the end)

We didn't actually take any pics while we were "rehearsing",

however this little beauty was captured and still makes me LOL every. time. I. see. it.

Yes, that's my brother. 

Yes, I adore him. 

(He adored this pic as much as I did LOL)

After we perfected our walk, we headed next door for the most perfect rehearsal dinner under the stars, at the Meading Room.

That place is breathtaking. The property is perfection, the vibe is chill AF.

Our whole weekend was pretty "unique".

The one stand out really "unique" part was we concocted our own wine blend at our rehearsal dinner to be used for our wine blending ceremony the next day.

I'm still in awe. 

It was seriously so special and so different.

Hops and Vines outdid themselves.

They met us over at the rehearsal dinner location.

Gave us all the "smarts" on each wine, all of our guests got to sample each one, and all the while we were sipping and mingling with each other, we were creating our special WINE!!!! 

LOVE LOVE LOVE!

After the blending of our wine it was time to get down to business and fill our bellies!

We did a Taco Truck!

That ish was freaking BOMB!!!

Everyone seemed to really enjoy it. So so good!!

Get in my BELLY....I can eat this ALL again, right now!

Such an absolutely beautiful evening. El fresco eating is my JAM!

Once dinner was FINITO, it was drinking, fire side sitting, and of course CORN HOLE in heels and dresses because seriously, did you EXPECT anything less from me!!!??? 

My son blew us away with his speech. 

If anyone had any doubts about our relationship, all you need to do is listen to both of my kid's speeches to really grasp that we are the REAL DEAL.

But ya know, everyone has their opinion. ;)

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect night with those closest to us, to start Wedding Weekend off.

To quote one of my new brother in laws...."we are fucking BLESSED"!!! LOL

Here is the pic summary of the lovelies who helped make that night one of the best.

And there ya go....a beautiful night was had by all.

I highly recommend stepping out of the box for your rehearsal and wedding. It's LEGIT soooo much better when you don't give in to other people's opinions and NORMS.

I'll be back soon with the BIG Day post!

In the mean time I hope you all are staying healthy and safe and trying your best

to make some holiday memories this month in the new normal. 

Have an AH-MAZING day!!! 

Where to find the peeps/venues mentioned in this post:

Charlize Diaz de Leon: https://www.instagram.com/charlizediazdeleon/

The Meading Room: https://www.instagram.com/themeadingroomaz/

Frausto's Street Tacos: https://www.instagram.com/fraustosstreettacos/

AZ Hops & Vines: https://www.instagram.com/azhopsandvines/

Cinnamon Roll Overnight Oats

Hello loves!!!

I don't know about you guys but freaking LIFE gets straight up 

C. R. A. Z. Y. at times and right now we are in the 

deep depths of f*cking, legit CRAZY!!

Even though school is virtual right now, we are preparing for hybrid to start up and to

just have kids back on campus in general.

Go ahead add on the upcoming wedding hoopla which is approaching

SUPER fast mixed in with the day to day life grind, and you have the recipe for a REAL shit show.

Maintaining my sanity is a challenge to say the LEAST (just keeping it real, so you don't think I'm sugar coating shit like Willy Wonka over here) so I love when I can be prepared ahead of time.

Enter OVERNIGHT OATS!

Overnight oats are such an AMAZING invention and time saver. They were thrown together in only a few minutes and voila morning comes and those beauties were ready to be enjoyed!

I have made other versions before but this recipe mixed things up a bit and I was 

truly intrigued. 

They did NOT disappoint! I seriously think they tasted like a YUMMY cinnamon roll!

Give them a try if you want to save yourself some time in the morning

and basically dominate at life for that day! ;)

INGREDIENTS:

2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

2 tbsps chia seeds

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 cup rolled oats

sliced almonds

DIRECTIONS:

1.  In a large bowl, mix together the yogurt and almond milk until well blended.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix altogether.

3. Portion the oats into jars with lids and refrigerate overnight.

4. Enjoy either hot or cold with sprinkled sliced almonds on top.

The Great Crush

 Did someone say GRAPE GREAT crush?!

Guys....if you live in AZ, like literally anywhere in AZ you have to and I mean
 ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY

have to make a trip to beautiful Southern Arizona to the 

CUTEST, FUNKIEST, BEST VIBE WINERY 

that your little toes will ever have the pleasure of visiting!!!!

AZ Hops & Vines is a women owned and operated winery in Sonoita, AZ and it's by far

the most unique winery experience you will EVER encounter.

From the moment you pull up you can seriously legit feel the funky-ness.

From all of the cute vintage conversation areas made out of pallets, the vintage metal tables all mismatched in the most amazing way ever, to Frank - the Winery Peacock, ducks (who put on an x-rated show), goats etc. There literally is something for everyone.

Walk inside and it gets EVEN better. First off....the STAFF!

Never have I ever, just immediately vibed with women who are not already your friends

like I have at this FANTABULOUS spot. 

(because let's be honest...women can be TOUGH)

Shannon & Alexandra are our regulars who take care of us, but honestly

you can't go wrong. Everyone is flipping WONDERFUL!

Oh and make sure you take a much needed "break" in their

SUPER eclectic BATHROOM. (you will NEED WANT a selfie, I pinky promise)

I got way off track telling you how much I LOVE this winery that I didn't get to the point of this post.

So last year we went to the GREAT crush and had such an amazing time

that we decided to make it an ANNUAL gig.

No, you aren't going to be drinking the wine everyone's toes are in....don't be GROSS!

But, you will have a crazy ass experience that you don't get to have

every day! So go ahead LIVE a LITTLE!

You will NOT regret it.

Obviously this year was a little different due to Covid but it was still

the same amazing time we had last year.

Live music, food trucks, beautiful scenery, amazing wine.....

What are you waiting for!!!!???

Here's a little bit of our day:

Here she is...my absolute FAV...

Shannon, one of the Wine Goddess Owners

So yeah as you can tell the day completely SUCKED!!! 

LOLOLOLOL

No it was literally picture perfect!

Thank you to Arizona Hops & Wines for continually

bringing the best freaking EVENTS ever!!

Seriously if you need something different to do for the day...pack a picnic and head out there

you will NOT be disappointed!

And tell them I sent you! ;)

(no I don't get paid to promote them...I just abso-freaking-lutely LOVE them and now more than ever you need to LIFT people up! OH, and don't be JELLY, I am a WINE CLUB MEMBER...no big deal!)

Here is their website: https://www.azhopsandvines.com/

The Billie

 Ok ok guys! 

I jumped on the razor VIA mail service band wagon. 

Um, one because quite frankly I do LOVE the convenience, two because

I was INTRIGUED and wanted to see if this little baby lived up to all the HYPE and three because

freaking razors are EXPENSIVE!!!

Not only are those little beeoooches expensive BUT they never give this HAIRY Italian lady a 

SMOOTH shave that lasts!

So I thought, what the HELL, I'll give them a try!

The first thing I will say is they are marketing geniuses. Like mother effing GENIUSES because 

let's face it, they know their demographic and they KNOW damn well their demographic 

likes pretty things.

Their packaging is pretty and eco friendly so really what more does a girl want?!! (uh, yeah I hear ya, a CLOSE, nik free shave!...I'm getting there)

    I  kinda suck because I never took a pic when I first got it!!! So yeah, this is LEGIT mine, don't you use those judging eyes on me! ;)

The starter kit comes with the Handle, the Magic Holder (that's right peeps it's MAGIC) & 2 Blades

I'm not going to LIE, I kinda love that "magic" holder because it keeps my razor

out of the way and nice and neat for my OCD heart.

(They have a few different colors available for the handle I did DREAM POP because I felt like living on the edge that day and TBH I LOVED the name!)

Are you READY for this??!!!

$9 + FREE SHIPPING

Like what in the actual EFF U CEE KAY!???

I didn't believe it either but the SHIT is LEGIT!!!

I am in LOVE with this razor! I have not cut myself ONCE!

I have been using it for about 3 months now. 

The other really nice feature of this automatic delivery service is YOU can personalize how often you need the blade refills delivered.

I'll tell you that I was going to do every other month, but I switched to every 3 months because I don't need them as often.

It was super easy to adjust my delivery so that was a HUGE perk to me. I didn't want 

to have issues when I didn't need more blades.

So the refills come in a 4 pack and it's ALWAYS free SHIPPING! 

Holler!!!

  Here is how the blades are packaged. All nice and neat with their little protective cover in 4 sleeves. 

I love that the packaging tells you to please recycle me or compost me. 

Adorbs!

So Long PRICKLES!! LOL

Love it!

Anywhoooooo I think it was TOTALLY worth it and I am going to keep on 

having those beauties delivered to my door. One less trip to the store = SCORE!

Go check out their site! My Billie

They have some other fun products as well. (dry shampoo, lip balms, skin wipes and more)

I haven't tried any of their other stuff yet, but it's definitely on my to do list after this wedding.

(hellllooooo spending FREEZE right now till this amazing day is over!) LOL  ;)

Baked Chicken (or Ground Turkey) Tacos

Well hello loves!!! It's been a HOT minute 2 months since I put a recipe on here so I figured it is about TIME! Not to mention Tuesday's dinner was freaking BOMB!  But peeps I have to be HONEST, I am NOT 100% comfortable in cooking effing Mexican food when I am literally ENGAGED to a Mexican!!! (SMH) I don't need that judgement, LOL!

That man can cook me some Mexican food.... like make you drool Mexican food. So I kinda hate that I no longer want to make my skinny "white" girl Mexican food, but let's face it, A LOT MOST of the time I'm home wayyyyyy sooner than him. The choice is make Mel's Mexican food when I'm craving it or no Mexican food. 

UGH! The struggle! You guessed it, I cave because girlfriend has NEEDS. ;)  We have been doing soooo flipping good with our eating and working out these last 3 months, so I'm very conscientious of the meals I plan out. Not because we are starving ourselves....hell NO! (I LOVE to eat!) Honestly we are feeling soooo much better with our eating habits and we both are in such good shape, it's CRAZY. The beauty of these little tacos though is that they fit in line with our meal plan we follow. (if any of you are doing portion fix this is the recipe for you) 

Super simple, super yummy, and NOT completely fall off the wagon bad for you!!! SCORE!

Give it a try and let me know how you like them. I have made them both ways shredded chicken and ground turkey and both are AWESOME! 

Oh and my hot Mexican freaking LOVED them!!! He wants them EVERY Tuesday in honor of Taco Tuesday! #LookAtMe #NoBigDeal

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken Breasts (cooked in crock pot and shredded)

1 tsp olive oil

1 jar of salsa (I used Pace Picante Sauce because I prefer that over chunky stuff)

1 packet of low sodium taco seasoning

1 box of Taco Shells (I used the stand and stuff because they are soooo much more convenient)

Shredded cheese (your choice)

Shredded lettuce

DIRECTIONS:

1. For the chicken ones I cook the chicken in my crock pot all day 

2. When it's done I shred it and then add the salsa and taco packet, mix well

3. Spray a glass baking dish with nonstick spray and then fill the shells with the mixture (if you are following the portion fix, you can use your RED container to measure the shell filling)

4. Top each taco with cheese (use BLUE container if following the portion fix)

5. Bake at 375 for 10 - 15 minutes until cheese is melted and browned.

6. Top with shredded lettuce

YUM!

Two tacos count as 1 yellow, 1 red, 1 blue, 1 green

Enjoy!!!! Don't forget to let me know how you like them!!! :)

Shoes, Dresses, Decorations......oh MY!!

 Ok like SERIOUSLY.....

how is it September 2nd already!?
You won't hear me complain about that part....not one little bit because 

hellllllloooooo

FALL!
Pumpkin EVERYTHING!

Don't even bother judging me because you do you boo! 

I LOVE LOVE pumpkin coffee, pumpkin scones, pumpkin candles. 

eeeeeekkkkkk!

Guys I wish I could totally get down with decorating for Fall right now

BUT even pumpkins can't keep my mind preoccupied because

it's like LEGIT the month before our BIG day!

It's crazy to me how QUICKLY that came.

Like WTF?!

So now my skinny ass is scrambling to get all our goodies put together and get our

asses in GEAR!

It's unbelievable how much work goes into a venue when YOU are doing 

the decorating and the venue is literally just the location.

It's going to take some MAN power to get all of our "shit"   beautiful decor to the venue. 

No, seriously this wedding is like a DREAM.

I just did my final alterations on my dress a couple weeks ago. 

I. CAN'T. EVEN. 

I've been working my ass off every week, 5 days a week to make sure 

I do that dress justice! LOL

(fingers crossed I'm successful!)

My shoes just came in the mail and I am in LOVE but I think my favorite part of this WHOLE ensemble (besides the dress) is 

the absolutely PERFECT clutch I ordered.

My aunt has a fabulous photo idea in mind to really accentuate all of the pieces.

Think antique settee and then let your imagination run WILD!

(I can't give too much away...my guy reads this little outlet of mine) 

All of our vendors are secured and we are going to have an AMAZING videographer which 

I can NOT wait to see what he produces.

Rings are ordered. Officiant was proposed to. Photographer all lined up. DJ done.

One of our close friends is making a special table top for us. 

I "think" we have it all ready to go.

Now it's the little details of assembling everything so my decorating team has

ALL that they need for that day without any confusion.

The little details of this day have my heart just pitter pattering.

I really think that this wedding is going to be an absolute BLAST. A GORGEOUS, fabulously delicious, BLAST. A celebration of a love story in the making with ONLY those friends and family closest to us and who have been our biggest supporters.

This time around is ALL about us! Selfish???

Nah, REAL. HONEST. UNAPOLOGETIC.

There's something so refreshing KNOWING what you want this time around. 

If you have been listening to our podcast or you follow me on social media you 

know I've been through some "stuff".

Gone is the people pleasing Melanie.

Toodles BITCH....byyyyeeeeeee!

Independent, Strong, Zero Fcks Melanie is the new Bitch in Town. LOL

On that note it's time for me to go brew up a cup of pumpkin spice and kick my heels up.

Happy September!!!!

(and because I can't not have pics on my post here is a pic of my dress fitting crew and me and my love because well he's adorbs and needs a shout out for how amazing he's doing in our fitness challenge group!)

 

New things are happening......

 Welll hellllllllooooo my little loves!!!

Whew it's been a HOT minute since I have been on here.

I won't even BOTHER with the infamous 'life is crazy busy, blah blah blah'.

All I can say is we started a new venture on top of the health & wellness journey we are on and time/life just got away from me!

Oh, and ya know we are T Minus 8 weeks away from the BIG day! What what!!?? I know, I know

I can't EVEN. Sooooooo excited to marry this man, you just have no idea. ;)

More on the wedding in upcoming posts, but let's get right to our new venture.

Guys, we are soooo freaking excited!!!

 For some time now we have talked about how much we would LOVE to do a couple's podcast and finally we stopped shitting around just talking about it and we freaking DID it!!!!

We are having an absolute BLAST with it and have gotten soooo much positive feedback.

Like some serious unexpected feedback. LOL

We are loving how well it's been received. 

We drop our episodes on Sundays around noonish 

(a good time for a cup of coffee or a cocktail depending on your mood!) 😉

If you want to hear real life shit, we just wrapped up Episode 4 this past weekend. It's full of pretty AWESOME at home date night advice.

We aren't experts by any means, but we think with our past experience we have a pretty good

story to tell and like to keep it REAL for all of you. 

So check out C & C with M & E and let us know what you think. (more on the name of the podcast in episode 1)

https://anchor.fm/hm18/episodes/CC-with-ME----Get-to-Know-Me-Episode-1-eh93ne

Oh, and be forewarned....this is NOT little ear friendly so don't go blasting it in the car

with your littles in the back seat or they are in for a serious EDUCATION!!! ;)

Sorry for the MIA situation....girlfriend needs to get her balance in ORDER!

Be back in a few days with some more good stuff!!!

Avocado Alfredo Zoodles with Shrimp

Happy Sunday lovelies!!

Ok, so I dove into another 2B Mindset recipe this weekend....

helllloooooooo!

Sooooo good! 

I love pasta but obviously pasta is NOT always the best choice to eat on a regular basis.

I know, I know, I LOVE a good pasta, but I have had zoodles in the past and

loved them as well. I did invest in a really good "spiralizer" aka Zoodler from Amazon.

That thing is a BEAST!! It was soooo easy AND quick to zoodle those guys!

This recipe was only for 2 servings, but I ended up zoodle-ing all of the zucchinis I had so they didn't go bad and modifying the recipe to at least 4 servings.

So the numbers here are based on 4 servings. I just put the excess zoodles in a ziploc bag for us to use this week for lunches, etc.

The sauce for this is BOMB!

Hopefully your people love this as much as my people did. We are definitely keeping this in the rotation.  If you give it a try, let me know how you like it. :)

INGREDIENTS:

2 medium avocado

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

Black pepper (divided and also added per taste)

Garlic Powder

Onion powder (divided)

Lemon juice

Raw shrimp (I used a whole bag of the xl size shrimp)

6-8 zucchinis (as you start spiralizing you can see how much you want to go with)

Shaved Parmesan Cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mash up the avocado and combine it with the yogurt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder and lemon juice. For the lemon juice, we personally LOVE lemon juice and the recipe didn't call for it, so I added non measured, just by taste. Mix well and set aside.

2. Heat a large nonstick pan with just a bit of olive oil or cooking spray over medium heat. (my pans don't use cooking spray so I always just use a little olive oil)

3. Add shrimp. Season with 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder and yep, I did squirt a little more lemon juice in there. Cook stirring frequently for a minute or two.

4. Add your zoodles, cook and stir frequently for about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain any excess liquid from the pan.

5. Add the avocado mixture stirring frequently, until heated through and shrimp are fully cooked. 

6. Plate up your beautiful creation and top with shaved parmesan. 

That's it!!! YUM!!!!!

Have a beautiful rest of your Sunday!!

Turnip Fries! Say WHAT?!

Guys, like what the HECK!?

Ok, so as you know we are doing Beachbody and this week

I am SUPER stoked because I am trying a BUNCH of new recipes.

This particular recipe caught my eye from the 2B Mindset meal program. And 

I'm sure you guys can GUESS why it caught my eye!?

hellooooo my little carb neglected heart was leaping at the word

FRIES!!!

Fries and I have had a LONG time love affair.

This GIRL has not met a fry she doesn't love.

Anyway, I was super interested in these little guys.

They were SUPER easy to make and I was BLOWN away by

how much they looked like LEGIT french fries!!

Everyone LOVED them! They will be staying in the rotation.

Go out to that grocery produce section and grab those turnips! 

(yep, NEVER HAVE I EVER bought a turnip before this recipe! LOL)

INGREDIENTS:

2 to 3 turnips (I bought 2 but only used 3) - cut them into thinner strips

tsp olive oil

Dash of Salt 

Dash of Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix olive oil and seasonings together with the "fries"

2. Bake at 425 degrees for 42 - 45 minutes, turning occasionally to even out the browning.

That is seriously it guys!!!! So flipping EASY!!!

We had ours with a Salmon Burger with Avocado cream sauce over a bed of spinach. YUM!

Enjoy your Wednesday loves!!

Remember stay positive and take care of YOU! 💕

Turkey Taco Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Happy Tuesday loves! So I've seen this recipe circulating around the internet for awhile and was always intrigued, so I finally took the plunge and tried them. I am so happy I did because they are legit DELISH....and super easy! SCORE! It only takes 2 sweet potatoes but equals 4 servings because you actually split the sweet potatoes in half. :) (in my pics I have 5 halves, I kept one half out to use today for lunch)  I have really been experimenting and trying a ton of new recipes to see how we all like them and so far it's really expanding our menu rotation!!

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground turkey
2 sweet potatoes (choose a size that works for the # of people you are feeding)
1 tsp olive oil
Ground cumin (divided, see directions)
Salt (divided, see directions)
Pepper (divided, see directions)
Garlic Cloves (minced, amount to your taste)
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
8 oz can tomato sauce
Monterey Jack cheese - shredded (amount to your preference)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pierce the sweet potatoes all over with a knife. Wrap the sweet potato in a wet paper towel, yes, you read that right. LOL  It sounds weird but it helps potatoes cook quicker in the microwave. 😊 Cook about 6 minutes each side depending on your microwave. You will know they are ready when they are nice and soft to touch. Let them rest to cool. You want to be able to handle them without getting a third degree burn peeps!

2. After the potatoes are cool, cut them in half lengthwise. Scoop out all of the insides, being careful not to ruin the skin. You will place the hollowed out skins on a sheet pan. Mash the removed sweet potato with a fork until most of the lumps are gone then mix in the olive oil, 1/2 tsp of cumin, 1/4 tsp salt & 1/4 tsp pepper. Divide the mashed up mixture evenly between your hollowed out shells.

3. In a skillet over medium high heat, brown the turkey, stir in the garlic, the chili powder, 3/4 tsp cumin, oregano, paprika, 1/8 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. Stir in the tomato sauce.

4. Preheat your Broiler. Spoon the turkey mixture evenly on top of each of the sweet potato mixtures. Top with your cheese. Place in oven until the cheese is all melted with yummyness. (yes, that's a word) Remember it's on broil so the cheese is going to melt super duper FAST!! ;)

Try them out and let me know what you think!!!