weekend happs

this weekend was the perfect summer weekend. people keep talking about fall and pumpkin and sweaters and boots, and i don't want to hear any of it. i love summer and want it to stay forever!

i only worked 1/2 day friday so i could hit the pool. after the pool, we grilled kabobs for dinner and watched mean girls. it was the perfect, easy going day/night.

saturday started super early. i met tiffany and sage at 6:15 to carpool up to kari's to meet for the lake.

loren skied first and then kari skied. the water was perfect, and so was the day.

carly catching air on the wakeboard.

loren skied and surfed before helping sage learn to surf. she did great, and loren was the most patient teacher-you can tell he's a dad.

carly had to leave to go work on her house and loren left for a bike ride.

tiffany and alli

sage the mermaid

we picked up alli and georgia and kids.

alli surfing

we stopped in the cove for lunch and a swim. the water was warm enough that swimming was actually fun.

for some reason we started belly boarding on the knee board. the water was pretty choppy by then so no one really wanted to do anything else. belly boarding is actually quite fun.

with laurann in our matchymatchy flippin waffles hats

most of the girls-tiffany, kari, sage, me, laurann

we got off the lake completely exhausted=super fun time. i ran a few errands on the way home because i knew once i got home i would be way too tired to leave the house again.

i spent sunday going to church, doing a few things at home, and visiting some friends.

it was the absolute perfect weekend, and after a crazy exhausting week exactly what i needed. how was your weekend? any exciting happs?

did you enter saturday's giveaway?

saturday takeover:chasin mason

i'm really excited to have elizabeth taking over today. stick around and learn a little more about her/her blog and enter the giveaway.

Hi everyone! I am so happy to be here today introducing myself to you all! So without further ado, my name is Elizabeth and I blog over at Chasin' Mason, a blog about the adventures in motherhood and daily life with a toddler. I am a true California girl. I was born and raised in Northern California, in the San Francisco Bay Area and moved down to Southern California after I graduated college in 2006. I met my husband in 2006 when we worked together at Barnes and Noble. He was a part time bookseller (he had a different full time job, this was just his job for extra money) and I was a Merchandise Manager. We began dating in 2008 secretly since we weren't technically supposed to be dating since I was his manager {oops!}. We got engaged in September 2009 at Angels Stadium (I thought we were celebrating my birthday! I had no idea!)...

 ...and got married in November 2010...

...and then had our amazing, sweet little boy in July 2012.

He is now 3 years old and is the light of our lives.

(after celebrated all day at Disneyland for his 3rd birthday!)

How did you come up with the name of your blog? 
The name of my blog is Chasin' Mason. To be totally honest, I didn't even come up with it! My friend, Vickie, did. She is really good with these type of things so when I wanted to re-vamp and re-brand my blog about a year and a half ago, I asked her for an idea and BAM. Chasin' Mason was born. The original name of my blog was "Birenbun Out of the Oven". When we first found out we were pregnant, my husband and I called Mason our little "Birenbun" as a spin on "bun in the oven" and our last name, Birenbaum. The more I thought about it and the older Mason got, the more I thought the name was less applicable. Guess I should have thought of that before I made it my official URL! But as it turns out, it's not that hard to change your URL, and about six months ago, I officially changed that too so everything matches.

If money was not an issue, where would you go on a dream vacation? 
Oh man, there are SO many places I would like to go! I have a running list in my phone... you know for one of those days when I win the lottery (ha!). But I would have to say... a backpacking tour of Europe. Oddly enough, backpacking isn't even my "thing" - taking a cruise would be more so - but I think you could see SO much more by doing that.

What are 3 things on your bucket list? 
Honestly, most of them involve traveling. I would love love LOVE to go to Australia. I have seen so many pictures and heard so many stories and it just seems like an amazing place to visit. I would like to go for at least 2 weeks so we could fully see everything.
One other trip I would love to take would be to go to Europe. I know I mentioned that in the last question...so you know I really mean it! I think I would have to go for like a month to be able to see all the places I want, so it might have to be a couple trips, but I would love to go to Spain, England, Scotland (is that even in Europe?? lol), Greece, France, and Italy.
On my husband's bucket list would be traveling to every baseball stadium in the US (and Canada) so I guess by association, that would also be on my list. Before him, I would have never wanted to do that, but now, I definitely think it would be really awesome.

What are 3 things you can't live without? 
Family, friends, and husband/child are a given. So, material things, I would have to go with my phone (which functions as my camera 99% of the time), my car, and my home.

What is in your purse right now? 
The better question might be what's not in my purse! Haha. Well for starters, the obvious things : keys, wallet, chapstick, phone. Then I also have my Erin Condren planner, some trail mix, tons of receipts, a magazine, my check book, Advil, kleenex, some pens, and tons of stuff for Mason -- snacks, toys, diapers, and wipes. It's usually just a catch all for everything. You need it, I have it.

What have you learned about blogging since you started? 
It is SO much more time consuming than I thought! I thought I could just sit down, write something, upload some pictures, and poof - I'm done. But writing posts, editing photos (and I don't even know how to do half of what I should do/what other people do!), proof reading and such take up so much more time than I thought. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but sometimes when life gets busy, blogging has to take a seat on the back burner since I just don't have time for everything. And one of the BEST things I've learned? You can make connections with people that you've never met and might never meet that can be some of the best relationships of your life. It sounds CRAZY to people who don't blog, but people who do, totally understand. It's crazy how people can come into your life and crazy how you can meet some of your best friends and people who just 'get you'.

Provide a link to your favorite blog post. 
A Letter to my Son with Autism and [Autism Diagnosis] Thoughts and Feelings from a Mother with a Child with Autism. Both for the same and for different reasons. I know this sounds kind of cocky, but in the letter to Mason, I love how I wrote. I basically sat down, typed my feelings, cried a bunch, and typed some more. I left it for a few days, re-read it and thought I would make changes, but couldn't find anything to change. It's one of the only posts that I haven't re-read and changed at least one thing on. I just think it describes how I feel about him perfectly. And then in the "thoughts and feelings" post, I feel like I was just so honest and raw. I admitted some flaws, I described some strengths, but all around, I was me.




a Rafflecopter giveaway

summer fun-kelly clarkson concert

growing up in north carolina we had an outdoor concert venue. concert tickets were really cheap to see really good people. i went pretty often and loved it. 
i've been to a handful of concerts at our outdoor venue here and love it every time. my taste in music often varies from my friends so i definitely don't see as many concerts as I did back in the day. kelly clarkson played last weekend, and i was so happy sage and tiffany wanted to go. 
pre concert flash tats-our fave

we met early for dinner at texas roadhouse and headed over to the concert. we got our spots on the grass and waited for the concert to start. we sat through a few random openers, the pentatonix, and then kelly came on. 

i love her music! i actually saw her years ago at a freedom fest. the sound was all kinds of a mess before so i was excited to see her in a better venue. she was amazing! her voice i so good, and she is just as good live. it was a little bit of a brisk night which made it perfect to sit outside and listen to music with friends. i love loved it, and i'm so happy we went.

sunshine vox box

**i received these products complimentary from influenster for testing. all opinions are my own.

i was really excited when i found out i got the sunshine vox box. anything with sunshine is perfect for me. i got some great products to try out.

vaseline spray moisturizer has been intriguing to me so i was really excited to try it. it really does work, and it's easy and convenient to use. i use tons of lotion every day, and i really like this. it's actually really light but soaks in well. i definitely suggest it.

i was pretty nervous for the diamond almonds because i have the wimpiest mouth. i was afraid i would burn by tongue. they were actually the perfect snack especially with the #21dayreset.

the dickinson's facial wipes are super handy. they clean my face much better than any i have tried before. i'm really particular about my nighttime routine, but i have also been so busy lately. by the time i get ready for bed i'm so exhausted and want it to be fast. these wipes are fast and actually leave my face feeling clean. maybe it's the witch hazel?!?

it's no secret that i hate washing my hair. things have been getting even worse lately. i went the whole week (saturday-saturday) last week not washing my hair or brushing it either (embarrassed monkey face emoji), and i'm pretty much on the same plan this week. when i finally washed and brushed my hair last week i totally scared. after washing and conditioning twice and using the infusium leave in, my hair was so easy to brush. i'm sure the avocado and olive oil helped.

let's talk about nail polish. i'm such a brand snob. i've heard over and over about sinful nail polish. people claim it's as good as better for more expensive brands for a small fraction of the cost. who are these people? they lie. i'm sure it works well for some people, but i just haven't had good luck with it.

bark thins are a healthier alternative to satisfy your sweet tooth.

have you tried any of these products before?

**c/o influenster for testing purposes

what would you do...with paint

we picked the theme for this month a few months ago, and i immediately knew what i was going to do. we want to know

WHAT WOULD YOU DO...with paint?

i knew what i wanted to do, but i put it off again and again. i literally procrastinated until the last possible second.

this project was pretty simple but time consuming.

supplies

wooden blocks

craft paint-various holiday colors

holiday vinyl decals

sand paper

finish varnish

1. paint blocks in holiday colors (i painted all sides different colors) and let dry

2. distress edges with sand paper

3. apply vinyl decals

4. paint finish varnish over vinyl

these would be cute for holiday decorations. i plan to let kids play with them.

now it's your turn. WHAT WOULD YOU DO..with paint? link up below

next month we want to know WHAT WOULD YOU DO..with apples?

An InLinkz Link-up

blogging the bach..in paradise 2.2

was anyone else surprised last week that after paradise is a thing? did you watch it? we did not and probably will not. 3 hours of the bach per week is plenty.

who's watching: the whole bodily clan (celsey and shawn, amanda and roommates alyssa and alexis, alicia and husband adam, and lacey)

post rose ceremony

what i saw
there was so much going on here that i really have no idea what was going on

what i heard
why is she talking?--lacey about tenley
she acts like a little 16 year old but she's 24--lacey
it's because no one wants her--cel
it's because every time she's on camera, she's throwing a fit--lacey

what i thought

how am i supposed to count the tear tally when lauren is crying the whole time?

joshua arrives/date/joe arrives

what i saw
doesn't the bach provide sunscreen? these people are fried-all of them

what i heard
i'm sad jillian and her black box went home--cel
i'm jealous of her beach waves--cel
if i'm going to get a tattoo, i'm definitely getting a front shin--cel
she's just like ashley but so much worse--alexis
she has to squeeze her eyes really hard to get those tears--alicia
not one of you meat heads could help carry her suitcase--amanda
she puts in her own extensions and they look terrible--alicia
can he not read?--lacey
that would be me actually- talking to an animal--alyssa
so no one came to save her so she's all good now--lacey
if i say it with a laugh, maybe people won't think i'm such an ___--amanda
wait because he's a big guy they have a future forever?--alyssa
he's got to stop using these analogies--alyssa
so josh is not as passive as we thought--alexis
you are on bachelor in paradise. i don't know why these people are so devastated they're not finding good people--alicia

what i thought
jj has the worst tattoos ever
jj thinks he is the most amazing thing ever
obviously i don't care for jj

at the house/joe and juelia's date

what i saw
juelia and jared having a heart to heart
carly and kirk might as well get married already

what i heard
is she wearing a retainer?--amanda
duh have you seen the show--cel
now she's doing yoga--cel
worked for disney, worked for hugh hefner-same thing--alicia
you know you've been married too long when you don't even know what's cool--cel
just cuz he sounds like a hick doesn't mean he knows how to ride a horse--cel
he had no preference. you volunteered--amanda
this seems like such an awkward date--lacey
she rides a horse like juan pablo--amanda
why does he keep rolling his eyes back in his head?--alicia
dan, you're being a weasel--amanda
mikey's the type of guy that will text a girl every day- hi--alyssa
why didn't she go home when her sister went home--alicia

what i thought
juelia is really trying hard to make this date work

night at the house

what i saw
a lot of people embarrassing themselves

what i heard
her hair is naturally going into dreads--alexis
i hate boys--alyssa
they do so good at making you cringe for them--lacey
jade seems as boring as my little pinky toe--alexis
she looks like she's having an allergic reaction--alicia
it's almost like her cheeks swell like she's allergic to her own tears--alicia
jealous on mikey looks terrible--cel
i wonder if he's watching this finally realizing--amanda
he's so territorial. he's like a dog--alyssa
they're #matchymatchy --cel
you're wearing matching v necks. help a brother out--cel

what i thought
i feel so sad and embarrassed for juelia
poor mikey doesn't get it either

clare and jared date/back at the house/michael arrives/michael and tenley date

what i saw
uncomfortable, awkward jump
ashley i crying.again and having no idea how to deal with her makeup

what i heard
these guys are dumb as rocks--alexis
ashley's been really normal--alexis
she had the bird flu for a minute but now she's fine--cel
how did tenley go from no guys to so many guys?--lacey
i don't know how all those women at the playboy mansion didn't teach jade a thing--cel
he's like jamie otis--cel
then she'll go home and makeout with another guy because they need their rose too--alicia
i don't know how to dance to this--cel you just bump and grind--alexis

what i thought
i really thought clare and jared might work but things went south fast
tenley and michael's date was the fanciest we've seen so far in paradise

rose ceremony

what i saw
some interesting fashion choices
humidity is getting the best of some of these people
one of the worst kisses in the history of the bach between joe and juelia

what i heard
that's because you're drunk--cel
carly and kirk have the right idea-stay out of everyone's way and lay low--lacey
i think joe got a little bitter after kaitlyn--alyssa
she's trying to pretend like she's the bachelorette--alexis
and he just solidified himself a rose--lacey
all the guys are like i would rather just go home--cel
none of them are (here for love). they're all there to get famous--shawn
if chris is giving you tough love, it's serious--cel

what i thought
joe is super scary
clare is in the same position as last year-no one to love and ready to leave. maybe she should try another method for finding love.
to be continued is the worst. why do they do this to us?

tear tally..21 (counting was a little tricky since some of these people cried for a substantial amount of time)

i had a bit of a struggle with the format this week. i probably need a new structure for next week. did you watch this week? what did you think?

21 day RESET

last week i talked about little about a 21 days reset, but mostly i talked about meal planning. everyone has their own ideas for healthy eating and exercise. there are a variety of commercial cleanses, diets, etc. i have plenty opinions about a lot of them, but the bottom line is everyone should do what they think is best.

i could spend the rest of the post talking about the past several years of my life. i was in the best shape of my life, got injured, and things went downhill fast. 

fast forward a few years. i've done various challenges, but nothing seems to stick. i'm not a competitive person at all, but i do really well when i have friends doing the same thing. 

i'm really excited. starting today for the next 21 days i have a group of several friends doing a 21 day program. we all made our own rules and our own consequences. here are my rules...

*no treats

*whole clean eating-fruits and vegetables, protein, good fats, whole grains

*no sugar syrups in drinks

*drink 50 oz of water before soda

*rule breaking costs $10=not worth it

i love eating healthy, and i'm so excited for the next 21 days.

if you want to join my friends and me, we would love it. to help keep me accountable, i'm posting my meals on snapchat (aubreyzaruba) so come on over if you want to see what i'm eating.

foodie friday...meal prep

i have a lot of excuses about diet and exercise over the past several years, and i've been using those excuses for far too long. it has to stop-NOW! i've made plans and set goals several times, but nothing seems to be working. it's time to get my rear in gear. 

a few of my friends are starting a 21 day cleanse on monday. i have mixed feelings about cleanses, but i know i need to do something. the program they are using doesn't work for me, but the idea of a supportive group of friends is exactly what i need. 

monday starts what i'm calling the 21 day reset. a reset is exactly what i need. i love eating healthy, and i need to get over some lazy habits i currently have.

the only way this is going to work is to plan. MEAL PREP is the key to success. one of my favorite quotes is failing to plan is planning to fail. i have a calendar to write down my food, and i plan to use sunday to get all my food ready for the week. 

i have some ideas, but i am open to suggestions. what are your fave healthy foods? any tips for me?

the time of my life

if you could go back to any time in your life, what would it be? overall, my life has been pretty great. i really do love my life. i have such great memories from all times in my life. i loved growing up. junior high and high school were great, but i wouldn't necessarily want to repeat them. i had the best time in college, but it was a lot of hard work. it took me all of college and then some to figure out what i wanted to be when i grew up (another story for another day) so i don't want to repeat that either. if i could go back to any time, i would pick my mid 20s.

i met these girls and a few others just after college. we were all starting our careers and trying to figure out what to do with our lives. we moved out of our college town (provo, utah) together and really started our grown up lives. except we had so much fun most of the time it didn't feel like we were grown ups. we crammed 6 girls in a 3 bedroom apartment and had the time of our lives.

we lived in a big apartment complex. 

since a lot of us went to church together and socialized together, we were neighbors with all of our best friends. we basically had an open door policy, and there was always something going on or someone coming over. checking the mail took hours as we inevitably ran into a friend. responsibilities were few, and life was great. 

i look back on that time of my life with the best memories. these girls became more like sisters than friends. we traveled, we worked, we played, and we most definitely had the time of our lives. 

if you could go back, what era of your life would you repeat?

wear it wednesday...matchy matchy

if you follow me on social media, you know i like matchy matchy. i often use the hashtag #matchymatchy. i don't even care what is matchy. i just like it.

summer is another thing i really love. sadly, summer is ending. i'm in a little bit of denial about it, but it really is happening. stores are full of fall clothes, and it's time to start thinking layers and leggings and boots.

old navy dress, gap sweater, old navy leggings, nordstrom booties, scarf-gift

blogging the bach..in paradise 2.1

we love this show, but 2 nights is a lot. we're watching both nights on monday night.

who's watching...celsey and husband shawn, shawn's sisters amanda, alicia and lacy, alexis 

video intros what i saw we really like tanner, but his intro was a little weird what i heard i feel like each season they push the envelope a little more--alexis i feel like each season chris harrison gets cheesier and cheesier--lacy when you admit you cry too much, it's a problem--lacy wait, i thought she was arabic--shawn, for real her sister is white as bleep bleep--shawn what i thought how do they choose who gets a video intro?
welcome to paradise what i saw jade jared who immediately grabs jade's hand tenley-admits it's been 5 years since she's been on a bach show. whhhyy is she back? carly with very blond hair and dark eyebrows jonathan tanner mikey t ashley i and her sister lauren juelia kirk dan-who? jj ashley s what i heard that's why they're on bachelor in paradise--alicia after someone said the guys are classy she looks like she got botox--lacy i'm sure they came to her and said it's you and your sister or neither--alicia you can't be born again 10 times we're from the jersey shore but we don't like meat heads--cel she looks like a news anchor--alicia about ashley s what i thought how did ashley i get to bring her sister? can't wait to see who pairs up
the wedding what i saw a bunch of strangers watching lacy and marcus getting married what i heard i bet what's her name feels pretty dumb in a swimsuit right now--amanda what i thought there's no way this is their real wedding. right?!? weirdest wedding ever
night 1 what i saw lauren is just like her drama sister what i heard cuz they've probably all seen her stuff--lacy drink some and you can be friendlier--alicia it's worse than her sister's fake cry--lacy she got the bird flu--alicia at the preview of ashley s going to the hospital this gives me severe anxiety--alicia about kirk and carly it's the first night--amanda about ashley i's freak out she's not a pretty crier--alexis she's laugh crying--cel right before ashley i says she's laugh crying what i thought paradise is definitely going to be entertaining
day 2 what i saw lots of kissing already what i heard i would definitely invest in some new bikinis--cel  is her swimsuit from the 80s?--alicia and she's wearing a sarong--cel are those high heel sneakers?--alexis why are they all fried?--cel she looks fascinated--alexis she didn't even do her nails. shellac guys. it lasts 2 weeks--alicia and they're under the water folks--cel he looks bored out of his mind--lacy about jared ok you old fart, get your bleep off the show--amanda she seems a lot older than everyone else--alexis about clare what i thought i keep finding myself covering my eyes when ashley i talks clare is definitely going to cause some drama and also talking to more animals
day 3 what i saw so much awkwardness when clare and mikey are talking tenley kissing jj-wow what i heard he is trying so hard to get a girl--lacy you got me out of the house to workout?--lacy he's so immature it's embarrassing--cel i wish that people would just not talk--alicia crying on cue--cel why is it always thundering and lightning?--alicia lauren will save the day--alexis you have to work for the rose. put out woman-or send your sister--alicia she looks like she peaked in high school--alicia we've heard enough whining from you--amanda should have gotten in the pool lady--lacy what i thought ashley i thinks tenley is old. she is a little old for the show, but 32 is definitely not old. ashley i is going to be like ashlee with graham from last season
i needed a break from the word tally so this season we'll have  tear tally--13 ugly crier of the week--ashley i
did you watch? thoughts?

2015 goal update...FOCUS on..myself

my reward for going to the gym

JULY was FOCUS on MYSELF

1. workout 6 days a week-4 of those days at the gym (i did ok-not great but ok)

2. wake up at 5:30 on work days which means I need to be in bed by 12:00 at the latest (total fail-i rarely go to bed by 12:00 so 5:30 pretty much never happened)

3. one solo eating out during the week (i did really well with this. i am trying to be better about packing my food, and just making more efforts has really helped)

4. no eating after 9:00pm if possible (i did ok. there were a few nights of later eating but overall i did pretty well)

5. treats on Saturdays or something organized (like dinner group, party, etc) (i ate less treats but i wasn't perfect)

basically i just did ok on july goals. i will keep working on these.

AUGUST is FOCUS on slumber soiree

i hosted a super fun blogger sleepover last fall, and i plan to do it again this year. i have started a few plans, but if i am going to pull it off, i have a lot of work to do this month

1. secure venue (in the works)

2. solidify date (also in the works)

3. open registration

4. contact sponsors

i have no choice about meeting my goals for the month. if i don't do it, the sleepover won't happen.

did you pick a word for 2015? or set some goals? how's it going?

churchy...sabbath day

I've attended a few meetings at church lately where we talked about Sunday and how we choose to spend our day. People have varying beliefs on what they like to do on Sunday. I prefer to observe the Sabbath day by having a day of rest. We talked in a meeting this morning that it isn't about what you can and can't do but rather about your attitude towards the day. I like that. It's not up to me to tell other people what they should and should not do on this day. It certainly isn't my place to judge what people choose to do or not do. I think it is a very personal thing. For me I like to fill the day with churchy things and other things that help me focus on God and my Savior.

What do you like to do on Sunday?

foodie friday: BBQ sauce

when chasin mason and i started planning today's collab post, we tossed around a few ideas and landed on recipes with BBQ sauce. i love BBQ sauce, and like most other things, i'm kind of a brand snob. sweet baby ray's is the only way to go. i wish they were paying me to say that, but they're not. it's my 100% honest opinion.

my 2 favorite recipes with BBQ sauce are very similar

recipe #1-easy pulled pork sandwiches 1. line bottom of slow cooker with slow cooker liners. if you don't use them, start NOW! 2. lightly cover the bottom of slow cooker with chopped red onion and 1 glove chopped garlic 3. place pork roast (i used pork loin) on top of onions/garlic 4. sprinkle about 1-2 teaspoons of dried minced onion and garlic powder on roast to season 5. add a few more chopped onions 6. cover roast with BBQ sauce (about 2/3 of the bottle) 7. cook on low 8-10 hours 8. shred meat and add rest of BBQ sauce 9. serve on buns with more red onion, cabbage slaw, or toppings of your choice
recipe #2-shredded BBQ chicken 1. line slow cooker with slow cooker liner 2. add desired number of fresh boneless, skinless chicken breasts 3. sprinkle with 1-2 teaspoons of dried minced onion and garlic powder 4. cover with 2/3 bottle of BBQ sauce 5. cook on low 6-8 hours

6. shred chicken and add remaining BBQ sauce

i love trying new recipes especially when i know someone else loves them. i'm so excited to try this recipe. i'm going to have to get over my fear of the grill first or maybe convince someone else to cook it for me #whyineedahusband

head on over to chasin mason to get the recipe and learn more about this cute mama. come back next week for a getting to know you interview with elizabeth.

what's your favorite BBQ sauce recipe? do you make your own BBQ sauce or buy it at the store?