Faves and Life Lately – 5

In the blur that is life, I love taking some time out to share these faves and life lately posts with you (here are past faves and life lately posts). This edition should really be called Faves and Loaves Lately…because I’ve been totally digging loaves, so let’s dig in.

Food:

• I remade the best pumpkin loaf ever – it needed a little face-lift with pictures, and it was sooo yummy. It made me think of all the other loaves I’ve been in love with lately
• Like this zucchini banana nutella swirl loaf or this double chocolate loaf, omg so good.
• Restaurants have been a huge inspiration to me lately. I made these chickpea and zucchini burgers  and this hot cheesy blt dip (seriously the best dip ever) based on dishes I had had while out.
• Speaking of going out…my husband and I drove down to Chicago one weekend evening for Greek food. Sadly where we live in Milwaukee there isn’t any really good Greek food, I do miss that about Chicago, how there’s a whole Greek Town. It was a super fun little date night.
• We also went to a food truck festival here in Milwaukee called Street Eats, it’s super fun and the second time we’ve been, and we’ll definitely be going again next year. We had this crazy good chicken dish from the Marco Pollo food truck. It was chicken over rice and then smothered in chili verde and other sauces. SO GOOD. Then we had one of the best Cuban sandwiches ever from the Little Havana Express food truck, considering Cuban sandwiches are my hubbys fave food, I think I’m going to try and recreate it!

Cookbook Related:

• If you’re new here, welcome! This July my cookbook: Fast and Easy Five-Ingredient Recipes: A Cookbook for Busy People was published. 
• A sincere thank you to everyone posting pictures on social media using the #Sweetphicookbook hashtag or tagging me on instagram – I absolutely LOVE seeing what you guys are making.
• HUGE FAVOR to ask -> if you are enjoying the cookbook, would you mind leaving a review on Amazon and/or Barnes & Noble? SO MANY THANKS!! This really helps keep the book seen, and I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart, and THANK YOU so much to those of you that have already left reviews!!
• OPRAH.COM <- excuse me while I freak out – included me in the best oven fried chicken recipes!!! Oprah!!! I’m on Oprah’s website!!!

Life & Travels:

• This week I’m going to be traveling to Kansas City where I’ll be speaking on a panel a conference (more here) – I’ll be talking all about live social media sharing (as always, you can follow along on Snapchat where I’m username: Sweetphi).
• I’m driving to Kansas City, and am going to be stopping in St. Louis to see my bff Jodie (she owns this awesome dive bar/venue called The Heavy Anchor) before heading on to Kansas City where I’ll be spending time with my bestie Lynn (who I visited in Charlotte). As Mindy from The Mindy Project says “a best friend isn’t a person, it’s a tier” – I couldn’t agree more!

• What to pack is always what comes to mind when I’m thinking about a trip. For me, I know staples that ALWAYS get included, no matter where I’m going, are clothes from Chico’s. Chico’s has the most comfortable jeans and pants ever. Like ever. I’ve been wearing them for years and feel like I’m always holding on to this incredible secret. Jeans and pants are so hard for me to shop for. I’m short, but not short short. I’m curvy, but not plus size. I have hips that don’t lie, but a smaller waist. The list is endless. But Chicos? Their clothes fit me jussssst right and I wear them all the time now. I was looking through some photos, and actually found the first pair of Chicos jeans I ever wore – I bought jeans and wore them on our honeymoon to Alaska, and then this past weekend I was sitting talking to my hubby about this upcoming trip and he snapped the picture of me on the right – and I just so happen to be wearing head to toe Chicos – red top, necklace, black ankle pants, and watch – all Chico’s! 

What do you pack when you travel? Do you over-pack? I feel like I’ve gotten more and more efficient as time goes on, because now I just plan for 1 outfit a day, bring 1 extra outfit and just leave it at that. I’d love to hear what your faves are – anything catching your eye?

Disclaimer: some of the above links are affiliate links, if you purchase amazon products through the links at no cost to you, I will earn a few pennies. Chico’s provided me with the outfit and accessories to review, however I was under no obligation to include them in this post, I just love their clothes that much. As always, thank you for supporting the brands and products I love that make the Sweetphi blog possible.