Mother's Day at the Botanical Gardens

On Sunday, the whole clan headed to The Missouri Botanical Gardens. My Mom & Steve, Jeff's Mom & Step Dad, and his sister, brother and sis-in-law all got together to spend a lovely, and HOT afternoon with our mommas. It was insanely hot. But, we made the most of it. I decided to bring my big fancy camera and take photos. Yay! The peonies were doing their thing, so I opted to get quite a few of those photos. Here's a few of my favorites from the day.

Iris

Me on a Sheep. Yep. 

Hubs & his Momma

Pansies

Hubs and I being silly with this creep statue. I was smelling his flower, not kissing him.

Peonies

This is my favorite photo I took all day

Me & Stud-Pants in the Rose Garden

Me & Mom - Hubs was being ridiculous with his paparazzi shots

All the Cowan Kiddos. 

Did Somebody Say Wine? Flipflop Wine!

A few weeks ago, I was contacted my Flipflop Wine to try out their line of wines. How could I say no? Flip flops and wine? 2 of my favorite things! They sent me 2 bottles, but today I'm going to tell you about the Pinot Grigio. I'm a big white wine drinker, and I served this at Easter to my cousin who is quite the wine snob. I always love getting her opinion. The Verdict? - She loved it!

I served this with Honeybaked Ham & Turkey - and it was the perfect compliment.

The Pinot Grigio was not too sweet, and not to dry - which is exactly what I was hoping for. But the thing I love even more about this brand, is they have teamed up with Soles4Souls. They will donate a pair of flip flops to this organization for every bottle of wine that they sell! What a fantastic cause. Doesn't it make you want to run out and buy more wine?

Flipflop Wines has 7 options to chose from. I'm anxious to try out the Moscato. 

So, another great thing about this wine is the price around $7 a bottle! It's VERY affordable, but doesn't taste affordable, if that makes any sense at all. My wine snob cousin, couldn't tell the difference. Good wine is good wine, and in my book - Flipflop Wine is fantastic! Be sure to check out their Facebook page for more information on where you can get FlipFlop Wine in your area!

I was provided wine for my opinion on the product. In no way was I compensated for my opinion. All opinions and words on Flipflop wine are my own. 

Biggest Loser Look Out - Here Comes the Biggest Winner!

A few months ago Alyssa, asked me if I wanted to do Biggest Winner. I had no idea what she was talking about, so I said sure, what the hay. So, she gave me the number, I pre-registered and waited to go to the kick-off meeting which was April 29th. 

After doing a little research and harassing Alyssa about what it was, I found out it's a 8 week contest to see who can lose the most percentage of your body weight. Sounds easy enough. Biggest Loser style.  So, for 8 weeks, you have to weigh in at a designated location. Lucky for me, Renaud Spirit Center, my gym, is a weigh in station. On top of that, I've got the hook-up there, since all the staff knows me as Cash Cowan, I may even get to weigh in while I'm working out at lunch.

So you're asking, Jen, what do you get if you win. Answer - I have no freaking clue! I figured, it would give me a great way to be competitive and stay in the weight loss game. I'm already working out 4ish days a week now training for Hospital Hill (June 4th - EEEEK!) It's going to get me through 1 month of hard core training for my half, and then the 2nd month I am going to  do Bikram Yoga. I bought a Groupon, and I've heard great things. My goal is to do 2 workouts a day, and stay clear of processed foods and try to stick to a gluten free diet.

Yes, lots of shock to my body starting today. I'm ready for it. I have a lot of work to do before September! I'll start doing a weekly weigh on post. On top of the Biggest Winner, I am also going to go to Weight Watchers to help me stay on track. So 2 weigh ins and lots of healthy eating and working out should net some great numbers!

I've eaten like crap this week. Well, not awful crap. I had a salad for dinner last night, but then a delicious Culver's Oreo Concrete. I'm really committed and motivated this time. Let's make it happen.

Happy Mother's Day!

I consider myself a mom. Yes, a Riley Sue Mommy, but still I've been told I take better care of this dog than some people take care of their kids. She's my trial kid to make sure we can handle one. The Verdict? We totally can.

Well, I want to wish all the mom's out there are VERY happy Mother's Day. Especially my Mom!

She birthed me with no drugs. 

She married me off.

Takes me to cultural events. ( Market Days at the Botanical Gardens)

And when I say cultural, ballets (The Nutcracker) and gets front row seats so the dude ballet guy's junk is in your face! Then you sit and make fun of it the whole time. Let's just say it's VERY distracting.

But, cultural, non the the less.

So Happy Anniversary Mom! You're a great Mom.

Love, your Favorite Daughter