Good morning and Happy Monday (& happy MLK day!) 😊
I hope you all had a great weekend. I feel like the week flew by so fast. I’m in one of those moods today where I want to lounge on the couch, snack, and watch previous seasons of Married at First Sight. I’m so obsessed with that show. Unfortunately, I have a giant list of things I need to get done today before I can officially retire to the couch. You better believe by 8 pm, I’ll be on my couch with my sparkling water watching the Bachelor. I’m in love with this season! I think they cast it perfectly for the first time in forever. Matt is hands down the best, and I actually think he has some pretty good girls in the mix! Anyways, meet me on Twitter later if you want to chat, bachelor! 😊
By the way, there is still a small amount left on the Starbucks card gift card on THIS page! Go screenshot the code and use it at Starbucks. I love how generous you’ve been by only bying one cup of coffee and saving funds for others! I have another hidden starbucks giftcard in one of my recent recipe blog posts! Hope you find it and get yourself a cup of coffeee today! 😊 
Today’s recap blog is going to be a bit long and all over the place. What’s new?
One of the best parts about the winter is waking up to the foggy views in the backyard. We don’t really get this in the summer since it’s usually hot in the morning, but our home is near the river, so the fog takes up the entire sky. It makes for gorgeous views! Kyle and I sometimes play around with the idea of building again and moving, but I don’t think I’d be able to trade these views for a new house. And don’t worry, we are not going anywhere! We have so many plans for our house and most likely won’t be moving for years! It would take one extraordinary house to get me to leave! 
After finishing up last Monday’s recap blog, I was absolutely starving by the time 2:30 rolled around, so I decided I was going to make a filling lunch! I usually eat light at lunch, but I wanted something fill me up.
This delicious bowl is just ground chicken cooked with Siete taco seasoning and mixed with roasted cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and topped with tessemae’s habanero ranch. If you don’t believe me, just read the Amazon reviews. I put that sauce on everything savory. It’s the absolute best! 
Later in the evening, I got hungry, so Kyle and I decided to make pancakes. I’m still doing low carb, so I threw together some low carb pancakes. They turned out INCREDIBLE, and I have been eating them almost every single day since. You can find my recipe for these low carb pancakes here! 
On Tuesday morning, I put a roast in the crockpot with onion soup mix, beef broth, celery, radishes, carrots, and onion! I let the roast cook for 8 hours on medium heat. It turned out so delicious! 😋 The key is to brown the roast in a pan first. I have a recipe for my mom’s pot roast on the blog! I should probably update that blog soon. 
My mom came over in the afternoon to go on a five-mile trail hike. We brought Leo (Grumples had his walk with me earlier in the day) and made the neighborhood trails. It was so beautiful outside! T-shirt in January? Yes, please! 
Leo loves hikes! ♥️ 
On Wednesday morning, I had eggs, bacon, and berries for breakfast. I had to finish a few blogs for a campaign, and then I headed out to the store to pick up some groceries. I was so hungry on the way home, so I had an Archer Farms turkey jerky stick (my favorite) and a Zevia.
While I was at Sprouts, I saw these Enlightened Keto Cookie dough bites and thought they’d be fun to try. I didn’t expect them to taste so good!!!! 😮 I want to go back today and get the rest of the flavors, but I shouldn’t because I’ll eat them all. 
Later in the evening, I bathed the dogs. I’ll be cutting their hair tomorrow, but this time I’m making sure to film it all and write up a blog since so many ask me how I groom my own dogs. It saves so much money, and every time they get groomed, they come back with issues. Leo was traumatized when he had his tongue cut when we took him to that place in uptown. I honestly think they enjoy it, too! They lay down on the garage floor with me, and it’s like an hour belly rub for them. 
I made the TASTIEST low carb pizzas for dinner on Wednesday night.
I cannot wait to go back to sprouts to pick up more of these Outeraisle pizza crusts! They only have 3 grams of carbs for the entire pizza crust. I topped the pizza with the Rao’s Homemade pizza sauce (lower in sugar/carbs) and topped it with bell peppers, pepperoni, and mozzarella. 
This was exactly what I needed! I can eat pizza for every single meal. Luckily, there are so many low carb ways to eat pizza, making this all so fun. 
I made a big chopped caesar salad for the side. And if you’re wondering why I only have two pieces of pizza on my plate, well, I ate the other before they made it. 
It was freezing Friday morning, but I promised myself I’d go for a walk. I did three-miles and then headed to my office to get the chicken nugget recipe up! I am so happy, so many of you have been loving/making it over the weekend.
One of my favorite snacks lately has been the Brazilian nuts and keto ratio yogurt. 
For lunch, I had chicken sausage, eggs, and avocado with tessame’s habanero ranch. 
Oh, hello, another pizza on Friday night!
Kyle and I watched a movie and had these delicious tortilla pizzas! This one had a low-carb tortilla, pizza sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella, and a few fresh pineapple slices.
After shopping at the Outlets on Saturday afternoon, I made a chicken and fajita salad bowl for lunch. This recipe will be on the blog this week! 
We also decided to try the Enlightened Mint Ice Cream, and WOW was it amazing!!! 
I spent Saturday afternoon cleaning while Kyle hung our new curtain rods. We purchased drapes for the downstairs, and I can’t wait to show you those soon! This Therapy stainless steel cleaner is the BEST if you ever need a good stainless steel cleaner. I get asked a lot about what I use to keep the cooking top clean, and this is it. 
I did a little night facial before heading to bed on Saturday evening. If you want me to do an at-home face routine blog post, let me know! I’m obsessed with this vanity planet Aira facial steamer. I add rose and eucalyptus to the sponge. 
I had a delicious breakfast on Sunday morning! Low carb pancakes and bacon! 
I headed to Target to look at their chairs for our new kitchen table but ended up walking out with these adorable garden Smith & Hawken boots! Oh my gosh, I can’t wait for spring gardneing. 
We decided to take an evening drive down to Gaffney, SC, to check out the Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn outlet. Honestly, it was underwhelming, but I’m sure you can get pretty lucky with their finds if you go there often. 
However, I was excited to find these cute Pottery Barn Terracotta floral vases! I’m going to be using them for two arrangements at our wedding. I love love love them. 
What is Gaffney SC without getting a photo by the peach and having dinner at Fatz Cafe? I wasn’t hungry at all, so I just had a side salad, and Kyle was starving (the whole reason we stopped), and he had their Calabash chicken wrap. 
Here’s our new table! I AM OBSESSED! It looks so much better in person, but it’s almost the exact color of our floors, and it’s what I’ve been looking for forever. And here are the chairs we purchased to go with it! The best part? I woke up at 6 am, started browsing the Facebook marketplace, and all of a sudden, the exact table I’ve been eyeballing at Restoration Hardware popped up in the marketplace. I thought it was just a targeted ad until I saw the price! It was about $500 cheaper than what we were going to purchase it new for! I am so so so happy we waited, and I’m blessed. I woke up early enough to see it first. As much as I love my old farmhouse table, it just didn’t fit the space. I’m going to fix it up a bit and sell it. 😊 I can’t wait to show you the finished dining room with our new photo wall (yes, we are moving the coffee bar upstairs to the loft!) and drapes! The rug in this photo is from boutique rugs , and we love it.
Hope you all have an amazing week! I have some fun blogs this week so make sure to check back in!
Questions for you!
- Are you watching this season of Bachelor (or MAFS)
- Would you be interested in a new clean with me video or what I eat in a day low carb version?
- How was your weekend?
Love your new dining room setup – so cute! Hope you had a great day! ❤️✨
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Thank girl! ♥️ Hope you had a fabulous weekend!
Omg! LOVE this season of The Bachelor! Matt is so kind and sincere and loved that he opened it up with a prayer!
So excited about your new table it’s GORGEOUS.
And love all your simple meals throughout the day. It inspires me to change things up!
I’m trying to eat more nutritionally balanced (sort of lower carb) so I’m interested in your low carb deets!
SAME 😭 He’s the best!
Thank girl! 😊
I’ve been keeping an eye on your low carb recipes! You have so many good ones!
The table looks sooo good! I love when great deals pop out of nowhere–it was meant to be! I’d love to see you do a low carb day video next 🙂 My weekend was great! I went to Assateague Island over the weekend because it was perfect hiking weather. They have wild horses on the island so we were able to see a few in the parking lot of all places when we got back from our hike lol. We also got to meet the puppy we are bringing home on Friday, a sweet little chocolate lab! Any first-time puppy-owner advice?! I hope you have a great weekend! xo Kelsey
Hi, Kelsey!
Thanks so much 😊
Wow that sounds like an amazing weekend!!! I’ve had Assateague Island on my bucket list for a while! The wild horses sound like a dream!
Yay!! can’t wait to see puppy picks!!
Definitely crate for the first year! Never use the crate as a punishment, only a positive! That is your puppy’s safe place. Take your puppy out to pee every two hours to help potty train them faster! Even if they go to the bathroom inside, immediately take them outside! I’d definitely recommend training! Training with Leo has made him and incredible walking dog. He doesn’t even need a leash…(but we do use one just in case 😊) Invest in good food! Don’t take puppy to new places until they get all their vaccines, and feed them on a schedule 😊 I could go on and on lol! HAVE SO MUCH FUN!
I love your blog and thank you for being a consistant in my life.
aww!!!
I felt the same at the outlet!
I am going to try it again!
Low carb eating instead of cleaning. I’m trying to eat less carbs right now and need all the inspiration!
My weekend was nice, I got back into jewelry making. I forgot how fun it is to-do!
Love that you’re diving into a hobby brings you joy!
Yes to the bachelor!! I’m just so happy that Matt hasn’t been on any of the bachelor franchise shows prior to this – makes it much more genuine for me!
I freaking love your clean with me’s. They’re so motivating and weirdly therapeutic to watch 😂
Good!! Made it to the beach – I am happy!
Also – if you could only eat at one restaurant in Charleston, what would it be?!
Elies Table!!
1) We’ve been watching both, and enjoying both!
2) I’d happily watch Either video but I love the cleaning ones cause the motivate me!
3) Had a rough weekend- things are getting better but not going to lie, we had some pain and hardship this last weekend and I’m still recovering emotionally.
Hope you have a good week ahead!
I’ve been watching The Bachelor and this season has been very good so far. I love love Abigail and I also like Rachel and Bri. I absolutely hate what they did to Sarah in tonight’s episode. They were just brutal.
Yes! I agree!!
Love the table (& chairs)! It looks so great in your home.
Yes! Would love to see a what you eat in a fat, low-carb. ☺️
Thanks, Bri!
I don’t watch bachelor. Never been interested in it.
I would like to see what you eat in a day.
My weekend was busy with school. I also went and bought new skiis and boots and went to ski. That was so much fun! I live north and we have proper snow here.
How many times and how long you walk the pups? And usually you walk them separately?
Have a great week! 🦋🦋🦋
Obsessed with that table!
Awe I’m bummed you didn’t include a recap of the books/videos you used to learn piano from. Hoping you can do a post about it soon as would love guidance on what you used.
Hi Taralynn!
I like reading your décor posts! I can´t wait to buy our own apartment and start decorating everything. For now we live in a rented apartment so we don´t want to invest too much but once we have our own place, I will be very excited! 🙂 And I will come here to find inspiration!
My weekend was really nice, I hanged out with my friends and enjoyed the sun because the weather was amazing! It´s snowing all over Spain but here in Barcelona we have spring! My boyfriend had a knee surgery last week so I´m also helping him in recovery 🙂
BTW I already shared a post on blog about our stay in Poland! I hope you enjoy it.
Have a nice week! ❤️
1. I haven’t watched MAFS since the fall, and I’m probably several seasons behind since I watch on netflix!
2. Either! Def the low carb video. Do you find any issues with foods that contain xylitol (or Swerve)? Everyone’s different, for sure. Thanks for the Enlightened review! I’ll have to try it when I have endo surgery next month! Xylitol doesn’t always agree with me…but that ice cream looks worth it.
3. Wasn’t a great weekend at all. But I know God’s got me, and better days are ahead!
Hi, Maria!
I can’t get enough of the show. I’ve been watching it backwords and working my way to the very first season!
I actually don’t have any side efects with swerve (maybe a little bloating)
💜 love your positive attitude.
Hi there!
Do you have any tips on searching on FB marketplace? Any key words you use, etc?
Would love a blog post or part of one on that!
I just get on there every day and it usually remembers yoour keywords that you search and items that fit tend to pop up in the algorithm first!
I’d love to see a low carb video, I’m trying to lower my carb intake. I can’t wait to try your low carb recipes they look delicious.
Thanks, Mel!
Yes, would love low carb recipes!
♥️
The new table looks lovely! Out of curiosity, did you and your family make your first farmhouse table? My fiance and I are considering making our own at some point and are trying to find resources/good instructions online. Please let us know if you have any tips/websites to share!
Hi, Catherine!
Thank you! Yes, my dad made it for me.
The best site for plans is Anna White!