Happy Shoes-day Tuesday everyone!
First things first, I got this amazing comment from Anna at Zone Perfect on my Protein Bars post and YOU guys can benefit!!! I love the blog world!
Thanks for the reco, Kara! We want to give everyone a chance to try ZonePerfect bars, so we’ve made a discount code just for readers of Shanna’s blog.
When you enter ‘ZPBLOGAUG’ at checkout in our online store (http://www.abbottstore.com), you’ll get 25% off ZonePerfect bars (Legalese: Expires 8/31, 1 use per e-mail address, e-mail zoneperfectcustomercare@abbott.com if you have any problems).
There will be more offers this fall; you can follow us on Facebook for updates. And one more heads up for you, Kara and Shanna: Look for a new flavor from us this fall; it sounds like you might like it!
This post also features a bonus Birthday shout-out to Rachel! We went out on Saturday night to celebrate her Birthday and settled on Straits on Santana Row, where the food is good, but the people watching and drinks are even better 
This was the outfit du jour:
The Hampton dress by Lulu
Thanks to Courtney’s post a few weeks back, she showcased some cute new dresses from a few online stores I hadn’t heard of — one of them being Lulu’s. I think it’s a safe bet to say the reason I hadn’t heard of it is because it targets, err, umm, a generation younger than me But that won’t stop me..shoooot! This dress is called Summer at the Hamptons and was $56. It’s a very comfy dress and runs pretty true to size (it was slightly big at size small (Juniors)).
These shoes are great go-to wedges for a little glam to an outfit. Surprisingly they are from Banana Republic!
Silver wedges from Banana Republic
I bought them with a gift card 3 years ago or so and I’m pretty sure they were ~$90. Usually peep toe sling backs are my nemesis because they don’t stay on, but these ones do. WIN!
Back to the Birthday celebration. It was such a nice night that we were able to sit outside. And despite our horrific service (okay not horrific, but certainly not good), we enjoyed our 3 bottles of Rutherford Merlot, several appetizers, and various Asian / Indian infused dishes. Best part was the surprise birthday dessert for Rachel. I think she’s pleased
"A special Birfday dessert for me?"
The dessert was a dense persimmon pudding like cake and was AWESOME! I think it was my favorite bites of the night. We all dug in, no germaphobes here!
We also did some round-robin photo taking at the table:
2 out of 3 hubbies are weird
The third husband is out of view in this picture. I’m not sure which one is the normal one The one on the right is mine!
After dinner and a quick stop at Ben and Jerry’s, we headed to the V Bar at Hotel Valencia. I’m pretty sure Andrea had the bright idea to make Rachel (and the rest of us girls) take a shot. Enter Buttery Nipple. Andrea gulped hers and Rachel and I were wusses chose to sip ours. I have no clue what’s going on in this picture and apparently I don’t have an qualms of posting unflattering pics of myself!
Feel free to supply your caption of this hot mess-ness!
Alas, this is how we ended the night and all of us weren’t too worse for the wear on Sunday — yay!
Me, Birthday girl Rachel, and A!
How many wedges do you own?
30 Days of Insight: The five songs I’d have on a desert island and why. Tell me about your favorite 5 songs and why 
- “I’ve had the time of my life” — it’s from my favorite movie Dirty Dancing and it was the last song played at our wedding
- “Wind Beneath My Wings” — this song is just so unbelievably beautiful and has so much heart, and grief, and emotion tied in. Many memories.
- “Butterfly Kisses” — when I heard the song about 14 years ago, I knew it was the song I’d dance with my father with at my wedding…and it was
- “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” — how can you not love this song right along with Cyndi Lauper? It was my anthem as a little girl and today…as a bigger girl!
- “Mo Money Mo Problems” — this song screams DANCE to me and also has so many memories. I bet Notorious B.I.G. is hanging out with Tu Pac somewhere. My husband can rap this whole song too and I find that very charming..haha
