Let's Have Dinner at P.F. Chang's!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of P.F. Chang's for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

On any given night, if you are going out to dinner with me and ask where I'd like to go, you'd better be prepared for asian food.  Chinese, Vietnemese, Thai, Japonese, etc.  I love it all.  One of those awesome places I really have enjoyed in the past (though I've been there far too little) is P.F. Chang's.  Though I've only been there a couple of times, I've thoroughly enjoyed everything I've tried from their menu.

This year, to celebrate the 2014 Chinese New Year, P.F. Chang's has released a new Winter Seasonal Menu filled with so many declicious new beverages, meals, and even desserts.  That's a little of everything ot make the perfect meal!

For the new Winter Seasonal Menu, they are introducing six new dishes, including:

• Orange Ginger Beet Salad--Sliced red and gold beets mixed with fresh oranges and tossed with honey-ginger dressing, finished with crumbled goat cheese, candied walnuts and daikon sprouts.  Want some wine? Pair it with Frog's Leap Sauvignon Blanc
• Shanghai Waldorf Salad--Fresh chopped Kale, endive, radicchio, crisp apples, grapes, celery, grape tomatoes and candied walnuts tossed in light miso-lime vinaigrette.  Wine pairing: Estancia Pino Grigio
• Chili Shrimp Bao--Asian-inspired "sliders."  Warm, pillowy bao buns filled with Bibb lettuce, chili-marinated shrimp, pickled daikon, carrots and cucumber topped with tamarind-chili sauce. Wine pairing: Mel Soleil "Silver" Chardonnay
• Firecracker Chicken--Savory and spicey hoisin-glazed chicken breast, wok-fired with pineapple, Chinese broccoli, Asian mushrooms, Fresno peppers and dried chilies.  Wine pairing: S.A. Prum "Essence" Riesling
• Red Wine and Pepper Braised Beef--Red wine and black pepper sauce wok-tossed with marinated flank steak, sliced potatoes, broccolini, Napa cabbage, grape tomatoes and Fresno peppers.  Wine Pairing: Alamos Malbec
• Miso Glazed Salmon--Broiled and served with grilled baby bok choy and cool julienne daikon radish in a warm savory broth.  Wine Pairing: Tozai "Living Jewel" Junmai Sake

They're also introducing two new drinks an dessert options!  Yum!

• Chocolate Raspberry Wontons--Handmade, crispy wontons with a creamy chocolate-raspberry filling, dusted with powdered sugar, served with chocolate and raspberry sauces, fresh raspberries, and mint.
• Sweet Vanilla Cream Wontons--Handmade, warm and crispy wontons filled with vanilla cream cheese, dusted with powdered sugar, served with vanilla and raspberry sauces and fresh mint.
• Crimson Spritzzer--Plymoth Gin and Luxardo Cherry Liqueur with marasca cherries, fresh lime juice and muddled kaffir lime leaves, topped with Mumm Napa Brut.
• Red Goose Martini--Grey Goose Vodka shaken with POM Wonderful pomegranate juice, Thai basil leaves, fresh ginger and lime juice.

These all look so delicious, and I can't wait to go out and try them.  I'm especially excited for those dessert wontons and it would be hard to decide which out of the two sounded better.  I am a vanilla flavor lover, so I'm betting I'd go for those and hope someone else ordered the chocolate so I could try one of them! ha!  

That Orange Ginger Beet salad sounds sooooooo delcious too, and I'm definitely putting it on my list!

P.F. Changs is encouraging individuals to ring in the New Year with a toast to 2014, so let's take a moment and raise our glasses to an awesome year that is filled with good food, good friends, and so many good memories!

Make sure you Follow P.F. Chang’s on Pinterest and Follow @pfchangs on Twitter to keep up with more fun menu options, and for a limited time you can visit pfchangs.com/winter to get a $10 off coupon for when you spend $40.  I love a good coupon/bargain, especially in relation to food... Drinks anyone?  Make sure to hurry in and try all of these new dishes!  I want to know what you think! 

What dish are you most excited to try?

Afterlife {Musical Mondays & Giveaway}

What is Musical Mondays?

Musical Mondays is a weekly linky party where we share a song we're into for the week, and talk about why we like it-or why it effects us.  Along with talking about music, I host a month-long music related giveaway. 

This week's song:

Afterlife

by Ingrid Michaelson

When the world is breaking down around you 
Taking everything that you know
What you didn't know is that we can go forever if we want to
We can live inside of a moment-the one that we own

You and me, we've got this
You and me, we're beautiful beautiful

[Chorus]
We are we are
We're gonna be alright
We got we got
We always got the fight in us
We are we are
We're gonna live tonight
Like there's no tomorrow
'Cause we're the afterlife

Living like you're dying isn't living at all
Give me your cold hands put 'em on my heart
Raise a glass to everyone who thinks they'll never make it through this life
To live a brand new start

You and me, we've got this
You and me, we're beautiful beautiful

[Chorus]

'Cause we're the afterlife
'Cause we're the afterlife

Every time I close my eyes I hear your favorite song
Telling me not to run not to worry anymore
I can hold on tight to nothing better than the rest
So it's now or never more

[Chorus, repeats]

I love this song.  Not only does it have a great beat, but the message is fun!  Stop living for the afterlife that may never come and just be your afterlife now-live!  Go and do!  Celebrate!  Support those who don't feel like they can keep going and remind them that they can-life is for the living!  You know, all that.

Also this is Ingrid Michaelson's new album and it doesn't come out until the 15th, so I've decided that is what my giveaway for April-the brand new album Lights Out.  It sounds like it's going to be a really good one.

What are you listening to this week?

Please grab the button and link up your Musical Mondays post in the linky!

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Now for the Giveaway

Enter to win an MP3 copy of All the Lights Out by Ingrid Michaelson (sent from Amazon)!

This giveaway will run from Monday 3/31/14 to Monday 5/1/13 at 12AM.  It is open worldwide.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out my awesome Musical Mondays sponsor:

Puppies, Linkies, Unpopular Opinions, Nail Polish, & Introverts {The Weekly Round-Up}

♥ Oh. My. Dog.  Look at this handsome little devil?  Ricki Jill brought a new baby Westie home and named him Glenbrittle's Fashionably Late Finlay, or Finlay for short!  J'adore!

♥ I found a new fun link-up called Let's Be Friends from The Dwelling Tree & Southern Beauty Guide which I really dig!  You share content/a post from your past week of blogging! It's so fun!

♥ Alex from Patricia Alexandra Creative shared her Unpopular Opinions and I tend to agree with her on a LOT of them-even the HAES one.  I know I'm large myself, but I don't believe that I'm 100% healthy at this size.  I can still love myself at this size, but should be working more towards getting healthy and being healthy-because eventually it will take it's toll.

♥ That Gal Jenna reviewed one of my absolute favorite polishes-St. George by A. England!  Her photos do it a lot of justice, and I personally adore this color.  It's stunning!

♥ I'm loving Be Limitless Lion and her guide for introverts.  If you're an introvert, check it out!

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Share your favorite reads this week!

The point of The Weekly Round-Up is to focus on other people instead of just another post about ourselves.  It's to build better community, share insight into what we love to read, and hopefully introduce you to a new blogger you'll love and adore!  Wanna play along?  Write a post with links to your favorite blog posts from others throughout the week, put the button in it, and link up with us on Sundays!

Mug O' Comfort & Foodie Penpals

Over at Chaotic Goddess Swaps we just hosted our 2nd Mug O'Comfort Swap, and this time I was pared with the absolutely gorgeous and hilarious Nina from The Grand Adventures of Me.  I had so much fun shopping for her, and even more fun receiving her package!  Look at the cute mug she made me-accurate right?  Love it.  Also, this coffee smells fab and I can't wait to try this Chocolate Chai!  YUM!  Thanks Nina!

If you want to see what I got her, go HERE.  Also, you have to see this cute picture of her holding the mug I sent-she's just too freaking pretty.  You should also follow her blog, she's really hilarious!

***

I also got my lovely Foodie Penpals package from Samantha over at The Faithful Runner.  She sent so many good things... I told her how much I love Pineapple and she took the time to dry some for me!  It's such a challenge to find Pineapple that is dried and no sugared, and this was so perfect!  I'm going to borrow my mom's dehydrator to tray and make some more.  The rest was amazing too, thanks Samy!

If you're looking for a fun fitness blog to follow, follow Samantha!  She's always offering great tips, and look how pretty she is!

Mystery Destash Giveaway - 5 Winners! *CLOSED*

I have too much nail polish-well, stuff in general.  So it has come down to the fact that I have to get rid of some of it.  HAVE TO.  I've sold what I could, but still have a giant box with over 30 bottles of nail polish and so many beauty and makeup samples inside that I want to get out of my hair for spring cleaning.  Soooooo I've decided to give it away in a fun mystery giveaway with TWO big winners, and THREE other smaller winners! 

The two big winners will each receive a Small Flat Rate box filled chalk full of nail polish, beauty supplies, jewelry, art, and other various goodies!  Three other smaller winners will receive a small padded envelope with a few things inside as well.  I'm estimating about 5-10 bottles of nail polish for the big winners and 2-3 for the small winners, plus loads of other goodies!   These are all gorgeous finds, but I have too many and these are all either duplicates of too close to a color I already have.

Important:  All nail polish has been swatched (which means it's been used only to test the color but not actually used for a manicure or anything) or used for one manicure or less.  So if you have an issue with used nail polish, please don't enter.  There aren't any brand new bottles up for grabs.  These are bottles that were previously swappable in my nail polish groups, but now that I just want gone instead of waiting to swap/sell.  However, ALL makeup and beauty samples/products will be brand new and never used!  (Because used lipstick would be gross lol) so no worries at all about that!

Want a hint?  There are polishes from Color Club, China Glaze, OPI, Essie, Sinful Colors, HITS, Various Indie Brands, and more!  There are all sorts of colors, styles (glitter, holo, etc.) and more!  I promise these are fun!

Enter the Giveaway

Ends April 8th, 2014 at 12AM MDT

Open to USA only (sorry, shipping is too expensive otherwise)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

2 Mystery Boxes: Amanda K and Vicki S
3 Mystery Envelopes: Rebecca P, Ruth G, and Stephanie K
Check your emails ladies!

When a Car Accident is Really a Blessing

Sometimes, something that seems really awful happens and it feels all stressful... Until it's not and you realize it's going to be a huge blessing.  Friday night I was driving home from work and suddenly traffic halted.  I slammed on my breaks, fingers clenched around the steering wheel praying that I wouldn't hit the car in front of me, and I didn't.  However, when I looked in my review mirror it was suddenly clear to me that the car behind me wasn't going to stop.  The minute that driver realized it wasn't going to happen he veered left, but didn't quite make it and his front right bumper collided with my left rear bumper.  The only thing I thought was "Oh this again" and we moved to the far left shoulder before being directed (by phone) by the Highway Patrol dispatch to meet an officer off the next exit where it was safe.

Surprisingly, I wasn't upset at all.  I was shaking from the adrenaline, but the couple in the car that hit me were so nice (he was from Wyoming, she was from California, and they were both graduating from BYU this April.)  We talked and made sure each other were alright, and upon greeting the officer suddenly it was clear that the officer and the wife of the driver had grown up together in California, neither knew that the other was here in Utah now.  It was a fun little reunion and they even had me take a picture of the three of them.  I also told them that if they needed an auto body shop they should check out Steve Whitlock's in provo, since my brother works there.  I am so grateful for nice cops, and nice honest people who stop.

Remember how I was in an accident in January where the other driver opened their door as I was pulling into a parking spot?  If not, here's the photo of that too: 

Yep, my car is now crunched on both sides... It's not looking to pretty.  Some funny coincidences happened with this accident though.  Not only did the driver's wife know the Highway Patrolman, but the car that hit me was the exact year, make, model, and color of the car I collided with in January, and the accident happened in the EXACT location of when I totalled my car 3 years ago.  I mean exact.  It's bizarre.  At least this time I had NO fault and didn't end up in a massive car pileup.  

What are the blessings?  Well I took my car in for an estimate today and it was funny to learn that the driver who hit me already had their car in the shop and my brother had been working on it.  The benefit to that is that the Highway Patrol's report was kind of bare and so I didn't know the other drivers insurance policy number, so my insurance was having a hard time getting everything settled.  The office manager put me right in contact with the other driver's insurance with the right number, and that insurance company was fantastic.  They are taking care of everything, including a rental car which they have already scheduled me for.  At this point I have nothing but praise for 

Extra bonus?  I wasn't going to take care of that front accident because I didn't want to pay the deductible, but since it's down there with my brother he can put it back together and pop out the dent for free (he just can't paint it or use company resources without charging).  So now my car is going to be (mostly) repaired on BOTH ends without me having to pay a dime.  This almost makes the whole second accident a blessing in disguise, don't you think?

I also got to have lunch with my awesome brother while I was down there.  He took me to a really awesome Chinese place in Provo and we were able to sit and talk, which is something we almost never do.  It was a fantastic bonding experience, and great to see both him and my sister-in-law when we dropped off some lunch for her at her work.  I'm calling that an extra blessing because I don't see them nearly enough.  

On another note, I'm working on the #100HappyDays project where you make sure you take the time to photograph one happy thing every day for 100 days.  I'm finding it helps me focus on the good things even when I'm frustrated or upset with other things in life, and ultimately I'm hoping it helps me count my blessings more often.  

Think about it, have you had any blessings in disguise lately?

The Blogmopolitan Quiz (pts. 1 & 2)

I saw this cute quiz as a link-up over at Two Thirds Hazel.  Sadly, I noticed it too late and so the linkies are closed, but I still thought it would be fun to fill both out for my readers to get to know me a little more.  If you want to play along Erin has both part 1 and part 2 available for download.

Man, some of my answers sound a little beauty-pageant-world-peace, but it's really how I feel.  I just want everything to be all peace and love, I knew I should have been a hippie! Maybe in a past life...

Let Her Go {Musical Mondays & Giveaway}

What is Musical Mondays?

Musical Mondays is a weekly linky party where we share a song we're into for the week, and talk about why we like it-or why it effects us.  Along with talking about music, I host a (usually) month-long music related giveaway. 

This week's song:

Let Her Go

by Passenger

[Chorus]
Well you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go
And you let her go

Staring at the bottom of your glass hoping one day you'll make a dream last
But dreams come slow and you go so fast
You see her when you close your eyes
Maybe one day you'll understand why everything you touch surely dies

[Chorus]

Staring at the ceiling in the dark same old empty feeling in your heart
'Cause love comes slow and it goes so fast
Well you see her when you fall asleep but never to touch and never to keep
'Cause you loved her too much and you dive too deep

[Chorus]

And you let her go-oh oh oh 
Well you let her go

[Chorus x2]

Since this is the week of this Month's Musical Mondays I figured another Passenger song was in order, and I love this one too.  It's beautiful, and so true.  I hope there are at least a few people out there who realized they loved me after they let me go.  A girl can hope.  :) 

What are you listening to this week?

Please grab the button and link up your Musical Mondays post in the linky!

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Now for the Giveaway

Enter to win an MP3 copy of All the Little Lights by Passenger (sent from Amazon)!

This giveaway will run from Monday 3/3/14 to Monday 3/31/13 at 12AM.  It is open worldwide.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Inspiration to Be Yourself {The Weekly Round-Up}

Somehow all of the posts I found this week for The Weekly Round-Up (big shout-out to my co-host Aubrey) had some sort of inspirational message about being yourself-whatever that may be!  I'm happy to share these with you, and hope you'll find some inspiration in them as well, because honey-you're perfect.

♥ As a wannabe artist I love watching other artists and hearing about their process.  I'm always inspired by Ashlie Blake and her transformations, and I love seeing her venturing off into new areas where she feels challenged and also more fulfilled-the new work is different, but oh so beautiful and unique!

♥ Patricia from Patricia Alexandra Creative started a new series of Creatsperation where she features artists who inspire her.  I love this idea, and I love even more that she started with herself, and learned valuable lessons about how worthy she is of spending time on.  It's beautiful and fantastic! 

♥ Erin at Living in Yellow wrote a post about why she didn't attend college and how she feels about that now and I think it's great.  College is a great thing, but not the thing for everyone.  It's nice to see another perspective, especially from someone who is so successful and happy-a reminder that you can do anything.

♥ Liz from Fitness Blondie wrote a great post about how exercise changed her life, and it wasn't even all about her body and looks.   There were great points on her confidence and self view.

♥ Ashley from The Shine Project wrote a letter to a contestant on The Bachelor called Dear Nikki (and to every other woman in a crappy relationship).  While I don't watch the show, this was an amazing read anyway!  I have been right there too-and I think we all need to keep these things in mind.

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Share your favorite reads this week!

The point of The Weekly Round-Up is to focus on other people instead of just another post about ourselves.  It's to build better community, share insight into what we love to read, and hopefully introduce you to a new blogger you'll love and adore!  Wanna play along?  Write a post with links to your favorite blog posts from others throughout the week, put the button in it, and link up with us on Sundays!

♥ ♥ ♥

Happy Birthday Mr. Bingo

I also want to take a minute to say a big Happy Birthday to Mr. Bingo today.  He's been important in my life for many reasons, some aren't always clear-but they're still there, and I am glad to know him.  If you missed our adventures together last week check them out: Eel Lake, Umpqua Lighthouse; Cape Arago, & Bandon.

Happy Friday + Life Lately

I confess that I'm still missing Oregon.  I've been back for over a week now but my heart is just not in anything... I desperately want to go back there.  Did you see all my gorgeous photos I took with my new DSLR?  If not see Eel Lake, Umpqua Lighthouse, Cape Arago, Bandon, & Mr. Bingo's Backyard.  Here are a few Instagram Photos that didn't get shared in those posts:

1 // At the airport I stopped for a wine tasting.  It almost made me miss my flight though! 

2 // On our first night there we went to Pueblo Nuevo for dinner and I had this Margherita with the most amazing seafood burrito.  It was in a sauce that I can only describe as a Mexican Alfredo.  Love! 

3 // The ocean is amazing.

4 // My camera on the very first day I took her out shooting.

5 // I did a lot of cooking, the first morning I made coconut pancakes and the next I made crepes! 

6 // Inside Tony's Crab Shack.  So delicious and adorable! 

7 // The beach in Bandon was super windy, but very pretty! 

8 // I also baked banana bread for the first time in my life while I was there.  This was Nutella Banana Bread.

9 // Mr. Bingo's back yard - it was awesome!

10 // On my last night there we went back to the Mexican restaurant because I wanted that burrito.  Except they were out of the small seafood that went inside and only had large Prawns, so he offered to make me something else with the big ones.  I asked if he could use that same sauce (since it's really what I went for) and they outright refused.  The waiter was nice, but the owner was pretty rude about it.  Screw them!

11 // The tree in Mr. Bingo's front yard.  I feel like I say goodbye to it with a photo every time I leave.

I confess that I haven't done laundry since before my trip, so I'm now forced to wear my nice blouses and dress slacks to work.  How funny is it that I dress nicer on laundry day?  

Do you follow me on Instagram?  If not, you should!  I'm giving away this cute pink zippy back with a $10 Victoria Secret Gift card, pink Sally Hansen nail polish, a face mask, Blow Pro Hairspray, and a body spray!  It ends on 3/31 and to enter you simply follow me, repost the photo on Instagram with #MSCCMarchGiveaway and @MySoCalledChaos, and then tag three friends on the original giveaway post!

 

Did you hear that the Ultimate Blog Party is coming up over at 5 Minutes for Mom?  I LOVE participating each year-and currently they're taking giveaway donations.  I donated $135 worth of featured advertising this year, and wanted to let you guys know so you can get in on the prize donations if you'd like!  Otherwise it'll be a bunch of link ups from April 4th through 11th that you can join, and you can enter the giveaways too!

Another fun link-up I'm looking forward to in April is Fairy Tale Fortnight.  I'm planning a huge fairy tale related giveaway.  If you don't want to host your own, but offer fairy tale related goods please let me know if you'd like to get in on the big one I'm throwing and have your links in the giveaway Rafflecopter! :) 

I went on my first Utah hike of the season on Sunday.  I looked up easy beginner hikes because I'm so out of shape (Hiking is one of my goals to get in shape this year) and we decided to hike up Ensign Peak behind the capital building.  It was short, but not easy.  I'm super out of shape.  I wrote an entire post over at Health NOT to Health NUT about the things I realized about myself and journey on this hike.  Also, Utah is not nearly as pretty as Oregon and the altitude here kills my asthma.  Hiking along the coast was a breeze.

While in Oregon, Mr. Bingo informed me that he's lost 50lbs over the last year simply by not eating out.  He lives so far from any fast food places or stores that it makes it not quick and easy, so he just cooks now.  I had so much fun cooking meals in Oregon that I decided when I came back I'd give up fast food and work on cooking more, and I've had so much fun with it!  I haven't eaten out at all this week and the kitchen has never stayed cleaner, because now that I'm cooking I keep up with the dishes and stuff.  It's also been nice to have leftovers on nights when I have school (and am too tired to cook when I get home at 8pm) instead of grabbing something unhealthy.

So far I've cooked Ahi Tuna Steaks & Asparagus (Sat), Coconut Pancakes (Sun), the roommate made Irish Stew Sunday night (which carried over into a lunch at work too!), Monday we made Fried Rice, Wednesday I made Linguini and Clams, and ate it's leftovers for lunch and dinner yesterday, and tonight I'm going to make Spaghetti Squash.  I've also eaten a lot of yogurt with berries & oats this week, and salads!

Belvoir Ginnger Beer, a Cornish Pasty, Violet Crumble, & Double Decker.

I confess that I recently went to the British store by my house for the first time.  It's totally overpriced, but it was fun to get a few little goodies to try.  Though I've been informed that ordering these online is way cheaper.

I have a B in French.  I knew I wasn't doing as well as last semester (this is a tougher class/professor and I did miss 2 days already) but I didn't expect it to be a B.  For some reason my brain is equating a B with an F and I am not happy about it at all.  Ugh.  Buuuut, I am understanding a lot more now when it's spoken to me so I know I'm improving, and my adorable classmate Julie drew this picture of me while we watched Être et Avoir - which was the most adorable little documentary about a teacher and students in France.

Work is work.  Not much to report here other than I'd rather be back in Oregon...

How are you?
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