Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa

Friday, July 3, 2026

Happy Friday to you! I am linking up with Andrea and Erika to share some favorites from the week.

Tom is off today so that is my first favorite. One thing he/we is/are doing is going to have a custom belt made for Tom at the belt bar where Mason works. This was Mason’s idea for Father’s Day. You get to pick your leather color, your hardware, and your stitching color. Tom is a belt guy so this will be so special for him – I hope!

The theme of this week was the heat and mainly staying at home, but I did have several things I would call my favorites!

1. A fresh pedi!

Everywhere you look in the summer you are exposed to feet pics! Sorry that I too, am joining in! I got a fresh gel pedicure and used white white (don’t remember the name but it might have been OPI Alpine Snow) with some “chrome” on top. The chrome came out of a little pot the tech rubbed on with their finger after the gel was sealed.

I do think a gel pedicure is a good investment in the summer because the bug sprays and the spray sunscreens can take off the polish or dull it. My last one lasted over 5 weeks!

It’s hard to tell the chrome is on there from this photo but it makes it just a little sparkly.

2. A little help with a fresh mani!

In my quest for a new mani solution, I got my fingernails shaped up and polished with this original illuminating nail concealer from Kur Londontown that I ordered on Amazon. I used this for years before press ons to give me a “your nails but better” look. Gel/Dip don’t appeal to me right now because of the removal process. Press ons aren’t doing it for me anymore.

This still looks perfect as I type this post on Thursday and I had it done on Sunday!

3. Target wandering

I took a wander around Target this week. These r,w,b Nerds gummy clusters are fun. My sisters and I put these in a drink we made in the Airbnb last week! I like to buy red, white, and blue products and make a little charcuterie board or a few snacks even if it’s just Tom and I.

I love seeing the new flavors and the World Cup themed snacks.

4. My Chobani creamers!

I did try a new Chobani flavor – Cookie Butter! So good!

And, this is my current favorite so I re-stocked.

I appreciate it but I don’t know about blueberry coffee. Excuse me, it’s “American Blueberry”. I have heard of blueberry lattes, though.

They are pricey at $5.69 but that is less than a coffee out and this lasts much longer.

I also picked this up – the best protein pasta I have tried. It’s delicious and your family won’t know it’s protein pasta!

5. Cooking/Experimenting!

I made my own Mexican rice this week and it turned out pretty much like the Mexican restaurant version. You cook your rice in chicken broth and add tomato paste.

I also tried my hand at authentic Mexican restaurant queso. It’s close. I need deli cheese next time. I’ve got this! I told Tom we might never have to go to a Mexican restaurant again! Wait – that would be sad!

I also tried a new to me German dish. It’s like a flat meatball and is called Frikkadellen. I paired it with a German cucumber salad and German potatoes. The flat meatballs are served with German mustard. I boiled Yukon Gold potatoes and then chopped them and cooked them in a skillet wtih some butter, bacon, and onion. Tom really liked this meal!

I made a good dinner salad this week, too!

6. Shopping!

This could be a post of its own, but I used the Prime Days as a way to stock up on makeup products that are working for me. I start with the Lumi and Sun Bum (taught to me by Jenn) then do the Elf Halo contour, add blush sticks (I use two and layer), then do brow pencil and brow gel, then eye liner, then lipliner, then on days where I’m going somewhere eye shadow and brown mascara. I add a lip gloss or a light something on my lips (not pictured). This is a 5-minute face for me.

7. Connecting with People!

I had a coffee out this week with a former student and it was great to catch up. This former student is now in her 40s and recently moved back to the area with her husband and two kids.

I also had a 3 way call with both sisters – we need to do that more! I had a long overdue phone call with my cousin, too!

8. Reading!

This book has me hooked this week! I have been spending more time indoors due to the heat but I’ve been entertained by this, for sure.

9. TV!

I also started Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders new season on Netflix and Elle on Prime.

10. My shadow Eddie Otis!

Eddie Otis and I walk the playground in the early morning and then I’ve been trying to take him in the car to a new place to sniff in the afternoon.

Good sniff at my former school’s practice field:

I look cool in my necklace fan?

I also like to spritz myself with my trusty spray bottle! Do you have one?

I’ve been loving my hair clips this summer.

Even though it’s really hot, Eddie Otis likes to sunbathe, too.

Another day, another field trip to a nearby park…

He won’t jump down from the car until I clip his leash on.

I froze some vegetables in water for him to play with and he enjoyed the bowl more than the ice…

11. Interesting side quests? I think the young people are saying that.

I heard that McDonald’s had “dirty soda”. They only have it with regular (not diet) Dr. Pepper so it is quite caloric at 330 calories. I bought it and a plain diet Dr. Pepper to make my own and do a taste test. The McDonald’s was slightly better and creamier but mine was really close and only 50 calories I would guess. So, I will be making my own!

12. A few more things I bought!

I bought Eddie Otis a new dog puzzle. I just worry he is bored in the heat.

This is the only brand of hand soap I have been buying. Love this smell!

And, I did some pre-gaming for the 4th!

This is an excellent idea! You heard it here!

I made the pretzel Rolo things!

Happy 4th to you!

Amy

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Wow did June fly! It was very different for me than last year. Last year I finished the school year on June 5th, maybe, and officially retired on July 1st. I spent June recovering! Ha! This year I thoroughly enjoyed the spring weather and got to read outside so much.

Let’s start with groceries. This month I did 5 Kroger deliveries! They don’t accept tips when it’s official Kroger delivery so it’s only slightly more expensive with their $6.95 fee. I am not a member of the Boost program. Tom’s bread is no longer available in our store so I guess the Kroger truck brings the groceries from a warehouse where the bread is stocked. I think I went in my Kroger store once for a big shop and a few small shops and then went to Whole Foods twice and Trader Joe’s once. I have greatly reduced my Trader Joe’s trips. I found I was mostly buying snack and dessert foods so it was making my monthly grocery bill higher. It wasn’t an “instead of” store but “in addition to” my groceries.

We’ve eaten out a bit more this month and my cooking has been uninspired! I will just be honest!

$757 – was up from last month.

On to summer reading…

I really enjoyed this first book of the month! It hooked me pretty early on and I couldn’t put it down because I wanted to see what would happen. I also liked that it was about podcasters.

This was just charming. It was a touch on the cheesy side. I pictured Brett Goldstein playing the role of the male character in the movie version – lol.

Oh my gosh – this book had everything I want in a summer read. I liked that it was set in Rhode Island as I am also watching Real Housewives of Rhode Island (horrible!) and I also have a new fascination with Newport, RI due to The Gilded Age. Everyone gets invited to Newport from NYC – lol. I am now saying “summah”!

This was a fun summer read! I liked the NYC setting and the throwback to dial up internet and no smart phones. It was also fun as Mason went to NYC this month!

DNF – I made it about halfway and I enjoyed a lot of it but all it talked about was relations between the couple and I kept thinking that the female was going to get a UTI but then the author made the character say, “I’m going to get a UTI” and I was out.

DNF – This one jumped from what I thought the story was going to be to focusing on other characters and I could have stuck with it to see if it would come back around but I had other books awaiting me.

I called my sister one day and she said she had just gotten back from the library and started the new Abby Jimenez book and I said, “OMG! I’m reading that right now, too!” Loved it! Great summer read!

I started this and I like it ok…

I started this and I like it ok…

I found this on the new release shelf at the library and now I’m in it! So, I’m not sure if I will go back to the last two books since they are already due back.

So far, The Calamity Club is making me laugh out loud. Some of the characters have some really funny lines.

Also this month, when I felt like I was about at my 10 book mark for summer reads, I did something silly and fun…

I got myself a personal pan pizza for lunch! Do you remember the Bookit! program? It wasn’t during my childhood and maybe it was before my own kids’ childhood, too. Anyway, you read 10 books over the summer, recorded them, and got a free ppp. Mine wasn’t free; I had to pay $7, but it was a really fun thing to do!

Tom and I both used to work at Pizza Hut, by the way!

How often do you do child-like things? I giggled at myself when I did this. It was a bit of whimsy and I think Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project would have approved.

My June Highlights…

A few games of mah jongs, a few boat rides, reading outside, coffee with two former students, and

My high school class of 1990 pool party complete with a pup in a pineapple bikini!

Niece Nora’s graduation pool party – right after this we got in the pool!

Celebrating Tom’s birthday with the whole family of four!

Re-teaching Eddie Otis to be a boat dog!

Boutique hotel pool day pass complete with a mimosa!

Visit from the Memphis blog gals!

Summer Sister Stay in our hometown complete with golf cart rental and a margarita from Bo Duke!

Live music!

Mason’s adventure in NYC and hearing all about it!

It was a good and full month!

What are you reading now? Any recs?

What was the highlight of June for you?

Did your grocery bill go up this month?

Amy

Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Sparkling – What is currently “sparkling” in your life? Beside my personality (haha), I like sparkling wine like prosecco. I also bought and have been enjoying Waterloo sparkling water in summer berry flavor. Stay tuned for another prosecco idea I am planning!

Grilling/Cooking – I am cooking a lot of salmon, sheet pan fajitas – love me a sheet pan meal!

Heating up – The temps for sure! After a really nice June temperature wise (we did have lots of rain), we all knew it was coming. I will need to get outside earlier now. I wrote a post a long time ago about how to beat the heat and I plan to employ some of these things now that we are in the “armpit of summer”.

Using – Chobani creamers. Chobani, call me. I can be your ambassador. I still haven’t made it to Aldi, but Target has the best selection. My new favorite is toasted coconut vanilla.

I just discovered Cookie Butter and it’s so good, too!

I totally credit these creamers and my frother for saving me tons of money in hot and iced coffees.

Celebrating – Our country’s 250th birthday of course! July is also a big birthday for my mother in law and it’s my wedding anniversary.

And, now for Hodgepodge with Joyce…

1. What do you love most about your country? 

I really do feel that the “American Dream” is still alive. We have a huge Cuban population in my city and so many have become small business owners. Do you know what life was like in Cuba for them? Ask any Cuban what it’s like here compared to there and you will literally cry. I had precious Cuban students in my classes. They tended to put native speakers of Spanish in my classes to give them an “easy class” or to help them learn English. One girl was going back to Cuba for Spring Break and taking an entire suitcase of basic toiletries for her family.

I love that people still have relative freedom here and can freely share ideas. I think we have a beautiful country full of beautiful landscapes.

2. Your favorite patriotic song? 

“America, the Beautiful” – also, I tend to cry when I hear a patriotic song.

3. Red, white, or blue? Stars or stripes? Something you own besides a US flag with some combination of those colors or decorations as part of its design? 

How can you pick just one? I like all three colors and both stars and stripes! I own clothing, decor, papergoods, and probably a few more things.

4. What’s one thing you want more of this summer: fun, rest, adventure, connection, quiet, or confidence? Elaborate. 

I feel like I had a year of rest and quiet and maybe even confidence in my new stage of life.

I want more fun, adventure, and connection.

I hope to continue learning to slow down and live in the moment instead of thinking of the next thing that is coming. Are you like that, too? Sometimes I am busy thinking of what’s next.

5. What was your ultimate, go-to summer activity when you were a kid? Do you still do any version of that today? If you answered yes, does participating in this activity as an adult make you feel like a kid?  

This is such a good question and something I love to talk about. Swimming! I still swim whenever I have the chance. Water is so healing!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We don’t have any big plans for the 4th but we hope to take the boat out. I like to make these waffle pretzel Rolo things.

I like to buy seasonal products.

I found these cute little star pretzel crackers that would be good for charcuterie boards.

This is delicious! My sisters and I made a cocktail with this and Nerds gummy clusters.

This year, I want to try this strawberry pretzel salad dip.

And, I’ve already bought my bomb pops! I’m so excited to try this!

Please join us for Currently here!

Amy

Tuesday, June 30, 2026

It’s time for another edition of Fashion Files with Amy and Marsha!

Let’s start off with a really bad photo of me in my gauzy stuff with my phone charging! I was going to hear music on Father’s Day in the hot sun of the afternoon, and I will admit my hair was damp (a little stay cool trick). I wore my turquoise shorts and my white shirt with my tan flip flops and I had my tan hat in the car.

I wore this together with Jenn and Marilyn and wore it again on Tuesday to go to my hometown with my sisters. I was pleasantly surprised that the navy in the blouse matched the navy in the skort. Skorts are really great in my opinion. There are the more athletic type and the slightly dressier type. I have found that flat fronted skorts look best on me. Send me any skort links that fit that bill. I would like to add a couple.

I am not sure why my flip flops are not all the way on? Eddie Otis steals towels from our towel basket, by the way.

I wore this to my hair appointment. The kimono didn’t work well under the cape so I had to remove it. Lol! Can you see Eddie Otis’ Halloween lambie stuffed toy?

I wore this after the hair was done to go hear music. I thought it was too hot for the kimono at this point in the day. Also, I ended up having to wear my rain jacket over it!

I placed a Walmart order for a new swim suit in red, a white cover up, a black cover up, and a swim skirt/coverup that you can wear over a tank swimsuit.

I am more into skorts than dresses this season but I don’t have very many short-sleeved blouses.

I am still working with a much smaller wardrobe.

Molly gave these silver Birkenstocks to me. She said the big toe enclosure bothered her. I really like this style.

I stand by my claim that rubber Birkenstocks are the most comfortable. I really want to get a new pair!

What have you been wearing lately?

Please join us here!

Amy

Monday, June 29, 2026

We are all thinking it and most of us are saying it, so I will, too…Where did June go? Was that a quick month or what?

Let’s link up with Sarah and Holly for a little weekend recap!

Rain, rain go away was the theme of our weekend. It rained and stormed a lot this weekend.

I had a really fun week last week and had a lot to tell you in Friday Favorites and didn’t want to make it any longer, so I am going to start with Wednesday night as part of my weekend recap!

Tom came home from work and we got our little boy (Eddie Otis) ready for an outing. We took him to a dog friendly beer garden and he did so well! He didn’t bark once. There were sooooo many dogs, too. Our friend Michael got the opportunity to play in this super cool venue and the weather was divine. Michael also played on the bar on the river on Sunday.

We even ate dinner there. They have really good food. Tom had a bacon jam burger, and I had a grilled chicken sandwich.

Thursday night we had to leave EO at home, but we went to hear our former favorite band/musical group. They had to disband (lol) a few years ago because a member moved away. I forgot how good they are. They play Beatles, Eagles, Van Morrison, and so much more. You know all the songs. It was raining but they had a covered porch area. My favorite song they played was Into the Mystic by Van Morrison. If you don’t know it, listen to it!

And, finally to end our trifecta of music, was this up-and-coming Nashville singer/songwriter Katrina Burgoyne. She is Australian and came here with a guitar and a dream. She plays locally twice a month and our friends befriended her and invited her to play in their basement for a group of friends. It was supposed to be a pool party, but rain.

They catered bbq and sides. It was so nice.

Saturday morning dawned and it looked like this after raining and storming all night.

Tom still took Eddie Otis on his “Saturday with Daddy” outing and I did laundry, floors, general cleaning, and then I did this:

I have a new stack of library books and I’m having trouble deciding what to start!

Recommended by everyone:

Recommended by Jen:

Recommended by Jennibell:

This sounded interesting; a woman goes a year without buying clothing. I have read a couple of books with this same experience. Here I am patting myself on the back for going 3 weeks!

Tom and Eddie Otis returned around 11:30 and I made us everything bagel bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches for brunch. I keep bagels in the freezer. My favorite are from Whole Foods.

The sun appeared and I rushed out!

Mason returned from NYC late Wednesday night and then had to work every day until Saturday late afternoon when we finally got to hear about his trip in person and see his photos! We took him to a Korean bbq place.

I got a “Seoul Bowl” and it was really good. It had rice, chicken, carrots, kale, cucumber, and a spicy sauce.

We always give Mason our leftovers because he can get a few more meals out of them and love leftovers. I miss having him in the house for leftover eating!

We saved room for gelato!

I got cake batter flavor and Mason got tiramisu and Tom got chocolate and chocolate orange.

We noticed a “record tree” near our car.

We came home and someone missed someone. It’s just getting so comical because of EO’s size.

My sister told me to watch this:

So well done! It will make you cry but it’s worth it.

It made me go back and watch this again – I think. I think I had already watched it. Zoey Deutch is really a good actress.

And, Tanya recommended this and oh my goodness – I am loving it. I also need to go back to The Other Bennett Sister because they dropped more episodes.

Summer tv seems so good this year. Sometimes I feel like it’s lacking but there is so much (too much) out there to watch right now.

Reminders!

Tomorrow is Fashion Files! Do you have any red, white, and blue clothing you plan to wear? I usually just pick two of the colors so I don’t look too costumey!

Wednesday is the July Currently and here are the prompts: Sparkling, Grilling/Cooking, Heating up, Using, and Celebrating. I was trying to be kind of July-themed and creative, but feel free to interpret them as you wish. It’s a fun link up!

Amy

Friday, June 26, 2026

It’s Friday and time to link up with Andrea and Erika to share some favorites from the week!

I’ve been a little MIA from reading blogs and from responding to the comments section this week. I was out of my routine.

Sunday was a really nice day. It was Tom’s first Father’s Day with no kids living at home and no kids able to do anything on that particular day.

We had a friend playing music on the river – literally – on a barge bar on the river. Tom asked if he gets sea sick because you do have to have your “sea legs”.

It was a great way to spend a few hours and bonus that we got to see some other friends, too! I ordered Tom some wings for dinner on our way home.

Meanwhile, one kid was at work and one kid was on a trip.

I was getting lots of photos from Mason in NYC! Tom’s German cousin’s son Moritz lives there now and offered Mason a place to stay. Mason’s main goal was seeing the Raphael exhibit at The Met but he did so much in 5 days! Moritz is from Bremerhaven, Germany and he did a MIT Master’s after college in Munich, Germany. Now he is living in Hell’s Kitchen and he started a company!

We actually know Moritz pretty well. He stayed with us for almost a month one summer, we visited them for two weeks a couple years later, and Moritz came here a couple of summers ago after his MIT graduation. His English is better than mine and he also speaks Spanish. He is now learning Portuguese. He’s super smart. I need to see if Mason took a photo of him and I will share that in a future post.

Moritz sent me these:

My baby in New York City! New York City! I went to NYC at about Mason’s age, too. My sister had an internship at The Guggenheim and my roommate Heather and I went there to visit her and see the sights.

Monday was admin day – laundry, phone calls, a quick food shopping trip, and prepping for a little overnight.

Tuesday morning, I left for my hometown for a…

I like to make a doc! This had all of our purpose, goals, and activities.

My sisters and I hadn’t been to our hometown since Christmas when we stayed in an airbnb with the whole family so it was overdue. We picked weekdays since they are teachers and off in the summer.

Our little hometown has become a golf cart town! So, we rented one and joined in the fun!

Molly, the baby of the three of us:

Me:

Kate (the middle) loved driving it and became our main driver – she’s not mad; she’s focused.

We started cruising around in the golf cart and quickly found out that many businesses are closed on Tuesdays! That became a constant joke of our time together. We found a cute sandwich shop in an art gallery for our lunch, though.

We could get in our Airbnb after lunch, and it was so cute! I would say it was bougie western themed. It was in an old building atop a flower shop right on Main Street. I really appreciate when someone has paid attention to detail. We would definitely stay here again.

Ignore the stuff we had already dropped:

It had a candy machine!

On the way there, I prayed that we would honor my parents and keep our connection strong through doing this.

In the kitchen, there was a bowl of mints by the back door…

These were the type of mints my Dad always had. Coincidence? Kate the cynic says they are “only the most popular mint for people to provide”.

Molly and I chose to believe it was a sign.

We wanted to see our church that recently caught on fire. They are already hard at work on the repairs. It was hard to see and made us emotional.

We did a bunch of weird things that won’t make much sense to anyone! Kate had to drop off viola and violin bows to our friends’ mom. This is the mom of one of Kate’s besties and one of mine. So, we were riding around in a golf cart with a box of bows.

Shipley’s Tavern is a staple in Madison. It was open on a Tuesday!

Molly had a “Mommy Shark” cocktail:

We got a hot dog from this stand after that:

Someone suggested we go to the hotel on the river that has a bar (since nothing was open) – the Fairfield Inn – there we had margaritas with a view.

My hs boyfriend is the deputy mayor, and we had a shadowbox to give him for his mom. This was a shadowbox my mom had made of the hydroplane race in the town. (She enjoyed making shadowboxes with miniature scenes during the last 10 -15 years of her life).

He came and had a margarita, and we laughed and laughed over old stories. I started dating him in 8th grade when Molly was 7 years old and Kate was 10 years old, so it was funny to hear what he remembered of them.

Then, he went inside to the bar and saw Bo Duke/John Schneider, who now lives in our hometown, so the deputy mayor brought Bo Duke out to meet us and Bo Duke bought us a margarita. You can’t make this stuff up – lol.

This is what my hs boyfriend sent us after:

I’m telling you – the whole day was WEIRD and WONDERFUL because we were together and weird things just happen when you are in this town!

We were riding around in a golf cart with a box of violin bows and a shadow box, then we had margaritas with the deputy mayor and Bo Duke, but we also got a wiener slinger wiener for a snack. You think I’m crazy, right? But, it’s all true! While we were outside, our realtor (that just sold our mom and dad’s house) and my 6th grade teacher (!!!!) came out and we laughed with them some more.

We stayed talking and laughing until it looked like this:

We had 13 minutes to order a pizza and golf cart it over to The Red Pepperoni for our very late dinner.

The next morning we had only an hour or so left with our golf cart so we drove it to find some breakfast.

We turned in the golf cart and walked back to the airbnb and then drove to visit our mom and dad. We talked to them and gave my Dad some “brewsky” as he would say and my mom some candy/treats from our childhood. Molly made a nostalgic “snackle box”.

Don’t worry – we didn’t leave them there.

The weather both days was simply gorgeous. We couldn’t have ordered up better weather.

Things open up again on Wednesdays so we went shopping for a bit and then ended our time together at The Lighthouse, which is a restaurant, bar, and boat docking place on the river. When it was called something else, I worked there for a few summers in college and right after college before I started teaching.

Anyway, it was a wonderful time for us to be together and it was everything I hoped and more. I get to see them again in a couple of weeks!

Don’t forget the July Currently is coming up! It will be Wednesday, July 1, 2026. Here are the prompts:

Sparkling – What is currently “sparkling” in your life?

Grilling/Cooking –

Heating up –

Using –

Celebrating –

What was your favorite this week?

Amy

Thursday, June 25, 2026

Have you heard of “dirty” soda? The term was coined from the “dirty martini” and it was intended to be a fun non-alcoholic beverage. It is attributed to the Mormon founder of Swig which is a dirty soda shop. If you have watched Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, these chicks are never without their giant dirty sodas that they mainline all day long.

My friend drives around the city for work and was telling me about the Swig drink she gets when she is near our only location in Louisville so far. Maria discovered the dirty soda and has a cute little shop near her. I have noticed some people making “dirty soda bars” at parties and providing “recipes” for one or more drinks, too.

I think a tween or a teen girl would really get into these drinks but I would probably just call them “summer sodas”.

My friend told me the drink she likes is Diet Dr. Pepper, lime juice, vanilla syrup, and cream.

I already had everything but the Diet Dr. Pepper. I first used the coconut creamer, but then preferred the sweet cream flavor. I did a splash of lime, a splash of vanilla, added ice, poured in the soda, and topped with maybe 1/4-1/2 cup creamer so it was quite a bit.

It turned out foamy and bubbly and it reminded me of a root beer float.

Have you tried one?

I honestly don’t know of a place near me to get one so I had to make my own!

Amy

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Happy Wednesday and that means it’s time for Hodgepodge with Joyce!

1. Summer’s here!  In the northern hemisphere anyway. If you’re in the southern hemisphere substitute winter for the word summer. What do you love most about summer? What’s your biggest summer pet peeve? 

Love Most:

Reading outside! Being in or near water! Boating! Nice weather! Summer drinks!

Pet Peeves:

Being hot! Sticking to the seat/booth/chair! Mosquitoes!

2. What song always reminds you of summer? 

“Summer of 69” by Bryan Adams. My cousin Kelly and I made up a dance to it and made the aunts and grandmas watch us do it.

“School’s Out (for the Summer)” by Alice Cooper. I must admit that as a teacher, this was my personal summer anthem, and I sang it to myself when I was giddy about being done for a year!

3. What’s something you remember about your childhood summers? Do you think kids today get to enjoy summer the way you did as a child? Elaborate. 

Playing in the neighborhood with all the neighbor kids, being barefoot, flashlight tag, swimming in the lake (I grew up on a lake), riding bikes, roller skating, doing Chinese jump rope in someone’s driveway. My family took lots of road trips, too, so I have lots of memories of reading in the car. I guess I remember the days at home the most, though.

I personally think today’s kids will also remember the small moments at home the most, too. The pressure is off, parents! I don’t think summer should be as structured as the school year. I see lots of kids in my neighborhood having the same summer as I had and it makes me happy! We have kids on bikes, lemonade stands, fort building – love that!

So, I do think kids today can have that summer!

4. We celebrate Fathers Day on June 21st. Do you favor your dad in looks or temperament? Tell us something about your dad. Or your husband as a dad. Or a son/son-in-law as a dad. Or your grandpa. 

I never had a grandpa relationship, sadly. My Dad’s dad died before I was born. My mom was estranged from her dad (her choice because of her parents’ divorce) but I did get to meet him maybe 3 times? I think she opened up to more of a relationship as she got older. He faithfully sent us birthday and Christmas cards with money and he enjoyed making things from sea shells he collected – a shell covered mirror, a shell covered jewelry box. I don’t think I have any of them anymore, sadly.

I think I look like both parents. I am like both of them, too. I favor my Dad in my early bird habits, reading, and my routines. He had a great memory and I do, too. My Dad was someone everyone enjoyed being around. He was pleasant and funny. There was no one who didn’t like my Dad! I found out after his death of all kinds of military honors he had received that he never told us about.

My husband Tom is a lot like my Dad. He was an excellent father when the twins were children and then he struggled to connect as much when they turned teens. Teens were my wheelhouse as a high school teacher and I constantly said to him, “listen more than you talk”. He still continues to like to do projects with them and teach them how to change out a headlight or do house things. He has so much in common with them as adults. They all love music and movies. I have enjoyed seeing this adult relationship transform. Even though I was the teacher, I fully believe Tom was instrumental in their reading. He read and read and read to them. He started leaving out words to see what they would catch! He was also in charge of bath time. I fully believe the mom needs to step aside for things for the Dad to do for that bond.

5. Let’s wrap up with a summer this or that-

• flip flops or sandals – flip flops but I love both.
• beach or pool – beach – except sand really annoys me!
• watermelon or peaches – watermelon
• shorts or sundress – shorts
• iced coffee or ice cold lemonade – iced coffee
• amusement park or water park – water park

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I traditionally always got a little scared when the 4th of July rolled around because it meant I would start work in just a few weeks. I don’t feel that way anymore!

4th of July meant so much excitement in my hometown growing up. We had the Madison Regatta which is a hydroplane race on the Ohio River. We had a parade, fireworks, hot air balloon race, and other events. It meant all of your friends were downtown! It was the place to see and be seen! This was especially fun in high school and college. In college and after college, I brought friends home with me for the event. One gal met her husband there because I brought her! The hydroplanes were owned by different companies and Budweiser had one. In my early 20s, I was drinking a Miller Lite on the street (as one does) and the owner of Budweiser came up to me and said, “Here, honey, buy yourself a real beer” and handed me a ten-dollar bill.

Kroger had this bin of cocktail plates, cocktail napkins, and regular napkins on sale for $1.24 a pack! That’s cheaper than The Dollar Tree as they are now technically “The Dollar Fifty Tree”.

That was fun, Joyce! Thank you!

Amy

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

It’s time for Fashion Files with Amy and Marsha!

This week I challenged myself to wear my dresses. I also am going on 3 weeks of no new clothes shopping.

One day I wore this black and white dress with red flip flops to meet a former student to talk about her semester in Spain at a market garden with picnic tables. This is old Free Assembly from Walmart.

I wore this to run errands. It’s an Umgee dress from an outlet of a boutique by my house.

I wore this to “try it out”. It’s my fun printed Old Navy skort. I have on a consignment gauze blouse from last summer from J.Crew. I am triggered as this top is what I wore to the 99 degree full sun Reds baseball game.

I wore my gauzy green J.Crew consignment to go to dinner on Tom’s birthday and I wore it again for Mah jong at a country club.

I put this together for errands Thursday morning and then wore it to meet Jenn and Marilyn for ice cream. It’s my fruit shirt from last summer and my new Old Navy orange gauze skort.

For our Friday daytime activities, I put on the white Old Navy gauzy shorts and a boutique blouse. I did get hot as the day went on with my long sleeves and black choice.

For dinner, I put on this Walmart Free Assembly dress. It’s almost exactly like the first black and white dress in this post. They both have pockets.

Saturday night I wore the Old Navy fun print skort with my Old Navy navy blouse – lol. The navies do match, luckily!

Deep Thoughts:

It’s really easy to throw on a dress and flip flops for errands. I would argue this is easier than shorts + top or pants + top.

I have a very small summer wardrobe right now. We are talking 6 dresses and probably only 10 short sleeve tops. I have a few skorts, a couple of skirts, and maybe 6 shorts. I have a couple pairs of printed pants that don’t feel right this season. They just seem a bit dated. I also don’t wear jeans much when it gets to this point of the summer. Excuse me while I peel my skin from my car seat, booths, and chairs.

I moved my off-season clothing to a spare closet.

I daresay this smaller wardrobe is helping me to shop less and to get dressed pretty easily. How exciting is that? It’s kind of crazy, but I feel like the less I have the more I feel that I have. I think it’s because I can’t handle a stuffed closet.

Which of my outfits above is your favorite? I will tell you mine. I am loving the skorts – the fun print and the orange.

What have you been wearing? Are you going to shop Prime Days or the Nordstrom sale? I am going to try not to. I know there are great Amazon things but I tend to not do super great with Amazon clothing. I do need new black tanks that I sleep in from Amazon Essentials. I will probably put some things in my cart and sit on them, knowing me.

Join us here!

Amy

Monday, June 22, 2026

It’s Monday and time to recap our weekends with Sarah and Holly!

Thursday was “get ready for company” day! Blogging friends turned real life friends Jenn and Marilyn told me back in the spring that they wanted to do a road trip to see me and my city again and this was the weekend.

I stopped in at Elderberry Provisions to get pimento cheese and chocolate chip cookies as requested – lol.

They arrived almost at my bedtime Thursday evening! I rallied and met them at Kilwin’s ice cream and ordered cake batter flavor and it was mediocre at best. I think I ate 5 bites.

They had live music in the shopping center where it’s located and it was a simply gorgeous night!

I was rewarded with a beautiful sunset for being out “so late”.

Friday morning dawned and I had work to do. The ladies were coming over to tour the casa de coffee and cocktails, see Eddie Otis, and eat some brunch.

I had gift bags at their places of a few little treats, including the chocolate chip cookie and I served roasted paprika red potatoes, a green chili egg bake, a simple salad with homemade dressing, pimento cheese and crackers, and a yogurt parfait. I also made a Bundt coffee cake which we didn’t get to until the afternoon.

After brunch, we went to three little boutiques at a nearby shopping area and then I showed them some points of interest including this cool building facade. Here is some history if you are interested; many senior portraits are shot here!

I took them down to Clayton and Crume leather goods shop for two reasons. Mason, my son, works there and two, my former student started the business with his college roommate while in college. The store is gorgeous and it’s in Muhammad Ali’s former practice gym.

Mason using the leather debosser to monogram…

We took a rest around 3:00 and then met up again for a progressive dinner of sorts. I had two goals – to go to different places than where they had been before and to fulfill their Louisville requests they had shared with me.

We started at Steak and Bourbon for a cocktail and appetizer.

The restaurant was dark and cool! Even though the weather was gorgeous, none of the places had great patios so we were inside.

I had one of the best cocktails I’ve had in a long time – a blackberry smash with bourbon (when in Rome).

THE butter candle:

You get a complimentary roll per person with a candle made from butter and beef tallow in the middle that beautifully melts as it burns.

I also got steak fries for the table made with beef tallow that are out of this world. The outside is like a fried creation and the inside tastes almost like mashed potatoes or a baked potato.

Next stop was a “speakeasy”. This was the term for the prohibition era secret entrance bars. There are several in Louisville in the downtown area but there is one pretty close to my house called The Black Rabbit.

You knock above where it says “Phone down. Eyes up.”

The bartender opens the door.

It’s very dark and the seating is couches and chairs.

I had an espresso martini with a rabbit in cocoa powder.

And, for our final stop we went to an Italian restaurant called Grassa Gramma. I took these photos from the internet because my photos were too dark.

It is an incredible interior with such detail. It’s like Disney/Epcot designed it. You will never believe it’s in my Kroger shopping center!

They put us in one of these cool booths and it’s really quiet and we could hear each other!

My photo:

I had an amazing salad and ordered an amazing pizza called “the pig and fig” with an Italian bacon and fig preserves along with caramelized onion and arugula.

After dinner, we went to Kroger to shop for Kentucky made products like bourbon smoked pepper and bourbon based bbq sauces.

Saturday, we went to the river where Captain Tom (my husband) had the boat all ready to go! We saw downtown Louisville from the water and we also saw Indiana.

We stopped at Captain’s Quarters for lunch – the server comes to your boat to take your order. Tom and I split pulled pork nachos.

It was a gorgeous boat day and we came in around 3:00. We showered and took naps and then met up again at a Mexican restaurant with three floors. The third floor is adults only and that’s what we requested! My friend Heather met us there. I got a pineapple and shrimp salad.

Then, we headed to an outdoor concert in the same neighborhood as the Mexican restaurant.

It was a full day!

We said our goodbyes after a couple of hours at the concert.

Now, Hostess Amy needs a nap!

What did you do this weekend? Did you also have gorgeous June weather?

Amy