Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

It’s Hodgepodge with Joyce day!

1. Do you like your name? Are you named after someone (grandparent, etc)? If you have children how did you choose their names? 

I used to think “Amy” was too common but now I either just never think about it, or I had more people calling me “mom” or “Señora” than “Amy”. I think it fits me. It’s short which I like, and I think it’s kind of a happy name. It means “beloved”. The verb in Spanish to love is “amar”. My middle name is Elizabeth. My niece Lena was named after me “Lena Elizabeth”.

I was Amy W. growing up and there was another Amy W. who was my friend, Amy Wooden. We had sleepovers, were in the same girl scout troop, were both cheerleaders. She was also my competition. She accidentally won the typing award instead of me because the teacher couldn’t keep us straight. I really wanted that award because I loved typing. I could type 128 words a minute and my fingers would do imaginary typing while I read books. You could say I’m still disgruntled over it.

When I would call home I would say, “Dad, it’s Amy” and he would say “Amy Wooden?” That’s a sweet memory.

I am not named after anyone.

Choosing twin boys names was difficult because we had to choose four names! Also, Tom was opinionated and I had taught so many kids by that time and some names had bad connotations.

We decided on “James Jackson” as James was a family name on both sides and “William Mason” as my maiden name was Williams and Tom’s German grandfather was Wilhelm/William. Mason was a family friend that Tom knew. Tom wanted to call them “Jimmy Jack” and “Willie Mac” but I vetoed that.

2.  A piece of red velvet cake, a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a slice of blueberry pie? You can only have one…which will you choose? If you could pick any red, white, or blue dessert other than those listed here, what would you choose? 

I think I would have to go with red velvet. I might pick fruit pizza – crescent roll dough, white frosting, blueberries and strawberries. I bought stuff to make it for Memorial Day but didn’t end up making it.

3.  What’s a job you’d like to try for just one day? 

I would like to be a nail polish color namer for one day.

4. Any patriotic decor in your home currently or coming up this summer? 

I didn’t go search for it for Memorial Day so I will for 4th of July and I will put it up early. I love red, white, and blue all year ’round anyway.

5. It’s the end of May, so let’s exercise our brains. Sum up your month with an acrostic using the word MAY. We can do it!!  

I went back to my blog media for May to do this; I had 348 photos in the month of May!

M- Markets (farmer’s), Mah Jong, Mother’s Day, Mad Mabel (favorite book of May)

A – About and Out/Out and About – I went to a new bakery, a new provisions place where I found my new fave pimento cheese, new Mexican restaurant, new little shop, and had a patio lunch with Mason at a relatively new place. One of my April goals was going to new places and I carried that over to May.

Y – Yippee! We took the boat out once before the rains and high river came and I was thrilled that EO did well. We will see if that continues. It could have been beginner’s luck for this season.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

If you rearrange “May” it can be “Amy”. Mind blown? Way to tie up this whole hodgepodge, no?

Amy

Tuesday May 26, 2026

Hello! What have you been wearing? Honestly, I have been wearing my rain jacket! It rained all last week and into the weekend. I love my rain jacket if you are looking for one. Here it is! Mine is sadly about double the price right now of what I paid. Here’s one on major sale that is lined and long. It’s Columbia and only $24!

One day last week I paired my navy Old Navy blouse with my Old Navy lime green and white striped linen shorts during the day for walking the dog and some errands and then…

switched to jeans for my happy hour plans…

I wore my espadrille wedges, and they need to be stretched and broken in a bit more, but I had them on for several hours and they were pretty good.

I wore this to dinner in the rain. This is a very old TJ Maxx blouse with Amazon jeans and gold Mary Janes.

I wore this to grab a drink with my friend. The rain brought cooler weather and this cardigan was perfect. This is from Target this spring.

Saturday pedicure outfit. I am wearing Aerie shorts and an Aerie shirt! Call me, Aerie!

This is how I looked part of every day!

I dug these little shoes out of the garage. I bought them at Costco years ago. They are little rain flats. If I see these at Costco again, I will buy another pair. I also need to start looking for short rain boot replacements. This stuff isn’t necessarily fun to buy but it’s needed!

Purse straps can really add a little something something. Jenn talked about hers in her accessories post last week. I have three. I have this one:

this one:

And I have my red and green one:

They can be clipped on to any little purse that has hooks.

Here are some Amazon options!

So, what have you been wearing lately?

Join the link up here!

Once again, thank you so much for participating!

Amy (along with co-host Marsha)

Monday, May 25, 2026

We have Memorial Day and Labor Day – our bookends for the unofficial start and end to summer. It’s hard to believe we are here already.

Let us not forget that Memorial Day does have a meaning. Our Dad joined Air Force ROTC in college and went on to become a fighter pilot with a Lt. Colonel rank in the US Air Force. He did a stint in Vietnam before I was born. Did I tell you that I read Kristin Hannah’s The Women and then read my Dad’s Vietnam journal?

Our hometown flags:

My Dad adored us and was not like a typical father (in my opinion) of that time period. He was on the floor with us playing dolls and a drawing game where we had to guess what he was drawing (pre-Pictionary!) and he had off on Mondays and was in charge of carting us to piano lessons and allergy shots (Molly).

Even though it’s old and grainy, I love this photo of my Dad and I…

Our parents are buried in the veteran’s cemetary and we chose the Methodist symbol and this quote: “the engine is the heart of an airplane but the pilot is its soul”.

Then we wanted to find a quote for my mom that also used the word “soul” and we found “art is the journey of a free soul” because my mom was a lifelong artist and art teacher.

It was a wet week around here and that carried over into the weekend. When you boat on the river, you have to pay attention to the river levels and it is high right now and too dangerous for boating even if it did stop raining. Boo! It makes me glad we got to go out last Sunday.

Let’s go back to Thursday…

Thursday afternoon I had a happy hour with my buddy Dan. It was really nice to catch up!

I came home and made spinach salmon salad. It’s a copycat from a restaurant salad that Tom likes.

With the salmon:

Friday morning and Friday during the day it literally did not stop raining for a second. It was the last day of school so it was not very summer like at all. It did make for a cozy morning with my coffee and candle.

No kiddies got to play outside before saying bye for the summer which is kind of sad. I decided to scream in their honor.

I went to the library and found some free magazines along with my book. They have a bin where you can leave a magazine and take a magazine. I love that!

I wasn’t quite finished with my last book but was anxious to get into my new book and I made myself a little rainy patio happy hour.

You know what you can’t do in the rain? Blow leaves.

I lied to Tom and told him I didn’t feel like cooking and sorry but we were having sandwiches but then he walked in and I had made one of his favorite childhood meals! I’m sneaky!

It is BBQ beef and consommé rice. I cooked the beef in the slow cooker with a homemade sauce and the rice gets baked in the oven with a can of beef consommé, water, and butter. Ewww… look at those peas!

You’ll never believe this…it rained on Saturday! This might have been a tiny respite from it.

I made myself a beautiful omelet…

Oopsie, I think I put too much salt on the plate.

I went and got a fresh pedi…

It stopped raining Saturday, but it was still cloudy. There was standing water and it was just so saturated and gross.

Remember what I said about what you can’t do in the rain? The neighbor’s ex started using the leaf blower and Tom said, “He’s blow drying the grass”. He said some other things, too, but those won’t get repeated here. By the way, we ran into the neighbor on the other side of the serial blower, and she literally imitated the sound of his blower. Ha!

Later on Tom and I took chili down to Mason’s work for him, returned Tom’s shoes from last weekend, got gas and a car wash, and got sushi for dinner at Fresh Market. Could there be a more married adult date?

At the car wash!

Then, the sun came out when we got home!

Sushi for dinner!

Eddie Otis has started really sleeping in. This is him yesterday morning when I said I was going to get up at 7. He has the funniest facial expressions.

I tried to make some egg bites with shredded hasbrowns. I made some big and some small. They were pretty good.

I think we are supposed to take the flag down in the rain?

I watched a few episodes of The Other Bennet Sister on Prime on the patio Sunday afternoon and it’s really cute.

I had a Target pick up that included a new clear umbrella – lol!

And, for dinner we had the very traditional Memorial Day weekend chili – womp womp.

I also made the Chuy’s dip!

Next Currently is Wednesday, June 3 and the prompts are enjoying, wearing, watching, listening (to), and buying. I wasn’t feeling very out of the box this month!

And, don’t forget tomorrow is Fashion Files. I know it’s weird with the holiday so if you can’t link up it’s no big deal.

Amy

Friday, May 22, 2026

How was your week? The school children are out as of today at 3:20 around these parts. What about in your neck of the woods? Let’s link up with Andrea and Erika to share some favorites!

It’s been a busy and social week around here despite the rain! I hear we have more coming this weekend!

Monday Jack came over to learn some kitchen stuff and to meal prep together. We made spaghetti and taco meat and then I sent him home with meals. It was nice. Jack is not as interested in cooking as Mason is but he’s trying.

Tuesday my sister Molly completed her 24th year of teaching first grade. She has also taught second grade.

She ended her 14-year streak of having one of her own four kids in her school with the baby of the family. He is moving on to middle school where her husband teaches! Those poor kids can’t escape!

She has 19-year-old boy/girl twins, a 16-year-old girl, and this guy. He won the sportsmanship award for all of the 5th grade!

How cute are they?

I got a sweet DM this week from a former student. He is a senior and I also taught his sis. He works at one of my favorite restaurants, so I have seen him a few times. This is why I love Instagram.

There was no school on primary election day and EO and I went to my old school and walked. He enjoyed it!

My old classroom or in other words where the magic happened:

It’s really crazy that we have now completed a full school year of my retirement as of today at 3:20 when school lets out for summer in my district!

I have been enjoying yogurt this week. I have tiny wild blueberries in my freezer and I put them in a bowl and let them get all juicy, add vanilla Greek yogurt, and top with a little granola.

One afternoon I got to have happy hour with my friend and her daughter who just came back from study abroad in Germany. It was so fun to hear about her experience. We went to a cool place with a piano on the porch…

We did wine flights and it looks crazy!

And, then went to the garden for a German beer…

Aren’t they so cute? And, aren’t I so sweaty? It rained like crazy and we were inside at first and then it was so humid in the garden.

We ended up having appetizers and dinner in the garden, too.

I did press on nails for years and was really happy with them until I wasn’t. That isn’t to say I won’t ever do them again. Then, I got two gel manis and wasn’t pleased with one of them and the second one didn’t last as long as it should have and that isn’t to say I won’t do it again, but I will say my nails are pretty damaged after just two manis.

I decided to try the Dazzle Dry system of regular old polish and ordered a starter kit.

It’s quick drying and was very easy to do. I will let you know how it goes since it’s too early to tell! I only have one color right now, too.

I got some magazines! I am saving them for this weekend!

I pulled all my red, white, and blue clothing out for this weekend. I don’t have any plans yet but you gotta be patriotic, no?

I had a surprising amount of r, w, and b clothing!

A new chain bakery opened right by my house so I had to check it out!

I was so busy at 4:00 in the afternoon that I didn’t buy anything but it’s really pretty!

I had a fun Mexican restaurant dinner with my friend Jessica at a new place with three floors. The third floor is adults only and much quieter so we asked for that.

They have jalapeño ranch dip! Here is a copycat recipe and it’s so good! I might make it this weekend. The surprising ingredient is buttermilk, but remember you can make your own with regular milk and vinegar.

It’s just typical Mexican food but in a really pretty environment!

I came home to this view…

It’s been a nice week!

What about you? Tell me a favorite!

Happy weekend and Happy Memorial Day!

Amy

Thursday, May 21, 2026

Tom and I bought a used boat 12 years ago and we have thoroughly enjoyed it. We got to take our 2026 Maiden Voyage on Sunday and here is how it went…

Tom: We need towels.

Amy: Don’t forget all the boat accessories in the garage.

Tom: I forgot this, this, this, this, this, and this.

Amy:

So, we do forget all about what summer staples we need over the long dark winter, don’t we? It takes a bit to get our footing in the new season.

Here is my advice. I don’t have young kids so those of you with young kids have even more to gather! And you might need to tailor your list to the pool, the lake, or the baseball field.

Step One: Shop your house. See what bug spray you still have, what sunscreens you still have, find and wash your towels, pull out your swimsuits and coverups, etc. I don’t believe that you have to buy new sunscreen before the old is used up – unless your sunscreen is from 1995. I bought a ton of sunscreen last summer and then I just wasn’t outside as much as in previous summers. It was a weird summer. It was either storming or miserably hot every weekend.

Step Two: Make your list and shop! Have fun with it and enjoy the season. Maybe start out slowly and don’t buy everything at once but gradually add a couple of things to your online order each week.

Here are the must haves in my opinion:

Bug spray – the mosquitoes freaking love me. I am also trying the original Jergens this season to see if that keeps them away. I have heard it does!

No matter how hard you try to avoid it, flies will come in the house. I stand behind my Zevo! It really works. It’s a device you plug into the wall and then you replace the filter thingy. I have bought mine on Amazon and at Target.

Fans – I bought a little fan for my patio and it really helps!

Spray bottle for water – this is a trick my SIL taught me for the boat. Spraying some water cools you down really well. I have already used mine on my patio this year.

Insulated big cup for water – treat yourself to a new one or dig out your options and keep one everywhere. I have one or two in my car that I keep filled, Tom has two in his car, I keep one next to my coffee pot, etc. I especially love the ones that keep ice intact for a long time.

Sunscreen that smells like summer – for me that is good old Coppertone. I usually buy one like this and then do store brand for the rest. Pro Tip: Apply sunscreen at home in front of a mirror. Use lotion – not spray – it really works better. Then, when you get to your destination you can reapply with the spray. You don’t want to spray inside your house anyway. Do not get burned. It is extremely painful and it happens quickly. Keep a t-shirt if you have had too much sun and need to cover up.

Soft sided cooler – We take it on the boat but I feel like it’s good to have one in the car for groceries (if you have another errand you need to run and worry about your food getting too hot), for any outdoor event like concerts, for taking things to someone’s house, etc. Keep it in your car!

I think mine must have been totally too far gone by the end of last summer because I couldn’t find any around my garage or my house.

I ordered two to see which one I liked better. I picked these up at Target and I like both and might keep both. They were less than $20 each!

Car sunshade – I keep my car in my garage but when I go places in the summer the car gets so hot and these really help. I am going to purchase a new one for this season.

Beach towels and a drying rack/clothesline for wet towels – I think we have had our Costco towels for 10 years and they still look brand new. They are bigger and really good quality. They might be Tommy Bahama brand. I don’t think you have to wash towels every single time. They are big and that wastes a lot of energy. Put them on a clothesline or on a drying rack. Give each person a dedicated towel so they are using their own. Exception would be our river towels or lake towels. Those need to be washed each time.

Swim cover up – you can also use a button up and look chic

Hat or ballcaps

Flip flops

Swimsuit

babypool, sprinkler toys, pool toys, etc.

Coconut scented lotion – change up your scent for the new season. It’s fun! I have orange scented body wash in my shower now, too, and it smells all summer citrusy!

Summer candle – a citronella one for outside, too

Folding chairs for outdoor concerts, reunions, and picnics

Summer canned cocktails if you partake – I love the skinny cans. Anyone have a favorite? I am over Truly and White Claw and would like to try something new. Surfside maybe?

Skinny can insulator – I love mine! I found it at Target several years ago. Sadly, I had a pink monogrammed one that accidentally got thrown away so I had to replace it.

Summer cocktail ingredients like my skinny marg – 1/2 stick Crystal light lemonade, one shot white tequila, squirt some lime juice from a real lime or from a plastic lime shaped bottle with lime juice, mix all up, add ice, top with Fresca – gonna try this with my Wild Strawberry, too for a skinny strawberry marg!

I tell you what – you can start any cocktail with a half stick of Crystal Light, vodka or white tequila and top with Fresca! Why half a stick? I feel like a whole stick is too much for me. Add a bit of fresh lemon juice or lime juice, too.

I am sure I have forgotten some things! What else would you include? Give brand recommendations if you have them!

In addition…

Write out your summer bucket list

Print out blank calendars of the summer months so you can record community events and see the summer laid out

List of outdoor summer concerts where you can see it (or other summer community activities), list of summer farmer’s markets and locations, etc.

What better time than this weekend (as the unofficial start of summer) to have fun with this? Memorial Day is also a time to honor our fallen, don’t forget.

Happy weekend and start of summer!

Amy

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Let’s link up with Joyce for Hodgepodge!

1. What do you make more complicated than it needs to be? 

The better question is what don’t I make more complicated? I am really working on this. I think some of it stems from anxiety and some from perfectionism. You know those memes about the type A, high achieving, first born daughter? Yeah, that’s me. I wouldn’t say I was a high achiever after high school, but I held my own before I was 18.

I overthink things as little as when I should go to the grocery store. I overcomplicate what we are having for dinner. Argh. I second guess the smallest decisions.

In the words of Michael Scott, “why am I the way that I am?”

2. What impresses you? 

I am not really impressed by material things. I am impressed by people who have done a lot with a little, who have traveled, who have lived life experiences, that kind of thing.

3. On a scale of 1-10 how picky of an eater are you?  (1=extremely and 10=not at all) If you had to eat a meal made entirely of one color what color would you choose? 

I would say I’m a 7. I don’t like nuts. I don’t like peas or lima beans. I don’t want to eat weird meats and seafood like rabbit, oysters, clams, chicken livers.

I can, however, go to any restaurant and find something to eat. I would never say if I didn’t like something at someone’s home.

WHITE – bread, potatoes, eggs, frosting, creamer, lol.

4. What does balance in life mean to you? Does your life currently feel ‘balanced’? 

Balance in life means margin. I didn’t overschedule myself when I was working. I had time at home, took days off when needed, and made sure to have open space in my calendar for spontaneity. Balance means a good mix of alone time, spouse time, family time, too.

My life currently is probably lopsided on the side of time at home and unscheduled time, but I made myself a promise to take this first year of retirement slowly and not overcommit or commit to anything before I was ready.

I have always made time for hobbies, though. How sad would it be if one didn’t have time to sit on the patio with a glass of wine and a book? I think everyone should do a “time audit” and see where their time is taken up on a normal day.

5. If you could travel the world for a year what would be your first destination? 

What a good question! I would probably start in Scandinavia and work my way down through Europe? I would linger and spend time in the smaller towns and not just visit the big cities. Also, can Tom and Eddie Otis go?

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The story of the wedding dresses being saved made national news! Well, People.com news, at least. , so maybe it was more of national pop culture news.

What would you say to one or more of these questions?

Amy

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Fashion Files is chugging right along! Thank you so much for reading and linking up. We all have to get dressed, right? Marsha is my co-host so be sure to check her out as well.

In 2026, I have purchased clothing at Target, Old Navy, Aerie, my little boutiques (I always think of Little Bo Peep when I say that), and my consignment stores. I also had one successful Amazon clothing purchase of the jeans. I have a weird little theory that you have to spend $30 for decent Amazon pieces. I tend not to buy Amazon clothing because I just loathe returns back to Amazon. Returning to Old Navy, Target, etc. doesn’t seem as bad. I don’t know.

Have you heard of The Lazy Genius’ Decide Once rule? It could be “we always eat ham on Easter” or “we always order pizza on Fridays”. It’s so obvious but so helpful, you know? I was talking to my sister about the number of decisions a teacher makes in a day and it’s freaking exhausting! She was saying she didn’t want to have to decide on something and I said that I totally understood.

A decide once for me for a few seasons has been a black tank suit. Now, last year, I bought the navy version of the black suit I had and ended up loving that.

I ordered this suit and it was a size too big but I am waiting on the smaller size to come in. Oftentimes with suits you do have to go up a size. The quality is great and I love the thicker straps. I think it looks much more than the sale price of $23.

Do you have any Decide Once rules in your wardrobe?

I bought this gauze top in yellow and have already worn it a few times. I really think I need the white to replace a couple of other white blouses that are past their prime.

It is now in store. I couldn’t find the swimsuit in store, by the way.

So, far I have resisted the other colors and the pants. Like I said, I think I might get the white. The brown might be really nice for early fall. Uh oh, Amy…

Do you have a fun strap or a fun purse? It becomes part of the outfit with a solid top. I had a return at Nordstrom Rack and snapped this photo. I could have worn some sandals and made it a true outfit.

Here I am in the yellow gauze with my crocheted cardigan over it.

Yellow is a happy color for me.

I broke out last year’s fruit salad shirt! I found this at TJ Maxx or Marshall’s last year and have loved it. It’s a light linen fabric. It works with my red shoes! I have actually seen a fruit print in several expensive dresses and tops at my boutiques.

Last year:

Rainy day outfit of the “set” I created from Old Navy separates.

Floral blouse wtih my Aerie cut offs. You have seen these in several of the photos. I love them! I am wearing my gold Aerie flip flops, too.

Do you have short rain boots? I need to replace these. I wear them almost every day; right now, I wear them in the dewy grass. Let me know if you have a brand recommendation. These are from Costco and I might just have to wait until they put boots out again.

I am going to try to challenge myself to wear some pants and other shorts besides cut offs for next week.

What outfits do you like and tell me your thoughts on my topics today!

Amy

Link up here!

Monday, May 18, 2026

How was your weekend? Let’s link up with Holly and Sarah to share. Also, Fashion Files is tomorrow and we’d love for you to join us!

Thursday was a fun day spent with Mason and then Jack popped in later, too!

I made Hot Browns for dinner and they turned out pretty good!

I started this…

I finished this and posted on Instagram and Sally Hepworth shared my post!

This is a great story; I read it in three days or so. Sally does it again. Theo of Golden was also a great story but it could have been cut by at least 1/3. Sally does it right.

I picked up Mexican for our Friday night dinner. We split a meal and had no leftovers just like I like it!

Saturday at the river, River was manning the counter at the boat supply store.

It poured rain and it stormed Saturday morning, then got hot and sunny and muggy, then it rained and stormed more around dinner. The day was a wash.

I made myself a Wild Strawberry Crystal Light. Pretty good.

I started this. The author repeats herself and I don’t love her writing style but I do like the story.

I made a skinny margarita for the sunny part of the day…

Tom wanted to go shoe shopping and I wanted to go with him. This guy is a slooowwwwwww shopper. 1.5 hours later.

I made him test the “moutain”.

Update: look at this aerial church photo I saw on Saturday. Thank you so much for your sweet words.

Something that filled my cup, though…I taught most of these dudes who are all traveling through Europe together. They are in Barcelona in this photo. Some of them have been sending me messages.

I have another girl coming home from her semester in Spain soon and we are going to get together!

It was warm Sunday morning so I was able to sit outside.

Then, it finally happened…Maiden Voyage 2026 with…

First Mate Eddie Otis!

He kept jumping in and swimming after we got his ladder out.

He did so well!

It was really a treat!

Tell me something about your weekend!

Amy

Friday, May 15, 2026

Let’s link up with Andrea and Erika for Friday Favorites…

It was a hard week around here. Mother’s Day was hard and I woke up Monday wondering when these “Hallmark holidays” will get easier. Not only is my mom gone, but we don’t have a big extended family locally to do things like this with. I did cook chicken alfredo for my kids who were able to come over after work for dinner so that was nice. Tom and Eddie Otis went to visit Tom’s mom and EO’s grandmother and they got home in time to see the kids, too.

Monday, we comforted our friend who had to say goodbye to her sweet dog. Heather made her a photo plaque at Walgreen’s that turned out beautifully and I brought comfort foods – farmer’s market Amish sourdough, jam, chocolate chip cookies, and a quiche. We sat and talked and all three of us cried for her loss.

Then, Monday night I started seeing photos and videos on social media of my hometown church on fire. Hometown friends were sending me notices, too. This is the most special place in my hometown besides the house I grew up in and it was brutal to see. By end of the day on Tuesday, it was determined that the fire was started by an electric golf cart plugged in next to the church. The sanctuary was destroyed. My parents are weeping, I know.

This is the fall view of the church:

The steeple still stands but behind it is the sanctuary:

Look at this cool photo captured by a friend of mine that lives there:

Do you see it?

My ex-boyfriend is the deputy mayor (I’m not flexing; it’s true) and he says that the city will help them rebuild. They have insurance and a fund to help has been started, as well.

The beautiful thing is how the community came together. No lives were lost. There is a coffee shop across the street that fed the first responders and kept their restrooms open.

Next to the church is a bridal store (that used to be a funeral home) and I found these photos hauntingly beautiful; a call was made for trucks to transport the dresses out to save them and the community showed up. They are now being stored in a nearby church basement, and they saved them all – including dresses for brides getting married very soon.

I posted about my church on Instagram and so many former students reached out. One even said that she would like to donate. Awwww! I was very active in my church youth group and those were my best friends. I also brought other friends to join the group. We had amazing leaders and did so many cool things. My parents were super active and they became even more active in their retirement. My Dad was a trustee and treasurer and was there several days a week. My mom led the women’s tea fundraiser and the Jesus Clothes closet and was there all the time, too.

My Dad was so proud of the organ, and it was going to be the highlight of his three daughters’ weddings, he always said. Their funerals were there and the church fed our people. Anyway, it’s one of those special places that you think will always be there.

I went looking at my photos of the sanctuary.

My Dad walking me down the aisle:

The kiss:

The formal posed photo:

Even though I started my favorites with a solemn tone, I got to cook for my kids, my friend who lost her dog, and I saw the beauty of people coming together this week.

Jack gave me this cool horse serving platter for Mother’s Day. He even went to a shop that I like to shop for me.

Mason got me this book:

So fun!

I started and finished this book this week and I liked it. I enjoyed the 70s setting. Has anyone read it?

I picked up these library holds. I have “book anxiety” if I don’t have books waiting for me.

These are some recommendations I have gotten from either IG or other bloggers.

But I started Mad Mabel! It is a story that sucks you in. I am really enjoying it so far.

With all the sadness and melancholy I have been feeling this week, I found solace in nature with Eddie Otis. Look how beautiful!

We have had some gorgeous weather this week!

If you read Fashion Files on Tuesday, I talked about gauze. Old Navy now has more gauze in the store. I had to kill some time waiting for another store to open and walked in and saw new merch:

I have this shirt in yellow that you see in white and brown. I ordered two dresses that didn’t work from Nordstrom Rack which is right next door to this Old Navy, so I returned those in person.

I am sorry if I haven’t commented on your Fashion Files link up yet – or your comments, for that matter. It’s been hard to be on the computer for too long this week.

Eddie Otis got a pedicure and they gave him a handsome bandana.

I talked about this in Hodgepodge, but I watched the movie and it’s so well done. I recommend it for this weekend if you haven’t watched it yet.

I got a new hand soap this week and really love this scent!

And it was a favorite to get to go to a patio for lunch this week!

My companion was Mason!

We split the fish sandwich and the beet salad and I was too excited to remember to take photos of the food!

Happy Friday to you and thank you for your sweet comments on my church on Wednesday.

Amy

Thursday, May 14, 2026

Wow! May is really chugging right along, isn’t it?

Do you ever feel like your life is really basic, really boring, really average? I had the thought that several little things I do make me really happy because they feel a little “fancy”. I have always liked that word. I don’t think it’s used enough anymore! Right?

I am not ashamed to say that I love glassware. I like certain glasses due to their look, their heft, their size. I will definitely judge a restaurant on their drinking vessels! I do not want to drink from styrofoam (unless it’s cute on very rare occasion), or plastic, or old red Pizza Hut cups that I had to wash by hand on a weird cup washer device.

I put my water in a wine glass sometimes and it feels fancy. I don’t love a slice of fruit in my water but that’s even fancier.

I was a big dill buying fresh herbs. Fresh herbs feel a little fancy.

I put some in my eggs.

I like my croissant spoon rest. It feels a little fancy.

I put my food on a real plate. These are our wedding china plates. We didn’t go super formal but I still love this simple design and the color yellow.

Fresh flowers feel a little fancy.

Walking my dog feels fancy some days if I imagine I’m in another country.

Breakfast out feels fancy to me.

Sometimes taking a drink with me to a hair appointment or to run errands makes it feel like more of an outing. I love my glass iced coffee cup but I also do like these plastic to go cups I bought and the TJ Maxx disposable coffee cups I bought in January (I looked back) that I use on rare occasion. On my last hair appointment, I made a drink to take and it really did add to my enjoyment of getting a beauty service done. I felt fancy.

Fiona Ferris books make you think of how to eek the most out of your life.

If I like how a product smells, I will clean more! I feel a little fancy using this cleaner and it makes me happy.

Sitting on a patio feels fancy. I have started a “patios I want to visit” list.

Getting dressed feels fancy. I loved this recent IG post.

I feel like putting on an “outfit” can help your enjoyment of what could have just been an errand. Looking at my errands as an outing or an adventure is fun for me.

The youths are talking about “side quests” and “microadventures”:

When they use these terms, I think they are just saying to look for a little fun in your average, ordinary days and weeks.

Reading a magazine feels fancy to me.

Adding a piece of jewelry or pair of shoes with my outfit can feel really nice and fancy, I think. I have a ring that I love that adds some bling and my gold kitten heels feel real fancy!

What is something fancy that you do or could do?

Amy