Monday, July 10, 2023
Hello Monday! How are you? Are you actually kind of glad we don’t have a holiday this week? I am linking up with Sarah and Holly today. In addition, I am linking up for 10 on the 10th here. I don’t think I have ever done this!
The beginning of last week was busy for me with 3 days in a row of boating (or trying to boat!) and a day trip to my hometown. Thursday, I woke up to nothing I had to do, and I was so happy. Don’t you love that?
Friday, Mason wanted to start our coffee shop mornings again that we did over the winter when we could. He chose Sunergos and the vibe is just so nice:
But, we chose to sit outside on their new patio:
Mason just had a little light reading of Francis Bacon’s poems and I had…
my new library request – The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth!
We enjoyed a nice time on the patio and then went to Trader Joe’s. Mason is my early bird and gets up around 8 most mornings. Jack is a late sleeper so he was up by the time we got home. He doesn’t drink coffee or really do breakfast foods, either. Jack works at different times giving guitar and voice lessons but never works after 6:30. Mason goes in to work at 3 and gets home around 9. He is hosting at a fancy Italian restaurant. I leave him a plate to eat when he gets home and he takes a sandwich to eat while at work.
I made the Peruvian chicken for dinner Friday night and added plantain chips and guacamole. I need to go back to Costco to get the avocado crema. I tried to make my own and it wasn’t as good.
I’ve decided/reinforced that I don’t want to fight the crowds and eat out on Friday nights and Tom would rather be home, too, after work. So, I usually cook on Friday nights in the summer as well as during the school year.
I do not want to cook on Saturday night, though!
When Mason got home from work I tried to make it through an episode of Abbott Elementary with both kids. They really love the show! I am going to bed around 10:30 lately.
Saturday morning I was anxious to get back to my book and I finished it by noon I think. It was good to have a book I didn’t want to put down. I really enjoyed the story. Anyone else?
I frothed up some instant coffee for an iced protein coffee. I love my new glasses if you are looking for some Prime Day items. Maybe they will go on sale? What’s your strategy? I am going to put some things in my cart that I need anyway or that I have wanted and see if they go on sale, but I don’t plan to go crazy.
Saturday was another rainy day for about half of it. It cleared up for a few hours and then rained again around dinner time.
I took myself on a fun shopping excursion around 3 when Mason left for work. I visited the Asian market (Summer LIst item) but didn’t buy anything, Ulta, Barnes and Noble, Bath and Body, Total Wine, and got a car wash. I know it rained but my car was in the garage and really dirty.
The Asian market had some interesting produce!
At the car wash – sing it! I used to be scared to go through them myself because of all the directions I thought I would mess up, but I faced my fear and now I kinda love it.
I got the Into the Night for free and the Lakeside Morning for only $13.
I really needed a new devotional book and I chose this:
I will show you my Ulta purchases on Friday (I think) after I have used them enough to say what I think!
Tom took me to dinner at a Venezuelan restaurant called Alchemy.
I chose a riesling and it was really too sweet. I am really loving chilled white wines, though.
We decided upon chorizo bread for a starter and then we split the national dish of Venezuela called pabellon al criollo. I forgot to get a picture of it!
Then, it started raining but we didn’t let it stop us from getting gelato!
Sunday, I got up and went to the gym and so did Tom. We drive separately because he takes way longer than I do. He is ready to leave the house before I am, too.
After that, I drank my coffee and Tom walked Ernie and started getting into this:
Tom, Ernie, and I decided to take the boat out. View of dowtown:
A good nap after swimming:
It was quite cloudy which made it very pleasant and not hot at all.
And, that was our weekend!
Now, for 10 on the 10th!
- I am an early bird, so I would have to say sunrise. But, I really want to see some gorgeous sunsets this summer. My natural time to go to bed is by 10 and wake up by 6 without an alarm. That seems perfect to me.
- Flip flops! Is there anything better than letting those dogs breathe? Students tell me they don’t want to see their teachers’ feet and toes exposed. I have conferred with my fellow teachers, and we don’t care. I don’t wear super casual flip flops to teach in, though. I have become more of a sneaker person in the last few years and they are so much better for your feet!
- That’s a tough one. I would do both. I guess I will say tutu because I don’t want anyone to think that I think I’m a princess or a diva. I pride myself in being quick to get ready and pretty low maintenance.
- Jello! I have great memories of jello shots and bad memories of having to take huge pills when I had mono in pudding because I couldn’t swallow them.
- That’s too easy – a boat! If you are watching The Bear, a character stayed on a really cool boat in Copenhagen. Wait, that also happened on Ted Lasso when Rebecca was on a boat. I also love the House Hunters episodes when they show them a boat on a canal.
- think a yurt. My aunt and uncle have done this. I grew up with a pop up camper and it was just cramped with 5 of us.
- Sand, but grass is good, too. I just love being barefoot.
- I used to water ski pretty well. I guess I would say tubing now. We have a tube and I should do it. I don’t know if I can trust my driver to not go too fast. True story- I bruised my eye tubing because I had a contact in and I was bounced super hard and my eye ended up being yellow until it healed.
- Who writes these questions? Ha! Watermelon juice! The smell of ketchup sometimes is too much, even though I do like it.
- I have grown up going to hot air balloon glows and races and it’s always scared me. I guess I would say helicopter.
Thanks for reading,
Amy
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 
I enjoyed the soulmate too; I find most of hepworth’s books are pretty great. My 10 on the 10th won’t be up on the blog until wednesday but I think we have a few answers in common. I tend to be up for sunrises more often than sunsets but it’s been so cloudy and rainy I’ve hardly seen either.
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Oh, good! I like her style. Ok – will look for it. It was fun to answer. That is true – It hasn’t been the best for either.
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The car wash used to give me a full on panic attack – putting my car in neutral and then all the sensors on my car going off about put me over the edge. But now I have a membership and feel so silly that it ever scared me like that, lol!!
Into the Night is my favorite fragrance; I try to keep extras on hand so I am never without.
Happy Monday!
xo,
Kellyann
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I know! I’m glad I’m not the only one! My sister also has a membership! Lol!
It’s new to me but I am obsessed. I kept smelling myself and thinking I smelled pretty darn good. I think I am just going to use lotion as my fragrance while it’s warm. It provides enough.
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I put in a request at our library for The Soulmate and am looking forward to reading it. Your weekends always sound fun! Ernie seemed perfectly content on his boat ride and is so cute. Have a great week!
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I think you will like it. Thank you! I know we really only do one type of thing, but we gotta get it in when we can – in the summer and early fall!
Thank you – it was so fun to have him with us. Sometimes we think he will get too hot.
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You and I keep getting all the same rain! Bleh. I mean, I don’t hate it even though it makes my head go crazy. I loved your Insta video of Ernie swimming- he looks so happy on your boat! I love the pic of him in the sun. Yay for checking off summer bucket list items! I should have just gotten out alone on Saturday, when I had the chance. I will do that the next time. I really want to go to Barnes and Noble. My son gave me a gift card for there, and I’m wanting to go look. I may go this week, because I like to go there alone. The candle and lotion look yummy! I am impatiently awaiting my copy of The Soulmate! I can’t wait to read it.
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Yes we do! He only swam for a few minutes and then napped. It was so cool and nice out he didn’t get hot. I know – sometimes I get to the end of the day and I am mad I didn’t do more. I hate letting weather dictate my fun! We have a new and smaller Barnes and Noble – it moved from a bigger space in the same outdoor mall. It is so pretty and new. I usually just browse and get ideas. My kids enjoy going so sometimes we go there and Blaze or Five Guys. They like both of those places a lot and are in the same center.
I get so overwhelmed trying to use B and B coupons! I did well this time, though.
I hope you like it. I really like how Sally writes. It was what I needed. Now I am really enjoying The Real Mrs. Tobias.
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Love all of your boating time but so appreciate your comment about happy there is no holiday- it is nice to have regular, slower and quiet days at home. Your Peruvian chicken sounds amazing- hope you will share the recipe soon!
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It really is good to have a normal week.
Click on the red font and it will take you to the recipe. We have a Peruvian chicken chain here called Carali’s and it is so good!
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I loved seeing the video on IG of Ernie swimming and climbing back onto the boat. What a cool device for him to use. I also liked The Soulmate and finished it quickly. Not my favorite book from her, but pretty good. Looks like a nice weekend!
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Your food pictures look so good!
Adding The Soulmate to my TBR. I love getting suggestions from fellow bloggers. Even though I’m a librarian, I don’t get to see the bookish side because of my responsibilities.
My kids went up in a hot air balloon and, whew, was I scared for them. But they said it was a blast. I’d love to go up in a helicopter though.
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What a great weekend. I just finished getting caught up on Abbott. It’s such a funny show. I thought the Soulmate was great too. You 10 on the 10th answers are fun. I should try that sometime
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Oh —& the car wash. Hadley just went with me the other day and wanted me to do self serve. I needed the inside cleaned too so we had to do full service…but also I’m always too nervous to do if on my own haha twice this year I have and it’s always full on concentration getting on the track haha
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What a great weekend! I’ll have to make the Peruvian chicken as it is delicious. I’ve got amazing memories of Peruvian chicken. My dear uncle who sadly passed away years ago. He used to make this and cook it on the BBQ, oh my goodness the smell and the taste were just amazing! He used to call it pollo loco! I’ve got the car wash song stuck in my head now LOL!
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I am with you on the car washes! I remember when I was just thinking about learning to drive, it was the turning on the windshield wipers, the heat, or the radio that had my heart racing! Now, it’s just fun to see the colors get mixed together on the windshield. We stopped going out on the weekends because they were just so busy. Now, we try to have “date night” on Tuesday or Wednesday. I keep seeing that Sally Hepworth book around. I probably should get it on hold!
I loved your 10 on the 10th! We shared a lot of the same answers but for different reasons! I’m glad you played along!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
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Super fun post, Amy! I really enjoyed your 10 on the 10th answers. And oh my goodness, I am afraid to go through car washes alone, too! For the exact same reason. I am afraid I will mess up the directions. I drove my car through for the first time in February but I had a friend in the passenger seat directing me. I still haven’t gone at it alone yet! Hahaha.
Shelbee on the Edge
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Thank you! Face your fear! You and I can do the car wash!
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