Monday, November 6, 2023

This is a weird week for us – in a good way! We have school today but not tomorrow due to Election Day and then we will only have Wednesday through Friday left. We have a full five-day week next week and then just a weird little two-day week before Thanksgiving break. November is going to be busy, and I have a feeling it’s going to fly by. I love November, though!

I am happy to link up with Sarah and Holly to share my weekend. I debated breaking this up into two parts, but I will try to be brief!

I am going to start out with Thursday, my birthday! Thank you all for the sweet birthday wishes. I know that I confused you with my posting goof up.

I had the day off and I made the most of it. I treated myself to my first Starbuck’s in a long, long time.

I enjoyed getting a holiday cup and since I never get Starbuck’s anymore, it really did feel like a treat. I am also trying to not eat out much between now and Winter Break because that is also not feeling like a treat anymore.

I did this order from Macro Barista on IG:

I did a small Goodwill drop off. I keep a bag in my closet and when anything is not able to be sold to either of my two consignment stores (and for non-clothing items) I donate it.

I had a Target return. I wandered the aisles with my Starbuck’s and I only picked up a few things I really needed. It was nice, but I think I am a happier and healthier shopper when I use Target.com and only go in for returns. There are a bunch of temptations that lead to impulse spending in Target, no?

I got some frozen foods at Trader Joe’s because I have a freezer finally!

I went to the mall to the Kendra Scott store and got my half price item.

I chose a black short necklace because I wear black so much this time of year. Note: Kendra Scott has necklace extenders if you need more length. They work great!

My Impress order came in the mail on my actual birthday! I got a super dark green, a wine, a shiny red, and a more emerald green. I decided to go to their website to see the options and got all of these for around $25.

Ernie and I took a walk!

I made my first really good apple cider sangria of the season in the afternoon while reading.

Since it was a “school night” Tom and I made a super early dinner reservation so Tom could meet me on his way home from work.

I chose Steak & Bourbon and I love the cozy dark interior and the food is outstanding.

We got the deviled eggs to start:

We split the wedge salad:

We split the pot roast and still had leftovers!

We added a side of brussel sprouts:

And, I got a delicious and lovely piece of cake to end the meal. I also couldn’t eat much of this, but enjoyed the rest on Saturday night.

We were home by 7:00, I think! Jack had late class but came home soon after that and had shopped for me and bought me a pair of earrings- so sweet. Mason had called me earlier in the day, too. It was fun to get a few gifts dropped off and some in the mail and I enjoyed getting texts and Facebook messages. I had a really good day!

Friday it was back to school and it was “bread of the dead” bonus day. I had at least one kid make the traditional bread in each class so we got to try it. It has an orange glaze on top and you can make dough knobs to denote people that have passed.

It was a good day. My school just got metal detectors installed and they get turned on this week, so many of the kids were talking about that.

Friday night was time to celebrate with my two besties and their hubs. I chose our favorite Mexican place and got a skinny? margarita. It looks chubby to me!

One of my friends brought upside down cupcakes from local bakery and it was funny because they look like sombreros!

They sang and brought me a shot of tequila and I could barely take a sip. Flashbacks!

Saturday dawned and I enjoyed some fall weather on the patio while also doing all my Saturday things – laundry, dishes, cleaning, tidying, etc.

Tom and I took a little road trip to my hometown for the day. There was a music festival going on and there were so many people. My sister was in town so we wanted to visit with my mom, my sister and her kids.

The drive was lovely and it gave Tom and I a chance to talk which was great, too.

We walked and walked and enjoyed outdoor street performers. We went in a couple of little shops and my sister ran into a high school friend, so that was fun.

Over the weekend I finished:

This may be my very favorite of all of Elin’s books. I really liked the Winter Stroll series and some of her earlier books, too. But, I really liked this and it was worth the wait!

I am now into this and really loving it, too. I am a happy library book girl right now!

I have more requests coming at the library, but let me know if you have any Christmasy books to recommend. I have already read many of the ones that bloggers recommend.

And, she has been winterized, so goodbye to boating season 2023:

Our first boat ride was mid-May and our last was at the end of October.

Sunday it was time to do breakfast meal prep again since I had a freezer. You guys, it is so nice to have a fridge! It’s so clean and organized, too!

What was the highlight of your weekend? I hope you had a great one!

Amy

28 thoughts on “Hello Monday”

  3. I love those nail colors that you picked! You did a great job on them. I am so glad you had a great birthday celebration and weekend. You do a good job of blending all the things into one weekend. How fun that you have a shorter week this week! I need to look into the Katherine Center book…you’re inspiring me to go to the library this week. I am craving a physical book, if that makes sense? I do this on occasion. I can’t remember if I already told you this, but I bought the Hilderbrand book when it was on sale for really cheap. I will read it in the late spring! Did you know that she is only writing one more book that will be based on Nantucket? I got an email about it, and it’s coming out in the spring of 2024. I wonder why and how she came to this decision. I’m intrigued!

    Have a beautiful day, my friend!

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    1. Thank you! I am excited to use them, but I don’t want to jump the gun. I do try, but sometimes I am very lazy on the weekend.
      I am really loving this book! I just picked up two more yesterday. I love turning pages. I did Kindle for a long time, but when it broke, I didn’t replace it. I save money this way. I did not know that about Elin. I want to dislike her and her books because of a few things, but I can’t help myself. She made some comment about who should be allowed to review books.

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  4. You don’t get a day off for Veteran’s day? Alec has both Tuesday and Friday off this week so it feels like a really weirdly shortened week. It sounds like you had a lovely birthday! Alec’s school has talked of getting metal detectors but I don’t get how that would ever work in a trade school– culinary students coming in and out with knife kits, carpentry/ masonry/automotive kids had huge tool boxes, etc. I enjoyed both those books and am sort of stuck about what to read for the holidays too. I feel like I’ve read so many of them over the past few years reading exclusively holiday reads that I’m not finding much this year. The few new ones I’ve seen are holiday novellas and I’m not a big fan of novellas.

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    1. No, I don’t think we do anymore? It’s been several years. That is a really weird week! I did!
      That would be really hard in a trade school. I’m sad over having to get detectors, but also it might make me feel safer. I am not finding many holiday books either!

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  5. Sounds like such a great birthday weekend! We have a 4 day week this week because we’re off for Veteran’s Day on Friday (since it’s actually Saturday). Then I have a 4 day week next week – off on Friday to get ready for our trip to Greece. November is going to fly by!
    The upside down cupcakes look delicious and so does all of that food!
    Have a super week!
    xo,
    Kellyann

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    1. It was! Nice! I kept wondering when Veteran’s day was. I can’t wait to hear about Greece. Will you give details before or just after? The cupcakes’ had the best frosting!

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  7. Happy belated birthday Amy! Your birthday dinner looks amazing! Target in the U.S. looks and sounds fantastic. I hear you have Starbucks inside Target stores?? That just blows me away! We used to have a couple of Target stores nearby but they were small. Then they all closed down so no more Target for us. I hope you have a great day off on Tuesday and that the week feels shorter for you. Oh yes, I nearly forgot to say that I’m so happy to hear that you have a new fridge! Yay!!

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    1. Thank you! It was really nice. Target is really good, but it’s also really dangerous! We do! I got mine from a drive thru, but you can get it in the store. I hope so, too! I love my fridge! We only have 10 days until our Thanksgiving break!

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  8. I’m glad you had a great birthday! I’m always conflicted about taking it off since I usually take so many mental health days, but this year it was on a Saturday. That was great! The upside down cupcakes look amazing! I’m all about sweets right now. My high school is getting metal detectors in February, I believe. There are nearly 3,000 students, so they’re talking about how to get them through in the AM without delaying the start of school too much. I’m reading The Berry Pickers right now, and I’m liking it a lot. I highly recommend it. I hope you have a great week!

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    1. Thank you! I think you should always take it off. You don’t want to deal with any bs on your bday! I need to go get more of those cupcakes. They are from a very popular local bakery. Metal detector is turned on today. I don’t know how to feel. I have heard it’s gonna be crazy getting everyone through.

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  10. That’s a great idea to take your birthday off and just enjoy the day. When we were first married, my husband worked for the phone company and automatically got his birthday off! I kept putting off going into Kendra Scott so I didn’t get my birthday discount this year. That’s probably a good thing because I inevitably pick the most expensive stuff! I love wedge salads and almost always end up making a mess with them!

    I didn’t know you were a born and bred Hoosier! I remember going to Madison on a college visit with my oldest son.

    I just finished The Five Star Weekend and really enjoyed it. I almost hope there’s a sequel to find out what happens with everyone. The only thing I didn’t like was the suspense with Tatum. I know how those weekends can feel like forever when you need to know something.

    I hope you have a fabulous week!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    1. I agree! That is so nice.
      Some years I don’t get my KS piece, but this year I knew what I wanted. I have now lived in KY longer than Indiana – way longer. So… I don’t know! Madison is really pretty and I almost went to Hanover, but it was too close!
      I did, too. I predicted the Gigi thing, though!

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  12. Happy birthday! Sorry, I haven’t read blogs for a while! Seems like you had a great birthday weekend!
    Ha! Our boat is still in the water! The only one on the dock though… We’ll take it up this weekend.

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