Friday, June 13, 2025

Today is Tom’s birthday! He is kind of working? I told him to take off today but he said His work had a golf scramble; he really enjoys playing occasionally, so he was happy! He has requested I cook dinner rather than going out, so I will let you know on Monday what I made.

I am linking up with Andrea and Erika to share my favorites of the week. This was my first full week of summer. It went by quickly!

I realize that feeling like I have retired won’t really hit me until August, but my mindset is already different. In years past I would be like, “oh crap, it’s already halfway through June! What am I doing? I must start summering!” This has been a slow start to summer around here with working later than normal, the rain, and lack of summer weather – it’s been so cool! I just don’t feel any sort of way about that this year. So, a favorite is that maybe I have relaxed my mindset already?

Another favorite is summer reading! I go to the library about twice a week because I have books come in that I have requested. I just pair it with another errand nearby and it’s no big deal. I currently have two books going – one a little more fluffy and one a little more deep. One danger in the summer is spending too much money out of boredom or because you have time to go out to stores. So, the library is a nice one since it’s free.

img_4076-1

I saw this on Facebook in a group I am not part of but was advertised to me….

Isn’t that a fun way to track a month’s reading? I’m not tech savvy enough to make something like this, but many of you are!

This is a great follow and her photos are so lovely. This is on my library request list.

Screenshot

And, look how cute! She made a bucket list based on the book! I am going to post my summer bucket list soon.

Screenshot

People are so creative!

I got some gas and someone had left a happy rock near the pump. I didn’t take it because I didn’t want to be the only one who was happier pumping their gas.

My friend Beth and I met at my second school (I taught at three schools in my career) in 1998. She wanted to treat me to a lunch at a Louisville classic restaurant, Jack Fry’s.

Beth forgot her reading glasses so she had to wear her sunglasses to read the menu and I got this super cute photo of her!

Cheers!

We felt very fancy. Is this what retired people do?

We split a brie salad…

And, Beth ordered a chicken sandwich and I ordered the croque madame.

We stayed at lunch for over two hours catching up. It was such a treat!

Cooking in a more relaxed state is a favorite right now…

After lunch (it was a Tuesday), I stopped at Fresh Market to get their meat deal. Chicken is $3.99/lb. and beef is $4.99/lb. The quality seems so much better (than your average grocery store meat), too. If you have a Fresh Market, you should check out their Tuesday meat sale.

Did you read my Tuesday In the Kitchen post? I saw the different varieties of this oil I talked about at Fresh Market. They have “Sizzle”, “Frizzle”, and “Drizzle”. Does Snoop Dog own this company? Fo’shizzle. Just kidding. I only have “Sizzle” and guess what – I also use it to drizzle. Don’t tell anyone.

And, I left off two really good (to me) kitchen hacks on that Tuesday post. I put my sloppy joes in this container. Yes, I do want to move to all glass but I haven’t yet, Karen. If you get a stain on your storage dishes, you wad up a paper towel, add some Dawn (why would you use any other brand?), a bit of water, and then you shake, shake, shake. The stain disappears!

I don’t have a fancy hardboiled egg cooker so I use the old fashioned pot method. When your eggs are done, you drain the water, add ice cubes, and shake, shake, shake lightly and it cools the eggs and starts breaking the peels making for a much easier peeling situation.

I wanted to watch the Sex and the City “And Just Like That” and I want to watch White Lotus. I finally decided to treat myself and I did the $9.99 a month and also marked on my calendar when my month would be up.

I got a fresh pedi this week of OPI Funny Bunny. This will work with whatever color mani I do next, to.

I brought my book to read but a lady next to me wanted to chat and it was lovely. She was super interesting. She was a retired nurse and we talked about nursing, teaching, travel, and kids. Do you make friends wherever you go? I have a couple of friends that make fun of me for always making a new friend. I made a new friend at the boutique hotel pool last week, too. Lol.

Eddie Otis and I are working on a morning walking routine. We have a tennis center near our house and he can find stray tennis balls!

I went to the outdoor mall before meeting a friend and went in Loft and Ulta. I wanted to smell Philosophy Amazing Grace perfume. I am not sure it’s me.

I sent this picture to my niece Lena because she is obsessed with this brand!

My friend Jessica and I have been trying to get together for some time and we finally made it happen for an early dinner at Harry’s. It was so nice!

I got the most delicious grapefruit sangria – it was definitely more citrus/lemony than grapefruit forward. I am going to try to re-create it.

They bring you this wonderful bread with wonderful butter and a bottomless salad. Then we split the mini fish sandwiches and each had one. It was perfect.

And, as I have been doing as of late, I will leave you with an Eddie Otis photo.

Eddie Otis wants me to hold his Kong while he licks his peanut butter. He is a very sharing dog. He wants to chew bones on your leg, and share his sticks that he chews. The sharing of a stick resulted in a scraping of mom’s leg (I’m mom).

It’s never dull with Eddie Otis!

Happy Friday to you! I need to get going to plan Tom’s birthday dinner!

Amy

28 thoughts on “Friday Favorites”

  2. You have been summering very well! I really get to a jump on making my summer bucket list but I feel like I have zero ideas for it.. which is rather odd. We have started getting some nice weather but it is supposed to rain again tomorrow for something like the 13th weekend in a row.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Thank you! My first full week! I have mine written on a paper but not typed into a post yet. I always leave room to add more to it.
      We have too! We are heading into like 9 days with a chance of rain or storms!

      Like

      Reply

  4. Fun post to read! Enjoyed reading about your favorites and I will try that hack that you mentioned about plastic and Dawn (I keep thinking I’m going to switch to glass, too, and haven’t fully yet. Whatever. I drink diet pop. I might as well eat out of plastic, right??). I hope all goes well this weekend and that Tom has a great birthday!

    Like

    Reply

  5. Haha, yes, I tend to chat to many people as well as I go through my day. I have two dear friends I met this way: By striking up a random conversation. However, it doesn’t have “to go anywhere”, random chitchat with strangers is fun too.

    Like

    Reply

  6. Yes!!! Retired people enjoy relaxing lunches with friends! At least that’s what my friends do. The ladies in my group from church are all retired and they have leisurely lunches, go to yoga at church, play pickleball and basically have all the fun! I think you are going to enjoy a more relaxed state of mind when it comes to everything!

    Have the best weekend and happy birthday, Tom!

    xo,

    Kellyann

    Like

    Reply

  7. Hey pretty in pink! Yep babes who lunch, it’s one of my favorite things to do since resigning in 2018. I’ve always called it early retirement, lol! Happy birthday to your man! Cheers to you all!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. We’ve switched (mostly) to glass containers but still have some plastic ones and I have tried that paper/towel dish soap hack. My husband thought I was crazy when I was shaking and was then as amazed as I was that it actually worked! Have a great weekend!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Happy Birthday to Tom!! I have had the Sol de Janiero body spray and honestly I think Bath and Body Works sprays are just as good. I do love their body butter though. Have a great weekend!

    Like

    Reply

  12. There’s so much I have to comment on, but I’ll try to narrow it down. Thanks for the IG book account rec! I went to follow her immediately. Those are my favorite types of accounts! I love your bracelet stack that you had on when you met your friend for lunch. Cute, cute! Your new streaming subscription is something I might do for a month as well…I subscribed to Apple TV this week as well. Where do you watch Below Decks? I cannot remember and I miss that show!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  15. Happy birthday to Tom! I hope he has a fantastic day!
    It’s good that you are relaxed about summer, a slow start sounds good and all of that reading too!
    What a lovely lunch out!
    That hack about cleaning plastic storage tubs does work! I’ve tried it!
    Good on you for treating yourself to that streaming service.
    Sol De Janeiro is a big thing here too with all the youngsters. It’s so expensive though.

    Like

    Reply

  16. Happy birthday to Tom! That is a cute way of keeping track of your reading except my whole month would probably be the same book. I think there is a Fresh Market near me so I’ll have to check those deals out. I hadn’t heard of either of these hacks so I’ll be trying them. Both of those shows are so good! Love seeing Eddie Otis!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

    Like

    Reply

    1. Well, we split it. It only had lettuce, Brie, dressing, and my friend got the almonds – I don’t like nuts. We didn’t want much since we were getting sandwiches. They also brought us really good bread. Some restaurants are definitely stingy but this one has fair prices for what you get. The restaurant business is hard and prices have gone up so much on food.

      Like

      Reply

Leave a reply to Kim Carberry Cancel reply