Friday, October 3, 2025

It’s so weird to write “October”! It’s everyones’ favorite day in the blog world – Friday Favorites with Andrea and Erika.

Here are mine…

It’s been Fall Break this week in our pubic school district so we have had a lot less traffic noise in the mornings and afternoons this week. It’s been so nice. Since I live within spitting distance of three schools – elementary behind my house, middle in front and about a block away, and high school just past the middle – we do get people parking near my house for pick up and slamming car doors, honking, and I do have to watch my outings if they are around 8:30 or 3:30. Eddie Otis is very sensitive to outside noises and gets very scared and anxious. Anyway, we have enjoyed a week of quiet around here!

I rarely get fast food or any food that isn’t home food for lunch but this week I wanted to try Cane’s naked chicken fingers. They ain’t pretty but they were delish especially with the sauce. Recommend!

This is so good I would consider getting rid of my coffee pot. I just bought it in decaf so a girl has options. It is excellent for iced coffee, too. I use my tea kettle for the hot water. It continues to shock me just how good this coffee is! It ain’t your Grandma’s instant, ok?

If you aren’t a beer drinker, there are some really good ciders. I tried a jam berry cider at the Oktoberfest last weekend. Many places let you try a taste before you commit, which is so nice.

Let’s talk about tv this week. I am watching Dancing with the Stars but I do like to fast forward past all the scores and talking and just watch the dancing. I love Robert Irwin. He’s a doll!

I am watching The Golden Bachelor but I have only watched the first episode as of the writing of this blog post. I don’t love the guy. I get the vibe that he was always big man on campus and thinks he is hotter than he is and that his beep don’t stink. He told one lady that he planned to work all the time when she said she is looking for someone that has time for her. He’s a lawyer and played some amount of professional football I think. Also, he has two very young sons for a 63 year old man – like 18 and 20 year old sons. So, there’s still some heavy duty parenting duties happening (ask me how I know!) and who knows what his relationship with his ex is like. Sorry I’m taking this so seriously!

The ladies are inspiring but I just don’t see him as a catch.

I went in hard on Love is Blind UK this week on Netflix. It’s so good!

I am trying a new shampoo/conditioner based on an Instagram of good and bad drugstore shampoos. This smells very nice. I don’t love the conditioner as much as I love the shampoo. Do yours have to match? Like same brand?

Mason lives at home but is working and pretty busy so we haven’t done much together to be honest. He had a day off and we decided to try a new coffee shop. It was so cute and he loved his ube coffee drink.

He loves to go to coffee shops just like the 20 somethings out there. It has become such a thing to spend money on coffee out. Is it the “third place” for many young adults? You have your home, your work, and your “third place”. I have a coffee shop near me that I love atmosphere-wise and I need to go there more to blog or read and just be out in the world. Maybe that is a winter goal. Even when I was watching Friends religiously and dissecting each episode I didn’t have a Central Perk to hang out in.

I had two social highlights this week with friends. I went to a new place for Mexican breakfast with my friend Victoria. We split chilaquiles and I am going to recreate them at home this weekend, too! It looks like a dog’s breakfast but it tasted good!

Then, I heard that one of my favorite spots in all of my city – Grale Haus (breakfast), Holy Grale (bar and German food), and Bar Grale (wine bar and shop) and they are opening Grale Goods which will be like a breakfast and bakery – was having a German wine fight special just until the end of the week.

I met my friend Beth and we sat in their gorgeous European style garden.

We had house made chips and dip because there was so much wine in the flight that we needed food!

Then we moved into the beer garden area and ordered sauerkraut balls with an amazing horseradish dip.

We spent a nice sunny afternoon and sat there for almost 3 hours chatting!

Brows are so important. Have you worked on yours? Mine used to be full and I never thought much about them except to get them waxed! Now, I have sparse hairs and uneven brows. All of these products are elf or NYX and they are great!

This is the order I do them in (picture has them in the order I do from left to right):

First the pencil, then the elf wand, then the NYX brow glue, then finally the clear. I also spray a tiny bit of hairspray on the clear spooly to hold the brows in place. They really frame your face.

I will get a photo of before and after soon for the one person that might care!

Exactly one year ago this week we were on the high school/college graduation trip for my twins. It might be our last family of four trip, too, which makes me sad but it’s reality.

We went to Spain! We split our time between Madrid and Barcelona. I would have loved to see friends in a couple of other places and to see some smaller towns but this is what made the most sense. It was a dream! If you are new to my blog there is also Spain Part 2, 3, 4, and my packing! I am going to go back and read them!

My phone made me a memory video, though!

Enjoying a little happy hour alone right below our Madrid apartment:

I said why sit in the apartment when I can people watch while my family was resting before our next outing?

A classical guitar lesson and purchase of a new guitar:

Wandering the gothic quarter of Barcelona:

It’s hard to believe it was a year ago!

What were your favorites this week?

Amy

23 thoughts on “Friday Favorites”

  1. So many yummy bites! Cracked up at your assessment of The Golden Bachelor-not a catch- ha!! Loving Dancing With The Starts this season 🙂

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  2. Great pictures from your week (and your reminiscences of your trip to Spain). Your outings all look fun with good food, drink and friends. I have never watched Dancing with the Stars or any of the Bachelor episodes of any kind whatsoever. I know, I should have my middle class suburban woman card taken away for that heretical move! Also, me rebelling against the norms for my cohort, I decided a few yeas ago to not care about my brows. Like at all. I don´t use any product on them. I don´t know what is considered fashionable with regard to brows- full, thin or something in between. What mine are is what they are. It´s freeing not to care! I can understand why some women don´t wear any make up. It´s like, here I am, take it or leave it. I do still wear make up (except nothing brow related!) and plan to continue to, but I do understand the attitude of whatever, this is what I look like, take it or leave it. That´s me with my brows!! Yours look great by the way- I normally do not notice brows since I´ve made a contentiousness uncoupling with mine and with most things brow related! Have a great Friday and weekend!

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  3. That is hard to believe it was only a year ago; I remember reading all about your trip! I have never seen Dancing with the Stars or any of the Bachelor (or really most any “reality” TV program other than British Bakeoff) but somehow I don’t feel like I’m missing much. LOL. If I’m in my golden years there is no way I’d want to be helping someone still raising kids/young adult… just no. That time has passed.

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  4. Wow, I cannot believe your trip was a year ago! I bet you will vacation as a family of 4 again, plan something and as long as you pay they will go!

    The Golden Batchelor…hmmm…I think you are right. Based on what he looks like and what you’ve shared, yeah he is no catch in my book!

    I agree with you about brows, mine are doing the same, basically fading away. I have to use product every day. I am using something from Maybelline now that I really like!

    Have a super weekend!

    xo,

    Kellyann

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  6. Ugh! I wrote this long comment, and it won’t let me post it for some reason. Does EO like the kids? I know he’s anxious about the noise, but what about the people? I’m just curious. I love that European garden you were at with Beth! And it’s so hard to believe that a year went by that fast from last to this year with your Spain memories. Time is flying for me as well! My favorite this week was Tuesday when I Facetimed by nieces and her girls, and seeing Chris for a date. Happy weekend!

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    1. I hate that! I’m sorry! I don’t think he likes the kids and on our walks he gets nervous about adults walking by, too. He is different from our other two labs. The garden was so pretty and the afternoon was so pretty.
      That is so nice. I got a video from a niece yesterday and it made my day. You too! I will be thinking about you tomorrow.

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  7. Oh my gosh, at first I thought I read German wine fight and I thought-what?! Lol…..What a nice week you’ve had! I wish we had a nice coffee shop around us. Would love to go in and have a cup. I think there is one not too far so I might give it a try. Have a great weekend!

    Trish

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    1. Oooh that would have been even more exciting! I am picturing men in lederhosen with wine glasses throwing punches!
      You should take a book or your laptop and try it and see. Some donut shops are cozy, too.

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  8. Those are some healthy pours for a flight : ) I am trying to figure out a day to dedicate to getting ahead on my blog. Lately it feels very much like I’m racing to catch up. I think I’ll need a coffee shop because there’s just too many distractions here at home. I haven’t watched any of the recent seasons of The Bachelor or The Golden Bachelor. Something about the women feels a little desperate to me, but that may not be a fair assessment. Hope you have some fun weekend plans!

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  9. It must be nice to have some quiet from the school noise, especially for Eddie Otis.
    I love Nescafe Gold coffee. It really is a good instant and I am more or a cider drinker than beer. It is amazing all the flavours you can get now.
    I use the pink bottle of Herbal Essences, something about keeping my colour and yes I always have to have the shampoo and conditioner matching, it feels wrong to mix.
    Yep, my 23 year old loves to get coffee out and has a place she always goes to.

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  10. So much to comment on…..

    …… Yes, to the Nescafe. So good. It just increased almost two dollars in price (I am in Nebraska). I have never had it hot, love it iced.

    ….. Sauerkraut balls? I have never heard of that before. What are they and did you like them? Cute garden.

    ….. I am the one person who needs the eyebrow instructions, please. I remember how my twentysomething niece started to brush her brows up and made them look bushy a few years ago.

    ….. Have you heard of the “Pudding mit Gabel” trend in Germany among the youth/young adults in Germany? Bring a pudding and a fork to the local park and meet lots of new people in a carefree environment. Maybe we need “Pudding with Gabel” to unite our country?

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    1. $2! That is crazy! Ugh!
      They had sausage in them and were yum!
      Gonna do the brow info Monday!
      I have heard of that – so weird! So german for some reason! I guess it gets peope together for some fun!

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  12. I am hoping we will get one more family trip next summer after J graduates! I am so glad you told me about the coffee, because I love it. It is my weekday coffee, and I do the Nespresso pods on the weekend. I’m loving Dancing with the Stars. I saw an ad for Golden Bachelor, and it didn’t appeal to me. I think it would take a unique kind of person who would want to put themselves out there on a dating show at my age. For brows, I use the Elf pencil and then some hairspray on the spoolie brush. Hope you have a great weekend.

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    1. Oh definitely a grad trip and a grad trip for Grace. I hope we get one but one of the kids is working a lot and not very interested and that makes the other kid not interested. HO hum.
      So true about Golden but I like it. I love watching the dancing. They are sooo good! I am sad about Baron. I loved his attitude.

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  13. I am probably the one person in the universe who doesn’t like coffee…not for lack of trying, either. Mike, on the other hand, will drink at least three cups of coffee in about an hour! The kids go on Fall Break here in a week or so, but the schools are far enough away from us we rarely hear much. Yes, I need a brow tutorial…between my brows lightening (who knew), and my thyroid giving up…my brows are a mess. I’ve considered microblading, but I’d probably end up with a semi permanent surprised look on my face! I hope your weekend is fabulous!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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  14. Tuesday night, all the teen girls and moms
    watched DWTS. I hadn’t really watched this season. We had fun guessing the scores, haha
    You and Beth look like you’re in Europe! What a vibe! The coffee shop is super cute. We don’t have students tomorrow, so that will ease us back into school, I guess.

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  15. Pingback: Hello Monday – Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa

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