Monday, December 8, 2025
It’s Monday and that means it’s time to link up with Sarah and Holly and it is already December 8th so that means we are even closer to Christmas! I have got to work on some shopping! I have the traditional pajamas for my kids (well now just pajama pants) and I have something for Eddie Otis but that’s about it! I think I have some ideas now so that’s a start.
I am happy with my mantel now. I love turning the lights on in the morning and evening. I have a white glittery deer head panting I bought at a craft fair, fake greenery, bottle brush trees, my 20 plus year-old stocking holders and my 23-year-old Pottery Barn stockings. I splurged and I am so glad I did. These are the only ones we’ve ever had! The photo is weird, but just trust me on the contents.
I did a final run through of my decor on Friday night and I have a donation pile. I put some decor away that I’m not using this year. Done. Friday night I made dinner at home – ham and Swiss sliders with Hawaiian buns (the ham was frozen from my Thanksgiving re-do meal), homemade potato chips air fried, and apple slices.
Saturday morning I had a Target pick up, a Kroger pick up, and a library pick up. I was tickled to see someone had built a snowman atop the book return:
I picked up:
Sorry for the weird lights – I took the pics near the book scanner. Thanks to my blogger friends for all my recommendations! I wouldn’t know what to request without you.
I ran my errands and was home by 11 or so. Saturday morning my friend Victoria had texted me about attending a holiday fair at 1. I am so glad she texted me. I had wanted to go but hadn’t made any plans.
A good reminder that sometimes last minute works out!
The fair was really good, but as you can see it was really crowded. We both got a bit overwhelmed. I didn’t buy anything but Victoria got a few gifts and I did enjoy looking at all the stuff.
They even had a holiday bar set up, but we refrained.
I stopped at Haymarket on the way home and they were having Christmas tree sales and a winter fair so it was quite festive.
The snow was really melting Saturday! Yay!
I started watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Collection Friday (in time to add some things to my Kroger order) and I enjoyed the first part of the first episode where she made puppy chow/muddy buddies/reindeer chow and cacio e pepe gougeres and Christmas crackers (the British kind that you pull apart and find a little toy inside). I have made regular cheese gougeres before and they are worth it and not really that hard. I have the New York Times recipe written out by hand because I don’t have a membership and there is a pay wall. It is similar to this recipe.
Anyway, I don’t love the show, but I did enjoy the content that I talked about above. There is just something off about her.
Saturday after the holiday market, I enjoyed some of my Meghan Markle Reindeer Chow.
Tom and I had a comical time trying to take each others’ passport photos from my iphone at home. Did you know that you might be able to renew your passport from home totally online without sending in your old passport? Ours qualify but the sticking point will be the photo.
After attempting our photos we went out…
We went to a favorite neighborhood to try to go to a particular restaurant but it was too busy at 5:30! We ended up at Alchemy which I really like because it is Venezuelan and my former student waited on us so that was nice, too.
We got the fried yucca appetizer and Tom got empanadas, beans, and plantains for his meal and I got…
a salad with chicken. It wasn’t the best salad of my life but it was fine.
We went home and fed Eddie Otis his dinner and then the three of us had a fire and watched tv and then the IU/Ohio State game came on. My niece Samira is a sophomore at OSU.
I went and finished my Netflix movie in the basement after a while – My Secret Santa. Don’t judge. Lol.
Sunday morning I got to use my new creamer!
I added a few sprinkles!
I did some cleaning and then Tom and I went to a small Christmas market…
His friend makes these beautiful boards:
It was at the second largest beer garden in the country and the biggest in KY. There isn’t much indoor space, though.
I got the pineapple upside down mimosa again:
And, we split a really yummy pizza:
They have three different food stand options.
Then, we left and did an REI return for Tom and went home and I read/napped and he watched football.
Long PSA:
I spent a good deal of the last few days trying to get out of a cult.
Do you remember me telling you about seeing a deal for $19 for 3 hours of house cleaning? I had a fairly good experience on the day the cleaner came but after she left, I saw that the job was not very well done and I’m not even that picky. It was November 12. Well, I had originally had another person scheduled for November 1 and they cancelled on me last minute so I had to get a new person and wait 11 days. Not that big of a deal. The November 12 cleaner agreed to come back December 3 – a little more than two weeks apart but that was ok.
She then cancelled that day and made a plan to come back December 8. Then December 5 she cancelled for December 8 and made a new plan to come back December 22. At this point I felt I was being played and I was done.
I also didn’t realize that the $19 voucher (by the way I tipped $40 ) would sign me up for a $59 a month “forever clean” that you were locked into for 6 months.
I was told that in order to cancel I would need to pay $110. I wrote a not nice email to the company because there is no customer service number. I repeat, there is no customer service number. I also found some bad reports on Instagram and on the BBB website that I should have checked before ever joining the cult back in October.
Do not do Homeaglow! I really hope no one did it on my recommendation.
I got them to only charge me $54 instead of $110 and just said lose my credit card number and get me out. So, $19, $40, $59, $54 = $172 and I got 3 hours of house cleaning out of that.
Hangs head and goes to grab her cleaning supplies…
Tell me something you did this weekend! Did you also get out of a cult?
Amy
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 
Well that cleaning scam is cruddy! Thanks for the heads up about it. I won´t use a cleaning service until/if I physically can´t move. The idea of having a stranger in my house being in and around all of our stuff just gives me the ¨Heck NO´s.¨ We have the exact same PB stockings. Sort of. I was too cheap to buy ones for Donnie and me so I just have the kids! (In my defense, when I was growing up, it was just the kids who had stockings; I didn´t know it was normal for the adults in a family to have one as well!!). Your weekend festive activities look fun. Those boards are beautiful! Have a great Monday!
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Oh I hate programs like that that secretly sign you up without your knowledge or consent! I have actually closed out accounts and credit cards before for things like that that wouldn’t let me leave. I made our family’s stockings out of those felt kits that Michael’s/craft stores sell. I honestly didn’t expect them to hold up as well as they have! I just about finished all my shopping this weekend… except for Alec but he’s very easy to buy for so I can shop locally for him.
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I was wondering about Homeaglow! I noticed in the commercials that it said something like “$19 for first cleaninig,” so I thought it was a sham. That is a shame! I am going to try that cheese puff recipe! I love going to little Christmas markets, too.
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So much holiday fun in one weekend! I’ve been to a few holiday markets and always love them, but I haven’t been to one this year. Your mantle is too cute and I love your stockings. We’ve had the same ones for sixteen years I guess. Good reading selection coming your way! Love the snowman. Too cute. The cleaning cult …ugh! That’s crazy
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Oh my goodness, that sounds awful! Homeaglow is on the naughty list!
I think it’s so nice that y’all have so many Christmas markets. There aren’t many around here which is a bummer. I like looking but I’m not buying anything. It just feels so fun and festive!
Hope you have a great Monday!
xo,
Kellyann
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I have “Mean Moms” in my queue- let me know what you think! Those Christmas markets look impressive. Sorry about “the cult” -so so annoying!
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You always have the nicest weekends! Our neighborhood has a Grand Illumination the first Sunday in Dec. where we all turn on our lights. People drive through all month and it’s fun! We were busy getting things ready for that, a lot of work. I’ve seen those cleaning ads. What a scam! I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I’m starting to feel overwhelmed so trying to tap that down. I am under control…..LOL Have a great week everybody!
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I love hearing about your weekends! That Christmas market you went to with your friend sounds fun, but holy moly, that’s a lot of people in one space. You’ve reminded me why I don’t do things like that! I saw My Secret Santa on Netflix but haven’t watched it yet. Chris gets bonus points for always telling me to turn on movies like that when we’re together! He loves Christmas movies.
I’m so sorry to hear about that cleaning cult; I’m always so scared that I’m going to get scammed. I really dislike having issues with my money like I did recently with Chase bank and someone from Amazon charging my card to pay someone else’s bill. That kind of thing keeps me up at night! Now you know, though. I think it’s good to use word of mouth to have someone come clean your home. It’ll be more pricey, but it’ll also be worth the extra money. I’m not suggesting that now for you, but maybe in the spring? Just a thought, and right in time for spring cleaning. Have a great day, my friend! xoxo
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Your mantle and fireplace look so cozy!! I bought the Coffee Mate peppermint mocha creamer. I love that stuff! I think I used it for several months last year. That’s crazy about the cleaning company! Hope they leave you alone now and don’t charge your credit card anymore. 😬
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Omg, the cleaning scam. That type of thing is so common! It took us months and months to get out of a gym membership once and then we used to use a pet food delivery company and there was NO WAY TO CANCEL. After 6 months of attempting to cancel, Scott CANCELED the credit card and we literally started over with a new number.
I love that peppermint creamer. I think I’m going to look for a peppermint syrup this week. Also, love the cutting boards. We have a similar one and I’m afraid to use it!
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oh no!! That cult sounds awful. Sorry you had to go thru that. I hate cleaning my house and i love my house cleaners! I have two ladies and they’re wonderful !!! I’ve been blessed with them since 2014. We saw Zootopia 2 on Sunday and it is cute. Ran a few errands and watched football on Saturday. I love college football 🏈 have a great week!
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Your mantel is so pretty and that snowman is so cute! The holiday fair does look so busy. Eek! I watched My Secret Santa and loved it, so cheesy and fun!
Oh no! That sounds like so much fuss when it comes to the cleaning service. You did right getting out of it!
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Oh how annoying! I feel like everything that is a trial signs you up for the rest of your life. I never read fine print before, but these days I try to read all the way to the end. Your mantle is pretty and sounds like you had a nice weekend. I feel the same about MM. I was rooting for her early on but ick. No longer a fan. Have a great week!
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That cleaning company sounds horrible! I dodged one recently: We bought a 30th anniversary ring from Effy on a Royal Caribbean cruise last month. It wasn’t inexpensive. When we got home, I noticed it was sort of sharp on top of the setting. My husband checked it with a loupe and saw that one diamond was much smaller than the other four and was packed into the setting with metal. Then we checked Effy’s reviews-not good. Luckily we paid with American Express and also had a 30-day return window. We have to wait two months for a refund, but it’s a lesson learned! And I usually check reviews! I found a much better ring a few weeks ago too!
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Ugh, that cleaning scam is the worst. I have certainly fallen for “deals” like that before. I agree that Megan Markle is just off in some way. When I think about what she and Harry could have done for charities etc. as part of the Royal Family or even as private benefactors compared with what they have done…well, it is just so sad and disappointing.
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I try not to sign up for things, but I have one thing that I need to cancel. I think I just check a box, but we’ll see. I went to a plant-based cooking demonstration. We had several soups to try as well as three different dessert bars. All of those had bananas in them, and I don’t like bananas. I have decided I am not an herbivore. I like my meat, but not the fake meat she was using. But, I learned something about myself which was a good thing.
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
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I try not to, as well. The good thing is that this was hub’s idea so I didn’t get blamed. lol.
That sounds interesting. I don’t think I could fully give up meat either.
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That cleaning fiasco sounds so frustrating! Thanks for the heads up. Ugh! Sounds like you had a festive weekend – it’s such a fun time of year! Some friends and I went to “Cookie Wonderland” last week – our newspaper puts on a contest every year and gets several hundred entries. The event was the unveiling of the winner and finalists and then we got to sample the top 5 cookies, too! It was very fun! Have a great week!
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I love the way your mantel turned out. Sorry you had to deal with a house cleaner nightmare. I haven’t had puppy show in years but now I want to make some. Brian says Meghan sounds very fake in the show.
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Well that stinks about the cleaning service. Glad you are at least relieved from that scam. The Christmas markets sound fun! I love some fried yucca.
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