Friday, February 12, 2026
Let’s link up with Andrea and Erika to share the week’s faves.
Tomorrow is V Day, of course. I am making dinner at home for Tom. I asked if he wanted to know what the menu was or be surprised and he said “surprise” and I asked if he wanted to cook with me and he said “yes, like in the movie Ghost” and so I turned him down because I couldn’t imagine him behind me holding the wooden spoon with me. I am making his favorite German dish that translates to “gypsy schnitzel” and red cabbage that has to be started 24-48 hours before serving. What have I gotten myself into?
Sunday, I took myself through a psychedelic car wash. This is the only time I wish I took drugs.
I thought it would be safe to get the nasty snow/ice gunk off my car since the weather would be turning – which would be my fave of the week! How dependent is my mood on the weather and sun – turns out, quite a bit.
Trigger warning…
Do you remember me doing the foot booties “baby foot” thing?
I know – why would you? Well, you wait 7-10 business days and then you start to molt. I know some of you want to see this. If you don’t, I want you to scroll quickly to a photo of my friend Katie and I, ok?
I warned you…
I feel like now is the time to do this before sandal season.
I had a fun day on Tuesday with my friend Katie who is my high school friend Jim’s wife. We consignment shopped, ate salad, and chatted for several hours! Read yesterday’s post for more details.
I loved my salad!
I made bourbon chicken Monday night and it turned out great but I need to always double or triple the sauce part of Asian recipes.
I made lemon spinach orzo with chicken Tuesday night and I loved it. Why don’t I made more orzo? I linked the recipe I kind of used. I only did about 1/2 c. heavy cream and I didn’t have any parm and I added lemon (freshly squeezed) so I did change it up quite a bit. It was lighter the way I did it.
I bought the Trader Joe’s ready made lemon chicken and this made it super easy!
My hyper-fixation brunch as the kids would say. I roasted my sweet potato cubes on Monday and then added Amylu chicken sausage, did my Pyrex egg mixture and added avocado.
By Tuesday afternoon this is what it looked like. It had been over 2 weeks since we had seen any green or an almost clear back deck:
I needed some new products and tried this – love, love, love the smell. It might be a men’s product but I like it for me.
The new thing in shampoo is “bond repair” and I like these pretty well. I have decided to stop decanting into my bottles because they just don’t fit the shelves very well. I felt I was wasting some product, too.
I just think he looks so cute like this:
He seems to know which is his newest toy – Octo:
I guess I do one of these a day now. I love these!
This neck light is what has helped me to read more this winter. I love it. Tom loves getting blinded by it nightly.
Currently reading this and I’m laughing out loud at some of the parts!
I tried to read outside for a minute this week but EO was barking at who knows what.
I hope I’m not stepping on any toes here – no pun intended – but what in the Steve Madden is he thinking giving a woman literal “camel toes”. I have so many questions. I can’t look away. Which toes go where?
What if you walk through a room full of confetti and the pieces get stuck between the camel toes?
Happy Friday to you!
Amy
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 
Cracking up at the Ghost reference- ha! The dinner does sound delish- hope it comes out great. Thanks for sharing more great reads here too- have a wonderful weekend 🙂
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Not only do those shoes look so ugly but they look so uncomfortable too! I am so jealous of your weather! Ours has definitely been warmer in that it reached nearly 40 this week and it’s melting slowly but I can’t imagine sitting outside to read anytime soon… and I can not see my deck. I really do NEED to go through the car wash though. My car looks nearly white at this point (and it’s black!).
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Wait, are those shoes for real? They look like hooves. That’s a big NO for me!
Those hydrangeas are so beautiful! I hope you have a great VDay dinner!
xo,
Kellyann
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I´m not a fashionista but I´m saying heck no to the Steve Madden shoes. Gosh I hope the shoes aren´t a new trend. Haven´t high heals done enough to harm women´s feet? Your meals all look good. I feel like I say the same thing after I make anything with orzo! I make a lemon orzo soup that´s really good. We started to thaw out this week but there are many areas where snow is still covering sidewalks. By this time next week, there should be little to no snow on the sidewalks. A runner can dream, right??
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Those shoes remind me of the Steve Martin skit “Cruel shoes”, ha ha. We are still up to our eyeballs here in mild temps and sunshine and I have been grabbing as much of it as I can. I am not a fan of winter! Also, yes on men’s shampoo and body wash. They always smell the best!
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I am like you and have loved the melting ice here. We’ve had some brilliantly warm and sunshine-y days here; one of the days the temperature reached 75! If I’d been at home, I would have been out on my deck with my legs stretched out to get some color on them. That Tom can always be counted on to make us laugh here on the blog; I can just picture him saying that! I love that pic of you and the friend who went consignment shopping. Those shoes are terrible!
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Wow – 75! We only had one day where I could have kind of stretched my bare legs out. Then, it got kind of chilly again. But, still better! We still have piles of snow and it’s the dirty mounds that just won’t melt! We need rain!
Yup – Tom keeps us laughing! Thank you! Did you like my version of “Salad Station”?
Aren’t they?
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Those shoes. It sounds dumb but hoofed creatures are seen as all kinds of bad things in the Bible so I would be wary of putting those on my feet.
I NEED that foot peel. What’s the link? My feet are a mess.
I’ve paid for the fancy $21 car wash a couple of times this winter because you really shouldn’t let the salt and road chemicals hang out on your car. They tried to get me to join the “club” and buy a membership but I feel like I’d forget to cancel it.
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You’re right! I have heard that about hooves. Eek!
Molly gave us an off brand but I have used the Baby Foot brand before too – probably worked a little better. https://www.amazon.com/Baby-Foot-Exfoliant-Lavender-Scented/dp/B00461F4PA/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1ALNVED3FAIEH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.OT7zxG5QUNt64S8PDuyVEVh8_AkCmI9zkMVZNWdEex8nZrSKJ9BkqUSvVgfl9sBgmWBTS3vnEXZj5SX09OL4m3LhLjqgRqtNQMfw5IMQzbIM2e76NS4Pli1mC4_ocIddifE5y1y21Z3_ebsQ3oEk-_2fthK8dcKZXMvlgPyLHNWovtzYXOxtcmNXZT6d6JEfpMcOiY2odsi11yiOLJxIabslxKNQBwd-q7x81Bcz76mqEb2pjHOUtRKbAVF_7cVWS7pvFiHYYuR3nGC_1Uif9NuyiptXOf5BksXEBCL537U.UkvQugZWRGMADFwIaaAPSr_cLxn2fMt1CArmHMfkWIQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=baby%2Bfoot&qid=1770987066&sprefix=baby%2Bfoot%2Caps%2C218&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1
I just heard from a friend that they try to get you to buy a membership. I just go to this one near my house that is older and $15 for the full deal. I lost my money once when the door didn’t open all the way, called the number, and they gave me a code for the one I lost and for another one so now I am loyal to them. Good customer service! Since my car is new to me (four years old to the world) I am trying to still keep it clean!
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