Friday, July 31, 2026

Happy Friday and happy last day of July to you! It’s time for Friday Favorites with Andrea and Erika so let’s dive right in.

Cheers to the weekend!

Maybe I will manage to see more sunsets now?

Wow – this was shocking to my brain!

I’ve enjoyed some tv this week!

I watched this alone and loved it. I was sad there were only 4 episodes. I need to finish The Other Bennett Sister, too.

Tom and I are watching this:

And this:

I am a sourdough flunkie. I tried. It felt like having another pet to care for. Hey- I’m craving some sourdough. I think I will start the 48-hour process and hope that my craving is still present. Yes, I am sour grapes about not succeeding at sourdough.

I love the Whole Foods sliced sourdough sold in half loaves for less than $3, but I also found this great option at Kroger:

Please tell the the ingredients look ok? Apparently some sourdough you can buy is “fake” and not really sourdough.

Fresca was up to $11.99 so I chose the Kroger brand for $4.99. That’s a big price difference!

This is a very solid brownie mix:

After much coffee drama years ago I have decided I am a drip coffee/old fashioned coffee pot girl for now. I make about a 6 cup pot each day and don’t use it all. It’s also the most economical. I buy regular and decaf and make my own half caff blend.

I finally did the update. I still have the iphone 13. I usually don’t like updates, but this one is pretty good!

We live in front of an elementary school and playground. Tom taught Eddie Otis to go down the slide as a puppy, but we haven’t taken him to the slide area in a long time. We walked over there to avoid the lawn mowers this week, and I was surprised when he climbed right up and slid. It made me laugh so hard.

He is eating woodchips, though. Not good!

In less than a week, the playground will no longer be ours. It’s been so empty this summer! We are enjoying the calm before the storm, I guess you could say!

Hydrangea watch 2026: Now I have one robust bloom and one baby bloom. Come on, buddy, you can do it!

Mosquitoes love me. This is my favorite bug spray, and I found it in a travel size. I keep this one in my dog walking pouch.

This week held a trip to the library where I got:

I had a fun happy hour at the gorgeous Italian place near my house with one of my Beths. I ordered a pomegranate tequila spritz and it was so good!

We got some Tuscan potatoes:

I checked out a new energy drink/tea place that just opened.

I really enjoyed my drink that had 17 grams of protein. It was called a “protini”. I opted not to do one of the 200 g of caffeine drinks since I had already had my coffee.

I started this:

Eddie Otis and I saw the yellow school busses practicing at the middle school. It’s here!

I have to say how much I enjoyed wearing this outfit to happy hour this week. It’s my brown T.J. Maxx top with my old light Halara jeans and some old cream Dr. Scholl’s heels.

I also enjoyed wearing my new J.Crew Factory blouse for an errand:

The blouse is just perfect. The length is perfect, the fabric is perfect, and I love the ruffled sleeves.

Here it is if you are interested. Sorry I just couldn’t wait until Tuesday to tell you!

What were your favorites this week? I hope you had many!

Don’t forget…

August’s Currently is next Wednesday with the themes of: savoring, wrapping up, preparing, remembering, and organizing.

Fashion Files is Tuesday, also!

Amy

26 thoughts on “Friday Favorites”

  1. We buy our sourdough instead of making it too; I can not be bothered to feed it every day or even every so often and spend 24 hours baking up a loaf or two so my family can eat the whole thing in one day (or more likely one meal!). That one you found looks great based on the ingredient list. The sourdough culture means they used a starter.

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    1. Exactly! Why does it have to be so high maintenance. I can make a really good loaf in my bread maker or a no knead loaf and I like doing that. Good to know. I really like it!

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  2. Lookin’ good in your cute outfits! And I don’t know exactly what Tuscan potatoes are but based on the photo, me wants!! Girl, get yourself to Walmart if you have one close. Their pop prices are a lot better than Kroger’s (unless Kroger is having one of its really good pop sales). The brand of brownie mix you mentioned is the best boxed mix by far! I hope your bush starts blooming. I feel like it will- it’s a literal late bloomer :). Have a great weekend!

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    1. Thank you! It was fun to put on jeans after all the shorts wearing. OMG – they are like twice cooked potatoes that have crispy edges served with some sort of red pepper dip and they are only $8.
      I hate Walmart! It’s not very close and it’s just overwhelming to me. We only buy Ale 8 in the bottle regularly and I can make a Fresca 12 pack last for months. Lol.
      I wanted to add a bit of brewed coffee to the brownie mix because I’ve heard it brings out the chocolate flavor but I was too scared!
      Me too! I can appreciate a late bloomer.
      You too!

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  3. Eddie Otis on the slide is something I would have loved to see in person! I bet that did make you laugh. I love that J Crew blouse, and the brown one as well! I am looking into the J Crew one now as we “talk”. Is that “our” Italian place that you went to? It reminds me of the bar…maybe not, though. I hope you have a great weekend! I’m excited about today being Friday. I’m tired! ha

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    1. Haha
      I didn’t know he would still do it!
      The blouse is a little more pricey for what I usually pay but it’s that good.
      I love my brown one, too.
      Yes it is! The bar is so pretty!

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  6. I have noticed it getting darker earlier on an evening, it seems a real shame. I Will Find You was so good and I have never even tried making sourdough, it seems like so much work. I just buy a loaf every now and again. Aww! Eddie Otis on the slide is just adorable! That white blouse looks great on you, it is so good when you find something so perfect.

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  7. That is so awesome that EO still does the slide! 🤣 As for sourdough, we love our HEB pre sliced sourdough. It is so good toasted with jam in the morning. I think I already mentioned this but my husband was into sourdough for awhile until we started noticing gnats everywhere. Apparently he was neglecting to feed it while it it was sitting on top of our refrigerator! 😬😆 Now we just stick to store bought.

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  8. Lately we’ve been buying Izzio’s Take and Bake Ciabatta Sourdough and it’s so good! My hubby likes to “bake” a loaf each week and the house always smells wonderful when he does! I love your J Crew blouse! It’s the perfect piece for the fall season! Have a great weekend!

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  9. I agree about the sourdough. It seems like a lot of effort. I think the ingredients look good on that one. I have enjoyed making regular bread though, and it makes me feel good that it just has good King Arthur (higher protein) flour, butter, yeast, milk and water. Loved reading about your faves.

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  10. Forgot to say – that blew my mind about the sunset. Our sunset never gets later than 8:30. I guess this is based on where you are in the time zone. Jack is on the far east side of central zone, and his sunrises are VERY early!

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  12. I bought some sourdough bread at Trader Joe’s that looked real pretty and was like eating sawdust. The texture was so off! Back to the drawing board.

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