I’m linking up with Sarah and Holly to share my weekend and it was a special one! I’m so tired, it’s late, and we just lost power and internet for a few minutes during a summer storm, so I will just give you some highlights for now.
On Friday, I showed you my full dining room table and my baking that I had done – it was for a trip to Michigan for Tom and I to hang with my cousins on my mom’s side of the family!
We had been there before because we rented cabins on a little lake called Stony Lake that feeds into Lake Michigan. Well, my cousin Neal bought a place a several years ago and this year he invited the whole bunch of us at once.
His youngest created a family tree so we could keep people straight!
My mom (Carole) was the oldest of three. She has a brother (Jim) who is three years younger, and a sister who is seven years younger (Judy). There are nine cousins and I am the first oldest girl and the second oldest.
The original cousins minus one – we still had Curt that hadn’t been born. I’m trying to look like a model in a Snoopy swimsuit – not easy.
Not everyone could make it, but we had the majority. Some kids were in and out due to commitments. My kids stayed home to watch Eddie Otis and work. It was a 7 hour drive for us.
Tom and I left at 9:00 am Thursday morning and arrived at this little paradise:
Everyone arrived between 4 and 6 Thursday night except one family who didn’t come until Friday afternoon.
I loved the outdoor shower:
There is a little market you can walk to and on night one we ordered pizza from them. Tom got ice cream all three nights, too!
The walk to the beach:
Friday morning we started the water activities bright and early! One group did a kayak, paddle board trip and got rained on for two hours but still had fun.
More tomorrow! My heart is full. It was so wonderful to be with everyone!
It’s Friday and time to link up with Andrea and Erika for Friday Faves.
This might be my shortest favorites post ever. I hardly took any photos this week!
How was your week? Did you succumb to Prime Days? I did! I ordered a second pair of boxers in red (I have pink):
I ordered the leggings that Jenn recommended – they have been in my cart for a long time!
And, these Teva sandals:
The Tevas are going back. They are hard to put on – like working a puzzle and they hurt. Nope!
Anyway, it’s fun to have a package arrive daily, but that needs to stop.
My blue French mani is still going strong and I still love it!
This is still cute but I am moving slowly:
Little boy is making us laugh at least once a day! I think I was showing Mason something on the table and he can’t stand to be left out.
I made my dinner protein in the morning one day this week. This is my favorite way to do dinner. Sorry for the kind of ugly photo. We had Mexican bowls.
We got to celebrate a friend’s retirement and I only took a picture of my appetizer plate.
Another night we ordered a mediterranean wrap and I made the side salad. Do you ever combine home cooked with restaurant food?
Kate’s been going through old family photos and sending them to us along with family friends that are featured. I’m in the green sweater. Can you tell I always liked to be the center of attention or nah?
One day I baked my brains out. I made a strawberry cake (will get iced later), dark chocolate brownies, and sopapilla cheesecake bars.
I spent much of the week hunting and gathering and my dining room table was full.
I will let you know Monday what all of this is for!
And, little Eddie Otis with “elefante” in his mouth:
He likes to keep it in his mouth the whole time he goes potty.
I had a list of about 5 things specific to Trader Joe’s for a quick run. I left the list on the kitchen table while I went potty (sorry!) and came back out and EO was eating something. He ate my list! This dog!
And, of course, it’s been such a sad week, too. My heart is broken for all those affected by the Texas flooding.
What have you been wearing lately? This is the time of year that the summer sales are going strong! I really don’t need anything else for summer. I will buy if I see something perfect and it’s a good price. But, now that I think about it, we wear summer clothes up until October around here. I’m also trying to be ruthless about what is currently in my closet. I just don’t need as much and I’m trying to send it on its way if I don’t see myself wearing it.
I feel more comfortable in pants for going out (or dresses) and shorts are for at home. I want to look better when I am just at home so some of my shorts outfits can be kept at home. And, when I go out, I don’t want the ol’ legs sticking to the seats in the car or in an establishment. I’m even getting rid of some tattered at home clothes because they just are too worn.
I immediately change out of my going out clothes when I get back home. I think it helps to keep them looking better. I am a mess and get stuff all over me when I am cooking so I try to wear my old t-shirts for that. But then I look like a slob…what to do?
Let’s get on to the outfits…
I really liked this outfit and could have made it a bit more put together with different sandals. I have on my old light blue Umgee gauzy pants and my new to me consignment top that is from Target originally.
I wore my turquoise gauzy shorts and my J.Crew consignment gauzy top to the farmer’s market. Now that outing really did call for shorts!
Let’s talk consignment haul with my friend Beth. I found 5 pieces on our trip and I have only shown you two of them. I am super picky when shopping consignment. I don’t want to just fall into the trap of “it’s cheap, so why not?” because one summer I did that and I had a decidedly un-cohesive wardrobe. My colors were all over the place and maybe my styles were, too. Those clothes have since moved on.
I found the above Target top and the Old Navy blue and white striped shirtdress at the beginning of my post from Clothes Mentor and I found three pairs of pants from Sassy Fox. I know I made good purchases from Clothes Mentor since I have already worn both pieces more than once! Woohoo!
Now for Sassy Fox (my other favorite consignment store); I am not calling myself a “sassy fox”…
These are Anthropologie and they were only $6.25 because they had a certain color sticker lowering their price. I am seeing these with a black or another contrast solid color top. They are a bit voluminous so I will need more fitted on top. Are they pajama pants? They were with the regular pants. Oh no! What if they are?
I know that Chico’s gets a bad rap (or gets labeled for the aging art teacher vibe) but I have found their pants to fit me well and last forever. I had a pair of black Chico’s travelers pants that I found at another consignment shop that were my go-to pants for maybe 10 years. They make good pants. Kellyann agrees with me and isn’t afraid to shop Chico’s.
I found these black pants new with tags.
And, also how else am I gonna be a size 2, amiright? Bahahahaha.
They are even in short length! They were new with tags! I think I paid $20 for them but I knew that was a good deal.
And, I found these white pants from Chico’s. They are also in short length and will look better with a heel. I almost didn’t get them because of the ankle detail…
White pants are tricky and they show everything. I will need the right length top/blouse.
I decided I liked the detail and Beth also liked it. I think just a black blouse can look very chic with white pants.
What do you think? These were $15 because they weren’t new with tags but they look new. I know white pants don’t have a super long use – I only feel comfortable wearing them from like April until September usually, but since these were Chico’s and fit so well I knew there were a good buy. I only currently have a pair of white linen pants in my closet and they are lined which makes them a bit too warm. The new Chico’s pants:
Oh man – do they look like pajamas?
I settled on this for a quick errand but then I got so hot in the lined pants!
1. What’s an adult problem nobody prepared you for?
All the phone calls you would have to make? I’m talking to your insurance provider, internet provider, water company, electric company, credit card company, etc.
All the apps you have to get to run your stuff? Ugh! I don’t want any more apps!
2. How tuned in are you to all the recent food related health news? Have you gotten rid of your scratched cookware? Did you pay attention to food additives before they made the news? What’s one healthy eating/cooking/food shopping habit you need to adopt?
Kind of tuned in. I have all stainless steel cookware from Costco because our cooktop is an induction cooktop and my old stuff wouldn’t work on it. I think that is the story Tom told me.
I grew up on frozen foods, canned foods, artificial coloring, and all the processed foods. I didn’t really think about it until I had a student a couple of years ago that was super healthy and would yell, “red dye number 40” an awful lot for a Spanish class. If someone said their favorite candy was Skittles or Twizzlers in Spanish we knew this was coming.
I need to buy more vegetables and less packaged snack foods.
3. What’s getting worse and worse as you get older? How about better and better?
My tolerance for toxic people and wasting my time is getting worse.
My mom would drag my Dad to lots of things – dinners, plays, musical events and he did enjoy many of them, but many he did not. I would ask him if he had fun and his reply was usually, “fun is a strong word”. I get this now.
I am not sure what is getting better. Sometimes I think I am more relaxed but then something happens and I am not relaxed about it.
4. Are you more of an indoor person or an outdoor person? Elaborate.
I am more of an outdoor person when the heat and mosquitoes are not present. See, my tolerance for those two things is really low right now.
5. If you had an expert personal assistant today, what would you have them do?
I would probably have them go through my totes and take things to donation centers. I am having a mental block about doing it.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
I have officially been off of work for a month and I feel that I haven’t been very productive. I’ve done all the regular household maintenance and some deep cleaning but I guess I feel that I should have done more decluttering (see above). My sister said I have been grieving and healing in this time – the loss of my mom, my career, and just life as I knew it. I’m sure she is right. Is this just the teacher productivity brain talking? Maybe.
It’s Monday so I am linking up with Holly and Sarah to share my weekend. It was pretty chill because it was so dang hot! Is it too early to say summer is no longer my favorite season?
So, on Thursday afternoon I did this blue French mani:
I also tried to pull out any red, white, or blue pieces that I wanted to wear.
Before that…
I really liked this errand outfit:
I hate my legs sticking to a car seat or a restaurant seat so I wanted to wear pants.
This is my new consignment short sleeve button up. I did not wear anything under it and I think it looks ok.
I made this to take on the errands run. It’s so good! This is Kroger brand coconut pineapple seltzer and I add a lemonade stick to it. I don’t want to have too much artificial sweetener so I should try this with natural lemon juice or the True brand.
I went to Costco not realizing that even though it was a weekday that it was the day before the 4th and yes, Costco was crazy!
I had fun driving my new to me car but I was a bit of a Nervous Nelly.
When Tom got home from work we drove around and ended up at Fresh Market for our dinner of $5 sushi that we took home. It was fun.
Tom and I started this and it’s adorable. Anyone else?
Thursday night was like a weekend night for Tom because he had Friday off and we had plans to boat on the 4th. It was so hot but we had fun and managed to stay in the shade or kept moving most of the time. We had three friends with us.
For dinner we were back home and I made these cute taters, corn on the cob, hot dogs, and beans.
Tom went hiking with his friend on Saturday and I ran some errands. I had to return these two books that I didn’t crack open or finish. No guilt. Reading is for fun and if I can’t get into a book or stay into it – bye bye.
My goal was to finally get to the farmer’s market! I got there by 8:30 and it was already packed and hot.
This is my bag from Spain from 1989:
I saw a former student who works at one of the farm stands.
This is my haul:
I stayed inside much of Saturday with Eddie Otis while we waited for Tom to return from hiking.
Later in the day after Tom got home I went to Target for a few things and for the first time, this didn’t trigger me:
School Supplies on 4th of July weekend!
Haha
I have been praying for the little campers from Camp Mystic and the others that lived nearby. That type of flooding can happen so fast and the timing could not have been worse. I pray for all the people affected and the rescue workers who are working hard. Gosh, it’s just too much.
Happy 4th of July! I am linking up with Andrea and Erika to share some faves if they have their link up today.
This has been a noteworthy week. I officially retired on Wednesday, July 1! The day before I made sure all of my insurance and financial stuff was good to go (lots of phone calls) and I opened up my work email one last time because I was losing access. Honestly, it made me feel good to get that “monkey off my back” of work email!
I didn’t do anything to mark the day Wednesday but I met with my former student who is just back from a year in Spain so that is kind of a nice thing to do to celebrate! And, I posted this photo on my social media:
It also had a song I found on IG “I just retired. I don’t have to work no more.”
I hope that people don’t think I am “rubbing it in”. I worked the same job for 31 years (Spanish teacher in the state of Kentucky so it was all the same system even though I was at three different districts during my tenure) and didn’t get to stay home with my kids when many people took a break and that was really hard. But, honestly, if my post did rub anyone the wrong way, “let them”. I also might mention that I have been “hustling” since I was like 12 babysitting, lifeguarding, managing pools, waitressing, working retail, and I even had summer jobs while I was a teacher.
Also, Lord willing, I do plan to go back to working at some point. It will have to be the right thing.
I also said goodbye to my beloved car of 10 years. It has been my favorite car I have ever had, but it was time to part ways because of all its issues. The most annoying would be the back hatch totally broke off and I had to hold it open with a broomstick. And, the other would be the lack of functioning AC!
I got this car on Mother’s Day weekend when my twins were in 8th grade!
Bye, bye and thank you for your service.
I replaced it with a slightly smaller SUV. Once you sit higher up it’s hard to go back down. Lol.
I haven’t been reading much but when I do I am enjoying this:
The reason for me not reading much is that I have fallen into a Gilded Age hole and I can’t stop!
Little boy is definitely maturing. He still loves to steal shoes, dishtowels, hand towels, washcloths (Mason said he dealt in linens in a past life), pillows, try to pull up our rugs and drag them or chew on them, steal sticks of butter when they are left out, steal the dust pan when I sweep, and a whole lot of other “bad boy” things.
When I read outside, he lays behind me and watches the yard activity. Good boy!
The humidity broke a bit this week and as long as I can keep enough bug spray on it’s been pleasant again.
I literally put Fresh Market meat on my Tuesday agenda and went and bought their chicken, beef, 4 butcher case hot dogs, and some cod for blackened fish sandwiches. They had some festive 4th foods and I picked up these red, white, and blue tortilla chips…
r, w, b potato chips…
and little r,w,b potatoes! So cute!
My new Aerie tee is cropped but no skin shows. I paired it with my red and blue skirt and wore this to run an errand and meet my former student Ali who is back from Spain.
These are the sweet and thoughtful gifts I received from my Heathers along with my dinner out last Friday. Blonde Heather always makes custom cards at Walgreen’s and she used my social media photo to do so. I need her to teach me how she does this! And, they ordered a travel jewelry box about retirement for me, gave me Uncommon James earrings that they both already have, and a gift certificate to one of my favorite boutiques. They literally did too much.
My friend Elizabeth had some PTO she needs to use this summer and wanted to do a pool day so we went Wednesday (it finally stopped raining Tuesday) and had a really nice day. This is the 18 and older pool but it’s right next to the kiddie pool – lol. Also, it now costs $16 to get in for a day!
Eddie Otis had his friend Willow over while Dan (Willow’s daddy) and I discussed our podcast! We probably won’t be ready for it to go live until August, but we have a plan. I think we are going to do it for sure and see how it goes. It is going to be called Fifties Sense – a smart, funny, and honest podcast about life in your 50s hosted by two longtime friends.
And, I want to leave you with a memory (not a flattering photo of me) from a 4th of July pool party long ago. I think they even have on red, white, and blue trunks and rash guards. My high school bestie captured this of my twins with me.
Today is my parents’ wedding anniversary! I need to call my sisters to remind them.
I have been wearing lots of shorts – mostly gauzy! I have pink, turquoise, and orange.
Here I am with my Old Navy gauzy camp button up. I have these in white, black, and hot pink. I am a gauzy girl. I bought those last summer.
Another day, another gauzy outfit. This time I am wearing my Old Navy tropical linen shorts from last year.
Gauzy orange with my new this year boutique blouse that was on the sidewalk sale. Notice how the hair changes!
For girls night out dinner I wore my salmon dress. I have it in hot pink, too. I mean, could I wear anymore orange or pink? Puppy likes to steal towels from the basket and he was roaming around while I took this photo.
Dinner out with gauzy shorts and button up.
My second Aerie order took a sweet forever to get to me. Are we spoiled by the speed of Amazon? Definitely! My first order included drawstring jeans, blue detailed sweatshirt, and Maine lobster sweatshirt. I returned lobster and jeans in store. After thinking about it I wanted the lobster so I re-ordered in size down. Then, I happened to see this graphic tee while online:
It’s so cute and I think I can wear it with my blue and red striped skirt.
Lobster! It’s quite flowy at the bottom with slits in both sides.
And, I am keeping the size down blue sweatshirt. I also ordered it two sizes down and that was not the fit I wanted.
So, last Friday I showed my friend Beth the ropes of my two fave consignment shops. Here is what I came home with:
I had been wanting a shirt dress and found this Old Navy version for $9.99!
It’s hard to see but I found this light blue and white striped short sleeve button up for $9.99, too. I think I will need a white cami under it which could defeat the purpose of it being a shirt to wear in the heat!
And, at the other store, I walked out with white Chico’s pants, black Chico’s pants, and Anthropologie pants. The Chico’s pants were brand new with tags so they were $15 and $20 but the Anthro pants were only $6! I will show you those when I am not too hot to put on pants.
Beth’s haul:
Black blouse
Salmon gauzy
black silk blouse – I told her how much I have worn mine in the winter
Two cream blouses
And, look at this proof of a great deal. The first black blouse she is wearing is new with tags and the original price was $130!
and two dresses – one is a Lily lookalike and the other is J.Crew
She really scored and it made me so happy! I was an enabler, yes. But, some might say I was a helper. There’s a fine line.
Today we have a twofer – Currently with Jenn and Hodgepodge with Joyce!
currently loving
I feel like I am on a retirement tour! So, I still haven’t figured out a party – if I should have one, when to have one, how big it will be, etc. I just don’t feel like I have the energy and I have a bit of a mental block.
Instead, several friends are taking me out or celebrating me and I have been spoiled!
currently savoring
I love a slow morning. I love mornings and enjoy them so much and that makes me reluctant to plan to do things too early. I drink coffee and tons of water and then like to make my breakfast around 9-10. This is mushrooms, onions, potato, shredded cheese, one egg and some Bob Evans egg whites.
I miss being able to start my day outside. It’s just been too humid.
currently celebrating
Myself! Ha! I told you I am on a retirement tour! Today I need to go to the store and get my red, white, and blue candy and some 4th of July traditional foods. I think I will actually go in store to see what they have on display!
Tom is off Friday and I am hoping to do something fun to celebrate the good ol’ USA.
currently remembering
I am trying to remember to look at my bucket list! I have it on the kitchen memo board. If you missed that post, here it is.
currently trying
I am trying to figure out a better routine/structure. I am trying to eat more protein and healthier and lighter meals. I made tuna salad with a hard boiled egg and had some saltines this week. I made my Tostitos queso and jarred salsa mixture but I had run out of the Tostitos bite sized which are my preferred.
1. What does freedom mean to you?
Freedom means the ability to speak freely, worship freely, work the job you want, and live the way you want. We take freedom for granted in this country I think.
2. How will you celebrate Independence Day this year? If you live outside the USA answer this question as it relates to your own country’s patriotic holiday, wherever that may land on the calendar.
It’s always weather dependent. We usually don’t go anywhere for fireworks anymore. There are people who set them off behind our house in the school playground. Eddie Otis wasn’t bothered by them last year but he was only 5 months old. I think they could bother him this year.
I would like to go out on the boat with some festive boat friendly foods. That would be fun!
3. This or that…red, white, or blue? Stars or stripes? Watermelon, home made ice cream, or blueberry pie? How do you feel about fireworks?
I am having a blue moment. I love all the shades of it. I love stars. I would like some star earrings. I rarely have pie and I would like to try blueberry. I love to make a red, white, blue fruit pizza and maybe I will do that!
4. What have you purchased recently that made you excited?
My new Aerie sweatshirts that are so soft and cozy!
5. I’m thankful to live in America (or fill in whatever country you call home) because____________.
It’s home and it feels comfortable and familiar to me. I have dreams of living in another country but it would have to be short term, I think. I miss the little things when I travel. Even with our problems, it’s the best place to live! I love the USA!
6. Insert your own random thought here.
This salad is so good. It has a big chunk of feta in the middle, sweet beets, blueberries, strawberries, and a lemon vinaigrette. I picked salmon to go on top. I would love to try to make this myself!
Do you ever successfully make restaurant meals you have had?
What would you say to any of the currently or hodgepodge topics today?
Well, it’s been a long time since I have talked about The Happiness Project. My last post was here in April! Is anyone else doing it with me? I must admit that I am not as excited about it this go ’round. I honestly do think many of its principles have stuck with me and have become part of me!
May’s theme was about leisure and being serious about play. Find more fun, take time to be silly, go off the path, and start a collection were the goals.
So, May was a busy and long month. I was finishing up my teaching career, of course! I was silly in class with my students but I didn’t do a lot outside of school. I didn’t start a collection that I can think of but I do consider my coffee mugs to be a collection. So, I didn’t really do a lot of playing in May, but I made up for it in June!
June’s theme was make time for friends! I did that after a month of not much time for friends and it was so great to catch up with people. Anyone that asked to hang out I had to put off until I get school finished! Friendship, remember birthdays, be generous, show up, don’t gossip, and make three new friends were all part of the month’s goals. I talked to three new people at the teacher pool day last week so maybe that counts? It’s really hard to make new friends at this stage, isn’t it?
July’s theme is money – buy some happiness. Oh no! Don’t tell Tom! Indulge in a modest splurge, buy needful things, spend out, and give something up are the goals that I will work on this month. You don’t have to tell me twice! I don’t really have a problem with this!
I bought two pairs of clearance earrings from a little boutique and have worn both a bunch! That fits my mission of helping local businesses and using what I have. I am into smaller gold earrings right now. I have bought some clothes to wear around the house because that is what I am wearing the most of, some consignment things, and have shopped a little and buy something if it fits my style, new flip flops, and several summer beauty and skincare products. I’m not doing a lot of shopping for entertainment or online shopping.
In the household, I am trying to use up cleaning products before buying new, not waste food and look to what I have before I meal plan, eat up leftovers, and things like that.
I am taking some loads to donate as I go through different areas. I am trying to be a better shopper and return what isn’t perfect and only buy what fits me and my lifestyle.
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 