Monday, June 24, 2024

If it weren’t for my blog, I might not know the date or the day of the week, but sadly, I am all too aware that this is the last week of June. I am happy to link up with Sarah and Holly for some of my weekend highlights.

How was your weekend? I like to start with Thursday when recapping the weekend and this is how the sky greeted me when I got up! We’ve had some heat this week and weekend, but I’ve still been able to start my day outside.

Thursday was a pool day! Erica invited me to join her again.

It was super hot and I got to try out both of my new floats. We stayed in the water most of the day! Ahhhhh…. I only took one photo, too!

I’m watching Bridgerton and enjoying it now. I think turning on subtitles helped me focus! I just started season 3 and then I will watch Queen Charlotte.

I enjoyed being in my bathroom with my napping boy while I got ready for a girl’s dinner out. He was snoring really loudly!

I had a fun night at a steakhouse – Malone’s – with three girls.

I did my 4th press on mani of the summer:

Friday night I stayed up late and went outside to see the strawberry moon with my kids. It looked more orange to me!

Also, on Friday, Eddie Otis had his last puppy shots and he weighed in at 34 pounds!

Saturday I got up bright and early and went to the farmer’s market for the first time this season.

I wore this and ordered this summer tote from Amazon. It’s not super high quality, but it will serve my needs.

I bought bagels, zucchini, little potatoes, a tomato, a cucumber, and an onion. I can’t get as excited about the farmer’s market this summer, but I’m glad I tried it.

This weekend I replenished my brow gel and…

my deodorant from Ulta.

I decided to date it to see just how long it lasts. Nerd alert!

Next to Ulta is Total Wine so I got these cute little champagne cans to have on hand.

I’m still reading this but it’s dragging for me right now…

Saturday night we went to a greenhouse turned brewery with some friends and ate dinner there while listening to some music.

Tom being Tom:

It’s a really cool place!

Sunday morning the humidity lifted and there was a nice breeze.

It rained Sunday! We needed it so badly! I enjoyed the few bouts of rain under my covered patio and I was so happy.

I enjoyed my breakfast:

Tom and I were so lazy and literally sat on the patio all day Sunday. It was so nice to have Tom (and his many electronics join me – he had his phone, his laptop, his headset his chargers, but at least he was there!) Eddie Otis was with us most of the time, too.

I had a Greek bowl for lunch:

Here is what I did on the patio – I read this book start to finish from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 with only a few breaks. I couldn’t put it down. I can’t remember who recommended it. Has anyone read it?

I made blackened fish tacos with mango salsa for dinner:

It was a good one! We were going to go boating yesterday, but the rain changed our plans and that’s ok.

On Friday, I got paid for the last time until August 30th, so I have to be careful. We found out that we are getting a 2% raise for next year, though. That kind of feels like when I was a server and someone would leave a 50 cent tip, but I guess it’s better than no raise. Also, teachers in my district don’t get experience raises after year 25 and for me that was 6 years ago. Ho hum.

Tell me something good about your weekend!

Amy

Friday, June 21, 2024

Ok, this is just not fair. The Fridays keep coming at me and they need to slow down. I’m happy to link up with Andrea and Erika today, though, to share some favorites from the week.

Did you celebrate the summer solstice last night? Do you like it staying light out so late?

Do you ever wonder how the sausage is made? I love that term and use it a lot at school! What I mean is – how I do this blog post! I snap photos all through the week and add them to my post as the week goes on. Then, on Thursday morning (I usually write only 24 hours ahead of my posts) I put words to the photos.

Jennifer convinced (she didn’t have to try very hard) me to try Walmart Plus/Walmart + again (I did a one one month trial last June, too!) and I have enjoyed using it like I would Amazon, in addition to using it for my groceries. I check prices and see where I can get the best one.

I ordered myself two different floating options:

I haven’t gotten to try them out yet, though!

My Chobani creamer is hard to find, so I tried this and I really like it. Should we just make the month of June the month of coconut? I’m using it on my face, my hair and in my coffee!

Zero Chobani when I did a special trip to Target:

I really wanted Cookie Dough again!

So, Walmart Plus/Walmart + is pretty cool. They drop the stuff off on my porch and it’s pretty magical. Want to know what else was magical? They sent a human to take my two returns! Woohoo! Welcome to the future!

This week I had a Mexican restaurant lunch with Erica and I indulged in about half of this marg at lunchtime! Scandalous!

She brought me back some cool things from her trip – one of her stops was a lavender farm in Provence, France.

I’m still plugging away at this book, but the heat has kept me from reading in my happy place, so I haven’t read much this week.

I got to pick up two more books at the library this week so I better get a move on!

I guess this is a new feature…my library sent me this email. Girl Math! I showed Tom how much I saved so therefore can now spend!

Remember when I lost my mind and thought we might get two chocolate lab puppies? Well, sadly, the other two males from his litter have still not been adopted. They look just like our boy.

Eddie Otis has been enjoying frozen carrots. I plan to soak one in beef broth, but this just went straight into the freezer.

These are all the cousins from my niece’s grad party. I didn’t have the photo right away. They are all so grown up. How did that happen so quickly? One sister has three kids and one sister has four. Tom has a firm belief that the number of kids should never be greater than the number of parents. Ha! He believes in a man on man defense approach.

Eddie Otis got to sleep where Ernie always slept last weekend while we watched a movie. Look at our big boy! We still miss Ernie, of course. He was such a good dog.

We had a fun outing as a family this week on a Tuesday night! Tom purchased tickets to hear a classical guitarist so we ate dinner out nearby before the concert.

I didn’t want to be obnoxious so I only snapped my dish. I got mushroom risotto with vegetables and it was fabulous.

We weren’t allowed to take photos during the performance so I took a photo of the musician’s chair for you:

Because Eddie Otis is spoiled, I had a dog sitter hang out with him.

So, I had a week with lots of favorites. And, what you don’t have photos of were all the slow mornings, cups of coffee, blog reading, puppy walks, making whatever I want for breakfast and lunch, talking to my kids, chatting on the phone with friends and family. Ahhhhhhhhh

I hope you had many favorites this week and I would love to hear one. If you have more than one, you probably should start a blog! Ha! Just kidding! But seriously! We need more blogs!

Cheers to the weekend!

Amy

Thursday, June 20, 2024

Should I even do Fashion Files with Kellyann and Jill if I only have two outfits? Ha!

It’s Florida hot here this week, Kellyann!

I wore this outfit two days in a row, in fact. When I’m at home I have on a tank and shorts so I don’t “dress” for much of the day right now.

I took this in a Mexican restaurant bathroom mirror:

I wore my white Universal Thread from Target gauzy dress Sunday for brunch and Monday for a Mexican lunch. I have on my Target buckle sandals. I desperately need a summer bag. I think I accidentally donated my perfect J.Crew bag from years ago.

I got a new dress! Actually, I ordered 4 dresses from Walmart. I have a new Walmart Plus account that I am enjoying this month. 3 dresses arrived Monday and 1 dress is “delayed”. What is up with this lately? Ha!

The only dress I’m keeping:

It is Free Assembly and it’s cut just like this pink dress that I love, love, love from the same brand from Walmart:

Both dresses have pockets and I just really like the cut for me. I love black and white and I think it would look really cute with red shoes! I have red clogs but I don’t have red sandals.

The other two dresses just didn’t look very good and I am trying to be more discerning.

In this type of heat, throwing on one piece seems to keep me the coolest. The summer dress is so great! I also wear all of my dresses to school and I plan to rock the sneaker again. I have my sights set on a pair of Vejas for my treat to myself.

Ok, here is my amazing discovery that you probably already know about:

Walmart is picking up the 2 dresses that I don’t want! How cool is that?

What have you been wearing lately? Do you have a nice collection of summer dresses to throw on?

Cheers!

Amy

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

I mentioned this week that I am disappointed some of the time when I go out to eat lately. The prices are high and the quality is low. I do want to support my locally owned restaurants, though, and I need a break and want to go out for the experience sometimes.

But, I feel lucky that I enjoy the act of cooking. It’s relaxing to me to get in the kitchen and chop and create!

Sometimes I play the game “if I were in a restaurant, what would I order?” and then try to re-create it.

In the summer, I still keep that same routine of starting dinner around 5:00 (I also talked about routine this week and that I keep many of the same rhythms whether it be summer or the school year). But, one thing I do in the summer is prep things in the morning. I know that I have my energy in the morning and making a plan and doing whatever I can to help that 5:00 hour is great for me.

My bestie goes to Kroger almost everyday and hates it everyday! She goes around 5:00 and often calls me on the way. Girl! I keep trying to help her but she doesn’t want to think about dinner until 5:00 and then it’s a vicious cycle. She hates cooking and has some really picky eaters so that makes it harder.

I have been on a quiche kick! My second one turned out way better. I bought a two pack of frozen Marie Callender crusts. You set them out for 10 minutes and then poke a few fork holes in the bottom and the sides and pre-bake for 10 minutes at 425.

In the meantime, I whipped up a mixture of already cooked bacon chopped up (already cooked was way better!), 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup skim milk, salt, pepper, some freshly grated parmesan cheese, and 4 eggs beaten. I served it with a salad. This would be great if you are having company for a light meal.

Mason told me I’ve been doing this a lot (too much) but it’s really good! It’s a riff off of the viral Tik Tok feta pasta. I love feta, but it feels too harsh here, so I switched out Boursin original. You can get this at Trader Joe’s, Kroger, or wherever really. I needed double the tomatoes, but I worked with what I had. I only use half of the Boursin. So, put your grape tomatoes in a dish, add olive oil, salt, pepper, and minced garlic. My garlic got a little too dark, so you may want to wait a bit on that. Bake in the oven at 350 until the tomatoes soften and burst open with a spoon. I did 20 minutes I think. Add in the Boursin. You can also cook the Boursin the whole time, but I didn’t.

Boil your pasta while this is cooking and then pour in some of the valuable pasta water. Do you know how many chefs use the pasta water? It’s liquid gold in cooking, apparently.

Then, you simply add in your hot pasta. You can add cooked chicken, sausage, or really anything else you want. It’s more a method that can give you an idea!

Trying to have lots of cut up veg and these can also go in salads with a bit more chopping:

I found out the “snackle box” also works for a family make your own salad bar.

We use salad kits sometimes, but I don’t think they are as good as when we make our own.

Our favorite dressing right now:

One night I made a new and super easy French potato recipe that I read about in my novel! I added rotisserie chicken that was a special at Fresh Market, my homemade bread, and roasted vegetables to go along with it.

Here is the potato recipe:

I got carried away with the fresh parsley! Do you have a mandolin? It’s really fun to slice your vegetables for roasting. I got mine at TJ Maxx for under $10.

This recipe caused me to buy ghee. I had never cooked with it!

Potatoes Daphinoise:

2 T. Ghee in a pan on the stove

slice up 5-6 yukon gold potatoes on your mandolin

Add to the pan

Cook until soft and tender

Add salt and pepper

Add fresh parsley

I couldn’t find the exact recipe I used. Mine only called for stovetop cooking. Many are calling for oven baking and seem more like an au gratin. I will say that my potatoes fell apart so if that bothers you, the oven might be better for keeping them intact.

What are you cooking lately?

Cheers!

Amy

with Joanne at My Slices of Life

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Today I’m going to talk about life hack/product updates. If I have one complaint about blogs, it is that the blogger never gives me an update on something they recommended – whether it be a product or a habit/hack – is it still working for them? I want and need details!

By the way, I’m the friend that while you are telling me a story – I ask for more details. I want to know all of it! Don’t you dare try to “yadayadayada” me! Seinfeld fans?

Both of my sisters and I are teachers. Kate started in another career before teaching and she says that one of the hardest things is changing routines for the school year and for the summer. There are certain routines that I try to keep the same. If I am at my best self, the dishwasher gets loaded and started after dinner and then unloaded in the morning. This habit seems to make my evenings and mornings better.

Notice that I include pans and I also run it whether it is really full or just kinda full:

Do you have a dishwasher routine?

I still absolutely love these little sausages that I get at Costco. I have not seen them at Kroger or Walmart. They do have them at Whole Foods, but your savings at Costco are pretty great.

I only have them at breakfast but they could be for dinner. I eat them alone or in breakfast burritos. No, my middle name is not “Lu” or “Lou”!

I am also trying to get back to my proffee. I do about a tablespoon of instant with a splash of water, froth it up, add ice and my fave cake batter.

The iced coffee tastes so good in the summer!

This bug spray is still working for me, but I do like to shower it off before bed. I’m still struggling to get back outside after dinner – there is that routine thing again! My routine is to shower after dinner and watch tv. It’s the only time I watch tv so I look forward to it!

This is a re-purchase. It really holds my hair well!

I have only used the normal Donna Karan, but it is working in the hotter days of summer. I am out after about 3 months with the same stick so I might try the aluminum free. I think the scent is lovely and it works well with my Diva detergent and I don’t wear any perfume right now, so it kind of acts as both. $32 is a lot for deodorant but I love it.

The Target extended shoulder tees are working for gym, walking, and under things. I have one lime green, one yellow, one white, and two black:

This photo also shows my 3 or 4 year old Lulu belt bag that is working well for dog walks!

I tried this again, and I just don’t think it’s that great:

I will stick with the classic:

I’m also having great luck using this as a stain remover in my laundry!

Is there a product I mentioned in the past that you want to know about?

What about you? What product/life hack is still working for you?

Cheers to finding stuff that works!

Amy

Monday, June 17, 2024

It’s Monday and that means it’s time for the Hello Monday link up with Sarah and Holly.! I always enjoy seeing what other bloggers did over the weekend. Sometimes I even steal some ideas for myself.

How was your weekend? Mine felt long because Tom was off for four days! I didn’t find out that he was taking off Thursday and Friday until the last minute but I was so happy. He hasn’t taken a weekday off since Christmas break and even got an email saying he was going to lose some PTO if he didn’t use it. He’s been so busy at work with bids due and just didn’t feel like he could afford to take time off. But, the stars aligned and it worked out.

So, Thursday morning, his birthday gift was my trip to the salon! Did you think I was going to cancel my hair appointment?

This is the face of someone who takes it seriously:

I came home and I told him the rest of the time was his! He chose a taco place for lunch:

We came home and then went back out for dinner with the whole fam at a Cuban place! Mexican and Cuban in one day!

I split this lechon asado (roasted pork) with Mason:

And, he picked Graeter’s for dessert and ended up with two cones because someone couldn’t finish and Tom does not let ice cream go to waste!

Real Talk: We are both really disillusioned by restaurant meals. We want to go out for the outing and to give me a break from cooking, but geez Louise. The prices are so high and the food is just meh at many of the places we have gone to lately. Are you feeling the same? Does this mean we are old and grumpy?

Friday morning I ran to the library while Tom did an errand – he had a good mix of productivity and down time, I think.

I loved the library’s summer book display:

Tom’s birthday and father’s day are always so close together. The kids and I shopped last week and he got two new Under Armour workout “outfits” – two shirts and two pairs of short, this “snackle box”:

and a hat from The Bear that says “yes chef”. He liked all of his gifts and he got two on his birthday and two on father’s day.

Friday afternoon after his errands, we took Eddie Otis to the cove and taught him to use the doggy ramp:

He was really cautious at first, but then jumped in and got the hang of using it to get back on the boat. His life jacket is still too big!

Tom ate from his snackle box and I wasn’t really hungry.

Tom and EO took a little nap and I got to read. I was so relaxed!

Sweet baby:

Saturday morning porch vibes: I start everyday outside and can usually get Mason to come out.

We piddled around on Saturday and I never left the house in my car! I just took a couple of walks.

The kids and I did make a father’s day cake for Tom and it cracked when we stacked the layers. I tried to keep it together. I think we didn’t let it cool long enough, but it tasted great!

I made a nice dinner of caprese chicken with bow tie pasta but didn’t take a photo!

Sunday morning we took Tom to a brunch buffet at the marina:

It was super hot so we decided to stay in the AC to eat and then go home to the AC. No boating for us on Sunday.

Before it got too hot, I did read outside with my fan going:

And, then the whole fam gathered in the basement to rent the movie Amsterdam because Tom wanted to see it. Eddie Otis has only been to the basement twice now. He took a nice little nap while we watched.

Tom thought he needed ice in his dog wash after they took a hot afternoon walk:

For father’s day dinner, Tom wanted BLTs, corn on the cob, and green beans, so that was easy enough!

We have a hot week ahead of us it seems. It looks like it will be 92-95 degrees with no rain in the forecast and this is not the norm for June. We have been so spoiled with cooler weather so far, though, so I guess we can’t complain.

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Cheers!

Amy

Friday, June 14, 2024

It’s Friday and that means it’s Friday Favorites day with Andrea and Erika!

Here are some favorites from my week. I hope you also had many! Sometimes when I read others’ favorites I get ideas for what to put on my list for the next week – what to cook, where to go, what to watch, read, or listen to. Favorites are great and they help me to squeeze the happy out of my days!

Here are mine for the week…

So, some of you (one of you?) might be wondering about my sourdough starter. It sat on my counter for two days and looked no different. I followed my directions to the letter. I put it in the fridge as directed and still nothing.

So, a favorite is deciding NOT to do it right now!

Ha!

Instead, I was quite happy with my tried and true no knead bread. You can have a nice loaf in less than three hours.

Here is the recipe I used! (Click on the red word “here”) I don’t even have a Dutch oven. I just shape it into a circle and put it on a cookie sheet.

I have a puppy to feed. Do I really need to feed a sourdough starter right now?

I couldn’t find my Chobani creamer so I went back to Mean Girls. That reminds me. I need to watch the re-make this summer!

Mason asked for chili and I taught him my recipe:

And, yes, I do believe in macaroni noodles, a dash of cinnamon, and a dash of sugar in my chili. Mason doesn’t believe foods should be seasonal, but we got lucky and it was a pretty cool day when we had this for dinner.

I also made a quiche (Lorraine) this week. Isn’t she pretty? I got my recipe from a real live French girl named Audrey:

4 eggs, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup milk (I used skim), bacon (raw and cut up), and I added salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. I also added onions and fresh parsley. Bake at 425 in a frozen pie crust for 30 minutes. I thawed the crust for 10 mintues but I did not pre-bake it. This just makes one.

I’m trying to drink less alcohol and hydrate more.

A good find:

A fun drink to make:

La Croix limoncello and a strawberry powder stick.

I’m enjoying the mysterious late arriving Old Navy Lily Pulitzer look alike sandals:

Third summer mani:

I love this one! My toes are currently white Funny Bunny so it works well! I can’t remember the last time my fingers and toes “matched” but I make sure they do work together.

I have three students who work at Zoe’s Kitchen and I promised I would give it a try this summer. I had been once many years ago and just thought it was ok.

It’s a new favorite! I got a salmon bowl and I loved the salmon and the orzo salad that I got with it. I tagged the girls in my Instagram story and told them I was sorry! Ha!

Meeting friends for breakfast feels like a big treat! I met my friend Beth at House of Marigold on Tuesday- yum! – and the interior is so cute!

I taught EO the trick I taught Ernie – I put a “poop bag” under his collar to take out to Daddy. He he! He acted a bit like he was confused but then he went with it!

Walmart Plus – I re-joined. I can cancel at anytime. I had a Monday delivery and it was really nice. Maybe this is what I need to do?

Mason asked me to do a new coffee shop and we were both so impressed:

We think it is African Safari themed and they had a little shop in the back with products you can buy.

Mason got a tea and I got a coffee and we split a little vegetable pie with chutney that was really good.

One morning Eddie Otis was ready to get up about an hour earlier than normal (6:15 is normal) so I went with it and enjoyed being outside in the dark. It’s been awhile since I’ve done that.

We attended my niece’s grad party last weekend and I just want to share how creative my sister is. I did help her with some ideas, too – ha! It was a party with two girls – my niece and her bestie. One girl is going to The Ohio State University so Kate made buckeyes (the candy):

One girl is going to Miami so Kate made hurricanes (for the adults):

There were walking tacos where you could pick Doritos or Fritos, buffalo chicken dip:

Walking dirt cake with Oreos and gummy worms and watermelon slices on a stick:

There were a lot of other little details, but I didn’t get photos of all of them.

I didn’t get a photo, but I had a former student over on the patio to talk about her upcoming year in Spain as a Fulbright recipient!

And, my last favorite was a spontaneous outing with Mason. Everyone else was busy and I suggested getting a drink somewhere. He picked Ciao.

I had the best aperol spritz I’ve ever had. In fact, I wasn’t sure I liked them because the aperol is a bit bitter. It was so good and so refreshing.

Mason wanted bruschetta:

And, we took chicken pesto cheese filled gnocchi in a bread bowl home to split:

Oh my! Jen loves gnocchi and I suggested it because I said my blog friend loves this. Mason and I both loved it but it was very filling. We split it and still had more leftover!

So, I had a lot of favorites this week! I had a lot of time at home, a lot of downtime, some quality time with some people in my life that I care about, and some fun outings.

Also, I’m re-watching Bridgerton – I didn’t get very far the first time I tried and I’m liking it better this time around – with subtitles. Do you ever turn them on? I think it helps me focus sometimes!

What was a favorite of yours this week?

Cheers to the weekend!

Amy

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

I guess it’s time for a pupdate! Our boy is about 4 months old now.

We adopted Eddie Otis in April and I feel ridiculous every time I say his name, but I have no regrets. Our kids call him “Eddie” and refuse to say the “Otis” part. They also think Eddie is too close to Ernie, our last dog, and they’re right.

Tom sent me a funny IG reel that says there are 3 stages to owning a labrador. Stage One is “you’re the cutest baby that ever babied”. Stage Two is “piranha a_hole”. Stage Three is “you’re the best dog there ever was”. So, we are in stage two. My arms are proof. He is very “mouth forward”. Mason says I am the recipient of the most bites or bite attempts because I am a human squeak toy and I react too much.

Let’s go through a day of Eddie Otis…

He wakes up in our bed around 6:00.

I feed him and then we start our day outside with birds, sticks, and he lets me read my devotional and blogs. Some week days Tom walks him around 6:30 if he has come back from the gym. Ideally, I would go to the gym right when Tom gets home from the gym, but full disclosure that has only happened once so far.

After Tom leaves for work around 7:30, Eddie Otis and I straighten up the kitchen if it needs it and then we go walk.

I listen to podcasts while we walk. He is pretty good on the leash. At first he “helps” me with it in his mouth, but then he is interested in all the good sniffs to be sniffed. He loves meeting dogs and other people while we walk, but this early there aren’t many out yet.

He is really weird (for us) about cars. He is very interested in all the cars that go by. He stops and stares and then tries to go after them. It could be a problem. We have had several cars stop and roll down their windows and say how cute he is. We are friendly around here.

We leave his crate door open all day and he has two dog beds. But, this is where he ends up several times a day. He loves the cool tile and usually takes a toy in here with him and falls asleep.

He takes a nice morning nap and this is usually when I get things done.

Depending on what is going on, we take another walk whenever he seems like he has energy to burn. He will come outside while I read sometimes and sometimes he just stays in his dog wash while I go out. If I leave the house, he gets crated.

He is really good with the command “sit”, but that’s about it right now.

Other funny things about him:

He loves water like you wouldn’t believe. We fill his bowl and he does this cute hoppy thing because he’s so excited.

He is very treat motivated, but so am I.

He loves his two dog puzzles. I ordered an advanced one and he had no problem. (My child is gifted.) I actually think I like this one better because the pieces don’t come out.

He did so well in the car on a 3 hour ride (two times) last Sunday.

Mason took this photo from the back of the car.

I start dinner around 5:00 and he is either taking another little nap or playing with toys or anything he can get out of the kitchen recycling bin.

Tom gets home and then we walk on the playground off leash. He plays one or two rounds of tether ball:

If it’s a good day, his friends can come out from their fences and say hello. He is a very social dog to other humans and canines.

On the weekends, he gets to swim in the river and go on the boat and he has more time with Tom.

He eats dinner around 5:30 and takes another nap after his playground walk usually. Then, he gets wild. His wild and crazy time is usually from 7:00-7:30. He is very bitey during this time and I usually go take my shower and let Tom enjoy this.

Tom goes to bed at 8:30 and takes EO with him. EO goes out to potty a few times a night. He won’t jump down from our bed and wants to be carried down the back steps at night. This is becoming a problem for me because he is probably about 30 pounds now and very long.

You can tell how big he is getting from the above photo of Mason holding him!

I probably told you way more than you needed to know and I’m sure we are not doing things by the book!

Life has sure not been dull with Eddie Otis around!

Cheers!

Amy

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Boy, if I were to try to list all the things I have learned from my ten plus years of reading blogs, it would take me forever.

My life has been better for reading blogs! I swear! I bet you will agree with me if you are also a regular blog reader.

So, what’s working for me right now? By the way, lots of things aren’t working for me right now, but how about we keep this positive? Ha! I really want to know what’s working for you in this season in the comments. Some days my comments section is gold, if I do say so myself. So, not only do blogs give me so many ideas, but your comments do, too. Thank you! Thank you!

Number One – my hydrangea:

After a season of not blooming, my hydrangea is going crazy! I like to think this is a gift from my Dad. I was so sad last summer. By the way, my Dad has now (unbelievably) been gone for five and a half years. I was in Dollar Tree standing in front of the Father’s Day cards the other day and I got emotional. I say feel the feelings. Another thing happened yesterday. I saw on a grocery app what I bought a year ago this month and it was Ernie’s special canned carrots, green beans, and all the chicken I was going to boil for him. I felt the feelings. I’m so lucky that I have had people and canines worth grieving, you know?

So, I am sharing my hydrangea when I need to bring a gift. I pick blooms that are in the back or kind of hidden, so I’m still enjoying plenty of blooms, too.

What I brought my friend Heather:

Number Two – the library:

This is nothing new, but it’s a constant in my life. I made the decision to stop buying books years ago (for both the monetary savings and the clutter factor) and if you are a Lazy Genius listener/follower that is a “decide once” decision for me. I use my library app and request books and I also go in and look around. I love my library! If you are home this summer with your kids, you need to use your library! I took my kids to three different ones and we did several of their programs. This shows our ages, but we also checked out DVDs, music CDs, and things that weren’t books.

Number Three – press ons:

I will keep using them until I have a reason not to, I guess! My favorite brand is Impress and I order them online. I like the petite or short size the best.

Here are the two I’ve done so far this summer:

I’m not very crafty, but even I can do this. The hardest part is timing – making sure you aren’t going to put your hands in water for quite some time after pressing them on. Then, the other and only hard part is picking the size that fits your nails the best.

My favorite way to do them is right after my nightly shower. I take my time choosing and lay them out in finger order. You simply press them on. If I need to file or cut, I try to wait a few minutes or maybe even until the next day. They don’t bother me at all and I can’t even tell I have them on.

Number Four – the dog walking belt bag packed and ready:

Eddie Otis and I take at least two walks a day. He hardly lets me put my shoes on (he thinks my laces are a toy!) so having this packed is very helpful. I don’t always have pockets so this is my pocket! Sometimes we as humans make things harder than they need to be and sometimes we figure it out.

Number Five – starting my day outside:

I am the morning person for EO and after he eats breakfast, I find that getting him outside right away is the best. He loves listening to the birds and looking around and I can read my devotional and my blogs. I daresay it’s good for me to start outside, too.

Time for my walk now, mama:

Number Six – the Trader Joe’s body wash and body butter combo

Smells are really important to me! I feel like this is really a nice summery smell that I am enjoying! I want the seasons to feel like the seasons and I think mixing up your smells is a fun way to embrace the one you’re in.

So, what’s working for you right now? It can be something big or something small! There is no wrong answer! (Oh crap, the teacher in me just came out!)

Cheers to finding what works for us!

Amy

Share Our Lives – Foods to Make for Someone Else

My sister has been the recipient of lots of meals because of some serious ish she went through. She said the most common is lasagna, so I try to steer away from that, but as a Spanish teacher I sometimes go with the Mexican theme. I like to make my Mexican lasagna which uses tortillas cut into “noodles”. I add a bag of chips and a thing of salsa. I like to do brownies sometimes, too.

Also, and this is from my sister’s experience, only use disposable pans. The last thing the person needs is another errand in returning someones’ dish. Include heating up instructions and ingredients in case there are allergens.

I think the best thing I received was from my friend Beth. She brought a bag from a specialty market of chicken salad, lunch meat, crackers, and stuff we could eat for lunch or pick at. This was really nice and something different.

Keep in mind that you may literally just need to drop it off on a porch. They may not be able to talk or visit.

Another nice thing if the family has kids – include some coloring books, puzzle books, some crayons. You can even drop off hand me downs from your kids.

The biggest thing is just not to overthink it. It doesn’t have to be homemade and it doesn’t have to be elaborate or fancy.

I actually did a whole post about this topic:

https://coffeeandcocktailsatthecasa.com/2019/01/22/tuesday-tip-3/

Other ideas:

a rotisserie chicken, Bob Evans mashed potatoes, and a salad kit,

McDonald’s chocolate chip cookies and a jug of milk

Jimmy John’s sandwiches

What are your best ideas?

Let’s talk about the weekend now!

I’m trying to make a sourdough starter!

Here is the recipe I used:

I’ve been having a green tea almost daily and I enjoyed one on Friday morning:

Friday I made a cake from a funfetti cake mix but made homemade frosting. It turned out so good and I took it to my girls’ day!

I also made Jell-O shots for my girls’ day. Full disclosure – I had bought this for the Barbie movie last summer and never did it!

My missing Old Navy sandals showed up and I wore them. They seriously could be Lily Pulitzer.

And, this was my girls’ day at my friend’s beautiful pool:

I brought her some hydrangeas! This is the summer of the hydrangea!

Saturday morning I braved Costco. I was like second in line before they opened so it wasn’t bad at all. I was out in about 15 minutes!

Our friends Scott and Jessica went boating with us. The day was pretty grey and we had some raindrops, but it was a really nice day.

We went home late afternoon and the kids and I threw together a simple dinner and Tom had leftovers. Peep half the cake behind. I only took half to the girls’ day and kept half at home.

And, the reason this post is coming to you late…Sunday was a long but really nice day! We took a road trip to my niece Samira’s grad party. It was a 3 hour drive and we just went for the day.

My sisters and I:

Sisters with my mom:

How was your weekend?

Cheers!

Amy