Monday, January 9. 2023

Let’s link up with Sarah and Holly for Hello Monday and with Jen and lots of ladies here for Not Just a Mom – Introductions.

How was your weekend? We saw the sun and had some pretty mild temps for January on Saturday and I’m not gonna lie, it helped my soul!

Let’s go back to Friday’s lunch. Erica made “my” Doritos Tacos Locos salad. It’s a very small amount of Doritos crushed up (she was smart and bought a small bag instead of a giant bag of triangular temptation), Taco Bell taco sauce, good ol’ iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, and taco meat. We both feel that 20 minutes for lunch and potty break makes it a bit hard to eat a salad, but this one is worth it. You know what I mean? Salads take some time commitment.

I had Elizabeth and Erica over for a Frugally Fabulous Friday Happy Hour.

I made a bourbon cocktail that they agreed was worth $15 in a bar, Trader Joe’s frozen fries in my air fryer with truffle oil and sea salt and with a homemade garlic aioli dipping sauce, Trader Joe’s mini croissants, and popcorn with truffle oil. I also “made” them try the Truly hard seltzer holiday pack.

Elizabeth brought us homemade apple butter.

Her grandmother called her “Barefoot Bessie”. We used the napkins my mom gave me for Christmas:

J and M were home to get the rest of their junk and Tom and I had some random leftovers for dinner and J and M had Door Dashed a super late lunch.

Saturday morning I got up and made old fashioned rolled oats with cinnamon.

I read that this is the cinnamon that has health benefits so I had ordered some from Amazon.

I did a rare Saturday morning Kroger pick up and Mason wanted to go to a coffee shop and read. We picked a coffee/donut shop – North Lime in Westport Village if you are local – and had a really nice time.

Look at that foam!

I was reading my paperback while Mason had a little light Plato to read.

We each got a donut and took one home to Jack.

The venue was so quiet and peaceful with only about 3 people there. We kept talking instead of reading and then a playgroup of some sort showed up. There were toe curling screams, trucks going 90 mph across the floor, a boy named Gentry who really liked us, and it was crazy. It made us laugh, though.

Mason went out in the sun to read and I popped into two shops in the center. I brought these home with me!

Jen gave me the idea to do the Big Mac salad with the addition of potatoes and you don’t have to tell me twice to eat a potato. So this was my lunch:

It was only 50 degrees, but the sun was intense and I got to say hello to my old friend. You know how much I love my chair. Gosh, these mild days really help me to get through the long winter months.

I did a brownish burgundy gel nail mani from the new set of polishes I got for Christmas. I feel like I’m getting better. I still need to learn to neatly polish along the edge to “seal” in the manicure.

I went for a library pick up:

The above two were requests I had made and the one below is something I saw on the shelf. I love cookbooks. This one is like for bougie campers or glampers. I plan on using some of them inside, though.

Here’s one that I didn’t check out:

This is very specific – “Carrying Her Boss’s Christmas Baby”. Were they trying to make this a Christmas book?

While I was out going to the library, I also stopped in to Sun Tan City. I don’t know if I told you this, but I bought a spray tan package in November for unlimited sprays until the end of February. It was $80 and I used birthday money. Yeah, it’s kinda silly, but I have been going every other week or so just to get some color.

Then, it was time to get ready for a night on the town. We had reservations for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants that I have only been to maybe three times in my life – Varanese.

It was the usual six plus Faye and Brett. Faye is one of the Heather’s high school friends, but we all became friends when we all lived in Lexington. In fact, Faye credits me for her starting to date Brett. She says I am the one that said she should go out with him.

This is the type of place that brings you an amuse bouche. But, their prices are really reasonable for how good their food is. The last time we were here the waiter brought this (he was probably only 17 years old) and I said, “Oh, is this an amuse bouche?” He replied, “I think it’s just bruschetta.”

I ordered a burnt lemon old fashioned for my cocktail:

I split a goat cheese salad with Heather:

And I ate an open faced burger with potato gratin:

The restaurant is housed inside an old gas station:

Sunday morning and it was meal prep time! I spent about 2 hours doing this, but it will pay off this week.

My breakfasts will be low carb egg casserole and Amy Lu chicken breakfast sausage links.

My two lunches for Erica and I are zucchini lasagna bowls and Mexican lasagna.

A zero point homemade marinara for the bowls:

I really do enjoy doing this and I have the time. Morning is my high energy time, but I know some people would do well with this in the evening.

If you are interested in the bourbon drink I made for the Friday happy hour, here it is. I got this from Austen on Southern Charm on Bravo and tweaked it a bit:

1 shot of bourbon

a splash of orange juice

a half shot of cranberry juice (I used diet)

a half shot of pomegranate juice

a big splash of diet ginger ale

a big splash of prosecco

You may think this has too many ingredients and it does have a lot, but I had all of this leftover from the holidays. I am also trying to learn more about putting bitters in cocktails so I put some cardamom bitters in this drink. My mom gave me a set of cocktail bitters for Christmas.

I feel like I’ve been talking for a long time, but I guess now I need to do my introduction!

Hi. My name is Amy. (Hi Amy!) I live in Louisville, Kentucky, but I am originally from Indiana. I am 51 years old. I have been married for almost 22.5 years. My husband and I have twins who are juniors in college. They go to a small liberal arts college about 20 minutes from our house and live on campus but not in the same dorm room. I am in my 29th year of teaching high school Spanish at a public high school really close to my house. This is the school where my twins went, too. I have been at this school for 22 years. I love to be outside and on the water when I can. I love to read, watch tv, cook, chat with friends, and try out new places around town for food, drink, and shopping. I enjoy consignment shopping but not really antiques or thrifting, as much. I love fashion and putting together outfits.

I am doing WW and have been since April of 2021. I had lost almost 50 pounds and have gained about 20 back because I started slacking and stopped tracking over the summer and into the fall, even though I did continue to make better choices most of the time. I don’t want to live and die by the WW points system and I don’t want to be obsessed, but I think it’s a great system. I am trying to get motivated again.

If you are new to my blog, I talk about all of my interests above, plus my ongoing house projects, frugality, products I love, life hacks, and more.

This is a totally amateur blog, but I do have a search bar, so depending on how you read this blog it will be at the bottom when you can’t scroll anymore or in the top right hand. You might get lucky and find what you’re looking for.

I post 5 days a week and my posts go live at 4:00 a.m. Eastern, unless I mess something up or take a short blog break. I think this year will be my 5th anniversary of blogging! I also want to say that if you have ever thought about having a blog, just do it! I have been so blessed by the friendships I have made in this community.

Ok, hope your Monday doesn’t suck. I hope you aren’t offended by my teen lingo from time to time.

Thanks for visiting!

Amy

Friday, January 6, 2023

Ah, Friday…I love you! I am linking up here for Friday Favorites.

First of all, one of my favorites is that my district had teachers start on Tuesday and students on Wednesday. It gave us a little time to ease back in and I think 3 days is a good start for the students, as well.

Here are some other random favorites for the week…

I am trying to eat more oatmeal. This is old fashioned rolled oats cooked with skim milk and some cinnamon. Wow! It tastes so good to me! Are you an oatmeal person?

If you try the Impress press on nails (or any other brand), one of my blog readers said to remove them with dental floss. Genius! It was hard to get a picture, but this is me removing the nails I had on for part of break. You put the floss at the cuticle and gently lift both sides of the floss.

Operation Cure Amy’s Dry Face is in full force. Here is what happened. I bought a new The Ordinary serum and a new The Ordinary mask. I think they were just too strong and created a really dry patch on one cheek that became red and even puffy. I used Aquaphor and it took a few days for the situation to improve. Now, I am applying some coconut oil in the morning and at night (using this to melt off my makeup) and then getting in the shower and using Cerave cleanser to wash my face. Then, I am using Cerave lotion on my face twice a day.

If you can get over smelling like a baked good, I think this is putting moisture back in my face.

I am using this in the shower and I love it. You turn off the water and apply this, then dry off. My skin is feeling really good so far this winter.

The Cerave lotion I am using on my face (and everywhere else):

I am most definitely open to other suggestions. This is the first time my combination skin on my face has gotten this dry.

I placed a big Target order for some of the above items and some other things and it came in trickles. It has arrived in at least 5 boxes over the course of almost a week. So weird!

I love this scent if you can find it. Mrs. Meyer’s does it again, right? I think Snowdrop scent is perfect for my January wishes for a snow day. I am not sure what a snowdrop smells like, but this is good!

I am trying to get back on the healthier eating plan. I did not go out to lunch when I could on our teacher day, but came home and made the Big Mac salad with a Boca burger. I made a breakfast bowl for one lunch and a taco bowl for another lunch for Erica and I.

Mason helped me prep 6 Egg McMuffins – I guess I am on a McDonald’s kick! It was so good to have this ready to go on my first student day. I let Mason take half of them back to school. He said he and his roommate would eat them.

This weekend’s breakfast meal prep will either be breakfast burritos or low carb egg casserole with vegetables and turkey sausage. I like to rotate every so often so I don’t get too bored.

If you missed any posts this week, I did Hello Monday and Prime Purchases, 23 in 2023, Currently, and Fashion Files.

If you are looking for entertainment this weekend, I did a lot of tv viewing over break. I watched About Fate, Something from Tiffany’s, Glass Onion, Harry and Meghan, Emily in Paris 3, Wednesday (with my family), and a show you might not like because it was in Spanish called I am Georgina about Cristiano Ronaldo’s (soccer player) partner.

What were your favorites this week?

Amy

Thursday, January 5, 2023

There isn’t a whole lot of fashion in my files this week because I just didn’t dress in real clothing that much during break this year! Linking up with Kellyann and Jill anyway!

I had a good first day at school yesterday. It was good to see my students and I hope they were happy to be back.

Here is what I wore for NYE. I am wearing my Sassy Fox Consignment Marc Fisher heels, TJ Maxx pants, and my black silk Chico’s blouse. Heather has amazing clothes and I am considering asking her to be on the blog showcasing her duds.

I’ve been wearing my Dansko clogs that are more like a Croc a lot, as you know.

For one of my Christmases, I wore my American Eagle velvet leggings (very old) with my Prosecc Ho Ho Ho. Ok, you won’t see this on the blog anymore. I promise.

Every time I did get dressed over break, I think I wore my star sweater.

And, for back to school, I do not like my outfit. I am doing “Jeans January” by myself. It’s not a thing. I wore my Wit and Wisdom flares with my Chico’s silky black top and my faux fur vest. The vest came off immediately because holy heating system. Then, I looked like I forgot to take off my pajama top before coming back to school. So, note to self…do not wear this to school.

See, I don’t have much fashion in my files.

I want to mention one of my blog reads and someone who I have learned quite a bit from – Susan After 60.

Click here on her recent items lookbook. She always looks amazing, in my opinion, and I like how she explains proportions. She knows her stuff!

I also want to mention Cheese Gal on IG. I have been hooked on her “story” she has been telling in parts for like a week now. She is telling about her Dad’s ex and what happened. But, she has the cutest sweater collection, too. Sweater goals!

If you are on IG, follow her for her food content and The Story and her sweaters.

Remember that I am also doing 23 in 2023. Thanks for the support you are showing me. I haven’t bought anything yet! 5 days in! He he! I am starting a list of pieces I think I want. I also have a gift card to spend that won’t count against my total. So many loopholes, right? Just kidding!

I am also trying to wear every.single.winter thing I own but my job is making it difficult. My classroom is just so hot.

What have you been wearing lately? Are you happy with your winter clothing?

Amy

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

I love a good Currently link up! Jennifer is our hostess for this party today! She gives us some present participles and we fill in our responses! Why do I use so many exclamation points?

Some of my responses may be redundant; please forgive me.

Loving

My mom requested a wish list for Christmas and she did really well. She doesn’t like to give money and really likes to give “gift” gifts. I get that and I usually keep some items saved in my cart anyway. I asked for this Amazon star sweater. I can now tell you that I think the quality is amazing and that is is perfect for me. I don’t get too hot. I got it in apricot and I got an extra large. I have worn it many times since I got it! I keep reaching for it! So, I am definitely loving it.

I told you about my Amazon Prime Purchases on Monday and these clogs have been another thing I’m loving. These are the shoes I keep reaching for, too!

I’m loving Tom’s Christmas gift from my mom. It’s easy enough that I can start it on my own, too. It is the Solo Stove Mesa and it would make a great gift for someone in your life, I bet!

Ok, I cannot wait to make this again. I tried to get as many lucky foods on NY Day as possible and this salad included honey and oranges, which are both lucky foods. It is called the Navel Orange Salad with Avocado. I just used a bag salad and left off the red onion. I also used the Cuties clementines I already had. I think it would be great with grilled chicken.

I also discovered Whole Foods pizza by the slice. I got a slice of mushroom. This might be an easy winter meal? I don’t think Whole Foods is as expensive as I used to. You also get your Amazon Prime discout when you shop in Whole Foods. My biggest problem is that it is located next to our malls and traffic can get crazy. I told Tom this might be a Friday night dinner for us this winter.

I am still loving the Truly Holiday Pack!

I enjoyed the pear martini this weekend and now I have tried all four flavors and like them all.

I did my NYE mani with regular polish. I did a taupe/lavender for the base and did a multi color glitter on the top.

I am loving my new and improved feet from my salon pedicure and the navy metallic polish. I apologize for the foot pic. We shouldn’t show our dogs on the internet. There’s a lot we should show, you know? But, people continue to leave messages on Facebook that could have been a text.

Organizing

My closet! I need to get it ready to rotate and wear every.single.winter piece or they must go. I do this each season.

Resolving

Just trying to get back to my healthier living – good sleep, lots of water, regular exercise, meal prepping, and eating like I know I should. I have really taken a break and I just don’t feel as good as I know I can.

Eating

As many heatlhy foods as possible. This is a recent Slender Kitchen meal I made for my kids – Honey Soy Glazed Chicken. Mine would be on cauliflower rice. I made this for them when Tom and I were going out. Mason is obsessed with broccoli and always eats it first. In fact, he wanted to bring in broccoli for his second grade class on his birthday.

Anticipating

I am excited to use the Solo Stove when I can. It’s so important to get outside in the winter. Gretchen Rubin is doing a 23 minutes outside each day challenge in 2023.

I want to plan lots of friend gatherings to help me through the winter. I would like to have people over and make my own cocktails:

and go out:

I have figured out that happy hours are even good for my marriage because Tom doesn’t need to go out and be social as much as I do. He gets all the socialization he needs at work and goes out to lunch with a group every day. That being said, he has a good time going out to dinner a couple of times a month. We also go out and watch games with friends during basketball season.

I am excited for all the library requests I have coming up!

I love my library!

Unfortunately, I ran out of books and my library was closed on Monday for the NYDay holiday so I did go to Target and buy a book. I am really into this so far! Apparently she wrote it in 1999, but I never read it. I really like Kristin Hannah’s books.

Well, that was fun! What are you loving, organizing, eating, resolving, and anticpating right now?

Amy

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Well, I am re-entering the land of the real pants as you are reading this. I have a work day with just teachers so I get to linger at home a bit later than normal. I usually leave my house at 6:45 when I have students, but today I will leave the house around 7:25. Woohoo! But, I am not happy. Teacher days are the worst. They have every minute scheduled for us by the looks of it. Plus, the kids are so much more fun than the teachers. Ha!

So, I think I have come up with a plan. I only want to buy 23 new items this year. I do say “only” because I think I have been adding way more than this. I changed sizes in 2021 so I needed some new stuff. I haven’t tracked purchases in a few years – I tracked fashion purchases for about three years running and it was extremely educational. I learned what ended up being good and bad uses of my money. I am letting myself buy consignment items with no number limit and I am making exceptions for gifts, a dress for a wedding, and undergarments.

So, why the need for this? Well, over the winter break I looked at my closet and thought that I had so many clothes that I love. So, it’s a good thing, right? It was cold and I didn’t really leave the house for 5 days. I had nowhere to wear these clothes. It’s really about contentment and lack of waste, I think you could say.

I love to buy new things when the seasons change. There is usually a trend or two that I am wanting to try. I am also trying to buy better brands and more timeless styles.

Do you all think I can do it? In 2022, I showed you my new purchases weekly during Fashion Files posts on Thursdays. When I look back, many of those items were in fact from consignment shops!

My goal is to not add any more winter clothing in January unless I see a really crazy good deal of something I need.

In February, I always get excited about spring stuff! My favorite consignment store Sassy Fox will start accepting spring clothing in February and I plan to try to sell stuff that no longer fits me or my style if I have anything. In 2022, I made around $300 from selling my too big items. I put that money into consignment or new items so that was a win-win!

I want to have a smaller wardrobe of all things I simply love! I want to feel good putting anything on.

If I fail at my 23 in 2023, I will still have done better than I did in 2022, I think.

Another goal:

January Goal – Jeans January

I plan to wear jeans everyday for accountability. When I say accountability, I mean towards my healthy living goals. I need to get back on track. I plan to pare jeans with blazers, nice blouses, and sweaters, but my jeans don’t lie like my leggings and knit pants do. As I am re-dedicating myself to healthier eating and drinking more water and less alcohol, I think these two goals will fit nicely together. Plus, I have a lot of jeans now. When I was heavier, I only had like one pair of jeans that weren’t even that comfortable, so this has been so wonderful to have jeans in my wardrobe. We don’t have a dress code, but I think I can make jeans look very professional. I didn’t wear jeans to teach in for the first 25 years of my career except for the rare Friday spirit day, but now I feel just fine about it.

Do you have fashion goals for 2023? Some of you probably are the opposite and really need to invest in your wardrobe! My friend Heather (the blonde) has to be forced to add new things. She keeps things forever and forever and also hasn’t changed sizes, so that is amazing.

Let’s do this,

Amy

Monday, January 2, 2022

It’s 2023! Did you eat your good luck foods yesterday? Today is going to be crazy here at Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa. I am linking up with Sarah and Holly for Hello Monday and Tanya for Prime Purchases. Hold on to your coffee mugs!

I am super happy to have today off. Tom is still off, too, and the college kids move back tomorrow or Wednesday with classes starting Thursday for their junior year spring semester. You all – how is this even possible?

Tomorrow we have a teacher day and then our students ease back in with just a 3 day week. I need to remember that short weeks always seem longer, though. I miss my students. I am excited to see them – truly!

What did I do this weekend? What even is a weekend? What day was any day over break? I was really lost most days. Thursday I finally got my Chick Fil A peppermint shake and it was wonderful!

Friday I used my birthday pedicure gift card and it was amazing. I don’t think I had been to the salon for at least 9 months.

I chose a dark metallic blue.

Then, we went to our friends’ house to meet their new yellow lab puppy named Willow. We brought her a “Heinekennel” beer. She was so cute!

Tom did his one cooking stint of the year and did the whole soaking of the dry beans in preparation for Friday’s bean soup.

I made cornbread to go with it and this is what we had for dinner Friday night. Our kids went out so it was just us.

Saturday we tried out Tom’s new Solo Stove Mesa. It is so cute! It puts out a good amount of heat.

I needed a couple of things from the grocery to get us through the next few days and picked up the Truly Holiday Pack.

Pear Martini, Holiday Sangria, Cran Orange Sparkle, and Berry Bramble are the flavors. They are good! I haven’t tried all of the flavors yet, but the ones I have are really good!

The grocery wants you to organize and eat Valentine’s candy, apparently.

Tom’s team is the University of Kentucky and the happened to be playing both basketball and football at 12 noon. So, he parked himself in his big chair with his bean soup for most of Saturday.

For our NYE plans, we went to our friends’ house and got I got a smoked bourbon old fashioned.

Their cat liked my new party purse.

We showed up twinning! We both knew we were gonna get out the sparkles and I don’t have that much stuff, but my friend has lots and this is what she decided on.

We had a reservation at The Pine Room and Heather and I had the best Paloma I have ever had.

I had a delicious salad:

and their fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and a really unique square biscuit. Everything was so good!

We declined dessert and went back to their house for a little bit of the Georgia game because that is where their daughter attends college.

It was a low key NYE for me! That is just how I like it.

Now, let’s talk Amazon. I didn’t use Amazon as much for Christmas gifts this year, so December was actually a light month for me.

First of all, I ordered myself a present. I saw these clogs on a “Best of 2022” list on a blog I read. I have struggled with black shoes. I need and want something comfortable that I can just throw on. These are like if Dansko and Crocs had a baby but you really can’t tell they aren’t leather unless you look closely. I wear a 38 in my brown Danskos, but I had to return and re-order these in a 39. So far, I am thrilled with them.

Then, I needed a little bag that had silver in it. You saw above that the cat really liked it. It basically only holds an ibuprofen. It doesn’t even hold my phone!

Next up, are two really nice Amazon Essentials sweaters that I got for my boys. I am super impressed with the quality. I got red for Mason and eggplant for Jack. I will show you photos later on in the post. Amazon Essentials does it again.

Ernie likes his Rachael Ray burger treats!

I have to have my butter spray!

Jennifer recommended the Qibest brand liquid lipstick set. The lipsticks are all matte but it comes with a gloss that goes over. I am super happy with this set and have been wearing it any day I have put on makeup. I layer Burt’s Bees or other things over it usually, too. It smells slightly like chocolate, too!

The Dansko clogs in action:

The Qibest in action:

The Amazon Essentials sweater in checkmate – lol:

Another sweater in action:

You’re welcome for the action shots! Ha!

If I had to sum up my entire break from December 16 until today I would use the words HOME and SLOW. I would also include the words COOKING and DISHWASHER. I stayed home a lot due to the cold and snow. I didn’t run around just to be running around to all the stores.

I was so thankful we didn’t lose power or have our pipes freeze. I cooked all the meals and was like a short order cook sometimes and I wouldn’t change a thing. I love making whatever my college kids want and that is definitely my love language. I loaded and unloaded the dishwasher with a happy heart because of all the meals that I was cooking.

I am so thankful for my winter break!

Re-entry will be hard, my friends. Maybe that Amazon truck will make it sting a little less – Ha! Let’s do this!

Amy

Friday, December 30. 2022

This is my last post of the year! Wow! What a year! I did some looking back through my camera roll and so much changed in a year, but so much stayed the same, too. Do you feel that way, too?

I don’t think there is a link up, but I would do Friday Favorites forever and always without one. I think it’s a great way to have a gratitude practice for all things big and small and to recap favorite moments of the week.

How was your week? Do you love or hate that week between Christmas and New Year’s? I love it! Tom has been off and that gives him some down time at home to hang with us and to do some projects. I did my Christmas recap here and my Best of 2022 post here if you missed either one.

Monday we celebrated with my side of the family and I love my sisters so much and the fact that I have sisters. What a gift that parents give to us, right? I am the oldest and then Kate is on the left and she is the middle at three years younger than me. Molly is the baby and is three years younger than Kate. We laugh so much when we are together that it annoys my kids a little bit and they say I act differently around them; I’m sure we revert to family roles a bit, no? We are all teachers, too! Kate is an elementary art teacher and Molly is a first and second grade teacher. She has switched back and forth at various points in her career. My Dad was so happy and proud that we all became teachers.

Tuesday was our celebration with Tom’s parents in his hometown. Their dog, Watson, was so funny. He carried around his blankie for most of the visit. Ernie goes to both celebrations, by the way.

Wednesday we were ready for a break from celebrating! Ha! I love the quiet and low key mornings on non-work days. I still am not able to sleep in much past the 7 o’clock hour, but morning is my fave time of the day and I don’t want to miss it. The kids and I have always had simultaneous dental appointments. All three of us get worked on at the same time. So, we are on a good June and December routine. The dark side of teaching is that we have to do our adulting/nagging tasks during all of our breaks. Maybe this is true of other professions, too?

I took off my Impress nails that were matte navy and tried my new gel curing lamp (at home, not at the dentist office) that my mom gave me for Christmas. It made a world of difference with being able to fit an entire hand in at once and not just a few fingers. Boom! I am now a professional! He, he! I did a white with glitter for NYE baby!

We came home from the dentist – love these rare moments of being in the car with my kids, by the way. Jack went out with friends and Mason said he has been staying up too late with his nocturnal Jack and needed to stay home. Mason tries to get up at 8:00 a.m. on the dot whether on a break or not.

I told Tom I simply could not cook another meal. We called our friends and met at Waldo’s Chicken and Beer.

I had a salad and it was good. My body was confused about the vegetables and lack of cheese, bacon, pasta, and chocolate.

My mom gave Tom a tabletop Solo Stove and I am excited to try it out! The weather has changed; that darn snow and ice stuck around for 7 days. I am happy for 50-60s and rain for a bit of respite from Old Man Winter. Doesn’t he know that I only like a snow on a weekday when we are IN SCHOOL?

I asked for this non-fiction book from my Mom. I have been hearing reviews of it on Midlife Matters podcast. Has anyone read it?

I can’t remember who recommended this, but I burned it for the first time this week. This could go really wrong. It could help my cravings for a fresh baguette or it could make me ravenous for one. So far, it’s just a pleasing homey smell. I never would have even sniffed this if it weren’t for someone’s rec, though.

I am continuing the goal of little to no food waste. I was proud of myself for making some pasta sauce to use this week from some canned tomatoes that didn’t get used up all the way, some frozen ground beef, and some various marinara sauce jars in the fridge.

I chopped and sautéed some veg to have on hand and to make a farmer’s market skillet for breakfast.

I did some mushrooms and spinach. The spinach was leftover from something else so I used up another item lingering in my veg drawer.

Tom cooks once a year and it is his 15 bean soup. He always does this when we have had a bone in ham because he uses the bone and the ham to season it. He does the overnight soak and the whole bit.

I will let you know how his soup turns out!

My farmer’s market skillet:

Ah – I got to sit here and get that fresh air I have needed!

I got a new DryBar shower cap from my mom and boy have I missed it. I had one and it got worn out and I ordered a very mediocre replacement from Amazon. I believe in a shower cap.

My mom got me this star cardigan, too:

I took myself to my favorite consignment shop, Sassy Fox, where they are having their big winter sale. If you are local, you must go. It’s such a great shop! There is one in Lexington, too, if that is closer. Jen!

I got these Marc Fisher heels for $15:

This Cabi top for $11:

And these two wraps for $3 and $9:

I needed to borrow wraps from Erica for a Christmas party and I thought it would be good to have on hand for the future.

I got a Target.com delivery and this is a re-purchase:

And, for my last favorite of the week…

At my mom’s house I snapped a photo of this super cool photo of my Dad. There is a MIG-28 behind him getting ready to do a 4G dive. Oops, that was Top Gun; I got confused.

We miss him so much, but now we are laughing and quoting him more than crying. He never missed a moment to tell us how much he loved us and how awesome we are. Thinking of all of you out there who also had a bittersweet holiday thinking of loved ones no longer here.

So, I hope to see you in 2023! What were your favorites this week?

Amy

Thursday, December 29, 2022

I thought it would be fun to round up some favorites from this year.

I am a pretty good sleeper, but I am always down for better routines, ideas, etc. I believe in a shower every evening with lavender. I have been using Dr. Teal’s lavender body wash for quite a while now. I don’t always wash my hair, but I really think you should be clean when you hit those sheets. I haven’t found a Dr. Teal’s product I don’t love, by the way. I am planning a Friday night bubble bath routine for January, I’ve decided!

In June, on Big Mama/Melanie Shankle’s recommendation, I started chewing one Ashwagandha gummy on my way to bed. I feel like this has helped me to sleep deeper and longer without waking up. I have convinced a few others in my life to start it and they have said the same. Tom says he never wants to hear me say “Ashwagandha” again.

I also purchased the Deep Sleep Pillow Spray that you have probably seen all over the internet but it’s meh to me. I still use it, though. It will probably not be a re-purchase.

My cocktail earrings! I actually read my blog posts from last December/January to see what I was talking about a year ago and that is when I found my first pair in a boutique. My first pair was the second from the left that say “prosecco”. These earrings have been so fun for me this year. I have also given them as gifts. They are in most of my little local boutiques and they are also on Amazon.

Bravo and Watch What Crappens podcast have entertained me and made me laugh. I actually think I get more out of the podcast than the actual shows, but I love Below Deck, Southern Charm, Real Housewives of most places, Southern Hospitality, Winter House, Summer House, and more. The podcast recaps and makes fun of all of these shows. I watch the shows and actually think, “I wonder what Ben and Ronnie (the hosts) will say about this!”

This popcorn spray is from before 2022, I think, but it continues to be a must have. When I am on my last can, I freak out and order more. Popcorn is my fave snack by far and I pop my own kernels to control what is in it, then follow a bit of this spray with some salt. I also use this on bread and potatoes sometimes. I had to include it because it is definitely a favorite of 2022. I get mine from Amazon but my sister says it is at Walmart.

When I started cleaning up my eating act in 2021, coffee creamer was an issue for me. I love, love, love Dunkin’ Donuts Extra creamy creamer. I had gotten to the point that I didn’t need sweetener, but I still need my cream. I have two cups of hot coffee every morning and I love it. It’s what gets me out of bed. I just think about that coffee, you know? I am so happy that I have found my fat free half and half and my skinny syrup combo. I froth it with my handheld frother, which is another 2022 favorite. Now, this is not the cleanest because I do not want that many artificial things in my life, but I am ok with it. I have said this before but in 2022 I rarely went to Starbuck’s or any drive thru for that matter.

These short, faux sheepskin lined boots from Costco for only $20 have been a fave footwear. I reach for these way more than my Hunters. I wear them without socks and with socks. I wear them in all four seasons.I really believe in a short rainboot. I sometimes wear these to work in bad weather and bring a change of footwear. I think everyone needs something like this. These are also comfortable and padded enough for me to take them on a longer Ernie walk.

This has been such a nice addition to my laundry. I use regular detergent and just add a capful and it just makes the laundry smell so nice. I only do my own and the household laundry of sheets and towels so it lasts a really long time.

My library is such a blessing to me. I am on a no book buying streak that is several years long. I buy books for my kids and for gifts and occasionally will buy a cookbook or a non-fiction, but for the fiction that I go through pretty quickly and am never going to read again, it’s library requests all the way for me.

I love my electric non stick griddle for pancakes, grilled cheese, quesadillas, and more. This was around $20 and a great purchase. I keep it in the original box in my pantry when not in use. My aunt even takes hers on vacation when she rents a house or condo.

The at home manicure is a favorite from 2022. I hate my nails bare. I know that is bad. When I want traditional polish, Kur is the best brand I have used. You must have a top coat and I like my Orly that I have now. I love that I have figured out at home gel. I love that I have found Impress press ons. They are not your mom’s press on nails – ha!

I have figured out it takes a table to do a good one. Sit at the kitchen table, put a show on your phone, and be patient. Take your time.

My matte navy Impress:

My new lamp my mom got me for Christmas to cure the gel polish:

I also love doing my own pedis now with traditional polish. I have a gift card for a professional one that I want to use soon – mainly for the pampering effect, but I have gotten really good at my own, too!

I’ve decided that it’s not really the money, but the time involved in going to the salon regularly that I don’t like giving up.

This website, Slender Kitchen – because of Erica, my co-worker and meal prep lunch partner, I am so happy I found this wonderful recipe website. I literally go to this site every week to do my meal plan. I have also learned techniques because of this author!

Here is sesame chicken one night recently:

My Caphalon air fryer has been a great purchase. I seriously use it multiple times a day. It is also our toaster. It takes up valuable real estate, but I really do use it.

In 2020 and 2021 I had people over to my patio, mostly, for my connections and my social time. In 2022, I went out to my local establishments! It has been so fun to explore my city and hang with a friend or two. I try to do this at least once a month. I love sitting at a bar, too. This is from my last outing with my friend Beth. I keep a list on my phone of places I want to try and patios in the warm weather. My favorite is for happy hour and then getting home in time to eat dinner with my hub, but I am more flexible now.

I feel like Jack has had a really good year and it has been one of my favorites of 2022. Freshman year was hard, sophomore year was better, but this year I have seen more smiles and heard more laughter, and I can’t tell you how sweet that has been. This was from Jack’s last guitar concert. Jack is still interested in theatre, but has been working on his musical talents the most lately.

This smiley guy. He loves to act like a grumpy old man, but he is a major sensitive soul. He is the funniest person I’ve ever met and this is why our kids are so funny, too. He goes along with almost all of my schemes. I think we settled in better to our empty nest this year. (He says our nest is not really empty until after college, but I say it is.) He calls me every afternoon like clockwork as he is leaving work, he sends me funny texts during the day, he can fix almost anything, he will eat any foods I cook, and he is a great dad and dog dad. His favorite movie is Pitch Perfect and if it’s on tv, he has it on.

And, Mason is such a joy. He is having a great year, too. He texts and asks if we can have breakfast together when we are both free. This was us this fall at a Mexican place. He loves a cup of coffee in the morning and has become quite a foodie. He has made lots of friends and is a great friend to have. He loves literature and art and theatre.

This is an odd segue, but let’s talk about candy cane ChapStick. This is great all year long, I think!

These New Balances that I was lucky enough to snag this year from a consignment shop brand new are magical. They still look brand new and they are the most comfortable tennis shoes I have ever owned. Have you tried this style of New Balance? I wear them for daily stuff and not exercise, but they have such great support.

Ernie! What would we do without dogs in our lives? He brings joy to everyday!

I know I could have made this much longer, but we will stop there! I might need to do a Part 2. What were your “Best of 2022”?

Amy

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

I have so much to tell you! I really didn’t take many photos and tried to be in the moment, though. How was your holiday? It sure has been quiet in blog land and I miss my normal morning reads.

It’s weird when you get out of school so early – December 16 – and have so much time before the holiday. But, it’s also super nice because I really wasn’t that stressed about shopping. Luckily I had all of my gifts and most of my food shopping done by Thursday. We got notice of a Winter Weather Advisory and I did run to the Kroger Wine Shop and grcoery for a few things I forgot from my pick up. In Kentucky, the wine and liquor stores have to be separate stores. But, they are right next to each other and have adjoining entrances. Stupid, right?

The store was crazy. The parking lot was crazy.

The weather was super mild Thursday – the calm before the storm – so I made sure to make a fancy coffee and relax on my patio before it turned cold.

I also made homemade chocolate chip pancakes for my kids. This is Mel Larson’s recipe and it is so good. I love my non-stick electric griddle, too. Don’t be daunted; this is so much better than a box mix. Maybe this would be a good repeat for NY Day? But, of course, I also need to order all the lucky foods!

I really enjoyed this matte navy press on nail mani this week. It is by Impress and it lasted about 7 days and I could have made it last longer, but I took it off.

Thursday afternoon I made Chex Mix. Tom’s last day of work until the new year was Thursday and he likes to have lots of snacks around!

Ok, so this was not my favorite type of snow. I like when the snow starts falling during the day and I can be all cozy watching it. This time the snow started as I was going to bed and then I woke up and it was done.

Friday the temps were so cold. We were in the negatives and the wind chill was even colder. I tried to walk with Tom and Ernie and turned around. This is Tom looking at me like I was weak. I am, Tom. I am.

I think we got 3-4 inches total. Ernie is a madman in the snow and cold. Tom walked him about 3 times a day each of the coldest days, too!

Friday was a lazy day and no one was going out. The roads were very bad. We lounged and watched tv and I made three meals a day. I was happy to do so!

Saturday I made my own “honey baked ham” with Allie Carte’s recipe. It turned out great and I will definitely do it again. My ham was only $10 at Kroger.

We had our Christmas Eve dinner with homemade macaroni and cheese, green beans, and Sister Schubert’s rolls. We opened our pajama pants and played a game. We had some laughs during the game which was so nice. We didn’t have to change any plans because it was just going to be the four of us for Eve and Day this year. We also watched Wednesday on Netflix as a family and The Glass Onion on Netflix as a family.

My skinny white pencil tree made me so happy this week. I intentionally left it bare. What do you think about me moving this to the living room for January?

Christmas morning traditions of egg casserole,

monkey bread, and this year I added…

a breakfast board.

pomegranate cranberry mimosa for me, too!

fuzzy Christmas socks are the best!

Tom and I don’t really do big gifts right now, but he got me a really thoughtful one of a cutting board for meal prep that also came with meal prep containers. It is called a Tidy Board.

Ernie loved his stocking! He got a Pupsi (Pepsi bottle), a fake wooden stick to chew on, and a giant tug rope.

Jack and Mason’s big gifts were a new classical guitar for Jack and a Steam Deck for Mason which is a gaming thing. They loved their smaller gifts, too.

Tom and I took a drive later in the afternoon and I made a hot chocolate. It was still brutally cold.

It’s cool to look at the river in the winter, too!

We had waffle fries and Hawaiian ham and swiss sliders with broccoli for dinner and watched tv together.

Monday morning we had snow flurries! We still had all the snow on the ground and some roads were still questionable, but this was the day we were celebrating with my side of the family.

We take a two lane highway to my hometown and it is so picturesque with horses and farms and horse farms. But, look how bad the roads were for about half of the drive. We were going like 30 miles an hour here.

My mom lost power for several hours but luckily it came back on just in time. Look how much snow she got!

We joked about the outfit my sweet niece arrived in (all her new Christmas garb) but she ended up being the smart one because my mom’s house felt tropical. We were all sweating except this one!

We snacked and did a white elephant for fun. We don’t do lots of gifts anymore because the three sisters wanted to reduce the consumerism for our kids and it is perfect now. My mom gives everyone lots of gifts and we give her lots of gifts.

I managed to get most of the kids in the photos. Jack and Mason are in the background somewhere here.

Tom and Molly’s husband Jason:

I started out in a red sweater, but switched to Prosecc Ho Ho Ho when I got too hot. I wasn’t mad!

We decided on Thanksgiving to do a pasta party and it turned out great. My sister Molly’s lasagna was amazing but she was tight lipped about her recipe. Hmmm…

I made baked ziti and bacon alfredo…

My mom made traditional spaghetti…

and I made a butter board with butter, goat cheese, roasted garlic, and copycat Pizza Hut breadstick topping seasoning…

We had Trader Joe’s ciabatta bread with it. I will definitely do that again!

I commissioned my talented niece Mia to draw Ernie for a gift for Tom and it was so good!

Right?

We had a really nice day and I will probably share my gifts in a different post.

Finally, on Tuesday, we loaded up for our final Christmas at Tom’s parents house about an hour and a half away.

Their dog Watson had fun with Ernie and carried his “blankey” around the whole time!

Jack did some guitar for the grandparents:

And, Mason got involved in a chess game:

And, Tom got his favorite chili dogs for the ride home. Yes, chili dogs in the car. Not recommended.

If you are still here, it’s probably because there are not many new blog posts to read today! Ha!

Amy

Friday, December 23, 2022

I don’t think the gals are doing the Friday Favorite link up, but I am here to do one last FF post of 2022.

And, YOU are my number one favorite! Thank you for being such a big part of my life. This hobby has been so fun for me and dare I say necessary as I started the empty nester chapter of my life. You have been more encouraging to me than many of my IRL folks. You show up and leave me the kindest comments. I don’t share everything here, of course, but I share a lot. Life is hard and one can never have too many cheerleaders, you know? Writing and having a supportive audience can be cathartic. The fact that you take the extra time to leave a comment warms my heart.

I am going to try to sign off and take a break for a week or so. I say this often and then I can never really stay away for long. I have some ideas about Best of 2022 posts so we will see if I can make that happen. Please let me know what you want to see more of in 2023, too!

I like my blog routine for the most part but sometimes I feel repetitive and stagnant.

Hello Monday, Fashion Files, and Friday Favorites are probably here to stay. Tuesday and Wednesday are wild cards some weeks and some weeks I am part of themed link up parties.

So let’s continue on with Friday Favorites…

I really want and need to just splurge and get more of the Donna Karan Cashmere Mist deodorant. I will probably do that soon. I can be really cheap about things I know would make me so happy or make my life easier.

I really like this – It was only $5 at Target. I do worry about deodorant showing up on all my black!

I gave my sister in law a pair of shoes that didn’t fit and she gave me this lip mask I have been wanting! I think I got the good end of that deal! Love it! My bedside table is starting to look high maintenance. I have my pillow spray, my Vick’s Vapo Rub, my lavender sleeping balm, ibuprofen, water – he, he. It was bound to happen. Is your bedside table starting to fil up?

If you saw my Festivus post, I complained about Target. But, I really like their beauty/Ulta section. You can return any makeup you don’t like! Makeup is so expensive and you do feel like you are taking a big risk. I have trouble with colors sometimes. Now, I will say that I have saved tons of money since using Seint makeup, but I still need eye stuff, and a few extras.

I bought some Burt’s Bees lip shimmer in the color fig. Love it! I am very picky about how lip stuff feels and this feels great.

I love Benefit products and the secret is buying the smaller size. Sorry for the blurry photo but I bought the color Starlaa for an added blush on top of my Seint.

I love this! I was looking for something creamy to put on top of my Seint makeup to give me more of a dewy youthful glow.

Moving away from beauty items…

I’m still loving my Winter Mint.

I am indulging in this most days. It’s tasting really good to me!

On the last day of school I treated myself to a good old Egg McMuffin. They are 8 WW points. It was so delish!

I know I said I was gonna do at home gel from now on and I am going to do it more now that I know how easy it is,but I am in need of a better curing lamp so I am waiting to see if I get one for Christmas.

So, in the meantime…

I had purchased this matte navy set a long time ago and put it on Monday. It is still going strong. This couldn’t be easier and it looks lip dip or gel. The hardest part is finding the right size for each of your nails. You want to go a bit smaller and never bigger because it will cut into your skin. First you use the enclosed wipe on your nails and then you simply take the sticker backing off and stick it on your nail. When you are ready to remove, you use dental floss by the cuticle. I am impressed!

Looks pretty good, right? Oh, I forgot to say that I cut them down after they were on with a nail clipper and then filed them with a regular nail file. At the time of this writing, they are still looking perfect after 4 days.

My sister once said that the more time off you have before Christmas the more you will spend spinning your wheels getting ready for Christmas, buying more gifts, overthinking your gifts, etc. I tried to be really intentional this week about not just being on the Christmas consumerism hamster wheel. I went to the gym. I caught up on tv, I cleaned and organized, and I spent time with a friend.

My friend Beth and I tried out Nouvelle Wine Bar.

We had a glass of red and then walked over to Bar Vetti for another glass of red and we shared a margarita pizza.

It was a lovely and relaxing couple of hours!

And, Tom was still working but we met for lunch one day. He had a project to look at and suggested a nearby bagel place. I got a veggie sandwich on an everything bagel.

So thankful for Kroger pick up. I think I have my meals planned and I placed a big order and picked it up. I will have to run in the store once more for a few odds and ends, but what a time saver. And, a money saver. I can be so impulsive when I shop in store. I especially get crazy with holiday items and then it derails me and I think of more recipes to make.

I also did a quick Trader Joe’s trip for a few items I can only get there. This came home with me and it is a winner! I like it alone or in some of my cocktails.

At Jennifer’s rec, I ordered this set of glosses. I love the texture and the staying power! It comes in quite a pretty box from Amazon. It has several different shades and a clear to put on top. The shades are all pretty matte which I do like sometimes. I have a lip product problem!

A text exchange with my sister Kate made me laugh this week. Kate is an art teacher and I love her clothing and her home decor style, but not her shoe style. She has made some very questionable shoe purchases. If you understand the sister dynamic, you know that I always let her know what I think. One time she showed up in high heeled yellow and purple soccer style shoes. I had a good one liner that I can’t remember now, but it was probably something about her having to play in a match but needing to hit the club immediately afterwards. Another time she showed up in bright red shiny lace up boots. I asked her if she had gone to Ronald McDonald’s garage sale.

Her most recent shoe decision:

My response:

Well, this is only part of my response. The rest wasn’t fit for this blog. Hey, she probably doesn’t like all of my shoes, either.

I abandoned Christmas in Vermont by Anita Hughes when this came in for me at the library. Let’s just say Christmas in Vermont was as boring as its title.

And, yes, I do judge a book by its cover. Look how cute!

Hallmark apparently has branched out. This was actually kinda cute and very foodie centered. It was set in New York, mainly. I feel like it used every Jewish stereotype, though. I’m wondering if it would be found offensive?

This could turn out to be a happy accident. I ordered canned biscuits for my monkey bread and Kroger gave me Sweet Hawaiian. Did you know this was a thing? I didn’t!

We are getting ready for extreme cold here, like many of you also are. I don’t think I even got out by big winter coat named “Darth Vader” last year. I can usually get away with just my North Face jacket for most of the winter.

So, here is my meal plan with lots of extras in case we can’t go out to get more rations.

Christmas Eve Day:

Make Spinach tortellini soup to have on hand for that day’s lunch and Christmas Day lunch if needed.

Christmas Eve Night:

Ham, macaroni and cheese, green beans, red potatoes, Sister Schubert’s rolls

Christmas Morning:

Breakfast Board – fruit, cheese, little donuts, monkey bread, egg casserole

Snacks: Mexican restaurant chips and salsa

Hawaiian sliders with the ham I made and swiss

Chili cheese enchiladas – this was suggested by Big Boo podcast and I am going to use flour tortillas and add chicken

None of this is set in stone, but it gives us options.

Day After Christmas at my mom’s house:

We are having a pasta party so someone is making spaghetti, someone is making lasagna, someone is doing salad, someone is doing dessert.

I am making Narci’s Bacon Alfredo Pasta Bake (couldn’t find the link) and Baked Ziti and bringing bread and a butter board.

I love having a plan, but I am not super rigid about it.

So, what were your favorites this week?

I need to get my Chick Fil A peppermint mocha shake sometime and I also want to try Wendy’s peppermint Frosty. My Wendy’s closes at 3 pm now? Is this a thing?

Merry Christmas and may you have a nice coffee and cocktail today!

Amy