Friday, June 3, 2022

Happy Friday! It’s time to link up with the ladies here where everyone shares big and small favorites from the week.

My first day of summer was Wednesday and it was a perfect day. I went to the gym, organized my closet, did two loads of laundry, and then met my friend Beth for brunch at a new to us place called Big Bad Breakfast (it’s a chain, by the way).

We had breakfast margaritas. Seriously. That was what they were called on the menu!

I ordered a vegetable skillet – yum!

It was really cute and cheerful!

Beth had on the coolest earrings from Etsy: She only has one piercing. I think these are called “ear climbers”?

I am still enjoying my morning two cups of coffee with this combo. I put a little of the flavored syrup in a cup with a little bit of the half and half, froth it up, then add to my cup. I ordered the syrup off of Amazon.

Around 10:00, I still have my iced coffee. I use about a tablespoon each of the instant coffee and water, froth it up, add ice, then add my Premier. My favorites are cake batter, caramel, and vanilla. I mix it up so I don’t get too bored.

Tom and I are both enjoying Oikos Pro strawberry yogurt with a bit of high protein granola and some frozen fruit. We like the frozen fruit because it kinda thaws into your yogurt in a good way.

I think I have a new favorite way to make chicken that might get a post of its own. I season chicken with salt, garlic powder, pepper, and this, then marinate with olive oil in a big baggie for a few hours before cooking on a sheet pan or in a skillet.

I made a new recipe here. I am going to change from the chili garlic sauce to oyster sauce. I found the chili garlic to be not only too spicy, but harsh tasting. I already use oyster sauce in my fried rice and my cauliflower fried rice. I had this meal with cauliflower rice and the fam had the regular rice. I didn’t have a bag of mixed veggies so I just had roasted broccoli on the side. It’s really delish!

Tom and I tried to go to a sailboat race on the river but there was no wind and it got cancelled.

I officially joined Jazzercise for the summer. You can go to unlimited classes for two months. I went to a 7:00 a.m. class yesterday.

I popped into Paul’s Fruit Market after the class. I love this store and it’s a chain all around town.

I finished this:

Oh my – it was so good!

Here is my new dress on me. I showed you my recent purchases yesterday.

I have been loving these mixes from Taylor Farm.

Here is what Tom had:

He loved it, but did comment it was heavy on the vegetables!

Here was mine:

The chicken was done in the method I described above with the Trader Joe’s ranch.

So, those were just some of my favorites from the week!

What were yours? I hope you had many!

Amy

Thursday, June 2, 2022

It feels so nice to have more time to devote to my blog posts finally. I hope you haven’t noticed, but I have been phoning it in here on the blog – and in many other areas of my life. The teacher mindset is “let’s just make it through May and in June I will put my life back together!”. I feel extremely grateful to have a job where I get to recharge my batteries each summer. Ahhhhhhhhh…

I am linking up with Kellyann and Jill for Fashion Files. I wore a couple of cute things, but my photo taking took a break from the last couple of days of work through Memorial Day weekend.

Here is what I wore to see Top Gun. I need to sell these Dr. Scholl’s. I just can’t walk well in them. But, dang, they are cute. I wore one of my denim cut off pairs with a Chico’s tank and a red, white, and blue (and tan) kimono my mom bought for me. I thought the long sleeves would work well in the movie theater. My purse doesn’t match, but this is my movie purse. It’s a Fossil and it wipes clean and it’s where I stash my bag of popcorn (yes, we still buy movie popcorn for Tom!) and my dum dum sucker. I’m extra, ok?

I didn’t buy a single thing in the way of clothing and accessories from the beginning of April until mid-May. This is big for me! Since then, I have been wearing every single piece of clothing I own to see if it needs to stay or go. I also made $140 at my consignment store on my too big clothing. Yippee!

So, I started ordering around mid-May.

I bought the famous Lululemon belt bag with extended strap. I am not sure I like wearing it around my shoulder, but I have worn it as a fanny pack a few times. I chose this light neutral color and it was under $40.

My MIA tan clog sandals have been an amazing purchase. My friend Beth also has them. I pretty much wear these any time I wear a dress to go out to lunch or dinner in the summer and even into the fall.

So, everyone loves Cushionaire faux Birks on Amazon and I decided to see what else they had to offer. I bought these which are a great dupe! Black summer dressy sandals were a definite need in my shoe wardrobe.

I loved, loved, loved my highlighter pink Aerie tank swimsuit from last season, but it is just too big. It is in such good shape that I am considering taking it to my tailor. Is that crazy? A blogger recommended this suit and I am debating if I need to see if it comes in long torso or if I need to go up a size. But, if you are looking for a tank suit, the quality is really good and it is around $25. I think the rule of thumb is to go up a size in swimwear. Last summer was my first experience in regularly wearing a tank instead of a tankini and I loved it.

Old Navy Haul:

I must say that I have avoided Old Navy for a couple of years because I was so mad about the quality and irregularity in their sizing. But, I took a chance on this dress I kept seeing everywhere. It is fully lined (still considering cutting the lining out because it is heavy and will be hot) and the quality is surprising. It seems like the quality of Tuckernuck or Draper James, no joke. It has pockets, too!

I also ordered this basic linen blouse and I am impressed with this, as well. I feel like I also want to wear a white blouse in the summer, you know?

Consignment Haul:

My favorite consignment store is called Sassy Fox. They are so nice and have the best stuff. They are picky and don’t take Target, Old Navy, Walmart, or any other fast fashion brand. They have boutique stuff, Ann Taylor, Lululemon, and so much more. Google the consignment stores in your area and give them a chance. I think you will be really pleasantly surprised!

This blouse was new with tags from a local boutique called Lulubelle’s. It is a bright kelly green – kinda hard to see from this picture. I might need to get it hemmed.

This is an Ann Taylor blouse that I thought would look nice under one of my blazers.

This is a Zella workout top.

And, finally this is an Athleta tennis skirt. No, I don’t play tennis, but I like the sport’s clothing.

Target Haul:

You know the white blouse thing? Well, I wanted a white dress, too. I am really enjoying having a few cute dresses to throw on. I have never had cute summer dresses that I can remember.

Universal Thread from Target is one of my favorite lines. I ordered this dress and it has pockets and seems to be of pretty good quality. I think I will keep it!

This is basically the blouse version of the dress. I needed to add a black blouse for summer.

And, don’t judge. I had a few straight skorts, but I like the look of the pleated skort for this season and I ordered a bright pink and a white one from Target’s JoyLab line.

My reader Jennibell commented that these tennis skorts work well with a bathing suit or not for boat rides. Genius! If you want a bit more modesty these look really nice. The material is so much like a bathing suit that you could totally get in the water, too. If you experience a bit of upper thigh “chub rub” the biker shorts that are under the skirt really help with that.

So, I had to come clean on what I have been ordering. No one send Tom this post, ok? Ha!

Amy

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Who says summer bucket lists are just for kids or just for families? In honor of the first day of June, here is mine…

C’mon ladies (and Dan – my only male reader that I know of) – let’s make one for us gals!

-Read lots of books (preferably outside with drink in hand)

-Try new restaurants with Tom and our friends

-See lots of movies with Tom and maybe the kids, too

-Attend Greekfest with my Greek friend Victoria!

-Ride one of those rental scooters with my friend Heather. I am a little afraid for myself. Helmet and pads needed?

-Attend a polo match and tailgate

-Have different friends on the boat

-Have a few picnics

-Do a sunset cruise. We are bad about going out in the evenings and need to do that more.

-Do another summer clothes and accessories de-clutter once I see what I’m wearing

-Do an afternoon at the rooftop pool of the Omni hotel with my friend Beth

-Go to Chick Fil A and buy a bag of ice (the good pellet ice!)

-Develop a new cocktail

-Go to the adult pool that I tried for the first time last summer

-Celebrate Tom’s birthday and Father’s Day

-Celebrate our 22nd anniversary

-Go to a baseball game – Louisville Bats or Cincinnati Reds

-Go to the Van Gogh Experience as a family

-Go out for ice cream

-Find a new tv series and binge it!

-Say YES to fun. Try to say yes when I am asked to do something if I can.

-Go barefoot in my yard as much as I can to get “grounded”. Have you heard of this? I have talked about it before!

I am sure I will think of more, but I am happy to start here. What do you want to make sure to do?

Amy

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

How was your 3 day weekend? I am sorry I didn’t let you know I wouldn’t post yesterday – I didn’t know, either! I was out late Sunday night and it just didn’t happen.

Today I am closing out my school year with a few meetings and a retirement luncheon for our pretty big group of retirees. I will have to count, but I think I am in a group now of about 10 of the teachers who have been there the longest – out of about 120 teachers!

Let’s go back to Friday…I suggested to my department that we have a departmental brunch to start our day. We had no meetings but grades were due at the end of the day and we could spare about an hour to do this. It was so nice!

Do you say “pitch-in”? They are the best because everyone usually brings one really good thing. I made Krusteaz coffee cake. That is really the best brand in the baking aisle.

I worked until 2:30 and then did a library pick up.

Here are a couple of things I read on the patio on Friday after work:

We decided to stay home for dinner and I made Tom a charcuterie board. Mason was working and Jack went out. I honestly was still full from the brunch.

Tom had leftover Mexican restaurant fajitas and I had this:

New fave! I added cut up dill pickles and grilled chicken.

Saturday morning I hit the gym and did legs and then…I tried my first Jazzercise class in a really long time. It was so much fun! They have a summer special until June 6 for $143 for unlimited classes for two months.

I went to Target with Mason and piddled around the house. Then, Mason went to work and Jack went to a friend’s house. Tom and I went to the first outdoor concert of the season at a nearby neighborhood. We were supposed to have two couples join us, but one wife got a migraine and the other couple were working on a home improvement project that took longer than expected.

We got food truck Mexican.

Sunday morning started out chilly, but that doesn’t stop me! Oh, and I gave myself a bright blue pedicure the day before!

I was reading this and it’s cute, but a little slow.

I made a Spanish omelette and took a break from exercise because I was so sore from Jazzercise! I really wish they would change the name; it sounds so 70s! If you want a laugh, look up “Prancercise” on YouTube.

I also made a vegetable mixture because I had some veggies that were going to turn on me. I am really working on less food waste!

Then, we got the boat out for the first time this season!

We ordered hummus for me and chicken strips and onion rings for Tom and then our friends met us there.

We joked that we “went to” Forecastle, the big music festival happening on our riverfront.

After we got off the water, I had plans to check out Elizabeth’s new place and her new puppy Banana was very photogenic.

She lives very close to Shakespeare in the Park, where Mason works this summer.

We enjoyed a lovely night, even though I don’t really speak Shakespeare.

Monday morning was so nice and I spent lots of time on the patio.

I started this and I cannot put it down. I am still trying to finish The Roughest Draft, but I needed a break. This is my first Sally Hepworth book.

I made another omelette.

I kept reading and reading and then made a Greek bowl for lunch.

And, the long anticipated movie was finally here and Tom and I had tickets.

My Dad was an Air Force fighter pilot and joked that he was way better than Tom Cruise in the looks and flying departments.

It seemed pretty appropriate to spend Memorial Day that way. I was outside all day Sunday and half of Monday so it was ok to be in the theater, I thought.

Tom and I agreed that the movie was amazing. I was surprised by how emotional it made me at first – the music, missing my Dad, thinking of how movies used to be in the 80s. Did you see it this weekend?

My nieces and nephews were in my hometown and took a photo with my Dad’s flag!

And, they visited his gravesite. My niece put this on Instagram – so sweet.

We had the most beautiful weather, too. It was a gift!

I hope you had a wonderful 3 day weekend!

Amy

Friday, May 27, 2022

Happy Friday! It’s time to link up with the girls at Friday Favorites here.

My emotions are all over the place with what is going on in the world, the end of the school year, and a few other things.

A senior brought me this gift card from his mom – Total Wine! How funny is that? But, with it came the sweetest, most heartfelt note from a parent. Gosh – this job is so much more than a job.

I received some of the sweetest notes I have ever gotten this year and I swear I think it’s because of all of the emotions wrapped up in the pandemic.

I taught about 45 seniors this year and the rest of my 100 kids are mostly juniors – with a few sophomores. I told them that I keep every single note and that is why notes are so special. It’s not as easy to keep an email or a Google Classroom message; I urged my younger kids to also write notes if a teacher had made an impact this year. It’s such a thankless job at times. We get to know these kids so well and a class becomes like a little family.

Saving this colorful new issue for the weekend!

Why have I not tried this? I love the consistency and I am very picky. I also love the flip top lid on it.

My two hallway school buddies are Erica and Elizabeth. I turned 50 this year, Erica turned 40, and our little baby Elizabeth turned 30 this week! We celebrated her after school one day at Captain’s Quarters. The weather was divine! She has the longest eyelashes!

I laughed at Tom one evening when he had tv on, a ball game on his laptop, and a Soduko going on his phone. Who said men can’t multitask?

Mason has a paid internship this summer with Kentucky Shakespeare. Jack was in one of their plays last summer, you might remember. The first play is 12th Night. The plays are free and in a park with food trucks. It is a really nice event! They will have 3 plays that run until the beginning of August.

I had a lovely patio happy hour at my friend Victoria’s this week.

Look at her sweet golden retriever!

Tom is still putting his keys on my hook at the gym! Ha!

Ok, I bought a clear bag for concerts and sporting events – wait, do I even go to many? No, but I might and I want to be prepared. Here is the bag and here is my bag strap that has been an amazing purchase. I use it with my brown and black purses, too.

Yesterday was the last day of school for 9th-11th grade so we had a popsicle and a photo opp outside. I love these kids! What a weird, hard, wonderful year. I promise I will stop talking about school soon…

My heart is full and I am tired!

What were your favorites this week?

Amy

Thursday, May 26, 2022

Before I post about what I wore now for Fashion Files with Kellyann and Jill, I just want to say…

I had already scheduled yesterday’s post when I heard about the Uvalde tragedy. The irony of me writing about summer activities with your kids when that was just taken away from so many parents…

I really don’t know what to say other than what we are doing is not working. Columbine happened about five years into my teaching career and it was and is still is beyond belief. I remember watching Sandy Hook coverage right before Christmas and just crying and crying. I first saw the news come on in the nail salon as I was getting a holiday pedicure I believe and I thought about leaving because it didn’t feel right anymore.

A few years later, we had to start doing active shooter drills in my school. A few years after that, we were told to keep a heavy piece of furniture next to our door so we could push it in front if need be. Say what?

The solution is not just one thing and it’s not simple.

I had a shopping ban from the end of Spring Break until about mid-May. I was trying to wait until summer but I let myself get something if I neeeded it or if I found something I just loved. I have very few dresses so I have been trying to add a few to my wardrobe. This jumped out at me on the Target website. The pattern! Pockets!

By the way, I am using my new phone on an old tripod and I feel like the clarity of my photos is really bad. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Any ideas?

This next outfit is kinda blah. I just wanted to wear a new consignment blouse I found. It still had tags from a local boutique called Lulubelle’s. I got it from my favorite consignment shop Sassy Fox when I went to check on my items I took to them over Spring Break. I made $140! I was really happy to put some of that back into some new clothes.

I want to try it with white jeans. It is a little bit long and might be worth it for me to have it professionally hemmed.

This is my new Old Navy dress. I fell in love with the pattern and the quality is amazing. It seriously seems like something much more expensive. It is fully lined. Someone I follow online said they cut the lining out. The lining makes it quite heavy but I am a bit scared to try that. It has pockets, too!

I wore this again for our Senior Walk where we say goodbye to our seniors. It is Walmart.com Scoop brand and you have seen it here before.

And, lastly, I wore…

jeans and my tropical blouse.

What have you been wearing lately?

Amy

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

I struggled with my blog title and I’m not sure I picked the best one, but I wanted to maybe help some of you trying to get into your summer groove with young children at home. I dug into my photo archives – real albums with real printed out pictures and humor me with my “older mom wisdom” if you will!

I have twins and I am a teacher. The daycare/preschool we used allowed us to pull our kids out in the summer without having to pay or lose our spot.

Bucket lists became all the rage at the tail end of my kids’ childhoods. I think they are great. I love that a family can sit down and make a list of things they want to do. It’s very intentional to me. I don’t think they should just be for summer, nor should they just be for kids. In fact, I do plan on making an adult summer bucket list!

What’s funny is that we sometimes think our kids want the extravagant vacations or expensive theme parks, but I bet if you asked them to make a list it would include the simple and wonderful things of summer.

I felt so lucky to be a teacher in the summer and on the same schedule as my kids. My goals were to have a great summer for my kids, not break the bank, and to keep learning but in a much more laid back way.

I know that working parents really struggle in the summers. It is so much to juggle when your kids are too old for daycare, yet not old enough to stay home alone.

Maybe my ideas can help babysitters as well as stay at home and working parents?

A pool membership is absolutely worth it. What a pool membership does is enable you to go for a couple of hours in the evening with working parents, get to know other kids and their moms, and just give you hours of exercise and entertainment. If you had to pay as you go, you might not do that evening swim. Also, many pools have entertainment and family activities.

I love the pool. I was the mom who got in with my kids because I’m a kid at heart, but I’m not gonna lie. I remember how amazing it felt when I could let them go off while I read on my lounger. Does it get any better?

If you have a grandparent who asks, you could say you would like money toward your membership or that could even make a great Christmas gift. You would always think of Grandma’s generosity at the pool!

Take your kids to the farmer’s markets! My city has a ton and they are so popular. There is even music at many of them. You can buy breakfast!

Take them to pick strawberries! I will never forget when we were making a bucket list and my twins were maybe 10. I asked, “would you all like to pick berries?” and Mason replied, “No, thank you. I’m not really into agriculture.” Um, ok, Mason, I wasn’t asking about your career goals.

Feed your kids outside! Less mess and I always found that it led to them wanting to stay outside and play! We took picnics to parks, too. Our kids are seriously nature deprived – even at the high school level.

We had our cousins over once a week in the summer and that was the day I generally stayed home and did a few things like laundry. The cousins were wonderful for entertaining my kids and I think they all have special memories. As they got older, we did crazy things like the Mentos in the 2 liter soda bottle outside, those pop it fireworks things outside, slip n slides and stuff like that.

Hammocks are wonderful and we read in ours a lot!

I did some things with my friends and their kids like the zoo!

We almost always had an afternoon movie before dinner.

Take the toys outside! They loved playing with cars outside.

Join the library summer reading! Go to the library story hours and FYI, the library offers so much more. Our library had a guy who made fighting robots. There was a raptor rehab program and they got to see those up close. Basically, get on your library email list or website and pencil all of their activities in.

For many summers, I dropped my kids off for 3 hours at their daycare once a week for my errand or appointment day. It was absolutely worth it. I was able to be fully present on the other days. I took them on the errands that I thought were fine for kids and pushed everything else to Wednesdays. You could also do the same with a sitter or a family member.

We did crafts at least once a week.

I would get out an old forgotten toy and leave it on the table for them to see when they woke up. That bought me some morning coffee time! Ha!

I let them play “car wash” where I got some buckets of soapy water and they washed all the bikes and riding toys outside. This idea came from my friend Katie!

Another thing that I did that they really loved was…we picked a different school playground to visit each week. There are some really cool playgrounds and they loved exploring new ones. Cheap entertainment!

We had someone over for a playdate about once a week.

Our movie theater had a $1 movie at 10 am. We went to that a few times.

We had a good balance of staying home and going out to do things. I think a lot of kids really just want to be at home. They are going, going, going during the school year.

What ideas do you have for my readers? Do you struggle in the summer?

Amy

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

April 8th was my one year anniversary of my better health journey. May has been crazy and I haven’t tracked my food every day – or I will track through lunch and then stop. I would say I am really in survival mode just with finishing school stuff. I have still been eating pretty well for breakfast and lunch and I have still been doing meal prep. Things have fallen off the rails a little bit in the afternoons and evenings. I have gained a few pounds back.

I have had a sweet tooth since Easter which is a problem…

As far as the gym goes, I have gone at least 3 mornings a week and I am trying to get back to 4 or 5 this week.

I have really been craving salads and I continue to aim for 30-40 grams of protein a meal. I am also continuing to educate myself on nutrition and healthier alternatives to bring into my house.

These salad kits are great! I have been adding chicken to these.

Here is another one that came in more of a container from Trader Joe’s. Kroger has a wide variety, too.

This was an Asian mix:

I made my turkey meatballs Sunday and this is what the family had for dinner:

This was my variation:

I bought these at Trader Joe’s for my kids, but surprisingly, they are only one WW point per puff! I need to buy more because they were a hit with them.

Tom and I are on a yogurt kick. We are enjoying Oikos Pro strawberry with some frozen strawberries and high protein granola. I think the frozen berries are better because if you let them thaw in the yogurt a bit, it gives you a nice syrup to mix in. Yum! It kind of reminds me of the McDonald’s fruit and yogurt parfait.

These have saved me this month. I bought them at Costco and I put half in the freezer. I will not eat anything I don’t like. I just won’t do it. The ready made strips I have tried from other brands are slimey and gross. These are not slimey and gross.

I am anxious to try a few things new things when school lets out…

Follow Snackin_n_trackin on IG. This is like a copycat frozen lemonade. Genius! I plan to mix vanilla Premier with some of my Mio lemon flavored syrup and see how that goes. I plan to freeze the mixture.

I want to try this “sub in a tub” idea from theashleyaf:

I am obsessed with buffalo sauce and this salad is just a work of art:

I believe I need to give credit to allie carte dishes for this one!

I also want to do the Big Mac in a bowl again; so delicious!

I honestly think changing my IG feed to healthy eating accounts has done a world of good for me!

I have requested Daphne Oz’ new cookbook “Eat Your Heart Out” from my library and look forward to getting new ideas that way, too!

I always plate my food and make it look nice. I think that is really important. I try not to stand up and eat or do too much “tasting”.

I am a little nervous about the freedom that summer brings – no packing of my breakfast and lunch – but I want to also enjoy that freedom and try some new food combinations.

Do you have any recommendations for me? What have you been enjoying lately? Do you naturally eat healthier in the summer?

Amy

Monday, May 23, 2022

Ok, Amy, you can do this…four more days with underclassmen (seniors finished Friday) and then two teacher work days.

I am linking up with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday!

I feel like I have really been phoning it in in so many areas of my life lately. If you read my blog and think I have it all together – I most certainly do not.

Let’s go back to Friday. I had food days in 3 classes and it was exhausting. I do all the set up and clean up, but it’s so worth it to see how excited the kids get. They have to make an authentic-ish dish alone or with a partner. They are so proud and want you to try what they made. So sweet!

I also said good-bye to my two senior classes (they had food days the week before) and I couldn’t keep it together. I kinda think they like it when you get emotional because it shows that you care, you know? I said something to the effect of:

“I know you all are sick of me right now but I hope you will have a few warm fuzzies for me after time has passed. I can’t remember feeling as close to a group of students in a really long time. I think it’s because we went through something really hard together. I hope you have understood my teaching philosophy – to have fun with learning, to not take yourself too seriously, to take risks with language, and that the more you give, the more you will get out of it.”

I said a few more things and made them laugh at the end.

Whew – I hate getting emotional.

It’s also been a huge adjustment to having four of us in the house again. Mason is working a lot and Jack is working a fair amount. We are still finding our groove and I am figuring out how to shop and cook for four again.

Friday after school I had the house to myself because all my peeps were at work. I bought another pack of these because they are really good.

Everyone arrived home and I made tacos for them and avocado toast for me. The kids went to a play together put on by Jack’s old theatre. They were doing the Shakepeare in the Parking Lot again and both of my kids apparently love and understand Shakespeare. I do not!

I took a shower and did my first set of press on nails.

I picked them up at CVS on an Instagram rec from a former student. I am imPRESSed! Get it?

Now, almost 48 hours later – they still look really good and they don’t bother me at all. I stuck them on, cut them, and then filed them. I have washed lots of dishes and cooked lots of food, and I have taken two showers. If you get them, read the directions. I looked on their website and there are tons of cute designs.

Saturday morning I did all the things. I did laundry, cleaned, read outside with my coffee, went to Trader Joe’s, Kroger, walked..

Then, I made Tom and I a bagel breakfast sandwich to split and we went down to work on the boat.

We took Ernie and he swam. We weren’t ready to take it out yet because the battery was dead and it was really dirty from the long winter in the storage barn.

Tom brought Ernie and I home and he ran some errands for house stuff and I made a Trader Joe’s salad and added more chicken. It was really good!

Then, I got ready for our friends to come for dinner. Here is my new Old Navy dress:

I saw it all over the internet and fell in love with this color. It has pockets! Yes, it is a big nightgownish, but I am going with it!

I made veggies…

and a small charcuterie with my new board…

strawberry salad…

brussel sprouts with balsamic glave, potatoes, bbq chicken, and ciabatta. It reminded me how much I enjoy cooking for friends.

For dessert, I had Dove ice cream bars in a couple of flavors.

It had rained off and on, but the night ended up being so lovely.

And then it rained a bit yesterday morning and I sat under cover…my favorite thing to do basically!

My last Sunday meal prep of the school year! I baked a couple of potatoes, did hard boiled eggs, 4 breakfast burritos because Friday we don’t have students and I might do something different for breakfast, and…

ground turkey meatballs for a couple of different meals:

I am doing buffalo bowls for Erica and I – cauli rice, buff sauce, these, celery, and ranch and doing meatball subs for the fam and I will probably have sauce, meatballs, and my soy pasta.

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Amy

Friday, May 20, 2022

It’s Friday and it’s time to link up here for Friday Favorites! Today is our last day for seniors, but underclassmen still have until next Thursday. It seemed like it would never get here, but now things are happening quickly.

Monday afternoon I made plans to have two friends over for happy hour since I didn’t think I had to work the following day – Election Day. It turned out I did, but I kept my plans. I met the two ladies when our kids were in elementary school; we met because all of our kids walked and we met up at a certain door for “walkers”. They both have older kids than mine and younger kids. This year I have had the pleasure of teaching their younger kids who are seniors. So crazy!

I didn’t expect this at all; they gifted me some wine and a…

charcuterie board.

It was so sweet.

I voted in our primary at the end of my work day. It was cute that my kids walked to vote together when they finished work and our polling place was their middle school. Fun fact: it is also the middle school where actress Jennifer Lawrence attended.

Erica, Elizabeth and I had lunch out on a gorgeous patio that day, too. We shared some fries and…

I had some delicious thai chicken wraps.

That night, Tom and I had dinner on another patio with his boss and his boss’ wife. We went to the Cuban place called Havana Rumba.

I had a sangria, but then chose a salad with chicken and so did Tom. Everything there is delicious!

This is really yummy! I have been mixing this brown sugar cinnamon syrup with my…

fat free half and half for my coffee. I froth the two items up a bit before adding them to my coffee.

This popped up in my Facebook memories. We got Ernie in March and this was our first summer with him, I think. He soon became too big for this chair.

I told you all I didn’t know where to buy my towels for the new bathroom and some readers suggested Costco. Of course! I can’t believe I didn’t think of that! These towels are Charisma brand and super soft. I bought two bath sheets for $13 each, four bath towels for $7 each, and then two four packs of washclothes and handtowels. I decided to do a combo of grey and a grey-ish white. We have them rolled in this basket – photo was before I made them look nicer. We also ordered and received a hall runner rug for the hallway that matches the one in the bathroom. Safavieh Madison is the name and it came from Amazon for a really good price. The quality is really good! We now have five rugs by this brand.

We didn’t really have enough space for a towel bar, so we decided to do hooks. I think I like them better!

I posted about my summer reading list this week here and I made a trip to the library this week.

I saw this on the shelf and picked it up:

This was one that I requested:

Bring on the summer reading!

What were your favorites this week?

Amy