Monday, December 20, 2021

Not sure if the link up with Heather and the others is happening today but I thought I would still recap my weekend. I don’t know how much I will post this week so I would like to just keep my schedule loose. Hope that’s o.k. with you! I would say it will be quiet in blogland, but this is when I have more time.

Let’s go back to the end of the day Friday. Friday was fine. I was glad that I did my exams Wednesday and Thursday because that made Friday less stressful. We were able to do a few fun things and I returned exams and they knew their grades before the break. There was a TikTok challenge/rumor to do anonymous security threats in high schools so that was fun – not. When will this end? Do we really need another challenge besides Covid?

My sweet twin girls in AP gave me a mug that said my teacher name by Rae Dunn!

Another sweet AP girl gave me a gratitude journal that says “Good Vibes” in Spanish.

I also got a lottery ticket! How creative! I got a few coffee gift cards and a donut gift card. I don’t expect anything and a note is still always my favorite and I save them all!

After school, we had a faculty happy hour at a place nearby called “Joe’s Older Than Dirt”.

I did not indulge in the happy hour snacks, but did have a couple of drinks.

Erica:

Me, dreaming of a two week break:

I don’t know where we got the energy, but I stayed about 4 hours. I had only planned on staying for 1 hour!

This was really funny; the bartender announced that someone wanted to make a toast but the “toast” was a request for the only remaining administrator to buy the next round and he did it!

Yup, this 50 year old hung with the young ones who were the last remaining except for a couple older than me. I went home and ate a later than normal dinner with Tom, Jack, and Mason.

Saturday morning I enjoyed my new mug!

Then, I had a peppermint mocha cold brew protein!

At 10:00 I met my friend Victoria at an indoor flea market.

Egg nog with bourbon! I waited until about 11:00 – don’t worry!

We had a lot of fun chatting and shopping. We both found a few things.

That evening we had a party to go to. The hosts Mike and Beth are married and both were in my high school class.

Tom with another high school friend, Dan:

Yum! Don’t worry the recipe is coming below…

Their lovely daughter was the bartender:

Both drinks were delish and I plan to make them! Maybe you need a cocktail for this week?

Now I want to make chocolate fondue for our holiday!

It was really nice!

Sunday morning I got up and enjoyed my coffee and then did not do meal prep. It was nice to take a break from my rigorous weekly meal prepping. I did laundry, cleaned, organized and felt so free because no school on Monday! I also evaluated all of my gifts and made my list for Monday shopping.

Tom is off this week, too, but he will go back to work two days after Christmas. Tom and I are going to be shopping today because we didn’t want to fight the traffic and crowds this weekend.

Yesterday was a super lazy day and I needed it!

What are you up to today? I hope you have some time off, too!

Amy

Thursday, December 16, 2021

I thought we would start with a little humor. I will never give up cheese! I am using way less butter, but I don’t think it is evil by any means. I can live without much pasta. Chips are a gateway drug for me. I really do have to be careful around chips!

One night for dinner we had a ton of roasted veg with chicken, gouda, apple sausage and a half of a baked potato. I had lots of points left so I indulged in some Trader Joe’s ciabatta bread. This was a filling meal.

The spread of veg:

One night for dinner we had the Greek bowls and I added air fryer fries. I also made a siracha mayo dipping sauce. I love this meal!

I have popcorn almost every day. I cannot live without it!

I really like this cherry Bubly.

For our lunches this week I made ground turkey shepherd’s pie again.

This is what the base looks like:

Then, I topped it with mashed potatoes – with very little skim milk and butter. This is so delicious and gave us tons of veggies.

On the weekends I try to make something a little different for breakfast and one day recently I made a vegetable omelette and had extra veg on the side.

I have been adding this from Costco to my eggs and vegetables:

These are really good! I am excited to try a few more dishes with them.

I have been loving this shake with peppermint!

This creamer has been festive for the season!

And, I have plans to do more of this peppermint hot chocolate!

Erica made this fish taco bowl for lunch one day – yum! I had my doubts about heating up fish but it worked. She did a good job!

Then, a few days later I made our family’s favorite burrito bowls but used cauliflower rice for mine.

I plan to make my buffalo chicken dip soon. It is a great strategy to bring a healthier option to a holiday function.

That is one of my strategies for sure! But, I will also enjoy and indulge because this is a lifestyle and not a diet. It is a marathon and not a sprint.

These strategies are probably more for me than for you! In the comments, leave me a healthy strategy of yours!

I plan to employ many of the same strategies that I used over Thanksgiving break.

-Exercise everyday or as much as I can.

-Each holiday is only one day. I can celebrate Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve. The other days are normal days and not holidays.

-Do not go anywhere hungry. Pack a snack if I am out shopping or running errands when I could get hungry.

-Do not skip breakfast because I will be eating later. Continue to eat a healthy breakfast and lunch if I am indulging at dinner.

-Only indulge in the foods I really love. I can pass on a packaged cookie but there are certain homemade treats that are worth it!

-Stock my fridge and pantry/keep them stocked with the healthier choices that I have been eating and love to eat.

-Continue to plan meals and plan for the indulgences.

-Wear jeans at least once a week to keep myself in check.

What did I forget?

Amy

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

We are in the home stretch! As you are reading this we only have 3 more days of school. In case you are curious, each of my classes has a final round table discussion in Spanish about winter break and holiday plans, a vocabulary test over all the vocabulary we learned this semester, and a multiple choice grammar test. Sometimes I also do a reading and a listening test, but that was too much for this year. I also am asking them to do a reflection on the semester; I gave them questions about their experience with school in general, my class, and their assessment of their own learning. Anyone want to grade all this for me? I am so happy that our first day back after the break is a teacher day. This should always be the norm.

Here are a few things I have worn lately. First, I wore my new Amazon top with a Michael Kors vest (old from TJ Maxx) and my scotch tape leggings. I probably won’t wear this outfit again.

My Loft blouse came in! A girl told me it look like her grandma’s quilt. Yes, chica, you are correct; it is a quilt pattern and I love it!

Here I wore my new Madewell sweater. It is my first and only piece of Madewell clothing. Target Universal Thread is my Madewell if you catch my drift. I wanted a cream sweater with a polo collar and buttons and that I got. Madewell is super expensive, no?

I am in love! I think I will get my $20 worth out of my new Costco short lined booties.

Another view of the sweater:

I went into Loft to exchange sizes of my new Wine and Cheese sweater; they had to order it for me so I can’t show it to you yet. But, I did see this pleather skirt and took a chance by trying it on and I love it! Anyone able to pick me up on their bike later? It is not as short as it looks and I am only 5’4.

On my way to meet Victoria last week, I stopped in to my fave consignment store and I hit the jackpot. The salesclerk asked if I came in looking for Chico’s. I did not, but that is what I found, and two of the items were new with tags! The other two were like new. I got all of this for less than $60. One item had an original tag of $130. One person’s shopping mistake is another person’s treasure, you feel?

Chico’s So Slimming girlfriend jeans:

Let’s hope they live up to their name. You gotta love Chico’s sizing, right? That will probably be the only way I am ever a 2. Chico’s jokes – I am sure they hear that one multiple times a day.

This vest:

This vest:

I like to wear stuff like this to school to make the students wonder if I killed multiple animals. A little fear/mystery is always a good thing as a high school teacher.

Yes I do like me some vests. They hide your love handles on the sides if you know what I mean.

And, finally this basic layering piece:

Chico’s makes great basics like this. The fabric is really nice and you know that you are getting high quality. It washes well, too.

My co-worker said her 70 year old mother-in-law shops at Chico’s. Well, now that I am 50, I can, too. But, the vibe of the items I found is much younger. There is old lady Chico’s and there is younger old lady Chico’s, if you know what I mean.

So…do you have a favorite outfit of mine from the last week? Are you tired of them? I kinda am.

Which is your favorite purchase of mine?

I know I said I wasn’t going to shop for clothing but I am just so easy to buy for.

I have been weeding out my too big clothing and I am now working with much fewer things. I do believe that you should feel your best along the way, too.

I always keep a donation bag or two in my closet. This past weekend I got to donate to the tornado victims in Western Kentucky and Tom also really came through with lots of his cast offs that are all super nice. We found coats, too, that we thought might be needed. My sweet former student put out a call for donations and she came and picked it up. She goes to college in the city that was hit hard. I was glad I had put off taking them to donate elsewhere.

Alright guys, I will be back tomorrow with another edition of Eating Lately and my holiday/break strategies. Friday will be Favorites!

Amy

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

O.k. – drop everything and go get the stuff to make this! I.am.obsessed and I am getting 15-30 grams of protein, baby!

I think I came up with this totally on my own so I am extra proud.

You need: half or whole chocolate Premier Protein, pure peppermint extract, and

instant coffee crystals.

Mix your crystals with a bit of water. I probably use about a tablespoon of crystals and a tablespoon of water. It depends on how strong you like the coffee flavor. Add about 1 tsp. of peppermint extract (again you can make stronger if you like). Mix it well, add ice, and then pour your chocolate shake over it. The flavors of mocha peppermint are now yours to have. If you use half of the shake it is one WW point and if you use the whole it is two WW points.

Let me know if you try it!

Amy

Friday, December 10, 2021

Happy Friday to all! But, time slow down – we are at 15 days until Christmas! Eeeeeek! I am linking up today with Andrea,etc. right here.

I had to laugh at Tom using 2 leaf blowers at once and I posted this on social media saying “Can you tell Tom is a twin Dad or what?” I have so many funny pictures of him holding both boys at once.

Our weather has been crazy!

It went from high 60s Sunday to really, really cold on Monday. Sunday evening I turned on the patio lights for a bit.

My decor is almost done. It is very simple and minimalist this year. I just don’t have a lot of surfaces for stuff and I really don’t like a lot of stuff. I decided to stop doing what I thought I should do and only doing what feels right for me and my home.

I want lights and candles and cozy. I like to put more time into gift shopping, cooking, and baking.

I have also taken the time on weekday mornings this week to turn the lights on and burn a candle. Why save those simple pleasures for just the weekends?

I used the skinny pizza dough this week to try a small buffalo chicken pizza using the buffalo chicken dip, a bit of cheese, celery, and some added buffalo sauce. Um…. yum!

I also made a normal one. Has anyone tried the dough from My Bizzy Kitchen yet?

Tom won a really big project for his company and I wanted to celebrate him. I have been using my retro Target plates that I just love and I put some Arizona tea…

in a champagne flute. He thought it was sweet!

I made the pink meringues! This is a family recipe that screams Christmas to us. I made them for Spanish Club for our cookie exchange.

Erica and I (another Spanish teacher and my meal prep partner) have had a week of amazing meals!

We had Greek bowls with cauliflower rice, chicken, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, and tzatziki one day.

One day we had mushroom chicken, broccolini and potatoes.

The Spanish Club cookie exchange. Each person brought 24 cookies and I gave them all a container from The Dollar Tree – some were poinsettias (native to Mexico) and some were snowflakes. They wore a rubber glove and chose one of each type of cookie so they went home with 24 different cookies. It was a big hit!

We also made cards for hospitalized kids as shared by Andrea. I emailed the contact and asked if we could do them in Spanish and they were very happy to have us do that!

It warms my heart to see kids give up their after school time to do stuff like this. It sucks to have to do this in masks but it is our current reality and I feel that I need to model the attitude of “we are doing life normally except for the mask”.

Our local catholic schools dropped their mask mandate this past Monday. What are schools in your area doing? I am in a very large public school district so I fear we will be in masks for a long, long time. My sister is in Ohio but she thinks we might even be in them next year. At what point will we consider that the damage by being in masks too long might be worse? Honestly, I don’t know the answer. I guess it is a small thing, but is it? I’m just thinking out loud here.

I have been having this as my morning snack. I open a laughing cow and sprinkle a bit of everything seasoning and then dip a few celery sticks in. I love it!

I think I have learned to never order a skinny margarita or any margarita out because I think mine is so much better. After last weekend, I think I have learned the same about avocado toast. I have this as an afternoon snack many days after school. I hope you don’t find these two statements to be bragging; I just really love my versions!

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

Amy

Wednesday, December 6, 2021

Here is a snapshot of what I’ve been wearing lately…

On this day I wore my Lucky brand black booties, my light Target jeans, an old Old Navy short sleeved black watch plaid, and a Land’s End cardigan (old).

On this day I wore my same black booties, my new black jeans, an old Old Navy black boho top, and an Old Navy hot pink vest.

Here I wore my TJ Maxx leave blouse that I bought back in August, I think. It has little greenery that looks kinda Christmasey. I have on darker Target jeans, my Amazon belt, and old cognac Jack Rogers booties.

Saturday I wore a different pair of jeans, black booties, and my knit leopard duster for my day with my niece.

Sunday I ran to Anthro and wore the lighter jeans, the cognac booties, and another TJ Maxx blouse from early fall.

And, a school outfit…I wore my Tieks, my Matilda Jane velvet pants, a knit cardigan, and my Feliz Navidad t-shirt from Target.

And, another school outfit…my new Loft blouse came (only one of the three items I ordered came in) and it is perfection. It is super soft. I wore it with my Matilda Jane layered flairs and booties.

Meh…I guess my favorite outfit was the third one – the blouse with the greenery. I am anxious to wear the new Loft blouse with something else.

I am working my way through my winter clothes to see what fits my body and my style. My goal was to wear 15 different outfits before the break. I don’t have much energy to put together cute outfits for school right now to be honest. I just want to be comfortable.

What have you been wearing lately?

Any favorites from above?

Amy

Monday, December 6, 2021

Wow – that weekend sure went by quickly! I am linking up today with Heather, etc. right here. (I am trying not to use so many exclamation points. I had to just change that last sentence. Can one person really exclaim that much? )

How was your weekend? Ours was unseasonably warm. Basically it was the weather we were supposed to have had on Thanksgiving Break.

Friday after school I busted out of those doors just as quickly as I could because it was 60 freaking degrees!

Erica came over for a quick margarita and to borrow some vests for her family photos and then Heather below took her spot for some charcuterie, conversation, and cocktail. I made her an Aperol Spritz. We fancy?

Tom came home and the three of us sat on my back deck until it was quite dark – around 6:00.

After Heather left I went and did my Kroger pick up and then an even better pick up….Mason! Jack needed the car so I was happy to be the Lyft driver. Mason wanted to come home for a distraction free environment to write his final semester papers.

Night driving…I hate it. I have an astigmatism so the lights look distorted. I need to find this meme that shows the difference between no astigmatism and astigmatism. Anyone else?

Mason and I watched a Gilmore Girls and then he worked Friday night and most of the day Saturday while Tom went hiking with a buddy and I had a shopping date with my niece Morgan.

We went to Butchertown Market/Work the Metal which I have mentioned before. It is a really large space with kid stuff, kitchen stuff, clothing and accessories, and more. It is a really great place to find gifts.

Um….and they have $1 mimosas. Morgan had an apple cider and I had a cranberry.

Then, we headed to the area called NULU which I have also mentioned. It is an abbreviation for New Louisville – an area of downtown that has been revitalized. We went in about 3 or 4 shops but I only bought a candle. I was looking for the Pickwick Mahomes for the Holiday candle and I knew the plant store Mahonia carried it. They only had Holiday so I got that and it smells amazing. Use your candles, people! Do not save them! Ha – just a little PSA.

We were both curious about this new business that only just opened a couple of weeks ago.

We tried a flight of a few different flavors. They are alcoholic but they also have non-alcoholic.

The vibe was super cute but honestly the seltzers were not fizzy enough for me or maybe anyone. I wished I had brought a Topo Chico in my purse to liven it up. It tasted like you had had a party and someone drank half of a White Claw and left it there and you were a slob and left it there for maybe 7 days and then drank it.

After that, we were hungry and headed to Frankfort Avenue which is a cute street of restaurants and we picked The Hub.

You gotta have fries!

Morgan got chicken and grits and I got…

tiny little avocado toasts.

We parted ways after lunch and I went home.

Around 6, Tom, Mason, and I went to try a new to us place called Falafel House. Sadly, they had no indoor seating.

We had to eat in the car before going in to a beautiful church as part of Bardstown Road Aglow to hear Jack sing.

They were awesome and it was the first time we have gotten to hear Jack sing in person because everything was live streamed last year due to Covid. Jack decided to come home with us for the night and it was already 10 by the time we got home.

I slept in until 8:00 a.m.! Teacher Tired!

I had my coffee and read and then jumped right into meal prep.

I did my 5 breakfasts for the week, Greek bowls, and this turkey sausage vegetable mixture. Erica has 3 lunches this week. It takes me a good amount of time but it really is so worth it to have all of my containers ready to go.

I also made the Trader Joe jumbo cinnamon rolls that I forgot to use for Thanksgiving for the three guys. Kim told me to get them and she is right again. I had to test a bit of one for quality control.

So, speaking of teacher tired and so many things I have to accomplish before December 17 in my professional and personal life, I am going to reduce my blog posts to 3 per week for now. I will be back Wednesday for What I Wore and Friday for Friday Favorites.

I hope you had a great weekend! Let me know in the comments what you did if you feel inclined.

Amy

Friday, December 3, 2021

Happy Friday! That first week back to the grind after a break is always exhausting! I am linking up today with Andrea, etc. right here.

Here are some favorites from the week…

Ernie helps me load the dishwasher.

He started his Trader Joe’s advent calendar this week, too!

I received two magazines in the mail this week!

I made a batch of the dough!

I had pizza, one breadstick, broccoli, and potato wedges for dinner one night.

I have been trying to wear my winter stuff this week. As I get dressed in the morning, I am finding so many things that are just too big. I decided to look at a Loft sale and ordered enough to get free shipping. I will let you know what works and what I end up returning to my local store.

This was a true impulse purchase:

This was love at first sight! I love the color and pattern!

And, I love a black and white plaid!

I’m also taking a chance on an Amazon top recommended by Honey We’re Home blog.

I had my students write a thank you letter in Spanish last week and apparently some other teachers had their students make cards. I also got a few cards that kids did on their own. Basically I have never gotten thanked so much in the month of November! I think the kids feel more appreciation to us after the pandemic.

High school students think it’s funny when they know what cars their teachers drive!

I was invited by a sweet girl to her college sport signing day this week.

I have so much to do this weekend! I have to decorate and shop on top of the general house chore stuff. December is always so crazy and the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are so packed. Jack and Mason are taking finals right now and move home next week.

I hope you had lots of favorites this week, too!

Amy

Thursday, December 2, 2021

It is time! The dough deserves its own post! I have been mentioning it often in my posts and I realized I just needed to dedicate a whole post to it.

A big thank you to Kim, my blog reader and friend, for sharing this with me when I started my journey! Also, a big thank you to Biz of My Bizzy Kitchen for developing this dough. Ever heard of the WW 2 ingredient dough? Well, Biz made it way better with a couple of additions. The reason why this dough is so amazing is that it is only 1 WW point per ounce. You can do other things with it, too. I have made breadsticks and bagels but I know you can do cinnamon rolls, buns, empanadas, and more!

It is really, really hard to eat regular pizza without blowing your daily points allowance. I love my pizza made with this dough so much that I really haven’t missed “real pizza”.

You need: 2 cups of self rising flour, a half of a cup of greek, non-fat yogurt, a teaspoon of yeast, and a half teaspoon of salt. You also need 1/2-3/4 cup of water. Start with 1/2 cup and then add a bit more if needed. I try to always keep these ingredients on hand.

Mix those 5 ingredients together and let rise in your bowl with a towel over it for a few hours. I then transfer it to the fridge and it really gets better the longer you wait to use it.

I roll mine out on a bit more flour and then add sauce and cheese and whatever vegetables I have ready. I bake mine at 450 for about 8 minutes but I am going to try it in my new air fryer on the pizza setting next time.

I have also made little breadsticks if I feel that I need some carbs to go with my meals.

And, the dough makes great bagels.

I am excited to experiment more with this dough. Honestly, one should maybe always have this dough on hand in the fridge.

Be sure to check out the My Bizzy Kitchen for more ideas; she has way more than just the dough.

Anyone else tried this?

Amy

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

It is December! If I can muster the energy after school today I will start getting my Christmas decor out.

Here is a little snapshot of what I’ve been wearing along with a bit of fashion talk.

This is what I ended up wearing on Thanksgiving Day. It was rainy and I knew I would be hanging in my sister-in-law’s kitchen so I went with something not too hot. I would have never chosen jeans in the past I don’t think because I do like to dress up normally. But, the jeans felt good and served as a bit of accountability for me.

The next day I wore my new black jeans with another blouse and a vest. It got much colder out so I needed another layer.

I tailgated Saturday in my leggings and sweater – both from Amazon and influenced by my blog friend Jen! I bought both last year and Jen really does pick well from Amazon. I added an old Old Navy quilted vest and my Amazon purse with my Fucci strap (faux Gucci).

Sunday night I did a mediocre red paint job.

And, Monday for school I broke out my December plaid a bit early. I got a lot of comments that I looked Christmasey.

I have lots of vests that I have had for forever. They are great for teachers because of the pockets and because they add a little bit of warmth without adding too much warmth!

And, another teacher ‘fit. I have had this pink Burberry-esque cardigan from Amazon for several years. The pants are Matilda Jane.

I am going to try to wear a unique outfit for each of the remaining days until winter break because I am seeing what still fits my body and my style. I think I can do it and it will be fun!

Over the break, I was way too proud of myself for making my own raw hem on my too long jeans. I actually think it looks more modern to have this type of hem. I’m not really into the distressed jeans anymore, but I do like the raw hem. I picked up a new pair of black jeans last week and I am excited to have black jeans to wear again.

Also, I ordered two funnel necks that are sooooo soft inside. They are super warm so I don’t know if they will work for school. I ordered them from J.Crew Factory and I sized up one. I could have sized up two sizes I think and I’m hoping they don’t look too boxy. I will try to style them soon. I was influenced by Whitney who has great taste!

I may try to wear the tan and white one with white jeans. I’m not big on white jeans in the winter but I do have a pair that is brand new from J.Crew clearance that were too small.

At this point in the year I get tired of all the oranges, mustards, browns, and other fall colors in my closet so I switch to my plaids, velvets, and lots of red, black, green, burgundy and my winter palette.

My classroom is an oven so I have to be careful not to dress too warmly. Like, I cannot teach in a sweater but I can do a cardigan over a top. Add in the mask and the heat from my computer projector and I am not comfortable if I don’t dress correctly.

I keep telling myself not to buy anything for winter. I really have enough and winter clothes are my least favorite to buy. It has been fun to see what now fits or fits better. I am having to send a few things on because they are too big but for the most part my winter stuff is accommodating to multiple sizes. Also, I am trying to re-discover my style. I don’t want a packed closet anymore. I want to have a more curated collection. I’m also trying to stop with so much Amazon, Old Navy and cheaper brands. Don’t worry, Target. I probably can’t ever quit you!

I have a few questions for you…

Favorite brands of clothing?

What have you been wearing?

Any favorite outfits of mine from the past week?

Happy Hump Day and Happy December 1st!

Amy