O.k., here is a recipe that Tom really, really liked! I have now made it three times and I am really bad about following recipes so each time I have done it slightly differently! Also, I didn’t really know what to call it! I am no food blogger, so I hope I can explain this well. I know we don’t like back stories with our recipes, but indulge me for just a moment!
I saw a recipe and I thought it said Balsamic Chicken, but it actually said Bruschetta Chicken. So, I basically added the balsamic glaze to the bruschetta chicken recipe. I also decided to employ the Tik Tok pasta method and I added angel hair. So, this is really Tik Tok Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken! Whoa!
You need:
chicken (I like the tenders)
grape tomatoes
red onion
basil (if you want; mine went bad so I left it out this time)
garlic
salt
pepper
angel hair (optional – you could do zucchini noodles or just have the chicken)
olive oil
balsamic glaze
mozzarella (I like fresh and I forgot to picture it)
Trigger warning! Raw chicken!
Preheat oven to 400 and assemble your tomatoes, red onion, garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil. Don’t get mad at me, but just throw in the amounts you want. You really can’t mess it up.
That will go in the oven for about 20 minutes.
Now you will use my “moist method” for chicken on the stove top. Trigger warning! Raw chicken!
Season chicken with s, p, and garlic powder if desired. Use medium high heat and put seasoned side down and then season other side. Cook first side until you see white edges.
Flip to other side and cook for about 3 more minutes. Now cover the pan and keep on heat for another 2 minutes or so. Remove from heat but leave lid on. This magically helps to keep chicken moist.
Now drizzle balsamic glaze.
Here’s where my photos kinda dropped off. Your tomato mixture should be done. Take out and smush the tomatoes and mix all around. Put a piece of fresh mozzarella on top of each chicken piece and put in oven for a couple of minutes.
Serve!
Now, this really opens up lots of possibilities. You could totally leave the balsamic out and add this chicken to the true Tik Tok pasta recipe. You could also leave the pasta out and just add the chicken.
I find myself wondering why I haven’t been doing this to tomatoes all of my life. I really like the flavor!
Also, in the summer I love to do a grape tomato and a tiny mozzarella ball on a toothpick and then drizzle balsamic. The flavors are amazing.
I am happy to link up today with The Style Six here!
What have you been wearing lately?
On St. Patrick’s Day, I wore this old top from Costco, consignment Matilda Jane pants, my Madewell sneakers, and my consignment necklace that is Kate Spade inspired and looks like shamrocks. I also used my yellow bag. I had a work day at home with no live classes and some meetings via Zoom. But, I ran to the grocery to make my St. Patrick’s Day meal happen!
Saturday I ran to the mall. I wore my Pioneer Woman Umgee kimono from Amazon (it’s not really Pioneer Woman, but I think it looks like her dishes!), my new Etsy red clogs, and some old tan Hue jeggings. I didn’t really like the look of the jeggings when I saw this photo.
Saturday night I wore my newish top with black Matilda Janes, black clogs, and I carried my snakeskin clutch that was a birthday present from one of my besties. Better picture to follow…
My friend Kara was happy to show me her “rule of three” Saturday night. If you aren’t familiar with this concept in fashion, it basically says that you look more pulled together with three items. In this case, her outfit is top, kimono, long necklace that serves as her three. She thought it looked like a very Amy outfit. It does!
Kara is a busy mom of three and very frugal. She got to the point a few years ago where she had very little to wear and needed help. I spent two hours with her at my favorite consignment store and she was simply thrilled. She came away with an entire new wardrobe for around $200 including shoes. I had her pick a color palette. I asked her what activities she was dressing for and what she envisioned wearing. I asked her what she was wearing when she got the most compliments. I made her try on things she wouldn’t have picked. I was quite the task master and it was really fun for me!
Katie was wearing jeans on Sunday that she distressed herself. She used scissors and tweezers to achieve this look and washed them and dried them. This is a fun little project if you have a pair of jeans that you could do this to.
I happened upon a 75% off winter sale at a little housewares/clothing boutique last week and picked up these sneakers for $14!
They are a bit big, but I think I can make them work. I think they look very fallish, but I hope to wear them a couple of times before it gets too warm out.
Happy birthday to my twin niece and nephew Mia and Miles today! They are 14 and headed to high school next year – how is that possible? Yes, my sister copied off of me by having twins 5 years after me!
Example of me saying YES!
I grew up in the Nancy Reagan “Just Say No” campaign era. Did you? I will be talking about a different topic today, though, than what Nancy was talking about.
I used to say NO a lot of the time…
I was really good about saying no to more than I could handle as a working mom. I wanted to be able to be the best mom I could be and I wanted to be the best teacher I could be, so I can as careful not to take too much on. I did juggle several things and was very busy, but I was good about learning to say, “I appreciate you asking but I am unable to add that to my plate right now” at work. And believe me, teachers are asked to be on committees, sponsor clubs, coach teams, and more. And I did it all for my first four years of teaching and it about killed me!
I also had to say no to social things sometimes by saying, “I would love to, but I just can’t do that right now with my kids at this age and a job that I have to be ready to do!”
Me saying YES to the cat café experience!
Now, I am trying to say YES more…
When my kids got older, I realized it was my time to say “yes” to more things. At work, I became department chair again (I held the position until my boys started kindergarten and I said yes to being room mom and different things at their school) and I said yes to being on the hiring committee for several years. I also started saying yes to more social things like book clubs or spontaneous happy hours and dinners out.
When Coronavirus hit, I knew it was even more important to say yes to anything that I thought was safe! There wasn’t much to say yes to!
In the past, I may have been too rigid about my schedule, but I am learning that saying yes more brings so much happiness to me.
Jack and I saying YES to being extras in a movie!
The more you say yes, the more you will be asked. Have you noticed that?
Do you have any friends who always say no and you stop asking? The opposite is true, too!
Saying yes to small things can help you to say yes to bigger things in the future. Maybe we should consider these small yeses as warm ups to bigger ones?
Do any of you always feel like you are the one asking and you never get asked? I think it’s about equal for me. I do half of the asking and get asked the other half of the time. I have talked about this with my sister and a couple of friends. I think there are just naturally those that are the planners in each social circle. Some people just don’t think to invite people but they are happy to be invited. Life is short; don’t get bogged down with who asked whom. Keeping score is exhausting. Put yourself out there and text a friend that you’d like to see them and see what happens.
Also, I should add that we have had different comfort levels during the pandemic. I like to start with, “Are you comfortable going to a patio right now?” or “What is your current comfort level?”
What have you said YES to recently?
What are your thoughts on having a YES mindset?
Do you say NO more often or do you say YES more frequently?
How was your weekend? Mine was really social and really sunny! That is a great combo! I am happy to link up today with Heather, Tanya, and more here.
Friday after my last class, I headed to my deck to read in the sun! I forgot to tell you on Friday that I treated myself to my first pedicure in months Thursday afternoon with Essie’s Bikini So Teeny.
I got to see both boys briefly that afternoon for haircuts. Mason cut off his long hair for his play. He was sad to see it go but wants the play to be really good.
Tom and I went to dinner just the two of us for the first time in forever. We tried a new place called Diamond Street Grub.
I had a dragonfruit margarita.
And, we got fish for me and nachos for Tom. It was way too much food and food that doesn’t save well!
Saturday morning I cleaned out my china cabinet/liquor cabinet. It had gotten so disorganized.
And, I did my Easter/spring decor.
This weekend my high school friend Jim and his wife and two other couples that are friends of theirs and whom I didn’t know stayed in an Airbnb for Jim’s birthday. They invited us to join in their weekend fun – with basically as many breweries as they could visit!
I met up with them at rooftop bar Saturday late afternoon. Tom visited his parents so it was just me.
Jim:
Then, we moved to a brewery and four more of our high school friends joined. Several of us live in Louisville because it is the closest big city to our hometown. This was in a cool courtyard in an area called NULU which means “new Louisville”.
High school friends Mike, Dan, and the birthday boy Jim. Dan told me he reads my blog daily, which is so sweet. He may be my only male reader. Hi Dan! He has two daughters, so maybe he can impress them with something he learns from me? Lol!
Wives – Kara, me, Katie, and Beth. Beth was also my high school friend.
Kara was excited to tell me she was wearing “the rule of three” and knew I would be proud.
I said goodbye around 8 because I had been hanging out since 5. Remember that introverted extrovert thing? I was tired. I would also like to mention that all of us were fully vaccinated except maybe one and it was a good feeling to finally take pictures together.
Sunday Tom and I met Jack with lunch to watch a baseball game at his college, because Tom and I enjoy baseball. He isn’t that into sports but he obliged us.
We tried a new fast food place called “Jaggers” owned by Texas Roadhouse.
It was nice to see all the people sitting on the hill watching the game.
We said goodbye to Jack and went to three more places with Jim and his friends. I got a bourbon slushie at one of the places.
Then, Tom and I took Jim and his wife back to their Airbnb and sat around and talked for a bit.
They had snacks and I brought guacamole and plantain chips and goat cheese spread and crackers.
Tom with a plantain chip. He thought they looked like tongues.
My friend Jim and his friends live in Cincinnati, Ohio which is only about 1.5 hours away. We made a pact to go visit them this year.
We were wiped out and headed home to our empty nest for a quick dinner and a couple of shows. We were outside for much of the day and the sun felt great, but it really took it out of us!
I hope you had a lot of sunshine, too! Any highlights?
Happy Friday! I am one week closer to spring break! We have two live class days Monday and Tuesday, and then three asynchronous days before break. Teachers report back to my school building on Thursday and Friday for training, meetings, and set up. It is surreal!
I am linking up today with Andrea, etc. right here.
Here are some things that made me smile this week:
I showed you my new to me consignment kimono on Wednesday here and I thought I would show you that I wore it for my weekly happy hour date. If you are looking for an easy outfit, jeans, t-shirt, kimono really could be the answer! Yes, I am getting as much wear out of the white booties as I can!
I met Elizabeth, my French teacher friend, at Parlour which is a pizza place. They have a new and improved patio and really good cocktails.
I am almost finished with this. I took photos of books at the bookstore and then requested them through my library website. This was mildly entertaining but predictable. Husband cheats on wife, wife goes to Paris.
I got kind of bored so I started this and it is fun and a quick read. I am almost done with this one, too. Girl has accident, has amnesia, and tries to regain her identity.
For St. Patrick’s Day, I did a surprise ham, cheese, and egg breakfast sandwich to go for hub.
I got this text when he opened it at work.
He thought it was green eggs and ham; this is his sense of humor.
I have been self-tanning but my hands have been white. So, I did a little trick. You put a bit of self-tanner on the back of one hand and then rub the back of the other hand on top. I tried to take a photo of me doing this but it was a hot mess.
On our St. Patrick’s Day walk, Ernie and I noticed this patch of clover. I tried to find a four leaf but then got bored.
A sign of spring!
I made an Irish dinner, too. I told Tom to get ready and he asked if we were having “famine”. As a joke, I had a plate ready for him with just one potato on it.
But, seriously, I made Jen’s meal! I will be making this again.
I left out the raisins in the Irish soda bread.
And, this butter is ah-mazing!
I know we are all talking about it, but it’s still so hard to believe it’s been a full year! I love my Bravo shows and I also love a couple of TLC shows like Outdaughtered about the family with quintuplets. It is so weird to see the pandemic play out on these reality shows.
I learned there are two types of people:
Those who used the last year to get in the best shape of their life.
Those who ate and drank their feelings.
I love this quote below! It’s true! I have been kinda emotional this month. I am sad for my students but happy they get to have some time back in school. Our elementary schools opened on Wednesday and I got teary-eyed hearing the school announcements from my yard. I realized I hadn’t heard the “normal” school sounds in over a year. Our colleges have started to announce normal in-person classes for the fall. That made me get teary-eyed. I hope we aren’t jumping the gun.
I am either an introverted extrovert or an extroverted introvert. Who knew? I think I spent my whole life thinking I was an extrovert but I would hit a wall and be done with people. I think I just thought I was a moody b****. Now, I am thinking that I just need a balance. The best definition I have ever heard is…
You are an extrovert if you get energy from being around people.
You are an introvert if you get energy from time alone.
I need both! I am happy doing both. I would think a balance would be good for everyone, regardless of extrovert or introvert status.
And, finally, I want to mention that this past Wednesday was my two week mark after my second vaccination. That is when they say you are fully vaccinated and have about a 94% protection of getting seriously ill or hospitalized from Covid. It is such a wonderful feeling after a year of mental exhaustion and questioning every move. Tom gets his second in two weeks. Now, I am anxious for my boys to get theirs. I am hoping they get the one shot Johnson and Johnson.
I want to recommend Walgreen’s if you have those in your state. I went on their website, made an account (super quick), and was able to make an appointment for just a couple of days away. You go in to the pharmacy and the pharmacist does the injection in a little room, Then you have a 10-15 minute wait to make sure you don’t have a reaction. I walked around the store and shopped. I got my first one in a giant vaccination clinic but they dissed me on my second and told me they didn’t have a spot for me. The first one was a 2 hour wait. So, I enjoyed my Walgreen’s experience way more! My sister in Indiana got hers at Meijer pharmacy (grocery store chain) because she has asthma. So, hope that helps someone. I think age 40 and up will be opening soon in many states. Our state is still on 60 and up and certain jobs.
How was your week? Any highlights? If you missed any posts this week, I did Hello Monday here, Tuesday Tip on homemade honey mustard dressing here, What I Wore Wednesday here, and finally, Thursday Thoughts on routines here.
I appreciate you stopping by and leaving me comments!
Are you a routine-oriented person? I think sometimes the word “routine” has a bad connotation. “My life is so routine” is not a good statement usually. But, I think routines can actually make your life easier. I find that I have to change routines for different times of the year or different seasons of life. I guess for me, routines help with my productivity and the more efficient I am, the more time I have for the fun things in life!
I feel lucky that I am naturally a morning person. But, there were many years that I wasn’t maximizing my mornings. I used to get as much sleep as possible in the morning and then get up and rush around. When my twins were between 1 and 2 years old I finally figured out that I needed some time to myself before they got up. With even just 30 minutes of quiet time I was so much more ready to “mom” and it really did set up our whole day in a good way.
In the summers, I would get out a toy they hadn’t seen in a while and it felt new to them; I would have it where it was the first thing they saw when they came out to the family room. Or, I would prepare an activity for them to do that morning (teacher mom!) So, by getting up early and having my time, I also had time to do this. I also must admit that I had wonderful sleepers.
My favorite way to start my day is to take my coffee on the porch. I am struggling with what to call my new upper patio. I have a lower patio and and upper patio now. So is this new space my deck and the other my patio? What should I call them?
I start my day with 2 ish cups of coffee, a devotional or Bible verse, and my favorite blogs.
The amount of time I spend doing this varies depending on what I have to do that day. After my coffee, I heat up my breakfast, eat it, and then go get ready for the day.
This routine will be changing for the last 8 weeks of the school year as I am going to be going in to my school from 7:00-3:00. I think I will still get up with enough time for one cup of coffee and some reading, but I will probably take my second cup to go.
Around 10 in the warmer months, I have my iced coffee. Sometimes I take this in the car in the summer if I’m running errands.
During the last year, I have walked Ernie during my lunch break. I am hoping to walk him at 3:00 when I get home now.
I love an afternoon ritual of a coffee or a cocktail, but I usually only do the cocktail a couple of times a week. I am pretty disciplined about stopping work around 3-4. It’s easy to work longer when you work from home, but it is not healthy.
With the exception of part of December and part of January, I have a weekly friend date this last year. In the spring and summer I hosted on my patio, but since the fall I have gone to restaurant patios. Routines shouldn’t all be about things you don’t enjoy. You should have routines that bring you pleasure, as well.
This is relatively new, but I am enjoying these routines:
Grocery pick up – Thursdays – so that I am stocked for the weekend.
House cleaning – Friday afternoons after my last class – again, it feels good to have the house clean for the weekend.
Breakfast prep for the week – Sunday mornings – I think I am going to just take a sandwich for lunch when I go back to school. I think that sounds like the easiest thing to eat when I know I won’t have much time.
Laundry – I do my one load of clothing Monday mornings before I start my first class. I do one household load of sheets and towels Friday afternoon with my cleaning.
Making dinner – I start dinner between 4:45-5:00 every week night. I turn on the news or a podcast while I cook.
Shower – I shower and wash my hair most weeknights around 7:00 after dinner. I sleep better when I do this and it makes my morning routine so much easier. I rarely use a hair dryer so it also helps my hair.
Bedtime – I get in bed no later than 10:00. I think 10-6 is optimum for me.
I know some people have Friday pizza routines and that is so fun because it is a family routine. Some people have a special breakfast on the weekends.
I’m sure I have forgotten something! What are your favorite routines?
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! And, happy birthday to my sister Kate who you met here! I am linking up today with The Style Six here today.
This St. Patrick’s Day, I am not in danger of getting pinched if I don’t wear green, but I will most likely repeat my Saturday outfit of white blouse and green necklace. I don’t have a lot of green for some reason!
Just to follow up, I returned this dress. It’s so cute but the fabric is silky and pretty dressy and I just didn’t think I would wear it enough.
I got this instead and have already worn it a bunch!
I got a new kimono! I keep seeing them on retailers’ websites so I think they are still current. I really liked the design and colors in this one.
I love to wear them with swing dresses or with a t-shirt and jeans or shorts. If you read my Hello Monday post this week, I mentioned visiting one of my consignment stores on Sunday, for the first time in a long while. It just seemed kind of weird during the pandemic and they did close for some time. There is some really good stuff to be found! My best tips for shopping consignment are to go often because the inventory changes frequently. Do not buy things just because they are cheap. Know that you will walk out empty handed more than you will find things, or you probably should. Have your color palette at the front of your mind and maybe make a list of holes in your closet. Ask yourself if you can wear the item with at least two or three things in your current closet.
If you are local, I go to Clothes Mentor and Sassy Fox. There are more, but these are my two favorites.
In the last week to teach virtually I have worn my pink camo. This is so soft.
I wore short sleeves one day. I got this at Steinmart a couple of years ago. Sadly, our Steinmart went out of business but I can still shop them online. I just don’t enjoy not having a brick and mortar store to return things to. That is my best tip for online shopping, by the way. I order from retailers that have a brick and mortar store in my area. I hate mailing back returns unless it is Amazon. Amazon makes it easy to drop things off at my UPS store up the road.
I thought my new Target blouse looked good with these old Amazon raffia earrings.
I still have not solved my pants dilemma. I may try to get by with my one pair of black Chico’s pants and my Matilda Jane pants for school. I plan to wear my swing dresses and printed palazzo pants, too. I also have some skirts I can wear. I am totally fine for school and I really don’t need anything. I would rather spend my pennies on fun clothing and not on work clothing!
Have you bought any summer shoes yet? I have not, but…
I am swooning over these shoes for summer, but again, I haven’t ordered any of them yet. I may go to the mall over Spring Break and try some things on.
Note:**** After I wrote this, I started looking at the last pair online again to see how much they were. Apparently retailers can’t keep them in stock, so I went ahead and bought them with the plan to return if they aren’t perfect. I got mine from Tuckernuck with a 10% code down from $48. I know I said I hate returns, but I also don’t want to be sad if I can’t get these later! They are Coconuts by Matisse.
I need to take inventory of current summer sandals and do a post before I buy any more. Any thoughts on the three above pairs?
Now I would like to tell you about these casual/sporty Target shorts. I love the fabric and the pockets. They run a little bit big, but I am happy with that. I may order some other colors. But, I think the darker colors might look better. Do you like my avocado socks?
Our family loves honey mustard! We love it as a dressing and as a dipping sauce. You can use it to dress a salad or to dip chicken or pretzel bites! Yum!
It is really very easy and you can tweak it to fit your tastes or those of your family. I bet you have all of the ingredients in your house, too. I learned to make a lot of things from scratch during the pandemic!
First, a word about salads. If you plan to make a lot of salad, get a salad spinner. I hate wet lettuce but I want to make sure it is clean. I also prefer to chop my own rather than to buy the bag stuff. I like my lettuce cut pretty small. I cut my lettuce, put in this thing, rinse and then spin. It is fun for kids if you want to give them this job! I used to have J and M do this for me!
My kids love egg on a salad. You could put all the toppings on a plate and let people choose.
If you have trouble getting kids to eat salad, try adding croutons. That worked when my kids were young!
Here is what you need for this homemade dressing: Warning: once you make homemade, you will not want to buy the bottle anymore.
1/2 cup mayo (forgot to put this in the photo)
2 T. yellow mustard
1 T. Dijon mustard (You can just use one or the other and it is really just a personal preference. Yellow will make it more like Chick-Fil-A and Dijon will make it more of a pale yellow like in many restaurants.
2 T. honey (again you can add more if you like it more on the honey side)
1/2 T. lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
Add some water to thin it out a bit. I like it a bit thinner for dressing and a bit thicker for dipping sauce.
Add some garlic powder, black pepper, cajun seasoning if you would like. I just add a couple of dashes of each.
I love to make this in a mason jar (Pioneer Woman taught me this) and shake it up really well. Store in fridge or serve immediately.
Let me know if you try this!
I want to work on a lemon vinaigrette for summer! I also want to try to make more ranch and avocado lime ranch dressings.
Who wants to see a lot of food pictures? I am linking up today with Heather, Tanya, and many more here for Hello Monday!
Quitting time on Friday afternoon called for sitting in the sun, reading, and this! The Black Trulys are truly (see what I did?) the best hard seltzers I have tried. If you don’t think you like hard seltzers, give these a try. They have more flavor in my opinion. They are light and refreshing! I got a pack in my last Kroger order.
Friday nights mean Tom comes home from work tired. He will go out, but I know he is ready to stay home, so we usually go out on Saturday night. So, I made fish tacos and we watched some t.v.
Long story, but we have to work on a Saturday or Sunday to set up our classrooms if we want to get paid. So, I got myself up and out the door early Saturday morning and now I am happy with my room arrangement.
Students can only sit in the desks facing the front of the room. I need to do some more posters and arrange some books.
We have new stickers on the floor.
After I worked, Tom and I went to Drake’s for a late lunch. I tried to get a bit into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit with this necklace I bought at a consignment store years ago for like $6 and a white blouse from last year.
I had a sour beer. I am getting into these.
I had a wonderful salad with blue cheese, apples, bagel chips, sunflower seeds and a couple of other things.
We split nachos and…
Tom had sushi.
The college kids came home for dinner! Even though I would have preferred not to cook I know they prefer home cooking after eating their college cafeteria food.
They love when I make a big salad and homemade honey mustard dressing. I will try to put it on the blog soon. It’s really easy!
And, I made balsamic chicken. I think I will do that recipe here soon, too. It’s a new favorite.
We tried Felicity and they don’t think it’s funny enough and they want funny. I agree.
Sunday we had to spring forward and I finally got out around noon and did Dollar Tree, a return to Loft (I had done an online order), and Clothes Mentor consignment store. The Easter stuff is really good at Dollar Tree.
This probably deserves a separate post, but look at these either new or only worn a couple of times shoes I found. All were $20 or under.
These are Tom’s brand below:
That was just in my size alone. You can really find some great things if you are willing to go the consignment route.
I came away with one thing – this kimono. I really liked the colors and I have at least two things that I can wear it with. I always ask myself that.
I saw this photo of Chicago on social media. I love that they do this every year for St. Patrick’s Day. Do you have any plans? I am going to try to make an Irish meal just for Tom and I, but I might decide it’s too much work!
I drove by a couple of Irish restaurants on Saturday afternoon and their patios were packed with people. Not good for Covid, but you can tell people are just ready to celebrate anything and everything.
Sunday afternoon I was super lazy. I read a bit and lounged around after running my errands. The weather turned rainy and cold so I didn’t get any outside time.
The boys were still with us for Sunday dinner and Jack requested Chinese food. We always order one sesame chicken and one orange chicken and the white rice that comes with and a side of fried rice and still have tons leftover.
It was a good weekend. How was yours? It’s hard to believe we are halfway through March. I still have two weeks left before our spring break. I’m really ready for a break from school! I want to have all of my plans ready to go for our first week of in person so I have my work cut out for me for the next two weeks.
I hope you had a fabulous weekend! What was the highlight?
Happy Friday! I hope you had a good week! Here are some highlights from mine, as I link up with Andrea and many more here.
Of course, I have to mention that this is the one year anniversary of “the day the world shut down”. So much has happened and so much has changed for me personally. Mainly I feel grateful for my life. My twins finished high school, my job changed, my twins started college, I got the opportunity to work from home for the first time, we became empty nesters, and we finished some amazing renovations on our house. Yes, I am grateful.
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Did you watch the Oprah, Meghan, and Harry interview? I read The Royal We so some of the things about control seemed true – ha! And, there is no way for an American to know just what entering that life entails, in my opinion. I just don’t know what the point was of airing family issues. Was it so Meghan can stay relevant and keep trending? I love Oprah but she didn’t ask follow up questions or dig too deep. I enjoyed listening to some opinions on the interview this week. As my Dad said, “there are three sides to every story – your side, my side, and the truth.”
I got some good news this week. Our favorite summer event is back! They are not hosting as many as they normally would, but there will be 4 outdoor concerts held on a beautiful stage with food trucks available. We started going to these several years ago and really enjoy them. We were so happy last summer to have some live music to listen to at Captain’s Quarters and Bearno’s By The Bay and at a little brewery – they were outside and we felt safe. But, we really missed these!
We had wonderful weather. Ernie and I enjoyed walking and sitting on the patio.
I had two social outings this week. Tuesday afternoon my friend Beth met me at my new Tuesday place – Red Hog! This makes 3 straight weeks that I have gone there!
I got a mojito because it was so warm out.
It was so nice to catch up with Beth because I think it had been since the end of January.
It was so mild one day this week in the morning that I had my coffee on the patio with a candle – my Woodwick crackle candle. This makes me so happy! The crumpled paper under my ipad is the list of blogs I read.
Wednesday is our asynchronous day without live classes. We have meetings, help students, plan lessons, grade, and anything else we need to do. After my morning meeting I ran to Trader Joe’s during my break; I didn’t have to wait in line and it was really empty. I had needed to stock up on some of the things I keep in the freezer – broccoli, green beans, corn, orange chicken, bagels, and a couple other things. I also made some impulse purchases.
Then, Wednesday at the end of my work day I had a happy hour with my French teacher friend Elizabeth. We tried a new to us place and had a drink called a “Kentucky Lemonade” – bourbon, lemonade, orange liqueur. I also have a cocktail recipe for this and mine is better! Just sayin’! It’s time for me to host more on my patio so I can make the drinks but I have needed to get out.
We split some pretzels and beer cheese. I forgot to take the photo until we had each had one!
These one on one friend dates are really fun for me! And, I am still home in time to share dinner with Tom. I try to make part of the meal ahead of time. After this happy hour I made turkey meatballs with sauce, rice, and zucchini for dinner.
My son Jack and i really bonded over Gilmore Girls. No one was more surprised than me by how much he loved it. Mason started watching later, too, and loved it. Jack watched many on his own but watched with me whenever we were together. He loved the writing and the acting, and just thought it was such a good show. We were so sad when we were done.
So, we have been trying to find another show.
Did you watch Felicity? There are only 4 seasons – one for each year of her college experience. I was shocked to see that it was from 1998! I remember watching it after it had gone off the air and loving it. It is now on Hulu so this is what I am proposing for Jack and I (and maybe Mason!). Mason and I are starting Parenthood which Jack has already watched. I kind of like the idea of having a show I watch separately but I will take any time spent with my kids that I can!
And, watching the sun come up from the patio is a real treat. I don’t know how I will leave my house at 6:45 a.m. in a few weeks! We will get to work from home on Wednesdays which is truly wonderful. And, this will give me a new and better appreciation for summer when it arrives!
The time changes this weekend! I thought this was funny!
I am not sure of my plans for this weekend yet. What are you up to?
