Friday, February 9, 2024

Well, this week went by quickly for me! Did you feel the same? I am happy to link up with Andrea and Erika for some of my favorites that I had this week!

First of all, I think I forgot to tell you, but I made Andrea’s ham tomato cream tortellini and I plan to make the sauce again to use with regular noodles. Jack and Mason had an old friend over last week and I whipped it up and they loved it. If you are looking for an easy, but impressive meal this weekend or next week, try it! It would make a good little Valentine’s dish, too!

I have been like a lizard since the sun came out of hibernation. I have been trying to get a little bit each day. So, that has definitely been a favorite!

Also, I really love this LaCroix limoncello either by itself or with a raspberry lemonade stick mixed right in the can or in a glass with ice. 

I surprised my college kids last weekend with the Subway footlong cookie! We also had spaghetti, Ceasar salad, and Texas Toast. Such an easy meal, but definitely a favorite. We are enjoying a meal with all four of us from time to time lately!

Tom trying to fix his pants is a favorite! He is using my neck reading light!

Jack has an online chemistry of cooking class this semester and had to bake a cake. When he finished and took all of his measurements and photos to upload online, he said we could frost it. I made a simple ganache with chocolate chips and heavy cream and then topped it with mini chocolate chips. So easy and so good! 

I bought myself a frother and it doesn’t froth. What am I doing wrong? I have put skim milk and creamer in it and nothing. It heats it, so that’s nice, but I am still having to use my handheld frother. 

I am enjoying my Val mani this week! It’s a favorite to look down at nice nails.

Jennifer taught us the Youtube screensaver trick and I did it! 

Here is the one I picked: 

I wrote and posted my State of Education post on Wednesday and that was also the day I took a half day off for some adulting I had to do.

I have never taken a half day and this is the first year my district has made that an option. You can either work 8:30-11:45 or 11:45-3:30. I worked in the first half of the day, did my thing, and took myself to lunch with a Joel Gott Sauvignon Blanc and a book…

and a salad. 

I wandered around the mall and heard “Moon River” played by the piano player and teared up. 

I visited Sephora and bought two items my cousin Julie (the makeup connoisseur) had recommended to me:

LYS Beauty cream blush: 

and Rare Beauty Bronzer stick: 

I’m still using my Merit products and they are sold in store at Sephora I noticed. I won’t buy all Merit again, but I do like some of the products that came in my set. I’m still planning to go back to Seint for my foundation/contouring. 

It was absolutely good for me to take a bit of time. My kids were taken care of and it helped me to have energy to get back at it on Thursday. 

Ernie is struggling. He has hurt his back leg and we also think his back hurts. I take him on an after school walk everyday and just let him tell me how far and fast he wants to go. He always wants to go, though. Something is going on with his fur, like he is losing or getting his winter coat?

Blue skies are my favorite, too!

I also had a really nice opportunity to be one on one with Jack this week. We went to our local Spanish/Cuban place and had dinner: 

We had queso fundido, salad, and Chicken Marsala that we shared. 

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

Thank you for all of your support in regard to my Education post. You all are the best and we could go on and on, I think. I want to reiterate that I love my students and I have very few problems in the grand scheme of things. When I do have a problem, I try to tell the classes why and explain how I think it should be. 

If you had a busy week, I also posted Hello Monday here, What’s Saving Your Life here, and Fashion Files here!

Amy

Thursday, February 8, 2024

It’s Thursday and that means it’s time to show some fashion. I snap one picture before I walk out the door on a school day and sometimes, I snap a weekend photo – trying to get better about that! 

I am linking up with Kellyann and Jill today!

Goal this month is to wear all the red and pink! 

Mondays call for easy and this was easy and comfortable. I have on my bright red Matilda Janes, black ballet flats, and a black sheer sleeve TJ Maxx knit top with a Kendra Scott necklace. 

Over the weekend, I wore fun bright leggings both days.

My bright blue Hey Nuts from Amazon: 

My floral Walmarts: 

I like having pockets when I am cleaning around the house so I can have my phone and listen to podcasts. I did clean part of both days and it’s just nice to have these pockets!

Saturday night outfit was my weekend button flys, my V Day sweater, and my New Balances – I wanted to wear clogs or better shoes, but we were walking to a brewery. 

Last Friday for school I wore my new pink and white striped button up with my Wit and Wisdoms and my silver clogs. I also wore silver jewelry to match the clogs. I love this new button up and my new blue and white one. 

And, last Thursday was February 1st, so I wore my V Day sweater to school with a pink top under and I really liked how it match the sleeves and bottom trim. This made me feel better about the lack of pink buttons. A girl asked why I was dressed for St. Patrick’s Day. 

And, Tuesday, I wore my new Carly Jean Los Angeles top (it’s navy and white but looks black and white in this photo) with a consignment J. Crew sweater. I liked the navy and pink together.  

I’m happiest on days I wear color! I’m really excited to have a couple of button ups, too. These are from Old Navy and are oversized so I could have probably gone down a size. I also want to wear them open with a tank underneath. I think they would make a great swim coverup, too. 

What have you been wearing lately? 

Amy

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

My blog is most definitely not a teacher blog! With that said, I do talk about my “day job” here from time to time and you all seem to like it. I have some teacher blog readers and we are sisters in solidarity, right? 

I feel it’s important to discuss my thoughts from time to time. Important for whom? Not sure! I do like to look back on how I was feeling through this blog of mine. 

If you are new around here, I am a high school Spanish teacher in a pretty large public high school. I try to not bash my employer, my school, my colleagues, and keep it professional. I also don’t want to come here and lie to you! 

I have been really happy the last couple of weeks of school. I have taught new material and I have been in my element. My favorite part of teaching is introducing new vocabulary, verb tenses, grammatical concepts, and giving the kids ways to remember them. I like chants, jingles, sayings, and things like that. I like my routine. I like teaching the kids good study habits and organization. I’ve been tired at the end of each day, but it’s a good tired. I don’t dread going to work; I’m usually excited to start my day and check off tasks. 

I have also been trying to get the kids back into the routine of 5 day in person weeks of school. I have entered grades every.single.day and really put pressure on myself to be on top of it, so they will be, too – hopefully! I have some that will fail again for second semester like they did for first semester and that is because they barely show up or they do literally nothing when they show up. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. 

My biggest struggle personally during the week is work/life balance. I leave for school around 7:45 and get home around 4:00-4:30 depending if I have a meeting after school or not. I was spoiled by working from 7-2:45 for 24 years and even though that doesn’t seem like much, it has really shortened the time I have before I start cooking dinner. Ha! I know. I know. I got spoiled. I try to do some of the household tasks in the morning and I do very little when I get home. Just making dinner is enough most days. 

I also am really over the “extras”. We feel like we have so much more to do as teachers in 2024 to justify someones’ job in the district office. We have meetings for meetings’ sake. We have to write up rationale and talk about how we are focusing on literacy in our classroms because someone decided that was our school goal this year. Everything I do is about literacy in a language class! 

Since we have been back from Winter Break, my biggest struggle is attendance. There are three kids (not all in the same class) that I have not seen period. They just don’t come to school. Are we not pursuing truancy cases anymore? 

Parents today are not like parents of my high school time period. (“Back in my day…”) You went to school and stayed at school all day. There are so many kids that come late and leave early now. How are parents so available to pick kids up and take them in late? Parents, maybe you shouldn’t be so available? 

Also, parents seem quick to complain when they don’t check in until right before the grading period ends. They don’t come to open house, conference, and you don’t hear a peep until it’s too late, practically. We rarely get a positive email. It’s almost always a complaint. 

Also, parents, don’t text your kids during the school day unless it’s an emergency. You are making life easier for you by getting an answer right away, but you are making it harder for your kid to focus. 

Since the pandemic, kids know the buzz words to use to get out of going to school and doing work in their classes. Mental health is a very serious thing for me – do not take this the wrong way – but there are some kids who are abusing our compassion.

I have had a kid miss class for a hair appointment recently. Seriously? You can’t do that after school or on a Saturday? What message is that sending your kid? I have had kids miss class for all kinds of appointments since Winter Break. I have had kids just tell me they “needed a mental health day”. 

I have had a kid take a phone call in my class. He said it was about a job. I told him that the employer would know that a teenager would be in school at that time and would leave a message. Really? 

I know you might be thinking “Just get rid of the phones” and I agree. But, is it too late? This would require a huge commitment at the school level (and maybe the district) and I also think parents might push back. 

My school leaves the cell phone policy up to each individual teacher. Phones are just used for so many things today, so it’s both a good and a bad thing for education. My policy is that phones are not to be seen nor heard until I invite you to use it for class. Just taking your phone out and using it in class when you aren’t supposed to is not really going to be taken seriously as a behavior issue, though, if I were to write it up. Again, it would have to be a school wide initiative to crack down on phones. And, we also have Apple watches and other smart devices. And, if we didn’t have those, we still have laptops. 

And, about attendance…

My own kids only missed 3 days of school from kindergarten until senior year. Seriously. 

I do practice what I preach. I tell my students there is simply nothing better than can do for their grade than get that butt in the seat everyday unless they are too sick to come to school. 

For my own kids, I made an effort to have their dentist appointments in June and December, so they didn’t miss. When they got braces, they went to the orthodontist right next to school and we usually had the appointment right after school. A few times, they had to walk on their own and miss part of a class. 

I just feel like some parents today do not value attendance. 

I also am not sure parents understand how hard it is for their kids to be pulled out of school. The makeup work can be overwhelming. 

Let’s talk about pajama pants. No. This has become a trend since the Pandemic, I think. I keep saying to my students that if you wear pajama pants to school you are going to have pajama pant energy. We have some kids that bring and drape a blanket around their shoulders all day long. Seriously? Blanket energy?

The big headphones are in style again and some kids have them on as they walk in the hallways and come into class and can’t hear me greet them or ask a question about their day. Kids try to keep Air pods in during class. I yell “Ear Check!” 

There are just so many distractions. 

It’s amazing to me that parents don’t check our online grade program. It also tells attendance. We have kids that skip class and parents have no idea. It’s right there on the portal for you. You can see a kid marked present except for one period. The teachers are also supposed to catch this daily and write it up. You would think in 2024 the computer would flag this for us? I bet it does!

We were told that any kid that failed first semester just has to stay in our classes. There’s no place for them to go. If you fail first semester of a class that builds upon that foundation, you will not pass second semester. They let kids take an online class to get their credit if they are motivated enough and that’s taking the easy way out. The online class is much easier and they can cheat. 

There are kids who come to school with nothing. No pencil. No paper. No notebook. No book. But, they do have a cell phone and Air pods, so at least they can entertain themselves. They also might have a blanket, so that’s nice. 

Now, you may be reading this and think that this is isolated to just my school and my area. I don’t have any problems compared to some teachers. In fact, I teach all advanced classes except for one. So, imagine what a class that isn’t advanced deals with. 

For a very, very short time in this country between 2020 and 2021, teachers were the heroes. We were celebrated for trying to keep things running during the pandemic. Now, we are the enemy again. We aren’t doing enough. We are undereducated, undertrained, lazy, and the list goes on.

Teachers simply do not have enough time to do all the tasks required of them in 2024. Have you seen statistics on teachers leaving the profession? What will happen when we have no one left to teach our kids? There is simply nothing more important in our country than our education, and we are not valuing it as a society. 

It’s easy to get cynical, but I try to focus on the positive. Look at these faces! I love seeing them without masks that are smiling and interacting with their friends. I guess I don’t take this for granted anymore. 

I am close to retirement. I am not sure how many more years I will stay, but I can retire anytime. I don’t feel like my time is up quite yet, but I think I will know. I still love my subject and the kids and that’s why I am still here. With age comes wisdom, and I am freely imparting this more these days. 

I guess I didn’t realize how many words I had in me today! If I said something that spoke to you, sound off in the comments. If you disagree, keep it to yourself, especially if you aren’t in the classroom. Just kidding! See – I told you that I speak more freely these days! 

Amy

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Dramatic title, right? Today I just want to focus on the positive things that are making me feel good, happy, productive, you know? 

The Sun!

I always say that the few warm winter days help me make it through the winter. Honestly, our winter isn’t that bad. We did have a pretty cold start to January and I don’t hate it. I like a bit of snow each winter. I also don’t mind the rain we had in January. But, after about 13 days with zero sun whatsoever, I really loved seeing the sun and then enjoying it in the afternoon when I could sit outside. 

I sat outside Saturday and Sunday in my happy place in my happy anti-gravity chair. My family first experienced this chair at a lake house in Michigan over 15 years ago. Since then, we have had at least one and usually two at my house, given them for gifts to both Grandpas, and talked non-stop about them. I keep mine folded up but available all year long. You need one! 

I sat in the sun Sunday and Friday, too! 

Yes, I will try to drop everything to enjoy a sunny day until spring comes. 

Meal prep and thinking of my future self!

I spend time on the weekend to make the week go more smoothly. I heard this concept of “your future self” from Gretchen Rubin, I think. This can just mean your future self of 5 days from now! What can I do on a Saturday or Sunday to help myself be on autopilot when I get busier? Meal planning, ordering or shopping for the groceries, and a bit of meal prep. As I run out of something, I add it to my grocery app on my phone and use that as my list. 

I start the week with 5 breakfasts and one lunch for Erica and I. Here is my breakfast pizza: 

I deal with mail and emails right away; there are lots of things I could let linger, but I try to think of my future self not having to deal with those things later. 

I also try to do my laundry on a weekday for two reasons – I know my college kids and Tom need to do theirs on weekends so I try to leave it free for them – but also, I don’t have to spend my weekend doing mine because I did it during the week.

Coconut Oil! 

I put this amount on my hand and rub it all over my face before I get in the shower: 

My face has never been softer and it just melts the makeup off if I have been wearing it. I have not had dry skin this winter. 

Room Temperature Water!

I find I drink more when I have just this Tervis Tumbler with no lid, no straw, no nothing and if the water is room temp. I used to think I needed my water full of ice but I actually think this is better for me. When I am home on the weekends I try to fill this as many times as I can. 

So, what say you? What is saving your life right now? 

Amy

Monday, February 5, 2024

Good morning! How was your weekend? 

I’m linking up with Sarah and Holly to tell you about mine today!

I started off my weekend on Friday morning with my Egg McMuffin – hold the butter, add an extra egg. Why is this so good? 

It was hard to believe it was already Groundhog Day, but I always put whatever holiday it is in Spanish on my slideshow to start class. It was super sunny, and it was easy to believe an early spring would come this year! But all the teachers and students want just a couple more snow days strategically placed this month! Can I get an Amen? 

Phil has seen his shadow since 2020 and we all know about March 13, 2020 – the day the world shut down. That is the last day we went to school until April 2021. Sorry! 

I let AP play Bananagrams in Spanish after our quiz, and I think they had fun with it!

After school, I asked Erica if she wanted to go somewhere for happy hour and we knew no one would have a patio open for us to enjoy the full sun and almost 60-degree weather, so like the rednecks we are, we made my skinny margaritas and sat in folding chairs in my driveway where we would get the best sun.

Yeah, Ernie thought we were a couple of crazy ladies!

It felt so good! 

My skinny margarita recipe – if you need it – is below! I can hardly stand a restaurant margarita anymore. They are too sweet and too artificial at most places.

Here you go: 

One to one and a half shot of white tequila, half a stick of Crystal Light lemonade, a good squirt of lime juice (I use the stuff in the bottle), stir up really well or shake in your shaker, add ice, fill to top with Fresca. Add a lime wedge. 

Tom came home and in true semi-empty nester fashion we had random dinner. He wanted something light and had tuna salad and I made a Spanish omelet for myself. I thought we would get takeout, but we were both happy to have this for dinner. 

My college kids had play practice and then came home around 9 and I watched some New Girl with them. 

I slept in until the sun was out Saturday which is super rare for me!

I will say that it felt nice to have my grocery shopping taken care of (and meal planning for most of the week done). I went on Wednesday last week and while it was painful to shop at dinner time and then come home and try to figure out dinner, maybe that is what I need to do?

For so long, this has been top priority on Saturday morning, and it has dominated me doing anything else. Man, I am so boring. Why do I talk about this so much?

Plan for the week:

Sunday – white chicken chili

Monday – spaghetti

Tuesday – apple gouda sausage with roasted vegetables

Wednesday – Clean Food Crush Spaghetti Squash Margherita

I drank my coffee, responded to blog comments, cleaned the house, piddled around, and finally got out of the house: 

I got a much needed car wash!

I did a few more errands but none of them were the grocery! 

One of them was the library and then I got to experience the sun! 

We had plans to go to a brewery and have pizza with our friends Beth and Bob. There is a little take out only pizza place next door and the brewery lets you bring it in. 

I had a flight of beer (the glasses are much smaller than they look in the photo) and loved them all! One was a cider. 

We had a really nice evening and it had been a long time since we had seen them. 

Sunday I slept in again and it was a busy morning. I did a bunch of cleaning and meal prep. I got outside in the sun again, too! Ahhhh!

What was the highlight of your weekend? 

Amy

Friday, February 2, 2024

Welcome to the first faves of Feb! Yay! I am linking up with Andrea and Erika to share some happies from the week. 

Well, I can’t say I did much other than go to school, come home, go to school, come home, but one day I went to the grocery and Jack came with me! I tried a mid-week shop and I tried Walmart Neighborhood grocery this week. Not to be dramatic, but it stunk. It was fun to be with Jack but it was very close to 5:00 and super crowded. 

Let’s talk about food favorites from the week first.

I told you all about Slender Kitchen on Tuesday and this is one of her recipes – the Beef Kofta Bowl. It’s like a Greek bowl but with beef. I had a brown rice and quinoa blend to put under this. We all loved it! 

Also, Sarah told me about Clean Food Crush and let’s just say I have a new crush! Thanks, Sarah!

Erica made a cilantro shrimp bowl over brown rice for one of our school lunches and it was really yummy! I guess I’ve never really thought about shrimp as a food you can re-heat, but it did just fine. 

I am making each of my recipes for dinner one night and for two lunches the next day for Erica and I. If Jack eats with us, that is only 4 servings so sometimes I bow out and eat leftovers or something else because I know I’m going to have it for lunch the next day. It’s working out just fine to do it this way!

My oven is a favorite again. My air fryer (giant Caphalon sitting on the counter and taking up all kinds of space) is 2 years old (I think) and it started giving me an error message. Tom and I both Googled and tried to fix it and then I said,” you know what?” I’m gonna reclaim this counter space and use my oven. I am happy to report that the air fryer setting works like a charm. 

Mason loves the taste of coffee, but it started bothering his stomach so he switched to tea long before England. We aren’t sure why it bothered him so send me your suggestions if you have a coffee that might be ok. I ordered his favorite tea from Amazon and he is so excited! He lived in Ormskirk which is in Lancashire, but Yorkshire was pretty close. 

I’m also excited to drink more tea!

I made a total impulse purchase at the grocery this week – Mean Girls pink frosting flavored creamer. I love it! 

My classroom got a little glow up! Many of our teachers have been ordering these light cover panels and you can get clouds, beach, stars, etc. We have an Amazon allowance we can spend each year now. I picked this forest canopy design. 

I also had my aides put heart window clings on my windows and they did this door design: 

High school kids appreciate this stuff more than you would think! I need to add an accent mark to the word day – oops- they forgot it!

And, at home I did my very minimal but special to me V Day decor. 

Why didn’t I put them in red? They were 5 months old in this photo for their first V Day!

I’ve been trying to use the candles I have and I found this one and at least it’s red!

My mom’s gift from England was these beautiful placemats that have a cork back on them. My mom found them on Amazon and ordered even more. She has a really long table and it’s beautiful. Don’t they look so nice the way she arranged them here? Here they are on Amazon if you are interested. 

I did a white mani (Impress press ons) for the beginning of February and then the next one I will do has heart designs. Yup, still impressed with Impress press ons! I am having the best luck when I remove the old set one day and then the next night I do a new set. I press them on, wait a bit, then I cut and file. I go to bed and do not put my hands in water until the next day. 

I really enjoy my second piercing and need to get more little earrings! Any suggestions send them my way! I really like the sets from Loft but haven’t been there in a long time!

Did you all know that Subway has footlong chocolate chip cookies, pretzels, and churros? I have a student who works there and the topic came up. This would be a fun V Day gift!

This weekend, I want to try Tanya’s scones. I happen to have all of the ingredients, including the heavy cream, right now. I had a really good scone with clotted cream and jam in Scotland. 

So, yeah, I am tempted by many foods right now! And, those little devils are going to start selling their wares in front of my Kroger soon – I just know it! Girl Scouts! 

Well, those were this weeks’ random favorites! 

If you had a busy week like me…

Monday was Hello Monday on the blog

Tuesday was my favorite website

Wednesday was my January 2024 purchases

Yesterday was Fashion Files

What were your faves this week? 

I hope you had many and I wish you a wonderful first weekend of February! 

Amy

Thursday, February 1, 2024

You better believe I’m wearing my red and pink today to celebrate the first day of February! It’s Thursday and time to link up with Kellyann and Jill for Fashion Files. I’m pretty happy with my January wardrobe goals – I wanted to wear my non-Christmasy winter stuff and avoid my reds and pinks. So, I wore black, wine, and the new things I purchased in January. Did you see my post yesterday about my Fashion Purchases for 2024 so far? 

Also, the weather was the coldest of the cold and the warmest of the warm in January! We seriously had negative temps all the way up to 60 degrees. And, my classroom temps – don’t even get me started. 

These outfits are out of order, but let’s go with it.

Here is what I wore to school Monday:

I wore my TJ Maxx deer blouse, a fur vest, Matilda Jane pants, and Danskos – meh. I don’t really like this. 

Sunday I wore my Marshall’s bird shirt, my new to me vest with silver zipper detail on the sides, jeans, and my new silver clogs. 

Saturday I wore my new Walmart sweater, jeans, and gold clogs.

Saturday day I wore this to the grocery – new pink Old Navy button up, jeans, silver clogs. 

Friday to school I wore my hot pink cougar blouse, black vest, jeans, and Nikes. 

Thursday to school (it was very warm outside) I wore jeans, gold clogs, and my new Walmart Free Assembly sweater. 

And, Tuesday of this week I wore my new Old Navy blue and white stripe button up, black pants, and silver clogs. I did change into my New Balances after a couple of periods. The silver clogs are comfy, but I was moving around a lot and am trying to baby my feet on our hard cement floors. 

I also had a black sweater over it to start the day: 

And, lastly – meh. I wore my pearl headband, a white Lucky sweater from Costco, jeans, and Nikes. 

Did you catch my earrings post? Here is my double up for silver accessories. I did my silver cubic zirconia in the second hole and a big pearl stud in the first hole. 

It’s hard to get a good pic of your ear!

And, that’s a wrap on my last week of January outfits!

What have you been wearing? 

Are you excited to wear anything new or different this month?

Amy

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Today is the last day of January and I thought I would recap my fashion purchases for the month. 

Well, I really didn’t plan to shop this month – oops! My plan was to be content with and wear all of my winter wardrobe! But I think you will agree that I got some great deals and I shopped with a purpose – maybe? Ha – let’s see…

Can we blame it on the fact that January has 573 days? Can we blame it on the fact that I really didn’t shop much from August until December except for trip stuff? Nah, that probably doesn’t hold water!

I mentioned in my winter closet cleanout that I see my closet as a fluid entity. I don’t hang on to things that are not serving me – I like space and margin to add as my tastes change. Also, fashion is a hobby of mine and I really enjoy putting outfits together. Some hobbies are very expensive, and my hobbies are pretty cheap if you think about it on the grand scale of things. See how good I am at justifying things? 

Early in the month, I made a trip to my favorite little consignment shop Sassy Fox. They had everything 25-75% off and it had been a while. I had a $20 credit and found these things: 

black sweater vest with silver zipper detail – have worn three times and plan to wear more with silver accessories and shoes – feeling a bit more silver these days. Also, my mom gave me some new to me silver jewelry when I was at her house. 

black Jag pull on jeans – a little too skinny for my tastes currently. I may re-sell these – probably a mistake. 

navy/red cognac handbag – used once already – think it will be a much used bag in the spring!

black tan tote – I have used every day for my school tote! 

$30 for all 4 above – even though the pull on jeans were not a great purchase I would have paid $30 for the other three items! So, I did ok! 

Next up was…

This Lilly Pulitzer Going Cruisin crossbody – free with Tom’s work gift card – the tag said the price was $148! Tom’s work gives them a gift card to this online website and they can pick what they want. They gave him one for Christmas and one for a work anniversary and he couldn’t find anything he wanted with one of them and gave it to me. I have already used it twice and I love it! 

Then, during the closet clean out, I wanted new leggings…

Bright blue Hey Nuts pocket leggings Amazon $27 – already worn them every weekend! I cleaned out my massive leggings collection. I decided to not keep many that didn’t have pockets because why? I wasn’t reaching for them anymore. I have enjoyed this bright color that looks great with my many black tops. 

Then, I was influenced…

Kristin has talked about this brand for quite some time and I’ve been curious –

Carly Jean Los Angeles white kimono (more like a light long sleeved sweater) $20 – I saw this on super sale and that is what drew me in to this company and website – I always need a topper in the spring and summer and had let go of my older white things. The material is mostly rayon and modal. 

And I also chose this: 

Carly Jean Los Angeles white and black striped boyfriend tee. This is pretty oversized so I could have gone down in size but it was on sale for about $14. This is the same rayon and modal material. It looks black in the picture, but it is navy. 

I am really wanting to add some stripes to my closet because I didn’t have any stripes anymore!

And, I placed a Walmart order and again, I am so impressed! 

I ordered Joyspun undies and they are great. 

I ordered this Pumpkin Spice sweater on clearance for $14 – it is the exact same as my “Sweater Weather” sweater. Obviously, I will not wear this now! Ha! 

I ordered this $20 Free Assembly feminine spring sweater: 

And, I ordered this $17 sweater:

Yes, the buttons should also be pink! 

I have already worn everything except Pumpkin Spice so that is really the test for me – if I don’t want to wear it right away, it needs to be returned. 

And, finally I placed a Gap and Old Navy order at the same time. Did you know you can do that? It combined what I had sitting in my Old Navy cart when I went to purchase a Gap item and I qualified for free shipping. 

I have been seeing silver shoes everywhere. I have also been wearing my clogs – I have red and gold. I love clogs so much. They work great with the jeans styles that are popular right now, too. 

I couldn’t believe these were on sale for $12 from Gap! 

I’ve worn them twice over the weekend and they are also comfy!

And forgive this photo – wet hair – and the shirt needs to be washed and dried to shrink just a bit, but I ordered two button up shirts from Old Navy – pink and white stripe and blue and white stripe. These were $27 each – wow, Old Navy! $54

And that brings my grand total to $208. Now, do I wish I were the type of person to just buy one thing for $208? Yes, sometimes. But I also think I had a great month when you see everything I got. 

Also, guess what? I already have my spring consignment appointment set up for two weeks from now. I have started going through my spring stuff to see what still serves me and what doesn’t. It’s hard to believe, but they are taking spring clothing now, so now is the time to start taking inventory and starting a list of what holes are in your closet. 

I love spring clothes! You should see how colorful my spring stuff is compared to my winter stuff. I am really feeling green and pink! 

Ok, talk to me! What have you bought this month? 

Amy

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Did you make it through your Monday? I think many of us are just getting back on track after the holidays and so many weather-related days. It’s really hard to eat healthy when I am on vacation mode! Are you like that, too? Also, when I have a snow day, I feel like baking! Anyway, I started eating healthier again on January 8th and I have definitely had some treats, too. 

Before I tell you about my favorite website and its new feature, I have a recipe to share with you that knocked my socks off!

Breakfast Pizza! 

First of all, I must tell you that I am not willing to eat something I hate or that tastes gross or artificial because there are so many foods that I love out there. 

I have a favorite brand of low carb flour tortilla and I would not eat it if I hated it. Period.

La Banderita is the brand. Call me, La Banderita! I even speak Spanish and know your name means “little flag”! 

So, preheat your oven to 375. Place a tortilla in the bottom of a 9 inch cake pan or pie plate. I used a glass pie plate. Mix together 3 eggs (I used some liquid egg whites, too), any veg you have around – I did mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, and add whatever spices you like. I did cajun, pepper, and garlic powder. The mushrooms and onions were already cooked, by the way. 

Put everything on top of the tortilla and bake for 10 minutes. Take out of oven and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of cheese. I used reduced fat Mexican shredded cheese. Cook for 5 more minutes. This whole pizza was 4 WW points for me. So, you can divide it up and have some for a few days or share with family!

Most of the dishes you see me make for Erica and I for lunch and for my fam at dinner (usually just Tom and I) come from this website:

Slender Kitchen – Click the red font and it will take you there. 

Erica found it so I have to give her credit. Tom does not know the meals are healthy if I don’t tell him. Jack and Mason have also enjoyed many of the recipes and I don’t say anything to them, either. 

She has every type of cuisine imaginable or you can search by “chicken” or whatever ingredient you want to use. 

I tend to do a Mexican meal one night, an Asian inspired meal one night, and try to use the types of cuisines. 

Not to be dramatic, but I think I have also become a better cook because of Kristen, the author. She does not know who I am, but I have messaged her to thank her! 

Here are some of my faves – just click on the red type:

Blackening seasoning – so good for fish tacos. I feel like a boss making my own seasoning blend! 

Mango salsa – never knew how easy this was. This is great on the fish tacos with the blackening seasoning! I also feel pretty cool dropping this in conversation: ”Sorry, I have to go make some mango salsa to go with my dinner”. 

Beef bulgogi bowls – So good!

So, the even better thing now is that she has a blue circle with the WW points listed for each recipe – or most recipes. 

I am making this dish this week: 

Kofta Ground Beef Bowls!

Let me know if you check it out or of other sites you like!

Amy