Thursday, May 25, 2023

It’s Thursday and time to link up with Kellyann and Jill. I don’t think you are going to see anything super stylish here today, but this is real life and I’m getting dressed for it!

Today is our last day with seniors in class. They have activities tomorrow and then next week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I will miss them but they are so ready. Many of them have had one foot out the door for quite some time. This group of seniors had to leave school on March 13, 2020 during their freshman year, do school virtually from August through April of their sophomore year and then come back for 8 weeks but only two days a week to round out their sophomore year, come to school in masks for most of their junior year (until March), and then finally have an almost normal senior year (we were in masks until September and some kept them on!) – whew…if that doesn’t put some perspective on it, right? They are resilient and I have so much respect for them. I do think they struggled with being in school five days a week and arriving on time and staying the whole day. All of that freedom was not good in that respect maybe? I saw a big change in socialization this year and they are talking and laughing with each other in class again! It’s wonderful!

Anyhow, back to the clothing…

I wore another pair of palazzo pants, my black patent Birks, and an Old Navy linen blouse that is new this season. I think I got it back in February. It comes in white, too, but I only got the black. I thought it would work with my printed pants and skirts. I wore this at the end of the week before last and forgot to show you. Remember that I like to have a few white and black tops to go with my many printed bottoms.

This weekend, I wore my Old Navy consignment (new with tags) gauzy blouse with cut offs and my Hokas to attend the art fair.

Later, to go on the boat, I put my hot pink Aerie tank suit on with the same cut offs and wore my Loft green and white striped button up. These are my Target rubber sandals from last season. I love them!

Sunday to go on the boat I wore my new World Market muu muu. Did you know that World Market has clothes? They don’t have much, but there are some super cute things!

So, a maxi is not practical for being a first mate on a boat, but I made it work and I also got this text from Tom while we were sitting there together.

Monday for school I wore my Target Little House on the Prairie dress with Hokas just for the walk to school (yes, I walked) and then changed into my little Amazon Essentials sandals.

Tuesday for school, I wore my final pair of printed palazzo-ish pants with a t-shirt that says “Fiesta like there’s no mañana” and my Walmart Scoop blazer. I cycled through all of my spring printed pants without repeating – I think.

What have you been wearing this week?

What is on your wish list?

I will be showing you my May fashion purchases soon – I think it will end up being four dresses and one pair of sandals so not too bad! I also made $46 by selling my clothing I didn’t want. If you haven’t already done that, hurry because they won’t be taking summer stuff for too much longer believe it or not. That $46 gets to go back into my wardrobe with new stuff! Well, it could also be consignment stuff. Be very picky, but there is so much good stuff to be found. I can’t wait to have more time to make my two consignment stores a part of my errands rotation. I check in at least once a month and oftentimes walk out empty handed. I have learned to be very picky but some of my most worn items are consignment! Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Amy

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Do you have a Carali’s Chicken? Maybe it’s just a local chain to us? They advertise as a rotisserie chicken place, but if you look on the menu it says their chicken is marinated in Peruvian spice and they have things like yuca fries on the menu!

So, I looked for a copycat recipe and took the time to marinate the chicken for several hours. I came up with this above and a request to make this again. I simply opened a can of black beans, added onion and made some jasmine rice to go with it and used the avocado crema sauce I just bought at Costco (it is the green sauce you see). I also cooked up some Peruvian style potatoes and will give you that recipe as well!

Peruvian Chicken:

3 T. olive oil

1/4 cup lime juice

4 large garlic cloves chopped

1 T. kosher salt

2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. black pepper

1 T. cumin

1 tsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. sugar

Combine all of this and put 4 chicken breasts in a bag. I also like to salt the chicken breasts generously before putting the chicken in the bag. This is a trick that Lazy Genius taught me.

Marinate for 6 hours and then dump on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 for about 30 minutes. Check because the timing will depend on the thickness of your chicken breast. Let rest on a cutting board before slicing it.

Peruvian Potatoes:

I used small yellow potatoes, but purple Peruvian potatoes would be better if I had had them!

2 lb. potatoes

1/2 cup olive oil

1 T. Mexican oregano (I happened to have this)

1 T. minced garlic

salt and pepper

1 T. cilantro

Preheat oven to 400.

Halve the potatoes and place them in a bowl. After mixing all the above, pour over the potatoes and mix well. Spread the potatoes on another cookie sheet and roast for 30 minutes or until tender. Add cilantro after they have been roasted. I left it off because I didn’t have fresh cilantro and I didn’t really think it was needed. These potatoes were also really good with the avocado crema sauce from Costco!

I know you don’t really need potatoes with rice, but I wanted to try these and I was not disappointed!

Let me know if you try this meal!

Amy

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Are you in a cooking rut? I found a super easy and delicious recipe from Kate on the Daily on IG.

You can eat these like fajitas or turn them into a bowl – or both! My kids both really complimented this meal and they wrapped theirs in a flour tortilla with lettuce, tomato, and cheese.

So, you want to marinade your chicken for at least 30 minutes.

Mix together 1/4 cup of any oil (I used avocado), 1/4 cup cooking sherry, 1/4 cup soy sauce, and 2 T. brown sugar. Next time I will salt my chicken before putting it in the marinade because it lacked a bit of spice. I have also thought about putting a few things like garlic powder and paprika on the chicken before marinating.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. I had small chicken strips so it really didn’t take that long. And, yes, I cut the raw chicken myself.

We really enjoyed this meal and I hope you do, too!

The bonus is that I put everything on the sheet pan and it was easy clean up!

Amy

Monday, May 22, 2023

Ok – this is my last 5 day week of the year! I have senior presentations and finals, a farewell to seniors party, and 3 meal prep lunches to bring. Let’s go! I am linking up with Holly and Sarah to share my weekend. Spoiler – after some yucky Saturday morning rain, the weather is what May dreams are made of.

Let’s go back to Thursday night! The weather was amazing and I wanted to sit on a patio for dinner but Tom wanted to mow. Erica was on her own because her hub had an event, so we picked Chuy’s. Well – the patio was not really the greatest and the mosquitoes started attacking me. Note to self: start preventing mosquitoes from eating you alive, Amy. They love me.

I had not been to Chuy’s in probably 10 years. The margarita (skinny) was extremely meh and mostly ice.

The only reason for me to go back is the pico de gallo and the ranch dip.

I got a side salad and

something boom boom that was too spicy to even enjoy and I do like a bit of spice.

I don’t think I have any photos from Friday day but I took the day off – it was a good day to do so as most of my students were testing. I had an appointment and got all the “beep”. I did an oil change, Costco run, Kroger pick up, library pick up, Walmart return, Feeder’s Supply run, and all the things. I seriously ran errands from 8:30 a.m. until about 2:00 with only a lunch break at home to unload things and eat.

After all of that, I treated myself to a patio wine:

I also had marinated Peruvian chicken for dinner and used the Avocado Crema sauce I had found at Costco and let’s just say that everyone wants this “Peruvian dinner” again! Recipe coming – don’t worry!

We are really enjoying just eating at home on Friday nights. I guess I am getting older because the last few restaurant/happy hour experiences I have had have been so noisy and overpriced. I’m talking so noisy you can’t have a conversation with the people at your table!

Saturday morning I woke up to my favorite – rain – as long as it doesn’t mess with my plans.

It rained until about 9 I think, but because I had gotten all my chores done Friday, I was ready to do Tom’s Saturday rounds. We stopped at a new really cool concept called Haymarket that is a part of a farm where they will have coffee, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, and like farmer’s market offerings. Only their drive through is open now so I just got a coffee.

It is really close to where we keep our boat on River Road. We then headed to Marine Sales and Service for a boat swap meet and to walk Ernie and let him swim.

Then, we dropped Ernie off and changed because the day was warming up. We went to an art fair and walked around.

I only came home with a specialty sweet mustard!

I finished this:

Cute, but cheesy at the end. I would recommend it, though!

I started this and I am pretty sure I already read it, but it has been a long time. Also, this is the gift from my students so I wanted to read it again.

After reading for a bit, I got to drive with my sun roof open! I also had one of Spotify’s yacht rock stations on and boy can I sing some Africa by Toto when I am alone. I think I sound pretty good. Just kidding – I need some work.

And, we pulled up to eat dinner at Captain’s Quarters and I see a former and current student who are cousins. I can’t go anywhere and be anonymous. They included me in their IG story.

It was funny!

I ordered an amazing meal – a spinach salad with salmon. I ate every last leaf.

Tom ordered a turkey sandwich and fries. Have I ever told you that Tom is really bad at ordering? He takes forever to read the menu and then he picks something that really isn’t the right thing to get at that place. Like – he went to a chicken restaurant and got a Sloppy Joe and then said he didn’t like the restaurant. I’m a pro and he is bad. I often ask him if I can order for him. Oh well.

It was so pretty out and we had a nice time just the two of us. We spent the whole day together almost.

Sunday morning was meal prep time. I had enough Amy McMuffins for the week but I wanted to get ahead on two lunches for the week and two dinners for the fam. I think I cooked for about 2 hours. It seems like a lot but it really helps me during the week and it helps me to cut down on food waste by using what needs to be used up.

I worked on this blog post – Oh no – I broke the 4th wall of blogging by acknowledging that I worked on a blog post.

And, that’s a wrap on a really nice weekend. You guys, as you are reading this, it is my last Monday of the school year! It’s so surreal.

Tell me something about your weekend!

Amy

Friday, May 19, 2023

Here is what my board looked like on Monday! Now subtract 5! Woohoo! I am linking up today with Andrea and Erika for a very random list of favorites. I’m grasping at straws here, people. I am dragging myself across the finish line that is called my 29th year! Ha!

Do seniors get out earlier where you are? Ours still technically have to show up each day, but they have a variety of activities including a graduation practice or two. They have a senior breakfast and senior walk, senior sunrise on the football field, senior movie – that kind of thing.

Erica and I have divided up the remaining lunches to continue doing our lunch meal prep. Here was Monday’s burrito bowls. Yum!

I started this book over the weekend but took a break – it is about a custody battle and surrogacy and it’s just kinda heavy.

I picked this up and am almost finished. It’s really cute chick lit and a break from my Colleen Hoover deep dive.

My sister is getting her kids a puppy named Ezra! He is a cavapoo and I am so excited for them! Look at his little tongue!

I really need to stop saying things on the blog that make me eat my words. I placed a Walmart.com order for three dresses. The quality is really good but the sizing runs big. I ordered this and am waiting to try it in a size down:

This one and am waiting to try it in a size down:

And this one:

Their website pictures are horrible, but they are giving Amazon a run for their money with how quickly they have arrived. They are way faster than Target, too. I will let you know which I end up keeping – if any. I should have ordered multiple sizes in my first order.

So fast and so communicative:

We are trying to grow some grass and my patio smells like a barnyard because of the straw…

I have been able to get outside and drink my morning coffee a couple of times and that is a sure sign that summer is coming.

Many years ago I asked myself the question: “What are my favorite things about being on vacation?” and the answer was that I really enjoy drinking my coffee on the patio of the vacation rental. I decided that was not something that should only be reserved for vacation and I started doing it more at home.

I am in love with this new to me Dr. Teal’s scent:

Thank you to Carolina Charm for the rec. I love Dr. Teal’s!

I made Amy McMuffins for breakfast meal prep to take a break from breakfast burritos:

Erica sent this and I loved it – especially because I am trying to get more into white wines.

I went to the Shakespeare at the Nature Center that one of my college kids has been working on as stage manager. It was unique because you started out here and then followed the actors into the woods.

But, I really just don’t enjoy Shakespeare and I ended up with two kids who are qute the fans!

OMG – you probably shouldn’t order these. I was unable to stop myself. They are so good. Have you tried them? I can’t find them in stores and had to order a small bag off of Amazon because I was curious.

I have been keeping my nails natural as much as I don’t like how they look. I ordered an old school nail buffer off of Amazon. I can tell my nails are getting stronger and more healthy.

I got a really funny gift from a student this week – it is a candle that says  “Señora Scott’s Last Nerve – Oh look it’s on fire!” and the scent is margarita! How funny is that?

I hope I don’t act like they are on my last nerve!

I found a new favorite wine! It’s not too dry nor too sweet. Check this out! It is quite refreshing for this spring weather.

Whew! You just got a look inside my brain! It’s all over the place!

Before I go, can I complain about something? Isn’t it just par for the course that Mother’s Day is in the crazy month of May and Father’s Day is in one of the most relaxing months of the year -June? I thought about that this year and it made me mad!

Happy, happy Friday to you and thanks for reading!

Amy

Thursday, May 18, 2023

It’s Thursday and that means time for Fashion Files along with some strange mirror faces from your girl, Amy. Yes, I am still bad at this! I am linking up with Jill and Kellyann.

I usually only take one photo, by the way. I am super professional! These are my actual outfits that I wear out the door!

Saturday, I finally wore my new Aerie toddler denim cutoffs. I call them “toddler” because of the nice elastic in the back. Why don’t more women’s shorts do this? I need a lower heeled sandal. These are just too high to wear with cutoffs – giving me the Daisy Dukes vibe. Anyway, I switched to flip flops for some Saturday errands. I think and hope this cream color will come in handy and cut offs are such a summer staple for me. I now have light denim, medium denim, pink, black, white, and cream. I have accumulated them over several years.

Saturday night and I wore white jeans and my TJ Maxx blouse – I am worried that I won’t be able to wear long sleeves for much longer and this has been one of my favorite spring blouses. Good job on this purchase, Amy! I was so hot, though, because the restaurant where we went had a malfunctioning AC unit! My friends were in dresses and I was so jealous. Oh well.

Sunday outfit and I broke out my old Amazon palm print skirt. It’s too long. I have to hike it up really high to be the length I want it.

Later in the day, I changed to my Target blouse and my Costco skort to go see a play. Nothing to write home about, but I was going to be sitting in a folding chair in the woods and I didn’t want to flash anyone while standing up, so I thought a skort would be good.

Monday for work I wore my tropical skirt (matches a top that is a bit too snug and not work appropriate – got both pieces at TJ Maxx last year) with my Old Navy chambray shirt. I changed shoes later in the day at work. Now this skirt is the perfect length. I hadn’t really thought about wearing it without the matching top, but I am glad I did. I think it would look good with a white blouse, too. The print makes me happy. Do you have anything you can separate in your closet that you hadn’t thought about before?

And, yesterday for work, I wore one of my favorite blouses and a long white gauzy skirt that I got for like $5 on the clearance rack at Chico’s a few years ago. Yes, I wore my Hobby Lobby sandals. I have hit rock bottom.

Here are some looks I want to try:

I have a pink and white gingham headband and a black and white gingham headband and pretty much all the elements in the above outfits.

I want to find a kitten heel sandal like this but probably in cognac:

Do you follow Lucky Peacock on IG? I love her style. I have all the elements below and have probably worn it, but this is a good reminder!

Where do you find outfit inspiration?

Are you adventurous in trying new trends and looks? Lewks?

What have you been wearing lately?

Amy

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

This idea was from a reader but I can’t remember who! Thank you, though!

So, we have a boat that we enjoy from May-ish until October or November-ish. We have now been boat owners for almost 8 years and had the same boat. I pray it continues to serve us because it’s really perfect for our needs. We really only use it on the Ohio River because it is a lot to tow it elsewhere and and we can be on the river from our home in an easy 15 minutes or so if the boat ramp is empty. We keep the boat in a storage barn very near to the ramp and shout out to Marine Sales and Service, by the way!

I think I have now had my Bogg bag for 5 years? I remember they were so popular that I had to take the color I could get from a local boutique. We keep towels on our boat in a big Rubbermaid tote under a seat and I take them and wash them and put them back so I usually don’t have to worry about packing towels. We also keep paper towels, trash bags, and some sunscreen on the boat. We have outlets and phone chargers, too, which come in handy.

This is pretty close to the perfect boat bag as it stays upright and you can easily squeeze it between a captain’s chair and our cooler. It is quite heavy, though, so I would not say it’s a great bag if you have to carry it a long way.

I also have this bag that is more of a pool bag, but sometimes it comes along on the boat to hold additional stuff.

Within the Bogg bag, I put this big pouch. This came as a free gift with purchase from Ulta, I think. It also had a clear tote, but the tote fell apart.

Inside of it, I like to have sunscreen, some sort of wipe, and a spray bottle. My sister-in-law taught me the need for a spray bottle. When you aren’t able to get in the water, it really keeps you cool and it’s nice to have fresh water handy to spray on you and not river water. These are my Lume wipes in cool cucumber and I also always have baby wipes for cleaning hands after sunscreen or before eating. I need to buy some new ones.

I have not chosen this year’s sunscreen yet, so this is from last year. I try not to skimp on sunscreen. I always apply lotion at home and then only use the spray for re-application. I just think that is the best protection. I also need to make sure to get lip sunscreen and I am really curious about the powder to keep your part from burning but I almost always have a hat on, too. Tom has a bald head spray sunscreen he uses. He, he.

I usually have a couple of hat options stuffed in the Bogg bag. Not pictured is an extra hair tie that I keep in the palm print bag.

I started carrying a fanny pack as a wallet for the times when we stop to eat on the river. We can either pack our own food and anchor and eat in a cove or we can pull up to a few restaurants that are pretty close to home. Sometimes we go about 30 minutes to a pizza place on the Indiana side.

I grab my wallet pouch (currently using my Ipsy pouch) from my purse and my purse ibuprofen and eye drops or I just grab my whole purse sometimes.

Now, when I go to the pool, the Bogg bag is just too heavy. I just use the bag from above or my L.L.Bean bag.

I also usually put chips or crackers in my Bogg bag and have a small soft sided cooler that fits in there as well for anything that needs to stay cold. Tom keeps a big drink cooler on the boat. I also have a big gallon ziplock of napkins, paper plates, and straws.

I am considering buying a couple of Turkish towels. Thoughts? I am very picky about my towels and my current favorite are Tommy Bahama from Costco.

I always try to bring Yeti type cups with a lid because sloshing does occur.

I also grab my book in case we park and I have a chance to read.

I keep the Bogg bag packed pretty much from now until the fall.

I am sure I am forgetting some things. Sound off in the comments if you have any tips or items you think would be handy!

Amy

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

I am off today for primary election day. It does make for a weird week because we go Monday, stay home Tuesday, and then Wednesday through Friday. We still have AP testing going on this week because we were out on May 5th and that exam had to be on the makeup day and we are doing state testing for sophomores and juniors. Too much testing, right?

I thought I would do a casual coffee talk post today just catching you up on all aspects behind the scenes here at the casa.

College Kids:

So, the college kids have been home for a little over a week now. They kind of gradually moved out of their respective dorm rooms and went back to campus when they had an in person final and turned in a few papers from home. I tried not to micromanage anything. Tom and I did not step foot on campus to help them move out. Boy, do things change after freshman year. We gladly would have helped, but they insisted they were fine.

The IKEA blue bags – some are still going strong, but some had to be tossed after 3 years. I love them so much. They really are the best.

Their college stuff is mostly still in bags in their bedrooms – ugh. Some of their stuff is in their basement hang out room. They have desks in there, a tv, gaming systems, a futon, and a bathroom. I am going to try to push them to really unpack and let me donate some things as soon as I get done with school, if not sooner.

Mason has been directing outdoor practices and performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at our nature center and has been gone most nights at dinner time. That job just ended and now he needs to find his real summer job.

Jack starts his summer job this week at a music store. I am happy he had a little bit of down time. He also had to sing at some college graduation events, so that kept him a little busy, but still gave him a break after finals.

It’s really nice that they are home with Ernie during the day. I have been rushing home from school since the end of January and this takes a little off of my plate.

There is a bit of a transition period getting used to having 4 in the house and also not overstepping with your kids who have been managing themselves. Also, I have forgotten how to shop for and cook for four people! We have only gotten to eat dinner together a handful of times so far because of the play practice, but I am hoping we get to do it more.

Anyway, I love having them here. I feel like I get more hugs and words of appreciation now and it’s very sweet. They were always like that until the teen years and now I feel like it’s back again.

School

I have 7 more days with my seniors and 11 more days with my underclassmen. I have had a really great school year. I am sad because you never get the same dynamic again in your 6 classes. I have laughed more than I deserve this year because of them.

I also really worked on my work/life balance and it made a world of difference. I didn’t check email after hours or on weekends with a few exceptions. I didn’t watch the 9 a.m. Sunday Memo from my principal until Monday morning. Guess what – I didn’t miss anything and there were no emergencies. I continued to meal prep and it was a saving grace. I also challenged myself with learning lots of new technology and getting on Tik Tok.

There were definitely things I wish I had done better but that’s the beauty of teaching – I get a do over next year.

Shopping

I haven’t been clothes or shoe shopping much for myself and I continue to track my spending as I have in January, February, March, and April. I am trying to be content with what I have. Summer clothes and shoes are my absolute favorite, though, and when I have more time I shop more. I’m ok with that as the timing usually works out that things start going on sale just as I get out of school!

Well, my coffee has gotten cold and I have run out of talk.

What would you tell me if we were sitting down for a cup of coffee?

Amy

Monday, May 15, 2023

Well, you guys – I hardly took any photos this weekend so this is going to be short and sweet! I am linking up with Holly and Sarah, though, so be sure to check some other posts!

I got a sweet Teacher Appreciate gift Friday from three girls who went together! How cute! One girl had asked me what my favorite chips were a few days before…

My face…I was touched but it looks like I was constipated.

Friday night called for breakfast for dinner and this was mine:

Saturday running errands outfit:

Trader Joe’s was one of my stops and I got these for hummus and pizzas:

Saturday night going out outfit:

Paloma:

Mother’s Day Brunch outfit:

And, that’s all I took! Can you believe it?

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Amy

Friday, May 12, 2023

It’s Friday and time to link up with Andrea and Erika!

Here are some of my favorites from the week!

Got my old email back- not sure what I did that was different, but I was able to get back in. Now, I am transitioning to a gmail account. I was right that I was not missing anything important in my old email account, but it’s good that I have access again.

Jen showed Mother’s Day gifts from the.enneagram.com for her type and I looked up my type – 2. Yes, I do love all of these things!

I have been wearing my natural nails lately. I don’t love having them bare, but they are really loving this “rest”.

A photo of a wet (from the morning dew) photo of Ernie came up in my Facebook memories. We got him when our kids were in 4th grade. I had an arrangement to work 2nd period until an hour after school back then. I did this from my kids’ k-5th grade. They were on a 9:05 to 3:45 schedule and I was on a 7:40-2:20 schedule and then when they started middle school we were on the same schedule. I was able to drop them off at 8:40 and still get to my 2nd period on time and then I did the after school detention. I loved this arrangement and it also enabled me to walk Ernie when it was light out.

Ernie and I would walk to pick them up from school, also, as I still got home in plenty of time to do that. Teaching is the least flexible job ever, but sometimes you can look for creative solutions like this. My motto has always been to ask the question and the worst you are going to hear is “no”. I didn’t enjoy doing detention, but it was a means to have that schedule.

My school is changing start and end times next year. We are going from 7:40-2:20 to 8:40-3:20. I guess it will be nice to have a little more time in the morning, but I am not excited about losing an hour after school. I am trying to have an open mind and maybe I will end up liking it. I didn’t think I would like having last period planning this year, but it turns out that I have loved it!

I read this book so quickly. I really liked it! Are you a COHO fan? Colleen Hoover has become so popular with the teen girls, by the way. Her books do have mature content so I would think they are best for 17 and up? Some of my girl students and I have been talking about her books. Someone is letting me borrow Ugly Love soon. I think they are watching Netflix shows with the same mature topics and maybe even worse than what is in COHO’s books. Teens today know SO MUCH MORE than I did at their age.

Then, I started this one and will probably need to take a COHO break for a bit. The weather has been amazing! I come home from school, walk Ernie, and then read for a bit, start dinner, read a bit more. It’s giving me life to be able to sit outside and soak up some nature.

I made a really good dish based on Slender Kitchen’s one pot orzo – I changed the noodles to these cool ones from Trader Joe’s and I left out the cannellini beans. I think the beans tasted odd with pasta last time I made this. The dish also has chicken, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and chicken broth. This was Sunday dinner and Monday’s lunch for E and I.

This seemed significant! It’s hard to believe that 500,000 views have been made to this little old blog and that people have read my drivel.

I found the Cheese Gal chablis and I absolutely love it! It is a really good crisp, white wine for this time of year. I enjoyed a glass one evening this week on my patio. I am trying to deep dive into whites and see what I like. I am not a fan of chardonnay but this is a type of chardonnay – but unoaked – according to the fabulous wine guy at Trader Joe’s. Seriously, I have found my wine guy. He is so knowledgeable and patient and approaches me like he wants to hear my tales of what wines I like and don’t like. I also have a wine guy at the Kroger wine shop and he is a former co-worker’s friend. It really doesn’t feel like I live in a big city!

Speaking of that – it is kind of a running joke with my kids and my friends that I see a current or former student everywhere I go. You can run but you can’t hide.

After I scheduled my Hello Monday post on Sunday, my weekend continued. The day was dreary, cold, and rainy but we walked Ernie at a neighborhood that has a farmer’s market and a co-worker’s wife sells slices of cake. Tom picked out pineapple upside down cake and chocolate mint cake – 2 that I would not have picked so that was good so he could eat them.

Ernie had so much fun going on an outing with us and then he sat on a patio while we ate Waldo’s Chicken and Beer chicken sandwiches for lunch.

I think we need to do this more. We have so many dog friendly patios.

I got a spur of the moment invite to Mojitos late Sunday afternoon with my two college besties. The three of us have not been together in a long time – both of them have college kids that just came home, too, and one of them has an 8th grader doing all the 8th grade end of year stuff and the other has a high school senior who just made a college decision so there has been a lot going on.

We had a pitcher of passionfruit mojitos and…

plantain chips and guacamole,

and split a fish sandwich and flatbread. It was so nice to catch up and have a fun thing to cap off my weekend.

Another dinner this week was a favorite. I made a simple teriyaki sauce of:

1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 T water, 2 T. brown sugar, 2 t. sesame oil, 1 t. sriracha sauce, 2 garlic cloves minced, 1 T. ginger minced (I buy the tube). I had already cooked chicken that I put in that sauce on the stove for a bit along with some already cooked shrimp. I built bowls with rice, broccoli, pickled carrot, cucumber, and then the final step was a sauce made from 1 t. rice vinegar, 1 t. soy sauce, 2 t. sriracha sauce, and 3 T. mayo.

It turned out really good and I am just loving all the Asian inspired recipes lately.

Did you miss my Amazon post Tuesday or my Fashion Files yesterday? If so, I hope you will check those out.

I hope you had many, many favorites this week! Can you even believe we are at mid-May already?

Amy