Friday, September 9, 2022

Happy Friday! That was both a quick week and a long week, right? I am linking up with the gals here for Friday Favorites.

We came back to school after the Labor Day weekend on Tuesday and then had to come back that evening for our open house/mock schedule night. The parents are able to go to each class for 10 minutes to meet the teacher and hear a bit about the class.

So, who planned that for the Tuesday after Labor Day? The attendance was poor and we were wiped out.

But, something funny happened and it reminded me of an open house of maybe 8 years ago.

So, about 8 years ago, a student and her parents came in to hear about my class, but they weren’t alone. They had brought their pet chinchilla and it sat on a desk during the 10 minutes. They proceeded to feed it “special chinchilla pastries”. Let’s just say I could hardly focus on my spiel.

So, this year was the first in person open house we have had since 2019. A man walked by (not a parent of one of my students) and said, “let me give you this”. He handed me his business card/sticker for his singing telegram business.

I told him that I would need a sample to know if he is really worth it. He proceeded to sing me a sample in my hallway and then he said, “I don’t do break ups”.

You can’t make this stuff up. I will say that my job makes me laugh pretty much every day. The kids are so funny and then I laugh at the crazy stuff that comes from admin, too. For example, we are still in masks and we just got an email that says that the office is basically out of masks and we are kind of on our own if a student doesn’t have one. So, why are we still doing this? That’s funny, right?

I have so loved my little plant head. I want to get another one and then I think I will move them inside soon.

This is super weird, but Kroger has some amazing recipes on the backs of their products. I have had many people say they got their favorite recipes this way! So, I am going to start paying attention. Look at this – the back of the mozzarella cheese package – chicken prosciutto and pesto lasagna. I am going to use the pesto Erica gave me and change up the noodle, but I am excited to try this!

I believe this is where Jen got her pumpkin pasta recipe that is a family fave.

This is a better picture of what my new Kur polish looks like. It’s so pretty!

I did my Kroger pick up and the mums looked so pretty! I think it’s still too hot for me to try to maintain one. But, it is coming soon!

I felt like a freaking chef, you all! Erica loves Slender Kitchen and told me about this blackened fish with mango salsa taco recipe. I simply used frozen cod that I had defrosted.

I am excited to make this again. The mango salsa was so easy and soooo good!

I started this after school one day and it is cute so far. It is written kind of choppy with short sentences so I may not be able to sustain it. That really bothers me!

But, I am super proud of myself for getting outside to read instead of watching tv in the late afternoons and evenings. It has changed/helped my mental state. I feel like I have more of a day.

This is how crazy empty nester life can be. Tom started eating two of his popsicles at a time instead of one at a time. He “created a new flavor”. I took this picture to send to Jack because I bought the popsicles for him, not Tom!

I didn’t have anything social after school this week because we had open house one day and that only left two more days. Sad, right?

What were your favorites for this short week?

Amy

Thursday, September 8, 2022

It’s time for another installment of Fashion Files with Kellyann and Jill.

I am still chugging along with not repeating any clothing as we are starting our fifth week of school.

On Friday I wore my “Fiesta like there’s no mañana” shirt with jeans and an old Amazon kimono. I am kinda tired of kimonos, but they are just so easy for school.

Last week to meet my friend Beth for dinner I wore my trusty black Target Universal Thread dress. I stopped at a boutique on my way.

For boating I wore my yellow coverup and my fedora, which were two of my best Amazon buys this summer.

You will notice the change of dress here on the same day. Luckily I brought a change and told my friend to also. The middle friend wasn’t on the boat yet…

Tom had slowed down and a bigger boat was going to fast and created the biggest wave and sloshed us so badly. We were drenched and so happy we had a change of clothes to wear in the restaurant. Tom said sorry but the corners of his lips were definitely curled upward.

For school on Tuesday I wore this old tunic top and white capri leggings. I switch to grey capri leggings with this when it gets cooler.

And, yesterday I wore my old rust colored skirt with a new this season bargain $10 blouse.

I am moving my things that look too summery to a different section. I know that the old rules no longer apply, but I just feel ready to stop wearing the palm prints, the white, etc.

I am reaching now for the fallish colors like in the last outfit. But, I am reaching for things that still won’t be too hot because we are still experiencing warm temps here.

What about you? What have you been wearing lately?

Amy

Wednesday, September 7, 2020

How was your Labor Day weekend if you are in the US? Mine was great! It was really just what I needed. I am also linking up with Jennifer for Currently!

Let’s go back to Friday…

Erica and I met at Goodfellas pizza and grabbed a slice and a giant breadstick to split and took it into the speakeasy section. So cool!

I ordered a smoking bourbon drink!

This will be so cozy and perfect as the weather gets cooler.

Then, we headed to Elizabeth’s house because she was hosting a birthday party for her fiancé Andrew.

She has two dogs…

Banana:

Bruno:

They had Jimmy John’s and…

some snacks. I brought a Mexican layer dip that was devoured. Just sayin’.

Erica and I stayed for a couple of hours before we had to head home. Her hub was out of town and Tom wanted to collapse in his chair so it worked out perfectly that we would just go.

Saturday morning there was a threat of rain so I knew I needed to do my coffee outside before that happened.

I was meeting Victoria at the Fleur de Flea vintage flea market and it was great because they had everything under cover.

We bought bought a dough bowl.

My dough bowl:

It never did rain on us! I came home and read and finished this. So cute! It was really just what I needed.

I then started this and have now finished it, too. It was just a fun read! I was so happy to have books that I couldn’t wait to get back to. It had been awhile!

Also, I wish I could just buy a bunch of this Truly flavor – strawberry hibiscus.

Mason needed a sweatshirt and went into my closet and picked my brightest hot pink sweater. It looked really funny in the candlelight. They came home and we had chicken, potato wedges, and honey mustard salad. We sat on the patio in the rain and listened to music and talked and it was lovely.

I did some meal prep Sunday morning – just 4 breakfast burritos this week. Oh yeah!

The skies looked bad, but we took a chance because we had plans to boat for Sunday Funday!

We ate at Cunningham’s on the river…

And we tooled around…

We headed to the cove and it was a par-tay…

There was a drone flying a blow up doll around. I do not even want to know the story behind that.

One of my friends posted this and I wanted to show you what that mess looked like from an inside source…

We stayed on the outskirts; don’t worry.

The guys were tired – lame! The girls wanted to keep the party going so we went to Heather’s pool. It sucks, right?

And, got in her hot tub, too!

This girl joined us…

We ordered pizza and enjoyed a couple more hours together.

Monday morning it was raining, but it was ok with me…

I made chocolate chip pancakes and felt so lucky that my twins’ birthday fell on Labor Day!

I did another yummy meal prep dish, too!

Our kids wanted to do our favorite Mediterranean take out and we watched The Bear. We are enjoying watching this with them when we can.

After cookie cake they headed back to campus together.

It was a nice weekend with lots of downtime and some social time thrown in.

Now it’s time for Currently!

Loving – I am really loving having a laptop at home and at work. I feel so much lighter with a smaller work tote. I was carting the work laptop back and forth everyday. On days that I don’t bring lunch I can get away with my cross body purse and that’s it! I am liberated!

Beginning – I am beginning to think about the cozy fall foods! I am excited to change up my meals a bit. I am thinking about chili, sausage tortellini soup that I am going to do with my own homemade chicken sausage and a whole wheat noodle. I want to try more soups and more pasta dishes with whole wheat noodles. I want to try to do some oatmeal for breakfast, too.

Ending – I will be ending the wearing and hanging of my coverups and swimsuits – yes, I hang them. I will fold them up and put them in my summer bin. So sad, right?

Picking – I tried to get excited about putting out fall decor last weekend, but I just wasn’t ready. I will be picking out some minimal decor and either donating or leaving the rest in my bins. I hate to shop for new decor each year, but my tastes have changed. I always start with looking in my bins and I am still really into my white pumpkins.

Posting – I hope to be posting some fall fashion posts soon. I want to use what is in my closet and I want to look to the fall trends and see how to make those work for women of my age.

I love these prompts. It’s fun to see how each blogger approaches them differently! Did you see Prime Purchases yesterday? I am excited to go back and read all the linked posts. I want to start writing down gift ideas for the upcoming holidays and I think this would be a great source!

Amy

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

How was your long weekend? You will hear about mine tomorrow! It’s time to link up with Tanya for Prime Purchases. I didn’t spend much this month. I was purposely trying to cut down on my Amazon dependency and I was just busy. I feel like I used Amazon more this month for things I had no time to hunt down in stores and for things I couldn’t find in stores.

I swear by my Simply Saline and use it during every shower. I meant to get the 3 pack at Costco but didn’t, so it arrived one day later with Amazon!

I wanted to start taking fish oil but went looking for a liquid instead of a pill. This is yummy!

I really miss my hairspray. I messed up and have to wait until October. I do have one can, but the aerosol is messed up so it makes a big mess. This is proof how much I love this stuff. My account says I have purchased this 15 times! I think that is always a two pack, too!

I love my new chair! I am sorry that I talk about it a lot. This chair will see more action as the weather cools, too. It’s not too late to have a chair that you care about this much, too!

I bought a gift card for my sister. I have stopped feeling guilty about gift cards. People like them!

I love, love, love my popcorn spray. I think it makes popcorn taste better than movie theater popcorn now. In fact, I can’t eat that anymore. I have purchased this spray 10 times. Wow!

I’m old. I need a mouse. I am happy with my sea green one.

I made a mistake and bought the Kur Fortifying Ridge Filler instead of the illuminating nail concealer. But, I really like it! I also did buy the nail concealer/polish and I love it! If you want to try it, just be sure you are buying the right product. They look just alike in the bottle.

And, that is it for August! I think I did pretty well.

I was thinking about my favorite Amazon purchases of the summer and I had a few of them on this weekend. I love my fedora. I love the color and the fit. I love, love, love my long coverup and I would consider getting it in another color. It has felt so “me” this summer, you know?

I also carried this pool/boat tote.

I am still loving this strap and using it exclusively for the end of the summer.

I am also using this cream purse when I go out right now – like every time almost! Also, look at my friend in the middle. She has the exact same purse but took a Tory Burch emblem off of an old wallet and stuck it in the middle of hers! She had you fooled now, didn’t she?

I can’t quit you Amazon!

What have you purchased lately?

Amy

Friday, September 2, 2022

Happy Friday! Boy, am I glad to see this week come to an end and a long weekend ahead of me! The grind of getting up around 4:45, leaving for work at 6:45 and working all day is getting to me! Do I really have to adult? Yes, I was spoiled by summer!

Linking up with the ladies here for Friday Favorites!

First of all, some business…I will be back on Tuesday for Prime Purchases with Tanya, Wednesday for Weekending where I will share my weekend, Thursday for Fashion Files, and Friday for Favorites. I am taking Monday off for Labor Day and because my twins turn 20!

So, this week has been like starting school over again because I had to switch a study hall (I just monitored the kids while they quietly did homework) that I had into a Spanish 1 class. We have had so much demand for Spanish 1 that we couldn’t keep up and I now have a class of kids that came from 3 different teachers. I’ve spent the week creating new lessons and handouts for them and trying to teach them my routines – that are probably vastly different from the routines they had established with the other 3 teachers. I didn’t have any other Spanish 1 classes, so this was all new prep for me. I now have 3 preps, as we call them, so it’s not that it’s hard necessarily, but it is definitely more time consuming to plan and prepare for 3 different classes.

One evening I was upset with myself for eating dinner and immediately turning on the tv, so I went outside to read instead. The evening was lovely, but the mosquitos love me so much! That’s one thing I will not miss about summer. I started this – didn’t finish my last book The Spanish House – I liked it but it was slow…

This is so cute so far and my niece is named Nora, so that appealed to me, too!

The sun and the sky really changed my mood around!

One day I made cauliflower rice, AmyLu cherry sausage and roasted frozen vegetables for our lunches.

One day I made Mexican spaghetti squash bowls.

And, one day I made buffalo chicken stuffed potatoes but I forgot to take a photo. This was my week with 3 meals and Erica made orange chicken and fajita bowls. Again, we are eating well!

I savored The Pioneer Woman magazine over the weekend. It’s just so good!

I was happy that Ree talked about blazers for fall.

Kellyann, I think she shopped your closet!

And, I had thought camo was out…

I was really happy to see this because I have several camo things that I still love.

I made it to the gym twice this week again.

I stopped to take in the beautiful sunrise one morning in my school parking lot.

I had not seen my friend Beth in a long time and we have very conflicting schedules now that school has started. We met at Red Hog. This is truly one of my favorite patios in town.

I ordered the best Paloma I have ever had. If you like tequila and grapefruit, you should try this!

We had to have their fries with curry mayo. These are some of the best fries in town. I have done extensive research.

We usually just have appetizers, but we met at 5:30 and had dinner. We decided to split the half roasted chicken and corn.

It was fabulous! I love this place. They also have a little butcher shop that sells other things like fresh bread from their sister shop Blue Dog Bakery.

I love my chairs. Can one love a chair this much?

This is my chair from Walmart last year – we have two. We take these to hear music or watch outdoor plays. I also like to use it on my patio sometimes.

And, this is my anti-gravity lounger that I just replaced. Ahhhhhh…love this chair.

One night for dinner I served this roll/bread on the side and Tom was talking about how much he liked it. Tom is not a big bread/carb eater, so that is big for Tom to say that. Pick up a bag from Walmart deli. They are great as a bread on the side or for a little sandwich. They would be great for Sloppy Joe’s, BBQ, and maybe even a burger. They are only 100 calories each and 3 WW points. They have a European flavor in my opinion. What is European flavor? I am not sure but they have it. I keep these in the freezer and just take one out as needed.

How was your week? Any favorites? What are your long weekend plans?

Happy, happy long weekend!

Amy

Thursday, September 1, 2022

Happy First of September! Did you see that I posted twice yesterday? I’m so tired I had forgotten I already had a post. I’m a mess. I hope that makes someone out there feel better! Ha!

I am linking up with Kellyann and Jill for a couple of outfits I have worn lately and for some fall prep I have been doing.

My tripod makes my photos kind of blurry so I apologize in advance. I am not sure what I am doing wrong. I am trying to cycle through all of my warm weather skirts, dresses, and pants without repeating.

On this day, I wore my fun and colorful Loft pants (very old) with a black tank and one of my new Target button downs. I returned my Amazon ones because I wanted a bit more room and I was in the largest size. They are a really nice material. I was sad, but then I found these from Target. I would say stick to your normal size in these and they will shrink a bit in the dryer. I went with black, white, and light blue because I do plan to wear them a lot! I have on my rain flats by Melissa because the weather was bad, but I did change into my black Birkenstocks.

Then I wore the light blue one over a simple black tank swing dress.

On this day I wore my Kohl’s white button down with my palm print skirt.

I forgot to take my photo, but I wore my blush colored swing dress with a tie dye kimono one day.

My Hush Puppies came in. Oh my word. The quality is top notch and the comfort factor just wearing them around the house seems on point.

What do you all think? They are both super comfy and I can imagine that these will be worn a great deal.

I think I have found the Universal Thread dress of fall. Remember the Universal Thread dress of summer? I bought it in black, white, and mauve?

Exhibit A:

Check out this basic dress for fall. I purchased mine when they were 30% off. I am sorry to say that ended the day after, but hopefully something else will come up.

I had to do two orders. I decided to size up because the dress is quite straight without much fabric in the stomach, hips, and booty area.

I ordered all three colors and I think it will look great with a cardigan or a blazer. I like the sleeves and the ability to layer so I don’t get too hot. Sometimes our building gets so overheated in the winter, you know?

Another factor I considered is that this dress can be worn to work, out to dinner, and can be made more dressy with heels or boots or more casual with sneakers.

I am excited to have my three new button downs and my three new dresses as we head into fall.

I am considering these:

They are Dansko so I would hope they would be super comfortable for work and play.

What have you been wearing lately?

Amy

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Do you struggle to shop for a man? Women seem so easy, right? We can gift them whatever we would want! Just go to your Amazon cart and see what your faves have been. Or, even better, go to your local boutique and pick up a candle, a pair of earrings, or something for the kitchen. Easy, right?

Well, I love to give a foodie/consumable gift to men.

I have given men bourbon themed gifts because I am in Kentucky. This past weekend, I forgot to take a photo, but I gave Mike bourbon barbecue sauce, bourbon caramel sauce for ice cream, bourbon smoked pepper, bourbon hot sauce, and bourbon balls. I was thrilled when I saw his cake was a bourbon barrel. Girl loves a theme, you know?

I did a similar bourbon basket for our friend Bob and he texted me as he used the products to tell me how much he liked them.

I found Mike’s entire gift at my wonderful Paul’s Fruit Market where they sell so many great local things. Do you have a local gourmet/specialty market? Maybe go in with new eyes and see what foodie theme you could do.

Check out Bourbon Barrel Foods if you are local or shop online if you aren’t. Many men love bourbon! These products are in many of our stores, too.

Other ideas:

-Bloody Mary mix, vodka, and all the fixings that go into a great glass of Bloody Mary

-Assortment of spicy chips and dips to eat while watching football. Trader Joe’s has ghost pepper potato chips! Include something with their favorite team.

-World Market has unique snack items from all over the world – you could do an “Around the World” basket

-Do a make your own 6 pack of interesting beers at your grocery store or liquor store. Slap a bow on it and maybe also include a gift card for a wing place.

-An assortment of bar mixes, nuts, pretzels and their favorite bottle of liquor

What are your favorite gifts to give men?

Amy

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Happy last day of August! I am taking a day off, but I would love for you to click on an old post of your choice! Are you going to decorate for fall tomorrow? I already have my apple mantel up, but I think I will go through my early fall decor this weekend. I’m excited!

I will be back tomorrow for Fashion Files and Friday for Friday Favorites!

Here is some suggested reading – lol…

Are you struggling with work/life balance? Maybe consider your own self-care syllabus?

What about doing your own Automatic September like I did for August?

Do you feel like you spend your whole weekend running errands? Maybe you missed my weekend post and desperately need it?

Do you want to start a gym routine? Here is how I started mine.

Do you just need a cocktail? Ha! Even better if it’s low cal?

Would you like to cut up a t-shirt this weekend?

Happy Hump Day!

Amy

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

This post is inspired by Barbara Brown Taylor’s memoir; many bloggers and influencers talk about this from time to time…

It sounds dramatic, but it could really be the smallest thing. It’s just another way of saying what you really appreciate in your life or what makes your life easier.

It’s kind of a gratitude practice.

And, some of these things you probably already know if you are a regular reader!

Having a laptop at home so I don’t have to tote my work laptop back and forth anymore! I love having less to tote back and forth. Some days I only take my brown crossbody to school. Who am I? Are the days of teacher totes over? Tom bought this little Dell laptop for me for just $80 from his work. They turn in old technology and are able to buy it for personal use.

I don’t do much work at home anymore, but when I do, I can just use this.

Meal Prep – this will probably always be on my list. Even just having my 5 breakfasts ready to grab and go is a huge timesaver. I am trying to cook one night and have at least two meals out of it – dinner that night and lunches for work. Even better if I can make chicken or ground beef for two dinners at once.

By the way, the above breakfast burrito variation turned out delish! I would have never thought to just stick a whole sausage link in the burrito, but I saw it on Instagram.

Kroger Grocery Pick Up App – the app is amazing. It saves everything you normally buy so you can just re-order all of it. You can add things gradually through the week as your run out and it saves/remembers your items. I just love it. I am not opposed to Walmart, but Walmart is not convenient. Kroger is really close to home and we love Kroger brand items, too.

I do a Wednesday or Thursday pick up usually right after school, so no special trip out is required. I want to pick it up between 2:45-3:15, but I always choose 1:30-2:00 on the app so it’s ready for me. My student who works there says that they save your order for a full 24 hours if something comes up.

I tell the app I am there and which parking spot and honestly I am almost always the only one in a spot at this time. The employee comes out and I pop my hatch and do not even get out of my car. Oh, what a time to be alive!

Those of you all doing delivery…I don’t think I can get my Kroger plus card discounts if I were to do Instacart and I don’t think Kroger has their own delivery.

And, you are winning when you include your Trulys in your order! Ha!

Wearing sneakers to work – where has this trend been all my teaching career? Of course, I could have always gone this route, but now it’s actually trendy and you don’t look like Tootsie in Working Girl. Is that the correct reference?

Having fun things on the calendar – I keep it pretty positive around here, but I struggle with my kids leaving the nest. It helps me to have things to do with Tom and our friends at this time of year. First of all, how am I old enough to have kids in college? How am I old enough to qualify for retirement? I loved being a mom of babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers, elementary aged kids, and even middle school kids. High school was touch and go – lol. I totally enjoy this age, too, but it’s definitely different. For one thing, my kids are horrible texters and phone conversationalists. I get one word responses from most texts. I feel so much closer to them when we are in person. But, they needed to move back to campus because I could tell at the end of the summer they were ready. We started annoying each other more.

What’s saving you right now?

Amy

Monday, August 29, 2022

Linking up with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday!

How was your weekend? Did anyone set themselves up for whatever your idea is of a better weekend? I did my grocery pick up on Thursday, which again was so nice.

Let’s go back to Friday. It was a long week. I was ready to bust out those doors. Erica extended a happy hour invite to our entire faculty and about 12 showed up. It was really nice to talk to other teachers who we don’t get to see.

Bourbon slush!

I left around 4:00 because I had other plans…

All of my high school and college friends are turning 50 this year and I am lucky that many of them live in my city.

My friend Mike had a bucket list item to play guitar and sing publicly and he picked this gorgeous brewery that used to be a greenhouse.

They also have great food – like surprisingly great. Tom and I had brussels sprouts…

I had salmon with sweet potatoes and zucchini and it was delish!

Tom had pulled pork but I forgot to take a photo.

Mike was amazing and played a song that Tom really likes so Tom dropped him a tip and that started something!

Mike’s wife Beth, who I also went to high school with:

We stayed until about 8:00 and then we crashed!

Saturday morning I started my day with some reading and my coffee. Tom started his day with a 32 mile bike ride. Opposites attract, right?

I was so behind on responded to blog comments from the week! Eek!

Anyone peep their name on my comments? He, he!

I did have to do Costco. I got there right when it opened – I thought. How are there already so many cars all the time?

I stuck to food items and paper products that we needed, but I went a bit overboard.

$330 dollars later…

I bought this and it’s good! I am wanting to pick a cleaner protein shake.

I also picked this – a box comes with 6 of these little cartons equivalent to 10 eggs I believe. Someone – sorry! – recommended them and they are really good. Thank you!

I went ahead and made 5 breakfast burritos and put them in the freezer. This time I did the Kirkland egg whites, a bit of cheese, and an Amy Lu breakfast sausage link. I did not do any potatoes. I hope this turns out! I also used a Costo low carb tortilla so I hope that I like it as much, too.

Then, around 2:00, it was time for Part 2 of Mike’s birthday!

They just built a gorgeous pool and this was a real pool party where people actually wear suits and get in the pool – not a fake pool party where people stand around a pool in white jeans, you know?

Complete with bar and bartender. I was informed the bartender is not usually there! But, how cool if you just hired a bartender for 3 hours a day during happy hour?

The cake was gorgeous and was a bourbon barrel!

Theme cups:

and Koozies:

Tom was one of the first in the pool!

A couple of our best friends drove in from Cincy!

The food was catered and delish. I think I have enough pickles, but maybe not…

We got home around 7:00 and ate some leftovers for dinner.

Sunday I slept in a bit and did my weekend morning routine, some meal prep, and you know, made some more strawberry freezer jam – ha!

Then, it was time for Sunday Fun Day…

Our friends were able to join us for lunch at Captain’s Quarters…

and a lot of time just bobbing in the water.

I had very little time at home but it was worth it! I am hoping for a way less busy week this week and I am ready for Labor Day weekend.

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Amy