Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa

Thursday, March 17, 2022

Happy St. Patrick’s Day and happy birthday to my sister Kate!

It’s time to link up with Jill and Kellyann for Fashion Files.

Let’s go back to last week…

This is the day the mask came off! I think you can tell how happy I am. I am wearing my Walmart Scoop blazer (I have it in black, too, and I have worn each of them 3-4 times already!) I wish you could feel the material. It’s divine. I don’t use that word lightly. I wore my light jeans and my new bow mule flats – more information to come on those…

Don’t you love my photo backgrounds? Some bloggers find cool painted buildings or architectural details, but I have lockers.

The next day I wore my old JCPenney Liz Claiborne (name dropping!) chambray popover that finally fits correctly and my Hue jeggings with the bow mule flats.

Here is a better view:

I picked these up a few weeks ago at DSW.

Saturday for the pre-parade party and parade I wore a new green Target cardigan and my new green beer earrings and shamrock headband. Beth is in the middle and Erica is on the right. Erica doesn’t get excited about holidays at all, does she?

I love this dress! I bought it at Target back in the fall and it has pockets. So, yes, it has a bit of that Target Little House on the Prairie vibe, but I am ok with that. My gold clogs are a lewk, right? I cannot tell you how many students that I don’t even know tell me that they love them. And, it’s mostly boys! Street cred, maybe? I wonder if they talk about me and say, “you know – that middle aged teacher lady with those gold clogs?”

I just want to tell you again how perfect these gold hoops are. They would make an excellent gift. They look way more expensive than $12 and they are lightweight! Love!

I ordered this blouse from an online boutique called Shop.Set.Apart because I fell in love at first sight. It’s a light pink background. I love palm leaves. I’m not sure about the jeans or the clogs with it, but oh well. I found the boutique because the owner lost weight on WW and sometimes gives recipes/meal ideas. I enjoy these little boutiques because I feel like they have different things than what you see in the stores. Do you have any favorite online boutiques. Sizing can be tricky sometimes, though.

Do you have a favorite outfit from above? This is the craziest time to get dressed. One of the above outfits was for 30 degrees and one was for 70 degrees!

Thanks for visiting me,

Amy

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Are you a fan of spaghetti squash? I am a pretty new fan. Here is the easiest way I have found to cook it and once you do the possibilities are endless, really!

Microwave your uncut spaghetti squash for about 3 minutes for a smallish one and maybe 4 or 5 for a bigger one. Allow to cool for a bit and then slice down the middle. It is very hard to cut without the microwave step.

Then, the microwave also has made the cleaning out process easier. With a spoon, dig out all of the seeds.

Pour a bit of olive oil and add salt and pepper to each half and then put cut side down on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Cook for about 30 minutes at 375.

When you take it out, you should be able to easily create “spaghetti” with a fork.

Follow Allie.Carte.Dishes on Instagram! She said to add a wedge of laughing cow to create an alfredo taste.

It is amazing! I then added some cajun spice, cooked chicken, and broccoli. I can’t wait to make this dish again.

I have also had a burrito bowl this week:

I have really been taking the time to marinate my chicken lately. You can just throw spices and olive oil in a bag or you can use a packet of taco seasoning or this:

I really like this mojito lime packet.

Erica made us a grilled chicken spinach strawberry salad with feta. She just brought olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dress it. Yum!

Let me know if you try the spaghetti squash!

Amy

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

How was your Spring Forward Monday? Were you as tired as I was?

Here is our family’s favorite salad:

I make a dressing from about 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup honey, and about 1/4 cup of either yellow or dijon mustard or a combo of both. I add some cajun spice, some pepper, some garlic powder, and a bit of water to thin it out. That’s it!

I think this calls for good old iceberg lettuce!

Then, I add cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, bacon, hard boiled egg (why is hard boiled egg so good in salads?), and I like the Texas Toast croutons if you can find them.

I leave off a few things for myself and sometimes add a bit of sliced avocado. This salad also is wonderful with grilled chicken or frozen breaded chicken heated in the oven or airfryer.

I am really craving salads right now! Are you a big salad person?

Would your family go for this salad? By the way, the dressing is great for dipping pretzels or just plain chicken, too!

Amy

Friday, March 11, 2022

It is time to link up here for Friday Favorites!

My first favorite it that it is FRIDAY! And, we are supposed to get some snow overnight – Say what?

My second favorite is that it is Daylight Savings Time change weekend! Are you ready to “spring forward”? I am!

Another really big favorite..

we were allowed to remove the mask yesterday! It just kinda came about all of a sudden in my district. It may seem silly or that it is such a small thing, but it feels huge to me. I had not taught in person without a mask since March 13, 2020. That is two calendar years and a really long time.

It was so fun seeing full faces! I had some fun with a senior:

Hello, old friends:

Now I can wear bigger earrings and lipstick to work. Now I can breathe!

I changed up my home mani this week:

I forgot to show/tell you, but I bought two bundles of the $1.99 daffodils at Trader Joe’s last weekend and I added them to these cool vases I found for 70% off at Meijer. I got a wild hair and added green food coloring to the water.

New favorite flavor of sparkling water…

La Croix passionfruit!

My sister did a cute gel polish and sent me this pic:

I think I will do alternating green and white for St. Patrick’s Day?

I did something crazy to keep myself motivated and kinda as a reward for my health journey…

Sun Tany City spray tan:

Awkward photo of my legs:

And, even more shocking…I went to the gym at 5:00 a.m. everyday this week. I knew it was time to add this and it has been really nice, but I’m a little sore. I am not exactly sure what my routine will be but this week I did legs one day, upper body the next, cardio only the next, then back to legs, then upper body. I am still walking after school, too.

This week I did Sunday at 7:00 a.m., and then Monday-Thursday. I think I will do Monday-Thursday and take Friday morning off. I’m not sure yet. I felt it important to do it everyday this week to start the habit off well. I think an every other day plan would have made it easier to just not do it.

Peep Tom in the white shirt:

He goes at 5:00, too. It’s a no frills gym really close to our house.

And, lastly, I want to say that I tried my cheap silk pillowcase from Amazon again and it’s made a huge difference in how my hair looks in the morning. It keeps it really smooth. I hope it’s keeping my face smooth, too. Honestly, I prefer a “cooler” feeling pillow, but I can sacrifice because of the benefits I’m seeing with my hair.

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

Happy Weekend,

Amy

Thursday, March 10, 2022

It is time for another edition of Fashion Files! I am joining Kellyann and Jill!

Last week I showed you my fun new spring accessories – two headbands and some St. Paddy’s day beaded earrings.

And…

It hadn’t yet arrived for the price of $15.99 from Walmart.com, but I also showed you my lemon sweater in the stock photo…

Here I wore it to have breakfast with my friend Beth. It really seems like better quality than one would expect from a $15 sweater! It’s also a nice soft material.

And, the ever stylish Beth:

I was also able to wear it to school this week because it got colder. I am happy to report that I was not hot at all!

And, it was still cold enough the next day to wear my bright pink sweater!

Do you remember my pink Amazon Essentials tee?

Well..I wanted to tell you that I have seen this style tee on Tuckernuck and Banana Republic so I think this style is a trend for spring and summer.

Here is mine:

And, I think I like this version even better!

I think it is so nice to look for elevated basics for your wardrobe. Everyone needs a few solid color tops, but I like looking for an element that makes it a little more special. I can vouch for the Amazon Essentials quality and the price is much better than the Tuckernuck or the BR versions.

What have you been wearing lately?

Amy

P.S. – As you are reading this, it will be my first day since March 13, 2020 to teach in person without a mask and to see my students in person without masks. Not to be overly dramatic, but I am crying because I’m so happy and I really didn’t think this would ever happen in my district this year. Hello lipstick!

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

My blog post title today might seem a bit dramatic…

Let me explain…

I am piggybacking off of The Lazy Genius podcast and Modern Mrs. Darcy blog. Both of these ladies, Kendra and Anne, have taken this question from author Barbara Brown Taylor. They periodically update their audiences with answers to this question. Brown Taylor says that is the more positive side of the question, “What’s killing you right now?”, which people seem ready to answer at the drop of a hat; we as humans do really like to complain, no? This resonated with me each time I read or heard the responses and it prompted me to name my things that are saving me right now. Forgive me if I am a broken record, because I probably am in some of my responses. I do a version of this each Friday with Friday Favorites, but today I will go a bit deeper.

1. Meal Prep

I choose to take a bit of time on the weekend to make my life easier during the week. Last weekend I did a breakfast casserole and the weekend before I did breakfast burritos, boiled some eggs, and baked some potatoes, along with cooking up some cauliflower rice. I usually watch a show while I cook and I just really enjoy this time and consider it a gift to my future self – or my self of a few days later – ha! I use this throughout the week and I do vary what I prep each week.

In addition to that, I also make two-three lunches for myself and my work meal prep partner.

This week I made chicken sausage, brussel sprouts, mushrooms, and potatoes:

and turkey meatballs, fake pasta (made from hearts of palm), and broccoli.

I am a reflective person and when I reflect on this school year, one of the highlights will be our lunches. That may sound silly, but it really helped me to be healthier and to lose weight. I didn’t feel that I was sacrificing and it was nice to have someone to share in the lunch duty. We can’t easily order in or do anything but bring a lunch as teachers and we both say we have never eaten better.

So, this may be silly, but it really helped/is helping us through one of the hardest years of our teaching careers. I keep it pretty positive here on the blog, but teaching has gotten much harder and it was already crazy hard. Supporting young people during a pandemic is hard. The responsibilities placed in the hands of schools that trickle down to little ol’ me are overwhelming. The technology addiction is crazy. We have opened Pandora’s Box and I don’t think we can close it now. I could say more, but I won’t.

2. The hints of spring weather we have been having

Yeah, so it’s cold again this week, but the respite from the cold was good for me. Even though I knew it wasn’t really spring yet, it reminded me of what spring feels like and looks like. I love when the world comes to life again. Winter in a pandemic is even more depressing! So, why not move to a warmer climate? I love the four distinct-ish seasons and maybe I like to complain about winter like other old people – I don’t know. I do think the winter helps us to appreciate the spring and summer.

3. Boundaries between work and home life

I have gotten better about just not checking email after I arrive home and not checking it until I get to school the next morning. I mean…am I ever going to get good news via work email? Probably not! I am going to get a message about one.more.thing.I.need.to.do or an email from a student saying, “can I still make up this assignment?” and I can just tell them the next day in class or respond during my work hours. Please don’t think I don’t care, because I do. I am willing to work with kids up to an hour before school starts any day of the week or most days after school for as long as they need. But, we have got to create more of a work/life balance in this age of 24/7 availability.

I actually took work email off of my phone and can only access it by using my phone’s browser or getting out my laptop. I also got rid of Google Classroom on my phone and my school’s grading program app.

I am a much better teacher when I get the rest I need to be 100% the next day at school!

So… what’s saving you right now?

Amy

Tuesday, March 8 2022

In my opinion, it has never been easier to eat healthy at a restaurant! There are so many more healthy options today! I love going out to eat! Do you? These days, I am getting very little take out because I am cooking more at home. I know it looks like I go out a lot, but I really don’t. I am cooking most of my meals at home. When I do go out now, it feels like more of a treat. Also, I was pretty strict during the almost two years of Covid and didn’t eat out indoors very much at all.

So, here’s the deal with our current empty nest situation. Tom goes out to lunch every.single.workday with only a few exceptions. Every now and then his office will order food and every now and then he will come home for lunch, but it’s not that convenient to do so, so he rarely does. It used to really bother me that he ate lunch out every day – because of the expense and maybe I was a tad jealous? But, when I took the time to ask him why – finally – he said he just needs the mental break and the change of scenery from being in his office all day. That really helped me and now I just don’t think about it. He often brings leftovers home that I serve him for dinner another night! Ha! He is really good about stopping when he is full and he doesn’t like to waste food.

So, because Tom goes out to lunch every day, he is not that excited to go out to dinner – even on a Friday night. Plus, Friday nights are crazy around here at our restaurants and we are both tired and it’s just not that enjoyable. I think many restaurants are still struggling from Covid-related issues and many are short staffed. So, we go out on Saturday nights maybe two-three nights a month. I have found that a good compromise for me is that I have an almost weekly happy hour with a friend so that I feel like I got to go out. This is working for us right now in this season of life. And, when our kids come home, they want to eat home cooked food at home.

Here is my plan when I do go out to eat.

Like I mentioned, I try to only eat out on the weekends when I use up my extra WW Weeklies. I get 23 points a day and then an additional 28 to use as needed. I try to use those mostly on Saturdays. I can earn extra points for exercise, vegetables, and water, but I try not to add those on. If I do eat out on a weeknight or have a happy hour during the week, that’s ok – I just try to plan ahead with the rest of my day – or week.

-I plan ahead. If I know I am going out to dinner I try to keep my breakfast and lunch lighter and healthier.

-I always look up the menu online. This is a game changer. I try to always know what I am going to order before getting there. Pre-WW I was super indecisive when looking at menus, so this has been nice in that regard, too. I don’t overthink it anymore. You know when you arrive at a restaurant with friends and you want to visit with them right away but you also have to decide what to order? This method has helped with that.

-Breakfast or brunch can be an easy meal to eat out – eggs are always a great choice for me. I really have been enjoying the omelette with a salad on the side thing. I also love to try to re-create restaurant meals at home, so I started doing this sometimes for dinner.

My favorite farmer’s market skillet at one of my fave breakfast spots:

I do try not to “drink” too many calories so I get either a plain coffee or an Americano:

But, you know I do save some points for my cocktails! Ha! You may have peeped a mimosa or two in my photos above. I love a mimosa!

I recently met a friend for breakfast and did the bagel sandwich thing. The rest of my day was a salad and a veggie and lean protein dinner. So, I stayed within my daily range!

A Mexican omelette at a Mexican breakfast place:

I really have grown to love vegetable sushi:

I split things a lot! My friend and I split this chicken teriyaki bowl and I have since re-created it as much as I could at home!

It’s not always easy to figure out the points in restaurants, but the WW app is pretty cool and you can get pretty close.

I always get my salad dressings on the side because I cannot stand when they go crazy with dressing and I have always been that way. It ruins a salad.

And, ultimately I eat what I’m craving at a restaurant because I still want to live my life! I never want to be that overly fussy person at a restaurant either.

You can tell them not to bring bread so you aren’t tempted, but when you are with other people that would just be plain mean to do to them! I do eat bread when it’s worth it, like this bread:

I’ve had dreams about this bread… ahhhhh…I could live on bread and potatoes!

Anyway, what’s your best restaurant tip?

Amy

Monday, March 7, 2022

This post is coming to you late because of technical problems – again! Ugh!

Also, I slept in today because we had a three day weekend!

I started my weekend on Friday after school with a little happy hour here with Erica:

Then, I stopped and got our favorite mediterranean food and Blizzards. We had been waiting for Jack to return home from NYC to have this meal.

I also made a pan of brownies!

We are watching The Great on Hulu with them now – it is very R.

Saturday morning it felt like spring!

I did TJ’s and Target pretty early and it was wonderful!

I had the sun roof open!

I spent some time on my deck reading and it was just what I needed!

Breakfast on the deck, too:

For dinner, I made honey mustard salad with chicken:

and loaded potato rounds with ciabatta bread:

I did a variation for me:

Also, I made a healthy copycat shamrock shake! It was pretty good!

I went back out to read after dinner:

And, another breakfast on the deck on Sunday:

We went to the movies – all four of us – to see the new Batman.

Then, I made chicken teriyaki bowls and our college kids left to go back to campus.

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Amy

Friday, March 4, 2022

Well, I am trying to re-do this post as it didn’t save yesterday – oh well. So, it will be a bit shorter.

I am linking up with Friday Favorites here!

My first favorite is that Jack arrived back late Wednesday night from NYC and we still have a few more days left of the college kids home for spring break!

Do you use Flight Aware to track flights? It’s really cool!

Another fave this week was walking into my library and seeing this green display! I love color!

I am reading this:

with this on deck:

Did you celebrate Mardi Gras? I made Tom an old favorite that I have been making him for like 24 years – no joke. Emeril Lagasse’s couscous jambalaya with spoon bread was our meal. I actually used cauliflower rice for my portion and I may do that again. It was really good!

I tried another flavor of Bubly. I am using this in the afternoons to make myself think I’m having a cocktail – and it helps me reach my daily water goal.

I love Essie marshmallow!

I love my Thrive Causemetics mascara and using a primer with it is a game changer. I’m really happy with this very affordable Essence option.

And, I am new to the brow game, but I like to make sure I put some face lotion on each brow and let it set it a bit, then glide the NYX Fill and Fluff pencil over each brow, followed by the sponge at the other end. Then, I use the brow mascara. It lasts all day.

I can’t wait to wear my new accessories! Did you catch my Fashion Files yesterday here?

Actually, I did already wear the headband to school to mark the beginning of March!

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

Cheers to the weekend,

Amy

Thursday, March 3, 2022

It is time to link up with Jill and Kellyann!

Today’s post is short and sweet and really just involves some fun things that I have found lately. Kellyann mentioned in her blog recently that February had been a big clothing spending month for her. I would agree that I get really excited about an upcoming season and seem to spend more in March and September in preparation for the spring/summer and fall/winter. How do I know this? I tracked every.single.clothing. purchase I made for maybe 3 years? It was so enlightening. I even went back at the end of the year and analyzed what my best purchases were. I looked at what didn’t get worn. I really think I learned a lot from doing that.

I popped in to Clothes Mentor as I do from time to time and saw these Sorel sandals in my size. They are a very light blush color. Also, if you are on the short side like me, cut your too long jeans, wash and dry them, and you are on trend.

They have kind of a lug sole on the heel. I brought these home for $17. I couldn’t find them online when I got home, but their other dressier wedge sandals retail for $120ish! Score!

Next up are a couple of fun purchases that didn’t break the bank. I went in to Versona and brought home two headbands. I love the knot detail at the top and I like to headband it on my second day hair.

The first one is leopard Gucci inspired:

And, the second one is St. Paddy’s Day:

Have you tried a headband?

Ok, I admit that I have a problem. I bought alcoholic earring pair number five. I’m done. I think. I picked these up in a little boutique while I was gift shopping the other day.

I need somewhere to wear these for St. Patrick’s Day!

I have read a blog called MomAdvice for years and she did many a capsule wardrobe. I was always intrigued by this concept and she has a cute style. She recently sent out a newsletter and showed this $15 Walmart sweater and I promptly went to Walmart.com. I really like lemons. I did my deck in lemon decor last year.

I know we are at the end of sweater weather, but for $15, I couldn’t pass it up. I am pretty happy with the quality and feel of it. I haven’t styled it yet, but I plan to soon.

So…what have you bought for spring?

Amy