Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Today’s post will be short and sweet but maybe it will give you an idea!

I have been meal prepping my breakfasts for quite awhile and I love having this stack in my refrigerator ready to go.  

I also want to give a shout to these crackers.  They are really good and I have pre-portioned them in baggies within the box.  These make a good snack with a laughing cow wedge of cheese, salsa, bean dip, etc.  They taste like a tortilla chip.  

So, I decided I needed to get better about meal prepping my lunch.  

I can have the same lunch for a whole week without really getting tired of it and then mix it up for the following week.  I only have 20 minutes for lunch so it needs to be easy to eat.  

Bean burritos:

a can of fat free refried beans mixed with about a half packet of taco seasoning and about 1/2 cup of jarred salsa (don’t use the fresh).

Spread on your tortilla and sprinkle a little cheese before rolling up.  

I keep the bean mixture in the fridge and make a fresh burrito in the morning but I think I could also freeze these.  

Heat and eat.  Yum!  

Turkey Wrap:  

Spread a laughing cow wedge and top with turkey.  Roll up and cut if you like.  Yum!  

This brand of tortilla is really good and only 1 WW point per tortilla.  

Everything I’ve talked about today is Weight Watchers friendly!  

Enjoy!

Amy 

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Hello and happy hump day!  It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for…I’m back with some “real” outfits.  But, I’m learning how to use my tripod and the photos are not that great.  After bugging my co-workers – I let three of them take turns – ha – I decided to invest in a tiny tripod from Amazon that cost $13.  So, I’m learning where to stand and how to use it.  The photos are turning out kind of grainy so I’m not sure what that’s about.  

First day of school outfit:  Love a swing dress and kimono.  This blush color is not as forgiving as a darker color, though.  

Second day outfit:  

The third day was a Friday so I went a little more casual:  

Monday of this week – started out comfy and when in doubt – choose black!  

And, yesterday:  

Here is yesterday’s outfit before I added the vest:
The lighting is poor, but now I added the same color vest:  

Then, I added my necklace, glasses, earrings, and bracelet.

If you notice in the photos this week the outfit always looks better if you add a third or a completer piece – a necklace, a light vest, etc.  

These are my new half price Danskos.  

I love that they are a metallic so I think they can work with black and brown and many other colors.  I also think they can work into fall.  

What was your favorite outfit?  

Amy 

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Have you all heard of Fashom?  It’s a styling service like Stitch Fix.  I have done Stitch Fix five or so times.  I did get maybe 2-3 nice pieces out of it but I found it hard for sizing and price point that I’m comfortable with spending.  I do know people who love these services and find great things this way.  I personally love the hunt so a styling service is not something that I really want in my life.  

I would say Fashom is a lower quality and price point service than SF.  By the way, Fashom does not know I’m writing this and I paid my $15 like everyone else!  

First, let’s start with the name “Fashom”.  When I say it I feel like I’m trying to say “fashion” but have a hunk of food in my cheek or something.  Does it mean something that I’m not aware of?  

The website/profile was very user friendly.  My stylist also took the time to look at my blog Wednesday posts to see my style.  She then sent me pictures of 7 items and I was to pick 5.  I told her I didn’t like 3 of them so she sent me some alternatives for those 3 and then I picked my 5 items.  

It arrived in a really small box and it took about 8 days from the time I filled out my profile until my box arrived.  

You get an envelope with your items and prices and a mailer to return items you don’t want to keep.  And, they called me “Beautiful” so that was nice – lol!  

As you can see, the prices are reasonable.  I like the discount and the charitable giving aspect.  If you buy all of the items they give money to an animal rescue organization.  

First was a hot pink blouse.  I loved the color but it didn’t fit me the way I would’ve liked and it’s not a material I would be drawn to. I think it wrinkles very easily and it is very thin.   

Next was a floral but the material was very polyester and it was clingy in all the wrong places.  

I was most excited about this white boho but it was short and I don’t think I’m long waisted!  The holes showed my stomach.  No thanks!  

This was a navy blue dress with lacing at the top.  The lacing was out of control (I don’t think it would have stayed the way it was meant to) and the dress was very polyester.  

This dress was made out of a very soft sweatshirt material.  I think I would’ve been sweating something fierce.  And, it was probably two sizes too big.  

No, you don’t get to see pictures because trust me, you don’t want to see them.  I sent everything back because I would rather lose $15 than pay $46 (the item I liked the most) for something to hang in my closet and not get worn.  

I put everything in the mailer and took to my UPS store.  

I think the biggest issues for me were the materials that my items were made of and the sizing.  Some items were huge and some were way too small.  

But, the service was great and I’m sure I could give this feedback to my stylist and get a better one next time but I just don’t have time to take the gamble and make another errand for myself right now.  It may be a great thing for you to try; I don’t want to deter you.  

Let me know if you’ve tried it or plan to!  

Amy 

Monday,  August 19, 2019

How was your weekend?  Mine was the perfect first weekend after starting school – a good mix of down time, fun time, and productivity.  I’m linking up with Heather, etc. so go here to see some more weekend posts.  

I am a little nervous going into my first five day week with students and know I will be exhausted by the end of it.  My strategy is to take it one day at a time and employ my weekly routines both at school and at home.  I will save those for maybe a future post – it’s kind of boring!  

So, Friday after school I came home and rested for a couple of hours but our friends asked us to meet up at a barbecue restaurant so hub came from work and I met him there.  We had some time to catch up before our friends came.  I tried a draft beer.  

We sat on the cute enclosed patio.  

We had brisket fries as a starter.  Then, our friends came and I forgot to take more photos!  We stayed until about 8 and brought food home for our boys.  They were very happy to be home and catch up.  This is the first year of high school that they don’t have any classes together.  

I watched some t.v. with one boy and went to bed.  I slept great Thursday-Saturday nights after not sleeping well the first two nights of school.  

Saturday morning I slept in until 6!  Ha!  I relaxed and read and drank coffee and then tackled Trader Joe’s.  I thought I would simply show you a photo of what I bought.  

We had a plumber come to work on our addition and I made the boys some food, did laundry, piddled around the house, stuff like that.  

Then around 2:00 I went to the mall and walked in to a fall fantasy at Anthropologie.  Capri Blue has a new pumpkin clove candle – OMG!  

I never buy anything there but I like to look!

I was on a mission:  I bought a half price pair of Danskos for school at The Walking Company and got a 10 minute neck massage.  I still wasn’t happy with my selection of “school” shoes.  

Some Fall catalogs came in the mail.  I only get a few catalogs these days.  I get so excited to see the Fall stuff!  

We ordered the boys a pizza and we went to an art gallery/music show for a bit that hub had been invited to through work.  

Then went to a new diner owned by someone we know.  

Sunday I finished the tiny bits left of these two books – highly recommend both.  

And, I started a new one – very cute so far.  It’s better than the cover makes it look – I swear!  

And, the boys had wanted to wait until they got their senior syllabi to do their shopping so we went Sunday.  They let me take photos because I said it was their last time.  

I prepped my breakfasts for the week.  I have talked about this many times but it’s a low carb egg casserole, zucchini, and turkey sausage.  

I forgot to mention I also worked on school work for a couple of hours both days!  It’s necessary at the beginning of the year.  

What did you do?  I hope you enjoyed it!  

Amy 

Friday, August 16, 2019

Fridays mean more now that school has started!  Today I will be linking up with Andrea, etc. at Momfessionals per usual so go here!  

Here are some things that made me happy this week!

First, my fun colors and patterns in my closet.  I’m just not a neutral girl.  This makes me happy.  I’m actually enjoying dressing again!  

Things got real for my senior twin boys when they went to get yearbook tux photos taken.  This is all I could sneak without being that crazy mom!  

I love my new reading glasses from Whole Foods!  What?  You don’t buy glasses at Whole Foods?  

I had some fun on the first day of school!  Wow – I am OLD! 

They sort of humored me.  This is a re-creation of their first day of kindergarten positions!  

Back to school means teacher meetings and our PTA fed us.  I tried the Fruity Pebbles donut because I’m a child!  

Our department got to go out to lunch at Noosh Nosh.  

These are pizza paddles painted (say that three times fast!) and on the wall at the restaurant – so pretty!  

And, I will leave you with some funnies.  I asked what I needed to know about them to teach them.  

Hope you had a great week and take advantage of the weekend!  

Amy 

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Do you enjoy margaritas?  Do you enjoy paying $10 for one?  Of course you don’t! 

Let’s make an easy and low cal one at home – on the rocks. 

You know what – I often think a restaurant margarita is too sweet and I truly prefer this recipe!  Hope you enjoy it, too!  

Get your favorite glass (I really like my stemless wine glass with Kentucky etched on it), your favorite tequila (this white is from Trader Joe’s and I think it’s pretty good), some true lemon or a Crystal light lemonade stick, a slice of lime, and a can of Fresca – Allow me to sing the praises of Fresca!  It works well in so many cocktails.  I don’t drink soft drinks but I do use a couple for my recipes.  

Put your lemon powder in and add a shot of tequila, stir, add your lime and squeeze it in first if you’d like, then top with your Fresca.  I only use about 1/3 of the can.  You can add more lemon to your liking or more Fresca to your liking.  YOu may be surprised about the lemon rather than lime, but it really works in this recipe in my opinion.  

Take outside to enjoy while your dog sniffs around for 10 minutes until he can find just the right spot.  

TGIF tomorrow!  

Amy 

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Today is our first day of school!  I will be back next week with some outfits!  

Do you struggle with finding time to spend with just your spouse?  It’s easy to go weeks or even months during busy seasons of life and it seems like a date night could be the first thing to go.  If you have young children, I really believe in a standing monthly date night or bimonthly if you can swing it.  Or, even dates at home after the kids are in bed can be a great thing.  Once our kids started middle school, we started leaving them for short periods of time and when you get to that stage, it is quite nice.  Now we go out a couple of times a week without them.  Sometimes we offer for them to go but they turn us down about half of the time!  

My husband and I are not late night people so we prefer to go out early and then come home and spend time with our kids.  Last week my husband came home a bit early unexpectedly on a Wednesday (finished up an out of office work meeting early) and I suggested we go out for a bit.  I keep a list of restaurants or places I want to go in my phone for when such a time occurs.  I like the idea of doing something on a Wednesday because Wednesday is that halfway point to the weekend and gives me something to look forward to.  

So, he agreed to head to an up and coming neighborhood called NULU (like “New Louisville”) For some reason I hadn’t ventured to this area on my own or with friends this summer.  We wandered in White’s Mercantile, Six Sisters Boutique, Revelry, and Mahonia.  The first three are more clothing, jewelry, and gifts and the last one is a plant store.  

Below are air plants.  They don’t require soil or water but just a weekly “bath”.  I think these are so cool and my good friend B has some.  Have you heard of these?  

Mahonia was his favorite because he really likes plants.  We are both wanting to add more plants to our home and have heard that many plants can naturally rid your home of toxins.  One of those is the peace lily and we are happy to say that we have kept two of these alive since December.  Fingers crossed that we can continue with it.  If you are local, this shop is simply inspirational.  

We didn’t buy anything from any of the stores but it was fun looking.  

Then, I wanted to head to my student’s family business “Bandido” Tacos.  This is a new location near NULU.  

They are attached to a brewery and this is their lovely outdoor space.  

We want to try to do a planter like this on our current patio.  

Hub and I ate in the restaurant and took carryout home to our sons!  It was a fun Wednesday weeknight date and I highly recommend it!

Amy 

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

This isn’t a strictly fashion blog, but it’s no secret that I love fashion, bargain hunting, putting outfits together, giving you unsolicited advice, etc.  

As I was organizing my closet for back to school I thought it would be fun to round up and show you and me what I bought this summer.  I have already shown you everything either in a Wednesday or Friday post, usually, and you probably think all I do is shop.  I browse, order, return more than I keep as I’m sure many of you can relate to.  I also make some mistakes.  I’m getting better with my clothing purchases but it still happens.

For our purposes today we will define “summer purchases” as only the purchases I made from June 12-August 9 because that was my full summer break.  

Let’s start with pants:  

On the left we have a “denim look” capri with cute ankle ties at the bottom.  I hope to wear these into fall with clogs and wedges.  I kind of think this denim look is going to be a trend because I saw a stylish girl wearing this material.  Yes, that is all I have to go on – you’re welcome!  

On the right we have some plain black palazzo pants that I think can even be dressed up.  They run way big.  I’m hoping these can even work in to winter.  I will wear these now with my new black mules and a printed top and later maybe with a long sleeve top and a vest – rule of three!  

They are both from Steinmart!  Yes, Steinmart has really been the VIP this summer for me.  During a summer day the over 65 crowd and I were shopping up a storm!  No offense intended to the over 65 crowd;  you are smart and good with money and I want to learn your ways.  

Now let’s move on to dresses and skirts.  On the left is my Amazon dress that I’m not sure is going to work and is more trouble than worth to return- more here.  On the right is my Steinmart fun print skirt.  

And, as you can see tops were my most purchased and most needed category.  

Plain hot pink from Steinmart

Plain yellow from Versona

Fruit blouse from Steinmart (Of these, this is what I’ve worn the most!)

Yellow paisley from a consignment but Steinmart brand

Charcoal and marigold Target Universal Thread tops

Pink lace tank from consignment

Bright stripe short sleeve sweater from Versona

Floral tie frront from Versona

Versona was my runner up and it’s obvious I had a thing for the color yellow!  I usually find a lot more at consignment stores in the summer because I have more time to peruse, but this summer I just didn’t find much that I liked.  

And, finally shoes…  (I am leaving out a souvenir sweatshirt, a cardigan for fall, and a bathing suit)

Amazon black jelly bow flip flops, White Croc Sexi, Steinmart mules, and Reef rose gold flip flops.  I ended up returning the higher heeled black clogs because they were just too high.  

Is this a lot?  Yes!  But, I think I will get a lot of wear (or I already have) out of most of the items.  

Any favorites?  Did you shop a lot this summer?  If you still need anything for a trip or if you live in a warm climate, this is a great time to shop.  I’m trying not to open sale emails, go into clothing stores, etc.  because I feel that I am pretty set.  

Thanks for reading!

Amy 

Monday, August 12, 2019

I’m back at school today.  I have two days of meetings and prep and then it’s go time on Wednesday.

How was your weekend?  I’m linking up with Heather, etc. so go here to see other weekend recaps.  

The band that we heard recently was playing on Thursday night so hub and I went out from 6-8.  I got a mai tai.  It’s so pretty!  

They were playing at Captain’s Quarters and there was also a margarita competition going on.  I think I need to get tickets to that next year!  

Friday the boys had a friend over and I made a teen snack board.

I also received my Fashom styling service box.  Review coming soon!  

One son and I went to the library.  This book was really interesting.  It has examples of people all over the U.S., how much they make, and their money diary from one week.  

I started this and it is GOOD!  It’s about a monthly supper club.  I’ve always wanted to be in one and I like the food descriptions in the book and the drama with all of the characters.  

Saturday late afternoon we decided the day was too beautiful to waste.  It wasn’t typical August heat and the skies were blue!  

We found a new to us restaurant upriver and across in Indiana called Summers.  

I gave hub free reign to order and he picked a Hawaiian pizza and it was probably the best one I’ve ever had.  

The ride home was so calm and peaceful. 

Sunday I did chores, laundry, read a bit and picked up a couple of things from the Back to School aisles at Target.  The boys want to want until after the first day when they have their syllabi but I picked up a couple of notebooks and folders.  

I really wanted this backpack for myself.  Isn’t it perfect for a Spanish teacher?  

Close up:

I’m really regretting not splurging!  It is so cute!  

We also had workers here all weekend and some more progress made!  

Hope you had a great weekend, too!  

Amy