Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

It’s Hodgepodge with Joyce!

1. Do you struggle with the commercialization of the holiday season? What helps you keep your focus when the season’s busyness and commercialism start to take over? 

I do. When my kids were young, I felt strongly that they receive some gifts of things they needed/practical things. I was very worried about them being spoiled and especially grandparents giving them too much. They always got a new toothbrush, new underwear, new socks, and I liked the “something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read”. They always got clothing, too. I never felt like we went overboard. We always included some surprises, though, because surprises are very important to me. Tom was a big help with ideas and shopping.

Planning for special non-material things helps me. I like to think of the time off, the time at home, movies we enjoy, events we can attend, and things like that.

2. What’s one small thing you want to savor before the year ends? 

I just want to savor the time I have with the people I love. That gets to be less and less as your kids get older. I am hoping for some quality time with both of my kids at the same time and with my extended family.

The decor is everywhere this year and I love it! The gym tree:

3. December 9th is National Christmas Card Day. Do you still send Christmas cards? If so does yours include a photo or is it a more traditional card, or maybe homemade? How do you feel about the tradition of exchanging cards at the holidays? If Hanukkah is the holiday you celebrate in December do you send cards to mark the occasion? 

We did a photo card for many years. It either had just the kids or the whole family. Most years it was just a picture I took or photos we had taken throughout the year. There were two years that we did professional family photos. It was a lot of work to mail them out but I also enjoyed it.

I do miss the tradition of receiving and sending them. We only get about 10 now. And remember that I sent my kids’ quotes for years along with the photo card! Click on the red font if you missed that post. I have more to do a follow up. I do feel like Facebook took some of the fun away from receiving those photo cards.

And, I have framed all of our cards throughout the years. This collection is really special to me!

One of our card photos:

The last one we sent:

I believe this was 2019 right before 2020 and you-know-what.

I think it would be really funny to send one of Tom and Eddie Otis this year – hugging.

4. What’s your least favorite holiday related task? What’s your favorite? 

I really don’t enjoy putting ornaments on the tree. I enjoy wrapping, baking, planning for shopping and then doing the shopping.

5. Let’s do a little holiday this or that? 

• shopping or wrapping – shopping is more fun but I like wrapping, too.
• baking or decorating- baking is more fun to me.
• eggnog or wassail – I like both but wassail is better.
• real tree or artificial – we used my parents’ old artificial tree for about 20 years and then we switched to a pre-lit tree.
• turkey or ham – turkey for Thanksgiving and ham for Christmas
• white lights or colored lights – white but I do like seeing colored lights, too
• ugly sweaters or matching pjs – we have never done matching pjs
• peppermint or cinnamon – both but peppermint more for December
• presents Christmas Eve or presents Christmas Day – we always had to wait until Day when I was a child. I started pjs on Eve with my kids

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

My mom was very big on Christmas cards.

Here is one:

She kept doing photo cards of her travels with my dad and pictures of all the grandkids. She even wrote a poem each year. She thought it was horrible when I stopped sending them! I like that she did this.

Here was one she did when she only had two grandchildren – my kids:

“We whisk you a Happy New Year” – pretty sure they were fighting over the whisk.

This one was funny – she had all the grandkids pout:

Molly’s first or second card:

One of Kate’s cards – her daughter Nora exhausted from shopping at Target:

Also, I have a confession…I collected braggy Christmas newsletters and then liked to perform/read them aloud. One year my sisters and I wrote our own newsletter from our family as a joke.

I even asked friends to give me really good ones. One was three pages long – single spaced.

I got such a kick out of this slip of paper addendum:

“While the information provided in our newsletter was correct, it was outdated by the influence of _____’s recovery from her bout with food poisoning. Because the time available for mailing has been further reduced, a new newsletter is not possible. At this point ____ is essentially recovered.”

Nothing says “Merry Christmas” like sharing your food poisoning that got left out of the newsletter.

I also like the use of the third person in the newsletters. Who wrote it? The dog?

Amy

Tuesday, December 9. 2025

Spoiler – I have already done some of them since this post is late!

I will do another one for Winter in general!

These are just the fun things that go along with the true meaning of Christmas. Those are obvious so I am not listing those.

Go to holiday open houses/events – when I see announcements I put them in my calendar and try to go

Go to hotel lobbies to see decor (sounds weird but they always have beautiful decor) – not talking about Best Western, you know? The Brown, The Seelbach, The Omni, Hotel Genevieve – those are some I could go to in my city of Louisville, KY

Have a drink in said hotel lobby bar for bonus points

Go to Miracle on Market – holiday pop up bar that is so kitschy and the drinks are $$$

Do festive nails

Go to Whirling Tiger – went last year and I was delighted. It looks like your Grandma’s 70s living room. They had adult juice pouches called “Naughty” or “Nice”. I’m a sucker for stuff like that.

Re-read the Fiona Ferris Christmas book

Read Christmas or seasonal novels

Have a fire in the Solo Stove outside

Add more lighting to my dark living room for the evenings

Go through Christmas decor and donate what doesn’t make my heart sing

Buy all the seasonal products that make me happy – hand soap, kitchen cleaner, cranberry Sprite, etc.

Make gift list and buy gifts

Turn my errands into outings and include/ask a friend or make a date of it with Tom

Wear my festive clothing, headband, and earrings

Make baking list, buy supplies, enjoy baking while watching a Christmas movie

Watch all my faves – The Holiday, While You Were Sleeping, etc.

Wrap presents leisurely while watching movies

Make holiday plans – plan the activities and itinerary for the Airbnb with my side of the family

Plan meals and make grocery lists

Get my yearly one Chick Fil A peppermint shake

Get my yearly one Starbuck’s peppermint mocha

I think that’s it! What’s on your list?

Monday, December 8, 2025

It’s Monday and that means it’s time to link up with Sarah and Holly and it is already December 8th so that means we are even closer to Christmas! I have got to work on some shopping! I have the traditional pajamas for my kids (well now just pajama pants) and I have something for Eddie Otis but that’s about it! I think I have some ideas now so that’s a start.

I am happy with my mantel now. I love turning the lights on in the morning and evening. I have a white glittery deer head panting I bought at a craft fair, fake greenery, bottle brush trees, my 20 plus year-old stocking holders and my 23-year-old Pottery Barn stockings. I splurged and I am so glad I did. These are the only ones we’ve ever had! The photo is weird, but just trust me on the contents.

I did a final run through of my decor on Friday night and I have a donation pile. I put some decor away that I’m not using this year. Done. Friday night I made dinner at home – ham and Swiss sliders with Hawaiian buns (the ham was frozen from my Thanksgiving re-do meal), homemade potato chips air fried, and apple slices.

Saturday morning I had a Target pick up, a Kroger pick up, and a library pick up. I was tickled to see someone had built a snowman atop the book return:

I picked up:

Sorry for the weird lights – I took the pics near the book scanner. Thanks to my blogger friends for all my recommendations! I wouldn’t know what to request without you.

I ran my errands and was home by 11 or so. Saturday morning my friend Victoria had texted me about attending a holiday fair at 1. I am so glad she texted me. I had wanted to go but hadn’t made any plans.

A good reminder that sometimes last minute works out!

The fair was really good, but as you can see it was really crowded. We both got a bit overwhelmed. I didn’t buy anything but Victoria got a few gifts and I did enjoy looking at all the stuff.

They even had a holiday bar set up, but we refrained.

I stopped at Haymarket on the way home and they were having Christmas tree sales and a winter fair so it was quite festive.

The snow was really melting Saturday! Yay!

I started watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Collection Friday (in time to add some things to my Kroger order) and I enjoyed the first part of the first episode where she made puppy chow/muddy buddies/reindeer chow and cacio e pepe gougeres and Christmas crackers (the British kind that you pull apart and find a little toy inside). I have made regular cheese gougeres before and they are worth it and not really that hard. I have the New York Times recipe written out by hand because I don’t have a membership and there is a pay wall. It is similar to this recipe.

Anyway, I don’t love the show, but I did enjoy the content that I talked about above. There is just something off about her.

Saturday after the holiday market, I enjoyed some of my Meghan Markle Reindeer Chow.

Tom and I had a comical time trying to take each others’ passport photos from my iphone at home. Did you know that you might be able to renew your passport from home totally online without sending in your old passport? Ours qualify but the sticking point will be the photo.

After attempting our photos we went out…

We went to a favorite neighborhood to try to go to a particular restaurant but it was too busy at 5:30! We ended up at Alchemy which I really like because it is Venezuelan and my former student waited on us so that was nice, too.

We got the fried yucca appetizer and Tom got empanadas, beans, and plantains for his meal and I got…

a salad with chicken. It wasn’t the best salad of my life but it was fine.

We went home and fed Eddie Otis his dinner and then the three of us had a fire and watched tv and then the IU/Ohio State game came on. My niece Samira is a sophomore at OSU.

I went and finished my Netflix movie in the basement after a while – My Secret Santa. Don’t judge. Lol.

Sunday morning I got to use my new creamer!

I added a few sprinkles!

I did some cleaning and then Tom and I went to a small Christmas market…

His friend makes these beautiful boards:

It was at the second largest beer garden in the country and the biggest in KY. There isn’t much indoor space, though.

I got the pineapple upside down mimosa again:

And, we split a really yummy pizza:

They have three different food stand options.

Then, we left and did an REI return for Tom and went home and I read/napped and he watched football.

Long PSA:

I spent a good deal of the last few days trying to get out of a cult.

Do you remember me telling you about seeing a deal for $19 for 3 hours of house cleaning? I had a fairly good experience on the day the cleaner came but after she left, I saw that the job was not very well done and I’m not even that picky. It was November 12. Well, I had originally had another person scheduled for November 1 and they cancelled on me last minute so I had to get a new person and wait 11 days. Not that big of a deal. The November 12 cleaner agreed to come back December 3 – a little more than two weeks apart but that was ok.

She then cancelled that day and made a plan to come back December 8. Then December 5 she cancelled for December 8 and made a new plan to come back December 22. At this point I felt I was being played and I was done.

I also didn’t realize that the $19 voucher (by the way I tipped $40 ) would sign me up for a $59 a month “forever clean” that you were locked into for 6 months.

I was told that in order to cancel I would need to pay $110. I wrote a not nice email to the company because there is no customer service number. I repeat, there is no customer service number. I also found some bad reports on Instagram and on the BBB website that I should have checked before ever joining the cult back in October.

Do not do Homeaglow! I really hope no one did it on my recommendation.

I got them to only charge me $54 instead of $110 and just said lose my credit card number and get me out. So, $19, $40, $59, $54 = $172 and I got 3 hours of house cleaning out of that.

Hangs head and goes to grab her cleaning supplies…

Tell me something you did this weekend! Did you also get out of a cult?

Amy

Friday, December 5, 2025

It’s Friday and link up day with Andrea and Erika! Let’s share some favorites from the week!

Monday marked December first and it was time to start advent calendars…

This is the tea advent calendar I found at Aldi for like $8 as opposed to $40 from World Market. Mason was so tickled! He gets two tea bags each day. He has had fun opening to see what type it is and then having them that day. He is 23 going on 65. He has always been an old soul. Did I ever tell you that he did a break-dancing routine to a Ray Charles song in kindergarten?

I had my second week of tutoring a high school boy in Spanish this week. We meet at a Starbucks. I get there a bit early, get a coffee in a real mug, and get prepared.

He drives himself so I texted his mom afterward to tell her how it went. Her response made me feel good.

Driving home Monday evening there was brine on the road which only means one thing..

Snow Day! Just kidding – every day is a snow day for me! But this is a significant amount of snow for us and on December first, no less!

Tom came back in the house before he left for work and shut Eddie Otis in the bedroom on accident. I couldn’t find him and opened the door, and little boy was just chilling.

Can you spot Tom’s spine device? He lays on it for back pain. Ouch! Can you spot EO’s alligator? Her name is “Ally-Gator”.

My two Christmas magazines arrived on the snowy day! How fun is that?

All of our labs have loved snow. It’s so fun to see EO frolic in the snow!

I’m weird about snow. I only like it on the first day and then it gets ugly and a pain in the butt. It has been so cold this week that there has been no melting of any kind. We have rain and higher temps in the forecast in a few days so it will be gone soon enough.

Do you remember I found these rolls at Walmart? Why would you? Well, they have them at Kroger now, too. They are so good – too good.

This is really good salmon rub – use it sparingly.

The complete meal:

Good old comfort food – spaghetti:

I also made chicken cordon bleu and then after three nights of a pretty decent meal I was done. I decided to order our favorite mediterranean last night.

Sadly, Tom and I finished A Man on the Inside this week – it was so cute! I think I liked the second season more than the first, but they were both heartwarming.

I went to the mall this week and it looked pretty!

I went in Anthropologie. I usually just look and rarely buy.

I went in Sephora where I easily get overwhelmed. But I found a new fave product. Well, I found two new fave products. The Ilia Lip Sketch Hydrating Crayon is amazing. I bought it in the color Untitled. It is a liner and a color, I think. I think I will buy an Ilia sharpener (for its bigger size than a standard one could sharpen) and another color. I am very picky about my lip products – texture and smell. I have recently gone through old lip products – I save them way too long – and thrown several old and mediocre ones away.

And this Selena Gomez Rare Beauty gloss has the perfect texture and smells amazing. I am putting mine over a dark lip and you can see it has stained the applicator, but that’s ok. I love buying lip products but… fun fact… Since I started using coconut oil twice a day on my face which encompasses my lips, I don’t need Chapstick of any kind. I don’t even need my Laneige.

While I was in Sephora, I also bought the iconic Clique Black Honey. My cousin Julie, the makeup guru, will be glad I finally got it! It’s a great everyday color and works on everyone apparently and it’s called “Almost Lipstick” so it’s a very light formula.

Here is Black Honey:

Here is Black Honey with Selena Gomez Rare Beauty gloss:

“Honey Gomez”, “Selena Honey”, “Black Beauty”, “Rare Black Honey Beauty”, Rare Selena Honey” – Anyway, Clinique and Selena, call me. By the way, it’s hard to take a lip photo and even harder to look at it.

This all started because I wanted a nice red lip for the holidays. If you give a mouse a cookie…

Did you notice that I purchased nothing red?

Let’s talk Black Friday/Cyber Monday! My kids still haven’t given me their wishlist so I am kind of at a stand still for gift purchasing. I do have a few ideas for each of them, but I’m still thinking.

I have had New Balance 530s on my wishlist for quite a while. I still had some birthday money to use, too. I went to Dick’s and tried them on, but they didn’t have the color I wanted. I went to my car, googled the model I wanted, and a Macy’s ad came up for half off the price of what I thought I would have to pay.

The 90s called!

I’m in love and I’m also loving wearing longer socks. They are so much warmer than the little socks.

I’m still reading this and it’s cute.

Tell me a favorite of yours from the week!

Amy

Thursday, December 4, 2025

I am happy to be back today linking up with Kellyann and Jill to share a bit of what I have worn this week.

I wore this to the German Christmas Market as it was pretty warm out. I have on Halaras, my TJ Maxx faux Birk clogs, a fun graphic tee that I found in store at Old Navy a few weeks ago – it has stars, bows, cherries, wine glasses, etc. and I thought it was a bit Christmasey so let’s pretend it is – and the best cardigan for the best price. I have always loved Amazon Essentials brand and I wanted a red cardigan. It was $17 and it’s the pretty heft and length.

I wore this outfit – Halara jeans, beige Adidas, black tank, star cardigan on the Monday before Thanksgiving.

A shoutout to my sister Molly on our closing day and adventure in our hometown. She is wearing the Nikes I gave her for her birthday, really cute jeans (can’t remember where she found them) and the cutest $12 TJ Maxx sweater with a crocheted-looking collar.

I forgot to get my photo this day, but I ended up spilling coffee on my shirt so that was not cute.

Sunday, I wore my “North Pole Cocktail Club” sweatshirt, red Matilda Jane pants, Adidas, and red/green barrette to do some shopping.

Hair:

Monday I wore Halaras, barefeet apparently! (No, I put on the faux Birks), a white t-shirt, and my Christmas tree button sweater that is 3 years old maybe.

Tuesday, I wore my other red Matilda Jane pants, my short Koolaburra by Ugg boots, my Prosecc Ho Ho Ho shirt, a red/green headband, and my fuzzy vest. I look kinda crazy but I was warm and comfy.

Yesterday I wore my “Merry and Bright” sweater with light Halara jeans and sneakers.

My Black Friday 40% off Impress nails order came in! I may have gone too much in on the reds and burgundies. I have a red with sparkle, burgundy, burgundy with some white accents (I probably won’t use), a holiday set, a milky white, a navy, a blush pink, and a blue French mani. The blue French will have to stay a bit longer than I prefer or I would cut off the blue tips.

My niece Brooke came over Tuesday for a tutorial! How fun! Here is my blog post where I explain my method.

My new lifestyle is very casual, but I am trying to dress each day/get out of workout clothes and actually put on an outfit, albeit a casual one.

It’s fun to move the stuff in your closet to one section – all your reds, greens, holiday attire – and it’s often shocking how much you have. I think it helps me get into the spirit. And, then I turn more to my blues, blacks, whites, greys in January. It just mixes up my winter clothing for me, you know?

What have you been wearing lately?

Amy

Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Today is Hodgepodge with Joyce and Currently with Jenn!

1. What does it mean to have the ‘holiday spirit’? On a scale of 1-10 how is yours this year? (10=off the charts, 1=still looking for it)

I don’t like the idea of only having a “holiday spirit” at Christmas or the major holidays. I want to have that spirit most of the time. Life should be celebrated, and the little things are the big things – deep thoughts, but celebrate it all. Maybe I am getting away from the question, but the holiday spirit means that you have a generous heart, and you are open to all the gifts of the Christmas season that are not material or tangible. But, shouldn’t we always have a generous heart?

I feel like I am getting some holiday spirit now! I would say I am currently at a 7. I am going to take what I learned at Thanksgiving this year and apply it to my planning for Christmas.

This photo is from last year, but I am starting to wear my Christmas sweaters, clothing, headband, and earrings. That helps!

2. What’s your favorite character from a (December) holiday-themed movie, book, or TV special? Tell us why. 

I like the mom from Christmas with the Kranks and think it’s such a cute movie! I am definitely putting it on my list to watch!

3. Do you like gingerbread? Are gingerbread houses part of your holiday tradition? 

It’s just ok for me. I’m not a big fan. No – I find them frustrating. I am not an architect. We did them with the boys a couple of years but it was never a big tradition.

4. Much of our vocabulary is determined by where we live or where we grew up. What say you-

Since I consider myself a language person, I find this an interesting topic. My mom was born and raised in Chicago and my Dad in Southern Indiana at the far other end of the state from my hometown. My cousins in the Chicago area said some words that my sisters and I found funny. My cousins in Southern Indiana sounded normal to us.

sprinkles or jimmies? sprinkles! I had never heard “jimmies” until recently. “Jimmies” means my two besties named Jim for forever probably since 7th grade – Jim W. and Jim G. – we used to call both of them “Jimmy” but as they got older they wanted to be called “Jim”. Love these two guys so much!

lightning bugs or fireflies? lightning bugs! Yes, I did catch them in a glass jar and put Saran Wrap on top.

soda or pop? neither – what feels most natural to me is to say “soft drink”. Or, I think I have been known to call everything a Coke.

sneakers, trainers, or tennis shoes? tennis shoes – I grew up using that term. Now I say sneakers sometimes, too.

sub, hoagie, grinder, or hero? sandwich? If I say one, it’s sub but it’s followed by sandwich as in “sub sandwich”

freeway, highway, or motorway? highway

frosting or icing? frosting

sauce or gravy? sauce for anything tomato based and gravy for anything meat based

5. Share a favorite holiday memory from your childhood. 

We loved Christmas Eve. We would attend church and then have neighbors and friends over to play our player piano and eat appetizers many years. We especially loved it when it snowed.

We also loved Christmas morning, of course. My mom went all out and would often stage our new gifts under the tree with something we already had – like put an old doll into a new doll stroller.

I think I was 7 or 8, Kate was 4, and Molly was 1 in this photo.

I was always the first one awake and then I would wake up Kate (the middle) and she was a big late sleeper so it was hard, and then we would wake up Molly (the youngest) and tell her she had to wake Mom and Dad since she was the cutest. I changed the clocks a couple of times, too!

6.  Insert your own random thought here.  

We always left our house on Christmas Day to head to my Dad’s side (all of them lived in Evansville, Indiana except for us) and then we would go directly to Chicago to my mom’s side. I think we were gone a week total, but we had so much fun and we felt like most of our gifts were new again when we got home!

Now for Currently with Jenn!

Loving

My Christmas clothes! I have two cardigans, one sweater, one sweatshirt, one long sleeved tee, and two short sleeved tees. I have earrings, a headband, and a barrette. I think that’s enough, right? I hope I can not be tempted to add more!

This sweater has Christmas trees as buttons and I wore it on Monday:

I wore this in my hair on Sunday:

Hoping

I am hoping I can plan a nice Eve, Day, trip to Tom’s parents, and a…

stay in my hometown with my sisters and their families and my family. This is the Airbnb that I booked. It’s the entire third floor of a building on Main Street. You better believe there will be a Google Doc that I will be sharing with my sisters.

Doing

finishing decor and deciding what to donate, planning to shop for gifts, shopping for gifts, and planning which Christmas markets and events to attend.

Wearing

Oops – I jumped the gun on this one!

See above! But, I am wearing Halara jeans most days or my red Matilda Jane pants along with my Christmas capsule.

Seeing

The four walls of my house! I’m missing my outdoor time, but I feel pretty sure it will get mild again before it stays cold.

When I go out I am seeing all the decor! I feel like businesses have really gotten into the spirit this year!

Look at sweet Tom under the Christmas tree!

Tom and my boys were blondies as chidren. Do you see the resemblance? I think Tom has a narrower face as a child. Tom has blue eyes (a really pretty dark navy blue) and they got my brown eyes. I would love to go back and squeeze these little guys!

Thanks for reading!

Amy

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

This is merely a list! I am including my favorite gifts I have received and gifts that I have given others that were well received.

I am team “Shop between Thanksgiving and Christmas” and somehow it always gets done. Of course, I don’t buy for that many people anymore. Some of you might be done or almost done so I apologize if my ideas are coming to you too late!

If you missed it, you might want to go back to my Saturday post – I shared 4 Somethings that are all holiday related!

Try to shop locally if you can and have that choice to make. We have a hardware store that also has some unique gift ideas – Brownsboro Hardware. They have had road construction affecting the entry to their parking lot so I really want to push them among my local friends. Think outside of the box – a boating store might have a cool gift for someone to anticipate for next summer – Marine Sales and Service if you are local. We bought Molly a float one year and she loved it and it was like she got a gift again when summer rolled around! Or, just go big and buy someone a boat!

A hair salon – they have curling irons, rollers, fancy shampoos and conditioners – J. Estell Salon for example, which is my salon and has great products and even hair styling tools. My mom always used to buy us Aveda products from her salon. What a treat! I have heard that some hair products from Amazon are fake or watered down. Eek!

A local restaurant gift card would be a treat!

Playthings Toy Store has unique toys that kids love! I am seeing more and more small businesses close up shop, you all. Let’s all vow to at least shop small for one gift.

I also think you can shop second hand for some gifts – toys for sure. Sometimes you can find clothes with tags that also fit the person you are shopping for.

Listen, I also really don’t think it’s about the gifts. If you have traditionally gotten gifts for friends, why not say “let’s just make a reservation for January and enjoy each others’ company and have something to look forward to”. It might be awkward, but I bet they would love this idea.

People love homemade food gifts especially. You can make spice blends, Chex Mix, cookies, simmer pot mixes, etc.

coffee maker/accessories to create a coffee bar (could be good for a teen or young adult)

coffee frother – handheld or the small appliance kind that you have to plug in (I love mine!)

bread maker

automatic trashcan

photo calendar

grandchildren birthstone necklace or ring

technology that makes life easier for an older person – just be careful that it isn’t too complicated to work

monogrammed things – Marley Lilly, Etsy – notepads, bracelet, tote bag

winter cozy things – heated vest, gloves, spa socks, fuzzy blanket

spa things – hair towel, silk pillowcase, good smelling bath products

sunglasses

really nice laundry detergent like Diva

good olive oil or a set – I love Graza

good balsamic vinegar – to to a specialty market if the person is a foodie and you might find all kinds of inspo

think outside the season – what do they love to do in the summer?

car accessories – phone stands, mats, good smelling things, vacuum kit

grilling stuff

kit to make your own smoked cocktails

leather dopp kit

leather handbag – Clayton and Crume, Bonhomia

pickle ball set

When I think of my favorite gifts over the years, it wasn’t just about the gift. It was about the giver really “seeing” me or “knowing me”. It wasn’t about the amount they spent, but the fact that they paid attention. Does that make sense?

My mom gave me so many gifts – she was really big on gift giving! My Dad gave me a few things that really stand out (or I found out they were his idea) my first Keurig, my Kindle, and my breadmaker.

Have I given you any ideas today?

Leave your ideas in the comments, please!

Amy

Monday, December 1, 2025

Can you believe it’s December? Wow! How was your Thanksgiving weekend?

I am linking up with Sarah and Holly to share mine, although I posted on Friday and already talked about part of it. I participated in Share 4 Somethings on Saturday and I made it all holiday themed, so go back and check that out. I shared some things I am doing that might also help you?

I had a couple of hard days this past week – I actually think the anticipation of them was harder than the actual days. Are you like that, too? Wednesday was the closing of my mom’s house with my sister Molly. Read about that here if you care to. I actually did post all last week after all, so you could have some catching up to do if you so desire! I also was dreading Thanksgiving because I didn’t get to see my side of the family and it would be the first without my mom. And, my sisters and I had decided to not do anything this year, sadly. Maybe we should have?

I did my nails Tuesday in this dark red, kind of cat eye:

I really like it! I have a big Black Friday order from Impress nails coming in soon. I think I got 40% off and it had been a long time since I had ordered. Here is my tutorial on my press ons. I’m just giving you all kinds of reading assignments!

We got home Thursday night from Natural Bridge State Park around 7:30. Tom’s parents live close to this park, so we decided to try this – come to them instead of them coming to us. We had Tom’s sister’s family of four plus a boyfriend of one of my nieces, plus Tom’s sister’s mother-in-law, and then my family – so we had a group of 12. We arrived about an hour and a half before the reservation for the buffet and the lobby/seating area was tiny and it wasn’t very conducive to visiting, but it was fine. Our table was ready, and we ate from the buffet. It gave my sister-in-law a break from hosting, so that was good.

Friday morning, I woke up pretty early and had a couple of cups of coffee and had done my morning routine when I heard a pop! The power went out! Tom was still in bed, but he had heard it, too, and had seen a flash. Eddie was with me, and he had heard it, too. His little ears were on high alert. Tom called the power company, and I was grateful that our water heater is run on gas because I took a shower and put on my new track pants, my new Santa shirt, and my Dad’s old green Old Navy vest. I should show you the label – I don’t ever remember Old Navy having this type of label it’s so old.

I went up to Heine Brothers coffee shop with my phone charger and my book, and I had a lovely little morning, and it reminded me I need to do this more often.

I got a sugar cookie latte. I really am on a sugar cookie kick. Their cups are so cute!

Tom texted me before I even started eating my breakfast sandwich that the power had been restored. It was so cold out, so I felt really lucky that we didn’t have to be without for too long.

Since I was out, I went to Kroger for a few things.

I was looking for brioche, but they were out. I had heard of this croissant bread and wanted to try it and it is really good. Wouldn’t this be great for a breakfast casserole, too?

I also decided to get red and green sprinkles to make my own coffee shop style lattes for the season and to sprinkle on anything and everything this month! Who doesn’t like sprinkles?

Leaving the house early Friday threw me off with the chores I had planned to do before going out so when I got home from the store, I did a few things, but I was just not motivated. I think I was mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted from the week of hard things.

I talked to both sisters on the phone and read my book and napped a little. Tom and Mason were both here and they went to the gym together and I was going to order take out food but I decided to be the mom who says “we have food at home”. I guess this is a bit of a “girl dinner” because it was delicious to me. I poured a decent glass of wine (not like the wine from the tasting that tasted like feet), made a simple salad with my new favorite lettuce (still laughing that I have a favorite lettuce), made blackened chicken on the stovetop, roasted broccoli in the oven, and made frozen French fries with garlic aioli. There’s a little baguette action there, too.

This was really sweet – Tom said he loved the meal and was so glad I didn’t order anything.

Since the pumpkin pie left a lot to be desired at the state park, I picked up a two pack at Kroger – two pieces of pumpkin pie. Lol.

Did you do any Black Friday shopping? I ordered Revant eyeliner and some Amazon things for myself.

I was out of witch hazel so I ordered that, Lumi glotion (I accidentally ordered two), Korean skin care dark spot corrector, and another set of the nails I am wearing for my niece Brooke. She wants a lesson and is coming over!

I received an order I had placed before Black Friday – Molly has been using electrolytes for years before they were cool. She told me she likes these so I ordered them. I loved the apple – the only one I have tried so far.

And, my beloved Donna Karan. I decided this will be my winter scent (unless I find a perfume I like and that works with this) and I put it on and realized how much I missed it! I love you, Donna!

Today is the day to give your people their advent calendars. I bought the chocolate for Jack and his roommate just to be fun and silly. Jack loves candy.

Mason is getting his tea advent calendar today!

Saturday I had a Target pick up order of just a few things and then I decided to get wings for the noon University of Kentucky/University of Louisville game. Basically, if you were born and raised in Louisville you are a Lou fan. If you are from another place in Kentucky, you are a UK fan. It’s a big rivalry and it’s a great day to go shopping in Louisville since everyone is watching the game. Lol. Wingstop had these little fried corn things and Tom really liked them.

The game was great for U of L fans and horrible for UK fans. Tom had to turn it off since he is a UK fan.

I enjoyed this cider.

Tom put up my white pencil tree in our bedroom.

And, for dinner we did a Thanksgiving meal! I did ham and chicken schnitzel instead of turkey. Chicken is a yummier schnitzel than the pork I did last time. The pork just isn’t as moist.

Sunday, we awoke to some snow/sleet.

Festive coffee!

We’ve/I’ve watched some tv this weekend. Tom and I area watching Man on the Inside Season 2 on Netflix. It’s so cute! I think I like Season 2 better.

I watched Champagne Problems on Netflix. I really like Minka Kelly. She was in Ransom Canyon.

I watched Crazy Rich Asians on my Echo Show while cooking. I hadn’t turned it on in months but it’s great for background entertainment when I’m in the kitchen.

Let me know what else I should watch!

I am going to use my own Meal List to come up with some easy meals for this week. Is your calendar full this month? Take it one week at a time or even one day at a time! I always took one personal day in December to do shopping or errands. It was a big help!

Amy

It’s Share 4 Somethings with Jenn day so here I am!

ONE

I plan to shop locally at small businesses when possible. In past years I have relied a lot on online shopping because of time limitations with my job, but this year I want to shop in person at locally owned small businesses first. I have noticed so many restaurants and shops go out of business in my area in just the last two months. It’s shocking and sad! I might even go out today for “Small Business Saturday”.

If you are local:

Work the Metal, Red Tree, Revelry, Darling State of Mind, Tunie’s, Brownsboro Hardware, Marine Sales and Service, Haymarket, Paul’s Fruit Market (lots of gifts here!), Dolfinger’s, Quest, Swag’s Shoes, Playthings are some of my favorites.

TWO

I try to encourage friends and maybe family to spend time together rather than exchange gifts – “hey, let’s just make a reservation this year and enjoy each other’s company” or better yet, “let’s put something on the calendar for January when we need something to look forward to”. Would this idea help you? You could even go ahead and buy gift cards for the local restaurant that you plan to visit in January. Did you know Costco has really good deals on local restaurant gift cards? Tom’s work Christmas party has permanently been moved to January, and I think that’s so smart. My friend might change her Christmas party to a January winter wonderland theme.

THREE

I have already put so many community events on my calendar and attended some. These are so fun! They really help me to get in the spirit. I invite friends sometimes and that also makes it a fun friend outing!

Last year, we attended a couple of cute little markets…

FOUR

I try to see my holiday errands as fun I get to do these things rather than I have to. So, first you have to think about your values and what is important to you. You might need a conversation with your spouse, kids, and family. I got dressed for my errands and made them fun last year. This is the time to pull out my festive attire and my red and green! Why not?

I recently listened to a podcast about adult friendship, and they made the point to invite people to do things that you might not normally think about as a friend activity – “hey, do you want to go stocking stuffer shopping at a couple of places with me?” or “hey, do you want to get a coffee and bring our shopping lists and maybe we can bounce ideas off of each other?”

By the way, I don’t like impractical stocking stuffers that just fill a big sock! As my kids have gotten older, they have gotten more consumables – toiletries, food items, phone chargers – think outside the box. Go to hardware stores, Auto Zone, sports equipment stores, music stores (guitar picks), etc. Think about their hobbies and go to specialty stores (locally owned small businesses!) that fit them. I think food gift cards to their faves can be really good in a stocking, too!

I have a gift idea post coming next week!

What would you share today?

Amy

Friday, November 28, 2025

Happy Black Friday to those who celebrate! Ha! I am not sure what’s going on in the blog world but I decided to post today so you all don’t miss me too much! Just kidding, of course!

I am not planning to shop today but boy are there so many sale emails and texts coming through.

Some stuff from the week…

Eddie Otis needed a vaccination on Monday and he was a little angel. He was a good boy.

We got home and then he wouldn’t get out of the car for quite a while.

Do you spot his dolphin he took with him on the ride?

It was a treat to go to a Starbuck’s and be asked if I wanted my “for here coffee” in a real mug. I got a sugar cookie latte and I was tickled by the sprinkles, too.

I hadn’t had much lunch so I ordered the potato chive bake – recommend!

I am loving my short boots for our wet morning walks. I am on my second pair of Costco $20 boots in maybe 10 years and these are the ones I reach for the most. They are so easy to slip on. I really enjoy walking through the wet or dry leaves.

I feel like Eddie Otis looks at me to make sure I’m having a good time, too.

My Christmas library book requests are coming in… how fun is that? Yes, yes I do judge a book by its cover.

I had plans to get a pedicure on Tuesday but it was cold and rainy all day and it just didn’t seem like a good time. I piddled around the house and stayed in much of the day because I knew Wednesday would be a long day.

Wednesday morning I left my house around 9:00 am and it was blustery cold and super windy for the drive to my hometown. We finally got a closing date on my mom’s house and it happened to be the day before Thanksgiving. Molly was the only one who had to sign but I had told her I would accompany her.

We met at a cute coffee shop and I got a really good brown sugar flavored coffee and some egg bites.

I told Molly I hadn’t claimed my Dad’s wedding ring but that I had been wearing it on my middle finger since the day of the offer back in early October and look at this…

She had on my mom’s wedding ring! We didn’t even discuss this and I honestly didn’t know which sister had my mom’s rings. We haven’t divided up jewelry yet.

Kate didn’t come for the closing because she is 3.5 hours away and we understood. We want to do an overnight with all of us when it’s a better time.

I don’t know how to describe the closing rather than it was a really special time. We met and sat across from the buyers – the wife was actually a student of my mom’s in the early 80s and the husband lived in China for his job for a bit and my mom loved China. They are grandparents of 8 and my parents were grandparents of 9. They talked about the layout of the house and how it would be nice for their big family and we told them how our parents used the space. They offered for us to come by anytime and we exchanged phone numbers. It was a closing, and it was a sweet closure. We left the office and cried a bit and hugged and then called Kate and shared the experience with her.

We drove to the Airbnb that we rented for Christmas to check it out in person and then we went to this cute store:

We ate lunch:

We tried to go to a few shops and they were closed until Friday.

We went to a winery and had the weirdest tasting with a gentleman who works there. It was like a Seinfeld episode. I got in trouble multiple times. I yawned and he asked if he was “keeping me awake”. He told me I didn’t taste correctly, and I had to cover my tongue for 15 seconds. I had no idea what that meant.

A group of four came in and he told us he was going to start from the beginning for them so we had to listen about the first few wines again. It was a tasting with a side of lecture. He told us one wine would pair well with ostrich. Someone from the other group asked what would be a good palate cleanser in between wines and he said “roast beef” and my sister asked if anyone had any in their pocket.

Anyway…it gave us lots of laughs!

We went to another winery and it was a Christmas wonderland…

It was a nice day with my sister after a hard thing.

I am still processing what this means. My parents moved to this town in 1975 and owned a house until 2025 which makes that a 50-year run.

Thanksgiving came and we drove a couple of hours to meet Tom’s family at a state park. This was different than the usual tradition.

Someone in the lobby started a fire in the fireplace for us.

It was sooooo cold so these were the photos I got from the lodge balcony.

They had a buffet and we ate.

Former student dog sitter sent us a pic of our boy:

I am wrapping up acorn spice just in time to use peppermint and Iowa pine!

And, now I will let myself use this:

Tell me a favorite of yours from the week!

Amy