Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa

Monday, June 24, 2023

Hello to all and happy Monday! I am linking up with Sarah and Holly to recap the weekend. Did you have a good one? Boy, the weekends are ticking off on the ol’ calendar quite quickly.

I went to Barbie last Thursday night to start off the weekend and it was silly and cheesy which is what I thought it would be. I have a few more thoughts but don’t want to give anything away if you haven’t seen it yet.

Also, I wore my Barbie shirt a few times this weekend and got so many comments. I got it from Amazon for $13.

I used my new TJ Maxx OPI to do a Barbie mani to match my Barbi pedi. I really do love hot pink, so this was no sacrifice!

This book took me a sweet forever to finish, but I did. It could have probably had 100 pages cut out and still had the same ending. I really did like how it all wrapped up, but lawd.

Then, I started and finished this so quickly (in 24 hours basically) and it was just the type of summer chick lit I needed. It is rated R and there were things/details that bugged me, but I forgave it after Someone Else’s Shoes.

Don’t you love when your mani matches your book cover. Just me? Ha!

Friday dawned bright and sunny and I had a beautiful leisurely morning (after the gym) and then I took myself on a window-shopping spree. I didn’t buy a thing but I browsed in 5 stores and enjoyed just being out with myself.

This shop had just moved into a larger space and I hadn’t seen it yet.

My sister texted me that she had ordered a Barbie drink at a restaurant, so I tried my own version with what I had on hand and it turned out great!

I did rum, Crystal Light lemonade powder, pineapple juice, hibiscus syrup, and a coconut La Croix. Also, I used my Chick Fil A ice!

Friday night, Tom wanted to go to Costco so that was our date night – ha!

But, after a week of cooking a lot, he took me to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants near Costco.

I got a skinny margarita with a bit of strawberry puree that the waiter suggested and it was so good!

We split my favorite dish – the fajita bowl.

After we had been there about 15 minutes, they sat our friends next to us! We invited them to join us and it turned out quite nice!

It’s almost time for me to be “Señora” again so I used my mug Saturday morning.

I had another leisurely morning on the patio before it got too hot. There’s a theme here. Lots of outdoor time and reading is my self-care.

I finally used this mix I had gotten weeks ago. Can Krusteaz ever go wrong? Other than the 2 hours and 40 minute wait time at two different stages, this turned out so awesome and really sour if you like sourdough bread. It’s supposed to be one of the best breads for you, I think. It’s not “ready in about an hour” so they do lie on the box.

I have to show you something really cute. Tom goes on a 32 mile bike ride most Saturday mornings. I track him on my phone to make sure he is ok and to see how he is doing. It takes him about 2 hours and 15 minutes. So, at about the end of that time, I tell Ernie we are going to go wait for “Daddy” and we go out front. Doesn’t it look like he’s smiling? This dog is obsessed with Tom. It’s so funny, too, because Tom took the loss of our first dog so hard and didn’t want to adopt a new puppy. He really didn’t spend as much time with Ernie as I did during the first 6 months we had him, but then something happened and Tom fell hard and Ernie harder.

I try to remind Ernie that I’m the one who boils his chicken multiple times a week!

I didn’t leave the house Saturday until it was time to meet our friends at the outdoor concert. I don’t love this about myself, but it’s almost like I can only do one activity a day. If I have an evening activity, I stay home in preparation. Are you like this?

My friend had staked out a bit of shade and it felt so nice. We got food truck food and enjoyed some live music.

Sunday morning I started this:

Then, I ordered the groceries for the week and wrote down my meal plan and did lots of hardcore cleaning.

Here come the 90s! Maybe it won’t be so bad with clouds involved. Do you see something missing from my forecast? Rain! We shall see!

I really love where I live. It’s gorgeous in the fall and spring and our winters aren’t too bad. Summer is really quite pleasant for the most part, too. I feel so bad for some people who have the unbearable sticky heat for the majority of summer.

Tell me the highlight of your weekend!

Amy

Friday, July 21, 2023

It’s Friday again (eek!) and that means time to link up with Andrea and Erika for our weekly favorites.

As usual, I have a random set of photos from the old camera roll – lol!

Also, if you missed my Wine Down Wednesday post and you are a wine drinker, go back and check the comments for some suggestions and thank you for helping a girl out with her wineducation!

I think we are into summer enough that we are taking some things for granted, so check out my things that are making me happy post and maybe consider doing a list of your own.

I plan to do a Summer List report card next week to let you know how I have done.

Ok, on to my favorites…

I love egg salad! I used 3 eggs but only one of the egg yolks to make a single serving for my boat lunch Sunday. Do you like egg salad? I kind of forget about it. Growing up, we only had it at Easter and the egg salad was colorful because of the egg dye getting to the whites a bit. Also, my mom didn’t make deviled eggs. We only had those at church potlucks! Gosh, that is some good food. We often stayed after church for those. Did you?

We had Slender Kitchen’s beef bulgogi one night this week – it has become a family fave. I cooked the carrot and cucumber this time and I will go back to quick pickling them next time. I didn’t like this as much.

I picked up two good books from the library and sadly, had to make some hard decisions with books I had. I returned the majority of my stack that I wasn’t as excited about. Lol! So many books and so little time.

I really have not been shopping at Target as much in the last few years. I was just dropping so much money on impulse purchases and kind of using Target as my stress reliever. I did have a mission – to buy some Lume deodorant and a new lunch bag that Jack can use for his lunches at his opera program and that I could use when school starts. I avoided this section but took a funny picture to put on IG for my students, mostly.

I finally tried the Chick Fil A cobb salad with the ranch and buffalo mixed and I can attest that it is “fire” as the kids say. I also like my lettuce very chopped so I did that and mixed it all really well in a big mixing bowl with tongs. I will be doing this again.

I got a bag of ice! Will I do it again? – probably not. But, it was on my Summer List. I realized that I don’t mind my standard icemaker ice. Lol! And, never would I buy a countertop maker. I don’t care THAT much about the shape. I do like my big blocky ice cube tray for bourbon, though.

I used it in my iced coffee along with my water. I found it melted super fast.

It seems like all bloggers talk about the weather at some point, right? We have had a weird summer. I can’t remember having this much rain. Remember that we had a really severe storm at the end of June and lost power for 36 hours. There was some major damage in my area. Anyway, we have had so many days that started out rainy and then turned ok and lots of incorrect forecasts, too. So, it’s been hard to make plans. My friend Beth and I tried to go to the pool last week and then again this week. We decided to just go even though the day was iffy. We lucked out and got two hours of mostly sun but then the skies looked like this and we had to get out due to thunder, so we just ended our pool time. Neither of us belong to a pool so we go to one where you can pay as you go but the price has gone up to $16! It does have the adult pool and you can use your floats in it.

We really enjoyed my two “saddle” floats from last year.

I came home from the pool and Mason was off work and wanted to cook dinner with me. Um, ok! We did the whole shebang of looking for recipes, shopping at Kroger together, and then cooking. Darn if it didn’t take us about 3 hours, but we did it. He settled on a French dinner!

We made:

Bacon wrapped Boursin chicken:

Potatoes au gratin:

Haricot verts (French green beans):

Baguette:

Chocolate souffle that fell but still tasted great:

It was so much fun and we even played French music while cooking. We have decided we will definitely make it again!

I had a happy hour with my friend Victoria at Caffe Classico – one of my faves.

We had some wine and some Belgian frites with dipping sauces and I had a side salad.

I made a dinner with crescent rolls, fig jam, ham, and Havarti cheese. I rolled out two cans of dough. On the bottom one, I spread fig jam, then added the ham and Havarti. I covered it with the second can of dough and then put a mix of butter, Worcestershire, and brown sugar, and then added everything but the bagel seasoning. I baked at 375 for about 15 minutes I think – until it was golden. This was delish and I got some compliments. I also have some puff pastry in the freezer and I bet that would be next level.

This book is taking me forever but I do like it!

Hoping to finish it this weekend!

What were your favorites this week?

I hope you had many!

Amy

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Well, I bought one thing from the Nordstrom sale – I have thought about buying these Wisdom black pants for years and I really do need a nice pair of work pants. I have so many blouses and not many nice pants in solid colors. Did you purchase anything? I will let you know when these arrive if I keep them!

I am linking up with Kellyann and Jill today!

I haven’t done Fashion Files in a few weeks and seriously, it has taken me this long to have some outfit photos to do a post! I have been living in my lounge clothes/jammies, exercise clothes (love my two pairs of black biker shorts with pockets!), and bathing suits and coverups.

I wore this to go out to eat with Tom a couple of Saturdays ago. The skirt is from TJ Maxx, the top is J.Crew new with tags from consignment, and the sandals are Target. Yes, I did make a good purchase with these. I would say they are the most worn sandal of Summer 2023.

I wore this to the social security office and it was my goal to put on jeans to “keep it real”. Well, it was kept real. The jeans are Target Universal Thread, the top is J.Crew Factory that I got for $13 this summer. And, the Target sandals – of course!

I need to replace this brown purse with another purse that I can use all my straps with. I am thinking gold. I just haven’t found what I want at the price I want yet.

For our anniversary, I gave Tom a choice of 3 dresses and he said the floral so this is what I wore. The dress is from Walmart and the sandals are a few years old – Coconuts by Matisse. What is going on with my mirror?

And, let me introduce you to my new blouse. I purchased this from a local boutique but the brand is Umgee. It looks like a pajama top, but I love it. I wore it to run errands to try it out. I wore my cut offs and my gold lace up Marc Fisher sandals that are a few years old. I can picture this with black pants in the fall and winter and I think it will be a fun blouse to have. The print is jaguars or cougars or some kind of wild cat. MEOW!

Look how cute my friend Beth looked at the pool. She said this is a dress she has been using as a cover up:

And, that’s all I’ve got for you today! It still isn’t too terribly hot here. We have had a few unbearably hot days, but we aren’t to the sticky heat yet. It’s coming. That is the point of the year when you can hardly even put on real clothes and right when we go back to school – ha!

What have you been wearing lately?

Amy

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Are you a wine person? As you can tell by my blog name, I would have considered myself a cocktail person until this summer. I do love red wine, but that is mostly in the cooler months. It just doesn’t seem as summer or warm weather appropriate to me!

Well, I have been embracing the ease and the deliciousness of wine this summer.

I have to tell you that I pretty much stopped drinking all whites except for champagne or prosecco because I thought they were all headache inducing.

I have found that really isn’t the case. I have been picking slightly more expensive wines and I really think that makes all the difference. That and that I am not picking the super sweet wines.

Here are my favorites:

Red blends

Pinot Noir

Prosecco – My favorite brand is La Marca

Pinot Grigio

Chablis – new and very surprising to me!

Rosé

Here are the places I normally shop for my wine:

Trader Joe’s – easy to navigate and the employees are so helpful

Costco – my friend recently told me to shop their wine selection and I have been pleasantly surprised!

Kroger – I know the wine shop manager and he is very helpful, plus I get fuel points with my Kroger card

Total Wine – So big that it can be overwhelming!

I am also trying to take pictures so that I remember what I like.

This was really good and recommended by the Kroger wine shop manager:

This is the famous Cheese Gal on IG recommendation and I love it – from Trader Joe’s:

This is great for a mimosa because of the screwtop from Trader Joe’s:

And, don’t sleep on the now $5 Buck Chuck ($4.99) – I thought this pinot grigio was really decent!

I think I like all Apothic wines. This one is so good and summery! I am currently saving this for the right moment!

This was really too sweet for me, but if that is what you are looking for you might enjoy it. It’s very inexpensive, too:

I used to find it very hard to spend more than $10 a bottle, but now I am up to $16! Ha!

Are you a wine drinker? Do you have any favorite brands? I’m here for the recs!

Amy

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Summer isn’t perfect, but it sure is filling my cup! I want my summers to feel different than the school year, so I have been taking steps to eek all the summer out of my summer. I create a list of summer goals that are fun (for me!) and I have a list of just things that are easier to get done in the summer – dentist appointments, social security office for a new card, car registration at the county clerk – definitely not fun, but it you are a teacher you understand!

I thought today I would put together a list of things making me happy….

I would love to hear yours, as well!

Summer mornings – I am getting up, going to the gym, and then the morning is mine for my devotional, candle, coffee, blog reading, writing, and commenting, and then I usually do some tidying and get dressed for whatever I am doing that day. I just love a slow morning! I also love being able to drink my coffee outside!

That my mom is doing so well and for modern medicine. My mom is seriously back to normal and crafting it up, planning an art show in a gallery, and getting ready for houseguests and another small trip!

Seeing my kids’ car in my driveway – IYKYK, moms of older kids!

My iced coffee in my iced coffee cups!

A chilled glass of white wine or rosé – wine post coming tomorrow!

A salad that I have made with homemade dressing – bonus points if it has hard boiled egg and avocado!

Fun summery clothing – tomato girl summer, too!

Seeing friends more often!

Reading!

Here are the books I have read so far this summer:

8 books don’t seem like as many as normal, but I do read all year, too.

Going to the movies!

We have seen Asteroid City as a family:

Tom and I saw No Hard Feelings:

And, I have tickets for Barbie this week!

What is making you happy this summer?

Amy

Monday, July 17, 2023

How was your weekend? Mine was good! I am linking up with Sarah and Holly to share a bit!

Friday I took a trip to Trader Joe’s to look for this wine and get a few other odds and ends. I really like a screwtop! It makes it easy to save the rest of the bottle. Classy, right? Some of you may never have leftover wine – just kidding! While the bottle is beautiful, this will not be a re-purchase for me.

Ok, guys – I’m obsessed. Carolina Charm posted about this on Friday and it is something I have made before, but her recipe was way better. Have you heard of Sub in a Tub? I think I could eat this every day for lunch.

For dinner (remember we usually stay home on Friday night!), I made the nachos my sister told me to make. She said to put Sweet Baby Ray’s on top (weird, I know) and to cook the chicken from frozen tenderloins in the crockpot all day. Restaurant quality! Yum!

Here it is with toppings added and a side salad:

Friday night was good because all 4 of us were home to eat together and then watch The Bear. We are loving it!

Saturday morning I got outside in the light rain. Wait – it was raining on a Saturday? How odd! I’m being sarcastic as we have had so much rain this summer. I guess it’s a good thing, but could I order it on a week day?

This is my favorite mug because Mason bought it in Prague on his junior year trip and brought it back to me. I collect these mugs and wish they still made them. They are the perfect size and heft. Thanks, Starbuck’s!

I’m reading this and it’s good so far!

I cooked up some mushrooms and spinach and had a nice veggie breakfast bowl.

Then, I started my tomato pie project based on Jennifer’s post. I had been wanting to try it and the starts aligned.

I used a store bought frozen pie crust and followed Jennifer’s instructions, but added an extra egg because it didn’t look like enough to top the tomatoes. OMG – this tastes like pizza! It is so summery and yummy and I definitely will make it again.

Saturday was our anniversary so I used our leftover napkins for Tom’s lunch. If you were ever curious about how long napkins last – the answer is at least 23 years.

Our anniversary reservation was at River House. The weather had cleared up and we decided to sit outside.

I had a piña colada with a carmelized pineapple!

The best part of my meal was the salad with fried onions on top!

Tom loves a chowder!

He got salmon and I got grouper cheeks on a po’boy but didn’t eat the bread. We also got a squash casserole.

Mason ate my leftovers after work and loved it.

We are too old to know how to take an “usie”. That is “selfie” with more than one person and it’s from Ted Lasso!

We started the movie The Outlaws on Netflix but I fell asleep!

Sunday morning I read a bit on the deck…

Then we got out early on the boat…

Here is the river view of where we ate Saturday night!

We bobbed around in the cove – just the two of us – and had a picnic lunch and it was so nice.

We came in around 2 and Tom mowed while I showered and then relaxed a bit…

Then, Jack and I went to Kroger to get some stuff for him to pack for lunches. He is starting a summer opera program today!

And, we had beef bulgogi bowls for dinner:

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Amy

Friday, July 14, 2023

I had a good week! How was yours? Mine was a good mix of leisure and productivity. I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for Friday Favorites.

First, let’s start with productivity…I lost my social security card so I spent almost 2 hours in the local office waiting to apply for a new one. Adulting, am I right? I also finally purchased (after weeks of checking prices) Mason’s plane ticket to England. Eek! My twins turn 21 and then Mason leaves for England right after that. Thank you for the suggestions for how to celebrate. It will need to be low key and in town because of the timing of their birthday on a week night after Labor Day weekend and with school just ramping up for Jack and I.

Now let’s talk about the fun favorites…

I didn’t get a photo, but I got to meet with my former student (and recent college grad) for coffee this week! Madeleine was the winner of the Spanish award her senior year, by the way! This summer she is working for Jennifer Lawrence’s family’s summer camp, but she wanted to talk about applying for her master’s in teaching and starting in the fall. It was like no time had passed! I tried a lavender latte and no – just no. It just doesn’t work together. Also, Jennifer Lawrence went to the middle school where my kids went and she probably would have been at my high school had she not left for acting opportunities. My students several years ago were her classmates and I think one guy asked her to homecoming before she hit it big with Hunger Games.

Madeleine:

Last Saturday I went to Ulta on a mission. I bought this:

A little goes a long way and I really like it.

This:

It has a brow pencil and a spooly brush at the end. I still am using my NYX gel. too.

And, I have been so curious about Maracuja Juicy for years. I love it! It matches with your ph level and creates your unique color while giving you some plumping.

I love my bedroom. We haven’t done anything else yet like get a console table and put a flat screen above it or add a corner reading chair for me, but it makes me happy to wake up in my room every morning. I’ve been trying to open the French doors many mornings like they do in the movies…”Hello World!”

I’ve been pretty organized with meals this week.

We’ve had lemon grilled chicken with broccoli and whole wheat linguine:

Sheet pan fajitas with all the fixings:

Sheet pan turkey sausage with vegetables:

Yes, that is a cake spatula because all of my normal ones were dirty!

I visited the Mexican supermarket this week (Summer List item!):

I only heard Spanish and the cashier spoke to me in Spanish – so fun!

Cactus leaves:

I bought 2 giant carrots for 47 cents!

tomatillos:

I came home with a few produce items, pasta, and a couple of canned goods. It was very fun!

I finished this book and really liked it. I’m not sure it’s for everyone and some might think it moves too slowly. I liked the NYC and Jewish references and the characters and their relationships.

And, I have just barely started this. My library requests are coming in hot and I will have to make some choices.

After over a month of not meal prepping breakfasts this summer, I got back to a bit of it. I made my low carb egg caserole and cooked up some veg. I am obsessed with Amy Lu chicken breakfast sausage links.

I don’t think I will shop the Nordstrom sale at all this year and I haven’t for the past few years, either. Is it just me or does all the stuff look the same as last year’s stuff? Also, I think I am pretty set for fall and winter other than some waterproof short boots and some pants I would like to add. I may eat my words, though. What about you?

I did participate in Prime Days…

I needed new hairbands, a refresh of my pillow spray, and Ernie needed new treats. I have been unhappy with my eyeshadow situation so I’m trying these sticks, and I got new Pryrex lids – where do they all go?

The chargers have gotten swiped again! I ordered a two pack.

I also ordered a Barbie t-shirt!

What about you? Did you shop Prime Days?

I had a TJ Maxx gift card and wanted to get a pretty pink for my toes and found this color!

And, I scored my Barbie ticket for the Sneak Preview night with my besties.

I am trying to get outside early in the day because our mosquitos are just horrible by 5 p.m. ish. We have had lovely mornings this week!

This might be my new favorite scent for a candle. Have you smelled Lakeside Morning?

Yesterday I was supposed to go to the pool with Beth, but the forecast was iffy so we did breakfast at Biscuit Belly. We were kind of bummed when the day turned out to be pretty good for the pool but we had already pivoted.

And, yesterday afternoon, I got to see Elizabeth for the first time in about a month. We met at Napa and had lemon drop martinis – yum!

And, I got her wedding photos finally! She used Kelly Keene Photography.

Speaking of weddings, our 23rd wedding anniversary is tomorrow! We have dinner reservations and I’m excited!

Happy Friday! Any fun plans?

Amy

Thursday, July 13, 2023

Do you remember that I got up early the first weekend of May to watch the coronation?

Do you remember that I bought some British foods at World Market and Trader Joe’s?

Our favorite were the crumpets!

Well, my family wasn’t just celebrating the coronation, but the news that Mason would be studying abroad in England in the fall!

I have his permission to share this with you all. Fall of senior year is not the norm, but for some reason he and his advisor worked out that this would work the best for him.

He will be in the north of England about 5 hours away from London. I am nervous and excited! We knew that this would most likely happen, because Mason did a scholarship competition as a senior in high school (at his current college) and didn’t win the big prize but did win a scholarship toward study abroad.

He will be living in a dorm and have a single room but share a bathroom with 5 other students. They have a communal kitchen with a table with 6 chairs, which I think is nice and I pray he meets some friends in them. He will also have a meal plan but it won’t cover all of his meals.

So, I also had this experience during the spring semester of my junior year in Valencia, Spain. Spain, Germany, and Austria were other contenders for Mason, but he chose England and England chose him – the semester calendar had to match up with his current college and you had to be accepted.

I was the only one from my college who did my program, and I met my 29 other Americans upon arriving in Spain. I had a roommate from California, and we lived together with a 50-something lady and her 70-something mother. They tried to pair students together to live with different host families. This experience was nothing short of life changing and I still remember everything so vividly. My sister Molly also did this in The Netherlands. My photos are in my classroom, but I will try to remember to post some of them!

So, thank you for listening to my news! Tanya, do you have any recommendations? Anyone else? He will be very close to Wales and pretty close to Ireland and Scotland so I know he hopes to do some traveling.

Did you study abroad? Have your kids or do you want them to do this?

Amy

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

It’s a pretty big milestone in our country, right? My birthday is on November 2nd and I remember that my 21st fell on a Monday night. My friends accompanied me to Applebee’s! It was the bomb in the 90s. The year was 1992, to be exact. Potato skins, anyone? Spinach and artichoke pizza anyone?

So, my twins turn 21 in a couple of months. They are not excited about drinking alcohol – seriously – so I am looking for a fun way to celebrate them. Right now, my best idea is just a fancy dinner out where they can order a drink just because they can. Their birthday falls on a Tuesday so maybe they would want to do Mexican for Taco Tuesday?

I look like I’m in kindergarten, so I’m sure I was carded. I am the 2nd one from the end on the right. I wore a floral turtleneck? Or are those leaves for the fall? Oh my!

What did you do for your 21st?

What have you done for your kids?

Any ideas for mine?

Amy

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Let me explain my title! You can find a million blog posts on the air fryer (guilty!), the instant pot, the crockpot (definitely not sexy!), and – not really an appliance – but the Our Place pans. It reminds me of all the hype regarding Buc-ee’s. Kentucky just got their first one fairly recently and so many people have talked about it. Guys, it’s a gas station. Just like…guys, it’s a freaking pan.

Let me talk about an appliance that I purchased maybe 10 years ago at Kroger for $19.99. It’s an electric non-stick griddle. Well, this isn’t that one. My colleague borrowed it to make arepas and then dropped and broke it so she replaced it with this about 5 years ago. Non-essential back story, but I want to make sure you have all the facts.

Here’s the box. I keep it in the original box, and it lives in my front hall closet because I don’t really have room for it elsewhere.

I recently took it to the bachelorette weekend where I was in charge of bougie brioche French toast and bougie brioche grilled cheese. You can fit up to 6 sandwiches, pancakes, etc. on it.

This would be great to take on a vacay where you will be feeding several people. Also, don’t forget that the knives always suck at rental places if you plan to do any cooking. BYOK!

Maybe this will go on sale more today during Prime Days?

You really don’t even need any butter or Pam because of the non-stick feature.

I use mine for French toast, grilled cheese, pancakes, and…

do you remember me getting to try out my friend’s Blackstone? I decided to do an indoor mini Blackstone hack.

Ok, this worked great! I need to get my hands on some of that magical Blackstone oil.

Does anyone else have one of these non-sexy appliances? Could you see this being useful for you?

What is your most sexy appliance? I am just getting weird now and I swear I am stone cold sober.

I also like saying the word “griddle”. I just don’t say it enough!

Amy