Category: Uncategorized

This weekend we’re spending time with family, heading to my favorite flea market in town for the last show of the season, then I’m so grateful next week rolls right into vacation time for me to spend spring break with my son doing all the fun local things we want. I want to enjoy the time while he still wants to spend so much of it with me!

This week’s random thoughts and things to share…

This Tedx talk by Terri Trespicio was so refreshing! I’m sneaking up on my late thirties, worked at the same place for almost a decade now, and at a point mentally where the idea of having a professional passion feels currently so out of reach. I’m currently reading her book after it caught my attention during some browsing at the library lately and I’m hoping it’s just the push I need to do some serious reflection and planning for next steps – whatever the heck those may be!

The Most Haunting Truth of Parenthood – an article from my favorite author, Mary Laura Philpott, who just always beautifully describes the intricacies of parenthood in a way that always leaves me feeling like she just gets it – she really does! The article is an adaptation of part of her new book that launches next month and I am counting down the days until I get my hands on a copy!

After seeing Kendi’s Old Navy try on over on IG, I decided to order these jeans and give them a try to see if they could be that perfect pair of work from home jeans that finally are that perfect balance of not tight but also not so loose that they look baggy. That feels like such a delicate balance that’s been hard to get right, but I think these might be the ones!

I’m going to need to add this saying to my regular vocabulary…

And a favorite article that brings me to tears every time I read it. Leaving and waving has long been a tradition in my family, with the addition of the wave continuing until the other person has driven out of view. We did this most with my aunt as we would leave her house and I’m so glad I thought to capture a photo on what ended up being the last time we saw her before she passed away. We’ll keep the tradition going this weekend when we send off my parents at the end of their weekend visit!

Game On: Tempting Twenty-Eight

This one is Janet Evanovich’s latest novel in her Stephanie Plum series, a series she’s been publishing since 1994 about a down on her luck twenty-something in need of a job who managed to get hired on by family as a bounty hunter thanks to some black mail efforts. The series is full of all kinds of shenanigans to put it best, both on the job with quirky co-workers and family members as well as situations she finds herself in while trying to chase down criminals who didn’t show up to their court date. Her love life is a source of entertainment too, with her complicated back and forth relationships with local cop Joe Morelli and mysterious co-worker Ranger.

I’ve liked this series enough over the years that last winter I decided to start at the beginning of the series and read the books all the way through. I stalled out at book 16 and it was fun to skip ahead and read the latest before I’m sure I’ll be back to reading in sequence. I got exactly what I wanted out of this book – a quick, entertaining read with an element of mystery to it even though it lacks any aspect of thrill. Just a nice mental distraction for a couple of days. I count on these books like an old friend, one I know well enough to know exactly what to expect and on that front this book didn’t disappoint!

3.5 out of 5 stars

The Paper Palace

Elle is a married mother of three who sleeps with her childhood best friend one night while spending the summer with her family’s at their camp in the back woods country of the Cape Cod area and then needs to make a choice: move forward with her current life or dare to leave her husband for the man her heart has loved since they were young. The book follows Elle’s life from childhood until present time, skipping back and forth as it tells the story of drama and trauma that shaped her life. (Trigger warning: sexual assault)

When I finished this book, I wasn’t entirely certain how I felt about it. There were so many failed relationships throughout her family’s history that it sometimes felt hard to keep track of who was who as she alternated back and forth in the timeline. Also, some really horrendous stuff happened in this book. The story felt anti-climatic to me, but there was something to appreciate in a story that was so incredibly nuanced in choice and in morality and I always enjoy stories that capture the messiness that is being human.

3 out of 5 stars

Then in a rare event, I had a book I chose not to finish in February too (usually I get too many books, don’t get around to starting them all, then have to return them and take note of the ones I want to grab again later). But Well, This is Exhausting by Sophia Benoit was one I just couldn’t get into. I typically really enjoy memoir style but this one just didn’t grab my attention and hold it and the heavy usage of footnotes, while usually pretty entertaining references, just got to be a bit of a distraction for me. I had lots of others in my stack of library books that I was more excited to dig into so I just let this one go.

We’ve had a few days warm enough to ditch winter coats, early mornings are getting brighter, and I’ve picked my favorite habit back up of buying tulips for myself every chance I get – spring must be out there on the horizon?!

This week’s random thoughts and things to share…

I don’t often watch shows on my own, but recently finished Single Drunk Female on Hulu and really liked it! Although the main character is an absolute mess, I found her just really likable. Next up is making my way through season two of Outer Banks which is such an incredibly unrealistic drama that it feels like a guilty pleasure!

I’ve had plenty of articles catch my attention on the topic of work and how our relationships with it are changing, but never has one resonated with me as much as this NYTimes article from Jess’s Click Read Love post a few weeks back. I’ve got the notes in my phone to prove it, with this quote hitting home the hardest: “If the tight labor market is giving low-wage workers a taste of upward mobility, a lot of office workers seem to be thinking about our jobs more like the way many working-class people have forever. As just a job, a paycheck to take care of the bills! Not the sum total of us, not an identity.”

A chicken and dumplings recipe my husband and I both loved – great and easy comfort food for a cold, cozy night at home! Edit on our part though to simplify it even more – buy a container of diced carrots, celery, and onions, put them on parchment paper on a baking sheet with a little olive oil drizzled on top and salt, pepper, and a dash of poultry seasoning. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes.

I never thought I’d enjoy a cookbook as much as I loved reading through Matthew Raiford’s Bress ‘n’ Nyam: Gullah Geechee Recipes from a Sixth-Generation Farmer! More than just a book of recipes, as one review explained, it’s like reading a memoir, weaving family history into each recipe.

I’m intrigued by the concept I’ve seen of jeans being a size range instead of a single size. I tried a pair of Express FlexX jeans in the fall and their sizing was in two size increments – I got a medium which according to their size chart was an 8-10, but they fit me horribly and were way too tight. I noticed Old Navy now has a 3-in-1 option so I ordered their 8-12 and can’t wait to see if they’re a hit or a miss!

Have you joined the wordle craze yet? It’s new for me and a friend shared this app that’s the same thing with unlimited games to play. I’ve actually spent a few evenings doing that instead of endlessly scrolling TikTok and it feels like because it makes me think, maybe I don’t have to feel so bad about it?

Survive the Night

This was the first book I’ve read by Riley Sager and I didn’t love it. It takes place in the 90s, with college student Charlie trying to make her way back home to Ohio from school in New Jersey after struggling to cope with the murder of her best friend and roommate by a killer nicknamed the campus killer, an event she feels blame for after leaving her friend alone at a bar after they argued about Charlie going home. She catches a ride with Josh who says he’s also headed that way and very quickly into the drive has her suspicions that she’s trapped in a car with the killer. And remember, this is the 90s – no cell phones, finding rides home from college from posts strangers leave on a ride share bulletin board (what?! haha). Although there was enough twists and turns in the story to keep me pushing on through the story to see how everything turned out, I just missed having the drama of trying to figure out who did it right from the start like I’m used to.

2 out of 5 stars

One Step Too Far

The newest release from Lisa Gardner, I reserved it from the library awhile back so that I could be one of the first to borrow a copy and then promptly forgot about it so getting that notification it was ready for pick up was a pleasant surprise! There’s just something about getting mentally lost in a suspense novel that’s a perfect distraction for me and Lisa Gardner is one of my favorite authors to do this with. Her new book is her second with character Frankie Elkin, a wandering loner with her own ghosts in her past, who travels the country being an often unwanted volunteer in solving missing persons cases long after authorities have lost any traction on them. It was good, just as I expected – plenty of intense moments that kept me turning pages long after my bedtime in this story set deep in the wilderness of Wyoming, helping with what’s likely to be the last chance search for a young man gone missing years earlier.

4 out of 5 stars

Creative Confidence

My lofty for my pace goal is to read one book a month that has a personal or professional development aspect to it and this one was it for January. Written by brothers Tom and David Kelley, this book pushes against the common misconception that there are creative types and non creative types, and that innovation and creative thinking are best done by those “creative types”. Instead they focus on the creative potential we all have and how tapping into that will completely change the way we approach our work and our personal lives. And between their work of David being a founder of the global design company IDEO and the Stanford d.school and Tom working closely with him, these two are a trusted source of information and strategy! A great read that opened my eyes and provided additional resources if I decide to keep diving deeper!

4 out of 5 stars

It’s the weekend before Valentine’s Day! Do you do anything to celebrate? We’re not big celebrators of it in our house, but I remember my eyes being opened when I heard about the 5 love languages and the different ways we give and receive love. (like a huge so that’s why that previous relationship with the high school turned college, turned post-college boyfriend never worked out type of revelation!) Here’s a quick read on the types and the free quiz if you’re curious about you or your partners’ type! I plan to be more intentional about quality time and some acts of service to show I care.

With the Winter Olympics well under way, our family is official in watch any sport at any time mode. Biathlon is my husband’s favorite event and I just mostly wanted to watch snowboarding after Shaun White creeped into my for you page on TikTok and I have to say, I think I’m kinda really into 30 something Shaun White…is that weird?! It might be weird. 🙂 I don’t know why, but I love his videos where he’s commenting on posts people tag him on while he’s eating. I was in tears going online this morning and watching all his interviews after the finals last night!

And speaking of sports, we watched an old favorite last night – Death Diving! If you haven’t heard of it, it’s diving from 10 or more meters up but not your traditional dive. There’s different styles but the commonality is that you wait until you’re as close to the water as possible to tuck in and hit the water bent over with arms and legs pointed down and hitting first. It’s wild!

This stowaway cinch tote has served many a purpose (library bag, travel, bag to throw my lunch and other random supplies for the work day), but using it for my kids sports has recently been added to the list. It’s easy to throw in a pouch with all my necessities then the lack of structure allows me to stuff in the jackets, the hats, the extra layers, and all our water bottles to keep all of our crap contained!

My sister-in-law texted last weekend about making one of our favorite recipes, Bev’s creamy beef and gnocchi soup, with crumbled up Trader Joe’s parmesan crisps sprinkled on top. There’s a reason they’re on our list of TJ’s favorites! I plan to give her idea a try this weekend.

Coziness! Just add in watching a movie, fuzzy blankets, and kid snuggles please. 🙂

Have a wonderful weekend!

This list of most loved things from the month of January screams it’s winter and I just want to be cozy at the expense of everything else – and I’m happy to report, no regrets!

SPERRY SALTWATER BOOTS

I feel like I’m slow to the duck boots trend, but after realizing these are perfect for keeping my feet and ankles warm and dry while also not being a really ugly snow boot I snagged a pair. And truly, where we live we get a couple of good snow falls each winter and the rest of the time is spent with just gloomy cold weather so these should be all I truly need for any inclement weather. After wearing them sledding for a bit on our first snowy day, I’ll just be finding a couple pairs of quality wool socks to pair with them on those types of days.

BOMBAS SOCKS

While placing a Christmas order at Bombas I added these cute tie dye calf length pair to the order for myself (a mens pair, because I liked the color better than the women’s options). I knew they were good but damn, they are really good! Super comfortable and I’m constantly throwing them on with my Sperry’s when I walk my son to the bus stop int he mornings. Their quarter socks in black are my go to pair to wear with cute boots too – the women’s single pair option I haven’t seen in stock for a little bit now, but I just ordered the men’s single pair instead after calculating my size (take your size in women’s shoes and go down 1.5 to get your approximate mens size). The only difference I noticed in doing that is that the men’s are very slightly taller, which I don’t mind based on what I’m wearing them with.

FLEECE LEGGINGS

After all these years of owning leggings, how have I never had a fleece lined pair until now?! They’re so cozy and the lack of compression is something I actually love about them. These have been heavily in rotation for work from home days, which have increased with a flip back to fully remote work until the beginning of February. The exact pair I have from Old Navy is back and forth on their stock so I’m feeling pretty happy that I obsessively ordered three pairs. These look like a good (although more expensive) alternate pair I’d try if I needed another pair and couldn’t get the Old Navy ones in stock.

OVERSIZED COFFEE MUG

I’m a little bit extra about my morning coffee routine and it’s my favorite way to start my day. An oversized coffee mug is perfect to leave plenty of room for all the frothed goodness I add in and this 16 ounce one was one I added to my mug collection recently and have been reaching for most mornings ever since. Don’t tell my husband though or he might try to clear out all the others I still love too! 🙂

NEUTROGENA NORWEGIAN FORMULA HAND CREAM

This was a recommendation I picked up from following Sharon McMahon and I would argue it has been the best $3.99 I’ve ever spent! Well, technically the best $15.96 I’ve ever spent because I have multiples stashed around the house – at my desk, on the table beside my end of the couch, and in various purses/bags I switch between. My hands get brutally dry in the winter and this stuff keeps me looking human. I’ve even put a little bit on dry skin patches on my face and within hours they’re gone.

After months of working a hybrid schedule, our campus closed for about a month because of the covid surge. On the incredibly short list of things I miss about having to leave the house to go to work in an office is getting dressed in a real outfit. I love thinking through the details of all the options and it’s hard to muster up the motivation and interest in doing that just to never leave the house all day.

Last week I had a change of heart and made it a point to get it together everyday. Not in outfits that would be appropriate for heading into the office, but ones that weren’t oversized sweatpants and sweatshirts that I could show my upper half in a meeting in and not feel self conscious. My biggest tips? Have a jeans option that’s a size up from your usual size and gives more breathing room than usual, pants with an elastic waist are necessary, and grab yourself a cozy pair of shoes to wear indoors only that feel like a (small) step up from slippers.

After some years of not having the time, patience, energy to keep up with thrifting, I decided to make a stop again recently and had really good luck. This sweater was the best find! I have far more gray sweaters than I have any business owning, but I love them. Paired with my “leisure jeans” as Kelly calls them, this was an un-restricting outfit I felt good working from home in.

My husband calls these my curtain pants but come on, they’re just as comfortable as a big old pair of sweats but you know, don’t like like a big old pair of sweats. I get tripped up a bit on what to top to pair with them since sweater on top of sweater can look a little funny if the knits aren’t right, but this light weight pretty classically fitting v-neck balanced it. I just recently bought that one and can tell it’s going to get a ton of use and be a well loved basic. Size tip though – I’m mostly a medium in tops, sometimes a large. This is one that I sized up and went for the large which is good because it definitely runs small.

I noticed a theme! On days I know I’ll have to leave the house later it was a leggings day because those are easy to throw my newly beloved Sperry boots on with and know I’ll have warm, dry feet. We had some cold days and at this point in life I’m almost always picking comfort over looking cute! I remember it was so cold this day, even inside (I work in the room above the garage, the coldest room in the house) so I layered up with this cozy shacket.

I’m feeling a little meh about this wrap sweater but threw it on in an attempt to look a little nicer. Our team was meeting a new staff member in our department that day and we had an interview with someone for an open position on my team so I wanted to try to look and feel a little more professional than I normally would care to look when we’re all working remotely. These joggers are my favorite though. I love them so much that I own them in black and this olive color. Elastic waist bands for life! And I think they’ll be perfectly appropriate to style for days when we’re back to working some days in the office as well.

Leggings again so I definitely left the house this day, even if it was only to go pick up pizza for dinner. 🙂 Back in early fall I was on the hunt for a hooded sweater as a layering option for our Disney trip and this one was a random Nordstrom Rack find. I can’t find it in stock anymore but I just recently bought this hooded sweater in a different color and love it even more!

We’re in that part of winter where I hit full on hibernation mode, happy to spend evenings snuggled up in my corner of the couch and to barely make it awake beyond 9pm both nights. Not an ounce of restlessness or desire to get up and do something in sight! But this weekend my parents are on their way and we have lots of fun things planned for a belated birthday celebration for my dad. It’ll be such a wonderful change of pace! Before I head out for that, a round up of thoughts and things that are on my mind lately…

I noticed that Mary Laura Philpott’s upcoming book Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives was finally listed on our library’s website so I was able to reserve a copy to read as soon as it releases this April. I’ve never been so excited for a book release! Her book I Miss You When I Blink tops the list of my favorite books – motherhood is a large theme in her work which I’m sure is why I feel so pulled to it, but she’s mastered the art of story telling that leaves you bouncing back and forth between laughing and crying that I love to do so much.

I ordered this penguin snow mold just in time for it to arrive at the end of another snowy day for us last weekend. I think I was maybe more entertained by it than my 7 year old but it was $7 well spent in my opinion! We had fun making a few penguins after shoveling the driveway and it felt good to have some fun outside.

I’m always drawn to fun flats and I think I’d truly be happy to spend as many seasons as possible just wearing a rotation of gray sweaters, jeans, and funky flats every day. I don’t dare add another pair to my collection right now and these are higher than the price point I usually target but oh man, if I was looking to treat myself to something special this jeweled raspberry color pair would be it!

Lately I’ve favored flavored coffee syrups with frothed oat milk over flavored coffee creamers Chobani’s Sizzlin’ Brown Sugar creamer lured me back! I’ve spent the last two weeks adding a little bit to my oat milk before frothing and it’s the perfect bit of flavor added.

Currently dreaming of taking a vacation day to spend the day alone with a good book, coffee, and doing this cute paint by numbers kit…

I very knowingly have an unhealthy relationship with conflict, as in I would love to straight up avoid it forever and ever, until the end of my days. Clearly that’s unrealistic and this article about argument styles was interesting to read and got me thinking about the approach my husband and I each have.

We recently had a decent snow fall on the perfect day, one with no school, no work, and absolutely no plans for the day. By the time late morning came around my husband randomly said let’s go sledding and both me and our seven year old answered with an enthusiastic yes!

After layering up and driving to the nearest hill, we take a few turns heading sledding down with plenty of other families from our area. A few rounds in and I’m taking my turn heading down the hill with my son waiting for me at the bottom and I realize I’m actually having so much fun that I’m laughing without even realizing it. My mind cleared of absolutely everything else, every worry, every thought about the ever present to do list or what the heck is for dinner and do we have everything we need to make it? Cleared and just feelings of sheer joy in its place.

And damn did that feel good! So good that it had me wondering when was the last time I felt like this and why don’t we experience these moments more often?!

I’m a self professed worrier which can be really frustrating not only to myself, but to my family too. Getting out of my own head is sometimes a challenge, but a necessary one if I’m going to save myself some emotional energy. Two years ago I used a daily gratitude journal to ground myself, writing down three things each day that I was grateful for. This year I’m trying something new – reflecting on the week and thinking what are at least three things that made me smile this week! Here’s my list I noted from last week:

– Sledding down that hill and enjoying that time together with my husband and son.

– Overhearing one of the little bit older teammates on my son’s swim team telling him good race after practice.

– As my son walked in from school, I asked him how his day was and he answered with a genuine “it was perfect!” without an ounce of sarcasm.

A love of Trader Joe’s is a shared love in my family but I’m the only one lucky enough to live near one. That means that before any trip home I make sure I go and stock up on all of our favorites to bring with me and I have fun grabbing some fun things to try together too as I come across them. Here’s a roundup of our family’s favorites that we would jump to recommending if asked!

THE CHEESES!

Hands down, our favorite thing about Trader Joe’s is their cheeses along with the reasonable price points that come with them. My dad stays keeps their grated and their shaved parmigiano reggiano stocked and the rest of us are sure to always have the shredded pizza seasoned toscano on hand. The unexpected cheddar, both by the block and the shredded, are long time favorites too. Rounding out the list of cheeses I’m constantly picking up is the goat cheese logs. The honey chèvre is a year round favorite and we wouldn’t dare celebrate a holiday without the blueberry vanilla goat cheese log making an appearance on the table!

THE SWEETS!

Next up is all the sweets – another beloved section to browse! For years I’ve been stocking up on their chocolate covered sea salt butterscotch caramels every time I head home and I would say they’re tied for our collective favorite with the toffee chips, little rectangles of toffee about the size of a fun size candy bar that’s covered in either dark or milk chocolate (great to have on hand for baking as well as snacking!). The scandinavian swimmers are a favorite, but only in my house, along with the hold the cone mini ice cream cones – although I’d argue that’s only because ice cream usually doesn’t travel well so I’ve never taken them with me! The cones come in vanilla, chocolate, and chocolate chip flavors and my seven year old wouldn’t hesitate to tell you to try any of them. 🙂 The chocolate coating is the perfect touch too!

THE SNACKS!

This post really is covering all my favorite category of foods! My most recently discovered favorite that my mom and I share is their seasonal kettle corn. I’m sad I haven’t seen any new flavor in stores lately, but we loved their maple sea salt kettle popcorn from the fall. Even better though was the key lime kettle popcorn they had over the summer with the sugary bits being a perfect balance to the tartness of the lime. I’m hoping these are going to be permanently in the yearly rotation. Their pita bite crackers always find their way into my cart too (because you need something to put all that good cheese on), and the parmesan crisps have made their way into the list of staples too. My three year old niece’s favorite is the cinnamon schoolbook cookies – they might have cookie in the name, but these are essentially little letter shaped cinnamon flavored version of animal crackers so we consider them a snack!