Penny's Passion

Friday, October 20, 2017

Five on Friday - October 20, 2017

Did someone say weekend?!? I'm ready over here! Fun stuff is on the agenda starting immediately at the end of my workday today, so I'm a tad bit excited to get through my work and start the merriment.

Before I do, here's my five for this week ~

1. National Mammography Day
Did you get a mammogram this year? There are different ages suggested to start getting mammograms, but the general rule is women around the age of 40 should start annual breast cancer screening with mammograms. Today being National Mammography Day is an excellent reminder to make that appointment if you haven't yet. Hey, it could save your life. Just do it.

National Mammography Day Third Friday in October

2. Only the Brave
We've seen the previews for this movie a couple of times in the theaters and each time Eric and I look at each other and say, "I want to see that one.". Here's the summary from Rotten Tomatoes, "All men are created equal... then, a few become firefighters. Only the Brave, based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, is the heroic story of one unit of local firefighters that through hope, determination, sacrifice, and the drive to protect families, communities, and our country become one of the most elite firefighting teams in the country. As most of us run from danger, they run toward it--they watch over our lives, our homes, everything we hold dear, as they forge a unique brotherhood that comes into focus with one fateful fire." Is it on your list to see?

3. Movie Pass

Speaking of movies, have you heard of MoviePass? Any theater, any day, any movie. Basically, it's a card that allows you to see a movie a day at one of the over 4,000 theaters for the low monthly charge of $10 ($9.99 to be exact). I applied for my card a few weeks ago and it came in the mail last week. We used it on Saturday when we saw Victoria and Abdul and it worked like a charm! You have to be close to the theater and select your movie from the MoviePass app on your phone. Take your card in the theater and use it to pay for your ticket. That's it -- pretty simple!

4. LOC One & Done Shadow Stick
One of the MANY things I love about a girls weekend is all the girl chatter that happens. On my recent trip to Nashville with Debbie, I noticed her amazing eye shadow. She shared it was LOC One & Done and she got it from Birchbox. (If you're not a member of Birchbox, I would highly recommend popping in HERE and signing up.) So when I got home, I ordered Debbie's color, Impress Me, and Out of Your Shell just because it was so pretty. All the colors are beautiful! Let me tell ya, I've been wearing it every day since it arrived and am LOVING it! This stuff smoothly glides on and is still creaseless when I get home after work. Love it!

5. So me.......

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. I'm headed to a Scandal viewing party immediately after work tonight and I'm dying to see what Olivia Pope is up to. Tomorrow Kayla and I are going to a Harry Potter tea. We made reservations months ago so we're excited that the date is finally here. Then on Sunday we're going to Hermann for some wine tasting. Should be an excellent weekend! Hope you pop back in on Monday to get the recap!

Linking up with:

The Peaceful Posse

Amanda at Meet At The Barre

Erika at Little Bit of Everything

Simply Sweet Home
High Five for Friday
5 on Friday
The Blended Blog
This post contained affiliate links. I may receive a small commission if you click on the link and purchase. Thanks

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Friday Favorites - October 20, 2017

Happy Friday! Hope you enjoy all the features today. Enjoy your weekend ~

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Thinking Out Loud Thursday - October 19, 2017

Hello! It's Thinking Out Loud Thursday over here and I'm glad you stopped by. Please link up your post below and tell us what you're thinking about today.

Today I'm reflecting on a beautiful thing that happened earlier this week. You might remember my friend Jane that passed away in January of 2016. I wrote about her passing HERE. Jane, along with our friend Debbie, and I had so much fun and her leaving us for heaven left a hole in both our hearts.

This week Jane's parents, sister and brother donated a bench to be placed on our work campus. We had a little ceremony to dedicate the new memorial. At the ceremony, as balloons floated into the sky, we had a few tears running down our cheeks. I have to say, it brought some feeling up that I had buried pretty deep. Do you ever truly get over a loss of a friend?

Jane had worked at our company for 25 years and had made an impression on almost every employee. It was so thoughtful of her family to put something on campus in remembrance of our dear friend.

The moderator of the service quoted one of Jane's favorite people, Jon Bon Jovi ~

I'll be there forever and a day.
- Always

I'll be there till the stars don't shine

Till the heavens burst and

The words don't rhyme...you'll be on my mind

And I'll love you - Always.

Debbie and I decided that a little private dedication to the bench last night was in order. We toasted Jane with some wine while her favorite artist, Jon Bon Jovi's tunes played on Debbie's phone. Spending a bit of time sitting on Jane's bench and reminiscing about all the crazy things we did was good for our souls.

There's not a day goes by that I don't think about Jane. Usually it's a memory that puts a smile on my face. The hardest part is knowing that there will be no new memories. Jane taught me to never take a day for granted because you never know how many more you might have. I'm a better person for having her as a friend and I hope she's in heaven thinking the same things about me.

An InLinkz Link-up

Enjoy more Thoughts for Thursday at:

Home of Malones

East Coast Chic

Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

This is How We Roll
Moonlight and Mason Jars Linkup Party

Fashion Find - Blu Pepper Dress

Hey guys! I'm sharing a fashion find with you today. I know - I'm not a fashion blogger and it will be very evident in the pictures I talked Eric into taking. Don't get me wrong, he was more than willing to take the pictures, but I didn't want any of the passing cars seeing me try to model a dress AND we were in a hurry to get to an event AND the sun was blinding me. Put all that together and let's just say it was a pretty tense photo shoot!

Many of you commented on the outfit I wore to EarthDance's Farmers Formal so I wanted to share where you could get it before this dress was gone for the season.

Image may contain: 2 people, people smiling

There's a backstory to me choosing this outfit. I had been on the hunt for something to wear to the Farmers Formal. A few weeks ago when I visited Hermann with some girl friends, I spotted this exact outfit on a lady waiting to catch the Amtrak train with us. I was going to ask her about where she got it on the train, but she was in business class and we were not. Later in the day I spotted her doing a wine tasting and practically ran over to her to ask about her attire.

She happened to pick her's up at a boutique in Columbia, Missouri and I knew I would be no where around that location before I needed the dress. She was extremely accommodating and let me take a peak at the label. Blu Pepper was the brand and I was able to find the exact one at Dillard's. You can get one by clicking HERE.

Notice the adorable lace ruffle at the bottom - well that is a slip I picked up on good ole' Amazon. It's available HERE. I'm looking forward to finding other dresses I can wear this slip under.

I happened to have this Kate Spade bag, which worked perfectly with this outfit. Don't you love when you already have accessories that work?!?

Available HERE

I also love wearing cowboy boots whenever I can get away with it. Are you in need of a pair? Mine are Justin and are SOOOOOO comfortable.

My old reliable jean jacket came along in case it cooled off later in the evening. I remember when I did an impulse buy with this jacket years ago and thought it was too expensive. Little did I know that ten years later I would still be wearing it. Turns out, I've definitely got my money's worth out of it! With the jacket, this outfit should definitely be wearable into the Fall.

If you see me out and about on the next coming weekends, you will probably get an opportunity to see this outfit in person. I have plans to wear it as much as possible before it has to go away until Spring!

Sharing this style with ~

The Blended Blog
Seeking Sunshine
Pumps and PushUps

This post contained affiliate links. I may receive a small commission if you click on the link and purchase. Thanks

Monday, October 16, 2017

Weekending - October 13, 2017

Welcome to Monday (notice there's no exclamation point ending that sentence). I'm a little sad to see the weekend come to an end so quickly. It was a truly wonderful couple of days! Here's what went down ~

Friday night we enjoyed ourselves at the Farmer Formal, the annual fundraiser for EarthDance Organic Farm School. I'm honored to serve on their board of directors and so proud of all the great work they do in the Ferguson, Missouri area and beyond. This 10th Annual Farmers Formal featured more than 30 local chefs, farmers, and libationers. So.Much.Fun!

Image may contain: 2 people, people smiling

Image may contain: 2 people, people smiling, people standing

On Saturday, I attended the funeral of a friend's mother-in-law. My friend's husband spoke about his mother at the service and it was so touching. Situations like this really make me reflect on my life and what people might say when I'm gone. Do you have the same feeling at funerals? What would you like someone to say about you?

Eric got off work early in the day and we decided to catch a matinee. Before the movie we had time to grab lunch at our favorite little Greek place - Lilly's in Fairview Heights, Illinois. Their gyros are the absolute best!

Victoria and Abdul was our movie pick and we both enjoyed it. I'm a real sucker for anything Royal Family and this movie certainly didn't disappoint us. I would be surprised if Judi Dence didn't get a best actress nod come award time.

Fall temperatures blew in overnight Saturday and we woke up Sunday to a chill in the air. It was the first opportunity I had to wear a sweater this fall season. My friends, Sharyn, Eric and their daughter Audrey stopped by and picked me up so we could spend the afternoon at Eckert's.

We wanted to do a little apple picking. While we were there, we swung through the pumpkin patch too. What a great place for the whole family! Their Pumpkin Jamboree is going on during the weekends throughout the month of October if you want to get in on the action.

Since we were at Eckert's, we decided their fried chicken dinner was in order. Man, their food is so YUMMY!

Audrey even had room for dessert. How cute is this ~

No trip to Eckert's is complete without a spin through their country store.

When I got home, a little crafting was in order. If you've read my blog for a blink of an eye you know how much I L-O-V-E my Silhouette Cameo. This week I finally did some heat transfer projects. I have no idea why that stuff scared me, but once I got started I could barely stop!

I whipped up a little fall surprise for a a friend of mine. Flour sack towels are so wonderful to have around the kitchen! Adding an embellishment makes them even that much greater.

Then I kept the ball rolling by adding some fall embellishments to shirts for my niece and nephews. Old Navy has their shirts on sale right now at amazing prices.

The evening was capped off by doing a little binge watching of the show Nashville. I'm not sure how I missed this show when it came out, but we are sure enjoying catching up with it now!

Thanks for popping in to hear about our weekend. Hope you had a fantastic weekend and a good week ahead!

Check out what others were up to this weekend.

B Loved Boston

Over the Moon

Hello Monday

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Five on Friday - October 13, 2017

It's Friday!! Oh my goodness - I am in desperate need of a weekend. How about you? It's been a busy week and I'm looking forward to having a bit of time in my house just to catch up on some stuff.

Here's five things that I loved from this week ~

1. Brave Enough

I found this little book at Draper James when I was in Nashville. The minute I opened it and saw the first quote, I knew I wanted to send this book to a friend of mine. When I got it home, I realized that I really wanted to keep it for myself and promptly order my friend one from Amazon. Brave Enough is a collection of quotes that shares wisdom, courage and humor from the author Cheryl Strayed. This is the perfect book to keep on any nightstand for a quick pick me up! If you would like to gift one, or have one for yourself, click HERE.

2. The Meyerowitz Stories

If you have Netflix, you might want to add this film to your watch list that becomes available today. Rotten Tomatoes says this, "The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) stars Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Elizabeth Marvel, Grace Van Patten and Emma Thompson, and is the intergenerational tale of adult siblings contending with the influence of their aging father." Sounds pretty interesting to me and I love the cast!

3. Floral Pintuck Swing Dress

This flowing little number is perfect for Fall and right now at Old Navy it's under $20!! Mine arrived this week and I can't wait to wear it. It's going to be cute!! Click HERE is you are interested in one for your very own self.

4. LifeStride Wedge Bootie

Don't you think these wedge booties would look great with the dress above?!? I've had my eye on them and they are on sale right now for 30% off. They might have to join the other shoes in my closet. Click on the link below to check out all LifeStride's adorable shoes and boots and enjoy 30% off right now. Oh, and you get FREE SHIPPING!! Yahoo!

Friends & Family - Get 30% off + Free Shipping! Use code LSFF30

5. Can you relate ~

Okay guys -- have a great weekend! Eric and I are going to a fund raiser tonight for EarthDance Organic Farm School. Should be a fun time. Sunday I'm headed out to Eckert's for some apple and pumpkin picking with a friend and her daughter. Stop back by next week to hear all about it!

Linking up with:

The Peaceful Posse

Amanda at Meet At The Barre

Erika at Little Bit of Everything

Simply Sweet Home
High Five for Friday
5 on Friday
The Blended Blog
This post contained affiliate links. I may receive a small commission if you click on the link and purchase. Thanks