Five on Friday - March 18, 2022

Whoop, whoop - it's Friday!  This has been a great week and I'm ready to carry the goodness straight on into the weekend.  Let's kick things off with my five for the week ~

1.  Let Spring Begin!

Spring officially begins on Sunday!  Bring it on!  Technically, when the first day of Spring happens on Sunday the amount of sunshine is approximately 12 hours long.  Then the days will begin to get longer until the first day of Summer.  Pretty sweet!

2.  e.l.f.

e.l.f. has a soft, washable, reuseable makeup remover pad that's pretty fantastic.  You only need water - no cleanser required.  I don't know how it works, but your makeup will melt off without any scrubbing.  When it gets dirty, just wash it and keep on using it.  Bonus:  it's on sale right now!  Click HERE to grab some for yourself.

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3.  The Summer Getaway:  A Novel

Is it too early to start your summer reading list?  I think not!  I'm adding The Summer Getaway to mine.  It was released this week and sounds like a great book to have on vacation.  Here's the summary from Amazon ~

Single mom Robyn Caldwell needs a new plan for her future. She has always put her family first. Now, with her kids grown, she yearns for a change. But what can she do when her daughter has become the most demanding bride ever, her son won’t even consider college, her best friend is on the brink of marital disaster and her ex is making a monumentally bad decision that could ruin everything?

Take a vacation, of course. Press reset. When her great-aunt Lillian invites her to Santa Barbara for the summer, Robyn hops on the first plane to sunny California.

But it’s hard to get away when you’re the heart of the family. One by one, everyone she loves follows her across the country. Somehow, their baggage doesn’t feel as heavy in the sun-drenched, mishmash mansion. The more time Robyn spends with free-spirited Lillian, the more possibilities she sees—for dreams, love, family. She can have everything she ever wanted if only she can muster the courage to take a chance on herself.

4.  Divina Sour Cherry Spread

A few weeks ago, I picked up a jar of Divina Sour Cherry Spread to add to a charcuterie board.  Best decision ever!  It was a fabulous accent to the cheese and crackers, but now I'm dying to try it on pork.  We've also been enjoying it on toast.  Honestly, it's so good I could just eat it by the spoonful.  

5.  Aging...

This weekend we'll be over here glued to the television watching the NCAA tournament and comparing the wins and loses to our bracket.  Saint Peter's already has majorly messed my bracket up!  Where did those Peacocks come from?!?  I'm going to take down the St. Patrick's Day decorations and replace them with decorations for the Oscar Party next weekend.  I'll be finishing my book club book (Lincoln Highway) before our meeting next week.  We are also having dinner with a friend on Saturday.  So many fun things! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Today on Thinking Out Loud Thursday I'm thinking about this holiday and sharing some of our decorations.

Our fireplace mantel has become a spot we love to decorate for every holiday that rolls around.  St. Patrick's Day is no exception!  Here's how we dolled it up this year ~

I've been picking up leprechauns from Hobby Lobby the last few years and have quite the collection.  The mantel hosts a few this year.

My friend Carol taught me the trick of rolling up a felt placemat and putting it inside the apothecary jar to add color.  Such an easy way to change the look of the jar and make it specific to your decorating theme!  

The coffee table gets in a touch of St. Patrick's Day decor too ~

Even the bathroom has a little touch of St. Patrick's Day!

We'll be having the traditional St. Patrick's Day feast of corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes for supper tonight.  Is that what you make on St. Patrick's Day?  

In case you missed it, you can find our St. Patrick's Day-themed tiered-tray HERE.  

That's what I'm thinking out loud about today.  Now it's your turn.  Link up and share!

 

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Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop - March 16, 2022

Join this week’s blog hop to find inspiration from dozens of bloggers for all things home and family including crafts, decor, DIY, fashion, recipes, fitness, gardening, travel, home improvement, and so much more!

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Weekending - March 11, 2022

I love weekends.  Really LOVE them!  We didn't do anything fancy this last one.  But we just had a great couple of days hanging out together.   Here's the rewind ~

Friday night I couldn't wait to get home from work and relax on the couch.  It had been a crazy week and I was ready to put that behind me and be mellow for a few days.    Before dinner, I got cozy on the couch with a mug of cocoa and lit my favorite candle.  With the fireplace lit, the aroma of my favorite scent in the air, and a book in my hand, it was just the things I needed to let my tight muscles start to release their tension.

I saw a glow coming in a window and stepped outside to see the sunset.  It was absolutely beautiful! It didn't last long, but I was so glad I caught it.

Eric and I knocked another movie off the Best Picture list Friday night by watching Dune.  Neither of us liked it.  We're not big science fiction watchers, so that definitely weighed in on our opinion.  

Belfast

Coda

Don’t Look Up

Drive My Car

Dune

King Richard

Licorice Pizza

Nightmare Alley

The Power of the Dog

West Side Story

Saturday morning our son called to see if we wanted to meet him and our daughter-in-law for lunch.  Heck yes, we did!  We pulled ourselves together and met them at an all-you-can-eat sushi place.  

We ran some errands after lunch and returned home.  There was a puzzle on the kitchen table we had started and it drew us in.  We sat down and spent the rest of the day putting the pieces together.  After hours, the puzzle was complete!  

Sunday I completed a little project of painting a rock.  The thought of painting a rock had come to me when I remembered a friend of mine had painted rocks during the pandemic.  I'm definitely not an artist and my rock was going to be a lot simpler than hers were, but I wanted to add a decorative rock to the ones around our mailbox.  When Ian was a little boy, we would take walks around the neighborhood and would point out fun things we saw.  My hope is when the kids are riding their bikes or walking with their parents, they will spy the rock and it will put a smile on their faces.  

We knocked off another movie on Sunday night - Belfast.  We both liked this one.  My favorite is still Coda.  Eight down, two to go!

Belfast

Coda

Don’t Look Up

Drive My Car

Dune

King Richard

Licorice Pizza

Nightmare Alley

The Power of the Dog

West Side Story

I'm taking a few days of vacation this week to do some things just for me.  I have a massage booked and am planning to meet a friend for lunch.  The weather is warming so hopefully we can slip in some walks outside too!  

Five on Friday - March 11, 2022

It's Friday!  Who else is ready for a weekend?  Let's kick off the weekend with my five for today ~

1.  Daylight Saving Time

Brace yourself for losing an hour this weekend.  Daylight saving time officially begins at 2:00 am Sunday morning.  To be safe, we try to turn our clocks up before we go to bed on Saturday night.  Time usually feels a little off for a week or so, but I'm so excited for it to be light later into the evening!  

 2.  Two Chicks Cocktail

A couple weeks ago I was running through Sam's grabbing stuff for girls' weekend.  I spotted these Two Chicks sparkling vodka, pear, and elderflower cocktails and threw a couple 4-packs in my cart.  Best decision ever!  They are delicious!   I love their description, "Fragrant with flavors of lush juicy pear, this refreshing elegant cocktail is paired with a silky smooth vodka. The final hint of the velvety elderflower blossoms leaves an aromatic kiss on your palate. This cocktail defines relaxation.".  Now I'm on the lookout for the other flavors Two Chicks has out, but in the meantime, I'm going to continue to add these to my cart whenever I'm passing through Sam's.  

3.  Stanley Tucci:  Searching for Italy

For those of us who were looking forward to Season 2 of Stanley Tucci:  Searching for Italy to start on Sunday, March 13, we'll have to wait a bit longer.  CNN made the announcement earlier this month to postpone due to the Ukraine situation.  If you want to add a little Tucci to your life now, check out his food memoir Taste: My Life Through Food.

4.  High Stakes

Danielle Steel's newest book was released this week.  Can you believe her books have sold over eight hundred million copies!  That's crazy!  She just keeps cranking them out.  Here's the summary from her latest ~

Jane Addison is an ambitious young woman with big dreams of owning her own company someday. At twenty-eight, she arrives in New York to start a job at Fletcher and Benson, a prestigious talent agency. Eager to impress her new colleagues, Jane jumps right in as an assistant to Hailey West, one of the agents in the literary department.

Hailey is dedicated to the authors she represents, but her home life is chaotic and challenging. After her husband’s tragic and untimely death, she was left widowed with three children to raise on her own.

Then there’s Francine Rivers, the stern and accomplished head of the literary department. Also a single mom after her husband’s affair with the nanny, she has overcome the resulting financial hardships, but only with unbearable sacrifice.

Compared to Hailey and Francine, drama agent Allie Moore’s life seems much more carefree and uncomplicated. She relishes her success and loves working with the talented actors they represent—until a passionate relationship with one of her rising star clients threatens to derail her career.

Merriwether Jones is the CFO for the agency. She appears to have it all—beauty, success, and a perfect marriage until her husband's jealousy over her career threatens to blow everything up.

Even though she’s a newcomer, Jane quickly realizes that there are damaging secrets hidden behind the doors of Fletcher and Benson. As one of the youngest employees, she has the least power, but is also the least willing to accept things as they have been for years. When she puts everything on the line to right these wrongs, the consequences will leave no one unscathed.

In this riveting novel, Danielle Steel tells the story of a group of remarkable women navigating the challenges of balancing their families, their personal lives and the high stakes of ambition at the top of their game.

5.  Oops...

Hope you have a great weekend!  We are hoping to knock a movie or two off our list of best picture-nominated films.  There are still four we need to see to complete the list.  I'm also going to do some planning for our upcoming Oscar party.  Fun stuff!  Pop in next week to see how it goes.

Thinking About the Oscars

Welcome to Thinking Out Loud Thursday where I share something I'm thinking about and invite you to link up and do the same.  Today I'm thinking about the 2022 Oscar Best Picture nominations!

It's become a thing with me to try to see all the Oscar-nominated Best Picture films each year.  This year there are 10 up for the title and I'm currently sitting at having seen 6 of them.  I've seen the bolded ones below.  

Belfast

Coda

Don’t Look Up

Drive My Car

Dune

King Richard

Licorice Pizza

Nightmare Alley

The Power of the Dog

West Side Story

The lead contender to take home the statue seems to be The Power of the Dog.  Of all the movies we've seen on the list, that one is my least favorite.  Followed by Nightmare Alley.  If I were picking a winner from the ones we've seen so far, it would be Coda.  I'll keep you posted if my opinion changes after we see the last four movies.  How many of these have you seen?  Do you have a favorite?

The Award show will be aired on ABC on Sunday, March 27.  That evening fashion will be on full display as the actors and actresses strut down the red carpet at the Dolby Theatre.  I can't wait to see the whole thing!

For years, I hosted an Oscar party.  I really don't know why I stopped, but it's been a long time since our last one.  Too long.  So this year I'm rolling out the red carpet again and celebrating the award show with friends!  Now I just need to find some friends who love watching the show as much as I do!

Here are some of the things I'm planning to pick up from Amazon ~

Party planning is such a passion of mine.  Just the thought of getting things ready for this evening is giving me a charge.  And sometimes you just need something that will give you a little charge.

That's what I'm thinking about today.  What's on your mind?  Link up and share!

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Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop - March 9, 2022

Join this week’s blog hop to find inspiration from dozens of bloggers for all things home and family including crafts, decor, DIY, fashion, recipes, fitness, gardening, travel, home improvement, and so much more!