Nadine

Happy Friday, friends!!! Each and every week that passes seems to leave me astounded that time is going by both so quickly and slowly at the same time. We have pretty much spent as much of 2020 at home in quarantine as we did out in the world before this happened. I had to cancel Zoe’s summer dance session this week, so that was hard. I know she is just ready to see her friends. We celebrated one of her friends birthday’s this week sending presents and having a Facetime. That perked her up until it was time to get off the phone. Then she was sad and said that she just misses everyone. Me too, girl.

Favorite Video/Song: I feel so seen right now. Mom or not, watch it. This is hilarious, and incredibly accurate.

Favorite Purchase: I think I have shared before, but just in case….the Aveeno Foot Mask is amazing!!!!This is my third or forth one, and every time I do it I wonder why I don’t do this at least weekly. My feet have never felt softer or more amazing than after I use this. You only have to do it for 10 minutes, I usually leave it on for 20 because why not. I just sit at my desk and work. I think for the price, you can’t beat it.

Favorite Recipe: We have been trying out some new recipes this week. Chris really liked this keto friendly chicken parmesan. Chicken parm isn’t my favorite meal ever, but I have to admit….it was pretty good! I definitely had a clean plate, and usually I only take a couple bites when I have made other recipes in the past. It was quite easy to put together, but it did dirty a lot of dishes. I did broil it at the end for 3 minutes to get that crispy cheese look and taste.

Favorite Workout: I wanted to cry about 5 minutes into this one. Nothing has ever burned my thighs as much as this workout right here. The moves are so simple, yet OMG!!!! I hated every second of this one, and yet, I plan to put it in regular rotation.

Favorite Funnies:

Linking up with Dani and Michael for Three on Thursday, because I love a good link up!

Three Creature Comforts

1. Coffee. Allllllll the coffee.
2. Hand cream. My hands are always dry and cracking any time of the year. But coming out of winter, and then add in the additional hand washing, because I was already hand wash freak before….and my hands are quite the mess! I feel like all my usual miracle fixes aren’t even enough anymore. I apply multiple times a day.
3. Shipt and Instacart – I love going grocery shopping. I like to pick out my own stuff and get inspired by the foods I see. However, since in quarantine, we have been using grocery delivery services each week, and it has really helped! I cant imagine trying to take Zoe in to a store and worrying about her touching anything, so this has been a life line. We have had great shoppers and good experiences with both services.

Three Comfort Foods

1. Peanut butter balls – I have been using Steph’s recipe for years now. Zoe and Chris are both obsessed and we make them at least once a week.
2. Homemade cheez-its – Cut ultra-thin sliced cheese into fours and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake at 250 degrees for 35 minutes. A healthier version of your favorite!!!!
3. Nuts – I take a bag of raw pecans, walnuts, etc and toss them in a tablespoon of butter and a tsp of salt and bake them in the oven at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes. PERFECTION

Three New Recipes to Attempt – I am sharing two I have made during quarantine that I think you need to make, and one I want to try.

1. Peanut Butter Pie – This is the keto friendly version, but you can use real sugar in place and a graham cracker crust if you don’t want to make your own nut crust. But I highly suggest trying this crust, it is easy and delicious!
2. Everything But the Bagel Chicken – Delicious!
3. Cheesy Bacon Ranch Chicken – We are going to make this later this week!

Three Things Entertaining Me Right Now

1. Books! I have been reading a lot lately. And actual books/e-books over my usual audio since I haven’t been in the car. I just finished Tools of Engagement, so good!!! Currently reading The Dilemma from BA Paris.
2. Social Media. Probably spend way too much time scrolling through Instagram and watching YouTube videos.
3. Outside. Sounds silly, but having a nice piece of land and a back deck with comfortable furniture is something I am truly grateful for. We spend so much time on our back deck just hanging out, or I walk circles in our driveway while Zoe rides her bike. We have been playing soccer a lot lately in our side yard, and going for walks around our neighborhood. I love it so much!

Three Shows or Movies Recently Watched

1. Greys Anatomy – Finally caught up to this show last week. Love.
2. Law and Order SVU – Caught up on this just the other night.
3. Frozen 2, Sofia the First and Fancy Nancy. All day. Every day. Lord help me.

Top Three Songs Played

1. Savage – I am terrified Zoe is going to go to school and call someone ratchet. The kid loves this song.
2. Faith by Galantis and Dolly Parton -If you haven’t seen this video, you really must watch, EPIC!!!!
3. Take What You Want from Post Malone and Ozzy Osbourne – What???? Did you know this was a thing??? So awesome.

Three Recent Purchases

1. Sunglasses – You know me and the black hole of Amazon sunglasses. I love these Celine dupes and I bought them in a color I wouldn’t normally go for. I LOVE these!!!!
2. Phone Stabilizer – Chris bought this phone stabilizer things to do video with. I have to admit, it is pretty cool. The video quality you can get while moving is awesome!
3. Kitsch Pillow Case – I have been wanting a silk/satin pillowcase for my hair and face. This is a great price point, cute styles and I really like it. I have noticed I dont have “pillow” face in the morning.

Three Things Keeping Me Sane

1. Coffee and Diet Dr Pepper Creme Soda
2. Working out. It has been such a crucial party of my mornings to hit at least 30 minutes of movement.
3. Cleaning, purging, organizing. I have gotten a good amount of stuff down around our house being at home, and we still have more to do!

Three Things I Miss the Most

1. Going out to eat
2. Lunching with my friends.
3. Strolling through HomeGoods and TJ Maxx

Three Things I Am Looking Forward To

1. Seeing anyone
2. Walking around a store alone
3. That first bowl of chips and salsa at our favorite Mexican

5 – the time I wake up in the AM to get my workout on and start work before Zoe wakes up

7 – the number of days a week UPS, USPS, FedEx and Prime deliver packages to our house

32 – the amount of snacks Zoe asks for in a day (probably not accurate, but it sure feels like it)

3 – the number of cups of coffee I drink in a day. Minimum.

3249875 – amount of times I wash my hands a day

15 – number of times a day I wonder how life will ever go back to normal after this

2 – number of times I hide in the bathroom or closet to take a breather each day

35 – how many books I have read so far this year

12,466 – steps I averaged each day for the month of April

4– times I have done my makeup since March 13

18 – how many times a day Zoe changes her clothes

64 – days I went without Diet Coke before I caved and ordered three cases on a Sunday for Shipt to deliver

10 – number of years I have lived in Birmingham and how old Mac is going to be in August

22.5 – amount of inches I have lost around my body from 1/11/2020 to 5/19/2020

Happy Friday, friends! Closing out week 9 of quarantine. It is so crazy to me that is seems like we have been doing this forever. But also how quickly the weeks are flying by. We are in the middle of may already!!!!

Huge shout out to all of those who have had to birthday during the time. Chris’s birthday was yesterday, and I just felt so bad that we were stuck at home in just “another day” of our new normal. I tried to make it special by making a delicious keto peanut butter pie, and one of his favorite meals for dinner. USPS sucked and told me his package was going to be delivered on the 12th, and now it isn’t coming til the 16th. So annoying. And its only coming from Atlanta. 2 hours away.

Zoe made him a card and decided to wear her “party” dress for the occasion. She also wanted to go outside and snap photos. I think we have a future fashion blogger on our hands.

It has been getting significantly hotter here in the last week. It was 82 with high humidity yesterday, and both Zoe and I decided to come in early from our morning play. Summer is that you? I cant complain, we really did have a good run the last 9 weeks.

Favorite Find: A few weeks ago, I had ordered mouthwash as part of my Shipt order. My Shipt shopper ended up being a dental hygienist and she jokingly texted me a picture of floss and said, “Don’t forget the floss.” And I said, oh yeah…grab me one! Thanks! And she got me her favorite, the Hello Charcoal. I had a few things from this brand recently, and I have to say, I LOVE this floss!!!! It reminds me of the old gritty Listerine one that I cant find anymore. It just gets everything and makes flossing more fun. I know it sounds silly, but try it! Might renew your want to floss. Also, the packaging is fun.

I also decided to upgrade the basket we have in our hearth room for all of Zoe’s toys. I needed something that would look nice in the space, and hold a lot! This basket is so awesome! We have plenty of room to hold more than what we currently keep in that room, and it is all neatly piled into this HUGE basket. You can tell just by the feel that it is made really nice.

I was watching a YouTube video a few weeks ago on skincare, and the person mentioned Curology. I went to the site and took the quiz and decided to order the product to try. You can pay just shipping and get your first bottle for free if you sign up, which I thought was pretty cool. What did I have to lose? I think I am two weeks down with using it daily? Time is all relative these days. Anyways, I haven’t had any adverse effects from it so far. It is a pretty cool concept. You tell your concerns, answer some questions about your skin, and send close up photos. A dermatologist looks over everything and sends you your prescription. They check in with you after some time to see how it is working, and will adjust dosage accordingly. You can do a monthly or every two month subscription. Anyone else use this service? So far I think I like it. I will check in again after some more time has gone by to let you know if I am seeing a difference.

A side note, I had started taking Biotin the week before, and that caused my face to break out. Why does my body hate Biotin??? I need it for my hair!!! Does anyone else have that issue? I have VitaFive send me a package of Biotin and Elderberry gummies to try. I really love their packaging, as they are trying to reduce plastic waste and I wish more companies would move towards this. The vitamins tasted great, and I love the elderberry ones. I will definitely try other products from them. Every “beauty” vitamin I have tried has broken me out, so I know it is me, not them. They have some Melatonin ones if sleep is your thing. I might try their overall health one next.

Favorite Funnies:

Linking up with Steph and Jana. I knocked a couple more off my Netgalley shelf. Yay!!! I had four solid reads, and one very meh cant recommend it one this month. What about you?

Royal Player by Katie McCoy

This was a cute read! It reminded me a lot of The Royal We, but also not. The male character in this book is a prince, but also the underdog in Wimbledon . I have never really read a book that involved tennis before, nor am I much a fan of the sport in general (boring!) but I actually quite enjoyed that plot line for the book. I liked both Charlie and Emmy.

Bottom Line: If you are looking for a light romance read, this is a cute one.

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

This books covers one of my worst fears, missing children. It hooked me from the very beginning, and alternates between the two female characters. Both are rather unlike-bale, if I am being honest. It didn’t take anything away from the book for me though. I love a book like this, there are twists and turns. It is dark and emotional, and you know something is off but you cant put your finger on it. This was definitely a solid read for me.

Bottom Line: Read it!!!

**I received a copy of Little Secrets from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

The Trouble with Tabbies by A. Ge. Henley

I picked this one up for free on Amazon. These types of books can go either way for me. I haven’t read anything by this author before, but that is about to change. This book was totally adorable! I loved Bea and Seb, and even though the book was rather short, I didn’t feel like it was rushed at all. You definitely see them grow and develop. I loved the troubled family drama throughout the book. It was a really cute read, and I hope to continue on with the series and read more from the author.

Bottom Line: Adorable, read it! For those of you who don’t like the steamy scenes, this one is for you. There really aren’t any.

One Night at the Lake by Bethany Chase

So this book goes back and forth between Leah (7 years ago) and June (current day.) We know something happened to Leah 7 years ago at the lake, and now June is engaged to the same guy Leah was back then. The thing is, we don’t find out what actually happens until about 80-85% into the book. And to me, it was sort of a huge lead up to a bunch of nothing. There was a twist, but it wasn’t a shocking twist. And I was starting to get bored with the story. To me there is an ick factor of the weird little love triangle. I did like Leah and June as characters, but it wasn’t enough for me to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Bottom Line: Meh, I would skip this one.

**I received a copy of Little Secrets from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

Love the One You Hate by R.S. Grey

A new RS Grey book? Sign me up! There was something different about this one versus some of her others, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Not in a bad way, just different. I really enjoyed Maren as a character, and loved Cornelia! I felt like I wanted to get to know Nicholas a little more.

There were a lot of side characters and side plots in this one as well. We really get to see Maren grow as a character, and I think maybe that is what is different about this book? It is more about Maren and her growth, and the romance is more of one of the subplots. It focuses not only on the relationship between Maren and Nicholas, but also Maren and Cornelia. Honestly though, it worked in this book. I couldn’t put it down.

Bottom Line: Read it. RS Grey fans will enjoy.

**I received an ARC of Love the One You Hate from the author in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

Currently Reading

Neanderthal Seeks Human by Penny Reid

I need a palette cleanser after the disappointment of One Night at the Lake.