Nadine

The weather was absolutely incredible this weekend!!! It was in the low 80s each day with plenty of sun and a slight breeze. I decided to get Zoe’s pool out. It went really well, until we discovered there must be a hole or leak in it. Zoe made the best of it though and played for hours, even as the water slowly drained out.

She also spent a lot of time playing with her bath baby doll and bathtub. This was a birthday present from last year that has gotten hours and hours of play! We got her a swim barbie for Easter, and she puts them both in the tub and pool. The swim barbie often ends up in the bath/shower with us too.

Sunday, we hung around the house in the morning, and decided to take my car for a drive. We drove all around our town. I was really surprised to see how crowded some stores were, especially Publix and Home Depot. We haven’t been inside anywhere since March 13, getting groceries delivered weekly from Shipt or Instacart. It was actually kind of sad how excited Zoe was about the car ride. She squealed in delight, packed snacks and barbies to take to play with. She fell asleep on the way back to our house, apparently the excitement got to her! She hasn’t napped since the quarantine began either.

I cant say much, because Chris took a shower and I put on a cotton dress, foundation and mascara for the car ride, knowing we weren’t getting out anywhere. We even drove around our neighborhood when we got back, because we weren’t quite ready to go back to the house.

Other than that, we have just been working, fitting in lessons, and enjoying all the outside time before it gets too hot. I really appreciate that Zoe’s school has supplied us with some worksheets while we are all home to incorporate in. We learned all about the life cycle of a butterfly last week. She even did her own graph and understood how it all worked. So cool to watch how her brain learns!

I hope you all are hanging in there. Has your state opened back up yet? Ours has retail at 50%, but most daycares and salon type services are still closed. Restaurants are carry out or curbside pick up only.

This is me watching all the people who go out with the first phase opening and see what happens…

Hey there! We made it through another week of quarantine. Barely. Patience is low and emotions are high over here this week. Alabama is starting to open up some retail at 50% capacity and doing a “safer at home” approach right now. I don’t plan on going anywhere yet, but am interested to see what happens with others do.

Favorite Moment: It is never a dull moment when you are at home all day with a toddler, trying to work full time, keep the house up, cook three meals, etc. Add in some cow corralling to that…and you have my Thursday. They got out somehow from the pasture behind our house and were eating our neighbor’s azalea bushes and casually grazing our yard.

Zoe tried nutella toast for the first time this week. You could say she was a fan.

Favorite Purchase: I ordered Olaplex shampoo and conditioner to use with the #3 strengthener I was already using. I have been using them for two weeks now, and am starting to slowly see some improvements in my hair! I can feel the difference the first day!!! But the actual long term effects are starting to show a little more. Definitely worth the investment.

Loft has been having some major sales this week. I ordered this striped pocket swing dress, this eyelet swing dress in a gorgeous green color, this lace ruffle swing dress in black, and this raincoat in emerald. Right now all their clearance items like this are 40% off with an extra 15% off!

Favorite Recipe: Is anyone else tired of cooking and doing dishes???Damn!! I am trying to keep it fresh over here and try some new recipes. This is nothing ground breaking, but this everything but the bagel chicken was pretty tasty. Even Zoe ate it! Low carb/keto friendly.

Favorite Workout: Still killing it on my move goal every day. I honestly dont know how I am ever going to keep this up when I have to be back at the office sitting on my ass 9 hours every day. I tried a new youtube workout this week with Pamela Reif. She doesn’t talk at all, just plays awesome music and has a timer for each move. I really enjoyed it. This one burns the legs up quick and is only 12 minutes, so it is perfect if you are short on time….or to add on to something else.

Speaking of working out and favorite moments. I went “shopping” in my closet this week. Most of the clothes hanging are things I don’t really wear because they no longer fit properly. Too big, really worn out, etc. I purged a lot of things, but items that are too big bit still nice in a box in the attic…and have the rest ready for donations. I found this gray shirt in a drawer, and it used to be skin tight on me 6 months ago. I haven’t worn it since before Zoe was born I dont think. I tried it on thinking it was going in the donations pile. Well, it fits!!! (It is actually a little big.) I texted these pictures to my sister and said, “Can you tell if I lost anything????” My sister is the most honest person I know. She said “Yeah!!! About 30 pounds it looks like?” Actually it has only been 20, but she said it looks like 30?????? I WILL TAKE IT!!!! So I am going to dump these here for progress reminder to myself. Because the weight isn’t falling off like it was before.

Favorite Funnies:

I always think gift lists are fun. I think all I really would like to Mother’s Day is to scroll through HomeGoods alone with a Starbucks for a minimum of an hour. But, you know, these wouldn’t be bad either.

–I absolutely love the simplicity of this Kendra Scott “Y” necklace. It would pretty much go with anything and everything for any season.

–I think this Pom Pom bag would be so cute for spring/summer. A classic staple that works again for years to come.

–It has been three years since I purchased my current workout shoes. Oops. Asics are what works best for my foot, and these pink ones are adorable and a great price!

–The Bum Bum cream is one of those spring/summer splurges I like to make each year. One large container usually gets me through the season and it smells incredible!!!

–I think both the Blooming Bouquet and Absolutely Blooming from Dior smell amazing. Running low on my Nirvana Bourbon and could really use one of these for spring/summer.

–A fun spring top will be in order when we can start going places again!

My sister and I are still trying to figure out what we want to do for our mom. What is on your wish list? Do you know what you are doing for your mom yet? I hope we can actually see her by then!!!

One thing I have learned living the low-carb life, is that I don’t really miss pasta. You can have your favorite dishes without the actual noodles, and still feel completely satisfied. Making these parmesan meatballs and a chicken alfredo dish (recipe to come!!!) has completely taken over our typical “pasta night.”

This recipe is husband and child approved, so buckle up! Plus, you don’t even really need a lot of ingredients on hand and can be altered to fit your needs. It doesn’t photograph well, but trust me, it is delicious!

What You Need

1 lb ground meat (beef, turkey, sausage, pork, combo, it doesn’t matter)

1 egg

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/3 cup grated parmesan

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp minced onion

2 tsp basil

1 tsp salt

1/2 jar red sauce

pepperoni (optional, but highly encouraged)

Italian cheese mix, parmesan or mozzarella for top

What You Do

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Combine meat, egg, mozzarella, grated parmesan, garlic, minced onion, basil and salt to form meatballs. (It usually makes around 12)
3. Bake for 30 minutes
4. Top with sauce, cheese and pepperoni and bake another 15 minutes
5. Switch oven to broil for 3 minutes to really get that toasted cheese taste
6. Enjoy!!!!

As I am sitting in my office typing this up in live time, I can see the sun coming down on the front half of my neighborhood from the window. Hallelujah! The weather didn’t get as bad here yesterday as they predicted, but it still was an ugly day full of uncertainty.

We have slowed down a little at work, so I am hoping to take advantage of some time outside today with Zoe. But also, the state of the real estate market is a huge question mark right now and it makes me uneasy.

I have seen so many people post the Hell Zone twitter post this week. Here it is if you don’t know what I am talking about…

I have to say, I feel like I dip in and out of hell zone. Anyone else?

I have been taking my aggression out on our kitchen floors with the spin mop I ordered last week and a $20 box of powdered Tide. I think we have all fallen hard for the gocleanco account. I posted a story on my mop yesterday, and a local friend who isn’t a blogger was like “OMG I JUST BOUGHT THAT MOP BECAUSE OF THOSE BITCHES! ” So their reach is wide right now. (Can we all agree they work for O-Cedar or Tide??) At least we all have clean houses. Until your three year old spills chocolate milk all over the floor an hour after you cleaned them. My life right now.

Favorite Purchase: After weeks of looking at different outdoor furniture, we ordered some a few days ago! I cannot wait until it comes in!!!! We have an amazing back deck that has plenty of room for all of this, plus a dining table that I want to add later on. I thought I wanted a sectional, and that is what I had been looking at. But the more I thought about it, the more I decided that a couch and chairs was going to be the better route for us and how our deck is set up. I found a picture of it styled, and I have been dreaming of what kind of pillows and side table I want to get. We already have an outdoor rug to go with it!

Favorite Recipe: I made some parmesan meatballs earlier this week that turned out amazing. There are no breadcrumbs so they are keto friendly and super simple. Zoe kept saying “mmm mmmm mmmm these are delicious!!!!” after every bite, and dancing in her chair. So clearly she approves. I will try to share the recipe next week. If you can call it a recipe. They don’t look like much. I wasn’t really planning on sharing a picture, may need to make them again to make them look pretty hahaha.

Favorite Moments: Trying to make the most out of our time at home. And stay sane juggling work and homeschooling and just coming up with things to keep the kid happy. We both have our moments where we are over all this, and sometimes it happens at the same time. Lord help us! But I have really been enjoying quiet afternoons outside.

Or turning Tuesday into a special princess party breakfast, making banana nut muffins and using our fancy cupcake liners left over from Zoe’s birthday.

And these two are pretty sweet together. Even if someone can be a grumpy old man sometimes.

Favorite Funnies: