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Hey there friends, happy Friday. Not that Friday means a whole lot around here. The other day Zoe asked me, “What is tomorrow?” And before I could answer she said “The same as today, right?” Yup. She gets it. I have seen a few people post about burnout lately, and I am feeling it big time. Juggling all the things for this long is taking a major toll on me. My anxiety and stress levels are through the roof. Yes, I am grateful to be lucky enough to be able to work from home and blah blah blah. But you guys, this shit is hard. I am mentally exhausted and quite frankly, a bit unwell. I just want to do something…anything. Hug my mom, walk around Target, not think about masks, death, politics, any of it. And I really just want to work without a million interruptions in my day.

A highlight of the week for Zoe came yesterday when we got a special package from Carly in the mail! I had won a giveaway when she was having a book party for new releases. Zoe LOVES the Usborne books we have purchased through her. I definitely want to grab a few more to add to her Easter basket. Message Carly if you need some book suggestions for your little one. She does such a great job picking things out for Zoe.

Zoe and I have also been enjoying coming up with fun things to make with a $5 bucket of Valentine’s Day craft supplies that I grabbed from Target a few weeks ago. Target has definitely stepped up their game on the seasonal crafts for kids. I have gotten something from them for Halloween, Christmas and Valentines and they have been favorites.

Favorite Skincare Find: A few months ago I received the Ice Ceramide Moisturizing Cream from Sunday Riley to review. The campaign for it (me writing a review on a retailer site) is long over, but I wanted to talk about it now that I have had it a few months. I have to say, I am quite impressed. Initially I wasn’t too sure about it. It is scented and the first two times I used it, I noticed a little redness around my cheeks. (My skin is super sensitive.) But after that, I never saw any redness again.

My skin was really dry before I had gotten this product. I had went from combination skin (heavy oil around my t-zone, dry on my cheeks) to mostly all dry. Now that I have been using this every morning for the last few months, I don’t have any dryness at all anywhere on my face. It is the only thing I have changed. I really love the packaging, it comes with a sturdy spatula so you don’t have to dip your fingers into the jar. The Auto Correct Eye Cream has also been really nice. I never really had an eye cream that I thought did anything for me. This one is super moisturizing and has kept that area from pealing, as it tends to do in the winter. I don’t notice anything with with ever present dark circles, but it does tend to depuff the area and I have noticed a slight decrease in the depth of my fine lines. Between these two products, it makes me want to try more from this line. I will definitely be repurchasing the Ice moisturizer when this one is gone.

Favorite Aldi Finds: Aldi had some more homeschooling stuff this week. Over the summer, I grabbed some awesome workbooks and playdough kits to work in with our lesson plans. This week, they had some number and letter puzzles and several wipe clean books. We have a few letter/word books already, so I grabbed a number one and a mathematics puzzle.

I also grabbed a football shaped pizza for the super bowl, and a box of fun little cheese cubes that were Valentine’s Day themed.

Favorite Recipe – Skinnytaste’s Stuffed Pepper Soup is a favorite in this house. The soup was steaming in the picture above haha. DELICIOUS! I like to make brown rice to go at the bottom of the bowl. Last weekend we had chicken street tacos using a recipe out of this cookbook. And Cajun Chicken Pasta, that I haven’t made in forever. Zoe surprisingly loved the pasta! I was shocked, as she doesn’t tend to eat anything that has much spice in it. She also enjoyed the Stuffed Pepper Soup, but I had to pick the peppers out of her bowl lol.

Favorite Workout: There are days that I absolutely do not feel like doing mat work. You know the stuff..planks, pushups, walking planks, burpees, shoulder taps, etc. Yesterday was one of those days. Enter the standing workout! This one is only about 20 minutes and I still broke out into a sweat! I added in a walk after, and hit my move and exercise goal for the day. And I didn’t have to pull that yoga mat out of the closet or get down on the floor, yay!

Favorite Funnies:

Coming at you with another empties post today! I saved all my recent makeup products for one empties. I still have a body care one and some random empties I need to post. Do you guys like to see these as blog posts, or would you rather watch them on Instagram stories? Just curious. I already photographed the next two and discarded the packaging so they will be blog posts, but was wondering how you would like them going forward. Little old me is not popular enough to have a swipe up on my Instagram to share links, so it would just be me talking about the products.

Too Faced Naked Eye – This palette is so old that they don’t make it anymore. The one that is closest to it is the Enchanted Wonderland or the Natural Eyes Neutral Eyeshadow Palette, that comes in nicer packaging. I bought this back in like 2012 -2013 I think? It was a long time ago. And I kept it even though I quit using it a few years ago. Who knows why? It is time to trash this thing! As you can see, there were a few colors that had a lot of love, and some I hardly touched. Isn’t that they way with palettes?

I do love Too Faced shadows and I have the Peach palette that has gotten a lot of wear and love over the years. I recommend the shadows if you are in the market for one. They blend nicely and compliment most skin tones. I definitely find myself using a lot of the colors in the Peach palette in the spring and summer.

Lancome Skin Feels Good – I have this in a light shade and it is my favorite to wear if I don’t want a full face of makeup, but want to even out my skin tone and have another layer of SPF. I find myself grabbing this most since the pandemic started. It does give a light/medium coverage and my skin looks better overall with it on. This, some mascara and a swipe of lip gloss is enough to go out in public for me. Not that I am going anywhere right now. I like this 100 times better than the IT CC Cream. I know some of you are obsessed with that stuff. I cant stand the way it smells, and it never sinks into my skin. It just sits on the top and transfers onto everything all day until its completely gone on me. This Lancome one holds up.

Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation – Holy grail foundation for me. I can not tell you how many bottles of this stuff I have gone through. This provides full coverage all day, and does a good job of looking great on my skin. I wear 1N2 Ecru, and find it is the perfect shade for me most of the year. I used to wear 2N1 Desert Beige, and I find that this one is more my shade in the summer if I have a tan.

Maybelline Age Rewind – This is the best drugstore concealer that I can find. I usually grab it in fair, I want my concealer a shade lighter than the rest of my face. For some reason I had grabbed the brightening one this time. It was more of a rose gold type color? I dont know, I didn’t love it as much as the regular fair on me. I always have a bottle of this and then a higher end in my arsenal.

Urban Decay Eye Shadow Primer Potion – I have been using this primer for years. I think ever since it first came out. I like to buy the smaller $13 size because the larger one tends to dry out before I use it all. A little goes a long way, so the tube lasts a good while. My eye make up stays perfect all day.

NYX Butter Gloss – This is one of the best drugstore glosses you can find. I have been using this stuff for years and my favorite colors are Creme Brulee, Eclair and Tiramisu. I always have one of these three shades in my purse.

Loreal Voluminous Lash Primer – As far as lash primers go, this is my favorite drugstore option. I don’t use it all the time, but I do notice a difference when I do.

Givenchy Volume Disturbia Mascara – I loved this mascara. It lengthens and gives volume. Definitely one of my favorites and worth the price. Also, the packaging is gorgeous.

Cargo Liner – I don’t love this Cargo liner. I found that it tends to smear when I wear it, which is why I am tossing it before it is gone.

KVD Tattoo Liner – One of the best eye liners out there. Always a perfect line, always stays in place all day.

Gucci Mascara – I got a sample of this in exchange for a public review on a retail site. I have to say, this was a really good mascara and I was sad when it was empty. I would consider purchasing a full size one. I think I might have liked the Givenchy a little more.

Happy Friday! I feel like for a “short week” it was extra long. Perhaps it is because I technically worked half of Monday, even though it was a holiday and we were officially “off.” I never got around to recapping the weekend. Honestly, there wasn’t much to share. I cleaned the floors, raked some more leaves, helped Chris move some stuff around in the basement, and we played lots of Zingo and Mario Kart.

We also ordered amazing pizza from our favorite, Ironstone. They have NY style pizza, and as someone who is a major pizza snob…it is always so amazing. Zoe is a major fan of pizza party Friday.

We also ordered Tazikis to eat for a few meals. We love their grilled chicken, basmati rice and greek salad! We order the chicken for 6, and we get many lunch and dinners out of it that we spread out through several days. They give you a huge container of greek dressing, taziki sauce and soft pita to go with it.

I made some amazing chicken nuggets on Monday that we covered in Mikes Hot Honey Sauce. If you have never tried/heard of this before…you are seriously missing out! It is AMAZING. It reminds me slightly of the Honey Sriracha Meatball recipe that I make frequently, but different. I have only done chicken recipes with it so far, but I plan to experiment further. the nuggets were baked in the oven and I did them with a side of balsamic glazed brussels. This balsamic reduction is another obsession of mine. It makes everything taste amazing. A little goes a long way on flavor.

Favorite Moments: Zoe and I have made it a point to get out and walk every day this week that it wasn’t raining. I am trying to get back into getting more steps in my day like I did earlier in the pandemic. I was crushing it, and of course the weather has a lot to do with it. Still, the cold never bothered us anyways and it isn’t an excuse to not get out and get some fresh air, movement in!

We are going through a weird phase with Zoe where she freaks out about how her clothes feel. Lord help us. It has been quite the struggle that just happened within the last month. There are only a handful of things that she will wear, claiming that everything feels like it is “falling off her arms.” Mostly she wont wear anything long sleeve except her jackets. And even that she usually pushes the sleeves up, despite the cold weather. Has anyone dealt with this before? I am truly at a loss on how to proceed. It is completely irrational and ridiculous to me, but she is clearly passionate about it.

I have been collecting antique character glasses for years. My favorites are the Carebear mugs and Popples glasses. I have a huge collection of Smurf ones, several Flinestone, Garfield, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Snoopy, and a few Tom & Jerry, Mickey and Looney Tunes thrown in there too. Oh, and one Cabbage Patch and a few Batman mugs. I was so excited to get these out and display them in my China cabinet after I had cleared it out from Christmas. Turns out I have a lot more than I thought I did, and can’t really display them properly. Now I am not sure what I want to do. My plan was to move the China cabinet to one corner, and put a coffee bar where it currently sits. Now I think I need a curio cabinet for these glasses, but I don’t want to give up my original idea. I could fit the curio cabinet in our Hearth room, but right now Zoe’s grocery store, easel, etc take up space there. Decisions decisions. They have been boxed up for years, never getting to enjoy them. I am determined to have them out somewhere, as they bring me so much joy.

Favorite Purchase: I saw this sweater on clearance at Walmart for under $15 and it reminded me of a much higher end one I loved a few months ago but would never pull the trigger on. Walmart has really killed it this year on sweatshirts and a few dupes. The fit is true to size, and I love the neutral colors. I am definitely more of a neutrals girl. I love the idea of white sweaters, but don’t want all white. I feel like the stay puft marshmallow man. So this gives me some white, but darker on the bottom where I want it.

Favorite Recipe: I shared a picture of my Spicy Thai Chicken on stories the other day, and several slipped in the DMs asking for a recipe. It is actually a Keto recipe that comes together so fast! The slaw that they pair with it is good too, but we prefer stir fry veggies. The actual chicken part doesn’t require many ingredients.

Favorite Workout: I don’t know what it is about this leg workout. I did it on Tuesday and OMG!!!! I still feel my ass this morning. I haven’t been this sore after a leg day in a long time. It wasn’t even anything difficult, maybe just the number of reps or sequence in which it all happens? Let’s just say it was hella effective. I did a HIIT the next day and I felt every second of it.

Favorite Funnies:

Linking up with A Little Bit of Everything.

Happy Friday! It has been a week. Isn’t every week….a week? Lately I feel like it has been. I started reading The Soulmate Equation the other day. I was going to wait until closer to the release day to read it, but my excitement got the best of me. It is just the palette cleanser I needed after a heavy book.

Favorite Moments: Monday night was the National Championship game. I always hate having the big games (this and the Super Bowl) on a “school night”, you know? But since Bama was playing, we were obviously well invested. I made some super yummy game day snacks for dinner and we settled in to watch Bama stomp all over Ohio.

We have had a good go at lessons since the beginning of the year. We sort of got off course in December, and both needed a break. We have been consistent with at least doing 4-5 workbook pages each week day, focusing on letters, numbers, cognitive thinking. Sometimes I get fancy and throw in a fun activity. I am no teacher, I feel like Zoe was definitely thriving more when she was at school. But I have seen a lot of growth since she has been home with me. She knows all her shapes, letters and several numbers now. She can count out money when we play Monopoly Junior together. She is writing a few letters like “x.” She does really well on the worksheets where we talk about same, different, more or less, etc. I have found that if we do these early enough in the morning, there are no concentration issues and we can knock it out in about 15-20 minutes. Other than playing games and doing puzzles outside of our “school time,” I am trying to find other fun ways to sneak in learning opportunities.

Favorite Aldi Find: I love the healthier options that Aldi offers. I found the Sea Salt Caramel Cashew Crisps that I found last week. I had tried the vanilla and chocolate before, and while both were ok….there is no comparison to this flavor!! I also grabbed the new Peanut Butter Coconut Crisps that were also quite delicious!

I have been making stir fry once a week lately. I really love their broccoli frozen mix. Toss it in a pan with some soy sauce and you are good to go! I add celery and zucchini once it thaws to load up on the veggies.

Favorite Purchase: In getting old sucks news, I have had increasing pain in my bad foot. Between my high arch and Plantar Fasciitis, I have a hard time finding relief. I roll my foot on my roller for hours a day when I am sitting at my desk. I wear orthotic slippers with major arch support. And yet, I find myself limping around the majority of the day. Someone commented on my post last week about Angel socks. I did a google and Amazon search, and came to the conclusion that a lot of people find comfort in this sort of thing. I ordered a pair and have been wearing them for a week now. I have to say, I find my pain 30-40% less with just a week worth of wearing. Someone told me that after 2 weeks, their pain was gone. Sign me up! I am only wearing one on my “bad foot.” I put it on after my workout in the morning, and take it off on my way to bed. I am impressed.

Favorite Workout: Heather released a new arm workout this week. Even though I had upper body day Monday, I couldn’t help but hit play when I saw this pop up Thursday morning. It is a good one, and a shorter one that is great to add in with a walk!

Favorite Funnies:

Linking up with Steph and Jana. I read a few good ones this month, and quit on one that I was excited about. I went ahead and set my goal for 52 books again this year. If I can average a book a week, I feel like I am doing pretty good. Hopefully I will blow that goal out again this year. But if I don’t, that is ok too. I tried to set something that is at least attainable for me. What is your goal looking like for the year? I have two books I cant wait to read up next!!!

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

Full disclosure, I do not watch the bachelor shows. I hate them. I grabbed this book because a few people I trust said it was good. I really enjoyed the different ways this book read with Bea of course, but also press releases, interviews, emails, texts, live shows, etc. I really liked Bea as a character, and I was invested in some of the guys on the show. I will say that it turned out exactly how I thought it would, but I still enjoyed getting there.

Bottom Line: Read it!

Wallbanger by Alice Clayton

What a name, right? I loved Caroline and Simon so much. Caroline was just the right amount of quirky, and I loved to see her and Simon start out sort of as enemies and then form a friendship and move from there. I liked that this book was written a little different than most I read, in that all their struggle was in the beginning and middle and we just finished out nice towards the end without that final blow out and reconciliation that we usually see in just about every romance I have ever read. We actually get to see how their relationship starts, and then goes on instead of just getting together and the book ends with an engagement 6 months later in the epilogue type of story. For the steamy parts, you don’t really get any until the end, and then it is a whole of it. Maybe a little too much in a short period of time? I dont know. I didn’t hate that though.

Bottom Line: If you are into steamier romance, read it!

The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss

This was a cute and cozy Christmas read that came to me on Christmas Day. I really loved Kate and the whole town she lived in. I knew straight from the beginning how this book was going to play out, but it was the perfect ride along the way. The whole Christmas scene, the ridiculous men she met through the twelve dates, the side story with her mom and dad. I just loved all of it.

Bottom line: Read it if you are looking for some light, fun and festive!

Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand

I could not put this book down. I really enjoyed all the characters and plotlines in this book. You feel like you belong on the island at this point, because you are so invested. I will say, towards the end of the book, I almost felt like there was a data dump to get out what actually happened. I wish there would have been a little more to it, you know? I did love that Margaret Quinn showed up at the end! I loved her in the Winter series and I just love how Elin always finds a way to wind her characters together from all her books to give you that familiarity.

Bottom Line: I enjoyed this series and recommend it if you are looking for a tropical island escape, and a little mystery. It is slightly different than some of Elin’s other books I have read. I am not going to say it was my favorites by her, but they definitely drew me in and I flew through all three.

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

I just love Matthew McConaughey’s whole demeaner and accent, so I knew I had to do this on audiobook! I enjoyed listening to him talk about different stories from his life. There were a few cringe worthy moments, and I got a little bored in some parts. Overall, I liked his philosophy of looking for the greenlights and found the book interesting.

Bottom Line: The audio was a fun listen, if for anything, that voice!

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

Be brave. Or pretend to be. It’s all the same.

It is rare for me to pick up historical fiction. Honestly, Kristin Hannah is one of the only authors in this genre that I will read. And as with any Hannah book, you can expect to be completely heartbroken and shattered while reading this book. I think a combination of knowing that my grandparents were young children during this era, and the current state of our country and the world…I felt everything in this book extra hard. Parts of the book were a little drawn out for me, but I became completely lost in this world and what was going on. Parts of this book are so depressing and the hopelessness and despair of the times really hits you. You wonder how many hits a person can take and keep going. I enjoyed all the characters, and especially felt the mother-daughter relationship between Elsa and Loreda.

Bottom Line: If you are into historical fiction, this was beautifully written. You feel everything. Be in the right state of mind to read it, it is horribly depressing and I feel like I am going to need several light and fluffy romance novels to cleanse myself from this.

**I received a copy of The Four Winds from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

DNF

The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

I was shocked that I absolutely loved The Royal We, so I was excited to read this one! This one focuses a lot more on the family drama and I have to be honest, I don’t usually care much about The Royals and their lives because it is so far removed from the real word…you know? I was about 25% in to this one when 3 other books I had been waiting forever from the library finally came in, and I couldn’t seem to care anymore about this. I would have stuck with it had that not happened, but I don’t really care that I didn’t finish. If you read it and think I need to go back, let me know.