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Happy Friday, friends! I woke up yesterday morning and worked out, and while I was doing my stretches after….I started freaking out because I realized it was Tuesday and it was SUYB day and I didn’t have my post ready. Ummmm apparently this week was so long, I felt like it should be NEXT Tuesday already. Sheesh.

There isn’t a whole lot new to report around here. Same old same old. Zoe hasn’t been back to school yet, but her daycare shut down this week due to coronavirus exposure. An entire family tested positive. Makes me realize that keeping her home with me has been the right call. Dance was supposed to start back up last night too, but we decided to pull her from the recital this year. I just don’t see how a large group event like that is safe right now. I hate it for her, and we paid a lot of money for her recital costumes. I am going to have to do some photos with them or something to commemorate her first year. We were so looking forward to seeing her dance friends (and the dance moms) too.

Favorite Purchase: I ordered a Sleeping Beauty mask from Rebecca on Etsy, and she threw in a matching one for Zoe!!! I received them quickly, and they are sooooo cute!!!!

Last Saturday I decided that I couldn’t live another day without pajamas and ordered several different kinds from a few different stores. I have spent my entire adult life without pajamas. I usually just wear tshirts and athletic shorts around the house most of the time, or leggings in the winter with sweatshirts. I don’t know if since quarantine, since I am lounging in my “house clothes” pretty much all the time…they don’t feel like my comfortable clothes anymore or what…but I just cant do it. I have a few more pieces I am waiting to come in, but so far my absolute favorites have been some that I got at Target!!!!

These shorts are SO soft and so comfortable! Plus, I think they are super cute. It looks like Circle has them for 5% off right now too! I am going to order every print/color I can find. Especially these black ones.

And how cute are the floral ones???

I got this tank top to go with it. I really love how soft it is, and the length. A lot of tops are too long on me to be comfortable for sleeping. This one is just right. It also comes in navy and is on the way to my house. The same brand has short sleeves as well, and I want to try one of those.

Favorite Recipe: Still cooking three times a day seven days a week for all of eternity it seems. How amazing does this whipped feta dip look? Perfect weekend treat.

Favorite Workout: I really enjoyed this low impact workout the other day after I had somehow hurt my back. There wasn’t really any jumping, and no moves were repeated, so it went by quickly. I added a walk around the neighborhood to it and it made the perfect day.

Favorite Funnies:

There is nothing better than a strawberry margarita in the summer by the pool, am I right??? The problem with margaritas, for me at least, is all the sugar! Enter a low carb version that is every bit as good tasting, without all the crap! This is super easy and something we have enjoyed several weekends this summer.

What You Need

1 cup tequila

1 cup frozen strawberries

1 cup ice

1/3 cup lime juice

4-5 squirts of liquid stevia (optional if you want that sweeter taste)

What You Do

Blend it! See how easy that was?!

You can easily turn this into a strawberry daiquiri by changing out the tequila for rum, and knocking down the lime juice to a few tablespoons instead. We did that last weekend when we were out of tequila.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend celebrating the 4th! It looked a little different around here, staying at home and not being down in Gulf Shores.

We had a great day at home playing, riding bikes, spending some time in the pool, cooking up hot dogs and smores, and listening to music after Zoe went to bed. We even social distance visited Chris’s parents for a little bit. We heard fireworks from our house, but couldn’t really see any.

I patched three holes in the pool, and as shown above, that wasn’t enough. I had a few people reach out to me and ask where the pool is from because they like the size. Good luck with that. It is an Intex, and I got it at Walmart last year for $21.97. The last time I checked, Amazon had them from $85 to well over $100 and constantly sell out. Talk about price gauging!!! Who knew they would be such a commodity this year?! I just want one to replace the crap one we are dealing with. Zoe has another pool, but it is a lot smaller and hardly enough room for Chris and I to chill in it with her like this one provides. Either way, we still got about an hour and a half of fun out of it before it completely deflated on us.

On Sunday we ordered Metro Diner for lunch, and hung around the house all day. I don’t know what was wrong with me, but I just wasn’t feeling very well. Zoe doesn’t really have a chill button, and she was up super early….this mama is exhausted!

We played dress up, colored, set up a water station on the back deck, watched Sofia the First and Fancy Nancy, played with her Minnie car, did lots of sidewalk chalk drawings, and tried not to die of heat. Man it was a scorcher! Summer wasted no time down here.

We finished the night out with a pizza party, ordering from Papa Johns. It was our first “real pizza” all year. It was delicious! Of course, what is pizza without Fancy Nancy?

And just like that, the weekend is over! I have a feeling it is going to be a super busy week at work trying to get this portfolio done. I am thankful to have a full plate though. I hope your 4th was a good one. It is hard to believe we are over halfway through the year.

Linking up with Kristen for a What’s New With You post. Though, is there really a whole lot new with any of us? Ha! The 4th sure is going to look different this year.

We were supposed to be leaving for the beach on Saturday. We missed our trip last year due to a death in the family, and now we are not going this year because of COVID. I really hope we can be back to normal next summer! The beach is calling my name!!! We have a condo down there though, and it is located on the top floor. We just don’t feel comfortable sharing elevators and common areas with other people. There are too many down here who think masks are a political statement or taking away their rights or some other lame, selfish excuse. Luckily, where we live they are now mandatory if you want to go anywhere, but it isn’t like that down at the beach. I think if we had a house down there, it would be different. I wouldn’t think twice about going. Hopefully we can make up for it this weekend with some blow up pool time, strawberry margaritas and smores.

Reading: I am about half way through We Are All the Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin. This is a Netgalley book that comes out in August. I have been interested to see where it is all going. I just got an ARC of Christina Lauren’s new book and I am chomping at the bit to start it after this one is done. I did such a good job cleaning up my Netgalley shelf the last few months, and then I requested about 7 new books this past week. So much for that empty shelf!

Watching: We haven’t really had any time for new TV. We pretty much catch a rerun or two of Friends some nights, and one or both of us pass out on the couch. Exciting times people. Exciting times. Chris and I watched this last weekend when we were chilling. I loved it! Pretty much all DJ From Mars mashups are genius.

Cooking: I am over cooking three meals a day every day forever and ever and doing the dishes, what about you?? But we must power on. This is a low-carb thai chicken recipe that we have really been enjoying. I pair it with the slaw in the recipe or my thai cauliflower rice.

This beef chili cheese lettuce wrap was good too. Zoe likes this recipe, and it was quick to come together. I ditched the “wrap” part and threw mine on a plate topped with some banana peppers. So good!

I had so many of you message me about the Asian Chicken Salad recipe I shared in my Instastories, so I thought I would drop the link here for anyone who was interested. I opted out of all the sugar, and it still tasted amazing. This salad was Chris approved, and even Zoe who doesn’t really like salad asked for a couple bites.

Loving: I ordered the Summer Fridays Vanilla Lip Butter Balm and it is amazing! I don’t know what my deal is, but my lips are always so dry. This stuff is super hydrating and gives a nice glow to my lips. It smells really good too, not too strong and not that gross fake vanilla smell. I use it throughout the day, and really pile it on at night to give it more of a mask feel. It constantly sales out at Sephora, and I can see why. It has Shea and Murumuru Seed Butters and is vegan, cruelty-free, and gluten-free, comes in recyclable packaging, and is reef safe. So you can feel good about the purchase. Highly recommend.

I also bought this top in the blue cove striped option (perfect for the 4th!), as well as the rose blush striped one. These are so cute!!! You cannot beat the price tag, and they look much more like an expensive boutique top in person. Also, they came the day after I ordered them. There are a lot of color options to chose from. I think they look cute layered under a sweater or jean jacket too!

Here it is on me….

Working: I did one of Heather Robertson’s HIIT workouts this morning after Lindsay recommended them to me. I will definitely be checking out more from her. She has a free 12 week work out plan that I am interested in checking out.

Other than workouts, work has been kicking my ass the last two weeks. Things have really picked up, and I am hoping that it continues. But also, my goodness! I have some projects I was working on and all about before last week happened and now I am just trying to stay afloat with the jobs we got in. I am hoping to get caught up and back to normal next week.

Planning: I want to paint our dining room. I hate the burgundy/red color that is on the walls in there. It gives me anxiety. I like that color for my football shirt, not the walls of one of the first rooms you see when you walk in the house. I like more of the calm/cooler colors for the walls. I am thinking this Smokey Blue color from Sherman Williams. Thoughts? The main rooms on that floor are Repose Gray from SW.

Our dining room is similar to this one pictured below with the white wainscoting on the bottom. We have a table, buffet and china cabinet in there of a medium/dark wood color.

Excited: I am planning on social distance visiting my mom today for the first time since….shit I don’t even know when. I saw her at Christmas, and I don’t think I have seen her since. She has some errands that she needs to run today near me, so Zoe and I are going to go meet her in a parking lot for a little while. I cannot wait!

Laughing:

Well that weekend went by crazy fast! Nothing too exciting going. In fact, I worked a good bit both Saturday and Sunday morning. Trying to stay afloat. It was a hot one down here this weekend! We did get some outside time in though. We tested out our new smores machine. It is awesome!!! Zoe had so much fun and has asked if we can make it a regular weekend thing. Of course!

And if you missed my stories on Saturday, I also made some keto/low carb friendly doritoes. So easy and so good! You just take extra thin cheddar cheese slices, cut them in triangles and bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes. Take them out and sprinkle on ranch seasoning. Boom! Cooler Ranch Doritos!!!

I am working on a regular dorito one to come shortly! These are Zoe approved, as I think she ate more than I did!

We have been playing lots of Barbies/dolls around here. Zoe loves changing their outfits, brushing their hair, matching them. It is fun to see how her imagination works.

She also likes brushing her own hair, doing her “makeup” and staring at herself in her vanity mirror.

Sunday we ordered food from Casa Fiesta for lunch to be delivered. Nothing beats our favorite Mexican!

Zoe and I took a long car ride around town so that she could nap. She hasn’t napped in months, but I could tell that she needed a little one. The car always does the trick! After we got back, she ran threw the sprinkler and played with her water table the rest of the afternoon.

She has really gotten back into books again lately. I actually ordered her some super cute ones from Carly! Zoe spent hours over two days looking at different ones and trying to narrow down which ones she wanted. Cant wait for them to come in! Last night, she asked Chris to read Shoe La La to her. It is one of her favorites.

How cute is the cover??? It is very much like shoe shopping in real life. It makes me laugh.

And just like that, the weekend was over and it is back to the grind this morning! Jefferson County is FINALLY making it mandatory to wear a mask in public today. Why is it so hard to be a decent human anymore??? This is a constant soapbox that I will stand on because I am sick of the case numbers rising. I want to go back to enjoying all this city has to offer, but I cant do that when I dont feel safe leaving my house. As Ali put it, dont be a maskhole.