Uncategorized

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.

This week has turned into a shit show trying to stay on top of work. I am glad to see things picking up, but also feeling a major strain having to get it all done on time while also entertaining Zoe. I feel bad that she is basically left to her own devices several hours every day. Her and Mac have been best buds and keeping each other company, but I know she gets bored and she has cried and begged for me to stop working a few times. The mom guilt is real.

We have had rain on and off all week. Zoe has discovered the power of a good puddle, and taken full advantage. It is funny watching the girliest girl ever splash all over the place.

We also made slime this week. Something I swore I was never going to do. Luckily, Zoe is pretty good about getting messes to a minimum. We used this recipe.

Favorite Purchases: I ordered a smores maker for a special treat for the 4th since we will be staying at home. I think this will be perfect year round!!! And with a little one running around, I like that we wont have to worry about an open flame. It was such a good deal, had great reviews and look how cute it is!

Favorite Recipe: I made these chicken stuffed avocados this week, and they are always delicious!

Favorite Workout: I tried a new to me Youtuber workout, Healthy Fit With Ty. I really enjoyed this HIIT workout. It is a full body workout, and this specific one…you don’t repeat any moves. It kept it moving quickly! I will definitely be doing more of hers.

Favorite Funnies:

We spent a lot of time outside this weekend. It was hot, but not unbearably so on Saturday. Chris and I made some strawberry margaritas (recipe to come) and hung out with Zoe in her new pool. It is a tiny little sad thing for a pool, but our larger one has some holes/leaks in it that we need to get sorted out.

We also took a ride in my car around town. Put gas in it for the first time in two months. (Crazy since I used to fill up every 4-5 days before quarantine.) I made up some sort of low carb mexican chicken skillet for lunch that turned out quite delicious! Very close to this recipe, but some ingredients swapped out based on what was on hand.

Saturday night, Chris and Zoe rode their bikes for a little while. Chris and I enjoyed some adult beverages after Zoe went to bed and hung out in our theater room listening to music. Our favorite thing to do.

Sunday, we celebrated Father’s Day with presents, breakfast, lunch ordered in from Full Moon BBQ (Zoe and I both ordered kid cheeseburger meals), and I made filet’s for dinner. I tried this Keto Crack Biscuit recipe that Laura told me about. Really freaking delicious!!!

I made the delicious low carb peanut butter pie for Chris for a special treat. Tasted like perfection, just like the first time I made it. Quite easy and so worth it!!!

On Saturday afternoon, Zoe and I had whipped up a batch of strawberry cream popsicles and we finally got to enjoy them Sunday. They were so creamy and yummy tasting. So easy to throw together. I will share a recipe for them soon too! This is the summer for homemade popsicles around here, obviously.

I got the cute little polar bear mold at Aldi for $2.99 within the last week. Run dont walk to scoop some up! They were sold out of the penguin and unicorn one at mine, but they had polar bears and dinosaurs. So cute!

We had one thunderstorm after another on Sunday, but had bouts of nice weather in between. Zoe wanted to be in the pool as much as possible, so we had to keep changing her in and out of swim suits and pooling her out of the pool quickly every time another storm rolled in. Funny enough, all these pictures in the different suits were taking the same afternoon!

We had an impromptu family movie night yesterday evening. We watched Finding Nemo and I made hot air popcorn in our machine. It is rare that Zoe will sit down and watch a movie with us. We got about 3/4 of the way through it before she got restless.

And just like that, the weekend was over! It is hard to believe that we are just cruising right through the month of June. Things are still just weird, right? I have anxiety about things going back to normal. I have anxiety about things not going back to normal. So basically, I just have a lot of anxiety. I have really enjoyed this time being at home with Zoe. We have gotten some things done around the house, and definitely gotten a lot more family time in, just the three of us. But I think it is starting to wear on Zoe. She misses her friends and being social so much. It is hard to know what the right thing to do is. The case numbers keep going up down here, it is like we are the new hot spot. I am honestly not surprised. Every time we take a ride around town, it seems like more and more people are just out and about like nothing ever happened. No masks, no social distancing, just going about like normal. What is it like in your area?

Happy Friday! We had a few days of absolutely gorgeous weather this week! It was in the upper 70s with low humidity, and that isn’t something we get too often down here. Zoe and I took full advantage, trying to do all the things outside!

We are excited to celebrate Father’s Day this weekend with Chris. We have a few things ordered and most everything has come, fingers crossed the rest comes today!!! We will be spending the weekend at home, but maybe we can order BBQ or have some steaks delivered to cook out. Do you have anything fun planned this weekend?

Favorite Purchase: I ordered a set of these pink pom pom baskets for Zoe’s room. For the price, you really cant beat them! They came with four, so I put three in Zoe’s room and I kept one for my office on the floor next to my chair with a blanket. They are a great size and can be used for so many different things. I like them so much, I might order another set in white.

I also finally decided on a nightstand for Zoe’s room. Now that she has a big girl bed, she needs a nightstand! Hopefully we can go to HomeGoods soon so I can get a little lamp or frame to decorate the top with. Oh how I miss HomeGoods!!!

Favorite Recipe: Each week, I have been trying to add in one or two new recipes to keep things interesting around here. I mean, over three months straight of cooking all the meals….you experience some burn out.

Anyways, I made these Feta Cheeseburgers in Tomato Cream Sauce. They were easy, low carb friendly and delicious and came together in under 30 minutes. I paired them with some roasted brussels. Even Zoe approved and asked for seconds.

I also made an oatmeal cookie protein shake for breakfast this week. This really is like an oatmeal cookie in a cup!

For this you simply blend a scoop of vanilla protein (my favorite), a cup of almond milk, a 1/2 cup of oats (I used old fashioned but you could use rolled too), 1 tsp of maple syrup and 1/2 cup of ice. I think this would be so delicious with a sprinkle of cinnamon or a handful of cocoa nibs if you want to get fancy.

Favorite Workout: I find that Madfit workouts are short and to the point. I am always sore afterwards! I really enjoyed this Thigh, Booty and Calves one that she released earlier this week.

Favorite Funnies: