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As we finish up week….8??? (I think???) of quarantine, I can’t help but start to feel anxious about returning to normal life. We have been home for almost two months now, and I have gotten quite used to our daily routines. It is really nice to fit in a full work out in the mornings and enjoy a cup of coffee while I casually check emails and get myself organized for the day. No rushing to shower, do my dress, hate myself in the closet and rush Zoe out the door in the morning….hoping I remembered a snack for her and myself to eat in the car. My move goal on my watch has increased drastically on our time at home, and I know I will never hit them sitting in an office all day. Those mid-day walks to clear my mind have felt so amazing!

Anyways, I am linking up with Kristen to share what’s up lately.

Reading: I am currently reading One Night at the Lake from my Netgalley shelf. I am not as into it as my last read, which is out today!!!! Love the One You Hate by R.S. Grey.You all know my love for this author, and this was such a fun read. It is a slow burn enemies to lover romance, but honestly, the story focuses more on the main character and her growth as a person than that actual romance, which I felt was more of a subplot. I couldn’t put it down.

Watching: We have been catching up on Grey’s. We hadn’t watched since they took a break over Christmas. OMG!!! I am not going to say anything, because if you aren’t caught up I am not going to ruin your life like someone tried to do to me on Facebook. Give some fucking warning like SPOILER ALERT before you say something potentially huge about a show the night it airs, you know????

Listening: I have really been enjoying Prime music on our TV or Alexa lately. They have a Frozen, Disney and Disney Princess playlist that Zoe is obsessed with. And for me, well just listening to current hits or throwing it back old school puts some pep in my step while I clean the floors or take the hour to unload and sanitize our grocery deliveries.

Planning: The time has come for Zoe to get a big girl bed. Part of me is so excited for her, part of me is broken. She looked at Pinterest with me to get some ideas of what she wanted, and she picked out some really nice stuff! Everything is coming or has come in this week, so we will be busy this weekend setting it up!

She picked out this bed in light gray, and I ordered this mattress to go with it. She picked out this pretty Frank and Lulu bedding in pink. (I absolutely love this style, and the cute little girly ruffle!!!!) We grabbed this waterproof mattress pad from JCPenney too, it had great reviews and was a good price. And then we picked out two sets of sheets for a steal from Macy’s, the ballerina and unicorn ones!!!

Working: A few friends and I have been working on something over the last few months that I am really excited about. This week has been a big push to get decisions made and things done for sure! I also have a few other projects that I have been doing research and planning for. This extra time at home as really triggered my need to have my hands on many pots.

Enjoying: I am not all into the “self care” movement, I believe that caring for yourself is just part of life and surviving. I do what I can to take care of the body I have, both inside and out. Sometimes that includes doing a quick face mask or hair treatment when I have a few minutes to fit it in. Because honestly, you can make time for anything if it is important to you. I have been using my Babyfacial mask from Drunk Elephant when I remember, and seeing a difference in my skin.

And I really love the Wonder Water from L’Oreal to use in the shower. It literally takes 8 seconds and is under $!0. You cannot beat it! My hair is soooooo soft on days I use this.

Cooking: We are all tired of cooking at this point, aren’t we??? I was always one to make dinner at home most days during the week and pack my lunches 3-4 days…but this is a whole new level. One of our favorite recipes lately is Chicken Alfredo from Carb Manager. I hate mushrooms, so I leave those out. And I use green onion instead of leeks. Also, I only put in 1 cup of heavy cream instead the called for 1.5 cups. Turns out wonderful every time.

Laughing:

We have been hitting Amazon and Target hard the last two months. Hasn’t everyone? Here are some of our most recent purchases on Amazon!

Monopoly Deal – This game looked super fun and it only takes 15 minutes to play. Much less time than real Monopoly.

Amazon Basics AA Batteries – We go through batteries like crazy with all of the toys Zoe has laying around. These are a great deal and last a long time.

Headphone Stand – Chris has two of these headphone stands in his office area, one for gaming and one for computer headphones. It keeps everything looking nice and neat. I am going to get one for my office as well.

Clippers – Quarantine means salons are closed. Chris is used to getting his haircut regularly, so we had to do something! He has done a good job doing the front, and I hit the places he cant reach. Looks just as good as the professional cut.

ThinkBaby Sunscreen – With all our outside play, I had to stock up on sunscreen. I have used this on Zoe since she was 6 months old. And if you remember, she had really fussy skin back then. This has never caused any problems for her, and I slather this on myself as well. Sinks into skin and doesn’t have a bad smell. We go through at least 3-4 bottles of this in the spring/summer. I have to apply it to her daily before school, and the school keeps one on hand to reapply in the afternoons.

Hotspot Treatment – I am not sure what happened, but Mac got a really nasty looking hotspot near his rear/tail area. It was all sorts of red and inflamed and it came about a week into quarantine. Of course. I decided to try this out before scheduling a vet visit, and I am glad I did. It cleared it up in about 2 days. Definitely recommend!!! Plus it was a spray, so I didn’t have to touch it like the ointment the vet usually gives. Even better.

Gas Can – Real adult stuff over here. We left our gas cans at the old house when we moved and needed a new one for the lawnmower. This fits the bill. I like that it lasts most of the summer, I should only have to fill it up maybe one or two more times.

Ballet Shoes – We bought Zoe pink shoes for ballet at the beginning of the year, and she needs tan shoes for her recital. I love these ones so much more than the original pair we bought. There are no ties on them, which I highly recommend for kids this age. Her other shoes constantly came undone and drove me insane. These are also holding up better. Her others had looked worn really fast. Hopefully her recital will still happen! It was rescheduled for August.

AudioTechnica Headphones – I needed a good pair of headphones, and these are great. I like how comfortable they are too. They have great reviews, and are inexpensive considering most others of this level.

Dove Baby Wash – Repurchase for Zoe. We have been using this for about 2 years now, we love it!

Tinkle Razor – These are wonderful for the price. I have been stepping up my beauty game over the last year, and decided to see if these really make a difference with the “peach fuzz.” Spoiler alert: they do!!!! My skin looks so much smoother and my foundation goes on a lot better!!! I didn’t think I really had that much on the sides, but again, huge difference. They are easy to use, and for the price, you get a ton! You only have to do this every two months or so. I feel like my serums and stuff are getting absorbed more too.

What have you gotten lately??

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!!!