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Look at me, three blog posts in one week! Life has been insane the last few weeks, and instead of talking about all that right now….I want to talk about my favorites! Speaking of favorites, who else is stoked that it is October!!! October, November and December are my favorite months of the year!! I just love the fall, the crisp mornings (where are they????), football, thoughts of Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, all the fun fall treats, more togetherness with family, Zoe’s birthday! And also this…

You guys!!!! I mean, logically I knew that 2020 was upon us. But I hadn’t really considered the fact that it is the last few months of the decade!!! What are you going to do to make it count???? It isn’t too late to finish out strong!

Favorite Moment: Last night when I picked Zoe up from daycare, there was a note on her cube saying that she should wear panties to school tomorrow!!!! She has been doing so well with potty training!!! I am so proud of her, she has worked really hard the last few weeks.

Some advice for parents that are entering the potty training phase….wait until they are ready!!! They tried to push Zoe over the summer with it, since she was the youngest in her class at the time and all the other kids were potty trained. But, she was 6 months younger. She simply didn’t have an interest and was not ready. Now that the new school year has started, she is in with more kids who are learning. We did potty charts, rewards, tried out panties on weekends we were home, and were just patient and didn’t force her too much. It took about three weeks, but now she has gone some time with no accidents! She is so proud of herself every time she goes, and it has become fun for her instead of a nightmare for all of us.

Favorite Products: I have tried out some new lotions that I really love. I have been using these for about 3-4 months now. They all smell fabulous and feel great on my skin. The Hydro Boost has hyaluronic acid, so you know it is good!

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Whipped Body Balm – I love that this stuff is in a jar, that way you can use every last drop of the product! This has a nice whipped finished, as advertised. I usually use this in the evenings.

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Body Gel – I like this one for after my shower. It is a little bit lighter, and perfect for putting on right before getting dressed. It isn’t greasy at all.

Jergens Honey– I LOVE the smell of this one. I usually switch between this and hydro boost in the mornings. I can only find it at Ulta, Target and Walgreens. Not sure why that is. I hope they are discontinuing it!

Favorite Recipe: Whipped this recipe back out this week! I often make it with just salt and pepper too. I popped it in the air fryer, which worked out beautifully.

Favorite Funnies:

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. Well, tied with Christmas if I am being honest. But the temperatures finally drop….except for this year. It is still at hell levels and I am starting to wonder if fall got drunk and forgot it was her turn to come on!

I thought it would be fun to come up with a bucket list to turn to when we are planning out our weekends. I want to do all the fun things with Zoe!

1. Watch Hocus Pocus
2. Make Apple Cider Mimosas
3. Visit a pumpkin patch
4. Bake Halloween cookies
5. Have a Halloween craft day
6. Take a drive up the mountains to see the leaves
7. Bake an apple pie
8. Drink hot cocoa
9. Go the the Fall Festival
10. Have smores
11. Visit a covered bridge for pictures with Zoe
12. Watch the Macy’s Day Parade
13. Go Black Friday shopping with my mom
14. Make caramel apple nachos
15. Read Halloween/Thanksgiving themed books with Zoe

What are some of your favorite things to do in the fall?

I am totally taking this from Steph.

Places I never want to go
-dentist
-hospital
-anywhere crowded, hot and loud

Places I always want to go
-beach
-out to eat
-shopping

Appetizers I will eat any time
-crab rangoon
-chips and salsa
-gorgonzola queso with sweet potato fries

Wall colors in my house
-beige
-gray
-blueish-gray

Things I’m looking forward to this month
-cooler temps (wishful thinking?!)
-Hocus Pocus
-Taking Zoe to the pumpkin patch (provided we get some cooler temps!)

Places I enjoyed in my youth
-Hello Kitty Store
-Idlewild (amusement park located in Ligonier, PA just outside of my hometown)
-Book stores – My mom always said that books are never a waste of money. Anytime we asked for a book, it was always a yes.

Things 10 year old me never expected to spend so much money on
-groceries
-insurance
-home ownership (it’s always something, isn’t it??)

I always like seeing how other people lay out their days. Some people make me feel lazy, and other people I envy for being able to sleep in and go at a more leisurely pace. This is what my current Monday-Friday looks like. (Well, add in dance one night a week for Zoe. That puts us getting home at 8pm, so no bath that nights and I take her for dinner out somewhere in between school and dance so she isn’t starving during class.)

4:00 am – Wake up – I am pretty good about not hitting snooze, since I wake up so much earlier than Chris, that wouldn’t be fair. 

4:01am-4:15am – I usually take this time to wake up by playing on my phone for a few minutes, change into workout clothes, etc. 

4:15am-4:45am – Work out

4:45am-6:15am – Take a shower, do my skin care and make-up, make coffee for Chris and I, pack my lunch, let Mac out, make my breakfast, pack Zoe’s car snacks and breakfast, fill my water cups for the day, eat breakfast, do my hair, get dressed.

6:15am-6:40am – Get Zoe up, pottied (we are potty training and doing really well!!!!!!), sunscreen, let Zoe pick out her shoes and clothes (this can seriously take 15 minutes, why God why?!?!?!) get her “friend” (stuffed animal) of the day to take to school, do her hair and get us out the door with all our stuff

6:40am-7:45am – Commute to daycare, drop Zoe off then continue on to work 

7:45am -4:45pm – Work 

4:45pm-6:30pm – Travel to get Zoe from daycare and travel home

6:30pm-7:00pm – Let Zoe play, usually outside. We take a family walk most nights, play with bubbles or sidewalk chalk, or Zoe drives her Minnie car or rides her bike. Other days when I can tell she worn out, we will watch a movie and color, read some books, play inside with toys, etc.

7:00pm-7:30pm – Zoe eats dinner

7:30pm – 8:00pm – Bath and bedtime for Zoe (Almost always runs well past 8pm, someone likes to get philosophical, needs to go potty three times, get water, needs 11 hugs and 14 kisses, etc. Toddlers, am I right????

The rest of the evening is me cooking dinner for Chris and I, and watching maybe one episode of something on TV while we eat before we pass out for the evening. Usually we are in bed by 9:30pm-10:00pm. 

I feel like I am in a constant rushed state most days, constantly rushing Zoe and I along so we aren’t late in the mornings, or I am not late picking her up in the evenings. When we are home, we only get a small window to hang out before it is eat/bath/bed and I hate that. But I feel like if she doesn’t get to bed before 8:15ish, the next day is hard on all of us!!

I haven’t been around here much the last two weeks. It has just been insane! I was home for maybe three daytime hours this entire past weekend? I am behind on everything! So I will leave you with these….

Is it just me, or has this been the longest week ever??? I was basically done on Tuesday when I thought it was Thursday for half the day. Lord help me! I don’t think we really have any plans this weekend or anything, just glad that the weekend is finally upon us!!!

I need to start doing some meditation or something. My commute will be the death of me this week. Poor Zoe, I need to control my road rage better. Yesterday, after sitting in traffic for 12 minutes on a tiny little country road for no reason, I was already done. Then a car pulls out in front of me and the car behind me almost hit us because we had to slam on our breaks so hard. I started yelling and Zoe was like it’s ok mommy. I was like no, its not ok. That car almost killed us. And she was like, that car needs to go to time out!!!!! Then another car did something to piss me off and Zoe was like ALL THE CARS NEED TO GO TO TIME OUT RIGHT NOW!!! That’s right! They sure do!

Anyways, I meant to post this last Thursday for the link up and I never got around to finishing it. So here we go!

Reading: Ask Again, Yes – I just started this one yesterday, so I am not quite into it. I had been finishing up Spring Fever from Mary Kay Andrews before this.

Watching: We started watching Grand Hotel a few weeks ago, and it has quickly become one of my favorite shows! It reminds me of Revenge in a lot of ways, but takes place around a hotel like Jane the Virgin. Definitely check it out! Update to this Monday, we watched the season finale. Goodness! I love this show!!! Now we are catching up on Ballers, we were a few seasons behind. I cant wait for fall tv to start back up!

Cooking: A few recipes we have enjoyed lately…

Chrissy Teigen’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Crunchy Cashew Thai Peanut Quinoa Salad

Working: I have been on a cleaning spree around the house the last two weeks. Deep cleaning everything. Nothing is safe! I have been following this motto…

Planning:I just realized that Zoe’s 3rd birthday is just a few short months out! Time to start planning her party! She wants to have a princess party this year, so that will be a lot of fun! I could go so many ways with it. Watch out Pinterest, I am coming for your black hole!

Excited: Zoe started dance last week!!! I asked her about a month ago if she would like to take classes this fall and she instantly said yes!!! Now???? And I was like well no, classes don’t start until September. She is constantly asking me if it is dance day. She absolutely loves it!

Inspiring:

Laughing: