Is everyone enjoying this Fall season? I’ve been enjoying some PSL’s, Fall shopping and decorating. Today I’m excited to do something new on the blog…Shay from Mix & Match Mama is one of my absolute favorite blogs to read. She’s so down to earth, shares simple recipes and life hacks and has the sweetest family. I always enjoy her What’s Up Wednesday blog hop that she’s been doing with Sheaffer for ever and I thought it was about time that I gave it a whirl myself. So, let’s get started:
What We’re Eating This Week
I’ve been excited about some Fall foods for dinner… it’s still a little too hot for chili, but check out this Trader Joe’s Sweet Potato Sheet Pan Dinner that is only 3 ingredients and ready in 15 minutes? Yes, please! You just need Trader Joe’s Sweet Potato Gnocchi, Chicken Sausage and a jar of Pesto. Dinner is served!
I mentioned this frozen meal that I had picked up at Trader Joe’s and the cashier was raving about how good it was. We finally tried it (I should have taken a photo of it after I got it out of the oven!) and it was DELICIOUS!!! I will definitely be picking this meal up AGAIN on my next Trader Joe’s trip!
What I’m Reminiscing About
How is the summer gone? And, no vacations to currently look forward to… Boo! We were really blessed with some amazing trips this last summer, Hawaii and Disney! I usually don’t start planning our next summer trips until right after Christmas, but we do know we will be going to Myrtle Beach this summer for a full week for Autumn’s dance nationals. And, Nathan has a class trip to Chicago and they want a parent from each family to attend (what?!!), so I might be going along for that long bus ride. Ha! I’d like to try to sneak in a trip to Magnolia Market sometime and Brian and I are toying with the idea of going to Napa and/or Sonoma this summer. I’ve never been to California, which is CRAZY. Is anyone else starting to think about NEXT summer vacations already? Planning is half the fun for me! 🙂
What I’m Loving
I’m loving Pumpkin Spice Lattes (iced!) a little too much… I think I may need to cut back and soon! LOL! The Starbucks by our house always does the cutest signs by the drive through window… isn’t this darling?!
What We’ve Been Up To
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I ordered 600 of these thin velvet hangers from Amazon and I’ve been working on replacing ALL of the hangers in our master closet and the kids closet. Whew! WHAT A JOB! I have our closet done, but will be starting the kids closets (goodbye kiddie hangers!) soon. It’ll be SO worth it once I’m done.
What I’m Dreading
Nothing, which is good!
What I’m Working On
I’ve been working on decorating the Front Porch for the Fall. I haven’t really planned out a new look for the front porch for the Fall in awhile and just wanted to spruce it up a bit. I decided to go with a farmhouse look with black and white plaids, white mums, etc. I can’t wait to do a Farmhouse Front Porch for the Fall reveal post soon!!! I just hope these mums I bought bloom before I shoot the photos. And, let me tell you… buying mums when it is 90 degrees out is just plain WRONG. C’mon Fall weather, where are you? I swear this happens EVERY year here in St. Louis… it’s freakin’ hot through mid-October and then BAM it is winter!
I’ve had this wooden fold out easel for awhile and it is always so fun to decorate. I picked up a few items from for the easel and the tall vertical ‘Welcome’ sign from Hobby Lobby.
What I’m Excited About
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I’ve been trying to switch to some ‘safer’ products and recently I switched to these wool dryer balls that I found on Amazon and I use them in place of a dryer sheet. No chemicals and they last for 1,000+ loads. They even shorten drying time and help remove static electricity from your clothes. This is truly a no brainer, just get rid of those dryer sheets already!
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I use a laptop quite a bit on the couch and I do have a tray that I set it on so that it isn’t directly against me, but I’ve been doing some research and I decided to buy an EMF Heat tray to set on top of my regular laptop tray. This tray blocks 100% of the EMF Heat/Radiation, which could possibly be harmful to your body. This DefenderPad Laptop EMF Radiation Protection and Heat Shield is available on Amazon and has pretty good reviews, where people have tested it effectiveness. Now that I have one for myself, I’ve even considered getting additional ones for the kids to use under their laptops and iPads. I figure, it doesn’t hurt to protect yourself.
What I’m Watching/Reading
I made it a summer goal for us to watch the entire 8 seasons of Game of Thrones. I read the first book of the series, but my husband has read all of the books. WOW, I didn’t realize this series takes quite awhile to get through… I feel like we’ve been watching it FOREVER and we’re about halfway through season 5 (of 8!). There is quite a lot of violence and nudity in it, which… dang. If the story line wasn’t so good, I don’t know if I could handle all of the violence… I seriously feel like I’m looking away for half of the show- EEK! Anyone else?! After we finish Game of Thrones, I really, really want to watch the second season of Big Little Lies.
This summer, I started reading the Peachtree Bluff Beach Series, there is three books and I just finished the third/last book. If you like southern literature and Elin Hilderbrand, than you’ll really enjoy this series. It is a really easy read… perfect for the beach! I started these books on our Hawaii vacation and I really enjoyed all of them. It is about 3 sisters and their mom and where they grew up in a small southern town called Peachtree Bluff. There is a secret from the sisters past that the mom reveals later and it shares some hardships that each of the sisters are going through (and their mom and grandma) and how they pull together when times get tough and help each other get through the hardships.
Now that I’m done with my summer reading, I just put The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle and The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren on my Kindle to read next. 🙂
What I’m Listening To
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I finally finished listening to the entire RISE Together podcast and I have a couple of books on my list to listen to in the car, such as How Not To Die. I know, what a harsh name! I spend a lot of time driving to school and back and I usually listen to a podcast or book when the kids aren’t in the car with me. The blogger Caitlyn from Southern Curls and Pearls recently wrote about this book on her blog and it wasn’t the first time I had heard about it. Which, BTW… she shares a Monday Motivation post each week where she shares healthy recipes, books, etc. I LOVE these posts that she does!
So, back to ‘How Not to Die‘… The title pretty much says it all, ‘How Not to Die’. It is about a physician who was inspired to write this book from his childhood when his 65 year old grandma reversed her terminal heart disease by switching to a plant based diet. I’m still in the beginning of the book, but he starts it out with telling you the top 15 causes of death, the first one being heart disease. But, he goes into the other causes and then he talks about how powerful a plant based diet can be and how it can be more influential on your health than anything else. While a plant based diet may not be reasonable for everyone, it doesn’t hurt to eat more fruits, vegetables, whole gains, beans, etc.
What I’m Wearing
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I LOVED my last Stitch Fix box for the Fall and these embroidered denim jeans were in it. I kept them and I’ve been wearing them a lot this Fall. They’re a little stretchy and have that trendy raw hem… plus the embroidered flowers are in the perfect Fall hues. Yaas! I’ll be sharing my Stitch Fix box with y’all on Thursday! These ankle cut booties with the side slits were a Target find from last Fall, but they have a similar pair that you can find HERE.
What I’m Doing This Weekend
This coming weekend is pretty open! We may visit an apple orchard if the weather cooperates. Let me share details from our last weekend, though! Nathan earned his black belt last year and once they earn it, they keep working towards more advanced levels. This weekend they had a black belt ceremony and he earned his Junior Shodan Level 5, which is 2 away from the adult black belt! Way to go Nathan!
Autumn had a parade with her dance school. It was a little hot, but not as hot as last year. I wanted to share a photo of her, but all of them have other students from her dance school. I’ve been trying not to share photos of other kids on here to respect their privacy.
What I’m Looking Forward to Next Month
Next month will be 7 years together this my sweet husband!! I wanted to plan something fun for us to do, since it falls on a weekend… and I found this really neat boutique hotel in St. Louis that lets you pick what color room you want your room to be. Yes, you heard me right! We asked for a blue room, but they have yellow, red and green. There is a really nice restaurant in the hotel that we’re going to try out and then there is also a rooftop bar with a view of the arch. I can’t wait! I’ll share more details about the hotel and how we like it after we go.
What Else Is New
Not much, just trying to keep afloat with all of the Fall activities!
