Happy Friday Everyone!
One – Fall Happenings
How is everyone hanging in there? We had a nice week of 70 degree weather and I took A LOT of walks that week! I went to 3 different parks and walked and then Nathan and I took 2 walks together after school. It was so nice to see all the Fall foliage! It was also nice to take a week off from running after completing a long and exhausting training season.
Who loves Advent calendars? I was in Trader Joe’s last week and picked up TWO of these Grown Up Advent Calendars with Liquor filled Truffles. And, YES I got carded! Ha! I figured I better pick up one for my husband, because I don’t want to share! LOL!
And… I did buy one other Advent calendar for myself. Ha! I got the Glossybox Beauty Advent Calendar. It is a GOOD one! You receive high quality products, one each day! I got this Advent Calendar last year and I couldn’t believe how AMAZING it was! It is a little pricey, but it is totally worth it when you see all of the beauty items it includes.
So, who has gotten a holiday coffee from Starbucks and which one is your fave? I think the Chestnut Praline is my favorite, but ohhh it sure is SWEET! My husband was SO thoughtful to leave the house at 6:30 a.m. on the Starbucks free holiday cup day to run out and get ALL of us drinks and breakfast foods before I had to run the kids to school. He is a winner!! And, check out this ADORABLE pup cup in the Starbucks holiday red cup?!! So cute! Although… we don’t have a pup, we have a cat that loves whipped cream! Brian’s cat Rose (our little rag doll kitty) loves him to bring her home a pup cup every now and then.
And, this wouldn’t be a Friday Five if I didn’t include the HUGE school project that Brian and Autumn worked on this month. She had an Egyptian project and had to make a model of The Nile River. They did a resin pour for the river and used Brian’s 3D printer for pieces for it. Isn’t it AMAZING? It is funny how I am the ‘Curly Crafty Mom’ yet Brian helps the kids with a lot of their school projects! Bahaha! 😉
Two – Run the MO
Since we were quarantined back in March, I’ve really gotten into running again! I signed up for a virtual half marathon, which I finished last month and the Run the MO Challenge. The Run the MO Challenge was a weekly checkin challenge where I would report my miles ran each week and it’d show me an actual photo on Google Maps of where I was at. It was really neat! I had several months to complete the challenge, but I ran 371 miles from St. Louis to Kansas City (virtually, of course) and completed the challenge! I ran my miles for my half marathon during the Run the MO Challenge, so it worked out wonderfully!
I am now considering a Spring half marathon and I may sign up for the Star Wars Virtual Half Marathon with runDisney. Disney has the BEST race medals! I ran their Wine and Dine in person in Orlando severals years ago and I love my medal from that race!
Three – I Voted
Wow! What an election year this has been! Brian and I were able to vote in person together for the first time ever, since he is working from home right now. We waited for 2.5 hours in line and MAN I wish we had planned it out better… apparently there was a website that told you where the shortest lines were for voting, but we found that out after we had been in line already an hour. Sadly, an elderly lady was fatally ran over on the street in front of my parents house at 6:00 a.m. while trying to cross the road to vote. So sad! I think the 26 year old driver was looking at the line of people waiting in line to vote and didn’t see the poor lady crossing the road. Prayers for her family! So, how did all of you vote? Let me know!
Four – Latest Book & Shows
I seem to be getting through audio books faster than real books lately, with all the driving I’ve been doing with the kids activities.
The China Study by T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell II
Ok, this book is LONG… I listened to it on audio and there is a lot of good parts in it that I found highly beneficial and informative, but then there is also a lot of talk about the scientific research and findings that made my eyes roll back into my head. But, I understand that the research results is needed in a highly technical book like this, because a lot of other scientists read it. So, what did I get out of it? Basically, the author(s) are vegetarians and they talk about The China Study in the book (but, there is a large portion of the book where they talk about other studies, their thoughts, etc.) and how people in rural China that eat a mostly vegetarian diet have a lot less heart disease, cancer, etc. compared to the Western world diet that we eat. I love to read about nutrition and I’ve been interested in the vegetarian lifestyle for awhile now and this book is one that a lot of people continue to talk about, so I thought I’d dive in and read it. I’ve been trying to move to a mostly vegetarian diet, but mostly Monday-Friday. I do still have low fat dairy and some meat, though. I can’t fully give up meat! But, I do find it interesting the correlation to a healthier body and a vegetarian diet.
And, I’ve been wanting to try out 1-2 vegetarian meals every week, so I ordered these 4 cookbooks on Amazon:
Party in Your Plants – Talia Pollock
A LOT of desserts and a more laid back and fun writing style.
The Plant Based Diet for Beginners – by Alice Newman
Not AS many photos as I’d like, but the recipes are easy with minimal ingredients.
The China Study Cookbook – LeAnne Campbell
This book is written by Leanne Campbell, who is the daughter of T. Colin Campbell, author of the China Study book. This book has a lot of photos and is 100% based on a whole food plant based diet (which means no dairy, eggs, etc.).
How Not to Die Cookbook – l Greger M.D. FACLM and Gene Stone
This is another whole food plant based diet book with full color photos. It even includes sample menus for 2 weeks with recipes taken from the book to get you started, or so you can try it out for 2 weeks and see how you like this new eating lifestyle.
And, as for shows…
Emily in Paris
Ohhh, I love this show! I made my husband binge watch it with me on Halloween. So much fashion and it is set in Paris, which makes me happy since we can’t actually travel right now.
Five – Blogging Goodies!
I love to support local shops and recently some local shops in St. Louis put together a handcrafted gift basket! The gift basket includes:
- Kokedama (a ball of soil, covered with moss, on which an ornamental plant grows) from White Stable Farms
- Box of chocolates from Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate (the best chocolate in ALL of St. Louis!)
- Candle from Urban Candle
- Card from MHM Art Studio
You can gift this basket HERE with a pre-order discount of 15%! This is a great gift idea! They offer shipping if you’re not local. If you are local, they can deliver the gift basket to you locally, since I know many people are trying to stay in right now, or you can pick it up.
Shop These Items:
Erin Condren has been my favorite organizer for several years and I have been lucky enough to be a brand ambassador for them for the last two years. This year I ordered a LifePlanner, which I use mainly for my blog editorial calendar and a Harbor Mid Century Circles Vegan Leather Notebook, because I want to get back into journaling/writing down my thoughts everyday I also signed up for this Sticker Club, which is a quarterly membership that sends you seasonal stickers and other little gifts to use in your planner.
I hope everyone has a nice and relaxing weekend!
