Happy Friday Everyone!
One – Latest Happenings {& a Good Housekeeping Magazine Mention!!}
Happy Friday, friends! WELL, we are back from Gatlinburg, TN and we had a lot of fun! I will be recapping the trip soon, but first let’s get started with a Friday Five! I thought I’d include one photo in this post from Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains from our first stop at Cades Cove, where we saw some friendly horses that made for a great selfie (or should I say photo bomber? ha!).
So apparently Good House Keeping magazine is getting ready for the fall already and asked me if I wanted to be featured in their trunk or treat post. I was so excited they reached out to me, even though it was a SUPER OLD post (that I quickly updated a bit) and I wanted to share it all with you here: 43 Creative Trunk-or-Treat Ideas for Families Who Love to Go All-Out
Circus Flora invites us out to their big tent every year and it is SO MUCH FUN!!! Not only do they give us the best seats (there really is not a bad seat in the entire house), but it is something we can do together with the teens and they actually ENJOY it! (Y’all know how hard it is to please teens. Sigh.) At the end, they had The Globe of Speed (motorcycle daredevils riding in a spherical cage) and WHEW… that took my breath away for a second. One of the motorcyclists was a woman, which was really cool! And, I got to meet a fellow St. Louis blogger (we’ve been following each other forever)— Tara over at Seeing Dandy which was a nice surprise!
AND, I won’t lie… Circus Flora always has the best hospitality tent on Opening Night for us content creators (and all the other VIPS!!). This year we had a choice from a house made sangria, wine, beer and then for food they had local sandwiches (Snarf’s) and chips, cookies and other snacks to take into the circus with us. What a fun night out!
Autumn has had quite a lot of BONUS trips this summer! First, she had her 8th grade class trip to Branson in May, then in June she went to Peoria, IL for her first EVER UDA Camp (it is a dance camp for her h.s. dance team that she just joined!) and then she had her dance nationals for her private dance school in July in Gatlinburg, TN. For the UDA Camp, it was in Peoria, IL which is halfway between St. Louis and Chicago. We volunteered to drive her and a couple of girls there and back and it was about 2.5 hours each way. We dropped them off on a Monday (then drove ourselves home) and then picked them up on Thursday (and drove back home). We got to see her big show on Thursday when we picked her up and she was excited to get blue ribbons for her two dances. One of the moms made ALL of the girls the cutest little bags filled with essentials they may need on the trip. I took a photo of it, but I think a few items are missing from it.
After we dropped the girls off in Peoria, IL on Monday, Brian and I thought it’d be nice to have lunch somewhere local. Unfortunately, the seafood restaurant that I wanted to try out and that is supposed to be the IT place to eat in Peoria was closed on Mondays. And, we found out that most of the local places were closed on Monday. Whomp, whomp. SOOO, plan B was Johnny’s Steakhouse, which is actually a chain… BUT, the food looked AH-mazing and we had never been there. It was inside a hotel and it was REALLY good! The only bummer was that all of their really good pasta dishes were on the dinner menu, but I settled on the Clubhouse Monte Cristo (SO good, it reminded me of the Monte Cristo I had at Cafe Orleans in Disneyland last summer) and a salad.
Then, we decided to try a local coffee place so we had some caffeine for the drive back. We went to Thirty-Thirty Coffee more in the downtown area of Peoria, IL (over by the hospital) and it was in a really charming old building they had renovated. But, I just read online they closed on June 25, so not soon after we visited… so I won’t share the link to the place here.
Two – My First Colonoscopy (Welcome to 45, the New Age for Colonoscopies!)
Well, I waited till almost the end of my 45th year (my birthday is August 10!), BUT I finally got my screening colonoscopy done. I had planned to do it 5 years before 50, since my grandpa had colon cancer in his seventies and both my parents have had precancerous polyps, BUT they moved the screening age to 45 just this year, so I guess instead of getting it done early, I’m got it done just on time. Good news, I had no polyps and everything looked normal! YAY! They are saying a lot of younger people are getting colon cancer these days (and, we had someone in our intermediate family get colon cancer just this year), so MAKE SURE you get that colonoscopy done at 45 or 5 years earlier if you have family risk! It is SO important to stay ahead on these things, you just NEVER know! To celebrate, we went to lunch at Six North Cafe, which was close to the testing place.
Three – Threads
Who else is on Instagram’s new app called Threads? I am and I’d love for you to follow me over there (Click HERE to follow me!). And, I’d love to follow you back! It reminds me of Twitter, but I like the interface a lot better… and it is less political. Ha!
Four – Latest Book I’ve Read & Shows I’ve Watched
All The Days Of Summer by Nancy Thayer – I’ve really been into Nantucket beachy book reads so far this summer and this one checked all the boxes. This is about an empty nester named Heather and how she wants to make some changes in her life to bring a little happiness back into it. Her marriage is stale and has some secrets, her son has fallen madly in love with Hailee who lives on Nantucket with wealthy and successful parents and Heather is yearning to make a new life. SOMEHOW, she lands up in Nantucket for an entire summer and although her relationship with Hailee isn’t going so well, the magic of Nantucket brings this entire family together!
The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki – I listened to this book on audio. This is a really interesting book about the daughter of Post cereal. My favorite part of the book was the beginning, where it talks about Marjorie Post’s childhood, her mother/father and how the company started. Marjorie Post has 4 husbands in this book and I really enjoyed reading about her first husband, but then it seemed each husband after that got less and less interesting. Marjorie Post had A LOT of money and such an incredible life! She lived through several wars and the great depression. She ran her company behind the lines as women didn’t have many rights back then, but gradually took on more responsibilities as she could. She built Mar-A-Lago, hosted dinner for several U.S. Presidents in her home, lived in Moscow for a short time, had a LARGE boat she vacationed on for months, etc., etc. What a rich life! It was an interesting read and I learned a lot about her and the Post company.
Daisy Jones & the Six – We finally had time to finish this and it was SO darn good! I read the book I think back in 2019 and I always hate when a show or movie comes out so much later, because I forget some of the details… but, this was GOOD! I love that Daisy is Elvis Presleys granddaughter (in real life!)! The story line is about a band that forms and their relationships, how they grow and handle becoming stars, etc.
Ted Lasso, Season 3 – Oh, do I LOVE Ted Lasso! It is just such a feel good show and can you imagine having coworkers or a team as fun as they are?! Season 3 started off just a tad slow for me, but then I was IN and we finished it rather quickly! I really hope they make another season of this show!
Five – My Latest Finds that I Love!
Shop These Products:
Not the best photo, but it is the summer and I just don’t have time to take the best photos these days! Ha!! Anyway, I was in need of a new pair of ‘everyday’ shoes for walks, weight lifting, etc. I’ve been seeing ON Cloud 5 running shoes every wear and I wanted to get a pair to try out. The first pair was in my typical size 8 and they were too tight! So, thankfully Nordstrom let me size up to an 8.5 and once I put the laces in that tie the shoes were comfortable. They had laces that were more elastic and you didn’t have to tie them, which made the shoes too tight and I don’t recommend them unless they work for your foot. Given all that… I do love these shoes, but I am not sure if I will EVER buy all white shoes again (I KNOW, I KNOW, they’re trending…), but good grief they are SO hard to keep white. If you can recommend an all white shoe cleaner, please let me know in the comments. I’ve had people accidentally STEP on my shoes, I’ve rubbed them up against stuff and I was stupid enough to wear them hiking in the Smoky Mountains, so these poor shoes are really struggling to stay WHITE! Ha!
Last year I finished 500 workouts on iFit and my prize was this hoodie! It took them forever to get the hoodies restocked in everyones sizes, but I was so excited to finally receive my hoodie! Yay!
Shop Here:
Colleen Rothschild sent me over their Quench and Shine Travel Essentials Set recently and this is truly the best travel kit to have your hair looking its best on vacation. It is a 6 piece set with deluxe trial size goodies that will let you try the cult favorite best sellers all while enjoying your vacation:
- Quench & Shine Restorative Shampoo
- Replenish & Shine Daily Conditioner
- Quench & Shine Restorative Mask
- Smooth & Shine Hair Serum
- Protect & Perfect Styling Cream
- Scalp Massager
- Limited Edition CR Voyager Case
I’ve been using the their Shampoo, Conditioner and Restorative Mask for over a year and I LOVE them! After receiving this package, I’ve added their Smooth & Shine Serum and Protect & Perfect Styling Cream and they really help to strengthen my hair and keep it looking smooth and polished (especially in the humidity!).
Shop Here:
Pixi sent me over another box and it has their Vitamin C Capsule Care (Face Serum) in it. Vitamin C is one of my absolute favorite skin care vitamins and I was excited to try out these Brightening Face Serum Capsules! These complexion boosters energize and nourish to promote your most luminous skin. You can use these daily on clean skin for the perfect dose of brightness every time. The capsules are biodegradable, vegan and perfect for the home, travel or on-the-go.
I hope everyone has a nice and relaxing weekend!
