Happy Friday Everyone!
One – Christmas is ALMOST here! 🙂
Happy Friday, friends! Well, we’ve gone from THIS… (BTW, isn’t Ollie’s little Thanksgiving bib SO cute? It came in his latest KitNipBox.)
…to THIS. Christmas is almost here! I’m excited for Ollie Bear’s first Christmas and I’m hoping to get a head start on purchasing gifts, stocking stuffers AND the dreaded wrapping this year! I usually find 2 Netflix Christmas movies to watch while I wrap all our gifts and stocking stuffers and it makes it A LOT more enjoyable. We host on Christmas, so I need to get going on that as well! Have you started on Christmas shopping, decorating, etc. yet?
I’m excited to try Chobani’s Oatmilk Oat Nog Limited Batch!! I’ve heard it is REALLY good. I must have missed it last year. Have you tried it?
Shop Furry Tree Pillows:
I was in Target the other day and came across these ADORABLE furry trees. It says they are a pillow, but the bottom ‘trunk’ base of them is hard, so that they can be propped to stand upright. So, I’d say they could be a pillow, or more of a soft decor item. I purchased the tree in white, but now I really want a green tree too!
And, of course I had to share our first Starbucks Christmas drinks of the season! Brian goes to Starbucks every Thursday once their holiday drinks come out and it is so fun to wake up to a treat! He gets the teens their pink drinks too. I had him get me the iced sugar cookie almond milk latte, which has been a fave of mine. I split the gingerbread loaf with Nathan and it was SO good. Aren’t the festive sprinkles so fun that they add to the top of the latte?!
Two – Latest Happenings
We have school photos! I can’t believe I have 2 high schoolers now. It is just unreal how fast they grow up. We decided to wait until the Spring to do Nathan’s senior photos. Nathan just wrapped up cross country and made it to districts and was 5 away from state. I am going to miss his cross country years! Some of you have asked and Nathan is looking at local colleges and has a few he will be applying to soon… so, yes, he will still be at home next year. Autumn is already talking about going to college in Alabama, WHAT?!! Nathan is looking to major in a science/math field.
Autumn had her freshmen grandparents day at the school and it was SO nice that it was in person. When Nathan had his, the grandparents had to do it over Zoom! Autumn made pancakes for grandma and took her around the school for various actives.
Three – Halloween
Halloween was a chilly one this year! I decided to enjoy the day, instead of working on blog content or house stuff and it was SO nice! I’ll admit, I struggle with Halloween a bit these days. It is just so different than it used to be when the kids were little. It is just a reminder that they’re growing into their own person, with their own schedule and friends. And, trust me, I wouldn’t want it any other way. But, I do miss the costume planning, the photos, the trick or treating… but, sometimes I don’t miss it too! Ha, ha! I’m just a mixed bag on this, I guess! I decided to start the day with a long 4 mile walk and then I treated myself to my last Starbucks pumpkin drink, a pumpkin cold cold brew with extra cream cold foam. I also made Halloween Funfetti cupcakes and had wayyy too many of those!
For lunch I had Blues Fired Pizza for the first time. The Garlic Parm Knots, tho… OH, they were so, SO good!!! The margherita pizza was delicious too! After that, we spent the evening driving Autumn to her friend’s house and then we took both teens over to my mom’s house for some hot cocoa and extra treats.
Four – Latest Book I’ve Read & Shows I’ve Watched
Happy Place by Emily Henry – I struggled to finish this book and felt it was just meh. This is about a friend group that meets at a summer house every summer to reconnect, but this is the last summer they will meet there. One of the friend’s family is selling the Maine cottage, so they are all frazzled about how they will keep in touch and keep their yearly traditions alive once this sentimental place is gone. I found it hard to keep up with all of the characters (friends) in the book, they all have kind of weird names, unique jobs/personalities and really the only ones I found somewhat interesting were Harriet and Wyn. Harriet is set to be a surgeon her entire life and her parents are SO proud. Yet, Wyn has always kind of fudged his way through everything in life. Their relationship has a lot of cracks and falls apart, because they gloss over them and don’t discuss them till it is too late. When they meet at the summer house, Harriet and Wyn pretend they are still together, so they don’t ruin the weekend. There are a lot of secrets going on with the friends and they finally resolve them at the end of the book. I really love some of Emily Henry’s other books, but I would not recommend this one.
Five – Latest Finds that I Love & Advent Calendars
Shop Advent Calendars:
For several years I was getting the Glossybox Advent Calendar, but they are no longer shipping to the U.S. So, after a little research I decided to try out the Revolve Advent Calendar this year. (Sorry, it is already sold out!) In 2021 I did the Yawn Brew Coffee Advent Calendar (it sells on Etsy) and I’ve STILL been thinking about the delicious coffee I tried each day… especially the Pudding one! So, I decided to do it again this year. Yay for daily coffee! They sell a really cool Hot Cocoa Advent Calendar (some really neat flavors!) and a Tea Advent Calendar as well!
Shop Erin Condren:
It’s that time of year, where we need to update our planners and calendars! I just received my new Erin Condren Life Planner for next year and I ordered another one of their Budget Calendars. I lay it flat on my desk, but you can hang it up as well. It includes a file folder/pocket that you can store receipts in. I also purchased a Sticker Pack that has monthly stickers for my planner and some address labels for our Christmas cards.
Ollie Bear LOVES his toys, so I decided to subscribe him to the KitNipBox, which is a monthly cat subscription box. You can order it with the food/treats or with just toys. The Thanksgiving bib in the very first photo in this post is from this box. We have only gotten it for one month, but have really enjoyed it so far! If you’re interested in trying one out for your cat, I’d love for you to use my referral link HERE, it’ll help Oliver earn a free box! Yay!
Shop These Products:
Pixi sends me a HUGE pump bottle of their Glow Tonic every year and it always has my name on it! Their Glow Tonic is one of their cult products, they have 2.2k reviews and a 5 star rating on their site for it! It will deeply clean your pores by sweeping away excess oil and impurities.
I hope everyone has a nice and relaxing weekend!
