In case you missed it, 2 of my cousins and I are attempting to cook our way through the Dinner Tonight Cookbook together. We are taking turns choosing a recipe to make, and are reporting back to each other via text.
This week's choice was the Chicken Picatta Meatballs!
We obviously served over pasta. These were very tasty and I felt like this was one of the simplest recipes we've made thus far. Ground chicken was fairly inexpensive as well, so I think this would be a great option for a weeknight dish.
-Kristen
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Blake and I were able to spend 3 days at Disney with his cousin, and it was a blast! We did just about everything at Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT. The weather was great, and there weren't even any bad crowds.
Here are a couple of snapshots:
-Kristen
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When I say how shocking light these sandals are, I still don't think you can understand until you pick them up! While they look clunky, they are light as a feather. You will see me wearing these all summer long. They fit like a glove, and didn't even take time to break in at all. I think I may just have to buy them in black as well.
Day 4 of my February declutter challenge had us tackling our tumbler and cup collections. That experience helped us to see we wanted to do something different there. Instead of amassing a bunch of random cups, I wanted to invest in specific matching ones. One color for me, and one color for Blake. He's got the Yeti coffee mug, a 16 oz tumbler, the 35 oz tumbler with a straw, and now a more travel style water bottle - all in navy. We feel like that covers all the possibilities of travel beverages. He uses the coffee mug the least, but that's great for hot coffee or tea. He uses the 16 oz tumbler everyday for his cold brew. The 35oz tumbler is awesome for water for the day. He fills it up in the morning to use with his workout, and then he transports it to work and can refill it there. The water bottle is the newest addition and will be ideal for our upcoming trips! It's perfect to put in a backpack and not worry about spills.
Next, I'll slowly be adding the same cups for me to our cabinet. They are obviously pricey, so I'll just get them over time. I went with cosmic lilac. A gorgeous color, but not loud. First up for me is the travel water bottle. I love using it daily, but I specifically had our upcoming trips in mind.
I'm not usually a candle person! My diffuser is usually sufficient for making the house smell nice. My mom has a Pura diffuser, which is really cool. She got the Beach Cottage scent, and it was the first scent she's used that stopped me in my tracks. It's just a really nice, summery smell. It's a strong candle, so I have been burning it sparingly, and honestly it still throws scent without a flame.
Just picked up this black maxi (midi?) dress from Amazon and thought I'd share! It's very versatile! Who doesn't need an easy black dress that can be dressed up or down?
Very excited to try this! I'm on a mission to strengthen my finger nails, and a lot of people say that collagen can help with that. This is a light vanilla flavor, so it's nice to add to my usual morning coffee.
This was purchased specifically for our upcoming Alaska trip. All I own are cheapy Walmart gloves that work just fine here in Florida - but I knew I was going to need something more legit. These are it! They are water proof, and so cozy on the inside. Plus, they are touchscreen compatible. I'm really happy with these, and hope they work well for our trip! Either way, I'm happy to have them for next winter.
I went with size medium if that helps you shop.
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-Kristen
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In case you missed it, 2 of my cousins and I are attempting to cook our way through the Dinner Tonight Cookbook together. We are taking turns choosing a recipe to make, and are reporting back to each other via text.
This week's choice was the Beef Lo Mein!
Additionally, I made the Kale Sweet Potato Salad as a side dish when we were invited over to someone's house for dinner.
Both of these dishes were great! The salad especially. Really cool combo of flavors, and so nutritious. It was kind of like a Caesar salad remix. The Beef Lo Mein was a really great dish. Blake actually cooked dinner that night, and while I don't think he loved doing all the steps - it really turned out so well. We added extra ginger since that is something we both love.
Just a little photo diary of our 14th anniversary celebrations with our friends and family this past week! We are feeling so spoiled and loved. 14 years is just wild, how are we old enough for this?!
I've been documenting our anniversaries here on the blog since 2015 on our 5th. I just think that's pretty cool, and a fun way to be nostalgic.
If you are new around here, I'm a BIG fan of an anniversary celebration. The years pass no matter what, but your marriage isn't guaranteed. It's work every day, and worth celebrating in a big way!
-Kristen
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In a sea of WWII historical fiction, it was so interesting to read about a different war time! This story follows Frankie, a combat nurse. I feel like I can't share too much without giving away plot, but she really goes through it before and after the war. The end definitely surprised me, although I feel like it shouldn't have. Kristin Hannah is a great writer, and if you like any of her other books, you'll like this one! It gets pretty dramatic, but that's what she does best. There is some language and some very descriptive war scenes/carnage.
I really enjoyed Mike Gayle's All The Lonely People, and I feel like if you enjoyed that book too, you'll enjoy The Museum of Ordinary People. Such a touching story revolving around loss and moving forward. Essentially, Jess is trying to grieve the loss of her mother while deciding what to do with her belongings. While navigating that, she ends up finding an archive of a lot of random personal items in a warehouse known as The Museum of Ordinary People.
This is a highly rated fantasy series, and I thought I'd see what it was all about. Basically, Celaena is an assassin who has been prison. She's been released to compete to be the King's champion and win her freedom. But, there is a lot of evil in the castle she's not expecting.
Mmm, this was just ok to me. It felt repetitive through most of the book, but was exciting toward the end. I'm deciding whether or not to continue the series. ⭐⭐⭐
A rom com set in the book world? On paper this book should be right up my alley. Basically, Savannah works at a publishing company. She's also writing her own romance novel. The publishing company is actually housed in an old Victorian. She leaves her manuscript in a hidden room of the Victorian, and when she comes back someone has edited it for her. I hate to say it but this book was completely average. Some stuff was cute, most of it was ridiculous. ⭐⭐⭐
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-Kristen
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In case you missed it, 2 of my cousins and I are attempting to cook our way through the Dinner Tonight Cookbook together. We are taking turns choosing a recipe to make, and are reporting back to each other via text.
This week's choice was the Sheet Pan Hot Honey Dijon Chicken!
This was dang good. Super simple to put together, as you'd expect from a sheet pan dish. The spice level is pretty intense, so just keep that in mind if that is something you are sensitive too. We loved this, and will make it again for sure.
I have long loved E-Cloths! You just add water. Their glass cleaning cloths are top notch. I haven't really found the perfect thing to clean our stove each evening, so I thought I'd give this a shot.
I would like to find a more budget friendly option for these - but for now I will keep repurchasing! There are times you just need to revive the undereye!
Very excited to give this a try. I have pretty decent skin, but every once in awhile I end up with a blemish I want to treat. I think this will fit my needs perfectly.
You might remember this from a recent haul, but I lost it! It must have found it's way into a random bag or something. My hands have been so dry lately, I just needed to get a replacement.
By far one of the best products Grove makes! We recently had a sick pug, and our living room carpet took the brunt of it. So, I reordered this cleaner because it's obviously a necessity with pets. It works like a charm. (In case you are wondering, Delly is doing much much better - our vet gave us some miracle medicine that helped get her right as rain.)
A favorite! I use this concentrate to make multi purpose cleaner and floor cleaner. I normally go for the 'bluebell' scent since it's my favorite, but I went for Lemon Verbena this time to mix it up.
I've tried to break up with wipes like this, but I just find that on those lazy evenings I'd rather use one of these than nothing at all. They work great and I'm glad to have these back in the bathroom drawer.
I've been thinking about adding some collagen powder to my morning coffee, so what perfect timing to get this free sample. I tried it this morning, and it really didn't taste like anything which was a win!
For our anniversary this year, I asked Blake to upgrade my Cricut. I've had my Cricut Explore for a few years now, and boy has it paid for itself. It's the backbone of my Etsy store. With all the abuse I have put it through, I thought it might be time to go for their more top of line machine. (Especially, because I broke the door of my Explore and didn't know how to fix it...)
I knew I wanted the Maker 3, but I told Blake I didn't want him to spend a bunch of money on it. We found out Cricut does refurbished machines, and that's what I asked for. It was a way to save a few hundred dollars actually. The con of this is you don't get to choose your color. But, they sent me the most gorgeous powder blue color and I couldn't love it more.
GOSH, what an upgrade. This machine does a few things differently than my explore, so it took a minute to get used to the rhythm of loading and unloading. However, it's quieter and faster which is great. Additionally, it cuts far more materials than the Explore. Truly, the quality of the machine itself is just plain really nice!
I purchased an engraving blade which is just so cool, and I can't wait to experiment with it. And because I feel more inspired to create now that I have new tools, I also purchased some card making supplies. (My previous machine would have done cards as well, but I never really played with it.) Cricut now has a card making mat which is awesome! I've also enjoyed their name brand card sets. Cricut vinyl is not my favorite by any means, but their paper products are A+.
Having one of these machines has just made me feel so much more creative as I get older. I was totally that kid with a thousand paper shreds all over my bedroom floor growing up. Hobbies are just so important, even as we get older, so this has really scratched that itch for me the past few years. It's hard because it took some time to learn how to use, and I normally don't like doing things I'm not immediately good at. But, I'm so glad I've stuck with it because it's just been plain fun. I hope this means you'll see some more Cricut creations posts from me in the near future.
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-Kristen
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