Friday Five | 8-29-25

1. Smoothies & Shakes

A recent obsession has been enjoying a delicious smoothie instead of cooking. Many trips to Tropical Smoothie have been made this summer! I got a good deal from Good Morning America on a Nutribullet (does that make me sound like a senior citizen or what?!) and now have been enjoying smoothies at home. We needed a new blender anyway. My favorite recipe is a chocolate protein powder, peanut butter powder, almond milk, and frozen banana for a Reece's inspired protein shake. 😋

2. New Camera!

Blake totally caught me off guard and surprised me with a new camera. I've loved my Canon Rebel for over a decade, but I've said many times how cumbersome it is to bring when traveling. I never regret taking photos with it, but my phone just ends up being so much easier. I've wanted a compact mirrorless camera for a while, but it was just a huge wish list item - something I didn't really see getting any time soon. With so many trips coming up, I can't wait to use it. I've been playing around a little bit with it, and have been so impressed. Next thing I'm hunting for is a cute little crossbody camera bag. 

I took the next two photos with the new camera just for fun:

. 

3. Red Era

I find myself gravitating towards red! Also gravitating towards sleeveless sweaters. I have a few now, and I think they will be so nice for our fall and winter which are quite warm. 

4. Cactus Incident

I had a strange thing happen this past week at work. We were inspecting a property out at the coast, and it was so beautiful there. Alas, as we were measuring the outside of the home, I ended up with a cactus in my calf. (!!) It did not hurt going in, but pulling it out was awful. Only one needle was really embedded in my skin, and unfortunately it must have pierced a vein because the bruise I still have over a week later is impressive. 

5. Vinyl Record Additions

I love listening to our record player! Our collection of records is small but mighty. I like to have our very favorite artists - mainly nostalgic ones. I also love love to have favorite movie soundtracks. I just added the Princess Diaries soundtrack to our vinyl collection. 

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-Kristen

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Friday Five | 8-29-25

Friday, August 29, 2025

Friday Five | 7-25-25

1. Nate Bargatze Show

My cheeks still hurt from all the laughing and giggling we did at the Nate Bargatze show this past weekend! We really enjoyed him, and the other comedians that opened for him. It's so nice to hear a comedy act that you can laugh at with your whole family. 

2. Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara in Chocolate Brown

I picked up this mascara during the Prime Day sales and I'm so glad I did! I've used it on and off for the past few years - and it's as good as everyone says. But, this is the first time I've tried it in brown. I absolutely love it! Paired with the Grande Lash serum and my eyelashes have never looked better!

3. Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 3

We had our friends over to watch the first two episodes of SNW and we had such a good time! It was really just an excuse to have them over, but we all loved the new episodes. Strange New Worlds is all the fun antics of the original series, but none of the cheesiness. We also love that it's family friendly, and there isn't anything objectionable in it so far. Are you watching? 

4. A Week With Our Niece 

We've loved having our niece Gia with us this past week. We've done a lot of fun things like pottery painting, and we took her to the movies. We also had a really great day together at Wakulla Springs with our nephews too. She's got me addicted to Nerds Gummy Clusters - have you had these?! 

5. The Rookie

I recently started watching The Rookie, and have enjoyed it so much! Little did I know Gia also loves this show, so we basically watched a whole season together. I'm on season 3 now! We have loved a lot of Nathan Fillion's shows all the way back to Firefly. Castle was such a good show, and I feel like maybe he wanted to be a police officer this time so they made this show up. 

Happy Friday!

-Kristen

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Friday Five | 7-25-25

Friday, July 25, 2025

Friday Five | 7-11-25

1. Amazon Shopping

Did you get anything for Prime Day? I did the most random shopping! I had a few things on wishlists and saved in my cart just to see if the price dipped during the sales. Fortunately for me, quite a few things did. I stocked up on Liquid IV since it's my new obsession. I also grabbed a new pool game for when my niece visits, a lid organizer for our yeti cups, and a three-in-one charger for travel.

It was a actually a seemingly big shopping day for me, because not only did I do some online shopping - but I also visited a few stores in person. Mainly to do returns, but it was fun to try on a few things too. Is it any surprise I left J. Crew with a bag of tops?

2. Superman

Blake and I went to see Superman at an early screening with some friends on Tuesday! Our movie going experience wasn't the best....the only theater that was doing this early showing was the run-down one. We arrived, and they announced to the line that the A/C was broken in our theater!! It was not that bad though, and they gave us free drinks to make up for it. It did get quite warm toward the end, but no one left the movie because of it and that shows how great it was!! We are big fans of Superman. My love for it starting with Smallville in the early 2000s. This movie was just SO good. We loved it, and actually would love to go watch it again. 

3. Bailey - This weeks high and low

Miss Bailey has been having seizures or seizure like episodes for the last few years. They've been few and far between, and of course we had been discussing it with our vet. It usually lasts for about 30 seconds, and then she's completely normal afterwards. Unfortunately, what went from random and periodic turned into every single day for the past week. We were finally able to get a seizure on video, and the vet was able to prescribe a medication. So far, it seems to be working! Pet worries are a specific kind of stress, I feel like if you know, you know. Bailey is 15 now, and realistically we know we won't have forever with her - but we want her to be completely comfortable and stress free! 

4. Feeling Out of the Routine

After being out of town last weekend, and diving straight back into work, I feel like we didn't get into our routine properly this week. I haven't cooked all week, and that has been a huge source of feeling out of sorts. I've Pinned a few new recipes, and I hope to get back to that, starting this weekend! All summer has just felt off. I spent the majority of June sick, and I only just now feel kind of like myself. I'm very eager to be back to normal!

5. Reading: Finding Grace

My Book of the Month selection for July is Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild. It's a debut, and I chose an audiobook this month. I haven't finished yet, so I'm not sure if I recommend it or not (there is definitely some content!) but HOLY MOLY the end of chapter one had me SHOCKED. Goosebumps over my entire body. I have never been that blindsided by a book. 

Book of the Month is an extra in my budget that I always consider canceling - because I get so many free books with the library after all. But, I have to say, I've found some 10/10 books with BOTM. Ministry of Time, The Wishing Game, Flicker in the Dark, and First Lie Wins to name a few. If you want to give BOTM a try, I have a referral link for a $5 hard back! 

Happy Friday!

-Kristen

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Friday Five | 7-11-25

Friday, July 11, 2025

Friday Five | 6-27-25

Just a sweet picture of Bailey for you^

1. Disney Princess Half Marathon

I have two Disney things to talk about today! My sister and I were successfully able to sign up for the Princess Half for next year. The sign up process was competitive!! Thankfully my sister shouldered the stress and got us in. We have run 2 half marathons together, and decided to do this because what a cool experience to run through the parks. The race takes place on our anniversary weekend, so it looks like we will be celebrating in Orlando. Training will start in October, and I can't believe I willing chose to do this again. 😂

2. Disney Cruise Plans

Blake and I are taking a Disney cruise with some of my cousins and their kiddos this fall! We are so excited. This is a bucket list trip for all of us. This week we were able to start booking activities and excursions. We aren't going to take any excursions, because the only destinations of this cruise are their private islands. I did book some spa appointments and picked up some MagicBands for us to use. They are so cute. Blake went with a Star Wars design, surprise surprise. I thought the Mickey Cherry design was so fun. 

3. Nephew Pool Day

As you know, I've had kind of a rough month health wise, but I was finally feeling a bit more like normal this week. I kept my nephews for the day while my sister worked, and we had a great low-key summer day together. We spent several hours at the neighborhood pool, they rode their scooters, and we watched a movie. They also ate just about everything I had in the house. 

Curtains | Blanket | Ottoman

4. Challenging Yourself

This isn't a big thing, but it felt sort of significant. My friend asked me to do a little Cricut project for an idea they had. I immediately doubted myself and my ability to pull it off. Within a few seconds of getting her text, I went on Etsy to see if someone else offered what they wanted to do. I had talked myself out of even trying. Then, I gave it a go, and was pleasantly surprised that I could do it and actually feel confident in the final product. All that to say, it feels really good to challenge yourself and actually try something when you're in doubt.

5. Highs and Lows

I'm sick of being sick! Today marks 20 days of dealing with whatever weird virus/side effects I've had. This week I felt a whole lot better, and then suddenly some of my symptoms were back and worse in some ways. My Oura ring was showing that I was sleeping very well, but overall I'm definitely not operating at my normal. But, against all my efforts! I've been trying all the things to get well. 

I ended up back at the doctor yesterday, and I guess this is the High of the week, everything points to the fact that I am indeed getting better. They even took some blood just to make sure we weren't missing anything. Unfortunately, allergies are also a factor here because it's been raining SO much and everything here is green and lovely. My Doctor recommending switching up some medication and just hanging in there.  I think it's just been discouraging more than anything. 

Happy Friday!

-Kristen

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Friday Five | 6-27-25

Friday, June 27, 2025

Friday Five | 6-20-25

 

1. Santal Oil

Consider me influenced! I heard that this aromatherapy oil was amazing, and I thought I'd give it a try. You just add a few drops to your diffuser. A little goes a long way! It's a LUXURIOUS scent that gives off fancy hotel spa vibes. It's described as a blend of amber, vanilla, cedar, spices, musk, and sandalwood.

My Diffuser

2. Liquid IV

Because I've been sick, I've been desperate to get well again! One thing I'm trying to do is make sure I'm very hydrated. This is the first time I've tried Liquid IV. I went with the cotton candy flavor. At first taste, I found this kinda strange. It's very salty, obviously. But, I started drinking it while working out first thing in the morning, and for some reason it tastes so good when I'm active. Once I realized it's more of a gatorade experience rather than a water, my mind wrapped around it, and I really like it! I'm going to try watermelon next because I think that will be really good with that salty taste. 

3. Etsy Shop Update

After an unexpectedly long hiatus, I've got my shop fully up and running again. It's good to be back! Feeling a little inspired, I also added a few new vinyl decal listings this week. Including a fun one which sprung from my own need to customize my new planner that starts in September. 

4. This Week's Low

I'm still getting better after our bout with whatever plague/virus we fought last week. I have been operating at like 85%. It does feel good to get some of my energy back, but I swear this has been so humbling. I still cannot hear out of my right ear! 

5. This Week's High

One thing I've learned about myself is that when things feel out of my control, I like to control something. Usually, I fill that with some kind of organizing or decluttering project. And, that's exactly what I did this week. Getting our house back in order after being sick felt soooo good. The mini project I feel the most happy about was reorganizing our laundry space. 

With a cleaning business, I've collected quite a bit of products and tools. I also wanted to separate out what we use at home versus what I take to my client's homes. I ended up purchasing a door organizer we had at our old house that I really liked. Game Changed! I love it. On the door I've stored the products I want to use in our house, along with some back stock and some other odds and ends. Then, above the washer and dryer I've placed my tools and supplies for the business. 

I also bought a couple of function items like new collapsible laundry baskets that are awesome! 

Rug

A Satisfying Before & After:

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Happy Friday!

-Kristen

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Friday Five | 6-20-25

Friday, June 20, 2025

Friday Five | 6-12-25

1. Dressing For Summer

Don't get me wrong, I am a summer girl! I love the heat and the sunshine. But, getting dressed this time of year is difficult. I'm constantly wearing moisture wicking workout clothes instead of 'real clothes'. So, just trying to make an effort to still put an outfit together from time to time...I really liked this one!

Shirt: J.Crew | Shorts: Old Navy | Shoes: Rothy's | Sunglasses: Amazon

2. Gallery Wall

I mentioned in my last Friday Five post that I had been rearranging and changing things up around the house. One of the things I have been wanting to do is take down our stair gallery wall. A tough decision because I love photos so much and it was also a big deal to measure this wall out when we put it up. But, I've felt that it was time and finally took it down. Command strips for the win! Our house is just so compact, and I felt that this was cluttering it up. Now that it's down, I'm really happy with the blank space. We have plenty of pictures still up! 

3. A Sweet Note

When we went to Disney last week, we stayed at my sister's house the night before we left. My nephew Lennox had this little sign up for me since we would be sharing a room. I just melt at stuff like this! Most kids do a Keep Out! sign or No Girls Allowed!..not Lenny. He's so sweet and I loved being roomies with him. 

4. This Week's High

I'll be honest. I struggled to come up with a high. It's been ROUGH. I lost my dog sitter for an upcoming weekend, and it was unexpected. After a search online, I panicked because the surge pricing for a holiday weekend is insane in our area. For someone I don't know. I have two amazing dog sitters we use and love who were unavailable - the one that canceled on me was our back up's back up. I even started searching for pet friendly Airbnbs to take them with us and trying to figure out how that was going to work. Anyway, I randomly reached out to a friend who I hoped would be around, and she lovingly agreed to come stay with the pugs. Such a relief, and you better believe she is getting the biggest gift basket ever. 

5. This Week's Low

This entire week was a LOW. I have been extremely unwell since last weekend. After a trip to the doctor, and testing negative for all the things - he diagnosed me and Blake with just some kind of virus. It's been terrible. I've basically been on the couch for 6 days straight, with zero energy. Also, I ended up having to go to an Urgent Care because my ear had me coming unglued. I had suspected it was infected, but my primary doctor didn't see anything. By the next day it was so painful, I could hear every pulse of my heart. It was indeed infected. Trust your gut people! 

I don't even want to talk about my mental state 😂. When it rains it pours. It's been a very stressful week, and being unwell made it all worse. 

Interestingly, my Oura ring knew I was sick before I did. It's fascinating! About 2 days before I had the first symptom, it warned me that my body was showing major signs of strain. It's been very accurate. You can put your ring in 'rest mode',  and it will still monitor your vitals but not push you to be active. So nice! 

Happy Friday!

-Kristen

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Friday Five | 6-12-25

Friday, June 13, 2025

Friday Five | 5-30-25

1. High of the Week

Having Monday free of all obligation was SO nice! Blake, my parents, and I did a quick 'hike' on a Greenway near our house first thing in the morning. It was warm, but not too hot yet. I think we walked for a total of an hour. Then, we changed and headed to our neighborhood pool. I kept thinking that I should be doing something! It was a true day off. 

2. Low of the Week

I was at a clients house, and got all set to leave - and my car wouldn't start. UGH. Such a pain. It's really probably time to upgrade my CRV, but I love it so much I don't want to. Car shopping sounds terrible. Anyway, fortunately this wasn't a big deal - just needed a new battery, not an alternator like I thought. Of course my battery was 3 months past warranty, so this wasn't a cheap experience.  

3. Freshening Up The House

I don't know what got into me on Tuesday, but I came home and started moving things around. Do you ever get the itch to redecorate or rearrange furniture? There aren't too many configurations we can do with the furniture in our house, but I managed to fix some things. For example, although we have a home office, I find myself working downstairs the majority of the time. So I've set up a desk in my bedroom and was able to move a few things around in there to give us a lot more space. That sparked searching for new bedding. Ours has gotten strangely rough feeling. Then because I moved a piece of furniture upstairs, I switched things up in the guest room again. And then, the gallery wall on the stairs came down. (I've been wanting to do that for a while. Love all the pictures, but I felt like it was just too much visually.) And then! I finally ordered new curtains for the living room. This has been bothering me since we moved in. The ones I had were too short. This is my favorite upgrade so far! These curtains are SO affordable and SO nice. 

Two more things I'm on the look out for are a new ottoman for the living room, and a new bed frame for our bedroom. I'd seriously buy the same one again, I love it - but something happened (maybe in our move a few years ago?) with the support on the bottom and it's not fixable. 

4. Mission Impossible

Blake and I went to see the new Mission Impossible movie on Sunday. We absolutely love going to the movies. Especially on a rainy Sunday! This movie was just outrageous 😂. If I were to review it, I'd sum it up by saying Tom Cruise had to show off all his tricks one more time. The drama! Some of it was very exciting, but I found it weird that they used so many flashbacks? It was like they didn't expect you to know what was going on the whole time. But, that actually made it really really long. Overall it was fun to go to the movies but I don't think I'll ever watch it again. 

5. Color Palette 

Above, you'll see a picture of an outfit I wore this week, that I got several compliments on because of the colors. I think because I have more of a tan right now, and the yellow just pops. Anyway, that sparked my interest in the color season thing you've probably seen on the internet. Basically, everyone has a color palette that looks best on them based off their skin, hair, etc. 

I don't want to pay for a consultation right now, so I asked ChatGPT to help! It suggested that I am a Soft Autumn which I think I agree with. So now, I'm doing research on that color palette to see what I can wear more of. I also want to play with the makeup colors it suggests work best with my features. This is kind of fun! 

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-Kristen

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Friday Five | 5-30-25

Friday, May 30, 2025

Friday Five | 5-23-35

1. Oura Ring

I've been wearing my Oura ring for about 2 weeks now, and I am obsessed! It's fascinating to see all of the data it's able to collect. I'd like to wear it for a few more weeks before doing a full in-depth review - but in short, I am so glad I got it. 

2. Booking Flights

SO happy to finally have booked our flights for Scotland this week! We will be going in October this year. Scotland was on the itinerary when we did our UK trip in 2022, but we decided to eliminate it when we realized how much we were trying to squeeze into a short trip. Now we finally get to go! Blake and I draft some money each week into a savings account just for travel. It's so satisfying to use that money, because it really feels like we are accomplishing what we set out to do. 

3. Conner's Steakhouse

Blake and I went out with my parents and some family friends for sort of a celebratory dinner at the new Conner's Steakhouse that recently opened up here. It's a chain apparently. We were very impressed and it was such a nice night out! They went above and beyond to accommodate my dad's celiac dietary needs. 

4. Curry Chicken Meatballs Recipe

We tried out a new recipe this week - and it was outstanding! The flavors were awesome and it didn't take that long to put together. Important for a weeknight meal! In fact, Blake randomly brought up how good this was two days later. 

5. Proud Auntie!

This week I was able to attend one of the kid's awards ceremonies. (So many events the last week of school!!) Super proud of Carter, my almost 11 year old nephew. We went to his awards ceremony and then took him out for a special lunch. 

Happy Friday!

-Kristen

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Friday Five | 5-23-35

Friday, May 23, 2025

Friday Five | 5-16-25

1. Revive Haul

It's been a little while since I got an order from Revive. I try to use up what I have in my stash before getting anything new. Long story short, I want to get back to more fragrance free products in the home again. The Immunity Boost (Revive's version of Thieves) laundry detergent and fabric softener really sparked my curiosity! The packaging is low plastic too, so that's nice. 

New to me is the Coconut Vanilla oil blend (5 stars! It smells incredible, just like a vacation or your favorite suntan lotion), and the 5 Star Hotel blend. Excited to try all of it! 

Cinnamon Roll, Grapefruit, Sweet Orange, and Citrus Delight are all time favorites.

2. Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Cups

If you know, you know. These are maybe my favorite thing on the planet. They are 1000 times better than Reeces cups, which are my favorite candy. We purposely do not buy them because we will devour the whole container in record time. Last week we put together a gift for some friends that included a trip to TJ's and of course these ended up in our cart.

3. Surprise Anniversary Dinner

We were invited to surprise our friends with a fun anniversary dinner, and you know I love an anniversary! We had a great time! I wore the cutest little linen set from J. Crew (vest and shorts) and just warning you I'll be wearing it all summer. 

4. Salad Kits

Probably late to the party on this, but I recently started grabbing a few salad kits to keep in the fridge and it's been such an awesome lunch idea! We usually eat the same things for breakfast each day, and dinner is planned out - but, I always struggle with lunch. These have been really tasty and easy to put together. 

5. Happy to be Blogging

I've always been pretty flexible with myself with getting posts up. Sometimes, I can't believe I was posting just about every day a few years ago. I truly only want to post when I feel like I have something good to share. Just happy to feel a little creative and put effort into my space on the internet. 

That being said, I hope you enjoyed my posts this week: Recent Reads and Four Bowls for Dinner

Happy Friday! 

-Kristen

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Friday Five | 5-16-25

Friday, May 16, 2025