Friday Favorites ~ September 5, 2025

 Happy Friday and 1st week of September!  I am always happy to look back at the week and find some favorites!

I went back to work Tuesday and met up with Jenn for dinner at Salad Station.  It had been a week or two so we were both missing our salad and visit there.

Wednesday, Brook made a key lime pie and it was delicious!

I decided last minute to join Jenn and Kendra later Wednesday night for some live music and a drink. It was fun and I was glad to get out for a bit.

Look what Jenn gave me!  I haven't started reading it yet, but I have flipped through it & was excited to receive this.  

Because I am known to eat my snacks at work in the morning as opposed to afternoon, my co-worker printed this out and put it by my desk.  We all got a good laugh from this!

Seeing a butterfly at the mailbox

I ordered some new nail polish.  Have you tried this brand?  It stays on a few days for me without chipping, which is rare these days in my experience.

My sweet Brook had a long drive back to her university.  It was time to return and I know I will be okay.  But I will admit, it has taken me a little bit of time to get out of my car.  I will sure miss seeing her.  Yes, that is an Elvis cardboard statue in the garage. 

 

My favorite, of favorites, getting Disney hugs from daughter.  This is what we call it and that means she has to let go first.  

Have a good weekend!

Friday Favorites ~ August 29, 2025

 Well, here we are at the end of the week and the end of the month.  September ushers in the season of fall, we feel it and begin to see it in October and November, which ushers in Christmas.  Y'all, then 2026 is coming!  Okay, I will slow down now and focus on a few favorites from the week and a few random favorites from the month.

I worked Monday morning and a favorite was being at the office alone and listening to Darius Rucker while working.  I enjoyed a long conversation with Tanya that afternoon and it was good to catch up with her, so that was a favorite!  Brook and I had dinner with my parents that night.

I worked Tuesday and Wednesday was a long day of legal proceedings for me.  I was so mentally tired that I laid down in bed at 5.  I didn't want to answer another question for the day.  

I discovered that Darius Rucker has a Christmas album, so I listened to that Wednesday night to relax.  Won't He do it?

Yes, Darius and Jesus are getting me through this week.  I have listened to Darius 90% of my music this week and no complaints from me.  My co-workers may be ready for some variety though, ha!  

I read these sayings and they were encouraging to me.  I think sometimes we all focus so much on what we accomplished.  This will give you freedom and grace from to-do list and what you accomplished lists!

A few other favorites this week was receiving a gift from a friend at my door when I came home from work Tuesday and a sweet card in the mail from Amy.  These were both so encouraging to me after a long day Wednesday and a rough few weeks.  Okay, years. I am so thankful for this and for a hug I can still get from Brook while she is at home!

A few highlights of this month have were spending time with both my girls when Isabella was home for a few days.  The four of us (the girls, my daughter's boyfriend, and myself) played cards one night and it was a lot of fun.  I was asked not to post any individual pictures!

And yes, my other highlight was seeing Darius.  It may be a while before I stop this obsession.  Sorry, not sorry.  

Have a great long weekend & thanks for reading!

Friday Favorites ~ August 22, 2025

 Well, we've made it to another Friday friends!  

My week began with lunch on Monday with friends and I followed it up with fro-yo.

I was at home every night, except for last night and I painted my kitchen! So basically, there was a dime size hole that I needed to fill in my wall.  I don't have the original paint color, so I painted the whole kitchen!  Have you read the book, "When you give a mouse a cookie?" 

This is the before...

And the after is below.  The new color is Agreeable Gray and it brightens it up from the original taupe color.

Here is the finished look...

This is the wall by the kitchen table before.

This is the table area finished.

It felt great to do this and clean up my space.  I am going to work on cleaning my floors this weekend.

Other highlights this week were margaritas and dinner with a friend, a long talk with Amy, and seeing my sister and her family, which means my nieces and nephew and all the greats. 

I have a busy weekend and I am thankful for fun plans and cooler weather.  Can't we all be excited about this???

Happy Friday and Happy Weekend!  Thanks for reading!

Friday Favorites ~ August 8, 2025

 Happy Friday friends!

I hope it has been a good week and here we are at the beginning (almost) of a new weekend!

Here are a few favorites of mine from the week.... 

I was able to be a little lazy Monday morning then ran some errands and got a few things done around the house.  I have a punch list of a few things I need done at the house.  I am trying to do a few things myself, hire some people for other things and maybe ask a friend to do one or two things for me.  One thing I needed to do was to put a transition piece upstairs between flooring and carpet.  The carpet is old and will eventually need to be replaced by a new owner, but it still needed a transition piece. I bought a piece at Lowe's and was able to install it.  I have a miter saw at home to help me with this easy project.  I put a light coat of stain on it and am calling this done!

Before:

After:

This verse was just what I needed to see this week!

I worked Tuesday then went to see my parents and had dinner with them and my sister.  I spent the night at my sister's house so I could be at my nephew's house at 6am Wednesday to keep 2 of their 3 kids.  My nephew and his wife are both nurses, so they go to work super early.  I spent the day with these cuties who are 3 1/2 years old and 10 months old. It was a non stop day! I had 2 protein bars and an energy drink before noon, ha! (and that doesn't include breakfast).  I was happy to help them and spend time with my great nephews.  As a bonus, one of my nieces came over with her 3 for about an hour to play too.

After the day, I met up with Jenn and some ladies from church for dinner at Newks.

Thursday, I was back at work and went by 7Brew for a drink after work with 2 of my co-workers. Thursday night was low key at home and then I am working again this morning.

I hope you all have a fun weekend ahead!

Friday Favorites ~ August 1, 2025

Happy August!  It's the month of back-to-school, routines, meal planning and shopping for the fall! Here are some random highlights from the week...

So the highlight of my week was not eating healthy.  It started with me treating myself to a bag of my favorite type of M&M's....the caramel.  This is a sharing bag.  I shared it with myself.

Tuesday, we had a staff lunch at a nice restaurant located on the Mississippi River. My meal was delicious and we split several desserts. Thankfully, my meal was somewhat healthy.  I had redfish with crab meat on top and it was served over mashed potatoes and a side of squash and other veggies. It was delicious!

A friend of mine had a house concert at her house Wednesday night where some friends who have a band played their music.  It was so hot outside, so I didn't stay long.  However, I did find the snack table and couldn't resist the cookies and the veggies and hummus.  I'm trying to tease my brain I had balance here.

Thursday evening, Jenn came by since I hadn't seen her all week with her new job.  

This week was low key, but better for me.  I worked every day, although not full days.  Today is much cooler, with a high of 85, so I will gladly take it for the first day of August. My weekend will be low key and I am okay with that too.

Hope you have a great weekend and thanks for the encouragement this week and for reading the blog my friends!

 

Friday Favorites ~ Beach, part 2/July 25, 2025

Hi friends and Happy Friday! I am including part 2 of my beach trip for my Favorites this week. 

Sunday morning, I stayed behind at the condo to talk to Brook about her weekend and then I walked down to the beach.

View of our chairs

And facing the water

 

We got dressed for dinner and it is always so pretty seeing the water and boats for a view with dinner.

After all all the pie and ice cream we picked up after dinner, I felt like I needed a walk.  It was hot, but it also felt good to walk in the neighborhood that night.

Monday morning, I had avocado bread, bacon and grapes. The avocado bread does have that flavor and has a lot of seeds, but it is good.

I worked for a little bit from the condo and then headed to the beach for the last morning.

The infinity pool was so relaxing after the beach.

I loved these chairs in the pool that have a cup holder and a place for your phone.  What a great design this is.

Those night time views with a breeze were wonderful.

 Other than coming home and seeing Brook, the beach was my only favorite really.  I am not going to lie, it has been a rough week for me and I have felt down due to some hard things I am still enduring, with a dose of life and what it brings.  

I am looking forward to the weekend of little plans and I am certainly still tharnkful for so many things in my life and trying to keep perspective in the midst of the hard things.

I read a saying last week the micro joys help us deal with macro grief, and it is so true.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend!