Friday Favorites

I'm celebrating the end of this week with some Friday Favorites. Because all the basic white girls love Fri Yay! right?!

I am #obsessed with this balm. My friend Kelley gave me a sample to try on Fitz's patches of eczema and in just three nights the patches were mostly gone. By morning four they were so hard to notice—and you could just tell his skin looked better. I promptly texted her that I needed much, much more of this magic elixir.

Speaking of Fitz and Alex, this made me quite literally laugh out loud last weekend. We were out running errands, and it got to be lunchtime so obviously I wanted to go to Chipotle—because when we are on that side of town, where Chiptole is, I always want to go to Chiptole.

I craved, like FIERCE craved, Chiptole when I was pregnant. Jury was out for a while but the verdict has finally returned: they love Chiptole as much on the outside as they did on the inside.

I need help Disney people!! So I am a "Magic Maker" this year as part of my volunteer efforts with Magic Moments. I am in charge of helping to make the magic last a little while for one very special girl (and her family) as they prepare to go to Disney!! I am so excited but so overwhelmed. I am not a Disney person, and the available crafts on Pinterest seem insurmountable. What are your favorite things to do for kiddos when preparing for a Disney trip? I've got a limited budget, but I really want to knock this out of the park. Help!!

via Travel & Leisure

Friday Favorites

For the last ten days, survival has been the key to my days. First, Fitzy just wasn't feeling his best. Then he started having a fever and coughing. Then Alex slept one day for almost 18 hours. He too had a fever. By day four, I was sleeping 18+ hours a day: The flu hit the Anderson house like a ton of bricks. I'm still trying to dig us out of the mess.

The last two weeks have been anything but normal, I've been back at work for three days and have no idea which way is up. It's funny how much the world doesn't stop turning when you do. Life is humbling like that isn't it? I saw a meme on Facebook the other day that I thought described it perfectly: Adulthood is like looking both ways before you cross the street and then getting hit by an airplane.

I'm celebrating the end of this week, and the sickness, with some Friday Favorites.

I've kinda fallen off the Pinterest bandwagon, mainly because it overwhelms me—I always feel like I don't "do" enough, after I browse it. I mean, where the hell do these other mothers find time to make three meals a day from scratch plus craft, and refresh their towels and read five books a month and read the entire Bible and write in their Erin Condren planners? My Erin Condren planner is scribbled with all kinds of things, and half the time I'm still late to meetings. HOWEVER, I needed a recipe for something I thought I pinned long, long ago, and stumbled across this illustration. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. I'm not a huge #lillylover, but this illustration is my new motivation for summer.

Lilly Pulitzer Print Studio via Pinterest

My other Friday Favorite is an excerpt from a reader-contributor email I received today. Usually, when people take the time to email me they do not have a single nice thing to say. Imagine my surprise when this popped up! Thanks Sam in Indiana, I think you're pretty awesome too!

"I actually thought of you during the sales training!  We were learning about the four main personality types, and one of them was called an 'influencer.'  We were told that one of the first things we'll notice about an influencer when we meet them is that they tend to have a big grin from ear to ear.  The times that I've seen you at the EXPO in Louisville and your picture in the magazine came immediately to mind.  You carry the biggest smile I think I've ever seen!"

I love this picture of Alex from this past Tuesday. He was starting to feel better and instead of reading just one book, he decided to read all the books. Stumbling into these moments is my far my favorite part of being a mother. Not pictured my ashen face covered in the sheen of a 102° fever with the glaze of Tamiflu in my eyes. 

Friday Favorites: Halloween 2015

No one can ever accuse me of not going all out for holidays, even if it is last minute. I really need to just realize that October for the foreseeable future is going to be crazy. With Fitz and Alex's birthday in the beginning and my huge week-long work show in Kentucky in mid-October every year, the Anderson house AT BEST is going to be Halloweenified in late October.

Nonetheless, I got it done. That's what counts right?

Here's my Friday Favorites for Halloween 2015:

I love this glittery eyeball garland I got last year at Michael's. I was worried it might not hold up, but I think it turned out super cute. Ignore the one dead sunflower. As Mark would say, any excuse for the glitter.

Originally I was disappointed I didn't have six matching placements, but I have to say, I like the funkiness it adds.

This year, Dollar Tree had the cutest monsters; you know the solar ones that dance in the windowsills? I saw them and had to grab them for our preschool teachers! I got up at 5am this morning and made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for the director and her assistant. So easy and so delicious! Recipe to come next week, since they would be perfect for November gatherings as well.

Halloween week at school was so fun! Each day had a dress up theme and since they are still too little to pick out their own costumes, I got to splurge and get a costume for today and a different costume for trick or treating! Can't think of anything more perfect for my set of monsters than to dress up as Mike from Monsters, Inc.

I saw this on Insta last week and knew I had to do it for my friends. I'm not sure if it really took, but I loved getting the BOOOZED baskets together and sending "Dracula's Driver" out in the middle of the night. We took ours on Monday of this week, but I think next year I'm going to start the Friday before Halloween weekend? Dropped by Dollar Tree, grabbed a plastic pumpkin, some fun Halloween cups, and threw in a bottle of wine from our local wine shop.

We're heading to Zoo Boo today with all four kids, and then planning on doing Halloween crafts and decorating the wagon for trick or treating. Saturday forecast has rain at night, and I'm crossing my fingers, toes and sending prayers to St. Therese that it holds off until 8.

Happy Halloween from the fuzzy blur that is Fitz and Alex!

Friday Favorites

It's been a crazy week around here, as is the normal, but I am happy to report I still found PLENTY of time to surf the internet, so I'm bringing back Friday Favorites. Some of this was too good not to share.

I can't remember which of my sorority sisters posted this on Facebook, but y'all, It's so true and so hilarious. I've been in love with Dr. Spencer Reid for years, and these are all SPOT ON: 21 Times Spencer Reid From "Criminal Minds" Stole Your Heart.

I was cleaning out my phone's pictures the other day, Lawd have mercy I have eleventy billion screen caps of pointless conversations, and saw this. It must have been posted around Valentine's Day because it's clearly a play on the candy heart thing...but it definitely gave me the giggles. Raise your hand if you can think of someone who should be receiving it.

Via Keltie Knight on Insta

It's been a crazy few weeks around the Johnson Anderson house and I haven't been in the kitchen as much as I've wanted to. I did find the time to inadvertently make the best oven roast on the planet. I blogged the recipe for Alabama Women Blogger's Foodie Friday series. Check it out, it's easy and delicious, but a little time consuming. It's a great weekend dinner so there's plenty of leftovers for the coming week.

Cheers to the weekend!

Friday Favorites

Another week I'm pretending to actually be a blogger, another installment of Friday Favorites. I love the flexibility of this space. Maybe one day I will actually get myself in gear and with some regularity actually post. #highhopes

 

-ONE-
My Dad and Stepmom are HUGE golfers, and golf fans. I will admit, just by default, I’ve become an enthusiast. Not that I want to play the sport really, but I love watching those cute pies walk the lush courses. A few weeks ago AL.com put out an article about my favorite golf analyst, David Feherty, and well, it’s magnificent. Roll tide forever. The Masters were great and all but is it football time yet?

"I've been to a lot of sporting events and heard some extraordinary crowd reactions, but I remember being up in the stadium when the team ran out on the field, and for a moment I wanted my mommy," Feherty said to AL.com. "I thought what the f------ hell is wrong with these people? It's the damnedest thing I ever heard. They just went completely batshit mental. The atmosphere was so extraordinary; I had never seen anything like it."

-TWO-
Currently obsessed with this song. I puffy pink heart you Kelsea Ballerini.

-THREE-
As I get more invested (I think that's the word I am looking for) in this space, and building a community around it, I have been getting a lot of comments! And I love comments. However, loads of people are "No-Reply Bloggers" meaning when you comment I can't respond, even though I want to. Are you? Check out this tutorial from Venus Trapped In Mars to fix it. #commentloveforeveryone

via VTRM

Friday Favorites

Ahhh! Friday! I both love and hate this day. I love having two days off from work, but I also hate that my children aren't exactly at the point yet where I can tell them EVERYONE sleeps in on Saturday, none of this 6:15am bullshit, thanks, entertain yourselves, I'll be up and ready to play with you around 9:30.

-ONE-
I am currently obsessed with this collection from Nora Roberts. I have no idea where I got it, probably a yard sale, because my cover is definitely not the one Amazon is picturing, but I found it on my shelf and CANNOT put it down. I've already read the first two books and am thisclose to finishing the third. Please tell me I am not the only Nora Roberts lover in the world?

My copy's cover, via

-TWO-
One of my favorite dinners to make right now is Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta. A Pinterest tweak of course, I blogged my version of the recipe for Alabama Women Bloggers Foodie Friday series. SO GOOD.

-THREE-

Hilarious, no?

 

Cheers to the freakin' weekend! I'm having a yard sale tomorrow and saying a final goodbye to a large portion of my college and single girlhood things...it's bittersweet. I'm honestly a little nervous to actually pull off the yard sale but hey, it's hopefully going to save me a trip to Goodwill and make us some money to redo the living room and buy some plants for the front porch!

Friday Favorites

I'm going to make an effort to blog more, I'm going to make an effort to blog more, I'm going...oh hell. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

I always fall victim to ten thousand things on the to do list and everything gets done, ten things on the to do list and nothing gets done. Guess that's why I've culled my internet favorites/current happenings around here this week.

-ONE-
The incredibly talented brains behind every graphic element in my life the last year has been designed by my uber talented friend Shelby. Most recently she designed the boys' Valentines and I couldn't be happier. Good news, she's got a blog now! Make sure you add her to your readers. And reach out to her if you need some design services. She's seriously the best.

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-TWO-
I think I need this in my life. Instead of wine, I would prefer it said champagne though, ohhkayyyy?

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-THREE-
Mark and I started watching Sons of Anarchy a few weeks ago and are almost done with the series. It's been bloody at times, but surprisingly really good. Also, Jax Teller is a very attractive outlaw. Anyone else have a secret crush on someone totally not your type? I'm normally all about the clean cut overgrown prep school Southerner, but goodness me.

via

-FOUR-
I gave up sweets for Lent again this year, but luckily Valentine's Day fell just before Ash Wednesday. Mark, Fitz, Alex and I celebrated Palentine's Day with some of our favorite people and I made this HEAVENLY Chocolate Lasagna from iheart naptime. I retooled it a little bit, and my tweaks (mainly I made it a touch smaller for the smaller crowd), are up on Alabama Women Blogger's Foodie Friday series.

-FIVE-
We have a reader that still loves the circa 2005 email forwards. He sends them nearly daily. Sometimes they are hilarious, and sometimes they are just stupid. This one made me literally say "aaaawwwweeee". 

Friday Favorites

When I was home I spent a lot of time watching television, staring blankly at books and falling asleep with my eyes open. Now that I've been back at work for about five whole minutes, I mean days, I find myself trolling the internet and laughing at stupid things people put on Facebook, like the video of Kevin Hart telling Jameis Winston to "stop doing dumb shit." Also known as procrastinating.

Here's what I've been favoriting this week:

ONE— The Cinderella trailer is out and it is everything.

TWO—Wednesday I got a peek at F&A's newborn photo shoot. Holy shit, I made some really adorable people. 

THREE— Everything about this article on Scary Mommy: 12 Things I Thought About Babies...Before I Had One but especially, "Maternity Leave will be a nice break from work." I remember thinking about all the things I was going to do on maternity leave and how much I was going to love getting things done. HA!  It was a miracle to get dinner made most days. And then there was that one time I had to remind myself to go outside because I hadn't gone outside in four days. 

FOUR— Baskin Robbins, like many places, celebrated Veteran's Day with a special nod to the military. ...it was odd but also didn't stop me from devouring the ice cream. Food coloring comes in brown?

FIVE— I mean, really. 

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Friday Favorites

It's been one of those long weeks. You know the ones that seem to drag on, and on, and on. But, as always, I still found some time to do some all mighty Internet surfin'.

Here's what I've been favoriting this week:

One— The article from Total Sorority Move: Why Our Entire Generation Needs An Ass Kicking, Pronto. I'm not usually a TSM reader, I (luckily?) grew out of that phase of my life, but this really was well said.

For example, "Why does our generation need a wake up call? Because most young people in America are selfish, lazy, and think Jimmy Johns should deliver sandwiches directly into their mouths. (Actually wait, that's a great idea). Most young Americans think they can ride the coattails of previous, hardworking generation." I mean can I get an amen here? Spend five minutes and read the post, I swear you'll be nodding right along.

Two— Umm, this. No caption needed. (Available for sale here.)

via iheartmatter.com

Three— Along the same lines as above, this is a no caption needed as well.

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Four—I'm still obsessed with our wedding photos. Which, our photographer just got to me a few days ago, so it's totally okay to obsess right?

Friday Favorites Pinterest Addition

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I'm slowly working thru my pins, either actually making the recipes or deleting them, and as I do that some favorites jump out...

L’Uomo Vogue

via Tumblr

via Real Simple

via Tumblr

Hot boy with books! Piglets with Paint! Fancy Gin-based Punch! Pink and stone! These are definitely the top four I'm feeling this week.

Don't forget about the Samantha Faye flash sale! Ends Sunday night, 3/17 at Midnight CST. 30% off EVERYTHING with the code Jessica30. Use it to get an adorable little guy like this.

Five Friday Favorites

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I love a good phrase. I also love a good use of alliteration. Ergo, Five Friday Favorites.

For A Good Time, Call...

I saw this movie a few days ago and absolutely loved it. Redbox it ASAP. (pssst, you can use the code DVDONME and get it free!)

This past weekend was the Montgomery Home & Garden Show. My Momma came in town for a girls' weekend and we spent Saturday eating at my favorite restaurant, walking the show floor, listening to Ahmad Hassen (HGTV's Yard Crasher) and looking at potential houses for me and the girls to move into!

Another day, another dollar. Er, cover.

Someone got up on the bed. The same someone has also learned to start "cheesin'."

This guy. No caption needed.