Five Friday Faves - 2.16

featuring a snowless snow day savior

I woke up feeling in a bit of a rut this morning. I couldn’t quite pinpoint it, but I just couldn’t get “into” it with work or get into the groove I wanted to get in. I don’t know about you, but that is the worst feeling for me. I just feel like I am staring at my screens with no direction. Anyway, I went for a very cold walk with my dog, felt inspired again, and got it together for the second half of the day.

I’d love to know what you do to get out of a funk/rut or generally get unstuck.

This curation of favorites, is truly what popped into my head at random points in the week to share. Maybe I should be more judicious with a theme eventually, but this week, it’s about the chaos of my brain.

Five Friday Favorites:

1. SuperSpace - I have shared these on Instagram, but HOLY CANNOLI are these things amazing. Truly saved us on the snowless Snow Day we had on Tuesday. They are basically ginormous magnatiles that the kids can use to build forts, cars, boats, or whatever they can imagine. It has been so fun to see what they come up with and it has been a catalyst for my kids doing imaginative play together. My kids have a 3y age difference, and sometimes it felt like they would never play together, but it’s really starting to come through. I am loving seeing them “play house” in these forts together. These are pricey, but were a fantastic Christmas Gift. We have the New Big Set, the Rectangles, and the Squares due to an ordering miscommunication, but the base set would be more than enough!

2. Lego Roses - As soon as I saw Meg Hall share these on her Instagram, I immediately forwarded them to my husband and said “These are the only flowers I am interested in for Valentine’s Day”. I have recently gotten a number of Lego sets for myself (I have this orchid and these succulents in my office too), and there’s something soothing about thinking about nothing else other than where’s the next brick. The roses look so cute in a Waterford Pitcher we got as a wedding present on my incredibly messy dining table - just keeping it real - I’ll share a pic on Instagram.

3. These Sunglasses - No idea who shared these originally on IG, probably TIBAL, but I always reach for them. After what felt like (and the meteorologist confirmed was in fact) the gloomiest January in a while, even though it’s cold, it’s nice to have an excuse to put on some sunglasses again. I NEED to wear polarized sunglasses or my eyes are bothered in the bright sun, and the price is right for me to not worry about losing these.

4. Sh*t That I Knit Hats - I have been a huge fan of STIK for a long time, and their hats are still the first ones I reach for when going on a (cold) walk with the dog, like today. The price tag is high for a hat, but I have had some of them for 6 years or more, and they are all still in great shape. I have had this hot pink one for a while and I love that it adds pop to a drab day.

5. My Humidifier - We have been on the never-ending sickness train over here and one thing that is on constantly is our humidifiers. We have two of these Canopy ones and I love that I can put them through the dishwasher to clean them (which admittedly isn’t as often as I should because they’re always running). When I replaced my son’s humidifier this winter, we bought one of the CarePod ones as recommended by several folks, including My Sister Made Me Buy It. The CarePod makes a room more humid but has required more frequent cleaning, but that could be because I don’t use distilled water (I know, I know, I’m not perfect).

What’s for Dinner

We’re really trying hard to flex our grocery bill and keep eating out of our freezer. It’s easy for me to want to try new recipes or make different things than usual each night because I am an “eat to live” person, and if I am not excited about it, I am not going to eat it. So stocking my freezer has been a test in making and freezing things that I actually get excited to eat.

Sunday - Out to a friend’s house for the Super Bowl, made these Brownies to bring with. Also made a double batch of Tomato Soup (the same one I ) and froze it to have for lunches and later on in the week

Monday - Beef Stew - I had “stew meat” in the freezer from our meat share and finally decided to make something. This recipe has ridiculously high ratings, but I wasn’t wowed tbh. It was good, but not great.

Tuesday - Enchiladas from the Freezer - Official recipe to come, but these are really easy and with the “snow” day we had both kids home, my husband and I were fried and refused to make anything.

Wednesday - Dumplings - the kids are turning into dumpling monsters, and my daughter ate two full Bao…

Thursday - Brats and Fries - A meal that I’ve been loving weekly because I notice my husband tends to do the cooking, which is a nice respite for me. It’s also a meal that requires no advanced planning other than making sure we have hot dog buns (which we usually do)

Friday - Pizza Night

More A Day In Her Life:

• ICYMI this week Mollie Buckler, mom and COO of a small agriculture non-profit is on the podcast this week! Mollie travels a lot for work, so hearing her perspective on how that impacts her days was so great. Mollie also has a Substack Benediction.

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