Book Review {February}

This month we read a fantastic book for our book club and it was also the only book I managed to read this month with everything else going on.  I have SO many books I want to read and I’m hoping I can read more in March.  In February I read Bear Town by Fredrik Backman. 

From Amazon

People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys. 

Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident 

Beartown explores the hopes  that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.

This book tells the story of a high school hockey team and their family, friends and coaches.  After a big game the team has a party and at the party a terrible event happens. What happens at the party divides the town and it could tear the town, the team and their families apart.  The author Fredrik Bachman also wrote A Man Named Ove that I read last year. 

We had a fabulous discussion at our book club about this book.  I love books that create good discussion.  The last book review I did was in October.  You can read my other book reviews here  

Xoxo

What's Up Wednesday {February edition}

Today I am linking up with Shay, Mel, and Shaeffer for  What's Up Wednesday where we share random things that we've been up to this month. February flew by!  I can't believe it's almost the end of the month. Ava had her first full month back in the United States after being in the Czech Republic for a semester and Graig was busy reffing basketball games.  I had a few fun things this month plus I was sick for a week...that was awful!

You can see my other WUW posts here.

What we're eating this week-This week I made my first ever Chicken Pad Thai at home!  It was so delicious.  I made it Sunday night and we have been eating leftovers this week.  It was so good!  I used a sauce from Aldi and then I cooked chicken in my crockpot.  I cooked the rice noodles on the stove and then mixed everything together in my wok. I will definitely be making this again soon!

Ava and I also made Homemade Blizzards this month!!  They were SO good.  I got the recipe from this blog and there were so fun and so easy to make!

Also I made my Saturday snacks...

Two ingredient bagels

Almond Sugar Cookies

Mexican Street Corn

What I'm reminiscing about-My fun girls trip to Florida.   You can read about our trip here.  I went in January and I wish we were there again now.  We are getting another big snow storm on Friday-ugh.    I'm ready for spring!

What I'm loving-Podcasts!  I listen to them all the time-in the car, at home when I'm cleaning or getting ready for work. There are so many that I am loving right now but my favorites right now are...

Slow Burn-all about Richard Nixon and his involvement  and eventual resignation because of the Watergate Break in. The break in happened in June 1972 and he resigned from the Presidency on August 9,1974 after it was clear he was soon to be impeached because of the scandal.

Dirty John-is all about an incredibly talented interior designer and the man she falls in love with and eventually marries.  It starts out like a fairy tale romance but he turns out to be a big time con man...he told her all sorts of lies including that he was an accomplished Anesthesiologist.  I couldn't stop listening to this one..  It was so good!

I just started listening to the Patty has a gun podcast which is all about the Patty Hearst kidnapping that happened in 1974.  I have only listed to three episodes but I am hooked! 

I also love The History Chicks.  This is a podcast about women in American history.  Each episode is meticulously researched and they share so much information in a fun and interesting way so I love listening.   I just listened to the two episodes about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and I learned so much about her and her life from the podcast.

What we've been up to-just like always trying to balance it all--family, work, friends, volunteer stuff. Last night we went to watch G ref in a sectional game.  He loves reffing and it was fun for Ava and I to see him in action.

What I'm dreading-thankfully nothing right now!

What I'm working on-just normal things nothing crazy or too exciting. 

What I'm excited about-Ava is turning 16 next month!!  I can't believe it.  We are going to take a little trip together and she will have a small party with her friends.

What I'm watching/reading-I read Bear Town this month for my bookclub.  It was so good.  It was the only book I read this month and I really enjoyed it.  I am planning on doing a post on it tomorrow.

What I'm listening to-Podcasts-ha ha!  See above. 

What I'm wearing-sweatshirts, coats, hats, boots, gloves-it's been so cold here and I am ready for spring!

What I'm doing this weekend-I have the annual Mardi Gras gala to support the Boys and Girls club.  I'm on the committee the plans it and it is going to be a blast!!  Also my friend is hosting an Oscar party Sunday.  Last year I hosted and I'm happy that my dear friend Amy is taking over the hosting duties this year!

What I'm looking forward to next month-I'm going to the Philadelphia flower show with my friend Jenn.  We went last year and had a blast so I'm looking forward to going with her again.  You can see my post from last year here. 

What else is new-Brock moved into a new apartment yesterday in North Scottsdale, AZ and I can't wait to see pics of it.  He texted us an said he was all moved in and that he would send pics soon. 

Happy Wednesday!!

Xoxo

Crafty Wednesday {monogram cup}

Hello!  The craft I’m going to show you today is so easy to make.  I’ve also gotten SO many compliments on it and orders from a few friends to make more.  Most people know I like to put monograms on everything.  I just love a good monogram.  When  I saw an insulated mug at Walmart I thought it would be perfect for a monogram.  Every day I bring ice tea to work so this cup is perfect for that.  And it was only $10.  I found it in the housewares section in the same aisle as the glasses and plates.

I used my silhouette vinyl cutter to make my monogram.  I have my monogram saved as an image on my  silhouette computer program and I can adjust the image to be bigger or smaller depending on what I’m making. 

I use my silhouette ALL the time for crafts.  I got it two or threee years ago for Christmas. It helps me make big andsmall  projects.  I also use it  to make projects for our crafts nights for Branch and Bloom. I just love it!  For this project I used white glossy permanent vinyl.  I always use oracle vinyl and I get it on amazon.

Here is my finished cup.  I just love easy, cute craft projects.

Happy Wednesday.

Xoxo

Saturday Snack {2 ingredient bagels}

I have made these two ingredient bagels a few times now and they are delicious!  My friend posted this recipe on Facebook and I immediately wanted to try to make them.  This is a weight watchers recipe and each bagel is 150 calories.  If I have one of these in the morning with some cream cheese I stay full until lunch time.  

The two ingredients in this bagel are self rising flour and Fage Greek yogurt.   I always keep this in the fridge so I can make these bagels whenever I want.

2 Ingredient Bagels

1 cup of self rising flour

1 cup of Fage Total % Greek Yogurt

1 Egg (for egg wash)

Trader Joe's Everything But the Bagel seasoning or use my homemade bagel seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine 1 cup of self rising flour and 1 cup of Fage Total % Greek Yogurt in a bowl until a dough starts to form.

Turn dough on a lightly floured surface and brush your hands with a bit of flour.

Knead and divide into 4 parts.

Roll out each dough ball to form a rope and pinch the ends of each rope together to make a circle. You will have four bagels.

Beat one egg and brush over the bagels and sprinkle with Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel seasoning.

Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes and 500 degrees for 2 minutes so the tops can brown.

At first the dough is a little crumbly but keep stirring! 

Form the dough into a ball and then divide the dough into four parts.  

Form four little balls and then roll into logs.  Join the two ends of the log together to make a bagel shape.

Beat one egg and then brush egg on top of bagel and add bagel seasoning. 

Cook as directed and enjoy!

Let me know if you try these.  They are really good!  

Happy Saturday!

Xoxo

Crafty Wednesday {February Craft Night}

Happy Wednesday!  For today's post I am going to show you how we made the Rustic Photo Galleries for our February craft night.  I usually look so forward to our Craft Nights.  They are so much fun and we have the best time.  This month I was sick with a bad cold and I was going to stay home and rest but my friend/business partner Rachael got sick with the flu so I had to go and teach the class.  

Thankfully I recruited two friends who were signed up for the class to help me.  They both were a huge help to me in setting up and cleaning up after the class.  I am so thankful for both of them!!

Here is most of the class with one of their finished photo galleries.  Each participant made three during the class.  We told everyone to wear old clothes because we were going to be sanding, staining and distressing our boards and that is messy work. 

The first step in making your own rustic photo galleries is sanding the ends of the boards and staining your boards.  We gave the people in our class two choices-gray or dark.  About 1/2 the class chose gray and 1/2 chose the dark.  

After they sanded and stained their boards we had people put on safety googles and we used hammers to rough up and distress the boards a little bit. They could use either the head of the hammer or the claw to make distressed marks in the wood.  Everyone enjoyed this part of the class!! 

We like the people that come to our classes to have a good time with their friends and this group had a great time!  Our classes are held in the Community Room of my friend Rachael's organic grocery store.   People can buy things to eat/drink before our class and have it to snack on during class.  We also hold our classes on Friday evenings so people love to come, relax and have fun after a long week.  We love when people have a good time at our classes!!

After the stain dried we added the eye hooks and the wire for our photo galleries. You can see the eye hooks in this picture.  We put one eye hook on each side and then hung a thin wire from the eye hooks. 

Here are the specific ones we used for our class.  

After the eye hooks were screwed in we added a thin wire to complete the project.  

We also gave everyone mini clothes pins so they could hang their pictures at home.  

It was a fun and easy project to do!  Rachael and I didn't make one during the class so I don't have an after picture to share.  This is a picture of our inspiration picture from Pinterest.  

We had 8 feet boards cut into 2 feet sections at Lowe's for this project.  We also got the stain, eyehooks and wire from Lowe's.  We ordered the mini clothes pins from amazon.  These are the ones we bought. 

Let me know if you make this craft!

Happy Wednesday
Xoxo

Make Up Party

Last night my friends Jenni, Julia and I hosted a make up party for our friends.  We thought it would be fun to try some new products and get some tips on how to apply our makeup.  I have been using the same make-up for years and it takes me less than 5 minutes to do it every day.  So we thought a party would be fun and informative.  

We had some snacks and some wine for our friends.

We had our party at a spa and they have Bare Minerals make-up for sale. It was fun seeing all of the Bare Minerals products. I  have been using Bare Minerals for years but I always use the same old stuff.  It was fun seeing all of their products and trying on new things.  The lady who did our party explained everything so well.  We learned all about highlighting and contouring and she did a foundation match for us. 

Here are all the steps we did.  I am writing them down and I texted them to my friends who went to the party so we wouldn't forget.  There are SO many steps.  I will not do all of these steps every day but it was fun to learn how to do them all.  

Cleanse
Moisturize
Primer
Color Corrector
Foundation
Concealor
Setting powder
Coutour
Blush
Highlight

I especially liked learning how to color correct, contour and highlight. When she contoured and highlighted us it made such a big difference!  I bought both highlighter and contour so I can practice at home.

Here is the color correcting kit she used on us.  I would like to buy something similar to try and cover up the dark circles under my eyes.

We had a great time.  It was a fun night and I loved learning how to use new products.  

Xoxo

Happiness Project Update {January}

In December I read the Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  I decided to do my own Happiness Project this year.  Gretchen chose one theme a month and then spent the month doing things related to that theme.  I chose 6 things to concentrate on for the first 6 months of the year and then I will choose 6 more for the last half of the year.  Here in my post from January about my 2018 Happiness Project.  

 In January I focused my Happiness Project on going to bed earlier (super exciting I know-ha ha)
I wanted to start my year with going to sleep earlier because so much of my personal happiness revolves around sleep. If I am tired I am crabby, I eat more junk and I feel awful.  Getting enough sleep is SO important for keeping myself happy.  

Honestly going to bed earlier wasn't easy for me.  I am the type of person that likes to get a lot of things checked off my to-do list each day and I always want to stay up late to finish one more thing, read a little more, watch one more show, etc.  
In January I forced myself to get into bed each night around 9pm.  I developed a little routine that really helped me transition from wake to sleep. 

These are some things that help me transition to sleep every night...

1-Journal-Every night I write in my journal and write a note for my Happy Things  jar.  

 2.  I put lotion on my feet, spray linen spray on my pillows and sheets and put cuticle oil on my fingers.  

If I have time in the evening I like to do a restorative yoga sequence from the Down Dog yoga app.  The app has step by step instructions and music to go along with the yoga poses.  I love it!  I don't always have time to do yoga at night but I love it when I have the time.  Restorative yoga is great because it is so slow and you hold positions for a few minutes.  In restorative yoga you always concentrate on your breath and breathing.  Doing restorative yoga helps me sleep better at night.  

After I do all of this I get into bed and read for about a half and hour before going to sleep. I I turn my phone on silent and don't answer any messages or go on Facebook or other social media after 9pm.  Sleep is still a struggle for me but doing these things definitely help and I love the little routine I've set up to go to bed earlier.  I really hope I can keep this up all year long!

Xoxo