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Happy Friday, y’all! We only had a four-day school and work week, but for some reason it has felt longer than usual. Not sure how that works, but I’m really glad that the weekend is here! Today, as always, I’m sharing some favorites from the week, so grab a cup of something delicious and settle in…
O N E – Bar Mat
Brian and I love to mix up cocktails for ourselves on the weekend, and we love to mix them up for guests, too. Our unofficial “cocktail mixing spot” has always been the stretch of countertop above the dishwasher, and we’ve always laid out a long strip of paper towels to catch all the drips and condensation. It’s not ideal at all because the paper towel always gets soaked and stained, so Brian came up with the idea to purchase a bar mat.
I found this professional-grade bar mat and it is awesome. It’s the perfect size, it’s thick and sturdy, it’s anti-slip, and it’s full of grooves (including one around the perimeter) to catch all the drips and condensation. It can be wiped or rinsed clean, and we actually found that it’s dishwasher safe as well. We ran ours through a regular cycle on the top rack to ensure it was super clean before we used it the first time and it washed beautifully.
It’s looks great, it’s affordable, and it comes in several different colors and sizes. Oh, and it’s multifunctional! It could totally be used as a dish drying mat!
T W O – My Favorite Tea
Comes in Decaf!
I’ve been drinking at least two cups of this hot tea per day for years. It’s my favorite tea of all time – it’s delicious, it’s healthier than coffee (for me anyway, since I add a ton of cream and sugar to my coffee), and black tea has so many health benefits – it can lower the “bad” cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, it’s great for gut health, it can improve blood glucose metabolism, and it’s great for bone health, among other things.
The only downside is that it contains caffeine, and I’ve pretty much always avoided caffeine. I’ve always had enough energy on my own, and I’ve never needed caffeine to wake up or get through the day. Caffeine can also exacerbate anxiety issues (which you all know I struggle with if you’ve visited this space for any amount of time), so I have been trying to avoid anything that could make my anxiety worse.
I didn’t want to give up my morning and afternoon cups of tea – they are one of the things I look forward to most all day – so when I realized that my favorite tea comes in decaf, I was thrilled! It has the same warm, rich flavor, and now I don’t have to worry about the caffeine. And this tea is so delicious that it doesn’t need any milk or sweeteners in it. It’s delicious all on its own.
T H R E E – The Best
Mascara
It’s that time of year to clean out the house and refresh and replenish old products! I’m close to needing a mascara restock, and I thought I’d share mine here again since I love it so much. I’ve been using this mascara for years and it’s the best. It gives my lashes a ton of volume and length, it doesn’t clump, and the best part is that it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
I posted a car line chat in my Instagram stories a couple of weeks ago, and I received
numerous DMs from people asking which mascara I use. I screenshotted this part of the story because
it gives a good idea of what lashes look like when using this product. My natural lashes are very fine and they’re
not dark at all, so trust me when I say that it makes a huge difference. I only apply one coat, and the results are
incredible.
(And please excuse the weird expression on my face... I was mid-sentence when I screenshotted it. Haha.)
The professional pictures from the ball that we attended earlier this month were posted recently, and I wanted to share a few here since they weren’t available for my original post. It was such a fun night, and we ended up raising well over $125,000 for the cause! That is definitely a favorite from the week!
F I V E – Brian’s
Birthday!!
And last but not least, today is this guy’s birthday!! We celebrated him Monday night with our little family since I have to be at the school tonight, and we’re looking forward to celebrating him again tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon with his family! Happy happy birthday, babe!
Happy birthday Brian! We had a shorter week here too and yet it's still been crazy.
ReplyDeleteI agree on the shorter week felt forever long! Weird how that happens! That bar mat looks awesome!
ReplyDeleteThe bar mat sounds like a great idea and I love the sound of that tea. I have moved over to decaf drinks because I do not need the extra anxiety! What wonderful photos from the ball and happy birthday to Brian!!
ReplyDeleteWishing Brian a fabulous birthday!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to Brian! That mascara really is the GOAT. The meme about the Catholic single guys is so funny! Have a great weekend!
ReplyDelete