Five on Friday - Fall Dresses, Disney Dining, Old Plant, and October Promo

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We’re currently in the mountains enjoying fall break, but I still wanted to pop in and share some favorites!

O N E – Green Amazon Dress ON ME

We’re going to talk about this dress one more time today, y’all.  A couple of weeks ago when I posted about it I got lots of questions about it and many of you requested to see it on me.  Here you go!  As I said before, it’s a very roomy dress, so you could wear it as is, or you could cinch it with a belt if you don’t like the loose fit.  I styled it both ways for you (below), and I’m wearing a small.  Again, I’m 5’5” and it hits me just a few inches above the knee, so it’s not super short or anything.  I hope this answers all of your questions.  And I'll post a video of it sometime this weekend in my Instagram stories.  :o)

T W O – Target is Killing it with the Fall Dresses

Target does it again, y'all!  I popped in there last week for some necessities and swung by the women's clothes section for the first time in a while, and I'm here to tell y'all, they have one of the best selections of fall dresses I've seen in a while!

This ruffle babydoll dress might be one of my favorites ever!  It's fitted up top but flares in all the right places and it's super flattering.  It comes in three different colors (blush, gray, and olive) and it's only $20!  

This floral print dress is by the same brand and is basically a floral version of the previous dress, just with a slightly looser fit.  $25.

This floral print midi dress is so fun and $29.99.

And finally, this floral print shirt dress is so pretty... the color, the print, and those sleeves!  $29.99

T H R E E – New (Old) Plant

I’ve talked about this old plant from my Mama Cass (grandmother) several times here on the blog.  For those of you who don’t know, my Mama Cass inherited a house plant from my great grandmother after she passed away in the 1980’s and she’s cared for it ever since.  The original plant was a gift to my great-grandmother during a hospital stay back in the 1960’s – yes, you read that right, the sixties! – so the original plant is over fifty years old!!!! 

To say the plant has thrived at my Mama Cass’s house is a major understatement.  The thing is humongous and she’s given clippings to many of our family members.  She gave me my first clipping a few years ago back when I couldn’t keep anything alive (other than my dog and children) and it withered away.  She eventually gave me another clipping, which I also killed, and then she gave me my third clipping a couple of months ago.  I’m proud to report that my third clipping is thriving (thanks to me finally realizing it wasn’t getting enough sunlight – buh) and it’s growing like a weed.

Well, last weekend, my Mama Cass came over for Sunday dinner and she had another (huge) clipping from the plant in tow.  That one belonged to my aunt and uncle, but since they travel so much, they didn’t want the responsibility of caring for it anymore.  And since my Mama Cass still has the original giant plant, she didn’t want it either.  So I now have a clipping from the 50+ year old plant for our living room and I have a clipping for our master bedroom as well!  I’m bound and determined to keep both of them alive, so we’ll see how it goes.  I feel like my plant-growing skills have come a long way these last couple of years, so fingers crossed it will thrive. 

The best thing about it is just knowing that they are a part of something that’s three decades older than I am… that’s just crazy to think about!  And while we’re talking about plants, why don’t we all take a look at my cascading Golden Pothos plant in our master bedroom… see down below?  Thriving!  ;o)

F O U R – Our Disney Dining Reservations are Officially Booked!

Thank you all so much for your suggestions for where to eat at Disney a couple of weeks ago!  We handed our list of requests to our Disney travel agent last week and she was able to book every single thing that we requested!  So many of you reached out to ask what we ended up booking so I thought I’d share here for everyone in case you’re interested…

Magic Kingdom – Be our Guest for lunch (we found out that you can eat there for lunch using your quick service meal credits, but unlike most other quick service restaurants, you do have to have a reservation) and Cinderella’s Round Table for dinner.  I’m soooo excited!  CRT will be new to us, and I love that we are able to try something new without giving up my beloved Be Our Guest.

Epcot – San Angel Inn for dinner.  Many people recommended this for the ambiance and the food.  We actually ate at the quick service area of San Angel for lunch last year and it was delicious… I’m still thinking about those empanadas and margs almost two years later.  All four of us love Mex, so I’m even more excited to eat at the full-service restaurant “under the stars.” 

Animal Kingdom – Rainforest Café for dinner.  The kids requested this after seeing pictures of the interior décor on the internet.  B and I have eaten at Rainforest Café in other states, so it’ll be nothing new to us, but I’m excited to experience it with the kids.

Hollywood Studios – Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater.  We decided to do a repeat of this since we all loved it so much last year.  You truly can’t beat the atmosphere and the desserts are out of this world!  The kids are still talking about it to this day and they didn’t want to go anywhere else.  Next time I’d love to try Mama Melrose’s, though.

Night Off – Ohana for dinner.  We’re doing something a little different this year and giving the kids a rest day in the middle of our trip.  Last time they wanted to go to the pool so bad, but we never had time since we were in the parks every day, so we decided to give ourselves a day off from the parks in the middle of the trip.  We’ll be eating at Ohana for dinner that night and I’m excited.  We had breakfast there last time so it’ll be fun to experience a different meal there.  I’ve heard their dinner cuisine is really yummy.

All we have to do now is book our fast passes for the rides and we’ll be all set!  The countdown is on!  And if you want to see what all we did on our last trip, click here for my travel tab and all of the links are there.  :o) 

F I V E – Young Living October Promo

I’m adoring my essential oils more than ever now that we've moved into fall… there are so many delicious fall and winter scents!  I've finally found a blend that smells so close to the Bath & Body Works Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin candle (4 drops Cinnamon Bark, 3 drops Clove, 3 drops Nutmeg), so I feel like I may be close to the point of giving up burning my candles (I'll still keep some of them for decoration, though).  But anyway, I wanted to reach out to everyone today to let y’all know about a promo that we’re doing this month…

THE FESTIVE FALL BUNDLE HAS ARRIVED.... AND IT ALL SHIPS FREE!!!!  (Young Living never does free shipping so I was really surprised to see this!)

So excited to pair our amazing premium starter kit with a handful of our favorite Fall oils, Thieves Cleaner, and Young Living's Free Shipping offer PLUS a second diffuser for FREE!!

Here's how to take advantage of this amazing deal!!!

STEP 1: Grab your premium starter kit here & opt into essential rewards.

STEP 2: Customize your essential rewards order by adding Thieves Household Cleaner 22oz, Ylang Ylang 15ml, Lime 5ml, Clove 5ml and Bergamot 5ml. Your total will be $256.

STEP 3: Get excited!!!! You're not only getting a 15ml Orange, 5ml Nutmeg & 5ml Cinnamon Bark for free from Young Living, but you will also get a second diffuser from me and it ALL SHIPS FREE!!!!

Need to set up an Essential Rewards order for November? Grab some of our favorite holiday oils like Christmas Spirit, Idaho Blue Spruce, Pine and Wintergreen!  And it's never too early to start shopping for your loved ones for Christmas.  

Your most festive Fall awaits, we can't wait to welcome you to our community!  It’s a big investment up front, but it’s been worth every penny!  These oils have done so much for our family and I'm so glad that I took the plunge and signed up once and for all.

Now for some Friday funnies…

It's the most wonderful time of the year to make easy meals!

Sure is!

I promise to always put you in a special place that lacks sunlight and forget to water you.

And ICYMI, this week’s blog posts…

Our Week – The One with Jacob’s First Double and Rivalry Week

How I Streamlined Lunch-Making by Creating a Lunchbox Station

Confessions {10.10.2019}

Happy Friday, y’all!  Be sure to follow along on Instagram for our fall mountain trip adventures!

*Linking up with A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites and Della Devoted for High Five for Friday.

Confessions {10.10.2019}

It’s been a couple of months since my last confessions post, so I feel a few coming on today!!

I confess…

… that as much as I love This is Us, I think A Million Little Things is better.  That’s right, I said it.  A couple of years ago I would have never imagined that another network show could come along and be better than This is Us, but it’s definitely happened.  There are plenty of past shows that I like better than This is Us (hello, Friends and Parenthood!) and there are also plenty of shows on streaming services that are better than This is Us (hello, Handmaid’s Tale!), but I never imagined that anything new on network TV could beat it.  Alas, it did, and I’m just reveling in the glory of actually having multiple good TV shows to look forward to each week that are not reality TV.  #CheatingOnShowsWithOtherShows

… that I’ve already had to use Google twice to figure out how to help Jacob with his math homework.  Sigh.  They are teaching him traditional methods of solving problems, but they’re also throwing in a little bit of that new math junk and it’s just crazy.  I mean, I can solve a problem the original way about 25 times faster than doing that new crap.  I’ve always sucked at math and now that they’re teaching it differently it’s even more impossible.  #NewMathSucks

… that I realized the other day that we’ve lived in our house for almost ten years and we’ve only ever cleaned the inside of our microwave once or twice.  It’s so gross in there right now it’s beyond embarrassing, but cleaning it is just something I never think about doing until I’m using it.  And then when I’m using it I can’t clean it, so then I forget about it and it still doesn’t get cleaned.  It’s a vicious cycle.  #IMightBeTidyAndOrganizedButApparentlyImNotAlwaysClean

… that my Amazon wish list is so long I finally had to split it into several different categories – Clothes, Books, Kids, and Other.  After splitting it up, all of my lists are still a mile long.  Anybody have Santa’s email address so I could possibly send him some links?  #AskingForAFriend

… that I tried the new Starbucks pumpkin spice latte creamer and it is NOT GOOD.  It doesn’t even taste like pumpkin spice!  Like, at all!!!!  As a matter of fact, it’s so bad that I’m thinking of contacting them about it.  I mean, I bought a giant bottle of it and paid all that money for it and I’m never going to use it again.  And don’t get me started about the fact that they don’t have smaller bottles of it… the only ones they have are gargantuan and they cost an arm and a leg.  Time to start a Starbucks boycott!  #JKNotReally

Happy Thursday, y’all!

How I Streamlined Lunch-Making by Creating a Lunchbox Zone

*This post may contain affiliate links, which means at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through or make a purchase.

School has been back in session for a couple of months now, and I’m already over making lunches.  Anybody else?!  We have two very picky eaters which means that they rarely eat the lunches at school which means… I have to make two lunches every single day, 4-5 days per week.  Ugh. 

Making lunches has always been the bane of my existence, so last year I set out to alleviate a little bit of the pain.  I’ve already shared this once on the blog, but it was in passing on a Five on Friday post so I didn’t cover all of the details.  I’m still loving it so much a whole year later that I thought it deserved its own post.  Not to mention, we also had our kitchen cabinets painted white inside and out this year, so I wanted to take some prettier pictures of it.  ;o)  Let’s get into the details, shall we?

The purpose of a lunchbox zone is to organize all lunch-making items together in a place close to where you make lunches to make the whole process quicker and easier.  I always make the kids’ lunches on the main counter to the left of our stove so I chose a single cabinet just above that space.

I gathered all of the possible supplies that we use:

-          Both kids’ lunchboxes (we love Pottery Barn because they hold up so well)

-          Yumboxes (best things ever)

-          Sandwich Lunch Containers

-          Thermos Hot Food Containers

-          Snack Containers

-          Napkins (regular and fun holidays ones)

-          Disposable Plastic Silverware

-          Paper Lunch Bags

-          Sticky Notes and Sharpies for writing little notes <3

-          Lunchbox Notes and Jokes

Once I had all of my supplies, I arranged everything on the shelves, organizing the smaller items in their own baskets to keep them corralled.  To take it a step further, I also typed up a list of all of the items that the kids like to eat, I put it in a plastic sheet protector, and I secured it to the inside of the cabinet with Command Strips (because they won’t ruin the cabinets).  The sheet protector allows me to slip the list in and out easily so I can update it as I come up with new ideas. 

I now have every single thing that I need to make the kids’ lunches right there at my fingertips, and I also have a list of ideas for what foods to include.  Now the only two places I have to go to in the morning while making lunches is the refrigerator and the pantry to grab the actual food.  Creating this lunchbox zone has saved me so many steps and so much time and I LOVE IT.  It’s pretty much one of the best organizing projects I’ve ever done and it’s really been such a blessing to have… and it was such an easy change to make! 

And I've also recently started customizing what I put in the lunchboxes to add fun elements for the kids... cute holiday napkins (Halloween, Christmas, etc.), these tear-out lunchbox notes, these tear-out lunchbox knock-knock jokes, fun glittery plasticware... we love being extra!  ;o)

Happy lunch-making, y’all!

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Our Week - The One with Jacob’s First Double and Rivalry Week

We had a busy, busy week this week and I’m still trying to catch my breath from it all.  Not having a set baseball schedule and having late evening games has been a tough adjustment but I feel like we’re rolling with it and moving right along!

Monday, September 30

Monday was a typical gym/groceries/laundry day for me, and then after school the kids and I did our whole afternoon routine in fast mode to get everything done (including dinner) before leaving the house at 6:15 for Jacob’s 7 PM baseball game.

The team we played was very good and the boys were about twice our boys’ sizes so needless to say, after the second inning we were down 9-1.  Sheesh.  In the third inning our boys hit their stride, and from then on out we were able to hold them and come all the way back to 10-8.  We ended up losing, but our boys played their hearts out, and considering we were down by so many runs so early on, I’d say that was quite the comeback. 

Jacob ended up hitting his first double ever… a strong hit straight to second base.  He made it to first base, safe, and then the second baseman for the opposing team overthrew the ball to first in an attempt to get Jacob out, which gave Jacob the chance to make it safely to second.  Meanwhile, another one of Jacob’s teammates ran home, so Jacob got yet another RBI under his belt.  He had struck out for his first at-bat, and then he got another solid hit at his third at-bat, but unfortunately it went straight to the first baseman who was able to tag Jacob out.  All in all it was an exciting game, and I am just loving watching his confidence grow as he achieves new things. 

Tuesday, October 1

Tuesday I had to get a dreaded oil change.  I’m not one for just sitting around and waiting, so oil changes are one of my least favorite necessary things in life.  I ended up getting both of my email inboxes cleaned out while listening to my favorite morning show while I waited, though, so it was a win!

As I’ve said before, I’ve been meditating and doing some quiet time each day with my devotional, and Tuesday’s reading was one of my favorites yet.  It truly spoke to me and I ended up highlighting almost the entire thing.  Y’all know I’m a goal-setter and I love nothing more than crossing items off of lists, and while I do feel like I let myself rest, I probably don’t rest enough, so it’s something I’m really going to work on in 2020. 

Jacob had another baseball game Tuesday afternoon at 5:30, and it was HOT.  The weather here has just been so, so miserable with the temps over 100 degrees and the heat indexes even higher, and I’m sad that fall baseball season is almost over and we’re still suffering.  Tuesday’s game didn’t go quite as smoothly for Jacob personally as he had two strike-outs, but the team ended up winning 11-8.

Wednesday, October 2

Wednesday was another gym day and then it was home to work on laundry and blogging.  We’re heading to the mountains this week so I worked hard all last week to get all of my posts done for this week, and I’m also already trying to prepare some posts for Christmas break so I can do plenty of relaxing and soaking up the season with Brian and the kids.

Brian had a tennis match Wednesday evening, but the kids and I were finally able to have an evening at home with nothing else interfering.  I cooked an early dinner and then the kids made it to bed on time to try to make up some of the sleep they’d lost the last few evenings due to events and baseball games. 

Thursday, October 3

Thursday was so busy.  I had my annual mammogram first thing Thursday morning and it went well.  I should have results back sometime in the next couple of weeks.  And in case you’re wondering, no, I’m not over 40, but I do have a history of breast cancer in my family so my midwife started sending me for annual mammograms earlier than most.  On another note, I’d forgotten how dang painful those things are!  Good lawd, it hurts! 

The rest of the day was for errands, errands, and more errands – UPS, dropping donations at our church, Target, Barnes and Noble, and Walmart, among other places, and then I picked B up from work for a spontaneous lunch date.  A new Greek restaurant opened in our area about a year ago and we still had yet to try it, so we headed to the downtown location near his office.  Y’all, it was so freaking good and we will most definitely be frequenting that place!  I had a salad with grilled chicken, garlic green beans, cucumber, garbanzo beans, feta cheese, and tzatziki sauce and it was AMAZE.  The food was so fresh and so delicious and it was a nice clean eat (other than the feta cheese, of course). 

Olivia had ballet and tap right after school that day and then we were able to go home and have the entire evening at home together, all four of us.  We made breakfast for dinner and finally finished America’s Got Talent.  I’m so thrilled that Kodi Lee won!!  He is so talented and so deserving and it just made my heart so happy when they announced it. 

Friday, October 4

Friday I spent the day at home, pretty much working on the blog for the entire day.  I finished all posts for the coming week and I also started working on a couple for the future.  I’m all about getting ahead!

Friday afternoon, I got this text from one of my old co-workers... he was heading to Knoxville for the Georgia game.  I always get so excited when I see products with my name spelled correctly.  It was a struggle when I was a kid!  Haha.

Friday evening was the big rivalry football game between our school and one of the other private schools in town, so we grabbed a quick dinner at our favorite Mexican place and then headed to the game.  Our school offers a little cheerleading program for all of the PK4 – third grade students where they get to meet with the big cheerleaders and learn a couple of cheers before the games.  Olivia has been dying to do it so we arrived just in time for her to join them.  She was shy at first, but once she got out there and got going she perked up a bit.  After about 30 minutes of practice they all performed their cheers on the football field and it was so cute to watch. 

The rest of the evening was spent watching the football game with all of our friends while all of the kids played and ran around together. We ended up losing which was a big bummer since it was our big rival, but we had fun and the kids had even more fun so that’s all that matters. 

Saturday, October 5

Saturday morning was about as lazy as they come… we were up around 8 to make homemade waffles and then B and I spent the entire morning watching ESPN College GameDay in our PJs.  I may or may not have dozed a little on the couch here and there and it was the perfect lazy morning.

After a full morning of relaxation, I finally got going after lunch and got a couple of things done around the house… some laundry and more photographing items for Poshmark while we watched football.

We headed to mass at 5:30, grabbed a pizza to-go from one of our new local spots, and then made it home just in time to crack open our favorite beers at the start of the Georgia game.  Our game started out u-g-l-y, but we found our groove in the second half and we ended up whooping Tennessee.  Whew.  It was scary for a while there.

B and I put the kids to bed at halftime and after Olivia said her prayers she said, “Mommy, I’d like to say an extra prayer tonight… Dear God, thank you so much for making gravity.  Without it, we’d all go up to outer space with the moon and the stars AND YOU CAN’T BREATHE UP THERE.  Amen.”  Hahahaha.  I cracked up so much.  Somebody has been paying close attention in school!

Sunday, October 6

We had a typical Sunday yesterday and it was so nice after missing Sunday lunches and dinners here and there for the last few weeks.  I made some pumpkin cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then I did my usual Sunday morning planning session to make sure I was ready for the week ahead.  We have a short week as I said before because Wednesday at noon WE HEAD TO THE MOUNTAINS!  I’m so excited I can’t even stand it!

We finally had a “cool front” (notice the air quotes as I’m not sure we’d really call it that – LOL) come through, taking the temps down from the 100s to the upper-eighties instead.  It’s still way too hot for this time of year, but I’ll take 89 degrees over 101 any day.  Since it was so “cool” and breezy Sunday afternoon we spent lots of time in the back yard at my MIL and step-FIL’s after lunch.  My sister-in-law and her fam weren’t there because of a baseball tournament, so Jacob had Poppie all to himself for batting practice.  He was nailing them right and left and looking so good! 

Meanwhile, my very own little basic white girl went on a mission to gather up every single leaf in Nana and Poppie’s yard so she could make a pile to jump in.  Hahahaha.  I swear, she is so my child.  I have such fond memories of doing that in my parents’ back yard with my brother.  I’m telling y’all, I’ve been basic for a loooong time and I can’t tell you how proud I am of that!  :o)   

We spent Sunday evening at my parents’ house.  Daddy requested spaghetti and I don’t think there’s ever a time that I have said no to that!  In case y’all didn’t know, my momma makes the best spaghetti on the planet.  I’ve tried to duplicate it several times and I’ve never been successful so y’all don’t even bother to ask for the recipe.  My momma just throws stuff in the pot and it ends up being consistently delicious, but we can’t ever seem to capture a recipe on paper.  Momma tried to write it down once for me and it just wasn’t even close.  After a full evening of spaghetti and wine and good times, it was time to call it a weekend and hit the hay early! 

T-minus 2.5 days and we’re off to the mountains!!!!  Y’all be sure to follow along on Instagram Stories starting Wednesday!

Happy Monday, y’all! 

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