My mom and I have been doing Black Friday together since I was 10. I absolutely love our tradition and that is where I am today! I am not out for anything crazy this year, normally we just pick up some Christmas presents and do some clothes shopping for ourselves because there are some killer clothing deals out there! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!! I hope my walking around all the stores burns off some of the calories I consumed yesterday. I have no limits or control when it comes to delicious holiday foods!
Favorite Moments: Had lunch with Laura Monday at Babalu. Of course their enchiladas, tacos and table side guac are amazing…but they seriously might have one of the best burgers in town!!! Look at this thing!!! The fries are delicious too. mmmmmm
Tuesday I had to run an errand over by Brookwood so I stopped in Chick Fila to collect my free 3-count chicken strip (I am forever a nugget girl, but free wins) and I ordered a fruit cup instead of fries because balance and Thanksgiving or something.
Selfies with this sweet girl are always my favorite.
I was getting the shaft from Influenster for a lot time, but this past week I received two packages from them and one from Smile360! I will share all of my thoughts, of course!
Favorite Recipe: After all those delicious eats at Thanksgiving, it is time to go back to paleo/keto type foods again! Well, until we start baking Christmas things! These sweet and sour meatballs in the crockpot sound delicious! I think I might prepare them on a Sunday and we can have them during the week!
Favorite Black Friday Wish List Items: I went to Loft earlier this week to scope out what I wanted to try to get on sale today. These are my top picks! I already tried them on so I can just grab my sizes and go!
This shirt is so pretty in person and I love the bright red. Perfect for Christmas activities and still wearable all year.
This rib trim grey sweater with the split sides was so flattering on and felt sooooo cozy!!!! I cant wait to scoop it up. Will look so cute with so many things!
I really loved the color and fit of this tie sleeve top too! It would be so easy to dress it up or down.
Favorite Funnies:
What do you have your eye on for Black Friday? I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Linking up with Amanda.
Loves: Moving. Anything that you can stand up against and push is your favorite. You have figured out how to open up the kitchen cabinets and mommy and daddy have realized we haven’t baby proofed near enough yet! Your favorite toys are still your Vtech Walker, your yellow chair and your activity table. You also like your tea pot and still play with your shape sorter and stacking cups.
Hates: You still aren’t a fan of waiting for food. Neither am I. Getting on your jammies at night is still proving to be difficult. Basically if it involves sitting still, you are not a fan.
Milestones: You are rocking table foods!!! I have also seen you try to stand more on your own, without holding on to anything and a few times you have let go and taken a few steps towards me. You have picked up a few new words. We hear you saying dada, bye and every now and then we hear a hi.
Clothing: Most of your clothes are 9 months or 12 months. Some 12 month stuff is still huge on you. You are still in a size 3 diapers for the day, and a 4 for your overnights.
Feeding/Sleeping: You are still on the same schedule as far was what time you eat and have your bottles. You usually go to bed around 7pm every night. You have started to take a regular nap after lunch now. At daycare you nap for about an hour to an hour and a half, at home you usually nap two or three hours. You have been rocking the table foods! I can really tell that daycare has been working with you because in a weeks time you went from not really being interested in them and making me nervous when you do try….to wanting pretty much anything that is on my plate and trying everything! Your favorite things to eat have been anything bread related, pasta, beans and anything potato based. You are a carb girl like mommy.
Looks: Your eyes are still a strikingly beautiful light blue. Everyone who you come in contact with comments on how beautiful your eyes are. Your hair is a dark blonde/light brown and has been that way for several months. Your hair is really getting long in the back and on the sides!
Things I want to remember from this month…
Hearing you say dada and bye is so cool! I know they are on purpose, because you say them at the right times.
You are obsessed with shoes and purses. Every morning when I am getting dressed for work, I set you down in our closet and you head straight for my shoes. You love picking them up and looking at them and pushing the show boxes around. You are always going through your diaper bag and my purses too! Sometimes when my purse is in the back seat of the car next to you, you grab the handles and fall asleep holding them. Girl after my own heart!
Sometimes when you really get laughing, you snort and it is my favorite thing ever.
You love to randomly climb up on me for hugs.
When you want someone to pick you up, you crawl over to them and put your hands up in the air until they lift you.
You play a lot independently at daycare. I will see the live feed, and lots of kids are around the toy pool or in a certain area, and you are off on your own without a care in the world. Usually pushing around the walker or activity table.
The way you wave by to me in the mornings when I drop you off. It is both adorable and heart breaking all at the same time. Usually your teacher takes you over to the window to distract you while I leave. Most mornings you turn around and wave at me over your shoulder and look on the verge of tears. It is so hard to leave!
You still love to throw the ball back and forth.
The way you pull yourself up on the back door and wave out to Mac and knock on the window. He is usually an asshole and walks away, but you get so excited when you see him!
I am not even sure how it is possible that we are already in Thanksgiving week, but the calendar doesn’t lie. Who else sooooooo need this short work week??? This weekend was nothing too crazy. I worked from home on Friday to keep Zoe out of daycare and away from other germs since we were still in recovery mode. Girlfriend took a three hour nap which was fabulous for squeezing in all the work I could.
Saturday morning I cut the side yard for the last time this year. I still need to cut the front and back, but I feel so accomplished! After Zoe’s nap, Chris and I headed to Target because they were having 25% off their entire toy department. There was this toy I wanted that was 20% off in Cartwheel on top of the 25% discount, but unfortunately it was sold out. I hate that you cant do Cartwheel online, you know? So we didn’t end up getting anything. We did go to Red Robin and have a late lunch though. Can you go there and not order the onion rings? I think not.
That evening, we caught up on some shows and snacked on summer sausage and cheese.
Sunday, Zoe and I knocked out our grocery shopping early. Since we will be eating with family Thursday, and will probably have those leftovers Friday…it was a scaled back trip. We are having Italian Cheeseburger Soup and Pork Chops for dinners this week. I made beef enchiladas for lunch yesterday.
And homemade spaghetti for dinner. Nothing better than the smell of that sauce simmering in the crock pot all day.
I think I started a bad habit with Zoe, pulling her around in an empty laundry basket. I have never heard her giggle and squeal so much though. So absolutely loves it!
And here we are, staring Monday right in the face. Probably the longest one ever with the short work week ahead, right? That is how it always works! I have a lunch date with Laura today, so it gives me something to look forward to this morning.
I think I might still be having issues with comments coming to my email? I guess I will find out after some of you leave me one today. I am trying to get it resolved, so sorry! Technology has been a real nightmare for me lately. The amount of times I had to restart my work laptop and powder down my phone last week is ridiculous. Linking up with Biana. Hope you all have a wonderful week!
It has been quite a week. I left work early Monday morning to pick up Zoe because daycare said she wasn’t herself. Her doctor was all booked up, so I saw another in the practice. I didn’t feel right about his diagnosis and Zoe started deteriorating pretty quickly. Tuesday morning I called the second her doctor office opened and demanded to see her doctor ASAP. I am SO thankful I did! She was misdiagnosed Monday and it was pretty serious by Tuesday. Her doctor took his time with her, even called in two other doctors for a second and third opinion. We got her on a treatment plan and on the road to recovery. I tell you all this to say, you are your only advocate. And if you are a parent, you are your child’s only advocate. Speak up if you feel something isn’t right or you want someone to take another look. There is a reason you have that feeling in your gut and you go with it!
So with all that being said, I am behind on life this week. The back end of my blog is messed up somewhere and all the comments from the last week and a half haven’t been coming to my email and that is why you haven’t had a response. I am so sorry. I have read each and every one of them though and I do appreciate them! I am going to respond back to those of you who asked questions today and will try to get to the rest when they come back through my email. Technology has not been my friend this week in many areas of life.
Let’s move on to my favorites before I write a novel.
Favorite Moments: I have the best mother in law ever. She came with me Tuesday morning when I took Zoe back to the doctor and checked in numerous times. She worked her day around yesterday so that she could keep Zoe and I could make an appearance at the office.
I also have the best sister ever. Tracy used some sick hours Wednesday to come see Zoe because she just had to see for herself that Zoe was ok. She hung around my house most of the day and snuggled Zoe and played with her and let me get some work done.
Yesterday when I went to the office, a coworker and I grabbed salads from Newks. It was nice to catch up and get out of the house for a little while. And actually eat an entire meal uninterrupted.
Favorite Recipe: Some days, I am all about the one pan meals. How delicious does this Mexican skillet look?
Favorite Lust: I am starting to put my Christmas wish list together, I think this is going to the top.
Favorite Funnies:
Seriously you guys, this is my life struggle…
Me: I am going to set aside time today to look good. Me arriving at work…
When you get an email from corporate saying the office can close early…
Linking up with Amanda. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!
I almost feel like we got an extra week to read this month, since the 31st fell on a Tuesday. I got all excited and thought, oh I can get another in! Anyone else feel that way? I was able to knock three Netgalley books out this month, and one Blogging for Books too. I always feel super accomplished turning in those reviews. I read some good ones this month, and there was a DNF too. Balance, am I right? Linking up with Steph and Jana.
Shaw Kinnard and his partner are hired to kill Jordie Bennet. Shaw has other plans and abducts Jordie. He wants to find the $30 million her brother has stolen. Jordie’s brother’s ruthless boss and the FBI are after it as well.
This book!!! There were plot twists, slow burning sexual tension, the FBI and serious criminals. Lot’s going on. I was hooked after the first few chapters and kept trying to figure out how it was all going to play out. I was shocked with the twist at the end! Definitely kept me guessing.
Bottom Line: If you are looking for a good thriller that will keep you guessing, and you don’t mind a little romance…give this book a try! I was surprised by how much I liked it.
Kody Cameron recognizes something in her captor’s eyes that makes her believe she can trust him. Undercover agent Nick Connolly has met Kody before and knows she might very well blow his cover. can they make it out of the Everglades alive?
What is it with this month and captors? This has a lot of fun historical snippets here and there, but there are a lot of side characters to keep up with and I felt like there wasn’t much character development in general. The story feels very rushed and choppy.
Bottom Line: This was a quick read, but I feel indifferent about it. I enjoyed the action at the beginning but started to get bored with it. It felt a little choppy and rushed to me.
**I received a copy of Law and Disorder from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**
Ella Mae can lace her baked goods she serves at her Charmed Pie Shoppe with enchantments.
I loved Pies and Prejudice so much that I quickly got on the wait list for the second book in the series. I still feel like the author overwrites a little with the descriptive language, but this is such a cute cozy mystery series! I love the small southern town charm. There is a lot more magic in this one than the first, but I really loved hearing the history of Ella Mae’s family and I flew through the book! I had the murderer figured out pretty early on, but it didn’t take away from the story.
Bottom Line: If you are looking for a cozy mystery that has a little bit of a magical element to it, this is perfect!
June 5, 2002, fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Smart, was taken from her home in the middle of the night. She was kept chained, dressed in disguise, repeatedly raped, and told she and her family would be killed if she tried to escape. She talks about the constant fear she endured every hour, her hope and faith and how she survived.
I remember hearing about the Elizabeth Smart case when it happened. It was really interesting hearing her recount of what happened and what was going through her mind. I will say that her writing had a bit of childish naivety to it. Maybe it was supposed to come across that way since she was a child when she was abducted? I didn’t care for it. But listening to her story had my attention.
Bottom Line: If you can get past the childish naivety, this was an interesting read.
Hawthorn Creely has a crazy theory as to what happened to the missing Lizzie Lovett. In order to prove it, she decides to immerse herself in Lizzie’s life and takes her job and even her boyfriend.
This book was too YA for me. I got annoyed with the main character’s obsession with Lizzy Lovett. She was very immature and started coming up with these crazy ideas as to why Lizzy disappeared. When she tried to suggest it was because she turned into a werewolf I quit reading. I just couldn’t do it anymore.
Bottom Line: I cant recommend this book. It got on my nerves so badly, and I couldn’t finish it.
Sierra’s family runs a Christmas tree farm in Oregon and moves to California to set up their Christmas tree lot for the season every year. So Sierra lives two lives: her life in Oregon and her life at Christmas. But then Sierra meets bad boy Caleb, and one life eclipses the other.
I really enjoyed watching Thirteen Reasons, so I was excited to see another book from the author. This is your typical YA romance story. It was really cute and I enjoyed the Christmas feel to it.
Bottom Line: If you are looking for a festive holiday read, this is a great one!
Jake and Alice are newlyweds who are invited to join The Pact. At first, it seems like an exciting, elite club. Some of the rules: 1. When your spouse calls answer 2. Exchange thoughtful gifts monthly 3. Plan a trip together once a quarter 4. NEVER mention the PACT to anyone. They quickly learn that once you join, there is no escape.
You guys!!! This book was so good!!! I found myself staying up late several nights because I couldn’t put it down. We all want our marriages to last, but The Pact takes it to a whole other level!
Bottom Line: I highly recommend this one!!! Just read it!
**I received a copy of The Marriage Pact from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**
Mark Sisson unveils his groundbreaking ketogenic diet plan that resets your metabolism in 21 days so you can burn fat forever.
Chris did the Keto diet last year and lost some serious weight. We are talking around 60+ pounds. Once he got going, he just kept going and going and I watched him shrink and shrink. Of course I was pregnant and all WTF you’re going to chose now to go on a diet? But seriously, I am so proud of him and his willpower. It really worked for him.
When I saw this book, I knew we had to have it! While I already know all about the Keto diet, since I have been cooking and preparing foods for Chris for over a year….I wanted this book to give us some new recipes. It also discusses fasting and lifestyle tips. You get step-by-step guidance, daily meal plans and a decent recipe section. If you are looking to drop some weight, I would certainly look into the Keto diet. I feel like more and more people are jumping on this. For more information about the book you can go here. For more info about the author, go here.
Bottom Line: If you are thinking about trying to Keto lifestyle, this book is a great starting point!
**I received a copy of The Keto Reset Diet from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**
Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
I feel like I got more emotional reading this book than I thought I would. It is written so well, and it is something that everyone needs to read. Unfortunately, it is all too timely with what is going on in the world today, and it makes you see things differently than you might have before. It is heartbreaking and sobering.
Merry’s mom and brother create an online dating profile for her without a picture. She is reluctant at first but soon finds herself chatting with a charming stranger. Their online exchanges become the brightest part of her day. What happens when they meet in person?!
The last book of Debbie’s I read was a little of a let down for me, so I was skeptical to start this one. I actually read this book in one sitting!!! That never happens. I got in to the story right away and had to see where it was going. Chris and I met online, and so this story had a special place in my heart.
Bottom Line: Such a light and quick little love story with a little Christmas cheer. If you are a fan of Debbie Macomber, read it!
** I received a copy of Merry and Bright from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**
